The Americans reviews

I’m going to try and write a response to each episode of FX’s upcoming show “The Americans” starring Keri Russell.  I want to challenge myself to put my dime-store analysis of the episodes to work.  I have begun to really enjoy quite a bit of what FX puts on, including “It’s Always Sunny,” “Archer,” “Sons of Anarchy,” and “Justified.” The former two are the comedies, but Sons of Anarchy and Justified are the two that are Tuesday Night dramatic showcases.  They are nuanced, layered, and long-form in their storytelling.  I am hoping that “The Americans” is similar to that.

Our Abortion Debate - Nothing to Hang Your Hat On. Or coat.

This past Tuesday was the 40^th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision on the case of Roe vs. Wade, legalizing abortion in the United States.  We’ve spent countless hours since then ripping ourselves apart at the straw man argument of all or none: should there be free, legal, and available abortions at all times, or should we outlaw them in the name of the sanctity of life?  These two distinctly opposite arguments have produced countless spider-webbing discussions that have produced their own discussions as well: When does life begin? Does an embryo, and the stem cells contained therein count as a person? Do all babies, in fact, wanna get borned? Here’s what we aren’t doing: working to eliminate the need for abortions.

Off-Target Gun Debate

We’re having the wrong debate about guns right now.  Despite pleas from both sides to avoid politicization of the horrible events in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, and then accusations lobbed at one another about the other side’s politicization of the event, we are having the wrong debate.  Schools are not the real world and either stance, more gun control or less gun control in society, isn’t applicable to the circumstances of this incident.

Springsteen Challenge Day 30: A Personal Anecdote about Bruce

Today will be a three-post mega-update.  The reason for this is because Hurricane Sandy struck earlier this week, and, while I was able to prep on Monday and write an update early, I was not able to prep for Tuesday because I was without internet and power.  I already knew that I was going to write two for Halloween.  Turns out it will just be three today. This is the third and final.

This is going to be a personal anecdote about Bruce, coming from me, who many know as the nuttiest of the Springsteen fans.  Of course many don’t really know any other big Springsteen fans, but what the hell? I mean, I don’t know many people who have seen the same artist more than a baker’s dozen of times.  My brother has seen Bob Dylan twenty plus times.  My buddy Erik has seen Bruce twenty plus times.  My friend Greg has seen Dave Matthews a whole bunch, I believe. But I don’t know many who know people as devoted as Springsteen fans (of which, I am actually a novice), and for all my excitement and fandom for Bruce, I’ve never met him.  I’ve never met anyone in the E Street Band.  I’ve never even met fill ins like Charlie Giordiano, Jay Weinberg, or Jake Clemons.  I’ve never met Southside Johnny, Vini Lopez, or the rest.  In fact, when I went to the concert at Giants Stadium with Erik where we moved from the spot where Bruce crowd surfed, I figured I was doomed to never get a chance to slap Bruce’s sweat coated, shirt covered back while he was belting out some hits.  I was wrong.  This is my Bruce anecdote.

Springsteen Challenge Day 29: How Many Times Have You Seen Bruce in Concert? Where?

Today will be a three-post mega-update.  The reason for this is because Hurricane Sandy struck earlier this week, and, while I was able to prep on Monday and write an update early, I was not able to prep for Tuesday because I was without internet and power.  I already knew that I was going to write two for Halloween.  Turns out it will just be three today. This is the second.

This is a quicker post.  This is a very straightforward, unable to be interpreted writing prompt.  To make it slightly longer, I’ll post them with my three favorite songs from each.  This won’t be as hard as you’d think – I keep a spreadsheet of the setlists for the concerts I’ve seen. I also keep track of the official studio releases to see what songs I’ve seen in concert, and which ones I haven’t.  I’ve only seen all the songs off of Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town live, though, it’s important to note, Bruce did all of these during his “album” sections of his tours – 2009 at Giants Stadium and beyond. To answer the first part of the question, I’ve seen Bruce live 16 times.