Comic: d.a. levy

I've been rereading my library over the past few years and gradually discarding it, as much as I love it, as I have no interest in maintaining or moving many boxes of books when I'm 80 years old or however far I make it.  Along those lines, I read a couple books by/about d.a. levy.  levy (yes, like e.e. cummings, the lower case is a poetic decision) was a poet from Cleveland, Ohio USA in the 1960s who was active in the small press movement (think zines before photocopiers were common).  He died young, and people still debate today whether his death was a murder or a suicide.  One thing is certain, he and his fellow "beatniks" (as they were viewed before they started calling the youth hippies) were hassled a lot by the cops.  Frank Walsh, a poet from Philadelphia and my buddy from the Underground Literary Alliance, once told me that the ghost of d.a. levy protects Cleveland, and even if one is not inclined to believe in ghosts, levy's poetry is certainly very-based in Cleveland, and, as a result, he isn't always well-known or understood outside of the area.  But if you do have an acquaintance with the city and its surroundings as well as the time period of the 1960s, then you will likely recognize how excellent a poet levy was.  He also was a talented collage artist.  In any case, I got inspired to adapt one of his poems in comic form.  For outsiders, it helps to understand that Hunting Valley is the little suburb where the people who owned Cleveland lived, which is still somewhat true today. Anyway, here's the comic (click on it to make it bigger):

For more literary fun, read levy's poetry and my novels, such as the latest one, Fast Guy Slows Down!

The Partial Refund eBay Scam

I suppose most eBay sellers know this already, but in case there's a newbie out there, then consider this a public service announcement.  I was once such a newbie and fell for it.  Thankfully, I wised up after that.  Basically, you sell an item, then the buyer messages you afterwards that there is a problem with it.  You say, ok, bummer, sorry about that, please send it back, and I'll refund your money.  Then the buyer says, well, I'll keep it if you send me a partial refund.

Don't do it.  Basically, you have a cheapskate/con artist for a buyer who is looking for a discount after the sale.  The buyer likely tries this scam on every seller because some sellers do fall for it, either because they are worried about their seller rating or it's not worth the trouble to spend any additional time on it.

I wish they wouldn't though because it encourages the scammers to keep trying this same scam.  I don't sell a lot on eBay anymore, but I still seem to get it about once a year.  The way to respond I've found is to just offer a full refund if the buyer returns the item.  Usually, the scammer disappears at that point.  The scammer tried and failed.  Occasionally, the scammer will persist.  Just keep offering the full refund.  Usually, the scammer gives up.  Very rarely, will the scammer just return the item and get the refund.  I've had that happen once in the last few years.

Here's some examples:

1) Dude buys a vintage Star Wars drinking glass from me.  He messages me that the box rattles, and he thinks the glass is broken.  Many messages go back and forth, and mine stay consistent:  "Open it up.  If it's broken, then send it back, and I'll refund you."  He disappears, later posting feedback about how he loves his glass.

2) Dude buys a record and claims it skips.  Since I had played the record before shipping it and it played fine, I am skeptical.  When I don't bite at the partial refund requests, he goes away.

3) Dude buys a golden age comic book and is surprised it is in terrible condition even though I have described it as being in terrible condition.  When I stick to my send it back for a full refund line, he refuses and just gives me negative feedback.  I return his negative feedback with negative feedback (technically positive feedback since eBay refuses to let buyers get negative feedback, but my comments are that he is a scammer and other sellers should beware).  When he complains and has my feedback removed, I call eBay to complain, and, amazingly enough, the eBay representative agrees with me that the dude was trying to extort me with negative feedback and removes his negative feedback and gives him an official eBay demerit or something.  He then goes away.  Apparently, he was ok with his purchase after all.

The latest is a guy who bought a brand new cd box set.  His complaint is that the brand new sealed box has a cutout mark (which was in the pictures and noted in the description).  We'll see what happens with this one.  He already opened up an official return (sometimes the scammers do, hoping the seller will just approve the request and then they get to keep the item and their money--I never do that).  This dude messaged me when he bought it with needless shipping instructions, which is always a red flag (I was half-tempted to cancel the sale then), so he may just be a moron who doesn't read descriptions and just wastes everyone's time and money shipping purchases back.  If the item arrives in the condition it shipped in, then I'll refund his money.  Usually, they never end up shipping it, and eBay closes the return request after a few weeks (in the meantime, I get to have eBay hold my money in case he does return it--thanks, dude). 

As I noted, thankfully, this only happens to me about once a year, but I am sure sellers with greater volume probably deal with this nonsense weekly.  I just hold my return the item for a full refund line and add the scammer to my blocked buyers list so the scammer can't plague me again (at least until the scammer gets a new eBay user id).  I've noticed that over the years most of the scammers on my blocked buyers list get thrown off eBay eventually, so I'm assuming they tried the partial refund scam a few too many times and even eBay got exasperated with them (and, unfortunately, eBay is a little too scammer-friendly because over the years eBay switched from being an equal trading post to placing more emphasis on attracting buyers), which is impressive. 

