Because I seem to mention where I work on here a lot,
I thought I’d show some pictures of the 3 venues I work at which would hopefully give you,
At the very least,
A setting for whatever I happen to be going on about at the time.
A sort of ‘Hi kids, I’m Al and this is where I work’…

Heheh

(Glasgow’s Concert Halls).

So I dug around online and couldn’t find any decent photos.
Every one of them: All terrible.

The Concert Halls’ website has decent-ish pictures but they’re tiny.
The best photo I could find of The City Hall Grand Hall was dull & lifeless & boring:

I found a slightly better one of The Old Fruitmarket but it’s almost impossible to not get a lively photo of that place:

As for The Royal Concert Hall up on Sauchiehall Street,
Every photo I found wasn’t worth putting up here.

I’m gonna see if they will allow me access to take some big bold glossy colourful photos.

We’ll see what develops…

Get it?
Develops!

Nevermind.

Hi folks.

Sorry for the complete lack of posts up on here recently.

For the past few weeks I’ve been working 12, 14 & sometimes 16 Hour shifts at work.
I’ve been writing and drawing away in my 2 hours of spare time I seem to get a day and I’ll upload it all on here when I get the chance.

In the meantime,
Keep up with me on Twitter HERE where my inane drivel knows no end.

I got something precious in the mail today:  the last issue of Talebones.  I’m tearing up writing that.  I teared up when I opened the package, too — the cover has the names of all the magazine’s contributors over its 39 issue run.  **sob!**  My first published SF story appeared in Talebones #17, exactly 10 years ago.  Editor Patrick Swenson published 8 of my stories in all.  The eighth appears in this final issue, which is an honor, but it also makes me sad.

So, if you so choose, go to the website and order the magazine.  My story is “The Book of Daniel.”  If that sounds familiar, it’s because this is the story that Kitty and Ahmed are talking about in Kitty Goes to Washington.

If you’ve seen my store blog, I mentioned I’ve been thinking of closing shop in a few months because things have just taken a nose dive into crapville and it’s getting to the point where it’s not even close to cost effective to even have a shop any longer.  But, even though it’s been taking a very heavy toll on my creativity, I dusted off the men’s skin I had started on and finally got it very close to finished. And I’m hella proud of it. I took Eloh Eliot’s Pleiades skin base (thank you again Eloh for being so freakin’ awesome!!! ) and then shaded and tweaked and highlighted and modded the everliving crap out of it. I’m not sure if I’ll ever sell the skin or not considering the questionable future of the store.. but we’ll see. Let me know your thoughts. Just be gentle, it’s his first time.

We live in an age of miracles. This morning I had to get up extra early to take “Beta” to work. For those of you who haven’t been following “The Soapbox Files” available for download as an e-book at lulu.com for the lordly sum of $1.00 (you really should download a copy if you want to know more), “Beta” is my 21 year old daughter who lives with me in this crappy apartment in Falls Church along with my son “Alpha”. The noteworthy fact is that she hasn’t worked in years (since she got fired from the Target across the street), and spends most of her days showing me her attitude and collecting computer viruses (ooh look, a new one). Well last night she got a call from an employer she’d written off months ago and today she worked for nine and a half hours and tommorrow she’ll work for eight more. My son “Alpha” has a part time job as well as being a full time student in a bachelors program. My work is picking up as well; imagine that, all three of the people in my household gainfully employed at the same time. ”Zed” calls me every day too, in fact I just got off the phone with her a few minutes ago and recommended that she buy a lottery ticket herself (I already bought mine). I have high hopes that this weekend we’ll see each other for sex and “martoonies” (I let you know one way or the other), that will really put the finishing touch on the whole “Age of Miracles” thing.

Let this be my personal little reminder so I can bring you all the news that’s fit to print. Ha. That’s why I have my own personal web blog here, so I can put whatever I want out there and no one can tell me it’s stupid. Well, you can tell me it’s stupid but I don’t have to approve the comment.

