Hey, recent news got you down? Worried about the fate of the world? Thinking about emigrating to Canada? Need some laughs? Check out The Progressive Rock Hall of Infamy, here. If you're a big Prog fan, these guys are freaking hilarious. And even if you're not.
At their blog, you'll find hilarious (and REALLY long-winded) reviews of some of the worst Prog albums ever, their readers' choices for The Five Worst Prog Bands Ever (and the bloggers' 20 nominees for this ultimate dishonor), long reviews of obscure Prog albums no one's ever heard of, lots of hilarious cheap shots, and even reports of death threats the writers received for their reviews. Really great fun, and they're even from Seattle.
Only one problem -- they stopped writing in 2010. But don't let that stop you. Their blog shows clearly that being devoted to Prog is A Mission. And it's amazing how much crap they listened to in order to carry out a public service.
Plus they're funny as hell, besides.
Yes, they love King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator. Yes, they hate Yes. And ELP. And Styx. And Camel. Don't let this stop you. If you're a Prog fan, you need to check 'em out. And you can thank me after you finish laughing. That may take awhile....
Showing posts with label bloggers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bloggers. Show all posts
Monday, January 30, 2017
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Your daily birdcage-liner
It shouldn't be a surprise, and I'm sure someone's pointed it out way before me, but it's really pretty amazing how quickly the Internet has replaced the morning newspaper -- in just the way science-fiction writers predicted that computers would Totally Change Our Lives, years ago. These days if I'm too groggy even to try reading a real book, I can still pop open the laptop and suck up the latest news feeds.
Makes me wonder how I ever thought "published on the Internet" was a contradiction in terms.
Now, by the time I see a newspaper at work, I hardly ever look beyond the headlines. I've usually heard all the front-page stories on the radio or seen all the latest updates over the Internet.
Of course, newspapers can provide some DEPTH to the big stories -- or provide some opinions and humor with their columnists -- but thanks to blogs and all the people expressing opinions or joking around on-line, the Net's pretty-much got newspapers beat there, too.
So I wonder how long it'll be before all newspapers go on-line only, like the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER did, and NEWSWEEK magazine.
Probably not long.
I can't remember the last time I read something in a newspaper that really surprised me. Not in this 24-hour world, where you can get The Latest on your TV, smartphone, laptop, through texts, etc etc. Really pretty amazing. And addictive.
This past week I got back on Facebook after figuring it wasn't worth the trouble six months ago. And now that I've finally discovered (and figured out how to work) the SHARE button, I'm spending a few minutes each day trying to find OUTRAGEOUS news stories to share with my seven(?) Facebook followers worldwide.
It's addictive.
And luckily, outrageous news stories haven't been that hard to find lately.
It's pretty amazing, this multi-media behemoth we have all around us these days. Word about happenings spreads quicker than ever before, reactions come in faster, the hype builds up bigger. It's hard not to get carried away by all of it. Even if it would be better to sit back and take a breath and try to figure out what it all means.
I'm as guilty of this as anyone, and Ghod knows there's a lot to talk about these days. (Still haven't found any evidence that there are demonstrations and riots in Seattle EVERY DAY -- though it must sometimes SEEM like it, if you live there. If there's something to protest, Seattle people will hit the streets to do it. And there's been lots to protest, lately.)
...No deep thoughts here, just surprising to me that things have changed so quickly. Sometimes you get pushed into the High-Tech Space Age before you're even aware of it.
...By the way, have you re-read 1984 lately...?
Makes me wonder how I ever thought "published on the Internet" was a contradiction in terms.
Now, by the time I see a newspaper at work, I hardly ever look beyond the headlines. I've usually heard all the front-page stories on the radio or seen all the latest updates over the Internet.
Of course, newspapers can provide some DEPTH to the big stories -- or provide some opinions and humor with their columnists -- but thanks to blogs and all the people expressing opinions or joking around on-line, the Net's pretty-much got newspapers beat there, too.
So I wonder how long it'll be before all newspapers go on-line only, like the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER did, and NEWSWEEK magazine.
