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2 Stupid Dogs? 2 Stupid Dogs!
The 1990s is considered to be a golden age for TV animation. Spearheaded by the 1992 debut of Nickelodeon’s animation line up, TV cartoons changed. Gone were the shows designed to sell toys, “Transformers,” “GI Joe,” replacing them were a new wave of creator-driven shows that were smart, funny, and all innovative in their own […]
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Back From the Grave
Hello, it’s me. I’ve thought about us for a long, long time. OK, apologies to Todd Rundgren—but hello. How are you? It’s been a while. You look well, you haven’t changed. Is that a new haircut? Looks great on you! Yes, The Loafer was away for a while. It looked like it wasn’t going to […]
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Summer Vacation
My wife and I were sitting around the other night playing a game of Scrabble. Scrabble, has it has been for many years, is our love language. We take it very seriously and our games can sometimes become tense. Scrabble has almost caused us to divorce thrice. This was not one of the occasions when […]
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Female Trouble
Female Trouble What would the world of cinema be without the works of Baltimore’s favorite son, John Waters? From his early works like “Pink Flamingos” to his more popular and mainstream titles “Cry Baby” and “Hairspray”—the latter of which spawned a popular Broadway musical that just had a production done by Johnson City Community Theater—movies […]
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Parker Brothers Board Games
Parker Brothers Board Games. Living in 2018 is exhausting, both for global and personal reasons—my father has been dealing with lung cancer for almost a year. To cope and deal with it all I spend a lot of time indulging my passions more than usual. Which is to say I’ve spent a significant amount of […]
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Designing Seven Brides
In 1954 MGM released two musicals in the new widescreen CinemaScope format. One was a lavish adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical “Brigadoon” the other was a musical written especially for the screen, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” Despite “Seven Brides” having a score that featured lyrics by perhaps the greatest lyricist to ever […]
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Diving Head First Screaming Into A Pool of Enthusiasm
If you, over these last twelve years (holy cats), have followed my column with any regularity, then you are most aware that yours truly is rather enthusiastic over board games. Some know me as “the movie guy” or “the record guy,” but when people ask me what my hobbies are I tend to answer with […]
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An Open Letter to the People I Played Mario Kart with Last Weekend
Dear___________, First off, let me begin by once again thanking you for inviting me into your home for an evening of fun and games. I’m so glad that we (you, me, and our collective friends) are able to get together regularly for fun and shenanigans. What a blessing this is during these trying times. As […]
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Noir Crazy Luxury Liners
Let me get right to the heart of the matter. The 1950 Film-Noir “Gun Crazy” is one hell of a movie. A thrilling movie with amazing camerawork including a legendary shot-in-one-take bank robbery done entirely from the backseat of a car. I first saw “Gun Crazy” two years ago, and it really left an impression […]
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West to Johnson City?
The lady and I were out having dinner the other night. We hadn’t had a proper date night in far too long, our lives have been quite busy lately. I also owed her massive apologies for what went down during our last game of “Mario Kart,” which I hoped to do by taking her out […]
