Kicking off a new monthly column, surveying various members of the Mockingbird community on what they’re watching and listening to. We start this month with recommendations from a couple of the ‘HQ’ staff: Ethan Richardson Chernobyl. In preparation for the Future Issue of our magazine, this one had been on my list for a while, […]
Another Week Ends: Axiomatic Romance, TMI Troubles, Welby’s Doubts, Antrim’s ECT, Recovering Moms, Reuniting Replacements, and Alien Baptisms
1. Love has been on the brain here in Cville as we put the finishing touches on the upcoming ‘Relationships’ issue of The Mockingbird. Among other things, we’ve been watching insane documentaries, interviewing experts, and listening to (un-)godly amounts of ABBA. So it was serendipitous this week to come across The Atlantic’s “Love Is Not […]
Another Week Ends: Motivated Podcasts, Inverted Envy, Doofus Batman, Evensong Revelations, Rowling Rewards, Salinger Silence, Denny Lives Again, and Watterson’s Speech
1. “Want to Win a Political Debate? Try Making a Weaker Argument” reads a headline over at The Pacific Standard, and what follows is a helpful refresher on the overpowering role of self-image when it comes to argumentation. In very Haidt-esque fashion, and with the help of some fresh research, the article claims that the […]
Jesus Rides Beside The Replacements
Taken from A Mess of Help. There are no better poster-boys for “unrealized potential” than The Replacements. The Minneapolis band, affectionately known as The Mats, never quite made that one masterpiece or had that one smash hit. Their legend has only grown since they called it a day in the early 90s, but they are […]
Another Week Ends: Hitch, Facebook Blues, Baby Morality, Auden’s Conversion, M:I4, The Replacements, Gorey Animation, and Knowing Yule
1. By now you’ve no doubt heard that legendary journalist/polemicist/personality/Atheist Christopher Hitchens died yesterday. Hitchens was always my favorite of the New Atheists, and not just because he was the funniest. Alone of his colleagues (and I’m sure he hated being lumped in with anyone!), he seemed to object to the Gospel itself, rather than […]
Paul Westerberg is Always Away in a Manger
You have to admit, if ever there was a band that embodied the spirit of manger-ness, it was The Replacements. No polish, a little desperate, rarely taken seriously, tons of heart, and hailing from… Minneapolis. A small flanneled light of garage rock righteousness coming into the hairsprayed 80s darkness, The Mats could wring moments of unexpected beauty out of total raucousness, as if by accident (and therefore all the more beautiful). As ramshackle as an ancient feeding trough, word has it they even smelled like animals:
RIP Alex Chilton – Keep An Eye On The Sky
The greatest rock n roll anti-hero Alex Chilton of all-time died of a heart attack this past Thursday. In tribute, we thought we’d re-run the Big Star post that went up in October, “Keep An Eye On The Sky – Big Star Talks To God”. But first, children by the million: The Replacements Alex ChiltonUploaded by […]
September Playlist
1. Human Wheels – John Mellencamp 2. Love Is Stronger Than Death – The The 3. Lost Coastlines – Okkervil River 4. So Begins Our Alabee – Of Montreal 5. He Doesn’t Know Why – Fleet Foxes 6. Amoreena – Elton John 7. Sweet Forgiveness – Bonnie Raitt 8. All This Time – Sting 9. […]
