Better Than Friday - 151 (Patreon)

Hi there ya'll, hope you're having a nice Friday. 

Just crossed the continental divide in our beat-up Honda Fit stuffed to the gills at an embarrassingly slow speed up the mountain as I experienced altitude sickness for the first time. It's very hot. We survived. 

The mountains were beautiful. I've never really seen Colorado before, even though my biological father was born in Denver. 

Thanks very much for all your support. 

1. Book I've been meaning to read - Dalton Trumbo's "Johnny Got His Gun" 

This is an Anti-War novel written by a blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter. 

A film about him came out a few years ago wherein he was played by Bryan Cranston. 

The plot concerns a soldier who returns from war with no limbs and no sight. 

A real nightmare. 

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This was no ordinary war. This was a war to make the world safe for democracy. And if democracy was made safe, then nothing else mattered—not the millions of dead bodies, nor the thousands of ruined lives. . . . This is no ordinary novel. This is a novel that never takes the easy way out: it is shocking, violent, terrifying, horrible, uncompromising, brutal, remorseless and gruesome . . . but so is war.

- Amazon

Which reminds of...

2. One by Metallica 

Probably every American teenager into heavy metal jammed this one with his garage band friends. 

The music video features footage from the film adaptation of the novel above. 

It's gotta be one of the most depressing (but excellent) music videos of all time. 

3. Night of the Demon

A terrific classic horror film about a Satanic cult and a cursed piece of paper that, once given to the chosen victim, conjures the demon to come for them. 

4. The Chameleons - Monkeyland 

I always thought The Chameleons were just too...what would you call it...Emo? 

But this track is exceptional. Had me when that riff and lyric "It's just a trick of the light" kicks in. 

5. Vincent Gallo Great driving album. 

I think I heard about this one from Dirty Beaches. 

Suddenly came upon this odd statue of Dalton Trumbo in a bathtub in Grand Junction Colorado