The Awakeningby Kate Chopin God bless those free libraries you see around town. Not only is it a perfect way to spread culture and joy throughout the community, it’s a haven of opportunity. This is the year I’m trying to read more classics, and lo and behold, my local free library had a copy of Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. A classic if there ever was one. The summary on the back made it sound like a prude gets horny one...

Reds – 40th Anniversary Edition Is Reds the greatest longest movie of all time? Better than Apocalypse Now! Redux? I’m looking at the AFI Top 100 movies of all time and I think Lawrence of Arabia is the longest at 3 hours 42 minutes. That movie’s good. It’s fine. It’s just too long, you know? There are too many long shots of the desert, which I’m sure was a technical achievement at the time, but unlike that movie, Reds just...

Photos by Dan Benedetto @dbendo on...

Comedy Comedy Comedy Dramaby Bob Odenkirk Look, I can’t help but love Bob Odenkirk, OK? Or “Bob” as I like to call him. Watching him do comedy is almost as interesting as watching his rise into the mainstream. I couldn’t be happier for him and I’ve always thought he was an underappreciated comedic genius. But, I guess most people don’t know him from comedy, but from Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul. Personally, I don’t think his work in BCS is really...

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – Official Video Game Soundtrack 2xLP Guardians of the Galaxy is what really changed how we see Marvel Movies. You see, GoG is not exactly the highest intellectual property in the Marvel franchise but with the success of the movie, its sequels, its incorporation into the Avengers and the MCU, it’s become clear that Marvel would be able to propel any of its IP to greatness with the right people in charge. You just can’t...

Now thirty years and several significant cultural movements later, it’s difficult to get a sense of how much excitement and promise there was surrounding Jane’s Addiction at the height of the band’s fame. Simply said, Jane’s Addiction represented a way to transition from the staid, well-established values and forms evident in classic rock to the far most untested and new paradigm exemplified in alternative rock in the Nineties. 1990’s Ritual de lo Habitual was the band’s third album and proved...

Photos by the wonderful Brittany Rose Queen. Check out her IG account for the best Boston area photo coverage...

Photos by Corwin Wickersham...

Lolitaby Vladimir Nabokov Oef. This is the year I want to educate myself literarily. I want to read the classics to have some perspective. Read what the greats had to say. Train the old noodle, as it were. I felt like I should tackle Nabokov, and after hearing what the experts had to say, it turns out he is indeed considered one of the greats. And Lolita IS the best place to start with him. I went in with a...

Unrequited Infatuationsby Steven Van Zandt I don’t think I ever could have prepared myself for Unrequited Infatuations. I have been a Springsteen fan for a while now, but never dug deep into the history. I honestly didn’t really know about Steven Van Zandt, and only after watching Sopranos did he really pop up on my radar. I chalked him up to being a sideman with a big personality but it’s only after listening to the Best Show did my interest...