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"Zen" and the art of reviewing

This Salon article about "Zen Arcade" pisses me off. I have no problem with people praising the Husker Du album, it is great. But this article is a little much. There's a lot of pointless noise and stretched out nonsense in the album. I'm sure it marks a particularly important moment in hardcore music, but 20 years later, it can be a little boring to listen to. It does have its classic moments (I'm not sure Husker Du wrote a better song than "Turn on the News"), but the reviewer should ease off on the hyperbole.
Also there's this:

This is the album Nirvana and Pearl Jam only wish they could have made: intelligent, clamorous, and hashing out more torment and passion in four sides than all the grungers and headbangers since -- all without a hint of heavy-metal pretension.

Why is it that everytime someone wants to praise something as a classic, they have to shoot down the latecomers? Nirvana made two great albums, both of which I think are better than "Zen Arcade." (I'm not going to defend Pearl Jam, let their fans do that.)
And then, what's this about "heavy metal pretension"? As if there is no pretension in a double album that goes on about spiritual seeking and includes a song called "Hare Krishna." Believe me, "Zen Arcade" has pretensions all its own.
Can somebody please write an appraisal of "Zen Arcade" that's realistic and doesn't take cheap shots at later bands or heavy metal? I would appreciate it.

Here's the latest image of Godzilla from "Godzilla: Final Wars." The picture is courtesy of Monster Zero. 

Jeff VanderMeer and The Mumpsimus

Matthew Cheney of The Mumpsimus has done an interview with Jeff VanderMeer for SF Site. Definitely worth checking out.

NPR : Too hip for its own good

According to NPR's Ombudsman their music reviews are too hip. I'll wait for you to stop laughing.
Alright. The ombudsman claims that the reviews are incomprehensible and he uses these quotes to illustrate his point:

A review of the band Wilco on All Things Considered on June 21:

These extended explorations and others, like the five minutes of abrasive dental-drill feedback drone near the end of the disc, give Wilco's music an entirely new dimension. The guitar isn't here to make things pretty. Tweedy uses savage, wild lunges to punctuate the verses and sometimes to inject a little danger into otherwise lovely songs.

Yeah, "dental-drill feedback," that must be really hard to understand. Maybe it should have been edited to "shrill, piercing noise."

A review of the band The Magnetic Fields from All Things Considered on June 9:

The songs themselves are the draw. They're disciplined little gems of composition, poison-pen letters set in the first person and caustic, coffee-shop observations propelled by not particularly heroic desires. The best of them tell about being deluded in love or not being able to let go of an old flame. And even under Merritt's dour storm clouds, they gleam.

I'm completely mystified on this one. What is hard to understand here? Maybe "coffee-shop observations propelled by not particularly heroic desires" is a little silly, but it sure isn't hard to understand.

A review of an album by Morrissey on All Things Considered on June 4:

Morrissey has always seemed to be a walking paradox, both playful and morose, ambiguously asexual, political but hopelessly self-involved, which is why You Are the Quarry is still a classic Morrissey album. Songs like "All the Lazy Dykes" and "The World Is Full of Crashing Bores" serve up such themes in spades. But his usual inclination towards detachment ends there. And the new Morrissey, the older Morrissey, the wiser Morrissey, the Morrissey of this moment is unafraid to show a more personal side, venting his soul with songs like "Irish Blood, English Heart" about his withering sense of nationalism and, of course, the starkly brave and confessional accusation of Christianity entitled "I Have Forgiven Jesus."

Again what am I missing here? I'm not saying I agree with any of these reviews, but what is so hard to understand? After reading "the starkly brave and confessional accusation of Christianity" I know exactly what the song, called "I Have Forgiven Jesus" for godsakes, is about and know I don't care. Isn't that what the review should tell me?
All right, maybe some of this language is in rock-crit-ese, but none of it was inscrutable.
So what does our NPR ombudsman give as the alternative?

Ulaby's interview with Timbaland was about how he found inspiration in the Tolkien novels, The Lord of the Rings. It seemed an unusual combination, but Ulaby made Timbaland more comprehensible and his music more accessible.

This was good cultural journalism: It introduced me to an artist I didn't know. It told me why he is important and why he is an artist. I may not run out to buy his CD, but at least I can make an informed choice.

Well good. But he's not comparing same to same here. He's comparing record reviews to an interview with an artist. An interview can go more in depth on what an artist hopes to achieve and why he uses the sounds he does. A review takes what's in front of the reviewer and describes why he or she thinks it's good or bad. It's not an introduction, it's advice.
Sounds like he's upset that rock music isn't reviewed the way classical music is. In classicial music, you can say "this E note coming in during this cluster of notes brings a feeling of" blah blah blah. Nobody in rock cares about E notes or C notes or notes at all. How would a classical person describe five minutes of dental-drill feedback? He wouldn't. It may hit a certain note, but that would miss the point.
It's funny, because I always thought NPR reviews overexplained rock music. Maybe NPR should just leave out the rock reviews and go back to classical. A younger crowd isn't listening to NPR for their record reviews anyway.

UPDATE: I am always so pleased when smart people agree with me. Terry Teachout and Greg Sandow have written blog entries that take issue with the ombudsman's critique as well. Sandow also makes a good point about the whole situation:

That said, there's still a problem. How are music reviewers supposed to talk, when even things they say in simple language seem -- at least to some people -- to come from another planet? If they stop to explain the most basic concepts ("Wilco's latest album may seem to be full of horrible noise, but there's a reason for that"), they'll sound ridiculous to the many people who do know the music. ("The Beethoven symphony that the Philharmonic played last night is very long, but that's how classical pieces are.") One thing this shows is that music, in spite of all the sentimental talk about it, is anything but a universal language. Instead, it seems to divide us -- to mark subcultural boundaries -- far more than it unites us.

Fictionalized animation history

Terry Teachout notes how Who Framed Roger Rabbit made him look back at animated films and consider why they might be important. That entry got me thinking about Kim Deitch's "The Boulevard of Broken Dreams," which is a graphic novel about the early days of animation and how some of the animators were crushed in the process. It's very good and I think Teachout (and just about everyone else) would enjoy it. I learned about the book after Jeffrey Ford did an interview with Deitch at Fantastic Metropolis.

More books on music

There's a whole new set of those 33 1/3 books coming out, including Elvis Costello's Armed Forces by Franklin Bruno, the Replacements' Let It Be by Colin Meloy, and The Beatles' Let It Be by Steve Matteo, as well as a bunch more.
I had mixed reviews for the first two I read, but it's an interesting enough idea that I may pick up some of the new ones if I see them at the bookstore.

Jeffrey Ford in Locus

Jeffrey Ford will be the lead interview in the next issue of Locus. LocusOnline sometimes does interview excerpts, so keep a watch out. (It's a great site anyway; they keep up with the latest genre fiction news.) I'll be rushing out to my bookstore next week to find the magazine on the shelves. Meanwhile, The Mumpsimus has put together a few hot links to Ford interviews while you're waiting for the issue. (Also a previous entry of my own includes many Ford things to tide you over. And I'm still looking for anyone who might be interested in a free hardcover copy of The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque.)

Excellent new blog: Tingle Alley

Tingle Alley is a new blog by a Maud Newton guest blogger. It's terrific. It's already made it to my everyday check list. Today she has outdone herself. She responds forcefully to a New York Times Book Review essay. The second entry is a look at the questions an apprentice writer must face.

I write this to help me remember it. Because for the past year I’ve suffered more doubt and insecurity than ever before about my writing. Enough unhappiness that it’s seemed worthwhile to ask myself, “Why not just stop?” Why have what amounts to basically a glorified hobby (no one pays me to write fiction) that makes you so miserable? And guilty. And hunch-backed. Why not just be happy with the good husband and the satisfactory job in plumbing supplies, and with friends and family and trying to be a good person in the world? Why not just read the books other people write? Why not choose to be content?
It occurs to me that there are two kinds of misery you can encounter as a writer: The misery of apprenticeship — basically, the frustrations and humiliations involved in learning how to do your craft well — and the misery of why bother with it at all.

