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lowland_rider's LiveJournal:
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| Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 | | 7:16 pm |
| | Thursday, August 20th, 2009 | | 8:07 pm |
Vinyl
So yeah, I've been thinking about vinyl. It's to do with this book I'm working on. And I was listening to this song, and feeling guilty about not posting here, and so I said to myself, "Hey. I bet there's a video of this song. I should post it, because it's pretty great, and that'll kind of make up for me not posting in forever, right?" So then I found the video, and what do you know -- Hope life's treating everybody well. | | Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 | | 12:14 am |
Pulp Shakespeare
I completely forgot I'd written this (twas on a blog where others did the same!). It seems to me that one or two might enjoy it. Therefore!: JULES. Dost thou know then Ant’Wan, son of Rock’mora -- he of Moor’s blood and Samoan mingl’d -- Nam’d by men Tony Rocky Horror? VINCENT. Aye, I think it thus – corpulent, was he? JULES. Corpulent, methinks, be too bold a word; With his girth did he struggle, this is fair, But ‘tis a burden common to all folk Of Samoa – how should he fare better? VINCENT. At all events, I know the man. Not to A certainty, but it seems I know him. Why, at this juncture, dost thou speak of him? JULES. I shall tell you. (Oh, God, will he ever. THIS IS LONG, YOU GUYS.) ( Read more... ) | | Saturday, July 25th, 2009 | | 1:18 pm |
Random Notes
So yeah -- I kinda got this whole conversation started last time and then, uh, let it drop? I've had a really busy last couple weeks, so my apologies to anyone who really wanted to keep that whole "literary" vs. genre fiction thing going. I think we pretty much hashed it out anyway; I am clearly right about everything and, insofar as you agree with my every utterance, so are you. *** I should have said this ages ago: I have no idea what the ETA is looking like on How the West Was Weird, the fantastic -- fantastic! -- weird western anthology coming to you from Pulpwork Press, but you should totally go to their website RIGHT NOW and gaze upon the awesome Jim ( Street Angel) Rugg cover that will grace it on its impending publication!: http://www.pulpworkpress.com/upcomingreleases.htmAnd do I have a story in it? Yes I do! Working from an idea by the legendary Chris Munn -- who, much like Batman, isn't actually a legend at all, but in fact a real live person -- I spent long laborious weeks drafting and then kinda cursorily proofreading this leviathan about a time long ago when people couldn't read so good and things were dirty and probably smelled awful, now with extra supernatural terror. I'm proud to say that it's the most profane thing I have ever written or likely ever will write, including the story where Baby Orajel was a plot McGuffin. (My research tells me that there was no Baby Orajel in the old west. Note to all writers of historical fiction: Do your homework! Accuracy counts!) Plenty of other people will also appear in the pages of the fantastic (!) How the West Was Weird, including Derrick Ferguson, Tom Deja, Barry Reese, and...other people I think got their stories in on time/were invited to submit work but I don't really know so I'll stop talking about it here, but if you're also gonna be in it, feel free to drop in and hype your story here! I HAVE LITERALLY DOZENS OF REGULAR READERS, OKAY, HE MENTIONED CASUALLY*** Speaking of Tom and Derrick, the restoration of my internet connection almost made it possible for me to listen to their podcast, Better in the Dark (WHICH IS ABOUT MOVIES, OKAY), except that what I got instead was a very cultured British voice telling me that, "Hi, thanks for downloading me! You can't have your podcast." What the FUCK?! I inquired demurely. But it was just a recording, and so it said nothing. Well, evidently, all of that has been resolved now, and you can once again listen right hurrr: http://betterinthedark.podomatic.com/The episode on Dario Argento just helped me clean the kitchen! I will warn you that the episode is chock-full of spoilers (I had to fastforward the section on Do You Like Hitchcock?, because while -- fearing the worst -- I'm not sure I can ever bring myself to watch it, I might eventually), but if you've seen the films under discussion ( Do You Like Hitchcock?, Tenebre, The Card Player, Phenomena [1], and Trauma[2]), it's pretty great. [1] Phenomena is quite possibly the most batshit insane movie I have ever seen that was actually good. It features one (1) Jennifer Connelly as a beautiful young woman who lives in a state of telepathic communion with bugs, one (1) monster, one (1) Motorhead song, one (1) Donald Pleasance, one (1) monkey with a straight razor, and ten thousand (10,000) maggots.
