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Okay, I know I said no TV, but occasionally there are important things to say…

October 19, 2007 in comics, damages | 4 comments

and here they are:

1. Damages is awesome. We are one episode away from the finale (Tuesday, October 23rd 10pm on FX). If you have not been watching (what are you thinking?) then you have one last chance to catch the whole brilliant arc before the finale, FX is playing a Damages marathon this weekend – Saturday October 20th from 8am to 8pm. That’s a full day for sure, but you’d be hard pressed to see a better show this year. I urge you to jump on the train now if you have a craving for a veggie day on the couch with a great show.

2. Pam & Jim. I am sick of the critics complaining about Pam & Jim being together on The Office. The writers are managing to keep it light and fun and lovely to watch. What is so wrong with seeing two great people finally getting to be in love. I think it’s infectious. So long as they keep it funny as it has been then I’m in. Think how many more adventures they can have now that we are not relegated to in-office jokes and secret looks? Plus, Pam has never looked better, whoever is in charge of hair on that show has finally put a bullet in her character’s bad wavy over brushed out look for softer more natural curls. She looks fantastic. Who’s complaining?!

3. Heroes. My disappointment in this show is so vast that it is difficult to measure. They have made every single mistake with this season that they could…at every turn they have made the exact wrong decision. Which I didn’t even know was possible. We have a couple interesting plotlines hanging out there (Sylar/Gabriel/Cockroach boy; whatever is up with Nathan’s “mirror face”), but nothing mind blowing.

More importantly they have somehow managed to make every storyline and character (even the once fascinating ones) whiney, overblown, and as badly written as the Nicki scenes we all so hated last year. I suppose part of the reason this is so upsetting to me is because there was such opportunity to do something amazing this year and they have just totally dropped the ball. Have you listened to the promos?…I’m paraphrasing here but it’s something like “Now the Heroes are being hunted down one by one by a mysterious…blah blah blah” Wait…um…wasn’t that EXACTLY what happened last year? Here’s the problem I think. These creators/writers DIDN’T study their model enough (which Kring has admitted…”oh we didn’t take anything from comics…we didn’t study them” – not a direct quote so don’t yell at me – but it’s the jist of it) and so they don’t know what to do with the characters.

I’m sure they don’t have the budget to go all out effects wise, but they also don’t know how to write themselves out of the the position they left themselves in at the end of the year. So they’re just chickening out. Introducing new characters, which they can take time exploring and growing, but which are so far all really really lame, so that they don’t have to focus on existing characters that they don’t know what to do with and then slowing all the existing character’s stories down to a snail’s pace.

I guess I should cut them a little slack since I wouldn’t be so disappointed if it wasn’t for such a great first season…but it’s just so sad. I’m going to go and cry about it a little bit now…

a great journal comic

October 19, 2007 in art, artists, comics, writing | 4 comments

I’ve been trying to read a lot of daily (or frequently updated) journal web comics produced by some of the great comic artists out there working on the web and I’ve seen a lot of really great stuff over the last couple months – and most importantly really inspiring stuff (Everyday Comics, My Life Comics, to name two of my favorites). However, one has really impressed me, especially lately and it’s a journal comic by Matthew Reidsma called Drawerings. It is a little inconsistent in timing, e.g. it won’t go up daily and then three will go up in one day, but the content (and drawing) is so good that it’s worth checking in daily.

I highly recommend putting it on your daily comic reads.

Here’s a little taste, one of my recent favorites…mostly because it’s so true:

2007 Television Season…color me underwhelmed

October 16, 2007 in damages, pushing daisies, television reviews | 10 comments

So I have been thinking about television a lot lately, mostly about how it is not worthy of my time. I had high hopes for some interesting shows this year, but very few have proven worthy of my coveted spare time. I also don’t want this blog to be about television, so I thought to get things off my chest, I’d share in a post, what I tried to watch, what I didn’t even bother with, and what has made it into the enviable “season pass position” of my Tivo. So without further ado, here it is:

WHAT I DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER WITH: Really this list is too long to mention everything, but notable are:

Gossip Girl: – despite the fact that I saw a few minutes and it seemed surprisingly well written/well acted, this is the kind of show that it makes impossible for me to respect myself in the morning, so I didn’t bother.

Chuck: I didn’t find one thing interesting about this premise. Nothing looked charming or the least bit original. No thanks.

Journeyman: This show was great back when it was called Quantum Leap and had a much more charming lead and a great sidekick. Extra no thanks to this show.

