Also inside: TAMU Extorts Brazos Valley—8

OCTOBER 2012
Vol. 4—issue 10
Also inside: TAMU Extorts Brazos Valley—8-Bit Bob—Quentin Tarantino
vs Michael Chabon—Todd On Film—Brazos County Metal News—The Chinese Charles Bronson—Castle Dungeon—CD Reviews—Concert Calendar
Extortion in the Aggie Code?
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Apparently it is, though not for students, but
for the parent institution itself. Last month
System Chancellor John Sharp asked the
governments for the cities of Bryan and
College Station and Brazos County to pony
up $38 million as part of a $425 million plan to renovate
Kyle Field. That is not at all strange, since many local municipalities around the country are asked to pony up to help
fund stadium projects for collegiate and professional sports
teams. What is unusual about this request is that A) Texas
A&M University is a publically-funded state-operated entity
asking local governments for aide and B) TAMU doesn’t
really need the money for the project. According to TAMU
System spokesman Steve Moore the university would continue with plans to renovate Kyle Field if our local governments choose not to pay up.
So why should any tax money be donated to Texas A&M for
this project? Because local governments and business
owners have complained bitterly at plans for TAMU to
relocate Aggie football games to Houston during the renovation process for one to two seasons. This means that the
local economy could miss out on a buttload of moneys,
lowering local tax coffers and business revenues and causing panic, layoffs and business closures. Almost no one is
in favor of such a plan, except TAMU who likes the idea of
saving money and getting the project done as quickly as
possible so they can begin charging premium quan for the
new corporate suites that are a major part of the renovation
plan. To have local municipalities to put up or shut up,
TAMU has offered the caveat that perhaps we can after all
keep Kyle Field open during renovations if’n y’all can be so
kind as to contribute $38 million to the renovation process.
This is quid pro quo at its finest, and not much above extortion. If we want A&M to continue to play uninterrupted in
Aggieland then we will all have to dig deep for the graft to
continue to do business as usual during football season
around here.
And pay up we will all have to do, because Bryan/College
Station needs Aggie football to continue to operate in Aggieland. We are talking about millions of dollars of revenue
every weekend around here that is generated by football
fans. Most local businesses operate with a feast/famine
mentality, depending on the September—November gluttony to get them through the especially lean summers.
Without that feast, many businesses will starve to death. So
a word of advice to Bryan, College Station and Brazos
County. Pay up.
It is a complex relationship between Texas A&M University
and local governments. Sure, Bryan existed before A&M and
would probably still exist without it, but not to the extent it
does now (we’re talking probably a Hearne-like existence)
and there would be no College Station without it. College
Station in particular has a bit of an identity crisis, trying to
create an identity of its own separate from that of merely
“that’s where Texas A&M is at, ain’t it?” And this reminder
that we are merely the sharecropper who have carved out a
living working for the master will certainly rough up that
already tender bruise our local governments have been
tending about who owns who around here.
I admit proudly that Texas A&M University owns me. I
moved here six years ago because of the college and continue to work there. I attend the odd Aggie football game,
and usually tailgate every home game. So I suppose I am a
fan, though not rabidly so. That said, I recognize the symbiotic nature of our local economy and the well-being of Texas
A&M University. It may be a bitter pill to swallow, but the
sooner we all wise up to the fact that a healthy A&M means
a healthy Bryan/College Station the better off we shall all be.
But that doesn’t mean we have to like it, especially not when
it is shoved into a big-ass shit sandwich the way Sharp and
company have served it. Well, life is a shit sandwich. The
more bread ya got, the less shit you have to eat. Surround
this deal with lots of yeast and bon appétit, cause we will
be eating it. And rightfully so.—KELLY MINNIS
Todd On Film: The Master Telegraph Avenue: SF’s Pulp Fiction
At a recent visit to the local pub, me and a friend
were discussing our excitement about the upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson film The Master.
We specifically got into how awesome his last
movie There Will Be Blood was, and at no point
did we drink the other person’s milkshake. As
much as I enjoyed the magnificence of There Will Be Blood,
my favorite movie of that year was No Country For Old Men,
the fantastic adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel by
The Coen Brothers. While you can’t really lose between the
two, my friend argued that Paul Thomas Anderson should
have been the winner that year because his movie was yet
another landmark film in his career. While that statement
may seem grandiose, when you look at his body of work he
has always made movies which seek to make an impact on
the audience, and I think that holds true for this latest film.
The Master has received a lot of attention for its content
being very similar to the roots of Scientology, which I myself
know very little about. I personally likened it to a story of
Alice going down the rabbit hole, taking an adventure because there was nothing worth doing more at the time.
Freddie Quell (played by Joaquin Phoenix) shows up late one
night onto a boat headed by Lancaster Dodd (played by
Philip Seymour Hoffman). While Quell was simply looking
for some more booze to drink and perhaps some transient
work along the way, Dodd instead offers him stay aboard
the vessel out of curiosity. We glean that Dodd is a bit of a
folk hero and then some to the other people on the ship,
and Quell is casually excited to learn more while he passes
the time. He becomes Dodd’s guinea pig for mental exercises and steps into a new world without even realizing it.
