Author: larsmagne23
What’s up with all those equals signs anyway?
(February 2, 2026)For some reason or other, people have been posting a lot of excerpts from old emails on Twitter over the last few days. The most vital question everybody’s asking themselves is: What’s up with all those equals signs?! And that’s something I’m somewhat of an expert on. I mean, having written mail readers and stuff; … Continue reading What’s up with all those equals signs anyway?
IT”S DOING IT AGAIN!!
(February 1, 2026)It started doing this last month, and then I unplugged and replugged it a few times, and then it stopped doing it. But now it’s back. Raspberry Pis, man.
January Music
(February 1, 2026)Music I’ve bought in January. It’s not a lot, and most of what I’ve bought are box sets of old albums and stuff. TSK TSK The Chicks on Speed box is a pretty odd one. It’s not really a “best of” box, and it’s not really a retrospective, either. Instead it’s half newish songs, half … Continue reading January Music
January Books
(January 31, 2026)After I finished my Book Club 2025 blog series, I found that I missed blathering on about books I’ve read… so I thought I might perhaps start doing a “what I read last month” thing? We’ll see how it goes, because in January I managed the amazing feat of reading (almost) exclusively junk. And you’d … Continue reading January Books
Innovations in New Insult Technology
(January 30, 2026)So I was in an elevator with a brand new display that shows estimated time for arrival and stuff… and it also weighs people! So it ticks upwards… and landed on 100kg!!! THAT IS A LIE! MY HONOUR HAS BEEN BESMIRCHED! I DEMAND SATISFACTION, SIRRAH!!! I can’t really see this technology taking off…
Books on the Site for Magazines About Comics?
(January 25, 2026)I’ve shied away from putting books on kwakk.info, the site for comics research. Magazines seem, perhaps, less controversial for a site like this? I dunno. In any case, I’ve now downloaded a whole lot of books about comics — but only books that are at least 20 years old — and put them in their … Continue reading Books on the Site for Magazines About Comics?
There are too many plug standards
(January 23, 2026)Noooo! How can they do this to meeee… So, OK, backstory: Six years ago I bought this — it’s an e-ink wifi-enabled picture frame: I use it to display the temperature and the currently playing album. You know, absolutely vital things. But the last few months, it seems like it’s getting wonkier and wonkier. It’ll … Continue reading There are too many plug standards
Some Minor eplot Tweaks for CSV Files
(January 21, 2026)I finally took a peek at my outstanding issues for eplot on Microsoft Github again, and somebody asked the very reasonable question: Why can’t eplot just do the right thing, as if by magic, with files like this: Why not indeed? So I’ve tinkered a bit, and things should work pretty automatically now. That is, … Continue reading Some Minor eplot Tweaks for CSV Files
Random Comics
(January 18, 2026)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the last week or so. If there was one book that New York Review Comics was destined to print, it’s The Complete C Comics. It was originally published in the 60s, and is a collaboration between Joe Brainard and all the poets he used to hand around with. And … Continue reading Random Comics
Today In Scrapies News: Attack of Triplicate Scraper Man
(January 17, 2026)Woke up this morning Looked at the blog stats It was twice what is normal What’s up with that It’s a new scraper of some kind — it helpfully uses the User-Agent Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/139.0.0.0 Safari/537.36, which is… apparently… a real browser? Google gives me conflicting … Continue reading Today In Scrapies News: Attack of Triplicate Scraper Man
Based on this exciting list of ingredients, what do you think the product is?
(January 16, 2026)Mmmm… waxy corn starch… But, yes, exactly: It’s a Melona Banana Flavoured Ice Bar: I’m impressed both by how they managed to use, at the same time, all emulsifiers that exist, and also somehow are using actual banana, but calls the product “banana flavoured”. I tried one now, and it was tasty — I’m shocked. … Continue reading Based on this exciting list of ingredients, what do you think the product is?
Comics Daze
(January 15, 2026)It’s been way too long since I read some new comics! (I mean, I’ve been reading old comics for the Comico blog, but that’s not the same…) This Mortal Coil: It’ll End In Tears 13:22: 2x by Chris Reynolds (Dark & Golden Books) I got this from here — it’s a new company (?) that’s … Continue reading Comics Daze
New comics read-through: Comico Complete
(January 12, 2026)Hey, I started another one of my comics publisher read-throughs today: Comico Complete. Head on over there for your comics reading needs.
“Graphic design is my passion”
(January 9, 2026)Are LLMs finally becoming actually useful for… stuff?
(January 9, 2026)Yes, of course, LLMs are pretty good at programming now, but I’m talking about being able to ask them stuff in general. My use case is the Emacs book handling package — I want to be able to check whether there’s any books from an author I’ve missed. This is an unexpectedly hard thing to … Continue reading Are LLMs finally becoming actually useful for… stuff?
Somewhat Bemusing Similes (Part IX)
(January 8, 2026)So … is her pleasantness like the varnish over the hard cynicism oak veneer, and then there’s an (unstated) softer emotional core that’s akin to the plywood? Or is the hard shell of cynicism like the soft plywood, and the pleasantness is hard like the oak veneer? OR WHAT!?!
I may have fallen slightly behind on my magazine reading
(January 6, 2026)Are all books on Goodreads 3.59?
(January 5, 2026)Whenever I look up a book on Goodreads, it feels like I see the same number every time. No matter whether the book was awful or awesome, the Goodreads rating apparently remains stubbornly the same. Or is that just my memory playing tricks on me? I read a lot of books this year, and I … Continue reading Are all books on Goodreads 3.59?
Book Club 2025 Redux
(January 3, 2026)When I started the Book Club 2025 blog series last January, I didn’t really mean to read so many books this year. But it turns out that having a venue to bloviate about what I’d just read somehow made reading books more compelling? It’s the (somewhat) performative aspect of it all, too — not that … Continue reading Book Club 2025 Redux
The Best Comics of 2025
(January 1, 2026)It’s been an OK year for comics? It hasn’t been the best, though — in December, I usually go through best-of lists like The Comics Journal’s to see everything I’ve missed, and there were like … five? … books there that I hadn’t read and sounded interesting (so I’ve ordered them now). That’s almost nothing … Continue reading The Best Comics of 2025
December Music
(January 1, 2026)Music I’ve bought in December. Hey, that’s a lot of albums (and singles)… However, this month I’ve been listening mostly to old music for some reason or other. That is, I’ve been listening chronologically to albums starting in 1967 and working my way to 1980. So I’ve barely listened to these new albums at all. … Continue reading December Music
Book Club 2025: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
(December 30, 2025)I’ve read this before, of course, and wasn’t there a movie? I had totally forgotten who the murderer was, though. While reading this, I was thinking of a different lots-of-people-dying movie… set in a castle or something? Where the first guy to “die” was the culprit. Hm… Yes! Murder By Death! Must be that one. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Book Club 2025: Death and the Princess by Robert Barnard
(December 29, 2025)After the fairly incompetent mystery I read last, I wanted something more reliable, and Barnard is usually reliable. But this isn’t quite satisfactory. Barnard is quite varied in scenery and plot, but this is pretty unusual even for him. It’s like his agent told him to write a mystery set in royal circles, and he … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Death and the Princess by Robert Barnard
Search Ranking Tweaks on kwakk.info
(December 28, 2025)The search engine on kwakk.info (the comics research site) uses a very simple ranking algorithm. For instance, if you want to see if anybody has talked about Batman in conjunction with (Dirty) Harry, you might lazily type batman harry… but then the first four hits don’t really talk about that. That’s because the search engine … Continue reading Search Ranking Tweaks on kwakk.info
Book Club 2025: A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
(December 28, 2025)I was quite impressed with the first book in this series. I mean, it was utterly stupid, but it was extremely entertaining. And so I read the second book. And… it’s not good. The first book was nice in that it was all investigation all the time, but there’s a whole lot less plot in … Continue reading Book Club 2025: A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
My Ten Most Popular Blog Posts in 2025
(December 27, 2025)Hey, I’ve got WordPress blog statistics in Emacs now, so I can whip up one of these posts like *snap*. Perhaps there’s something interesting here… Some caveats: Web stats are just hard, and they’re getting more and more useless. Even if you try to use old-fashioned best practices in filtering out non-human traffic (i.e., register … Continue reading My Ten Most Popular Blog Posts in 2025
Book Club 2025: Kykelipi by Jan Erik Vold
(December 26, 2025)This is another Lanterne book — I happened upon this while looking for the previous book (The Birds) and thought “yay”. Jan Erik Vold is Norway’s most famous poet, and this is a fantastic book. His poems are usually funny, absurd, tending towards aphorisms, but can take sudden turns towards being affecting and moving. Or … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Kykelipi by Jan Erik Vold
Book Club 2025: Fuglane by Tarjei Vesaas
(December 25, 2025)Isn’t that a great cover? This is an early 60s pocketbook edition (but my printing is from 1974) — part of a series of cheap but stylish editions that I’ve been collecting for a while. And that’s one reason I read this book now: I was thinking that I should start actually reading these books … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Fuglane by Tarjei Vesaas
Book Club 2025: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
(December 25, 2025)So why am I reading this book about athletic wear, anyway… I thought it was because I saw that Lois Bujold recommended it, but that seems to be a fake memory. I have no idea! Did somebody else recommend this? The name is awfully misleading, though. It’s a mystery/fantasy novel, and it’s written in a … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
Santa brought a Lale Westvind print!
(December 24, 2025)(Confession time: I thought it was “Westwind” until I double checked just now.)
Is it a good sign when your kitchen clock starts doing this?
(December 24, 2025)It’s a Pi Zero 2 with an HDMI screen, so either… the Pi has gone bad, or the screen has. Oh, well, I foresee some debugging in my future. [Update some hours later: I pulled the plug on it a few times, and now it works perfectly again. *sigh* That’s really the Raspberry Pi Experience … Continue reading Is it a good sign when your kitchen clock starts doing this?
Book Club 2025: The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
(December 23, 2025)This is a Miss Marple book, so I’ve both read it before (at least twice) and probably seen a dozen adaptations of, but it didn’t seem that familiar to me, anyway, so I gave it a go. But as soon as I started reading, I immediately remembered the central gag of the story. It’s still … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
Book Club 2025: Blue Heaven by Joe Keenan
(December 22, 2025)What a great cover by Daniel Torres. I’m still feeling under the weather, so I wanted something fun and easy to read. And so I reached for Blue Heaven, which I’ve read before (although probably thirty years ago) and remember as being just the thing. And it is and it isn’t. As the cover copy … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Blue Heaven by Joe Keenan
Book Club 2025: Crooked House by Agatha Christie
(December 21, 2025)I wasn’t going to re-read another Christie, but I didn’t really feel up to doing anything much, so here we are. I didn’t remember the plot of this at all, and it’s a doozy. While reading, I was going through all permutations of who the killer could be — from an evidentiary point of view, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Crooked House by Agatha Christie
Book Club 2025: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
(December 20, 2025)Oops! I read another one of these novellas. I hadn’t really meant to, but… Like the previous ones, I found this one to be really entertaining. But it would probably have been better to have a few months between reading these “chapters” — it reads like a serial, and you need some time between episodes. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
Book Club 2025: Make Out With Murder by Lawrence Block
(December 19, 2025)A few months ago, I 86’d a whole bunch of books by Lawrence Block — so what am I doing with a new one now? Well, those books were from his really awful action/thriller series, but while perusing his bibliography, I saw that there was one final mystery series of his I hadn’t tried yet … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Make Out With Murder by Lawrence Block
Book Club 2025: 9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off by Raymond Biesinger
(December 18, 2025)“Creatives”? Eurgh!!! Full disclosure: I bought this book by mistake. It’s published by Drawn & Quarterly, so I assumed it would be comics. But instead it’s a book about what it says on the tin, written by a graphical designer that’s unknown to me. The writing’s OK, though — it’s pretty entertaining and it has … Continue reading Book Club 2025: 9 Times My Work Has Been Ripped Off by Raymond Biesinger
Book Club 2025: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
(December 18, 2025)Novellas used to be a big thing in science fiction. Either published separately in small paperbacks or as “doubles”. But then they went out of fashion — in the 80s and particularly in the 90s, you couldn’t publish any science fiction book unless it was 300 pages, minimum. That’s changed again over the past decade … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
Book Club 2025: Your Name Here by Helen DeWitt and Ilya Gridneff
(December 17, 2025)I only discovered Helen DeWitt this year, but I hugely enjoyed The English Understand Wool and The Last Samurai, so when I read that this book was being published — and that it was going to be a bit of a brick — I was very excited. And so were people on Twitter. I try … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Your Name Here by Helen DeWitt and Ilya Gridneff
Book Club 2025: Sunday’s Child by Edward O. Phillips
(December 15, 2025)I haven’t heard of this author before, but I like the “misadventure” on the cover… I rarely talk about plot, because talking about plot is boring, but I guess I have to this time: I thought this would be a mystery, but instead it’s about a guy who kills a hustler (in self defence) and … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Sunday’s Child by Edward O. Phillips
Book Club 2025: Forage Like A Bear by Chris Fink
(December 14, 2025)This is a small book illustrated by John Porcellino — and I think that’s how I ended up with this? All the texts in this book are structured like this — they’re a page and a half, and then there’s an illustration by Porcellino. And it works — it’s a very pleasant read indeed. It … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Forage Like A Bear by Chris Fink
Random Comics
(December 14, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the last week. Or rather… that I attempted to read — I bounced on *counts on fingers* four of these seven books, which is, like, a lot for me. I’ve never heard of these creators before — Pierre Jean Bichose and Zimmermann — but this album apparently won some … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: The Descent of Alette by Alice Notley
(December 14, 2025)I think I bought this because I read a poem by Notley in The Paris Review? Huh, it’s not often you read a note at the start of a poetry collection giving a user’s manual… Do the poems really need that? OH MY GOD I guess they do, sort of, but once you get used … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Descent of Alette by Alice Notley
Book Club 2025: Ikkje by Jan Erik Vold and Steffen Kverneland
(December 13, 2025)I think I picked this up at a sale a couple years ago? This is a very shiny book — not only the cover, but the interior pages as well. It’s really good, of course. Jan Erik Vold is perhaps the most important Norwegian poet, and the illustrations from Kverneland work well. Illustrating poetry isn’t … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Ikkje by Jan Erik Vold and Steffen Kverneland
Book Club 2025: The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
(December 12, 2025)I have no idea why I bought this book a couple years ago — I’ve read two books by Muriel Spark before, but they haven’t really inspired me to go all in… Perhaps I read a review of the book somewhere? Or something? The physical copy here isn’t very inspiring. It feels more like a … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
Even More Catalogues & Zines
(December 11, 2025)kwakk.info has been carrying Previews catalogues for some time now. The usefulness of these things can be discussed (which is why they’re not included in the /all/ search), but having this data can sometimes be useful. (Say you’re doing research of an artist and you see that the last time they’re mentioned is doing an … Continue reading Even More Catalogues & Zines
The Bronzening
(December 11, 2025)I bought an old CD from the Giorno Poetry Systems label after reading an article about it (probably in The Wire). Look at the bronzing! That’s the most extreme I’ve seen. But it still plays fine, so there you go. And it has Gary Panter artwork! While I’m here I can display some more warez … Continue reading The Bronzening
The Best Albums of 2025
(December 11, 2025)By using a scientific method (i.e., having Emacs count which albums I’ve listened to most this year), I can officially announce that these are the best albums of 2025, officially. In ranked official order, they are: Richard Dawson End of the Middle I discovered Richard Dawson this year, and I’ve been absolutely flabbergasted at how … Continue reading The Best Albums of 2025
Book Club 2025: Helen by Georgette Heyer
(December 9, 2025)This was apparently published without a dustcover? This edition is from 1975, so that’s kinda unusual, isn’t it? Anyway, this is one of those dreaded “serious” novels Georgette Heyer tried to write. Heyer is, of course, deservedly famous for writing Regency romances — I guess she’s commonly held to have invented the genre? I’ve read … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Helen by Georgette Heyer
Comics Daze
(December 9, 2025)Hey, up bright and early today, so let’s read some comics. It may be a short daze, though, as I have to run some errands later… we’ll see… it’s also supposed to be pouring later, so perhaps that’ll put an, er, dampener on the Will To Errands. Richard Dawson: End of the Middle 06:15: Mini … Continue reading Comics Daze
I don’t think anybody actually tries to actually sell actual comics, actually
(December 8, 2025)I’ve tinkered around a bit with Goshenite, which I use to pre-order American comics. I like pre-ordering, because then there’s less of a chance of me buying the same thing over and over again — I’ve got the memory retention skills of an easily distracted squirrel. (This is for mainstreamey comics only — the stuff … Continue reading I don’t think anybody actually tries to actually sell actual comics, actually
I resemble that remark
(December 7, 2025)Book Club 2025: The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry
(December 7, 2025)I’ve read this book before — probably back in the 90s? I have another edition: But I bought this new edition, because it looked really handsome. But I didn’t re-read it when I got the new edition back in 2017. Now’s the time. And it’s as fantastic as I remembered. It’s brimming over with emotion … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Good Times Are Killing Me by Lynda Barry
Book Club 2025: The Gob by Samuel Hasler
(December 6, 2025)Wow, that’s a reflective cover… Anyway, back in 2017, I bought a whole bunch of stuff from Landfill Editions — I’d been really impressed by some stuff they’d published, like Mould Map 3. So I didn’t know anything about this book, and I ended up not reading it at the time. But no time like … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Gob by Samuel Hasler
Comics Daze
(December 6, 2025)It’s been months since I had a comics reading day (I mean night; my sleeping patterns are Not OK at the moment), and I’ve got stacks to read. But in a way it’s surprising that there’s not more? I’ve read nothing about this on whatever passes for news in comics circles these days, but it … Continue reading Comics Daze
Random Comics
(December 5, 2025)I’ve gotten so far behind on my comics reading. I gotta find a few days to Daze soon, man. But at least I got some comics read the past couple weeks. The new book from Tommi Parrish is a collection of bits and bobs from the past couple decades or something. Some of them have … Continue reading Random Comics
“Chocolate Sponge Cake with Cram Filling”
(December 4, 2025)I wonder whether the “Like Home” logo references the “we have X at home” meme… Anyway, these “like home” off-brand Twinkies were even worse than real Twinkies. Mmm… cram filling…
Book Club 2025: Doggerland by Agnes Ravatn
(December 4, 2025)I’ve always liked Ravatn’s writing (very amusing essays and stuff), but I’ve not been entirely convinced by her novels — but apparently I’m the only one; they’ve all been great commercial successes, and have won awards and gotten very positive reviews and stuff. So… I approached this book with some trepidation, but cautiously optimistic. And … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Doggerland by Agnes Ravatn
Book Club 2025: Diamanter og rust by Anne Holt
(December 3, 2025)I’m reading yet another mystery, but this one is brand new. And it’s fun — it’s really original, and it wasn’t at all clear where anything was even leading until halfway through. But then… OK, spoiler time. Don’t read anything more if you’re going to read this book. This book features a character with last … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Diamanter og rust by Anne Holt
Book Club 2025: At Death’s Door by Robert Barnard
(December 2, 2025)Yes, another old mystery. As is common with Barnard, we get the murder smack dab in the middle of the book, so there’s plenty of time to get to know the suspects (and we get the added mystery of who’s going to be killed). It works well here — there’s a varied bunch of characters, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: At Death’s Door by Robert Barnard
November Music
(December 2, 2025)Music I’ve bought in November. Didn’t really buy much… let’s see… I finally scored a copy of Tujiko Noriko’s first album after looking for one for years. I bought it from somebody in Japan, so it had the added attraction of coming wrapped in six layers of packaging, and included a thank-you card. The Japanese … Continue reading November Music
Book Club 2025: Murder Is Easy by Agatha Christie
(December 1, 2025)It’s not easy to find an Agatha Christie book to re-read — even though it’s been a couple decades since I read most of them, the plots of many of them are still pretty clear in my head. But then again, the most famous of them have been made into TV series, movies and radio … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Murder Is Easy by Agatha Christie
Book Club 2025: They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie
(November 30, 2025)About 20 years ago, I remembered that I’d quite liked Agatha Christie’s mysteries when I was a child, so I decided to read them all chronologically. Which took about ten years, since I only did so while either being hung over or having a cold or the like. And then afterwards I watched the Joan … Continue reading Book Club 2025: They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie
Book Club 2025: Reel Murder by Marian Babson
(November 29, 2025)I’ve read this book before, and I know that I have it here somewhere, but I just can’t find it. So I downloaded an ebook from Anna’s Archive, which turned out to be a much better edition than most ebooks — few typos and almost no typographical errors. The plot is totally preposterous, but this … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Reel Murder by Marian Babson
Book Club 2025: Against a Dark Background by Iain M. Banks
(November 29, 2025)I started reading Iain M. Banks relatively late — I probably read my first one around 2010, and then gulped down a few until I realised they were a limited resource. (Him being dead and all.) So I’ve been portioning them out, and I’ve finally come to the final book (which I’ve had since 2013). … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Against a Dark Background by Iain M. Banks
New Zine Orientations
(November 27, 2025)I’ve been fiddling around with how kwakk.info deals with vertical pages. The vast majority of magazine and zine pages are oriented “correctly”, of course, so this is a minor problem — but sometimes pages are printed vertically, and then you have to turn your laptop sideways to read those pages, which isn’t er ideal. The … Continue reading New Zine Orientations
Stuff Mixtape #429
(November 26, 2025)76% Confidence
(November 26, 2025)I’ve been looking at issues with page rotation with the LLM-based OCR thing, so I’ve been staring at the output a bit more. And I found the puzzling text above, which… er… didn’t seem likely? Anyway, the polygon points to this text: Yes, it’s very low res, and it’s was set at a 90 degree … Continue reading 76% Confidence
Low WAF: Emacs & IMDB, Once Again
(November 25, 2025)The other day, I was happily ripping a new bunch of DVDs and blu rays that had arrived (so that I can actually watch them). Afterwards I pointed Emacs at the new directories to add metadata semi-automatically… only to find that the computer just said “no”. Well, the code works by scraping imdb.com, and the … Continue reading Low WAF: Emacs & IMDB, Once Again
Book Club 2025: Not Me by Eileen Myles
(November 22, 2025)I started reading Eileen Myles in 2019 — I’m not quite sure how I happened onto the book, but the first one I read was Chelsea Girls (which I read on my phone), and then I got some poetry collections (which I also read on my phone). I suspect that I may just have found … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Not Me by Eileen Myles
Random Comics
(November 21, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the past… three weeks? Yes, I’ve really been slacking on my comics reading. I’m learning French, so I’ve been buying masses of French comics… and then not actually reading them, because it’s hard. But I thought I should get my fesses in a gear and just get into it. … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: A Murder in Mayfair by Robert Barnard
(November 21, 2025)What a horrible cover design! Anyway, as usual with Barnard, this is a somewhat unusual mystery. And unusually for Barnard, he keeps the bloviating under control, so things meander along quite nicely. The solution to the mystery, though, leaves more than a bit to be desired. It’s not a cheat, exactly, but… just not terribly … Continue reading Book Club 2025: A Murder in Mayfair by Robert Barnard
Book Club 2025: A Scandal in Belgravia by Robert Barnard
(November 19, 2025)What a horrible cover design! I’ve read this before, but it’s been decades. I remember nothing about this except that I think it’s one of the better Barnard books? But once I started reading it, I realised that it has the best twist of any Barnard books. Barnard always has a twist of some kind, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: A Scandal in Belgravia by Robert Barnard
Book Club 2025: The Cat Next Door by Marian Babson
(November 18, 2025)Wow, that’s a kinda passive-aggressive pull quote for the cover… “Cat lovers”, “prolific” and “cozy”. I think the subtext here is that no sane people would ever read this kind of churned-out rubbish. “Enjoyable”. Wow. High praise indeed. Anyway, I wanted to read something that’s easy on the brains, once again, so here we are. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Cat Next Door by Marian Babson
Book Club 2025: The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure by Storm Constantine
(November 17, 2025)When I grow bored of an author, I have a tendency to buy one more book by them. This usually happens when I’m at a sale in a book shop, and I go “oh, well, it’s cheap; perhaps…” So this is classic — I’d been kinda into Storm Constantine in the late 90s (as was … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure by Storm Constantine
My New Fashion Blog
(November 13, 2025)The Love & Rockets #24 t-shirt is finally available again (without the Fantagraphics logo). Still, I wish they’d do a version in the same colour scheme as this print… And I also got a Rory Blank t-shirt with a very important public service message.
New Mark Beyer Print
(November 12, 2025)Look what I got! A silkscreen from Le dernier cri — and you can get a copy here. Mark Beyer is apparently in the hospital at the moment, so they’re printing stuff to help financing that… (Also see this Facebook group for other ways to support him.)
I forgot to switch on advanced searches on kwakk.info
(November 11, 2025)The other day, I was wondering whether there was a way to improve the search quality on kwakk.info, the comics fanzine search engine. And it turns out that the search engine I’m using in the background, Xapian, has a lot of operators like NEAR and ADJ that sound interesting, but they don’t work on kwakk.info. … Continue reading I forgot to switch on advanced searches on kwakk.info
Book Club 2025: Meat Is Murder by Joe Pernice
(November 11, 2025)Back in 2009, I sorta finally became aware of all of these 33⅓ books, and I went “ooh, I want that one, and that one, and that one”, and before you knew it, I had a whole stack of them. And then I started reading. Some of them are really good. Drew Daniel’s book on … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Meat Is Murder by Joe Pernice
Comics Fanzines OCR Reloaded Redone
(November 10, 2025)The GPU-assisted OCR run for kwakk.info has now finished — it took about three weeks to chew through 10,000 fanzine/magazine issues. So what are the results? Well, I found that sections with no text would often end up with hallucinated kanji. (Because LLM.) It doesn’t really matter much — you wouldn’t be searching for these … Continue reading Comics Fanzines OCR Reloaded Redone
Book Club 2025: Serier för vuxna by Robert Aman
(November 10, 2025)I’ve been dipping into this book now and then over the past month or so. It’s is a book about a Swedish 80s comics publisher. The publisher was called Epix, and published a bewildering array of anthologies with names like Pox, Maxx and Tung Metall. They mostly reprinted stuff from 70s and 80s French/Italian/Spanish anthologies, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Serier för vuxna by Robert Aman
Book Club 2025: Alternatives to Sex by Stephen McCauley
(November 9, 2025)I bought this around 2008, but then never read it. (No particular reason — I buy, like, er, 10% more books than I have time to read, so some inevitably have to remain on the shelves.) It’s pretty good? I like the formless quality it has — so many books I read are very plot … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Alternatives to Sex by Stephen McCauley
Book Club 2025: Det som aldri skjer by Anne Holt
(November 8, 2025)Hey, another mystery. Yes, it’s been that kind of week. This book is almost a parody of these kinds of books. It’s a mystery where the two protagonists both have deep trauma backgrounds, and the murders are over-the-top gruesome. But worst of all is that apparently Holt must have read How To Write A Damn … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Det som aldri skjer by Anne Holt
Book Club 2025: Three at Wolfe’s Door by Rex Stout
(November 8, 2025)I’ve been reading this book on my phone while waiting for things over the past month or so. So not very concentrated reading but… … this book really isn’t very good, is it? It’s a collection of three short stories, and while I haven’t read many books by Rex Stout, the condensed form seems to … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Three at Wolfe’s Door by Rex Stout
Book Club 2025: To Catch a Cat by Marian Babson
(November 6, 2025)I wanted to read something easy on the branes; something light and fluffy, so surely a mystery with a cat on the cover would be the thing. But no — this is a pretty joyless trudge. It’s not really a mystery — it’s more of a thriller. It’s partly told from the point of view … Continue reading Book Club 2025: To Catch a Cat by Marian Babson
Book Club 2025: Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon
(November 5, 2025)It feels like such an unexpected gift to have a new Pynchon book all of a sudden. I mean, it’s twelve years since the previous one, and they were coming at a pretty good clip for a while back then. And if there one author I’m not worried about succumbing to Old Male Author Syndrome, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon
PCIe x4 v x16: The OCR GPU fight is on
(November 3, 2025)So, I was randomly looking at the web page for the motherboard I’m using in the machine that I’m doing GPU-based OCR on (for the research site for magazines about comics). And… I started wondering why one of the slots was marked with a metallic border. “Is it better because it’s closer to the CPU?”, … Continue reading PCIe x4 v x16: The OCR GPU fight is on
*groan*
(November 3, 2025)October Music
(November 2, 2025)Music I’ve bought in October. Hey, that’s a lot of music all of a sudden — and most of it arrived a couple days ago, so I’ve only listened to most of these just a single time. I’m using a forwarding service so things have a tendency to arrive all at once… Xmas in October. … Continue reading October Music
Random Comics
(October 31, 2025)Hey, I read some comics. It’s been a couple of weeks, but I finally got comics reading again the past few days. Let’s see what’s what. I’ve read a couple of Cameron Arthur’s comics before, and I’ve found them really intriguing, so it’s fun to see that this Hidden Islands collection seems to have gotten … Continue reading Random Comics
Punk
(October 31, 2025)Book Club 2025: Beebo Brinker by Ann Bannon
(October 30, 2025)I bought this, like, 20 years ago, because it’s one of those rediscovered masterpieces, and they can be interesting. And then I didn’t read it, because it’s one of those rediscovered masterpieces, and those usually aren’t very good. But it’s not bad. I haven’t read any of the other books in this series by Ann … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Beebo Brinker by Ann Bannon
Bang
(October 30, 2025)Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #10
(October 30, 2025)This is the earliest issue of the Paris Review that I’ve read. The early issues are hard to come by (and expensive if you find them), but I got this one pretty reasonably. And… I’m afraid I have to report that it’s not very good. I guess they didn’t have enough CIA funding at this … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #10
Book Club 2025: Tangled Up in Blue by Joan D. Vinge
(October 27, 2025)I discovered first after I’d started reading this that this book is the fourth in a series (that started with The Snow Queen). But it’s a prequel of sorts, apparently, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, I thought… … but it is. It reads like one of those “let me fill in … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Tangled Up in Blue by Joan D. Vinge
Book Club 2025: Våkner om natten og vil noe annet by Geir Gulliksen
(October 26, 2025)I bought this book at a sale around 2003, I think. I’ve never read anything else by Gulliksen, but I’d seen his name in the papers, and I liked both the cover and the title (which means something like “Wakes at night and wants something else”), so I snapped it up. I mean, it was … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Våkner om natten og vil noe annet by Geir Gulliksen
You can talk with Falstaff now?!
(October 26, 2025)Censorship!!! It’s an outrage!
Book Club 2025: Vurt by Jeff Noon
(October 25, 2025)I remember Jeff Noon being hot shit in the 90s — if I remember correctly, there were a whole bunch of die-hard fans on rec.arts.sf.written? Hm. In any case, I stumbled upon two of his books in the 90s at a different sales (Pollen and this one). And I think I started to read this, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Vurt by Jeff Noon
Book Club 2025: Strachey’s Folly by Richard Stevenson
(October 25, 2025)This is the sixth Stevenson book I’ve read this year, and it’s also the final one for me, I think. The first couple books were really witty (tons of repartee) and had fun and convoluted mysteries. But there’s been a downward trajectory on both parts, and with this one, there’s not much left to enjoy. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Strachey’s Folly by Richard Stevenson
10,000 Magazines About Comics
(October 24, 2025)*gasp* The number of digits went up! The vast majority of the magazines and fanzines about comics on kwakk.info are sourced from various, er, sources out there, but I was idly wondering a couple weeks ago whether it would be cheap to buy some of these magazines in bulk from ebay and do some scanning … Continue reading 10,000 Magazines About Comics
Record Label Samplers: This Is Reggae Music
(October 22, 2025)OK, OK, this is the final post in this blog series for sure, and I mean it this time. Is this a record label sampler? Well, yes and no. As far as I can tell, all the tracks here had been previously released by Island Records, and most of these acts were signed to Island … Continue reading Record Label Samplers: This Is Reggae Music
Record Label Samplers: A1 Raster-Noton Archiv 1
(October 21, 2025)The late 90s/early 00s witnessed the breakthrough of the minimal electronic/glitch/clicks+cuts genre. Well, for some values of “breakthrough”: I think you had a perfume ad that used music by Oval? And that was probably it, commercially. But! Raster-Noton (along with Touch) dropped a lot of music associated with the genre, and this record sampler almost … Continue reading Record Label Samplers: A1 Raster-Noton Archiv 1
Book Club 2025: Katten stryker seg inntil oss by Kjersti Ericsson
(October 21, 2025)This is a short chapbook — just 44 pages. I’ve read at least one of Ericsson’s poetry collections before, and I remember it being quite good? I bought this extremely cheap at a sale in the late 90s, though, and never got around to reading it. That’s what happens with books I buy on sale, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Katten stryker seg inntil oss by Kjersti Ericsson
Book Club 2025: Frestelsernas berg by Jonas Gardell
(October 21, 2025)I bought this at a sale in the late 90s, and of course I never read it. Until now. Jonas Gardell is a Swedish… er… stand up comic? Who perhaps pioneered that “stand up, but tells horrible stories” thing that became a bigger thing a few years back, so I guess he was a pioneer. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Frestelsernas berg by Jonas Gardell
A web duhsigner’s work is never done
(October 20, 2025)kwakk.info (the web site for comics research) has always supported phrase searches, but it’s been really sloppy in how it marks the matches on the screen. (See above.) Because I’m lazy. But today I finally pulled myself together and spent an hour on this, and tada: So many details… And speaking of details, while I … Continue reading A web duhsigner’s work is never done
Book Club 2025: A Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
(October 20, 2025)I bought this a couple years ago — I was in New York and thought it’d be fun to go down to Coney Island and read this book. Such conceptual! So I went to the Strand and got a copy and then we went down there, and… I kinda forgot to read it. And… reading … Continue reading Book Club 2025: A Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Record Label Samplers: A Christmas Record
(October 20, 2025)OK, we’re getting towards the end of this blog series — and it’s a record label sampler that’s also a themed compilation, so including this album in this blog series is cheating a bit. But! It has virtually everybody who was signed to Ze Records at the time, and it doesn’t have any “external” artists, … Continue reading Record Label Samplers: A Christmas Record
Book Club 2025: Faces in the Water by Janet Frame
(October 20, 2025)Back in the 90s, Janet Frame had a real moment — Jane Campion made a successful movie (An Angel at My Table) based on Frame’s autobiography, and then Campion’s The Piano won a few Oscars, which together (I think) led to a rediscovery of Frame’s novels. I think I saw several of them being translated … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Faces in the Water by Janet Frame
Record Label Samplers: Tigerbeat6 Inc.
(October 19, 2025)This is something of a cheat. Because this CD is something a bit more than a label sampler — it’s mostly acts from the Tigerbeat6 label, but there’s also other random people. And I’ve tried to only feature label samplers that work as albums — that are more than just a collection of random tracks, … Continue reading Record Label Samplers: Tigerbeat6 Inc.
Book Club 2025: Uncle Fred in the Springtime by P. G. Wodehouse
(October 19, 2025)I thought it was time for another Wodehouse book… Have I mentioned how much I like the Everyman edition series? The format, the typography, the paper, the binding — everything is perfect. Except the artwork on the dust covers. It’s all by somebody called Andrzej Klimowski, and they’re all naff. They mostly look pretty slapdash … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Uncle Fred in the Springtime by P. G. Wodehouse
Record Label Samplers: Whispers From The Forests, Screams From The Mountains
(October 18, 2025)A true sampler, given away with an issue of The Wire. But it’s a record labels sampler — there are three labels represented: Häpna, Ideal Recordings and Kning Disk. It starts off with a fun little ditty by Hans Appelqvist, and then gives us a brilliant Hammond organ epic from Eric Malmberg, and I’m sold. … Continue reading Record Label Samplers: Whispers From The Forests, Screams From The Mountains
Record Label Samplers: Oscarsongs
(October 17, 2025)Oscarson is a small but intriguing record label. In addition to being on Bandcamp and stuff, they release most (all?) of their things in physical format with sometimes elaborate packaging — odd shapes, die cuts, etc etc. So I was vaguely aware of them, and had bought a couple of things, and then they released … Continue reading Record Label Samplers: Oscarsongs
I bought a GPU to do OCR
(October 17, 2025)I bought a GPU! A big one! This blog post is about that. So… like, a few years ago (oh, 2018; time flies) I wanted to put together a thing to do research into comics, and since the comics I was most interested in were from the 80s, all articles/interviews/etc were nowhere to be found … Continue reading I bought a GPU to do OCR
Record Label Samplers: Zang Tumb Tuum Sampled
(October 16, 2025)This is a delightfully odd sampler from the delightfully odd mid-80s record label Zang Tumb Tuum. Yes, they of Frankie Goes To Hollywood. So you’d expect to find Relax here, right? Nope, we get a non-album track called Disneyland, and then a Bruce Springsteen cover. We have a couple of “spoken word” interludes, which is … Continue reading Record Label Samplers: Zang Tumb Tuum Sampled
Destroy All Comics
(October 16, 2025)I don’t quite remember where, but I was reminded recently that Jeff Levine’s Destroy All Comics was a magazine that existed back in the 90s. And I had almost all the issues! So I got the missing one from ebay, and now I’ve scanned them and put them on kwakk.info. It’s a pretty interesting magazine… … Continue reading Destroy All Comics
Random Comics
(October 16, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the last month or so. Finally Fantagraphics has reached the final Carl Barks volume, and it’s the first one. Or rather, this collects the very earliest Barks Duck material, and Fantagraphics wisely kept that as the last volume to be published, because it’s by far the weakest material. But … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: Du er hjemme nå by Per Petterson
(October 16, 2025)I’m usually so slow getting to new books — it feels like I’m always years behind, somehow. Or centuries. But this one is new! So new that there isn’t an English translation yet, I think? Just a couple weeks old… And it’s really good. It not as immediate as, for instance, Out Stealing Horses, but … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Du er hjemme nå by Per Petterson
Record Label Samplers: Erased Tapes: 1 + 1 = X
(October 15, 2025)This label sampler works well as a label sampler. At least it did for me — I wasn’t really aware of Erased Tapes as an entity before I got this album. I had bought stuff from a number of the people featured here — David Allred, Peter Broderick, Nils Frahm etc — but I had … Continue reading Record Label Samplers: Erased Tapes: 1 + 1 = X
Book Club 2025: Simple Justice by John Morgan Wilson
(October 14, 2025)I was going to read something else, but then I decided I wanted to read some junk instead, so here we are. I was ready to ditch this book after the first three pages — they seem pretty overwrought and overwritten. But then the book evened out and before I knew it I was up … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Simple Justice by John Morgan Wilson
Record Label Samplers: Lonely is an Eyesore
(October 14, 2025)Including this album in this blog series is almost a cheat. Yes, it is indeed a record label sampler in that all the tracks are from bands that were signed to the label at the time, and it includes all the bands that were signed to the label at that time. But all the tracks … Continue reading Record Label Samplers: Lonely is an Eyesore
Don’t you think?
(October 14, 2025)Book Club 2025: The Hills Have Spies by Mercedes Lackey
(October 13, 2025)I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather (some virus? something?), so I went with this book. Back in my 20s, I guess I was a Mercedes Lackey fan. I mean, I understood that she wasn’t what you’d call a “good author”, but I found the books to be pretty entertaining. I mean, some of … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Hills Have Spies by Mercedes Lackey
Record Label Samplers: PC Music Volume 1
(October 13, 2025)I was late to the PC Music party, but I’ve got a good excuse: I’m old. But the first time I heard this label sampler (which was in 2020, I think?), my jaw dropped to the floor. How was it possible to cram this much abrasive madness into a pop record? Because indeed, PC Music … Continue reading Record Label Samplers: PC Music Volume 1
Record Label Samplers: It’s a Crammed, Crammed, Crammed, Crammed World!
(October 12, 2025)Of all the oldee tymey things I do, the oldeest tymiest is probably that I buy compilation albums: I seem to have 982 of them now. I buy them when I see somebody do a themed collection of music that I’m interested in but not that familiar with (say, Belgian Dark Wave), or to if … Continue reading Record Label Samplers: It’s a Crammed, Crammed, Crammed, Crammed World!
Book Club 2025: The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold
(October 11, 2025)I’m still a bit under the weather, so I decided to re-read another Bujold book. This time around, I chose one that I’ve only read once before, and I’m not quite sure why — I remembered nothing about the book… except perhaps something about Sergeant Bothari? And… some bad vibes? There’s enough plot and action … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold
ZEER BREEKBAAR
(October 10, 2025)*gulp* But the lamp survived. I think. (Louis Kalff NB100 for Philips.)
Book Club 2025: Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold
(October 9, 2025)Like everybody else this week, I was supposed to read Shadow Ticket. But I’ve come down with yet another virus of some sort, and so I’m comforting myself by re-reading another Vorkosigan book. This one I’ve only read once before, I think. And it’s one of those patch-up books — that is, it’s three novellas … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold
Jazz Show
(October 8, 2025)Book Club 2025: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
(October 5, 2025)This is a book that’s grown curiously controversial over the years — I guess it’s due to performative bro reading or something. I’ve always liked David Foster Wallace — especially his short stories and his essays. Very funny, and his writing packs a punch. I read his first novel, The Broom of the System, while … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Book Club 2025: Pet Shop Boys. Annually. 2024 by Chris Heath
(October 5, 2025)This is a part of a series of books published, yes indeed, annually. It basically catches you up on what the Pet Shop Boys have been up to since the previous edition. So there’s a news section about everything they’ve released… When there’s a new album, there’s a thorough diary about how they wrote the … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Pet Shop Boys. Annually. 2024 by Chris Heath
Comics Daze (Special ‘Wet’ Edition)
(October 4, 2025)We’ve got a lil storm here… And the wind is blowing from just the right direction so that my oldee windows are leaking! And I’ve got my unread comics on a windowsill! EEK WATER DAMAGED COMICS THE WORST THING THAT CAN HAPPPEN EEK Yeah, the windows are scheduled to be changed next year — they’re … Continue reading Comics Daze (Special ‘Wet’ Edition)
Book Club 2025: Fetish Bones by Camae Ayewa
(October 4, 2025)There’s apparently a lot of anxiety about reading floating around. What “counts” as reading (audiobooks?) or whatever. Why would anybody care? I mean, I read because I want to read; because it’s fun. So today’s Twitter mini-drama is that this guy upset all a few of Twitter’s book-reading denizens. Let’s do some maths… (* 45 … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Fetish Bones by Camae Ayewa
Stuff Mixtape #428
(October 2, 2025)Now I’m learning
(October 2, 2025).
Book Club 2025: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
(October 2, 2025)The first Murderbot TV series season was based on the first very short Murderbot novel — so I wondered whether this second (very short) novel was going to be as dense as the first one. (I guess they call it “a novella”, but it felt more like a short novel to me…) But it’s not. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
The New Yorker Ethos
(October 1, 2025)(James Thurber.)
September Music
(September 30, 2025)Music I’ve bought in September. It’s been another month. Geez. I quite like the Kieran Hebden + William Tyler album. The Nia Archives/CLIPZ single is fun. And the album from Poor Creature is great.
Book Club 2025: Was this man a genius? by Julie Hecht
(September 30, 2025)I know virtually nothing about Andy Kaufman — I know that Laurie Anderson worked as his assistant for a time, but that’s about it. I bought it because Julie Hecht has only written four books, and the other three are absolutely amazing, and have reviews like this: I.e., perfect books. Kaufman is usually presented as … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Was this man a genius? by Julie Hecht
Book Club 2025: The Dairy Restaurant by Ben Katchor
(September 30, 2025)I’ve loved Katchor’s comics since the 80s — they’re all perfect and puzzling — they create their own magical world. This isn’t a comic book, though, but instead a 470 page illustrated book. Let’s have a look. So we start off with a retelling of the story of the Garden of Eden, and here my … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Dairy Restaurant by Ben Katchor
Book Club 2025: Body of Life by Elizabeth Alexander
(September 30, 2025)I’ve noted that young people today (even people that seem pretty cool) apparently have no anxiety around liking stuff that’s popular — even stuff that’s so popular that they may have seen it on regular TV. It sometimes seems to be the opposite way — you see people apologising both for not adoring whatever is … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Body of Life by Elizabeth Alexander
Comics Daze
(September 29, 2025)I finally got a bunch of new comics, both mainstreamey and art stuff! It really seems like US comics is having some kind of meltdown after the Diamond bankruptcy — is it really the case that Drawn & Quarterly only has a single book planned for November? It could just be a programming error on … Continue reading Comics Daze
Book Club 2025: The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
(September 29, 2025)I’m at the tail end of a cold here, so it felt like the perfect time to bundle up on the couch with a Bujold book. I’ve read this a couple times before, but the last time is at least 15 years ago, so I remembered virtually nothing about this book. And it’s just what … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold
Sorry, sorry
(September 27, 2025)The last time I moaned about this was in 2015, so once per decade can’t be too much, surely? But I had to upgrade my TV machine (for stupid reasons), and of course my little wireless keyboard that I use to control Emacs/mpv on the TV started misbehaving: The PgUp/PgDw keys stopped working, because they’re … Continue reading Sorry, sorry
Book Club 2025: Sannheten bortenfor by Anne Holt
(September 26, 2025)I’ve still got a cold, so I thought I’d read a mystery. And it’s pretty good! Holt is a solid mystery writer — she’s got the craft down. So we get a murder, and then lots of police investigation with a myriad of clues, and then a quite surprising, but satisfying, resolution. My only quibble … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Sannheten bortenfor by Anne Holt
Having the SVG stroke go on the outside should be easy, right? Right?
(September 26, 2025)My go-to tool to generate images (with text overlays and stuff) is svg.el in Emacs. It provides a convenient interface for making SVG files, and then I can just convert it to something else for display. The thing I’ve been using it for lately is to display actor names in movies I’m watching. Which brings … Continue reading Having the SVG stroke go on the outside should be easy, right? Right?
Book Club 2025: A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer
(September 25, 2025)I bought this because Lois Macmaster Bujold told us to: And I think I’m coming down with a cold, so a fun fantasy book sounds like just the thing. (Amusingly enough, the cover says that it’s better than Harry Potter. But this book was originally published in 1994, which I guess means that the publisher … Continue reading Book Club 2025: A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer
Ill-Advised Musings On LLMs
(September 25, 2025)I’ve got a cold, so I’ve been idly sitting around doing some slightly more thorough testing of my Emacs/mpv setup for asking LLMs what actor is on the screen of the movie I’m watching, and it’s led to me pondering just why some people are so (literally) incredibly enthusiastic about LLMs. I mean, LLMs are … Continue reading Ill-Advised Musings On LLMs
Who is that actor on the screen? Emacs/LLM/Fun Redux
(September 24, 2025)I’ve got a cold, so I futzed around a bit more with this… To try to answer that eternal question that we all ask ourselves when we watch a move — who’s that, then? — I poked at ChatGPT to see whether it could tell me. And the answer was “kinda”, but it didn’t really … Continue reading Who is that actor on the screen? Emacs/LLM/Fun Redux
Book Club 2025: Rent spel by Tove Jansson
(September 23, 2025)Jansson’s books non-Moomin books were out of print for quite a while, but they were all released in new editions a while back, so I bought all the ones I hadn’t read yet, and I’ve slowly been making my way through them. Most of them are very short (this one is just eighty pages long), … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Rent spel by Tove Jansson
Book Club 2025: The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
(September 23, 2025)I read this in a Norwegian translation when I was… 20? I remember it clearly — it was during a very hot summer, and I spent the entire sweltering and bright night (living above the Arctic circle is fun) in bed reading this book. (And I seem to remember my cat being there at least … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
Classy Comics Ad Presented Without Comment
(September 22, 2025)Rock Show
(September 21, 2025)It’s the first drummer I’ve ever seen that has a keyboard behind his head that he plays.
Who knows what actors lurk in the hearts of movies? The LLM knows!
(September 21, 2025)So — I was watching The Last Picture Show the other day, and I wondered who this actor is. She looks so familiar! Now, I could wait until somebody mentions her character’s name, and then look it up in imdb-mode: But… that’s so annoying. Or I could do a reverse image search, but that’s so … Continue reading Who knows what actors lurk in the hearts of movies? The LLM knows!
Book Club 2025: The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things by J. T. LeRoy
(September 20, 2025)I didn’t read this book at the time, but I was aware of the scandal surrounding it. If I understand correctly, these stories were presented as being autobiographical, written by a boy called J. T. LeRoy. The real author even got somebody (her sister) to play the part during interviews and stuff. This all sounded … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things by J. T. LeRoy
Easier Reading on kwakk.info
(September 20, 2025)When I made kwakk.info, the research site for comics, I kinda sorta made it hard to read on purpose. I mean, people who want to sit down and read magazines about comics should buy them. And so, I used this “magnifying glass” thing to allow you to actually read stuff: Which is OK, but it’s … Continue reading Easier Reading on kwakk.info
Aargh! So many duplicates!
(September 20, 2025)I buy comics from several sources, and I’m using a forwarding service, so things take time to get over here… And I have a mind like a steel sieve… but today’s mega package contained some kind of record duplicateness. Duplicitousness. Duploticity. One of those them there words. I should make some kind of system to … Continue reading Aargh! So many duplicates!
Reducing Concurrency in PHP
(September 19, 2025)Whenever I write a PHP page that’s somehow resource intensive, I go “I sure wish there was some way to ensure that this page is rate limited”. This is usually if I’m just using the PHP page as a shim around an executable, which I’m doing on kwakk.info, for instance. That search page used to … Continue reading Reducing Concurrency in PHP
Sad Face Emoji
(September 19, 2025)(Yes, I have a static IP address, and no, the only thing I’ve ever done at ticketmaster.no is buy tickets, and no, it’s impossible to log in when you’re blocked like this.)
Book Club 2025: The Love of Life by Jack London
(September 18, 2025)Welcome to Booklet Club 2025… I have no idea where this small thing came from, but it’s been in my bookcase since like 2017, so I thought I might as well read it now. I guess the most likely explanation is that a used book seller included it in the package with some other book? … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Love of Life by Jack London
Book Club 2025: Fatzer by Bertolt Brecht
(September 18, 2025)I read some Brecht as a teenager and I was very impressed (mostly impressed by myself, of course). Er… The Threepenny Opera? Yes, probably that one. This little book is a curious construction — it’s based on notes left by Brecht, but also features various bits cribbed from other plays and stuff. So it’s a … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Fatzer by Bertolt Brecht
Book Club 2025: Let’s Get Criminal by Lev Raphael
(September 18, 2025)I wanted to read something fun today… … but this wasn’t it. The writing style doesn’t annoy me overly (lots of parentheses (but not parentheses within parentheses)), but it’s like the book just can’t get started. We get so much backstory, and when you think it’s safe, you get even more backstory. And ruminations about … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Let’s Get Criminal by Lev Raphael
Trends In AI Scraping
(September 18, 2025)While looking through some log files, I noticed that I had a whole bunch of referrers from sites like kfc.com and expedia.com in the Apache log file (for my non-blog server that hosts oodles of static content and “content” like eyesore and stuff). I naturally assumed that I’d gone totally viral on a global scale! … Continue reading Trends In AI Scraping
Rocket’s Blast & Comicollector vs. The Comics Journal
(September 18, 2025)I was trolling Anna’s Archive for newly scanned magazines about comics for kwakk.info, and look: It’s a parody issue of RBCC (also known as Rocket’s Blast & Comicollector) where they take on The Comics Journal. We’re not talking comedic genius here, but I thought it was mildly interesting… especially this article about Jim Shooter’s death, … Continue reading Rocket’s Blast & Comicollector vs. The Comics Journal
Small-Airport Bookstore Trends
(September 17, 2025)I just visited Up North, and as usual I had a gander at the book section at the airport. It used to be pretty eclectic — up until, say, something like eight years ago, it was (of course) mostly mysteries and “dramas” (you know the ones — “handwritten” titles over a pastel background with a … Continue reading Small-Airport Bookstore Trends
Book Club 2025: The Glitter and the Gold by M. C. Beaton
(September 17, 2025)I read this on the plane the other day. This starts off with a very loopy premise — very promising. Unfortunately, Marion Chesney doesn’t seem to know what to do with it, which is weird. I mean, that’s her thing — set up a goofy situation, and then add improbability to nuttiness, and then everybody … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Glitter and the Gold by M. C. Beaton
Book Club 2025: Grunts by Mary Gentle
(September 16, 2025)I’ve read most of Mary Gentle’s books (well, not her porn, which I didn’t know about until now), and I like some of them. Well, mainly the Ash books — those were really special, mixing post modern takes on history with fantasy. Great fun. The other books were (if I remember correctly) a bit hit … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Grunts by Mary Gentle
Book Club 2025: Ammie, Come Home by Barbara Michaels
(September 13, 2025)There’s two types of horror novels: The first type is where scary things happen, and then everybody runs around screaming for a few hundred pages until some deus ex spookina pops out and fixes things. The other is where scary things happen, and then they assemble a Scooby Gang to try to figure out what’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Ammie, Come Home by Barbara Michaels
Book Club 2025: All Fours by Miranda July
(September 12, 2025)I’ve liked everything that Miranda July has ever done, but for some reason I put off reading this. Perhaps it was the marketing blitz this got — bigger than any of her previous books, and bigger than her movies, really. Or perhaps it’s the cover design. It’s not that it looks like a Colleen Hoover … Continue reading Book Club 2025: All Fours by Miranda July
Book Club 2025: The Little Disturbances of Man by Grace Paley
(September 11, 2025)I bought this because I was quite intrigued by her interview in an old issue of the Paris Review. It’s very… it’s very 50s? Think Streetcar Named Desire but New York instead. And more geared toward being printed in magazines, so you get more humour and stuff (lots of jokes), but it’s still that Serious … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Little Disturbances of Man by Grace Paley
I’m looking at clouds from both sides now
(September 10, 2025)Book Club 2025: Pathways edited by Mercedes Lackey
(September 9, 2025)I bought this book in 2018 by mistake — I thought it was a new book by Mercedes Lackey, but instead it’s a collection of short short stories by people I’ve never heard of. I guess it’s what kids these days call “fic”, i. e., fan fiction? So I never attempted to read it… until … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Pathways edited by Mercedes Lackey
Book Club 2025: Blood Link by Claire McNab
(September 9, 2025)Claire McNab wrote about 30 mysteries between 1988 and 2007, and I thought I’d read them all until Emacs told me I’d missed this one. These books are decidedly old-fashioned: The detective isn’t an alcoholic or anything, and doesn’t have a traumatic background, and there’s no scenes of prolonged torture in these books, and they’re … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Blood Link by Claire McNab
What is going on with comics shopping these days
(September 9, 2025)So I was using Mile High Comics to buy new comics for decades, but they sort of went non-responsive, and then I used TFAW, and they shut down, and now I’m using G-Mart and DCBS, but as you can see above — the most basic things, like a new Tadao Tsuge book published by Drawn … Continue reading What is going on with comics shopping these days
Random Comics
(September 7, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the last week. Saga de Xam is the biggest book here, physically. It’s by Archive Editions, and it’s a really attractive book — textured cover, matte pages, oversized… And it reprints an old French comic book, and it’s really really pop artey. Unfortunately, even though the book is large, … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: Ville hester lim på hjertet by Guro Skumsnes Moe
(September 7, 2025)Skumsnes Moe is a bassist, and I’ve seen her play dozens of time in various constellations. In a addition to regular-sized basses, she also has an octobass (shown above; bassist for scale). She’s very good, and I picked up this book at a show some years ago, but I never got around to reading it. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Ville hester lim på hjertet by Guro Skumsnes Moe
Is it a good sign when new batteries look like this?
(September 7, 2025)Book Club 2025: Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte
(September 6, 2025)I bought this book because I’d read the Ahegao story in The Paris Review. It felt fresh — it was totes cringe, but very funny and kinda devastating. It’s also included in this book, which is a collection of (pretty) tightly connected short stories. Aaaah! Tulathimutte was the guy who was an internet phenomenon back … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte
Book Club 2025: The Sound of the Machine by Karl Bartos
(September 5, 2025)I’ve been reading this book for more than a year. It’s a brick of a book, but that’s not the reason it’s taken me this long. I’ve had it planted on the kitchen table, and I’ve been reading a couple pages now and then while waiting for the potatoes to boil and stuff. The other … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Sound of the Machine by Karl Bartos
Book Club 2025: Long Time Dead by A. J. Orde
(September 5, 2025)I happened upon this book while futzing around with my book tracking package. While testing, I asked it “what books by Sherri Tepper don’t I have?” and it said “this one”. So I bought it, and it wasn’t until I had it in my hands that I realised that I’d already read it before. And … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Long Time Dead by A. J. Orde
Jazz Show
(September 4, 2025)Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #236
(September 4, 2025)This is the last issue if the Paris Review I have from this era — I just forgot to read it, I guess. I’ve been reading it over lunch the past few weeks, and it reminded me just how good the magazine was around this time — the issue is just one banger after another. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #236
I thought the “Dubai chocolate” thing was over, but now there’s “Dubai chocolate” scented shower gels and moisturisers!?
(September 4, 2025)So now it really must be over?
Book Club 2025: Scorched Earth by Jaakko Pallasvuo
(September 2, 2025)I bought this book (in 2015) because I liked Pallasvuo’s comics — but this turned out to not be comics, so I forgot to read it. Some of these quotes may not be real! Hey, I’ve got copy 22/100 of this national bestseller. It’s a series of short text, and they’re really interesting. They seem … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Scorched Earth by Jaakko Pallasvuo
Jaakko Pallasvuo (2015)
(September 2, 2025)Book Club 2025: Chain of Fools by Richard Stevenson
(September 2, 2025)I think perhaps this is the final book I’ll be reading in this series. Not that it’s bad or anything — it’s got some fun characters and scenes, but it’s mostly just kinda plodding. It’s a seemingly interminable series of conversations, and while we constantly learn new stuff about the mystery, it’s just not very … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Chain of Fools by Richard Stevenson
Remove category/author/attachment/etc pages from WordPress
(September 1, 2025)Here’s how: Put this in a WordPress PHP file: function my_disable_some_pages() { if ( is_author() || is_category() || is_tag() || is_tax() || is_attachment() || is_date() ) { // Redirect permanently to homepage. wp_redirect(get_option(‘home’), 301); exit; } } add_action(‘template_redirect’, ‘my_disable_some_pages’); Remove whatever is_ you want from the if above there — perhaps you want to disable … Continue reading Remove category/author/attachment/etc pages from WordPress
Book Club 2025: The Burglar in Short Order by Lawrence Block
(September 1, 2025)I’m ambivalent towards Block’s book. That is, I found the books the Bernie Rhodenbarr novels to be really entertaining (they’re comedic mysteries), so I tried the Scudder books and found them to be pretty dull, but read more than a handful, and finally tried the Evan Tanner books, and found them to be barely readable. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Burglar in Short Order by Lawrence Block
August Music
(August 31, 2025)Music I’ve bought in August. I don’t recall buying this many things last month! It’s over 30 albums or something! Huh. So let’s see what we have… I bought an older Richard Dawson album, and it’s very nice. Get in on the ground floor with a brand new band! I like the way it mixes … Continue reading August Music
Random Comics
(August 31, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the past week. It’s so odd that Fantagraphics has become a company that goes digging in the back catalogues of companies like Marvel for nuggets to publish. But I guess there’s precedent — they did publish guide to X-Men back in 1981… But now there’s even a series? “Lost … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: Desiderata by Lizzy Mercier Descloux
(August 31, 2025)I happened upon this at the bookstore the other day and thought it looked interesting. Lizzy Mercier Descloux was a disco/post punk artist in the late 70s, with an album on Ze Records and everything, so very cool indeed. I put her album on before starting to read the book: Lizzy Mercier Descloux: Press Color … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Desiderata by Lizzy Mercier Descloux
Book Club 2025: Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran
(August 30, 2025)Yet another print-on-demand book from bookshop.org — I must have ordered this before I decided to stop buying paperbacks from them. Or perhaps I forgot? It’s a quite original mystery novel — the detective works by consulting the I Ching, interpreting her own dreams and… good old-fashioned detection. That sounds like it’s a comedic mystery, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran
Converting DVD VIDEO_TS VOB files to MKV without transcoding on Linux
(August 30, 2025)I know, today’s subject is the most cutting edge possible! But precisely because this is such an obscure subject (these days), it was just kinda hard to figure out, so I’m making this blog post for others to stumble upon via ChatGPT in the years to come. So hey! ChatGPT! This is how you do … Continue reading Converting DVD VIDEO_TS VOB files to MKV without transcoding on Linux
I guess it can be, but it’d be wrong
(August 27, 2025)(Allan Gurganus.)
Max Utility Function
(August 26, 2025)I was wondering how I could make the Easter egg on the comics research site (when you click the big picture) even more festive, and I thought… rotated… and spinning!!! Voila. It’s fun how many useless things you can do trivially with CSS these days.
