5/2009 Playlist

In 2006 I started keeping monthly playlists in my iTunes where I added songs that had caught my attention that month. When the month is over, I file the old list, start a new one. I joined Mog.com (www.mog.com/iren) in June of 2006 and started writing a summary and/or commentary for each track, sometimes posting a related video as well. As time passed Mog started to wane, and I decided to branch out my posting of the list. At first I added it to my multiply page, my gather page, my Myspace page, but all of that got to be too much, so from here on out I will only post this list on my mog page and my blog (www.restlesskind.blogspot.com). If you visit my Mog page on the right hand side there is a widget that links to all the past entries, if you want to go back and check them out. Thanks to everyone who has been reading along and feel free to post comments, questions or what ever in the comments section. Enjoy Eric Reanimator.

Just Like Honey by Headless Heroes
www.myspace.com/denofheroes
http://denofheroes.com/

I was never the biggest fan of the Jesus and Mary Chain, but this version really has been rocking my ears this past month. I think it's Alela Daine and her folksy vocals, along with the A-Qustic! instro, stripping away the layers of fuzz that surround the original.

Here's Your Future & Test Pattern by The Thermals
www.thethermals.com/
www.myspace.com/thethermals
I saw The Thermals live at the end of April, and have been in the mood for their music lately. Here's Your Future and Test Pattern were just stuck in my head at various times-- they are also great tunes that deserve a wider audience. 

Working Man's Blues by The Devil Makes Three
www.thedevilmakesthree.com/
www.myspace.com/thedevilmakesthree
The title says it all. Right now things are totally fucked, the people who are always sitting pretty aren't and that means that the rest of us who live outside of that security net are fucked even more.
Oh, these guys are a great blue grass type band if you want to, and you should, check them out.

Hard Times In America by Willie Nile
www.willienile.com/
www.myspace.com/willienile

Title says it all again-- this one is from the SXSW mix

We Can't Make It Here (acoustic) by James McMurtry
www.jamesmcmurtry.com
www.myspace.com/jamesmcmurtry
Do I even have to say anything here? This is the last of my working man blues trifecta-- 

Six Foot Jane by Color Me Psycho

I said I don't think about you any more

But you know that just ain't true

now there's nothing left but barbwire

Color Me Psycho is one of those great and forgotten garage punk bands from the late 80s, an this is one of their more surreal and rocking tunes. I urge you to get out there and track down their work, and hope that someday people will latch on the genius of CMP.

Saddle On The Side Of The Road by Drivin 'n' Cryin
www.drivinncryin.com
www.myspace.com/drivinncryin
Old stand by band that has held up over the years for me. I was thinking of this tune from their first album because of a flash fiction piece I have been working on. If there is anyone out there that is at all interested in exploring overlooked, or wrongly promoted bands from the late 80s and early 90s DNC is a great place to start. This tune has a marching rocking drive that is as much Ramones as it is NWOBHM.

I Will Dare by The Replacements
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Replacements
I recently read a couple of books about Gen X and our place and travels though the culture. One of them, X Saves the World, summed up one of the reasons that X is going to make such an impact in the world, simply in the words of The Replacements I will Dare.

Wrong Hill by The Earps
www.myspace.com/theearpsaz
There are so many great bands out there, so many slogging through the underground and so many that deserve more exposure, any list of these bands that I can come up with is going to include these guys. They have one album to their credit and looked like they were going to get out there, only to be sidetracked by the world. The good news is that they are getting back on the horse and reportedly have a new album in the works. Until then you need to track down a copy of their first disc, not only for the tune The Devils Bed (which I featured on a previous monthly playlist) but for this bitter sweat slice of reved up cowpunk that has just the right amount of classic country Big City pathos mixed with an echo of Motely Crue, really it's got to be heard.

Thoughts, comments, spare change?

Books May 2009

May 2009--- Dateline, Ann Arbor Michigan!
Books that I read/ finished this month were:

Hoodtown by Christa Faust
Tarot Card Book Mark: The Letter
2009-will-Read list book!

