Archive for February, 2005
File under “fighting for peace” or “screwing for virginity”
My friend Mark sent me this one, as seen on CNET News:
“The Department of Homeland Security has named Claria [formerly Gator - DN], an adware maker that online publishers once dubbed a “parasite,” to a federal privacy advisory board.In the past, Claria’s pop-up ad software has riled some users who claimed it was annoying, installed without permission, and not easy to delete. Publishers also were irked about pop-up ads for a rival’s product appearing next to their own Web sites.
In February 2003, Gator settled a high-profile case brought by The Washington Post, The New York Times, Dow Jones and other media companies. Terms of that deal were quiet, but Claria appears to have stopped delivering pop-ups to those publishers’ sites.”
Not much to add to this one. Enjoy it for what it is, and rest assured your big brother is protecting you.
watched a piece last night on a iraqian who started a christian church in bagdad with no money, now the church numbers around 500, them an the muslims have put aside their differences ,getting along together as it should be in this world.
it doesnt take bombs an death to change the middle east . it takes love.
File under WTF?
From an AP newswire story:
“LOS ANGELES – Authorities shot and killed a male tiger Wednesday that had been roaming the hills near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The 425-pound cat was shot several hundred yards from soccer and baseball fields at the edge of a housing development, said Lorna Bernard, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Game.”
How long before all the local Columbus news channels go back and revive that “is there a lion on the loose in Gahanna?” story? I say tomorrow starting at noon.
Daily Musings: Day 114
If you remember last week, I posted a snippet from Don Simpson’s blog where he made the statement that “comics ain’t art.” He posted a reply to our reactions to his essay in the comments section of that post, which I’m reproducing below in interest of continuing the discussion:
“DON SIMPSON: I am not arguing that the entire comics medium is “meant” for only a particular age range. I am arguing that most comic books today are of interest only to a particular age range (superheroes for roughly ages 10-15, “art comics” roughly for 17-22). Quibble about those numbers if you like, but the fact is there is very little material in comics form that is of interest to an adult.Recognizing that the overwhelming majority of adults ignore comics as a serious art form, and that thirty years of the “art comics” movement has done little to change their mind, is a reality we need to confront if we hope to change that reality. I am not concluding that comics are therefore doomed to being only “toss-away garbage.”
We need to understand what adults are getting from all those museums, novels, plays, films and other forms of art and culture — and not from comics — if we hope to rise above the perception of comics as “toss-away garbage.”
Ok, I do want to quibble about the age range numbers Don mentions in regards to “art comics” (I think the material skews much older than young twentysomethings,) but let’s not go there.
I’m pleased to hear that he doesn’t consider all comics as a wasteland of prepubescent power fantasies. I’m also a big proponent of studying the nature of the business and the history of comics – and its competitors – properly in order to find ways of growing our medium. However, I don’t know if the answer is to look at other forms of “art” as mentioned by Don (museums, plays, films) to see what they have that comics don’t. All media have intrinsic qualities (or flaws) that make them appealing (or unattractive) to a certain portion of the population. I don’t think we can say “what are adults getting out of plays that they don’t get pout of comics?” in order to raise the profile of comics, any more than museum curators could look at films to see how they can boost their museum’s attendance figures. Different media, different aesthetics, different social baggage.
Which, unfortunately, is where I think comics have a problem. They’ve been saddled for so long with this baggage that they’re “juvenile entertainment” that it’s hard for the adult stuff to get noticed, or taken seriously. But the solution, I would venture to say, is to keep at it. Keep creating and promoting the “myth-buster” books. The books that get respect. The books that break people’s preconceived notions of comics. The From Hells, Persepolises, and Ghost Worlds. And once the product is there, the next big step is to make it available outside our direct market system. Bookstores. Coffee shops. Book clubs. Catalogs.
