Isolation: Day 16 - The Return of Joe Bob Briggs!

Man, this could not come at a better time! I cannot wait for weekly event viewing with Mr. Briggs.

**

I've been on a reading tear. I finished my re-read of Inferno, the mini series that ran through all the X-books in 1989. I even through in the What If...? Issue that contemplated what would have happened had the X-Folks lost to S'ym and Madelyne Pryor. Mr. Sinister remains my favorite X-Villain, however, it's unfortunate that Mr. Claremont never had the opportunity to fully explore his backstory. I know subsequent X-writers did, however, I don't know that I'd ever be interested in reading beyond Claremont's X-Men again. Louise Simonson works well writing X-Factor inside Claremont's domain, and I don't want to belittle what she did, but really, she began as Claremont's editor on the books, so it makes sense that when he had to hand the reins of one book over to someone, it would be her. And Ms. Simonson's contributions are fantastic. I even like a bit of what Fabian Nicezia added closer to the end of Claremont's tenure, but most of what other creators did at that time grew organically out of the seeds Claremont had laid. Who knows? Maybe I'll find the one of those Sinister-related trades on sale for Kindle at some point and take a chance. I know they took him back to the Victorian era - an immediate 'Pro' for me, however, the subsequent convolution of all things X after Claremont and the editorial insistence on 'Status Quo' just makes me want to pretend the characters were part of a finite series. (Although Morrison's stands on its own as a three-volume masterpiece, and I suspect that may be just about up for re-read as well).

Possibly my favorite splash in the entire series

Next up was the complete Alien/Predator/Prometheus Fire and Stone saga, which was pretty awesome. 

One of my favorite elements of this was when the construct Elden - similar model to Bishop or David from the films - is injected with the Engineer's Life Accelerant "Black Goo" and begins an evolutionary journey that sees him become something almost as monstrous and distressing as the Xenomorphs themselves. Check this out:

More wonderful Nightmare fuel from the Alien Universe!

Next, the first installment of Warren Ellis' 2016 serial novel Normal, which I've had since its release and which I've just realized, is now only available as the collected novel. So, apparently in order to continue, I'll just have to pick that up, which is no problem, as it's readily available on Kindle:

Although I won't be doing the rest of Normal just yet, as reading the first part awakened in me a rabid desire to re-read Charles Stross' Atrocity Archives, which I believe I first read back in... 2007 or 2008, and which has perpetually been on my mind since setting up a Feedly account a few months ago and following Stross' blog (HERE).

If you're unfamiliar with Stross, his Laundry Files books follow an employee in the IT department of a company that deals with Necromantic Arts and Lovecraftian Elder Gods the way Silicon Valley companies deal with Technology. It's fascinating, and I'd been meaning to re-enter Stross world for sometime. I'm only a few pages into this re-read, but I may do more of the series afterward.

**

Playlist:

The Birthday Party - Mutiny/The Bad Seed EP
Fenn - Epoch
Balthazar - Fever
Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Tinderbox
Tennis System - Lovesick
Spotlights - Love and Decay
Various Artists - The Void OST
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Me and That Man - New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1
NIN - Ghosts V: Together
Rammstein - Eponymous

**

No Card.

Isolation: Day 13 - RIP Bill Rieflin

I've never been clear if Rieflin actually played on this particular song - he was in the incarnation of the Cocks for this record - but his mention in this, the title track from the album Linger Ficken' Good, always makes me laugh.

**

Last night K and I watched David Lynch's Wild at Heart. It's been a while since I've seen this one, and for some reason, there are a lot of details that I always forget, but overall, while not my favorite Lynch film by any stretch of the imagination, I still love this flick.



Note: In choosing a trailer to post, I opted for the original, unrestored version over the remastered, Shout Factory. I did this simply because I remember this trailer so vividly from television the year of its release, a time when I was in the throws of my initial introduction to David Lynch and the then-airing second season of Twin Peaks. Something about the grain and vague picture really authenticates the memory for me, so while I'd rather watch a restored version of the film, this trailer 'lights my fire' more than the glossy one.

