HOW DID IT GET TO BE FRIDAY ALREADY?

My lovely small person went to see Ariana Grande on Monday night - it's OK, I had never heard of her either. It was a little odd hearing about her going to a show and then transposing my own experience of being 14 on top of it though.

At a rough estimate, I worked out that the whole trip - including tickets, travel and essential tour tshirt - probably came in at something like £120 and that's probably being generous. I was going  to tell her about my first show alone (which was UFO back in '82/'83) and then thought better of it but in my silence, figured out the sum total of that trip (ticket, travel, essential tour shirt and oddly a copy of the MAD magazine summer special found at a newsstand outside the venue) came in at less than £15. Is that comparable? The ticket was something like £4 (if I ask my friend John, he probably still has his stub and could tell me for sure) which really enabled a kid of 14 to go out and see a lot of bands. 

Seeing a band sure is steep these days.

On the plus side, she had a great time and some dude from One Direction showed up in the area she was in "without a body guard!" 

Is that on a par with Dee Snider being found playing the slot machines in a local bingo hall after their first UK show? I guess somehow in a skewed universe of strange reality, it just might be. (Quickly references interested parties on such matters to own book titled Black Dye White Noise which contains such stories).

(On which note - if you're a fan of Dee Snider, his new podcast, Snider Comments, is everything you'd expect it to be - in the latest episode he has Wayne Kramer of MC5 in the studio. People forget just how cool MC5 were. Check this out this 45 year old clip from 1969. They don't make 'em like they used to and they really fucking should:

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In the interview I linked to yesterday over at Infected, I mention a Bukowski book cover I put together. A couple of people have asked if the could see it, so here it is. It's not a commercial venture or anything of the kind... just a guy messing about with something he loves. Anyway... 

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I got all fired up when I heard Clive Barker was finally unleashing The Scarlet Gospels but now it's been out two or three weeks, I'm not so sure I should have been. The reviews from long time fans are not good. Not good at all. I shouldn't have looked but the cat's out of the bag now and I can't get back in. Maybe I'll just leave it unread on the shelf for a little while and see how I feel some day in the future. Still, Clive is Clive and if you're of the same mindset, there's a neat interview with him up at Wired in which he talks about some important stuff - particularly his comments on Anne Rice and the way some her 'fans' treated her recently.

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Finally, Matt Haig followed me on Twitter yesterday. Not sure what I did to deserve that but it's kinda cool for a great writer to click a button your name is attached to. His book The Humans is a fine, fine read. He has a new book out called Reasons To Stay Alive that I haven't got around to yet but regardless of that... Matt: I'll buy you a really big latte if you can be bothered driving to Ramsgate next Wednesday and I'll shoplift your book into the bargain.

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Oh - really finally - if you're at a loss for something to watch on TV now silly season is over, Duchovny's Aquarius is out there. Just saying. 

BEAR NECESSITIES

Today, I'm going to share out some wisdom that isn't mine. Its the sort of thing I might say, would like to say, have kind of said now and then, but have never actually said so eloquently in this order.

What we have here is 24 tips for film-makers taken from the back of Paul Cronin's book Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed. If this is what they chose to throw on the back cover, count me for whatever's inside and consider a copy on its way.

Whilst they may originally be intended for film-makers, if you're trying to achieve anything that's out of the ordinary or that you want to do on your own terms (or both), they are as true for you as anybody:

