 Here at Sacred Chickens Blog, we have, strangely, come into a small amount of money. Let’s not discuss how it happened or what we had to do to get it. Water under the bridge. Being the generous souls that we are, we’ve been wondering how to share it with you. After much discussion and, truth be told, a momentary bout of fisticuffs, we have come to the conclusion that we should have a contest with actual cash prizes. We had some other prizes in mind, but our legal team advised against all of them. Submitted works should be unnerving, unsettling, questioning the status quo. Other than that, feel free to exercise your creativity in whatever capacity you see fit. There are a few things you should know. First of all, there is no entry fee. We understand that writing is not always as ...remunerative...as one might like. So as not to cut into your beer, ice cream, or therapy funds, we're going to cut you a break on that. The prizes will be $500 for first prize, $200 for second, and $100 for third. Julie, Jarad, and Morty will not be judging this contest. Friend of the chickens and award winning writer, Jeff Weddle, author of Bohemian New Orleans, and When Giraffes Flew, will make the final calls. In fact, you will be submitting your stories to a third party, who will then submit them blind to Jeff. We will publish our winners but we never hold onto any copyrights. Those are yours. If cash prizes interest you, you can follow the link below. If cash prizes don't interest you, what the heck is wrong with you? Win it and give it away to charity if you like. The Contest Rules can be found here. If you have any questions about the contest in general, you may email [email protected]. If you have a question about your particular entry and where it is in the pipeline, you should contact Paul at [email protected]
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 Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 By Ryan Walsh Penguin Press Released March 6, 2018 Review by Roy Peak When I was quite a bit younger and living in my first apartment I had a Sunday morning ritual. I would clean house while listening to two albums: Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding and Van Morrison's Astral Weeks. This went on for a number of years, eventually shifting to Monday when that became my one regular day off. For some reason, in my mind, these two albums complemented one another. They were both completed within a year of each other—one by one of America's most important songwriters, the other by Ireland's latest in a long line of poet-mystics. Both of these albums had a similar sound to them. A trifle flat-sounding, not much in the way of studio trickery in either of these, which is interesting since they both came from an era where many bands were going nuts with multi-tracking and psychedelic ambience. Both of these albums were rather sparse in instrumentation, yet full of meaning and potence. Lots of words backed by mostly acoustic instruments. These songs weren't country, nor actual folk music, but still very rock 'n' roll in their approach—albeit a severely mutated and on the loose version of rock 'n' roll, which seemed to almost come from an alternate universe where Elvis, the Beatles, and electric guitars didn't exist. Also interesting is the fact that both of these albums were crafted after their respective artists had gone through great turmoil. Dylan was recovering from a serious motorcycle accident, while Morrison was trying to restart his career after getting out from under a heinous recording contract with mob ties which had left him broke and stuck in the states. He was living in Boston for a short time before he recorded Astral Weeks, writing the songs and working with the varied musicians who would influence the sound on that album. This is where writer and musician Ryan Walsh—a most definite Astral Weeks fan—decided to use that information as a jumping off point for a book that is chock full of intriguing anecdotes about the Boston music scene in the late 1960s. Astral Weeks: A Secret History of 1968 references and ties together such amazing stories such as the discovery of LSD, the filming of The Thomas Crown Affair, the Velvet Underground's residency at the Boston Tea Party concert hall, Mel Lyman and his cult of acid-crazed non-hippies, a television show which was decades ahead of its time, and Walsh's own search for the lost tapes of Morrison and his band as they worked out the intricacies of the songs that would make up Astral Weeks as well as several of Morrison's later albums. Walsh has done his homework here as every account is well researched and he interviewed everyone who would talk to him about events that occurred fifty years ago, including such Boston luminaries as Jonathan Richman, Peter Wolf, David Silver, Morrison's former girlfriend—Janet Planet, Morrison's former Boston-based band members, and even one of the mobsters who was holding