notmovingpictures Episode 036: Alone Doesn't Mean Lonely

It's the last day of the year and I've been wondering if I'll get this out in time. Once again it's a solo conversation this time about spending the Christmas holidays by myself while I muse on the idea that alone doesn't mean lonely. Then I delve into the latest Star Wars movie The Force Awakens and why all of the whiners and complainers out there are just wrong about it. Is it a perfect movie? No, but then what is? It is a very good movie in my opinion and it had to bridge the old with the new. It does that very well. There were moments that had me.......well, just listen to the podcast and you'll understand.



Opening Music: Alloy - Live To See The Day
Closing Music: Supernova - Chewbacca

Email: notmovingpictures@gmail.com
Twitter: @notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 086: Heavy Holidays

The last show of the year is a heavy one for me. It just felt like the time to do it.



Anthrax - Evil Twin
Clutch - X-Ray Visions
Farmikos - Scapegoat
AC/DC - Rock Or Bust
Quiet Riot - Backside Of Water
Scorpions - Going Out With A Bang
Foo Fighters - Saint Cecilia
Motor Sister - Beg Borrow Steal
Iron Maiden - Death Or Glory
Megadeth - Fatal Illusion

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com Twitter:@notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com
Old Episodes can be found by going to www.archive.org and searching for Ten For Tuesday.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ska Beat Tape 11-22-98 WMUL, Marshall University

This is tape from the show one week after the one year anniversary show. The ever present hum is there in full force while I talk and a few songs skip. I doubt they ever got those things worked out. It is what it is though. Click on the link to the Internet Archive to stream or download.

11/22/98 Setlist

The Agents - Gratidao (song skips)
Checkered Cabs - Walk Right In
Bluebeat Stompers - I Won't Cry For You
Isaac Green & The Skalars - High School
Stubborn AllStars - Back With A New Batch
Mobtown - Coming To Get You
Neville Staples - Simmer Down
Ian Hearn & Strange Tennants - Washington Via Kingston (song skips)
Prince Buster - Blackhead Chinaman
Adrian Miller - Rude Boy On The Bus
Los Hooligans - Wrong Side Of The Tracks
Deals Gone Bad - Pirates
Magadog - Pipeline
Undercover S.K.A. - March Slob
Punch The Clown - Sweaty Betty
Hepcat - Bobby And Joe
The Incredible Casuals - Let's Do Better
tape switches
Laurel Aitken - Mad About You
The Skoidats - Skinhead Hop
Inspecter 7 - Agent 86
Voodoo Glow Skulls - Los Hombres No Lloran
The Pilfers - Dr Kervorkian
Spider Nick And The Madddogs - Spider On My Bed
Spring Heeled Jack - Running Man (Lookin' Thru The Mirror)
 Fishbone - Ugly
The Slackers - Have The Time
Skinnerbox - Hepcat Season
The Rudies - Forget It
The Jumpstarts - This Is What I Do
Dion Knibb & The Agitators - Turn Your Lamps Down Low
Dance Hall Crashers - He Wants Me Back
Kampo Viejo - Libre
The Offbeatniks - Superhero
The Specials - Guns Of Navarone
The Pietasters & The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Ocean (cuts off)

Ska Beat was a show I did in the latter part of the 90s as a community volunteer for 88.1 WMUL, Marshall University's radio station, in Huntington, WV. The show ran for almost three years, mostly in the Sunday noon to 2PM timeslot before shifting to a Thursday evening 8-10PM shift. It was a great time to see live music as many ska bands came through the Huntington area on their way to somewhere else.

Be forewarned, I have chosen to include all of the Public Service Announcements, weather updates, mistakes and whatever else was recorded along with the music. Yeah, I am that lazy. Also, these shows were taped on cassettes and as such may suffer from sitting around for all of these years. Additionally, WMUL had an ongoing issue of a loud hum that would periodically present itself when I was talking but normally it went away when the music was playing. Often I forgot to hit record or to turn the tape over at the midpoint of the show so there will be gaps in songs as well as some being omitted entirely. I have tried to annotate when that happened.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ska Beat 1st Anniversary Show 11-15-98 WMUL

This is the tape from the One Year Anniversary of the Ska Beat Show. It aired live on 11/15/98 on WMUL, Marshall University, Huntington, WV. At the very beginning you cannot hear me talking and the show is plagued by the seemingly constant buzzing sound when talking. Other than that the music is great and you hear lot's of show i.d.s from a lot of great bands. Click on the link here to listen to the show.

setlist:

Hepcat - I Can't Wait
Ocean 11 - Stop That Train
Laurel Aitken - Rudy Got Married
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Simmer Down
Checkmate - Jericho
The Allentons - Fallen
SeeSpot - Man Smart, Woman Smarter
The Silvertones - True Confessions
New York Ska Jazz Ensemble - Love And Affection
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes - True Confessions
Dr Ring Ding & The Senior Allstars - My Sound
Deals Gone Bad - The Elephants
The English Beat - Ranking Full Stop
The Selector - Too Much Pressure
The Specials - Gangsters
Madness - One Step Beyond

tape change

Bim Skala Bim - Wandering Soul
The Skoidats - Rootsawalkin
Inspecter 7 - Brother Vs Brother
The Checkered Cabs - Honor Your Mother And Father
The Stubborn Allstars - Friend
Dion Knibbs & The Agitators - Welcome You Back Home
Bluebeat Stompers - I Need Your Loving
The Slackers - Manuel
Doreen Shaffer - Holding On
Mobtown - Jump Up
The Pietasters - Without You
The Agents - Scully
Let's Go Bowling - Spy Market
The Scofflaws - Nude Beach


Ska Beat was a show I did in the latter part of the 90s as a community volunteer for 88.1 WMUL, Marshall University's radio station, in Huntington, WV. The show ran for almost three years, mostly in the Sunday noon to 2PM timeslot before shifting to a Thursday evening 8-10PM shift. It was a great time to see live music as many ska bands came through the Huntington area on their way to somewhere else.

Be forewarned, I have chosen to include all of the Public Service Announcements, weather updates, mistakes and whatever else was recorded along with the music. Yeah, I am that lazy. Also, these shows were taped on cassettes and as such may suffer from sitting around for all of these years. Additionally, WMUL had an ongoing issue of a loud hum that would periodically present itself when I was talking but normally it went away when the music was playing. Often I forgot to hit record or to turn the tape over at the midpoint of the show so there will be gaps in songs as well as some being omitted entirely. I have tried to annotate when that happened.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 085: All Alternative Tentacles

All of the music from this episode was downloaded for free from the record label Alternative Tentacles. All you have to do is click on the mp3 tab and go through the many pages of artists they have and you can download several songs for most of them. It's a great way to let people try out the songs to see if they like them then they can buy the whole album. Makes sense. On another note I've also downloaded some free samplers, almost have enough songs for a metal/rock episode and have a bunch of songs in mind for one or two 80s roots/rock/punk kind of show. So there should be plenty of new episodes in the weeks to come.

