I fell back into King Khan and the Shrines yesterday. Previously, I've returned again and again to the apparently well OOP The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines, one of the best damn compilations I've ever heard. It's not often I get into a band and am happy subsisting on a comp alone, but it happens on occasion, as it did with KK and the Shrines. Mr. Brown burnt said disc for me... hell, I guess back around the time I moved to LA, and it's been an on and off companion since. And although he also burnt me what probably amounts to the remainder of the band's catalogue, as well as plenty from Khan's two-man project, The King Khan & BBQ Show, The Supreme Genius of... has remained my go-to. The tracks just flow so. Damn. Good. Here's a live clip I found of another of my favorites:
That right there is Soul, baby. Khan and his cabal of collaborators have been a major force in taking back Soul from the mis-labelling of the music that began in the 80s and 90s, with crappy melodramatic balladeers. This is Sam and Dave, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding... the list goes on.
**
It's one week until I head out to Spokane for work, and then only five days until I spend a long weekend in Seattle. Can't wait. Planning on staying a night in North Bend, a city I would ultimately love to live in, and you can bet K and I will be dining at Twede's, better known to Twin Peaks fans as the Double R Diner. This will be my fourth trip to Washington, the first since 2017. It's K's first, so I'm psyched to see her reaction to the state's beauty.
**
Playlist from 3/29:
Ritual Howls - Rendered Armor
Brand New - Science Fiction
Playlist from 3/30:
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
King Khan and the Shrines - The Supreme Genius Of
Otis Redding - Live at the Whiskey a Go Go
Naked Raygun - Series #1
Naked Raygun - Series #2
Naked Raygun - Series #3
Naked Raygun - Free S**t! Live in Chicago
Dum Dum Girls - Too True
Helms Alee - Sleepwalking Sailors
Canadian Rifle - Peaceful Death
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
How to Destroy Angels - Eponymous EP
Card of the day:
Leaning toward an interpretation that juxtaposes The Magus with the source of its inspiration, Hermes Trismegistus, or the Messenger of the Gods Mercury, who Crowley refers to as, "Word of creation whose speech is silent." In other words, time to stop tinkering and send the book to Missi for that extremely important First Reader Experience.
Let's go back a few years. Circa 2014. Via Blood Disgusting, I found and fell in love with a podcast called Double Murder. A kind of 'celebrity death match' of horror movies, our hosts Danny and Tim take two horror movies and weigh them for ranking against one another. The criteria is learned and often sophisticated understanding and discussion of content and craft, so it makes for a fantastic listen if you're into Horror as an aesthetic as well as a good time.
Double Murder is a deceivingly intellectual discussion of horror (see their episode Videodrome vs. eXistenz); one of those deep dive shows where you really get to know your hosts in regard to how they approach something you probably also love if you're listening, i.e. horror movies. As with life, over the last few years episodes have dwindled as the hosts' lives have presumably done what all our lives do - run all the fuck over us, stealing our moments and bludgeoning our wills. That's a beating you have to actively work against, and brother, it ain't easy. I mean, some days it can be difficult enough to motivate yourself to do something you love, let alone line up two or more schedules to work on a project. Anyway, due to the dwindle, I'd fallen out of habit checking for new episodes. Then, last week I noticed there was one from last October, a fantastic juxtaposing of Halloween H20 and Halloween 2018. Yay!
Now, here's the thing. Danny! and Tim are from my home town, and that further endears these guys to me. I don't know them, but I'm double rooting for them, in whatever they do. So when Danny! asks Tim for news on his band, Canadian Rifle, I remember that yes! I can look these guys up on Apple Music, a service I didn't have whenever the last time they might have mentioned the band on the podcast and I was listening. I did just that, and was pretty much immediately blown away by Canadian Rifle's 2018 album Peaceful Death. I played this fucker for about a dozen rotations that first day, and it has remained in heavy rotation since. Canadian Rifle's bandcamp is HERE - I'm so ordering some vinyl to support these fellas - and there's a ton of tracks on youtube, Apple Music, wherever fine paperbacks are sold.
**
According to Comic List, it's another light week for NCDB. It can be depressing waiting for new issues of A Walk Through Hell and Gideon Falls. However, of note this week is Rick Remender and Matteo Scalera's Black Science begins its final arc with this week's issue #39. Consulting Image Comics, looks like this last arc will culminate in June with Issue #42. What a great book; looking forward to a deep-dive re-read as soon as Black Science is over.
I'm behind on Punks Not Dead. Issue One of the second arc, London Calling, is still sitting on my desk, waiting for me to re-read the final issue of the first arc before diving into this new one.
**
Playlist from 3/25:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son
Nabihah Iqbal - Weighing of the Heart
Throwing Shade - House of Silk EP
Windhand - Eternal Return
Card of the day:
Another nod toward a new beginning, and a fulfilling one to boot. As I begin to make a list of ideas and scenes for Shadow Play Book Two: The Absence of Light (Tentative title), I'm about to begin actually writing my second collaboration with Jonathan Grimm, a Depression-era, dustbowl circus zombie story called Ciazarn. Not a comic, this is more a prose novella with pictures by Grimm, and judging by what I've already seen, it will be gorgeous.
This showed up in my youtube feed last night and frankly, listening to it was so exciting I had a bit of trouble falling asleep afterward. This band continues to amaze me; while this track obviously bears more than a little passing resemblance to the standard 'Zeal & Ardor Sound,' there's more than enough that's 'new' here to show that Manuel and crew are continuing to stretch that signature sound in new directions, without eschewing the core ideas that made them so awesome in the first place. Not an easy thing to do, but they're doing it. So coupled with Baphoment, the new track K and I saw them play at the Roxy back in August, that's two new tracks. Let's hope we get another new album sooner than later. That said, don't rush it guys. Just keep doing what you're doing.
