| Trivial trivia |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|11:24 am] |
A fetus starts to rebel against the parent’s values during the second trimester.
98% of people think 98% of people fill in more surveys than them.
The tuna is not a fish but a fruit.
The four leaf clover is not as lucky as a four leaf clover impaled through a rabbit’s foot.
Rain really does know when you’ve just washed your car.
The Tasmanian Tiger became extinct following a meeting with a real tiger. |
|
|
| I read the books |
[Jul. 10th, 2009|06:23 pm] |
 High in the Clouds by Paul McCartney. More children’s books. As you can tell, the common thread is that they’re written by people I’m already inclined to buy things by. So, this is co-written by Paul McCartney and Geoff Dunbar with illustrations by Philip Ardagh. Now, I don’t want to get into how much Paul McCartney actually wrote. What I do want to get into is how this seemed like one of those bare bones comic adaptations of a film I spoke of here. All the major story points and character stuff is done in the sketchiest form possible. And oddly enough, there is going to be a film. And Paul McCartney is doing the music. And we know he’ll write that.
 Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman. You see? I told you. I buy children’s books based on the authors. This is a lovely little poem written for a new baby girl and beautifully illustrated by Charles Vess. That’s all there is to it.
 Fences and Windows by Naomi Klein. This is in the series of books I read where I get angry because I know what they’re saying is true but nobody does anything about it (including me). The two books I’ve read so far by Naomi Klein (this and the Shock Doctrine) tend to gov over a lot of the same ground. This could be because I read her most recent book first (and have her first book to read next) but this book, being a series of articles written between 200 & 2002 does get a little repetitive. With the same arguments coming up again and again. Lucky I agree with her.
 I’m A Believer by Micky Dolenz. The second of three books I’ve got by former Monkees and the first of two memoirs. And all three books are signed. Yay. Collecting is such fun. Micky gives a pretty good account of those days. Though he does seem to come across as the “I’ll go along with whatever the other guys think” guy. Next I’ll read Davey Jones’ book.
 The Seal in The Bedroom by James Thurber. Thurber was the first of the “classic” humorists that I encountered (the path went from me liking Woody Allen so buying one of his books. Then reading that he admired Perelman and Thurber and Benchley. Then finding that they admired Leacock etc etc) and he’s probably my favourite after Benchley. This is a series of cartoons for the New Yorker originally published in the early 1930’s. And it’s still as funny (and sometimes puzzling) as it probably was then. I’ve got two more unread Thurber books. Maybe after that I’ll start rereading them all (and Benchley and Perelman and Leacock and Allen).
.jpg) Masks by Ray Bradbury. AH, Gauntlet Press I do love you. Another great collection. Here we have a novel that Ray Bradbury began in the late forties and never completed. Then the usual wonderful collection of notes and drafts and bits and pieces that may or may not have ended up in the book. I find these much more satisfying than attempts to try to finish the unfinished book “just how the author intended”. More please. |
|
|
| Sooner is later?? |
[Jul. 9th, 2009|04:28 pm] |
I got the following notice from Amazon today
"We are writing about the order you placed on July 04 2009. The item(s) listed below will actually ship sooner than we originally expected:
Previous estimated arrival date: August 12 2009 - September 09 2009
New estimated arrival date: August 24 2009"
So, let's see. The new "sooner" arrival date is after the original earliest arrival date.
And it appears that now there is no slippage in the arrival. It's definitely turning up on the 24th.
I'll be standing at my mailbox waiting. And if Amazon are wrong ... |
|
|
| Coffee tea or .... jokes? |
[Jul. 8th, 2009|04:38 pm] |
Had a recent flight to Sydney and back via Virgin Blue. This is normally a time for me to get lots of reading done and trying to ignore the in-flight videos, the people around me and just everyyhing really.
But the flight back was different. During the safety demonstration we heard the following:
"Please ensure that your sat belt is done up low and tight around your neck ... sorry, I mean ... waist"
Then we were told that the life jacket had a whistle and a light for attracting sharks; people were allowed to smoke but they have to be strapped to the wing; passengers traveling with smelly ... I mean ... small children should be allowed to exit first; we were landing at Tulla-merino airport; etc etc.
The interesting thing was how quickly the passengers became blase about this. The first joke got a huge laugh. The rest were kind of "yeah, yeah, get on with it".
But I enjoyed it.
Now I'll get back to my book. |
|
|
| Reading is my life |
[Jul. 3rd, 2009|08:31 am] |
 Small Harry and the Toothache Pills by Michael Palin. So, a book from my collection of works by the members of Monty Python. And another children’s book. Fun but slight and I think would probably be helped by reading aloud in silly voices.
 The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip by George Saunders. And another children’s book (can you tell that I’ve put a lot of children’s books into my 'going to bed and sitting on the toilet' bundles?). I’m still not sure about George Saunders. I keep feeling like I should like his work more than I do. Maybe it’s because I was never really surprised by this (or the other books of his I’ve read). There was a lot of “Ah. So if that happens then this will probably happen next. Yep. I was right". Oh well.