The Eat - Communist Radio
Flaming Stars - Like Trash
The Ex - They Shall Not Pass
Sibling Rivalry - On The Beach
Black Kali Ma - Remain Awesome
The Pattern - Sunned Things Speak
False Prophets - Overkill
No WTO Combo - Let's Lynch The Landlord
Fleshies - Yes I'm Starting Shit
Turn Me On Dead Man - The Hale Bopp

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com Twitter:@notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com
Old Episodes can be found by going to www.archive.org and searching for Ten For Tuesday.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

My Review of Beyond Birkie Fever by Walter Rhein

At first I wasn’t sure I wanted to read Beyond Birkie Fever. After all, I’m not the most athletically minded person around so would I really find a book written about an extremely difficult cross country skiing event even remotely interesting? But since I had already read and thoroughly enjoyed Walter Rhein’s most recent memoir, the fantastic book Reckless Traveler, I decided to give it a go. Turns out that was a very wise decision to say the least.

Beyond Birkie Fever is more than just a sports book. It does more than tell the history of the Birkiebiner, which as it turns out is the largest cross country ski marathon in North America. Indeed, it does both of those things quite well. The thing that drew me in though, besides Rhein’s writing style, was the story of how he became a reckless traveler. How he grew from a young child not caring at all for skiing and then suddenly gets completely consumed by it. From reading his two memoirs the path of his “all or nothing” approach to life is clearly delineated.

You have to be reckless (as well as in the thralls of youthful stupidity) to just decide to enter a cross country skiing race with basically no preparation but from that Rhein learned to persevere. After all, out on those hills and mountains you can’t depend on help coming, you have to have the willpower to finish what you started. . He also learned the value of training which he took up in earnest. It wasn’t about beating somebody else but to see how far he could push himself and how much he could improve. Still, he continued to jump into marathons and bike races with little advance notice and learned as he went.

With his knowledge and passion he improved, he met people from other countries and then traveled outside of his comfort zone to other countries where he met further challenges. Through all of this Rhein developed a desire to experience life by attacking it even if that meant just jumping into something without a plan. After reading both Beyond Birkie and Reckless Traveler I feel safe in saying that his approach has served him well. He’s had a life full of enough adventures to fill two books and probably more.

Beyond Birkie Fever is so good it almost convinced me that even at my advanced age of fifty I could whip myself in something that resembles decent shape and go out and challenge myself to start and finish the Birkiebiner. Almost. Let’s not get carried away. After all, I am who I am. At least with Walter Rhein I can read about it and you should too. I can’t wait to see what his next memoir will be like in a few years.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

notmovingpictures Episode 035: It Took Me Long Enough

After about a four month gap I've finally recorded another solo episode of the podcast. I keep waiting, hoping that Tommy and I can get together or that I'll find someone that I find interesting enough to do an episode with but it never seems to happen. Maybe when I see my brother-in-law again but we'll see. I actually did record an episode about two months ago but scrapped it, I just wasn't happy with how it sounded. Speaking of, while recording today my wife had something playing in the living room that she could listen to in the kitchen so that will explain the faint background noise. I also decided not to do any editing and hope that while I rambled I didn't stutter too much or pause for too long but if I did sue me.

So what did I rant about this time? Getting my zine reviewed in two magazines, one which was favorable and one which wasn't. The song that I did with my friend Aaron that you will find at the end of this episode as well as a personal dilemma (somewhat) that I am having about an upcoming event and what my attire will be as opposed to what others want. Finally I close with a little bit about a certain Republican presidential hopeful espousing fascistic and exclusionary views. You know, same old same old. Until next time, let's hope it won't be so long.

Opening Music: Alloy - Live To See The Day
Closing Music: Stationary Nomads - Conflict Registered

Email: notmovingpictures@gmail.com
Twitter: @notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Older episodes can also be found by searching for notmovingpictures @ www.archive.org

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Thrown Into A Holiday - New Lyrics

Well I got inspired at work and off of one phrase I ended up with the first draft of a some new lyrics. It shouldn't take a major effort to understand what this one is about although there are a few subtle nods to other things hidden away. I always say creativity spawns creativity and it continues to be true for me. There is still work to be done, especially when I can get someone to start on the music for it but it's not bad for a first draft if I don't say so myself.

          Thrown Into A Holiday

 
False feelings of utter cheer
Turned into commercial sneer
Feel like I’m being thrown into a holiday
It’s just another day
 
Just down the national store
Looks the same no matter where
I go searching in vain but
Question and answer remain the same
 
Strangled throughout by boredom
Originality fades into tedium
Keep the smile plastered on
Gotta make my appearance stun
 
How long can this go on
My gaze only rests upon
A better time
A better place
How long can this go on
Thousand yard stare rests upon
A better time
Out of this space
 
Every year it starts earlier
Every year it goes longer
To voice it is too political
Better to live and yet yearn
 
Plaster on a smile insincere
Make the small talk clear
My hearts does palpitations
At the thought of being shunned
 
I need to be the person I am
False fronts tired old scam
Bring nothing to the table
My story fades into another fable


Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ska Beat tape from 12/14/97, WMUL, Marshall University

I've uploaded the tape from the 12/14/97 Ska Beat radio show on the Internet Archive so just click here for the link. Almost two hours of great ska music from the latter part of the 90s, what more can you ask for?

Ska Beat setlist 12/14/97

Let's Quit - Ennio Ska
The Kingpins - The 10 Commandments Of Ska
The Specials - Guns Of Navarone
Save Ferris - The World Is New
Reel Big Fish - Hungry Like The Wolf
Unknown - Simmer Down
Voodoo Glow Skulls - Feliz Navidad
The Mad Caddies - Distress
Skavoovie & The Epitones - Sonic Boom
The Scofflaws - Nude Beach (live)
The Pietasters - Out All Night
Los Hooligans - Swing Right Rudy
Dr Ring Ding & The Senior Allstars - Big Man
Isaac Green & The Skalars - Bloodshot Eyes
The Aquabats - Superrad
Doreen Shaffer & The Skatalites - Have A Good Time
The Slackers - Fried Chicken/Mary Mary
The Blue Meanies - It Doesn't Matter
Link 80 - Dance Floor
Madness - One Step Beyond
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Rascal King
Spring Heeled Jack - The Running Man
Pain - Fight
The Allstonians - Pleasing Malady
The Toasters - I'm Running Right Through The World
Bad Manners - Skinhead Girl
Derrick and Patsy - Housewife's Choice
Dance Hall Crashers - Nuisance
Buck-O-Nine - My Town
The Skunks - Sorry
The Ventilators - Lost For Sure

Ska Beat was a show I did in the latter part of the 90s as a community volunteer for 88.1 WMUL, Marshall University's radio station, in Huntington, WV. The show ran for almost three years, mostly in the Sunday noon to 2PM timeslot before shifting to a Thursday evening 8-10PM shift. It was a great time to see live music as many ska bands came through the Huntington area on their way to somewhere else.

