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Award-winning editor and film business entrepreneur Barry Poltermann talks about his latest project, “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond,” the story of the making of Milos Forman’s film Man On The Moon, where actor Jim Carrey literally became Andy Kaufman on and off set.
Hell yeah, another year end list: The top 10 films of 2018, from Commonstate contributor Evan Casey.
The end of the year is a time when sites inundate us with “best of” lists. But here at Commonstate, we’re going to do things a bit differently. We asked our contributors to list the 5-10 most creative things they saw or heard this year and champion creativity in any form. It’s in the spirit of what Commonstate is all about.
Social media has made it more difficult than ever to temporarily escape from the outside world. Political arguments, clickbait articles, and an ever-changing lineup of memes are just a phone app away at all times. The Missouri-based alternative-country band The Bottle Rockets knows this, and its new album Bit Logic, released on Oct. 12 via Bloodshot Records, explores what happens when you try and mute the world around you.
Let’s go back a year or so, late fall. A group of about 30 employees of Flowers For Dreams meet at one of their homes in Chicago and are sitting around a dinner table. This is one of the few times a year employees come together as a group, and as companies go, the camaraderie is palpable.
A simple Google search will reveal that songwriters have been comparing the act of falling in love to a narcotics addiction for many years. Kerry Alexander, songwriter for Minneapolis-based Bad Bad Hats, took a slightly different approach to this concept.
Last Sunday, we woke with our bodies’ natural rhythms, but the clocks said it was earlier than it felt. Then, the sun sank early. On Monday, when we left work for the day, it was night.
The whole thing started out as a treasure hunt of sorts, an ambitious and industrious young woman named Ashley Town was on a quest. She had written a book; a work she was immensely proud of and was simply trying to get it printed.
Active Bird Community’s story is one ripped straight from a rock-and-roll fantasy. Founding members Tom D’Agustino (vocals, guitar), Andrew Wolfson (vocals, lead guitar), and Zach Slater (bass) are three childhood friends who made a pact to never stop playing music together.
From the minute you enter the door, Float Milwaukee is an experience. The stark entryway foreshadows the next 60 odd minutes of your day where everything will be stripped away, clothing included, so you can sit with yourself for possibly the first time all week, month, year.
Chuck Dwyer pulls what looks like a massive folder made of thin repurposed wood out from behind a stack of canvases against a wall in his art studio. The studio is well kept, art materials neatly organized over two or three tables and a painting – a stunning hybrid figure...
“I was literally watching the Olympics at home when Sherman Park happened. My buddy plays for team Nigeria in basketball and I was watching and scrolling through Instagram and I saw an activist that I follow was posting videos of people smashing cop cars. I thought, where is this happening? A little later he posted more stuff and I was like, holy shit. This is in Milwaukee. So I flipped on the news and just grabbed my camera and raced over there.”
The “discovery” functionality on Spotify can be a harsh mistress. I’m not sure I love it, and it rarely loves me back. People are constantly recommending albums to me, but Spotify does it with a reckless impunity.
I met Elmer at one of those career day things at an elementary school. There was the fireman, I was the radio guy, and Elmer was the entrepreneur. The set up was that you’d go into a classroom, you give your speech to the kids for ten minutes, they ask some questions, or don’t, then you move along to the next classroom. I thought I was going to have an easy gig.
“Plants are nature’s alchemists, expert at transforming water, soil and sunlight into an array of precious substances, many of them beyond the ability of human beings to conceive, much less manufacture.” – Michael Pollan
I worked at JC Penney in 1982. Employee #750. Yes, I still remember. My department was ground zero for the sales of hundreds of Sony Walkmen – the first cassette version – and my cash register was where hundreds of small town Wisconsinites (in Beloit, specifically) went home with the culinary wonders of the revolutionary microwave oven.
I read an article a few years back about how shopping at IKEA was a sign you weren’t really an adult yet. But, if you shopped at West Elm, that was it. Frankly, I think you’re stupid if you trade one for the other and I am vehemently opposed to the assertion your worth comes from which home decor store you are financially able to shop at.
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