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Henry Denander: Portraits
2007-09-25 09:26:00
I had intended to post this entry a while back. Anyone vaguely aware of the general chaos which defines my life knows I tend to splash things on this blog in a somewhat random manner. Anyway, sometime last year (or earlier), artist/author Henry Denander began a series of watercolor portraits of some of todays small press writers. I was truly honored and suprised to be considered among this list as I tend try and keep myself outside of any circles or cliques. Because my work tends to demand a certain level of extreme honesty and self exploration, I am either loved or hated. There is rarely a middle ground opinion of me or my work. This is something I prefer and encourage. But to point, Denander has assembled quite a gallery of small press writers. I encourage you to go take a look at some of his paintings of small press poetry "scenesters". His gallery can be found here: Henry Denander Gallery.RC Edrington
More About: News , Portraits , TRAI , Nand

Punk Rock Tidbits: Janie Jones
2007-09-24 17:03:00
Arriving in the US in 1979, two years after the original UK release and with a slightly different track list, the Clash self titled debut album quickly became my favorite album. While I appreciated the raw energy and angst of the Sex Pistols, even back then I viewed them as a novelty sideshow. The Clash were the real band with real songs and an intelligence unsurpassed by any punk band from the era.My favorite song off the album has always been "Janie Jones". At the time I assumed it was a made up name for the song or a representation of a conglomeration of a group of females in the UK. Sometime in 1982 I found out Janie Jones was a real person. A photo of her taken sometime in the 1980s is posted above. Till this day I am not certain how many Clash fans are familiar with her existence. While her biographical background remains somewhat sketchy, confirmed facts reveal she was a 1960s pop singer who became a famous madam in the 1970s. In fact she was arrested and imprisoned in 1973 f...
More About: News , Music , Punk , Punk Rock , Rock

The Death Of History
2007-09-24 14:09:00
Ancient Sumeria, now modern day Iraq, is considered by most scholars to be "the cradle of civilization". The Sumerians were the first to use and develop the wheel, gather in city/states, and use written language (cuneiform). For a detailed look at all aspects of the ancient Sumerian culture, I recommend the following simple to comprehend website: Sumeria. Sumerian "myths" or as some scholars argue "historical facts", pre-date biblical accounts of things such as a worldwide flood. Many experts believe, most notable among them Zecharia Sitchen, that the Old Testament Book of Genesis is nothing more than a compilation of ancient Sumerian text. Sitchen has spent a lifetime in the translation of Sumerian cuneiform writings and cylinder seals. For further information on Sitchen and his work, please visit his official site and prepare yourself to unlearn everything you thought you knew about the beginnings of mankind: Zecharia Sitchen.Much can be learned by the study of ancient Sumeria an...
More About: News , Weird , History , Death , The D

Review: Johnette Napolitano - Scarred
2007-09-20 10:53:00
Johnette has one of the most painfully honest and haunting voices I have ever heard. Perhaps this is why I became such a fan of her music sometime in 1982 when she was heading a project called Dream Six. Her voice offered the only true emotion I could find outside of the underground hardcore music scene of the era. As Dream Six became Concrete Blonde Johnette's vocals, lyrics, and bass made up not only 2 of the best albums of that era (the self titled debut and the 2nd album "Free") but provided an emotional context for the next decade of my life.Sure the later Concrete Blonde albums were great in their own way, but it is these first 2 albums I still listen to on almost a weekly basis. In fact I often toss these albums on in the middle of one of my "poetry" writing jags to not only bring back memories of the time, but as reminders to keep things simple and honest. Till this day I am grateful that one of the first positive reviews of my first poetry chapbook came in the form of a l...
More About: Review , Carre

