On a hoary Christmas morning over thirty years ago, my parents ignited one of the pivotal torches of my life journey: they bought me a boom box. Until then, I had one of those tiny turntable stereos that provided all the volume and muddled sonic clarity that a ten year old ...

Weekend was crazy. Crazy, man. Interviewed Slayer's drummer Dave Lombardo on Friday afternoon while sitting by a hotel pool just off of Hollywood Boulevard. Surreal. The two of us rocked black jackets, black t-shirts and shades, conspicuously separating us from the shirtless, pasty-hued Big Ten guys doing cannonballs into the pool. Yesterday I ...