New Review for ‘The Art of Getting Bent’

We’re happy to report a recent review for The Art of Getting Bent by M. Sahm, that was published this past Sunday at the pop-culture megasite Blogcritics.org.

Read all about it here, and be sure that no matter what— promise me— you keep reading the review past the first paragraph.

Magic Junk Radio 1: A Creative Crossover

Among the creative people of the world, there are many who dare to crossover. Those who try their hands at genres within the arts that they were not instructed on, or gained their fame in. Just think of actors like J.Lo or William Shatner who have made music albums, while inversely musicians such as LL Cool J or Roger Daltrey have appeared in movies. When celebrities do a crossover, it’s essentially a crapshoot in terms of marketing. While the general public knows the name of the performer immediately, it is difficult to accept a celebrity doing something different.

For those of us fortunate enough to be devoid of fame, we can try any and everything we want within the creative hemispheres, and suffer all the same. How gratifying! Nevertheless, the creative area that I have no formal training or experience is music. I love hearing music, and am constantly surrounded by it no matter what I am doing. But when it comes to actually composing or playing the music, I have mostly avoided it for lack of natural talent and coordination. My encounters with playing are limited to three months of saxophone lessons in fourth grade, and a brief stint of singing terribly in a tenth grade rock band, to which I got kicked out of at the end of the summer. Of course, I know wholeheartedly that I did not apply myself in either case. But redemption was always waiting for me.

By admitting that I am a writer and artist first, that puts a big scarlet C for crossover on my chest when it comes to me producing a podcast of semi-melodic tracks. But brand me all you want— producing compositions of words and sounds was as fun as new Christmas toys. For all of the tweaking and timing issues and triple takes that it took to make it happen, I highly recommend it to any creative soul looking for something fun and challenging to do.

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Magic Junk Radio 1 is a creative fusion of spoken word, samples, sounds, and beats. I didn’t play any instruments, but you’re welcome to pretend I did. MJR 1 has no aspirations other than amusement and an occasional foot tap. At 17 and a half minutes, it’s a fast food podcast. But I’m perfectly content with that. Clog your arteries and enjoy.

INSTRUCTIONS: Right-click this link to download the full podcast in MP3 format, which will play in any iPod or MP3 music player. Left click and the MP3 will begin playing in a new web browser window (unless you haven’t updated in a while.)

To download the tracks individually, click any of the links below.
Content of Tables
Intro Music – 0:51
Welcome – 1:18
Identifying the Train People – 4:53
Interlude 1 – 1:12
Serico’s Wake Up Call (from The Art of Getting Bent) – 2:02
Not Going Gently – 1:51
Interlude 2 – 1:14
Magically Delicious – 1:40
Mushroom Cloud – 1:52
Farewell – 0:37

Magic Junk Radio RSS

Only You Can Prevent Novel Fires

Don’t be afraid to help. In fact, be a person that Smokey the Bear’s literature loving cousin Scripty would give a merit badge to.

Help stop The Art of Getting Bent, a novel by M. Sahm, from burning in the fiery doldrums of Amazon.com obscurity. Currently, as of August 26, Amazon is ranking TAGB at #248,909 in Books… but this is simply cruel of them. Help show the online industry giant that there is still hope left in the literary dreams of a small publishing house and a first time novelist. Your support is invaluable to us.

Remember, only you can prevent novel fires. Or the acidic dusts and airborne chemicals of time. Only you can keep the Unsung Fu warehouse storage facility from being used to house someone’s old furniture. Nobody wants that. Because old couches are smelly.

This message has been brought to you by the Foundation for Shameless Self-Promotion. We appreciate your gracious acceptance for our self-depreciating humor. Thank you.

Toqueme Cards Have Arrived

The folks at Magic Junk extend a warm welcome to S. Rodriguez and her launch of Toqueme Cards, a creative venture into custom greetings. One of Toqueme’s primary goals is to create customizable greetings that transcend the typical piece of cardstock with a center fold.

The first series of Toqueme Cards is the Majestic Wish, a beautifully hand-made card that has the look and feel of a regal invitation or classic love letter. A semi-gloss metallic cover stock card wrapped in velvet paper that can make your “majestic wish” come true.

Why give your friend or loved one an average card when you could give them a Toqueme Card? Check it out by clicking the Cards tab above. Thanks!

Thank The Maker

At last, we’re back on the blogosphere, with a newfound sense of administration.

As it turns out, Blogger was not the mecca of blogdom that it was made out to be. Sure, just about anybody with half a sense of the web can use it. But their customer support is not too great when it comes to anyone who hosts their blog via FTP, instead of on Blogspot.com.

I tried for over a month to work out the broken pipe issue with Blogger, but I have given up. Today, I created a new blog using WordPress. I have to say, while you have to have a host and setting it up took some know how, I finally have a version of Blogimus Prime that is close to how I originally envisioned. Which rocks.

It can only get better from here. Adios Blogger. Thanks WordPress, and welcome.

Acryliture: Deluxe Has Arrived

Magic Junk is happy to announce the arrival of our newest product…

As the big brother to the Bite-Size, Acryliture: Deluxe expands on the concept of housing alternative literature inside a hand painted canvas cover. Composed from a wide range of fine art paper (including silver linen, blue vellum, and khaki cover stock), each Acryliture: Deluxe contains color photos, a centerfold drawing, and saddle-stitch binding. The current content is:

Volume 1: Fill Me In: I Am An American Blank

Every piece was designed, printed, and hand assembled by the artists Rodriguez and Sahm. Created in a limited edition group of 12, each sample comes in a silver static-free bag. This offer is exclusively sold on Magic Junk. Get yours while supplies last.

