The first non-Native American settlers of Appalachia and later, the Ozarks, were of primarily of three ethnicities: Scots-Irish, English, and German. These hard-working farmers and craftsmen created a distinct culture which in the 19th Century came to be named “hillbilly.” Although the Northern European roots of hillbilly are routinely acknowledged, even scholars on the culture … Continue reading Black Hillbilly
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2015 CE — Fictions Set in 2015
When it comes to predicting the future, science-fiction has an pretty uneven track record. For every iPad or flip phone there's a dozen flying cars, anthropomorphic robot maids, or a BrainJail (where people are imprisoned for rubbish laws like downloading their feelings onto computer discs). It's now 2015 and we've made contact with no extraterrestrials, established zero extrasolar colonies, … Continue reading 2015 CE — Fictions Set in 2015
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Cancelled after one episode — a look back at very short-lived television shows
CRT Graveyard While there have been at least six or seven quality television programs, the telecommunication device has for seventy years or so more often been derided for the lack of quality programming. Whereas US forces regularly play awful music to tortured captives, no one with even the tiniest remaining shred of humanity would force … Continue reading Cancelled after one episode — a look back at very short-lived television shows
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California Fool’s Gold’s Guide to Los Angeles’s Revival Cinemas
No city on Earth is more closely associated with motion pictures than Los Angeles. 10% of all movie theaters in the entire country are located in California and Los Angeles County is home to over 100 of them. Although most of Los Angeles's theaters, like those throughout the country, showcase only the latest Hollywood product, … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold’s Guide to Los Angeles’s Revival Cinemas
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One album wonders: The Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977) In the early 1980s, when I was in elementary school, I remember asking my father what mental illness was. This was the era of deinstitutionalization, when most of the nation's mental institutions were emptied onto the streets which were at the same … Continue reading One album wonders: The Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols
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Happy 30th, Criterion — May your next 30 be even better
Criterion is, without a doubt, the most loved video-distribution company in the video distribution game. No one (outside Korea) packages their films so beautifully and today they released a lovely, book (just in time for Christmas) of their "covers, supplemental art, and never-before-seen sketches and concept art" featured on their releases over the years called Criterion … Continue reading Happy 30th, Criterion — May your next 30 be even better
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Urban Rambles — Exploring the area along Hoover and Virgil with Marvin
Los Angeles is often characterized as a city in which one simply cannot exist without a car. And yet, as the millions of Angelenos who bicycle, take public transit, or walk will tell you, driving a car is no way to get to know the city. Since Los Angeles County is even larger than the … Continue reading Urban Rambles — Exploring the area along Hoover and Virgil with Marvin
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One album wonders: Diane Hildebrand’s Early Morning Blues and Greens
DIANE HILDEBRAND - EARLY MORNING BLUES AND GREENS (1967) It's surprisingly hard to find much information online about singer-songwriter Diane Hildebrand, who was a professional songwriter who penned numbers for none other than The Monkees and released a single, wonderful solo album in the 1960s. Hildebrand was apparently about eighteen when one of her compositions, "I'm On My … Continue reading One album wonders: Diane Hildebrand’s Early Morning Blues and Greens
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Happy Discovery Day — Real Geographic Discoveries of the Modern Age
I will not make the argument that Columbus's arrival in the New World was insignificant merely because he was an absolutely awful person or because he didn't actually discover anything (which he himself maintained, claiming until his death that he'd merely found a different route to Asia). But think about this before you dismiss -- … Continue reading Happy Discovery Day — Real Geographic Discoveries of the Modern Age
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Taste of the Mideast Side — at the Los Angeles County Store
If there are regular readers of my column here on the Amoeblog, they've probably seen some of the hand-drawn and hand-painted maps which I include in my series of Southland explorations I call California Fool's Gold. Right now a series of new maps are on display at the Los Angeles County Store in East Hollywood. None, … Continue reading Taste of the Mideast Side — at the Los Angeles County Store
