The Real Memphis Mike (don't settle for imitations)

 In his native America, he'd always had a shady reputation. As a young man, he worked as muscle for hire, worked as a bouncer in gambling houses and brothels, and always had a side hustle moving drugs or weapons. He could always be counted on to find a buyer for stolen goods, too. He was smart enough to see the cracks forming in the government long before most. Within days of the First Attack, he'd made plans to leave the country. Some of his cohorts with Sicilian lineage helped him get to Europe. From there he was on his own. He managed to bring along a tidy sum in cash and jewels. This gave him the advantage of time to form new contacts. He was told time and time again that the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia - would be a good place to set himself up. There were gangs there who could make use of his skills, and provided he kept out of trouble and his name out of the local gossip, he would do fine.  And he did. He pretty much became, as he liked to call himself, a consultant. He ...

He gathered up his books then set them all on fire.  Leather bindings curled like dying hands. Gold-lettered promises blackened and split. The words of prophets, kings, apostles, and madmen rose together in the smoke as though heaven itself had finally exhaled. He burned every righteous word in one last righteous twist of fate. Had the words lost their meaning? Or had mankind simply outgrown the burden of truth? Truth had become unfashionable. An antique thing. A cracked photograph in a junk drawer. It had been traded away for bumper sticker theology, for slogans screamed through flickering screens, for easy little lies soft enough to swallow whole. No one wanted weight anymore. No one wanted consequence. Every phrase was disposable. Every conviction rented by the hour like a whore in a motel room on a forgotten highway. The world no longer spoke of commandments. It communicated in advertisements. He stood silent as Zechariah while each syllable ignited. Paper peeled inward like sk...

It's finally happening. My first book!  BODIES OK, I did an audiobook once - but that was years ago, and I did it (mostly) for a friend of mine. She was moving from one part of Australia to another, and wanted something to listen to on the plane. If you've been playing along on the home version, you know what life has been like for me the past few years. 2021 = 2 strokes. Lost my job, income, had to relearn how to play guitar, etc. Blah, blah, blah, wah, wah, wah. Life is rarely how we expect it.  Years back, I was inspired by the words of a Holocaust survivor, Alice Herz-Sommer. A hundred and some years old, and ridiculously positive. Still played piano every day. After all of the evil shit life had thrown at her, she managed to get out of bed every day and not be mean. Her philosophy was simple.  Everything is a gift. While a lot of life is unpleasant, that doesn't mean we can't learn something from it and come out better for it. At least that's what I learned. S...

Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't born in the mountains. Nor had he been raised in a cave. His appearance, though, often led people to think otherwise. A barber's chair was as likely a place for him to visit as the moon. I don't believe he had ever shaved. His hair, long and unkempt, looked even longer thanks to his seemingly endless beard, which was braided and knotted at the bottom. If unfurled, it probably would have dipped well below his waist.  His mannerisms and manner, while peculiar, were so only in that he was almost religiously polite. What at first glance might appear stand-offish was nothing more than his attempts at being inobtrusive. He was almost like some Appalachian monk, raised by a society trapped in the past, who occasionally ventured into town. He was extremely well-read and more tech savvy than most teenagers. Utmost, he maintained his privacy. No one knew just where he lived. He came and went at his own leisure, unnoticed by the world until he mad...

Especially in America, a seemingly unattainable standard of beauty had long been pushed by corporate interests. The goal had always been the same: sell more products and generate an ever-increasing profit margin. People were, by and large, lazy. A healthy diet and exercise would most likely bring the desired results, but that took time, dedication, patience, and hard work. Worse still, there was no guarantee of a bikini body in time for summer. Other methods, however, were always available for those willing to pay a premium. Over the years, everything from fad diets to self-help books to appetite suppressants had been marketed as the latest breakthrough in the battle of the bulge. Most did little more than leave the buyer a pound heavier and appreciably less financially healthy. Then came GLP-1s. Originally intended for patients with Type 2 diabetes, glucagon-like peptide-1 drugs had an interesting side effect: dramatic weight loss. The public immediately lost its collective mind. The ...

She never bothered to tell me how drastic the temperature difference would be. If she had, I would've refused to go.  It was the mid 1990s, and winter time still meant sub zero temperatures and snow for at least a few months out of the year. I took some vacation time and flew to Arizona to get away from the cold. I guess she forgot. The night before my flight, I went to see Sleepy LaBeef play at The Decade in Oakland. As bars go, it was always an interesting joint. Three adjoining rooms, none of which were particularly spacious, with bars in the front and back rooms, and the stage in the middle room. Sleepy looked ginormous on that stage. At 6'6, he was anyway.  Needless to say, I woke up with a hangover and didn't give a damn. It was a cold, gray, snowy morning. This was before 9-11, so I didn't have to arrive hours before my flight. I probably never would have made it. I clearly remember watching them de-ice the wings and thinking it was a particularly shitty day to d...

A friend of mine recently posted on social media about the perceived evils of musicians/bands/etc. using "generative AI" to create their "art / fliers/ visual promo material". He attempted to make the point that folks should be "hiring and supporting friends of theirs who provide that service". Let me be clear: I get his point. But (and there's almost always another POV)... This isn't the first time I've heard this complaint. A friend - who happens to be the proprietor of a small venue - made the same complaint last year. We had a good conversation about the subject of AI. He admitted at the time that he uses it - but for different things. I've noticed that in the time since the conversation, he and his venue often feature 'art' generated by AI. My friend's recent post added the complaints about data centers and humans losing their jobs. Welcome to capitalism. Like it or not, it's what our country bases itself on. (quick not...

There is, among the older settlements north and east of Pittsburgh, a class of stories which sensible men ordinarily dismiss as the natural offspring of isolation, excessive winter weather, and the habitual exaggeration of country people. These tales persist nevertheless. They cling to the valleys the way mist clings to the hillsides. One hears them in fragments beside potbellied stoves, in the back corners of feed stores, in hunting camps after midnight, and occasionally from old women who lower their voices without altogether realizing they have done so. The subjects vary. Certain ridges are avoided. Certain hollows are said to “carry sound wrong.” There are roads where livestock refuse to pass after dark. And in the deeper Pennsylvania country, where the fog settles low and stubborn among the hills, there remain whispers of a people once known as - though never openly discussed -    the Shim-O-Mites. I first encountered mention of them during the winter of 1856 while t...