Friday, August 31, 2012

ready for the weekend

can't really be a bad day when i watch Chelsea get their asses handed to them in the UEFA Super Cup. hopefully that will be the start of a wonderful holiday weekend.

printed out the schedule for the Downtown Dayton Revival Concert i'll be going to with the family over the 8th and 9th of September. hopefully i'll be able to pull all of this off, but these are the bands i'm hoping to see: Guided By Voices, John Legend, Heartless Bastards, Rusted Root, The Ohio Players, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Red Wanting Blue, Mat Kearney, Tony Lucca and Train. a ton of music for 2 days. you can find out more on this festival here.

i'm very happy that Berbatov has moved on from Manchester United. he deserves to be somewhere he will regularly play. i'm just hoping that he doesn't come back to kill us. nothing else really going on at transfer deadline day. i'm laughing my ass off at Liverpool somehow losing Clint Dempsey. hilarious.

HUGE series starts tonight for the Yankees. fuck around and lose these games and the playoffs won't be guaranteed anymore. needless to say the competitive juices will be flowing tonight.

happy birthday to lady e in New Jersey. here's hoping life is treating you beautifully.

music today:

Shooter Jennings - Put The O Back In Country
Sublime - Greatest Hits
Disturbed - Indestructible

"Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions." - Edgar Cayce


Thursday, August 30, 2012

a little poetry news and a few other musings...

i finally got my hands on a copy of Open Wide Magazine #25 (ISSN 1746-4390). it was published last year i believe. i have three poems in the issue, "across four lanes of traffic", "after sex talk", and "trying to sneak a peek". also in the issue include work from Debbie Kirk, John Sweet, William Taylor Jr., Nathan Graziano, R.C. Edrington, Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, Dan Provost, justin.barrett and Glenn W. Cooper just to name a few. you can purchase a copy of the issue here. for back issues of Open Wide, go here http://www.openwidemagazine.co.uk/owmissues.htm.

i watched the Champions League draw today and got a chuckle. i can just hear all the conspiracy theories running around, just like last year, that Manchester United got an easy draw, blah blah blah. same shit was said last year and they couldn't make it out of the group stage. well, Sir Alex has vowed to play all the best guys for all the games this time around. so, if they have learned their lesson well, they should win the group stage pretty damn easy. and they will need to if they want to avoid Barcelona in the next round. i got a bigger chuckle when i saw that Manchester City was placed in the group of death. serves the little blue fuckers right. hopefully they have their asses handed to them repeatedly in the group stage. seeing they are playing 3 other champions, there's a good chance of it happening.

the shock of the day was seeing Iniesta beat out Messi and CR7 to win the best player in Europe. fucking please. there's no doubt he's a great player, but better than the 2 best players in the world. no fucking chance in hell. i can only figure the tipping point was he played for a Spain team that won their 3rd straight major championship. it must have been since Barcelona last year didn't win La Liga or the Champions League. so he wins the award because he happens to play with 10 other great players born in the same country. what a fucking joke.

lastly, tomorrow morning i will wake up to the results of the first fantasy draft of the new NFL season. my fingers will be crossed, hoping for the best. and hoping for a season where my first pick doesn't get injured in the first week, like last year. damn you shitty turf and weak knees.

until we meet again my friends...

music today:

Rage Against The Machine - Live & Rare
Queensryche - Empire (Bonus Tracks)

"A gentleman is simply a patient wolf." - Lana Turner

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

testing my patience

after 130 games, i don't think i can call anything a trend or just a bad streak. things are simply the way they are by now. after watching the Yankees lose a series to a team that had won 6 of their last 28 games, i have resigned myself to a few things. this team can't do anything fucking easy. they can't get big hits when they need them. they can't get runners over. all the injuries have role players becoming platoon players and in other words, being in spots where they can't succeed. that's really a case of bad fucking luck more than anything. but , sadly, even with that, they can't blow teams out. they can't score runs to expand leads late in games. and they are the only fucking team not to win when trailing after 8 innings this season. the only fucking one. when you only have 3 reliable starters that aren't injured and only 2 reliable relievers who don't have arms made out of rubber, more games than not are going to be tricky to say the least with all these elements involved. they are off tomorrow. tongue in cheek i tell you, they have been off for over a month now. if Baltimore stays hot, the weekend series will basically be for the division lead. i will give the Yankees credit. it's really fucking hard to piss away a 10 game lead in a division. they are close enough now to taste it.

these are the days where i'd rather stick a rusty fork in my eyes than breathe.

so what was a really nice, sunny, low humidity, comfortable late August day has now turned into a pissed off fuck the world what the fuck do you want day. i won't kid myself into thinking tomorrow will be any better.

music today:

AC/DC - Let There Be Rock (Bonfire Box Set)
Thelonious Monk - Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane
Street Sweeper Social Club - The Ghetto Blaster EP
Johnny Cash - My Mother's Hymn Book

"Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before." - Mae West


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

making the most of being evil

i woke up at 6:30 this morning. i really figured it was going to be a shit day. a day where i would replay that hideous fucking loss from the Yankees last night over and over again in my head. but, i then came across this news http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/28/us/montana-big-foot-accident/index.html.

the clouds started to part and the sun came out shining. i know, i know, i shouldn't find joy in the misery of others. that's evil. but guess what... the difference between myself and others is my complete lack of guilt. if evil is what you need to call me, i'm fine with that. i'll make the most of it and enjoy my time, thank you very much.

sent out a couple of queries today on some poems that have been out there for 3 to 4 months. i would like to get those loose ends tied up before i send out another huge batch of submissions. say hello to the anal freak inside of me that writes everything down. he needs to be fed every so often so that peace remains.

