Tag Archives: England

Christopher Guest’s Death Wish

By Mark | January 14, 2014

This evening, while researching something completely unrelated, I discovered an interesting little fact about filmmaker Christopher Guest that I wanted to share. A decade before starring in This Is Spinal Tap, and setting in motion a chain of events that would make him the mockumentary auteur he is today, he starred opposite Charles Bronson in […]

Posted in Art and Culture | Also tagged 1974, acting, actors playing cops, Baron Haden-Guest, barons, Bill Murray, casting, CBS, Charles Bronson, Christopher Guest, Columbo, Death Wish, House of Lords, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jean Pauline Hindes, mockumentary, National Lampoon, National Lampoon Radio Hour, peerage, police, revenge porn, Spinal Tap, The Hot Rock, United Nations | 8 Comments

Michigan Musicians on Vacation: Matt Jones at Gettysburg, with Sarah Campbell

By Mark | November 17, 2013

Occasionally, I get good ideas. I’m not sure if this is one of those times, but it occurred to me a few days ago that I should have a regular feature on the site in which I talk with local musicians about their vacations. Our first guest is Matt Jones, of Matt Jones and the […]

Posted in History, Special Projects | Also tagged 1863, 1972, 19th Indiana, 66th Ohio, Abraham Lincoln, Adam Juday, Big Round Top, blood, bonnets, boxers, Cafe Du Monde, Carol Gray, cemeteries, Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, Civil War, Confederates in the Attic, Culp’s Hill, Dobbin House, dog shows, Doug Coombe, Eisenhower Convention Center Hotel, Erin Morris & Her Ragdolls, Evergreen Cemetery Gatehouse, farb, France, geneology, Gettysburg, government shutdown, grandmother gold, historic reenactment, hoop skirts, Lindy Hop, Little Round Top, maps, Matt Jones, Matt Jones and the Reconstruction, McPherson Ridge, Michigan Musicians on Vacation, Mimi’s on the Marigny, Misty Lyn, monuments, musicians, musicians breaking the law, New Orleans, park rangers, Pennsylvania, petticoats, Pickett's Charge, pink, Pittsburgh, porta-potties, rain, Robert E. Lee, Sarah Campbell, Schoolhouse Rock, Shelby Foote, slavery, Stevens Knoll, Stonewall Jackson, tattoos, The Angle, The Bountymen, The Clump of Trees, The Spotted Cat, The Valley Of Death, Tony Horwitz, tour guides, trudge, Twin Peaks, Ulysses S. Grant, vacations, Vicksburg, Virginia | 19 Comments

Rebuild the Dream rolls out their ten-point plan for setting America back on the right track

By Mark | August 8, 2011

I don’t usually like it when adults hire adorable little kids to deliver their political messages, but, judging from my response to this short video just put out by Van Jones and the folks at Rebuild the Dream, I guess I’m alright with it when said kids are articulately and enthusiastically parroting ideas that I […]

Posted in Politics | Also tagged American dream, Bush tax cuts, clean energy, Contract for the American Dream, energy independence, green jobs, health care reform, London, minimum wage, populism, public education, public option, Rebuild the Dream, riots, single-payer system, social security, Van Jones | 20 Comments

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

By Mark | April 4, 2010

In an effort to save a few dollars, and the soul of our daughter, we canceled our basic cable subscription a few months ago. I miss Turner Classic Movies, but, other than that, I don’t have any regrets. l catch local news at the gym, and the few network shows I do watch, like Caprica […]

Posted in Agriculture, Education, Food, Media | Also tagged ABC, agitprop, anti McNugget, celebrity chefs, cooking, dissection, fast food, fat, Fifteen Foundation, Food Inc., french fries, fries count as vegetables, Gunther von Hagen, heart like a bowling ball, heart like a cannon ball, Huntington, Jamie's Ministry of Food, kids that can't recognize vegetables, mechanically reclaimed meat, Michael Pollan, Michelle Obama, mockney, Omnivore's Dilemma, organic farming, processed food, propaganda, reality television, West Virginia | 19 Comments

The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret

By Mark | December 14, 2009

David Cross and Will Arnett, from Arrested Development, have reunited for a British television show called The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. The pilot, which was written and directed by Cross, also stars director Spike Jonze. I’ve only seen this one clip so far, and, while it didn’t blow me away, I think it […]