GOOD OL' MONKEY GRINDS THE TUNE

It's actually been a good week for me, despite the horrible tragedy elsewhere in my country and even if workwise it's been nothing spectacular, a lot of busy work and catch-up. Finished "Yoga Girls," did some rewrites on "Send Me My Best Regrets," and did a ton of mailings of submissions and queries and the like. Yesterday (Thursday) was a great day where I met with a woman who may sign on to be the artist for 12 Reasons Why I Love Her. She's new, but she's really good and had come highly recommended by a couple of heavyweights. Weirdly, she lives three blocks from me and we clicked on a lot of things, like our cats, Audrey Hepburn, Pulp, and Suede (though she is the first person I've ever met who is a fan of the band and calls them the London Suede; I'll have to fix that)--meaning there will be no communication problems. So far, we understand each other quite well.

Then I saw A.J. & Kevin from the Backstreet Boys outside their hotel. I laughed at how old they looked and at all the blonde girls spying on them from cars parked up and down the street.

Yesterday also saw me e-mailing Wesley Stace to tell him I liked his book and send him a link to this place. He wrote back this morning to tell me he was in Portland and he was playing tonight (Friday)! He was on tour (as John Wesley Harding) with the Love Hall Tryst, the vocal group he recorded Songs of Misfortune with. That album is a companion to the novel Misfortune, and the songs feature in the narrative. They are done in a Rennaisance ballad style, often a capella. Some are Wes' originals, some are based on traditonal ballads, and one, "Joan of Arc (The Ballad of La Pucelle)," is Leonard Cohen Cover.

Naturally, I got myself on the bus and got myself down there. Karma seems to be sticking with me, as I purchased the last seat, and any that came after me would be standing room only. I had the second volume of Scott Pilgrim with me, and I am happy to report it's as excellent as everyone says it is. Believe the hype!

The show was nearly three hours and contained multiple sets. The first was the "opening act," which was essentially the three performers--Wes, Kelly Hogan, and Brian Lohmann (Nora O'Connor is on maternity leave)--trading the stage to do their own songs (Wes did "Miss Fortune" from 1998's Awake, which is the backbone of the novel, and the amusing "Goth Girl" off Confessions of St. Ace (2000); someday I'd like to say the latter's lyric, "I'm gonna kiss the lipstick off your mouth," to someone). The second set was mainly stuff from the Love Hall Tryst, with an interlude where Wes did material off of last year's Adam's Apple album, as well as some covers and his excellent retelling of "Hamlet" (available for download from his site). He also did one of my favorite songs of his, "The Red Rose & the Briar," from his first album (1990). "Sleeper Awake" was another a standout, as was "Sussex Ghost Story."

For the encore, Wes took another short solo set before closing out with the Love Hall Tryst. He started the segment doing another cover, an obscure song by Alan Davis (a compatriot of Cat Stevens) called "Little Black Dog." Apparently, it has always been a favorite of Wes', but he always found it too moving to sing without losing his composure. But given that the story of the song is centered around the narrator befriending a stray dog in New Orleans, with lines about the rain turning the streets to rivers and urging people to be kind, Wes felt compelled to finally perform it. The song was incredibly moving. If he can, he should record it and offer it as some kind of charity download on iTunes or somewhere.

The show closed on an up note, with what was dubbed a "punkapella" version of Songs of Misfortune's "Jack In the Green." They actually ran through it twice, as Wes' antics and constant interruptions to explain things had thrown the flow off the first time. Of course, his jumping around the stage disrupted the second perfomance more, with Hogan giggling her way through half her lines. It was hysterical.

I spotted who I am told really was Colin Meloy from The Decemberists in the audience (coming in late and leaving early, no less). It was hard to be sure because half the guys in Portland look like Colin Meloy. The other half look like Corey Lewis The Rey. And then there's me...

And tomorrow continues the bright trend with 2046 on the big screen.

FURTHER HURRICAN RELIEF LINKS:

* I donated a signed copy of I Was Someone Dead to the Brian Bendis Message Board auction. You can bid on it here, and check out the other stuff they're offering.

