It’s Saturday morning (for another hour or so, anyway), so away we go!
Alternating Feet Department: Finished my 13.1 miles yesterday, and as I got off the treadmill, I realized I still had some life in my legs, but I had other stuff to do, so I went home. As I drove, I thought, “I’m just 2.4 miles from having 25K on the week.” However, it’s summer in South Carolina:
So doing a couple of miles on the streets of Mondoville didn’t seem like a good idea, and I would have felt like a dork going to the Y, then turning around and doing it again. So I waited til this morning and got in that last couple of miles and change. I normally take Saturdays off, but it scratched an itch.
Starting Monday, I may try to get 5 days of 5Ks in. The new shoes help immensely — my feet and legs are less tired, and I knew when I finished this morning that I could have gone on. We’ll see how that works.
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Watched a rather unusual movie with the Spawn last night. It’s called Deathgasm, and it’s an independent film from New Zealand that’s kind of a cross between the Evil Dead films and Spinal Tap. The premise is that some high school lunkheads form a metal band that (more or less accidentally) summons a bunch of demons that possess the rest of the townsfolk. Practical effects and splatter abound, and it’s a Grand Guignol sort of comedy. A word that gets used a lot in the world of metal and in the script applies quite nicely: Brutal. The Spawn related strongly to the female lead, and I remember enough of my teen muso years to understand the guys in the band and the attitude that comes with being a young metal fan. It’s not for the squeamish or overly tasteful, but it’s a lot of fun. And it’s on Netflix.
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The Berries continue to chug along — we have a show at Art Bar in a week, and then a 90-minute outdoor show on August 6, with a return gig at Soundbox a week later. We’re beginning to realize how much material we have (as we’ve been digging some stuff out of the archives), and it’s a pretty neat feeling — even if some of it strains the memory a bit.
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I read Honky Tonk Samurai, the most recent of Joe R. Lansdale’s Hap & Leonard series. Without giving away the plot, I’ll say that it maintains the series’ history of balancing chuckles and cringes and opens some new avenues into some pretty longstanding characters. Recommended.
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I’ve been on a bit of a prog kick this week, listening to Rhino’s 5-CD collection of that genre (in addition to my already sizable collection of same). This one has been a favorite of mine this week — the lyrics are by turns bongwater-shooter stupid and oddly touching, and the playing is (as one expects of this kind of thing) arresting. Without further ado, here’s Van Der Graaf Generator from 1970, with “Killer.” Heavy, man.
See you soon.
Professor Mondo 