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Friday, August 01, 2003
From the Reading Pile XX The Big Mess Produced for Free Comic Book Day this year, this is a 16-page prelude to T.J.G./Rocket Nova's fully fledged first issue, which was scheduled to be published in June. With an Andy Ristaino-meets-Bruce Orr artistic flair, the digest describes a roundup of robots' reactions to new comic day, the weekly point at which new comics are sold. Meanwhile, the Yezzah Nozzuh Brothers duke it out, characters' tongues tell tall tales, robots go to the flea market, Frankenstein eats spaghetti, and Nippy McGee gives readers advice. I get the sense that this is some sort of ADD-addled sampler, but Rocket Nova's work shows promise, and I hope to see some proper comics soon. Write 107 Conwell Ave., Somerville, MA 02145 for more information. Mini-Sulk Published in honor of Free Comic Book Day, this 24-page mini by Jeffrey Brown contains excerpts of Sulk #1, the forthcoming book "Any Easy Intimacy," and previously unpublished work. Brown's my new favorite autobiographical comics maker. His art is less clean than the usual cute brut school I appreciate but gentle enough to worm its way under my skin. And his writing -- John Porcellino meets Ben Snakepit -- is pleasantly revelatory yet self-effacing. The mostly brief vignettes featured in this mini address making comics, supermodels, childhood birthday parties and embarrassment, crushes, the safety of friends, making love, and dishonesty. My favorite pieces include "My Pathetic Day," the four-panel piece on p. 21, and the page-long foldout "(So He Says.)" I think we have a hot new talent in our midst. Write Jeffrey Brown, P.O. Box 120, Deerfield, IL 60015 for more information. Misfit Toy A cartoon skeleton gives a princess his heart. Meanwhile, Vix shares stories about stuffed animals, reviews a book about a transsexual, appreciates the Muppets, counts down 10 scary toys and analyzes a poll's results, considers "creatures I wish were real," and reviews related movies in this 28-page digest. While slightly disorganized and disjointed, this zine is an interesting look at morbid pop culture. Vix has unexpected insights, enjoys folk singer Richard Shindell (who recently played in Cambridge), and dabbles in photocopy collage. Best of luck with the next issue! Write Vix Spooky, 125 Earl Pl. #234, Toronto, ON, Canada M4Y 1M4 for more information. True Confessions of a Big Geek Starting with the premise that "Gays are geeks, too," editrix Sarah helped form the organization Action Grrrlz, and this 16-page "zinelette" was launched. The mini includes "Geek Confessions 101," a top 10 list of gay geek identifiers; Michele Collins' "Just 5 of the Reasons I'm a Big Geek" (hankies!); Siue's explanation of what it's like having trouble talking to strangers; Jonathan Culp's appreciation of Robert Christgau; and Steven Bereznai's writing about Bangkok, the Oriental city. While I don't think this zine is overly confessional or contextual, it's a nice almost-manifesto. Extra credit for the "alternate geek titles" for the zine and the snapshot on p. 14. Write Sarah, 57 Aziel St., Toronto, ON, Canada M6P 2N8 for more information. Underground Surrealist #11 This 36-page standard-sized comic reminds me a lot of Rodney Schroeter's Bat Comix out of Random Lake, Wisconsin, c. 1982. I wonder if I still have my issues stowed somewhere. Published in 1999, this edition leads with some Steve Jackson Games-like cards featuring the Ambassador's Daughter, Russell Rooster, and Phil I. Stine, the comic's characters. Ramses gets his. Augustus is defrocked. India and Pakistan get it on. People fall down the stairs. (P. 7 is awesome!) A London raver spills some brain cells and changes his life. The Loch Ness Monster swallow Excalibur. Mike Cusimano misspells "renowned." Phil pollutes a river. And the rooster runs away. Then there's a photography spread by Alik Olisevich from the Ukraine before a solid comic by R.J. Pentzell and some ads. It's no Rodney Schroeter, but it's not bad in its silly surrealism. $3 to Mike Cusimano, P.O. Box 382565, Cambridge, MA 02238. Books Worth a Look XVI These are the books I read in June 2003. All Gothic 1: The Boats of the Glen Garrig and the House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson (Xlibris, 2000) If the PBS special "Lucky Jim" inspired me to read Kingsley Amis' novel this month, I need to credit reading this pairing of classic gothic