Davey G and the Keyboard, sort-of musician, novelist and all things Davey G blog

How to Become a Famous Writer...a review

2011-02-23T17:29:00.001-05:00

How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead: Your Words in Print and Your Name in Lights by Ariel Gore

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve always wanted to be a writer. But Dave…you are a writer! Yeah…but I’m not a famous writer. I have to admit, the sheer brazen nature of this book appealed to me. The act of self-promotion requires an incredible amount of confidence--or at least the great ability to fake it. In this book, author Ariel Gore advocates all manner of self-promotion and creativity in the attempt to make a name for yourself. In many ways, this could serve as a companion piece to my other favorite book about writing, No Plot, No Problem, by the founder of National Novel Writing Month, Chris Baty, which also advocates plowing ahead beyond self-doubt to do the wonderfully ridiculous act of writing a 50 thousand word novel in 30 days. The best advice any writer can ever get is simply to write. Write every day. Write even when you don’t feel like it.

Ariel Gore starts the book with a powerful hook: a letter from a friend, who wants her help in the quest to become a famous writer. Gore says she will help her, that they should meet and have coffee and talk about how she can help her become a literary superstar. But of course, life gets in the way, and before they can ever get together to talk, her friend has a seizure and dies, at age 23. All the advice in this book is what she would have said to her if they had ever had that meeting.

The book itself is a rollicking run through the craft of writing and self-promoting, and is an inspirational tribute to her friend, the writer. It is less of a step by step/how to manual and more of a motivational piece--though, to be sure, there is a lot of solid advice here, and many things I might have never thought of--such as why a large advance is not necessarily a good thing or why you shouldn’t change your name or why you should be nice to interns.

I recommend this to any writer who needs a kick in the butt, or anyone who just needs to be reminded that all art is worth the struggle.

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My Gentle Plug for Others to Join Me on Next Month’s Quest.

2010-10-20T14:46:00.002-04:00

I always introduce myself as a writer and sort-of musician, and now I add to that, a ramp agent. And as a writer, sort of musician, and ramp agent who writes about being a ramp agent, I am going to use my little forum to invite anyone interested to do something that I have been doing for the last 2 years.

The National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an event that is now in its 12th year. It is a fun exercise in what founder Chris Baty calls “exuberant imperfection,” or in other words, writing a 50 thousand word novel in only 30 days--during the month of November. More info here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/whatisnano

It’s hard, it’s messy, it seems impossible. But it is possible, and what’s more, it is so much fun that I can’t possibly imagine ever going a year without doing it.

November is already my favorite month of the year, with my birthday (the 19th!), football season, the leaves changing, Thanksgiving (along with the Fourth of July, my favorite holiday), and add to that the 30 day sprint to 50 thousand words. And I’m especially excited for this year, because my new job has introduced me to so many people and so many new situations (as my lovely wife said it would when she encouraged me to take this job!) that I think I have a whole new well of inspiration to draw from.

The first year I did it, I came up with the book I called The Best of Thunder Johnson, a story about a cable access employee who accidentally broadcasts a porno movie over the air and then becomes the focus of a disturbed mental patient’s rage. It was fun, it was inspired, and overall I am happy with the final result. It is a story that would never have been possible had I not put forth the effort to write so much in so little time, even if the original product was a complete mess.

I encourage anyone out there to try this with me. You say you don’t have time, that no one can possibly do a good job on a novel in such a short time? That’s half the point! It’s actually more fun to do things like this when you have less time. Because that way, the time you spend writing becomes sacred, and more meaningful, and dare I say, more meditative. It creates a break from the busy world you inhabit. And besides, sleep is overrated.
So do this with me: write a novel. Be my writing buddy! Writing starts November 1!

Update: request for new trial to fight unfairly high parking fine!

2010-09-28T11:38:00.002-04:00

Still trying to fight the $102 parking fine, on the basis that it is unfairly high. They gave me a trial date that I couldn't make. I requested a new date. This is their letter in response:

They usually make it so that it is too difficult to even bother fighting. They assume that most people have day jobs and that they won't bother losing pay to fight the ticket. Not me: I plan to be a big pain in the ass to Baltimore City, who makes her residents put up with a lot of shit in this area. Is the penalty for parking ever worth $102 dollars? Does the punishment fit the crime?
I don't think so.

quick thought about writing...

2010-09-15T12:34:00.002-04:00

I’m reading over my last year's somewhat forgotten NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) novel, which I tentatively titled “The Self-Affirmator.” And I think I have given it short shrift by not editing it. As I read over this raw manuscript, I’m finding myself loving it and hating it at the same time, but somewhere in there is a story that I like. I guess I’m thinking about it because the next NaNoWriMo is upcoming, and I’m excited about it.

I look at what I came up with last year as a really hard-fought victory which I rewarded myself by…failing to follow through. I know I’ve been busy and all that, with home improvements that have taken up my work space, with job changes that have kept me…well, working. And that, coupled with an ambivalence about my writing has let this sit on the shelf. And you know what? It shouldn’t. Writing is about committing to the work, believing in yourself and the power of your work.

On my wall hangs a great quote: “Those seeking success in their writing must, above all, be prepared for the long haul, with unflinching commitment to their work…as with a broken heart, there is no therapy but going forward.”*

I should look at my wall more often.

*from Writer's Journal--when I have time I'll make sure to credit this properly, 'k?

September 14, 2010.

2010-09-14T10:36:00.000-04:00

September 14, 2010.

To : District Court of Maryland
CC: Baltimore City Parking Fines Section.

Enclosed is a copy of my notice to stand trial in the case of parking violation number 9******. I am requesting a new trial date because the trial date of September 17, for which I was notified by letter on September 13, is much too short notice to get off of work. Please grant me a new trial date so that I have time to arrange to have off. Thank you for your attention in this matter.

David Cookson
Baltimore, MD
21211

I'm fighting my $102 parking ticket...

2010-09-03T10:51:00.004-04:00

Tuesday was a much needed day off where I took care of many of the ordinary things I used to take for granted. When it came time for dinner, I jumped in the car and headed down toward the stadium to Potbelly’s (a wonderful Chicago-based sandwich joint which utterly destroys the swill they serve at Subway). Usually when we are down that way for an O’s game, I park for free in a secret spot (okay: I used to live in that neighborhood, so it’s not really so secret.) But for whatever reason I got down there and parked somewhere else. Hell, I was only going to be picking up some sandwiches, it wasn’t like I was parking for the game…

I took the short walk down to the sandwich place, picked up our food, plus lunch for tomorrow, and when I returned no more than 20 minutes later, the three cars on the street were getting ticketed: including mine.

It’s been awhile, I thought. I guess I was due. I turned it over to see what the damage was: $102! For parking in a stadium zone!

I felt myself going through the six stages of grief, already firmly in stage 1: denial. How was this possible? I was away for 20 minutes! I’d been parking down here forever, on the other side of the street, and never had a problem. But now, because I was silly enough to put it on the “odd” side, I got a massive, unrealistically large sum of $102. The only good part about this was that I had made it back early enough to avoid the tow truck, which was already taking the other wayward parked cars on the street.

I’ve been going over in my head what $102 means to me: how many bags I have to stack to make that, how much overtime, how many hours that is for me...and it hurts. I just don’t see how what I did warrants that level of a ticket. I can accept the occasional $27 for an expired meter, maybe even a $42 for parking in a two hour zone for three hours. But $102 for 20 minutes? It really seems excessive. And that is why I am going to court to fight this.

Anytime I get a ticket, I always defiantly claim stuff like “I’m gonna fight this with every last ounce of strength left in my body!” only to give in to the eventual apathy and just pay the stupid fine. But now, I’m actually going to do it.

I’ve put in a request for a trial, if for no better reason than because I feel I have nothing to lose. My argument is simple: the fine is excessive. If I have to pay it then I have to pay it. But living in Baltimore City is painful enough: high crime, a crappy baseball team, awful traffic, bad public transportation, corruption at City Hall…I think it’s time to stand up and make someone justify this to me. The worst that can happen is the judge tells me to shut up and pay the stupid fine. But maybe, just maybe I will prevail...

Has anyone out there ever challenged a parking ticket? I want to hear from you!

Books: With Garlic and Victory

2010-08-08T16:22:00.001-04:00

WIth Garlic and Victory by J. M. I. Kagan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclosure: Author is a long-time friend of mine, and I am familiar with many of the real-life characters upon which his material is drawn.

With Garlic and Victory is (to my knowledge) Josh’s second book, and it’s work would appear to have been written/collected in the last 8-10 years. It is an enjoyable read, with a mixture of stories and blank verse poems which read like stories, reminiscent of the work of Charles Bukowski. Josh is painfully honest about himself in his writing, and his depictions of his life as a poor, beer-drinking, coffee-swilling artist who has made a career out of working in kitchens, are tremendously entertaining and truthful.

“So why do you want to work here?” he stretched out on the seat, arms folded, his face betrayed the countenance of a man suffering with hot grease on his balls and a spatula broken off in his ass…
“Well, I’m new in town and times are hard, so…”
“Well, as an employer, it’s hard to hear I was your last resort…listen, I can take one look at you and see you won’t fit in here…”
“THAT’S IT? You called me all the way out here for a two minute interview hoping I’d tell you my dream in life, my true aspiration was to flip burgers? What kind of asshole are you?”
I walked out.

In many ways I consider Josh’s work a throwback--his work would be perfectly at home in Depression era fiction: the story of a factotum just trying to survive. The opening story about trying to get a job in a restaurant in Portland, only to fail because the boss didn’t think he would be a proper ass-kisser, and the story about donating plasma for money are sad reminders of a rough time for the both of us (something we both did when we lived in Portland) but it is very in-line with the rest of the themes running through With Garlic and Victory: Everything is bullshit--and work is just a means to an end to put food on the table and beer in the fridge while keeping your soul intact. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is a goddamn liar.

At 85 pages, this book that breezes right along. I’d have read the whole thing in one sitting if I could have. Great job!

View all my reviews >>

Books: Why Darwin Matters

2010-07-01T17:17:00.001-04:00

Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design by Michael Shermer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A breezy read through all the arguments you will ever need to argue with any proponent of Intelligent Design. This book, written by the head of the National Skeptics Society, pretty much lays bare all the arguments used against evolution in the name of equal time or “teaching the controversy” of (essentially) creationism vs. evolution. Science has a process: Intelligent Design has an agenda. As Shermer concludes, “Darwin Matters because evolution matters. Evolution matters because science matters. Science matters because it is the pre-eminent story of our age, an epic saga about who we are, where we came from and where we are going.” (P. 161) ‘Nuff said.

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DGK10 at the Sidebar this Saturday!!!

2010-06-07T20:22:00.004-04:00

Are you up for a Davey G show?
Did you miss the last one?

This Saturday! On the eve of my new career outside of the food service industry, the Sidebar hosts the second
Davey G and the Keyboard 10th Anniversary Show!
We all had so much fun last month at the first DGK10 show, and many of you came out and had a great time. But maybe some of you couldn’t make it. And some of you really missed the presence of Man-Friend: the Davey G Tribute band. Well, here’s our chance to make it right, and celebrate ten years of Davey G and the Keyboard.

Saturday, June 12
The Sidebar
218 E. Lexington Street

Davey G and the Keyboard
The Mandroids
Rare Candy
Markitect
4th Grade Security Risk

…And the return of
Man-Friend (The Davey G tribute band)

Doors at 9 p.m. Hope to see you there!!!

--Davey G.

My “retirement” from the Food Service Industry

2010-05-26T11:49:00.002-04:00

(The first post in what will soon be a blog that will be separate from this one)

Friday I gave my two weeks notice from a job I have held for the better part of 9 and a half years to embark upon something else, something entirely different than the jobs I have been doing since the time I was 18.
Food service, I say to you, it’s been fun…

In 1994 I moved to Maryland from my parents' home and started upon a long “career” of sorts in the food service industry. This was after spending 2 years at a fairly cushy high school job (the public library) but then needing the freedom and independence and even more desperately needing to get out of my hometown and find a better life.

And that led me to fall into the quick and easy gainful employment (whatever that means) of the service industry, with the jobs that are easy to get, but oh so painful and unrewarding.

But I was lucky. After a false start at a bakery at the tourist-y Inner Harbor in Baltimore (personal note: beware of any new occupation that requires you to buy tan pants) where I was asked, quite seriously, “Where’s your smile???”, I found a job at a deli downtown. (Okay, actually, the bakery let me go, which might technically be the one and only time I was ever “let go”--like a turd--from a job…I believe my manager’s exact words were “I think you might be better off looking for another job.” I can probably talk about this later. Anyway…)

I walked into a little deli and asked if they were looking for “counter help.” They were, and though it was a tough job with a fairly demanding boss and initially low pay, I survived an early push to sack me (I’m a slow learner and up to that point had very little food service experience.) I wound up thriving in an environment that turned out to be very nurturing and comfortable. The boss who wanted to fire me wound up looking at me as a surrogate son…admittedly, this is not a relationship I am entirely comfortable with, but it allowed her to be more forgiving of my shortcomings. I stayed there an astonishing 6 years before I jumped on an offer to work at my favorite drinking hole, the Irish Pub. After 6 years, I left the deli, free of what had at times been a very trying experience, but one that I was happy to have had. I said “I’m never going to do that again,” meaning I would never stay so long at a job like that.

9 and a half years later...

Oh, I love the pub. I have worked there through the entire Bush Administration. I was there on 9/11. I watched Super Bowls, worked St. Patty’s Days, made many friends, watched more than 40 servers come and go, cooked many hundreds of burgers, cleaned the toilets many hundreds of times, and washed countless dishes…but almost more importantly, The Pub has been a constant in my life. When I started, I was single. At the end, I am married. I went through girlfriends, rental properties, cars, friends, acquaintances, people I never want to see ever again, and all the while the Pub was still there, a constant presence in my life. It is an anomaly in a business that is by nature volatile and uncertain: a restaurant that has been open and under the same ownership for almost 30 years. It is not run by some crazy iron-fisted autocratic despot, like you are used to seeing on the Food Network or in big restaurants. It is instead run simply by Bill, who could never be called autocratic. Hard work and the luck of the Irish have been with Bill and his wonderful family, and he somehow makes it work. I have been there for the Pub, and it has been there for me.

And now, after all this time, almost 16 years in the food service industry (some jobs I have yet to mention that may have fallen through the cracks: Produce clerk, Pizza delivery man, I was a prep cook for three days at a job I was ill-suited for both in skills and mentally, I washed dishes at a crazy busy breakfast place) I am proud to yell from the mountaintops the one thing I have wanted to say for years:

I am retiring from the Food Service industry!

Oh, okay…don’t burn your bridges, never say never, yeah, I get it. But I’m 34 years old, and for various reasons I will explore shortly, I need this part of my life to end. And now, thanks to a fortuitous series of events, I am about to embark on a career change, one that takes me hopefully quite far from the reality of the kitchen/deli counter/dish room/what have you.

Meet the new me. Davey G: Ramp Agent for Southwest Airlines.
Stand by…

DGK10 show recap.

2010-05-24T12:08:00.005-04:00

(Pictured: Me, Scott Alexander, Paperback Tragedy, and the Pfisters)
One of the best compliments I can ever get for a show I put on has almost nothing to do with my actual performance. It is something that I might overhear someone saying but that is never actually said to me: “Wow, this is a really weird crowd.” Weird, as in, the people you see at this show would most likely never be at the same place at the same time anywhere else but at a Davey G show. To me it is fun to get groups of people who may like pop-punk hanging out with hard-core fans or fans of comedy of just plain well-wishers, friends, girlfriends, wives, etc. There’s bands and people that I like who don’t all fit into the same mold, and that’s really what this show was about for me.

The Davey G and the Keyboard 10th Anniversary Show at the Windup was a very personal show for me. In addition to celebrating 10 years of something this monumental, it also coincides with a major change in my life: a new job in a completely non-food service related area (more on this in an upcoming blog). I can’t lie--getting up and announcing this to the crowd and getting such a wildly positive reaction made me more happy than I thought possible. My words were heartfelt, my thanks are real. As I said toward the end of my set, this was not a Davey G and the Keyboard retirement show, just the marking of an occasion.

For the record: I played 22 songs, plus an encore. 10 songs were from the “Generica” album. The songs “Lost in the misery,” “Bowl Games,” “Boppity Bop,” “You Just Made My List” and “Why Must We Wear Pants?” are songs that I probably haven’t played live since the very beginning, and “Nervous Breakdown” and “Theme From a Sci-Fi Discussion Show” are songs that I’ve never played live. I borrowed my closing line from the late Frank Zappa: “Good Night, Baltimore, wherever you are!”

Wild Bonerz opened, filling in for the late cancellation of Man-Friend. Scott Alexander, Paperback Tragedy, and the Pfisters all rocked with reckless abandon, and I thank them all for doing so.
Thanks to everyone who came out, and hope to see you at the next one!
--Davey G.

Rambling words about Davey G and the Keyboard a fortnight before the Davey G and the Keyboard 10 Year Anniversary Show (a short series) Part 2.

2010-05-12T12:32:00.004-04:00

Part two of two. Read part one.

