When I'm Not Reading MY Blog, I Read THESE Blogs

Lisa Mychols

Astute visitors to my little corner of the internet will notice a sidebar section called "When I'm Not Reading MY Blog, I Read THESE Blogs." This list of links offers convenient portals to some of the interesting blogs I like to follow. It pains me to concede that Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) isn't the only worthy blog on this vast series of tubes we call the world wide web, but the truth hurts. We can kiss the boo-boo by investigating a few of the other fine blogs that are just a click away.

The latest addition to my list is Joe Congel Fiction Stories, a new blog devoted to thoughts on writing fiction. I worked in retail with Joe decades ago, and he's developed into a very good writer of detective fiction. The first two novels in his private investigator series The Razzman Chronicles (Dead Is Forever and Deadly Passion) are available from Amazon, as is The Razzman Chronicles, a collection of three short stories that bridge the events of the two novels. I just read an as-yet-unpublished new short story from Joe, a killer thriller not part of the Razzman saga, and it provides evidence of a talent that pulp noir fans will...er, die for. Joe's blog is a cool look inside the craft of fiction.




Mark Evanier's News From ME is my favorite blog, a simply fascinating ongoing glimpse of the world as Evanier sees it. Mark is a veteran writer with a decades-long string of credits in TV, comics, and animation, a c.v. that includes Garfield, Groo The Wanderer, The Bay City Rollers' Saturday morning TV show, Pink Lady And Jeff, and Welcome Back, Kotter. MY favorite Evanier fiction works were comic books in the '80s, the classic Blackhawk for DC and Mark's co-creation (with artist Dan Spiegle) Crossfire for Eclipse. I like Evanier's first-person reminiscences the best, commencing with show-biz text pieces that appeared in Crossfire, continuing as a column (POV) in The Comics Buyer's Guide, and growing into News From ME. Mark's a working professional writer, and his dedication to regularly maintaining and updating a terrific blog that pays him the real-world equivalent of bupkis is an inspiration. When I started Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), Mark Evanier's News From ME was the model I had in mind. It still is.



Speaking of comics, Black Lightning creator Tony Isabella has his own blog, Tony Isabella's Bloggy Thing, which covers everything from monster movies to the real-life horror of contemporary politics to comic books that were on the spinner racks when our Tony was a mere lad and a beardless youth. Dan Greenfield's 13th Dimension is a delightfully enthusiastic and accomplished spotlight on comics of the past, present, and future, while both Lloyd Smith's Diversions Of The Groovy Kind and Barry Pearl's Barry's Pearls Of Comic Book Wisdom look back in wonder at the funnybooks of yore (and mine). And the daily Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues! imagines and visualizes cross-company comics team-ups that never were.



Although my own short attention span often draws me to write about comic books, there are folks who think of Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) as a music blog. To keep things musical when I'm goin' on about Batman or Vampirella, my recommended music blogs include Devorah Ostrov's Tales From A Former Fanzine Journalist (reprising stuff from Dev's exhaustive archive of her own rockin' fanzine interviews and the like), Bill Kopp's Musoscribe, and Robert Kinsler's Rock 'n' Roll Truth. Monkees Live Almanac is the source for both current news and retrospectives of Micky, Michael, Peter, and David. Like Boppin', Brad Laidman's Elvis Needs Boats (awesome title!) ventures outside strict rock 'n' roll coverage as its author deems fit. And my pal John Tierney's Long-Winded, Short Attention Span is sufficiently accomplished that I ceded the floor to John when it came time to write about The Flashcubes' 40th anniversary.



Finally, both Love Letters To Rock N Roll and Gary Frenay's We Connect appear to be on hiatus at the moment, but keep an eye out for 'em in case they return. Steven Thompson's Booksteve's Library and related blogs have ceased, but the archives remain on line. Lisa Mychols' Mychols Fabulous Playground hasn't posted since May, but Lisa has a new album, so I imagine she'll do more blogging when she has more time. Not everyone's quite crazy enough to keep up a razzafrazzin' daily blog. The Daily Boppin'. It's Mark Evanier's fault. And I thank him for it.


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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here.