..:: Written .:. Off ::..

This is a breakdown of the differnt kinds of music that I have listened to over my entire life. During each period, I selected bands that I would consider to be my favorites. Mind you, for every band listed, I probably left out 2-3. I picked the most significant in each case.

1969 - 1975: When I was a kid -

The Beatles, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, The Doors, Kids Music (lots)

1976 - 1979: I had a one track mind -

KISS (Was there anything else?)

1979 - 1982: Kiss put out that Disco album and suddenly the spell was broken. My uncle and my friends older brother turned us on too all sorts of cool stuff. I found Iron Maiden on my own. I made my parents buy one of their EPs for me for my Birthday. I never even heard them at that point. I just liked the art

AC/DC, Queen, The Kinks, Rush, Styx, Ted Nugent, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Dio

1983 - 1986: This was my classic/Art Rock phase.

Yes, King Crimson, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Peter Gabriel, Genesis

1987 - 1991: During my senior year of High School, a friend of mine lent me a tape called Wiped Out by a band called Raven. I had been listening to 20 minute Yes songs for so long, that the 3 minute blasts of metal really kicked my ass! I immediatly went out and purchased every metal album made in the next 4 years.

Raven, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, Sodom, Death, Bolt Thrower, Carcass, Napalm Death, Godflesh, Obituary, Frank Zappa, Voivod, Celtic Frost, Faith No More, S.O.D, M.O.D., The Misfits, Danzig, Bathory, Sepultura

1991 - 1996: The metal scene was dying at this point and I felt like it was losing it’s edge. I started listening to college radio and happened upon a band called Soundgarden, who just released, Loud Love. I then discovered Nirvana, who were 6 months away from becoming the biggest band on the earth.

Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pavement, Sebadoh, Tad, Dinosaur Jr. Alice in Chains, Helmet, Cop Shoot Cop, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Pearl Jam, NIN, Godflesh, Melvins, My Bloody Valentine, Mr.Bungle, The Ramones

1996 - 2001: As the grunge and alternative scene became saturated with crappy bands like Bush, I began pulling out some of my old metal CDs. I found that a lot of the bands that I used to like were still around and that the scene had become even more extreme over the years, I was back!

Emperor, Mayhem, Brutal Truth, Soilent Green, Deceased, Iced Earth, Nasum, Amorphis, Dark Throne, Cynic, Necrophagia, Nailbomb, Firewater, Sleep, High on Fire, Electric Wizard, Cathedral, Enslaved,

2002 - Present: This is a strange musical period for me, I am at the point where I can fluidly listen to all kinds of music. I tend to buy a good mix of bands nowadays rather than sticking to one genre. I have also deveoped a taste for experimental music and singer/songwriter stuff like Elliot Smith and Lou Barlow.

Wilco, Stephen Malkmus, Fu Manchu, Sigur Rose, Earth, Sunn(o))), Fantomas, Shellac, Clutch, Weedeater, Warhorse, Tom Waits, Elliot Smith

I am getting the itch to start preliminary work on another novel. I have a few ideas floating around but it has been so long since I’ve started something new that I am wondering where I should start.

I hate writing outlines because I tend to change them but I have to start somewhere. I was thinking of writing a quick summary of the story (or what I think the story is now and then maybe writing up a list of characters that will be in it. Since this is another story in the universe that I used for my last novel, I will have to figure out which characters I should carry over. I may even write a draft of the first chapter just to see where it goes.

One thing that I know is that this next novel will be more complex than the last one. The first novel is a very simple story, sort of like a roadtrip. The next story is much bigger. I have so many ideas that it is going to be a matter of deciding what not to put in. I don’t want it to end up being too bloated since the first novel is very lean and stripped down.

I am interested in any ideas that you have. What do you when it is time to start a new project? You can relate this question to any medium that you work in. I know that there are some musicians and artists who read this blog. I would like to hear from you as well.

While I was wandering aimlessly around Center City, Philadelphia yesterday, I passed by a local CD store called “Coconuts”. There was a sign on the door, written in marker that said:

“This Store Is Closed For Good…Ain’t That Some Shit!”

The door to the store was opened and men with handtrucks were carting out all of the CD and DVDs that normally lined it’s shelves. Now, I will be the first to admit that I didn’t do much shopping at Coconuts. Their prices were high and they catered more to Hip Hop and R&B than Rock and Roll. I will admit that they had a kick ass Used CD section on the second floor with a great selection that I would frequent.

While Coconuts was a small chain, it’s closing, along with most of the other Coconuts around the city, is just another example of how most of the smaller retailers are starting to disappear. There are fewer and fewer places around the city that are pure CD stores. There is still a Tower Records located on Broad and Chestnut, but even that chain declared bankruptcy a few years back. Since their prices are kind of high, it only seems like a matter of time before Tower is gone too. I said to my friend as we walked past the store that in 10 years, you will probably only be able to buy music at department stores like Walmart and Target as all of the specialty places go under.

