A personal diary keeping people abreast of what I am working on writing-wise.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

JOELLE, MY BELLE

Congrats to Joëlle Jones for winning the first ever Stumptown Comics Fest Trophy Award for Outstanding Artist, as voted on by the show's attendees. She was nominated based on her work in 12 Reasons Why I Love Her.



Clockwise left to right: Jennifer Simmons & Greg Thompson of the CBLDF; Andy Throckmorton; Joëlle Jones.* We were at Filbert's in Portland, OR, enjoying a meal after the first day of the Stumptown Comics Fest. It was during this dinner we found out that Joëlle had won. We weren't there as Joëlle was award show shy after her losses at Comic Con. We were immediately texted first by our editor at Oni Press, James Lucas Jones, and then our agent Bernadette Baker. About an hour or so later, Mason West texted, as well, saying, "Apparently joelle won something." A nose for news, that one!

Thanks to everyone who voted!

The creme brulee was excellent.

Check out Joëlle's sketches
from the first day of the show.

* Not pictured: Fifth-wheel Jamie "'S She Really Going Out With Him" Rich.

Current Soundtrack: The Harder They Come original soundtrack

Current Mood: groggy

Thursday, September 27, 2007

SKAG TRENDY

Joëlle Jones has finished making her T-shirts for Stumptown, including the You Have Killed Me design she had at San Diego and the new 12 Reasons Why I Love Her design.

Here is some boho hunk modeling his 12 Reasons shirt:



Mine is the only burgundy shirt. I picked it out for myself after we had chosen all of the other shirts. You'll also note that the "Reasons" that was in the original design is gone. After Joëlle had made the first three, the screen tore and this was the easiest fix for her to do. I actually like it. Particularly with the placement of the number 12 over the breast, it's like a sports jersey almost.

She has also made a reprint edition of the sketchbook she had at CAPE, though now this time at the proper 8.5" X 5.5" size. I'm sure we'll bring the couple San Diego books remaining, too.

Me? I'll just stand there and try not to make people think, "Cor, what's she doing with him?"

Current Soundtrack: still the director's commentary on Bram Stoker's Dracula (review coming to DVDTalk.com tonight!)

Current Mood: self-satisfied
LOVE ME OR HATE ME, IT'S AN OBSESSION

Okay, so some pretty fantastic news to lead.

If you recall, last week I posted that a new opportunity had come my way, and now this week it has been made official. I can't tell you exactly what, as that will be for the fine folks in the marketing department at DC Comics to do.

Yes, you read that right. DC Comics.

Last week, wunderkind on the rise Jann Jones called me up and said she had a project she wanted to do and she thought I would be perfect for it. I love when editors do this. So often when you pitch it's more like scooping up two handfuls of darts and lobbing them into the air with your eyes closed. When you open them, you see if any of the darts actually stuck.

It's a totally other matter when the editor has something in mind and knows why they want you to do it. Even better, Jann had already run the idea by Dan Didio and he signed off on it, so most of the battle was won. We did two drafts on a synopsis, and then it went up to Paul Levitz, and now it's a go.

So, as it were, some time next year, DC will be publishing a prestige-format one-shot written by me, 48 pages of story. The actual book and who is drawing it will be details I will share as soon as I can, but I will say that I am very excited, Jann Jones is very smart, and this is the kind of project that makes perfect sense for me to be doing, thus making my work-for-hire debut for the big companies a project that should marry the best of what I do with the best of what they do.

*



In other news, Joëlle Jones was nominated as Outstanding Artist in the first annual Stumptown Trophy Awards.

The winners will be chosen by attendees at the show, so please come and please vote for her so that she wins and I won't be in trouble. After San Diego, she didn't want to be in another awards show, but when this one came along, she left it up to me. I didn't read closely enough when I filled out the form and thought that anyone who wanted to be nominated would be, so I figured at least we'd lose together. Well, as it turns out, they pared the choices down to a handful and I didn't make the cut as a writer, so now she wins or loses alone, and she's gonna be mad at me for pushing her out there.

More disappointing than my not being nominated is the fact that the Love the Way You Love collection not listed with the other books for Outstanding Debut. What's up with that? If anything, this particular category should be like SPX and anyone who wants to participate should be allowed. Not to mention at least one of the books that is on the ballot came out last week. Sure, it makes the list long when very debut is considered, but what's great at SPX is that the list of nominees gives people a selection of new books to come looking for. No such luck.

Of course, I also haven't heard from Oni that the book is done, so at this juncture, who the fuck knows?