At a critical scene during the first part of the movie the two
take part in an exercise exploring memory and truth. Dodd
asks Quell a series of rapid-fire questions, and one in particular struck me: “Do you worry about how inconsequential
you are?” During the first round of questioning Quell
shrugs off the question and treats it as being silly, but when
approached with the question again under great scrutiny he
admits the truth. Quell follows The Cause to stranger lands
not necessarily to find meaning, but instead to not miss out
on it.
This movie also features Joaquin Phoenix’s first major film
role in a while, and man, does he still got it. He really is one
of those actors who commands every bit of your attention
when they’re on screen. Much like Daniel Day Lewis made
you watch his There Will Be Blood character’s every nuance
and tick, Phoenix makes Freddie Quell a compelling man
whose motivations and desires are out in the open yet
mysteriously unknown at the same time. Hoffman’s Lancaster Dodd is in some ways the opposite: we struggle to see
his reasons behind his teachings and writings, yet he is
often left naked and exposed for what he truly is. These
dualities are what make the relationship and interactions
between to the two so fascinating.
There is a struggle throughout the film between the roles of
Man vs. Animal. One of Dodd’s central tenants is that man
has risen to a place above and apart from the rest of the
food chain inhabited by lower beasts, and it is his responsibility to act accordingly. The master’s bringing-in of Quell
into The Cause is repeatedly questioned by his other followers, who both inquire of Dodd’s motives and question
Quell’s commitment, but the reason Dodd keeps him aboard
the boat and makes him his main pupil is because of Quell’s
animalistic tendencies. The deviant cannot function hour to
hour without heavy amounts of drink and always has his
eyes out for a quick sexual conquest. He also lashes out
with violence towards anyone who displays dissent at his
side, even if he doesn’t understand the reason he is fighting.
You can only become a master of yourself when you are
able to control these impulses, but it is impossible for one
to maintain this control all of the time. At the end of the
day we are who we are.—TODD HANSEN
My mother-in-law is a particularly adroit purchaser of books.
She reads a lot, keeps up with her New York Times Book
Review and at Xmas time I’m usually the beneficiary of this
profound knowledge. Ten years ago I received Michael
Chabon’s The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay and was
seriously moved by a touching and sensitive novel about two
comic book creators caught in the struggles of World War II
and the social and personal aftermath of the war on an
industry and their lives. It was a Pulitzuh, quite literally as it
won the Pulitzer for Fiction in 2001. He has released another
novel and collections of short stories since then, but I missed
those. When I began to hear advance press about Telegraph
Avenue, Chabon’s latest novel, and it was about “a record
store struggling to make ends meet in the Ebay/iPod era”
and I thought we were going to get a High Fidelity for the
post-MP3 age.
That is not the case here at all. The record store is really
only the setting and
plays
a
somewhat
minor role. The main
protagonists
Archie
and Nate, proprietors
of Brokeland Records,
really could’ve been
DVD salesmen, run a
hardware store, or any
other business.
The
record store part is
beside
the
point
(though the level of
detail
that
Chabon
goes to in describing
the rare groove/soul
jazz vinyl the stores
specializes
in
was
particularly
appreciated by yours truly
who has been collecting such records for
over 20 years).
In essence Telegraph
Avenue plays out a lot
like a novelization of a Tarantino movie on one side. The
characters play out like principals from Pulp Fiction and
Jackie Brown. In fact, Chabon namedrops Tarantino a time
or two and a character attends a film class on Tarantino’s
films. On the other side, the novel is a character study in
contemporary race relations, as one of the main protagonists
is black, his wife is black and the entire Brokeland area of
San Francisco is predominately black, and both shades of
protagonist agonizes about his/her place as a de facto representative of said color out of context in the other color’s
world. There are also subplots within the main plot that
namechecks blaxploitation film production, the curious
idiosyncracies of funeral home directors, teenage gay sex,
natural childbirth and the politically-correct New Age culture
of San Francisco.
The book is a mess really, but it is a fascinating mess.
Chabon’s power of description really stands out, often running a paragraph over a page Falkner-style when he just gets
going on an image that he is apparently ebullient about, such
as this one for Archie, the hip black co-owner of Brokeland
Records, that even reads like Tarantino. You can hear the
cadence of Samuel L raring up off’n the page:
“He reached up and out with both arms to shoot his cuffs,
and for an instant he might have served to illustrate the
crucial step in a manual on the seizing of days. He had
already seized this particular day once, but he was prepared,
if need be, to go ahead and seize the motherfucker all over
again.”
Not that I didn’t enjoy it. Telegraph Avenue is a fine book
with a twisty-turny end and characters you definitely get
involved in. But it’s no Kavalier and Klay and certainly won’t
earn Chabon another Pulitzer—KELLY MINNIS
Still Drinking: Local Beer News
2012 has been a good year for me in terms of
Texas beer. I discovered Karbach brewing in
Houston, Rahr and Sons from Fort Worth, and
both Jester King and Austin Beer Works from
down the road in Texas, and each of these
breweries offer something unique to our
growing beer landscape. But it’s also been a good year for
beer right here in BCS. New Republic Brewing has expanded
and is now available in more B/CS locations. As mentioned
in a previous issue, I finished the O’Bannons tour after two
long years of occasionally forgetting my card but making
new friends along the way. Also, I gratefully made acquaintance with managers at Grub Burger Bar and Harvey
Washbangers, finding local businesses (and beer geeks)
committed to serving Texas brewed beer while educating
clientele that, while it’s a fine beer, Shiner Bock is not the
only alternative to Bud Light. With a good year of beer
behind me, I wanted to look at what a few of our local beer
establishments have in store for Fall 2012.
