article about Peter Steele in The Atlantic

I was pleasantly surprised to have found an article reflecting on Peter Steele in The Atlantic today.

Peter Steele interview: more humor about life and more humor about death

more humor, this interview with Peter Steele

R.I.P. Goth/Metal hero Peter Steele

It is always devastating to hear of someone dying too young and now even more tragic that the world has lost Peter Steele. His morbid sense of humor is the side of Peter's voice that I hear despite my sadness of his death. The first time I saw him in Type O Negative was at The Channel in Boston, about 1989 or so. The big finale involved a chainsaw and he had a thick gauge chain for his bass strap. There was no other frontman that could match his baritone vocals, his lyrical genius, his Cro-Magnon physical traits, and who could also possess the sensitivity and love for women. I finally met him before their show at the Berkeley Square in 1994 when I was asked to interview him. I asked him when his birthday was and first he said January 4, 1462, and then corrected it to 1962. I found that he spoke very self-depracatingly about himself and his music, which I found to be completely hysterical. I played into it; kept a straight face throughout which seemed to be even funnier to the band when they watched the interview later. His tough front could have him be mistakable as an angry thug, but really deep down he was well-read, very intelligent, and wise. He is way too young to go and he had a lot left to offer the world. He is very sadly missed by his fans, including myself. I often felt that Peter Steele, and Type O Negative as a whole, was misunderstood and sometimes seen as sending a bad message to the youthful fans. It was the bands' honest feelings being expressed of what people felt; it was their right to write about it; express it without censoring themselves. You didn't have to agree with their lyrics to like their music. If anyone brought their controversial lyrics to light, it only made more publicity for them. Peter explains in one interview: "Well, we were kinda singled out for all the wrong reasons. I’ve got a big mouth and am politically incorrect and I’m very proud of it. Just the word politically correct irritates me because I don’t want to be told by anyone or any entity like the media what I should believe or what is right or what is wrong, y’know. My opinions are not based upon hearsay, my opinions are based upon life experience and so when we were accused of being fascists and communists and Satanists it kind of did us a huge favor because it generated so much press and it increased record sales." There are posts on the 'Net like this one that describes what it is like to be around him. I rarely met fans of Type O Negative on the west coast and then they increased abundantly with the release of the album Bloody Kisses. One of the ways I met a fan, whom soon became my friend, was by spotting him wearing a Type O Negative shirt while I was visiting New Orleans. I did not hesitate to approach him to ask if he had been to one of their shows; he had seen them in Lafayette, Louisiana, and loved it. This friend is Allen Jaeger, an infamous poster artist for hundreds of shows and his work helps promote shows in the New Orleans area. Jaeger later met the band on their way through New Orleans made show posters in 1996 and in 2000. Allen is one of the first Type O Negative fans I met who "got" what they were about and didn't question it. If you are also a fan, feel free to comment about Peter Steele's death below this post.

Review of the Addams Family Musical; theatrical performance from March 18, 2010, Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, NYC

