Mayra Calvani, author of “The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing,” has written a nice little piece about OPERATION EMU.
“The dialogue is sharp and propels the story at a quick pace. The characters are offbeat and some of the ridiculous situations will make you laugh out loud. Author B. Brandon Barker has created a smart, funny parody of what it really means to be an ‘advanced’ homo sapien.”
I’ve checked out most of Paul Weller’s albums–all good–but none of them come close to Wild Wood (1993). The only thing that comes close to it–in the sense that it can’t be stopped after it’s started–is Who’s Next or Astral Weeks.
The Deluxe Edition, like most in this series (see Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin On), offers some B-sides, some demos, some live tracks, some brilliant castoffs. It’s just a great experience all around. For a post-Mod artist, Paul Weller might be expected to have a punk-ish, annoying cockney tone, like the Clash, Sex Pistols or The Specials, but instead he has a deep, soulful voice. A real front-man sound.
You don’t hear about this record much, and maybe that’s a good thing. It’s best un-hyped.
Sometimes, but not often enough, one of my short stories gets published. “The Movie of Your Life,” which is about… well, just that, will appear in the Spring issue of Global City Review.
You can find Global City at most book stores that carry lit mags, or you can subscribe here.
My friend Simon Evans is having his first solo NY show, and it’s really spectacular. When I first met Simon, he was writing short stories–really brilliant ones, short, whimsical and funny. Years later, he began drawing and making collages, but he never really stopped writing, making his work fun to read as well as look at. Here are some words from the press release:
“Simon Evan’s delicate text-based works are collaged and assembled from prosaic materials including found paper, scotch tape, pencil shavings, colored pencil and white out. They describe a world poised between two poles of earnestness and irony. With his anxieties laid bare and his wry brand of melancholy, Evans presents us with a veritable laundry list of drawings that take the form of diagrams, charts, maps, lexicons, diary entries, inventories, cosmologies and epistolary entreaties that plunge the viewer into alternate states of pathos and hope.”
Among the works in this gallery (26th between 10th and 11th), are Everything I Have (pictured, a catalogue of his belongings), The Green City (a stunning pen-and-paper drawing of a mythical city) and One Hundred Mixed CDs for New York (exactly that, CD sleeves with mixed CDs inside).
This show is up until April 4.
From Pitchfork’s Bob Stanley:
“‘Lamplight’ doesn’t sound like a hit, truthfully. No matter. From its heavily thrummed acoustic intro and unintelligible echo-ridden opening verse to the massed harps and a storyline that alludes to lost love and candlelit Victoriana, it seems Robin is unsure of what he wants to say, yet knows exactly how to say it: loudly and tearfully. You get the feeling he wished he’d been born 50 years earlier. Both songs are ambitious, then, but you can understand the younger brother’s pique.”
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/148551-the-bee-gees-odessa
By A. J. Williams “song and dance man”
“Perception is always coloured by memory - some memories are vast imagined towns and cities through which you drive to reach your destination - some are open fields, cloudless skylines and straight roads. You see, you can’t listen in isolation to songs written through shared experience and expect there to be no hitchhikers from past travels. They catch lifts along your way, sometimes with further miles to travel, sometimes dropped off just blocks away from home, sometimes without a word - sometimes grateful for the ride.”
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2DL5RFOCT5R/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm
To celebrate Heart Health Month, here’s a new article for WEtv.com called Healthy Mind, Healthy Heart.
I know, not very exciting. But, good news: Next month is Kidney Month.
Acting swiftly on reports that millions of recession-ravaged Americans paid actual money to make “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” the nation’s top-grossing movie, Twentieth Century Fox gave the green light to (s)hit-makers Tony and Ridley Scott to make a movie version of the hit 1980s TV series “The A-Team.”
Joining the Scotts will be director Joe Carnahan (”Smokin Aces,” never saw it) and Stephen J. Cannell, who created the original series along with “The Rockford Files” and two episodes of “Silk Stalkings.” Get me in a room with talent… it’s electric.
According to Variety, Ridley Scott says, “Tony and I feel that marrying this Scott Free project with Joe’s sensibility will result in a fast-paced, exciting franchise, one we hope will be around for years to come.” Maybe we can just call it “Something 2.”
“The A-Team” was a big hit. Believe me, I remember it well, and the show had a whole lot going for it: a cigar-chomping George Peppard, the dude who played Starbuck from “Battlestar Galactica” and the badass mohawked boxer from “Rocky III,” who, if I remember correctly has some sort of endearing hang-up like a fear of gerbils. But keep in mind that this was 30 years ago–a time when kids could occupy themselves outside for hours with a stubbly faced G.I. Joe, a piece of string and the occasional cherry bomb. Nowadays, I don’t know: Can the movie open with all of them riding down a hill in a giant grocery cart?
