The Illustrated Man

Photo Credit: www.amazon.com

Earlier this year I read an incredible biography of Ray Bradbury entitled: "The Bradbury Chronicles". It is one of the best biographies I've ever read. After reading it, I feel like I knew Bradbury the man. Plus one cool part is the author of the book is a professor at Columbia College here in Chicago, and I was able to interview him for the new season of my podcast 'The Looking Glass'.

Anyways, after I finished reading the biography, I thought it would be fun to go and read one of Bradbury's books. So the book I selected is 'The Illustrated Man'. It's a collection of short stories that are interconnected in an interesting manner. The stories in the book are "tattoos" on a traveling man, and the proceed to tell their stories to a hiker at night.

It's an incredible book. I'm utterly blown away with how great Bradbury is at short stories. Many of the stories in "The Illustrated Man" are emotional, frightening, unnerving, happy, and hard hitting. One of the things that Sam Weller, author of "the Bradbury Chronicles", told me in our interview is that he believes Bradbury will be mentioned in the same breathe as Poe, Hemingway, and Shakespeare. After reading "Illustrated Man", and earlier the "Martian Chronicles" and "Fahrenheit 451", I must say, I agree with that statement.

Sherlock Holmes on Vinyl

One of my new great pleasures in life is listening to the old Basil Rathborne Sherlock Holmes' movies on vinyl. I first came across these amazing pieces of memorabilia about a year ago.

I was record shopping with one of my dear friends at the Reckless Records in Wicker Park, and I found 'The Voice of Terror' in the oddities/soundtrack section of the store. For the small, small price of $1, I purchased one of my all time favorite Sherlock Holmes stories.

Surprisingly, these films translate very well to the audio medium. They are rich in sound recordings, and the performances are terrific. They truly showcase b-movies/film noir at its best.

And Speaking of 'The Looking Glass'

And speaking of 'The Looking Glass', here's my announcement regarding season 2 of my podcast series.

Finding Some Unexpected Inspiration Today

So I'm in full production mode on season 2 of my podcast series, 'The Looking Glass'. I'm really excited about this upcoming season, as I feel like this season's stories are really strong. What will probably end up being my season premiere will be an interview I conducted with Sam Weller, Associate Professor of Creating Writing at Columbia College Chicago. Professor Weller is/was the "official" biographer of literary titan Ray Bradbury. His biography, "The Bradbury Chronicles" is one of the best biographies that I've ever read.

The interview went great!! Professor Weller is a really nice guy, and he gave a great interview. But there was something that he said that really stuck out at me. We were talking about the creative process, and Bradbury's thoughts on the matter. According to Weller, Bradbury truly believed that creativity was a spiritual exercise, and if you were going to be "something", i.e. writer, storyteller etc., you needed to just do it. Don't worry if it's bad, the only way you get better is by doing.

I feel like I subscribe to the same philosophy, and it was just really rewarding to have this ideal reenforced by someone who became a very close personal friend of Bradbury. I feel a sense of re-energization with my podcast and my other storytelling exercises.

What is Wisdom

I'm currently reading a fascinating book. It's entitled: Wisdom: A History. It's written by Revor Curnow, who is a professor of philosophy at the University of Cumbria in England. The book discussions wisdom as it is seen through very areas: literature, history, spirituality, etc. But the one thing that Curnow emphasizes early in this book is that there is no "universal" definition of wisdom that every agrees to. Yet, we are all able to identify wisdom by a certain set of characteristics.

I never really thought of wisdom like that. Yet it makes sense that there isn't an official definition of wisdom that all agree to. But yet we always usually describe wisdom through a particular set of characteristics. Just a little food for thought.

New Episodes of the Looking Glass Podcast

I'm really excited. I've begun pre-production on season 2 and season 3 of my podcast, the Looking Glass. I'm really excited, because the two interviews that I was able to book today, all came to me as ideas over the past 24 hours.

The first interview will be with the photoplay artists (organist) for the Silent Film Society of Chicago. His name is Jay Warren, and he's been a photoplayer for over 40 years. I'm very interested to find out how his passion for silent films began.

The second interview that I booked is with my former Communications advisor, and radio production professor. His name is Dr. Jim Walker, and he wrote a book on the history of baseball on the radio. Plus he just launched his own podcast series called: 'The Baseball Buffet'. He and fellow baseball fans meet once a month, eat lunch together, and talk baseball.

Overall, I believe I have two solid episodes lined up for the next installments of my podcast.

First Posting of March

I cannot believe that I have gone twenty days without a single posting here on my blog. It wasn't even laziness on my part. I got pulled into reading multiple books over the course of March that were absolutely captivating.

The first book was a biography of Ray Bradbury entitled The Bradbury Chronicles. It's absolutely terrific, and I feel like I know Bradbury after reading it. The other cool aspect of the book is that I feel like I found my "spirit animal" where it comes to art, creativity, and storytelling. Bradbury always said be true to the story that you are trying to tell, and keep working. Actually, now that I think of it, it's a pretty inspiring book. Highly recommended if you are interested in Bradbury or just a great biography.

The second series I've been reading quite a bit of is DC Rebirth. Thus far I've read the general Rebirth title, Action Comics, Superman, and Green Arrow. The hype is real for DC Rebirth. It's a great reintroduction to the legendary cast of characters. It's almost like a love letter to fans and to the history of these characters. Plus, I'm really happy that both Superman stories are written so well. He is after all my favorite superhero.