Dr. Frank's What's-it

When People Say Nice Things about My Books, and I Am Alerted to It, I Will Link

Posh Deluxe of Forever Young Adult previews stuff, including King Dork Approximately:

(Pre-order here.)

I Hear Ya Brother

It seems to me now that the public face of social liberalism has ceased to seem positive, joyful, human, and freeing. I now mostly associate that public face with danger, with an endless list of things that you can’t do or say or think, and with the constant threat of being called an existentially bad person if you say the wrong thing, or if someone decides to misrepresent what you said as saying the wrong thing. There are so many ways to step on a landmine now, so many terms that have become forbidden, so many attitudes that will get you cast out if you even appear to hold them. I’m far from alone in feeling that it’s typically not worth it to engage, given the risks.

-- Freddie deBoer, subbing for Andrew Sullivan.

It's Good

So there's a new (ish) Judas Priest album and it's pretty darn good. At least one probable enduring classic ("Halls of Vahalla") and many other strong contenders, a good mix of heavy and melodic with a good dose of the contemplative lilt of the battle-scarred viking princeling in a forest clearing pining for the fjords. I've heard complaints about "muddy production" and I know what they mean, but I'm not sure I don't prefer the grit (or whatever it is) and anyway it's plenty clear enough. (And though it's possible I'm just kidding myself about this, the vinyl really does seem to sound a lot better than the included mp3s.) The "deluxe" version (five extra tracks packaged as a double LP) feels more like a full album to me for what that's worth. Five razor sharp throwing stars from me.

Bloody

Notebook

"A murderer is rather like a peer: he pays more because of his title. One tries to travel incognito, but it usually comes out."

-- Graham Greene, The Ministry of Fear