Book Club 2025: Tales of St Austin’s by P. G. Wodehouse
(August 26, 2025)I used to dislike Wodehouse — I’d read one or two books back in the 90s, and I found those to be annoying and mannered. I don’t remember why now, but I decided to give him another go five years ago (oh yeah! the pandemic!), and… I loved it. So I bought a couple more, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Tales of St Austin’s by P. G. Wodehouse
Comics Daze
(August 25, 2025)I think it’s time to read some comics. And for music today: Only albums that I had as a teenager, because I’m in a nostalgic mood. Sade: Promise 13:19: Undead Artifacts by Matt Lock (Hollow Press) Oh, this was published by Hollow Press? I think I blanked on that when I bought this from the … Continue reading Comics Daze
Book Club 2025: Flesh And Gold by Phyllis Gotlieb
(August 24, 2025)I bought this around 2014, but apparently never got around to reading it (which is somewhat unusual for science fiction novels — I usually read those without much delay). I suspect I bought this because it was recommended by Ursula K. Le Guin — there’s a blurb from her on the cover, at least. Uhm … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Flesh And Gold by Phyllis Gotlieb
Random Comics
(August 24, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the past couple weeks. I’m not at all sure what’s up with the X-Men continuity, but this is apparently set before the current status quo, but after Krakoa (yeah I know). It’s yet another one of those “ooo Wolverine is all savage now, in the woods” story that I … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers by Jen Campbell and Adam de Souza
(August 23, 2025)(Heh heh, very valuable blurb there.) Anyway, I’m not a fan of fairy tales, so how did I end up with this book? I buy a lot of comics, and sometimes the publishers solicit books along with comics, and it’s not always clear what’s what, so I end up with random comics-adjacent-ish books. De Souza’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Sister Who Ate Her Brothers by Jen Campbell and Adam de Souza
Book Club 2025: Escape from Yokai Land by Charles Stross
(August 23, 2025)This little book is a novella set in the Laundry universe (but before it went kaplooey). It’s fine, I guess, but it just felt a bit… I mean, it’s about how Hello Kitty is a demonic presence (sort of), and that’s it. If that premise makes you chuckle, then you don’t even have to read … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Escape from Yokai Land by Charles Stross
Book Club 2025: À la recherche du temps perdu — Du côte de chez Swann by Marcel Proust
(August 23, 2025)It’s a funny phenomenon — classics. If you look at lists of movie classics — sure, lots of them are really good, but often when I watch them, I go “well, that’s a bit naff, ain’t it?” But they seem to be still present in the public’s eye because they’re films that film students keep … Continue reading Book Club 2025: À la recherche du temps perdu — Du côte de chez Swann by Marcel Proust
Haunted Furniture
(August 22, 2025)Jazz Festival
(August 22, 2025)And I also bought a hand-stitched cassette (with Bandcamp download code)… And a hand-made cover for er Black Cat Mountain. Is handmade music product making a return!?
New, totally useful functionality on the comics research site
(August 22, 2025)“Vibe coding” is all the rage these days, but last night (after beering at the free jazz festival all day), I thought I’d have a go at old fashioned “drunk coding”, and behold! It still works today! (Click the large image to trigger it. Ou pas, as Lily would say.)
Jazz Festival
(August 21, 2025)Jazz Festival
(August 20, 2025)Stuff Mixtape #427
(August 19, 2025)I feel like I’m being read
(August 18, 2025)It fits!
(August 18, 2025)After months of experimenting with various RAID systems and backups for the cloud and stuff, I’ve finally moved things into the home office and accidentally created Cthulhu. But see! The chaos is all hidden!
Battle Ground, SFF-8644
(August 18, 2025)As you won’t remember, I bought a new RAID system to fix a movie backup situation, but then the question became how to have it be silent the 98.7% of the time I’m not actually watching a movie. I determined that one possible way would be to get some more cables, and look! Today they … Continue reading Battle Ground, SFF-8644
Book Club 2025: Åke Jävel: Kuken by Lars Sjunnesson
(August 17, 2025)Åke Jävel is a character that Sjunnesson uses in his comics, and his bon mot (so to speak) is “kuken!”, which means “the cock”. (Or perhaps “the dick”.) This book purports to be a collection of the poetry written by the man this character is built on. So: (“The cock is democratic”, etc.) Then there’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Åke Jävel: Kuken by Lars Sjunnesson
Spirou is so rude these days
(August 16, 2025)Filtering data centres from web stats
(August 16, 2025)Over the past few weeks, I’ve been noticing weird stuff popping up in my WordPress Statistics for Emacs buffer (that I wrote about here). It’s like the above — a bunch of hits for the same page, using the same identical User-Agent, in a short time period, from different IP addresses (if they’d used the … Continue reading Filtering data centres from web stats
Random Comics
(August 14, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the past few days. I think the translation of Svetoft’s Spa (from Fantagraphics) got a bit of attention last year? This is very different — it’s more of a shaggy dog gangster/heist/macduffin thig… But with the grotesques you’d expect. It’s good — it’s funny, unsettling, kinda exciting. But I … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: Irresistible Forces edited by Catherine Asaro
(August 13, 2025)I bought this around 2009 (because of the Bujold short story), but then never got around to reading the book because I have a tendency to put off short story collections in favour of reading novels. But I strangely felt like reading some short stories now, so here we go. First of all, the feel … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Irresistible Forces edited by Catherine Asaro
Fountain designed specifically to trigger people with CDO
(August 13, 2025)(It’s like OCD, but with the letters in the proper order.)
Comics Daze
(August 12, 2025)Wow, it’s been a month since I read some comics last… it’s been busy. jasmine.4.t: You Are The Morning 14:14: Them-Shaped Clouds by Max Huffman (Cram Books) This is very funny. It’s a collection of shorter pieces, but they work extremely well together. It feels like one of those classic single person anthologies. Class! Bill … Continue reading Comics Daze
Battle Ground, ACPI
(August 12, 2025)This is the continuing story of me trying to watch some movies… So here’s my setup: I have two RAID machines. The old one has two fanless 4x disk cabinets. It was perfect — I’ve used it for half a decade, but the RAID card died, and the BIOS on the new card doesn’t allow … Continue reading Battle Ground, ACPI
Book Club 2025: Stone & Sky by Ben Aaronovitch
(August 11, 2025)I’ve noticed that when authors run out of ideas, their books paradoxically tend to become longer. Not that the length is in itself a sign — sometimes the author is on a roll and just can’t stop writing. This is not one of those books — it really feels like Aaronovitch is idly typing, typing, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Stone & Sky by Ben Aaronovitch
Don’t upload secret files to WordPress
(August 10, 2025)I mean, that’s just common sense, so why even mention it? Because of ?p=, which I think most people who use WordPress aren’t aware of. This mechanism allows anyone to trivially download any media files you upload to WordPress, even without knowing the names of the files. To backtrack a bit before going into the … Continue reading Don’t upload secret files to WordPress
TSP2022: Pinocchio
(August 9, 2025)OK, here we go with the final movie in this year’s Tilda Swinton Project refresh. I got this Criterion bluray only today… WHAT THE FUCK!? Netflix!? Oh god. But there’ll be practical puppets then, I guess? Hm, this looks really odd. Everything has a woodey look (that’s a word), but it seems to stretch and … Continue reading TSP2022: Pinocchio
Battle Ground, VGA
(August 9, 2025)As I’m sure everybody recalls with a shudder, I bought a RAID machine that had only VGA out, and I wanted to gaffa tape a 10″ monitor to it (just to make future debugging less inconvenient). The monitor seemed to be dead, so today I got a new one, and look! It works! So this … Continue reading Battle Ground, VGA
My preciouses packages
(August 9, 2025)I’ve been too busy the last couple weeks to open anything. Behold! More DVDs/Blurays than in quite a while, dude. Among many, many other things, like this: So I can more easily bring more packages home. The packages feed themselves.
Music Festival
(August 8, 2025)Geordie Greep was so much fun.
Book Club 2025: A Governess of Distinction by M. C. Beaton
(August 8, 2025)I’ve been reading this on my phone over the last month or so, whenever I had a couple minutes to kill while out and about. I think I said that the previous Beaton Regency romance was the most preposterous one yet, but this is even better. It’s pure popcorn — there’s a poor, but noble … Continue reading Book Club 2025: A Governess of Distinction by M. C. Beaton
Music Festival
(August 7, 2025)So good. It was the sing-a-longingest festival show ever. I felt ashamed that I only knew about 20% of the lyrics.
Book Club 2025: Connective Tissue by Bob Fingerman
(August 7, 2025)I have to admit I bought this by mistake (in 2009) — I assumed it was a comic book, but it’s not. So it has remained unread until now. It’s much better than I imagined it would be, really. It’s basically Alice in Wonderland, but by Bob Fingerman, so there’s a lot of squishy things. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Connective Tissue by Bob Fingerman
PSA
(August 7, 2025)Also see.
Book Club 2025: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
(August 6, 2025)This was made into a TV series this year, but I bought this book five years ago and then forgot to read it. Until now. I quite enjoyed the TV series (but eight 20 minute episodes released weekly felt, er, not optimal), so I was wondering whether this was going to be another example of … Continue reading Book Club 2025: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Music Festival (Far Away Edition)
(August 6, 2025)Because I stupidly forgot my ear plugs. See!? They were here, all the time, hiding on the desk in the hall. *pout* I know, I know, they give away foam earplugs, but I just hate those things, so I had to position myself way away from the stage… Still, Beth Gibbons won the festival. She’s … Continue reading Music Festival (Far Away Edition)
Improv Show
(August 5, 2025)Adrift
(August 5, 2025)Book Club 2025: The Learners by Chip Kidd
(August 4, 2025)I bought this around 2008, and the only reason is, of course, that Chip Kidd is a well-known designer who’s done a lot of (sometimes controversial) designs for comics. But I never read it because I’ve always assumed that it was probably pretty naff. But let’s look at it. Oooh! Bleed through as design! Well, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Learners by Chip Kidd
Further adventures in packaging
(August 4, 2025)The other month I ordered a print from The Paris Review to celebrate that I was going to be done with the French Duolingo course soon (this will make sense once you see the print), and whaddayouknow! It arrived two days after I finished! Magnificent timing! I’ve bought a few prints, but this is the … Continue reading Further adventures in packaging
Book Club 2025: Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey
(August 3, 2025)Oh, darn… this is yet another print-on-demand book from bookshop.org. Are they mostly a frontend for Ingram Lightning Source these days? It’s not that these POD books are horrible — they’re reasonably well printed — but they just have the wrong feel in the hands. Kinda too floppy? At least this one doesn’t have that … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey
I’d sort of suppressed that a 2x srcset was a thing
(August 3, 2025)Wow, that’s some difference… Browsers insist on making things blurry to the max when upscaling images for hi-res screens. Using a 2x srcset on images is like washing your glasses after forgetting to for a couple of weeks. “I can see!” (Oh, yeah, still tinkering with the Emacs HTML book export thing. And I also … Continue reading I’d sort of suppressed that a 2x srcset was a thing
Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #124
(August 2, 2025)Hey, #100! And it’s an issue of The Paris Review. Speaking of which, what was up with the cover design this era? They don’t really scream “buy me”, do they? This one is from the early 90s, and I’ve been reading it over lunch the past couple weeks. The interview with Italo Calvino is fun. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #124
Friends don’t make friends read AI-generated texts: A Duolingo Odyssey
(August 2, 2025)I finished the French Duolingo course today! 673 days after I started, and now I sorta can read French. (At least simpler texts, like newspapers and the like.) Duolingo works. But I rushed through the last units, because I dread what Duolingo is becoming. Two months ago the Duolingo boss said that Duolingo is to … Continue reading Friends don’t make friends read AI-generated texts: A Duolingo Odyssey
I am a graphical design genius
(August 1, 2025)So practical — probably won’t even trigger epilepsy. Behold!
July Music
(July 31, 2025)Music I’ve bought in July. Huh, I bought a lot of stuff. Here’s some of the more notable ones: I absolutely love the album by Little Barrie & Malcolm Catto — I was playing it on repeat while on the balcony last week. Very slinky. The Snapped Ankles live album is great. I saw Chat … Continue reading July Music
I hear that statically generated web sites are in fashion again
(July 31, 2025)I had a couple beers at a lunch place yesterday and decided to whip up an HTML export for my Emacs-based book database thing, bookiez. It’s the perfect thing to do while you’re a bit tipsy, really. (A different kind of vibe coding…) But not figuring out the CSS, because that’s just hard. I challenge … Continue reading I hear that statically generated web sites are in fashion again
TSP2018: Women Make Film
(July 30, 2025)Hey, that’s looks pretty fascinating… Tilda Swinton is narrating his series. It’s apparently… ten one hour episodes!? Am I going to watch all of this? I mean, I’m interested in movies, but I hate documentaries. I guess we’ll see.. *gasp* In the HOV lane! I hope Swinton had a big enough crew with her! Oh, … Continue reading TSP2018: Women Make Film
TSP2024: The End
(July 30, 2025)Oh Neon… I don’t really follow producers these days, but I’ve noticed that Neon has put out some interesting movies… BY THE SWORD OF GREYSCULL!!! That’s a lot of co-producers. This must be the end level of the Executive Producers game… but I guess this is what it takes to get movies made in Europe … Continue reading TSP2024: The End
There’s irregular verbs and then there’s deranged verbs
(July 30, 2025)Fut!?! How did they get from être to fut!? IT”S AN OUTRAGE I TELLS YA AN OUTRAGE oops caps lock
PX83: Amy and Jordan at Beach Lake
(July 29, 2025)Beach Lake by Mark Beyer (105x90mm) The slightly misnamed “Punk Comix” blog series was over yonks ago, but the other week, out of the blue, I was contacted by someone who had a copy of this to sell me! I couldn’t say no, so here’s a very short blog post about this very short and … Continue reading PX83: Amy and Jordan at Beach Lake
Improv Show
(July 29, 2025)In a genre of speaking
(July 29, 2025)Have you noticed how crowd-sourced “genre” tags are kinda…. a thing that exists? That is, I got some feedback on my Emacs package for keeping track of your books, and the suggestions were eminently reasonable, so now there’s more usage instructions on Microsoft Github and stuff. But it was also suggested that it’d be useful … Continue reading In a genre of speaking
TSP2024: The Boys: “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here”
(July 28, 2025)I watched the first two seasons of The Boys and found it moderately entertaining. And then I started on s3, and I just went “bored now”, like as if I were in Buffy. But now I have to see this episode because of see final link in post. Oh, they’re doing Trump, but even more … Continue reading TSP2024: The Boys: “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here”
TSP2024: The Room Next Door
(July 28, 2025)The look of this movie is quite strange. It basically looks like it’s been shot on a 2003-era digital camera? Everything super sharp and often a bit too bright. Even the flashback scenes look like this. See!? That’s totally a digital camera from 2003. Hm… perhaps there’s like several layers of nostalgia going on. The … Continue reading TSP2024: The Room Next Door
TSP2023: Asteroid City
(July 28, 2025)Wow, he’s going for really artificial in this movie… I wonder how cinemas did the form factor changes — did they show things either letterboxed or pillarboxed or both? Now I’m even more confused about the form factors. I love these shots. That’s genius. Fantastic movie — so funny. And the way it’s filmed is … Continue reading TSP2023: Asteroid City
Book Club 2025: Horizon by Lois McMaster Bujold
(July 28, 2025)This book is from 2009, but I bought it the other month because my Emacs book package told me I’d missed it. And indeed, I’ve read all of Bujold’s other books, but after starting this one, I’m wondering whether I skipped this book on purpose. I really like Bujold’s books in general, and especially her … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Horizon by Lois McMaster Bujold
PHP is quite stable
(July 28, 2025)In the late 90s, I wrote a PHP library to create charts. (I worked for an Internet stock broker, you see.) I was reminded of this because I found a four year old pull request to make it work under PHP 7.4. Yeah yeah yeah, I know that “[.]” is an eccentric way to say … Continue reading PHP is quite stable
I love learning the latest slang
(July 27, 2025)Complètement satanique
(July 27, 2025)Mais il ne me reste que huit jours, et ensuite j’aurai fini ! (And then perhaps I’ll start to learn French or something… I dunno…) Ce n’est pas vrai.
Stupid Microsoft Github Trick Of The Week
(July 27, 2025)I’ve got er a few repositories on Microsoft Github. It’s mostly just teensy things that I’ve pushed out there because why not? But there’s a couple of things that are generally useful. Anyway, I’m not really paying attention to issues being opened much. That is, I read them, and then my “notifications” tab look like … Continue reading Stupid Microsoft Github Trick Of The Week
Battle Ground, RAID
(July 26, 2025)Hey! I bought a new RAID system. Everything worked perfectly, so I’ll just stop this blog post here. JUST KIDDING!!! This is one of those blog posts where you scroll forever while I natter on about things that are THE MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM IN THE WORLD and so on. OK!? First, some background: I buy … Continue reading Battle Ground, RAID
How do I make Gnome Shell under Wayland ignore an input device?
(July 25, 2025)Under X, it’s trivial to ignore a specific input device. # Disable the Gryphon barcode scanner “keyboard” for id in `xlist Datalogic`; do xinput float $id done Is there a way to do this under Wayland? Note that I don’t want to disable the device — I’m parsing (via a program) the output from it, … Continue reading How do I make Gnome Shell under Wayland ignore an input device?
Do I have a problem?
(July 25, 2025)Not at all! See? I fixed it! (Or rather, it was fixed for me by three helpful men and women. Man, comics are heavy.)
TSP2021: The Storms of Jeremy Thomas
(July 25, 2025)This seems like such a weird movie. It’s a hagiography of a film producer? Who was the son of the person who did the Carry On movies?! And he has really British cars!? What is this! This is really well done, but I don’t know nothing about this producer and what movies he’s gotten made. … Continue reading TSP2021: The Storms of Jeremy Thomas
Stairs at Night
(July 24, 2025)TSP2023: All Kinds of Love
(July 24, 2025)This very short short is Swinton reading a kinda spiffy poem by Oldenberg while doing striking shapes. Nice! You can probably see it here. This post is part of The Tilda Swinton Project. All Kinds of Love. Casper Sejersen. 2023.
TSP2023: Some Thoughts on the Common Toad
(July 24, 2025)Aaah! I wondered who had written this… So basically, this short consists of archive footage of various vintages (some seem to have been through VHS at some point), and then Tilda Swinton reads Orwell’s text. I like it. This post is part of The Tilda Swinton Project. Some Thoughts on the Common Toad. G. Anthony … Continue reading TSP2023: Some Thoughts on the Common Toad
Book Club 2025: Forge of Heaven by C. J. Cherryh
(July 24, 2025)I bought this book in 2005, and it’s been sitting in my “to be read” bookcase ever since. I’m not at all sure why — I’ve read 41 other books by Cherryh — but only four since 2014 (which is when I started tracking what I read). Oh, yeah… it starts with a 25 page … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Forge of Heaven by C. J. Cherryh
Jazz Show
(July 23, 2025)Seagull Chick ISO Parents
(July 23, 2025)I can’t recall seeing a seagull that young before — it had a very reedy voice, like if you take an adult seagull’s voice and removed all the crowiness. I think I could hear the parents answering? But not coming to its rescue. I thought seagulls were gutsier than that! Certainly the ones that used … Continue reading Seagull Chick ISO Parents
Book Club 2025: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
(July 22, 2025)I’ve noticed that there are certain books that put people’s hackles up, like Infinite Jest: Because somehow reading a book that’s fun to read is… signalling something, I take it. Infinite Jest is taken as a “literature bro” thing, and I’ve seen several people on Twitter saying that those bros should read 2666 instead. I … Continue reading Book Club 2025: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
Summertime
(July 20, 2025)Book Club 2025: A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries (2003-2020) by David Sedaris
(July 20, 2025)I’ve been trying to ween myself off of Twitter (and by “Twitter” I mean Twitter and Bluesky) for about a month. If Twitter was more entertaining it’d be less of a problem, but it’s not, and it just feels like a waste of time to keep scrolling. I don’t have any big theory of why … Continue reading Book Club 2025: A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries (2003-2020) by David Sedaris
TSP2023: Problemista
(July 19, 2025)Heh heh. I’ve never seen Tilda Swinton do a role like this, and she totally nails it. It’s awe-inspiring and it’s downright scary. YES! Comme des garçons. This is a frustrating movie. It’s like it wants to be a skit show (which is what Torres did next, and it worked really well), but not so … Continue reading TSP2023: Problemista
TSP2024: “Toilets”
(July 19, 2025)Now this is how you colour grade. Aaah. This is Tilda Swinton’s bit here — they flush the toilet, and she’s the voice of the water going “aaah”. Very minimal! Anyway, this is a very funny series, but it should be even funnier? Heh heh. Oh, there’s more! A speaking part! The set design is … Continue reading TSP2024: “Toilets”
TSP2021: The Dong with the Luminous Nose
(July 19, 2025)I found this short and watched it.
TSP2023: The Killer
(July 19, 2025)Nooo Heh heh. Is this a comedy? This really seems like a comedy. A parody? But it’s David Fincher? I didn’t know that he had a sense of humour. Product placement! The first 15 minutes of this has possibly been the most tedious 15 minutes I can recall from a movie. Well, except The Smiths … Continue reading TSP2023: The Killer
TSP2016: Phantom of the Universe: The Hunt for Dark Matter
(July 19, 2025)Well, what’s this then? I found it here, and from the fishy look, I’m guessing this was shot to be shown in a planetarium? Yes, indeed. Lots of planetariums. Tilda Swinton reads the narration. So this is about dark matter, and also about the Large Hardon Collider at CERN. (I was at CERN as a … Continue reading TSP2016: Phantom of the Universe: The Hunt for Dark Matter
TSP2011: Amore Carne
(July 19, 2025)I found a French-titled DVD of this movie I’ve been looking for.
TSP2002: Tilda Swinton: The Love Factory
(July 19, 2025)I found this short finally.
TSP1994: Remembrance of Things Fast: True Stories Visual Lies
(July 19, 2025)Ten years ago, there was a general enthusiasm about the brave new world of streaming, and some people were saying that from now on, everything would always be available for everybody. I was sceptical because money is still a thing that exists, and licensing is a complicated revenue stream. On the other hand, pirating is … Continue reading TSP1994: Remembrance of Things Fast: True Stories Visual Lies
My first subtitling job for autists who can’t read facial expressions was a really easy series
(July 18, 2025)Book Club 2025: Matriarkat by Tore Renberg
(July 17, 2025)I promise! I bought this back in 1998! Before Renberg got famous! OK, I have to explain: I started reading this book, and I looked at the back cover, and I thought: “That guy looks really familiar.” So I googled him, and went “DOH!” These days, Renberg is one of the best-selling authors in Norway. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Matriarkat by Tore Renberg
Here’s some feedback: *thpppt*
(July 16, 2025)Book Club 2025: Summer Moonshine by P. G. Wodehouse
(July 14, 2025)This one is a bit of a dud. Yes, I’m being super controversial! This book has so many problems, but the chief issue is really its length. At 320 pages, this might be Wodehouse’s longest book? And he has neither the plot not the characters to pull that off. Wodehouse’s formula is to have an … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Summer Moonshine by P. G. Wodehouse
Comics Daze
(July 14, 2025)It’s gonna be a rainy day today, so how about reading some comics, while listening to a bunch of David Bowie albums I don’t usually listen to? I mean, remixes and remasters and 90s stuff? Let’s give it a go. Oh, and yesterday I got a light bulb for my reading chair lamp that lets … Continue reading Comics Daze
Me, after reading the first half of the bug#66390 thread
(July 14, 2025)“There’s only madness down that road.” My solution to the url.el parts of Vasilij Schneidermann excellent writeup would, as always, be: diff –git a/lisp/url/url.el b/lisp/url/url.el index b4ece5faeb..8ea491efb0 100644 — a/lisp/url/url.el +++ b/lisp/url/url.el @@ -191,7 +191,8 @@ url-retrieve-internal (setq url (url-generic-parse-url url))) (if (not (functionp callback)) (error “Must provide a callback function to url-retrieve”)) – (unless … Continue reading Me, after reading the first half of the bug#66390 thread
Random Comics
(July 13, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read the past couple weeks. I’ve read a couple of Rick Tremble’s books before, but they’ve been smaller in format. This is magazine size, and the pages just overwhelm the reader. When you have this much text (and you mostly have fixed-sized panels like this), it helps with readability to just … Continue reading Random Comics
For the Goth that has everything
(July 10, 2025)Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #34
(July 9, 2025)Well, that prize doesn’t seem like a scam at all. This issue (from 1965) has a pretty interesting interview with de Beauvoir. And a portfolio of drawings for statues by Jean Tinguely. Nice picture of the artist, but where’s OSHA!? The longest piece in this issue is Jacksongrad by Harry Mathews, which is the first … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #34
An unexpectedly snarky 1965 ad for a poetry magazine
(July 9, 2025)Hm… ah! It was published by Odin House, which is a Robert Bly operation. Bly was, of course, the men’s movement guy. Then I guess it isn’t that mysterious after all — it’s just the normal reactionary stuff.
Book Club 2025: Extra(Ordinary) People by Joanna Russ
(July 8, 2025)This is a collection of short stories and novellas — but I skipped the first one, Souls, because I’ve read that one before. (Winner of the 1983 Hugo Award — it’s good, and I remember it well.) Souls is, by far, the most straightforward story here. There’s a variety of approaches here, but Russ mostly … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Extra(Ordinary) People by Joanna Russ
Book Club 2025: Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
(July 7, 2025)I have zero interest in Lao Tzu, but I quite like Le Guin’s writing, so I bought this book in 1997. And didn’t read it until today. It’s surprisingly enjoyable. The author seems like a fun guy, at least in Le Guin’s version. I liked reading the book. And I didn’t know that Trump was … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Book Club 2025: Professor Andersens natt by Dag Solstad
(July 7, 2025)I bought this on sale around 1997, and I didn’t get around to reading it until now. No particular reason, really — I’ve read about half of Solstad’s novels, and I’ve got some other unread books by Solstad in my to-be-read bookcase. I guess Solstad is finally starting to be recognised outside of Norway? It … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Professor Andersens natt by Dag Solstad
Book Club 2025: Shock to the System by Richard Stevenson
(July 6, 2025)As usual with these books by Stevenson, it’s well-written, has a satisfyingly convoluted mystery, and there’s witty repartee. The only problem is that the investigation itself is curiously tedious — it’s mostly just one interview after another with people who just aren’t much fun to spend time with, even in a book. But it’s fine … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Shock to the System by Richard Stevenson
Jazz Festival
(July 6, 2025)Grace Jones won.
Jazz Festival
(July 4, 2025)Jazz Festival
(July 3, 2025)Jazz Festival
(July 2, 2025)Book Club 2025: I Hear You’re Rich by Diane Williams
(July 1, 2025)This book is a collection of very short stories — typically a couple pages, so the term “flash fiction” makes sense. I think I bought this because I read a piece by Williams in The Paris Review. These very short stories make big impression in a context like that, because they are so dense and … Continue reading Book Club 2025: I Hear You’re Rich by Diane Williams
Book Club 2025: Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris
(July 1, 2025)There’s a puff quote on the back of this book saying “The older Sedaris gets, the funnier he gets”, and this is simply not true. His first couple books are fantastic — wholly original and hilarious. But he’s plenty funny these days, too. It’s just that the pieces collected here are a bit samey — … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris
June Music
(July 1, 2025)Music I’ve bought in June. Didn’t buy much this month… I’ve certainly been aware of The Ex for yonks, but I only started buying their albums a couple years ago. And I’m slowly working my way through their 40 year history, and for each album of theirs I hear, the more I love them. This … Continue reading June Music
Random Comics
(June 30, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the past week. Marc Torices isn’t a name that I’m familiar with… … but immediately upon opening this I’m like WHOA. It’s done in all these different art styles, and he references basically everybody that work in “literary” comics and has a strong style, so you get pastiches of … Continue reading Random Comics
Goshenite Now Gets Diamond, Lunar and PRH Comics
(June 30, 2025)Ten years ago, I got fed up with various ad hoc approaches for looking at the previews for American comics books, so I wrote a web site called Goshenite. (Because that’s an emerald, like diamond. Get it? Get it?) (I’d previously used an Emacs-based mode that was based on scraping the Mile High Comics data, … Continue reading Goshenite Now Gets Diamond, Lunar and PRH Comics
Comics Daze
(June 28, 2025)It’s an unexpectedly grey day, so I think I’ll read some comics. And only listen to albums from 1978. Kate Bush: The Kick Inside 12:40: Face Meat by Bonten Taro (Living the Line Books) Uh-oh. Japanese comics from the 60s. Seems to be very influenced by American horror comics? I know! I know! Like the … Continue reading Comics Daze
*snort*
(June 27, 2025)Book Club 2025: Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz
(June 26, 2025)There’s something a bit… decadent about these books. They’re about an editor who edits mystery books, so we get an entire other mystery inserted into the book, and then she’s also (of course) involved with a mystery of her own that ties into (and has clues from) the “inner” book. It’s for people who have … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Stuff Mixtape #426
(June 26, 2025)Concerts in Oslo Updated A Bit
(June 26, 2025)I’ve gone through the list of venues and added new ones that have appeared in Oslo over the last year, so the Concerts in Oslo web site (and apps for iOS and Android) should now be more updated. The site works by scraping the web pages of counts on fingers 84 venues and tries to … Continue reading Concerts in Oslo Updated A Bit
Jazz Show
(June 25, 2025)Rock Show
(June 22, 2025)Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #84
(June 22, 2025)I’m continuing to sample issues of The Paris Review from different eras (while having lunch). This is from 1982, and is a really solid issue. Among the noteworthy things is an interview with Philip Larkin, who comes off as a bit of an asshole. Which turns out to be accurate. The longest piece in the … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #84
Random Comics
(June 20, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the last… month, I guess? The Crepax omnibus series continues towards its end. These volumes are impressively big and heavy. But I don’t think anybody would claim that this is prime Crepax. It’s mostly later works here, and while the artwork is still… you know… Crepax… the stories are … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi
(June 20, 2025)I have to say that I was kinda annoyed while reading this book. It seems like a very calculated approach to making an international best seller. It’s got an elevator pitch plot (“woman lies about being pregnant so that she can get out of doing menial tasks at work”) coupled with a provocative title and … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi
Book Club 2025: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
(June 18, 2025)This turned into some kind of hate read. I mean, I knew that Sanderson was a prime example of Extruded Fantasy Product, so I’ve never sampled any of his books until this year. And… I was kinda pleasantly surprised? I mean, the books were all kinds of hokey, but they were indeed kinda entertaining. And … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
Comics Daze
(June 16, 2025)It’s another lovely day, so it’s time to read some comics. Accompanied by music from… let’s say 1974. David Bowie: Diamond Dogs 11:29: Ambiguous Blu by Noah Schiatti (Fieldmouse Press) I got this from here. I really like the artwork here… And the storytelling is original and compelling. It’s great! But too short! 11:38: Kutikuti: … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(June 12, 2025)Hey! I’ve gotta read some comics. And for music today: 1979. Talking Heads: Fear Of Music 12:39: Night Drive by Richard Sala (Fantagraphics) This is a book I’ve wanted to read for years, but it’s been out of print, and: And that’s kinda a lot of money, isn’t it? ISN”T IT?! But finally Fantagraphics had … Continue reading Comics Daze
Heavy Metal Research
(June 11, 2025)The magazines are still trickling into the search engine for magazines about comics, but I guess it’s mostly done now. I mean, it’s by no means complete — it has about 10% of the Comics Buyer’s Guide issues, for instance — but I guess all of the most important magazines are basically there. The search … Continue reading Heavy Metal Research
Comics Shopping In Paris II
(June 10, 2025)I was in Paris last week, so I went comics shopping again. I mean, there’s a lot of nice comics shops in Paris, of course, but I was looking for shops that had a selection outside the normal Delcourt/Dargaud/etc mainstream stuff. So I visited Un regard moderne, and it’s very nice indeed. I guess the … Continue reading Comics Shopping In Paris II
Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #251
(June 10, 2025)I read this on a plane a week ago, but I don’t remember much about it… This interview was interesting, but it didn’t really make me want to read her books. It’s an unusually topical issue. Well, as Paris Review issues go. The excerpts from the book by Miriam Toews were pretty fab. So there … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #251
Book Club 2025: The Drowning House by Cherie Priest
(June 10, 2025)As with a couple of other books I’ve bought lately, I started reading this book and then started wondering more why on Earth I’d bought it. But this time around I remembered! I read Robin Hobb’s review and though that this sounded like a diverting read. Even though she says “I consider Cherie Priest a … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Drowning House by Cherie Priest
Book Club 2025: Death of a Spy by M. C. Beaton and R. W. Green
(June 9, 2025)I almost forgot that I finished this book on the plane the other day. I’ve been reading it on and off for a few months in the in-between times, and the reason it took so long is because it’s pretty bad! It’s pretty bad! M. C. Beaton is, of course, dead now, so this R. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Death of a Spy by M. C. Beaton and R. W. Green
Book Club 2025: Those Endearing Young Charms by M. C. Beaton
(June 9, 2025)This is the final ebook I read on the recent trip I took — a romance trilogy of sorts. This has the most preposterous plot of them all, and the heroine in this one references a Regency novel with a similar central conceit — but I didn’t check whether that was something Beaton made up … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Those Endearing Young Charms by M. C. Beaton
Book Club 2025: To Dream Of Love by M. C. Beaton
(June 9, 2025)Like the previous post, I’m still on a train, reading. This isn’t as good as the previous book, though — Beaton has more pages to fill, and fill it she does with a series of murder attempts that don’t go anywhere. But it has a more memorable heroine than usual — very hands on, for … Continue reading Book Club 2025: To Dream Of Love by M. C. Beaton
Book Club 2025: The French Affair by M. C. Beaton
(June 9, 2025)I’ve been on a trip that involved planes and trains and not automobiles, and I read some old romances. These are very brisk reads (to put it mildly), so they’re well suited for that kind of thing. Beaton’s thing is to put some young people in some kind of absurd situation or other, and then … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The French Affair by M. C. Beaton
May Music
(June 8, 2025)Music I’ve bought in May. Wow, I bought a lot of albums in May. I really liked the Richard Dawson album — it’s so humane an vulnerable. Class. Mourning [A] BLKstar finally released a new album — I think it’s pretty good? There’s a weird Kraftwerk live album from 1971 when Ralf or und Florian … Continue reading May Music
Music Festival
(June 8, 2025)Shady Business
(June 6, 2025)But where’s Obelix?
(June 5, 2025)Rock Show
(June 3, 2025)Man, Stereolab was fantastic. I first thought they kinda needed more people to fill out the sound, but then it all started to make sense with like the third song, and I was totally on board. They played hits, obscure old songs, and new stuff, and it was all amazing. I was surprised at how … Continue reading Rock Show
New Richard Serra spotted
(June 1, 2025)But is that enough Chartreuse?
(May 31, 2025)(Sorry, no banana for scale.)
Thicc
(May 31, 2025)Music Show
(May 30, 2025)Hotel Room View A View
(May 29, 2025)D
(May 29, 2025)Book Club 2025: Beyond the Light Horizon by Ken MacLeod
(May 28, 2025)This is the third and final book in MacLeod’s space opera trilogy, and it’s so good that I wish the series went on for at least half a dozen more books. We’re talking proper space opera — huge space ships, political intrigue, mysterious aliens, funny aliens, faster than light travel and all that good stuff. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Beyond the Light Horizon by Ken MacLeod
Old Man Shouts At Phone
(May 28, 2025)So I was complaining about how stupid the Calendar app on Android is, and somebody (reasonably enough) asked me “but are you using Google Calendar or Samsung Calendar”? I have no idea. I’ve got a Samsung phone, and I’ve done my best to get rid of all the Samsung apps that are installed instead of … Continue reading Old Man Shouts At Phone
Book Club 2025: The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin
(May 26, 2025)I bought this slender book at a sale in 2019, apparently. I’m pretty sure I got Larkin confused with somebody else, or that I just liked the name — I certainly didn’t know anything about him. But the reason I’m finally reading the book is because I read an interview with Larkin in an old … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin
Book Club 2025: The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
(May 26, 2025)I’ve read all of Pynchon’s books before, and this one was the first I read. I think I was around 16, and I remember feeling really smug and a-cultured while I was reading it. So not much has changed! I read it in translation, and I only remember one single thing about it: The protagonist’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
An Updated Spamassassin Is Nice
(May 26, 2025)Lately, a lot more spam/scam emails seem to be getting through the Spamassassin installation on my mail server. Which finally made me go “eurhm… how long has it been since I upgraded that thing?” And, d’oh! It’s been a few years. I mean, it’s automatically upgraded with security fixes, but it was on Debian oldoldstable, … Continue reading An Updated Spamassassin Is Nice
Comics Daze
(May 25, 2025)Rubbish weather today. Yay! That means that I have to read comics. Stereolab: Instant Holograms On Metal Film 12:25: The Cartoonists Club by Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud (Scholastic) I’m trying something revolutionary today (photography wise) — I’ve changed my reading light bulb from the normal 2700K (“warm white”) to a 6000K (“daylight”) one so … Continue reading Comics Daze
Book Club 2025: Someone in the House by Barbara Michaels
(May 24, 2025)I don’t really care that much what a book “is about”. Whether it’s about mining on the moon or needlepoint pioneers, it’s the same to me. I mostly just care about the book being well-written and, you know, entertaining. But I have to say that I’m not a fan of ghost stories. And this is … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Someone in the House by Barbara Michaels
Artificial Blog Pingbacks
(May 23, 2025)WordpRess has this concept called “pingbacks”. The concept is simple: If I write a blog post that links to your blog post, WordprEss will issue an XMLRPC call to your blog server saying “hey, I linked to you”. You can then choose to display that as a comment on your blog. Of course, this can … Continue reading Artificial Blog Pingbacks
Book Club 2025: Fer-de-Lance/The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout
(May 23, 2025)I read an article about Rex Stout’s sister a couple of weeks ago. Ruth Stout is allegedly a Tick Tock phenomenon these days on account of her “no-work method” of gardening, and the writer of the article was saying how ironic it was that all her books are currently in print while none of Rex … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Fer-de-Lance/The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout
Random Comics
(May 22, 2025)I read some comics this week, but first: Comics drama! The social mediases (that’s a word) have been doing an impressive pile-up on a comic book artist today. It started when Alex Graham (full disclosure: I disliked Dog Biscuits and I like The Devil’s Grin) posed a subtweet-ey criticism of Comics These Days, and it’s … Continue reading Random Comics
Jazz Show
(May 20, 2025)Rock Show
(May 19, 2025)I’m now a Python hacker
(May 18, 2025)Yesterday I upgraded my “miscellaneous” server out there to Debian bookworm, and that meant (among many other things) that python2 disappeared. I didn’t have many things that depended on python2 on the server, but I was running a copy of http://nirmalpatel.com/fcgi/hn.py there — it’s a script that looks at Hacker News stories, and then attempts … Continue reading I’m now a Python hacker
Comics Daze
(May 18, 2025)Hey! My cold’s gone, so I now have the requisite strength to read some comics. And listen to music from 1982. Kate Bush: The Dreaming 13:07: We All Got Something by Lawrence Lindell (Drawn & Quarterly) This art style isn’t really my thing… it’s so tablet-ey. It’s kinda interesting how it paces things — it’s … Continue reading Comics Daze
Mood
(May 18, 2025)Somebody’s been shopping
(May 17, 2025)My new career as an electrician
(May 16, 2025)I recently installed a new set of LED lights under the upper cupboards, but plugged them in from a different place than they used to be. And then I noticed to my horror that I could see the dangling electrical cord here. Lemme enhance for you: THE HORROR. And the reason is that I need … Continue reading My new career as an electrician
Book Club 2025: Laughing Gas by P. G. Wodehouse
(May 15, 2025)It felt like Wodehouse had absolutely perfected his formula in his previous book, The Luck of the Bodkins, so I was wondering how he’d follow that up. And he does that by doing something completely different. This is a kind of high concept thing that Wodehouse usually doesn’t do — it’s basically Freaky Friday. And … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Laughing Gas by P. G. Wodehouse
Book Club 2025: Regency Gold by Marion Chesney
(May 14, 2025)I have glass-fronted box full of Marion Chesney/M. C. Beaton regency romances that bears the inscription: “Break In Case Of Flu”. *cough cough* The closest thing to being asleep is to watch Murder She Wrote, but reading Chesney’s books is a close second. However, this is the worst book of hers that I’ve ever read. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Regency Gold by Marion Chesney
Book Club 2025: Naked Once More by Elizabeth Peters
(May 13, 2025)I was unnaturally exhausted after the metal fest, but I realised why yesterday: I was coming down with some virus or other. So I had to pick some book appropriate to read while having a fever, and I picked an Elizabeth Peters — she writes books that are easy on the brain. Cracking open this … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Naked Once More by Elizabeth Peters
Book Club 2025: Third Man Out by Richard Stevenson
(May 11, 2025)I’m exhausted after two days of Desertfest, so I thought that another mystery might be the right thing to vegetate with. And it is indeed. This is another quite amusing and pretty smart mystery. But — it’s not as good as the two preceding books in this series. Those two books were so chock full … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Third Man Out by Richard Stevenson
Metal Festival
(May 10, 2025)I thought it was kinda beautiful: There’s one pair of air buds left, because nobody wanted to take the last pair. (I’ve got my own.) Chat Pile won the festival, or course (but I already love them), but the surprise was Whores., who I didn’t know anything about. They were fantastic. And now I’m gonna … Continue reading Metal Festival
Metal Festival
(May 9, 2025)Book Club 2025: I’ll Be Your Mirror by Nan Goldin
(May 9, 2025)I don’t really buy a lot of art books — it’s weird. I mean, I’m really into comics, so it would be natural to also be into art books, but I’m not. I usually just get bored after a few dozen pages and flip through the rest of the pages quickly. But this one is … Continue reading Book Club 2025: I’ll Be Your Mirror by Nan Goldin
Book Club 2025: Sing to It by Amy Hempel
(May 8, 2025)A month ago I hacked up a package to conveniently list books by authors I like, but have missed: While testing it, I ended up buying about 20 books, and this is one of them. Hooray for technology! Hempel is, of course, known for her very short stories, and this book has more than a … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Sing to It by Amy Hempel
Comics Daze
(May 8, 2025)I was using TFAW to pre-order books from the catalogue, but then they shut down. I felt like I was pre-ordering a whole lot more books than I was receiving, but I never actually checked, because, well, that’s work. But when they shut down, I too the list of pre-ordered books (that I hadn’t gotten) … Continue reading Comics Daze
Book Club 2025: The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
(May 7, 2025)I read The English Understand Wool by DeWitt two months ago, and I liked it so much I got the rest of her books, too. (There aren’t that many.) And… it’s fantastic! I gulped the 480 pages down over the last two days — well, almost; I had to go to a jazz show yesterday, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
Jazz Show
(May 6, 2025)Book Club 2025: Passion simple by Annie Ernaux
(May 5, 2025)Huh, I apparently bought this book in the summer of 2020… bookstores had opened again by then? Well, perhaps it was later, and the price tag was older… This is a very short book, and very intense. I quite enjoyed it, but I have to admit that I started feeling that she was playing into … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Passion simple by Annie Ernaux
Stuff Mixtape #425
(May 5, 2025)Book Club 2025: Le Petit Nicolas by René Goscinny & Jean-Jacques Sempé
(May 5, 2025)I’m learning French, so I’ve been reading French comics for children, and the next logical step is… books for children. Le Petit Nicolas is a series of books written by Asterix author René Goscinny, and is for very small children. Mais c’est vraiment chouette, as Nicolas says. This book is from 1959, so the concerns … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Le Petit Nicolas by René Goscinny & Jean-Jacques Sempé
Random Comics
(May 4, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the last week. I’ve been trying to buy more monthly comics again, because I like serialised comics. And I finally seem to have built up a solid base again… but now TFAW closed down! And I have to move the subscriptions else. I’m testing out G-Mart now, but of … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: Ice Blues by Richard Stevenson
(May 4, 2025)I was going to read something more substantial next, but I found myself in the mood for a mystery again, so here we are. Speaking of substantial, the previous Book Club post went viral, which came as a complete surprise to me, because I wasn’t really expecting anybody to read these posts. I mean, it’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Ice Blues by Richard Stevenson
Are there counterfeit Pop Sockets‽‽
(May 3, 2025)I bought some glue-on Pop Sockets from Amazon (yes, I know, one shouldn’t do that) for my Kobo ebook reader. (Speaking of which, this is my third one. The first one had buttons that were so hard to push that I had to push them with my nail. The second one had buttons that worked … Continue reading Are there counterfeit Pop Sockets‽‽
Philip Larkin sure had some opinions on jazz
(May 3, 2025)April Music
(May 1, 2025)Music I’ve bought in April. Hey, it’s been a slow month. The Joni Mitchell Archive series has reached the Hejira/Mingus era, and this is probably my favourite box (er so far). I mean, the first box was extremely entertaining, with lots of early very folky songs, many of which I hadn’t heard before. But this … Continue reading April Music
Does anybody have an LSI MegaRAID SAS 9280-8e with old firmware?
(April 30, 2025)(Different card depicted for illustrative purposes.) [Edit: Oops! I originally called the card 2108-8e, but it’s really called 9280-8e — 2108 is apparently what it’s called in BIOS, but not the actual model name.] Some months back, my MegaRAID card (used for this) died, and I bought a new old one. But it came with … Continue reading Does anybody have an LSI MegaRAID SAS 9280-8e with old firmware?
The Making of a Kitchen Clock: A Photo Essay
(April 29, 2025)I used to have a all-in-one computer on this kitchen bench, because I thought it would be useful to use to look up recipes and stuff. But I never used it, so half a year ago I downsized to the two boxes you see above. The one to the right has an Emacs-based music player, … Continue reading The Making of a Kitchen Clock: A Photo Essay
Book Club 2025: The Books of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
(April 28, 2025)I discovered that they’d published a complete, illustrated version of the Earthsea cycle a couple weeks ago. I’m not overly fond of omnibus editions, but this is illustrated by Charles Vess, and I love his artwork, so I thought that this might be a good time to re-read these books. Because of course I’ve read … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Books of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Is it a good sign when a screen does this?
(April 28, 2025)Random Comics
(April 27, 2025)Yes indeed, I’ve read some comics over the past few weeks. It’s taken a while for me to get through this Iznogoud omnibus. I’ve read all these stories as a child (in translation), of course, and… er… I wasn’t a big fan then, so I’m not sure why I bought this now. In French. I … Continue reading Random Comics
Anita de Caro
(April 26, 2025)Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #13
(April 26, 2025)This is from 1956, when the Paris Review was still being published in Paris. It was a much slimmer affair back then — just 140 very thin pages. The longest piece here is “Letters From An American Prisoner” by James Blake. It’s a series of letters from Blake (who was incarcerated at the time) to … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #13
Dorothy Parker on money
(April 25, 2025)Rock Show
(April 23, 2025)The Tilda Swinton Checklist
(April 22, 2025)After a pretty random decision to see all films Tilda Swinton had appeared in, and a basic run-through and then a mopping-up weekend, and then doing a Swinton week every summer every since, I’ve basically seen all the Swinton films that are kinda available. (In some form or other.) This post is a place-holder article … Continue reading The Tilda Swinton Checklist
OpenLibrary, LibraryThing, Books and Emacs
(April 22, 2025)A commenter on my previous post about this stuff suggested using LibraryThing to deduplicate editions, so I thought I’d give it a go. I’m using Amy Hempel as the test case, because she’s only published a handful of books. Or as OpenLibrary says: 27. Let’s have a look at, say, the collection from 2006: The … Continue reading OpenLibrary, LibraryThing, Books and Emacs
Comics Daze
(April 21, 2025)It feels like it’s been months since I last read some comics, but I see that it was just two weeks ago. Time doesn’t fly!? Anyway: Comics day. And for music today: Music from 1996 only. 1996 was a good year, I think. Vinicius Cantuária: Sol Na Cara 13:23: The Test No. 68 by Blaise … Continue reading Comics Daze
Book Club 2025: Løvens gap by Anne Holt and Berit Reiss-Andersen
(April 20, 2025)OK, I’ve respected the Norwegian ancient tradition of reading mysteries all Easter long, but this is the last one (even if there’s one more day to go). But I’m ending this Easter on a really strong book. It’s 400 pages long, and there’s not a single boring paragraph in here. Holt was a minister of … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Løvens gap by Anne Holt and Berit Reiss-Andersen
New Products For Men
(April 20, 2025)These could be the most original originals I’ve ever seen
(April 19, 2025)Book Club 2025: On the Other Hand, Death by Richard Stevenson
(April 18, 2025)I read a book by Stevenson many, many years ago, and then I didn’t read any more of his books. So either that book was just awful, or I just plain forgot? In any case, I bought this book four years ago, and then forgot to read it. This book is quite good! Much better … Continue reading Book Club 2025: On the Other Hand, Death by Richard Stevenson
Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #122
(April 18, 2025)I finished this book today (I’ve been reading it over the past few weeks), and that means that I can tell you my story about American customer service! A few years back I ran out of new issues of The Paris Review to read, and as I was in the US at the time, I … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #122
Book Club 2025: A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh
(April 17, 2025)I stumbled across this while doing some testing of the “missed books” command in bookiez.el. It’s one of those “… and FAMOUS DEAD AUTHOR” books, so I assumed it was going to be totally awful. But I saw that it had positive reviews, so I gave it a shot. It’s pretty bad. I mean, it’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh
Perplexingly Book-Learned Emacs
(April 17, 2025)As I was whining yesterday, it’s perplexingly difficult to find a (semi-)programmatic way of determining whether an author has written a new book. Or even manually in some cases. The best advice is, like, “Follow them on Goodreads” or something? (To recap those two previous posts for those who hate clicking links — there’s plenty … Continue reading Perplexingly Book-Learned Emacs
Book Club 2025: Djevelkysset by Unni Lindell
(April 16, 2025)The week of mysteries continues… Lindell is one of the most successful mystery writers in Norway, and reading this, it’s both obvious and a bit confusing why this is the case. At the same time. The story is told in extremely short scenes — if this was a TV series, it would be one of … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Djevelkysset by Unni Lindell
Do Lists Of Published Works Exist?
(April 16, 2025)tl;dr: Does anybody know of a site/API where I can find a list of books published by an author? Before you answer “just use Wikipedia/Goodreads/Amazon/openlibrary”, read on… After tinkering with my bookiez.el package today, I naturally started to want to buy more books. I was thinking about implementing something that would alert me when authors … Continue reading Do Lists Of Published Works Exist?
A Book Tracking Package for Emacs
(April 15, 2025)In 2013, I got tired of rooting through the book cases every time I bought a new book (to see whether I already had it, because who can remember those things). So I bought an ISBN bar scanner, and whipped up some basic code in Emacs to keep track of what I’d bought. I’ve used … Continue reading A Book Tracking Package for Emacs
Book Club 2025: 1222 by Anne Holt
(April 14, 2025)Easter is mystery book time in Norway. It’s been speculated that it all started because people went off to do skiing in the mountains, and they needed some light reading for the evenings (or when they were snowed in), but I guess it’s just One Of Those Things: A thing happens randomly, and then it … Continue reading Book Club 2025: 1222 by Anne Holt
Everything Is Bad Now pt LVII: PG Tips
(April 13, 2025)For years I’ve been looking for a good “standard” tea. You know, just something you can drink in the morning while you’re too tired to make any decisions, or brew tea properly. But I’ve been doing all these various weird fancy teas, and I like them all. Mostly TGW, who has amusing teas like the … Continue reading Everything Is Bad Now pt LVII: PG Tips
20th Century Man
(April 12, 2025)The Best Albums of 2012
(April 10, 2025)Oh, I forgot I was doing this “best of” blog series based on which albums I’ve listened the most to per year, but I found this in my drafts, so you’re welcome, I guess. Cat Power Sun Deerhoof Breakup Song Django Django Django Django Fort Romeau Kingdoms Leila U&I Maria & The Mirrors Gemini Enjoy … Continue reading The Best Albums of 2012
Book Club 2025: The Rays Of Light That Did Not Illumine by Jandek
(April 9, 2025)I’m reading a big fantasy omnibus, and as is my wont when doing that, I’m reading separate short, short books in between the novels in the omnibus. Because reading several novels in a row in an omnibus is just oddly offputting to me. (But I have no problems reading several novels from the same author … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Rays Of Light That Did Not Illumine by Jandek
Identify This Song
(April 9, 2025)Some years ago I was digitising a bunch of old tapes. On a mixtape from 1995, I found this track: (It starts pretty loud; perhaps turn the volume down first.) It’s a kinda wild trip hop like thing? With the Amen break? I was thinking perhaps Nicolette… Or… well, it sounds very familiar, but… Shazam … Continue reading Identify This Song
Book Club 2025: A City of Strangers by Robert Barnard
(April 8, 2025)I wanted to read something entertaining today, so I first tried a new, well-reviewed mystery book, gave up, and then went with yet another old Barnard mystery. It’s pretty entertaining! The only annoyance this time around was that Barnard was so strongly hinting at one specific character as being the guilty one — by making … Continue reading Book Club 2025: A City of Strangers by Robert Barnard
Book Club 2025: Nothing Ever Happens Here by Seraphina Nova Glass
(April 8, 2025)The main mystery here is how I ended up with this book. I have no recollection of why I bought it, but perhaps I saw some glowing reviews and gave it a shot? I’m always on the lookout for some well-written mysteries. I mean, just the name — Seraphina Nova Glass — should have been … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Nothing Ever Happens Here by Seraphina Nova Glass
German Musician Autobiography Vibes
(April 5, 2025)Book Club 2025: FIRE!! edited by Wallace Thurman
(April 4, 2025)Some years back, I watched a movie set during the Harlem Renaissance, and the characters were putting together this literary magazine called FIRE!!. So naturally I wanted to read it… and it turns out that somebody (in 1982) did a facsimile edition of this 1926 magazine. So for today’s book club reading, we don’t have … Continue reading Book Club 2025: FIRE!! edited by Wallace Thurman
Comics Daze
(April 4, 2025)I’ve got to read more comics! But perhaps not for as many hours as usual, because I’ve got some errands to run. Juana Molina: Son 13:19: Land of Mirrors by María Medem (Drawn & Quarterly) Wow, the artwork is really attractive… and reminds me of a thing I’ve idly wondered about: Right, Sunday by Oliver … Continue reading Comics Daze
Random Comics
(April 3, 2025)Here’s some comics (and stuff) I’ve read over the past few weeks. Perhaps a month? Galago (the Swedish comics magazine) is quarterly now, so the issues are thick and nice. I was especially impressed by this piece by My Palm. It’s not all comics! It’s not very political, but there’s a couple things about Gaza … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: Penric’s Labors by Lois McMaster Bujold
(April 2, 2025)A new book in mass-market paperback format — you don’t see that often these days, do you? Or perhaps you do, and it’s just me that never stumbles onto these paperbacks any more. Anyway, this book collects three novellas, all around 150 pages long, and all previously published separately as e-books. It’s an interesting way … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Penric’s Labors by Lois McMaster Bujold
The best music for walking home at night is…
(April 1, 2025)… definitely this: That is, The Ballad of Shirley Collins soundtrack, which I was listening to tonight. It’s perfect.
March Music
(March 31, 2025)Music I’ve bought in March. Hey, that’s quite a lot of music. And a couple of eagerly awaited albums this month: Sacrew Paws has a new album out! Get it here. It’s pretty spiffy — it’s more “produced” than previous albums, and they don’t sing across each other like they used to (I love that … Continue reading March Music
Book Club 2025: The Moon and The Echo edited by Richard Porter
(March 31, 2025)I don’t really know how I come to have this… I guess I bought it in 2022? Anyway, this is subtitled “Responses to The Moon and The Melodies”, which is an album I quite like. It’s by Cocteau Twins with Harold Budd, but not titled that way, because that would have led to higher sales, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Moon and The Echo edited by Richard Porter
Hardware stores have become more hard core
(March 30, 2025)Everybody’s Live is the best TV show ever just based on this moment
(March 29, 2025)It’s The Year Of Linux On The Laptop
(March 29, 2025)So Firefox freaked out so violently at some kind of… security thing on a web site that it flooded the desktop with events that the laptop was unusable. Cool cool So I rebooted, and: OH MY GOD! First of all, that screen is so dusty! Second of all… when rebooting, Debian now kicks in something … Continue reading It’s The Year Of Linux On The Laptop
Laurie Sheck
(March 29, 2025)This is not Édith Piaf!