horror novels to Richard Corben's recent "House on the Borderlands" graphic novel. The first two books of Hodgson's trilogy helped inspire H.P. Lovecraft's weird fiction, which means that these books' original publication predates the '30s at least. Yet they hold up. The first novel outlines the nautical misadventures of a crew lost in the Land of Lonesomeness. Encountering a placeless state of terror, humanoid fungi, a weed-choked sea, a ghost ship protecting a stranded band, and a slew of hulking horrors, the story is a largely linear tale. The second story, which Corben adapted almost accurately, is much more Lovecraftian in nature. An abandoned house rests not so comfortably above an ancient horror that evokes Ramsey Campbell-like time travel-triggered disease. While Corben's adaptation casts the hero's sister as his demon lover, Hodgson's original text portrays her as an alien adulteress. The description of the heat death of the universe and its aftermath is well worth the price of acquisition alone. Pages: 317. Days to read: NA. Rating: Good. Beemer by Glenn Gaslin (Soho, 2003) I went to college with Glenn. He married the journalistic girl most wanted. He co-authored a Might-like book that sank like a stone. And his first novel is absolutely amazing. Like Maxx Barry's Syrup on uppers, Beemer is an awesome parallel read to D.B. Weiss' Lucky Wander Boy. A wandering wastrel seeks to secure success by establishing himself as a brand. Combining the occasional cliche with the life-changing lesson, Gaslin attacks pop culture proponents -- comic books, magazines, TV -- as his hero gains work in the advertising world, rekindles a lost advert icon, and gets into the virtual vortex of video games, values, and Variety. The book comes complete with a Brandon Tartikoff fetish and a Fast Company name drop. Required reading for Media Dieticians. Pages: 261. Days to read: 2. Rating: Excellent. Buddy the Dreamer by Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics, 1994) I was inspired to revisit Bagge's earlier comics work after a recent email exchange with him about his page-long pieces in Reason magazine and his new comic Sweatshop. The second volume of the Buddy Bradley reprint series collects seven stories taken from Hate #6-10. "Valerie's Parents" shows that there's some gentleness and good in Buddy when it comes to relationships. In "Paranoia Reigns Supreme," Lisa tries to seduce George, reaffirming that "it's a very sick world out there." In the two-part "Follow That Dream," Buddy and Stinky get involved with a touring band, adding some expected Pacific Northwest grunge-rock color. And "The Nut" continues the stereotypical themes of early Fantagraphics books, particularly because of its setting in a used bookstore. Despite the introduction of these pop culture concepts, Bagge continues his character study, establishing Buddy as a mostly helpless -- and hapless -- bystander and expanding Stinky's self-centeredness and Lisa's self-loathing. Not as impressive as the first volume, but still worth revisiting. Pages: 120. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good. Col-Dee by Jordan Crane (Red Ink, 2001) This slim graphic novelette by Jordan Crane is a well-designed item comprising a tenderly mature two-color story about a young boy and his relationship with his mother. The 7 year old copes with securing status among his circle of friends, his family's poverty, guilt about a small theft, his sick cat, and wanting to do well. The children do the things kids do -- flip off truckers, run errands, tell white lies, believe in magic, enjoy burping, try to one up each other, feel cheated when they lose faith, and try to hide their shortcomings -- but overall, the boy acts quite adult, expressing compassion, love, and remorse. Jordan's artwork is clean and gentle, but it is his writing and sense of design and presentation that really wows me. This book and his other recent work secures Jordan as one of the best comics makers -- and designers -- active in DIY media today. Pages: 96. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent. Cosmic Trigger Vol. 1 by Robert Anton Wilson (New Falcon, 1977) One of Wilson's most controversial books, this first of three volumes helps expand on the agnosticism and intersubjectivity established by his co-authored magnum opus Illuminatus! And while I've yet to read the volume he wrote with collaborator and co-conspirator Robert Shea, I'd almost rather read Wilson's nonfiction than his fiction. Name dropping luminaries such as Aleister Crowley, Tim Leary, Aldous Huxley, and Uri Geller, Wilson riffs on UFO's, Sirius, the Kennedy assassination, psychedelic drugs, his time working at Playboy (about which I'd like to know more, back-issue hunt begun!), Discordianism, the channeling of ascended masters, space travel, the Masons, synchronicity, and multiple intelligences. It's a wide-ranging and rollicking ride that's a clear precursor to Everything in This Book is False but It's Exactly How Things Are, but it's certainly better written and more legitimate regardless of whether you decide to step across the threshold to enter Wilson's chapel perilous. I wouldn't say the book is mind blowing, but it does make one think. Pages: 269. Days to read: 1. Rating: Good. Dancing Barefoot by Wil Wheaton (Monolith, 2003) These five stories were cut from Wheaton's autobiography Just a Geek because "they didn't fit." Offering a nice companion read to that volume, the golden boy child actor-turned-active blogger who just turned 31 isn't a bad writer. But I hope his fans can keep him afloat because it's his Star Trek experience that helps him stand out the most. Adam Curry:MTV::Wil Wheaton:STTNG. Including "short but true stories about life in the so-called space age," the book might be one of the first published under the Creative Commons. All of the pieces originally appeared in Wil's blog, which makes it a nice Web-to-print project. Sharing short stories about losing an aunt, playing hide and seek, getting a girl's phone number, and walking in the rain, the book is largely a container for the standout selection "The Saga of SpongeBob Vegas Pants." That story, which accounts for about two-thirds of the book, considers the science-fiction convention experience, the cultural progeny of William Fucking Shatner, and the creative risks of sketch comedy. The recollection of Wil's talk at the con is priceless, blending narrative with commentary on his personal experience of the speech. Students of fandom will be fascinated. Throughout the book, several aspects of Wil's life become clear: his helpless geekiness, which is charming; his intense love for his wife, which is enviable; and his adoration of the pop-punk band the Ataris, which I hope was slightly lessened by their most recent record. I believe he even name drops Oingo Boingo. That's rad. Not a brilliant read, but not bad at all. Get it for the convention story. Pages: 116. Days to read: 4. Rating: Good. Flying Leap by Judy Budnitz (Picador, 1998) I bought this collection of short stories because Budnitz blurbed the jacket of another book I read recently -- perhaps Matthew Derby's Super Flat Times -- and I figured like likes like. I quite liked the 23 stories collected in this volume. From the Ben Marcus-like tale about a man in a dog suit to the closing first-person piece about a professional baby maker, Budnitz's simple, surreal stories shine with a concrete sense of impressionistic wonder. Themes include affection and loneliness, difficult choices, the heroism of fashion, the roles place and presence can play, popularity, entrapment, lies, the lowest common denominator and how quickly it can change, accelerated relationships, secrets, the love of leprosy, the stories people carry, and noisy neighbors. Like glimpses into an alternate reality, Budnitz's fiction feels like home yet horrible. I need to read more. Pages: 244. Days to read: 31. Rating: Excellent. Hey, Buddy! by Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics, 1993) Collecting material from the first five issues of the comic book Hate, which was published in the early '90s, the first volume of the "complete Buddy Bradley stories" comprises nine selections. Readers are introduced to Buddy, his living space, his friends, his love life, his lifestyle, his cultural tastes, and his roommates. Those, as well as other people in his life, may be more interesting than Buddy himself, but he serves as an excellent centerpiece for the other characters. Stinky, Buddy's cheap, complaining, and duplicitious roommate, stands out, making Buddy look more mature and responsible by comparison. Conversely, George Cecil Hamilton III is a conspiracy theorist and obsessive martyr who wallows in popular TV programs as "research." Their interactions, in addition to Buddy's relationships with Lisa and Valerie -- much less Buddy's brother -- provide rich material for