The Water Knife - Paolo Bacigalupi

 

I assume that someone online recommended this 2015 dystopia novel. Set in the not-too-distant future, the southwest of the USA is in a drought - but now “drought” no longer means temporary, it is simply the state that exists. Dust storms are continuous, many cities have collapsed from the lack of water and the Southern Nevada Water Authority is now a militarized organization that controls water lines and bombs or murders any one - or any city - that gets in their way.

Phoenix is a dying city where the inhabitants are barely scraping by, except for the "Fivers", those who have the money to live in one of the all-inclusive apartment complexes that actually has water to spare (although they won't spare it to anyone outside its walls) and all of the luxuries that we take for granted. The state borders are all patrolled and no one can come or go without special authorization, so those in the city are trapped unless they can come up with enough money to escape.

Here, three disparate characters collide - a (male) Vegas "water knife" (basically an enforcer for the Water Authority, a (female) journalist who is getting heat for writing about the travesties that are occurring, and a young (woman) local who is just trying to survive, and while she is brighter and gutsier than most, it takes more than that to escape. These three merge via a couple of Fivers who were planning a secretive big score - one being a colleague of the knife, one a friend of the journalist and one who simply picked up the local for a night of sex - but they end up dead and these three are involved and trying to discover what the score was that was worth torturing and killing for.

Overall, it's a good, gripping tale, but there are some issues for me - some of the made-up terms take a little too long to decipher, some of the tangents are drawn out a bit, some bits are not adequately explained and things like the journalist shrugging off being tortured for hours seem somewhat unrealistic. Some of the plot is painfully obvious, as well - so much so that I guessed it immediately, even though it dragged on for hundreds of pages after. And, I know this book is ten years old, but the fact that there are newsprint publications everywhere seems kinda old fashioned considering the other technology available, but maybe that is also supposed to show the difference between the haves and the have-nots.

A good, though flawed, story that did have a surprise twist ending, and a sobering look at the reality that is certain to come, particularly with the administration that we are getting next year. This won't be fiction for long, unfortunately!

The Nuns

 

San Francisco's early punk/new wave combo, the Nuns' 1980 record was issued on CD on Radiation Records a few years back but I just found it and picked it up. Of course, I was a fan back in the day with the lovely Jennifer Miro on keys and some lead vocals - they had three lead vocalists altogether! - and punky looking cats forming the rest of the band - certainly a different look and vibe than pretty much any other band on the scene at the time. Jennifer was a true femme fatale type while most other females in punk bands were adopting a much tougher looking facade.

Formed in the mid-70's with Alejandro Escovedo and Jeff Olener as part of a film school project, they became one of SF's first "punk" bands and with their striking image and catchy tunes, they became one of the more popular prospects, as well. They often traveled to LA, where I would see them, as most California combos traversed the state looking for new fans and new places to play. Unfortunately, they split up shortly after this recording and while there were numerous reformations, they never really recaptured their original energy. I have just sadly seen that Jeff'n'Jennifer have both passed on, as well.

This short - less than 30 minutes - record highlights their strengths and some of their best tunes, with the various vocalists sharing duties and Jennifer's keyboards adding a different dimension to the proceedings. The opening "Savage" rocks along solidly with melodic vocals from Jennifer and nice backing vocals, "Media Control" is a bit punkier with one of the guys taking the lead on it, some cool feedback opens "World War III", another one of the guys' punkier numbers but with keyboards filling it out and a call'n'answer chorus. More electric piano for Jennifer's melodic'n'catchy "You Think You're the Best", a piercing two note guitar riff gives us the slow, brooding "Walkin' the Beat" with cool vocal trade-offs from everyone, it sounds like. 

The simply titled "Wild" incorporates plenty of keys'n'pretty melodies'n'backing from Jennifer but with a good, 70's punk groove, good dynamics with keys'n'guitars highlight one of the guy's straight-ahead "Getting Straight", "Confused" almost sounds like Alejandro's brother's Zeroes (a good thing, to be sure!), "Child Molester" is a fast, punk number (but with keys!) that kinda reminds me of the Rubber City Rebels (again, a good thing!). I think their "hit", such as it was, was the great "Suicide Child" that moves from moody, cinematic, slow keys for the verses to a powerful sing-along chorus ('you slit your wrist, you stupid bitch, suicide child") - obviously, the subject matter wouldn't get them on the radio, but it one of their best-written songs! I would have thought that would have been the album closer but they chose "Lazy", with just Jennifer and her piano that sounds somewhat similar to Jane Bond and the Undercover Men's "So Bored", complete with nonchalant, monotone-ish singing.

Remember, this is from a time when things like "punk" and "new wave" blurred lines and there wasn't so many rules about what you were supposed to sound like. This is not as straight ahead as bands like the Zeroes, but it is great in its own way, if you can dig electric piano with your punk! Get it!