Be forewarned, I have chosen to include all of the Public Service Announcements, weather updates, mistakes and whatever else was recorded along with the music. Yeah, I am that lazy. Also, these shows were taped on cassettes and as such may suffer from sitting around for all of these years. Additionally, WMUL had an ongoing issue of a loud hum that would periodically present itself when I was talking but normally it went away when the music was playing. Often I forgot to hit record or to turn the tape over at the midpoint of the show so there will be gaps in songs as well as some being omitted entirely. I have tried to annotate when that happened..

Feel free to leave a comment if my memory has failed or I completely messed thing up.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 084

The Templars - Skins And Punks
Futuro Incierto - Si Tu No Estas (Mi Corazon Se Parte En Dos)
Acid Fast - Dunno
The Skints (feat. Tippa Irie) - Tazer Beam
Sandino Rockers - Ira Contenida
Los Vespa - Citiskapastimato
Citizen Fish - Human Conditioner
The Rats - Nightline
Dot Dash - Rainclouds
Fire Next Time - I Can't Go Back

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com Twitter:@notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Old Episodes can be found by going to www.archive.org and searching for Ten For Tuesday.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Exercising Demons Issue 2 Razorcake Review

Issue 2 of my zine, Exercising Demons has thankfully been reviewed by Keith Rosson for the Razorcake website that I hold so dear on my birthday. If you want to go to their site and read it then click here. Considering it was only my second issue and I'm still learning (even at my old age) I think it's pretty cool. There is room for growth as a writer and zinester but this review and the one for issue 1 make me feel that I'm doing something right, just not great, yet that is. So of course I'm going to copy and paste the review below but do me a favor and go to their site anyway. You might find something you like there. After all Razorcake isn't just a website, it's a record label, a magazine, a podcast, a book imprint (Gorsky Press) and so much more. They'll be receiving some of the sweet birthday money I just got very, very soon. Looks like it's about time to start on issue 3. And now for the review:

Personally, I don’t ever want to reach a point where I discount zines out of hand. I never want them to become rote, common things. There’s an inherent bravery in the attempt at communication that zines signify.Exercising Demons is the second effort from a fifty-something-year-old guy, which I think is super impressive and pretty courageous. It takes a lot to put yourself out there. This is a collection of anecdotal stories and a handful of poems. I personally found the stuff about his first band, his time in the military, and his experience as a reluctant participant in a frat brawl as a college kid the most compelling reads. The writing’s a little stiff and the layout could definitely use some visual sprucing up, but again, a nod to this guy for trying new stuff. –Keith Rosson

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

11/27/97 Tape WMUL 88.1 Marshall University Fill In Slot

This is a strange one. Once again I filled in for a missing dj at WMUL, this time on 11/27/97 but I didn't talk at all. More than likely I simply queued up the cd In Their Eyes: '90s Teen Bands Vs. 80s Teen Movies and put it on auto play while I did something else. Anything to keep the station on the air. So at least you don't have to listen to me blabbing on and on this time. So click on the link here and surf on over if 90s teen bands covering songs from 80s teen movies is your thing.

The Grown Ups - Pretty In Pink
The Gadjits - Don't You Forget About Me
Dyslexic Crush - A Million Miles Away
Phantom Planet - Somebody's Baby
Ben Lee and Spitoon - If You Were Here
Round House - Bring On The Dancing Horses
Crazy Glue - Oh Yeah
F.O.N. - You Might Think
The Rondelles - I Melt With You (tape switches)
Stinky Puffs - In Your Eyes
Marigold - If You Leave
English League - Weird Science
Slimer - Raised On Raydio
The Knock-Ups - Johnny Are You Queer?
Schools Out - The Donnas

This audio comes from an old cassette tape recorded at WMUL, Marshall University in Huntington and may suffer from the effects of time. I have done nothing special to enhance the sound or fix any bugs suffered by the equipment of the radio station. I have also chosen to keep everything including station i.d.s and PSAs. It is what it is.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

I Stood Waiting

I stood waiting in front of the barracks building that housed me and my classmates at Fort Benjamin Harrison. My uncle had told me to be there at a certain time and my cousin would pick me up to bring me to their house for a home cooked meal. If you’ve ever been sent to military training and been away from home you know just how big a deal that is. Of course I bragged to my classmates as I daydreamed about what wonderful food I would be served. They were jealous but in a good natured way. Glad for me but wishing it was them. Just the idea of being around people who had nothing to do with the Army had us all excited. It seemed it was a fortuitous thing to have been assigned here after all.

My uncle, aunt and cousin and I weren’t exactly close, mainly because of the distance between our homes. They lived in Indianapolis, Indiana while I lived in tiny, little Ironton, Ohio. Growing up, if we saw each other more than twice a year it was out of the ordinary. The times we saw each other my cousin and I always did hang out with each other though. Regardless, we were family and they had offered to feed me and let me get away from the post for a few hours. The thought of it all brimmed with the excited aura of what seemed like normal life from before I had joined the military and was engulfed into their way of doing things. So still, I stood waiting in front of the barracks.

After a time doubts began to slip into my brain, after all, my cousin should have been here by now. To counter those thoughts I came up with possible reasons for the delay. Perhaps traffic was excessively bad or maybe he had to work late. Maybe they really didn’t want to see me. Wait, no, I couldn’t think like that. He was now more than an half an hour overdue so I went inside and tried to call their house to see if the plans had changed. There was no answer. I walked back outside as my anxiety level slowly ratcheted higher and higher. Time went by. After more than an hour had passed since the original agreed upon time, once again I went inside to attempt to call them. Once again, no answer. I walked back outside where I stood waiting.

What a sad, pitiful sight I must have been. This lonely scarecrow waiting and waiting as his faith in family slowed slipped away. More than two hours had passed before I finally gave up my last shred of hope and dignity and I slowly shuffled back inside. I tried calling one more time. The result was the same, no answer. My classmates were asking why I hadn’t gone and all I could do was hang my head and mumble “I don’t know.” The rest of the day I spent by myself, withdrawn and disappointed. No longer standing out front waiting but waiting inside my head. That’s the day I learned that the idea of extended family was overrated and not to be trusted. I never did call them again for the rest of my time in training at Fort Ben Harrison. As a matter of fact I never spoke with them even at the funerals that came later. I guess I gave up waiting.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ska Beat 12-7-97 88.1 WMUL Huntington, WV

