Thank You Judge

 

From David Lynch's 2001 collaboration with John Neff, BLUEBOB. This song cracks me up. There are lots of little things to notice the more you hear it, and all of it lands for me. One thing people often forget is just how damn funny David Lynch was. 

This is long out of print, and the version you can download from Bandcamp HERE has a slightly different track order. Glad I grabbed this the second it went on sale back in the day - I'll be buried with my CD copy. 

(Please! Someone release this on vinyl!!! Sacred Bones - I'm looking at you!)

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Knowing nothing about YouTuber Markipliars, Game designer David Szymanski or his creation Iron Lung, I went to my local Regal and saw the premiere of Iron Lung last night.

I believe I mentioned this here a few weeks ago, when, upon exiting the aforementioned theatre, I saw the poster below, looked up the screening times and saw it had already almost sold out for the entire weekend.

That shit just doesn't happen in Clarksville. I mean, closest I've seen is the last two Terrifier films, but even those didn't sell out a month in advance. So there's hype, and it took some reading to figure out why. Pliars' YouTube channel is among the largest and most successful. Not necessarily a good omen, but I decided to abstain from anything else he's done until I've seen the film.

So how was Iron Lung?

Let's talk about a different movie instead, shall we?

Maika Monroe has just been on fire the last few years, and this new Blood Covenant anthology film looks like it will fit right in. I really dig this trailer and can't wait for a release date. Honestly, I'm just happy to have a new trailer drop for something I'm looking forward to. Despite a couple great films in January, 2026 is feeling like a bit of a dry year for Horror so far. 

Read more about Blood Covenant over on Bloody Disgusting HERE.

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Playlist:

BLUEBOB - Eponymous

Daydream Twins - Solstice For Embodiment

Mars Red Sky & Monkey3 - Monkey on Mars EP

Sunn O))) - Metta, Benevolence BBC6 Live: On the Invitation of Mary Anne Hobbs

Sunn O))) - Domkirke

Deadmau5 - Random Album Title

Alone in My Room - II

The Veils - Total Depravity

Helmet - Aftertaste

Self - Porno, Mint and Grime

The Afghan Whigs - In Spades

Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence

White Lung - Paradise

White Lung - Premonition

Radiohead - Kid A

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Card:

• Eight of Cups: Indolence

• III: The Empress

• Knight of Disks

See how card 1 is Indolence - lack of motivation, and card 3 is Knight of Swords, literally motivation. I've been teetering between long bouts of inactivity writing and some really good days (like today) at the keyboard. Sounds like a pendulum, eh? What's the deciding factor? I'm way too engrossed in my day job. That shit isn't me, but it's owning me lately. I worked extra hours multiple days over the past week, and didn't take a lunch or barely move away from my desk for a week. I need to put that back in its box. I took a good step toward that today, and will make sure to do so again tomorrow. They want to own you - Don't let them!!! 

Seven Days of David Lynch Day 1: BLUEBOB - Blue Horse

 

This coming Friday marks the one-year anniversary of David Lynch's death. You know what follows in these pages. Starting Seven Days of David Lynch today, with a favorite from Lynch's collaboration with multi-instrumentalist/Producer John Neff, BLUEBOB.

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NCBD:

Big week, and I've already received a warning not to flip ahead in the finale for Dreadnok War, so I'm psyched. Let's get into it!

Creeping up on issue 30. Wow. Kirkman is building something great, and I'm here for it. 

Not a lot to say about the new creative team on TMNT so far. And that's not a bad thing by any means. The art is insanely good, and the writing feels like we're building to go somewhere interesting, so I'm just sitting back and waiting. Which, with the turtles, is always fun.

The one non-80s IP this week, and I'm happy as hell to have the respite. I love Jeff Lemire's Minor Arcana!

So weird that such a large part of my monthly pull is now centered on the toy properties I loved as a kid (and still love, let's face it). 

Whatever happens in this one, I have a feeling it's BIG! Great way to end Dreadnok War, which has really served as a revitalization for the Energon Universe's version of the Joes for me. 

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Playlist:

David Bowie - A Reality Tour (Live)

Faith No More - Album of the Year

Peeping Tom - Eponymous

David Bowie - Low

David Bowie - Reality

Helmet - Aftertaste

IDLES - CRAWLER

Agriculture - The Spiritual Sound

Blood Incantation - Absolute Everywhere

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Card:

Just one card from Thoth today. I've been pulling at least one a night, independent of my Hand of Doom spreads. I've felt a reconnection to this deck of late, and I can feel myself growing into it in an even more substantial way than before, which is saying something, because I've now had this one for over twenty years. 

• Prince of Cups: Today, especially, don't undervalue pragmatism when dealing with Earthly matters. Vague, but I'll take it. There's also the intimation of making a decision and acting on it quickly. 

ƎU⅃ᗺᗷOᗷ - Moutains Falling

From David Lynch and John Neff's 2001 BLUEBOB album, technically titled ƎU⅃ᗺᗷOᗷ, but I don't know a good way of typing that stylization outside of the clunky cut-and-paste from other websites, and then, see, you get comic sans or whatever that is. 

One of my favorite albums ever, and "Mountains Falling" is probably my favorite track. There's something so eerie and beautiful about the guitar, about the entire song. Very compelling and wonderfully utilized in Mulholland Drive. 

Tomorrow will bring us full circle on David Lynch's passing, and although technically the week-long celebration would end today, I'm extending it to Thursday for symmetry. That said, I wanted to start to get back into regular posting.

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NCBD:

This week's pull list from Rick's Comic City:

And then there's last week's books, which I completely forgot to post. How is that possible? More on that in a second.