New Republic Brewing has started a Kickstarter campaign to
raise money for a new canning line, and at press time had
just reached their goal. The ability to can beers will put New
Republic on the shelf alongside other good Texas breweries
like Southern Star, Austin Beer Works, and Karbach, who
have each greatly increased their beer geek patronage
through the access of cans. Although they have made their
canning goal, New Republic is still taking donations to add
picnic tables and a stage for live music. If you are interested
in helping New Republic reach this goal, please visit their
Kickstarter page and make a contribution. You’ll notice that
no donation is too small or too large. http://
www.kickstarter.com/projects/brundage/new -republicbrewing-expansion
Caroline Galjour from Grub Burger Bar wants to see more
Texas craft beer on their bar menu. At the time of this
printing, Grub’s tap line features several Texas crafts, such
as Karbach’s Sympathy for the Lager and Hopadillo IPA,
Independence Brewing’s Convict Hill Oatmeal Stout, Shiner
Bock, and Rahr and Sons Gravel Road. According to Galjour,
Grub will soon have Rahr and Sons Oktoberfest on tap, and
they will also host a burger and beer pairing event in early
November. Look back here for details next month.
Michael Lair from Harvey Washbangers announced Aggie’s
Brewer Night coming up October 18. Southern Star, New
Republic, Karbach, and Rahr and Sons will all be featured.
Not to mention, I’m more than a little stoked that Washbangers just tapped a keg of Jester King Wytchmaker. In bottle,
the Wytchmaker is a lovely, lovely, lovely Farmhouse Rye
India Pale Ale, so I can only imagine how much bigger it will
be on tap. Plus, Washbangers will soon have some quite
interesting sounding Fall beers, particularly Rahr and Sons
Imperial Oktoberfest and Karbach’s Crunkin’ Pumpkin and
Karbach’s Oktoberfest. Keep an eye on Harvey Washbangers’
Facebook page to see what new bottles and taps are available.
Although this issue of 979 will print pretty close to the end
of the festivities, get yourself on over to O’Bannons to celebrate Oktoberfest. Nightly Oktoberfest events will be occurring at O’Bannons October 1-6. Again, this is late notice, but
hopefully you can still grab a stool at the bar before it’s too
late.—KEVIN STILL
Chtulu & The Nephilim
I'm not much of an H.P. Lovecraft fan. The guy wrote some
interesting stories, but his writing style and language are
both too tedious for enjoyment. Still, I love the Chtulu
Mythos. Love it. And if I could choose one literary story or
myth to study professionally, say for a Master's thesis or
Doctoral dissertation, I would explore the Chtulu Mythos.
During my time in Kansas City I made close friends with a
woman named Fran Golden, a woman I often refer to as my
Spiritual Mother. Fran possessed a wisdom I had not found
in many people, particularly people in the church. She was
also a phenomenally joyful woman. I believe Fran's joy and
wisdom were deeply connected because I know few people
who have suffered as much as Fran Golden. She can also
throw down some mean soul food. It was amazing what that
woman could do with plain old potatoes and chicken tits.
Fran and I would often sit on the back porch after one of her
famous Sunday lunches and talk about the giant gaps in Old
Testament narrative. There's loads of plot holes, and those
holes make for all kinds of fun speculation. For instance,
when God banishes Cain to wander the earth, Cain says, "My
punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold thou hast
driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face
I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on
the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me." - Genesis 4:13
But who was out there to slay Cain? God even says, "Not so!
If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold?" Who would God be avenging seven-fold for harming
Cain? If the creation story is the way things really went
down, then there should have only been four humans on the
planet. So who's out there freaking Cain's shit out?
Skip over another chapter and we see in the story of Noah
this little ditty: “When men began to multiply on the face of
the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of
God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took
to wife such of them as they chose.” - Genesis 6:1-2
Sons of God and daughters of men? What's the difference?
Where's the distinction? Does the Book of Genesis suggest
that humans - the daughters of men - were mating with
nonhumans - the sons of God? It appears that way, because
two verses down in chapter six it says: “The Nephilim were
on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the
sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore
children to them. These were the mighty men that were of
old, the men of renown.” - Genesis 6:4
Fran and I talked about this, and we asked if these Nephilim
and these sons of God and these "mighty men that were of
old", might be those heavenly beings cast down with Satan.
Revelation 12:9 tells us, "And the great dragon was thrown
down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan,
the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the
earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." Scripture
doesn't tell us when this happened, or where on earth all
these jokers landed, but it just about makes sense, if we
connect the dots, that the cast down angels were out there in
the hills waiting to eat Cain, fucking the village girls, racking
up their renown. Fran and I also enjoyed the idea that these
beings - the Nephalim, the sons of God, the "mighty men that
were of old", Satan's cast of angels and half-breed spawn
washed away by the flood - are the Elder Things, the Chtulu
that Lovecraft wrote about. Chtulu precedes man, but,
according to Lovecraft, there still exists some instinctual
dread in man for the Chtulu. It's as if our evolution hasn't
fully removed the memory of something truly nasty existing
on the periphery of our origins. Deep down we know something is in the hills waiting to devour us. And, still according
to Lovecraft, we not only dread Chtulu instinctively, we also
are bound to release him/them repeatedly. Chtulu is not to
be contained but constantly awakened by our fear of him.