 True Crime by Max Allan Collins. Not a children’s book. Another of Max Collins’ Nathan Heller novels (the second – which feels odd because I’ve already read about 4 of the later ones). This one is set around the John Dillinger shooting and then continues with Dillinger's contemporaries like the Barkers and Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. As always, a competent PI novel that makes me interested in reading about the actual events and people covered.
 Was Superman a Spy? by Brian Cronin. Sure, I regularly read the Comics Should Be Good wesbite and one of my favourite entries is always the Comic Book Urban Legends so, what could be better than a whole book of them? Some are new and some taken from the site. I love it.
 Speedbumps by Teri Garr. Ah. Teri Garr. Sigh. So funny. So gorgeous. What’s not to like? Apparently, nothing. She comes across exactly how you would imagine. And how can anyone not like someone who writes a memoir in which having MS is portrayed as just something else that happened in her life?
 Firepower by Gerard Ryle. This scam (which still isn’t over) makes fascinating reading if only because you keep saying to yourself “who would be stupid enough to fall for that?” Well, lots of people. And it’s all from that thing that makes you say “yes, please” when asked “how would you like lots of money for doing nothing?”. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jack_ryder pointed me at this book (him again?) because he thinks there’s a play in it. We shall see. |
|
|
| I told you I was going to talk about the play once I'd seen it |
[Jun. 23rd, 2009|04:33 pm] |
When jack_ryder and I decide to write a drama it seems we go really dark.
Our play ‘Housebound’ just finished a month run at the Fusebox Theatre at Marrickville as part of Actors Anonymous ‘Crime Scenes” season of 4 half hour plays relating to true Australian Crimes.
We lucked out with John Derum putting his hand up to direct our play. Not only was John completely in tune with what and who we felt the play was about but he was great company (if only I hadn’t been in Melbourne I probably would have put that to the test by haunting rehearsals – as is my want).
There were certainly a few issues with the show – some due to the limitations of the production; some due to problems we should have ironed out in the script (and will in rewrites) – but the play was as disturbing as we’d hoped.
And thanks to the cast - Jonathon Lane, Andy Leonard, Jess Norman, Jessica Saras and especially Donna Brooks for really selling the fear and making me squirm in my seat (sorry for the nightmares Donna).
So, that’s enough from the dark place for jack_ryder and I for a little while. Back to the funny place for us now. But we’ll come visiting the dark place again (but maybe not that dark). |
|
|
| Don't I do anything other than read books? |
[Jun. 16th, 2009|07:47 pm] |
 Born Standing Up by Steve Martin. Wow. This has to be the most fascinating book about comedy I’ve ever read. The thought of the book for me was “It’s easy to be great. What’s hard is to be good”. I’m slightly amazed that Steve Martin can be so analytical about his comedy (and seemingly was as he was creating it) and still be funny. So much for E B White’s quote that “analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it”.
 A Giraffe and a Half by Shel; Silverstein. So I read a biography of Shel Silverstein so, I thought maybe I should read something by him. Only his children's books seemed readily available in my nearest bookshop so, taking advantage of a Borders “buy one get another one for half price” voucher; I bought this book (thought it turned out to be the “buy one” as, because the other one was cheaper, it had to be the “half price”. And that was volume one of Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys – curse you, jack_ryder for recommending I read Urasawa’s Monster Urasawa’s Monster and giving me someone else to collect). And speaking of collecting - Giraffe and a Half. What fun. I’m going to be roaming the streets looking for a child to read this to now (I’m sure that’ll be an acceptable reason for a man in his late forties approaching children – which reminds me. Why can older women go up to children and pinch them etc etc and they’re thought to be sweet but if a man does it he’s a pervert. I mean, he probably is a pervert but why is he instantly thought that way?) Anyways, Shel Silverstein – next time there’s a “buy one get another for half price” deal, you’re on my list.
 Ladies Day and This Crowded Earth by Robert Bloch. Look at that cover. What would you think the title of the book was? And is Psycho in bigger font that the author’s name? Almost. No wonder Robert Bloch only had one huge seller. Everyone looked at the covers and thought they’d already bought it. This is two novels (or novellas) with well-worn topics (though maybe they weren’t when they were written). Ladies Day is a story of a future where women run everything and is interesting because of the undercurrent “they still need men” (though I’m sure I know a lot of people who would disagree with that). This Crowded Earth is about dealing with the population explosion and again, the repercussions of the solutions are where the interest lies.
 The Christmas Thingy by F Paul Wilson. Some books are written for children and some books feel as if they were written for children. This, unfortunately, was one of the latter. I like F Paul Wilson’s writing generally but this all seemed a little too much aimed at kids and aimed at kids that I doubt exist (a young girl who has the silent version of ‘Thief of Baghdad’ in her collection of videos??). And it had an odd “the grown up is trying to stop the child from having fun and the grown up is right but it doesn’t matter anyway because nothing happens from ignoring the grown up) thing. Oh well. At least I can say I’ve got all of his books.
