Summer of Unconsumed Media Blitz!

/

That's right...because I've followed through on all my other promises (wink, nudge, run out the door before the first stone hits), I've decided to try getting back into the writing game by doing a post a day writing up a few posts a week for the rest of the Summer (which for our purposes will be June to August as opposed to having to adhere to any pesky solstice/equinox silliness) on all the unconsumed media I have lying around the house.  That means quick hits on movies, television shows, books, comics, video games, and anything else I can find that I've bought and then promptly forgot about.

Anything related to the written word will also be posted up at Un:Bound, so please check them out as well for lots of SF&F fun from across the pond.

I don't anticipate the posts being too long, unless there's something I really want to dive into.  These are meant to be fun little opinionated pieces, and won't stick to any format.  I might throw in some personal reminisces along with any "critical" words concerning the item in question, and I'll always try to throw in some pics for those who appreciate bright, shiny things accompanying their words.

I'll also end each post with a preview/hint of the next day's topic (place your bets as to how long or accurate this will be).  So check out the pic below for my first post, coming up tonight!

Inside the Book Prison (Back on Un:Bound)

/

So now you know why I was looking for images!

When a friend needs a boost, you heed the clarion call.  Simple as that.  So despite a break of over 10 months from writing on Un:Bound, when Adele sent out the call to ask for some posts to get the site moving again (long story short, after years of fun and sun and lots of readers/contributers, a long-standing member of the community passed away, leaving everyone stunned), I finally gathered the intestinal fortitide to write up ansd post my re-introduction back to the site.

You can read the post over at Un:Bound, but - as always - an excerpt is printed below:

So if it was so great, why did I leave? 

For the same reason we do anything - life.  2010 in particular was a supremely shitty year, culminating in April with the death of my father, a loss that a year later I still haven't completely comes to terms with.  I wrote about his effect on my life with regards to reading here on the site, and even carried on with reviews and articles for a few more months until finally, things just dried up.  Not just writing: even reading became too painful a reminder of things, so I just kind of drifted away from the blogosphere until, well...now, actually. 

With that out of the way, let's talk books. 

As I write these words (well, not literally as I write these words...as I these words I'm sitting at my desk at work, looking at the monitor to ensure I don't misspell any of the words I'm currently writing) I'm 250 pages into The Pale King, the "unfinished novel" by the late, great David Foster Wallace.  What little plot there is centers around a group of IRS employees stationed in Illinois in the mid 1980s, including a young man named David Foster Wallace.  The book is filled with the rich observations and attention to language Wallace was famous for, including massive amounts of entertaining footnotes, and it's a incredible look at what could have been his crowning achievement as a writer instead of a sad, wistful look at what could have been.

Nice to be writing again, nice to be reading again...On a side note, I finally ditched my old phone which had a black spot on the camera lens and upgraded to a shiny new fancy iPhone, meaning that there will (finally) be new pics on the site.  If you've never been to Un:Bound and you like science fiction and fantasy, check it out: there's a wealth of book reviews, interviews, and assorted goodness to be had.

I (heart) Indianapolis

/

...and it's not just because, as I write this I am, as they say, D-R-U-N-K (although it may admittedly play a part).

No.  It's because as I came in from the heavens in my winged chariot I was listening to more David Bowie (Low this time), and it was at that moment the soundtrack to my life, just as The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust was last night as I packed and prepared my goodbyes to my son, who doesn't quite understand why Daddy has to go away on an airplane sometimes...

...It's because the picture above is the view from my hotel room...

...and that hotel is only a running jump away from the office, and better yet, a short walk to Downtown Comics, which not only boasts a stellar selection of single issues, but also a decent size selection of trade paperbacks, a warm and courteous staff, sweet t-shirts, and sold me on the first trade of DMZ, as well as the gorgeous hardcover of Greg Rucka's Stumptown...

...and that dinner was at the Rathskeller, a fantastic German restaurant located in the Athenaeum Building downtown, which was built by Kurt Vonnegut's grandfather, and boasts a beautiful bust of one of my all-time favorite authors in the room where I feasted on Ox-Tail soup and a sauerbraten that managed to bring back all the memories of eating at my grand parent's house without overshadowing the feelings that accompanied each taste...

...and after dinner we adjourned to  a bar where I had a genuine conversation about the sublime beauty of The Allman Brothers Brothers and Sisters album, the insane legacy of Stax Records and how no artist has been able to tap into that sound quite like Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, and the perfection of John Coltrane as the introduction of music to a newborn.

Indianapolis, you are truly a wonder, and I can't wait to come back to discover more.