[2] Trauma teaches us that children should not be delivered by drunk doctors when there is an earthquake. Thank you, Trauma. | | Sunday, July 12th, 2009 | | 12:38 pm |
In which I say to fellow writers --
Oh, man. The below inspired by a variety of conversations I've had this weekend. Long post is long: There is a great deal of excellent this-is-the-way-we-live-now "literary" fiction out there. I mean, I take it for granted that it's excellent, because I'll never read like 90% of that boring-ass bullshit, but the stuff that I have read -- work by people like Mary Gaitskill and Michael Chabon and Tom Perrotta -- leads me to believe that the labor of chronicling real life, as it is (or has been) lived by real people, is in more than competent hands. This is an endeavor that is doing just fine, thanks. Pick up a random issue of The New Yorker or The Atlantic sometime and I think you'll find you agree. You may not be crazy about what you've read, you may not even really enjoy it, but I doubt very much that you'll walk away from it thinking you've just read something out-and-out shitty. The base level of technical skill in these stories is uniformly high; if they don't always succeed in, you know, providing anything like actual entertainment, there's no question they almost always do succeed as examples of strong craft. In other words, it is unlikely that a Dan Brown will ever appear in these venues. If you've ever taken a creative writing class, you've probably been led to believe that literary fiction is the height to which all serious writers should naturally aspire -- and, if you're not a serious writer, that you need to get your fucking act together and become one, STAT. Grow the fuck up already, Peter Pan! And actually? There's a lot to that. First and foremost, I think that literary fiction is important because it is a reflection of the world we all live in; I really do believe that fiction is something that helps us to understand ourselves and each other better, and in that regard, fiction about straight-up real life has a benefit that cannot be denied. I'm not sure at all that it isn't the greatest thing a writer can strive for. If you're a writer and you've never tried it -- if your bag is generally SF or horror or mellow whodunnits or fanfic about Wombat Man -- give it a shot. You can do it right now, if the idea works for you. I mean, I already wrote this whole thing, it's not going anywhere. I'll wait. ( Read more... ) | | Saturday, July 11th, 2009 | | 8:57 pm |
We got a video (NSFW)
Everybody else is posting videos, and I am nothing if not a total follower. But the difference is, this is actually the best video ever, and I didn't even know it existed until today. I knew the song existed, yeah, but a video? Really?! For me?! Awwwwwwww... Also! Even as I type this, Tom is furiously drawing EL GORGO! #3, and I am halfass working on some prose stuff that is not connected to EL GORGO! but will be awesome nevertheless. Sorry I've been so quiet on the LJ front. | | Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 | | 5:22 pm |
Top Ten Comics Writers
Chris did this, so anyway, yeah, here we go. 1. Alan Moore (From Hell, Swamp Thing, Watchmen) 2. Gilbert Hernandez (Palomar) 3. Jack Kirby (Fourth World, Kamandi) 4. Matt Wagner (Grendel, The Demon, Sandman Mystery Theatre) 5. Grant Morrison (The Invisibles, JLA, Seven Soldiers) 6. Steve Gerber (Howard the Duck) 7. Daniel Clowes (Ghost World) 8. Jamie Delano (Hellblazer, Hell Eternal) 9. Kazuo Koike (Lone Wolf and Cub, Samurai Executioner) 10. Charles Burns (Black Hole) I'm not...quite...100% on this ranking (I'm pretty sure about the top two, and everyone else just keeps jockeying for new positions), but that's pretty much it. | | Friday, July 3rd, 2009 | | 7:42 pm |
| | Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | | 6:59 pm |
I LIVE
Yes! It is true. I could explain all the circumstances that led to my being without internet (no, they weren't financial...I'm rich, bitch!*), and may at some future date, but for right now, who the hell cares, really. Point being, I have the internets back now, and am here! Uhhhhhhh... That's really all I've got at present, but since Joel just ran his reading list, here's mine for the first half of year of our lord 2009 (I've had, like, a lot of time to read...and watch TV...and paint the cat): *okay well not really( Read more... ) | | Saturday, March 21st, 2009 | | 1:36 am |
| | Sunday, March 8th, 2009 | | 12:51 pm |
Okay. Since everyone here in my corner of LJLand seems quite taken with Watchmen, which I myself would largely place in "admirably ambitious failure" category, I guess I better be That Guy on the Internet and explain (OH AND ALSO COPIOUS SPOILERS): ( Read more... ) | | Saturday, February 28th, 2009 | | 1:20 am |
BSG: Let me solve it for you (POSSIBLY FEATURING SPOILERS, FOR GOD'S SAKE DO NOT LOOK)
Obviously, that last scene was meant to imply that the entire series is the desperate hallucination of a portly hipster somewhere in Vancouver who lost his wife and child and went into a Lost Highway-esque fugue state that was really just an elaborate reworking of his favorite childhood TV show. And everything was going so well! For years, he labored happily on his imaginary starship. But suddenly his fantasy involved him secretly being a killer robot, and from there it all unraveled, the internal contradictions more pronounced, making less and less sense until the very senselessness alerted him that nothing was real, and he had a horrific moment of clarity!!! ONLY THE HOUSE HAD EVER BEEN REAL THE SAD, SAD, EMPTY HOUSE. Fucked. Up. | | Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 | | 5:38 pm |
All right, well...