For my 10 year anniversary as Davey G and the Keyboard, initially I had pictured doing one big show with a dozen bands and maybe making it an all day thing. Quickly I realized that this would not be desirable for anyone. It’s very hard to expect people to stick around for 12 or so bands and then face the very real possibility of it all backfiring for me, the “headliner,” as all but the most dedicated fans run out of gas before I’ve even started.
Instead, I chose the two-date option, with bands or parts of bands that I have played with over the past 10 years.

Which now gets me to those bands…

Pfisters. I haven’t actually played with them, but Darren and all the Sidebar crew have been stalwart supporters of Davey G over the last several years and I really appreciate that. Ditto for Matty of the Mandroids, with whom I have played twice, both times at Free Comic Book Day at the Collector’s Corner.

Paperback Tragedy has been there pretty much since the beginning, when they were still known as Brat. Will West is kind of a personal hero--he’s a true musician who plugs away year after year, true to his craft and a great guy to boot. Him and Paperback Tragedy get nothing but respect from me.

Scott Alexander and I go back to 2005, when we met at the Talking Head Club Gong Show. Since then we have shared a stage or two or three, and he recently appeared on the People’s Court and won.

Man Friend, the Davey G tribute band…what can I say? Ken and Co. have put together a tribute band in my honor. I honestly can’t wait to hear what my songs will sound like coming from someone else.
http://www.maximumsciencefiction.com/
Rare Candy’s brand of video game music has been a great fit for any bill I have been on. Ditto for Markitect’s brand of solo indy rock. A friend of mine is convinced that 4th Grade Security Risk is the best band name ever. Can’t argue with that.

Common questions people tend to ask me:

So…where do you perform?

I have performed many times at the Sidebar and the Windup Space. In the past, I have played the Ottobar (back when it was on Davis Street), I frequently played The Talking Head (ditto), and Winchester’s Comedy Club. at Source of the Nile (Pittsfield, now defunct), Spotlighter’s Theatre, Metro Gallery, Lionheart Café (Albany), Schenectady Cable Access, Hampshire College, a couple shows at Once Twice Sound and at Free Comic Book Day in Parkville, and for a time back in ’01 I had the Davey G Variety Show at Winchester’s for a couple of shows.

Dave, I know your middle name doesn’t begin with a “G.” What gives?

“G” is a tribute to Warren G. Harding, one of the greatest President of our age. I have no idea, it’s just a name I chose long ago and it happens to rhyme with a lot of words.

What’s with the lotion?

You gotta stay smooth in this business…
Actually, I did it at the very first show, and it stuck. It just always gets a reaction. I used to use a fresh bottle for every show, then I started watering it down, which makes it much messier-looking and far more effective. And if you don’t have any idea of what I’m talking about…

Dave, you have so many great songs: what’s your favorite?

Great question! Very insightful! I love all my songs like they were my children. I’d like to believe that at any one time during the show, I am playing somebody’s favorite song. From a performance perspective, I like Wash the Dish. From a personal listening perspective, I’d go with either Milwaukee or I Wanna Be a Real Musician--I’m especially proud of that one because it’s one song that doesn’t use a pre-set and also I play drums on it.

Most popular song?

Man Friend, hands down. A lot of people tell me they like one song or another, but everyone seems to like Man Friend.

I like that flyer better than I like you: Who made it?

That flyer was made by Mr. Alex Fine. He does excellent work: this is the third flyer he has made for me. When I see he has done such great work for a show I’m doing, I feel a great need to raise my game and do the best show ever. Here’s his info. www.facebook.com/alexfineillustration

So it’s been 10 years: What’s next?

Difficult to say…I will keep performing and making new songs. I have been doing a lot of writing, with a book out in zine form and others in the works. I just want to create, perform and enjoy my life. Odds are, if you are in touch with me either personally or over various social media, you will know about what I will be doing next.

http://www.facebook.com/daveygandthekeyboard
http://twitter.com/daveygandthe

Anything else?

Come to the Davey G and the Keyboard 10th !!!
Saturday, May 22 at the Windup Space!
And
Saturday, June 12 at the Sidebar!

Thanks for reading! Hope to see you at the show!
--Davey G.

Rambling words about Davey G and the Keyboard a fortnight before the Davey G and the Keyboard 10 Year Anniversary Show (a short series) Part 1

2010-05-10T11:25:00.007-04:00

10 Years…a career that started on the couch of a house on Maryland Avenue…yes, the Davey G and the Keyboard trajectory has taken many turns. From the time that my old band, Lampstand, (for which I was not a keyboardist but a drummer) had it’s final meeting (a reunion eight years after our breakup) on July 2, 2000 until now, it has been quite a trip. Little did I know that the reunion of my high school band would ignite a desire within me that would last for so long. I’ve written about a lot of this before, so I’ll try to be brief in recapping it all…

Read about Lampstand here then come back and read the rest…

After that last show, I became inspired to return to the stage. After a summer of writing songs and goofing around on an old Kawai X20 keyboard, I had a set, and then a show, my first. September 2, 2000. 23 people showed up, and an act was born.
http://davecookson.tripod.com/daveyghistory.html

A few months later, I had a “tour” with my old band mate, Kneil, who was at the time in a band called Bromp Treb. I played in front of a green screen at Schenectady Cable Access, then a house party in Pittsfield, and then a show at Hampshire College. It was then January of 2001, and in those 3 shows, I really felt like I was on to something, setting a course that neither of us could have been aware of at the time…
2001-2002 was a heavy period of performances. Davey G and the Keyboard, as I was now calling myself, was getting off the ground. I had a fairly important show at the old Ottobar, then got a series of shows at the now defunct Winchester’s Comedy Club. I played and I played, and then I stopped, in 2002, and did not return until 2005...

When I came back to the stage in 2005, it was to much fanfare, more shows, more focus. I put together Prepare to be Keyboarded, then two years later I worked on what I had hoped would be my masterwork, Chairman of the Keyboard. This album was an attempt at more “professionalism,” an attempt to compensate for some of the rush jobs of the past. It was nothing if not an exercise in anal-retentiveness, at least as much of that as I am capable…

2008/2009 were also busy years, playing at the Sidebar, my home away from home.
Which brings me up to now, 10 years after the release of “Generica,” and the Davey G and the Keyboard 10th Anniversary Show (s)...

Next: The DGK 10 lineup and comments….

The Davey G and the Keyboard 10th Anniversary Show (s)

2010-04-28T12:04:00.004-04:00

Flyer courtesy of Alex Fine.

On the 10th anniversary of his landmark album, “Generica” Davey G celebrates with you …
In the year 2000, I released my very first album, “Generica,” in cassette form. It had 21 tracks, some of which were very good, some of which were not very good. But it was the start of something fantastic, and ten years later it is time to celebrate the “achievement” of that magical debut album which launched the career of Davey G and the Keyboard. Come see me, Davey G in 2 very special shows in which I will be drawing heavily from that first album…

Saturday, May 22
The Windup Space
12 W. North Avenue
Davey G and the Keyboard
Pfisters
Paperback Tragedy
Scott Alexander
Man-Friend (The Davey G tribute band)

Saturday, June 12
The Sidebar
218 E. Lexington Street

Davey G and the Keyboard
The Mandroids
Rare Candy
Markitect
4th Grade Security Risk

Doors at 9 p.m for Both Shows.

3 Quick book reviews

2010-04-26T12:18:00.002-04:00

The last several books I’ve read have been kind of similar so I’m going to throw them into one blog post here.

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m probably short-changing this fairly brilliant book by simply saying that it is an excellent follow-up to Freakonomics, applying the same off-beat approach to human behavior based upon incentives. I would say that I’m a little annoyed that they opened the book with the whole bit about prostitutes, as it really prevents me from being able to recommend it to, say, somebody’s smart but uptight dad, because it is otherwise a hugely entertaining read and a great way to start thinking about the world around us.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
After reading both the Freakonomics books, Gladwell was an obvious follow-up. This is a brilliant examination of the forces at work which cause an idea to become an epidemic (like the Macarena or Hush Puppies or maybe Bill Clinton). For examples, he uses Paul Revere’s Ride, NYC Subway vigilante Bernard Getz, and a fascinating correlation between suicide and smoking. My only thought about this book is that it could very well be used in a cynical way in some evil marketing plan by say, the vile food of KFC or something.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a brilliant book about the power of “thin slicing,” or the ability to make decisions based upon a person’s reactions in the first few moments of any situation. It explores this phenomenon in the world of art, music, politics, and crime. I was a big fan of Gavin de Becker’s The Gift of Fear, and this book would probably make a great companion piece for that.

All three of these books are worth checking out for their off-beat thinking and fast-paced writing.

SF= 4 stars
TTP= 5 stars
Blink= 4 and a half stars

View all my reviews >>

236 or… Davey G and a dramatic attempt to lower his cholesterol Part 3.

2010-04-17T20:53:00.004-04:00

The final part of a three part series...I was told I had high cholesterol and needed to bring it down or else have to go on medication. This is what I did to try to prevent that.

I’ve been reading so much these days, I actually find it comforting to have such an ordinary problem for which there is a whole wealth of literature out there addressing. A book by Dr. Janet Brill called Cholesterol Down has given me some semblance of a program with which to work, and I’ve adapted many of it into my current routine. Some of the advice I did not take: I wasn’t crazy about the suggestion that I take Metamucil, so I decided to skip that one. I had trouble incorporating Flax Seeds into the diet. But overall, it was a very powerful plan that helped me a great deal so if that sounds like an endorsement of this book, then go ahead and check it out of your local library.

Whole grain oats. Every day I eat Cheerios, which this book considers to be an acceptable substitute for cholesterol-lowering oatmeal (which I also eat). I have also substituted whole grain bread for all my sandwich needs
(I keep a stash at work). If there is only one thing of which I am sure about all this, it is that a diet of whole grains is absolutely necessary in any serious attempt to lower cholesterol. A side note: I also laid off the mayonnaise, but I’m sure it will find other work real soon. (sorry, bad pun).

Apples and nuts. An apple a day. Red delicious are supposed to be the best for my purpose, but fujis are right up there. I cut up an apple and eat it with a handful of almonds, which are good for your cholesterol but are also high in fat. Therefore, just a handful a day to get the benefit of this food.

Overall, I’ve found that the biggest changes in my diet are an increase in fruits and vegetables (for the necessary fiber) and the elimination of cheese, which is fatty and raises cholesterol--in fact, high cholesterol seems to be a result of consuming animal products, of which I must say I do consume a lot.

Soy. I probably didn’t follow this one religiously, but I tried. I ate boca burgers, I used soy milk in my coffee. If nothing else, soy milk in my coffee turned out to be a very yummy thing (vanilla flavor was my favorite.)

Exercise. Would you believe I joined a gym? Would you believe that I have been running 25 minutes at a time 4-5 days a week? Would you believe that I actually find myself liking it? There’s something about routine that I obviously must crave, and indeed I thrive under it. Writing every day helps me to write better, and running every day helps me to run better. Going to a gym and running on a treadmill, listening to music that I like and knowing that I am burning calories, to boot--well, it’s pretty great. I am at that point where I need to maintain my body or watch it fall apart, and while my generally active lifestyle keeps me from gaining weight, putting in that extra effort has helped me to lose weight. In 80 days I went from 160.2 pounds to 150.4, almost a whole 10 pounds. While it wasn’t the objective of this project, it certainly didn’t hurt it either.

So…how did I do?
After almost 2 months of this diet and routine, would all of these things really reduce my cholesterol? Even just a little bit? Or would I be forced to give in to the inevitable and take medication? I can only speak for myself on the issue of medication. I know that for some people, diet and exercise are not enough, and medication provides a solution. But I just really hoped that this would not be the case for me, and that is why I took so many steps to ensure that this wouldn’t happen.

April 17.
I went to the Dr. on Wednesday and got my blood drawn again. I had nothing to eat and then to be on the safe side, I didn’t even have a beer before bed. I called back today and asked for my results, and the Dr. said everything was good--and I asked him how good: What was the number?

“154. Good Job--keep doing what you are doing!”

154? Down from 236?
82 points??? In 82 days???
I did it!

It’s very empowering to know that simply by taking direct and positive action, I could affect a change in myself this profound.

I’ve changed, albeit, in a small way. But it is definitely something real. When I go to the store, I look in my basket and I see things I had never seen in it before: apples. Carrots. Salad mix. Skim Milk. Bananas.
And I think about how even that is a big switch, a small but important step away from a general apathy about my health I felt before.
It helps that I’m not really a food person. Or at least there is nothing previously in my diet so important that I couldn’t learn to live without it (I don’t like bacon THAT much.) That said…
I’ve got a gift card for Outback Steakhouse that we’ve been sitting on for months now. Now that I know my number is down, I think it’s time for a little indulgence (I’d say “Hello Bloomin’ Onion if I actually liked onions). And then we’re back on the good stuff Monday because I rather like my healthy, 10 pound lighter self.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to become an obnoxious health nut--this is not going to become “The Doctor G Health Blog.” I just wanted to let people know that I am a regular guy with a common problem that I believe I have conquered. Much like when you fall in love, you want to tell the world, I want to tell the world that I lowered my cholesterol. If any of this helps you, great. If not, great--thanks for reading anyway.

That’s it for now. Feel free to comment or ask questions, otherwise, I’m getting back to book reviews and Davey G shows and other Davey G related things, and tomorrow I going to enjoy my yummy steak.
--Davey “I lost 10 pounds and 82 points off my cholesterol and I’m not even selling anything to profit off of it” G.

236 or…Davey G and a dramatic attempt to lower his cholesterol Part 2.

2010-04-17T13:27:00.002-04:00

In Part 1, I was told I needed to lower my cholesterol from the very high number of 236 (it should be under 200). It led me to think about some of my bad habits. Here were my thoughts.
(NOTE: I AM BY NO MEANS AN EXPERT IN HEALTH OR CHOLESTEROL MANAGEMENT--WHAT FOLLOWS IS MERELY MY OBSERVATIONS OF MY OWN STEPS I’VE TAKEN TO TRY TO LOWER MY CHOLESTEROL.)

I considered some of the things in my life that I was doing and was forced to admit that not all of it was very good. Some of this may seem harmless, but actually some of it was really hurting me:

Alcohol.

Oh, for me it’s tough to imagine a life without alcohol. I admit, it’s been a constant in my life for many, many years. I have never been a binge drinker (well---once in awhile, as some of my friends know)--usually I drink to relax. To this end, I drink every day, about 3 to 5 beers a night.
But tell a Doctor or a non-drinker that you have “3 to 5 beers a night” and it sure as hell sounds like a lot.

Because I am serious about lowering my cholesterol, I need to change this.

Because I do not feel that I want to completely cut alcohol out of my life, I must compromise.

What I changed:
“3 to 5 beers a day” gets reduced to 1-3 a day, usually no more than 2.
What this does, I realize, is it makes me look at alcohol from a different perspective. I start to notice that if I am aware of the fact that I am only “allowed” 1-3 a day, then I want those “1 to 3” to count. So I don’t want to waste one of my “1 to 3” by say, drinking one in the afternoon or drinking one when I don’t really want it, or say, drinking one after I’ve already had a few when I really won’t appreciate it. I’ve found that since I started rationing and thinking about it, I’m usually okay with just one a night, which as far as I can tell from any of the on-line sources I’ve read about cholesterol, is perfectly okay (2 a day for men, 1 a day for women because women metabolize alcohol less rapidly.) (A note on this: if you don’t drink, don’t start. And I may be rationalizing my rationing of alcohol by quoting possibly biased information.)

The point being, this is a big change for me. And the whole point is that I needed to do something.

Cheese.
The hardest part of this whole thing has been cheese. I truly believe it is the one area in which I have never considered as part of a problem, but when I think about it, I eat it every day. It is on every sandwich, it is on every pizza, and it is bad, bad, bad. And damn, it is so good. But I have to cut it out.

What I changed:
I gave up cheese. Or I looked for a low-fat cheese: under 3g of fat per serving--it was harder than I thought it would be. I learned that I could live without it. Or I learned that I could live with less of it. Still haven’t quite figured out the pizza thing…
If I were to completely dumb down any info or wisdom I have gained from this experience of changing my diet and habits, it is that no cheese and less beer and more exercise equals less weight and (hopefully) lower cholesterol.

Whole Milk.
Fatty and bad for me. I always used whole milk on my cereal, in my coffee…
What I changed:
I went from whole milk to 1% now to skim milk in my cereal. And you know what? I got used to it. I started putting soy milk in my coffee. Much less fat and it gets some soy into my diet, which is good for lowering cholesterol.

Bacon.
It’s just really bad for you, as are hot dogs, as is bologna, because it is all just processed crap (as Jamie Oliver would say in his Food Revolution). Bologna really is just one big hot dog, by the way. When I used to work at a deli and had to slice it, I could see that it really was just a giant hot dog put into slice-able form.
What I changed:
I just don’t eat it anymore. It’s just not worth it. Plus, I already had experience with giving up bacon.

Next up: Specifics. Things I added to my routine that helped me.

236 or…Davey G and a dramatic attempt to lower his cholesterol Part 1.

2010-04-17T00:41:00.003-04:00

(Note: I’m splitting this up into multiple parts due to its length and due to the fact that part 2 still needs work. And to add dramatic tension. Hang in there.)

I’m going to write about something that may or may not interest anyone, but I write it out of the hope that maybe I can pass along a little of what I have learned in a relatively short period of time. I have found in the many years that I have been writing semi-publicly, I have been surprised at the positive reactions I receive when I simply write from the heart. Today, ironically, it is about the heart that I write.