Okay, so yeah, how did I forget to post last week's books? Well, besides being so busy at work that I didn't even make it into the shop until Thursday night, and that was only to give myself some normalcy after spending the day with the news of David Lynch's passing? There's something else at work here, though.

I recently realized I no longer have a tent pole book. I like everything I'm reading, but there's nothing that I absolutely cannot wait to read. This is always a rough patch because the older I get and the more media changes, the more I become concerned that one of these patches might stick. That seems unlikely, but even if an indie book really grabs me at some point in the near future, chances are it will either be a limited series or will be released in seasons, with gaps in between. I miss having something that really drives me. There was Preacher,  Stray Bullets, and The Walking Dead. Most recently, it was the Krakoa-era X-Men, and after that, I thought for sure the Energon Universe would carry the torch, but that's just not happening. With the exception of DWJ's Transformers, my favorite books last year were all indie titles that were published sporadically or as mini-series. Of everything I read, SIKTC comes closest, but goddamn, these hiatus intervals! Hahaha. I know JTIV is busy working on a lot of books people love - myself included - but that just means there's only sporadic consistency with all of his stories.

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I really just found myself wanting to hear David talk today. About anything. How cool, then, that I found this:

 

From the Simple Tom YouTube Channel, which I recommend you check out. The full video for this is in the description.

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Playlist:

Man Man - Rabbit Habits

Man Man - Dream Hunting in the Valley of the In-Between

Circle Jerks - Group Sex

The Halloween Scene - Pitch Black Manor

The Cure - Songs Of A Lost World

The Cure - The Head On the Door

David Bowie - Station to Station

David Bowie - John I'm Only Dancing (Sax Version; Single)

David Bowie - Low

David Bowie - Tonight

Raven Chacon - Los Subliminados (single)

Drug Church - Prude

David Lynch & John Neff - BLUEBOB

David Lynch - Crazy Clown Time

David Lynch & Marek Zebrowski - Polish Night Music

David Bowie - Reality

David Lynch - The Big Dream

Various Artists - Twin Peaks The Return: Limited Event Series OST

Various Artists - Twin Peaks The Return: Music From the Limited Event Series

David Bowie - Stage

Type O Negative - Life Is Killing Me

Zeal & Ardor - GREIF

Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire

James Brown - Funky People Vol. 3

James Brown - Hell

Hemlocke Spings - going... going... Gone!

Rina Mushonga - Narcisc0 (single)

Jocelyn Montgomery & David Lynch - Lux Vixens: The Music of Hildegard von Bingen

Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Season Two OST

Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me OST

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Knight of Cups

• XIV: Temperance (ART in Thoth)

• Ace of Pentacles

Couldn't be clearer. Emotional despondency at the loss of an Artistic influence should inspire a breakthrough in Process (the alignment of time and resources, both the Earthly realm of Pentacles). I'm planning on ending my period of obsessive mourning tomorrow with a full-on bounce back into Creative Fire

RIP John Neff & Al Strobel

 

Holy cow. The Twin Peaks Fest Facebook page is reporting another major David Lynch collaborator's death. Musician John Neff. This is insanely saddening, especially coming on the heels of Angelo Badalamenti's death AND the fact that I somehow missed the news that the One-Armed Man himself, Al Strobel also passed away recently. I can't find any information on Mr. Neff, but there is a lovely memorial over on Welcome to Twin Peaks.

Neff worked with Lynch on several projects in and around the Millennium; however, the stand out is undoubtedly their 2001 album BLUEBOB. Not only is this one of my all-time favorite albums, but it is also the album that propelled Lynch to go on and record Crazy Clown Time and The Big Dream. BLUEBOB was recently remastered and distributed by Solitude Records. You can buy the remastered album HERE. Despite the remaster, I am perfectly happy with my OG copy of the disc, and hope someone puts out a vinyl at some point.

Posted above, the track "Mountains Falling" is perhaps the best-known from the record, a sprawling soundtrack of dirge and decay used in Lynch's film Mulholland Drive.

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Let's talk a bit about Al Strobel. Mostly known for his dual role in Twin Peaks as Phillip Gerard, the traveling shoe salesman, and MIKE, the antithesis spirit to BOB; if there was one good thing that came out of Michael Anderson's refusal to take part in Twin Peaks: The Return, it's that the absence of Anderson's Little Man From Another Place left the door wide open for Strobel to have a lot more screen time. Essentially becoming the de facto coercing spirit in the Waiting Room, MIKE's interactions with the trapped Cooper create not only the impetus for a lot of Cooper/Dougie's arc in the film but also a large part of the mechanics behind the "Evolved" Red Room. 

My favorite moments of Strobel's in the Twin Peaks canon, however, are in the second season of the original series. He is instrumental in the events leading up to the capture of BOB, and Strobel's portrayal of a man deprived of his "medicine" and the transformation that catalyzes is riveting, leading right up to this:

 

CHILLS to this day! Easily my favorite overall moment with Mr. Strobel. Absolute genius. RIP Al Strobel - see You in the Sycamore Trees, sir!

 

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Playlist:

Clint Mansell & Kevin Kiner - Doom Patrol Main Title Theme (single)

The Nukes - Why Things Burn

Dio - The Last In Line

Bedridden - Soft Soap (single)

Made Out of Babies - The Ruiner

Discharge - Never Again

Tubby Hayes Quartet - Down in the Village

David Lynch and John Neff - BLUEBOB

Stan Getz - Focus

David Lynch & John Neff - Mountains Falling

From the BLUEBOB album that David Lynch did with John Neff, also featured on the ST to Mulholland Drive. There's a journey in this song that pulls me right up and out of myself.