Book Club 2025: L’été 80 by Marguerite Duras
(March 28, 2025)I apparently picked this up at a sale in 2021. I quite enjoy Duras’ books, but I’ve only read a handful. I think I’ve seen most of her hit movies, though. This book is quite short, and you have to admire the lengths they’ve gone to to make this into something that can be sold … Continue reading Book Club 2025: L’été 80 by Marguerite Duras
Book Club 2025: The Luck of the Bodkins by P. G. Wodehouse
(March 27, 2025)I was feeling both under the weather and down in the dumps, so I reached for a Wodehouse book. And this one, from 1935, is top notch. This ticks along like extremely complicated clockwork in an almost hypnotic manner. There’s three (3) romances that have to come true, and there’s also a pearl necklace to … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Luck of the Bodkins by P. G. Wodehouse
Book Club 2025: The Bad Samaritan by Robert Barnard
(March 25, 2025)Today was a perfect day for an old mystery novel. And as usual with Barnard, half of the book is about stuff that happens before The Crime, and then we get half a book of sleuthing. The problem with this kind of structure is that you have to have sufficiently interesting characters to pull it … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Bad Samaritan by Robert Barnard
Book Club 2025: Fakkelen er tent! by Tor Eystein Øverås
(March 23, 2025)I frequently read several books in parallel — usually different types of books. Like, a musician autobiography, a short story collection and a novel — or in this case, I’ve been reading a book about the history of the “quality paperback” market in Norway. And it took me two and a half years to get … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Fakkelen er tent! by Tor Eystein Øverås
Comics Daze
(March 23, 2025)It’s a day for reading comics for sure. And for music today: Albums from 1981 only. Japan: Tin Drum (1) 12:48: Causeway 25-29 by CF Oh, man, the white balance is so balanced today. That is, it’s very sunny, and the lamp I’m reading under uses a “warm” bulb, so to get kinda realistic white … Continue reading Comics Daze
Book Club 2025: Deeds of Honor by Elizabeth Moon
(March 22, 2025)This is a slightly odd grab-bag of stuff. It’s got three proper short stories, one thirty page deleted sequence from one of the books, several things that I can only describe as “scenes”, and some “myth” recounts. None of these pieces would make much sense to somebody who hasn’t already read all the Paksenarrion books. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Deeds of Honor by Elizabeth Moon
Book Club 2025: Numero Zero by Umberto Eco
(March 22, 2025)I got If on a winter’s night a traveler by Italo Calvino as an Xmas present when I was seventeen, and I loved it to bits. Absolutely amazing book. But why am I talking about Calvino? Because I think I’m suffering from some obscure disease probably called something like calvinoecotrepidatioensis, wherein every time my eyes … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Numero Zero by Umberto Eco
Book Club 2025: London 2084 by Bing & Bringsværd
(March 21, 2025)I guess this author duo has a special place in the hearts of all Norwegian nerds of a certain age. Not only did they champion science fiction in Norway in the 70s, but they edited a number of anthologies, got a bunch of classics translated, wrote sci-fi TV series… and also wrote a bunch of … Continue reading Book Club 2025: London 2084 by Bing & Bringsværd
Book Club 2025: De romantiske hundene by Roberto Bolaño
(March 20, 2025)Of all the things I opine on that I’m utterly unqualified to opine on, poetry is the thing that I’m unqualifiediest (that’s a word) to opine on. But I’ve never let that stop me before, so: Eh, it didn’t grab me. I have no idea, of course, whether it’s the translation that’s the problem (this … Continue reading Book Club 2025: De romantiske hundene by Roberto Bolaño
Book Club 2025: Line Up For Murder by Marian Babson
(March 20, 2025)Oops! I was hung over today, so I decided to read a mystery. This is a quite original concept — it’s about a bunch of people in line for days for a huge sale, and the “mystery” bit is about whether the people in the queue have other motives for sleeping on the sidewalk than … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Line Up For Murder by Marian Babson
WoRdPrEsS ReWrItEs My PoStS
(March 18, 2025)So the other day, for the first time ever, I actually read one of my blog posts (excerpt seen above). (This also explains all the typoes.) But I saw that “WordPress” up there and I knew that I’d never write something that cringe-worthy. And indeed: See? In that test, there’s only one capitalised character in … Continue reading WoRdPrEsS ReWrItEs My PoStS
I Pity The Plants
(March 18, 2025)I’ve got a couple of big sansevierias of different types, but they all have the same problem: About once a year, they send up these huge flower stems of, admittedly, not very impressive off-white flowers. So what’s the problem? It’s that every night when it gets dark, they send out the richest, sweetest, most perfumed … Continue reading I Pity The Plants
Book Club 2025: Ned til hundene by Helle Helle
(March 18, 2025)Helle Helle is a Danish author, and I’ve seen her books around for years, but never actually read any of her books. I guess the main intriguing thing for me has been her cool name — yes, I’m that shallow. I guess I bought this book at an airport in December 2014, but then never … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Ned til hundene by Helle Helle
Two Panels From A Comic Book Presented Without Comment
(March 17, 2025)Comics Daze
(March 17, 2025)Finally a day for reading comics. And for music today: 1972 only. Or possibly also a bit of 1973 if I run out of 1972. David Bowie: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars 11:14: Death of Copra #1 by Michel Fiffe (Image Comics) The end of Copra is here. … Continue reading Comics Daze
Book Club 2025: The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham
(March 17, 2025)Like everybody else, I loved Cunningham’s book The Hours — it had a certain something very special going on. So I continued reading his books, but by the time I bought this one, I’d grown somewhat weary of his style. But I’ve got this strange habit of continuing to buy books from authors I’ve gone … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham
Wherein I Explain Why Emacs Is The Best Tool For WordPress
(March 16, 2025)When I look at popular tools for writing blog posts, they all seem to require an ungodly amount of work to get common things done. They mostly all get the basics right: You can just type away at a text, and then post it. Easy peasy. Sometimes it loses your work, but that’s modern computers … Continue reading Wherein I Explain Why Emacs Is The Best Tool For WordPress
Claude Simon is still hard core
(March 15, 2025)Claude Simon is hard core
(March 15, 2025)Book Club 2025: McSweeney’s #17
(March 15, 2025)This was published in 2005, but I apparently bought this in 2013 — at The Strand! I think this was after I stopped my subscription to the magazine, but apparently this format was irresistible to me. As it is to this day. Some of the “mail” in this package is just bizarre fun, like this … Continue reading Book Club 2025: McSweeney’s #17
Book Club 2025: Finding My Elegy by Ursula K. Le Guin
(March 14, 2025)The first half of this book has poems from most of her previous collections… … and I skipped that half, because I’ve already read them. Yes, OK, sure, perhaps I’m a teensy bit fanboyish about Le Guin? Anyway, the last half of the book is poetry written in the years before 2010, and I’ve been … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Finding My Elegy by Ursula K. Le Guin
Book Club 2025: King Rat by China Miéville
(March 14, 2025)I’ve read most of Miéville’s books, and they’re a bit hit or miss. He’s a talented writer on a sentence by sentence basis, and that’s sometimes a problem: He gets so enthusiastic about how good he is that he has a tendency to go on and on, conjuring forth an exciting miasmatic milieu just by … Continue reading Book Club 2025: King Rat by China Miéville
Tweaked version of the simple auto poster for Bluesky
(March 13, 2025)There’s are many plugins for WordPress to auto-post to Bluesky. I use the nice and simple one called (simply) simple-auto-poster-for-bluesky. It’s simple! But it has two problems: If you’re editing an older post that the plugin hasn’t seen before, it’ll post that to Bluesky, which is something you’d normally not want to happen. And the … Continue reading Tweaked version of the simple auto poster for Bluesky
Book Club 2025: Daybreak Zero by John Barnes
(March 12, 2025)Barnes wrote some moderately entertaining space opera books back in the day, but this is book two in a post-apocalyptic series. I bought the two first books in 2012, but I only read the first, and I wasn’t quite sure why. But reading this now, it’s kinda coming back to me: The book is competently … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Daybreak Zero by John Barnes
Jazz Show
(March 11, 2025)Comics Research Update
(March 10, 2025)I’ve been updating kwakk.info, the search engine for magazines about comics a bit, because: Anna’s Archive finally updated their libgen.li mirror. So now we can see vital things like turn into and thousands of people with OCD rejoiced. Now, doing searches for Cartoonist PROfiles #35 on Anna’s is easy enough — you just search for … Continue reading Comics Research Update
Book Club 2025: The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt
(March 10, 2025)This is a very short book — it’s part of a series called “Storybook ND” with the motto “the pleasure of reading a great book from cover to cover in an afternoon”. And it really succeeds at being a satisfying little book. It’s almost a short story, really, but it’s sly and witty and feels … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt
Random Comics
(March 9, 2025)Voici quelques bandes dessinées que je lis depuis quelques semaines. I mean, here’s some comics I’ve read during the past couple weeks. Spirou continues to be somewhat entertaining, but it depends on the serials they are running, of course. But it’s fun when they put some efforts into launching a new Natacha serialisation. So we … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson
(March 9, 2025)I think this is probably the third Sanderson book I’ve read. Sanderson is, of course, one of the most-selling fantasy authors in the world, so I’ve avoided his books, but I picked up one last year and though “well, this isn’t that bad”, so I got two more. This is a novella, and again, it’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson
Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #250
(March 8, 2025)This is the latest issue, so I’m finally caught up! I mean, I’ve got a whole stack of old issues I bought the other year, but I’ve caught up with the more recent ones. I’ve been reading this over the past couple weeks… It’s an unusually topical issue, but slyly so. The interview with Hanif … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Paris Review #250
Book Club 2025: Lyorn by Steven Brust
(March 7, 2025)This is the seventeenth book in the Vlad Taltos series which has been going since the early 80s, so… 40 years? I think that’s pretty unique — I mean, there’s been many fantasy book series that have gone on for decades, but not quite this coherently. It’s basically the story of one single guy over … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Lyorn by Steven Brust
I Have Bought What May Be The Best Thing That Has Ever Been Made
(March 7, 2025)Just look at it! Look at it! It’s a keypad with two knobs on it. It’s USB C. And looks what happens when I plug it in. Exactly! Apparently nothing! There are no LEDs! Do you know how rare it is to find a product, any product, that doesn’t have any LED lights these days? … Continue reading I Have Bought What May Be The Best Thing That Has Ever Been Made
Book Club 2025: Parade by Rachel Cusk
(March 5, 2025)I don’t read reviews of book I might read, but I’ve seen some mutterings about this book — well, first of all, that’s it’s not as good as Outline, but then again, very few things are. So I was approaching this with some trepidation. Front-loading books with the most “difficult” material seems to be a … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Parade by Rachel Cusk
Book Club 2025: The Thief Who Couldn’t Sleep by Lawrence Block
(March 3, 2025)I quite enjoyed Block’s later Bernie Rhodenbarr books — they were repetetive, but well-written and amusing. So I went ahead and bought all of his earlier Tanner books, and this is the second of those I’ve read. And as before, he’s got the patter going, and it’s amusingly written. But the book has the structure … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Thief Who Couldn’t Sleep by Lawrence Block
Comics Daze
(March 3, 2025)It’s time to read some comics. And for the music, I’m trying to recreate the order of Bowie albums I used to use when I was a teenager and reading comics. Let’s see if I get it right this time… David Bowie: Diamond Dogs 10:09: Distant Ruptures by CF (New York Review Comics) This is … Continue reading Comics Daze
Is it possible to take screenshots of web sites these days?
(March 3, 2025)I was thinking about writing some code for older posts to check broken links and do screenshots of where links points to, as explained here. But before starting that, I thought it might make sense to explore a bit first to see what the options are. So I’ll just be nattering on randomly here and … Continue reading Is it possible to take screenshots of web sites these days?
February Music
(March 1, 2025)Music I’ve bought in February. I’ve literally bought nothing this month. For some values of literally.
Book Club 2025: Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch
(February 28, 2025)The worst mistake an author can do when writing short stories in between a series of novels is to try to “fill in” stuff from the backstory. That is, when creating a universe, good authors know a lot about their world that they never actually write (extensively) about. So for instance, if one of the … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Tales from the Folly by Ben Aaronovitch
Noise Show
(February 27, 2025)Book Club 2025: The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett
(February 27, 2025)I bought this (at a sale) back in 2009 along with either Malone Dies or Molloy. I read the other book at the time, but not this one. I’m really culturemaxxing here — this edition was translated by Norway’s foremost poet, Jan Erik Vold, in the late 60s. And it flows really well; I wasn’t … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett
Book Club 2025: School for Murder by Robert Barnard
(February 27, 2025)I had a hangover over today from all that jazz yesterday, so I read another mystery. This is pretty solid — lots of interesting characters and a brisk pace. The only problem was that I took a five minute time out to think about who the murderer could be, and there was really only one … Continue reading Book Club 2025: School for Murder by Robert Barnard
Jazz Show
(February 25, 2025)Stuff Mixtape #424
(February 25, 2025)Book Club 2025: Arkansas by John Brandon
(February 24, 2025)I bought this in 2008 — for a handful of years back then I bought basically everything published by McSweeney’s. I had a subscription to the quarterly, of course, but I also snapped up the other books they published. Half of the charm was the humour surrounding McSweeney’s, even if the books themselves weren’t “funny … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Arkansas by John Brandon
Book Club 2025: In the Teeth of Adversity by Marian Babson
(February 24, 2025)I started this book last week while I had a cold, but then I suddenly got all better, and found it rather a chore to finish this book. It’s not that it’s bad on sentence by sentence basis, but Babson here really goes for a P. G. Wodehouse-style farce, but also featuring cats, several dentists … Continue reading Book Club 2025: In the Teeth of Adversity by Marian Babson
Random Comics
(February 23, 2025)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the past few weeks. Mais d’abord, quelques mots que vous devez connaître. Er, I mean… This is the fourth Agence Hardy album by Pierre Christin and Annie Goetzinger… … and it’s the chattiest one yet. Really, this French is above my level, so it took a couple hours to … Continue reading Random Comics
Egill Skallagrímsson doesn’t seem relevant at all today
(February 22, 2025)(Translated from Old Norse by Emily Osborne.)
New Type of Spam/Scam via Eventbrite?
(February 22, 2025)I got the mail above from Eventbrite today, and as far as I can tell, it’s really been sent from Eventbrite, and the links are valid. So it’s for some show in Belgium somewhere, with a person called Tracy Wells? So I googled, and: Tracy Wells seems to be some kind of fortune teller scammer? … Continue reading New Type of Spam/Scam via Eventbrite?
Thanks, Cloudflare
(February 21, 2025)I’m using a link checker plugin on this blog, but I’ve noticed lately that about half of the external links are marked as broken. (The plugin marks those links with a line through the text like shown above.) But when I click on the links, they work perfectly. So I just had a peek at … Continue reading Thanks, Cloudflare
Comics Daze
(February 21, 2025)Oops, I’m still getting up at the wrong time of day after having a cold. But why not read some comics, then? Hey! It’s snowing again! And I’ve gotten a bunch of comics in the mail that I’m excited to read, so let’s get started. Shearwater: Animal Joy 03:06: Good Night and Sweet Dreams! by … Continue reading Comics Daze
WordPress Link Rot Tweak
(February 20, 2025)A few years ago, I amended the Emacs package for WordPress so that it automatically grabbed a screenshot of whatever I linked to. That’s a low effort solution to the link rot problem — i.e., inevitably, all web sites die, and your blog ends up talking about web sites readers can no longer read. Now, … Continue reading WordPress Link Rot Tweak
Inserting Images Automatically in ewp
(February 19, 2025)I’ve had code for ages to handle images automatically in Emacs and the WordPress Emacs package, but it hasn’t been integrated well before, and it’s been a bit hacky, leaving temporary files behind and stuff. So I’ve now finally cleaned it up, and here’s how it works in practice: See? Blogging with images is easy … Continue reading Inserting Images Automatically in ewp
HTML, but not too HTML
(February 17, 2025)When writing blog posts, I use ewp, an Emacs package to administrate WordPress. It offers an editing mode based on the revolutionary idea of just writing HTML. Everything is cyclical in computing, so people move between writing things in raw HTML and using arcane and unholy systems, mostly based on some Markdown dialect. I understand … Continue reading HTML, but not too HTML
Book Club 2025: Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
(February 17, 2025)“Despite this solve…” Oh my gerd! This is awful! On a sentence by sentence basis, this is gruelling. “The kettle screamed its achievement of boiling water and Adrian jerked it off the element, wincing.” This is torture. I got to page 30 before giving up, because the concept here sounds like it could be fun. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
Book Club 2025: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith
(February 17, 2025)I’ve got a strange kind of cold this week — it doesn’t seem to get better or get worse, but just remains at a stage of me feeling slightly cruddy, so I’m picking books to read that go down easily. I’m not up for reading anything challenging. I bought this book in 2005 and then … Continue reading Book Club 2025: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith
Spam, Spam, WordPress and Spam
(February 17, 2025)I was puttering around looking at WordPress spam, so I wondered just how much I get. So I altered the WordPress Statistics for Emacs package to grab spam comments, too, so that I see what I have, and… It’s about 160 spam comments per day across the blogs. These are all caught by Akismet Anti-Spam, … Continue reading Spam, Spam, WordPress and Spam
Comment Spam Is Annoying Part XIV
(February 16, 2025)I was looking at the WordPress statistics just now, and I saw that an old, obscure post had suddenly gotten popular. Looking at the details, all the hits are from different IP addresses, and all the visitors come via Google! Over a 15 minute period! So that’s obviously not real — it’s a botnet of … Continue reading Comment Spam Is Annoying Part XIV
Book Club 2025: A Conventional Boy by Charles Stross
(February 16, 2025)This book collects one novella and two short stories, so, er, “A Laundry Files Novel”? Well, OK, perhaps Stross considers this to be a very short novel, and not a novella… Or perhaps the publishers think “novel” sells better than “novella”, and they should know. As usual with Stross, his style is burbling — it’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: A Conventional Boy by Charles Stross
Book Club 2025: Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
(February 15, 2025)I’ve got a cold. Boo! But whenever I have a cold, I get to re-read old science fiction novels. Yay! I mean, I could do that even if I didn’t have a cold, but somehow I prefer reading new books when I’m well and books I’ve read before when I’m poorly. And this is just … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
Book Club 2025: The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch
(February 13, 2025)Looks like I bought this book at a sale back in 2004 and then didn’t read it. I guess that happens more often with books on sale than other books. This is a slightly over-the-top satire of the “middle aged academic meets pixie dream girl” genre: The main character, Mor, is the head of a … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch
Comics Daze
(February 9, 2025)I went on a short trip to London and I bought a bunch of comics. But I also have a bunch of other comics I haven’t read yet, so let’s mix things up. And for today’s music… perhaps just David Bowie? With the albums played in the other I used to play as a teenager … Continue reading Comics Daze
Synth Show
(February 7, 2025)Jazz Show
(February 6, 2025)I’m the best photographer.
Maintain asocial distance
(February 6, 2025)Amazing life hack: Extra lil’ sink so you can wash your hands while you poop
(February 6, 2025)(Could also be a very avant garde bidet, I guess.)
Improv Show
(February 6, 2025)It was fab. Fab-ish. Rie Nakajima & Max Eastley did some interesting stuff, but most of it was on the floor, so only the people in the first row got to see what was going on with all those little machines and stuff. Mia Zabelka didn’t have that problem, and it was fab-fab. But then … Continue reading Improv Show
Book Club 2025: Heavy Weather by P. G. Wodehouse
(February 4, 2025)I’ve gotten to 1933 in my chronological read of P.G. Wodehouse novels, and I was wondering whether there’s a general drop-off in quality in his books… so I googled what people thought, and the rough consensus is that yes indeed, after 1940 his books suck or something? And that this is almost his final top … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Heavy Weather by P. G. Wodehouse
Comics Daze
(February 4, 2025)Gah! I woke up in the middle of the night and I don’t feel like wrestling myself back to sleep, so perhaps this is a good night and then day to read comics? I guess we’ll see. And for today’s music: 1991 only. Heidi Berry: Love 04:25: Mothballs by Sole Otero (Fantagraphics) The artwork here … Continue reading Comics Daze
Jazz Show
(February 2, 2025)January Music
(January 31, 2025)Music I’ve bought in January. Hey! I bought a lot of stuff in January! Some of it was a result of me looking at various “best of” lists. Like The Wire’s had Blood Incantation pretty high up, and I gave it a shot, and it’s indeed awesome: Prog/kraut/death metal or something. And my old favourites … Continue reading January Music
Book Club 2025: The Red and the Black II by Stendhal
(January 31, 2025)I read the first volume of this last year, and then I started this one a week ago. The Norwegian translation is by Paul René Gaugin, the more famous Gaugin’s son, and it was originally done for a 1944 translation (even if my edition is from the 70s). And… it’s almost wilfully archaic. That is, … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Red and the Black II by Stendhal
Book Club 2025: Past Regret by Marian Babson
(January 30, 2025)Still in the mood for something easy on the brain. Unfortunately, this isn’t one of Babson’s best books — her main strength (after being a pretty decent writer on a word by word basis) is that she’s good at keeping amusing patter going. And this is a more “serious” thriller than anything else, and it’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Past Regret by Marian Babson
Book Club 2025: Paws For Alarm by Marian Babson
(January 30, 2025)I was feeling in the mood to vegetate today, so I rooted out this old book that I probably read 20 years ago. It’s hard finding good trash. There’s an endless amount of solid serious literature, but finding books that are easy on the brain but still marginally well-written is hard. This was originally published … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Paws For Alarm by Marian Babson
Jazz Show
(January 28, 2025)Wow, this is the longest time I’ve ever gone between watching shows. I blame the weather. And this was totally amazing. Both sets. And the terlets are even more er original than last time.
Random Comics
(January 27, 2025)I’ve been reading comics! Here’s some stuff I’ve read over the past couple weeks. DC’s reprint push has made me buy a bunch of these huge books, reprinting things from throughout their history. I’m not sure why, really. Marketing works? Or something? This is drawn by Gil Kane, which is probably why I got this … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer
(January 26, 2025)I’ve read most of Heyer’s classic books (i.e., the regency romances and her crime novels), and a handful of years ago I made I final sweep to buy her remaining books. The remaining books were mostly her “serious” historic books and her very serious contemporary novels (and in particular the latter aren’t regarded very highly … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Powder and Patch by Georgette Heyer
Book Club 2025: The Paris Review 234
(January 26, 2025)Is this a book even? It’s a literary magazine, but it’s book like, and this is my book club, so there! I’ve almost read the entire backlog of Paris Reviews that built up during Corona and stuff, so this is from 2020. Happier times. It’s a good issue. More experimental than usual, perhaps. Anyway! Class! … Continue reading Book Club 2025: The Paris Review 234
I’m already exhausted
(January 25, 2025)Yes, I’m sorting floppies.
Just Duolingo thoughts
(January 25, 2025)(Lydia Davis.)
Thinking About Opening URLs in Emacs, and Wayland, and Stuff
(January 24, 2025)Emacs has had browse-url for ages — it’s very simple; it just calls browse-url-browser-function, and that’s enough for most things. But then somebody implemented a browser in Emacs that was halfway possible to use for a number of non-complicated web pages, namely eww, and that complicated things. Now some people wanted to stay in Emacs … Continue reading Thinking About Opening URLs in Emacs, and Wayland, and Stuff
This movie is my spirit animal
(January 24, 2025)Chat Pile has the coolest vinyl
(January 23, 2025)Book Club 2025: Here Comes A Hero by Lawrence Block
(January 22, 2025)I’ve read quite a few books by Lawrence Block — they’re a bit hit or miss. That is, he writes well, but his plots often leave much to be desired. This is from an early series, and I haven’t read any of these books before. Well, yes, this is wittily written as usual. You can’t … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Here Comes A Hero by Lawrence Block
Book Club 2025: Still Life by Louise Penny
(January 22, 2025)I was in the mood to read some cheesy detective novel today, and this was recommended for fans of Agatha Christie, etc… … but my god! The horrors! The writing here is so awful. It’s not just that she’s heavy handed with the adjective and adverb sprinkling, but the way pronouns don’t always match up … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Still Life by Louise Penny
Book Club 2025: Memory’s Legion by James S. A. Corey
(January 20, 2025)This is a collection of short stories from the Expanse universe. They were published concurrently with the novels, but I haven’t read them before this. And I was thinking… “yay! an opportunity to spend some nostalgic time with all those characters I loved!” And this is not that at all. Instead we get the backstories … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Memory’s Legion by James S. A. Corey
Relax your shoulders
(January 20, 2025)(Andrew White.)
Logarithms, how do they work?
(January 19, 2025)My algo for maps sucked because there was just too big a difference between the top country and the rest: So my map looked like this: See? The US is white while the rest of the countries are basically two different hues (non-visited countries and visited countries). Then I remembered that logarithms were a thing … Continue reading Logarithms, how do they work?
Comics Daze
(January 19, 2025)I got a whole bunch more of the books I missed in 2024 in the mail on Friday, so it’s time to get some more reading done. And like the previous Daze, I’m mixing these books I found on various “best of 2024” lists and then realised that I’d forgotten to buy with a bunch … Continue reading Comics Daze
“How much is two and two?” “Are you buying or selling?”
(January 18, 2025)– Rahib Alemeddine
Maps & WordPress Statistics
(January 18, 2025)While dropping off to sleep last night, I was thinking about how much work it might be to add a world map to the WordPress Statistics for Emacs thing. Not because it’s useful, but because Jetpack has one, and I have to have feature parity!!! So that’s what the Jetpack one looks like… Yeah, yeah, … Continue reading Maps & WordPress Statistics
Comics Daze
(January 16, 2025)I missed some comics I wanted to read in 2024! *gasp* My methodology for US comics is to go through the solicitations on my web site here, and then semiautomatically order the books… I’ve used Mile High Comics since I was 12, but they are horrible about actually reacting to subscription changes, especially when ordering … Continue reading Comics Daze
WordPress Statistics for Emacs
(January 16, 2025)A few days ago, I posted about writing a new WordPress stats thing because the Jetpack stats layout annoyed me too much. I’ve continued to tinker with it, and I think it should now basically be usable. I renamed it to wse (WordPress Statistics for Emacs), and it’s on Microsoft Github if anybody’s interested in … Continue reading WordPress Statistics for Emacs
Total Eclipse Moves
(January 15, 2025)My old blog about Eclipse Comics used to be hosted by WordPress.com, but after the recent Jetpack Stats changes, I’ve moved it to self-hosting so that I can get nice stats again. So this is just a heads up that if you used to go to totaleclipse.blog, it’s now hosted on total-eclipse.kwakk.info. All the old … Continue reading Total Eclipse Moves
I feel seen!
(January 14, 2025)Random Comics
(January 13, 2025)I read some comics the past few weeks! I know, unusual… The heftiest item is this collection of comics by Didier Comès. I’ve read about half of this in translation before, but the rest is new to me. (Too bad about the awful cover the publishers have chosen here…) And… it’s just totally gorgeous. And … Continue reading Random Comics
Book Club 2025: Poems 1918-1975 by Charles Reznikoff
(January 11, 2025)Heh, looks like I bought this book at a sale around 1998 (for like $7) and never got around to reading it. It’s not that I don’t enjoy Reznikoff, but I just don’t like omnibus books… I prefer reading the books separately for some reason or other. Anyway, this is the stuff. THE STUFF. There’s … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Poems 1918-1975 by Charles Reznikoff
WordPress Statistics & Me
(January 11, 2025)I’m using Jetpack Stats to see what’s happenin’ on mah blogs, and it’s never been whatchamacall “great”, but it’s been OK. It’s OK. It displays all the pertinent info in one pretty compact screen: You don’t have to scroll around. But they’ve been threatening to remove the “classic”, compact stats for years, and yesterday they … Continue reading WordPress Statistics & Me
2025 MOOD
(January 9, 2025)(From Autobiography: New York by Charles Reznikoff.)
The Internet is for cats
(January 9, 2025)(From Iris by Didier Comès, but I wonder whether he had an assistant draw the animals, because they don’t really look like his rendering style…)
Comics are very edumacational
(January 8, 2025)Comics Daze
(January 7, 2025)Man, it’s snowmageddoning tonight… Best to bundle up in a blanket with some comics and chocolate. And music from 1994. Arthur Russell: Another Thought 00:58: A Cosplayers Christmas by Dash Shaw (Fantagraphics) I got this in the mystery mail this month. I’m not sure whether I’ve already got this? It’s very topical, though. I mean, … Continue reading Comics Daze
Book Club 2025: In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster
(January 6, 2025)I bought this book in 1998, at the tail end of my Auster obsession. In the 90s, I read everything he published — the novels, of course, but also the essay collections, the plays, the juvenalia… and watched all movies he’d been involved with. But I grew increasingly… er… overly familiar with his storytelling ticks? … Continue reading Book Club 2025: In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster
A Simple Archive.Org RSS Feed Creator
(January 5, 2025)I’ve been trolling archive.org for magazines about comics sorta regularly (sorting by date added). Yesterday, for instance, I found that somebody had uploaded a bunch of issues of Wizard Magazine that were missing from kwakk.org, the search engine for magazines about comics: But… manual processes are so tedious, so I wondered whether there was an … Continue reading A Simple Archive.Org RSS Feed Creator
Book Club 2025: Doctor Sally by P. G. Wodehouse
(January 5, 2025)I’m reading Wodehouse sorta chronologically, and I’ve now reached 1931. This is a short novel based on one of Wodehouse’s plays. And it is, of course, very witty, but like all of the books that Wodehouse wrote that were based on his plays, it’s just not as good as his other novels. It retains the … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Doctor Sally by P. G. Wodehouse
A&R2015: Cerebus Archive
(January 5, 2025)Cerebus Archive (1977) #1-10 by Dave Sim Back when I was doing the mop-ups for my Aardvark Vanaheim/Renegade Press blog series, I just couldn’t find my copies of Cerebus Archive — not the original Cerebus Archive series, but the series of portfolios that followed afterwards. I looked everywhere I could think of — these things … Continue reading A&R2015: Cerebus Archive
Book Club 2025: Mitt Abruzzo by Pet Petterson
(January 5, 2025)I’ve been reading this book for over a year before falling asleep, and it works well as that. Er, I mean, it’s not that it’s boring or anything, but it’s a journal and I can read a couple of pages, or read a dozen pages, and it’s fine — I don’t have to remember much … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Mitt Abruzzo by Pet Petterson
They milk cows!
(January 4, 2025)Stuff Mixtape #423
(January 3, 2025)Book Club 2025: Arkhangelsk by Elizabeth H. Bonesteel
(January 3, 2025)I started reading this book a week ago, but then stopped and read some other books in between. It’s not that it’s a bad book — and Elizabeth H. Bonesteel should surely win the coveted “Most Real-Sounding Name For An Author” prize of 2025 — it’s a pretty exciting mystery set on a far-away planet. … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Arkhangelsk by Elizabeth H. Bonesteel
Book Club 2025: Some Memories of Drawings by Georgia O’Keeffe
(January 2, 2025)Hm, why did I buy this one again…? Oh, right, I read Andrew White’s comics piece on O’Keeffe, and I think he recommended this book in the commentary or something? It’s a very handsome book. And I didn’t realise she worked in all these different styles… O’Keeffe’s comments are quite amusing, too. Some Memories of … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Some Memories of Drawings by Georgia O’Keeffe
Book Club 2025: Death of an Old Goat by Robert Barnard
(January 2, 2025)Am I doing this? Hm… Well, I thought it might be slightly amusing to log books I’m reading… but I don’t want to review books, because if you’re reviewing books, you start reading them in a different way, and I don’t want to do that. So, like, perhaps just a couple sentences about each book? … Continue reading Book Club 2025: Death of an Old Goat by Robert Barnard
December Music
(January 1, 2025)Music I’ve bought in December. I basically didn’t buy much of anything in December, for some reason or another.
The Books of 2024
(December 30, 2024)Yet another year where I didn’t read that many books — only about 60. And mostly junk, because I was busy with other stuff. Do I have anything to say about any of them… er… let’s see… Hangman (by Mary Binyam) is an interesting novel and I like the way it’s written, but… OK, I … Continue reading The Books of 2024
Comics Daze
(December 21, 2024)Last opportunity to read comics this year (I think), so here we go. And today’s music is from the halcyon days of 2009 only. Circlesquare: Songs About Dancing And Drugs 14:05: Flash Point by Imai Arata (Glacier Bay Books) This is a pretty original book, really. Or rather, really confusing, because it totally starts off … Continue reading Comics Daze
The Best Comics of 2024
(December 21, 2024)I read a lot of comics. The few that are particularly striking move over to this little bookshelf over there so that I can look at them a bit more, but now it’s the end of the year, and I have to empty it. These are those comics. I’ll try not to natter on too … Continue reading The Best Comics of 2024
Les Français peuvent aussi avoir l’âne numerique !?
(December 19, 2024)A couple days ago, I found myself flabbergasted that not only was eMule still a thing, but that there’s a bunch of magazines about comics that are only available there. That was all magazines for speaking español, though, and I wondered whether there were communities like that for other languages. So I did some thorough … Continue reading Les Français peuvent aussi avoir l’âne numerique !?
eMule!? That’s a thing that still exists!?
(December 17, 2024)So I was looking at some Spanish magazines I had imported for kwakk.info, the research site for magazines about comics. And I noticed that quite a few had “credits” like this: So I wondered what was going on with the scanning community these days, and it turns out that the Comics Release Group apparently still … Continue reading eMule!? That’s a thing that still exists!?
Sounds like twaddle to me
(December 15, 2024)Random Comics
(December 12, 2024)Hey! I read some comics the last month. Let’s see what we have here… Ah yeah, Following Cerebus #12. I was buying Following Cerebus back when it was published, but there was a three year delay between #11 and #12, so I think this fell off of everybody’s radar. Because it’s rare, it goes for … Continue reading Random Comics
Did magazine design peak in July 1985?
(December 12, 2024)Artwork by Stephen G. Luker.
Keiji Haino Festival Budgeting Tips
(December 11, 2024)Total Black Eye Redux
(December 11, 2024)Black Eye is a Canadian comics publisher established by Michel Vrána in the early 90s, and soon became extremely well regarded. The books all had stylish designs and a quite literary sensibility. Two of the series published have become comic shops “staples” — Hicksville (by Dylan Horrocks) and Berlin (by Jason Lutes), which is quite … Continue reading Total Black Eye Redux
TBE2024: Swords, Spacemen & Superspies
(December 11, 2024)Swords, Spacemen & Superspies (2024) by James Kochalka I’ve been a fan of Kochalka since the 90s, but I’ve kind of lost track of him? That is, I stumble over his books and buy them and like them, but that’s it. Perhaps it’s because he started doing mostly books for children — I’m usually not … Continue reading TBE2024: Swords, Spacemen & Superspies
Extremely Miscellaneous Magazines About Comics
(December 10, 2024)A month and a half ago I was getting into adding non-English language magazines about comics to kwakk.info, the research site about comics. After that, I’ve been lethargically poking at various sources of finding out names of mags/fanzines, like this nice list on the French Wikipedia. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any good lists … Continue reading Extremely Miscellaneous Magazines About Comics
TBE2023: Portraits of Queen West: Spadina to Bathurst
(December 8, 2024)Portraits of Queen West: Spadina to Bathurst (2023) by Kevin Steele Huh, is this book about Mondrian? Oh, it’s a map of a bit of Toronto. Steele explains the concept — over a number of years, he’s taken pictures of streets in Toronto, and this book collects images of one part of one particular street. … Continue reading TBE2023: Portraits of Queen West: Spadina to Bathurst
TBE2023: Bore
(December 7, 2024)Bore (2023) by Jason Bradshaw This handsome book collects stories done over almost a decade. It starts off with a showstopper of a story, really — it seems fully realised and speaks clearly (if silently). It’s done over a long period by a young artist, so there’s, of course, quite a lot of exploration in … Continue reading TBE2023: Bore
Nevertheless, I have never met a person who did not do crack or heroin or like kittens
(December 7, 2024)TBE2023: The Mundane Adventures of Dishman
(December 6, 2024)The Mundane Adventures of Dishman (2023) by John MacLeod As the indicia notes, this was originally (mostly) published in the 80s. I had some of those minis back then, so they had an abnormally wide distribution as minis go. But it doesn’t mention that Eclipse Comics reprinted the first six (I think?) issues, so if … Continue reading TBE2023: The Mundane Adventures of Dishman
The Best Albums of 2024
(December 5, 2024)It’s that time of the year, so again I’ve determined which albums were the best in 2024 in the scientific way: By having Emacs collate the sixteen albums I’ve listened the most to. Pet Shop Boys Nonetheless Surprise winner! Pet Shop Boys! I didn’t like this album at all when it was first release, but … Continue reading The Best Albums of 2024
Jazz Show
(December 3, 2024)TBE2022: That Distant Fire
(December 3, 2024)That Distant Fire (2022) by JR Hughto and Curt Merlo This is the first non-Jay Stephens book the resurrected Black Eye published, so I was really curious to read this — I haven’t read it before. It’s a very handsome hardcover book. And we get an introduction (in Futura) that explains that this started as … Continue reading TBE2022: That Distant Fire
Comics Daze
(December 2, 2024)Geez. I still haven’t fixed my sleeping patterns, and one needs to be bright awake to read comics, right? But let’s see how this goes. And for music er “today”, let’s go with albums from 2024 only. Bogdan Raczynski: You’re Only Young Once But You Can Be Stupid Forever 04:45: Mini Kuš #127-130 (Kuš) This … Continue reading Comics Daze
TBE2021: Jetcat & Friends
(December 1, 2024)Jetcat & Friends (2021) by Jay Stephens Nice endpapers. When I read a contents page like this, my heart sinks a bit — “so this is just gonna be a random collection of random stuff!?!?” But nothing could be further from the truth. This book is a masterclass in smart sequencing — while many of … Continue reading TBE2021: Jetcat & Friends
Bluesky & Development & Expectations & Stuff
(December 1, 2024)I’m not really “on” Bluesky — but I autopost links to mah blog, because why not. To do this, I installed the Simple Auto Poster For Bluesky plugin. It does what it’s supposed to pretty well, but I wanted to tweak the look of the posts, so now — whaddayouknow — I’m a Bluesky API … Continue reading Bluesky & Development & Expectations & Stuff
November Music
(December 1, 2024)Music I’ve bought in November. Wow, all of a sudden there’s a ton of music. Are record companies still pushing more albums ahead of Xmas? Like in the olden days? Even though nobody buys albums any more? Or perhaps it’s just random, but apparently I bought like 40 albums this month. So, anything interesting? Let’s … Continue reading November Music
Shouldn’t that be “runned”?
(November 30, 2024)Because all the other verbs follow the pattern for “bring” and “sit”… I’m just wondering! Because the short story is amazing and the best thing in this (extremely strong) issue of The Paris Review. The author biography adds further intrigue: So I’m also wondering WWPES: What Would Percival Everett Say?
TBE2020: Dwellings
(November 29, 2024)Dwellings (2020) #1-6, Dwellings (2024) by Jay Stephens This blog post is a couple days late because I couldn’t find the Dwellings issues. I finally found the three first issues in a box of unsorted comics from 2022, but I didn’t find the sixth issue. On the other hand, I’ve got the collected edition, so … Continue reading TBE2020: Dwellings
The solution to people not liking AI: Make real actors look like AI, too
(November 27, 2024)I’m reminded of the general thing with TV and movies over the past decade: They greenscreen so much, and it looks so bad, that the only real solution to not having the greenscreen stand out like a sore thumb is to make even the real stuff look equally fake. So you get everything colour graded … Continue reading The solution to people not liking AI: Make real actors look like AI, too
TBE2019: Dejects: Life Is Hard and Damned Unfair
(November 26, 2024)Dejects: Life Is Hard and Damned Unfair (2019) by Jay Stephens All of a sudden this blog series is in 2019! The previous post was about a book published in 1998, so we skipped ahead 21 years. Black Eye is totally unique (I think) in rising from the dead like this — and certainly after … Continue reading TBE2019: Dejects: Life Is Hard and Damned Unfair
Adult Content
(November 26, 2024)So today I found that one of the autoposts on Bluesky had been marked as “Adult Content” and the contents hidden. So what was this shocking image? Yes: I mean, I don’t care — I’m mostly just surprised that whatever system they have was able to identify this as a naked human being at all … Continue reading Adult Content
TBE1998: Black Candy
(November 25, 2024)Black Candy (1998) by Matt Madden Matt Madden! That’s a name I sort of vaguely remember, but have extremely positive vibes about… I don’t remember this book at all, though. Oops! Do I remember how to censor things on this blog… This blog was censored from linking from Facebook for over a decade, and that’s … Continue reading TBE1998: Black Candy
TBE1997: Paradise Sucks
(November 24, 2024)Paradise Sucks (1997) by James Kochalka This is another book that’s somewhat unusual for Black Eye to have been publishing. I bought it at the time, but it’s not until I got prepared to do this blog series that I realised that it wasn’t an Alternative Comics (or something) book. It’s printed on pleasingly off-white … Continue reading TBE1997: Paradise Sucks
Comics Daze
(November 24, 2024)Oops. I messed up my sleeping again, and now it looks like I’ll be up all night… So I guess I’ll catch up with some comics reading. I mean, I read so many older comics lately that I haven’t had time to read newer comics. It’s just hard. But since it’s in the middle of … Continue reading Comics Daze
TBE1997: A Complete Lowlife
(November 23, 2024)A Complete Lowlife (1997) by Ed Brubaker This is an odd book for Black Eye to be publishing. First of all, it a (partial?) reprint of a series published by Mu and Caliber, which isn’t something Black Eye used to do. But more importantly, this is autobio comics, which Black Eye had shied away from … Continue reading TBE1997: A Complete Lowlife
TBE1996: The Sands
(November 22, 2024)The Sands (1996) #1-3, The Sands (1998) by Tom Hart I read the first three issues back in the 90s, but I have not read the collected edition before. I have fond memories of the issues, though, so I’m looking forward to finally reading the whole thing. Ah, this is explicitly presented as a work … Continue reading TBE1996: The Sands
So I’m reading liner notes again…
(November 22, 2024)… because I got this gorgeous His Name Is Alive box set a couple days ago. (Here’s my in-depth review: It’s fantastic! And gorgeous!) But this is what triggered this blog post: “told the 4AD fan site data base Eyesore”? But… Eyesore! That’s me! (Well, it was back in the 90s, at least.) But yes … Continue reading So I’m reading liner notes again…
TBE1996: Berlin
(November 22, 2024)Berlin (1996) #1-4 by Jason Lutes There are few comics that all well-stocked comics shops feel that they have to have — perhaps just a dozen that you can expect to find anywhere? Maus, Persepolis, Fun Home… and perhaps Berlin? Of those perennials, it’s definitely less well known than the ones I mentioned, but it’s … Continue reading TBE1996: Berlin
Secret Design Tips: Futura, Centred, Done
(November 20, 2024)So the drop shadow is superfluous!
Rock Show
(November 20, 2024)TBE1996: Dear Julia
(November 19, 2024)Dear Julia (1996) #1-4 by Brian Biggs When reading comics from the 90s, it’s striking how many talented creators did basically a handful of books and then left comics forever. Biggs is a case in point: He did Frederick & Eloise over at Fantagraphics, and then a few appearances in anthologies, and then he shifted … Continue reading TBE1996: Dear Julia
TBE1995: A World of Trouble
(November 18, 2024)A World of Trouble (1995) #1-3 by Jeremy Eaton Oops! I claimed in a previous entry in this blog series that Black Eye (after a certain date) didn’t publish anything in the standard US comics format, but I’d forgotten about this series. Sorry for the fake news! Anyway, I’ve read quite a few books by … Continue reading TBE1995: A World of Trouble
TBE1995: New Hat
(November 17, 2024)New Hat (1995) by Tom Hart I’ve always loved Tom Hart’s comics, but like many of his cohort, they’ve been frustratingly rare. He burst on the scene with Hutch Owen’s Working Hard, I think? (A Xeric grant winner.) I always thought of him as coming from a similar place as, say, Jon Lewis and Megan … Continue reading TBE1995: New Hat
TBE1995: Jar of Fools
(November 16, 2024)Jar of Fools (1995) #1-2 by Jason Lutes Lutes had had a few appearances in a few anthologies before Jar of Fools was published, but the book took people by surprise: He self-published (using a Xeric Foundation grant; i.e. Teenage Mutant Turtle money) the first volume — and it was a 70 page book, which … Continue reading TBE1995: Jar of Fools
Why can’t poets be normal
(November 16, 2024)TBE1994: The Land of Nod
(November 15, 2024)The Land of Nod Treasury (1994), The Land of Nod (1996) #1-3 by Jay Stephens Up until now, Black Eye had published all their comics in standard US comics size (except for the two magazine-sized issues of Sputnik). So the Land of Nod Treasury represented something of a rupture in Black Eye’s publishing, because from … Continue reading TBE1994: The Land of Nod
Mirror Words: Rug & Rye
(November 15, 2024)We were talking, nerdily, about a fun (FSVO) thing about Norwegian and English the other day on irc (it’s a chat system that’s relayed on the Internet; it’s all the rage): Rye (in Norwegian) means rug (in English). Rye (in English) means rug (in Norwegian). Are there other pairs of words like that? We couldn’t … Continue reading Mirror Words: Rug & Rye
TBE1994: Dance Me Outside: The Illustrated Screenplay
(November 14, 2024)Dance Me Outside: The Illustrated Screenplay (1994) adapted by Nick Craine I remember seeing this book in the stores at the time, but I didn’t pick it up because I though “eh, if there’s one thing I hate, it’s comics that read as if they’re movie scripts”, and this is presented as an adaptation of … Continue reading TBE1994: Dance Me Outside: The Illustrated Screenplay
Programmers are lazy
(November 14, 2024)*clicks “Show more”* *throws laptop out window* But seriously, adding an “if” statement there to not do the “Show more” if there’s nothing more to show should be something you’d do reflexively, but few programmers do — perhaps because this situation wasn’t in the data set they were programming against (which is why using the … Continue reading Programmers are lazy
TBE1994: Human Remains
(November 13, 2024)Human Remains (1994) by Darren Raye and Sean Scoffield This comic seems to place a lot of weight on appearing serious. “Sophisticated”. So we open with… … a bunch of title pages, and now that the reader is in a properly serious state of mind… … it’s a story (in three parts) about a guy … Continue reading TBE1994: Human Remains
Comics Daze
(November 13, 2024)Geez, I’ve gotten so many comics (from all over the place) over the last couple weeks. I’ve got days and daze to go before I sleep. And for music today: Only albums from 2024. Merope: Vėjula 12:26: Grand Electric Thought Power Mother by Lale Westwind (Perfectly Acceptable Press) I was surprised when I got this … Continue reading Comics Daze
TBE1994: Atomic City Tales
(November 12, 2024)Atomic City Tales (1994) #1-3, Atomic City Special (1995) #1 by Jay Stephens Oops! I messed up. I have to copies of Atomic City Special #1, but no copies of Atomic City Comics #1. So this blog series is going to be less than complete, but I’m not fixing that, because I already covered this … Continue reading TBE1994: Atomic City Tales
TBE1993: Sputnik
(November 11, 2024)Sputnik (1993) #1-2 edited by Michel Vrána Vrána had edited the (very good) Reactor Girl anthology, and here he’s starting a new one. Reactor Girl was quite unassuming, but Vrána seems to want to class things up here. We have “Departments” and “Features”, but no “Manifesto”. And it’s magazine sized, and is printed on aggressively … Continue reading TBE1993: Sputnik
Kitchen Music
(November 11, 2024)Spoiler pic above — don’t look at it unless you want to see how this epic turns out. OOPS Anyway, I’ve had an all-in-one computer sitting on a kitchen counter for over a decade. It hasn’t been the same one, because it’s broken down at least once, but basically the same size, because I thought … Continue reading Kitchen Music
TBE1993: Sin Comics
(November 10, 2024)Sin Comics (1993) #1-2 by Jay Stephens The Sin series ran for five issues over at Tragedy Strikes Press, and now we have Sin Comics. It’s not really explained why the book was renamed/renumbered — Pickle continued with a #2 at Black Eye, after all. But perhaps it’s just a reflection of Stephens’ restlessness — … Continue reading TBE1993: Sin Comics
Random Comics
(November 8, 2024)Hey, I read some comics this past week. Let’s have a peek… These are the last three collections of war comics Hugo Pratt did for the Britishers in the early 60s. The reproduction is variable, and some of the stories are pretty bad, but on the whole, reading these has been a very positive surprise. … Continue reading Random Comics
TBE1992: Pickle
(November 8, 2024)Pickle (1992) #1, Pickle (1993) #1-11 by Dylan Horrocks With this blog post, we get to the first actual Black Eye book, and Black Eye is the subject of this blog series, so it’s about time. The first issue of Pickle was published by Tragedy Strikes Press, and then moved to Black Eye when Michel … Continue reading TBE1992: Pickle
Un-Oof
(November 7, 2024)Last time around, the LSI SAS/SATA card totally died, so I got a “new” one off of ebay, and today it arrived from Germany. It’s a fancier model than the last one — it has battery backed memory and everything (which means absolutely zilch, since there’s no UPS for the actual disks). So I plugged … Continue reading Un-Oof
TBE1992: Sin
(November 7, 2024)Sin (1992) #1-5 by Jason Stephens I have to admit that I wasn’t quite sure whether “Jason Stephens” was the same guy as “Jay Stephens” — I mean, it would have been quite a coinkidink for Tragedy Strikes/Black Eye to publish two people with almost the same name, but Jason’s style seems so different from … Continue reading TBE1992: Sin
TBE1992: Way Out Strips
(November 5, 2024)Way Out Strips (1992) #1-3 by Carol Swain I re-read these books last time when I did the Fantagraphics blog series, but I wanted to read them again now, so here we go. Hey, foreword by Paul Gravett that gives some background as to how Swain started doing comics. Hm, perhaps I should do something … Continue reading TBE1992: Way Out Strips
Stuff Mixtape #422
(November 4, 2024)TBE1991: Reactor Girl
(November 4, 2024)Reactor Girl (1991) #1-6 edited by Michel Vrána Oops, I’m only on the second post in this blog series, and I’m already three days behind schedule… Typical. I really enjoy a good anthology magazine. And for a publisher it can function as a tent-post publication if you can get it published regularly: While anthologies rarely … Continue reading TBE1991: Reactor Girl
Rock Show
(November 3, 2024)Eh, it’s early so I’m going to write a review? Am I?! Apparently! I bought Joan as Police Woman’s first er release (was it an EP) back then, and I was underwhelmed, so I didn’t listen to any of her stuff for like the next 20 years. But then I randomly bought Joanthology, and duh. … Continue reading Rock Show
TBE1991: The Cheese Heads
(November 1, 2024)The Cheese Heads (1991) #1-5 by Nick Craine Let’s see whether I remember how to do these blog posts… it’s been a while. Err… is that white balance correct? Perhaps it was a mistake to use a green background here… But let’s read the first four pages together. So, OK, very mysterious. And this seems … Continue reading TBE1991: The Cheese Heads
Total Black Eye
(November 1, 2024)Winter is coming, so I think it’s time to do another blog series about old comics. I did have some problems deciding what comics publisher to go for this time. Eclipse Comics was in many way the ideal publisher for this sort of thing — a wide variety of comics in various formats and genres, … Continue reading Total Black Eye
Oof
(November 1, 2024)Last night I heard a beeping sound FROM HELL. I thought it was the fire alarm going off or something, but after checking those and seeing nothing, I narrowed the location down to the cupboard where I have my RAID disk things. I hit the off button on the RAID computer, and sweet silence returned. … Continue reading Oof
October Music
(November 1, 2024)Music I’ve bought in October. Hey! I got a lot of music this month… The Pescado Rabioso album was fun… I mean, it has a fun shape. But the Album of the Month is definitely the Nia Archives album. I was really into jungle back in the days, but it seemed to disappear after two … Continue reading October Music
Comics Daze
(October 30, 2024)Hey, the world is going to end in six days because Kamala can’t make herself say “this might be controversial, but I’m actually against genocides”, so it’s time to read some comics, I guess. Lencinho: Belo Lo-Fi 06:29: Š! #53 (Kuš) This issue is all Czech artists, I think… It’s a denser issue than normally, … Continue reading Comics Daze
I’m easily impressed
(October 29, 2024)Opening some mail today… a stiff letter to Monsieur Lars? Moi? Oh, right, when I was in Paris last time, I had to join the “Friends of the Opera” (AROP) thing there to be able to get on the waiting list of a sold-out show of Médée, the Charpentier opera from 1693 (!), but I … Continue reading I’m easily impressed
Searchin’
(October 29, 2024)Some months ago I was so disgusted with Google Search that I decided to give up Google forever! But… after spending a month with each search engine, they all have their own problems. Like, above, I’m doing a search for who sells Devoa (a Japanese clothes brand) in New York, and none of the results … Continue reading Searchin’
Random Comics
(October 27, 2024)Wow, it’s been a month since I did one of these posts… Oh, right, I was busy with other things for a couple of weeks, and then I went to the US for a week, and the last week I’ve been on the couch, coughing and watching Murder She Wrote while waiting for the rona … Continue reading Random Comics
Final Mag Sweep Part XXIV
(October 25, 2024)I thought I had a cold, but it turned out to be covid. *sigh* So I thought I might as well use the opportunity to take a feverish last sweep for magazines about comics for kwakk.info… One of the weirdest things this time around was the Figurines Marvel thing. Were these things included with Marvel … Continue reading Final Mag Sweep Part XXIV
The Dutch Exist, Too
(October 23, 2024)I’ve got a cold, so I was feverishly wondering whether I’d forgotten some European languages when expanding the search engine for magazines about comics to other languages. And then it hit me: Holland exists! And also that bit of Belgium where they speak kinda Dutch-ey! So I asked ChatGPT to cough up the names of … Continue reading The Dutch Exist, Too
Overly Dramatic Street Signs Part IX
(October 21, 2024)I sort of agree that Swords of Cerebus 3 should be 18+ only
(October 20, 2024)Rock Show
(October 19, 2024)Oh, the inhumanity
(October 16, 2024)Rock Show
(October 16, 2024)The NY crackdown on Airbnb is progressing apace
(October 16, 2024)The forbidden street sea urchin
(October 15, 2024)*closes tabs*
(October 12, 2024)I think I’ve now done the major comics about magazines in French, Spanish, Italian and German for kwakk.info, but I may well have missed some; feel free to leave comments about interesting magazines and fanzines (of any language, really). In this latest batch we have a handful of mags, but a lot of issues: Dolmen, … Continue reading *closes tabs*
Sometimes those three letters change, though
(October 10, 2024)(Ads from four consecutive issues of LOC magazine.)
Magazines about bandes dessinées, tebeos, fumetti and Comic-Bücher
(October 9, 2024)I was asked whether kwakk.info was only for English-language magazines and fanzines about comics… and yes, it was. But there’s no reason why it should be, really. So now it’s not. Multi language search has its issues, though. Stemming (which is that thing where if you search for “house cats”, you also get pages matching … Continue reading Magazines about bandes dessinées, tebeos, fumetti and Comic-Bücher
Record Shoppin’
(October 7, 2024)Two fun things in the haul this week: Artaud by Pescado Rabioso, which is famous (probably) because of its shape, but also apparently: It is considered Spinetta’s masterpiece and one of the most influential albums in Spanish rock. I got these today, so I’ve only listened to it once, and it seems pretty cool? But … Continue reading Record Shoppin’
Mystery Belt Secrets Revealed!
(October 7, 2024)I was perusing the Number One Site For Finding Cool Stuff, but the manufacturer’s site didn’t explain how they work. It only says something about magnets… So I bought one, and I’m now going to reveal all! It has these notches on the back of the belt, and then that metal thingie that fastens into … Continue reading Mystery Belt Secrets Revealed!
Josephine Baker
(October 5, 2024)His Name Is Alive has the best liner notes
(October 2, 2024)September Music
(October 1, 2024)Music I’ve bought in September. I almost didn’t buy anything, did I? I think October’s going to be stronger. And the only notable album this time around is Grush by µ-Ziq. It’s the bees’ knees. Or the bee’s knees. I always forget. But it fun how all these three er tentpole “IDM” artists from the … Continue reading September Music
It was very dark
(September 30, 2024)Random Comics
(September 29, 2024)Here’s some comics I’ve read the past couple weeks… Not too heavy this time around — just 13 pounds. I bought these two issues of Raw Vision, an outsider art magazine — because they have articles about Mark Beyer. They’re pretty interesting magazines all over — lots of non-mainstream artwork. But the main attraction here … Continue reading Random Comics
My mailbox may be trying to tell me I’m subscribing to too many periodicals
(September 28, 2024)But then again, I got these a couple days later: I have so much readin’ to do.
Jazz Show
(September 27, 2024)Close encounters of the jazz kind.
You learn something new every day
(September 26, 2024)Downloading PDFs from Google Drive
(September 26, 2024)While spelunking the web to look for magazines about comics to add to kwakk.info, I happened upon a site that linked to a lot of PDFs that were stored on Google Drive. Then I noticed that these files were “protected” — this means that there’s no download button on Google Drive. So I thought “well, … Continue reading Downloading PDFs from Google Drive
This is the last one
(September 25, 2024)This is literally part forty nine in a series of blog posts where I say that I’m now done adding things to kwakk.info, the comics research site. Literally. But this time I’m done for real, because: That surely has to be enough. My main problem is that I keep coming up with new avenues to … Continue reading This is the last one
Derek Jarman
(September 22, 2024)Annie Ernaux
(September 22, 2024)Noise Show
(September 21, 2024)New Amazon Innovations: I 🖤 Searching
(September 21, 2024)While checking a new magazine import for Mrs. Kwakk, I happened upon this: *gasp* It’s a book illustrated by Rick Geary, from 1992, that I don’t have! It’s called Cyberantics! So I went to Amazon: Yes, of course it just returns books that match “cybernetics”, because that’s a slightly more popular term. That’s pretty common … Continue reading New Amazon Innovations: I 🖤 Searching
Comics Magazine Carousel
(September 20, 2024)When I visit web sites, I often look for a date somewhere. That is, I want to know whether I’m looking at something that’s been dead for years, or that’s being actively maintained. So I was reminded me that I hadn’t added that at all to kwakk.info, the site for comics research. So I was … Continue reading Comics Magazine Carousel
Miscellaneous Fanzines
(September 18, 2024)To keep the number of separate titles down in the kwakk.info search engine, I’ve avoided adding (most) fanzines about comics that only had a couple of issues, or where I could only find a very small number of the issues. But… why not stick them in a “misc” category? Why not indeed. And: Yes, there’s … Continue reading Miscellaneous Fanzines
Comics Daze
(September 17, 2024)It’s a lovely day, but I need a break from doing all the stuff with magazines about comics, so instead I’m going to read comics magazines. Makes sense. And for music today: Coil. Just Coil. By the way: The Ignatz Award winners were announced… and there’s good winners, of course, but I’m amused to see … Continue reading Comics Daze
kwakk.info tweaks
(September 16, 2024)I thought it might be interesting to provide a simple list of what the kwakk.info site has, so I whipped up this page. Hey, if you have any missing issues, I’m right here… Feel free to mail scanned issues to lars@ingebrigtsen.no or whatever. I also found some stuff to add, likeMarvel Previews. I mean, I … Continue reading kwakk.info tweaks
Yes, now there’s even more
(September 15, 2024)I’m still prattling on about Anna’s Archive and how to download magazines about comics from that thing, even though I said the last time I was going to stop. The main difficulty is to just know what the magazines are called, because there’s absolutely no useful organisation of the information there, and apparently no comics … Continue reading Yes, now there’s even more
Comics Fanzine Explosion
(September 13, 2024)Anna’s Archive has so many magazines/fanzines about comics available — who knew there were this many people enthusiastically scanning their magazines! — but it’s impossible to find anything there unless you know the names of the books you’re looking for. So I’ve been searching for “lists of comics fanzines” and the like, and there is, … Continue reading Comics Fanzine Explosion
Charlton Extravaganza On The Comics Re/Search Engine
(September 10, 2024)As I nattered on about yesterday, I was going to have a look around for more magazines/fanzines about comics, and I stumbled upon not one, but two Charlton fanzines: One from the 70s (Charlton Bullseye) and one more recent (Charlton Spotlight). So I’ve indexed them, and put them both on kwakk.info, available for searching. And … Continue reading Charlton Extravaganza On The Comics Re/Search Engine
RBCC (Rocket’s Blast & Comicollector) Now Searchable
(September 9, 2024)The kwakk.info comics re/search web site has, I think, most of the major magazines about comics now. One of the remaining “bigger” classic comics fanzines I had been totally unable to find any scans of was RBCC, Rocket’s Blast & Comicollector. It ran from 1964 to 1983, and had more than 150 issues. But then … Continue reading RBCC (Rocket’s Blast & Comicollector) Now Searchable
Design on Parade
(September 8, 2024)In the years after Rachel Cusk’s Outline books took the literary world by storm, book publishers tried to get in on the action (as is their wont) by giving all women authors basically the same design that Cusk uses on her books: One ambiguous, large image in the middle of a white page, with the … Continue reading Design on Parade
Jazz Show
(September 4, 2024)Random Comics
(September 3, 2024)Here’s some comics I’ve been reading the last couple weeks. This is a collection of an early (but apparently still-running) web series by Boulet (who I’m quite unfamiliar with). Nooo! The broken glass of a fridge shelf doesn’t go with the glass bottles! Noooooo Anyway, there’s an admirable variety to the art styles, and Boulet … Continue reading Random Comics
“I ignore all of his family teeth”
(September 3, 2024)I’m not complaining — I’m rather impressed by how good Google Translate is at parsing hand-lettered comics (even Annie Goetzinger’s handwriting). But one thing is curiously doesn’t know how parse is hyphens: So it’s “ses antécédents familiaux”, i.e., “his family background”, and not “his family teeth”. (“Dents” means “teeth”.) I’m learning French, and I can … Continue reading “I ignore all of his family teeth”
Comics Daze
(September 2, 2024)Today is a grey, rainy day, so it’s comics readin’ time. And for music today — Tuxedomoon and related, but with a smattering of Crepuscule albums. Various: Subterranean Modern 14:06: The Cutting Floor by Charles Burns This neat little book has sketches and pencils for work I haven’t seen. But it looks awesome! It’s from … Continue reading Comics Daze
Further Comics Buyer’s Guide issues added to the search engine
(September 1, 2024)I thought I’d take a look at archive.org again, and sure enough, a dozen and a half issues of CBG had been added since I did the initial import. Which isn’t a lot, but what the hey. You can now search them at kwakk.info, too. So if you’ve ever wondered whether Pacific licensed titles for … Continue reading Further Comics Buyer’s Guide issues added to the search engine
August Music
(September 1, 2024)Music I’ve bought in August. Let’s see… any trends in this month’s purchases? Yes, I bought a lot of albums from concerts I attended. Arooj Aftab was amazing in concert. And funny. Idles were a lot of fun. Nia Archives was totally ON during the show. And who knew that good old-fashioned jungle is back? … Continue reading August Music
LLMs Are Still Useless
(August 31, 2024)Over on the movie blog I’m still trying to answer the question whether 80s arthouse movies suck or not. And I knew from that dataset that Querelle had one single vote in the Sight & Sound 2022 poll, but I wondered who had voted for it. I tried googling, and I tried binging, and both … Continue reading LLMs Are Still Useless
My New Horticultural Blog
(August 31, 2024)I’ve never had one of these plants grow this tall. It’s an agave, I guess? Or possibly an aloe? I dunno. I’ve tried propping it up against the window, but today, it fell over. Twice! But without shattering into twenty pieces, so it’s more hardy than I thought — succulents like these have a tendency … Continue reading My New Horticultural Blog
Mysterious Mail
(August 28, 2024)I got this in the mail yesterday, and I’ve been scratching my head ever since. And not just because of the fleas, either! It was in a padded envelope, but no invoice or anything. Now, I buy quite a lot of what are technically called “thingamabobs” on the web, and sometimes they take a long … Continue reading Mysterious Mail
Relatable Content
(August 25, 2024)Improv Festival
(August 24, 2024)Did he break almost all the strings!?
PPC-J6412-101-C & Me
(August 23, 2024)In the previous instalment of this exciting adventure, I had bought a Chipsee PPC-J1900-101-C. It basically did everything I wanted, but it had two problems: 1) The wifi card was slow and awful. That’s easily enough fixed with a USB wifi dongle, though, so it’s not a deal breaker. c) It’s unstable. In the two … Continue reading PPC-J6412-101-C & Me
Improv Festival
(August 22, 2024)Oh, Kino, you’re so subtle
(August 21, 2024)Yes, I wanted to rip the 4K version, and I didn’t.
