The Hackenblog

People of NE Los Angeles:

GO to the Atwater Farmers’ Market, Sundays 10-2, buy some lemon and lavender infused goat cheese spread from the goat cheese lady (next to the sage honey lady), buy some strawberries from the stand across and slightly lift from her. Put spread on strawberry. Eat. I saw God, but you might have a different experience.

Just FYI neighbors. DO IT!

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“When we do talk about the production concept (and generally we don’t) the cast talks about it in terms of movies like ‘Escape from New York’ and the ‘Die Hard’ movies. In my production concept statement that I’ve just written and posted, I talk about the production as if it were a futuristic version of ‘The Big Sleep.’ This disparity is fine by me. ‘Escape from New York’ is essentially a futuristic version of ‘The Big Sleep.’ (And if my cast wonders why I never just told them that I think we’re doing ‘The Big Sleep’ it’s because that if I did, you (and I) may have never been motivated to think about the many ways it’s like ‘Escape from New York’ and the ‘Die Hard’ because traditionally the director dictates the interpretation of the script to the cast… And we might never have thought up that cool motorcycle battle at the end.) However, these differing genre models may go far to explain why the cast didn’t really care if we cut Fyodor Chandler or not and I wake up thinking about it at 4 am.

“The scene with Fyodor Chandler provides a moment where Nellie at least momentarily finds her moral compass. It makes what she does afterwards make more sense. In the modern action-adventure film, actions don’t necessarily have to have moral motivation… or even make sense, for that matter.

“I still worry that I’ve just become the studio hack who cut the scene from ‘The Big Sleep’ that explained who committed the murder Phillip Marlowe was supposed to be investigating. I think my cast knows everyone will be too busy listening to Bogart and looking at Bacall to care.”
Darkness at Sunset and Vine Director’s Log, The Ides of March, 2008

Oh, man, dystopian linguists don’t get no respect. But this Director log thingy is way cool. And there’s video, too!

Click here for a better idea of what the hell I’m on about. Some of you might remember the enraged anti-bush novellas from 2003-2005 that are the Darkness at Sunset and Vine trilogy. Many cool bloggers of those years ended up in those stories, or at least plays on their names did. The first novella is being produced as a theater piece in Denton Texas, and performed there, Savannah, Georgia and somewhere in Arkansas in March and April. Hey, if Hillary can win Texas and 9 inches of snow can fall in the Metroplex, then Darkness at Sunset and Vine can be performed in the Southland. Oy.

By the way, Fyodor Chandler came out of a conversation I had with Jane Seaton about how I felt like the story was a cross between Dostoyevsky and The Long Goodbye. So of course the next logical thing was to name a character Fyodor Chandler. Isn’t that what anyone would do?

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J WOC masthead and Wapshott logo by Molly Kiely.

Now all we need are the articles. Ahem, fangirls?

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Whoa!

PRESS RELEASE

February 28, 2008

——-
BECOME A PART OF THE MANGA WORLD WITH POP JAPAN TRAVEL’S MIND OVER MANGA TOUR
——-

Japanese dojinshi, comics published by the artist and sold at special events across Japan, have become a driving creative force, and a sensational way to connect with other fans. In the past, Pop Japan Travel has visited these dojinshi markets, but only as spectators. That’s about to change.

This August, aspiring dojinshi creators, established small press comic artists and manga admirers alike will have an unprecedented opportunity. Pop Japan Travel’s Mind Over Manga Tour offers guests the chance to go behind the scenes of one of Japan’s most respected dojinshi events, Comitia — and if you choose, print and sell your own comic or art book directly to Japanese readers!

If you apply and qualify, Pop Japan Travel will:

*-Translate your book into Japanese so that the locals can understand it
*-Print your book and deliver it directly to the event at Tokyo Big Sight
*-Help you sell your book and discuss it with readers at a booth at the event

Since 1984, Comitia has been one of Tokyo’s most popular dojinshi events. Run four times a year, it focuses on original, creative art rather than fan fiction. That has made it a key launchpad for new manga artists, with thousands of circles participating each year. It takes place at Tokyo Big Sight, which otaku will recognize from Comic Party, Genshiken and many other anime and manga series!

