RIP, Deanna Durbin
Actress and singer Deanna Durbin has died. The Los Angeles Times and The Guardian have obituaries. Audie Cornish and Melissa Block remember Durbin on NPR. Here Deanna Durbin sings, “Good-Bye” in Because Of Him (1946)
RIP, Annette Funicello
Actress and singer Annette Funicello has died. The New York Times has an obituary and The Los Angeles Times has an appreciation. NPR’s Fresh Air has reposted a 1994 interview with Funicello. Here she sings, “Pineapple Princess.”
“Persepolis is aimed in part at kids”
“[Persepolis is] aimed in part at kids–not despite the fact that it includes charged material, but because it does. Satrapi shows herself, as a child and then as a young woman, dealing with violence, with sexuality–with moving away from her parents, and failing, and trying again….But even if […]
10 Comics I Liked In 2012
Tales of derring-do! Girl adventurers! Occult mystery! Infernal foes! Secrets revealed! Pirates! Love, loss & betrayal! Intricate art bound in lovely hardcovers! Indie going mainstream! Original creations! It’s been an incredible year for comics. So many good ones that I can’t even begin to claim to know what […]
Escaping the Truck Stop Killer
“[It] occurred to me that this investigation of mine wasn’t a detective novel. It was a ghost story.” In 1985, Vanessa Veselka escaped a terrifying trucker who probably was Robert Ben Rhoades, the Truck Stop Killer and, years later, tries to understand her experience and learn more about […]
The Zombies of Tullamore
Read and listen to harrowing accounts of teens besieged by zombies in Tullamore, New South Wales. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation covered the event. and interviewed Tullamore Central School’s principal. Teens recorded their experiences as did Parkes High School’s librarian, ABC correspondent Kia Handley and zombie outbreak mastermind Matt […]
The Cultural Gutter 