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Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

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Lord ha’ mercy.

July 16, 2012 /

I thought about my high school days the other evening, catching an episode of Two and a Half Men. Young Jake was pouting in his room, guitar in hand, shaking the house with an overly-amplified version of Smoke on the Water.

It occurred to me what an enduring song that has been.

Maybe it isn’t played all that often on the radio anymore. It might be more of a cultural reference now, I don’t know. It seems to me that the song – along with several others – pretty well defined an era of rock music.

Hearing Jake thump out the three or four notes, bum-bump-bummmm, bump-bum-ba-bummmm… made me think about way back when. Those things tend to make me feel older, since I realize that younger people probably don’t care one whit about the song or that time.

Today’s news made me feel even older (with all due respect to my youngish octogenarian friends and customers).

Jon Lord, the keyboard player for Deep Purple and a co-writer of the song, has died at age 71. Perhaps because I was high school age when the song was released, I have retained a mental image of the band members as young men. Maybe I thought they had found the Fountain of Youth.

They didn’t.

In fact, Jon Lord was quite a bit older at that time when I assumed he was near my own age.

He never slowed down, even after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer some years back. When Deep Purple disbanded, he played with 80’s rockers Whitesnake. Deep Purple reunited later, but in between Lord kept busy. He even had a classical work that was performed at Royal Albert Hall in London.

I’m sure there will be plenty of hits on YouTube this evening, bringing up videos of concert performances.

Jon Lord – a big part of the music scene of that time – will live forever in that venue.

They’re everywhere!

July 16, 2012 /

They are all around you. Possibly in the room with you right now.

Writers.

The passion for putting words on paper (as if we all do that still…) is either a blessing or a curse. Sitting in front of a word processor, typewriter (you know who you are!), or notebook with pen in hand, the practice of piecing together sentences and paragraphs to make something pleasing to read is a solitary endeavor.

Even if the work is done in collaboration with others, the actual writing is generally done independently. One person. One word at a time.

Knowing a little of the process, it makes me cringe to see scathing reviews of published works. There isn’t a book in print that doesn’t represent hours and hours of the author’s dedication and hard work. To have the end product of that labor dismissed by a heartless critic pains me, and in the several reviews I’ve done over the years, I try to keep a positive tone.

I also like to do my part to give writers a little recognition for their efforts, keeping an area to display the books of local and area authors, a little promotion and the opportunity to have someone buy and read the book.

Not everyone is a New York Times bestselling author, but there are writers in the Tulsa metro area that have had books optioned by filmmakers and movies made of their works. Probably the best known are those of Susan Eloise Hinton, more familiarly known as S. E. Hinton – the author of The Outsiders, Rumblefish, That was Then, This is Now – and others. The Outsiders was not only set in 1960’s Oklahoma, but brought Hollywood movie directors and stars to the state for the filming.

Jay Cronley’s humorous novels have been adapted into movies that starred A-list actors like Chevy Chase and Bill Murray.

There are other examples, such as the bestselling House of Night series by PC Cast and her daughter Kristen Cast, reportedly in the works as a major film project.

Then there are those works of fiction and non-fiction that represent a similar amount of work and dedication which have not caught the attention of Hollywood. Famous or not, they are deserving of attention, like the beautiful photography included in William Collins’ work – The Rucksack Accessories – currently among the feature titles at McHuston Booksellers.

There is a space here for your work, too! We’re proud to support local authors!

Sleep Aid: Pills or Pages?

July 14, 2012 /

It sounds like a science fiction book: waking up behind the steering wheel, sitting there in pajamas with steam billowing out from under the crumpled car hood. The dazed driver looks around, obviously unsure of the location or circumstances. Could be a bestseller.

Or, it may already be one.

You probably won’t catch it on a television commercial, but the Food and Drug Administration ordered the makers of Ambien (a trade name for the drug zolpidem) to alter the warning label to include as a possible side-effect: sleep-driving.

Sleep-driving is a lot like sleepwalking, only a lot more dangerous.

Former US Commerce Secretary John Bryson had difficulties during a trip to California, leading to a series of car accidents and his resignation from the Obama Cabinet. Initially, he was suspected of driving under the influence, but later reports indicated health problems. Ambien is suspected to have played a role. Now, the sleep aid is being considered as the cause of a similar accident Friday morning involving Kerry Kennedy, the ex-wife of NY Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Kennedy was arrested on suspicion of DUI Friday morning after crashing into a highway railing and continuing to drive – even on a flat tire. She stopped at the bottom of an exit ramp, where police found her slumped over the wheel.

Some months ago, a class-action lawsuit against the drug manufacturer led to the changing of the warning label. The insomnia drug works so well that energetic sleepers have not only taken to the streets in sleep-driving episodes, but are also prone to binge sleep-eating.

The binge part includes devouring just about anything in sight – even things like buttered cigarettes and raw eggs: yolks, whites, shells, and all.

Unfortunately, those aren’t the only side known side effects, and the drug is often cited in date rape cases. Others include:

 Nausea
 Vomiting
 Dizziness
 Anterograde amnesia
 Hallucinations, through all physical senses, of varying intensity
 Delusions
 Altered thought patterns
 Ataxia or poor motor coordination, difficulty maintaining balance
 Euphoria and/or dysphoria
 Increased appetite
 Increased or decreased libido
 Amnesia
 Impaired judgment and reasoning
 Uninhibited extroversion in social or interpersonal settings
 Increased impulsivity
 When stopped, rebound insomnia may occur
 Headaches
 Short-term memory loss

This is just a thought, and is based only on personal experience, but – given the number of books out there, both riveting and awesomely bland – couldn’t a good old dull read in dim lighting work just as well and eliminate the gruesome side-effects?

Try a paperback, though. Hardbacks tend to bonk you on the head when you nod off, bringing you right back out of that good sleep.

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