After Wild at Heart, we did indeed begin a rewatch of Twin Peaks: The Return. This will only be the second time I've watched the series, and I'm excited and trepidatious with going back to it. One thing that I feel is definitely going to enhance this go-through is the fact that I'm also re-reading Mark Frost's Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier, and watching some of the editorial/theory programming that popped up on youtube during and after The Return's initial broadcast run. Having access to information we did not during that initial run, I feel, will make a hell of a difference in accepting and understanding certain elements of the series that otherwise left me feeling a bit... unresolved. The most important video I've found for this is Wow Lynch Wow's brilliant examination of the Cooper/Mr. C connection. If you haven't seen this, dig into it before you go back to the series (or even if you just want to think about it after the fact). I am in complete and total agreement with this man's assessment here:



**

Playlist:

Man Man - Future Peg (Pre-release single)
Steve Moore - Frame Dragging EP
Led Zeppelin - I

No Card.

RIP Stuart Gordon

To quote Tod Ashley, they're droppin' like flies right now. This one hits hard. I love Stuart Gordon's movies. I loved that I was able to see him in person - briefly - at the Steve Allen Theatre back in 2011, when he directed the Re-Animator: The Musical there. I love Re-Animator and Bride of Re-Animator (the latter admittedly had Brian Yuzna at the helm, but it was still Gordon's movie). I love From Beyond. I love King of the Ants. I love Dagon. I love his Dreams in the Witch House. This sucks. Rest in Peace, Mr. Gordon. Hopefully Herbert won't be stealing your remains and attempting to bring you back to life as some ghoulish creature of the night. But then again, if he does, it'd make a good movie!

Isolation: Day 12 - Anthrax Lone Justice

I'm not quite through posting about this one yet. Anthrax's 1985 Sophomore album Spreading the Disease has locked into my heart of late, and I'm finding it hard to get my fill of it. Every song is great, and what's really cool is this is Anthrax not fully formed as they will be by 1987's Among the Living. That's the album where I think pretty much everyone agrees the band solidified their sound for the next few albums (only to overthrow that again a few albums later by replacing Joey Belladonna with Stan Bush for the release of 1993's Sound of White Noise). But on Spreading the Disease we still have some of the young band's influences showing through, and both today's track 'Lone Justice' and yesterday's 'The Enemy' really show the Iron Maiden influence on these guys. I mean, listen to either of these songs and imagine Bruce "History Major" Dickinson singing over the top and you'll hear it right away. So cool, to see the primordial ingredients of one of the most iconic bands in Thrash history.

Speaking of history, I'm hearing Mr. Bungle's Raging Wraith of the Easter Bunny album should be out in fall, if, you know, the current crisis ends by then and the world that's left even slightly resembles what we have now. Which, hopefully, it will. More on those efforts in Mindful Habitation, below.

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Mindful Habitation:

Today is my 44th birthday. Holy shit, man! Forty-four. There were times I didn't think I'd get this far; I've always had sort of a prescient block on how to imagine aging (hence my Bowie article HERE), and in light of current events, well, you never know. Could be my last. Not that I'm walking around worried about that. I think we're all probably prone to a certain amount of on-again-off-again existential crisis at the moment, but generally I'm thinking I'll make it through to the other side of whatever this is shaping up to be. And so will all my loved ones, K and our family in both states I divide my consciousness between, but also, all the friends who probably don't know it, but who I carry with me day-to-day as a sort of live-in consensus. This is my world, and as long as they remain consistent, I can adapt. I'm not special; I'm sure most people have these lists and they're tossing dice against the Universe that when the dealer folds, they're holding the better cards. All we can do is sit at the table, employ the our best poker face, and try and beat this. It is going to take a bite out of our population, because it has to. The Planet's needs come first, y'all. However, play it smart and let those too stupid to pay attention or take this seriously be the ones weeded out. And that's the Mindful Habitation for today: I never thought I'd age into the kind of person who thinks the military needs to control things with a police state, but Jesus-Fucking-Christ, all these people still gathering in groups, still playing basketball at the park in large numbers, still not taking this seriously? STOP IT. If you don't? Well, then if Mother Nature has to thin the heard, I'm all for her starting there. The only problem is how many non-morons they might likewise infect. So - and this goes back to a life rule for me - minimize the number of morons in your life.

