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

SELL ME CANDY

I've gotten my copies of Love the Way You Love, Side A and given the unconventional slow roll-out it's receiving, I am offering it to my blog readers direct.

This collection brings together the first 3 issues. Marc and I aren't big on the whole "pack it with extras" routine, but there are two new pages slotted in to fill out empty spaces.

Each book is $12, plus $2 postage for the first book. I also have most of my other titles in stock, so if you are looking for something else, drop me a line. golightly [a] confessions123.com is the address for all enquiries and Paypal. Checks/money orders also accepted. Any order of two or more books will receive a flat $4.50 postage rate and sent priority.

Naturally, all books will be autographed, and special requests will be accommodated.

Plenty of copies of my short prose story "Chevelu" are also still available for $3.

Current Soundtrack: Siouxsie Sioux, Mantaray

Current Mood: shill

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 KNOW VERY WELL HOW I GOT MY NOTE WRONG

Okay, ignore that last post.

I couldn't heed Papa's advice, and though starting at about 11:00 I took maybe an hour-and-half off from working, even did some reading when I did, I couldn't get the script out of my head. I had a vision of the first two pages, and I decided that maybe if I sketched those out, I could stop thinking about it.

Then I had the first two panels of page 3, and I thought, "Sketch those, and then tomorrow, you'll know where to start from there." All I'd have to do in the morning is keep following the frame, creating what happens in relation to that. (The frame is like a folk tale, the main story a present day version.)

Then I decided I might as well type up what I'd thumbnailed.

Then I got to page 4, thought, well, halfway, that's a good night's work.

But then I had all the dialogue for page 5, type that up, and then tomorrow I can figure out what goes in the panels with the dialogue.

Oh, but wait, I have a really good idea for what should be in the last panel, so I should type that in, and with that there, it puts the other panels into perspective, so might as well type those descriptions.

Maybe keep sketching, I can kind of see where 6 and 7 are going.

Type those up, and well, I just have to wrap it up.

Hello, 8-page script. Hello, blog post at 2:19 AM.

If I must say so, well past my prime at this hour as I may be, I think it's a charming little back-up story. Sometimes I wish I could just write 8-page comic book stories all the time.

Current Soundtrack: Britney Spears, Blackout; Bloc Party, "Cain Said to Abel;" Radiohead, In Rainbows

Current Mood: exhausted

THE GIRLS ARE NAKED AND THEY DANCE

Working late tonight. Joëlle Jones and I went out for Indian food with Geoffery Kleinman from DVDTalk. I had an excellent lamb with curry, and we sampled martinis infused with black tea, mixed with sweet and sour.

I've still got to do my eight-pager for the DC book. I pitched Jann four story ideas that I cooked up last night, two of which were fairly complete and two just half-baked concepts. She picked one of the half-baked. Now I've got about half of it written.

The idea was basically a frame story, as in, "We will have this one little tale as our thread, but the actual tale will be an analogue of it." The frame should point the way to what kind of story happens in response, but alas, that I do not yet have. So, when I say it is half-written, it is actually all too literal. Half of each page is actually written, and the other half...blank.

As I grow bleary eyed, I think it best to leave it for the night and resume in the morning. I have a basic seed to maybe start me, and so I will let it grow in th eback of my brain and see what blossoms tomorrow. The best writing lessons I ever received came from Ernest Hemingway in A Moveable Feast, and I always try to remember them.

"I always worked until I had something done and I always stopped when I knew what was going to happen next. But sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, 'Don't worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.' [snip] It was in that room too that I learned not to think about anything I was writing from the time I stopped writing until I started again the next day. That way my subconscious would be working on it and at the same time I would be listening to other people and noticing everything, I hoped; learning, I hoped; and I would read so that I would not think about my work and make myself impotent to do it."

Of course, I rarely search for truth, instead seeking the most plausible lie. Likewise, the last bit is easier said than done. I tend to chew on stories the way I grind my teeth and chew the inside of my cheek...but yet, one must always strive.

Current Soundtrack: The Creation, The Best of... (Repertoire Records, 1999)

Current Mood: full of thought

LOVE THE WAY YOU LOVE/WINTER UPDATE

I wanted to give a quick update in regards to the sixth issue of Love the Way You Love, which I think was actually solicited for this month, despite Oni's release date on their website of 11/28.

If you've been keeping up with Marc Ellerby's journal (and if you haven't, why not? how else will you know what emo rent boys do for fun in England?), you may have noticed he mentioned not drawing due to a wrist problem. As he himself wrote last week:

"In bad news, my hand fell apart on the Saturday. While drawing a splash page of LTWYL 6, I felt all my knuckles and joints pop and tighten and I tried to work through the pain but it kept happening. Then my wrist went and I was back in my bandage support, looking like a proper cunt*. So I couldn't even draw. I'm not sure if it was just a lapse as it feels slightly better now, but either way I'll pop to the pharmacy for a stronger does of deep heat and a new support. If it doesn't hint at getting better by the end of the week, back to the docs with me."

(*Remember, the Brits use that term differently. Don't start a freakout internet meme about it or nothin'.)

Keep in mind, this is Marc trying to get back into drawing after taking some time off to heal whatever it was he did to himself. At first they thought it was his tendon, but now it may have transferred over to his muscles. He's in a splint, and he'll try to draw as he mends. Obviously, though, this is a very important issue for the series and we're not going to do anything to rush it, so it may take some time. Oni's November date is the last estimate we would have gone for, but I have a feeling we won't clear that. We'd love to have it out for Christmas, but we're not going to call it until we're certain.