**
Tuesday night after work I drove up to Hollywood, and my friend Keller and I attended something of a dream event - Harmony Korine's 1997 film Gummo in 35mm at the Egyptian Theatre, with Korine present after the film, interviewed at the front of the room by a long-time friend.
It was magnificent. Gummo has, since shortly after I first saw the film back in, oh, probably '99, occupied a spot in my top-five favorite films of all time. And while the movie disgusts many folks, this screening cemented my observation that it is both one of the most ugly and simultaneously one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. There is such life here! After the movie, Korine talked about casting, and how he wanted to put people in the movie that you normally would never see in a movie. You can argue that there's an element of exploitation here, but to that I'd counter that Korine documents and puts himself in the film, which to me dissolves the barrier between filmmaker and subjects. He's one of them, not above them, and I think he makes this very clear. I feel real love in Gummo, and while there's definitely some terrible stuff contained within, it's documented objectively, not celebrated or diminished.
**
Because I was out late Tuesday, I'd already secured yesterday off from work. The caveat to myself though, was if I stay home, I have to work. So, I spent the entire day, from about 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM working to finish Shadow Play, with only the distraction of the occasional break to read a comic and several loads of laundry between sessions. There was some major dialogue sculpting I had to do in some of the final chapters, and one serious flaw in a certain character's logic that caused a massive reassessment and overhaul of the last ten chapters. Nothing plot-wise, but all the tiny nuances that go into this disparate collection of characters' lives and machinations all coming to a head in a penultimate moment needed to be massaged something fierce. You know, you change something here, you have to follow the ripples through to the end and make sure they all gel. And although I was exhausted and in need of an ice cold Sierra Nevada by 6:15 PM, I am quite happy with the work. Four more chapters to record and I'm ready for that final go-through. Can't wait.
**
I worked with such focus yesterday, that I was able to ignore two major trailers that dropped and had everyone talking. I'll post them here now as I watch them for the first time.
Wow. Kudos on the use of Baba O'Riley. Also, that's quite the monster near the end, right? And this one, well, I just can't wait for this one:
Playlists from the past few days:
3/20:
John Carpenter and Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST
3/19:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Finn Andrews - One Piece at a Time
Kevin Ayers - Bananamour
Canadian Rifle - Peaceful Death
John Carpenter and Alan Howarth - Prince of Darkness OST
Card of the day:
I keep seeing this one. There's definitely something more below the surface here, something I don't have the time to research at the moment. Deep dive later on.
Wow. I didn't even know this was coming. I've never been a very active Cranberries fan, despite the fact that I loved their sound. Zombie and Dreams were HUGE parts of the musical landscape of my youth, but I never really followed through on their albums. Then, maybe ten years ago, I picked up Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We and experienced a brief fascination with the band again after the use of one of their songs in the movie, The Sound of My Voice. I had just fallen head over heels in love with The Smiths - another band I had previously only dabbled with - and with their music floating through my head 24/7, I began to realize a lot of other bands were directly influenced by them, The Cranberries one of them.
When Dolores O'Riordan tragically passed away in 2018, an unexpected thing happened on Los Angeles radio - everybody began playing The Cranberries again. What's more, from what I gather in my little snippets of FM radio at work, they still play them. Often. This feels a bit like some sad triumph for a great band that kind of disappeared for years, only to resurface after tragedy. Fast forward to April 26th this year, and apparently we get the final album The Cranberries recorded with O'Riordan and then, that's it. This is the first single, and both the song and the video are emotional heavy weights in light of everything that's happened. A fitting tribute to the late O'Riordan, whose voice was really unlike anyone else's on Earth.
I received and began reading The Art of Hunting, the second book in Alan Campbell's Gravedigger Chronicles, and I can already tell I'm going to freak out when it's over, knowing there's a third volume finished that Tor won't publish. I can't express how high a regard I hold Campbell's writing in; I did when I read the Deepgate Codex, and the Gravedigger series feels like a serious level up from that, so in my mind, this is a fantastic example of expertly rendered world-building fantasy that does not succumb to "Tolkienism."
Yeah, I made that term up.
Anyway, thirty pages in, and The Art of Hunting has me as strongly as Sea of Ghosts did.
Playlist from 3/17:
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Mind Control
The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash
The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Card of the day:
A lot of ending this morning. I'm reading this one at face value: I'll finish the reading of Shadow Play today. I had an excellent session yesterday, and I really can't stress what a game changer reading out loud has been for me. I'm finding the book very much on track, and hearing it out loud is helping iron out little inconsistencies in tone, syntax, grammar, and detail.
In Search of Darkness is the self-appointed, "Definitive 80s Horror Documentary." We've been knee-deep in horror docs at the moment, with both Horror Noire and Eli Roth's History of Horror landing on Shudder within a few weeks of one another, but who cares? I love watching these, hearing insider's interpretations, and building a scope for the tempest I grew up inside the eye of in the 80s. This is everything to pop culture at the moment, or at least the alleys of that culture that I traverse. Stranger Things is based on 80s Horror, Ash, Jack Burton, and Lucio Fulci all have current comic books on the shelves. John Carpenter makes records. Child Play's getting a TV show, and boutique Blu Ray imprints like Arrow, Vinegar Syndrome and Scream Factory and specialty streaming services like Shudder and Prime are making it possible for people to see movies they'd only ever heard of since those films disappeared off first-stage VHS rental shelves, never making the jump to disc. So why the hell would I not want someone to draw an outline around this behemoth?
The final Indiegogo is up now and ends on March 31st, link HERE.
Man, I walked into a book store the other day and hadn't realized Irvine Welsh released the 'Grand Finale of Transporting."
