If you’re in Dutchess County why not take a ride out to Rambler’s Rest in Poughquag? Dr. Mudd will be playing. They’re an amazing cover band specializing in mixing the old & the new ensuring there will be rock n’ roll for everyone tonight. The show starts at 10 pm and if you love to dance then you’ll certainly love this! I’ve been to three of their shows already and I have a great time at every one. No cover posted yet so get there fast! More info here.

Want a softer sound, something a little more local and a little more acoustic? I got you covered. Well, if you have $5.00 anyway. Tonight at 9:30 pm Rondout Music Lounge has Joey Eppard on the card. Former member of 3, and according to Wikipedia he is also the brother of the drummer from Coheed & Cambria. Here’s the info.

But I know you’re tired, you just had a crazy Thanksgiving and you’re still recovering from the miniature family reunion. How about some coffee? Dave’s Coffee House in Saugerties will have The Bergkamp Brothers Band playing for free. Get your java & your groove on. More info here because I like to make your life easy.

The Chance in Poughkeepsie has a ton of performers this evening: Back in Black (The AC/DC tribute), Streelights at Midnight, Stay Gold, Probable Cause, & Chaos. Tickets are $10. Must be over 16 to enter. Check it out.  Upstairs at the Loft is a special Giving Thanks Acoustic Show, also $10. More info here.

Alright, get to stepping, grooving, and shaking! Tonight’s the night to dance it out.

After Flashpoint, Graeme McMillan of Newsarama asked why there was less outrage about the end of Superman’s marriage than over One More Day.

After seeing that more than 5,000 people voted in a poll about whether or not Spider-Man should have stayed married – a retcon that happened four years ago now – I started wondering: Why don’t people care about Superman’s marriage?
I mean, Superman got forcibly divorced from Lois just a few months ago with nary a peep, or not the kind of reaction that would have 5,000 people voicing their opinions four years later, at least. Is it that no-one cares about Superman, period? Not that many people liked his marriage to Lois in the first place? Or is there something particularly objectionable about the way that the Spider-Man marriage was undone that keeps the fires burning for that particular subject?

A major factor is probably the creative team. Having DC’s top writer on Action Comics certainly makes things easier for the company. I like Dan Slott, but there are few star writers on par with Grant Morrison. Hell, you could argue that there is literally no one else could have brought that level of buzz to the Superman comics. According to a CBR poll last year, Morrison is the second most popular writer in the comic book medium, behind Alan Moore, who is unlikely to write a superhero title for either Marvel or DC.

Another thing that helps was the pre-Flashpoint state of the Superman books. Straczynski’s Grounded arc on Superman was poorly received, and despite plans to be on the title for an year, he abandoned the book after a few issues, leaving his story to be finished by Chris Roberson, a lesser known writer. That was all preceded by the year-long World of New Krypton series which took Superman to another planet, while Superman and Action Comics had new lead characters. Sales and reviews weren’t impressive during either period.

In contrast, JMS’s Amazing Spider-Man had its best sales during Back in Black, right before One More Day. So that was a title readers were interested in at the worst possible time, as the A-list writer was leaving, during a sure to be controversial retcon and reboot. It wouldn’t surprise me if DC learned from that. They made sure to save the A-list creative team and headline grabbing concept (cocky young Superman fights bloated plutocrats) until after the reboot.

Cosmic reboots have also consistently been part of DC, to the extent that you could split it into several distinct eras, each a unique continuity: The Golden Age, Pre-Crisis, Post-Crisis of Infinite Earths, Post-Infinite Crisis and Post-Flashpoint. Marvel’s generally kept to the same universe since Fantastic Four #1, more than fifty years ago. After Crisis of Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis, DC readers are just used to the idea of sudden simultaneous changes to multiple franchises, or to just one franchise. And there was plenty of that with Flashpoint.

As every DC title was relaunched with some major developments, fans and critics had many things to discuss. The conversations about Superman and Lois Lane were drowned out by complaints about Starfire’s sexuality. There was also speculation about Wonder Woman’s revised origin, Barbara Gordon walking again, the merging of the Wildstorm and DC Universes, Jim Lee’s love of collars and the response to Batman’s, er, new relationship with Catwoman. Plus, DC had an A-list team (Geoff Johns and Jim Lee) on Justice League, their top title, which resulted in high sales and buzz for that book.

DC was also better at disguising the point of Flashpoint than Marvel was at hiding the point of One More Day. You could read the mini-series as an irregular team-up between the Flash and Batman, and it’s quite satisfying on that level. The conventional wisdom in comics is that stories written to get characters from Point A to Point B tend to suck. But it seems that Geoff Johns is pretty good at this type of material.