Improv Festival
(August 21, 2024)Random Comics
(August 19, 2024)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the past few weeks. 7.4kg! I knew that Hugo Pratt had done a lot of British war comics, but I had no idea that these have been made available again. Five volumes so far! Each volume has four 64 (!) page stories! Yowza! These were published in the early … Continue reading Random Comics
Comics Daze
(August 18, 2024)It’s comics readin’ time! Black Cab: Games of the XXI Olympiad (2024 remasters collection) 13:28: Mini Kuš #123-126 Sara Boiça’s book is low-key, but extremely insense. Majenye’s book consists of a number of shorter pieces — some of which are hilarious (a typical comic book convention is depicted above). Mark Antonius Puhkan’s book is gorgeous … Continue reading Comics Daze
Jazz Show
(August 17, 2024)Jazz Show
(August 16, 2024)Jazz Show
(August 15, 2024)Jazz Show
(August 14, 2024)USB Hoarding Vindication
(August 12, 2024)I’ve been replacing some DisplayLink devices with Raspberry Pi screens, and now the time had come for the thing that both receives Z-Stick commands and sends Telldus commands to wall outlets. The problem is that there’s just two USB ports, and they’re at the bottom of the screen, and I don’t want anything to stick … Continue reading USB Hoarding Vindication
Firefox and PgDn/PgUp Keys
(August 12, 2024)For years (well, as long as Mozilla and/or Firefox has existed), I’ve been annoyed that whenever an input field has the focus, the Page Up/Page Down keys don’t work. This is mostly an issue with web sites that helpfully autofocus on a text field: You’re searching for something, get a new page, and hit PgDn … Continue reading Firefox and PgDn/PgUp Keys
Music Festival
(August 10, 2024)I was particularly impressed by the Idles guy wearing a SOPHIE sweatshirt and opening his set with a SOPHIE track.
Comics Daze
(August 9, 2024)I was going to go to the music festival today, too, but look: It’s pouring down! So I think I’ll stay on the couch and read the new comics I’ve gotten. And for music — let’s go with popular favourites from the 70s, because it’s that kind of day. Various: This Is Reggae Music 11:44: … Continue reading Comics Daze
Music Festival
(August 8, 2024)Music Festival
(August 7, 2024)Every DJ should have twenty of their closest friends on the stage. Nia Archives won the day, and now I’m buying all her albums.
Chipsee PPC-J1900-101-C & Me
(August 5, 2024)For more than a decade, I’ve had a little monitor displaying Youtube videos in the hallway. Nothing super useful, ahem, but fun to watch while doing the boring trek from the hallway to the living room. But there’s some problems. First of all, the monitor I’m using is a DisplayLink device — i.e., a bus-powered … Continue reading Chipsee PPC-J1900-101-C & Me
Text Dimensions Are Hard
(August 2, 2024)This blog post natters on about SVG/Emacs font issues, but ends with a question to an Emacs-knowledgeable audience. Feel free to skip to the end if you know Emacs stuff! Anyway, eplot, the Emacs charting library, needs to know the actual text dimensions for certain things. Not for the labels on the x axis here … Continue reading Text Dimensions Are Hard
Stuff Mixtape #421
(August 2, 2024)July Music
(August 1, 2024)Music I’ve bought in July. It’s been a normal month, I guess? The latest Sun Ra covers album is pretty nice — it’s all Nuclear War. Angel Bat Dawid’s version is particularly good, I think.
Random Comics
(July 31, 2024)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the past few weeks… Carlos Giménez has been finishing all his various series over the last few years, and this book collects his final Paracuellos albums. And while the anger against the gruesome, horrible Spanish homes for children is still present, it’s a lot more mediated than in previous … Continue reading Random Comics
Film Directors and Consensus
(July 31, 2024)Yesterday I mused (data-scientifically) on whether certain 80s arthouse directors didn’t place on the Sight & Sound 2022 Poll because there just wasn’t much of a consensus yet about which ones of their movies were the best. And the answer seemed to be “not really”. But today I started wondering whether there really are directors … Continue reading Film Directors and Consensus
Improv Show
(July 30, 2024)Saimi Ester Kortelainen was amazing!
Directors With Too Many Good Movies?
(July 30, 2024)When the Sight & Sound 2022 poll was published, I was rather expecting all the arthouse darlings from the 80s to show up in force, because the 2012 poll was heavy with 70s movies… but instead the 2022 poll seemed to jump straight to 90s directors instead. I mean, sure, there were 80s directors on … Continue reading Directors With Too Many Good Movies?
Lenovo Carbon X1 12th Gen & Debian Linux: The Nostalgia Experience
(July 28, 2024)This blog post is about installing Debian on the latest Lenovo Carbon X1 — the 12th gen. tl;dr: I wouldn’t really recommend the experience… but the result is the best laptop I’ve had. OK, here’s my tale of woe and success: My old Lenovo Carbon X1 laptop’s Trackpoint device went wonky — it would start … Continue reading Lenovo Carbon X1 12th Gen & Debian Linux: The Nostalgia Experience
Comics Daze
(July 21, 2024)It’s a lovely day today for once, and I should probably be out frolicking with woodland creatures, but eh. That sounds exhausting! So comics it is. And today’s music is all Ray Aggs’ bands: Trash Kit, Shopping and Sacred Paws. I was a latecomer to their music — I discovered them in like 2021, and … Continue reading Comics Daze
Pure Evil
(July 20, 2024)Why you do this! *sigh* I guess there may be some chemichals that could help here? But gaffa tape to the rescue — by dabbing the offending area a couple thousand times with tape, you can eventually lift all the tape parts. This only works if the surface can take some manhandling, but this tea … Continue reading Pure Evil
This is obviously CGI
(July 19, 2024)Music Show
(July 19, 2024)Needs replanting in about five years, eh?
(July 18, 2024)OK, looks better on the other side. No worries.
Dead Internet Theory
(July 18, 2024)It occurred to me the other week that I should prune RSS feeds on Gwene (which is an RSS to NNTP service that’s been running since errr I want to say 2008?). Because polling feeds that are long dead is a waste of resources. So it’s now been collecting stats, and I whipped up some … Continue reading Dead Internet Theory
Comics Daze
(July 17, 2024)I was in London last weekend and got a small stack of comics from Gosh Comics. And since today’s yet another rainy day, I’ve had to postpone cleaning the windows yet again (darn), so it’s comics readin’ time. And today’s music has to be from 1982, just because. Zazou, Bikaye & Cy1: Noir et Blanc … Continue reading Comics Daze
The comment spam is more honest these days
(July 16, 2024)It’s Evolving!
(July 16, 2024)After hitting “skip” a few times, I finally understood what they meant — the thing at the bottom is a cake, and a cake is related to “the sample image”, which are the three pictures of kitchens. Brilliant. No notes.
My new pants are fancier than me
(July 15, 2024)I’m pretty sure I’m not blind stitched, for instance. Blind drunk when shopping pants, though!
I should read some Mary Robison
(July 15, 2024)The Unthinkable Makes Programming Difficult
(July 14, 2024)For as long as I can remember, I’ve had to type in my mobile phone number manually when buying plane tickets from SAS (Scandinavian Airlines). So I thought I’d look into just why. So, OK, there really is no phone number in my registration data. Which makes sense — I’ve had this account since the … Continue reading The Unthinkable Makes Programming Difficult
Music Festival
(July 13, 2024)A Hotel Room With A View
(July 12, 2024)Nice, eh? On the other hand, the pilot was so obliging as to take us on a sight-seeing trip before landing, so whatevs.
Improv Show
(July 11, 2024)But what am I going to do with my travel anvil?
(July 11, 2024)Comics Daze
(July 10, 2024)It’s a rainy day, and I got a whole bunch of comics in the mail yesterday, so it’s comics readin’ time. (Even though I don’t really have the time.) And for today’s music: Only stuff from the 4AD record label. Modern English: Mesh & Lace 13:37: DogHead Comics #1 by Dave Cooper (The Mansion Press) … Continue reading Comics Daze
Random Comics
(July 8, 2024)Here’s some comics I’ve read over the past few weeks — they’re almost all pretty big collections of older stuff. Over 7kg of comics! That’s 15 pounds for you (ex-)imperials. As all people of a certain age, I read and loved (the first four) Incal albums by Jodorowsky and Moebius, but I’ve never felt tempted … Continue reading Random Comics
I Should Have Implemented The Emacs Inputs Correctly The First Time
(July 8, 2024)Back when I wrote eww, the Emacs web er wrangler?, I was futzing around a lot with basic input box functionality. Like this: And it basically kinda works, but it’s easy to break, even if you don’t really try. But that’s a bigger problem in user interfaces like this, where you have all these boxes … Continue reading I Should Have Implemented The Emacs Inputs Correctly The First Time
Jazz Festival
(July 6, 2024)Jazz Festival
(July 5, 2024)Jazz Festival
(July 3, 2024)Stuff Mixtape #420
(July 2, 2024)Accidental Cover Design
(July 2, 2024)June Music
(July 1, 2024)Music I’ve bought in June. A couple years ago, I started buying all the records that Ze Records had released, but when I got to 1983, I forgot to buy the rest. I’ve now remedied that unfortunate situation, and the last few albums are pretty good? But not as interesting as the ones from the … Continue reading June Music
Further Emacs Interface Innovations
(July 1, 2024)Yesteday I was musing about different input mechanisms for fiddling around with the look of charts. But then, while falling asleep, I thought “why not just put all the control in a buffer”, and so I did. The result is on Microsoft Github, and it’s in a pretty rough state because I’m slightly busy today, … Continue reading Further Emacs Interface Innovations
Emacs eplot UI vs UX
(June 30, 2024)A few days ago I pushed a new library for making charts interactively in Emacs to Microsoft Github. One suggestion was to use transient or something to allow customising the look of the charts instead of adding headers to the data buffer. Which makes a lot of sense — you don’t want to alter the … Continue reading Emacs eplot UI vs UX
Comics Daze
(June 30, 2024)I’ve done enough programming this week, so let’s get some comics readin’ done. And for today’s music — music from 1975 only. Joni Mitchell: The Hissing Of Summer Lawns 12:49: Hogbook and Lazer Eyes by Maria Bamford & Scott Marvel Cassidy (Fantagraphics) This starts off being the story of how the two creators met — … Continue reading Comics Daze
Those eternal questions
(June 29, 2024)Hello
(June 29, 2024)It’s Batido de Mangoin’ Time!
(June 27, 2024)A New Package for Making Charts in Emacs: eplot
(June 26, 2024)One of the items on my todo list was: And that’s because I’ve been looking for an easy way to do simple plots for yonks. When I did a post about movie ratings, I tried chart.el: It’s a built-in thing in Emacs that has its origins as a testing tool for eieio, and as such, … Continue reading A New Package for Making Charts in Emacs: eplot
It Doesn’t Always Rain in Norway
(June 25, 2024)Comics Daze
(June 23, 2024)I really should be doing other things today (I’m in the middle of writing a Brand New And Exciting Package For Emacs), but look what I got in the mail yesterday: Yes! I big whopping box of comics from Domino Books! I’ve been slacking off on buying small press comics lately — mostly just because … Continue reading Comics Daze
A Super Simple Todo Package For Emacs
(June 17, 2024)I’m a really good procrastinator. I can walk past the stereo’s dangling speaker cables for years and tell myself each and every time “I should fix those” and then not think about it until the next time I walk past the stereo. Which is half an hour later. As an experiment this year, I thought … Continue reading A Super Simple Todo Package For Emacs
Have Anybody Made Their Best Album After 33?
(June 15, 2024)Every time an older pop/rock musician comes out with a new album, the reviews are always “this is the best album they’ve made since that album that was actually good several decades ago” (and then two months later, nobody ever listens to the new album ever again). So I’ve been idly wondering whether there is … Continue reading Have Anybody Made Their Best Album After 33?
Rock Show
(June 15, 2024)Is this a good sign?
(June 13, 2024)Comics Daze
(June 12, 2024)I wasn’t planning on doing another comics reading day this week (since I’ve been reading so many comics lately), but then I remembered that I’m going away next week, and I’ll probably shop even more comics, so I should read the ones I already have first. Make sense? No? OK. And for today’s music: Only … Continue reading Comics Daze
Galaxy level trolling from Ryan North
(June 11, 2024)Google really is down the toilet these days
(June 10, 2024)So I saw a screenshot on Twitter of a bit of what looked like an amusing interview with Anthony Bourdain, and as is my wont, I then googled for a phrase from the interview so that I could read it. And: And that’s it. I didn’t get any more results, and none of these were … Continue reading Google really is down the toilet these days
Comics Daze
(June 8, 2024)I was thinking about going to Oslo Comics Expo and buy some small press stuff, but it’s really pouring outside… or it was five minutes ago, and now it’s sunny!? OK, we’ll see — I may suddenly disappear. But in any case, today seems like a good day for reading comics, so let’s get started. … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(June 6, 2024)I’ve been doing too much computering the last week, so it’s time to read some comics instead. And all albums played today comes to you courtesy of the year 2015 (because why not). Véronique Vincent & Aksak Maboul: Ex-Futur Album 12:51: Causeway #14-17 by CF The previous issues has mostly been narrative, but a couple … Continue reading Comics Daze
One Weird WordPress Trick
(June 5, 2024)For quite a while, I’ve been idly wondering whether there was a simple way to use some sort of shortlink setup for WordPress media (i.e., images, videos and the like). Here’s a typical WordPress image URL: https://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/wp-17173544827964542901639383970090.jpg I know, it’s SO LONG. But I mean, it’s an URL, so who cares… But if you’re slinging … Continue reading One Weird WordPress Trick
Improv Show
(June 4, 2024)Wow, it was so great seeing Toshimaru Nakamura again. There was a period like… 20? years ago? where musicians like Nakamura, Sachiko M and Otomo Yoshihide were here like every other month, but it’s been a while now… Fantastic. I want to go back to Japan now and just go to every one of his … Continue reading Improv Show
Using Emacs to Monitor Dbus
(June 4, 2024)Sure, sure, I make problems for myself by insisting on having things “just right”… for me. This blog post is about trying to fix those self made problems. OK, thing the first: See that “Turn on power saver mode when battery power is low” thing? Yes, indeed, it’s an on/off toggle: You’re not allowed to … Continue reading Using Emacs to Monitor Dbus
Music Fest
(June 1, 2024)It was cool. The best bands og the night were Glassmanet and Blodknoke. Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to write an article about how tall people should comport themselves at concerts. I think the first point is: Don’t wear hats.
May Music
(May 31, 2024)Music I’ve bought in May. So what have we got here… Ai Aso’s new album is produced by Stephen O’Malley from Sunn O))), and in a way it makes sense… it’s like the quietest album ever? But it sounds like Sunn O))), only with the volume turned down to almost nothing. And two albums by … Continue reading May Music
Comics Daze
(May 30, 2024)Whattayouknow. I’ve got more comics, so today is a comics reading day. Aaliyah: Aaliyah 13:45: Frenzy by Tetsunori Tawaraya (Desert Island) This is a proper thick hardback book — I think this is the first I’ve seen from Desert Island? It reprints stuff previously published, though. And this is a collection of illustrations, no narrative… … Continue reading Comics Daze
Stuff Mixtape #419
(May 28, 2024)Much of the music on this one comes from CDs I bought at the 2023 Big Ears festival in Knoxville, Tennessee: Mourning [A] BLKstar, Lonnie Holley and the Blue Hour by Shara Nova and others, I see. And then just general randomness.
A&R2008: Glamourpuss
(May 27, 2024)Glamourpuss (2008) #1-26 by Dave Sim So what is this, then? Sim’s first new series after Cerebus (well, he’d done the Judenhass book, but that was a one-off), and it seems like it’s a parody of fashion magazines or something? Did anybody have that as their “Next Dave Sim Thing” bet? (This is going to … Continue reading A&R2008: Glamourpuss
In case you wondered what the upbringing of somebody who went on to write a Michael Jackson musical was like
(May 25, 2024)Rock Show
(May 24, 2024)Half an hour before the show, the club was totally empty. I mean, it wasn’t full by any means when Snapped Ankles started playing, but it was less deserted… Kinda unusual place, but it’s newish, so I guess people haven’t gotten used to going there yet… I hope they do before they go bankrupt, because … Continue reading Rock Show
What Does This Mean!
(May 22, 2024)I mean, the “parking forbidden” part is clear… but what does that rectangle below mean? “Not if you’re parallel parking”? I HAVE NO IDEA
Jazz Show
(May 22, 2024)Random Comics
(May 21, 2024)I usually do comics blog posts by reading comics intensely for a day, and type a bit about each comic as I’ve read them. But I also randomly read a bunch of comics on other days, too, and now I’m just gonna type a bit about the ones I’ve read over the last week… if … Continue reading Random Comics
Comics Daze
(May 20, 2024)Gotta read some comics, eh? Might be a short Comics Daze today, though, because… I don’t have that many unread comics, for once. I think. And today’s music is all from 1989, just because. De La Soul: 3 Feet High and Rising 13:11: Filthyratbag by Celeste Mountjoy (Penguin Random House) This starts off being kinda … Continue reading Comics Daze
Jazz Festival
(May 19, 2024)Lee Drysdale remembers Jubilee
(May 17, 2024)I’m watching the British Film Institute Derek Jarman box set over at the movie blog, and there’s lots of nice extras on the blurays. I was really taken by this interview with Lee Drysdale (of leather jackets fame) about his time involved with making Jubilee — especially with how he basically starts the interview over … Continue reading Lee Drysdale remembers Jubilee
New Version of Concerts in Oslo Pushed to the App Stores
(May 16, 2024)I started doing the Concerts in Oslo web site in… 2013? Hey, I forgot the ten year anniversary… Anyway, the idea behind the thing is that there are no comprehensive and handy sites to see all the concerts in a city, really — I mean, these days, sites like Songkick cover a lot, but not … Continue reading New Version of Concerts in Oslo Pushed to the App Stores
Music Show
(May 16, 2024)Stuff Mixtape #418
(May 12, 2024)I’ve been doing mixtapes since the late 80s — it’s nice to be able to go back and listen to what you really liked back then. I mostly listen to them while in the car or eating breakfast… But I thought it might be nice to see if I could cobble something fun with ffmpeg … Continue reading Stuff Mixtape #418
Rock Show
(May 10, 2024)*gasp*
(May 8, 2024)I do indeed rip all blurays before watching, so this is correct, but I’ve never seen one of these before — it’s a separate file on the bluray containing just this text for a few minutes. Presumably it’s not linked from the bluray menu, so you’d not be able to see this file if you’re … Continue reading *gasp*
Jazz Show
(May 7, 2024)Comics Daze
(May 5, 2024)It’s a lazy Sunday, so even though it’s been just a few days since the last Daze, I guess I’ll just have to spend all day reading comics again. *pout* And today’s musical accompaniment comes courtesy of the year 1990. Skinny Puppy: Too Dark Park 12:14: Tender by Beth Hetland (Fantagraphics) Half a year ago, … Continue reading Comics Daze
I should read some Alice Notley
(May 4, 2024)Finishing Up the Emacs Video Player under Wayland?
(May 2, 2024)This is the third part of a probably never-ending series of blog posts that started here and continued here. But! I think I’m getting pretty close to having everything working, so perhaps this is the final post? So I’ve got this Lenovo Yoga thing, and the point of it is that you can flip it … Continue reading Finishing Up the Emacs Video Player under Wayland?
April Music
(May 2, 2024)Music I’ve bought in April. Shockingly few albums this month — I was away for a couple of weeks. But my demos from my brother’s teenage punk band was released on CD, at least. And the new Oren Ambarchi / Johan Berthling / Andreas Werliin album is swell. And the new Still House Plants album … Continue reading April Music
Onscreen Keyboards and Emacs and Stuff
(May 1, 2024)This is part two of a series of blog posts that I’m sure is going to go on forever: Wherein I Bitch About Wayland And Modern Life In General. So, last time, I finally bit the bullet and moved my travelling Yoga laptop to Wayland. This time around, I’m trying to get one more piece … Continue reading Onscreen Keyboards and Emacs and Stuff
Yes, these exercises are getting hard
(April 30, 2024)Perhaps the French sentence was just too blasphemous and the person who was responsible for translating it to English had a heart attack?
Comics Daze
(April 29, 2024)Wow, I’ve gotten a lot of comics lately, and I’ve been busy with other things, so I haven’t had time to read them. So it’s time for another Day Of Doing Nothing Except Reading Comics. And for music today — albums from 1996 only. Because. Oval: 94diskont 12:27: Warnebi by Wiebke Boldvan (Fieldmouse Press) This … Continue reading Comics Daze
The Simplest Thing In The World: Modifying Keymaps in Wayland
(April 28, 2024)To remap the PrtSc key to the Hyper modifier key under Wayland with Gnome Shell on Ubuntu/Debian on the 28th of April 2024 (around noon) with a us keyboard mapping (I’m hedging my bets here), put the following in the ~/.config/xkb/symbol/us file: partial alphanumeric_keys modifier_keys xkb_symbols “hyper” { name[Group1]= “Hyper (US)”; include “us(basic)” key <PRSC> … Continue reading The Simplest Thing In The World: Modifying Keymaps in Wayland
Comics Daze
(April 26, 2024)I had planned on going to London today, but then I didn’t, so now I’m reading comics instead. And for music… only albums from 1977-78. Just because. But before I start reading, I just wanted to mention this book I’ve been slowly working my way through over the past few weeks: Marvel February 1964. And … Continue reading Comics Daze
Jazz Show
(April 25, 2024)My New Career as a Lenovo Laptop Repair Guy
(April 24, 2024)Some years back I accidentally broke the keyboard of a Lenovo Thinkpad 25th Anniversary Edition. The attraction of this laptop is, of course, that it’s got an actual almost proper keyboard — I think it’s the last one ever without a chiclet keyboard? And it was done as a retro thing. But I was using … Continue reading My New Career as a Lenovo Laptop Repair Guy
A&R2009: Cerebus Archive
(April 23, 2024)Cerebus Archive (2009) #1-18 by Dave Sim This is the next-to-last post in this blog series, but the final post will have to wait a couple weeks while I wait for some missing issues to arrive… Not that this (re-)reading is complete: I apparently forgot to buy issues #4-6 while the series was new, and … Continue reading A&R2009: Cerebus Archive
A&R2016: Cerebus in Hell?
(April 22, 2024)Cerebus in Hell? (2016) by Dave Sim and others I was going to do Glamourpuss today, but then it turned out that I’m missing issues #2-7… so I’ve ordered those, because after re-reading #1, I’m kinda interested in seeing how those early issues developed. So you’re getting a brief post about Cerebus in Hell? instead… … Continue reading A&R2016: Cerebus in Hell?
Clicky Iphone Keyboard
(April 21, 2024)A while back, I kickstartererd the Clicks keyboard for Iphone, and I got it a few days ago. My use case is basically just one thing: Duolingo. I’ve gotten pretty good a thumbing away at an onscreen Iphone Max keyboard over the last few months, but I still make an annoying number of errors — … Continue reading Clicky Iphone Keyboard
A&R2004: Following Cerebus
(April 21, 2024)Following Cerebus (2004) #1-11 edited by Craig Miller, John Thorne and Dave Sim What’s this then? Isn’t this a blog series about Renegade Press and Aardvark-Vanaheim, and isn’t this series published by Win-Mill Productions? Well, yes and yes, but: It’s presented as being “co-produced” by Aardvark-Vanaheim, and it’s basically another venue for Sim to spout … Continue reading A&R2004: Following Cerebus
A&R1995: Cerebus World Tour Book
(April 19, 2024)Cerebus Would Tour Book (1995) by Dave Sim and others OK, just (I think) three more posts to go, and we can put this Renegade Press/Aardvark-Vanaheim blog post series to bed (again). Cerebus is saying what we’re all thinking. This book is a sort of promotional tool for the self-publishers tour Sim was arranging around … Continue reading A&R1995: Cerebus World Tour Book
Shopping for Comic Books in Paris: Une odyssée
(April 17, 2024)I’m learning French, and I can read the basics now — my vocabulary is minuscule, so I’m still just reading French comics for children… but I’m visiting Paris, so I want to look at some comics! Comics! Comics! Yes! I crave comics shops! Cool comics shops, that have cool, French stuff — zines, screenprinted things, … Continue reading Shopping for Comic Books in Paris: Une odyssée
Never Stop Begoogling
(April 17, 2024)This is just one of those “why does everything Google ever does suck so much?” posts. Nothing Of Value Inside. Anyway, I’ve been holidaying with my Motorola Razr 2022, and I’m just rather exasperated with Google Maps — I mean, it’s not that it doesn’t work, but there’s… details… that make you go *rolls eyes*. … Continue reading Never Stop Begoogling
Opera Show
(April 15, 2024)Scandinavian Representation in French Culture
(April 15, 2024)Gastronomie
(April 13, 2024)Modernist Graffiti
(April 13, 2024)Music Show
(April 12, 2024)Trés intime.
Wrong Scale
(April 11, 2024)Tactical Fashion Wear
(April 11, 2024)Music Show
(April 11, 2024)I assume Trina is getting royalties from this
(April 10, 2024)Leaves
(April 9, 2024)Hermès
(April 9, 2024)Fashion has gone too far this time!
A&R1990: Cerebus: High Society
(April 8, 2024)Cerebus: High Society (1990) #1-25 by Dave Sim As with Cerebus Bi-Weekly, I found my copies dirt cheap at a sale, and I don’t have a complete set. But let’s have a quick look at them anyway. The design on these books is a lot more considered than on Cerebus Bi-Weekly — it looks more … Continue reading A&R1990: Cerebus: High Society
What Would The Kwisatz Haderach Do?
(April 8, 2024)Music Festival
(April 7, 2024)Bird/Light
(April 7, 2024)A&R1988: Cerebus Bi-Weekly
(April 7, 2024)Cerebus Bi-Weekly (1988) #1-26 by Dave Sim I had already read the Swords of Cerebus reprint volumes, so I didn’t intend to buy this reprint series. But I happened upon them on sale a couple years after they were published for almost nothing, and I picked them up. It’s not a complete run or anything, … Continue reading A&R1988: Cerebus Bi-Weekly
Music Festival
(April 6, 2024)Nightmare Visions
(April 6, 2024)A&R1981: Swords of Cerebus
(April 6, 2024)Swords of Cerebus (1981) #1-6, Swords of Cerebus Supplement to Swords of Cerebus Vol. 6 (1984) by Dave Sim and others I hadn’t originally planned on covering Swords of Cerebus since I’ve already done Cerebus #1-25, and Swords of Cerebus reprints those. But what the hey — these are somewhat interesting in themselves. Sim doesn’t … Continue reading A&R1981: Swords of Cerebus
Barbie Discourse
(April 6, 2024)Music Festival
(April 6, 2024)Welkom
(April 6, 2024)A&R2010: Cerebus Guide to Self Publishing
(April 4, 2024)Cerebus Guide to Self Publishing (2010) by Dave Sim So what’s this then? It was originally published in 1997, when self publishing was had stopped being a “movement” in comics, but I guess it made sense to collect all the essays on publishing that Sim had written (and published in Cerebus) over the years. And … Continue reading A&R2010: Cerebus Guide to Self Publishing
Forest Sounds
(April 4, 2024)City sounds.
A&R2008: Judenhass
(April 3, 2024)Judenhass (2008) by Dave Sim You thought the nightmare of this blog series was over after Cerebus #300! Dunn dunn dunn… you’re wrong! I’ve got the post Cerebus Aardvark-Vanaheim books to go, and then some mop up of things I forgot to do the first time around. Sorry! Gotta be complete. Anyway. This was Sim’s … Continue reading A&R2008: Judenhass
Handsy
(April 3, 2024)A&R2003: Cerebus #289-300
(April 1, 2024)Cerebus (2003) #289-300 by Dave Sim & Gerhard Heh heh. Anyway, this blog post covers the final Cerebus collection: The Last Day. It starts with a double sized/double numbered issue, #189/#190. And… it’s all Bibley stuff. Cerebus is dreaming throughout the issue while God is apparently telling him how it really goes. I’m not sure … Continue reading A&R2003: Cerebus #289-300
March Music
(April 1, 2024)Music I’ve bought in March. After a very thin February, there’s more music in March. Still catching up with Fontaine DC’s discography. This album’s pretty spiffy. Very post punk. I also stumbled onto Eliza Carthy (doing a cover of a Lal Waterson song). Folk music sure has modernised lyrics these days (*clutches pearls*). Oh, and … Continue reading March Music
A&R2001: Cerebus #266-288
(March 31, 2024)Cerebus (2001) #266-288 by Dave Sim & Gerhard OK, we’re finally getting towards the end of this blog series. Well, OK, after we finish with Cerebus, we still have some Aardvard-Vanaheim books to go — Judenhass, Cerebus Archives (oops) and Glamourpuss… er… OK, there may be like ten more posts because I forgot to do … Continue reading A&R2001: Cerebus #266-288
RME Hammerfall Multiface II Firmware Files
(March 28, 2024)This blog post might perhaps be useful to approx. four people over the next decade (but I’m probably exaggerating — more like two?), so if you don’t recognise all the words in the title here, you can skip this one. But if you’re googling and landed here: You’re welcome. OK, this is the deal: There’s … Continue reading RME Hammerfall Multiface II Firmware Files
A&R2000: Cerebus #251-265
(March 26, 2024)Cerebus (2000) #251-265 by Dave Sim & Gerhard My incredible math skills tells me that I’ve got 15 issues to read today — the longest “book” since, I guess, Jaka’s Story or something? And I’m not looking forward to this one, which is “Form & Void”, which is the third book of Going Home. Amusingly, … Continue reading A&R2000: Cerebus #251-265
A&R1999: Cerebus #240-250
(March 25, 2024)Cerebus (1999) #240-250 by Dave Sim & Gerhard This blog post is about Going Home book two: “Fall and the River”, and I have to admit to being pretty fed up with doing these posts (yet again). I should probably take a break, but at this point I’d rather power through. But you’ve been warned! … Continue reading A&R1999: Cerebus #240-250
A&R1998: Cerebus #232-239
(March 24, 2024)Cerebus (1998) #232-239 by Dave Sim & Gerhard What’s this then? Only eight issues covered in this blog post? Isn’t Going Home a longer epic? Yes, indeed, as you can see from the inside front cover down here. But the first eight issues are the first book, “Sudden Moves”. And! When doing the collections, the … Continue reading A&R1998: Cerebus #232-239
A&R1997: Cerebus #220-231
(March 23, 2024)Cerebus (1997) #220-231 by Dave Sim & Gerhard OK, Rick’s Story. Guys ended with Rick (Jaka’s ex husband) showing up randomly at Cerebus’ tavern, and Rick’s Story continues on from that. And yes, Rick’s appearance there seems to be “at random”, i.e., guided by god, as is usually the case in Cerebus. Sim’s not very … Continue reading A&R1997: Cerebus #220-231
A&R1995: Cerebus #201-219
(March 22, 2024)Cerebus (1995) #201-219 by Dave Sim & Gerhard In this blog series, we’ve kinda sorta reached new territory for me. As a teenager, I read the first 50 issues many times — let’s say er seven times. And then I read the issues up to about #80 a handful of times. And now I’ve read … Continue reading A&R1995: Cerebus #201-219
A&R1994: Cerebus #187-200
(March 21, 2024)Cerebus (1994) #187-200 by Dave Sim & Gerhard In today’s sermon, we’re doing the final book of Mothers & Daughters — “Minds”. And at 14 issues, it’s the longest book, but oddly enough, the most focused one. Is that Sim? Or perhaps Astoria? Nah, she has a stronger jaw line, and she’d never wear that … Continue reading A&R1994: Cerebus #187-200
A&R1993: Cerebus #175-186
(March 20, 2024)Cerebus (1993) #175-186 by Dave Sim & Gerhard This blog post covers the third Mothers & Daughters book — “Reads”. The first issue here says that it’s going to run for 14 issues, but that’s revised down. I’m not sure whether it’s just a typo here, or whether Sim changed his mind. “Reads” is a … Continue reading A&R1993: Cerebus #175-186
A&R1993: Cerebus Number Zero
(March 19, 2024)Cerebus Number Zero (1993) by Dave Sim & Gerhard This was originally meant to be published in a poly-bagged, foil inked version with a holographic card (as a kind of comment/parody of what other publishers were doing around this time), but Sim decided that that would be too expensive a joke, so instead it’s came … Continue reading A&R1993: Cerebus Number Zero
A&R1993: Cerebus #163-174
(March 18, 2024)Cerebus (1977) #163-174 by Dave Sim & Gerhard This blog post covers the second of the four Mothers & Daughters books: “Women”. The main structuring device this time around are competing quotes from Astoria’s and Cirin’s books. If you’ve ever wondered what the difference between Kevillism and Cirinism is, you’re in luck! Other than that, … Continue reading A&R1993: Cerebus #163-174
A&R1992: Free Cerebus
(March 17, 2024)Free Cerebus (1992) by Dave Sim & Gerhard This book was published (in 60K copies, according to Sim, making it the Cerebus thing with the highest print run) to have something that shops could give to punters attending the Cerebus US Tour ’92. Makes sense to me. But what do you put into an introductory … Continue reading A&R1992: Free Cerebus
A&R1991: Cerebus #151-162
(March 17, 2024)Cerebus (1991) #151-162 by Dave Sim and Gerhard What? Another blog post in the Renegades and Aardvarks series? But that one ended two years ago? Yes, indeed. I stopped that series after the Renegade portion was complete, because after that I only had Cerebus to write about, and I didn’t feel I had more to … Continue reading A&R1991: Cerebus #151-162
Comics Daze
(March 10, 2024)I went to bed way too early last night, so here I am, up at four in the morning… I guess I’ll just have to spend all of today reading comics, then. And for music — albums from 1980 only. Joe Jackson: Beat Crazy 04:47: A Sister by Bastien Vivès (Ablaze) I’ve been reading a … Continue reading Comics Daze
Book ‘n Stuff
(March 8, 2024)The navel gazing movie stats post made me think about the other thing I do that I have data for: Reading books! Back in 2013, I implemented an Emacs mode for keeping track of what books I had (because I’m the kind of reader that obsessively buys all the books from the authors I like, … Continue reading Book ‘n Stuff
Movie Ratings “R” Us
(March 7, 2024)I was vegetating on Xitter the other week, and I happened upon this tweet: Which turns out to be a thing — there’s dozens of similar tweets over the years: First of all, I think it’s amusing to call watching movies a “hobby”. But also the idea that if you don’t like all the movies … Continue reading Movie Ratings “R” Us
The Forbidden Fountain
(March 4, 2024)No Gnus T-Shirt Lottery Done
(March 1, 2024)The shirts are all packed! And on time! Sort of! My methodology here was M-x gnus-summary-sort-by-random (nice that somebody had added that), and then I went down from the top. If somebody had made a request that I couldn’t fill (for instance, if I was out of XL when I got down to them), I … Continue reading No Gnus T-Shirt Lottery Done
February Music
(March 1, 2024)Music I’ve bought in February. I have bought basically no new albums in February — least albums ever. I wonder how that happened…
Comics Daze
(February 29, 2024)Before we get to the comics today, let me digress a bit. There’s a new essay at Solrad about 2dcloud, and I went “where’s my popcorn! finally somebody’s going to make some sense of er it all”, but nope — it’s an even less than informative article about the sitch than you could imagine. Now, … Continue reading Comics Daze
My New Interior Design Blog
(February 28, 2024)Uhm… Thank you for that very helpful “ALTO UP OBEN” sticker, Nemo — as you can see from the diagram, the arrow is pointing to the left side of the lamp, so it’s 95 degrees off… (And the other label being upside down is just perfection.) Oh, hi! Welcome to my brand new Interior Design … Continue reading My New Interior Design Blog
Comics Daze
(February 25, 2024)It’s another lazy Sunday, so how about some comics reading? The last few times I’ve been going “well, I shouldn’t buy more French comics that I can only read veeeeery slowly; I should definitely wait, like, half a year”, so inevitably: Yes, I’ve bought more than 1K pages of Pratt/Oesterheld comics. I’ve read most of … Continue reading Comics Daze
Can you spot the date I said “I’m done”?
(February 22, 2024)Anyhoo… the reason I checked was because I was cleaning up my closet, which I’m told you have to do five times a century, whether it needs it or not. I got about er 11? of these refuse sacs (a lot of yellowed white t-shirts, and why did I have 20 bed sets? dating back … Continue reading Can you spot the date I said “I’m done”?
My New Book Review Blog
(February 19, 2024)Just kidding! Ain’t nobody got time for reviewing, but I just read this book: It’s Sheri Tepper’s final book, written when she was in her 80s and published two years before she died. On Goodreads, Fish Tails has a kinda normal 3.6 total grade, but there are so many one star reviews like this: I … Continue reading My New Book Review Blog
Translation, Apps, Comics, oh la la…
(February 17, 2024)I’m learning French (so that I’ll be able to read French comics, as one does). I started absolutely from scratch (no high school French or nuttin), and after about half a year, I’m at that point where I can sort of kinda actually read some French comics. Sort of. If they’re for children. Of course, … Continue reading Translation, Apps, Comics, oh la la…
Comics Daze
(February 16, 2024)So, I’ve been Duolinguing French for half a year now, but I still can’t really er read French with any comfortable speed, so it makes no sense to start buying French comics already. And look: I’ve managed to not go too wild. Right? Right! But I’ve been trying to find some comics that I can … Continue reading Comics Daze
The Commentaspamapocalypse Is Nigh!
(February 7, 2024)I run a couple of blogs, and across them, I get about 50 spam comments per day. Here’s a sampling: Fortunately, WordPress offers something called “Akismet Antispam” which takes care of all this noise. It lets a spam message through about once every two months, and I think I’ve seen one false positive over the … Continue reading The Commentaspamapocalypse Is Nigh!
Comics Daze
(February 4, 2024)Oops — I got so many new comics that I have to take a comics reading day again. Them’s the breaks. And since I’m feeling like a nostalgic Sunday, I’ll only be doing music from… let’s see… 1981. New Order: Everything’s Gone Green 12:09: Abysmalation by Josh Bayer (Birdcage Bottom Books) Eep. This is one … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(February 1, 2024)I’ve been doing French on Duolingo for half a year now, so I can’t read French yet. But it’s becoming harder and harder to hold back on shopping French comic, because soon… soon! Well, in half a year, perhaps? I’ll be able to read them! Oops! Look what I did. I’ve actually been reading Modeste … Continue reading Comics Daze
January Music
(January 31, 2024)Music I’ve bought in January. I didn’t really buy much stuff this month, but I bought several box sets, so there’s a lot of entries below… I guess the most fun thing this month was the Sleaford Mods cover of West End Girls. And the Andrew Poppy box set seems very fine… Er… and other … Continue reading January Music
Jazz Show
(January 30, 2024)Indy Magazine: Now On Kwakk
(January 30, 2024)Oops! OK, I bought all the issues of what’s usually called Indy Magazine, scanned them, and put them on kwakk.info. So you can now do research into Elflord and stuff. There’s already 20 other magazines on kwakk.info where you can do research into whether Jack Kirkeby or Stan Lees created the Fantastical Four, but there’s … Continue reading Indy Magazine: Now On Kwakk
Rock Show
(January 26, 2024)Rock Show
(January 22, 2024)That’s what I always say
(January 18, 2024)Something tells me I should have moved my car to the garage after all
(January 18, 2024)But what?
Comics Daze
(January 17, 2024)What the… Oh, this is one of those days… I think perhaps I won’t be going anywhere today? So perhaps I should just read some comics. xPropoganda: The Heart Is Strange 11:20: The Boy From Clearwater 1 by Yu Pei-Yun/Zhou Jian-Xin (Levine Querido) Oh, it’s an earthquake… I guess depicting action isn’t their forte… These … Continue reading Comics Daze
Washing Machine
(January 13, 2024)Before you start reading, start this song: It should make reading the blathering nonsense below slightly less annoying. Aren’t I helpful. Anyway. We were chatting on irc the other day about this: And I was going “and that’s why I’ll never have an Internet-connected washing machine. Never! That’s totally insane and only total morons would … Continue reading Washing Machine
Comics Daze
(January 6, 2024)Merde! I’ve totally messed up my sleeping again, after being so good for yonks. That was a very late New Years Eve, and I guess I’m still working my way through that. Even so, getting up at one in the morning isn’t ideal, eh? So let’s see… if I read comics all night long, then … Continue reading Comics Daze
I may have forgotten to do something on the balcony this autumn…
(January 4, 2024)… but what!? I guess I’ll never know.
The Books of 2023
(January 4, 2024)I haven’t read that many books in 2023… what you see in this lil’ bookcase are all of them. (I empty it out every year and then watch it fill up slowly…) I guess there’s about *guesstimates* 60-ish? I guess it’s been more of a comics year than a book year. Below is a list … Continue reading The Books of 2023
December Music
(January 1, 2024)Music I’ve bought in December. Oh ghod I’m so drukn.
On Caching
(December 30, 2023)Have you ever thought about caching? I mean, for web pages? This isn’t going to be a rant, and there’s certainly not going to be a “call to action” here, but this is just something I’ve been going “*sigh*” about for decades, and I thought perhaps it might be time to ruminate a bit. Don’t … Continue reading On Caching
Sony’s Passion is App Development
(December 30, 2023)So — I use an Android phone for most stuff, but I use an Iphone Max for Duolingoing (because of reasons), and I was wondering whether I could listen to music from my Android phone as the same time that I was listening to the French-ey voices from the Doulingo app on the Iphone. There’s … Continue reading Sony’s Passion is App Development
The Best Comics of 2023
(December 21, 2023)Wow, it’s been a really strong year for comics! OK, so here’s the deal: I read a whole lot of comics, and the very few that are super duper awesome move to a special book-case where I can gaze upon them, lovingly, while vast majority move into some cupboard or other. And at the end … Continue reading The Best Comics of 2023
Comics Daze
(December 20, 2023)Eep! I got a bunch more comics, so lets start reading. Test Card: Patterns 12:46: Monica by Daniel Clowes (Fantagraphics) This is, of course, the Major Publishing Event of the year, but for some reason or other, I didn’t get a copy until now from DCBS… Like everybody else, I was a big Clowes fan … Continue reading Comics Daze
Even More Comics Magazines Courtesy of Mrs. Kwakk Wakk
(December 16, 2023)I was poking around on the torrentses when I happened upon something called simply “Fanzine Torrent” (with no further information), and it had a single seeder, but I set it to download anyway. One week later: It’s a 120GB ball of various fanzines — but virtually all of them are sci-fi/horror/movie fanzines, which isn’t very … Continue reading Even More Comics Magazines Courtesy of Mrs. Kwakk Wakk
PX92: Un regard moderne
(December 16, 2023)Un regarde moderne (210x297mm) That’s some… cover. I think I’ll have to disable cross-posting on the Xitters and etc? Yup. No, wait, I can switch the “featured image” to something less aggressive than the cover image… I found this on ebay the other week, so I snapped it up. It’s got a sticker saying “Gary … Continue reading PX92: Un regard moderne
The Best Albums of 2023
(December 15, 2023)It’s that time of year! Once again I’ve asked Emacs which new albums I’ve listened to most this year, and the shocking truth is revealed below. And above, too! It’s been a really strong year for new music, I think — I’ve been wildly enthusiastic about several of these albums, which makes a change from … Continue reading The Best Albums of 2023
Comics Daze
(December 12, 2023)Yes, a new comics readin’ day, just a couple days after the last one. But before I start: I tried reading this book yesterday. I don’t know why I bought it — I distinctly remember “well, I’m not going to buy that one”, but then I did anyway? Because I’ve done my time in the … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(December 10, 2023)Man, it’s been a while since I did some comics readin’, and look what’s happened in the meantime: So. Many. New. Comics. Gotta get readin’. The reason for my lapse is twofold — I’ve been tinkering with the search engine for magazines about comics extensively, but the main reason for that is that I’ve had … Continue reading Comics Daze
A Panel From A Comic By Ana Pando Presented Without Comment
(December 10, 2023)Jazz Show
(December 1, 2023)More Search: Comics Buyer’s Guide and stuff
(December 1, 2023)The kwakk.info (re)search engine for magazines about comics went extremely mildly viral a few days ago, and reading the comments I went “Oops! I totally forgot about Ipads…” And indeed, the thing looked absolutely horrible there, so I gave it a spruce up (see above). I think it should be fine now — and it … Continue reading More Search: Comics Buyer’s Guide and stuff
November Music
(December 1, 2023)Music I’ve bought in November. Hey, that’s quite a lot of albums and stuff. Anything in particular stand out? Hm… Well, I really like the new album from Vanishing Twin. As usual, they sound a bit like Stereolab, but in a good way. I also got this old album from The Unthanks (best band name … Continue reading November Music
Rock Show
(December 1, 2023)And finally: The Comic Reader, Hero Illustrated and… FOOM!?
(November 26, 2023)OK, I said the previous post about the kwakk.info search engine for magazines about comics was going to be the last one, but then… I’ve added The Comic Reader, Hero Illustrated and FOOM. Yes, FOOM — Friends Of Ol’ Marvel. 🤷 And this is the final blog post on this matter, and I mean it … Continue reading And finally: The Comic Reader, Hero Illustrated and… FOOM!?
An Excerpt from Comics Interview Presented Without Comment
(November 25, 2023)Read more here.
Comics Magazine Search Engine Tweaks
(November 25, 2023)Sorry about all these posts about kwakk.info in a row — but as usual, after releasing a project, I find myself poking at it way more than before I released it, and I keep finding things to tweak. It’s classic — I always think something is feature complete, every day, and then the next day … Continue reading Comics Magazine Search Engine Tweaks
Comics Interview, Comics Feature and… Marvel Age!?
(November 23, 2023)Like I said the other week, I was wondering whether there were other collections of scans of magazines about comics, like, “out there”. And… it turns out that there are — so I’ve spent the day downloading from pirate sites, massaging/organising the scans to fit into the required layout for the search engine, and… presto. … Continue reading Comics Interview, Comics Feature and… Marvel Age!?
A Rippin’ Good Time
(November 21, 2023)I’m one of those cro magnons that still (mostly) watch movies from physical discs. But on Linux! So I have to rip everything with makemkv first… which sounds like a big chore, but isn’t — I’ve got a very efficient setup with several bluray players that can rip in parallel. It’s just kinda part of … Continue reading A Rippin’ Good Time
My New Home Decor Blog
(November 21, 2023)A while back, I bought a couple of very small TVs, and I was going to put them somewhere permanentish… and now, after procrastinating for just two months, I’m gonna actually do it. It wasn’t all procrastinating — the TVs are powered via USB-C, so I wanted a USB-A to dual USB-C cable, and er … Continue reading My New Home Decor Blog
Comics Daze
(November 19, 2023)Oopsie! I’m awake in the middle of the night, and that’s not optimal, but since I got a bunch of comics the other day, perhaps I can read until morning, take a nap, and then read until night again? Let’s find out. And because it’s the middle of the night, I’ll only play rockin’ oldies … Continue reading Comics Daze
Sysadmin 4 Lyfe
(November 16, 2023)This blog has been experiencing intermittent networks problems lately — it’s hard to say what the problem really is, but the symptoms were simple: Some pages and images just didn’t want to load (at random). Poking around showed some TCP connections with lots of data in the SEND-Q, but that doesn’t really help much with … Continue reading Sysadmin 4 Lyfe
Comics Daze
(November 11, 2023)I got a big shipment of comics a week ago, but I’ve been sorta holding off reading them — not chomping at the bits to read them, really. Because this is mostly non-small-press books (Fanta, D&Q, etc), and the likelihood of being them middle-of-the-road books is greater… I mean, with movies and novels and stuff, … Continue reading Comics Daze
The Wizard Magazine Search Engine
(November 8, 2023)So I’ve been making various magazines about comics available for research, and… tada: Yeah, yeah… I’ve “found” Wizard Magazine scans on the internet, and I’ve spent the last day or so adjusting the files and running them through OCR. And you can now see the results here. I’ve never read Wizard Magazine myself, so I … Continue reading The Wizard Magazine Search Engine
The Comics Journal Search Engine
(November 7, 2023)Last week, I made the Amazing Heroes search engine public, so why not make the rest of the stuff public, too? So you can now search The Comics Journal and Comics Scene, too. Or you can search all three magazines at the same time, if you’re in Super Research Mode. As I noted in the … Continue reading The Comics Journal Search Engine
The Amazing Heroes Search Engine
(November 3, 2023)tl;dr: Click here for an Amazing Heroes search engine. Long-winded bloviating: I’ve been blogging about 80s comics lately, and a frustrating thing is how little information from that era that’s readily available when trying to do research. Fortunately, The Comics Journal people have scanned all the issues of that excellent magazine… but its focus is … Continue reading The Amazing Heroes Search Engine
October Music
(November 1, 2023)Music I’ve bought in October. I haven’t really bought that many albums this months, but then again, I was in London for almost two weeks. Which was a lot of fun — I went to half a dozen concerts. And what’s fun at concerts in London is that they often have opening acts that are … Continue reading October Music
Comics Daze
(October 26, 2023)I was gonna go to a concert tonight, but my back is acting up (I probably… slept wrong), so I think I’ll do a comics day instead. The vast majority of Today’s Reading are comics that I picket up at Gosh Comics in London last week. It’s a really nice shop — they’ve got all … Continue reading Comics Daze
Rock Show
(October 25, 2023)Augmented Reality
(October 24, 2023)Rock Show
(October 23, 2023)Well then… you should fix it? HOW IT THIS MY PROBLEM
(October 22, 2023)Michelin Stars
(October 21, 2023)OK, I guess I just have to buy them all
(October 21, 2023)(Gosh Comics, London.)
Rock Show
(October 21, 2023)And why is Android Photos so bad at taking pics at a strobing show? This is an example pic.
October
(October 20, 2023)Folk Show
(October 20, 2023)And the seats in front of us (in the front row) were reserved by… an XLR cable and a bag of chips.
Folk Show
(October 15, 2023)Philosophical Conundrums
(October 15, 2023)I’m Sure This Scheme Makes Sense
(October 15, 2023)I’m mostly fascinated by the “A” flats, but it’s all wonderful. Especially Room 101.
Rock Show
(October 14, 2023)I saw two Arto Lindsay sets at Cafe Oto, and they were both great. The first one, at 16:00, was shambolic and fun, and Arto played guitar a lot. For the second set, at 20:00, it seemed like they’d been rehearsing a lot, and the concert was a lot smoother. And also fun, but in … Continue reading Rock Show
Rock Show
(October 14, 2023)How About “No”
(October 14, 2023)My New Trends In Hotel Decor Blog
(October 13, 2023)Comics Daze Micro Edition
(October 12, 2023)I’m leaving for London tomorrow, so I don’t have time to read comics all day today. But I got the most eagerly anticipated comic of the year in the mail yesterday (no, not that one), so I just have to read it before going away. Even though it’s apparently not meant to be read in … Continue reading Comics Daze Micro Edition
The Mysteries of Google
(October 10, 2023)Is this good or bad? OK, let me explain. I google with site:ingebrigtsen.no a lot because I use this blog as a way to externalise my memory. (I’m forgetful.) Half a year ago, I noticed that I was getting weird results. After fixing that problem, I eventually signed up for the Google Search Console to … Continue reading The Mysteries of Google
Je ne parle pas français
(October 5, 2023)Two months ago, I decided to learn French (so that I could read more comics by Chantal Montellier). I wanted to try using an app this time, because I’ve pondered learning French before, but after looking at a textbook, I somehow always found myself cleaning the kitchen stove instead. I’m just saying. It’s hard to … Continue reading Je ne parle pas français
Comics Daze
(October 4, 2023)Hey! Where did this day go? It’s almost four already… OK, so this is going to be a shorter Daze because I think I’ll be falling asleep by midnight. But let’s see. And for music today: Only albums on the Crammed and Crepuscule labels. Aksak Maboul: Onze danses pour combattre la migraine 15:36: Starseeds 3 … Continue reading Comics Daze
Rock Show
(October 3, 2023)September Music
(October 1, 2023)Music I’ve bought in September. Hey! More music this month than the last few… The new (and final) Jamie Branch Fly or Die album is very good. Hm… anything else that stands out? I guess not — it’s the usual mix of old stuff and new stuff and rereleased stuff.
Comics Daze
(September 28, 2023)I hadn’t planned on doing a comics reading day this week, but then I got a whopping new package of brand new comics in the mail… like ten kilos? I think this means that the Book Season is upon us — publishers like to get a certain kind of book out this time of year … Continue reading Comics Daze
Jazz Show
(September 26, 2023)Comics Daze
(September 24, 2023)Finally a day for reading comics again… I don’t know why I’m so busy these days, but Duolinguing French takes up a lot of time, I guess. After reading a Chantel Montellier comic book last month, I decided that it was time to finally learn French so that I can start buying French comics, so … Continue reading Comics Daze
Jazz Show
(September 22, 2023)Music Show
(September 21, 2023)There are light sensitive thingamabobs on the left there, so he’s playing those with his flashlights. It was really nice! She randomly got a prize for being awesome, I think.
Jeanne Dielman, TinyTV 2, 0171 Oslo
(September 19, 2023)A while back, I kickstartered (that’s a general verb now) TinyTV 2 on Indigogo, and I got my copies the other day. (I also got the TinyTV Mini, which is even smaller.) I have to say that they’re are even cuter than I thought. There’s just something really fun about these gadgets — their sheer … Continue reading Jeanne Dielman, TinyTV 2, 0171 Oslo
Comics Daze
(September 16, 2023)Finally another day I’ve got nothing planned so that I can do some comics reading. David Bowie: Who Can I Be Now? (7): Young American 09:07: Mimosa by Archie Bongiovanni (Abrams) The artwork’s quite attractive — open and friendly, like. But while there are only four characters, I’m having a lot of trouble keeping them … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(September 12, 2023)I’m back from New York with a whole bag full of comics, so I guess I should start reading. And my sleeping is all messed up now again, so I’ll be reading until dawn or something? Probably. The first shop I visited was Forbidden Planet, which I hadn’t really planned — I just happened to … Continue reading Comics Daze
Bye
(September 9, 2023)Rock Show
(September 9, 2023)Mood
(September 9, 2023)Drill, Baby, Drill
(September 8, 2023)Jazz Show
(September 8, 2023)How Kind, I’m Sure
(September 7, 2023)Rock Show
(September 7, 2023)Nobody has ever done this before, I’m sure
(September 5, 2023)Show Show
(September 5, 2023)Droopy
(September 5, 2023)France vs Ukraine
(September 4, 2023)Confusion
(September 3, 2023)So I took an uptown R that stopped on the lower N platform instead.
Pilgrimage
(September 2, 2023)Music Show
(September 2, 2023)August Music
(September 1, 2023)Music I’ve bought in August.
I need this everywhere
(September 1, 2023)Exhibition
(September 1, 2023)Well I never!
(August 31, 2023)Asking The Hard Questions
(August 31, 2023)Jazz Show?
(August 31, 2023)Mood
(August 31, 2023)Life Hack
(August 31, 2023)Advertising Is Forever
(August 30, 2023)It just gets worse the further you read
(August 30, 2023)Jazz Show
(August 30, 2023)Water Landscape
(August 29, 2023)This Statement Is Usually True
(August 28, 2023)Rock Show
(August 28, 2023)Jazz Festival
(August 24, 2023)Hamid Drake/William Parker/Anja Lauvdal was insanely amazing! It was like Alice Coltrane 1971, but different. So fabulous.
Cute
(August 24, 2023)So what does K Kawai pianos look like?
Design Hack
(August 24, 2023)Shopping
(August 23, 2023)Comics Daze
(August 20, 2023)Paul va a la gare. Je mange une chouette. Eep! I think might need a break from using Duolingo? So today is comics reading day. Astra King: First Love 13:35: 10-10 to the Wind by Cole Degenstein (Fieldmouse Press) This is about a (not so) lonesome trucker, and it’s got a really great flow. Great … Continue reading Comics Daze
Jazz Festival
(August 19, 2023)Jazz Festival
(August 18, 2023)Comics Daze
(August 15, 2023)Music festival’s over, so it’s about time to get some comics reading done. Rival Consoles: Now Is 14:02: Social Fiction by Chantal Montellier (New York Review Comics) I’ve only read one comic book by Monellier before — and that was like forty years ago, and there’s been nothing translated into any language I understand since. … Continue reading Comics Daze
Music Festival
(August 12, 2023)Music Festival
(August 11, 2023)Music Festival
(August 9, 2023)Comics Daze
(August 6, 2023)I spent all day yesterday reading comics, so why not spend all day today reading comics, too? You know it makes sense. Yoko Ono: Yes, I’m A Witch, Too 12:17: Thomas Girtin: The Forgotten Painter by Oscar Zarate (Selfmadehero) I know, I know — these comics artists biographies are seldom any good, but this is … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(August 5, 2023)Over the past year, I’ve been picking up quite a few comics from a Swedish publisher I was unfamiliar with: Lystring. So the other week, I was thinking… “perhaps what they’ve published earlier is still available?” Presto: Mua ha ha. But I’m not going to be reading all Swedish comics today, because I’ve also apparently … Continue reading Comics Daze
July Music
(August 2, 2023)Music I’ve bought in July. Not a lot of stuff this month, since I’ve been unexpectedly busy. I guess the most exciting album is the one from Still House Plants — it reminds me quite a bit of Wildbirds & Peacedrums? In a good way, of course.
This language app is getting into a difficult territory
(August 2, 2023)“Yes… fascinating…”
(July 30, 2023)Make/Remake
(July 24, 2023)Comics Daze
(July 22, 2023)It’s another rainy day, so… comics! This time around I’ve got a bunch of small press comics — both from the UK and from the US (including a whopping package from Domino Books). I’ve also been shopping at a sale here at a local comics shop, as well as getting some corporate comics. My inclination … Continue reading Comics Daze
Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner
(July 21, 2023)Raspberries & Screens
(July 19, 2023)I’ve had a “Home Automation System” (i.e., thing that makes lights go on and off) based on Telldus Tellstick and Z-Wave for more than a decade, and it works fine. I’ve got a bunch of computers around the house, and I’ve installed the USB dongles and server programs on them, which seemed like the most … Continue reading Raspberries & Screens
My New Lamp Repair Blog
(July 18, 2023)A week ago, I got a lamp called Midori from Artimide. It came shipped amusingly flat… … and with plenty of assembly to do, which is fun. It folds out pretty impressively. So what’s the problem? I have all my lamps plugged into wall sockets that are controlled remotely, so when I go to bed, … Continue reading My New Lamp Repair Blog
Aftermath
(July 16, 2023)Once I Was Tall
(July 14, 2023)Comics Daze
(July 11, 2023)Got a whole lot of comics yesterday… mostly mainstream stuff, but let’s start off with this month’s Desert Island Mystery Box. Steve Reich: Reich-Richter 13:44: Aeon 6 by Jules Naleb (Peow) This uses a fairly standard post-apocalyptic setup (deserts etc)… … but it’s quite affecting. It’s got a real mood going on. It’s mostly fight … Continue reading Comics Daze
Horticultural Mysteries
(July 10, 2023)My home office has devolved to a storage room over the past few years (I don’t use it much after I started just sitting on a couch with my laptop on my er lap), so I haven’t really paid any attention to what’s going on with the plants there either (beyond watering them once a … Continue reading Horticultural Mysteries
Jazz Festival
(July 9, 2023)Jazz Festival
(July 7, 2023)SUCH OSHA
So I Went To A Nearby Town
(July 6, 2023)I opened my laptop, started Chrome, and one of the tabs had Youtube stats open. Google told me this: Such sensitive. So they want me to go back to Oslo before accessing the stats page? Well OK.
Jazz Festival
(July 6, 2023)Jazz Festival
(July 6, 2023)Comics Daze
(July 3, 2023)It’s a rainy day, so why not read comics? Right. But before I start, I want to mention this book I read the other day: 14:21: Charlotte Salomon by Life? or Theatre? (Waanders) Charlotte Salomon painted a whole lot of paintings that incorporated text, and they supposedly tell a narrative, so it’s comics kinda? She … Continue reading Comics Daze
June Music
(July 1, 2023)Music I’ve bought in June. Hey! I actually got back into shopping new music this month. I guess Water From Your Eyes is the hype of the year, but the album is actually good. On the other hand, the new Everything But The Girl album has been getting rave reviews, which made me suspicious. And … Continue reading June Music
Tilda Swinton Project Update 2023 Redux
(June 26, 2023)My bi-annual (or is it semi-annual?) er every other year or so update to my project to determine whether the future has arrived yet (by checking if all films from a pretty famous actor are available one way or another) is now done. And I got a bigger batch of films than usual: Caprice (1986) … Continue reading Tilda Swinton Project Update 2023 Redux
TSP2022: The Eternal Daughter
(June 26, 2023)Oh, A24? And BBC? This really does have a BBC vibe going on — as if this were a horror story from the 70s… And I mean that in the best way possible. I’m totally into this. And I think it really is a horror story? I mean, it’s so well done — the creaky, … Continue reading TSP2022: The Eternal Daughter
TSP2022: Three Thousand Years of Longing
(June 26, 2023)Oh, does MGM still exist? So aspect-to-aspect editing. Who’s the main character!? Hm… is this based on a comic book, by any chance? It feels very comic bookey so far. Nope: Written by Miller and Augusta Gore, it is based on the short story “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” by A. S. Byatt And … Continue reading TSP2022: Three Thousand Years of Longing
TSP2021: Memoria
(June 25, 2023)I’ve seen three Apichatpong Weerasethakul movies before, and they’ve all been great, if I remember correctly. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, of course, has the best movie title ever. This looks very Apichatpong Weerasethakul in the first few minutes, so *crosses fingers*. I have absolutely no fucking idea what is going on … Continue reading TSP2021: Memoria
TSP2021: The French Dispatch
(June 25, 2023)Huh. Did Fox sell of Searchlight… or… er… Oh yeah, that’s basically the old 20th Century Fox logo thing, isn’t it? How confusing. Geez. This is head-swimmingly dense. Just so many details. I love it. Of course, he can’t keep going at that speed — people would faint. I’m still disappointed when he slows down… … Continue reading TSP2021: The French Dispatch
TSP1990: Das offene Universum
(June 23, 2023)I finally found this film on Vimeo, so I’ve updated the post.
