Isn’t the Light OK?

Mike Nel­son pro­vides the com­men­tary track for a newly restored DVD edi­tion of Reefer Mad­ness, the cult anti-drug movie from the ‘30s.
I need to see this.

Those of you read­ing this in Maine may have seen some incred­i­bly dis­turb­ing tele­vi­sion com­mer­cials lately, adver­tis­ing a radio sta­tion known as “FRANK-FM.” You who don’t have the dubi­ous honor of being able to see these ads, allow me to paint a men­tal pic­ture:
The ad begins innocu­ously enough, with a blandly attrac­tive female talk­ing head […]

McSweeney’s breaks a story of national impor­tance!
My favorite bit is this one:
Inter­ro­ga­tion com­menced: 0330 hours
Woke SH quite early to catch him off-guard and groggy. I asked, “What’s your first name?” and he said, “Sad­dam.” Again I asked, “What’s your first name?” and he said, “Sad­dam.” I kept ask­ing, “What’s your first name?” and he kept say­ing, “Saddam.” […]

Some­thing about the warm­ing of the weather makes it seem like a great time for live music.
I’m get­ting excited because not only are Carla, our friend Paul, and I going to see Derek Webb in a few weeks, but a few weeks after that, we’re plan­ning on see­ing the Indigo Girls at Mer­rill Audi­to­rium. It’s a […]

Back when I was in high school, study­ing the roman­tic poets in Eng­lish class, I had a par­tic­u­lar fond­ness for William Wordsworth’s poem, “To My Sis­ter.”
IT is the first mild day of March:
Each minute sweeter than before
The red­breast sings from the tall larch
That stands beside our door.
There is a bless­ing in the air,
Which seems […]