My Blogs Aren’t the Only Thing Restarting…
I’ve had a lot happen in the past several weeks. As those of you that follow my Facebook account are aware, my mother landed in the emergency room the day before the Kickstarter campaign for my first book release, Resonant Blue, was set to conclude (successfully – the goal had been reached the Friday before). She was transferred to one of the best hospitals in the area, where she spent close to two weeks in a sedative-induced twilight zone – I put it that way because it wasn’t a coma – her brain and heart functions were fine, but her breathing had to be supported with a tube for a little while. Before the two weeks were up, the breathing tube was yanked (an earlier attempt had to be aborted when the doctors realized her throat was swollen, and they had to use steroids to lower the swelling before they tried again) and she was transferred to a private step-down room for the next six days, during which she was fitted for a pacemaker (while awake… OUCH!). The reason for all this trouble was because a few weeks beforehand, her now-former cardiologist had her sent to this very hospital’s Heart Hospital for some examination and was subsequently scheduled for delivery of a halter monitor so that they could monitor her heart’s functions. (I should note that back in February of 2003, she had to have a valve replacement, which up until the moment that landed her in the emergency room back on March 10, was the most tense health-related incident I had ever witnessed with her.) As part of the halter monitor procedure, they prescribed her two medicines, one of which proceeded to disagree with her kidneys not less than two weeks into a three-week monitoring period. Not fun. Thankfully, this major bump in the road was handled with a water pill (and, I presume, its injected/dripped equivalent during her time in ICU). As I write this, she’s been transferred to an accelerated rehab program at the same facility (she’s been there since last Thursday) where she first visited the emergency room back on March 10 – which is only less than five minutes from mine and my wife’s apartment – and she’s expected to be discharged and fully back on her feet before a week has passed. (There may also be cause for legal action against her now-former cardiologist, who was habitually and unnecessarily changing her regular heart meds for months before all of this shit happened.)
The whole time she was in ICU, my life consisted mainly of working more than I am usually expected to at my present day job (partly because my mother is also the store manager/bookkeeper there while I usually do a whole bunch of other administrative stuff and occasionally wait on customers), then heading home, dropping off my messenger bag and laptop at my apartment, and heading right back out the door with my wife to drive the 45 minutes from Hazleton to Wilkes-Barre, my wife at the wheel of her car and me with my iPad in hand either catching up with things or just taking my mind off of all the insanity as best as I can – often not getting anything to eat until after we’d visited for awhile. By last Monday or Tuesday, I was burnt as close to a fucking crisp as possible, and was wondering how soon I’d be landing in the hospital myself, either in a hospital room from exhaustion or in the Mariah Carey suite at the nearest mental ward. It wasn’t until the day after my mother had her pacemaker installed that I could stay home rather than have to do the drop bag/grab iPad/bail routine again.
Not surprisingly, this slowed quite a few things down – not just mine and my wife’s personal lives, but my blogging, getting everything ready for the people who participated in the crowdfunding campaign, and trying to get back into playing music live. By now, if all of this shit hadn’t happened, I was expecting to have already sent off the formatted manuscript (which I was in the middle of doing the final edit for on March 10th) and the final front cover with Chris Mendoza’s fine artwork to the printer, an e-book file to the people that are handling that format, ordered the T-shirts for those that pledged to get one with their book, and finished all the other premiums for people that wanted them. Fortunately, the night the crowdfunding campaign closed, I explained what had happened the night before and that things would be delayed a little bit. Now that the home stretch is here, I can start to resume my life all around.
Ray Mescallado’s retiring International Wota and starting Idolminded in its place gave me even more of an excuse to “restart” my blogging even while all this was going on, and I delibrately chose April 1st – which would have been the 54th birthday of the Minutemen’s D Boon – as the “restart” date, even though this finished blog post is getting posted after midnight on the 2nd – coincidentally a year after I last saw Mike Watt play live. (My own 5th blogging anniversary is coming on the 11th of this month, but honoring one of my much-missed heroes was a better target date for TGML’s relaunch.) I’m getting back on track with both the blogging and the prep for Resonant Blue‘s release and the pledge fulfillments, which leaves the last thing I mentioned… The getting back to playing music live.
As I mentioned back when I reviewed AKB48/BabyBlossom’s live performance of “Give Me Five” a while back, I’m a trained musician. For several months, on and off, I’ve been trawling Craiglist and local music giveaway papers in search of either a working band. A week before the medical incident with my mother, I had an audition for one of two guitar spots… and I’ll relate how all that went, and maybe a little more, tomorrow.
Where Have I Been All Month?
