Hold to the now, the here, through which all future plunges to the past.
This ran in the now defunct Houston s Other. It s a wild artifact to consider, but I m posting it here and now because Wayne noted the play itself was TWENTY SEVEN YEARS AGO, and that seems impossible. Time, man. It ll get Continue reading
So, Glen Hansard died last week. Yes, ONCE was a good movie. Yes, Falling Slowly is a good song. But Hansard was at BEST problematic. His partner in Swell Season (and ONCE) was Marketa Irglova, whom he met when he Continue reading
Do you follow, or are aware of, more than one public figure by the same name? Turns out, I do. Warrens Ellis Warren Ellis, writer The first Warren Ellis in my own media diet is the English comic book writer Continue reading
One year ago today, I took this selfie: This is the story of how I got here. We moved separately, kinda. On Monday, July 14th of last year, the packers showed up at 209 West Drew back in Houston. Erin Continue reading
Bombs over Big Bird is a spectacular mashup of Sesame Street, Hitchcocks s The Birds, and Outkast s 2000 banger B.O.B. Do not miss this.
Two years ago I wrote about Mark Cavendish beating Eddy Merckx s stage win record at the TdF: Until today, the record for Most Stage Wins in the Tour was held by cycling god Eddy Merckx, a Belgium rider who dominated Continue reading
This is just what it says on the tin, and is HILARIOUS. Lockwood has previously been featured here eviscerting John Updike, meeting the pope, and discussing David Foster Wallace. BTW, that last link includes me urging you to read the Continue reading
In 2006, my friends at Infernal Bridegroom Productions collaborated with Austin musician and outsider artist Daniel Johnston to create a rock opera based on his work. The result, Speeding Motorcycle, was a local hit. It traced the arc of Daniel s Continue reading
This long article about David Foster Wallace s sister has been on open for weeks, and I only just got to reading it. It s pretty remarkable. Make time.
There exist no end of bands that have toured, or continue to tour, well past their sell-by dates. Often, the modern lineup of the bands have only nominal overlap with the version of the group that recorded the hits. The Continue reading
This blurb at Ars Technica really kind of sums it up sorta: They go too far in praising Spielberg; I don t think he s been an interesting director in a long, long time. He was always a little hit or Continue reading
We watched the new Ryan film (it s bad). After we were done, Amazon had suggestions from the broader continuity: If you re taking notes, that s: Two different Jacks Ryan; Two different Jacks Reacher; An actual spin-off of the Ryan universe starring Continue reading
Current Affairs: The Banal Horror of Jimmy Fallon. It begins: There is a distinctive, deeply uncanny horror to the way Jimmy Fallon laughs. Look it up—there are literally hundreds of videos showing him breaking out into laughter at the slightest Continue reading
By now most people who read Heathen are, I m sure, aware of the SNL trio Please Don t Destroy, which is comprised of Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy. They make jokes about the fact that Higgins and Herlihy are Continue reading
No, really.
This article about the upcoming film Spider-Man: Brand New Day includes an interesting line: Holland himself has wondered how long it will be before he ages out of the role So I wondered: How old has Spidey been? Tobey Maguire Continue reading
Chill mixes by puppets on YouTube.
Friday was my 56th birthday, and for me it was an especially auspicious one because it was the rare birthday of mine that falls on a Friday the 13th just as my actual birth did in 1970. I mean, Continue reading
Apple haters love to claim that Cupertino swaps connectors out like changing pants, which is objectively hilarious because the iPod/iPhone connector had changed only once until recently: from the legacy 30-pin connector to the proprietary-to-Apple Lightning plug introduced in 2012 Continue reading
In conversation with a certain longtime reader, it came up that he d missed a few Early Web Gems. I m sure I linked them here before, but those old links are almost certainly dead and even if they weren t, some Continue reading
I always kinda thought they were neat, but also always kinda thought they were a little cringey, so I never bothered before. Also, I never really had a good IDEA before. For a couple reasons, though, I took the plunge Continue reading
See here: The reason we don t have effective protections for climate change (or functional gun control, or universal health care, or cheap broadband) is because the U.S. Congress is often too corrupt to function. Monied interests have polluted state and Continue reading
We ve binged A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms this weekend, and now have only the finale. It occurs to me that it fills a role in the greater George R. R. Martin universe that is analogous to the role the Continue reading
I don t have a diary about it, but I know roughly where I was, and what I was probably doing. I lived in Tuscaloosa, rooming with my pal Brad, but spending a ton of time with the girl I was Continue reading
Our first winter in North Carolina is, uh, kind of overdelivering. I write this on the 30th of January 2026. Here s what that looks like at Weather Underground: If you compare almanac data, the first 3 weeks of the year Continue reading
Please enjoy the tale of the Dildo Distribution Delegation. Illegitimate power absolutely cannot withstand mockery.
