Looking for some tunes to blast at the bash you're hosting tonight? Or maybe to crank up in the car on your way to a slamming soiree? Here's my New Year's Eve Party Playlist, featuring the best from the past year and stone cold classics. Enjoy.More »

I understand it doesn't rain much in Southern California. That's a good thing. These gloomy skies make me want to curl up on the sofa with strong drink and do nothing but listen to sad, sad songs--timeless ones that equate rain with sorrow. ​ Here are my faves. Enjoy. With cocktails. And no one around to see you wipe away that manly tear.

​The sun finally reappeared today and I decided to play tourist. I've been promising my family pictures of where I live for the past two weeks. I'm from Florida. My parents have never been to California. Only one of my three younger siblings has visited the state. More »

​ This cold front is killing me. Literally. I think. Being from Florida, I don't do well when the temperature dips below, say, 72. More »

​I've been bear-hugged by Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo Green. Talked politics with Toby Keith. Sat with Norah Jones just weeks after her multi-platinum debut dropped and killed a pint of Bushmills with AC/DC singer Brian Johnson. All of this went down during the past decade while writing for Florida publications including Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, the alt-weekly that employed me as chief music critic through 2007-08. In 2009, my artist interviews, record reviews, etc., have run in publications nationwide including OC Weekly sister papers Miami New Times, New Times Broward-Palm Beach, Denver Westword and Dallas Observer. 
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