Michael D Hovde

I spoke with Aqeela Sherrills about his work with the Newark Community Street Team and explored some of the incredible success they've had increasing public safety, reducing crime, and more.

Michael Hovde
As institutional trust in police forces around the country continues to erode, many people are faced with the difficult decision of what to do in the event of an emergency. Who do you call, if not 911? A majority of Americans say they don’t trust law enforcement, but who are we to rely on to protect our communities, help those in crisis, and to provide aid in emergencies?
Mallory Sepler-King wanted to provide people with an answer to that question, with an alternative to calling...

I am a father, and I was bullied….
I guess I should get this out of the way before I get into it: I’m a dad, and I’m a dad to a wonderful, inquisitive, adventurous, hilarious, nerdy, sassy, delight of a daughter. I have two incredible sisters, and my mother is an amazing woman. Not that I need to have a daughter, sisters, or a good relationship with my mom to know that girls and women are outstanding, capable, complex, and unique people; a woman is more than her familial ties. I do my best to...

The Hives are frenetic, frenzied, and furious, flurried, fast, and ferocious, fantastic, fun, and fabled (I like alliteration, sue me). The Swedish rockers found popularity in the early 2000s, alongside the likes of The Strokes, The Vines, and The White Stripes, during a surge in demand for raw and raucous rock. The Hives first coalesced in the early nineties, and they released a demo and a couple EPs prior to 2000. Their earlier albums have an extremely strong punk rock vibe about them, and ...

Showcase piece for Rock Song of the Week, commissioned piece on Dethklok.

In many ways, the 90s was a strange time, for music, television...music television (shit, I wish I could go back and invent MTV), pop music *cough*GoBritney!*cough*, movies, advertising and more. One of the beautiful gifts of the 90s is Rage Against the Machine (hereafter referred to as just Rage).
The rock quartet out of Los Angeles consists of Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk, at vocals, guitar, bass (also backing vocals), and drums (I’m sorry, Brad; I didn’t mea...

Showcase post for Rock Song of the Week website, commissioned piece.

Pantera is...well, they’re fucking Pantera, dude, I don’t know what else to say. Pantera sits among the pantheon of the Metal Gods and with good reason. The quartet, consisting of Vinnie Paul (drums), Dimebag Darrell (guitar), Phil Anselmo (vocals), and Rex Brown (bass), came blasting out of Texas in the 80s. Their first three albums, pre-Anselmo, are a bit different than their subsequent records, but 1988’s Power Metal began their string of heavier, thrashier, and harder albums, followed by ...