 Don’t Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff. The last of the books I bought and had signed at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival from last year. David Rakoff is one of three NPR ‘This American Life’ writers that I’ve read (the others are Sarah Vowell and David Sedaris). I haven’t heard any of their NPR stuff but I’ve seen them on American talk shows and they’ve all come to Sydney or Melbourne Writers Festivals. They’re all very funny on talk shows; David Sedaris is the most flat out funny in print and Sarah Vowell has a wise arse style that makes a normally dry subject (like doing a road trip of American Presidential assassination tourist spots) immensely readable. David Rakoff, is probably not as funny in print as Sedaris and his topics are more ordinary than Vowell but, fortunately there’s a wit that still makes it readable. I do have the feeling, however, that David Rakoff is the type of guy who is funny after three rewrites. But still worth reading.
 A Different Kind of Intimacy by Karen Finley. I’ve had this book since a Sydney Writer’s Festival two or three years ago. In fact, I’ve got about four books unread from that festival (see future lists). I’d never heard of Karen Finley. She was on a panel with Paul Krassner and she interested me enough to pick up some of her work. This is part memoir and part “best of”. I can’t remember if the panel was for satire or censorship (jack_ryder was there. He might remember) but this book covers more of the latter (though I am curious to read the full versions of her Martha Stewart-ish lady’s help book and the Winnie the Pooh parody. I’m not sure I appreciate the humour all the time but I appreciate the sentiment behind it. (I’ve got another of her books to read, bought at the same time. That’s what I love about Writer’s Festivals. A writer strikes you as interesting either from their reading or a question they answered or whatever and soon they’re in your collection) |
|
|
| Spam? Spam? Wherefore art though, spam? |
[Jun. 7th, 2009|08:36 am] |
What did I do to deserve this? For the last month or so I was receiving nearly two hundred spam emails a day. I was offered deals on viagra and degrees and software and liaisons with women who were waiting just for me.
But the last two days I've received a total of 10.
What did I do wrong? Don't you love me anymore, spammers? I know what it is. You found out I was putting all of your mail into my junk e-mail folder and then just quickly scanning you before consigning you to the nether worlds of the deleted emails.
Was that it?
Well, I'm sorry, okay? I miss you. You were right. I wanted the spam. And now you're gone. Oh sure, the few I'm getting are for the same topics but I felt special when I was being bombarded by your attention.
Let's make a deal. If my spam email hits over two hundred a day again, I'll start clicking on some of the links. Will that make you happy?
Hollywood is right. You DO fall in love with the thing you hate. |
|
|
| I'm back at work but I'm still reading |
[Jun. 5th, 2009|02:49 pm] |
 How Paul Robeson Saved My Life by Carl Reiner. A collection of short stories by one of the great figures in comedy. They’re amusing and nicely written and are why I like Carl Reiner.
 By Royal Command by Charles Higson. The last of the Young Bond books and I think I’ve enjoyed these more than any of the Bond continuation books (certainly more than the Moneypenny Diaries, of which I have one more to get/read). I certainly hope they decide to continue the series past the original 5.
 Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze & The Land of Terror by Lester Dent. In my quest to live in the past I’ve been seeking out early iconic stories, comics, etc etc. So, in my future lists will be the first Buck Rogers stories; the first Fu Manchu story; I’m reading early comic strips for Terry & the Pirates, Flash Gordon, Peanuts and so on. Part of this is reading the pulp heroes. Fortunately most of these are in print because of the great pulp double books. So. Doc Savage. What an egomaniac. The moment that seems to speak volumes of the character for me so far is when Doc “allows” one of his colleagues to discover a solution first because he feels it’s good for their ego to “think” they’ve outsmarted him sometimes.
 Grave Descend by John Lange. Poor John Lange. He wrote such great, tight little thrillers and then Michael Crichton came along and stole all his thunder.
 Nonsense Novels by Stephen Leacock. I loves me some Leacock. This has so many great moments like the story that ends “I grew old. I died. I buried myself” or the character that “flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions”. And you can definitely see the line from Leacock to Benchley to Milligan to Python to everything. Great stuff.
 Countdown to the Moon by Steve Englehart. jack_ryder will know why I bought this book but it’s a neat little chronicle of Apollo 11 aimed at kids (I seem to have more and more books for kids in my collection) but it gives you all the things you’d need to know (and to spark you on more extensive reading if you’re interested) and it also includes a copy of the original NASA astronaut ad and it’s equivalent circa 2000.
I should make a report on jack_ryder and my play Housebound which is currently on at the Factory Theatre in Marrickville. But I haven't seen it yet so, that'll have to wait. |
|
|
| What does someone do while they're having two weeks off recovering from a knee operation? |
[May. 26th, 2009|01:13 pm] |
Read of course.
