A Mystery Solved

 During my run tonight, I listened to the following video on YouTube:

Long story short: the unanswered question of who sang The Most Mysterious Song On The Internet has finally been solved.  A German band, Fex, only together from 1983 to 1985, recorded the song, performed it a few times, and then went their separate ways, not reuniting until November of 2024.  Turns out that the track was not called Like The Wind, but Subways of Your Mind, and one of the members has both the finished version and a demo version to offer as proof that they're the long-lost band behind it.  After learning (after years of mystery) that hundreds of thousands of people (this video has 169K views, and a similar video by a disheveled dude called Whang! has 258K views), the original songwriter reunited with the band, performed an acoustic version, and has been inundated with press and interview requests.

I have to admit that a couple of days ago, when I heard the mystery had been solved, I was hesitant to watch the Professor of Rock video about it, because the destination is (nearly) never as good as the journey to get there.  But tonight, on my run, I went ahead and played it, and it turns out, I was wrong.  I found myself surprisingly moved by the end of this road, and felt pure, unselfish joy that these former bandmates have found an odd class of success forty-one years after recording this song.  And I hope they put out records, sign autographs, appear on late night talk shows, go on tour, and put out new music, like every hit band gets to do . . . but usually decades after releasing their hit.

Are there groupies that will sleep with band members didn't find success until they were nearly seventy?

I have a (very small) connection with the song in that, since 2020, I've been using Subways/Most Mysterious Song as the theme tune to my fiction podcast (The Podcast That Dares Not Speak Its Name), both because I really enjoy the song and got a little thrill of knowing I could never get in trouble for using it, not in a million years (the version of the song on my computer is from September 2019).

So now, I wonder: should I keep using it?  And if so (of course I'll keep using it), should I use the newly-released, clearer-lyrics version or just the original, tinnier recording?  And should I retire the bit where Fake Sean Connery says, "The theme is The Most Mysterious Song On The Internet.  If you know who sings it, then you are the only one."?

Rish Outcast 289: I've Got A Secret

Rish presents a new--and rather frustrating--short story called "I've Got A Secret." Strange goings-on are afoot at the library.   Enjoy?

You can download the file by Right-Clicking HERE.

You can support my Patreon by clicking HERE. 

Logo by Gino "Secret Agent Man" Moretto.

Goal Achieved (A Little Late)

I finally achieved the goal I set back in September*, for getting the audiobook of my novel "Balms & Sears" to sixty percent.

As of yesterday, I've now got forty-two of sixty-three chapters recorded, which puts me at the glorious number of 66.66666 percent done.  I know someone out there is proud of me.

*Crap, I just looked, and Mephistopheles help me, it was August.

Still Working Hard (or Hardly Working)

I set two stupid goals for this month that I have been trying not to blow off: writing every day and getting my novel "Balms & Sears" to 75% recorded.

On the first goal, I have BARELY managed to write every single day this month, though the other night, I was falling asleep and I asked myself, "Was there something I was supposed to do today that I didn't do?"  I had remembered to exercise, so I figured I was in the clear, but then I thought of my writing goal, and wrote three anemic paragraphs . . . which may not be great, but still counts.  

I split another chapter in two last night, which brings the total to sixty-three, and I have thirty-eight done.  By my math, that puts me at 60% finished (which is almost exactly six hours long).  If I manage one more chapter every other day this month, I'll finish the whole audiobook, not just my goal of 75%.  

It is exhausting, though.  B&S is the longest thing I've ever written, and I am simply not cut out for this sort of thing.  There are too many characters and too many subplots and I can't maintain it all, much less keep track of continuity.  Nope, when this is done, I'm going back to short stories and the occasional novella, thanks.

Rish Outcast 288: Q&A 2024 Part 2

After a wait of more than a month, Rish answers more questions from listeners*, including insight into the Cheesy Street Chalupa, and presents a short excerpt from his forthcoming novel "Balms & Sears."

*Questions from Rob Broughton, Keith Teklits, Marshal Latham, Letruvia Kambatta, and Brian Saur.

If you'd like to download the episode, Right-Click HERE.

Because of Archive.org's problems, this episode was delayed for weeks.  To avoid this, come support me on Patreon HERE.

Logo by Gino "The Answer Man" Moretto.

Special Tuesday Post

Where I live, every Tuesday is garbage day, the day you take out the trash.  It can be a chore, but it has to be done.  And this particular Tuesday is special, for a not-entirely-unrelated reason.  Yeah, it's a bit of a stretch, especially when I'm going to look for a photo of Ricky Chapman from the semi-infamous SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 2 to use in this post.

