I Didn't Write That!
10 March 2012
A Fool There Was (1915, starring Theda Bara)
Yes, haven't posted lately and LULU is still on hiatus(briefly; it will resume soon). Deeply in the midst of doing the second of two deadline-sensitive projects I'll tell you about later. In the meantime, enjoy this silent classic starring the original vamp, Theda Bara. At the end of the playlist is the only surviving example of her speaking.
Yes, haven't posted lately and LULU is still on hiatus(briefly; it will resume soon). Deeply in the midst of doing the second of two deadline-sensitive projects I'll tell you about later. In the meantime, enjoy this silent classic starring the original vamp, Theda Bara. At the end of the playlist is the only surviving example of her speaking.
Labels: film, history, my influences, sex symbol
¶ 3/10/2012 03:53:00 PM 0 Comments
20 February 2012
"How I Killed My Father"
A rare autobio piece written by me, now up at MartianLit. The title is somewhat ironic.
Somewhat.
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A rare autobio piece written by me, now up at MartianLit. The title is somewhat ironic.
Somewhat.
___________________
Labels: it's all about ME, my writings
¶ 2/20/2012 01:49:00 PM 0 Comments
18 February 2012
Where's This Week's LULU? Plus Michael Netzer
...not that you asked. It's briefly on hiatus(probably no more than a week or two if I get my ass in gear), because I'm working on two stories that have deadlines, which I'll tell you more about when they're done.
In the meantime, catch up on it so far here, here and here.
Also, you should read this post by Michael Netzer on the current creator's rights conflicts occurring over BEFORE WATCHMEN and GHOST RIDER. He points out an aspect that others have only touched on: that DC and Marvel are not actually there to sell comics. It's the supposed weakness of the comics industry that is used often to justify the ridiculous rights situations in comics. Which is useful for their parent corporations, Warner and Disney, because then they get to gather up intellectual property cheaply to exploit in media outside of comics.
So essentially, if you give anything at all to DC or Marvel, if you sign over your rights to them: you're a fool no matter how good the deal seems.
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...not that you asked. It's briefly on hiatus(probably no more than a week or two if I get my ass in gear), because I'm working on two stories that have deadlines, which I'll tell you more about when they're done.
In the meantime, catch up on it so far here, here and here.
Also, you should read this post by Michael Netzer on the current creator's rights conflicts occurring over BEFORE WATCHMEN and GHOST RIDER. He points out an aspect that others have only touched on: that DC and Marvel are not actually there to sell comics. It's the supposed weakness of the comics industry that is used often to justify the ridiculous rights situations in comics. Which is useful for their parent corporations, Warner and Disney, because then they get to gather up intellectual property cheaply to exploit in media outside of comics.
So essentially, if you give anything at all to DC or Marvel, if you sign over your rights to them: you're a fool no matter how good the deal seems.
___________________
Labels: alan moore, bastards, capitalism, comics, dc, frank wedekind, lulu, marvel, my comics, this sickness
¶ 2/18/2012 02:25:00 AM 0 Comments
12 February 2012
Invaders from Mars (1953, William Cameron Menzies)
Early and awesomely creepy science fiction film.
It makes up for what it lacks in special effects (and costumes) in sheer paranoid, expressionistic flourish, and the cinematography boasts a nice, stark use of color(the color equivalent of noir) with deep contrasts, blacks, and very symbolic perspective shots. All reflecting the terrors of a child's mind.
As well as the impressive Helena Carter.
More horror than science fiction, really, and reminds me a bit of David Lynch, specifically BLUE VELVET, in feel.
Here's the whole thing.
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Early and awesomely creepy science fiction film.
It makes up for what it lacks in special effects (and costumes) in sheer paranoid, expressionistic flourish, and the cinematography boasts a nice, stark use of color(the color equivalent of noir) with deep contrasts, blacks, and very symbolic perspective shots. All reflecting the terrors of a child's mind.
As well as the impressive Helena Carter.
More horror than science fiction, really, and reminds me a bit of David Lynch, specifically BLUE VELVET, in feel.
Here's the whole thing.
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Labels: 1950s, 20th century, film, horror, science fiction
¶ 2/12/2012 10:14:00 PM 0 Comments
11 February 2012
W.R.: The Mysteries of the Organism (Dusan Makavejev, 1971) Complete
It's a documentary about the persecution of Wilhelm Reich by the US government. It's an avant-garde satire. It's a time capsule of a way of life, and a country, that no longer exist(though the actors in the Yugo portion of the film are largely Serbian, I was informed when I watched it with a Yugoslavian girl, a friend my friend Angel had brought over--in Chicago in 1989)It's a Yugoslavian softcore soap opera.
It's crazy and wonderful as fuck and it's one of my favorite films. It's from 1971, as a strangely large group of films I like are, and it's Dusan Makavejev's greatest film, W.R.: THE MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM. It is not like anything you will ever see, and it is not even a little afraid to be silly. It's a reminder that the avant-garde, the wing of it invented by Luis Bunuel--a wing Dusan very much occupies--is supposed to be fun.
To be play.
Also, I have a thing for Jagoda Kaloper, and she is part of the inspiration for Vladrushka's daughter Berlin. Oh look, there she is.
In fact, the whole way this film deals with the subject of sex, and mixing it with satire and philosophy, had an enormous effect on the comics I do now. (and you can see a quick reference to Dusan in Vladrushka here, and if I have to tell you by now anything to do with her is NSFW, then you're just dumb)
When there are movies like this, why the fuck should I care about Hollywood's garbage?