Nathan Lane, is a perfect Gomez with a Spanish accent, suited in pinstripes or smoking jackets and ascots; an infectious laugh; his recalling of ancestral names all sounding like dishes found on a Mexican restaurant menu. His charming, charismatic grins, were most often paired with Bebe Neuwirth's (Morticia) mischievous purr. Neuwirth's solo "Just Around the Corner" takes a moment to tease us by pausing midsong, "Get it? Coroner..." as if to see if we're at all listening to the lyrics. She does the number with a wardrobe conversion that gives her thigh-high, black shiny boots. Neuwirth's Morticia, like Lane, brings to life (and death) our favorite goth parent. The comedy of Carolee Carmello (Alice Beineke) reminded me of Carol Burnett. She's the mom of Wednesday's love interest and her energetic stage stunts are very much a tribute to Burnett's slapstick. Her husband Mal is played by Terrence Mann and Mal runs into a little trouble in the dungeon with Bernice while trying to bond with Gomez Addams. His song "In the Arms" is cabaret-like and he has a nice duet with Carolee Carmello. Jackie Hoffman is Grandmama and she is a scene stealer. Hoffman was told to improvise a line each night. Her twisted jokes include singing the lyrics to Buffalo Springfield's "Stop, Hey What's That Sound" and, with Pugsley, who doesn't understand her old references, she commands him to stop texting and read a book! She has a part in "Let's Not Talk About Anything Else But Love" as does Fester, Puck-ishly played by Kevin Chamberlain. Early in the 1st act, he daringly breaks the fourth wall with a lyric asking how the audience is doing in the mezzanine. Chamberlain's twisted Fester falls in love with the moon and is literally floating high above the stage. Fester's story livens up the second act of the show. Zachary James plays Lurch, who is a character of few words, more grunts and some phrases of jibberish, and he has many memorable scenes, great timing with the deadpan humor. His jokes are primarily physical. Observing him slowly shuffling to the door like an octogenarian, just drives poor Wednesday mad (or madder) awaiting the arrival of her boyfriend and his parents at the house for the first time. I get that the trick with the story is to play on the juxtapositions between the preppy boyfriend Lucas Beineke played by Wesley Taylor and the dour Wednesday. The concept is of having their odd romance throws off kilter the rest of the Addams, apparent in the moments where the parents are singing, "Where did we go wrong?". The other side is playing Morticia and Gomez against each other and her concern that she's old. It never was a subject in the cartoons nor in the TV and movies. Their conflict may not have been true to the Addams characters, but the players were still fascinating to watch as they worked it out. "Pulled" is a solo sung by Krysta Rodriguez (Wednesday) while torturing Adam Riegeler's Pugsley, rather polished and predictably upbeat in typical musical theatre fashion. Here is where one imagines the fans of Christina Ricci's Wednesday Addams would not appreciate the choice for Wednesday to sing with such fervor. "Crazier Than You" is a slightly better song Rodriguez performs with Taylor. Riegler's song, "What If" is a little sweetly sentimental number about longing to be tortured by his sister, hoping it won't cease, and allows him to interact one on one with Hoffman's Grandmama. The contrasting connotations of the youngest and the oldest is a little contrived, but funny nonetheless. Closing the show with "Move Towards the Darkness" embraces the bleakness that the Addams cherish and the song is beautifully sung by Zachary James with the rest of the cast joining him. Fans of the Charles Addams cartoons may see a few references in the Addams Family Musical, set in New York City, which is a location often celebrated in Addams's cartoons for it was a hometown he loved. For example, the bed Pugsley sleeps in is carved in the image in the bed used in one of the cartoons. The family dined on one side of a long table on stage in one of the scenes. It was clear that the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation had a lot of influence on the show. There are references to Thing, the amputated hand, from the TV shows and movies. Cousin It is seen at least once, but unfortunately not a guest at the dinner table. Fester can light up the lightbulbs inserted into his mouth; both from the TV show and movies. Like in the cartoons, creatures live in nooks and crannies of the house. Bernice is a giant squid living under the stairs in a dungeon area of the mansion. I didn't think that the Venus Flytrap plant had much to do with the story. Pugsley cradles a pet fire-breathing dragon. The puppetry is cute, but a bit corny and, unfortunately, fails to capture the deadpan humor we have seen in Charles Addams's drawings. It was my choice to view the exhibit of Charles Addams's New York at the Museum of the City of New York within days of attending the musical at Lunt-Fontanne theatre near Times Square. It was apparent from the show that these original characters created by Charles Addams were an adored family and the performances were a tribute to their creator. Preview the original cast recording album and you'll here how the songs range from upbeat show tunes to ballads. edited for link updates on 11/08/2020

Video: Late Show with David Letterman > cast of The Addams Family Musical performs

From Broadway World, video of cast of The Addams Family Musical performing the first number, "When You're an Addams"

Charles Addams's New York through June 8, 2010 at Museum of the City of New York

I uploaded photos in a private set on Flickr from the Charles Addams's New York exhibit, currently on display at the museum through June 8, 2010 at Museum of the City of New York. It's a wonderful exhibit that presents a great array of preliminary drawings, unpublished works, memorabilia, and many prints from private collections. One room separately is dedicated to The Addams Family items viewable under glass. It is worth taking the time to see the exhibit and visiting the gift shop to find the books and cards of Charles Addams's cartoons.

