It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World XXIII
Ogilvy & Mather in Toronto has created an ad spot for the Television Bureau of Canada's awards, the Bessies. It's a well-produced and bittersweet short film about the birth -- and death -- of an idea.
Thanks to Media Dietician Laszlo Perlorian.
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
Corollary: The Blogging of Business
Well, one of my questions about how AlwaysOn plans to incorporate members' voices outside of comments and discussion posts has been addressed. In my in box yesterday was an email from Tony Perkins that reads:
Seems like they're heading in the right direction!
Well, one of my questions about how AlwaysOn plans to incorporate members' voices outside of comments and discussion posts has been addressed. In my in box yesterday was an email from Tony Perkins that reads:
AlwaysOn wants your opinion! But it has to be 600 words or less.
AO is your site. I would like to extend you a personal invitation to tell the rest of us what you think. This opinion piece should be 600 words or less, very specific in its point, and ideally supported by a few data points and a few links to other sites.
Once you have a proof-read version of your contribution please feel free to send it to me at this e-mail address. We look forward to seeing what you come up with.
We now have over 6,000 members, and when you browse the member profiles you can see that it is a pretty smart group. So in addition to our regular correspondents, we wanted to open up the site to our most thoughtful members.
In the next version of the site (v.75) we will be adding a member blog room so everyone can go at it. And we will be posting the entries that get the most views and highest ratings on the home page. Any other suggestions on how you think we should evolve the site would be appreciated.
Seems like they're heading in the right direction!
Monday, February 17, 2003
Comic Books and Commerce
Ninth Art's Paul O'Brien asks: Has Marvel sold its creative soul to the anti-smoking lobby?
Ninth Art's Paul O'Brien asks: Has Marvel sold its creative soul to the anti-smoking lobby?
Blogging About Blogging L
Google just bought Pyra Labs, maker of Blogger. Congratulations, Ev! And happy President's Day.
Thanks to Interesting People.
Google just bought Pyra Labs, maker of Blogger. Congratulations, Ev! And happy President's Day.
Thanks to Interesting People.
Event-O-Dex XXXVI
The Zeitgeist Gallery in Inman Square in Cambridge is hosting an exhibition of original comic art featuring R. Crumb, Dan Clowes, Rick Altergott, Ariel Bordeaux, Jack Davis, Greg Cook, Art Spiegelman, and others through the month of March. "Comics as Art" can be seen at 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge.
The Zeitgeist Gallery in Inman Square in Cambridge is hosting an exhibition of original comic art featuring R. Crumb, Dan Clowes, Rick Altergott, Ariel Bordeaux, Jack Davis, Greg Cook, Art Spiegelman, and others through the month of March. "Comics as Art" can be seen at 1353 Cambridge St., Cambridge.
Comics and Community VIII
The March 2003 edition of Wizard includes an item about an interesting music-and-comics collaboration between Jim Mahfood and DJ Z-Trip. Now that Mahfood has moved to LA, he's done some "live art" at the El Rey Theater in December. While Z-Trip played hip-hop and funk music, Mahfood threw up some giant murals. Word is they intend to do more comics collaborations in the future.
The March 2003 edition of Wizard includes an item about an interesting music-and-comics collaboration between Jim Mahfood and DJ Z-Trip. Now that Mahfood has moved to LA, he's done some "live art" at the El Rey Theater in December. While Z-Trip played hip-hop and funk music, Mahfood threw up some giant murals. Word is they intend to do more comics collaborations in the future.
Comic Book Collections IV
Not so much comic books as s-f and punk-rock fanzines, here are two interesting DIY archival opportunities.
Per the September 2002 issue of Locus, and as mentioned here Aug. 2, 2002, the University of Calgary Library acquired the s-f book and magazine collection of William Robert Gibson, who died at the of 92 in 2001. Gibson's collection spans Jules Verne's 19th-century work to the 21st century's cyperpunk writing. It also comprises pulp magazines from the 1920s-1950s. The library estimates that it needs to raise $500,000 to clean, preserve, catalog, and house the collection, which will be open to researchers. Email Blane Hogue, director of development, information resources, for more information.
And in Maximumrocknroll #236, Mykel Board says that the Salt Lake City Library System is paying cash money for non-newsprint zines. Mail materials to Brooke Young, Salt Lake City Public Library, 209 E. 500 S., Salt Lake City, UT 84111 -- with a bill -- and the library will send you a check to cover the donation. Board's already sent them some stuff and gotten his.
Not so much comic books as s-f and punk-rock fanzines, here are two interesting DIY archival opportunities.
Per the September 2002 issue of Locus, and as mentioned here Aug. 2, 2002, the University of Calgary Library acquired the s-f book and magazine collection of William Robert Gibson, who died at the of 92 in 2001. Gibson's collection spans Jules Verne's 19th-century work to the 21st century's cyperpunk writing. It also comprises pulp magazines from the 1920s-1950s. The library estimates that it needs to raise $500,000 to clean, preserve, catalog, and house the collection, which will be open to researchers. Email Blane Hogue, director of development, information resources, for more information.
And in Maximumrocknroll #236, Mykel Board says that the Salt Lake City Library System is paying cash money for non-newsprint zines. Mail materials to Brooke Young, Salt Lake City Public Library, 209 E. 500 S., Salt Lake City, UT 84111 -- with a bill -- and the library will send you a check to cover the donation. Board's already sent them some stuff and gotten his.
Pieces, Particles XIII
With the onset of winter in Boss Town, I've been spending some real quality time on the Big Blue Couch at Church Corner. I hope to keep up with my clip file more frequently, and I apologize for the daunting entry that follows. That said, the following media-related stories recently spotted in print publications might be worth a look. Heads and decks, only. Heads and decks.
Alternative Voices on Campus by Emma Ruby-Sachs and Timothy Waligore, The Nation, Feb. 17, 2003
Progressive journals are key in creating a movement, but they lack support
Are You Addicted to TV? by Martiga Lohn, Natural Health, January/February 2003
You can turn it off whenever you want, right? Or can you? Find out what TV is really doing to you and how altering your habits can change your life
Big Brother Is Also Being Watched, with a New Alarm by Eleanor Heartney, The New York Times, Jan. 26, 2003
Even before 9/11, artists were looking at issues raised by a society of surveillance
Blabberwocky by Scot Lehigh, The Boston Globe Magazine, Feb. 9, 2003
We've all begun to talk in media-driven stupid-speak, clipped cliches and solecisms that amount to a verbal virus
Bone: The End, Wizard, February 2003
Boston's Logan International Airport by Douglas Corrigan, Airliners, September/October 2002
Gateway to New England
Cable TV System Uprooted, and Some Russian Immigrants See Vestiges of Totalitarian Past by Andy Newman, The New York Times, Jan. 5, 2003
A building manager cuts off reception of a Russian-language channel
Charles N. Brown: The Joy of SF by Jennifer Hall, Locus, September 2002
Community Rallies to Aid Creator, Wizard, February 2003
Copyright Monopolies by Andrew Shapiro, The Nation, Feb. 17, 2003
Culture Change by David Goodman, Mother Jones, January/February 2003
Does the selling of Stonyfield Farm yogurt signals the end of socially responsible business -- or a new beginning?
Dial Again by Roger Angell, The New Yorker, Feb. 10, 2003
On the Ameche
Doctor, My Eyes by Joel Achenbach, National Geographic, February 2003
How we watch TV ads
Doing Their Own Thing, Making Art Together by Holland Cotter, The New York Times, Jan. 19, 2003
A new movement of collectives, with names like rock bands, harks back to the 60's (an uncool notion for these digital-age multitaskers).
E-Epistles by Anjula Razdan, Utne, January-February 2003
A letter-writing revival
Fear of a Punk Planet by Ivan Kreilkamp, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
Flash News by Geoff Edgers, The Boston Globe, Jan. 26, 2003
Call them reality videos. They show young women willing to life their shirts, and 4.5 million were sold last year
The Forest for the Trees by Michael Ackerman, The Big Takeover, No. 51
Game School's Finest Minds by Mark Schone, Rolling Stone, Feb. 20, 2003
Meet the young stars of a university devoted to video games -- they're the happiest dorks in college
Get Ready for the Blogs by Leif Utne, Utne, January-February 2003
Making good on the Internet's promise of a global village
Getting Your War On by Camille Dodero, The Boston Phoenix, Oct. 25, 2002
Here at GQ by Martin Beiser, GQ, September 2002
Notes on forty-five years of ascendancy
Here Comes the Fuzz by Richard Linnett, Advertising Age, Jan. 13, 2003
Bat Boy crosses the line
The Hidden Life of Art Supplies by Sara Zaske, Sierra, January/February 2003
Holy Rock 'n' Rollers by Lauren Sandler, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
How to Write a Catchy Beer Ad by Chris Ballard, The New York Times Magazine, Jan. 26, 2003
Footballs, guitars -- and twins -- turned a commercial into a phenomenon
The Hush of History by Cate McQuaid, The Boston Globe, Jan. 26, 2003
Not all at Quabbin is a watery grave; relics of people and towns remain
Just Plain Folks Write Songs, Too by Jon Pareles, The New York Times, Feb. 9, 2003
For decades, song-sharking has preyed on naive, hopeful amateurs. But sometimes the racket can turn up winners
Ladder to Success by Joanna Weiss, The Boston Globe, Feb. 9, 2003
Step by step, publicists help turn shabby area into hip new district for Boston's martini crowd
The Lost Art of Reading the Newspaper at Night by A.J. Jacobs, Esquire, February 2003
Major Labels' Century-Long Abuse of Artists (and Customers), and Why Things Are Finally Starting to Change by Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, No. 51
The Man Who Wasn't There by David Wild, Rolling Stone, Jan. 23, 2003
Being the director of Adaptation and the skate-punk husband of Hollywood royalty is one thing. Being able to talk about it, well, um...
A Meter Man with a Mission by Marilyn Berlin Snell, Sierra, January/February 2003
Mexico City's VW Bugs Are Headed for Extinction by Tim Weiner, The New York Times, Jan. 5, 2003
Mobile Afterlife by Katie Fehrenbacher, ReadyMade, No. 5
Where do cell phones go when they die?
New Plaque Marks the First Home of the Globe by Karla Kingsley, The Boston Globe, Jan. 25, 2003
Not So Funny by Mike Miliard, The Boston Phoenix, Feb. 7, 2003
"Comic" strips get serious about life
Online Treachery by Lazlow, Playboy, February 2003 (?)