* My friend Jennifer de Guzman is offering installments of her unpublished novel Dead Links on her journal, and asking people to donate money in return for reading it. She's amazingly talented and worth the money. (I honestly felt a little weird about my recent request for tips on "Yoga Girls," since it was the next day that my e-mail began to light up with pleas for aid for the hurricane survivors. Needless to say, I've found the money to donate, actually exceeding the amount I've received on my own, lest anyone think I'm incredibly self-centered.)

* The ever-hilarious Go Fug Yourself girls have created a large compliation of various efforts to raise money. Get the info here.

Current Soundtrack: John Welsey Harding, Adam's Apple; The Editors, The Back Room both discs (an Interpol copycat band already?!)

Current Mood: optimistic

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

RELIEF EFFORTS

You don't need me to tell you what to do in this time of crisis. Follow your conscience, give what you can. Here are some links:

* http://www.redcross.org

* http://www.aspca.org - lots of animals are now homeless, too. I realize some of you will think this is silly in comparison to human suffering, but I honestly don't care. For a lot of us animals are important to our lives, and the ASPCA is around to take care of them.

* Oh! Speakup! - Oprah's Oxygen network is donating a dollar for each person that registers on this site. It reminds me of the great one-click sites set up by the UN. These cost you nothing except saying out loud that you want to help.

* http://www.savethechildren.com/

And how awesome is New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin? He was on CNN today kicking some ass about the governmental clog that is slowing down aid to his city. Transcript here, but you really should follow the link on the page to the video of his phone call and listen to the anger and passion in the man's voice. He's not ready to let more people die needlessly when there has to be ways to help.

Though, fuck CNN for this header on the article: "New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin blasted the slow pace of federal and state relief efforts in an expletive-laced interview with local radio station WWL-AM." Is there any need to warn us that there are supposedly "expletives," when there really aren't all that many to harm our sensitive little ears? It's subtle, and certainly not as directly racist as this photo captioning issue, but I can hear neoCon talk radio and Fox News gearing up now to smear this man. And while I'm linking to other people's blogs, count on Travis Fox to give us more great links to news.

I'M REALLY A SPACEMAN FROM THOSE UFOs

My interview for the Oni site with Chynna Clugston and Ian R. Shaughnessy is now online. Click on the snazzy sketch of Vanora here to read more.

While you're there, check out the full Buzz section. It's recently been updated to be a community blog for the extended Oni creative family, and there is some really cool stuff by Brian Wood, B. Clay Moore, Corey Lewis The Rey, and more.

Note to Live Journal subscribers: Yesterday's post got cut off in the feed for some reason. I can't figure out why. It was actually way long, and I think worth checking out, so follow the link to see the whole thing. [EDIT: Hmmm...well, my tinkering with it apparently fixed it.]

Current Soundtrack: The Tears, Here Come The Tears, which still can't be beat

Current Mood: bouncy

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

IT'S JUST A BOY OR A GIRL, IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD

UK Cover

The impossible has happened.

I finally finished reading Misfortune.

It's only taken me several months to do. Which is no commentary on Wesley Stace's excellent novel, but on my poor reading habits. I haven't been callously dropping it for other books like some people I know (*cough cough*); it just takes me ages to read longer works. So, Misfortune was digested in many healthy chunks read here and there, and when I could spend the time with it, Stace took me into a literary world I didn't want to leave (the final installment came in seventy-five pages last night).

Misfortune is a playful novel, alive with a love of a language and narrative--which is no surprise for anyone who has listened to Stace under his musical moniker, John Wesley Harding. Set in England in the late 1800s, Misfortune is the story of Rose Loveall, a discarded orphan taken in by an eccentric Lord, who proceeds to raise the child as a girl--despite the fact that Rose was born with a penis. Rose's early life is an elaborate subterfuge to keep him and everyone else from discovering the truth, and when the conspiracy falls apart, the true misfortune begins.

Stace has a lot of fun with his shifting narrative. He plays many clever tricks with point-of-view, and he opens up the prose through songs, poetry, and diaries. All of them provide clues to unraveling Rose's true origin, and the possible pun work in the title Misfortune is a mere hint of the wordplay that ultimately provides the key to Rose's triumph. Over the course of the work, Stace indulges in many classical genres, including the Victorian novel, pirate stories, and classical myths (Rose is obsessed with Ovid's Metamorphoses). He also creates a vivid surrounding, letting the landscape--both natural and manmade--play just as important a role in the plot as the living-and-breathing characters.

