Throw Beck Thursday: What We Should Talk About When We Talk About Guns
Love them or hate them, chances are if you were raised in America someone in your family owned a gun. James Stafford tells his family tale of firearms, and of the event that holstered his forever.
I was raised in an era when two grandfathers was the norm, and they were known only as “Grandpa.” Context was everything: whose house we visited determined who was named Grandpa. They were men in a sense of the word that was fading quickly, each clinging to their cigarettes and their Coors from dawn to dusk, haunting fraternal lodges and fishing spots. Yes, and there in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, each man named Grandpa was well-armed, too, though only one owned the guns of dead soldiers.
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200. Can’t Happen Here
I was raised in the shadows of major events. We forget that the ’60s spilled over into the ’70s: Vietnam and Watergate, school bussing, the Equal Rights Amendment, Tiny Tim’s Tonight Show wedding to Miss Vicki. The early ’70s were every bit as tumultuous as the ’60s, just with a Carpenters and John Denver soundtrack.
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From the Stacks: Harry Chapin-Cats in the Cradle
My kids and I were in the car when Harry Chapin’s “Cats in the Cradle” came up in the rotation. “Listen to this,” I said, and I turned it up a little. “This is the saddest song ever written.”
“Why is it so sad?” my daughter asked.
“Just listen.”
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Throw Beck Thursday: The Things In My Pockets
My grandfather had great pockets. He wore denim shirts with mother of pearl snaps, and in the left breast pocket he usually carried a pack of smokes. Sometimes he’d go on a roll your own kick, and that’s when his shirt pockets were the most interesting: a drawstring bag of tobacco in one and cigarette papers in the other.
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INTERVIEW with Kerrigan Mahan: The Voice of Goldar & So Much More (+ He Does “THE VOICE” for Us LIVE!)
The name Kerrigan Mahan might not sound immediately familiar, but we can almost guarantee that you’ve heard his voice. He’s played some pretty amazing characters in projects like Static Shock, Team Knight Rider, Vampire Hunter D, Lupin III, Robotech, 1989’s Dragon Ball, and VR Troopers. You most likely know him, though, as the voice of the iconic villain Goldar from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers or as Power Rangers Lost Galaxy‘s Magna Defender.
NOTE: We wanted to wait to post this until his anniversary of the debut episode…but we just couldn’t wait any longer. Yep, it’s that awesome.
Mahan is a true veteran, getting his start in the 80s and being part of the original small team of voice actors that did all voice acting work at the time. Camera actors often share stories of how they got their roles, but with voice actors…
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KItty for John.
John –
I could not get this to work on Facebook, because they no likey people putting up .gifs. You have much more brainspace in your fingertips to get around this, but – – you are kind of scary that way.
So, here it is:
180. Everyone’s Creeping Up to the Money God
I know romanticizing poverty is kind of a hip literary thing to do, even after eight years in the White House, but being poor sucks. I didn’t feel romantic at all. Mostly I just felt sorry for myself.
The thing about living on beans and ramen noodles is that all forbidden fruits look delicious. Los Angeles offered so much junk food opportunity: Fatburger, Carney’s, Oki-Dog, Tommy’s, In-N-Out, taquerias, Pinks, on and on. I felt like some kind of Dickensian street urchin drooling over the plump goose in the window, not a farthing in my breeches.
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