Net gaming has become a sinister playground for lurkers and assholes
Orville Poundridge's GQ by David Kamp, GQ, September 2002
A scrapbook of the century past
The Power of Music by Ann Powers, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
Practical Publishers by Phil Hall, The Hartford Courant, Oct. 17, 2002
Online magazines succeed by holding down startup costs, sometimes to zero
The "Public Interest" by Bill O'Driscoll, The Nation, Jan. 6, 2003
Real People by Jenn Shreve, ReadyMade, No. 5
In advertising's new reality, the ultimate sales pitch is you
The Reconnection by Chris Wright, The Boston Phoenix, Jan. 24, 2003
Two years after his break-up with WBUR, Chris Lydon is back in business
Scientists Make Music with DNA, The Boston Globe, Jan. 19, 2003
Social Climbing by Blaize Wilkinson, ReadyMade, No. 5
How to be an urban tour guide
Spambusters by Jacqueline White, Utne, January-February 2003
How to rid your inbox of penis enlargement offers
Spammers ISO Respect by Brad Stone, Newsweek, Dec. 30, 2002/Jan. 6, 2003
Straight to Video by John Mankiewicz, The New Yorker, Feb. 10, 2003
Tangled up in Spam by James Gleick, The New York Times Magazine, Feb. 9, 2003
Those unwanted messages have become the bane of the Internet. Why we can't just say no
Teen Beat by Mark Singer, The New Yorker, Jan. 13, 2003
What happens when a high-school weekly is the only newspaper in town
That Sucking Sound by Neal Pollack, GQ, February 2003
Gimmicks, antics and ironic distance. Who needs real talent when you've mastered punk-rock foolishness?
TV on DVD: A-OK by Matthew Gilbert, The Boston Globe Magazine, Jan. 26, 2003
Several television series are now available on disc, meaning a longer afterlife and maybe even better programs in the future
Urban Legends by Michael Azerrad, The New Yorker, Aug. 12, 2002
Utopia 2.0 by Leif Utne, Utne, January-February 2003
Play games, build a future
Video Underground by Mike Miliard, The Boston Phoenix, Oct. 25, 2002
Indie film finds a home
Voices of America by Tom Sinclair, Entertainment Weekly, Feb. 14, 2003
For 50 years, ordinary folk have paid to have their verse set to music. Now song-poems are being hailed as art
Wall Street Journal Bigs Up NME!, New Musical Express, Jan. 4, 2003
Financial bible acclaims our role in breaking new talent on both sides of the pond
Was Romenesko Rebuilt in a Daze? by Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher, Nov. 25, 2002
Forget Iraq, Osama, and the ad-revenue blahs: When a favorite Web site gets redesigned, all hell breaks loose in media land
What It's Really Like... to Give Birth on Television by Stephanie Karp, Parents, February 2003
We agreed to let a camera crew videotape my labor and delivery and broadcast it to millions
When Uncle Sam Wanted Us by Paul Rauber, Sierra, January/February 2003
To Vice President Dick Cheney, conservation is just "a sign of personal virtue." In World War II, it was every citizen's duty
Why Information Will No Longer Be Free by Michael Scherer, Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 2003
Zen Is Not a Perfume by Jan Chozen Bays, Buddhadharma, Fall 2002
If you work for a magazine and would like to sign me up for a complimentary subscription, please feel free to do so. My address is in the grey bar over on the left.
With the onset of winter in Boss Town, I've been spending some real quality time on the Big Blue Couch at Church Corner. I hope to keep up with my clip file more frequently, and I apologize for the daunting entry that follows. That said, the following media-related stories recently spotted in print publications might be worth a look. Heads and decks, only. Heads and decks.
Alternative Voices on Campus by Emma Ruby-Sachs and Timothy Waligore, The Nation, Feb. 17, 2003
Progressive journals are key in creating a movement, but they lack support
Are You Addicted to TV? by Martiga Lohn, Natural Health, January/February 2003
You can turn it off whenever you want, right? Or can you? Find out what TV is really doing to you and how altering your habits can change your life
Big Brother Is Also Being Watched, with a New Alarm by Eleanor Heartney, The New York Times, Jan. 26, 2003
Even before 9/11, artists were looking at issues raised by a society of surveillance
Blabberwocky by Scot Lehigh, The Boston Globe Magazine, Feb. 9, 2003
We've all begun to talk in media-driven stupid-speak, clipped cliches and solecisms that amount to a verbal virus
Bone: The End, Wizard, February 2003
Boston's Logan International Airport by Douglas Corrigan, Airliners, September/October 2002
Gateway to New England
Cable TV System Uprooted, and Some Russian Immigrants See Vestiges of Totalitarian Past by Andy Newman, The New York Times, Jan. 5, 2003
A building manager cuts off reception of a Russian-language channel
Charles N. Brown: The Joy of SF by Jennifer Hall, Locus, September 2002
Community Rallies to Aid Creator, Wizard, February 2003
Copyright Monopolies by Andrew Shapiro, The Nation, Feb. 17, 2003
Culture Change by David Goodman, Mother Jones, January/February 2003
Does the selling of Stonyfield Farm yogurt signals the end of socially responsible business -- or a new beginning?
Dial Again by Roger Angell, The New Yorker, Feb. 10, 2003
On the Ameche
Doctor, My Eyes by Joel Achenbach, National Geographic, February 2003
How we watch TV ads
Doing Their Own Thing, Making Art Together by Holland Cotter, The New York Times, Jan. 19, 2003
A new movement of collectives, with names like rock bands, harks back to the 60's (an uncool notion for these digital-age multitaskers).
E-Epistles by Anjula Razdan, Utne, January-February 2003
A letter-writing revival
Fear of a Punk Planet by Ivan Kreilkamp, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
Flash News by Geoff Edgers, The Boston Globe, Jan. 26, 2003
Call them reality videos. They show young women willing to life their shirts, and 4.5 million were sold last year
The Forest for the Trees by Michael Ackerman, The Big Takeover, No. 51
Game School's Finest Minds by Mark Schone, Rolling Stone, Feb. 20, 2003
Meet the young stars of a university devoted to video games -- they're the happiest dorks in college
Get Ready for the Blogs by Leif Utne, Utne, January-February 2003
Making good on the Internet's promise of a global village
Getting Your War On by Camille Dodero, The Boston Phoenix, Oct. 25, 2002
Here at GQ by Martin Beiser, GQ, September 2002
Notes on forty-five years of ascendancy
Here Comes the Fuzz by Richard Linnett, Advertising Age, Jan. 13, 2003
Bat Boy crosses the line
The Hidden Life of Art Supplies by Sara Zaske, Sierra, January/February 2003
Holy Rock 'n' Rollers by Lauren Sandler, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
How to Write a Catchy Beer Ad by Chris Ballard, The New York Times Magazine, Jan. 26, 2003
Footballs, guitars -- and twins -- turned a commercial into a phenomenon
The Hush of History by Cate McQuaid, The Boston Globe, Jan. 26, 2003
Not all at Quabbin is a watery grave; relics of people and towns remain
Just Plain Folks Write Songs, Too by Jon Pareles, The New York Times, Feb. 9, 2003
For decades, song-sharking has preyed on naive, hopeful amateurs. But sometimes the racket can turn up winners
Ladder to Success by Joanna Weiss, The Boston Globe, Feb. 9, 2003
Step by step, publicists help turn shabby area into hip new district for Boston's martini crowd
The Lost Art of Reading the Newspaper at Night by A.J. Jacobs, Esquire, February 2003
Major Labels' Century-Long Abuse of Artists (and Customers), and Why Things Are Finally Starting to Change by Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, No. 51
The Man Who Wasn't There by David Wild, Rolling Stone, Jan. 23, 2003
Being the director of Adaptation and the skate-punk husband of Hollywood royalty is one thing. Being able to talk about it, well, um...
A Meter Man with a Mission by Marilyn Berlin Snell, Sierra, January/February 2003
Mexico City's VW Bugs Are Headed for Extinction by Tim Weiner, The New York Times, Jan. 5, 2003
Mobile Afterlife by Katie Fehrenbacher, ReadyMade, No. 5
Where do cell phones go when they die?
New Plaque Marks the First Home of the Globe by Karla Kingsley, The Boston Globe, Jan. 25, 2003
Not So Funny by Mike Miliard, The Boston Phoenix, Feb. 7, 2003
"Comic" strips get serious about life
Online Treachery by Lazlow, Playboy, February 2003 (?)
Net gaming has become a sinister playground for lurkers and assholes
Orville Poundridge's GQ by David Kamp, GQ, September 2002
A scrapbook of the century past
The Power of Music by Ann Powers, The Nation, Jan. 13-20, 2003
Practical Publishers by Phil Hall, The Hartford Courant, Oct. 17, 2002
Online magazines succeed by holding down startup costs, sometimes to zero
The "Public Interest" by Bill O'Driscoll, The Nation, Jan. 6, 2003
Real People by Jenn Shreve, ReadyMade, No. 5
In advertising's new reality, the ultimate sales pitch is you
The Reconnection by Chris Wright, The Boston Phoenix, Jan. 24, 2003
Two years after his break-up with WBUR, Chris Lydon is back in business
Scientists Make Music with DNA, The Boston Globe, Jan. 19, 2003
Social Climbing by Blaize Wilkinson, ReadyMade, No. 5
How to be an urban tour guide
Spambusters by Jacqueline White, Utne, January-February 2003
How to rid your inbox of penis enlargement offers
Spammers ISO Respect by Brad Stone, Newsweek, Dec. 30, 2002/Jan. 6, 2003
Straight to Video by John Mankiewicz, The New Yorker, Feb. 10, 2003
Tangled up in Spam by James Gleick, The New York Times Magazine, Feb. 9, 2003
Those unwanted messages have become the bane of the Internet. Why we can't just say no
Teen Beat by Mark Singer, The New Yorker, Jan. 13, 2003
What happens when a high-school weekly is the only newspaper in town
That Sucking Sound by Neal Pollack, GQ, February 2003
Gimmicks, antics and ironic distance. Who needs real talent when you've mastered punk-rock foolishness?
TV on DVD: A-OK by Matthew Gilbert, The Boston Globe Magazine, Jan. 26, 2003
Several television series are now available on disc, meaning a longer afterlife and maybe even better programs in the future
Urban Legends by Michael Azerrad, The New Yorker, Aug. 12, 2002
Utopia 2.0 by Leif Utne, Utne, January-February 2003
Play games, build a future
Video Underground by Mike Miliard, The Boston Phoenix, Oct. 25, 2002
Indie film finds a home
Voices of America by Tom Sinclair, Entertainment Weekly, Feb. 14, 2003
For 50 years, ordinary folk have paid to have their verse set to music. Now song-poems are being hailed as art
Wall Street Journal Bigs Up NME!, New Musical Express, Jan. 4, 2003
Financial bible acclaims our role in breaking new talent on both sides of the pond
Was Romenesko Rebuilt in a Daze? by Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher, Nov. 25, 2002
Forget Iraq, Osama, and the ad-revenue blahs: When a favorite Web site gets redesigned, all hell breaks loose in media land
What It's Really Like... to Give Birth on Television by Stephanie Karp, Parents, February 2003
We agreed to let a camera crew videotape my labor and delivery and broadcast it to millions
When Uncle Sam Wanted Us by Paul Rauber, Sierra, January/February 2003
To Vice President Dick Cheney, conservation is just "a sign of personal virtue." In World War II, it was every citizen's duty
Why Information Will No Longer Be Free by Michael Scherer, Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 2003
Zen Is Not a Perfume by Jan Chozen Bays, Buddhadharma, Fall 2002
If you work for a magazine and would like to sign me up for a complimentary subscription, please feel free to do so. My address is in the grey bar over on the left.