Looking back on some of my other stuff…I have music, sushi, exercise, mysterious dish soap in a bowl on a table, quotes, words, commercials we like, Pat Tomasulo stuff, Germany, pie!…

This is turning into a grocery list. (It’s all for you sister…haha) Speaking of groceries, I was supposed to go get some—all part of the healthy eating initiative I started again—but, alas, the internet got me and it’s too late to go out and then make something. We’ll just have to get something from the fast food world. Darn. I will be running again tomorrow so it should be fine. (I ran yesterday–3 miles! I just wanted to put that out there! And I’m falling in love with hard boiled eggs again. Gross.) I also need to get to the laundry, another plan for the day since I am not going to study, but that didn’t happen either. Interesting note about the jeans I have on. I noticed that all of my pants are getting kind of snug (hence the new plan) plus, my scrub top is getting a little too scrubby and snuggy, so I start working out and I swear, my pants feel even tighter! What the?? Oh well, my son is hovering over me to finish this up because he can’t do his homework in a timely manner when that tv is on…so I better go. Sixth grade should only be done once in your life…

I am a guest on The Colin McEnroe Show on WNPR, here, at 1 p.m. today. Scroll down and click on “Listen Live.”

The topic is “good works.”

Tell your friends. Pull the shades. Settle in!

Or just go about your business. There won’t be a test or anything after.

The titles are pretty dull, but I find there’s something about looking at Roman numerals. They’re distinctive, kind of classy. It’s probably just me.

Here’s a quick aside (unrelated to the tour; I can’t help myself):
Some scholars date the beginning of civilization at around 3,000 B.C. The key term there is civilization, and I don’t really have a beef with that. However, some say that the ancient Egyptians were the first to establish a method of written communication — hieroglyphs, of course. Pharaoh needed a way to record the tributes being offered from the many lands in his kingdom, so the hieroglyphs were developed.

Okay, I buy that. But that completely discounts petroglyphs archeologists have discovered all over earth, left by early man, who happened to have been around well before the ancient Egyptians.

Alright, before I get too far off, I’d like to leave you with a more recent piece of written communication: my interview at Working Writers. This time I’m focused more on my perspective on writing — rituals, writers block, books, favorite author, and more.

Drop by and leave a comment!

Friday will be my first guest post for the tour. Hope you stick around for that!

Hey, internet. It’s been a while. Just wanted to mention that the lovely and talented Keri Honea interviewed me for her gaming blog, Strategy Guide Love. (Apologies in advance to Keri for driving her readership away in droves with my mutterings and ramblings.)

Check it out!

Awe, no one commented on my Depeche Mode photo!  Granted, WP screwed up the posting and maybe no one saw it…  But on to news!

Applications are now being accepted for Taos Toolbox, a graduate-level writing workshop where I’ll be a guest lecturer.

Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist, of the awesome giveaways, is giving away a set of new Wild Cards books — Inside Straight and Busted Flush — including stories by me.  This is because Suicide Kings, the third volume, will be out in a couple of weeks!

And…it’s snowing!  More snow!  So glad I don’t have to go anywhere…

I’ll be making another appearance on The Morning Vent in Mississippi’s capitol city Tuesday morning at 9 with sports radio host savants Kev and Jay. Potential topics to include the conclusion of the race for Shreveport, The Egg Bowl, and Bobby Bowden’s new role at FSU.

Audio is up.  If you are a fan of “um” and “ya know” in the sportstalk radio forum, then you are in luck, cause I aim to please.

The reason I post this is completely self-serving.  I like hockey and I was an extra in the film.  That’s as Asian related as it gets.  The film opens Friday December 4.

An Interview plus

Today’s interview was done by the woman who has not only been my tour coordinator both times, but has, in the process, become a good friend and mentor. I had enjoyed the interview itself, but was very much surprised (pleasantly so) to see what she had to say in her introduction.

She has published this interview at the Virginia Beach Examiner and Broowaha.com. If you haven’t seen it yet, the book trailer is at the end of the interview.

I am most pleased to be introduced by, and to introduce to you, Ms. Dorothy Thompson.

