Archive for June 2009
Life & Death In The Magical Kingdom
I left the office at 7:15 last night. The sun was still casting its golden light across the Hudson. After five days of Michael Jackson coverage, it felt like a half day. I stopped at the grocery store on my way home and, inspired by the sight of fresh limes (on sale, natch), resolved to…
Read MoreBlack Or White – MP3
From the moment the Michael Jackson story broke Thursday night, just one song has been on my mind. I appreciate that most would cite “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” or “Thriller” as Michael’s finest pop song, and they may well be right; they’re great songs with great hooks. But it’s Jackson’s 1991 “Dangerous” single, “Black or…
Read MoreBreaking The News: Michael Jackson
Sadly, breaking news doesn’t surprises me much anymore. It is immediately what it is. I was in a seventeenth floor corner office overlooking Times Square on a conference call with a blogger from VH1’s Best Week Ever (of all media entities) when I heard the news. “Michael Jackson had a heart attack.” Now, I was…
Read MoreIn A Sea Black With Ink
I tell this story a lot. Way back in 1996, just a few weeks into my Wenner Media tenure, the then-managing editor of Rolling Stone Magazine led an intern Q&A thusly: “I’m 37-years-old, I don’t live in New York, and I don’t go to rock shows or movies. Any questions?” I was floored. Flabbergasted. Agog.…
Read MoreThe Hagley Fireworks (Or, In Consideration Of Teflon, Kevlar & The Apollo Space Program)
All I knew was that Abbi signed us up for “The Fireworks” back home in Wilmington, Delaware, and that the tailgating started early so I had to catch an early train out of the city and wear nice pants. “The Fireworks,” it ends up, are an annual tradition at The Hagley Museum in Greenville, Delaware,…
Read MoreHit Hard
Such is my rock bio jones that, not only was I the only person in the office to grab a copy (an unproofed gally, natch) of Joey Kramer’s “Hit Hard” out of the mailroom, but surely the only to read the Aerosmith drummer’s tale of drug addiction and recovery in a measly 24 hours. Listen,…
Read MoreSurrender
By the time I finally powered up my PC precisely 267 hours after logging off for vacation, I’d accrued 1887 emails, 19 voice mails, and 12 Facebook requests. Four hours later, I’d whittled down those various missives to a crucial total of thirty-two. Yesterday morning, less than twelve hours after my eight hour GCM-MIA-LGA commute,…
Read MoreLos Ochos Locos Internacional (Edición Azucar)
After a week there, I can confidently report that Grand Cayman is as the brochure promises: endless miles of white sand beaches, tranquil, turquoise waters, and limitless sun. It’s a Caribbean playground: swimming, snorkeling, sailing, scuba diving, and jet skiing all fueled by delicious, home-brewed rum. Abbi and I scuba dove eight times, logging nearly…
Read MoreGrand Cayman (Summer 2009)
One Grand
Last October, Abbi and I planned to spend our one-year anniversary in Nevis. Then, within a span twenty-four hours, I was informed that I’d be inheriting leadership of the news department, but not before I had my appendix removed. Suffice to say, we reluctantly canceled the trip. Fast forward eight months. It’s been a doozie…
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