So here, in its entirety. Enjoy. Feel. Laugh.
Oh, and thanks to Jay Lynch, who let me know it was now on Youtube in the first place. Watch it fast, because who knows when it'll be taken down.
Also, here are excerpts from two of Reich's books: Listen Little Man and the Function of the Orgasm. Anna Freud did her damnedest to eradicate him, but his unruly concepts that are no use to corporations live on.
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It's a documentary about the persecution of Wilhelm Reich by the US government. It's an avant-garde satire. It's a time capsule of a way of life, and a country, that no longer exist(though the actors in the Yugo portion of the film are largely Serbian, I was informed when I watched it with a Yugoslavian girl, a friend my friend Angel had brought over--in Chicago in 1989)It's a Yugoslavian softcore soap opera.
It's crazy and wonderful as fuck and it's one of my favorite films. It's from 1971, as a strangely large group of films I like are, and it's Dusan Makavejev's greatest film, W.R.: THE MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM. It is not like anything you will ever see, and it is not even a little afraid to be silly. It's a reminder that the avant-garde, the wing of it invented by Luis Bunuel--a wing Dusan very much occupies--is supposed to be fun.
To be play.
Also, I have a thing for Jagoda Kaloper, and she is part of the inspiration for Vladrushka's daughter Berlin. Oh look, there she is.
In fact, the whole way this film deals with the subject of sex, and mixing it with satire and philosophy, had an enormous effect on the comics I do now. (and you can see a quick reference to Dusan in Vladrushka here, and if I have to tell you by now anything to do with her is NSFW, then you're just dumb)
When there are movies like this, why the fuck should I care about Hollywood's garbage?
So here, in its entirety. Enjoy. Feel. Laugh.
Oh, and thanks to Jay Lynch, who let me know it was now on Youtube in the first place. Watch it fast, because who knows when it'll be taken down.
Also, here are excerpts from two of Reich's books: Listen Little Man and the Function of the Orgasm. Anna Freud did her damnedest to eradicate him, but his unruly concepts that are no use to corporations live on.
___________________
Labels: 1970s, communism, film, my comics, my influences, psychology, satire
¶ 2/11/2012 10:12:00 PM 0 Comments
Whitney Houston 1963-2012
Very sad. I was never a fan but still, her presence was completely unavoidable when I was much younger. The woman could sing, once upon a time, even if I never liked any song she sang. Rather than attempt any evaluation of her legacy, I will leave it to the experts.
What I find disturbing is that Courtney Love has managed to outlive her.
Time for Elton John to find some new words for Candle in the Wind again, I suppose.
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¶ 2/11/2012 07:49:00 PM 0 Comments
Very sad. I was never a fan but still, her presence was completely unavoidable when I was much younger. The woman could sing, once upon a time, even if I never liked any song she sang. Rather than attempt any evaluation of her legacy, I will leave it to the experts.
What I find disturbing is that Courtney Love has managed to outlive her.
Time for Elton John to find some new words for Candle in the Wind again, I suppose.
___________________
Alan Moore's Video Chat (to Raise Money for Pekar Statue)
...to raise money to install a sculpture in honor of Harvey Pekar in the Cleveland Heights Public Library, a goal that happily was reached. Among other things he refers to adaptation as "evil"(which I take exception to) and reveals the biggest point of friction between himself and Michael Moorcock is which was ripped off more by Grant Morrison. Moore insists it's Moorcock, Moorcock insists it's Moore.
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...to raise money to install a sculpture in honor of Harvey Pekar in the Cleveland Heights Public Library, a goal that happily was reached. Among other things he refers to adaptation as "evil"(which I take exception to) and reveals the biggest point of friction between himself and Michael Moorcock is which was ripped off more by Grant Morrison. Moore insists it's Moorcock, Moorcock insists it's Moore.
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Labels: alan moore, comics, grant morrison, magic, my influences
¶ 2/11/2012 04:13:00 PM 0 Comments
LULU Chapter 3, p. 52
They say the cover-up always makes things worse. And bad puns don't help.
Chapter 3, p. 52. Click and read!
Also: original art for chapters 1 & 2 now for sale at Sketchmaven! Don't forget: chapters 1 and 2 available in THIS SICKNESS 6-7 at Amazon and Createspace. (now for Kindle as well)
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They say the cover-up always makes things worse. And bad puns don't help.
Chapter 3, p. 52. Click and read!
Also: original art for chapters 1 & 2 now for sale at Sketchmaven! Don't forget: chapters 1 and 2 available in THIS SICKNESS 6-7 at Amazon and Createspace. (now for Kindle as well)
___________________
Labels: frank wedekind, lulu, my comics, this sickness, tragedy
¶ 2/11/2012 05:42:00 AM 0 Comments
07 February 2012
Komen Foundation: Karen Handel Out
Not being complete morons, the Komen Foundation has forced the resignation of Karen Handel, their right-wing zealot VP who managed to destroy their reputation within 48 hours. The damage is considerable--pretty much the nightmare scenario for any nonprofit-- but that's a step in the right direction.
I imagine Handel will be annoyed and start punching random women on the street for not being pregnant.
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Not being complete morons, the Komen Foundation has forced the resignation of Karen Handel, their right-wing zealot VP who managed to destroy their reputation within 48 hours. The damage is considerable--pretty much the nightmare scenario for any nonprofit-- but that's a step in the right direction.
I imagine Handel will be annoyed and start punching random women on the street for not being pregnant.