I felt so removed; I used to buy Welsh's books the day they dropped. But he's one of those authors I love SO much, his writing tends to steer my own, and I haven't had much space for that since starting to seriously work on Shadow Play, back in 2012 now. Of course, I've had a few long interstitial projects that have prolonged that, but really, this has been where I've learned to write genre, and there just wasn't room for a more literary pull in my voice. That's changing soon; I vowed to read at least one of the Welsh books I've missed this year, and now that there's a new chapter in the Trainspotters' lives, well, I guess I'll start there.
Wait, no. I believe I have to start with 2016's The Blade Arist, because I'm fairly certain this is what happens when Franco goes to America, which both amuses and terrifies me. Imagine Begby as your new neighbor. Nightmare fuel, that.
Playlist from 3/11:
John Cale - Black Acetate
Placebo - Meds
PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
Don Shirley - Don Shirley Trio
Erase Errata - Other Animals
Waxwork Records - House of Waxwork Issue #1 OST
Wink Lombardi and the Constellations - 10 Songs
Earth - Phase 3 - Thrones and Dominions
Chelsea Wolfe - Pain Is Beauty
Exhalants - Eponymous
Card of the day:
More Cups. Emotion and sensitivity as directed or acted upon by Fire. This is good. This will get me through the lag I've experienced in finishing the book, where daily life seems to be conspiring against my productivity. I'm saying it now: My birthday is on the 24th of this month. The reading of it will be done by then, which means a few days to listen to it, a few more to make changes based on that listening, and then it's done.
I saw ATW's name on a movie I watched recently but I can't quite place what it was. I thought for sure it was Dead Wax, but I can't seem to find any acknowledgement of that online. Either way, these guys are pretty great and it's good to see them breaking through to a larger audience.
It's been a wicked weekend of hard rain in Southern California. We needed it. Wish it would continue, but there's the sun, already poking out from behind the clouds, drying up all the moisture. The rain always inspires new creative bursts in me, and the second story for my inevitable follow-up to A Collection of Desires is in the bank. Can't wait to see what comes next.
Earlier last week, I picked up Ramsey Campbell's Alone with the Horrors again. This is a collection of Campbell's short fiction from 1961-1991. I've had this for years, inspired to purchase it after a customer from back in my border's days recommended I read the short story Again. That story made quite the impression on me, but during my initial attempt at reading the entire volume, I've only ever made it through a handful of the other tales. Early last year I began again, re-reading those first few stories, but once again moved on. Now that I've returned to Alone with the Horrors a third time however, I am finding it hard to put down. The stories are fantastic; bleak and grey like the skies in the author's native Britain, with an often cold and terse style that matches the somewhat frumpy aesthetic Britain seemed bathed in during the 70s/80s. In particular, the story The Brood, from 1976, impressed me. My intention is to read a few tales from this one in between novels, the next of which will be Gemma Files' Experimental Film.
Playlist from 2/02:
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz
Black Sabbath - Vol. 4
Black Sabbath - Eponymous
Ozzy Osbourne - Ultimate Sin
Skid Row - Slave to the Grind
Card of the day:
These pulls are all tied up in a personal drama with a friend. This will hopefully work itself out over the next week. Good to see the Six of Wands again, though.
I was super psyched to receive an alert yesterday afternoon that Detroit's Ritual Howls are releasing a new album in March! What's more, there is an awesome, limited edition that includes a splatter vinyl of the record accompanied by a hardbound book that documents all of the band's lyrics through the years, as well as tour photos. I ordered mine as soon as I saw it and if you wish to do the same, or maybe just pre-order one of the other versions of the album from the always wonderful Felte Records, here's the link.
Having tackled the setback with the chapter in Shadow Play, things are going great! Still reading it aloud to K, and meanwhile I unexpectedly began a new short. It's the first time I've ever written "Detective Fiction" and I feel like it's going pretty damn well. Of course, this isn't your ordinary Detective story. You'll see...
Playlist from 1/30:
Melvins - A Senile Animal
Wasted Theory -
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz
Skid Row - Slave to the Grind
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland
Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - The Night Creeper
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Ritual Howls - Into The Water
Card of the day:
Keeping it short because, as the card says, Stagnant waters rot.
Long my favorite track from 2003's Nocturama, until this moment I had no idea there was a video for this song.
Short post today.
Playlist from 1/22:
Morphine - The Night
Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years
Apparat - Devil's Walk
The Police - Regatta de Blanc
Algiers - Eponymous
Pastor T.L. Barrett & The Youth for Christ Choir - Like a Ship (Without a Sail)
Godflesh - Post Self
Jóhann Jóhannsson - Mandy OST
Card of the day:
Free, except for that one massive weight, which currently comes in the form of a chapter I encountered last night in my read-through of the novel to K; needs some serious work.
I discovered The Blueflowers yesterday on KXLU. Wow. Love this band. They have several albums available through their bandcamp HERE, and most if not all of those are on Apple Music. I'm digging into 2018's Circus on Fire this morning, and it's taking me places both familiar and strange.
I forgot to mention that last Friday I watched Pod, a film from 2015 directed by Mickey Keating. I'd seen the thumbnail for this one for years. I've also started to see discussion among a fairly rabid Keating fanbase I never realized existed, and after just this one flick I can see why some would rabidly endorse his movies. Pod is fantastic; Larry Fessenden's in it, and that's almost always a great sign; based on the simple, no-nonsense execution of a straight forward horror/sci fi concept, I'm guessing Mickey Keating's work will fit in nicely alongside Ti West and Joe Begos. In fact, Pod and Begos' The Mind's Eye would make an Excellent double feature.