Check out Tingle Alley, there's lots of good stuff there.

Godzilla tramples New York

In August, the Film Forum in New York will host two weeks of Godzilla films (scroll down). The festival includes Gojira, Destroy All Monsters, Mothra, Godzilla Mothra Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. and many more. I have to find a way to get to these.

Sweeney Todd coming to a theater near you

Apparently Sam Mendes, the director of American Beauty and Road to Perdition, will be directing a movie version of the musical Sweeney Todd that is scheduled for release in 2005. I didn't think much of American Beauty, but it was well directed. I love the Stephen Sondheim musical, I only hope Mendes does a good job.

The Sound of Shatner

Ben Folds is working on a major new William Shatner release that will include the likes of Henry Rollins, Aimee Mann, Joe Jackson and a song written by Nick Hornby.

"It is a great record and it is really worth going out and doing some shows in major cities," Folds told Billboard.com. "(Shatner) is not a musician at all -- he's not rapping or singing -- but he is still part of the music. I've never heard a record quite like it."

A true classic in the making. I can't wait to see the tour. (Thanks to Charles for the heads up.)

Annoying ad

I noticed when I went to IMDB, the most annoying ad in the world came up. Every time I found a new movie, these two giant metal arms would appear on the screen and shake my browser for 10 seconds or so. It would be followed by an ad for I, Robot (I refuse to link to it, both because of the ad and because it looks like it will be a travesty.) Why do advertisers do this? Don't they know it just annoys the hell out of us? There should be some reforms in Internet advertising. It's not getting them anywhere.

Original Godzilla soundtrack

La-La Land Records will be releasing a 50th anniversary version of the Godzilla (Gojira 1954) soundtrack. This company seems to be pretty good. They've got soundtracks of Hollywood movies like the Punisher and the Butterfly Effect and TV shows like the new Battlestar Galactica and Saint Sinner. According to Henshin! Online:

The CD will contain Akira Ifukube's orchestral soundtrack, sound effects, and a 16-page booklet featuring liner notes and production stills. The CD cover will feature exclusive artwork for this 50th Anniversary release. The CD will have a retail price of $15.98. Source: Toho Kingdom

Cult members found guilty

That crazy cult leader and murderer and his accomplices were found guilty. Sentencing will be on June 24.

Fictional character blogging

Gabe Chouinard is experimenting (again.) He's nearly completed a novel called "Dead Cities" and is planning to write a sequel starring a secondary character from the first. But he needs to work on the character. So he's created The Journal of Aristin Swift, in which his character will blog about his life.
Chouinard says:

I thought this might be an interesting opportunity to accomplish both a bridge work between the two novels and to explore the 'making of a character' in an interesting and innovative way. We've all read 'excerpts' from 'journals' in fantasy novels. So let's take it a step further, shall we?

DarkEcho blog has a new address

Here.

A Scanner Darkly report

Everyone else is linking to it, so why can't I. The Philip K. Dick Trust (members of Dick's family) visits the set of "A Scanner Darkly." I'm excited about this film because it appears to be a faithful adaptation of a Dick work (one I haven't read, by the way.) I'm depressed because it has Keanu Reeves in it. I'm hoping for the best though. It's illustrated in the same way "Waking Life" was done. It will be interesting to see that technique used for an actual plot. Hopefully it will make up for Reeves acting abilities.

Going to the prom

Slate is doing this odd story about proms. David Amsden, a writer in his mid-20s, is taking a 17-year-old girl to her prom -- in the name of reporting, of course. He uses the event to talk about our culture's obsession with young girls. It's actually very good and not nearly as prurient as it sounds. The second installment is here. I'm waiting for today's. Apparently some people have made enough complaints about the piece for Amsden to respond:

Nothing remotely taboo occurred during my night at the prom, which anyone can learn by reading the piece. It's strange, then, that the majority of you should be so thirsty for it to be a legitimate "confession of a pervert" type story, which, surely, everyone knows Slate would never publish. What's going on here?

I went to 3 proms when I was in high school (mine, my girlfriend's and a friend who needed a date). None of them were all that great. They're expensive and just seem to be an excuse to party afterward. I wonder if they're any better now that there are these big afterprom events where the school sets up an all night alcohol-free party? I doubt it.

Godzilla cartoon release

Three episodes from Godzilla: The Series is coming out on DVD in August. The cartoon series was based on the 1998 movie, but far exceeds it (which really wasn't that hard). The trilogy being released, called "Monster Wars," was pretty good as I remember. They basically rounded up all the monsters from the series and created an all out battle. Like "Destroy All Monsters," but without all the big names.

Cult, murders, nude models and more

Professor Hex has latched onto a wild story this time (well, he always does, but this one's particularly good.)I hesitate to describe it. There are too many details and they're all fascinating. The story includes brutal murders, a violent cult, a Playboy model, a good witch raising money for Armageddon, Elvin Bishop's family, rohypnol and a plot to take over the Mormons.

The culmination of [cult leader] Helzer's plan was to have been an operation codenamed "Brazil", in which he would send South American orphans to Salt Lake City to kill the 15 elders who run the Mormon church.
According to Godman's testimony, Helzer imagined he could blame the murders on the "government behind government" and take over the leadership of the world's 12 million Mormons himself.

Here's the latest on the case. It's horrifying, but you can't turn away.

JJA interviews Richard K. Morgan

The Slush God does an interview with Richard K. Morgan, author of Altered Carbon, Broken Angels and Market Forces. I read Altered Carbon and thought it was a great combination of noir detective stories and science fiction concepts. I have Broken Angels on the shelf, but wasn't really in the mood for another noir novel. Now I find out that's not exactly what it is:

In Broken Angels, the sequel to Altered Carbon, you radically change gears, from a brutal future-noir crime thriller to a brutal militaristic, alien archaeology tale. Likewise, Kovacs changes careers from detective to soldier of fortune/archaeologist. What has been the reaction to it thus far?
Morgan: By and large, the reaction's been good. I think there was always going to be an element who expected me to churn out a series of future detective stories until my toes curled up, and those guys I was always going to disappoint. But most readers seem to have gone with the change without a problem. Some like Altered Carbon more, some seem to think Broken Angels is better. And one guy in a bookshop told me they were both great but in entirely different ways, which of course is the result I was looking for!

So now maybe I'll read Broken Angels earlier than I expected.

Yahoo Mail is new and Web attacks are frustrating

So Yahoo! has updated its mail service. This is, of course, an attempt to fight off Google's new mail service.

Marcel Nienhuis, a senior analyst for the Radicati Group, a market research firm that focuses on online communications, said those worries are now probably moot. Yahoo's free service is probably enough for most people, while the premium service will appeal to hardcore Internet users, he said.
"This will negate the storage benefit of Google," Nienhuis said. "The Yahoo service is better than the Google service. Users are familiar with it, and many of them have their contacts there."
He also added that Yahoo's spam filter is better than Google's.

Well, that's all fine and dandy, but it seems now Yahoo mail doesn't work. Every time I try to do something, my computer can't find the page. It's really frustrating. And at a bad time, since I just started a Google mail account too. I like that Yahoo is updating their service, but can they please make sure it works right before unveiling it? I'm sure in a day or two these won't be problems.
UPDATE: Well, as Cybele pointed out in the comments, the slow down doesn't appear to be Yahoo's fault. There was an attack on major Web sites (including Yahoo) today. So I'll chalk it up to that. The mail seems to be working fine now.

Gi-ant movie

Fred Olen Ray is apparently working on a giant ant movie. Ray has made some truly awful B-movies over the years, but they are usually goofy fun. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to this movie, but I'll certainly check it out.