Well, I took a break from this blog and from working on Here Is The Wonderland to get another project out my system, and the best way to do that was to participate in NaNoWriMo for the 6th time, successfully completing my third full NaNoWriMo project.
Unlike the first two times I completed NaNoWriMo, where I used those times to kick off a novel project, this time I stuck to a more self-contained novella. The first draft, completed mere minutes ago and clarified to be a 50,000-plus manuscript at NaNoWriMo’s website, is going to now ferment while I catch my bearings and prepare to get through the current holiday season AND complete the remaining scenes necessary for the current draft of Here Is The Wonderland.
The new novella, tentatively titled Resonant Blue, will then get a little editing prior to a special self-release of some sort, later this year or early next year. I’ll announce details here, and get back to a more disciplined blogging schedule this week in the meantime.
I Heard You Missed Me, I’m Back…
Those of you on my Twitter account or Facebook page may recall that I announced that I would be resuming posting on here on a more regular basis.
There have been two reasons why things got a bit slow over the past few months. One I am sure you all know of by now: I got married back in June. As a result of that, my first few weeks as a newlywed were spent getting used to living with someone else in a new place – and that was after a week of honeymooning to boot.
The other development kinda goes with the above territory, but is also a reason for the slowness of posts since the beginning of the year. I have been working whenever I can on my novel manuscript for Here Is The Wonderland and whenever I have sat down with this computer I have often tried to devote as much creative energy to that project, at the expense of this blog.
Simply put, what is going to be going on from here on out is this: When I moved my blogging activities I stated that I wanted to expand the musical reach of my blogging and I don’t fully believe I have accomplished that yet. In stating that, I also want to emphasize that I have no intention of forsaking my devotion to covering punk rock and Japanese pop on here – that will never falter, ever.
That having been said, there’s at least one other post I want to make this week or so that I was meaning to make for a couple of weeks. You’ll most likely know which one it is when it comes up. There may be a couple of catch-up review posts like I did before my wedding, but I’m not completely sure yet. I do know that I want to keep things a bit more current that I have been in the past.
I may also break rank with the main intention of this site – discussing music – when it comes to my writing career, especially as my writing projects hit the completion and submission stages.
Other than that, expect things here to get busier than they ever have been. Thanks for reading this.
I Do…
Today I marry my longtime girlfriend and lover, Tara Ann Welsh. In fact, by the time this entry automatically posts, we will have already said our vows. So, there’s no other appropriate song for today than this one from my favorite band:
…except maybe for this one that could have been our first dance had Tara been more into J-Pop. Still, it’s also appropriate, so I’ll post it here (lyrics in both Japanese and English will open in a new window here):
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See you all again here very soon… the honeymoon awaits. In the meantime, you can keep up with us here and here!
And now, a quick update from yours truly…
As some of you may know, I’m getting married on Saturday. A lot of the prep for the ceremony and everything related to it has either been taking my time, energy, or both, and what’s been unintentionally getting kicked to the curb? This blog.And to be honest, much of what energy I have had has been devoted to ongoing work on Here Is The Wonderland and other writing projects.
However, I am not closing TGML or any of its related sites, or letting them stay static.
This week, I’ll be making a few special posts, and then when I get back from my honeymoon next week, I’ll be back at a more active schedule.
Thanks for your patience!
- CJ Marsicano
It’s Poll Time Once Again (With A Few Random Thoughts To Go With It)
Paul Thomas and his mad coding skills have struck again, and of course, I had to, had to take the poll, which this year came as a two-parter – one for individual members and one for groups. Some of the results as I filled them out should be of no surprise, others should not:
My fandom hasn’t changed very much. Reina is still on top for me, Takitty is right behind, but for whatever reason JunJun and LinLin have moved up in the ranks. Much of this ranking of individuals from #3 on down could change from day to day, though, so this is just what I was feeling tonight.
The group fandom was less hard to figure out. Morning Musume are still my favorite band, Buono! still rock, and I still like Berryz and C-ute even though I still can’t recognize some of the members on sight (obviously picking Miyabi, Momoko and Airi out thanks to their Buono! work isn’t hard, and I can recognize Risako and Chinami, but that’s about it at the moment) and C-ute’s new album hasn’t completely grabbed me yet like 10 My Me and We Are Buono! did.
I try never to let a day go by without playing some MoMusu music, no matter how many other musical mood swings I go through from day to day and week to week (In one example, for whatever reason, I went on quite the Minutemen/fIREHOSE jag the past week, as my last.fm page will attest). But, my listening habits have always been that way and that’s not likely to change, ever.