Or more specifically, cholesterol.

I have always been in reasonably good health--no major diseases, I don’t get sick very often, and I am fairly active. I ride a bike to work, (and recreationally--read here) I walk frequently, and I work on my feet in a fairly un-sedentary life. I would consider my eating habits--well, not the best, but I have only ever had a vague sense of caution about what I eat. For example, I have always known that it is not a good idea to eat a lot of fried food, and that maybe red meat all the time is not always such a good idea. Once, back in high school, I was so freaked out by something the health teacher said about bacon that I didn’t eat it for 2 years. I don’t eat fast food, because I hate the way it tastes, I don’t eat potato chips---I could go on, but the point is that I have always believed that my lifestyle and eating habits were much better than the average American.

But overall, that has meant that I have gone under the assumption that because I was “active” and “ate well” that I didn’t really need to think about things like fat content or nutritional content because after all, I’m not fat and I take vitamins, and beyond that, I also don’t smoke.

So little did I suspect that I would have a problem with high cholesterol.

I hadn’t been to a Doctor’s office in over 12 years until I got insurance and began seeing one regularly. The first time I went I was holed up for 2 hours while I was given every conceivable test and questioned extensively about “family history” and my own personal habits. I was given kudos for not smoking, chided slightly for a 3 to 5 beers a day habit (only partly as a bi-product of working in a bar for so many years) and overall given a clean bill of health.

The next time I visited, I was told that my blood-work was “excellent” but that my cholesterol was just barely on the higher end of okay--just under 200. I figured that was fine, and I wasn’t told to change anything, so I didn’t.

On a later visit, I was told that my cholesterol had risen--up to about 214, and I was given the Fear of God speech, about how cholesterol builds up in your system and takes 15 years to get to your heart, which would put me right on schedule for a mid-life heart attack. The Doctor wasn’t worried, because there was no history of this in my family, but it was merely a friendly warning. I left the office with the thought that the one thing I was absolutely going to change right here and now was to go back to my boycott of bacon that had been so successful almost 15 years ago.

Then a few days later, I got a phone call from the Doctor’s office. “We need to see you. It’s about your test results.”

That’s never a good sign. But I went through all the possibilities, crossed out the more unlikely ones--if I had cancer or something, they wouldn’t tell me, they’d send me to a specialist first, right?--and tried not to worry about it until I could actually know what it was.

I made an appointment and saw my usual Doctor’s counterpart, a man with whom I was unfamiliar. He gave me the bad news: my cholesterol number had shot up to 236, and they wanted to put me on medication…

How did this happen? How could a healthy person like me have such a problem like this?

At the risk of being overdramatic, I have a lot to live for. In addition to a wife who loves me enough to keep me healthy and many animals who need me, I have so much I want to do. I have always planned on living to an old age and always being mentally and physically capable to write (speaking of which...) and make music and otherwise make the world at least marginally better for other people. I want to write many great books and travel to see wild polar bears and none of the things I want to do can be done if I die or become incapacitated when I’m 50. So I need to stay healthy and for the first time in my life, I need to care about what I eat and what I do to stay fit and avoid costly medication or future hospitalization.
**********************
I told the Doctor “Wait, hold up,” and then told him that I needed some time to work on this before they put me on medication. Up to this point I had taken no steps to fix this, because no one had ever really told me how dire a situation it was. It was only then, sitting in that office that I became convinced that now was the time to take this seriously, that I could no longer “take my health for granted.”

I had to completely re-examine my life, and what I could do differently. Avoiding bacon is a good first start, but where else was I going wrong?

Next up: Things I love, but might have to cut down on…

Books: Food Politics

2010-04-08T16:47:00.000-04:00

Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health by Marion Nestle

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Food is indeed political. At least this is a message that I’m being hit with a lot recently. Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on TV, a show that takes on America’s bad eating habits and tries to change them, also documents an incredible amount of resistance to this change. “We don’t wanna sit around and eat lettuce all day!” says the local radio show host in Huntington, West Virginia (a city which, according to the Centers for Disease Control, is the unhealthiest city in America). It seems that people will eat their crap food, earnest and well-meaning English chef be damned.

So it goes. In the context of what is wrong with the food industry, corporate America, Government and human attitude, Marion Nestle’s Food politics is a must-read. Everyone must eat to survive, but there is a fundamental battle between the Eat Less and the Eat More camps. What we need, Nestle stresses, is an Eat Less mentality, but every day and on many fronts, we are encouraged to Eat More. While what is best for people is a rational diet (preferably full of non-processed food, as Jamie Oliver tirelessly advocates on the TV program) and exercise (Eat Less), the food industry, in collusion with marketers and Government do everything in their power to sell more product, and therefore encourage more consumption (Eat More).

If only it stopped there.
This book shows:

“How the food industry uses lobbying, lawsuits, financial contributions, public relations, advertising, partnerships and alliances, philanthropy, threats and biased information to convince Congress, federal agencies, nutrition and health professionals and the public that the science relating diet to health is so confusing that they need not worry about diets: when it comes to diets, anything goes.”
--p. 358.

As Food Politics shows, there is simply a broad range of issues with the food industry that affect every single one of us: dubious health claims for products, “food pyramids” that are skewed toward consuming meat than is good for us, and armies of lawyers and a shit-load of money for any corporation who needs to mow down opposition to their goals which are often in conflict with public health.

Your Libertarian self may sneer at these conclusions. We have free choice to eat what we want, you’d say. You’d be correct. But if Food Politics and Jamie Oliver shows nothing else, it is that options for eating healthy are much less plentiful than options for eating crap. It doesn’t matter if our poor diets and lack of exercise are literally killing us via heart disease and other avenues. No--to many, our diets are written off as “personal choice.” But the options for eating well are far overwhelmed by the options for eating poorly. If you don’t believe that, then you should count the number of fresh fruit stands on the interstate and then compare that to the number of fast food chains.

Food Politics is eye-opening, though not always fun to read--it takes less of a position than you might think, given the topic. Although its essential theme is about how the production and distribution of food is run by a scary consortium of people who do not have public interest at heart, it doesn’t have the “gotcha” moments that make reading, say Al Franken or Michael Moore so much fun. Food Politics is more textbook-like, presenting the information and letting the reader draw his own conclusions. It does not ask for our anger, but it certainly supplies a reason for it. This book belongs in the library of anyone who needs a reason to support locally grown food, or to have their eyes opened to the fact that when it comes to diet, food is very political indeed.

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Books: Freakonomics

2010-03-24T10:53:00.000-04:00

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In Freakonomics, an economist asks questions you might not think to ask, and gets many surprising answers. It is billed as the “hidden side of everything,” and while it doesn’t exactly cover “everything” (a point they will make in the introduction to the sequel) it gets as much of it as it can. Economics, according to the authors, is all about incentives: what people are willing to do to get what they want, whether that means cheating, controlling the flow of information, or breaking the law to make a living.
Sometimes the sheer audacity of the questions is shocking (does giving a child a super-black sounding name give him/her a great disadvantage in life?) Sometimes, just the answers are shocking. (Q: why did the crime rate go down so much in the 1990’s, in spite of all the predictions to the contrary? A: in a word, abortion.) According to the authors, the legalization of abortion did more to affect the crime rate than any policing or law-making or gun owning ever could have. Sound crazy? Just read it!
These are the sort of questions probed and answered, or at least an interesting suggestion is offered. Every question challenges our assumptions (for example: children are 100 times more likely to die in a house with a swimming pool than in a house with a gun) and every question causes the reader to look at interesting correlations (how the KKK and realtors are both affected by the control of information, for one).

At first I thought this would just be a disjointed collection of anecdotes, but in spite of what the authors state in the intro about there being a lack of unifying theme, there does seem to be a contrarian and counter-intuitive theme building throughout the book. Once you get the hang of it, you start to understand how the conclusions will be reached.
This book is so much fun, I burned right through it. I would recommend it to anyone who is not down with the party line and is willing to embrace unconventional thinking.

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Books: A Working Stiff's Manifesto

2010-03-11T12:05:00.000-05:00

A Working Stiff's Manifesto: A Memoir of Thirty Jobs I Quit, Nine That Fired Me, and Three I Can't Remember by Iain Levison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the story of how Levison, armed with a nearly-useless degree in English, worked 42 jobs in 10 years, quit 30, was fired by 9, and can’t remember the other 3. Throughout this endless journey (one that hits very close to home for many) he works as a cook, a fish cutter, a crab fisherman, and a truck driver, to name just a few. In every case he finds the absurdity of the job, and in a larger sense, he spots the absurdity of what passes for “work” in this country. He comes to notice that applying for jobs he’s not capable of doing is not his worst problem. Much worse is the way in which most employers are very much out for themselves, stepping on whomever doesn’t fit in with their plan. In every case he moves toward the inevitable conclusion that working for a living is nothing more than a way to keep a lot of people busy while making a very few at the top very rich.
Other than a bit of a downer ending and some less than stellar behavior in the middle, and a few dated observations of the internet (understandable as many of these events happened before things like e-mail became somewhat universal) this book is a hoot. I enjoyed every page. It’s like Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed meets Charles Bukowski’s Factotum, only for me this book was much more relatable and funnier than either of those two.
I can see where Levison’s fiction comes from, with all his characters who are trying to break free from monotonous and unbearable existences, albeit in a hilarious way. It was hard to find much about this book I didn’t like. I would highly recommend anyone interested in Levison’s work to start with this one before getting into the fiction. It is all pretty great and I count myself a fan.

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Books: Bait and Switch

2010-03-04T12:43:00.000-05:00

Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream by Barbara Ehrenreich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
For fans of Barbara Ehrenreich, this book is essentially a continuation of what she did in Nickel and Dimed. This time, instead of investigating the lower rungs of the minimum wage worker, she explores the world of the middle-class white- collar unemployed. As it turns out, the educated middle-class is increasingly being pushed downward to “survival jobs,” as outlined in Nickel and Dimed. People were “baited” into the idea that if you went to college you’d get a good job: you’re “set.” The “switch” comes into play when you are downsized and you realize that it was all for naught.
Ehrenreich takes the same tactic she took in that earlier book--developing an alter-ego of sorts, and she attempts to get a job in Corporate America, where she soon finds the difficulty in getting a job when there are “gaps” in your resume, creating the catch-22 of how do you get a job when the fact that you don’t already have a job works against you? She employs all the weapons in the arsenal for the middle aged middle class job-seeker: seminars, job boards, career coaches, positive thinking, a “winning attitude,” and finds them all quite lacking in their ability to help her (or anyone else, for that matter) land a job.
Corporate America is a beast. It demands an adherence to the bottom line which often means laying off employees to increase that bottom line. This is not news. But the shocking part of this investigation is the apparent reliance it has on unscientific and irrational notions of “likability” and “positivity” in hiring decisions, often without regard for actual skills.
No question, this is a depressing topic. People who are driven to tears by their feelings of uselessness after a layoff are the casualties in an increasingly cold-blooded and cold-hearted economy. It is also short-sighted to adhere so strictly to the profit-based bottom line, effectively making it so that no one can afford to buy or use whatever service the company may be offering. Henry Ford knew that he had to pay his people a good wage or else they wouldn’t be able to buy his product. It’s a lesson that would seem to have been forgotten amongst the culture of layoffs.
This is a well-done book about a topic that deserves to be addressed, and like Ehrenreich’s other books, it is funny.
I had more to say about my general antipathy toward capitalism, but I’m going to leave it at that. Read Nickel and Dimed, and then read Bait and Switch as both can say more than I ever could about it.

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Since the Layoffs, by Iain Levison

2010-02-10T13:56:00.001-05:00

Since the Layoffs by Iain Levison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the second Levison book I’ve read (this is his first novel). Another thoroughly enjoyable book with some themes that I recognize as ones that will be recurring (in “How to Rob an Armored Car.”). These themes are: marginalized characters working crap jobs in dead end towns, just trying to get by, who get enlisted into doing some completely outrageous criminal scheme that winds up being completely sensible within the context of the story. This one is aptly titled. Every action taken by its main character, and all the people who inhabit this story, is propelled by a huge factory downsizing, leading many who were once having comfortable middle class existences to try to make ends meet however they can. In the case of the narrator, the profession he falls into in this economy is as a hired assassin.

It’s a hoot. A brief hoot at 177 pages, but a hoot nonetheless. If you take it to jury duty or something, maybe take along another of Levison’s books, in case it’s a long day and you are spending a lot of time sitting. That way, you won’t worry about running out of reading material.
For me, it’s on to the next book by my current favorite author. This book is funny in a laugh-out-loud sort of way, absurd without being annoyingly so. It’s kind of like Clerks 2 meets Goodfellas (although I have to admit, I’ve never actually seen Goodfellas), as ultimately our hero just wants to get out of the killing business to open a convenience store.
Without spoiling the ending--let’s just say that the tone remains gleeful and fun, making light of the serious business of unemployment. Great fun!

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Davey G’s Next Appearance at Gallery 1448

2010-02-04T10:41:00.005-05:00

Hi,
This is a bit of an odd gig for me, but it sounds like it will be a lot of fun. I will be performing a few songs at a reading called “Wash Your Mouth,” in conjunction with their Annual Erotica Art Exhibit, which is called “Heart-On: A Light-Hearted Look at Erotica.” Finally, my show is being recognized for what it really is: an erotic adventure in pre-set keyboarding.

Saturday, February 13 from 8:00 - 10:00 PM.
Check out the Flyer below for details, and hope to see you there!

Gallery 1448 is at 1448 E. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, Maryland, 21201
This is a free event.

Books: The End is Now

2010-01-25T13:06:00.000-05:00

The End Is Now by Rob Stennett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was sold on this book from the comparison to Tom Perrotta, who is one of my favorite authors, and for the most part, this book lives up to that comparison. It takes the modern domestic situation and adds a theological spin: what if the rapture had a “test market,” say, in Goodland Kansas?

This story is about a boy, Will Henderson, who gets lost in a cornfield and then has a vision/dream/hallucination--it is never really clear which--that a face in the cornfield appears and tells him the three signs of the impending pre-rapture, which will take place in his town. When he relays his experience to the town, and the first of his prophecies comes true (that his school will be destroyed) the people begin to lose it. The town is already the home to a “Rapture Museum,” and all people really seem to need is a good push toward hysteria, dividing themselves into various camps of believers, doubters, and those who just want to be ready, just in case. The fact that it is Kansas and the school being destroyed by a tornado is not an unusual occurrence has no rational effect on the true believers. Caught in the middle of all this is Will’s family: Jeff, his father, who was obligated to marry his mother via shotgun wedding and now is doing his best to protect his family; Amy, his mother, for whom Will’s prophecies are no doubt the Word of God; and Emily, his sister, who wants nothing more than to become Homecoming Queen, and just wishes Will’s Prophecies would just go away.

The End is Now is thoroughly enjoyable. It takes fantastical leaps that are never quite explained, which would usually be a big detriment to me, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter. It is a novel rooted in the ordinary, everyday domestic situation of a family held together by the reality of an early unplanned pregnancy, then strengthened by the bonds of responsibility and love, who are tested by supernatural circumstances. Seeing how Jeff struggles to save his family feels as real as anything, and Emily’s simple desire to be Homecoming Queen getting sidetracked by her brother, the Prophet, is believable within this context.
All in all, a great read that comes to close to being perfect, except for a minor disappointment of an ending: an epilogue that was somewhat confounding. Unofficially I’d give this 4 and a half but go ahead and call it a 5 star book.

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Books: Buffalo Lockjaw

2010-01-23T17:57:00.000-05:00

Buffalo Lockjaw by Greg Ames

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the best book I’ve read all year. I kind of wish I’d read this in December so that this statement would carry more weight. Alas, it is only January, but I really think that this statement will hold up for the rest of the year. Yes, it’s that good.
There is such an obvious love for the hometown that comes out in the writing, coupled with the cold reality of facing a parent’s dementia. It is so well-done and observant (without being too cute or too clever) that it is a pleasure to read.
Buffalo Lockjaw’s main character and narrator is James Fitzroy, a near-30 year old who writes verses for a greeting card company in New York. His life, as it is, is probably not the success which all parent’s hope for, or sacrifice their own lives for. He is spending his Thanksgiving break visiting his parents in Buffalo.

His mother, Ellen, is 56 years old and is suffering from a crippling dementia: she does not even know who James is anymore. His father is Rodney, who is stern and strong while dealing with his wife’s mental disintegration, but James knows that it is killing him inside. This is a story that for many may hit close to home. James’ love of his hometown, the obvious love that the author has for it, struck a chord with me. I understand what it is like to love something even when it is completely fucked up and in many ways, hard to defend. The fact that James/Ames can find the beauty in Buffalo and its people is one of the most endearing qualities of this book. His parents are unavailable, and for James, seeing his mother, the woman he loves and respects who spent years helping people now in such a helpless position, fuels his desire to try to seek a way out for her.

None of this feels phony. Every step of this journey toward middle age, and adulthood feels real, and that is what makes this such a satisfying read. I think any adult with living parents could identify with the perils of trying to relate to them on an mature level, especially the children of this generation (28-35). There is no World War 2 or Great Depression to define what this generation is, but Buffalo Lockjaw seems to suggest that it is more defined by a sort of slouching response to everything. Our occupations are meaningless (Greeting Card writing being a wonderful metaphor and foil for the more serious work of nursing that James’ mother had done), and no one is counting on us to save the world. And if anyone is, God help them.
Buffalo Lockjaw is a love story for a hometown and I loved reading it. I look forward to whatever Greg Ames writes next.