storytelling and character study. The bonus piece, "Prisoners of Hate Island," is a self-deprecating poke in the ribs of Bagge, Gary Groth, and Kim Thompson, offering some jokey context for the other stories. Reading this book now doesn't feel as epiphanal as reading Hate did when it was first published, but it's still more solid and important than the quaint example of early '90s indy comics that it could be. That speaks well of Bagge's body of work. Pages: 116. Days to read: 2. Rating: Good. Keeping Two Part 2 by Jordan Crane (Red Ink) As the printed version of part two of Jordan's comics story originally published on Highwater Books' Web site, this is more comic book than book, but I read it as a book rather than as part of a batch of comics and zines. So here we go. Perhaps Jordan's most serious work to date, the story includes two intertwining storylines, one in which a young couple experiences a miscarriage, and another in which a second young couple deals with the ups and downs in their relationship, as well as the loss of the man's mother's dog. The ending is foreboding, as the man imagines the passing of his partner, and the overall impression is one of remorse and loneliness, even in the company of others. I can't wait until the entire storyline is collected into a book of its own. Pages: 48. Days to read: 1. Rating: Excellent. Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (Penguin, 1961) After watching the PBS adaptation of this witty British novel originally published in 1954, I had to read the book. And it is such a good read. Amis' comedy of manners involving the denizens of a second-rate post-war preparatory school is wickedly funny and includes several intriguing characters. Teacher Jim's entanglement with the daft but dedicated Margaret, love of pints, scheduled cigarette smoking, and befuddlement about buffoons adds up to create a forlorn hero out of his element. His love for Christine, who is likewise entangled with the asinine artist Bertrand, is worth cheering for, and while the conclusion of the novel doesn't quite match the TV program's righteous -- though thoroughly ripped -- call for quality education, Jim gets lucky and the ill-suffered fools get their comeuppance in the end. Wonderful. Pages: 251. Days to read: 8. Rating: Excellent. Purple Cow by Seth Godin (Portfolio, 2002) Seth Godin's the greatest guy. He's bald. He's brilliant. He's hyperactively innovative. One Fast Company editor recently described him as a Unit of 20. So it's no surprise that the post-Yahoo marketing maven's most recent manifesto is a quick hit. Focusing on "how to transform your business by being remarkable," Seth ups the ante on his thought virus marketing theories by calling for an increase in quality and character during a downturn economy's days of grey. In about 75 easily digestible chunks, Seth describes the value of vigor, the death of the TV-industrial complex, what's wrong with the Wall Street Journal, the deficits of the attention economy, the mishaps of measurement, the parody paradox, and what it means to be a marketer. Like Chinese food, Seth's writing isn't always filling, but it's still nutritious food for thought. The man's a brand. He's a master of the sound bite. And he walks the talk, supporting the book with a viral marketing campaign and book-mentioned Web that works additional wonders. The airplane ride it takes to read this book, which I nibbled at over time, is well worth yours. Pages: 145. Days to read: 13. Rating: Good. Markets, Flash Mobs, and Mayhem II Brad Searles has done a good job of rounding up the documentation of Boston's first Flash Mob. Today, he offers his description and photographs of the experience, commentary on the resulting media coverage, and pointers to other reports. I wasn't able to join in on the fun because the Anchormen were stuffing envelopes to send our new CD to zines and magazines for review, but I hope to get in on the next one. Despite the unwise pre-mob attention, it looks as though the gathering was a success. Next time, let's do it right. Thursday, July 31, 2003