___________________
Labels: bastards, komen foundation, right wing, science
¶ 2/07/2012 07:00:00 AM 0 Comments
06 February 2012
Max Landis: The Death and Return of Superman
I honestly can't believe I sat through the whole thing but I did. And it's good.
I have to admit, it shows me just how little attention I paid to superhero comics 1987-2000, because honestly? Okay, we're going to go into fanboy shit here. Apart from Superman dying and Coast City being blown up--which I only knew by reference anyway, not from direct reading(DC, in its "events," never stops making reference to these incidents), I knew none of this.
And if I were reading superhero comics then I'd have never looked at it. Because if I see the name of Dan Jurgens I usually avoid it anyway. I learned that back when he was first on the Superman comics, whichever ones he was on. His work has the quality of being relentlessly ordinary, and goes on about fanboy shit I just do not care about. Reading a Jurgens comic is a lot like listening to the guy in this film, except that the guy in the film is funny. I remember having a glance at ZERO HOUR in the store and then putting it back, feeling sorry for Jerry Ordway. So I'd have been unlikely to pay attention anyway.
So I really didn't know any of the stuff this guy describes.
Well, till now.
But what it really underscores for me is this: all this crap happened and it DOESN'T MATTER. Wait long enough in superhero comics and NOTHING matters.
Which begs the question: why bother then?
By the way, this isn't what broke death in comics. What broke death in comics was the return of Jean Grey.(whose death was what made death in comics a sell point to begin with; few recall this, she's been dead and come back so many times now--how strange, with a name like Phoenix) And as I recall, her death was completely justified, grand, dramatic, and emotionally heart-wrenching; and something that just felt unthinkable at the time. While her return--in X-FACTOR, I think--came off as an afterthought. Also, this "coma" resurrection plot device was also first used there.
I am ashamed to know this.
___________________
I honestly can't believe I sat through the whole thing but I did. And it's good.
I have to admit, it shows me just how little attention I paid to superhero comics 1987-2000, because honestly? Okay, we're going to go into fanboy shit here. Apart from Superman dying and Coast City being blown up--which I only knew by reference anyway, not from direct reading(DC, in its "events," never stops making reference to these incidents), I knew none of this.
And if I were reading superhero comics then I'd have never looked at it. Because if I see the name of Dan Jurgens I usually avoid it anyway. I learned that back when he was first on the Superman comics, whichever ones he was on. His work has the quality of being relentlessly ordinary, and goes on about fanboy shit I just do not care about. Reading a Jurgens comic is a lot like listening to the guy in this film, except that the guy in the film is funny. I remember having a glance at ZERO HOUR in the store and then putting it back, feeling sorry for Jerry Ordway. So I'd have been unlikely to pay attention anyway.
So I really didn't know any of the stuff this guy describes.
Well, till now.
But what it really underscores for me is this: all this crap happened and it DOESN'T MATTER. Wait long enough in superhero comics and NOTHING matters.
Which begs the question: why bother then?
By the way, this isn't what broke death in comics. What broke death in comics was the return of Jean Grey.(whose death was what made death in comics a sell point to begin with; few recall this, she's been dead and come back so many times now--how strange, with a name like Phoenix) And as I recall, her death was completely justified, grand, dramatic, and emotionally heart-wrenching; and something that just felt unthinkable at the time. While her return--in X-FACTOR, I think--came off as an afterthought. Also, this "coma" resurrection plot device was also first used there.
I am ashamed to know this.
___________________
Labels: comedy, comics, dc, satire, stupid comics, wtf
¶ 2/06/2012 06:43:00 PM 0 Comments
05 February 2012
Komen Foundation Debacle: Karen Handel Busted
Information from inside the Komen Foundation shows Karen Handel was indeed behind the decision to defund Planned Parenthood and to attempt to make it look nonpolitical.
Not that Komen is pure anyway, and this matter has given people reason to start examining if they're worth returning to as something to donate their time & money to. Besides that they treat other cancer charities not as colleagues but as competition, there's also the fact that only 19% of what they take in goes to research, a pretty pathetic ratio for any nonprofit(and I've worked in them on the bookkeeping end, so I know), which people are starting to notice.
Komen, you can only fire Karen Handel now. You are busted. Do it or you will soon cease to exist. This is shameful mismanagement of a nonprofit that was already not so well-managed--at least in relation to its supposed mission--to begin with.
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Information from inside the Komen Foundation shows Karen Handel was indeed behind the decision to defund Planned Parenthood and to attempt to make it look nonpolitical.
"Karen Handel was the prime instigator of this effort, and she herself personally came up with investigation criteria," the source, who requested anonymity for professional reasons, told HuffPost. "She said, 'If we just say it's about investigations, we can defund Planned Parenthood and no one can blame us for being political.'"One can assume the decision--which, despite what you've heard, like the one for Planned Parenthood, still stands, since the defunding was for the next grant cycle anyway--to defund stem cell research was hers as well. This right-wing zealot hijacked the charity for her own political agenda and Komen allowed her to, shattering their reputation for...what purpose? Because no one could think the Komen Foundation could last very long even after one such break of trust. One wonders if the idea was to destroy two women's health organizations in one shot.
Not that Komen is pure anyway, and this matter has given people reason to start examining if they're worth returning to as something to donate their time & money to. Besides that they treat other cancer charities not as colleagues but as competition, there's also the fact that only 19% of what they take in goes to research, a pretty pathetic ratio for any nonprofit(and I've worked in them on the bookkeeping end, so I know), which people are starting to notice.
Komen, you can only fire Karen Handel now. You are busted. Do it or you will soon cease to exist. This is shameful mismanagement of a nonprofit that was already not so well-managed--at least in relation to its supposed mission--to begin with.
