Movie Review of “HOWL”

HOWL was written by Allen Ginsberg in 1955 and published in 1956 along with various other works under the title of Howl and Other Poems. Known to be one of the greatest poetic works of the 20th Century, as well as the forefront augmentation of the Beat Generation’s literary movement, Howl is written in four ...

Dave McKean

The Awakening

For the first time she recognized anew the symptoms of infatuation which she felt incipiently as a child, as a girl in her earliest teens, and later as a young woman.  The recognition did not lessen the reality, the poignancy of the revelation by any suggestion or promise of instability.  The past was nothing to ...

“Down the Line”

Musical Mondays: “Down the Line” by José González José González is a Swedish indie folk singer and songwriter of Argentine descent. His soft voice and classical use of guitar make his music strike chords within a person’s heart. Although known for his song covers, such as “Teardrop” by Massive Attack and “Heartbeats” by The Knife, his mellow style and ...

Intro to Creative Writing

He strolls into his classroom wearing his uniform—faded black jeans that sag in the rear and a worn fleece pullover. He slings his bag onto the table up front and checks his watch—he’s five minutes late, as usual. The students are already seated, and he surveys the assembly. In the back row a girl scribbles ...

“The Town,” Matthew Steinberg

The Town is a gritty, no holds barred heist movie with a heart. Doug MacCray (Ben Affleck) is a hardened criminal. He has grown up in Charlestown, MA and become an excellent bank robber and mastermind behind successful heists. In his most recent triumph, he makes the mistake of falling for the bank’s manager, free-spirited ...

Andreas Feininger

Working as a photographer for Life magazine, Andreas Feininger captured some of the most definitive views of the post-World War II era. Known mostly for his work featuring New York City, he worked exclusively in black and white film. Other common themes in his photographs involve science and nature, but usually in a somewhat isolated ...

“Résumé,” Dorothy Parker

Razors pain you;Rivers are damp;Acids stain you;And drugs cause cramp.Guns aren’t lawful;Nooses give;Gas smells awful;You might as well live. —- Every now and again you don’t need to tell a long story, sometimes you just need to tell a joke. Sometimes you need something as positive and hilarious as this to remember that life is ...

Spotlight on Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock has made over 55 films and continues to be studied at most, if not all, major film schools. Some of his most famous works include Notorious, The Lady Vanishes, 39 Steps, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rear Window, Psycho, The Birds, Shadow of a Doubt, Rebecca, Strangers on a Train, ...

Waterhouse BLOWOUT!

One of my favorite painters is John William Waterhouse. This is not going to be an art history lesson, so you can just read up about him here if you’re so inclined. In a nutshell, not only is his style absolutely vibrant, emotional, and gorgeous, but he has a sense of history and mythos. His ...

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Words! Mere words! How terrible they were! How clear, and vivid, and cruel! One could not escape from them. And yet what a subtle magic there was in them! They seemed to be able to give a plastic form to formless things, and to have a music of their own as sweet as that of ...

“Pulse”, Ani Difranco

Musical Mondays: Pulse by Ani DiFranco you crawled into my bed like some sort of giant insect and I found myself spellbound that night at the sight of you there beautiful and grotesque and all the rest of that bug stuff bluffing your way into my mouth behind my teeth, reaching for my scars that ...