i suppose the rest of my day will be spent pondering the evil sense of humor mother nature has.

music today:

Tchaikovsky - Greatest Hits
Ben Harper - Both Sides Of The Gun (Special Edition)
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Scandalous
Beck - Sea Change

"Everybody loves you when you're six foot in the ground." - John Lennon

Monday, August 27, 2012

all things considered, the usual monday

woke up this morning with my back tighter than (insert some line about a woman's vagina here). i could tell it had been raining. just enough to get the ground wet and leave my back in shambles. didn't really get better until i took a shower this afternoon.

a big thank you to NPR for the first listen of Cat Power's new album, Sun. this is really unlike anything i've heard from her before, but her voice is so unique, engaging and sexy to my ears... she could probably read the phone book and she would have me from the beginning. you can listen to it here:  http://www.npr.org/2012/08/26/159919016/first-listen-cat-power-sun?ps=mh_frhdl1

other than that, not much going on here. i'm really looking forward to the next episode of Big Brother. i won't spoil anything, but some holy shit moments have happened in the last day or so. the Yankees start a series with Toronto this evening. hopefully they can put this team to bed early in all 3 games. teams that suck like to spoil games but not when they are losing by 5 or more runs 3 innings in. step on the throat, apply pressure.

music today:

Van Halen - 5150
Cat Power - Sun
Pearl Jam - Jeremy
Counting Crows - August and Everything After

"Calmness is the cradle of power." - J.G. Holland

Sunday, August 26, 2012

one of those days

got back up into the 90's today. i'm afraid we haven't had a good rain here in so long that if we did it would totally fuck what crops we do have left. i only mention it because there's like an 80% chance of rain in the next 2 days. fun.

was totally weird watching the high school i graduated from playing high school football on ESPN. but some things don't change. i didn't make it to the end of the game. now, i just change the channel when they are getting blown out. back then, i would leave the stadium and go smoke a bowl underneath the nearby bridge. memories.

good win by the Yankees today, 4-2. a great job by the bullpen after Sweaty Freddy could only go 4 2/3 before imploding. a run of games against the AL East coming up. time to put the foot on the gas again. hopefully.

it was another Messi and CR7 Sunday on tv. incredible job by Messi to score 2 goals in about 4 minutes to rescue Barcelona. CR7 and Real Madrid obviously had their minds on the second leg against Barcelona coming up in a few days. lose 2-1 to a team i had never heard of before. not good.

a little dinner and some mindless tv tonight. then, i'm hoping for a nice long sleep. not quite death, but something close to it.

music today:

Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs - God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise
John Prine - In Person & On Stage

"Here I am trying to live, or rather, I am trying to teach the death within me how to live." - Jean Cocteau

Saturday, August 25, 2012

the day turned to shit around noon

so, i got in this morning from feeding the cats and birds just as Manchester United was getting scored on. fucking great, this is going to be a long day i start thinking. thankfully, RvP decides he's going to pull a spectacular goal out from his ass and sets Old Trafford on fire. 2 more goals in the first half from the boys and i'm feeling good. then the usual try to not lose instead of trying to win costs them and their shitty, shitty injury filled defense. they win 3-2 but it wouldn't be a Manchester United game without an injury. a nasty, nasty, NASTY gash to Wayne Rooney's thigh. seriously, i'm talking fucking shark week nasty here. early reports are he's going to be out a month. just fucking great.

scouted out a few new places to send poetry to and did the dishes between soccer matches from Italy, Spain and Germany. thank you DIRECTV.

and then the Yankees. after watching Tampa Bay lose earlier in the day, here's a great chance to stretch the lead a bit. of course, Kuroda has one bad inning and the Yankees only can muster one fucking hit with runners in scoring position (out of the 9 damn at bats they had) and lose 3-1. this will go down in the wasted opportunity column if they blow the division this year. at least they were kind enough to get the damn game over in under 3 hours.

kind of shocked Magic Johnson would do something good for Boston, apparently hell has frozen over. hopefully the Red Sox blow that quarter of a billion dollars they are saving in the trade on more shitty players. makes it more fun for this Yankee fan.

music today:

The Who - Who's Next
Matthew Perryman Jones - Land Of The Living

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." - Neil Armstrong


the first crack of thunder

my poem "the first crack of thunder" was published this morning at Jellyfish Whispers. you can find the poem by going here http://www.jellyfishwhispers.com/2012/08/a-poem-by-jj-campbell.html.

Friday, August 24, 2012

will wonders ever cease

well, well, well, the Yankees actually won a fucking game for a change on a night where Tampa Bay actually lost. the division lead is back to 3 1/2 games. i did see the season flash before my eyes earlier tonight when Derek Jeter got hit in the head. last thing this team needs is another damn injury. thankfully, he got up, cussed the catcher and pitcher out and played the rest of the game. hopefully they can get another good streak going here so i won't be biting my nails for the rest of the season.

looking forward to watching Manchester United in the morning. it would be nice to see them rebound from a very disappointing start of the season. hopefully some more time together on the practice field will actually pay off for them. if that can happen, maybe the worm will actually be turning.

went through the poetry files today and set aside 20 poems i shall be sending out soon. got a few new places i'm thinking of sending to. can't believe i'm writing as much as i have been here lately. if i can keep this up during the fall sports crazy season, my life will get pretty interesting. of course, the NHL is bound and determined to fuck up another season, so i'll probably have some time on my hands. oh well...

hope everyone enjoys the music player i've put on the blog. if you want a different choice of music, let me know and i'll take it under consideration.

music today:

David Bowie - Best Of Bowie
The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen

"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." - Dean Martin


Thursday, August 23, 2012

behind the curtains

a poet once told me that other poets enjoy my work because i write about things that no one else would ever touch. like embarrassing situations, bathroom horror stories, etc. etc. with that in mind, i figure this blog shouldn't be any different. so now, welcome behind the curtains...

woke up at 7 this morning. fed the cats and birds. i did get to see my cat Rita Dove's two new kittens. they poked their heads out from the box they are in. hopefully there are only 2. took a massive shit afterwards. this is where i want you to keep in mind i have a bad back. watched a little of the Dan Patrick Show and decided i would head into town to get the mail and maybe some breakfast.

went to the post office, hoping to find a letter i've been waiting for, which of course wasn't there. i did get a nice letter from my old friend Michelle Aiello. you can find her site at indigozine.com. shop around and help her out. then headed to McDonald's for a little breakfast. picked up the paper at the end of my lane and then back to the house.

of course McDonald's got my order wrong. but, what they gave me cost 60 cents more than what i paid for. ha, ha, i'm thinking. i'm winning. this is what i get for fucking thinking.

cut to 30 minutes later and me racing to the bathroom with diarrhea. most of it made the bowl. after getting cleaned up and bemoaning my life, i now had an unexpected load of laundry to do. got that started, put on some clean clothes and waited. amazingly, i didn't have to shit again right away. WHEW!

after my laundry was done, i got the 7 poems i wrote yesterday to type up. halfway through the process, i had to shit again. no mess this time. this was like trying to fit boulders through a strainer. here's the part of the story where you should know i bleed easy.

got the poems finally typed up and got a phone call from my friend in California. she's trying to get herself off the drugs various doctors over the years have mind fucked her with. needless to say the phone calls are a little interesting.

now a check of email, various surveys to fill out (this is how i make my feeble living for the most part. most of them don't pay cash, so i take the amazon.com gift codes instead. might as well get something i can use.) and then onto my blog.

for anyone who thought i had it made, fuck you.... and you're welcome for the visuals

the Yankees thankfully won't lose today as they are off. thanks to riveraveblues.com for reminding me that any season the Yankees have had a 6 1/2 game lead in the division they have won it (the lead that was 10 a few weeks ago is now down to 3) and the last time they were swept in Chicago they won the World Series (2009). it doesn't make it any better, but this isn't my first rodeo. i didn't become a Yankee fan in the late 90's. i've been with them since the early 80's. just the normal bumps in the road during the dog days. doesn't mean i'll bitch any less or quieter though. just sayin'...

and for a blast of the past, enjoy this poem social anxiety disorder

music today:

Etta James - The Best Of
Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa - Don't Explain
Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble - Blues At Sunrise
The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker

"Chaos is rejecting all you have learned, chaos is being yourself." - Emile M. Cioran


Wednesday, August 22, 2012

waiting for the worm to turn

first off, let me highly recommend The Sam Roberts Show Online #27. this episode finds Sam chatting with Bert Kreischer. if you need an hour of laughing your ass off in your life, you have found it. you can find the show at Stitcher, ITunes, or www.notsam.com. leave comments on the contact page and help Sam out if you can.

my internet has moving slower than shit today. constantly going in and out. combine this with the Yankees having their asses handed to them the last 2 nights in Chicago, and i'm in a great fucking mood. i'm home alone for the next 2 days or just about and in a pissy mood. bad combination. i'm thinking of doing some writing tonight or maybe some painting. all depends on the Yankees i suppose. if they get swept i might actually get to see what my angry paintings will look like. with the lead in the division down to 4, i can wait for my angry paintings.

other than that, got my fantasy football shit in line. have 3 drafts lined up for NFL and got my college teams ready for games on ESPN.com. hard to believe it's that time of year again.

on the poetic tip, i seem to be in a holding pattern. waiting on my book to come out. waiting to hear back on some submissions. waiting on some money that's supposedly coming. thank god my patience is biblical. i hate to see what crime i'd be in jail for if it wasn't.

music today:

Red Wanting Blue - Live at City Winery
Trampled by Turtles - Burn For Free
Walk The Moon - Walk The Moon
Brett Dennen - Loverboy
Fun. - Some Nights
Gotye - Making Mirrors

"Music stops you from thinking." - Peter Weir


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

why i love music

got an email this morning from http://www.noisetrade.com/ about an album from Matthew Perryman Jones. my first thought was who? but i've had a ton of success with the site so i decided to give the album a listen.

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Land of the Living is right up there with Father John Misty and Alabama Shakes as the best music i have heard this year. why i have never heard of MPJ before now is due to ignorance i suppose. and i have promptly taken that ignorance behind the barn and shot it.

the album is only up on NoiseTrade for a week. oh, and another thing...

it's FREE

(you can always tip if you so desire...)

i urge all of you that love music to go download it or find something on the site and download it. it's free and legal. tell all of your music loving friends as well.

