In early 1994, a recent Harvard graduate dropped off a package above the Green Elephant (now the Barley House). His name was Archibald McAlester. He went by the name of Keven. We were about to start a little entertainment weekly newspaper called The Met. We needed a music editor. His application consisted of a resume in which he made fun of himself and Harvard. (“True what they say about the toughest part is getting in.”) He gave me three short CD reviews: Yo La Tengo, Stereolab, and the Afghan Whigs. They were wonderful, and I hired him on the spot. In the next few years, he wrote two things that I will always remember. In our first issue, he wrote about Kurt Cobain: “‘Here we are now/Entertain us.’ If you’ve got six better words to encapsulate the modern rock experience, I’d like to hear ’em.” And about the indie band Superchunk: “I say to you, Superchunk: [Expletive deleted] you and the indie rock poser horse you rode in on.” He then got out of journalism to be a documentary filmmaker. He’s made that look easy, too.
Long way of saying that he continues to shove his awesomeness in my face, as he just confirmed that his second documentary, The Dungeon Masters, will be a part of the AFI Dallas lineup, probably on April 1 and 2. Go see it. (It was well received in Toronto.) I’ll be the bitter guy faking a smile and kissing his boney, talented butt.
FYI: Yes, Robert had this a week ago. He’s better than me, okay? I just now got to it and wanted an excuse to put up that picture.