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian - Robert E Howard

 

Like many, I first discovered Robert E Howard's legendary barbaric hero, Conan, through Marvel Comics faithful reproductions of his early stories. Of course, Marvel expounded on REH's tales, and Howard had stories that were never adapted (I don't believe that Marvel got to all of them, anyway). Both were  great in their own ways and as I was looking for distractions from the all-too-ugly "real world", I thought that I would look back on some of the original tales.

I picked this tome at random from our local library and it is a 1200+ page compendium of a number of Howard's stories of the Cimmerian, in no particular order, but each able to stand on their own. So, we move from his early years, to his time as a king, to his life as a pirate with his also-legendary mate Belit (there is only one story here with her, but in the comics they spend quite a bit of time on their relationship, which was as romantic as it was bloody) as well as his time as a mercenary, a sailor, and much, much more.

Villainous magicians plaque and hound Conan with their spells and their evil familiars and other-worldly creatures, although most often it is the human enemies that are the most treacherous and vile. Howard is a very descriptive and expressive writer, detailing surrounding, creatures, people and combinations thereof so that you can picture what was in his mind. 

Great sword'n'socery stories and there are lots of extras - maybe a bit too much! - at the end with earlier versions, Howard's history of his world and lots more. I got this one from the library but it is a great read and would be well worth it as a purchase for anyone looking into the origins of Conan!

Foxy: My LIfe in Three Acts - Pam Grier

 

Pam Grier is, of course, the stunningly beautiful actress of many of the best Blaxploitation films of the 70's, including Foxy Brown and Coffy, before Tarentino brought her back for the highly successful Jackie Brown, where she got to actually show off her acting skills as an older femme fatale.

Pam grew up in a military family and while she, of course, faced segregation and prejudice in the general population, there was some equality on the military bases and the family was well off enough that the grandparents owned a farm which the kids would stay at when necessary. So, between it all, despite the cruel outside world, it sounds like she had a pretty good childhood, overall. Funnily enough, Godzilla was her first movie theater experience and it made her want to be part of the system, as she was fascinated with the movie magic.

Well, her childhood was good up until the time she was 6 years old and raped by two of her cousins! Of course, she was told not to tell and this caused her to retreat into herself and to stutter. Truly horrible... Life went on, naturally, and she kept this a secret, but spending two years in England (as a result of her dad being stationed over there) helped in many ways and when she came home and her parents split up, she had to keep busy helping with the household finances as well as going to school.

As she got to college - working her way through with multiple jobs - she was actually cajoled into a couple of beauty pageants, although still shy and not comfortable in her own skin. But she actually came to the attention of a Hollywood agent and eventually decided to move to LA to go to film school. Ironically, at this point she still wanted to be behind and not in front of the camera! LA was crazy expensive (compared to Colorado) and she didn't know how she was going to ever afford film school, but she enjoyed the freedom - and less prejudice - that the city offered.

A job as receptionist for an agent led to her auditioning for - and getting - a Roger Corman film shot in the Philippines and she was asked to immediately shoot another before she left. Things moved fast from then on as she was cast in other films and traveled the world shooting and promoting. Her love life equaled her movie career as she dated superstars of the era even as she became more and more famous herself.

While I primarily know her work done in the 70’s, she says that her career really took off in the 80’s - I suppose it was just projects that were not on my radar. But she had substantial roles in TV, film and theatre and received far more recognition than I realized, as well. Unfortunately, her love life never clicked - seemingly from her not recognizing red flags - and while she wished that things could have worked better, she seems content with the way her life evolved.

Turns out that Ms. Grier is a fine writer as well as actress and the book is entertaining, compelling and even gripping, with plenty of background info on her work and her love life. A fine read!

recommended gigs

            

I know that not too many people look at this no matter what, but I am taking a break from social media so I won't be able to update this gig section as often as usual. I haven't set a length of time for my hiatus so who knows, I may be back sooner or may be back later. Have fun while ya can! 

Friday 11-22-24 - The Implosions, The Ghostwood Murder and the Hideaway at Fat Cat

Friday 11-22-24 - Venomous Pinks, Minges, Femaliens, the Has Knots at the Griffin

Saturday 11-23-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 11-25-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday 11-27-24 - Thee Swank Bastards' Basstravaganza At the Double Down

Wednesday 11-27-24 - CM Wolf and the Backbones at Backstage Bar and Billiards

Saturday 11-30-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Friday 12-27-24 - the Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki

Sat 2-22-25 - the Silhouettes at Red Dwarf

They Called Us Enemy - George Takei / Harmony Becker (artist)

 

Of course, George Takei is famous for his role in Star Trek but as he has gotten older he has become more politically outspoken, especially as he has seen past transgressions repeated over the years. He is of the age that he was taken to a Japanese Internment Camp when he was a child - a bit of shameful history that is glossed over in most American schools - and so he is extremely aware of the dangers of racial profiling and biases.