The bottom rows of both polls stayed the way they were from how Paul organized the default selections for a good reason: Erina Mano’s music hasn’t exactly grabbed me, and I’ve never listened to Guardians 4 or S/mileage so I can’t comment on them.
Other than that, I get married in 89 days (yikes – time’s flyin’!), which means that as that day looms forward I need my favorite band and their compatriots to keep me sane. That also means I have to cram in a lot of activity on here before then… and then cram in some more after the nuptials.
Happy 3rd Cake Day, International Wota!
OK, let’s review:
For the first Cake Day in 2008, I posted two MiniMoni baked-goods-related videos – and a naughty pun that Brother Ray Mescallado appreciated about the kind of “pie” two lucky bastards were getting from Ai Kago and Nozomi Tsuji at the time – at this blog’s predecessor MotokoAoyama.com, and a YouTube clip of Reina Tanaka working in a restaurant for a TV skit at So Hot She Shits Fire.
For the second Cake Day in 2009, I posted a different kind of baked good: my smoked paprika chicken thighs recipe here at TGML, and some “cheesecake” (i.e. some bikini shots of Reina) over at SHSSF.
For the third Cake Day, I didn’t know what to do. I cook, but I don’t usually bake (my sole baking attempts have been a couple of instances of buying Pillsbury Snoopy Christmas Cookies and following the package directions), and I could never top my blogging BFF and fellow Cancerian VeePinku’s Yuke Yuke Monkey Cake. Then my fiancee Tara came to the rescue with something she makes on the regular…
Continue reading
Should I Tell KISS to Kiss My Ass?
Last week, I decided to go a little old school, pull out my old KISS albums (even though I have them on more recent formats as well), and spin those old favorites on my turntable. After a few hours, though, I stopped. And I blame what KISS has become lately and how much it has bugged me of late for that.
Last year, the coincidental back-to-back release of Ace Frehley’s fourth solo album Anomaly and KISS’ first studio album in 11 years, Sonic Boom found themselves in my CD player and in review form here on TGML. Granted, Ace’s album was the one I was more interested in, and it got a well deserved five-star review here because of the contents. But I found myself compelled to spring twelve bucks for the KISS album in spite of what was an iffy track record in the wake of their post-Dynasty releases, and I felt compelled to give an honest review of the album that I too, still hold to six months later (In short, Paul’s songs are the strongest, Gene’s are a small improvement on his post-’78-solo-album auto-pilot output, and Tommy Thayer can emulate Ace’s soloing style well, having imitated him in a KISS cover band years and years before, but can’t sing worth a fuck.)
A few weeks ago, after a little overindulging in the first two KISSology DVD collections, I decided to man up and add the third one, since it was loaded with footage from the reunion gigs done by the original lineup. Out of curiosity, I took a peek into the DVD’s commentary tracks done by Paul and Gene – and got immediately pissed off. So pissed off that I ejected the DVD from my player and shelved the set along with the first two volumes. What pissed me off? A lot of commentary downplaying Ace’s and Peter Criss’ role in the success of the Reunion Tour.
I suspect that Paul’s part of the commentary in question sounds somewhat forced compared to Gene’s tongue-wagging. Furthering this theory is something Paul said a little more off-the-cuff in the same set’s commentary track: That Paul was all for bringing Ace and Peter back into the fold, while Gene was rather reluctant. This should not come as any surprise to longtime fans of the band. Gene was the one most reluctant to record a new album after the Psycho Circus debacle – a debacle spurred by the absence of Ace and Peter on all but three cuts on the album – and on only one of those – Ace’s sole songwriting contribution to the album – did they play their assigned instruments (a session player filled in for Peter on the rest of the album, while Thayer played uncredited guitar solos). [And with the exception of noting that Sonic Boom’s relative quality made up for how shitty Psycho Circus was in my review of the former album, the only time I’d thought about Psycho Circus in recent times was when Vee referenced it in a recent post at Pink Wota – and in conversation she agreed with me that Psycho Circus was a lame album, too!]
