the conflagration of boor and aghast – playlist

As I’m wont to do, I created a playlist to go along with this beast that was Bad Neighbours.

This one is a little more tongue-in-cheek and less moody.

This one is a little off.

This one was more general theme than specifics. The Mungk, I tried to fit specific songs to each scene; for Boor/Aghast, more of them had an overall thought to them. Joey could have applied in multiple places, as could White Trash Millionaire (and how could I pass using that, given the content?) I couldn’t find anything for between Dylan and Stewart; perhaps it’s my dissatisfaction with the scene. I considered Queen’s I’m Going Slightly Mad, but it felt like soft on soft on soft, and out of place. I had intended on ending with Walter Lemon’s turn to militancy and Dre, but then I had a waking dream about Walter Lemon, in cartoon form, taking his revenge on his enemies during end credits to Katy Perry, up to and including the orange menace.

Whether that would ever make it in a movie form is debatable; if that idiot’s still in charge, it would probably be lock-up for everyone involved, since, you know, fucking fascist.

It’s of questionable taste anyway. I’m not a person who advocates violence, but I am a person who hates fascism, and authoritarians of any stripe. I believe a good punch in the face would probably solve a lot of problems. Consequences, especially early on when problems first arise, can solve a lot of shit.

Anyway: Enjoy my weird pretentious liberal/80s crotch rock blend. Like a pumpkin spiced latte someone’s peed in.

The Walkthrough: Edith Piaf – Le Vieux Piano (3:13)
Kismet: The Scorpions – Rock You Like A Hurricane (4:12)
Our Dog In The Street #1: The Tragically Hip – Tired As Fuck (3:45)
Joey’s First Beer: Concrete Blonde – Joey (4:07)
Bowling Springs: Green Day – No Pride (2:20)
Delta-Fucking-Eighty-Eight: Jackie Brenston – Rocket 88 (2:47)
The Council Meeting Revelation: Black Stone Cherry – White Trash Millionaire (3:19)
Anger Baby: Ugly Kid Joe – Everything About You (4:20)
Tased: Accept – Balls To The Wall (5:43)
The Shooting Gallery: Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 In B Minor, Op. 74, “Pathetique”: III. Allegro Molto Vivace (8:51)
Our Dog In The Street #2: Dead Kennedys – Saturday Night Holocaust (4:19)
Boarded Up Windows And Blue Jeans: Warrant – Cherry Pie (3:21)
The Thing: Pat Benatar – Shadows Of The Night (4:22)
ASSHOLE: Bobby Darin – Splish Splash (2:12)
We Killed Some Poor Creatures For Your Dining Pleasure: The Buzzcocks – Mother Of Turds (3:21)
Get Me That Shelley Account: Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American (3:03)
Our Dog In The Street #3: The Muppets – Together Again (2:53)
Screaming Through The Door: Motley Crue – 18 & Life (3:53)
Waiting For Bail: CJ Ramone & Bad Chopper – Ain’t No Criminal (3:32)
Don’t Make Us Come Out There: Bob Dylan – The Times Are A-Changin’ (3:17)
Bonfire Of The Vanities: Rod Stewart – Tonight’s The Night (3:56)
Dawg, Fish, And Shank: Dr. Dre/Eminem – Forgot About Dre (3:42)
End Credits: Katy Perry – Never Really Over (3:44)

Target: 1400 words
Written: 519 words, poem: Kill Everything

Read: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki
Comics: Jack Of Fables 37-38, Fables 88-89
Music: 17 Song Demo, Anti-Flag

under pressure

Coming down on me, it’s Queen’s best song.

Which is ironically, half-David Bowie.

Says a lot, don’t it?

Target: 1400 words
Written: 891 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Soon I Will Be Invincible, Austin Grossman
Comics: Fables 75-76, Jack Of Fables 25-26
Music: 13 Fluid Ounces, Sublime

overpowered by funk

I’m having a hard time with my playlist for Bad Neighbours.

Some songs suggested themselves immediately, as they often do, but my editing and writing has been snippets here and there, and not set to music as it usually is, so the opportunity for those happy accidents, where a song comes on while in the middle of a scene and matches it so well it can’t not be used.