Current Soundtrack: director's commentary on Bram Stoker's Dracula

Current Mood: torn

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2007 Jamie S. Rich

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

YOU AND ME TOGETHER, THROUGH THE DAYS AND NIGHTS

I've been listening to Alicia Keys' new single, "No One," pretty much once or twice a day for several weeks now, ever since the VMAs really. I've always loved Alicia. Her confidence, her strident intellectualism coupled with her warmth and humanism, and of course, the songs and that voice. When it comes to modern soul and r&b, she is about as classic as it gets. She lets hip hop influence her, but without letting it be overwhelming, succumbing to obvious samples or the formula of having a guest rapper spew dextrous nonsense over the bridge.

"No One" is a deceptively flabby song. On first listen, it didn't sound like much, but as it sinks in, it reveals itself to be a marvel of structural commitment. It has a head-nodding beat, but a soft piano line that, were you to separate it and build on it, dare I compare it to the "Moonlight Sonata"? At the same time, the melody works as kind of a tow line. Powered by Alicia's voice, it drags the listener along, leading us through the narrative with such an unhampered grace, that it's one of those 45s you can put on repeat and let run on for hours.

Thematically, this is naturally a song I can get behind. There's not a lot to the lyrics. "I love you and nothing will stop me from loving you." That's really it. What sells it is the vocal performance. For "No One," Alicia pushes and stretches her vocal chords and shoots for a range level that must be incredibly difficult to sustain. While a less courageous singer would find their 10 somewhere midway through the tune and never go beyond, Alicia starts at 10, maintains it, but also continually pushes to see if she can find an 11, even letting her voice crack in certain lines, letting the note warble off its center. I'm pretty jaded about bum notes. Indie bands who profess to have never learned how to modulate and control their instrument on into their third, fourth, or fifth album have kind of ruined the effect of an honest misfire. The more cracks they calculate, the more fake it gets. Not so here. That she manages to achieve this while also sounding more honeyed than ever is the true accomplishment of the recording.



Funnily enough, "No One" actually makes me think of my old Britpop cable-access show "@lright." She uses the word twice in the space of four lines of the pre-chorus. For the opening of every episode, we'd always pick a new song where the word "alright," improper British spelling and all, was used. It's pretty easy to find the phrase in rock and pop on a normal day, but if there was a limited supply, the Britpop heyday would have put "alright" on the endangered species list. In my usual contrary nature, I'd have loved to have used Alicia Keys and befuddle those tuning in expecting to hear Cast or Supergrass. My co-hosts wouldn't have liked it, but I would have found a way.

For Alicia, you can always find a way, and never let no one tell you different.

Current Soundtrack: Alicia Keys

Current Mood: no one

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2007 Jamie S. Rich

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

SOME GIRLS MOTHERS ARE BIGGER THAN OTHER GIRLS MOTHERS



THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* The Graduate: 40th Anniversary Edition, a spruced-up re-release of a favorite. Yes, Mrs. Robinson, I'd like you to seduce me.

* Green Chair, an unsuccessful Korean film that wants to be Closer but is far more pedestrian.

* Knocked Up: Unrated & Extended, an exhaustive comb-through of one of the funniest movies of the year.

* Martha Graham: Dance on Film - Criterion Collection, bringing together three fascinating television shows the dance pioneer made for PBS in the 1950s.

Current Soundtrack: James, Laid

Current Mood: waiting by the telephone

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2007 Jamie S. Rich

Monday, September 24, 2007

I WAS SHOCKED AND ASHAMED TO DISCOVER...

...that Jennifer de Guzman mentioned Love the Way You Love in her latest "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" column. She lists it as one of the "modern romance comics" she's been enjoying. I would tell you where in the column, but then you wouldn't have to read the whole thing, which would be unfair, since I suspect this is all a trick on Jennifer's part to see if I am actually reading her musings. Mark this one in the win column for me, then.

And for the record, I would never comment on Jennifer's looks, because let's be honest, she's so terribly average. I mean, would you even notice this girl if she wasn't standing next to a pale British boy who had his comb confiscated by airport police?



Besides, she only reads Love the Way for the art of that selfsame British boy, anyway. She likely just skims the balloons.

(Last time I posted something about Marc Ellerby with a photo, I got accused of having a "man crush" on him. What secret message does this post convey, then?)

By the by, I'm not at home, not on my computer, so in an attempt to find my own Flickr account, I searched on my name, and this popped up.