Blinn College Library just acquired The Book of Cthulu, an
anthology of modern stories that echo or re-envision the
Chtulu Mythos. This morning over coffee and cottage cheese
I enjoyed a story by Joe R. Lansdale, a filthy East Texas
writer of trash fiction that I absolutely cannot put down,
titled "The Crawling Sky", which felt like the aborted spawn
of a sexy-fest between Lovecraft's Chtulu and Raimi's The
Evil Dead. Great story. This thing in Lansdale's tale that
crawls out of the old well behind the house is a nasty sort.
And the Reverend who rides into town to fight evil understands that the markings on all the stones in that well possess the power to hold that sucker back. Unfortunately,
somebody has been pulling the stones out of the well, so
guess who's free to eat girls and horse heads? Man, I loved
it.
Ghosts and vampires and zombies and werewolves are fun,
but the Chtulu and those things that freaked Cain's shit out
in Genesis are hardcore. I also enjoy believing that they are
real. Fran and I agreed that if you had the gall to believe in
God and the Gospel story of Jesus, then you might as well
make the jump to believing in monsters, too. Why stop at
half insane, right? Eventually I'd like to add my own twist to
the Cthulu Mythos, pen my own Nephilim story. I know
intimately that instinctive fear of the horizon that Lovecraft
knew so well himself, and I understand Cain's concern more
than I wish to admit. There's so much we don't know. So
much our senses cannot provide for us. And that veil between physical and spiritual, between heaven in earth is
solid but it's also thin. But I do believe we get glimpses
occasionally. I believe if we desire greatly enough we'll find
stitch holes in the veil, and we'll see that something is on the
other side waiting for us to peer through. It's fun stuff to
think about. I'm grateful for guys like Lovecraft and Lansdale, and for a lady such as Fran, who make the intangible
tangible. I hope to pay forward the favor to others one day.
—KEVIN STILL
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Shit Beer Showdown
You gotta be careful around beer lovers and beer geeks
talking about cheap beer. Sometimes a cheap beer is your
only option, and other times it may be the absolute perfect
thirst quencher. For years, I’ve named Miller Lite among my
all-time favorite backyard beers, even though I’ve caught
myself buying loads more Miller High Life the past 12
months. My love of backyard beers and domestic lagers has
proven a source of controversy, even debate, from those
who know I love beer. Usually, the fact draws disbelief until
I assure people, yes, I greatly enjoy craft beer and I’m always on the lookout for new, excellent
craft beers and craft breweries, but I am
first and foremost a lover of beer. I’m a
self-proclaimed beer geek, and that is not
the same thing as a beer snob, by any
definition.
So I decided recently to host a shit-beer
showdown between some of our most
beloved and begrudged American backyard beers. Nearly a dozen friends helped
me in a totally blind taste test to narrow
down the absolute best and the absolute
worst between ten randomly chosen
domestic lagers. Here’s the list of our ten
contenders: Keystone Light, Bud Light,
Old Milwaukee, Busch, Miller Lite, Budweiser, Miller High Life, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Coors Light, and, of course, Natty
Light.
We began the taste test by making predictions of which would be best and worst.
Most people predicted The Beast, Old
Milwaukee, would live up to its name,
while several more bickered between
Pabst and Miller Light winning top prize.
My beautiful wife delicately built a numbering system of tallboy cans in the next room, while our
dear friend Janine delivered trays of number-labeled taster
cups. It was truly a blind taste-test. We had only pencils
and notebook paper to make any distinguishing comments
or ranking notes. Not surprisingly, at one point everything
just started to taste like everything else. My own notes
became scribbles of “no flavor”, “zero aroma”, “sparkling
water.” But two beers stood out above the rest for myself
and for others, and by the end we had an almost unanimous
loser and nearly unanimous winner.
Worst beer in the showdown: #3—Old Milwaukee. We were
not surprised. Beside #3 on several sheets drinkers had
scrawled numerous insults to the unknown swill. “Real
bad.” “Urine?” “Gross”. “Awful.” “Skunky.” And my favorite: “Armpit of grapefruit.” I think each of us were glad our
beloved Miller High Life or Miller Lite or PBR didn’t get the
armpit tag.
Best beer in the showdown, by a nearly unanimous vote:
#2— Bud Light. Very surprising response to this one, especially since I have claimed it “the only beer I will turn down
at a party”. Notes claimed “pungent but nice”. “Less eh.”
“A bit o’ flavor. Better than the last.” “Flavorless, but with a
nice bite.” “Complex with some sweetness – better than #1.”
“Like nutty.”
After the showdown, I was asked if the outcome challenged
my allegiance towards Miller Lite or High Life. I said then
what I’ll say now: not at all. I’m convinced that there are
multiple factors at work when we claim a favorite beer.