Playlist from 1/14:
Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch - Concerning the White Horse (pre-release single)
Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch - Concerning the Entrance into Eternity
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada
David Zinman, Dawn Upshaw & London Sinfonietta - Gorecki: Symphony No. 3
Card of the day:
Second day in a row for this one. And that's probably because my interpretation yesterday was correct; I came SO close to finishing the book. So this card reappears today, because Today is the day.
Punisher season 2 drops next Friday and, while I'm very excited for it, it all feels a bit pointless knowing that, like Daredevil season 3 - which I still need to watch - this show will probably be cancelled shortly after it premieres. The dissolution between Netflix and Disney is a bothersome thing because of all the Marvel adaptations, these represent the ones I am still the most engaged by, and the idea that the continuities begun on these Netflix shows may be discarded, or worse re-casting occur, well, that just stinks, and it undermines everything the company had been doing up until now to build a relationship between their 'tv' and cinematic worlds. Feels a bit DC-ish to me.
Playlist from 1/08:
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
Beastmilk - Use Your Deluge EP
Beastmilk - Climax
Playlist from 1/09:
Steely Dan - Alive in America
Belong - October Language
Mac DeMarco - Salad Days
Kevin Morby - Singing Saw
Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want
Card of the day:
Ah. Loud and Clear. I have the massive, set piece idea to end the book - the characters' actions have been in place for two years, I've just never found the right backdrop - but I haven't had the time to actually write it. I'm off work today but consumed with errands. Tomorrow I leave work at ten or eleven in the AM because I work Saturday, and my plan is to watch The Changling upon returning home. I'm juggling multiple viewing experiences for multiple reasons - because nothing can ever just be about watching and relaxing with me - but this card's a great reminder that after that flick, which I have to watch for an upcoming mini episode of The Horror Vision, I need to work. No lazy, sitting around shit.
The idea for that final set piece, incidentally, is a great example of how we find the right thing at the right time. As I write this, I'm now about 60% of the way through Nick Cave's And the Ass Saw the Angel, and even though I didn't realize it at the idea's inception - two days ago at 4:30 AM while I was in the shower - it arose from the massive deluge that takes place during the book stewing around in my thoughts for a week, sinking into the creative broth I carry around in my head (many of us do), and flavoring it in just the right way at just the right time. As I was reading the book this morning, a parking receipt tumbled out for Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, IL, back in March of 2006. That then was the timeframe of my previous attempt at reading this novel. I believe I stopped about a third of the way in, partially because the decision to move to Los Angeles came up at the time and interfered with everything, and partially because I simply wasn't ready to read it at that time. Now I know why - the idea needed to be installed in my head NOW.
This will be the only time and the only trailer for Jordan Peele's upcoming film Us that I watch. I do not want to know a single thing more about this film before I sit down to watch it in a theatre in March. But boy is it a doozy. Can NOT wait for this one; Peele had proven himself to be a major voice in establishing a beachhead of viability for horror with major studio budgets again. Also, watching this trailer and being genuinely chilled at several moments therein, the idea that Peele is Producing a new Candyman movie makes me extremely excited.
Playlist from 12/25:
Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas
Christmas Music of all varieties (kinda need it to stop)
Henry Mancini and His Orchestra - Charade OST
The Police - Synchronicity
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Card for today:
The Earthly aspect of Air. Let's read that initially as keep your head out of the clouds and down to Earth, or translated into Writerly Advice, stop f&^king talking about it and do it. There's also an element of destructive logic, which fits my overthinking the ending of this book. I've become gun-shy, and the next four days needs to undo that so I have a completed manuscript - in need of a hardcore edit, mind you - by NYE.
I've never been a very big MC5 fan. I've always labored under the idea that the right time/place just never hit me with them, despite several of my best friends being huge fans well back into the 90s. Mr. Brown saw them live recently, and alerted me to the fact that the new band is, for me, something I simply can NOT ignore. Original guitarist Wayne Kramer is joined on this current tour by:
Billy Gould - Faith No More
Kim Thayil - Soundgarden
Brandon Canty - Fugazi
And one of the best live vocalists I've ever seen, still to this day probably fifteen years after last time seeing him with one of my favorite bands, from Zen Guerrilla, Marcus Durant. I missed the show in LaLaLand, and I'll have to live with that, but thanks to KEXP and their wonderful Live on KEXP series, I at least have this.
Tangent: REJOICE - Heaven is an Incubator has released his albums of the year; read all about them HERE. Mine's coming eventually...
I really intended on posting the new Hellboy trailer that dropped yesterday. I love the two Hellboy flicks GDT did, especially Hellboy: The Golden Army, which I always thought felt like the first movie if someone gave it a Mandy-sized dose of LSD. I was sad to see that run of Hellboy end, but with Harbour as the red-skinned pulp hero, Ian McShane as Bruttenholm, and Neil "Dog Soldiers" Marshall directing, I'm all in. Even though I HATE the first trailer. After having a momentary panic, I did some digging and my encroaching suspicion seems to be confirmed: this trailer was edited in a slightly dishonest way, so as to push a bunch of humor to the front and give the film a more "Guardians of the Galaxy" type vibe. This of course makes perfect marketing sense marketing wise, so I'm willing to forgive that, especially when a Deadline interview with creator Mike Mignola includes this quote: "Neil is a horror director so the idea then was to make a darker film." Read the full interview HERE. Yeah, the interview is three months old, but I feel like Mignola's words are more poignant now that we have a trailer that, hopefully, is at least a touch misleading.
