ON A DAY LIKE TODAY

Wow. Sorry. Lots of posts today.

The Portland Mercury has posted their own version of a plug for me on their blog, tailored slightly different in light of the events of earlier. I like Alison Hallett and have shared drinks with her in the past, and I do appreciate that she had intended to give me some space all along, so rather than get embroiled further, I'll just let things speak for themselves.

Steve Lieber also put up some info on the Periscope Studios blog. In that post, he mentions the upcoming Rom - Space Knight even at Floating World Comics, which everyone should add to their calendars. I'll be there helping Jason out on December 6!

Current Mood: bitchy

"I am two people
One you know
but don't like
The other one
you don't know
but you don't want to"

THIS WEEK IN THEATRES...

* I'm Not There, the out-on-a-ledge dismantling of the biopic genre, in which Todd Haynes tackles the many faces of Bob Dylan.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* Golden Boy, the debut of William Holden in a boxing picture with Barbara Stanwyck, adapted from a play by Clifford Odets.

* The Lady Vanishes, the double-disc re-release of any early Hitchcock classic. (Also posted at Criterion Confessions.)

* Sawdust & Tinsel - Criterion Collection, a sea change film from Ingmar Bergman, using a traveling circus as a metaphor for life's struggles. (Also posted at Criterion Confessions.)

Current Soundtrack: Keane, various non-album tracks

Current Mood: ready

LONELINESS REMEMBERS WHAT HAPPINESS FORGETS

Taking a break from rehearsing. Running through my scales, you know, exercising my voice, cutting hard French words like "object d'art" and "oeuvre" from my selections for tonight...

...and I was actually rather flattered to come across this from the Badazz Mofo himself, David Walker. Amusingly enough, I found it via the Portland Mercury's blog, where I was following up on something I saw there yesterday. On that blog, Matt Davis called David a whiner, which makes me wonder if he was the less gutzy guy who called him that anonymously on the Media Insiders talkback. I am not sure, though, how one is considered a whiner when you are complaining on behalf of other people? Had I posted that, I'd have been the whiner. I actually think the petulant link suggests Mr. Davis just can't handle being picked on.

I also like that the Mercury has comments from both Mr. Davis and myself in the feedback section that are neither of us. Good work, there. When was the last time you heard me refer to myself without a middle initial, Confessors? Or miss a chance to link to myself?

This hasn't been the first time such a complaint has come up about the local press. I know many people who do creative things who have said that if you don't play a guitar in this town, you might as well be dead. All I'll say is, I don't entirely disagree.

Carry on, folks! See you tonight! Sadly for the spectacle, I got control of my temper seconds before I was about to punch my mirror when I cut myself shaving. I would have loved to have shown up with a bloodied, bandaged hand!

And thanks to the Comics Reporter, Journalista!, and Blog @ Newsarama, national blogs who all made mention of tonight's event. Also, to Portland's literary blog, Seeing Indigo. And to be fair, Willamette Week did give me a "pick" designation in their calendar.

Current Soundtrack: Dot Allison, We Are Science

Current Mood: amused & jittery

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * 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

Sarah Grace McCandless Mortified video

I wish I had remembered that my camera took video when she was still reading her poetry, but here is Sarah sharing part of the table of contents she prepared for one of her imaginary issues of Sassy.

Sarah Grace McCandless @ Portland's Mortified

Sarah Grace McCandless @ Portland's Mortified (3)
Originally uploaded by The Everlasting Jamie S Rich

I've neglected posting about this, because it's been a hectic couple of days. But my pal, the author Sarah Grace McCandless, whose limp-wristed iPod has earned her the nickname McCandyass for the preponderance of Coldplay-like bands, was in town last week, first being a diva at Wordstock and then performing at the grand opening of Portland's Mortified chapter.

Mortified is a national mushroom patch of authors getting together and reading material they wrote in their younger years. Most of Portland's readers dug out old journals and exposed their deep crushes on boys with "mallard tail curls" in their hair, and they were all absolutely hysterical. Sarah read her submissions she had prepared in her teen years as her bid to write for Sassy magazine. Cute Writer Alert!

READER MEET AUTHOR - November 20, 2007

I know I blogged about this before, but consider this to be the official entry.