More on comic books

Scribbling woman says much the same that I did about comics and art but, you know, better and more interestingly.
Also, there is an excellent response at Rasputin's I Am Uninformed to this whole thing.

The Mumpsimus does interviews

As if The Mumpsimus wasn't a great enough blog already, Matthew Cheney has started interviewing people. He talks with K.J. Bishop about her novel The Etched City, her story "Maldoror Abroad" in Album Zutique and her writing process.

I don't think I have an impulse to tell stories so much as an impulse to spend time with characters. I always used to imagine things about my favourite characters from movies and books, and over time those characters would change in my mind, turning into people who were similar to the originals but different enough for me to think of them as separate. When I started writing, I discovered that the process of writing allowed me to get to know them much better than I could by just daydreaming. I also discovered that I liked writing in and of itself -- the pleasure of making things out of words, of finding the way to express something, to define some notion or feeling of mine that previously had been vague.

Also, while I'm talking about interviews, Maud Newton's latest "Fiction Writers on Writing" (previously "Making Book") is with Stephen Elliott.

Can comic books be art?

This review of the comics issue of McSweeney's has been upsetting some people around the world of blogging. In it, Martin Rowson takes aim at the urge to believe that comic books can be great art. He gets truly heated up by the end:

This [the McSweeney's issue] is yet another sally in that old, old struggle to get comics to be taken seriously and recognised by the adult world in general as "respectable".
Except that comics aren't and shouldn't be respectable. The closest they should come to the adult world is as a kind of foul-mouthed, filthy-minded and grubby adolescence, with adolescents of all ages duly sequestered in that teenage bedroom and, between bouts of what teenagers do, thumbing through thin, flimsy funnies instead of damaging their wrists trying to hold this latest over-weighty, overproduced whinge. Ware, after all, is rich and famous, and thanks to this book will doubtless be mobbed by the thousands and thousands of ageing retards for whom comics still float their boat. Which is fine, but I wish he and the rest of them would accept that, in the ecology of culture, comics flourish where they are for a reason, and so he should stop pushing against an open door into an empty room.

Linking to this, the Literary Saloon says:

but it's nice to see someone argue that all this talk that comics should be taken seriously has gone too far

The Return of the Reluctant comments further on this idea:

There have been too many insalubrious suggestions from the "comics as literature" crowd without justification or solid arguments. It's one thing to state it, but it comes across as a callow undergraduate announcing for the umpteenth time that God is dead. It's another thing to have someone like James Wood or Christopher Hitchens weighing in on the matter and offering a proper historical or critical perspective. Ergo, it's nice to see someone rock the boat (with admittedly too much gusto), if only to get the pro-comics crowd reconsidering their arguments.

Bookslut dismisses the whole thing out of hand:

Oh, Jesus fucking Christ. Someone is trying really hard to be controversial, aren't they? I got the link from The Literary Saloon, who seems to agree. A certain someone also insists I should have arguments to back up my claim that comics are literature. But this article doesn't make me want to defend my claim. It makes me roll my eyes and get along with my day, just as any other boneheaded statement meant to get people angry would. I can't be bothered to care. More 100 Bullets for me.

So a tempest in a teapot, but those are my favorite kind. I, for one, agree with Bookslut's dismissal of the article. Rowson is so nasty at the end there. My biggest problem with Rowson's article is the statement "Except that comics aren't and shouldn't be respectable." Is he trying to set himself up as some guardian of art? Is there any reason why comics shouldn't be accepted as having the potential to be art?
As for the more reasonable request that we comic fans should tell the world what the classics, the "Ulysses" or "Canterbury Tales" of the comic book world, are, I can name a few.
Here's a few comic books I believe are masterpieces (with links to Amazon so you can buy them and decide for yourself):
From Hell, Watchmen, Maus, Jim Woodring's Frank series, Sandman, Harvey Pekar comics, Through the Habitrails, Love & Rockets, Mr. Punch, A Contract With God, Jar of Fools.
Some of those are the books everybody mentions, some are personal to me, but I think they are all important in some way. And I haven't included some single issues of comics by people like Bernard Krigstein, Dan Clowes and David Mazzuchelli that are also beautiful, important art. For that matter, I haven't included any foreign works that also deserve notice.
Maybe people are going crazy for comics now because they are hot. And maybe some comic books are being overrated because of this. But I don't see how that makes any difference to whether comic books can be art.
I would like to see somebody make a cogent argument as to why comic books can't be art that isn't based on the fans ("foul-mouthed, filthy-minded and grubby adolescence") or particular bad examples (if you take a bad comic off a comic book store shelf at random, I can also walk into a book store and easily find a trashy novel just as bad.) Do people believe there is something inherently wrong with comics that keeps them from being art?
I just don't get it.
Anyway, I'm not the best person to make the argument, but I felt somebody should be sticking up for them.
Now that I've written all this, I notice that Rowson is an editorial cartoonist. (Maybe many of you know this?) Could this put a whole different spin on things? Here's an interview with him on politics, which inludes this paragraph:

But Rowson is not one of those who bangs on about the 'power of the cartoon' and its potential impact on political life. 'The fact that I do horrible drawings of politicians doesn't disempower them in any way at all - and what I can do is nothing compared to what they can do, because they have power over my destiny.'

Maybe he just hates himself (or thinks comic books are beneath editorial cartoons.) Whatever.

Richard Hell on Robert Quine

More on Robert Quine, this time Richard Hell talks about the guitarist and his final days.

Fox-deer thing and the credibility of photos

This guy took a photo of a mysterious creature in back yard. The creature looks like a cross between a fox and a deer, with a cat's tail. It's very strange.
It's funny how the digital age has completely taken away the credibility of photographs. As soon as I saw the picture, I said to myself "that's a photoshop!" I have no idea if it is, but how can anyone tell? I suppose if he has original negatives on film, rather than digital. Still. Cool looking photo anyway.
(Link found at Professor Hex.)

Acid, absinthe and upset tummies

I was searching Fortean Times today, hoping their H.P. Lovecraft article had made the Internet (it hasn't), but I find they have an interesting collection of articles on how acid, absinthe and upset stomachs inspired several writers: Thomas De Quincey, August Strindberg, Aldous Huxley and Lewis Carroll. Tied to that there is an article on the Grateful Dead if you are interested in that sort of thing.
The Lovecraft article, published in their latest issue, is very good. It's sure to point out that Lovecraft was a stout nonbeliever in the occult, but it still explores its influence on him and how others have brought his work into the occult. It's a good read. I'll try to remember to link to it when it's up on the Web site.

Giant monster designs

So the rest of the monster artwork for "Godzilla: Final Wars" has been released. Most of the monsters show little change from their '60s look. Gigan, with it's metal body and detailed hooks, and Manda, now green instead of red and with a sleeker head, seem the most changed. Hedorah looks like they've added a few gross details and Rodan looks sleeker. Otherwise, it's all very traditional. Have I mentioned how much I can't wait for this movie?
While I'm on about giant monsters, Retromedia released Return of the Giant Monsters backed with Magic Serpent. I don't have either movie and while Retromedia doesn't use the best prints, I like just having a copy of the films.

Read what I tell you! Buy Vandermeer's books!

You know, I keep trying to push authors I think are great to you readers, but I don't know how much you care. I fear that half of you have no interest and the other half are way ahead of me. No one has asked for that copy of "The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque" yet. Do I really have no readers interested in reading Jeff Ford?
Well, regardless if I'm putting you to sleep or making you skip a couple of entries a week, I'm going to continue promoting authors I enjoy.
One of my favorites is Jeff Vandermeer. Apparently, he has just completed work on his new book, "Shriek: An Afterword," which will be the latest book set in his city of Ambergris. If you're interested (and you should be!) check out his blog at vanderworld.blogspot.com and you'll be able to read excerpts from the book. His collection of short stories, "Secret Life", is available now. When I have some money available, that's going to be the next book I pick up.

