Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan. I want to be able to write something worth it’s wait as a tribute to a man’s work, that I feel and admire. But I found myself struggling to write something inspirational and poetic to go along with how I feel when I listen to this man’s music and I found it near impossible to tell you, someone who either has or hasn’t listened, no experienced the music of a man who is just as important to music as Elvis Presley and The Beatles, and wouldn’t be the same with out him. Out of all the people who I fallow in “art”, Bob Dylan is one of the few I’d shake his hand and just sit down, and have a cup of coffee with him and talk about nothing. There are a few of them, and he’s definitely on the list. So this post maybe short, but I’d advice to go to you-tube and look up some Dylan, or download his stuff, or by an album or I-tunes the hell out of him. Because like it or not, his work will stand in the light of music for decades to come. Here’s to Bobby D, and the millions of people you've inspired, can't wait till I actually have that cup of joe with ya'.

- A.

Superheros

I was going to write a rant about comic books, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I find to many things in common with the people who are working on comic books to say anything negative about any of them, they all deserve anyone’s respect. Because it’s not about fame (for some it is) and it’s not about fortune (for some it is) and it’s not about authorship or owning what you create (for some it is), it’s about writing about your childhood hero’s, the ones you dreamt about when you where 4 to 29. With out the superhero, there would be no American comics today, that’s a bold statement, but it’s true.

Comic books, when they picked up speed before the superhero came along, where crime, horror, romance, fantasy and science fiction, all pulp magazines, which are fantastic in they’re own right, but they didn’t have the bang to capture thousands upon thousands of children’s hearts and imaginations, Like Batman does or Superman, or even Spider-Man. With out the superhero, they’re would be no need for the anti-superhero comics like the titles released under Vertigo. With out the superhero there would be no indie comics, trying to make it on they’re own.

So some of us may dislike the 12 different Batman titles, but you know what, with out it, you wouldn’t be here reading comic books like Love and Rockets or Walking Dead or V for Vendetta or Any comic books currently, in America.

Japan, France and Italian comics, it’s hard to say whether or not the superhero had any influence or impact on the early comics that gave way for they’re “classics”. But there is an influence of the superhero over there now. And where do the superhero come from you might wonder? The Greek and Roman god mythos, or at least in part, is where they come from. There are whole studies on the superhero and comic books, which have been done for ages and ages.

So do I have anything against the superhero? No, would I much rather read something not about someone saving the earth or humanity from an alien named Brainiac, yes. So it comes down to personal opinion, much like film, art, music and heck, even religion goes, it’s all personal opinion. So do I care what comics you read? No, do I care that you read comics? Hell-yes I do. And am damn happy to hear it too.

(And I’ve read superhero comics, even owning some of my own. But thank the ___ for people who like to push the limits of even a alien in red and blue spandex. And I own a lot of Batman paraphernalia, including films and cartoons, so who am I to bitch about it. Ha!)

Dead Kennedys

The year is 1980, month is September, the band is the Dead Kennedys, the album is Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. The outcome is : One of the greatest hardcore punk albums if not one of the greatest punk albums. It’s a half an hour plus trip of power that puts even some of the most brutal metal acts to shame. And to this day still holds it’s own weight with or against some of the current line of “punk”. And is one of my favorite albums. Now, what am I getting to? Nothing. I am boasting about a band that I feel is one of the better aspects to a genre as varied as the people who listen to it.

I’ve been into “punk” for some time now, it started with one of the more mainstream bands, the offspring back when Americana came out, and they’re most known song “Pretty Fly for a White Guy” became a novelty. I never looked much into punk until I started studying music more thoroughly. Which it is very safe to say with out “punk” there would be no Metallica or Slayer. But punk’s influence would continue past the 80’s thrash metal acts into current music.

It’s a powerful genre that now takes up 20 some odd present of music today, turn on the radio to almost any “rock” station minus the oldies and soft rock, but you’ll inevitably hear a “punk” song or a so called “punk” song by whom ever. It’s no surprise that like everything else in music, where ever you are, it is very drawn out. Punk once was something to be scared of and have caution around, now it’s cute to have your 5 year olds in would-be Mohawks and little artificial leather jackets with The Ramones or Sex Pistols logos covering the back of the jacket. You have to think to yourself “Does that kid really listen to songs like Pretty Vacant or Chain Saw”, and you know the question is no, and probably the same goes for dear mommy or daddy who fixes they’re kid up to look like Sid Vicious mated with Kate Moss and out popped a little punker.