Digesting the Daily VIII
Recent editions of the Daily Northwestern, the student newspaper of my alma mater, featured several media-, technology-, and activism-related items that might be of interest to Media Dieticians.
MTV correspondent battles stereotypes, bad music
Asian American dishes on celebrities, making it big, in front of crowd of 200
(Jan. 14, 2003)
A paper monopoly
Norris Bookstore is where NU gets its texts -- but what happens if service falls short?
(Jan. 16, 2003)
How Norris cornered the market
(Jan. 16, 2003)
TV star visits As-Am class
Actor Shin tells class about difficulties of getting minority roles in television
(Jan. 16, 2003)
Lord of the lingo
NU library employee has mastered the mystical tongue central to Tolkien's trilogy
(Jan. 17, 2003)
Pick-A-Prof posts profs' grade history on the Web
Site already in place at 50 universities; NU has no plans to go beyond CTEC
(Jan. 17, 2003)
Double trouble
Rumor that Olsen twins will attend NY proves false but funny
(Jan. 29, 2003)
Weekend detention to the Daily's editorial team for thinking that Janeane Garofalo's stand-up appearance on campus was worth so much ink. The Jan. 17, 2003 edition of the Daily features two (2) feature stories about the show, taking up about half of the front page (both with jumps inside). Sure, the pieces are theoretically different. Raksha Varma reports on Garofalo's act, and Jennifer Leopoldt interviews the comedian by phone. But the two stories might have worked much better if combined into one story -- and perhaps included in one of the paper's two feature sections. Access doesn't warrant so much coverage, and unless it's a hella slow news day in Evanston, you wasted a front page. Janeane's great, but she's not all that.
If you work for a college newspaper and would like to sign me up for a complimentary subscription, please feel free to do so. My address is in the grey bar over on the left.
Recent editions of the Daily Northwestern, the student newspaper of my alma mater, featured several media-, technology-, and activism-related items that might be of interest to Media Dieticians.
MTV correspondent battles stereotypes, bad music
Asian American dishes on celebrities, making it big, in front of crowd of 200
(Jan. 14, 2003)
A paper monopoly
Norris Bookstore is where NU gets its texts -- but what happens if service falls short?
(Jan. 16, 2003)
How Norris cornered the market
(Jan. 16, 2003)
TV star visits As-Am class
Actor Shin tells class about difficulties of getting minority roles in television
(Jan. 16, 2003)
Lord of the lingo
NU library employee has mastered the mystical tongue central to Tolkien's trilogy
(Jan. 17, 2003)
Pick-A-Prof posts profs' grade history on the Web
Site already in place at 50 universities; NU has no plans to go beyond CTEC
(Jan. 17, 2003)
Double trouble
Rumor that Olsen twins will attend NY proves false but funny
(Jan. 29, 2003)
Weekend detention to the Daily's editorial team for thinking that Janeane Garofalo's stand-up appearance on campus was worth so much ink. The Jan. 17, 2003 edition of the Daily features two (2) feature stories about the show, taking up about half of the front page (both with jumps inside). Sure, the pieces are theoretically different. Raksha Varma reports on Garofalo's act, and Jennifer Leopoldt interviews the comedian by phone. But the two stories might have worked much better if combined into one story -- and perhaps included in one of the paper's two feature sections. Access doesn't warrant so much coverage, and unless it's a hella slow news day in Evanston, you wasted a front page. Janeane's great, but she's not all that.
If you work for a college newspaper and would like to sign me up for a complimentary subscription, please feel free to do so. My address is in the grey bar over on the left.
Friday, February 14, 2003
Corollary: The Blogging of Business
Ev points something out about AlwaysOn that I didn't catch on to. By hooking AlwaysOn's membership database into Salesforce.com, AlwaysOn is able to offer advertisers and sponsors real-time access to the users' demographics. Ev read the service's privacy statement, which I failed to do -- I usually just breeze on by stuff like that -- and it indicates that AlwaysOn will only share aggregate information to third parties, not the individual user data that Salesforce.com affords. "Sounds like a blatant violation," Ev concludes.
Ev points something out about AlwaysOn that I didn't catch on to. By hooking AlwaysOn's membership database into Salesforce.com, AlwaysOn is able to offer advertisers and sponsors real-time access to the users' demographics. Ev read the service's privacy statement, which I failed to do -- I usually just breeze on by stuff like that -- and it indicates that AlwaysOn will only share aggregate information to third parties, not the individual user data that Salesforce.com affords. "Sounds like a blatant violation," Ev concludes.
Music to My Eyes IX
Liz Enthusiasm's new "Stakeout!" video for local synthpop band Freezepop is perfect for Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!
Liz Enthusiasm's new "Stakeout!" video for local synthpop band Freezepop is perfect for Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Workaday World XVII
L'esprit d'elevator:
Yes, Media Dieticians, it's cold in Boss Town today. Seems much colder than 17 degrees. Sheesh.
L'esprit d'elevator:
Fellow passenger: Bitter out there!
Me: Cold, today.
Fellow passenger: Just booked a ticket to Myrtle Beach. In April.
Me: Two months away!
Fellow passenger: If only I can make it.
Me: Count down those days.
Yes, Media Dieticians, it's cold in Boss Town today. Seems much colder than 17 degrees. Sheesh.
North End Moment XXXIII
I just saw a dark blue delivery van with the URL big.express.com printed on the passenger side door. No Web site exists at that URL. What's the point?
I just saw a dark blue delivery van with the URL big.express.com printed on the passenger side door. No Web site exists at that URL. What's the point?
Blogging About Blogging XLIX
Sorry to be so blog-specific today, but that's the way the ball bounces some days. Meg's got a new game going. Blog Logic brings the online community together to discuss why they blog. Andcetera. I just signed up, and posts to date address, well, the value of blogs and online communities.
Thanks to Doc Searls.
Sorry to be so blog-specific today, but that's the way the ball bounces some days. Meg's got a new game going. Blog Logic brings the online community together to discuss why they blog. Andcetera. I just signed up, and posts to date address, well, the value of blogs and online communities.
Thanks to Doc Searls.
Media Meet Space IV
My colleague Dan Cederholm went to Dave Winer's live blogging session at Harvard on Tuesday night so I didn't have to. Dan Bricklin took photos. Other folks wrote about it, too.
I kinda wish I'd have gone.
My colleague Dan Cederholm went to Dave Winer's live blogging session at Harvard on Tuesday night so I didn't have to. Dan Bricklin took photos. Other folks wrote about it, too.
I kinda wish I'd have gone.
Comics and Community VII
Savant's Kyle Rivest has declared March 3 Read a Comic Book in Public Day. Here are his guidelines:
Right on, Kyle. Here's to March 3!
Thanks to Bookslut.
Savant's Kyle Rivest has declared March 3 Read a Comic Book in Public Day. Here are his guidelines:
The comic book you read has to be in pamphlet format. Locally made mini-comics are encouraged, but not required. Only one comic book. If you make your own comics, it has to be someone else's book that you read. It has to be in a public place where people can actually see you. It must be a book you enjoy and would be willing to recommend to a complete stranger.
Right on, Kyle. Here's to March 3!
Thanks to Bookslut.
The Blogging of Business
Fortune's David Kirkpatrick wrote this week about the new AlwaysOn insiders' network for "chiefs, geeks, investors, boosters and wonks." Created by Upside and Red Herring founder Tony Perkins, AlwaysOn is billed as a "spontaneous and uncensored arena" in which members can share their business experience, ideas, and insight.
Ostensibly combining business reportage and blogging, AlwaysOn strikes me instead as a business news service with comment and discussion tools. Organizing material in more than 10 categories, including the Always On Generation, Real-Time Economy, and the tumble-weed town of the Underground Web (perhaps indicating the site creators' limited knowledge of independent net culture), the site is currently relatively quiet, despite a growing membership roster. While Perkins' 10 commandments are praise-worthy, I'm not convinced the service, albeit young, deserves Kirkpatrick's praise and hype.
Instead of representing the "Ebay-ization of media," AlwaysOn strikes me as a business-oriented Electric Minds as it was at launch. There's site manager-created content -- and member commentary and discussion. That discussion is bolstered by a robust membership directory, complete with contact information, which will further member interaction off site. But Perkins' use of the word "blog" is worrisome. Perkins calls the site's editorial entries "blogs." He also calls member comments and discussion posts blogs. But as newsworthy as blogs have been and will be, AlwaysOn includes extremely limited self-authoring tools. I cannot find a way to add my own entry, much less a dedicated personal blogging space.
In the end, if all we're doing is responding to what others have published or written, the success of something like AlwaysOn will rest squarely on two things: the value of its staff's editorial content -- and the personalities and participation of the people reading that content.
But is AlwaysOn blogging? I'm not so sure.
Fortune's David Kirkpatrick wrote this week about the new AlwaysOn insiders' network for "chiefs, geeks, investors, boosters and wonks." Created by Upside and Red Herring founder Tony Perkins, AlwaysOn is billed as a "spontaneous and uncensored arena" in which members can share their business experience, ideas, and insight.
Ostensibly combining business reportage and blogging, AlwaysOn strikes me instead as a business news service with comment and discussion tools. Organizing material in more than 10 categories, including the Always On Generation, Real-Time Economy, and the tumble-weed town of the Underground Web (perhaps indicating the site creators' limited knowledge of independent net culture), the site is currently relatively quiet, despite a growing membership roster. While Perkins' 10 commandments are praise-worthy, I'm not convinced the service, albeit young, deserves Kirkpatrick's praise and hype.
Instead of representing the "Ebay-ization of media," AlwaysOn strikes me as a business-oriented Electric Minds as it was at launch. There's site manager-created content -- and member commentary and discussion. That discussion is bolstered by a robust membership directory, complete with contact information, which will further member interaction off site. But Perkins' use of the word "blog" is worrisome. Perkins calls the site's editorial entries "blogs." He also calls member comments and discussion posts blogs. But as newsworthy as blogs have been and will be, AlwaysOn includes extremely limited self-authoring tools. I cannot find a way to add my own entry, much less a dedicated personal blogging space.
In the end, if all we're doing is responding to what others have published or written, the success of something like AlwaysOn will rest squarely on two things: the value of its staff's editorial content -- and the personalities and participation of the people reading that content.
But is AlwaysOn blogging? I'm not so sure.