It’s not going to be an overnight change. And realistically, comics may never grow that far beyond the small niche audience that they currently enjoy. New forms of entertainment supplant older ones all the time. There’s no market for radio plays anymore, no matter how good the material might be. So yes, in that regard I’m willing to concede that despite our best efforts, it may be too late, or too difficult, to change people’s perception of comics and their potential for creating true art or literature. But at the same time, I don’t think the “art comics” of the past have been for naught. If nothing else, they’ve kept the dialogue going and the discussion alive. So for every 10 newspaper reviews that slam the Elektra movie as a piece of storytelling crap based on a silly comic book, there’s at least enough “art comics” material out there for another article to say “ah, yes, but have you checked out these other reads?”
Daily Musings: Day 112
Tony and I (and another friend of mine, coincidentally also named Tony) went down to the Scarlet & Gray Tavern to catch some amateur stand up comedy at their open mic night. If you remember from one of the comments sections below, all three of us are contemplating trying out hands at it. I had been to one of the open mic nights at the Funny Bone a while ago, back when they were still doing them. And I have to say, there was quite a difference in tone and atmosphere between the two.
For one thing, the Funny Bone was always packed with people, and they seemed appreciative for the most part, even with the poorer sets. But this place…well, for starters, it’s on campus. So right there, it’s a whole different audience. Or lack thereof. By the time the first comedian went up on stage, there were roughly a dozen people there. Half of them were the other comedians waiting their turn. And all of these guys knew each other, so the sets were a weird mixture of in jokes between the comedy fraternity, “trying out a new joke I wrote on the way here,” and self-deprecating humor. I got this whole weird incestuous vibe from the whole thing. To be sure, there were some really funny jokes there, plus several more diamonds in the rough. I don’t know…it was like being back in high school, with that hodge podge of cliques, blossoming talent, petty rivalries, and the promise of greater things to come.
By the time the last comedian came off the stage, the crowd had swelled to a pretty decent number (for a Tuesday night). But it was obvious that most of them were there to see the hot-chick-with-a-guitar who was to take the stage after the stand up riff raff finished. Talk about paying your dues. It’s true what they say, comedy ain’t pretty.
I’m still thinking about trying my hand at it. We’ll see. Even though Maria used her Egyptian ethnicity in her act. Damn it, there’s just not enough room in this town for two Middle Eastern comedians!
Appropriately enough, I leave you now with two number-themed jokes. One clean, one dirty. Your mileage may vary.
“What did the zero say to the eight?”
“Nice belt.” (courtesy of Pete down at Cafe Corner.)
“What does Michael Jackson like about 27 year olds?”
“The fact that there’s twenty of them.” (courtesy of Tony Goins, as overheard from another stand-up)
Comics reviewed in Alive
Columbus’ free alt/indy newspaper, Alive, has been doing more and more comic reviews. Kudos to J. Caleb Mozzocco for finally convincing his editors that comics do indeed warrant more mainstream coverage.
You can check out last week’s half page column here, which looks at such diverse material as Marvel’s Young Avengers and Runaways, Slave Labor’s A Bag of Anteaters, and John Porcellino’s self-published Diary of a Mosquieto Abatement Man.
15 Ways to Make Comics Better
Over at his Comic Book Galaxy blog, Alan David Doane has posted a great list entitled 15 Ways to Make Comics Better. I don’t agree with all his points, but I do agree with a majority of them. Especially the portions pertaining to readers and publishers. Here’s a sampling:
3. Publishers: Allow corporate-owned characters who have become creatively bankrupt through mis-handling to lay fallow for a few years. There’s no reason at all why Green Lantern, Iron Man, Thor, or most other second-tier characters must be published month-in and month-out. Wait until a creator or creators have solid, original ideas with which to stage a true revival rather than a lame renumbering.10. Creators: At all stages of the creative process, seek out the opinions and evaluations of people whose tastes and critical faculties you trust implicitly. Ask them to be brutally honest in judging your work, and accept that there is at least a grain of truth in everything they tell you, and likely a lot more than a grain.
11. Readers: Do not continue to buy and support comics that do anything less than dazzle you with their ingenuity, their quality storytelling, and their elegance of purpose and design. The only reason any publisher can continue to produce bad comics is because people buy them. Just stop.