Playlist from 12/19:
Cash Money (Audio) - The Green Bullet
Kevin Morby - Singing Saw
The Police - Synchronicity
Billie Ellish - Party Favor (Single)
Billie Ellish - When the Party's Over
Kavinsky - Night Call (Single)
Corrosion of Conformity - No Cross No Crown
The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir
The Damage Manual - >1 Remix EP
The Damage Manual - Eponymous
NIN - Bad Witch
Card of the day:
The Earthy aspect of Air. My initial impetus is to translate this as herald of a possible external or internal conflict today, however in looking at the nifty little reference book that came with the beautiful mini Thoth deck my good friend Missi gifted me while I was in Chicago, I read this: "A young woman, stern and revengeful, with destructive logic, firm and aggressive, skilled in practical affairs," and I realize this is EXACTLY one of the characters I am writing in the book at the moment, one of the ones that brings everything around to the book's conclusion. Cassandra Tenorio is very skilled, motivated solely by vengeance, and maybe should act a little more like it. Gloves = off!
New Astronoid out February 1st on Blood Music. Saw these guys open for Zeal & Ardor a few months ago. Very good. Can't wait for the album! Thanks to Heaven is an Incubator for tipping me off to the imminent release.
Finally got around to the first movie-and-a-half of my 28 Days double header. We watched 28 Days Later last night; K had never seen it before and it's been a few years for me. This flick is still top of the line for me. I love the way it's shot, I love the cast, and I love the way Alex Garland's story progresses in a very Romero-but-not-Romero way. What I mean by that is, there are plenty of cues from the godfather of the undead: the shopping spree, conflict with other humans, soldiers... the scene where the Ragers infiltrate the soldiers' compound during dinner reminds me so much of Day of the Dead when the zombies are in the mines. But nothing in 28 Days Later feels regurgitated or rehashed. Maybe that's because it's from the perspective of a different country. As similar as our culture is to Britain's, there's a lot of differences that make each distinctly unique, if you look below the facade (Maybe you don't even have to look that deep). Also, I think there's a certain panache to the writing and directing - it's not necessarily because the film was 'big budget'; I'm not even sure it was a big budget at the time of its production. And as an aside, it's been sometime since a layman like I could mentally juxtapose the concepts of 'Big Budget' with 'independent' in cinema, probably because today, unless you're making a pre-franchised flick that will play in China, you're basically not big budget. But that also doesn't make you independent; ask a filmmaker like Joe Begos - a true indie - if he considers half of what people call indie actually indie, chances are he'll say 'Nope.'
Anyway, with the first one down I was raring to get into the sequel, which I'd only seen once, but then we both fell asleep during 28 Weeks Later. Not the movie's fault, it was late. From what I did see, I can attest to the fact that 28 Weeks' opening sequence is just as awesome as it was the first time I saw it, with ramifications that echo very nicely through the film. I hate splitting movies into more than one viewing, but this is a loaner from a friend and I've had it forever, so we'll be finishing it from where we left off, later today.
Heads Up: Mandy just hit Shudder. If you have the service, watch it.
Russ Lippitt, author of the graphic novel Showdown, has a kickstarter going for an awesome board game based on the Showdown series, which revolves around hot rod racing in hell. That description doesn't really do it justice, so for more info, check this out:
Playlist from 11/30:
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Your Funeral... My Trial
Gimes - We Appreciate Power (Single)
The Besnard Lakes - A Coliseum Complex
Electric Youth - Innerworld
Boy Harsher - Country Girl EP
Iggy Pop - The Idiot
Sepultura - Chaos A.D.
Sepultura - Arise
Ghost Cop - One Weird Trick
Sepultura - Beneath the Remains
Emma Ruth Rundle - Marked for Death
This is interesting. I've had a fairly non-productive week, writing-wise. Part of this is work's been a bitch, but... that's not really it at all. Back in early October, I hung out with an old friend for the first time in a while and he told me about Stoneydelivery.com. Yes folks, these are the joys of living in a state that has legalized marijuana. Stoney Delivery is basically the amazon of pot; I ordered some CBD stuff for pain and a vape pen of Sativa while at work one day, around 1:00, and by the time I got home it'd been delivered, free shipping to boot. Now, I'm not a huge pothead. I was when I was younger; most days I skip it simply because I generally don't write while high, and I try to write everyday, so the one cancels out the other, no problem. Also, I detest cannabis culture. No kidding. Hate it. But you can't blame the plant for the cult of garish losers started in its name, so for years my pot consumption has been relegated to two event types: watching movies (especially in the theatre), and listening to music. One of the best musical experiences I've had in recent years was bringing Deftones' Koi No Yokan home the day it came out, smoking, and listening to it laid out on my living room floor, my stereo speakers loud enough to engulf me. Same with QOTSA's ...Like Clockwork.
These days though, even most album releases have become harder to coordinate the time for a stoned first pass through. Apple has changed how I listen to music - not for better or worse mind you, simply altered - and my writing has continued to increase, while my time feels perpetually diminished. So, along comes this delivery service and suddenly I'm smoking pretty much every day. The vape is discreet, consistent, and not overpowering. With the actual pot I have accrued over the years (myriads of different strains left at my place by friends, all kept snug as a bug in a rug inside an Iron Maiden Number of the Beast lunch box; who says irony's dead?), smoking is always a toss up and an inconvenience. First, the building we moved into back in March is a serious 'No Smoking' building, and I'm not the kind of A-hole who will inconvenience others just to make myself happy. What this means is before the vape, I'd have to take a small walk to take a drag or two off my one-hitter. And the effects of the weed itself was always inconsistent because of so many different kinds, so I never really knew if two hits would leave me lackluster and tired or induce a full-on schizophrenic episode. Now though, it's the same every time and once I figured out my preferred dosage, it became easier and easier to partake. Coming off being sick two weeks ago, I'd garnered a fair bit of inertia, the kind that tempted me to return from work and read or sleep or watch a movie - all things I can do while high - instead of walking to my spot to write. Also, I'm nearing the end of the book and there's finish- line anxiety. This week I became lucid and realized I'd found an excuse three out of the five days not to write. And that's bullshit. I call bullshit on myself.