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
From the In Box: Comics and Conversation III
You are the first person to "IM'erview" me -- and although my work is not particularly your tea of choice, you manage to be respectful of it rather than slandering. Very appropiate. Regardless, thanks for the free press.
My 13-page story in NEW THING: Identity -- I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BEARD SMOKES -- does carry a resemblance to the type of dialogue displayed in LEGAL ACTION and Studygroup -- but in place of sheer SHOCK HUMOR VALUE (and that is all that BEARD AND BABY BROTHER and SUPERCAT CUM are) I made a poignant TRUE-TO-MY-LIFE tale of young love gone fucked diagnol-wise. Of all the comics I've done so far, it is the one that counts for a more mature/intellectual readership. You might even like it. -- Victor Cayro
You are the first person to "IM'erview" me -- and although my work is not particularly your tea of choice, you manage to be respectful of it rather than slandering. Very appropiate. Regardless, thanks for the free press.
My 13-page story in NEW THING: Identity -- I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BEARD SMOKES -- does carry a resemblance to the type of dialogue displayed in LEGAL ACTION and Studygroup -- but in place of sheer SHOCK HUMOR VALUE (and that is all that BEARD AND BABY BROTHER and SUPERCAT CUM are) I made a poignant TRUE-TO-MY-LIFE tale of young love gone fucked diagnol-wise. Of all the comics I've done so far, it is the one that counts for a more mature/intellectual readership. You might even like it. -- Victor Cayro
Music to My Eyes VIII
I just met Erich Thaler, a former member of the now-defunct Boston hard-rock band Stompbox. Now an employee of the Sir Speedy copy shop in the Scotch & Sirloin building, Erich has a degree in music synthesis and used to work for a large-format color printer. We discussed the difference between print production and copy shop work, what it was like to sign with a label in the early '90s, the experience of touring with a band, and the enjoyment inherent in live music.
"For every band that makes it, there are hundreds that got one shot with a label," Erich says. "I know plenty of people who slug it out into their 40's. The music industry is so youth-oriented that they're not going to sign anyone over 20. I need to find a job that'll support me into my 50's, you know?"
Before Stompbox disbanded, they released a couple of 7-inches, put out a self-released record on Wonderdrug (which also included them on a compilation, and put out two albums with a major affiliated with Columbia and Sony. Now Erich works in a copy shop located in a low-traffic part of town. Were it not for the businesses in the Scotch & Sirloin building and across the street toward North Station, the copy shop would probably disband, too.
I just met Erich Thaler, a former member of the now-defunct Boston hard-rock band Stompbox. Now an employee of the Sir Speedy copy shop in the Scotch & Sirloin building, Erich has a degree in music synthesis and used to work for a large-format color printer. We discussed the difference between print production and copy shop work, what it was like to sign with a label in the early '90s, the experience of touring with a band, and the enjoyment inherent in live music.
"For every band that makes it, there are hundreds that got one shot with a label," Erich says. "I know plenty of people who slug it out into their 40's. The music industry is so youth-oriented that they're not going to sign anyone over 20. I need to find a job that'll support me into my 50's, you know?"
Before Stompbox disbanded, they released a couple of 7-inches, put out a self-released record on Wonderdrug (which also included them on a compilation, and put out two albums with a major affiliated with Columbia and Sony. Now Erich works in a copy shop located in a low-traffic part of town. Were it not for the businesses in the Scotch & Sirloin building and across the street toward North Station, the copy shop would probably disband, too.
Weather Report IX
The sun just broke the top of the Casa Maria apartment building behind the Scotch & Sirloin building, illuminating the swirl of falling snow outside my office window. Absolutely beautiful.
The sun just broke the top of the Casa Maria apartment building behind the Scotch & Sirloin building, illuminating the swirl of falling snow outside my office window. Absolutely beautiful.
Monday, February 10, 2003
Call Me
While eating lunch at the 'Rang not long ago, I heard the pleasing strains of my Green Day ring tone as someone called me on my cell. Glad I didn't put down my BLT to take the call, because I just listened to a voicemail from someone in the 978 who thought my name was Dave, that I was going to buy a condo in North Redding, and that I was interested in getting some financing. It is not, I am not, and I am not.
Now, I don't get a lot of wrong number calls on my cell, but the Ethicist reader in me wonders whether I'm now responsible to call the fellow back and set him straight that he didn't actually leave a message for Dave. What if Dave doesn't get the financing for the condo purchase because I got this voicemail?
Debate over. I just returned the call.
Dave, I hope you find the financing you need to buy the condo of your dreams. I did my best.
While eating lunch at the 'Rang not long ago, I heard the pleasing strains of my Green Day ring tone as someone called me on my cell. Glad I didn't put down my BLT to take the call, because I just listened to a voicemail from someone in the 978 who thought my name was Dave, that I was going to buy a condo in North Redding, and that I was interested in getting some financing. It is not, I am not, and I am not.
Now, I don't get a lot of wrong number calls on my cell, but the Ethicist reader in me wonders whether I'm now responsible to call the fellow back and set him straight that he didn't actually leave a message for Dave. What if Dave doesn't get the financing for the condo purchase because I got this voicemail?
Debate over. I just returned the call.
Media Diet: Hi. I just got a voicemail from this number from someone who was calling about condo financing, and I wanted to let you know it was a wrong number.
Receptionist: Do you know who called?
Media Diet: All I know is that they were calling some guy named Dave and that the condo is in North Redding. They didn't leave their name.
Receptionist: Oh, I wouldn't even know where to begin if you don't know who called.
Media Diet: Well, I just thought you should know. I didn't want this guy to lose the opportunity because of a wrong number, you know?
Receptionist: Oh, well, thanks for calling.
Media Diet: I tried.
Dave, I hope you find the financing you need to buy the condo of your dreams. I did my best.
In the Cards
Ever wonder who writes Hallmark cards -- and how? The Washington Post Magazine's Jason puts pen to paper to take a look at Hallmark's creative process and the value of emotional content. It's a solid exploration of what makes greeting cards work, but I'm kind of glad I don't work in the Masculine Relative Birthday department.
Thanks to Pure Content.
Ever wonder who writes Hallmark cards -- and how? The Washington Post Magazine's Jason puts pen to paper to take a look at Hallmark's creative process and the value of emotional content. It's a solid exploration of what makes greeting cards work, but I'm kind of glad I don't work in the Masculine Relative Birthday department.
Thanks to Pure Content.
Big Brother Is Watching XI
Sometimes, Big Brother isn't so big. A former Boston College student has been indicted for installing a key-logging device that kept tabs on more than 100 campus computers and accessing personnel and student databases.
Thanks to EvHead.
Sometimes, Big Brother isn't so big. A former Boston College student has been indicted for installing a key-logging device that kept tabs on more than 100 campus computers and accessing personnel and student databases.
Thanks to EvHead.
Corollary: Hiking History III
Brad, a founding member of the Boston World Explorers' Foundation, has put up his photographs from our inaugural expedition last month. Trivia tidbit: The Flying Cloud is not just the name of a ship built by Donald McKay. It's also the name of one of today's water taxis! We saw it from the pier shortly after reaching the McKay monument.
Brad, a founding member of the Boston World Explorers' Foundation, has put up his photographs from our inaugural expedition last month. Trivia tidbit: The Flying Cloud is not just the name of a ship built by Donald McKay. It's also the name of one of today's water taxis! We saw it from the pier shortly after reaching the McKay monument.
Boston World Explorers' Foundation
I've been researching the second expedition for the Boston World Explorers' Foundation, and I'm thinking that if the weather cooperates, it might be nice to get out and about this Saturday or Sunday.
Based on my reading and research, it might be interesting to explore the Beacon Hill area of the city, sticking to the section bounded by Beacon, Bowdoin, Cambridge, and Charles streets. Historically home to Boston's early African-American population, the neighborhood once included Underground Railroad stops, radical discussion salons, a long-gone reservoir complex, and the Charles Street Jail.
The walk will also feature Boston's first home-owners' association, one of the city's narrowest streets, and other architectural and historical highlights.
If you'd like to be in on this second expedition, let me know what day works best for you. We'll see what comes together!
I've been researching the second expedition for the Boston World Explorers' Foundation, and I'm thinking that if the weather cooperates, it might be nice to get out and about this Saturday or Sunday.
Based on my reading and research, it might be interesting to explore the Beacon Hill area of the city, sticking to the section bounded by Beacon, Bowdoin, Cambridge, and Charles streets. Historically home to Boston's early African-American population, the neighborhood once included Underground Railroad stops, radical discussion salons, a long-gone reservoir complex, and the Charles Street Jail.
The walk will also feature Boston's first home-owners' association, one of the city's narrowest streets, and other architectural and historical highlights.
If you'd like to be in on this second expedition, let me know what day works best for you. We'll see what comes together!
Rock Shows of Note LIV
Last week was way too active on the nightlife and show-going scene. This week needs to be much quieter. That said, I did take in some excellent music over the last five nights. Wednesday night found me at the Druid on Inman Square, where I caught up with Sarah and some of her friends to see Paddy Soul, Eric Saulnier, and Martin Finke. Sonier works sound at the Abbey, so a lot of the Abbey staff was there to support him. We didn't stick around to see Finke, but I enjoyed the first two solo guitar singer-songwriter sets. Seems like music at the Druid is picking up.
Thursday night found me at the Choppin' Block near Northeastern for the Mister Records CD release party. While I wasn't too impressed by Shark Mountain, I quite enjoyed the sets by Plunge Into Death, Tunnel of Love, and Cathy Cathodic. Having met some co-workers for drinks after leaving the office -- and before taking the E line to Brigham's Circle -- the night got rather long and late, and I recall making eyes at a red-haired girl with dreadlocks.
She was at the 71 Sunbeam show Saturday at TT the Bear's, too, oddly enough. I made a point not to be so creepy this time. Not sure why I found her so captivating Thursday. In any event, Neil came up from Connecticut for the show, the band's first in Boston since he moved back there for school. And their shows in Brooklyn and Providence seem to have helped them find a new confidence and presence. Quite an impressive set, despite the low mix on Jeremy's xylophone solo. And the band has a new fan! There was a fellow standing right up in front, dancing, taking digital photos, and air drumming for much of the show. I'm glad 71 Sunbeam has been able to continue despite half the band's relocation to Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Sally Crewe, who usually plays with the Sudden Moves, performed a solo set that was enjoyable but seemingly unappreciated by the crowd. It's hard to play solo at TT's unless you're on the other side, and as Crewe's set progressed, the crowd on the floor diminished and conversation increased. Laguardia followed, but by then, I was on the other side hanging out with Neil catching up. Like Thursday, Saturday got long and late, with me heading to Shay's to meet up with Dan, Fitz, Nick, and Jenn. Dana, who waitresses at Shay's, plays in the Signal, another local band. We ended the night at Charlie's, where we hung out upstairs -- and where I saw Natalie Portman.
