Á¢€Å“ItÁ¢€â„¢s like riding a bike!Á¢€ Kay Hanley exclaimed last Saturday night, acknowledging the audience’s raucous response to her reunion with Letters to Cleo at the Roxy in West Hollywood. Eight…
Jon Cummings
246 Articles
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
I didnÁ¢€â„¢t cry for an hour and a half. I watched dozens of other people weep and shout and wail and fling themselves to the floor with happiness; I watched…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
On Tuesday, citizens of California will have an opportunity to place our indelible stamp on the forward progress of civil rights in the United States. IÁ¢€â„¢m not talking about the…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
Don Dixon may never quite achieve the lofty stature of rock and rollÁ¢€â„¢s Great Men, but thereÁ¢€â„¢s no questioning that for nearly 40 years heÁ¢€â„¢s been one of the industryÁ¢€â„¢s…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
ThereÁ¢€â„¢s a faction of music fans out there who are annoyed by Ray LaMontagne, and itÁ¢€â„¢s not too difficult to understand why. HereÁ¢€â„¢s a guy who refuses to behave like…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
DoesnÁ¢€â„¢t it seem like just a decade since the protagonists of our current national melodrama began taking the stage? John McCain announced his candidacy on David Letterman Á¢€” only to…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Whether you were a child of the Á¢€â„¢60s or (like me) of the Á¢€â„¢70s, the BeatlesÁ¢€â„¢ perpetual presence on the radio seemed something of a birthright. Every Á¢€Å“officialÁ¢€ Beatles single…
Jon Cummings
3 Min Read
Last night I had a dream Á¢€¦ of long-faded memories, and basic-cable infomercials: Voiceover: RememberÁ¢€¦this? John McCain: Á¢€Å“Who is Barack Obama?Á¢€ VO: ThatÁ¢€â„¢s right Á¢€¦ they’re the hits youÁ¢€â„¢ve come…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
Jon Cummings: Why am I so bummed that the debate season is over? Please, Barack, take McCain up on his pleas for a dozen more town halls! I know, I…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
I may be a bit slow on the uptake these days when it comes to television commercials — I don’t watch much live TV anymore, what with the TiVo and…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
Make no mistake: The new right-wing comedy, An American Carol, is just as bad as you imagine it to be, if not worse. Even as I walked into the theater…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Bill MaherÁ¢€â„¢s aversion to religion is well documented, thanks to his regular, tangential diatribes on Real Time and the occasional scripted bit in his Á¢€Å“New RulesÁ¢€ segments. This weekend, however,…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Jon Cummings: My junior year at college I took a creative writing class in which all the students received copies of each otherÁ¢€â„¢s short stories and offered critiques in a…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
What a confluence of events this week! A few hours after this column posts, Sarah Palin takes the stage for what might turn out to be her one unscripted, real-time…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
This past Sunday, in a coordinated effort to flout a federal law banning political endorsements from the pulpit, 33 evangelical and fundamentalist pastors in 22 states used their sermons either…
Ted Asregadoo
1 Min Read
Ted Asregadoo This is the first time Barack Obama and John McCain have faced each other as competitors rather than Senate colleagues, and itÁ¢€â„¢s clear that the chumminess of that…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Once again John McCain has chosen chaos over constancy as his presidential campaign Á¢€¦ Oops, I forgot: McCain currently doesnÁ¢€â„¢t have a presidential campaign. ItÁ¢€â„¢s been Á¢€Å“suspended,Á¢€ even as he…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
Among the many types of radio star that video killed were what I like to call the Faceless Narcissists Á¢€” those acts of the pre-MTV era who felt compelled to…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
John McCain and Sarah Palin enjoy a light moment on the campaign trail, between feedings. From yesterday’s New York Times: “Laura Chase, the campaign manager during Ms. Palin’s first run…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Though my head is exploding over the lunacy of John McCainÁ¢€â„¢s increasingly cowardly and dishonorable presidential campaign, it seems imperative that I join the rest of the political culture in…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
Dw.: Well, John McCain is in a pickle now, isn’t he? Last week he chose a running mate that would satisfy certain weak sectors of his ticket – the Christian…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Dw. Dunphy: Yes! I have been waiting for this all week: Palin Time! Do you think they’ll do the Dead Parrot sketch? Maybe even … the Cheese Shop?! I can’t…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
Amie Miriello, I Came Around (BellaSonic/Jive/Zomba) purchase this album (Amazon) The current boomlet of female singer-songwriters hasnÁ¢€â„¢t yet spawned a Lilith Fair revival, but you can just feel one coming…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
Dw. Dunphy: I thought IÁ¢€â„¢d start things off tonight with a joke: So Á¢€¦ Judas, Benedict Arnold, and the dude from Raiders of the Lost Ark who gets the spikes…
Ted Asregadoo
1 Min Read
An Open Letter to Hurricane Gustav By Ted Asregadoo Damn you, Gustav!Á‚ I mean, how could you have the audacity to downgrade from a Category 3 to the Category 2…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
ItÁ¢€â„¢s hard to know exactly what to write in this space today, because as of this writing itÁ¢€â„¢s difficult to know what form this weekÁ¢€â„¢s Republican National Convention will take….
Ted Asregadoo
1 Min Read
Well, the big night arrived, and the three of us gathered together to experience this historic moment in America the only way we knew how:Á‚ via the warm glow of…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
Jon: Well, so much for the Á¢€Å“civic dutyÁ¢€ I believed would guilt the Popdose community into following the political conventions: Even my heretofore partner in blogging crime, Ted Asredagoo, abandoned…
Jon Cummings
1 Min Read
Jon: Our frequent commenter Á¢€Å“ElaineÁ¢€ is eager for us to objectify Hillary tonight. Are we Á¢€Å“upÁ¢€ for it? Ted: IÁ¢€â„¢m gameÁ¢€¦ Jon: So, Mark Warner looks pretty good. I keep…
Ted Asregadoo
1 Min Read
Jon: What were your impressions of Ted & the Kennedys? He looked pretty good, considering. Ted: He did a very good job. Kennedy finished probably his last political speech, and…