___________________
Labels: bastards, komen foundation, medical, right wing, science
¶ 2/05/2012 04:55:00 PM 1 Comments
New Rosa & Annalisa drawing: "Hanging on the Tip of Your Tongue"
A new drawing featuring Rosa & Annalisa, who I haven't drawn since 2005. I'll be doing more with this later.
Click to enlarge
Update: Now a second page as well. This feels like it wants to be a story.
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A new drawing featuring Rosa & Annalisa, who I haven't drawn since 2005. I'll be doing more with this later. Click to enlarge
Update: Now a second page as well. This feels like it wants to be a story.
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Labels: my art, my comics, nsfw, rosa and annalisa, smut
¶ 2/05/2012 03:23:00 AM 0 Comments
04 February 2012
LULU Chapter 3, p. 51
Schwarz demonstrates his courage, gaining Lulu's undying respect.
Chapter 3, p. 51. Click and read!
Also: original art for chapters 1 & 2 now for sale at Sketchmaven! Don't forget: chapters 1 and 2 available in THIS SICKNESS 6-7 at Amazon and Createspace. (now for Kindle as well
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Schwarz demonstrates his courage, gaining Lulu's undying respect.
Chapter 3, p. 51. Click and read!
Also: original art for chapters 1 & 2 now for sale at Sketchmaven! Don't forget: chapters 1 and 2 available in THIS SICKNESS 6-7 at Amazon and Createspace. (now for Kindle as well
___________________
Labels: frank wedekind, lulu, my comics, this sickness, tragedy
¶ 2/04/2012 04:39:00 AM 0 Comments
03 February 2012
Robert Hughes: SHOCK OF THE NEW at Ubuweb
One of the best art documentary series of all time (along with AMERICAN VISIONS) which you can see here courtesy of Ubuweb.
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¶ 2/03/2012 06:38:00 AM 0 Comments
One of the best art documentary series of all time (along with AMERICAN VISIONS) which you can see here courtesy of Ubuweb.
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¶ 2/03/2012 06:38:00 AM 0 Comments
Cut To Ribbons: Komen Foundation Stops Funding Embryonic Stem Cell Research Too
Holy CRAP.
I was kind of being satirical when I suggested that the Komen Foundation's new pro-life agenda would also entail their stopping funding for embryonic stem cell reaearch, which is right now a vital cancer research field. And which pro-lifers are vociferously against.
But they are in fact doing that and pro-lifers are loving it. They cut $12 million for embryonic stem cell research yesterday and no one noticed.
The Komen Foundation deserves to be smashed into nothing as an organization. They have betrayed their mission, cancer research, and women everywhere. This is insanity. Why are they letting Karen Handel's pro-life agenda destroy the valuable work they have done and their reputation?
Or is destroying the Komen Foundation somehow the point of what's happening here? Because officials are resigning right and left and no woman wants to donate or to participate in their races. And everyone is now boycotting anything with their pink ribbon. (note: Yoplait is one of those)
Their reputation has now been, well, cut to ribbons.
I do not understand what they think they will gain through this. But the Komen Foundation has become a right-wing trashbin and it's tragic. They have taken a cause that was not controversial, curing cancer, and have poisoned it with petty and crazy politics. Obviously curing cancer is no longer their misssion.
What IS their mission now?
Donate directly to Planned Parenthood and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center(which does pioneering work in stem cell and other cancer research, is a major Komen grantee, and will suffer because of this) today.
UPDATE: Today the Komen Foundation, not being suicidal, I guess, restored its ties to Planned Parenthood and apologized. (and admitted that it was political, though I'm not sure they realize they did) But I don't see Karen Handel being fired nor do I see them changing this new stem cell policy. Do not stop the pressure till these things happen. Handel has to be rooted out.
Further update:
No, it turns out they reversed nothing at all. Boycott stands.
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Holy CRAP.
I was kind of being satirical when I suggested that the Komen Foundation's new pro-life agenda would also entail their stopping funding for embryonic stem cell reaearch, which is right now a vital cancer research field. And which pro-lifers are vociferously against.
But they are in fact doing that and pro-lifers are loving it. They cut $12 million for embryonic stem cell research yesterday and no one noticed.
The Komen Foundation deserves to be smashed into nothing as an organization. They have betrayed their mission, cancer research, and women everywhere. This is insanity. Why are they letting Karen Handel's pro-life agenda destroy the valuable work they have done and their reputation?
Or is destroying the Komen Foundation somehow the point of what's happening here? Because officials are resigning right and left and no woman wants to donate or to participate in their races. And everyone is now boycotting anything with their pink ribbon. (note: Yoplait is one of those)
Their reputation has now been, well, cut to ribbons.
I do not understand what they think they will gain through this. But the Komen Foundation has become a right-wing trashbin and it's tragic. They have taken a cause that was not controversial, curing cancer, and have poisoned it with petty and crazy politics. Obviously curing cancer is no longer their misssion.
What IS their mission now?
Donate directly to Planned Parenthood and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center(which does pioneering work in stem cell and other cancer research, is a major Komen grantee, and will suffer because of this) today.
UPDATE: Today the Komen Foundation, not being suicidal, I guess, restored its ties to Planned Parenthood and apologized. (and admitted that it was political, though I'm not sure they realize they did) But I don't see Karen Handel being fired nor do I see them changing this new stem cell policy. Do not stop the pressure till these things happen. Handel has to be rooted out.