Sure, there’s the beer itself, and both Miller Lite and Miller
High Life are fine cheap beers. But I also believe a huge part
of beer allegiance is simply nepotism and placebo. We like
what we like simply because we choose to like it. And while
I will not be so quick to turn my nose up at Bud Light, I also
will not be choosing it of my own freewill and hard earned
money. I’m no beer snob, but I am damn loyal to what I
(choose to) enjoy.—KEVIN STILL
The Last Days of Cordelia Records
The Last Days of Cordelia Records as a film, as a
documentary, is as idiosyncratic as the music
scene it depicts in Leicester, England in 2009.
Cordelia was a recording studio and record label
that offered cheap though quality recording
rates for a variety of musical performers – primarily independent rock -- for nearly 15 years. Longtime British musician Alan Jenkins ran the studio all those years. For a
variety of reasons, Cordelia had to give up its lease. Therefore, Jenkins deserted the mixing board to go behind a
video camera (for a time – he appears in the film, too) to
depict the last 30 days of
the studio, day by day.
The film is a leisurely and
unforced look at what goes
on behind the recording
process, particularly focusing on the quixotic nature
of musicians. A sly humor
infuses the whole undertaking, exemplified by a comment from the uniquelynamed Blodwyn P. Teabag
of the Thurston Lava Tube
(that Jenkins plays in)
following a studio performance that none thought was
particularly stellar.
She
said everything is “better
with rum and chocolate”.
So naturally the next scene
shows the band listening to the take while chowing down.
Also, while many performers came prepared with everything
planned, some are like the punk trio Ivy Mike -- they showed
up without their drummer during their recording time. Ivy
Mike spent long periods of time during their studio time
writing their songs – and more time transcribing them in
block letters, so the lead singer could see them. In a month,
they end up not finishing their songs before the studio
closes. However, their tunes in the film are great.
And that’s the essence of this film – the music is the reward
for watching the sometime-odd walking forays down hallways and through rooms and the odd shots of pigeons and
teapots. All of the tunes featured in snippets or as full
songs are entertaining, whether it’s the subterranean soundscapes of John (he makes Crash Test Dummies’ Brad Roberts sound like a soprano) or the melodically-crafted songs
of You Fellows of All Souls or the unexpectedly-fitting
opening tune by Danny Tooher (he looks like your father’s
friendly plumber). The unlikely-looking group of individuals that make up the band Pacific Ocean Fire, featuring a
wan set of twins, concoct some of the most catchy mainstream rock of any of the acts.
At one point in the film, a musician gets filmmaker Jenkins
to admit he’s recorded thousands of performers in the
Cordelia studios over the years. The last month of recording barely skims the acts, which range from flamenco
to spoken-word to Polish rap to surf music to post-modern
rock and a good smattering of experimental and more
traditional rock as punk and folk. Whatever Jenkins really
feels about the loss of his studio, he buries it in his film by
doing what he has evidently always been doing: helping
others create the best music they can for whatever audience
they can find. Only a hint of melancholy can be found in the
overall 97 minutes for what is going to be missed.
This is not a PBS-quality documentary, but Jenkins does
have several nice touches throughout. One in particular
starts a great piece of music while the camera roams
through the often-cluttered rooms before ending up with
the musicians creating the music in the studio. Another
touch is the casual manner that Jenkins introduces many of
these people that he obviously has great affection for. It is
this warm feeling – and the great music -- that the viewer
takes away as well.—MIKE L. DOWNEY
8-bit bob
Profile by Kelly minnis
Bobby Browning, drummer extraordinaire for several local
punk and metal bands, is a bit of a renaissance man. Not
only is he an actual doctor but he also masquerades as the
proprietor of 8Bit Bob’s NEStalgic Designs, an
artist
who
specializes
in
creating artwork
inspired by the
8-bit video game
graphics
from
classic
oldschool
video
game
systems
like the Nintendo Entertainment System, as
well as the Atari
2600.
What
separates 8-Bit
Bob’s work from
other
video
game-inspired
artists is that
Bob’s work is
actually created
in 3D by gluing
painted blocks
(representing
the pixels) onto
canvas,
wood
and other materials. As a result, the effect is
like your favorite video game
has actually come to life right
before your eyes.
Has there ever been a design that was particularly difficult to
layout
in
your
particular
method?
One of the issues I ran into was that I couldn’t do every
pixel.
And I
couldn’t
leave
the edges til the
very end because the
blocks I order
are
not
all
exactly the same
size. They vary
a bit. They call
them cubes but
some are irregular. That makes
it cool actually.
That
nonuniformity sets off
the pixilation a
bit and makes
lines and relief,
so the imperfection
actually
helps the process.
What’s
really
challenging are
images
that
have LOTS of
pixels, like Sammus from
Metroid.
It’s more timeconsuming, but it’s all worth it
in the end.
8-Bit Bob has been taking commissions from friends and
family for several years now for
his creations, but only this year
has he put together a web
presence to offer his services to
the general public. I caught up
with 8-Bit Bob after his set with
his rad punk/metal crossover
band ASS at Revolution last
month.
What’s the most difficult you’ve
ever
turned
out?
Probably Sammus fighting a
missile at a Metroid. Lots of
individual pixels but it was also
an actual scene, so lots of work
but it was very cool to see that
scene really come to life. They
are all challenging to some
extent, but it’s all pretty much
just imagining pixels in 3D.