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Snow Pix from the Snowpocalypse of '09

2009-12-19T19:38:00.008-05:00

Davey G at the Sidebar tonight!

2009-12-16T11:24:00.004-05:00

Doors open at 9, show starts at 10.

Probable start time for Davey G---sometime after 10. (I'm planning an 18 song set!) Then...Markitect with an Improv Group.

My next appearance...December 16 at the Sidebar!

2009-12-07T12:43:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone,
It has been awhile since I've taken the stage, but it will be worth it. Consider it an early Christmas present, or just something for one of the crappier nights of Hanukkah.

Davey G and the Keyboard
with
Fourth Grade Security Risk
And
Markitect.
Doors at 9 (show probably will not start til 10--get there first to see me first!)
The Sidebar
218 E. Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD
21202

http://www.sidebartavern.com/shows.html
Hope to see you there!
--Davey G.

Books: Pygmy, by Chuck Palahniuk

2009-12-04T21:37:00.002-05:00

Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk

My rating: 1 of 5 stars
One of the good things about reading for pleasure (instead of, say, reading for school or because someone has a gun to your head and says “read it or die!”) is that when I don’t like something, I can put it down without finishing it.
Thus ends my experience with the second Chuck Palahniuk book to disappoint me(the last one being Snuff). I’m sure this book is brilliant on some level, but after 2 chapters of this 1st person perspective story told in some kind of broken Pidgin English, about a terrorist sleeper embedded with an American family in some terrorist plot, I’m just getting a headache. Plus I’m troubled with this thought: why did Palahniuk decide to tell the story this way--why would Pygmy be reporting back to his people in broken English and not his own language? I’m sure it’s all part of the satire of American culture and this is so unlike me to crap on something without even getting through it, but it is this stylistic decision that has turned me off from trying to get through the rest of it.
Chuck, Chuck…you’re killing me! Snuff was the first book of yours I ever put down and said “This book sucks.” (I just didn’t like the premise and tried to stick with it but found that I couldn’t--this is what unlikable characters and unlikable situations do for me.) But I didn’t feel the need to pan it. But now it’s two in a row, and I’m starting to worry that either I’m not cool enough to get it, or maybe you’re just not the writer I thought you were. While I’m sure this is clever and amusing and has the elements that made Fight Club and Choke and Survivor so damn good, I am not going to stick around to find out. I am so sorry, you have no idea.

View all my reviews >>

My first draft is done!!!

2009-11-29T12:01:00.006-05:00

I finished my book!
It’s called The Self-Affirmator.
This is the beard I grew in the 28 days to coincide with the novel writing.
Can’t wait to shave it off today.

http://www.nanowrimo.org///eng/user/312315

NaNo Blog Post

2009-11-11T13:46:00.003-05:00

My "Playoff Beard", Day 11

Whew…I’ve put 17,000 words into a new month-long novel writing project as part of the National Novel Writing Month and…well, it’s going pretty well. It’s the 11th day, I’ve got my playoff beard going (I’ll shave when I hit 50,000, or on December 1, whichever comes first.) I just wanted to give the update and talk about what it’s been like so far.
This year is turning out to be tougher than last year, at least to start. I’m finding myself forgetting and now re-learning some of the things I stumbled into last year, and maybe possibly now just getting into some sort of flow. The biggest lesson of last year was to put character first and plot will come--after all the founder of the National Novel Writing Month wrote the manual called “No Plot, No Problem.” It’s true. I have no plot, but my new main character suggests a wealth of possibilities.

(Again, a shameless free plug for my last year’s NaNoWriMo book, The Best of Thunder Johnson here!)
Anyway…
The title for the new book is The Self-Affirmator, I’ll try to put up a fun excerpt or two in time.
Cheers. Word.
Okay.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Almost Time for NaNoWriMo!

2009-10-29T10:55:00.001-04:00

NaNoWriMo 2009

It’s almost November again, which means it’s time for the next National Novel Writing Month! 30 Days, 50,000 words, no ideas, no planning. Last year’s effort resulted in (shameless free plug to buy my new book) The Best of Thunder Johnson, a nifty little paperback that I am fairly proud of. I don’t mean to overstate it, but without the NaNoWriMo support, this book would have never happened. Now it will be my second year…let’s hope it’s every bit as enjoyable and life-changing as the first time around.
So excited! Saturday night/Sunday morning, here we go!

There are 94 words in this document.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Thoughts after the Tour du Port, October 4, 2009

2009-10-05T12:40:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was my first venture into an organized bike ride: the Tour du Port, 50 mile course, organized by OneLessCar.org.
From Their site:

Every day we advocate for providing safe and effective transportation alternatives for all citizens through education, lobbying, and facilitation between our communities, governments, and state and local representatives. We believe that Maryland can be an example of the economic and social good that comes from a society where everyone – regardless of age, physical condition or economic background - has the opportunity to bike, walk or use mass transit to get where they need to go.

Why did I do 50 miles, instead of, say the 40, 20, or 12 mile course? Well, after doing an 80 mile round trip to York and back this summer, I thought 50 seemed about right. I learned a few things after that ride that prepared me pretty well for this one. For one thing, I got the water consumption right: four liter-sized bottles. And, remembering how much my hands hurt after that ride, I wore gloves for this one. I brought enough energy bars, had the right clothes (not biker gear, just something warm but not heavy), and overall, I was better prepared than I had ever been before.

I took the Metro at 6: 30 a.m to get to the event, while it was still dark out. There were more people on there than I would have thought at that hour on a Sunday, and many were sleepy. For me, half the challenge of this ride was just getting up so early. When I got to the Canton Waterfront Park, I signed in, got a pink wristband, and was told to get a “cue sheet,” which was a list of all the directions (but sadly, no map). Quite a few of the riders were scratching their heads: is this going to be confusing? How will we know where to go?

Luckily, the ride was pretty well marked. While the roads themselves were not closed to traffic, there were green arrows on the pavement, pointing which way to go, and at most of the major turns there were volunteers pointing the way.

If it is at all possible to read the cue sheets I have posted here, you might be able to figure out the route. I can tell you that we started at the park, went down through the Inner Harbor, to Federal Hill, then to Locust Point (where the volunteer pointing system broke down for a minute and a group of us got lost), then back to the harbor and over to Patterson Park, then into the heart of Dundalk and beyond…

Honestly, after a certain point I didn’t really know or care where I was. All I knew is that I was riding down a highway in East Baltimore, and as I am a pretty slow rider--ahead of the hundreds behind me but not really fast enough to keep up with the faster people--it did feel like a very solitary venture for long stretches. At least, until I looked behind me and saw more bikers coming.

The ride continued into the county, into farther points and places I’d never visited. There was the rest stop at North Point State Park, which, as I checked the cue sheet, turned out to be the 32 mile marker. Only 18 to go…

It was then sometime after this stop, maybe on the second pass of Dundalk Community College that I began to hit that wall. Tiredness, wind, and the hills were starting to take their toll. I stopped to eat another Clif Bar, change up my water and watch some more bikers go by. It was really quite a turnout. It was amazing to think about how for this one day, bikes truly ruled the streets.

I finished the ride in just a little over 4 hours, which means I was going at a pace of about 12 or 13 miles an hour. Not too bad for me.

Biking is very important to me, perhaps even more so now that I do not have a car. I enjoy the activity, the exercise, the fact that it saves me from things like having to worry about parking tickets or buying gas, plus in most cases it beats riding the bus. I don’t bike to make a political statement in some kind of Critical Mass-y sort of way, nor do I take it seriously enough to have a technical conversation about it. It is simply something I do because I have always done it. That said, I whole-heartedly support what OneLessCar.org is trying to do. Maybe if they can get people to consider altering their behavior, we can have less-congested cities, and healthier people. And while I’m at it: kudos to Mayor Dixon and her support for this event. And kudos to the city for putting up more bike lanes and to the Baltimore Bicycling Club for all those new bike racks around town.

Self-Publishing: Democratizing and very Punk Rock

2009-09-30T13:51:00.002-04:00

This post about self-publishing was written for a contest on Goodreads.

The rules: We want to hear your thoughts about self-publishing – a blog post about the merits of self-publishing and how it might change the face of publishing in the future. What will self-publishing look 25 years from now, 50 years from now? How has self-publishing made strides in recent years? That sort of thing. Basically, we want to know: What’s your opinion about self-publishing?

I seem to have made a career in self-publishing, so it seems only natural that I would be a staunch supporter of it. I’ve always had a very do-it-yourself mentality about my writing. Self-publishing is very democratizing. It is in the spirit of punk rock, getting up and doing what you do because it needs to be done. It does not need to be dependent upon a record label or in this case, a publishing company. For me, it’s always been about getting people to read my stuff, and doing it in a way that made sense for me.

A little background: I have been writing for about 20 years now, and the brunt of my work has been in a 20-40 page photocopied and stapled book I call the Davezine. It has never been a big money-maker for me. There is a lot of expense involved and at times I have wished for the help of unpaid interns for the collating and stapling. But it is a labor of love. It has taken many years to finally come to a happy medium in re-producing these publications, and not letting my personal space become overwhelmed with too many copies of something when I don’t need them. Now I simply make them per order, keeping a small number on hand. Recently (here’s my free plug) I wrote and self-published my first book, building off of a model that I have been using for years: do it yourself, get it out there yourself. http://davecookson.tripod.com/thunderjohnson.html

Self-publishing, in either a zine or a book form provides an immediate avenue for readers, as well as being a fulfilling way to connect with readers. I may not have the largest audience, but I have a very loyal one. If it is all about building True Fans, people who will read whatever you write and go great lengths to follow you, that is empowering in a way that I feel cannot be achieved otherwise. People who have been reading my stuff for years are people that I know, people I have met, and people who feel an inclusiveness that they would not get out of a more polished and mass-produced work.

Self-publishing is limiting in that you can produce only so many items to so many readers, but it can also be a very viral thing--I’ve picked up many readers by having someone finding my ‘zine in a restaurant, coffee shop, or waiting room. Those people who find me then get to feel that inclusiveness, and then spread it to others. And that is what is gratifying about doing it yourself: it happens purely because someone out there picked it up and thought it was good. There was no heavily financed marketing campaign backing it.

Obviously, self-publishing has gotten easier over the years--the first zines I made were written by hand, later by manual typewriter and only within the last few years have I upgraded to a better computer and printer. I imagine that for people like me, the future is already here, with new programs and applications that I am still unfamiliar with.

We’d all like to be able to have someone sell our work and have nothing to do but write and count our millions. But writing is not so kind to everyone. At least when I make my own work and put it out there myself there is a chance someone will notice it. It has happened before with others who have made zines like mine (Pete Jordan of Dishwasher or Zoe Trope of Please Don’t Kill the Freshman come to mind ). I aim to produce work that is true to what I want to write, and have people (even a small number of people) actually read it. To that end, I self-publish.

www.backwordbooks.com

http://www.backwordbooks.com/2009/09/16/the-backword-books-contest-win-7-books-by-backword-authors/

My New Novel is Available Now!!!

2009-09-21T13:49:00.004-04:00

Here!
http://davecookson.tripod.com/thunderjohnson.html

And at Atomic Books
http://atomicbooks.com/products/-/5933.html
And, if you live in Pittsfield...
At Rebel Sound Records!
http://www.myspace.com/rebelsoundrecordsthestore

The end of the road for Kyle.

2009-09-18T00:12:00.001-04:00

I bought Kyle, my 1992 Honda Civic back in February of 2004. This was after my return from the land of Portland in a car that had traversed the nation twice, gone on many countless road trips to my homeland of Massachusetts, delivered many pizzas and rocked out to many tunes. The few months I spent mourning the death of this car were largely spent working two jobs to save up for the car we came to know as Kyle, a name I chose largely because I thought it was funny: “C’mon Kyle, you can do it!” Plus, while other more challenged men feel the need to assign female names to their vehicles, I also was okay with assigning a male name to mine.
Kyle was a two door white Civic, smaller than my first car but still the same old reliable brand. The previous owner loved it, telling me how much he liked the ease with which he could park, and how it never gave him any problems. I was ready to take it the minute I saw it. When the engine turned over on my very first try, I was sold.
First car, first love, they say it never comes again. But I grew to love Kyle, in spite of his many flaws (many of which were my fault.) Only a few months in, I was smashed into by a drunk driver at a blinking red light. The driver’s side was bent in, just behind the door. A foot one way, it would have been totaled. A foot the other, I would have been killed. I was so angry at the time at this irresponsible person who had ran the light, and even attempted to blame me for the accident, that I forgot to realize how lucky I was, and how lucky Kyle was to be able to drive away from the scene.
Later on, we broke down on the side of the road on the way to the racetrack. This would be the first of many breakdowns, and tows, the most dramatic being at a rest stop on the Taconic State Parkway, which forced me to blow over 1000 dollars on repairs, train tickets, a hotel, and left me without a car for three weeks. But he still kept going, as I kept making the repairs happen. I can’t complain too much--the little lady who drove me to the train station so that I could go back and pick up my car is the one who became my wife.
Later still, there was the time I was rear-ended on my way to (of all the fucking irony) Jiffy Lube. That was in fact my fault. This caused my hatch to be permanently closed on the bottom, but broke the latch on the top, effectively making my car a sitting duck for thieves to break in and steal my stuff. Someone stole my radio not long after this, by simply crawling in the back.
And then there was the many months where my door wouldn’t close, and I had to tie it shut with a rope. Ah, memories. It was during this period where I received my first notice for the Maryland Vehicle Emissions Test, which would soon become the bane of my existence….
I wrote a lot about this in the blog, about how my car failed the emissions test and then I had to keep coming back every month and try again. I did 16 of these $14 dollar tests and afterward I would fail and I would be given an order to re-test. At first I was really worried about what would happen if I kept failing. Then I just got annoyed. I vented my thoughts about the futility of the VEIP program, and how it doesn’t really keep polluting cars off the road, it just makes it a pain in the ass for people like me.
Then I went two weeks ago, where they told me that they could not test me because of a crack in my muffler. They gave me a two week extension for a test that was due over two years ago.
Lately, Kyle has been running poorly--stalling at stoplights, having trouble making it up the hills. So I’d hoped that maybe this muffler situation, if cleared up, would help the car’s performance. After all, the mechanic did say that Honda’s performance could be tied to the exhaust system; others in my circle indicated that my problem might just be as simple as this.
Alas, the call from my mechanic came back. Oxygen sensor, major tune up, spark plugs, muffler, right lower control arm…basically a plethora of problems, to the tune of $2000. For a car that cost me $1150 back in 2004. Whew.
I’d given up on Kyle many times over and watched him come back from the dead. But this was it. For one thing, even the cheapest of these repairs is more than I am willing to spend. For another, there is no guarantee that something else won’t break on an 18 year old car, even if it is a Honda Civic. And then there is the fact that I have been talking about going car-less for a while now--after all, most of my transportation needs now are very easily met with my bicycle. And it really all boils down to money. There was a time in my life when I would have barely thought twice about running up something like this on a credit card and just worrying about it later. But that time has past. With adulthood and corresponding responsibilities, so go my romantic notions of holding on to something beyond all reason. The adult in me says, Dave, it’s just a car. Move on. So I am. He’s getting picked up and brought to a better place. I hope that his engine and spare parts will bring happiness to a vehicle that still has a fighting chance.
I will miss having a car. I will miss having Kyle. I had a lot of good memories in that car--first dates with Michele, trips to the track (both painful and triumphant), strangers complimenting my car and offering to buy it, more trips to the homeland, the Davey G shows. On a day-to-day basis I don’t really need a car, but it has always been a security blanket, a way to supplement my biking, a way to stay dry on my way to work on rainy days. But as I drive it today, using up my last tank of gas, stalling out at every light, I tell myself: I won’t miss this. I won’t miss the emissions test or the inexplicable breakdowns.
But when you love something, it is still very hard to let it go.

NOTE: this post is still a work in progress--I’ll add more text and links and pictures later, I just really wanted to get this up now. Thanks for reading.

Books: The Great Derangement

2009-09-02T12:02:00.002-04:00

The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, and Religion at the Twilight of the American Empire by Matt Taibbi

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The basic premise of The Great Derangement is that as Americans, we have no real leadership. We are so used to being lied to and screwed over that in essence, we are forced to create our own reality to deal with it. Matt Taibbi hilariously explores this world of derangement.
After he explains just how mind-numbingly pointless most sessions of Congress are--one bill “debated” is over whether or not to name a post office after Ava Gardner--he gets into how the Government is really run. The real business of politics, we are depressingly and shockingly reminded, is to reward donors, and is mostly run behind closed doors, far away from the floor of the House or Senate. Taibbi explores the world of the Religious Right and the 9-11 Truth Movement, and shows just how similar they really are in terms of their unwillingness to deal with reality.
I was moved by his depiction of the U.S soldiers in Iraq--Taibbi seems like he grew to genuinely care about these people in a way that transcended his feelings about the war.
There were parts of this book where I laughed out loud--his discomfort with being a zombie-like Christian in his secret infiltration of a Fundamentalist Church: looking forward to church, with the fellowship and off-key singing and speaking in tongues, all the while feeling remorse at his role in deceiving them for the sake of writing a book.
This guy can really write. Thoroughly enjoyable.

