David Correll Studio, Brooklyn, NY

Listening to:
- Jackson C. Frank: Blues Run the Game [Castle/Sanctuary]
- Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA [Columbia]
- The Valerie Project: The Valerie Project [Drag City]
- Billy Joe Shaver: Old Five and Dimers Like Me [Koch]
- The Legendary Pink Dots: Same [Vinyl On Demand]
- Porter Wagoner: Wagonmaster [Anti]
- Six Organs of Admittance: Shelter from the Ash [Drag City]
- Angels of Light: We Are Him [Young Gods]

Dusting off:
- Red Hot Chili Peppers: Mother’s Milk [EMI]
- Electronic: Electronic [Warner Brothers]
- Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: Henry’s Dream [Mute]

It brought great sadness to my heart today to hear of the death of the visionary author and dreamer, Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke is best known as the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and collaborating on film of the same name with Stanley Kubrick.

I spent hours upon hours in Perkins and Denny’s in my early 20’s, discussing what the Monolith was, why HAL did what he did, what the Star Child is, analyzing every single shot of both movies, praising Clarke and Kubrick—obsessing, geeking, loving. (more…)

Gary Gygax died last week and the universe did not collapse. This surprises me a little bit, because he built it.

Adam Rogers, senior editor at Wired and contributer to the New York Times, has written a fantastic eulogy to Gary Gygax, co-creator or Dungeons & Dragons, and along with it, an equally fantastic ode on the joy of being a geek. Also make sure to check out Sam Potts’ brilliant accompanying diagram.

I confess: I played role-playing games as a kid. I’ll also confess that I’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons; my parents were of the school that believed it was connected to Satan worship. (While I’m at confession, I might as well also confess that I wore a floor-length cape to my Senior Prom.) (more…)