I fell back pretty hard core back into Beach Slang's 2020 album The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City. What a great record. Will in be in my top ten this year? I guess it's about time I start trying to figure that out.
Watch
I've always wondered why people don't use James Duval in more movies. I love the guy, and here, surrounded by C. Thomas Howell, Ray Wise and James Hong, well, looks like a slam dunk to me:
See what I mean?
Playlist:
Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen
Dance with the Dead - B-Sides: Vol. 1
Low Cut Connie - Hi Honey
Beach Slang - The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City
Protomartyr - The Agent Intellect
Mr. Bungle - The Raging Wraith of the Easter Bunny
Van Halen - 1984
Turquoise Moon - The Sunset City
Card:
Realization of false promises? Is this America's indictment? What's that mean for the never-ending side show currently stressing everyone the F*&k out?
... and we're back! New location. Just two of the guys who started it (for now - although the third original member, who was actually my original partner on this venture, was in town from NY for the show, so that was awesome). Adobe's newest update nearly fucking killed me editing this one; apparently the export to H264 file format now drops audio, which is something you don't find out until after the three hours it takes render a forty-nine minute session with extensive color correction work and numerous other plug-ins. It took me five fucking days, but I found a work around and from here out, it will hopefully be smooth sailing. Because we plan on doing more of these.
A lot more.
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Song:
My cousin has turned me into a card-carrying Kevin Morby fan, and this is one of the songs on his latest album, Oh My God, that I can't seem to live without these last couple weeks.
**
Reading:
Currently, I'm held spellbound by David Cronenberg's debut novel, Consumed. When I saw Cronenberg speak at Beyondfest in 2018, he talked about originally wanting to be an author. It makes sense that his storytelling skills would translate from film to prose; the book definitely feels cinematic, to say the least. ~106 pages in and Consumed is excellent, and also bordering on the most disturbing thing I've read since Naked Lunch.
The fact that Cronenberg is writing/directing an adaptation of this for Netflix makes me both extremely excited and horribly afraid.
**
Playlist:
David Bowie - Black Star
Lingua Ignota - Caligula
Kevin Morby - Oh My God
The National - High Violet
Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
David Bowie - Outside
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Watchmen Vol. 3
Godflesh - Pure
Card:
A warning to recognize losing oneself in delusion. I actually think this applies to a facet of introspection I've had of late; until last night, it's been almost a good solid two weeks of little to no writing. A lot of that was editing the episode of DwC. Some of it, however, was a combination of fatigue and laziness. I'd come home from work exhausted, lay down and turn on a flick. Fine when that's a one-off, but when that happens several days in a row, I begin to make a habit of it. I come home from work and, tired or not, want to smoke up and watch something. There's filling the well, and there's abandoning the Art for consumption's sake. Escaping my work for the sake of falling into the fantasy of a movie, when reiterated over and over, begins to dissolve the creative inertia I've spent so much time building. This is a good reminder to put the Art first, and the fantasy second.
Holy. F*&k. This, this I can't wait for. IT chapter 2 is exciting, but Doctor Sleep directed by Mike Flanagan... words can't describe my anticipation. Which is a little unnerving, because I had a lot of anticipation for Pet Sematary, too, and look how that turned out. That said, I'm still inclined to think the problem with PS was the studio not allowing Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer make the movie they wanted to make, while Flanagan has such a solid, lengthy track record at this point, I'm sure he will be able to do what he wants, just as I'm sure what he wants to do is make a great Stephen King adaptation from a great Stephen King novel.
If you haven't read Doctor Sleep, do so. Now, if you're able. It's fantastic.
And thanks to Mr. Brown, for lending me his copy back when it came out, ensuring I had a chance to read it early on.
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Hey, hey! That new Baroness dropped today. I'll be listening to it all morning, but tell ya what - this opening track freakin' rules!
**
Playlist the last few days:
Soul Coughing - Irresistible Bliss
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Ghost Cop - One Weird Trick
Marissa Nadler & Stephen Brodsky - Droneflower
Arthur Ahbez Gold
King Woman - Doubt EP
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult - Final Blindness 7"
Finitribe - Make It Internal
Orville Peck - Pony
Helmet - Aftertaste
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
Helmet - Size Matters
Helmet - Dead to the World
Odonis Odonis - Post Plague
Spotlights - Love and Decay
**
Card of the day:
Leaving behind the symmetry of the sixes and moving into uncharted - and possibly murky - waters. I'm reading this as caution going forward with the next project, as I have less than three hours of work remaining on Shadow Play before I order the proofs. It's been a hell of a battle to finalize this, and I'm still not convinced I won't be reading it again in full when the proof arrives. Either way, my time on Ciazarn is coming back around again, but where that should feel strong, I've got two shorts hanging on as loose ends. Should I begin with those, knock them out and then dive back into the Dust Bowl? Not sure.