I monitor all comments. If you use the comment tool below this post, it will email me with your email address and I can invite you to view the set of photos on an invite-only basis. State in your comment, "Invite me to your Flickr photos." I won't be making the photos publicly viewable due to copyright restrictions. No photos can be used without permission from me.

The photos include some of the slide presentation of unpublished pages during a book signing event at the museum. The director of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation, Kevin Miserocchi, presented his new book The Addams Family: An Evilution. It's the only book you'll find that explains the origin of each character from The Addams Family. The book is published on very high quality paper with color images; loaded with excellently weird Addams Family panels.

Soon I will post my review of The Addams Family Musical. You can find merchandise from the musical online as well. Watch the performance from cast members this Tuesday, April 6 on Late Show with David Letterman.

Addams Family Musical character Wednesday Addams Twitters

The Addams Family Musical's curtain is up in NYC. You can also follow twitters from the character Wednesday Addams.

Hear it for New York: Museum of the City of New York exhibits Charles Addams's New York

Wednesday's Korner has two exciting announcements about Charles Addams and his cartoons surrounding the Addams Family.

On March 16, 2010, there's an Addams event at the Museum of the City of New York. Join author Kevin Miserocchi for a discussion of the "evilution" of the creepy assemblage as they developed as mainstays of Addams's cartoons: The Addams Family Evilution. You can order the book now at a special rate.

The Exhibit (March 4 - May 16): Charles Addams’s New York exhibition at the Museum of New York includes watercolors, preliminary pencil sketches, completed cartoons, and examples of published work from the cover of the New Yorker.

Reviews of the exhibition and the event on March 16 are forthcoming in late March or early April.

Here is the press about the exhibit from Broadway World.

Ann Magnuson: If I Ran the Oscars

I love Ann Magnuson and there isn't anyone more perfect to be interviewed about how she would run The Oscars as seen in the LA Weekly here. I like her idea that she'd "make sure that every year, one person in each main category finally gets their 'should've won' Oscar. Ditto for best picture."

I would pick The Misfits for best picture and Montgomery Clift for Best Supporting Actor for portraying Perce Howland. His phone booth scene was done one time and director John Huston didn't want to shoot it again because he knew Clift wouldn't have done it better than that. This is an actor that was thought of as a risk to cast from his reputation as being a mess. Marilyn Monroe is performing her best work in a serious role as a woman having had a lot of romances with men but no soulmate connection to any of them. She had suffered a great deal and her emotions are controlled so beautifully in her role as Roslyn and in Making the Misfits we learn that what he has Gable say to her was Arthur Miller's Valentine to Monroe.

Magnuson says she'd never change the In Memoriam montage, which I completely agree with because the screen time is so important for the deceased. It is the final salute to their career.