Which leads me, at last, back to the card of the day. As soon as I saw the Six of Cups Pleasure, I wondered if it might actually be a warning against too much pleasure. For clarification I pulled another card and what do you know, my hunch was apparently correct because:
There you go. Lazy is as lazy does.
The good news is, well, look at all this insight. It's good to call yourself out on your own bullshit. Also, I had a pretty good session last night and plan on writing both today and tomorrow (this long-winded reflection is a step in the right direction; notice my blog suffered the last few days as well). But I always dig when the cards are that upfront with me. It keeps me grounded and reinforces there's a reason I do this, you know, because as a method around our conscious mind and all its hang-ups, they work. You just have to listen when they speak.
A few weeks ago Chasms released the single "Divine Illusion." To read about the track on their bandcamp, the revelation that the track was a closing chapter to their shoegaze/industrial sound. What could possibly come next? Well, listen. I don't necessarily know what you call this, other than beautiful. Can't wait for the album. Pre-order HERE on Chasms' bandcamp.
Playlist from 11/27:
Ghost - Meliora
Mastodon - Once More Round the Sun
Mastodon - Emperor of Sand
Lebanon Hanover - Let Them Be Alien
Playlist from 11/28:
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Deerhunter - Microcastle
The Doors - Strange Days
Mastodon - Once More Round the Sun
Ghost Cop - One Weird Trick
Thought Gang - Eponymous
I pull A LOT of sevens. I don't know if this was always the case, or if now that, for about the past year I have been doing mostly daily pulls, it's just more obvious. Probably the second. Netzach is one of the Sephiroth I feel a natural inclination to, that one step beyond the perfection of Tipareth, which represented a certain time and place in my life that is now past. This is the Post-Self Number for me, in a way, as I count that bygone time/place as the first real iteration of this version of this ego-scaffolding I call 'me'. Now, what's that mean for today? Well, despite it's negative facade, I don't think this is a negative card at all. I think today's pull is just reminding me I'm Post that previous self, and this in turn will prevent me from doing what has been increasingly tempting to me of late, namely making music. I haven't picked up a guitar in close to two years maybe. Well, there's been maybe two dalliances with the acoustic that sits on a stand in my living room, but that's it. Nothing serious and no intentions. A lot of the music I'm listening to now has been inspiring my musical drive, but it's on Shut Down. I've made the deal with myself that when I finish the book, I'll maybe spend a little time on music.
Goddamn this woman is amazing. I've really enjoyed the evolution of Chelsea Wolfe's sound, and can only hope we get another album or at least an EP soon.
Plus, not to be overly male, but can this woman become any hotter? Doubtful.
I'm knee-deep in dead Arctic terrorists and mutant penguins and I LOVE IT! Robert Payne Cabeen's Cold Cuts might just go down as my favorite read in 2018.
I expected to dig it because Arctic horror was sewn into my blood long ago by a little movie called The Thing. However, the way in which Mr. Cabeen moves from horror to humor to heartbreaking empathy and genuine touching moments of real human emotion is at times jaw-dropping and has made this a marvelous read. And the best part? This book takes heavy influence from George A. Romero's original formula, in that the killer mutant penguins only show up to remind us - and the protagonists, two scientific researchers stuck in the remains of an arctic research station destroyed by terrorists - that they're there. The meat of the book is about two guys stuck in comfortable-enough living quarters, counting the days, watching their food deplete and their minds unravel. SO GOOD. Strongly recommended. Here's a nifty little video I found of the author reading a passage:
Playlist from 11/15:
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - B-Sides & Rarities Vol. III
Ghost Cop - One Weird Trick
Thought Gang - Eponymous
David Lynch & Dean Hurley - The Air is On Fire
Card of the day:
Sevens are always a mixed bag. You get the strength of Netzach (Victory), but the uneven energy of coming off the perfection of Six, Tiphareth. Futility fits the moment. Trapped in my home, still under the weather, I've been unable to make much progress writing because I always have trouble writing among all the distractions I've accumulated in my life. There's too many novels and comics and a wonderful cat who seems to know just when to vie for my attention. It's all my own personal bullshit - I'm distracted because some part of me recoils at the amount of work left even as close as I am to finishing this, but the usual way around that is the coffeeshop (so fuck all them squares that say those of us who write in coffeeshops do so for attention - believe me, the last thing I want in my coffeeshop is interaction with anyone else there, no offense to the staff, who totally get it, btw). But yeah, unable to do that, futility is exactly what I feel. Will today be better? Hopefully, now that I've aired all that "out loud."
This is pretty awesome if you're a David Lynch fan. Sacred Bones, who just put out the long-thought-lost Thought Gang record (mine should arrive tomorrow!!!), dropped this video a few hours ago. It's a video piece Mr. Lynch did for this year's Festival of Disruption. The music used here is from the Thought Gang record - overall a match made in Heaven, where of course, everything is fine. Oh, and that Thought Gang record is still available HERE.
I'm home from work sick today and spending the morning reading the Bernie Wrightson/Steve Niles/Kelley Jones Frankenstein Alive, Alive! Frank, a childhood monster I was obsessed with, has come back around again in my thoughts of late. First, it was K sitting me down to watch the original Universal Frankenstein last year that started it. After that, I narrowly avoided ordering but spent quite a bit of time lusting over this:
Now, a new acquaintance through the HWA, Robert Payne Cabeen, has just had a series of illustrations published as the visual component of new tome Birthing Monsters: Frankenstein's Cabinet of Curiosities and Cruelties, and viewing his work takes me right back to when I would sit and stare at my Remco Frankenstein for hours. What is it about this creature that captivates so many of us? Is it the idea of human ingenuity and intelligence conquering the mystery of death? Or the posit that man could steal his creator's fire by creating life on his own, in a laboratory instead of with the organs of regeneration said creator gifted us? Of course, there's also the joyous gothic attributes Universal bestowed upon the saga of Victor Frankenstein and his creature, laying a cinematic cowl over Mary Shelley's original work of horrific literature. That same gothic version is joyously recreated in the figure/environment above, and is just as joyously disavowed in both Bernie Wrightson's version and several of Mr. Cabeen's illustrations. Perhaps that is the force that binds us to this legend; in Shelley's original novel the creature is a composite, so there has always been room for so many variations that the imagination can continually find new avenues to explore using the creature as an avatar or guide. Either way, my morning belongs to the monster.
