Latest Blog Posts for Things I'd Rather Be Doing

• Best Music of 2013 – a subjective account
  on Dec 2, 2013 in lists Music Links Uncategorized
  Another year, another chance to miss a lot of music. Or perhaps it would be better stated this way: Another year, another refinement of taste. There, that sounds better, doesn’t it? The past few years I have felt like my age is showing. I’...
• My new novella, Get Hit, Hit Back is out now
  on May 28, 2013 in Writing Fight Card
  I’m pleased to announce that I have joined the Fight Card team with my new novella, Get Hit, Hit Back. It’s an ebook for now, but if it was a nice, shiny hardback, the jacket flap would say: “Ottumwa, Iowa 1954: Griffin McCann̵...
• Review: Matthew Shipp’s Greatest Hits
  on Feb 28, 2013 in jazz Music Links review Uncategorized Matthew Shipp
  It is annoying when reviewers fall back on the lazy construct of the “perfect world.” “In a perfect world,” they write, “so-and-so would be a star,” or “such-and-such would be a hit.” This happens most...
• A new story in PULP!
  on Feb 27, 2013 in Self Promotion
  I haven’t had a new story out in a while, so it is with great pleasure that I announce a new publication: My story “Even Clowns Know When to Cry” is in the latest and last issue of PULP! from Twit Publishing. The cops asked me afte...
• Favorite music of 2012
  on Dec 20, 2012 in lists Music Links
  Each year it seems my tastes stray farther from Hipsterville. I’m not strapping on the Members Only jacket and listening to Phil Collins just yet, however. It’s just that, well, I like guitars. And songs with decent lyrics. And melody. In...
• The First Cut coming to Noir at the Bar in Cleveland
  on Sep 30, 2012 in Writing Snubnose Press
  Hey there, Bouchercon-goers! A whole passel of us  Snubnose Press writers are going to hold our own special Noir at the Bar event from 7-8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, at the Wonderbar, 2044 E. Fourth St., in Cleveland. It’s during Bouchercon, but...
• A few thoughts about Stew and the Dirty Three
  on Sep 28, 2012 in live shows
  I took in two shows last night, something usually reserved for my Mission Creek Festival week of no sleep. But it worked perfectly, with a show by Stew at the Mill followed by a set by the Dirty Three at Gabe’s (and still home by midnight!). Th...
• Steve Earle visits back catalog in Iowa City stop
  on Aug 8, 2012 in live shows
  It was as if Steve Earle wanted to redeem himself in my eyes (or rather, ears) and decided to pick a set list that appealed primarily to me. At his show last night at the Englert in Iowa City, Earle didn’t try anything strange, such as the DJ-e...
• Michael Connelly ‘Lincoln Lawyer’ giveaway
  on Feb 4, 2011 in Uncategorized
  Part of me really wants “The Lincoln Lawyer” to tank. Let me explain. Unlike many of my other favorite crime writers, Michael Connelly has had decent luck at the box office. Only one of his books has made it to the screen, and that was th...
• Another new R.E.M. album, more ambivalence
  on Feb 3, 2011 in Uncategorized
  So, three years ago when R.E.M. was set to release Accelerate, I wrote a post about my ambivalence toward the album. It was derivative, pedestrian and uninspiring. It was better than Around the Sun, its awful predecessor, but what wouldn’t be?

{pvComments::user_name}

{pvComments::date}

Delete 

{pvComments::comment}

Post a Comment