Junior Lee Klegseth

Tonight - 8.30PM ..Earth Hour 2009

2009-03-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

It just seems so little to ask, whatever your thoughts on the issues involved. You don't have to do it for the Earth, or to comment on global warming, or to raise energy awareness (although all are certainly worth consideration)--how about doing it just to be part of the global community? More at the global Earth Hour site or the U.S. Earth Hour site.

Lehane's Shutter Island - the movie

2009-03-18T00:37:00.001-07:00

Dennis Lehane is fast becoming an author whose novels wind up as movies. First it was Mystic River, then Gone Baby Gone, and now, Shutter Island (IMDB page here). Heavy hitters have signed on, too, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, and Michelle Williams, all directed by Martin Scorsese...wow. I was pretty sure as soon as I read Shutter Island that it would be picked for the big screen, since it is cinematic in setting, character and a monster twist. I just found a copy of the screenplay and look forward to reading it. The movie is due out this fall. And for the record, Lehane is four for eight--four movies from eight novels (the fourth is from a short story of his, Until Gwen, supposedly in the works).

New story published

2009-03-18T00:21:00.000-07:00

My experimental short story, "Revised Standard Version," has been published in the Spring 2009 issue of The Northridge Review. You can get information on ordering by emailing mhd03 AT gmail DOT com. As I've mentioned before the publication is quite impressive, both in presentation and content, which includes art, drama, poetry and fiction.

Marathon #2 - Hello again Death Valley

2009-03-18T00:09:00.001-07:00

Back on February 7 I returned to Death Valley to run the Death Valley Trail Marathon that goes through Titus Canyon. However, the canyon was closed due to snow and mudslides, so we ran Westside Road, a road not far from Furnace Creek, the entire course below sea level. What made this run fun was the starting temperature of about forty-four degrees and rain. In face, it rained for over two-thirds of the race for me, with the road getting increasingly sloppy, but I love cool weather and rain, so this was an adventure to cherish.

As we ran, though, the weather was causing increasing problems in Death Valley, which, despite being so dry, does not handle heavy rains well at all. By the time we took the shuttle bus to Furnace Creek, where our vehicles were, roads were being closed. I was two cars behind a Highway Patrol officer who shut down the road back to Stovepipe Wells, where I was staying. With more roads closing and the Furnance Creek resort sold out of rooms, it started to look like a long night. Finally, the Highway Patrol led a convoy of us back to Stovepipe Wells, driving through a water flows across the road ranging from a few inches to a foot or more, with rocks and sand--quite an adventure.

Death Valley Marathon

2008-12-10T14:59:00.001-08:00

After seven months and over 500 miles in training I finally got a marathon under my feet. My first marathon was supposed to be the inaugural Pasadena Marathon in November but it got canceled due to air quality from all the fires, probably just as well since temperatures were supposed to be in the upper eighties. So I had to wait until December 6 to do the Death Valley Marathon. I really enjoy Death Valley and it was special to run my first marathon there. I had a pretty rough second half of the race because I started way too fast, but I got it done and hope to do that one every year if I can make it. Rock!

Junot Diaz's Wao

2008-11-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

I was very impressed with Junot Diaz's short story collection, Drown. Eleven years later he presented The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and the wait was worth it. I really can't relate Diaz's style to anyone. His voice is fresh, and his prose reminds us there are still original things to do with fiction. From reading the reviews of people who don't enjoy this book I can see that his riffing style, and his regular use of Spanish and Spanglish, historical references, and science/fantasy fiction references (and I get none of those) alienate some. For me it's like jazz--I don't understand everything at play, but it's too fun to ignore.

On a side note, I was reading the one star reviews of the book at Amazon and one of them compared Oscar to Ignatious Reilly in Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole, and so, while I'm making suggestions, do yourself a favor and check that out as well. The story of the author and how that book came to be published is both sad and inspiring. The novel is a masterpiece.

Next up on the bookshelf...Dennis Johnson's Tree of Smoke. Johnson's shorty story collection, Jesus' Son, had more impact on me than anything since Carver. I still return to it and curse him for setting the bar so high. :-)

The Fall 2008 The Northrdige Review is out

2008-10-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

Two of my experimental fiction stories appear in the Fall 2008 issue of The Northridge Review, which is now available. Beyond the fact that my stories are in it, the magazine is a wonderful assembly of fiction, poetry, drama and art, not to mention the freshness brought to it by the student editors. Copies are only five bucks! For details on how to order, drop an email to mhd03 AT gmail DOT com.

Alejandro Escovedo at the Troubadour

2008-09-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

I saw Alejandro Escovedo (finally!) at the Troub on September 9. L.A., being what it is, couldn't manage to sell out even that small venue for this great artist. I would say his band is among the best bands I have ever seen on any stage, at any size venue. The violin and cello really add a dimension to the show and sound, and when they are all rocking it is crazy.

