Foxy Mocksy
"Parody is a form of artistic expression protected by the First Amendment. The keystone to parody is imitation. Mr. Franken is clearly mocking Fox." It's really nice to find a judge who actually understands a bit about comedy and satire. Takes me back to my old college days, it does. Goddess bless my liberal arts education, I actually took courses called Comedy and Satire toward credit requirements for one of my majors (English) but there are a lot of folks who can analyze the stuff intuitively without benefit of academia and it's great to see when someone Gets It Right. With Franken's victory I have removed the "Fair & Balanced" stuff from my subtitle and sidebar. By the way, Lis Riba (link at sidebar, keep trying until you connect!) has a couple interesting posts about how Fox's news site itself handled the report of this hearing. And I smiled when I checked out Amazon's current top-seller nonfiction list, thanks to a tip on Atrios' comment section. Franken at #1, Conason at #2, Hightower at #4, Palast at #5, Ivins at #6 (in pre-release), Moore's latest still holding pretty strong at #13, Weapons of Mass Deception at #15, Ehrenreich at #17, Alterman at #18, and lookie, Howard Zinn at #19! That's quite extraordinary, and certainly seems to put the lie to the meme that the country's become more conservative.
Friday, August 22, 2003
Old Friends
This one's for Cat, currently filming a fairy tale in Saskatchewan. Via Cyndy Roy at Mousemusings (link at sidebar), Paul Krassner relives the early days of The Realist in the NYPress, where his weekly column, "Zen Bastard," debuts next week. The link doesn't seem to be working for me at the moment, but I'll take Cyndy's word for it and check again later; and of course Paul will be blogrolled in the Columnists section when ZB starts! Paul was always a great inspiration and help during my INSIDE JOKE days (while I've seen him perform I don't think we've ever met, but we did write little cover notes to one another when we mailed out our respective zines in those before-the-Internet days), and it does my heart good every time I see his rabble-rousing!
This one's for Cat, currently filming a fairy tale in Saskatchewan. Via Cyndy Roy at Mousemusings (link at sidebar), Paul Krassner relives the early days of The Realist in the NYPress, where his weekly column, "Zen Bastard," debuts next week. The link doesn't seem to be working for me at the moment, but I'll take Cyndy's word for it and check again later; and of course Paul will be blogrolled in the Columnists section when ZB starts! Paul was always a great inspiration and help during my INSIDE JOKE days (while I've seen him perform I don't think we've ever met, but we did write little cover notes to one another when we mailed out our respective zines in those before-the-Internet days), and it does my heart good every time I see his rabble-rousing!
Hear Me Now And Believe Me Later
Here's your NYT-reg-free Krugman column for the week! (Although, to reiterate, if you want to bypass the NY Time's incredibly intrusive registration process you can also sign on with member name "corporatemedia" and password "stillsucks" - all thanks to Lis Riba, link at sidebar!)
Here's your NYT-reg-free Krugman column for the week! (Although, to reiterate, if you want to bypass the NY Time's incredibly intrusive registration process you can also sign on with member name "corporatemedia" and password "stillsucks" - all thanks to Lis Riba, link at sidebar!)
Tell Me Lies, Tell Me Sweet Little Lies
In addition to Conason's book (see the post below, and do read all the excerpts!), much of blogtopia* knows that Al Franken's book is being released today to coincide with the 3:30 PM hearing by U.S. District Judge Denny Chin on the nuisance "trademark dilution" lawsuit brought by the anything-but-Fair-and-Balanced Fox propaganda network. While I'll probably wait for the paperback, maybe we'll get lucky and Salon will reprint the chapter that's headed "The Chapter on Fox: They Distort, We Deride or We Retort, They Have Lied or They Purport, We Decry or They Are Short, We Have Plied or Smorty Smort, Blort Deblort." Update: "Top Six"ers Steve Chaput (in the comment section) and Mark Evanier (on his blog) have both mentioned that Eric Hananoki (link at sidebar) has an excerpt from Franken's book up at his blog The Hamster.
*yes, skippy coined that word!
In addition to Conason's book (see the post below, and do read all the excerpts!), much of blogtopia* knows that Al Franken's book is being released today to coincide with the 3:30 PM hearing by U.S. District Judge Denny Chin on the nuisance "trademark dilution" lawsuit brought by the anything-but-Fair-and-Balanced Fox propaganda network. While I'll probably wait for the paperback, maybe we'll get lucky and Salon will reprint the chapter that's headed "The Chapter on Fox: They Distort, We Deride or We Retort, They Have Lied or They Purport, We Decry or They Are Short, We Have Plied or Smorty Smort, Blort Deblort." Update: "Top Six"ers Steve Chaput (in the comment section) and Mark Evanier (on his blog) have both mentioned that Eric Hananoki (link at sidebar) has an excerpt from Franken's book up at his blog The Hamster.
*yes, skippy coined that word!
Thursday, August 21, 2003
Duck, Duck, (Silly) Goose
Is Joe Conason being shunned by Madame Coulter? Horrors, that sounds positively-- elitist! (Salon requires a day pass, so click and minimize unless, well, you know...) As many bloggers know, Salon's been running excerpts from Conason's new book Big Lies all week. Here's my ready-made index:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Update on 8/22: Here's Part Five, and Salon's Day Pass for August 22 is actually sponsored by the book so don't minimize your screen for that part. :)
Is Joe Conason being shunned by Madame Coulter? Horrors, that sounds positively-- elitist! (Salon requires a day pass, so click and minimize unless, well, you know...) As many bloggers know, Salon's been running excerpts from Conason's new book Big Lies all week. Here's my ready-made index:
Update on 8/22: Here's Part Five, and Salon's Day Pass for August 22 is actually sponsored by the book so don't minimize your screen for that part. :)
Viral Inflections
Well, I thought my systems weren't infected, having not actually seen any e-mail with the dweaded woims, but I've now had both my home and work computers updated and, our IT fellow informs me, I was indeed hit at the office. (As opposed to getting banged up in the deli, which was the day before yesterday. That's the last time I try to get out of someone's way in a narrow aisle; from now on, let 'em wait for the fat gal instead. I just bruise too easily, as the back of my hand now attests. No good deed goes unpunished. But I digress.) And I don't know what's up with my office machine but it's driving me nuts that I can't read Elaine's and Lis' blogs from there, so I've now moved their links to a separate section on the sidebar to remind myself to catch up with them from home base. Hope you're all having a glitch-free day!
Well, I thought my systems weren't infected, having not actually seen any e-mail with the dweaded woims, but I've now had both my home and work computers updated and, our IT fellow informs me, I was indeed hit at the office. (As opposed to getting banged up in the deli, which was the day before yesterday. That's the last time I try to get out of someone's way in a narrow aisle; from now on, let 'em wait for the fat gal instead. I just bruise too easily, as the back of my hand now attests. No good deed goes unpunished. But I digress.) And I don't know what's up with my office machine but it's driving me nuts that I can't read Elaine's and Lis' blogs from there, so I've now moved their links to a separate section on the sidebar to remind myself to catch up with them from home base. Hope you're all having a glitch-free day!
Stone Cold
If this is a step in the right direction, my question is, will the defenders of church-state separation then take on the still-standard practice of swearing in witnesses on a Bible?
If this is a step in the right direction, my question is, will the defenders of church-state separation then take on the still-standard practice of swearing in witnesses on a Bible?
Perspective
These are the times that try bloggers' souls. Emma at Late Night Thoughts (link at sidebar) expresses things well: "Lately watching the world is like watching a slow motion train wreck, and writing about it seems to be too much, or too little, or simply useless. I thought at the beginning I would have something to say, but...well, I don't anymore. Not really. I have been spending a great deal of time reading, and most of it has been disheartening..." I think many of us can relate. We've known for awhile that all the dissembling going on in governmental and corporate circles is so overwhelming it's hard to even keep track of, much less effectively counter. But I always bear in mind one of the themes from the movie Contact: "Small moves." This isn't the first time in our country's history, and certainly not in the history of the world, that things have looked so bleak for so many. Politics, corporate crime, all of it goes in cycles, and while we're certainly in a negative cycle at present (from the POV of workers and non-privileged citizens; from the POV of the rich and powerful the cycle is always positive and profitable, it's only a matter of degree) that's not to say we cannot begin to effect change on a national level as early as 15 months from now, and on a local level perhaps sooner than that. We just need to step back every now and again. An angry, blame-shifting tirade from a government mouthpiece often indicates that our efforts to reveal truth and secure justice have already had some desired effect in putting them on the defensive against We, The People. We cannot take their words at face value (and let them depress us) if we already know they routinely lie. But neither can we dismiss them. We must acknowledge that they're People too, not just some faceless "enemy" even if they paint us that way. We must continue to seek more effective ways of increasing our understanding of each other's viewpoints. (John Hawkins of Right Wing News is an excellent example of someone reaching out to liberals and leftists from the conservative end of the spectrum.) And we need to maintain perspective. If we get momentarily disheartened or angry or frustrated, we have to remind ourselves "this too shall pass," "this will cycle around again," "the people united cannot be defeated," any other mantra that works for each of us. All the direct action in the world without this accompanying mantra of perspective will burn us out that much faster.
These are the times that try bloggers' souls. Emma at Late Night Thoughts (link at sidebar) expresses things well: "Lately watching the world is like watching a slow motion train wreck, and writing about it seems to be too much, or too little, or simply useless. I thought at the beginning I would have something to say, but...well, I don't anymore. Not really. I have been spending a great deal of time reading, and most of it has been disheartening..." I think many of us can relate. We've known for awhile that all the dissembling going on in governmental and corporate circles is so overwhelming it's hard to even keep track of, much less effectively counter. But I always bear in mind one of the themes from the movie Contact: "Small moves." This isn't the first time in our country's history, and certainly not in the history of the world, that things have looked so bleak for so many. Politics, corporate crime, all of it goes in cycles, and while we're certainly in a negative cycle at present (from the POV of workers and non-privileged citizens; from the POV of the rich and powerful the cycle is always positive and profitable, it's only a matter of degree) that's not to say we cannot begin to effect change on a national level as early as 15 months from now, and on a local level perhaps sooner than that. We just need to step back every now and again. An angry, blame-shifting tirade from a government mouthpiece often indicates that our efforts to reveal truth and secure justice have already had some desired effect in putting them on the defensive against We, The People. We cannot take their words at face value (and let them depress us) if we already know they routinely lie. But neither can we dismiss them. We must acknowledge that they're People too, not just some faceless "enemy" even if they paint us that way. We must continue to seek more effective ways of increasing our understanding of each other's viewpoints. (John Hawkins of Right Wing News is an excellent example of someone reaching out to liberals and leftists from the conservative end of the spectrum.) And we need to maintain perspective. If we get momentarily disheartened or angry or frustrated, we have to remind ourselves "this too shall pass," "this will cycle around again," "the people united cannot be defeated," any other mantra that works for each of us. All the direct action in the world without this accompanying mantra of perspective will burn us out that much faster.
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
What Amendment Was That Again?
Looks like the NYCBlogger/RNN pollsters are backsliding again. Today's question: City Grants Permit For Million Youth March: Was This the Right Decision? That they should even be asking if a government allowing "the right of the people peaceably to assemble" is "the right decision" says a lot about the fragile state of our rights as American citizens.
Looks like the NYCBlogger/RNN pollsters are backsliding again. Today's question: City Grants Permit For Million Youth March: Was This the Right Decision? That they should even be asking if a government allowing "the right of the people peaceably to assemble" is "the right decision" says a lot about the fragile state of our rights as American citizens.
Call for Patriots
Lis Riba (link at sidebar - remember, you may need to click on it more than once to connect properly) notes that "the Justice Department has just launched www.lifeandliberty.gov, a new website for their pro-PATRIOT Act Propaganda. In response, I have just registered www.lifeandliberty.info, with which I intend to combat their false propaganda claims. The site is not up yet. (I only registered it an hour ago.) I haven't even decided on a format, whether it be static pages reflecting and rebutting the originals, a weblog, a wiki, or something else entirely. If anybody would like to work with me on this site, I'd love to hear from you. [If the ACLU or EFF or other such organizations are interested, I'm even willing to sell or give away the registration, so long as it will be dedicated to the use described above.]" What a terrific and productive idea! Please submit your content suggestions to Lis in her comment section.
Lis Riba (link at sidebar - remember, you may need to click on it more than once to connect properly) notes that "the Justice Department has just launched www.lifeandliberty.gov, a new website for their pro-PATRIOT Act Propaganda. In response, I have just registered www.lifeandliberty.info, with which I intend to combat their false propaganda claims. The site is not up yet. (I only registered it an hour ago.) I haven't even decided on a format, whether it be static pages reflecting and rebutting the originals, a weblog, a wiki, or something else entirely. If anybody would like to work with me on this site, I'd love to hear from you. [If the ACLU or EFF or other such organizations are interested, I'm even willing to sell or give away the registration, so long as it will be dedicated to the use described above.]" What a terrific and productive idea! Please submit your content suggestions to Lis in her comment section.
Errors, Errors Everywhere
In addition to this message which many of us blogged about back in February (and which made the rounds again earlier this summer when amused web surfers found that typing "WMD" into Google and pressing "I'm Feeling Lucky" elicited the same page), via Neil Gaiman (link at sidebar) we're directed to another "Cannot Find Server" page. I agree with Neil, "I think we need more pages like that on the internet..." Does anyone know of others?
In addition to this message which many of us blogged about back in February (and which made the rounds again earlier this summer when amused web surfers found that typing "WMD" into Google and pressing "I'm Feeling Lucky" elicited the same page), via Neil Gaiman (link at sidebar) we're directed to another "Cannot Find Server" page. I agree with Neil, "I think we need more pages like that on the internet..." Does anyone know of others?
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Tom Redux
Well, I succeeded in my goal to meet both Tom Tomorrow and August Pollack (links at sidebar) for the first time (in the case of Tom/Dan, it only took 20 years!). Here's a picture of all three of us. I'm the fat middle-aged broad on the right. Isn't August just the cutest? Nobody who looks that yummy would even give me the time of day when I was August's age. Okay, one guy, with whom I've recently become reacquainted due in part to this blog (and he's even participated in the comments sections) and who happened to be at the reading/signing as well. Here's a picture of me with Spencer. But of course it wasn't about me, and I just wanted to say that Dan didn't seem nervous at all and did a tremendous job with his multi-media presentation, as he read from the panels projected on the TV set to his right. Big crowd, easily around 100, SRO and all that. Very partisan, as you might expect, and very enjoyable. Robin even seemed to have a great time chatting with animator Howard Moss (loved the "Plan 9 from the Beltway" animation, guys!). Off to cap off a great evening by watching The Daily Show now (they really should call Dan, y'know?)...