This Tuesday, November 20, 2007, I will be reading at Powell's Books on Burnside in Portland, Oregon. The event starts at 7:30, and it's free. I'll be reading from Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? and maybe a short story.

I hope everyone in Portland can make it. It's a big room, I don't want to sit alone.

Here is the entry on the Powell's site. If for whatever reason you need more info about the store, including location address, etc., their site should have it.

Spread the word!

Current Soundtrack: Cocteau Twins, Blue Bell Knoll

Current Mood: on the spot

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * 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

MONEY-GO-ROUND

Some of the writer's of The Daily Show (and one regular correspondent) put together their version of the kind of routine that the program might be doing on the Writer's Guild strike were they on the air.

While it does prove how valuable a guy like Jon Stewart is when it comes to delivery, the point is extremely valid. I imagine the folks at YouTube love it.

It's been a pretty heavy work week. Missed a conference call with DC, but have been so buried in manga and manhwa that I had to stop fretting and let that roll off my back. In the last three days, I've been working on the third volume of Magical JxR for Udon, and the second volume of a book for Tokyopop. I'd link to that, but I can't find a damn thing on their confusing website and don't know if the book has been officially announced. I didn't script the first volume, though, so I am having to get up to speed.

It looks like this is just the beginning of the return of this kind of work for me. A lot of my older titles appear to be starting up again in the new year.

Speaking of that impending new year, I've noticed people have already started posting their top 10 lists for 2007. Are "Top 10s" the new "Christmas Decorations" in that we're going to be putting them up earlier and earlier every year? Is it posturing to show off how much more in the know these people are than the rest of us that they've seen and heard and read everything that is coming in the next six weeks? I, for one, have decided to abstain this year. It's too much. What does it really mean anymore? There are just too many random opinions floating around, no consensus, no logic. If someone asked me to contribute to a round-table or voting or something, I'd probably do it, but as far as on my own, it's like whistling in a wind tunnel. Too much air at once, I can't breathe!

Current Soundtrack: shuffle: Faye Wong, "堕落;" the Roots, "Boom!";New Order, "Age of Consent;" Architecture in Helsinki, "It's Almost a Trap;" Cornell Campbell, "I Will Never Let You Go"





Current Mood: buried

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * 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

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MR. BADMOUTH

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

Only one, if you can believe it. But it's a mega review.

* Berlin Alexanderplatz - Criterion Collection, the 15-hour German television series directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Shot in 1980, it was truly ahead of its time as far as complex television dramas are concerned. (Also posted at Criterion Confessions.)

THIS WEEK IN THEATRES...

* Margot at the Wedding, Noah Baumbach's new dysfunctional family dramedy.

* Southland Tales, Richard Kelly's sophomoric sophomore cock-up. This film is the definition of bad. If you're one of those people who has 2 1/2 hours to waste laughing at bad movies, stop right there. This is so bad, it's bad. I wish I could have mustered a chuckle for even a second of it. It's an excruciating mess.

Current Soundtrack: Brett Anderson, Live at Queen Elizabeth Hall - Acoustic Performance with String Ensemble, 20th October 2007

Current Mood: aggravated

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * 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

HAVE YOU SEEN HER FACE?

So, as it turns out, the Catwoman I met this weekend was actually Daria O'Neill, a local radio dj who also used to do bumpers for the syndicated programs on one of our Fox affiliates in the evenings. I knew she liked comics, because she used to live next door to former Dark Horse editor Peet Janes, but I've never actually spoken to her before.

You never know who might be hiding behind a mask these days!

Current Soundtrack: Sigur Ros,Hvarf/Heim

Current Mood: surprised

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * 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

GIVE ME THE WORDS THAT TELL ME EVERYTHING

Help me decide what to read next week...

I've got a week until my reading at Powell's. November 20, 7:30 PM. They have it on their calendar and everything, so you know it's true. You can see the blurb on their Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? page.

I was in the store on Saturday and did a quick sweep to check if they had the book and saw nothing. Then, oddly enough, the next day Steve Leialoha came up to my table at the Comic Book Show and pointed at Horizon and said, "I just saw this at Powell's." I didn't think to check the front of the store where they have the racks for upcoming events. Duh, me.

In any case, it's time for me to start figuring out what it is I am going to read. My routine over the last couple of years is to read from the book I am promoting and preview whatever it is I am working on, an idea I stole from Greg Rucka. Given that there is currently nothing to preview, though, that choice is not an option this time.