You know, it always pissed me off how easy a time musician friends have getting people to experience their work. It only takes a couple of minutes to listen to a song, so people indulge them much more freely. And, of course, it always gets them the girls, too. So, I'm kind of mad at Stace for stepping out of the recording studio and writing such a good book. Us boring prose guys have a hard enough time without rock 'n' roll competition. It's something I'll get over, but let's not make it a trend, all right?

This summer, when I read about My Little Airport on the All The Young Mod Soldiers blog, I was intrigued. I sampled the music on the group's website and immediately went looking for the album. My usual site for Asian imports didn't have it, so I went to eBay and found a seller that regularly stocks it.

Of course, I'm very happy I did. My Little Airport is a Hong Kong duo: Nicole on vocals and the mysteriously named P. on instruments. P. also does most of the writing on their debut record, The OK Thing to Do on Sunday Afternoon is to Toddle in the Zoo. If the title sounds a little twee, you aren't all wrong. My Little Airport have similarities to twee icons like The Field Mice and Belle & Sebastian, even down to the cover artwork (that's not the band on the cover, and the photo on the back hints at a more intimate relationship between these cute schoolgirl models). Musically, I also hear a little Saint Etienne, and the vocal delivery is slightly cold a la Stereolab. These are just starting points, however; My Little Airport are charming in their own unique way.

The music is minimal, centered around traditional Casio sounds. The production is generally sparse, with just a minor beat and some bloops and bleeps. The final song, "Dee, It May All End Tomorrow," is the most obvious departure, being just voice and a distant piano. It's a refreshing change of pace for Chinese pop, which is so often about a big, sugary production, full of heavy emotion and drippy vocal acrobatics. My Little Airport are secure in the less-is-more ethos. ...Toddle in the Zoo has ten songs but a total length of less than twenty-two minutes. Seven of the songs are sung in English, and they read like personal notes from one person to another. In fact, six of them address specific people--Coka, Victor, Edward, Josephine, Phoebe, and Dee--and the seventh could be the same if you choose to believe the titular "My Little Banana" is a nickname and not really a lovesong to the fruit. It's hard to take a line like "I just open all your skin then I take a small bite" at anything other than face value when it sounds so damn innocent! The characters are anything but conventional--Edward is a long-lost pen pal, Josephine is a shopkeeper with a better sense of aesthetics than business, Phoebe is like some distant cousin of Elvis Costello's Alison--and yet P. and Nicole are crafting tales that are so specific, they can't help but feel universal in their emotions. Sensitive boys with Beatles haircuts have the same problems finding human connections all over the world. (Unlike that Wesley Stace, that rogue!)

A quick browse of the Harbor Records website shows a little more My Little Airport material: a compilation disc with one track by the band and a label DVD with live material. Looks like I'll have to start saving my pennies.

Current Soundtrack: My Little Airport, The OK Thing to Do on Sunday Afternoon is to Toddle in the Zoo; Oasis, "I Can See It Now;" Paul Weller, As Is Now

Current Mood: pleased

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

FIGHT ON THE SCAFFOLD OF LOVE, SCRIPTED PLEASURES MADE FOREVER

Good night, August; good morning, September.

Time for my monthly video store picks. No theme this month, just movies.

* Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler & The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, both directed by Fritz Lang - is this the first supervillain to ever make it to the screen? Begin with his downfall in the silent epic from 1922, then watch as he makes one more stand in a talkie from eleven years later (which also features the detective from M).

* Diary of a Chambermaid starring Jeanne Moreau, dir. Luis Bunuel - a kinky surrealist class struggle from 1964.

* Love in the Afternoon starring Audrey Hepburn & Gary Cooper, dir. Billy Wilder - Parisian romance circa 1957. Cooper is a little old, but Audrey is radiant, and Maurice Chevalier steals the show as her father. Plus, best train station ending ever.

