2013: Albums to look at....so far!

www.thecurrent.org

         The Growlers - Hung at Heart: Very Rootsy R & B LP. Works like this, Ruby Velle, The Slackers, makes me smile and proud that good music will prevail (Thank you Filter magazine). Each song oozes self love and mutual respect, but in a good way. :)

www.americansongwriter.com
                  Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away: Sad to say, but the US to a certain degree has skirted such seminal artist's over the years Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds to my knowledge is one of them. The Bad Seeds last two LPs have grown some decent US charting with most of their releases from 2008 on. The act of the US to kinda skirt such an act, in my opinion, has made me very skeptical of the US music industry. Granted many of sound critics have provided nods to Nick Cave over the years. The same has happened to many artists since the 60s (insert said conspiracy theory now), but one thing that is true is GOOD MUSIC will find it's audience whether it is through underground buzz generated through DJs and College radio shows or from Longevity (i.e. Tom Waits, King Crimson, etc.) This release shows it's age and wisdom both lyrically and musically, which is very needed in today's mainstream. 

www.recorddept.com

        Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic: When bands start having fun with music again sometimes it produces an interesting result. Another unnamed sub-genre of music exists and has existed for the last 6 plus years  and it pulls from both American and Europe. Foxygen has just added to that with a 60s swaggering pop sentiment. (Other bands: Arctic Monkeys, Tokyo Police Club, etc.) 

www.emusic.com

  More Post Humous Jimi Hendrix: Jimi Hendrix - People Hell and Angels: The respect Hendrix should have gotten back in the 70s is still alive today. Not only is Hendrix the best guitarist to date, his LPs are musically amazing. This LP that links Electric LadyLand to the kinda overlooked masterpiece Band of Gypsys. It does so with some amazement. I tell you this if key figures such as Jimi Hendrix did not pass in the late 60s ...the music music today would be a different beast. Hendrix's post humous material definitely indicates that...think about it while listening. 

stereogum.com

             Ghostface Killah - Twelve Reasons to Die: Ghostface's new release is just another in line of the majestic omnipresence of the full Wu. Style-wise it is reflective of why Wu is an amazing presence in all levels of the Rap industry. Ghostface is one of Wu's lyrical swordsmen, so you will not feel bored. Musically it is definitely needed in a Rap Culture that is eating itself and exhausting bad 80s house beats to maintain. If this LP along with The Chef's mixed tape, Czarface and The Man with the Iron Fists SOUNDTRACK is any indication of the next full Wu Tang Clan LP....then the mainstream may just see an major upset (so you know that is a good thing). 

www.israbox.com

            Tyler The Creator - Wolf: Very clever and particular which is a breathe of fresh air in a genre that is flooded with it's own bullshit. I caught this and have not listen to the back catalogue, but after listening to this LP, I am motivated to. 



As always when people are saying there is nothing good out...they must be still listening to the radio. 

Updating and Clarifying - Updated

Updating and Clarifying updated

I have been working on a lot of life things lately....I briefly hit a stride with The Adult Crash - Novella 1, Chapter 5. This Novella will be 12 Chapters long still about 150 pages. The feedback I received which has only been really from 4 readers was questions more than criticisms. I appreciate that most people realize that this really is a work in progress...some of the FAQ

Q1. How long is the overall project?

A1. Originally it was designed to be 5 or 6 Novellas rolled into one lengthy novel...about 450+ pages. After going through all of my old notes and cutting out a lot of the ties to 5 of my older screenplays (which this project was tied too) it will be 4 all together. Novella 1. 150 pages + or -. Novella/Short Story number 2. 80 pages. Novellas 3 & 4 will be around 100 pages each. 

Q2. What is the next story about? 

A2. Essentially it is all about Maslow’s family. Yes, there are more family members than Irving and Manny. If any of you have any questions about his family. It will be further detailed in the second story. You get to meet Maslow's father. 

Q3. Why is it taking soooooo fucking long for new posts? 

A3. Ummm....yeah life on life's terms. There are many things I am doing. Granted most of the story was already written, but like anybody making adjustments it inspires new material. Especially since I found the beginning of the original to be more reliant on the 5 screenplays I have written. This originally began as a fall out to those stories. I have been able to change that while keeping to mundane mechanics and human factor into the mix. My expectations by the end of Chapter 5 is that you the reader are completely aware that Maslow is stuck socially and fate has provided him some...ummm wiggle room. Even though all of these pieces are separated there are plot points and climaxes scattered all over the place that links them together. From Chapter 5 until maybe half way through story 4, shit is going to change. That is all I have to say.

     Outside of questions like are Janice and Maslow gonna fuck. Those are some of the unifying questions asked. 

      As for the update, Chapter 5 will be finished soon and it will remain posted until the end of May 2013. At that point every goes blank and if everything works out the way I am planning. When the posts go back up they will start as edited full chapters with original artwork, so you will see reposts of 2nd Draft Chapters 1-5 and then I will be providing pieces of CH. 6-9 will clipart and photos until I get to the point they can receive the same treatment. 