Well, I succeeded in my goal to meet both Tom Tomorrow and August Pollack (links at sidebar) for the first time (in the case of Tom/Dan, it only took 20 years!). Here's a picture of all three of us. I'm the fat middle-aged broad on the right. Isn't August just the cutest? Nobody who looks that yummy would even give me the time of day when I was August's age. Okay, one guy, with whom I've recently become reacquainted due in part to this blog (and he's even participated in the comments sections) and who happened to be at the reading/signing as well. Here's a picture of me with Spencer. But of course it wasn't about me, and I just wanted to say that Dan didn't seem nervous at all and did a tremendous job with his multi-media presentation, as he read from the panels projected on the TV set to his right. Big crowd, easily around 100, SRO and all that. Very partisan, as you might expect, and very enjoyable. Robin even seemed to have a great time chatting with animator Howard Moss (loved the "Plan 9 from the Beltway" animation, guys!). Off to cap off a great evening by watching The Daily Show now (they really should call Dan, y'know?)...
Breaking News
Via Natalie Davis (link at sidebar): a truck bomb has "devastated the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad." The NYCBlogger/RNN question of the day is: Should We Have Expected This? Not really the kind of thing I'd want to answer yes or no without a huge backing essay talking about how "we" (what you mean "we," kemosabe?) should have expected or at least anticipated most of what's happened there given our behavior since we invaded, so I'll leave it up to y'all to address in the comment section, if you so desire.
Via Natalie Davis (link at sidebar): a truck bomb has "devastated the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad." The NYCBlogger/RNN question of the day is: Should We Have Expected This? Not really the kind of thing I'd want to answer yes or no without a huge backing essay talking about how "we" (what you mean "we," kemosabe?) should have expected or at least anticipated most of what's happened there given our behavior since we invaded, so I'll leave it up to y'all to address in the comment section, if you so desire.
Sherman's Follies
As many readers know, I grew up on the songs of Allen Sherman. (Just check my July 14 entry, for instance.) Sherman has delightfully "ruined" more standards for me than I can count. So I was intrigued by this article in the L.A. Times (via both Mark Evanier and Lis Riba, links at sidebar - you may need to try Lis' link twice, it almost never activates the first time on any of my computers, and I can't get to it at all from my primary work machine) talking about not only the 40th anniversary of "Hello Muddah Hello Faddah" and the inspiration for that song (Sherman's son Robert) but giving a pretty good synopsis of the novelty artist's life as well. As the L.A. Times requires registration before you can read any of their articles, Lis has taken care of that for you - just log in using the member name "corporatemedia" and the password "stillsucks" (thanks Lis!). Update: Heh, that member name and password works for NY Times online articles too. Lis, you're a total treasure!
As many readers know, I grew up on the songs of Allen Sherman. (Just check my July 14 entry, for instance.) Sherman has delightfully "ruined" more standards for me than I can count. So I was intrigued by this article in the L.A. Times (via both Mark Evanier and Lis Riba, links at sidebar - you may need to try Lis' link twice, it almost never activates the first time on any of my computers, and I can't get to it at all from my primary work machine) talking about not only the 40th anniversary of "Hello Muddah Hello Faddah" and the inspiration for that song (Sherman's son Robert) but giving a pretty good synopsis of the novelty artist's life as well. As the L.A. Times requires registration before you can read any of their articles, Lis has taken care of that for you - just log in using the member name "corporatemedia" and the password "stillsucks" (thanks Lis!). Update: Heh, that member name and password works for NY Times online articles too. Lis, you're a total treasure!
Jugglenot of Terror
Via Cyndy Roy (link at sidebar), the Democratic Underground presents Equal Time with Bob Boudelang. On the basis of his August 15 tirade alone, I'm adding this one to the Columnists roll on the sidebar.
Via Cyndy Roy (link at sidebar), the Democratic Underground presents Equal Time with Bob Boudelang. On the basis of his August 15 tirade alone, I'm adding this one to the Columnists roll on the sidebar.
Tom Tomorrow, Today!
Just a reminder, Dan will be at the Barnes & Noble in Chelsea this evening. I am prepared, Great Big Book of Tomorrow and digital camera in hand. All in attendance will doubtless be celebrating the news that "an exceptional vintage is expected this year" from French vineyards, which of course more than makes up for all those unseemly heat-related deaths. Oh, and the normally publicity-shy fellow would still very much like The Daily Show to give him a call; I second that!
Just a reminder, Dan will be at the Barnes & Noble in Chelsea this evening. I am prepared, Great Big Book of Tomorrow and digital camera in hand. All in attendance will doubtless be celebrating the news that "an exceptional vintage is expected this year" from French vineyards, which of course more than makes up for all those unseemly heat-related deaths. Oh, and the normally publicity-shy fellow would still very much like The Daily Show to give him a call; I second that!
Monday, August 18, 2003
Faith
Lots of bloggers have religion on their minds lately. Emma opines, "Among the industrialized world, no culture is as deeply steeped in religion as America's." Anne Zook says, "I'm hoping this much-publicized 'wave' of religious feeling in this country is like the last flare-up of a dying campfire." Jeanne d'Orleans links to folks who talk about moderate and progressive believers. And of course, Natalie Davis always has thoughtful spiritual posts; this is one of my favorites, but the whole site is worth perusing for many thoughtful posts about faith. As for me, I'm doing whatever the secular equivalent of praying is that I get out of here at a reasonable hour, but whatever Powers That Be exist seem to have smiled kindly on me for having gotten this far through my first boss-back-in-office day relatively unscathed. The only Faith in which I'm currently interested is my cousin's daughter, my "little buddy," off to college in a couple weeks (see yesterday's brief entry). Update: Ms. Musings is back!, and Christine has an interesting post on The Magdalene Sisters, a film "which tells the heartbreaking story of women who were forced into service at the Catholic Church-run Magdalene laundries in Ireland to atone for their “sins.” "
Lots of bloggers have religion on their minds lately. Emma opines, "Among the industrialized world, no culture is as deeply steeped in religion as America's." Anne Zook says, "I'm hoping this much-publicized 'wave' of religious feeling in this country is like the last flare-up of a dying campfire." Jeanne d'Orleans links to folks who talk about moderate and progressive believers. And of course, Natalie Davis always has thoughtful spiritual posts; this is one of my favorites, but the whole site is worth perusing for many thoughtful posts about faith. As for me, I'm doing whatever the secular equivalent of praying is that I get out of here at a reasonable hour, but whatever Powers That Be exist seem to have smiled kindly on me for having gotten this far through my first boss-back-in-office day relatively unscathed. The only Faith in which I'm currently interested is my cousin's daughter, my "little buddy," off to college in a couple weeks (see yesterday's brief entry). Update: Ms. Musings is back!, and Christine has an interesting post on The Magdalene Sisters, a film "which tells the heartbreaking story of women who were forced into service at the Catholic Church-run Magdalene laundries in Ireland to atone for their “sins.” "
Sunday, August 17, 2003
Sunday Best
Family doings today (congratulations, Faith!) coupled with TCM's Gene Kelly day prevent me from doing more than a quick hello. Off to watch On The Town now, trying to forget the increasing noise upstairs and the fact that my boss returns tomorrow...
Family doings today (congratulations, Faith!) coupled with TCM's Gene Kelly day prevent me from doing more than a quick hello. Off to watch On The Town now, trying to forget the increasing noise upstairs and the fact that my boss returns tomorrow...
Saturday, August 16, 2003
Digby on Election 2004
Dang, this is good. I think he's got it exactly right. If so, American politics are starting to feel a bit too much like a Frank Miller book.
Dang, this is good. I think he's got it exactly right. If so, American politics are starting to feel a bit too much like a Frank Miller book.
One-Dimensional Thinking
Via Christina Parsons, the latest installment of David Koenig's Mouse Tales, entitled Suspended Animation, discussing the almost certain closing of Disney's traditional (2D) animation division. Yet again, a "triumph" of style over substance as Disney head honchos insist on believing the problem with their less successful animated pictures has to do with the tools used to create them rather than with lousy story ideas and execution. Update: More here.
Via Christina Parsons, the latest installment of David Koenig's Mouse Tales, entitled Suspended Animation, discussing the almost certain closing of Disney's traditional (2D) animation division. Yet again, a "triumph" of style over substance as Disney head honchos insist on believing the problem with their less successful animated pictures has to do with the tools used to create them rather than with lousy story ideas and execution. Update: More here.
Pen-Elayne For Your Thoughts - Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
Writer/Artist: Marjane Satrapi
Translation by L'Association, Paris, France
Jacket and Binding Design: Jean-Christophe Menu
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Here's what I thought...
Warning: May Be Spoilers Ahead
Autobiographical comics are often a tricky proposition. I think you really need three things to do them successfully - an interesting life or point of view in the first place (or at least one interesting enough to hook a significant number of readers); an accessible, welcoming art style; and the wisdom to know where the dividing line is between bringing readers into your world and just being self-indulgent. Satrapi has all three of these ingredients, in spades.
Satrapi is described on the book jacket as "The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran's last emperors." How much more singular can a voice get? You have your exotic land, royalty, social revolution, the gender divide - Satrapi's story is the kind that can draw in everyone from fantasists to feminists to political activists. And it's the best true coming-of-age tale I've ever read. For instance, she writes of and illustrates her childhood ambition, "I wanted to be a prophet... because our maid did not eat with us. Because my father had a Cadillac. And, above all, because my grandmother's knees always ached," where the last of these three panels features Marjane's grandmother on a bench saying "Come here Marji! Help me to stand up," as the child complies thinking "Don't worry. Soon you won't have any more pain. You'll see." (This panel is also a fine refutation of the current received "wisdom" that thought balloons are somehow evil or too hokey, rather than just another tool in the comic creator's arsenal that can either be used deftly or clumsily depending on that creator's skill.)
The whole book has such little moments interspersed with country-altering (and indeed world-changing) events, told in a simple style, cartoony but not exaggeratedly so. Satrapi's command of body language and facial expressions is clear and perceptive. She's not drawing to show off, she doesn't over-render into oblivion - she's just engrossing the reader in her story. Satrapi notes, "I think the pictures, they say always more than the words can say. Also, in pictures, they help me to have the distance without becoming cynical, and be able to describe a part of the story with humor -- which I couldn't do otherwise." In a way it's kind of like Anne Frank's diary if she would have lived and escaped the Nazis. Because, as harrowing as the Islamic revolution was for many in Iran (particularly educated women who were relatively secular in their everyday practices), Marjane's family had the means and the sense to get their daughter to safety in Vienna once the warning signs became too numerous to ignore.
My one frustration with the book is that it ends just as she and her parents separate, and I was so enthralled and rooting for her so much that I wanted to see more closure, and was hoping for something akin to a happy ending. But Satrapi plans to release her autobiography as a series of four graphic novels, of which this is the first. I can't wait to read about the "vagrant life" she led in Vienna, her move to Sweden, her marriage and divorce and life in France, and above all whether the rest of her family is okay. In the meantime, this book can stand its own with some of the best true-life graphic novels ever published, and I give it my highest recommendation.
So, what did y'all think?
Writer/Artist: Marjane Satrapi
Translation by L'Association, Paris, France
Jacket and Binding Design: Jean-Christophe Menu
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Here's what I thought...
Warning: May Be Spoilers Ahead
Autobiographical comics are often a tricky proposition. I think you really need three things to do them successfully - an interesting life or point of view in the first place (or at least one interesting enough to hook a significant number of readers); an accessible, welcoming art style; and the wisdom to know where the dividing line is between bringing readers into your world and just being self-indulgent. Satrapi has all three of these ingredients, in spades.
Satrapi is described on the book jacket as "The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran's last emperors." How much more singular can a voice get? You have your exotic land, royalty, social revolution, the gender divide - Satrapi's story is the kind that can draw in everyone from fantasists to feminists to political activists. And it's the best true coming-of-age tale I've ever read. For instance, she writes of and illustrates her childhood ambition, "I wanted to be a prophet... because our maid did not eat with us. Because my father had a Cadillac. And, above all, because my grandmother's knees always ached," where the last of these three panels features Marjane's grandmother on a bench saying "Come here Marji! Help me to stand up," as the child complies thinking "Don't worry. Soon you won't have any more pain. You'll see." (This panel is also a fine refutation of the current received "wisdom" that thought balloons are somehow evil or too hokey, rather than just another tool in the comic creator's arsenal that can either be used deftly or clumsily depending on that creator's skill.)
The whole book has such little moments interspersed with country-altering (and indeed world-changing) events, told in a simple style, cartoony but not exaggeratedly so. Satrapi's command of body language and facial expressions is clear and perceptive. She's not drawing to show off, she doesn't over-render into oblivion - she's just engrossing the reader in her story. Satrapi notes, "I think the pictures, they say always more than the words can say. Also, in pictures, they help me to have the distance without becoming cynical, and be able to describe a part of the story with humor -- which I couldn't do otherwise." In a way it's kind of like Anne Frank's diary if she would have lived and escaped the Nazis. Because, as harrowing as the Islamic revolution was for many in Iran (particularly educated women who were relatively secular in their everyday practices), Marjane's family had the means and the sense to get their daughter to safety in Vienna once the warning signs became too numerous to ignore.
My one frustration with the book is that it ends just as she and her parents separate, and I was so enthralled and rooting for her so much that I wanted to see more closure, and was hoping for something akin to a happy ending. But Satrapi plans to release her autobiography as a series of four graphic novels, of which this is the first. I can't wait to read about the "vagrant life" she led in Vienna, her move to Sweden, her marriage and divorce and life in France, and above all whether the rest of her family is okay. In the meantime, this book can stand its own with some of the best true-life graphic novels ever published, and I give it my highest recommendation.
So, what did y'all think?
Too Long Lived, Too Late Gone
Idi Amin has finally shuffled off his mortal coil. Quoth Aziz Poonwalla (link at sidebar), "Allah's mercy is infinite, but the voices of Amin's victims' will seal his fate." It speaks to what a sad specimen of American media I am that my first thought was, "there goes that Garrett Morris impression."
