History doesn’t always cooperate with us. The narrative that we are continually constructing often runs at odds with reality. Our outrage culture has built a story around Hurricane Katrina that’s pretty much the accepted narrative. One off-shoot of this narrative is that FEMA and its Director at the time, Michael Brown, were bumbling idiots who failed… Continue reading Let’s All Check on Senator Mary Landrieu’s Fishing Camp
Month: April 2018
Big Sur Stabbing: Writer “Falls Onto” Knife 9 Times
Big Sur, California, hugging the Pacific coast, is wreathed in fog and mystery. It seems like if you’re going to die there, it’s not a bad place to be. Novelist Dennis Murphy did not die–though the Fresno Bee did erroneously report his death–but he was stabbed in a most unusual way in a parking lot fight… Continue reading Big Sur Stabbing: Writer “Falls Onto” Knife 9 Times
Midcentury Modern Lovefest with 1961’s “Bachelor in Paradise”
If you love midcentury modern style and you’re feeling down, few things are better than screening 1961’s Bachelor in Paradise, with Bob Hope and Lana Turner. This is not a witty movie; it is not important or classic at all. But it is a film that oozes delightful MCM-ness from every crack and pore. In fact, so… Continue reading Midcentury Modern Lovefest with 1961’s “Bachelor in Paradise”
Brutal and Effective: C. Fred Tarver’s Advertising Campaign
“These four men have one thing in common…” Who would you rather buy insurance from if you live in Alexandria, Louisiana. Fred Tarver? How about C.F. Tarver? Wait, what about Cleston Tarver? Or C. Fred Tarver? For close to three decades, residents of that city were familiar with Tarver’s repetitive ad for his State Farm… Continue reading Brutal and Effective: C. Fred Tarver’s Advertising Campaign