(KM): What got you started with
the idea of making art the way
that
you
do
this
way?
(8BB) It was kinda a thing where
I wanted to immortalize my
favorite video game characters.
I have an unhealthy obsession
with Megaman.
I wanted to
make it somehow, make it big.
My grandpa was a handyman so
growing up I was around wood
and lumber.
But basically I
thought it would be awesome
to make this 3D with little
blocks, like the blocks you could get at Hobby Lobby or
wherever, but they cost a lot at Hobby Lobby so I found a
much better deal online, buying them by the pound. So I got
a hold of some and started working it all out with wood glue,
paint and paper, and eventually just like everything else,
your methodology evolves and you get more efficient, neater
and cleaner.
Will you take commissions on
work that isn’t videogame
related?
It depends. If it’s pixilated I
can do it. 8-bit, 16-bit. More
labor intensive, those pieces
are more expensive but if I can
find a way to pixelate it I can
do it. I’ve made a Jawa before
so I can do it. It’s best you
contact me so we can see if we
can make it happen. I won’t
say nothing’s impossible.
—————————————————————————————8-Bit Bob takes commissions through his Facebook page
http://facebook.com/8BitBOB on the plain ol’ intarwebz at
www.8bitbob.com
or
you
can
also
email
8bitbob138@gmail.com Remember that each piece is custom
made by commission, so your artwork is 100% original.
By Patrick Schoenemann
An ode to the Chinese Charles Bronson
I was there for many days and nights of Li Hong Wei,
The Chinese Charles Bronson of Yantai and of all
Shandong Province and over all that the Red Flag
Possesses to the left of the Yellow Sea (left if
Looking at a map of China ("China looks like a giant
Cock (The rooster-style cock!) A HAHA!") head-on):
That Li Hong Wei who loved teaching laowai
Chinese insults - "We call the mistress
Of a Chinese man bao er nai, because she is his
Second pair of breasts! A HAHA! Gambei!" - between
Mugs of pijui and glasses of brandy. I tossed my luzi
Jiaozi more than once after nights of Li Hong Wei.
Chad Pollock, bearded rogue, suggested Li Hong Wei
Memorize "The World Is Too Much With Us" so we three
Might recite - after too much pijui and mantou and ". . . we
Call her a turtle's egg! A HAHA!", stumbling home between
Men and babies in bushes doing dooing - "WE LAY WASTE
OUR POWERS!". At night, we were our own wasted Party.
But then Li Hong Wei called us in the mornings from a
Distance, his voice a deathwish on serenity. We turned
To find him leaned back, hip humping the air with slow
strides,
Screaming over a black-crowned crowd, "YES! OLD TRITON
BLOOOWS HIS WREATHED HORN! A HAHA!" Surely,
The world is nothing without one Li Hong Wei.
- KEVIN STILL
Mustache Rides by James Gray
record REVIEWS
Ian Hunter & The Rant Band
When I’m President
Ian Hunter is older than Mick
Jagger (and Bob Dylan), and that’s
saying something.
Both Jagger
and Hunter are British and
fronted bands (obviously), but
Jagger hasn’t written a decent
tune in decades. Hunter is more
like Dylan and keeps putting out
these wonderful albums every
year or so featuring some splendid tunes. When I’m President is
one of his strongest rocking
albums in years.
The title cut is unusual in that it’s
actually a rollicking fun song
about this political campaign in
Hunter’s adopted country of
America. Many of the other songs
are just as centered in our music’s
rebellious playful tradition such
as “Saint” and “Comfortable”,
solid hook-filled journeyman rock.
“What For” echoes the abandon of
Hunter’s 1970’s group Mott the
Hoople while “Fatally Flawed” is a
slower tune where Hunter sounds
uncannily like the current Dylan.
Hunter has always been able to
pen thoughtful songs as well as
pell-mell rockers (Barry Manilow
covered
his
“Ships”
while
“Cleveland Rocks” was the TV
theme song of “The Drew Carey
Show” for nearly a decade). Here
he takes on history with a haunting look at Native Americans in
“Ta Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse).”
Then there’s the love song “Just
the Way You Look Tonight” that
resembles the quality Brit-rock
Rod Stewart used to do before he
discovered dollar signs.
The
album closes with “Life,” a quiet
reflection of things that have
passed, but that there is plenty to
look forward to. Rock on, Ian.—
MIKE L. DOWNEY
somewhat familiar, as their Gothic
-inspired world fusion music has
been heard on countless soundtracks, film trailers and pretty
much every Renaissance faire
known to mankind. The band has
blended Gregorian chant, glossolalia, African drums, Indian drone,
and post-Donovan British Isles
prog folk for the better part of
their career. The two principles,
Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry,
were once a couple, then became
not so much a couple, and then
eventually decided to also go their
separate ways musically in 1997.
In 2005 they reunited for a short
tour. In 2011, they reunited to
record 8 new songs, Anastasis.
It does not seem like 15 years
have passed since Gerrard and
Perry have created new music.
The familiar sweeping strings,
cathedral-echoed God-like presence of Perry’s booming baritone
and
Gerrard’s
otherworldly
soprano, the somber graveyard at
dusk stateliness...it’s all intact and
present from the string washes
and militaristic drums of album
opener “Children of the Sun”.
