Good evening, friends, neighbors, countrymen, and sentient lifeforms spying on us from distant stars.
The skinny on me at the moment:
Today is the first day I've gone without having one coughing fit. All signs tentatively point towards "Bronchitis Has Left The Building" (and not a moment too soon). What have I been doing with myself lately? Aside from working, writing, and the occasional drink, my world has been swallowed whole in books. Over the course of the last two weeks, my big juicy brain is getting bigger and juicier (which means that if a zombie apocalypse begins tomorrow, I'll be a walking filet mingnon to the living dead).
Books read:
-Graphic novels: read the latest Y: The Last Man collection and the third volume of Grant "Gloriously Batshit Crazy" Morrison's Seven Soldiers. Y was great (as always) and Seven was very well-done, even if some of the storytelling is getting a bit disjointed and choppy (even by Morrison standards). Very excited right now, though, because the next trade paperback collection of Morrison's Doom Patrol is coming out soon.
-Finished Hakim Bey's TAZ. Also read Murray Bookchin's rebuttal essay against Bey and "lifestyle anarchism". Bookchin may be the reasonable one, but dammit, Bey/PLW can write up a storm. Bey 1, Stodgy Bookchin 0.
-Read John Burundt's Bangkok 8. Excellent noir writing, and the atmosphere was very evocative. Having the Chandler-esque protagnoist be a devout Buddhist adds a nice twist to the gumshoe formula.
-On the subject of noir: also read my first George Pelecanos novel, The Big Blowdown. Great book (he ranks between Ellroy and Leonard in my modern noir esteem: his work seems weightier and more serious than breezy Ellmore, but not as viciously dark and seedy as Ellroy, who along with Jim Thompson ranks as my favorite noir storyteller).
-Also read some poetry by Hart Crane and Jack Gilbert.
-Read Irvine Welsh's Acid House. Some weak predictable stories mixed in with a few classics (my fave: the baby and acidhead switching bodies, and the poor bastard who gets turned into a bug as a punishment from an annoyed, cantankerous God).
-Also received a copy of the new Danielewski book. Can't wait to get started on it.
-Currently been reading Ben Mack's Poker Without Cards. An intriguing book (even if the all-transcript structure can be a bit grating at times), but I'll probably put it on hold for right now so I can focus on Only Revolutions.
Other news (that isn't really news):
Saw The Protector tonight with Chris and Eric. The general concensus: some amazing stuntwork and kung-fu goodness, and one film-geek heaven scene (a long, flowing tracking shot of a raging fight up a long spiral staircase). Whenever the film featured Jaa elbowing and kneeing people in the face, fun was had by all. The plot scenes were painful and nonsensical, but frankly, nobody watches a film about Muay Thai for the gripping narrative. Plus, a bonus: some over the top ridiculious shit sprinkled throughout the film.
SPOILERS!
-A baby elephant gets THROWN across a room.
-Tony Jaa gets Fred Flintstone on some motherfuckers with elephant bones, and later plays surgeon on some wrestler's tendons.
-A street gang of skaters, bikers, and an ATV driver attacking Jaa with fluorescent lighting. Summoned by a horn heard across the city.
-Too many other things to mention.
END SPOILERS
And on that note... I have nothing else to say. Night all!
The skinny on me at the moment:
Today is the first day I've gone without having one coughing fit. All signs tentatively point towards "Bronchitis Has Left The Building" (and not a moment too soon). What have I been doing with myself lately? Aside from working, writing, and the occasional drink, my world has been swallowed whole in books. Over the course of the last two weeks, my big juicy brain is getting bigger and juicier (which means that if a zombie apocalypse begins tomorrow, I'll be a walking filet mingnon to the living dead).
Books read:
-Graphic novels: read the latest Y: The Last Man collection and the third volume of Grant "Gloriously Batshit Crazy" Morrison's Seven Soldiers. Y was great (as always) and Seven was very well-done, even if some of the storytelling is getting a bit disjointed and choppy (even by Morrison standards). Very excited right now, though, because the next trade paperback collection of Morrison's Doom Patrol is coming out soon.
-Finished Hakim Bey's TAZ. Also read Murray Bookchin's rebuttal essay against Bey and "lifestyle anarchism". Bookchin may be the reasonable one, but dammit, Bey/PLW can write up a storm. Bey 1, Stodgy Bookchin 0.
-Read John Burundt's Bangkok 8. Excellent noir writing, and the atmosphere was very evocative. Having the Chandler-esque protagnoist be a devout Buddhist adds a nice twist to the gumshoe formula.
-On the subject of noir: also read my first George Pelecanos novel, The Big Blowdown. Great book (he ranks between Ellroy and Leonard in my modern noir esteem: his work seems weightier and more serious than breezy Ellmore, but not as viciously dark and seedy as Ellroy, who along with Jim Thompson ranks as my favorite noir storyteller).
-Also read some poetry by Hart Crane and Jack Gilbert.
-Read Irvine Welsh's Acid House. Some weak predictable stories mixed in with a few classics (my fave: the baby and acidhead switching bodies, and the poor bastard who gets turned into a bug as a punishment from an annoyed, cantankerous God).
-Also received a copy of the new Danielewski book. Can't wait to get started on it.
-Currently been reading Ben Mack's Poker Without Cards. An intriguing book (even if the all-transcript structure can be a bit grating at times), but I'll probably put it on hold for right now so I can focus on Only Revolutions.
Other news (that isn't really news):
Saw The Protector tonight with Chris and Eric. The general concensus: some amazing stuntwork and kung-fu goodness, and one film-geek heaven scene (a long, flowing tracking shot of a raging fight up a long spiral staircase). Whenever the film featured Jaa elbowing and kneeing people in the face, fun was had by all. The plot scenes were painful and nonsensical, but frankly, nobody watches a film about Muay Thai for the gripping narrative. Plus, a bonus: some over the top ridiculious shit sprinkled throughout the film.
SPOILERS!
-A baby elephant gets THROWN across a room.
-Tony Jaa gets Fred Flintstone on some motherfuckers with elephant bones, and later plays surgeon on some wrestler's tendons.
-A street gang of skaters, bikers, and an ATV driver attacking Jaa with fluorescent lighting. Summoned by a horn heard across the city.
-Too many other things to mention.
END SPOILERS
And on that note... I have nothing else to say. Night all!
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
Love the moniker by the way.
Haven't read Fables, but I'll check it out. As I'm currently unemployed, I've been avoiding comic shops like syphyllis. I suppose I could check the local library to see if they have it; that's where a friend found some copies of The Goon, which is phenomenal if you haven't read it. Also, I really like how Phil Foglio tells his story in Girl Genius which he has huge parts of online as a webcomic of sorts at , if you haven't come across it before and would like to check that out.
In other news, you've probably heard that they're doing a Y movie and giving Vaughan first shot at writing the script. Still, I'm only slightly less dubious about fitting that storyline into two or so hours than I am about them doing the same to Watchmen. Why can't they leave him alone? Hasn't poor Alan suffered enough at the hands of Hollywood? Of course, I want to make movies too, but I'd like to think I'd have the decency to leave what can't be made into a movie (or what the creative forces behind the film can't make into a movie, as was the case with V) as, well, not a movie.
Sorry for the length, I've been loquacious since my nap. I only wish my own projects were this easy to write...