I remember standing on a windowsill in a dorm room in 2011 and watching everyone in the room dance and sway to this song. I remember Hulk hands and drinking. I remember realizing that I missed out on so many opportunities to have these kinds of dance parties with my brother and his coterie by […]
Tag: Paul Riley
Posts written by Paul
Oh, we live in such perilous times. Our leaders tell us to fear the unknown, to distrust the things that we can‘t see. We appeal to you, Klasky-Csupo, Nickelodeon, Peter Gaffney, muses and sages all. Tell us the tale of Tommy the Brave, whose adventures in the playpen and garage may inspire us to face […]
When they write their reportabout this day,they will talk aboutViktor Orbán losing,the decline of authoritarianism,a new hope. There will be no mentionof the boy and the girlin the apartmentoff Merrimack Streetwho cried in each other’s arms,saying goodbye.
What was it like to play guitar loud and fast in a dingy club? I know what it was like to stand in the audience, one of many high school kids trying to explore themselves. The Harmony Grange was a scene in my life for a time, and I miss it. But it was not […]
I just realized that I fell in love with a girl who looked Alanis Morrisette around the same time that the video for “Hands Clean” video debuted. It seems crazy to write it so plainly, because if you know me it becomes painfully clear about whom I’m writing. And I’m left wondering if I can […]
Hey friends, Jackie and I just wrapped up our annual Easter tradition: watching the 1973 film version of Jesus Christ Superstar. I’ve written about this movie a number of times because it is a foundational text for me. To steal a line from Las Culturistas, it’s the culture that made me say culture is for […]
Hey James, “The rules are clear in a Fascist society, you feel like you are part of something important, the stakes feel both extremely high and unreal.” [emphasis mine] You wrote this in your last note. It – the feeling of being part of something important – along with the desire to have that feeling […]
Hey James, In your note, you wrote about returning to memories of your childhood. I have been doing the same thing for the past few months. Pulling out the Nintendo 64, I’ve been playing games that our parents bought for us 20 years ago: completing missions in Goldeneye, racing levels I hadn’t seen before in […]