Idi Amin has finally shuffled off his mortal coil. Quoth Aziz Poonwalla (link at sidebar), "Allah's mercy is infinite, but the voices of Amin's victims' will seal his fate." It speaks to what a sad specimen of American media I am that my first thought was, "there goes that Garrett Morris impression."
Amp on Censorship
If you have an hour or so to spare, you could do far worse than mosey over to Alas, A Blog, where Ampersand (link at sidebar) starts off by discussing the CBLDF's Castillo case and then censorship in general, including laws on child porn and rape porn. Start here, then here, then here and please don't skip over the comment sections; Barry always attracts erudite and passionate comments. Finally, Barry rounds up what others have said on their fora about the Castillo case.
If you have an hour or so to spare, you could do far worse than mosey over to Alas, A Blog, where Ampersand (link at sidebar) starts off by discussing the CBLDF's Castillo case and then censorship in general, including laws on child porn and rape porn. Start here, then here, then here and please don't skip over the comment sections; Barry always attracts erudite and passionate comments. Finally, Barry rounds up what others have said on their fora about the Castillo case.
Friday, August 15, 2003
Fair and Balanced Blackout Theory
Here's one from Greg Palast (link at sidebar). Via the comment section of Lisa English's Ruminate This (link at sidebar).
Here's one from Greg Palast (link at sidebar). Via the comment section of Lisa English's Ruminate This (link at sidebar).
"Here, I'll give you a topic. Fox News - neither fair nor balanced. Discuss."
This is the best Fair and Balanced site of the day so far. Mind you, I haven't been through my blogroll at all yet, I got the link via e-mail. Update: Blah3 has actually made a list of all F&B participants (via Sasha, link at sidebar), so if you're not on there and you've been doing some fair and balanced blogging, add your name in!
This is the best Fair and Balanced site of the day so far. Mind you, I haven't been through my blogroll at all yet, I got the link via e-mail. Update: Blah3 has actually made a list of all F&B participants (via Sasha, link at sidebar), so if you're not on there and you've been doing some fair and balanced blogging, add your name in!
I've Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway
[I know, tons of others will probably use that header, but I didn't sleep that much in the heat last night so I figured I'd go for the easy one instead of wracking my brain overmuch. What follows is my Fair and Balanced personal account of "The Blackout of '03."]
So I was talking to Robin on the phone yesterday around 4 PM. Suddenly the lights above me flickered, and I remember saying something like "Oh my God, that's weird." Then the phone went dead, and everything in our office just... shut... down. I immediately called Rob back on the cell, and he responded that nothing was operational at home either. We have one phone line in the kitchen that's not connected electrically and that was working, but the cord wasn't very long so Rob had no mobility to be able to find out any other info. I said, "Hang up, get a radio and call me back on the cell." Big mistake; we wound up not being able to connect with each other for another hour.
The news was sporadic - only one person in the office got his radio to work, but couldn't tune in any news stations. All we knew was that there was no electricity, and it wasn't localized to just our building or even to Manhattan. After staring out the kitchen window at the 34th Street entrance to Penn Station, and seeing a massive throng confusingly milling about outside, a number of us decided, heck with it, we're outta here. I asked the President if he happened to be driving past the GW Bridge, from which area I knew I could probably walk if need be, and he expressed concern that he might not even be able to retrieve his Jeep from the garage. So I and a coworker who lives the next neighborhood over walked one block east to try and catch the express bus back to Riverdale.
When we arrived the waiting queue was already about 4-5 rows thick, and people were trying to squeeze and push onto the bus that was already there loading. We decided to try and get on the next one if at all possible. It took about 10 minutes for that bus just to turn the corner on 32nd Street to get onto 6th Avenue; the roads in the Macy's/Greeley Square area were teeming with with pedestrians as well as gridlocked vehicles, and it was hellish trying to navigate the points where Broadway intersected with both an avenue and a street. By some miracle we were both able to get on the next bus, she standing in the back and me toward the front, with only a few people allowed on after me. Rudy, the driver, was very professional about the whole thing; once the bus was full, that was it. It must have been terribly hard for him to turn desperate folks away, but we were all anxious to get back to our loved ones.
Looking around at how NY'ers reacted, it was hard not to flash on September 11, 2001. I was one of the lucky ones then as well as yesterday; I managed to get home on the first subway back to my area on 9-11, and here I was on the second bus I'd spotted. Moreover, after variously trying our home phone and his cell for nearly an hour, I was finally able to connect again with Robin. He gave me the news he'd heard up until that point, which I passed along to the other grateful passengers (most of whom had been going through the same troubles with their cells). I reassured him as best I could that I was safe, that the trip was bound to take a long while but I still hoped to be home before dark, and that I wanted to conserve my phone's battery (which has been acting wonky lately anyway), so I'd call again upon our arrival in the Bronx.
That trip would take two and a half hours. And again, I stress that we were the lucky ones. We passed throngs of people walking uptown, water bottles in hand; I've no doubt that many of them reached their destinations before we did. We passed minivans with signs on their windows saying "$5 a ride." We passed young men "hitching a ride" by hanging onto the backs of buses and UPS trucks. We passed folks setting up makeshift booths selling water and such. Almost all the storefronts we passed were locked up tight. (As someone noted when we finally got to the area of the Broadway Bridge and the new mall they're building, "if the McDonald's is closed you know this is serious!") And we passed, and Rudy turned down, dozens of people begging to be let on. One guy just wouldn't take no for an answer; he delayed the bus for 5-10 minutes by standing in front of it refusing to move. Rudy passed that time by helping cheer and calm a young boy in the front of the bus, talking about his daughters who were around the boy's age. Finally a woman in the front seat got up and pleaded with the schmuck through the glass, "Look, I'm pregnant and I'm sick, I need to get home, please get out of the way!" and that seemed to prick what little conscience he must still have retained through his selfishness, so we were finally able to move on.
But for the most part, from what I observed, New Yorkers understood very well that it wasn't all about them. They all remembered 9-11 too. Many chose to help direct traffic in the absence of electric signals. Many were videotaping their surroundings for posterity. Lots of pedestrians travelled in groups, and their faces ranged from resigned to animated and nearly happy, as if to say "we're the greatest city in the world, we take things (literally) in stride!" Rudy was patient and professional throughout the midtown jam, the turn onto a near-empty Central Park South to get to Columbus Circle, the uptown jam around 96th before we traversed the park, the standstill at 3rd Avenue and 120th Street which diverted us onto 120th to pick up the FDR, and the brief tie-up at the GWBridge exit until we could get on the side road to take us off the highway and onto Dyckman Street. The bus was relatively comfortable, with its ceiling vent and many windows open and the AC on full. Still, I was grateful I'd just gotten my hair cut, and the water bottle I'd brought was near empty by 110th Street (about 1½ hours into our journey). Rudy had suggested that the seated passengers help out those who were standing and having problems, so I gratefully accepted the invitation of the woman in the seat "below" me to take a load off; she actually seemed happy to give up her seat, as it meant she could lean on the seats across the aisle where her teenaged daughters were and help comfort them better.
I accomplished my goal of arriving at the house before dark. The bus dropped me off at 230th and Corlear around 7:15. I hugged my coworker goodbye and told her I'd probably see her Monday, called Robin's cell and talked to him as I hiked upwards through Ewen Park towards the apartment building. Met our upstairs neighbors on the way, and we walked up the stairwell together. Stopped panting and gasping for air about five minutes after arriving at the apartment, and Rob filled me in on what he knew. He also mentioned he'd run out and gotten new batteries so we were set with the radio, but we had fewer candles than we'd thought. Not that big a deal, we had torches (flashlights) that worked and we spent most of the evening in the bedroom anyway, listening to the radio. I thought Bloomberg's address was fairly professional, and even the President didn't sound buffoonish (except when he mentioned how much better prepared we were today "than 2½ years ago" [what a coincidence, he became president right about 2½ years ago!]).
Pretty soon the glow I'd felt at making it home not much later than my usual hour despite the emergency situation gave way to my discomfort at being in a situation where I could use neither fan nor air conditioner. "Shut up," I kept telling myself, "this is nothing compared to what we've put people through in Iraq, have a little perspective" - but it's always been hard for me to deal with the heat. Maybe it's 'cause I'm big, maybe it's 'cause I'm spoiled by AC, but I knew I wasn't going to get much sleep. I kept as hydrated and cool as possible - Rob had filled the tub with cold water and showed me the trick of keeping your wrists in the cold water for about half a minute to cool the blood as it circulates through your body. Only temporary relief, though.
Nonetheless, there was something almost countrified about the near utter darkness. It felt and sounded a lot like the last time we'd visited England. Well, okay, except for the occasional fireworks some neighborhood folk decided they needed to set off around midnight 'cause, you know, God forbid we all partake in a quiet atmosphere we're not likely to have again. About 1:30 AM Robin motioned for me to come to the window. The darkness which had been fascinating me had yielded another bonus - we could actually view the waning moon and Mars. He took pictures; here's the best one that he got without setting up a tripod to prolong the exposure which he wasn't about to do in the dark at that hour.
The acetaminophen PM I'd taken finally enabled me to sleep through my sweat for a few hours, and when I woke up about 9 this morning the electricity had been back on for nearly half an hour - again, I still feel like we're among the lucky ones, we only have to worry about things like cleaning out the fridge (I'm hoping we can still use most of the stuff in the freezer, but the ice cream and the chicken that had sat on the bottom shelf because I couldn't use the toaster oven last evening will probably be dumped). The subways still aren't running, and I've yet to receive a call from anyone at work so I'm going to assume nobody else bothered coming in either. So today I'm going to catch up on the sleep I missed, immerse myself in news, send lots of mojo to Cleveland and even more to Iraq, and keep hugging Robin and reminding myself of our relative good fortune. Here's hoping everyone else similarly affected is doing okay.
[I know, tons of others will probably use that header, but I didn't sleep that much in the heat last night so I figured I'd go for the easy one instead of wracking my brain overmuch. What follows is my Fair and Balanced personal account of "The Blackout of '03."]
So I was talking to Robin on the phone yesterday around 4 PM. Suddenly the lights above me flickered, and I remember saying something like "Oh my God, that's weird." Then the phone went dead, and everything in our office just... shut... down. I immediately called Rob back on the cell, and he responded that nothing was operational at home either. We have one phone line in the kitchen that's not connected electrically and that was working, but the cord wasn't very long so Rob had no mobility to be able to find out any other info. I said, "Hang up, get a radio and call me back on the cell." Big mistake; we wound up not being able to connect with each other for another hour.
The news was sporadic - only one person in the office got his radio to work, but couldn't tune in any news stations. All we knew was that there was no electricity, and it wasn't localized to just our building or even to Manhattan. After staring out the kitchen window at the 34th Street entrance to Penn Station, and seeing a massive throng confusingly milling about outside, a number of us decided, heck with it, we're outta here. I asked the President if he happened to be driving past the GW Bridge, from which area I knew I could probably walk if need be, and he expressed concern that he might not even be able to retrieve his Jeep from the garage. So I and a coworker who lives the next neighborhood over walked one block east to try and catch the express bus back to Riverdale.
When we arrived the waiting queue was already about 4-5 rows thick, and people were trying to squeeze and push onto the bus that was already there loading. We decided to try and get on the next one if at all possible. It took about 10 minutes for that bus just to turn the corner on 32nd Street to get onto 6th Avenue; the roads in the Macy's/Greeley Square area were teeming with with pedestrians as well as gridlocked vehicles, and it was hellish trying to navigate the points where Broadway intersected with both an avenue and a street. By some miracle we were both able to get on the next bus, she standing in the back and me toward the front, with only a few people allowed on after me. Rudy, the driver, was very professional about the whole thing; once the bus was full, that was it. It must have been terribly hard for him to turn desperate folks away, but we were all anxious to get back to our loved ones.
Looking around at how NY'ers reacted, it was hard not to flash on September 11, 2001. I was one of the lucky ones then as well as yesterday; I managed to get home on the first subway back to my area on 9-11, and here I was on the second bus I'd spotted. Moreover, after variously trying our home phone and his cell for nearly an hour, I was finally able to connect again with Robin. He gave me the news he'd heard up until that point, which I passed along to the other grateful passengers (most of whom had been going through the same troubles with their cells). I reassured him as best I could that I was safe, that the trip was bound to take a long while but I still hoped to be home before dark, and that I wanted to conserve my phone's battery (which has been acting wonky lately anyway), so I'd call again upon our arrival in the Bronx.
That trip would take two and a half hours. And again, I stress that we were the lucky ones. We passed throngs of people walking uptown, water bottles in hand; I've no doubt that many of them reached their destinations before we did. We passed minivans with signs on their windows saying "$5 a ride." We passed young men "hitching a ride" by hanging onto the backs of buses and UPS trucks. We passed folks setting up makeshift booths selling water and such. Almost all the storefronts we passed were locked up tight. (As someone noted when we finally got to the area of the Broadway Bridge and the new mall they're building, "if the McDonald's is closed you know this is serious!") And we passed, and Rudy turned down, dozens of people begging to be let on. One guy just wouldn't take no for an answer; he delayed the bus for 5-10 minutes by standing in front of it refusing to move. Rudy passed that time by helping cheer and calm a young boy in the front of the bus, talking about his daughters who were around the boy's age. Finally a woman in the front seat got up and pleaded with the schmuck through the glass, "Look, I'm pregnant and I'm sick, I need to get home, please get out of the way!" and that seemed to prick what little conscience he must still have retained through his selfishness, so we were finally able to move on.
But for the most part, from what I observed, New Yorkers understood very well that it wasn't all about them. They all remembered 9-11 too. Many chose to help direct traffic in the absence of electric signals. Many were videotaping their surroundings for posterity. Lots of pedestrians travelled in groups, and their faces ranged from resigned to animated and nearly happy, as if to say "we're the greatest city in the world, we take things (literally) in stride!" Rudy was patient and professional throughout the midtown jam, the turn onto a near-empty Central Park South to get to Columbus Circle, the uptown jam around 96th before we traversed the park, the standstill at 3rd Avenue and 120th Street which diverted us onto 120th to pick up the FDR, and the brief tie-up at the GWBridge exit until we could get on the side road to take us off the highway and onto Dyckman Street. The bus was relatively comfortable, with its ceiling vent and many windows open and the AC on full. Still, I was grateful I'd just gotten my hair cut, and the water bottle I'd brought was near empty by 110th Street (about 1½ hours into our journey). Rudy had suggested that the seated passengers help out those who were standing and having problems, so I gratefully accepted the invitation of the woman in the seat "below" me to take a load off; she actually seemed happy to give up her seat, as it meant she could lean on the seats across the aisle where her teenaged daughters were and help comfort them better.
