p.s. Hey. (1) Attention 'Userlands' contributors. Akashic Press and I are starting to plan out the publication events for the anthology. We have a tentative list of cities where events will take place (although it is quite likely to be expanded depending on contributors' opinions/interest). They are New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, London, and Paris. What I need to know from contributors is, first, a heads up that you're interested in reading at one or more of these events, and, second, which of those cities is/are doable for you in terms of being able to get/be there. At the moment, we're thinking the events will take place in March, as the book will likely come out in either late January or February, and I'm required to be to be in France for the entirety the latter month. I'm spacing a bit on where you all live, so if a few of you live within easy reach of another big city I haven't mentioned, an event could be scheduled there. For now, let me know if you want to participate in one or more of the events, and which of the cities is a plausible location for you. Thanks a lot. (2) My vote on yesterday's Battle of the Swedish bands goes like this: #1 by a nose, Dungen, with The Knife a close second. Thanks to you who cast yours. ** Pete, Hey, welcome. I've heard just a very little Jacob Olausson, and like what I've heard a lot. I'll follow your link and learn more. Your blog is terrific, btw. I'm going to definitely keep one eye on it. I didn't know about the collection of Bruno Spoerri's work, so I'm grateful for that. And for the Art Circus intro too. That 'Be Your Own Pet' track has nothing to do with the band of the same name, I imagine? ** Laurabethnoble, The very best of luck on Amherst. You sound pretty confident. I've heard nothing but raves about the school. ** Porcelain skull, It was totally great to spend time with you. Thanks a ton for that. ** Adjoun, Yeah, Margaret Trait is great, but late at night? A challenge. Yury got out of entering the military in Russia, thank God, due to some health issues that luckily disqualified him. If he hadn't had those, he either would have been forced to serve, or, more likely, his parents would have had to go into debt to pay off some official to get him out, which is how almost everything works in Russia. ** David ehrenstein, Gerbils, oh. Nasty. I've never heard a peep of 'Anyone Can Whistle.' A hole in my listening, I would guess. I expected to see your reaction to Elton John's comments on Clay Aitkin's sexuality. Although maybe I can imagine what it is. ** Jheorgge, First, yes, duh, I want a Coil Day from you badly. Superb idea. And second, great about Black Metal Day. I'm both jonesing and patient. Well, it's a Swedish rock resurgence in the sense that the international cool rock powers that be feel like they've gotten what there is to get out of Canada and are searching the Swedish rock scene for the new and interesting right now because they were surprised last year by how good Dungen is and figure he can't be the only Swedish one. Which isn't a resurgence, or even really a surgence, more a training of the spotlight. ** Eddie b., The Laura Albert interview is pathetic, boring, and yet another load of lies and total bullshit. 'Comes clean?' Yeah, right. To be honest, I couldn't be less interested at this point. ** Atheist, Your invigoration is a real pleasure to see. Best of all luck on the 'ideas lab' prospect. Coolness. Oh gosh, and now I've read your post further down, and it seems the invigoration is already history. Hm. Collaboration advice? Well, what's done is done. Assuming you get the gig, bite the bullet and try to make the best of it. Who knows, it could work out wonderfully. If you don't get the gig, problem solved. Generalized collaboration advice: fight impulsive decisions when choosing collaborators. ** Jose, Who's on your 80s thrash mixtape? ** Math tinder, Heard but never saw Thistle. I agree that for the two or so years prior to Beachy's scam buster, JT was used as Thistle's siren and little else. Re. your linked image: Japanese erotica, you gotta love it. ** C., Howdy. Your new non-deletion policy is already paying dividends. ** Michael karo, Congrats, my friend. That is quite a beautiful picture. In fact, I think it was one the ones I voted for. Get completely plotzed at the opening and enjoy. Hey, take your new date dude to the opening, assuming today goes well. Let him see you in star mode. ** Lost child, You're such a total star. I like Virgin Prunes, but my favorite Gavin Friday moments are his guest vocals with The Fall. I think the combo of his voice and Mark Smith's is delirium making. DJ in Berlin? Of course. It's just the hows and whens that are the problem. ZG Magazine ... that sounds so familiar, but I can't get a mental image. I'll do a search. ** Xkoesj, I haven't heard 'Accident and Emergency' yet. Drinks on the beach with anyone named Liam (except that Gallagher fellow) next to the Opera House definitely sounds fun. Is it a real beach? ** 5stringaphasia, One vote for Slayer, check. Yury and I will try to be well if you'll try to be well. Well, you already are, aren't you? Okay, wellness coming up. ** Rigby101, So you're back in it? Was your out of it period interesting? That sounds facetious, but being out of it isn't always automatically a downer. Sorry, I'm a little dippy this morning, I don't know why. ** Jax, Hey, man. the American Writers Festival is this weekend. Pretty star packed: Jonathan Safran Foer, Pallahniuk, Margaret Atwood, blah blah. My plan is to hit at least Ed White's lecture, Gary Indiana's lecture, and Peter Sotos's lecture and conversation with Bruce Benderson. Maybe more. I'll try to take pix and report back. A favorite passage of my own work? I'll have to search my memory banks, if that's okay. Or you could choose a passage you like. Thanks, man. 'Jerk' is early on. We're picking the cast, I mean other than Jonathan Capdeville, who's play the puppeteer. I'm adapting it for radio, which is pretty easy. Not too much yet. ** Postitbreakup, Interesting questions. I have a lot of writing habits, but I rely heavily on editing my writing later, so I'll go back and chop the habit parts out when I'm not in spontaneous mode, if that makes sense. The thing about characters always staring or glaring. You know, that might be okay. It might be a moment you find important, and so going back to it a lot could result from that. Let's face it, we all do that a lot, and those are significant moments. Too much is too much though, of course. Again, waiting 'til you're not inspired and going over your prose in a more objective state might do the trick. You are wonderful with phrasing, you really are. You have a total gift for it. I guess my overall advice is what I've been saying. Don't worry about your tropes in the spilling phase, and trust yourself that you'll find solutions to any problems later. Or that's my method, and it seems to work okay. I did indeed laugh at your emotional abuse advice. Plus, it's really smart. You're killer talented. Hey, I hope you've thought about sending land of the bat something for the anthology he mentioned the other day. You should. And, lastly, loving Ben & Jerrys as I do, and rather bizarrely never having watched 'Gilmore Girls' despite friends' urging me to do that, I say your B&J/GG plan sounds like a good one, if you don't mind rewatching a lot of episodes you've never seen before. Oh, and, yeah, the cock monster is definitely there. What does it mean, apart from the fact that Scandinavians are hot, which they tend to be in my book? Take care, man. ** Okay, say your goodbyes to Mischa and crew, and I'll return in some form tomorrow.