Two Things about People Important to Misfits like Myself

1. Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith could be the best rock autobiography ever or could be a train wreck. I'm predicting it will be a glorious combination of the two; say if Bob Dylan's Chronicles and Bob Dylan's Tarantula were forced to somehow become the same book, like in a transporter accident. Mark E. Smith is the singer of The Fall, the finest exemplar of how to keep being rock-n-roll even when the wolves are howling on one's personal timeline. Like many, I will quickly state The Fall is my favorite band, even though, as I suspect of many that make this claim, I don't actually listen to them all that much anymore. But when I do, the clamor, the indifference, the racket is the best thing in the world. My friend Philip sent this around the other day, in honor of MES' (that's what we "fuckfaces," or real Fall fans call him) fifty-first birthday.
   
2. I love that the internet is being sweet about the recent passing of Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons and Dragons. I was a big D&D player through junior high and occasionally in high school, even once in college. I thought about posting something funny about it - all ye in the realm hoist your d20 up high! - but then I saw a picture from the goddamn LOLCats, with a cat sitting in front of a character sheet, and the waves of escapist, closed-circuit, Dr. Frankenstein joy that came from rolling out a new character. My favorite characters I ever played were a half-ogre (special character type from an issue of Dragon magazine) named Ignor, and a paladin (fighter for God) who was losing his faith. My friend Timmy, who was as deep a D&D dude as I've ever met - he once nearly cut off his hand with a real battle axe - came up with that one as a way to add an extra dimension to the character.