Heavy Metal Lover

Occasionally I hear a song that would fit perrrfectly in the movie version of a book or books I've read. Lemme just share one example with you. (If you are avid readers, you occasionally do this, too, right?)

So if you live on Planet Earth and have any sort of inkling about what goes on in the music realm, you'll know that today Lady Gaga has released her album Born This Way. Gaga has also done something new and uploaded all the tracks on her new album to VEVO, which is YouTube's "channel" (I guess you could call it) that's devoted to "official" musicians. You can basically listen to her whole album in good quality on there, and it's been loaded legally because Gaga did it herself.

Now, I go back and forth with Lady Gaga. One minute I think she's great, and the next I'm either totally confused by something she's said publicly or feeling like she does things just for the sake of publicity. But right this minute, however, I am #1) impressed with her generosity to share all the new songs for free, and #2) I'm also kinda diggin' the new album. Might have to get it even.

So back to what I was getting at in the beginning of this post... I've read several paranormal books recently that involve highly erotic club scenes. Books like the Anita Blake series by L. K. Hamilton and the Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr, for example. Gaga's new song "Heavy Metal Lover" on the new album would go perrrrrfectly with any one of these sizzling dance scenes in books like I've mentioned--whether hot werewolves, sensual vampires, or lust-worthy faeries are involved. So whoever out there is in the process of making any of these books into movies needs to contact Lady Gaga asap and get her to agree to the use of this song in said club scenes:



I mean, if I were in a club, and say, a mouthwatering paranormal being wanted to dance with me, and this song was playing, I might have to oblige. Just sayin'.

From Anita Blake comic version

Happy Monday, everybody!

Chuck E. Cheese's Sued!?

One of my favorite places to go as a child was Chuck E. Cheese's. It was THE place to have a birthday party, THE place to eat great pizza, and THE place to have fun. Even the slogan says, "Where a kid can be a kid!"

But now, a mother of two claims Chuck E. Cheese's is where a kid can develop a gambling problem. And she's suing the Dallas-based chain for $5 million.

Whaaaat?

That was my initial reaction. I thought, But it doesn't promote gambling! Everyone I knew in elementary school loved that place! I sure don't have a gambling problem. What the hell?

My memories of Chuck E. Cheese's include eating delicious pizza and chocolate cake. It was a place where I could get lost in my imagination, especially in the ball pit where there were winding tunnels, twisty slides, and hideaway areas where I pretended to be in a futuristic space ship or escaping evil villains in an alien cave.

But after scanning through the news story (click here to read it), I'm not sure what I think about the whole thing.

It's true, there are games there that you have to pay for with tokens. And to get the tokens, you put quarters or dollar bills into a machine, which gives you tokens in exchange. And then with the tokens, you play these games (basketball, crane, ski-ball, etc.) that will give you tickets if you win. And with the tickets, you can get cool prizes like pencils and bouncy balls or, if you have a ton of tickets, things like radios and lava lamps.

I'm not sure what I think about all this, actually. I can kind of see the mother's point that some of the game machines are similar to adult gambling machines in casinos. But then I can also see how she's blown this claim out of proportion, when she says that Chuck E. Cheese's leads people to develop an actual gambling addiction later in life.

So I guess I'm on the fence on this issue.

What do you think? Do you think Chuck E. Cheese's deserves to be sued? Or do you think it's an unfair accusation?

Slickest Keyboard Around

Later this summer, the new Cool Leaf keyboard will go on sale here in the US, and whoo-boy, is it awesomely sci-fi-looking.

It uses a touch panel, which is supposed to give off a small vibe sensation to let you know you've touched the keys correctly. And it's got this spiffy mirror finish that makes for really easy cleaning. If you get one of these babies, you won't have to buy those air dusters to clean around dusty keys; all you'll have to do is wipe it off like a glass window.

Minebea is releasing the keyboard in Japan this month. When it reaches the States it'll cost around $300. Yes, pricey. I'll probably have to pass on it for the time being so I can afford to fill up my Honda. But it's still going on my Wish List because it's so fabulously futuristic!

What about you? Would you want to own a keyboard like this, or do you think you'd prefer an old-fashioned keyboard with keys you have to press down?

Understanding

 

I have more intelligent conversations 

with my dog 

than I do 

with most people.

How 'bout you?

Feel the Inspiration of Ghost Towns

 

I was browsing AOL headlines and came across this really cool picture feature on ghost towns. (Click here for feature.)

It's all about some of the eeriest abandoned cities all over the globe. Sometimes I wonder if we really are all connected by some underlying consciousness because just yesterday I was thinking about how much I enjoy (and maybe even want to write) stories about the world in a state of dystopia--stories about a possible future in which few humans are left, and the world's cities are abandoned, leaving those few survivor souls to carry on or die in the vastness.

To me, the whole ghost town look is like melancholy art. I find a certain beauty in it. Just imagine the immense quiet that would accompany an entire town being abandoned. Imagine the thoughts that might float to your brain as you stand in the midst of such a graveyard.

One of my favorite books is The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The images McCarthy creates in his abandoned world are haunting and will stay with you for a long time after you close the book.   

What do you think of ghost towns? Creepy? Beautiful? Both?

(Oh, and if you've never read The Road, you need to get your butt to a bookstore and check that one out. It's absolutely amazing.)

Happy Thursday, everybody!

Got Myself a New Song

Every once in a while, I discover a new song. And it becomes MY song. These songs are the type of songs that resonate on a level beneath your skin. They swirl around you like electricity and dive through you--you just feel them until they are a part of you--and you say to yourself, "Yeah! That's MY song!"

Here's the song that is currently MY song. I've been jamming out to in my car with the windows down, even at 6:30 a.m. while on the way to work:




Do any of you have a past or current YOU song?

That Place Between Sleeping and Awake

Last night I woke up about midnight in a sweat--the house was too hot and humid, and I had to go to the bathroom.

I lifted the covers to get out of bed, and I saw what I really hope was only a lingering dream image.

A giant spider, I'm talkin' the size of my hand, scurried away from me, from under the covers, across the mattress.

Drowsy beyond belief, I stumbled out of bed, rubbed my eyes, and shook out all the covers, whimpering at not being more alert.

I found no traces of my arachnid guest, and I suppose I'll never know if I dreamed it or not.

If it was a dream, it was more of a hallucination occurring after waking, which doesn't happen very often. I wonder what it could mean.

And if it was real...well, I just flat don't want to even think about it!