Two quick things...

1. I started a project today that I've been thinking about for some time now, which is to scan and upload many of the old flyers that I have saved over the years. I did the first batch of 25 (of what I expect to be about 100) today. I'm still working on all the tagging/description, but the images are up. Check it out.

2. I was shown this website "Muxtape" today. Essentially you create a digital mixtape, which can be uploaded and then shared. There's no particular rhyme or reason to mine, but it's a sampling of stuff that I've been listening to lately. Again, check it out. Just click on a song to listen to it.

Generally if I should finish a book I'm reading on the morning train ride, my lunch that afternoon involves a trip to the store to find something new. Finishing a book on the ride home however is a little trickier, as this leaves me emptyhanded for the next morning. It is in these situations that I end up grabbing something from the shelf to tide me over. Such was the case the other day when I grabbed "All Souls' Rising," the first book in Madison Smartt Bell's trilogy of historical fiction novels about Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution.

I have a love/hate relationship with historical fiction as a genre. On the one hand, the idea of putting words into someone's mouth strikes me as hokey and unnecessary. My life in archives and libraries has taught me that if anything, the real story is often so interesting as to need no added characterization. On the other hand, books like Shaara's The Killer Angels and even arguably A Tale of Two Cities played a major role in getting me into history during my formative years.

I guess what I like most about All Souls' Rising is that Bell uses the island of Haiti (nee Saint-Domingue) itself as a character. It is not merely the setting or the background, but an active force in the plot. I think you see this type of thing a lot more in films because it's easier to pull off with some type of visual (Gone Baby Gone and There Will be Blood are two stellar examples from recent memory).

Unfortunately the trilogy loses quite a bit of steam as it heads into the second book, and by the third merely plods to its conclusion. But All Souls' Rising is one of the most visceral pieces of fiction I've ever read that somehow manages to boil a major historical event down to the ground level. All the more amazing considering the event took place over 200 years ago.

Today we're going to briefly talk about Grey Area, for no other reason than that I'm listening to Fanbelt Algebra right now. Though they are now defunct, to me they are the band that still does the melodic hardcore/catchy chorus thing the best. Formed by Ernie, formerly of Token Entry and Vinny Value of Warzone/everyoneelseever, Grey Area confirmed the notions that a- you could be catchy, super fast, and simultaneously make people want to mosh; b- you could be lyrically heartfelt while still being very direct and touching on a variety of subjects; and that c- you could be on Victory Records in the late '90s and not be completely awful. One of the first bands I ever put any serious effort into was largely inspired by Grey Area and though it never really came to much of anything, its an idea I'd like to revisit sooner rather than later.

About two years ago they played a series of reunion/goodbye shows, and I caught the one at CBs. Needless to say it was great and they sounded as good as ever, but if you don't believe me just go to the videotape:

Great news from the WPA

Some stuff of note for this morning, April 2, 2008:

1. This essay caused me to slam my head on my desk because I suspect that no one quoted in it is joking, even a little.

2. Previously unheard Texas is the Reason live set. Full post to come in the next few days on the importance of this band to my life/the world at large.

3. Pretty good review of Uppers/Downers. Also, in music news, last Mother Night show May 10th. More on that in another post.

4. After watching Johan Santana completely ruin the Marlins on opening day, Pedro pitching four innings of slow pitch softball and then hurting himself quickly brought us back to reality. Thank you Pedro.

5. Something cool to check out is the "Earl Cunningham's America" exhibition at the American Folk Art museum in NYC. I like this museum a lot even though my interest in "folk art" ranges from lackluster to totally nonexistent, and I especially like Earl Cunningham because he does such unexpected things with color. They remind me of the Charles Wysocki prints that my mom hung around the house when I was young, only not so rigid and in the technicolor palette of the 1960s. Good times.