Duran Duran Dolled Up

 I collect matryoshka dolls, more commonly known as Russian nesting dolls. I love the little ladies, I always have, ever since I've watched the stop-and-go-animation shorts on Sesame Street depicting nesting dolls counting up to ten and back down to one.

 I am also a fan of mixing good things. When you have two things that bring you joy, life can only get better when you can mix the two together somehow. And so I did.

 A couple of years ago, I came up with the idea of mixing nesting dolls with Duran Duran. I looked in several places that sell nesting dolls, both traditional and modern pop culture styles, but I never saw a Duran Duran matryoshka. I needed to change that. So, I looked online for someone who makes custom-made nesting dolls. After looking at several, I decided on an Etsy site called The Attic Studio WV. I liked the artist's style because rather than focusing mainly on the face of the doll, she does an amazing job at getting the image of the whole person on the doll, all the way around!

 I had a wonderful time going back and forth with her, discussing details and her sending me images of her daily progress. I think she had as much fun as I did! The end result is an absolute delight! The era I chose for their look was from the Seven and the Ragged Tiger album. The set came with six dolls so I chose the five larger dolls as band members and the tiniest bears two symbols from the album cover.

 And here are my gorgeous guys:

Here is the page for The Attic Studio WV: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AtticStudioWV

Life Glitch

I am and always have been a believer in various things that cannot be explained by logic or science, such as the paranormal, or clairvoyance, largely because I have experienced such things myself. Believe what you will. I'm not interested in arguing or proving anything. You may believe with me or choose not to.

In the past year or so, I have become aware of a phenomena called a "life glitch" or as many like to call it a "glitch in the matrix." For those who don't know what it is, it seems that some people experience what one could call a hiccup in reality, such as experiencing one thing, while everyone around you insists that something else happened. Some people believe that there are countless realities just like the one we're in with minor differences and sometimes someone would slide over to another reality where things aren't quite as they remember it. Sometimes the slide is temporary, sometimes it is not.

It turns out that I have been experiencing such things but only recently knew that there was a name for it. Since then, I have been reading stories from others who have lived through some kind of life glitch. One of my favorite sources is a on a YouTube channel called Hellfreezer, where various true stories, such as Glitch in the Matrix, Paranormal, Scary, and other stories are narrated out loud.

A while back, I submitted an experience of my own, about a childhood book, to Hellfreezer, who did a lovely job at narrating it. Here it is in the video below. My entry starts at the 11:57 mark.
Enjoy:

1 to 3 Rule of Classic Hits

There's a phenomenon among radio stations, who play classic hits, that I call the "1 and 3 Rule." Apparently, it's considered taboo for radio stations to acknowledge when an artist or band has had several hits. After a certain amount of time after a band has had some hits, radio stations will cling to one of those songs and play it to death for eternity and that band is doomed to be known for that one song and history is left to forget their other songs. Such bands can easily be mistaken as one-hit-wonders.
For instance, OMD have had some delightful songs that had some airplay once upon a time, but the only song that radio stations seem to play is "If You Leave." Every radio station that plays classic hits plays that to death. Did you miss it? Just wait ten minutes. They'll play it again. Also, remember a time when Culture Club was known for more than Karma Chameleon? None of the radio stations seem to.
Super-famous bands, however, are granted a whopping three songs from their vast selection of hits to be remembered for... and rotten little else. Duran Duran, which dominated the airwaves in the 80s are reduced to Rio, Hungry Like the Wolf, and Ordinary world. Van Halen, despite insanely popular hits with David Lee Roth and then Sammy Hagar, are whittled down to Jump, Panama, and Love Walks In. David Bowie, whose music spanned over 5 decades, is now mainly known for Fame, Let's Dance, and Modern Love. The near absence of his other songs on the airwaves is nothing short of heartbreaking.
Now, one could argue that they are just playing what the listeners want to hear, but is everyone in every city really calling in with the same same same same songs every day when they can upload those songs on their own personal electronic devices themselves?
Please, radio stations who plays classic hits, these bands have put a lot of variety into their history. Stop reducing them to 1 or 3 songs. They deserve better and so do your listeners!

Live Reading of Speaking in Feline

I have recently been given the grand opportunity to do a live feed reading, generously recorded and provided by a superfan of Duran Duran, Andy Golub (aka Durandy.) It was incredibly fun and I hope to do something similar in the near future!

My Dearest Hopes

Those who know me know that I am a huge fan of Duran Duran. Because of this, and because I have been in a good place in my life when I wrote Speaking in Feline and included many things in it that make me happy, Duran Duran and Duranies play an important role in the story.

Later this summer I will be going to Europe to see a (surprise surprise) Duran Duran concert. I have high hopes that I will have the opportunity to meet the band. A huge bonus would be for me to present them with a copy of Speaking in Feline! Even better, I am hopeful that they might have at least heard about it by then!

Wish me luck, dear readers!

So far, I have received very good feedback from those who have read Speaking in Feline. In a few days, I will be making a video book reading. I very much enjoy public reading but this will be my first video reading and I'm very excited to see how this will turn out!

It's here! For those of you who like to read books electronically, Speaking in Feline is now available in Kindle!