Last week I vacationed alone in Utah, visiting, hiking, and taking pictures at two national parks – Zion and Bryce. Simply put, awesome!! Bryce is known for its odd rock formations called “hoo doos.*” The parks lacked the usual throngs of tourists that naturally visit when the kids are not in school, which enabled me …
Search Results for: Mark erickson
In Paris, at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, aggressor Germany waived the white flag to end the Great War. The Treaty of Versailles would be signed months later. Over 16 million soldiers and civilians were killed in the first war that relied on modern technology such as …
I heard this composition on wnur.org @ 89.3fm while driving home after visiting my parents last weekend. There are several passages that I like…always trying to expand my musical horizon! Ciao ciao for now. – Mark Erickson
Nine Inch Nails (NIN) has been recording industrial and rock music for nearly 30 years. Its architect, Trent Reznor (53 y/o), has said he left a “little, shitty town, a small-aspiration environment” between Cleveland and Pittsburgh for Chicago when he started working for Chicago-based WaxTrax! Records (Front 242, KMFDM, Revolting Cocks, Mussolini Headkick, among many …
The slate for the 2018 inductee class into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been announced. I have winced over the years regarding artists who have been inducted; Joan Jet and Green Day come to mind. I cannot find the criteria for induction on the HOF’s website. Longevity, influence, or an ongoing successful …
My Alma Mater, North Park University (Chicago, IL), used to be a national powerhouse in Division III (non-scholarship) men’s basketball. North Park won national championships in 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, and 1987. The hoops’ team fell on very hard times after the release of the head coach who guided the Viking ship to the last …
The Minnesota State Fair is a gathering of all souls – the quintessential merging of country, suburban, and city folk – over the course of 12 days, ending on Labor Day. Affectionately known as the “Great Minnesota Get-Together”, it is situated on permanent grounds in St. Paul. My parents took the family to the State …
When my kids were active members with our church’s youth groups I got to know a man named Nabil as he had daughters very close in age to my sons. I learned that Nabil’s parents and grandparents owned two farms in Palestine that bore oranges, lemons, and limes. Then the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and …
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” ― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities My wife and I recently spent some time in California. I was disturbed at the human conditions in San Francisco. I wrote to the San Francisco Chronicle (below) and even though my letter to the …
On Father’s Day in America, The Guardian (London) newspaper ran a story called, “Separation at the border: children wait in cages at South Texas warehouse.” Former First Lady Laura Bush wrote an op-ed piece the day after Father’s Day, decrying the “mass detention” of children who have been separated from their parents. https://www.twincities.com/2018/06/18/laura-bush-separating-children-from-their-parents-at-the-border-breaks-my-heart/ Mr. Orwell, …
Well, the next shoe has dropped in the MSU/USA gymnastics sexual molestation scandal. Dr. William Strampel, 70 y/o, the MSU supervisor of serial molester Dr. Larry Nassar, has been arrested. Strampel came under scrutiny earlier this month, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on 3.20.18. The Journal noted that Stampel, MSU’s Dean of Osteopathic …
On March 6, 2018, Chicago’s fabled classic rock station, WLUP (97.9), announced it was being acquired by Educational Media Foundation (EMF). Since 2014 “The Loop” has been operated under a local agreement with Cumulus Media. However, as part of a bankruptcy filing last month, Cumulus withdrew plans to buy the station, and so the search …
In these four high-profile cases, adults covered up sexual crimes. The Catholic Church moved priests. The Boy Scouts kept their Perversion Papers secret. Penn State preferred profits over boys. As the gymnastics’ story has already unfolded at Molestation State University against female gymnasts, there will be an expansion to female co-eds, making the travesty more …
I have been tending lately to fixate on artists for a while, given the wealth of video on YouTube. I have spent time looking for new, i.e., old, material from Alice in Chains, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, Don Rickles, Sam Kinison and others. Recently, I researched the early 1970’s video catalog of Joe Walsh. …
On the eve of when we celebrate a national holiday, I would like to pass along a poem by William Burroughs called “Thanksgiving Prayer” that Ministry included during the first part of “Thankx but no Thanx” on 2013’s From Beer to Eternity. Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!