This did not actually happen in Flashpoint, although it would explain a lot.

Johns has pulled this off before, crafting acclaimed stories that existed to set-up a particular status quo, starting with his breakout arc: JSA‘s Return of Hawkman. Infinite Crisis remains my favorite comic book event, Blackest Night had some major resurrections, and as noted in the last chapter, Green Lantern: Rebirth accomplished big things for that franchise.

Some would argue that there’s a moral component to the reaction to One More Day, suggesting that the difference was that Barry Allen acted ethically in Flashpoint while Peter Parker ultimately did not in OMD. Scott Taylor summed it up at CBR, suggesting that the stories aren’t similar.

Flash made the right choice and something horrible came of it. Now Flash will go back and try to fix it because he’s a hopeless idealist. Peter made the wrong choice and something good came out of it. He has no intention of ever trying to “fix” anything, because he’s a selfish nit.
Different as night and day, as far as the heroism aspect.

Peter Parker is no longer aware of the events of One More Day, which limits his ability to ever try to “fix” anything. That could be a structural weakness with the story, though it serves a purpose by inhibiting any expectations readers could have regarding the character’s ability to restore the previous status quo. That Barry Allen was aware of what transpired doesn’t make him morally superior.

Before the Flash went back in time to undo his mistake, it was established that millions of people died because he had saved his mother’s life. Peter Parker hasn’t had that problem. Nor have there been any hints of that.

What Barry Allen did in the first place was arguably more reckless than what Peter Parker did with One More Day. The Flash changed time blindly, while Peter made a deal with someone who seemed to know what he was doing, and explicitly said that he would keep things the same, except for the marriage. You could certainly argue that Mephisto isn’t trustworthy, though his lies usually involve omissions of truth. He usually sticks to the letter of what he says.

I don’t know if it was intentional, but Geoff Johns didn’t show Barry’s decision to change history. Instead, he just dealt with the ramifications and the decision to undo a mistake. Perhaps he studied the reaction to One More Day, though it also fits this particular story to start in another universe. There’s something appropriate to the way there aren’t any scenes in Flashpoint, aside from vague flashbacks, set in the “Old” DCU. But perhaps reaction to One More Day would have been different if the story had started after Peter and MJ had done something to change history.

While both stories existed to get their respective universes from one place to another, One More Day andFlashpoint were written for different reasons. This has nothing to do with the moral implications. With One More Day, Quesada wanted to remove the existence of the marriage, while keeping the effect on the backstory of the characters as small as possible. With Flashpoint, DC wanted major changes for many of their big franchises. Some readers are happier that the story had big consequences, and see this as a reason to prefer what DC did. Thanks to Elseworlds and What If? readers are conditioned to think that seemingly small changes will always be consequential, when that isn’t always the case. Every lost nail won’t result in your side losing a war, and every butterfly flapping it’s wings isn’t going to cause a tsunami halfway around the world.

You can reconcile the events of most back issues of Spider-Man with the character’s current backstory. This can’t be done in the current DC Universe, in which Lois Lane never learned Superman’s identity, Cyborg was a founding member of the Justice League, Tim Drake was never Robin, and Supergirl just arrived on Earth. And it’s further complicated by titles which do explicitly reference earlier storylines, such as Green Lantern, currently more than seventy issues into Geoff Johns’s run on the title. As my ranking of the first five issues of the New 52 titles indicates, DC accomplished a lot of things with the reboot. A clear backstory isn’t one of those things.

If you count the Flash monthly and the Rebirth mini-series, Flashpoint was the conclusion to Geoff Johns’s 23 issue run on the series. And you could argue that it read better as part of a coherent whole than One More Day did as the conclusion to JMS’s run of Amazing Spider-Man, playing off themes established in the Flash: Rebirth mini-series, such as Barry Allen’s relationship with his mother, and Zoom’s decision to change the past. Time travel and journeys to different realities had been a part of the Flash since the Silver Age, so it’s something that’s not surprising in this particular title.

One More Day did have some set-up, as Marvel had spent more than an year getting Spider-Man to where he was in the beginning of that story. Tony’s relationship with Peter Parker had been a part of Amazing Spider-Man since Skin Deep. There wasn’t much foreshadowing of Mephisto’s role, aside from a cameo in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. But I think readers only care because the story was so important to the mythos.

If Peter and MJ had refused Mephisto’s offer and his appearance had been entirely inconsequential, I doubt anyone would care about how the devil, or his stand-in, came out of nowhere. That’s generally how satanic characters operate. Readers care because it was so significant, but that has nothing to do with the logic of Mephisto’s appearance.