But no joking matter is how I feel on this Tuesday, knowing it's Election Day, and how, in a few short hours, the results will start coming in, and--I'm being realistic here--a few days from now, we'll get an official declaration as to who won the Presidency.  It has been with dread and disquiet I've spent the last week--a week that should be filled with the light joy of celebrating all things spooky and make-believe, instead of all too real.  But hey, I voted, and I can only hope that enough good people did too, regardless of how inconvenient it can be, or how insignificant it can seem.

It's a little thing, to cast your ballot and (if you choose) wear that fun little sticker, but if enough people do it, it becomes not so little a thing.

The only guarantee regarding this election is that Trump is going to declare victory no matter what the results are, and that future generations will ask us about it.  Whatever happens, I have to believe that there are more good people than bad, and that, even with my myriad, seemingly endless faults, I can number myself among them.

Positive Achievement (For A Change)

So, at the end of each month, I tally up how much I've exercised, much like I used to do with my word count.*  My goal for 2023 was to Exercise 200 Days, and my goal for 2024 was to Exercise 222 Days.  These are achievable goals (last year, I managed 249 days, which is not at all bad), and one of the few things I've managed to do this year is keep up with my exercise goals, mostly running.  On Halloween, I went on an extra long run, because one of the neighbors had put up a fog machine in their yard so I ducked down the cul de sac to check it out, and when I got home, I added up how I've done for the year so far.

Not sure why I didn't save orange for October.

So, as of October 31st, I'm at 251 days of exercise for the year, which means that not only have I already achieved my goal, but I've already beaten last year's total, with two months left.  Not too shabby.  I guess Big Anklevich and I are alike in at least one way.**

*In November, I've set the goal of writing every single day . . . but the trick is, I didn't say how much.  So if I write three words, I'm counting it.

**Or two, if you count our love of dogs, and understanding that cats are cold, sinister things.

Archive.org Still Down

Okay, that's not exactly true: Archive.org has mostly come back, and all my previous episodes should be available.  For the last few days, I was unable to log back in, but today I managed to, and I can access my files (which means you can too), but I still can't upload anything new.*

So, that leaves us where we were last time.  No new shows can go up on my blog, but you can always go to my Patreon to check out new shows, which will keep on happening, regardless of the backlog on my regular feed.  Sorry about this, but tis what tis.

*If you're able to, please let me know.

What Scares You?

Often, my voice is used over on the HorrorAddicts podcast playing a character, in one of the audio dramas/stories host Emerian Rich has produced.  But this episode--their Halloween show--I'm just playing me, as she asked the non-musical question, "What are Horror writers scared of?"  She wanted us to record our answers and send them to her, reiterating that she wasn't talking about low book sales, or modern politics, or gun violence, or how weird my scrotum looks from pretty much any angle.*  She meant, what sorts of things actually scare us, either inspiring our writing, or creepy experiences we have had.

So, I happily sent in my response, and it's in the most recent episode, along with several other horror writers she knows.  You can check it out HERE.

*A pretty specific personal detail, considering she sent (I assume) the same email out to everyone.

Making Memories

Last night, I went out with a couple of cousins from Vegas, visiting a big haunted house in the city.  Everybody took photos, but every time I would hand somebody my phone, I failed to let them know that they were set on a delay (so I can press the button, take a step back, and get a selfie).  Hence, these wonderful mementos of the night:

One day, I'll look back on how young my hand looked.

This one is at least in focus, but . . . focusing on what?

Okay, so these aren't the ONLY photos that were taken.  Often, whoever was available would take the picture with their own phone, and those probably turned out better.  The thing is, unless they send them to me, I'm sort of stuck (of course, I sometimes took pictures of them too with my camera, so we're all guilty of something).

Alright, now I'm deleting them.

Future Blackmail Material

For story purposes*, I had to ask Google if girls have urethras today.  I normally don't clear my search history, even if it's sick stuff like "Why don't men who are probed by aliens ever get pregnant?" or "Create an image for me of a sexy dinosaur with Jenna Ortega's head on it" or "How long would I get for killing a roommate and burying him in a shallow grave in the woods?", regardless of how that will look to the authorities, but for "Do girls have urethras?" I am deleting it.

*Yes, I'm aware that sounds like B.S., and lame B.S. at that.