I just finished my first radio interview, conducted by Bobbo Brown, KNTX AM14010, in Texas. Great guy, and like me, he loves film music. His favorite film—according to his bio—is The Godfather. One of mine too. And his favorite actor is Al Pacino. If you ever get a chance, see The Devil’s Advocate, Pacino’s best…
My crimes of self-defense
September 25, 2023
When I got to college, my punk roommate Joe Cady turned me on to ska. I wasn’t really aware of it. Of course, I knew about reggae because I was a Police fanatic. One of my favorite songs of all time is “Walking on the Moon.” The bass line and tone, the melody, Sting’s plaintive…
Is it harder when there is no love?
September 24, 2023
In his piece “Saying Goodbye,” Walter Russel Mead describes the death of his beloved mother, who died September 16, 2013. He writes the following: My siblings and I are immigrants in a new and forbidding land. We have been swept from the balmy seas and friendly isles that nurtured us into a windswept, harder place….
Hella Gothic
September 24, 2023
My friend Joe Cady just saw my Website for the first time. “Hella Gothic,” was his impression. Really? I don’t think so, but I hope it attracts Goth women. It’s easy to figure out why I like that style. Bad girls, saving, being the only one who understands, naughtiness, excitement, drama, etc. But I don’t…
Good old-timey nightmare
September 24, 2023
Haven’t had a nightmare like this in a long time. Though back in college, I was my present age. I shared my dorm room with Bill Carroll of KFI AM 640, Los Angeles. The room was long and narrow, like a train car, with bunk beds. Everyone else in the dorm was ecstatic at the…
How about movies that are not stupid?
September 23, 2023
I don’t like it when movies present the armed forces of western democracies as evil. That’s like saying, “I don’t like it when movies present young women as sexy,” I know. It goes with the territory. But I still find it irritating. I prefer movies that are not stupid. The misrepresentation doesn’t keep me from…
Interview of me
September 23, 2023
An interview of me in Blue Pacific Newspaper, Volume 19, Number 37, September 13, 2013. By Christian Vasquez. Great, friendly, interested guy. We struggled over the photo of me to use. I wish they’d gone with this one. It’s my homage to Sister Wendy Beckett. She was known as “One Take Wendy” because they would…
What they’re feeling in Westgate Mall
September 22, 2023
On December 28, 1995, a gunman tried to murder Tim and me at our bookstore in Norwalk, California. He was dressed all in black—including a heavy flak vest and balaclava—and he carried a TEC-9 semiautomatic pistol with a barrel extension. I drew it as part of my banishment of the incident. Tim and I were…
Because they’re not about people
September 22, 2023
I just read a film critic’s article about how he’s really turned off of movies right now. “I just don’t seem to care anymore,” he says. “I wonder what’s caused this—because so much of the public seems to feel the same way.” That’s easy to answer. Movies are not about people anymore. Characters have been…
Detox
September 22, 2023
I did it. Through sheer willpower, I’ve broken the last of my really bad habits. This was one of the most corrosive. It’s been several days now, and I’m still clean. The detox worked. After changing so much about myself that I didn’t like, I couldn’t stop going on a particular Website and fighting with…