* We Don't Live Here Anymore starring Naomi Watts, Peter Krause, Laura Dern, & Mark Ruffalo - a literate ensemble piece from last year about the push-pull of fidelity.

SIDE NOTE: Big thanks to the folks who put some money in the "Yoga Girls" jar.

Current Soundtrack: Miles Davis, Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud (Elevator to the Gallows) score

Current Mood: scrumptious

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

AIN'T 2 PROUD 2 BEG

I have finished "Yoga Girls." The final installment was posted earlier today. You can find it here. At that link, also, is a bit of panhandling from yours truly. If you enjoyed the serial, consider leaving me a tip. I will also accept books on how to write short stories, because I have a sneaking suspicion that I suck at them.

It's only Tuesday and I've already been cramming a lot of work in. Yesterday was a bunch of printing and prepping for new short story submissions and agent/publisher queries. Some things in publisher listings in various Writer's Markets amuse me in nerdy ways. Like, how can you publish something so niche specific as books about American ex-patriots with particular attention made to ones who have moved to Mexico and then advise writers not to write for a specific market. It seems to me that publisher's very lifeblood depends on people trying to appeal specifically to their very teeny-tiny market...doesn't it?

Been working on a promotional interview for the Oni site and their new and improved group blog-style Buzz section. It's with Chynna Clugston and Ian R. Shaughnessy about their book Strangetown. I'll post when it's up in the next couple of days.

Now, for a mini diversion:

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Your personality type is RLOEI

You are reserved, moody, organized, egocentric, and intellectual, and may prefer a city which matches those traits.

The largest representation of your personality type can be found in the these U.S. cities: Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Providence, Richmond, Norfolk, Tucson, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis area, Denver, New York City, Houston and these international countries/regions Brazil, Slovenia, Argentina, Israel, Portugal, Romania, Croatia, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Puerto Rico, France, Italy, Belgium, Philippines

What Places In The World Match Your Personality?
Powered by CityCulture.org

10

It seems to me they are very accurate on the subject of my personality, but woefully ignorant when it comes to anywhere I'd actually want to rest my head.

Current Soundtrack: Gorillaz, "Dare (DFA Remix);" The Clipse, "Definition of a Roller"

Current Mood: pensive

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

I SOLD THE RENOIR AND THE TV SET

"Can You Picture That?" returns to the all-new Oni Press Buzz section. This month's column examines a handful of television shows recently released to DVD.

Using my rudimentary design skills, I created a flyer for my reading. You can download it here and laugh. It's designed in Word! Very professional! Print it out and paste it up all over Portland.

Current Soundtrack: Depeche Mode, "Precious (X-Tended Remix);" Paul Weller, "From The Floorboards Up (Lynch Mob Remix)"

Current Mood: accomplished

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

MIND'S ALIVE! ON FRIDAY STREET

Ark Angels went swimmingly and it's now all turned in, volume 1 is wrapped. Bravo for me. This has given me plenty of time to go to town on "Yoga Girls" and I have been updating furiously. I actually got stuck in the middle of part XIII, and that's why it's split. Getting out of the house and doing other things loosened up my brain. There are probably only a couple of chapters left, and then I'll look at it and see what I've got. Disjointed mess, or fun romantic comedy?

The link I've been sharing most with people in the last couple of days comes to me courtesy of Mason West. It's called Lovehare and seems to be the adventures of a bunny and a kitty who share a cage in Hong Kong.

I am most excited by the fact that the kitty is sleeping next to a Mashimaro. I love Mashimaro! He's the baddest half-eaten marshmallow around. People should give me lots and lots of Mashimaro stuff!

Current Soundtrack: Bjork, The Music From Drawing Restraint 9

Current Mood: slinky

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

BUT I CAN PULL ON A ROPE, I CAN KILL A COW, FAST AS ANY OTHER FUCKER CAN

THIS WEEK IN REVIEW...

In stores:

Ai Yori Aoshi volume 10 by Kou Fumizuki

In this volume, life grows even more complicated as Kaoru must make some hard decisions and risk estranging Aoi as he works harder to bring their future together.