Generally, I prepare three pieces, though I most likely read only two. I really should do a selection from Horizon. I have considered repeating the experiment from last year when I read a piece of the script from 12 Reasons Why I Love Her, but it seems to me Reason 2 was and is the best chapter for that, and I worry about repeating myself.

As it stands now, I am leaning toward performing (1) the short story "Chevelu" and then (2) an abridged version of the Halloween night section of Horizon (roughly pages 225-236, maybe even up to 240). Last time around I had considered the Julia/Julie section of the book, but it was too long.

I don't know. I'm at a loss. So, I leave it up to you guys. Does anyone have a suggestion? Anyone want to vote "yes" to the two pieces mentioned?

Please leave comments and give me your ideas. If you have a special request and you are going to be there next week, please indicate that, as that will carry weight.

Current Mood: indecisive

THE PUBLIC IMAGE

The Portland Comic Book Show went better than I would have expected. I was getting worried when during the first hour no one came up and talked to me at all. Only a rather fit Catwoman in the old purple-tights costume stopped by. She looked at me, started to walk away, and then looked back. "Oh, it is you!" she said and stuck out her hand. I took it, and she had a really impressive grip. "I'm a big fan of you," she said.

Catwoman digs me!

From there, things got better and I did pretty good business. I overestimated how much people would shun me for not having Joëlle with me and underestimated the popularity of 12 Reasons Why I Love Her. I brought five, thinking that would be enough on my own, and sold all of them before I even sold anything else. Point taken.

The panel for writers went well. I am a longtime Howard Chaykin fan, and so it was cool to hear him tell stories. Just as I started to introduce myself on the panel, though, my phone started to buzz in my pocket. It just figured. I'm so glad I had turned the ringer off. Joëlle's timing is always impeccable.

Once the panel was done, I went back to the table for my last hour. This guy came by at one point:

"Do you have any spaceships?" he asked.

"Um, no."

He looked over my books. "I'm looking for stuff with spaceships in it."

"Sorry. You got the wrong guy here."

He kept moving from table to table asking people the same questions. He told Scott Allie from Dark Horse that he was looking for pin-up art to hang in his office. I think it's more realistic to believe he was looking for a ride home.

Thanks to everyone who came out. I should write names down after I sign books so I can thank you all properly, but rather than leave anyone out, I'll leave it at this.

Current Soundtrack: Radiohead, "Unravel/Headmaster Ritual;" the Killers, Sawdust


Current Mood: done

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * 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

JUST ONE LOOK...

Want an unofficial preview of You Have Killed Me?

I found a Danish (?) blog with pictures from San Diego, showing pages from our preview notebook.

Check it out right here.

But, shhhh...don't tell anyone I told you.

And just for laughs, nosing around the same site, I found a link to this hilariously bad picture of Andi Watson. He looks like he's been trapped in an elevator with a particularly noxious smell.

Current Soundtrack: "Snowball in Negative" by the Divine Comedy

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN? BUT WHAT ABOUT OLD JAMIE?

First off, I can't talk about movies this week without talking about the WGA strike.

Yes, this is going to cause the disruption of many of your favorite TV shows, but it's an important cause. This isn't just a bunch of fancypants wordsmiths crying for more money, it's about what's fair. It's also one of the first efforts in what will likely be an ongoing battle for people in the entertainment industry. The writers are just the first to deal with some of these issues, and their success will likely effect how actors, directors, and other members of the production crews will fare when their contracts are up for renegotiation. That's why you're seeing many of these people express their solidarity and walk the picket lines.

Here is a simple video explaining it all:



United Hollywood is a good blog for information about this. They put together the video, and they are the place I found the link to this petition that you can sign to show your support.

Our entertainment doesn't happen magically. It requires a lot of hard work. And though we hear about huge salaries for top tier stars and executives, most industries are carried by the people who are just getting by like any average joe. It's easy for studio fatcats and their flunkies to paint strikers as money-grubbing brats who, like Oliver Twist, dare to ask for more. Don't you believe it.

THIS WEEK IN THEATRES...

* No Country for Old Men, a pitch-perfect literary adaptation from the Coen Brothers. The cast is outstanding. Javier Bardem is menacing in all sorts of creepy ways.