One new thing is that the album is
perhaps less percussive than their
‘90s albums, and rely more on
subdued drum machine grooves
to underpin the music. Gerrard’s
yangtze and vocal melismas carry
much of her material like “Agape”
while Perry’s near-hippie mysticism carry his, though the pair
appears to have found a new love
for the music and melodies of
Greece that especially inform
“Kiko”.
Anastasis
Pink shares a far too familiar trait
with Britney and Avril and Rihanna: they sing songs about
other women, not about themselves. Pink is a committed wife
and new mother. Followers of
hTwitter feed will find a lady
deeply involved with PETA and
has been wonderfully consistent
Smile Smile performed at Revolution in Bryan in 2009 during the
Rock the Republic festival. Who
know, maybe they’ll make a return
visit since they’ve added musicians and are touring as a full
band.—MIKE L. DOWNEY
I Bet On Sky
Smile Smile
The day Pink realizes Lily Allen
capitalized on dirty lyrics is the
day she might become the
Roberta Flack of princess pop.
Pink has pipes, there’s no debating that, but, six studio records
into her career, she still hasn’t
figured out what to do with them.
veers into the breezy fun-for-all of
the New Pornographers while
“Burn the Water” (featuring
Hirunrusme on solo vocals) is as
political as the social consciousness apparent in Sheryl Crow and
others. These tunes additionally
feature sonic touches beyond the
duo’s
folk
singer-songwriter
beginnings.
Closer to their
“traditional sound” is “Broken
Buildings,” which is nearly as
catchy as the group’s infectiouslyacerbic breakup tune “Anymore”.
However, the lyrics ponder larger
issues than male-female relationships. Sadly, none of the 11 tunes
are as hilarious as “Love Me (Like
I’ve Got Cancer),” but then none
are as despairing as “Sad Song.”
Dinosaur Jr.
Marry a Stranger
Pink
I love Dead Can Dance, I’ve been a
fan for over 20 years. Done. I’ve
followed their catalog from 1984’s
self-titled debut through their last
studio album Spiritchaser in 1996.
If you have never heard of this
band, you would be surprised to
note that the music sounds
Unfortunately, this is how most of
The Truth About Love sounds and
feels. Here, like always, Pink sings
in vocal and lyrical hyperboles,
going too big too quickly, climaxing on every track in such a way
that I began wondering half way
through the record if her overfeeling of everything has led her
to feel nothing at all. Sure, sure,
musically and production wise
The Truth About Love is solid and
fun. Of course it is because it’s a
Pink record. I enjoy the energy,
and I even enjoy some those
damn hyperboles. But performance wise Pink sings like a debut
amateur: doing too much all at
once and, as a consequence, not
really captivating anything or
anyone at all.—KEVIN STILL
All toll, Anastasis is a fantastic
Dead Can Dance album that fits
comfortably in their canon,
though at this point they are not
reinventing the wheel anymore. If
It is delightful that Perry and
Gerrard can dust this suit off after
15 years, put it on and wear it this
comfortably.—KELLY MINNIS
The Truth About Love
Dead Can Dance
blessing fellow artists. But Pink
still sings about one-night stands,
being a slut, barroom fights, and
husky full-fisted lust. She seems
far more interested in convincing
audiences that she always drives
without a seatbelt than with
communicating
something
sincere. The difference can be
heard on greatest hits tracks like
“Who Knew” and
especially
“Sober”. When Pink is honest,
she’s captivating. But far too often
she’s just filling minutes on
tracks.
The Dallas quirky pop duo Smile
Smile – Jencey Hirunrusme and
Ryan Hamilton – are paying more
attention to their music than on
their doomed relationship, and
listeners win out. The album’s
primary difference is a musical
extension of the title cut from the
duo’s second album Truth on
Tape.
This tune featured a
layered sound that didn’t depend
entirely on the duo’s sometimestoo-stark
guitar-piano-voice
mixture.
For the uninitiated, the music pair
started as a romantic couple, and
Hirunrusme left Hamilton for
another man. However, the pair
continued to write songs about
the breakup and stayed together
as a musical group with their
relationship pointedly detailed a
la Rumours on now three albums.
One of Marry a Stranger’s
stronger cuts, “Fatal Flaw”, is this
peculiar merger of a Seventies
disco vibe with Smile Smile’s
acoustic melodic thrust.
It
shouldn’t really work to have this
funky dance rhythm pulsing
through the song, but the band
pulls it off. “Permanent Bliss”
At this point indie rock gods
Dinosaur Jr. have put out as many
post-2005 reunion albums as they
released during their classic 19851990 era. That said, I Bet On Sky
is pretty different than the other
post-reunion albums. Oh, it’s still
recognizably Dinosaur Jr. What is
clearly different is that the guitar
tones are mostly subdued, the
songs are clearly pop songs but
are presented more in the vein of
the Lou-less version of Dinosaur
that
enjoyed
commercial
“success” in the early to mid ’90s.
Lead single “Watch the Corners”
definitely has that Where You
Been vibe with a serious hook in
the chorus before it takes off into
J’s signature anthemic Jazzmaster
abuse. The same bounce is there
but with more acoustic guitars in
“Almost Fare”. Notable standouts
from that format are J’s “Pierce
the Morning Rain” which completely lets it rip classic Dinosaur
style, and Lou’s “Rude” which
sounds more like Sebadoh III than
anything else he’s ever done on a
Dinosaur Jr. album, and Lou’s
“Recognition” which has more of a
power pop lilt than pretty much
anything else either J or Lou has
brought to the Dinosaur table.