Probably not long.
I can't remember the last time I read something in a newspaper that really surprised me. Not in this 24-hour world, where you can get The Latest on your TV, smartphone, laptop, through texts, etc etc. Really pretty amazing. And addictive.
This past week I got back on Facebook after figuring it wasn't worth the trouble six months ago. And now that I've finally discovered (and figured out how to work) the SHARE button, I'm spending a few minutes each day trying to find OUTRAGEOUS news stories to share with my seven(?) Facebook followers worldwide.
It's addictive.
And luckily, outrageous news stories haven't been that hard to find lately.
It's pretty amazing, this multi-media behemoth we have all around us these days. Word about happenings spreads quicker than ever before, reactions come in faster, the hype builds up bigger. It's hard not to get carried away by all of it. Even if it would be better to sit back and take a breath and try to figure out what it all means.
I'm as guilty of this as anyone, and Ghod knows there's a lot to talk about these days. (Still haven't found any evidence that there are demonstrations and riots in Seattle EVERY DAY -- though it must sometimes SEEM like it, if you live there. If there's something to protest, Seattle people will hit the streets to do it. And there's been lots to protest, lately.)
...No deep thoughts here, just surprising to me that things have changed so quickly. Sometimes you get pushed into the High-Tech Space Age before you're even aware of it.
...By the way, have you re-read 1984 lately...?
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
#748: Submit!
I just sent a really silly horror-comedy short story to website Tor.com, who pay 25 cents per word if they publish your short story. This is the first piece of fiction I've submitted to a professional publication since about 2001. I'm a little shaky.
The story's called "The Coffee Maid," and it's a silly, awful piece about a haunted coffeemaker, and there's not a chance in hell that Tor will publish it. But it makes me laugh, so what the hell.
Tor says they'll get back to me in 3 to 4 months. Hey, if they'll pay me 25 cents a word, I can wait. The story's just over 5,500 words long. How much is that in real money?
I'll keep you posted, but I'm not holding my breath. I don't think the story's quite funny enough or scary enough. Definitely weird enough, though -- and I've read lots of horror short stories that had LESS reason to live. So.... Here we go again.
Hey, my blogging buddy R.S. Crabb over at Crabby's Record World has decided to hang this blogging stuff up, at least for now. I'm bummed by this -- Crabby has been one of the greats to follow since I started doing this stuff 5-1/2 years ago, plus he's made more comments here than ANYBODY ... in addition to turning me on awhile back to some of the strangest music I've ever heard (Cromagnon's CAVE ROCK, etc). So swing by Crabby's place, check out his latest stuff and beg him not to quit, like I already have. And then eat your heart out 'cause you didn't give him enough feedback before.
2000 Man, looks like it's just you and me, now....
Must be something in the air. All the late-night talk-show hosts are giving up, and last night my hero Craig Ferguson announced he's hanging up THE LATE LATE SHOW at Christmas. He's the only one of 'em I'll miss! The man is NUTS! That's why he's worth watching -- you never know what the hell you're gonna see. Perfect for night owls like me. So if you haven't checked out the crazy Scotsman yet, you've only got eight months left to get with the program, you cheeky monkeys! And see that you do!
Craig says he's hanging it up before he gets stale. Maybe Crabby feels the same way.
Course I'm more from the school of Do what you can until you can't do it no more.
I'm not goin' anywhere....
The story's called "The Coffee Maid," and it's a silly, awful piece about a haunted coffeemaker, and there's not a chance in hell that Tor will publish it. But it makes me laugh, so what the hell.
Tor says they'll get back to me in 3 to 4 months. Hey, if they'll pay me 25 cents a word, I can wait. The story's just over 5,500 words long. How much is that in real money?
I'll keep you posted, but I'm not holding my breath. I don't think the story's quite funny enough or scary enough. Definitely weird enough, though -- and I've read lots of horror short stories that had LESS reason to live. So.... Here we go again.
