I can’t even count the number of songs that remind me of Memphis. In fact, most of American music does. My home is the home of the blues, the birthplace of rock n’ roll, and it has a long history of influential underground music of all genres. It’s the home of Stax, Sun Records, Royal Studios,…
Read MoreHaving sold nearly 500 million albums since 1972, ABBA is not only one of the best-selling bands of all time, but is THE best-selling band outside of the English-speaking world. Although they started out in disco, ABBA was never confined by any particular musical genre. They wore great outfits, they gave good face, and they’ve…
Read MoreYou know what I’d rather forget? Donald Trump. I’d like to forget that he currently sits in the Oval Office, guzzling Diet Cokes, downing McDonalds cheeseburgers, drooling over Fox & Friends, and firing off barely-literate tweets. I’d like to forget the circus he manufactured leading up to his 2016 election, and the dumpster fire he’s…
Read MoreI live in Memphis, so summertime makes me think of heat. Hot heat. Sticky heat. Unrelenting heat. Oppressive heat. The kind of heat that you can’t escape and you can’t recover from, despite the fact that you spend most of your time between May and September mad-dashing from one air-conditioned place to another air-conditioned place….
Read MoreDolly Parton has always been a idol of mine, partly for her gifted-by-God voice and incredible songwriting ability, but more so for her uniquely Tennessean flavor of sass. She was born in the southern end of Appalachia, raised in poverty as one of 12 children, brought up in the Church of God, married only once (to…
Read MoreOnce, when asked to explain the meaning behind the title of his 1984 mega-hit “Purple Rain,” His Royal Badness replied: “When there’s blood in the sky– red and blue = purple. Purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/god guide you through the…
Read MoreWARNING: If you still believe that academia is a meritocracy, that higher ed assessment instruments are useful (or unbiased), that grades motivate students to learn, or that grades accurately reflect students’ performance, this essay is not for you. Now, let’s talk about grades. No matter how fastidious one is about one’s course design, every prof…
Read MoreFor five straight years, from 2011-2016, I dedicated the entire month of June on this blog to the #30DaySongChallenge. Each day, I would select a song in response to a daily prompt, and then post it here along with some (long or short) account of why I chose that song for that day’s prompt. Music…
Read MoreBack in 2015, Christian Brothers University asked some of its faculty (including me) to share some #WordsofWisdom with the graduating class. So, I made a short video (below), which more or less reiterates what any student who has ever taken a class from me will recognize as Rule #1 from the list of “Dr. J’s…
Read MoreFor the last couple of semesters, I’ve been trying to introduce my students, in as gentle and nonthreatening a manner as possible, to the idea that they may very well be the last of “humanity” as we know it. This has not been a well-received speculative proposition. In my defense, I really make an effort…
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