'Murica!

The Great American State Fair is a rousing success... If by Great American State Fair, you mean The World Cup. Whatever is going on at The National Mall is so ridiculously on the nose at a grammar school level that it would get people fired from a writers' room.

Today is good day to remind people that Trump is not good at anything but acting as his own PR agent. And without The New York Post's writers, National Enquirer sensationalist, or NBC's production team, he is kinda shit at that as well.

I am going to be posting only things that fill me with joy for the next week or so. Someone dear to us passed away suddenly. Looking for all the joy I can get.

A terrific gift for kids of all ages.

ANTIFA AGENTS ALLY WITH SEA MONKEY EMPIRE!!!

Have now cataloged 71 fictional horror podcasts. Making my personal summaries as ridiculous as possible. For instance: "Welsh kid and dad investigate stone cold conspiracy. Happy day!" "How the hell did we go from a person disappearing in a psych ward to getting sucked into The Dreamlands?"

In 1932, the elite class told Roosevelt to... 1. Balance the budget and cut taxes on the rich to spur investment. 2. Let farmers fail and allow those who had money in banks to go under. 3. Focus on private charity to help the poor. He told them to go fuck themselves. It can be done.

Maybe some of those critics should offer the gift of their properly working executive function, their lack of crippling anxiety, and freedom from perfection procrastination to those suffering. You know, head on over and give them the help they desperately need.

The legend of Resurrection Mary.

What exactly makes a road movie?

1/9 I'm building Gauge Illuminations because I think horror audio is now at a point where it deserves the same thoughtful criticism, history, and conversation that film has enjoyed for decades. Think Cahiers du Cinéma by way of Fangoria. And we really get going next week. #AudioDrama #Horror

Citizen Kane's core about how the accumulation of wealth and power does not fill the emptiness inside unloved men never seemed so relevant. Of course, I am also reminded that when asked if Kane was Hearst, Welles responded no, "Kane had way more style than Hearst." Take from that what you will.

"Dispatch #3: Reflexive Vulnerability" This Sunday's Last Empty Places has to make the argument that travel is good for you. Infuriating that we find ourselves at that state of affairs, but given that the opposite view is from a world created by Bari Weiss, here we are.

I KNEW IT. THEY'RE ALL POD PEOPLE! (No one will get this.)

My review of Disclosure Day is up.

In an image, show me something that actually "wouldn't get made today?" (It doesn't just need to be for political reasons.) I'll start. #filmsky

What would a podcast about being lost be if we weren't late at least once.? "Last Empty Places" better late than never. A conversation that begins about getting lost when you're on a clock ends up in a Nantucket Bay fog bank. Link to RSS feed in the thread.

I am safe to say this now and not jinx it. At the beginning of the NBA playoffs, I asked my dad who he was rooting for. "This house is going for The #Knicks. Spike Lee was real good to us after Katrina, and he deserves some joy." Pause. "We stand by the folks who stand by us." True story.

Got a little lost last week. Last Empty Places returns this Sunday. Until then, enjoy a dispatch on my favorite insult.

Random posting of magical thinking #hopium: The exact same time The Knicks won their last NBA Championship? The Nixon Administration began to unravel. I still believe the event that sets our timeline right from this dark universe is Yankees over Dodgers in 6. But I'll take it where i can get it.

"Gauging The Illuminators" This is the first time I am calling on Bluesky for help. If you are a #horror #podcast creator, know of a niche program that needs some love, or just like to follow what’s happening next with “The New Weird” help me get the word out.

On the eve of the latest episode of "Last Empty Places," the latest dispatch is up on Substack. Getting lost is bad enough, but add an external clock of urgency and bad decisions start compounding.

Stay tuned.

And Obi Wan-as-a-gumshoe tracking the origins of the clone army up to the face off against Jango Fett is genuinely sinister.

Just because something calls itself CBS doesn't mean it is CBS.

Off to Springfield, MO, in a couple of hours, but I wanted to post this for any of you who are interested in proof that sometimes focusing on quality pays off in spades. Even if you're not interested in video games, there is a lot to be learned about art and commerce in the following video essay.

#filmsky should really dig into this. There is something afoot. I think we're on the cusp of a revolution in filmmaking akin to what happened in 1967. A bloated system is about to collide with kids of all ages, and at least for a time, I don't think the machine will be able to keep up.

I really think it's the former.

My latest essay pits two very different visions of worldbuilding against one another through the filter of "The Lovecraft Investigations" and other works of similar concerns and energies.

"At its core, it is the construction of a sinister plot that I am tracking: Across the globe, there is an ongoing effort to replace our present with a fictional past, hold that fictional construct in perpetual stasis, and destroy the future for any who are not invited or choose not to participate."

@takahanazawa.bsky.social I took your advice. You were right. It's a great ride.

The first image is who I would be if I hadn't quit drinking. The second is where I now hope I end up.

This is kind of profound.

I am setting up my new office studio. It is in one of my favorite New Orleans neighborhoods. And it should be ready by next week.

My thoughts on the new release "Backrooms" are up on Substack.

I myself am a little lost these days. But I am beginning to find some comfort in my surroundings. I feel as if I am setting up a basecamp. Tentatively, I am writing again, that has created a routine, and that routine allows me to release a podcast every Sunday... Love dogs? You'll love this.

I still think most people use the word "liminal" wrong. But that is another conversation for another day. For now, here's my thoughts on the movie that has placed the word at the center of the cultural zeitgeist. #horror #filmsky #liminal

I walked away from this project when the demands of my former job (and life) got to be too much. I am reupping as part of a larger project to set Lovecraft and Howard's universes into the world of American trucking.

Peter Stark and I welcome BJ Ganem to the Last Empty Places podcast this Sunday. He talks Sierra Delta, a love of dogs, and his recent adventure on Mount Kilimanjaro. Here's an essay about Micronesian Etak, pets becoming waypoints, and the the terrifying reality of unexplained disappearances.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

Since today is the 49th anniversary of #StarWars, I thought I would drop this essay on how cutting a singular scene changes an entire career. Tosche Station exists in an alternative universe where John, Toad, Steve, and Laurie wave from #AmericanGraffiti's tarmac. #filmsky #Anchorhead #ANewHope

Back up and rolling. Here's today's episode. More to come! Along with some bonus Star Wars inspired content this week, Sierra Delta founder BJ Ganem will be joining us next Sunday to talk about his trip to the top of Kilimanjaro. I'll also be out on the road to cover an antique trucking show.

Peter joins Jimmy for a conversation that begins as a continuation of their discussion about contingencies for getting lost, before drifting somewhere stranger and more transcendent—into the idea of abandoning past and future entirely in order to exist fully within the immediate wilderness.

QTP with a red-head girl!

With Cthulhu coming, time to re-up this... "True crime podcasters Matthew Heawood and Kennedy Fisher of 2019’s “The Lovecraft Investigations” and the newly appointed archivist Jonathan Sims of 2016’s “The Magnus Archives” are among the gold standard creations of contemporary horror podcasting."

Someone comment on this post. Because I don't need the last word.