A FEW WORDS ON AAAYYY-GE

If there's one thing TV taught me growing up it's that extending a thumb and saying, "Aaaayyy!" is really cool. But wait...perhaps you don't remember the Fonz? Ah, that's because you're half my age. And that means you're like most of the people I see every day.


I happily confess it does seem a tad askew. Most of the people I work with are twenty-five, give or take a couple years. My band mates are also twenty-five, give or take a couple years. A lot of the women I go out with are half my age, too. Being me is like being an incredibly bald vampire. (Nosfera-Stew. Gonna Nosfer-rockyou!)


Keep in mind, when the eighty pound bags of concrete mix need lifting, I lift two or three at a time. Not the norm. When a forklift needs more propane, I never take the truck across the street for a freshie. I carry an empty on my shoulder and walk back with a full one because it's fast and easy. For me. I'm the guy who initiates the arm wrestling and I'm the guy who wins. Quickly. I see people every day who are younger than me, but look and act aged.


And it's not like I'm tagging along with the band asking them to let me hold the tambourine. It's my fuckin' band. Again. Even with paltry recording devices and no bass player (so far), we straight up rock.


What makes my going out with women half my age particularly special is that I don't have any money. I'm just super rich in everything else. I could totally be interested in women my own age and older. Usually the problem is that they're done with men. Might be because they never met me.


Not one particle of my being waits for money. Pining for validation motivates me not in the slightest. I don't write to pay my bills. I already pay my bills. I never dream or aspire or hope. I simply do. The experience is the payment.


I don't own a TV. Not owning a TV is something else TV taught me. I don't passively watch inferior shit, I actively create superior shit. Knowing exactly where to put just the right comma splice, too.


Anyway, been pretty busy. But I haven't remotely forgotten about the ongoing story. Chapter 11 in THE GOLDEN CITY is in the works. Before drinking deeply of that next chapter, I want to thank you for checking in with a hearty "Aaaayyy!" because I appreciate the time you spend with me here in this devout and ad-free zone of the energized mind.


Much obliged.

"LEGO BATMAN" FITS FRANCHISE

          Constructing loads of laughs, this tangential sequel to The Lego Movie toys with the gravelly-voiced Dark Knight loner.
          Admittedly, the quality of the content defies expectations. Yet unlikely as it seems for a movie consisting of Lego figures to be so good, it nonetheless is.
          The problem is that Batman (Arnett) blocks relationships. He needs to connect, build bonds with others. When he's done fighting crime for the evening, he zaps himself a late dinner and jams on his guitar all alone, but what he really needs is someone close to give him a fat beat so he can grab a mike and lay down his sick flow.
          Enter Barbara Gordon (Dawson). As the new Commissioner of Gotham City, she notices that Batman hasn't done a very good job because he keeps having to capture the same villains. Over and over again.
         Meanwhile, the Joker (Galifianakis) has a foolproof plan (this time) to lay waste to the good people of Gotham and thereby really tick Batman off.
         The story, however, is effectively immaterial to the experience. What makes it work is the jokes. And what makes the jokes work is the quality of Arnett's voice coming through a self-obsessed super-macho Lego toy. You have to see it to get it. It's just a great juxtaposition. Again, totally surprising, yet totally effective.
          Voluminous references to past Batman incarnations contribute throughout. Chiefly, homages to the '60s TV show strike the right note. Not everyone will remember the Bat Anti-Shark Spray utilized by the Adam West portrayal, but it works either way. Ditto references to the show's theme song.
          When Bob Kane created Batman, he based his character on a amalgam of two main sources: Sherlock Holmes and Zorro. Specifically Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro. Conan Doyle's Holmes (wrongly credited with deductive reasoning when in fact it is inductive) results directly from the first literary detective, Edgar Allan Poe's C. Auguste Dupin, a character obsessed with darkness and the night who was basically a reflection of Poe himself. Zorro, on the other hand, is an early-California Robin Hood. And Robin Hood is a member of the aristocracy who lives on the fringe as an outlaw fighting corrupt and false authority. Therefore, when we see the words Dark and Knight together, we are looking at the combination of Edgar Allan Poe and Robin Hood.
          And so, even though it is easier to write and seems at first blanche more visually appealing to give the hero gadgets than to have him solve crimes, the one true vision of Batman which we have never seen eschews the tech in favor of detecting and pits him against unjust ruling functionaries as a champion of the downtrodden, and not merely a lackey of the privileged.
          That said, the toy movie has merit. Worth checking out.




THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE
Starring (the voices of)
Will Arnett,
Michael Cera,
Rosario Dawson,
Ralph Fiennes,
Zach Galifianakis,
Jenny Slate,
Conan O'Brien,
Doug Benson
Directed by Chris McKay
Written by Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKennon,
Erik Sommers, Jared Stern, John Whittington
Based on characters created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger
Runtime 144 minutes
Rated PG


         

THE DUKE DOC FOR HUNTING

          Hunter S. Thompson, aka Raoul Duke, Doctor of Journalism. In his Hawaiian shirt, white bucket hat, and aviator glasses, long-stemmed cigarette holder in hand, he became a bona fide pop culture hero, an "action figure for the underground" who wrote himself into stories as a larger-than -life character and found himself prisoner of a fictional persona.
          The 1978 BBC Omnibus production Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision captures Thompson's awareness of his own myth taking over. "I'm an appendage," he says, within moments of vehemently lamenting accidentally dropping a baggie on-camera. "I'm no longer necessary, I'm in the way."
          Of the several documentaries available for viewing, the above is the seminal source worth hunting down. It's so good, in fact, the 2006 HST tribute Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride uses clips from it seemingly about half of the time. Released in the year following Thompson's suicide, the film features the writer's famous actor friends singing his praises, lamenting his loss, and recalling the feature films Where the Buffalo Roam (1980), starring Bill Murray as Thompson, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), starring Johnny Depp as Thompson's effectively indistinguishable alter-ego, Dr. Duke.
          Narrated by Nick Nolte, the most notable aspect of the film is the inexplicable inclusion at the start of a snippish Gary Busey unintentionally revealing his prima donna side. Amusing as this is to behold, it has nothing to do with Hunter Thompson, and only serves to warn us how swinish the production proves.
          He catapulted to counterculture fame in 1966 with Hell's Angels, his straightforward and excellent account of the legendary outlaw motorcycle group as an embedded reporter. His masterpiece, however, was published a few years later. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas showcases his fictional counterpart, in quasi-journalistic literary style, on a "savage journey into the heart of the American Dream."
          Thompson's "writer as cult figure" status took root during the Psychedelic era when a surreal, stylized approach toward taking the Establishment to task was the gestalt of the younger generation. BBC's 1978 Gonzovision stands out because it was made at the tail end of those times, still part of the scene, yet removed enough to reflect back.
          Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008) also merits inspection. In an especially interesting chapter of his life, Thompson ran for sheriff of Aspen, Colorado in 1970 as the "Freak Party" candidate. He shaved his balding head completely so that during campaign speeches he could point to the other guy and say, "Unlike my long-haired opponent..." And he actually came within a hair's breadth of winning.
          Decadent depravity freely feared and loathed online.

HOWLIN' STEW AND MUDDY ROSS

In the beginning, there was CrowMag, and that was good.
Then there was divorce, and that was bad for a lot of reasons, including the breakup of the band.
Time passed.
And there came into being a new alignment:
Howlin' Stew and Muddy Ross.

DIRTY ENERGY
https://soundcloud.com/stewart-kirby/dirty-energy

NO GOOD REASON
https://soundcloud.com/stewart-kirby/no-good-reason

JUST A FACE
https://soundcloud.com/stewart-kirby/just-a-face

HEAR ABOUT YOU
https://soundcloud.com/stewart-kirby/hear-about-you

WAY ON DOWN THE RIVER
https://soundcloud.com/stewart-kirby/way-on-down-the-river

RELEASE
https://soundcloud.com/stewart-kirby/release

MOTHERS WITHOUT MASTERS
https://soundcloud.com/stewart-kirby/mothers-without-masters-1

Howlin' Stew - words, vocals

Muddy Ross - guitar, backup vocals