Happy Friday!

Happy Friday! It is time to find ways to get this blog going again. Not just this blog everything. I moved recently, a new state, new everything - that has been a huge disruption of my life (though one I chose) - though the build up to it was just about as disruptive. That may be a topic for another day... Right now, I have moved, I am getting settled, and I have to start resuming the things I like to do. Writing - writing for this blog. Yes.

I can't promise anything too fancy yet - start with the simplest posts. Nothing makes for quick content better than music - so here you go. Friday music: rebuild my writing habits from the bottom up! So without further ao - the last few days I have been listening to a lot of Janelle Monae - enjoy:

Here she is singing Smile, with guitar accompaniment:



And Sincerely, Jane, live in 2012:



Finally - both those songs feature Kellindo Parker, her guitar player - here he is, shredding on his own:

Friday Music and another Obituary

This year has not been as devastating as last year, but we still seem to be losing people - this week, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave, died, apparently hanging himself in his hotel room. It is very strange, given the circumstances, in the middle of a successful tour, when he seemed fairly content - his family wonders if too much medicine was involved.Whatever the reasons, it is sad. I don't feel the same connection to most of the big 90s bands I had to earlier groups (and some later groups, or smaller 90s acts), but Cornell was noticeable - a spectacular voice, a strong front man for good bands. It is a shame.

Here, then, to start, is Soundgarden playing Black Hole Sun, his last concert:



And Rusty Cage, from 1992:



And Audioslave, Shadow on the SUn, live in Germany:

Allan Fish Online Film Festival

I have been very absent from this blog for quite a while now. At least in the last few weeks I have had a viable excuse - I've just moved, to a different state, a very irksome process. The last week or so particularly have been very busy, lots of work, disruption, and, since I am an old man and did the move myself (with various friends and relations), lingering aches and pains. And a cold. And a lovely stretch of weather more suitable to March than May....

All this, particularly the timing of the move, meant I am not contributing directly to the latest project at Wonders in the Dark - but it is a good one, and I am certainly taking advantage of it.

The first annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival is being held, starting yesterday, May 11, Allan's birthday, and running - quite some time. The concept is that each day, someone wil host and post a link to a film that can be found online, and host a discussion. Details here, in Sam's introduction. This festival is being held in memory of Allan Fish, the fine writer who co-ran Wonders in the Dark with Sam Juliano all those years, who died absurdly young last fall. He was an insatiably curious cinephile, who used the internet to track down obscure and undistributed films - this is a fine tribute to his passion.

So click on over, take a peek, watch some films, and talk about them.