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Film / TV / Theater Review, Music

Song of the Day #2159

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February 3, 2025

Song of the Day: Thunderbolt (“Daddy Won’t You Please Come Home”), words and music by Sam Coslow, is sung by Theresa Mae Harris in this pre-code 1929 film, directed by Josef von Sternberg. Two versions of this film circulated, including a silent film and what became Sternberg’s first film with…
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Film / TV / Theater Review, Music

Song of the Day #2158

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February 2, 2025

Song of the Day: Godzilla Minus One (“Soundtrack Suite”) includes interpretations of the famous Godzilla theme by Akira Ifukube, along with original music by Naoki Sato. Though I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the original “Gojira” (1954) and its edited 1956 American version featuring Raymond…
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Film / TV / Theater Review, Music

The 21st Annual Film Music February Festival / Song of the Day #2157

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February 1, 2025

Song of the Day: The Batman (“Highway to the Anger Zone”) [YouTube link], composed by Michael Giacchino, is one of highlights to an unrelentingly dark film and film score. (Giacchino even titles one of the cues, “Sonata in Darkness“.) This 2022 reboot of the Batman film franchise stars Robert Pattinson…
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Film / TV / Theater Review, Remembrance

Happy Birthday, Gene Hackman!

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January 30, 2025

Today is actor Gene Hackman’s 95th birthday. A two-time Oscar winner, he’s had so many memorable roles in scores of movies over the years—from “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Superman,” and “The Conversation” to “Mississippi Burning,” “Unforgiven,” “The Birdcage,” and of course, “The French Connection” (whose iconic car-train chase was filmed on…
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Film / TV / Theater Review, Music

50 Years of SNL Music

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January 28, 2025

Last night, en route to the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special on February 16, NBC presented a terrific 3-hour documentary on the music featured on SNL over the years. “Ladies & Gentleman: 50 Years of SNL Music” opened with this superbly mixed montage, beautifully synced and edited, giving us…
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Music, Remembrance

Song of the Day #2156

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January 26, 2025

Song of the Day: I Thought About You features the lyrics of Johnny Mercer and the music of Jimmy Van Heusen, who was born on this date in 1913. This popular song became a jazz standard and has been recorded by so many artists, including jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and…
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Film / TV / Theater Review, Remembrance, Sports

Bob Uecker, RIP

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January 16, 2025

Sad news about Bob Uecker, who died today at the age of 90. He was honored with the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award in 2003, and has been inducted into numerous broadcasting halls of fame. He played major league baseball, but is most known for his career…
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Elections, Politics (Theory, History, Now)

A New York Rant

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January 16, 2025

One of my Facebook pals put up this map yesterday of how the vote shifted in New York City between 2020 and 2024. This is not to say that all those precincts went red. Indeed, the Democrats still won NYC (as shown by the vote tallies below). Rather, the above…
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Frivolity, Rand Studies

A Yearly Ritual!

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January 16, 2025

It’s that time of year again! Because wherever you live, tonight is the …
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Culture

Happy New Year 2025!

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January 1, 2025

A happy and a healthy new year to all my friends and family!
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