Aug 1... feeling Restless

Yep it's been a while since I posted here... things have been busy. In the last couple of months I have moved into a house that I bought with my brother and am still getting settled in. With all of that and my normal work schedule I haven't been writing, doing much reading or thinking about this blog..

Going forward I hope to get back to adding posts more often. I am still sending in audio segments to both Outside the Cinema podcast and the Love That Album podcast.

more to come.

Eric

FFB: Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

I found Earth Abides because of a stray comment (ok many be not so stray comment) from Stephen King, where he mentioned the Earth Abides as an inspiration for The Stand. It latter came up when I was sitting in a History of the American West Class during my final year of college. We were assigned to read a book about the Donner Party, written by one George R. Stewart, who in addition to being Professor of English at U at Berkley who had written Earth Abides.

The story follows Isherwood "Ish" Williams as he first explores the US after a epidemic wipes out a huge chunk of the population. It’s examination of the end of a civizalition followed by the birth of a new one is a idea that sets well along side HBO shows like Deadwood, The Wire and Boardwalk Empire.

I would say that it's a classic of the post apocalyptic genre and well worth checking out. It's also a book that I really need to re-read as some point,

Milton Burton covered the book for a FFB back in 2010 and you can check out that review HERE

Check out pattinase.blogspot.com for more FFB's

Todd Mason is hosting this week and next weeks FFB's, you can find him HERE

Podcast Segemnts

I have been out of the loop with blogging and posting an blog like sites for a while……. but it might be of interest to some that I have been sending in segments about music to a couple of podcasts.

First Outside the Cinema has been including me in their feedback segment since last October. I have mainly been talking about punk rock, and horror related music, but for episode 221 I talked about Jazz pioneer Raymond Scott.

the Love that Album podcast is fairly new, but I have started to contribute my Album that I Love segment for a couple of episodes. Mostly recently I talked about the 1 album by Mother Love Bone: Apple. In the next couple of episodes I will be talking about albums by Cock Sparrer and The Screaming Trees. 

If you'd like to check my segments out:

Outside the Cinema can be found at : http://www.outsidethecinema.net/

Love that Album can be found at: http://lovethatalbum.blogspot.com/

Where are the Restless?

Well I haven't posted here in a while... I don't have an excuse other than I have been busy with other things.  I am planning to be back to posting, and hope to get back to it soon. Until then....

FFBL The Dancing Aztec’s by Donald Westlake

 The Dancing Aztec’s by Donald Westlake

I wrote previously about Westlakes Dancing Aztec’s here… but on this eve of the release of what by all accounts is his last unpublished work I think it’s worth revisiting. Set in late 70s NYC, the Dancing Aztec tells the tale of the theft and re-theft of a statue called…. Yep the Dancing Aztec. It’s a disco era farce where people get caught up in the story of the statue and who has it.

I read the Dancing Aztec because one of my high school English teachers recommend it when I posted about Westlake on facebook a couple of years back. She was an important teacher to me, because she could seemed understand me better than the other teachers. I recall running into her own day at Borders books (the original one on State Street in Ann Arbor) in the mystery section when I was still in high school. I seem to recall she had a short conversation about Robert Parker’s Senser books.  I hope that she’s going to get a chance to read this last Westlake and enjoy it… and sometime soon I hope to make my way back to the Dancing Aztec.

James Reasoner also covered it for a FFB HERE

FFB: The Man with the Iron On Badge by Lee Goldberg

The Man with the Iron on Badge was one of those titles that called to me from the shelves at the library. There was something about the title that called out to me and I was very happy to have taken the lead and checked it out.

 Harvey Mapes has a job working security at the gate of one of those concentration camps that rich people hide them selves away in. He spends his time reading classic PI novels and living the marginal life of a low wageworker. He get’s drawn into a real mystery when he’s asked to keep an eye on the wife of one of the 1% who’s gated community he guards… and things go from there. It’s a fun romp and I for one am wondering what happened to Harvey Mapes

Paul Brazill covered The Man with the Iron On Badge Here, and you can check out writer Lee Goldberg’s comments on the book Here.

FFB: The Mouse in the Mountain by Norbert Davis

The Mouse in the Mountain by Norbert Davis is a book that I read after reading about  Sally in the Alley by Davis (which I still haven’t gotten around to reading) and finding that I could get The Mouse in the Mountain via inter library loan. Davis had a strange touch that was part comic and part noir. Mouse is about  a missing treasure.

Evan Lewis covered it on  APRIL 2, 2010 you can find his review HERE