A Piece Of My Mind

the great pleasures of my youth

I discovered a few months back that enough years had gone by for me to have forgotten almost every detail of the great books I’d read in my youth.  I had run out of reading material, and had idlly grabbed one of the early Anne Rice novels off the bookshelf in my wife’s offce, and scanned a few pages.  Nothing at all stirred in my memory. I realized I could easily read this again.   As I thought about it, I realized that all the great old books I could remember reading in my youth were like this.  Largely forgotten, each memory just an impression that could fit on the smallest of notecards.

For each book, I could remember the title, a value judgment that ranged from good to fuckin’ awesome, and a vague concept of the subject.  Cujo, merely a good book, not a fuckin’ sawesome one, was about a rabid dog.  Papillon, a great book but not quite a fuckin’ awesome one, was about this guy that keeps escaping from all these jails.    

So anyway, discovering this first taste of impending senility meant I could read them all again and enjoy them like it was the first time.  I went out and got a copy of the expanded reissue of The Stand, my favorite book of all time.  The Stand, a genuinely fuckin’ awesome book, about a battle between Good and Evil fought among the few survivors of an apocalyptic pandemic flu. 

It was as good as I remembered.  So now I’m going to reread them all, the entire Stephen King cannon. 

I’m shopping for bargain overstocked hardbacks on the internet, letting availability be the deciding factor on what to read next, with the proviso that it has to be at least 15 or so years since I read it the first time. I learned that the hard way, buying Dreamcatcher and having to set it aside because I was remembering too much of what happened next. Ah the vagueries of memory.  

So far, besides The Stand, I’ve knocked off Desperation, Salem’s Lot, The Talisman, The Black House.  I was surprised to find that I’ve had to change my appraisable on some of them.  Salem’s Lot was not as good as I remembered it, Desperation was considerably better.

I’ve just started It, an at least great and quite possibly fuckin’ awesome book (I’m not sure yet, I’m a bit fuzzy on this one), about a scarey clown who is the embodiment of a nameless evil oppressing a small town in Maine.

don't gas me, bro!

Poor bastards, I hope these iranian protesters somehow succeed in advancing their cause, but I can’t imagine it happening. The one thing I’ve agreed with Obama about so far: the US of all countries should stay the hell out of it.

the golden sarcophagus

Where exactly were all these frantically emoting friends-of-Michael when he was on trial for molesting those little boys?  How many of those making speeches and pretending to be overcome with grief stood up for him in the press then, when it counted?  Oh, but they were fighting for camera time today, though.  Jermaine even donned the Sacred Glove and the Holy Sunglasses and sang “Michael’s favorite song” in a shameless and transparent attempt to audition for the role of Lead MJ Impersonator. 

One of the promoters said (with a straight face) “he is like America’s Princess Diana”.  LOL. That’s it exactly you self-serving, ghoulish asshole.

I swear, celebrities as a group may be more despicable even than politicians or lawyers.

rockin the magnolia

I can’t see how not serving out her term can help her politically.   MSNBC’s anonymous source says she’s out of politics for good while CNN’s tipster says that it is part of her grand scheme to win the whitehouse.    Her speech came off as hastily thrown together.  Like she needs to get the hell out of town.  I really hope thats not the case.

Myself, I’d like to see her in her own reality show.   You go, girl!

And they sound a hell of a lot like Alice In Chains.  In fact, this song is better than anything on the last album with Layne (praise be unto him, may his memory never be erased).  The new guy fits in well, I dig it.

Go to http://www.aliceinchains.com/ and sign up to download the mp3 for free.  How excellent is that?

certified asshat

Well the great state of Minnesota decided to send Al Franken to the US Senate.  The mind boggles.

Fopp is my latest effort, done with my good buddy Mick Williamson. Our goal was to add some rock sensibility to this killer old Ohio Players tune from the 70s.

put me in, coach!

After all these years of being overshadowed by his more talented and weirder little brother, Jermaine may finally get his chance at the spotlight. Or maybe not, the J-bird can’t really sing or dance. Oh well, such is life.

Buh-bye!

The people of Honduras don’t want him, their congress don’t want him, the courts don’t want him. Chavez wants him.  All I need to know.