The Potato Ball

Imagine my disappointment when the Mexican Deli informed me that they don’t serve breakfast on Sunday, and after I had traveled two cities over to get there. 

I looked over the hot deli items under the heat lamps and selected a potato ball stuffed with chorizo and a small order of refried beans. I told the cashier that they should make potato balls with cheese stuffed inside and plain potato, no stuffing. She looked at me with scared eyes for a long second before disappearing to the kitchen without ringing up my order. I thought, Maybe they do have some stuffed with cheese. 

She returned with the manager. I know because it read “Manager” on his blue shirt. He said, We made the payment already on Friday as usual. Little Tommy picked it up. 

I said, I was just telling your cashier that you should make potato balls stuffed with cheese and some plain ones too. 

He said, Oh my god. Not my kids. Please. I’ll make another payment tomorrow when the bank’s open. 

I said, You know, because just chorizo stuffing is not much of a choice if you don’t serve breakfast on Sunday. 

I reached for my wallet to pay when his hands started trembling. He motioned to the cashier who understood his nod and filled a bag with potato balls and handed them to me. 

He said, Tomorrow, I promise. Tell Little Tommy it’ll be ready at ten a.m. 

I said, Thanks, and please consider cheese and plain potato balls and then left.

At home I ate all the potato balls in the bag and got sick. I woke up in a hospital bed. First thing I heard was two nurses talking about how this man known as Little Tommy was brought in to the hospital with a cheese potato ball shoved up his ass and a plain potato ball shoved down his throat. At the moment, I knew exactly how Little Tommy felt.

The End

 

Funereal Plots
Horror Cinema reviews

Matthew M. Bartlett

Heretic

Writers/Directors: Scott Beck and Bryan Woods

I am a sucker for movies that seem like stage plays. Simple, single sets; a lot of well-written dialogue: I’m happy. I am also, as you may have guessed, a devotee of horror movies. Heretic, in its first hour or so, seemed to tick both those boxes for me. And then it swerved into conventionality—it started to look and sound like the lowest common denominator.

Heretic starts off with some quasi-sexual dialogue between Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East), a pair of sweetly naïve Mormon missionaries. This scene sets up their characters and, it would seem, foreshadows a far different kind of horror movie than this turns out to be.

The pair has on their list of potentially interested possible converts a Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant). Reed, a middle-aged man played with menace thinly veiled behind loquacious, self-effacing charm, assuages the girls’ trepidations by assuring them that his wife is in the house, baking a blueberry pie. The fact that the smell of blueberry pie comes from a candle sets off a discussion of faith, belief, evidence, and atheism. Absorbing, if a little “Nonbelief-101,” this is all underscored by the tension the audience feels—red flag after red flag—in knowing that these girls will be Mr. Reed’s captive.

The movie begins to falter after Mr. Reed talks about how each religion steals concepts, themes, and key figures from religions that preceded them—one of the Mormon girls offers the (weak, easily-refuted) riposte that each of these religions has its own unique aspects.

Mr. Reed doesn’t bite—he seems to think that this is somehow a good point. Where it fails is after Mr. Reed has the girls choose between two doors that each lead down to the creepy horror-movie basement. There we are introduced to a fourth central character, a “prophet”—decrepit, silent; she is killed and supposedly resurrected. Here the movie fully departs from its stage-play beginnings and devolves into blue-filtered cliché, with stabbing, throat-cutting, captive women in a subterranean labrynth, and some out-of-nowhere talk of life being a “simulation.” Also, Sister Paxton, set up as the more naïve of the pair, undergoes the kind of manipulation of character that happens only in fiction: she suddenly is resourceful, knowing, an unexpected “final girl.”

Heretic coasts on the strength of its first hour and excellent performances by the main trio of actors, especially Grant. Though press says he “plays against type,” he started doing that a long time ago. It’s been a decade or two since he was the floppy-haired nice guy. It’s a great performance, fun to watch, but not revelatory.

While Heretic does nosedive after the first act, it’s at least entertaining and watchable—but, alas, also not revelatory.

 

March 2025 Music Picks

from Anthony Servante

Dommin

"The Martyr"

https://dommin.com/

Dommin The Martyr

Kristofer Dommin, who operates under the mononym Dommin, is an enigmatic, Los Angeles-bred vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist with a sound born of steely goth rock, rockabilly, and darkly romantic, emo-tinged Americana. Dommin gained attention as the frontman for the goth-metal group of the same name. Between 2006 and 2020, the band issued a string of singles, EPs, and albums, including 2010's Love Is Gone, 2015's Rise, and 2016's Beautiful Crutch, while sharing stages with contemporaries like H.I.M., Lacuna Coil, the Birthday Massacre, Black Veil Brides, 69 Eyes, and Wednesday 13. In 2020, Kristofer Dommin relocated to Brisbane, Australia and began operating as a solo artist. Two years later, he teamed up with Aussie trio the Oztones and released the LP Dommin & the Oztones, a wide-ranging set of material rooted in blues, country, rockabilly, and brooding Americana. ~ James Christopher MongerRead less

Spirits Burning

"Live at Kozfest"

https://www.dekoentertainment.com/product-page/spirits-burning-live-at-kozfest-cd

Spirits Burning Live At Kozfest


Spirits Burning performed live at Kozfest in 2017, marking a rare live appearance for the band which has historically been a studio project. The performance took place on the Daevid Allen Kozmik Stage on Saturday, July 29, 2017, at Bobbie's Farm near Uffculme, Devon, UK.47

The lineup for the show included Hawkwind family members Richard Chadwick (drums, vocals), Bridget Wishart (vocals, EWI), and Steve Bemand (guitar, vocals), along with Don Falcone (keyboards, vocals), Kev Ellis (Kaoss Pad, vocals), Martin Plumley (guitar, vocals), and Colin Kafka (bass).47

The setlist included a three-song suite with Bridget Wishart on lead vocals and EWI, followed by four songs from early Spirits Burning albums, featuring Don Falcone on lead vocals. The set concluded with two vocal songs with Kev Ellis and Bridget Wishart sharing the lead vocals.7

The live performance was released as a CD titled "Live At Kozfest" in December 2024, capturing the band's journey through their catalog and including two bonus studio tracks.47

Live At Kozfest: CD released in December 2024 featuring the live performance at Kozfest 2017 and two bonus studio tracks.47

This album is a significant release for Spirits Burning, as it represents their first live album and showcases their unique blend of space rock and progressive music.

Bill Mumy

"Wonder World"

https://www.gragroup.com/bill_mumy.html

Bill Mumy Wonder World

Bill Mumy, known for his role as Will Robinson in the 1960s series "Lost in Space," is releasing a new solo album titled "Wonder World." The album, which is mixed, finished, and turned in to the record company, is being mastered for 24-bit WAV files to ensure high-quality sound.34 Mumy, who is now 70 years old, has an ongoing music career and has released several solo albums and albums as part of Barnes & Barnes with Robert Haimer.