No, not Marnye. This Fox was a Volkswagen car, mine from 1990 until today. It was my first and only car (so far), and was with me through a large chunk of my life. An entire Chinese zodiac cycle, in fact.

I first drove to Smoky Mountain High School in this car. I drove to my [...]

Gregory and I worked long and hard (huh-huh!) on this SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW, so read it already. I wrote the essay; both of us wrote the capsules. Free DVDs and LYT-shirts to anyone who can guess correctly which capsules are mine and which are G’s. Bear in mind that from time to time we steal [...]

Maybe I should delete emails more often. I have so many archived at work — bad habit I picked up from a former boss and a former program which deleted the old ones automatically.

I was looking for something else and came across some from Marnye, most ending with her beseeching me to come to Phoenix. [...]

Especially in Phoenix. I like Phoenix as a town. I’ve been wanting to do a road trip there for some time now. But not like this. I feel like a movie cliche. If the journey me and former NTLA copy-editor Broos Campbell just took were a movie, it’d be augmented with perfectly accurate flashbacks during [...]

I’m still going back and forth between shock and denial over Marnye’s death. I’m hoping that going back and forth between Phoenix and L.A. for the memorial will make it sink in.

Those of you visiting this site for the first time, please do stop by the message board (see link at top of this page) [...]

When New Times LA first ran an ad advertising for a film critic, I submitted my clips through the mail. On the advice of a more doggedly determined friend of mine, I decided that what I really should do was go to the New Times office with more clips, and just sit down until someone [...]

The new Marilyn Manson album came out today. As probably the biggest MM fan I know, I’m sure my valuable opinion on this matter is sought. So that you know where I’m coming from, here are my brief assessments of his previous work:

Portrait of an American Family — I didn’t care for the very first [...]

So now ultimate pushover Harry Knowles has declared himself underwhelmed by The Matrix Reloaded. I’m amazed at all the naysayers, especially given the vast number of people who were prepared to defend every minor apparent inconsistency in the Star wars prequels, or love Lord of the Rings despite its faults. Matrix Reloaded is a better [...]

In my last coupla pieces on the trip, I didn’t mention the food. English food is much-maligned, and like English teeth that’s often an unfair caricature. True, the UK has traditionally not been much for spices, but that’s changing — a recent survey turned up the news that chicken tikka is now England’s favorite dish. [...]

I knew I’d forget some things in my first account. One of the exotic foreign beers that’s gaining popularity over there is…Budweiser. They get a bit taken aback when I tell them I buy that at the supermarket just because it’s cheap. Still, always gives me a good excuse to recite the old Paul Hogan [...]