 A Boy Named Shel by Lisa Rogak. I knew Shel Silverstein had done cartoons for Playboy. I was aware Shel Silverstein had written children’s books (hadn’t read any, though). I kind of knew he’d written songs. But I had no idea how many and how recognisable they were. However, the author does have a tendency to repeat things. For example, there’s a point where she talks about him giving autographs. She quotes a bookstore owner as saying “To my knowledge, he would not just scribble an autograph. It was a ten minute operation”. Then, in the very next paragraph tells the story of someone else describing him giving an autograph which ends with the phrase that it “usually turned into a ten minute operation”. We get it.
 Nightworlds by William F Nolan. A quite good collection of short stories by a writer who I know more by who he hung out with (Bradbury, Beaumont, Matheson) than his own writing (aside from Logan’s Run of course). But it’s clear he’s cut from the same cloth as his colleagues.
 True Detective by Max Allan Collins. Finally I get to read the first of Max Allan Collins’ Nathan Heller books. Good hard-boiled detective fiction set in Chicago at the end of prohibition. This one is kind of set around the assassination attempt on Roosevelt. Good stuff.
 Mary Poppins by P L Tracers. It’s so odd coming to a book that you’ve become so familiar with through another medium. Yes, most of the elements that were in the film are here (jumping into the chalk drawing; laughing your way to the ceiling etc) but there’s so much more fun going on. And Mary Poppins, whilst, involved in everything isn’t as important as the events going on around her. And I’d read that she’s not quite as pleasant as Julie Andrews made her out to be but I think that’s in the film but the film also shows a softer side which isn’t in the books.
 Rosa and the Veil of Gold by Kim Wilkins. She does it again. Because I’ve been following the works of Kim Wilkins I get a thoroughly entertaining read in a genre I have no interest in. More please.
 The Menacers by Donald Hamilton. This Matt Helm book (the eleventh in the series) came out when the Dean Martin films were at their height. And I can’t help thinking that’s why there’s a few more than usual disparaging remarks by Helm about how spies “do it in the movies”. But, once again, a good solid little thriller (with flying saucers, yet and still staying in the real world). |
|
|
| Comedy Festival report (finally) |
[May. 10th, 2009|05:27 pm] |
So I ended up seeing seventeen shows at this year’s Comedy Festival and, they were all pretty darn good. No complete clunkers at all.
What did I see? (including video samples of the one's I could find without too much searching)
First up I took my Mum & Dad to see Nina Conti’s new show “Evolution”. She was one of my favourites from last year and once again, I marvel at her ventriloquism and her ability to act surprised by the things Monk says. A great new show (though dad wondered whether she really needed to use the ‘c’ word. Me? I didn’t care. I’ve worked with Malcolm Frawley).
Then Mum, Dad & I went to see Arj Barker. Again, loved his show last year and loved it again this year.
One my own now, I went to see Steve Coogan. Wasn’t too crazy about his first two characters (Paul & Pauline Calf) but loved Tony Ferrino and, of course, the entire second act was devoted to Alan Partridge. Brilliant (and a great closing number as himself)
Next was Judith Lucy (see? I’m not just seeing overseas acts) who was in complete control of the room and hilarious. I am a fan and wasn’t disappointed.
Stitch in Time. This was the first show I saw with someone I know in it. Miss Jane (and her colleague, Miss Kat) put together a history of 20th century fashion with jokes. Highly entertaining and, dare I say it, informative. Hope they put together a revised version for the Fringe Festival.
I was aware of Adam Hills but hadn’t really seen him in action until last year’s Moosehead Awards Benefit which he co-hosted and I instantly became a fan. Not only is he likeable and funny but also seems completely natural and effortless and friendly. His new show, ‘Inflatable’ also made me aware of how positive he is in his comedy. My friend Therese Cloonan is now calling him my hero because I’ve been spouting my admiration for him so much.
I’ve always liked Janeane Garafolo but have had little contact with her stand-up so was thrilled at how great she was. The show seemed very unstructured as she picked her topics at random (at one point referring to her list of topics and commenting “done that, don’t want to do that..). The hour of her show running out came as as much of a surprise to her as it did for the audience.
Rich Hall’s show was the first time the comic on stage used me for material as I was front row centre (I like to sit near the front so I can see better. Honest). The first half of his show was him talking about various topics asking who people were in the front row, making jokes about what they do (I told him I worked in IT. It’s easier than explaining what Records Management is) and responding to a woman who seemed a little too vocal. The second half he came back as Otis Lee Crenshaw, his country singer character, and, of course, he now knew about a few people in the audience so was able to do songs in response to what he knew (I had the touching ballad ‘The Broadband Don’t Come By Here Anymore’ sung to me). Great stuff.