Further update:
No, it turns out they reversed nothing at all. Boycott stands.
___________________
Labels: bastards, komen foundation, medical, right wing, wtf
¶ 2/03/2012 06:09:00 AM 0 Comments
01 February 2012
Vile Komen Foundation: You Didn't Go Far Enough
Say, Komen Foundation: how courageous of you to cut poor women off from breast cancer screening by cutting off your connection to Planned Parenthood.
Hey, now that you've got the gushing reptilian love of the pro-lifers, you do realize you're being inconsistent.
See. cancer research relies on stem cells these days, which they're now allowed to use again. Like Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, a great organization I used to work for, and who get a substantial amount of their money for their pioneering research(they invented the bone marrow transplant) from Komen. (speaking of which, just give to FHCRC directly here. They do fine pioneering work--they invented bone marrow transplants, for one thing--and they have nothing to do with Komen's sins.)
And where do those stem cells--the useful undifferentiated ones--usually come from again? What was the reason the pro-lifers want stem cell research wiped out?
Basically, if you're going to curry the favor of the pro-lifers, you'll have to abandon ALL funding of any useful cancer research institutions. You fucking vile idiots.
But I guess your new VP, the failed (and Palin-endorsed)pro-life GOP gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel, had an agenda and got what she wanted, eh? Funny how you would hire someone in such a position that stands for an anti-woman cause.
Despite Komen's attempts to the contrary, though, they are not the only foundation funding cancer research. There are many, many other worthy foundations that do not hate women and fund vital science toward actually curing the disease. Who care about women's lives, not political agendas. Give them your money, not Komen. Abandon Komen. Let it rot.
And give to Planned Parenthood because they really need it now, and our country needs them.
UPDATE: Guess what the aforementioned VP, Karen Handel, tweeted last night--and deleted--which got screengrabbed and is now making the rounds:
"Just like pro-abortion group to turn cancer orgs decision into a political bomb to throw. Cry me a freaking river."
Uh-huh. No malice there at all. And by the way, this rule that they can't support any organization under investigation? It's a brand-new rule that was instituted exactly the same time GOP congressmen started the bogus investigation of Planned Parenthood. Most likely it was only instituted for the purpose of cutting them off. This looks like a coordinated strategy for which Komen is being used as a weapon.
And as long as they remain another right-wing weapon, they deserve no donations or respect.
___________________
Say, Komen Foundation: how courageous of you to cut poor women off from breast cancer screening by cutting off your connection to Planned Parenthood.
Hey, now that you've got the gushing reptilian love of the pro-lifers, you do realize you're being inconsistent.
See. cancer research relies on stem cells these days, which they're now allowed to use again. Like Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, a great organization I used to work for, and who get a substantial amount of their money for their pioneering research(they invented the bone marrow transplant) from Komen. (speaking of which, just give to FHCRC directly here. They do fine pioneering work--they invented bone marrow transplants, for one thing--and they have nothing to do with Komen's sins.)
And where do those stem cells--the useful undifferentiated ones--usually come from again? What was the reason the pro-lifers want stem cell research wiped out?
Basically, if you're going to curry the favor of the pro-lifers, you'll have to abandon ALL funding of any useful cancer research institutions. You fucking vile idiots.
But I guess your new VP, the failed (and Palin-endorsed)pro-life GOP gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel, had an agenda and got what she wanted, eh? Funny how you would hire someone in such a position that stands for an anti-woman cause.
Despite Komen's attempts to the contrary, though, they are not the only foundation funding cancer research. There are many, many other worthy foundations that do not hate women and fund vital science toward actually curing the disease. Who care about women's lives, not political agendas. Give them your money, not Komen. Abandon Komen. Let it rot.
And give to Planned Parenthood because they really need it now, and our country needs them.
UPDATE: Guess what the aforementioned VP, Karen Handel, tweeted last night--and deleted--which got screengrabbed and is now making the rounds:
"Just like pro-abortion group to turn cancer orgs decision into a political bomb to throw. Cry me a freaking river."
Uh-huh. No malice there at all. And by the way, this rule that they can't support any organization under investigation? It's a brand-new rule that was instituted exactly the same time GOP congressmen started the bogus investigation of Planned Parenthood. Most likely it was only instituted for the purpose of cutting them off. This looks like a coordinated strategy for which Komen is being used as a weapon.
And as long as they remain another right-wing weapon, they deserve no donations or respect.
___________________
Labels: bastards, komen foundation, medical, right wing, science, women
¶ 2/01/2012 05:44:00 PM 0 Comments
31 January 2012
Brian Eno: Thursday Afternoon (14 video paintings 1981-1984)
Early video art crossed with early ambient music. Here's Thursday Afternoon for you, complete.(sorry, no embed code)
Not so much to be listened to as inhabited.
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Early video art crossed with early ambient music. Here's Thursday Afternoon for you, complete.(sorry, no embed code)
Not so much to be listened to as inhabited.
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Labels: art, electronica, music
¶ 1/31/2012 11:13:00 PM 0 Comments
Previously Unpublished: UNCLE CYRUS 2- "Cyrus at the Con" (2001)
This is a story written, and with breakdowns, by John E. Williams and drawn by me, that would have been in PLASTIC 9 in 2001, had there been one. It's the continuation of the adventures of comics' favorite hack, Uncle Cyrus. Here we see him at the San Diego Con, though a version none would recognize nowadays. To be honest, I'd only been to APE in San Francisco, so this probably looks a lot more like that as far as the venue. The art's early and rough, but it is what it is. Click to read. (and both Cyrus stories can be read here) If you look closely you'll find my attempt at numerous cameos, including Trina Robbins, Dave Sim, Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell, Scott McCloud, Julie Strain, Rick Veitch, Dean Haspiel, Dan Clowes, Steve Leiber, Gary Groth, R. Crumb, Grant Morrison, Danny Hellman, Archie Goodwin, Harvey Pekar, Neil Gaiman, Chris Ware, Steven Weissman and Austin English, with a speaking guest appearance by Fantagraphics' Kim Thompson.
