FLASH FICTION: THE CRAZY SMILE

Enjoy 'The Crazy Smile,' my latest entry onto the world of microflash fiction - stories told in just six sentences.

One morning while I was trying to stay awake in the dreary fog of crisp October, I saw a gaunt old man staring and waving at me from the side of the road. As I drove by, I couldn't help notice that his wrinkled suit - damp from the crisp moisture in the air - barely kept its shape. Why was he waving at me, some dumb cabbie trying to get back to the airport? Needing to affirm that he wasn't a loopy result of a bizarre concoction of Red Bull and coffee, I made a U-turn and headed back but he vanished. Who was he? Someone needs to tell the hairs on my back of my neck...

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN

If good 'ol Chuck Buk ever went the screenplay route ala Fitzgerald, no doubt he woulda churned out this sort of 'Grindhouse' fare - "Hobo with a Shotgun." It actually went on to win the SXSW/Robert Rodriguez Grindhouse Trailer contest. Fun, schlocky stuff. Bukowski would approve.

JUST IN CASE...

...You missed it back in early December. A definitive collection of Chuck Buk's poems are a must for any Bukowski enthusiast.

``THE PLEASURES OF THE DAMNED: Poems, 1951-1993,'' by Charles Bukowski, edited by John Martin (Ecco/HarperCollins, $16.99). "I am not inclined to make elaborate claims for Bukowski, because there is no one to compare him to, plus or minus," The Times' reviewer, Jim Harrison, said. This long and well-edited collection is likely to stand as the definitive volume of Bukowski's poems with their "hard-found music of the streets."

HARD BOOZE SALES ON THE RISE

Beer sales are known for being recession-resistant, but that isn't looking to be the case this time around. The London-based brewer behind the Miller brand recently reported that its shipments dropped unexpectedly in the third quarter. However, in some spots, sales of liquor with more than 21% alcohol is on the rise.

Click HERE to find out more.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S 'WORKING ON A DREAM' REVIEW

My colleague, Jay Lustig just published his review for Bruce Springsteen's new disc "Working' On A Dream" and gave the disc Three and a Half stars (out of four). Here's an excerpt of what he said:

Working On a Dream" is Bruce Springsteen's "White Album. Like The Beatles' 1968 double album (officially titled "The Beatles"), it's full of surprises, covers an exceptionally broad range of musical styles, and is both deeply serious and, occasionally, whimsical.

To read the rest of the piece, click HERE.

WHAT CAN YOU SAY IN SIX SENTENCES?

Yay for me! I just had my first piece accepted at Six Sentences, a nifty (and addicting) web site. Six Sentences (6S) is a webzine dedicated to the art of microflash fiction, a difficult art in the world of prose. Stories are told in just six sentences only - and what a wealth of stories: Tales that evoke awe and beauty and sadness and outright guffaws.

In fact, the site has also published its first volume in a bound collection. This is the first print anthology of these little gems by dozens of authors, some well-known, others hoping to be so.

Here is MY entry on the site. Enjoy!

BARRY O GETS HIS OWN HOOCH

THE ardor among marketers for Barack Obama is intensifying with the approach of Inauguration Day, when, it seems, they intend to name him the nation’s new consumer-in-chief.

The new items include bottles of Hennessy Cognac, bearing labels that read “44”; commemorative issues of publications like The New Yorker, Newsweek, USA Today and The Washington Post; and T-shirts from the Presidential Inaugural Committee that urge “Be the change.”

To read about the new hooch, click HERE.

THE RACIST WORDS WE USE EVERY DAY

Over here at Chuck Buk's Basement, we're all about creativity, the use of words, enjoying good booze and musings on the world through the eyes of Bukowski and his kindred spirits.

To that, I go you all this quirky post from Cracked that explores some of the more common words we use that have racist origins. Enjoy.

Click HERE to read them.

CIGARETTE SESSIONS: BUKOWSKI (TRIBUTE VIDEO)

Check out this tribute video - a short film directed by and starring Joel Vetsch, with actual narration from Bukowski himself reading his poem 'Something For The Touts, The Nuns, The Grocery Clerks, And You...'

LIFE IMITATING BUKOWSKI: COUPLE WEDS AT TACO BELL

I dunno... This item reads like a twisted Bukowski short story. Customers inside the fast-food restaurant taco Bell continued to order tacos and burritos as a couple sat Friday in an orange booth and exchanged vows. "It's appropriate," groom Paul Brooks said. "It's an offbeat relationship."

Click HERE to read more.

WOMEN COULDN"T WORK FOR DISNEY...

So let's say you were a woman in the late '30s and you wanted to work for the Walt Disney Company in animation. Turned out chicks didn't do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen. Here's the proof (click to enlarge) ...

HAPPY sexy NEW YEAR!!

Let's all ring in the New Year the proper way... Here's hoping everyone in The Basement has a prosperous, healthy and productive New Year.