Tuesday's Fortune: 28 February 2012

MEAL: 1 order (8) Crab Rangoon + 1 small order Boneless Spare Ribs = $8.78 + $1.22 tip

Hotcha! Hank

Tuesday's Fortune: 21 February 2012

MEAL: 2 Roast Pork Egg Rolls + 1 small order Chicken With Black Bean Sauce = $6.55 + $1.45 tip

Hotcha! Hank

Something 4 The Weekend # 236

Earth: Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light II: "The Corascene Dog" [mp3]

For more than twenty years now, Dylan Carson has been doing his thing as the leader of Earth, and his/their thing is playing really fucking slow.

It's a simple enough idea, really, and Earth probably weren't the first to do it, but an argument could be made that they're the best at playing really fucking slow.

It's a tough trick, especially since the first decade of Earth was all about heavy, distorted guitars and bass, creating a sound critics call Doom or Drone, I believe. Heavy distorted guitars are always very cool, even if or especially when played really fucking slow, but the tricky part is keeping it interesting. The tricky part is finding melodies that work at such languid speeds, that not only keep the song moving forward, but keep the listener engaged for ten or more minutes per song. Carson and his band found a way to make yr balls tickle and yr mind blown at the same time, and that's no easy feat.

About 6-8 years ago Carson largely reinvented the band. They still played really fucking slow, but now the music had the sounds and tones of Countryfolkblues. If you want to affix a label to this new Earth sound, I'd suggest Country Doom or Doom Country.

I'd also suggest that it's more brilliant than the heavier Doom of Earth's first decade. And now, with their latest album, Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light, Earth appears to be taking their first steps towards Jazz, or something equally as beautiful.

Or maybe I'm just high.

Hotcha! Hank

Tuesday's Fortune: 14 February 2012

MEAL: 2 Vegetable Spring Rolls + 1 order Fried Crispy Bean Curd = $7.39 + $1.61 tip

Hotcha! Hank

Something 4 The Weekend # 235

Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan: "Highway 51 Blues" [mp3]

Highway 51 runs about half a block from my front door. I may never have travelled it all the way down to no man's land, but I've certainly gotten as far as northern Illinois, a mostly bleak, flat place that I've never really cared for, especially Rockford, which may very well be hell on earth, but for entirely mundane reasons. Actually, it's the mundaneness of Rockford that makes it the hellscape that it is.

But I digress. Of course I digress.

A decade ago I had a fling with a woman who actually lived on Highway 51, up past Token Creek Park. I wouldn't say she was my baby, but she was a good time for a short while, and I suppose I was a good time for her, for awhile, and then we weren't. I still drive past her house on occasion, and I imagine her smile, her laugh, and her tits. She also made pretty good grilled cheese sandwiches.

Tonight I went and had a couple of stiff drinks with a couple of friends at The Lazy Oaf, a bar (well, lounge) on Highway 51 about two blocks from here. I think it was the bald dude with the white goattee who played "House Of The Rising Sun", also from Dylan's first album, on the jukebox. And I sat there for a moment wondering if choosing this song "Highway 51 Blues" would have been a better choice, or merely cheesy and obvious. Then I went out into the cold night and smoked a cigarette, staring at Highway 51, covered in brown slush with a dusting of grey snow. Roads often have their stories, even mythologies, but they're still just roads in the end.

I always loved this song.

Hotcha! Hank

Tuesday's Fortune: 07 February 2012

MEAL: 1 Roast Pork Egg Roll + 1 Shrimp Egg Roll + 1 Vegetable Spring Roll + 1 order (8) Steamed Dumplings = $9.19 + 81¢ tip

Hotcha! Hank

Something 4 The Weekend # 234

Sufjan Stevens: Enjoy Your Rabbit: "Year Of The Dragon" [mp3]

The Dragon Year is supposedly the luckiest year. Not just for Fire Horses like myself, but all of us - Wood Rabbits, Metal Monkeys, Earth Snakes, Water Dogs - all of us! Now I don't know about you, but I intend on taking advantage of this extra luck.

I've started playing the lottery. So far I'm down $7, but the Dragon Year is young and I haven't been to my usual gas station lately.

I'm playing in a high stakes poker game later this month at a supposedly haunted farm house on the outskirts of Baraboo. I've had pretty good luck with ghosts. And Baraboo.

I've also decided this is the year I accomplish three things - acquire a literary agent, finish and sell a short story collection, and finally rid the Maple tree in the front yard of fucking squirrels. I'm counting on that extra Dragon Luck to accomplish these things.

(There is no Year Of The Squirrel, and there's a damn good reason for that.)

A smaller goal might be to reinvigorate this blog in the following months. Or maybe start something new and different. But what?

In any event, I hope that you, dear reader, have a great Year Of The Dragon as well, and that all the fucking squirrels in your world are dead or dying.

In the meantime, enjoy your Sufjan Stevens song.

Hotcha! Hank