The tape from the 12/7/97 Ska Beat radio show(88.1 WMUL, Marshall University, Huntington, Wv) has been uploaded to the Internet Archive. Just follow the link here and listen to all the great ska music listed below: 

              setlist

Skavoovie & The Epitones - Wildfire (in progress)
Isaac Green & The Skalars - High School
Millie Small - My Boy Lollipop
Hepcat - Bobby & Joe
The Slackers - She Wants To Be Alone
The Skunks - Swing Out Skasper
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Simmer Down
Magadog - Border Patrol
The Determinations - Housewife's Choice
Regatta 69 - I Wanna Smack You
The Skunks - Sorry
Spring Heeled Jack - Electric
The Mad Caddies - Distress
Bim Skala Bim - Not Natural
The Allstonians - The Alston Beat (tape switches)
Skankin' Pickle - It's Margaret Cho
The Pietasters - Crazy Monkey Woman (cut off)
The Toasters - Toast On The Coast
The Pietasters - Without You
Regatta 69 - Simple Simon
Reel Big Fish - Sell Out
The Voodoo Glow Skulls - Los Hombres No Lloran
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Let's Face It
The Skeletones - Dr Bones
Los Hooligans - Sonora
Five Iron Frenzy - Handbook For The Sellout
The Selector - On My Radio
Lord Tanamo - Come Down
The Aquabats - Theme Song
Less Than Jake - 9th And Pine
The Dance Hall Crashers - He Wants Me Back

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Tape of WMUL 88.1 Marshall University Fill In Slot 11-26-97

The tape from my first ever fill in session for WMUL 88.1 Marshall University where I was a community volunteer has been uploaded to the Internet Archive. Often the student djs would skip their assigned slot and since I was always hanging out at the station in the afternoon before going to work I would fill in to keep the station on the air. What you hear on this tape is what was available to me that I actually wanted to play. Mostly ska and swing with some rockabilly and a few other things. Go check out the show here.

WMUL set list 11/26/97

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Go Daddy-O (in progress)
Cherry Poppin' Daddies - Zoot Suit Riot
Royal Crown Revue - Barflies On The Beach
Jump With Joey - Jump With Joey
The Stray Cats - Stray Cat Strut
Rev. Horton Heat - Rock This Joint
Amazing Royal Crowns - Do The Devil
Justin Hinds - & The Dominoes - Rub Up, Push Up
Robert (Bob) Marley - Judge Not
Dr. Ring Ding & The Senior Allstars - Shame And Scandal In The Family
Los Hooligans - Swing Right Rudie
Jason & The Scorchers - Take Me Home Country Roads
Skavoovie & The Epitones - Wildfire
The Scofflaws - Nude Beach
The Paragons - The Tide Is High
Millie Small - My Boy Lollipop
The Skatalites - Can't You See
Royal Crown Revue - Hey Pachuco
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - You And Me And The Bottle Makes Three (cuts off)

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Zine Nation Has Published My Review on Cometbus And Last Supper

A while back I was on Twitter and I saw that Zine Nation was asking if anybody was interested in reviewing zines for them and I jumped at the chance. This was something that I definitely wanted to do. Since I've been getting into zines this year it only makes sense to try and review some right? After a bit of discussion about which kinds of zines I prefer (almost anything so long as the writing is good) I let it be known that Cometbus was the first zine I had read and ever since I just couldn't get enough of it.

The next question was had I read Aaron Cometbus' book of poetry, Last Supper? I had not and said it was on the list of things to be acquired. So a further question was asked about forgoing zine reviews and writing an article about Last Supper and Cometbus in general. I was immediately all in. After all, I had recently done a book review (and still owe another) for Walter Rhein and reviewing cool authors is something I'd like to do more of.

It took some time but the review is finally done and up on their website. Instead of copying it here I thought it would only make sense to just put up a link so that traffic could be directed to their site. That's kind of the point you know? So do me a favor and jump on over to Zine Nation and give it a read. While you're at it go ahead and read some other cool stuff there. If you're into the idea of reading cool stuff that is and you have to be if you're reading this, right? Stop laughing and follow the link jerk.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 083

Another day, another episode of Ten For Tuesday. In the sake of brevity and getting this thing out on an actual Tuesday all I'll say is hope you enjoy the music.



Radioactivity - Way Out
Earthmen and Strangers - Naked To The Stars
The She Riffs - The Touch I Crave
Dead Stars - Calm Punk
Stationary Nomads - Conflict Registered
X - Adult Books
Sandino Rockers - E.P.E.I.
Royal Headache - Another World
The Shame - The Plan
Tulsa - Math In The Aftermath

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com Twitter:@notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Old episodes can be found by searching for Ten For Tuesday on the Internet Archive.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Something To Get Excited About

November is here, my birthmonth is finally upon us. If that's not exciting enough (and it isn't) there has to be something else. I mean last year I didn't even get a happy birthday from anyone other than my wife and son until after the day was already long gone. Thankfully I don't put a lot of stock in celebrating birthdays so my feelings weren't hurt, at least not too bad.

But there is something that I do put a lot of stock in and that's Ash. As in Ash vs The Evil Dead. It's been twenty-three years since the last film, Army Of Darkness, came out and the fans have been clamoring for something more ever since. Well not that time has come and that something else is here. Ash vs The Evil Dead is a new show on Starz and it promises to make November a much groovier month. Unfortunately when I tried to embed the trailer it gives me an error message about the code so just go watch it on Youtube here.

With that awesome new also comes the promise of something else equally as awesome, potentially that is if AMC does their job right. The almost as long awaited adaptation of the comic Preacher is coming to a television near you sometime in early to mid 2016. It promises to shake religious things up if it follows the tone of the comic book. And it has one of my favorite actors in it, Joe Gilgun from This Is England amongst other things. Same thing goes for the trailer, I don't know if it's my laptop or Youtube that has the problem so just go here to watch it.

So there it is. Two things to get excited about for now and then the near future. TV just gets better and better. Well at least if you stay away from the major networks that is. Finally with the pay channels, AMC, SciFi and Netflix some really cool shows (The Walking Dead, Comic Book Men, Z Nation, Longmire) have been introduced that would have never made it onto regular tv. That's something at least.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Riding Bikes On My Day Off, A Sort Of Family Day

My son was out of school Thursday and Friday for Fall Break. I know, it's a foreign concept to me as well, time that I never got off when I was in school but hey, it's a new era. A kindler, gentler one. While we still have some nice weather I decided to take Thursday off and spend it with the family. That notion got a little lost though as I found out when I got up to an empty house. Turns out my wife had class that day when I could have sworn she said she didn't. I was wrong. So very wrong. She took our son to his friends house where he was hanging out with them.

My not so carefully laid plans for the day were now scrapped. Once my wife came home and we realized how crossed our wires had been (in my defense I did try calling and texting her multiple times to find out what was going on) we called and told them we were coming to pick our son up. An early dinner at Goldie's was the next thing to take care of and once our perfectly edible food was consumed we headed over to Riverside Drive to get some exercise riding bikes.

My son has a bike but my wife and I don't, at least not right now. Instead we utilize this thing called Tulsa Townies which has free bike rentals at three locations, two of which are there on Riverside where there are bike and running trails, a kids play area park and other things. The bikes are basic, bare bones, nothing special and are a bright pink color but I can't really complain about that since it doesn't cost me anything to use them. All you have to do is use a credit card for the rental to guarantee that the bike is returned and then return it in a timely manner. The only thing that can limit you is if there are any bikes at the location you go to and if any of them fit you.