Matthew Perryman Jones - Land of the Living

Monday, August 20, 2012

not exactly what i was hoping for

the day started off well enough. decent morning shit. good breakfast. cats and birds weren't pains in the asses when i fed them. paid a couple of bills. got the paper and the mail. the repairman for our ac/heat/do everything new age unit had no problems switching out the new parts. had a great jerk off session (thank you as always Jada Fire). and then it was time to watch Manchester United.

maybe the most unimaginative i've ever seen them play. shitty crosses, no urgency at all. bring RvP on but never get him the damn ball. and if they don't fix their D anytime soon, this season will become one where i will be throwing remotes through televisions. fuck me. and the calmer asshole inside me says it's just one game, it's a long season. and the true asshole inside of me responds it will be long if they keep that shit up.

needless to say between the Yankees and WWE RAW tonight, i'll be hoping for chaos, tomfoolery, and plenty of fucking runs. Sweaty Freddy is on the mound in Chicago. i smell a beer league softball game.

at least CM Punk is still champ...

a word on Tony Scott...
i can't blame you. if i had an inoperable tumor, that bridge would be mighty fucking tempting.

music today:

Beck - Guero
Prodigy - The Fat Of The Land
Metallica - Master Of Puppets

"It's a good thing that beauty is only skin deep, or I'd be rotten to the core." - Phyllis Diller


Sunday, August 19, 2012

as close to a slice of utopia as i can get

it's really hard to have a bad day when you get 2 poems published in the morning. then, spend a good chunk of your afternoon watching CR7 and Messi play while Ray Hudson provides the verbal gymnastics. (if you want a good laugh, look him up on YouTube calling some goals from Barcelona, fucking priceless.) now, if the Yankees can win tonight i will have a little cherry to go on top of my day. fingers are crossed.

thankfully, the horrible feeling i had yesterday evening was nothing. the horrible feeling was that my friend in California had died, but thankfully she called about an hour or so after the feeling started. of course there's plenty of back story that i'm leaving out. i will put that in the book one day. here's hoping you can have a relaxing evening my friend. you need it.

between my baseball this evening i will sneak in a little Big Brother, The Newsroom, Weeds and Episodes. if i truly get fucking bored for some reason, preseason NFL. if it comes to that, my night has turned to shit. you have been warned.

music today:

Leonard Cohen - Various Positions

"Temptation is a woman's weapon and man's excuse." - H.L. Mencken




after a glass of scotch

my poem "after a glass of scotch" was published this morning at Napalm and Novocain. you can find the poem by going here http://napalmandnovocain.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-poem-by-jj-campbell.html.

this foolish belief

my poem "this foolish belief" was published this morning at The Camel Saloon. you can find the poem by going here http://thecamelsaloon.blogspot.com/2012/08/this-foolish-belief.html.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

a matter of free speech

was having a pretty good day. another cool morning, so i opened up the house to air it out. rare when i can do that in August. watched a few teams i hate (Liverpool, Arsenal) struggle in their openers over in England, which brought an even wider smile to my face. and then came a little email from Russell over at The Camel Saloon.

the email was about G. Tod Slone, publisher of The American Dissident, and his bizarre bullshit situation going on with the Sturgis Library in Barnstable, MA. for the complete story, i urge you to go here http://thecamelsaloon.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-library-defender-of-freedom-of.html and if you so desire, you can email the library here sturgislibrary@comcast.net.

i know i try not to get political on this blog but free speech is one of those topics as a poet that gets my blood boiling. between this and the whole Pussy Riot fiasco, hopefully everyone wakes the fuck up already. enough is enough.

i now step off the soapbox and return this blog to regularly scheduled programming...

thanks to MLB and their asshole blackout rules, looks like i will be following the Yankee game today online. hopefully another win after the home run derby display of last night. the foot is on the throat of the Red Sox, now apply pressure.

music today:

The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." - Alice Walker



response from Pyrokinection & Napalm and Novocain

i heard back from A.J. Huffman on my poetry submissions to a couple of her zines the other day. here are the results:

Pyrokinection - a swing and a miss, 0 for 3.

Napalm and Novocain - my poem "after a glass of scotch" has been accepted for publication. it is scheduled to appear tomorrow, August 19th. i will post a link when it is.


Friday, August 17, 2012

embrace the insanity

just got done typing up the five poems i wrote last night. not quite sure what i think of them or where they will end up going. hopefully i have another writing outburst in me for the weekend. if a few certain things happen, it may be more than an outburst. time shall tell.

hopefully the Yankees take the Red Sox out behind the barn this weekend and put them out of their misery.

RvP is officially on Manchester United now. their revenge on the world tour begins this Monday. if he and the rest of the team can stay healthy, i will have some fun watching them run up the score on nearly everyone they play. if the injuries from last year crop up again... let's just say it won't be pretty.

the weather is supposed to have a touch of fall in the air this weekend. i'm at the point of who the fuck knows anymore. hard to be happy with the weather when i can look out the window and see dying crops. not fun at all.

other than some sports and writing, not really sure what my weekend plans are. maybe a trip over to the other home to clean some more shit out. maybe i'll get bored enough to go to the movies. or maybe i'll just sit in my room and listen to some old music. your guess is as good as mine.

music today:

Warren Haynes Band - Live at the Moody Theater
Jeff Buckley - Mystery White Boy
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Terence Trent D'Arby - Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby

"A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve." - Joseph Joubert



FREE PUSSY RIOT

Thursday, August 16, 2012

so much for that...

was feeling great coming into today. the Yankees had won the first 3 games of the series. the USA men's national team in soccer won against Mexico in Mexico for the first time ever. back wasn't hurting at all. and then came the afternoon...

you know it's bad when i decide i'd rather do dishes than watch the Yankees. down 4-0. once i get done though, boom, 5 quick runs. should be able to hold on to the lead and get the sweep. i guess i spoke too soon. no sooner than taking the lead, they give it right back by allowing Texas to score in the 7th, 8th and 9th to lose 10-6. yet another 4 game series where they could have had the sweep but played like they were more concerned with making sure they got to their dinner reservations on time. fuck me.

now there seems to be some weather rolling in, at least that's what i think my back is trying to tell me. or maybe i just have to shit. fuck, maybe i'll go take a shower in a thunderstorm and see if mother nature gives me anything to write about.

i do have a poem i've been writing in my head nearly all day long. more of the usual depressed drivel. will find out soon enough if i can find some magic when i put those words on the page. if not, here's hoping i don't have to kill too many trees to find it.

music today:

Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Waking - The Maze
Radiohead - Kid A


and in honor of the birthday boy...