I have a newfound respect for graphic designers. You probably don’t want to guess how many hours it took wrestling around with Photoshop to get the colors of the circly things in the background just right. These people must put so much time and effort into every cover that hits bookstore shelves.

Anyway, my efforts do look homemade, but I’m quite happy with how they came out. That lady in blue there is Nasan, by the way, heroine of the upcoming Confederacy. I got to bust out the old watercolor pencils for her. I used to draw a lot when I was a teenager but quit when the writing thing took off. Maybe it’s time to pick it back up.

Only 24 more shopping days, my fellow capitalists!

I hope you’re here to begin my second blog tour with me! One of the fun things about doing these is I get to be surprised along with other readers. For instance, I don’t see the book reviews until they’re posted, so it’s something of a mild anxiety thing to know there’s one coming up, and this tour has seven of them.

Today’s activity includes two stops:

• An interview to start things off at Pump Up Your Book!. New questions and fresh answers.

Be sure to comment and leave your e-maill address if you’d like a chance to win a copy of my book. It’s a one-day-only affair, so comments must be posted by 11pm EST on Dec. 1 to qualify.

• A guest post I wrote about my memories of Christmas past, at As The Pages Turn.

Hope I see you there :^)

Ron Butlin, the current Edinburgh makar, has chosen The Ambulance Box as one of his books of the year in today’s Sunday Herald. (The piece doesn’t seem to be online so I can’t link to it.) Recommending it alongside Brian McCabe’s Zero, Tom Pow’s Dear Alice and Polly Clark’s intimate and powerful Farewell My Lovely, Ron says:

Here is a poet of genuine promise revelling in the discovery of his natural lyric gift.

Also, over at Peony Moon, Michelle McGrane is running a series of posts in which poets pick their favourite collections of the year. Fascinating lists, and I’m chuffed that The Ambulance Box has cropped up a few times.

Well! Midday Veil is back from our tour with Oakland-based chanteuse Janina Angel Bath and in spite of a few very minor setbacks, the trip went better than we could have possibly expected.

Midday Veil at the Black Lodge, Seattle, 11/13/09. Photo by Chrissy Atkins.

Our journey began with a tour kickoff show at the excellent Seattle DIY venue the Black Lodge, hosted by psych collective Portable Shrines and featuring Diminished Men and Night Beats, two of our favorite local bands.  It was also our first time to hear Janina perform.  Traveling as a solo artist, Janina’s sets featured a rotating cast of supporting musicians, some of whom she had never met before the day of the performance.  In Seattle, Janina was accompanied by David “Skip” Milford (The Melbatones, Frigging Pillocks, Quietus) on electric fiddle and David Golightly and Chris Pollina of Midday Veil on synths and drums.

Known to many music fans as the girl who used to sing with Eternal Tapestry, Janina is a serious vocalist who studies in the North Indian classical tradition brought to the U.S. by Raga Master Pandit Pran Nath.  Janina was touring in support of her gorgeous new album Gypsy Woman, masterfully performing her strikingly original folk songs rooted in the structures of Indian classical music.

Janina Angel Bath performs “Every Day is Different” at the HUB, Sacramento.

Our second stop was at Ella St. Social Club in Portland, formerly the Towne Lounge, and even more formerly a mausoleum, where we were fortunate enough to share the stage with Holy Children and Datura Blues, who absolutely floored us with their performance.  The turnout for our first-ever PDX show was excellent, thanks in part to the promotional efforts of Ella St. booker Showdeer, and also to the great press we received in Willamette Week:

Seattle’s Midday Veil stops off in Portland for the first date of a West Coast tour, a jaunt that will likely squeegee clean a number of third eyes along the way. Its brand of mind-expanding psychedelia rarely gets above a snail’s pace, allowing you to experience every spiraling guitar run and droning bleat of the band’s vintage synthesizers, as well as the fluttering arc of Emily Pothast’s space-mother vocals. It’s a sound custom designed to coax you down the rabbit hole, leaving you blissfully lost in wonderland. —Robert Ham.