Music to My Eyes XX Photographs and videos from the Handstand Command residency at the Choppin' Block last month are now available online. Hiking History X Last night, I went on a history walk titled "What Makes Harvard Square a Square?" through the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. What follows are my rough notes and photographs taken during the walk and talk. I have not fact checked the dates or names, so there may be some inaccuracies. Cambridge founded 1630 as capital of Massachusetts Bay Colony... Originally a planned city on a three-by-four grid... Now mostly Harvard dorms... 64 house lots in a one-third mile radius surrounded by a fence... On the Charles so only small craft can access... Elected officials built homes in Boston and Charlestown... Didn't want to move... After a year, only 10 families... By 1635, 500 people, 86 families because of the Great Migration... 1635, Hooker's parishioners all moved to Hartford, Connecticut... Only 11 families remain... Shepard's flock moved into abandoned homes... Founded first college in British America... 400 pounds pledged in 1636... Will be located in Newtowne...    Changed name because of Cambridge, England... Classes start in 1638... Harvard named for minister in Charlestown... Died of consumption and gave half of estate and 300-book library to college... Died 1638... Town 35 miles long from Billerica to Newton... V shaped... Less than a mile wide at Harvard Square... 70 acres dedicated to pasture... Only college in America for 50 years... Even at Revolution, only 12... Attracted first printing press... Provincial Congress met here... Continental army based here... Massachusetts constitution drafted here 1779... Brattle house... Reclaimed by son Thomas in 1776... Street not as wide, formal garden... Also a little creek where sidewalk is...    Brattle Hall built in 1789 as a live theater and meeting space for Cambridge Social Union, now CCAE... 1948 theater converted to movies... Also Architect's Corner built in 1966... Design Research one of first furnishings importer... Also Architects Collaborative... Blacksmith's house... Longfellow lived nearby... Chestnut tree near Cafe of India... 1946 the Window Shop helped European resettlers... Christ Church oldest church still standing... First Parish on other side of burial ground... First church has rooster on top... Puritans weren't separatists, Pilgrims were... Puritans Congregationalist... 1686 Church of England imposed, resulting in King's Chapel...    No Church of England in Cambridge until 1759... Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts... Opened 1761... Originally five windows, split in half, added two... Designed by architect of King's Chapel... East Apthorpe first priest... Fears of Anglican bishop... Apthorpe's house called the Bishop's Palace... Unitarianism started in England, first Unitarian church in Boston 1789, 1810 a major movement... Cambridge's church split, original church in center of square... Burial ground 1635 not the original site... Churches postdate ground by 100-200 years... Vassal family tomb in basement of Anglican church... Cambridge Common shared pasture land...    Originally to Linian Street... Shrunk, fenced in... Need to feed 10,000 soldiers... Slaughterhouses on Charlestown side, cattle would graze on common... Mt. Auburn Cemetery founded 1835... Old milestone 1734... William Dawes' route... Five milestones remain... Originally stood in center of square... Other side 1794 directions to new bridge... Unitarian parish building paid for by Harvard... Used for graduation until Memorial Hall... Emerson gave address in 1837... First bit of Transcendentalism... Churches are 0 Church and Garden Street... Movie theater originally University Theater... Entrance originally on Massachusetts Avenue, cut through...    Known for 1970 live performances, Leonard Bernstein lectures, play "Oh, Calcutta!" banned in Boston but staged in Cambridge, and Bob Dylan/Bruce Springsteen concert... Rolling Stone review.. Used to be one auditorium... 1827 house... Palmer Street originally an alley with stables... Coop built in 60s... Starbucks a carriage house... Nearby firehouse... Abercrombie building on site of 1790 wooden building with posts, 1896 electric street car couldn't make corner with sharp point, so they remodeled it as rounded, removed one post, 1990s debate about demolishment, removed all but 1890 facade, preserving next door brick building...    Brattle Street from a creek leading to a pond in Harvard Yard... Brattle Square originally Creek Lane... Subway opened in 1912, sidewalks 5-6 feet lower originally... Creeks converged at 1 Brattle Square... Tunnel for subway under here no longer used, trains once stored near Kennedy School... Winthrop Street part of original 1630 layout... Ground level behind Charlie's is original level... Stone wall 1700s... Until 1909, Charles was tidal... Newtowne Market 1635-1699... Stone thing only 15 years old... Winthrop Street part of grid... Harvard undergraduate life on original grid... JFK originally Boylston originally Wood...    