Now I may sound bitter, but I’m not. Funny, don’t you think? Hmm. My rant has run dry for the moment. Oh well. I am thinking of writing another review sometime soon. Never know when though. Oh, another thing, I’ve been meaning to read Ghost World, hopefully soon, I’ll get my sticky fingers all over it. also, I had a meeting today with people about my up coming film, I’ve found a replacement for the member who left, I hope.

... May not be continued. Ha.

Blank Generation

Even Flow (4) - Nothing Specific.

I joined Twitter, I feel dirty for doing so. I like the idea of randomly posting nothing important on it. A bit of random nothingness seems to be quite entertaining. Even more so when someone might actually read it.

I was listening to Richard Hell and the Voidoids - Blank Generation. It’s a fantastic album, it’s characteristics have been adopted by many punk bands since it’s release. It was a great buy on my part. I think I should write another review of some random album again, giving me something to do would be awesome, so why not.

Currently, I am in the middle of casting changes for my film. It’s become a bit of a trouble, but I am sure I’ll have it pinned down in no time.

I killed a paper wasp today, it was inside the office, am I proud of killing one of these peaceful creatures ?$#^ yes I am. It can stay outside of my house, but once it enters, it’s thorax is grass.

I wrote a lot today, nothing too important.

Read a lot, was insulted by the idea of “Generation Y” and that I may be apart of it. Which I reject completely.

I was recently, at the I AM fest, which I was only there for about a 30 minutes, then walked to Reckless Records, which is a straight shot down the street from the congress theater. I love that place, just sad that it is about a hour or so away in perfect traffic from where I sit now. Oh Well, but I will be there again, eventually.

… I really have nothing interesting to talk about.

… Hmm.

Dyslexia.

Do you read comic books? I do, they’re a very important part to our culture, and what do people think when I say comic books, is usually Spider-Man, or Archie, or Maybe even the comic strips in the funnies section of your paper. And no, I don’t mean those, I mean real comic books. Like Sandman, Love and Rockets, 100 Bullets, Doom Patrol, V for Vandetta, The Dark Knight Returns, Concrete, The White Lama, Black Jack, Dawn, Queen & Country, Cerebus the Aardvark, or Strangers In Paradise.

I am talking about comic books, right now, because of one thing, If it wasn’t for comic books, I never would of learned how to read. Now given that I do have dyslexia and I didn’t learn how to read till I was about 12 to 13. Back then, I had always loved comic books, they where amazing source of art to stare at even if I couldn’t read the words. Back then, Image was still on top of the game, Marvel was loosing money, DC was floundering, and Oni and Dark Horse, where strong but still respectably tiny.

So when I had found the internet store for comics called “Next Planet Over”, I oozed with delight. And I don’t remember if I had picked the series or if my mom did, but regardless, I ended up with the series called Danger Girl. Danger Girl was a series created by J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell, this series back then was a key stone to my love of not only looking at comics but reading them. And It just hit that I had to read them. I had to. So I made myself. It took a while I am sure, since I am working off of memory, I can’t really get down most of the details but it worked. I ended up reading them, all three of the collected books I had got.

And lets be honest, it was the women of “Danger Girl” who pulled me into reading it, I am not going to cop out and say “Oh, I was young, into bright colors and I had nothing else to read”, which is bull. They where hot, I liked hot women back then, still do, and it was 2 plus 2 equals 4 for me.

Moving on. After danger girl, I had gotten into other comic books back then, which now I look at and ask myself “why would you ever read (or try to read) such a thing like this”. And that’s true, I’d see something “cool” looking and I’d pick it up and try to read it. It was like brand new to me and I had to be all over the place. But back then, like many young male boys, I had to get the flashy, new comics, like Spawn or other Image titles. Back then, it was always about Image.