Hey, my blogging buddy R.S. Crabb over at Crabby's Record World has decided to hang this blogging stuff up, at least for now. I'm bummed by this -- Crabby has been one of the greats to follow since I started doing this stuff 5-1/2 years ago, plus he's made more comments here than ANYBODY ... in addition to turning me on awhile back to some of the strangest music I've ever heard (Cromagnon's CAVE ROCK, etc). So swing by Crabby's place, check out his latest stuff and beg him not to quit, like I already have. And then eat your heart out 'cause you didn't give him enough feedback before.
2000 Man, looks like it's just you and me, now....
Must be something in the air. All the late-night talk-show hosts are giving up, and last night my hero Craig Ferguson announced he's hanging up THE LATE LATE SHOW at Christmas. He's the only one of 'em I'll miss! The man is NUTS! That's why he's worth watching -- you never know what the hell you're gonna see. Perfect for night owls like me. So if you haven't checked out the crazy Scotsman yet, you've only got eight months left to get with the program, you cheeky monkeys! And see that you do!
Craig says he's hanging it up before he gets stale. Maybe Crabby feels the same way.
Course I'm more from the school of Do what you can until you can't do it no more.
I'm not goin' anywhere....
Monday, October 7, 2013
#718: Something different
Everybody knows self-published books are usually garbage. God knows you've seen me go on and on about several of them in this blog. Usually a self-published book (meaning one not issued by some established publisher) indicates that the writer had a great IDEA for a book ... but just couldn't bring it off.
Self-published books are usually Just Barely in English, were never proofread, and are usually a mass of typographical errors, mixed-up punctuation, and sentences that you can barely make sense out of.
A few of these "masterpieces" have been chopped-up in this blog over the years -- look up such stunning works as Jerry Lucky's PROGRESSIVE ROCK FILES, Joe Benson's UNCLE JOE'S GUIDE TO PROGRESSIVE ROCK, or that Moody Blues COMPANION I reviewed earlier this year.
But there are always exceptions....
Linda Lou's memoir BASTARD HUSBAND: A LOVE STORY is a big exception. It's vivid and funny -- and a bit scary, in places.
I admit I read BH because I'm in the middle of writing a memoir myself, and I wanted to see how someone else did it -- and if a "life story" memoir by someone I'd never met could hold my interest through 250 pages.
That definitely wasn't a problem here.
If you've read Linda's blog, Linda Lou, Live from Las Vegas!, you know she's always direct and funny, and when she writes, she knows exactly what she's doing.
What she's doing here is writing about how her marriage fell apart. There are worse places to end your marriage than Vegas, but Linda shows clearly that Vegas ain't such a party town when you're alone and lonely.
Here's what happens: While traveling for work, Linda meets a guy who seems to be her soulmate. They hit it off, they spend all their time together, they seem to be Cosmically Meant To Be Together. They get married, and as part of following his career as a college professor, they move around The West.
That's when Linda learns that her soulmate husband is an angry, scary drunk. There is an ugly, scary scene in their home in Laramie, Wyoming, that shows how frightening he can be. When they move to Vegas, it becomes clear he has a gambling problem, too.
There's an emotional showdown -- in a swimming pool, of all places. And it becomes clear that Linda can't "rescue" her husband. She can't save him from himself. All she can do is get out of his way.
So she does. He goes on with his life. And while she's looking for work, Linda makes friends, learns about the Vegas nightlife, meets a series of unforgettable characters while serving as a hospice volunteer, and starts doing stand-up comedy at age 46.
There are other good things. Almost every section of this book has some laughs, no matter how serious things sometimes get. Some lines will have you laughing out loud. There is a scene late in the book with Linda's family around the dinner table at Christmas that has GOT to get into some movie someday.
The ending may dribble away just a little bit, but Real Life is like that, and Linda gets something positive out of it. As a survivor's story, it's a winner, and it will make you laugh.
And this book avoids one of my big problems with self-published books: There are VERY few typos. Maybe only two or three in the very last section, which means someone actually proofread it before it was published. That's a definite bonus. You won't be jolted out of the reading experience.
Linda Lou makes writing a memoir look easy. I trust that it wasn't. Especially the ugly parts.