Rough Worx has been neglected. I will admit that, but it also took me a long time to compile all of my random written stuff. I also ran into a short story I wrote in 1996 and a framework for a screenplay I have held off on, because I wasn't sure if it was going to be a screenplay, series, comic or a novel. Any which way I am working on compiling a lot of the written material into the presented formats and I will post them once I have it worked out. As for random posts...there has been a lot going on. Currently I am getting set to physically relocate to a different area and that makes my household pretty chaotic. I just ask you to have patience. I will be posting some notable LPs releases for 2013 sooner that mid summer, because there have been a lot of releases. For those of you looking to check out some of the music then check out Free Radio America on Facebook. For those that used to listen to my playlist on Blip.fm. Free Radio America has become my focus since I left Blip.fm. 

    Again if you are looking for me to produce like mad then I apologize I am not in the right position in my life to do that. I am working on free up my time and schedule to do so, but at this point in time it isn't happening. Thank you for your patience...and please keep reading. :) 

Short Form Writing from the Apocalypse - 1 of 5

Originally this was written sometime at the end of 1999. During the climax of the end of the world freak out, which was complete bullshit. These were publish, somewhat, the following year in Phunc issues 1-5. Some of these have been revised to be included in the first Rough Worx. 

www.carcabin.com

“The victimized they will call it. The casualties of terrorism, while the whites of their eyes melt out of the sockets of the onlookers. Burnt shadows of the first dead, while the second wave affected will eventually die. Death from severe radiation poisoning will gradually result in their flesh giving away like sheets of paper in the rain, sores embedded, oozing and vaginal in their aesthetic while the sickness sets in and then exits gradually riding out on blackened purged pieces of their beloved internals. It’s impenetrable force looming through human biological systems. Breaking them down with in seconds, minutes, days what would take a dirty dope fiend years to accomplish. The wretched domino effect of human hell being unleashed whips up the reluctant third wave into a frenzied herd of unnamed and blighted saviors of nothingness. Their only wish as the sickness inevitably works through them, like an ash on a forgotten cigarette, is a mercy kill. They ruminate remorsefully about not being the first to go so much that it murmurs from their mouths making a sound resembling late hour praying.

            All of this can be yours thanks to companies using various hollowed out husks of government to execute their philosophic belief that government must appear virtuous but not be able to regulate itself with common sense.  Underfunded and neglected it makes for a great guise to piss off and provoke other countries and other people. This age falls victim to the twisted and hate filled to the point that they only want to see it all burn. The parlor tricks of the Christian-voodoo-doom culture fires up the rabid hounds of an already debased diplomacy amongst the workers.

            I feel the itching of disillusionment spreading in my mind everywhere from the street to my inner sanctuary as it grows relentless, while the idiot box shows me the possible horrors through the grand sitcom-ish minstrels as they lower my independent thought so that I only respond. The ten ton pile of nerves creeping up slowly like an engineered plague. Assimilating every media medium and attempting to rope off my common sense in the process.

Why Too Kay!

                             Jesus is Coming!

Y to K

                             The Rapture is Near!

Y2K

                            Buy Your Redemption!

And like that it burrows into my subconscious mind, even in the most hardened and cynical among us.

<itch>

Terrorist Threat

<itch>

Systematic Shutdown

<itch>

Great Vast Poverty

<itch>

Mass Rioting

<itch>

            We can stop it. We must stop it. The crap and the fear they have fed us since the womb straight through the umbilical cord through commercial after commercial, while buying up and commercializing all that disagree.

            “The cloud will spring out of the flesh of the city. The earth will blister, like water afflicted latex paint. Destroying everything in the radius”, states the well-intended slightly monotone voice over (since it always show up when these images are shown) in a beautifully scripted fashion to present the cocktail from insurance companies so we can cure our emotional sickness, so that they can make their quota profits before ‘the end’.

            In response some rickety old man sits bewildered and mentally fatigued from all he sees and says, ’Well, see here jack I am not buying it. The only insurance I have cost me $149.99. This will insure no suffering from this man-made fire and brimstone on the horizon. This will insure that the secondary effects of that atomic devourer will not cause me to experience in full color the vision of my skin escaping me like terrycloth as I drop helpless to my death. I will not be blown out of myself into my kitchen, because of child like power whores wrestling around with ideas and capabilities they don’t fully understand. Herding the masses into a designed fear driven orgy to perpetuate instant gratification. I will not bow to this nonsense. I will take control of this chaos. I will taste the fine wine of spit and cobalt steel. I will end the frenzy inspired pseudo-cataclysm. The victimized is how they see me. Another victim of hysteria persisted suicide.’

            The clock strike, nothing changes except the ritualized lose of many. Maybe that was the goal after all. Maybe that is how they intended on coding it make us easier to control. If that is so then I wrote this full unaware,” the man stops to no response except silence and then exits the stage right.

Updating & Clarifying.

Updating and Clarifying

After talk with a few people I have come to realize that I should probably touch base on what these two blogs are about and why I am working on them.

