Quarterly Review - "30, 40, 50..."
Q3
(July through September)
(Note that links will be dropped in later, if ever. I'm as busy as you guys are...)
→ Ah, what a busy three months! July was all about politics, August was about getting open for the school year at work, and September has been about work, too, but in its many and varied forms.
→ I’ve been thinking a lot about a lot of things, reading more about fewer things, and despite the tough start to the calendar year, I’m beginning to come to a few conclusions: first, always look a second time because though first impressions are important, there may be something you missed that first time to change your mind the other way; second, what’s important to you isn’t always the most important thing, even to you; third, a scattershot approach certainly allows one to try different ideas and media for expression of those ideas, but organization is something that will increase chances for success at any one of those approaches.
→ I’ve been interested in music, and bought the latest UNKLE record, which has fascinated me beyond all reason. My stepdaughter turned me on to a mix tape of Army of the Pharaohs and loaned me her copy of Mezzanine by Massive Attack, and my parents had a copy of Lyle Lovett’s new record which is amazing, too. I’m excited by the new Foo Fighters, and haven’t tuned in to hypem.com often enough to know what else is new out there, except I heard a new track from She Wants Revenge on the XM and I like the Heinrich Maneuver from Interpol, a lot, as well as the newest songs from Editors.
→ I loved Stardust, and thought Halloween was better than I expected, but not quite what I’d hoped for. Stardust has this magical quality that once it hits TV will allow for multiple viewings and a wider audience, I hope. I finally managed to get a video copy of Mindwalk, a dvd copy of Hidalgo, Blood Diamond, The Good German, Babel and 300. What these films have in common are top-notch storytelling, much like the Sopranos did in its stretch run. I can’t wait for season six part two to come out on dvd. All these films deserve more than one screening to catch everything the directors and writers intended for the viewer to see. However, I never made it to see Spider-Man 3, and I thought Transformers was pretty damn entertaining. Did anyone ever get a body count from that film, though? It had to be in the tens of thousands…
→ I’ve just finished John Marc DeMatteis’ and Jon J. Muth’s rather weighty graphic novel The Compleat Moonshadow, and for my money it ranks up with Alan Moore’s best work. It’s haunting, unapologetically romantic, passionate and literate, coming in over 400 pages, too. Muth’s paintings and DeMatteis’ words are complementary in every sense of what comix should be. In contrast, James Robinson’s return to comix on Batman: Face the Face is less than I wanted, but more than the average writer nowadays can seem to deliver. Robinson is a very good writer, but this isn’t his creation as the Jack Knight Starman was, and it shows a little bit. Matt Wagner can handle the Harvey Dent/Two-Face dichotomy better than almost anyone, but Robinson did pretty well. For my money, I’d like to see him take on Poison Ivy and explore her character a little more. Maybe that’s because I miss Nash being a thorn in Jack’s side. Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan hit the biggest homerun I’ve ever seen in an indy comic with their nigh-brilliant Demo. Twelve short stories about people. Different people, from story to story and from each other, and from the world. Wood really gets the ‘outsider’ feeling and Cloonan’s chameleon artwork for the book, tailored to each story, is fantastic. Finally, who else can do Sgt. Rock but Joe Kubert? No one. You love war stories? Read Kubert’s Rock and nothing else. Also picked up Scalped from Jason Aaron at the Freestate FreeCon a couple of weeks ago, and I’m so blown away by this book that I can’t say anything about it. It’s paced perfectly, drawn perfectly and the dialogue is perfect. You should be reading this. You should also be reading Wasteland by Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten. When the blurb compares it to Deadwood, I thought it a trifle overblown, but after a second reading, I understand the enthusiasm. Post-apocalyptic sci-fi has never been this good in comix.
→ I picked up a couple of anthology magazines, Asimov’s and Hitchcock’s sci-fi and mystery short stories. Haven’t finished ‘em yet, but there’s good stuff there. Inspiring stuff. Also got my hands on Caleb Carr’s take on Sherlock Holmes, The Italian Secretary, and will be tackling that when work slows down a little. The Alienist was such a good book that I gave copies of it one year for Christmas.
→ I got a promotion in early September. I’m now the general manager for retail dining. Sounds impressive, but it’s a hella lotta work. I’m doing three jobs now (as a matter of fact I should be at work now instead of typing this, but a fella’s gotta relax every now and then) but only for another week. After that, I get to only do two for a while.
→ I’m writing. Nothing to share yet, but I’m writing. It’s not comix, either. Nor radio. There’s business stuff, but I already told you about that.
→ I’m also playing with audio and video things. I’ve posted one here in the last month or so, if you didn’t see it. More of those kinds of things to come.
→ Honestly, there’s more, but I don’t want to talk about it, or I shouldn’t talk about it. When I can, I’ll mention things here, but for now, I’ll keep them to myself and stay busy. Maybe I’ll see you guys at the Mo-Kan show today. Tomorrow, I turn 40. My 30s have been pretty damn good, and I’m looking forward to what’s next.
I've lost 50 pounds since I started walking and exercising about eighteen months ago. I feel better than ever before, I'm slimmer and more energetic and god I wish I'd never gotten so heavy. If you're making an excuse that you don't have time or the energy to get out and do the same thing, stop that and just go do it. Keep it up and do it every day. The benefits are immediate and visible. You'll really appreciate it if you just take that first step and don't get discouraged. Enough evangelizing.
