Pretty spare in posting this week, sorry about that, but the weather has been spectacular and the work has been hectic. Have some good stuff in store for this coming week though, so stay tuned.
Went down to Stevens Point last night to do try and remember what it's like to go out in a college town. Unfortunately, standing on the second level of a disco/metal bar drinking Newcastle and looking down to a dancefloor filled with overweight women who had their drinks stuffed in their cleavage only made me think of Baudrillard. Does that mean I'm old?
Twisted Sister: Drugs, murder, kinky sex, flying mice --- just another day for Chuck Palahniuk
Veritas Lux Mea's favorite author, Chuck Palahniuk, has a new book ready to hit the shelves May 1. Check out this article below from Radar Online on the author:
At a recent reading in El Cajon, California, someone asked Chuck Palahniuk to name the one thing he couldn't make funny. "Cruelty to animals," he replied. An hour later, as he sat inscribing copies of his books for queuing fans, a blur passed before his eyes. And then another one. A small group of men had shoved through the crowd and was pelting him with white mice from a pet store down the street. "They were throwing them so hard their necks were breaking," he says.
Palahniuk's father was also murdered—shot mid-tryst by the enraged ex-husband of a woman he had just met through a personal adOf course, Palahniuk's no stranger to senseless brutality—on or off the page. His books, including the cult classic Fight Club, are awash in spilt entrails, disfiguring diseases, and grisly accidents. An analyst might say his obsession with the macabre owes something to family history, including the murder-suicide of his paternal grandparents. In 1999, shortly before Brad Pitt first explained the rules of Fight Club to movie audiences, Palahniuk's father was also murdered—shot mid-tryst by the enraged ex-husband of a woman he had just met through a personal ad. The writer used the killer's subsequent trial and execution as grist for his 2002 novel, Lullaby.
His latest book, Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey (Doubleday, $24.95), covers similarly blood-soaked terrain. It follows a cadre of misfits who intentionally wreck their cars on busy city streets. One of them—possessed with superhuman cunnilingual skills and a fetish for venomous spiders—may or may not be Patient Zero of a world-crippling rabies epidemic. If this all sounds messy to you ... well, it is.
Then there's his sex life. In the fall of 2003, Palahniuk heard that Entertainment Weekly was planning to out him in an upcoming issue. (At the time, he claims, "Almost a dozen different journalists were asking me for money in order to protect my privacy.") Instead of waiting to see what they'd publish, Palahniuk decided to out himself on a fan site. When the EW piece appeared weeks later, there was no mention of his heretofore secret sexuality, though he claims he doesn't regret his decision. "It really had to happen," says the author, who lives with his boyfriend in Portland, Oregon.
Predictably, Palahniuk's announcement sent shock waves through the more aggressively hetero elements of his fan base, prompting some to reexamine his work through a rainbow-colored prism: Was there more to all that sweaty man-grappling than they'd thought? When asked whether there is any Freudian subtext to the scene in Rant in which two adolescent boys get sexual satisfaction from sticking their greased-up arms into holes in the desert, the author is amused. "Oh my God!" he gasps, sounding almost embarrassed. "You've got such a filthy mind!"
But in spite of all the lurid sex, ultra-violence, and hardcore drug use that fills his books, the closest thing to a common thread in Palahniuk's work might actually be the idea of community. From the basement pugilists of Fight Club to the wannabe writers of Haunted (his seventh published novel), Palahniuk seems as drawn to fringe dwellers as they are to him. "I've always tried to portray spontaneous subcultures where people engage in a short-term activity that allows them to experiment with different identities and social structures," he says.
A little like that gang of deranged mouse-tossers back in El Cajon? "I suppose," he says, sighing. "Though sometimes I wish I could hire someone to play the public me." [READ MORE]
Birth of a Salesman
Is Brady Quinn the next Peyton Manning?
SI.com's Adam Hofstetter spent a day last week with top NFL Draft prospects, Adrian Peterson and Brady Quinn. Below is a recap of his time with Quinn.
He didn't work out at the Combine, he's coming off an injury, and his predicted draft position has gone up and down more than Roger Ebert's thumbs. But if you spend even a few minutes with Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, one thing quickly becomes clear: he can sell.
I spent most of a day last week with Quinn and Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson when they were in New York to promote Sprint's NFL Draft Day video content. While I was with him, Quinn did a radio interview in which he talked glowingly about the provider's service and a specific phone, and even sounded disappointed that he's going to be speaking on a land line at the actual draft.
Quinn told me he plans to use the service on Draft Day to see where Notre Dame teammates and other friends in the draft are headed. And here I thought it was invented just so that I can catch some of the draft while I'm waiting outside the department store fitting room rehearsing the way I'll compliment my wife's outfit when she comes out to ask my opinion.
Quinn has so many of the qualities that sponsors look for that the endorsements he already has could soon be just the tip of an iceberg so big it could single-handedly disprove global warming.
