Alice in the Chains: the Untold Story

Eric gave me a bunch of Alice in Chains music that I didn't have. I've been listening to it a lot over the last few weeks. I picked up their bio and got through it pretty quickly.

It was 'meh.'

See, none of the guys from AIC were interviewed for the book. It's the first bio of the band, but it's also told from more of a research perspective and not a first hand account from the people involved. The book is flawed, or rather the book isn't as interesting and engrossing as similar bio's because you never get inside the main characters' heads. You don't hear their opinions. You just get dates, facts, other people's opinions, foggy memories, etc. It reads like a research paper for college as opposed to a personal memoir. So it's just missing that personal touch. As a result I can't rate it higher than, "meh, it was alright."

I was never a big AIC fan, but I love bio's and I love the early 90's so I was down for it. And I'm glad I read it. If you love AIC then by all means, crack it open. Check it out. You'll learn a lot.

How so many people can get into heroin is beyond me, man. Fucked up...

Total Recall

I bought this for Pickle*, but the dude had already read it. So I figured fuck it, I'll read it myself. I was on an Ahhnold kick so what the hell.

I'm really glad I purchased it. It's an excellent read. Top class bio. Arnie charts his life growing up, through his body building career, then movie career and finally his political career. It's all there. Every rep.

The awesome part about his story is his mental fortitude. The dude is so god damn disciplined. It's a very inspiring read. You understand that Arnie wasn't a body builder who got into this or that...whether he was a body builder or not is irrelevant. The guy just had immense drive. He was going to succeed at multiple things in his life no matter what, and body building just happened to be one of the first major accomplishments. He's a scholar, an athlete, an actor and much, much more.

Arnold talks about his follies, too. It's not all glamour. He makes mistakes and he pulls back the curtain on a couple of them.

This book is highly enjoyable. But I found the final quarter less interesting because it focused on his political career...and that's obviously not as interesting to me. I prefer stories about lifting on Venice Beach or shooting Conan with John Milius. But if I'm gonna read about politics it might as well be about Arnold. So it's really a win/win. This is great.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story of grit, determination, and personal drive. Or anyone who just wants to know about Schwarzenegger. I mean, who wouldn't want to know about the Austrian Oak?

Panther Baby

I just read this in 24 hours. You don't have much of a choice when you've blown your knee out and literally can't get off the couch.

Marie told me about this book a while back. I think she heard an interview with the author on NPR or something. I added it to my Amazon Wishlist and I picked it up for my birthday. Appropriately it was a giftcard from Marie that funded the book.

Panther Baby is by Jamal Joseph. It's an autobiography that focuses exclusively on Jamal's life as a Black Panther and in turn how that shaped his life. That's the angle.

Whether you're for or against the Panthers is irrelevant. This is obviously a quick, easy and enjoyable read. Got nothing to do on a Sunday? You can read all 280 odd pages no bother. Jamal weaves a good tale. It's well-paced. It's fast when it needs to be, yet slow and contemplative when the need arises. Jamal goes from being a fifteen year old virgin to a twenty-nine year old ex-con, ex-militant, ex-druggie. As well as an activist, poet, writer, counselor...

Jamal's led a pretty intense life and he tells it quite humbly, to be honest. I never got a feeling he was bragging about his deeds. He seemed pretty grounded after all he's been through.

I'd recommend you read this, my brothers and sisters of the revolution.

Richard Branson: Losing My Virginity

I finished this last night. Great bloody bio.

Growing up in Britain, Branson's mug was familiar to many. He always seemed to be in the news trying some daredevil stunt and he always seemed to be...rich. So, years later I was interested to find out how one man managed to juggle being an adventurer and being a billionaire entrepreneur. How'd it all happen?

Virgin Group is so freakin diversified, it's crazy. Virgin does everything from air-travel, rail, spaceships, cola, banks, clothes, to music. It's all over the map. I think Virgin literally has hundreds of businesses under the brand umbrella.

I'm not gonna tell you about Branson's story. It's a 600 page book. It's a wild ass ride. See for yourself. All I can say is that I went in knowing very little but somehow having respect for the dude. As rich as he is, he always seemed like an underdog. I read the book and now have a much deeper appreciation for the man, how he made his riches, and how he chooses to spend his time and profits. The world needs more Richard Bransons. Seriously. He's a self-made billionaire who leaves and breathes philanthropy.

The book dives into his childhood and you can clearly see that the way his parents raised him profoundly affected his trajectory in life. He was constantly challenged as a child and that really sculpted his fearless personality. He didn't come from riches whatsoever. But his parents gifted him with self-perseverance, self-esteem and no fear of failure; the ingredients for success. I think he did pretty well for himself. The dude has a private space-tourism company!

Branson was a hustler. It's great to see how everything started (with a student-oriented magazine) and to see how one business begat another and another and another...He just hustled and took advantage of opportunities when they arose. Fearless and innovative, no matter the odds. And things always work out in his favor. Branson doesn't bend.

Finally, after he's bought private islands, started tons of wildly-successful international companies, risked his life doing crazy record-breaking adventures, and made literally billions of dollars, he decides to focus almost all his time and energy on philanthropy. The dude sets up schools, hospitals, you name it. He's investing in people, saving animals, saving human lives, and making a difference on a global scale. The man is inspirational.

