Tag: Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger and William Rees-Mogg

3,725 words

In February of 1967, two men were arrested in Sussex, England, on drug-related offences. They were not politicians or members of the Royal Family, but their cultural status in the Britain of the “Swinging Sixties” made the resulting media coverage feverish. The young men, both aged 23, were a new type of upstart aristocracy, social arrivistes in a country built on tradition and privilege. They were also possibly the first male defendants in a high-profile court case whose outfits in the dock were the subject of media pieces, at least since they tried Oscar Wilde. (more…)

1,789 words

When Marianne Faithfull died on January 30, 2025, it hit me that I had been a fan of her music for most of my life. Such milestones are occasions for what I like to call the Full Life Audit. We have grown up immersed in propaganda and decadence, and even though we might consciously reject them, they are still inside us and come to the surface in surprising ways. (more…)

NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, whom Raiders coach Jon Gruden described as possessing “lips the size of Michelin tires.”

2,405 words

NFL Coach Resigns After His Hilarious Emails are Leaked

Black Americans are as statistically overrepresented in the ranks of professional football players as they are when it comes to committing homicide.

With his Nordic features and blond hair, Jon Gruden was a white NFL coach until last week. Back in 2003, he led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a decisive Super Bowl victory over what were then known as the Oakland Raiders. (more…)

Van Morrison

1,600 words

The new groups are not concerned
With what there is to be learned.
They got Burton suits. Ha!
You think it’s funny?
Turning rebellion into money. — The Clash, “White Man in Hammersmith Palais”

Is it not wonderful to see Britain still shining as a beacon of youthful rock ‘n’ roll rebellion, with bands telling it like it is and generally sticking it to The Man? Oh, wait. My mistake. I was thinking of 1979. (more…)