View all my reviews >>

Quick update on the new book/new excerpt

2009-09-02T11:25:00.004-04:00

I've been doing a few pre-releases of my new book, The Best of Thunder Johnson, and in the coming weeks I am going to put up a web page with all the ordering info about the "official" release. Look for it later this month!

Here is another excerpt. It started as sort of a parody of the style of Chuck Palahniuk...

Asking questions and then not caring about the answers.
Moses watched the new guy in the days that he was here in the hospital. Maybe he could be his friend…
Moses, 38, fat, obnoxious, stumbled into conversations. He could stare intently at you and ask a question yet never hear an answer. In a bizarre way, he was the opposite of the narcissistic people around him, whose pathetic lives would consume them. The same stories, the same failures recounted in the same voices with only slight modifications in multiple re-telling. It was all good to him. They pretended to be interesting, he pretended to be interested.
Copacetic.
Symbiotic.
Parasitic.
Pathetic.
Places that were cold and impersonal became friendly to certain people. People avoided contact nowadays. But there were still people who needed it. Like Moses.
All around him, he saw people tuning out, with their I-pods, laptops, what have you. Whatever happened to people needing to talk? Why did people even bother going outside to be around other people if they weren’t going to even interact?
Moses didn’t like it so much. Out in the world. Which was why he came here so much as he did, to be with people who wanted to talk. Because he wanted to listen. Or at least pretend to listen.
Needy.
Oblivious.
Maddening.
Strange.
Moses tried to talk to women, but it never seemed to work out.
Too fat.
Obese.
Unlovable.
Alone.
He read books to try to learn what he was doing wrong. Books that would help him in conversation, books that would help him to talk to women. Listening. They liked a man who listened.
Self improvement section. He haunted this section of the bookstore, tried to find the right books for him, and while he was at it, he looked for women.
Still too fat.
Obese.
Wanting.
Needing.

So he learned to listen. Or at least to look like he was listening. He read books on listening.
Chapter 1: Smiling and nodding.
Chapter 2: Asking questions.
Chapter 3: “And how did that make you feel?”
And so on.
It was a gold mine. Moses ate it up. He couldn’t wait to try it out.

There was never a shortage of questions from Moses, the listener. But still he went home alone. It seemed that no one wanted to be around him, even when he listened to them. It made him very sad. Fat, alone, miserable inside but cheerful outside.
That was Moses.

Books: Cleaning Up--How I Gave Up Drinking and Lived

2009-08-20T10:42:00.000-04:00

Cleaning Up: How I Gave Up Drinking and Lived by Tania Glyde

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is a memoir of a woman who drank for 23 years before finally giving it up on September 12, 2002. It is insightful, honest, at times opinionated and I really couldn’t put it down--I burned through it in 3 days. It challenges so many of the reasons people give for drinking and offers so many right-on quotes and observations that I just have to share some of them here.

“You have to do something about all the people who are living rent free in your head. A phrase I wish I could claim as my own.” --page 177.

“…there is nothing worse and more dishonest, than continuing a friendship that has run its course.” --page 204. (A-men.)

“your time is yours, and not other peoples. Take alcohol out of the equation and the reality hits you that not everyone you know is good for you.” --page 227. (Amen, Amen, Amen).

I enjoyed this book. The writer makes no bones about the way she feels about the role of alcohol, how it is never given the proper credit for actually being a “gateway drug,” as pot is allegedly supposed to be. As this woman is British, the perspective is somewhat different than we get in the U.S. The drinking, I am told, is much more aggressive over there. Plus, she devotes some space to talking about the state of their National Health Service, which as an American strikes me as odd (my take: I wish I could be complaining about the state of my free health care rather than complaining about something that costs me money and still kind of sucks.) The part where she talks about astrology vs. therapy kind of reminded me of a fallacy of logic (e.g. “this one thing sucks therefore this other thing must be better.”). But she comes by this opinion honestly, and that is the most compelling case for what is so good about this book: honesty. I loved her take on positive thinking: “Frankly, I have never heard more bollocks spoken on just about any other subject.” (page 181). She says this in the context of the recovery movement, which, she feels, kind of makes people “programmed” to never say anything negative about anything.

An enjoyable book for many reasons, this book is up there with Drinking, a Love Story by Caroline Knapp (which she lists at the end). Great stuff.

View all my reviews >>

Excerpt #2: The Best of Thunder Johnson, novel out this September!

2009-08-10T12:35:00.004-04:00

This section sets up my main character and what he does for a living.

Hanson West looked at his watch. A few more hours to go. This Friday shift, by himself, putting tapes in the machines at the right times. He couldn’t wait to get off, to get the hell out of here just for a night. There was an itching in his belly to get on the craps table, to make up for a bad night a week ago.

He looked around at this “Command Center” at Channel 2. He worked a console that had half a dozen slots for video tapes to play. To his right was a small sound-proof booth, about the size of a closet, for voiceovers. To his left was the door to the hall. Directly in front of him, past his console and through the big window was the studio itself, with its three cameras and a small set of risers upon which an audience could sit. Right behind him was the phone.

The Command Center could accommodate 4 other people--during the filming of shows there could be a director (someone to call the shots--literally), someone to operate the character generator (to put words on the screen) and someone to work the phones (because people in this town loved to call the station and swear over the air and it was the screener’s job to prevent this) and West’s job, the master controller (to sit in the big Captain Kirk chair). But during the week, or during the slow times, it was usually just West, all by himself, drinking his coffee and playing the tapes.

West had finished the Awesomebucks 20-miler coffee a while back, and now it had worked its way to his bladder. He checked the time--still another 10 minutes to The Ronald Ronaldson Report. He got up while the tape ran.

“And you know what else? I think that the meter maids give out more tickets to white people, just out of spite for the misery that they endure!”

Down the hall, past the studio, was the lobby, and then the boss’s office, just across from the only bathroom in this one-level facility. Most days West never saw the boss. If he ever did, it was usually not for anything good--this was not an easy business and he was usually stressed out about one thing or another. Sometimes it was a wonder this station was still afloat.

Hanson West eliminated the contents of the 20-miler and washed his hands and then closed the door behind him. He looked at the door to the boss’s office. It was closed, as usual.

He returned to his chair back in the Master Controller room, just as the show was finishing up. He prepared to run the next tape, which would require a simple flick of a switch, done just at the right moment so that the people of Hartsburg, who may or may not care if the next show went on in time, would have no reason to complain. Even though the common wisdom was that no one ever really watched this stuff, one would be surprised at how often people would complain when he didn’t do his job right.

It was time--West flipped the switch to make the change to the next program, and The Ronald Ronaldson Report was over for another week. He sat back in the chair again and watched as the new program came across the monitor. The phone stayed silent: a successful switch.

West sighed. Just another day in the paradise that was Cable Access, Channel 2 in Hartsburg, Massachusetts.

Books: Hot, Flat and Crowded

2009-08-09T13:28:00.000-04:00

Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman

This book alternately scares the hell out of me and gives me hope for the possibilities in innovation and science that could one day stem the tide of carbon emissions that are hurting our planet and killing my friends the polar bears.

At the risk of giving it too much credit, this is a book that everyone should read. From the title, “hot” refers to global warming, which, Friedman suggests, is really more like “global weirding”, giving rise to droughts in some areas, floods in others, and just a general condition that the planet cannot maintain itself if we do not do something. By “crowded,” he means too many people living like Americans, with our over-consumption and generally wasteful lifestyle (BTW--my 10th grade English teacher tried to get us, as a class, to stop using the term “lifestyle,” as she felt it was somewhat dated and ‘80’s sounding. I think of this anytime I use this word. Any thoughts?). By “flat,” he is referring to the phenomenon of a great number of these people achieving a middle class existence all at the same time, thereby making a great demand on the planet’s resources, creating a need for energy that for the foreseeable future, will continue to be through “dirty” energy sources, like coal. Friedman argues that what we need, as a nation, to lead the world in a systemic change in our energy policy. He argues that we need to make the word “green” go away, only used when someone violates accepted “green” policies, much like the term “civil rights” is now a given, only brought up when violated. He argues that we are a great country with great potential to change the world, yet we lag well behind many of the other countries who have mad e great strides in “Clean” energies, such as solar, wind, etc.

A big strength of this book is Friedman’s ability to use understandable metaphors, to drive his point home. For example, the image that has stuck with me is how he explains C02 emissions: imagine that you are driving your car. For every mile you go, imagine that you are throwing a bag of trash out the window. That is your C02.
When you think of it that way, it does make you want to re-evaluate your habits.

This is an important book that urges change--hard, real change, not just some “205 easy ways to save the Earth” sort of change--to live our lives in what he terms to Energy Climate Era, or ECE. How will we supply the energy needs for a world that is becoming hot, flat, and crowded in such a way that we do not further damage a planet that is in many ways already irreparable? --think of the many animal extinctions and you will know what I mean by “irreparable.”

This is not just an environmental issue. Friedman is not some tree-hugging sissy about it. What he is saying is that whichever nation can take the lead on clean energy for the Energy Climate Era will become the most profitable nation in the world, and help to save the world as well. Isn’t that a win-win?
Read it, read it, read it!

View all my reviews >>

Excerpt #1: The Best of Thunder Johnson

2009-08-03T12:53:00.002-04:00

This is the first in a series of excerpts of my upcoming novel, The Best of Thunder Johnson, which will be out this September.

A few weeks ago…

“Just settle down sir, we’re gonna get you some help.”
The man in the back of the squad car thrashed around, as much as he could under restraint. What the hell’s happening?
“It’ll be okay, sir, just settle down.”
Shaking, rocking back and forth, the man muttered “Lights out, lights out, who do you wanna live with , Mommy or Daddy, c’mon Ronny, Mommy or Daddy…”
The car rolled through the streets of Hartsburg, past Lake Runoff, just across from the Cable Access station.
“What’s his deal?” the driver said to his partner.
“Dunno. That’s for the shrinks at HMHF to figure out. We couldn’t just leave ‘em there in that parking lot.”
“Christ, this town…it’s got all the nuts.”
“Yeah, well…‘to serve and protect,’ right?”
“Jesus…”
The man screamed “Lights out!”
“Shut up!” the officer yelled.
“Fuck it, turn on the radio.”
*
Do you ever actually try to talk to people out there? A lot of people believe some really crazy things. It’s why most things on TV are so heavily scripted, why you never see ugly, fat, or retarded people. But people believe really crazy shit--most don’t have their facts straight, or are operating under some delusion that rules their lives…like somehow someone’s going to come along and save us, Gandhi, Jesus, Obama, somebody. We engage in bizarre superstitions, offer prayers to a God we never see, hope that one day it’ll all make sense.
The reality is we’re a huge collection of fucked up people with fucked up ideas who are just lucky that no one ever listens to us or cares about what we actually have to say.
*
“Sir? Can you hear me?”
Ron found himself on an exam table behind a curtain. He could hear the sounds of people in the emergency room, phones ringing and nurses talking. He could barely remember how he got here. He was just trying to buy some video tape when they got him.
“I have a few questions to ask you, can you answer for me?” The Doctor wore a sweater over a shirt and tie, and spoke in a soft, reassuring voice.

Ronaldson grunted.
“Name?”
“…Ron Ronaldson.”
“Good, Ron. Do you know where you are?”
“…Here. Hospital.”
“That’s right. Do you know what day it is?”
“…Monday.”
“That’s right. And do you know what month it is?”
“…September.”
“All right. Sounds good.” The ER Doctor picked up his clipboard and made some notes.
And finally,
“Ron, can you tell me: How old are you?”
The look in his eyes suddenly turned back to anger.

“I know how old I am!” he spat back at the Doctor. “I know how old I am! Lights out! I know how old I am, how old are you!”
“Ron--”
“How old are you?”
“How old are you!!!”

My NaNoWriMo Novel

2009-07-27T11:18:00.002-04:00

This September the long-awaited first novel, The Best of Thunder Johnson, will come out in a zine format. It’s going to be around 110-120 pages (I’m still polishing and performing a ruthless edit as we speak). This is in the tradition of many of my favorite writers who opted for the DIY route, and I’m very excited to share it with you.
This novel was written during last year’s National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, and I started editing in the early part of 2009.
I’m still working on the details--pricing, etc--let’s just say it’ll be a little more than a zine but still fairly inexpensive. Stay tuned for details and excerpts and I'll let you know how to order as soon as I set this up.

Books: Columbine

2009-06-17T10:48:00.001-04:00

Columbine by Dave Cullen

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a thorough and well-written book that delves into the events, causes, and aftermath of the Columbine tragedy. It has been 10 years since the massacre inflicted by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, and answers as to why they did it are still murky. There are many misconceptions about that day, and this book does an excellent job of sorting out the truth, and debunking many of the rumors. 13 students died, many were wounded, and Cullen tells their stories. He explores the nature of psychotics and suggests that any thought that this was a revenge killing are completely false. He explores the journals and videos left behind by the killers and gets to an underlying truth, one that is perhaps unsatisfying to those who need a “why?”: they were disturbed, not motivated by the same desires that motivate normal people, and it is quite possible that nothing could have stopped this (save, of course, preventing the easy access to firearms that allowed it to take shape).

It is tragedy, but there are tales of hope within. Patrick Ireland, the boy who was seen stumbling out the window, has a story that is downright inspiring. After he was shot, he was unable to walk or speak properly. It looked like he would have permanent brain damage and maybe, if he was lucky, he might be able to walk with a crutch, and the occasional support of a wheelchair. But months and months of hard work and a fierce determination led him to a remarkable recovery and today, he lives a life where his injuries do not define him. Now he walks on his own, and the wheelchair is gone.

Reading this, I found myself getting a little pissed at a lot of the people who blamed video games, violent movies, “liberals” and the like for this tragedy. I also got angry at the media for how they picked up and reported the myths, which spread and became like truth. Get past the bullshit. Read this and find out the truth.

View all my reviews.

Nerdfest Videos are up!

2009-06-11T10:30:00.005-04:00

Videos from my most recent performance at Nerdfest 3D are up! Please check out the show you missed! Or re-live the show you made! Note that there are some brand new songs that are not on any of my albums.

Videos courtesy of Miltonius Prime (thanks!)

http://www.myspace.com/miltoniusprime

Frustrating Conversationalist
Sandwich
Old and Cranky
Forget about Youth in Asia
Sit Down, Shut Up
I am a Champion
STDs
I Love Crack
Wash the Dish
Lotion
Man Friend

Notes on Nerdfest, Davey G.

2009-06-08T12:22:00.002-04:00

notes from Nerdfest 3D, The Windup Space, Saturday June 6th.

Openers.

Oh, my, what can I say? Well, for starters, I opened a show for the first time in awhile--it’s what I asked for, I guess, when I said “just don’t put me on last.” Opening has its own advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are the low expectations that make it possible to rise above. How many times in your life have you been to a show where the opening band blows away the headliner? I can think of maybe two or three times that has happened over a good 20 years of going to shows. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, it is truly a special thing.
Then there are the disadvantages of going first. Those low expectations also mean that many people may not bother to show up early, or (even worse) they don’t pay any attention to you.
But for this show, I can say that I had the right crowd, and I think I managed to score a hit. I’ve played some of my new songs at least two or three times now, they’re still not quite stuck in my brain yet (note cards, note cards). I played “Get a load of THAT guy,” “Old and Cranky,” “Sit Down, Shut Up,” and “Frustrating Conversationalist,” as well as all the old classics, and the reception was good.

The Lotion Bit.

I hadn’t done the lotion bit in awhile. The show in March was cold, the show in May was…probably not the best audience (kids). But this time, I had prepped a particularly watery and messy mix, which made for a spectacular show on the floor of the Windup Space (sorry, Russell) and by the end, I had spent another whole bottle on the longest running gimmick of the Davey G and the Keyboard show.

Oh, Crap.
Not long after this, I realized that I had misplaced my wedding ring…it occurred to me that perhaps in the messiness of the lotion bit, it might have slipped off my usually otherwise dry and fat finger. I made the obligatory PA announcement… “uh, hey, if anyone finds my ring…you know, it’s kind of important…looks like a circle…”

Whew.
It turned up just a few hours later. When I was unloading my gear, I did a careful search of everything, and then it turned up inside my keyboard box. So it did not come off during the lotion bit, after all…

Closers.
All in all, a good show, a good crowd. Thanks to everyone who showed up, helped me out, thanks to the Windup Space and Save Vs. Poison for inviting me to play. Maybe I’ll see you next year???

Thanks for reading!
--Davey G.

Ps--there is a video of this show, when I get the URL I will post it here or in another post on the blog.

Davey G at Nerdfest! Saturday, June 6!

2009-05-27T11:00:00.003-04:00

Hi,
So busy, so busy, I never even had time to blog about the wonderful time I had playing Free Comic Book Day last month (thank you all for coming out!).
Why so busy? Well, let’s just say that the Mrs. and I have become homeowners (thank you) and our time has been consumed with things like moving and telling kids to get off my lawn. But it’s all worth it, and now we move on to the next exciting thing, namely, my next appearance at Nerdfest!