Regarding set-up, it’s worth noting that Flashpoint affected most of DC’s regular titles. At least it was a Spider-Man story that undid Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage. But it has to be odd for a Superman fan that the character’s marriage was erased in a Flash mini-series. There wasn’t any warning in that title that Superman’s JLA teammate would ultimately erase his relationship with Lois Lane.

One problem with One More Day was the carelessness of the talent involved, and a reason for that was they were much more focused on what was coming next. It’s a bit too glib to say that the difference between Marvel and DC is that DC handles their status quo altering events with care. Secret Invasion and Siege were both parts of larger stories Brian Michael Bendis had been telling for a long time. World War 3, Countdown and War of the Supermen were poorly regarded.It does make sense for Flashpoint to be more satisfying than One More Day, as Geoff Johns and DC were able to learn from Marvel’s mistakes with that storyline. Just like the people at Marvel had learned from Geoff Johns and DC, and what they had done with Green Lantern: Rebirth. But if you were a fan of Lois and Clark’s marriage, there are plenty of reasons to be upset.

One suggestion has been that each Spider‑Man title should have its own continuity, independent of any Marvel book. This way, writers will be free to do whatever they want, and readers can pick which status quo they prefer. Amazing Spider‑Man might follow the adventures of a Spider‑Man who is a thirty‑two year old married father of two, while Spectacular Spider‑Man might follow a Spider‑Man who is a single grad student in his early twenties, Astonishing Spider‑Man might follow the adventures of a Spider‑Man who is a junior in high school, and Sensational Spider‑Man could feature Peter and Mary Jane as newlyweds. Theoretically, this gives all the fans exactly what they want, and the creators absolute freedom. It’s the All-Star Superman technique applied to every title, with the freedom that comes when you don’t have to worry about affecting the titles of other writers.

The disadvantage of the method is that it splinters Spider‑Man fans, which limits the amount of buzz and sales an individual title can get, which also limits the number of good creators interested in working on any of the titles. If one title gets an excellent creative team/ buzz, that can’t be used to promote the other titles, and can lead to a situation where that book starts siphoning away readers from the other books. It’s similar to what happened during “Back in Black” when Amazing Spider‑Man sold more than Sensational Spider‑Man and Friendly Neighborhood Spider‑Man combined. Assuming each book is set in its own world, it also loses the shared universe aspect that helps make the Marvel Universe so interesting. The change also makes the logistics of possible spin‑off projects overly complicated. For fans reading several of the books, it becomes easy to confuse the status quo of one book with another (Did Electro kill the Vulture in Spectacular Spider‑Man or Sensational Spider‑Man?) It’s also significantly less likely that any of the individual titles will last as long as Amazing Spider‑Man is currently expected to last. And if all the books are set in the same universe, the majority of the series become glorified untold tales. Marvel briefly took this approach with the all-ages titles, before opting to go in a different direction.

Such a system may be the most viable approach to a post‑616 Universe Marvel Comics, with books about recognizable Marvel heroes occurring in their own self‑contained universes. While there would likely be some excellent and accessible results, events in the books will just seem less significant than in the shared Marvel Universe, if you know later writers might address a situation from a different angle. This problem isn’t exclusive to the comics. The impact of Harry Osborn’s death in Spider‑Man 3 is limited somewhat by the probability that he’ll be alive and well soon enough in a sequel to Amazing Spider-Man.

Knowing that things are better for the characters in one book limits the drama in another. If Mary Jane and Peter have three kids in Amazing Spider‑Man, it doesn’t matter as much if Spectacular Spider‑Man shows the characters discussing fertility concerns. If the books take wildly divergent paths (IE‑ the Peter Parker and Mary Jane of Web of Spider‑Man get a divorce, Peter marries Gwen in Astonishing Spider-Man) the reader gets the sense that we’re not dealing with characters but concepts. There’s no sense that one interpretation is unique, or if there is, that means the other books will be seen in a more negative light. Ultimately, this limits the emotional investment in any of the universes, or in any but the one book a particular reader prefers. The understanding of how wildly different the portrayals of characters can be will serves as a reminder of the artificiality of it all, more significantly than if the fan reads an interview explaining the illusion of change within the Marvel Universe. This isn’t the DC books, where there isn’t a “real” Superman, as the Earth‑One, Earth‑Two, post‑Crisis and post-Flashpoint Superman all vie for that title with the Timm/ Dini Animated Superman and Christopher Reeve’s performance of the character in the movies. The Marvel Universe Spider-Man is essentially the sole contender, as the subject of most stories (great and otherwise) even if the since rebooted Maguire/ Raimi Spider-Man may be more profitable.

