Obelisk: A Monitor Review

(January 30, 2017)

I’ve had the same monitor in my stereo control system for many years. It’s a 20″ Dell that’s OK. It’s got an appropriate size for the living room. But lately it’s started having a high-pitched whine. If I play only punk music I can’t hear it at all, but otherwise it’s slightly annoying. So I … Continue reading Obelisk: A Monitor Review

WFC Great Britain: Ex Machina

(January 29, 2017)

Look! Now we can save money on the special effects budget! I thought I was going to enjoy this one, despite the many positive reviews it’s gotten. But it’s totally snoozeville with most plot developments signalled several hours before the movie even starts. The ending was fun, though. Ex Machina. Alex Garland. 2015. Great Britain. … Continue reading WFC Great Britain: Ex Machina

WFC Thailand: สุดเสน่หา

(January 28, 2017)

Long takes with a mostly distant, mostly stationary camera. It’s kinda hypnotic. Nothing much happens for minutes on end, just people talking about inconsequential things. Very stylish in its non-stylishness. Plot-wise, nothing is explained, and all the people seem to be telling half-truths to each other, and doing very odd things. But gradually things come … Continue reading WFC Thailand: สุดเสน่หา

WFC Georgia: გრძელი ნათელი დღეები

(January 28, 2017)

Very lively camera without being actually shakycam. It’s a fascinating film, although it becomes very apparent early on (in a Chekhovian sense) what’s going to happen. I had a hard time telling the characters apart. It would have helped if one of the girls had an eye patch or a wooden leg or something. In … Continue reading WFC Georgia: გრძელი ნათელი დღეები

My New Concert Blog

(January 18, 2017)

Half Page BD: An RT Investigation

(January 16, 2017)

A while ago I read the following in an article on Hooded Utilitarian: […] the revolution that really drove Heavy Metal was very distinctly French and had a lot more to do with the format of how French comics were serialized than with any kind of musical aesthetic, something that is largely transparent to Anglophones. … Continue reading Half Page BD: An RT Investigation

All Ears 2017: Day Three

(January 15, 2017)

 

All Ears 2017: Day Two

(January 14, 2017)

I’ve always loved the sound of a steam iron.

All Ears 2017: Day One

(January 13, 2017)

WFC Czech Republic: Transport z ráje

(January 9, 2017)

We spend so much time with the Nazi madmen that they turn into more interesting characters than the suffering and/or bemused Jews, which is perhaps not the effect the director was after. The actors are, in general, not very compelling, but the director is probably not going for naturalism, anyway? The mixture of interesting stylisation … Continue reading WFC Czech Republic: Transport z ráje

WFC Serbia: Otac na službenom putu

(January 7, 2017)

OK, the cocktail isn’t Serbian (but I googled for half an hour and didn’t find any recipes), and the film is Yugoslavian and is set in Sarajevo, but… Kinda quirky film. It won a Cannes award and is apparently well-regarded, but I was just bored silly. I didn’t find the performances very convincing, and the … Continue reading WFC Serbia: Otac na službenom putu

Fantagraphics Floppies Redux

(January 6, 2017)

Done! Perhaps I should just leave it at that, but I feel like bloviating a bit. (“NO!  REALLY?”) But at the end of this post, there’ll be an index. Feel free to skip to it if you’re the index reading kind of person. (The following should probably be read in the voice of Comic Book … Continue reading Fantagraphics Floppies Redux

FF2016: Love and Rockets

(January 5, 2017)

Love and Rockets volume 4 #1 by Jaime Hernandez and Gilbert Hernandez. So here we are: The final post in this blog series about Fantagraphics comic book comics. And eerily enough, we end with the same series we started with: Love and Rockets. I didn’t plan this, but the first issue in the new series … Continue reading FF2016: Love and Rockets

Vinyl Noise

(January 4, 2017)

I’m still buying a lot of music on vinyl. Not because it’s hip: I was buying vinyl long before hipsters did. (That’s code for “old”.) I had one record player for decades that was cheap, but pretty OK. But it had one major problem: There was a lot of deep rumble. Not horrible-sounding, but still… … Continue reading Vinyl Noise

FF1990: Fringe/Fauna

(January 4, 2017)

The Fauna Rebellion #1-3, Adventures on the Fringe #1-5 by R. L. Crabb. Fantagraphics had previously published The Natural Enquirer by 70s underground veteran R. L. Crabb. The Fauna Rebellion was apparently created in the mid-80s, but not published until 1990. It’s about animals staging a rebellion against humans. The joke above is typical for … Continue reading FF1990: Fringe/Fauna

FF2001: Fuzz & Pluck in Splitsville

(January 3, 2017)

Fuzz & Pluck in Splitsville #1-5 by Ted Stearn. The physical format of this series is reminiscent of La Perdida, published a few years earlier: It’s slightly smaller than standard US comic book size, is thick (most issues are 48 pages) and has stiff covers. We last saw our plucky pair in the Zero Zero … Continue reading FF2001: Fuzz & Pluck in Splitsville

FF1991: Perramus: Escape from the Past

(January 2, 2017)

Perramus: Escape from the Past by Alberto Breccia and Juan Sasturain. Hi! I had hoped to end this blog series about Fantagraphics last year, but having the scheduling slide is so very Fantagraphics, isn’t it? Only three more posts to go, though. Very early-90s Fantagraphics design courtesy of Dale Yarger. Anyway, strangely enough, I did … Continue reading FF1991: Perramus: Escape from the Past

More Fun With Google Geocharts

(January 1, 2017)

I’ve been using Google Geocharts to create nice world maps for my World of Films and Cocktail blogging project. It’s a pretty good service, but it doesn’t really have all the bells and whistles I need to customize the interactive version the way I want. But today I’m hung over, and I got down to … Continue reading More Fun With Google Geocharts