Here is my list of those whom I am saddest that we have lost in 2009:
Vic Mizzy, Addams Family composer
Andy Hallett, The Host from Angel
John Hughes, the best director of 1980s teen angst comedies
Ken Ober, former host of MTV's Remote Control
Brittany Murphy, a great actress taken much too young
Patrick Swayze, a dancer and actor who had some of his best comedic moments on SNL with the late Chris Farley
Natasha Richardson, classic and charming actress of theatre and film
Wendy Richard of Are You Being Served... Miss Brahms
Mollie Sugden of Are You Being Served... Mrs. Slocombe
Reg Evans of Are You Being Served... Mr. Cocker (He and his domestic partner Angela Brunton were among 181 or more people killed in a series of bushfires across St. Andrews, Victoria, Australia on February 7, 2009.)
Grandpa Munster Al Lewis
Patrick McGoohan of The Prisoner
Karl Malden, probably one of the best actors next to Brando
Farrah Fawcett, powerful woman and a true star everyone will admire forever
Kim Manners, Producer of shows such as The X-Files
Soupy Sales, he made so many children smile
Ron Asheton, of Iggy & The Stooges
Walter Cronkite, an unforgettable voice in news
Jim Carroll, an unforgettable voice in poetry and music, famous for The Basketball Diaries and the song "All the People Who Died"
Vic Chestnutt
Roland S. Howard of The Birthday Party and his solo work
Lux Interior of The Cramps
J.G. Ballard, a writer who opened our minds to thoughts of deeply disturbing characters
Ted Kennedy, public servant for the people
Les Paul, visionary guitar builder
Sam Butera, played tenor sax with Louis Prima and Keely Smith
Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul and Mary; Puff the Magic Dragon
Michael Jackson, with mixed feelings. He wasn't really living with all the medications he depended on for comfort; shame on the doctors that complied to his wishes.

Winston Smith Party and Art Sale

ANNOUNCING
THE MID-WINTER ART SHOW
FOR
WINSTON SMITH'S NEW ART GALLERY

GRANT'S TOMB ART CRYPT
Presents:

NO FRILLS, NO FRAMES, NO STRINGS ATTACHED!!

THURSDAY, 28 JANUARY: 7 p.m. till 11 p.m.

Come check out Winston's Bizarre & Beautiful Collage Creations produced over a 33 year period.
(The elderly Winnie himself shall be in attendance, if he can get a ride from his retirement home).

Lots of Vintage Punk-era Originals, and Color Laser Copies from record cover Art created for Dead Kennedys, D.O.A., NoMeansNo, Green Day, Alternative Tentacles, George Carlin, Ben Harper, including Rare Album Roughs and Preliminaries never before displayed.

Ultra-Affordable, Uniquely Low Prices and Singular Bargains Available!! Cash & Carry!

Please Note: This is a ONE-NIGHT-ONLY Event!!

Sangria & Chips! Lots of Art! Lots of Laughs!
No Frills, No Frames, No Strings Attached!
Admission is Free. (All donations gratefully accepted!)
Be there or Be Triangular.

GRANT'S TOMB ART CRYPT
50-A Bannam Place
(E-Z to find: Tiny Lane just off UNION Street near corner of Union & Grant,
one block up from Washington Square in North Beach)
San Francisco, Calif. 94133

View Larger Map

Help Haiti

Donations can be made to aid people affected by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that recently occurred in Haiti. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is taking donations. IFRC is the world's largest humanitarian organization, providing assistance without discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. Watch how they help.

WSPA is also working on a way to assist animals affected by the disaster.

Here are ways to help through texting:

Text the word "Yele" to 501501 to donate $5
On behalf of the Yele Foundation, the leading contributor to rebuilding Haiti founded by Wyclef Jean

Text the word "Haiti" to 85944 to donate $5
On behalf of the Rescue Committee

Text the word "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10
On behalf of the Red Cross in the U.S.

Coast to Coast AM Predictions airing 12/30 and 12/31/2009

Art Bell's Coast to Coast AM airs the predictions shows over the next two nights. Here is 2009's list of predictions with some evidence that points to what almost came true and what did come true. Use the comments feature of this blog (screened for spam) to list your predictions if you don't get through to Art on the phone. Do you see any that you can prove that came true in 2009 below? If so, please enter links in the URL to show us all!:

