Summer scenes

The middling summery comedy "The Way, Way Back" opens this week in Knoxville. My review in the alt-weekly Metro Pulse is here.

For better or worse, "The Way, Way Back" owes a lot to "Meatballs," including a nerdy character who gets picked on by the cool people because he’s just such a nerd. On behalf of nerds everywhere, I protest.

Song man

Here's my latest Mountain Press column, inspired by the buskers of Knoxville's Market Square. Did you know I've done some busking?

On a pleasant day, playing music outside is fun. It’s nice to see people smile when they hear a song they like. At places like State Street and Market Square, people tend to be in a festival mood, so impromptu singing and dancing may break out.

Good word

"According to David Lee Roth this was because critics accused him of writing about nothing more than partying, sex, and cars, but Roth realized that he had yet to write a song about cars.[citation needed]"

-- Wikipedia

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