So fucking there. Night of release, first show.
(really wanted to see They Shall Not Grow Old too, but it only played twice arrrrgggh graaa blarrrr)
One of the (probably silly) things I thought I’d do with the blog is use it as a warehouse for some of the video that’s spun out of the stories. Here’s the book trailer for 2016’s The Fireman, product of my U.K. publisher’s PR engine. Pretty cool, huh? Almost looks like it could be a cable series.
The above image accurately depicts my response to learning that Toni Collette didn’t get a Best Actress nomination for Hereditary.
To me, best picture of the year comes down to Buster Scruggs or this one. Still, I dig that Hereditary — a bloody brain-smashing mindfuck of a film — probably wasn’t the kind of thing you’d expect to snag the big prize. But, c’mon, nothing for Collette, nothing for Screenplay?
I shouldn’t complain, Shape of Water won it all last year, which shows that sometimes even the horror guys get noticed. Besides, I’m ambivalent about the value of awards. In 1988, The Last Emperor won Best Picture, but you, and me, and practically everyone else on the face of this good earth would rather watch Die-Hard (released at the same time). It doesn’t matter how many prizes you’ve won; they won’t make anyone love you anymore. That’s not how emotions work. And in any one year, lots of good work will not only go unhonored… it will go unnoticed! Princess Bride? Bomb. Sean Lennon’s Friendly Fire? See below. As noted in Ecclesiastes, “the race goes not always to the swift, and Best Animated Film will go to Pixar even if their latest picture was duller then dishwater.” That’s in Ecclesiastes isn’t it?
What if someone dropped the best album of the decade and no one bothered to listen? Related: did you ever check out Sean Lennon’s second album, Friendly Fire, released in 2006? How was this not on everyone’s iPod Mini? Track-for-track it’s as good as that first self-titled album by Crowded House, or Woodface, which was probably the House’s career high. I think it also compares nicely to the stuff the Lumineers are doing right now.
Some make much of Sean Lennon’s parentage, but I think when you put the needle down on the metaphorical disc, the conversation becomes moot. Either you like what you’re hearing or you don’t… and in this case, the quality of the craftsmanship is so exquisite, it seems to me that disliking Friendly Fire would require a perverse hatred of melody.
Ah well. In the music business, it’s common enough for fine work to slip through the cracks. I’m sorry I didn’t discover this album sooner, but I’m glad I came to it eventually, and I know now I’ll be listening to it all winter. Why don’t you hit up Spotify or Apple Music and give the Friendly Fire album a listen yourself. Like it? Tell a friend. This is how good work eventually gets its moment, don’t you think?
On a side note, I wish I knew about Lennon’s “Parachute” while I was writing “Aloft.” They go together like a single perfect cloud in a bright blue sky.
Sweet little ditty by Jim Croce came on the radio and I was reminded all over again how much I love his romantic ballad: “I’ll Have To Say I Love You (With My Dong)”.
Welcome to my new blog.
When did I last keep a blog? Has it really been five years?
I thought maybe I’d turn to a blank digital page and start up a new web journal. It would be nice to have a space to yak about current events and pop culture and occasionally make with the funny. I did a lot of that over on Twitter, but eventually decided it’s not a very healthy space for me (it might not be for you either, but that’s for you to decide, amirite?). So now the @joe_hill account primarily exists only as yet another channel to peddle my ass.
I also had a blog over on Tumblr, where I once posted a popular essay about the summer of Jaws and the slaughter of an unidentified woman outside Provincetown (How popular? This thing went more viral than herpes). But then Tumblr decided to wipe out “The Lady and the Shark,” presumably in their great porno purge of 2018. Although maybe they had some other reason for deleting it: the piece contained no nudity, and although I often use salty language in my writing, I think that one was relatively clean. It was a reminder though of how much control you’re giving away when someone else controls the medium. This never happens to John Scalzi on The Whatever.
I still have a copy of “Lady and the Shark,” of course, and was wondering what to do with it and suddenly it hit me I need a space for my random thoughts. It can be my space or it can be MySpace; something I own or something that belongs to Mark Zuckerberg. I went with me. So look for the Jaws piece to resurface here in the very near future. Among other no-doubt entirely essential musings.
One thing the blog won’t do is replace the newsletter, Escape Hatch, which you can sign up for by scrolling to the bottom of the main page. The blog is for the occasional single-focus essay and the drive-by comment. Escape Hatch will feature previews of upcoming work, pictures, promos, exclusives, and oddball analysis of stuff like the latest Liam Gallagher album. Escape Hatch is a mini-magazine; the blog is a cafe, and I’ve got a table in the corner. Get a cup of tea and siddown for a while.
There IS a comments thread for those of you who want to chime in. A conversation is, after all, more interesting than a lecture. That said, moderating the comments thread on a blog can turn into a full-time job if one isn’t careful and I need to be careful — I’ve already got a full-time job. Don’t be hurt, but I’ll only be leaving comments open for 24 hours after a piece is published. Get your say fast or don’t get it at all. Better make your say thoughtful, considerate, and kind, too, or I’ll blast your comment out of existence. Don’t like it? Hey, there’s always Tumblr.
Thanks for spending some time with me, folks. We’ll have some fun.