Paul McLeod

Oct 28, 2024 | smashcuts.substack.com | Paul McLeod

It was either Marcel Proust or a tweet from a couple years ago I forgot to bookmark that said “I love the vibes and aesthetics of horror movies, but don’t like watching actual horror.” There seem to be many such cases judging by the volume of The Nightmare Before Christmas decorations up in my neighborhood.

Aug 27, 2024 | smashcuts.substack.com | Paul McLeod

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Nov 30, 2023 | smashcuts.substack.com | Paul McLeod

The year is 1989. Al Pacino is an alcoholic cop hunting a killer of men out there somewhere in the dark streets of New York City. A Manhattan guy who placed an ad in the lonely hearts section of the local paper is found naked, bound, and shot through the head. A lipstick-stained cigarette sits in an ashtray. An old 45 of Sea of Love, the last song he would ever hear, spins mindlessly. Then, another victim turns up in Queens. Same bondage, same song, same personals ad.

Nov 8, 2023 | smashcuts.substack.com | Paul McLeod

A common progression for board game players in their 30s goes like this: you grew up playing the same staples as your parents like Risk, Clue and Monopoly, in the 2000s you got really into Settlers of Catan, you played Catan until you got tired of it and then you branched off into other games like Bohnanza or Ticket to Ride or Carcassonne or Seven Wonders or Pandemic. Now there’s a new board game for every theme you can think of, from dystopian Eastern-European cyberpunk to cheesemaking.

Sep 23, 2023 | pnj.com | Paul McLeod

In the spring of 2003, the Pensacola medical community was called upon to address a serious problem facing the entire state of Florida. A growing and aging population needed doctors, especially primary care doctors. This shortage was especially serious for rural, geriatric and minority patients. The then-fledgling Florida State University College of Medicine was created to provide a solution, with an eloquently simple model.