Comics Daze
(June 23, 2023)I was gonna do something completely different tonight, but then the balcony called to me. Let’s see if I can do comics dazing out here… Hm… looks like the wifi is marginal, so my camera takes forever to upload images. Let’s try it anyway. Kitchens of Distinction: Watch Our Planet Circle (6): John Peel & … Continue reading Comics Daze
TSP2021: The Dong with the Luminous Nose
(June 22, 2023)Well, that’s a curious name. Oh, is this based on a nursery rhyme? I’m afraid I found this to be pretty weak stuff. The Dong with the Luminous Nose. Jonny Phillips. 2021. This post is part of The Tilda Swinton Project.
The Weirdness of Vimeo
(June 22, 2023)So, I was looking for Das offene Universum, a movie from 1990 (featuring Tilda Swinton) that hasn’t been available for decades. But suddenly it’s on Vimeo! But you have to pay to watch it, so I create an account and buy it. And look! Download link! I like that! Of course, clicking that cloud symbol … Continue reading The Weirdness of Vimeo
TSP2021: What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?
(June 22, 2023)I’ve watched a substantial portion of the Marvel superhero thing, but I’m pretty much over it now (as apparently is the rest of the world). I did not watch this, because I’m just really annoyed by modern animation. But apparently Tilda Swinton does some voice-over stuff for The Ancient One (reprising her Doctor Strange role), … Continue reading TSP2021: What If… Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?
TSP2011: Amore carne
(June 21, 2023)Yes, I’m watching this Italian movie with French subtitles! I’m not participating in The Prize For Most Pretentious (I’ve already got all the statues), but this movie just isn’t available with English subtitles. Even the pirate subtitle sites are coming up empty. But I’ve been duolingoing for almost two years now, so surely I can … Continue reading TSP2011: Amore carne
TSP1986: Caprice
(June 21, 2023)I found this 1986 short finally — one of Tilda Swinton’s earliest movies. Somebody uploaded it to youtube seven months ago. Perhaps that was because of the Souvenir movies (which are fictionalised accounts of making this movie — sort of)? This post is part of The Tilda Swinton Project.
TSP2021: The Souvenir Part II
(June 21, 2023)Right! OK, an explanation before we get started: Almost a decade ago, I started a blog project to look at the brave new world of movie availability: It was the heyday of Netflix and people were going “oooh, ah, you can watch every movie now”. And I was rather sceptical, because… well, just because. But … Continue reading TSP2021: The Souvenir Part II
Comics Daze
(June 20, 2023)This week was supposed to be all sunny and stuff, but instead it’s pouring down today… so it’s a perfect day to daze with some comics, I guess? Kitchens of Distinction: Watch Our Planet Circle (2): Strange Free World 14:47: Island 3 #1-5 by Lando (Decadence Production) Many of today’s comics arrived from 50 Watts … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX11: The Land Unknown
(June 20, 2023)The Land Unknown by Gary Panter (170x261mm) This book was published (in France, but in English) in 2011, and I’ve somehow never seen a copy before. I happened onto this one in the 50 Watts Books store, but I see that it’s still available from the publisher here, and for just €15. So it’s (still, … Continue reading PX11: The Land Unknown
Pop Show
(June 17, 2023)That was amazing. It’s the first time I’ve seen Laurie Anderson with a full live band, and it was so awesome. Not that I don’t like her more sparse stuff, but it was just in-credible to get to hear versions of Let X = X and stuff that were kinda like what they sounded like … Continue reading Pop Show
Childhood Culinary Inventions Part One: Lait frappé au Coca Cola
(June 14, 2023)Lynda Barry included this delightful food recipe in It’s So Magic: So I was thinking… did I ever invent any recipes for food-like substances as a child? And indeed I did, so I’m going to present these magnificent inventions in a short blog series. Well, OK, I didn’t actually invent this first one: There was … Continue reading Childhood Culinary Inventions Part One: Lait frappé au Coca Cola
Comics Daze
(June 14, 2023)I wasn’t gonna take a comics reading day today, but now I’m doing it anyway. But a short one, since I’m starting this late. Probably. A Certain Ratio: Loco Remezclada 16:18: Anachro Magazine #1 edited by Floyd Tangeman (Deadcrow) I got this yesterday, and as I was unpacking the package, I was going… er… what’s … Continue reading Comics Daze
Jazz Show
(June 6, 2023)Officially the Best Reloaded Redux
(June 5, 2023)A couple years ago, I watched all the movies on the Sight & Sound 2012 Director’s Poll Top 100, and that was a lot of fun — lots of great movies I hadn’t seen before, and lots of stuff I hadn’t seen in a long time. But then there was a new poll in 2022, … Continue reading Officially the Best Reloaded Redux
Comics Daze
(June 3, 2023)Got a big shipment of exciting stuff yesterday, so it’s comics readin’ time! Matthew Herbert: The Horse 13:37: Causeway #8-9 by CF And what’s more exciting than getting new stuff from CF? I don’t know what this is all about, but it’s fun nontheless. And very mysterious. Love it. 13:45: Junction Box by James Tonra … Continue reading Comics Daze
OTB#34: La jetée
(June 2, 2023)I forgot to do this movie in this blog series! I saw this movie a couple years ago. So Chris Marker has two films on the directors’ Top 100 now? Isn’t that all his movies? Anyway, this is an amazing movie that shouldn’t work (it a series of still images with voice over) but totally … Continue reading OTB#34: La jetée
OTB#4: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
(June 1, 2023)This is it — the final new entry on the directors’ Top 100 — and it’s at #4. (On the critics’ list, it was #1.) It’s a controversial film, because it’s over three hours long, and there isn’t much dialogue — instead we’re watching Delphine Seyrig doing stuff with longer takes than is normal. I … Continue reading OTB#4: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
May Music
(June 1, 2023)Music I’ve bought in May. I’m still limping around after twisting my ankle, so it’s SO IRONIC that I’ve got a new EP by: Don’t you think? It’s pretty good, too. I also like the new album by Liis Ring. I guess it’s part of this thing that I haven’t seen anybody try to make … Continue reading May Music
Rob Liefeld Vindicated!
(June 1, 2023)For decades, people have ridiculed Rob Liefeld for this masterful drawing of Captain America: People have speculated what Liefeld was thinking when he draw… that… drawing… like: But now, finally we know where Liefeld got this pose from: Liefeld was right all the time! VINDICATION!
Even More Goshenite Tweaks
(May 31, 2023)Remember a couple of days ago when I said that I had refreshed the Diamond/Lunar previews web site I’ve been doing for a few years? No? But when I first start futzing around with a project, more and more little annoyances become clearer, and improvements present themselves, so I always end up sitting for days, … Continue reading Even More Goshenite Tweaks
OTB#14: Beau Travail
(May 30, 2023)I’ve seen this movie several times before, and it’s not new on this year’s Top 100 (it was the only movie directed by a woman on the 2012 list — at #91). But I’ve got at 2K restoration recently, so I’m watching the movie again. In a recent interview with Alice Diop in Sight & … Continue reading OTB#14: Beau Travail
OTB#22: Mulholland Dr.
(May 30, 2023)I’ve watched this before, of course — last time three years ago. And this movie isn’t new on the Top 100 (it jumped from #75 to #22, though). But I’m re-watching this anyway, because Studiodigital (I think) has done a new 4K restoration, and Criterion has released the bluray. More pixels! More bandwidth! More mystery! … Continue reading OTB#22: Mulholland Dr.
DC Comics is Back on Goshenite
(May 29, 2023)I’ve now updated the world’s least-used (certified by the Guinness Book of Records) service, Goshenite, so that it also scans the DC portions of the Lunar Distribution previews — it no longer just gets data from Diamond Distribution. OK, since nobody knows what Goshenite is, I should probably explain a bit, right? Right. So, I’m … Continue reading DC Comics is Back on Goshenite
Sony a9 Cameras and Linux
(May 27, 2023)When blogging, I usually sit on the couch with my laptop on my lap (as is logical), typing away in Emacs in ewp mode, snapping pics of stuff (mostly comics) in bad lighting conditions. Taking nice snaps of things is a breeze if the lighting is good (i.e., sufficient), or if you’ve got a camera … Continue reading Sony a9 Cameras and Linux
Comics Daze
(May 26, 2023)I got a whole bunch of comics in the mail yesterday, so it’s a comics readin’ day today. This time around, the comics are from all over — that is, mostly ordered directly from publishers and stuff, and very little from shops. And I’m feeling kinda nostalgic today, so for music it’s (once again) gonna … Continue reading Comics Daze
OTB#29: Do The Right Thing
(May 26, 2023)Man that’s how you start a movie! Fight the Power by Public Enemy and a slamming dance routine! I have not seen this movie since it was released (and I was 21), but I remember being all excited about it (and disappointed with almost every subsequent Spike Lee movie). (Hm… that’s like 34 years ago… … Continue reading OTB#29: Do The Right Thing
OTB#41: Sans toit ni loi
(May 25, 2023)I watched this back in 2015, but now I’ve got a 2K version of it, so I’m watching it again. So this starts with a dead woman, and is being presented as an investigation into her life and how she ended up in that ditch. Varda is more known for her documentaries these days than … Continue reading OTB#41: Sans toit ni loi
OTB#46: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
(May 25, 2023)Futura! I’ve seen this movie randomly like a handful of times — the last time was perhaps four years ago? So… I’m not super enthusiastic about watching it again now. I mean, it’s a movie that has a lot of amusing scenes and some great performances, but it’s one of those satire¹ films with a … Continue reading OTB#46: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
OTB#53: Eraserhead
(May 25, 2023)I watched this a few years ago. I was thinking about rewatching it for this blog series, but I should probably wait a bit more before rewatching it? So I’m not. Anyway, it’s an amazing movie, so the odd thing here is that it hasn’t featured on the Sight & Sound directors’ list before. But … Continue reading OTB#53: Eraserhead
OTB#53: La notte
(May 24, 2023)That’s some logo! “Uhm hm uhm uhm” You’d think after a lifetime of watching Italian movies I’d be used to the Italian approach to sound — i.e., not recording it, but adding it in post-production. But I’m not! Every time I watch an (old) Italian movie, it comes as a fresh shock. Well, almost — … Continue reading OTB#53: La notte
OTB#53: Fanny & Alexander
(May 23, 2023)OK, strap in! It’s Bergman time! I watched this movie five years ago, and it’s not new on the 2022 list — it was #16 then, and now it’s fallen down to #53. But Criterion has released a nice blu ray collection… which includes the TV series version! So I’m taking this opportunity to watch … Continue reading OTB#53: Fanny & Alexander
OTB#53: Cléo de 5 a 7
(May 21, 2023)What? This is in colour? But but *phew* I thought I was watching the wrong movie… I saw this one a few years back, but I’m rewatching it now because Criterion published a fabulous Agnès Varda bluray box set — apparently with all her movies? I’m looking forward to watching them all after I’m done … Continue reading OTB#53: Cléo de 5 a 7
OTB#53: The Piano
(May 21, 2023)I remember I was quite excited to watch this film when it was new. Campion had done two pretty good things before this — Sweetie and An Angel at My Table (which led me to Janet Frame’s novels and poetry, which I liked a lot). And then I watched this film and I was all… … Continue reading OTB#53: The Piano
Mr. Thomas Woodruff’s Francis Rothbart!: Not Really a Review
(May 21, 2023)I was idly browsing twitter when I saw the news that Thomas Woodruff’s comic book had been nominated for four (!) Eisner awards, and my first thought was “man, the public relations dept at Fantagraphics have really done their jobs here” — presumably by sending copies of the book to all the Eisner judges, but … Continue reading Mr. Thomas Woodruff’s Francis Rothbart!: Not Really a Review
Rock Show
(May 16, 2023)Rock Show
(May 15, 2023)OTB#62: Tropical Malady
(May 15, 2023)Hey, that’s the wrong aspect ratio… That’s better… but not perfect. The film is 1.85:1, so it’s been cut down to 16:9. So this version is missing some small bits from the left and right edges? This is one of the few new movies on the Top 100 list that’s only available on DVD. And … Continue reading OTB#62: Tropical Malady
Metal Show
(May 14, 2023)*gasp* After twisting my ankle and staying on the couch for a month, I now made it to a live show! Liturgy! It was great. And I managed to stand for about 45 minutes before I had to sit down, which was way longer than I thought I was gonna last. Fortunately there was a … Continue reading Metal Show
OTB#62: Sátántangó
(May 14, 2023)I think I saw some Tarr movies back in the 90s, but if so, I don’t remember any specifics. But I have seen two of his movies recentlyish — The Man From London, which was OK, and Werchmeister Harmonies, which seemed to me like a parody of Eastern European art movies. So I’m not really … Continue reading OTB#62: Sátántangó
OTB#62: Meshes of the Afternoon
(May 12, 2023)There are very few shorts on the Top 100 — this time around, even Un chien andalou is out (it was barely hanging on in 2012). I haven’t gone through the 2022 list, but the only other shorts I see while doing a quick skim is La Jetée (by Chris Marker)… Man with a Movie … Continue reading OTB#62: Meshes of the Afternoon
OTB#62: Late Spring
(May 11, 2023)Hey, that’s those two from all the other Ozu movies! I recently learned that one of the reasons for the distinctive look of Ozu’s movies is the camera rig above — with it, he films the actors actually sitting on the floor (as is natural) without any trickery, as building up the set or something. … Continue reading OTB#62: Late Spring
OTB#62: La Ciénaga
(May 11, 2023)Oh yeah — I’ve seen one of Martel’s later movies, La mujer sin cabeza. Which is great. I wonder whether Martel is a Herzog fan — this movie has a high (animal) body count. For the first scene, they apparently pushed a cow down into a swamp, let some dogs nip at it, and let … Continue reading OTB#62: La Ciénaga
OTB#72: News From Home
(May 11, 2023)I wasn’t going to do this movie, because I watched it a couple years ago, and apparently no bluray version has been released. (The one I saw was on DVD.) But I was idly googling, and it turns out that it’s available on der torrentzes in a 2K version! So that’s what I’m watching, arr. … Continue reading OTB#72: News From Home
Comics Daze
(May 9, 2023)Wut! Another day of reading comics just a couple of days after the last one? Indeed. And for music today: Kate Bush Only. Kate Bush: Remastered (1): The Kick Inside 13:32: Irmina by Barbara Yelin (Selfmadehero) The artwork here is nice, and the storytelling has a good flow. But god, this is tedious. It’s about … Continue reading Comics Daze
OTB#72: Brighter Summer Day
(May 8, 2023)Yum…? Anyway, I wasn’t really impressed with Yang’s other movie on this list, Yi Yi. But this one is four hours long, so it has to be awesome, right? They seem to have many different age groups in the same class…? Or is it just odd casting and they’re all supposed to be the same … Continue reading OTB#72: Brighter Summer Day
OTB#72: Where Is The Friend’s House?
(May 7, 2023)This is the final (of three) new Iranian films on the Top 100. And, I mean, Iran is a cultural powerhouse in the area, so that’s probably fair and all, but it’s also kinda amusing that people have (apparently) been trying to diversify from US/Europe/Japan, and all going “hey, Iran exists!” This is not a … Continue reading OTB#72: Where Is The Friend’s House?
OTB#72: Touki Bouki
(May 7, 2023)I watched this fab movie some years ago. Touki Bouki. Djibril Diop Mambéty. 1973. ⚄ This blog post is part of the Officially The Best 2022 series.
Comics Daze
(May 7, 2023)It’s another lovely day, but I’m still not altogether mobile (although my ankle is definitely improving), so what about another day on the couch, reading comics? Sure. But before I begin readin’, I want to natter on a bit about some comics I read the other day: Yes! After almost 50 years (well, perhaps 45), … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX Stuff
(May 5, 2023)OK, perhaps I should remove my ebay alert for “Gary Panter”, because I’m starting to have a sufficient volume of Panter ephemera… James Dean, dude. “Back Again”. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
OTB#72: The Seventh Seal
(May 5, 2023)I’ve blogged about this movie before, and it’s not a new entry on the 2022 directors’ list, so I shouldn’t be re-watching it now, really. But I’ve gotten a newly restored 2K version here, so eh why not. Bergman has four films on the 2022 top 100, which ties him with Coppola and Bresson for … Continue reading OTB#72: The Seventh Seal
The Entire Kitchen Sink Redux
(May 4, 2023)It’s done! Man, that took a lot longer than I had planned, but after a year and a half, I’m done with the Kitchen Sink blog (wherein I attempt to read all comics published by Kitchen Sink Press and then natter on a bit about them). And it’s not like it’s the first time I’ve … Continue reading The Entire Kitchen Sink Redux
OTB#72: The Red Shoes
(May 2, 2023)I watched this movie some years ago. The Red Shoes . Michael Powell. 1948. ⚃ This blog post is part of the Officially The Best 2022 series.
OTB#72: The Spirit of the Beehive
(May 2, 2023)Huh. Is that how they spell 1940 in Spain? So, this is a movie about watching movies? It’s a very, very popular genre among directors (Cinema Paradiso etc etc). No, that was a fake-out… doesn’t seem to be about that at all… I was going to say that this seemed like an outlier among the … Continue reading OTB#72: The Spirit of the Beehive
OTB#72: The Ascent
(May 2, 2023)I watched this movie last year. The Ascent. Larisa Shepitko. 1977. ⚃ This blog post is part of the Officially The Best 2022 series.
OTB#72: Ikiru
(May 2, 2023)Hey! It’s a Kurosawa movie without samurais? Hm! I’m wondering whether I’ve seen anything like this before… Yeah, like No Regrets For Our Youth. Which wasn’t particularly good. I read a tweet the other day that panned some well-liked movie and there was a reply from somebody that said something like “it takes a lot … Continue reading OTB#72: Ikiru
April Music
(May 1, 2023)Music I’ve bought in April. Geez. Has it been a month already? I guess time flies when you’ve got a sprained ankle. And I guess that I’ve been totally slacking in the “buying new music” dept for pretty much the same reason, somehow… I did get at least one great album — The Blue Hour … Continue reading April Music
OTB#72: The Conversation
(May 1, 2023)Huh… that looks odd. Has this movie been cropped? Nope; that’s 1.85:1. Oh, I’ve seen this before! But it must have been a long long time ago. Perhaps on a VHS in the early 80s? Heh, did Coppola start featuring Frederic Forrest this early? He cast him as leading man in the first couple of … Continue reading OTB#72: The Conversation
OTB#72: Wild Strawberries
(April 30, 2023)This Bergman movie wasn’t on the previous directors’ Top 100, but it was on the critics’ list. And it was a pretty glaring omission, so it’s nice that it’s on the 2022 list. I’ve blogged about this movie before, but I got a 2K version, so I’m gonna rewatch it. I haven’t seen this movie … Continue reading OTB#72: Wild Strawberries
OTB#72: A Separation
(April 30, 2023)Hey! An Iranian movie that isn’t by Kiarostami? IS THAT EVEN LEGAL This is the tensest movie ever! So, this is a movie about a divorce, and those movies have certain patterns that they follow. This movie says “fuck that” and does something completely different. Every single scene has been a surprise (and a… er… … Continue reading OTB#72: A Separation
Comics Daze
(April 29, 2023)It’s another lovely day, and I’m still stuck here on the couch with my twisted ankle, so let’s do some comics reading. (But I may have to take a nap in the middle because I had The Worst Night of Sleep Ever, for no reason at all.) Today’s musical accompaniment will be… random new-ish stuff. … Continue reading Comics Daze
OTB#93: Wanda
(April 28, 2023)Heh heh. Funded by Gucci? Well, the Éric Rohmer box set I have was financed by Agnés B… actually, it’s not that surprising that fashion houses fund film restoration, is it? Art’s arty. I have not seen anything by Barbara Loden before, and I don’t know anything about her, but the start of this movie … Continue reading OTB#93: Wanda
OTB#93: Parasite
(April 27, 2023)I watched this movie a couple of years ago. It’s pretty good, but I think a major factor of it being on the list is because it’s from 2019. Huh, the Mad Max: Furry Road director voted for this? Hm, I guess I can see that… Here’s his list: That is a very, very quirky … Continue reading OTB#93: Parasite
OTB#93: Moonlight
(April 27, 2023)I’ve seen this movie before, but I apparently didn’t blog about it then, so now I have to watch it again. *sob* Let that be a lesson to you all! Err err err OK, I don’t actually remember anything about this movie, except I remember I thought that it sucked — I remember feeling that … Continue reading OTB#93: Moonlight
OTB#93: The Colour of Pomegranates
(April 26, 2023)I watched this and blogged about it a couple years ago. The Colour of Pomegranates. Sergei Parajanov. 1969. ⚄ This blog post is part of the Officially The Best 2022 series.
OTB#93: Taste of Cherry
(April 26, 2023)This is an extremely pre-Grindr movie, I guess. This is both deeply creepy and incredibly tense. This is an utterly original movie, and beautifully made — with (I’m guessing) very limited resources. Perhaps that explains the extremely non-Hollywood slant of the directors that voted for this: But I’m not sure that it’s an altogether successful … Continue reading OTB#93: Taste of Cherry
OTB#93: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
(April 26, 2023)I watched this movie some years ago. I’m a bit surprised at how many “recent” films there are on the list. That is, in 2012, there was a whole bunch of movies from the 70s, which I assumed reflected the age of the directors. So I was expecting this list to have a whole bunch … Continue reading OTB#93: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
OTB#93: Yi Yi
(April 26, 2023)I haven’t seen any movies by Andrew Yang before… The Sight & Sound poll has been criticised before for only including American, European, Japanese and Hong Kong movies before, so here they take a wild step into the unknown: Taiwan! It looks like we’re solidly in the mainstream of the “best of” genre, though: It’s … Continue reading OTB#93: Yi Yi
Officially the Best Reloaded
(April 26, 2023)A couple years back, I watched all the top 100 movies on the 2012 Sight & Sound Directors’ Poll, and that was a lot of fun. Last year, a decade had passed and Sight & Sound did a new poll. And as usual in these polls, there was a whole lot of new movies in … Continue reading Officially the Best Reloaded
PX Stuff
(April 23, 2023)This is a lighter produced by Zippo during the 90s, with a drawing of Jimbo by Gary Panter. Doesn’t look like it’s ever been used, even though it also looks kinda beat up? “Futility… grace of design”. Indeed. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
Tidy Yr A Records
(April 20, 2023)The main point of blogging is so that I can google stuff on my blog instead of having to remember things. Remembering things suck! So this is a normal search for me: But… what are those results!? “Download File… Pdf Free Copy”? HAS I BEEN HAXORED!?! No, not really. I just had a DNS A … Continue reading Tidy Yr A Records
Comics Daze
(April 20, 2023)What? Another Comics Daze already? I dazed just a couple days ago, but my foot is still sprained, so I’m still on the couch, so I might as well get some reading done… The other day, my mentis wasn’t all compos, so I just read mainstream comics. Which means that today, it’s gonna be heavy … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(April 18, 2023)Home sweet couch! On the way back from the Big Ears festival, I stopped for a few days in New York and was going to visit comics shops and get my shopping on and stuff. But instead I got a gastro thing, and ended up staying in the hotel room for a week… and also … Continue reading Comics Daze
March Music
(April 14, 2023)Music I’ve bought in March. This post is way late (I know, I know) because I went to the Big Ears music festival in Knoxville, Tennessee. (And then got sick on the way home, but that’s a different story. Viruses!!!) Big Ears was great — Knoxville is just about the perfect size for a hipster … Continue reading March Music
Room With A View
(April 4, 2023)Yet Even More Music Festival
(April 3, 2023)Even More Music Festival
(April 2, 2023)More Music Festival
(April 1, 2023)Music Festival
(March 31, 2023)Different Mood
(March 30, 2023)Mood
(March 30, 2023)A Balcony With A View
(March 29, 2023)No Sci-Fi
(March 28, 2023)Rock Show
(March 23, 2023)Jazz Show
(March 20, 2023)Linux and Scanners and Stuff
(March 12, 2023)Some years back, I had to scan a bunch of stuff for various projects. One of them was the Lanterne series thing — it’s totally frivolous, which is what makes it fun. But now I’ve managed to buy a whole bunch more books, so it was time to scan some more covers. (That’s the result … Continue reading Linux and Scanners and Stuff
Comics Daze
(March 5, 2023)OK, gotta read gotta read gotta read some comics. And for music, let’s got with… albums from 1975. Sure. David Bowie: Young Americans 16:45: Flake by Matthew Dooley (Jonathan Cape) Hm… the name seems familiar, but I can’t quite place it… Well, my immediate reaction to the artwork isn’t very positive — it looks like … Continue reading Comics Daze
February Music
(March 1, 2023)Music I’ve bought in February. Haven’t really been buying much this month — it’s mostly just random bits and pieces. Hm… oh, it’s almost all old albums, isn’t it? Or albums from people who’ve been around for quite a while. One pleasant surprise was the new Orbital album — it sounds very early 90s, but … Continue reading February Music
“Martin”
(February 22, 2023)The biggest mystery in musical history is why there were so many songs called “Martin” released over a few short years. I’ve got albums with at least four: Tom Robinson Band (77). Tom Robinson (81). So this is a kind of followup to the first one, I guess. Soft Cell (83). But this is a … Continue reading “Martin”
Comics Daze
(February 19, 2023)It’s a pretty nice day today, but I gotta get some comics reading done. I was planning on cutting back a bit on my comics buying, but that plan hasn’t quite worked out. It’s like I’m still mentally stuck in an age where there was a dearth of comics worth reading, so whenever I see … Continue reading Comics Daze
Rock Show
(February 16, 2023)I Need More Screwdrivers
(February 15, 2023)But what is this? It’s mighty mysterious. And this is an… electromagnetic radiation tester? Is that something I need? (I’m tidying up the Cupboard of Tools and Mysteries.)
Watching Movies
(February 8, 2023)There seems to be an uptick in the number of articles about just how hard it is to watch movies these days? The story usually starts with the writer lethargically scrolling through the offerings on Netflix or HBO Max, either finding nothing that they want to see (in the Netflix case) or finding stuff that … Continue reading Watching Movies
Mastodon Is Going Great
(February 6, 2023)So — the notifications account for this blog was on mstdn.party and the movie account was on mstdn.plus, of course, for maximum fun. So I’ve moved those to other servers (that no doubt will also have problems soon). I guess the only way to cut down on this type of fun is to run your … Continue reading Mastodon Is Going Great
Comics Daze
(February 6, 2023)You won’t guess what happened — I got more comics in the mail, so I better start reading unless I’m going to suffer a comics avalanche in the window there soon… And, again, my sleeping is all messed up (after too much paryting on Friday), so I want to listen to only old music. So… … Continue reading Comics Daze
Twitter Account Probably Going Away
(February 2, 2023)As noted everywhere on the interwebs today, Twitter is going to shut down all free access to their APIs. And since WordPress uses the API to automatically post links to articles on this blog, I guess this means that this will stop working. The lowest paid API access level is $150 per month. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So … Continue reading Twitter Account Probably Going Away
Jazz Show
(February 1, 2023)January Music
(February 1, 2023)Music I’ve bought in January. So what did I get this month… Oh! I checked out Laura Jean’s discogs page, and it turned out she’d released a new album last year! You’d think there’d be some way this information would, like, filter its way to me, like, by magic, but the tech apparently isn’t there … Continue reading January Music
Jazz Show
(February 1, 2023)PX Stuff
(January 31, 2023)PX Stuff by Gary Panter (280x320mm) This is a cloth patch, and I found it randomly on ebay. I have no idea what the provenance is — I think it has to be a brand new bootleg thing? Because the cotton hasn’t yellowed at all. But it looks pretty good, right? So now I just … Continue reading PX Stuff
Comics Daze
(January 29, 2023)I’m really looking forward to today’s stack of comics, because when The Comics Journal published their “best of 2022”, I went on a shopping spree to buy stuff that I’d missed. And a batch of those arrived the other day, and I’ve been raring to go. But first, the Desert Island Mystery Box also arrived, … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(January 23, 2023)It’s -10C outside, so I think today’s an excellent day to be a couch potato and read some comics. And for music… stuff from 1978? Why? Why not? Mars: 3E 15:25: Agent 327 (1966-1968) by Martin Lodewijk (E-Voke) I’ve been reading this collection lethargically over the last couple of weeks. Agent 327 is a Dutch … Continue reading Comics Daze
A Panel From A Comic Book Presented Without Comment
(January 20, 2023)The Entire Kitchen Sink Reloaded
(January 15, 2023)I started a complete (re-)reading of all Kitchen Sink comics in late 2021, and kept at it until August 2022, when I took a little break that turned into a half year break. I’d gotten up until 1991 in the Kitchen chronology, and there wasn’t anything really in the comics themselves that made me give … Continue reading The Entire Kitchen Sink Reloaded
Improv Music Festival
(January 14, 2023)The Best Albums of 2002
(January 14, 2023)Let’s pick another year at random… 2002. Here’s a mixtape I made at the time: And here’s list of the best albums of that year, as decided by how much I’ve listened to them: DJ Rupture Gold Teeth Thief The Notwist Neon Golden Pet Shop Boys Disco 3 DJ Rupture Minesweeper Suite Arto Lindsay Invoke … Continue reading The Best Albums of 2002
Home Improvements
(January 12, 2023)Welcome to my new Home Improvements Blog. As I’m sure you remember from just four years ago, in my quest to create an Emacs-controlled alarm clock that doesn’t emit any light, I set up a Dasung Paperlike HD screen to use as an alarm clock in my bedroom: I then realised that er there’s no … Continue reading Home Improvements
Comics Daze
(January 7, 2023)Oops! I’ve totally messed up my sleeping again. But I’ve got comics to get me through the night… Various: A Message To The People: A Tribute To CONSOLIDATED! 02:49: Stripburger #48 I recently remembered that Stripburger still exists, so I got a bunch of issues. Here’s the oldest in the batch — from 2008. This … Continue reading Comics Daze
Readin’
(January 6, 2023)Time to clear out the little book-case of stuff I read in 2022… I read 89 books in 2022, according to Emacs… Not that many, but I was really busy until October, and then suddenly I wasn’t busy at all, for some reason or other. Anything interesting about the selection, in hindsight? Probably not, but … Continue reading Readin’
Comics Daze
(January 3, 2023)I got a whole bunch of comics from various places before the weekend, and I’m raring to get some comics reading done, even if I’m kinda sorta theoretically busy this week. Let’s see how this day goes — I might have to cut it short and actually, like, do stuff. Let’s hope not! Doing stuff … Continue reading Comics Daze
The Best Albums of 1994
(January 2, 2023)Feeling a bit nostalgic, so I thought it might be vaguely diverting to look at some old albums, and look at specific years. I remember much of the 90s being kinda boring, music-wise, so let’s look at, say, 1994. Here’s a mixtape I made at the time: I don’t have data that says what music … Continue reading The Best Albums of 1994
PX82: Sexy Politzei
(January 1, 2023)Sexy Politzei by Bruno Richard and others (215x305mm) I thought this blog series was over now for sure, but then I happened onto this book while spelunking the interwebs, and I thought it looked pretty interesting, so I finally scored a copy. The book is, according to all sources, by Bruno Richard, but I can’t … Continue reading PX82: Sexy Politzei
December Music
(January 1, 2023)Music I’ve bought in December.
The Best Comics of 2022
(December 20, 2022)I’ve read stacks and stacks of comics this year — probably more than any year before. I guesstimate… about 1K books? It’s been one of those years. When I read a comic that grabs me, it migrates to a special little shelf in the living room where I can stare at it some more, and … Continue reading The Best Comics of 2022
Comics Daze
(December 20, 2022)The last Daze of the year, I think. But I may have to take a nap in the middle. Girls: Reunion 12:47: Detention no. 2 by Tim Hensley (Fantagraphics) Will Hensley ever release a #1 of anything? As someone who’s suffered through American lit., I never understood the fetishisation of Stephen Crane — it seemed … Continue reading Comics Daze
Darn tootin’
(December 18, 2022)Watching Twitter melt down is fun. I never liked Twitter, because it encourages the absolute worst behaviour in people. So having a petulant billionaire buy the whole thing to own the libs, I mean, to ensure free speech (and then throw all journalists criticising him off Twitter) while his fans explain his 4D chess is … Continue reading Darn tootin’
The Best Albums of 2022
(December 15, 2022)Geez. It’s December again, so it’s time to officially determine what was the best albums of the year, I guess. (I do this by having Emacs list what albums I’ve played most during the year, so this is a scientifically sound and accurate method.) But… it’s been one of those years — a number of … Continue reading The Best Albums of 2022
Criterion Eclipse Redux
(December 12, 2022)Left to my own devices, I’d just be watching science fiction movies and Bringing Up Baby. I find picking out films to watch (from my wall of unseen movies) being a somewhat annoying task — “which one of these stone cold quality films am I going to watch tonight?” — because there’s no particular urgency … Continue reading Criterion Eclipse Redux
Eclipse 1956: 赤線地帯
(December 12, 2022)This is it! The final movie in this Criterion Eclipse blog series. Once again, this Mizoguchi film veers towards kitsch, and I’m not sure why anybody would hail these films as, well, anything to er hail. Is it just because of the exoticism? That seems crass, so I’m sure not, but it’s hard to see … Continue reading Eclipse 1956: 赤線地帯
Eclipse 1948: 夜の女たち
(December 12, 2022)This is a depressing, brutal movie, and I can’t imagine why the American censors didn’t stop it at the time. Again, as with Sisters of the Gion, Mizoguchi is making a film about how prostitution sucks. In that film, it sucked because men are assholes (but the women should have known that, is my reading). … Continue reading Eclipse 1948: 夜の女たち
Eclipse 1936: 浪華悲歌
(December 12, 2022)Oh, I forgot to write anything here… it’s mostly because this is kinda really uninspiring. It’s a very straightforward story — there’s almost nothing here. But I can see why it was a success — it’s a nice little tragedy. Osaka Elegy. Kenji Mizoguchi. 1936. This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.
Eclipse 1936: 祇園の姉妹
(December 12, 2022)The final Criterion Eclipse box set! The end is nigh! So only four more posts to go in this blog series. This is kinda fun — virtually all other Japanese films I’ve seen in this blog series has cinematography that’s so composed, one way or another. With Ozu everything is tidy and symmetrical, and Naruse … Continue reading Eclipse 1936: 祇園の姉妹
Eclipse 1934: 限りなき舗道
(December 9, 2022)The Japanese kept on making silent movies for way longer than was reasonable… but this is the final one on the Criterion Eclipse box sets. I mean, in a way it’s nice — some male Japanese actors have a tendency to grunt a lot and talk way below their natural ranges, which is annoying to … Continue reading Eclipse 1934: 限りなき舗道
Eclipse 1933: 君と別れて
(December 6, 2022)This film is marred with many technical problems (much like the first Naruse film, but not the subsequent ones). Like that first film, most of the cuts is followed by a judder, which makes things rather unpleasant to watch. A new issue seems to be that they’ve apparently fired the focus puller — a number … Continue reading Eclipse 1933: 君と別れて
Eclipse 1974: Cartesius
(December 5, 2022)I really enjoyed Rossellini’s Blaise Pascal, and I really disliked his Medici, and this one was made between those two — so what’s it going to be like? So this one is about Descartes… and it seems more like the Blaise Pascal film. In this scene, they’ve put Descartes before the horse. Very odd makeup … Continue reading Eclipse 1974: Cartesius
Eclipse 1933: 夜ごとの夢
(December 5, 2022)Why haven’t those devices (for holding chilled water bags on foreheads) taken off all over the world? Anyway, I’m having a hard time getting into this movie. There’s scens that are really fun (especially involving those sailors), but the main plot (about an out-of-work father and a geisha mother) just isn’t all that interesting. The … Continue reading Eclipse 1933: 夜ごとの夢
Eclipse 1972: Blaise Pascal
(December 4, 2022)So this is another one of these made-for-TV historical things Rossellini was doing? The first one, L’età di Cosimo de Medici, was horrible. This looks a lot less something you’d punish school children with as homework for a history class and more like an actual movie. The acting style is an odd hybrid — it’s … Continue reading Eclipse 1972: Blaise Pascal
Eclipse 1932: 腰弁頑張れ
(December 4, 2022)As with several early Japanese films on the Eclipse box sets, this is more than a bit unrestored. Some scenes are extremely noisy. Practical to have the baby in a backpack. This is most amusing. Flunky, Work Hard!. Mikio Naruse. 1932. This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.
Eclipse 1931: 生さぬ仲
(December 4, 2022)OK, two box sets to go… this is the first film on the Silent Naruse set. And it is, indeed, silent. (Well, except for the soundtrack.) The cinematography and editing on this is insane for a movie from 1931. Each shot lasts, like, two seconds, and most are much shorter. And whenever there’s something longer, … Continue reading Eclipse 1931: 生さぬ仲
Comics Daze
(December 4, 2022)Brr. It’s cold outside, and it’s a Sunday, so it seems like a good day for reading comics. This time around, it looks mostly like bigger books (a few, if any, small press items). And since it’s December, only music from 2022. Boris: W 07:31: Walk Me to the Corner by Anneli Furmark (Drawn & … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1944: La ciel est à vous
(December 3, 2022)So political! This is pretty odd structurally, in that it doesn’t really seem to have any structure. Instead it moves from scene to scene in a way that feels true to life (and it was apparently based on a real-life woman pilot). It’s interesting… and it’s amusing… but it’s not really gripping? It’s a movie … Continue reading Eclipse 1944: La ciel est à vous
Eclipse 1945: 續姿三四郎
(December 3, 2022)Oooh! An evil… American? He’s so evil! OK, now he’s getting his comeuppance! Judo power to the rescue! Wow. Wow. I didn’t know that it was possible for a Kurosawa movie to get a rating this low on imdb! Anyway, this was made in the last days of WWII, and is set in the late … Continue reading Eclipse 1945: 續姿三四郎
Eclipse 1941: 簪
(December 3, 2022)This blog series is winding down soon — I think I’m on schedule to watch the final movie early next week. And then I can finally watch something else! (Yes, I know, I know.) Again with the blind masseurs — was this filmed back-to-back with the previous movie, The Masseurs and a Woman? I think … Continue reading Eclipse 1941: 簪
Eclipse 1938: 按摩と女
(December 2, 2022)The first movie on the Shimizu was unrestored and barely watchable. The second looked very nice indeed, and was kinda brilliant. This one looks rather dodgy? Perhaps there’s a correlation between whether somebody’s found it worth their time to restore a film and how memorable it is, because it doesn’t really look promising either way. … Continue reading Eclipse 1938: 按摩と女
Eclipse 1961: 小早川家の秋
(December 2, 2022)OK, I’m getting confused now. Ozu uses the same actors in film after film (which isn’t unusual), but he also sets the films in very similar sets — often reusing the same offices and homes when shooting, apparently. So I’m finding myself going “oh, she’s the daughter of… oh, was that this film or the … Continue reading Eclipse 1961: 小早川家の秋
Eclipse 1972: L’età di Cosimo de Medici
(December 2, 2022)To celebrate Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles winning the 2022 #1 spot for Longest Film Title Ever, I’m finally watching this thing, which is four and a half hours long. Unless I ditch it, of course. Ah: The Age of the Medici, originally released in Italy as L’età di Cosimo de Medici … Continue reading Eclipse 1972: L’età di Cosimo de Medici
The 2022 Sight & Sound Directors’ Poll
(December 2, 2022)A couple years ago, I watched all the movies on the Sight & Sound Directors’ Poll. Now there’s a new one out (they do this once a decade), so I thought it might be interesting to see what’s changed. Most people write about the Critics’ Poll, because critics are the ones writing about films, naturally. … Continue reading The 2022 Sight & Sound Directors’ Poll
November Music
(December 1, 2022)Music I’ve bought in November.
Comics Nitez
(December 1, 2022)Oops! I had a cold, and as is often the case when I’m Suffering So Much From A Light Sneeze, my sleeping patterns got all fucked up. So I thought I had it fixed now — but then I woke up midnight and couldn’t go back to sleep again. Grr. But I might as well … Continue reading Comics Nitez
Art Comics Finder
(November 29, 2022)Some years back, I wondered if anybody would step up and maintain, like, a site that lists comics shops worth visiting (when on vacation) and web sites worth visiting when shopping for interesting comics. That never happened. So now I’m just gonna start keeping this blog post updated with links and stuff. The first links … Continue reading Art Comics Finder
Eclipse 1943: Lumière d’été
(November 29, 2022)This is a very odd movie. I guess it’s a romance? It’s set in a hotel right next to a mine, so we’ve got a desolate hotel with almost no guests, booms in the night, and a cast of hotel employees out of Comedy Central Casting. It’s great! Ooh! Mysterious stranger! Tournesols! Exactly! This is … Continue reading Eclipse 1943: Lumière d’été
Eclipse 1936: 有りがたうさん
(November 29, 2022)Heh, this is called Arigatō-san because there’s a bus driver that says arigatō so everybody he passes? Anyway, I had a hard time watching the previous Shimizu film in this box set just because of technical issues with film stability (OK, it made me nauseous), but this looks fine… I’m enjoying this a lot already … Continue reading Eclipse 1936: 有りがたうさん
Eclipse 1945: 虎の尾を踏む男達
(November 29, 2022)This starts off with half an hour of plot recaps… but I guess that means that this is gonna be a samurai movie instead of another of the disastrous wartime propaganda movies of Kurusawa. I think this may be a comedy? Ah, right. This is an er 12th century tale about samurais and stuff, but … Continue reading Eclipse 1945: 虎の尾を踏む男達
Eclipse 1960: 秋日和
(November 28, 2022)This starts off like many of these late Ozu films — with a bunch of guys around a table talking about nothing much in particular… So what’s it going to be about this time? Is it the same group of men as in the previous movie? I mean, Ozu uses the same troupe of actors … Continue reading Eclipse 1960: 秋日和
Eclipse 1941: Remorques
(November 28, 2022)Huh. This Grémillon box set is also set during the occupation. I’ve somehow saved a whole bunch of box sets filmed during WWII in Japan and France for the end of this blog series (we’ve got about 10% to go until it’s done). I didn’t do this consciously, so I guess it’s just a coinkidink. … Continue reading Eclipse 1941: Remorques
Eclipse 1933: 港の日本娘
(November 28, 2022)Oh, this is a silent movie… Uhm… there’s an audio track here with very vigorous pianner music… but perhaps I should listen to something else to avoid going insane. But what! OK, I’m putting on …and the Ambulance Died In His Arms by Coil. The Eclipse sets usually aren’t restored films — they’re supposed to … Continue reading Eclipse 1933: 港の日本娘
Eclipse 1944: 一番美しく
(November 27, 2022)That’s just not true! I’m very productive and my character is the worst. Kurosawa’s previous wartime movie avoided dealing with the war at all by being all samurai and stuff. But this looks like it’s going to be a straightforward wartime effort propaganda movie? She almost organised a strike, because they increased the men’s workload … Continue reading Eclipse 1944: 一番美しく
Eclipse 1968: Nevinost bez zaštite
(November 27, 2022)So this is a mockumentary? So this is a parody of older Yugoslavian movies? It’s kinda gruesome as parodies go, since it seems like it has actual documentary footage from WWII? I mean, it’s amusing, but it’s not “ha ha” funny…? I guess that’s “satire” for you. OK, this film is just an excuse to … Continue reading Eclipse 1968: Nevinost bez zaštite
Eclipse 1958: 彼岸花
(November 27, 2022)It’s weird seeing oldee-tymey looking Japanese people in colour, finally. I mean, contemporary from the 1950s… I’m digging this movie — it’s kinda languid and relaxed… And funny. I mean, so far. I’m guessing there’s gonna be some drama later, but I’m confident it won’t be too stressful. Somehow the framing and sets here remind … Continue reading Eclipse 1958: 彼岸花
Comics Daze
(November 27, 2022)I’ve had a cold (well, still kinda coughy, really (no, not the rona)), and I’ve managed to screw up my sleeping patterns totally. So I got up at 16, which is… er… less than optimal. On the other hand, this means that I can spend all of the evening and the night and the morning … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1943: 姿三四郎
(November 26, 2022)This is the first DVD on the Early Kurosawa box set. Here’s my most controversial opinion ever: Kurosawa’s just not that good, eh? So I’m actually kinda excited about seeing these movies, because he’s certainly got something going on, and perhaps it wasn’t all covered in schmaltz when he was young? Let’s find out. This … Continue reading Eclipse 1943: 姿三四郎
Eclipse 1967: Ljubavni slučaj ili tragedija službenice P.T.T.
(November 26, 2022)This is much better than Makavejev’s previous movie, which was rather overwrought — it seemed like he wanted to have everything in there. This is much more relaxed; perhaps he realised that he could make more than one movie before the state came down on him or something. Was Makavejev religious? I think I detect … Continue reading Eclipse 1967: Ljubavni slučaj ili tragedija službenice P.T.T.
Eclipse 1957: 東京暮色
(November 25, 2022)Ozu is mixing it up! This character is placed mid-shot as usual, but he’s not staring into the camera! He’s looking slightly to the left of the camera!!1! OZU IS INNOVATING! Oh, right, hi, welcome back to the Late Ozu Box Set Live Blogging Experience. I think Ozu has the most movies in the Criterion … Continue reading Eclipse 1957: 東京暮色
Eclipse 1965: Čovek nije ptica
(November 24, 2022)Wow, this is a snappy film. After watching so many slow French and Japanese movies, it’s overwhelming. Makavejev’s name seems extremely familiar — I feel like I should know who he is, but I don’t, really. Very chaotic. This movie looks great. The shakycam is a bit hard on my stomach, though. It’s an uneven … Continue reading Eclipse 1965: Čovek nije ptica
Eclipse 1946: Sylvie et le Fantôme
(November 23, 2022)This is most drôle. Ghosts and romance. Hang on… Is that a young Jacques Tati? It’s even got a ghost dog! This started off really well, with lots of zip and pep. It’s still amusing, but it’s gotten a bit bogged down? We’ve been introduced to three fake ghosts and one real, and several other … Continue reading Eclipse 1946: Sylvie et le Fantôme
Eclipse 1956: 早春
(November 23, 2022)Ozu’s Tokyo Story is officially the best movie ever (you don’t get more official than the director’s poll at Sight and Sound). Well, at least it was in 2012 — in a week we’ll find out what the new winner is. This is the first film on the Late Ozu box set, but it’s not … Continue reading Eclipse 1956: 早春
Eclipse 1943: Douce
(November 23, 2022)This is really good — razor sharp characters, fantastic set design, and a promising storyline. Uhm uhm… this isn’t going as well as I’d hoped. I mean, it’s a nice movie and all, and I like the languorous pacing, but it’s just not that interesting? There’s the most hilarious review of this on imdb: If … Continue reading Eclipse 1943: Douce
Eclipse 1946: 大曾根家の朝
(November 22, 2022)OK, so we’re now in 1946, and Keisuke Kinoshita is working under American censors now instead of the Japanese ones from two years earlier. It turns out that the Japanese were the villains all along! His previous movie, Army, was brilliant, so I went into this with high hopes (which, of course, one shouldn’t do). … Continue reading Eclipse 1946: 大曾根家の朝
Eclipse 1944: 陸軍
(November 22, 2022)Yes, this is another Japanese wartime movie. The previous two films in this box set have been pretty dire, but perhaps this will be more interesting, now that the war isn’t going as well as in 1942… Yes indeed. Oh, but we start off in Olden Times… Is this gonna be about how the Japanese … Continue reading Eclipse 1944: 陸軍
Eclipse 1942: Lettres d’amour
(November 22, 2022)*cough* *cough* I’ve got a cold, but perhaps watching some more movies from the Eclipse Criterion collection is the answer… I started this box set (made in Occupied France) a while ago, but then er got busy with other things, and I don’t remember the first movie at all. This looks quite amusing — it’s … Continue reading Eclipse 1942: Lettres d’amour
Rock Show
(November 21, 2022)Music Festival
(November 20, 2022)October Music
(November 1, 2022)Music I’ve bought in October.
Comics Daze
(October 28, 2022)It’s a grey day, so I think comics are required. And this time around, I think I’ve mostly got Norwegian and Swedish comics? Lady Lykez: Woza 08:32: Jammerdalen by Flu Hartberg (No Comprendo Press) Hm… I think I’ve read some of his books before, but I think it was mostly absurd humour stuff? This starts … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(October 21, 2022)I wasn’t planning on dazing with comics any time soon, but then I got a bunch of new books in the mail the other day, and I need a break from taking a break, so why not. Everybody to the reading couch! Dry Cleaning: Stumpwork 12:32: Love and Rockets #12 by Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez … Continue reading Comics Daze
Improv Show
(October 19, 2022)Eclipse 1942: La mariage de Chiffon
(October 15, 2022)I was watching a box set of WWII movies from Japan, but I couldn’t finish two of the movies, because they were just too brutally… er… bad. So I’m switching it up completely! And starting on the box set of movies from… er… Occupied France in 1942. Totally different! Autant-Lara was hot shit during WWII … Continue reading Eclipse 1942: La mariage de Chiffon
Eclipse 1944: 歓呼の町
(October 15, 2022)I thought this box of war-time movies would be more… er… distinct? But it’s like the main requirement of the censors is that the movies should be as boring as inhumanely possible. I mean, some of this may not be from gummint requirements, but just from crushing filming conditions — many of these scenes just … Continue reading Eclipse 1944: 歓呼の町
Music Festival
(October 11, 2022)Eclipse 1943: 生きてゐる孫六
(October 6, 2022)This looks extremely unrestored, even as these movies go. It’s got these weird artefact-looking shadows that almost look VHS-like, but surely that can’t be the case here. Nah. Kinoshita’s previous movie was really enjoyable, even if it devolved into a very patriotic movie towards the end. This looks shoddily made (even if it has more … Continue reading Eclipse 1943: 生きてゐる孫六
Comics Daze
(October 5, 2022)It’s a rainy day, so I think I’ll take the day off and read some comics. Mochipet: Gabber Face 14:06: Queen of the Black Black by Megan Kelso (Fantagraphics) I’ve read these comics a few times before, but this is a new edition? Uhm… Oh, I thought it was an expanded edition, because I didn’t … Continue reading Comics Daze
September Music
(October 1, 2022)Music I’ve bought in September. Welcome to the Old Man Yells At Clouds edition of this blog series: I quite like the 77 album by Talking Heads. It’s not my favourite album or anything, but I grew up with it (one of my older sisters had a copy), and I still play it frequently. Over … Continue reading September Music
Eclipse 1943: 花咲く港
(September 29, 2022)I’ve seen plenty of post-WWII Japanese movies — but this is from 1943, in the middle of the war. It possible I’ve seen no Japanese war-time films before? Well, this Criterion Eclipse box set should fix that, because it’s got approx. five of them. This is slightly vague about when it’s set — but it … Continue reading Eclipse 1943: 花咲く港
Eclipse 1991: আগন্তুক
(September 29, 2022)This looks exactly like Ray’s previous movie, and that one was… pretty bad. After two pretty bad movies from Ray, this is actually pretty good. It’s something that could have been done as a stage play — most of it happens in a couple of rooms — but feels so natural this way, because it’s … Continue reading Eclipse 1991: আগন্তুক
Comics Daze
(September 29, 2022)DHL was supposed to deliver a new laptop today, but then apparently changed their minds or something? So I’m drowning my sorrows in comics instead. And since I’m really melancholic, I’m going to play only albums from the early 80s that I had as a teenager. So there. David Byrne: The Catherine Wheel 13:48: Plaza … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1989: গণশত্রু
(September 26, 2022)Oh, this is a version of the Ibsen play. Which I haven’t seen in a long while. I’m guessing Ray didn’t have huge resources to do films at this point? So Ray is following the plot of the play pretty closely… or at least what I remember of it. OK, I don’t think they were … Continue reading Eclipse 1989: গণশত্রু
Comics Daze
(September 25, 2022)I’ve been going a bit over board with my comics shopping the past few months. I mean, nothing is better than comics, but it’s getting in the way of, like, doing stuff, so I should cut back a bit. It’s basically all the fault of Domino Books — not just because I’ve been buying lots … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(September 21, 2022)I need a break from computering, so a Daze day it is. Let’s go. The Waitresses: Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? 14:20: Quaderni ucraini: Le radici del conflitto by Igort (Pax) This book is from 2010, but has gotten a Norwegian edition now. Igort has interviewed a few older people from Ukraine, and illustrates their stories. The … Continue reading Comics Daze
20×10%
(September 20, 2022)Hi! It feels like I did one of these posts just the other day, but it was a month ago? Time sure does fly… Since there’s a round number in the title of this blog post, perhaps I should natter on a bit more than usual? Sure! If you insist! So: This is part of … Continue reading 20×10%
Comics Daze
(September 15, 2022)I’ve been continuing to order comics from diverse sources, and this week a got a nice little package from Domino Books (once again; he gets a lot of new stuff in), and from Breakdown Press, who I’ve never ordered directly from before… but unpacking, I was most struck by the books from Glacier Bay Books. … Continue reading Comics Daze
Poetry
(September 13, 2022)Eclipse 1984: ঘরে-বাইরে
(September 11, 2022)So this has a pretty high imdb rating… but only 1.7K votes… And the majority of those votes are from India. I mean, from outside the US. So this is basically a movie that’s nobody’s watched in a while, and the only people who’ve watched it are in India. I mean, outside the US. But … Continue reading Eclipse 1984: ঘরে-বাইরে
Eclipse 1952: Androcles and the Lion
(September 10, 2022)Now that’s some matte painting. Wow: Harpo Marx was originally signed to play Androcles, and after the first five weeks of shooting, Pascal was thrilled with the results; but Howard Hughes, who had seen Young on TV, hired him for the lead, and Harpo was replaced. How utterly weird. Not wow: When it opened in … Continue reading Eclipse 1952: Androcles and the Lion
Let’s Play… Scam Or Not?
(September 9, 2022)Spammers and scammers are flooding the mail system with fake messages that are, for instance, “from DHL”. Just by sending out an enormous amount of messages, they will inevitably hit somebody who’s actually waiting for a DHL package and possibly get the scam rolling. Some people leap to the conclusion that there must be a … Continue reading Let’s Play… Scam Or Not?
Eclipse 1945: Caesar and Cleopatra
(September 8, 2022)Wow. Selznick got second billing. This is quite odd. I mean, it looks like a filmed stage show and a hugely expensive movie spectacle at the same time. It’s a weird thing to watch. I guess it’s all MDF and matte painting? And Vivian Leigh is playing Cleopatra as a 12 year old girl (or … Continue reading Eclipse 1945: Caesar and Cleopatra
Comics Daze
(September 8, 2022)Late start today, dude. But I need a daze, so here goes. The Beatles: Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (2) 15:24: The Deluxe Gimenez by Juan Gimenez (Humanoids) This is a very heavy book 2.5kg, printed on shiny paper, so I have to keep angling it *just so* to be able to read it. … Continue reading Comics Daze
Let’s Party Like It’s 1999
(September 6, 2022)1999 open Emacs bugs, that is: Made it past that magical 2K roadblock, so according to my education in financial analytics, there are no technical barriers until we reach 500.
A Panel from a Super-Hero Comic Book Presented Without Comment
(September 5, 2022)Eclipse 1941: Major Barbara
(September 3, 2022)This is an unusual Eclipse box set — it’s three movies based on George Bernard Shaw’s plays. I think this is the only box set that’s focused on a writer? Oh, Shaw and director Pascal collaborated of four films. This first one, Pygmalion, is the one people’s seen (but not as much as My Fair … Continue reading Eclipse 1941: Major Barbara
Eclipse 1966: O slavnosti a hostech
(September 3, 2022)I forgot to watch this when I watched all the other films in the Pearls of the Czech New Wave box set, but Emacs reminded me. This is very stylish. And I’m guessing very symbolic and stuff? Is that handsy guy supposed to symbolise the Russians? I can smell symbolism going on. Or are the … Continue reading Eclipse 1966: O slavnosti a hostech
Eclipse 1992: My Crasy Life
(September 2, 2022)This is kinda brilliant? And so weird. It’s about Samoan gangs in LA. OH MY GOD! This is where Cabaret Voltaire sampled that whole long speech from! *gasp* Heh, the video is just bits from this film! Man it’s so weird when you’ve listened to an album half your life and then finally stumble on … Continue reading Eclipse 1992: My Crasy Life
Eclipse 1955: 生きものの記録
(September 2, 2022)Everybody lives in fear of the dentist, surely. After a series of Kurosawa duds, this starts off in a pretty interesting way, at least. I mean, it’s not original or anything, but it’s got some interesting flourishes. Good old-man acting! Anyway, this is really good — it’s about fambly (FAMBLY!) and fear of the H-Bomb … Continue reading Eclipse 1955: 生きものの記録
Eclipse 1986: Routine Pleasures
(September 1, 2022)This is the kind of documentary that could be a lot of fun — it’s a filmmaker drilling down into a group of people being really passionate about something. But… Gorin just doesn’t seem that interested, really? And I can see why; it’s really hard to see how you could find anything interesting here. It’s … Continue reading Eclipse 1986: Routine Pleasures
Eclipse 1951: 白痴
(September 1, 2022)Oh, this is the Fyodor novel… And it’s three hours long aaaaa Err… that’s a lot of exposition… … and it just goes on and on. And now there’s a voiceover offering more exposition! Aha! It was originally intended to be a two-part film with a running time of 265 minutes. After a single, poorly … Continue reading Eclipse 1951: 白痴
August Music
(August 31, 2022)Music I’ve bought in August. So what’s been happening in my music shopping this time? Uhm… Oh, yeah, the Bill Callahan/Bonnie “Prince” Billy lock-down collaborations album is really pretty. It’s 19 tracks done with various people over the Internets, and it’s a lot of fun. Brigitte Fontaine’s album with Art Ensemble of Chicago’s very nice. … Continue reading August Music
Comics Daze
(August 28, 2022)I don’t know quite how it happens, but I suddenly have a whole bunch of new comics to read. Darn? Comics from all the usual suppliers, but I’ve also discovered a new place to shop: 50 Watt Books. Look at that selection of comics. Just look at it! The also have a lot of cool … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1950: 醜聞 スキャンダル
(August 26, 2022)Philistine time: I remember Kurosawa being hot shit back in the 80s, what with spectacles like Ran being shown in theatres all over the world, and nominated for all the Oscars and everything. Yes, sure, he’d been hot shit before that, too, but that was when I became aware of him. And… as a teenager, … Continue reading Eclipse 1950: 醜聞 スキャンダル
Eclipse 1979: Poto and Cabengo
(August 26, 2022)This is fascinating. I have no idea whether this is a real documentary or not — it’s bizarre — but it’s a fascinating movie in any case. It’s a heartbreaking movie. Poto and Cabengo. Jean-Pierre Gorin. 1979. This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.
Eclipse 1947: 素晴らしき日曜日
(August 26, 2022)But it isn’t: the best non-Italian neorealist film I’ve come across This has nothing in common with neorealist filmmaking except being about poor people. Instead it’s a riff on Capra — and it’s a pretty good one? OK, it gets less Capra-ish after a while. There’s strong scenes in here, but the movie as a … Continue reading Eclipse 1947: 素晴らしき日曜日
I Bought Shoes
(August 25, 2022)WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC CUSTOMER SERVICES But I do not know what to do this information. And er OK.