I love that I found this! The guy who posted the sketch got Joëlle Jones to draw it at Emerald City and then asked me to caption it. Usually, in such a situation, I blank out completely and resort to writing something dirty. In this case, I didn't want to do that and so just went Zen and wrote what popped in my head. I think it's cute!

And something not cute I found? I call this "Still Life: Fatty with Neal Shaffer." Fleeing criminals could elude the police by hiding in my shirt.

Current Soundtrack: iPod shuffle (Paul Weller, David Bowie, Dubstar, Rolling Stones)

Current Mood: procrastinating from research

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2007 Jamie S. Rich

Sunday, September 23, 2007

YOU LIKE STRAWBERRIES, AND I LIKE YOU

I had a dream last night about blogging. I had done two posts in a row where the titles weren't in all caps, they were in both lettering cases, and it was causing more problems than you can even imagine. I recall hitting the back button a lot, but accidentally double clicking and going past the page I wanted, and then trying to go forward again, back and forth, like trying to parallel park on the internet.

I blame Imperial Teen.



Last night my friend Eliza and I went out to see Imperial Teen at Lola's Room. These guys have been one of my all-time favorite live bands since I accidentally discovered them opening for Gene at a now-defunct club in Seattle whose name escapes me. That was in 1995 before their brilliant first album Seasick had even come out. How often do you find a truly amazing band on the bottom of a three-band bill? It happens more often than the second band being good, I must say. (Menthol was #2 that night, and consider yourself lucky if you've never heard of them.)

Imperial Teen is one of those bands that should be huge, and for some reason, just are not. Their second album is called What Is Not To Love, and really, you listen to the music, and they've given you an impossible task with that question. There really is nothing to dislike about Imperial Teen. The quartet--Roddy Bottum (ex-keyboard player for Faith No More), Lynn Perko (former drummer of Widespread Panic), Jone Stebbins, and Will Schwartz (sometimes ironic disco star Willpower)--has a pitch-perfect ear for pop. Simple, catchy riffs underlying a vocal badminton game where they toss lines back and forth, using sighs and howls as percussive punctuation. (For concrete examples, the videos for "Yoo-Hoo" and "You're One," both performed last night.)

If there is anything to complain about, it's that Imperial Teen is one of those bands that takes years between releasing albums, which is why they've only had four in a decade-long recording career. Album #3, On, was released in 2002, so it's been five years waiting for #4, The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band, and that long since I've seen them play. Coincidentally, that was at Lola's room, as well. With every record being a near perfect gem of joy and craft, you wonder if it takes so long because it's hard work to make it seem so effortless. And just what do they do with themselves in the meantime?

Because when they do come to town, this is what Imperial Teen sounds like, having gotten captured in Seattle just two days ago:



Though we actually didn't hear that song last night. It was one of two songs that we know of that got cut from an already sadly short set (barely over an hour). For some strange reason, the band did not have keyboards of their own, despite having two guys in the group who sometimes tickle the ivories. So, they borrowed the rigs of one of their opening bands. Despite those machines functioning seemingly fine for the other band, Roddy Bottum decided he didn't like the way his rack sounded, and so any piano songs were cut.

Which turned out to be a major disappointment. Can't you fake it? Improvise alternate versions without keys? Or substitute other songs? Did you really go on tour for the first time in so many years and only learn 75-minutes of material? It's not like this is your first album, kids.

Other than that, the show was as good as everything we would hope it would be. There was much less of the switch-around, where the band plays musical chairs with their instruments. Only for "Yoo-Hoo" did Lynn come out from behind the drum kit, singing "Shim Sham" from the back instead. Still, even that didn't matter, as everything else was awesome. The set drew from all the albums, and included old favorites like "Butch," "Ivanka," "Lipstick," and "Water Boy," as well as new winners like "Sweet Potato" and "Do It Better." (But no "Imperial Teen"? If you have a title song, perform it!) Everyone sounded great, the banter between songs was typically funny (though lacking in Will's nonsensical dadaist asides), and people were dancing. (Hey, Portland, why is it when people are dancing down front, the jerk-offs in the back see that as an excuse to step forward and stand closer to those of us who aren't so busy being cool that we actually get into it and move our feet? I need a fire fighter's shirt that instructs these mental defectives to stand back. The bar wasn't even full.)

I was really having fun, but then it was over when it seemed like it had only just started. The band promised to return soon to make up for their keyboard malfunction, but come on, I'm here right now! Why leave me hanging? I want to enthuse about Imperial Teen and the show more and more, but I can't get around feeling cheated. For the entertainment I got, my $13 wasn't wasted, but as the band themselves sang, they can do it better.



