Remembering Carmen McRae and Her (Nearly Forgotten) Masterpiece
It is hard to say exactly why a musical artist moves you deep in your soul but for me in the case of vocalist Carmen McRae it is these three things: She interprets lyric in an organic way that is on a...
View ArticleThe Making of The Railway Man
Thirteen years ago I stumbled upon a book called The Railway Man by a man named Eric Lomax, a former prisoner of war. Lomax's book struck me pointedly, as it transcended what could have been a mere war...
View ArticleMy Transgender Journey From The Phillipines To New York Runways
Click here to watch Geena's TEDTalk. This story begins on a beach in Tulum, Mexico, last October. It was my 30th birthday, and I was dancing on the beach with my then partner. As he spun me around, he...
View ArticlePop Music Could Use Another Decade as 'Gay' as the '80s
"What does it take to be a man?" asked Brad Delp, the late lead singer of the band Boston, on a track from the group's 1986 album Third Stage. Chances are that neither he nor the millions of Boston...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Artists Organize an Awesome New Take on Katamari Damacy
Katamari Collab Illustration by Juliana Chen (fivepaninis) For nearly ten years, Katamari Damaci, a Japanese puzzle-action video game (whose name literally translates to "clump soul") has captured the...
View ArticleThe Mystery of CNN 2014: What's the Vanguard Cable Network Up To?
CNN took off with the Malaysian airliner's disappearance and hasn't landed since. It has been flying high in the ratings for its unrelenting coverage of what it dubbed "the mystery of flight 370." Even...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Finding Rock and Roll Nirvana. Or at Least One of Their Dads.
Nirvana is being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tonight. I personally found Nirvana on a remote Eastern European island so small its name could accommodate only two letters. But more on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Giuliana Rancic: "Breast Cancer Affected the Way I Live My Life"
Photo Courtesy E! When reality TV gets it right, viewers catch a glimpse of something authentic. E!'s Giuliana & Bill, which follows one of America's favorite entertainment couples and airs...
View ArticleChief Keef Hits the North Shore: Two Chicago Perspectives
South Side POV (Evan F. Moore): You can take someone out of the hood but you can't take the hood out of them. Or so I've been told. Last year, Englewood's very own, Interscope Records recording artist...
View ArticleKevin Spacey: Museum of the Moving Image Tribute
Sprinkling his talk with the "F" word, Kevin Spacey recounted the wellworn story of how his idol Jack Lemmon encouraged him when Spacey was a 13 year old. "That was a touch of terrific," Lemmon said to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chasing Autographs
Collecting autographs has always been a favorite hobby. I've been hooked ever since snagging John Elway's signature on a picture I drew of the quarterback, at the end of a Broncos training camp session...
View ArticleThursday Mashup: Burton, Taylor, Sophia Loren, Doris Day and...the Scandalous...
"I DON'T think much about myself as a beauty. Bosom too big, arms too big, short legs, nose a bit crooked, double chin, big hands, big feet. My best features are my gray hairs. I've named them all...
View ArticleCher's Retiring, Right After She Finishes Another Farewell Tour
It's hard to really define a Cher show in the way one does a traditional pop concert. Sure, there's singing. Spectacle abounds. A great live band is present to bring decades of hits to life. But...
View ArticleTop 10 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Performance Moments
For the past 29 years the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been honoring rock and roll music's greats with an induction ceremony and a permanent place at the Rock and Hall of Fame and Museum in...
View ArticleMy Relationship With 'Glee'
Once I heard "Don't Stop Believing" on my TV, I was hooked. I didn't even know what the exact premise of the show was; I just had to see it. At that time I was on the edge of turning 13, my parents...
View ArticleBob Dylan in the 1980s: A Never Ending Tour of a Cantankerous Canon
If you remember the pointing finger songs of Saved (1980) and Shot of Love (1981), the din and drone of Dylan and the Dead anesthetizing half-filled stadiums or the inconsistencies of Knocked Out...
View ArticleCaptain America: The Winter Soldier: Believe the Hype
This second Captain America film centers on one basic premise as a question actually. As important as freedom is, should freedom be sacrificed for security? By showing this in a thought provoking and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Viola Davis: From Stealing Food to Survive to Stealing Scenes
Best known for her Oscar nominated role Aibileen Clark, in The Help, two-time Oscar-nominee Viola Davis, is no stranger to success. But it wasn't always that way, as she discussed with me in our phone...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Willy Porter and Music Heard the Slow-Cooked Way
The listening room is to music what the slow-food movement is to foodie culture. Both are about a kind of intimacy and focused attention designed to immerse you in the experience of the craft. Did I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Albert Maysles: Gimme Some Truth
I'm sick and tired of hearing things/From uptight, short-sighted, narrow-minded hypocritics/All I want is the truth/Just gimme some truth/I've had enough of reading things/By neurotic, psychotic,...
View Article