Robert Quine 1942-2004

Guitarist Robert Quine, 61, has died, possibly of a heroin overdose. What a loss. The guy was an amazing guitar player. He made a name for himself with Richard Hell & the Voidoids and went on to revive Lou Reed's career with The Blue Mask. He played punk music, but he was a guitar god. His sound was distinctive and aggressive and he played like few before him (or after him for that matter). I was always excited to hear him on an album. This really is a tragedy. He had already done great work, but nothing would have stopped him from doing more if he had lived.
There are comments on his death here, here and people are talking about it on the I Love Music board. I'll add more as I find it.
Here's a bit on Quine from Victor Bockris' book "Transformer":

The purest of musicians with the highest of standards, Quine let his music speak for him. As soon as he played a single, inimitable note on his guitar, there was no question that Mr. Quine was in control. If an artist's work can be judged by how quickly it is recognized, then Bob Quine was on eof the all-time greats. By 1977, his playing was so inspired he had developed a cult following.

Bockris' book makes it clear that Quine not only aided Lou Reed on his album, but basically revived Reed's confidence in himself and set him back on the road to greatness.
Bockris also quotes New York Times music critic Robert Palmer:

Robert Quine's solos were like explosions of shredding metal and were over in thirty seconds or so.

And here is Lester Bangs on Quine:

Someday Quine will be recognized for the pivotal figure that he is on his instrument -- he is the first guitarist to take the breakthroughs of early Lou Reed and James Williamson and work through them to a new, individual vocabulary, driven into odd places by obsessive attention to "On the Corner"-era Miles Davis. Of course, I'm prejudiced, because he played on my record as well, but he is one of the few guitarists I know who can handle the supertechnology that is threatening to swallow players and instruments whole -- "You gotta hear this new box I got," is how he'll usually preface his latest discovery, "it creates the most offensive noise ..." -- without losing contact with his musical emotions in the process. Onstage he projects the cool remote stance learned from his jazz mentors -- shades, beard, expressionless face, bald head, old sportcoat -- but his solos always burn, the more so because there is always something constricted in them, pent up, waiting to be released.

UPDATE: Here's the New York Times obituary. Now they're saying it might have been suicide. Quine had been despondent over the loss of his wife in August. Also, Lou Reed has made a statement about Quine's death:

"Robert Quine was a magnificent guitar player -- an original and innovative tyro of the vintage beast," Reed said in a statement released to Billboard.com. "He was an extraordinary mixture of taste, intelligence and rock'n'roll abilities coupled with major technique and a scholar's memory for every decent guitar lick ever played under the musical son. He made tapes for me for which I am eternally grateful -- tapes of the juiciest parts of solos from players long gone. Quine was smarter than them all. And the proof is in the recordings, some of which happily are mine. If you can find more interesting sounds and musical clusters than Quine on 'Waves of Fear' (from Reed's 1982 album "The Blue Mask"), well, it's probably something else by Robert."

There's some comments and a few more details at Richard Hell's site.
And finally, here's an interview with Quine from 1997 that goes over his whole career and from the same site, here's a list of Quine's favorite music.

Lost cities and peoples

Professor Hex put together a good batch of links recently. Especially interesting was his post about the possible discovery of Atlantis and his supposition that maybe it's Tartessos instead. The Tartessos link is fascinating. Unlike Atlantis, there's a wealth of historical mentions of Tartessos and it seems to coincide with Biblical references to Tarshish.
In the Altantis article, meanwhile, there's a reference to the Sea People:

Dr Kuehne noticed that the war between Atlantis and the eastern Mediterranean described in Plato's writings closely resembled attacks on Egypt, Cyprus and the Levant during the 12th Century BC by mysterious raiders known as the Sea People.
As a result, he proposes that the Atlanteans and the Sea People were in fact one and the same.

Here's some information on the Sea People.

Epic fantasy

At s1ngularity::front, Gabe Chouinard looks at epic fantasy and questions why he and so many book buyers love it when so much of it is mediocre.

What is missing from epic fantasy is PERSONALITY. Too much of it is homogenized, steralized, devoid of life. Without personality, epic fantasy is just a string of redundant novels telling a single story over and over again. We all know the tropes, we all know the Hero's Journey, we all know the way things will work out in the end. So it becomes a matter of style and idiosyncracy... and such traits are sorely ignored in most epic fantasy, which is why writers like Gene Wolfe and Stephen R. Donaldson stand out so prominently in the field. When the tale is familiar, it's the telling that matters.

Save the giant squid

Britain is fighting to stop deep sea trawling, which it believes is killing many underwater species, including the giant squid.

How I think

So I took the What Kind of Thinker Are You quiz at the BBC Web site. According to my results I am a:
logical-mathematical thinker
intrapersonal thinker
existentitial thinker.
It gives a little description of what each type of thinking means, people who were similar thinkers and jobs that best suit your thinking style. For instance, among the people who thought like me were: Graham Greene, Isaac Newton and Gandhi (actually, Gandhi fits into two of my categories.) Of course, all the jobs were different under each category.
It's an interesting quiz. See what you get.

How giant squid aid you

Scientist says the eyes of the giant squid may hold the key to solving visual impairment. The story includes a rather awful picture of a detached giant squid eye.

Couch potato world record

So this British guy spent 47 consecutive hours watching TV and broke a world record. As world records go, this doesn't seem all that impressive to me, I've practically done it myself. The only hard part is staying awake. Got to be careful what you watch, one episode of "Full House" and you're done.
(Link found at Return of the Reluctant.)

Amazon's new thing

So Amazon has started a new thing, called a Plog. Well, really it's not a new thing at all, just new for them. A Plog is a "personalized Web log," and as far as I can tell, it lists your recent purchases and Amazon recommendations. It looks like Amazon is the plogger, although it's attached to your account. It's kind of an interesting idea, I hope they do something with it.

Writers and their multiple personalities

This link looks at the work of August Highland, a man on the Internet who has created 80 different personas who have numerous literary Web zines and publish each other's fiction. These 80 different persona have also created numerous literary movements. You can start on his stuff here. Of course, most of his stuff seems to be words strung together in either a "Finnegan's Wake" or William Burroughs cut-up novel style.
The whole thing reminds me of Fernando Pessoa. Pessoa was a Portuguese poet who created four "heteronyms." Each of these created personality wrote poems in their own style. They would write articles about each others work and would be inspired or outraged by each other.
(Original link found at Bookslut.)

Godzilla and religion

The Revealer looks at Godzilla, exploring the religious ideas behind the Japanese cut of Godzilla and what it means. I don't like their contention that Serizawa was a suicide bomber. He's reluctant to use his weapon at all, unlike suicide bombers who are hoping to strike a blow against their enemies. He kills himself to keep the weapon secret. And I'm also not sure Godzilla is a metaphor for America. Nevertheless, it's a good article, check it out.

Giant mushroom in the Congo

An 18 inch high, 3 foot wide giant mushroom has appeared in the Congo and it's baffling scientists. All I know is you'd better not eat it.

Godzilla plus

Henshin!Online has a full round up of what we know about "Godzilla: Final Wars" now. Monster Zero has loads of stuff about the movie as well. All the talk about this movie has really got my giant monster movie engines revving. I watched two Gamera films last night and I'm planning on watching "Mothra" and "Atragon" in the next few days. Some day I'll have to write about why I like these films so much (although I'll have to figure it out for myself first.)

What is blogging, exactly?

