Sunday, July 7, 2013

pieces of "Arm Your Innocence"


Some pieces from my long in the works next painting. Little by little, getting it done.

Monday, July 1, 2013

A Subtle Destruction

Every word was a dirty bomb, used carefully and specifically for a subtle destruction. He was just weakening her foundation, getting her to the tipping point when one final blow would implode her into a fragile kneeling waterfall.

Aston remembered a time when he wasn’t brimming with such nuclear animosity. When “whore”, “bitch” and “cunt” were words and not weapons. His war with Julie was numbing him to these atrocities he should have been horrified by.

“Keep going,” she sobbed. “Rage at me! You cowardly disaster.”

He couldn’t decipher the meaning in these shots. She was firing blanks, just trying to make noise to scare him off. Whether the danger was there or not, he didn’t care if she killed him. He was an emotional terrorist. A psychological suicide bomber.

With his chin at her eye level, Aston prepared his final infiltration, reaching invisible arms deep into his esophagus to pull out the most threatening venom he could spit into her ear. “You are the greatest mistake I ever made, and I regret every minute of my life wasted near you. You don’t deserve to be loved. You deserve to live and die alone, completely miserable. As fucking miserable as you’ve made me.”

He choked on his composure and stuttered out some indecipherable gasps.

Aston’s chambers were empty. All that was left was an empty egg shell of skin, hair and smoke. If she breathed one word back to him he would have crumbled before her eyes.

But she was smart. She held her reinforcements back behind her leaking green trenches. There was no need to waste them on an enemy slinking back into the ether. The Julie War was over, and Aston let his brow shadow his face as he retreated out of the living room they had spent four years battling through. Marched through the kitchen where they had shared innumerous détentes. Out the door that had slammed too many times.

He was a nation of aggression and loss. Bluster, bombs and begrudgement. Aston knew his society of one was on the brink of collapse, and it would be a long time before his ruins would resurface. He also knew this was for the best.

The Sparkler

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Best of 2012

For movies, it was a great year for popcorn films and blockbusters. Some good indie films, but not many that hit me. I missed a few films (LES MISERABLE, NOT FADE AWAY, RUST AND BONE, AMOUR), but saw the majority of ones I wanted to.

Top 10 Films of 2012:

1. The Avengers
2. THe Hobbit
3. Django Unchained
4. Dark Knight Rises
5. The Intouchables
6. Argo
7. Skyfall
8. Searching for Sugar Man
9. Beasts of the Southern Wild
10. Jeff Who Lives At Home

Honorable Mentions:
The Master
Life of Pi
Safety Not Guaranteed
Silver Lining playbook

As I do every year, below find my lists of favorite albums and songs of 2012. This year, I raised the number of songs to 40. As I usually do, I will be sending out my Top 20 songs to those interested.

Top Ten Albums of 2012

1. Japandroids - Celebration Rock
2. Royal Headache - Royal Headache
3. Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
4. Dr. John - Locked Down
5. The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten
6. Bob Mould - The Silver Age
7. John K. Samson - Provincial
8. Kaki King - Glow
9. NOFX - Self-Entitled
10. Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls

Honorable Mentions: Neil Halstead - Palindrome Hunches, Family Of The Year - Loma Vista, K'naan - Country, God Or The Girl, LP - Into the Wild EP

Top 40 Songs of 2012

1. The Shins - Simple Song
2. Japandroids - Fire's Highway
3. Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
4. Royal Headache - Honey Joy
5. Ben Howard - The Fear
6. Lana Del Rey - Born to Die
7. Gotye - Eyes Wide Open
8. The Gaslight Anthem - "45"
9. Lit - Right This Time
10. fun. - Some Nights
11. LP - Into the Wild
12. Imagine Dragons - It's Time
13. The Wallflowers - Reboot the Mission (feat. Mick Jones)
14. Alabama Shakes - I Found You
15. Michael Kiwanuka - Lasan
16. Dr. Dog - That Old Black Hole
17. Dr. John - Revolution
18. Lucero - It May Be Too Late
19. The Menzingers - Obituaries
20. Frank Ocean - Pyramids
21. NOFX - 72 Hookers
22. Family Of The Year - Hero
23. The Henry Clay People - Hide
24. Grizzly Bear - Yet Again
25. Muse - Madness
26. Labrinth - Express Yourself
27. JD McPherson - North Side Gal
28. The Rolling Stones - Doom and Gloom
29. The Tallest Man on Earth - There's No Leaving Now
30. Neil Halstead - Full Moon Rising
31. Pennywise - Let Us Hear Your Voice
32. K'naan - Bulletproof Pride
33. Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reihold Heil - All Boundaries are Conventions
34. John Mayer - Shadow Days
35. Mumford & Sons - Lover of the Light
36. So Many Wizards - Inner City
37. Green Day - Amy
38. Bob Dylan - Pay In Blood
39. Wale - Freedom Of Speech
40. Howlin Rain - Phantom Of The Valley

Honorable Mentions: Bob Mould - The Descent, Haim - Better Off, John K. Samson - Heart of the Continent, Kaki King - Kelvinator, Kelvinator

Bands to Watch in 2013:
Haim
Family Of The Year