Grateful Dead Archivist Position

Yesterday the Library and Information Science world was abuzz when the University of California at Santa Cruz announced that it is seeking applicants for a Grateful Dead Archivist position.  According to the job posting, the ideal candidate would have an ALA-accredited MLS (and all of the relevant professional knowledge and experience that such training entails) [...]

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Review: The Tempest at the Guignol

The venerable literary critic Harold Bloom writes of The Tempest that no other play in the Shakespeare canon has been misperformed more frequently or drastically. Bloom loathes interpretations of The Tempest that over-politicize the play, turning it into an allegory of the post-colonial quandary, and he sees such interpretative agendas to be the bane of [...]

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Happy Trails, Nickel Creek

Has anyone else noticed that Nickel Creek is breaking up (at least for now)?  I probably wouldn’t have noticed if Nickel Creek’s “Farewell (For Now)” Tour weren’t making a stop at the University of Kentucky’s Singletary Center, which I bike past every morning on the way to work.  According to the band members, Nickel Creek [...]

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R.I.P. Rich Mullins: Gone for Ten Years

Ten years ago today the well-known Christian songwriter Rich Mullins was killed in a car accident. He was traveling on a highway in Indiana and was ejected from his Jeep when it flipped over.

At the time of his death, Mullins was working on a project he called “The Jesus Record.”  The songs, which he recorded [...]

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Practice Civil Disobedience: Say “Good Night” to “My Old Kentucky Home”

Anyone who has attended a public gathering in the state of Kentucky has likely experienced a ritual of outlandish patriotism, the communal singing of “My Old Kentucky Home.” It’s quite striking to observe the locals standing, tears in eyes, fervently intoning the strains of the Kentucky anthem, which was (ironically) written by a northerner, Stevens [...]

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Should Baristas be Required to Have a Minimum Music Knowledge?

The other day I was in Starbucks, and I recognized the unmistakable strains of Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved” playing on the store’s speaker system.  I decided to crack an incredibly lame joke, directed toward the barista.
“Wow, this is some good music,” I said.  “Who is this playing?  Is this an up-coming reggae artist?”  [...]

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