Stephany Aulenback at Maud Newton's blog has a humorous reply to some of the rather silly articles that have appeared about blogging. She also brings up an interesting point:
The terms blogger, blogging, and blog are so overused they have become pretty much meaningless. They seem to indicate any individual (as opposed to a corporation) who posts anything – anything at all -- on any sort of webpage, with any regularity.
Is there a way, or should there be a way, to distinguish between people who use blogs for linking to news (boingboing, Bookslut, The Write Hemisphere), those writing about their lives (Tequila Mockingbird, Where is Raed? wKenShow), and those based around the lives of well known personalities (Neil Gaiman, Margaret Cho, Caitlin Kiernan)? And there are plenty of other blogs that don't fit into those categories. The Mumpsimus doesn't, and that's one of my favorite blogs.
A little while back, Terry Teachout at About Last Night wrote about what makes a blog. While a good starting place, I don't think he's entirely correct in his points. (One rule I think is just plain wrong: 3. Blogs without links aren’t blogs. Blogs without blogrolls aren’t blogs. Blogs without mailboxes aren’t blogs. Half of the blogs I mentioned above would be eliminated in that case.)
In general, I'm not all that concerned. But sometimes it's hard to talk about the differences of these various places. You start introducing somebody to blogs and they say something like, "Oh, you mean like Fark." Sort of. I have no idea if Fark is a blog or something else, really. It was certainly created before blogs were around, but it would be very hard to point out the difference between Fark and a blog. In that same category, gangster of love seems to fit into the blog world, but she doesn't use a blogging engine and she insists on being called a journal, not a blog.
Is blogging becoming too vast a word? Should we categorize things into blogs, journals, news feeds, etc.? I don't know. What are your thoughts?

What we talk about when we talk about Raymond Carver

Rake's Progress and Maud Newton mention that yesterday was Raymond Carver's birthday. Carver was one of my biggest influences back in college and I always enjoy rereading his stories, which now I'll probably do for the next few days. At both of those blogs, they gives links for learning more about Carver and what books to start with.

New Godzilla: Final Wars information

On the Japanese Godzilla: Final Wars Web site, there are lots of new things. One is a trailer made up of images from the movie, most spectacularly Godzilla standing in the center of a huge crater, the devastation of a city behind him. The Web site also includes a list of the 12 monsters who will be in the film. The design for the new Gigan has been revealed, and he looks very robotic now. You'll need Flash to see the Web site. Monster Zero, however, has put up images from the Web site. Apparently the movie will include an alien invasion. "Final Wars" looks to be totally old school Godzilla.

Ryuhei Kitamura

Here's an interview with Ryuhei Kitamura, the director of the upcoming "Godzilla: Final Wars" as well as his own films like "Versus" and "Azumi."
(Link found at Monster Zero.)

Jeffrey Ford: new fiction, a giveaway and a list of online stuff

Jeffrey Ford has a new story, "Rabbit Test" up at Fantastic Metropolis. After you're done reading it, you can check out what The Mumpsimus has to say about the piece. And you can discuss his fiction at the Night Shade Books message boards.
Ford has been my absolute favorite writer for the last several years. I was lucky enough to have won "The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque" in a Fantastic Metropolis contest a while back and since then I've been hooked on Ford's fiction. So I want to do the same for somebody else.
I've got second hardcover copy of "Mrs. Charbuque" that I would like to give to some person who is intrigued by Ford's fiction and wants to read more. If you want the book, e-mail me. The first person who does, and expresses a real interest in Ford's work, will get the book.
In the meantime, check out some of Ford's short fiction online:
The Empire of Ice Cream
Floating in Lindrethool
The Far Oasis
Malthusian's Zombie
The Shadow Year [excerpt]
The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque [excerpt]
Quiet Days in Purgatory
Horrors by Waters
Out of the Canyon
Exo-Skeleton Town
The Beyond [excerpt]
And here's some interviews:
Infinity Plus, BookSense, SF Site, Book Page, "Trampoline" promotional interview
Some nonfiction:
Distant Voices, about H. Rider Haggard
Ford interviews Kim Deitch
On "The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque"
Read and Appreciated 2003, 2002, 2001
A biography.

Charles Grant auction has begun

The auctions to benefit horror writer Charles Grant have begun. There's a lot of interesting stuff here, from signed Alice Cooper T-shirts to lots of horror novels signed and numbered, comic books and something called the rarest Stephen King item ever! Some of it is already pretty expensive, but there's some reasonable starting prices and it's all for a good cause, so check it out.

Author's new blog

Matthew Woodring Stover has a blog, studioMWS. Stover is the author of several books, the only one of which I've read is "Heroes Die," which was a combination of sword & sorcery mixed with science fiction. He has also written Star Wars tie-ins and is writing the Episode III novelization. There's not much on the blog yet, but he's only had it up a couple of days.

The fiction of the Mumpsimus

Matt Cheney, the terrific blogger at The Mumpsimus, has a story up at ideomancer called "Prague." The story is what I would expect having read his many reviews of speculative fiction stories. It's smart, short, beautiful and rewards re-reading. If you enjoy it, be sure to check out some of his other fiction at his personal Web site. Besides short stories, he's also written plays, screenplays, poetry and nonfiction.

Notebook love

moleskinerie is a blog about the Moleskine notebook and how great it is. I love the Moleskine, it's a got a great romantic look and at the same time is totally functional. The only problem is it's terribly expensive. For a tiny little notebook, you spend $10. It makes me afraid to write in them.
(Link found at scribbling woman.)

Stomp!

Couple of interesting Godzilla things:

Henshin!Online has translated a long interview between Godzilla director Masaki Tezuka and writer Wataru Mimura. Most of the interview is about the Japanese film industry from the 1970s on, but there's some interesting stuff about Godzilla too:
"MIMURA: But including my script, what do you think of the film?
TEZUKA: Reflecting on MEGAGUIRUS, what I wanted to do was to provide a scientific background to the story. I needed clear scientific reasons. It is impossible to create a Black Hole Gun, Godzilla himself is totally unrealistic, but I needed them for the story, therefore I thought providing scientific rationales were all the more important.
MIMURA: I see.
TEZUKA: So this I time [for GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA], my staff researched both robot computer technology and DNA engineering for Mechagodzilla. I paid so much attention to this part of the story.
MIMURA: So you think, even for a fantasy film, some amount of reality is necessary and the story should be based on the scientific fact. You cannot accept a totally unrealistic subject.
TEZUKA: No I can't. I think a scientific background contributes to maintain a steady storyline. Speaking of a steady storyline, if the capital had not been Osaka [in GXM] MECHAGODZILLA could have been a sequel to MEGAGUIRUS, as you said to me before. [laughs] Kiriko would have been in the new film. When you told me that I should have used Megaguirus again, I thought it was a good idea."
***
At DVDtalk they have a review of ADV's new "Destroy All Monters" release. It's a bare bones DVD of the movie with bad dubbing, no chapter stops and no extras. But it comes with the soundtrack.
The movie is quite enjoyable, but the poor print and many digital artifacts makes this movie a rental.

Mamatas on mainstream horror

Nick Mamatas dissects mainstream horror.
The mainstream of horror fiction of the past five years:
makes the following statements as regards class, gender, race, urbanization and pets:

...

creates a sense of identification by displaying the thoughts of the POV character in increasingly annoying italics

offers a protagonist demographically slightly better off, whiter, and more suburban than than stereotypical drug store/Wal-Mart (as opposed to bookstore) book buyers

...who consumes name-brand products, especially Pepsi

...and who, while looking in mirrors, contemplates either a recently-broken nose or a widening ass

Writing interview

So Maud Newton has started her series of interviews with writers about writing, called "Making Book." Her first interview is with Salah Abdoh, whose 1999 book "The Poet Game" stirred up interest after Sept. 11 because of its look at Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. Maud asks some good questions, and in at least one place, the question is more interesting than the answer. It's definitely worth checking out and I'm looking forward to see what she's got lined up in the future.