First, I had to set the tone with some music. Last night, K and I rolled into North Bend. I love this town. Seriously. With Mount Rainier looming beautifully in the mist, we checked into our amazing Airbnb and set out for the Salish Lodge. In the cool, wet spring evening, the falls were more amazing than I've ever seen them. To say K had a religious experience is something of an understatement.
Afterward, we ate at Fall City Roadhouse, the exterior for the infamous Twin Peaks Roadhouse. Second time I've dined here and the food is just ridiculous! I had the Meatloaf Dinner, and, well, this must be where meatloaves go when they die. Washed it down with two of these, Nitro, on tap:
Breakfast this morning will be at Twede's, which my fellow Peaks People will know as Norma's Double R Diner. From there will probably cruise a few filming spots so she can see them (Hap's old location, Ronette's bridge, maybe the Mill/Sheriff Station), then on to Seattle, where we'll leave the Peaks nostalgia behind and dig into an Underground tour and some museum tours. Special thanks to Mr. Brown who is way more familiar with Seattle than I, and his offering to serve as my 'Alex,' by phone if I have any questions.
Playlist:
True Widow - AVVOLGERE
Melvins - Houdini
Slayer - Reign in Blood
Dum Dum Girls - Too True
Twin Peaks Limited Event Series Soundtrack
Card of the day:
Having a hard time squaring this with my present state. 7s traditionally represent the unbalance that leaving the harmony of the 6s behind causes. I don't feel unbalanced, but I suppose we often don't. I'll take this as a reminder to keep my wits about me and stay emotionally even.
Jarmusch is doing a zombie movie? With Bill Murray and Adam Driver? Count me in! I mean, I am just about as burnt out on the Z word as one can be; I remember back in 2004 when my good friend Mike who runs Amazing Fantasy Comics in Chicago told me to read The Walking Dead, my initial reaction was, "Zombies are over done. Give me the first three Romero flicks, Return of the Living Dead, and Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, and I'm good." And that was before the real over-saturation occurred, before even Arnold Schwarzenegger had made a zombie movie. Now? Well, it takes a hell of a lot to get me interested in the living dead; there really has to be a unique and unexpected spin on the concept. The Night Ate the World definitely did that for me last year. The Walking Deadcomic does it every month (hint: because it's not really about the zombies). Cinematically, comedies appear to have the highest success rate with me, i.e. Sean of the Dead and Zombieland, are two that I adore. But having just watched and LOVED Jarmusch's Patterson, the idea of him doing a Z flick with a cast like this, well, I'm very intrigued.
And hell, look what he did for Vampires in Only Lovers Left Alive, probably my favorite V flick since Coppola's Bram Stoker.
**
Yesterday I listened to the Beyond the Void Podcast and absolutely loved it. I'd listened once or twice before, or so I thought, but had no lasting impression of the show. Not surprising: my memory is chewed and the amount of content I consume probably borders on insane. And there's so many podcasts out there, it's hard to nail down the good ones. BTV is definitely one of the good ones.
I started with BTV's top horror movies of 2018 episode, and wow. I mean, it wasn't just the thrill of our lists mostly lining up; hosts Alex and Britni both have a similar aesthetic, but beyond that, it was super cool to hear films like The Night Ate the World and Incident in a Ghostland given their due, because I feel as though both were largely absent from a lot of the 'best of' lists I saw last year. Really great 'cast and a ton of additional content on their site as well, so if you're in a horror discussin' mood, give these folks a listen.
**
Playlist from 4/03:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Matthew Dear - You Put a Smell On Me
Brand New - God and the Devil are Raging Inside Me
Tricky - Maxinquaye
Martina Topley-Bird - Too Tough to Die
Twilight Singers - Too Tough to Die
Matthew Dear - Bunny
Sleep - Dopesmoker
Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley
Card of the day:
Because I'm getting nothing fucking done, my even-steven level (6) has become unstable.
