Flew into Chicago Midway this past Friday. Always amazing to be in Chicago, more
so now that I live so close. I flew back out three days later on Monday, back to LaLaLand to work for two weeks. Of course, my boss is awesome, and when he asked me to cycle back in for a week to help out in-house, I asked if I could A) time my stint to coincide with Beyondfest, and B) if I could stay the entire two weeks of the fest. Once a patron of the festival himself (and the person who originally introduced me to it way back in 2012), he replied of course.
It's cool being back in LaLaLand, even if everything about the texture of the city reminds me why I left. There is garbage literally everywhere. Living here, you start to become desensitized to stuff like that; it's a mental and emotional survival skill to ignore crises like that. But once you're away for even a little while, you see it for what it is: an indicator that the population has given up because the civic leaders either don't care or have given up, and infrastructure suffers. This entire city just seems sad to me now. Filthy and dying. Of course, there are still bright bastions of joy housed here, a focal point for so much creative energy for so long now, but the top-heavy corruption that (probably) began with the old studio systems has finally evolved into something of an apex, and it doesn't look good.
Glad I got out but kept a tie. Nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live here (anymore).
And Declan Shalvey's new book, Old Dog:
Wednesday, 9/28/22:
Thursday, 9/29/22:
But Chicago! Oh, the majesty! I had not driven on Lake Shore Drive for easily two decades, and I did so Saturday night, up to the Chicago Metro for Cold Waves X Day 1. We arrived late and missed the first few bands, but Rein was fantastic, Stromkern also fantastic, and Revco... well, talk about a dream come true, to finally see one of my favorite and most influential bands since Mr. Brown turned me on to them in High School. The night was perfect. The setlist:
Cattle Grind
Physical
Stainless Steel Providers
38 (with Richard 23)
Crackin' Up
Attack Ships on Fire
Something Wonderful
No Devotion
Beers, Steers and Queers
Do You Think I'm Sexy (with Duane Buford and Richard 23)
I might have mixed up the order a bit, but those are the songs.
Watch:
My first Beyondfest screening is tomorrow night at the Aero in Santa Monica. Dario Argento's Dark Glasses:
I'm pretty psyched. After that, Saturday a bunch of us scored free tickets to Trick R' Treat on the big screen at the Hollywood Legion Theatre. Director Michael Dougherty will be in attendance for a Q&A. Pretty psyched.
NCBD:
Despite the fact that I will be visiting The Comic Bug on this trip, that's not until next week, and I won't be picking up any of the titles I have on my regular pull list back at Rick's Comic City in Clarksville. So this is what will be sitting in my box from this week when I get back to TN:
Mr. Shalvey is writing and drawing this, so I am very excited. I've been a fan of his since his work with Warren Ellis, particularly their six-issue run on Moon Knight (the definitive modern run, in my opinion) and Injection, one of if not my absolute favorite ongoing independent comic series in recent memory. Couple that with the writing chops he displayed with 2019's graphic novel Bog Bodies, and Old Dog feels poised to be an immediate obsession.
Playlist:
Revco - Beers, Steers and Queers
Revco - Bix Sexy Land
Revco - Linger Fickin' Good
Revco - You Goddamned Son of a Bitch
Thee Sacred Souls - Eponymous
Stereolab - Pulse of of the Early Brain (Switched On Vol. 5)
The Flamingos - Best of Playlist
Rein - Reincarnated
Idles - Joy as an Act of Resistance
Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children
Boards of Canada - Geogaddi
Frankie and the Witch Fingers - Brain Telephone
Stromkern - Armageddon
Zeal and Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Joe Begos' Bliss Playlist
Misfits - Static Age
Dio - Last in Line
Card:
I haven't had the time to write or post an entry here (been working on this one since Monday), but I have been doing daily pulls:
Tuesday, 9/27/22:
No time to try and read these all now, let alone write anything down, but I always try to record these here for posterity's sake.