Predictions for 2009

1. Alien spacecraft will land in Memphis TN (at airport area for landing on a special platform)
2. Nuclear device detonates in the US
3. Prince William will succeed Queen Elizabeth and take the throne (Eric from Alabama) [in actuality, there are rumors William is being groomed as the Shadow King as of Dec. 2009]
4. Dennis Kucinich is going to be hypnotized by Bud Hopkins to see what happened when he lost time
5. Major earthquake in a west coast city (Eric in L.A.)
6. US and Canada moving towards Communism. (Angela from British Columbia)
7. The economy will flounder and there will be a depression; marshall law declared in some cities (Rick in Arkansas)
8. an increasingly harsh winter; food shortages in the springtime (Brian in Portland, OR)
9. nuclear device goes off in the Saudi oil fields (Jason from Fallon, NV)
10. Obama honeymoon over by October (from Boston, MA)
11. Solid proof that Bigfoot exists (Patrick from Cleveland)
12. Coast to Coast fans are gonna form an insomniacs club (Bill from Toronto)
13. Year of the homicide - record number of homicides (Keith in Hamilton, ONT) - Not a fact in actuality
14. Commercial real estate sector is next to be hit (Mark in Oregon) - This is true
15. food and energy rise 12-15% and there will be price fixing by the govt.; food shortages (John from Chicago) - NOT true
16. Obama will nationalize electric power companies (from caller named Serge)
17. Sept. 15 2009 - nationwide pandemic possible global pandemic (David in Pueblo)
18. flooding for the south - This came true
19. discovery of life outside the solar system; through NASA spacecraft sent in Spring or by SETI (Tom from Salem OR)
20. govt. confiscates all gold and precious metals like in the 20s and 30s.
21. moon will be brighter because it is closer
22. the rapture - those that are deemed ready to go at the Rapture and the dead considered saints will be resurrected, we'll have a nuclear conflict on the earth and UFO contact; Sept.
23. Chrysler and GM will merge by Oct. (Joe in Corpus Christi) - not true
24. 1st dog will be a cocker spaniel - not true
25. all the forests in the Pacific Northwest will die
26. unions go under by March
27. sports will go up in smoke; due to low sales and no sponsorship
28. Russia will show its military might - this did surface as a real story here and here
29. intention experiment returns
30. earthquake around Orange County
31. tire accident with someone high profile
32. the year of full disclosure by the US on UFOs and Obama will be the disclosure president
33. Glendale AZ a bloodbath on the border before the end of April 2009; INS will be involved - the catalyst that will make the US gov
34. transportation interruption due to a catastrophic event and food supply will be in high demand
35. tsunami from a undersea geological eruption off the coast of Australia; not surprising after it occurs in looking back on it
36. global leaders design one global wage and one global currency
37. july 24 we'll see world peace
38. North America union declared this year
39. currency combining Canada, US and Mexico; the Amero
40. American Hotel company will have a fire; high loss of life and a couple of miracle rescues; through some miracle the people thought to be dead actually make it out
41. blimp crash
42. US govt will be overthrown
43. George Noory gets married in 2009
44. Rain gauge at the airport will read 8/10 of inch at least 5 times in Phoenix (Alden from Phoenix).
45. investigations into artificial manipulation of oil prices
46. auto production cut in half because of the unemployment (Chris in Detroit)
47. we're going to see changes in the GAT and NAFTA agreement; level the playing field (Rich in Las Vegas)
48. Obama is going to play a major part in bringing peace to the Middle East with the connection to Islamic Mujahadeen, the guy with the blue turban (Angela in Southwest desert)
49. first time America is not going to stand with Israel; [the Obama administration] will turn their back on Israel (Julie from Kansas)
50. All the paper currency of the world will be rendered useless; Marshall Law declared in US to secure food and fuel supplies and dispersion of military -- instant enlistment (East of the Rockies caller unamed)
51. A major terrorist event much like 9/11 in England or Western Europe area; President Obama will rally a coalition to attack the country responsible; he'll be the hero in retaliation; the people who were behind helping him come to power will be actually have orchestrated it (East Tennessee caller)
52. sometime in midsummer when it appears we're going into hyperinflation and instead we'll go into serious deflation, back to 1967 levels, but we'll come out stronger for it; it will be rapid -- take 3 mos. to roll back (Stu in Phoenix)
53. In February some cluster of meteors will hit the planet like hail stones on the ground (Tommy from Aurora)
54. US breaks up into regional countries; Atlanta as the capitol; redo of the old south without VA, FL, and TX (Jim from Guntersville, AL)
55. Hoover Dam breaks due to earthquake; Lake Mead will come rushing down CO river and fill the Salton Sea; there'll be a snowmelt (Jim from Twentynine Palms)
56. "the beginning of the end of the Mayan calendar" The events from the Mayan Calendar will be surfacing and a scholar will be understanding it; reading it and forecasting events before they occur in 2012 by February (Curtis from Tennessee)
57. Armed rebellion of the people against their own government. States will secede. (west of the Rockies unnamed caller)
58. The economy gets worse and Alvin Topler will be appointed president of the world bank. He'll rectify it and save the banks. (unnamed caller)
