Saturday, October 07, 2006

Tower Records to be liquidated

Tower Records to be liquidated

Tower has sucked for at least a decade - perhaps longer - and I haven't set foot in one for a couple of years, but still, this is kinda sad. Tower Records was where I used to go to get all the cool and weird music I listened to in high school. The Imports/Indie section was the Friday night haunt. But then, they went all Wherehouse with the neon and the only carrying the latest hits and the not letting the employees get stoned at the register and the taking music off the stereo when a customer complained and, well, the actually giving a shit when a customer complained...That's not Tower at all.
And now they've been liquidated.
Good night, funny man.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

What the hell does this mean?

I had a dream last night, wherein I was at a restaurant with Jerry Seinfeld and Andy Dick. We were eating grapes. Andy was acting strange - as he does. Alfred Hitchcock was giving us a very stern look from across the aisle.
WTF?

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Bruce Campbell or Foghat Tickets

Bruce "Don't Call Me Ash" Campbell found himself in Fresno last night. He signed the paperback release of his book "Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way - the Director's Cut" and answered a bunch of inane and, in some cases, insulting questions from the crowd:
Will you father my children? (Why, you shooting blanks?)
My friend is $137 in the hole. Can you loan him some money? (Tell your friend to shove it!)
But he still sat there for hours and hours and hours signing books and DVD covers, and other assorted crap and giving the glad hand to a bunch of mouth breathing chuckleheads with all the patience of a saint.

While we waited and waited and waited, a woman approached and asked Vance what we were waiting in line for.
"Foghat tickets."
She bought it for a second.
"Oh, Foghat....wait, what?!?"
"Heh...no, it's an author doing a signing. Bruce Campbell..."
"Bruce Campbell?"
She shrugged and went about her business.
We larfed.

Finally, around 10:30pm, we made it to the front of the line.
When it was my turn, Bruce interviewed me:
BC: So, what's up? What's up in Fresno?
Me: Uh....you being in Fresno!
BC: But enough about me! What about you? What do you do?
Me: Uh....I, uh....work at a job I don't really like...
BC: What do you do?
Me: Uh....I, uh....analyze sales tax data.......uh......
BC: I can see why you don't like it. What do you want to do?
Me: Uh....I, uh.....want to be a librarian....uh....
BC: Well, get to it!!
Me: I will! Thanks for coming to Fresno...
I say Bruce Campbell is A-OK

--

Whilst there, I also picked up the new Charlie Huston book, "A Dangeroud Man" - the final book in the Henry Thompson trilogy, and the latest Haruki Murakami hardcover, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman - a collection of short stories.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Another Mix CD

Oh, the cleverness of me.

1. Van Morrison - And It Stoned Me
2. Current 93 - Idumæa (vocals by Marc Almond)
3. Blue Cheer - Summertime Blues
4. The Ramones - The KKK Took My Baby Away
5. Fugazi - Waiting Room
6. The Monkees - (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone
7. Donovan - Hurdy Gurdy Man
8. The Postal Service - Suddenly Everything Has Changed
9. Dinosaur Jr - In A Jar
10. Alphastone - Cool Earth Sensation
11. Spacemen 3 - Transparent Radiation
12. Flying Saucer Attack - Suncatcher
13. Rolling Stones - We Love You
14. Mazzy Star - Halah
15. Spiritualized - Shine A Light
16. Funkadelic - Can You Get To That
17. Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music
18. Otis Redding - Amen
19. T.Rex - Ballrooms Of Mars
20. Wire - Outdoor Miner
21. The Sonics - Santa Clause

Every time I pre-order a damned book...

Thomas Ligotti and Teatro Grottesco

There were some problems with the printing of some of the initial pages; consequently they are being reprinted, which means we expect to have the book in about 3 to 4 weeks time. We apologise for the delay with this publication which is out of our hands.


The last Thomas Ligotti book I pre-ordered - "My Work Is Not Yet Done" - was delayed. Previous to that, the Takashi Miike biography "Agitator - The Cinema of Takashi Miike" was delayed - I ended up having to cancel it from Amazon because they kept delaying it, and ordered it from Last Gasp. "Mario Bava – All the Colors of the Dark" by Tim Lucas was pre-ordered for my 30th birthday. I'm no longer 30. Not even close. I think Mr Lucas is aiming for the end of this year finally, but we shall see....we shall see.

