Cool Yule 2023!

I am wishing you a Cool Yule!  See you in 2024!

If you need something to listen to, then check out Noisy And Not So Noisy!  If you need something to read, then check out the Library!

Twilight Of The Blogs

With apologies to Pete Seeger, where have all the blogs gone?  Over the years, I accumulated 69 blogs (the number is purely unintentional, but the gutter-minded may go ahead and giggle) on my little Blogger reading list (I suppose I could have thrown in WordPress blogs and other sites, but I stuck to Blogger-based blogs to avoid any tech glitches), but it looks like only 20 are still active.  4 are completely gone or have just left an empty shell behind.  2 shut down in 2011, 7 in 2012, 5 in 2013, 5 in 2014, 4 in 2015, 3 in 2016, 2 in 2017, 3 in 2018, 5 in 2019, only 1 in 2020 (people probably rediscovered their blogs with the massive amounts of freetime the crazy lockdowns created), 6 in 2021, and 3 in 2022.  Now, of course, assuming that someone hasn't forgotten their login credentials, one could always do another post at any time.  Many of the blogs as they go defunct are like that.  They start slowing down and do a couple of posts one year, then a final post a year later.  Some even spring back to life.  Eddie Campbell's blog was moribund since 2018, and really 2012, and he posted twice this year.  However, that's a rarity.  Instead, most of the defunct blogs make no formal goodbye  They just stop as the publisher lost interest, or lost login credentials, or got hit by a bus or whatever.  It is interesting to think how long a digital afterlife might exist after people die.  Print works differently, but websites have an immediacy to them that makes it weird when they're still up but abandoned for whatever reason.  At some point, Google will likely pull the plug, if not on Blogger entirely, then on the dormant blogs (they're doing this with Gmail accounts currently).  So if there's anything you like, as always, the smart idea is to save it while you can before someone gets a bee in their bonnet and deletes it.  Some of the blogs do put a gravestone up or a moving sign or whatever.  Blogs are just like zines or any personal publishing psychologically.  They fill a need for a time, and then most people move on.  A few people appear to be lifers, and those are the ones still publishing in 2023.  Blogs clearly are a little passe though.  Most folks self-publishing in 2023 are just going to start a Substack, and that's pretty cool because of the email aspect, though the constant badgering for money is a tad annoying (of course, I have a PayPal begging bowl up on my blog so I shouldn't complain).  It's cool the old blogs are still up as they have a lot of good reading on them, though given the immediacy of the Web medium I don't know how many people are going to read random blog posts from 2015 or whatnot.  I have stumbled across other cool Blogger blogs over the years, but I didn't put them on my list because it looked like the blogger had already abandoned the blog.  The Web used to be the world's greatest newsstand, and it maybe it still is, but with all the censorship (self and otherwise), paywalls, and garbage out there it isn't what it once was, but here's a toast to those still blogging away.  Cheers!

If you, like me, sometimes struggle to find something interesting to read online, why not read a novel, for example, Blog Love Omega Glee, about a couple of bloggers back when blogs were considered cooler than they are today (fun fact:  "Twilight Of The Blogs" was going to be the title of the novel before that silly fiction series about vampires came out)?

Comic: Marvel Vs. DC

Carol & John's Comic Book Shop in Cleveland, Ohio USA has an annual art show as a fundraiser for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.  This year's theme is Marvel Vs. DC.  I drew a comic for it.  Unless they hate it when I turn it in (it's not a conventional cover and since they gave me a whole blank comic book to draw, I filled the whole thing up, though only the cover--this comic--will be displayed), it will be displayed at the store along with the other art from December 13-16, then raffled off the night of the 16th.  To read the comic, I suggest clicking on the image and making it full screen.  You could also download it after you click on it for the primo view, I suppose.  I've also loaded the panels individually below if you like scrolling down (it works either way).

For more fun (albeit words, not pictures), read one of my novels, such as the latest, Fast Guy Slows Down!