59. Obama's national healthcare plan will go through just when they will socialize employment; it will go downhill and become a socialist police state; socialist housing, food rationing, etc. by 2015 (from Oregon)
60. Disney is going to attempt to acquire Christmas because their revenues are going down and they want profit for next Christmas (Billy from Toronto)
61. Obama will be the big disappointment, the people will realize it
62. A natural disaster pushes US into Marshall Law (Todd from Sacramento)
63. Green gadget year; surge in entrepreneurship in the US pooling their intelligence and resources making small businesses serve their communities to move the economy; solar products
64. Rising death toll in everything in general; something big coming our way (Rebecca in Salem)
65. Amero is the new currency with North American union by the end of the year (Ray from Illinois)
66. N.E. Ohio will have a huge earthquake before October; Youngstown, Warren, that area
67. New World Order is announced in the middle of the year, embraced by Christmas
68. Genetic mis-engineering causes outbreak of food poisoning (Jan from Brooklyn)
69. There will be a scandal with Barack Obama in 2009 (Donald from TN)
70. We're gonna hear an announcement from the Exec. Branch of the White House and the trains are going to turn everything around; it will cost a trillion dollars (Tom in Ashland, OR) - this is true, somewhat, not in the trillions as of yet
71. Major seismic event in Yellowstone in 2009.
72. A new member to Art Bell's family either for Dolly the cat or for Asia (Michelle from WA)
73. Predict unity in the US through the US citizens; enforce federal law to remove the illegal immigrants through buses and pickup trucks; American teenagers picking crops like in the 30s & 40s
74. There will be some kind of major news about the Jon Benet Ramsey murder case, something to bring the case to the forefront again (Dan in Tampa, FL)
75. Mechanical, hands-on type toys will surge back as a concept for a more real and not simulated interaction; erecter sets and things manipulated with your hands
76. President Obama will be tested in the first half or three quarters of 2009 and will rally the people to put a stop to the downslide we're in
77. The Obama administration and, sponsored by Joe Biden, will expand the assault weapon ban (Daniel from Queens)
78. This will be the year that the Manning boys will meet in the Superbowl (James from Winnipeg)
79. Wonderful things are happening because the society is changing; consciousness is being raised; we are not being ruled by fear; there will be a shift in consciousness, not manifesting what we fear but what we have faith in (living in a state of love or bliss). things are more transparent; treachery and lies are coming to an end.
80. The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem will be destroyed; Iran or another Arab nation will destroy it; the Temple will be rebuilt (from Orlando, FL)
81. Individual citizens will be growing its own food more; instead of getting the food from supermarkets and from fast food chains (Riverside, CA caller) - this is happening
82. Americans will help economy and housing values will begin improving in 2009 (Blair in Sedona)
83. Ark of the Covenant will be brought out from ancient Israel by caravan and contains a consciousness (Alexandra from Toronto)
84. Her husband predicts that the people disgruntled about President Obama for whatever reason is that one of the Watergate-esque setups will happen but they'll get caught and someone young, a Deep Throat person, will catch them; the American press will be reinvigorated to report the news (Deb Deb from El Sobrante, CA)
85. Black Panthers will try to come back to power in 2009 (Renegade from the Bohemian Mtns. in Oregon)
86. California doesn't sink into the ocean (John from San Diego) - Ding!
87. Mainstream media will admit that peak oil is a reality
88. It's going to be unusually wet and green in the desert; houses falling off of hills
89. Massive earthquake and volcanic event in Yellowstone between April and August
90. We're going to look at our junk DNA and find intelligence; science and religion will discover something in junk DNA (Karen in Houston)
91. This will be the year for alcohol as a fuel; we can cook our way out of dependence of foreign oil and convert our waste into alcohol (Randy in Aberdeen, WA)
92. Poseidon adventure; a rogue wave will hit one of these cruise ships
93. People will get together and create self-sustaining societies/communities who don't need to go outside only for taxes (Missy from CO)
94. There will be a new energy source in the coming year using high energy and static electricity (David from Georgia)
95. There will be more revelations on how we've come to the way we are; return to the golden rule, brotherly love and the morally upright way to be; more of a consciousness of taking care of one another (from Kansas City)
96. Heath Ledger will win best supporting actor Oscar (Don from Columbia Canada)
97. The year that we capture Osama bin Laden in early 2009
98. People in early teens and early 20s will start a movement to join a secret society, but won't draw attention of adults and then will soon find out and become concerned about it (catherine from Richmond, CA)
99. We're going to see mounting evidence that microbial life exists on Mars -this appears to be a ding!
100. Seeds and garden products will skyrocket as more people realize that they need to grow their own food, see #81
101. The precursor or the act itself of some disaster will bring us to the fascism we're headed to. The end of the Mayan calendar will lift the yoke of slavery that 450 years brought on S. America. Corporations and government will bring us closer to fascism.
102. Towards end of 2009 Art Bell will return to regular radio (caller from NY)