Nerdfest 3D!
Saturday, June 6
The Windup Space,
12 W. North Avenue
Baltimore, Maryland
21202
www.thewindupspace.com

What follows is the schedule of events, as they’ve been given to me. Note that I am going on early, around 7:30, so get there early!
Hope to see you there!

--Davey G.

4:00 - OPEN - Gaming begins
7:30 – 8:00 - DAVEY G and the KEYBOARD
8:00 – 8:20 - Science Presentation #1
8:20 – 8:50- MILTONIUS PRIME and MC DIABEATS
8:50 - 9:10 – Science Presentation #2
9:10 - 9:50 –DIRTY MARMADUKE FLUTE SQUAD
9:50 –10:10 - Science Presentation #3
10:10 – 10:50 –BENE GESSERIT WITCH
10:50 – 11:10 - Band transition
11:10 – 11:50 – ABIKU
11:50 – 12:10 - Band transition
12:10 – 12:50 - PERVERSE OSMOSIS
1:00 - CLOSE

Free Comic Book Day with Davey G and Friends!

2009-04-20T09:21:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone,

I’m excited…excited beyond the usual level of excitement that accompanies the announcement of an upcoming show. I’m really hoping that you can come out and see me play at my second Free Comic book Day show on Saturday May 2 at the Collector's Corner in Parkville. I know last year’s was a hoot, with many costumed superheroes and lots of free stuff available. (You must bring your camera, trust me.) And the bands! Even if I wasn’t playing, I’d come out to see the Dune-inspired rock of Bene Gesserit Witch, not to mention the sheer rock power of the Mandroids. Did I mention that this show is FREE? Very excited.

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!
Saturday May 2, 2009 / 10:00am-6:00pm
Collectors Corner 8108-A Harford Rd., Parkville, MD
www.collectorscornermd.com
FREE / ALL AGES
FINAL TIME SCHEDULE
Basically bands on the hour.
5:00 – 5:40 - Mandroids
4:00 – 4:40 - Person Parcel (Gary B)
3:00 – 3:40 - Muscle Twin
2:00 – 2:40 - Davey G and the Keyboard
1:00- 1:40 – Bene Gesserit Witch
12:00 – 12:40 – The Alameda

Thanks for reading!

--Davey G.

Books: The Wishbones by Tom Perrotta

2009-04-05T00:32:00.000-04:00

The Wishbones by Tom Perrotta

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have been reading all the Tom Perrotta books and I think this one might be the saddest, in terms of what it reveals about the nature of dreams and in this case, not knowing when to let them go. Many of the later books involve some middle aged person undergoing a crisis (with the exception of Joe College) but this one is about a somewhat younger character and has the funny yet depressing theme of growing up and getting over your adolescence. This is the story of Dave, guitarist in the wedding group the Wishbones, who somewhat impulsively decides to ask his girlfriend of fifteen years to marry him. The fact that he has been with the same girl...on and off...for so long indicates a serious problem, an inability to get over himself and commit to something other than his music. Additionally, there is his affair with a woman in the city, which tests and challenges his upcoming marriage and makes him wonder why he is going through with it. He is hanging on to his dream of being a rock star when the dream has long since moved past him. It is heartbreaking, but you spend more time laughing out loud at the way the story unfolds.

I enjoy Tom Perrotta's books so much I almost hate that I read them so fast. I also think that he has an excellent sense for writing about relationships, often nailing the many feelings we go through when we are in one. Soooo good! Bad Haircut next!

View all my reviews.

Books: Inventing Niagara

2009-03-18T20:19:00.001-04:00

Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power and Lies by Ginger Strand

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The central premise of this book is that the natural wonder we know as Niagara Falls is in fact an example of how nature is manipulated for man’s own purposes but still sold as “nature.” The author’s love of the subject is obvious--this is as much about her own voyage of discovery as it is about Niagara Falls. We follow her as she meets interesting people associated with the Falls. She describes her many visits to the region, the many people she meets, what she uncovers at the library, the local records, etc. It all comes across in a way that is interesting to read. What we learn in this book is how the power of Niagara was harnessed and then ultimately re-shaped for the benefit of tourism, making it more user-friendly rather than literally just letting it run its course. The history of industry in the area is explored; how manufacturing once thrived until it mostly left for places with cheaper power and lower taxes. The toxic history is presented, from the region’s unwitting role in the development of the atomic bomb to Love Canal and beyond. The last chapter is about the state of the American side of the falls, which has not fared as well as the Canadian side, partly due to the fact that the Canadians had casino gambling to draw people over to their side. Apparently now there is a casino on the American side, but is it really enough to save the region? And should a beautiful natural treasure like Niagara Falls ever need “saving?” The history of the American side reads like a horror story of something that has happened to a lot of once-great American cities.

Over all, this is a good read. It is more of an exploration of the author’s curiosity than it is a call to action for the environment, which is probably a good thing, cause, well, I’m pretty lazy.

View all my reviews.

Irritated at (big surprise) City Paper.

2009-03-18T16:47:00.002-04:00

http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17733

Should I be irritated that this review of Awesomefest doesn't even mention me? I can't help it.

Davey G Awesomefest re-cap.

2009-03-15T11:23:00.006-04:00

Photo by Mike Walley-Rund

This was an afternoon show in the great outdoors in March, which turned out to not be such a great idea; it was eventually moved indoors. But the first 3 acts, including mine, were played in the parking lot, which was fun but cold. It was interesting to have random people walking by or standing in the alley hearing such classics as “I Love Crack” and “Man-Friend,” as well as a couple new ones “Old and Cranky” and “Sit Down, Shut Up.” I had notes on index cards which were blown around in the wind--they’re mostly just place-holders with key words in case I forget something…when I played “Sit Down…” I kind of garbled some of the lines.
Here are a few of them:

“Putting up a fight doesn’t float my boat/
Things are easier now that I’ve given up hope.
Sit Down! Shut Up! Don’t Put up a fight!”

This was one of the few shows in my career where I didn’t do the lotion bit. It was cold, and like I said at the time, I’m dedicated to my craft…but not THAT dedicated.
Admittedly, I did not stick around for most of this, because like my new song says, I’m old and cranky.

BTW…
For anyone interested, I am now on Twitter. I’m still new to it, and for some reason still unable to use it from my phone (which kinda defeats the purpose of it) but I will work this out hopefully soon. My username is “daveygandthe” which I hope will encompass all of my future projects.

I have a lot more information about my next 2 shows but I think this will be enough for now. Check back soon!

--Davey G.

Notes on preparing for Awesomefest this Weekend.

2009-03-12T16:21:00.002-04:00

I’ve been getting my set together for the show this Saturday and it’s looking pretty good--I’m adding possibly 3 brand new songs, including one that I am calling “Old and Cranky.” The other songs are yet to be determined, as I’ll probably be tinkering with the set until the last minute--who knows, I may do more.
It looks like I’m going on around 2:30 or so, but you’ll actually want to get there in time to see Wild Bonerz, who are on before me at around 2. They are a split-off from The Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad and are always entertaining. There will be screenings of movies and a total of 14 bands taking the stage, and it is all to benefit a new comic book shop called Awesometown Comics. It’s mind boggling, crazy even.
This Saturday at the Sidebar.
http://www.sidebartavern.com/
Doors open at 1:30.
In case you haven’t seen the flyer it looks like this:

Hope to see you there.
--Davey G.

Update on the next show at the Sidebar.

2009-03-09T10:37:00.002-04:00

I am re-posting the latest info I have about this show, which is this Saturday, March 14. Note the estimated times of the bands--I should be on at about 2:45, so keep that in mind if you are coming out to see Davey G.
The Sidebar is located at 218 E. Lexington Street in beautiful downtown Baltimore, Maryland.

Awesome fest, march 14th, 2009
1:30: DOORS
2:00-2:25 wild bonerz
2:45-3:10 davey g and the keyboard
3:30-3:55 side affects
4:15-4:40 totalitarian vegetables
5:00-5:30 trash camp
5:50-6:20 pfisters
6:40-7:10 4th horseman
7:30-8:00 werewolves
8:20-8:50 open mic knights
9:10-9:40 cult classics
10:00-10:30 entertainment system
10:50-11:20 bukkake party tonight
11:40-12:10 death in custody
12:30-1:00 stout

in addition to bands playing, we will also be having a screening of "Isle of the Damned" at 2:30 and 8:00, and possibly "Grave Mistakes" at 4:30 and 10:00 inside the bar.

Enjoy!

--Davey G.

Come to see Davey G and the Keyboard on March 14!

2009-03-02T10:35:00.004-05:00

March 14, in just 2 weeks from now, I will be making my first appearance of 2009, with a slew of new songs and a smattering of old ones in a benefit show to raise money for "Awesome Town Comics.” Come check it out!

Take note: this show will start in the afternoon and I will be going on fairly early (probably 2 or 2:30). The order listed below is the order in which the bands will appear.

Saturday, 3/14/ 2009
at the Sidebar
218 East Lexington St, Baltimore MD

$10.00 at the door
doors at 1:30, show at 2.

With:

wild bonerz
Davey G and the keyboard (second! Get there early!!!)
open mic knights
side affects
totalitarian vegetables
trash camp
pfisters
4th horseman
werewolves
cult classics
entertainment system
bukkake party tonight
death in custody
stout
survivors of camp crystal lake

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

--Davey G and the Keyboard, enjoying the snow day.

The Next 3 Davey G and the Keyboard shows!

2009-02-09T12:10:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone,
As promised (I think) here is all the latest information that I have about the next three Davey G and the Keyboard shows.

1. Saturday, 3/14/ 2009
2 p.m
A benefit show to raise money for "Awesome Town Comics"
at the Sidebar
218 East Lexington St, Baltimore MD

$10.00 at the door
doors at 1:30, show at 2.

With (in this order):

wild bonerz
Davey G and the keyboard (so get there early!)
open mic knights
side affects
totalitarian vegetables
trash camp
pfisters
4th horseman
werewolves
cult classics
entertainment system
bukkake party tonight
death in custody
stout
survivors of camp crystal lake

2. Saturday 05/02/2009
12:00 PM - FREE COMIC BOOK DAY
Collectors Corner Comic Shop
8108 Harford Rd PARKVILLE, Maryland 21234
Free
line up so far-
(Mandroids) unconfirmed
Muscle Twin
Gary B and the Notions
Davey G
Bene Gesserit Witch

3. Saturday 06/06/2009
9:00 PM – NERDFEST IN 3-D!
The Windup Space
12 w North Ave Arts District
BALTIMORE, Maryland
$5.00

**MORE DETAILS TO COME
line-up so far-
Bene Gesserit Witch
Davey G
Perverse Osmosis

*** Collectors Corner will be sponsoring Nerdfest which will be IN 3-D! well, we'll be showing 3-d movies at least. (creature from the black lagoon, jaws 3-d, etc...)

This sounds like a fun one--I’ll update as I get more info.
There may be more coming--you'll see it here first!

--Davey G.

A general update on Davey G-related things.

2009-02-04T12:53:00.001-05:00

A fan asked me the other day if I had come out with anything new (music or Davezines) that he had missed. This person has bought everything I have come out with in the last 7 years, and I see him at least 3 or 4 times a week, just the type of person I always make sure to update on new developments.

And it occurred to me that to some, like this person, who have followed my “career," it might seem as though I have dropped off the face of the earth. While it is true that Davezine #14: The Bad Roommate Issue has been put on hold, and I have been quiet on the music front (more on that later) I realized it may be in my best interest to provide an update on what it is I am up to, and what people might have to look forward to from me.

I have been doing more writing in the last 6 months or so than ever before and I am making steady progress in the editing of my novel, The Best of Thunder Johnson. I think it is a great story. It is about a guy who works at a cable access station who inadvertently shows a homemade porno movie over the air, who becomes the focus of a disturbed mental patient’s rage. (I’ve been told that being able to state your book’s plot in a single sentence is a good thing, so to that end this is what my book breaks down to.)
I have some plans for this book, which are still developing. All I can say now is that it is coming, and it is taking up a lot of my time, which is why I haven’t come out with any new printed material yet. I would like everyone to read it when it comes out (hopefully this June) and I may self-publish a limited number of copies, if there is interest. As far as this goes, I will offers details in future messages. (Here’s where I plug getting on the mailing list from my site which will keep you in the loop for any future projects.)
Overall, I am just looking at a big picture and trying to focus on getting this writing thing off the ground. After all, I’ve been doing it for something like 20 years (if you count bad high school writing) so I think it’s time I just strap in for the long haul, because apparently this is what I do. You know. Writing.

As to music, Davey G and the Keyboard…
I have a lot of new songs, and the goal is to incorporate as many of them as I can into my set this year. As it stands, I have 3 shows on the schedule, the next one being March 14 at the Sidebar, with another one in May (TBA) and another in June (also TBA). I might (and this is a big “might”) put out another album this year, or early next year. It really depends on a number of things. I think the show is as great as ever, I encourage people to come check it out.

To review:
Keep an eye out for my novel, The Best of Thunder Johnson,
Listen for the upcoming Davey G and the Keyboard shows,
A possible new Davey G album,
And maybe, just maybe, the Bad Roommate edition of Davezine.

Thanks for reading my blog today.

Davey G.

Books: Supreme Courtship

2009-01-31T10:48:00.000-05:00

Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Supreme Courtship is about a President who, fed up with the Powerful Senate Judiciary Committee rejecting his Supreme Court nominees, decides to get back at them by nominating Pepper Cartwright, a popular TV judge, a choice that will surely trouble the Senate. Of course, there is an election underway with a President who doesn't really want to be re-elected but runs for spite, in the face of an amendment to limit Presidents to only one term--an amendment that was developed because of him. It will be up to the High Court and its newest judge to resolve this Constitutional Crisis.

I think Buckley is superior at what he does. Christopher Buckley is always an entertaining read. His latest, Supreme Courtship, is just one more in which he just makes political comedy look easy. It's not quite up there with Thank You For Smoking, but for my money (or in this case, my library card) give me any one of his books for the plane ride, bus ride, or jury duty, and let everyone wonder what the hell I am laughing at.

View all my reviews.

The most useless “feel good” regulation of the year.

2009-01-28T11:04:00.001-05:00

I put my feelings about the Maryland Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program (or VEIP) in a blog post awhile back, based on my own, unique situation with my 1992 Honda Civic. (for those who don’t feel like reviewing the post: It doesn’t pass the VEIP test, therefore I have to go back every month and pay 14 dollars every time just to keep it on the road, which, as it happens, costs less than it would take for me to fix the car.) Now that Barack Obama is President, there are environmentalists who want him to help them adopt stricter emissions standards that surpass the federal standards.

From yesterday’s Examiner:

“Obama called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to re-examine a Bush administration policy that denied California and other states the ability to set their own emissions standards.”

Environmentalists are thrilled.

“It gives leadership states like Maryland the assurance they will be able to meet their own goals to protect the citizens.”--Derek Walker, director of the California Climate Initiative for the Environmental defense Fund, and former head of the Maryland Democratic Party.

(again--I think cleaning up the environment is important, but my experience with the VEIP is that it just doesn’t work--I outlined this thoroughly in an earlier post)

Go ahead! Raise the emissions standards! My car will still keep coming back and failing the test because the law is still toothless and weak, but hey--it’s no skin off my nose.

Dave “The Polluter” G.

I laid out index cards of all the scenes in my new book...

2009-01-21T12:45:00.001-05:00

...what the hell was I thinking?

Books: I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone

2009-01-05T12:16:00.001-05:00

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuehnert

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very readable and entertaining book. The story is about a young girl whose mother left her at four months old to follow the music of the punk scene. The girl starts her own band, in an effort to bring her mother home. In many ways, the simplicity of this story is appealing. But a few parts of the story lost me, and I will freely admit this has to do with a few of my own personal biases: my dislike of certain cultural institutions like MTV and Rolling Stone Magazine. I loved the part about how the band starts, with all of the natural conflicts and issues that are always there when creative types get together. I was less interested when the band gets unnaturally big, as it seemed…maybe a little unbelievable (but then again, that’s just my own bias.) I was kind of hanging on through the whole “mother left to follow the music” thing, because at my ripe old age it seemed like a dumb reason for a mother to leave. (I think I might not have been the right audience for this book.) But once her real reason for leaving is revealed, it was good to see that it was something much more complicated than that. Throughout the book, the author uses a liberal amount of adverbs which for me was a little distracting, making me very aware that someone is telling a story, preventing me from getting lost in it. I feel like this story is really good and could have benefited from a few less words here and there.

Overall, I respect what the author has done. The story is layered and interesting, with good characters--I like the first person narrative of the daughter-- and all in all it was almost like a history lesson of the punk movement as seen through the eyes of the characters. And the author’s background in “bad poetry” and “DIY feminist ‘zines” are pursuits close to my heart, which is the main reason why I examined this book a little more closely than some others.

View all my reviews.

2009!

2008-12-31T12:05:00.001-05:00

End of year blog post.

It was a good year for Davey G. I wrote my first draft of my first novel (Nanowrimo 08), played seven Davey G and the Keyboard shows, wrote, wrote songs, and wrote some more. So now what’s up for 2009?

--By June, hopefully you will see the final draft of my novel, The Best of Thunder Johnson. It is the story of a man who makes an unfortunate mistake in his night job at the cable access station, which causes him to become the focus of a disturbed mental patient’s rage. I’ve got good hopes for this one! Check this space for future details!

