http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Tue, 24 Aug 2004 13:20:23 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/24/132023.php Celestial DungARE THEY OUT OF THEIR TEA SIPPING MINDS?????? Some simple facts would be nice before I rant and ramble I suppose. JM Barrie was great and kind enough to permit Great Ormond Street hospital to receive all copyright monies from his play adaptation of Peter Pan. In 1988 the United Kingdom Parliament decided that it would be a fine a good thing if said Great Ormond Street hospital would receive said monies until the end of time or until a contrary bill passes through whichever comes first. Which sounds all cool and dandy you know. Perpetual money going toward a children's hospital I can stomach that without the antacid it's cool. But this is where it gets all kinds of kooky. Great Ormond Street wishes to publish a sequel to Peter Pan. They can take the royalties from this book perpetually and lots of little children will be happy safe within the confines of the hospital. Wonderful little setup there I can't disagree with that.Except it's crazy. Except it's inane. Except it's absolutely the most absurd piece of crap trap imaginable. Get this they want some poor hapless writer to somehow formulate a children's story that will miraculously match up to the original. Writer will churn or hack the monstrosity out in the hopes that s/he doesn't get assassinated by Barrie terrorists. In fairness to the writer unwritten it could even be a decent book. A nice happy book with plenty of storytelling and sneaky metaphors bound to amuse both children and the literary establishment. Really there is that possibility. Honest.It is impossible, however, to feed the expectations of current lovers of all things Peter Pan. You can try to copy Barrie's theme and style and hope to god you don't come across as merely trying to ape him. Or if you want you can do something bold and experimental by placing Pan in the immediate world with all the cultural nuisances. In that case you run the risk of catering to the hips and modern market. There is no win situation. People will whine, people will complain and the book will be dead on arrival confined to bargain bins within six months of its publication. There will be press circulating the oh my god opinions of Pansters all over the world about how this is a travesty to god, love, and the childhood mind. The four horsemen of the apocalypse will stop their game of Chinese checkers to have a press conference on the "new" Peter Pan book. It won't be good. It's won't be anything decent to watch on prime time television. People are going to get killed in this fiasco. Strike out this sequel to Peter Pan idea. Instead invite authors to write new children's stories. Let the hospital create a small press to specifically publish these works. Invite authors to give away their royalties for the chance to participate in helping these sick kids the care they need. Be original for crying out loud, the sequel is the last resort of the mundane and needs no further opportunity for growth. I feel better now thank you. Books19019@blogcritics.org Tue, 24 Aug 2004 13:20:23 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/21/022409.php Celestial DungI was a Magic: The Gathering geek. Even worse I was and still am quite a bit of an art fart. A broken down and poor art fart but it's in me. When you grow up with limited expenditures you get your jollies where they fall and Magic was my jolly. It was my source of communication with my peers and chance for me to make a reputation. It was like poker except prettier. I shan't bore you with the particulars of Magic rules. Discuss among yourselves if you want but me I choose to reminisce about the glory days of ogling over the colored treasure chest that was a Magic: The Gathering booster pack. You had no idea what idea you were going to get you know. If you were lucky you might actually get something that hadn't crossed your path yet. Naturally I was interested in the various strengths and powers each card would bring into my game play but my first real love was the pictures. It was like comic books but more snazzy somehow and with a better sense of impact. Magic The Gathering art could range from the horrific to the sublime from the spiritual to the decadent. There was lots and lots of spaces in between and let's be honest here most of us live in the in between. As I player I was mediocre. But as a connoisseur of embellishment there just wasn't a compare. I could go on and on how the lines of a Serra angel accentuated the frail beauty of the flying 4/4 attacker. How the vine etched skin of Grandmother Sengir accentuated the horror of the artist's communication. While my comrades in cardboard had favorite cards or favorite winning combinations I had favorite artists. Melissa Benson, Pete Venters, and Phil Foglio. One time I traded a stronger card for a weaker card solely on the basis of aesthetics. I was flippant but at least I knew my place. I even experienced my first case of old man syndrome. Originally artists were given free reign over how to illustrate the different cards. There were given the title and were told to work with it. Eventually Wizards of the Coast got a little wise and declared an imperial law on artists. They were actually given directions on how to illustrate the cards. Imagine that audacity and the sacrilege, treating Collectible Card Game Artists like common comic book illustrators. The nerve. I was set in my mind that the art of Magic: The Gathering was at a low point and despicable and not worth my effort. Besides ESPN 2 was broadcasting Magic tournaments and you know when a sports channel covers your geek love it's time to call it a day. I dropped out of Magic the game and the