I respect that some fans have their “own” Spider-Man, be it Ben Reilly or the dad in the MC2 Spider-Girl. But the real one still appears in the most comics and stories, so if I want a lot of great (good is no longer enough) Spider‑Man stories in the decades to come, the 616 books should be the best that they can be, which would draw in new readers, while keeping the current older readers and bringing back those who have left the books. If the version most familiar to people who don’t read the regular comics is the single one, why shouldn’t the “real” Spider‑Man reflect that? Isn’t that going to make the books more accessible?

What Makes Marvel Unique?

I’ve touched upon this in another series, but a significant difference between Marvel and DC is that Marvel doesn’t need Elseworlds titles. When they put an unbelievably great creative team on a title it’s set firmly in the “real” Marvel Universe, or in the Ultimate Universe. One creator’s run on a title can bring buzz and new storytelling possibilities to many other titles. The writers and artists are free to reference the past and add to an intricate tapestry.

The big reason there’s one real Marvel Universe is that the original Lee/ Kirby/ Ditko stories which kicked it off are so good (significantly better‑regarded than Siegel/ Shushter’s Superman and Kane/Finger’s Batman) that the later writers didn’t hesitate to build on (and reference) the earlier stories, which started being reprinted since Marvel Tales began. A firm timeline was established long before Ditko even left the title, which increases the difficulty of a Legends of the Dark Knight type books set vaguely in the past. Something set between Amazing Spider-Man #38 and 39 will be different than something set between Amazing Spider-Man #62 and 63. There’s no monthly series retelling the iconic storylines, as they were so good the first time around. You rarely see any DC silver‑age stories on general Best‑of lists, though “This Man, This Monster” and the Master Planner saga don’t seem out of place there.

There’s been speculation that the only reason we still have the one Marvel Universe is that Marvel doesn’t want to offend Stan Lee, though the way he’s endorsed the movies and the Ultimate books shows that’s bullshit. We have the one main Marvel Universe because it works so much better than the alternative.

If the unspoken assumption of previous entries was that there should be a shared Marvel Universe, the unspoken assumption of this entry was that the status quo matters. Which sets up the next question: What if the problem is with the writers, rather than the material?

Yet another of Rock’s (and music’s in general) greatest bands has ended its holdout on having their music be available on iTunes. This time around it’s AC/DC that have released their entire catalog to the digital market.

With a band as great as this, a true fan wouldn’t mind buying the complete studio collection for $99.99 and for superfans of the group there’s the complete collection (containing all 16 studio albums, plus four live albums and two compilations) for $149.99. Since many may not want/need an entire collection from these Aussie’s catalog, we’ve compiled a list of 5 essential AC/DC albums that are a must-have for any music fan’s collection.

Look for the top 5 essential albums from these collections after the jump.

5. Live At River Plate- The band’s latest release was recorded in 2009 in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s River Plate Stadium when the band was out on a world tour in support of their release of the chart-topping Black Ice. The band played a 3-night set in the 64,000 capacity stadium with songs spanning the band’s entire illustrious career. AC/DC is seen in full form with great live renditions of hit songs like “Back In Black,” “Thunderstruck,” and “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” among others making it an excellent live album in itself.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/live-at-river-plate/id575663793

4. Let There Be Rock- In this ’77 release, the band continues with its simplistic brand of blues-based heavy Rock. In true AC/DC fashion, Let There Be Rock is chock-full of songs that are packed with raw power, killer guitar work from the Young brothers and Bon Scott’s signature sadistic, snarly voice. Songs like “Problem Child,” “Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be,” Whole Lotta Rosie” and the title track are a great testament to the band’s need to rock hard.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/let-there-be-rock/id574124483

3. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap- In the first of the band’s ’76 releases (the other being the next album on this list) the band continues to bring on the heavy riffs that don’t skimp out on the innuendos and jokes while building on the tradition of finishing off the album with a blues number. The opening number (and title track) is a classic tune for the band about sweet revenge. “Big Balls” is just plain ridiculous and features the lines “and my balls are always bouncing, and my ballroom always full, and everybody comes and comes again” that you can’t help but laugh, enjoy and sing along to. “Problem Child” is another of the band’s classic songs that boasts a great guitar lick and infectious chorus with a killer solo.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dirty-deeds-done-dirt-cheap/id575306275

2. High Voltage- In one of Bon Scott’s last efforts with the band, AC/DC deliver on the theme identified on the title by giving us yet another badass album. We can find some now-legendary AC/DC songs like “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Want To Rock N’ Roll)” and “T.N.T.” appear on High Voltage. Some great deep cuts like the 50s rock & roll-stylings of “Can I Sit Next To You Girl” to the bluesy “The Jack” and the snarl of “Live Wire” help make this a very complete album.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/high-voltage/id574124734

1. Back In Black-  This is the quintessential AC/DC album. Right when many believed the band was done for after lead singer Bon Scott dies, the band went right back to work with new lead singer Brian Johnson and they came up with a true Rock masterpiece. Every song on this album rocks and kicks ass; from the eerie opener “Hells Bells,” to an ode to American ladies in “You Shook Me All Night Long” to the one Rock’s most recognizable guitar riffs in the title track, there’s nothing on this album that won’t get you headbanging.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/back-in-black/id574050396

Let Me Put My Love Into You: What are they talking about?