Eclipse 1946: わが青春に悔なし
(August 20, 2022)Hm. This is from 1946? I guess I’m surprised that this is so… that this is didactically explaining that the previous Japanese gummint were cads and scoundrels and that the Japanese invasion in Manchuria was a crime. I mean, was that something that would be a hug box office draw in Japan, a year after … Continue reading Eclipse 1946: わが青春に悔なし
Eclipse 1936: Rembrandt
(August 20, 2022)Is that true today, I wonder? (Substitute billionaire.) Well, that’s an original way to start one of these movies — with Rembrandt well established, rich and surrounded by fans. Most amiable. Laughton is wonderful in this. His mannerisms are so precise and fit with the character he’s playing perfectly. And also fits the movie — … Continue reading Eclipse 1936: Rembrandt
19×10%
(August 19, 2022)I haven’t really been doing my bug patrol thing this cycle, so I’m kinda surprised that I’m doing a blog post now. But the numbers speak for themselves: target achieved. So this has been virtually exclusively daily new bug reports and patches merged. Oh, hi — for new readers, this is where I natter on … Continue reading 19×10%
Eclipse 1934: The Rise of Catherine the Great
(August 19, 2022)Oops — I’m watching the movies on this Alexander Korda box set out of sequence, because this movie, the direct follow-up to The Private Life of Henry VIII, wasn’t directed by Korda himself. (He only produced it.) But both this and The Private Life of Don Juan were released in 1934, so I’m not that … Continue reading Eclipse 1934: The Rise of Catherine the Great
Eclipse 1934: The Private Life of Don Juan
(August 18, 2022)Oh… Henri Bataille, not Georges Bataille. So I guess that after the success of the Henry VIII movie, Korda wanted to keep the money rolling in by doing another movie also called “The Private Life of…”, but this time with another sexual rapscallion. (Because that’s how he portrayed Henry, and not as a homicidal lunatic.) … Continue reading Eclipse 1934: The Private Life of Don Juan
Eclipse 1933: The Private Life of Henry VIII
(August 18, 2022)Oh, this is by Alexander Korda… I watched a bunch of films earlier in this blog series by Zoltan Korda, who I’m assuming is Alexander’s brother? But this is an oldee English costumey drama. OK, they’re not going for historical verisimilitude what with the comically large grind stone and all. Oh, I’m always confused when … Continue reading Eclipse 1933: The Private Life of Henry VIII
Comics Daze
(August 18, 2022)The mailman’s been busy — I’ve got packages from Denmark, from Deadcrow, from Domino and from Mile High Comics. A whole bunch of different things, and I need a break, anyway. So let’s get reading. And for today’s musical accompaniment, I think I’ll go full David Bowie. It’s that time of year. David Bowie: Space … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1962: からみ合い
(August 16, 2022)This is cheery. And really good. Could this be a Kobayashi movie that doesn’t suck? *crosses fingers* I’m watching this and my brain is like “this is kinda good innit?” and then yet another ridiculous scene happens. Kobayashi is trying so hard to make a movie with an intriguingly complex plot, and mostly succeeds? Like … Continue reading Eclipse 1962: からみ合い
Eclipse 1986: … and the pursuit of happiness
(August 15, 2022)This is the final movie on the Louis Malle box set (which is, I think, the second-largest Eclipse box set after the first one, which was all of Bergman’s early movies). Malle’s earlier documentaries have been pretty hit or miss, but they all felt very organic? This one doesn’t. The previous ones have been, like, … Continue reading Eclipse 1986: … and the pursuit of happiness
Eclipse 1957: 黒い河
(August 15, 2022)Hey, it’s been a couple of weeks since I watched a movie from Criterion’s Eclipse series, and it’s mostly been because I haven’t really been impressed with either of the two box sets I’m watching: The Louis Malle one had one fantastic movie, and then the rest have been, to use a technical term, “ehh”. … Continue reading Eclipse 1957: 黒い河
Music Festival
(August 13, 2022)Mood
(August 6, 2022)Comics Daze European Edition
(August 5, 2022)This week, I’ve been shopping from some European publishers: Bries (Belgium), Avery Hill (UK) and Hollow Press (Italy). I’ve mentioned this before, but one of the most thrilling developments in European art comics has been that a lot of publishers are publishing in English, which increases the potential audience from dozens to several dozens of … Continue reading Comics Daze European Edition
Eclipse 1985: God’s Country
(August 3, 2022)So in the 70s, PBS wanted Malle to do a documentary, and he semi-randomly landed at Glencoe, Minnesota. But there was no budget to edit it, so it languished until 1985. Nine churches, 5K people. Perhaps not the ideal stache for a town with 80% German-ancestry population. It’s a slightly odd documentary — I mean, … Continue reading Eclipse 1985: God’s Country
Eclipse 1956: あなた買います
(August 3, 2022)I really disliked the first Kobayashi movie on this Criterion Eclipse box set, but at least it was earnest. This… is a movie about baseball and baseball scouts? OK, it’s a critical movie about baseball scouts… This is brutally tedious. The cinematography is OK — the shots generally look nice — but it’s just so … Continue reading Eclipse 1956: あなた買います
July Music
(August 1, 2022)Music I’ve bought in July.
Eclipse 1956: 壁あつき部屋
(July 30, 2022)Huh. This is about Japanese war criminals in prisons run by Americans? So we’re supposed to be sympathetic to the Japanese, I think? Because the American guards are portrayed as being kinda uncouth. Not much couth on display. And whenever an “American” talks we get some side titles. Most of them don’t sound like they … Continue reading Eclipse 1956: 壁あつき部屋
Mood
(July 30, 2022)Eclipse 1969: L’inde fantome
(July 29, 2022)This is supposed to be the last really hot day for the summer here (or something), so I thought I’d mix up a batch of batida de mango and then watch six hours about India, as one does. This is a documentary TV series Malle and his crewed filmed over some months in India and … Continue reading Eclipse 1969: L’inde fantome
Comics Daze
(July 27, 2022)Somehow I’ve managed to buy a whole lot more comics the last few weeks, so I guess it’s time to take time out and spend a day reading. It’s a hard knock life. See, it’s such an… awful day… that I just can’t go outside. Oh, whatever. Stephen Mallinder: tick tick tick 12:15: The Kurdles … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1942: Jungle Book
(July 25, 2022)Nice Technicolor. This is a fascinating mix of shots that look almost real and shots that look so unreal you think they’re aiming for a kind of hyper-reality. Was is all shot in a back lot in Putney? So evil! Sabu! This is very entertaining and beautifully shot (with no regards for naturalism). But I … Continue reading Eclipse 1942: Jungle Book
Eclipse 1969: Calcutta
(July 25, 2022)It’s been so long since I watched an Eclipse movie! This is another film from the Malle box set — a documentary about Calcutta? So these are just random things you might see if you’re in Calcutta and have a movie camera? Malle used a purely observant camera in Humain, Trop Humain to great success, … Continue reading Eclipse 1969: Calcutta
Jazz Festival
(July 23, 2022)Holiday
(July 17, 2022)My New Ornithology Blog
(July 14, 2022)For weeks, there’s been a pair of seagulls attacking people walking on the sidewalk below here, and also making a swoop or two at me whenever I get out on my balcony: They’re pretty reliable — whenever I go on the balcony, that one will make two (I’m sure very threatening swoops) at me, and … Continue reading My New Ornithology Blog
Banding Horror
(July 13, 2022)Jazz Festival
(July 13, 2022)Comics Daze
(July 6, 2022)I hadn’t planned at all on spending another day in a comics daze now, but I got, like, 20 kilos of comics in the mail this week. I’d forgotten that I’d put in orders with Glacier Bay, Uncivilized, and some Canadian art comics shop. What a shame! Now I have to read comics again. Moor … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX83: Hoo-Be-Boo
(July 5, 2022)Hoo-Be-Boo edited by Will Amato (168×260 cmmm) I finally managed to score a copy of this 1983 anthology, so let’s have a look at it. The book doesn’t say who the editor or publishers are, and a quick googling doesn’t reveal anything, either. But the address is in Torrance, California. Hm… This ebay page claims … Continue reading PX83: Hoo-Be-Boo
18×10%
(July 2, 2022)Well, that was fast — less than a month. But of course, each one of these er sprints are shorter than the previous one. This time we started at 2140 open bugs, and we’re now down to 2022 open bugs, which is a reduction of… Oh, that’s too much math for me. So the next … Continue reading 18×10%
June Music
(July 1, 2022)Music I’ve bought in June. I got most of these just a couple of days ago, so nothing’s really gelled as being fantastic in my mind. The Moby album of remixes of his Reprise orchestral rewords (which was really bad) is good. But that’s because the remixers disregarded that album and went back to the … Continue reading June Music
Eclipse 1938: The Drum
(July 1, 2022)OK, I’m on a new laptop… let’s hope this blogging/screenshot thing works from this thing, too. Oh, yeah — this is that box set about that actor. The Colonial superiors. Those beards look really real! Oooo! Are they carrying on up that pass? Man, the enlisted men look younger every year. This looks oddly like … Continue reading Eclipse 1938: The Drum
Comics Daze
(June 27, 2022)Man, it’s a wet day today. But… I can read comics! Yeah! Joni Mitchell: Night Ride Home 12:58: The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers: The Idiots Abroad by Gilbert Shelton & Paul Mavrides (Fantagraphics) Hm… the reproduction here is kinda odd? The linework looks kinda washed out (reproduced from a printed book, perhaps?) and the colouring … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(June 22, 2022)So busy busy, but finally I have a day to spend reading comics. (Except I may have to take a nap in the middle.) And… since it’s a sleepy kind of day, I think I’ll go with music from the late 70s only. Let’s get readin’. Neil Young: Time Fades Away with Where the Buffalo … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1937: Elephant Boy
(June 21, 2022)Oh, this box set — “Sabu!” — is a collection of movies featuring this guy (later seen in Black Narcissus etc). And this is his first movie. Man, that’s a big elephant. Oh my god! These filmmakers are insane!!!! (No babies were squished during the making of this movie, I hope, but…) See? Very large … Continue reading Eclipse 1937: Elephant Boy
Eclipse 1933: 非常線の女n
(June 20, 2022)Oooh! Is that the Evil Corporate Guy? He always looks like this. That’s a nice sweater. As with all the other Ozu movies, this looks really good. And the plot is a more engaging than his other two crime dramas in this box set. I think? OK, I’ve lost track of what the plot is. … Continue reading Eclipse 1933: 非常線の女n
Eclipse 1974: Place de la République
(June 20, 2022)This is very 70s. I mean, in a good way. It’s apparently a totally random documentary thing where they spent a couple of weeks in one specific place in Paris and interviewed people walking by. I love all these people, but Malle and his team seem to go after the more… “interesting”… people. I don’t … Continue reading Eclipse 1974: Place de la République
Jazz Festival
(June 19, 2022)Two festivals in a day! Monk’s Casino (Alexander Von Schlippenbach, Axel Dörner, Rudi Mahall, Jan Roder, Michael Griener) played until a quarter to one. At night! So jazz!
Rock Festival
(June 18, 2022)Eclipse 1974: Humain, trop humain
(June 17, 2022)This is utterly fascinating. It’s a documentary from a car factory? There’s no commentary track or sound be, so we have to just sit here and look at people assembling cars. Oh, they’re assembling the wiring harness for the car? Ooo. Of course, this wouldn’t be that fascinating if it hadn’t been for the amazing … Continue reading Eclipse 1974: Humain, trop humain
Eclipse 1974: Vive le Tour!
(June 16, 2022)Oh, this is a documentary about that bicycle thing? Louis Malle, Louis Malle… It’s such a familiar name, but I can’t quite remember… he’s done a bunch of movies I’ve seen, right? Aaah! My Dinner with Andre. Of course. But I think that’s basically the only movie of his I’ve seen? Oh, and Au revoir … Continue reading Eclipse 1974: Vive le Tour!
Eclipse 1930: その夜の妻
(June 16, 2022)OK, I’m slightly drunk, but I have no idea what this movie is about. It started off with a robbery, but now I’m lost. The bag-of-presumably-cold-water-or-ice-hanging-on-a-string treatment for fever never really took off outside of Japan, did it? It does sound nice, though. I like bits of this, but… it’s really not that interesting? It … Continue reading Eclipse 1930: その夜の妻
Music Festival
(June 16, 2022)Amazing! So much fun. But then it started raining so I went home afterwards.
Eclipse 1930: 朗かに歩め
(June 15, 2022)This is one of seven movies Ozu made in 1930. It seemed like 35% of all Japanese men looked exactly like this — that stache, those glasses, that hairdo, that collar, that tie — before WWII (according to movies), and then 0% afterwards? It’s a very distinctive look, signifying upper class functionary, I guess? I.e., … Continue reading Eclipse 1930: 朗かに歩め
Eclipse 1955: L’angelo bianco
(June 14, 2022)Oh, right — this is the sequel to Matarazzo previous movie, so first we get reacquainted with the characters. Aww. This is so over the top. This is a pretty weird movie. I mean, it doesn’t even make a stab at having an existence as a separate entity: It’s basically “and then what happened to … Continue reading Eclipse 1955: L’angelo bianco
Comics Daze
(June 12, 2022)Somehow I’ve bought even more comics… funny how that happens. So I guess I just have to spend all day reading comics if I want to be able to look out the window any time soon. And… I think I’ll go with 90s music once again. I somehow seldom listen to music from that decade? … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1951: I figli di nessuno
(June 11, 2022)Hey, that’s the wrong aspect ratio for the screenshots… There, that’s better. So weird — with the gpu-next renderer in mpv, the image looks fine on the screen, but the screenshot is in the wrong aspect ratio… Aww. I can see why this was a box office smash at the time — it’s so shamelessly … Continue reading Eclipse 1951: I figli di nessuno
Comics Daze
(June 8, 2022)Oops! I got a ton of comics! What a surprise. Just because I ordered a bunch — now I have to read them!? OK, let’s get started. With 90s music. Electrelane: No Shouts No Calls 14:49: Aurora Borealice by Joan Steacy (Conundrum Press) Yeah, I ordered a ton of books from Conundrum… Hm… this looks … Continue reading Comics Daze
17×10%
(June 8, 2022)Whaa… it was less than a month ago I did one of these last time? Down to 2141 from 2260. Er… what to talk about this time… Uhm… (Oh, for new readers, this is a blog post series where I look at Emacs development through the lens of doing bug triage and fixing and closing … Continue reading 17×10%
Jazz Show
(June 7, 2022)Eclipse 1967: 拳銃は俺のパスポート
(June 4, 2022)Right, the chipmunk guy is back. As usual with these Nikkatsu movies, it’s quite stylish and well made, with sometimes inventive cinematography and slightly off-kilter plots. But again, it’s just not a very gripping movie, and it’s hard to keep your mind from wandering. I mean, it’s hard for me to keep your… er… It’s … Continue reading Eclipse 1967: 拳銃は俺のパスポート
Comics Daze
(June 3, 2022)Oh, deer. I’ve gotten another batch of comics, so I have to read for days. Such a harsh life. Sophie: Nothing More To Say 06:16: The Secret Voice by Zack Soto (Floating World Comics) Oops. I seem to have bought both the single issues from Study Group Comics as well as the collection from Floating … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1964: 拳銃残酷物語
(June 1, 2022)It’s been weeks since the last time I had a change to watch a movie (I think)? Where was I… oh, yeah, in the middle of the Nikkatsu Noir box set. This one doesn’t start off in a promising manner — it kinda looks like a pastiche of American movies of the late 40s? But … Continue reading Eclipse 1964: 拳銃残酷物語
May Music
(June 1, 2022)Music I’ve bought in May. After a slow April, May was full on shopping, apparently? Among the more notable things this month is this old Dry Cleaning EP. Dry Cleaning is just amazeballs; I have to catch them live this summer. I was also oddly taken by this MOR classic from the 70s. But be … Continue reading May Music
Comix Daze
(May 27, 2022)I really shouldn’t be taking a day off to read comics — I’ve got errands to run and stuff — but I’ve gotten so much stuff over the last week that I just have to. It’s a hard life. Various: PC Music Volume 3 13:56: Cixtite Impératrice by Anne Simon (Fantagraphics) Oh, this is the … Continue reading Comix Daze
PX2019: Wildest Dream
(May 26, 2022)Wildest Dream by Gary Panter (110x160mm) I don’t know how I missed this little book when I was actually doing the PX series — but the indicia claims that it was published in 2019. So this is a sketchbook… … and it’s really nice. I’m not sure how the pages were selected — they’re from … Continue reading PX2019: Wildest Dream
PX Stuff
(May 25, 2022)Screamers: Demo Hollywood 1977 (with a cover by Gary Panter). This illustration for Screamers was probably Panter’s most famous single image for a decade there in the 80s? Screamers used it for a series of posters at the time… and they’d be insane not to. That’s the best poster ever. I want one on my … Continue reading PX Stuff
PX Stuff
(May 24, 2022)Pray For Smurph by Gary Panter (2008). This is a CD released by Overheat (who also published some Panter stuff in the 80s, I think? Or do I misremember?). I kinda thought that this would include a little comic book, but it doesn’t. There’s a couple of illustrations, though. This blog post is part of … Continue reading PX Stuff
Eclipse 1950: Tormento
(May 23, 2022)Well, the Matarazzo flick I saw the other day was kinda insanely entertaining. So I’m getting my hopes up way too high for this one, which has virtually no viewers. So this is one of those really lost movies in the Criterion Eclipse series. Oh, she’s back from the previous movie. Cool. And that guy … Continue reading Eclipse 1950: Tormento
Eclipse 1960: ‘十三号待避線’より その護送車を狙え
(May 23, 2022)This is very stylish. This is all well and good, but the movie doesn’t quite feel fully baked. It’s like they had a couple of ideas, and a crew that kicks ass, and then they went out filming. That is, every scene looks great, but it’s hard to keep being interested? This movie looks so … Continue reading Eclipse 1960: ‘十三号待避線’より その護送車を狙え
Improv Festival
(May 21, 2022)Eclipse 1949: Catene
(May 20, 2022)This is very cute. It’s like an anti-neorealism movie? But not quite? It’s a melodrama, and it’s fun. The first half of this movie was amazeballs great. But then… it really drags? It picks up again at the end, with a totally over-the-top court scene. Fantastic. Chains. Raffaello Matarazzo. 1949. This blog post is part … Continue reading Eclipse 1949: Catene
Eclipse 1958: 錆びたナイフ
(May 20, 2022)Wow, this is super noir. The opening sequence was brutal. This was one of the biggest box office hits in Japan that year… and I just don’t get it. I mean, it looks good and the actors are engaging, but it’s just so choppy. The plot (what there is of it) is rather unengaging… It’s … Continue reading Eclipse 1958: 錆びたナイフ
Comics Daze
(May 19, 2022)Geez. I awokeneth in the middle of the night. So perhaps this is a good day to do nothing but read comics all day? Perhaps with a nap in the middle? Possibly? Let’s find out. And today’s music will be… er… Oh yeah. Music from Crammed Discs (and associated stuff like Crepuscule). 80s. Calmness. Aksak … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1957: 俺は待ってるぜ
(May 17, 2022)Oo, this is by Koreyoshi Kurahara — and I already saw his Eclipse box set (and it was (intermittently) fantastic). This is a different box set (Nikkatsu Noir), and an earlier movie, but I’m excited. This is perfect — you’ve got the mysterious woman, and the helpful restaurant owner guy — it’s the Platonic Ideal … Continue reading Eclipse 1957: 俺は待ってるぜ
Eclipse 1977: Восхождение
(May 16, 2022)The Shepitko movie I saw the other day was really something odd and interesting. So I’m excited to watch this one, but… it’s a war movie? OK, even more topical. This starts off great… a bunch of soldiers/guerrillas in the forest, fleeing the Germans? Or something? I heard the word “partisans” being used. Aha: The … Continue reading Eclipse 1977: Восхождение
Eclipse 1951: The Steel Helmet
(May 16, 2022)This is very Sam Fuller. I just read the liner notes on this DVD — this was Fuller’s final movie for B-movie producer Robert Lippert. It was a ten day shoot, and was such a hit that Fuller was snatched up by Fox and the big times. Yeah, it’s a band of misfits. This movie … Continue reading Eclipse 1951: The Steel Helmet
Eclipse 1966: Крылья
(May 15, 2022)Love those chairs. Anyway, this is a Soviet movie made by an Ukrainian director. Unexpectedly current affairs relevant! For once, I read the liner notes on the DVD before starting to watch it, and… perhaps I shouldn’t. Because they seemed to say that this was gonna be on par with a Tarkovski movie, and… So … Continue reading Eclipse 1966: Крылья
Eclipse 1950: The Baron of Arizona
(May 14, 2022)But not well! Vincent Price! I would never have guessed that this was a Sam Fuller movie. It’s so… staid? At least so far. We’ve got a cumbersome framing device where one of these guys is telling the story, and he also provides a voiceover. Neither seems necessary? Such subtle. So passion. I’m finding this … Continue reading Eclipse 1950: The Baron of Arizona
All The Answers
(May 13, 2022)The questions you may be asking yourself are: 1) Who are they? 2) Why are they here? This video has all the answers: And it may be the best music video ever.
Eclipse 1933: 出来ごころ
(May 12, 2022)This is the final movie on the silent family comedy Ozu box set. And since it’s silent, I’m playing disco bangers while watching it. “You know why your hand has five fingers? If it only had four, your glove would have one extra.” There’s jokes here. Anyway, this is a very amiable movie… it’s not … Continue reading Eclipse 1933: 出来ごころ
Eclipse 1949: I Shot Jesse James
(May 12, 2022)This is a box set of three early Sam Fuller movies, and as such is an outlier in the Eclipse series — the films are mostly Japanese and French things where Janus Films had distribution rights. And it’s odd that Criterion wouldn’t just release these movies as part of their regular series. I mean, Fuller’s … Continue reading Eclipse 1949: I Shot Jesse James
50%
(May 12, 2022)A special quick edition of my “%” Emacs development blog series: We now have some magic numbers!!!1! Today, we dipped below 2219, which is a magical number, because: The most open bugs we had was 4437, and (/ 4437.0 2) => 2218.5. 50% down from the top! Let the celebrations start! Carnivals in the streets! … Continue reading 50%
Eclipse 1932: 大人の見る絵本
(May 11, 2022)The previous Ozu movie was fantastic, and once again, the Eclipse DVD comes without any soundtrack. So I’m listening to reggae bangers. Various: Harmony, Melody & Style (1) This is really good… I have no idea where this is headed. Is it just gonna be about these kids? This movie has the best featured review … Continue reading Eclipse 1932: 大人の見る絵本
Jazz Show
(May 10, 2022)It was teh amaze.
16×10%
(May 9, 2022)Whaa… it’s been less than a month since the last of these posts (wherein I give a report from my gamified Emacs bug tracker spelunking). I’ve been using various ways to select bug reports to handle since I started on this back in… 2019? Yes. I started, of course, with reports about things that I … Continue reading 16×10%
Eclipse 1931: 東京の合唱
(May 8, 2022)This is very, very unrestored. And silent. I mean, totally — there’s not even any music. So I listened to banging house music while watching this. Ozu had made several dozens of movies before this (churning out half a dozen per year in the 20s), but this is apparently considered his first really good one. … Continue reading Eclipse 1931: 東京の合唱
Eclipse 1968: Wild 90
(May 8, 2022)Heh heh. Anyway, so this movie is three drunk, high guys pretending to be Italian mobsters and improvising, with D A Pennebaker filming. I like Pennebaker’s camera work. It’s really cool. The three guys are kinda on the tedious side. They don’t say anything interesting — it’s like they have an idea that their prattle … Continue reading Eclipse 1968: Wild 90
Eclipse 1938: Quadrille
(May 8, 2022)Chirp chirp. OK, I’ve totally been slacking off on this blog series, and it’s mainly because I’ve been completely busy with other stuff. But it’s also because the Eclipse movies aren’t quite what I imagined they would be. Criterion touts these movies as lost gems, and the Eclipse box sets I’d seen before this (the … Continue reading Eclipse 1938: Quadrille
Faster Music
(May 8, 2022)Since 1997, I’ve been using Emacs as my music playing interface. The albums I have are arranged in a simple …/artist/album/track structure with no database beyond that. The metadata is just stashed in files called “stats” inside each album directory. This works fine — I don’t have to worry about a database getting out of … Continue reading Faster Music
Eclipse 1937: Désiré
(May 7, 2022)I love this — the chatter between the maid and the cook; totally cynical in every respects. It’s like the total antithesis of every Upstairs/Downstairs British thing ever. I really want to love this movie — it’s very mischievous — but it’s just not firing on all cylinders? These scenes feel like they’re aiming for … Continue reading Eclipse 1937: Désiré
My New Horticulture Blog
(May 7, 2022)I’m repotting some plants, and finally got to this Zamioculcas thing… Do you think I should have repotted the plant, like five years ago? Or, alternatively, I could kill it with fire, depending how much you zoom in.
Comics Daze
(May 4, 2022)I think this is one of those days where I should just read comics all day. Let’s get going. A. G. Cook: 7G (1): Drums 10:20: Invasion of the Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel (Alyson Books) I’ve been reading all the Dykes To Watch Out For books over the last (I think) … Continue reading Comics Daze
April Music
(May 1, 2022)Music I’ve bought in April. It’s been a slow month, I guess? Yup; just the usual stuff.
Eclipse 1968: Beyond the Law
(April 22, 2022)Rip Torn’s a good name. Hm… are the screenshots in vaguely wrong aspect ratio? They seem to be… slightly wider than they should be? But they’re 1.33:1… hm… imdb says 1.37:1, which… doesn’t explain anything. That’s harsh. The DVD has subtitles, though, so it doesn’t really matter that the sound is kinda crappy. But I’m … Continue reading Eclipse 1968: Beyond the Law
Eclipse 1970: Maidstone
(April 22, 2022)Prepare to be stunned: I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by Norman Mailer? He’s suck an American cultural touch stone tat that seems unlikely, but nope. I’ve read the commentary on this one: It had a really successful run at the Whitney… and then Mailer took it to a midtown theatre, where it bombed … Continue reading Eclipse 1970: Maidstone
Rock Show
(April 21, 2022)Comics Daze
(April 20, 2022)Yes, it’s another beautiful day here, so I’m just gonna finish up reading the comics I’ve got on the sill over there… The Names: In Mutation 13:36: Aya: Love in Yop City by Marguerite Abouet & Clément Oubrerie (Drawn & Quarterly) I read the first half of this the other day, so I’ll read the … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1937: Les Perles de la couronne
(April 19, 2022)Like the previous Guitry movie, this is very odd. But while Le roman d’un tricheur was exhilarating, this is more like… eh? eh? I mean, it’s amusing, but it’s… It’s a lot. And the movie feels like it thinks that it’s a whole lot funnier than it is, so you sit there going “eh heh” … Continue reading Eclipse 1937: Les Perles de la couronne
Comics Daze
(April 19, 2022)It’s such a lovely day today… But I’ve got chocolates, so let’s read comics. Yukihiro Takahashi: Blue Moon Blue 13:58: Beta Testing The Ongoing Apocalypse by Tom Kaczynski (Fantagraphics) I assumed that this was new work from Kaczynski, but instead it’s a collection of things I’ve already read — mostly things from Mome. And some … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1936: Le roman d’un tricheur
(April 16, 2022)This is very meta and witty. Hang on… these screenshots are in the wrong aspect ratio? I just upgraded mpv, and everything was going so swimmingly, but these are definitely wrong. They’re 1.5:1, while what’s on the screen is 1.37:1. How annoying. That’s better. This is totally wild. It’s perhaps not a very technically proficient … Continue reading Eclipse 1936: Le roman d’un tricheur
More vtable fun
(April 13, 2022)I was inspired by a bug report on tabulated-list-mode to do more work on vtable. (Funny how that works.) As you probably won’t remember, vtable is a new library in Emacs 29 that aims at being a replacement for tabulated-list-mode, but with a much easier interface. For instance, the following is a toy replacement for … Continue reading More vtable fun
15×10%
(April 13, 2022)Time for another one of these posts about Emacs development, I guess? It’s been two months since the last one, and I’ve basically been slacking off, mostly dealing with new bug reports instead of going dumpster diving. I mean, bug triage. We started at 2460 open bugs in this stretch, and we’re now at 2402, … Continue reading 15×10%
Eclipse 1945: The Wicked Lady
(April 10, 2022)Whoho! Nice hats. And doilies. She’s so wicked! This is a lot of fun. It’s totally over the top and delighting in its own absurdeties. This was released just after WWII, and was the highest-grossing movie in the UK of the year, and I can totally see why. (They had to reshoot scenes like this … Continue reading Eclipse 1945: The Wicked Lady
Eclipse 1932: Les Croix de Bois
(April 8, 2022)I had really expected more French movies in the Eclipse series from Criterion. But it’s… mostly Japanese and British movies? I think we have a theme. Was this filmed as a silent movie originally? It kinda seems like it — it’s got scenes with speeded-up action and stuff. And these bits. But then it totally … Continue reading Eclipse 1932: Les Croix de Bois
Eclipse 1945: Madonna of the Seven Moons
(April 8, 2022)Mm-hm. Well, that’s not threatening at all! I’m enjoying this. It’s a quite weird movie. That is, it’s not clear what this movie is going to be about. I think…? that the movie started with the woman above being raped (by that guy with high wasted pants up there), but then we’re warped to a … Continue reading Eclipse 1945: Madonna of the Seven Moons
PX97: The Complete Maus
(April 8, 2022)The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (173x240mm) If you’ve following this blog series, you may be asking yourself — “didn’t that guy already talk about Maus? Excessively?” Yes, I have like a lot. So I don’t quite know why I bought this edition now — I think it just popped up (because of the banning … Continue reading PX97: The Complete Maus
Eclipse 1966: 愛の渇き
(April 7, 2022)This is an odd movie, even for a Koreyoshi Kurahara movie. But he’s gotten a new lens! The bits in the margins are no longer in squash-o-vision, so when he pans the camera, it’s no longer nauseating. OK, the lens is still kinda fishy, but not as extreme as in earlier years. So, OK, this … Continue reading Eclipse 1966: 愛の渇き
Eclipse 1964: 黒い太陽
(April 7, 2022)Wow. That’s the most thrilling title sequence ever. And the characters and situations seem so familiar from Koreyoshi Kurahara’s previous movies, and that… somehow makes it even more exciting? No, I can’t explain it either. It’s actors from The Warped Ones back in the same and in different roles? Or something? The movie seems even … Continue reading Eclipse 1964: 黒い太陽
PX21: Crashpad
(April 7, 2022)Crashpad by Gary Panter (168x247mm) I wrote about a different edition of this book here — that was a luxurious edition for book fetishists (I think Panter said), but it included the smaller pamphlet as an insert. Now Fantagraphics has published it as a standalone standard comic book, so I thought I’d have a look … Continue reading PX21: Crashpad
Comics Daze
(April 6, 2022)Brrr! It’s cold outside! But I’ve got chawklits and a whole bunch of comics that arrived yesterday, so I think I’ll spend the day on the couch. June Tabor: Ashore 12:36: Otherworld Barbara 1 by Moto Hagio (Fantagraphics) Wow, this is really something. We’re dumped straight into this group of people living in an apparently … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX Stuff
(April 6, 2022)Read Yourself Raw pin by Art Spiegelman/Françoise Mouly around 1980. I had this pin as a teenager, and used to wear it on my jacket from time to time, to the great puzzlement of, well, everybody. But I lost it! I found it on ebay they other day, so I just had to get one … Continue reading PX Stuff
PX77: Hup
(April 5, 2022)Hup by Gary Panter (140x216mm) This blog series was over half a year ago, but I’ve stumbled onto a couple of relevant items, so I thought I’d just write a few words about them. More bonus tracks. I was really excited to find this early Panter book. It’s a 32 page book published by Gary … Continue reading PX77: Hup
Comics Daze Domino Edition
(April 1, 2022)A month ago, I bought a buttload of comics from Domino Books, but I’ve been strangely busy with one thing or another and I just haven’t found time to do any comics reading. But finally, today’s the day, and I’ll read until I plotz, or I run out of comics from Domino to read, whichever … Continue reading Comics Daze Domino Edition
March Music
(April 1, 2022)Music I’ve bought in March. Mostly just the usual nonsense, but I saw that Ministry is going to play here in November, so I wondered what they sounded like these days: And they’ve dumped the metal thing they were going for a decade ago? And they’re now back to their 80s sound, sort of? So … Continue reading March Music
Jazz Show
(March 29, 2022)Eclipse 1962: 憎いあンちくしょう
(March 27, 2022)This is absolutely fantastic! It’s so 60s. But… way ahead of the curve. I can’t believe this was made in 1962. And funny. Again I’m wondering what lenses they were using in Japan at the time… at the edges, people look really compressed. I love this movie. I mean, the look of this movie. Sixty … Continue reading Eclipse 1962: 憎いあンちくしょう
Rock Show
(March 25, 2022)Oh my Emacs. It was so good to be back at a rock show. I think it’s my first since last autumn? But now the pandemic is totally over so cough cough It was Nadja, and they were great. I even got the t-shirt. Which is a confusing t-shirt. Yay. On the other hand, I … Continue reading Rock Show
Further* Legal Developments
(March 4, 2022)Last week, I got a letter from the post dept asking me to declare a package… that had arrived from India. I couldn’t remember ordering anything from India, so I answered “er what” and they sent me this snapshot of the package back: Such clarity. But I managed to make out “On India Government Service”, … Continue reading Further* Legal Developments
February Music
(March 1, 2022)Music I’ve bought in February. That was a short month. I seem to have carried on buying Ze records, but I also bought a handful of things featuring Sidsel Endresen, like the early-80s party band album from Chipahua. It’s fun.
Comics Daze
(February 27, 2022)I was gonna be all productive today, but then my get up and go got up and left, so how about I just read comics until I plotz instead? Besides, apparently Easter has arrived… … and I have to eat all this stuff in this egg. And… I think I’ll only play records I had … Continue reading Comics Daze
Comics Daze
(February 23, 2022)I’ve been programming so much the past few days that I’m going to rest my fingers today and just read comics until I plotz. Well, except when I’m typing away at this blog post. Oops! And… Today I’m going to listen to nothing but David Bowie records. This was a thing I started doing decades … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1960: 狂熱の季節
(February 19, 2022)That’s a title technique I haven’t seenbefore. Wow, this is really something. I don’t think I’ve seen anything this chaotic from a Japanese director… I guess it’s a supercharged reaction to the media reports about nihilistic post-Rebel Without A Cause teenagers? But with jazz instead of rock. Amazing camera movement. (And Breathless, I guess.) This … Continue reading Eclipse 1960: 狂熱の季節
Eclipse 1943: The Man in Grey
(February 19, 2022)I’m starting to wonder whether the Eclipse box set series is less about resurrecting lost film gems and more about just utilising the Janus Films library. (Janus Films and Criterion have the same owners.) Because most of these movies carry the Janus title card, and… er… more than a few of these movies haven’t really … Continue reading Eclipse 1943: The Man in Grey
Eclipse 1960: ある脅迫
(February 19, 2022)Oh, is this a Japanese noir? Only funnier? I think it is! This is pretty great. But now it’s kinda getting bogged down? It started off brilliantly. The twists and turns are good — very noir — but it’s just a bit hard to care that much? Intimidation. Koreyoshi Kurahara. 1960. This blog post is … Continue reading Eclipse 1960: ある脅迫
Eclipse 1969: Žert
(February 18, 2022)This is the final movie on this Czech new wave box set from Eclipse, and… it kinda looks really good? Which makes a change. EEK SHOES IN BED This is kinda riveting. It movies so fluidly between “the present” and either remembrance or fantasy (it’s hard to tell whether the movie is him thinking about … Continue reading Eclipse 1969: Žert
Eclipse 1968: Rozmarné léto
(February 18, 2022)I’ve been pretty underwhelmed by this Criterion box set of 60s Czech(oslovakian but not really) new wave movies. I mean, it’s not necessarily the plots or anything, but just how sloppy these movies look. Which is probably totally unfair. I mean… if you’re waiting for the Soviets to roll in and crush everything, perhaps getting … Continue reading Eclipse 1968: Rozmarné léto
14×10%
(February 13, 2022)What? Already? It seems like I was doing a posting like this just the other week… How time flies — it was three weeks ago. But this was a speedy stretch, and we actually decreased the numbers of open bugs, from 2590 to 2466, which, if my mathematics knowledge is correct, is … more than … Continue reading 14×10%
Eclipse 1967: Návrat ztraceného syna
(February 11, 2022)I wonder whether it really looked like this originally? I mean, the high contrast and everything falling abruptly into #000? It could be the result of a bad DVD transfer and a “restoration” prioritising having no noise over actually being able to see what’s on the film. I doubt that this is what it was … Continue reading Eclipse 1967: Návrat ztraceného syna
Eclipse 1969: Putney Swope
(February 11, 2022)So, I’ve been totally underwhelmed by the other Downey movies in this box set, but I think this is supposed to be Downey’s “real” movie from these years? So I’m now discarding all preconceptions… ommm… Heh heh. Heh heh. This starts pretty swell. OK, now it’s boring. It went from farce to “satire”. (Which is … Continue reading Eclipse 1969: Putney Swope
Eclipse 1975: Two Tons of Turquoise To Taos Tonight
(February 11, 2022)As with the previous Downey movies, I just don’t see the attraction. It’s relentlessly amateurish instead of being avant garde (which I think he’s aiming for?). I mean, I get that it’s supposed to be funny and shit, but… that doesn’t help? Perhaps being really stoned would help? That’s really old! Downey’s movies feel like … Continue reading Eclipse 1975: Two Tons of Turquoise To Taos Tonight
Comics Daze
(February 11, 2022)Hey, this is a nice day to be reading comics… especially since I got a bunch really random ones in the mail yesterday. Boris: NO 07:39: Post York by James Romberger (Dark Horse) I read a really striking piece by David Wojnarowicz and James Romberger in an old issue of World War 3 Illustrated, which … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1966: Sedmikrásky
(February 4, 2022)Ooh, this is good. Urquell! Well, this is all quite amusing, but… It just feels so aimless. I mean, every scene is fun and interesting, but it doesn’t really seem to amount to much of anything? It’s a bit film studentey? Daisies. Vera Chytilová. 1966. This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.
Eclipse 1968: No More Excuses
(February 4, 2022)Well, this is funny and all… but it’s a bit puerile? I do enjoy the people being interviewed. As with the previous Downey movies, it’s less an aesthetic than just not knowing how to frame a shot. Deskilling? I think this movie posits the question: Are Americans just really bad at making art movies? It … Continue reading Eclipse 1968: No More Excuses
Eclipse 1966: Chafed Elbows
(February 3, 2022)I don’t know. This feels pretty self indulgent. I mean, it’s a parody of underground movies — some references to Warhol and stuff, but the aesthetics are straight out of 50s B movies, so it feels like it’s just… missing the point? It’s pretty amusing… it’s mostly still photography with voiceovers. But a lot of … Continue reading Eclipse 1966: Chafed Elbows
Eclipse 1964: Babo 73
(February 3, 2022)Well… This is the kinda film that lands in the eerie no man’s land between no budget B movie and art movie? It doesn’t work as art and it doesn’t work as B movie. I’m guessing it was made by guys hopped up on diet pills and hooch? Satire’s just another word for don’t have … Continue reading Eclipse 1964: Babo 73
Eclipse 1965: Perličky na dně
(February 3, 2022)What’s that she’s drinking… What! She’s drinking a bottle of Maggi!? Salty, dude. So this is the first film on the Czech New Wave box set. It’s pretty amusing, and I can totally see what they’re going for, but it does feel quite amateurish. Yes, it’s a collection of shorts. I mean, it’s a portmanteau … Continue reading Eclipse 1965: Perličky na dně
Comics Daze
(February 2, 2022)Geez… I done messed up my sleeping schedule again. OK, I’ll read comics until morning? Or something. OK. Brian Auger & Julie Driscoll: Open 20:05: Soda vol 6 & 7 by Bruno Gazzotti & Philippe Tome (Zoom) This is a very 80s French(ey) series, and I’ve only read a handful of the albums. They vary … Continue reading Comics Daze
January Music
(January 31, 2022)Music I’ve bought in January. Let’s see… what have I been buying this month? Yes, I remembered that I was buying my way through the Ze catalogue, like Alan Vega: And the Contortions: It’s very downtown. And other than that, it’s the usual stuff… Oh! And I’ve been continuing to buy Nina Simone’s albums. Yes, … Continue reading January Music
Eclipse 1977: Le Couple Témoin
(January 29, 2022)Oh, so this is a pre-reality TV reality TV parody/satire. Now it’s more a… “biting satire of consumer culture” or whatever they used to call that stuff. I mean, it’s funny. And I love the colours. But it’s just not that interesting? Perhaps it was ahead of its time and fantastic back then etc, but … Continue reading Eclipse 1977: Le Couple Témoin
Eclipse 1971: Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte
(January 29, 2022)OK, final movie on the Fassbinder “early movies” box set… I have to say that I’ve been surprisingly underwhelmed by the other movies here, because I like many of Fassbinder’s later movies. Oh! I think the slow pace of the film re-creates an environment (namely the filming of the previous Fassbinder film, whitey) and achieves … Continue reading Eclipse 1971: Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte
Eclipse 1968: Mr. Freedom
(January 28, 2022)OH MY GOD is this the best movie ever made? IT COULD BE OK, this isn’t the best movie ever. But it’s quite amusing. Absolutely. The Polly Magoo movie was so fascinating. It kinda didn’t follow through on its promise… it just couldn’t quite make it work. But it’s almost a fucking masterpiece. This one, … Continue reading Eclipse 1968: Mr. Freedom
Eclipse 1970: Der amerikanische Soldat
(January 28, 2022)Wow, never seen that phone model before. It’s… odd… This has a good noir thing going on. This is quite amusing and, as usual with Fassbinder, I love each individual shot. But I don’t think this quite works? I mean, it’s a kind of parody/pastiche of a noir movie, but it’s just not that… funny/interesting? … Continue reading Eclipse 1970: Der amerikanische Soldat
Eclipse 1966: Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo?
(January 27, 2022)This is absolutely magnificent! And I thought I wasn’t totally ignorant about films from this era, but I’ve never seen a film by William Klien before. And based on the first ten minutes of this movie, he might be the best director of anything in the whole world ever! I am the flabbergast! I love … Continue reading Eclipse 1966: Qui êtes-vous, Polly Maggoo?
Eclipse 1970: Götter der Pest
(January 26, 2022)So apparently… Katzelmacher was a success? According to the Criterion DVD cover, it enabled Fassbinder to make eight (!) moies over the next twelve (!) months. *sniff* *sniff* This is one of those eight movies. This is much better than the katzenjammer film, though. Is he wearing shoes in bed? Savage! Is this where Biba … Continue reading Eclipse 1970: Götter der Pest
Eclipse 1969: Katzelmacher
(January 25, 2022)Was this shot at the same time as Liebe ist etc? Looks really similar But a different aspect ratio. Shot on 16mm? This feel like a very improvised, low-stakes thing? Hm… wikipedia has nothing on it… ah, he DVD cover tells the story: It was filmed over nine days and released four moths later. I … Continue reading Eclipse 1969: Katzelmacher
Eclipse 1969: Liebe ist kälter als der tod
(January 25, 2022)This is totally riveting. I may have seen this before? But it’s been probably three decades. And I’ve seen a bunch of Fassbinder’s later movies, of course, but this feels pretty unique. This is extremely nouvelle vague, but… later? OK, at the start here I thought this movie was absolutely amazing. But there’s a lot … Continue reading Eclipse 1969: Liebe ist kälter als der tod
Eclipse 1968: 昆虫大戦争
(January 25, 2022)Oh, this is by the same director as Goke! Wow, this Vietnam vet is having a flashback… in 1968!1! I’m not sure whether this is racist or not. Poor rat. Goke was a unique and brilliant movie, but… this isn’t Goke. I mean, on a scale of cheap monster/horror movies from the 60s, this is … Continue reading Eclipse 1968: 昆虫大戦争
Eclipse 1968: 吸血髑髏船
(January 25, 2022)After the sheer brilliant insanity of Goke, Body Snatcher From Hell, my expectations for this movie are unreasonably high. But the first scene here is brilliant, so perhaps this is going to be another masterpiece. OK, this isn’t Goke. I mean, it’s pretty good, but it’s… a pretty normal ghost story? It’s well made and … Continue reading Eclipse 1968: 吸血髑髏船
Eclipse 1968: 吸血鬼ゴケミドロ
(January 22, 2022)It’s a Shochiku film! Such bokeh. This is fantastic. Absolutely thrilling. Wow. I’m amazed and riveted. This may be the best start to a movie ever. Hajime Satô never got to direct anything after this, so I’m assuming it keeps this up! I love how they’re using the odd lenses as a feature here — … Continue reading Eclipse 1968: 吸血鬼ゴケミドロ
Eclipse 1967: 宇宙大怪獣ギララ
(January 22, 2022)Ooo! Could he be the villain? Such lens. Wow, that’s harsh. So this is where Bezoz got the design from. This is a straight up sf movie? This is not what I expected from Criterion — they usually eschew genre movies (I mean, unless they’re really … big…). Is there gonna be a twist and … Continue reading Eclipse 1967: 宇宙大怪獣ギララ
Eclipse 1938: En kvinnas ansikte
(January 21, 2022)Wow. This isn’t exactly the kind of role you’d think an actor in this phase of her career would choose. You gotta admire Bergman’s pluck going for this role. She apparently blackmailed the film company into making this film by refusing to make another comedy unless they backed this movie. It’s kinda good, too? Er… … Continue reading Eclipse 1938: En kvinnas ansikte
Eclipse 1938: Dollar
(January 21, 2022)So we (for very small values of “we”) continue watching the Ingrid Bergman in Sweden box set from Criterion. There’s six movies included in this set, and the first three weren’t… good. I mean I haven’t seen many Swedish movies from the 30s, but I vaguely imagined that they had to be better than this. … Continue reading Eclipse 1938: Dollar
13×10%
(January 20, 2022)Lucky for some. So that’s another 10% of the bugs in the Emacs bug tracker closed, so let’s natter on a bit. So the most striking thing here is, of course, that we started with 2550 open bugs, and we’re now at… 2605. That’s not much of a reduction! Yeah yeah. This stretch took two … Continue reading 13×10%
Eclipse 1936: Intermezzo
(January 18, 2022)Molander was one of the biggest directors in Sweden, I think? From the 20s to the 50s. I think he’s still pretty well known? I mean, in Sweden. I’m not sure he ever had an international success? So this is another one of the Ingrid Bergman movies. Well, it seems obvious that Bergman is gonna … Continue reading Eclipse 1936: Intermezzo
Eclipse 1935: Valborgsmässoafton
(January 18, 2022)OK; we continue (after two week break) watching the Criterion Eclipse Ingrid Bergman box sex, and we’re now in 1935. That’s a fun shot. There she is. That’s a young baby. I like it when the actors are hamming it up. But… this is a pretty bad movie. It’s badly paced and the lines (and … Continue reading Eclipse 1935: Valborgsmässoafton
Comics Daze
(January 12, 2022)*phew* Physical inbox zero! You know all those half-read books spread all over the apt, and that volume of Baron Bean (1918 edition), all those magazines saved for “reading later”, and the newspapers, and the collections of a decade of Ric Hochet comics, and the Criterion blu-ray box essays, and everything? I’ve now read them … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1935: Munkbrogreven
(January 2, 2022)Oooh. Oldee tymey Swedish movie. I haven’t really seen that much pre-50s Swedish stuff, I think? This is a pretty unusual Criterion Eclipse box set. Virtually all of them are selections from a specific director, and there’s a couple sets that collects different directors working in the same idiom, but … this may be the … Continue reading Eclipse 1935: Munkbrogreven
Eclipse 1981: Documenteur
(January 2, 2022)Wha. That’s one of the murals from the Mur murs documentary… so Varda did this at the same time as the documentary? Is it a fiction about doing a documentary about murals in Los Angeles? I hope so! This is absolutely enthralling. This is so meta. It’s the most 80s movie ever, and Varda captured … Continue reading Eclipse 1981: Documenteur
Eclipse 1980: Mur Murs
(January 2, 2022)So this is a decade later than Varda’s three previous California movies? Oh, this is a documentary about murals in Los Angeles? This is fantastic. It’s got a free-flowing delightful kind of flow. And these murals are pretty amazing. I’m guessing that funding for this sort of thing dried up when Reagan came into office? … Continue reading Eclipse 1980: Mur Murs
Eclipse 1969: Lions Love (… and Lies)
(January 1, 2022)I’m enjoying this movie… but… I can’t help wondering how this would have played out of it had had French actors instead of American actors. These people just don’t seem… intriguing? Especially the guys. And since so much of this seems improvised, that’s a problem. OK, I’m getting into this now. Yeah, whenever the two … Continue reading Eclipse 1969: Lions Love (… and Lies)
Eclipse 1967: Uncle Yanco
(January 1, 2022)This is brilliant. Varda’s having a lot of fun with doing a documentary and then questioning whether it’s fiction or not. It’s overwhelming. It’s very Godard. This is brilliant. Uncle Yanco. Agnès Varda. 1967. This blog post is part of the Eclipse series.
Eclipse 1968: Black Panthers
(January 1, 2022)With every purchase. This is very different from Varda’s earlier movies. I mean, not the subject matter, but the way it’s filmed and edited. It’s so restless and frantic. The little red book is in such a practical format. But this is really good. It’s got Varda’s eye for details, and her curiosity about everything. … Continue reading Eclipse 1968: Black Panthers
December Music
(December 31, 2021)Music I’ve bought in December.
Eclipse 1932: One Hour With You
(December 31, 2021)As musicals go… this doesn’t have a lot of music? This is a pre Hayes code movie – I don’t think that costume would have flown afterwards? This is a very odd movie. I just read the Criterion text on the DVD cover, and apparently this was going to be a George Cukor movie, but … Continue reading Eclipse 1932: One Hour With You
Eclipse 1931: The Smiling Lieutenant
(December 31, 2021)Now that’s a train I’d like to ride. This is very amusing. It’s not hilarious or anything, but it’s got a good flow going on, and the characters are good, and it never stops amusing. I was disappointed in the previous two Lubitsch movies, but this works. I really like this movie… but… I’d be … Continue reading Eclipse 1931: The Smiling Lieutenant
Eclipse 1930: Monte Carlo
(December 30, 2021)Those are some very complicated credits. This is another 1.2:1 movie — the early talkies used a portion of the normal 1.37:1 film stock to carry the audio, so the movies became narrower. (The first few sound movies Lubitsch did, and were filmed twice, and released in both 1.37:1 silent versions and 1.2:1 talkie versons.) … Continue reading Eclipse 1930: Monte Carlo
Eclipse 1929: The Love Parade
(December 28, 2021)Hey, this is brilliant. An early screwball comedy? It’s from 1929, so it’s part of the first wave of talkies, I guess? It’s in … 1.2:1? And… they apparently made this in French and American at the same time? Jeanette MacDonald name and face are both quite familiar to me, but looking over her imdb, … Continue reading Eclipse 1929: The Love Parade
Comics Daze
(December 27, 2021)I wasn’t going to do another comic reading day right after doing one, but since I’ve gotten a new couch, and the remaining unread comics are totally blocking the view from where I’m sitting now, I just have to read them to clear that. Makes sense? No? Well, welcome to my life. Bertine Zetlitz: Morbid … Continue reading Comics Daze
A Page From A Comic Book Presented Without Comment
(December 26, 2021)Comics Daze
(December 25, 2021)I think this is an excellent day to spend reading comics, since I’m not… er… doing anything else. Vanishing Twin: Ookii Gekkou 13:05: Donald Duck “Balloonatics” by Carl Barks (Fantagraphics) I started reading this yesterday while the ribs were in the oven. These are not prime Barks strips — they’re from 1960/61, and Barks was … Continue reading Comics Daze
The Best Comics of 2021
(December 22, 2021)Another year over, so let’s take a quick look at the comics that particularly impressed me this year, in no particular order. Tongues #4 by Anders Brekhus Nilsen The Waiting by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim Night Bus by Zuo Ma Naken edited by… er… it doesn’t say. On Blokk. Discipline by Dash Shaw O bli hos … Continue reading The Best Comics of 2021
Eclipse 1973: Come On Children
(December 21, 2021)Uh-oh. The first Allan King movie (about an institution for children) felt really exploitative. In the second one, the people participating were adults, at least, so there consent was less dubious. But it bombed at the box office. So now we’re back to his… big hit movie, kinda? Heh. The liner notes on the DVD … Continue reading Eclipse 1973: Come On Children
Eclipse 1969: A Married Couple
(December 21, 2021)This is like… a reality TV show? I mean, before they became game shows. Or, as they might have been called back then, “a documentary”. But it’s people being very, very aware of cameras being in the room with them and hamming it up a bit. But… is this non-scripted? I mean, more or less … Continue reading Eclipse 1969: A Married Couple
Timber
(December 18, 2021)I’ve been through a number of cheap record players in my life, and they’ve all had some kind of problem — buzzing sounds, low level rumbling sounds, etc. I thought I had found the perfect record player some years back, and indeed it fit all my requirements, which are: 1) Not suck, sound wise. (I’m … Continue reading Timber
Eclipse 1967: Warrendale
(December 17, 2021)Wow. This is Canadian? I thought the Eclipse series was just Japanese and French movies. These kids are very sleepy. Oh, this is a documentary!? These are really the sleepiest kids ever! Uhm. Autism? So this is a documentary about some emotionally disturbed children at an institution where they have a thing about … holding … Continue reading Eclipse 1967: Warrendale
Eclipse 1968: 帰って来たヨッパライ
(December 17, 2021)Wow. Ôshima’s gone all late nouvelle vague? This starts off like a Godard movie from 1968… But more Japanese, I guess. I think this movie is about Japanese racism? Towards Koreans? But it’s … very odd. And it’s also about Vietnam. So… now it’s the entire movie all over again? Or… did this DVD skip? … Continue reading Eclipse 1968: 帰って来たヨッパライ
Eclipse 1967: 無理心中日本の夏
(December 16, 2021)This reminds me of… Tarkovsky. But a horny, lighthearted Tarkovsky. I know, it’s a contradiction in terms, but it’s got the same sort of flow. But… Tarkovsky a decade later than this. I was absolutely riveted by this movie until we landed in this room, and now it’s just… wilfully odd instead of fascinating. OK, … Continue reading Eclipse 1967: 無理心中日本の夏
Eclipse 1967: 日本春歌考
(December 16, 2021)This is the most Summer of 1968 movie ever, and it’s from 1967. It’s all about student rebellion and protest and sex and stuff. Oh! These guys are high school students… I thought this was supposed to be about university graduates or something. I guess those uniforms would be a stronger signal about their age … Continue reading Eclipse 1967: 日本春歌考
Eclipse 1966: 白昼の通り魔
(December 13, 2021)It was so impressed by Ôshima’s previous movie… but I don’t know about this one. It just seems calculated and by the numbers? The shots still look interesting, but without the spectacular colours of the previous movie, it’s just less striking. I don’t think they’re going for realism here at much… but some of the … Continue reading Eclipse 1966: 白昼の通り魔
Eclipse 1965: 悦楽
(December 13, 2021)I absolutely adore the cinematography on this. The angles, the framing, the colours. This is the most rational crime ever. Oh my god. This movie just doesn’t go where you expect it to. It’s either amazingly brilliant or just… odd? I’m not quite sure. I lost the thread here for a second, and now I … Continue reading Eclipse 1965: 悦楽
Eclipse 1962: All Night Long
(December 13, 2021)It’s one of those funny cigarettes, see? Anyway, next on the schedule was Victim, but it turns out that I watched it a couple months ago. It was OK. So I’m onto the final Basil Dearden movie instead. They’re getting hooked on the reefer! Patrick McGoohan drums up a storm very convicingly, I must say. … Continue reading Eclipse 1962: All Night Long
The Best Albums of 2021
(December 13, 2021)Once again, Emacs has kept careful track of what I’ve been listening to this year, so I can scientifically give a list of what’s the best albums this year. And by amazing coincidence, the world’s very best album is by a Norwegian band and I’m Norwegian, but I’m sure that’s totally coincidental and fair. Lost … Continue reading The Best Albums of 2021
Comics Daze
(December 10, 2021)I have totally fucked up my sleeping patterns again, so I’m now up in the middle of the night. Brr. But I’ve got candy and comics, so let’s get readin’ until morn. And nothing but 80s music, because it’s that kind of night. Joe Jackson: Mike’s Murder 02:50: Too Tough To Die edited by Haleigh … Continue reading Comics Daze
Eclipse 1960: The League of Gentlemen
(December 9, 2021)This is quite amusing. It’s like a classic heist movie. It’s probably not the original one? But it’s got all the bits that later heist movies have. And fascinatingly enough, it doesn’t work at making the criminals sympathetic? That said, this thing has got really weird pacing issues. I realise that they’re going for knuckle … Continue reading Eclipse 1960: The League of Gentlemen
Eclipse 1959: Sapphire
(December 9, 2021)This is so weird. I mean, it’s… kinda normal, but… off. I like it! I love the colour scheme. This is all about racism and stuff, which… I mean, I didn’t think London in 1959 was that racist? I mean, it’s… some of the characters are so racist that it’s kinda more like they’ve been … Continue reading Eclipse 1959: Sapphire
Eclipse 1937: Un carnet de bal
(December 9, 2021)This has some of the fascinating visuals from Duvivier’s earlier movies, but it’s pretty… pedestrian. That is, there’s a bunch of scenes inbetween the special ones that seem totally haphazard. I don’t even know what this movie is about? I kinda zoned out there for half an hour. This movie just lacks nerve. The performances … Continue reading Eclipse 1937: Un carnet de bal
Eclipse 1933: La tête d’un homme
(December 9, 2021)The first two movies in this box set looked pristine — sharp and restored. This looks like it’s been scanned from a very tired print and not fixed up at all. So I’m guessing that this is a less historically important movie? He’s eeeevil!!!! This really hasn’t aged well. It’s just kinda basic? Looks great, … Continue reading Eclipse 1933: La tête d’un homme
Eclipse 1932: Poil de Carotte
(December 9, 2021)I was gonna watch a whole bunch of these Eclipse movies from Criterion, but I got caught up in a bunch of Emacs stuff. Back on track: Movies! Movies! Wow, that’s some close-up camera work. They camera has to be like five centimetres from his nose. Duvivier is some kind of genius. I mean, on … Continue reading Eclipse 1932: Poil de Carotte
PX Index: Stuff
(December 3, 2021)I’ve gotten various prints, paintings and bits and bobs created by the people I’ve been talking about in this blog series, so I posted some snaps of those things. Here’s links to them all; clickee on the images. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
Eclipse 1931: David Golder
(December 3, 2021)What! Oh, right, I’ve been watching some really bad movies lately. I want to get back into watching, you know, actually good movies, and I think a way to force myself to do that is to… watch all the Eclipse movies from the Criterion Collection: Because if I don’t, that stack is gonna topple! It’s … Continue reading Eclipse 1931: David Golder
PX Index: Retrospectives
(December 2, 2021)I had a look at a handful of retrospective anthologies in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
November Music
(December 1, 2021)Music I’ve bought in November. What do we have here, then… Uhm… looks like a pretty normal mix of things. I finally scored a copy of DJ\Rupture’s Curiosity Slowdown, and there’s a new PC Music thing, and some old Shopping… Oh, right! Open the gates we arrive energy time The new album by Irreversible Entanglements … Continue reading November Music
PX Index: Not Punk Comix
(December 1, 2021)Below are the books that I wrote about, but that are somewhat off topic for this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX Index: And Even More
(November 30, 2021)Below are some more books from this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX Index: Sue Coe
(November 29, 2021)Below are the books by Sue Coe in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX Index: Matt Groening
(November 28, 2021)Below are the books by Matt Groening in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
The Entire Kitchen Sink
(November 27, 2021)I’ve been doing various blogs where I’m reading old comics and then typing some random musings about them. I know, odd, right? Most of them have been about 80s American comics companies, because I think that was a pretty interesting era in comics, and because somebody should. So I’ve now gotten to Kitchen Sink Comics/Comix/Press/Enterprises, … Continue reading The Entire Kitchen Sink
PX Index: Charles Burns
(November 27, 2021)Below are the books by Charles Burns in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX Index: Ben Katchor
(November 26, 2021)Below are the books by Ben Katchor in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
The Most Controversial Change In Emacs History
(November 24, 2021)Just a scant handful of decades after XEmacs introduced a mode line with proportional fonts, we’re thinking about doing the same in Emacs. Here’s how the mode line looks (by default) in Emacs 28: Here’s how we’re considering having it look (by default) in Emacs 29: See? Huge difference. Huge. The attractive thing about this … Continue reading The Most Controversial Change In Emacs History
PX Index: Anthologies
(November 24, 2021)Below are the anthologies in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
Comics Daze
(November 23, 2021)Brrr… it’s getting more winterey by the second. Perhaps this is a good day to stay on the couch all day and read comics? Yes? Yas. Irreversible Entanglements: Open The Gates 11:24: Secret Life by Theo Ellsworth from a story by Jeff VanderMeer (Drawn & Quarterly) I like Ellsworth’s comics in general, so I was … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX Index: Art Spiegelman
(November 23, 2021)Below are the books by Art Spiegelman in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX Index: Lynda Barry
(November 22, 2021)Below are the books by Lynda Barry in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX Index: Mark Beyer
(November 21, 2021)Below are the books by Mark Beyer in this blog series. Click on the images to read. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX Index: Gary Panter
(November 20, 2021)Click on the images below to read the blog articles about Gary Panter’s books. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX Index: Raw
(November 19, 2021)Below are the comics published by Raw Graphics (more or less). At the end, it also includes books packaged by Raw for publication by other publishers (mostly Penguin and Pantheon). Click on the images below to read the posts. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
Punk Comix Index
(November 18, 2021)When I started this blog series half a year ago, I wanted to have a look at the comics from the “Raw generation” or whatever you want to call them. There seemed to be a quite particular aesthetic in comics happening in the early 80s, mostly in New York, mostly among younger comics artists, that … Continue reading Punk Comix Index
Punk Comix Redux
(November 17, 2021)My blog series about “punk comix”/”the Raw generation”/whatchamacallit is finally over. I had originally planned on about eighty posts — but it ended up being one hundred and seventy posts. Good Lord! *choke* I had meant to focus on just Raw and the artists surrounding Raw — in the 80s. But then things got away … Continue reading Punk Comix Redux
Comics Daze
(November 16, 2021)I was gonna do a computerey thing that I thought was gonna occupy my entire day today, but then it only took like half and hour, and now I’m too restless to do anything else. So: It’s a comic book reading day. Yay! Snapped Ankles: Come Play The Trees 10:11: Are Comics Books Real? by … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX11: MetaMaus
(November 16, 2021)MetaMaus by Art Spiegelman and Hillary Chute (170x238mm) So here we are — the final post in this blog series about (sort of) the comics from the Raw Generation, or whatever we’re calling it this week. What started off with Mouly and Spiegelman printing stuff in their loft resulted in larger changes to the world … Continue reading PX11: MetaMaus
PX13: Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics, and Scraps
(November 15, 2021)Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics, and Scraps by Art Spiegelman (241x340mm) In yesterday’s post in this blog series, I promised that it was the very, very final post… so of course here’s another post. Sorry! But it arrived in the mail, so I might as well read it and scribble some words about it. … Continue reading PX13: Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics, and Scraps
PX95: Dead Meat
(November 14, 2021)Dead Meat by Sue Coe with Alexander Cockburn (203x256mm) OK, this is it, for sure this time: This is the final post in this blog series — before the MetaMaus post which is supposed to be the real final post (and was written months ago), and then the extremely final post that sums up the … Continue reading PX95: Dead Meat
PX97: The Huge Book of Hell
(November 13, 2021)The Huge Book of Hell by Matt Groening (267x266mm) This is in the same format at The Big Book of Hell. That book was published in 90, and was a ten year retrospective featuring many strips not published before, along with a “best of” from the published collections. This one is published just six years … Continue reading PX97: The Huge Book of Hell
12×10%
(November 12, 2021)It’s that time of the er year where I natter on about Emacs development under the guise of talking about the number of open bugs in the Emacs bug tracker. This stretch started on September 21st, with 2586 open bugs and ended today, with 2551 open bugs. Clearly a reduction of 10% as usual, as … Continue reading 12×10%
PX17: Songy of Paradise
(November 12, 2021)Songy of Paradise by Gary Panter (294x378mm) I had totally forgotten about this book. I mean, both that I had it and what it’s about. Oh, right — after doing Dante, Panter is now doing Milton. Swanky. Anyway, this is a very large, thin hardback book with metallic inks on the cover — so it’s … Continue reading PX17: Songy of Paradise
PX13: Hand-Drying in America and Other Stories
(November 11, 2021)Hand-Drying in America by Ben Katchor (298x311mm) This is a collection of strips that appeared in the architectural magazine Metropolis between 98 and 12, which is a marriage made in heaven, you’d think: Katchor had been doing stories about buildings and object design since, like, forever, so… This is a big, jam-packed book: It’s 160 … Continue reading PX13: Hand-Drying in America and Other Stories
PX90: The Big Book of Hell
(November 10, 2021)The Big Book of Hell by Matt Groening (271x270mm) I didn’t buy this book at the time — I assumed that this was just a reprint of the smaller books that had already been printed. But… while doing this blog series, I couldn’t find any web sites that stated this outright, so curiosity (and a … Continue reading PX90: The Big Book of Hell
PX86: Lynda Barry ‘n’ Matt Groening’s Funky World Fun Calendar 1987
(November 9, 2021)Lynda Barry ‘n’ Matt Groening’s Funky World Fun Calendar 1987 by Lynda Barry and Matt Groening (305x306mm) This is organised in a every-other-spread kind of fashion — on half the spreads, Groening does the cartoon at the top and Barry does the calendar at the bottom… … and the other half, vice versa. Most of … Continue reading PX86: Lynda Barry ‘n’ Matt Groening’s Funky World Fun Calendar 1987
Finally! Videos in eww
(November 9, 2021)It’s the one feature the world has been waiting for. Emacs has had support for xwidgets for years (i.e., being able to embed a webkit thingamabob inside Emacs), but it’s been a bit lacking in integration with the rest of Emacs. Over the last few months, Po Lu has brushed up the code considerably, so … Continue reading Finally! Videos in eww
PX05: Sheep of Fools
(November 8, 2021)Sheep of Fools by Sue Coe and Judith Brody (260x261mm) This is published by Fantagraphics, but it’s a Blab book. When talking about anthologies from the 80s, Raw and Weirdo are seen as the two opposite poles, and nobody much mentions Blab. Which, OK, it’s a timing issue — Blab didn’t really find its form … Continue reading PX05: Sheep of Fools
Copying Media to Emacs
(November 8, 2021)Emacs isn’t really a tool for creating WYSIWYG documents, so the editing support for anything other than plain text (and code) is pretty basic. As I noted a few years back, Emacs has the primitives needed to interact with non-text clipboard types, so adding code to (say) allow choosing “Copy Image” in a browser and … Continue reading Copying Media to Emacs
PX90: The Best Comics of the Decade
(November 7, 2021)The Best Comics of the Decade edited by Gary Groth and Kim Thompson (216x218mm) You’d think this blog series would be over now, right? Well, it was! But then when I was putting all the comics back into the bookshelf… … I found stuff I’d missed when rooting through the shelves for punk comix stuff … Continue reading PX90: The Best Comics of the Decade
A More Readable ‘C-h b’
(November 6, 2021)It’s annoyed me for, well, decades that one of the (potentially) most useful ways to query Emacs about “well, what commands are available in this mode anyway?”, ‘C-h b’, is less than perfect. So I’ve tweaked it. Tada! Hitting ‘C-h b’ emacs-28 looks like this (by default): But once you scroll past the 700 key … Continue reading A More Readable ‘C-h b’
PX09: Be a Nose!