art.So I started collecting Jones Soda bottles.Recently I've been reintroduced to the cards and allow me to emphasize how wrong I was. Dead wrong. Really wrong. Seriously wrong. Fabrication wrong. Political Science wrong. Distanced from my biases I discovered that the latter art on Magic: The Gathering was indeed remarkable. Stronger colors, better detail, and a sort of thickness that just didn't come out in the original cards. Really a work of loveliness. I've moved all my Magic cards from my parent's house and am still debating on what to do with them. Sell them and hope to make small change? Teach Magic to my fiancé so I may have a gaming partner again? Or should I post up the Magic cards like wallpaper on the apartment walls to give it a sort of game geek deco art feel. A geek art sort of scene perhaps. Culture18894@blogcritics.org Sat, 21 Aug 2004 02:24:09 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/19/132036.php Celestial DungHere down south we live in a wasteland of classic rock. Now I'm not that much of a traveler so I can't concrete that thesis but I swear the south is a breeding ground for long haired good old boys who want to rock out to the masterful tunes of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and of course our boys Lynyrd Skynyrd. Being raised and living in Tennessee, I sort of have this stuff stuck in me bones. Sure I get out and listen to other types of music, music that doesn't involve a guitar solo or a working mojo. I go to Goth club nights, listen to a little bit of art rock, and lately I've been getting into Bob Marley. For whatever reason though my car radio is tuned to two different classic rock stations. Both have the same play list and both have annoying morning shows but I can't stop running back to them in need of some sort of good old boy rebel yell. Thought I would spend some time with Lynyrd Skynyrd. Of all Classic Rock artists I think these guys are the most maligned. Freebird has become a joke at concerts and some smarty-pants writers doubt the authenticity of its quality. Matter of fact it was this dislike of what one DJ called "The South's National Anthem" that led me to writing this article. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you mini reviews of Lynyrd Skynyrd on the radio. Please bear in mind that the only piece of Lynyrd Skynyrd merchandise I own is a cassette tape of "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd" and I think I left that one at my parent's house. These opinions are based on the songs that get played on the radio. A lot. I mean whole bunches and bunches. You can't go a day without hearing at lease three Lynyrd Skynyrd songs here in Knoxville and one of them won't be "Freebird". 1. Tuesdays GoneI keep expecting musical historians to discover that this is a Robert Johnson song. I can hear it you know. I can hear Robert Johnson playing this on his slide acoustic in a juked out voice full of sorrow and repentance. The girls a leavin' and really there ain't nothing to be done about it. She wants to be freed and can't be tied down to any one man. As a sign of emotional maturity Tuesdays Gone is on the same album ( Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd go figure) as Freebird.2. FreebirdArt is strange. Somewhere along the line it's become a hazard to be too popular. Because when every radio station is playing your song there is no way in hell you can be legit. No way possible. "Freebird" is too mighty a song to let that stand. The lyrics are traditional "I have to leave because I just want to be free" type of crap. We have a lot of those in the south and no I don't know if that has anything to do with our divorce rate. Narrator needs to leave this girl and he's sad because it's been a blast but his free roaming spirit just won't let him. While Ronni VanZant is moaning out his sorrow the guitars weep in melodic strength. Makes you wonder why the guys leaving this girl, I mean what is drawing him away from love and security and the American Way?The guitar solo is the answer. In the language that is guitar squeals and rapid-fire delivery note exchange the boys in the back give out freedom. In a thought that cannot be expressed by words alone the narrator gives his reason for leaving. It's freedom, it's power, it's the soar of the flight, it's independence, it's all these things and every unmentionable emotion that deals with freedom. What this is, this is music that transcends a question. I'm a big believer in music being a trancender so unfortunately my articles are going to be littered with that concept. But I believe that the guitar attack solo is an extension of the universal reason. The reason to be free and bound to no man or woman. If it was a little louder or a little more pompous it would be Wagner. 3. Simple ManI have a love hate relationship with that song. The lyrics are atrocious. I mean the philosophy behind said song seems to be that it's ok to be simple and completely water thin personality wise. Frankly it has never been my goal to be something that I could understand. That being said it's the guitars that beckon me. Always those guitars with the Lynyrd Skynyrd boys. It has a soft majestic sweep to it countering the lyrics. If the words praise the times and mind of a simple man then the musical accompaniment give out a fanfare for the song. 4. Sweet Home Alabama.Let's be fair I have to talk about the ever-controversial Sweet Home Alabama lyrics. As much as I hate to spend time on this, because lets face it guys and gals it's a tired subject, I do feel that it is still a subject of some relevance. As most of you know "Sweet Home Alabama" was conceived after the Neil Young song "Southern Man." Neil Young was quite a bit pissed at the south you know and wanted to let himself out a