Now, that I had more comics, I read them, a lot. Or tried to, still being new to the whole reading thing, I am glad, that I picked the flashy ones, because they pulled my attention, even if I couldn’t read some of the words still. Around this time, I was getting into music also, Metallica’s Load and Reload played a big part in my life back then, and ^&*%^ you if you hate those albums, I love them.

But back to the dyslexia, I still suffer from it, or gain from it, depending on how you look at it... There are 101 different theories to why anyone person could have dyslexia. Dyslexia can almost cripple a kid who doesn’t have the support of his or her family or themselves. If my mother didn’t believe in me, I probably wouldn’t be where I am, if my father wasn’t who he is, I probably wouldn’t be where I am, if I wasn’t who I wanted to be, I wouldn’t be who I wanted to be. Having dyslexia didn’t cripple me, I never let it "cripple" me or inhibit me from learning or reading. And that’s a very important lesson I had to learn for myself.

And when you think about the people who’s had dyslexia before you, it’s kind of amazing, I won’t list every one, because not every one knows everyone who has dyslexia.

Edward James Olmos, Orlando Bloom, Erin Brockovich, Tom Cruise, Anthony Hopkins, Jay Leno, Ozzy Osbourne, Guy Richie, Billy Bob Thornton, Kiera Knightley, Sylvester Stallone, Joss Stone, Andy Warhol, John Lennon, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Albert Einstein, Robin Williams, Tomas Edison, Nelson Rockefeller. Leonardo Da Vinci.

That says a lot about people with Dyslexia and should put power to those who feel they won’t amount to anything because of Dyslexia. Even Nelson Rockefeller put it perfectly in a quote of his.

“I was one of the 'puzzle children' myself -- a dyslexic . . . And I still have a hard time reading today. Accept the fact that you have a problem. Refuse to feel sorry for yourself. You have a challenge; never quit!” - Nelson Rockefeller.

I don’t know about you but that says it all right there.

So, to conclude, I’ll say I now read novels of legendary stature like Naked Lunch and The Inferno and On the Road and that I’ve moved on to better comic books. Ha.

Please, visit these sites for further information about Dyslexia.

www.dyslexia.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyslexia

http://www.dyslexia.org/

And if you know someone who has Dyslexia, do yourself a favor, never, ever give up on them. Empower them with all that you have, it will be 100 times worth it, if not for you, but for them.

Thanks!

(PS, while writing this, I constantly miss spelled Dyslexia, about 66 times.)

Dylan Dog.

Even Flow (2). Dylan Dog, Rubert Everett, and Pearl Jam.

Currently, I am reading The Dylan Dog Case Files, which is quite an amazing comic book, I had never head of Dylan Dog till earlier this year, when I had got my hands on Cemetery Man, a cult classic horror film, which is one of my favorites, now I have to admit I am confused over who “Francesco Dellamorte” to Dylan Dog… Though I’ve read that he is a “Alter-Ego” to Dylan Dog, and as well as a completely different character all together in the universe of Dylan Dog.

Anyway, the film captured my ever steady need for “amazing horror films”, not just good or so-so, but good, classic, defining, the cream of the ooze so to speak. And Cemetery Man (Dellamorte Dellamore) was on the list and I came across it by mistake and I actually had to convince myself to buy it, along with that I had picked up Gozu, which also ended up being one of my favorite horror films as well as favorite films in general.

So Curious about Cemetery Man, I watched the special features (Making of and such) and found out that it was loosely based off of a comic book, this peaked my interest meter a bit and I looked it up, and I had found out that Dylan Dog is one of the biggest Italian comic books, with “More then one million copies per month printed” and huge critical and pubic reaction. So, no %*$@ I wanted to read it. But the problem came when trying to find it.

Much like everything in life that I crave for, I have to hunt it down like a wild animal, so I hit the usual websites and as usual, I came up dry - which didn’t surprise me. I had found out that most of the English Dylan Dog comics have been long out of print and are now collectors items. Which again, didn’t surprise me. So I put my “want” to find the comic aside and focused on other productive things, like not looking for it.

So a few days ago, randomly looking though various whatever, I had came across the Dark Horse website, a site I like to keep in my pocket, since they are one of the best comic publishers to date. And I come to find the words “The Dylan Dog Case Files” which instantly catches my eye and I come to find that they released an English volume with 600 pages plus worth of Dylan Dog, needless to say, I found it.