Hunting giant squid babies

The New Yorker writes about a giant squid hunter!
Steve O’Shea, a marine biologist from New Zealand, is one of the hunters—but his approach is radically different. He is not trying to find a mature giant squid; rather, he is scouring the ocean for a baby, called a paralarva, which he can grow in captivity. A paralarva is often the size of a cricket.
“Squid, you see, hatch thousands of babies,” O’Shea told me recently, when I called him at his office at the Earth and Oceanic Sciences Research Institute, at the Auckland University of Technology. “Most of these will get eaten up by larger predators, but during periods of spawning the sea should be filled with an absolutely fantastic amount of these miniature organisms. And, unlike the adults, they shouldn’t be able to dart away as easily.”

That annoying First Amendment technicality

This story is outrageous. Apparently, there is a New Mexico principal out there who is condemning students and teachers for producing articles critical of the government. He's destroyed poetry and tore down art from walls. Then he proudly read his own poetry during a ceremony in which a flag was raised and praised himself for his actions.
And it gets worse! He fires the teachers, won't rehire the art teachers and he won't release their records so the teachers can get new jobs. Is this man insane?
Here's another Web site about it:
A cloud of silence, censorship and fear hangs over the RRHS school district. A once-vibrant student literacy and critical-speaking/critical-thinking initiative has been crushed. In May, 2003, the RRHS Military Liaison and the Principal triumphantly raised a flag on school grounds and read out a poem telling critics of war policy to "shut your faces". Principal Gary Tripp told local press that this was "a high point" of his principalship.
You can donate to help the teacher fight Principal Gary Tripp.
I'm hoping this is a somewhat isolated incident. But there's been so much of this kind of crap going around, I begin to wonder.
Then there was this case a few months ago about an art school in San Francisco that freaked out when a student wrote a violent story.
I wonder, do Americans just not support free speech anymore? I mean, I know over the years many, many people never understood the concept. But it seems like this kind of censorship is more and more accepted. I hope not. I hope it's a couple of isolated incidents that will fall away in time.

Axl Rose v. Buckethead

I'm way, way behind on this, but apparently Axl Rose slagged Buckethead in a press release he wrote back at the end of March. Basically, he blames all his problems on the bucketed one:
During his tenure with the band Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and commitment - despite being under contract - creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals and live plans with confidence.
Later, he goes on to say that Buckethead was just in Guns N Roses to get a deal with Sanctuary Records.
Now, I'm not one to question the words of Axl, and certainly, Buckethead is a little on the odd side. I've even heard he needs a chicken coop in the studio to do his guitar solos.
But here's the thing, which of these two musicians has taken more than a decade to get an album? Which one has alienated most of his friends and fellow musicians? If you're not sure, let me point you to the discography of Axl and Buckethead. (For godsakes, Bucket has 2 albums out this year! And that's not counting the other band names he's appeared under.) I'm just saying is all.

Girly-man elf boy

At In Search of Pith, JeremyT reviews his weekend and gives a fun review of Troy:
The Trojans were pretty damn hampered by Paris. In the original text, you've got Aphrodite saving Paris's ass constantly, so you can have a little sympathy for him. In the movie, he's a philandering twit who deserves to have the shit kicked out of him. He's a coward, and he's played by that poncy stupid elf, which means every woman in the theatre coos at the very sight of him. I'm kind of hoping at this point he suffers some kind of debilitating injury and never acts again. I'm tired of listening to all the sub-30s women in the theatre have little orgasms when he pulls the string on a bow. There's some weird Freudian shit going on there or something.
And by the way, "Troy" has a tomato next to it on Rotten Tomatoes front page, yet it has a 59 percent rating, which means it should be a little green splatter. Why is that? Could it have anything to do with "Troy" being the feature sponsor today? No, I refuse to believe it.

New blog

John Joseph Adams, slush reader for Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine, has a blog called THE SLUSH GOD Speaketh... He's only got a few entries up so far, but he's already got star-studded posts about Harlan Ellison, Bruce Sterling and how he got the job at F&SF. It just reminds me that I have to update my blog roll soon.
(Link found at Write Hemisphere.)

Aleister Crowley in the Desert

Here's an excerpt about Aleister Crowley in the Desert from the book "The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern" by Alex Owen.
(Link found at wood s lot via scribbling woman.)

Maud Newton does author interviews

Maud Newton has announced that she will bedoing interviews with writers on their writing habits. I can't wait. I love to read this stuff.
Learning of a writer's methods and preoccupations makes me feel I'm that much closer to solving the puzzle of inspiration, not only in the case of that one writer, but in the world. After all, as Anita Brookner has said, "Great writers are the saints for the godless."
I remember Joyce Carol Oates making fun of this sort of thing. She asked how it could make any difference what kind of pen she uses? It probably doesn't, but for other writers or wannabe writers, this can be interesting stuff. It can also make a writer look at one's own habits and consider what works best.
In the end, though, I just find it entertaining.

The Incredibles

A trailer is up for Pixar's new movie, The Incredibles and it looks good. It seems to be a humorous film about a group of superheroes. I immediately recognized Samuel Jackson's voice as "Frozone." This looks really good.

Monsters in movie court

The Washington Post has an odd little article called Monster Films: Bringing Out the Beast in Us. (Unfortunately, you'll probably have to register to see it.) It's set up as Movie Court, with the prosecution, Ann Hornaday, arguing that with all the horrible images of brutality and torture we see on the news every day, there's no need for monster movies to cater to our darker side.
For the defense, Stephen Hunter makes the argument that monster films appeal to the child in more imaginative people, like himself.
I still like it when things get blown up, squished, smashed, mashed, creamed, fragmentized, atomized, liquefied, pureed and mulched. For destruction I hold with those who favor the carnivore, but the alien is also nice and would suffice.
While I'm not sure his argument entirely answers Hornaday, I certainly agree with what he's saying.
When the screechy mandibular chompers of "Them," with their hunger for sugar and human flesh, come out to play, or when the Giant Squid the size of the USS Forrestal squashes the Golden Gate to a sodden swizzle stick, it's a hoot. See, that's one of the most profound joys of the movies -- the subversive pleasure of seeing what society tells us is bad and wondering: Gee, why does it make me feel so good?
I'm going to start looking at Hunter's reviews more often. (And I'm going to ignore Hornaday, who doesn't seem to get horror at all.)

Auction for Charles Grant with lots of cool stuff

Following orders from Nick Mamatas and my own belief that it's a good cause, here's the press release for a Horror Writers Association auction to benefit Charles Grant:

***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2004

Contact Information:
Horror Writers Association
Nicholas Kaufmann,
Trustee
(718) 855-0970
nkaufmann@nyc.rr.com
www.horror.org



AUTHORS RALLY TO HELP ONE OF THEIR OWN

The Horror Writers Association holds auction
to benefit stricken author


NEW YORK, MAY 13. The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is holding a benefit auction for legendary author and editor Charles L. Grant, who has been hospitalized indefinitely with severe cardio-pulmonary disease and emphysema. Mr. Grant, whose body of work spans five decades, faces a tremendous burden on his health and substantial health-related expenses.

In response to this dire situation, the HWA called for contributions to a benefit auction for Mr. Grant. Although HWA is not a charitable organization and contributions could not be considered charitable donations, this didn’t stop a flood of concerned writers, editors and publishers from contributing to this cause.

Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, Clive Barker and nearly fifty other accomplished authors have confirmed contributions to the event. Publishers such as Leisure Books, Earthling Publications and Night Shade Books have also contributed.

“The response has been amazing,” said Joe Nassise, president of the Horror Writers Association. “The absolute generosity of everyone involved has been truly overwhelming.”

This two-part fundraiser, being held in conjunction with the HWA’s annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet weekend, is the first of its kind for the organization. One component of the fundraiser is a high-profile auction to be held on eBay beginning May 23 and running until June 5, the evening of the awards. Bidders can find all auction items by searching the eBay User ID “bookwyrm55.”