When I was a kid, there were Mom and Pop record stores galore. These shops carried all kinds of goodies and rare releases that you would never find in a department store. With the exception of South Street (which is a strip of shops and restraints in Philly) these little shops are non-existent. There are none in the Suburbs of PA, where I currently live. It’s either Tower or Walmart to get CDs.

In the last few years, I have done most of my CD shopping online. You see, there are still independent places to buy specialized music, they just exist online nowadays and usually, you still end up paying less online that you do walking into a store. Tower is still selling CDs for $17 - $18 a pop before tax. Shit! I can just head on over to Evil Legend Records or Relapse Records and get the same releases for $12!

The sad part is that I have always wanted to own a small little specialty record shop where I could sit there all day, drink tea, read and make fun of the people coming in looking for the latest Justin Timberlake CD. The only way I could do that now is if I hit the lottery and just accept that I will be in red every month.

All of my bad mouthing of the music business is coming back to me in the form of a Karma Bitch Slap.

I was listening to my iPod the other day. The selection of the day was supposed to be Joe’s Garage By Frank Zappa. I am listening to this on the train and sometimes I tend to fall alseep on the way into work. So the first song plays (The Central Scrutinizer) then something happend but I don’t realize it at first. The next song up is supposed to be Catholic Girls but instead, Crew Slut comes on. As I said above, I tend to fall asleep on the train so a few songs in, I say to myself, “I don’t remember hearing Catholic Girls.” Now, I chalk this up to both my bad memory and sleep.

Later on that day, I am on my way home and I decide to listen to the rest of Joe’s Garage. I pick the closest song to where I left off which is called, Packard Goose*. I pick the song from the list and wait but a funny thing happens, Watermelon in Easter Hay Starts. Hmmmmm. I select the list again and pick Packard Goose but Watermelon in Easter Hay starts again. I do this several times and realize that something is seriously wrong.

When I get home, I plug my iPod in and look at the contents. There is a tiny exclamation point next to several songs on my iPod - This means that the file is missing! I wipe my iPod out completely and reinstall all the software. When I load my library back on, I find that I have the same problem! Only some songs are copying onto my iPod! My iPod, is, to be polite, fucked.

So, last night, I filled out my service request and am waiting for Apple to send me a box to ship my iPod off. Luckily, I purchased Apple Care on this unit (which all iPod owners should have) and I don’t have to pay a cent. They will probably just send me a new iPod since it is not worth it to try and fix.

The real downside to this story if I have to spend, god knows how long, waiting for the replacement to arrive. I travel for 2 hours a day by train which is my prime music listening time. This means at least a week or two of having to listen to people talk to each other on the train or worse, having to listen to the assholes who have to talk at the top of their lungs to their boyfriends/Girlfriends/spouses/friends on their cellphones. I had some obnoxious asshole sitting next to me yucking it up next to me today which can only be a precursor to the hell that I will have to endure until my replacement comes in!

Like I said, this must be my Karma Bitch Slap for bad mouthing the music business. Oh well, I will have to pray to friggin David Geffen for forgiveness or maybe Jimmy Iovine or some other industry prick. Oops.

..in America these days. I needed a good laugh this morning, since it is raining out and generally yucky in Philadelphia. Nothing makes me laugh like a quick scan of the Billboard Album charts. These charts are compiled by something called Soundscan. Meaning that, if you purchase a CD at a store that compiles Soundscan data, your purchase is tallied up with the rest of the data across America. This data makes up the weekly rankings on the Billboard charts. So, that women who purchased 4 copies of the last Madonna CD would have her four CDs put toward the “blonde one’s” ranking on the chart.

I don’t use the word Rank lightly.

Here is a quick glance at what we are listening to these days:

1. Mary J. Blige/The Breakthrough: I have never heard a Mary J. Blige song. Like Celine Dion, I have to wonder who buys these CDs. I don’t think I even know one person who owns either one of their CDs.

2. Jamie Foxx/Unpredictable: How do you even comment on this? I don’t think it’s a comedy CD although that could probably be brought up for debate.

3. Carrie Underwood/Some Hearts: No surprises here. I guess the legion of American Idol fans were queued up at midnight waiting for this steaming pile of wholesome nonsense.

4. Eminem/Curtain Call: When in doubt, release a greatest hits CD.

5. The Notorious B.I.G/Duets: The Final Chapter: Isn’t Biggie dead? He’s almost as prolific in death as Tupac. These guys are going to come back from the dead one day and lay some zombie badness on all of these record executives who are making money off them. Does the title of this CD imply that this is the Final Duets release or the final Biggie release? This whole thing creeps me out. Would you want to do a duet with a dead guy?