K-Ville: Gimme a break. I couldn’t even make it through the promos.

Carpoolers/Cavemen: No, it has Jerry O’Connell in it and he hasn’t done anything worthwhile (no Rebecca Romijin jokes please) since the first three seasons of Sliders…which wasn’t even that good. And NO, it is based on a commercial for car insurance. Let me just say that again to make sure it sunk in: IT IS BASED ON A COMMERCIAL FOR CAR INSURANCE.

Cane: Oh, I get it, it’s about sugar cane producers/exporters, but it’s also a play on the whole Caine & Able thing…wow, how unique. Uh, NO!

Reaper: I probably should have given this a chance, but I didn’t hear much about it until I’d already kind of committed to what I was and was not watching, so it suffers from poor publicity. If it’s any good it probably won’t last a full season anyway, so no real loss.

Dirty Sexy Money: Stupid title, stupid soap. I’m trying to have less “stupid title, stupid soap” things in my life, veto!

Back To You: Just because I liked Fraiser (yes, I did – three words for you: David Hyde Pierce) does not mean I like any piece of crap you throw together with Kelsey Grammar in it. NO! Now, you put David Hyde Pierce in it…and well, I’ll consider it.

Kid Nation: I wanted to watch this show, especially with all the Vulture Blog hype. It just never seemed to happen. Too bad.

My Name Is Earl/Scrubs: Why are these shows still on? They deserve a mention here because they are just still NOT GOOD. Also of note is the fact that it’s pretty hard to be bad AND have Jason Lee involved. My Name is Earl somehow manages, impressive.

Moonlight: Shows about vampires are at this point so not on cutting edge of anything that it is like trying to cut something with a swatch of velvet. Stop trying to follow up anything Joss Whedon does. He is the master and you can’t try to do something better than (and five years after) the master, or you just end up looking like some idiot that didn’t do his research. Move on.

Ghost Whisperer: Why is this show still on? I have never met one single person who has ever seen more than five minutes of this show…people who have watched more than five minutes of this show probably died from head implosion (and those people were thankful to be out of their misery). I know, I know, she’s got great tits. So let’s see her use them on something not horrific. More Hanes commercials? Great, I’m all for it, so long as this show gets the kill switch.

Torchwood: I don’t even know what this show is, and I have a strong suspicion that nobody else does either and that it only made it on the air by sounding vaguely like the now dead HBO cult favorite Deadwood.

Viva Laughlin: I mean you’re kidding right? I want to go back in time and be in the room when this gets pitched. You can’t BUY laughs like that must have been…especially when some executive said, “Ok.”

WHAT I TRIED TO WATCH, AND WAS ALMOST BLINDED BY IN THE PROCESS:

Bionic Woman: My hatred of Bionic Woman is (almost) unmatched. Read more about here…here…or here!

Private Practice: The few times I watched Grey’s Anatomy (there were times I kind of liked it) I always thought Kate Walsh was one of the more interesting characters (certainly more interesting than Meredith) why wouldn’t a show with her and some other decent actors (love Taye Diggs) be good? Well, I don’t know the answer to that, I just know it is very very not good.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Put me on the loser train because unlike the rest of the population I just can’t find what is funny about this show. A couple of the actors have pretty good comic timing and are easy on the eyes, but I just find it rambling and un-funny. I really did try.

Tim Gunn’s Guide To Style: I saw this on accident. I love Tim Gunn and anxiously await his return to Project Runway, I also don’t begrudge Tim’s attempt to make some dough while it’s an option, but is this really all we could come up with? Yet another “makeover show”? So tired. I’m disappointed in you Tim. I will never watch this show again in hopes that I forget you ever lowered yourself to this show.

SHOWS I INTEND TO WATCH, I SWEAR:

Tell Me You Love Me: I watched one episode and was underwhelmed, but decided to let it keep recording. Somehow I have not managed to watch any of the other recorded episodes. I intend to do it though, really.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: I have all these episodes recorded, yet have somehow not watched any. I remain hopeful.

Mad Men: Ditto.

The Sarah Silverman Show: I just can’t seem to get to it.

Drawn Together: This raunchy cartoon is just too far off my radar, I keep forgetting it’s out there, but I’m trying.

