Okay, folks, the eighties are over . . .

I'll admit that I'll occassionally get a taste for some trashy TV--I know I've spent hours watching wrestling, and even attended a few events in person. Had a great time, too.

What I'm not getting, though, are those folks who seem to prefer garbage, pretty much exclusively.

Like all those 80s TV shows that are suddenly such a big deal--both the originals and remakes. Are people watching those because they were so good? No--they watch them because they can point at them and laugh about the inane crap we used to consider entertainment. Which in and of itself ain't bad. However, it seems like they just can't get enough of the pointing and the laughing. To the point where that's all they want to do.

Look if it sucks, it sucks. Knight Rider, The Incredible Hulk, The A-Team, Miami Vice . . . they all sucked. They all still suck. They were godawful.

And don't get me started on the idiotic, boring drivel that was considered music--Duran Duran? The Police? The Human League? Juice Newton? Yawn, people!

And the people who still consume this crap consume it because it's crap! Whoever did that is an evil genius. I mean, really. Almost literally making money off of shit.

Sorry. It just drives me nuts, seeing yet another remake of a film from that era, another TV show, whatever, inflicted on us. Nothing new under the sun? Maybe not, but we can do better than that.

Sheesh, people.

Them dirty low down bronchitis blues

Yes, I have bronchitis, according to the doc-in-a-box I saw yesterday.

Fortunately the antibiotics and cough syrup he put me on seem to be working. I do feel better this morning and I coughed up about a half-gallon of icky crap this morning. I don't quite feel good enough to go to work yet--I think the meds need another day. But I am getting there.

I did make a start on my next project, the screenplay to Seer. So far, so good. So, this time isn't a total waste.

So, I'm gonna spend the day napping, chilling, watching day-time TV, and maybe do a little writing. Oh, and noodling around with a guitar when I start feeling a little more ambitious.

Sunday afternoon randomocity - endings, etc. . . .

I'm at the point in my life where everything seems to be coming to an end at once.

My dad won't be around much longer, for one thing. I'm not as close to him as a lot of people are to their parents, but still, it's a big change.

From what his vet tells me Atari won't be around much longer, either. That tumor in his belly will probably rupture any time now and he'll bleed out internally. Every day when I get home from work I hold my breath until I see that he's still alive and kicking. I do take some solace in the fact that his condition shouldn't cause him any pain--when he does go he should do so without pain, though if he's awake when it happens he'll probably be aware that something is going on. When that happens I really don't know what I'll do. I'm really not sure that I'll be able to handle it. He's a huge part of my life and I love him so much it scares me.

On top of all that, the fact that sometime in the next year I'll have to move to Douglasville if I want to keep my job. That's something I'm dreading. I don't want to live within spitting distance of Atlanta. I hate Atlanta. I avoid that place as much as I possibly can. So, of course, I'm going to have to live there. Dammit.

I am happy that my goddaughter's commercial is airing regularly. I'm seeing it at least a couple times a day now. Very cool. Saw it this morning, actually.

And now I feel like I'm getting sick. You know that feeling you always get when you're coming down with something? I've had that since last night. Terrific. And of course I'm out of everything I could take for it.

Oh, well. I was planning to work on my next project a while, today, and I still might, if I have the strength. Need to work on the plot a little more, sort of work it into shape. That'll be fun. So I keep telling myself.

I'll get by. Maybe something new will arise to replace some of the things that are dropping out of my life. Let's hope!

OK, this is officially not funny

I mentioned my next musical project was going to be called Seer. It was going to be a collection of tunes that could be the soundtrack to a film that doesn't exist.

Naturally I had a basic idea for this nonexistant film. I just needed to rough out an outline, get a basic plot, and then start working on the music. It really wasn't necessary to get down into the details, the nuts-and-bolts, since I wasn't planning to actually write the screenplay for the movie itself.

So, while I'm sort of mulling it over, I come up with an opening act that I like a lot. Then, I came up with an ending that I like a lot. That in and of itself is the hardest part, for me--coming up with an ending. There are no words for how much easier it is to write this thing, now that I know before I even sit down to start on it where we're going.

Dammit. I was about to get cooking on this novel, Vampire Blues, too. Now that doesn't interest me as much, though I'm sure it will, again, one day.