Even if you don’t choose to sell your own book, you’ll get an up-close look at the way Japan’s manga market operates. And the tour will also include the chance to meet and pick the brains of some Japan’s most important manga and dojinshi artists, plus a visit to a cutting-edge anime studio and Hayao Miyazaki’s Ghibli Museum.

Naturally, Mind Over Manga also includes our tried-and-true tour of Tokyo, providing a mind-blowing look at the world’s most populous urban area, plus a few excursions outside the city and an optional three-day tour of Osaka and Kyoto, Japan’s thousand-year capital.

The exact itinerary and price for the tour are still pending, but we wanted to spread the word as quickly as possible so you could start drawing!

Tour dates and activities are subject to change. Check out our Web site, www.popjapantravel.com, or contact travel@popjapantravel.com for details.

——-

DIGITAL MANGA’S POP JAPAN TRAVEL is the original and premiere provider of pop culture themed tours of Japan. Since 2003, PJT has operated more than 15 tours with themes focused on Japanese anime, manga, games and more. Pop Japan tours offer a careful balance of the hyper-modern world of J-pop culture and the rich traditions of ancient Japan, and PJT is the ONLY tour agency to provide exclusive experiences such as visits to anime and game studios, meetings with manga artists, and more. Pop Japan Travel tours are organized in cooperation with IACE Travel, one of Japan’s largest travel agencies.

###

Oh. My. God. This is wonderful! For people who like this kind of thing.

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Yeah, I’m shocked, too.

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Whoo-hoo!

Yay!

Well, this is exciting for me.

The Wapshott Press.

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Whatever it is, I’m against it.

Pretty much sums it up.

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Which is better than no book at all:

“Our premier Wowio book is up and ready for download! It contains the first 3 chapters of NNFB, a preface by Hirotomo, never before seen artwork, and a new NNFB remix! All of that is absolutely free, yet through the magic of the internets, somehow Alex and I get paid for each download. So please sign up and relive the good old days of NNFB. If you aren’t able to use Wowio due to country restrictions, don’t worry. We’re looking for a way to make it available to international readers shortly.”

This is one of the best webcomics I’ve ever read, even when it gets a little goofy, it’s great!

And this WOWIO thing is verrrrrrry interrresting.

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Webcomics, dear God, it’s a whole issue on Webcomics at Sequential Tart. May the good Lord have mercy on us all.

http://www.sequentialtart.com

I even ramble on a bit about webcomics in this issue.

Oh, yes, and in honor of 10 years of Sequential Tart, there are some very cool calendars for sale! (more…)

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Streetlaughter has the best, circa 1969, definition I’ve ever seen.

Faggots: Dave Berg, Streetlaughter, December 13, 2007 (click for the larger image, but do read the post, it’s a good ‘un).

Thanks, Dorian, this was my first laugh of the day.

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Would he walk or would he run if chased by samurais?

Warning: do not watch this is you cannot scream with laughter. (via the amazing and ever delightful Mosca)

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But not so much nuts in a big group at the right times:

“Conceived by 30-year-old graphic designer Kim Jensen — known by her outlaw-affecting Ridazz handle, Skull — during a late-night ride in Cambodia, Midnight Ridazz was inaugurated in L.A. on Feb. 27, 2004, when the Echo Park resident led five like-minded friends on bikes and two on skateboards on a rolling tour of downtown’s fountains. A sense of community and an almost liturgical fellowship was immediate, says Jensen, as was a consensus on where to take the nascent bicycle club: ‘We were all anti-establishment, creative and feeling a need for speed in a nonconformist format. We were really set on keeping it free and totally noncommercial.’

“In addition to wanting to keep Ridazz events free-spirited, Jensen and company wanted them to be fun. So, in diametrical distinction to the politically charged but leaderless Critical Mass, Jensen set the precedent of promoting festively themed outings late Friday nights, when auto traffic is svelte and mellow, along routes mapped out ahead of time to avoid narrow streets, freeway exits and left turns.”

~snip~

“That’s no exaggeration. Although a few dozen cyclists had joined the core group for that third event, the Belmont Tunnel “Mural Ride,” hundreds began appearing thereafter. Within a year, the group was regularly pushing 1,000. To accommodate the swelling horde, which could no longer pedal through a single light cycle en masse, Midnight Ridazz felt compelled to adopt an extralegal practice popularized by Critical Mass — ‘corking’ — whereby a few lead riders block an intersection so that cyclists who miss the green can stay with the pack.

