Verbal Magazine

One massive problem I have encountered as a fairly young aspiring writer is the fact that I haven't really had any solid experience in the field. A degree in English is a good basis to work on, but what I really need is to get something in print. Of course, one can always try and get articles or stories published online. Getting a piece published in the more traditional form though is more important as far as I'm concerned.

That is why I was happy to find out about a monthly literary magazine close to home. Verbal magazine is based in Derry. It is a non profit funded by the Verbal Arts Centre. Each month, the magazine has a readership of about 200,000 people. Their New Writers section in particular caught my eye, as they seem to publish a mixture of established writers and those who are new to the trade. The website can be found here.

http://www.verbalon.com/magazine/

When/if I get a bit of spare time, I plan to submit a few pieces and hopefully get my first step up on the ladder.

Links to the mob

For some time now, I have been fascinated by all things mafia related. I can, and quite often do, quote large chunks of dialogue from films like The Godfather, Casino and the TV series The Sopranos. Much to the annoyance of friends and family, I try to strike up conversations about people like John Gotti, AKA the Teflon Don. Or Vincent 'The Chin' Gigante, the New York boss sometimes called the Oddfather, due to the fact that he would often walk around Greenwich Village in his pyjamas and slippers talking to himself in order to appear insane, thus evading prosecution.

There I go again. So, I became overcome with excitment when I read about the arrests of 13 suspected members of the Gambino family recently. The article is available here:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/US-Prosecutors-Arrest-13-Alleged-Mafia-Members-Of-The-Gambino-Clan/Article/201004315611731?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15611731_US_Prosecutors_Arrest_13_Alleged_Mafia_Members_Of_The_Gambino_Clan

A couple of days later, this video of Italian mobsters setting fire to a bowling lane appeared on YouTube. The music is a poor choice, but apart from that it is pretty exciting stuff.



I know these are some pretty bad guys, but the characters and the fact that such groups still exist fascinates me. What can I say? I guess I'm still just a big kid.

Harmonium - Vert

Recently, I was reminiscing about my stay in Spain for the purposes of the book manuscript I'm trying to produce. I found myself caught up trying to remember the name of a specific bar we used to frequent.

For the life of me, I couldn't remember the name of the place. All other details were clear as a bell. The comfortable seating, the tapas, the small lights embedded in the ceiling which was painted to resemble the night sky. I even remember asking Lucie, a French friend, the name of a song playing. Then, a name popped into my head. Unfortunately, it was the name of the band and not the bar.

Lucie had informed me that the band were called Harmonium and that they were Canadian, not French. After a quick search on youtube, I found the song. No wonder I asked about it. Vert is taken from the album Si on Avait Besoin D'une Cinquième Saison (1975)



I still can't remember the name of the damned bar.

New LCD Soundsystem - All I want

Just a quick note here on LCD's new track All I want. James Murphy has at times been accused of pandering to the hipster crowd, and going by the recent single Drunk Girls from new album This Is Happening, I would be inclined to agree.

However, all is not lost. All I want is in the same vein of their previous single, All my friends. It is also quite similar sounding to David Bowie's Heroes. And that isn't a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. Importantly though, Murphy makes his tribute to Bowie his own.



Update: NPR are now streaming the whole album for free here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125909422

Colin Bateman on the state UK crime fiction

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing the local author Colin Bateman about the state of the crime fiction market in the UK today. Colin is the author of Divorcing Jack which was adapted to screen in 2004. His latest book is 2009's Mystery Man.

The author is described as the king of the comic caper. The interview will form the basis for my industry analysis for the Professional Writing course, and Colin's insights proved very useful. Particularly interesting were his views on the e-book situation and the difficulties encountered by young authors in the field.

I plan to post a transcript of the full interview here after I submit my industry analysis, so watch this space.

Update: Crime writer Mark Billingham has also granted me an interview, so I will be posting both within the next month or so.

1000 Essential Recordings by Tom Moon

I have to preface this review by stating that I have already told a little fib in this post. I doctored the title of the book because the alternative, 1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die, A Listener's Life List, irks me. It isn't the simple fact that the title is unwieldy (although was the alliterative addition at the end really necessary?). What annoys me more is the idea that I must do these things before I die. I don't have a fundamental problem with lists, but why call to my attention my impending death? This phenomenon is all over the place these days. 100 films to see before you die. 50 cities to visit before you die. Why not make it 50 cities to visit, enjoy and get home safe afterwards?
Anyway, that is the only complaint I have about this book. At just over 1000 pages, it is ideal to dip in to a random page every so often. Tom Moon's (NPR, Rolling Stone) featured recordings cater for almost every conceivable taste. Genres range from techno and metal to jazz and songbook. There are even a few genres I have never encountered before. What the heck is' fado' for example? (Turns out it is Portuguese music based around mournful tunes and lyrics)

1000 Essential Recordings - I'm persisting with my title - is ideal for any music lover. Each entry is given around a page in which Moon details the origins of the album/track and highlights similar recordings. This will help me in my quest to discover new music for years to come. As Moon states the more you love music, the more music you love.

Collateral Murder

The shocking video below was obtained and made available to the public by Wikileaks. It was shot from the gun sight an apache helicopter in Iraq. It shows the American military shooting around a dozen people, among whom were two Reuters journalists. Their cameras were mistakenly identified by the American troops as RPGS. Both men died along with other locals, and two young children were severely injured. This is an edited version of the original 38 minute tape.

None of the locals involved seemed to be posing a threat or causing trouble before the shooting begins. The US Military has stated that the American soldiers did nothing wrong and were simply following the rules of engagement.

NOTE: This is not intended in any way to be a criticism of the US military or their involvement in Iraq on my part. Rather, it is meant to serve as a window in to the absurd world of war. Troops all over the world are driven to believe that they must kill or be killed.