New Single!: Hank Rose And The Rank Hos

wredfright · Hank Rose And The Rank Hos

I started writing this song over 20 years ago because the transposition in the words amused me, but it never made it further than the chorus.  Set aside for many years, it came to mind while working on a new song and then grew its verses and whatnot and finally arrived.  It's about an unemployed adult film star complete with his casual misogyny and life regrets.  For the music, I employed my kid's keyboard which has a fun cat meow option.  At first, the singing sounded like a Happy Flowers song, but I added in crooning (you can still hear the original singing in the mix though).  Otherwise, it's the usual voice, guitar, keyboard as bass, keyboard and drums.  Lyrics are below:

I wanted to do Shakespeare.
Instead I just did Judy in Apt. 3B.
It wasn't supposed to happen this way,
but I had to pay the bills.
Maybe you can relate.
Always some asshole nipping at our heels.
I can't make a living with my dick anymore.
That's ok; we're all fucked anyway.

Hank Rose and the rank hos.

They have cameras everywhere these days,
but there's nothing worth watching.
When did everyone get so boring?
Everyone's got a stick up their ass.
I bet you do too.
This whole country is a damn death cult.
I read old magazines.  It was a better world.
What happened to the future?

I've got the pornstar blues,
so they make me take the red pills,
but the drugs aren't fun anymore.
I can still get it up, but no one wants to get down.
They want to make love a crime.
I overhear them in the bars.
They just talk shit and don't buy me a drink.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

Comic: Raccoon Hospice

A former coworker told me this story.  I thought it was both hilarious and sad and would make for a good comic, so I drew it.  Based on a true story as they say.  The people involved remain anonymous to protect the guilty.  To read the comic, I suggest clicking on the image and making it full screen.  You could also download it after you click on it for the primo view, I suppose.  I've also loaded the panels individually below if you like scrolling down (it works either way).

 

 

 

For more fun (albeit words, not pictures), read one of my novels, such as the latest, Fast Guy Slows Down!

New Single!: Courtesy Flush

wredfright · Courtesy Flush

This song is about pettiness in the workplace.  The semi-deranged narrator gets revenge for how he or she has been ill-treated by refusing to do a courtesy flush in the restroom of the small office.  For those unfamiliar with what a courtesy flush is, basically one flushes as soon as the excrement lands in the bowl so any resulting smell is negated by the instantaneous flush.  Not great for saving water, but if you work in a small office, it is quite nice not to have to smell poop all day.  In this case, office politics have resulted in ill feelings and a lack of the courtesy flush.  The worker's strange fecal protest doesn't mean that the management or boss is innocent.  He or she is probably also semi-deranged.  Such is the state of work in America (and probably the world today).  In any case, I had fun with this song.  In keeping with the lyrical theme, the instrumentation includes a toilet (both the flush and its use as a drum), a pencilholder as a drum (I think it actually is a drum but I've been using it as a pencilholder for years, so this is the first time it has perhaps been used as originally designed), and staplers as percussion.  Other than that, it's the usual voice, guitar, and keyboard as bass.  I like the chorus.  It reminds me of Black Flag.  Lyrics are below:

Work is starting to piss me off.
Don't know if I can make it another day.
Got my fuck-you money, my freedom fund,
so I can just walk away.

The office manager's on a power trip,
but she should know better than to give me any lip.
In the small office, there's a hush.
Nobody's getting the courtesy flush.

It don't matter what they say.
We're going to have a great day.

Office politics, collective guilt,
and only one restroom.
Used to be polite and flush right away
so the smell wouldn't linger all day.

But now they can fire me; I don't give a shit.
Well, I did, but I left it in the toilet.
Can't wait to read the passive aggressive email from the lush.
There's no more courtesy flush.

Middle management is quite useless.

I have to work to pay my bills,
but I am no one's slave.
Finks rise to the top of the hierarchy,
then they think they don't have to behave.

Asskissers, yesmen, and The Peter Principle
explain a lot about society.
But until assholes learn to blush,
there will be no courtesy flush.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

Comic: Inflation

This comic was inspired by finding a receipt from just two years before and realizing just how awful inflation had become under Joe Biden (sorry, my Democratic friends, but it's true).  You can argue until you're "blue" in the face that it's not his fault, but his economic policies are generally not helpful to the average person or to America or the world overall.  I am generally not fond of Milton Friedman, but he had at least one great idea, typified in this quote:  "One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results."  Even if one has good intentions, one's actions can still create a negative outcome if they haven't been fully thought through as to the consequences, often unintended.  I wrote an earlier comic about the lowering of the 1099-K reporting threshold, which is a good example of a bad Biden policy.  Nothing's been done to remedy it yet, and time is running out.  It's like Biden doesn't even have enough sense to help himself out.  He's running for reelection, and right now if Congress doesn't pass a remedy (and the Republicans in the House may drag their feet into 2024 just to mess with Biden) he's going to start off the election year by pissing off millions of taxpayers (many of whom might be otherwise inclined to vote for him) with a surprise 1099-K and unexpected tax bill and hassle.  At this point, it would be a relief just to have the conman back in office and be back in pre-virus panic 2020, even if that wasn't an ideal time in and of itself.  Anyhoo, let's get to the comic before prices rise again.  To read the comic, I suggest clicking on the image and making it full screen.  You could also download it after you click on it for the primo view, I suppose.  I've also loaded the panels individually below if you like scrolling down (it works either way).

