Dark Day: RIP Robin Williams

I just received a text message from my good friend Dave - it brought with it terrible news. No, I did not know Robin Williams, I didn't even see all his movies. I always felt like I was as selective in watching what he is as he was apparently un-selective in choosing what to star in. That's not a judgement - if doing some of the work that he did that seems, to me, subpar it enabled Mr. Williams to take some of the gargantuan roles that he left tattooed across my memory, than more power. If you know me well enough to have ever really talked movies with me you know doubt know that often touted Mr. Williams as both one of the greatest dramatic actors of our time as well as one of the funniest.

Now he's gone and we'll never get another World's Greatest Dad, The Fisher King or Dead Poets Society.

Fuck.

Along with the powerhouses listed above some of my favorites - big or small - were Insomnia, Death to Smoochy, One Hour Photo, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Dead Again.

KITTYGATO

I saw this band tonight at the release party for Guns A'Blazin! #2. Great set.

Feuerbahn - The Fire Dance

I first heard this about a year and a half ago via Heavenisanincubator. I fell in love immediately. However this was at a time when I was so steeped in finding new music that an awful lot of bands I discovered ended up getting pushed off the plate by a constantly expanding wave of newer stuff. And newer stuff. And newer stuff...

Well, this popped up into my head again today, I spent about fifteen minutes searching through the incubator and once again found Feuerbahn's bandcamp.

Of particular note, I think, it track four, "Triumphwagen". Kind of Seventeen Seconds era Cure meets Fen. Kind'a.

Surreal Sermons - Laird Barron Interview

I have not had time to listen to this yet but I can't wait. I'm in the process of re-reading Laird's book Occultation and I'm planning on making something of a character map of it and his other books. There's a lot of overlap and I thought it'd be fun to kind of diagram out who recurs and what connections lay beneath the surface. I'd never heard Jeremy Maddux's Surreal Sermons before but am now planning on making it one of the podcasts I listen to on a regular basis. Here's the page, give it a listen and if you dig there's plenty more episodes.

Rob Zombie Talks 31

One more I'm referencing from Bloody Disgusting today. Interesting news on the new Zombie movie 31, including a description that sounds awesome! Remember Chris Claremont's Uncanny X-Men, Arcade's Murder World? Well...

Go here to read about more about 31, watch and listen to a whole lot more information on the project and, if it suits your fancy, back it!

New Opeth Track

Via the mighty Bloody Disgusting, a new track from the forthcoming Pale Communion LP. I have not loved some of the music Opeth has made since they have become a quasi prog band circa 2006' Ghost Reveries. However, I recognize that this is entirely based on the fact that Mikael Akerfeldt wants to keep the project ever moving forward. The band still makes - quality wise - some of the greatest metal music in history and simply because of the pure beautiful majesty of Blackwater Park they always get the benefit of the doubt and the utmost respect from me no matter how I take to their newer material.

Guardians of the Galaxy...

...is the topic of discussion in this week's edition of Thee Comic Column on Joup. However, this is not a review of the film, so much as an exploration of what this movie means to comics and how time and technology have, specifically in the case of Sci Fi, affected the way we interpret Story.