Christa Faust is getting a lot of buzz these days for her most recent book Money Shot , and because I enjoyed that book I wanted to check out some more of her work. This is the second of her three books, and aside from Money Shot it's likely to be the most accessible. The story is about a murder in Hoodtown, a world where the Luchador culture is the norm. Just think of the residents as a minority group, living like many of those groups have lived in their own little ghettos. Like those ghettos Hoodtown crime really isn't something that the cops care about, as long as it stays on it's side of the tracks. Our hero this time around is X a disgraced Luchador who finds herself sucked into a mystery and has to play PI to keep herself alive and figure out who is killing hoods and leaving them with their faces exposed. I enjoyed the book, Hoodtown is well crafted and the world of the Luchador ghetto is alive and vibrant. If you have read Money Shot and want need something to give you the Faust jolt until her next book (still no word on when that's going to be out), Hoodtown is a nice little fix to hold you over.

Girls in 3 B by Valerie Taylor
Tarot Card Book Mark: Hair
50s pulp about three girls from the sticks who move to the big city looking for adventure. 50s pulp with lesbian over tones (and the bible has more explicit stuff in it that this book), which follows the adventures of the three girls as they figure out who and what they are in route to their life destinations. The book deals with class, culture, counter culture, drugs, pre marital sex, work, and the way in which childhood friendships wander. Reading the book today, I felt a frustration that the girls couldn't seem to vocalize or talk about some of the issues that they were dealing with-- I know this is due to the fact that we are a much more open society in many places and ways.

Nothing but a Smile by Steve Amick
Tarot Card Book Mark: The Car
Wink Dutton is on his way back to the world after an accident in the Pacific theater that had taken his drawing hand. Not only is he back in the world with a Purple Heart, he has lost his ability to make a living as a commercial artist. It's 1944, and he's not sure what to do. In Chicago he stops into to check in on Sal, the wife of a Army buddy-- a photographer for Stars and Strips. The wife has been running the camera shop that her father left them and struggling to make ends met. One thing leads to another and soon Wink is living in the spare apartment helping helping Sal run the shop. Sal had started to take pin up pictures of herself and sell them to make money, and it's only a matter of time before Wink and Sal's friend Rennie are making a living off of taking and publishing photos of Sal and Rennie as Winkin' Sally and Weekend Sally. The book follows the story of the rise of their little empire, it's fall and their lives in the immediate post war era. The author Amick is a local Ann Arbor guy, and he takes what could have easily been a pulp style story and makes it a fun, engaging read. It is interesting to read about that era as seeing how scandalous the concept of Cheese Cake and Nudie photos were, and the social implications and ramifications of posing for those kinds of photos really was. I found the end of the book a bit rushed and not as satisfying as the set up, but that's very honest about the way that life plays out. Over all I think this is one of the better pop fiction books that I have read in a while, and I hope that it finds an audience. It's also the kind of story that would make a great little film.

Say it with Bullets by Richard Powell
Tarot Card Book Mark: Eight
Hard Case Crime Book of the Month

Excellent 50s crime talk from Hard Case, I posted a full review here

Lush Life by Richard Price
Tarot Card Book Mark:
2009 will-read-list book!
I haven't even read the first page of this book yet, but I wanted to say that my understanding is that this book is about the different worlds that people live in, even when they live in the same city--- in this case the Beast that is New York. Now having finished the book I have to say-- it's a 60,000 word story stretched out to 100,000 words. Basically it is about a mugging gone wrong, where a white kid ends up dead on the sidewalk for saying the wrong thing. The actions of the muggers and victims are all mistakes, blunders and misread by everyone else. While the dialog was great, the portrayal of the muggers and their cohort was fully realized and nuanced, the book lacked an energy, a drive and a tempo. I never felt like I really wanted to spend another moment with any of the characters and despite the praise heaped on Richard Price, I don't think that I will be revisiting his work any time soon.