  1. Always take the initiative.
  2. There is nothing wrong with spending a night in jail if it means getting the shot you need.
  3. Send out all your dogs and one might return with prey.
  4. Never wallow in your troubles; despair must be kept private and brief.
  5. Learn to live with your mistakes.
  6. Expand your knowledge and understanding of music and literature, old and modern.
  7. That roll of unexposed celluloid you have in your hand might be the last in existence, so do something impressive with it.
  8. There is never an excuse not to finish a film.
  9. Carry bolt cutters everywhere.
  10. Thwart institutional cowardice.
  11. Ask for forgiveness, not permission.
  12. Take your fate into your own hands.
  13. Learn to read the inner essence of a landscape.
  14. Ignite the fire within and explore unknown territory.
  15. Walk straight ahead, never detour.
  16. Maneuver and mislead, but always deliver.
  17. Don’t be fearful of rejection.
  18. Develop your own voice.
  19. Day one is the point of no return.
  20. A badge of honor is to fail a film theory class.
  21. Chance is the lifeblood of cinema.
  22. Guerrilla tactics are best.
  23. Take revenge if need be.
  24. Get used to the bear behind you.

Some things make your heart sing like a phoenix. 

It also has bears in it, which makes it doubly worth a damn, obviously.

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Sometime in recent history, I dropped something on here about Clive Barker's Scarlet Gospels - if such news rattled your cage and started a fire in your eyes, here's a link to the Earthling Deluxe Edition. It's not cheap but don't shoot the messenger. 

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INTERLUDE

Even though you never asked, I'll tell you this anyway - this sounds great on vinyl:

END OF INTERLUDE

•••

Talking of bears, which we kind of were, my lovely friend Michelle - better known as WolfSkullJack to the world and whose art you should be spending your money on - sent me a note yesterday and we talked (briefly... in 140 characters or less) about maybe doing something together to give the Romanian Bears a little something extra.

Thinking, thinking, thinking. This could be seriously supercool and very fun.

In case you missed it... she is wonderful and this is mine:

I believe it's based loosely on me... and if it's not, I don't care because that's what I tell everybody anyway. It's a better story than it not being based on me. 

Never let the truth come between you and a good story, huh.

I should add that to the end of the list from Werner Herzog and see if anybody notices.

THE DAY THE SUN STAYED IN THE SKY

What better way to start the day than seeing a copy of your book 'on holiday' - in this case, The Day The Sky Fell Down chilling out on the rocks in Lanzarote. Major league thanks to Roy Cole (for it is he) for shipping this in. 

You don't get that with a wedge of plastic whether it has an anti-glare screen and e-ink or not. I love seeing the things that fall out of my head onto paper actually being read and running free in the wild where they belong. Trying to stop a story once it's out there will only give you rope burns. 

•••

Today also brings the day brightening news that Clive Barker is finally set to release The Scarlet Gospels - for some of us, this has been a close on twenty year wait and to be honest, I'd banished all thought of it ever actually appearing to the back of the cupboard. On Barker's site, the release date is given as 19th May which is good enough for me with a limited edition variant also available through Earthling - though if you happen to drift off to that page, the book hasn't got a page redirect yet. It will come. 

I haven't been this excited by a book from somebody else for years. It looks like this:

•••

Talking of things that other people are up to, Foxcatcher and Birdman (two separate films if you haven't been paying attention to the world revolving - it's not a weird superhero movie, though I would pay to see it if it was) both look like they're more than worth getting out for.

Here's the trailer for Foxcatcher:

and here's Birdman: 

As for me... work continues to finish up Raised On Radio, work has begun on Almost Human - which is the next collection of Dirty Realism, I have four more chapters to go before The Family Of Noise is complete (you'd think four chapters would be easy to kill off wouldn't you), and aside from some scrappy bits and pieces lying around vying for my attention, as I was pushing Turn The Lamp Down Low into a shape it wanted to be in, a story that wants to be called Dragonfly turned up in my head. Great. Just when you thought you had a handle on things, something else turns up with legs attached.

Dear Mr Barker: I see now how quickly a good idea for a book can turn into twenty years of trying to figure out where something would like to go.

Dear Readers: I will try my very best not to take that long over it. What you should do while you're waiting is read this neat little feature on Lee Child as some guy from The Independent shadows him as he starts work on his next Jack Reacher novel. It will only take a couple of minutes so maybe you could find something else to do as well, like start a secret project that will help save the world in its own little way...

Le Fin.