It’s a good album, the songs are
great, but it is interesting to me to
hear Dinosaur tackle a different
era of the band this time around.
I can’t wait to hear these more
subdued tracks live to see if they
come off more agro.—KELLY
MINNIS
CONCERT CAlenDAR
10/2—10 Years, Red Jump Suit Apparatus, Last Place You Look, Signal Rising
@ Hurricane Harrys, College Station. 9pm
10/18—Sleeperstar, The Canvas Waiting, Gatlin Elms, The Reynolds
Number @ Grand Stafford, Bryan. 9pm
10/4—Jonathan Tyler & Northern Lights, The Dirty Guv’nahs, The Docs @
Grand Stafford, Bryan. 9pm
10/19—Hullabalooza featuring Paul Wall, Rusko, Chitty Band, Awolnation
@ Wolf Pen Creek Amphitheater, College Station. 6pm
10/5—David Ramirez, Seryn, Sean Bruce @ Grand Stafford, Bryan. 9pm
10/5—Rattletree Marimba @ Revolution, Bryan. 10pm
10/20—Cody Canada & The Departed @ Grand Stafford, Bryan. 9pm
10/6—New York City Queens, Featherface, The Handshake @ Grand Stafford,
Bryan. 9pm
10/21—Rock 103.9 Homebrew presents No Such Thing, Hindsight,
Brothers N Arms @ Grand Stafford, Bryan. 9pm
10/11—Ray Benson @ Rudder Theater, College Station. 7:30pm
10/11—Space Capone, Soul Track Mind @ Grand Stafford, Bryan. 9pm
10/25—This Will Destroy You @ Grand Stafford, Bryan. 9pm
10/12-13—Texas Reds Festival @ Downtown Bryan
10/26—Rock 103.9 Halloween Bash with The Dirty Wormz, In the Trench,
Six Gun Sound @ Grand Stafford, Bryan. 9pm
10/12—Two Tons of Steel, Scooter Brown, The Derailers @ Grand Stafford,
Bryan. 9pm
10/27—Dirtbag Halloween Show featuring Charger Fits, The Hangouts @
Revolution, Bryan. 10pm
10/13—J Goodin, Swan Toddsen, The Excerpt-imists @ Revolution, Bryan.
10pm
10/13—The Flatlanders @ Grand Stafford, Bryan. 9pm
10/31—Halloween Bash with Stoney Larue @ Harrys, College Station.
9pm
Brazos Co. Metal News
Over the last few months it would appear that the local Metal sets, so come out dressed in your Halloween
music scene had died. Folks it ain't, there is a pulse and on costume and headbang, y’all.
September 16 at the newly re-opened Grand Stafford, the
Live Metal heartbeat played loud again in downtown Bryan. For the Metalheads looking for something
Local radio station Rock FM 103.9 hosted the 1st Homebrew Brutal, Cody Hancock of Aggieland Metal has scheduled
Live show featuring area bands Critical Misfire, Dimitri's Rail Gorefest 2012 for Nov. 10 - 11th at Schotzi's in College
and
Wellborn
Station. Gorefest
Born. The newly
has
been
an
remodeled
annual event in
Stafford has its
Brazos
County
interior
roof
for 7 years now
insulated
and
and has always
the
upstairs
been
a
great
open. The new
show for all sub
sound system is
genres of Metal
better
than
music.
Most
before
and
current updates
produces excelto this show can
lent
acoustics
be seen on the
with a bigger/
Facebook/
expanded stage.
Aggieland Metal
There's also a
page.
new fire exit
door backstage
So many bands
which keeps the
called it quits in
drum kits cenour local scene
tered
onstage
this year, leaving
which was much
area
musicians
needed.
It is
craving the stage
great to have
and performing.
the
Grand
Keep a lookout
Stafford venue
for
two
new
back to host all
bands—Eclipse
genres of music
and
Anechoic.
Wellborn Road live @ Grand Stafford, Bryan 9-16-12—photo by David Lynch
including local
Some of these
Hard Rock &
talented people
Metal music. WR on this night performed a new song they have formed their own bands and will be breaking the sialready recorded called “Pain/Hate/Redemption”. It’s the lence soon here on 979Represent. Also Local Legends Burnheaviest song I have heard from these guys. Their new ing Midget have posted a comeback from the grave, thanks
album is scheduled for a December release.
to Rusty Connor of Lone Star Metal Magazine & manager of
local band Wellborn Road.
Rock FM 103.9 Homebrew will bring No Such Thing, Hindsight and Brothers N Arms to the Grand Stafford on Oct 21th The Metal music scene is alive in Brazos County and needing
and then on Oct 26th, it’s a Helloween Party bash at the your support. Come out to a show ,buy the bands CD's &
Grand Stafford featuring the Rapcore Metal music of Dirty merch, while enjoying some of the best Live Metal music in
Wormz along with In The Trench and Six Gun Sound. All 3 Texas.—Foilface the Metalhead
bands will deliver entertaining