Harvard didn't have enough dorms until 1920, wealthy didn't live on campus, gold coast apartments along Mount Auburn... No fraternities, but dine in clubs, final clubs... Used to be 12-plus along Mount Auburn... Some still operate, building used otherwise.. Fox Club green shutters on corner... Grendel's Den Pi Eta... Brick with green shutters near For Eyes was Sigma Alpha Epsilon... John Hick's house, white with shutters originally a couple blocks over, killed in British ambush... 1920 Harvard dorms built (called houses)... Still lumberyards, coal docks, subway power plant... Harvard bought up land... ice house with freight dock at end of Dunster...    Houses named after Harvard prexy... Dorms copy historic building elements... Tower has 17 bells bought from Bolshevik monastery, rung Sunday afternoons... Mount Auburn all private dorms, Ridgely Hall, Claverly Hall bought by Harvard... Each dorm had own identity, Adams House with older recycled buildings had fringe elements, theater, leftists, gays... Also dorms in yard itself... Now for first years... Now you don't choose dorms, too cliquey, random assignment... Lampoon building designed by Edwin Wheelright... Ibis pranks with Crimson...    Fly Club, Phoenix SK, Iroquois Club, Spee Club... Nantucket Nectars headquarters used to be in old Delta Upsilon club with ivy... East Apthorp's home 1760 10 Linden St., yellow wood with shutters... Now housing for Adams House master... Fairfax actually three buildings... Gnomon Copy storefront dates to 1907, French art nouveau...   J. August building houses Porcellian Club, top of the line, named after roast pig at inaugural banquet... George Washington didn't want to stay in Wadsworth because of Longfellow house... College house dorm built 1832-1870... Coop was site of courthouse... Lyceum Hall built there, Emerson, Charles Dickens, glee club... Out of Town News is old subway entrance... Old Harvard Yard.   As time allows, I will add links to some of the people, places, and things encountered during the tour. Wednesday, July 30, 2003
Among the Literati XLVI Mayrav Saar, an old college chum, now has a column in the Orange County Register. The first installment, published yesterday, is a hoot. Sites on the Side of the Road IX Kurumi's Web site is a rich resource for road geeks. Tools include a field guide to interchanges, a Java applet that enables you to make your own road signs, and a virtual drive through 1971-style Hartford, Connecticut. But the most interesting part of the site is the section on "secret routes" -- state-maintained roads that are unsigned and usually not visible on maps. Kurumi outlines what the different route numbers mean and offers a brief history of these secret routes. While I need to track down a Massachusetts corollary, Kurumi did turn me onto the book Turnpikes of New England. A fascinating read, I'm sure. Thanks to Metafilter. Rock Shows of Note LXXII Last night was the weirdest. I kept hearing friends' voices through the window outside as people walked past my house -- when they weren't the voices of my friends. I thought I saw a friend walk by talking on her cell phone. It wasn't her -- and she doesn't even have a cell phone. I even thought I heard a friend calling my name at one point. Bizarre. Clearly, I had people on my mind, so I went for a walk around the block to find some. Stopping by the Middle East to see who was playing, I bumped into Brett Rosenberg, and then I heard some of the music emanating from the back room. Deciding that I liked what I heard even though I didn't know who was playing, I plunked down some money to check out the Fugue. Am I ever glad I did! They were amazing. And even though I heard just a few songs at the end of their set, I think they are my favorite band of today. Herky-jerky angular guitar stabs punctuating the vocalist's frenetic singing -- and tons of energy. The singer was insane. At one point he leapt off the stage into the crowd, then catapulted himself back on stage in a tuck and roll only to barrel into the guitarist, who collapsed on top of him. They kept playing the whole time, and the guitarist regained his feet without dropping a note, ending the song by throwing his