Crazy Routines
2007-09-13 04:09:00
"This may prick just a bit". Her voice like steel wool attacking a rusted tailpipe. Her breath stale coffee and peppermint in my face like some sickly aunt I only pretend to like so my birthday check still arrives.She is scared of me, a bit. I can sense it. Not because I am 6'3" and 230 lbs. But because I am 6'3", 230 lbs., and she is checking my blood level to make sure the various psychotropic drugs coursing thru my veins are at a therapeutic level. If they aren't, I imagine she has visions of me ripping her throat out and licking the blood as it drips in slow motion down her saggy 50 year old tits.I have long ago faced the fact that this nurse, and people in general, consider me crazy. But in this world, I am not too sure crazy is all that bad a place to be.Her wrinkled hands shakes just a bit as she rubs alcohol along a vein on my forehand (due to years of heroin usage it is impossible to fish up a sunken vein anywhere else). "Relax", I tell her, "I get my blood drawn every t...
More About: Crazy , Prose

Angels & Cadillacs
2007-09-10 07:52:00
We decided to drive up to Kansas City for a baseball game. Or more like we decided to drive and Kansas City seemed like the right direction. An afternoon washed in sun and the relaxing sounds of bat on ball and ball in glove. The smell of grass, peanuts, popcorn...sounds and smells that once occupied the gauze wrapped memory of my youth. Sounds & smells that perhaps could somehow help me escape the mundane life I had now found myself in. TVs. Computers. A few hours to break free of the digital squeals and squeaks captured on disc and pimped as music that had replaced the gentle warmth of a needle hissing across an LP. But it always comes back to needles. Doesn't it? How can one continue any type of meaningful or pleasurable life knowing a syringe can never again prick their vein. Knowing they will never again feel the warm blood rush spreading tongue kisses along the crest of the nerves. No longer able to be fucked senseless in that warm embrace where nothing matters but nothing a...
More About: Angels , Prose , Dill

YouTube Downloader
2007-09-08 06:50:00
As more and more video clips begin to get pulled from YouTube due to copyright issues, wouldn't it be cool to have a program that could download your favorite clips to your own computer so you could enjoy them whenever you wanted without even having to be online?Several software companies have come up with the software, in fact Firefox even includes an addon option for its browser. Having used them all, my favorite tool is YouTube Downloader. It downloads the videos fast, and most importantly it allows you to download them in an .avi format as opposed to the .flv file format which requires a download of a seperate program to play .flv files. AVI files can be played on most standard video players already on your computer.So if you're a big YouTube fan, download the free program and give it a try: YouTube Downloader YouTube || Downloader || RC Edrington
More About: Youtube

Out Of Body
2007-09-06 11:09:00
How does one distinguish a dream from reality, if in fact that is possible. And if it is possible, why would one waste their time walking along a razors edge with a broomstick to ensure the two do not mingle into one bizarre experience greater than either alone could produce?Any shock or experience my nervous system goes thru whether sleeping or awake has the same impact upon my brain. The subconscious mind retains information regardless of whether the stimulus were "real" or "dreamed". Certainly we all can recall scary images from horror movies that till this day make us squirm a little in our seat or make our pulse quicken a bit. We know these things not to be "real", yet our bodies react as if they are so.This leads me to an episode from my past. I am not certain it was real or a dream. I also am just as certain it doesn't matter if I place a label upon it and choose one over the other. All I know is...it happened. Make of it what you will. But take note dearest reader, this epi...
More About: Weird , Body

Revolution...
2007-08-29 15:05:00
Thomas Jefferson often stated that every generation needs a a good revolution. I am fairly certain he wasn't speaking about music, fashion, or culture. He was speaking to the basic tendencies that exist even in the best of men. That being, the longer one is in power the more they become corrupted by it and are willing to sacrifice their ideals for more power. All leaders reach a plateau where they no longer serve the needs of the populace, but in turn create an atmosphere where the populace are viewed as servants of them.I am not disgusted at our current leaders because they are weak men who fell victim to the nectar of power and continue to drink from it like blood thirsty vampires in some orgasmic frenzy. I am disgusted by our leaders because they have chosen to ignore their basic nature, which would allow them to place restraints upon themselves as our forefathers did.Our government has completely lost touch with its populace. But then what does one expect when we have only had ...
More About: Revolution , Essays