“‘When we obey the lights,’ says Roadblock of the namesake move, ‘it’s even more chaotic because the traffic is just insane for blocks and blocks. I’ve talked to police officers about it, and they say, “Yeah, keep it together and just get through.” So that’s what we go on.’”
Midnight Ridazz are bound to keep on riding. In the heart of car culture, massive bike rides are hitting the streets. Should you admire them? Scorn them? Or join the pack? By Liam Gowing, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, December 6, 2007

Ah. Sometimes I really love my town.

(Just don’t try this in Beverly Hills, they hate cyclists over there.)

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“Los Angeles Garment & Citizen has an article on the project our office has embarked upon to beautify our local utility boxes, which are those grey, anonymous boxes sprinkled throughout the Los Angeles streetscape. We have worked with AT&T and our community partners, Central City Action Committee and the Hollywood Beautification Team, to engage local artists and youth in painting these boxes. The Garment & Citizen article highlights the Carlos Callejo piece shown on the left, which Carlos painted with the help of youth in Echo Park. If you have an idea for a good box to paint, contact Kabira Stokes-Hochberg, our CD13 arts deputy.”
New Urban Canvases, Eric Garcetti, December 9, 2007

Woo, nice.

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“Councilmember Greig Smith and I joined with Heal the Bay Director of Programs, Meredith McCarthy yesterday in City Council to proclaim December 20th as “A Day Without a Bag” in Los Angeles. Each year, Angelenos consume some 6 billion plastic bags, almost 600 bags per person per year! Only 5% of these bags get recycled (and it is important to know that we have made it possible for you to recycle plastic bags by putting them in your blue bins–here is a helpful list of what you can put in the blue bin), so the rest wind up in landfills, the Los Angeles River, Echo Park Lake, Santa Monica Bay, and our streets.

“On December 20th, we are encouraging Angelenos to use reusable bags and get into the habit of using these bags for our shopping needs. We have only been using plastic bags since around 1977, so the habit shouldn’t be a tough one to break, but we hope the blogosphere will help do its part to spread the word. If we can begin to live without consuming the amount of plastic bags we currently do, we can save landfill space, clean up our waterways, and reduce the amount of oil consumed and global greenhouse gases emitted in the manufacture of these bags.”
A Day Without a Bag, Eric Garcetti, December 8, 2007

I am SO with this idea. When I lived in Poland and Prague, you had to bring your own bags, usually string, but often canvas. And although I never win the Trader Joe bring your own bag raffle, it’s a habit I never quite lost.

Oh, and you don’t have to be in LA to do this. You can celebrate a day without a plastic bag on December 20 wherever you are.

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The band is pretty good, too.

Dandyism is having a Fred Astaire festival.

By the way, this isn’t news, but Rita Hayworth is a goddess.

She makes tap dancing sexy.

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“When Ginger Mayerson heard that an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale had hit Pakistan in October 2005, she immediately wanted to help.

“Ms. Mayerson, a writer and blogger who lives in Los Angeles, knew that aid workers from her favorite charity, Doctors Without Borders, would be at work in Pakistan, ministering to the wounded. But she says she was financially ‘tapped out’ after giving to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

“So Ms. Mayerson did what she could: She turned to fellow blog writers she admired — and, in many cases, didn’t know — and solicited recipes online for a cookbook that would benefit the medical-aid organization.

“Although Ms. Mayerson didn’t contribute any recipes herself — she says her culinary philosophy is ’shake it out of the box and eat it’ — she spent hours compiling and editing the recipes that poured in from others. The self-published result, And They Cook, Too, which was published in March 2006, has sold a modest number of copies and raised just $400 for Doctors Without Borders, but Ms. Mayerson says the cookbook has been well worth the effort.

“‘I knew they could write, so when they wrote about food it was like literature,’ she says. ‘It’s a good cause, good food, and good writing — what could be better?’

