My new book-related podcast, “Standing At an Angle to the Universe”, is up and running.
The first two episodes have been posted on Podbean and a new show will be released every week.
It’s a limited series, 10 episodes in all (plus maybe one or two “bonus” features).
I’m constantly bored with most podcasts these days, finding them tame and humorless, lacking teeth.
“Standing At an Angle to the Universe” is provocative and relentless, naming names, calling out the stupid and inept, not fearing to tread on anyone’s toes.
As advertised, it is not a show for the tiny of brain or thin of skin.
Tune in to these first episodes and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
I should start with the usual groveling apology for not posting anything in a long while but, as you know, if this blog lies dormant a spell it’s because my little brain is hard at work on a project and I barely have time to floss my teeth, let alone provide you with regular updates.
Before I get to the personal stuff, I want to give a plug to Dennis Rimmer and his podcast “Talking Books”. Dennis has been interviewing writers and musicians and personalities on his show for ages, notching up some pretty impressive guests, including one of my literary heroes, Karl Marlantes.
I’m pleased to say that I am Dennis’ 200th guest–we recently chatted and he posted our conversation on his site today. If you’d like to tune in, just click here and it’ll take you right there.
My thanks to Dennis for seeking me out and giving me the opportunity to talk about my work.
And now my last bit of news:
Bowing to popular pressure (mainly from my wife and oldest kid), I’m in the process of writing and hosting a brand new podcast devoted to all things literary. I’m calling the program “Standing At an Angle to the Universe” and that pretty much sums up my approach. My podcast will be personal, intimate and sharp-toothed, presenting a writer’s eye view of the world. I’m not afraid to make harshly critical assessments and won’t pull any punches when it comes to trends, memes or the cultural flotsam and jetsam polluting discourse and insinuating themselves into the public sphere.
I conceive of the show as a 10-part limited series, each episode 20-25 minutes long, covering as many topics and concerns as I can possibly squeeze into that space.
I’ve completed the scripts for five episodes and am quite pleased with what I’m seeing thus far.
Anticipating releasing the first podcast in May, and the rest at set intervals after that.
Meanwhile I have five other full-length projects either in progress or in the works, my dance card full for the next three or four years.
It’s great having something to work toward, but it will involve a daunting amount of time and effort…and I ain’t a spring chicken any more.
Turning sixty (60) this year and that was a motivating factor when I was pondering taking the plunge into podcasts.
“Standing At an Angle to the Universe” is, in a way, my attempt to set the record straight: six decades into my life, this is who I am and what I think.
No apologies, no requirement to pretend I’m something I’m not. Just telling it like it is and damn the torpedos.
I’ll let you know once everything is up and running and, as always, I welcome your thoughts and feedback.
No need to be shy or deferential.
Surely we know each other well enough by now that we can dispense with such niceties.
“Give it to me with the bark on”, as FDR used to say.
THE GOSPEL OF ST. NICHOLAS
Translated & edited by Randolph Carter
(Miskatonic University Press; 2007)
Another lost gospel? Oh, dear, here we go again.
Ever since a couple of farmers stumbled across a treasure trove (over 1000 pages) of ancient scrolls just across the river from Nag Hammadi (Egypt) in 1945, we have been captivated by the notion of “hidden” or heretical texts, suppressed by church leaders, lost to the ages. These texts would, some think, overthrow prevailing church dogma and reveal the “true” message of Christ. The Gospel of Thomas caused a bit of a stir some years back and then a few scraps purporting to give Judas’ side of the most infamous betrayal in human history were recently unearthed and published in the pages of a certain world-renowned magazine.
But the ancient texts always end up promising more than they deliver. Thomas turned out to be a…
so eager to inflict hurt
for the sheer pleasure
of watching us squirm
* * * *
I wrote this piece as a response against the kind of world we presently live in, where a small minority seek to limit the terms of discourse, control language and dole out heaping portions of shame and abuse (while claiming to defend some kind of moral high ground).