little. In good jest the boys responded with Sweet Home Alabama. Some good yolks think this song is a defense of racism; other good yolks think this is just a defense of good old southern pride. Me I'm a member of the latter yolks. Still annoys me though. Never understood the capacity to love where you are from despite the dark shite that goes on in your own backyard. But I'm over that. What really this little segment should be about is the feeling those guitars convey. I'm never going to believe that it's noble to love your home no matter what but Lynyrd Skynyrd at least expressed the feeling of pride they exhibit in their little space. The opening guitar lick conveys a sense of royalty and honor. It's an easy sounding lick with the ability to morph into filler or chord changes. Provides the stability for the song don't you know. Would be no Sweet Home Alabama if it wasn't for the opening guitar lick take my word on that. The ladies in the back give in a little choral work during the solo and wham people are waving confederate flags out of nowhere. What made Lynyrd Skynyrd such artists was this ability to convey a feeling that may not be agreed upon by the general population. Hell I don't want to be a simple man but I can see the beauty and honor in Simple Man. And it's this that makes art more then just pretty words and pictures. When it transcends philosophy and morality and brings you a little bit of the divine. The divine being the ability to kick you in the heart and move you even when you don't want to be moved. Music18839@blogcritics.org Thu, 19 Aug 2004 13:20:36 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/14/104118.php Celestial DungNothing like a revamped old standby magazine to get you suckered in. Standing in the bookstore waiting for Realms of Fantasy to pop in I see Amazing Stories. Spider-Man adorns the cover but that can be forgiven. Realms of Fantasy as a horrible track record of using over exposed commercial crap trap for cover subjects, helps raise interest I guess. But on to Amazing Stories. Lower right is a yellow splotch touting the mag as the "First Issue of the 21st Century. Guess that's real important stuff you know. So it's a revamped variation of Amazing Stories which died off years ago and anyone telling you thee are mysteriously descended from it are lying or marketers. Also it has a big splotch of Spider man on the front a movie that has been covered in numerous other medias. Spider-Man may be an ok movie for all I know but overexposure tends to dull my enthusiasm. So far two strikes and it's going for $5.99. Now I hate to be crass but for that amount of money I do expect more then just eighty-six pages. I buy it anyway thought because I'm a sucker for new short stories. Nice short stories I can read with little investment in time and concentration. So I guess its stories we go to first. "The Spider's Amazement" by Bruce Sterling will be the first speak out since it hit me the strongest. A strange dictator type of person is somehow stored over the centuries. He was on the run from political enemies and needs a good century to wall up in you know. So he's sleeping whatever sort of sleep he has been chemically blessed with and wakes up in a far ahead future where the human race has annulled itself. Yippee no more humans our nameless time traveler calls himself ruler of the world and celebrates. That was the point of the story and it sticks to me. It sticks to me because it was told with suck explicit detail of the unnamed dictator's body rotting from disuse. It sticks to me because the mind of an egotistical lunatic is explored with the grace and poetry of a noble character. It sticks to me because even though the formula of the story is old Mr. Sterling has found a way to storytell it in a unique gem. I have my days about "Human Subjects" by Ray Vukcevich. It's supposed to be a bout a man who is the test animal for aliens. See every alien has a test human and every human has an alien watching over him or her. Except that's not what the story is really about and what the story is really about is rather mundane and boring. It's "Will he still love me tomorrow nonsense" at its heart. Well-written nonsense but still nonsense. "Monster" by Gene Wolfe can count in as a grower. It didn't hit me all at once but it sort of grew and grew in the back of me head. It's got a nice nestled little place back here with all my other haunting and twisted memories of stories. Guy has a Siamese head attached to him. Guy falls in love and Siamese is a pain. Go figure. What happens next enters spoiler country so forgive me for the lack of detail. Another strong piece. Then there's the Harlan Ellison piece. Two hundred words. It's a game Amazing Stories wants to play with some of the authors. With a picture give out a story in one thousand words. Ellison naturally bucked it and gave two one hundred word segments with Gaiman supporting him writing eight hundred. It's not worth the effort. The blurb next to Ellison's name mentions his lawsuit against Internet pirates. He won you know. Whoopity doo da. Temptation begged me to type out his two hundred do nothing story. Begged me I tell you begged me because I swear to Hell and the gods that it wasn't worth paying for. Neil Gaiman does an introduction for the piece jesting that it's a long lost Harlan Ellison classic. Started out at 2,000,000 words but Harley just kept trimmin' and a trimmin' until eventually we got down to two hundred. Gaiman's introduction is more entertaining then the piece itself. I was going to write "actually" after is up there but why dilute the truth so? Of course it's more entertaining then the two hundred worded whatever they hell it is that Ellison typed in. The hundred-word story after a picture routine is supposed to be an