Halloween 2007: Directed by Rob Zombie
2007-08-28 23:39:00
As a huge fan of the original Halloween movie directed by John Carpenter, and a fan of Rob Zombie 's two previous movies, I was really looking forward to seeing how Rob Zombie would treat the remaking of this classic horror movie.In an interview with Howard Stern earlier this month, Zombie discussed how his version provided a back story and almost a prequel to the psycho killer Myers. Sounded great to me. Let's go inside the mind of the madman and see what made him the monster he turned into. Great concept, but poorly executed. Instead of bringing something new to the table, Zombie bogs down the Myers character in a typical serial killer childhood that begins with him killing small animals in response to the horrible world he finds himself in. Nothing new here.No suspense. No twists. No turns. Zombie follows the typical horror movie formula to a "T", and offers up a rather boring movie. We are less scared of Myers now that we understand him than we were in the original movie when w...
More About: News , Ween

Journal Scribble: 8.21.07
2007-08-21 09:57:00
I realized at an early age that life was fairly meaningless. This wasn't in and of itself a negative or positive thing...it was just a simple fact. However like most of you, I attempted to lie and convince myself otherwise and buy into whatever bullshit was being peddled at the time. Some of you are still caught in that illusion of purpose. You slave over jobs that hold no meaning to purchase products that have no meaning to assimilate into a society that holds no meaning.Some of you are even arrogant enough to be caught up in the religion fantasy. Yes, arrogant. Why? What else would you call a person that actually believes there is someone out there on a second to second basis that actually cares about your mundane existence. Religious people are just a bunch of Paris Hilton's parading the intricacies of their pettiness upon a stage to garner applause and attention under the arrogant assumption that someone actually gives a fuck.Truth and meaning are only things which we discover...
More About: Journal , Prose

2 Habits
2007-08-14 06:15:00
we duct tapedfaded newspapersto the bedroom windowsto erase the sunsilencebetween uspalpable, thick & black likefresh taron a once familiardirt roadwe'd never wandertogether againa long ignoredcigaretteburnt itself outon a crushedDiet Pepsi can,ash bent& ready to falllike a timid suicideperched onthe Golden Gate Bridgetime itself a false restraintwe somehow escapedas we sat liketwin Buddhas rottingon a flesh smearedmattresswhen you held metight in your numbheroin powdered sleepI knew you dreamedof someone else,as did Iboth too weakto break old habits& embrace the dawnthat crept slowbeneath the thin sliceof the fist batteredbedroom doorRC Edrington
More About: Poetry , Habits , Abit , Habit

Small Truths
2007-08-07 22:08:00
as years beginto droplike dead fliesoff an outhouse wall& a stray sliverof gray hairworms its wayinto a black patchof pubic hairI've begun to noticethe womenI'm now interestedin decorating my bedare quite differentthan the calendar modelsof my shallow youththere is lesspainted on beauty& sometimes evenugliness or scarsbut there is alwayshonesty& small truthsafter a slowmorning fuck& a hot mugof coffeeneatly tingedwith the cheapeststore brandvodkaRC Edrington
More About: Poetry , Small , Ruth

Dope Project: Released
2007-07-27 11:46:00
The Dope Project began a few years back with Debbie Kirk putting together an anthology around this particular topic among small press authors. After a few twist, turns, and general chaos that makes the small press the cool land of oblivion that it is...the collection ended up in the hands of Brian over at Zygote In My Coffee. Released under by publishing house under Debbie's imprint PinkAnarckitty Press, the anthology is finally available. Edited by Debbie Kirk, this anthology includes an introduction by myself and poetry by some of the best small press poets out there. This is a must read and must own perfect bound soft cover book available for $5. Orders your copy here: Dope Project.RC Edrington
More About: Ease