WHAT I AM ACTUALLY WATCHING, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO WATCH:

Heroes: I am watching this, but am actually hesitant to encourage you to watch it. It sucks. I am incredibly disappointed in this show (so much so that I dreamed about it last night – it was much better in my dream). I am going to hang in there until mid-season, but if they don’t get their act together, all the heroes are out of here. UPDATE: Last night’s episode of Heroes was just laugh out loud bad. The show has somehow managed to make all the interesting characters and their story lines just like the terrible whiny Niki character and story lines. Everything is over the top earnest…every scene! It’s just terrible. This is confirming my suspicion that these creators/writers were taken by surprise by their overnight (last year) success and didn’t have a follow up play in mind. They have no idea what to do with these characters. At this point I think the only way to save this show would be to bring in some great creative comic book creators (Moore/Gaiman/ Kirkman/etc.) and let them rework everything. I’m going to give them a couple more episodes to turn it around, but it was very difficult to watch the show last night.

Life: This is a genuinely good show. It is really well cast and the writing, acting and directing are all solid. More importantly the story arc is interesting and somewhat unique. The main character is a cop/detective, so is weekly trying to solve fairly typical “cop crimes” (although certainly more interesting than your average L&O episode) but more importantly the larger story arc is him trying to solve the crime of who framed him and sent him to prison. It is good stuff. Sadly, as it is on opposite the “more buzzworthy” Dirty Sexy Money, I fear for it’s future.

Pushing Daises: This is the best show on television right now. Bar none. Read more about it here. Sadly it is probably too good to be on tv, so I naturally fear for it’s future as well.

America’s Next Top Model: I watch this only after it has been recorded, so that I can fast forward through the horrible bits (many whiny crying juvenile brats and Tyra’s tirades and ridiculous over the top antics – someone please stage an intervention for her). I am only watching this show because we’ve got an office pool going and I feel the compulsive need to know who is going to win my 20 bucks…

Damages: This is a great show. Read more about it here or here or here!

30 Rock: Let’s hope others are watching it too this year so it doesn’t get the ax…all my favorite shows do (sniff. Studio 60. sniff).

The Office: I was loving those luxurious hour long episodes in lieu of the always sub-par Scrubs. I have to disagree with critics, I think the show has done a great job of keeping Pam & Jim fun and light and beautifully together. It’s nice watching two people perfectly matched be in love in a non-gooey way, we so rarely get to see that. I hope they buck the trend and keep at it. Also, how great would a Dwayne/Kelly relationship be…I’m totally into that after the teaser last week.

Last One Standing: Okay, almost nobody knows about this show I think because it is on opposite The Office and it is on the Discovery Channel, but I cannot recommend it enough. It is just AWESOME. It’s a reality tv show about 6 athletes from various countries (primarily US & UK I believe – they all speak English) and with various “specialties” (kickboxer, strong man, endurance athlete, bmx biker, rugby player, and a fitness guru) as they are shunted around to different tribes and cultures throughout the world and given a chance to live with the people and absorb the native culture, and go through some of the trials of “becoming a man”, with the ultimate goal of having the opportunity to participate in the native competitive sport of the region against other tribes. The episode I watched this past week was as they were embraced by the Zulu people and were taught stick fighting. It was intense amazing stuff. I highly recommend it for your TIVO. If you don’t have TIVO and can’t give up The Office, look around for it on your guide as it replays at different times/days in the week.

The Simpsons/King of The Hill/Family Guy/American Dad Block: Still good. I don’t always get it, but when I am, I’m happy.

Robot Chicken: Every chance I get.

So that’s it. Now I’m going to try to talk very minimally about TV from here on out, for some of you that’s probably great, for others of you maybe that means you won’t come back…I hope it’s mostly the former.

Pushing Daisies – best show of the new 2007 season

#5 comic of the week

October 15, 2007 in comic of the week, comics, getting sick? | Permalink

Sorry this one is such a downer folks, but per my bet with Adam I have to make sure to post weekly at a minimum…even when I feel like the cartoon below…

Hope everyone out there is having a better October than I am!

#36. Tell Me Why

October 12, 2007 in book reviews, books, graphic design, savannah college of art and design | 2 comments

#36. karlssonwilker inc.’s Tell Me Why: The First 24 Months of a New York Design Company. By Clare Jacobson. 4 Stars.

This book was a huge departure for me content wise, and was also a huge surprise. I read it for work, as our business model is changing slightly and may begin soon to include graphic design.