Top of my to-do list:

Ark Angels volume 1 by Sang-Sung Park

Ark Angels is a brand new comic by a Korean artist, and it's being published by Tokyopop simultaneously in Japan and America. A truly international effort! This means that production on the book is more like the traditional comic book publishing I am used to, and we're working on it in segments. I am doing the second of what will likely be four installments this week, heading for a December publication date. It's a strange book about interdimensional travel and saving endangered species and girls with flying scooters. Fun, fun, fun!

Current Soundtrack: Stuart A. Staples, Lucky Dog Recordings

Current Mood: mellow

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

LOOK AT YOU NOW; YOU TURNED OUT WELL, MY DANDELION

FOR IMMEDATE RELEASE - AUGUST 22, 2005

JAMIE S. RICH TO READ FROM NEW NOVEL AT TWENTY-THIRD AVE BOOKS

Twenty-Third Avenue Books and Portland-based publisher Oni Press are pleased to be hosting a reading by author Jamie S. Rich on September 14. Rich will be reading from his recently published novella I Was Someone Dead. The event is free and starts at 7:30 p.m.

Jamie S. Rich is a well-known writer in Portland thanks to his past contributions to many of the city's periodicals, including Willamette Week, The Portland Mercury, and The Rocket. He was also an editor at Dark Horse Comics in the mid-90s before moving on to Oni Press, where he was editor in chief until June 2004. In 2000, he published his debut novel, Cut My Hair, to much critical acclaim. Willamette Week called it "[A] lyrical elegy to lost youth, the death of modern rock, and the search for something authentic," and national magazine Alternative Press dubbed it "High Fidelity written by a young punk outsider instead of a 30-something music snob."

I Was Someone Dead is Rich's second major prose work. It is the story of Hieronymus Zoo, a man who has fled from modern life to live on an island where he hopes to create an existence free of pain. Two things threaten this plan. First, a mysterious monster he sees lurking the ocean at night; second, a woman who invades his paradise seeking her own version of escape. Both of these presences force Hieronymus Zoo to confront life once more.

Inspired by the classic novella storytelling of writers like Giovanni Boccaccio and Joseph Conrad, Rich has crafted I Was Someone Dead as modern storybook allegory. This feeling is aided by illustrations from UK comics artist Andi Watson, creator of Breakfast After Noon and Love Fights. Leading comic book blog Gotham Lounge has called I Was Someone Dead "a good book...that allows you to think about the story in greater detail; examining everything from all sorts of different angles, even after having finished it. It sticks in your mind, playing out those scenes over and over again as you try and figure out 'is that what the author meant?'" And Cellar Door Publishing echoes the sentiment: "...engrossing... causing the reader to think a little about not only the story, but also how it is told, and who is telling it."

Twenty-Third Avenue Books is located at 1015 NW 23RD Avenue, Portland, Oregon. Phone number: (503) 224-5097.

Oni Press can be contacted at 1305 SE MLK Blvd., Suite # A, Portland, OR 97214. E-mail: James Lucas Jones at jjones@onipress.com

Current Soundtrack: Alfie, Crying at Teatime

Current Mood: self-absorbed

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

GOD'S IN HIS HEAVEN, ALL IS RIGHT IN THE WORLD

November 5, 2005!!!

Current Soundtrack: Franz Ferdinand, "Do You Want To?" & Kanye West, "Diamonds From Sierra Leone (remix w/ Jay-Z)" (do you think anyone told Jigga what the song was allegedly about?)

Current Mood: ecstatic

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

ONLY THIS TIME, WHAT A TIME IT IS

I've been steadily listening to my dubiously obtained copy of the forthcoming Dandy Warhols album, Odditorium or Warlord of Mars, since I so dubiously obtained it. Readers may recall I had some intitial misgivings, as the songs are longer with less of a hook-laden structure than the straight-to-the-ear-drum rock the Dandys are known for. As I suspected, however, it's a record that just needs to sink in. Once you find its groove, it's actually quite good. You just have to be strapped in and prepared to be its passenger.

So, when design-man extraordinaire Steve Birch called me last night and asked if I wanted to go to a listening party and eat some free sushi and drink some free booze, I looked at the pile of DVDs I had ready to watch, thought for a second, and said, "Sure." Even if I wasn't curious to rejoin the spectacle of the rock world (it's been years since I was "in the scene," as they say), the first rule of freelance life is never say no to free.