Sadly remembering Brittany Murphy

I remember Brittany Murphy best in the movie Girl, Interrupted in which she played a girl institutionalized and shown to have rehabilitated. She had a pet cat with her and she was the object of much torment by a character played by Angelina Jolie. Murphy played this role excellently and touched my heart. She has won awards for her roles, most notably for her character of Luanne on "King of the Hill". Try to catch an airing of an episode and remember her genuine, heartfelt voice as Luane; the warmth that brings out so many great moments in this character.

R.I.P. Vic Mizzy

R.I.P. Vic Mizzy, theme music creator for TV show "The Addams Family."

Halloween Music is back on Music Choice

October means Music Choice channel "Sounds of the Seasons" is playing Halloween music. It began on October 15. I've even heard more than I used to hear including "Halloween Scarols" where they take Christmas Carols and change the words to be Halloween-themed. I've heard sound effects, which really are excellent if you find a way to record it into a program on your MP3 player and play them when you drive around the rural areas. The sound of someone being murdered coming from your open top car, driving down a two-lane highway without streetlights... classic way to freak out the distant hermit living in a remote cabin. Here's the complete 2009 schedule in PDF format. The rest of the Music Choice channels can be found on this page.

tickets on sale for The Addams Family Musical on Broadway

In case you missed it, tickets are on sale for The Addams Family Musical set to hit Broadway in spring of 2010. I've already got my ticket for March. I read about the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Yelp.com before purchasing a ticket and went for a 4th row front mezzanine seat. It is not cheap, but I am not holding out until I get to Times Square in hopes to finding a half-price, same-day ticket. When I searched Yelp, I noticed someone commented, paraphrasing, that if you sit below the mezzanine in the rear orchestra, you may not have a full view of the area high above the stage. This fact may or may not matter, depending on how the show is using any stage scenery. I'm not taking my chances.

If you cannot wait that long, then you can see it in the Windy City sometime between Nov. 13-Jan. 10 during its pre-Broadway world premiere run at the Ford Center/Oriental Theatre.

Who's playing Wednesday? Krysta Rodriguez - you can find her in videos online. I have to be objective that the director wants great singers who have great stage presence and from what I've seen, I have no problem with Rodriguez playing Wednesday. It's a separate production from the television shows and the movies and I hope Rodriguez can bring a part of her own dark humor to her performance as Wednesday.