ongoing feature with the new version of Amazing Stories and I can only hope that there is a series of protest letters deriding this aberration of art. Gag.Tried to get through "Proof" by Timothy Zahn. Still having trouble. Supposed to be about a prison where the mind is manipulated until there is no identity. Sounds cool in theory but in structure it's just not holding very well. On the verge of giving up. Out of eighty-six pages twenty-one were related to fiction. Kind of lopsided if you ask me. Editor David Gross warned me in the editorial about this. Amazing Stories will cover a mix of storytelling media in order to ensure that every Sci-Fi girl and boy can get their rocks off. Sounds fair and I was warned. To add there is a wide range of articles here. There's a Robert Silverberg interview, a piece about the radio adaptation of the Twilight Zone, and a retrospective of Sci-Fi past. Even has some book and movie reviews worth looking through. It's not a bad read and it passes the time reasonably. Potato chips are not a bad snack and it fills your hunger reasonably. The articles could have been written not just better but thicker. I feel like I'm getting the Reader's Digest version of Speculative Fiction articles. Once again for $5.99 I expected a little bit more. Unfortunately I'll have to pass on Amazing Stories for a little while. Maybe after they beef up this taco a little it'll amount to something but as for now its just junk food. Amazing Stories subscription form Books18646@blogcritics.org Sat, 14 Aug 2004 10:41:18 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/11/225111.php Celestial DungI don't collect books. Now that's an introductory sentence to speak proud of. But no I do not collect books at all. I have over two thousand or so of the things but as a collector no that's not my thing. See I see book collecting as some oddball hobby in which reasonably intelligent people spend unreasonably stupid amounts of money for a book that most likely will never have it's spine broken in. Now tell me how much sense is there in that. So I don't collect books at all. I buy them at used books stores, thrift stores, library sales, and flea markets. I buy them with covers missing, marked in, water damaged, and with receipts from 1965 in them. So I'm not a collector. Books are to be read and to be horded but not necessarily to be collected.Now that's an introductory paragraph to speak proud of.I make that point to show you how unusual my Borealis collection is. To further instigate the strangeness let me further say that I have never been partial to a publisher. One publisher is like the other which is modeled after the same cookie cutter format. Which is find a genre that attracts the masses and glutton glutton glutton the market until the readership can not stand it anymore sending the business to a death trap of mediocrity. The alternative would be the small press of course which I need to get into sooner or later whenever I get the funds summed up. See you don't get a lot of small press in Knoxville used books stores. Go figure.But here's how Borealis hit me. White Wolf had decided to publish fiction that was non-related to their World of Darkness gaming system. Vampires, Mages, Werewolves, and the Fae are all cool of course but I tend to steer away from stories that revolve around merchandising. It's just me you know. Borealis was to be a house that would encourage strange storytelling from relatively unknown writers. The series was often dubbed "Dark Fantasy" but a more applicable tag would have been "Weirdly Wonderful". Novels and stories went from Surrealistic Voyages in Clichéd Territories to Everyday Normal Weirdness. Thank you I just made those two tags up if you use them don't forget to mention me. In short, Borealis was about being weird. Weird in ideal and in delivery. Weird as a vested interest. Weird as a state of living and breathing. Weird as the supremacy of all art. It was good to be weird and even better to be authentically warped out. It was a delicacy designed for dark and geeky sad little kids like me. So what happened? The official reason for Borealis ceasing of publishing is beyond me. Remember I read books I don't philosophize about their financial status. If I had to guess I would say two things did in the experiment. For one it was horribly marketed. Come on guys how many of you even heard of Borealis or knew that White Wolf had a fiction branch that didn't bop around its gaming environment? Very little. Too little. Second Borealis had a non-stripped book situation. Normally when booksellers and mass-market store chains don't sell books they rip the cover off and send it back to the publisher. What do they do with the rest of the book? Most likely they trash it. Or if luck holds out it ends up at a flea market somewhere. Borealis saw this as waste and asked that the whole book be sent back. They knew it was an economic infeasibility but it was morals you know. Love 'em for it but it probably didn't make them any favorites with most chain operations. Ok I'm finished with my introduction to the review series so let's get on to the meat. First in my official Requiem for Borealis Reviews is a little Happy Book called The Psalms of Herod by Esther M. Friesner. It's one of the last Borealis book I could fine and go figure it's the first one they published. Says so on the back. The world has died and been reborn. Of what it died of in the first place the reader is left guessing. There was a Time of Hunger that is mentioned in the book as near curse. From this Time of Hunger civilization was forced to bring itself up. Now in this civilization they don't have a lot of history. They know that some time in the past King Herod was brought to his knowledge of sin by his daughter Salomé. See