Morrison's contract hostage—who explains to Walsh that the real reason Morrison left New York to hide out in Boston was "because I broke his guitar on his head." We get unbelievable and obscure details in this book: Did you know that Chevy Chase played in prog-rock bands in Boston before becoming a comedian? Or that the city of Boston televised a James Brown concert in the hope it would stave off any potential riots the day after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr? What about the fact that a sixteen-year-old Jonathan Richman hung out with Lou Reed so much that he began to talk just like him, which apparently irritated Reed to no end. We get interesting tid-bits about the mystical side of Boston: spiritual photography, the popularity of planchettes. Is it a mere coincidence that both Van Morrison and Jonathan Richman wrote songs with the word "astral" in the title, or was there a spiritual reason, involving the town of Boston which inspired them both? This is a hard to put down tome of information from first-time author Walsh, full of dizzying stories and wild anecdotes, which never fails to intrigue. Part detective story, part celebration of all things Bostonian, part wild ride through a wild time in America's history. Walsh, when you're done with the book tour for this one, do me a favor and start working on 1967: A Secret History of Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding. If there's a story there, you can find it, and I'm dying to read it. 03-23-2018 Roy Peak .  Roy Peak has played electric bass in more bands than he cares to remember for more years than he can remember. He wrote the theme song for the Utica, New York radio show "Hey You Kids, Get Off My Lawn" on WPNR-FM. His solo debut album, All Is Well, has been called "Loud, cacophonous, and beautiful by a truly unique artist." His short fiction has been published in The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and he writes music reviews for the King Tut Vintage Album Museum of Jacksonville. I've been reviewing books for some time now, and these are the ones that have stood out the most to me. 1. Strange the Dreamer- Laini Taylor A beautifully written novel, and a wonderfully mythological epic that's completely immersive. Fantasy and escapism at it's best. 2. The Other Typist- Suzanne Rindell Another wonderful novel that takes place during the roaring twenties, features jazz music and speakeasies, but has dark and obsessive undertone. 3. Conspirata- Robert Harris ' A thrilling historical novel set in Ancient Rome, centering around the life of the legendary Marcus Cicero. 4. The Natural Way of Things- Charlotte Wood. A gripping feminist horror novel that asks us to examine how we treat sex scandals. 5. Words on Bathroom Walls- Julia Watson A heartfelt novel detailing the life of a teenager battling schizophrenia in Catholic School. 6. The Captive Prince Trilogy- C.S Pacat A thrilling fantasy epic and love story between two princes of opposing nations, a series rife with political intrigue. 
Jarad attends Middle Tennessee State University, loves tea, and tries to spend every spare second reading. Jarad is majoring in English. Bless his heart! Let's all light a candle for him and send him happy thoughts!  Here's what the chickens are reading. Julie, Jarad, and Morty have all run across some items that made them think, or laugh, or cry and they'd like to share them with you so that your brain can have all the same sort of exercise. This week, Jarad's picks illustrate people who are trying hard to tell their stories to the world, to push against the boundaries of their reality where they can. Julie and Morty's choices can be read as cautionary tales. Be careful what kind of stories you tell yourself. You can end up places you never wanted to go. Jarad's Selections: Claribel Alegria, Central American Poet, Dies I hope you go beyond the article and read the poetry! Jarad The Publishing Company That's Only Publishing Female Authors in 2018 Resistance is the Best Way of Keeping Alive Morty's Selection: Why are White Men Stockpiling Guns? Let's just say the Stories you tell yourself make all the difference in the world, Morty Julie's Selections: The Last Temptation This is very long, but worth it, Julie Left Behind Index (the whole thing) Funny and insightful. A review from The Slacktivist of The Left Behind Series or "Pre-Trib Porno" as Fred Clark calls it.  This beautifully written book is easily my favorite of the year. It is epic in scope, and all-encompassing. This modern-day fairy tale recounts the journey of Lazlo Strange, an orphan who was raised by monks, and then became a junior librarian. His quest centers around a mythological city, one that has been his obsession since he was a child. But the entire story begins with a girl with blue skin falling from the sky. And if that doesn’t entice you, nothing will.
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