This time around there were five bikes to choose from and for once luck was with me as one was perfect for my height. Usually they're a little bit too short which makes the peddling much harder on these long legs. Just like that we were off, a family riding together by the river, reveling in the sun and the fresh air. Just being outside feeling the breeze on me was invigorating. My son is a new rider having gained his confidence only this summer and he wants to stop far too often for my taste. I'm trying to get him to understand that to improve his stamina you have to keep going, even when you're tired. You try explaining that to an eight year old.

We were able to get him to go farther than we have before simply because we didn't stop every time he wanted to, a major accomplishment achieved. On our way back at a certain point my wife told me to go on ahead, that she would stay with him and go slower as she was a bit tired. That's all I needed to hear. I poured on the speed and pushed it as hard as I could. As a matter of fact I ended up reaching the rental area breathing heavily thirteen minutes ahead of them. Even though I'm old and out of shape my mind still tells me to push it as hard as I can and I try and act the same as I did when I was twenty. I don't know if that's a good way to do things but it's what I've got.

Once they straggled in we returned the bikes and then rewarded ourselves with a movie at Eton Square Cinemas, my favorite place in Tulsa. At home things didn't end as I would have liked but they didn't start that way either so it is what it is. Another day gone, one well worth missing work for. How many more of these am I going to get with the family? Not enough, not enough by a longshot.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.by the t

Ska Beat Radio Show 11/30/97 WMUL Huntington, WV

The tape from the 11/30/97 Ska Beat show has been uploaded to the Internet Archive. Go here to check it out.

Isaac Green & The Skalars - Don't Count
The Skatalites - Guns Of Navarone
The Slackers Watch It
Dr Ring Ding & The Senior Allstars - Shame And Scandal
Justin Hinds & The Dominoes - Carry Go Bring Come
The Toasters - Two Tone Army
The Potato Five - Do The Jerk
Los Hooligans - Stephanie
Regatta 69 - Operation Time Control
The Dance Hall Crashers - Lost Again
Skankin' Pickle - Turning Japanese
Undercover Ska - March Slob
MU330 - Neighbors
The Scofflaws - William Shatner
The Aquabats - Idiot Box
The Skoidats - Rootsawalkin'
The Instigators - Bandito (tape switches over)
Skavoovie & The Epitones - Blood Red Sky
The Shenanigans - Cupid
The Specials - Simmer Down
Bob Marley - Judge Not
Prince Buster & The Skatalites - King Of Kings
Mento Buru - Move It Girl
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression That I Get
Persiana Jones - Come Me Gusto
Spring Heeled Jack - Pay Some Dues
Ocean 11 - I Am Queen
Mephiskapheles - Saba
Venice Shoreline Chris - Ex Darling
Laurel Aitken - Rudy Got Married
Arthur Kay - Play My Record

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

New Stationary Nomads Song - Conflict Registered

     After a minor delay I can proudly announce that my second song is now available on Bandcamp (for free). Just follow the link here to listen or download it. You could pay for it but why? The track is called Conflict Registered and once again the project name is Stationary Nomads. This time around I worked with my friend Aaron Hlusko to bring the song to life. Not only did Aaron play all of the music and program the drums, he also recorded everything and made it sound like I can sing, which is no small feat.
     Creating something feels amazing and we're already working on another track which thankfully (for you) will be more of a spoken word with music piece. It also looks like we might do a version of my first song Ladrones since I've never been happy with the drum sound on that one. Of course I've got a ton of other ideas so if anybody else can play music and wants to create something let me know, I'm up for the challenge.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ska Beat 11/23/97 WMUL radio show

Ska Beat was a radio show I did in the latter part of the 90s while I was a community volunteer at WMUL, Marshall University in Huntington, Wv. This is the 2nd show that I have put online recorded from cassettes back in the day and it is what it is, I've made no attempt to clean up the sound and I didn't always remember to turn the tape over or even on so be kind. Still, there's some great music on these tapes. More will be forthcoming when I have the time.

Unfortunately I can't get the player from the Archive to embed so you'll have to follow the link here to listen to it.

New York Ska Jazz Ensemble - John James
Skinnerbox, - Move Like Ya Gone
The Slackers - Cooking For Tommy
The Toasters - Daddy Cry
Los Pies Negros - Siempre Igual
Buck O Nine - My Town
Ska King Crab - Mike The Barber
Dance Hall Crashers - He Wants Me Back
Magadog - Semi-Sweet
Supertones - Unite
Let's Go Bowling - Cumbia del Sol
Save Ferris - Super Spy
The Skoidats - Granted
The Aquabats - The Story Of Nothing
Save Ferris - World Is New
Oi Skall Mates - Nutty Sound
Mu330 - Tune Me Out
tape cuts off
The Upbeat - 17@17
Mephiskapheles - Introducing The Yellow Passion
Hepcat - Bobby and Joe
The Allentons - Pyramid Five
Madness - The Prince
Voodoo Glow Skulls - Malas Palabras
Laurel Aitken - Mad About You

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 082: This One Is For Carol Jannsen

Yes I know it's not Tuesday but I couldn't hold back any longer on this episode. If you are asking yourself who is Carol Janssen and why does she rate an episode dedicated to her well the answer is easy. Carol is a listener and sometimes guest host on the Stuck In The 80s podcast that I hold so dear in my heart. A few episodes back she wrote in explaining that she had been working a massive bunch of hours and wanted some suggestions for music to help her pick her energy level up on those rare occasions when work was finished. I might be paraphrasing here and adding my own details but I can do that, it's my blog. At any rate of course I was inspired to write a few song titles down but not enough to actually send them in. The more I thought about it though the more I felt the need to turn it into my own podcast episode so here we go. Nine slices of energy building 80s classics (and one from the late 70s) guaranteed to get your feet moving so long as you're not dead. Wow, did I use the word episode enough this time? Be forewarned, there's lots of ska here.



Madness - One Step Beyond
The English Beat - Ranking Full Stop
Romeo Void - Never Say Never
Fishbone - Party At Ground Zero
The Skids - Into The Valley
The Vapors - Turning Japanese
The Special AKA - Free Nelson Mandela
Oingo Boingo - Who Do You Want To Be
The Selector - On My Radio
Bad Manners - Lip Up Fatty

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com
Twitter:@notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Old Episodes can be found by going to www.archive.org and searching for Ten For Tuesday

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 081

Well, late as always here is another episode. It would have been sooner if my internet hadn't crapped out on me but oh well. Originally I planned to have more than one 90s era song but it didn't work. It doesn't matter though because this is a really tight group of songs, not a clunker to be found. Enjoy.



Defect Defect - Time To Die
The Blank Pages - Crossroads
Nervosas - Unstable
This Perfect Day - In The Mood
Slant 6 - Double Edged Knife
Husker Du - The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill
Tenement - Afraid Of The Unknown
J Church - Financial Zone
Legal Weapon - Death Of Innocence
Really Red - Too Political

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com
Twitter:@notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Old Episodes can be found by going to www.archive.org and searching for Ten For Tuesday

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

My Review Of Reckless Traveler by Walter Rhein

For some reason it has taken me a great deal of time to post a review of Reckless Traveler by Walter Rhein. I mean, after all, I read it in a few days right after I received it. Sure a lot has been going on in my life creatively but this book was fun, so well written and...........why don't I just copy the review here so you can see for yourself?