Current Soundtrack: Imperial Teen, The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band


Current Mood: disappointed

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2007 Jamie S. Rich

Friday, September 21, 2007

NO JACKET REQUIRED

There are no words to describe this blog I just found. I think it's a humor blog, but of the sort of self-involved giggling variety that really is only funny to the person writing it, and oh, what a lonely funny it is.

Seriously, you just have to see it to believe it. I am having a gag reflect to linking directly, so if you must know, then just Google for the title "News from Earth X" and it will likely be the second item in your search. Note the author's surname with a little bit of irony, too.

The reason I bring it up is he chose to write this about me:

Jamie S Rich's Have you seen the Horizon Lately has been such a dismal failure, it hasn't stopped him from releasing the follow-up; Have You Seen Me Insert my Severely Small Penis inside that Missing Girl Yet. Set in Portugal, it tells the story of Jamie, St Francis of Assissi and Jesus Harry Christ on a road trip looking for illegal poon to penetrate. The first issue is probably going to be delayed.

I suppose it deserves some distinction for being the strangest thing that may have ever been written about me. It's actually the third paragraph in an eighteen paragraph screed posted a week ago that is like some kind of buckshot attack on the comic book industry that makes about as much sense in full as it does in this tiny part here. (And note, the grammar is all his.) It must be a taxing style to write in, because this fella has only managed to make 14 posts this year. They must have changed his meds in August, because he was on fire with 4 whole write-ups. One imagines that he enters some kind of trance-like state and the light pours out of him until he just can't make himself laugh anymore.

It's sad how genius so often goes unnoticed.

Current Soundtrack: PJ Harvey, White Chalk

Current Mood: perplexed
MO' POP

The Popgun, vol. 1 anthology that Joëlle and I are in is getting more hype this week. Newsarama has previews of the stories by Nick Derington and Erik Larsen.

The big preview, however, is the Hiddenrobot page about the book, which contains pages from a ton of the stories and a collection of interviews, banners, etc.



Order info:

DIAMOND PRE-ORDER CODE: SEP071958
Popgun Volume One, a $29.99
Original Graphic Novel
Trade Paperback
November 2007
Image Comics.



Current Soundtrack: Dexy's Midnight Runners, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels



Current Mood: peaceful

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2007 Jamie S. Rich

Thursday, September 20, 2007

SUNDAY'S ON THE PHONE WITH MONDAY, TUESDAY'S ON THE PHONE TO ME

The inimitable Joëlle Jones, queen of the saloon singers, already posted this to her blog, but it bears repeating.

The 12 Reasons Why I Love Her shirt design for the Stumptown Comics Fest, September 29 & 30.



Joëlle will be screen printing the shirts by hand on a variety of sizes and styles of Ts. Get in early to make sure you get the one you want. We'll be there both days at our own table, #84, right next to Oni Press.

Current Soundtrack: The Beatles, Abbey Road

Current Mood: sore

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2007 Jamie S. Rich
KARAOKE WATCH: 9/19/07

We are sad to see our fair Sonja heading off to another town, but happy to see her pursue her dreams. She gave us one last performance of "Roxie" from Chicago, and in turn we sang for her.

Joëlle: "All My Loving" - The Beatles
"Creep" - Radiohead
"Careless Whisper" - Wham!

Jamie: "Do You Remember the First Time?" - Pulp
"Oh Darling" - The Beatles
"Just Like Fred Astaire" - James

My songs were really fun. Joëlle Jones is awesome with the big sweeping moments in the Radiohead and Wham! A good time was had by all.

Current Soundtrack: The Editors, An End Has a Start

Current Mood: tipsy

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

ALL BECAUSE OF YOU DAYS

So, a little more on those interesting things I referenced as going on earlier this week. I actually got a call to pitch a superhero one-shot. It's going pretty well and actually moving at a surprisingly fast speed.

It was good timing on behalf of the commissioning editor, because otherwise I'd be bummed right now. Earlier today, I got two confirmations that two projects I had been pitching would not be happening, so it's a bit of a mood saver that I was asked to try something else.

Not that the rejections were painful "you suck" rejections or anything. One was for a young adult franchise that Joëlle and I had created and shown to Ben Abernathy at Wildstorm. That was less of a "no" and more of a "not right now." Plus, it's our property so it's still in play. It's actually with our agents right now, and any movers and shakers out there who might be interested in knowing more, contact Baker's Mark. This is my second go-around with Ben, the first being a Friday the 13th twofer that didn't make it past New Line before the line of licensed horror Wildstorm is doing got retooled. He and I plan to keep talking.