I’m not really that big a fan of Cheech and Chong but I had to go see them, right? After all, they’re Cheech and Chong. What other chance will I get to say I’ve seen them? One of the reasons I’m not crazy about them is that I don’t really like drug humour (i.e. humour that is just about doing drugs). This could because I have no frame of reference but I don’t think so. Because I hated the support act, Shelby Chong (Tommy’s wife) who did some stand-up along the lines of “when you’re on pot everything is so cool, right?”. But, I did liked Cheech & Chong. They pretty much did a ‘best of’ doing ‘Let’s Make a Dope Deal’, the opening scene of ‘Up in Smoke’ and some other routines and songs I was kind of familiar with. Still not my favourites but undeniably funny. (And then there were the two guys sitting behind me who seemed to be huge fans but only knew ‘Up in Smoke’. So, when they were doing material from that these guys were having a great time. But when they did material from their albums, these guys thought it was a good time to check with each other how they were enjoying the show so far. So, Cheech and Chong are doing their old couple in a porn film theatre routine and from behind I hear “Do you like it?” “Yeah” “They’re good aren’t they?” “Yeah, really good” “Yeah. Real good” “Yeah, good” “Yeah, it’s good isn’t it?” “Yeah, good”.
My Mum insisted I go on the Op Shop Tour (to get a list of Op Shops for her to visit next time she’s down here) so I roped in a couple of women from work to join me (not that I’m saying only women like op shops but well, you get what I mean). So, four hours with a bus load of women going to six op shops. My work companions bailed after number four but I stuck it out. It was fairly fun but I’m not sure anyone really likes the “we have 10 minutes in the shop” pressure. I did note that there seems to be an unwritten law of op shops. They must all have a Kamahl LP in stock.
Dave O’Doherty is someone else I saw on the strength of their Moosehead performance last year. Great songs, funny stories, terrific stage presence. Funny show (I particularly liked his extended off-stage introduction of himself – “maybe tonight will be the night I do the entire show from off-stage”)
The Tall and the Short of it All is another show where I know the participants. Dave and Carl are terrific at comedy and doubly so when they’re working together. They have a great casual delivery. The show wasn’t as tight as last year’s Fringe show of the same title (which was a different show) but that’s a minor quibble.
I went to see Sarah Millican because Adam Hills recommended her at his show. So, she was my “I’ll go se a show by someone I’ve never heard of” moment this year. Glad I did too. Surprisingly filthy (my dad would not be pleased as the ‘c’ word makes another appearance) but very funny.
Another show with someone I know in it was Attach of the B-Grade Movie. This is an improvised show and, as those shows go, was very funny (I put the proviso in there as I think improvised shows are more entertaining for people who have never done impro).
And the last show by someone I know was An Evening With Charles Barrington. Andy Rodgers has a great collection of characters with Mr Barrington at the forefront. He won the runner up at this year’s Raw Comedy with him and I’m sure he’ll go places. He only had a small audience but we were all very vocal in our laughter.
Maeve Higgins, on the other hand, had a large audience who were fairly quiet. That’s not to say she wasn’t funny, she was. And it felt like everyone was enjoying it. I’m not really sure what it was. I was laughing a lot. Maybe people were exhausted on the last day of the festival.
The Moosehead Awards Benefit has become my traditional final show of the Festival (if a tradition can be counted by doing something twice) and, once again, it’s a spot for me to see people who I wish I’d seen their full shows. Mark Watson, Danny Bhoy, Hannah Gadsby, Greg Fleet, and the guys who sang the song about ‘The Hawk’ are all on my list of people to see if they’re at next year’s comedy festival (thought it might be tricky ringing Ticketek and asking to book in for the show by the guys who sang the song about ‘The Hawk’).
And that’s enough laughter for me. I’m going to save up the rest for next year’s Comedy Festival. |
|
|
| Books books books. It's always books |
[May. 4th, 2009|06:00 pm] |
Had this batch practically read by the time I'd posted the last batch.
 The Grin of the Dark by Ramsey Campbell. A great idea – a wannabe film critic investigates a long-lost silent comedian who, literally, had people laughing to death at his antics – but somehow it just didn’t work for me. Pity. He’s a writer I like and it was a great premise.
 The Quite Remarkable Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat by Eric Idle. A children’s book which fleshes out Edward Lear’s poem to a novel. Not really sure it was worth it. There’s some nice moments (the pie-rats, for instance) but because I knew the poem I kept wondering how he was going to work the next bit into the story. I also have a CD of Eric Idle reading this and singing songs he wrote to go with it. I might listen to that and see if I like it better.
 Better Than Christ, Bigger Than Hitler by Rik Mayall. What a fun book. It’s Rik Mayall’s autobiography. But Rik Mayall the personality. Not Rik Mayall the person. So, lots of digressions. Lots of “I’m so wonderful” moments. Lots of getting beat up by Ade Edmondson. Everything you would expect from Rik. And, maybe he’s right. Maybe ‘Drop Dead Fred’ was the greatest film ever made and changed film-making forever. After all, apparently they’re looking at remaking it.
 Me of Little Faith by Lewis Black. Lewis Black is very funny and so is this book. What caught me by surprise is that the book isn’t about how stupid religion is because he’s an atheist. It’s about how stupid religion is because he believes in a higher power. I’m not sure which stance would annoy “Christians” more.