(See Run, Alice, Mungk).

Anyway, I’ve got one more scene to go before I start the final draft, and goshdarnit, I’m going to get some goddamn music in these ears.

For reals.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 399 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Tesla: Man Out Of Time, Margaret Cheney
Comics: Fables 57-58, Jack Of Fables 7-8
Music: 101 Punk & New Wave Anthems - CD3, Various

reminders

This book is reminding me of why I love the Hip, and Gord Downie in particular, and why my heroes went from being rebels who gave everyone the finger, to nice people who weren’t afraid of hard truths and dark places.

Loudmouth boors be damned.

Give me a soft-spoken purveyor of real things, dark and light, any day.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 1407 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: The Never-Ending Present, Michael Barclay
Comics: Youngblood v6 4-7
Music: Without You I'm Nothing, Placebo

it’s nice to be reminded

Of just how bad you are at art.

How on another plane artists like Gord Downie, Lou Reed, Patti Smith and Leonard Cohen are.

How other people understand that.

How you’re a fucking peon and a boor, a shitpile no-talent with no future and no gravitas.

But hey, I wrote a book about the monster under the bed, and a guy getting humped by a dog, so there’s that.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 687 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: The Never-Ending Present, Michael Barclay
Comics: Bloodstrike v2 2, Youngblood v6 1-3
Music: Without A Sound, Dinosaur Jr.

heeey baaby

It’s the Fourth of Novem… wait.

Is that a day? Is that a thing?

Maybe it ought to be.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 1329 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Quiet: The Power Of Introverts, Susan Cain
Comics: Badrock/Wolverine 1, Youngblood v2 9-10, Youngblood/X-Force 1
Music: Wild Honey, The Beach Boys

edith, you tear me apart

I’m torn between Edith Piaf songs. Mon Dieu or Le Vieux Piano?

Which has cachet?

Which is a starter?

Which would you use on opening credits, for a book about fighting and dichotomies, and things that could never end well, because militancy rarely does?

Moderation in everything, save freedom, which is inevitable anyway.

We are all free, always.

Target: 1400 words
Written: 1324 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: The Dog Who Wouldn't Be, Farley Mowat
Comics: Brigade v2 15, Badrock And Company 5, Extreme Sacrifice 1, Supreme 23
Music: Who Are You, The Who

exit music for a film

I don’t know why it’s stuck in my head, but it is.

We hope.

That you choke.

That you chooooOOOOoooke.

Something like that, right?

Target: 1300 words
Written: 1051 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Memories Of The Future, Vol. 1, Wil Wheaton
Comics: Brigade 4, Brigade v2 1-2, Youngblood 5
Music: Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?, Harvey Danger (one of my youthful favourites)

sleeeeeeeep

Where does it go? Does it happen for other people?

Sorry, it’s really distracting to try and write while exhausted and while Sabrina Carpenter is signing about another woman tasting her pussy on her boyfriend’s lips.

I mean, I know she means it in a mean-spirited way, haha, motherfucker, your man goes down on not you, you get the leftovers, but still.

I guess this is the modern equivalent of lipstick on a collar or the scent of someone else’s perfume on your shirt?

Pussy mouth?

This is a wonderful world, isn’t it?

Target: 1300 words
Written: 907 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Captain Paul, Alexandre Dumas
Comics: Tomb Raider 30-32, Tomb Raider: Epiphany 1
Music: The Weirdness, The Stooges (yikes, downhill, guys)

hipfest

I mean, I had fun, but I wanted it to be so much better. The others were going on about how great the guy was, but I found the band super loose, and the singer was mucking up lyrics (and moving around entire verses) wholesale.

I’m not sure the hangover is worth that.

Sorry, dude, Gord Downie, you ain’t.

Target: 1300 words
Written: 1127 words, novel: Bad Neighbours

Read: Magician: Apprentice, Raymond Feist
Comics: Napalm Lullaby 5-6, The Sacrificers 10, Grommets 3
Music: Wayne's World Soundtrack, Various Artists