I accomplished my goal of arriving at the house before dark. The bus dropped me off at 230th and Corlear around 7:15. I hugged my coworker goodbye and told her I'd probably see her Monday, called Robin's cell and talked to him as I hiked upwards through Ewen Park towards the apartment building. Met our upstairs neighbors on the way, and we walked up the stairwell together. Stopped panting and gasping for air about five minutes after arriving at the apartment, and Rob filled me in on what he knew. He also mentioned he'd run out and gotten new batteries so we were set with the radio, but we had fewer candles than we'd thought. Not that big a deal, we had torches (flashlights) that worked and we spent most of the evening in the bedroom anyway, listening to the radio. I thought Bloomberg's address was fairly professional, and even the President didn't sound buffoonish (except when he mentioned how much better prepared we were today "than 2½ years ago" [what a coincidence, he became president right about 2½ years ago!]).
Pretty soon the glow I'd felt at making it home not much later than my usual hour despite the emergency situation gave way to my discomfort at being in a situation where I could use neither fan nor air conditioner. "Shut up," I kept telling myself, "this is nothing compared to what we've put people through in Iraq, have a little perspective" - but it's always been hard for me to deal with the heat. Maybe it's 'cause I'm big, maybe it's 'cause I'm spoiled by AC, but I knew I wasn't going to get much sleep. I kept as hydrated and cool as possible - Rob had filled the tub with cold water and showed me the trick of keeping your wrists in the cold water for about half a minute to cool the blood as it circulates through your body. Only temporary relief, though.
Nonetheless, there was something almost countrified about the near utter darkness. It felt and sounded a lot like the last time we'd visited England. Well, okay, except for the occasional fireworks some neighborhood folk decided they needed to set off around midnight 'cause, you know, God forbid we all partake in a quiet atmosphere we're not likely to have again. About 1:30 AM Robin motioned for me to come to the window. The darkness which had been fascinating me had yielded another bonus - we could actually view the waning moon and Mars. He took pictures; here's the best one that he got without setting up a tripod to prolong the exposure which he wasn't about to do in the dark at that hour.
The acetaminophen PM I'd taken finally enabled me to sleep through my sweat for a few hours, and when I woke up about 9 this morning the electricity had been back on for nearly half an hour - again, I still feel like we're among the lucky ones, we only have to worry about things like cleaning out the fridge (I'm hoping we can still use most of the stuff in the freezer, but the ice cream and the chicken that had sat on the bottom shelf because I couldn't use the toaster oven last evening will probably be dumped). The subways still aren't running, and I've yet to receive a call from anyone at work so I'm going to assume nobody else bothered coming in either. So today I'm going to catch up on the sleep I missed, immerse myself in news, send lots of mojo to Cleveland and even more to Iraq, and keep hugging Robin and reminding myself of our relative good fortune. Here's hoping everyone else similarly affected is doing okay.
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Tom Today
Great interview with "Top Six"er Tom Tomorrow, aka Dan Perkins, on Salon. Remember, if you're not a subscriber you have to sit through an ad in order to get your free "Day Pass" so, you know, minimize the screen for a minute or so unless you, like, have a thing for The Sprint Guy. As this blog site seems to have attracted a lot of new viewers in the past day or so, I wanted to point you to my review of Dan's Great Big Book of Tomorrow down below. And New Yorkers, don't forget his B&N signing next Tuesday! Update: I just noticed that another "Top Six"er, Mark Evanier, links to this interview as well. He also answered a question I've been wondering about for awhile, linking to this update on why it's taking so long for SCTV to come out on DVD. Honestly, it's hard enough trying to explain to Robin the nuances of Perini Scleroso, Monster Chiller Horror Theater or even free budgies until these DVDs finally appear. Mark's blog has really been in the zone lately, what with all the Dick Van Dyke comic book synopses (brilliant work considering said comics don't actually exist) and the news about Eric Idle's Spamalot and Rutles 2 projects.
Great interview with "Top Six"er Tom Tomorrow, aka Dan Perkins, on Salon. Remember, if you're not a subscriber you have to sit through an ad in order to get your free "Day Pass" so, you know, minimize the screen for a minute or so unless you, like, have a thing for The Sprint Guy. As this blog site seems to have attracted a lot of new viewers in the past day or so, I wanted to point you to my review of Dan's Great Big Book of Tomorrow down below. And New Yorkers, don't forget his B&N signing next Tuesday! Update: I just noticed that another "Top Six"er, Mark Evanier, links to this interview as well. He also answered a question I've been wondering about for awhile, linking to this update on why it's taking so long for SCTV to come out on DVD. Honestly, it's hard enough trying to explain to Robin the nuances of Perini Scleroso, Monster Chiller Horror Theater or even free budgies until these DVDs finally appear. Mark's blog has really been in the zone lately, what with all the Dick Van Dyke comic book synopses (brilliant work considering said comics don't actually exist) and the news about Eric Idle's Spamalot and Rutles 2 projects.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Thanks
My gratitude to everyone who's made today the highest hit count ever for this blog. Will try to keep informing and entertaining. Look for a Pen-Elayne For Your Thoughts review of Marjane Satrapi's amazing graphic novel Persepolis in the very near future. Meantime, I'd like to recommend the latest Guardian column from Iraqi blogger Salam Pax (link at sidebar).
My gratitude to everyone who's made today the highest hit count ever for this blog. Will try to keep informing and entertaining. Look for a Pen-Elayne For Your Thoughts review of Marjane Satrapi's amazing graphic novel Persepolis in the very near future. Meantime, I'd like to recommend the latest Guardian column from Iraqi blogger Salam Pax (link at sidebar).
Shorn and happy! Ten bucks plus tip. 42nd Street subway station entrance, southwest corner of 40th Street, mere feet away from Midtown Comics (link at sidebar, and my heart goes out to them for having dealt with the Blaster virus yesterday as well). Ask for Mel. Don't tell him I sent you, he has no idea who I am.
Budgie!
Happy first Blogiversary - yes, Jeralyn Merritt (link at sidebar) coined that word! - to Lee "Budgie" Barnett (link at sidebar), my favorite male British Jew (Hilary being my favorite female British Jew... okay okay, I only know two)! The link on the header is due to a Google search; I notice Google's logo today features a silhouette of Hitchcock with a friend from The Birds on his head, but alas, the bird is not a budgie. If you're so inclined and have shekels or quid to burn, buy something from here and make his day.
Happy first Blogiversary - yes, Jeralyn Merritt (link at sidebar) coined that word! - to Lee "Budgie" Barnett (link at sidebar), my favorite male British Jew (Hilary being my favorite female British Jew... okay okay, I only know two)! The link on the header is due to a Google search; I notice Google's logo today features a silhouette of Hitchcock with a friend from The Birds on his head, but alas, the bird is not a budgie. If you're so inclined and have shekels or quid to burn, buy something from here and make his day.
Angelic Comments
The reason Haloscan (button at sidebar) has been wonky in the last day or so is because they've been changing servers. I found this out when I logged onto their site to see if it were possible to delete duplicate comment posts. And it is (I can even edit them if I want to, but have no desire to do so). If anyone cares to look through back-comments sections and let me know of duplicate posts, I'll be happy to delete 'em. (Already done for the comments to my previous entry.)
The reason Haloscan (button at sidebar) has been wonky in the last day or so is because they've been changing servers. I found this out when I logged onto their site to see if it were possible to delete duplicate comment posts. And it is (I can even edit them if I want to, but have no desire to do so). If anyone cares to look through back-comments sections and let me know of duplicate posts, I'll be happy to delete 'em. (Already done for the comments to my previous entry.)
Double Crossed
Back when I first started getting to know more about the comics industry than what went on between the covers, I was warned repeatedly that the more I found out the more ugliness I was destined to encounter. For the most part I don't think this has borne out; I still have many more friends in the industry than "enemies," and my husband (although still without a regular assignment on a specific book, for almost a year now) has been kept busy enough in the past few months that we've been able to pay the bills, so for the most part I'm not soured by any lack of editor-freelance professionalism shown by the Big Two (Marvel and DC) the way some others may be. Aside from a very few people who just rubbed me the wrong way to such an extent that I can no longer look at their work, my comics reading hasn't shifted all that much; I'm still generally buying and reading books I really enjoy.
All that changed a couple months back.
I'd been one of the more vocal supporters of CrossGeneration Comics. CrossGen's content output seemed tailor-made for a reader like me - their core books were big on fantasy and epic storytelling, and while the body types didn't vary as much as they might and the women were still a bit more underdressed than the men, there was much eye-candy of both male and female characters. With a woman (Barb Kesel) as head writer and another (Gina Villa) as co-creator of the overall structure of the "CrossGen universe," the company's girl appeal has always been evident. And they've bent over backwards to help spread the word to potential readers, by doing things like sending me boxes of books to hand out from the Friends of Lulu table at last year's Shoujocon. In fact, when the first box was waylaid by the post office, CrossGen sent a second one via overnight courier directly to the hotel where the con was being held. Just about every encounter I've had with CrossGen folks and with most of their books has been rewarding. And I've supported the company not only with my reader dollars but very vocally both online and at conventions.
But as I said, that has now changed. I'll let Robin take it from here. He posted the following message this morning on an inkers' mailing list to which we both belong:
This tears me up. I really love most of CrossGen's books. I can't stop buying the ones that have hooked me (although I'm coming close, obviously), and I hate not being able to read them because of the foul taste they've put in my mouth. And I hate reading poster after poster on the comics news sites talk about how wonderful and honest CrossGen is in their business dealings as opposed to All Those Other Horrid Companies, when I've known for months that it's just not true. Marvel and DC have always paid Robin promptly, and have never fired him so brusquely and illogically. But CrossGen's been like this teflon comics company - no negativity seems to stick. Well, maybe I'll get lucky, and this post will prompt something to happen.
Back when I first started getting to know more about the comics industry than what went on between the covers, I was warned repeatedly that the more I found out the more ugliness I was destined to encounter. For the most part I don't think this has borne out; I still have many more friends in the industry than "enemies," and my husband (although still without a regular assignment on a specific book, for almost a year now) has been kept busy enough in the past few months that we've been able to pay the bills, so for the most part I'm not soured by any lack of editor-freelance professionalism shown by the Big Two (Marvel and DC) the way some others may be. Aside from a very few people who just rubbed me the wrong way to such an extent that I can no longer look at their work, my comics reading hasn't shifted all that much; I'm still generally buying and reading books I really enjoy.
All that changed a couple months back.
I'd been one of the more vocal supporters of CrossGeneration Comics. CrossGen's content output seemed tailor-made for a reader like me - their core books were big on fantasy and epic storytelling, and while the body types didn't vary as much as they might and the women were still a bit more underdressed than the men, there was much eye-candy of both male and female characters. With a woman (Barb Kesel) as head writer and another (Gina Villa) as co-creator of the overall structure of the "CrossGen universe," the company's girl appeal has always been evident. And they've bent over backwards to help spread the word to potential readers, by doing things like sending me boxes of books to hand out from the Friends of Lulu table at last year's Shoujocon. In fact, when the first box was waylaid by the post office, CrossGen sent a second one via overnight courier directly to the hotel where the con was being held. Just about every encounter I've had with CrossGen folks and with most of their books has been rewarding. And I've supported the company not only with my reader dollars but very vocally both online and at conventions.
But as I said, that has now changed. I'll let Robin take it from here. He posted the following message this morning on an inkers' mailing list to which we both belong:
On Friday May 2nd Crossgen assistant art director Rick Magyar phoned and asked me to ink issues 34, 35 and 36 and the covers to #35 and 36 of The First over the pencils of Andy Smith. I agreed and he said the first of the covers would be with me on Monday May 5th and the interior work would be following in about three weeks later. No deadline was mentioned other than the mention of a page a day being the expected work rate. The agreed upon rates for this work was $150 per page for interiors and $250 for covers. Rick said he expected the contract would be included in the package. Later that day Andy Smith left a message on my machine saying that he was looking forward to working with me. The cover duly arrived as agreed. No contract but I knew they were in a hurry so I went ahead and inked it that day and sent it out the next day, Tuesday 6th May. When it reached them the following day I received calls to tell me that they were very happy with it.Now, bear in mind, a copyright still belongs to whoever does the work until it's signed over. As Robin says, the CrossGen paperwork relinquishing the reproduction rights (and, from what I'm given to understand, also featuring a non-disclosure clause) was never sent to him. Seems to me this makes the online (and now in-store) publication of Robin's work of questionable legality. But more importantly, from what we've been able to gather Robin's far from the only unpaid freelancer. And much of this seems to be swept under the rug. None of the comics news sites have seen fit to report it (although in fairness CrossGen co-sponsors one of those sites so reporting news like this might cost them business). And I've also heard reports of a few CrossGen employees badmouthing Robin's work (which was exemplary) and spreading untrue stories about "courier problems" being the reason for the sudden inker change - even implying that Robin turned in pages late, when they were actually early and well in advance of the contracts he's still never seen.
Towards the end of the month I called Andy Smith to suggest he may like to bring any pages he had done to WizardWorld East in Philladelphia over the weekend of 30th May to 1st June. He said he didn't like to carry pages to cons. I told him I'd try and stop by the booth that weekend just to say hi. Rick Magyar called on Thursday May 29th to let me know that he was sending out the first four pages. I mentioned I still hadn't got the contract and he said he'd look into it. Later that day Michelle Pugliese, their freelance coordinator, called and apologised for not getting me the contract and promised I'd have it soon. I asked her about payment for the cover I had done three weeks earlier and she told me that their accounts department didn't like cutting "small checks". For entirely unrelated reasons I won't go into here I didn't feel like doing a lot of meeting and greeting that weekend so I never did stop by the booth so I've still never actually met Andy in person.
The pages arrived on Monday June 2nd. No contract enclosed but I decided to start working on them while I awaited the paperwork. Call me old fashioned but if work is supposedly being done under contract I like to have actually read the thing before I do the work. At the beginning of the following week I received another three pages (hardly a page a day) followed by another call from Rick asking when he could expect to see some finished pages. I told him that I had pages underway but none completed and that I was still awaiting the promised paperwork. He said that they really needed pages to get their colourists working on and asked if I would be able to get 4 pages to them by Friday June 13th (that day sounds ominous in retrospect). I said that would be no problem and I'd get more to him if I could. We also agreed that thereafter I would send out whatever I had finished on each Monday to keep a steady flow of pages for the colourists.