"Bad taste creates many more millionaires than good taste." - Charles Bukowski



Wednesday, August 15, 2012

the sun finally shines on my ass

welcome to anyone who is here because of The Sam Roberts Show Online. more on that in a moment.

i sent off 6 poems today. 3 each to Pyrokinection and Napalm and Novocain. if any poems get accepted, i will post the good news as soon as i get it. rejection notes may take a little longer...

was totally blown away when Primetime Sam Roberts mentioned this blog in episode #26 (Feeling Strong) of The Sam Roberts Show Online. you can find that here http://notsam.com/podcast.html. enjoy the shows and help the man out if you can.

i'm also a little pumped up that Manchester United is very, very close to getting RvP and Angelo Henriquez. once both signings become official, a matter of time is what i'm hearing, i'll be full of shits and giggles for league play to start this weekend.

hats off to Hiroki Kuroda for his 2 hit shutout of Texas last night. i definitely caught myself thinking holy shit, he's gonna throw a no-no. and the game had a playoff feel going as well. if Swisher can come through like that in the playoffs for a change, shine up the rings for another championship my friends. here's hoping Sweaty Freddy and the Yankees can get another one tonight.

a hello to my friend in California. you will get better. and soon. keep at the hard work and you shall be rewarded.

lastly, i believe i heard some new kittens when i went out to feed the cats today. from the way she was acting, i believe they belong to Rita Dove. i didn't hunt much for them as if they are hers, these would be her first ones. i figure i will give it a month and then see how they are doing. she's a pretty lean and mean cat, so it wouldn't shock me if they are dead soon. but stranger things have happened at this zoo, i mean farm.

music today:

Soul Asylum - Grave Dancers Union
Ben Harper - Give Till It's Gone
Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey

"A leader is a dealer in hope." - Napoleon Bonaparte


my 5 poems at Horror Sleaze Trash

my poems "lullaby", "my own filthy language", "thoughts on the death of a superstar", "that acid tongue" and "just an old creepy guy" have been published at Horror Sleaze Trash. you can find the poems here http://www.horrorsleazetrash.com/poetry/j-j-campbell-3/


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

and here comes the sun fucking up my gloomy day

did something today that i rarely or ever do. edit. while going through some unpublished work, came across two poems i like but decided they needed a little editing. as a firm believer in Allen Ginsberg's "First Thought Best Thought" this is something i hardly ever do. but seeing as these poems have been rejected a few times, what could it hurt. these thoughts will be put to the test as the poems will be included in the 6 poems i'm sending out tomorrow. i suppose in the grand scheme of things, this is nothing more than keeping myself entertained so i don't harm myself or others. it's worked for the majority of my 36 years...

here's hoping the Yankees can build off of last night and get this train really rolling again. and i tip my hat to Derek Lowe, congrats on shutting me the fuck up.

not willing to believe any of the reports i see out of the UK, i have no good Manchester United news. hopefully soon. and hopefully no players get injured in the Wednesday national team friendlies. i'd actually like the team to start relatively healthy and stay that way for a change.

no updates on any new poems. i'm hoping for a nice long writing session Thursday after the Yankee day game. either that or the weekend. but i'm pretty sure i have all the music i need to set the mood.

music today:

Grouplove - Never Trust A Happy Song
Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town
Butch Walker and the Black Widows - The Spade

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see." - Arthur Schopenhauer

Monday, August 13, 2012

so there's a few good ones left after all

i want to start this off with a big fat THANK YOU to Russell over at The Camel Saloon for recommending a poem i sent him would be better off at Jellyfish Whispers. i can probably count on one hand the number of editors/publishers that have done that for me before. whenever i'm near your neck of the woods, the first round is on me my friend.

not exactly sure what my feelings are about the Yankees signing Derek Lowe. it's bad enough that my mind won't let the 2004 epic collapse ever go away, but to see a member of that Red Sox team wearing pinstripes makes my stomach turn a little. of course, if he wins a championship here like Damon did, i'll get over it.

big home stand this week for the Yankees. get some timely wins over Texas and Boston and that should help put the AL East to bed. struggle this week and the last 6 weeks of the season will be nail biting time.

another rather cool day here. the weather this summer has been totally bizarre. and each day i drive down the lane to get the paper and mail i try not to look at the corn. just too fucking depressing.

hoping to have another writing session sometime this week. i feel like i have some good ones coming given all the shit going on in the world. let alone going on with people i know. i need one of those couple of hours where i bust out 10-15 gems and my fall will be looking good.

i did catch a little of the closing ceremony of the Olympics last night. hadn't seen Fat Boy Slim in quite some time. when he popped up my mind quickly thought back to my drug filled teens/20's. good times.

music today:

The Chemical Brothers - dig your own hole
Metallica - Beyond Magnetic
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing

"Always make the audience suffer as much as possible." - Alfred Hitchcock



response from Jellyfish Whispers

i heard back from A.J. Huffman at Jellyfish Whispers on my recent poetry submission. my poem "the first crack of thunder" has been accepted for publication. it is slated to appear on the site August 24th.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

it fucking figures

i was having a pretty good day. got some decent sleep last night. watched team USA win gold in men's basketball in a highly entertaining game. my back was feeling great. the weather was as near to perfect as possible for late summer. and then the Yankees game started.