The specific lyrics in question are as follows:

Let me put my love into you, baby,

Let me put my love on the line.

Let me put my love into you, baby,

Let me cut your cake with my knife!

This can happen to an inexperienced cake-cutter. It is best to leave cake-cutting to people like AC/DC.

Once you understand AC/DC’s background, the meaning of these lyrics is unmistakably clear.  AC/DC are well known for their formal gatherings.  In fact, in 1976 they recorded a song about how their social gatherings attracted a very large number of attendees.  This song, entitled Big Balls, even boasted “We’ve got the biggest balls of them all!”  You may be wondering what this has to do with them putting their love into you.  Well, here is the answer.  The love refers to their level of concern they have for attendees at formal gatherings, whether they are hosts or guests.  Because they have so much experience in this area, and there are so many events that require cake-cutting (birthdays, weddings, retirements, and even Mardi Gras). The last line of the lyrics quoted above show not one, but TWO ways the gentlemen in AC/DC show concern about cake-cutting duties.  First, Brian Johnson, the band’s singer, offers to be the one cutting the cake.  This is important since cake-cutting by an inexperienced cutter can be dangerous. See the picture for an example of what can happen. The second way that Mr. Johnson shows his generosity is the fact that he offers to use HIS knife for the cake cutting duties.  He knows full well how much of a chore it can be cleaning up the day following a big social gathering.

By offering to use his knife for the cake-cutting duties, the host’s job the next day is easier because they don’t have to worry about cleaning a knife.  How thoughtful, indeed!

By showing this kind of love, it is no wonder that AC/DC are invited to countless social events.

Remember, leave this to the experts!

Let Me Put My Love Into You: Possible Alternate Meaning

There is a very slight chance that Let Me Put My Love Into You is about sex.

What do you think about Let Me Put My Love Into You by AC/DC? Leave a comment!

Okay, maybe not “pretty quiet.” More like “dead.”

You see, about two months ago, my computer went kaput thanks to an icky virus, and, as a result, I haven’t been able to have very good access to ways to type up posts and keep up with the blogs I like to follow. And, really, the longer you stay off the wagon, the harder it is to get back on. Thankfully, I have a roommate who doesn’t mind me sometimes ganking her laptop when our schedules have us home at different times of the day. Add to this the fact that I’ve just taken a pretty big promotion at work that requires a bit more time on the road and energy into the occupation, my brain hasn’t been as keyed into the strive for my writing platform as it used to be.

But it has gotten to a point where I’m ready to change that. I’m ready to get back to posting and back into the writing community that I’ve missed so much. There’s a lot to catch up on, but hopefully the usual patterns will come back quickly. I definitely won’t be posting as often as I used to, but I’ll be posting a lot more than I have been.

If anyone’s been wondering, I’ve been working on a few projects, too. Serpent in a Cage has taken a slight pause, partially for NaNoWriMo, which started out as a time travel/world jumping novel exploring the lives of Emalia’s parents (from my short story “The Space Between Worlds”) and became instead a rediscovery of my Ace Cooper mystery novels, thanks to a recent viewing of Skyfall (which was incredible). My horror story, tentatively titled Rosewood, is continuing along, as well. I’ve been reading a lot and I’m pretty far behind on reviews, so maybe a few of those will be coming up soon.

Speaking of reviews, I’d like to also send out a very big thank you to Grace over at Books Without Any Pictures for her wonderful review of my short story collection, Bowlful of Bunnies. I adore Grace’s reviews, and it’s a real honor to be among the great things she takes the time to read and appreciate. Definitely the sort of thing to make me want to get back in the game and assure my readers that I’m still in the game and striving to get out my next book.

Happy writing, everyone! See you around.

The lead singer’s stage name of Tom Keifer was taken from Tom Cruise and his friend Kiefer Sutherland.  The stage name of bassist  Eric Brittingham was using my brother’s first name.  The surname of Brittingham came about was during the time we settled on the stage name of Britney Spears inspired by the British Empire.

