Radiohead’s “Creep,” performed by the Vega Choir of Sweden, has been burning up the Internet like a match on a gasoline-soaked haystack. Hit Play and scroll down this page and find out what’s going on with Vega Choir’s “Creep.” What is “Creep”? “Creep” is a song by English band Radiohead that was released in 1992.… Continue reading Listen & Learn: Radiohead’s Creep by Vega Choir
Author: Lee Wallender
Deception, influence, fakes, illusions, themed environments, simulations, secret places, secret infrastructure, imagined places, dreamscapes, movie sets and props, evasions, camouflage, studio backlots, miniatures.
Yestermen With Titanium Balls: F. Bert Farquharson at the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, 1940
What to call these men who, in decades past, did fearsome things for a purpose and did so with utter aplomb? While dangerously close to yes men, the term yestermen works for me. He’s the man who saves the woman from falling off of Mt. Rushmore–all without taking off his tie. The polar opposite would… Continue reading Yestermen With Titanium Balls: F. Bert Farquharson at the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, 1940
Realtor or REALTOR®? Either Way, Royal Bullshit
I have long been suspicious of the word Realtor, Realtor®, REALTOR®, or whatever it is. It began years ago when I noticed that the National Association of Realtors stressed that they were called the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and that their members were obviously called…REALTORS® That’s right. All caps and with the registered trademark symbol.… Continue reading Realtor or REALTOR®? Either Way, Royal Bullshit
American Suburbs As Cultural Trope: Any Juice Left?
Recently, I read an Associated Press assessment of how the American suburbs are no longer “your father’s suburbs of the 1950s and 1960s” and have become educated communities with vibrant arts scenes, and where Brazilian grocers and Vietnamese nail salons reside joyfully next to one another. Civic leaders in the city of Shawnee and county… Continue reading American Suburbs As Cultural Trope: Any Juice Left?
“Vibrant” Means “Squalid”: Celebrating 7 Years of Vibrancy
Vibrant! Nothing wrong with vibrancy, is there? Actually, there is trouble in River City and it is vibrancy. In 2010, when I wrote the piece below, I had identified a certain usage of the term vibrant to mean, basically, a squalid, crime-ridden city area of some diversity that needed a positive spin and so: vibrant! I… Continue reading “Vibrant” Means “Squalid”: Celebrating 7 Years of Vibrancy