6. Mariah Carey/The Emancipation of Mimi: Nice cryptic title with no surprises lying within. This CD must have put Whitney Houstons handlers into a manic frenzy trying to figure out how to do a similar comeback for their “coke-head” queen.

7. Nickelback/All The Right Reasons: HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! If you buy this, know that you are contributing to the death of Rock Music or “Mope Rock” as I call it.

8. Chris Brown/Chris Brown: I have never heard this but he looks snazzy in that white hat.

9. The Black Eyed Peas/Monkey Business: Somewhat interesting funk band with a lead singer who pees herself on stage. They’re in too many commercials for my taste. I would rather just listen to Fishbone.

10. Johnny Cash/The Legend of Johnny Cash: Finally, something with balls. This poor bastard had to die to get America to pay attention. This CD makes every last CD in the countdown go pale and run for cover.

By the way, to the girl who I witnessed buy 4 Madonna CDs: I so wanted to give you all of the CDs that I purchased that day in a desperate attempt to knock some sense into you…but I didn’t.

Do any of you out there in the blogsphere have a regular writing job? I don’t mean the kind where you are a published novelist writing books. I am talking about a job where you are maybe a technical writer or do proof reading. Maybe you write content for a website or something like that.

I am wondering because, I am going to find myself out of a job in a few months and my wife and I were talking about what type of job I should start looking for. I can easily get a job in the IT field, management or project management. My wife asked me, “What kind of jobs are out there for writers. Can you do something with that?”

My first thought to this question was, “No.” When I thought about it some more, I wondered what it would be like to punch the clock as a writer everyday. Say I took a job as a documentation writer for a software company. My instincts tell me that doing a job like this would sour me towards writing in general. Writing would become a job for me and I would not want to write as much in my spare time. I would fear that my prose would become souless from writing technically all day long. This happened to me with computers. I got into the computer field 15 years ago when there wasn’t a PC in every home. Since that time I have grown to loathe computers. Sure, I love my MAC but that is because it requires very little maintenance. My wife’s PC on the other hand, needs constant patching and upgrading. In short, I have lost all passion for this field.

What are your feelings on this. Do any of you out there have a daily job where you are paid to write something that you are not really interested in? I would like to hear how it affects your fiction writing or whatever kind of writing that you do for yourself.

I decided that it was time to get serious and start researching agents. I’ve read a lot about the publishing business but I have kind of slacked off in my research during the last few months so that I could finish my book.

Yesterday, I took a walk to the local bookstore and dropped a small fortune on books. One book that I picked up is called Jeff Hermans Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents 2006 . The thing that set this book apart from the others for me was that not only does it list all of the major literary agents, each section contains an interview with each agent. The agent discusses the type of books that he/she normally works with and also lists the best way to submit your story to them. I don’t know about you, but I like knowing ahead of time whether it will be a waste of time pursuing an agent that does not even publish my type of book.

One disconcerting thing that I am finding is that there are very few agents that work with Fantasy and Science Fiction. I was kind of laughing to myself every time I saw my genre listed as something that the agent would never want to work with. I would say 2 out of every 10 agents does not work with genre fiction. Oh well. Nothing that I ever do is easy.

Another interesting thing is that almost every agent is asked what their “Hell Client ” would be like. In almost every case, the agent writes that they dislike working with either a Pain in the Ass client or someone who is not open to suggestions.

I also picked up a copy of Writers Market 2006. This is a similar book to the one above. This book lists all publishers for all kinds of writing, including newspapers and magazines. They also have a website which I was a member of once, that lists all of the books information in a database that is updated frequently. This is good if you are trying to contact a person who may have employed with a publisher when the book was published but has since left.

Have a great weekend!

Well, it’s time again for another season of American Idol! The show that turns amateur singers into stars!

I often wonder why this show is so popular. Aside from the spot on remarks by Simon Cowell, I can not understand why anyone, especially teenagers watch this show. In my day, teenagers were into rebellion. This show is so boring and safe that I just don’t get its appeal.

I watched this show for a little while last season because one of the contestants was the son of a guy who worked with my wife (Anthony Federov). She wanted to watch the show to support her friend. So week after week, American Idol had invaded my house. On nights when all that I was doing was writing my book or editing, I would take my Powerbook down to the living room and watch some of the show. The songs that they make these kids sing are so goddamned boring. They are up there singing Standards for christsake! Did we time warp back to the 60s? Is American Bandstand making a comeback? Where are all the pissed off teenagers who hate their parents music at?

I could only sit there typing away and say, “Ugh, are you kidding me?” every time someone would take the stage. And the rocker guy, Bo Bice, what a joke he was. He isn’t even dangerous enough to be one of motley Crue’s Roadies.

