PicoBlog

One of my cats is a scary murderer. A Night Terror, a destroyer of (mouse) worlds, a rodent liquidator. Not to get too graphic and believe me I could, this week Jerry killed four mice in one night and left their heads for me, scattered about. I am not squeamish, and yet, one never expects to start the day collecting disembodied heads with a paper towel. Jerry was extremely excited, but also slightly sluggish, what with all the mouse meat in his belly.

Starring Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover, Evan Peters, Mark Duplass and Sarah Bolger, "The Lazarus Effect" follows a group of medical students who discover a way to bring the dead back to life. If you had a chance to bring someone back from the dead, would you? This was a serious question I asked myself before and after watching this movie. "The Lazarus Effect" probably isn't a horror film that you'll remember by year's end, but it also isn't a bad movie by any means.

“Here you go. Want to try and do something with this?” In the summer of 1990, my boss at the Texas City Sun was going through the daily stack of mail when he tossed a Rounder Records/Bullseye Blues press kit onto my desk. He knew I was into music, and opportunities were rare — that’s being generous — to do much regional or national entertainment coverage. Writing a profile on a musician opening for Bonnie Raitt would be a nice change of pace amid the daily grind of cops, obits and meetings.

Dennis Ritchie is the most influential man you've (probably) never heard of. A thread on the life and legacy of the incredible technology pioneer... Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie was born to a middle-class family on September 9, 1941, in Bronxville, New York. His father, Alistair, was a scientist at Bell Labs, the famous American scientific research and development company known for its track record of innovation. From a young age, it was clear that Dennis Ritchie had an intrinsic aptitude for science and math.

November is my birthday month. I’ll be 42. It’s bittersweet because 42 was the age my brother was when he died of cancer. While I have a craft show that day as well, I invite you to have a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings marathon in his memory and eat some cake to celebrate my birthday. Are you a first time visitor to Twisting the Myths? Subscribe to discover more mysteries and monsters like the one below, enjoy a quick tale, or get inspired.

Although The Legend of Shen Li ended a few weeks ago, aspects of it linger in my mind. From all metrics the much touted reunion of the leads Lin Gengxin and Zhao Liying appears to be a commercial success because the showrunners which includes Zhao Liying as an executive producer know what the audiences want. The two final episodes tacitly acknowledge the problems and mistakes of the leads’ previous collaboration, Princess Agents, focusing on what the audience wants and fan services the heck of out the resolution.

Thanks to everyone for your incredible response to the God’s Music Is My Life podcast! In addition to the official ‘first’ episode, I’ve also uploaded a ‘bonus’ episode with my 2008 interview with Bishop Carlton Pearson. If you haven’t listened and followed the podcast yet, you can do so here (on Spotify) or here (Apple Podcasts). On Friday, I uploaded the audio from the panel discussion I participated in with Everett Drake and Regina McCrary about Nashville’s historic Nashboro Records in September at the National Museum of African-American Music as exclusive content for paid subscribers.

If I could spend most of my time researching history and writing about it in this newsletter, I think I’d be close to fulfilling my purpose in life. That can only happen if I have your support. Would you consider becoming a paid subscriber today? Perhaps you have heard of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “Letter from a Birminghal Jail.” It is one of the greatest works of political theology in the 20th century.

Greetings, Dear Ones. You’ve been on my mind a lot this week. The whirlwind that was my birthday has almost come to a close (one more event tomorrow). You needn’t feel sorry for me. I’ll survive. I just returned from Mendocino with Stephen. He surprised me with 36 hours of wonderful on the craggy cliffs of Northern California. The sea crashed. The mist kisses us. The roads winded through cypress and over seafoam.