A year ago, I posted this, about the 7-minute trailer for Questlove s SNL music documentary. That official link, I have discovered, has rotted but this link is still live. January sucks this year. Treat yoself.
35 years ago, I saw Cornelius Eady read at Alabama. I have a signed copy of one of his early books as a result. In my senior poetry workshop, we had an assignment to write a poem after some poem Continue reading
Ragu unveils sensory deprivation marinana tank
Mississippi Mom Shoots Escaped Research Monkey in her Backyard
Just what it says on the tin!
This is excellent. Also, n.b. that this guy knows a thing or two about charming little cars: Norman Garrett was the Concept Engineer for the original Miata back in his days at Mazda’s Southern California Design Studio. He currently teaches Continue reading
Either way, don t you wanna watch some of these?
Influencers Will Have to Complete a Long Walk to See ‘The Long Walk’: This Saturday, August 30, Lionsgate has invited a group of press and influencers in Los Angeles to see The Long Walk. Only, there won’t be chairs in Continue reading
More than 20 years ago there was a lot of press for this book that ticked many boxes for me literary thriller! Written by a professor! Good pre-publication press! I meant to get around to reading it, and just Continue reading
So. We moved. We re renting for a year while we sell our Houston place, and ascertain just where in the Durham area we d want to set roots, and that comes with, well, a rental house kitted out as a rental Continue reading
How about a reasonably complete scanned archive of BYTE magazine?
Four and a half years ago I pointed y all to this excellent cover of Radiohead s Packt Like Sardines In A Crushd Tin Box by piano phenom Robert Glasper. Go ahead and watch again; I ll wait: I don t think this version Continue reading
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996, with Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson) is a GREAT Christmas movie. i will not be taking questions at this time, but I will point out it was directed by Shane Black, who also directed Continue reading
Look, all you need to know is that it s Neko Case writing about Sinead O Connor.
Heathen World HQ is now in a hillier, more temperate, and less hectic locale far from the depredations of Texas state government jackholes and Houston s feckless city government. Carry on.
A while back I saw a story noting that Royal-Enfield, the Indian manufacturer of excellent and inexpensive motorcycles, sold slightly more than 1,000,000 motorcycles in their fiscal 2024. That sounds like a lot, and it is INDEED a large jump Continue reading
I m pleased to share that notorious grifter, spreader of misery, and prostitution enthusiast Jimmy Swaggert has finally died. He is preceded in death by his child-raping, wife-beating, abusive shitstain of a cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis, whom we were finally freed Continue reading
Just use your Horse Pocket.
Thirty-odd years ago, on my study tour of the Soviet Union, a common souvenir was a political matryoshka doll of nested Soviet leaders. The sellers would call them Gorbydolls , since Gorbachev, who led the USSR from 1985 to 1991, was Continue reading
Oh, banks. We recently paid off our house. This triggers the lender Chase sending us the balance of our escrow account, which they sent me by check. This is weird, because I also bank at Chase. I can Continue reading
In 2023, after being disappointed by ASTEROID CITY, I wrote this post wherein I ranked Andersons films. Last night we saw THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, which is a reasonable time to publish an amended list; n.b. the only edit is the Continue reading
Billy Joel had a hit in 1980 with “You May Be Right,” and shortly thereafter I bought my very first music: a copy of Glass Houses on 8-track. In the last 45 years, I’ve bought a LOT of other music Continue reading
Back in 2011, I noted here the surprising fact that 10th US President John Tyler (a man born in 1790) had two living grandchildren: Lyon Tyler, Jr. (b. 1924), and Harrison Ruffin Tyler (b. 1928). This is, of course, only Continue reading
We re leaving Houston. For me, it s after 31 years. For Erin, it s only 23. But who s counting? Many of you knew this was something we were considering; in truth, it s been an idea for about 4 years after a vacation Continue reading