Author: Jim Kourlas
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May 2023 Mix
Last weekend, I found myself in the Fremont, Nebraska, HyVee, pictured above. It’s the setting for a lot of action in my manuscript which I’m calling This Glorious Middle State. I started sending it off to literary agents a couple weeks ago. I don’t know how I ended up writing a novel that takes place…
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April 2023 Mix
It’s kinda sort of maybe warming up here in the Midwest, which means parking lot medians are being mulched. If they have any mulch-worthy medians, that is. I love this American National Bank building on Maple and 90th. It reminds me of monstrous concrete buildings and civic decorations in Yucatan. Anyway, I finished my novel…
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March 2023 Mix
What on earth is this dog breed? I saw it in Mexico City a couple of times, or maybe it was the same dog over and over. It’s amazing. If anyone knows, let me know. There are dog breed identifying apps but I’d rather live in the mystery or have someone tell me. I’m exhausted…
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March Fadness 2023
I had a blast taking part in the 2023 MarchXness music essay tournament. Posting my little essay about Bob & Doug McKenzie’s one hit wonder “Take Off” was humbling. There are so many amazing writers who know far more about music than I could hope to. But I relished the chance to write about my oldest friendship,…
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February 2023 Mix
My son Theo cut out and drew the map for airplanes above. I taped it to the wall above my desk because I liked how the planes are following a path beneath the clouds toward the sun. I’ve always suffered from depression and felt like he was offering to be my navigator through it. The…
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January 2023 Mix
Last month was the first time in forever that I didn’t finish at least one mix. I suppose it was a busy month what with the holidays, but in truth I was probably just listening to classic rock. Ever since I moved to Omaha, I’ve fallen back to bad old nostalgic habits. But this January…
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November 2022 Mix
Dave Schramm was an original member of Yo La Tengo, then quit before their first album came out to focus on his own band, The Schramms. Whoops, I guess, except he put out a handful of terrific albums. I was obsessed with Walk to Delphi, put out on Columbus, Ohio’s Okra Records label in 1992.…
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October 2022 Mix
I made a pie from scratch, my first. I didn’t want to buy canned pumpkin so I made it from a butternut squash. I’m in a jangle rock rut listening to a lot of music that would be great if the band had recorded a serviceable drummer and recorded like the 80s. Or even 90s.…
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September 2022 Mix
A song by Jellyfish randomly came up in my queue and I was thrown back into memories of those glorious late-80s, early-90s American Music Club albums. The pedal steel guitar sounded just like Bruce Kaphan in AMC, and lo and behold “Russian Hill” featured his dreamy, cosmic warmth. It’s a glorious song. The rest of…
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August 2022 Mix
I fell down the lady singer rabbit hole again with this entry. I wish the Spotify algorithm didn’t seem to divide by gender the way it does, but here we are. Any more when looking for new music I’m weighting the scales for male voices, but so many indie dudes are mealy-mouthed, hiding behind sensitivey…
Jim Kourlas 