Kinds of Love, Kinds of Death by Tucker Coe
Tarot Card Book Mark: Fire
Donald Westlake Book for the Month!
Starting off Tucker Coe was a pen name of Donald Westlake, and this book is the first of the Mitch Tobin PI series. Mitch Tobin is a disgraced ex-cop who has been building a wall in his back yard for the last six months, when a local hood approaches him about a job. At first Tobin wants nothing to do with the job, but after thinking it over and being assured that the job is on the level he takes it. The gig is simple find the mistress of the hood who appears to have run off with a new man and a chunk of cash. Ok, Ok, I know we have all seen this one played out before, but in Westlake's hands it is a fun who-done-it kind of romp that is somewhere between his Stark books and his more comics outings. I liked Tobin and his work ethic, there is something about all of the logical steps and documenting of the a case that Westlake includes that speaks to the 'You Didn't Write It, You Didn't Do It' professional in me. Right now, I have other Westlake and Stark books waiting for me, but I can see revisiting Mitch Tobin down the road a ways.

Note: Tarot Card Book Marks? I have a really lame deck of Tarot cards that I pulled off a free cart at the Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library sale a couple of months back, and I started using them as book marks for giggles mostly. I just pull a card at random from the deck, make note of it, and when I am done it goes in the discard pile. Sometimes the card ends up to have a relation to the book in questions, sometimes not.

Detroit Derby Girls 2009 Championship

Detroit Derby Girls 2009 Championship

D Funk Allstars  V The Pistolwhippers 

The Masonic Temple, Detroit 

Going into the last jam of the night the score was The Pistorlwhippers 82 and the D Funk Allstars 83-- a 1 point bout with it all on the line. Jamming for the Pistolwhippers was jammer extraordinaire Sarah Hiple. Just before the start of that last jam, Honey Suckit -- a fab Pistolwhipper jammer in her own right -- skated over and gave Sarah a little hug. You could feel the energy in the room, in a season where there were so many bouts where one team was dominating and it was unlikely that the other team was going to make a come back, this was high drama, and when that whistle went the pack started, and the second whistle released the jammers and--- well let's back up.

The Detroit Derby Girls have been rolling since their opening brawl in 2005, and over the course of the last four years they have kicked out the jams Detroit style-- DIY, build it and all that jazz. I attended my bout in early 2008, and have been hooked ever since. I attended most of the rest of the bouts that season, and I think I missed only 2 this season. Hands down the derby is the first sport that I have been excited about, followed and attended in my life. It's sports for punk rockers, it's family friendly -- but not dumbed down for families. There is honest sportsmanship and athleticism on the track. It's an inclusive event and game. Many of the women on the track are in their 30s when most athletes are ending their careers, and there are women of all shapes and sizes. Bigger women and smaller women all bring something to the track and honestly it's often the women who are somewhere in the middle that carry the game.

(Del Bomber)

Last night's bout was going to be a hard slog from the first jam, when Del Bomber of the Pistolwhippers knocked D Funk jammer Boo-D-Livers down, causing Boo to call off the jam with no points scored by either team. You could feel the tension between the teams and they played and fell and got up and did it all over again. It seemed that D Funk had a goal to shut down the Pistwhippers scoring machine Sarah Hiple and this seemed to leave them not making sure that their jammer was scoring and soon in the first half the Pistolwhippers had pulled ahead in points going into half time with 65 points to the D Funk 26, it felt like this might be another blow out, and people were already talking about it being over.

Half time at the Detroit Derby is a mixed bag, sometimes there is some sort of act, I have seen belly dancers and aerialists, but most of the time the Motor City Rah-Rah's dance, and then get out hula hoops for the kids to come out onto the floor and run, jump and hula hoop. This is another aspect of the derby that I like, half time is open for people to get up and move, for kids to burn off some energy and for mom and dad (or grand ma and grand pa to stretch). The last two bouts the Rah-Rah's have been dancing to a cover of Iggy & the Stooges classic Search and Destroy by the artist Peaches , it's a electro sex kittenish cover that has grown on me. There is often a local band that plays why the kids do the hula hoop thing, lately it's been local Rockabilly group The Streamliners,  but I have also seen .The Twistin'Tarantulas  and the all Mommie Punk group Candy Band.