 The Man With the Golden Touch by Sinclair McKay. Hmmm. I get the feeling this book was written just to be contrary. When you read his criticisms of the sillier moments in the Connery and Brosnan films and then when his discussion of the Moore films urges people who criticise his silly moments to “lighten up”, were looking at a skewed view. And McKay has no time for most of the films or shows spun off from Bond. The Flint and Matt Helm films are just irredeemable nonsense. But the Avengers and Austin Powers are genius. So, not my favourite book about James Bond films. And for the record, Moonraker is probably my least favourite Bond film, but whenever I watch it, I find myself enjoying it. It’s the same reason I like the Matt Helm books AND the Matt Helm films. I take them for what they’re meant to be. Or I’ve got wide taste. Or I’m just easily pleased.
 The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora by Michael Nesmith. Yes, it’s that Michael Nesmith. Old Wool Hat himself. A novel by a Monkee? And it’s quite good. The story of Mike Nesmith, the character, trying to trck down the legend of, Neftoon Zamora, a blues singer he hears a tape of. Constantly interesting and going places I didn’t expect. And I got a signed copy. And so can you if you order it direct from his website. |
|
|
| What I bought on Free Comic Book Day |
[May. 3rd, 2009|07:28 am] |
Yes, it was Free Comic Book Day yesterday. Not, as my sister thought, an opportunity to go intota comic shop and just take anything off of the shelf that you felt like. But rather, not a bad way to sample a few things you may not normally buy.
Comic shops have different ways to define the meaning of "free". Some decide that you get any comic from the list you ask for. Others decide that you can get one free and more if you buy something. And I'm sure there are some who do it as shown in Comic Critics.
So what did I buy? Well, why not take a look at what was available and see if you can guess.
Avengers? Nope. Green Lantern? Uh-uh. Star Wars? Aliens vs Predator? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? William Shatner Presents? Really? You think so?
I had one comic in mind. And when I went into Alternate Worlds to pick it up, they told me it had sold out really early. (By the way, the show was filled with parents and their kids. That's right. Kids. Kids in a comic shop? What is the world coming to?). So I picked up these two instead.
 
Owly, I had heard recently was a great comic for kids. And you know how much I like comics for kids (or at least comics from when I was a kid). This had stories from Owly, Johnny Boo, Korgi and Yam. Owly was sweet. Korgi was odd. Johnny Boo was nice simple fun. Yam was also odd but fun.
Last year I picked up the free issue #1 of Tiny Titans, which I really enjoyed, so I had to pick up the DC Sampler which had more. Again, Really like Tiny Titans but this also had a Brave and the Bold story, which is my second favourite animated incarnation of Batman. Like the series, nice Silver Age-style fun.
So, I missed out on the comic I was after. But, never fear. Free Comic Book Day is at every comic shop in the world. I'm sure I'd find it somewhere else. London, maybe. No, why not try the comic shop just up the street, Comics 'R Us? And, success (and lots more kids. What gives with that? Do kids only come to comic shops when there are freebies? The rest of the time they're the domain of middle aged guys like me). And here's what I was after.
A sample of the forthcoming John Stanley Library collections. John Stanley did comics for Gold Key back in the sixties so, I have a memory of reading some of them but, more importantly, I've been loving Dark Horse's reprints of his Little Lulu comics. So, this a sampler of two of the comics. Nancy is a Little Lulu type, so good familiar fun for me. Melvin Monster, however is another thing. Melvin must have come around the time of the Munsters and Addams Family, I guess. It's similar type of stuff. Melvin is a monster kid who doesn't particularly like his Monster trappings. Great fun though. So, can't wait for the collections to come out.
And can't wait for next year's Free Comic Book Day. |
|
|
| Pretending to pretend? |
[Apr. 30th, 2009|10:24 am] |
I knew it. I knew it all along. Satire doesn't exist.
A study by Ohio State University has found that Conservatives believe that Stephen Colbert is only pretending to be joking and that he actually believes all of the right wing viewpoints he spouts.
It all makes sense now. He's using comedy to make "liberals" listen to his talking points and they will eventually be turned to this way of thinking.
Genius! |
|
|
| Book time |
[Apr. 28th, 2009|10:38 am] |
 Zorro by Isabelle Allende. I liked this and I didn’t. I kept thinking this book would be kind of like if ‘Batman Begins’ was all about him being in love with Katie Holmes and then at the end Bruce Wayne dressed as Batman. So I kind of enjoyed it but wished there was more Zorro and less Diego being in love with Juliana.
 If You Don’t Buy This Book, We’ll Shoot The Dog by Matty Simmons. Slightly self serving (I was responsible for all the success stories of the National Lampoon – except for the failures I was involved with) but he goes out of his way to mention as many contributors to the magazine as possible. He does seem to give the impression that the magazine would be running and be successful today if only he was running it without taking into consideration the steady decline in quality as people like Michael O’Donoghue, Doug Kenney, Henry Beard and P J O’Rourke left it (all while he was still running it). Josh Karp’s book is still the best Lampoon bio book I’ve read sp far.
