His Hand In Mine

(I’mpretending I haven’t taken a month or two off. Roll with me here.)My songwriting career took a two-year break, along with everything else, circa 1987 as I gallivanted off to Scotland on a two-year proselytizing spree on behalf of the Mormons. The only song I composed between 1987 and 1989 was a parody of The ... Read more

The Inevitability of Gay Marriage

Facebookhas exploded with reactions to the repeal of Proposition 8, with my more liberal friends crowing with delight and my conservative friends – especially the Mormons - lamenting the end of civilization as we know it. I’ve recounted my position time and again, and I think it equally infuriates people on both sides of the ... Read more

The Ballad of Stallion Cornell

"TheBallad of Stallion Cornell" was written during my freshman year at the University of Southern California. I had just gotten my first guitar, and I was trying to figure out what to do with it. I only knew about three or four chords, and I played them over and over, which resulted in the OOM-chuck-chuck ... Read more

Color Your Dreams

Adolescencewas not kind to my songwriting career.“I Am A Cow” showed real promise, but as the years dragged on, every other song I attempted to write was crap. The problem was that I was trying to be soulful and get chicks, so my songs were all about how deep and sensitive I was. Except that ... Read more

I Am A Cow

I’vealways maintained that “I Am A Cow” (1979) is the very first song I ever wrote, but that might not be accurate, as it was contemporary with the song “Chop Up Your Grandma,” which had lyrics as follows:I’m gonna chop up your grandmaDa-na-na-na-naI’m gonna put her in a microwave ovenI’m going ... Read more

Is the American Musical Dead?

StephenSondheim is arguably the greatest living composer of musical theatre. Certainly he is the most respected by the arts community. He burst on to Broadway in 1957 as the lyricist for the new musical West Side Story. His credits include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A Little Night Music, Gypsy, ... Read more

Taking the Name of the Lord in Vain

GeorgeBurns' geriatric career went into overdrive when he appeared in a magnificent movie, playing the Almighty Himself.The problem was that I wasn't allowed to say the name of the movie.Why? Well, it was called "Oh, God!" and repeating that title was taking the name of the Lord in vain. I would describe the movie to ... Read more

Narnia Movies

Thefirst trailer for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was released not too long ago, and I’m actually surprised that it looks as good as it does.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf9Xl84b9Wo&w=640&h=385]The story on the Narnia movies was that the second movie had a bigger budget and a smaller box office, so Disney punted the franchise over to Fox, who ... Read more
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