The second rejection was for a reboot of Shade the Changing Man I had been developing all summer for Bob Schreck at Vertigo. The long synopsis still needed some work, but I think there were some good ideas in there; unfortunately, word came down that the powers-that-be weren't looking to reboot any of the old school Vertigo characters right now, so it was taken off the board. I was always a little daunted by the prospect of following up Milligan. It felt a little sacrilegious. So, in that sense, I guess it's all right.

On the independent front, I've been working on an idea for artist Mike Holmes to draw and it's coming together nicely, creating fascinating divergences. It's yet another challenge for me, tackling yet another wrinkle on a favorite genre. We're still working out the details, but so far I've been enjoying the development process.

Visit Mike's blog and see the cool music video he directed.

Current Soundtrack: a Simpsons rerun and a particularly shitty band that lives upstairs (noisy, untalented twats)

Current Mood: whatever
HE LIKES TO READ BOOKS WRITTEN FOR GIRLS

Oh, it's so quiet around here. It's been an interesting, busy week. For one, you will not believe how many extras there are on the Knocked Up DVD. It's going to take me a month to review it.

But other interesting things are happening, too. I've got a new special project with Tokyopop, and some other hush hush writing developments that no one will even be able to guess even if anyone cared enough to try. It's all pretty cool, though. Just you wait.

In the meantime, check this cover art Marc Ellerby did for the sixth issue of Love the Way You Love.

Love the Way You Love #6



At this point, I think the book is going to be out in early November. That gives any newbies plenty of time to get the forthcoming trade paperback of the first three and then 4 and 5 and get all caught up. James at Oni said the cover proof for the tpb looks good, and so it should be available at Stumptown. I also went shopping with Joëlle today to get shirts and she's going to silkscreen some more You Have Killed Me shirts and a new 12 Reasons design.

Speaking of, Mike and Laura Allred are confirmed for the show. Their only appearance in 2007. You must come.

#4 of Madman Atomic Comics is on sale today.



Current Soundtrack: Camera Obscura, Underachievers, Please Try Harder

Current Mood: thrilled

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2007 Jamie S. Rich

Friday, September 14, 2007

PUTTING THE PUN BACK IN PUNCTURED LUNG

Joëlle Jones already posted this on her blog, along with other stuff from the book, but I like this page from You Have Killed Me quite a bit.



For some reason, the punch makes me think of John Wayne throwing down in The Quiet Man, a film the both of us like. Actually, I saw it in 9th Grade in English class, to go with the short story which they made us read. Being a dumb kid, I rejected it and have only recently watched it again because Joëlle said I should. Boy, what a dumb kid I was.

Anyway, I've always had this image of Wayne in my head, but I guess it's not as famous of a still as I thought since it didn't pop up on a Google search. The closest I found was this little bit in the bottom corner of this poster.



I mentioned it to Joëlle, and she had no idea what I was talking about, so this connection is just a product of my ridiculous brain.

Current Soundtrack: Simon & Garfunkel, Bookends

Current Mood: restless

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2007 Jamie S. Rich

Thursday, September 13, 2007

BAD BOYS STICK TOGETHER...NEVER?



THIS WEEK IN THEATRES...

* Eastern Promises, a surprisingly effective crime drama starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts and directed by David Cronenberg.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* Avatar the Last Airbender - The Complete Book 2 Collection, bringing season 2 together in one package, continuing the high-flying adventure.

* Tekkonkinkreet, the awesome anime adaptation of the Taiyo Matsumoto manga.

Current Soundtrack: Plaid, Tekkonkinkreet soundtrack

Current Mood: interrupted

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2007 Jamie S. Rich

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

HE LOVES YOU, BUT ELLERBY HAS CHOSEN DARKNESS

Marc has updated his Live Journal with the extras from the Love the Way You Love trade paperback and an update on #6.

Read it here.

Also, have you been keeping up with your Ellerbisms?

I was thinking about the little wiener today, because on Avatar the Last Airbender there is an occasional character named Smellerbee that is a girl but everyone thinks she's a boy. Like, life imitating art but getting it all backwards.





Can you tell which is which? One is a Calvin Kleid ad waiting to happen, both are cartoons. It's very confusing.

Current Soundtrack: The Blow, Poor Aim: Love Songs

Current Mood: silly

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * The Website * Live Journal Syndication * My Corporate-Owned Space * ComicSpace * Last FM * GoodReads * The Blog Roll * DVDTalk reviews * My Books On Amazon

All text (c) 2007 Jamie S. Rich