 The Crack at the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester. The thing I like about this book is that it’s a four hundred page book about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake but there’s only about 100 pages that are specifically about that. The rest are interesting things about tectonic plates and insurance claims and how earthquakes are the least predictable of natural disasters. Terrific.
 Barbarians by Terry Jones and Alan Ereira. And then we have this book based on the TV series of the same name (which I haven’t seen). The book shows how the modern picture of ‘barbarians’ is actually what the Romans wanted us to think – i.e. the Romans were great but everyone else were savages. This book begs to differ. Which reminds me, I had an ancient history teacher in High School who had a crush on the Spartans. He would wax endlessly about how perfect and wonderful they were. In fact, I soon worked out that the best way to get a good mark in his class was to always make my essay a love note to the might of Sparta. Even when the essay was about Egypt or Rome or anything, a few paragraphs comparing whoever we were studying to the Spartans (and having the Spartans come off the best) was a sure bet for at least an 80% mark.
 A Case of Need by Jeffrey Hudson. Another book that would have been better if it had been written by Michael Crichton. Actually this is not a bad little medical thriller dealing with the subject of illegal abortions. Which is just the topioc we need more off in medical thrillers.
.jpg) It Came From Outer Space by Ray Bradbury. I love Gauntlet books. They give you practically everything you could possibly want in a collectible book – lots of early drafts; a signed edition; comments by the author. Well worth the price. This one has all of Ray Bradbury’s notes and early short stories which led to the film ‘It Came From Outer Space’ (for which he just gets story credit but when you read his synopsis, the screenplay is pretty much just an exercise in formatting.) |
|
|
| Still living in the past |
[Apr. 25th, 2009|05:57 pm] |
Once, there was no such thing as DVD’s. And there was even no such thing as videos (yep. We’re going way back now). Back then, there were only three ways to experience your favourite movie again.
1. Wait for it to come onto TV.
One of my favourite films is ‘Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein’ and, until I owned it on DVD, I would watch it whenever it was repeated on telly. This was usually about once a year when I was growing up. And I’d watch it no matter when it was on. Comedy films of that period usually ran on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon but because this film also had the big three Universal monsters, it would sometimes run in the midnight horror film slot. Didn’t matter. I’d watch it. (And still do. In fact, writing about it has made me want to watch it again. I might do that this weekend).
2. Revivals at the movies.
Back in the day, films used to be shown in the City cinemas for a few weeks, months, years (I still recall the first anniversary of Star Wars showing continuously at the Hoyts cinemas in Sydney). After that, it would start to be shown in the suburban theatres (this, dear students, was before there were such things as blockbusters and opening weekends and multiplexes). This was also in the day when before the movie you would have an hour of short films, newsreels, cartoons (Now it’s just an hour of ads). But sometimes they didn’t show the shorts they’d make it a double feature. So, you’d get the new(ish) film and an older film. But you’d also get revival double features (and not just at theatres like the Astor). In fact, this is how I saw all of the James Bond films. When ‘Live and Let Die’ came out they re-released all of the previous Bond films as double-features. What a gift for a budding Bond fan.
3. The only other way to relive the film (aside from telling people about it which, let’s face it, suffers from chinese whispers syndrome. I was sure there was a zeppelin in Doctor Zhivago.) is via an adaptation. And there were two types of adaptations.
  
One is a novelisation (my favourite novelisation of a film is Jumanji which has the credit – novelisation of the screenplay based on the story based on the book). Novels based on films are sometimes good, sometimes bad. Sometimes they resemble the film but often, because they’re being written as the film is being made, they’re based on an early screenplay. And let’s face it, is a novel of Hard Day’s Night any substitute?
The other type of adaptation (and finally I’m getting to the point) is a comic adaptation.
  
I must say, I have a fond memory of comic adaptations and I’ve got a few in my collection.
The great thing with a comic adaptation is that they just give you an overview of what the film was like. So, when the Adventures of Jerry Lewis does an adaptation of ‘The Ladies Man’, the only thing missing from the adaptation is the comedy. The same with the Three Stooges adaptations (the ‘Three Stooges in Orbit’ comic is just stills from the film with captions) and the adaptation of on of my all time favourite comedy movies, ‘Who’s Minding the Mint?”.
And then there’s the adaptations of action movies. I have one of ‘Dr No’ and, once again, you get the plot pretty well but the action? Missing. And it’s not because it was written in 1962. The adaptations of ‘For Your Eyes Only’, ‘Octopussy’ and ‘Licence to Kill’ all have the same problem.
So, in short, it’s a good quick reminder of some things in the film but you wouldn’t go to see a film on the strength of the comic adaptation.
Ah. Those were the days. |
|
|
| Living in the past |
[Apr. 14th, 2009|04:44 pm] |
It’s not that I don’t like new things. I do. Well, some new things. Well, DVDs.
But there’s so much great stuff from the past I’m still discovering (or re-discovering or just stubbornly sticking to).
Examples. Here’s what I’m currently watching on TV.