All in all, not a bad week for music, but a bad week for sleep.
Thanks to Media Dietician Vincent Scorziello for the research assistance.
Last week was way too active on the nightlife and show-going scene. This week needs to be much quieter. That said, I did take in some excellent music over the last five nights. Wednesday night found me at the Druid on Inman Square, where I caught up with Sarah and some of her friends to see Paddy Soul, Eric Saulnier, and Martin Finke. Sonier works sound at the Abbey, so a lot of the Abbey staff was there to support him. We didn't stick around to see Finke, but I enjoyed the first two solo guitar singer-songwriter sets. Seems like music at the Druid is picking up.
Thursday night found me at the Choppin' Block near Northeastern for the Mister Records CD release party. While I wasn't too impressed by Shark Mountain, I quite enjoyed the sets by Plunge Into Death, Tunnel of Love, and Cathy Cathodic. Having met some co-workers for drinks after leaving the office -- and before taking the E line to Brigham's Circle -- the night got rather long and late, and I recall making eyes at a red-haired girl with dreadlocks.
She was at the 71 Sunbeam show Saturday at TT the Bear's, too, oddly enough. I made a point not to be so creepy this time. Not sure why I found her so captivating Thursday. In any event, Neil came up from Connecticut for the show, the band's first in Boston since he moved back there for school. And their shows in Brooklyn and Providence seem to have helped them find a new confidence and presence. Quite an impressive set, despite the low mix on Jeremy's xylophone solo. And the band has a new fan! There was a fellow standing right up in front, dancing, taking digital photos, and air drumming for much of the show. I'm glad 71 Sunbeam has been able to continue despite half the band's relocation to Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Sally Crewe, who usually plays with the Sudden Moves, performed a solo set that was enjoyable but seemingly unappreciated by the crowd. It's hard to play solo at TT's unless you're on the other side, and as Crewe's set progressed, the crowd on the floor diminished and conversation increased. Laguardia followed, but by then, I was on the other side hanging out with Neil catching up. Like Thursday, Saturday got long and late, with me heading to Shay's to meet up with Dan, Fitz, Nick, and Jenn. Dana, who waitresses at Shay's, plays in the Signal, another local band. We ended the night at Charlie's, where we hung out upstairs -- and where I saw Natalie Portman.
All in all, not a bad week for music, but a bad week for sleep.
Thanks to Media Dietician Vincent Scorziello for the research assistance.
Comics and Conversation III
Last night's Boston Chamber Music Society concert last night snuck up on me, and I ended up staying in to read and write on the Big Blue Couch at Church Corner. Planning the itinerary for this weekend's Boston World Explorers' Foundation excursion, I had my hiptop near at hand to research sights and sites on the Web. In the midst of my research, I received an IM from Victor Cayro. Curious about my recent comments about his piece in Studygroup 12 #2, Cayro's IM query turned into a proper IM'erview about why he avoids the small press, how Jessica Abel got him into comics, and life in Dubuque, Iowa. Here's the transcript.
After finishing the IM'erview, I checked out his piece in Legal Action Comics. The story's theme and content is similar to that of "The Beard and Baby Brother" in terms of its shock value and language, but it's much better drawn than the Studygroup 12 story. Not quite my bag, but I'll keep my eyes peeled for future work by this iconoclastic Iowan.
Last night's Boston Chamber Music Society concert last night snuck up on me, and I ended up staying in to read and write on the Big Blue Couch at Church Corner. Planning the itinerary for this weekend's Boston World Explorers' Foundation excursion, I had my hiptop near at hand to research sights and sites on the Web. In the midst of my research, I received an IM from Victor Cayro. Curious about my recent comments about his piece in Studygroup 12 #2, Cayro's IM query turned into a proper IM'erview about why he avoids the small press, how Jessica Abel got him into comics, and life in Dubuque, Iowa. Here's the transcript.
VICTORJULIOCAYRO: You don't really think that my strip was offensive and insensitive, do you?
h3athrow: Memory kicking in... The bathtub strip?
V: bathh tub?
h: I don't have that anthology right here, so id need to refresh what made me say that
V: not, rivalry among siblings
V: my baby
V: my baby brother
V: who is challenged
V: chair challenge
V: Pepsi Challenge
V: RETARDED
V: Study Group number 2
h: Ah. Lemme get it.
V: yes sir
h: yep, pretty insensitive
V: how so
V: immature?
V: poorly illustrated?
V: aww schucks
h: Your portrayal of the retarded guy and the violence inflicted on him. I didn't find the punchline a payoff...
h: Wasnt a funny piece
V: Jessica helped me write the script
V: Jessica Abel
h: Was that where the piece started? You wanted to get to "tard-get"?
V: no, I wanted something to drink
V: and my Brother was looking at me funny
V: because retards have a way of looking at things funny
V: and looking funny
V: it's nature's way really
h: Is your brother really retarded? And you don't think your piece is hurtful?
V: he loves it
V: I make photocopies of the strip for him
h: I suppose all is well, then
V: and colors them with crayolas
V: and defecation
V: NO, I don't have a baby brother
V: When I was 6 yrs old I was traumitized by a severe and profound individual
h: im sorry to hear about that
V: never gotten over it
V: still hurts
V: inside
h: How do you know the studygroup people?
V: Zackary Soto saw my piece in LEGAL action comics
V: and chatted about ghost stories
V: a connection was made
V: and unbreakable bond
V: never made out or anything, be is allot of fun
V: but he, I meant
V: are friends with some of those guys?
V: are you, I meant
V: ?
h: Hung out with souther and sammy a little at ape. A friend is publishing Marc Bell's book
V: I haven't any of those guys, and I never been to the APe before
V: you do the SPX?
h: Not yet
V: its a great show
V: like of big names were there this year
V: I've been doing that show since 99
V: Art Speigleman, Charles Burns, Eddie Campbell, one of those mexican soap opera comics dudes.....
h: How long you been doing comics?
V: Evan Dorkin
V: Dean Haspiel
V: Since I was 19
V: I think
V: so that'd be in 2000
V: but my first published work is GARBAGE
V: Big Book of the &0s
V: DC/VErigo
V: GARBAGE
h: Whatd you do for that?
V: money
V: and the idea of getting published sounded cool
h: Howd you get involved in that project?
V: it had always been my dream to a published comic artist
V: Jessica Abel told me that the place to get a good basic idea of the indie comic world was through a weekend at SPX
V: she was right
V: she introduced me to Jim Higgins
V: who was the editor for the Big Book series at that time
V: he like the stuff had
V: although my old stuff sucks
V: Jim Higgins left DC and published his own book, that I will recommend
V: NEW THING: Identity, you have that?
h: It sounds familiar
V: I have a sensitive 13 page story in there, and Tomer Hanuka of Bipolar has a good story in there
V: everyone in the book couldn't be more different, style wise
h: Sounds good. New Bipolar coming soon, i hear
V: Tomer is a machine
V: hes a decent guy
V: smokes Marlboro light 100's
V: oh yeah, makes good comics
h: You have other stuff out?
V: Legal Action Comics
V: New THing: Identity
V: I'm working on my story for Legal Action Comics 2
V: and just finished a story for a book entitled True POrn
V: that will feature comics by Kochalka, Robyn Chaopman, Ivan Brunettie
V: and a slew of others
V: it will be an adventure
V: Any minis of your own?
V: no, never done a mini
V: don't think I ever will
V: I only want to do things that will see large print run
V: or at more that 5o copies
V: or at least more than 50 copies I mean
V: I can barely type or think clearly right now, excuse the grammital errors and misspellings
h: No worries. Can i use some of this in media diet? First time someone im'd me bc of a review
V: sure, go for broke
h: Where do you live?
V: although that part about Jessica Abel co writing THE BEARD AND BABY BROTHER comic, that is completely false
V: a joke
V: I live in Dubuque Iowa
h: I thought so
V: ?
V: Why do you say that?
h: That the abel thing was a joke? Didn't seem like jessica...
V: looking me up on the net?
V: Yes, I know it doesn't sound like anything Jessica Abel would even look at(the strip), THAT IS THE JOKE
V: a very small and insignificant joke...
h: Nah, the joke was good
V: regardless, I didn't want her hearing of some website saying that he had anything to do with the creation of the said strip
V: no, why did you figure I lived in Dubuque?
h: I didn't. Our lines crossed.
h: Do you think your clarification of the abel thing is good enough, or do you want that cut entirely?
V: ok, where do you live?
V: If you think that it makes for good media diet, then blow nuts with it
V: it is sort of funny, in a funny way
V: God Bless Jessica Abel
V: you can run that...
V: sincerely though, without her, I wouldn't be in comics
h: I live in boston.
h: Id kinda like to put this up just as a chat transcript...
V: I'd having sex with white trash bitchs and drawing pictures of me jacking off at late night diners on yellowed computer paper and placemats, it would be some Caruso Clown crying cradlebreak type shit
h: Is there much of a comics crew in dubuque?
V: ZILCH
V: just me
V: not really a scene of anything
V: a small music scene, that I'm a part off
h: What do you do?
V: I do all the promotional flyers
V: and great drunk
h: Good bands there?
V: sure, for young kids
h: Are you drunk now?
V: no, I don't really drink that much
V: I used to have problem
V: have A problem
V: but I drink here and there
V: I limit myself to 3 times a month
V: because I am dedicated to my comics
h: Youre 23 now? What do you do in dubuque? (outside of comics)
V: my last girlfriend broke up with me because she though I loved comics more than her cunt
V: I'm 22
V: besides comics? talk to friends, frequent the movie theatre
V: I like Chinese action films
V: I make home videos
V: and NOT JACKASS rip off garbage
V: concerts
V: foot bag
V: cigarette tricks
V: making a difference in young child's life
V: having terrible luck with women
V: I'm sure I leaving something out
V: or something
V: or nothing
V: I don't know anymore
V: how old are you?
V: 26?
h: 29
h: You in school? Have a job?
V: what do you in boston to alleviate strss troubles?
V: I work in a grocery store, and live in a apt by myself
V: its pretty CRAZY!!!
V: you make the big boston bucks?
h: Not really. Work for a magazine, go to shows, sing in a punk band
V: whats you punk band's name?
V: you like Dillinger Four? Boris the Sprinkler? Toys that Kill?
V: Groovey Ghoulies?
V: The EUrchins?
V: those are some that I know
h: The anchormen
V: are MP3s available online?
h: Yep. Anchormen.com . Dillinger 4 and boris are awesome. Good midwestern stuff!
h: What are the best punk bands in iowa?
V: I like them quite a bit, one of my best friends(and neighbors) has played with them before, but I don't know if you have ever heard of them, HOT CARL?
V: I think they are good
V: geez
h: Do they have mp3s up?
V: NO NO NO!!!!