I had stumbled across Walter Rhein’s blog, Streets Of Lima, several years ago in a search for something related to American expats living in Peru, which I wished could happen with me. Why? I am married to a Peruvian and although at the time I had only visited Peru once I was quite taken with the country and the people and I felt drawn there. Streets Of Lima was a fun and interesting destination for me where I could at least see someone living where and as I wished I could. My wife doesn’t wish to return to live in Peru or else I think it would have already happened. Fast forward a few years and now I find that Rhein has written a memoir of his time spent living in Peru.
The book is full of what I would expect would be normal experiences for a person living in not just a foreign country but also a foreign way of life. For Rhein it went beyond the normal way of learning a new culture, a new way of life, as he didn’t try to just live it. He attacked it recklessly, full speed ahead without giving thought to the consequences. With too much thought or planning I think he wouldn’t have actually been in the moment and experiencing life. I don’t know if I could have been as brave as he was given my penchant for sticking to the same old same old. Well, at least I used to be that way.
So what is Reckless Traveler about you may ask? If you want stories about embarrassing language gaffes you will find it in this book. If you want stories about being bullheaded about modern medicine and absolutely knowing that traditional ways are useless it’s in this book. If you want stories of devilishly allowing others believe you are a typical gringo who doesn’t even take the time to learn to speak the local language it’s in this book. If you want stories about letting go of the rigid way of thinking life is as you’ve learned and accepting another place based on what it is instead of what it isn’t you will find it in this book. If you want stories of reckless travel to see places and things of incredible beauty you will find it in this book. All told with great humor in a natural way that always left me wanting to read a few pages more, just a few more. That’s the sign of a great book to me.
I’m sure Walter Rhein could have told even more stories and this book could have swelled to two or three times its size but as it is it’s pretty perfect. It left me wanting more, just a little more. I even found myself seeking out my wife to read to her from the pages more than once and she enjoyed the stories as well. Perhaps in a few years there will be a sequel, a volume two. After all, the Walter Rhein still travels to Peru and I believe he is there now as I write this, lucky dog that he is. Books like this make life a lot more enjoyable for me and inspire me to make my dreams come true. Now if only I can figure out a way to make that happen. Buy this book, it’s worth the money, it’s worth the time spent reading it. It’s worth that and much more.
Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

notmovingpictures Episode 034: Road Trip Part Two

This episode features Don and Tommy talking during their incredibly boring drive back to Tulsa from Denver. We talk about going to a hemp farmers market, the Denver Zine Library (where I dropped off copies of Exercising Demons issue 2), Kilgore's Books & Comics (where I scored about eleven back issues of Birdy magazine, Wax Trax (2 locations separated by Kilgore's), Denver Ted's for cheesesteaks and then the concert. Luckily we were upgraded form nosebleeds seats, 2nd from the last row, to stage left, perhaps fifty feet from the stage for I feel I can safely say was the most amazing concert experience either of us have ever had. I also ruminate on the state of automatic bathroom facilities that we encountered on the trip. It is a rather short episode cut short by the recorder sliding around due to the legendarily crappy Oklahoma roadways. We can only hope to see Rush in concert again in our lives.



Opening Music: Alloy - Live To See The Day
Closing Music: Rush - Roll The Bones

Email: notmovingpictures@gmail.com
Twitter: @notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Older episodes can also be found @ www.archive.org, just search for notmovingpictures

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 080: 80s Metal Kind Of Mood

So last week I got into a mood at work and started jumping from video to video, listening along as I worked. It wasn't just any mood mind you, it was an 80s metal mood. Not hair metal, real metal from the earlier part of the decade for the most part. That's where this playlist came from. If you don't like 80s metal then it sucks being you, don't listen unless you do. I saw two of these groups back in the day and four within the past ten years. Care to guess which is which?



Scorpions - Can't Live Without You
Quiet Riot - Come On Feel The Noize
Accept - Balls To The Wall
Dio - Rainbow In The Dark
Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Coming
Iron Maiden - The Trooper
Anthrax - Indians
AC/DC - Shake Your Foundations
Fastway - Easy Livin'
Motorhead - Ace Of Spades

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com
Twitter:@notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Old Episodes can be found by going to www.archive.org and searching for Ten For Tuesday

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

notmovingpictures Episode 033: Middle of the Road (Trip)

Episode 33 finds Don and Tommy reuniting for the first time since October, on their way to Denver after seeing Rush in Kansas City. Way past due, way past due. Topics include Alloy recording their cd, Don writing and recording his first song ever, doing a zine, Story Slams and what food was eaten in K.C. Hint: L. C.s for barbecue and Town Topic for after the show burgers. Can't get much better than that. Closing music is Don's song Ladrones, you heard it here first.

Opening Music: Alloy - Live To See The Day
Closing Music: Stationary Nomads - Ladrones

Email: notmovingpictures@gmail.com
Twitter: @notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Older episodes can also be found @ www.archive.org, just search for notmovingpictures

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Exercising Demons Zine, Issue Two And A Review Of Issue One

In case you missed it, and you would have had to unless you were at the Tulsa Zine Fest two months ago,  issue two of my zine Exercising Demons is out. The only way to get it is from me or at Holy Mountain here in Tulsa at the extra low, low price of FREE! You heard me right. At some point I'll get around to dropping a few copies off at other places like Boulevard Trash. Eventually.

Yeah I was so focused on getting it ready in time for the zine fest that I forgot to announce it on here. There's lots of cool true stuff in this one plus a fiction piece and it's grown too. Twenty whole pages this go around and I did the artwork. I haven't drawn in over twenty years and it shows. These first few issues are teaching me important lessons about what to do (and not do in some cases) while I try and find my focus for the zine. Issue three is now in the planning stage, I just need to decide what stories I'm actually going to write or re-write in some cases..

Also, I sent issue one to the fine folks at Razorcake (zine, website, record label and more) to be reviewed and they did so online. You can follow the link to give them some traffic for their website by clicking here or look below where I've copied and pasted it. Do both, it only takes a few minutes. I pretty much agree with what Kurt says too for what it's worth. He knows what he's talking about.

EXERCISING DEMONS #1 trade/2 stamps, 5 ½” x 8 ½”, copied, 8 pgs. By Kurt Morris Monday, July 27 2015 This is a short zine with some personal accounts of family as well as some lyrics/poetry. While poetry has never done much for me, I felt like I was being teased with the personal material. There are foundations for some great longer pieces in this material. Don mentions offhandedly his time in the military in places like Germany and Saudi Arabia—there are probably some cool stories there. He also mentions moving around a lot and ponders why we say we’re “from” some place even when we haven’t lived there for years, which would be an interesting thought to explore further. There is also a piece on his father’s eight (?!) wives. I would’ve loved to hear more about that! For a first issue, this shows a lot of promise. Some more extrapolating would’ve been great. Don seems unsure with what he’s doing in Exercising Demons, but I would encourage him to keep going. There’s some good potential here.-Kurt Morris (Don Leach, 1546 S. 79th E. Ave., Tulsa, OK 74112, notmovingpictures@gmail.com)

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

What's Wrong With My Brain?