I have been doing some of the graphic design for our company for the last two years, but barely had time to touch it, but we hired someone new for the office and so for the last six months I have been doing a lot more of it. I’ve been loving it, but it has also been scaring me silly as I actually dropped out of my University of Arizona graphic design classes so that I could transfer to The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) that offered degrees in sequential art, comic books to the layman. I know, stupid. But what’s done is done.

So, to suddenly be doing something that I kind of gave up on more than 10 years ago (wow…I’m getting so old) is weird. It’s also incredibly exciting, especially since it is the first time in my life that I’m doing work that is something I like and something I’m good at (other than being “organized” and “responsible” and all the other things that you either are good at or get good at when you work in administration for so long). I’m also working with a boss that is completely nurturing and encouraging and supportive…and a good man. I know. I got really really lucky. But luck scares me sometimes, so I’m having trouble sleeping these days as my imagination concocts bizarre (but realistic) ways for me to screw this up. That’s what brought me to Tell Me Why. I was buying a bunch of graphic design books for our office online, everything from stuff about printing and contracts to basic logo design books. Nothing is more inspiring and helpful than books. I love them, and so does my boss. Which makes it easy to say “let’s start building a graphics library.”

While shopping, when I read the full title of Tell Me Why…”the first twenty four months of a new york design firm”…I thought that it sounded right up my and my firm’s alley. Although we have great experience in design, we don’t have this kind of design experience, just some raw talent, so who better to learn from then some people who started out a similar way. And the book is SO good. I read it in 4 or 5 hours in one sitting and I was just completely transfixed. I feel I learned a lot that will benefit my firm in a practical way, but more importantly there was some kind of zen knowledge of reading about the travails of Karlsson and Wilker that calmed me (and will hopefully help me sleep). They have a beautiful way of looking at things and it shows in their design and in the people they are.

I suppose that is what is most impressive, you get the distinct feeling that both Karlsson and Wilker, though they went through much in those first two years (and I assume went through much more since then) they never seemed to lose their selves…they remained incredibly true to who they were. I suspect in the end that is/will be what makes them so much better than so many other firms and designers out there. And what will keep their clients coming back.

Additionally, what makes this book so much better than other “vanity projects” that design firms tend to produce…and “retrospective looks at their ‘best’ work” is that this book is incredibly honest. They tell it how it really happened, mistakes and all. All the designs are there so you can see what worked and what didn’t and the commentary about all the projects in unflinchingly honest without ever being cruel. They sometimes learned why something didn’t work and were able to avoid that the next time and sometimes they didn’t figure it out and admit they are still scratching their heads. This kind of honesty is unheard of…well almost anywhere these days, but certainly in business, and I for one appreciate the hell out it.

I can’t recommend this book enough to graphic designers, especially those just starting out. I’d also recommend it to any creative person that runs or wants to run their own business. It’s a great honest look at how it happened for these two guys and I think a lot can be learned from just reading and absorbing it fully. I don’t know if I’d recommend it to business majors/graduates as they would probably be very frustrated with how backwards Karlsson and Wilker often behave (sometimes it doesn’t seem like a way to run a business) but you can’t argue with their success and if you’ve got any creativity in you at all you might love it, and learn something.

4 stars.

I couldn’t find a picture of the book online, but here is a link to their website where they talk about their book:

http://www.karlssonwilker.com/tellmewhy.html

Acceptance?

October 10, 2007 in acceptance, writing | 2 comments

So in some backwards kind of way I got a writing acceptance this week….here’s the story…

A couple weeks ago my issue of Tony (Time Out New York to the uninitiated) came and it was an issue titled “Awwww….Ewwww” and on the stark white cover was a picture of a cute little kitten (Awwww) and a disgusting realistic (and large) cockroach (Ewwww). The problem is that this horrible cover caused me to think, every time I looked at it that the realistic looking cockroach was the real thing. Within 24 hours I had been forced to put that issue in the recycling bin, which pissed me off as I didn’t get to read the whole thing.

So I did something unusual for me, I wrote a letter (an email really, and really only like four or five sentences…I’m not sure that qualifies as a letter) bitching about the cover. It was dripping with sarcasm, my email, which I hope they “got”. Anyway, long story short I got an email from the TONY letters department and my “letter” is not only being published, but I won ‘Letter of The Week’ (which basically means I get published, identified as Letter of the Week, and I get Time Out Publication of my choice – I chose 1,000 books to change your life – and I got it yesterday – talk about fast service!). Anyway, I suspect it will be in this week’s issue (today probably) and if not today than next Wednesday.

