Michael Simmons

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THE ART OF MOVIES

Michael Simmons
They don't make 'em like they used to: neither movies nor the posters that advertise 'em. Ira M. Resnick is a film historian, poster collector and f...
Niño: “very much a Californian”; Credit: Photo by Scott Toepfer

Build an Ark’s Covenant

Michael Simmons
Carlos Niño had a change of heart around the age of 28, one that is at once thought-provoking and controversial. His eclectic music show, Spaceways, which airs ...
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DREAM ON, HIPPIE CHICKS

Michael Simmons
For women of m-m-my generation, Chris O'Dell has led a charmed life that many hippie chick b-b-boomers wet-dreamed of. The American expat worked for the Bea...
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A RAVING, UNCONFINED NUT

Michael Simmons
'Tis not hyperbollocks to say that Paul Krassner is one of the giants of American satire, using different mediums — journalism, standup comedy, activi...
Downs: “Sometimes societies need bubblegum

Lila Downs: Mixtec Blessing

Michael Simmons
It’s that voice that gives pause, makes you take notice and ask who’s singing. Before you see the strikingly beautiful woman garbed in colorful native dress and...
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BRING YOUR OWN HEROIN

Michael Simmons
You've no doubt heard the old chestnut that only a few thousand very disturbed teenagers bought the Velvet Underground's debut album upon its initial re...
A guitarist with fingers like Robert Johnson’s and a voice like Billie Holiday; Credit: Star Foreman

SONGSTRESS-MUSICIAN SUNNY WAR

Michael Simmons
On the tiny YouTube screen is a close-up of a diminutive black woman who looks about 12 but is, in the video, 16. Her hair’s in cornrows; she has a nose ring an...
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Mama-Ooh-Pow-Wow

Michael Simmons
Before Southern California was colonized by imperious human beings whose primary achievements are conceiving new ways to re-tell trite stories that waste cellul...