Today's Letter

Ask and it shall be given. From John League I received the letter F (Hey, watch it.) in the ongoing audience participation meme. If you're the first to comment on this entry, I shall confer upon you your very own letter which you will use to come up with 10 words beginning with said letter and explanations on what the words mean to you.

So without further ado, the letter F (minus the obvious colorful f-words one might expect):

Forest, Mississippi – My hometown, population give-or-take 5,000. It was a fun place to grow up. You could hang out in the parking lot of my dad's grocery store on weekends or steal traffic signs in broad daylight. They had a great Taste-E-Freeze, too.

Faulkner, William – How can you be from Mississippi and not like Faulkner? (Or at least try to.) Favorite quote: "The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past."

Fantastic Fiction – Does this count as two? Broad umbrella encompassing science fiction, fantasy, horror and all the little sub-genres and sub-sub-genres. Although right now I'm reading more horror than fantasy (and very little straight sf), I love it all.

Flatulate – This isn't a real word, but as kids a lot of us thought it was a great verb – an alternate way to say "fart" without getting in trouble with the grown-ups. Later I found out that it wasn't a real word, so I overcame my anxiety and used the word "fart" exclusively. It's a great word, isn't it? Fart, I mean. Flatulate is a good word, too, even if it's made up. As long as you don't do it too much. Flatulate, I mean.

Fear – Where would writers and readers of fantastic fiction be without this one? When you think about it, fear is a wonderful thing. Think of fear as a defense system that keeps us alive, otherwise we'd play in traffic, walk around downtown Baltimore counting money, and run for public office.

Face in the Crowd, A – Andy Griffith's first movie (1957) and his best performance. Griffith plays Lonesome Rhodes, a country bumpkin with a little talent and a lot of charisma. He's discovered by a television station, given his own show and rises to stardom. A Face in the Crowd was way ahead of its time, exposing media demagogues, the lust for power, exploitation, betrayal and much more. Lonesome Rhodes quote – "A guitar beats a woman every time."

"Freddie Freeloader" – The second track on the classic Miles Davis album Kind of Blue. "Freddie Freeloader" is a 12-bar blues number that features Wyn Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and James Cobb on drums. And of course, Miles on the horn. (Plus a couple of sax players you might have heard of – Cannonball Adderly and John Coltrane.) To simply label the tune (or all the tunes on the album) as "relaxed modal jazz" is an injustice. It's so much more. In his autobiography Miles, Davis says "That song was named after this black guy I knew who was always seeing what he could get from you free, and he was always around the jazz scene."

Fort Worth – I lived a stone's throw away in Arlington, TX for four years. Fort Worth isn't a bad city, despite the fact that nearly half the episodes of Cops seem to be filmed there. I wish I could remember the names of some of the great Mexican restaurants there (John, you can probably help me out here.), but come to think of it, those places probably didn't have names.

Film – Sometimes I watch movies. Movies showcase movie stars. Films have actors. There's nothing wrong with a good (or bad) movie if that's what you're in the mood for at the time. At one time you could see good American films. Now all you get are American movies (most of them lousy). There are still good films out there, but finding them is a lot harder than it used to be. Unless you have Netflix or live in/near a metropolitan city.

Firebird Suite – The first time I heard Stravinsky's Firebird Suite I was a freshman in college. It rocked my world in a pretty substantial way until I actually played it (horn) in graduate school, which rocked it even more. The conductor kept giving me the hand to back off, but it didn't do any good. That bird was soaring.

I'm already at ten? I didn't even get to felon, Karen Joy Fowler, funk, fabricate, flux, foo-foo, free speech, freebase, fuzzy, fugue, fruit punch or Fritz the Cat. Man....limitations....

Now Playing – Debut - Bjork
Now Reading – Shadows and Silence – Barbara Roden, Christopher Roden, eds.
Blue Like Jazz – Donald Miller