Another earthquake hits Iran
“SARBAGH, Iran – A powerful earthquake toppled mud-built homes and flattened villages in central Iran on Tuesday, killing at least 270 people and injuring 950, officials and state-run television said. A senior official said the death toll could top 350.”
Despite the tragedy, the quake wasn’t as strong as the magnitude 6.6 quake that hit in 2003, destroying the ancient city of Bam and killing 26,000 people. Still, if you are able to donate to international relief agencies, it would go towards helping the survivors rebuild their homes and lives.
I recommend Relief International, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Mercy Corps.
Daily Musings: Day 111
You know what I find funny? This headline: “Bush Takes Charm Campaign to NATO, EU“.
Bush.
Charm.
EU.
Yeah, I know he was able to charm a whole bunch of bible-thumpers and conservatives over here, but I really don’t see his “down home, good ol’ country boy” shtick working in Europe. You know, especially since his entire first term was the political equivanet of kicking them in the nads while calling them frogs and krauts.
Then again, I could be wrong. Hell, he managed to get elected president twice. If that’s not a sign of some sort of deal with Satan, I don’t know what is.
here’s to you, Hunter S.
At his best, he was brilliant. At his worst, he was a self-parody. But he was never boring.
Hunter S. Thompson shot himself over the weekend. I can’t imagine why he’d do it now, after all the stuff he’s lived through already. But this was a guy who acted as a kind of Geiger counter for all the crazy in the world, and I can see where 67 years of that would be a little too much.
I’ve read two of the Good Doctor’s books, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail.” They’re both excellent books, and they illustrate an essential truth about the American mind: Although we think our actions are perfectly logical, many of us are in fact crazy as shithouse rats.
Thompson’s influence on my writing is mostly indirect. He was a major figure in what was known in the 1960s as “New Journalism,” a very participatory, observational form of writing. I myself fall more into the Joan Didion/fade-into-the-background school, rather than Thompson’s method of becoming a part of the story. It can be used as a cheat, and it only works if you are yourself a tremendously fascinating character.
Thompson is indirectly responsible for getting me back into comic books in 1998, mostly because he served as an inspiration for Warren Ellis’ “Transmetropolitan.” Thompson has also left me with the vague sense that I should have done more drugs.
And of course, Hunter S. Thompson gave me my favorite quote about journalism:
“Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-all for fuckoffs and misfits – a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage.”
Here’s to you, Hunter S. I’m glad we got to know you.
All Star covers
Presented for your curiosity, the covers to All Star Superman (by Frank Quietly) and All Star Batman & Robin (by Jim Lee). Bigger versions available here. Even though I’m not a big Superman fan, I love the Quietly cover with Superman sitting on a cloud, observing the sunrise. I think it captures the awe and wonder of the character that’s often overlooked in favor of cheap slugfests and superpower exhibitionism.
RIP, Hunter S. Thompson
“Hunter S. Thompson, the counterculture writer credited with creating a new form of journalism in books like “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” was found dead Sunday from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in his Aspen- area home, authorities said.”
Daily Musings: Day 110
Ok, I have to admit that I just don’t understand dog shows.
While flipping through the stations, I just came across the highlights from the Westminster Dog Show on NBC Sports. (The fact that a dog show is considered a “sport” is an entirely different topic, not fit for discussion. And this coming from a guy who couldn’t care less about watching sports on TV.) Anyway, I just don’t get it. They bring out some dog, and the crowd goes absolutely wild. They pick a winner out of a bunch, and they go even more crazy. And I don’t mean “loud applause” crazy. I mean “ape-shit” crazy. “Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, I’m gonna scream till I spontaneously faint and lose my virginity” crazy. “Just saw the resurrected Christ bring peace to the entire world” crazy.
“I’m a coke dealer and I just found out George Bush is rolling through town looking to party” crazy. That’s the level of intensity.
They’re just friggin’ dogs, people. Am I missing something?