I’m really sad to hear about original MTV VJ J.J. Jackson dying. I can’t believe J.J. Jackson was 62! That means he was almost 40 when he was a VJ. So anyway, I’m sad – what a voice that guy had: Jackson, a longtime radio station disc jockey, died of …

We have about 50 reviews and stories now on Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Just when it seems like it’s going away as a major story, something like this happens: A couple who got into a dispute over a theological point after watching “The Passion of the Christ” …

Led by excellent and entertaining ongoing reviews by Scott Pepper and the Raging Critic, we are accumulating a very thorough look at American Idol – Season 3, whose popularity appears to be slowing not a whit: Wither American Idol? For three seasons, American Idol has been Fox’s top rated show, …

1988 – I had trepidations about this party from the beginning. It was a Pledge Active: planned, executed and paid for by the pledges – no longer civilians, not yet full fraternity brothers. Like military recruits, the pledges were (and are) regarded as brain-damaged vermin. Through some strange process of …

The U.S. Census Bureau offers a tribute to the 50th anniversary of color TV: It was described as “the wonderful world of color” in the title of an early television program. On March 25, 1954, the Radio Corporation of America began to manufacture color television sets at its Bloomington, Ind., …

The question of how to deal with terror is extremely complex and thorny. Do we do all we can to not arouse the “hornet’s nest,” consciously avoid taking actions that might provoke terror? Did Spain’s military participation in Iraq “cause” last week’s train bombings? Christopher Hitchens provides some perspective worth …

A video clip wherein celebrities great and small rather gleefully pronounce their favorite swear words. The FCC will pop something upon inspection of this one. My favorite is the entended hyphenation at the end. UPDATE Some background on the video: FilmFour is to screen a controversial ad that features the …

My St. Patty’s Day contribution: Ireland is a country of intense contradictions: religious, political, cultural and artistic. With a deep mystical and poetic tradition that predates Christianity, the Irish feel intensely the staggering natural beauty of their homeland, but also see beyond it to powers invisible and even unknowable. Bill …

I was deeply gratified to see Traffic inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week. Among the most listenable rock-based groups to ever record, Traffic – with a core of uber-talented singer/songwriter/keyboardist/guitarist Steve Winwood, singer/lyricist/drummer Jim Capaldi, singer/songwriter/guitarist Dave Mason and Chris Wood on tasty woodwinds – …

The Dells were just indicted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The archetypal R&B vocal harmony group began recording doo-wop in 1953 and carry on to this very day with one lineup change in 51 years. Led by the appealingly gruff lead of Marvin Junior and the sweet …