Lead singer of pop metal act Warrant, Jani Lane, died over the weekend. He was 47. That makes his death (which was probably the result of drugs and alcohol) not as stunning as Kurt Cobain’s due to his youth or as expected as so many older rock and movie stars who pass away. It was a slow burn for Lane and unfortunately, the last couple of decades hadn’t been kind. For the most part, Warrant was a culturally insignificant hair […]
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Aging Hip Replacement #8: On Faith
“You are the first generation born without religion.” Douglas Coupland wrote this about my generation in Life After God. Of course he was correct. As much as our parents, many of whom were part of the hippie generation, attempted to live a nontraditional life in their youth, once they got a little older and married they fell into fairly conservative lifestyles. Church, and specifically the Judeo-Christian religions of the founding fathers, was a cornerstone of that conservatism. As much as […]
Aging Hip Replacement: I (Don’t) Want My MTV (Anymore)
So, MTV is 30. I don’t know any other channel that has had the ability to make one feel both old and completely out of touch with modern, pop society as MTV. The station has been in existence for the better part of my life. At this point we’re a lot like a divorced couple without kids still living in the same town—I know it’s still out there, I know it’s dating but couldn’t tell you word one about what […]
Aging Hip Replacement–Nostalgia Acts?
Is U2 nostalgia rock? Good question right? I’m going to see the band tonight (along with what seems like everyone I went to college with) so it begs the question, is U2 nostalgia rock? Are they The Rolling Stones? I think I can wonder this in my own column, it suits the parameters of what I write about. In my mind there are several types of nostalgia rock acts. There’s The Stones and Aerosmith. You know, bands that continue to […]
Spin Cycle: “Fly From Here” by Yes
It’s true, I’m a prog rock fan. I love the sound of a mellotron in the morning and love to hear talk of synthesizer filters and 12 string guitars. I’m bound to listen to anything combining the words rock, jazz, fusion, symphonic, epic, concept or progressive in any combination or order. That being said I know that I’m an odd fan of the genre. Most followers can’t get enough of Yes and Rush. They form the base of everything progressive […]
Aging Hip Replacement–What The Hell is He Wearing?
Skinny pants. That’s the dividing line for me, skinny pants. It’s where I was no longer able to understand the fashion that the kids are wearing today. I don’t mean tight jeans, spandex, leotards, tights or any other form of fashion that tightly hugs the contours of the body. I’m talking “hey check out the skinny pants I just bought at Hot Topics” skinny pants. Growing up in my formative fashion years, hard rock and later grunge ruled the airwaves. […]
Aging Hip Replacement 3: Body Betrayal
If you’ve read these last two columns then you know that I’m writing about what the aging process and how it affects us, I say us but really I mean me. I thought that my columns would all be about the heady psychological issues that are related to growing up and aging in the world but this week I’ve decided to write about something a little different—how are body betrays us as we start to get old. When I was […]
Aging Hip Replacement II: Compromise
College for me was supposed to be a stopping point on my way to international stardom. I grew up in a suburb about a half hour outside of Pittsburgh and spent most of my senior year in high school and all of the summer dreaming about getting the hell out of there and to the city. It didn’t matter that Pittsburgh wasn’t New York, it was a first step on my way to New York where real culture presided. My […]
Aging Hip Replacement Part 1: Dave’s Rambling Internal Monologue
It’s hard for me to see myself as others now see me. I’m almost 40, bald (although I shave my head thank you very much!), I wear a suit to work, own a house, drive a sedan, have a son…for all intents and purposes I’m a white, middle class dad whose nearing middle age. I’m closer to the demographic of Men of a Certain Age than I am Friends. And yet I don’t feel like it. In so many ways […]