Gene also falsely accused Ace – who in reality honored his five year contractual commitment and chose to step away and decompress before restating his solo career – of “shooting himself in the foot again” in his second book Sex Money KISS by not participating in what became the Alive IV: Symphonic KISS album. In short, Gene is out to make himself look good and the rest of his associates (at least the ones who aren’t willing to kiss his ass) look bad for the sake of his own ego:
Despite a post-Hollywood, self-proclaimed “refocus” on KISS around the time of Revenge’s creation, Gene Simmons is still interested in putting his ego and interests ahead of the group. Granted, at times, he is willing to make himself the butt of a joke – witness his first Dr. Pepper Cherry commercial, in which his son Nick interrupts his characteristic bombast, as well as many of the setups portrayed in his A&E TV series – as long as it’s for a profit. It’s highly doubtful a blooper like this would have ever made an installment of KISSology, even as a hidden Easter egg:
I am of completely mixed emotions about the band that first led me to want to pick up a guitar back in 1978. All of the classic-era albums are on my laptop and iPod, but only a few random tracks from the albums since then are there. I went AWOL from the KISS Army and started waving the Black Flag bars, but I still owe the band that much credit. But I will say without a shadow of a doubt that I will run, not walk, when Ace Frehley – the man who directly influenced my choice of instrument – comes around my neck of the woods on tour, as opposed to seeing KISS themselves live because I don’t want to see someone else wearing Ace’s makeup and playing his songs and solos.
NOTE TO LONGTIME READERS: Reviews coming of a few albums over the next week. I had to get this shit out of my system first. Thanks for your patience.
This Next Year Is Going To Be Crazy…
2010 is barely two days old, and already there’s new music to look forward to. Nothing on the Western music front yet, as far as I know. But by the time this post is less than a week old, a new Shonen Knife album will be on my desk. A new Koda Kumi album and new Buono! album will follow next month, followed by a new Morning Musume album the month after that – the latter just in time to define the final months of my bachelorhood. And there’s also singles from MoMusu, AKB48, Buono! and SCANDAL to deal with during that time period as well. The last time I recall looking forward to a new non-J-pop release at the beginning of the year, it was The Stooges’ The Weirdness album, which was scheduled within days of Morning Musume dropping Sexy 8 Beat – and those two albums dropping within weeks of each other early in 2007 made the rest of that year quite the anti-climax. By the end of the year, while I was trying to sum up the year in albums at MotokoAoyama.com, I was also planning to propose to my girlfriend.
Oh yeah, there’s that little interruption.
Truth be told, I’m already planning ahead, and not just for that. I’ve already anticipated that there’s going to be a short break in blogging action around the last week of June and going on for at least another week. Which only means one thing: I intend to stay as busy as possible, trying to post as much as possible here and at So Hot She Shits Fire (and whenever I can at My Sweet Meetan), while also going into final preparations for the wedding, getting the last scenes folded into Here Is The Wonderland in the immediate weeks to come, thus finishing that long-in-the-making first draft before plunging into the second, which should only take a minuscule fraction of the time it took to complete the first draft. And also upping my guitar skills.
What?
Yeah, I got a new electric guitar over the Christmas holidays. I don’t think I will be discussing it much here – this blog is meant for serious music discussion, and personal ramblings about trying to re-master the pentatonic scale or getting a better handle on sweep picking don’t really belong here, so there may be a little place somewhere where I’ll let those out of my system. (Updates about my personal life don’t belong here either, of course. I might refer to them in vague here or in “conversation” at SHSSF, but that’s another story, and I already have places for that.)
This, in a nutshell, is as personal as I intend to get, and I’m keeping it in topic: 2010 is going to see a lot more activity here. Beyond that, I’m not hard to find, as the list of “personal” links that has always existed here and at this blog’s predecessor will attest. With one of the series that I hinted at back in November (the Best Albums of 2009 series) out of the way, the other one will be starting next week to formally kick off blogging activity here at TGML for 2010. For now, I’m going to spend the rest of the weekend decompressing from New Year’s Eve/Day.
Other than that (and my wedding), I don’t know what’s going to take place in 2010. Hell, I didn’t know when 2009 started that Morning Musume were getting ready to announce their American debut and that Ron Asheton was going to be transferred from the Stooges to Rock N’Roll Heaven’s Helluva Band either.
Stay tuned. Things are only going to get insane here. But in a good way, of course.
ON BLOGGING: A Quick Update…
I almost did something here on TGML that I haven’t done since I launched this site, and that’s almost allowed a calendar month to pass without posting something here.
Sorry about that.
My fingers and brain haven’t been idle, and I haven’t not been paying attention to what this blog normally covers. But life has gotten a bit goofy of late – I’ve been trying to get my novel manuscript finished, another old hobby of mine has been adding some inspiration to my life, and as of this writing, my wedding date is less than seven months away. I also had to change computers yet again since I posted last here, which sucks, but I have a better machine at my disposal so I really have no other excuse to not pursue all the projects I need to do, this blog included.
It’s also been a while since I contributed an installment of “Diggin’ in the Crates” to YODC, but I’ll make up for that as well. I’ve only just scratched the surface when it comes to that project.
I have been plotting two little series for this blog and I’ll be attacking both of those throughout December. Stay tuned here and at my Facebook and Twitter pages. Thanks for your patience.