At the end of the first half the D Funk Allstars had rallied and picked up 8 points on the last jam of the half, bring them to 26 while preventing The Pistolwhippers from picking up any more points. The question was could they keep it up, and could they come back from 39 points down? When the second half started it was clear that D Funk was ready, willing and intent on catching up. It was amazingly fierce as Sista Slitchya scored 15 points in a early jam, and then kept up the pressure as she and Boo D Livers scored and scored and tied the game up,  and kept it neck and neck until the last moment, and the last jam.

(D Funk Allstars)

The last jam, edge of your seat, there was a roar in the Drill Hall, where the bouts are held, and down came the hammer. The Jam flew by with Sarah Hiple scoring 4 points, and the Pistolwhippers preventing D Funk from scoring at all for a final score of 86 to 83. It was a fitting end to the season, exciting, fun, and it left me chomping at the bit for next year.

Plots with --- Ray Guns.

The new Plot with Guns-- Plots with Rayguns is up over HERE.

Some of my fave Ray/ Sci Fi  Guns?

The Wordsmith by R.G. Taylor

My first real encounter with the pulps as a whole movement was collecting and reading issues of the comic book Wordsmith by R.G. Taylor sometime back in the 1990s. I had read more than a few pulp authors at that point, H.P. Lovecraft, Louis L'amour, Ed McBain just to name a few, but always saw them as a Horror Writer, A Western Writer and a Crime Writer and not so much a part of the larger world of pulp fiction. Sure, in reading their work and about them I did come to know and understand that they were mostly just guys trying to make a living writing, but it wasn't until The Wordsmith that I really understood that it was more about writing rather than writing genre fiction.

Wordsmith followed the life and career of a young writer as he hacked away at the pulps, writing for each and every genre the pulps had to offer. One issue might feature the wordsmith writing a boxing pulp and the next a war pulp. There was even a issue where he traitorously flirted with those new fangled comic books. The over all story arc followed the writer growing in his craft, dealing with the issues of becoming an adult, marriage, family etc and finally crossing over into the 'legitimate' writers world.

I have long since given away by issues of the series (passing them along to another worthy reader as it were. I have fond memories of series, and always intended to pick up the trade collections (there were two), but never got around to it. I think that it is one that really could use a revival these days with the renewed interest in pulp writing and writers.

You can check out some of R.G. Taylor's art Here
Mile High Comics has back issues for sale and cover images Here

Say It With Bullets by Richard Powell

Hard Case Crime to me, right now, is like Estrus Records in the early 90s, a dealer fast, furious genre entertainment. In the case of Estrus it was Garage Punk Rock'n'Roll, Hard Case on the other had has been reprinting lost Crime/Noir plot driven novels and publishing new books in the same vein. Like Punk Rock what these books have in common is their energy, their drive and a feeling that it could all end at any moment. I started reading Hard Case books a year ago and reviewed many of them here last summer. I had intended to review each book as I finished it, but got out of the habit somewhere along the way . I figure that now is a good a time as any to start again.


I just finished Hard Case entry HCC-018 Say it Will Bullets by Richard Powell

Story: Bill Wayne is a vet who flew the hump over the Himalayas during the war. Staying in China after the war ended he and a couple of buddies tried to make a go of it hauling freight, only things fell apart as the commies took China and Bill ended up with a slug in his back. Now four years later he is back in the States, and after someone took another shot at him, he is on a mission to track down his former buddies and figure out who shot him in China and who took a shot at him just now. Using a Western Bus tour as cover he travels the West dropping in on his former partners and looking for revenge. With a lady from his past in tow he finds himself in the middle of a set up he was ready for, and fighting for his life and his freedom while trying to figure out who put the pill in him.