The event was set up at MasuSushi in downtown Portland. The restaurant was right across the street from the Crystal Ballroom, so I could look over at the big "CURSE" graffiti tag that an old coworker of mine once got arrested for making. Which sort of did put me in the mind that I was somehow back at the turn of the century.

The night really was about just listening to the record. A DJ was set up in one corner, and while at one point he did deviate from Odditorium to play some Bowie and Thin Lizzy (fuckin' Thin Lizzy?!), it was mainly a Dandys all-nighter. Not that you could actually hear the music most of the time. Once the band and their entourage strolled in, making the regular diners nearly choke on their spicy tuna rolls with their outlandish rock 'n' roll circus get-ups, the noise of the schmoozing overwhelmed all. I did catch up with a few people I hadn't seen in a while, including Courtney Taylor-Taylor, the head Dandy. Additionally, I was reintroduced to keyboard maven Zia McCabe, saw Guy Burwell for the first time since he got back into town (apparently seven months ago), and chatted a bit with Sean Gothman, the all-around good guy of the Dandy Warhols brigade who once appeared on a couple of episodes of my mercifully defunct cable-access show @lright. Most of the night, though, I was just being reminded of why I didn't do this kind of social thing more often, as I darted around looking for a safe place to stand, hoping I wouldn't look awkward in that weird way that makes people actually want to talk to you.

Anyway, thanks Dandy Warhols for the drinks (I kept having something called the Hello Kitty, though per the restaurant owner's recommendation, with whiskey instead of vodka). Despite the nervous look in my eyes, I had a good time. And seriously, I really am digging the new record. I was even before you got me buzzed!

Current Soundtrack: Dandy Warhols, Odditorium or Warlord of Mars

Current Mood: silly

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

THIS IS MY IDEA OF FUN, I HOPE I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE

Happily, I got a pretty regular day of writing out of myself today. Somewhere around 2,000 words, which is not the best I can do in a day, but is around my average; plus, part of the time was spent looking up cat myths and the origins of Bill Clinton's middle name. All for Horizon. I still feel like I am in a state of searching with it, feeling it out, getting to know what I am doing. A lot of this beginning, just over 11,000 words in all, may be things that can go. I might be overexplaining, or explaining too early, all stuff I'll understand better when I am farther in. But I have settled into the voice, so that has cleared the way to really dig into it.

I didn't work on "Yoga Girls," but I did post the 10th segment yesterday. I also started the next "Can You Picture That?," which I think will go up on the 30th.

Current Soundtrack: Mansun, Kleptomania disc 2

Current Mood: nuturing

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

DON'T STAND ME DOWN FOR NO REASON

As I've written before, I haven't been that political a person in life. It speaks of our times that I've felt compelled to be more active, and really, I am just the sort of person the powers that be should fear, the ones they previously could count on to stay at home and quietly accept. Imagine if we all got mobilized!

Needless to say, I've never attended any real protest or demonstration. Unless you count in 8th grade when we had a walk-out to protest the rule that we couldn't wear shorts to Francis Parkman Junior High. But that was more about not having to be in class for me then it was an urge to fight the power, and though we won, the true reward as far as I was concerned was the girl I had a crush on, Becky Posternak, was interviewed for the 10 o'clock news, giving me a precious 10 seconds of video footage of my beloved. You kids don’t know how easy you have it, what with these MySpace profiles full of downloadable pictures. In the old days, when you were sweet on someone, it was much harder to obtain fetishes for one's shrine.

Anyway...

Last night, MoveOn.org organized candlelight vigils across the United States in support of Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother who is camped outside of George W. Bush's vacation ranch because he won't talk to her about the son she lost in Iraq. Sheehan has become a symbolic stand-in for the American people who feel we deserve more answers from an administration that refuses to be straight with us. Naturally, Portland got in on last night's activities. As Janeane Garofalo joked at an appearance here a couple of years ago, when she comes to Portland she expects to find a lot of strong coffee and join a good protest that is pro-hemp and anti-everything else, because that is what we do. Bush's dad, George Herbert Walker Bush, dubbed this city "Little Beirut" for a reason.