Over the next few days, even though I had still not received the promised contract, I not only finished the 4 pages that had been requested but every other page they had sent me as well. I sent off all seven pages on Thursday June 12th and they received the pages the following day.
On the morning of Monday June 16th June Rick Magyar called to tell me that my services would no longer be required. He said that he hadn't been in the office the previous Friday when my pages had arrived but that Andy Smith and Bart Sears had gone over them and decided that I "wasn't a good match for Andy". He assured me that they would pay me for all the work I had done.
A month or so later I read Bill Roseman's assertion that art director Bart Sears has called all Crossgen freelancers to explain their cashflow problems and to promise full payment in 45 days. I have received no such call and have in fact never spoken to Bart. On Tuesday July 15th I called Rick Magyar again to ask about payment and why I hadn't received the call that supposedly all other freelancers had. He told me he'd check into it and get Bart Sears or Michelle Pugliase to call me back. Michelle called and explained to me that I hadn't been on the list of people Bart had called because I was "just under 30 days" but that my check would be in the next batch to be cut which was due to be by Wednesday July 30th.
In the last week of July I came accross four pages of my work from The First #34 published as an online preview to several internet sites in advance of the publication date of 08/06/2003 (along with other titles release date pushed back to 08/13 and then again to 08/20). The cover had already been published in Previews and various web sites including Crossgen's own despite the fact that they have not paid for the reproduction rights to that image nor do they have any paperwork signed by me relinquishing such rights for any of the pages I've worked on for them.
On Thursday July 31st I emailed Michelle asking her to confirm that my payment had been sent as promised. I've received no reply to my email.
It's now 98 days since they received the cover I inked for them and 61 days since they received my interior pages. I have received no payment for any of the work I've done for Crossgen. The account due is for one cover @ $250.00 and seven interior pages @ $150.00, a total of $1,300.00.
This tears me up. I really love most of CrossGen's books. I can't stop buying the ones that have hooked me (although I'm coming close, obviously), and I hate not being able to read them because of the foul taste they've put in my mouth. And I hate reading poster after poster on the comics news sites talk about how wonderful and honest CrossGen is in their business dealings as opposed to All Those Other Horrid Companies, when I've known for months that it's just not true. Marvel and DC have always paid Robin promptly, and have never fired him so brusquely and illogically. But CrossGen's been like this teflon comics company - no negativity seems to stick. Well, maybe I'll get lucky, and this post will prompt something to happen.
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
Sidebar Notes
Why are we Fair and Balanced (top and sidebar)? Because Atrios suggested it, and I'm an unabashed jumper on this bandwagon. Also because some people apparently don't believe parody is protected from stupid nuisance suits. In addition, I've moved ex-hubby-and-still-buddy Steve to the Top Six section and moved Priest (who hasn't updated his blog since 5 July) down to the Kultcha section; added folks like Oliver Willis and Roger Ailes (The Good One); and added a New Yawk section just 'cause, y'wanna make sumpin' of it? Oh, and one more note that has nothing to do with the sidebar: you may have noticed Haloscan hasn't been working well today. I'm sure the comments sections will be back soon...
Why are we Fair and Balanced (top and sidebar)? Because Atrios suggested it, and I'm an unabashed jumper on this bandwagon. Also because some people apparently don't believe parody is protected from stupid nuisance suits. In addition, I've moved ex-hubby-and-still-buddy Steve to the Top Six section and moved Priest (who hasn't updated his blog since 5 July) down to the Kultcha section; added folks like Oliver Willis and Roger Ailes (The Good One); and added a New Yawk section just 'cause, y'wanna make sumpin' of it? Oh, and one more note that has nothing to do with the sidebar: you may have noticed Haloscan hasn't been working well today. I'm sure the comments sections will be back soon...
Infected
Posting will be sporadic today, as my office has apparently fallen victim to some sort of worm or other and first there is an Internet connection, then there is no network, then there is. Plus, I have a lot of job-work today, and I just found out my boss will be back next Monday (a week earlier than any of us expected), so it'll take me awhile to adjust...
Posting will be sporadic today, as my office has apparently fallen victim to some sort of worm or other and first there is an Internet connection, then there is no network, then there is. Plus, I have a lot of job-work today, and I just found out my boss will be back next Monday (a week earlier than any of us expected), so it'll take me awhile to adjust...
Monday, August 11, 2003
Not Fit to Print
Last time I delivered pages to Marvel for Robin, I tried to walk back to work but Fifth Avenue was closed off right around the library. Some sort of police action. Try as we may, neither Robin nor I could ever ascertain what had happened. Today there are rumors going around the office that portions of the George Washington Bridge have been closed down because there's a would-be jumper on the bridge. I've been through all the local news sites' front pages and traffic sections, and all I've been able to find has been some vague nebulous wording about the area being subject to gridlock due to a "police action." You know, I don't think the cops should unduly frighten citizens nor encourage copycats, but neither do I think it's too much to ask that the reasons behind police actions be explained or reported on a bit more often. Just take a few column inches away from Ahnuld and Kobe, that should do it. Unless, of course, the local papers don't feel it's actually important to report news that informs NYC residents and workers, rather than "news" that brings in revenue.
Last time I delivered pages to Marvel for Robin, I tried to walk back to work but Fifth Avenue was closed off right around the library. Some sort of police action. Try as we may, neither Robin nor I could ever ascertain what had happened. Today there are rumors going around the office that portions of the George Washington Bridge have been closed down because there's a would-be jumper on the bridge. I've been through all the local news sites' front pages and traffic sections, and all I've been able to find has been some vague nebulous wording about the area being subject to gridlock due to a "police action." You know, I don't think the cops should unduly frighten citizens nor encourage copycats, but neither do I think it's too much to ask that the reasons behind police actions be explained or reported on a bit more often. Just take a few column inches away from Ahnuld and Kobe, that should do it. Unless, of course, the local papers don't feel it's actually important to report news that informs NYC residents and workers, rather than "news" that brings in revenue.
Unmovable
I've talked before about how I'm not really big on coding, how I need folks to talk me through things. The sidebar looks the way it does (and BTW I've added some more cool buttons) mostly because folks have helped me out and I've been able to copy and paste the proper coding to achieve the effects I wanted. And I'm still not all that happy with the layout of the blogroll portion. But be that as it may, I'm also not really big on paying money for something I can get for free. I'm really happy that Jeanne D'Orleans and Anne Zook and others blogrolled on my sidebar have moved to TypePad or Movable Type or whatever other Blogger competitors are out there and are satisfied with the change (and don't their sites look gorgeous!). I'm the first person to agree that Blogger is far from perfect, particularly when it comes to permalinks or archives; "bloggered" seems to be the new verb for "effed up" in many circles. But I've almost always shrugged it off as "you get what you pay for."
So I'm not going to throw too many hissy fits over something that doesn't cost me a penny to use or maintain, and I doubt I'll ever make a big deal about my PayPal tip jar (heck, I don't even know if my PayPal account works!) the way some others do, because I don't have to. I like my blogging not being dependent on the kindness of others, or on my varying disposable income. And while Blogger's free program does give you the option of hosting your blog on your own site (and I think you get that with TypePad too?), I'm very reluctant to do so, as space and bandwidth considerations would still probably mean paying more for our site than we do now, and I'd rather reserve that space and bandwidth for Robin's art stuff and my old Pen-Elayne reviews anyway. Until the latter are finally all uploaded (and it's a tedious process, to which I may actually be returning now that the WDC baton has been passed) I don't want to do anything new with my side of the site aside from the occasional update of my intro/bio page.
Now, all this doesn't mean I won't change my mind in the future - for instance, I'm finding Anil Dash (link at sidebar) a charming correspondent, and that sort of personal interaction goes a long way towards changing my mind in favor of actually considering paying for a service that I can get elsewhere for free. But for now, particularly with the economy in the state it's in, I'd rather save my money if I can or spend it on frivolities like bills and rent.
I've talked before about how I'm not really big on coding, how I need folks to talk me through things. The sidebar looks the way it does (and BTW I've added some more cool buttons) mostly because folks have helped me out and I've been able to copy and paste the proper coding to achieve the effects I wanted. And I'm still not all that happy with the layout of the blogroll portion. But be that as it may, I'm also not really big on paying money for something I can get for free. I'm really happy that Jeanne D'Orleans and Anne Zook and others blogrolled on my sidebar have moved to TypePad or Movable Type or whatever other Blogger competitors are out there and are satisfied with the change (and don't their sites look gorgeous!). I'm the first person to agree that Blogger is far from perfect, particularly when it comes to permalinks or archives; "bloggered" seems to be the new verb for "effed up" in many circles. But I've almost always shrugged it off as "you get what you pay for."
So I'm not going to throw too many hissy fits over something that doesn't cost me a penny to use or maintain, and I doubt I'll ever make a big deal about my PayPal tip jar (heck, I don't even know if my PayPal account works!) the way some others do, because I don't have to. I like my blogging not being dependent on the kindness of others, or on my varying disposable income. And while Blogger's free program does give you the option of hosting your blog on your own site (and I think you get that with TypePad too?), I'm very reluctant to do so, as space and bandwidth considerations would still probably mean paying more for our site than we do now, and I'd rather reserve that space and bandwidth for Robin's art stuff and my old Pen-Elayne reviews anyway. Until the latter are finally all uploaded (and it's a tedious process, to which I may actually be returning now that the WDC baton has been passed) I don't want to do anything new with my side of the site aside from the occasional update of my intro/bio page.
Now, all this doesn't mean I won't change my mind in the future - for instance, I'm finding Anil Dash (link at sidebar) a charming correspondent, and that sort of personal interaction goes a long way towards changing my mind in favor of actually considering paying for a service that I can get elsewhere for free. But for now, particularly with the economy in the state it's in, I'd rather save my money if I can or spend it on frivolities like bills and rent.
Sunday, August 10, 2003
Picture This
I got a lovely e-mail the other day from David Chin, a university student from Melbourne, Australia. He's launched a fascinating web project called A Picture's Worth which I think will appeal to a lot of folks. Sayeth the site,
I got a lovely e-mail the other day from David Chin, a university student from Melbourne, Australia. He's launched a fascinating web project called A Picture's Worth which I think will appeal to a lot of folks. Sayeth the site,
Officially launched on the 1st of August 2003, A Picture's Worth is a personal project that aims to highlight the inspiration that can arise from a photograph and to capture it in the form of words which in turn can reveal the true beauty of a photograph. Ultimately, the project seeks to inspire and enhance captivating story writing and beautiful photography.A very nifty idea and, with photo blogging becoming a pretty big deal nowadays, one whose time has more than come. The few photos and essays in the gallery so far come from all around the world. Highly recommended.
In line with the idea that 'a picture is worth a thousand words,' visitors are invited to share the memories, emotions or creative stories triggered by a photograph of personal significance. It is hoped that a new photo essay will be posted on the site daily.
Pen-Elayne For Your Thoughts -
The Great Big Book of Tomorrow: A Treasury of Cartoons
Writer/Artist: Dan Perkins aka Tom Tomorrow (link at sidebar)
Design by Dan Perkins and Kevin Pyle
Production by Kevin Pyle
Editor: Keith Kahla
Published by St. Martin's Press
Here's what I thought:
Back on September 15 of last year, I mentioned how excited I was to have gotten my first plug and welcome from Dan's blog.
Which is of no consequence now, because The Great Big Book of Tomorrow reprints all the material from those two books and probably a few others as well (like The Wrath of Sparky, When Penguins Attack! and Penguin Soup for the Soul), which is not only convenient but an amazing trip through recent political history. Dan has taken the national pulse so steadily through the years that rereading his 4-panel strips is a great way to remind yourself, in this info-saturated world, of the items that caught progressives' attention over the past dozen years.
The thing that struck me about this memory jogger was how, more often than I expected, "everything old is new again." So often we think that one national crisis or another is happening for the first time, and it's helpful to recall the cyclical nature of many of these problems. Gives me hope that we'll work through them as we've done in the past. Nor are they always tied to Republican administrations; many of these strips were done during the Clinton era, and are just as hard-hitting and incisive as the ones skewering the more radical right-wing politicos. Dan has a wonderful way of getting to the heart of what's bothering him right off the bat - critical when you only have four panels to get your point across while entertaining your readers, a Herculean task for even the best cartoonists. His ability to zero in on the absurdities we encounter as participating citizens of This Modern World is a gift that keeps on giving. It was great to read so much stuff for the first time ever, including Tom's old collage work in the original TWM long-form story and the special "reporting" strips he did for the SF Chronicle, Village Voice (in color!) and other papers during Republican and Democratic conventions. And even the sillier stuff is done well, like the saga of TMW mascot Sparky's brief unemployment during the time he was replaced by a talking stomach.
Dan's winks to other cartoonists are likewise inclusive rather than obscure and in-jokey. And his own art style has remained remarkably consistent throughout his career. Only wonks like me would notice things like how his reversal of captions from black-on-white to white-on-black in the past couple years has punched up his readability as much as the 3-D shadowing on about 80% of his word ballons. Which is great - the point of design is (or should be) not to call attention to itself, but to serve the narrative. And every design element in Dan's panels, from the zipatones to the easily-recognizable caricatures to the background "Easter eggs," serves the points Dan succeeds in getting across.
The book itself is designed quite well, with some great little side remarks here and there about incidents that led to strips being dropped by one outfit or another (most having to do with people not getting or being able to deal with Dan's skewed humor). Dan's forwards are always great to read - he may not be comfortable talking about himself but he still does it wonderfully - and the photographs (here's Dan with Marilyn Quayle! There he is with Ollie North!) are a hoot. I could wish for some sort of reference help when looking up specific strips for review purposes, but I don't see how Dan and Kevin and Keith could have pulled that off; a table of contents would be rather a waste since there are only a few "chapters," and what would you put in an index? Best to keep flipping back and forth, pausing - as I inevitably do - to reread something that strikes my fancy. I'm completely bowled over by how a work can be so specific to a time (in terms of content) and so timeless (in terms of form and accessibility) simultaneously. I can't thank Dan and Keith enough for sending this to me, I think I'll be flipping through it for a long time to come.