That I liked: The fast and fun pace, the story never lingering too long on anything that distracts from that pace. I like the idea of the tour though the West, Wyoming to Utah, Nevada and then California. That is a part of the country that I have been thinking about a lot as of late, having just seen the films Bonneville and the Go Getter both of which feature road trips through those areas. I also liked the build of the reveal, with pieces falling into place step by step with out rushing, but with out dragging things out either. There is also a number of great quips, descriptions and quotes that jumped out at me Including:

"The Town of Winnemucca was about six gas stations long by Four tap rooms wide"

"Wait a minute, Wayne. Walk, do not run, to the nearest insane asylum"

"He nudged the accelerator and heard the kittens under the hood grow up into cats."

What I didn't like: I really don't have any major complaints, there are a few places where the book is a little slow, and I had a hard time at the start getting into the set up. I am more and more a believer in start with the action, let the back story unfold-- honestly this book is pretty good about getting going , but I did feel like it took a bit to get up and moving.

Do I recommend the book? Yes, I enjoyed it, and it has made me curious about the rest of Powell's output. Say it will bullets is another winner for Hard Case Crime.

End Notes:
Each Month I try to read at least one:
Book from Hard Case Crime
Book Written by Donald E Westlake (Richard Start or Tucker Coe also count)
Book from my list of books that I need to read in 2009
Book that isn't a crime/ mystery novel

I am going to try and write a review of each of the Hard Case books that I read from now on, the format for the review is going to be the same one that Mrs Olsen taught me back in the fourth grade, A synopsis of the book, tell what I liked, tell what I didn't like and say if I would recommend the book or not.

Comments and Feedback are always welcome.

Friday Forgotten Book: King Suckerman by George P. Pelecanos

Wow, I am late-- not really -- just feeling a little ashamed at the writers block I have been suffering through for the last month or so, figured I should finish one of my half done Friday Forgotten Book entries.

Anyway down to business--- In this case :King Suckerman by George P. Pelecanos

I discovered the work of George P. Pelecanos in the early 2000s via his work on the show HBOs The Wire. I realize that he is hardly a forgotten author, as he sits a top the current list of relevant contemporary crime writers, however his early works do not seem to get the love that his more recent books have. What I liked about the book was it's energy, propelled by a pop rush that was in part 70s

Blaxploitation and part Comic Book. The story is of a drug deal gone wrong, with inner-city small time druggies, biker dealers and a black ex-con superfly type that happens to be gay--- the pre-cursor to The Wires Omar? The book just sailed along as an enjoyable gritty ride, that I recall fondly.

It was this book that brought me back to reading crime fiction for a short while, I read more of Pelecanos work, along with a couple of Michael Connelly before drifting back away from crime fiction for a short time. I followed up King Suckerman with other Pelecanos work, which I enjoyed but none of them really left an impression, and I need to go back and read some more of his stuff, which should happen soon as I have Shoedog towards the top of my To Be Read pile and it's on my list of books that I am making a point to read in 2009.

Thoughts, comments, spare change?

Hope to be back with more soon.

Roller Derby- The Devils Night Dames v The Detriot Pistoffs.

The battle for third place!

After missing the last bout due to auto troubles I did make it out to the Detroit Roller Derby tonight to watch The Devil's Night Dames battle it out with the Pistoffs. Now last year it was these two teams battling it out for first and second place, this time around it was for third and fourth place. The Bout started off with both teams cautious, both scoring a couple of point and then calling off the jam before the other team had a chance to make any head way. This disciplined approach to the game kept the score low and with in a couple of points of each other for the first half and into the start of the second half. The explosion of points started when the Dames managed to get out ahead by 15 or so points, only to have the pistoffs answer with three jams with where they launched out ahead with 14 and 13 point jams. I didn't write down the finally score, but the Pistoffs managed to blast the dames off the tracks with a win that was 40 or so points ahead.

A couple of the highlights for me were:  Cookie Rumbles taunting and teasing Muffy Masioso, Watching newbie Yo-Yo make show her stuff-- she seems agile and quick, and of course watching Whiskey Soured Jam (reportedly only for the second time). It was a great and hard fought match, one of the most exciting bouts that I have attended this season. Good job to all of the skaters and all of the folks that run and manage the Derby.