--A new Davey G set. I hope to revise my set to encompass all new material, including some of the new songs I debuted in 2008, with a sub-set devoted to the classics. (Don’t worry, Man-Friend isn’t going anywhere.)
And while I’m on the subject of shows:

--For this year, I am going to make every attempt to do my act only on weekends, or before holidays or barring that, early on weekdays. This “going on late” thing just isn’t working out for me.

Next show is March 14 at the Sidebar, where I should be going on third, sometime in the afternoon.

--Nanowrimo 09! Nanowrimo 08 changed my life. I hope to make the second novel one to remember.

Those are just a few of the things. I hope to see many of you out at the Davey G show, and hope you enjoy my book when it comes out!

Dave G.

http://www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Next Week at the Sidebar...Davey G!

2008-12-01T13:00:00.003-05:00

Hi,
Next week at the Sidebar…
DAVEY G AND THE KEYBOARD
with
Rare Candy
Markitect
and
Contra

Thursday, December 11, 9 p.m.
7 dollars.

The Sidebar is located at
218 E. Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
http://sidebartavern.com/

Hope to see you there!

--Davey G.

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Finished!

2008-11-28T19:16:00.001-05:00

Finished writing my novel yesterday.
It is called "The Best of Thunder Johnson."

Details to come...

Davey G.

We are on the edge of the beginning of the far turn, heading toward the backstretch.

2008-11-20T10:47:00.000-05:00

A-hem. As of yesterday, November 19, my birthday (thank you) I am at the 35,000 word mark in the National Novel Writing Month challenge of writing a 50, 000 word novel in a month.
The title for this, my first novel is: The Best of Thunder Johnson. I describe it as satire/parody, but it is at this point more about survival than quality. I hope to be finishing up this wonderful little mess I’ve been making (which hopefully will be a gem when I go back to edit later) before the upcoming holiday, but if not, there’s still the better part of a weekend to get this done. So here I go, hope to report back as a Nanowrimo “winner” (all those who get to 50,000 are considered winners) the next time I post.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/312315

--Dave “The Novelist” G.

I got a new hat...

2008-11-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

...to replace the one that got run over by a train.

Who looks better, me or Homer?

--Dave "The Time Waster" G.

Nanowrimo update

2008-11-13T23:08:00.002-05:00

I am now at the halfway point in my 50,000 word novel that I am supposed to write in 30 days. It has taken many turns, and I’m not sure what will happen between now and the dramatic ending I have planned, but it’s been a good run so far.

In other news…I think I will call my children’s album “Rated ‘G’”

Anyway…
check on my progress here.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/312315
thanks for reading!
Dave

Positive Press for Davey G and Friends!

2008-11-10T10:11:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone,
I just wanted to direct your attention to this review of my last show at the Windup Space. It’s from the Baltimore Examiner.
http://www.examiner.com/x-1201-Baltimore-Band-Examiner~y2008m11d6-Review-Saturday-Nov-1-at-The-WindUp-Space
It's in 2 parts, got to part 2 for the Davey G review.
Thanks!
Dave

Week one of my quest for 50,000 words in a month.

2008-11-06T13:09:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to post here to update on my progress on the Nanowrimo challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in the span of 30 days. It has been one week and so far I am on pace and I just wanted to reflect on what I’ve noticed.
I’m learning a few things about myself, and my writing, and noting how this deviates from my usual writing habits. For one thing, this is not easy. It is very difficult to crap out words when you are unsure that it will ever make it to the re-write stage. For another thing, I have a very, very hard time killing my Inner Editor. My short stories are usually idea-based and they live and breathe through painful editing. This is the exact opposite of that. This is just me trying to plow forward and tell myself that, crap as it might be, I need to keep moving. Quality is not the point.
You see, in the first day or so I sat down and typed, typed , typed and built up a nice word cushion…and then promptly realized that I did not like what I was writing, at least not enough to spend a month with it. So I started to focus on a character I liked and made the story all about him, all the while keeping what I’d written for the sake of word count (and hell, it might still fit in later). So what I have is a delightful mess.
But as Chris Baty, the founder of this event writes, that is probably exactly the point.
Anyway…my word count is 12,008. My story is moving along, but I have no idea where it will go. Stay tuned, be my writing buddy.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/312315

My First Foray into Novel Writing.

2008-10-29T12:24:00.001-04:00

My First Foray into Novel Writing.

It is almost November, and I have been quietly preparing for the National Novel Writing Month, or Nanowrimo.
http://www.nanowrimo.org/

My wife has been encouraging me to do this for the last few years and finally, finally, I am going to undertake the epic quest of writing a 50,000 word novel in the span of 30 days. This a challenge that will trump any of my previous writing accomplishments.

I have an idea, and have been keeping a notebook--all of that will remain a secret until I can actually pump this thing out. My life is already pretty well-structured to accomplish this, with days that are blocked for creative pursuits, and I think I’ve laid down some pretty good writing habits in the last few years that will help with this.

So now I’ve told you. Now I’m Committed. 50 thousand words in 30 days or bust.

I encourage anyone out there to join me, to write their own novel and to be a part of my support group. You can find me at the Nanowrimo site. Be my friend! http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/312315

Saturday will be Day One. It is also the day of my big show at the Windup Space (12 W. North Ave, 9 p.m. Davey G and the Keyboard with Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad, Bene Gesserit Witch and Markitect) I hope you can be a part of one or the other, or both.
www.myspace.com/thewindupspace

(This book will help. It is written by the guy who founded Nanowrimo.)
http://books.google.com/books?id=O8aRltYgWsUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=no+plot+no+problem#PPP1,M1
Thanks a lot! I’ll let you know how it’s going!

Dave.

This Document is 249 words. Now it’s 254. Now it’s 260...

So many video games...

2008-10-20T10:38:00.001-04:00

For anyone interested...I am selling my duplicate copies of Atari Games on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=250312028035

Davey G and the Keyboard at the Windup Space!

2008-10-13T13:31:00.003-04:00

It's been awhile, but now I have some new songs and am playing with a great line-up at a fabulous new bar. Come out and see!

Saturday, November 1
At the Windup Space
www.myspace.com/thewindupspace
12 W. North Avenue
Baltimore, MD
21201
Doors at 9.
5 bucks

With:
Davey G and the Keyboard
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

The Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad
www.betterhollywood.com/dmfs.htm

Bene Gesserit Witch
http://www.myspace.com/benegesseritwitch

Markitect
http://www.myspace.com/mindblowingrock

Come out for a great night of post-Halloween entertainment!

Stuff I'm Reading: Breaking Free, by Herschel Walker

2008-10-02T10:01:00.000-04:00

Breaking Free by Herschel Walker

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
Herschel Walker's battle with Dissociative Identity Disorder should be a fascinating story, but I wasn't nearly as interested as I might have thought. I can't tell if the problem lies with the way the book is written or if it's the story itself: do I blame the ghost writers or the man himself for not having an interesting enough story?

I choose to blame the ghost writers, since it was up to them to shape his life in a manner that would make for a better read. (But it doesn't help that there is way too much Jesus in this book.) In better hands, this would have been a good read.

But I commend the fact that Walker came out about this bizzare illness, and it has helped to clear up my own misunderstandings about it. So I will just say that it is only ok.

View all my reviews.

Stuff I'm Reading: The Spy Next Door

2008-09-17T10:50:00.001-04:00

The Spy Next Door: The Extraordinary Secret Life of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Damaging FBI Agent in U.S. History by Elaine Shannon

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the true story upon which the movie "Breach" was based, about Robert Hanssen, the man who worked for the FBI and spied for the Soviet Union (and after the breakup of the USSR, Russia) for over 20 years. It is a fascinating story--how this pious, upstanding, downright boring man was able to fool everyone around him as he passed along infomation in "dead drops" as "Ramon Garcia." The more I read, I also gained a real understanding of how something like 9-11 happened without it being uncovered by intelligence agencies. The technology the FBI possessed was behind the times, the flow of information amongst intelligence agencies was poor, plus there was an attitude among the people of the FBI that their agents were of a higher caliber than most people, and were beyond reproach and incapable of such treachery.

The book is written pretty much like an extended magazine article, offering background when needed, trying to offer answers where possible, but still the best answer is that no one really knows why Hanssen did what he did. And to this day the information he sold to our enemies could still be used to hurt us. Frightening stuff.

View all my reviews.

More Davey G musical updates.

2008-09-04T10:26:00.001-04:00

I have compiled over a dozen new songs since the last time I played live, and my hope is that maybe half of them are usable. Yesterday I wrote a song called “Frustrating Conversationalist” which will I will probably open with soon, and “Pimple,” a song about keeping your problems in perspective, because it is my solemn hope that Davey G will one day improve your life through my message of self-help and spiritual guidance.
The key to writing Davey G songs, as I’ve learned after all this time, is to just let go and tap into the inner shower-singer in all of us…to record those little moments in the car when I have no radio and I’m singing to myself things like “Bob Bob Bob, Bob Bob or Ann” and wondering if that Beach Boys song is really about a bi-sexual trying to decide if he’s going to spend the night with a boy, Bob, or a girl, Ann. And then someone tells me that the song is actually “Barbara Ann”…but I think that my version is funnier. I digress.

I have 2 shows coming up this fall/winter, with the possibility of a third. The first is Saturday, November 1, at the Windup Space at 12 W. North Avenue in Baltimore. I will be playing with The Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad, Bene Gesserit Witch and Markitect. This should be a really great show where you can first hear some of the new Davey G material.

I will have another show on Thursday, December 11 at the Sidebar, at 218 E. Lexington Street in Baltimore. Details forthcoming, as this was just arranged yesterday.

Being on my mailing list is the best way to know when the shows happen. Go to the “Contact Me” link on my site and e-mail me, and I will add you.
Thanks for reading today!

--Davey G.

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Stuff I'm Reading: America Between the Wars

2008-08-31T14:11:00.000-04:00

America Between the Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11 by Derek Chollet

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a refreshing history that steers clear of editorializing, cheerleading or any of the things that could have made this partisan pap. As the title states, this is a history from the fall of the Berlin Wall (11-9) to 9-11, and how in spite of what we think, 9-11 did not "change everything." The 12 years between the end of the Cold War and the beginning of the War on Terror were years where there was great struggle to determine what the role of the U.S in the world would be--how military and economic issues would shake out in the wake of the fall of Communism. Clinton does not get off easy, neither does Bush, but in revealing faults the authors also show how the U.S' Iraq policy in 2008 is really just an extension of policies that were already in place.

While I love a good book that gleefully trashes the current administration, I really benefited more from this type of history that puts the present into perspective.

View all my reviews.

Kyle, and why VEIP sucks.

2008-08-20T13:25:00.004-04:00

Kyle, My hard-luck little car.

This is an update on the status of Kyle, my 1992 Honda Civic VTEC, and why I really hate the Maryland Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program (VEIP).

My car has been unable to pass the VEIP, which is a test that all cars in Maryland have to take every two years to help reduce carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, thereby helping to control pollution. In theory, I am totally in favor of this. But in practice, it is a seriously messed up system, and here is why.

As some readers may remember, my car had a problem last year where my door did not shut, and therefore I had to hold it shut with a rope and then climb out the passenger’s side door. Because of this, I asked for an extension on my emissions test, as it requires the testers to get in and out of the car. I had three more months to put off taking this test while I tried to figure out the problem. Then, in what I referred to as the Christmas Miracle, Kyle was fixed, and I was overjoyed to finally be able to enter and exit my car like a real person. I immediately took him to the emissions facility…and failed, and was given another three month extension.

One of the ways to get a waiver for this test is if you can show you have spent at least $450 in emissions-related repairs. I took him to my mechanic, and he pretty much said that he’d have a really hard time working up that kind of a bill for me to get a waiver, and furthermore, some older cars just cannot pass this test. And furthermore than that, the VEIP level of $450 is not cumulative. In other words, you can’t drop $200, fail, and then spend another $250 and count it as $450 and get a waiver--you have to spend that much before the test. I decided it would be better to just wait until the three months were almost up and then give Kyle a tune-up and see if that would help.

I waited the three months, got the tune-up (this tune-up would cost about $220)
and went to the emissions place…and failed again. Now what? I wondered.

Question: What happens when your car keeps failing the emissions test?

Answer: Nothing.

Nothing happens. They gave me an inspection certificate with a new due date on it, one month from that date. I went into the office and I asked them, “What happens if my car keeps failing?”
“You keep coming back,” was the answer. And you keep paying $14 every time. And now I have come back and failed the emissions test every month since April. I now have a stack of papers from every failed test, and now I come to my point about why VEIP sucks:
My car, which according to their test which is designed to curb pollution, fails that test every month. According to their test, my car pollutes beyond a reasonable degree. But the only consequence is that I just have to keep coming back and giving them money every month, so that I am complying with the law. I had grave fears that failing emissions meant that I had to take my car off the road or something, but apparently that fear was unfounded. The state of Maryland apparently doesn’t actually care whether my car pollutes or not--they just want me to keep paying $14 a month to stay out of trouble.

What a fucking toothless law. Never mind the fact that my car averages less than 6000 miles a year, that the trip to the emissions place constitutes the most driving I do all month. (I ride my bike everywhere, I walk all the time and my car is mostly for errands or get my equipment to shows, so if anyone is going to accuse me of being “part of the problem” of climate change, they need to calm down.)

It is actually cheaper for me to go ahead and pay the $14 every month than it would be to actually fix my car (and believe me, while I love Kyle, he is 15 years old and I am not putting any more serious money into him).

So to review: My car, while running great, is not passing the VEIP test; the VEIP program is toothless and silly.

Not that I am unhappy that no one’s taking my car off the road or anything, but every month I do this silly pain in the ass trip to the emissions place and every month I fail and every month I give the state of Maryland $14 to keep my “polluting” car on the road.
How does this help the environment?

Davey “The polluter” G.
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Davey G and his (Parenthetical) Album.

2008-08-14T12:45:00.000-04:00

Creative inertia is all about killing the editor inside your head, writing what you want to write without going “nah, that sucks.” There will be plenty of time for others to say that later.
In the last three days I’ve pumped out more writing and new songs than I had in awhile because one idea paves the way for two or three more. For now, I will continue to write songs for the album for which I am using the working title of “(Parenthetical).”

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

New Davey G songs in the works.

2008-08-13T10:41:00.001-04:00

I’ve been down in the studio the last few days, putting together words with tunes and I think the results will end up on the next album. As it stands, I have the makings of 8 new songs. This seems to be the way in which I work--a lot of material coming out all at once.
What to look forward to at the next Davey G show: A really bizarre tango song, and a country ditty. And I think my next album might all be songs with parenthetical (like this!) titles. Maybe I’ll call the album “Parenthetical.” Though it’s probably been done before.

With any luck…2 new shows are in the works. Check back, and if you’re not already, get on my mailing list, through the link on my site!
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Stuff I'm Reading: Charlatan by Pope Brock

2008-08-07T10:04:00.000-04:00

Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Dr. J.R Brinkley, the world’s greatest quack in the golden age of quacks of the ‘20s and ‘30s, pioneered a technique in which he injected goat testicles into the testicles of men, in an effort to increase their virility. The operation was a fraud, but thousands of patients submitted themselves to this “treatment,” making Dr. Brinkley a very rich man and raising the ire of Dr. Fishbein, the man who eventually brought him down.

Along the way, however, Brinkley also pioneered some non-medical promotional techniques, many of which are still in use today. He helped to popularize early country music, bringing it to the masses as it had never been brought before. His “border blaster” radio transmissions and his airplane tours used in his campaign for Governor of Kansas were the predecessors of many modern political campaign tools. He was a uniquely American creation, almost a folk hero, for whom even the exposure of the fraud he had perpetuated failed to dull his image. And Fishbein’s actions in his effort to bring him down brought about the regulatory teeth of the American Medical Association, thereby (hopefully) ensuring that the doctor you see today has a real degree from a real college and is in fact, licensed to treat you.

View all my reviews.

Apropos of absolutely nothing at all…

2008-08-04T14:50:00.002-04:00

I just downloaded The Dollyrots album, “Because I’m Awesome.” They just played in my hometown of Pittsfield Massachusetts, and for possibly the first time ever, I actually wish I could have been back there instead of here.
It’s a three piece power pop/punk with a female singer--lots of fun, great energy, reminds me of The Fastbacks. I got hooked on the title track “Because I’m Awesome” when I thought about changing my name to Mr. Awesome.

Andy Poncherello has hosted this band back in the homeland a few times now and the band itself now claims Pittsfield (my hometown) as its adopted home city on their Myspace page, which gives me a small swelling of pride.
I just wanted to spread the joy and hopefully maybe you’ll like them as much as I do.

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Links, recaps...

2008-07-21T10:35:00.002-04:00

I haven’t posted in about a month and now I think it’s hard to get back into it. As Jim Gaffigan says in his new routine, “You ever have a friend who you go so long without calling that you decide to end the friendship?” But it’s nothing like that with this blog, I just haven’t been on top of it lately.
So today I’m posting about the things that I have been up to, and maybe a few things that are upcoming.

*The July 3 show at the Sidebar turned out to be the best show of the 4 that I have played in the last 2 months (lot of numbers, I know.) There were lots of people there, and many of the more rabid new fans stood right up front, which was admittedly a little disturbing. I was a somewhat nervous when I realized that I would be unable to play through my second keyboard due to technical difficulties, and I had to reorganize my set. But 8 years of keyboardin’ means I have a lot of songs in the tank.

