The Dozen

Occasional Observations On Music, Media, and Memoir

1. It was going to be called the Dazzling Dozen. Why dazzling? For the alliteration, of course. It's not "Dirty Dozen" because that's a cliché, (and not "so cliché"), as my students would have it. This won't necessarily be monthly, or weekly, because the idea of Substack is to be my own editor. (All typos intentional.) Also, it might sometimes be Drizzling Dozen. Or Doozy Dozen. Or Baker's Dozen, which is 13 items, though not alliterative. It won't be like Utopia Bagels in Queens (the best bagel place in the world), when and where it's "buy three/get fourth free" on Wednesdays. (Editor's note to writer: "Dazzling" is pretentious and the alliteration coy. Just call it The Dozen and let the reader decide whether it dazzles, or dribbles, or drizzles, or diddles. Suggest strikethrough. Does Substack have a strikethrough function?)

2. Bia: "Whole Lotta Money." I asked some of my students who will be taking my Writing Music, Movie, and TV reviews course in the fall to pay attention to what m…