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This is a story written, and with breakdowns, by John E. Williams and drawn by me, that would have been in PLASTIC 9 in 2001, had there been one. It's the continuation of the adventures of comics' favorite hack, Uncle Cyrus. Here we see him at the San Diego Con, though a version none would recognize nowadays. To be honest, I'd only been to APE in San Francisco, so this probably looks a lot more like that as far as the venue. The art's early and rough, but it is what it is. Click to read. (and both Cyrus stories can be read here) If you look closely you'll find my attempt at numerous cameos, including Trina Robbins, Dave Sim, Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell, Scott McCloud, Julie Strain, Rick Veitch, Dean Haspiel, Dan Clowes, Steve Leiber, Gary Groth, R. Crumb, Grant Morrison, Danny Hellman, Archie Goodwin, Harvey Pekar, Neil Gaiman, Chris Ware, Steven Weissman and Austin English, with a speaking guest appearance by Fantagraphics' Kim Thompson.___________________
Labels: comics, fantagraphics, my comics, nostalgia, satire
¶ 1/31/2012 12:52:00 AM 1 Comments
29 January 2012
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen-Century 1910: Mack the Ripper, or Lulu Never Gets A Break
When League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1910
came out, I happened to have just started working on my comics adaptation of Frank Wedekind's "Lulu," which had already been brewing in my mind for ten years, and poring over every version of it I can find. I even found the rare 1980 Borowczyk version that had Udo Kier in it, as he always seems to be in everything.
As Alan Moore has over the years instilled in me a serious awareness of weird coincidences, I was pleasantly surprised and a little weirded out to see that, in the midst of his restaging of The Threepenny Opera(which he and O'Neill do as though born to it, but Moore has always had a serious Weill influence), he brought in--nearly precisely--the ending of the play "Pandora's Box," and made what is in the play, literally, Jack the Ripper, Macheath in the midst of Moore's new version of that song we all know well. And this Lulu is of course based on Louise Brooks. Anyway, I liked the sequence so here it is(though the new twist to "Pirate Jenny" is pretty awesome, but that would be too many pages):
Basic setup: It's London, and Macheath has returned, and Lulu is walking the streets, having gone through(fatally) a number of husbands, and ended up from wealth and status to this. (Not really through any fault of her own exactly. Men just destroy themselves around her)
And here we have an altercation with the first lesbian in Western fiction, Countess Geschwitz, obsessed with Lulu and rejected by her, and getting a bit tired with only having an old painting of her to cuddle. But Mackie's not having that.
And we say farewell to Lulu. Though there is this back cover, and there are any number of paintings just like this from the turn of the century. Depictions like this of women were very popular with middle-class salongoers.
(all three images (c)2009 Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill)
I would add that an even stranger additional coincidence was the recent release of the "Tales of the Black Freighter"(which I liked) which has the "Pirate Jenny" song, quite central to LOEG, playing over the credits. But the imagery in that song is something that goes deep in Moore.
By the way, for fans of "the Ruling Class"--which I am--the 14th Earl of Gurney also plays a central part in this. Also Iain Sinclair's Billy Pilgrimish Norton from "Slow Chocolate Autopsy," who can travel in time but not in space and is trapped in London, flashing between eras, and Moore does a great pastiche of Sinclair. It also has Crowley, sort of, as usual with Moore these days. And in retrospect Orlando turns out, in our first good look at him/her since the bits in BD, to be a real douchebag, and the only thing I really dislike about the series, except his origin story in Black Dossier, which should have been the last of him. He's stayed awful, really--he's just an annoying namedropping twat who they've literally spent a century with.
___________________
When League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1910
came out, I happened to have just started working on my comics adaptation of Frank Wedekind's "Lulu," which had already been brewing in my mind for ten years, and poring over every version of it I can find. I even found the rare 1980 Borowczyk version that had Udo Kier in it, as he always seems to be in everything.As Alan Moore has over the years instilled in me a serious awareness of weird coincidences, I was pleasantly surprised and a little weirded out to see that, in the midst of his restaging of The Threepenny Opera(which he and O'Neill do as though born to it, but Moore has always had a serious Weill influence), he brought in--nearly precisely--the ending of the play "Pandora's Box," and made what is in the play, literally, Jack the Ripper, Macheath in the midst of Moore's new version of that song we all know well. And this Lulu is of course based on Louise Brooks. Anyway, I liked the sequence so here it is(though the new twist to "Pirate Jenny" is pretty awesome, but that would be too many pages):
Basic setup: It's London, and Macheath has returned, and Lulu is walking the streets, having gone through(fatally) a number of husbands, and ended up from wealth and status to this. (Not really through any fault of her own exactly. Men just destroy themselves around her)
And here we have an altercation with the first lesbian in Western fiction, Countess Geschwitz, obsessed with Lulu and rejected by her, and getting a bit tired with only having an old painting of her to cuddle. But Mackie's not having that.
And we say farewell to Lulu. Though there is this back cover, and there are any number of paintings just like this from the turn of the century. Depictions like this of women were very popular with middle-class salongoers.