Oh, and by the way, Dan is not only responsible for putting me on the blogosphere roadmap, but for my single largest one-day page viewing, which occurred just this past Friday thanks to him mentioning my BloggerCon post below. He may downplay his influence in this ephemeral venue and the admiration fellow writers and artists have for him and his work, but many of us know better. Thanks again, Dan, for your continued curmudgeonly presence as well as a hell of a lot of great comic strip commentaries.
So, what did y'all think?
The Great Big Book of Tomorrow: A Treasury of Cartoons
Writer/Artist: Dan Perkins aka Tom Tomorrow (link at sidebar)
Design by Dan Perkins and Kevin Pyle
Production by Kevin Pyle
Editor: Keith Kahla
Published by St. Martin's Press
Here's what I thought:
Back on September 15 of last year, I mentioned how excited I was to have gotten my first plug and welcome from Dan's blog.
So we got up early this morning in anticipation of my friend Leah's arrival to drive us to the Renaissance Faire, and I immediately go check my list of must-read blogs - and Tom Tomorrow (see link at left) mentioned me! I've followed Tom's work since I was doing INSIDE JOKE and he was (to all intents and purposes) one of the "house cartoonists" of a great zine called Processed World with which I was utterly enthralled. So even though he now lives in NYC too and, both being involved in comics, we probably know a lot of the same people (although to my recollection we've never met), I still feel, like, "ohmiGOD!" Which doesn't come at all as a surprise to me, I get that way over a lot of people whose work I admire, friend and acquaintance and stranger alike. I kind of live by the adage that just about everyone in this world is more interesting than me, so I'm afraid anyone who reads this blog will be subject to occasional bouts of gushy-fangirl.So you see I'm not exactly unbiased here. I've followed Dan's work for =gasp= a couple decades now, and have two previous collections (Greetings From This Modern World [intro by Bill Griffith] and Tune in Tomorrow [very funny Clinton blurb quote on the back cover]) although, for whatever reason, my collection seems to stop there.
Which is of no consequence now, because The Great Big Book of Tomorrow reprints all the material from those two books and probably a few others as well (like The Wrath of Sparky, When Penguins Attack! and Penguin Soup for the Soul), which is not only convenient but an amazing trip through recent political history. Dan has taken the national pulse so steadily through the years that rereading his 4-panel strips is a great way to remind yourself, in this info-saturated world, of the items that caught progressives' attention over the past dozen years.
The thing that struck me about this memory jogger was how, more often than I expected, "everything old is new again." So often we think that one national crisis or another is happening for the first time, and it's helpful to recall the cyclical nature of many of these problems. Gives me hope that we'll work through them as we've done in the past. Nor are they always tied to Republican administrations; many of these strips were done during the Clinton era, and are just as hard-hitting and incisive as the ones skewering the more radical right-wing politicos. Dan has a wonderful way of getting to the heart of what's bothering him right off the bat - critical when you only have four panels to get your point across while entertaining your readers, a Herculean task for even the best cartoonists. His ability to zero in on the absurdities we encounter as participating citizens of This Modern World is a gift that keeps on giving. It was great to read so much stuff for the first time ever, including Tom's old collage work in the original TWM long-form story and the special "reporting" strips he did for the SF Chronicle, Village Voice (in color!) and other papers during Republican and Democratic conventions. And even the sillier stuff is done well, like the saga of TMW mascot Sparky's brief unemployment during the time he was replaced by a talking stomach.
Dan's winks to other cartoonists are likewise inclusive rather than obscure and in-jokey. And his own art style has remained remarkably consistent throughout his career. Only wonks like me would notice things like how his reversal of captions from black-on-white to white-on-black in the past couple years has punched up his readability as much as the 3-D shadowing on about 80% of his word ballons. Which is great - the point of design is (or should be) not to call attention to itself, but to serve the narrative. And every design element in Dan's panels, from the zipatones to the easily-recognizable caricatures to the background "Easter eggs," serves the points Dan succeeds in getting across.
The book itself is designed quite well, with some great little side remarks here and there about incidents that led to strips being dropped by one outfit or another (most having to do with people not getting or being able to deal with Dan's skewed humor). Dan's forwards are always great to read - he may not be comfortable talking about himself but he still does it wonderfully - and the photographs (here's Dan with Marilyn Quayle! There he is with Ollie North!) are a hoot. I could wish for some sort of reference help when looking up specific strips for review purposes, but I don't see how Dan and Kevin and Keith could have pulled that off; a table of contents would be rather a waste since there are only a few "chapters," and what would you put in an index? Best to keep flipping back and forth, pausing - as I inevitably do - to reread something that strikes my fancy. I'm completely bowled over by how a work can be so specific to a time (in terms of content) and so timeless (in terms of form and accessibility) simultaneously. I can't thank Dan and Keith enough for sending this to me, I think I'll be flipping through it for a long time to come.
Oh, and by the way, Dan is not only responsible for putting me on the blogosphere roadmap, but for my single largest one-day page viewing, which occurred just this past Friday thanks to him mentioning my BloggerCon post below. He may downplay his influence in this ephemeral venue and the admiration fellow writers and artists have for him and his work, but many of us know better. Thanks again, Dan, for your continued curmudgeonly presence as well as a hell of a lot of great comic strip commentaries.
So, what did y'all think?
Saturday, August 09, 2003
Buy a Comic For a Kid, G'wan...
Hey, get 'em this one, I hear it got good reviews. And the folks who did it are really happy with it.
Hey, get 'em this one, I hear it got good reviews. And the folks who did it are really happy with it.
Fireblog Alert - New Story Enter!
Gah, slept much of the day away, and I'm currently struggling to finish my final updates on the WDC and ISW lists before handing them over to my successor, so no Great Big Book of Tomorrow review yet. I still hope to get to it, you guessed it, tomorrow. :) Meantime, for your reading pleasure, Phil Austin presents the short story The Precipice of Angels on the Firesign Theatre's blog site. Enjoy.
Gah, slept much of the day away, and I'm currently struggling to finish my final updates on the WDC and ISW lists before handing them over to my successor, so no Great Big Book of Tomorrow review yet. I still hope to get to it, you guessed it, tomorrow. :) Meantime, for your reading pleasure, Phil Austin presents the short story The Precipice of Angels on the Firesign Theatre's blog site. Enjoy.
Of Necessities and Surrender
Today marks the 58th anniversary of the second time in three days that the United States committed a barbarism almost beyond imagining, as it exploded an atomic bomb over the civilian population of Nagasaki, killing 40,000 people instantly - all during a time when the Japanese were negotiating surrender, and had been for weeks, the only sticking point being whether or not the Emperor could retain his godlike status (which is why they'd originally decided to mokatsu the portion of the Potsdam Declaration defining terms for their surrender in the first place). The US finally agreed to this on August 11, and the surrender became official the next day. Essentially, the bombs were dropped because neither city had been bombed before which made it easier to assess the damage and as a big "nyah nyah" to the Soviet Union as we geared up for the Cold War once the unpleasantness of having to work with Commies against Fascists came to a close. This history is, sadly, not widely understood by most people, for whom the myth still persists that the bombs were a necessary evil that hastened the end of WWII and therefore prevented more deaths than they caused. 'Cause, you know, heaven forfend we're ever the bad guys. More here (from the Truman Presidential Museum & Library site) and here (lots of scientists trying to deter the US military's unwise decisions). Here is the text of Nagasaki mayor Iccho Itoh's Peace Declaration for this year.
Today marks the 58th anniversary of the second time in three days that the United States committed a barbarism almost beyond imagining, as it exploded an atomic bomb over the civilian population of Nagasaki, killing 40,000 people instantly - all during a time when the Japanese were negotiating surrender, and had been for weeks, the only sticking point being whether or not the Emperor could retain his godlike status (which is why they'd originally decided to mokatsu the portion of the Potsdam Declaration defining terms for their surrender in the first place). The US finally agreed to this on August 11, and the surrender became official the next day. Essentially, the bombs were dropped because neither city had been bombed before which made it easier to assess the damage and as a big "nyah nyah" to the Soviet Union as we geared up for the Cold War once the unpleasantness of having to work with Commies against Fascists came to a close. This history is, sadly, not widely understood by most people, for whom the myth still persists that the bombs were a necessary evil that hastened the end of WWII and therefore prevented more deaths than they caused. 'Cause, you know, heaven forfend we're ever the bad guys. More here (from the Truman Presidential Museum & Library site) and here (lots of scientists trying to deter the US military's unwise decisions). Here is the text of Nagasaki mayor Iccho Itoh's Peace Declaration for this year.
Buried News
By now y'all know about my aversion to linking to NY Times articles, in lieu of their overly-intrusive registration process. But I'm going to hope you can still read this one, about a Manhattan federal judge delivering a fairly stinging rebuke to the NYPD "for the way demonstrators against the war in Iraq were interrogated earlier this year" and suggesting "that civil liberties lawyers could seek to hold the city in contempt of court in the future if the police violate people's rights." I thought it was a fairly big story, but it's not available via Google. It took me a few tries, but I finally managed a decent Google search on the subject by typing in the words "judge Haight" and clicking on "and more" underneath the only four stories (none of them NYT, two of them from Newsday) to which Google bothered to link. (And just in case this turns out to be a NYCBloggers/RNN question: Yes, I'm in favor of the decision, although I don't think it went far enough; as the article says, "Judge Haight did not impose new restrictions on the police in the wake of the interrogations, which first came to light after the New York Civil Liberties Union received complaints from protesters. Nor did the judge decide the issue of whether the interrogations violated the protesters' constitutional rights." I might have thought he could at least have ruled on the latter.)
By now y'all know about my aversion to linking to NY Times articles, in lieu of their overly-intrusive registration process. But I'm going to hope you can still read this one, about a Manhattan federal judge delivering a fairly stinging rebuke to the NYPD "for the way demonstrators against the war in Iraq were interrogated earlier this year" and suggesting "that civil liberties lawyers could seek to hold the city in contempt of court in the future if the police violate people's rights." I thought it was a fairly big story, but it's not available via Google. It took me a few tries, but I finally managed a decent Google search on the subject by typing in the words "judge Haight" and clicking on "and more" underneath the only four stories (none of them NYT, two of them from Newsday) to which Google bothered to link. (And just in case this turns out to be a NYCBloggers/RNN question: Yes, I'm in favor of the decision, although I don't think it went far enough; as the article says, "Judge Haight did not impose new restrictions on the police in the wake of the interrogations, which first came to light after the New York Civil Liberties Union received complaints from protesters. Nor did the judge decide the issue of whether the interrogations violated the protesters' constitutional rights." I might have thought he could at least have ruled on the latter.)
Friday, August 08, 2003
And While We're On The Subject...
Stuff nobody else seems to mention about the Democratic presidential contenders:
Yes, Dennis Kucinich is goofy-looking, but so's Ross Perot. In fact, I think Kucinich actually looks like a younger version of Perot (who, incidentally, doesn't seem to have announced his 2004 presidential aspirations anywhere - at least anywhere that a Google news search has found - so I'm at a loss to figure out why those rumors are starting to spread).
Okay sure, it was a lovely trifecta for Howard Dean's campaign that he was on the covers of all those magazines, but you know, "Destiny or Disaster?" isn't necessarily the kind of caption you want to brag about.
Ampersand makes a solid argument in favor of progressives supporting the candidate they really want at this stage in the race... and yet no progressive I know seems to want to support a like-minded candidate who isn't white or male. Granted, these two are waaaay longer shots, but I thought that was kind of the point of Ampersand's post in the first place.
And in case anyone's wondering, I haven't yet decided for whom I'd vote in a primary. Oh, and a propos of nothing, if you take Ahnuld's accent, lower it and slow it down just a bit, you get Kissinger. Tons of fun for the entire family.
Stuff nobody else seems to mention about the Democratic presidential contenders:
And in case anyone's wondering, I haven't yet decided for whom I'd vote in a primary. Oh, and a propos of nothing, if you take Ahnuld's accent, lower it and slow it down just a bit, you get Kissinger. Tons of fun for the entire family.
A-Gore-Able
Tons of bloggers have already linked to Al Gore's mostly excellent speech to MoveOn.org at NYU yesterday, but nobody I've read so far has nitpicked* Moveon's misspelling of "the president ought to reign in John Ashcroft" (it should be "rein" of course, although since GWB is often referred to as The Boy King I suppose the typo is probably understandable) or, more importantly, responded to Gore's assertion that our invasion of Iraq was "the first Pre-emptive War in U.S. history." Okay, I admit I haven't yet read through this, but "the first...in U.S. history"?? US invasions of (formerly) sovereign nations everywhere from Hawai'i to Puerto Rico to Panama to Greneda to name-that-country suddenly don't count? Or are they not as important in terms of making Gore's point because they weren't announced beforehand (although I'm not even sure that's the case) or given big buildups on 24-hour cable news stations (which didn't exist then)? Just asking.
*Update: Okay, Mark A.R. Kleiman did too... :)
Tons of bloggers have already linked to Al Gore's mostly excellent speech to MoveOn.org at NYU yesterday, but nobody I've read so far has nitpicked* Moveon's misspelling of "the president ought to reign in John Ashcroft" (it should be "rein" of course, although since GWB is often referred to as The Boy King I suppose the typo is probably understandable) or, more importantly, responded to Gore's assertion that our invasion of Iraq was "the first Pre-emptive War in U.S. history." Okay, I admit I haven't yet read through this, but "the first...in U.S. history"?? US invasions of (formerly) sovereign nations everywhere from Hawai'i to Puerto Rico to Panama to Greneda to name-that-country suddenly don't count? Or are they not as important in terms of making Gore's point because they weren't announced beforehand (although I'm not even sure that's the case) or given big buildups on 24-hour cable news stations (which didn't exist then)? Just asking.
*Update: Okay, Mark A.R. Kleiman did too... :)
Thursday, August 07, 2003
Everything's Political, In Its Own Way...
...like a starry summer night, or a snow-covered winter's d-- oh, sorry, that's what the title of Paul Krugman's latest made me think of. (Presented, as always, NYT-intrusive-registration-free!) Now, of course, I shall be unable to extricate that song from my head for the rest of the day.
...like a starry summer night, or a snow-covered winter's d-- oh, sorry, that's what the title of Paul Krugman's latest made me think of. (Presented, as always, NYT-intrusive-registration-free!) Now, of course, I shall be unable to extricate that song from my head for the rest of the day.