leave it to Phil Hughes, on a day where the team needed length from the starter and was 1 win away from a sweep of a last place team, to go out and throw batting practice. 4 innings and 7 runs in a 10-7 loss.

needless to say the rest of my day will be shit.

on a side note, did watch a good bit of the FA Community Shield this morning between two teams i hate. entertaining and vicious. now, if there only could have been more injuries and red cards...

the reunion of the Spice Girls isn't enough to make me want to watch the closing ceremony of the Olympics. so hopefully my Sunday night tv viewing will make me forget about a mediocre fastball to a damn near full AAA lineup.

music today:

Cat Power - The Greatest

"A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read." - Mark Twain

Saturday, August 11, 2012

a rare cool day in august

opened up the windows this morning and decided to give the a/c a rest. not often you get a day in the 70's at this time of year here. might as well take advantage of it.

i found out late last night that my rough copy of my book did make it back to Austin, Texas. a thank you to the postal service. hopefully soon that monster is on the streets.

also on the poetry tip, sent 3 poems out today to Five 2 One Magazine. hopefully my good feeling on this one is correct.

watched the gold medal match in men's Olympic soccer this morning. classic lazy Brazil. take their talent for granted, get scored on in the first 30 seconds. then give up another in the second half. of course, here comes the urgency they didn't play with for the first 80 minutes. they get 1 back and blow a header with 20 seconds to go. (the player that did that has signed with Chelsea i type with a glee on my face). Mexico wins 2-1. great game from them. this is the classic generation for Mexico. get used to seeing them play important matches for the next decade.

Yankees play this afternoon. i will divide my time between that and more of the Olympics. i might catch a few friendlies as well later on today. but the start of my weekend has been pretty good so far (knock on wood).

music today:

Trampled By Turtles - Stars And Satellites
The Head And The Heart - The Head And The Heart
Youth Lagoon - The Year Of Hibernation

"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." - Will Durant


Friday, August 10, 2012

a case of the blah's

i'm not sure what it was. the back pain i woke up with (weather related), the laundry i had to do, my friends who are dealing with some deep shit, family traveling in a country of shitty drivers, or what. but today was a serious case of the blah's.

did manage to watch team USA in men's basketball destroy Argentina, at least in the second half. such a deep team with incredible balance. had a little fun in the first half and put the game on mute and played Massive Attack instead. not quite Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz but trippy just the same.

other than that, hopefully Sweaty Freddy can pitch well tonight for the Yankees. and i hope i get some better sleep for all the soccer i plan to watch tomorrow. gold medal match of the Olympics especially. of course, Mexico's best player is out, so i don't have my hopes up for a great game.

no news on the poetry front. i'm hoping the rough copy of my book i sent made it back. i'm hoping that fucker is out before the end of the month. as always, if anything comes up i'll post something over the weekend.

now for evidence of my mood...

music today:

Young The Giant - Young The Giant
Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing
Ed Sheeran - +
Mazzy Star - So Tonight That I Might See
Massive Attack - Mezzanine

"The more we have the less we own." - Meister Eckhart


Thursday, August 9, 2012

feeling pretty good right about now

had an afternoon of watching team USA in women's water polo (you're right if you think i was just watching hoping for underwater bare breasts) win a gold medal, team USA in women's soccer get a little revenge on Japan and win gold 2-1 (thank you Carli Lloyd and Hope Solo) and then the Yankees overcome the weather and shitty umpires and get a split against the Tigers (thank god Eric Chavez has found the fountain of youth). not a bad way to spend a few hours.

started off this morning listening to episode #25 of The Sam Roberts Show Online. another great podcast and another mention of my name. go to http://notsam.com/podcast.html to check out the shows and help him out if you can.

i sent out 3 poems to Jellyfish Whispers at the request of Russell over at The Camel Saloon. hopefully his instincts are good and i have good news to report soon.

weather permitting (the only drawback of DIRECTV quite honestly) i'll be enjoying my usual Thursday night fare. hopefully Janelle gets evicted tonight on Big Brother and then FX continues to entertain the shit out of me with Wilfred and Louie.

and tomorrow will be a laundry day and if no one fucks up at my local post office, my shipment from amazon.com should be waiting for me. shaping up to be 2 good days in a row. holy fucking shit.

music today:

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
Tom Waits - Bad As Me

"To invent you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." - Thomas A. Edison


response from The Camel Saloon

my poem "this foolish belief" has been accepted for publication at The Camel Saloon. i will post a link to it when it is published.

sports nuggets

watched the Yankees try their hardest to blow a 7 run lead but somehow they eventually won 12-8. at least my constant bitching turned into a win. this team drives me fucking nuts.

watched Manchester United lose to Barcelona on penalty kicks. the boys defended well, but they can't score to save their lives. how the fuck do you miss 3 penalty kicks? i never thought i'd utter these words, but fuck, go get Robin Van Persie.

hopefully team USA in men's basketball continues to understand, great defense makes offense so much easier. fitting that LeBron would get the first triple double in Olympic history.

watched a little of the soccer action from Yankee Stadium. AC Milan and Real Madrid. makes me wish CR7 was still playing for Manchester United. maybe one day. please.

the Yankees have a day game on Thursday, so i'll be watching that but most of my time will be spent watching women's soccer. hopefully the USA women can get a little revenge on Japan.