Don’t tell my wife I said this but there’s a lot of things I don’t remember. I listen to a lot of podcasts and hear people speak about remembering where and on what day they saw a particular movie from over a decade ago. They can supply numerous details about the weather on that day, the theater and where they stopped to eat before or afterwards. They have a rich tapestry of memories to draw upon it seems.

It doesn’t work that way for me. I can’t tell you what day of the week or the month and probably not the year (without looking it up) that I first saw Star Wars, or Aliens or any of literally thousands of other movies I’ve seen in my life. I can’t give tell you if I had popcorn or candy. My brain just doesn’t work that way.

It’s not just movies though. I also can’t recall a great many details of concerts I’ve seen other than the year (maybe) and the general period within that year (Summer? Fall?) that it occurred in. If you ask me about the set list I’m at a loss. I know I enjoyed it and I probably could tell you who I went with and perhaps I generally can remember the opening bands or if there were any. Then again, I’ve seen a lot of shows.

I am almost always reading a book but if you ask me about it a month afterwards I doubt I could tell you a great many details about it. By that point I’ve more than likely already read at least three more. If it’s in a series by the time the next one comes out I almost have to go back and read the previous one all over again if I want any sense of continuity.

The thing I’ve come to realize over my life is that I consume these things (books, movies, music) and other experiences very much in the minute and then I move on to the next. If I don’t retain anything I can always read or watch it again. That doesn’t really work for concerts of course. My only recourse at this point is to research it and write it all down as best I can.

The way I have come to feel about is that there is nothing wrong with the way my mind works. It is what it is and it does how it does. I don’t expect to be normal or like everybody else is because that use of terminology is just an illusion. There is no right or wrong way to be. I am the way I was created. It would be a rather horrid world to live in if everybody thought the same way, processed information the same way, expected the world to behave the way they thought was correct.

Wait a minute, aren’t we already on that road to intolerance of difference? Don’t we already expect others to think the normal, correct way and chastise others if they don’t agree? Shouldn’t I have a right to think the way I do and say what I want to say even if it’s different than your way and your opinion?

Of course we all have those rights. Just don’t expect to actually be able to use them.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 079: No Really

Finally I got around to doing another episode, of course at the last minute. Too much has been going on and sometimes the podcast suffers as a result. We'll see how long it takes to get the next one done, no promises. This episode features two blocks of music and what's significant about the 2nd one is all of the artists live in or around Tulsa and I've seen all but Merlin Mason (soon I will correct that) and Stationary Nomads (because that's me and I can't see myself performing now can I?). Listen for the details. Or don't. Your choice. Make the smart one (that means listen).

Toys That Kill - Safe & Warm
Freedom Club - Death Satchel
The Public - The Dogs
Banda Muerte - La Sangre de la Muerto
Behaviour - Bad Times For Heroes
Merlin Mason - Social Anxiety
Riot Waves - Enemies
Colourful Hill - Selfless
Lizard Police - Swearing In Spanish
Stationary Nomads - Ladrones

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com Twitter:@notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Old Episodes can be found by going to www.archive.org and searching for Ten For Tuesday

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Small Press Books To The Rescue

I haven't been writing very much lately, for the blog or otherwise, but I have been reading. My mind is full of ideas but sometimes the problem is getting them out of my brain. One thing that helps though are the very books that I've been reading. They have mostly been from small press companies but don't think for an instant that impacts the quality of the writing. The few remaining large companies for the most part won't touch these kind of authors. Instead of playing it safe with their content and writing style they carve out their own niche and usually when they make a fan it's someone who fiercely believes in the content they put out. I'm going to list three authors and the book I read from them and then talk about the overall impact it's had on me.

Sean Carswell - Barney's Crew  (Gorsky Press)
John Sheppard - Small Town Punk (Ig Pub)
Kevin Sampsell - A Common Pornography (Harper Perennial)

All three writers have different styles of writing but all three made me re-think about the so called rules of writing. They tend to keep the chapters short and always end them in a way to make me want to read just a few pages more. Eventually when I come up for air those few pages more have easily turned into fifty or sixty. Sampsell in particular writes small vignettes that are sometimes less than a page in length. They all write about characters who are at their best flawed people. Some are drunks or always on the lookout to obtain drugs, just going from one high to another. Some refuse to look life realistically. Some are only fooling themselves.

None of this would hold my interest though if the quality of the writing wasn't so high. The stories drew me in and kept my attention. The resulting effect was that I started to rethink the so called rules of writing. About what was acceptable, what qualified and once I started down that path I found myself awash in new ideas, things I never before would have considered. Now that I have found the challenge the only thing holding me back (besides time) is me. I am my own worst critic. Sometimes the criticism is warranted, sometimes not. It's okay to question yourself if your intention is to do the best that you can do, to a degree that is.

Another thing I have discovered is that it's okay to be yourself and by that I mean accepting yourself flaws and all. Coincidentally that means you have to accept others as they are as well. No matter how well intentioned you may be you need to stop judging others for failing to live up to the lofty standards that you hold dear, no matter how much you want to see them succeed. In the end it is up to the individual. Positive criticism is so much harder to give then negative criticism isn't it? Stp trying to convince others that things would be better if they did it your way instead of theirs. They will either choose to do something or they won't. It's that simple.

Sean Carswell, John Sheppard and Kevin Sampsell have all inspired and in a way challenged me. The only thing I have to do is answer that challenge and meet their creativity in my own manner. I have the ideas, now I just need to tell the stories. Either I will or I won't. It's up to me and whatever the result it's all okay. I'm going to do the best that I can. How's that for an idea?

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 78 Is Up

It's been a few months but Ten For Tuesday is back to slap you in the face with ten sonic delights. The time off was spent on other creative projects but I don't foresee any other delays in the near future but then, you don't normally see delays like that do you? I've been doing the Ok, So Story Slam, my zine Exercising Demons and recording a song that I wrote and do vocals on. That's got to count for something right? Eh, tough crowd, alright here's the music:

Monsula - Ocean Walked
Slow Faction - Under Heavy Manners
Wonk Unit - Je M'Appelle Alex
The Skints - Friends And Business
Jukebox 101 - I Believe
King Django - I Promised
Westbound Train - Stranded
Stray Bullets - Sirens
The Splash - Nothing New
The Carringtons - Just A Second

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com Twitter:@notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

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Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Tulsa Zine Fest!!!!!!!