Commonality
Via Mark Evanier (link on the "Top Six" at the sidebar), this website that tells you about how many other folks in the country have the same name as yours (broken out into male first name, female first name and surname). According to their findings, "Elayne is the #2341 most common female name. 0.002% of females in the US are named Elayne. Around 2550 US females are named Elayne!" (Spelled with an "i" it's the 127th most common female name, by the way.) And just 'cause I was curious, "Robin" is the 375th most common male name and 100th most common female name. So, where do you stack up?
Via Mark Evanier (link on the "Top Six" at the sidebar), this website that tells you about how many other folks in the country have the same name as yours (broken out into male first name, female first name and surname). According to their findings, "Elayne is the #2341 most common female name. 0.002% of females in the US are named Elayne. Around 2550 US females are named Elayne!" (Spelled with an "i" it's the 127th most common female name, by the way.) And just 'cause I was curious, "Robin" is the 375th most common male name and 100th most common female name. So, where do you stack up?
Not Quite Once-in-a-Lifetime
Awhile back Lis Riba (link at sidebar) was wondering whether she should attend the upcoming BloggerCon at Harvard this October. I told her the $500 admission fee seemed a bit steep to me, particularly since there are tons of blogger-related gatherings and conventions popping up all over the country (Lisa Rein, link at sidebar, always seems to be recording one or another of these seminars), making this far from the unique gathering touted by its organizer, Dave Winer. I mean, right here in NYC there's one being planned for the end of this month. So I have no idea what Lis has decided to do, but this morning I find a "personal" invite from Dave in my in-box as well, going through the whole spiel then saying, you guessed it, that the cost was a "mere $500." My response:
Update #1: Teresa Nielsen-Hayden's reaction on getting the same form letter is a lot of fun to read as well.
Update #2: Good grief, this kinda-nonstory actually seems to have "blogs' legs!" Tom-I-Mean-Dan follows up (thanks for the Amazing Colossal Traffic-Generating Link, Tom; review tomorrow, I promise!); August has a counter-offer; Jesse wonders where his invite went; and Kevin at Calpundit does a nice wrapup (and yay, it's Friday Cat Blogging again, I love FCB!).
Awhile back Lis Riba (link at sidebar) was wondering whether she should attend the upcoming BloggerCon at Harvard this October. I told her the $500 admission fee seemed a bit steep to me, particularly since there are tons of blogger-related gatherings and conventions popping up all over the country (Lisa Rein, link at sidebar, always seems to be recording one or another of these seminars), making this far from the unique gathering touted by its organizer, Dave Winer. I mean, right here in NYC there's one being planned for the end of this month. So I have no idea what Lis has decided to do, but this morning I find a "personal" invite from Dave in my in-box as well, going through the whole spiel then saying, you guessed it, that the cost was a "mere $500." My response:
Dave, I regret to inform you that in the real world, as opposed to Harvard I guess, $500 is not "mere." That's a good chunk of my monthly rent. If the invite were free (which is usually what the word "invite" implies) I'd consider it, even though brr, Boston in October?, but there are enough blogger conferences around to not only belie your "once-in-a-lifetime experience" claims but that actually invite people for free, so I think I'll pass on yours. Thanks anyway!And now I see that Tom Tomorrow also got an "invite" and responded on his blog in his own inimitable fashion. (Tom, if you're reading, I'm fairly sure The Week conference will be free, and you're already on their to-contact list. And I've finally finished your book and will be reviewing it here as soon as I get a few quiet moments at home.)
Update #1: Teresa Nielsen-Hayden's reaction on getting the same form letter is a lot of fun to read as well.
Update #2: Good grief, this kinda-nonstory actually seems to have "blogs' legs!" Tom-I-Mean-Dan follows up (thanks for the Amazing Colossal Traffic-Generating Link, Tom; review tomorrow, I promise!); August has a counter-offer; Jesse wonders where his invite went; and Kevin at Calpundit does a nice wrapup (and yay, it's Friday Cat Blogging again, I love FCB!).
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
A Model Advance in Tech
Via Larry Lurex (link at sidebar), this BBC article discussing new printers that can actually output three-dimensional models. Pretty astounding, although still a step away from one that can output an edible pizza.
Via Larry Lurex (link at sidebar), this BBC article discussing new printers that can actually output three-dimensional models. Pretty astounding, although still a step away from one that can output an edible pizza.
Panda Wishes
Happy 21st birthday to Jesse Taylor (link at sidebar) of Pandagon, who has absolutely the best header pun I've read today. Update: Also a happy 55th birthday to Steve Bates (link at sidebar), the Yellow Doggerel Democrat.
Happy 21st birthday to Jesse Taylor (link at sidebar) of Pandagon, who has absolutely the best header pun I've read today. Update: Also a happy 55th birthday to Steve Bates (link at sidebar), the Yellow Doggerel Democrat.
58 Years of Devolution and Counting...
Bob Goodsell (link at sidebar) reminded me that today is the 58th anniversary of the US dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians (at least 231,920 killed instantly or suffering slow deaths from radiation poisoning in the years to come). Some idiots are actually still proud of this ultimate barbarism, but perhaps that's to be expected in our hyper-warmongering culture. Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba is far blunter in his critique of this "worship [of] nuclear weapons as God." (Unfortunately I can't find an English transcript of his speech anywhere online yet.) Looks like Nagasaki mayor Itcho Ito is planning to follow suit in three days. Update: Steve Bates reproes the text of Akiba's declaration on his blog today; it can also be found here on the Hiroshima Peace Site's page.
Bob Goodsell (link at sidebar) reminded me that today is the 58th anniversary of the US dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians (at least 231,920 killed instantly or suffering slow deaths from radiation poisoning in the years to come). Some idiots are actually still proud of this ultimate barbarism, but perhaps that's to be expected in our hyper-warmongering culture. Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba is far blunter in his critique of this "worship [of] nuclear weapons as God." (Unfortunately I can't find an English transcript of his speech anywhere online yet.) Looks like Nagasaki mayor Itcho Ito is planning to follow suit in three days. Update: Steve Bates reproes the text of Akiba's declaration on his blog today; it can also be found here on the Hiroshima Peace Site's page.
Holy Confirmation!
"This body willfully confirming the election of a person sexually active outside of holy matrimony has departed from the historic faith and order of the Church of Jesus Christ."See, even conservative Episcopal leaders agree by implication, gay marriage is a good idea!
Unsolicited Cooking Advice, Part 1
If you really must make meatloaf on a weeknight, make sure you thaw the ground turkey for a few days beforehand entirely in the fridge, not on the shelf. And drain it before mixing it with the other ingredients. And thoroughly cook it, particularly if it's more than 3 pounds of meat. Really, two hours minimum, not an hour and a half. That way trying to digest it won't keep you up all night, forcing you to then take a sick day with docked pay.
If you really must make meatloaf on a weeknight, make sure you thaw the ground turkey for a few days beforehand entirely in the fridge, not on the shelf. And drain it before mixing it with the other ingredients. And thoroughly cook it, particularly if it's more than 3 pounds of meat. Really, two hours minimum, not an hour and a half. That way trying to digest it won't keep you up all night, forcing you to then take a sick day with docked pay.
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
DNAbled
Today's NYCBlogger/RNN question is NYC To Be 1st To Use DNA To Indict Unidentified Sex Offenders: Your Reaction? And because this is the first question I've seen from them that actually engenders discussion instead of shutting it down or leading with a prejudgment (thanks Mike!), I'm going to answer it.
A couple days ago, Bean at Ampersand's blog (link at sidebar) did a great post about the growing incidence of rape. The Guardian article to which she linked mentioned, among other things, that "false allegations of rape are just as rare as false allegations of any other crime - about 2%." Given the 98% likelihood, therefore, of these sex offenders actually having committed the crimes of which they've been accused, and DNA testing is the most accurate and effective technology currently available with which to identify these offenders, I don't see a down side to this legislation. But given that it's Mayor Mike, I'm prepared to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism. Maybe civil libertarians can enlighten me on this score?
Update: Jeralyn Merritt says "we don't like this one bit," and explains her reasoning.
Today's NYCBlogger/RNN question is NYC To Be 1st To Use DNA To Indict Unidentified Sex Offenders: Your Reaction? And because this is the first question I've seen from them that actually engenders discussion instead of shutting it down or leading with a prejudgment (thanks Mike!), I'm going to answer it.
A couple days ago, Bean at Ampersand's blog (link at sidebar) did a great post about the growing incidence of rape. The Guardian article to which she linked mentioned, among other things, that "false allegations of rape are just as rare as false allegations of any other crime - about 2%." Given the 98% likelihood, therefore, of these sex offenders actually having committed the crimes of which they've been accused, and DNA testing is the most accurate and effective technology currently available with which to identify these offenders, I don't see a down side to this legislation. But given that it's Mayor Mike, I'm prepared to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism. Maybe civil libertarians can enlighten me on this score?
Update: Jeralyn Merritt says "we don't like this one bit," and explains her reasoning.
Civically Prideful
Tom Tomorrow (whose new book I'm reading on my daily commute prior to reviewing it as mentioned earlier) has a neat musing on the slogan for the city of Trenton, which pretty much echoes what this former Jersey girl always used to think as well. So I started wondering, as one does, about city slogans. A number of cities have been updating theirs via citizens voting, like Long Beach, CA; the winner of that vote was "Long Beach: Gateway to the Pacific." Nearby Escondido is the "City of Choice." And San Diego tells us it's "The First Great City of the 21st Century." Windsor, Ontario is letting you vote by e-mail. Atlantic City shouts its new choice in very big type. Clearwater City runs into some concerns over its redevelopment slogan. In Pittsburgh they call it a "brand essence." Elko, NV has had one since late 1998. Nearby Hendersonville has a homey-sounding one. Here's Ottawa's corporate branding. But dang, England has the quaintest ones, doesn't it? Check out Coventry's. Lastly, here's a list of Swedish city slogans, for those of you fluent in the language. I think my favorite is "Alnön - Norrlands Hawaii," but "Positiva Frövi" is certainly a close second. So, do you know your city or town's slogan? (Thanks to Wells, Rich & Greene, ours encompasses both NYC and NYS.)
Tom Tomorrow (whose new book I'm reading on my daily commute prior to reviewing it as mentioned earlier) has a neat musing on the slogan for the city of Trenton, which pretty much echoes what this former Jersey girl always used to think as well. So I started wondering, as one does, about city slogans. A number of cities have been updating theirs via citizens voting, like Long Beach, CA; the winner of that vote was "Long Beach: Gateway to the Pacific." Nearby Escondido is the "City of Choice." And San Diego tells us it's "The First Great City of the 21st Century." Windsor, Ontario is letting you vote by e-mail. Atlantic City shouts its new choice in very big type. Clearwater City runs into some concerns over its redevelopment slogan. In Pittsburgh they call it a "brand essence." Elko, NV has had one since late 1998. Nearby Hendersonville has a homey-sounding one. Here's Ottawa's corporate branding. But dang, England has the quaintest ones, doesn't it? Check out Coventry's. Lastly, here's a list of Swedish city slogans, for those of you fluent in the language. I think my favorite is "Alnön - Norrlands Hawaii," but "Positiva Frövi" is certainly a close second. So, do you know your city or town's slogan? (Thanks to Wells, Rich & Greene, ours encompasses both NYC and NYS.)
Monday, August 04, 2003
Mojo to Natalie
No, not this kind of mojo, or this kind, or even this kind. The kind talked about here. Please send it out in waves to Natalie Davis (link at sidebar), won't you, whose dad is currently in intensive care and "really could use some healing energy."
No, not this kind of mojo, or this kind, or even this kind. The kind talked about here. Please send it out in waves to Natalie Davis (link at sidebar), won't you, whose dad is currently in intensive care and "really could use some healing energy."
Sunday, August 03, 2003
Myopic Chutzpah
Lots of folks in the blogosphere are talking about Thomas Friedman's latest op-ed, in which he assertsFrenchFreedom, Mr. Friedman, but how fucking dare you? First of all, Britain has endured numerous attacks on its own soil for hundreds of years. If you want to narrow it down to the last century, care to remember The Blitz? Or how about numerous IRA bombings? As for the British public not going through 9/11, I say ye bullshit. I live with a Brit. We spoke to his friends and relatives on the other side of the pond as often as we could get through on 11 September 2001, and they were every bit as affected by the events as any American not living in NYC. So don't tell me they didn't go through it, okay? People around the world were glued to televisions watching it as it happened, and many Brits immediately empathized with the fear because (unlike most Americans) they remembered what it felt like to be attacked on your own soil. And as for the rest of your sentence, implying that there's somehow something wrong with "demand[ing] a U.N. legal cover" - well, you know, some people call that the rule of law. It's what civilized people are supposed to do. And Brits are far from the only ones who don't "like or trust George Bush." That can be said of lots of Americans too. More and more every day, if we're lucky. Oh, and by the way you schmuck, there were no "good reasons" for this war, which - once more with feeling - had nothing to do with 9/11.
Lots of folks in the blogosphere are talking about Thomas Friedman's latest op-ed, in which he asserts
Mr. Blair never really made this case [in favor of invading Iraq] to his public. Why not? Because the British public never would have gone to war for the good reasons alone. Why not? Because the British public had not gone through 9/11 and did not really feel threatened, because it demanded a U.N. legal cover for any war and because it didn't like or trust George Bush.(Italics mine.) Pardon my
Mo' Media
One of the great things about the Internet, at least as it still operates, is that some very pointed public service commercials that won't make it onto the government- and corporate-controlled airwaves still have a chance to find an audience with enough word of mouth. Yesterday (see post below) I mentioned the Army of One ad from Take Back the Media (link at sidebar); today, via Jeralyn Merritt (link at sidebar), I've discovered some from Eric Blumrich's Bushflash (I'm assuming they're not to be confused with BuzzFlash, link at sidebar, although they do seem to share a sensibility). Occupation is a frank overview of what's actually happening in Iraq, complete with all the Geneva Conventions broken by the occupying power. Grand Theft America examines the role of Bush paramour Katherine Harris in subverting democracy in Florida and, by extension, in the rest of the country. (You may want to turn your sound down a bit, the soundtrack from Grand Theft Auto is a bit pulsating.) Buddy Buddy is about 9-11 and mentions the Pakistani connection, which it seems like most of us are ignoring in favor of the Saudi one. All the animations on their site are well worth checking out.