I wonder if my man Charlie Huston's new book, A Dangerous Man, is on schedule...maybe I should pre-order it and fuck that all up, eh?

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Name dropped by Charlie Huston

So, Charlie Huston is current fave author*. (See previous blog entry)
I e-mailed him and told him so.
He seemed to dig that.
He also seemed to dig the picture of our Maiya and her early sign language skills.
Go buy his books. Read them. Love them.
He's also doing a run of Moon Knight for Marvel. (I really hope it's coming out as Trade, because I just can't do the montly comic thing anymore...I get into too much trouble)

www.pulpnoir.com » Blog Archive » Subject of the Jam - The Official Charlie Huston Website: "What’s That Smell?"

I don’t know what the guys at RottingAmerica.com are up to, but I think we should all be afraid. Especially of this young lady. Good to see the youth of America have at least one bright spot lighting the road ahead.


*He nudges out Thomas Ligotti only barely, and by virtue of readability and availability - because let's face it, Mr Ligotti's stuff is very stylized and is just sometimes too much work. It's very rewarding, but still... and next to nothing is in print at any one time...

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Charlie Huston

My little brother bought me Charlie Huston's books for my birthday. I just finished the first, Caught Stealing. Am about to start #2, Six Bad Things. Buy them, read them, love them. Then go here:
www.pulpnoir.com - The Official Charlie Huston Website

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Latest Mix CD

Frodo Eats People

01 - Bad Livers - The Adventures Of Pee Pee The Sailor (1:56)
02 - The Lovedolls (with Redd Kross) - Sunshine Day (2:31)
03 - Redd Kross - Deuce (3:09)
04 - Meat Puppets - Look At The Rain (4:16)
05 - Dinosaur Jr - Yeah We Know (5:20)
06 - Beatles - Besame Mucho (2:37)
07 - Johnny Cash - Sam Hall (2:36)
08 - Kraftwerk - The Model (3:37)
09 - Red Cross - Puss 'N Boots (2:30)
10 - The Icarus Line - Losing Touch With My Mind (5:40)
11 - The Clash - Clash City Rockers (3:45)
12 - The Skatalites - Guns Of Navarone (2:26)
13 - Redd Kross - Lovedoll Superstar (2:39)
14 - Public Enemy - Bring The Noise (3:41)
15 - Luna - Bonnie And Clyde (6:09)
16 - The Rolling Stones - Factory Girl (2:07)
17 - XTC - Dear God (3:32)
18 - Blue Öyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper (5:01)
19 - Redd Kross - Love Is You (2:27)
20 - Dinosaur Jr - The Post (3:31)
21 - Nick Drake - Leaving Me Behind (3:23)
22 - Hedwig And The Angry Inch - Midnight Radio (5:35)

Friday, March 24, 2006

Separation of Powers - The U.S. Constitution Online

Constitutional Topic: Separation of Powers

The Separation of Powers devised by the framers of the Constitution was designed to do one primary thing: to prevent the majority from ruling with an iron fist. Based on their experience, the framers shied away from giving any branch of the new government too much power. The separation of powers provides a system of shared power known as Checks and Balances.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

God Bless Terry Gilliam And All Who Sail With Him

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Battle-scarred Gilliam looks to future:

"'It's hard for me to worry about the studios losing money. I'm not very sympathetic to their money problems, because they certainly haven't been sympathetic to mine.

'When you look at one of their accounting sheets you realise you're never going to see a penny, so if someone wants to rip them off that's fine with me.

'If you're going to pirate, though, make sure the quality's good. Have some respect for what you're pirating!'"

Notes on the Founding Fathers and the Separation of Church and State

From Theology.edu

"Many well-meaning Christians argue that the United States was founded by Christian men on Christian principles. Although well-intentioned, such sentiment is unfounded. The men who lead the United States in its revolution against England, who wrote the Declaration of Independence and put together the Constitution were not Christians by any stretch of the imagination."
... ...
"The United States is not, by any stretch of the imagination a Christian nation today, nor has it ever been, nor was it ever intended to be. The Religious right (or left) would do well to stop looking for the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth."