The Year That Was
Now that 2022 exists only in the past tense, I feel it's appropriate to look back and recap the year that got us here. We picked up some new subscribers over the holidays, so if you're an old subscriber, I'll make it quick!
I had two books come out in 2022, one non-fiction, one fiction. The Life and Art of Dave Cockrum fits into the former category, whereas Tall Tales, Fairy Tales, and Bedtime Stories (For Former Children) fits into the latter. I also pulled the trigger on four (4!) audiobooks, which includes both Bedlam & Belfry collections, plus Tall Tales and Top of the World. That's a lot of new product to put out in one year, and I can promise you right now that 2023 won't be as busy. There's definitely one thing that I can't talk about yet, and another (smaller) thing won't be out until next year. More details will be released as we get closer to the official announcements!
First Things Second
Why is this installment numbered Part VIII? Because I'm using Marvel Legacy Numbering, that's why! I don't want the 100th newsletter to actually be the 101st, or whatever number we're up to by then, so both the Holiday Special and the Christmas Bonus are retroactively numbered VI & VII, respectively. You'll be happy I did this when we finally get up to milestone numbers!
The Year in Your Ear
After two years of COVID cancelled shows and tours, acts hit the road again in 2022 with a fever! Looking back, I spent a lot of time and money both outdoors and indoors at concerts, the most I've ever attended in one year, ever. (I guess you could say I was making up for lost time, too!)
Some of the bands I saw had never played Newfoundland before, whereas others hadn't done so in a long time. I took 'em as they came, and now that the year is almost over, I went back to see just how much money I spent.
Given that I attended ten shows (four of which were festivals with multiple acts on the bill), I think that I did all right. It was my first time seeing many of the bands listed below, and given the ages of some of them, I calculated that it might be my last chance to see them live.
Most of these acts are Canadian, so if you're not, you might not be familiar with them. Here they are, in chronological order, with headliners on the right and opening acts on the left. Prices are ticket + service charges/fees/taxes = what I actually spent. And all amounts are in Canadian dollars, which, if you're American, makes the prices even better!
May 13 Cheap Trick/ZZ Top 114.75 + 17.40 = 132.15
June 22 Sass Jordan/Chilliwack/Tom Cochrane 69.00 + 17.89 = 86.89
June 24 Northern Pikes/Honeymoon Suite/Kim Mitchell 79.00 + 19.82 = 98.92
July 29 Sam Roberts Band/The Tea Party 40.00 + 10.01 = 50.01
Aug. 12 Harlequin/David Wilcox/Randy Bachman Band/Ann Wilson of Heart 49.50 + 12.27 = 61.77
Sept. 5 Bryan Adams (solo (plus piano, sometimes) acoustic show) 92.50
Sept. 10 Jenn Grant/Blue Rodeo 69.50 + 12.80 = 82.30
Sept. 16 Joe Sumner/Sting 135.50 + 14.95 = 150.45
Oct. 1 Sarah Harmer 42.50
Oct. 29 The Stampeders 79.35 + 2.00 = 81.35
That's a grand total of 878.84, or (on average) 87.85 a show. The most expensive was Sting (who hadn't been here in almost a decade, and only once before), with Cheap Trick and ZZ Top in second place. ZZ Top was supposed to play St. John's for their 50th anniversary tour in 2020, and if they had, I would've seen all three of the original members. But bassist Dusty Hill died in 2021, which underscored the point: see 'em now while I still can!
The least expensive show of the year was Sarah Harmer (and well worth the money!), with The Sam Roberts Band opening for The Tea Party for a ticket price of forty dollars another incredible bargain. It was part of The George Street Festival, and a lot of festivals were sponsored/subsidized by the provincial government as 2022 was Come Home Year. I don't think we'll see prices like these again.
The best bang-for-the-buck was on August 12 when I saw Harlequin, David Wilcox, the Randy Bachman Band, and Ann Wilson for a ticket price of under fifty bucks. Randy's son, Tal, also sang his '90s hit, "She's So High", which technically means I saw five acts that night. And at seventy-two years old, Ann Wilson looked half her age and sang exactly the same as she always has. She hasn't lost a note!
It was cool to see Bryan Adams do an acoustic show (his second of the night!) on Labour Day. Over three days in June I saw two shows featuring six big name Canadian acts of the '80s-'90s, which is where the festival money is these days. At seventy-seven years old, Chilliwack's Bill Henderson was like Ann Wilson in defying his age.
Blue Rodeo is the act I've seen live the most. Over the last twenty-odd years I've seen them umpteen times as they come here every tour. They're practically a local band, they're here so much. But if you're Blue Rodeo, all of Canada is your hometown. They hit every province, every tour.