Check it out here.

A Disastrous Three Weeks for Blogging

I might consider it a sign from a higher power that I was unable to blog for the past three weeks. But of course, that all depends on if such a power is restricted to blogging or if it applies to other things. But let’s not get ridiculous now.

Starting around May 23rd, none of my Blogger posts would upload to my server’s FTP. No matter what I did or changed in the specs, the same result occurred (Error: Broken pipe.) There was a conflict between the blog protocol and the server protocol. So as I made an attempt to attack why this was happening…

On the evening of May 25th, after the finales of Lost and Alias, I was greeted to some rather potent food poisoning, which beyond keeping me in and out of the bathroom all night long, caused me to miss 2 days of work, and disabled me for the greater part of the next 4 days.

Being a New Yorker, I have come to expect such things while eating in the city… but alas, it is of no surprise that I usually try to avoid anything that looks suspicious from a street vendor or a bodega. Really, it’s just common sense.

However, I guess my Chicken Tendercrisp sandwich and large fries from Burger King did not look guilty of harboring any deadly poison, since I ate them for lunch that day. But it’s the only reasonable explanation I have for why I got sidelined.

The following week, the protocol conflict went on, so I continued the blogging absence. Then on June 1, I took a three day business excursion to Tampa. Which leads me to here… trying to explain why I have been long gone from this endeavor I began only a few months ago.

Alas, it was inevitable to have such an absence. I have noticed even if the best of bloggers have a lapse in their religious adherence to their writing or reviewing. But if you can get back into it as soon as you can, then it’s all good. Which I’m doing. So away I go.

World Wide Magic Junk

You have to enjoy the vast places that your website can reach, even if it’s on a small scale like Magic Junk.

Even if 1424 of MJ’s unique visitor hits over the past 3 months are from the United States, the web stats show that there were hits from over 17 different countries that have been to Magic Junk. That list includes (in order of visitor percentage): Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Taiwan, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Spain, France, Nigeria, Italy, Sweden, Brazil, Senegal, Hungary, and Denmark.

I’m sure a few of them are foreign search engines, but it’s nice to know that your words and images are reaching out globally. Even if my present words do not cause social reform or offer a definitive plan of self-help, there’s still a certain beauty in the technology of it all.

But I’m just waxing on this. I’d like to hope one day, the site can make much more impact around the world. Only time will tell.

Magic Junk You Can Wear

The Unsung Fu warehouse has been filling up with new products over the past 3 months and our newest additions are t-shirts. We have 2 totally original designs: the White Knight and the Desert Poet.

Check them out here.

Nothing Like Some Positive Ink!

Good news came on Saturday, as we learned of a recent review for Mark Sahm’s The Art of Getting Bent courtesy of Writer’s Digest. We posted the WD review on the TAGB homepage, as well as a testimonial from an independent reviewer who had purchased TAGB. Check them out here.

Anyone else out there who has purchased The Art of Getting Bent and would like to heave some humble praise for it, please drop us a line at: sales@magicjunk.com

Additionally, if the web team at Unsung Fu Publishers hasn’t been busy enough, 4 more paintings by Mr. Sahm have been posted on Magic Junk. Check the new paint out here. Peace.

The 1st Drops of Paint on Magic Junk

You’d have thought we were running on Quark Xpress upgrade time, since it took us so long. But at last, there are some painting samples online at Magic Junk.

http://www.magicjunk.com/paintings.htm

It’s just the beginning of course. The rest of the paint portfolio will go up as soon as we have the chance to photograph them and build the subsequent webpages. But now that the weather is getting nicer, we can venture into the Unsung Fu Warehouse without having to jump up and down every 2 minutes to stay warm.

And as if things couldn’t be more productive, Magic Junk t-shirts and Acryliture: Deluxe are both moving along nicely in production, and should be launching in the next few weeks. Be sure to check back.

Until then, remember to keep your brain sharp by getting into lots of highly intellectual arguments with your significant other over cleaning dishes, dirty laundry, and leaving the toilet seat in a set position. Peace.

In The Company of Lobsters

Okay, so maybe it’s a stereotype that Maine is the lobster capital of the States… but nevertheless, good news came to us late yesterday.

The first batch of Acryliture: Bite Size has been sent to an alternative arts venue in Maine for use in their Art-O-Mat machine. Now, you’d know this is a most stellar deal if you saw the machine. Check it out here. “Ready to blast off into space… Space Monkey!” *smack noise* (That’s a Fight Club reference for any confused souls out there.)

Anyway, we’re also happy that major production has begun for a limited run of 12 on Acryliture:Deluxe and should be launching any day now… depending of course, if we can resist the song of the After-Work-Lull Sirens.

Book Signing – April 10th

Put a big red circle on your calendars (or green if that makes you
feel better)… as the ever humble Mark Sahm will officially be doing
a book signing for his debut novel, The Art of Getting Bent, in his
hometown of Glassboro, NJ. The details are as follows:

When: Sunday, April 10, 2005, from 2-4pm

Where: Evergreen Book Store, 9 East High Street, Glassboro, NJ 08028

As a favor to the author, please forward this blog to any current or
former Glassborians and/or South Jerseyans who you think would be
interested (or, at the least, find this news amusing). Thanks!