"The trouble with jogging is that the ice falls out of your glass." - Martin Mull


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

insert something witty here

i got a decent amount of sleep last night yet somehow still managed to wake up at 6 a.m. not exactly what i was hoping for. but oh well.

sent out 8 poems today. 5 poems to 5AM (Spring Church, PA) and 3 poems to The Camel Saloon. hopefully i will get some good news back from them both.

kind of interested to see how Manchester United looks here in a little while against Barcelona. not that a friendly is a good marker of how they will do, but playing against that team is a significant step up in competition.

other than that, i'll catch some of the Olympics, got some dishes to do and i will see if the Yankees can somehow not find a way to lose their third straight to the fucking Tigers.

music today:

Social Distortion - Live At The Roxy
Warren Haynes - Live At Bonnaroo
Ministry - Sphinctour

"Everything has been figured out, except how to live." - Jean-Paul Sartre

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

what to do when the day starts with death

i must have been 9 or 10 years old at the time. i was playing with my best friend in the woods across from his house. we came across a trash bag that had a stench that was unbelievable. we went and got his father to open the bag. he did. inside was a dead dog. stuffed in the bag to die we all thought. that stench has stayed with me ever since.

fast forward to today. i go out to feed the cats. i open the side door to the barn most of them stay in. as soon as i opened the door i smelled that smell. i looked around and sure enough, there was my cat T.S. Eliot deader than dead. i last saw him 2 weeks ago and he was looking ragged but i thought nothing of it. he certainly wasn't the same after he lost his war with Neal Cassady over who was going to be the dominant male in the group. i shall raise a glass to you tonight my lost friend. hope you are in a better place, where ever the fuck that may be.

now for the cherry on top

i'm talking about 5 hours of mowing grass in 90 degrees with never being quite sure if i had mowed that part before or not. it was better the more weeds i saw. easier on my eyes. first time i have mowed since June. amazing how much dirt i was wearing at the end of the five hours. too fucking dry out here. chance of rain later in the week. not sure how many times i have been bullshitted by mother nature on that one this summer.

so tonight i plan on catching the rest of the Yankees game, a little Deadliest Catch (behind the scenes, i love that shit) and then Hard Knocks on HBO starts this evening. just about anything HBO Sports does is worth your time. and i'm hoping to avoid the sun shits and bad sleep this evening.

i'm hoping any betting people took my advice on the men's Olympic soccer. i said Brazil and Mexico would play in the final. and they are. don't ask me who wins, but if you like a future bet, that will be the final of the next World Cup as well. nothing like making a prediction a few years ahead of time.

music today:

only what was playing in my head while i was out mowing the grass/weeds. thank heavens i have listened to just about everything in the last 36 years. plenty to choose from.

"So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing." - T.S. Eliot


Monday, August 6, 2012

enjoying sports drama 101

if anyone happened to watch the USA vs. Canada in women's soccer earlier today you now understand why Manchester United's stadium is called The Theater of Dreams. what an amazing match. and seeing a late goal at the Stretford end of the stadium brings back some warm memories for sure. not long until Alex Morgan is the best female player in the world.

actually got some poetry work done today. opened up the files and picked out 8 poems that i will send out later this week. i would do it tomorrow but that day appears to be fully devoted to mowing the grass/weeds for the first time in over a month. fun fun fun.

also sent back my rough copy of Sofisticated White Trash so it won't be long now until that monster is on the streets. absolutely the best collection of my poems you will find anywhere. and each of my personal "holy shit i wrote that" poems are included. i will provide further details as they become available.

a little baseball, pro wrestling, maybe some Olympics and who knows what else is on tap for tonight. i will hopefully be resting my voice as i watch the USA men's basketball team play. ask anyone that knows me, when Alex Morgan scored that goal, the roar could probably be heard down the street. that's saying something when you live in the sticks.

music today:

Ana Tijoux - 1977
Outkast - southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik

"If a tie is like kissing your sister, losing is like kissing your grandmother with her teeth out." - George Brett


Sunday, August 5, 2012

a sleepless Sunday

after some shitty sleep, more on that later, woke up to watch Manchester United in Norway. a rare, entertaining 0-0 game. the other team's goalie made some spectacular saves. the team seems to be rounding into a good form. the season starts in less than 2 weeks.

was very nice to actually see the Yankees win a series for a change. a comfortable 6-2 win. decent pitching by Sweaty Freddy, better pitching by the bullpen, some timely hitting and a long homer from Ibanez. next up are the Tigers and Verlander. great.

watched a little bit of the Olympics today but not much. nothing really worth writing about.

my mind has been in a little of a fog since a phone call early this morning (like 2 a.m. early) from my brother from another mother about his newborn son. didn't really know what was up until this afternoon. looks like the kid will be ok (fingers crossed) as the doctors seem to believe they know what's going on. i suppose time will tell. and hopefully he decides 3 is enough.

some Sunday night tv is in order as i've got all the tedious shit i had to for my book sent off. and then, hopefully, sleep.

music today:

Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night

"Chaos is the score upon which reality is written." - Henry Miller

Saturday, August 4, 2012

reverse psychology

rained a bit overnight, thankfully. right now it's starting to thunder and sprinkle. tomorrow there is supposed to be more rain. i suppose i should have told fuck you to mother nature sooner (see my last post).

after a nice win last night, the Yankees got bitch smacked by King Felix today. 2 hits over 9 innings aren't going to amount to much when they don't leave the yard. 1-0 loss. Kuroda really only made 1 mistake. just not a good day for offense. oh well. hopefully the Red Sox overpay for Felix in the off season and he never pitches like this against the Yankees again.

watched a bit of Olympic soccer today. brutal match with Brazil and Honduras. and who would have thought Great Britain would lose on penalty kicks. must be part of the DNA by now. Mexico or Brazil will win it all i do believe.

