Musicology Volume Four is now available in Kindle and Paperback on Amazon!!!

And then there were FOUR! Musicology’s Circle of Four contestants prepare to battle it out for the title. But before they do, they must endure the seasonal Parents Dinner, Bear und Buggy and unusual mating rituals. Max believes he has figured out who The Kid is when he runs into an old acquaintance. Ruby drops a bomb on Max involving Robbie Sexton, a contestant’s dark secret is ultimately revealed, and the Musicology champion is finally crowned.

Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here once again to introduce my novelist. As you can see this is release day of her fourth book in the Musicology series Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! As everyone knows a novelist must always befall some sort of disaster before a book can have a successful launch. Today my novelist chose for her fourth book in the Musicology book series to have that disaster be melting the rice cooker on the stove. Now, I found this a bit strange, even for a poodle who owns a novelist but far be it from me to stop her. She just burnt the little plastic legs right off the thing. Artists you see. She claims it happened because she was trying to boil some water for a cuppa and turned on the wrong burner. A likely story I am sure. Anyway, she told me to let you know that in addition to the release of her fourth book in the Musicology series you are in for a real treat. She and I had a good long chat, and she has decided to allow me to take over the blog indefinitely so that she can concentrate on her final book in the Musicology series due out in May and her new novel which she is planning to release later this year. Starting next week, I will be taking my own literary story which I have been penning and post it here on the blog. This will be done in serial style with a chapter a week. My novelist will continue to do the Stream of the Week. Until then, please feel free to check out my novelist’s books listed below. Au Revoir, Gigi.   

My Books

You can check out my books Chicane and the first four installments in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology:Volume Three, Twist!  and Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!!!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: AFTER HOURS (1985)-HBO Max

Once upon a time, independent movies were not boring juvenile diatribes about dysfunctional families. They were about imagination, concepts, and ideas. And this little gem which won Martin Scorsese Best Director at Cannes as well as the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and best director is one of those smart original films. This is not a story about a dysfunctional family. This is not a quirky love story. This is a film about a man who follows a white rabbit down an extremely dangerous rabbit hole better known as Soho in New York City. The film is considered to belong to a subgenre of films called “yuppie nightmare cycle” and it is one of the best of breed.

Let’s start with our Alice, a word processor better known as Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunn). Paul by the way means “small” or “humble”. Paul is also the only character in the story with a last name. One night after work Paul stops at a coffee shop and meets our rabbit Marcy (Rosanne Arquette). Marcy by the way means “god of war”. Marcy is dressed entirely in white throughout the course of the film just like the bunny. The two chat for a bit and Paul is smitten. He takes the bait and calls Marcy who invites him to her loft in Soho which she shares with her roommate Kiki (Linda Fiorentino), an artist who makes plaster of Paris bagels and other intriguing sculptures. Note that at one point Marcy mentions The Wizard of Oz and the difficult struggle for Dorothy to get home. Paul takes a twenty-dollar bill and catches a cab (in those days cabs did not take credit cards). The cab ride is quite harrowing, and his money flies out the window and he is left to fend for himself on what turns out to be an overnight odyssey that may be his last.

A couple of things to note in the film. Firstly, the use of numbers throughout which appear to emulate the mathematics of Alice in Wonderland. They come in the form of phone numbers, addresses, the time on various clocks, sales tax and most importantly the subway fare. Also, three prominent colors are used throughout the story: black, white, and yellow. Items such as a woman with a white and black bangle on her wrist, checkerboard prints in an apartment and of course Marcy in white and Kiki in black. Except for Kiki, every woman Paul meets in the film has blonde hair and blue eyes and wears either yellow or white which is opposite of Paul who has dark hair and brown eyes and changes his shirt partway through from a white one to a black one. Skulls such as a tattoo, a keychain and a belt buckle are littered throughout, and hints of death are woven in as well such as the Terminal Bar where a bartender named Tom (John Herd) and a waitress named Julie (Teri Garr) work. Look for Scorsese in a cameo midway through the story.