One other thing that I have to say is that the music that was played for introductions and during the match and half time was the best I have heard yet. There was Sonic Reducer, Iron Man, Search and Destroy (a cover with female vocals), The Ramones, and I think I even heard the MC5 in the mix somewhere. What all of these bands have in common is the Hi Energy drive that add to the excitement and feel of a fast and furious sport like Roller Derby. Now if only we can get some: Radio Birdman, Hellacopters, Turbonegro, Gluecifer, Ultra Bimboos and Electric Frankenstein in the mix... and of course someone had to get The Jet Black Berries song Go Devils out for the Dames.

Next Bout: May 30th- The Championship with The D-Funk All Stars v The Pistolwippers.  Who am I cheering for? The Pistolwippers of course!

4/2009 Playlist

In 2006 I started keeping monthly playlists in my iTunes where I added songs that had caught my attention that month. When the month is over, I file the old list, start a new one. I joined Mog.com (www.mog.com/iren) in June of 2006 and started writing a summary and/or commentary for each track, sometimes posting a related video as well. As time passed Mog started to wane, and I decided to branch out my posting of the list. At first I added it to my multiply page, my gather page, my Myspace page, but all of that got to be too much, so from here on out I will only post this list on my mog page and my blog (www.restlesskind.blogspot.com). If you visit my Mog page on the right hand side there is a widget that links to all the past entries, if you want to go back and check them out. Thanks to everyone who has been reading along and feel free to post comments, questions or what ever in the comments section. Enjoy Eric Reanimator.

Gloom Doom Buttercups by Kittens Ablaze
www.kittensablaze.com
www.myspace.com/kittensablaze
Another bands that I disovered via the SXSW 09 Mix Tape. Looking a pictures of the band you would think they were going to be some kind of neo-Rockabilly group, but they are more of a indie power pop act. I liked both the name of the band and the title of the song of course. I think they are going to be more of a summer listening type of group than a dead of winter act.

Kiss Me Deadly by Generation X
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X_(band)
Q: what band was Billy Idol in before going solo?
A: Gen X
Q: What kind of band were they?
A: Poppy Punk, maybe a little harder than the Ramones, but not is hard as The Damned
Q: Kiss Me Deadly?
A: Any song that starts off with the lyric -- The greyhound's rocking out tonight To maximum rockabilly -- is worth listening to at least once.

Oh Bondage Up Yours! & The Day The World Turned Day-Glo by X-Ray Spex
www.x-rayspex.com/home.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Ray_Spex
www.myspace.com/xrayspex1976
And speaking of old school UK Punk.... The X-Ray Specs, with the wailing vocals of front woman Polly Styrene and the yakkety Sax got under my skin this past month. Now I know that a lot of people still think of punk as inaccessible noise, but The X-Ray Specs were very pop and accessible and still sound great and not the least bit dated.

AMONG THE SURVIVORS by The Latebirds
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Latebirds
http://www.latebirds.com/
I think this will be the last of the SXSW 09 tracks to appear on one of these monthly playlists (and watch me eat those words)--- however I really liked this Soundtrack Of Our Lives sounding tune, with a lighter and poppier touch. This tune was stuck in my brain for weeks on end, and if found myself thinking of it and trying to remember the name of the band.

Thoughts, comments, spare change?

Books April 2009

April 2009 is down and here is what I read. I see that there are not as many books as I have read during some months, that's in part due to the fact that I am still working on a couple (one big one that isn't handy to carry with me so I don't get to read it on my lunch break where I do get most of my reading done), and that I spent some time with a couple of short story collections.  I am going to by in large not include them on these lists, as I tend to read a story here, and read a story there, but rarely read the a collection from cover to cover.

 Nightfall by David Goodis
Tarot Card Book Mark: the Shadow
Goodis was one of those 50s pulp guys that I keep hearing people talk about, so I had to check out some of his work. Nightfall is a solid story, if a little obtuse and slightly off kilter. I found it hard to get into at first, but later on I discovered that was part of the story, where the protagonist isn't even really sure what has happened to him, who exactly he is and where he is headed. The story is about a man who is being hunted for a crime that he was somehow caught up in, and the quest to unravel the truth about what happened not only by him, but by the police and the criminals involved.  There is a very Lovecraft element of events affecting the mental state of the protagonist. I ended up liking the book enough that I plan to Dark Passage by Goodis soon.

