Singer, songwriter, record producer and flamboyant businessman Prince Rogers Nelson — yes, Prince was his real name — died 10 years ago today in his combination home, music and movie studio complex near Minneapolis. He was 57. My Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review.
40 years ago Tuesday, Geraldo Rivera hosted a live special in which workers opened Al Capone's secret underground vault, only to find... an empty bottle. My Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review looks at this and 10 other live TV embarrassments.
Happy birthday, @gullyd.bsky.social ! Best wishes!
Today's "Off the Mark" by Mark Parisi
55 years ago today, Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" began a six-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The songwriter: Hoyt Axton, whose mother had written "Heartbreak Hotel" for Elvis. My Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review.
Vlautin will be the guest at an event Saturday hosted by the Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages book club there in Spokane. Details and ticket info:
www.spokesman.com/northwest-pa...
Also today, my colleague Ron Sylvester reviews "The Left and the Lucky":
www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
Singer, songwriter and novelist Willy Vlautin has written seven novels -- two were adapted into movies. His eighth, "The Left and the Lucky," was released Tuesday. My Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that it has been acquired by the Baltimore Banner’s publisher, rescuing the paper just weeks before it was set to shut down. https://cnn.it/4tNIeBq
My god. Essential, horrifying reporting here.
120 years ago Saturday, an earthquake later estimated at 7.9 magnitude struck San Francisco. 80% of the city was destroyed and 225,000 residents were left homeless. It would be a century before it was determined that 3,400 had been killed. My Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review.
And a heads-up to those of you in the Charleston area: I'm told this page appears in today's Post & Courier. The Charleston paper asked for access to my work a few weeks ago. I hope they'll run my stuff and you'll enjoy it.
165 years ago today, South Carolina militia fired on U.S. troops occupying the not-quite-completed Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, S.C. This was the start of the Civil War. My Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review.
Ah, yes. Morris Communications. Sigh...
And in case you've not heard it in a while, here's the single:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrCu...
In 1964, Jan & Dean scored a hit with a song about a car accident on a famous stretch of Sunset Blvd. near the UCLA campus: Dead Man's Curve. Nearly two years later -- 60 years ago this Sunday -- Jan Berry had a near-fatal accident near that very spot. My Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review.
Far be it from me to argue with Brené Brown, but no one “solidly in (their) fuck it era,” would ask for a correction.
Moos will be the guest at the Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages book club next Tuesday, April 14. For tickets and more info: www.spokesman.com/northwest-pa...
Noted college sports administrator Bill Moos' memoir of his life and career as an athletic director at the universities of Montana, Oregon, Washington State and Nebraska was released in February. He's the topic of my Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review.
The Soviet Union put the first man in space 65 years ago this Sunday, when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth once. It would be another 10 months before an American astronaut would orbit the Earth. My Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review.
130 years ago Monday, the first modern Olympic games were held in Athens, Greece, with 241 athletes from 13 European countries plus the U.S. participating. My Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review.
Amusing note No. 2, at the top of the story: "Richard Fausset, a national correspondent, reported from Rome, Ga. He takes his hash browns scattered, smothered, covered and peppered."
Amusing note No. 1: “Here’s why I know he’s lying,” wrote John Podhoretz, editor of Commentary magazine, on x. com this week. “Given the fact that teleportation has a theoretically infinite travel distance, he could have ended up at a Bucc-ees, or a Culver’s, or a Cheesecake Factory.”
Have you heard about the guy Trump appointed to head up FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery? Who says that while he was being treated in a hospital, he was suddenly "teleported" to a Waffle House in Rome, Georgia? It's worth a read. Free link from the NYT...
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/u...
Taylor Swift found rights to her first six albums had been bought by a businessman she didn't like. Her solution: Rerecord new versions. The first one was released five years ago next Thursday. My Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review.
185 years ago Saturday, President William Henry Harrison died of what was diagnosed at the time as pneumonia. He had been president for only 31 days. My Further Review in today's Spokesman-Review.
Trump announces that if Iran refuses to surrender, he's going to bomb their oil fields with Sharpie markers.