god told Salomé that she should tell Herod that he was a great big sinner. Our girl Salomé told his daddy by dancing for him. King Herod found out that he was in deep sin and repented. God said "Its ok guy" and promoted him to being is right hand man. Three wise men told Herod that Jesus the Christ was born. Herod realizes that there's not enough food to go around so he slaughters the children of Bethlehem so that little baby Jesus can have enough to eat. Herod also tends to run around killing all the infidels that do great sin in the eyes of god. A Great Hunger came because Men and Women were wicked. Women could only have sex twice a year the Lord was so sore at them. All that background noise leads us to Becca of Wiserways Stead. She has just turned of age and is preparing for his first Harvest Dance. It's about that time that women get to have sex you know so she's a bit nervous and scared. Plus she gets invaded by a ghost that haunts Prayerful Hill. It's the hill where they bury the dead and leave babies on top that are the wrong sex or are of defective nature. This is her coming of age story. All that background noise I gave out a few paragraphs up, you know the stuff about Herod and Jesus and the Hunger times? That was accumulated knowledge. Esther M. Friesner has never gives out all the background of this society at once. Bit by bit the reader is hinted into various aspects and histories. The world has turned screwy we know that. Each Stead is head up by a Pa figure who has lots of wives and lots of babies. A Pa is chosen by death. If a man likes what he sees he offers up a challenge and it's a wrestling mach to the death pass the popcorn. There's also a Head Crone title that is decided the same way except women can participate in this little knock out. Friesner gives out little bits of this world's holy book that bears a very remarkable similarity to the Christian bible except that it's all screwed up of course. Friesner gives out piece-by-piece information to the world forcing the reader to travel blindly across her world. It's wonderful really gives a bit of mystery.Character development. Heard it all before eh? The thickness of a character, the realistic nature of a character, the unique dialogue aspects of a character hey I admit it's all been reviewed before. Anymore the only reason characterization should be mentioned in a review is if the writer has done something remarkably good or remarkably bad. Otherwise it's just another "The people in the book seemed so real!!!". Blah on that. Freisner gets the exceptionally good award. If you've hanged in this long with me you've realized that this civilization does some pretty awful stuff. Sick and nasty stuff. Leading characters do things that are repulsive totally immoral by most standards. Freisner's trick is that she's able to let you know why they did those things. Not sympathize, which is a useful trick of storytelling but gets rather old. No she lets you understand why these people do what they do. Each person has a depth and feeling to them that lets you know that they are not evil for evil but rather just living they way they are brought up in. Strong stuff that and difficult to pull off. Highly recommended of course. Friesner wrote a sequel called Sword of Mary but as of yet have been unable to find it. Next time when I go hunting perhaps I'll get lucky. Books18562@blogcritics.org Wed, 11 Aug 2004 22:51:11 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/09/124304.php Celestial DungAdmittedly I love a little anarchy over political sense. If you ask me what is the political background behind the resurgence of pirate radio then I am most likely to give out a half-baked idea of what is actually going on. Hmmm. Ok the FCC was going to give more space for community radio stations with a low frequency. Cool enough idea until National Public Radio came along with some corporate interests and wailed "Oh no, Oh no can't let the stations bleed". In which case the FCC says "Oh sorry 'bout that George" and struck down the new low frequency policy. Little radio pirates across the land raised their little swords to the heaven and created low watt frequency generators to broadcast their souls to the masses. Naturally I'm not a dummy. I've got google on hand I could run some phrases across the search engine and inform myself further of the legal and political ramifications of the new wave of pirate radio. Might even get some of the terminology correct. But see that's not what this little piece is about. No that's not why I love Pirate Radio. I'm sure that a piece needs to be written about how the corporations are putting on the clothes of rebellion forcing all of America into one form of radio, into one form of thought by some wise writer with articulation and intelligent formulation who can show the masses the way to the promised land of freedom and individuality. Well sorry that's not me. Today anyway.What pirate radio means to me is the complete uncertainty of what will be played. Take me own local radio station for instance here in Knoxville. KFAR has saved me from my own classic rock boredom quite a few times on the roads of the Sunshpere City. Sifl and Olly is played at variable times for one. For those lost to the memory, Sifl and Olly was a sock puppet show on MTV way back in the 90's. The creators had a swell ear for music and routinely parodied style after style after style. Well MTV are wankers and cut Sifl and Olly off after maybe three years. KFAR has found it fit to broadcast some of the shows in their entirety. Everyone say thank yee.KFAR also plays music naturally. Crazy music. Insane music. The kind of stuff that leaves you fumbling for a dictionary/thesaurus to give a new tag to it. Course they also play some sort of mainstream run