American Rifle: A Biography by Alexander Rose
Tarot Card Book Mark: The Wise Old Man
Non-Fiction - Non-Crime.... unless you consider that a huge chunk of the book deals with the way that the US Military awarded contracts for small arms... criminal to say the least. Over all this was a very insightful book about not only the Rifle, but American Culture, Government and the growth of the nation. It focused on the way that the American Arms companies developed and effected and were effected by the culture. 

 The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian
Michigan Related Book
Tarot Card Book Mark: Four
A aging couple from Detroit with health issues take off on one last trip along the old route 66, have some adventures, and... well I am not going to give away the ending, let's just say the book is really worth reading.

33 1/3 Swordfishtrombones by David Smay
Tarot Card Book Mark: The Book
I have a couple of the 33 1/3 books, and this was one of the better ones I have read. The book starts off with a warning that not everything in it is true, and from there spins the tale of Tom Waits and the album Swordfishtrombones. It riffs on Tom Waits history and the times and the fact that here is an artist who got the big pile of cash (from suing a potato chip company) and suddenly could record the album he wanted "I don't hear a single" record company B.S. be damned.  Waits went from a 70s singer songwriter in the Warren Zevon mold to the musical version of that 50s Pulp Jazz/ Boho via the early 80s No Wave Scene. I guess the true value of any book like this is if it makes you want to listen to the album again. In this case I not only went back to Swordfishtrombones but sought out other bands and tracks that were mentioned in the book as fitting into the same cohort of tunes.

 House Dick by E. Howard Hunt
Hard Case Crime Book of the Month
Tarot Card Book Mark: The Cat
Another winning Hard Case Crime entry , House Dick is a fast and fun pulp crime adventure following the adventures of a Hotel Security Director... written by someone who later found out something about Hotel Security himself. I honestly didn't know that much about Hunt before this was published, and from what I have read it sounds like he was caught up in the events of the times... anyway I enjoyed this book, as always  and if I happen to run across more of Hunt's pulp stuff, I would check it out.

Dog Eat Dog by Edward Bunker
2009 will read list book!
Tarot Card Book Mark: The Cat
Written by Mr. Blue from Reservoir Dogs, who did time himself a couple of tines over the years. Dog Eat Dog tells the tale of three friends who have all done time in the Californian prison system and are looking to take down some scores, mostly heisting drug dealers-- and maybe they will escape the life of crime, or not. I liked that the book was both an honest look at criminals and their lives, as a gripping fast paced crime story. In end I really did want some of them to make it and get away and maybe have the chance to start over.

 Man with the Getaway Face by Richard Stark
Donald E Westlake Book of the Month
Tarot Card Book Mark: The Trickster
Speaking wanting the criminals to get away, I read the second of Westlake's Parker books and liked this better than the first one The Hunter. The Man With the Getaway Face is more in the mold of what Westlake came to be know best for Heist books...... of course because this is a Parker book, and not a Dortmunder it's the hard boiled, no funny biz type heist. This time around it is a plan to crack a Armored Car, but not everyone on the job is to be trusted. Throw into the mix that fact that Parker only takes on the job because he needs money, keeping his new face a secret from the outfit, a revenge seeking driver and you have the blueprint for classic Westlake story. I have the next four of the Parker books on my shelf and am pacing myself so as to not run out to quickly.

X saves the world: how Generation X got the shaft but can still keep everything from sucking by Jeff Gordinier

Tarot Card Book Mark: The Airplane

This is what I learned from this book which looked at the place of Gen X in our world, squeezed as we are between the Baby Boom and their children

1: We are Demographic Lepers

2: We find hundreds and thousands of solutions to problems and issues rather than focus on one big solution

3: We dare to act rather than talk about our impact or how great we are for doing something.