Remember when I said that even I realized that my LJ was now nothing other than an extended infomercial for EL GORGO! and that, with this in mind, that would soon change? And I'd start talking about other stuff? And not just try to, like, use this space to sell things? Well... That was before the arrival of this most momentous product line: THE EL GORGO! T-SHIRTS!!!They are here! http://elgorgo.com/2009/02/22/new-el-gorgo-t-shirts/But you don't have to buy them! No, in this brave new electronic age, you can through the power of the internet embrace -- for free! -- virtual versions of clothing that would once have required actual cotton and the labor of dozens of hardworking seamstresses/seamsters (?) to -- Oh. Oh, wait. No. No, actually, I'm sorry. I'm being told that you do have to buy them. BUT! I myself have already purchased prototypical versions of two ( there are four magnificent designs in all!!!), and I assure you that these function much as t-shirts in your experience ordinarily do, covering your torso and upper arms in a sheath of high-quality fabric. BUT THESE T-SHIRTS ARE DIFFERENT IN THAT THEY GIVE YOU SCIENCE POWER. They also wash well and feature designs that will survive my dryer!!! And, I can only presume, your own dryer, too. These truly are the shirts that El Gorgo himself would wear if he wore shirts!!! He doesn't, but you probably should, because it is wintertime... but THESE shirts you will want to wear even when it is NOT COLD. You will want to wear them all year round! But for the love of God, please wash them on occasion. .....Please. | | Saturday, February 21st, 2009 | | 9:17 am |
Thanks, all!
A lot of people here in LJ Land put up links to the interview Comix 411 did with Tom and me vis a vis El Gorgo! -- much obliged! Much love was also dispensed here at my own journal, and I am grateful for that, too. My apologies if the journal's starting to feel like a big El Gorgo! infomercial; I'm gonna try and keep it a little more up-to-date, but the comic and Real Life have left me with less and less time of late. Uh...hey, but guess what? If you pre-ordered El Gorgo! #2, print copies should be in stock soon! And if you haven't pre-ordered El Gorgo! #2, then print copies should also be in stock soon! Uh...just so you know. Awwww yeah! | | Thursday, February 19th, 2009 | | 11:23 pm |
| | Thursday, February 12th, 2009 | | 7:39 pm |
| | Sunday, February 8th, 2009 | | 2:55 pm |
Final Crisis #5!
Thoughts on the others will wait until I've read the Superman Beyond issues, since I get the feeling #6 and (especially) #7 will make much more sense once I have. ( Read more... ) | | Friday, February 6th, 2009 | | 8:25 pm |
Final Crisis Part Deux (Issue #4)
Man, I'm not feeling great. Only the combined power of Brave and the Bold, BSG, and Nemesis the Warlock* can resuscitate me now. *That would be The Complete Nemesis the Warlock, Volume 2, which I unexpectedly received in the mail today. Mind you, it shouldn't have been unexpected -- I mean, I DID order it -- but I ordered it a month ago, never received any notification that the order had been filled or shipped, and probably would have canceled it if I could even figure out how to do that. I'm okay with it taking a long time to get here (it came from the UK, fer chrissakes), but the enclosed receipt says it was mailed two weeks after I bought it, which itself is not great, and you'd think SOME kind of communication...well, anyway. Point being, while I'm thrilled to have it (seriously, I love this book), if someone reading these very words(!) did end up receiving a copy for his store...uh...hey, let me know what else you guys might have that I would want? If possible? Because I will totally buy something. I worked in the book trade long enough to know that ordering something in and not selling it is kinda not great, and will be more than pleased to make up the difference (preferably with awesome stuff that I can't find here). Okay? Okay!Final Crisis #4 - below the cut!!! ( Read more... ) | | Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 | | 10:36 pm |
Final Crisis Singalong! (Issues #1-#3)
Okay, not really, because -- sadly -- Final Crisis was not a musical. Can you imagine, though? Anyway, what follows are not annotations, per se, but me basically riffing on Final Crisis on the occasion of my finally breaking my no-floppies rule and just buying the whole fucking thing off eBay when I couldn't stand people talking about it and me not knowing what the hell they were talking about anymore. Overall, I'd have to say I dug it, though I wasn't 100% on the venture (I thought the ending was particularly garbled). Anyway! Grab your copies of #1-#3, if you will, and walk this way... ( Read more... ) | | Sunday, January 4th, 2009 | | 1:48 am |
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