In fact, you really need to click through on the review and see Joëlle Jones' phenomenal illustration for my review. She really captures the darkness and grit of the movie. I think we've really only begun to see how good she is at evoking mood in her art.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* In Between Days, a surprising portrait of an immigrant Korean girl lost in the frozen urban sprawl of North America. A really affecting film.

* Time, Kim Ki-Duk's 13th film. It's a bit quieter than some of his others, but no less interesting.

* The Two Jakes, the misfired sequel to Chinatown.

Though, apparently I am not allowed to think that. Check out the Socratic logic at work in this e-mail I received from Lynn L.:

I read your review of 'The Two Jakes' and...you are wrong. If you can adore The Sopranos how can you say the follow-up to Chinatown "doesn't deserve to exist".

Which I didn't actually say, so I'm not sure who Lynn thinks she is quoting there. Of course, she has plenty of punctuation issues in that tail end there anyway.

Even so, I wasn't aware that one's feelings about Chinatown and its illegitimate offspring were directly weighed against their feelings for The Sopranos.

In other movie news, though my new blog Criterion Confessions has largely been reprints so far, I have started adding new content. To start, a review of Brief Encounter that explains its connections to Love the Way You Love. So, Love the Way fans need to check it out.

Also, later today, I plan to post a new piece about my revisiting The Royal Tenenbaums in preparation for Halloween. [That piece is now up.]

Current Soundtrack: Morrissey, Live @ Orpheum Theatre, Boston, 10/30/2007; Mareva Galanter, Ukuyeye


Current Mood: pessimistic

e-mail = golightly at confessions123.com * Criterion Confessions * 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

READER MEET AUTHOR - November 11, 2007

This is just a reminder that I will be attending the Portland Comic Book Show this Sunday. Find out more information about the show and its guests here.

I'm doing this one solo, so please come by and visit me. I'll have all my books there for sale, and I am scheduled to be on a writer's panel, as well. The panel is at 2:30 and is described thusly:

An all-star writers panel likely to include: Brian Michael Bendis, Howard Chaykin, Scott Allie, Kurt Busiek, Brandon Jerwa, Jamie S. Rich, and Trina Robbins with Paul Guinan moderating the discussion.

Apparently they were accepting questions for the panel up until November 5th via e-mail. I apologize, I didn't know.

Wordstock is also going that day, right down the street. You can conceivably do both. I haven't really looked at the schedule, because frankly, I am still miffed that they never paid me for the books I sold there last year and I'm going to keep complaining about it because that's just how I do. I have several friends who will be appearing, though, including Sarah Grace McCandless, Matt Wagner, and Craig Thompson. Were I more friendly and less inclined to grudges, I might know more people of that long list, but keeping up with more friends would cut into my complaining time.

Current Soundtrack: Miss Red Flowers, self-titled

Current Mood: spiteful

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

HERE'S THE GOOD NEWS

Item: After concluding last year's Permanent Records project, I had it in my head that I would do a new feature called "What's the Criterion?" that would focus on Criterion DVDs that I watched. This never quite happened, largely because I had burnt myself out so much on that weekly music project, I didn't really feel all that energized to start yet another series, no matter how intermittent.

Well, at the urging of my DVD editor, I am finally going to undertake that project, though in a slightly altered form. I have set up a new offshoot blog called Criterion Confessions to gather all of my Criterion DVD reviews in one place. Right now, I am working on reprinting my DVD Talk reviews from the past, but shortly I will start to write about other discs. Being my own blog, the format will be bendable. In fact, I am thinking one of my inaugural original pieces will be exploring the connection between David Lean's Brief Encounter and mine and Marc Ellerby's comic Love the Way You Love.

Item: Last week, two Andi Watson trade paperbacks hit comic book stores, a new edition of Slow News Day and the first collection of his and Simon Gane's Paris.

My connection to these books is small, but meaningful. I did a late-in-the-game proofreading on Slow News Day before the original trade came out, and I am quoted on the inside cover of Paris. Here is my blurb:

"When reading Paris, one's head swims as if we ourselves were Andi Watson's love-drunk heroine. His scripts make our knees weak, but Simon Gane's art catches us as we crumble, completing the seduction with casual grace."

And I mean it, kids, it does!