I think that it’s funny that Kelly Clarkson won’t let the show use any of her songs. The show producers are mad at her because of this, but can you blame her? Would you want your songs being torn apart on this show?

The only other alternative to American Idol was that shitty RockStar INXS show. Excuse me? Are they still relevant? Judging by their latest single, I would say…no.

I started reading this really strange book and I thought I that I should take a minute to tell you about it. I don’t normally do book reviews but the structure of this book is so bizarre that I wanted to write small piece on it.

The book is called House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. In its simplest terms, the book is about a guy reading a book written by a madman about a movie that does not exist. So basically, you are reading the madman’s book about the movie and notes by the author as foot notes. Not to mention that the movie that they are talking about is a documentary about a haunted house. The book starts out very analytical on the madmans part but gets stranger and stranger as the book goes on. Since you are supposed to be reading his text, there are whole pages filled with nothing but a few words. Some of the text is written backwards so you have to hold it up to a mirror. The book is very modern and experimental to say the least.

The book is written as if you are reading a work of non-fiction. The author uses a very neat trick at during the intro to the book that, to be honest, was so scary that I almost stopped reading it. During the intro, the author talks about how he found the madman’s writings in the trunk of an old apartment building. The madman, named Zampano, was some old recluse who recently passed away. He says that once he started reading Zampano’s book, strange things started happening to him. The last few chapters of the intro, the author says that if you (the reader) read this book, there is a chance that these same things will happen to you. He describes how it may not happen right away but as time goes on, you will find yourself staring into the shadows or feeling a presence in the dark. He says that is will become so bad that you will no longer find solace in the day or in doing the normal things in your life.

This scared the crap out of me. I was wondering why it had this effect on me and I finally figured it out. The author makes you (the reader) the main character of the book because it is now YOU who is reading the madman’s writings. This device is very effective and powerful. It caused me to have dreams about the book all night after I read the intro! And I am not easily frightened.

Since then, I decided to read the rest of the book and so far, it is not as scary as the intro but it still is a very good read, especially from a technical point of view. I have never seen a book like this. It is a book within a book within a movie.

If you are interested in horror or just would like to check out a very experimental form of writing, the next time you go to a bookstore, finds a copy of this book and just flip through it.

Whether you dare to read anymore is your choice

There is nothing about music that can send me into a rant faster than journalism. I hate music journalists. I am not a music journalist. I have a shitty blog about music because I love it. That’s it. The purpose of this blog is not so much to bash music that I don’t like (bad music bashes itself) but for me to express my passion about music. I live and breathe music.

Most music journalists are either:

1. Failed musicians
2. People who wish they could play music but by some cruel twist of fate, have no talent.

Okay, I realize that there are lots of honest music journalists out there. Many indie magazines out there are loaded with them. They work for little pay and mainly do it for the love of music. Those people are cool.

I am talking about these idiots in the major magazines and on MTV that wouldn’t know good music if someone shoved a guitar up their asses. What annoys me the most is when the champion a band when they first come out but then, for whatever reason, turn on that band after they have been around for awhile.

A good example is a band like The Strokes, a few years back, the American and British press were hailing these guys as the next big thing. Their first album is great. The funny thing is, you can just sense the press waiting to turn on these guys. Now that they are three CDs into their career, the friggin wolves are out. They are being bashed, by the same press that built them up, as has-been and one-trick-ponies. I think it is sad when that happens. The Strokes are even being bashed because they come from rich families. Who gives a shit. Do you really have to be poor to be a musician?

In these days of the internet, I have pretty much stopped buying music magazines. I can get all of my info for free. There was a time where I was such a music addict that I would still buy all of the major magazines just because I loved to read about music. Nowadays I just stick to a few good mags that I really like (Terrorizer, Unrestrained).

The worst offenders are the following shitty rags:

Rolling Stone: This mag was once this THE place to covered in. Now, they are nothing more than a glorified teeny bopper magazine. Rollingstone also has the distinction of being the worst bunch of music reviewers ever assembled by mankind. I have a formula for Rollingsone Reviews. Minus 2 Stars from any 4-5 star reviews. Add 1 star to any 2 Star reviews. Or better yet, just leave the magazine in the bathroom in case you need toilet paper.

Spin: A fashion magazine disguised as a music magazine.

Pitchfork Media: This is an internet site that rivals Rolling Stone for bad reviews. The reviewers have the subtly of a highschool creative writing class. This site is free and it is not worth reading.

Blender: This magazine was pretty good the first year it came out. It was light for a music mag but there were lots of reviews. Now it is just another piece of shit mag that covers Ashlee Simpson and all of those other talking heads.

Okay, I’m done for now. It’s good to be back!