My uncle Butchie, who I immortalized in Blade of Dishonor, used to say “another weekend shot in the ass,” on Friday mornings over coffee at my Grams’s kitchen table. Technically, Friday was the beginning of the weekend, but we never argued with him. And the end of July feels like summer has peaked, even if August is the height of the season, at least here in New Jersey.
My Grams was a worrier, and I inherited it from her. I can’t help but think of what’s ahead. And lately, I’d rather not.
A reminder; the first new paid subscriber wins a signed copy of the new issue of Vautrin, with stories by me, Zach Vasquez, Michael Bracken, Eli Cranor, Curtis Ippolito, Dennis Tafoya, Saira Viola, and more:
I watched All Hail the Popcorn King, Hansi Oppenheimer’s tribute documentary to Champion Mojo Storyteller and Martial Arts Grandmaster Joe R. Lansdale. It’s a fun treat for fans of the writer’s work, and a great introduction if you vaguely know him as the creator of Hap & Leonard, that short-lived, fantastic TV series based on his beloved and groundbreaking books. Hap is a white straight war resister; Leonard is a gay Black Vietnam Vet. And they are best friends, despite their ongoing arguments and philosophical differences. It was a story we needed when Savage Season hit the shelves in 1990, and we need it even more now. You can rent the video here.
That’s Joe pretending to put me in a finger lock. I say that because he’s a master and I am a dojo doofus mat rat; would I roll with him? Hell yeah, because I’m as dumb and friendly as a pit bull and I’ll roll with anybody; Keigo Kunihara accidentally cracked my sternum when I trained with him, and Joe could throw me and break my neck if he wanted. But from watching him demonstrate, I’m pretty sure if I got hurt, it would be my fault. I hope to drive to Nacogdoches for a few days and train at his dojo next time I’m in Baton Rouge. We shall see!
I have been enjoying the wind-down of “Better Call Saul” in its final season, and I am pleasantly surprised that “What We Do in the Shadows” has kept a high bar for this long. It’s still good fun. It’s a little too rapid-fire for my tastes, but the characters are a delight, especially Guillermo (who I wish had existed when I was in high school!).
As for reading, I am savoring Gilgamesh: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell, which is a wonderful, reader-friendly edition of the oldest known myth, before the West gave us the hero cycle. Gilgamesh fights a dragon, but his enemy, from the first verse, is himself. He gets the friend he never knew he wanted, mourns him, and seeks immortality. And squanders it! It’s amazing, dreamlike, childlike, and wise. I love it.
I also love Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction, by Grady Hendrix. I wasn’t too thrilled with We Sold Our Souls, his heavy metal horror novel, but he truly shines when talking about the genre. If you ever get a chance to see him do his schtick at a reading or convention, I highly recommend it. He’s one hell of an entertainer. And this history of its sleaziest era is endlessly entertaining.
Shorter reads that I can recommend are this heartfelt piece by actor-director John Turturro about his grandmother’s death by a botched abortion, and how it uprooted his family for a generation. My paisan is a fine writer and director, too. If you only know him as the Jesus from The Big Lebowski, rent Romance & Cigarettes, it’s brilliant.
I also enjoyed Lauren Hough’s piece on old ladies telling her how to live:
And Chris LaTray’s post on how to change the world by changing yourself, which isn’t about beating yourself up, after all, but about kindness:
May I ask how you chose that edition of Gilgamesh?
During the pre-vaccine pandemic, I spent a lot of time (and got a lot of perspective) reading ancient epics in reverse chronological order: The Aeneid, then The Odyssey followed by The Iliad.
It makes sense that I'd tackle Gilgamesh next (or the Old Testament!)