Their demeanor and attitude have poisoned conversations, cut off debate and reduced us to a population that is divided, paranoid and desperately afraid of causing offense.
“All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.” (Norman Finkelstein).
I painted “The Arsonists” about a year ago, partly inspired by Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry For the Future.
Ministry For the Future and Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything are the two most important books published in the past decade. They made it manifestly clear to me that Bill McKibben is absolutely right when he says climate change/global warming should be our predominant concern as a society, rather than allowing our mental bandwidth to be taken up with trendy social causes and pointless culture wars.
I know we all have our pet issues but what other crisis confronting us threatens us existentially, putting our entire future as a species in doubt?
The world is burning, as my painting depicts, but it’s the figures in the foreground—disinterested, passive—who should draw your attention (and ire).
That’s us.
It’s a portrait of shame, a depiction of a mindset that will condemn our grandchildren to dystopic horrors we can’t even imagine.
I’m relieved and delighted to say my speech/presentation on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Lakeland Library Region was warmly received by my audience.
Sherron was good enough to film the event and it’s now available for viewing on Facebook.
Apologies for the (at times) spotty audio, chalk it up to a glitchy wi-fi connection.
I’ve also uploaded an audio-only version of the speech on to my Bandcamp page. This was recorded with my little Sony digital unit and the sound quality is much better.
Regardless, I hope you enjoy my wide-ranging talk and the discussion afterward.
If you love good books and revere the printed word, this one is dedicated to YOU.
I love summer, don’t get me wrong, but my favorite season is definitely autumn.
The changing colors of the trees and surrounding fields, the harvest underway, this part of the world bustling with activity and vigor.
My summers are always busy, for some reason my Muse kicks into overdrive around the end of June, whispering ideas, urging me to work each morning, refusing to allow me to clock out until I’ve put in a full day, slaving at my desk.
Oh, she can be a tyrant.
I’ve written, count ’em, thirty (30) poems since the release of The Definition of Melancholy in May, which is a ridiculously torrid pace for me. I’ve also penned some short stories, plus there are a couple of side-projects I can’t really go into right now and they seem to be morphing into…something. God knows what.
At the moment I’m working on a speech/presentation I’ll be performing next Saturday (September 24th) at our local library. The Lakeland Library Region is celebrating its 50th anniversary and they asked me to do a reading…but I thought I’d try something a bit different and give a talk about the important role libraries have played in my life since childhood. They helped open the door to my imagination, introducing me to authors who became important early influences, mentors and companions I treasured.
The speech will be autobiographical…but also a general discussion on the diminishing importance of the printed word and the impact that could have on our society.
I know most of you won’t be there on Saturday and we’ve been pondering ways of recording the event. We shall see. I’ve spent a lot of time on this presentation over the past couple of weeks—Sherron would say far too much time—but I wanted to be as lucid and concise as I could, ensuring I didn’t bore my audience or ramble on and on, enjoying listening to the sound of my own voice.
I’m afraid that’s the best I can do for an update. I’ll be back again in a couple of weeks (no, really), maybe with a snippet of new work, or a poem to show off, or a rant, just to get the juices flowing.
Sometimes I get fed up with the printed word and either descend into my basement lair and slap paint on Dollar Store canvases, or haul my MIDI keyboard up to the office and make weird noises for a week or so.
Then the spell passes, my Muse relents and the words (and voices) return.
Here’s my latest audio concoction, dubbed “Prayer For the Dead”.
It was created in recognition of mortality and aging, the impact of the COVID epidemic, the uncertain future humans face on a world that grows more and more inhospitable to us…
The older I get
the less I waste
remember how Grandma used to save
envelopes in a certain drawer
to reuse for grocery lists
loaf of white bread (not McGavin’s)
cream
McCormick’s social tea biscuits
Tums
7Up
From Wylie’s Store downtown
where they used to let us buy on credit
if our Family Allowance check was late
or Dad had been fired again
Beautiful Desolation 