of the mill type of thing just to keep us in check. Rush and Led Zeppelin make appearances every now and again. They have DJ's with actual attitudes who tell us a little bit about the music and a few other tattle tattles.One night apparently there were zombies running around Knoxville and the only way to drive them back was to play KFAR really loud. I liked it but my fiancé thought they talked too much. Oh well can't please us all I guess.And I can't be pleased all the time either. KFAR plays hip-hop music gluttonously, which is fair of course because Knoxville does have a sizeable hip-hop listening audience. Still I tend to run up the dial whenever I hear it. Also there is the habit of running commentary programs. Democracy Now, Free Speech Radio, and Counterspin are the main offenders. They have helped me come to the conclusion that opinion is best generated through the written world rather than the spoken.But still happy-slappy pirate radio fan am I. Still listen to that old corporate rock and roll as it sticks to the blood but for the majority of my car traveling it's KFAR for me. Makes me wanna go out and search for other pirate ships with boom boxes. Avast and whatnot. Politics18446@blogcritics.org Mon, 9 Aug 2004 12:43:04 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/06/131039.php Celestial Dunghttp://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2004-08-04-act-tour_x.htmI'm reading USA Today at work because you know between calls there's nothing like some good old fashioned pop news to get your mind going. And I run across that article up there. Case short, it's about how there's so few protest music going on these days and how hard it is for artists to get radical on political on the radio. Now naturally my first reaction was "Oh that's so bad artists not being able to put out their more philosophical works to a wider ranging audience". Ok no not really my first thought reading through the article ran more along the lines of "Oh goody goody gumdrops no more political songs woo hoo".So I guess I should explain myself.It is my opinion, and a most sacred and artistic one it is, that overtly political art kills art. It's wrong, it's a sin, they shouldn't do that, erroneous in execution and style, pitiful, wretched, ludicrous, and most of all it's absolutely boring. That's the first commandment of art don't you know, Thou Shalt Not Be Boring. My problems with political art started like this. Years ago I would go to poetry slams where I expected to hear exciting and new poetry being performed in a rock star fashion. And you know there was some good stuff I admit. But the one thing that brought it all down is after a while everyone started to sound the same. See go figure nearly everyone was a liberal of some sort. Worker liberal, women's right liberal, economic liberal, social liberal and on and on. Really shouldn't matter right? Besides I run left wing on most issues so really it shouldn't matter at all. Except that every poem was in fact a sermon. A sermon on fat people prejudice. A sermon on economic hardship. A sermon on how the government is controlling the lives of our native peoples and we should all rise together arm and arm and take down the oppressive society that our government has forced upon us. And naturally everyone clapped. We didn't snap we clapped. We may have been high-minded intellectuals but lord no we were not cheesy. Thing is I noticed that the poems that got the most approval were the poems that best extemporized liberal philosophy. It was if, and bear with me guys I can be slow sometimes, it was almost as if that the poetry itself did not matter but rather the political point behind each poem. Can you imagine that, personal philosophical and moral beliefs take precedence over actual art? I mean what would happen if a conservative or a libertarian read a poem in front of the crowd extolling the virtues of fundamentalist Christianity or laissez faire economics? Would all of us clap and hoot and make outlandish gestures of approval or would we sit stone-faced or maybe even you know boo. And what if these imaginary philosophical opposite poets were actually quite good and could really string a phrase together and sing out rhythm purely on meter alone? Would we still boo them? I guess what it boils down to is, do liberals go to Ted Nuggent concerts?That's my first strike against political art. You can put moral in the spectrum too if you like. I get the strangest feeling that with these political works of art the message is more important then how the message is presented. Crazy don't you think? How do you judge something like that really? If a piece of work is crap do you nod your head and smile and say, "It may be crap but by god it's crap I believe in"? Does this really make some sort of wild aesthetic sense? I like to think I'm hip and trendy but there's just some things that don't pass the moonwalk test you know. So my first qualm against placing morals and politics in art is that it degrades the art. It makes art a sermon and not a feeling. Second reason I get noxious over sermon art. Most issues are by their nature complicated. You try reading through a years worth of Iraqi invasion debate and come out clear-headed. So what you gonna do is take all this complicated information and background and point of view and stick in a three to five minute song. It just don't work. No really it doesn't you don't understand it does not work. When you simplify complicated issues and thinking processes you in fact neuter it to the lowest common denominator. You turn argument into slogan and debate into cheerleading. Does anyone really have a better understanding of terrorism after listening to Charlie Daniels redneck war cry "This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag"? This