Current Soundtrack: iPod shuffling, coming up with Raymonde, Kylie, Interpol, Garbage, Klaxons

Current Mood: active

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

FILMS FOR MUSIC

It's a week of music-related movies. Not reviewed, but seen in anticipation of its Thanksgiving release, was also Todd Haynes' awe-inspiring I'm Not There, his vision of Bob Dylan.

THIS WEEK IN THEATRES...

* Control, an intriguing biopic of Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division, that is a bit of a letdown. Directed by Anton Corbijn.

* Joe Strumer: The Future is Unwritten, Julien Temple's all-encompassing documentary of the Clash frontman.


THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who, a two-disc documentary compilation that goes deep into the band's history.

For this one, after it was posted, I received clearance requests from the studio to use quotes in the ad campaign. If anyone sees an ad of any kind with a blurb attributed to me, let me know. Even scan it, perhaps? I've not been quoted before, and this is the Who!

* Absolutely Fabulous - White Box, a special reunion episode from a couple of yeas ago.

* Inside the Actors Studio: Johnny Depp, from the television talk show.

* Nearing Grace, a surprisingly smart coming-of-age story set in the 1970s.

In response to this review, I got the following letter:

I read your review of 'Nearing Grace' and...wow...someone who actually gets the movie. precisely.

much appreciated. thank you!

susan johnson
(producer of "nearing grace")

Well, I won't complain about that!

* Peach Girl, vol. 5, the penultimate chapter in the teen-romance anime serial.

* The Sopranos - Season Six, Part 2. At long last, get my take on that controversial final episode! I know you've been waiting.

* Under the Volcano - Criterion Collection, John Huston's late-stage literary adaptation with Albert Finney.

Current Soundtrack: BeatlesRadio.com

Current Mood: bored

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

"I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A TENENBAUM..."

Okay, I am not sure who deserves a bigger "fuck you." It's either the people who somehow thought I didn't see the potential symbolism in me being Eli Cash, the Royal Tenenbaums version of an out-of-control writer who was a wannabe in every way possible, both personally and professionally; or the people who said, "Really? I think you'd make a better Royal."

Meaning, Gene Hackman's character. The guy who was involved in this exchange:

Royal: I've always been considered an asshole for about as long as I can remember. That's just my style. But I'd really feel blue if I didn't think you were going to forgive me.
Henry Sherman: I don't think you're an asshole, Royal. I just think you're kind of a son of a bitch.
Royal: Well, I really appreciate that.

Thanks, jerkoffs. Message received loud and clear. For your next mission, convince water it's wet.

Anyway, for those who didn't know. I went out on this Halloween dressed as Eli Clash, Owen Wilson's character in The Royal Tenenbaums. You know, this guy:

This was Joëlle's idea, and I fully admit to being a little disappointed that her true plan didn't come off. She went out dressed as Margot Tenenbaum (a.k.a. Gwyneth Paltrow), and the initial plan was to have a Chas (Ben Stiller) and a Richie (Luke Wilson). Chas dropped out early, and Richie disappeared the day of. It threw everything off.

Still, we persevered, and I think you can all see she was a perfect Margot.

Click any photo to see the full set.

We made a good time of it regardless. Joëlle did my make-up and I think did a swell job. We ended up going to Suki's and taking on the karaoke machine. In honor of my character, I started off with the Clash's "Rock the Casbah" and then did some old favorites, Pulp's "This is Hardcore" and my worst-to-date rendition of "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera.

Joëlle performed "All My Loving" by the Beatles and "What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes. Her Bonnie Tyler was sniped by another singer, and her Tenenbaums-themed "Me & Julio Down By the School Yard" never came up in the rotation. Too bad. Our friend Matt Grigsby did perform Hadaway's "What Is Love," however, so points to him.

I can't remember what year I last dressed up for Halloween. Maybe 1997? All I remember was that it involved me showing up in the then-usual leather jacket and eye liner, and Barb Wagner deciding that was not enough and putting lipstick on me. So, this night set a precedent, a return, further proof that Joëlle Jones can get me to do anything. All in all, I had a good time, so it was worth it. I even got to see raccoons on the way home.

By the way, Joëlle drew a Margot for James Lucas Jones' Tenenbaums gallery. Drop him a line and ask him why he hasn't scanned it. jameslucas [a] onipress.com

Current Soundtrack: Mandy Moore, Wild Hope

Current Mood: whatever

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