After Monsters, I'll hopefully finish up editing the video version of last Friday's Drinking with Comics, with Special Guest Kristen Renee Gorlitz, whose Kickstarter is still going strong and which I implore you to investigate and, if so inclined, support. The Empties really has impressed the hell out of me, and as you know, I always pass along what I find that I like.
As this ailment came on suddenly yesterday while at work, I left early yesterday and watched two great horror flicks on Shudder. First:
Terrified is a ripping little ghost story from Argentina. It's creepy as hell, and although conceptually it's a bit unclear, I actually really liked that about it. I'm one who is perfectly okay with tales of the supernatural NOT following concrete rules since, you know, it's supernatural and thus, largely unexplained phenomena.
Second flick I watched was an older one, something I'd heard about in the 00s and had been meaning to find and get to eventually:
This obviously isn't the Creep that stars Mark Duplass, which I also liked, obviously for completely different reasons. This one plays to my obsession with stories that take place underground. Its use of tunnels, Earthen passages, and secret rooms underground made me unbelievably happy. Well-made British horror that feels of its time in the early 2000s but still works well today.
Playlist from 11/13:
Curtis Harding - Where We Are (single)
The Knife - Shaking the Habitual
Ghost Cop - One Weird Trick
Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - B-Sides & Rarities, Vol III
Card of the day:
Again? Well, let's dig deeper and see what old boy is trying to tell me. From the Grimoire, "Action, decisiveness, and high energy. Engage obstacles/enemies. Strength. The structure of civilization, social world - law and order; the establishment."
Two things - Civilization, well western civilization, requires linear thinking and rationality. These can also be a prison. I tend to adhere to a guise of linear, rational thinking when writing, but know it can foist frustration and dead ends upon me. Find a way to work in some non-rational writing time.
Has it really been two weeks since I saw Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds? That show and the Bad Seed's performance of Shoot Me Down inspired me to pull out the B-Sides and Rarities, three volume box set released back in 2005. It'd been a while since I really dug into this one, so I put the three discs in the ride and have been flirting with it on a somewhat regular basis. I forgot how much I love some of the songs on these discs! Come Into My Sleep is one of my favorites; originally released as a B-Side to (Are You) The One I've Been Waiting For?, from 1997's The Boatman's Call. This is classic Bad Seeds suave - the vibes carry the song, nice slinky bass line from Martyn Casey and Cave's trademark literary lyrics. So good.
On the exact other side of the musical spectrum, Mr. Brown sent me a link to a fantastic article on the 30th anniversary (eek!) of ...And Justice For All. Read it HERE. I might detest the band now, but I didn't then; Justice is where I draw the line, although I seem to waiver between thinking it's genius, and rolling my eyes at four white guys playing like they have sticks up their bums. Either way, it's musical history at this point, and the article's well worth a read. Also, the remaster really brings out the vocal effect Hetfield used on his voice in the verses for Eye of the Beholder, which changes the feel of the song a bit from what you probably know.
Just finished the second issue of Sam Keith's Batman/The Maxx crossover. Man, I think this is shaping up to be a proper sequel - or at least continuation - of the original Maxx/Julie storyline that disappeared after issue #20 of the original Maxx comic. If you read that book and can remember back to the mid-90s, issue #21 jumped ten years into the future, jettisoned Julie and Maxx (for the most part), and focused on an older Sarah, a man named Norbert, and Iago, the giant Banana slug. This new series seems to be following Maxx and Julie several years down the road from that twentieth issue, with Maxx reiterating several times that he had long ago lost contact with Julie. Admittedly, it's probably been six years since my last re-read of the original series, so I might be mixing some of this up. I think I'll start another re-read now, to accompany this new series. If you're curious about the timeline, as always Comic Vine is a great resource. HERE's their page for The Maxx.
And look at this cover gallery for #2.
Playlist from yesterday:
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - B-Sides & Rarities, Disc 3
Matthew Dear - Playlist (culled mostly from Black City)
Kate Bush - The Dreaming
Intronaut - Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones)
Metallica - ...And Justice For All
Weeknight - Post-Everything
Nine Inch Nails - Bad Witch
Health - Death Magic
Card of the day:
If The Fool is the beginning of the journey, The Magus is the moment the novice becomes acclimated to the idea that the journey is no longer a transitory one, but transformative. This is life, and life is what the cards attempt to guide us through, revealing secrets that are, generally, right in front of our face the entire time. Magick isn't special; for most of us most of the time, it appears magical, like fireworks in the sky, but if you can tap in and pay attention, all the answers are with you, you've just been conditioned to ignore or chosen not to see them. Maybe you've never learned that the answers are even there. The Magus can help.
As usual, I apply my interpretation toward my writing and take this as a signifier that my work on the book goes well; the answers to ALL the continuity problems have always been close at hand, it's just not until I slow down and actually methodically think about the situations and characters that the answers come clear. And for the most part now, they have. With minor re-writing (further proven they were nearby the entire time) I've managed to scrape off the 'passable' patina and find the golden road through the heart of my little story about shadows and reflections wanting to switch places with us.