Chris Cornell - Billie Jean
2007-07-20 11:00:00
Most bands don't realize that if you are going to cover another bands song then you need to transform the thing into your own song and make it better than the original. Why else bother covering a song, unless you're just a cover band? Here is a perfect example of a cover song. Chris Cornell (Soundgarden, etc) takes a lame Michael Jackson song, and turns it into an acoustic bluesy masterpiece. It is available on his new album, which you should get.RC Edrington
More About: Music , Jean , Bill

Zygote In My Coffee Update
2007-07-10 09:32:00
Zygote In My Coffee is currently running a special. You can grab print Issue #3 (available now) and print Issue #4 (due out this Summer) for a mere $10...and that includes shipping. A great deal on a great literature quarterly. An online version of Zygote is still being published, so give it a look HERE, then go ahead and order the print journals. This is a small press that deserves all your support. I currently have a piece in Issue #3, and one in the forthcoming Summer issue. As for the online journal, look for new stuff of mine in Issue #92 (7/23/07) and Issue 94 (8/20/07). Keep alternative poetry and literature alive.RC Edrington
More About: Update

Underground Voices: July 2007
2007-07-02 05:46:00
The July 2007 edition of Under ground Voices is available online. You can read it HERE. This is one of the few online journals I take the time to read. I have 3 pieces in the latest issue, so give it a look. For those of you slow on the draw, Underground Voices Print Issue 1 is still available. In my opinion it was probably the best short story and poetry anthology published last year. But don't take my word for it. It was voted one of the top books of 2006 by reviewers. Check it out HERE. Then buy a copy!RC Edrington
More About: Round

Smells Like Bastards Of Young
2007-06-24 14:35:00
Formed in 1981, ten years before Nirvana released their alleged "alternative" rock masterpiece Nevermind, the Replacements were the original teen angst band that blended punk energy with pop sensibilities. Of course in 1981 no one was much interested in a punk band with the capabilities to cross over into mainstream America. Hardcore punk and bands like Husker Du, the Minutemen and Black Flag now had full attention of disenfranchised teenagers.Music ally and lyrically the Replacements were a good decade ahead of their time. I remember first hearing Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on the radio sometime in 1991 and thinking it was the latest Replacement single. However by 1991 the Replacements had broken up. Hardcore punk rock had run its course, and the radio waves and barrooms were once again filled with meaningless music from meaningless bands.Then Nirvana, the greatest cover band of all time broke. There was absolutely nothing original about their sound or their angst. In my o...
More About: Young

Mirage
2007-06-19 11:37:00
Waking to the emptinessof a Jack Daniels bottle & her brastaring up from the bedroom floor,I can't help but feel likea spent rubber.If I weren't trappedin this whiskey paralysisI'd go to her picture of mecollecting dust like gray hairon her bedroom nightstand.How many layers of photographsare tucked in the frame behind mine?I've never peeked but they are there,men who hitch hiked across this desertfollowing her promises of love like water allowed to drink their fillthen sent off addictedto the taste of her lips.In the morning,I'll gather my & toothbrushand scuffed leather jacketthen walk out into the sunset again,searching for an open barbut willing to settle for2 eggs, a cup of coffee& a waitress whotongues her lipsas she pushes up her bra straps& offers me nothingmore or lessthan fresh squeezed orange juicefrom a can.RC Edrington
More About: Mira

Words Thinking Out Loud
2007-06-16 08:02:00
As I write more and more short stories and poetry, I care less and less about taking the time to send the stuff for publication. Perhaps I am odd or totally nuts for not needing or even wanting an audience, but I get much more satisfaction actually putting words to paper than I do stuffing them in an envelope and sending them off to someone just so my name appears in some table of contents with a bunch of other "writers" I have little to no respect for.Sure, I still send out stuff from time to time. This is mostly done out of boredom or during a period when the words are not flowing so steadily from the pen...and yes I still write on pen and paper (except for these blog entries). I have not heard of many writers who write mainly for themselves, but of course I shouldn't expect too as they probably share the same views I do about publishing. Besides, in this day and age of computers there is not really much of a need to depend on some press to publish your stuff when all the tools n...
More About: Words , Essays , Loud , Thinking