guitar to the floor with a satisfying final squall and thunk. Wow. Well worth seeing live. I don't remember the name of the next band that played, but they were a five-piece that played energetic alt.rock. The lead singers voice was pretty cool, and the bassist and second guitarist jumped around a lot together. My one gripe was that the band didn't just under-utilize the female vocalist, they pushed her way over to the side so she was almost waiting in the wings. She had a great voice and should be featured more prominently instead of relegated to the edge. Event-O-Dex LXXI Thursday, July 31: Mittens, Choo Choo la Rouge, and Fearsome Earsome give an ear full at P.A.'s Lounge in Somerville. Friday, August 1: Mike Tremoulet and Christine Selleck, two Houston-based bloggers, are visiting Boston and convening area Web writers for a meet and greet. Tuesday, July 29, 2003
From the In Box: NetWork VIII What we really need is a common data format for all of these different services to manipulate and "decorate" (in the pattern-language sense). Well, we have that common data format: FoaF. It would be cool if these sites let you export/import your friends list as an FoaF file. It wouldn't be hard at all. Well maybe not that cool; I don't really use those sites that much. But it would be the "right way to do it". -- Joe Germuska I guess I'm not as concerned about porting my networks from social software service to social software service, as I tend to use different ones for different purposes -- and have slightly different networks as a result. But I'd sure like a portable profile -- perhaps with an accompanying FoaF file since you mention it -- that I could swap out instead of signing up anew, creating a new profile page, and otherwise populating each new service as it emerges. Then we could truly navigate by person -- not by service. Even though I just canceled my premium subscription to Ecademy, I'm still a member of Friendster, Ryze, LinkedIn, and the Buddy Network, which I haven't revisited since I signed up in May. That's a lot of disconnected networks. And networks shouldn't be disconnected. As more and more of these services emerge, the more I think that Duncan Work is onto something with his Net Deva project. In the past, I wasn't convinced I needed a portable profile for the various online communities and discussion forums I frequent, but the more I think about all these new online networking and social software services, the more I want one ID for all my overlapping networks. I said it in May, and I'll say it today: "As more of these services develop, it'll become increasingly important to bridge them." Who's building that bridge? From the Reading Pile XIX Benjamin Franklin: History's Greatest Time Traveler! I don't really see the point in billing this as "the story SPX didn't want you to see." I don't self-publish short stories as pieces Eyeshot rejected, and I think it's bad form to grouse about rejection by editors. That said, this eight-page mini by Ron LeBrasseur details a young student's report on how he spent his summer vacation. On the way to Florida, the narrator is joined by a time traveling Benjamin Franklin, whom the boy doesn't recognize and who is there to combat the 50-foot Mecha Lincoln, a rampaging robot brought to ground by a lightning bolt. It's a quick bit of cartoony silliness, and the punchline -- "The assignment was, 'Why I love America!'" -- gives hint to why the piece wasn't accepted for the SPX annual. The SPX pieces were to be biographical comics, not selections merely involving historical figures as characters. Still, punk points for trying, Ron! Also, extra credit for the Gloucester Dogtown snapshot in the beginning of the comic. Contact Ron LeBrasseur for more information. Drake Marvel, Private Eye Ron LeBrasseur claims Peter Phelan's character Drake Marvel as his own in this 12-page digest including the eight-page story titled "Roswell That Ends Well." It's a silly, cartoony story in which a stranded grey obtains work as a DJ. LeBrasseur's character designs are clean -- despite some potentially misleading coloring (p. 7, panels 4-5 led me to think a new alien character had been introduced) -- and the punchline pays off. I look forward to an anthology of Drake Marvel stories. The full-color covers add a nice touch. Contact Ron LeBrasseur for more information. Dust I feel slightly cheated now that I'm actually reading this 32-page digest. As much as I like the work