is my proposition and it's a doozie let me tell ya. Is it possible to write a song that's sole purpose in existence is to be a good song? Something that a Republican and a Democrat and a Socialist and a Nudist can all just gather round and sing together in pure love sans political belief? Art is a whore I admit but does it have to whore with politics? Really there are better suitors I swear. Music18353@blogcritics.org Fri, 6 Aug 2004 13:10:39 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/08/02/122303.php Celestial DungI'll admit that for a while I felt that the Dark Tower series would have been better served if King had just quit at the first book. You gotta understand my mental state at the time. I had just finished reading Wizard and Glass for one. Wizard and Glass was a huge step backward for me as we go way back in time as Roland the ever bitchin' methodical one mindset son of a gun falls in love. Read those last three words again. Now see Roland and his crew had just beaten off Blaine the mono and had just traveled to a whole new world, which resembles Kansas for some reason. Super flu, Flagg, Mother Abigail are all name-dropped on our troopers of the Beam. The Stand cool! New area cool! Closer to the Dark Tower super cool! And then ...and then....and then Roland deems it appropriate to tell a long winded story about his early years when he fell in and love and became a man.I was pissed. I mean no that's no way to contribute to the narrative of a series. No you go forward with each book getting closer and closer to your goal. You can enhance character, you can expand the scenery, you can even tell corny jokes. But for Christ's sake you don't go back in time for an entire novel and you don't flashback the main characters adventures in love. Grumble. But I've changed since then, and listen how I've changed. Wolves of Calla came out and I loved it. Adventure, excitement, and the Dark Tower was closer. Song of Susannah? Even better it gave out mystery and confusion, teasers and hints, mind benders and oh-my-gods. The pace had picked up the end was nigh and my god am I enjoying the ride. I've even attempted to read Wizard and Glass again with the hope that maybe in my increasing maturity I could appreciate it's sluggard pace. Well that's still not going so well but hey the Dark Tower series has been redeemed and I'm happy.And because he's such a saint Stephen King has decided to give out the opening chapter in the final Dark Tower book. Book comes out in September and some of us just can't wait the two months you know. http://www.stephenking.com/pages/works/Dark_Tower_VII/prologue.phpFirst thought that I came across was how swift the action. No stalls we go straight for the vampires and the birdmen and whatever the hell those bugs were. Father Callahan kicks some spiritual ass and Oy shows some actual usefulness. Ok Oy is cute I don't mean to be so harsh but still it's good to see the creature have some sort of viciousness. Second thought. I find it amusing that you can find little hints of King all over the work, even as short as it is. There's the smart-ass humor as Callahan contemplates singing on a table in front of nasty evil vampires. There's the throwing around of made up words to give a sense of mystery. There's the temporary naming of beings that don't yet have names. Tweety Bird? You name a grotesque birdman Tweety Bird? I figure that if there's a petition started King might be swell enough to preview another chapter. Here's wishing. Books18166@blogcritics.org Mon, 2 Aug 2004 12:23:03 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/07/30/132049.php Celestial DungThe last time I picked up an issue of Cemetery Dance it fumed and promised it would be my last one because of a story about how oh so scary and freaky S&M people are. What can I say I hang with a creative crowd? But that was to be my last Cemetery Dance issue I was to by and besides how seriously can you take a horror magazine that does a routine article on Stephen King every month. I grew up after that, all of one year. I realized that one mundane story does not make a horrid periodical. I can get over myself at times.So I tossed away five bucks in exchange for series of stories of unexpected quality. Real American consumer that's me. My first reaction after my first reading of the mag was that I liked the articles more then the fiction. Kind of bothersome don't you think? While the interviews with authors and reviews were exceptional I do believe that the fiction should be the centerpiece of any magazine that deals with fiction. About those articles. The interview with David Morrell as conducted by Hank Wagner is the must read for this issue. David Morrell is the guy that wrote the Rambo novel that everyone associates with Sylvester Stalone for some god-awful reason. More importantly he's responsible "Orange is for Anguish, Blue is for Insanity" which by my guts and blood is the most hauntingly delicious short story ever written. Mr. Morell tells what kind of research he does with bodyguards (err, sorry I mean protective agent) and why shooting a car in the gas tank won't make it go boom boom kabloey. He also touches on why it's ok for the police and the military to play realistically violent video games but a big no no for the general gaming public. The other interview of note is with Richard Matherson, which I personally jumped up and down for just because he's written the most realistic vampire novel in creation I am Legend. Unfortunately he's gone and little soft and doesn't want to write horror anymore. He feels that kind of stuff darkens the soul, which may be right and may be wrong but still that's no reason to give up on the granddaddy of all genre fiction. A decent read that most recaps the work he's