Playing Mad Libs with Looper and The Terminator reminded me about another astonishingly similar pair of projects. Years later, here are the Mad Libs for the television series Frasier and Joey. A hugely popular NBC Thursday night Must See TV…
Category: Essays
Mad Libs with Looper and The Terminator
Looper is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. Don’t let what follows lead you to think that I felt it unoriginal. Because it was highly original. Go see it and you’ll be richly rewarded. And…
SpinTunes 5 Judging Wrap-Up
Except for a few loose ends (like announcing the winner) that are in others’ hands, SpinTunes 5 is pretty much done, at least for me as a judge. It’s been interesting, challenging and worthwhile. Thanks to Spin for inviting me.…
Some Thoughts To Help With the SpinTunes #5 Mini-Opera Challenge
Spin+judges didn’t get to fully talk through the mini-opera challenge before it was posted. I don’t blame anyone. We’re all busy people. But I’m concerned that the challenge post as it stands may mislead some entrants. I speak for nobody…
SpinTunes 3 Wrap-Up Recommendations
After my first SpinTunes competition last year, I posted a lot about both my experiences going through SpinTunes and my thoughts on songwriting contests in general. This year, I knew better what to expect and so didn’t have as many…
Lost, Found: Finally
If You Don’t Have Something Nice To Say… On May 23, 2010, Lost signed off with The End. Finally, the finale, after years of mystery. A few days later, one of my local libraries hosted a discussion. Someone there told…
A Songwriting Cycle and the Benefits of Cooperation
Edric Haleen, one of the participants in the first SpinTunes songwriting contest, decided to create a project to tide people over during the wait between SpinTunes 1 and SpinTunes 2. A number of participants from SpinTunes 1 and other past…
Thoughts on Songwriting Contests
In addition to some valuable learning about my songwriting and how to participate more effectively in songwriting contests, my SpinTunes experience led me to some general thoughts on how songwriting contests are — and could be — run. SpinTown and…
Lost, Found: Last Tuesday
Last night, the final new Tuesday episode aired. As much as it moved things forward and set up the finale, I don’t have much to say other than this: I remain pretty convinced of the general direction I posed the…
Lost, Found: Light at the End of the Tunnel
Good and Evil and In Between The third from the last episode, and we start to see, literally and figuratively, a light at the end of the tunnel. And I believe more than ever in what I’ve said about Lost…