of P. Shaw, $10 for this photocopied, reflective cover digest? "You cannot afford that," (p. 3) is right! Collecting Shaw's Dust, Kurla, and Sloppa Lee Slapdup strips, inked and watercolored in his characteristic style, the comics involve robots, cooking, nature, music, ninjas, Tinker Toys, revenge, and construction work. In many ways, it's a love story between Dust and the Insuperable Kurla, and the tender tales are more oriented toward process comics and the oblique than Shaw's past work. The Flip n' Read comics gracing the center spread -- one dedicated to Jamaica Plain-based City Feed and Supply -- are a concept worth returning to. You know what? I don't feel ripped off at all. Despite my slight irritation about the item's price, Shaw deserves kudos for this new complexity and direction, as well as the more mature character set. Kudos! $10 to P. Shaw, P.O. Box 425430, Cambridge, MA 02142. Go-Go Girl #3 (Spring 2002) Every time I see Craig Bostick, he gives me a hard time for not reading or reviewing any of his comics since the previous issue in this series. This one's for you! Craig's got a fun Maurice Vellekoop and Los Bros. Hernandez by way of Leela Corman and Seth art style, and the four short pieces in this 28-page digest are extremely well paced and timed in their comedy. In the first and longest story, "Specially Marked Boxes," the chain-smoking Go-Go Girl falls under the thumb of a hyperactive child in an attempt to win a date with a pop singer. The two-page "Last Call Close Call" might be the best of the lot with its pratfall, passing time, and apologetic punchline. And "Hypnotized" works well until the overly expositional explanation at the end, which is then redeemed by a well-drawn Pete Bagge-esque pratfall. Craig's art and sense of humor are pleasantly clean and well-paced. I won't hesitate to read #4 when it comes out -- if it hasn't already! $3 to Craig Bostick, 7 Weld Hill St. #2R, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130. Machievelli Don MacDonald's watercolor, well-lettered historicomic originally appeared in the 2002 SPX anthology. Scaled down to an almost too-small mini format, the eight-page comic remains a lush, expertly illustrated story even though MacDonald's beautiful cursive, near-calligraphic scripting is practically illegible. The art is wonderful, and it's clear MacDonald has a solid grasp of perspective, his use of reference photographs aside. A beautiful introduction to what will hopefully expand into a longer work. Contact Don MacDonald for more information. Happy Birthday to Media Dieticians XVII Doc Searls turns 56 today. And Wil Wheaton turns 31. happy birthday, you two! Rules for Fools XVII Tom Hopkins doesn't update his blog frequently, but when he does, it's a doozy. His July 28 entry shares some of the things he's learned lately. I'm right with him on Nos. 2 and 8. I've been skipping breakfast for far too long, and I've been sleeping way too much lately. Thanks for the elbow, Tom! NetWork VIII There's a new social software kid on the block! Tribe.net is currently in beta, and it appears to be a combination of Friendster's degrees of separation-based connection making and Craig's List's focus on listings. We'll see how it develops, but how many of these services do we really need? I wonder. Thanks to Boing Boing. Monday, July 28, 2003
Music to My Ears XLIII The fourth episode of Well-Rounded Radio is now available. The Summer 2003 edition features music and conversation with the Kossoy Sisters, Mark Dwinell of Bright, and Atlas Soul, as well as "raves on their latest favorite CDs from the music instrument store owners in Boston, including Mayflower Music’s Pat McDonald." Kudos, Charlie! Corollary: Hiking History IX Boston World Explorers Foundation member Brad Searles also shares some snapshots of Sunday's expedition. If anyone has any idea what the large concrete wall sections with 12 circles cut in them were used for, let me know! Hiking History IX Sunday afternoon, six members of the Boston World Explorers Foundation gathered at Sullivan Square in Somerville to explore an abandoned overpass. Despite two connecting overpasses closed to traffic, neither stretch was very long, so we also explored a highway tunnel closed to traffic and the waterfront. Intrepid adventurer David Belson took some excellent photographs of the expedition. Thanks to everyone who participated in the outing! |
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