Blogkeeping

Wow. It's been more than five months since I last paused to reflect on the state of the blog. I actually had a different and very long post just about ready to go today, albeit a long post that stitched together a number of previously-posted pieces. The purpose of that was to convey the feel of the next book I want to write, if indeed I'll still feel like writing books if/when I finally get through my current project The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). I postponed the post because it didn't feel right just yet, but that conclusion itself got me thinking once again of where I think I am and what this place looks like today. Which means it's time for some Blogkeeping.

And yeah, let's start with that long-gestating Greatest Record Ever Made! book. I don't have any progress to report on the book's progress or lack thereof, except to note that I feel as though I'm nearing a crossroads. I'm not comfortable saying much more than that, and I'm not sure whether or not the specific feeling is illusory. The book is stuck right now; I have some ideas on how to fix that, but I'm still weighing the ups and downs and all-arounds of my options for action. This will not be decided this week. Like Eleanor Bron in Help!, I can say no more.



My fiction-writing is on hold, though that could start up again as soon as the whim belts me in the kisser. The last short story I completed was my 1965-set secret agent adventure "The Copperhead Affair," which I submitted to AHOY Comics in November (and which still awaits word of its fate there). I started another not-really-a-sequel called "Chaos At The Copperhead Club," but I was dissatisfied with it and set it aside. I paw through my old ideas constantly, so one never knows when "Chaos At The Copperhead Club" may do its phoenix impression, nor when stories like "The Traitor's Tour Guide To Hell," "The Film Of The Story Of My Life," "Last Stand On Uranus," "The Devil And Her Details," or "Garston Bottle Works" will suddenly grab my short attention span and demand to be written right now. NOW!!

I'm fighting a feeling of...oh, I bet you know the feeling. The quarantine scene is a part of it. Politics is part of it. Lots of things are parts of it. It is very possible that the light at the end of the tunnel is a freakin' bug zapper. Which would be bad. I try to take stock of the good, to remain aware of the sunshine in our fortunes when so much ill fortune parades its bad self all around us. Perspective can be elusive, no matter how stupidhead obvious such perspective would seem to a passive observer, an omniscient narrator, or, like, Batman or someone. 

I need to write more. I need to do more, in whatever modest capacity. In the mean time, I maintain this daily blog.



My weekly 10 Songs feature has remained popular and fun to write, so I'm sure those will continue for a good long time. I will be supplementing 10 Songs with a sporadic new series called 5 Above, which will talk about five songs within a specific framework. 5 Above was inspired by Pop-A-Looza's Dan Pavelich, who wanted me to write a piece about my five favorite Kinks songs. That ain't happening. But I am going to write about my five favorite 1970s Kinks songs, and my five favorite 1980s Kinks songs. I'll likely get to both of those either this month or next, with more 5 Aboves to follow.

Speaking of Pop-A-Looza, that site is now running two Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) pieces each week. Although these are usually from my archives, I'm going to let Pop-A-Looza have first publication of my 5 Above: The Kinks In The '70s piece when it's finished. Seems fair; after all, it was Dan's idea!

Didn't See THAT Coming (Unexpected Covers In Concert) will be back with the tale of a dark return by Let's Active. The Everlasting First has been MIA for a year, but I'm getting set to resume that series with the long-delayed T is for TARZAN. I really need to jump-start my dormant rock mag reminiscence series He Buys Every Rock 'n' Roll Book On The Magazine Stands with its next chapter, "The Snark And The Fury, CREEM And The Dream." I'm thinking of starting a new series called Goin' Nowhere Tonight (The Bands I Missed, The Shows I Didn't See), which would commence with the story of when I was the only one at my workplace who didn't go to see Los Lobos in 1985. 

The other Boppin' perennials are poised to reclaim their spotlights. We need more Virtual Ticket Stub Galleries, more Comic Book Retroviews, more editions of The Other Side Of The Hit (B-Side Appreciation), The One That Got Away!, Love At First Spin, Second Hand Sound, Guilt-Free Pleasures (A Defense Against The Dark Arts), Lights! Camera! REACTION! (My Life At The Movies), Red-Eyed And Ravenous, Unfinished And Abandoned, and, of course, your monthly dose of Spectacular Comics 100-Page Specials.

A bop a day, every day. Sometimes it feels tough to meet that commitment. But I'm damned if I'm anywhere near ready to give up on it now. This is (officially) my 1753rd public post. Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) has accumulated more than 450,000 views, closing in on a Woodstock-approved half a million strong, to infinity and beyond. As always, I've got some work to do. And as always, the bop goes on.

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This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.

The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:

Volume 1: download
Volume 2: CD or download

Volume 3: download

Volume 4: CD or download

Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio:  CD or download

Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 155 essays about 155 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).