(all three images (c)2009 Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill)
I would add that an even stranger additional coincidence was the recent release of the "Tales of the Black Freighter"(which I liked) which has the "Pirate Jenny" song, quite central to LOEG, playing over the credits. But the imagery in that song is something that goes deep in Moore.
By the way, for fans of "the Ruling Class"--which I am--the 14th Earl of Gurney also plays a central part in this. Also Iain Sinclair's Billy Pilgrimish Norton from "Slow Chocolate Autopsy," who can travel in time but not in space and is trapped in London, flashing between eras, and Moore does a great pastiche of Sinclair. It also has Crowley, sort of, as usual with Moore these days. And in retrospect Orlando turns out, in our first good look at him/her since the bits in BD, to be a real douchebag, and the only thing I really dislike about the series, except his origin story in Black Dossier, which should have been the last of him. He's stayed awful, really--he's just an annoying namedropping twat who they've literally spent a century with.
___________________
Labels: alan moore, comics, film, frank wedekind, Germany, horror, literature, lulu, my comics, my influences, theatre, UK
¶ 1/29/2012 04:15:00 AM 0 Comments
LULU Chapter 3, p. 50
A bit of an argument this week between Lulu and the endlessly emo Schwarz.
Chapter 3, p. 50. Click and read!
Also: original art for chapters 1 & 2 now for sale at Sketchmaven! Don't forget: chapters 1 and 2 available in THIS SICKNESS 6-7 at Amazon and Createspace. (now for Kindle as well)
___________________
A bit of an argument this week between Lulu and the endlessly emo Schwarz.
Chapter 3, p. 50. Click and read!
Also: original art for chapters 1 & 2 now for sale at Sketchmaven! Don't forget: chapters 1 and 2 available in THIS SICKNESS 6-7 at Amazon and Createspace. (now for Kindle as well)
___________________
Labels: frank wedekind, lulu, my comics, this sickness, tragedy
¶ 1/29/2012 01:02:00 AM 0 Comments
28 January 2012
My First Smut Comic: October Surprise - online (Eros Comix/Fantagraphics, 2003)
Unavailable for a long time, here for your reading pleasure is "October Surprise," my first professionally published work, my first comic drawn entirely in pencil, and my first work in the erotic genre is now available online here in its entirety. I kept this one offline--though it did run on adultwebcomics.com 2006-7--because I was a little self-conscious about how the art style looks to me now; part of the reason I originally did this in 2002(which was actually just for fun without publication in mind) was I was working on finishing Vitriol and was tired of all the work. I wasn't sure if I could even draw something just for the fun of it anymore, being at p. 210 of an eventual 252 of Vitriol at the time and sick of it. (it took me from 1997-2003)
For just the sake of fun, I wanted to draw something fast in a sketchy, simple style in pencil. I chose this, which is based on a real incident in October 1991, hence the name. I wanted to pick a memory enjoyable enough to draw three pages a night of. Which was the pace. I will say no more of its backstory except that "Rosa & Annalisa" were not their real names, nor were they actually meant in this story as "Rosa & Annalisa" yet; they grew into it. In this silent story, there are no names along with any other words. This was just supposed to be the real women.
However, on that this is subtitled a "memory," yes. It was the early 90s and things occurred. One of the characters has had their appearance changed to a totally fictional one, but mainly because the real person's looks I cast as a different character in Vitriol already.
Anyway, once I finished OS, later at the behest of my former wife when she read it--and to my surprise that she encouraged me to submit, because I still think it's drawn terribly(whatever our other troubles, she was always very supportive of my work, I have to say that)--I submitted it to Eros Comix/Fantagraphics and to my even greater shock, it was published, along with a number of stories afterward for the next three years. I also had the great fortune of a supportive and wise editor, Michael Dowers.
This one went into MENAGE A TROIS #3(July 2003), normally an anthology comic, but this got all 24 pages. I always thought it funny it was the third issue. It took up the whole of the comic(in fact is listed as a "spotlight issue") but I did not do the cover, which was by one "Kovik." If you ever try to track a copy down, this is what it looked like.
I'm...not that keen on the cover, truthfully. It's not terrible, it's just not that reflective of the contents. I was glad when I later did get to do the cover for the last full-length one Eros published, Gulag Gangbang. My pencil style was more refined by then. I hope.
So, if you'll excuse the roughness of the drawing, enjoy the story.
There is now also an index page for all three Rosa & Annalisa stories. I'll be changing the icons on the Comix page later when I get to it. Bookmark it(and Reddit or Digg it if you can).
___________________
Unavailable for a long time, here for your reading pleasure is "October Surprise," my first professionally published work, my first comic drawn entirely in pencil, and my first work in the erotic genre is now available online here in its entirety. I kept this one offline--though it did run on adultwebcomics.com 2006-7--because I was a little self-conscious about how the art style looks to me now; part of the reason I originally did this in 2002(which was actually just for fun without publication in mind) was I was working on finishing Vitriol and was tired of all the work. I wasn't sure if I could even draw something just for the fun of it anymore, being at p. 210 of an eventual 252 of Vitriol at the time and sick of it. (it took me from 1997-2003)
For just the sake of fun, I wanted to draw something fast in a sketchy, simple style in pencil. I chose this, which is based on a real incident in October 1991, hence the name. I wanted to pick a memory enjoyable enough to draw three pages a night of. Which was the pace. I will say no more of its backstory except that "Rosa & Annalisa" were not their real names, nor were they actually meant in this story as "Rosa & Annalisa" yet; they grew into it. In this silent story, there are no names along with any other words. This was just supposed to be the real women.