I would write the song “Gypsy Road” after writing Gypsy recorded by Stevie Nicks.  When I made up the song though I kept singing “Gypsy Rose” due to Kurt Cobain and I talking about Gypsy Rose Lee which would later inspire me to work on songs for the 2010 film Burlesque starring Christina Aguilera as Alice Marilyn “Ali” Rose.

“Nobody’s Fool” was inspired by the Mutt Lange produced Def Leppard song “Foolin’” released in 1983.

“Shake Me” was inspired by  AC/DC‘s 1980 hit song “You Shook Me All Night Long” from the Mutt Lange produced album Back in Black.  Even the lyrics were inspired by the AC/DC song with,

“Shake me
All night
She said
Shake me
Shake it don’t break it baby
Shake me
All night
She said
All night long
All night long baby”

The “twins” in the music video was also part of our theme which was inspired by Elvis Presley’s twin brother who was still born.  This continued with our work in the film “Twins”, Prince’s twins Lisa and Wendy and Diamonds and Pearls, the remake of The Parent Trap with Lindsey Lohan, as well as the redhead Weasley twins in Harry Potter.

One of my favorite songs was “Night Songs” with the beginning heavily inspired by AC/DC’s Hells Bells.  This became the title to the bands 1986 album.  The mention of Room 16, was my age at the time I wrote the song in 1984.  The mention of gasoline was a theme of mine in songs, such as “Gasoline” recorded by Seether.  This was due to Kurt Cobain and members of the Def Leppard roadcrew burning down a building in my neighborhood after covering it with gasoline.  Kurt made me watch as it burned and pointing his finger in my face told me that it could happen to me and my family if I didn’t keep quiet.  Unfortunately, Kurt kept true to his word and my uncle’s business was torched and my aunt’s home caught fire with her dying by the back door while trying to escape.

“Somebody Save Me” was a plea for someone to help me, but it seemed that every one only wanted to profit from what was happening to me.   This also became a theme for me, including ”save me” in lyrics and which spanned from Evanescence, Shinedown, Christina Aguilera, to even Avenged Sevenfold.

The song “Nothin’ for Nothin’” was written after I wrote ”Money for Nothing” recorded by Dire Straits.  The connection is the English artist Charlie Dore, who was signed in 1978 by Chris Blackwell of Island Records, former band member Pick Withers who was also playing with the early Dire Straits.  Blackwell also owned Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas where Mutt Lange produced AC/DC’s Back in Black album.

“In from the Outside” was heavily influenced by Joan Jett with the title inspired by Led Zeppelin‘s 1979 album title In Through the Out Door.

“Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)” was inspired by the lyrics of  Joni Mitchell‘s 1970 song “Big Yellow Taxi”

“They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot SPOT
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
‘Til it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot” – Big Yellow Taxi

That’s it for today’s moodboard, I hope you enjoyed it and it might inspire you for the next week! For more inspiration you can follow me on Pinterest by clicking the link in the sidebar, or follow me on Instagram (@camilladelacoe). Until next time…

Millie x

Disclaimer: All images link back to source.

For all you know, I could have crash-landed on a deserted island and gone all Lost on everyone. I could have sold all my possessions and joined a cult. I could have traded in my studies for sparkly pink hotpants and started working as a go-go dancer. Heck, I could’ve had a baby. (Okay, maybe not a baby.)

Alas!

Nothing truly interesting has happened since I last wrote to you, dearest internet friends. I have been writing essays, exams and shitty poems, but somehow  couldn’t bring myself to write to you. But today I promise…

(drumroll)

I am back and intend to continue writing about my somewhat underwhelming experiences. All for you.

M

• The Back in Black party with Dirty South and others that was originally supposed to happen at Bicentennial Park has been moved to Club Space, starting at noon on Saturday.
• Armory Studios in Wynwood is hosting the Hallowynwood Parade and Costume Contest.
• The synthylicious group Com Truise are headlining Mission to Mars at EVE.
• Minimal king Marco Carola is taking over Space. If you venture out there, be prepared to party until 10am.
• James Teej will be heating up Treehouse along with legendary progressive house deejay Sasha.
• The Electric Pickle is having their Halloween Night Disco Party with funk-house spinner Kon. Costumes are required for entry!

That doesn’t even begin to cover everything happening in the city this weekend, but I’m running out of time to type. And if you think there aren’t parties around town on Wednesday, then you’ve got to be kidding.

