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ABOUT RAR: For those of
you new to this site, "RAR" is Rick Alan Rice, the publisher
of the RARWRITER Publishing Group websites.
Use this link to visit the
RAR music page, which features original music
compositions and other.
ATWOOD - "A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliverance"-AVAILABLE
NOW FOR KINDLE (INCLUDING KINDLE COMPUTER APPS) FROM
AMAZON.COM.Use
this link.
CCJ Publisher Rick Alan Rice dissects
the building of America in a trilogy of novels
collectively called ATWOOD. Book One explores
the development of the American West through the
lens of public policy, land planning, municipal
development, and governance as it played out in one
of the new counties of Kansas in the latter half of
the 19th Century. The novel focuses on the religious
and cultural traditions that imbued the American
Midwest with a special character that continues to
have a profound effect on American politics to this
day. Book One creates an understanding about
America's cultural foundations that is further
explored in books two and three that further trace
the historical-cultural-spiritual development of one
isolated county on the Great Plains that stands as
an icon in the development of a certain brand of
American character. That's the serious stuff viewed
from high altitude. The story itself gets down and
dirty with the supernatural, which inATWOOD
- A Toiler's Weird Odyssey of Deliverance is the
outfall of misfires in human interactions, from the
monumental to the sublime.The
book features the epic poem"The
Toiler"as
well as artwork by New Mexico artist Richard
Padilla.
Elmore Leonard
Meets Larry McMurtry
Western Crime
Novel
I am offering another
novel through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing service.
Cooksin is the story of a criminal syndicate that sets its
sights on a ranching/farming community in Weld County, Colorado,
1950. The perpetrators of the criminal enterprise steal farm
equipment, slaughter cattle, and rob the personal property of
individuals whose assets have been inventoried in advance and
distributed through a vast system of illegal commerce.
It is a ripping good yarn, filled
with suspense and intrigue. This was designed intentionally to
pay homage to the type of creative works being produced in 1950,
when the story is set. Richard Padilla
has done his usually brilliant work in capturing the look and feel of
a certain type of crime fiction being produced in that era. The
whole thing has the feel of those black & white films you see on
Turner Movie Classics, and the writing will remind you a little
of Elmore Leonard, whose earliest works were westerns.
Use this link.
EXPLORE THE KINDLE
BOOK LIBRARY
If you have not explored the books
available from Amazon.com's Kindle Publishing
division you would do yourself a favor to do so. You
will find classic literature there, as well as tons
of privately published books of every kind. A lot of
it is awful, like a lot of traditionally published
books are awful, but some are truly classics. You
can get the entire collection of Shakespeare's works
for two bucks.
Amazon is the largest,
but far from the only digital publisher. You can
find similar treasure troves at
NOOK
Press(the
Barnes & Noble site),Lulu,
and others.
TRIBUTE TO THE LATE ARTIST MARK STOCK -
USE THIS LINK
By Elizabeth A. Kay
The Struts
The Foo Fighters are touring with an
opening act that they say is the best they've ever toured with. The
Struts, with Luke Spiller and his Freddie Mercury vocal stylings, leave
no doubt that the bill is upside down.
The Struts are an English rock band from Derby,
Derbyshire, England. The band, with guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott, and drummer Gethin Davies,
is dynamite, but the real strength of The Struts is their strutting
front man, vocalist Luke Spiller.
If Mick Jagger could sing like Freddie Mercury he would be Spiller, who
is a bit of a laughing stock showman, in the spirit of Adam Ant, but a
dynamic, rangy singer. The band may not have anything signature in their
makeup; not sure about original material. They reference Queen, The
Darkness, the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, The Smiths, Oasis,
The Libertines, The Strokes, and My Chemical Romance as their
influences, and one can see every bit of all of that in their
performance. I don't know if they have any wonderful music catalog, but
they can pull off a classic like "Pressure" with ease and aplomb, which
is a high bar to cross. You would have to have a real powerful force out
front, and in Luke Spiller The Struts do.
Christmas Songs/Holiday Music
The sounds of Christmas come
with a variety of natures. Some are pop fun, some spiritually reverent,
and others just demented. A lot of our Christmas favorites are
tender-hearted and corny, and sounded great sung by Bing and Dino and
Nat King Cole, and all the other old crooners who gave us this gift of
musical holiday joy. It is wonderful to the extent that one cannot
imagine the holiday season without it.
This is an old interview from Australian
television around the time of the release of Harrison's 1987 Cloud Nine
album. After you get past the money bickering between the then three
surviving Beatles, Harrison comes off as incredibly sharp and charming,
an evolved spirit in many ways; not perfect, but impressive. He
demonstrates a generosity of spirit that could be equated with the
season.
Human Longing
Joni Mitchell
The holiday season, and
particularly Christmas, is a little double edged. Children have
Christmas's that become their memories and their standard for what the
season should be. As adults, many yearn to recapture that magic, and to
have a relationship to share it with, which for some never materialize.
Joni Mitchell captured that hurting part of the season beautifully with
"The River".
The Musical Revolution that Gave
us the world today
Do you know that Depeche Mode
is the biggest grossing act touring today? Depeche Mode. This is a band
that many people, in the early '80s, were slow to accept, as they were a
clear break from the abysmal corporate rock of the 1970s, and helped to
define a cutting edge music in the '80s that apparently gets better with
age. In fact, the band showed that arc early on, starting dancy, a
little synth heavy, but then getting rather dark so that by the time
they got to "Personal Jesus", which is one of the great rock songs of
all time, they were a little bit frightening. There is something gritty,
and even condescending, about their declaration of independence - their
fierce determination to be Depeche Mode.
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd has about as
much to do with Christmas as does Depeche Mode, except that watching
this brief 2005 reunion concert, and the passion and perfection that
they bring to their work, feels like an uplifting experience - like a
holiday that reminds one what authentic pop art can be, what it can
represent, and how it can feel. Roger Waters is a true believer, and a
McCartney-level bassist, and that is nicely captured in this concert
footage. And what can one say about David Gilmour? He was a beautiful
young man with enormous musical abilities. As an old dude he seems like
a spiritual and artistic sage, an example of perfection, of musical
enlightenment achieved.
WWI Christmas Truce 1914
The so-called "Christmas
Truce" of 1914 is well known, well documented, and much celebrated. In
this video, the story is told by Walter Cronkite. Like "It's A Wonderful
Life", the telling of this story is something that should be part of
every holiday season. It reminds us of our humanity, and how severely
that can be challenged by other competing parts of our complex natures,
and by those in power to force their own complexities on others. As Tim
said - "God bless us, everyone."
MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, AND MAY YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!
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Music News page.
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RARWRITER PUBLISHING GROUP PRESENTS
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM RARWRITER PUBLISHING GROUP