I initially thought that this would be a "regular" novel, but it is a well-done graphic novel with illustrator Harmony Becker doing a great job with plenty of expressive work and now'n'then just a touch of Anime influence for some of the more innocent childhood memories.

The Takei's were a successful, happy, middle class family in the LA area until Pearl Harbor was bombed and the US government's response to its own citizens was racist to an extreme. Anyone of Japanese descent, citizen or not, lost literally everything and was sent to camps. Of course, the children didn't really understand what was happening and George and his siblings actually have some fond memories of their incarceration, mixed with some of the violent horrors that they and their fellow internees experienced.

George's powerful tale is used to highlight the more repugnant policies of some of our more recent (republican) administrations in the hopes that some of our population, at least, can learn for our terrible past that has mostly been expunged from our history books.

As with many civil rights issues, this is not ancient history - many people who had to experience these degradations and worse are still alive and most want the government to acknowledge their shortcomings and they want no one else to have to experience what they lived through. 

Very well done and a story that needs to be repeated often, as it appears that we are going to be living through something similar soon, and it will be just as wrong as it was in the past. 

recommended gigs

           

I know that not too many people look at this no matter what, but I am taking a break from social media so I won't be able to update this gig section as often as usual. I haven't set a length of time for my hiatus so who knows, I may be back sooner or may be back later. Have fun while ya can! 

Saturday 11-16-24 - the Crotches, the Shakewells, the Style Cramps at the Griffin

Saturday 11-16-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 11-17-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 11-18-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 11-22-24 - The Implosions, The Ghostwood Murder and the Hideaway at Fat Cat

Friday 11-22-24 - Venomous Pinks, Minges, Femaliens, the Has Knots at the Griffin

Saturday 11-23-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 11-25-24 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday 11-27-24 - Thee Swank Bastards' Basstravaganza At the Double Down

Wednesday 11-27-24 - CM Wolf and the Backbones at Backstage Bar and Billiards

Saturday 11-30-24 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sat 2-22-25 - the Silhouettes at Red Dwarf

Mighty Marvel Masterworks - The Incredible Hulk Volume 3

 

I've been reading this Masterworks series to revisit the 60's comics that have long ago vanished from my family's collection, but the tales are still deeply ingrained in my psyche. While I don't consider the Hulk one of my fave heroes/anti-heroes, his early stories are fascinating if for nothing else than the wackiness that Stan and company incorporated into the plots as they tried to keep the readers' interests.

By this time, the Hulk was a bit more grounded and not as likely to have different personalities with every issue and some of the aforementioned wackiness had vanished. That said, it is a bit odd that by the 6th installment, Bruce Banner hasn't appeared at all when previously they would switch back'n'forth pretty regularly.

But the Hulk has incredible adventures as he time travels, encounters the Executioner, is hounded by the military (natch), battles Hercules, the Mole Man and more, all in the first few episodes! The artwork varies pretty wildly and none is really the best that the artists are capable of - Kirby, Buscema, Gil Kane and more. I can only assume that they were all trying to do more than time allowed.

The storylines vary, as well, although they improve as time goes on, with the Hulk unwittingly moving from hero to villain and back again through incidents often well beyond his control. This culminates in the creation of the Abomination, a gamma-ray creature more powerful than the Hulk but with normal intelligence. Banner appears in time to devise a way to defeat him and as this chapter ends, the Hulk is once again heralded as a hero - but for how long?

As I always say, I enjoy revisiting these reprints but this installment is frankly, not among the best, but fans will still want to follow along!

Punk and Other Four Letter Words - Linda Aronow

 

I met Linda Aronow in the 80's, first as a friend, but when I learned of her terrific photography skills, we worked together on many of my musical projects. She always had a great eye, a fine sense of composition, and a cool black'n'white technique. It's gratifying to see that she is finally getting some recognition for her work, lo these many years later. Of course, my bands are nowhere near cool enough to be included in this collection, but there are many excellent combos represented.

This coffee table book is  meant to highlight the photos, so there is minimal text, but some great writings, as well - Linda's personal intro and outro, along with reminiscences from a number of the band members included. There are lots of hardcore groups represented, which I never really cared for (although still, some fab captures), but there are also plenty of excellent, original bands such as Redd Kross, Kommunity FK, Christian Death, GWAR, Celebrity Skin, Alice Bag, Haunted Garage, Screaming Jay Hawkins and lots more!

At close to 8-1/2 x 11 (as fliers would have been in the day), the book gives plenty of room to showcase the pix and, cleverly, the font used for the band names emulates the Letraset type that so mnay of us used at the time. Anyone interested in the 80's punk rock and related scenes - particularly LA, but plenty of traveling bands, as well - will definitely want to check this out either to remember the wild times or to see what it was all about! Get it!