Read the book. It's some exciting shit.

His daughter is a doctor. And evidently pretty damn hot!!! 

Dirty Deeds: My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC

Who the hell's ever heard of Mark Evans?

Turns out he was the original (or close enough) bassist for AC/DC and one hell of a writer to boot.

I picked this up a few days ago to read and I didn't realize at the time that it was a Bazillion Points publication. So I got extra excited to check it out, as Ian Christie has a flawless record. The attention to detail he puts into his books is second to none. Always great printing and finishing techniques.

Dirty Deeds is an exceptionally well-written rock bio. I'd put it just behind I Am Ozzy and SLASH. Evans is clearly a well-read individual, which definitely shines through in his writing. The book is effortless. It's down-to-earth and follows a wonderful pace. Even though he was "coached" by someone on his writing, I'd like to think that what you're reading is ultimately all down to Evans's hard work.

I'm glad Hammer of Doom previously reviewed it as well as let me borrow it, cuz it was a fun read. The content is as you'd expect. The in's and out's of being in a rock band and all the shenanigans that goes alone with it. Writing, recording, touring, drugs, alcohol, and threesomes.

Having said that, there isn't a whole lot of drug talk. Evens doesn't deny it, but he doesn't play it up like Ozzy or SLASH, for instance. It takes a back seat to relentless gigging and the pursuit of stardom.

I agree with Hammer of Doom that it does make you want to open up some other doors to find out what the Youngs are really like. Call me a retard, but I didn't even know that Malcolm was the driving force behind the band. I always figured Angus called the shots. I'd definitely be into reading a Young bio down the road.

Anyway, reading this books gives you even more respect for AC/DC, if you didn't have enough already. These dudes worked HARD to get where they are. And they still put on a freakin awesome show. Angus is unreal!

Read this book.

Iron Man

What a surprise, I read another bio.

I'll keep this one short since Hammer of Doom already reviewed it. Said gentleman was kind enough to trade me Iron Man for Devil in the White City (which I hope he is currently enjoying). I thought this was good, but just as H_o_D said, it's nowhere near as good as Ozzy's.

I felt like this was kind of like reading a book of, "This one time when I was at band camp..." stories all strung together. It's 90 odd chapters long and each one is only a few pages long, like a Dan Brown novel. Only Dan Brown novels have plots. This was entertaining and I'm glad I read it, but it didn't feel like a cohesive narrative, but instead just a bunch of stories told one after another. And by that I mean that you could probably skip every fourth or fifth chapter and not have it affect your comprehension of the book or story.

Black Sabbath fans should read it. No doubt, but do yourself a favor and read Ozzy's first. While Tony is a way fuckin cool dude, Ozzy's book is just so much more compelling. Clearly he can afford a better ghost writer or "contributor" or whatever they're called.

The best bits of the book were when Tony was being introspective and giving you insight into his head. All the other stuff about drugs and albums and shit can be put together with internet research of through interviews and other peoples' accounts. But the true value is in finding out what Tony thinks about things. Not the technical crap.

At times I identified with Tony. I did feel a little kinship, I ain't gonna lie. But anyway...I like Tony's 70's mustache a lot better than his current mustache.

I need to check out the later Sabbath stuff with all the post Dio singers. That's just part of the catalog I never gave much thought to. But you know what, I don't think anything after the first six hold a fucking candle to those records. There's a huge line drawn in the sand right after Sabotage. I'll get rotten fruit thrown at me for saying that, but whatever. I'm not gonna get into that here because this is about Tony's book, not Bill Ward's tepid drumming on post Sabotage records, Ozzy's phoned-in vocals or Tony's more generic non-bluesy riffs. ;)

Yeah, read this if you love Sabbath. It's worth the time.

Nice shirt, Ozzy.

Always loved this shot. That's a lot of hair. Like freakin pirates of Birmingham.

Alpine white with gold hardware and triple humbuckers. Nice one, Tony.

Aged like a fine wine.

Hell's Angel

Seems like about 75% of the books I read are non-fiction, and most of those are bio's. I think 2012 is the year of the bio for me. Did the Mayan's make any reference to that? Probably not. Idiots.

Anyway, I made it through Sonny Barger's bio pretty quickly. It's alright. His writing is pretty mediocre. It's like reading Lemmy's bio, y'know. He's hardly Wordsworth. The thing that I didn't like (or one of the things) is that I felt like I could tell the difference between a passage mostly penned by Sonny and a passage penned by the Zimmerman's (who "helped" him write it). Now, Keith and Kent Zimmerman both helped in writing Soul on Bikes, which I thought was considerably better. It was much more fluid and definitely more mature and high brow than this particular tome. Ok, so no shocker that Sonny Barger isn't terribly poetic. Moving on...

