Patrick Wensink's Broken Piano For President

Just finished reading this novel by Patrick Wensink last night while I sweated and shivered through what was hopefully the final night of this awful sickness. Pat's book made it better. Or it fit the tone of the evening perfectly, as Wensink's roiling, often hallucinatory style fit with my feverish delirium. Think Chuck Palahniuk, Thomas Pynchon and the music of The Butthole Surfers (who figure into the protagonist, Deshler Dean's life in a MAJOR way) thrown in to a meat grinder and you might end up with a burger that could change your life. Because that's what the book is about - the fast food burger business. And cliff drinking. And blackouts. And starving Russian cosmonauts. And punk rock. And art. And head wounds.

Everything I'm into in one neat little package. It's like he wrote it just for me!!!

Pascal Marco - Identity: Lost

How cool is this? I just received a phone call from thriller writer Pascal Marco. The author of the acclaimed Identity: Lost called me on my cell phone to give me words of encouragement and ideas pertaining to getting my manuscripts published. He gave me some great advice and generally just inspired the hell out of me.

Now, you may ask how it is he came to A) know of my existence, and B) had my phone number. Well, a friend of my Father - who is a big fan of Mr. Marco's - is a friend of the author's. He passed on my info on and asked if he'd be up for a cold call to an inspiring writer. I'm thinking a lot of folks would have blown such a favor off. After all, it's not easy to just call someone you have never met before, especially when you are in a position they aspire to. Things could be... weird. But Mr. Marco did indeed call and talked to me for about fifteen minutes. I may be weird, but I'm not the kind of weird that impositions folks who lend a hand. I asked questions and took his advice and as I said earlier, was inspired by hearing another author talk about "his path".

I've always had faith that my manuscripts will be published, this just serves as a reminder.

Godflesh - Mighty Trust Krusher (Live @ Roadburn, April 14th, 2011)

They never lose it.

How To Destroy Angels - How Long?

I'm liking this new record more and more. The surging, glitchy rhythm section we've come to recognize as Reznor's recent muse but with a - dare I say it - almost Justin Timberlake-esque pop approach to vox. Interesting

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages

Back in '05 or so my wife bought me the Criterion Edition of this marvelously produced documentary about Witchcraft. William S. Burroughs does narration.

My Bloody Valentine New Album

Within just the last moments this album apparently began streaming/went up for sale on the band's website, however the mad rush of fans seems to have caused the site to crash. I'll post something else when I can. Brooklyn Vegan has a nice screen shot of the art, track listing and online shop/format options here.

I Love Brooklyn Vegan.

Eli Roth's Goretorium

So December 21st is my anniversary (8 years!) and this year we drove out to Las Vegas. My wife is on some magic list to get suites at Luxor a couple of times a year for like thirty-eight bucks or something and we love to drive in for two days and then drive out. I always make an attempt to procure mushrooms for the journey but failed this time, which was a bit of a let down but hey, I was with my baby AND we got my good friend Mr. Brown to meet us out there, so I was in the best of company. Probably the best thing we did this time was the above - Mr. Roth's Goretorium is fantastic and well worth the price of admission (somewhere around thirty bucks). It's basically a haunted house with Hollywood-grade special effects and I loved every minute of it despite being a fan of pretty much only one movie by Mr. Roth to date - Cabin Fever. Hostel was, simply put, one of the worst movies I've ever seen. AT one point it had made me seriously dislike Mr. Roth (how do you apprentice/intern to David Lynch and then make a movie that bad?) but I have high hopes for Thanksgiving and just the amount of time, money and effort the guy puts into undiscovered talent and producing worthwhile projects shows he's a stand up guy.

Next time you go to Vegas, Mr. Roth's Goretorium really is worth a visit.