Thieves' Highway
I watched this flick for the first time last year after hearing about it on the top notch Out of the Past Podcast. For what ever reason it's been stuck in my mind and so I just checked the book, Thieves Mark by A. I. Bezzerides.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Friday's Forgotten Books : Resume with Monster
This small review for Patti Abbott's Friday's Forgotten Books series went live on her blog earlier today. You can find that at http://pattinase.blogspot.com/
Resume with Monsters by William Browning Spencer
I think at this point we all know that there is little virtue in the corporate world, that the grind of the Dilbert world is the modern slave pit for too many modern men and women. William Browning Spencer explores the modern Office Space world with his tale of a lowly worker, a Morlock if you will, Philip Kenan and his last chance job at Ralph's One-Day Resumes. The only problem is that his last job and last girlfriend were lost when a couple of creatures out of a HP Lovecraft Mythos tale showed up and wrecked the place. Now not only is Philip holding onto his job by a string, but his sanity as well. Philip is also writing his cyclopean (sorry I had to find a way to use that word) tome (that one as well) titled "The Despicable Quest" hoping that it will be his ticket to big league of Sci Fi/ Horror Star-Dumb, all the while on the lookout for the reemergence of the Great Old Ones that destroyed his previous life. The book is funny, surreal and satirical. I don't recall exactly how I stumbled across the book, but I noted inside the front cover that I wrote "8-31-96" which was the end of my first summer out of college and working my first full time minimum wage job, and wondering what evil powers were keeping me from finding rewarding work that paid well and satisfied my artistic need. I guess the Great Old Ones were as good an answer as anything else.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Lux Interior
Maybe I should call this We Will Fall Pt. 2?
Lux Interior, lead singer for The Cramps... has left the building!
Shocking! Sad! With out Warning! The fallen Voodoo Idol!
I never met the man, I saw him live once, The First Ave in Minneapolis when I lived there. He climbed the stacks and jumped around. They played this hits... ok, not hits cause I don't think they ever topped the charts, but what they did was so much more important, they helped the expand the world of punk, they brought trash and fun b-flick culture into the punk world and helped to launch the obscure 45 RPM collection addiction of many and spear headed the excavation of early primitive rock and roll and it's roots.
For the longest time the real impact of The Cramps and Lux has been obscured and unread. Where they punk? Did they invent Psychobilly? Were they a horror punk band? I think the answer is simply, yes and no to both questions. They were part of the 70's NYC Punk Scene and moved to LA to be part of that scene. They did fuse Rockabilly and Punk... by they did the same thing with country, blues, surf, hillbilly and what ever else happened to come their way. When people talk about Psychobilly these days they mostly are pointing towards the UK and European scene which was started by The Meteors in the UK.... but a loft of those bands also like, listened to and followed The Cramps. Horror Punk has always been a theme and a subject and not so much a Sound, and so yes The Cramps were a horror punk band.... but that's not all they were. I think that at this vantage point that it's safe to finally say that they were the pioneers of what we now call garage punk.
I can say that they have made my life more fun, more interesting, and that 3 of the best CDs that I own are the Songs the Cramps Taught Us comps. I can say that I admire their spirit, their music, and the fact that they stuck with it as long as they could. I realize that I started off talking about Lux Interior and then moved quickly into talking about The Cramps, but to me Lux, along with Ivy, was The Cramps. I think all that's left to say is thank you for the music, for the stories and for heads up on all the great tunes...
You Better Ask my Momma how to make a Monster!
RIP Lux Interior
The king is dead.... it's spinning in my head. Lux has left the building.
More to come when I can gather my thoughts.
Images from http://punkturns30.blogspot.com/ by the amazing Anna Log
Monday, February 2, 2009
25 Story-Tellers who have influenced my writing!
Writers, Musicians, Reporters and other story tellers that have influenced my writing.... not in any order!
3 Tom Bagley (Tomb)
4 Gary Trainer
5 H.P. Lovecraft
6 Johnny Cash
7 Marty Robbins
8 Louis L'amour
9 David Simon
10 Kevin Smith
11 Richard Sala
12 Kurt Besiuk
13 Alan Moore
14 Roky Erickson
15 Sarah Vowell
16 Whit Stillman
17 Wes Anderson
18 Raymond Chandler
19 Stephen King
20 Jerry Ahern
21 William W Johnstone
22 Lester Bangs
23 Jeff Bale
24 Thee Whiskey Rebel
25 Stan Sakai
thoughts, comments, and "who the hell is that?" info requests
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