If you don’t know, now you know!

words by Cal Roach

It’s officially Halloween week, when lots of people get really excited and lots of people get really annoyed about how excited lots of people are getting.  Hopefully if you’re a dresser-upper, you already got your sexy Big Bird costume, because they’re going to be a lot more expensive on the black market.  But even if you are the curmudgeonly sort (nothing wrong with that) and wouldn‘t be caught dead in a rubber mask, Halloween always means lots of unusual events around town and interesting things to look at.  In fact, it can be frustrating how many cool things you have to miss in order to do other cool things.  Good luck choosing between all the great shows and parties this weekend, folks!  Here’s a rundown of some sure-fire winners…

Say what you want about the jam band scene, but these cats know how to do it up properly on Halloween.  Well, some of them, anyway.  Ever since Phish played The White Album in October ’94, the concept of the “musical costume” has spread like crazy.  Chicago prog maestros Umphrey’s McGee take the concept farther than most, if only because most bands couldn’t possibly pull it off: their yearly tradition involves live action mashups of cover tunes by a ridiculously wide spectrum of artists and genres.  The musicians of Umphrey’s are some of the most technically impressive in the business, and despite the gimmicky nature of their gameplan, it’s tough not to be impressed; whereas some bands of their ilk are too eclectic for their own good, Umphrey’s manages to stir metal, funk, jazz and improvisational rock into a stew that’s unmistakably its own thing.  Catch the “Milwaukee’s Beast” celebration tonight (Friday) and Saturday at the Riverside Theater, and enjoy opening sets by Talking Heads tribute act This Must Be The Band as well.

Another weekend, another banner local release party, tonight from Stacian (a.k.a. one-woman band Dania Luck) at Linneman’s.  She’s been steadily pumping out tapes and digital tracks since 2010, but the new Songs For Cadets (Moniker Records) is her first full-length record.  As you’ve probably noticed, synthpop has come back in a big way over the past half-decade or so, and from what we’ve heard of this new Stacian album, she’s taking the genre to new levels of spooky intensity.  We’re not going to go with “gothic” but there’s a definite eerie darkness going on amidst the low-fi (by today’s standards, anyway) beats and keyboard sounds, which makes this basically the perfect show to check out on this particular weekend.  Plus, it’s the long-awaited return of one of Milwaukee’s most interesting bands, The Trusty Knife; maybe you can convince them to put out another record and/or play more shows while you’re there!  Also playing: Moss Folk.

Okay, can we really recommend going to The Rave on Saturday night to see Insane Clown Posse?  Well, maybe not, but we can’t recommend not going, either.  Could there possibly be a better time to do it?  Aren’t you just a little bit curious as to what it might be like?  Get creative with some black and white face paint, infiltrate this bizarro-society that ICP has created?  The only way to be an outcast would be to act normal, right?  What behavior could possibly be considered outrageous when there are two clowns onstage “rapping” about rainbows and magnets?  Crap, we’ve almost got ourselves talked into this.  Besides, for the first time that we can ever remember, GWAR isn’t playing Milwaukee at Halloween time, and in terms of everything except the actual music, ICP might be the closest thing to the blood-spewing dinosaurs you’re likely to find this weekend.  If you do go, please report back to Sonic Diet and tell us what it’s like.  Also playing: Zug Izland, like if ICP was a rock band…

One thing we can heartily recommend for Saturday night: going to Quarters Rock ‘N Roll Palace.  How many awesome bands are playing there?  Four.  What kind of music do they play?  Rock And Roll.  Basically, if you like noisy electric guitars, missing this show would be a terrible mistake.  Seattle’s Police Teeth just delivered a solid self-titled album last week; it runs the gamut between catchy indie rock and bristling noise pop.  Kindred spirits (and Latest Flame labelmates) IfIHadAHifi will be there too, bashing out their electrifying brand of sci-fi sonic warfare.  Elusive Parallelograms have put out two solid psych-punk EPs already this year (check ‘em out on Bandcamp), and Like Like The The The Death has gotten nothing but (deserved) praise for its recent debut Ghosts Of Dead Bros.  Chances of any of these bands playing a bad set are extremely slim.

Of course, it’s not just jam bands doing the whole covers thing on Halloween, so if you’re looking for something a bit lighthearted and rockin,’ you’ve got a couple of good choices in Bay View Saturday night.  At Club Garibaldi, feast your ears on tribute sets of AC/DC (Billy Bon Scott playing all of Back In Black) and The Cure (we’re not sure who this will be).  Or, at Frank’s Power Plant, check out tribute sets featuring the music of Black Flag, AC/DC (again), and Against Me!  As to which local bands will dress up as which rock stars, it’s a surprise, but blazing through a bunch of three-chord punk/arena rock should be a blast no matter who it is, right?