**

I don't normally make much of a to-do out of my bday anyway, so this year won't be that different. I love to throw parties and celebrate my friends' reiteration renewal, but I prefer to let mine squeak by quietly. That said, I have today and tomorrow off, I ordered a growler of my favorite local beer (King Harbor Brewings' Swirly!), and K and I kicked off two days of marathoning stuff that I love last night with The Big Lebowski and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Been at least ten years since I'd seen either, and both hold up. Lebowski remains one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, and Vegas, although darker with each subsequent viewing, always hits my heart with the weight of Thompson's profound insight into the Death of the American Dream. Today? Not entirely sure yet, but I may be starting a marathon re-watch of Twin Peaks: The Return in a little while. I might work up to that with a first viewing of The Conjuring 2, though, simply because I've still never seen it.





UPDATE: We watched the Conjuring 2. It's very well made shit. I didn't hate it, but total disappointment, because I maintain the original is fantastic, even if it does lose a bit of steam once they show us the ghost on top of the armoire. Still Number Two felt like a massive step backwards, despite some very fancy and expensive camera work.

**

Playlist:

Anthrax - Spreading the Disease
Deafheaven - New Bermuda
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
Steve Moore - Frame Dragging EP

**

Card:

A reminder, I think, not to let the day go by without some creative time. Think I'll dig back into my current project for a little bit, come up for air in an hour or so. Just to keep the juices flowing.

Isolation: Day 11 - Anthrax The Enemy

When I was a Freshmen in High School in 1990, I fell really heavy into Anthrax. I loved all the Titans of Thrash, but Anthrax was the one that I loved best, mostly because of how The Persistence of Time hit me. That was the first Anthrax album I bought/heard, and when I spread my allowance out over the next few months digging into their back catalogue, I fell even deeper in love. Among the Living is the obvious gem, but State of Euphoria, Spreading the Disease, and the I'm the Man EP all occupied a place of great thrall in my cassette collection. Since then, Persistence, Among, and State have all stayed in and out of rotation, but for whatever reason, Spreading the Disease was the album I never really went back to again after those teenage years. Last month, after seeing Mr. Bungle's thrash set, I went through a reawakening on the marvels of classic thrash, and ever since then, Spreading the Disease has been inching its way up into the top rotation spot in my daily playlists. And this last week or so - no irony intended - it's been the album that has soundtracked my thoughts.

I wake up everyday with one of the songs in my head. For a few days it was Medusa. Yesterday it was The Enemy. Today it was Gung Ho. I'm absolutely loving this record right now, it feels like one of the crown jewels of 80s thrash. It's always such a good feeling to fall in love with an album all over again.

**

Last night, K and I watched Roger Avary's 1993 French Bank Heist gone wrong Killing Zoe. I saw this movie a lot when it came out on video; I'm pretty sure other than Reservoir Dogs, this was a constant with my friends and I. Dark, funny, and thoroughly possessed by that "Tarantino Crime Aesthetic," probably because Avary helped create that vision with his work on Pulp Fiction. If you've never seen this one, it's definitely worth a watch, and if, like me, it's been at least a decade, I definitely recommend a re-watch. Killing Zoe won't disappoint.



**

Playlist:

Anthrax - Spreading the Disease
Beach Slang - The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City
Algiers - The Underside of Power
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

**

Card:

Fours are solid, but in my opinion, sometimes misleading. I've had a few days off writing simply because of it was my weekend to work and it kicked my ass. Now though, I have the next two days off, so it's back to work.

Isolation: Day 10 - RIP Kenny Rogers

I'm not a huge fan or anything, but there's no denying the man is a legend. I know this is the obvious choice for people of my 'demo' to post as a tribute due to its presence in the Cohen Brothers' cult-favorite film The Big Lebowski. Regardless, I love this tune.

