Monday, February 12, 2007

Hells Bells, All Hail Rock and Roll, and Lucky Man Book Release/Reading


There was a time when my older son Myles begged me to play X, jumped around the apartment to the Ramones, waxed eloquently about The Monsters, known to many by their more famous moniker They Might Be Giants, and pledged his eternal devotion to The Beatles. It was a joyous house. A raucous house. But that all changed. Things happened. And there was no more joy. Myles began to reject the music he once loved. We once loved. He only wanted to hear what he called "kids music." Was it his need for independence? Maybe. Or the Oedipal Complex? Possibly. It was something else though as well, something more pervasive then DNA and more powerful then unconditional love. It was Disney. Their endless marketing. The awe-inspiring array of attractive tweens. Whatever drugs they pump into our living rooms via the Disney Channel. High School Musical. The Cheetah Girls. Hannah Montana. Good music couldn't compete. Frankly, all seemed lost. Until tonight, because there we were, just the boys, laughing, eating dinner, and getting loud. And getting loud was the key. I asked whether we wanted to get even louder, and when I received a resounding yes, I made my move. There were many possibilities, but only one true option - ACDC. With Highway to Hell the walls began to shake. When Back in Black hit its crescendo the neighbors started milling in the hall. And by the time Hells Bells had fully saturated the building, we were in a new place. A good place. God bless ACDC. All hail rock and roll.

On a lighter note,
we are having a Lucky Man book reading/release at Quimby's bookstore here in Chicago - 1854 West North Avenue - on March 7th at 8:00pm. The release is being done in conjunction with a reading of my publisher's new graphic novel 40 Hour Man - see the above poster - and a good time should be had by all. Please join us and please invite anyone you think might be interested. Many thanks.

No comments: