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Direct all mash notes and hate mail to jesgrewth at yahoo dot comPlumb the Depths!
Ye Olde Scratchbomb Archives
What Folks Is Sayin’
- Leonard Andrew Spencer on Holiday Horrors: Portraits of Krampus
- Carmen Martinez on Musica para las Fiestas!
- CitizenCharlesFosterKane on Holiday Horrors: The Worst Christmas Song Ever Explanation
- Rezeya Montecore on Holiday Horrors: The Worst Christmas Song Ever Explanation
- Cynthia Jokela on Holiday Horrors: The Worst Christmas Song Ever Explanation
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Author Archives: Matthew Callan
Ray Manzarek, Bill Walton, and Greg Ginn Walk Into a Studio…
Upon hearing of the passing of Ray Manzarek, my first thoughts were not of The Doors or Jim Morrison, but of the keyboardist’s role in one of the weirder albums ever released. The record was called Men Are Made In … Read on! —->
Niches
Death is never far in Queens, the borough of graves, but it creeps closer in certain places than others. One such place is Mount Olivet Crescent, a slip of a street that wends its way up a hill in Maspeth … Read on! —->
Posted in Death In Queens, NYC
Tagged brooklyn, bushwick, cremation, fresh pond columbarium, fresh pond crematory, germans, queens, ridgewood, williamsburg
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Seizures
As the subway doors unlatch, someone shoves me in the back, hard. This is more than the usual L train jostle. It is especially aggressive even for the Union Square stop, where the “I’m ignoring your humanity to make my … Read on! —->
Posted in NYC, Pointless Nostalgia
Tagged Drunks, epilepsy, l train, nyc, union square
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Jean Shepherd: Strange Tales of New York
I have often waxed at great length about my love of Jean Shepherd’s radio show, here and elsewhere. I’ve written about and shared many kinds of programs of his over the years: nostalgic, anti-nostalgic, childhood tales, army tales, philosophical meanderings, … Read on! —->
Posted in Pointless Nostalgia
Tagged 1970, jean shepherd, mummies, new york, radio, wor
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Contested
I may have mentioned this before several thousand times, but I’ve written a novel. It’s called Hang A Crooked Number. Here is what I say about the novel to people who may wish to represent or publish it: Backstop lives … Read on! —->
Posted in Literary Endeavors
Tagged amazon breakthrough novel contest, baseball, hang a crooked number, novels, spies
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Summer Blockbuster Previews Based On Their Fake Jay Leno Monologues
Did you see the other day where a town in Ohio that was down on its luck reopened a huge factory that had been shuttered for years? They said you couldn’t manufacture in this country anymore, but these plucky workers … Read on! —->
The Onion, Skinned
I can’t say anything about the Onion Twitter/Quvenzhané Wallis kerfuffle that hasn’t already been thrashed over a million times by a million other people already. (Less than 24 hours after it started, I might add. Oh brave new world!) My … Read on! —->
Follow Me to Replacement Players
Hello. Hope your new year was pleasant enough for you. In the spirit of newness, resolutions, new beginnings, and all that crap, I am launching a brand new podcast called Replacement Players. The basic premise is this: I unearth broadcasts … Read on! —->
Posted in Podcast
Tagged happy new year, old stuff, podcast, replacement players, sports, video
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Your Future in Pictures
This is a picture from my grandparents’ wedding. In the middle, you see the happy couple. To the left, my grandfather’s family, the Leykamms. Most German last names have literal meanings, but I’ve never been able to determine what “Leykamm” … Read on! —->
Musica para las Fiestas!
Just before Christmas, my wife borrowed some LPs from her grandmother so we could digitize them. These were albums her family listened to every December for decades. I was not familiar with any of them because these were albums of … Read on! —->
Posted in Seasonal Fare
Tagged angel luis garcia, celia cruz, christmas, latin music, musica jibara, pedro padilla, salsa
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