“Despite its origins in cyberspace, Ms. Mayerson’s charity effort is part of a tradition that dates back to the Civil War, when women in Philadelphia and elsewhere sold a cookbook to benefit Union hospitals. The countless collections published since then have not only raised millions of dollars for charity, but also evoke the times and places in which they were compiled.”
A Recipe for Success, by Marty Michaels, Chronicle of Philanthropy, May 31, 2007 v19 i16 pNA ($ sorry)

Yay! But too bad she left out the part about Kathy Flake’s and ~Tild’s contribution to the book because I went on and on about how the book wouldn’t have happened without them (and it also wouldn’t have happened without everyone who contributed to it). And there are no links in this story. This was the only part about ATCT, the rest of the article goes into the history of charity cookbooks and other modern fundraiser cookbooks. But ATCT is the coolest. And it’s still making money for MSF, I’ll be sending off a rounded up to $20 check next week. Oh, and the gift-giving season is upon us, isn’t it?

And They Cook, Too. Yay!

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In honor of the Writers Strike, I thought now, as a public service, would be a good time to announce the publication of a collection of gay cuddle porn edited by moi.

Chase and Other Stories

Excerpts, rationalizations, reviews, etc. are on the sidebar pages. Mild stuff, wouldn’t discombobulate any well-read, right-thinking, open-minded fan of a Jean Genet and Barbara Cartland fusion via Flannery O’Connor in outer space with wizards. Just kidding…about Barbara Cartland. Yay! Crazy for it yet? Here’s the direct link to buy it. Someday it will be in Amazon and suchlike, but for now, it’s only here.

Don’t say I never did nothin’ for ya.

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Or this guy will be your boss someday:

(Via Liz, chez Siva)

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“No, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter isn’t actually building or repairing all 100 homes by himself… but his namesake program, the Jimmy Carter Work Project, is doing so before the end of the year. I’ve said many times that building more quality affordable housing is crucial to our city’s future. Our city is fortunate that South L.A. and San Pedro were chosen for the 2007 Jimmy Carter Work Project to raise awareness about the area’s need for affordable housing.”
Jimmy Carter is building or rehabbing 100 L.A. homes, Eric Garcetti, October 31, 2007

Well, then, Eric, why don’t you leave him alone and let him get on with it?

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I want to go to this store so bad I can taste it. I did order a year of their Little Book Club because getting a little handmade book every month delights me very much.

(Did you know the Canadian dollar was at 1.03 to the USD yesterday? I was horribly shocked by this. And so was my credit card.)

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All proceeds go to Cancer research!

Tastefully Done - Webcomic Artists Showing It All (2008)

Act now! Only whatever it is shopping days until the Solstice!

(Hmmm, a fundraiser for a worthy cause at lulu.com…why does that seem so very familiar?)

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Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work to raise awareness about global warming.

This makes me proud to be an American. For awhile, and then it’s back to the horrors of the bush junta. Sigh.

Nope, can’t be sad yet! Congratulations, Al!!! Whoo-hoo!!! Could you please run for President now?

Update:

Al is deeply honored.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — the world’s pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis — a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level. My wife, Tipper, and I will donate 100 percent of the proceeds of the award to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan non-profit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the urgency of solving the climate crisis.”

What a guy. Yay! Tipper, too!

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“This is the ARMS concert from the early 80s. Charlie Watts, Kenny Jones (then of The Who) and Ray Cooper (from the Elton John band) on drums, Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Andy Fairweather-Low on guitar, Bill Wyman on bass, Steve Winwood on mandolin…”

I think I have testosterone poisoning. By the way, how many drummers does one song need?

What would I do without YouTube? I don’t even want to know.

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I love our guys

And our Waves totally rock!

I’m glad they have some fun out there.

(via Dark Roasted Blends, which is a very strrrange place)

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The complete She Done Him Wrong at Archive.org

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“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”
The Feast of St. Groucho, Philosopher’s Playground, September 29, 2007

And many others.

Did you know that Groucho had a long correspondence with T.S. Eliot and even went to London to meet him? Well, he did, and what I wouldn’t have given to be at that dinner party. That and more is all in The Groucho Letters, which are wonderful. The letters he got were almost as good as the letters he wrote.

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Ah, the Blues Brothers: car chases and musical numbers. It just doesn’t get any better for me.

This chase is one giant product placement but I love it anyway.

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I think I saw “Performance” when I was too young. I had this soundtrack (on vinyl, yet) and the whole thing is stunning.

I didn’t know this studio version existed.

I like the film version better, it’s grimmer.

God, I love YouTube, Post-Literacy or no.

Update 092507: a better studio version, but still no slide guitar, compliments of W. Kiernan in the comments, thanks!

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