Shut up already! Thirty years ago today, Prince unleashed the funkiest, most amazing artistic statement of his career: the double album Sign 'O' The Times. Music does not get better than this. I still get chills spinning this. I remember buying Sign after school the day it came out and racing home to play it undisturbed in one sitting. Mesmerized. It contains Prince's utterly genius "Housequake" and "If I Was Your Girlfriend" and so much more. Go dig it.
“The Murderous Haircut of the Mayor of Bel Air” is a trippy new mystery novel from Phillip Mottaz. It captures the grit and gilt of the City of Angels with the flair of a contemporary Raymond Chandler. The brisk pace and wit are reminiscent of Douglas Adams’s entries in the detective game. Flourishes of Fletch and “Medium” also spring to mind. However, Mottaz has added a psychic/mutant/superhuman touch and his own comedic voice, structure and internal monologues to the proceedings that help the author announce his own style and the arrival of a literary heroine for a new generation. Hairstylist and budding private investigator, Danica Luman is the perfect character to convey the irony, angst and sarcasm needed to tell a 21st century L.A. crime story. Danica also represents anyone who thought it would be neat to get tangled up in a mystery and the darkly comic cautionary tale that follows. The genre is recognizable, but Mottaz offers a fresh take on the not-ready-for-prime-time-hard-b
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