The second component is a silent auction to be held on June 4-6 at the HWA annual meeting in New York City where the Bram Stoker Awards will be presented.

THE HORROR WRITERS ASSOCIATION (HWA) is a worldwide organization of writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting dark literature and the interests of those who write it. HWA was formed in the late 1980's with the help of many of the field's greats, including Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, and Joe Lansdale. Today, with over 1,000 members around the globe, it is the oldest and most respected professional organization devoted to the genre.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Nicholas Kaufmann at nkaufmann@nyc.rr.com

***

And if you can't do the auction, you could still donate to help Grant at this Web site.

You must read this

"The Voluntary State" is one of the best science fiction stories I've read in a long time. The author, Christopher Rowe has an interview here and a bibliography here and a blog here. You can also discuss the story here.
It's just more proof of how good Sci Fiction is. At least the SciFi Channel will be able to say it's done one good thing during its existence.
It's also proof of how great reading all these blogs is. I've seen this story mentioned in a whole bunch of places, all of them ecstatic for the story. It intrigued me enough to seek it out. I'm glad I did.

Godzilla stomps box office

Do you know what was the biggest box office hit, per screen, this past weekend? That's right Godzilla, the uncut Japanese film playing in two theaters, in New York and San Francisco. It earned $38,030. Per screen, that beats out Van Helsing and the other tripe out in the multiplexes. Now, hopefully it gets a wider release.

Snakehead fish update

A snakehead fish has been found in Northern Virginia. It's only a matter of time now, they'll be taking over the whole eastern seaboard, and of course, crawling underfoot looking for new prey.

Giant monster movie news

A few months back, you might remember I linked to a trailer for Dragon Wars, or D-Wars as it seems to be called in some places. Well, there's more scenes from the movie up at this site. The monsters are still looking pretty impressive. The scenes show the dragons, giant snakes and armed dinosaurs stomping through the streets of a modern city (including blowing up a building with an AT&T sign prominently shown, gotta pay for it somehow). This is exciting stuff, although I'm still worried the story and acting will be as bad as "Reptilian," the totally awful first film from this company.
***
And in other giant monster movie news, I was reading a rumor that John Sayles would be writing the screenplay for Jurassic Park IV, but I can't find anything to confirm that. In fact, most sites say William Monahan, a new writer, is writing the script. Also rumored to be part of the film is Keira Knightley.
Sayles is working on a political satire, however, that will star Chris Cooper and be out before the 2004 presidential elections.

New Nintendo stuff

Apparently, Nintendo is planning some big changes, most importantly a new GameBoy that includes wifi. There's also a new Zelda game coming and some other goodies, plus hints about a new home system to replace the GameCube. Video games have been losing my interest over the last year or so, but this still sounds pretty neat.
(Thanks to Charles for the link.)

Remembering William Burroughs

Marianne Faithfull talks about William Burroughs and her connections with him. Apparently, she is starring in a new production of The Black Rider, which was written by a collaboration of Burroughs, Tom Waits and Robert Wilson. I think the album is great (and I think that review is totally wrong, though the review of the song Briar and the Rose is better), and it's great to hear Burroughs sing "'Taint no Sin":
"'Taint no sin to take of your skin and dance around in your bones." I didn't know that it was Burroughs' last work.
(Link found at Bookslut.)

New magazines

So Wildside Press will be publishing three new magazines this year. The first, H.P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror, is already out and I have to get a copy. At the very least, it's got a Ramsey Campbell interview, so I know there's something I'll enjoy. The other two magazines are Adventure Tales and Underworlds. Adventure Tales appears to be a reprint magazine, bringing work of pulp authors back into print. It'll be interesting to see what selections they make. Underworlds is "the unique magazine of noir-influenced suspense, crime, and supernatural fiction."

The horror, the horror

Richard Kelly seems to be in the news a lot these days. The director of "Donnie Darko" is teaming up with Eli Roth, the director of "Cabin Fever" to write a movie based on a Richard Matheson story called "The
Box."
Also, director Lucy Mckee will be releasing his new movie "The Woods" on Oct. 1. McKee directed a great low budget horror movie, "May."
With all these guys working, I think things are looking up for horror in the movies.

More about reviewers

At the DarkEcho blog, Paula Guran says:
Okay, so I am glancing through my new issue of LOCUS (#520) and I come across a favorable review of a book that does not even deserve ink in the magazine. Am I the only reviewer in the world who wants to pick up other reviewers by their (no doubt ass-like) ears and shake sense into them?
She goes on to wonder if reviews (and Guran writes reviews for Cemetery Dance magazine) really matter, which brings us back to Ed Gorman's point.

Reviewers, what are they good for?

Over at Ed's Place, author Ed Gorman says:
"Variety pointed out that this year five different movies that have been scourged by critics not only opened at numero uno but even had legs. This weekend's 'Van Helsing' is the latest example. I probably read eight or nine reviews of it. None had even one good thing to say about it.
"I'm pretty sure publishing operates this way. A number of bestselling writers are consistently trashed by reviewers but it hasn't damaged their careers. That's why I'm usually reluctant to show prospective editors my good reviews. How nice, they say, being polite. But they know and so do I that reviews generally don't sell books. It's like saying to the editor, My Mom thinks I'm really swell."
It is interesting, no? I know more than a few people who say they look at reviews and whichever movies are given bad reviews, they go out and see them.
I, on the other hand, like reviews. But I rarely like just one. I want to read a whole bunch of reviews to get a sense of what the movie is like and what reviewers have problems with. This is why Rotten Tomatoes is brilliant. In one burst, I can see a whole lot of reviews. And looking at Van Helsing, I can pretty much say it's not going to be very good.
But this isn't always true. Take Deep Rising, an earlier Stephen Sommers film. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 26% rating, just 2 points over Van Helsing. All right, admittedly it's kind of stupid and is all about giant monsters and explosions. But it doesn't sell itself as anything else. In fact, it gives you some characters and humor to boot.
And horror movies, I almost never trust reviewers on gory horror movies. They seem to get so blinded by blood and guts that they can't comprehend the rest of the movie.
So what do you do? I'm not sure. I usually only go to the theaters to see movies I'm sure about it. When I'm renting movies though, I'll pull out anything that vaguely interests me and give it a try. This means I miss a few good films in theaters and I suffer through a lot of bad ones at home (although at home I can turn it off without losing $10.)
In the book world, things are a bit different. I only use reviewers to tell me about books I know nothing about. Otherwise, I stick with authors I know, classic books or books recommended by authors I love.
So, use my new comment feature, tell me how you use (or don't use) reviewers.

Donnie Darko: Revised

Richard Kelly says Donnie Darko will be dramatically revised for its re-release to movie theaters.

"Ultimately, for me, I'm just psyched I finally got to finish the film," he said. "While I'm proud of the theatrical cut, I feel like there were some elements that were never fully realized that I'm excited to be able to realize now. It's been a dream come true, and I'm really lucky to have gotten to do it."

I'm really mixed about this. There's no doubt that "Donnie Darko" is a flawed movie. Unless you start looking at a lot of the supplemental material, there's no way you'll understand all the manipulated dead and chest spears things that are referenced in the film. But that's also part of the charm, things are left a mystery and the film becomes personal to you.
Not to mention I'm mixed on the whole idea of going back and revising your movie (or whatever artwork you've created) after it's been in the public eye.
"Star Wars" is always the thing that comes to mind for me. George Lucas went back and changed all the special effects and made a few other changes. It has always upset me that Greedo fired first in the new version. And some of the Jabba part is a little silly. On the other hand, I did like the new special effects and most of the other additions were either helpful or not a problem.
And we've all come to expect director's cuts, right?
So maybe I'm just worried over nothing. And, anyway, I've got my copy of "Donnie Darko" on DVD anyway, in case I don't like the new version. (Unlike Star Wars, which will most likely never be released on DVD in its original version.)