In all honesty, I kind of hemmed and hawed about attending the vigil. I had worked all day, I wanted to stay home, etc., but the thing I couldn't get around is that I really had no excuse not to. What was I giving up? An hour or so? I only had to walk a few blocks to get there. It wasn't costing me any money. It seemed more like the least I could do than any great sacrifice.

The event organizers stressed that this was to be a quiet, peaceful meeting. Show up with a candle and prepare to line NW 23rd in all directions, one person deep, see how long we can stretch it out. When I RSVP'd an hour before start time, nearly 700 people had signed up. I think in the end, the chain went at least twelve blocks on both sides of the street. It could have been longer, but I was near the middle and could only rely on the reports of others.

I was actually quite pleased to end up in front of a fancy restaurant with large windows. 23rd is a bit chi-chi, so I had no problem with making people uncomfortable with their dinners. Isn't the point of such a demonstration to push people to think? Like me, what excuse did they really have not to get up and come out to stand in line? It was also fun to see people step out into the street to block parking spaces after cars pulled out, so that no new cars could come in. We were taking over.

A few individuals walked up and down the line, handing out flyers, stickers, and signs, talking about issues and keeping the mood friendly. Lots of drivers coming by honked their horns and flashed peace signs. Surprisingly, we only had one heckler, who showed up at the very tail end as people were starting to disperse. This clever fellow in an SUV called us all hippies and shouted things about soap. Granted, Portland is scary with hippies, but this was a shockingly average looking crowd; ironically, the driver was the strangest looking guy I saw all night. With his shaved head and long beard, he looked like this dude from Queens of the Stone Age:

So, honestly, who was he to talk?

We also joked when planes passed overhead that we were being photographed, but I daresay I figure in this climate those jokes had truth. It wouldn't have surprised me if at least one of the newsmen on the scene, walking the line, wasn't really from any news organization. Nothing is scarier to a corrupt government than people exercising their rights.

After, I had some time to kill before I had to be somewhere else, so I wandered over to the Hollywood Video nearby to browse their previously viewed DVDs. I hadn't realized that they had a whole section devoted to the Criterion Collection, and only did so last night because I was curious about what movie one of the clerks was helping a very cute girl find. It was either an L or an M title, and they couldn't seem to locate it. For a fleeting moment, I considered being a total creep and being all, "Hey, baby, what movie you after? Because I know a place where I guarantee you can go and watch it." In the end, of course, I didn't, but just the mere thought earned me some instant karma. Exiting the shopping complex through the grocery store next door, I stopped to look at the magazines...where I got cruised by a bulbous older gentleman. It never fails!

Current Soundtrack: Bauhaus, Gotham

Current Mood: optimistic

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

ROCK CHILDREN, HANG YOUR HEAD DOWN LOW

If you're one of those people who likes these guys:

I have to say, I am worried for you. You very well might be mentally defective. Call it what you want, "indie rock" or whatever, but I smell pachouli in the background. I don't know how long these dullards have been around, but Amazon tells me that because I like Idlewild and Nick Hornby, this crappy music will be right up my alley, and it seems like every jagoff in spewing distance has been squirting over them lately. If this is you, I regret to inform that you may have bought into a con job that will ulitmately make you a fan of the next Dave Matthews Band, and you'll end up profoundly embarassed.

Current Soundtrack: Blur, Modern Life is Rubbish

Current Mood: steely

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

FLOATING FREE, ABSURD

Gotham Lounge, a blogsite that previously gave a great review to Four Letter Worlds, has now reviewed I Was Someone Dead. Sample: "...a good book. One that allows you to think about the story in greater detail; examining everything from all sorts of different angles, even after having finished it. It sticks in your mind, playing out those scenes over and over again as you try and figure out 'is that what the author meant?' and similar thoughts along those lines."

Over the weekend I received thumbnails from Marc Ellerby for a short story we are doing for an as-yet-unannounced anthology. They look great. For a young artist being tossed a script that is essentially two people in a very small room talking, he has a natural instinct for keeping the "camera" moving. If nothing else, the story won't bore people visually.