The Return Of Punk
2007-06-10 05:43:00
Punk is back. The magazine, that is. The original magazine debuted in 1976 and legend has it gave the name to the style of music a local New York bar band, The RAMONES, were playing. The first issue featured Lou Reed on the cover. Joey Ramone was featured on the third issue cover.THis was a great magazine back in the day, if you could get your hands on it. The few local places that carried it sold out the same day they received it. Anyway, Punk Magazine is back. They have released 3 very cool new issues. The magazine is totally true to the original spirit and style.The current issue #21 is a reader request issue and features a final tribute to the coolest punk hang out in the world: CBGB's. This is a must read issue, and I strongly suggest everyone subscribes NOW before they get left out. They are also running a sale on Punk Magazine t-shirts for $5.99, so get yours before these are gone.Awww...the good old days! Punk Magazine || CBGB's || Punk Magazine || Ramones ||RC Edrington
More About: News , Music , Punk , Return , The Return

Betty Blowtorch
2007-06-07 23:19:00
It is kind of hard to write about the all-girl metal meets hardcore punk band Bett y Blowtorch without first mentioning the punk band Butt Trumpet. Formed in 1991 by Thom Bone, Butt Trumpet became only the second punk band to be signed by EMI. The first being the Sex Pistols. This was even after EMI stated they would never sign a punk band again after the Sex Pistols debacle. They are most remembered by their punk hit song "Ugly". The band consisted of Thom Bone on vocals (except for the song "Ugly", which was sung by guitarists Sharon Needles), Bianca Butthole on bass, Blare N. Bitch on guitars, and Jerry Geronimo on drums.It seems Thom Bone's ego got in the way and the girls sent him packing. They went on to form the band Betty Blowtorch and became an all girl band when they added Judy Molish on drums to replace Geronimo. They became the hardest rocking band on the planet and could most likely kick Motley Crue's ass in a alley fight. Their music was straight up vulgar full of pis...
More About: Torch

Love/Hate - Betty Blowtorch
2007-06-07 23:10:00
I was happy to find this video on YouTube. Fuck off Courtney Love . Bianca hated your guts. Anyway, here is the video Love/Hate by Bett y Blowtorch:RC Edrington
More About: Music

Hostel Part II
2007-06-03 11:20:00
If you viewed and enjoyed the first Hostel movie produced by Tarantino's production company, then you are certain to enjoy this follow up movie. I found it it horrible, and not in a good sense. The story line was basicly the same: pretty woman lures naive teenage sexpots to a warehouse where sick men have joined a club called the "bulldogs" to have even sicker men pay top dollar to kill these naive women in as many number of sick ways they can imagine. Nothing has changed from Hostel I. The setting is just as dark and oily, and well...the acting is straight B-movie fare.It appears the only reason for Hostel II is one scene where the rich captive girl offers to pay for her life. To do so she must kill something. This is a quiet easy choice. She takes a knife and quite graphicly cuts off the dick of the business man who had paid to kill her. It seems the entire movie was based upon this "shocking" scene.Rich girl buys her freedom, then sets out to take revenge on the sexy foreign gir...
More About: News , Essays , Part

3 Weirdest Ancient Artifacts
2007-05-31 15:59:00
I find anthropology fascinating. But what I find even more fascinating are the anomalies that are discovered that do not fit into conventional scientific theories or anthropological history. I have compiled a list of 3 such anomalies that science has still yet to explain.The Dropa Stones. Discovered in caves on an archeological expedition in 1938 into the Baian-Kara-Ula mountains of China, hundreds of stones measuring 9 inches in diameter were discovered. Each stone contained a circle cut into the center etched with a spiral groove. It closely resembled a stone phonographic record. The Dropa Stones are dated to 12,000 years old. The the spiral etched groove is composed of tiny hieroglyphics that tell the weird story of the Dropa, who crash landed their spacecraft into the mountains. Remains were found in the caves. Status: still unaccountable by modern science.The Antikythera Mechanism. This piece of corroded bronze was composed of many gears and tiny wheels. The artifact was date...
More About: Weird , Ancient