Look, I can use pictures now! 

Change is here to stay

OK changes have been made succesfully. Now everyone can post comments and they will forever be attached to my entries. The template has changed. There's a few more futuristic, bubble type designs available, but I like this more subdued look. Do you agree? Leave a comment! I've updated a few links but have yet to add any more. All right, now with luck I can get back to more regular posting.

Peter Crowther interview

S1ngularity publishes a new interview with Peter Crowther. Crowther is a horror writer, a publisher of fine science fiction, fantasy and horror novellas and is now becoming a magazine editor. He's one of the most important people in the speculative fiction field right now, so the interview is well worth your while.

Nick Mamatas interview

Beatrice does 5 Questions With Nick Mamatas. Nick has a LiveJournal here and here's a listing for his novel, "Move Under Ground."

New stuff, when it works

Aargh. Blogger has added all kinds of new elements, most importantly permalinks and a commenting system. Well, I've managed to get the permalinks working, but the comments defy me at every turn. In the meantime, all the old comments have been deleted. Sorry. Once I get the new comments system working, they'll be attached to the permalinks so your writings will never again (theoretically) be lost in the great Web void. If anyone else with a Blogger site has had problems with comments, let me know and tell me how you got through it.

Going to a Monster Show

In San Francisco, the Shooting Gallery will be hosting "The Tokyo Monster Show 2004."

The Shooting Gallery is excited to pay tribute to Godzilla and his friends with “The Tokyo Monster Show”. Over 30 artists will take part in this homage to Japanese monster movies. Paintings, photography, sculpture and drawings will all be on display for everyone to enjoy. Never has there been such a gathering of creatures since “Monster Island”, when Godzilla proved he was The King of All Monsters

The site has a few examples of the giant monster paintings. They're very good.

Rambling on dolphins

Trained dolphins are being used to search for a secret American submarine. I think it's amazing the things dolphins are being trained to do these days. In southern Iraq, dolphins were used to clear mines.
It all reminds me of a science fiction story by Alexander Jablokov called "A Deeper Sea" (it was also rewritten into a novel, but I didn't read that.) In the story, a Russian scientist learns to communicate and control dolphins. What, at first, he doesn't know is that he's also torturing them. The dolphins are used as soldiers in a global war. It's a good story and made the Year's Best Science Fiction anthology for 1989. Jablokov's last book, "Deep Drive," (which I enjoyed) came out in 1998. His Web site hasn't been updated since then. I wonder what he's been up to.

The Great Mahakali Write-A-Thalon

The Great Mahakali Write-A-Thalon is another novel writing contest. This one asks you to write a 35,000 word novel between 9 a.m. May 14 and 7 p.m. May 16. Considering it takes me the whole 30 days to write a 50,000 word novel in a month, this would be quite a challenge. Unfortunately, I work weekends, so I can't miss the sleep I'd need to in order to participate. Still, sounds exciting, good luck to all those participating.
If this is the kind of thing you're into, there's also Anvil Press's Three Day Novel Writing Competition which takes place on Labor Day weekend.
Ah what some of us will do for a deadline.
UPDATE: The Anvil Press Three Day Novel Writing Competition has apparently come to an end. Ah well. Thanks to Rohit Gupta for the heads up.
ANOTHER UPDATE: All right, maybe that Three Day Novel Writing competition still exists, but it's not easily found. There is this under construction Web site, which may yield something in the near future.

In search of...

Speaking of horror comics, there's something I wonder if any of my readers could help me with. When I was a young teen, in maybe 1981 or so, I bought a comic book at a fair. It was a collection of Polish legends and fairy tales. I remember liking it, but I can remember very little of it. I haven't seen it anywhere in years. The only story I remember had something to do with a king, many rats and a flood. It was in color.
I know it's unlikely, but does this ring any bells for anyone?

EC comics

Apparently, it's been 50 years since William Gaines, publisher of EC Comics, appeared before a Senate committee to defend his horror comics. Richard Corliss discusses the history of EC Comics and their gory fun in this interesting article from Time magazine.
The Comics Journal did a nice issue a while back that had interviews with many of the creators of the EC comics. Unfortunately none of it seems to be online.
The link was found through the DarkEcho newsletter. And I should also mention that DarkEcho now has a blog. It just started, so I'm not sure where she's going with it. But Paula Guran is always interesting, so it's worth keeping an eye on it.

Any tentacled hole will do

Apparently giant squid aren't too choosy about their sexual partners.

Pat Tillman: Human being

This opinion piece shows a side to Pat Tillman that we haven't been getting elsewhere. Using quotes from the memorial service, Tillman is shown as a much more complicated person than the prescribed story would make you think.
Tillman's youngest brother, Rich, wore a rumpled white T-shirt, no jacket, no tie, no collar, and immediately swore into the microphone. He hadn't written anything, he said, and with the starkest honesty, he asked mourners to hold their spiritual bromides.
"Pat isn't with God,'' he said. "He's f -- ing dead. He wasn't religious. So thank you for your thoughts, but he's f -- ing dead.''
There's a lot more. It's a good article check it out.
By the time the ceremony ended, after his brother and brother-in-law sipped the Guinness that Garwood poured in Tillman's honor, the funny, thinking, wild, crazy man had come to life. The family's loss, the loss of every soldier's family, seemed more real.

UFOs over Iran

Connecticut man saw a UFO over Iran. Apparently, this is becoming increasingly common in that country. Skeptics say people are seeing the planet Venus filtered through the night sky, while others say it's spy planes.

Alien fish returns

Ah, the return of the snakehead fish. The snakeheads were a big story last year. It's a Chinese fish that eats everything in a pond and then will travel over land to the next pond where it starts eating again. The fish can wipe out ecosystems pretty fast. This year, Maryland is considering banning the fish. Pine Lake in Maryland was drained and cleaned out after a fisherman found a snakehead there last week.

More Godzilla coverage

SFGate.com has a couple of articles on Godzilla and the original print of the movie.
But Godzilla isn't just the bomb -- he's hate and anger, war, the poisoned environment -- in short, he is mankind itself, the destruction wrought by the rage within us, an inner ugliness we can never quite seem to shake.
There's an article on the making of Godzilla and a timeline of Godzilla films and reality that influenced it.

Godzilla's metaphor problem

The New York Times takes a look at the first Godzilla movie -- that is, the Japanese version, sans bad dubbing and Raymond Burr -- on its 50th anniversary. The article looks at Godzilla as a metaphor for the A-bomb and what that really means:

The most peculiar thing about Godzilla as a metaphor for the bomb is the creature's simultaneous status as a legendary beast of Japanese islanders' mythology: surely a more precise representation of the disaster that befell the country at the end of the Second World War would be an agent of destruction from far away, unheard of even in legend, not this native, almost familiar monster. Is Godzilla, then, also on some subterranean level a metaphor for Japan's former imperial ambitions, which finally unleashed the retaliatory fury that leveled its cities?
Maybe. But the the runaway metaphor of [director Ishiro] Honda's Godzilla isn't nearly so easy to pin down. It's more ambiguous, more generalized and perhaps more potent than that. And its significance can be glimpsed only in the Japanese version of the movie, because what Honda's "Godzilla" is most fundamentally about, I think, is a society's desire to claim its deepest tragedies for itself, to assimilate them as elements of its historical identity.

The article says the later films seem to subvert the message by turning Godzilla into a hero. Actually, I think the metaphor was simply dropped. None of Godzilla's sequels have been as serious as that first movie. And "King Kong vs. Godzilla," the film that revived Godzilla's career and was the template for the next 20-odd movies, was intended as a humorous monster bash.
The only Godzilla movie that attempts to be as serious is Shusuke Kaneko's "Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack." But "GMK" seems to be confused as to what it wants to say and its rushed filming schedule shows.
(Thanks to Professor Hex for the link.)