After taking full advantage of Portland’s late-night dining options (Dear Seattle: IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CARTS!) and soaking up some hospitality from my kick-ass relatives in Gresham, we were on our way to Sacramento.

Chris Pollina drives the tour van, Mt. Shasta in the distance. Photo by David.

Our gig in Sacto was at an informal underground venue called the HUB, and our host was a local DJ and musician named Larry Rodriguez, whose overwhelming charm and generosity was enough to make this stop one of our favorites.  At the HUB, we shared the bill with two incredible female singer-songwriters, Lida Husik and Christine Shields, who was accompanied on drums by Phil Franklin of Sunburned Hand of the Man.

Next up was the Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco, where we were looking forward to playing with Elm (the solo project of Barn Owl’s Jon Porras).  Unfortunately Jon came down with the flu and had to cancel at the last minute.  (We hope he had a speedy recovery!)  The show went on despite losing the local headliner, with us playing to a cozy assembly of our own friends and acquaintances.

Midday Veil at the Hemlock Tavern, San Francisco.  Projections by David Golightly.

On Thursday, we played a live set on KDVS Radio in Davis.  The show can be streamed from KDVS’s website.  On Friday we headed back down to the Bay Area to play at another exceptional DIY space, the Church of the True Living God in Oakland.  We were very warmly received in Oakland, thanks to organizer Christopher Musgrave (of the Lumerians) and the other bands.

Midday Veil performing “Divide by Zero” at the Church of the True Living God, Oakland.

“Asymptote,” Church of the True Living God.  Killer guitar solo in this one!

All in all, we had a good time, played some fun shows, saw some wonderful music and made some great contacts along the coast.  We also learned lots things we can take with us next time. I can’t wait!

Up next:  Midday Veil is playing a Solstice show at the Comet Tavern on December 20 (my birthday!) and has plans to go into the studio in January 2010 to work on our first studio LP.

Janina Angel Bath and Midday Veil. From left to right: Janina, David Golightly, Timm Mason, Chris Pollina and Emily Pothast. Photo by Christopher Musgrave.

On Twitter?
Well so am I.
Here I am HERE.

Know what a ‘Tweetcloud’ is?
Well I didn’t either until about 3 minutes ago.

It’s a cloud filled with words you have used the most on Twitter.
My cloud is filled with words I used most in the last month and embarrassingly it looks like this:

Just to double check,
I made one using words from the whole year.
That one looks like this:

Right.
I’m off to expand my vocabulary.

Yes indeed. It’s been in the air since October, that feeling of anticipation. The days and weeks have slipped by as they always do, and now the wait is over.

Oh, you thought I was talking about Christmas, didn’t you?

Everyone knows about Christmas, but until this moment I was one of only a handful in the world who knew that I was embarking on one more virtual blog tour this year. What with Christmas being a time of sharing I wanted to share the news with you! I ask for no gifts — really. But I would be delighted if you’d take a few moments each day for the next two weeks and follow me as I trip the bytes fantastic.

This tour is shorter than the last — call it a mini-tour, abbreviated, reduced, or perhaps digested. It will run from December 1 – 16. This time around the interviews are new so you may learn a few new things about me. There are also new reviews of The Light, The Dark, and Ember Between, and a healthy sprinkling of guest posts written by yours truly.

My goal is to have the link for each stop posted here and on my website so you can easily jump over and participate. I know each of us feels a little tighter pinch time-wise during the holiday season, but each post shouldn’t take much longer to peruse than any other would. Most bloggers I know who follow other blogs always read through, and some comment as well (a habit I need to work on, Joy, I know ;^) ).

I very much hope you’ll join me for the next two weeks. You’ll have a little fun along the way, I promise.

Last but not least, I wouldn’t be a true American opportunist if I didn’t mention that my book would make a great gift or stocking stuffer for the avid reader on your list! Get a copy from my website and I’ll even autograph it!

Wishing you and yours a peaceful and healthy holiday season . . .

Sincerely,
J.W. Nicklaus