I wrote this for the Holiday Recording Party, which Meg Reichardt organizes every year in Brooklyn.  You can hear it over here; joining me are Doug Roesch on guitar and Ralph Hamperian on tuba.

Poor little Jim and May!  I hope your holidays are better than theirs.

Another round for the holidays.

Aleister Crowley used to great carolers by flinging open the door and roaring, “To the lions with them!” This charming holiday tradition inspired the following round.

Although I had sometimes suspected this was true, it was gratifying to see it in print.  Linette Lao and Mark Maynard visited Italy in 2003, and wrote some travel notes for the 14th issue of their magazine, Crimewave USA.  I had given them some useful advice, which, fortunately, they finally remembered.

There will be a reading and book launch, from and for Captain Cap: His Adventures, His Ideas, His Drinks, by Alphonse Allais: now translated, annotated, and illustrated by Doug Skinner, and published by Black Scat Books.

Allais’s proto-pataphysical antihero, the inventor and explorer Captain Cap, expounds on such subjects as the kangacycle, the antifilter, and the smell-buoy, as he rages against European bureaucracy and drinks an alarming number of cocktails.  This first English translation includes all of Allais’s 1902 edition, plus eight extra stories, notes, historical photos, over 50 illustrations by the hard-working translator — and, of course, recipes for Cap’s favorite drinks.

The reading will take place on Saturday, November 23, at 5 pm, at the Jalopy Theater, 315 Columbia St., in Brooklyn.  Books will be available for purchase.  The inimitable Feral Foster will be on hand to dispense complimentary Cap drinks.  For directions to Jalopy, look here; for Black Scat Books, look here.

RECAP:  Photos of the event, taken by Farewell Debut, can be found here.  Thanks to everyone who attended!  And thanks to Feral Foster, for bringing the American Lemonade, the drink Cap enjoys in Chapter 40, to today’s palates.

FURTHER ADDENDUM:  There is a charming review of the book, over at the blog Wuthering Expectations.

In 1996, between engagements, I landed a gig with Latrobe beer, researching beer trivia for use on coasters. The project was coordinated by Jordan Bochanis; the artwork was by veteran Topps illustrator John Pound; and I forget who wrote the final copy. I was paid well, and learned many interesting things about beer. There were ten coasters; here are a couple of them.

A flipbook study for a phenakistascope.