Rick Allen profile picture

Rick Allen

Did the Space Bag go to space for real?

About Me

I was recruited by the Cleveland Indians in 1991, where I played three seasons at shortstop and batted a career .277 with the AAA Buffalo Bisons before retiring due to a back injury. I am currently a social worker and music critic. .. Home | Browse | Search | Invite | Film | Mail | Blog | Favorites | Forum | Groups | Events | Videos | Music | Comedy | Classifieds

My Interests

underground hip hop, Cuba Gooding Jr. movies, fighting communism

I'd like to meet:

a Chinese rap group, that bum that threw up while I was working the G'War show, Thomas Pynchon, Chuck D

Music:

Japanese psychedelia, noise, film music, death metal, dub and I don't want to hear about your fucking band.

Movies:

Chinatown, To Kill a Mockingbird, Star Wars, Robocop, Pistol Opera, Truck Turner, Raiders of the Lost Ark, It's a Wonderful Life

Television:

Little Rascals, Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns, The Prisoner, Reilly: Ace of Spies, The Simpsons, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Mr. Show, The Daily Show, King of the Hill, Futurama, The Sopranos, Heat Vision and Jack, 24, The Wire, Real Time with Bill Maher, Arrested Development, The Venture Brothers, Tom Goes to the Mayor

Books:

Manchild in the Promised Land, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Man in the High Castle, Mother Night, The Grifters, Pimp, 1984, Survival in Auschwitz, collections of Peanuts comic strips, The Republican Noise Machine, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book, The Chain Gang: One Newspaper Versus the Gannett Empire, Chinese Lives: An Oral History of Contemporary China, The Grapes of Wrath, Catch-22

Heroes:

Steve McQueen, Cecil Adams, Alan Moore, John Zorn, Robert Kennedy Jr., Bill Maher, Charles Schultz, Jimmy Stewart, Grant Morrison, Chuck D, Philip K. Dick, Robert Anton Wilson, Jim Brown

My Blog

Faster Disco, 10 May 2000

This is my attempt at writing a column along the lines of Jackie Harvey from The Onion. I wrote one thing each day for a month, then e-mailed it out. Respect goes out to Panini's in the Flats for...
Posted by Rick Allen on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:09:00 PST

Em & Swinny

I wrote this for Em and Swinny's wedding, and read it when I conducted the ceremony. It is as much as I feel about Amy as it is about Em and Swinny, but both relationships are on the same strong found...
Posted by Rick Allen on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:04:00 PST

The Velveteens bio draft 1, 16 Aug 2001

"Post-teenage girl coffeehouse folk duo" doesn't bode well from anyone's point of view, yet from this all-too-true humble beginning, the Velveteens have become one of Columbus' only arguments for girl...
Posted by Rick Allen on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:52:00 PST

Best of 2002

This was originally posted on Swizzle-Stick.com, a site I never actually got around to writing for. Sorry, Chip. The Means - Vil/Viol (Double Plus Good)The future of rock, hands down. While most other...
Posted by Rick Allen on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:51:00 PST

Derailleur South by Southwest Cover Letter (2002)

Columbus, Ohio is an eddy in the swirling backwaters of the small towns that barely dot the Midwestern map. The town is a magnet for hillbillies, homosexuals, college hopefuls, real estate develo...
Posted by Rick Allen on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:47:00 PST

Pretty Mighty Mighty One-Sheet (26 Jun 2002)

Pretty Mighty Mighty is the band that you should have started. The formula is beguilingly simple; equal parts tight, catchy radio-friendly rock and disarmingly discordant, yet warm, droney noise....
Posted by Rick Allen on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:45:00 PST

Justin Crook’s Death Wish: The Jive Turkeys vs. Their Fans

Guys, This was originally posted on konformist.com. I thought I'd pass it along to let everyone know why I hate those guys so much. Rick "Justin Crook's Death Wish: The Jive Turkeys vs. Their Fans" L...
Posted by Rick Allen on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:40:00 PST

Japanese Noise - A Cliff Notes-type guidebook by Rick Allen

I wrote this short article sometime in the spring of 1996 for Dave Gelo's old 19 Cent Zine. It never made it in because I kept forgetting to give it to him. Anyway, enjoy. People listen to music for a...
Posted by Rick Allen on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:35:00 PST

The Vincents (2002)

Rock 'n' roll can be a lot of things at times, but at its best, its cathartic. That's where the Vincents come in. As jaded and cynical as you may think you are, they consistently serve your ...
Posted by Rick Allen on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:30:00 PST

The Townsmen (2003)

A couple of years ago, I suggested a name for his next project to David Holm. I forget what it was, but his reaction stuck with me. He was adamant about naming the band the Townsmen, in some reference...
Posted by Rick Allen on Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:28:00 PST