After a gambler saw his losing streak continue, he then used multiple, modified assault weapons to kill 58 people and wound 546 in Las Vegas on October 1st. The Orange President of the United States of America (OPOTUS) president reacted by saying the issue should not be framed in political terms. I do not recall …
I came across this passage last night while reading Tim Weiner’s book, One Man Against the World: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon. The next paragraph is verbatim (page 68). “We tried every operational approach in the book, and committed our most experienced field operatives to the effort to get inside the government in Hanoi,” CIA …
Forty years ago the #4 ranked Oklahoma Sooners traveled to Ohio to play the #3 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. I was home alone when I sat in my living room in Minnesota to watch the football game. This represented the first time I ever saw the exciting wishbone offense, which Oklahoma ran with QB Thomas …
Two weeks ago the Wall Street Journal featured an article in its Life and Arts section called, “What Happened to the Negative Review?” Writer Neil Shah posited that critics these days are less able to interview musical artists; instead, they rely on self-promotion in this digital era. Shah also wrote that critics are more likely …
Last weekend my wife and I went to Northwestern University to attend the musical, Tommy, by The Who. Undergraduate students performed with a nine piece band, including a french horn. I retrieved my Tommy album upon return to the abode to check the liner notes. John Entwistle is credited with the horn playing. And then …
President Trump unveiled his budget in May. As a candidate, Mr. Trump promised to protect entitlement programs, claiming he has a “big heart.” Guess what? Trump’s budget is irresponsible and unethical by putting the most vulnerable at risk of significant health and financial problems for the benefit of putting more money into the pockets of …
In the months prior to America’s illegal invasion into Iraq on March 20, 2003, Americans were told by 43 that the war was necessary to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Hussein was a threat to the U.S, and 43 implied that Mr. Hussein was responsible for the September 11, 2001, attack on America. Shortly …
My favorite rock vocalist is Freddie Mercury of Queen. Also in my top five are Randy Blythe of Burn the Priest/Lamb of God, Michael Akerfeldt of Opeth, pre-cape Elvis Presley, and Bon Scott from AC/DC. (James Brown “ranks” #2 if the category expands beyond rock.) Regarding the last front man, I cranked Back in Black …
On March 13, 2017, two former administrators from Pedophilia State University pled guilty to child endangerment after years of maintaining their innocence. Tim Curley, the former athletic director, and Gary Schultz, a former vice president, apparently thought the plea deal and their testimony at the upcoming trial of their former supervisor, former PSU President Graham …
#45 announced his nomination for the Supreme Court earlier this week. From what I’ve heard, Neil Gorsuch is Antonin Scalia 2.0. If confirmed, Gorsuch will be the youngest (49) Court Justice, seven years younger than Justice Elena Kagan. On November 13, 2016, I went to my local library to hear The Fat Babies, a jazz …
I’ve been thinking about lyrics to a song or an album that fits the current state of the nation with its new president. Like other politicians, Donald Trump made some bold pledges and promises on the campaign trail. He promised the return of manufacturing jobs to “Make America Great Again.” He wanted to tear up …
There have been two surreal moments that stand apart from my average life. First, while a senior at North Park College (Chicago, IL) I was a passenger in a car with my brother, Paul Johnson, Lowell Berggren (the driver), and his girlfriend, Sharon Greenwood. We were driving to Minneapolis in a snowstorm after dusk the …
The Center for Defense Information (CDI) was founded in 1971 by a group of retired military officers to analyze military matters, inform decision-makers and the public, and influence policy. CDI had three primary goals: 1) avert a nuclear war with the Soviet Union; 2) end the Vietnam War; and, 3) monitor the military-industrial complex. CDI …
Jeanne Clery was raped and murdered in her dorm room at Lehigh University by a fellow student in 1986. Her distraught parents came to believe that Lehigh had not taken sufficient efforts to keep its college campus safe, and lobbied for legislative action. In 1990, Congress passed what is commonly known as “The Clery Act.” …
Barron’s (Barrons.com) is a weekly newspaper devoted solely to stocks and the financial markets. My Dad passes along old issues to me. The October 17th edition contains a four page article that is based on responses Barron’s received from its “Big Money” poll about the 2017 financial market outlook and upcoming election. The article does …