Contemplating Cassady

Originally published in Huck Magazine The Peculiar Appeal of the Rebel Muse ’I know you rider, gonna miss me when I’m gone.’ – traditional blues song, covered by the Grateful Dead.   WOE BE TO YE who follow the way of the Holy Goof, for your reward, well, it isn’t likely to be earthly – […]

Shaun Tomson – Magic and Loss

Originally published in Huck Magazine, photos by Kevin Zacher. THERE WAS A TIPPING POINT IN SURFING HISTORY when the door of possibility was busted open wide. And Shaun Tomson dealt the final blow. As the first South African World Champion, his transgressive energy helped legitimate surfing as a professional sport. But the determination he showed […]

The Greatest Team… Ever?

USA Women’s Soccer Is the Greatest Sports Team Ever Fielded The gold medal winners may yet turn out to be America’s best export. USA’s Abby Wambach (2nd L) celebrates scoring on a penalty kick against Canada in the women’s semifinal soccer match against Canada at the London 2012 Olympics at Old Trafford in Manchester, August […]

God Only Knows

Originally published in Vegas 7 I WAS WELL INTO ADULTHOOD before I could listen to the Beach Boys. And by listen, I mean listen. Because it’s easy to just listen to the Beach Boys, the songs are just too catchy not to, even in passing. But for the longest time, I kept them in the […]

The Pirate of Penance

Originally published in Slake: Los Angeles, issue #1 “Still Life”, summer 2010. Featured in We Dropped A Bomb on You: The Best of Slake I-IV, spring 2014 Mystic Beginnings When Lorey Smith was 12 years old, her father loaded her and her brother into his black 1965 Mustang and drove them down the Pacific Coast […]

The Heart of Darkness — Jerry Stahl

I’M DEEP INTO A HARROWING Diane Sawyer special about hillbillies in Kentucky (a cautionary tale about the pre- and post-natal effects of Mountain Dew if ever there was one) on a cold and stormy night in early March, when something slams into my front door, causing me to jump off the couch. Opening the door, I […]

LA People 2009: Fucking With Drew Barrymore

Originally published in the LA Weekly Drew Barrymore loves fucking. Mostly it happens when she gets excited. And she gets excited about a lot of stuff — movies, music, historical icons, roller derby, challenging herself. She likes fucking so much, she starts up with it before the interview. Like when I present her with an ancient Lou […]

The Red Scare and Average Joes

Originally published in the LA Weekly WITH PRECIOUS LITTLE TO DISTINGUISH HIMSELF from the Bush years, except possibly more intransigence than even W. when it comes to moving off failed domestic and foreign policies, John McCain is losing the battle of reason in this election — which says that the Bush era has been a […]

John V Paul

A version of this essay appeared in the anthology Rock and Roll Cage Match: Music’s Greatest Rivalries, Decided, Three Rivers Press I HAD TO PULL OVER and weep. Let me explain. I was driving up into the Hollywood Hills on a burnished Sunday afternoon, one of those early fall days when everything in Los Angeles […]

The Tortoise and the Tank Face Off at Fort Irwin

Originally published in the LA Weekly SAND IN THE BOX The worst sandstorm in John Wagstaffe’s memory is at full howl. We’re deep inside Iraq, somewhere between the towns of Medina Jabal and Medina Wasl, on a day when the threat of violence is as thick as the squalls of sand. But there’s something about […]