In which the writer considers five audiotapes that enhanced the quality of his dog walk time this summer.

When I first heard the premise of ABC’s Less than Perfect, I started flashing on the buried Fox sitcom, Babes. That short-lived series revolved around a trio of fat sisters who shared an apartment in the big city. Appealingly cast (Wendy Jo Sperber, Susan Peretz and Ed‘s Leslie Boone), the …

The covers of Evan Dorkin’s Dork #10 (Slave Labor Graphics) pretty much encapsulate this pitch dark humor comic: the front shows an isolated comic book shop in flames and attacked by a mob; the back has a childishly rendered cartoon cat, brandishing a knife and telling us, “We all die …

It’s one of those places that I’d driven past more than once and had always promised myself I would visit. So when my day job took me to Metropolis, Illinois, last spring I was probably more excited than I should’ve been. Metropolis! Though I knew intellectually I was just visiting …

How much does C.S.I.: Miami want you to know it’s part of the same franchise that gave us C.S.I.? So much that they’ll stick another Who song in the opening credits (“Won’t Be Fooled Again”), even if it makes less contextual sense than the first did. C.S.I. fans already know …

The outlandishly smart hero of Fox’s new John Doe (Dominic Purcell) knows everything but his own name. A super savant with the ability to learn anything instantly (put him behind the controls of a helicopter and he’s quickly able to fly it in pursuit of a childnapper), Doe wakes up …

I grew up on the original Twilight Zone. When I was really young and the show was in its first season, I remember desperately wanting to watch it but being sent to bed instead. Listening to that perennially evocative theme song through my bedroom door, I just knew I was …

In the midst of the political umbrage being aimed at Steve Earle’s upcoming Jerusalem disc, I’ve been getting my poli-outrage fix from another reliable source, the Mekons. The band of Brit post-punkers has been producing smart, passionate prog statements in music for decades now. OOOH (Quarterstick Records) is the latest …

After reissuing deluxe editions of the first four and best Ramones albums, Rhino has just put out remastered versions of the next quartet. All I can say is: Damn them, anyway! That’s four more CDs I’ll be buying even though I already own the initial Warner/Sire discs. Bastards. Bought one …

Two pieces in this week’s Blogcritics got me thinking about a trend that tends to push one of my critical buttons. It goes something like this: hey, that new Sleater-Kinney album sure sounds great – has a lotta lefty political lyrics it, but, hey, that’s not important: what matters is …