Sex and love.  Do they hafta go together?  Someone once warned me that a lotta people – mortals and nightkind alike – think the two go together.  Pourquoi?  I don’t see it.

Sex is fun, definitely friendly (though it doesn’t have to be), a satisfying way to blow off steam and one of the best ways to get to know someone.  Sex is all laissez les bons temps rouler.

But I’ve never tied sex to love or expected the person(s) I played with under the sheets to love me.  Hell, they don’t even hafta be my friend(s) if they don’t wanna.  Yeah, I’ll admit that if I feel something all warm and tender for my under-the-sheets partner, the sex is even hotter, but...

Sometimes sex is the farthest thing from love on this fucking planet.  And, I found out the hard way, for some sex IS love.

So...there’s my question:  Do sex and love hafta go together?  Oui ou non?

I'd love to read your comments and thoughts.  I’m here with my guitar, fingering frets and stroking chords, just waiting... ;)

"A little white lie doesn't hurt anyone.  Sometimes, it's better than a painful truth."  Or how about this popular tune: "People lie.  It's just human nature." 

I've heard those words or variations of them over and over.  And it's pure top of the charts bullshit.

A lie is a lie is a lie.  Hiding the truth is a kind of lie -- a lie of omission, and just as harmful.

Sure, I expect someone who doesn't like me or is fucking with me or whatever to lie to me.  That's all part of the you-suck routine.

But a friend?  No.  With people you like and trust, everything they say becomes a part of your foundation, a part of your reality.  Because you believe them.  And you build on it -- your friendship, your love, your every night life.

A lie is a termite in that foundation, devouring its integrity.  It doesn't matter why that termite's in there chomping happily away -- Oh, I didn't want to hurt you or I was worried you'd get jealous or I thought you wouldn't understand or even the classic, I had your best interests at heart -- the fact remains that the termite is in there.  And it ain't coming out on its own and it ain't coming out without doing damage.

I have a lot of trouble remembering things that happened the first fourteen years or so of my life, even things that I've done.  But I'm gonna find out and learn my own truth.  (Yeah, I could be wrong about the 'fourteen years or so', I suck at dates and time.)

So night by night, friend by friend, I'm building a foundation, a solid one I hope.  A foundation to live my life by.  And I'll never lie -- not to spare a friend's feelings, not to ease a lover's jealousy, and I'll never believe a lie is in anyone's best interest.  Not even the teller's.

I expect the same -- no lies.  No matter how painful it is, no matter how ugly, if I ask, give me the truth.  The truth will never come between us, but a lie will.

I believe deep down, we all crave the truth -- mortals and nightkind.  I think sometimes we're scared to ask for it.  But we gotta, if we're ever going to move ahead.

Bonne nuit, mes amis.

Just what is it with people not saying what they mean?  I don't get this beating around the bush bullshit.  Just say it.  Whatever it is.  No hinting.  No so-called subtle verbal manipulation.  Everyone seems to do it, mortals, even (from my own experience, anyway) the Fallen.  But nightkind are the fucking worst.

Guy Mauvais believes himself the vampire Prince of New Orleans.  Whatever.  He's welcome to it.  But for some reason, he thinks I should drop in at his riverboat casino, The Winter Rose, and kiss his ass and then thank him for the privilege.  Yeah.  Good luck with that.  Ain't happening.

But does he say that's what he wants?  Hell, no.  That's too simple.  Too direct.  He'd rather send his nightkind flunkies to Club Hell in their high-priced suits and gowns to deliver orders with arched eyebrows and dramatic tones like they're prancing WWE stars flexing well-oiled muscles in the ring, each trying to out badass the other.    Man, where's the remote?  Don't wanna watch this shit.  Again.

Why the hell can't nightkind just come out and say what they want?  Instead, they create verbal hedge-mazes with their words and then expect you to skip in after the hidden treasure at the center while they watch with glee as you stumble around lost.  Fuck that.  I'd rather just torch the maze, then sift the ashes for anything worthwhile.  Odds are I wouldn't find a goddamned thing.