done in the past. You know I never watched 24, that show about the dude that goes through a day of high action hell. Admittedly I don't watch much television anymore so why read an article centered on a program I'm never going to see no not in a thousand years? Because it's bloody entertaining of course. First sentence on in Thomas F. Monteleone's regular feature The Mothers and Fathers Italian Association I was captured. He's got bite, he's got style, and he's not Harlan Ellison. His wife got him a DVD collection of the 24 series so naturally he has to watch it. He relieves the pressure by lambasting the show in every available way. My favorite line:"The actor who plays David Palmer's son is plagued by an arsenal of elements, all of which undermine his ability to make us believe he's for real. For example: (a) his motivations for doing what he does are thin and illogical when examined closely; (b) the writes have saddled him with clunky dialogue; and finally ( c ) he's a bad actor."Enjoying a skewering of a show that I never watch is granted a little sick. Still Monteleone makes it a sort of healthy fault. On to fiction. John Wilson is a poetic piece about ghosts, longing, and haircuts. Clifford V. Brooks wrote it and while I didn't think much about it at first I will say that's is grown in the back of my head. You know that place where you can't get rid of a thought or a story? It just sort of haunts you over and over again and you don't quite know why. That's the place I reserve for John Wilson.I hate politics with my art. Hate it. Despise it. Watch me vomit up chunks and chunks of ill written and rancid pieces of Fountainhead. Lawrence C. Connolly just had to commit high aesthetic crime and pour some thick assed politics into Striking Terror. I mean really guys I ask you cant we just leave well enough alone and let people be homicidal maniacs just for the sake of being homicidal maniacs? Blood for Bloods sake that's my motto. Striking Terror hits you over the head with the political philosophy that being paranoid about terrorists is driving this country down. Thing is I can agree with that. Paranoia is the eighth deadly sin but my god do I have to hit over the head with the fact? Signal to Noise by Gerard Hoarer has the unfortunate attribute of being lukewarm in quality which means I'll soon be forgetting about it. Striking Terror? Unfortunately I'm going to be remembering that one till the day I die. Signal to Noise though is just there I'm afraid. It has an interesting idea but the delivery is just off. It has the "You are the main character" gimmick in which the reader is addressed directly in the story. I'm sure it can be done right by someone but not by Mr. Houarner I'm afraid. Pity though, this one actually had some sort of possibility behind it.Last call, this issue of Cemetery Dance is worth the five bucks if for nothing else then the articles. The fiction left me a bit dry but it wasn't a total waste. In the very least I got a cool ass decaying skull on the cover that is sure to be a poster someday. Chad Savage did that little green one-eyed booger and a fine job he did. Contents and quick thoughts:Fiction: Hide Witch Hide by Nance Holder Reading it right now. Nothing memorable, nothing terrible it's the same fate as Signal to Noise but better written. Striking Terror by Lawrence C. Connolly I'm starting a new movement, fear for fear's sake as a reaction against this story. Thank you.Hook House by Sherry Decker Reading this one over again. I like it it's a thick little story, sort of an atmospheric old style haunted house story. By far the best written story in the mag. Really deserves a longer review on it's own but it's not the kind of story you can catch hold of first reading. Horror readers of the traditional bent will love this one.John Wilson by Clifford V. Brooks Another strong one. Written in poetry form. Misdirection by Tony Richards I don't know what to think about this one. It was the story that first made me want to pick the mag up. The opening paragraphs were about this creative arts festival in Scotland and me being a bohemian nut had to throw away my five bucks just for that premise alone. Another well written one and a memorable conclusion but it sort of felt gimmicked in the end. As if the writer was thinking "This is a cool idea now lets build a story around it." I may be too picky about this one. As an added bonus there is a righteous drawing of Shiva the death head juggling instruments of the homicidal maniac variety. Drawn by Julia Morgan-Scott it's bound to be another poster.Signal to Noise by Gerard Houarner The most forgettable one of the magazine. Sorry guy but nice try.Interviews: Nancy Holder as interviewed by Hank Wagner It's a standard interview with the author piece. Nothing really that stands out there. David Morrell by Hank Wagner Cool question in this one. Morrell is a great subject with interesting ideas. Richard Matherson by William P. Simmons Mr. Matheson doesn't want to write horror anymore. Please write him a get well card.Spotlight on Publishing: Prime Books by Ivy Fehervari I'm at a loss to review this in any sort of objectionable way since I don't read a lot of articles about books publishers. Interesting behind the scenes look at an independent though. Sean Wallace seems very honest about the business and openly critiques what he sees as the main problems in the horror industry. The rest is reviews, editorial, and The Mothers and Fathers Italian Association. Good biting reviews focusing on the independent horror world. And then there's the Stephen King routine. You know I like Stephen King and eagerly await the end of the Dark Tower come September but is a monthly column really all that necessary? Books18062@blogcritics.org Fri, 30 Jul 2004 13:20:49 EDT