**

Based on my fellow Horror Vision Host King Butcher's recommendation, I picked up a Blu Ray copy of 2011's Fright Night Remake two weeks ago, and finally watched it Friday night. I saw Craig Gillespie's remake of the classic Tom Holland 80s Vampire flick back when it was released theatrically and liked it, although I don't have a ton of history with the original, which I know I've seen in its entirety but not until way later in life - about time I revisit that already. I liked it even more second time through. The cast is top notch, and late-00s CG doesn't bother me so much, as most of the scenes that require them are awesome regardless.

And then there's David Tennant. Goddamn, that man is awesome.



**

Playlist:

Anthrax - Spreading the Disease
Chris Isaak - Heart Shaped World
Beach House - Thank Your Lucky Stars
Beach House - 7
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
Beastmilk - Climax
Calexico - Even My Sure Things Fall Through

**

Card:

It's a Swords kind of moment, that we find ourselves in, eh? But the Ten of Swords isn't a signpost as to where we're going, it's more a warning in my eyes, a warning that our negativity feeds itself and multiplies (10 is the initial multiple of 5, which is Swords is Defeat). Our ruinous thoughts and negative attitudes do nothing but perpetuate themselves and our misery. So...


Mindful Habitation:

As stupid as it sounds, smile when you're tempted to freak out. I've done this for years - when I can have the presence of mind to do it. Smiling releases chemicals that make you feel better. Sounds awful new age, but it works. Even if it doesn't work and this is a case of "if you've convinced yourself, that's great," I've always been okay with the so called Placebo Effect. As long as I get the end results I set out for, who cares if I tricked my brain into getting there?

Isolation: Day 8 - More New Me and That Man!

At this point, I'm not listening to any more of Me and That Man's new record until I have the full album in my hands (pre-order HERE), but I'm posting it here so I can go back to it, and so you, dear reader, can strike out into the territory I'm eschewing simply because I am such a fan of full album immersion.

**

The best thing to come out of social media that I've seen since the Pandemic began? Right here:



Love these guys.

**

Finished Black Stars Above this morning. Five Issues of creepy, nuanced cosmic horror. Here's one of my favorite images, from issue four:

This very much reminds me of Alan Moore and JH Williams III's Promethea. Jenna Cha's art, Brad Simpson's colors, and Lonnie Nadler's story work in such perfect synthesis. They have to, it's the only way to tell such a macro/micro story that delves into infinite cosmic territory. This page illustrates the beautiful way the creative team delivers the ineffable.

**

Mindful Habitation:

As so many others are, Southern California is on Shelter-in-place. Weird, but really only in perception and big picture theory. Day-to-day won't be that different for many of us. I'm bummed to know this will halt a lot of businesses, the smaller ones especially. Many of those smaller ones are really using this to innovate and think outside the box. The Comic Bug remains purveyors of media via mail, delivery, or scheduled appointment (HERE for details). King Harbor Brewery is doing same-day local Growler delivery (HERE). These are examples local to me, however, I'm getting reports of this from friends all over the place, so if there's a business you love, reach out and see if they are working with similar innovations.

**

Event Viewing:

Episode Four of Alex Garland's Devs landed last night, and it was quite the ride. The opening floored me with it's image/sound juxtaposition. Geoff Barrow and The Insects' score is overall fantastic, but in this particular scene, it was unearthly, layered, textured sounds arranged in a way that made the images bloom from the screen.

And Nick Offerman? Killing it.

Playlist:

Exhalants - Eponymous
Anthrax - Spreading the Disease
Slayer - Live Undead/Haunting the Chapel
The Bronx - The Bronx (I)
Seefeel - Fracture/Tied (Single)
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Metatron Omega - Evangelikon
Myrkur - Folkesange

**

Card:

An agent of enlightenment. Reproductive force - not necessarily biologically speaking. I'm leaning more toward an interpretation that reinforces people are finally learning what needs to be done and doing it (even a certain douche celebrity decided to comply and close his shitty restaurant). Also, the gray skeins in the background speak to the illusory world losing its leverage as knowledge dawns. That's the Devil - the Morningstar, enlightener extraordinaire.