The Return Of She-Hulk!

She-Hulk fans can rejoice!  The She-Hulk is getting another solo title.  Charles Soule is the writer.  He's also a lawyer, so that should be a good fit for Shulkie.  Javier Pulido is the artist, and, judging from the preview I saw, he should be another good fit.  It would be nice sometime to see some female creators get a run on She-Hulk, but the current team seem like good choices.  I will be checking out the first issue anyway (scheduled for release in February)!  In fact, I had a subscription (for the first time since I was about thirteen years old) to FF, the Fantastic Four spinoff where She-Hulk had been appearing, and enjoyed that series quite a bit, so my grief over its demise (the last issue comes out this month) will be tempered with my joy over the new solo title.  It'll join Satellite Sam and The Superior Foes of Spider-Man (special thanks to the creators of that title for actually putting on average more than four panels on a page, unlike seemingly every other comic these days) on my monthly pile, and The Sandman Overture whenever it comes out (no, I normally don't restrict my comics reading to titles that being with "S"; that's just a coincidence).  I've also been reading Superior Spider-Man at the local library (yes, my local library is cool enough to stock comic books).  It seems to be a good time for comics.  I'm excited to check out the new titles for the Silver Surfer, the New Invaders (James Robinson on Golden Age characters!), and Dead Boy Detectives (see, I told you that I didn't just read titles that began with "S") titles as well.  With The Flash being one of my favorite characters, I'm excited that a new creative team will be on that title (I found the current team almost unreadable, which is how I feel about most of the New 52 DC--I used to really like DC, but now it's hard to find a title that I'm interested in).  Though it seems from this list that I'm a super hero nut, I used to read more alternative and independent comics, but most of those seem to just be online or in graphic novel format anymore (I read those as well, but let's talk comic books in this post).  However, I was happy to see that Strangehaven is finally returning (hmm . . . maybe I do really like to read titles that begin with "S"). I also did buy issue #21 of Palookaville (which isn't really a comic book anymore unless one really stretches the traditional definition).  I haven't read it yet (hey, if Seth can take forever to release it, then I can take forever to read it--it makes the wait for the next one that much less), but it looks as if the Clyde Fans story still has not ended.  If so, then I hope Seth finishes it before either he or I die.  In the meantime, I'm glad to see that comic books are still around; they can still be quite a bit of fun.

Hooray For Webster's!

Several years ago, I went on a book tour with Crazy Carl Robinson, and we stopped off in State College, Pennsylvania USA to visit a pal. The pal offered to stock a cool local bookstore with copies of our books on consignment. The bookstore was Webster's, and, indeed, it was and is still cool.  I'd like to thank Webster's and my contact there, Molly, for carrying The Pornographic Flabbergasted Emus all these years!  In fact, Webster's was the last store to carry the novel on consignment (a few years back, I started collecting the remaining books left on consignment after I lost a few copies when bookstores closed suddenly during the Great Recession).  Now, I suspect that I am the only one selling new copies of this now old novel (if you've been waiting for Amazon to restock, that's likely not going to happen since the publisher has sold out and the rights reverted to me a few years ago).  The good news is that I still offer the books at 2006 prices, so, with inflation on your side, that probably makes the cost cheaper than when the book was first released.  I only have a few copies left though (28, that's a few, right?).  Once they go, I'll probably put out an ebook edition.  For now though, the Emus remain in print.       

Yip!*: The Return Of Big Dipper!

I was browsing in one of the few remaining record stores recently and was delighted and also totally surprised to find a new record from Big Dipper.  Big Dipper was a band from the Boston area in the 1980s who played a weird style of power pop.  I really liked the band's music.  The last Big Dipper album came out in 1990, so I was quite flabbergasted to find a new record from them 23 years later.  And, literally, it was a record, and not a cd, which made the experience even more surreal (of course, the store I found the record in sells new 8-tracks--yes, new 8-tracks, as in someone released an album in 2013 on 8-track as a format--so perhaps I shouldn't have been that confused by new vinyl from Big Dipper).  At first, I thought the record might have been a past album which I had missed.  When I was in Boston in 2000, I kept finding odd Big Dipper records that I never knew existed, but ever since Merge put out an anthology in 2008, I was pretty sure I had all the released Dipper.  Plus, the record looked too new; however, it was in the used section.  In any case, I scratched my head and bought it.  When I got home, I played the record, loved it, and looked up some information on it.  Apparently, the band had reunited and started recording new material.  They're even on Twitter now.  The new album, Crashes On The Platinum Planet, is really good and basically picks up where they left off many years ago.  You can hear a bit of it on the video above for "Robert Pollard", who apparently also is a fan of the band.  The only bummer is that the cd/mp3 version has a different track listing, so I had to download a couple tracks to complete the new Big Dipper experience (vinyl completists can find those same two songs on a 7"); I don't quite understand why record labels do dumb stuff like that as I'm pretty sure all twelve songs could have fit on the vinyl album (presumably, the fetishizing of rare vinyl by collectors and the subsequent inflated prices for vinyl these days explains it). However, the joy of getting even more new Big Dipper music soon soothed any irritation. On a final note, Big Dipper is also the band that the Pornographic Flabbergasted Emus are supposed to sound like (at least according to The So), but don't look for a reunion from them.  Still, if Big Dipper can pop back up, then perhaps even less likely things can happen!

*Yips are good things.

Cool Yule 2013!

