Believe it or not, I am not the first writer in my family. Granted, I don’t come from literary stock. The kids in my generation were the first family members to actually make it to college. And even my own writing history is less than traditional — no MFA, no creative writing classes, not even a single writing workshop. I just had a crack at it as they say.
But I was not the first…
In 1975, Mario J. Della Torre, Sr., a cousin of mine who in that strange Italian twist was the same age as my parents, published his magnum opus, With A Ferry Boat They Robbed The Bank — Italian Style. Two years in the making, this comic crime-caper told the story of Meme, Co-co, Pepe, and Senor Dadone, a pack of feisty Italian immigrants who want to stick it to the man by robbing a bank in New Jersey. They make their getaway in… you guessed it, a Ferry Boat on the Hudson River. Not just a crime novel, there are endless inside nods to the Italian-American community. And comedy, New Jersey Italian style:
Just then, something happened which you would never expect at a Bank robbery. Co-Co had developed severe gas pains. He had to go to the toilet.
Continue reading
Good friend Karen Lillis was recently featured twice on 
You know the art world is in trouble when the two things that attracted the most attention at the Armory Show yesterday were a nude woman who had painted her body and a mechanized talking raven on a tree limb. I actually saw people standing beneath the latter with their mouths agape (I kept hoping the raven would start dropping worms at them), as if they had never seen an automaton before. Walt Disney was smirking somewhere, “You see! Genius!” 
High on Fire Snakes — Snakes for the Divine: Matt Pike and is cohorts never cease to amaze me. Each album gets better and better. Who thought they could top Death is the Communion which had so many strong songs and was also one of the first albums in a long while that brought back the idea of an album – a flow to the track list rather than a loose collection of songs. Somehow they did it. Snakes for the Divine is a better album than its predecessor. There’s a vicious attack to the songs and they’re actually heavier than the tracks on the last record. Yes, heavier. You can’t help but listen in awe of these guys.
Eric Dolphy — Out to Lunch: I’ll give credit for this discovery to Henry Rollins who played the title track from this album on a 
Charles Mingus — The Great Concert of Charles Mingus: Continuing Eric Dolphy appreciation week, here comes another stellar example of his greatness. Another great vinyl find via eBay and sadly also one of the last recordings by Dolphy. This is considered one of the great jazz concerts (or series of concerts as there are tracks from multiple nights) and the tour that cemented Mingus’ reputation in France. For most of the tracks, the group plays as a quintet since trumpeter Johnny Coles collapsed from a stomach ulcer two nights previous. What’s not to like on this one? The almost thirty-minute version of “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat,” the fantastic tribute to Charlie Parker known as “Parkeriana” (where Mingus and the group stand the compositions on their head), and Dolphy’s great performance on “Orange Was the Color of Her Dress.”
The Obsessed — The Church Within: This was the album that broke The Obsessed. It was their first on a major label and their last as a band. Regardless, it’s a stellar album and I still think one of the most underrated heavy albums of all time. Some of Wino’s best compositions are on here including “Protect and Serve,” “Streetside,” and the stellar “Neatz Brigade.” As always, the man’s guitar tone was better than the rest of the planet’s and Guy Pinhas and Greg Rogers provide the perfect rhythm section. Hard to find, but worth the effort.
From 
In an extended essay in the New York Times, 