Okay, I have waited long enough before tooting my fatherly horn (what would that sound like anyway? I am guessing some sort of swiss alps crossed with Boromir from Lord of the Rings device.)

My son recently finished a short film called Fight the Future. And it's funny, damn funny - and quite well written, shot and acted (who knows where he gets his talent from). But as he reads this blog from time to time, to check up on the old man, I better not say much more. Just watch the movie, trust me, you'll be glad you did.

The Palpatines Fight the Future from Techknowlogick on Vimeo.

Trying my best to keep the multitude of balls in the air these days. I probably should resort to my plate spinning metaphor of past - at any rate, the music is getting faster and I am trying to keep up.

Correction Line, redux, my much expanded novel will soon be ready for querying. As well, I am knee deep in preparations for upcoming classes that I will be teaching. Oh, and several illustration jobs, oh and some website redesign, and, oh did that music tempo just crank up again. Ed... could I get a drumroll.

If that were not enough challenge, I am performing all of this with one of my famous head colds.

Sniff. Spin. Crash.

Everyone needs to go somewhere to get away. Last year we bought a place in the country, simple, quiet and very beautiful.

I have been writing there lately. Not sure if that is truly getting away, as writing can be damn hard work. But just to have a place to be, to listen to the cows down the road, to watch the sun go down, or to watch my dog, Zodar, play with his favorite blue ball... well, it's pretty sweet.

Heading out there tomorrow. As is Zodar and his ball.

I am officially worried. If you know this blog, if you know me, you know Wilco. The band, the Tweedmeister himself, the most inspirational artist for me in the last decade, and an ongoing obsession, Wilco just is. And more people than ever are finding that out.

This Sunday CBS morning ran a bio on this somewhat known, but not really known band. They threatened that soon this band would get the kind of exposure it deserves. I saw it as a threat anyway. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Jeff is suddenly going to start pumping out top 40 hits. The doc mentions how they have been able to sell several million copies of their records without ever having a hit on the radio - or really much airplay at all. But when most things (bands) get consumed by mass quanties of people something kind of weird happens. Over exposure, a watering down, some jack off talking about their latest single (spoken like a true music snob.) I remember this happening to me with Dire Straits - money for nothing, anybody?

So I am hear to say. Watch the youtube bio of them on CBS (below). And then never think of them again. Go listen to some Coldplay or something. Just stop listening to my band. I mean it.

Well, one mystery has been solved, or resolved, or something.

I've been a big reader of Joe Lansdale for a number of years (thanks to a friend who commented that my work was Lansdalian). But it was always difficult to find his books. I'd scour used bookstores, mystery stores, the big chains and the little stores - rarely would I find one of his books.

Then a year ago (or more?), copies of Mucho Mojo and Savage Season started showing up in a local store. I didn't recognize the cover, so I thought "wow, these are rare. I better snap them up." Just like dandelions these volumes started popping up in stores everywhere. Then Bad Chili was added, his new one Leather Maiden (not a great one), copies of The Bottoms (the best one) and even Bumper Crop, a collection of shorts. Huh? Is Lansdale finally going to get noticed - and by noticed I mean to other people besides fan-boys like me.

To cut to the chase - my take on all these re-releases is in preparation for his new book, Vanilla Ride. It's another Hap and Leonard book (his best characters). I haven't picked it up yet, mostly because of the 30 bucks hardcover tag, but I know I will. I've not read a lot of mysteries, or crime fiction - I admire Elmore Leonard, and Donald Westlake was required reading as a teen. And I've never read a series of books. Mystery writers do seem to employ that device frequently. Take a lead character and give them case after case. But I've never come across Characters like Hap and Leonard before.

I do wonder if Hollywood will come calling for Lansdale. his only movie, to my knowledge, is the wonderfully nutty Bubba Ho Tep. With the release of Tarantino's new one, it makes me think of that quirky marriage. Tarantino could direct a Hap and Leonard story - it seems right in his territory. But with his recent track record, and the reviews on Inglorious Basterds are mixed, I think it'd be best to leave The Bottoms to the Coen Brothers.

Now there's a movie I'd see repeatedly.