Yeah, I'm nightkind.  No, I don't play games, verbal or otherwise.  Whatcha see is what you get.   I don't mind getting down and dirty, so if you wanna step outside and go a few rounds, ain't got a problem with that.  At least it's honest.  The rage.  The clenched hands.  The blood.  Nothing but truth in fury.

All you hafta do to win a signed copy of the book or a gift certificate to Amazon.com or a box of yummy chocolates is go here

Three winners, and the contest ends on January 1, 2008.  I'd sign up cuz I really dig reading, but Adrian won't let me, dammit.  Says I'm in the freaking book and blah, blah, blah.

So check it out.  Have fun.  More later, mes amis.

Music is undergoing a revolution -- but I ain't telling you nothing new, right?  But the labels are clinging to the past, digging fingernails into a bloated corpse that needed burying a long fucking time ago. 

Check this link for info on forward-thinking artists, music-wielding revolutionaries: Trent Reznor  .  And here's some words from Trent Reznor's blog on the official NIN fanclub, The Spiral:

"...the music business has imploded and nobody knows what to do. As an artist finally free from any obligations to a record company, I can do pretty much anything I want to - but what should that be?

"How do you (in this order):

"A. Be sure to place and keep yourself in a nurturing, creative space that inspires your art

"B. Then determine how to present that to your audience in an appropriate fashion that's respectful to both you the artist AND them.

"C. Ideally do that in a way where it makes financial sense.

"I highly doubt whether the strategy Saul and I chose to release his new record will be a viable business model for the road ahead. We didn't do this as a "get rich quick" scheme. We did it because it felt (and feels) like the best way to get the most people to have the opportunity to hear what we consider to be an important record. It feels like the best approach as of October 2007 with the current set of circumstances in the "marketplace" (I hate that fucking word.) We did it because it kept the art PURE and it involved NO compromises regarding the content or the way it was presented to you. No iPod commercials, no ringtone giveaways, no billboards, no Best Buy exclusive content... and one could argue no exposure.

"That's the problem. How do you get the word out to as many people as possible and maintain your integrity in the process?

"We assumed that by releasing the record this way it would generate some press interest, and it has. We hope that people will be curious enough to download and listen to the record, and yes - we hope people will choose to pay for it.

"I have to say I've been amazed at some lengthy conversations I've seen on fan BBs regarding the decision to pay or not. People who are interested enough to register and frequent boards dedicated to an artist's work really having to weigh out whether or not it's worth $5 for an hour of new music. Has music really and truly been devalued that much? $80 is a decision, $5 is not.

"All of that aside, our secret weapon is the record itself. It is what it is and that's what people will be talking about long after the story of the business around it fades away." -- Trent Reznor

D'accord.  So what can you do to help?  So good of you to ask!  Support the artists who are blazing a path into the future, a future of music available via online downloads and direct from the artist.

Share and burn, spread the noise.  Slide your hard-earned money into the artist's hand.  Sick of hearing unoriginal shit?  Bored by irrelevant shit?  Go to Niggy Tardust and check out Saul Williams's newest, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust  and download it for free or pay $5 to support Saul's work and get a higher-quality download.  Niggy Tardust is a brilliant work, a one-two punch to the guy and the heart, and you'll keep it on repeat.  Trust me.  I never lie.

And that's what Club Hell is all about -- showcasing new and innovative artists, little-known musicians who deserve a larger audience, artists whose work will change your fucking world, or even just add something a little extra to your fucking. 

Whatever you're listening to, I hope it sets you on fire.  Burns.  Illuminates your mind.  Makes you dance.  

If you're ever in N'awlins, stop by Club Hell and listen to some of the most talented, innovative, hungry musicians on the planet -- listen to some soul-shredding riffs and break your heart lyrics.

As for me, I'm knocking back some absinthe and feeling up my guitar.   See ya.  Bonne nuit.