End of Year Review

I'm sorry for not posting more often this year. Work piles up and writing more at the end of the day gets to be difficult. I did have time to review two shows of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. You can read those reviews in the August 2014 issue of RE/Search's newsletter. Here are a few other events, TV shows, and memorable moments I enjoyed over this past year (no order, just a list)

• Broad City Live (can't wait for Season 2)
• Swans
• Kelley Stoltz
• Alan Cumming (with book signing for I'm Not Your Father's Son)
• Frank Portman (with book signing for King Dork Approximately)
• James Ensor art exhibit at The Getty
• Visiting the graves of Sharon Tate, Bela Lugosi and Jackie Coogan
• "Frankenstein" production by The National Theatre of London (seen on screen with Benedict Cumberbatch as the Monster)
• 20,000 Days on Earth film
• final season and series finale of "Sons of Anarchy"
• final episode of "The Colbert Report"
• the debut of El Rey Network (launched December 2013, but was a main focal point of my TV viewing in 2014)
• the series "The Strain"
• final season of "True Blood" (the writing really suffered, but the slaughter was pretty awesome)
• the series "Penny Dreadful"
• From Inside with Gary Numan soundtrack
• film Heaven Adores You
• re-release and new print of Queen Margot: the 4K Director's Cut
• film Of Horses and Men
• film Trip to Italy
• film Boyhood (with Richard Linklater Q&A)
• "Hannibal" 2nd season
• book A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton
• TCM, the channel airing twice the movie The Man With the Cloak

In the coming year, I'll try to post a few words for each event, TV show or memorable moment for which I either view or attend just to keep the Korner active. One thing to look forward to (I miss "Pan Am") is the TV miniseries "Lizzie Borden: The Fall River Chronicles" on Lifetime coming in 2015 starring Christina Ricci. She starred in the Lifetime movie "Lizzie Borden Took an Ax" nearly a year ago. It was panned, so I don't understand the miniseries being picked up.

There's so much I could say about my favorite "guilty pleasure" TV shows which include The Mindy Project, The Walking Dead, The Good Wife, The Comeback, Homeland, The Affair, Veep, Castle, New Girl, American Horror Story, and Z Nation. I look forward to seeing more excellent writing in 2015.

Write in the comments what your favorite moments of 2014 included. Do we have anything in common?

new book: Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman

If you're digging the young adult novels or are seeking something fun to read, check out Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman, his follow-up to his first book King Dork. You may just see him singing in a bookstore soon. He's on tour to promote Andromeda Klein.

Portman, aka Dr. Frank, was the singer in the '80s pop-punk band The Mr. T Experience. In 2006, his first book King Dork was published by Delacorte Press. It went so well that they wanted him to write some more books and songs. His words are brilliant just like the band names that the King Dork character, Tom Henderson, invented, which include Tennis with Guitars, The Mordor Apes, Ray Bradbury's Love-Camel, and The Underpants Machine.

If you are a young adult/teen reader, you can volunteer at one of the signings or by contacting him ahead of time to plan which passage you want to read from in either book.

Here's an article from The East Bay Express.