V: geez, as in, let me think geez
V: I can't say who best are
V: Hot Carl is the only one I know that is Iowa nativwe
V: although I did hear a good band not so long ago, but I forgot the name
h: Are you an iowa native?
V: Half Peruvian, born here.
h: Know anything about peruvian comics? I'd be curious...
V: I would be to, but I have never seen one
V: althought there is allot of artists there
V: I want to move there for a year or so
V: been there a couple of times
V: loved it
h: Well, i should go. Ill look for more of your stuff
V: 75 cents for a pack of Marlboros
V: It was nice chatting with you
V: have a great evening
h: Thanks for saying hey
V: any day
After finishing the IM'erview, I checked out his piece in Legal Action Comics. The story's theme and content is similar to that of "The Beard and Baby Brother" in terms of its shock value and language, but it's much better drawn than the Studygroup 12 story. Not quite my bag, but I'll keep my eyes peeled for future work by this iconoclastic Iowan.
Thursday, February 06, 2003
Comics and Computers
James Kochalka has developed a set of icons for the Mac and PC featuring Magic Boy, Peanut Butter and Jeremy, Fancy Froglin, and Monkey vs. Robot. These are a great complement to the icon set designed by Pupino.
James Kochalka has developed a set of icons for the Mac and PC featuring Magic Boy, Peanut Butter and Jeremy, Fancy Froglin, and Monkey vs. Robot. These are a great complement to the icon set designed by Pupino.
From the In Box: From the Reading Pile XVI
I enjoyed perusing your site. Ten thousand years from now archeologists will answer the question "But how did these people live?" by mining web logs from fossilized hard drives. Immortality! -- Fred Leisen
I enjoyed perusing your site. Ten thousand years from now archeologists will answer the question "But how did these people live?" by mining web logs from fossilized hard drives. Immortality! -- Fred Leisen
Wednesday, February 05, 2003
From the Reading Pile XVI
A Modest Sample of Work for My Close Friends and Prospective Clients
An aspiring commercial artist, Fred was one of the friendliest people I met at APE this year. Currently working freelance, Fred says that his mini hasn't really helped him find any work yet, but you know what? The photocopied 12-pager is an impressive melange of Andi Watson, Shary Flenniken, Kris Dresen, Jeff Smith, Jordan Crane, and Geoff Darrow, believe it or not. Using a Scott McCloud-like approach to strutting his storytelling stuff, Fred recounts his animation, illustration, and publishing experience, basically creating a comics resume. The plane crash panel by itself is worth flipping through this. Friendly, funny, and extremely clean in its pacing and line. Somebody hire this guy. Free from Fred Leisen.
The New Adventures of Mangfish
This eight-page photocopied mini was completed at the copy shop minutes before Andy arrived at APE this past weekend. It's a slight divergence from his Life of a Fetus work for Slave Labor, both in terms of artwork and story. As the "presumed unquenchable," Mangfish is jokingly based on the "popular books on tape version of Peter Benchley's White Shark." Riffing on some of Marvel's worst monster comics ("Mangfish chooses poorly.", the Mangfish soon emerges as the "Mangfish that walks like a mang," stomping on a well-drawncoelacanth. This might be a good excuse for Andy to draw amphibians ("Good evening friends.") or it might be a solid parody of monster comics. All I know is that it's less dense that Fetus -- less psychedelic -- and a slight stretch for Andy. Keep stretching, man. I look forward to seeing the full length. Free from Andy Ristaino.
Snake Pit Anthology II
I met -- or almost met -- Ben at APE this year, and having read almost two years worth of his daily punk-rock autobio comic strips, I feel as though I know him. His simple yet complex all at the same time. Every day Ben details his daily regimen. His soundtrack. Watching movies. Smoking pot. Hooking up with girls. Drinking heavily. Going to shows. Working at a record store. Enjoying James Kochalka's work -- and getting the tat to prove it. Caring for his fish. Toruing as a roadie. Playing in a band. Visiting his parents. Going on roadtrips. It's all rather deadpan and mundane in a Doris-meets-Cometbus kind of way, but reading Ben a year at a time -- these anthologies collect Ben's monthly editions -- it's easier to track the trends in his life. People come and go. He debates whether he has a drinking problem. And he continues to discover himself through comics, friends, and music. My favorites in this edition include the full-page New Year's piece, the thrash metal song lyric adaptations, and his drawing of girls, turtles, snails, and people at parties. Wonderful. $2 to Ben White, P.O. Box 49447, Austin, TX 78765.
Stuart Ng Books Catalogue Eight
This free 28-page catalog of out-of-print, rare, and used books about illustration, animation, and comic art is an impressive, albeit expensive selection of original art, artist monographs, political cartoons, art instruction books, illustration annuals, reference books, and periodicals. A media geek's dream. Almost rivaling my favorite catalog of rare labor- and socialism-oriented texts, this catalog, though thinner, is just as tempting. Charles Addams, Jack Cole, Harold Gray, Bill Mauldin, Harry Rountree, and back issues of Nemo -- they're all here, all in early editions and well-described listings. Budget knows whether I'll place an order, but it's fun to browse -- and dream. Stuart Ng Books, 2456 W. 228th St., Torrance, CA 90501-5232.
Synthetic Universe #3
Not to relegate Alison to girlfriend status out of the gate, but this comic -- Alison's first full-sized comic, I believe -- was handed to me by Andy Hunter, former Somerville-based editorial executor of Mommy and I Are One. Oddly, having read the entire comic, a piece that Andy wrote, "Killing Time," is perhaps the best in the issue. A modern-day reworking of the frog prince fairy tale, the piece is a darkly playful look at love, separation, and opportunity. Hunter's other piece, the short-form "Walk in the Park," isn't as satisying. Of Taylor's solo pieces, "Thrifting in the 2020's" reminds me of Megan Kelso's Bottlecap stories, with its dystopic manufacturing-based future and relational considerations. (The phone panel on p. 11 of that story sings!) "The Bone Story," despite the awkward two-page spread, is a nifty twist on autobio storytelling. And, while it was fun to see Andy's mug in the third panel of p. 30, Alison's art is largely an ugly-style take on Leela Corman or Jessica Abel. The writing, I like. The art, I might need to get used to. $3.95 to Alison Taylor, Hardcut Publishing, P.O. Box 291700, Los Angeles, CA 90029.
A Modest Sample of Work for My Close Friends and Prospective Clients
An aspiring commercial artist, Fred was one of the friendliest people I met at APE this year. Currently working freelance, Fred says that his mini hasn't really helped him find any work yet, but you know what? The photocopied 12-pager is an impressive melange of Andi Watson, Shary Flenniken, Kris Dresen, Jeff Smith, Jordan Crane, and Geoff Darrow, believe it or not. Using a Scott McCloud-like approach to strutting his storytelling stuff, Fred recounts his animation, illustration, and publishing experience, basically creating a comics resume. The plane crash panel by itself is worth flipping through this. Friendly, funny, and extremely clean in its pacing and line. Somebody hire this guy. Free from Fred Leisen.
The New Adventures of Mangfish
This eight-page photocopied mini was completed at the copy shop minutes before Andy arrived at APE this past weekend. It's a slight divergence from his Life of a Fetus work for Slave Labor, both in terms of artwork and story. As the "presumed unquenchable," Mangfish is jokingly based on the "popular books on tape version of Peter Benchley's White Shark." Riffing on some of Marvel's worst monster comics ("Mangfish chooses poorly.", the Mangfish soon emerges as the "Mangfish that walks like a mang," stomping on a well-drawncoelacanth. This might be a good excuse for Andy to draw amphibians ("Good evening friends.") or it might be a solid parody of monster comics. All I know is that it's less dense that Fetus -- less psychedelic -- and a slight stretch for Andy. Keep stretching, man. I look forward to seeing the full length. Free from Andy Ristaino.
Snake Pit Anthology II
I met -- or almost met -- Ben at APE this year, and having read almost two years worth of his daily punk-rock autobio comic strips, I feel as though I know him. His simple yet complex all at the same time. Every day Ben details his daily regimen. His soundtrack. Watching movies. Smoking pot. Hooking up with girls. Drinking heavily. Going to shows. Working at a record store. Enjoying James Kochalka's work -- and getting the tat to prove it. Caring for his fish. Toruing as a roadie. Playing in a band. Visiting his parents. Going on roadtrips. It's all rather deadpan and mundane in a Doris-meets-Cometbus kind of way, but reading Ben a year at a time -- these anthologies collect Ben's monthly editions -- it's easier to track the trends in his life. People come and go. He debates whether he has a drinking problem. And he continues to discover himself through comics, friends, and music. My favorites in this edition include the full-page New Year's piece, the thrash metal song lyric adaptations, and his drawing of girls, turtles, snails, and people at parties. Wonderful. $2 to Ben White, P.O. Box 49447, Austin, TX 78765.
Stuart Ng Books Catalogue Eight
This free 28-page catalog of out-of-print, rare, and used books about illustration, animation, and comic art is an impressive, albeit expensive selection of original art, artist monographs, political cartoons, art instruction books, illustration annuals, reference books, and periodicals. A media geek's dream. Almost rivaling my favorite catalog of rare labor- and socialism-oriented texts, this catalog, though thinner, is just as tempting. Charles Addams, Jack Cole, Harold Gray, Bill Mauldin, Harry Rountree, and back issues of Nemo -- they're all here, all in early editions and well-described listings. Budget knows whether I'll place an order, but it's fun to browse -- and dream. Stuart Ng Books, 2456 W. 228th St., Torrance, CA 90501-5232.
Synthetic Universe #3
Not to relegate Alison to girlfriend status out of the gate, but this comic -- Alison's first full-sized comic, I believe -- was handed to me by Andy Hunter, former Somerville-based editorial executor of Mommy and I Are One. Oddly, having read the entire comic, a piece that Andy wrote, "Killing Time," is perhaps the best in the issue. A modern-day reworking of the frog prince fairy tale, the piece is a darkly playful look at love, separation, and opportunity. Hunter's other piece, the short-form "Walk in the Park," isn't as satisying. Of Taylor's solo pieces, "Thrifting in the 2020's" reminds me of Megan Kelso's Bottlecap stories, with its dystopic manufacturing-based future and relational considerations. (The phone panel on p. 11 of that story sings!) "The Bone Story," despite the awkward two-page spread, is a nifty twist on autobio storytelling. And, while it was fun to see Andy's mug in the third panel of p. 30, Alison's art is largely an ugly-style take on Leela Corman or Jessica Abel. The writing, I like. The art, I might need to get used to. $3.95 to Alison Taylor, Hardcut Publishing, P.O. Box 291700, Los Angeles, CA 90029.
Books Worth a Look XI
These are the books I read in January 2003.
