“Hallelujah” in Alaska: Northern Christmas Lights

In most cases, playing Christmas music after Christmas is in even worse taste than wearing white after Labor Day. This video from Quinhagak, Alaska, demands a dispensation from that rule. The inhabitants of this village on the Kanektok river — major industries fishing and canning, per capita income $8,127 — pull off this masterpiece by [...]

For the Love of Bad Music

Jani Lane, former lead singer of Warrant, who died yesterday at age 47 of unknown causes, often expressed regret for writing “Cherry Pie.” He needn’t have. It was as catchy as it was mindless, which is probably why it made the top 10. It came out the year I went to college, and I can [...]

Lady Gaga’s Boring Baldness

Okay, so Lady Gaga is bald. Last Friday night, she appeared on the Paul O’Grady show with a meticulously shaven dome. Seated at the piano, one of her wigs set before her on stand, she serenaded it with — what else? — “My hair.” I’m disappointed. It’s not that I feel any particular attachment to [...]