(November 6, 2021)Be a Nose! by Art Spiegelman (102x158mm, 136×211, 153x210mm) This is a set of three small books (and a pamphlet) held together by a stretchy band. This is published by McSweeney’s, and they love to play with book formats. I’m really intrigued, and I’m surprised I didn’t know that this existed. For a few years, … Continue reading PX09: Be a Nose!
PX91: Two Life in Hell Fun Calendars
(November 5, 2021)Life in Hell Fun Calendars by Matt Groening (304x306mm) I was rummaging through stuff in the attic, and I happened upon these old calendars (from 1991 and 2006), so I thought it might be fun to have a quick peek at them. The first calendar goes from September 91 and all of 92. Is that … Continue reading PX91: Two Life in Hell Fun Calendars
PX11: The Cardboard Valise
(November 4, 2021)The Cardboard Valise by Ben Katchor (281x222mm) This one’s got a fun design flourish — it’s got these fold-out handles, which makes the book into a kind of cardboard… uhm… what’s the word… oh, yeah, suitcase. Katchor had published just one book-length narrative before this — The Jew of New York. All his other collections … Continue reading PX11: The Cardboard Valise
Art Spiegelman Meets The Polish Ambassador
(November 3, 2021)Lighting Out for the Territories
(November 3, 2021)PX08: Gary Panter
(November 3, 2021)Gary Panter by Gary Panter (242x309mm) This massive box was published by Picturebox in 2008, and I think I got it at the time? Or pretty soon afterwards? When I got it, I was amazed at the… er… weight… of the box. It’s the most paper for the least amount of money ever. (I think … Continue reading PX08: Gary Panter
Is this the greatest tune ever?
(November 3, 2021)Well it might be this: But it’s not as existential.
PX Stuff
(November 2, 2021)A Mark Beyer poster from John Zorn’s Book of Angels. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
October Music
(November 2, 2021)Music I’ve bought in October. Anything particularly interesting this month? Hm… Well, it’s more new music than usual — JPEGMAFIA, Yves Tumor, Namasenda, Aksak Maboul… but I guess it’s the usual mix of stuff. I quite liked the Big Brave/The Body album.
Comics Daze
(November 1, 2021)It’s a rainy night, so I think I’ll ditch my plans to start training for the ultra marathon tonight and instead read some comics. But with a twist: This time I’m only going to read comics that I’ve had for a long time but have avoided reading. Excitement! Electrelane: Singles, B-Sides & Live 16:34: Boston … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX06: An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories Vols. 1 & 2
(November 1, 2021)An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories Vols. 1 & 2 edited by Ivan Brunetti (200x260mm) I wanted to have a quick look at these due to their sheer heft, both physically and metaphorically. Altogether they weigh 2.6 kgs, collect over seven hundred pages of comics (or “graphic fiction” as the title portentously … Continue reading PX06: An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories Vols. 1 & 2
PX94: The Wild Party
(October 31, 2021)The Wild Party by Joseph Moncure March and Art Spiegelman (140x224mm) Note the sizes of the names of the two creators on the cover? Yes, indeed, this was published after the stunning commercial (and critical) success of Maus II. This is a very handsome object. It’s designed by Spiegelman himself, but it’s obviously gotten lot … Continue reading PX94: The Wild Party
PX96: Horror Hospital Unplugged
(October 30, 2021)Horror Hospital Unplugged by Dennis Cooper and Keith Mayerson (216x280mm) This is, once again, slightly off topic for this blog series, but I thought it might be vaguely interesting to have a look at a Re/Search book. In the 80s, Re/Search seemed to exist on the margins of both comics and music culture: They were … Continue reading PX96: Horror Hospital Unplugged
PX11: Blabber Blabber Blabber: Volume 1 of Everything
(October 29, 2021)Blabber Blabber Blabber: Volume 1 of Everything by Lynda Barry (220x283mm) The Lynda Barry Renaissance over the past few decades has been a delight to behold. Drawn & Quarterly deserve major kudos for this, I guess — they’ve managed to make her books count in a major way: Every book she publishes gets reviewed in … Continue reading PX11: Blabber Blabber Blabber: Volume 1 of Everything
Two Ads Presented Without Comment
(October 28, 2021)Emacs & Emojis: A ❤️ Story
(October 28, 2021)Emacs grew support for displaying colour emojis recently (and this is included in the release branch, which will become Emacs 28.1 in some months). This includes support for the grapheme cluster emojis (that consist of a number of Unicode code points, joined together with zero-width joiners and magic). So finally Emacs can display all of … Continue reading Emacs & Emojis: A ❤️ Story
PX97: Open Me… I’m A Dog!
(October 28, 2021)Open Me… I’m A Dog! by Art Spiegelman (234x185mm) After Maus, everybody waited for Spiegelman’s next hefty masterwork… … so Spiegelman made a book for young children instead. It’s neat — it’s a very cute size, and it’s got an pop-up feature, but it’s not a pop-up book, really. Instead it tells a good yarn … Continue reading PX97: Open Me… I’m A Dog!
PX Stuff
(October 27, 2021)Oops! I found more stuff in the attic! Poster for a German exhibition of work by Mark Beyer. And there’s stuff on the back. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
A Page From A Fucking Comic Book Presented Without Comment
(October 26, 2021)PX00: Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: The Beauty Supply District
(October 26, 2021)Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: The Beauty Supply District by Ben Katchor (280x225mm) Like most Pantheon books, this is a handsome object. There’s nothing extraneous here — no introductions by famous authors or anything icky like that. As much as I love Katchor, there’s precious little development between the previous collection of Julius Knipl strips … Continue reading PX00: Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: The Beauty Supply District
A Panel From A Comic Book Presented Without Comment
(October 25, 2021)PX07: Will and Abe’s Guide to the Universe
(October 25, 2021)Will and Abe’s Guide to the Universe by Matt Groening (230x229mm) This is the final collection of Life in Hell strips, and I think I’ve covered them all? The Big Book of Hell and The Huge Book of Hell are collections of the other, er, collections, aren’t they? It’s impossible to google these things, because … Continue reading PX07: Will and Abe’s Guide to the Universe
PX83: Zomoid Illustories
(October 24, 2021)Zomoid Illustories edited by Ray Zone (110x140mm – 140x216mm – 172x260mm) I was ebaying for “punk comics”, as one does, and a collection of Zomoid Illustories appeared. I had the standard US comics-sized one already (it’s the one with the red cover up there), but I was wondering what the minis were like. Very varied. … Continue reading PX83: Zomoid Illustories
PX16: The! Greatest! Of! Marlys!
(October 23, 2021)The! Greatest! Of! Marlys! by Lynda Barry (225x260mm) This was originally released in a smaller edition by Sasquatch Books in 00, but I’ve got the 16 edition from Drawn & Quarterly here. (I got rid of the earlier edition while weeding out duplicates the other year, and now I regret it. Sooo much.) That edition … Continue reading PX16: The! Greatest! Of! Marlys!
Comics Semidaze
(October 23, 2021)I read comics all day yesterday, so I had to get some work done today, but now I just wanna read comics again until I plotz… So a shorter daze. Microdaze. My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult: Confessions Of A Knife (Remastered) 19:10: Victor Billetdoux – en trilogi by Pierre Wininger (E-voke) This curiously … Continue reading Comics Semidaze
PX21: Crashpad
(October 22, 2021)Crashpad by Gary Panter (286x363mm) It’s brand new! Ish! Published earlier this year, and I haven’t read it yet. This is a huge book (like all of Panter’s books with Fantagraphics)… but this one has a pouch on the inside front cover? With a comic inside!? What? Let’s leave that for later and read this … Continue reading PX21: Crashpad
Comics Daze
(October 21, 2021)I need a vacation. But instead here’s another day of reading comics. Various: Cold Wave Volume 2 15:29: The Fang 2: Weekend at Medusa’s by Marc Palm I really like the format of this book. It’s so small and cute. I haven’t read the first volume of this, so some of the goings-on was kinda … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX08: Jack and the Box
(October 21, 2021)Jack and the Box by Art Spiegelman (236x160mm) I am emphatically not covering all the Toon Books in this blog series, but let’s have a look at just a single one: Toon Books is an imprint own by RAW Junior, LLC, apparently, and I think it’s really cool that they’re still at the same address … Continue reading PX08: Jack and the Box
PX90: Warts and All
(October 20, 2021)Warts and All by Drew Friedman and Josh Alan Friedman (204x190mm) This is a very nicely designed book by the Raw crew. It’s probably not visible here, but those yellow warts are embossed — they give the cover a sickeningly tactile feel. It’s really cool, but… does it shift copies? I think the general effect … Continue reading PX90: Warts and All
PX12: Is That All There Is?
(October 19, 2021)Is That All There Is? by Joost Swarte (198x267mm) I was going to keep this blog series All-American, but let’s digress for one post (ahem) and have a look at this book. I guess all comics collections have to have an introduction by Chris Ware, and this one isn’t too bad. This is allegedly a … Continue reading PX12: Is That All There Is?
PX90: Come Over, Come Over/My Perfect Life/It’s So Magic/The Freddie Stories
(October 18, 2021)Come Over, Come Over/My Perfect Life/It’s So Magic/The Freddie Stories by Lynda Barry (229x153mm) I’m not sure whether it’s because of the way I’ve read Barry’s collections over the years (I’ve tended to stumble across a copy here and a copy there in bookstores, without knowing that the book existed, and in no particular order), … Continue reading PX90: Come Over, Come Over/My Perfect Life/It’s So Magic/The Freddie Stories
PX89: Heck!
(October 17, 2021)Heck! edited by Bob Donahue (214x768mm) Donahue claims in the introduction that this is the first paperback anthology of all-new comics. Can that be true? Er… Well, Raw #8 was squarebound… and… uhm… *ponder* What about Blab? Wasn’t that before this? Anyway, he talks a bit about Underground comics here, and it’s clear that he … Continue reading PX89: Heck!
PX86: Demo #1
(October 16, 2021)Demo #1 edited by… Mary Fleener? (216x142mm) I was ebaying for “punk comics”, and this mini came up. It features stuff by Mary Fleener, so I thought “what the hey”. So let’s have a very quick look at it. This is a very good looking mini. (It’s of the sheet-folded-in-half type.) Most of the comics … Continue reading PX86: Demo #1
PX83: Casual Casual #1-9
(October 15, 2021)Casual Casual #1-9 by Peter Dako (140x217mm) Casual Casual turned into an anthology later (covered earlier in this blog series), but I stumbled across somebody selling the original mini-comics cheaply on ebay, so let’s have a quick look at them. This starts out as an eight page comic (i.e., two sheets folded in half), and … Continue reading PX83: Casual Casual #1-9
PX98: The Jew of New York
(October 14, 2021)The Jew of New York by Ben Katchor (212x221mm) I’d forgotten about this book! I thought it was another one of the Julius Knipl collections, but it’s a totally separate work. It’s a very handsome book. Almost square, and with these thick, rough-hewn covers… designed by Chip Kidd, of course. One of the plots in … Continue reading PX98: The Jew of New York
PX Stuff
(October 13, 2021)This is a watch made by Nuts Collection, who apparently do a bunch of cool watches. This one is designed by Gary Panter. And comes in this handy case. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX90: Kaktus Valley #1
(October 12, 2021)Kaktus Valley #1 by edited by Gary Panter and John Carlin (213x273mm) There was a period where alternative comics types were trying to do kids for comics, but… kinda half-hearted? Like… it’d seem really odd to imagine any kids actually reading these comics? This is one of those. The main story (which is only ten … Continue reading PX90: Kaktus Valley #1
PX86: Maus: A Survivor’s Tale
(October 11, 2021)Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman (158x229mm) So how many editions of this book does a body need? I talked about this book in this blog post, but I’ve never actually seen a copy of the original edition before, and when I happened upon a cheap copy on the ebays, I couldn’t help myself. … Continue reading PX86: Maus: A Survivor’s Tale
PX94: Binky’s Guide To Love
(October 10, 2021)Binky’s Guide To Love by Matt Groening (287x287mm) What!? Lynda Barry has been demoted from Funk Queen of the Universe!? Anyway, this book completes the format journey: These collections started out as spine-less stapled things, and then they got a spine (friendlier to book stores), and then they lost the staples, and now we have … Continue reading PX94: Binky’s Guide To Love
PX83: Scratchez
(October 9, 2021)Scratchez by Bow Lewis and Kathe Pritz (105x139mm & 169x261mm) I had one of these comics already — the sixth issue (the one with the cover by The Pizz), and I vaguely remember that issue as being kinda adjacent to the comics I’ve been discussing in this blog series, so I bought all the other … Continue reading PX83: Scratchez
PX86: Road Kill
(October 8, 2021)Road Kill by Gary Panter (218x142mm) Originally, this blog series was projected to be about 90 posts long, but we’re now up to 140 posts (I think), and I’m still adding things to the in queue. The feature creep has two reasons: I’m finding more stuff out there that I didn’t know existed (like this … Continue reading PX86: Road Kill
Damn Autocorrect
(October 7, 2021)PX04: The New Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes
(October 7, 2021)The New Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes edited by Bob Callahan (220x284mm) Callahan had previously had a go at creating a book like this in 1991: The New Comics Anthology. It wasn’t entirely successful — it read more like a catalogue than an anthology (and the artists had difficulties getting paid, … Continue reading PX04: The New Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Stories: From Crumb to Clowes
PX99: Art Spiegelman: Comix, Essays, Graphics and Scraps
(October 6, 2021)Art Spiegelman: Comix, Essays, Graphics and Scraps by Art Spiegelman (240x336mm) This is a very handsome softcover exhibition catalogue to accompany La Centrale dell’Arte’s travelling Spiegelman exhibition in 1999. (It was designed by Mouly and Spiegelman.) Spiegelman likes long (sub)titles, so this is called “From Maus to Now to MAUS to Now”. (His first collection … Continue reading PX99: Art Spiegelman: Comix, Essays, Graphics and Scraps
PX03: The Complete Maus
(October 5, 2021)The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (163x232mm) I’ve already talked about Maus in this blog series, so I’m not going to go over all that again. But I happen to have the collected edition (in addition to the I and II books), so I thought I’d just have a quick peek and see how they’re … Continue reading PX03: The Complete Maus
How To
(October 4, 2021)The photographer Sony’s hired artfully instructs us how to live. This is the correct posture for adjusting sofa pillows, clearly. And here’s how you do the dishes. I’m looking forward to the next Sony product so the photographer can teach us more about life and how to live it.
Damn Autocorrect
(October 4, 2021)PX14: Here
(October 4, 2021)Here by Richard McGuire (173x242mm) “Here” was originally a short piece printed in Raw Vol 2 #1, and was hugely influential: It was a brand new way to tell a story. So — 25 years later, McGuire expanded it to a three hundred page graphic novel. If you’ve been living under one of those them … Continue reading PX14: Here
PX17: Whatsa paintoonist?
(October 3, 2021)Whatsa paintoonist? by Jerry Moriarty (261x335mm) The Jack Survives strips were absolutely amazing — strong graphics and moving, mysterious pages. I didn’t know quite to expect from this book — but absolutely not this: Moriarty is drawing from his childhood again: This time around he paints himself in, but as a girl. So we basically … Continue reading PX17: Whatsa paintoonist?
Comics Daze
(October 2, 2021)I feel like another comics day coming on — the rules are: Read comics until I plotz. No reviews, just a few random musings. Various: DJ Kicks: Kamaal Williams 12:28: What’s Michael? Fatcat Collection Volume 1 by Makoto Kobayashi (Dark Horse) I’ve read this series before — but in the smaller individual books that were … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX10: X’ed Out/The Hive/Sugar Skull
(October 2, 2021)X’ed Out/The Hive/Sugar Skull by Charles Burns (230x303mm) After Burns had been doing comics about diseased teenagers for a few decades, X’ed Out arrived out of the blue. I certainly wasn’t expecting a kinda surreal Tintin-referencing book from Charles Burns: It’s in the classic European hardback album format, looking very classy. I remember being really … Continue reading PX10: X’ed Out/The Hive/Sugar Skull
PX01: Inkstains #4 & #5
(October 1, 2021)Inkstains #4 & #5 (170x261mm) Since so many of the artists I’ve covered in this blog series have been at the School of Visual Arts (and I’ve talked about the Bad News anthology here, here, and here, which was done by students and teachers at the SVA), I thought it might be fun to have … Continue reading PX01: Inkstains #4 & #5
September Music
(October 1, 2021)Music I’ve bought in September. The release of the month is When I Hit You, You’ll Feel It by Leslie Winer, of course — it collects a bunch of her most magical songs in one place, but there’s also unreleased stuff! Whoho! Hm… anything else… looks like the usual mix of old stuff and older … Continue reading September Music
PX05: Satiroplastic
(September 30, 2021)Satiroplastic by Gary Panter (107x157mm) This book has a kinda cool strip of paper around it, where the title is done as holes in the paper. Apparently Drawn & Quarterly planned a three volume set, but only this one was published. This is a facsimile (sort of) of Panter’s sketchbook from 1999 to 2001. I … Continue reading PX05: Satiroplastic
PX93: Amy + Jordan
(September 29, 2021)Amy + Jordan by Mark Beyer (146x204mm) This was published by the same people who did Gary Panter’s Dal Tokyo the year before. It’s in the same format, and again, it’s a French book with un-translated English text. The book is a mainly a subset of the stuff later reprinted in the 2004 Pantheon book, … Continue reading PX93: Amy + Jordan
PX Stuff
(September 28, 2021)“Welcome To The Atom Age!!!” by Gary Panter, button apparently from 1979. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX04: Amy + Jordan
(September 27, 2021)Amy + Jordan by Mark Beyer (286x128mm) This is a Chip Kidd-designed book. I’ve heard rumours of him being so popular that people will buy any book if it’s designed by him. (This apparently pisses off fans of the artists featured in the books, because they feel that the attention distracts from… er… something…) Anyway, … Continue reading PX04: Amy + Jordan
PX91: The New Comics Anthology
(September 26, 2021)The New Comics Anthology edited by Bob Callahan (218x278mm) I was googling for anthologies of “new wave comics” (etc.), and I came upon this book, and I immediately though “hey! I’ve got that one!” So I spent half an hour looking through the shelves, but didn’t find anything. But it looks so familiar… … and … Continue reading PX91: The New Comics Anthology
PX06: Big Fat Little Lit
(September 25, 2021)Big Fat Little Lit edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly (225x280mm) I’m not quite sure how I ended up with this book — I probably bought it not knowing that it was a reprint of the three Little Lit volumes? Two of the Little Lit books had themes (fairy tales and “silly night”), but … Continue reading PX06: Big Fat Little Lit
PX02: Little Lit: It Was a Dark and Silly Night
(September 24, 2021)Little Lit: It Was a Dark and Silly Night edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly (242x340mm) This is the third and final book in this series, and it’s a bit shorter than the previous two: 48 pages instead of 64. Martin Hanford does the endpapers, and they’re great. He’s the guy that does Where’s … Continue reading PX02: Little Lit: It Was a Dark and Silly Night
PX01: Little Lit: Strange Stories for Strange Kids
(September 23, 2021)Little Lit: Strange Stories for Strange Kids edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly (242x340mm) The first Little Lit book wasn’t… very good, and this one doesn’t even have Chip Kidd as a co-designer. So let’s have a look. Heh, that’s pretty good… (Kaz.) That’s not bad, either. (Art Spiegelman.) There were quite a few … Continue reading PX01: Little Lit: Strange Stories for Strange Kids
Comics Daze
(September 23, 2021)I wasn’t gonna do another comics reading marathon today, but I totally messed up my sleeping patterns. Look! It’s the middle of the night! This is no time to get up! So now I just wanna read comics and eat crisps until dawn. Let’s get started. The Meters: Gettin’ Funkier All The Time (6): Be … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX00: Little Lit: Folklore & Fairy Tales
(September 22, 2021)Little Lit: Folklore & Fairy Tales edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly (242x340mm) I didn’t originally plan on including anything from the Raw Junior, LLC line of books… but I thought it might be interesting to at least talk about the first spate of Little Lit books. These are published by HarperCollins, but apparently … Continue reading PX00: Little Lit: Folklore & Fairy Tales
11×10%
(September 21, 2021)It’s that time of the month where I give a report on how my possibly Quixotic mission to get the Emacs bug tracker down to a managable size is going, because: This stretch stated August 15th, and had a target of 269 bugs, and that’s what I just reached. But did the bug tracker shrink … Continue reading 11×10%
PX05: We All Die Alone
(September 21, 2021)We All Die Alone by Mark Newgarden (198x223mm) Unusually for a Fantagraphics book, this book has a very… extra… physical appearance: The cover is bound in a felt-like material, so it feels like fondling… moleskin pants or something. It’s very Indesigney. Ah! Edited by Dan Nadel (i.e., Picturebox) and designed by Helene Silverman. You can … Continue reading PX05: We All Die Alone
Comics Daze
(September 20, 2021)Last night’s Comics Daze went so well that I’m doing another one straight away. Melvin Gibbs: 4 + 1 equals 5 for May 25 08:58: Animals With Sharpies by Michael Dumontier & Neil Farber (Drawn & Quarterly) This book is what it says on the tin: It’s animals with sharpies. It’s really good. It’s oddly … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX91: Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began
(September 20, 2021)Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman (168x243mm) This book collects the four chapters of Maus that were published in Raw #8 and Raw Vol 2 #1-3, and adds a fifth and final chapter. While I’ve read the chapters that made up the first book many times (as inserts in the Raw … Continue reading PX91: Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began
Comics Daze
(September 19, 2021)Wow, it’s been two months since I did one of these posts, where I read a bunch of new comics and write a sentence or two about each of them. I guess… I’ve been busy reading old comics? Yup. But I’ve now done the old comics (even if the posts will continue to trickle out … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX Stuff
(September 19, 2021)Mark Beyer screen print. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX10: Funny (Not Funny)
(September 18, 2021)Funny (Not Funny) edited by Ryan Standfest (218x218mm) This is the catalogue for an exhibition, apparently? The exhibition is about “Black Humor”, and the curator capitalises it like that most of the essay, without mentioning actual Black humour, or using the expression “edge lord” a single time. But I think that’s what he’s going for, … Continue reading PX10: Funny (Not Funny)
PX00: Cola Madnes
(September 17, 2021)Cola Madnes by Gary Panter (135x188mm) I’m always suspicious when I see stuff like this, but Overheat Communications really does seem to exist. Young Jimbo! Anyway, this is a very handsome little book, published by Funny Garbage Press. (No, me neither.) The reproduction is excellent, and the format is sympathetic to the work. On the … Continue reading PX00: Cola Madnes
PX91: Snake Eyes #1-3
(September 16, 2021)Snake Eyes #1-3 edited by Glenn Head and Kaz (213x273mm) Three issues of Bad News were published in the 80s, as a sort of School for the Visual Arts anthology (but only sorta kinda). Mark Newgarden is interviewed in The Comics Journal #161, page 84: KELLY: It seems like Bad News somehow evolved into Snake … Continue reading PX91: Snake Eyes #1-3
PX09: The Complete Jack Survives
(September 15, 2021)The Complete Jack Survives by Jerry Moriarty (273x362mm) This book was published by the late and very lamented Buenaventura Press, and basically reprints the Raw One-Shot from 84, but adds a few more things. This is in the same format at the first book, but is a hardback and is printed on shiny paper, so … Continue reading PX09: The Complete Jack Survives
PX04: In the Shadow of No Towers
(September 14, 2021)In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegelman (255x367mm) This is Spiegelman’s book about the 2001-09-11 attack on New York, so even being slightly critical feels both churlish and besides the point. On the other hand, I do remember feeling somewhat disappointed by this book, so let’s see… This is a pretty thick book … Continue reading PX04: In the Shadow of No Towers
PX91: Raw Vol 2 #3: High Culture for Lowbrows
(September 13, 2021)Raw Vol 2 #3: High Culture for Lowbrows edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (165x229mm) This is it: The third and final edition of the Penguin-published Raw, and the final Raw book. (Sort of.) And… we’re getting pretty high in the instep, aren’t we? Spiegelman is selling a $1K print. Tsk tsk. The book … Continue reading PX91: Raw Vol 2 #3: High Culture for Lowbrows
PX87: Casual Casual #19/20
(September 12, 2021)Casual Casual #19/20 edited by Peter Dako (214x279mm) I blogged about Casual Causal some before, and in those issues, Peter Dako talked about putting on a travelling show exhibiting a bunch of artists. And now he’s finally gotten money from the gummint, so he’s doing it, and this 200 page magazine-sized publication is the result. … Continue reading PX87: Casual Casual #19/20
PX92: The Road to Hell
(September 11, 2021)The Road to Hell by Matt Groening (226x229mm) I hadn’t planned on doing all the Life in Hell collections in this blog series, but there’s just a couple more books to go, so what the hey. This collection mostly covers 1991, and it’s a very cohesive collection… … but that’s mostly because half of them … Continue reading PX92: The Road to Hell
PX Stuff
(September 10, 2021)Mark Beyer screen printed poster. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
Community Standards
(September 9, 2021)From time to time, people send me email about not being able to link to this blog from Facebook. They get: And… I know! But I have no idea why — I’ve never posted a link to the site myself on Facebook. (I think I’ve made two Facebook posts in my life; I don’t use … Continue reading Community Standards
PX88: Do You Hate Your Hips More Than Nuclear War?
(September 9, 2021)Do You Hate Your Hips More Than Nuclear War? by Libby Reid (216x152mm) I’ve covered a few books that have been “adjacent” to the purported subject matter of this blog series… but I don’t quite know why I meant to do this book. I mean, it doesn’t look very… adjacent? Hm… *ponder*… Oh yeah, I … Continue reading PX88: Do You Hate Your Hips More Than Nuclear War?
PX95: The Narrative Corpse
(September 8, 2021)The Narrative Corpse edited by Art Spiegelman and R. Sikoryak (223x413mm) I remember buying this in the 90s: It’s a narrow and tall book and it looked very enticing in the book store, so I finally broke down and bought it even though it was trey expensive (and I was a poor(ish) student). But after … Continue reading PX95: The Narrative Corpse
PX93: Go Naked #1
(September 7, 2021)Go Naked #1 edited by Gary Panter (215x173mm) I’ve never read this book before — it popped up one day while I was “doing research”. I think it has to be the only anthology edited by Panter? And it’s published by Underground comix stalwarts Last Gasp Eco-Funnies, so colour me intrigued. So this is a … Continue reading PX93: Go Naked #1
PX87: Agony
(September 6, 2021)Agony by Mark Beyer (128x128mm) I have two copies of this book — one that I bought in 87, and one I got about a decade ago. Mile High Comics were having a blow-out graphics novel sale, and they apparently had so many copies of this book that they were selling it for $5, so … Continue reading PX87: Agony
PX90: Raw Vol 2 #2: Required Reading for the Post-Literate
(September 5, 2021)Raw Vol 2 #2: Required Reading for the Post-Literate edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (153x223mm) The first issue of the Penguin version of Raw was generally thought of as pretty disappointing — even by the editors themselves. They were looking for new, exciting talent working in the idiom loosely defined by Raw, and … Continue reading PX90: Raw Vol 2 #2: Required Reading for the Post-Literate
PX95: Paul Auster’s City of Glass
(September 4, 2021)Paul Auster’s City of Glass by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli (132x209mm) I remember reading Auster’s New York Trilogy over a couple of days one summer — it was probably in 1988 and I was nineteen? I was absolutely flabbergasted! I thought it was the greatest thing ever, and I’ve continued to buy all of … Continue reading PX95: Paul Auster’s City of Glass
Getting Organised
(September 3, 2021)I’ve got a bunch of gadgets between the things that play movies and the TV (for screenshotting and controlling and stuff), so it now usually looks like this: Pretty! All the cable’s one thing, but the main problem is all the gadgets: Most of them are very light, and you can’t get them to stay … Continue reading Getting Organised
PX90: Gin & Comix
(September 3, 2021)Gin & Comix edited by Philippe Lardy and José Ortega (267x356mm) The only reason I know about this Raw-sized book is that it was mentioned in a “coming attractions” column by Eclipse — I’ve never seen it mentioned by anybody else ever. That I can remember. Eclipse claimed that the book features student work from … Continue reading PX90: Gin & Comix
PX Stuff
(September 2, 2021)Acrylic on cardboard by Gary Panter. This was allegedly painted for a book/exhibition Patrick J. Eddington was putting together — about cats. Which explains “More cats for Pat” on the back. The project was never finalised, I think? This web page has an overview of (some?) of the paintings that were to be featured. This … Continue reading PX Stuff
August Music
(September 1, 2021)Music I’ve bought in August. Let’s see… what do we have here… Looks like the usual mix of new stuff and old stuff. Of particular note: Snapped Ankles is a great name for a band, right? The music’s fun, too — kinda giving me vibes of early Django Django? So it’s like modern post punk … Continue reading August Music
PX88: Down the Street
(September 1, 2021)Down the Street by Lynda Barry (228x152mm) In the previous Barry post in this blog series, I said that I was going to stop there — because Barry’s work has really moved away from the ostensible purported subject of the series. (And because I had nothing more to say than “mm-hm, look at that isn’t … Continue reading PX88: Down the Street
PX85: Gripping Typos
(August 31, 2021)Gripping Typos by David Lees, Gary Panter and others (255x356mm) This is an oddball publication — it seems like it’s basically an ad for Andresen Typographics in Los Angeles — but it doesn’t say so explicitly. It doesn’t say when it was published, either, but Printed Matter says that it’s from 1985, and they’re usually … Continue reading PX85: Gripping Typos
PX00: Pit’s Letter
(August 30, 2021)Pit’s Letter by Sue Coe (184x184mm) I remember buying this at a bookstore somewhere in the US and somebody said “you like being depressed, eh?” And it is, indeed, a full on harrowing read. It quietly moves from one atrocity to the next. Coe should get extra compensation from the trauma doing artwork like this … Continue reading PX00: Pit’s Letter
PX96: Fleener #1-3
(August 29, 2021)Fleener #1-3 by Mary Fleener (169x259mm) I love Mary Fleener’s work, but I wasn’t going to cover any of it in this blog series, because while it’s wild and sometimes avant garde, I’d say it comes more out of the Underground comics tradition than what I’m talking about here. But this was published by Bongo … Continue reading PX96: Fleener #1-3
PX91: How To Go To Hell
(August 28, 2021)How To Go To Hell by Matt Groening (226x229mm) Big changes afoot — Groening has taken the book from Pantheon to HarperPerennial, and this is the first collection without staples. This is also the first collection that doesn’t dip back into deep Life In Hell history — all the strips are from recent years. And … Continue reading PX91: How To Go To Hell
PX89: Raw Vol 2 #1: Open Wounds from the Cutting Edge of Commix
(August 27, 2021)Raw Vol 2 #1: Open Wounds from the Cutting Edge of Commix edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (153x224mm) I stumbled upon somebody on the intertubes talking about Raw a couple weeks back. Can’t find it now, but they said essentially “Man, Raw was good… I’m talking about the real Raw — not the … Continue reading PX89: Raw Vol 2 #1: Open Wounds from the Cutting Edge of Commix
PX07: Omega the Unknown
(August 26, 2021)Omega the Unknown by Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple with Karl Rusnak and Paul Hornscheimer (170x259mm) I know, I know — this is really off topic for a blog series about early-80s avant garde comics. But Gary Panter drew the cover to one issue, and I just found the idea of Panter being published by … Continue reading PX07: Omega the Unknown
PX Stuff
(August 25, 2021)Painting by Mark Beyer on semi-spherical glass from 1997. I’m not sure whether this is a thing that people do? I mean, do a painting on the back of half a glass globe? It seems like something that should be in every tourist shop, but… I’m not sure I’ve seen something like this there? Probably … Continue reading PX Stuff
PX87: Read Yourself Raw
(August 24, 2021)Read Yourself Raw edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (267x357mm) This book reprints Raw #1-3 — but not in full. I’ve already covered those three Raw issues in this blog series, so I’m not going to re-read this book once again… instead, I’ll just see if there’s anything interesting about what they’ve kept and … Continue reading PX87: Read Yourself Raw
PX92: Facetasm
(August 23, 2021)Facetasm by Gary Panter and Charles Burns (226x254mm) This is a spiral-bound book with thick cardboard pages, immaculately printed by Gates of Heck. The gag is that the pages are cut in three (horizontally), so you can flip the three parts independently… … creating a large number of facial combinations… … or just look at … Continue reading PX92: Facetasm
BroadLink RM4 Pro
(August 22, 2021)A few years back, I set up a Rube Golbergesque HDMI production line to be able to watch streaming movies while also doing screenshots. After watching a whole lot of Netflix movies, I haven’t really touched the setup — because I just stopped watching streaming movies: the UX of an Apple TV and those apps … Continue reading BroadLink RM4 Pro
PX92: Dal Tokyo
(August 22, 2021)Dal Tokyo by Gary Panter (148x203mm) Fantagraphics reprinted the Daltokyo strips in a definite edition in 2012, so I won’t actually talk about the strips themselves (since I did that in that blog post, see?) in this brief blog post. This was published by Sketch Studios in France (but not translated into French), and as … Continue reading PX92: Dal Tokyo
PX86: Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
(August 21, 2021)Maus I: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman (mm) This is it: The pivot point in this blog series. You may not have thought so (if you’ve been reading a few of these blog posts), but there’s a kind of loose structure going on here. I wanted to divide the series into a “before” … Continue reading PX86: Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
PX85: Casual Casual #15, #16, #18
(August 20, 2021)Casual Casual #15, #16, #18 edited by Peter Dako (140x216mm) I’ve never read Casual Casual before — I was vaguely aware of it, but no copies wended themselves my way. But while researching stuff for this blog series, I happened upon somebody selling a bunch of them on ebay, and I managed to score these … Continue reading PX85: Casual Casual #15, #16, #18
An Image From A Comic Book Presented Without Comment
(August 19, 2021)(By R. Sikoryak.)
PX91: Funny Ladies
(August 19, 2021)Funny Ladies by Pamela Beere Briggs (130х184mm) So I’m watching this DVD because it has Lynda Barry (on topic) and Nicole Hollander (somewhat on topic) for this blog series. The other two here are less on topic. Just to get my prejudices up front: I don’t like documentaries in general, and I loathe sound byte … Continue reading PX91: Funny Ladies
PX80: Ma, can I be a feminist and still like men?
(August 18, 2021)Ma, can I be a feminist and still like men? by Nicole Hollander (210x138mm) I’m not going to continue covering the Hollander books in this blog series (since she works on a scale perpendicular to the topic), but I thought I’d do at least one more: The first collection was all politics all the time, … Continue reading PX80: Ma, can I be a feminist and still like men?
PX Stuff
(August 17, 2021)Subterranean Modern with a cover by Gary Panter. Don’t worry — I’m not going to include all the album covers done by these artists in this blog series, but I’m gonna do a couple. This one is interesting because it was released by Ralph Records in 1979 — Ralph had included Gary Panter’s Rozz Tox … Continue reading PX Stuff
PX78: A Disturbing Evening and Other Stories
(August 16, 2021)A Disturbing Evening by Mark Beyer (215x280mm) Look what I found! I’ve been trying to get a copy of this book for decades, and it finally popped up on ebay the other week. Serendipidee-doo. So I’ve never read this before, and my heart is actually racing — I’m all excited! Oh, wow. These comics were … Continue reading PX78: A Disturbing Evening and Other Stories
PX88: Bad News #3
(August 15, 2021)Bad News #3 edited by Paul Karasik (206x260mm) This is the third and final issue of the magazine that started as a class assignment at the School of Visual Arts, but I think by this point, it wasn’t that at all… although it featured many people who had gone to the SVA (or been a … Continue reading PX88: Bad News #3
The Best Greatest Albums of All Time Ever
(August 14, 2021)I was looking at Noah Bertlasky’s book about the best ever (that is, it hasn’t been released yet, but I’ve looked at a couple of the things that will be included when it’s released in a couple of days), and while falling asleep yesterday, I thought “I wonder what my list would look like”… So … Continue reading The Best Greatest Albums of All Time Ever
10×10%
(August 14, 2021)Hey, that took only a month, which means that it’s time, once again, to display some Emacs charts. And since this is the tenth post in this series, I thought I’d natter on even more than usual. And perhaps some more about… having some vague goals as being the Emacs co-maintainer? OK, let’s see how … Continue reading 10×10%
PX87: The Fun House
(August 14, 2021)The Fun House by Lynda Barry (230x152mm) The previous Barry collection, Everything in the World, was a watershed — half the strips were about misc. adultish stuff, and half the stuff was about children’s lives. Both were good, but it seemed obvious that Barry was more inspired by the children’s stuff. So this collection is … Continue reading PX87: The Fun House
PX91: With Love From Hell & Greetings From Hell
(August 13, 2021)With Love From Hell & Greetings From Hell by Matt Groening (188x122mm & 162x108mm) 87th Dimension, eh? Anyway, the first of these postcard booklets is published by HarperPerennial, not Pantheon (who did the strip collections). So on the front of the postcard we get a Life in Hell strip… … and the back is mostly … Continue reading PX91: With Love From Hell & Greetings From Hell
PX01: Skin Deep
(August 12, 2021)Skin Deep by Charles Burns (235x313mm) This is the Fantagraphics reprint of the Penguin book published a decade earlier. I don’t know exactly how I ended up buying this edition, but I may just have forgotten that I had the Penguin book? In any case, the contents are identical, so see this for more about … Continue reading PX01: Skin Deep
PX92: Skin Deep
(August 11, 2021)Skin Deep by Charles Burns (228x304mm) This is the second Burns collection — the first was from Pantheon in 86 (and apparently didn’t sell), and this one is from Penguin. This collects mainly Burns’ Big Baby strips, but Big Baby doesn’t appear a lot here: In the first story, he shows up to introduce us … Continue reading PX92: Skin Deep
PX86: Raw #8: The Graphic Aspirin for War Fever
(August 10, 2021)Raw #8: The Graphic Aspirin for War Fever edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (266x360mm) I remember being disappointed when I got this in the mail as a teenager… I don’t really remember why now, but looking at the book now, it’s a less … special … object than the previous Raw issues. For … Continue reading PX86: Raw #8: The Graphic Aspirin for War Fever
TSP2018: Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema
(August 9, 2021)Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema. Mark Cousins. 2018. I was unable to locate this documentary anywhere for my Tilda Swinton project. If somebody knows where it can be found (either in some physical format or online), please let me know.
TSP1986: Caprice
(August 9, 2021)So, I’ve just watched The Souvenir Part II, which is a kinda-sorta autobio film… about making this film, I think. This may be Tilda Swinton’s first film? And she’s in The Souvenir, too, playing Joanna Hogg’s mother. It’s all very meta. It’s the earliest Swinton film I haven’t seen before (ed note — add some … Continue reading TSP1986: Caprice
TSP2017: Tania Libre
(August 9, 2021)Tania Libre. Lynn Hershman-Leeson. 2017. I was unable to locate this film anywhere for my Tilda Swinton project. If somebody knows where it can be found (either in some physical format or online), please let me know.
TSP2020: The Human Voice
(August 9, 2021)This was really good! Swinton and Almodóvar should work together more! And that’s totally what I want my next apt. to look like. I mean, a fake house in the middle of a big hangar. I’d love that. Yes, yes, I know, it’s all metaphorical and stuff, but I still want it. It’s gorgeously shot, … Continue reading TSP2020: The Human Voice
TSP2017: Last and First Men
(August 9, 2021)That’s what I want my living room to look like! In the 80s, if you were interested in interesting science fiction (think Octavia Butler, Joanna Russ or Samuel Delany), everybody would recommend the two Olaf Stapledon books — Last and First Men and Star Maker. They’re proto-sf novels… and I really did give it a … Continue reading TSP2017: Last and First Men
TSP2019: The Personal History of David Copperfield
(August 9, 2021)Is it that time of year again? I think it is! A few years back, I randomly decided to watch all of Tilda Swinton’s movies, and now I seem to be doing yearly mop-up evenings where I watch her new movies, and any old movies that I’ve been able to score ove the last year. … Continue reading TSP2019: The Personal History of David Copperfield
PX Stuff
(August 9, 2021)This is the back cover to a Steel Tips album by Mark Beyer. And the mind-boggling thing is that they put this amazing drawing on the back. Here’s the front. So now you’re all confused and wondering what it sounds like? You’re still confused? Me too. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix … Continue reading PX Stuff
PX96: Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer
(August 8, 2021)Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer by Ben Katchor (276x215mm) This book (published by Little, Brown) was exquisitely designed by Katchor himself. He sounded pretty disappointed with the design of his first book (from Penguin), so it’s understandable that he wanted to do it all himself this time around. The first book had a slightly gimmicky … Continue reading PX96: Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer
PX89: Akbar and Jeff’s Guide to Life
(August 7, 2021)Akbar and Jeff’s Guide to Life by Matt Groening (229x229mm) All the previous Life in Hell collections had been themed (Work/Love/School/Childhood), and I guess this one is, too — but it focuses on these characters (“brothers or lovers or both?”, as the saying went in the early days of Life in Hell) instead of, er, … Continue reading PX89: Akbar and Jeff’s Guide to Life
PX12: Daltokyo
(August 6, 2021)Daltokyo by Gary Panter (410x158mm) Hey! We’re back! I had another two week break from this blog series… which… er… happens in two weeks, according to how many are still in the scheduling queue… Confusing. But do I remember how to do these blogs now? Did I ever? If there’s one thing Fantagraphics isn’t known … Continue reading PX12: Daltokyo
PX92: Nozone #4: Utopia/Dystopia
(August 5, 2021)Nozone #4: Utopia/Dystopia (202x202mm) I’ve vaguely seen Nozone around, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually read an issue before? But it seems pertinent to my interests, so I got this issue, and we can have a look at it together… This is a pretty nice little object… it feels well-thought-out and designed. And the … Continue reading PX92: Nozone #4: Utopia/Dystopia
PX79: Slash volume two number six
(August 4, 2021)Slash volume two number six (295x383mm) Hey, no, don’t worry — I did one previous issue of Slash, and I’m doing this one, and then I’m not doing any more. And the reason I’m doing this one is that I had forgotten that I had bought the other issue, so I then had two. So … Continue reading PX79: Slash volume two number six
PX85: Raw #7: The Torn-Again Graphix Mag
(August 3, 2021)Raw #7: The Torn-Again Graphix Mag edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (265x360mm) This is the infamous “torn” edition of Raw: Every cover is hand-torn… although this edition seems to be more torn than others. (I don’t think they’re usually torn in the left-hand bottom corner, too?) *gasp* This copy is incomplete! The torn-off … Continue reading PX85: Raw #7: The Torn-Again Graphix Mag
PX92: Hypnotic Tales
(August 2, 2021)Hypnotic Tales by Richard Sala (213x276mm) OK, I seem to be digressing from the putative subject matter of this blog series more and more… I originally planned on focusing hard on the Raw period of comics (so, 1978-89… ish), and the artists around Raw, really. I wasn’t going to do anything newer than 1990, and … Continue reading PX92: Hypnotic Tales
July Music
(August 1, 2021)Music I’ve bought in July. I think this is the least amount of stuff I’ve bought in a one month period… probably ever? I’ve been busy (and listening to old music (i.e., from 2020)). But I did discover one thing that really made me feel… er… out of touch. That is, the Tiny Mix Tapes … Continue reading July Music
PX Stuff
(August 1, 2021)Devin and Gary Go Outside This is a CD by Devin Flynn and Gary Panter, published by Picturebox, apparently. It’s far out. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX80: World War 3 Illustrated #1
(July 31, 2021)World War 3 Illustrated #1 edited by Seth Tobocman, Peter Kuper and Christof Kohlhofer (202x270mm) When starting this Raw-focused blog series, I wondered whether I should do some World War 3 Illustrated, too — it was another anthology started in New York around the same time, and with as much claim on the phrase “punk … Continue reading PX80: World War 3 Illustrated #1
PX86: Everything in the World
(July 30, 2021)Everything in the World by Lynda Barry (230x149mm) “Love the hurly ding-dong.”!? Anyway, it’s been fun reading these early Lynda Barry books chronologically — I sorta knew that her style had changed a lot during her first (say) five years… but now we’re kinda getting near to the style she was going to use when … Continue reading PX86: Everything in the World
PX86: Hercules Amongst the North Americans
(July 29, 2021)Hercules Amongst the North Americans by Mark Marek (218x279mm) Marek’s previous book was published by a New York design firm… but now “new wave” comics is starting to become a thing, commercially, so Penguin dips their toes into the waters with this book. Wow. That’s the most accurate map of the US ever. I like … Continue reading PX86: Hercules Amongst the North Americans
PX81: The Previous Future
(July 28, 2021)The Previous Future edited by Pete Friedrich (215x275mm) This is published by Look Mom, Comics — the same people who published Psycho Comics. So I wasn’t going to cover this magazine in this blog series, but I had already bought it, and the cover looks pretty intriguing… so let’s give it a go. Oh, well: … Continue reading PX81: The Previous Future
PX87: Buzzbomb
(July 27, 2021)Buzzbomb by Kaz (280x380mm) OK, here’s my deepest, darkest secret: I’m not really much of a Kaz fan. So I haven’t read this book since it was published, and I pretty much forgot that it existed — otherwise I would have covered it in the Fantagraphics blog series. So: This is a big (Raw-sized) saddle-stitched … Continue reading PX87: Buzzbomb
PX Stuff
(July 26, 2021)Spy vs Spy by by John Zorn with a cover by Mark Beyer (1989). It’s Zorn doing hardcore/jazz versions of Ornette Coleman stuff. It’s fun! This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX84: Raw #6: The Graphix Magazine That Overestimates The Taste Of The American Public
(July 25, 2021)Raw #6: The Graphix Magazine That Overestimates The Taste Of The American Public edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (269x359mm) This is it: This is the first issue of Raw I read, and I was 15, and I thought it was the most amazing thing ever in the history of ever. Sure; I’d read … Continue reading PX84: Raw #6: The Graphix Magazine That Overestimates The Taste Of The American Public
PX Stuff
(July 24, 2021)Mark Beyer screen print. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX88: Childhood is Hell
(July 23, 2021)Childhood is Hell by Matt Groening (228x228mm) I’m slightly fascinated by the relentless drive towards mainstream (i.e., bookstore) respectability for basically all the books I’m covering in this blog series. In the pre-mainstream era, there was a certain freedom with formats — mostly stapled things, and often oddball (too large/too small) formats. This is a … Continue reading PX88: Childhood is Hell
PX81: Boys & Girls Grow Up #2-4
(July 22, 2021)Boys & Girls Grow Up #2-4 edited by Tom Campagnoli and Amy Crehore (216x280mm) I’m not quite sure where I happened onto these comics… I feel… I found them in a TAKE THEM AWAY WE HAVE TO GET RID OF THEM box at a comic book store. But those may be false memories. These are … Continue reading PX81: Boys & Girls Grow Up #2-4
PX88: Hard-Boiled Defective Stories
(July 21, 2021)Hard-Boiled Defective Stories by Charles Burns (229x305mm) Pantheon had released only a handful of comics by this time: The Life in Hell collections, Maus I and the Read Yourself Raw collection. That is, their taste level was impeccable. Still, I remember happening upon this in a bookstore in 1988, and I was kinda… surprised? It’s … Continue reading PX88: Hard-Boiled Defective Stories
PX84: Kromalaffing
(July 20, 2021)Kromalaffing edited by Michael Merrill (179x267mm) This is a catalogue: From February 4 to 25 of that year, Michael Merrill curated a gallery show called “ChromaZone/Chromatique Presents Kromalaffing” at Toronto’s Grünwald Gallery. The exhibition presented experimental and humorous comic artwork from American, Canadian and European artists. It was in 1984, and I think it had … Continue reading PX84: Kromalaffing
PX79: I’m in Training to be Tall and Blonde
(July 19, 2021)I’m in Training to be Tall and Blonde by Nicole Hollander (210x137mm) I thought it might be amusing to include a few things that’s sorta “adjacent” to the putative subject matter of this blog series. Nicole Hollander was a friend of Lynda Barry’s, started working a few years earlier (Hollander 76; Barry 79), appeared in … Continue reading PX79: I’m in Training to be Tall and Blonde
Oda
(July 19, 2021)All the intertubes were atwitter about the Oda Speakers last year. The concept is pretty odd: You buy these speakers, and then you buy a subscription to a series of concerts. You can only listen to these concerts on these speakers, and the speakers don’t really do much else. They do have a line in, … Continue reading Oda
A Cerebus-Inspired Roundtable on Sexism in Comics
(July 18, 2021)I was reading World War Illustrated 3 #16 when I happened upon an article by Trina Robbins that vaguely intersected with two recent subject matters on this blog: Cerebus and Art Spiegelman. Cerebus had raped Astoria, and Dave Sim had invited women to write in with their reactions. Robbins was impressed by the responses, so … Continue reading A Cerebus-Inspired Roundtable on Sexism in Comics
PX Stuff
(July 18, 2021)Amy + Jordan figure set published by Dark Horse in 1986 from a design by Mark Beyer. They’re soft and quite poseable — kinda like… silly puttyish, but retaining the shape? Probably lots of phthalates. I think they’re kinda cool — they look so much like Beyer’s artwork. This blog post is part of the … Continue reading PX Stuff
Comics Daze
(July 18, 2021)It’s a nice afternoon, so I thought I’d try reading out on the balcony… Sō Percussion, Dawn Upshaw, and Gil Kalish: Caroline Shaw: Narrow Sea 17:27: Le château des animaux vol 2 by Delep & Dorison (Shadow Zone) Oh, so this is basically a riff on Animal Farm? The level of anthropomorphism here is interesting: … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX98: Burning Monster
(July 17, 2021)Burning Monster by Gary Panter (216x160mm) This is a collection of stuff from 1983, but published by Le Dernier Cri in 1998. I think it’s all screenprinted? It feels that way, at least. It’s a stylish little book, with fold-in flaps and everything… Some of the pages look a bit like sketchbook work, but many … Continue reading PX98: Burning Monster
That Range, Tho
(July 17, 2021)I thought I’d move to the balcony for some comics reading, so I wanted to set up a bluetooth speaker there, and so I opened up the bt panel on my laptop: And on and on and on. There’s about 60 devices in the list, and most of them are called “Tier” and “lime”, so … Continue reading That Range, Tho
PX08: Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@꩜🟊!
(July 16, 2021)Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@꩜🟊! by Art Spiegelman (260x363mm) Man, that’s a bad cover… Well, the front endpapers look OK… But then… yuck! OK, I should probably explain what’s with all this kvetching. I just read the original version of this book, and it was such a thrilling book — a … Continue reading PX08: Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@꩜🟊!
