Inappropriate Conversations

When you don't know the rest of the story, it can be challenging to tell the part that you do know.

"Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal."

The Ungame.

Different Drummer: Alain Robbe-Grillet

In 2016, a majority of Americans in the U.S. Senate, who took a vow to uphold the United States Constitution, have directly violated that Constitution and jeopardized protections guaranteed in the Bill Of Rights in the process. Worse, a large number of American citizens don't seem to care, either about our founding principles or about the balance of power and our system of checks and balances. This is the biggest Constitutional crisis in my lifetime, perhaps going all the way back to the U.S. Civil War.

Different Drummer: Buzz Kulik 

"Treats" stands for a juvenile, as in young or childish, look at Halloween. This sound collage taps into several moments of observing the "trick or treat" time of year as a kid.

Different Drummer: Rod Serling

For the era of album-oriented music (rock, jazz, etc.), understanding the history of a musical artist or group happened at a track-by-track level. Back then we bought albums rather than songs, and the way those tracks were laid out on either vinyl or plastic was part of the artistry.

Different Drummer: Brian Eno

Track By Track at InappropriateConversations.org

The best thing about suspense films, whether thrillers or horror, is the build up not the payoff. Getting the the edge of your seat doesn't happen at the moment of shock or surprise, it happens on the way there. Les Diaboliques is one of my favorite examples. It's a movie that might be described as the one that got away from Hitchcock.

Different Drummer: Alfred Hitchcock

Spoiler scene from the 1954-55 Clouzot film

Storytelling has always been a part of Inappropriate Conversations. Sometimes that involves telling the stories of others to make a point. Other times it truly is personal storytelling in the realm of nostalgia. I learned an important lesson this month about the power of personal storytelling, as if answers to questions I was raising might be coming from the grave.

Different Drummer: Frank Capra

One of the ways I know that I lean toward introversion is my experience at reunions. In journals and poetry, I describe those events with both a longing and regret over what I might call invisibility. "Disappear Here" is the name of the poem. No doubt, it was inspired by the "people are afraid to merge" theme in Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis. Some people are afraid to merge; at least, I know one. I also answer the question: how do you know if you are a bigot? Different Drummer: Ingmar Bergman