 

For more fun (albeit words, not pictures), read one of my novels, such as the latest, Fast Guy Slows Down!

Comic: The Adventures Of An Old Irish Couple In The Old Days

This comic is based on an old family tale.  To read the comic, I suggest clicking on the image and making it full screen.  You could also download it after you click on it for the primo view, I suppose.  I've also loaded the panels individually below if you like scrolling down (it works either way).

 

For more fun (albeit words, not pictures), read one of my novels, such as the latest, Fast Guy Slows Down!

New Single!: Having Fun In The Former USA

wredfright · Having Fun In The Former USA

And I had fun making this song and track.  I stuck a microphone in bubblewrap and rubbed the wrap for the chorus percussion.  That's probably the weirdest instrument, though beatboxing like The Fat Boys for the hi-hat sounds and beating on a suitcase for the bass drum aren't too common either.  Other than that, it's the usual voice, guitar, keyboard as bass, and drum.  Lyrically, the singer seems to be either coming from the future when the USA actually has fallen apart like the old USSR or he feels like an alien in his own country, a metaphorical former USA.  Either way, I'm not sure I believe him when he says he's having fun.  It sounds more like he's trying to convince himself.  On the other hand, if he is having fun, then that should be a source of comfort to anyone worried about a second civil war.  Like The Beach Boys playing a gig in an apocalyptic wasteland, there are still some good times to be had!  Lyrics are below:

My father likes to sing when he thinks that nobody is listening.
Meanwhile, almost everybody else is talking about their new social media strategy.
I have one as well.  It's called deleting all my accounts.
Because I'd rather have no friends, then a thousand fake ones.

Oh, I'm having fun living in the former USA

It's where they tell you you're crazy if you start to think for yourself
instead of following the advice of so-called experts and buying your opinions off the shelf.
It's where they like to smear everything so no one can see,
and the more they talk about freedom, the less we're free.

The rot of empire has a tremendous opportunity cost
Sections of Cleveland look like The Russians bombed them already, but it was just us.
I have one uncle left, and he told me to start calling him Samantha.
I feel like we're dreaming together a book called Finnegan's Wank.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7" or give his latest album a listen or download at your favorite digital music site such as Spotify or Bandcamp!

This Piece Of Clothing Contains Better Cotton Even If It Actually Doesn't

If you are concerned about the environment and want to support sustainability, then you might buy a piece of clothing with "Better Cotton".  If you still want to feel good about yourself, then don't read the fine print, which states "may not contain Better Cotton".  

I am sure this "greenwashing", as it is known, has plenty of reasons to explain how even though the Better Cotton product you just bought doesn't actually contain Better Cotton, it's still all good and green and sustainable, but it's still basically like buying organic orange juice and then reading the label and finding out it may not contain organic oranges.

Or even oranges.

Ah, corporate America . . . 

Maybe buy something from an actual person instead such as my new novel, which contains 100% individual writing!

Comic: Peeing In A Cup

Fortunately, I've only had to do drug tests for employment a few times.  Since I don't use drugs, I don't care too much, but the privacy invasion is annoying, and the waste of money (which we pay for ultimately as consumers in the prices we pay for products and services) is more galling.  Employment drug testing is a dumb tradition that should be abandoned.  On the other hand, it did inspire this comic strip, and the notion that every day in America, planes, trucks, and maybe even boats are all carrying little bottles of pee across the country is pretty funny.  To read the comic, I suggest clicking on the image and making it full screen.  You could also download it after you click on it for the primo view, I suppose.  I've also loaded the panels individually below if you like scrolling down (it works either way).

To see why I don't need drugs to have a good time, please read Frequently Asked Questions About Being Dead.