Frank Gutch Jr: My Six Degrees— Brushes With Greatness and Life, Featuring Brian Cullman and a Cast of Thousands… Plus Notes

I received an email this morning from Brian Cullman.  He claims he is writing a book.  For the past number of years— in fact since I “met” him in May of 2011— I have been pushing him to write a book.  My exact words over the years have been, “Brian, you should write a book,” to which he inevitably would reply, “I’ve thought about it but I don’t think there is enough there” or something to that effect.  I prodded him again this morning and, lo and behold, he said he is doing it.  Or going to do it.  Or is thinking about maybe doing it.  You can never tell what the guy is thinking.  Sometimes I think he thinks too much.

Frank Gutch Jr: Earlier, On Planet Normanium (Part One)— Research Turtles Redux and Baseball As We Never Knew It; Plus N-n-n-notes!

Some things just will not let go.  Seven years ago I discovered the Research Turtles.  For the last two, I had hoped for a reunion.  I now know it will not happen.  Even if they got back together, they would be a different band.  They have grown as individuals and probably matured musically beyond that band and could never capture what they once had, but for five years I envisioned success and that period gave me hope in a world pretty much without hope, the music business morphing into something beyond my recognition, the Eks and the Westergrens of the world using what I consider stolen music to build huge bank accounts for themselves and others off of the labor of musicians.  That Research Turtles do not today exist is not surprising, for who would want to hand their creations to someone else for a pittance while they made millions.