All About Monsters

On Friday I went to see Monsters of Folk with my friend Joe. I didn't know what to expect. It is an amazing grouping of talent, maybe one of the best you can find, Jim James from My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes and M. Ward, and to see them live was unbelievable. Jim James has the most fantastic voice. It was haunting. They kept handing Mike Mogis different string instruments and oh how he made them sing! M. Ward had a great bluesy sound. Conor Oberst has some of the darkest, deepest lyrics I have ever heard. All I can say is I'm very happy this young man found an outlet for all of the twisted brilliance in his head. An amazing show. Everyone should at least have a listen... http://www.myspace.com/monstersoffolk.

The Fox Theater in Oakland has been completely redone and may now be my favorite venue. It's beautiful. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

This past week I started reading Monster of Florence. It is already creeping me out! Great book. I can't wait to see what happens.

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Florence-Douglas-Preston/dp/0446581194

When author Douglas Preston moved his family to Florence he never expected he would soon become obsessed and entwined in a horrific crime story whose true-life details rivaled the plots of his own bestselling thrillers. While researching his next book, Preston met Mario Spezi, an Italian journalist who told him about the Monster of Florence, Italy's answer to Jack the Ripper, a terror who stalked lovers' lanes in the Italian countryside. The killer would strike at the most intimate time, leaving mutilated corpses in his bloody wake over a period from 1968 to 1985. One of these crimes had taken place in an olive grove on the property of Preston's new home. That was enough for him to join "Monsterologist" Spezi on a quest to name the killer, or killers, and bring closure to these unsolved crimes. Local theories and accusations flourished: the killer was a cuckolded husband; a local aristocrat; a physician or butcher, someone well-versed with knives; a satanic cult. Thomas Harris even dipped into "Monster" lore for some of Hannibal Lecter's more Grand Guignol moments in Hannibal. Add to this a paranoid police force more concerned with saving face and naming a suspect (any suspect) than with assessing the often conflicting evidence on hand, and an unbelievable twist that finds both authors charged with obstructing justice, with Spezi jailed on suspicion of being the Monster himself. The Monster of Florence is split into two sections: the first half is Spezi's story, with the latter bringing in Preston's updated involvement on the case. Together these two parts create a dark and fascinating descent into a landscape of horror that deserves to be shelved between In Cold Blood and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. --Brad Thomas Parsons

Preemie Presents

Please click on the link above to visit Preemie Presents.