also enjoyed a little tennis as well. always nice to see Serena win. always nice to see her period. didn't enjoy the USA men's volleyball team choking away a 2 set lead to lose in 5. and it was nice to see the men's basketball team actually struggle and LeBron come through again as everyone stood around and waited for him to do something. best player in the world right now. just wish he wouldn't have to be prodded to do everything all the time.

with most of my sports viewing done for the day, sans a little UFC this evening, i'll be busy going over the rough copy of my book. i need to come up with a bio. i've got the dedication and quotes all taken care of. i truly want to have "Sofisticated White Trash" just blow people away. kind of scary to think i wrote all 175 or so pages in that book over the years. quite the road my friends. hopefully many of you enjoy the ride.

music today:

Paul Thorn - What The Hell Is Goin' On?
Elvis Costello - The Best Of - The First 10 Years

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." - Alan Kay


Friday, August 3, 2012

have i mentioned it doesn't rain anymore...

yet another day in the 90's. another fucking heatwave right around the corner. i would love for it to rain. not for the crops, as they are well past being saved, but for the grass. i actually want to be mowing grass and not just weeds. and i'm not one of these assholes out here who continue to mow their lawns each week even though we haven't had a good rain in several months. fucking stupid.

the one thing i didn't think about in this drought until i read it in the paper, the marijuana crop is down this year as well. so, here's a big FUCK YOU to mother nature.

got the rough copy of my book "Sofisticated White Trash" in the mail today. my first full length collection and quite frankly, it's fucking spectacular. can't wait for when it's unleashed upon the world.

was a little shocked with Big Brother last night. not that the coaches were coming into the game, i knew that as soon as i saw who the coaches were, but the whole no evictions and reset of the game was a bit unexpected. i know, i spend way too much time thinking about this shit. it's one of the few guilty pleasures i allow myself.

speaking of last night, i don't know what i laughed at harder. Wilfred ejaculating on Ryan or strippers crying to a song from Night Ranger or a kid filling up a bathtub with diarrhea. i have to hand it to FX. i was in tears nearly the entire hour. fucking great.

Yankees are back in action tonight. hopefully a win streak is in the near future. i might squeeze in a bit of Olympic action tonight but i think most of the night will be devoted to taking the fine tooth comb to the rough copy of my book. a tad bit anal i am.

music today:

Gary Clark Jr. - The Bright Lights EP
Charles Bradley - No Time For Dreaming
Radiohead - The Bends
Jamey Johnson - That Lonesome Song

"Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist." - George Carlin


Thursday, August 2, 2012

the other side of happiness

the good news from Nerve Cowboy was totally unexpected. the thing is they normally only publish me every 7 years. this breaks that streak by about 5 1/2 years. a nice pat on the back for me. what sucks about the poem they chose to accept, "checked back into place", it's a poem about the muse. and seeing how the muse and i haven't spoke in almost a month and have no intention of ever speaking again, there's a bit of sadness that goes along with that poem now. though the poem itself is fucking funny as hell. just sayin'...

that being said, if anyone is interested in being the next muse, feel free to contact me. email, letters, smoke signals, your choice.

with the Yankees being off today, i decided to do a little shopping on amazon.com. needed to get my sister's birthday gift and of course a few things for myself. if everything arrives in a week, i'll be a happy boy.

speaking of my sister's birthday next month, i'm really looking forward to the music festival that falls on the same date. a ton of great acts and i'm actually going. should be a fucking blast. if anyone else is planning on going, let me know and maybe we'll meet up somewhere around downtown. for more info, check out http://www.downtownrevival.com/.

and while i'm plugging things, go check out The Sam Roberts Show Online at http://www.notsam.com/. i highly recommend episode #24. be sure to listen to the whole thing and hear my name mentioned near the end of the podcast. always kind of weird when someone a hell of a lot more famous than i think i am knows my name. i believe the podcast is also available at iTunes and Stitcher as well.

my usual Thursday night of television is on tap for this evening. i may sprinkle in a few moments of the Olympics as well. shaping up to be a good day for team USA. of course, i won't be choosing gymnastics over a talking dog and Louis C.K.

music today:

Father John Misty - Fear Fun
Of Monsters And Men - My Head Is An Animal
Sonic Youth - Washing Machine

"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home." - Twyla Tharp

response from Nerve Cowboy

i heard back today from Nerve Cowboy on my poetry submission from February. my poem "checked back into place" has been accepted for publication in issue #34. that should be out around December 2012.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

off to a good start

after a nice ass kicking last night from Baltimore, i wasn't hoping for much this afternoon from the Yankees. surprisingly, a nice 12-3 win was in order, with 11 of those runs coming in the first 3 innings. Joba returned as well. once he gets the rust off, maybe the bullpen will fall back in place. hopefully the bats will continue to be awake for a few weeks at least.

with the Yankees winning easily for a change, gave me a little time to nap and catch some Olympic soccer. anytime i can watch that racist fucker Luis Suarez and Uruguay lose i'm a happy man. and to listen to him cry like a bitch afterwards because the fans booed him every time he touched the ball makes it even better. it's called karma asshole.

hello to my friend in California. best of luck catching the mouse. patience grasshopper.

finally a little drama on Big Brother. here's hoping the live show is a knock down holy shit episode. i'm not holding my breath, but i can at least hope.

soon i will have a rough copy of my first full length poetry collection in my hands. "Sofisticated White Trash" is getting oh so closer to reality. i might even do some YouTube videos. what, J.J. reading? oh no!

if anyone is interested in doing a review of the book, contact me. i'm sure we can work something out.

music today:

Tom Waits - Blood Money
Guided By Voices - Earthquake Glue
Bulletboys - Bulletboys
Fiona Apple - Tidal

"Some writers take to drink, others take to audiences." - Gore Vidal