For those who don’t remember: In the original show, several former, highly skilled Vietnam veterans are pulled from obscurity by a mysterious man named Charlie to drive around in a sweet red Ferrari and teach Judo to a rich kid played by Rocky Schroeder while Punky Brewster flew the chopper. Director Joe Carnahan says the original premise will be unchanged when they transform the story to the big screen; however, Vietnam will be changed to the Middle East and the catering will be better.
“This was a coveted property, and re-imagining a show that I remembered as a kid was tough to turn down,” Carnahan said. “Fox hired me to make it as emotional, real and accessible as possible without cheesing it up.”
Joe, I’m sorry, but the only thing that may save this film is a little fromage.
*** MEMORANDUM ***
To: Little Steven
From: The Minister of Culture
Re: It’s Been a Good Run
Last night, while watching the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIII Halftime Show on NBC, is suddenly occurred to me, (a) who is that man singing with Bruce Springsteen and (b) where is his shoulder parrot?
The Minister of Culture is dedicated to preventing our citizens from the following head gear:
Now, hold on. Before you jump to conclusions, please keep in mind that I haven’t always been this way–roaming through my official state residence with a mangosteen smoothie, a bullwhip and my trusty pair of Cane Corsos. At one time, I was young and I listened to music with indiscriminate abandon and absolutely zero awareness. For instance, I listened to Billy Squier. And I fondly remember having tickets to see Mr. Springsteen at Mud Island in Memphis during the “Born in the U.S.A.” Tour. My father and I drove together from our family rice plantation in the Mississippi Delta, and while we were driving we heard a radio report that Bruce would be joined onstage that night by a “surprise special guest.” Who could that be, we wondered? Jackson Browne? Chuck Berry? Sting? Needless to say, the excitement in the car (at least on the passenger side) was palpable.
We got to our seats and the show began to great fanfare and excitement. Several songs into the program, the surprise guest was announced. “Ladies and gentlemen,” Bruce exclaimed…. Max Weinberg’s drum rolled and Gary Tallent’s bass rumbled. “Little Steven!!!”
That’s like being told your cheeseburger is coming with a special, surprise pickle.
Now, wait a minute. I realize that, right now all over our great nation, citizens are fuming, waving flags and creating cardboard signs to protest this officially sanctioned move, but I must defend it with every ounce of my being and soul. To begin, let me reitorate that neither Bruce Springsteen nor the E-Street Band are being banished from the cultural repertoire at this moment. Will they ever be a candidate for termination? Possibly. But, today, that is not the issue at hand. Today, we are saying goodbye to one man only: “Little” Steven Van Zandt, a.k.a. Miami Steve, founder of Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul and actor on the Sopranos. Citizens of America, I really don’t think this will be all that painful.
And it’s not because he can’t sing (though he can’t really) or play the guitar adequately (is that thing plugged in?). It’s just that, well, I am frankly tired of seeing his face every time Bruce Springsteen plays. And last night’s Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIII Halftime Show on NBC pretty much sealed the deal.
Mr. Van Zandt, you will soon receive an RSVP card with the details of your farewell dinner and roast. Please select (1) chicken or (2) beef and return it forthwith to my office.
WARNING: Gospell Choirs, The Scotts and Tennis Outfits: The Minister of Culture is watching you.
Visanthe Shiancoe: Tight End for the Minnesota Vikings or bound concubine of the first Duke Leto of Atreides?
Iakin Nefud: Strong Safety for the Washington Redskins or Guard Captain for the House of Harkonnen?
Ikaika Alama-Francis: Defensive End for the Detroit Lions or the Cyborg Ruler of Ixt?
Pardot Kynes: Punter for the Kansas City Chiefs or Elrood IX’s first Imperial Planetologist on Arrakis?
When Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ appeared in 1965, little did the world know that it would become the best-selling Sci-fi novel of all time; nor that it would influence the naming of an entire generation of professional athletes.
All across America, football fans and Sci-Fi fans are debating into the wee hours over whether Jim Zorn was (a) a Wide Receiver for the Seattle Seahawks or (b) a Ginaz 10th-Level Swordmaster of the Sardaukar army.
Still confused? Help set the universal record straight by taking the Fantasy or Football Quiz.
Then, try your luck at Part One, Part Two and Part Three.