Well, we've nearly made it through another year.  As Opus demonstrates in the picture, it's time to celebrate that fact by stuffing ice cubes down our underwear.

Hmm . . . since I'm not a penguin, maybe I'll just drink some eggnog instead.  I wish you a cool Yule however you choose to celebrate the season and cheer yourself up as the days grow shorter in the Northern Hemisphere*!

*Within reason, of course, please don't do anything too crazy such as chopping down a tree to celebrate life. 

Song: "Hey Honey"

I liked a little shoegazey guitar riff I came up with and wrote some lyrics to it.  You can check out the MP3 here.  For the recording, I enjoyed experimenting with a pen and paper as percussion.  There's even a guitar solo.  Really, this stuff is much more fun and cheaper than therapy.  The lyrics are below.  It's the same deal as always.  If you like a song, then feel free to cover it if you're in a band or whatnot.  I love to hear covers of my songs, so please let me know about your version.  If you start making money, then send me a check/we can work out a deal.  Similarly, if you want to use a song for your Youtube video or whatnot, then just let me know.  It's usually fine by me unless it's a commercial product or whatnot.  Find out first though.  Write me at wredfright ATATAT yahoo DOTT com.

Some terrorist blew up the bus today so I had to find another way home
I decided to walk and as I did I wrote you a little poem
It started as a haiku and ended an epic; I had so many nice things to say
I hope that wherever you are that you're having a really good day

Hey Honey!

When I got home I couldn't find a pencil, so I just had to use a pen
I inked line after line about how glad I was that you were my friend
I think it's great, but The New Yorker probably isn't going to be publishing it
But that's ok because the real talk of the town is how we're such a perfect fit

Written August 2013
Recorded August 2013

Fun With Panning

One fine day this summer, I wanted to fool with remixing, so I took a song I had recently recorded, "End Of Our Youth", and started doing some hard panning of the various tracks in the recording from right to left speaker and back again.  I liked the results, but agree with those who think that hard panning is mainly just losing half the acoustic energy of the recording.  The final result ended up sounding a bit like Nine Inch Nails trying to play dub reggae or something, which was a bit surprising.  I still prefer the original mix myself.  I hope that you enjoy the experiment below; it probably won't be repeated, but it was fun:

Song: "The End Of Our Youth"

I felt like writing a Husker Du/Leatherface type of bitter punk rock love song.  It was fun.  You can check out the MP3 here.  I play guitar and sing on it.  I also add a heap of feedback and smack a plastic bin and a snare drum for the beat (I think.  I recorded it this summer, so I don't entirely remember now).  Really, this stuff is much more fun and cheaper than therapy.  The lyrics are below.  It's the same deal as always.  If you like a song, then feel free to cover it if you're in a band or whatnot.  I love to hear covers of my songs, so please let me know about your version.  If you start making money, then send me a check/we can work out a deal.  Similarly, if you want to use a song for your Youtube video or whatnot, then just let me know.  It's usually fine by me unless it's a commercial product or whatnot.  Find out first though.  Write me at wredfright ATATAT yahoo DOTT com.

Your picture came up on the computer screensaver slideshow today
I thought I had deleted them all, but this one had gotten away
So I started thinking of you which I hadn't done in quite a while
And the last time I saw you was the day of our trial
That was the day it ended, but I remembered how it began
You seemed so sweet then; I really thought that you were my friend
Now if an economist ever had to explain to me opportunity cost
Your picture would be all it would take to tell me what I lost

It was the end of our youth
We were just waiting around to die
It was the end of our youth
Happily ever after was our favorite lie

And lying was apparently one of your favorite things to do
You told me that you graduated from college; you never even went, did you?
And you never told me about your trouble with embezzlement
If I had known about that, things wouldn't have gone as far as they went
Even so, I should have known better and dropped you long ago
I still believed in all that 'til death do us part bullshit though
I can't say that you ruined my life since I did that myself
But you sure stole some of my health and my wealth

And I wonder where you are tonight
And I wonder where you are tonight
And I wonder whose life you're ruining tonight
And I wonder why I wonder

And it's a wonder that we were ever together at all
And if I'm lucky, from you, I will never get another call
But I don't think that I'll delete that photograph
I might need a reminder, even if it hurts to laugh
At how stupid I was; But I made a mistake and I corrected it
So if memory ever tries to paint a happy portrait, then I can get it to quit
I can just look at this picture and remember all those crazy days
And how after you were gone my life got better in so many ways

Written July 2012
Recorded August 2013

Calling All Steampunks!

Every once in a while, I heave a book that I haven't written onto Amazon.Com.  This time, it's a science fiction anthology called Steampunk III:  Steampunk Revolution.  It has some familiar writers in it such as Lev Grossman, Nick Mamatas, Bruce Sterling, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Christopher Barzak, and Catherynne M. Valente.  I'm not as familiar with the other ones.  I bought the book secondhand, but it doesn't appear to have been read.  I haven't read it either.  Perhaps it is waiting for you.  Right now, I have the cheapest price on Amazon, but I suspect it's only a matter of seconds before the algorithms start cranking and the guy trying to sell it for $799.00 will figure out that no one will buy that copy when I'm offering one for $5.99 plus shipping (the $799.00 dude wants you to pay for shipping as well; one would think at that price that the shipping could be thrown in).  Someone will have to explain to me the insane pricing strategies of some of the people selling on Amazon.  Will some demented rich person only buy a book if it's priced in the hundreds of dollars?  If so, I'm missing out.