A Rock and Roll Suicide?
The Elliott Smith Death Spectrum
Stabbed himself through the heart, or did he?
Accepting narrative indeterminacy is part of life
On October 21, 2003, Elliott Smith, who was known for writing depressing songs, allegedly killed himself. This would seem completely plausible, especially considering the fact that Smith was a heroin addict. Except, the case is still open 20 years later, and has yet to be solved.
The first real friend I ever made was because of Elliott Smith. I spent the beginning of my music listening career completely in the dark. I didn't know anybody else who knew about him, other than me and my dad. Middle school was tough, so finding somebody with similar sensibilities was a huge revelation for me. My friend was in the grade above me, and graduated before me. Going to an Elliott Smith tribute show together helped secure our friendship. It is rare to meet a genuine Elliott fan, but when you do, it's a deep connection.
I stumbled upon the controversy surrounding Smith’s death only about a year ago. I …
The Adams Family
My first Dead show with mom takes me on a long, strange trip to Bryan Adams
My life is derailed
In the end, there’s a song
Every culture has right-of-passage rituals. The Amazonean Satere-Mawe tribe requires young boys to wear gloves filled with bullet ants. In Indonesia, there’s a Balinese-Hindu ceremony that involves the filing of the upper canine teeth so their points become blunted. There are innumerable rituals related to initiation and coming of age, such as sweat lodges, intoxications, circumcision, scarification, and other symbolic ordeals signifying the passage from adolescence to adulthood.
I was thirteen when Mom sat me down for the talk. She asked me to await her in the kitchen of our one-story home in Folsom, beside her impressionist landscape paintings on the easel. The gravity of her demeanor outmatched the whole birds-and-bees conversation — which was more or less a library book passed across the kitchen counter when I was in the 2nd grade. The seriousness of her tone was just shy of her divorce …
Agricultural Digest
It’s been a good season for pumpkin growers. Jeanice Britvich, owner of Ferris Farms in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, told New Castle News that her crop even came “early” due to “all that high heat.” While pumpkins normally take about 110 days to reach maturity, Britvich’s crop “just came together” in 90 days this year. Dr. Stephen Meyers, an assistant professor at Purdue University’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, told Agrinews that the midwest region is looking chock full of pre-carved Jack o’ Lanterns, saying, “I think there will be plenty of pumpkins available for consumers.” But the biggest pumpkins are apparently grown in Minnesota. Last years’ winner of the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off (held in Half Moon Bay, California) Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minnesota, didn’t just win this year’s competition, he smashed the world record with a 2,749 pound …