Only complaint? The set was only seventy-five minutes or so, not nearly long enough. Alejandro looked tired and I wonder if he just needed more rest. But for those seventy-five minutes I was thirty feet away from something very special. The encore ended with All the Young Dudes and the Stones' Beast of Burden. I just need to see a three hour show. And I need Alejandro to call me up and ask me to play guitar for him (not that I can fill David Pulkingham's shoes and not that David is going anywhere, but a man can dream, damn it!). Anyway, if you haven't see Alejandro you need to change that.

Intentionally Bad Fiction

2008-08-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is a contest that asks contestants to write the worst possible opening sentence to a hypothetical novel in several categories. It is named for Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, who wrote this gem:

"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents--except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."

The site is here: http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/index.htm, but the good stuff, this year's results, are here: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/scott.rice/blfc2008.htm.

It's refreshing to read bad writing done intentionally, rather than intentional writing done badly.

New Escovedo

2008-07-04T01:09:00.000-07:00

Alejandro Escovedo's "Real Animal" is out and to me it's his best yet. This guy has to be on the short list of the best American singer-songwriters around right now. He is musically original and a poet with words. "Real Animal" is autobiographical, covering Escovedo's musical and personal journeys with insight and honesty. Now if he'd just call me up to play guitar for him! Highly recommended.

Heavy Load

2008-06-23T23:51:00.001-07:00

Jesus, just when you think there is nothing original in music, along comes Heavy Load, subjects of the documentary, "Heavy Load: A Film About Happiness". These guys remind us of what creating music should be about. See the documentary, listen to the music...try to let go of expectations and let it happen. And yeah, maybe they'll remind you about happiness. Good stuff.

Gertrude Stein : "Reflections on the Atomic Bomb"

2008-06-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

This is a good, short read that can apply today to much more than the Bomb. Read it here.

Essay Contest Winner

2008-06-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

I'm not much into the idea of entering "contests," (but then, I guess every fiction submission I make is a type of contest) but at the urging of my professor in Issues in Jewish-American Writing, I submitted a paper I wrote to a Jewish Studies Interdisciplinary Program essay contest and won. The paper, "Mending the Self: Second-Generation Survivor Narratives" considers second-generation Holocaust survivor narratives, using Art Spiegelman's The Complete Maus and Thane Rosenbaum's Elijah Visible.

Spare time can be dangerous

2008-05-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

So my friend / bass player / producer (he produced "Long Way Home") Fab and I decided to make a couple of entries for a new reality show about jingle writers (we really have no clue what the show is beyond that). To submit, we had to write two jingles of thirty seconds about fake products or companies (we had a list of choices) and do some kind video to accompany them. Regardless of the outcome, we had a total blast brainstorming and creating the stuff. Fab turned out to be an excellent jingle writer. So if you want to see what spare time becomes in our hands, take a look:

Or, watch it here: Friendship Air

Or, watch it here: Fruit It Up!

Second story chosen for publication

2008-05-12T21:04:00.000-07:00

Got a call tonight letting me know I had misunderstood an email I recieved last week, but it's the kind of misunderstanding I like. The Northridge Review will not only publish "Text Messages That Came With the Cellphone" (see last post) in the fall but will also publish "return of the orchards." Rock! "return of the orchards" is an experimental fiction story I wrote for a fiction class and a story I grew to like as I wrote and rewrote. My instructor thought it shared some elements of Stein's "Tender Buttons", though certainly not the mastery of that work. "Tender Buttons" is an amazingly fresh read, considering it was written almost a century ago! At any rate, "return of the orchards" is irreverent and scatalogical...and what more can you ask?

Story chosen for publication

2008-05-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

My experimental short story, "Text Messages That Came With the Cellphone" will be published in the Northridge Review literary magazine this fall. The story originated in the Advanced Narrative class I just finished, where we explored all kinds of experimental fiction from Gogol to Borges to Saunders. You can have a look at the authors we studied here.

Earth Hour 2008 Rocked

2008-03-31T14:47:00.000-07:00

Hopefully you took part in Earth Hour 2008. It was pretty cool to see skylines across the world go (mostly) dark. Anyway, the fun stuff starts when the lights go out, right? It shouldn't have been too big of a deal. :-)

Welcome...and don't hold your breath

2008-03-31T14:00:00.001-07:00

Hey, welcome to my blog. As I understand it, I am the last person in the world to get one. This is my first post and a placeholder, really, until I take the time to jump in with a little more oomph. About me--I am a musician and writer. I also do web development, since it turns out eating is a necessary thing. I don't much believe in turning blogs into a minute-by-minute diary of my existence, but I do believe that they can be of interest and more importantly, give me a chance to hear you (are you there?) and vice versa. If you are here, thanks for visiting and please, say something. If you aren't here well then....