One of the great things about the Internet, at least as it still operates, is that some very pointed public service commercials that won't make it onto the government- and corporate-controlled airwaves still have a chance to find an audience with enough word of mouth. Yesterday (see post below) I mentioned the Army of One ad from Take Back the Media (link at sidebar); today, via Jeralyn Merritt (link at sidebar), I've discovered some from Eric Blumrich's Bushflash (I'm assuming they're not to be confused with BuzzFlash, link at sidebar, although they do seem to share a sensibility). Occupation is a frank overview of what's actually happening in Iraq, complete with all the Geneva Conventions broken by the occupying power. Grand Theft America examines the role of Bush paramour Katherine Harris in subverting democracy in Florida and, by extension, in the rest of the country. (You may want to turn your sound down a bit, the soundtrack from Grand Theft Auto is a bit pulsating.) Buddy Buddy is about 9-11 and mentions the Pakistani connection, which it seems like most of us are ignoring in favor of the Saudi one. All the animations on their site are well worth checking out.
Saturday, August 02, 2003
Maintenance Notes
Thanks to Laura Gjovaag (link at sidebar), my Google search is now also at the sidebar where I want it. And thanks to Lisa English (link at sidebar), I found the Brief Intelligence Weblog by Kimberley, whom I've now put on my sidebar. Kimberley's an amazing writer, and she's a bit over my head in just the way that gives me incentive to work harder to keep up with her (A Good Thing). I'm also grateful to Kimberley's writing for leading me to Army of One, the latest ad from Take Back the Media (link at sidebar). Powerful stuff. Here are the lyrics to the Cranberries' Zombie, which the ad uses as its soundtrack.
Thanks to Laura Gjovaag (link at sidebar), my Google search is now also at the sidebar where I want it. And thanks to Lisa English (link at sidebar), I found the Brief Intelligence Weblog by Kimberley, whom I've now put on my sidebar. Kimberley's an amazing writer, and she's a bit over my head in just the way that gives me incentive to work harder to keep up with her (A Good Thing). I'm also grateful to Kimberley's writing for leading me to Army of One, the latest ad from Take Back the Media (link at sidebar). Powerful stuff. Here are the lyrics to the Cranberries' Zombie, which the ad uses as its soundtrack.
Job Blues
Anne Zook (link at sidebar) takes us through a typical Friday at her office as a springboard for discussing "what this country needs" so us working stiffs can feel more normal and go on vacation occasionally and not feel like we have to work a month to catch up upon our return. And via Betsy Devine (link at sidebar), here's what one fellow did upon being "'downsized' from my job of 3 years at a software company." He went on an Economic Reality tour. Check out the whole site, including views of his car from the driver's side, passenger side and hood. My kind of patriot!
Anne Zook (link at sidebar) takes us through a typical Friday at her office as a springboard for discussing "what this country needs" so us working stiffs can feel more normal and go on vacation occasionally and not feel like we have to work a month to catch up upon our return. And via Betsy Devine (link at sidebar), here's what one fellow did upon being "'downsized' from my job of 3 years at a software company." He went on an Economic Reality tour. Check out the whole site, including views of his car from the driver's side, passenger side and hood. My kind of patriot!
The Devil's in the Details
Robin has decided to broaden my musical horizons again, and is playing me Randy Newman's Faust whilst I go through my blogroll and keep him company as he inks. ("Nobody does 'contempt' like Newman," Robin smiles.) Right now I'm reading, via Avedon Carol (link at sidebar), a BuzzFlash (link at sidebar) interview with author Joe Conason about moral relativism and how many Republicans who "put out long lists of words accusing Democrats of perversion and decadence" have been guilty of far worse. And I'm listening to Newman's lyrics and thinking, here comes the Devil (Newman, natch) pointing out all those uncomfortable truths:
Robin has decided to broaden my musical horizons again, and is playing me Randy Newman's Faust whilst I go through my blogroll and keep him company as he inks. ("Nobody does 'contempt' like Newman," Robin smiles.) Right now I'm reading, via Avedon Carol (link at sidebar), a BuzzFlash (link at sidebar) interview with author Joe Conason about moral relativism and how many Republicans who "put out long lists of words accusing Democrats of perversion and decadence" have been guilty of far worse. And I'm listening to Newman's lyrics and thinking, here comes the Devil (Newman, natch) pointing out all those uncomfortable truths:
In all my lifeAnd it's a glorious role and terrific lyrics, to be sure, but truth has a way of making people squirm. As I've mentioned in past entries, many people don't want to hear "Bullshit, the Republicans are lying hypocrites, we're all gonna die, you're too stupid to see what's really going on!" Lots of folks prefer to believe the part of their imagination that dreams up heaven's promise than the part that cowers in fear of hell (or hell on earth). And as long as Republicans have staked out the religious high ground, until voters are past the point of either-or dichotomies, anything that makes you feel bad or uncomfortable (including telling the truth about what's going on around us) will be seen as the work of the devil, and blind faith (like leaders asking us to trust them, and apparently quoting Scripture at us in the process, never mind who usually quotes Scripture) the work of the angels. So I wish Conason, and all of us, a lot of luck, but I think we have a bit of an uphill battle ahead of us, and we always will. Update: More on the entwining of church and state here in Emma Goldman's Notes on the Atrocities.
I don't believe I've ever heard such bullshit...
Some fools in the desert with nothing to do...
...invented me, and they invented you
And other fools keep it all going and growing
Everybody, we're a figment of their imagination...
Spies Like Us
It was only a matter of time before officials who'd seen the unedited version of the 9-11 report started talking. According to several of them, says this NYT article, "two Saudi citizens who had at least indirect links with two hijackers were probably Saudi intelligence agents and may have reported to Saudi government officials." Although interestingly, the NYT claims
It was only a matter of time before officials who'd seen the unedited version of the 9-11 report started talking. According to several of them, says this NYT article, "two Saudi citizens who had at least indirect links with two hijackers were probably Saudi intelligence agents and may have reported to Saudi government officials." Although interestingly, the NYT claims
These findings, according to several people who have read the report, help to explain why the classified part of the report has become so politically charged, causing strains between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Senior Saudi officials have denied any links between their government and the attacks and have asked that the section be declassified, but President Bush has refused.And this still doesn't make sense, does it? But someone else has figured that out, and I've added a bit to my Where There's a Hook, There's Often a Catch post below regarding same.
Big Reading
Lisa English (link at sidebar) had it Wednesday. August Pollak (link at sidebar) had it Thursday. I was beginning to pout. But I got mine today. Via special delivery (some guy in a rental truck), my copy of The Great Big Book of Tomorrow arrived, well, today! Haven't cracked it open yet but I love the design, particularly the little action-figure model of Tom Tomorrow (link at sidebar) himself on the back cover. Pen-Elayne For Your Thoughts review to follow after I've read the thing!
Lisa English (link at sidebar) had it Wednesday. August Pollak (link at sidebar) had it Thursday. I was beginning to pout. But I got mine today. Via special delivery (some guy in a rental truck), my copy of The Great Big Book of Tomorrow arrived, well, today! Haven't cracked it open yet but I love the design, particularly the little action-figure model of Tom Tomorrow (link at sidebar) himself on the back cover. Pen-Elayne For Your Thoughts review to follow after I've read the thing!
Friday, August 01, 2003
Today's Dumb Techie Question
Back on July 8 I mentioned that I added a Google search bar, which resides at the bottom of this page. I want to switch to a smaller version that fits on my sidebar. CNN has a nice one, and I know I've seen it on other blogs as well. Those of you who have a Google sidebar search: where did you find the proper HTML code on Google's site? Here's where I found the one I use. Also, I've added another cool bit of code from the blog genealogy site Blogtree, where you can register and chart your blog's pedigree - i.e., the blogs that inspired you to create your own, blogs that are considered "siblings" (I'm still not sure about that one, but I'm thinking it has something to do with what other blogs were inspired by your "parents" - in my case 71 other blogs claim one or more of the same inspirations) and which blogs were in turn inspired by you. Obviously I can't fill in the last since I have no idea who else out there might have been inspired by Pen-Elayne on the Web - but if yours is one of them (like Johnny Bacardi's, link at sidebar) please feel free to sign in there and let 'em know! Update: Laura Gjovaag (link at sidebar) to the rescue; thanks Laura!!
Back on July 8 I mentioned that I added a Google search bar, which resides at the bottom of this page. I want to switch to a smaller version that fits on my sidebar. CNN has a nice one, and I know I've seen it on other blogs as well. Those of you who have a Google sidebar search: where did you find the proper HTML code on Google's site? Here's where I found the one I use. Also, I've added another cool bit of code from the blog genealogy site Blogtree, where you can register and chart your blog's pedigree - i.e., the blogs that inspired you to create your own, blogs that are considered "siblings" (I'm still not sure about that one, but I'm thinking it has something to do with what other blogs were inspired by your "parents" - in my case 71 other blogs claim one or more of the same inspirations) and which blogs were in turn inspired by you. Obviously I can't fill in the last since I have no idea who else out there might have been inspired by Pen-Elayne on the Web - but if yours is one of them (like Johnny Bacardi's, link at sidebar) please feel free to sign in there and let 'em know! Update: Laura Gjovaag (link at sidebar) to the rescue; thanks Laura!!
Defeatist
I'm not even going to dignify today's NYCBlogger/RNN-generated leading-question poll with a response, but maybe you'd like to. Can Any of the Democratic Candidates Defeat Bush in 2004? I'm still awaiting the question, "How did such an obviously incompetent, mean-spirited, religious fundamentalist who's started two oil wars, pissed off most of our foreign allies, made working people a lot poorer with over 3 million jobs lost since he took office, and made the world a whole lot less safer in the process - someone that tons of people are pronouncing our worst president ever - suddenly become de facto unbeatable?" But you know, I'm not holding my breath. (This link not submitted at RNN's site.) Also in my e-mail in-box, and more or less on the same subject, is another Mark Morford "Notes and Errata" fix; scroll down the sidebar to "Columnists" to retrieve and read it. And speaking of my "Columnists" section, here's the latest Krugman NYT-registration free; you can find out the titles of his NYT columns by clicking on the sidebar link, then type them in Boolean-style (i.e., the exact wording between quotation marks) at Google's news section to get the alterna-link. Easy as can be!
I'm not even going to dignify today's NYCBlogger/RNN-generated leading-question poll with a response, but maybe you'd like to. Can Any of the Democratic Candidates Defeat Bush in 2004? I'm still awaiting the question, "How did such an obviously incompetent, mean-spirited, religious fundamentalist who's started two oil wars, pissed off most of our foreign allies, made working people a lot poorer with over 3 million jobs lost since he took office, and made the world a whole lot less safer in the process - someone that tons of people are pronouncing our worst president ever - suddenly become de facto unbeatable?" But you know, I'm not holding my breath. (This link not submitted at RNN's site.) Also in my e-mail in-box, and more or less on the same subject, is another Mark Morford "Notes and Errata" fix; scroll down the sidebar to "Columnists" to retrieve and read it. And speaking of my "Columnists" section, here's the latest Krugman NYT-registration free; you can find out the titles of his NYT columns by clicking on the sidebar link, then type them in Boolean-style (i.e., the exact wording between quotation marks) at Google's news section to get the alterna-link. Easy as can be!
Trouble on the Verizon
White Rabbits! You know, the idea of working as an executive secretary for a major corporation has a lot of appeal to me. It may be a "grass is greener" thing, I've never worked for a really large company, but I like the (illusion of) stability, the fact that I wouldn't be the only secretary in the whole dang place, the relative anonymity that being "one of many" sometimes affords, and particularly the promise of a decent salary and benefits that "strength in numbers" can engender. So I was intensely interested in Verizon's "diner ads" - where "Pete" talks to diner owner ''Joe'' about his friend ''Charlie'' who just underwent major medical treatment, but because Charlie works for Verizon, ''His job covered almost all of it...He's got it good. Great medical, lots of vacation, good pay.'' - to the point where I was considering applying for a job there. But you know the old saying: if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. As Robin astutely pointed out to me at the time, and as the linked article confirms, IBEW technicians are top-line specialized employees to begin with; most clerical jobs pay considerably less, around what I make. Which still seems to be a good deal - a clerk at a big company making as much as a glorified secretary at a small one! - were it not for the looming strike by Verizon employees, coming on the heels of Verizon's announcement that it's looking to reduce its work force by 5000 employees (that may or may not include the 2300 folks laid off last year whom they've been forced to take back) and a proposed plan that would move 24 percent of their jobs outside the US or to the southern part of the country over the next three years. So in short, and in direct contrast to the commercials' implication, this is probably not a good prospect for job-hunters... Very likely most mainstream papers will report all this from management's perspective (after all, that's why they have business pages and not labor pages) and play up the "inconvenienced consumer" angle, so if you want to know what's going on from the workers' end you might need to follow it on CWA's website.
White Rabbits! You know, the idea of working as an executive secretary for a major corporation has a lot of appeal to me. It may be a "grass is greener" thing, I've never worked for a really large company, but I like the (illusion of) stability, the fact that I wouldn't be the only secretary in the whole dang place, the relative anonymity that being "one of many" sometimes affords, and particularly the promise of a decent salary and benefits that "strength in numbers" can engender. So I was intensely interested in Verizon's "diner ads" - where "Pete" talks to diner owner ''Joe'' about his friend ''Charlie'' who just underwent major medical treatment, but because Charlie works for Verizon, ''His job covered almost all of it...He's got it good. Great medical, lots of vacation, good pay.'' - to the point where I was considering applying for a job there. But you know the old saying: if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. As Robin astutely pointed out to me at the time, and as the linked article confirms, IBEW technicians are top-line specialized employees to begin with; most clerical jobs pay considerably less, around what I make. Which still seems to be a good deal - a clerk at a big company making as much as a glorified secretary at a small one! - were it not for the looming strike by Verizon employees, coming on the heels of Verizon's announcement that it's looking to reduce its work force by 5000 employees (that may or may not include the 2300 folks laid off last year whom they've been forced to take back) and a proposed plan that would move 24 percent of their jobs outside the US or to the southern part of the country over the next three years. So in short, and in direct contrast to the commercials' implication, this is probably not a good prospect for job-hunters... Very likely most mainstream papers will report all this from management's perspective (after all, that's why they have business pages and not labor pages) and play up the "inconvenienced consumer" angle, so if you want to know what's going on from the workers' end you might need to follow it on CWA's website.
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