The Diary of an Uncultured Philistine

I seemed to have missed this the first time round, but it certainly entertained the heck out of me: Martin Scorsese shooting a "lost" 3-page script by Alfred Hitchcock.

(and yes, I am fully aware of the real purpose behind this short film, but just seeing all the Hitchcockian visual cues mashed up together like that made me giddy with delight.)

My new blog of the moment, for fairly obvious reasons: Sleevage, on the design of album covers. It's also interesting to see how much thought goes into the accompanying single designs (remember those?) to tie back into the original album design concept (see: the Pet Shop Boys or New Order). How much longer will design like this still be around, now that we are approaching the digital age of music?

Kissing the Beehive.

I enjoyed the book (back in the days when I was a serious Carroll addict), and I think the song is pretty swell too. From the forthcoming Wolf Parade album At Mount Zoomer.

Those new covers and overall design for the James Bond centenary editions are pretty damn sweet.

After the rain stopped, a leftover bowl of fried rice for dinner out on the porch, watching the sun set, my feet in the cold wet grass.

Life is good.

New Aardman shorts! I love that hippo.

Michael Chabon + Jordan Crane + McSweeney's = Maps and Legends

*swoons*

This came at just the right time:

Sera Cahoone - "Only as the Day is Long"

I've been having a real rough time of it lately, and here came something that I didn't know I needed. Music does strange things to me sometimes. More here.

Oh Emm Gee, you guys. Best review of Jellaby EVER.

I just spent the afternoon redrawing an iconic Jellaby image for the second book. Strange that I'm coming to the end of the second book and things are only just starting to pick up with the first one! A quick rundown on things:

- Flight Explorer is in stores now! I have a Jellaby story in it. I feel we haven't really been able to get behind and support this book like we should've -- it seems like it's deadline time for a lot of people right around now. I hope the book finds its footing and does well. I'm not convinced it's a foregone conclusion that the people that buy Flight will also pick up a copy of Explorer.

- Elizabeth Bird interviews me as part of 'Canadian Literature Day' on the publishing/librarian blogosphere (it was Elizabeth who wrote that really flattering review of Jellaby a month ago).

- Apparently, Jellaby is holding its own as one of the top selling graphic novels in Canadian independent bookstores? Naruto, Death Note, and Garfield are certainly not bad company to be among. :P



Unrelated:

- Bryan Lee O'Malley, you have set the bar for most uses of exclamation points in a graphic novel. The gauntlet has been thrown.

- I love, love, love this version of "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City."

For me, the first great album of 2008: The Hopeful and the Unafraid. This one is going to join the select few CDs that remain a permanent fixture for road trips.

Jason Anderson - "Watch Your Step"

I'm not sure how I feel about the new Destroyer album yet, but I'll be danged if "Shooting Rockets (From The Desk Of Night's Ape)" isn't something amazing.

It is my understanding that baby flesh is tender and succulent.

Whoops.

The Automotive Building in its original state plays a small role in Jellaby 2... by the time the book is released in 2009, it has the potential to confuse contemporary and future readers! Hooray for anachronisms!

Flight Explorer is going to be released next Tuesday, March 25th. As a preview of the book, I will be posting my Jellaby story, "First Snow," in its entirety to the SFS. Two pages will be going up every weekday until the story is finished (to coincide with the release of Explorer, natch). As an anthology geared specifically for younger readers, I'm really hoping this book takes off.



Go! Read! Spread the word.

(my apologies for the ridiculous cross-posting.)

Paul Ford listened to all 763 crappy SXSW MP3s so you don't have to. It kind of boggles the mind, actually. Worth it just for his pithy commentary.

"Yelled choruses are very common. Singers should always have a reason before they yell; “our song is boring and lacks hooks” is not reason enough."

or

"Many people don’t write songs for an audience. They write songs for Gray’s Anatomy, for Zach Braff, and for Apple advertisements (Volkswagen if they’re not ambitious). If I was in a band I would write a slow song with an 808, reverb, and a female vocalist, and call that song “Zach Braff’s Eyes Reflected in My Nano.”"

(there are honestly a few things in there worth listening to, though. I found myself agreeing with his assessment of Creature. Catchy.)



PS. People looking forward to Flight Explorer should keep their eyes on the SFS next week. Crossover madness to ensue.

PPS. This is what I have been listening to lately.

I totally fall on the left-hand side of this diagram, including the "preferred painting pewter figures" (although in my day, it was actually lead), "TRS-80" (only very briefly though, before it was replaced with a mighty XT clone) and instead of "taught yourself Pascal," for me it was "taught yourself BASIC" -- oddly (and backwardly) enough -- Pascal came in university. Although to be fair, it was mostly self-taught since I slept through almost all my classes. Or was really drunk.

There's a very interesting discussion over at Newsarama about my use of the "f-bomb" in Jellaby -- in this case, the word "friggin'" (in fact, the offending page is actually archived online for all to read) -- and I think there's a pretty strong argument to be made for both sides of the issue, especially when dealing with younger readers, and it's one my editor and I struggled with as well before we made the decision to leave it in.

I don't think I'm coherent enough right now to write up a response to this, but I would love to eventually address my own reasoning and thought processes behind that decision. I'm just throwing the link out there to act as a reminder for me to address this at a later date (maybe after I finish Jellaby 2 which, admittedly, also has a line of dialogue that sits in similar territory).

I am VERY curious to see this movie: Street Kings. Nowhere is it mentioned that James Ellroy co-wrote the screenplay, which I would imagine would be a pretty huge name to be throwing around for a movie about corrupt cops and the L.A. underworld (Ellroy of course, wrote novels like L.A. Confidential and White Jazz, which I love to bits).

I'm made to wonder if this is a case of marketing presenting a completely different image to their target audience? I mean, even the original title of the movie ("The Night Watchman") has been clearly altered to make it more 'street.' At any rate, I am very curious to see how this turned out, despite the trailer.

I have queued up a ton of music as I head into the home stretch of Jellaby 2. Current musical standout: Random (which in a roundabout way I found through the Reformat the Planet documentary trailer). Pretty cool.

Random - "Micawber's Moan"

Panda-Z! I don't know what could possibly be more appealing to me. Cute animals and GIANT FIGHTING SUPER ROBOTS!!



(and the second episode is hilarious in that "let's repeat the same gag over and over again until it's funny" way that I love so much.)