In addition to holding the full refund line and adding the scammer to your blocked buyer list, I also pay for postal insurance on items sold above $100.  Then if the scammer tries the old "it was lost/damaged in shipping" routine as an excuse for why they can't return the item, you can just direct them to take it up with the post office (and the scammers won't want to deal with a USPS inspector, so that will be the end of it).

The vast majority of my eBay sales go through just fine with happy buyers and a happy seller.  Unfortunately, there are some scammers out there though, so know what to do.  If enough sellers hold the line on partial refunds, then the problem should lessen, which would be good news for everyone.

There is a copy of The Pornographic Flabbergasted Emus for sale on eBay, but you can also buy the novel directly from me.

New Single!: All The Onions In The World

wredfright · All The Onions In The World

I was amazed that no one had written this song before (if they did, then I missed it when I searched, so my apologies) since it seems such an obvious song subject.  Of course, that can be a red flag as well, and maybe I'm the only one stupid enough to actually write it, but the notion of someone who has cried so many tears and is so heartbroken that they can chop onions without crying was very appealing (sorry for the onion peel pun there).  I thought about doing a grunge title and just calling it "Onions," but I decided to use the full title instead.  On another day, I might have decided the reverse.  For the middle bit, what I call the third input and others call the bridge or middle eight (basically, it breaks up the verse/chorus pattern so it doesn't become monotonous), it came out like Mick Taylor-era Rolling Stones, which was cool (though the Brian Jones Stones remain my favorite Stones).  Musically, it's the usual voice, guitar, keyboard as bass, and drums.  There's no weird instrument this time, though I suppose the fact that I used a toy desktop drum set as part of the drums in addition to a suitcase would probably be considered weird by most musicians.  Lyrics are below:

Joe liked to wrap things up in plastic.
Lori taught art at the local college.
Joe's daughter had a rabbit that pooped everywhere in the house.
Joe and Lori went to Iceland for their honeymoon.

All the onions in the world.

Joe said there's some good looking women in the Walmart tonight.
He said he'd like to put them in his shopping cart and take them all home with him.
Lori didn't like it when she found out CEOs of charities were paid a million dollars.
Lori thought about having a warm and fuzzy rabbit for dinner.

I've cried so many tears over you that I could chop all the onions in the world without crying.
And if our love is not dead, then it's dying.

Joe made jokes about Chuck Berry like "Johnny Pee Goode".
Lori wondered if Joe had wrapped their love up in plastic.
Lori left Joe for a transportation engineer.  He made more money.
Joe was sad, but the rabbit never liked Lori anyway.

Thanks to Hugo at Freewheelin' for playing "All Roads Lead To Death" on his radio show!

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7"!

Wild Bill Blackolive Interview

 

My pal Pat King has started working on a documentary about the Underground Literary Alliance (ULA).  Since we had fun working on the old Underground Literary Adventures blog many, many moons ago, he asked if I could help him out a bit, and I was happy to oblige.  While he's working on the documentary, Pat's been putting out short videos based around interviews with ULA members.  This is an interview with Wild Bill Blackolive, author of The Emeryville War.  Pat did most of the work, while I got to have fun talking with Wild Bill.  Thanks to Madrea for helping set up the interview.  Pat also has a video with Frank Walsh up currently as well:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c2WCtz42w0.

If you want to read some literature by The Underground Literary Alliance, then please check out The Slush Pile Strikes Back!

Comic: My Friend Larry

My pal and fellow writer Larry Richette died about ten years ago.  I had never gotten around to reading his last novel, so I tracked down a copy and read it recently.  It was a little depressing that it ended up being a signed copy that Larry had apparently donated to a library but had been cancelled and ended up in my hands (the inscription page was torn out but I could read the inscription from the indentation on the page under it).  Larry was quite a character, and I thought he deserved to be remembered a bit better than a torn-off inscription page, so I drew a comic about him (click on the image to make it bigger).

 

 

If you want to read my novels before I'm dead, you can find the latest one, Fast Guy Slows Down, here.

New Single!: All Roads Lead To Death

wredfright · All Roads Lead To Death

Given the very metal song title, I thought about making the music match, but this is one of those songs where the music came first, and the lyrics second, so I didn't have the heart to break them up.  Musically, this is all at the limits of the standard guitar fretboard.  Lyrically, it is a cheer up song, albeit with quite a bit of gallows humor in it.  I hope it's not implying that life choices are meaningless since it's just meant as a suggestion for people not to dwell on their past decisions too much so they can move on with their lives.  For the weird instrument, I used a tea tin for the high frequency percussion.  Otherwise, it's the usual guitar, voice, bass as keyboard, and drums.  I played some keyboard on it as well.  Lyrics are below:

You didn't save anything for retirement.
You thought the world would have blown up by now.
So now you have to move in with the raccoon
who lives in a hole in the tree in the backyard.
And what became of all those gals you were going to go on second dates with?
Instead, you just went out on more first dates.
So now you're sitting around alone
wondering how things went so wrong.