I don't expect this kind of craziness next year. A lot of these acts won't be on tour, and it won't be Come Home Year again, so the subsidies will disappear. The five hour show for fifty bucks phenomenon likely won't be repeated. But that's okay -- my wallet will thank me!
Lost and Found
Here's something I discovered while going back through old folders: a list of what I consider to be the twelve best episodes of The Twilight Zone. Why twelve? I'm glad I asked!
About five (or more) years ago I finally accomplished a goal I'd had for a while: to watch every episode of The Twilight Zone, in order, start to finish. I was helped along by the purchase of the complete series on Blu-ray, and I took my time getting there. No more than one episode a day was my credo, and some days, not even that. It took a while, but eventually I reached the end and when I did, I decided to list the best episodes (according to me) while everything was still fresh. My goal was a top ten, but there were two extras on the list, so it's a top twelve.
What makes these episodes better than all the others? From my perspective, they're the best-written, defined both by how the story is told and their emotional weight. These aren't episodes based upon twist endings because once you know the twist, you can't exactly enjoy them again -- at least, not in the same way. So there are no broken glasses, ugly aliens, or suspicious cookbooks here. These are the episodes which centered around insight into the human condition, or "preachies", to borrow a term from the old EC comic books. Rod Serling and his staff liked to use science fiction and fantasy to inform and educate their audience about the issues of the day, as well as the foibles and flaws of the human race which are timeless. And because I've got nowhere else to put this, it goes right here!
12. No Time Like The Past (S4 E10)
A scientist attempts to use a time machine to prevent tragedies, both in world history and in his own past.
11. The Mirror (S3 E6)
A Central American revolutionary comes into the possession of a mirror that shows him his potential assassins.
10. The Old Man In The Cave (S5 E7)
In a post-apocalyptic settlement in 1974, the inhabitants' survival is dependent on the advice of an unseen man living in a nearby cave.
09. The Gift (S3 E32)
A man from the stars comes with a gift to a small Mexican village whose residents do not welcome this stranger.
08. The Encounter (S5 E31)
Post-WWII Hawaii. Two men of once-opposing races are stuck in an attic full of war trophies, including a samurai sword waiting to dutifully avenge its slain master.
07. Deaths-Head Revisited (S3 E9)
A former German SS captain returns to Dachau concentration camp and begins reminiscing on the power he enjoyed there, until he finds himself on trial by those who died at his hands.
A mysterious figure begins to ruthlessly guide a young, insecure U.S. neo-Nazi leader, and the group begins to attract more attention.
05. On Thursday We Leave For Home (S4 E16)
The first human space colony is about to be rescued from the forsaken planet they've been on for three decades. But their leader's having a hard time accepting that change will happen when they get back to Earth.
04. A Quality Of Mercy (S3 E15)
A hot-shot new lieutenant tries to make his mark on the last day of World War II in the Pacific and gets a unique perspective on his actions.
A suburban dinner party is interrupted by a bulletin warning of an impending nuclear attack. As the neighbors scramble to prepare themselves, they turn against the one family that installed a permanent bomb shelter.
02. I Am The Night - Color Me Black (S5 E26)
An inexplicable cloak of night refuses to lift on residents of a small town while a condemned man awaits execution.
01. The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street (S1 E22)
On a peaceful suburban street, strange occurrences stoke the residents' paranoia to a disastrous intensity.
(All summaries courtesy of IMDB.com.)
That's five episodes from Season 3, three from Season 4, three from Season 5, and one from Season 1 (although it heads the list). Season 2 is a no show, and since it's been years since I watched the series, I can't remember why.
One thing I learned from watching these again is that, taken together, they lose their effectiveness. Sandwiched between the rest of the episodes they stand out the way a chorus stands out from the verses, but watched in a countdown, even if spread apart by days, a sameness creeps in by the end. That’s why they were so good — they really stood out from the other episodes. But taken together, they’re less special, which is odd because if you start at No. 12 and work your way down, they’re supposed to get better, not feel like more of the same. I still stand by the rankings, though, which was something I wondered about when I watched them again. Would I agree with myself? And I did!
(Warning! Links are sketchy — some of the episodes are online, and might not be there in the future. But if you want your memory jogged of one in particular, just click the links!)
Visions of Future Past
Another thing I found while looking through my hard drive was a series of fake pulp science fiction covers I made using the generator over at Pulp-O-Mizer. You pick the foreground, background, title, and write the cover copy, then voila! You have your very own retro sci-fi mag!
The above was my very first attempt to be a golden age science fiction pulp editor, a la Mort Weisinger. Warning — it’s addictive!
Next time, new material, plus some recycled content!
'Til Then,
Glen