*Weird Al, July 11, Pier 6 in Baltimore. Great, once again.

*Jim Gaffigan, July 18, Landmark Theater in Richmond, VA. Hot Pockets! The Sexy Tour. He is a funny man.

*July 19. Visited the Museum of the Confederacy and the Confederate White House in Richmond. Not as disturbing as you might think. I’m a big history fan, and the White House is an absolute must see if you are another history fan.

*Saw The Dark Knight. Stop screwing around and go see this freakin’ movie!

I’m getting back to writing some more. I plan to come out with the next Davezine (#14) this fall, the issue about Bad Roommates. I decided that the format to my zine will change a little. After 3 years of short stories (a novella, even) I think I want to go back to a shorter form that may be more inviting to new readers. This one should also have some contributors.
We’ll see about the fall schedule of performances. I will of course post any new shows in this space.

That is all for now. Thanks for reading my blog today!

Davey G.

If you have been missing Davey G...

2008-06-23T10:29:00.003-04:00

Davey G and the Keyboard at the Sidebar!
Thursday, July 3

Recently I have been playing some of the best shows of my Davey G and the Keyboard career, with eight year’s worth of songs, two keyboards and countless bottles of lotion. I invite you to come out to see the next one and see what you’ve been missing!

With
The Aggromatics,
Media Darling
Rocky 3
Singleton.

(probably a 7 dollar cover for this wonderful line-up)

The Sidebar is located at 218 E. Lexington Street, at the corner of Lexington and Guilford. On-street parking is available in front of the club, on Guilford, or on Lexington by the courthouse.

Metro Gallery. 6-15

2008-06-16T15:01:00.000-04:00

With Everthus the Deadbeats, Person Parcel, and Quartet Offensive.

There is certainly an advantage to having done a show a few days earlier--this is as close as I get to a “touring” mentality, where I might play consecutive days. This time, it was the Metro Gallery, my first time there.
Nice space--good size, comfortable seating, the sound is really kick-ass. When their bar is in place, I believe this will become the trifecta of performance spaces: comfort for the crowd, good sound with a nice sized stage for the musicians, and a bar for everyone.

To the show itself…it was truly an eclectic mix, starting with my low budget musical comedy, and ending with Jazz.
I opened, and largely played the same set as I did at the Sidebar. The one difference is a change I will probably effect into all my shows now, and that is the inclusion of a plastic tarp to catch the lotion from the “lotion” bit. It made the bit funnier, because it was putting a lot more production into this silly-ass bit that I’ve been doing for eight years. Good show for me.

Everthus the Deadbeats (from Indianapolis, Indiana) played a great show--versatile musicians who switched instruments, I thought of it as a weird cross between the Doors, Country Music from another planet, and the Cramps. But I’m really not sure if that covers it. Good stuff!

Person Parcel (My second time with them.) Gary B. and Ryn with an acoustic guitar and vocals, a folky, catchy, sing-along-foot stomping show. They are a fun duo.

I was packed up and on my way out during Quartet Offensive, which is in no way meant to diminish their music, but such is the reality of the Sunday night show.

I hope that some of you can make it out to my next show, which will be at the Sidebar on Thursday, July 3.

6-11, Sidebar

2008-06-12T13:17:00.001-04:00

Tough night. It being Wednesday, in the summertime, with many people either needing to get up for work in the morning, or still at work or just unable to be up at midnight to see a Davey G show…turnout was light. I had to summon forth the words of (of all people) Henry Rollins, who wrote about this in Get in the Van--he was talking about playing a show where only 2 people came. He was pissed off about it, until someone changed his mind and told him that it shouldn’t matter: those 2 people came, they paid, and they deserved to see as good a show as he could do. Remembering that, I did the best show I could do. And as far as that went, it was great. The people there, the other bands, their friends were very energetic and happy to be there.

Some of my best stuff came out last night. As I played to this room, “Fantasy World,” with its’ message about how nothing I do will ever matter, really rang true (but believe me, if you know me personally, you know that I am optimistic to the point of obnoxiousness, and this “message” is only half-serious). And when I rebounded from that depressing song with my happy anthem of self-affirmation, “I am a Champion” I really put my heart into it. I put “Wash the Dish” at the end, with all my annoyance and “professional” frustration on display. While I would liked to have played for a packed house, sometimes it’s just better to have those few people who really enjoy what I’m doing.

Fourth Grade Security Risk could be like my musical cousin--he plays with keyboards and his songs are really funny. He also has a really good singing voice. I told him so.
http://www.fgsr.net/

Markitect was again, great--guitars with sequencers a la (here you go again with this comparison) Atom and His Package. The songs are catchy, fun, and funny. He talks a lot. That’s what he says when he’s on the stage. But I don’t mind.
www.myspace.com/mindblowingrock

Rare Candy, an offshoot of Entertainment System, are a video game music band. There is some amazing musical talent here, performed very tight--I really think the keyboardists are terrific. They make me feel inferior about my own keyboarding.
http://www.myspace.com/rarecandyband

Books I'm Reading.

2008-06-12T11:46:00.001-04:00

(I'm going to go back to putting my book reviews on my blog...here's one now)

The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America by David Hajdu

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is about that period of time after World War II and before the advent of TV and Rock ‘N Roll, when Comic books were seen as a scourge, a threat to the moral fiber of the country, meant to be stamped out at all costs. It’s pretty shocking to realize how little has changed, how every few years there is some new thing that reactionary types need to hold as responsible for society’s evils. There is never a sense of the “shit happens” or the ability to see a big picture. As a result, the comic industry, with all the talented artists and writers were destroyed, giving way to a new wave of comics with superheroes with pure morals and no ambiguity. Lost forever were the great books of the pre-comic code era, some of which I have in reprints from the ‘90s. Comics were forced to become squeaky-clean, and the wave of comic book hysteria described in this book is to blame.

View all my reviews.

shows

2008-06-09T12:35:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone,
Come out this Wednesday for my next show!

If you miss that, I’m also playing a show on Father’s Day at the Metro Gallery.
Sunday, June 15
Davey G and the Keyboard at the Metro Gallery! With Everthus the Deadbeats, Person Parcel and Quartet Offensive. 1700 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Doors at 8!

Hope to see you there!

(to unsubscribe from this list, write “Unsubscribe” in the subject line of an e-mail)

The Summer of G!

2008-05-28T14:11:00.002-04:00

Let's just make this official...it's the Summer of G!

The Summer of G!
Davey G and the Keyboard’s June/July Shows!

Wednesday, June 11
Davey G and the Keyboard At the Sidebar! With Markitect and Fourth Grade Security Risk! 218 E. Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Doors at 9!
http://www.sidebartavern.com/

Sunday, June 15
Davey G and the Keyboard at the Metro Gallery! with Everthus the Deadbeats, Person Parcel and Quartet Offensive. Doors at 8!
www.themetrogallery.net

Thursday, July 3
Davey G and the Keyboard at the Sidebar! With S1NGLETON, Rocky 3(PA), Media Darling and Aggromatics.
218 E. Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Doors at 9!
http://www.sidebartavern.com/

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Davey G and the Keyboard’s June/July Tour Dates!

2008-05-12T15:03:00.001-04:00

Strap Yourself in, Kids!

June
June 1. No show.
June 2. No show.
June 3. No show.
June 4. Off
June 5. Off.
June 6. No show.
June 7 Off
June 8. Off
June 9. Nothing happening tonight
June 10. Or tonight.
June 11. Davey G and the Keyboard At the Sidebar! With Markitect and Fourth Grade Security Risk! 218 E. Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Doors at 9!
June 12. Hey, I just played last night, what the hell do you expect?
June 13. Off.
June 14. Nope.
Sunday, June 15th, 2008. Davey G and the Keyboard at the Metro Gallery!
www. themetrogallery. net
with Everthus the Deadbeats
Person Parcel
Quartet Offensive
Doors are at 8pm.
June 16. Off.
June 17. No show.
June 18. No Davey G show tonight.
June 19. Nope.
June 20. Off.
June 21. Hey, Man, I got a life outside of Davey G.
June 22. No show.
June 23. Davey G will not be appearing tonight.
June 24. No.
June 25. No shows for a few days.
June 26. Off
June 27. Off.
June 28. Nothing.
June 29. Zilch,
June 30. Off night.
July
July 1. Off
July 2. No show.
July 3. Davey G and the Keyboard at the Sidebar! 218 E. Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. Doors at 9!
The last night of the Tour!
With other bands TBA!

Much excitement!
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

I Saw a Laser Printer…

2008-05-08T15:43:00.002-04:00

Davezine numbers 9 through the most recent Davezine 13 (not including number 11) have all been printed on the trusty HP PSC 750, an inkjet printer/scanner/copier which I have used the living crap out of ever since picking it up sometime in 2002 (or maybe it was 2001?). I have plowed ahead with this printer, using it far beyond its’ intended capacity, even as the panel instructions were displayed in French, refilling the ink after about every 400 or so copies. It has been a finicky, yet durable little guy, and as I am unnaturally loyal to inanimate objects (my partner is a keyboard), it is always hard to admit that I need to move on and make an upgrade.

I decided that Davezine Number 13 would be the last zine to come from the PSC 750. I can describe the process of assembling this zine at home with a printer that only does about 6 pages a minute, but let’s just say it takes an unnaturally long time to put out, say 100 copies of a 40 page publication with this kind of technology. It is with the zine, and my sanity in mind that I look to the future of the Davey G enterprise.

I am buying a new printer. Don’t know exactly when, or what kind (but I have some ideas) and it will be a laser printer. Life has been pretty good to me, and I can actually afford to move out of these dark ages and start printing like a real man.

UPDATE: …and I got one!

I wrote that last part this morning, then decided to look on-line, resuming the search I had started a few weeks ago. And then I went to Staples. And they had the one I was looking for: an HP LaserJet 3055. A clearance discount, and I got the very last one in the store.

I hooked it up, and let me tell you: HOLY CRAP!!! These copies absolutely blow away my old printer. Just for the hell of it, I am copying Davezine #10. Yes. I am now printing like a real man.

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com
(if you can believe it, I have 3 new shows coming up to announce, so stay handy, or tuned in, or whatever the kids are saying...)

A Triumph...

2008-05-04T11:24:00.000-04:00

Saturday, May 3, 2008
Free Comic Book Day.

This was an outdoor show at a rather large gathering. I find there are two types of shows that I play, and each is a different challenge. The first type is the one where people come to see a live performance, where they have paid money and know what they are getting into when they come. The second type is the one where I am playing somewhere, at a party or whatever and there may be a lot of people there but they are not necessarily interested in seeing me or my music. It is then the challenge of trying to win over those people who may or may not even care. This is essentially what this show was for me.

I was playing at one in the afternoon and I tailored my set to be what I called “PG-13.” That is, no STD’s, no I Love Crack and no F-words. Even so, my set will never be exactly child-friendly. I still use bad words like “ass” and “Goddamn,” but Goddammit my ass was at least trying. It went well--I did 12 songs, captured on my 3 dollar tape recorder. I had spent the week making practice tapes and as I listen to the tape made of this show, it is not very much different--which is kind of the point. I was pleased. Now if only I can start bringing my camera to these things, next time I will have more/better pictures for you--this was a colorful crowd of costumed superheroes, little kids, middle-aged comic book fans, punk rockers, and parents of little kids.

Big thanks to the Mandroids for inviting me, Pablonius Bill and Person Parcel for playing. Thanks to Collector’s Corner. Apologies to the bands I didn’t stick around for because I had to go to work.

Anyone who wants a copy of one of the remaining 4 cassette tapes from a week’s worth of practices leave a comment and I will see what I can do.

Thanks for reading! More shows coming up soon!

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Saturday's Line-up for Free Comic Book Day!

2008-05-01T09:07:00.002-04:00

The Line-up (with approximate times)

1-1:20 Davey G. & the Keyboard
1:25-1:45 Person Parcel
1:50-2:10 Mandroids
2:15-2:35 Pablonious Bill
2:40-3:00 Rare Candy

Saturday at the Collector’s Corner…
Free Comic Book Day!
8108 A Harford Road
Baltimore, MD
21234

Hope to see you there!

--DGK

Davey G’s Experiment in sales of single copy analog cassette tapes (OR…would anyone actually want that?)

2008-04-28T14:23:00.003-04:00

Davey G’s Experiment in sales of single copy analog cassette tapes (OR…would anyone actually want that?)

I am trying something radically different for this next show…at least, I am offering something I have never offered before: a very unique look into my practice regimen. You see, for this show only, I am making recordings of my practices which will be available for sale at my show on Saturday. Only one copy of each practice will exist, making it one of a kind. Oh yeah--it’s cassette tape only. Analog. And there will only by 5: one for each practice this week. So you need to jump on it, if you want a copy.
Each tape is 15 songs long--my set, warts and all, and will be available for 3 bucks.

Saturday’s (probable) Set:

Handshake
Drinking Beer at Grandma’s House
Sandwich
Bed
Office Supply Store
Irritating
Chairman of the Keyboard
Fantasy World
I am a Champion
Wash the Dish
Atari Generation
Be My Friend
Lotion
Man-Friend
Breaking the Law.

Come out to the Collector’s Corner this weekend for free Comic Book Day!
8108 A Harford Road
Baltimore, MD
21234
With Davey G and the Keyboard, the Mandroids, Pablonious Bill, and Person Parcel!

Come around noon to catch the bands--I’ll try to update you on times as soon as I can!
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Davey G at Free Comic Book Day, May 3!

2008-04-23T10:52:00.002-04:00

Yes, it's true. I'm playing the Free Comic Book Day at Collector's Corner on Harford Road. This is a free show, with the Mandroids!
Collector's Corner
8108 A Harford Road
Baltimore, MD
21234
Around 1 pm.

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Davezine #13 now available!!!

2008-03-31T12:51:00.002-04:00

Davezine #13
With
Low Level Bureaucrats 3:
The Rise of the Collective
(the conclusion of the Low Level Bureaucrats Trilogy)
40 pages,
$3
Available now!

Order it now by going to my site and using PayPal.
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com
Or you can also send 3 dollars, plus a dollar for postage to me:
Dave Cookson
P.O Box 23568
Baltimore, MD
21203
I will send it to you immediately, if not sooner.

Or, finally, get it at these fine stores:

Atomic Books
1100 W. 36th Street, Baltimore, MD 21211
www.atomicbooks.com

Reptilian Records
2545 N. Howard Street,
Baltimore, MD 21218
www.reptilianrecords.com

Enjoy!

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Davey G shirt found at Goodwill!

2008-03-30T11:16:00.003-04:00

"I donated it after he signed with a major label. Man, what a sell-out!"

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

My new zine will be available Monday!

2008-03-27T12:47:00.002-04:00

After more than a year since the last one, Davezine #13 will hit the streets this Monday, March 31st. Low Level Bureaucrats 3: The Rise of the Collective. Look for it on-line (look for the link here soon!) or at many local stores (also to be listed here.) Initial readings of the zine have been positive, and I can’t wait for everyone to check it out.

Read Low Level Bureaucrats 3: The Rise of the Collective! THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE THE COLLECTIVE …

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Sidebar, 3-20 wrap-up.

2008-03-23T17:13:00.004-04:00

photos by 1L Productions, Inc.
with Entertainment System,
Pieness,
Scout,
and
Markitect.
It was one of those nights where I might have had too long to hang around, resulting in a very “balls-to the wall” sort of effort that can only happen when you’re musically backed-up are really hyped up to perform.

Markitect opened the show playing with a guitar/laptop one man band set-up, a la Atom and His Package, and had a very professorly way about him as he explained his songs and responded to the crowd (or to the dumb comments I made). Pieness’ video game based solo act was a big hit, a great lead-in for the Entertainment System, who really rocked this evening. I really felt like there was a good fit here, with fans who truly grasped the esoterics of the video-gaming world. Scout played with great energy and seemed to win a number of fans from those assembled, even though this was the only non-electronic or video-game related act of the night.

My act was an attempt to move forward in the land of Davey G. I tried out some new things, played with two keyboards and did five songs I’d never before played live. It was a little bit of a curveball for me, and I think that was good. I might not want to scream so much next time, but it worked for this show.
I couldn’t find my bag with the lotion in it for that bit, but I started playing anyway while everyone hunched down in that “searching” position to look for it, to much unplanned amusement. Matty found it and the result of the search was the satisfying conclusion to a great show of 2008.

All in all, it was a good bill of many worthy champions of the Baltimore music machine, and I was proud to have helped put it together. I am thankful to everyone who came out for this, and as always, a big thanks to the Sidebar for having me.

See you next time!

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com
Check out some video from the show here!
gen.metacafe.com/watch/1176911/sidebar/

Something Very Special for Tonight.

2008-03-20T11:38:00.003-04:00

Although the scheduled release date for the new Davezine #13 is not until March 31, for a limited (and I mean very limited) few, I have made advance copies, which will be available tonight at the Davey G and the Keyboard show at the Sidebar.

So if you are thinking about coming out, and need another reason, put availability of Davezine #13, The Rise of the Collective on your list.

See you there!

Doors/show at 8. 5 bands, me last. With Markitect, Pieness, Entertainment System, and Scout. Come!

www.daveygandthekeyboard.com