See you around, gang.
(July through September)
(Note that links will be dropped in later, if ever. I'm as busy as you guys are...)
→ Ah, what a busy three months! July was all about politics, August was about getting open for the school year at work, and September has been about work, too, but in its many and varied forms.
→ I’ve been thinking a lot about a lot of things, reading more about fewer things, and despite the tough start to the calendar year, I’m beginning to come to a few conclusions: first, always look a second time because though first impressions are important, there may be something you missed that first time to change your mind the other way; second, what’s important to you isn’t always the most important thing, even to you; third, a scattershot approach certainly allows one to try different ideas and media for expression of those ideas, but organization is something that will increase chances for success at any one of those approaches.
→ I’ve been interested in music, and bought the latest UNKLE record, which has fascinated me beyond all reason. My stepdaughter turned me on to a mix tape of Army of the Pharaohs and loaned me her copy of Mezzanine by Massive Attack, and my parents had a copy of Lyle Lovett’s new record which is amazing, too. I’m excited by the new Foo Fighters, and haven’t tuned in to hypem.com often enough to know what else is new out there, except I heard a new track from She Wants Revenge on the XM and I like the Heinrich Maneuver from Interpol, a lot, as well as the newest songs from Editors.
→ I loved Stardust, and thought Halloween was better than I expected, but not quite what I’d hoped for. Stardust has this magical quality that once it hits TV will allow for multiple viewings and a wider audience, I hope. I finally managed to get a video copy of Mindwalk, a dvd copy of Hidalgo, Blood Diamond, The Good German, Babel and 300. What these films have in common are top-notch storytelling, much like the Sopranos did in its stretch run. I can’t wait for season six part two to come out on dvd. All these films deserve more than one screening to catch everything the directors and writers intended for the viewer to see. However, I never made it to see Spider-Man 3, and I thought Transformers was pretty damn entertaining. Did anyone ever get a body count from that film, though? It had to be in the tens of thousands…
→ I’ve just finished John Marc DeMatteis’ and Jon J. Muth’s rather weighty graphic novel The Compleat Moonshadow, and for my money it ranks up with Alan Moore’s best work. It’s haunting, unapologetically romantic, passionate and literate, coming in over 400 pages, too. Muth’s paintings and DeMatteis’ words are complementary in every sense of what comix should be. In contrast, James Robinson’s return to comix on Batman: Face the Face is less than I wanted, but more than the average writer nowadays can seem to deliver. Robinson is a very good writer, but this isn’t his creation as the Jack Knight Starman was, and it shows a little bit. Matt Wagner can handle the Harvey Dent/Two-Face dichotomy better than almost anyone, but Robinson did pretty well. For my money, I’d like to see him take on Poison Ivy and explore her character a little more. Maybe that’s because I miss Nash being a thorn in Jack’s side. Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan hit the biggest homerun I’ve ever seen in an indy comic with their nigh-brilliant Demo. Twelve short stories about people. Different people, from story to story and from each other, and from the world. Wood really gets the ‘outsider’ feeling and Cloonan’s chameleon artwork for the book, tailored to each story, is fantastic. Finally, who else can do Sgt. Rock but Joe Kubert? No one. You love war stories? Read Kubert’s Rock and nothing else. Also picked up Scalped from Jason Aaron at the Freestate FreeCon a couple of weeks ago, and I’m so blown away by this book that I can’t say anything about it. It’s paced perfectly, drawn perfectly and the dialogue is perfect. You should be reading this. You should also be reading Wasteland by Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten. When the blurb compares it to Deadwood, I thought it a trifle overblown, but after a second reading, I understand the enthusiasm. Post-apocalyptic sci-fi has never been this good in comix.
→ I picked up a couple of anthology magazines, Asimov’s and Hitchcock’s sci-fi and mystery short stories. Haven’t finished ‘em yet, but there’s good stuff there. Inspiring stuff. Also got my hands on Caleb Carr’s take on Sherlock Holmes, The Italian Secretary, and will be tackling that when work slows down a little. The Alienist was such a good book that I gave copies of it one year for Christmas.
→ I got a promotion in early September. I’m now the general manager for retail dining. Sounds impressive, but it’s a hella lotta work. I’m doing three jobs now (as a matter of fact I should be at work now instead of typing this, but a fella’s gotta relax every now and then) but only for another week. After that, I get to only do two for a while.
→ I’m writing. Nothing to share yet, but I’m writing. It’s not comix, either. Nor radio. There’s business stuff, but I already told you about that.
→ I’m also playing with audio and video things. I’ve posted one here in the last month or so, if you didn’t see it. More of those kinds of things to come.
→ Honestly, there’s more, but I don’t want to talk about it, or I shouldn’t talk about it. When I can, I’ll mention things here, but for now, I’ll keep them to myself and stay busy. Maybe I’ll see you guys at the Mo-Kan show today. Tomorrow, I turn 40. My 30s have been pretty damn good, and I’m looking forward to what’s next.
I've lost 50 pounds since I started walking and exercising about eighteen months ago. I feel better than ever before, I'm slimmer and more energetic and god I wish I'd never gotten so heavy. If you're making an excuse that you don't have time or the energy to get out and do the same thing, stop that and just go do it. Keep it up and do it every day. The benefits are immediate and visible. You'll really appreciate it if you just take that first step and don't get discouraged. Enough evangelizing.
See you around, gang.