Biker Bar: The Book

My good friend Thom Magister has just released a new book, "Biker Bar." Subtitled "Bikes Beer and Boys," its a playfully illustrated history of how men's biker and leather bars have changed through the ages.  You can check it out on Amazon by clicking the cover.

Here's what I had to say about it for the back cover:
“On back streets and down alleyways. In neighborhoods many feared to tread. Often behind doors marked so only those in the know could open them. That’s where you would find them: lone wolves, strangers, friends, and bikers, banding together with the smoke, the jukebox, and the beer at their bars. Join these men, comrades in arms, as they take us on a leather-jacketed ride through time. See the biker bar change through the decades as chronicled by Thom Magister, a man who witnessed these establishments come, go, and be reinvented.”
— Tim Brough, author of Skin Tight, First Hand, and other popular BDSM books

I am proud and feel lucky that I got to witness this book in it's gestation form. The finished work is wonderful, too.

My Amazon Reviews: Drake Jensen "Outlaw"

The Return of Outlaw Country
5 Out Of 5 Stars

"Every cowboy's got a story and a secret he's learned to hide/Maybe he's tough in chaps and leather with a different kind of pride."

So says Canadian Cowboy Drake Jensen on his second full length studio album, "Outlaw." Comprised of 11 songs, including three of which Drake wrote or co-wrote, "Outlaw" reminds me alot of the the new country acts I was writing about and giving radio play to in the early 90's, before the "kids in cowboy hats" phenomenon kicked in. Drake has a full, rich voice that is often reminiscent of Randy Travis or George Strait, and his band plays full-bore modern country. Touching on topics from good lovin', fine livin' and not backing down from a challenge.

Nowhere on "Outlaw" is that fight more plaintive than its emotional centerpiece, "Scars." Drake has said in interviews that the abuse he suffered as a school student was so severe that he dropped out by 8th grade. He channels every bit of emotion he's got into this powerful song, and its corresponding video will throw you for a loop. Too many country singers are afraid of anything remotely controversial, but Drake walks into the fray till he's boot deep in it. In my opinion, the best message song of the past several years.

Even with something that serious to tent-pole the CD, Drake is not afraid of some good timing. "Fast Enough For Me" (one of the songs Drake shares writing credit on) requests that love takes its easy to be certain, but having a good time along the way is just fine. Then there's my other favorite on the CD, "Midnight Forest Cricket Chorus." It had me by the title alone, but then contemplates how a peaceful night where getting away from the noise and flashing neon could be one of life's sweetest experiences.

There's plenty to love on "Outlaw," from the wish to slow the world down in "I Don't Want To Know" to the strong "When It Hurts Like That," which kicks the album off with confidence. Drake Jensen may still be flying under the radar at the moment, however, that's no reason he should be off of yours.

http://www.drakejensen.ca
https://www.facebook.com/drakejensenmusic

     

Drake Jensen rocks my (country) world

Drake Jensen is a Canadian country singer, who just happens to be gay and out. I've been enjoying his CD "OUTlaw" for a couple of weeks now. Should you think the gent is easy on the eyes, I can also add that he's easy on the ears. He has two terrific videos from the CD,

The first, for "Scars," takes on the very serious topic of bullying, and doesn't mince words. With powerful imagery, I find both the video and the song itself riveting.



Then there's the more fun side of Drake, in the recently released "Fast Enough For Me." Go on, admit it. You've been there.



Like I said, I am really enjoying his music. You can find out more at drakejensen.ca (which is were I copped this photograph).

My Amazon DVD Reviews: "Grizzly Man"

Talking about the good life in the foodchain
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Werner Herzog was given a strange mission with the film, "Grizzly Man." How do you take 100's of hours of tape made by a delusional, self-centered and mentally imbalanced man who is ultimately killed (along with the poor woman he drags along after him) by his obsession with Alaskan Grizzlies and make him someone somewhat sympathetic? The documentary manages to do just that, with Herzog inserting himslef as a conscience/narrator into the tapes of naturalist and self-described "kind warrior" Timothy Treadwell. For over a decade of summers, Treadwell would haul himself to Alaska, embed himself in a State Park and try to become one with the grizzlies.

Yes, you're right...anyone with a lick of sense would see this as a fool's errand, and the movie doesn't even bother to hide that fact by mentioning at the beginning that Treadwell and lady friend Amie Huguenard become lunch for a "bear full of people and clothes." Treadwell fails to recognize what Herzog knows by instinct and a few millenniums of evolution; nature is "chaos, hostility, and murder." Treadwell looks at nature as some sort of Disney-fied harmony, where if you just dance with the animals, they'll be your friends and all will live in the big unity of the universe. This despite ample evidence to the contrary (adult males eating cubs to foster mating with females, the killing of one of his fox pup 'friends'); Treadwell rails on about the bear world versus the people world.

Herzog keeps Treadwell from looking like a blithering idiot by balancing some of the most intimate footage you'll probably ever see of bears in the wild and commentary from both the friends and enemies of Treadwell, and ultimately sacrificing an opportunity to exploit Treadwell and Amie's death. A narcissist to the very end, Treadwell had a camera running even as he and Amie were being attacked and killed, and Herzog makes the decision to not include the audio (the lens cap was still on the camera) or include the pictures from the coroner, going as far as to implore one of Treadwell's few friends to destroy the final tape and never look back. It's Herzog's sense of compassion for his subject (aided by a terrific score by guitarist Richard Thompson), even as he understands the madness, that makes "Grizzly Man" so compelling.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Scissor Sisters "Magic Hour"

Could this be the magic?
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Continuing their Roxy Music art dance meets Elton John Piano pop, "Magic Hour" is the Scissor Sisters at their best. As they keep searching for an American Audience and switch to the Casablanca Records banner (home to the best of 70's dance music, take that as a clue), Jake, BabyDaddy, Del and Anna are still looking for love at all the best parties.

There's plenty here to tape your feet to; from the silly bonus track "Eff Yeah!" to the pulsing "Keep Your Shoes On," the Sisters are playing to their strengths. After all, not every band could take a phone message about a crappy night on the NYC club scene and mix it into a party anthem ("Let's Have a Kiki"). They also allow the mood to be serious, as on the heartbreak story of "Inevitable" or the frothy "San Luis Obispo." There are those who might think that the band is not changing much from their other albums; I say Scissor Sisters have a sound. For me, it's well worth the continuing interest in the band.

     

Bear Rockin' To The Stroke

   

I've Always Liked Jill Sobule....

...but I think I like her even more after this bit of inspired silliness.


  

11 Years Ago Today

 I lost my Rubber Bear Peter Tolos. Not a day goes by that I don't miss him.



John Rand took this picture of us, and it's always been my favorite.

Tryin' To Keep Our Cool

 

Uh oh....Sunday night there was a sound in the basement that sounded like a crashing jet. It was the Blower Unit of the heater literally tearing apart. So no AC for the last couple of day. The repairman told us that the 35 year olf unit has bit the dust and will necessitate a very pricey replacement. We're using open windows and fans now. Fortunately the weather has been relatively mild for Summer, making it tolerable for the time being.

No vacations for us for a little while. Ugh.