Amy Winehouse - Valerie
2007-05-24 11:39:00
If you're not familiar with the UK band The Zutons, you need to check them out. Start here to hear some sample tracks. They are kind of a punkish poppy bluesy bar band. One of my favorite songs by them is "Vale rie". A perfect pop-punk tune. At least I thought it was perfect until I heard Amy Winehouse 's acoustic cover version. Check out the video below. I am not a fan of too much new music, but Amy Winehouse has been rocking this burn-outs world lately. || Amy Winehouse || The Zutons || Valerie || RC Edrington
More About: Ouse , Erie

for Joe Strummer
2007-05-23 22:24:00
when sidewalksare stenciledin blood"a woman wasraped here"& pimple facedillegal latino'speddle heroin& vanillamilkshakesfrom drive thrugraffiti lacedwindowsat neighborhoodMcDonaldsof coursepoetry will festerlike swollentrack marksdown a junkiestattooed arm& allliteraturewill burn notin the fireof revolutionbut from a butane flameaccidentlydroppedwhen baking soda& cocainecollideinto solidthen smolder thruthe tired lungsof post-punk angelswho hum elegiesto the causesof their youthnow whored outon MTVto sellwhateverselling sellsRC Edrington
More About: Poetry , Joe Strummer

Autumn Kick
2007-05-23 08:38:00
crisp leaves goldred & burntorange crinklein thick pilesbeneath my nudesallow skinif I were to wavemy legs & armsI could digan earthen angelbeneath this leprosy stricken treemy eyes driftwith the windcombine to formtiny ripplesaround a lone weedwhose syringe liketip barelypricks thruthe mirrored skinof lake & no onewould noticeor even careabout thislone weedthat yearns towardsthe lack of skyif the windif the water& if Ihadn't assembledlike spoiled children& encircled it with accusations above meonly a genericthird rate artist skydevoid of cloudsthat offersno canvasto the absenceof crowswho only hours earliersmudged themselveslike spilt blacktattoo splotchesalong the baby blueveined horizonhourafter hourI dream of nothing& nothing dreamsof methere is onlythis momentthis gentleblood beatheroinwhisperinga lullabyethru my nerves& nothingmattersbut thisfinal momentuntil the screechof crows returnto rape the sky back into blackness& the cackleof demonsonce againpound birth pangsthru my ...
More About: Poetry , Autumn , Autum , Kick

El Chupacabra: The Cocktail
2007-05-22 07:46:00
El Chupacabra literally means "goat sucker" in Spanish. This strange cryptoid obtained this name by the way it sucked all the blood from Puerto Rican goats.First seen in Puerto Rico sometime in 1994, the Chupacabra has since migrated off the island and has recently been spotted in many locations including South America, Northern Mexico, and the American Southwest. Although it was named because of its favorite choice of food: goat-blood, the Chupacabra has reportedly attacked and devoured the blood of a wide variety of animals including dogs and cattle. Some researchers even believe El Chupacabra may be the culprit of cattle mutilations taking place in ranches all over the Southwest. El Chupacabra has a strange way of killing its victims. Animals are found with two tiny puncture wounds in their neck and most of their blood is removed. Often, the victim's organs have disappeared even though the only wound is a small hole in the animal's neck. It is as if El Chupacabra sucks the ins...
More About: Weird , Cocktail , Cock , Tail

Sumerian Evidence: Humans A Genetic Experiment?
2007-05-21 02:54:00
Sumeria || Alien Creators || Zecharia Sitchin || Ancient AstronanutsRC Edrington
More About: Weird , Evidence , Experiment , Uman , Gene