Some people cringe when they hear the term “world music,” but don’t let that affiliation scare you away from seeing Beats Antique at Turner Hall Ballroom on Halloween night.  It’s more about the dancing than anything else with this outfit, and in case you need more inspiration than just the beat, you get to watch belly dancer Zoe Jakes gyrate around the stage in addition to what will most likely be a fantastic light show.  The music does incorporate a wide range of styles, from Middle-Eastern and afrobeat styles to traditional jazz and hip-hop, all laced into an eclectic blend of electronic dance.  It’s not exceedingly exotic, but it is…sigh…worldly; think along the lines of Thievery Corporation, plenty of organic instrumentation and percussion along with the electronics, celebratory and infectious.  Also performing: LYNX.

Finally, what would Halloween be without scary movies?  You’ll have to ask a Ouija board, because nobody you know has any idea what Halloween was like before horror flicks came about.  So take the opportunity next Wednesday to watch a true classic of the genre, The Shining, up on the big screen at the UWM Union Theatre.  Did you know that Jack Nicholson improvised that classic “HERE’S JOHNNY” line?  Ever wonder why all those pages of “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” are stacked face up?  Wouldn’t they then be in reverse order if he was stacking them that way as he finished them?  He must’ve been confused.  Don’t let that ruin the story for you; we haven’t given any of the bone-chilling details away, in case you’re one of the half-dozen people who haven’t seen it.  If you can believe it, there was a time when scary movies featured coherent stories and great acting!

At the end of a long and uneventful commute to work this morning, I had to stay in the car for an extra minute or so. I was in the middle of listening to AC/DC’s Back in Black on the radio, and nothing I could find in the office would be any better than that.

It’s funny what you can remember sometimes. This morning, once I turned the car off and headed into the building I work in, I recalled the very first book I ever read as part of a class. It was 1981, and I was struggling to get through eighth grade. I was a geeky, awkward kid, and I was transitioning into adolescence. It sucked to be me back then.

But I was beginning to get into music a little bit, and AC/DC was a big part of that. Back in Black was, and probably always will be, the album that I could always put on and listen to, start to finish. I wonder if, in the thirty-plus years since the album came out, that there’s ever been a day where a rock station like the Loop in Chicago hasn’t played at least one song from it. It wouldn’t surprise me if the answer to that was “no.”

So back to the geek-boy for a moment. My 8th grade teachers had assigned us all to read “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck. I’m not sure how I learned of the existence of Cliff’s Notes, but I acquired a copy to help me understand the parts of the book I didn’t get. Cliff actually helped me get through high school, now that I think about it.

But on the cover of my Cliff’s Notes for “The Good Earth” were dozens of handwritten AC/DC logos, including the lightning bolt between the letters in the middle. I just thought that looked especially cool, so I made sure to include it. Somewhere on this planet there’s a Cliff’s Notes covered with AC/DC logos, courtesy of a confused and awkward young kid in Springfield, Illinois. I actually smiled at the thought of this, too.

So whenever one of the songs from that album, or any other song that AC/DC ever did, comes on the radio, I make sure to listen to it. And I’m glad that music takes me back, not to a time that I would ever want to re-live, but at least to a time and a place that I can still remember, while appreciating all that’s happened since then.

For more info or to purchase tickets, follow the link to Wantickets.

Courtesy: Activision/Treyarch

Call of Duty:  Black Ops II is coming.  One of the year’s most anticipated games will be here in just a matter of weeks.  As the big day nears, Activision and Treyarch have released another brand new trailer for the game featuring what can only be described as some of the best graphics of any game so far this year.  And it’s all set to the backdrop of AC/DC’s hit song, ‘Back in Black.’  Fans can check out this brand new trailer now online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6vOWbJ46XU.

Fans who don’t want to have to wait until the release date can pre-order the game now and get the Nuketown 2025 Bonus Map, and even get the game in very special limited editions.  To get more information on pre-ordering, fans can go online to http://www.callofduty.com/blackops2/preorder.  And to get all the latest on COD Black Ops 2 as the days tick down, fans can go online to the official COD Black Ops 2 website at http://www.callofduty.com/blackops2. 

To get the latest entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it or its companion page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Reel-Reviews/381028148587141.  Fans can always keep up with the latest entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at http://philspicks.wordpress.com.

“Bark at the Moon” by Ozzy Osbourne

“Shout at the Devil” by Motley Crue

“Back in Black” by AC/DC

“Hells Bells” by AC/DC

“Bat Out of Hell” by Meatloaf

6.8% ABV

www.21st-amendment.com

According to the Brewer: Inspired by Paul Revere’s midnight ride, we rebelled against the British style IPA, embraced the more aggressive American version and then recast it in bold, brave, defiant black. Our Black IPA is a Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of the expected.