And now, it’s one of the best Euro comics I’ve read, and maybe one of the best comics I own period. But yes… Moving on…

Currently, I don’t know. That’s basically my mind state at the moment. A whole lot of “blah” within my brain.

Although exciting news, I had found out that Devil’s Due Publishing will be re-releasing Humanoid Comics, meaning that good out of print Euro comics will be back in the states and hopefully be re-releasing The Incal, among others! This makes me a happy panda.

And Pearl Jam’s new album will be released this year, so double whoot.

Hmm, I’ve lost any direction as to where I wanted to go with this… I guess that’s why it’s called “Lucid Flow” or now I should say Even Flow. I was told that no one would search LUCID FLOW and I am sure their right, so I changed it to the overly hyped single from Pearl Jam’s TEN, so I hope I am not hitting some… copy-right infringement thing. I didn’t mean to. I blame marketing. DAMN YOU MARKETING! Your such a cold and cruel lover!

… So how about them cubs. (rhetorical question.)

- A

Post Punk, Film, Problems.

I don’t know what to write about, being a “writer” in general has it’s good qualities and it’s horrible bits. Writers block is one of them, but there isn’t really anything stopping me from writing. So it’s not a block. And I can write a bunch of random things for various projects, just nothing for the Blog.

This is just a stream of lucid thought… basically, writing what comes to mind or finger tips in this case.

Currently, I am infatuated with post-punk music, I find it to be artistically gratifying. So far the bands on my radar are as fallowed…

Joy Division. Sonic Youth. The Cure. Bauhaus. Public Image LTD. Siouxsie and the Banshees. Fugazi. Husker Du. Killing Joke. Echo and the Bunnymen. Love and Rockets. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Swans. The Sisters of Mercy.

Interestingly enough, that some of these bands, like Bauhaus and the Cure, I have been involved with for quite some time (meaning I’ve owned albums for years, rather then months). And some bands like Siouxsie, Joy, Husker, and Echo - I responded poorly too. I felt that the music lacked anything I was looking for at the time I first heard them. And about … 9 months ago, I started looking into they’re work again and now I can’t get enough of it.

Only problem is, is that so few stores / resale-shops carry these bands, which causes problems for me, because I am a cheap bastard and usually buy used, or less then retail, but more used then anything else. Anyway, I am usually rarely unable to find 90% of the bands I listed above, which seriously bothers me. But then again, who ever owns these albums must love them enough to not let them slip through they’re fingers, but still aches since I barely am able to get my hands on any of it, with out taking out a 9 loan on 5 houses I don’t own. (in other words, some of these albums coast a arm and a ^*%*($ leg. It’s %$(*% but what am I going to do about it.

Anyway, aside from my love for an amazing music genre…

Currently I am working on two small film projects, one is a short “horror” story and the other is a music video for practice. Both of which are going along smoothly. The short film already has a cast, hair and make-up. So hopefully I’ll be working on that in a psychical form soon.

Outside of that, I’ve been in and out of the gloom and doom mood, I am starting to feel like my emotions or rather my mind, can make up what it wants from me. I am really tried of this rollercoaster ride with how I feel. And I’d detail about those things but I am 5 steps away from turning into one of those “I am going to write in my blog and then send it to 56 people, to let them know how horrible I feel” people. Those people aggravate me.

Currently playing is Dead Souls, a 4:56 minute masterpiece of post-punk.

Oddly enough with Post-Punk, comes a familiar term “goth”. “Goth” is so… obscured that I am not even sure what it means aside from the historical meanings and the literary genres. It use to be a “trend” now made into a sort of “Movement” and even “Goth” has like 16 subgenres of “goth”.

When I was about 13, I use to think of myself as a “goth”, because I couldn’t or didn’t want to define myself as just “me”. I wanted to put myself into a suit that never fit me. I always had to label myself. Now I look back and think about how much of a dork I was… Still Am.

But yes, I feel obsolete and confused about various things, almost unsure about certain things, but none of it comes to me or my own self, which is reassuring but to what extent… that is a question for another day and an answer is far from being near me.

Anyway… I am not sure of what else to say, … aside from …. Sister Ray by Joy Division, is fantastic.