It doesn't much matter what life choices you made.
All roads lead to death
So just relax and take another breath

You were eating bacon; I can smell it in your sweat.
How come all those politicians for peace keep voting for war?
They complain about the latest mass shooting,
but the whole society's based on violence.
Stop paying property taxes and watch what happens.
Men with guns will escort you from your property.
I see all those Big Pharma commercials selling fear,
but I got what you need, and it's free, and, baby, it's right here.

My uncle told me to eat peppers.
It would put lead in my pencil.
You can sing your pain, emo boy,
but no one cares.  They have pain of their own.
The women of the world are united.
The employers of the world are united.
They wish you well in your future endeavors.
So don't go around thinking you're clever.

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7"!

Noisy And Not So Noisy On Bandcamp!

 

The new album is now on Bandcamp, so now you should be able to listen to it just about anywhere you want.  If you want a mellow version, then Spotify is your ticket since they master it and make it the same volume level as everything else.  If you like it loud, then Soundcloud is for you.  The Bandcamp version is also loud, but it has WAV files uploaded, so it's probably a bit more dynamic, though that will depend on how Bandcamp translates them into MP3s if you download it.  

Anyhow, musicwise expect the occasional single this year if I write any new songs.  Next year, will see the Gang Of Foreigner album if I don't get run over by a bread delivery truck or something.  Some of the tracks from that album are already on Soundcloud, so give them a spin.  As for Noisy And Not So Noisy, feel free to let me know your favorite song on the album or whatnot in the comments.  Otherwise, I'll just assume you loved them all equally.  I made "Sourheart" the featured track on Bandcamp, so I suppose that's the single from the album now that it's released (they all were singles before the album's release).

If you want more Wred Fright music, then listen to the first Yeast? 7", still available after all these decades (i.e., we found some more copies in the back of the closet).

Liner Notes For Noisy And Not So Noisy

 

I enjoy a good set of liner notes, so I try to make some for each album.  Here's the latest:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rg8pjSHBoJ9PxB13doj2q3LeMhbdROTj/view  You can download them or just read them.  Since the album is digital only, the notes should be able to be read without a magnifying glass (sometimes I have to break one out when a cd's liner notes uses tiny font to cram in a bunch of text presumably so the record company can save on printing/packaging costs).  The album is on Spotify now (https://open.spotify.com/album/6xMl0HaSAiYOnXKgt9KS1V though it thinks the album is from 2017--that's ok, it thinks the 2021 album is from 1994; it must date albums from the date of the earliest song composition), so it should be on most music platforms at this point.

If you want more Wred Fright music, then listen to the first Yeast? 7", still available after all these decades (i.e., we found some more copies in the back of the closet).

New Album!: Noisy And Not So Noisy

wredfright · Noisy And Not So Noisy

It looks like I'm releasing albums yearly currently, so here's 2023's album.  It includes songs written from 2017-2020.  I'd say the best tune on it is "Sourheart", but you may find another to be your favorite.  I thought about organizing it into two sides, a noisy side, and a not so noisy side, but I went for how Iggy And The Stooges supposedly arranged Raw Power with a rocker, ballad, classic rocker, and weird one (and if you know the difference between a rocker and a classic rocker, then please let me know).  In any case, I liked how these tunes flowed into one another from beginning to end.  I hope you will as well.  The liner notes should be out in a week or so, and the album will eventually pop up on Bandcamp, Spotify, and the other usual places.  I will keep you posted of course.

Thanks to my pal Loren for playing "Ready For The Next" on the radio last week!  Thanks also to The Tinnitist for including "Pep In Your Step" on a recent playlist! 

If you want more Wred Fright music, then listen to the first Yeast? 7", still available after all these decades (i.e., we found some more copies in the back of the closet).

New Single!: Pep In Your Step

wredfright · Pep In Your Step

This song seems to have a singer dealing out advice.  Is he or she (or they even?) just trying to dole out some encouragement, or is something more sinister being offered such as an illicit drug?  Beats me, I just write the darn songs.  I'm reading a book by Paul McCartney in which he discusses the origins of his songs, and if a Beatle finds the songwriting process mysterious as well, I'm not going to argue.  In any case, here it is.  For the recording, I had some fun punching a punching bag for the bass drum (my advice is wear gloves like boxers do), stepping on a tin lid for more percussion, and turning a nice handclap into some sort of noisy beat that sounds like something Public Enemy's production team would have done to turn a sample into something unrecognizable.  Otherwise, it's the usual voice, guitar, bass as keyboard, and snare drum.  It came out reminiscent of a tune by Sparks, and I'm quite ok with that.  The title probably was an advertising slogan if it weren't already a big band song or something as well.  Lyrics are below:

You were creeping on Facebook again,
and then you slipped into her DMs.
You like hot chicks with glasses.
You tell me, "If I can get them to take them off, they can't see how ugly I am."

What you need is
some pep in your step

"They say I've got a great personality,
but if it's so great, how come no one wants to make out with me?"
Don't give me any of your bourgeois hoo-ha.
Just stay in the established parameters.

Let's hear it for the standard genre expectations.
It's been 25 years, and you still think of her.
I think there might be something wrong with you.
You're always wondering about what might have been while . . .

For more Wred Fright music, listen to the Yeast? 7"!