  
And here’s the comics I’m reading
  
And the books I’m reading
  
And here’s what I’m listening to
  
So, what’s the present got to offer? |
|
|
| If I'm not writing I must be reading. |
[Mar. 15th, 2009|06:55 pm] |
Here are some of the things I've been reading to keep myself from writing.
 Blade Runner by Phillip K Dick. Finally. I’ve been reading a few Phillip K Dick books lately and loving it. And now I get to Blade Runner (or, rather, the far more interestingly titled ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’. And, yes, the film does have the basic premise (a bounty hunter has to retire a group of advanced androids that have arrived on Earth) but there’s so, so, so, so, so much more in the book (add a couple of more so’s).
 Salmon of a Doubt by Douglas Adams. I have mixed feelings about this. I’m fine with putting together the uncollected articles he’s written but the last part of the book is the first 11 chapters of a third Dirk Gently novel. Yes, it was interesting to see what he was working on but, it wasn’t finished so, despite what the editor says, there’s no way we’d know if he would have scrapped all of this and started over.
 Now We Are Sick edited by Neil Gaiman and Stephen Jones. Subtitled ‘An Anthology of Nasty Verse’ and that’s what it is. Poems by people like Ramsey Campbell, Alan Moore, Robert Bloch, Brian Aldiss, James Herbert, Diana Wynne Jones, Kim Newman, Terry Pratchett and Gene Wolfe. As the editors say in the introduction;
If for children you mistook
The rhymes and poems in this book,
We must at once apologize
And open up your blinkered eyes.
Please do not feel sad or lonely
When we warn: For Adults Only!'
Great fun. And, yes, I bought it as part of my Neil Gaiman collection.
 The Truth with Jokes by Al Franken. This is one of those funny political books where Al Franken keeps forgetting to be funny. It’s the problem I have with Franken and Bill Maher and Dennis Miller. They’ve become so fixated on changing your opinion that they leave out the jokes. Give me Jon Stewart any day. And now he’s a senator I think he’ll be even less funny.
 Ludmilla’s Broken English by D B C Pierre. His second novel and it dazzles with wordplay and Ludmilla is a great character. However (you knew there was going to be a however didn’t you) there’s probably too many nasty things happening in this book for it really to funny but it is funny (how about that? It’s not often you get an however with a but).
 Laughing Matters by Larry Gelbart. Well, if you read my last post you’ll know I just read this. This is a kind of memoir but never becomes an autobiography. It’s a collection of some articles he’s written over the years and a few extracts from some of the plays he’s written and a few other bits and pieces. All immensely enjoyable from one of the best comedy writers around. But you guessed that already from my previous post. |
|
|
| Information for writers Part 2 |
[Mar. 15th, 2009|09:27 am] |
And here's some writery things from another of my favourite writers, Larry Gelbart;
• How to begin writing a project? Put your ass down in your chair, and hope that your head gets the message.
• Expect that some days you're not going to get anything done; that you're just going to have to sit and wait for the creative tide to come in.
• It's best to work on something that absolutely insists itself upon you.
• Part of the enjoyment of writing is looking up at the screen (or down at the paper) and seeing a line or a thought or an observation or a plot twist appear that has worked its way through my system and surprised me by its appearance.
• The best work is the work you never want to finish.
• For me, it's impossible to go from A to C, without the information contained in B, as a writer and as a member of the audience. Once a story springs a logic leak, I can never again invest any interest in what follows.
• Characters have as many dimensions as you're able to give them. Just keep turning them in the light and you'll see their many sides.
• Laughter is a very personal act. It has to start with the individual, although it can end up a group experience. But first it has to work for you; then you can work in a crowd.
• You have to take an audience's word for what is funny. Comedy is not negotiable. They like it, they buy it. They don't, you offer them something else.
• Every day that I am able to write is a day off from life.
From Laughing Matters by Larry Gelbart.
Oh, and one more -
• I don't know which it is writers welcome the most: praise or interruptions
Writers, to a man, to a woman, welcome any reason, any excuse, not to write.
I have, on occasion, facing a deadline, found it necessary to shave four times on the same day. I will answer a letter that has been sitting on my desk for as long as five minutes. (It's usually from someone who wants to know how to get started as a writer. I can tell them how to start a career. It's the mornings that are the problem.) After I get that out of the way, I'll settle down - and take a call from a salesman who wants to sell me some toner for my copy machine. There comes that moment, thought, when you simply run out of creative ways not to be creative, and I'll finally start to write. But not before I take the time to sharpen my pencils to the point where they're able to perform brain surgery. |
|
|
| Information for writers Part 1 |
[Mar. 14th, 2009|10:49 am] |
One of my favourite writers (and directors), Billy Wilder, had these tips for writers;
• The audience is fickle
• Grab ‘em by the throat and never let ‘em go
• Develop a clean line of action for your leading character
• Know where you’re going
• The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer
• If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act
• A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.
• In doing voice-overs, be careful not describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they are seeing.
• The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.
• The third act must build, build, build in temp and action until the last event and then –
• - that’s it. Don’t hang around
From Conversations with Wilder by Cameron Crowe. |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
