IN 1991, A BAND FROM MADISON, WISCONSIN CALLED LAST CRACK RELEASED THEIR SECOND ALBUM, BURNING TIME-- AN AMAZING COLLECTION OF SONGS THAT SPANNED THE THEN-DIVIDED GENRES OF METAL AND ALTERNATIVE. THEIR SOUND WAS YEARS AHEAD OF ITS TIME, BUT THAT DID NOT STOP CRITICS AND FANS ALIKE FROM DISCOVERING AN AMAZING BAND THAT WAS POISED TO WAKE UP THE WORLD. AS THE MOMENTUM BEGAN TO BUILD, THE BAND FELL APART. FAST-FORWARD TO A REUNION SHOW AND BURNING FUNKHOUSE LIVE, THEIR NEW ALBUM OUT THIS MONTH, AND THE BAND IS BACK TOGETHER TO FINISH WHAT THEY STARTED SO LONG AGO.

WHEN I FIRST ANNOUNCED I WAS INTERVIEWING WRITER PAUL DINI, ONE OF OUR READERS POSTED THIS ON OUR POSTBOARD: \"I CAN\'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS ARE INTERVIEWING HIM! THE MAN\'S A GOD!!! A LITERAL GOD!!! I MEAN, HE MADE BATMAN COOL AGAIN, HE CREATED ONE OF THE MOST ENDEARING CHARACTERS EVER IN HARLEY QUINN, AND NOW HE\'S WRITING FOR ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS ON TELEVISION, LOST!!!\" THAT PRETTY MUCH SUMS IT UP, HUH?

NEAL POLLACK IS THE LEAD CHARACTER IN THE NEW NOVEL NEVER MIND THE POLLACKS. NEAL POLLACK IS ALSO THE AUSTIN, TEXAS-BASED AUTHOR THAT CREATED BOTH THE AFOREMENTIONED CHARACTER AND BOOK. BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, NEAL POLLACK THE CHARACTER AND NEAL POLLACK THE AUTHOR ARE TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE. CONFUSED? WE FIGURED YOU MIGHT BE, SO READ THIS INTERVIEW WAYNE CHINSANG DID WITH NEAL TO HAVE ALL YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED. WELL, MAYBE NOT ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS. BUT DEFINITELY YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT NEAL POLLACK.

Tsunami Bomb is a mixture of popular types of rock music today. Not that I mean that as a bad thing in Tsunami Bomb\'s case.
The band is inspired by punk rock, hardcore, pop, and even gothic. Their vocals are one of their strengths, with pretty girlie singing accented with screaming male vocals to top it off. The Definitive Act is very catchy and easy to like. I guarantee you will be singing along even within a few listens.

I’m writing this from a 30-minute terminal in the Juneau Public Library, seated between a mouth-breather with an alarming affinity for sunflower seeds and a woman carrying a large gastropod of flesh across her lower body.

London trio Dirty Vegas hit the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles like the mothership last week as they opened for the legendary Eighties band Tears For Fears. They hit the stage with a tremendously strong sound, and everything felt almost space-age.
Singer Steve Smith lead the band in an enthusiastic performance as he jumped around, singing songs that had the essence of a Beatles/U2 hybrid. An ambience of house rhythms, spacey trickster electronics, and mellow dance grooves turned the Universal Amphitheater into one giant house party.

NEITHER OF THESE GENTLEMEN ARE DIRECTOR HUNTER ROBERTS. ON THE LEFT IS ANDY PARKS, PORTRAYING OFFICER BYRON RANDAL. ON THE RIGHT? NIKITAS MENOTIADES, AS CULT FAVORITE DETECTIVE BLACK. BOTH ARE PIVOTAL CHARACTERS IN PLAYHOUSE, OUR INTERVIEW SUBJECT\'S LATEST FILM, WHICH JUST GOT PICKED UP FOR INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION. VINNIE BAGGADONUTS SPENT AN HALF-HOUR CHATTING WITH THE MAN WHO MADE THIS CREATIVE MARK FROM BEHIND THE SAFETY OF A CAMERA LENS, ABOUT EVERYTHING FROM FILM FESTIVALS AND LIVING THE DREAM, TO THE UNDENIABLE CHARM OF THE \"YINZER\" ACCENT.