And believe me, these days when I can't get through most novels, anybody who can write about her life and make me hang on every word is worth checking out.
You should check out her blog, too....
Self-published books are usually Just Barely in English, were never proofread, and are usually a mass of typographical errors, mixed-up punctuation, and sentences that you can barely make sense out of.
A few of these "masterpieces" have been chopped-up in this blog over the years -- look up such stunning works as Jerry Lucky's PROGRESSIVE ROCK FILES, Joe Benson's UNCLE JOE'S GUIDE TO PROGRESSIVE ROCK, or that Moody Blues COMPANION I reviewed earlier this year.
But there are always exceptions....
Linda Lou's memoir BASTARD HUSBAND: A LOVE STORY is a big exception. It's vivid and funny -- and a bit scary, in places.
I admit I read BH because I'm in the middle of writing a memoir myself, and I wanted to see how someone else did it -- and if a "life story" memoir by someone I'd never met could hold my interest through 250 pages.
That definitely wasn't a problem here.
If you've read Linda's blog, Linda Lou, Live from Las Vegas!, you know she's always direct and funny, and when she writes, she knows exactly what she's doing.
What she's doing here is writing about how her marriage fell apart. There are worse places to end your marriage than Vegas, but Linda shows clearly that Vegas ain't such a party town when you're alone and lonely.
Here's what happens: While traveling for work, Linda meets a guy who seems to be her soulmate. They hit it off, they spend all their time together, they seem to be Cosmically Meant To Be Together. They get married, and as part of following his career as a college professor, they move around The West.
That's when Linda learns that her soulmate husband is an angry, scary drunk. There is an ugly, scary scene in their home in Laramie, Wyoming, that shows how frightening he can be. When they move to Vegas, it becomes clear he has a gambling problem, too.
There's an emotional showdown -- in a swimming pool, of all places. And it becomes clear that Linda can't "rescue" her husband. She can't save him from himself. All she can do is get out of his way.
So she does. He goes on with his life. And while she's looking for work, Linda makes friends, learns about the Vegas nightlife, meets a series of unforgettable characters while serving as a hospice volunteer, and starts doing stand-up comedy at age 46.
There are other good things. Almost every section of this book has some laughs, no matter how serious things sometimes get. Some lines will have you laughing out loud. There is a scene late in the book with Linda's family around the dinner table at Christmas that has GOT to get into some movie someday.
The ending may dribble away just a little bit, but Real Life is like that, and Linda gets something positive out of it. As a survivor's story, it's a winner, and it will make you laugh.
And this book avoids one of my big problems with self-published books: There are VERY few typos. Maybe only two or three in the very last section, which means someone actually proofread it before it was published. That's a definite bonus. You won't be jolted out of the reading experience.
Linda Lou makes writing a memoir look easy. I trust that it wasn't. Especially the ugly parts.
And believe me, these days when I can't get through most novels, anybody who can write about her life and make me hang on every word is worth checking out.
You should check out her blog, too....
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Rastro goes Tumblr -- great stuff!
Hey, B sure & check out Rastro's new LA HISTORIA DE LA MUSICA ROCK Tumblr site at www.lahistoriadelamusicarock.tumblr.com/ -- it's punchy & funny & quick, & summa the photos he's posted R freakin' GREAT -- some of them R even sorta scary, Hank Williams Sr., 4 1....
Anyway, it's all good 2 C cos 4 awhile I thot Rastro was gonna take the Summer off. So B sure & check out his wit & musical knowledge in a new, quick & easily digestible format. Really, he does more with a photo & a few well-chosen words than I can do in a 2,000-word essay.
...& I'm not just saying this because of the great women-guitarist photos he's been posting....
Anyway, it's all good 2 C cos 4 awhile I thot Rastro was gonna take the Summer off. So B sure & check out his wit & musical knowledge in a new, quick & easily digestible format. Really, he does more with a photo & a few well-chosen words than I can do in a 2,000-word essay.
...& I'm not just saying this because of the great women-guitarist photos he's been posting....
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