Gravel's new web site and Thom Yorke
April 23, 2007
M y friend Mike Gravel just launched a new look for his web site and in his typical humble way, said nothing when we dined at the Keg on the weekend. Nothing. Anyway, take a look-see at Mr. Gravel’s newly designed web site. It is cooler than a Thom Yorke (sans Radiohead) song – but not as cool as the song he performed on The Henry Rollins show last July. A song called Cymbal Rush...I only just say the clip...today in fact, but it stopped me. Slew me. Stunningly beautiful. Call me a fan....
It was a great day for the Columbus novel. Pumped out 1,900 words, which is a good day. Columbus being a witty, quick Columbus in a bar fight. Obsessed and driven, I was. Interruptions drove me to rudeness. Typical obsessed writer.
Here's a little sample...
Prologue
M his is a brutal, ugly time. There are days when I cannot bear humanity. Days when I am disgusted. Days when I have seen too much death, too much cruelty, violence, hopelessness, despair. And it seems this darkness is something we humans cannot escape. It is our nature. It seems almost sanctioned by the church. Able and Cain. Cain slew Able. And ever since Adam’s son killed his brother, mankind has been killing and slaying and mutilating. Adam and Eve march out of the garden and their prodigy start the killing. I know the Bible is made up of stories – I cannot approach this holy book and blindly accept every story as fact – but these are very powerful stories. They reverberate through cultures, shape our days, and weeks and years.
This morning, I opened my door and the news on the street is 30 Jews, killed in a small town in Italy, burned to death by a mob. These stories, though diminishing in frequency in recent years, still hit me as a punch to the face would. These mobs are afraid of the Black Death, as this plague almost always seems to pass over the Jewish neighbourhoods – therefore the Jews are causing the plagues. You see? The logic is nonexistent. The slaughter, horrific. Couldn’t have anything to do with the concept of cleanliness or the fact Jewish neighbourhoods are isolated. Gypsies? Gypsies are a different matter. They travel so much that they could very well bring the Black Death with them from town to town. But killing them is not a solution. Forbidding them to travel in times of the plague makes sense. There are days when another massive flood and starting over makes sense. You see? The Bible again. These stories permeate our language, and our thoughts.
On days like this, when I need to escape my own mind and heart, I come to Salvos’ bar. Salvos is a pig of a man but he serves decent food and cheap drinks....