He's got a pitch-perfect blend of humility and confidence, of innocence and experience. When he talks about the draft, he focuses not on draft position but on his excitement to simply know where he's headed. He knows about the responsibilities that come with the big payday and the expectations that will be heaped upon him by an entire city beginning with the moment he's drafted. And yet he also knows just how lucky he is to be in such a position. "It's ridiculous to think that you get to play a game you love for a job you get paid for," he said. It's enough to make you think that Irish coach Charlie Weis wasn't being biased when he told the Associated Press last week, "That 'it' that certain people have, well he has it." [READ MORE]
Brady Quinn is hands down the most pro-ready quarterback that will come out of next weekend's draft, but it will be interesting to see where he goes in the first round. I'm thinking Cleveland, which would be a dream for Quinn, a lifelong Browns fan.
MUSIC
Featured Artist: Land of Talk
Land of Talk will be touring with the Rosebuds starting May 28 after they return to North America from their UK takeover in May.
If that weren’t enough, on July 16, they will be supporting The Decemberists and Grizzly Bear at NYC’s Central Park Summerstage.
Land of Talk - "Speak to me Bones"
LAND OF TALK TOUR SCHEDULE
May 17 Brighton Ocean Rooms (Fandango Night) Brighton, UK
May 18 The Great Escape Brighton, UK
May 19 The Zap (Drowned in Sound Night) Brighton, UK
May 21 King Tuts Glasgow, Scotland
May 22 Barfly Liverpool, UK
May 23 Night and Day Manchester, UK
May 24 Thekla Bristol, UK
May 25 Waterats London, UK
May 28 Horseshoe Tavern Toronto, ON*
May 29 Blind Pig Ann Arbor, MI*
May 30 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, OH*
May 31 Little Brothers Columbus, OH*
June 1 Subterranean Chicago, IL*
June 2 The Stones Throw Eau Claire, WI*
June 3 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, MN*
June 4 Jackpot Saloon Lawrence, KS*
June 5 Larimer Lounge Denver, CO*
Jun 8 Neumo’s Seattle, WA*
Jun 9 Media Club Vancouver, BC, Canada*
Jun 10 Doug Fir Lounge Portland, OR*
Jun 12 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA*
Jun 13 Cellar Door Visalia, CA*
Jun 15 Glass House Pomona, CA*
Jun 16 Spaceland Los Angeles, CA*
Jun 17 Plush Tucson, AZ*
Jun 19 The Cavern Dallas, TX*
Jun 20 The Parish Austin, TX*
Jun 21 Spanish Moon Baton Rouge, LA*
Jun 22 The Bottle Tree Birmingham, AL*
Jun 23 The Earl Atlanta, GA*
Jul 16 Central Parl Summerstage New York, NY (w/ The Decemberists and Grizzly Bear)
*w/ The Rosebuds
Featured Artist: Sir Salvatore
The four men of Sir Salvatore met under mundane circumstances. Dave, a Canadian transplant, was introduced to Alex by an ex-girlfriend of an ex-housemate while living in Pittsburgh. After a long evening of drinking and discussing their mutual love of "the indie rock" (with a few headbutts thrown in for good measure), the seeds of Sir Salvatore had been sown.
Meanwhile, across town, Eric had spent many lonely nights with his Akai Headrush looping pedal, staring out into the starry skies, barely resisting the urge to break out into "Somewhere Out There" from the "An American Tail" soundtrack. Giving in to impulse, he checked Craigslist and responded to Dave and Alex's now-infamous "Musicians Wanted" ad. His inbox flashed. One unread message.
The final piece of the puzzle came from an unexpected source: Tim was a professional basketball player who was known around the league as a bit of a ball hog. Burnt out after media pressures and sleepless nights on the team bus, he grew tired of his athletic career and decided to return to his true calling: self-love. Then he decided to play the bass.
The four elements, now united, combined to create an unlikely musical tour de force. Alex's drunken-drumming-on-steroids, Tim's punchy bass lines, and Eric and Dave's complex guitar interplay congealed to form a super-slurry of rock goodness. When Dave and Alex added a two pronged vocal attack to the band’s arsenal, listeners, like an unfortunate Risk player, could only surrender to an unstoppable melodic assault from two fronts.
Sir Salvatore - "Projector"
Sir Salvatore - "Public Key"
Sir Salvatore at Myspace
Featured Artist: Christine Anderson
One summer day in Los Angeles, CA, Christine Anderson put up a simple microphone in front of the piano in her living room and recorded an entire album, LIVE, in a single take. Featuring Christine's passionate performance of 17 original songs, this highly improvised record is as raw and real as music gets. Begun with six song outlines and a foot high stack of unfinished sketches, Christine composes as the tape rolls. The song "Over Now" was a complete impromptu surprise, composed entirely in real time as the recording captured its actual creation. The same is true of many of these songs, including the solo piano pieces. They are on-the-spot impromptu compositions.
Stream Christine Anderson at her website