A Brand New Podcast About Downtown Cleveland
Some months ago, I got a pitch from my friend Amy Eddings, host of Morning Edition here on WCPN ideastream, Cleveland’s NPR station. She wanted to do a podcast with me. But first, a little backstory…
New Trailer for the Suspiria Remake (which looks like a freak show)
If you haven’t seen Dario Argento’s 1977 original cult masterpiece, do yourself a favor. It’s one of the most revered horror films of all time for good reason. It’s terrifying.
Living in Downtown Cleveland without a Car: May 2018
I’ve skipped a month in this series, but my principle thesis remains the same: car ownership is unnecessary when living in a city. I’m living proof of it.
The June 2018 Spotify Playlist
Occasionally, I’ll throw down a playlist with a discernible theme or mood. Although this isn’t one of them, it does have a summery vibe. When it comes to music and general listening, I favor the eclectic with offbeat surprises, especially from resources like NPR’s All Songs 24/7 and KCRW’s Eclectic24 streams. This month’s playlist captures the well-rounded flavor of those stations.
Notes on a Sandal
If you’re a member of a special society or group that loves men’s bare feet and toes, or if your partner or spouse has a foot fetish and loves admiring, touching or more with respect to your toes, congratulations. You’re in a special minority.
The Horrible Fragrance of Men’s Grooming Products
The marketing directive for the fragrance of most men’s grooming products would seem to go like this:
“Team: The men in our target market have absolutely no discernment or taste, and we need to pander to that. When it comes to scenting our product line, we need something obnoxious, something that makes eyes water and nostrils burn – the perfect olfactive complement to a Jersey Shore or modern ‘bro’ look. If our customer tries to wear a more refined scent of his own, our products should totally overpower it and really dominate any room he enters. Anyone who shares an elevator ride with our customer should smell like us for the rest of the day. (A fun fact about the line: our deodorants and hair gels also work as insect repellent, but we can’t legally market them for that. That said, something that actually smells like Bug-Off or even a super sweetened sundae topping is not off the table.) Our sampling meeting is in four weeks. We’re looking for options that really melt our faces off. Dazzle us!”
If you’ve ever smelled any Axe product, you might conclude that the satirical memo above is not too far fetched. In terms of how they smell, most grooming products give men a raw deal. The scent is way too heavy and, to make it worse, simply horrible to begin with.
New Trailer for “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Hair and makeup on an actor playing an iconic real life person with whom we are very familiar is a risky prospect. It can be brilliant and seamless or it can be so embarrassing and distracting that it takes us right out of the movie. Fortunately, it looks like the filmmakers behind Bohemian Rhapsody really nailed the “wow, he looks just like him” challenge. Rami Malek’s hair, makeup and the prosthetic for the signature overbite conspire to make his likeness to Freddie Mercury pretty damn good.
Tom Wolfe, Style Icon
In a numbing sea of sameness and conformity, Tom Wolfe stood out. He found a look (a really good one), latched onto it and committed to it totally. Instead of looking like everyone else and boring the hell out of himself and anyone who looked his way, he decided to dazzle. And dazzle he did.
Vegan Mac & Cheese by a Bitchy Vegan Homo
I’m not a vegan, but I’ve adopted a classification I call “vegan-adjacent.” After quitting meat in 2010, I’ve also made adjustments that bring me closer to a vegan without going full-tilt. Since then, I’ve drastically dialed down the dairy, only consuming it when I’m out at a restaurant or a party, and I still occasionally eat fish. Other than that, I’m much closer to vegan than carnivore.
When I moved back to Cleveland at the end of 2016, I was delighted to see far more vegetarian and vegan offerings than I’ve ever noticed before. But Cleveland is very much a meat eater’s town. Every other menu or advertisement for a restaurant is all about the beef, the bacon and the extra cheese.
If you add all that to the fact that I’ve detected little to no discernible gay presence in Downtown Cleveland (not even one gay bar), imagine my sheer delight when a friend forwarded me a brand new Cleveland-based vegan cooking video series by a guy named Dave Huffman, a.k.a. Bitchy Vegan Homo.
The May 2018 Spotify Playlist
I haven’t updated the monthly playlist since last August. Shame on me.