I'm still going to do the music for it, even though if this thing manages to get made I doubt it would actually get used on the soundtrack--I just need to have a musical project in the hopper, for some reason. In the mean time, got some more development to do, plot to flesh out, characters to develop, that sort of thing, then it's a matter of sitting down and writing writing writing . . .

Anyways, I'm getting more and more excited about it. Hell, it'll keep me busy and out of trouble, anyway!

Let's all chant!

My new tune "I Summon Thee . . ." is available. You can click here to listen to it and download it, too, if you dig it.

It's a summoning spell but if you don't perform a sacrifice or set out and light the candles you should be fine. If, however, you decide to complete the ritual I make no guarantees as to your safety.

I haven't done anything like this before, but I'm pretty happy with it. I hope you like it. As always, I'd love to hear your opinion on it.

Weekends were made for . . . what?

I've actually already accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish this weekend. I gave Atari his bath this morning.

That's all I've got planned. I've got some stuff I want to do--I want to work some more on the new tune, "I Summon Thee . . ." and make some notes for this novel idea I've been thinking about. Beyond that I plan to sleep quite a bit, and maybe start planning a little on my next musical project, Seer.

It's kind of sad, I know, that I"m not out partying or something. No real reason for me not to. But I've been there, done that. It's boring to me, getting drunk and striking out with women I meet in bars. I can stay home, not spend the money, and watch whatever I feel like watching on TV.

I've been meditating a bit about being alone, too, lately. Recent events--namely my surgery--sort of underscored the disadvantages of not having someone there I can trust to help me out. But, still, I'd rather continue to be alone than settle for the companionship of someone I'm not happy with. Been there, done that, too--I'd rather be alone than be involved with someone I'm really not all that interested in. Yes, it'd be nice to have someone, but not someone who will make me miserable and who I will in turn make miserable.

Are there any women out there who meet my impossibly high standards? Yes, actually. I know a couple. But it hasn't worked out, and probably won't. Still, I'm okay with that.

Wow. Guess that was more on my mind than I thought! Anyways, I'm planning on chilling and creating all weekend. To me, in my old age, that is fun!

So, how about you? What are you doing this weekend?

Early Thursday evening randomocity

Just tracked the vocals for "I Summon Thee . . ." It's more of a chant, really. Interesting stuff. I've never done anything like that before. Neat little interplay between the lower-register vocals with the higher-register ones. I'll have to play with that some more.

I'll be adding some more tracks--synths, guitars, other stuff--over the next few days. After that . . . I don't know for sure. I'll for sure upload it for your listening pleasure. But what will my next project be?

I've had this idea for years for a vampire thing and it's starting to get kind of interesting to me again, as a novel this time. I've been making some notes, putting some thoughts together. I know, vampires are suddenly everywhere, but most of those I don't consider very frightening. Hopefully my vampires will be scary. We'll see. They ain't nice guys, that's for sure. There's a relationship at the center that's going to be hard to do--it'll be extremely complicated.

When I'm done with it, about a hundred years from now, I'll see if I can make it available as an eBook. That's a lot less of a hassle than trying to get it published in a traditional format.

Of course, that's assuming when I'm done with my note-taking I look over what I have and decide it'll be worth writing. I'm not really all that wild about supernatural stuff, since I don't believe in any of that and as I get older I find it more difficult to suspend my disbelief. Still, there's some stuff in it that interests me and hopefully will interest a few other people, too.

I saw my goddaughter in her TV commercial last night--immediately chatted her mom to let her know. I was so excited! Hopefully I'll be seeing that commercial a lot more often. She gets residuals from it, so the more it airs, the more money she makes.

I still want to do Seer, my modern symphony. Still looking for a female vocalist. I'd dearly love to find someone who is like a female Cory Taylor. Listen to Slipknot and Stone Sour to hear what I'd love to have to work with. A woman who has that kind of power, range, and flexibility would be a treat to write music for.

My Cold Iron tunes are available, just in case you didn't know. Click the widget to the right, listen to the first eight tunes to hear all of the songs in that song cycle. You can keep going if you want, listen to the other stuff, too. Don't be shy about giving me a holler about them.

As usual, I don't have any sort of underlying theme here, to I don't have a big finish. What's up with you?