And what's on deck for me this week? More "Yoga Girls" (prepare for the story to start to solidify, based on a suggestion given to me by a cohort of awesome talent), more Have You Seen the Horizon Lately?, some submissions, and...I dunno. We'll see when we get there.

Current Soundtrack: Geneva, Weather Undeground

Current Mood: discontent

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

YOU CAN'T TRUST VIOLENCE

Watching Otto Preminger's Advise & Consent, I was reminded of something that most modern entertainment seems to have forgotten: that intelligent and interesting people doing and saying intelligent and interesting things can be more exciting than men pummeling each other and things exploding.

Current Soundtrack: 94.7 Chill Show

Current Mood: enthralled

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich

HAS MY FIRE REALLY GONE OUT?

This seems to be the Not-So-Super Summer. About a week after my posting that I found the new Super Furry Animals record to be a stillborn musical experience, the latest album from Supergrass, Road to Rouen, leaked, and it, too, is a soft drink whose fizz has gone flat.

Both of these bands started off their careers spectacularly, each delivering two albums right up front that were creative and full of passionate youthful energy; after that, each successive record seemed to take an increasing amount steps in the wrong direction. In fact, I never really thought about it before, but they are remarkably similar in their trajectory. Both the Furries and the 'grass recorded debut albums that were punchy and fun (Fuzzy Logic and I Should Coco, respectively). They were pop-rock collections that crackled in our ears the way pop-rock candy crackles in our mouths, the efforts of young musicians with everything to prove. Both matured quickly, delivering their best albums--Radiator for the Furries and In It For The Money for Supergrass--on their second try. What was stunning about both sophomore records was they showed a remarkable growth in a short amount of time. And perhaps that's the problem: these bands hit and then peaked right away, recording discs that most bands have to work several years for--if they ever come at all.

Look back at when we were young and evil.

From there, things started to go wrong. They both found an autopilot that they became more and more reliant on. Road to Rouen, for instance, only has nine songs, including one, "Coffee in the Pot," that isn't even two-minutes long, a mere instrumental interlude. The whole affair last barely over half-an-hour. As if we weren't already noticing a bit of a creative shortfall, the b-sides to the lead single are both live tracks. Supergrass came up with, really, only eight songs this time around, and then they went dry.

All of which would be fine if those songs were blisterng good...but they're not. They are all fine, decent tunes, with no distinguishing marks. They are played with a professional assuredness that can't be faulted on a technical level, but lacks any semblance of feeling. Expect just about every review to quote the song "Low C": "I can wander through the past, make believe it for a while, we were younger...the things we used to have, faded all too fast, like a castle in the sand, some things ain't meant to last, we were younger...." It says it all, doesn't it? Road to Rouen is the sound of a band just showing up.

Back then, the title was a joke.

What really marks Love Kraft and Road to Rouen as a death knell for both these bands, though, is the lack of good singles. Even when the albums were so-so, they both used to be able to pull off a great A-side. On Rings Around the World, the Furries had "Juxtaposed With U," and on Phantom Power, the rockin' "Golden Retriever." On Life on Other Planets, Road to Rouen's more interesting fraternal twin, Supergrass gave us "Grace." Next week, Super Furry Animals will release "Lazer Beam," which has a decent chantalong chorus, but the hook is pretty weak and sounds like something we've heard from them before. The verses are practically nonexistant. Supergrass has already dropped "St. Petersburg," and I'm still waiting for it to land. There's nothing there. It's a straight line that fades off into the horizon, and I can't imagine any listener ever wondering where it leads. In fact, it should be noted that I had to listen to each of these songs as I wrote this paragraph just to rememeber what they sounded like, when a good A-side is supposed to end with me wanting to start it all over again.

Thank God for the new Luke Haines collection, Luke Haines is Dead. His contempt for humanity reminds me that at least someone cares to feel.

Current Soundtrack: Supergrass, Road to Rouen; Super Furry Animals, "Lazer Beam;" Geri Halliwell, "Superstar"

Current Mood: disappointed

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication

[to leave comments, click on the time-stamp below, then scroll down on the new page] – All text (c) 2005 Jamie S. Rich