Don Effenberger, an inveterate list-maker, is a MinnPost news editor. Every week, in Listing Slightly, he offers a quirky, quick-read list on subjects ranging from pop culture to poetry and from movies to music.
For the nation’s birthday, I wanted to offer a very different kind of list, and I’m hoping you’ll take part in adding to it. Here are my nominees for five “amazing American treasures” — tough choices all.
Here’s some good news — encouraging word that there’s still hope for all of us (potentially) creative types who haven’t quite yet delivered that “masterpiece” we know must be somewhere deep inside us. And some songs to salute what still might be.
This quiz will test how many of these films you can name from just one snippet of unique dialogue. We’ll start with five can’t-miss movie lines. The first five are easy, right?
The early spring is making the warm-weather days seem to fly by. And that feeling of valued time slipping away is a familiar song theme, too. Here are a few of my “timely” favorites.
A few weeks back, I mentioned the Bible-based song that Pete Seeger wrote, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” That got me to wondering what other pop songs had their origins in biblical stories and passages. Here are a few.
Whether you’re a student or a teacher — or just know someone who is — you can probably relate to their need for a well-earned break. So, this week I’m paying tribute to them all for their year’s hard work.
With Memorial Day approaching, it seems a good time for a few patriotic songs. Plus a wide range of other offerings, all featuring spoken words. One warning, though: This list has a few entries that are wa-a-a-y over the top.
To mark this important occasion, I want to offer an admittedly small and totally inadequate — but heartfelt — tribute to an American treasure, Pete Seeger, who turned 91 earlier this month.
My apologies in advance, but I fear this week’s list of whistling songs may end up alienating your co-workers, annoying many of your friends and antagonizing most of your family.
Some of entertainment’s most memorable big- and little-screen moments feature dining out. Here’s a short-order menu of scenes for feasting.
It was nice of the popular Fox show to welcome back “Gleeks” with some “Hello” songs, but just because they stopped at three doesn’t mean I will. Here are a few more.
You’ll be able to identify many of the movies from these four memorable words of dialogue. At least a couple qualify as “spoiler alerts,” but most of these classics have been around so long, you probably already know the ending.
“List songs” come in many shapes and sizes, but several of them are among the best-known American songs, thanks to the likes of Cole Porter, Billy Joel, Don McLean and even “Sesame Street.”
What do James Bond, Soupy Sales and Ben Franklin have in common? Encounters with mice, for one. Since Mickey Mouse first popped up 82 years ago, pop-culture mice have been multiplying at a frightening rate.
No fooling. Here’s a unique way to celebrate on Thursday if you’re up to it — enough “foolish” songs to rock around the clock. Here are 24 songs (plus a few extras) — enough for at least one different song each hour of April Fools’ Day.
Eight years ago next week, the nation — and the film world — lost Billy Wilder, an amazing triple-threat movie powerhouse and my nominee for America’s greatest director.
March seems the perfect month to feature some of the marching songs that pop up in pop culture. And we can all use some end-of-winter marching exercise, right?
With the Oscar ceremonies Sunday, it seems the perfect time for another installment of our ongoing series of lists of memorable movie lines.
If the long winter’s got you down, I’ve got a quick — and free — pick-me-up: five of the most upbeat instrumentals you’ll ever hear.
With news of the Coen Brothers’ “True Grit” remake, it seems a good time to focus on cowboy movies — and particularly memorable cowboy-story songs — because the original 1969 film has one of the best of that musical breed.