Please bear with us. Obviously, we'd rather it not be this way, we'd rather Marc be healthy and the book ship on time, but I think we can all agree that the healthy part is better than the ship on time part at this point.

Naturally, his blog and my blog will continue to have updates.

*

On a much more light-hearted note, if I disappear for the next couple of months, no, I haven't gone all Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? on you guys. It'll just be me hibernating with DVDs. My editor just dropped off a stack, which includes:

Berlin Alexanderplatz (940 minutes)
Seinfeld - The Complete Series (180 episodes, 104 hours of bonus material, and a book to go with it)
Sopranos - Season Six, Part 2 (9 episodes)

And then there are the five single releases he brought as well.

He laughed when I saw the box. My eyes bugged out, my mouth probably fell open. My social life is going south for the winter!

Current Soundtrack: The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968 disc 2


Current Mood: conflicted

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

YOU HAVE PREORDERED ME

Look what's on Amazon...

You Have Killed Me



By Jamie S. Rich & Joëlle Jones

Current Soundtrack: Nick Cave covering Leonard Cohen, the Velvet Underground, and something called "Mojo-Soho" (?)

Current Mood: excited

YOU'RE NO ROCK 'N' ROLL FUN

Yeeowch. We sent quite a lot of copies of Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? out for review, and so far there hasn't been much of a nibble. Reader Views, who gave a good notice to The Everlasting (though, granted, from a different writer), posted theirs, and it's none too kind. The first two paragraphs are largely summary, and the summation goes thusly:

"I was somewhat interested in “Have You Seen the Horizon Lately?”, but found it hard to follow because each chapter jumped to a different time period for Percy or Julia. The depression and talk of suicide throughout the entire book was not interesting and many times very cumbersome to read. The novel included excerpts from the characters writings and from interviews with the characters. I found no interest in these portions and skimmed through them."

I have to say, I really think I pulled the wrong reviewer in the bad luck of this draw.

Nertz.

And for the record, yes, they did like me last time.

Current Soundtrack: scrappin' and mixin' it up to Bow Wow Wow, Lily Allen, the Decemberists, and Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band

Current Mood: bruised but still swinging

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

ALL THAT GLISTERS...

g#2 front col
Originally uploaded by andi watson

Look for Glister #2 by Andi Watson in stores this week!

Once again proofread by yours truly. I even appear on the inside back cover.

I've also been proofing Madman Atomic Comics #5. This Joëlle Jones image won't be in the book, but she will be in a future issue.

Current Soundtrack: Nick Drake, Way To Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake; The Darjeeling Limited soundtrack

Current Mood: got a dreadache

SEDUCTIVE, PRODUCTIVE

THIS WEEK IN THEATRES...

* My Kid Could Paint That, an excellent documentary about a child painter that raises questions about what qualifies as art, who gets to judge, and whether or not the whole thing is a scam, anyway.

THIS WEEK IN DVD REVIEWS...

* Black Sheep, a ridiculous but fun horror comedy from New Zealand. It's about marauding vampire sheep, so it's hard to lose with a concept like that. Just wish it had been a little funnier, maybe a little scarier. Something.

* Breathless - Criterion Collection, a fantastic new two-DVD set of Jean-Luc Godard's groundbreaking debut.

* Carlos Saura's Flamenco Trilogy - Eclipse Series 6, collecting the Spanish director's triptych exploring dance and the way it's performed, both in fictional and non-fictional shells.

* Days of Heaven - Criterion Collection, Terrence Malick's truly remarkable potboiler poetry on a disc worthy of its magnificent reputation.

* Entourage - Season Three, Part 2, the conclusion to the show's extended outing puts the series back on track with a solid clutch of episodes.

* October Road - The Complete First Season, an abysmal pilot about a novelist returning to the hometown he savaged in his fiction somehow turns into a series I ended up liking in spite of myself. What the hell--?!

And just to prove that not all the mail I get is mean and spiteful, I got a nice letter from a reader last week:

I read your review of 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' and...

Thank you! I cannot believe the mediocre reviews this film is getting from the majority of the critics. I actually went in thinking it might not be that great, but it was. And then some. I absolutely loved it. And not just because I'm a huge fan of the original. Like you said, it truly felt like the original. I'm no film snob, I like and will watch anything. But this film was amazing IMO. I applaud your review.

- Rob

Not everyone thinks I'm a moron, as it turns out. Though give Rob time. He'll come around.

Current Soundtrack: My Life Story, b-sides to "It's a Girl Thing" and "Empire Line"

Current Mood: apathetic

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

WHAT GOES ON

Hey.

No updates means simply that, no updates.

It's been quiet around here. I think it's battery recharging time for me, or something.

I've had a headache off and on for four days.

It's been raining, but my ceiling hasn't been leaking.

I bought my Halloween costume, mostly.

I haven't written fuck all. I blame the headache, but the head is on my shoulders, so I'm the problem.

Saw Antonioni's Red Desert for the first time at the Northwest Film Center, with the disappointment that it was a digital copy mastered from a VHS and thus looked like a shitty download, so I don't actually feel like I saw it after all.

Saw The Darjeeling Limited and loved it. Is it me, or is it Wes Anderson's eulogy for his prior films?

Watched a lot of TV.

Saw the new Coen Bros.

Perfunctory e-mail replies.

Chasing the cat around the house and both of us laughing like maniacs, acting like refugees from a Bukowski poem.

Sleep.


Current Soundtrack: Control original soundtrack

Current Mood: nauseated