However, on that this is subtitled a "memory," yes. It was the early 90s and things occurred. One of the characters has had their appearance changed to a totally fictional one, but mainly because the real person's looks I cast as a different character in Vitriol already.
Anyway, once I finished OS, later at the behest of my former wife when she read it--and to my surprise that she encouraged me to submit, because I still think it's drawn terribly(whatever our other troubles, she was always very supportive of my work, I have to say that)--I submitted it to Eros Comix/Fantagraphics and to my even greater shock, it was published, along with a number of stories afterward for the next three years. I also had the great fortune of a supportive and wise editor, Michael Dowers.
This one went into MENAGE A TROIS #3(July 2003), normally an anthology comic, but this got all 24 pages. I always thought it funny it was the third issue. It took up the whole of the comic(in fact is listed as a "spotlight issue") but I did not do the cover, which was by one "Kovik." If you ever try to track a copy down, this is what it looked like.
I'm...not that keen on the cover, truthfully. It's not terrible, it's just not that reflective of the contents. I was glad when I later did get to do the cover for the last full-length one Eros published, Gulag Gangbang. My pencil style was more refined by then. I hope.
So, if you'll excuse the roughness of the drawing, enjoy the story.
There is now also an index page for all three Rosa & Annalisa stories. I'll be changing the icons on the Comix page later when I get to it. Bookmark it(and Reddit or Digg it if you can).
___________________
Labels: it's all about ME, my art, my comics, nsfw, personal, rosa and annalisa, smut
¶ 1/28/2012 05:39:00 AM 0 Comments
27 January 2012
In Memoriam of Michael Hutchence (1960-1997) - INXS & Max Q
In memory of a reminder that sometimes "pop" and "good music" coincide, some Michael Hutchence and what INXS once was. Pop can be good, it's hard to recall these days. It's just that most of the time they don't try.
Here they are live in Melbourne in 1983.
See? Fuck Autotune and anyone who uses it. Just TRY to keep your butt still with an INXS song on. And nobody could say INXS did not work their asses off to get where they got. These were not prefabricated pop stars, it was a band that put sweat into making pop its own.
And this was one of his better performances. It's difficult to take one's eyes off him. If you were a straight girl back then, you wanted him, and if a straight boy you wanted to be him, or kill him for being so much more interesting to your girlfriend than you could ever hope to be. Look, I'm straight and even I know he was killer sexy. Don't believe me? Okay, well, there is this with the band kicking ass on "Original Sin" at Wembley in 1991.
See, good pop IS possible. And good pop stars.
As the great Molly Kiely(a far better erotic artist, or just plain artist period, incidentally, than I am) said, "Hutchence was a masterful rock star: unconventionally handsome, with sexy phrasing and swagger." And immensely likeable. If we admire Freddie Mercury for his charisma and ability to take a stage, while never acting like he was better than his band, then Michael Hutchence has to be given his due in the generation that followed Mercury. Or Bryan Ferry, along with David Sylvian a very obvious influence on Hurchence.
I guess, besides just that my generation was INXS' audience, another reason I feel a little nostagically sad and personal when it comes to Hutchence is my birthday was last Sunday(Jan. 22). And it would have been his too. A waste. RIP, Hutchence. We could use good frontmen now. Poor guy though. It's a shame he had to die so stupidly.
"Disappear" Live in 1991.
A bonus: two songs from his underrated solo project with Ollie Olsen(and an album I somehow managed never to tire of), Max Q. "Buckethead"...
...and "Ghost of the Year".
___________________
In memory of a reminder that sometimes "pop" and "good music" coincide, some Michael Hutchence and what INXS once was. Pop can be good, it's hard to recall these days. It's just that most of the time they don't try.
Here they are live in Melbourne in 1983.
See? Fuck Autotune and anyone who uses it. Just TRY to keep your butt still with an INXS song on. And nobody could say INXS did not work their asses off to get where they got. These were not prefabricated pop stars, it was a band that put sweat into making pop its own.
And this was one of his better performances. It's difficult to take one's eyes off him. If you were a straight girl back then, you wanted him, and if a straight boy you wanted to be him, or kill him for being so much more interesting to your girlfriend than you could ever hope to be. Look, I'm straight and even I know he was killer sexy. Don't believe me? Okay, well, there is this with the band kicking ass on "Original Sin" at Wembley in 1991.
See, good pop IS possible. And good pop stars.
As the great Molly Kiely
(a far better erotic artist, or just plain artist period, incidentally, than I am) said, "Hutchence was a masterful rock star: unconventionally handsome, with sexy phrasing and swagger." And immensely likeable. If we admire Freddie Mercury for his charisma and ability to take a stage, while never acting like he was better than his band, then Michael Hutchence has to be given his due in the generation that followed Mercury. Or Bryan Ferry, along with David Sylvian a very obvious influence on Hurchence.I guess, besides just that my generation was INXS' audience, another reason I feel a little nostagically sad and personal when it comes to Hutchence is my birthday was last Sunday(Jan. 22). And it would have been his too. A waste. RIP, Hutchence. We could use good frontmen now. Poor guy though. It's a shame he had to die so stupidly.
"Disappear" Live in 1991.
A bonus: two songs from his underrated solo project with Ollie Olsen(and an album I somehow managed never to tire of), Max Q. "Buckethead"...
...and "Ghost of the Year".
___________________
Labels: 1980s, australia, birthday, music, sex symbol
¶ 1/27/2012 02:02:00 AM 0 Comments