1. The Adult Crash is a rough novel I started to work on during my times spent down south. It was designed to capture transition from my 20s to my 30s. I wrote it at various points in time. I didn't start with page 1.....it was more or less pieces of stories, memories and thoughts. I shelved after a bigger project fell through. I kinda didn't want to work on anything for awhile. I left all 90 pages of it. The layout was for a series of 5 to 6 novellas comprising various points in Maslow's 20s.

     In the process of consolidating projects, this was going to be a thrown away. Yep it was on the cutting board. A friend of mine got me to rethink that idea. Actually it was more-or-less why not make it a work in progress on a blog rather than throwing it out, so that you can finish up what you have here, which is mostly part 1 and notes for parts 2 & 3. The idea is that if I like what I have at the end I will continue the process.

     The problem with the story is that things effected me while reading it so I cut a lot of it, slowed down the movement (on purpose) and set up the connections if I actually choose to finish the whole novel, which is what I intend to do. I will pause between stories, since I have other duties and projects to tend to, but I have enjoyed putting this story together. Editing it after I finish the first story may change my opinion, but it is what it is.

     I am thankful for the feedback I have received so far. Chapter 5: The Holidays is the last chapter and the plot point that changes everything. It is also the Chapter with the most parts. Once I finish it up, which entails choosing what I am gonna keep from the original material, reworking material and writing new material for a smoother transition. This shit doesn't happen overnight only when I can get it done. Chapter 6 and 7 will be a lot quicker. The first story itself is only to page 120-160 in scope.

     One other thing, once I am done with Chapter 5. I will be consolidating the first 5 chapters down to single chapter posts. Once I am done with the entire first story I will edit and then put some artwork and pictures to it.

2. Rough Worx is the blog that represents a collection of ideas, commentary and other smaller projects I am working on. What you can expect to read is some of the smaller stuff I put together like The Jarred Life, Short Stories from the Apocalypse and (the complete) Letters from the City just to name a few things. You will also see random posting of things I am thinking about. Essentially this is the catchall net. 

In the end if you are awaiting a new post everyday on either blog, then I am the wrong person you should be reading, because on priority list this is closer to #20. I will progress with both blogs through out the year (s), so just check in every so often. If you the reader agree then we are on the same page, if you don't then check in with somebody else. I am sure there will be other people that can suit your needs. Maybe a real book or go fishing. :)

20 Years Gone

20 Years Gone!

             
             In 1993.... 

www.worldnewsinn.com
1. FAVORITE MOVIE; The Godfather (I hadn't seen the Epic Version yet) 

lyrics.wikia.com

2. NOTABLE MUSIC; I was actively listening to Nirvana, Pearl Jam (VS. was the bee's knees), Fugazi - In On The Kill Taker (The first Fugazi LP I picked up, which caused a listening division amongst friends), King Missile had released their biggest single to date Detachable Penis, and U2 put out Zooropa  

                                                      yrics.wikia.com



3. MAJOR FOCUS; I was actively involved with writing sketch comedy (after a friends suggested it)and still actively drawing.

 www.picturesdepot.com
4. TELEVISION SHOWS; the Simpsons (it is the only show I consistently watched back then) occasionally SNL, but I wasn't a big TV watcher.                     

                                                                                                                                                                                 www.downeu.net



5. READING AT THE TIME; People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn, A Rumor of War by Philip Caputo, Hiroshima by John Hersey, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, How to Talk Dirty and Influence People by Lenny Bruce, Dirt Magazine, Alternative Press, All X-Men related titles, Eightball Comics and I do believe Details magazine (they had a relaunch). 


6. ACTIVITIES; Playing Pool All THE FUCKING TIME, Walking, Bike Riding (on weekends), Skateboarding (occasionally), Basketball (once a week), Drawing (everyday), Performing Write Sketches (Randomly in Public), and Concerts (one every three months). 




www.amazon.com
                                                    www.gekoandfly.com

7. BIG EVENTS & INFLUENCES in 1993; Lenny Bruce, Monty Python, Jim Morrison Peoms, Far Side by Gary Larson, Depeche Mode at Great Woods, Seeing Dazed and Confused at the Avon (1st Linklater Film), Army of Darkness (The first film anybody had ever said 'yeah that is definitely a Paul movie'), Mike and I being blown away by True Romance (Tarantino was not really known at the time),  Seeing a Bronx Tale and Carlito's Way with my dad (Essentially it was a big year for films), Putting out artwork that actually sold (I did at least 20 skateboards with original art), Noting to my Father and Best Friend, Mike, at beginning of 1993 that not going to see Nirvana play in Boston was a bad idea, A growing number of friends both Mike and I generated at the time that seemed to be into or doing similar activities and Working a 40 hour work week. 


8. WORK (if any); I worked at Mid Cape Ford during the summer before Senior year. I gave up delivering newspapers, which I regretted then because I was getting paid and still had freedom. 

9. CURRENT JOB PROSPECTS; Trade: Industrial Painting and Delivery 

10. FUTURE GOALS: Sketch Comedy and College.