While this is nice/fun news, I sure would trade it for some other acceptances…*sigh*.

Also of note is that this is only the second time I have ever written in to complain/ask questions/give commentary to a publication, and both times I have written in, I have been published (the other time was to an X-Men comic book when I was but a teenager). I guess I have found my calling. Unfortunately it seems rather unfulfilling.

If you live in the NYC area check for my TONY Letter today, it’s incredibly exciting. Not really.

Hey, maybe people aren’t as stupid as I think they are! Whoopee!

October 10, 2007 in craptastic, television reviews | 1 comment

There’s an article today about new television shows that are already “in trouble”. You can click below for the full article, but in a nutshell it says that the horrific Bionic Woman tops that list with a 28% drop off in young adult viewers (you can’t fool us with this crap!) and a 20% drop off in overall viewers…wait…I don’t even know if I’m young enough to be considered a “young adult viewer”…crap…what’s the cutoff? Regardless, here is a message Hollywood: “don’t be shocked people tuned in initially, we desperately wanted it to be good and you promoted the hell out of it, of course we tuned in to the first episode, but you made a steaming pile of dog crap and we’re not going to keep tuning in for that. LEARN A LESSON ALREADY!” geez.

Okay, I’m done.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-10-09-fall-TV-trends_N.htm

don’t be fooled by this somewhat cool looking image, the show is prime suckage.

#35 Lady Into Fox by David Garnett

October 9, 2007 in book reviews, books, mcsweeney's | 4 comments

#35. Lady Into Fox. David Garnett. Fiction. 4.0 stars

This is a fascinating little reprint from an original 1922 book by McSweeney’s – The Collins Library Division. I wasn’t sure what to expect when reading this book and picked it up largely based on my devotion to McSweeney’s, the intriguing title and the gorgeous nature of the reprint, which includes the original woodcut illustrations.

I was happily surprised when I finally sat down with this little gem. It is shocking how much you end up feeling for the main character Mr. Tebrick, husband of Mrs Silvia Tebrick who does quite quickly in the story literally turn into a fox. By page 5 Silvia is a fox and I found myself wondering how on earth Garnett was going to keep this interesting.

Boy was a I wrong. The real story is the mental breakdown of the heartbroken Mr. Tebrick as he tries at all costs to keep his wife, now a fox, in his life. Initially it is easy for him (really for them both) and he dotes on her and she on him and their love remains chastely alive, but the longer she remains a fox the more wild she becomes and the more of her humanity her husbands sees (and feels) slip away, until it is like she is caged unwillingly and he her captor.

It is quite a heartbreaking story and leaving the “fable aspect” of her actually being a fox aside, it speaks volumes about relationships and what happens when a partner moves on and grows in a way that the other cannot follow. How the bonds of love are often not enough to keep two people, changing in different directions and at different rates, together. I was immersed in this world and shockingly found myself near tears on occasion. A great story. 4 stars.

#4 – comic of the week

October 8, 2007 in comic of the week, comics, short fiction submissions, writing | 2 comments

#34 Transparency Stories by France Hwang

October 8, 2007 in book reviews, books, short fiction submissions | Permalink

#34 Transparency: Stories. Frances Hwang. Short Fiction. 3.5 Stars

These stories were haunting and beautiful overall, and while they did not link together directly as some collections do they had a similar tone and flavor that gave the collection a cohesiveness that was enjoyable. As usual with short fiction I was moved by some pieces more than others, but unlike many collections I read all of the stories were strong.

The Old Gentleman, Blue Hour, Transparency, and Sonata for the Left Hand were my favorites, but I can’t quite pinpoint why as they were written with the same beautiful ease as the other. I suppose I just connected a little more to the characters or what they were going through in these pieces than the others. I did feel that Hwang’s longer pieces were her stronger works, Remedies, The Modern Age, and Giving a Clock were for me the weaker of the bunch and also by far the shortest works.

Ironically enough the two last pieces in the collection, Intruders and Garden City, I enjoyed immensely, but they ended abruptly for me and left me wanting in a kind of desperate way. Perhaps this is what Hwang intended, but I confess to being disappointed considering how satisfied I felt with my favorites in the collection. In fact I feel and felt most connected to the character Susan in Intruders and was moved by this story above all others, but ultimately I felt a bit let down, but considering the nature of the piece, perhaps that is what Hwang wanted in me.

Overall a strong collection, that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys short fiction. 3.5 stars.