Category Archives: arts

Virginia Woolf almost does the Super Bowl

Posted on February 3, 2014 by oddmanout215

Most years, I persuade a famous novelist to write a 500-word recap of the Super Bowl — Dostoyevski and Faulkner, among others, have donned their sportswriters’ caps to appear in this space — but this year Virginia Woolf phoned at … Continue reading →

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‘Ever-so-gentle rabble-rouser’ Pete Seeger dies

Posted on January 28, 2014 by oddmanout215

I was away from the swamp, stealing potatoes at the local Super Fridge, when I heard about Pete Seeger. This will be a rough day, I thought. Swamp Rabbit is an old leftie with a soft spot for New Deal-influenced … Continue reading →

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50 years after ‘Strangelove,’ Gen. Jack Ripper on drugs

Posted on January 28, 2014 by oddmanout215

This January marked the 50th anniversary of the release of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. From a New Yorker story about the mainstream critics who dismissed the movie’s storyline as implausible: Despite … Continue reading →

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A ‘Blue Xmas’ with Miles

Posted on December 16, 2013 by oddmanout215

Miles Davis at his most demented coolest, with Wayne Shorter (sounds more like John Coltrane) on tenor and lyricist/singer Bob Dorough, the vocal equivalent of a funhouse mirror. (You might want to smash the mirror before the song is over.) … Continue reading →

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‘Island of Sirens’

Posted on December 7, 2013 by oddmanout215

December is a tough time to live in a swamp. The trees are bare and the clouds so low you can almost jump up and touch them. You need music to stop the highway noise. Today I put on “Island … Continue reading →

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Turkey Day with Lucretius and Eric Cantor

Posted on November 29, 2013 by oddmanout215

Last week I bought enough Wild Turkey to get Swamp Rabbit through the week, which left me just enough money to buy a real turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. But there’s no oven in my shack to bake a turkey, so … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, down and out, humor, mainstream media, philosophy, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How many male novelists does it take to make a joke?

Posted on November 6, 2013 by oddmanout215

My friend Susie, who has read some of my fiction, sent me a bunch of male-novelist jokes from The Toast, all of them in the “how many” format. Like this: Q: How many male novelists does it take to screw … Continue reading →

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‘I’m Waiting for the Man’

Posted on November 5, 2013 by oddmanout215

I’m waiting for my man/Twenty-six dollars in my hand… — Velvet Underground “Twenty-six dollars!” Swamp Rabbit yelled. “That’ll git ya one Oxy from the ice cream man on Staten Island. Maybe two mixed drinks at Death & Co.” He was … Continue reading →

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Was Lou Reed rock ā€™nā€™ roll’s last outsider?

Posted on November 1, 2013 by oddmanout215

My friend Swamp Rabbit, who only likes bluegrass and Bulgarian folk music, asked me about Lou Reed: “If this guy was an outsider, how come insiders sing his praises?” The rabbit was referring to the subhed of The New York … Continue reading →

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Walter White says bye-bye, ‘Baby Blue’

Posted on September 30, 2013 by oddmanout215

Walter White to his long-suffering wife Skyler in their final scene together: “I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really… I was alive.” Breaking Bad was an unusually good TV show … Continue reading →

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