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ON STUPID SONGS
The morning I wrote this essay, I was in my still-dark house preparing to give the dog his first walk of the day. As I did so, I sang an especially stupid song —
Read More »WORK N PROGRESS
My grandmother Goins used to tell me, “You know what you like.” Area musicians tell me that what Lake Charles likes is cover bands. A new one, Work N Progress, is trying to take
Read More »MAXIMUM SECURITY GOLF
Louisiana’s ‘Prison View’ Golf Course Promises Arresting Views And Captivating Play If you’ve dismissed the story that there’s a public golf course on the grounds of Angola as an urban myth, you have
Read More »ON LOU REED
Among the musicians of my time, there were always three that — for me — were predominant in popular music: Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. Now one of those three has died,
Read More »‘LOUISIANA PURCHASED’
I guess I shouldn’t be publicizing another Louisiana periodical in this column. But, as we all know, the Times-Picayune has had a run of bad luck recently. It’s finally gotten some good news with
Read More »BRODY MEAUX
Brody Meaux is the 14-year-old son of Lake Charles residents Jimmy and JoAnn Meaux. Brody has the rare genetic disease MeCP2 duplication syndrome. MeCP2 is a neurological condition that occurs almost entirely in males.
Read More »EARLY DAYS IN WESTLAKE AND BAGDAD
Westlake began to come into being 200 years ago, when Calcasieu River was called Rio Hondo, and both Texas and the Spanish administrators of the Louisiana territory were laying claim to the lands between
Read More »THE HIPPIE MENACE
The great catastrophe began on Sept. 28, 1968, when the television show The Mod Squad debuted on the ABC network. Before The Mod Squad, hippies were marginal creatures, who poured lighter fluid on electric guitars
Read More »READY TO FIRE
Not long ago, the Up Fronter reviewed the first CD by local band The Loaded 44RZ. The band has stayed in business and just dropped a new, full-length, high-octane CD titled Ready To Fire.
Read More »ON DICTATORS
In his most recent comedy, Sasha Baron Cohen plays an especially vile dictator — the murderous Gen. Aladeen, who lords it over the mythical Republic of Wadiya. At one point in the film, one
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