The Tulsa Zine Fest just wrapped up and it was amazing! I found a ton of great zines to read and handed out almost fifty copies of both issues of my zine, Exercising Demons. It was rather cool to meet and talk to people who had tables and share info with them. Any perspective is nice to have and there were people who are in the early stages of zine making to those that have been doing it for years. Quite a few of them loved the name of my zine. They came from Kansas, St Louis, Stigler, OKC, other places and locally too. Exercising Demons first issue came out in April and I had to rush to get the second one done in time for today. Last night after work I came home and had to start gluing them together. I had to do that because I screwed up. I procrastinated getting it together and instead of taping everything down to get my master copy ready and then gluing it in place, I skipped the taping part and just started gluing. After everything was copied and I needed to put the pages together in order, I realized I had messed up and could not staple them. Hey, I'm still learning.

Here's a picture of the loot I got at the Tulsa Zine Fest.

I spent thirty-five of the forty dollars I won at the last Ok, So Story Slam on zines plus some of the people here just traded me a copy of their zine after I had given them mine. Soon I hope to have all of the kinks ironed out of this zine thing and then I'll start selling mine. I really hope that the fest comes back next year and I can be on the other side of the table. I'll say right now that I'll do what it takes to help out to continue something so cool. Zines are the ultimate in self-publishing for me. We have Jay Hancock, the owner of Holy Mountain record store here in Tulsa and his wife to thank for not only the zine fest but also for making zines available in the store. That's what got me started reading and now writing them. Holy Mountain also has been doing some in-stores for local bands which is a good way to expose yourself (not that way) to talented bands for free and then further support them. Jay has done a lot so go in and help out the store by buying something you like. That way we can keep stuff like the Zine Fest happening and that's a very good thing.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Wistful Thinking On Funerals

This was written two days ago but I'm just now putting it up.

I'm supposed to go to a funeral today. I'm not a big fan of them, not that there are many people who are. That would just be weird. Actually it's more like I'm not a big fan of social gatherings in general. Weddings, birthday parties and yes, even funerals all cry out "look at me, validate me by paying attention to me." Birthdays and weddings of course are for the people who are alive and there at that moment. Funerals though aren't for the person who died. They're for those left behind. I don't think a dead person cares either way if people have gathered, dressed up and are paying their respects to what kind of a person they were when they were living. It seems more about how the attention somehow makes the grief of the living easier when it's shared.

Personally I feel it’s all rubbish. Like I said, the dead person doesn't care one iota about anything being done "for" them or in their name. Being dead means they're beyond feelings period. I rather doubt when I go I'll have a large outcry of lamenting over my leaving but even if there is a small one I'd rather they do something different for me. Instead of gathering in a church, everybody dressing to impress each other and having people talk who may or may not be telling the absolute truth, I propose whoever feels like it can gather and tell stories about me. Tell why you hated me or tell why you loved me. Tell funny stories that show that I was a human, not some near perfect being because trust me, I'm far from that.

 
How about visiting me before I die and sharing these things? Anybody can come after you've gone and only speak of the good things. After all, by then you're no longer around to correct them on the details. It is hard to see someone when the end is near when you are sad about the change in them, perhaps because it makes us recognize the frailty of life and that all of us will succumb at some point or another. Whatever the reason I'd rather people share with me while I am dying and then if they must, gather and celebrate the life I’ve led with each other. I've let far too many people slip away and haven't spent time as well as I could have but I am trying. So you can heed this or ignore it, your choice. Once I'm gone even these words will no longer matter to me. Do what you feel like. Do what makes you happy.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Catching Up...............With Some Crappy Photos

There's a lot of stuff I've been meaning to post but just haven't gotten around to so I figured now is just as good a time to get it done. Here goes:

 

 

 

Last month I went to an in-store at Holy Mountain and saw local band Riot Waves who opened for another band.

 





 The other band was another local group, Lizard Police who were promoting their new 7" single. I bought it.

 

 

The end of July brought The Slackers, one of my favorite bands, to town, the first since I moved back to Oklahoma. If you've never seen them you should seriously give them a try. It got me skanking for the first time in a long time and I even knocked some guys beer out of his hand.

  

 

The Last Slice is a Tulsa ska band that opened for The Slackers AND Roddy Radiation as it turns out. I'm fairly sure I'll be seeing them again in the near future. Maybe next time I'll bring my wife and son.

 

Okay, so I already mentioned his name. Roddy Byers aka Radiation was the original guitarist in The Specials and if you don't know who they were then go look 'em up and then come back here. Roddy put on a great show at the new DIY punk and more little place called Boulevard Trash. It's a store too and I scored a Hex Bombs 7" before the show. Seriously, go see Roddy if he comes your way, you won't be disappointed, unless of course you're a twat.



 



The Scotch Bonnets opened for Roddy and were also his backing band. They were impressive enough for me to part with some cash for some of their music.

 

Lastly came Rush, yes a very different kind of music but still a great band nonetheless. According to the band this will be the last big tour for them. They may do some smaller ones or some individual shows but no more huge tours. With that in mind I'm going on a road trip in July to see them two more times.



That about does it, a lot more things went on like my sons birthday, some workshops at TCC and so forth but enough is enough. I'm tired and still have to get back to work.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Issue One Of My Zine Exercising Demons Is Available

Issue one of my first ever zine, Exercising Demons is finally out. It took me a lot longer to figure out what I wanted to do and how to do it than I originally thought so after this it should be an easier and smoother process. In case you're wondering what a zine is well, it's the easiest way to self-publish there is. You have control over what you want to do or say, how you want it to look, what size it should be and most importantly what the content will be. Or you can do one as part of a group, a collective. Really, it depends on you yourself. Some people like to interview bands or people they find interesting, some review restaurants or book stores, some write fiction or sci-fi, some write from a personal point of view and then there are those who do all of these things and more. Self-publishing is all about freedom.

Right now it's available at my favorite record store Holy Mountain here in Tulsa and I'm looking into other places that are good for zines. Of course I will be giving them away at the Tulsa Zine Fest (did I mention that it's free?) held at the Rudisill Library on May 30th.  I will probably be giving copies away or leaving them laying around venues when I go to a show (like The Slackers this Friday). Other plans include sending them into Razorcake, Maximum Rock N Roll and some websites that review zines to help get the word out. In July I've got a road trip coming up so I'll be sure to take plenty with me and leave them in a foreign land, well at least in Kansas City and Denver.

I've already got quite a few topics I want to write about for issue two as well as a separate zine that will be about me trips to Peru, all two of them, and what I encountered there. Issue two should be twice as large, one is only eight pages long and I've got a big mouth with a lot to say. The question you may be asking yourself is but if I don't live in Tulsa and am too shy to go to places like Holy Mountain how can I get it? Just send me an email at notmovingpictures@gmail.com and we'll see what we can do. I am extremely open (watch it) to trading zines with fellow writers and yes Mom, I'm sending some home so you guys can read it too.

It's strange that it's taken me so long in life to find this but now that I have I promise to bombard every place I can find with the fruit of my loins, at least figuratively. It's the least I can do.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.