One of my favorite live shows I saw in 2017 was Ritual Howls at the Echoplex. The show was fantastic, not just because the Howls absolutely killed it live, but because opening band Chasms - who I'd not heard at the time - held me mesmerized for the entirety of their set. The ethereal quality of Sky Madden and Jess Labrador's music stops time, transfixing moments into a fluidic-like substance that bubbles up around you in colors as you stand and stare at a stage that ceases to be a stage and instead becomes a portal.
Highly recommended live.
According to Chasms Bandcamp, this is the final track of their current shoegaze/industrial sound and a closing chapter on their time in the Bay Area. The band has relocated to Los Angeles (yah!), and 2019 will see the release of a new record on Felte. I can't wait.
Thanks to Kristen Renee Gorlitz - whose Kickstarter for her Zombie Romance comic The Empties, and who will be the guest on next Friday's Drinking with Comics, which streams live on the DwC facebook page - I've found an awesome new project on Kickstarter I just backed. The Murder Balloon! Check this out:
Four days left, so if like me, you love the idea of a vengeful clown inventing a Murder Balloon, click HERE and drop some $$$ - the rewards are worth it!
Playlist for 11/02:
Tones on Tail - Everything
The Ocean - Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic
Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Wasteland
The Chameleons UK - Strange Times
Queens of the Stone Age - Villains
Alice in Chains - Rainier Fog
Blut Aus Nord - Memorial Vetusta III (Saturnian Poetry)
Chasms - Divine Illusion (Single)
Chasms - On The Legs of Love Purified
Card of the day:
My favorite card, the number 17, a beautiful portrait of the cosmos and the idea of ebb and flow, balance and harmony, and a guiding light. Reminds me that although last night I had appeared to write myself into a nasty little corner, this morning in the shower I thought my way out of it rather easily. Looks like she's bathing, right? I've come to suspect this card surfaces when I do my best problem solving, which is almost always in the morning, in the shower.
Pretty excited for Halloween on Friday. For a series I never wanted more from (because the first two, taken together are perfect), this forthcoming sequel feels right. It won't be until I see it if that feeling proves correct, and I'm still not sure why two had to be negated, but either way, if there has to be a new Halloween movie, which of course there does because, you know, that's Hollywood, then this is the one I would have held out for. Now someone PLEASE really blow our minds and follow this with a sequel to Halloween III: Season of the Witch!!! File that under the 'never gunna happen' header.
You can order the new score, composed by the man himself, along with his son Cody and Daniel Davies, on Sacred Bones Records HERE.
31 Days of Horror continued last week with my first ever viewing of Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise. Loved it! I guess I'm kinda pushing the boundaries out of horror a bit here, although I'd maintain this film fits, if for no other reason than it's a re-imagining of the horror classic Phantom of the Opera. But yeah, should bring it back in, so tonight I'll be going Horror with a capital 'H.'
31 Days of Horror:
10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06) Re-animator
10/07) Night of the Demons
10/08) Species
10/09) The Roost
10/10) The Convent
10/11) Killer Klowns from Outer Space
10/12) George A. Romero's Day of the Dead
10/13) George A. Romero's Land of the Dead
10/14) The Apostle
10/15) Phantom of the Paradise
Playlist from 10/15:
Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Astronoid - Air
High on Fire - Electric Messiah
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Sunn O))) - The Grimm Robe Demos
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Social Network OST
Them Are Us Too - Amends
Card of the day:
This worries me a skosh, but more as a warning or reflection of my current mood toward the book I'm working on than anything else. To me, the Knight of Disks is a card that always looks like a man who has arrived too late; the crop isn't quite up to par and something is barring him from continuing on his journey to the heart of the field to ascertain why. That felt a bit like writing yesterday - overwhelmed by the sprawl of the story. It's a good sprawl - I've cut it down considerably, trimmed the fat, that's what this re-organization of a book that took five years to write in the first place is all about. But yesterday, probably simply because I had three consecutive days off from working on it, I felt like it was beyond me to continue. That's nonsense of course, and when I draw two more cards for clarification I get Aeon and Swiftness, so that tells me I have to write everyday this week, rebuild momentum, and things will lock back into place.
Looks like they dropped the, "The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Anges Nutter, Witch" part of the title, but this looks awesome! I've been waiting for this one for what feels like forever. I remember back in the late 90s when, if I remember correctly, Mr. Brown and I were excited at the rumors of Depp and Robin Williams playing the angel and demon. We didn't get that, but this casting looks great. I mean, David Tennant is becoming one of my favorite actors of late. Actually makes me want to re-watch the Fright Night remake, just to see his character.
31 Days of Horror continued last night with Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator! It'd been years since I last saw this one, and in the interim my experience seeing the musical version - also directed by Stuart Gordon and starring Chris McKenna, who I knew previously from Gordon's King of the Ants - kinda overtook the film as the ultimate version of the story beyond the original source material by Lovecraft, which is very different. Apparently enough time had passed though, because I dug the flick a lot, and there's a ton of extras on the Arrow Blu Ray I recently picked up, so I'll have a good time going through those.
10/01) Summer of 84
10/02) Rope
10/03) Dreams in the Witch House
10/04) Crash
10/05) The Fly
10/06 Re-Animator
Playlist from yesterday:
Windhand - Eternal Return
Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
The Final Cut - Consumed
Sisters of Mercy - Floodland
Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
Card of the day:
The Airy aspect of Water - combining intellect and emotion in a functional way. This is exactly where I'm at writing, as I'm killing my darlings from a previous version of the novel and streamlining it into a much tighter version of the story. My goal is to have a literate, young adult novel that contains aspects of the adventure genre, as well as the horror and suburban fantasy genres (that second one there is, to my knowledge, a term I coined). And it's coming along nicely as I round the corner on wrapping the middle of three sections, I feel confident and strong on this one in a way I never did before.