{Article} Edgar Allan Poe finally getting proper funeral

See this article about the Edgar Allan Poe funeral ceremony this weekend in Baltimore. The Baltimore Sun had a larger article late last week which includes a few quotes from Poe funeral officiator John Astin.

I once worked with a person who insisted on reading the end of a book first or on finding out from someone the end of a movie before seeing it because they wanted to know how it ended before they got invested. It pissed me off. Well, now comes "The Vampire Diaries" on one of those lame teen TV networks and, though I don't know her any more, I really think this is a show written for someone like her. She would easily predict what will happen and be glad that everything will have a happy ending just like it says on the site for L.J. Smith, the author of the books for which the series is based.

I promise you I hated the show. Here's why: unless you never watched or read a book (aside from the Stephanie Meyers crap) about vampires, you'll know what will happen. At some point I just started to watch the clock and figured out very quickly that the script is perfectly timed. I never noticed this in shows well written. Here's the timeline I noted:

0:00-0:08 Narration a la brooding confession combined with lots of perfect hair, dark wet streets, beating into your head that the lead female dark teenager, Elena, lost both her parents in recent times, heavy amounts of pressure on her to be happy.

At 8 minutes in: Vampire Stefan glamours a person of authority a la Obi Wan Kenobi Jedi mind tricks.

At 9 minutes in: Vampire Stefan and Elena are eye-to-eye, AWKWARD! ...but he's no "Angel."
Sometime in the next ten minutes we're supposed to be all mystified by a crow in a cemetery, fake dry ice fog... are you goths still with me?

At 17 minutes in: Object of importance is planted... the diary.

At 19 minutes in: first ironic joke between human and vampire (aw, if she only knew he was a vampire and how much that is so ironic), gag, cough, gag.

Group scenes with Stefan and the teens involve lots of silent gawking and ditzy blonde comments from the female teen named Caroline, who's no Cordelia Chase.

At 20 minutes in: Elena feels the bond. Oh, yes, Vampire Stefan writes a diary too. Utterly phenomenal stuff, really. More moments of dumb gawking.

At 23 minutes in, we are shown a woman from Stefan's past that, guess what, looks just like Elena!

At 35 minutes in, you see Elena thinking Stefan is kind of weird, big HMMMMMMMMM.

At 36 minutes in, the first attempted kill (damn) of a somewhat disposable character. If you didn't know that walking alone in the dark in a suburban forest well lit by set lights was dangerous, well, bad girl sex addict, you will soon find out. The character is named Vicki (played by "Freaks and Geeks" alum who did 3 episodes, Kayla Ewell), whom by the way is close friends with Elena's brother whom is way too mothered by Elena that it's almost like incest.

At 42 minutes in, we meet the big bad guy of the series, Vampire Damon, played by the botoxifull Ian Somerhalder, remember Locke's "friend" from "Lost"? Yeah, that guy. Sad that he was bearing a completely expressionless face. BUT, and a big but, he was mocking Vampire Stefan referencing the mystical fog and spooky crow! One point goes to Vampire Damon!

At this point I am nearly in tears that it isn't nearly over yet and that I committed to reviewing the pilot episode for this blog, but finally, 51 minutes into the goth-forsaken episode, we see a fight between Damon and Stefan, like some real physical action for about 10 seconds. But Vampire Damon doesn't even growl for real, it's recorded! Damon even needs some special effects to move his face into a frightening sneer! Lots of "men beating chest" and "I'm stronger," and "No, I'm stronger."

At 54 minutes in, the word "vampire" is uttered for the first time by the victim of the attack while recovering in a hospital.

At 59 minutes in, Elena invites Vampire Stefan in... fade to black.

If reading this was sheer agony for you, then try watching this pilot, or rather, don't and spend that time making an effort to do something really important like dye some pretty lace outfit from bright white to midnight black and wear it out on the town with your hair all wild for a drink of some delicious dark red wine with your favorite buddy. Life is too short to spend a minute watching "The Vampire Diaries."

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.

video: Peter Murphy sings with NIN on "Reptile"

You cannot see much:


Or watch this.