'Random Obsessions' author to discuss book in Merced

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Wednesday, November 04, 2009

My Devilish Poem on Day of the Dead
Category: Writing and Poetry

I performed the poem "The Devil and His Goblins" while my sons Jordan and Landen accompanied on percussion. Here's the poem and some other tidbits from Dia de los Muertos in Bakersfield, California:

3:28 PM

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Saturday, September 19, 2009

Cannibalism in Merced

I'll be at Barnes & Noble at Merced at noon today talking cannibalism.... My kid Landen Belardes will be performing. My reading is from my book of oddities, Random Obsessions... -nick

4:20 PM

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Sandrini's tonight, get a copy of my book
Category: Writing and Poetry

If you're at Sandrini's tonight in downtown Bakersfield, stop in for some trivia. While there you can get a copy of my book for $16. I'll write some cheesy poetry inside the front cover upon request. Fun starts at 10 p.m. - Nick

1:57 AM

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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Merced Sun-Star Article Promotes Sept. 19 B&N Appearance
Category: News and Politics

'Random Obsessions' author to discuss book in Merced

By ELIZABETH MCMUNN-TETANGCO - Sun-Star Correspondent

Did you know that someone holds a patent for a canine convenience colostomy bag? Or that Thomas Jefferson’s grandson may have been an ax murderer? Bakersfield author Nick Belardes, who will speak about his book, “Random Obsessions: Trivia You Can’t Live Without” at noon at Barnes & Noble in Merced on Sept. 19, holds onto information the way other people hold onto their valuables on a roller coaster.

“Random Obsessions” is organized simply into nine chapters that cover such divergent oddities as historical facts, strange illnesses and offbeat authors and artists. Contained within are short stories (many only one or two paragraphs long) that illuminate various ways in which the world is a strange, beautiful, funny and heartbreaking place. It is not a book of lists, although some lists are included, and it is not a book that is easily forgotten.

Though the book spans the world and beyond, Belardes identifies strongly with the often disparate culture of the Central Valley.

Author Nick Belardes, shown here in a submitted publicity shot, will speak about his book, “Random Obsessions: Trivia You Can’t Live Without” at noon at Barnes & Noble in Merced on Sept. 19.

“I’m at home in the Central Valley, whether walking along Bear Creek in Merced, hanging out in the Tower District in Fresno, driving through long stretches of farmland or wandering along the Kern River in Bakersfield,” Belardes said. His writing tends, at least in part, to reflect this kinship he feels with the place he inhabits. Still, he also appreciates the Central Valley, and Bakersfield in particular, as a place of surreal beauties.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

READ: More articles on Random Obsessions in the Examiner, Bakersfield Californian, Bakotopia, the Sacramento Review and more.

3:04 AM

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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

On ESPN Radio Talking My Weird Book, Random Obsessions
Current mood:

eccentric
Category: Sports

I made an appearance on ESPN1230 radio with guest host Kevin Bartl of the Bakersfield Condors. We talked weird sports superstitions, the Cleveland Browns and the trivia book Random Obsessions. Bartl was overjoyed that he was listed in the book twice.

Make sure to watch the video as Bartl and Hop from ESPN banter about the Raider Nation, and as I ask if any of the Condors regularly “yak” before games.

6:22 PM

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Sunday, August 09, 2009

Another Reason Samurai Rats Are Not Your Friends
Category: Writing and Poetry

I needed a good laugh today so I re-read one of my old stories, this a comedic piece about a real samurai rat. No lie. Have a great day and an even better laugh attack.

Read: The Ancient Story Of The Samurai Rat

- Nick

Currently reading:
Random Obsessions: Trivia You Can't Live Without
By Nick Belardes

12:24 AM

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Friday, August 07, 2009

Randomly Freakin' Obsessed With News Writing
Current mood:

angsty
Category: Writing and Poetry

This has really been affecting me lately: my obsession with the bizarre. I wake up, roll out of bed. I grab a history book, or find my laptop and click straight to a science magazine website as if the Holy Grail of the absurd is going to suddenly spring to life like an oddly glowing chalice.

It’s that one weird news story that will go viral. I just know it will. Like when I posted video of a semi-pro hockey coach freaking out. It made the U.K. Guardian’s top ten sports videos of 2008.

This week I posted a story about the time it rained caterpillars in a Bakersfield, Calif. neighborhood. I interviewed my own kid! A few months before, I posted a an article about a piece of glass coming out of a man’s hand twenty years later. It was my own. You see, the absurd even follows me. And so in turn, I am obsessed with it.

Like the time a man came into an ABC TV station where I was working. He had chocolate candy clusters he claimed were infested with bugs. The news director didn’t want anything to do with it. I begged to do the story. In fact, I ran with my camera and helped tear into the package to find maggots and spiders. It was a great news story. And by the end of the night, it wasn’t just on CNN.com. It made Jay Leno and the Tonight Show.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT RED ROOM

Currently reading:
Random Obsessions: Trivia You Can't Live Without
By Nick Belardes

5:41 PM

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