Beneath the Axis of Evil: One Man's Journey into the Horrors of War by Neal Pollack (So New Media, 2003)
I don't know Neal Pollack. I've never met Neal Pollack. In fact, I've often confused Neal Pollack with Todd Pruzan, a much better writer, although he's much lesser known. Regardless, perhaps because of occasional email exchanges and the sheer power and possibility of Pollack's writing, I eagerly awaited the arrival of this text and read it in one sitting on the Big Blue Couch. If irony is dead, Jesus is ironic, because irony lives again. Not many people can make fun of 911 or the prospect of war without being gauche or offensive, but Neal does so with taste, tenacity, and something starting with "t" that means intelligence. Well worth reading, if not just for the hand-written personal inscription making light of where you work.
Pages: 62. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
The Doofus Omnibus: The Definitive Collection of His Greatest Adventures in Flowertown, U.S.A. by Rick Altergott (Fantagraphics, 2002)
I'm not the biggest fan of Altergott's work. Even though he's tight with many of the Fantagraphics set, is married to cartoonist Ariel Bordeaux, and lives nearby in Providence, I've just never appreciated his art or writing. His artwork, while reminiscent of some of the old-school EC artists such as Wally Wood, is overly busy and dense for my taste, and I don't really enjoy his Doofus or Henry Hotchkiss characters. That said, there's some good in the book. His collaboration with Dan Clowes is a nice piece of near-autobiography. As is his piece with Charles Schneider. Similarly, his story with Irwin Chispid about Stan Kenton arranger Robert Graettinger is also impressive. But of his own stuff, the Tales of Young Doofus is about as close as I get to digging Altergott. But I'm glad I gave this a chance.
Pages: 112. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
Exit Strategy by Douglas Rushkoff (Soft Skull, 2002)
As the "world's first open-source novel," Rushkoff's recent book, which was first serialized online by Yahoo! Internet Life, fails in principle. The idea was that, by publishing the novel online, Rushkoff would attract reader-contributed Pale Fire-like footnotes that would then be published along with the principle text. The footnotes failed. While a worthy gambit and gimmick, I read the novel once through without paying attention to the overly interrupting footnotes and then flipped back through the book to see what I missed. Not much. Footnotes aside, the novel is well worth reading. A dotcom retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph, Rushkoff susses out some excellent religious theorizing, Judaicultural commentary, and speculative technological development. The cultic aspects of the AI are quite intriguing, But the footnotes? Give 'em the boot.
Pages: 335. Days to read: 3. Rating: Good.
Fruits by Shoichi Aoki (Phaidon, 2001)
What an awesome, mind-blowing book! Compiling about 270 photographs taken by Aoki in the Harajuku shopping district of Tokyo, much of the book was originally published in the Japanese street fashion magazine Fruits. While the photographs of the various progressive modes of clothing are wide-ranging and extremely interesting, Aoki's subjects' facial expressions, body postures, and attitudes resonate even more strongly. Aoki also finds value in the minutiae. Each photo identifies the subject by name and age and details where various items of clothing came from. But it is the "point of fashion" and "current obsession" listings that really surprise. It is here that we learn what the fashion means to the wearer -- and who they really are.
Pages: 276. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Haw! Horrible, Horrible Cartoons by Ivan Brunetti (Fantagraphics, 2001)
I know I've already read this before, but I don't think I ever got around to reviewing it. This collection of mostly single-panel gag comics represents what might have been created were Charles Schultz to channel Mike Diana. Much more far out and visceral than Brunetti's work in Schizo and for magazines such as Fast Company, Haw! is horrible, horrible indeed. Incest, pedophilia, dismemberment, homophobia, S&M, irreverence, scatology, racism, AIDS, disembowelment, drug use, rape, pornography, and suicide. It's a dreary roundup of humankind's worst foibles, and most of this would be decidedly unfunny were it not couched in cartoon art so cute. This is the real dysfunctional family circus.
Pages: 96. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
Hope: Opens the Way When There Seems No Way by Norman Vincent Peale (Peale Center for Christian Living, 2002)
I'm fascinated by religions pamphlets and other easily portable, reproducible, and readable pieces of philosophical propaganda. Designed to be easily digested and distributed, they're an interesting way to move ideas fast. This slim volume, produced in the context of the economic downturn and pending war, focuses on Peale's optimistic perspective on detemination, enthusiasm, persistence, vision, and faith. Though simple and somewhat shallow, the booklet contends that belief is all we need. The section on expectations hit home.
Pages: 32. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
The Illustrated Price Guide to Cult Magazines 1945 to 1969: 25 Years of Exploitation by Alan Betrock (Shake Books, 1994)
Not really a book to read as much as it is a book to refer to, this doesn't even really make that great a reference book. By now way outdated, the book does not really reflect current prices for the non-cheesecake exploitation magazines indexed here. Betrock chooses not to concentrate on magazines that specialized in nudity, instead focusing on scandal, crime, romance, and other exploitation titles such as Best Detective Cases, Exciting Romances, and Front Page Confidential. The price guide data is limited to listing the publisher, the date of the first issue, and extremely broad price ranges. But this book is important because of the almost 475 cover reproductions. An excellent visual survey of the publishing niche.
Pages: 160. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddism by Thich Nhat Hanh (Parallal, 1987)
The Order of Interbeing grew out of the School of Yough for Social Service in the mid-'60s as a way to incubate members' Buddhist practice as well as their social activism. This thin volume comprises documentation on the order's charter, community, and 14 precepts. Hanh proceeds to expand on the 14 precepts, which balance traditional Buddhist thinking with more societally involved considerations, including consumerism, right livelihood, simplicity, and social justice. I didn't find the precept recitationceremony scripts that useful, but it's interesting that the book is designed to help people organize their own sanghas. An easy introduction to engaged Buddhism in practice.
Pages: 77. Days to read: 12. Rating: Fair.
Metrophage by Richard Kadrey (Ace, 1988)
Kadrey's first novel was part of the Terry Carr-edited New Ace Science Fiction Specials series, which also helped launch Kim Stanley Robinson, William Gibson, and Michael Swanwick. The novel is a rollicking and undisciplined exploration of a near-future Los Angeles rocked by cultural tribes of all stripes, an emergent police state, and an engineered plague that threatens to make it all even worse. I never really empathized with the novel's protagonist, but the people whose lives intersected with his haphazard sleuthing are all thoughtfully crafted and innovatively presented. A good start to a writing career worth following.
Pages: 240. Days to read: 4. Rating: Fair.
Pictorial History of Highland, Indiana edited by Matthew Figi (Highland Historical Society, 1999)
Highland is a town of roughly 25,000 peopel in northwest Indiana not far from where my grandmother lives. I'm not overly familiar with the area's layout, but I love local history books like this. At base, the book collects more than 175 phootographs dating between 1850 and 1998, capturing the people, places, and organizations that made Highland what it is today. Largely a history of founding families, civic involvement, and commercial locations, the book could have been organized chronologically. But in the end, it's an archive worth sharing -- and one that showcases some bygone faces and spaces. Highland could be anywhere.
Pages: 106. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Tremont Street Subway: A Century of Public Service by Bradley Clarke and O.R. Cummings (Boston Street Railway Association, 1997)
This well-researched, -documented, and -illustrated history of the Tremont Street Subway, now the green line of the MBTA, is an excellent introduction to Boston's public transit history. Documenting the pre-T transportation options in the area -- horsecars and electric trolleys -- as well as the legislation that led to the T, the booklet includes vintage maps, illustrations, and photographs that date back to the late 1800s. The history touches on construction, the gas explosion of 1897, dead stations, the balance of subway and elevated service, and various extensions to the green line. Clarke and Cummings have provided a valuable, focused history of the T.
Pages: 67. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
The Ultimate Cyberpunk: The Best Fiction from SF's New Wave edited by Pat Cadigan (iBooks, 2002)
Despite Cadigan's disappointingly apologetic introduction, "Not a Manifesto," which sidesteps the responsibility to establish a cyberpunk canon and fails to adequately define or describe the school of s-f writing, the bulk of this book -- which comprises 13 short stories -- is excellent. Highlights include Alfred Bester's 1954 "Fondly Farenheit," Philip K. Dick's Total Recall inspiration "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," Greg Bear's nanogenetic cautionary tale "Blood Music," and Paul J. McAuley's "Dr. Luther's Assistant." What impressed me the most of Cadigan's collection was the historical scope. Instead of sticking to the school's most-known and of-the-time contributors, she expands the scope and meaning of cyberpunk, even as she refuses to pin it down or reduce it to a single definition.
Pages: 399. Days to read: 6. Rating: Good.
The Way to Happiness: A Common Sense Guide to Better Living by L. Ron Hubbard (Bridge 1989)
This slim, inexpensive pamphlet was produced by the Church of Scientology as an easy-to-digest introduction to the church's moral code. As such, it opens with encouraging instructions to distribute the booklet to friends and family before outlining a 21-point plan for happiness. While the pamphlet is simply written -- with Hubbard's characteristic footnote definitions -- and there's nothing overtly disagreeable about the booklet, several aspects stand out. One, these moral guidelines could come from any of the world's religions. Two, Scientology's mistrust of the mainstream media comes clear as the book exhorts readers to make their own decisions and determine what is true for them. The booklet's insights on observation, ownership, and the Golden Rule are especially interesting.
Pages: 45. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
We're Desperate: The Punk Rock Photography of Jim Jocoy SF/LA 78-80 by Jim Jocoy with Thurston Moore, Exene Cervenka, and Marc Jacobs (Powerhouse, 2002)
This wonderfully produced book collects almost 350 full-bleed portrait photographs Jocoy took at the Mabuhay Gardens, the Masque, and other locations. Mostly capturing a series of art students, punk rockers, and show goers in similar settings, the staged poses aptly catch the moment in musical, fashion, and cultural time. While Cervenka and Jacobs'' essays add little to the collection or its context, Moore's interview with Jocoy addresses how the book came to be, Jocoy's innovative photography process (which initially involved a slide--based color photocopy projection technology!), and work with the "models." Like an issue of Fruits magazine crossed with Search & Destroy or Slash. Beautiful.
Pages: 370. Days to read: 2. Rating: Excellent.
What They Never Told You About Boston (or What They Did That Were Lies) by Walt Kelley (Down East, 1993)
A driver for Town Taxi -- for about six years when this was published and following a management career in banking -- Kelley offers a perspective of the city that stems from his experiences on the street, as well as conversations with passengers. He knows what history interests people, and he shares a lot of it in this quick read -- the origin of Boston's name; the three lies of John Harvard's statue in Harvard Yard; little-known facts about the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, and Midnight Ride of Paul Revere; the landfill that makes Boston livable; and other unsung stories. Kelley's book is well-researched yet streetwise.
Pages: 112. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Writers and publishers may send books for Media Diet to consider for review to the address in the left-hand column. Publishers who send galleys or review copies -- if reviewed -- will receive a link as part of the review.
These are the books I read in January 2003.