A little classic Firewater to kick off the morning. I drove in to work playing The Ponzi Scheme, the band's 1998 masterpiece, and it reminded me how much I love this album. I've always been a bit reticent when engaging with their other albums; nothing against the band or Tod A, the principal composer/arranger/lyricist who is the anchor of the group, Firewater is just one of those band's whose first album I heard made such a deep impression I've always had trouble going for anything else. That changes today, I think. I've loaded 2003's The Man on the Burning Tightrope to my Apple Music and intend on engaging with it shortly after I post this.
Congratulations to Green Book for winning best picture. I know, I know: I'm one of those people who flap their gums about detesting the oscars and then applaud when the awards line up with my personal choices. What'dya gunna do?
Quick correction on my previous entry to these pages. In 2015, Hateful Eight was not my favorite/the best movie of the year, it was Alex Garland's Ex Machina.
Saturday night I had the guys from The Horror Vision over and we watched Philip Ridley's INSANE 1991 film The Reflecting Skin. This just hit Shudder and is a bit hard to come by, so I recommend if you have the service you watch it. Haunting, and you will never see daylight and fields of wheat look so freakin' ominous again.
The final episode of True Detective season 3 aired last night. Much like the first season, I didn't love the finale. Still, no complaints on an overall awesome season. My slight disappointment simply stems from the fact that, even more than season 1, this season set up a lot of what could have been really profound ideas and then skirted around them for a pretty convenient and simple resolution. I guess the show will never be what I want it to be, but even just these teases - when executed this well - are enough to permanently endear it to me.
Playlist from 2/23:
Beck - Odelay
Don Shirley Trio - Don Shirley
The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicenter
Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
Paramore - All We Know is Falling
Ritual Howls - Into the Water
Odonis Odonis - Post Plague
The Cure - Pornography
Playlist from 2/24:
United Future Organization - Third Perspective
Card of the day:
Hmmm... poisoned waters? Overflow of emotion tainting the perfection of the Six? No idea on this one, though I'm tempted to read it as my preoccupation with a new short story idea - well, a couple of them really, hence the overflowing symbolism - interfering with my editing of the book I've promised myself will be published in April.
Although Chrysta Bell and David Lynch released the album This Train back in 2011, they've just dropped a video for closing track The Truth Is a few days ago. Really cool video that should serve to remind us how we all have different masks we wear to navigate the world around us. Why is that? Well, maybe one day that won't be the case, but for now, many humans are still obsessed with hating anything different than they are. Must be a sad existence, that, as although I was never wired to hate anybody except maybe ben stiller and jim carrey, I wouldn't be able to find the time for it. And maybe that's the key: fill your mind, body, and soul with things you love, and you won't have time to hate.
Today is my three year anniversary of meeting K. What an amazing three years this has been! We love and support one another, she's my devoted first listener/reader, and gobbles up as many horror movies as I can cram into our daily lives. K - I Love You. Thank You for making my life complete.
Playlist from 1/31:
Joy Division - Still
Skid Row - Slave to the Grind
Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman
Red Rider - As Far As Siam
Ennio Morricone - The Thing OST
Card of the day:
I already know what's stagnant and poisoning the well; I had to post-pone taking care of it because of the end-of-the-month scheduling at work. Perhaps next week. I can feel it though, and this run of what I think of as the 'murky waters cards' is only proving it.
Can NOT wait for this album to drop next Friday. It's streaming now on NPR HERE. If you haven't, see Boy Harsher live. They are enthralling.
Playlist from 1/23:
United Future Organization - 3rd Perspective
Post Stardom Depression - Prime Time Looks A Lot Like Amateur Hour
David Bowie - Blackstar
Deftones - Gore
David Bowie - Reality Tour (Disc 1)
Tin Machine - Eponymous
Ghost - Circe (single)
Playlist from 1/24:
Wasted Theory -
Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch - Concerning the White Horse (Pre-release single)
Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch - Only Lovers Left Alive OST
Cold Cave - You & Me & Infinity EP
Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years
Drab Majesty - Careless
Tool - Aenima
Battle Tapes - Sweatshop Boys
Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
Belong - October Language
Trust Obey - Fear & Bullets
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Tinderbox
Card of the day:
Guilt over a falling out; waters of friendship tainted. But is it poison, or can it be filtered back to purity?