The book starts a little disjointed and then goes back to its roots and starts the narrative properly. It was like a false start or something, so I wasn't looking forward to it right off the bat but mercifully it got better. The book basically lays out the history of the Hells Angels as it relates to Barger. He started the Oakland chapter and it follows him as the M/C becomes what it becomes. For better or for worse, Barger is the nucleus of the HAMC. The thing I find odd is that for all the cries that the Angels make about not being a criminal organization and just being out to ride bikes...it sure doesn't seem like that according to Barger. While he never outright says they killed this person or trafficked drugs and guns to that person, a lot of the stories sure revolve around killing, torture, drugs, money, prison and guns. These guys are not saints. True, I know the media sensationalizes things and pins things on them they didn't do, but it's not like they're choir boys.

It's good to hear the stories from the horse's mouth. There are some really cool passages when he's talking about riding 200 strong and generally being rebellious. It's freedom. It's cool. But there are lot of times when he's talking about cocaine and revenge killings and time in the pen', which isn't so cool. It's one hell of a crazy ride, that's for sure. It's amazing he's not dead or currently in jail. Seriously. How he managed to dodge the bullets (literally and figuratively) is beyond my comprehension. Even cancer couldn't kill him!

Sonny is a gearhead and he rode some awesome bikes. The shots of the Angels in the 50's and 60's are bad as fuck. The summer of love, the music, the bikes...I dig that part of the book. The 80's just got all gangsta. I'm sure they started attracting far more criminals on bikes as the years went on, rather than bikers who turned criminal.

It's like reading an episode of Gangland or something. But without the stupid deep voice and ominous synth. I'm gonna buy Hunter S. Thompson's book about the Angels and see what he had to say. I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in between the two books. Sonny can't be all that forthcoming (for fear of self-incrimination) and Thompson will be full of journalistic hyperbole, I'm sure.

So yeah, you pretty much know what you're getting yourself into if you buy this. It is what it is. I don't regret reading it, but I wouldn't rush out to buy it tomorrow.

Amazing bike! Springer front end, HUGE wheels, tough looking can, sweet bobbed fender. Love the whole thing.

Scary lookin dude.

Bad ass.

If you squint your eyes he has a slight resemblance to Clean Cut's dad.

Steve Jobs

Last night I finished the behemoth tome you see pictured above. Steve Jobs. What a dude.

It's close to 600 pages and I could have read another 300 easily. It's a fascinating book that really follows Steve from one revolution to the next. It's incredibly insightful and very well written. Steve, as per normal, didn't pick a dud when he chose Walter Isaacson to write his bio. He hounded Walter to do it and gave him unrestricted access to himself as well as anyone else he could possibly want to interview to get the goods for this book. In fact, Steve didn't even want to read it before it was published. It wasn't supposed to be some sugar-coated bullshit to boost his ego. It's a riveting true story about a motherfucking genius.

I really took a lot away from the book as it relates to my art and my career. It's inspirational, but not in an Oprah book club kinda way. More like in a gnarly counterculture fuck you I won't tolerate anything but the best out of myself and my company type of way. He's a measuring stick for integrity. But he's also flawed as hell. And the duality is clearly recounted in this book. It's not all roses.

I'd recommend this book to anyone with eyes.
But moreover, I'd consider it essential reading to anyone in business.

Steve was the man. It actually bums me out to see his picture. I feel a genuine loss that's he gone after reading this book. I think the world honestly lost someone great who will be remembered in the same league as Henry Ford.

I'm not gonna go into what Apple has meant to me, my art and my career. I'm hungry and I need to finish this post without getting carried away. But the bastards better come out with the new iMac asap. I want to upgrade to the 27"already. C'mon, Tim, it's overdue! Chop chop, get those Foxconn workers on it double-quick.

Soul on Bikes

After reading One Percenter, I was itching for more bike action so I read Soul on Bikes by Levingston and Zimmerman in a couple days straight. This book is unique b/c it focuses solely on black bikers and specifically the East Bay Dragons MC from SoCal. Again, this book is surprising b/c it's not a bullshit glamorization of biker life. Instead, the author talks about his upbringing in the South and how getting into cars on the West Coast planted the seed for an MC that's been going strong for over 40 years. These dudes have some pretty gnarly choppers and even better hair. There's definitely some crazy stories in here about rivalries, fights, and whatnot, but it's not overly dripping w/ machismo. You can't escape that, but it's not peacock bravado stuff. I think it's written w/ sincerity and a clear head since the author has been the MC's prez since their inception in the 60's. He's able to reflect w/ a better perspective than if he had written the book when the crew was in its heyday, bumping shoulders w/ Sonny Barger and the Hells Angels. (side note: It aggravated me that they DID use an apostrophe in Hells Angels throughout the book when the real MC doesn't. Barger wrote the foreword. You'd think someone would have caught that. Whatever.)
Again, another good read. Dig it.

One Percenter: The Legend of the Outlaw Biker

This book looks kinda retarded, doesn't it? But it's surprisingly well written. Dave Nichols actually writes about 1%ers from an anthropological angle in this book. He examines the predecessors and the spirit behind outlaw MCs. I was a bit worried that it was going to be like a literary version of a "Gangland" episode (which is a yawn-fest). But it was so interesting and easy to read that I actually knocked out all 300 pages or so in 24 hours! If you ride a bike then you'll really enjoy this book. Thanks to the Captain for getting me this for x-mas.