Beneath the Axis of Evil: One Man's Journey into the Horrors of War by Neal Pollack (So New Media, 2003)
I don't know Neal Pollack. I've never met Neal Pollack. In fact, I've often confused Neal Pollack with Todd Pruzan, a much better writer, although he's much lesser known. Regardless, perhaps because of occasional email exchanges and the sheer power and possibility of Pollack's writing, I eagerly awaited the arrival of this text and read it in one sitting on the Big Blue Couch. If irony is dead, Jesus is ironic, because irony lives again. Not many people can make fun of 911 or the prospect of war without being gauche or offensive, but Neal does so with taste, tenacity, and something starting with "t" that means intelligence. Well worth reading, if not just for the hand-written personal inscription making light of where you work.
Pages: 62. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
The Doofus Omnibus: The Definitive Collection of His Greatest Adventures in Flowertown, U.S.A. by Rick Altergott (Fantagraphics, 2002)
I'm not the biggest fan of Altergott's work. Even though he's tight with many of the Fantagraphics set, is married to cartoonist Ariel Bordeaux, and lives nearby in Providence, I've just never appreciated his art or writing. His artwork, while reminiscent of some of the old-school EC artists such as Wally Wood, is overly busy and dense for my taste, and I don't really enjoy his Doofus or Henry Hotchkiss characters. That said, there's some good in the book. His collaboration with Dan Clowes is a nice piece of near-autobiography. As is his piece with Charles Schneider. Similarly, his story with Irwin Chispid about Stan Kenton arranger Robert Graettinger is also impressive. But of his own stuff, the Tales of Young Doofus is about as close as I get to digging Altergott. But I'm glad I gave this a chance.
Pages: 112. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
Exit Strategy by Douglas Rushkoff (Soft Skull, 2002)
As the "world's first open-source novel," Rushkoff's recent book, which was first serialized online by Yahoo! Internet Life, fails in principle. The idea was that, by publishing the novel online, Rushkoff would attract reader-contributed Pale Fire-like footnotes that would then be published along with the principle text. The footnotes failed. While a worthy gambit and gimmick, I read the novel once through without paying attention to the overly interrupting footnotes and then flipped back through the book to see what I missed. Not much. Footnotes aside, the novel is well worth reading. A dotcom retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph, Rushkoff susses out some excellent religious theorizing, Judaicultural commentary, and speculative technological development. The cultic aspects of the AI are quite intriguing, But the footnotes? Give 'em the boot.
Pages: 335. Days to read: 3. Rating: Good.
Fruits by Shoichi Aoki (Phaidon, 2001)
What an awesome, mind-blowing book! Compiling about 270 photographs taken by Aoki in the Harajuku shopping district of Tokyo, much of the book was originally published in the Japanese street fashion magazine Fruits. While the photographs of the various progressive modes of clothing are wide-ranging and extremely interesting, Aoki's subjects' facial expressions, body postures, and attitudes resonate even more strongly. Aoki also finds value in the minutiae. Each photo identifies the subject by name and age and details where various items of clothing came from. But it is the "point of fashion" and "current obsession" listings that really surprise. It is here that we learn what the fashion means to the wearer -- and who they really are.
Pages: 276. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
Haw! Horrible, Horrible Cartoons by Ivan Brunetti (Fantagraphics, 2001)
I know I've already read this before, but I don't think I ever got around to reviewing it. This collection of mostly single-panel gag comics represents what might have been created were Charles Schultz to channel Mike Diana. Much more far out and visceral than Brunetti's work in Schizo and for magazines such as Fast Company, Haw! is horrible, horrible indeed. Incest, pedophilia, dismemberment, homophobia, S&M, irreverence, scatology, racism, AIDS, disembowelment, drug use, rape, pornography, and suicide. It's a dreary roundup of humankind's worst foibles, and most of this would be decidedly unfunny were it not couched in cartoon art so cute. This is the real dysfunctional family circus.
Pages: 96. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
Hope: Opens the Way When There Seems No Way by Norman Vincent Peale (Peale Center for Christian Living, 2002)
I'm fascinated by religions pamphlets and other easily portable, reproducible, and readable pieces of philosophical propaganda. Designed to be easily digested and distributed, they're an interesting way to move ideas fast. This slim volume, produced in the context of the economic downturn and pending war, focuses on Peale's optimistic perspective on detemination, enthusiasm, persistence, vision, and faith. Though simple and somewhat shallow, the booklet contends that belief is all we need. The section on expectations hit home.
Pages: 32. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
The Illustrated Price Guide to Cult Magazines 1945 to 1969: 25 Years of Exploitation by Alan Betrock (Shake Books, 1994)
Not really a book to read as much as it is a book to refer to, this doesn't even really make that great a reference book. By now way outdated, the book does not really reflect current prices for the non-cheesecake exploitation magazines indexed here. Betrock chooses not to concentrate on magazines that specialized in nudity, instead focusing on scandal, crime, romance, and other exploitation titles such as Best Detective Cases, Exciting Romances, and Front Page Confidential. The price guide data is limited to listing the publisher, the date of the first issue, and extremely broad price ranges. But this book is important because of the almost 475 cover reproductions. An excellent visual survey of the publishing niche.
Pages: 160. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged Buddism by Thich Nhat Hanh (Parallal, 1987)
The Order of Interbeing grew out of the School of Yough for Social Service in the mid-'60s as a way to incubate members' Buddhist practice as well as their social activism. This thin volume comprises documentation on the order's charter, community, and 14 precepts. Hanh proceeds to expand on the 14 precepts, which balance traditional Buddhist thinking with more societally involved considerations, including consumerism, right livelihood, simplicity, and social justice. I didn't find the precept recitationceremony scripts that useful, but it's interesting that the book is designed to help people organize their own sanghas. An easy introduction to engaged Buddhism in practice.
Pages: 77. Days to read: 12. Rating: Fair.
Metrophage by Richard Kadrey (Ace, 1988)
Kadrey's first novel was part of the Terry Carr-edited New Ace Science Fiction Specials series, which also helped launch Kim Stanley Robinson, William Gibson, and Michael Swanwick. The novel is a rollicking and undisciplined exploration of a near-future Los Angeles rocked by cultural tribes of all stripes, an emergent police state, and an engineered plague that threatens to make it all even worse. I never really empathized with the novel's protagonist, but the people whose lives intersected with his haphazard sleuthing are all thoughtfully crafted and innovatively presented. A good start to a writing career worth following.
Pages: 240. Days to read: 4. Rating: Fair.
Pictorial History of Highland, Indiana edited by Matthew Figi (Highland Historical Society, 1999)
Highland is a town of roughly 25,000 peopel in northwest Indiana not far from where my grandmother lives. I'm not overly familiar with the area's layout, but I love local history books like this. At base, the book collects more than 175 phootographs dating between 1850 and 1998, capturing the people, places, and organizations that made Highland what it is today. Largely a history of founding families, civic involvement, and commercial locations, the book could have been organized chronologically. But in the end, it's an archive worth sharing -- and one that showcases some bygone faces and spaces. Highland could be anywhere.
Pages: 106. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good.
Tremont Street Subway: A Century of Public Service by Bradley Clarke and O.R. Cummings (Boston Street Railway Association, 1997)
This well-researched, -documented, and -illustrated history of the Tremont Street Subway, now the green line of the MBTA, is an excellent introduction to Boston's public transit history. Documenting the pre-T transportation options in the area -- horsecars and electric trolleys -- as well as the legislation that led to the T, the booklet includes vintage maps, illustrations, and photographs that date back to the late 1800s. The history touches on construction, the gas explosion of 1897, dead stations, the balance of subway and elevated service, and various extensions to the green line. Clarke and Cummings have provided a valuable, focused history of the T.
Pages: 67. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
The Ultimate Cyberpunk: The Best Fiction from SF's New Wave edited by Pat Cadigan (iBooks, 2002)
Despite Cadigan's disappointingly apologetic introduction, "Not a Manifesto," which sidesteps the responsibility to establish a cyberpunk canon and fails to adequately define or describe the school of s-f writing, the bulk of this book -- which comprises 13 short stories -- is excellent. Highlights include Alfred Bester's 1954 "Fondly Farenheit," Philip K. Dick's Total Recall inspiration "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale," Greg Bear's nanogenetic cautionary tale "Blood Music," and Paul J. McAuley's "Dr. Luther's Assistant." What impressed me the most of Cadigan's collection was the historical scope. Instead of sticking to the school's most-known and of-the-time contributors, she expands the scope and meaning of cyberpunk, even as she refuses to pin it down or reduce it to a single definition.
Pages: 399. Days to read: 6. Rating: Good.
The Way to Happiness: A Common Sense Guide to Better Living by L. Ron Hubbard (Bridge 1989)
This slim, inexpensive pamphlet was produced by the Church of Scientology as an easy-to-digest introduction to the church's moral code. As such, it opens with encouraging instructions to distribute the booklet to friends and family before outlining a 21-point plan for happiness. While the pamphlet is simply written -- with Hubbard's characteristic footnote definitions -- and there's nothing overtly disagreeable about the booklet, several aspects stand out. One, these moral guidelines could come from any of the world's religions. Two, Scientology's mistrust of the mainstream media comes clear as the book exhorts readers to make their own decisions and determine what is true for them. The booklet's insights on observation, ownership, and the Golden Rule are especially interesting.
Pages: 45. Days to read: 1. Rating: Fair.
We're Desperate: The Punk Rock Photography of Jim Jocoy SF/LA 78-80 by Jim Jocoy with Thurston Moore, Exene Cervenka, and Marc Jacobs (Powerhouse, 2002)
This wonderfully produced book collects almost 350 full-bleed portrait photographs Jocoy took at the Mabuhay Gardens, the Masque, and other locations. Mostly capturing a series of art students, punk rockers, and show goers in similar settings, the staged poses aptly catch the moment in musical, fashion, and cultural time. While Cervenka and Jacobs'' essays add little to the collection or its context, Moore's interview with Jocoy addresses how the book came to be, Jocoy's innovative photography process (which initially involved a slide--based color photocopy projection technology!), and work with the "models." Like an issue of Fruits magazine crossed with Search & Destroy or Slash. Beautiful.
Pages: 370. Days to read: 2. Rating: Excellent.
What They Never Told You About Boston (or What They Did That Were Lies) by Walt Kelley (Down East, 1993)
A driver for Town Taxi -- for about six years when this was published and following a management career in banking -- Kelley offers a perspective of the city that stems from his experiences on the street, as well as conversations with passengers. He knows what history interests people, and he shares a lot of it in this quick read -- the origin of Boston's name; the three lies of John Harvard's statue in Harvard Yard; little-known facts about the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, and Midnight Ride of Paul Revere; the landfill that makes Boston livable; and other unsung stories. Kelley's book is well-researched yet streetwise.
Pages: 112. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent.
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