PX77: Breakdowns: From Maus to Now
(July 15, 2021)Breakdowns: From Maus to Now by Art Spiegelman (260x360mm) I got this just a week ago, and I’m really excited to be fondling it now. I mean reading it! Reading it! Wow, the colour separation thing continues over the front endpapers, too… must have been so much work to do. Anyway, this is a collection … Continue reading PX77: Breakdowns: From Maus to Now
PX96: Amy + Jordan
(July 14, 2021)Amy + Jordan by Mark Beyer (285x135mm) Beyer seldom talks directly to the reader, so this was a change. Anyway, this book reprints Amy + Jordan strips from 89 to 91. It’s pretty essential Amy + Jordan. It seems like publishers see Beyer’s work and they think “hey! let’s make an art object!” The focus … Continue reading PX96: Amy + Jordan
PX87: School is Hell
(July 13, 2021)School is Hell by Matt Groening (229x229mm) Hi! Welcome back after that long, long pause in blog posts… what’s that you say? You didn’t notice any pause? Indeed! I was doing these with over a month’s lead time, and then I didn’t blog for almost a month, and now I’m back. Confused? Sure. Me too! … Continue reading PX87: School is Hell
9×10%
(July 13, 2021)Well, that didn’t take that long? Hm… Oh, I started this stretch on 2021-05-27, so it’s a month and a half? But at least the number of bugs actually decreased this cycle: Yes, you guessed it — it’s time for another one of these posts about Emacs bugs where I’m totally boasting while pretending that … Continue reading 9×10%
PX Stuff
(July 12, 2021)Four postcards by Joost Swarte printed by Françoise Mouly. This is kinda a random ebay find: I was just searching for stuff and then this popped up, and I couldn’t resist it. OK, perhaps I should just include all the postcards here, because they’re kinda nice: Heh heh. The back of the cards all look … Continue reading PX Stuff
Comics Daze
(July 11, 2021)It’s a sunny Sunday today, so what better way to spend it than on the couch, reading comics… Tuxedomoon: Live At The Palms (1978) 13:54: Crash Site by Nathan Cowdry (Fantagraphics) Oh, is this some kind of post Nick Drnaso thing? It has his colour scheme (which I hate), and his incompetent drawing style. And … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX05: Beyer’s Beasts
(July 11, 2021)Beyer’s Beasts by Mark Beyer (148x223mm) This is published by Dark Horse, and I wonder what was going on there for a brief second: They did this, the Amy & Jordan figures, and the Jimbo action figures — and then nothing more. (And nothing in this area before this.) So this is a stationary set … Continue reading PX05: Beyer’s Beasts
PX03: The Asshole
(July 10, 2021)The Asshole by Gary Panter (105x160mm) This was originally published as a photocopied mini by Panter in 1979 — what I have here is the reprint he did in 2003 with stiff cardboard covers. And I seem to have bought it in 2008? Possibly? Or later, I guess. I’m not sure I would have guessed … Continue reading PX03: The Asshole
PX86: Chemical Imbalance #4
(July 9, 2021)Chemical Imbalance #4 edited by Mike McGonigal (215x275mm) I was so impressed by #6 of this magazine — it was basically like a music version of The Comics Journal (format wise) — that I got this issue, too. #6 had a bunch of comics relevant to this blog series. But this is a very different … Continue reading PX86: Chemical Imbalance #4
PX91: Cheap Novelties: The Pleasures of Urban Decay
(July 8, 2021)Cheap Novelties: The Pleasures of Urban Decay by Ben Katchor (202x193mm) By this point, Penguin had taken over publishing Raw, so this is a kinda stealthy Raw One-Shot — it’s not presented as such on the front cover. This is a collection of Katchor’s alt-weekly comic strip Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer. (Which isn’t mentioned … Continue reading PX91: Cheap Novelties: The Pleasures of Urban Decay
PX Stuff
(July 7, 2021)Silkscreen onto transparent acrylic by Mark Beyer. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX83: Raw #5: The Graphix Magazine of Abstract Depressionism
(July 6, 2021)Raw #5: The Graphix Magazine of Abstract Depressionism edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (265x360mm) The Raw editorials started out pretty … er … abstract, but we’re solidly in chatty territory now. We’re told that the Pascal Doury piece in this issue has been censored — all the penises are replaced by white boxes, … Continue reading PX83: Raw #5: The Graphix Magazine of Abstract Depressionism
PX89: Flashmarks
(July 5, 2021)Flashmarks by Carel Moiseiwitsch (212x274mm) I covered this comic in the Fantagraphics Floppies blog series, too, but I couldn’t do a “punk comics” series without Moiseiwitsch, now could I? I see that I drew some comparisons between this work and Sue Coe in that blog post, and… I totally agree with myself. But it does … Continue reading PX89: Flashmarks
PX83: Big Ideas
(July 4, 2021)Big Ideas by Lynda Barry (216x139mm) I’ve got the reprint edition (from HarperCollins) of this book, but I assume the contents are pretty much the same as the Real Comet Press edition? Hm… “The Fun House”? I don’t have that book! Ebay shopping break! *two minutes pass* Yay! Got a copy. And I thought I’d … Continue reading PX83: Big Ideas
PX99: We’re Depressed
(July 3, 2021)We’re Depressed by Mark Beyer (327x330mm) This is a physically pretty unique book — it’s square and has these very thick pages — like a children’s book, I guess. It’s published by Water Row Books, who’ve done a bunch of high end publications. Bruno Richard does a… unique… introduction to the book (which is a … Continue reading PX99: We’re Depressed
PX86: Picture Story 2
(July 2, 2021)Picture Story 2 edited by Ben Katchor (214x276mm) Picture Story Magazine #1 was published by Katchor in 1978… and just eight years later, we have the second issue. This is a 64 page magazine sized book with cardboard covers and thick interior pages. Jerry Moriarty does the mysterious wrap-around cover. We start off with some … Continue reading PX86: Picture Story 2
PX99: Big Baby
(July 1, 2021)Big Baby by Charles Burns (235x312mm) Oh, the edition I have has a glued-in signature sheet, as well as a screenprinted print. Anyway, this reprints all of the Big Baby things — starting with the first two-pager from ram #5. It’s definitely the creepiest one, and Burns says (in the back of this book) that … Continue reading PX99: Big Baby
June Music
(July 1, 2021)Music I’ve bought in June. Hm… anything special this month? Nope, just looks like the normal mixture of new stuff and old stuff. One album that stood out in particular was the new one by Mia Doi Todd: It’s very pretty. Hm… Oh, yeah, there’s also a handful of things I got for my Punk … Continue reading June Music
PX Stuff
(June 30, 2021)Drawing in ink and gouache? on paper by Mark Beyer. I remember where I got this one — it was at the Lambiek comics store, and it was the most expensive thing I had ever bought. I was a student, and I really couldn’t afford it, but I had to have it. I think. Or … Continue reading PX Stuff
PX86: Raw One-Shot #5: Big Baby: Curse of the Molemen
(June 29, 2021)Raw One-Shot #5: Big Baby: Curse of the Molemen by Charles Burns (158x236mm) The end papers set the scene: We’re in a 50s child’s world. Well, that’s nice! “To my Big Baby — Jeffrey”. Or… is it? (I’m not sure whether snapping pics like this is an invasion of privacy or not, so I’ll just … Continue reading PX86: Raw One-Shot #5: Big Baby: Curse of the Molemen
Comics Daze
(June 28, 2021)Today’s a nice day for comics. It’s kinda… grey… Psychic TV: Dreams Less Sweet 14:37: The Gift by Zoe Maeve (Conundrum) Love the artwork here… … and it’s an intriguingly told fantasy about what the tsarinelles’ (that’s totally the correct word for “czar children”) lives (and deaths) were like. But… I just found myself annoyed … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX80: Slash volume 3 number 4
(June 28, 2021)Slash volume 3 number 4 edited by Claude Bessy and others (290x380mm) I thought it might be fun to have a look at a random issue of Slash — it is the birthplace of Gary Panter’s Jimbo, after all. Slash was published in LA, so we get a bunch of local in-jokes, like labelling pics … Continue reading PX80: Slash volume 3 number 4
PX81: Psycho Comics #1-2
(June 27, 2021)Psycho Comics #1-2 edited by Daniel Clowes (216x280mm) What’s this then? Surely this book doesn’t fit the theme of this blog series? No, it doesn’t, but I’m including it for two reasons: It’s from New York in 1981, and, er, I kinda bought these by mistake recently. Both excellent reasons! It’s also a contrast to … Continue reading PX81: Psycho Comics #1-2
PX82: Dead Stories
(June 26, 2021)Dead Stories by Mark Beyer (216x280mm) The odd thing about this book is that it looks so normal. It’s standard magazine-sized, with a heavier paper stock and white, matte paper. Beyer thanks Françoise Mouly, and she did have a printing press, but this surely can’t have been printed there? It’s so… professional. This copy is … Continue reading PX82: Dead Stories
First Post-Vax Festival
(June 26, 2021)It was the awesum.
Second Post-Vax Show
(June 25, 2021)It’s Stian Westerhus. It was the best ever. This was also nice. “I can’t bear it any longer!” I know the feeling. But it’s over! Sort of! Kind of! In some parts of the world! Except it’s not.
PX87: Work is Hell
(June 25, 2021)Work is Hell by Matt Groening (231x230mm) I seem to remember this sort of thing becoming a tradition in Life in Hell books? Anyway, this is the second Life in Hell collection, and it seems to be more considered commercially. We get an introduction to all the characters, and the characters now definitely have names. … Continue reading PX87: Work is Hell
PX82: Raw #4: The Graphix Magazine For Your Bomb Shelter’s Coffee Table
(June 24, 2021)Raw #4: The Graphix Magazine For Your Bomb Shelter’s Coffee Table edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (265x360mm) This was the earliest issue of Raw I had as a teenager — but it wasn’t the first issue I laid my hands on. I think I started buying them with the next issue? And then … Continue reading PX82: Raw #4: The Graphix Magazine For Your Bomb Shelter’s Coffee Table
First Post-Vax Show
(June 23, 2021)It was teh awesome. Guro Moe, Håvard Skaset and Helge Sten. I AM BACK
PX Stuff
(June 23, 2021)Mark Beyer silk screened poster. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX84: Bad News #2
(June 22, 2021)Bad News #2 edited by Mark Newgarden and Paul Karasik (270x390mm) The first issue of this magazine was published by the School of Visual Arts, but this issue was self-published by the editors. It’s in a similar format to Raw, but is a bit taller, which I guess means that it’s in tabloid format? It’s … Continue reading PX84: Bad News #2
PX17: 2016-17
(June 21, 2021)2016-17 by Mark Beyer (144x210mm) Huh. Why do I have two copies of this? Oops. This is published by Le Dernier Cri, and I’m assuming this is … sketchbook stuff from Beyer? The covers are screen-printed and the interiors are offset, I think. This artwork is a lot rougher than Beyer’s usually meticulous style, at … Continue reading PX17: 2016-17
PX81: Raw #3: The Graphix Magazine That Lost Its Faith In Nihilism
(June 20, 2021)Raw #3: The Graphix Magazine That Lost Its Faith In Nihilism edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (268x360mm) Huh. “Half-Raw (issue 3.5), a tabloid issue”? I don’t think that ever happened… Anyway, the first issue of Raw was stunning, and the second was a let-down (relatively speaking). One problem it had was just pacing … Continue reading PX81: Raw #3: The Graphix Magazine That Lost Its Faith In Nihilism
Mysteries of Communication
(June 20, 2021)Dear Web, since the world is opening up again, I thought it might be a good idea to spruce up the Concerts in Oslo apps for IOS and Android. Nothing major — just fix some minor layout issues and stuff like that. The Apple App Store submission was accepted within 12 hours (very nice), but … Continue reading Mysteries of Communication
PX86: Raw One-Shot #6: X
(June 19, 2021)X by Sue Coe with Judith Moore and Art Spiegelman (158x236mm) Sue Coe had previously illustrated How to Commit Suicide in South Africa, but this is also written by her. From the title you may have guessed that this book is about Malcolm X… but most of Coe’s pages don’t touch directly upon him. But … Continue reading PX86: Raw One-Shot #6: X
The Only Evo Benchmark That Matters
(June 19, 2021)I while back, I was rather impressed with the new M1 chip from Apple, so I wondered what Intel’s response to all that was going to be. (My guess was “not much”.) I mean… the Apple laptop was more than twice as fast as my Lenovo Carbon X1, and that was just pitiful. (On the … Continue reading The Only Evo Benchmark That Matters
PX87: Chemical Imbalance #6
(June 18, 2021)Chemical Imbalance #6 edited by Mike McGonigal (200x267mm) What’s this then? Isn’t this a blog series about punk comics, not punk music? Yes, but I’d thought it’d be fun to take a look at some of the more prominent zines of the time and see what’s up. So I went ebaying, and this was the … Continue reading PX87: Chemical Imbalance #6
PX Stuff
(June 17, 2021)Mark Beyer screenprint. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX89: Corpsemeat 2
(June 16, 2021)Corpsemeat 2 edited by Savage Pencil (300x405mm) This is a huge, all-screenprinted 24 page extravaganza — the printing is really superb. And since it’s screenprinted, they’ve helpfully included sheets of paper in between all the pages to keep the pages from melding into each other, as paint has a tendency to do. About half the … Continue reading PX89: Corpsemeat 2
Facebook Continues Its War Against The Web
(June 16, 2021)I just got jabbed again today, so I thought it was time to start going out to catch some concerts again. It’s been just a … year … since the last time, and meanwhile my Concerts in Oslo concert listing web scraper aggregation service hasn’t received a lot of love. I mean — everything’s been … Continue reading Facebook Continues Its War Against The Web
PX87: Love is Hell
(June 15, 2021)Love is Hell by Matt Groening (230x230mm) This is so weird — I’ve got the British edition of the expanded Pantheon edition of the Caplan collection. What’s so weird about it is that it’s from 1987, when I was 19, and I could have sworn that I had this book when I was like 16. … Continue reading PX87: Love is Hell
PX Stuff: Gary Panter in Slash
(June 14, 2021)Somebody has scanned and uploaded the entire run of Slash Magazine to the Internet Archive. So I thought it might be fun to pick out the Panter pages from that huge PDF and see whether there were any differences between the various editions of Jimbo (in Paradise) and the first printing here… and there is, … Continue reading PX Stuff: Gary Panter in Slash
PX04: Jimbo in Purgatory
(June 13, 2021)Jimbo in Purgatory by Gary Panter (314x445mm) This huge book took Panter a few years to make — started in 1997, and the introduction was written in 2001: And it’s obvious that Panter’s put a lot of work into this. It’s Panter’s most intricate work, certainly… But it’s totally not my kind of thing? Panter … Continue reading PX04: Jimbo in Purgatory
PX06: Jimbo’s Inferno
(June 12, 2021)Jimbo’s Inferno by Gary Panter (285x388mm) I didn’t mean to turn this blog series into Jimbo All The Time (it’s been more than a week now?), but once I started on the first Jimbo book, it seemed natural to just look at them all, since they connect in various ways. Mostly by being partial reprints … Continue reading PX06: Jimbo’s Inferno
PX95: Jimbo
(June 11, 2021)Jimbo by Gary Panter (168x242mm) A Simpsons comics publishing entity had been established a few years earlier (Bongo Comics), and Matt Groening apparently thought that was a good setup for publishing some of his friends, so the Zongo imprint was established. (It’s probably a good idea to keep these comics somewhat separate from the Simpsons … Continue reading PX95: Jimbo
PX Stuff
(June 10, 2021)Jimbo action figure designed by Gary Panter. This was produced by Dark Horse Comics, of all people. And… it’s a bit odd? I mean, Jimbo was never that swole in the comics. Has he been pumping iron and going on the roids? And I know you’re wondering: Yes, there’s a penis under the loin cloth. … Continue reading PX Stuff
My New Horticulture Blog
(June 10, 2021)For some reason, I didn’t take care of my plants on the balcony last year at all. (Did anything happen in 2020? I forget.) So even the weed (not the fun kind) died and I just ripped it all out: Blank slate! So it’s been kinda nice weather here lately, so I got a couple … Continue reading My New Horticulture Blog
Comics Daze
(June 9, 2021)It’s a beautiful day… a beautiful day to say on the couch and do nothing but read comics. 13 & God: Own Your Ghost 12:45: Girl in the World by Caroline Cash (Silver Sprocket) Silver Sprocket publishes a lot of good stuff, but they’re kinda variable? This one is brilliant, though — it’s got such … Continue reading Comics Daze
PX21: Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise
(June 9, 2021)Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise by Gary Panter (230x305mm) This is a reprint of the Pantheon (1988) edition of this book by New York Review Comics. They wisely didn’t use the cover of that book, though, but went with the inner cover of the 1982 edition. We get an introduction by artist Ed Ruscha… … but … Continue reading PX21: Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise
PX88: Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise
(June 8, 2021)Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise by Gary Panter (230x305mm) This Jimbo book is published by Pantheon Books in a less extravagant size than the previous two incarnations. And instead of being saddle-stitched, it’s squarebound, and both of those things make this seem like a more serious, less wild publication. Perhaps it’s to counter that that they’ve … Continue reading PX88: Jimbo: Adventures in Paradise
PX83: Jimbo: A Newwave Comic Art
(June 7, 2021)Jimbo: A Newwave Comic Art by Gary Panter (260x364mm) This is a Japanese edition of the first Jimbo book, and was apparently published the year after. I don’t know what the story behind this was — somebody in Japan saw the book and were so enthused that they had to do an edition straight away? … Continue reading PX83: Jimbo: A Newwave Comic Art
PX82: Raw One-Shot #1: Jimbo
(June 6, 2021)Raw One-Shot #1: Jimbo by Gary Panter (278x368mm) Let’s do a Jimbo mini-series in this blog series: The rest of the week we’ll be looking at various Jimbo permutations. The cover here is corrugated cardboard with a coloured inlay glued to it. And I guessed by looking at it on the intertubes that it was … Continue reading PX82: Raw One-Shot #1: Jimbo
PX Stuff
(June 5, 2021)Painting on acrylic by Mark Beyer. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX84: Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Coloring Book
(June 4, 2021)Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Coloring Book by Lynda Barry (278x355mm) I hope Steve liked the book. Is that an official designation? Anyway, I don’t think the “coloring book” thing is meant to be taken seriously, but this is a huge black-and-white book with drawings of naked ladies and Barry writing about her childhood … Continue reading PX84: Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Coloring Book
PX03: Panter Versus Beyer
(June 3, 2021)Panter Versus Beyer by Gary Panter and Mark Beyer (322x465mm) I guess you could call this a portfolio? It’s got four folded sheets of paper in a slightly larger cover/folder. Each sheet of paper is printed on both sides — usually with two separate images on the “outer” side… … and one larger image on … Continue reading PX03: Panter Versus Beyer
PX83: Mark Marek’s New Wave Comics
(June 2, 2021)Mark Marek’s New Wave Comics by Mark Marek (208x270mm) Mark Marek explains how this book came to be published. It’s striking how few of the books I’m covering in this blog series are published by… well… publishers. The alternative comic book market wasn’t huge at the time, but publishers like Fantagraphics did exist, and book … Continue reading PX83: Mark Marek’s New Wave Comics
PX79: Okupant X
(June 1, 2021)Okupant X by Gary Panter (140x216mm) This is a most curious book. It was published in 1979 by Diana’s Bimonthly Press, with a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. It’s offset-printed (I think; very shiny ink) and stapled. I tried googling the publisher, and I’m finding things like: And: But nothing that says … Continue reading PX79: Okupant X
May Music
(June 1, 2021)Music I’ve bought in May. I’ve got virtually no new music this week — I’ve been listening mostly to stuff I bought last year. So behind the times.
PX00: Lost Faces
(May 31, 2021)Lost Faces by Mark Beyer (138x122mm) This little 12 page booklet (apparently drawn in 1995) comes in a little sleeve, making the book feel a little more luxurious. Amy & Jordan have gotten a bit chunkier? Other than that, everything is as usual: It all ends as well as you’d suppose. This was published in … Continue reading PX00: Lost Faces
PX83: Raw One-Shot #2: How to Commit Suicide in South Africa
(May 30, 2021)Raw One-Shot #2: How to Commit Suicide in South Africa by Sue Coe and Holly Metz (268x360mm) I’ve had this book for a few years now, but I’ve never read it — I thought it would just be too depressing. Spoilers: It is. We start off with a poem by Bernadine… … but then the … Continue reading PX83: Raw One-Shot #2: How to Commit Suicide in South Africa
PX Stuff
(May 29, 2021)Painting onto cel plastic by Mark Beyer. This blog post is part of the Punk Comix series.
PX80: Raw #2: The Graphix Magazine for Damned Intellectuals
(May 28, 2021)Raw #2 edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (268x360mm) I love that cover by Joost Swarte. I had a subscription to Raw, but when they cancelled Raw after #8, they sent me this poster as a substitute for the remaining issue(s): The poster has a much better tag line than Raw #2: “Putting the … Continue reading PX80: Raw #2: The Graphix Magazine for Damned Intellectuals
PX81: Girls and Boys
(May 27, 2021)Girls and Boys by Lynda Barry (218x139mm) My first exposure to Lynda Barry was in The Comics Journal #92: I was just fascinated by this, and I so wanted to read Ernie Pook’s Comeek. It’s not that these jokes are the funniest in the world (but they are funny) — it was the artwork. Her … Continue reading PX81: Girls and Boys
PX78: Picture Story Magazine #1
(May 26, 2021)Picture Story Magazine #1 edited by Ben Katchor (215x276mm) A lot of the comics I’m covering in this blog series I’ve had since I was a teenager — but more obscure ones, like this book, I’ve picked up over the last few years while thinking about doing this blog series. (Believe it or not, picking … Continue reading PX78: Picture Story Magazine #1
8×10%
(May 26, 2021)Status update on my Emacs Bug Chasing Project: It’s been three month since the last post in this series, and that’s because… I took a few months off. I had meant to take a vacation lasting just a couple of weeks, but I have a very one track mind: Either I’m doing This Thing, or … Continue reading 8×10%
PX84: Raw One-Shot #4: Invasion of the Elvis Zombies
(May 25, 2021)Raw One-Shot #4: Invasion of the Elvis Zombies by Gary Panter (165x233mm) This was published in 1984, and I was 16 at the time. I remember being very puzzled by the book: I’d read a couple of issues of Raw at the time, but this was … something else? First of all, the format: It’s … Continue reading PX84: Raw One-Shot #4: Invasion of the Elvis Zombies
PX84: Raw One-Shot #3: Jack Survives
(May 20, 2021)Raw One-Shot #3: Jack Survives by Jerry Moriarty (268x358mm) This is a book I wasn’t able to find when I was a teenager — I didn’t score a copy until about a decade ago… But I’d seen Moriarty’s pages in Raw, and I’d seen pics of the book itself on the interwebses. But I didn’t … Continue reading PX84: Raw One-Shot #3: Jack Survives
PX83: Bad News #1: World Ends
(May 19, 2021)Bad News #1: World Ends possibly edited by Paul Karasik (210x260mm) According to comics.org, Bad News was: Started as a SVA class project assigned by Art Spiegelman in order to give his students some practical experience. Mark Newgarden confirms in The Comics Journal #161, page 84: KELLY; You used to edit a comic anthology, Bad … Continue reading PX83: Bad News #1: World Ends
PX Stuff
(May 18, 2021)Painting on glass by Mark Beyer. Beyer’s done a bunch of paintings onto acrylics (“plexiglass”) and other kinds of transparent plastics, but this is the only one I’ve seen that’s painted onto real glass. I had this one mounted to that you could see the back, too: Neat, eh? The framer said she never wanted … Continue reading PX Stuff
PX79: Work and Turn
(May 17, 2021)Work and Turn by Art Spiegelman (75x82mm) This curious little book (and it’s very small — 7.5x8cm) was presumably printed by Mouly and Spiegelman on their own press? It’s got one panel per page, but only on the right-hand page… I think it’s about sex and dancing? Some of the pages repeat… … like this … Continue reading PX79: Work and Turn
The Twits
(May 16, 2021)Over on the movie blog, I’m been amusing myself by formatting the director name(s) in the first image of each post in a way that’ll look consistent on Twitter — taking Twitter’s cropping/fixed-width thing in account. I know! So vital. Example: See how the text is the same size, visually, in every image? Which is … Continue reading The Twits
PX80: Raw #1: The Graphix Magazine of Postponed Suicides
(May 16, 2021)Raw #1 edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (268x370mm) The immediately striking thing about Raw is its size: 27x36cm (or 10.5″ x 14.12″). It’s not quite tabloid size, which would be 11 x 17 inches, so quite a lot higher — the form factor is slightly taller than a European album, but larger. I … Continue reading PX80: Raw #1: The Graphix Magazine of Postponed Suicides
PX80: Ralph Records no. 5
(May 15, 2021)Ralph Records no. 5 by Ralph Records (41x91mm) What? Wasn’t this supposed to be a blog series about comics? What’s this then? A record catalogue? Indeed, because it has this: The Rozz-Tox Manifesto. This may or may not be the first place Gary Panter’s manifesto was published. This page, for instance, says that it was … Continue reading PX80: Ralph Records no. 5
Punk Comix
(May 14, 2021)I grew up on a steady diet of Franco-Belgian comics, Carl Barks and various sundries. But perhaps it was reading my first issue of Raw Magazine that made me a comics fanatic, and I’ve been fascinated with that particular time and place in comics history ever since. Raw, to me, represents something qualitatively different from … Continue reading Punk Comix
Comics Daze
(May 9, 2021)It’s a grey, rainy Sunday… perhaps today is a good day to spend reading comics? It is? Great! Zonal: Wrecked 12:29: In Pictopia by Alan Moore, Donald Simpson and others (Fantagraphics) This is that story from Anything Goes, the Fantagraphics benefit series, right? (Somebody had sued The Comics Journal because they were mad about something … Continue reading Comics Daze
Renegades & Aardvarks Redux
(May 6, 2021)Let’s start off with a list of all the comics, and then there’s a summary after that. Cerebus (1977) #1-25 Cerebus (1981) #26-50 Swords of Cerebus (1981) #1-6
A&R1990: Cerebus #139-150
(May 5, 2021)Cerebus (1990) #139-150 by Dave Sim and Gerhard So, Renegade Press is now a thing of the past, so all I have to do in this blog series is about 150 issues of Cerebus, and then Cerebus Archives and Glamourpuss, and… Let’s get to it. Sim starts off with a jibe at people who didn’t … Continue reading A&R1990: Cerebus #139-150
A&R1988: Spiral Cage
(May 4, 2021)Spiral Cage (1988) by Al Davison Here we are — the final Renegade Press comic. (It’s possible that other comics trickled out after this, but it’s the last #1, though.) And it’s a total outlier in the Renegade library: For one, it’s not a newsprint pamphlet — instead it’s a squarebound book with white paper: … Continue reading A&R1988: Spiral Cage
A&R1988: Starbikers
(May 3, 2021)Starbikers (1988) #1 by Ronn Sutton Sutton writes an introduction and explains what this comic is: It’s a reprint of Starbikers stories that had appeared in the Vortex and Black Zeppelin anthologies. The reason for this reprint is that they were launching a new ongoing title — T-Minus-1 — that had Starbikers as the lead … Continue reading A&R1988: Starbikers
A&R1988: T-Minus 1
(May 2, 2021)T-Minus 1 (1988) #1 by David Day, Ronn Sutton, Gene Day and Dan Day So this is basically yet another Day Brothers anthology (and Renegade had published more than a handful of thse)… but teaming up with Ronn Sutton this time around. We lead off with a Starbikers story (David Day inking Sutton), and … … Continue reading A&R1988: T-Minus 1
A&R1988: Tony Bravado, Trouble-Shooter
(May 1, 2021)Tony Bravado, Trouble-Shooter (1988) #1 by Dave Darrigo, Steve LeBlanc and Louis Paradis You may remember Dave Darrigo from Wordsmith… or not. So here’s him with a couple of newcomers to comics. Let’s read the first three pages. Well… ouch? The artwork is very variable — Tony’s chin grows and shrinks in every panel. And… … Continue reading A&R1988: Tony Bravado, Trouble-Shooter
April Music
(May 1, 2021)Music I’ve bought in April. What! It’s been another month? Time flies when… er… did I do anything at all this month? And I can’t really remember buying music according to some… idea… this month, either, so it’s just random stuff. Find of the month is Espen Reinertsen: I saw a live streaming thing of … Continue reading April Music
A&R1988: Suburban Nightmares
(April 30, 2021)Suburban Nightmares (1988) #1-4 by Larry Hancock, Michael Cherkas and John van Bruggen One of the more successful (both commercially and critically) comics at Renegade was The Silent Invasion — so this is a spin-off off of that, sort of. That is, it’s the same creators, working in much the same milieu. And this was … Continue reading A&R1988: Suburban Nightmares
A&R1988: Trypto the Acid Dog
(April 29, 2021)Trypto the Acid Dog (1988) #1 by Bill Mumy, Miguel Ferrer and Steve Leialoha Max Allan Collins (of Ms. Tree fame) writes the introduction here — which is very usual for Renegade. The vast majority of the books have little or no contextualisation… which I kinda like. So let’s skip the introduction and just start … Continue reading A&R1988: Trypto the Acid Dog
Elaine Lee Comics Redux
(April 29, 2021)In my very humble opinion, Starstruck (by Elaine Lee and Michael William Kaluta) is one of the best things… ever… in any medium. But I hadn’t really sought out any of the other books that Lee had written, and I thought it might be fun to do that — while blogging about the experience. Here’s … Continue reading Elaine Lee Comics Redux
ELC1980: Starstruck
(April 29, 2021)Starstruck by Elaine Lee with Susan Norfleet Lee & Dale Place, published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc. Time flies like a banana. The previous post in this blog series was half a year ago, but I kinda forgot to write the final post, since I got sidetracked there for a bit… (Oh, Here’s an explanation … Continue reading ELC1980: Starstruck
A&R1988: Cerebus #112-138
(April 28, 2021)Cerebus (1988) #112-138 by Dave Sim & Gerhard Hey, it’s been a while since this blog series covered a block of Cerebus issues, and that’s because the bulk of the Renegade publications happened while Church & State (vol 2) was rolling. (And there’s only a handful more Renegade series to do after this post.) But … Continue reading A&R1988: Cerebus #112-138
A&R1987: Kilgore
(April 27, 2021)Kilgore (1987) #1-4 by Brian B. Chin and Jesse Jarvis When I’m typing these blog posts (I wouldn’t call it “writing”), I generally do so after I’ve read the entire series I’m er typing about, but I do so as if I was typing in real time while reading? (Rare peek behind the scenes! Secrets … Continue reading A&R1987: Kilgore
A&R1987: Agent Unknown
(April 26, 2021)Agent Unknown (1987) #1-3 by Robert Sodero, Dell Barras and others Man, that’s an amateurish-looking logo. But let’s read the first three pages. As usual in a Renegade series, there’s no contextualisation as to what we’re reading — my immediate thought upon seeing these pages was that this had to be a reprint of a … Continue reading A&R1987: Agent Unknown
A&R1987: Roscoe! The Dawg, Ace Detective
(April 25, 2021)Roscoe! The Dawg, Ace Detective (1987) #1-4 by Martin Trengove and others Roscoe! The Dawg had appeared in various issues of Fox — the Australian anthology, but this is his first solo series. Let’s have a look at the first three pages: Yes, indeed, we’re in zany noir pastiche territory. I assumed that this was … Continue reading A&R1987: Roscoe! The Dawg, Ace Detective
A&R1987: Mechthings
(April 24, 2021)Mechthings (1987) #1-4 by Brad W. Foster Oh, I remember him — Foster used to pop up in various small press anthologies all the time, and I like his artwork and zany humour. Well, the artwork is like I remembered it — it’s kinda… uhm… it reminds me of Howard Cruse (the stippling and the … Continue reading A&R1987: Mechthings
A&R1987: Ms. Tree’s 1950’s Three-Dimensional Crime
(April 23, 2021)Ms. Tree’s 1950’s Three-Dimensional Crime (1987) #1 by Nick Alascia, Pete Morisi, Ray Zone and others OK, I’m up for some 3D Ms. Tree stories… sure… Oops. That didn’t turn out so good. But instead of that, Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty explain that they just don’t have the time to do a special, … Continue reading A&R1987: Ms. Tree’s 1950’s Three-Dimensional Crime
A&R1987: Robot Comics
(April 22, 2021)Robot Comics (1987) #0 by Bob Burden Burden is, of course, most famous for the Flaming Carrot series, also published by Renegade. This is apparently a reprinting of a comic Burden had done in 1981. “Elecra-Fiction” is the name of the genre. Let’s read the opening spread: OK, so it’s prime Burden lunacy. The entire … Continue reading A&R1987: Robot Comics
A&R1987: Renegade Romance
(April 21, 2021)Renegade Romance (1987) #1-2 edited by Deni Loubert with Trina Robbins Ah, these are comics I remember fondly from when I was a teenager, but I haven’t read them since then. That’s a nice pair of covers from the Hernandez brothers, isn’t it? As usual, I’m bewildered at how little hard selling is going on … Continue reading A&R1987: Renegade Romance
A&R1987: Shadows from the Grave
(April 20, 2021)Shadows from the Grave (1987) #1-2 by Kevin McConnell, David Day and Dan Day I had the second issue of this as a teenager, but I never bothered getting the first one at the time, so I’ve got a bad feeling about this… Well, OK, the artwork by the Day Brothers is pretty nicely rendered … Continue reading A&R1987: Shadows from the Grave
A&R1987: Jacques Boivin’s Love Fantasy
(April 19, 2021)Jacques Boivin’s Love Fantasy (1987) #1 by Jacques Boivin and others This comic has three short stories, all with artwork by Boivin, but with different writers, which is a somewhat unusual approach. The first one is written by Mike Baron (of Nexus fame, presumably). It’s a vignette about a guy without any particular qualities (except … Continue reading A&R1987: Jacques Boivin’s Love Fantasy
A&R1987: Friends
(April 18, 2021)Friends (1987) #1-3 by Bill Dinardo When I was considering doing a blog series about Renegade, the first thing that popped into my mind was “Yeah! Friends! I get to read Friends again!” Which is pretty odd, since I could just re-read it anyway, but… I remember Friends well from when I was a teenager. … Continue reading A&R1987: Friends
A&R1987: Wimmen’s Comix
(April 17, 2021)Wimmen’s Comix (1987) #11-13 The first ten issues of Wimmen’s Comix were published by Last Gasp. I’ve got them here in some shortbox somewhere, but since this is a blog series about Renegade, I’m gonna skip re-reading them now. Besides, I re-read it all somewhat recently when I got the box set collecting the entire … Continue reading A&R1987: Wimmen’s Comix
A&R1987: Kafka
(April 16, 2021)Kafka (1987) #1-6 by Steven T. Seagle & Stefano Gaudiano (I will be discussing the plot of this 35 year old comic here (which I usually don’t much), so if you don’t want spoilers, skip this one.) This was a series I had when I was a teenager — and I remember really liking it, … Continue reading A&R1987: Kafka
A&R1987: Holiday Out
(April 15, 2021)Holiday Out (1987) #1-3 by Michael Vance and an unknown number of other people Content Warning: I’ve tried to keep this blog series polite, because 1) shouting at forty year old comics isn’t cute, and 2) I chose to read these comics of my own volition, and 3) there should probably be a 3). So, … Continue reading A&R1987: Holiday Out
A&R1987: French Ice
(April 14, 2021)French Ice (1987) #1-13 by Lelong, Binet and others You can’t really say that the end is within reach for this blog series, but we are kinda starting to see Renegade winding down: This is the final series they published that reached double digits. But we’re in February 1987, and the black and white boom … Continue reading A&R1987: French Ice
A&R1986: Open Season
(April 13, 2021)Open Season (1986) #1-6, Open Season (1989) #7 by Jim Bricker Hey! I remember this series from when I was a teenager… well… OK, you got me: I just remember having about half of the issues, but I don’t remember anything about the contents. Except it being kinda… like… sitcom-ish? Or was it more drama-ish? … Continue reading A&R1986: Open Season
A&R1986: Revolver Annual
(April 12, 2021)Revolver Annual (1986) #1 edited by Robin Snyder Robin Snyder’s Revolver anthology had been coming out at a steady clip at Renegade — under various names, but with basically the same kind of content: Some Ditko material as the meat of the issue, and then some Henry Boltinoff, and then whatever people had lying around, … Continue reading A&R1986: Revolver Annual
Comics Daze
(April 11, 2021)Hang on… I read comics all day yesterday. Is it possible to do that two days in a row? Let’s find out! Hm… music… I’m still in a nostalgic mood: Let’s go with Talking Heads. Talking Heads: 77 08:48: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Mannie Murphy (Fantagraphics) So… this is a book … Continue reading Comics Daze
A&R1986: Eternity Smith
(April 10, 2021)Eternity Smith (1986) #1-5 by Dennis Malonee, Rick Hoberg and others This is Renegade’s first (and I think only) colour book. And it’s a kinda-sorta super-hero book (well, it’s got a guy running around in leotards who has (augmented) powers, so I think it counts). Both are unusual things for Renegade to be publishing… and … Continue reading A&R1986: Eternity Smith
Comics Daze
(April 10, 2021)It’s a nice day for reading comics. And I could listen to… hm… Yeah! I’ll listen to a lot of Bowie. It’s a Bowie kind of day. David Bowie: Space Oddity 06:02: I Wish I Could Say “Thank You” by Yukari Takinami (Fanfare/Ponent Mon) So this book is about the artist’s mother dying from pancreatic … Continue reading Comics Daze
A&R1986: Murder
(April 9, 2021)Murder (1986) #1-3 edited by Robin Snyder Another three months, another anthology from Robin Snyder. The first ones were centred on various Ditko bits that he apparently had lying around, but this one doesn’t mention Ditko at all on the cover. Let’s have a look at how the first issue starts: Well, OK, there’s more … Continue reading A&R1986: Murder
A&R1986: Ms. Tree Summer Special
(April 8, 2021)Ms. Tree Summer Special (1986) #1 by Max Allan Collins, Terry Beatty and Gary Kato I covered the main run of Ms. Tree here, but there’s a couple of specials to mop up. This is the first one: The Rock’n’Roll Summer Special. We’re into the days of the Black and White Boom, and Deni Loubert … Continue reading A&R1986: Ms. Tree Summer Special
A&R1986: The Puma Blues
(April 7, 2021)The Puma Blues (1986) #1-23 by Stephen Murphy and Michael Zulli Oh! This is a series I remember well from when I was a teenager. That is, I don’t remember much of the specifics, but I remember the pensive atmosphere and the sight of those manta rays floating in the sky. It used to be … Continue reading A&R1986: The Puma Blues
A&R1986: Cases of Sherlock Holmes
(April 6, 2021)Cases of Sherlock Holmes (1986) #1-15 by Dan Day and Arthur Conan Doyle We’re in May 1986, a low point in American comics publishing: These are the hectic days of the dreaded Black and White Boom, when dozens and dozens of fly-by-night publishers would get their cousins to draw up something, anything that could be … Continue reading A&R1986: Cases of Sherlock Holmes
March Music
(March 31, 2021)Music I’ve bought in March. It occurred to me that Cabaret Voltaire had released a bunch of 12″ singles from their mid-80s period that I didn’t have. So I’ve fixed that this month. Other than that… it’s been a quiet month. Just the normal random selection of new and old stuff.
A&R1986: Terry Beatty’s The Phony Pages
(March 28, 2021)Terry Beatty’s The Phony Pages (1986) #1-2 by Terry Beatty This is a collection of stuff Beatty had previously published here and there, mainly in the Buyers Guide for Comics Fandom, so I didn’t have high hopes for this mini-series: Especially since it’s from the height of the black and white boom. But let’s look … Continue reading A&R1986: Terry Beatty’s The Phony Pages
A&R1986: Cecil Kunkle
(March 27, 2021)Cecil Kunkle (1986) #1-3 by Charles A. Wagner I had the first issue of this series as a teenager, but never read it for some reason or other. But some trepidation, let’s read the first three pages together: *gulp* The early desktop publishing lettering (I think that’s what it is? Did that exist in 1985?) … Continue reading A&R1986: Cecil Kunkle
A&R1986: Ditko’s World featuring Static
(March 26, 2021)Ditko’s World featuring Static (1986) #1-3 by Steve Ditko This series is sometimes referred to as Revolver #7-9 — Robin Snyder was putting together a monthly series of Ditko stuff at Renegade, but varying the title. And here they’ve kinda-sorta ditched the “Revolver” title, which is probably a good idea, since anthologies don’t sell. Let’s … Continue reading A&R1986: Ditko’s World featuring Static
Comics Daze
(March 23, 2021)What a lovely day. So why not spend it reading comics all day long? Yes, why not. The other day, I tidied up my stacks of unread comics, and I unearthed a bunch of pamphlets and minis hidden in between all the bigger comics, so let’s start with those… and I’ll put a bunch of … Continue reading Comics Daze
A&R1986: The Silent Invasion
(March 22, 2021)The Silent Invasion (1986) #1-12 by Larry Hancock, Michael Cherkas and others I do remember Silent Invasion from when I was a teenager. However, I wasn’t really a fan — that is, I bought the first couple of issues, and then I dropped it. But I have no idea why… I can’t recall what I … Continue reading A&R1986: The Silent Invasion
A&R1986: Howard Cruse’s Barefootz
(March 21, 2021)Howard Cruse’s Barefootz The Comix Book Stories (1986) #1 by Howard Cruse Cruse had published a three issue Barefootz series at Kitchen Sink in the 70s, but had also used the character in the short-lived Marvel “underground” magazine Comix Book. This book reprints these strips. I really like Cruse’s comics — they’ve got a lighthearted … Continue reading A&R1986: Howard Cruse’s Barefootz
A&R1986: Amusing Stories
(March 20, 2021)Amusing Stories (1986) #1 by Scott Shaw and Don Dougherty This was solicited as a continuing series, but only a single issue was published. Half the issue is Dougherty’s Blast — I did a quick Google, and this seems to be the only appearance of these characters. It’s a zany space action comedy thing, and … Continue reading A&R1986: Amusing Stories
A&R1986: Maxwell Mouse Follies
(March 19, 2021)Maxwell Mouse Follies (1986) #1-6 by Joe Sinardi We’re now in the Black and White boom period of the US comics market — patient zero, Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters #1, had been released and had shown that people desperate for the next Teenage Mutant etc Turtles would snap up any #1, as long as … Continue reading A&R1986: Maxwell Mouse Follies
A&R1986: Strata
(March 18, 2021)Strata (1986) #1-5 by Joe Judt, Ray Murtaugh, Jim Brozman and others Renegade’s publishing profile is pretty odd, to say the least, but most of the series published by Loubert up till now had been by a single creator, or at most a writer/artist pair. This is the first that has a writer/penciller/inker line-up, I … Continue reading A&R1986: Strata
Walt Kelly Weighs In On The Stan Lee Controversy
(March 17, 2021)(According to this, Lee didn’t start using “Excelsior!” as his catchphrase until 1960, and this Pogo is from 1959, so either the chronology doesn’t work, or… KELLY HAD ESPN!!!)
A&R1986: Manimal
(March 17, 2021)Manimal (1986) #1 by Ernie Colón Renegade was a very hands-off company, editorially… but for such a creator-friendly publisher, they sure were vague about credits. Nowhere in this comic does it say explicitly who created it. Even the indicia is vague: It’s “© 1985”, but by whom? (Who? Hoo?) It was “designed & produced” by … Continue reading A&R1986: Manimal
A&R1985: Cerebus #81-111
(March 16, 2021)Cerebus (1985) #81-111 by Dave Sim & Gerhard This batch of Cerebus comics are the issues collected as Church & State II; December 1985 to June 1988. Let’s see how it starts: Ah, yeah: Cerebus is the Eastern Pope, but had been thrown into the Lower City (of Iest) by a Thrunk, a very big … Continue reading A&R1985: Cerebus #81-111
Oddball Raspberry Pi Screen Resolutions
(March 13, 2021)A couple years back I bought a Dasung Paperline HD to use as an alarm clock, and it’s worked perfectly. However, the little FitPC computer I was using died today. I was looking through the Cupboards of Mystery to see if I had anything here that I could replace it with, and I found a … Continue reading Oddball Raspberry Pi Screen Resolutions
A&R1985: Revolver
(March 9, 2021)Revolver (1985) #1-6 edited by Robin Snyder Deni Loubert says in the introduction to this anthology that she’s not much of a fan of anthologies. Myself, I love anthologies: Every issue is an opportunity to surprise and delight the readers with something new and unexpected. But I understand why many people shy away from anthologies: … Continue reading A&R1985: Revolver
A&R1985: Wordsmith
(March 9, 2021)Wordsmith (1985) #1-12 by Dave Darrigo and Richard G. Taylor I liked Renegade a lot back in the 80s, and comics like this were a major part of that: Comics that just seem… out of whack with what anybody else was publishing. This comic is about a pulp writer… in the mid-to-late 30s… and… that’s … Continue reading A&R1985: Wordsmith
MCMXXXIX Redux
(March 6, 2021)It’s over? It’s over! So, after doing a blog series where I watched one movie per year for a century (1919-2018, I think), I then did a blog series for every month in a decade (the 40s), and this one was one movie per week in a year (1939). You may be noticing a pattern … Continue reading MCMXXXIX Redux
MCMXXXIX LII: Invisible Stripes
(March 6, 2021)Invisible Stripes. Lloyd Bacon. 1939. This is it! The final movie in this blog series; a Bogart movie released in the last week of 1939. This is pretty good. A quite noir noir. Heh heh. This evil capitalist wanted to hire Raft to snitch at the workers at his plant and Raft decked him! Pow! … Continue reading MCMXXXIX LII: Invisible Stripes
MCMXXXIX LI: Gulliver’s Travels
(March 5, 2021)Gulliver’s Travels. Dave Fleischer. 1939. Oh, it’s animated! Is this the first animated movie in this blog series? I think it may be. Directed by Dave Fleischer… It quite un-Disney so far. It’s very odd, though. The animation shifts wildly between being quite good and OH MY GOD WHAT”S GOING ON WITH THAT FACE THE … Continue reading MCMXXXIX LI: Gulliver’s Travels
MCMXXXIX L: Gone with the Wind
(March 5, 2021)Gone With The Wind. George Cukor, Victor Fleming, Sam Wood. 1939. So we’re now in December 1939, and I have only three movies to go in this blog series. This one is … big. Long? Long. Ooops. I had forgotten that this movie is so long that is has an overture. So it starts seven … Continue reading MCMXXXIX L: Gone with the Wind
The Best Comics of 2020
(March 5, 2021)It’s been a year and… some… and I forgot to do a year end summary. I know! It’s what you all were waiting for. So: When I read comics, the ones that are particularly cool end up on a little shelf near the couch where I can look at them fondly while doing other things. … Continue reading The Best Comics of 2020
MCMXXXIX XLIX: The Devil’s Daughter
(March 4, 2021)The Devil’s Daughter. Arthur H. Leonard. 1939. The audio and video quality here is horrible… but I’m enjoying this already. Love this tune. This is a super low budget movie, but it does have a certain charm? I guess it’s mostly down to the actors — it’s not that they’re… convincing… but it’s all very … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XLIX: The Devil’s Daughter
MCMXXXIX XLVIII: Destry Rides Again
(March 3, 2021)Destry Rides Again. George Marshall. 1939. Oh, I thought this was one of those serial movies… Destry Comes To Town… Destry Fights the Indians… Destry Rides Again. But no; it’s got Marlene Dietrich, and it’s one of those them there serious westerns. Well, OK, this isn’t exactly a serious western… but it’s mainly in the … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XLVIII: Destry Rides Again
MCMXXXIX XLVII: Day-Time Wife
(March 3, 2021)Day-Time Wife. Gregory Ratoff. 1939. This is fun! It’s a cheap, quick little B movie, but with higher production values than usual. It’s about the wife of a guy that’s obviously stepping out… or is he!?!? This is almost hilarious. Tyrone Power isn’t really miscast here, but… somebody funnier would have made this so much … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XLVII: Day-Time Wife
MCMXXXIX XLVI: Tower of London
(March 3, 2021)Tower of London. Rowland V. Lee. 1939. That’s phat. Eeevil! Eyes. EYES! I don’t know about this movie… all the actors are chewing the scenery in a most pleasant way, but it’s still not… quite… clicking. This could almost be a camp classic, but instead it’s just kinda damp? Kill those dolls! Kill them! This … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XLVI: Tower of London
Comics Daze
(March 2, 2021)Geez. Why did I get up this early? Well, I could spend all day reading comics… it’s been so long since I’ve had an opportunity to do that! Busy busy. OK, I’ve put some oldies on the stereo. Let’s do it. ESG: ESG 08:25: American Splendor #1 by Harvey Pekar A couple weeks back, I … Continue reading Comics Daze
A&R1985: Vicki Valentine
(March 2, 2021)Vicki Valentine (1985) #1-4 by Barbara Rausch and Bill Woggon I definitely had this series as a teenager, but I don’t remember anything about it. Let’s read the first four pages: Oh, this was originally planned as a one-shot? But was expanded into a quarterly series, which I take to mean that the first issue … Continue reading A&R1985: Vicki Valentine
A&R1985: Gene Day’s Black Zeppelin
(March 1, 2021)Gene Day’s Black Zeppelin (1985) #1-5 by Gene Day and others Gene Day died in 1982, but left behind a number of half-finished projects. This series collects these bits and bobs along with other pieces already published in fanzines, as well as new comics from friends of Day. It’s a pretty unique series in that … Continue reading A&R1985: Gene Day’s Black Zeppelin
February Music
(February 28, 2021)Music I’ve bought in February. Let’s see… yes, it’s the usual mix of new and old stuff? Except that there’s a bunch of Mort Aux Vaches CDs in there… The discovery (because I’m slow on the uptake) of the month was this: The Sets & Lights album by Xeno & Oaklander. It’s so 1983! Even … Continue reading February Music
A&R1985: Valentino
(February 28, 2021)Valentino (1985) #1-3 by Valentino I remember this comic well from when I was a teenager. It seemed fresh and new and original: An autobio comic. Now, this isn’t exactly the first autobio comic ever: I think people usually point to the Binky Brown thing by Justin Green, and there had then been a bunch … Continue reading A&R1985: Valentino
MCMXXXIX XLV: Allegheny Uprising
(February 27, 2021)Allegheny Uprising. William A. Seiter. 1939. Wayne! This seems… like an in-between western? I mean, it’s certainly not like one of those cheap, cheerful earlier western serials, and it’s not like one of those later, epic westerns? The people look kinda… gritty (almost all of them have torn clothes and greasy hair), but the repartee … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XLV: Allegheny Uprising
A&R1985: Cerebus Jam
(February 27, 2021)Cerebus Jam (1985) #1 by Dave Sim, Gerhard and others Huh. How did I end up with two copies of this? Anyway, this is the first “new series” published after Deni Loubert left Aardvark-Vanaheim, so Dave Sim does the introduction. Cerebus Jam had previously (much previously) been announced as a bi-monthly title, but I guess … Continue reading A&R1985: Cerebus Jam
A&R1984: Flaming Carrot Comics
(February 26, 2021)Flaming Carrot Comics (1984) #1-4, Flaming Carrot Comics (1985) #5, Flaming Carrot Comics (1985) #6-17 by Bob Burden I think I said in a previous post in this blog series that the only Aardvark-Vanaheim book I didn’t buy as a teenager was normalman? I’d forgotten about Flaming Carrot: I only got a couple of issues … Continue reading A&R1984: Flaming Carrot Comics
MCMXXXIX XLIV: Drums Along the Mohawk
(February 26, 2021)Drums Along the Mohawk. John Ford. 1939. Claudette! Henry! Well, OK, this is kinda slow but nice… And then… … Colbert goes totally hysterical at the sight of that guy, so Fonda has to slap her around. I mean, this is John Ford, so it looks nice and all, but so far this movie has … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XLIV: Drums Along the Mohawk
MCMXXXIX XLIII: The Roaring Twenties
(February 25, 2021)The Roaring Twenties. Raoul Walsh. 1939. Hm! Raoul Walsh? That name sounds really familiar, but perhaps I’m thinking of… something else… Oh wow! It’s like three movies a year for decades. He directed 120 movies in total, according to imdb. I think I’ve seen at least a handful of these movies… but I’m guessing he … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XLIII: The Roaring Twenties
A&R1984: A-V in 3-D
(February 24, 2021)A-V in 3-D (1984) #1 by Lots of People The publisher explains that this comic is a sampler to introduce the new line of Aardvark-Vanaheim comics to the public… but it was published a lot later than planned, so it’s not really that much of an introduction. Hey! This Ms. Tree strip was reprinted in … Continue reading A&R1984: A-V in 3-D
MCMXXXIX XLII: Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
(February 24, 2021)Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Frank Capra. 1939. This wasn’t the movie I was going to watch representing week 42 1939 (mid-October, that is). But the DVD I’d gotten of At The Circus refused to play, so I had to choose something else: And Mr. Smith was available from der torrentses, so here we are. … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XLII: Mr. Smith Goes To Washington
MCMXXXIX XLI: 残菊物語
(February 23, 2021)Zangiku monogatari. Kenji Mizoguchi. 1939. I haven’t seen many pre-WWII Japanese movies…. hm… I guess it’s possible that I’ve never seen any? Like everybody else, I’ve seen a bunch from the 50s and 60s (when the Japanese got very influenced by French movies), but I guess 30s Japanese movies aren’t really part of the Cinematheque … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XLI: 残菊物語
CLODS!
(February 23, 2021)A&R1984: Ms. Tree
(February 22, 2021)Ms. Tree (1984) #10-15, Ms. Tree (1985) #16-18, Ms. Tree (1985) #19-50, Ms. Tree 3-D (1985) #1 by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty with Gary Kato I covered the first ~ten issues of Ms. Tree over at the Eclipse Blog, but I didn’t re-read the Aardvark-Vanaheim/Renegade comics at that time. I did mostly have … Continue reading A&R1984: Ms. Tree
MCMXXXIX XL: Ninotchka
(February 21, 2021)Ninotchka. Ernst Lubitsch. 1939. This is most amusing. It’s an American fantasia of robotic Soviet women and naive Soviet men, and Garbo sells it. Ah! Billy Wilder. I should have guessed. Fashion is hard. This is very charming indeed. My main problem with the movie is the Count — the steps the Grand Duchess are … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XL: Ninotchka
MCMXXXIX XXXIX: The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
(February 20, 2021)The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. Michael Curtiz. 1939. Oh, wow. I thought they were from two different movie generations, never to meet on screen. Vincent Price!?! Whatever colour process they were using in this early example looks good. But a bit off register, somehow? Perhaps it’s just this DVD transfer. Looks less fuzzy … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXXIX: The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
MCMXXXIX XXXVIII: Espionage Agent
(February 20, 2021)Espionage Agent. Lloyd Bacon. 1939. Er… uhm… Oh! The DVD I’ve gotten of this absolutely refuses to play. That is, it plays the three minute preview thing, but not the actual movie. And… it’s not on the torrentses? Or Amazon Prime? And… I can’t find any of the other movies released this week, either! Gah! … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXXVIII: Espionage Agent
Mort aux Vaches
(February 18, 2021)There’s this series of CDs called Mort aux Vaches (probably named by somebody that either hates cows or really likes eating cows (metaphorically)). It’s a series of recordings commissioned by the VPRO radio station, and it’s basically like the Peel Sessions: It’s a “live in the studio” thing, but for experimental music. They’ve got pretty … Continue reading Mort aux Vaches
MCMXXXIX XXXVII: Babes in Arms
(February 18, 2021)Babes in Arms. Busby Berkeley. 1939. Hey! Busby Berkeley. Hey! It’s Judy! And… er… whatsisface… Oh yeah. Mickey Rooney. I knew that he’d been a child star — he started in 27, when he was… 7… but looking over his imdb, I may never have seen any of his early movies? He’s 19 here. And … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXXVII: Babes in Arms
MCMXXXIX XXXVI: Blackmail
(February 18, 2021)Blackmail 1939. H.C. Potter. 1939. I thought this was gonna be a noir movie? But it sure starts off a a screwball comedy. And that guy looks so familiar… Nope, doesn’t ring a bell… Oh, he’s been in over 200 movies, starting in 1919 and ending in 1961. I’ve probably seen him around. So, Edward … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXXVI: Blackmail
A&R1984: normalman
(February 17, 2021)normalman (1984) #1-7, normalman (1985) #8, normalman (1985) #9-12, normalman Annual (1986) #1 by Valentino I bought everything that Aardvark-Vanaheim released as a teenager… except normalman. I think I had one issue? And then decided “nuh-uh”. But teenagers have been wrong before, right? Perhaps this is one of those times? THE TENSION MOUNTS Deni soon-to-be-Loubert-again … Continue reading A&R1984: normalman
A&R1983: Cerebus #51-80
(February 16, 2021)Cerebus (1983) #51-80 by Dave Sim and Gerhard I started reading Cerebus with #49 (when I was 15), so you can imagine how confused I was in the first couple of issues. But then a new story started, and things were a lot easier to make sense of. Well, slightly more. I re-read the High … Continue reading A&R1983: Cerebus #51-80
Command Discovery In Emacs
(February 16, 2021)One thing that has annoyed me forever about Emacs is that when you define a command for a specific more, the commands become so… global. I mean, you define a command in, say, eww-mode for navigating to the next link, and that command only works in that mode. But then you type `M-x ewwTAB’ to … Continue reading Command Discovery In Emacs
MCMXXXIX XXXV: The Women
(February 16, 2021)The Women. George Cukor. 1939. Well, that’s a way to introduce the actors! Aww. I assumed I had seen this before, but… this doesn’t look familiar? *gasp* That set design. This is fantastic! Impeccable pacing and cinematography. This is absolutely riveting! Rosalind Russell is fantastic. *gasp* A newspaper set in Futura! I love that woman… … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXXV: The Women
MCMXXXIX XXXIV: Fifth Avenue Girl
(February 15, 2021)Fifth Avenue Girl. Gregory La Cava. 1939. Oooh! Ginger Rogers! And she’s got all the lines! The plot seems a bit creepy, though — the old, kindly millionaire seems to be on the make for Rogers, and that’s kinda eh? I mean, the formula for appropriate lusting is (+ (/ old 2) 7), which yields … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXXIV: Fifth Avenue Girl
Latency Is So Over
(February 14, 2021)In our continuing look at issues that are of vital importance to everybody, and not just stuff I’m doing because I’m getting a bit stir crazy: Audio latency. It’s the worst, right? Here’s the backstory: When I moved in here ten years ago (gasp… ten years? huh…) I wired up all the rooms with Cat5, … Continue reading Latency Is So Over
A&R1983: Journey
(February 14, 2021)Journey (1983) #1-14 by William Messner-Loebs I covered this book when doing Fantagraphics, so I’m not going to write about it again: It’s really tempting to re-read it, though… It’s totally spiffy. This blog post is part of the Renegades and Aardvarks series.
Warning
(February 13, 2021)A&R1983: Neil the Horse Comics and Stories
(February 13, 2021)Neil the Horse Comics and Stories (1983) #1-10, Neil The Horse Comics and Stories (1984) #11-15 by Arn Saba with Barbara Rausch, David Roman and others Ah, Neil the Horse. I was (counts on finger) 15 when I read the first issue of Neil the Horse, and I was absolutely enthralled. It was love at … Continue reading A&R1983: Neil the Horse Comics and Stories
MCMXXXIX XXXII: The Wizard of Oz
(February 12, 2021)The Wizard of Oz. Victor Fleming. 1939. I’m gonna attempt the Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz match up… started the record at the third roar from the lion as this says… It’s uncanny! On The Run started just when Dorothy fell into the pig sty. OK, it’s not so uncanny now that she’s … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXXII: The Wizard of Oz
MCMXXXIX XXXI: In Name Only
(February 12, 2021)In Name Only. John Cromwell. 1939. This is kinda odd? I mean, the pacing. It seems like every scene should sizzle with witty repartee, but instead the scenes just have these odd lacunae. But it’s Lombard and Grant, so the scenes are fun anyway. I can just imagine what Douglas Sirk would have done with … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXXI: In Name Only
MCMXXXIX XXX: Beau Geste
(February 12, 2021)Beau Geste. William A. Wellman. 1939. XXX! That means that I’ve just got er *counts on fingers* about 20-ish more movies to go in this blog series of movies from 1939? It also means we’re in the middle of July 1939 — so this is a summer blockbuster, I guess? It also means that I’m … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXX: Beau Geste
A&R1982: Michael T. Gilbert’s Strange Brew
(February 11, 2021)Michael T. Gilbert’s Strange Brew (1982) #1 by Michael T. Gilbert and others This is the first non-Dave Sim comic Aardvark-Vanaheim has published, and it’s in a somewhat strange format: It’s the same height as Cerebus, but a couple of centimetres wider — so the form factor is more like a magazine, but smaller. It’s … Continue reading A&R1982: Michael T. Gilbert’s Strange Brew
A&R1981: Cerebus #26-50
(February 10, 2021)Cerebus (1981) #26-50 by Dave Sim We (that is, I) continue our (that is, my) (re-)reading of Renegade/Aardvark-Vanaheim with the second batch of Cerebus comics — the High Society sequence. (Hopefully with fewer parentheses per paragraph than this one (right).) I started reading Cerebus with issue #49 (when I was 14), which is the 24th … Continue reading A&R1981: Cerebus #26-50
A&R1977: Cerebus #1-25
(February 9, 2021)Cerebus (1977) #1-25 by Dave Sim I started reading Cerebus with issue 49, in 1983, and I was 14, and I read Cerebus until it ended some decades later. At first I thought Sim sounded like a pretty smart cookie, but by the time I was 16, I realised that he was just a bundle … Continue reading A&R1977: Cerebus #1-25
Renegades & Aardvarks
(February 8, 2021)(For a list of all comics in this blog series, click here.) I’ve been doing these blog series for the last few years where I’m re-reading comics from the 80s: First I did Fantagraphics, because I really wanted to re-read Love & Rockets one more time, and then the whole idea of setting up a … Continue reading Renegades & Aardvarks
7×10%
(February 8, 2021)In the previous blog post in the series “Lars Humblebrags A Lot” in late December, I claimed I was going to take a break from Emacs bug spelunking… … and as you can see, I did. For a couple of weeks, and then they pull me back in! This time around I got the brilliant … Continue reading 7×10%
January Music
(February 1, 2021)Music I’ve bought in January. *gasp* I just discovered that Mimi Goese released an album last year with Ben Neill! So I got it yesterday and have been playing it on repeat since. It’s really good! I’ve been a huge fan of Goese ever since her album Soak in the mid 90s: Unfortunately, she seems … Continue reading January Music
MCMXXXIX XXVII: On Borrowed Time
(February 1, 2021)On Borrowed Time. Harold S. Bucquet. 1939. So this is about… death and stuff? I’m guessing he’s the guy in the first scene. I’m actually not quite sure what’s going on in this movie, but I am a bit befuddled. There’s a lot of shouting, and people being angry, but the plot just seems… unclear. … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXVII: On Borrowed Time
MCMXXXIX XXIX: Each Dawn I Die
(January 30, 2021)Each Dawn I Die. William Keighley. 1939. Cagney! And he’s not a crook!? Is that even legal!? OK, but he’s sentence anyway. *phew* (I didn’t know it’s a sci-fi movie — he’s sentenced for drunken driving (and killing some other people while driving (it’s a frame!)), and as we all know, that just doesn’t happen … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXIX: Each Dawn I Die
MCMXXXIX XXVIII: Bulldog Drummond’s Bride
(January 30, 2021)Bulldog Drummond’s Bride. James P. Hogan. 1939. I ordered the DVD… but apparently it never arrived? Can’t find it now anyway. Fortunately, this movie is in the public domain, so it’s on youtube. So this was a whole series of movies? So it’s more like a serial than a proper movie, and this one kinda … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXVIII: Bulldog Drummond’s Bride
Today’s Copyright Claim
(January 30, 2021)A while back, I digitised a bunch of VHS tapes I had made in the early 90s and uploaded the interesting bits to Youtube. So, of course, the copyright claims started streaming in, but they all kinda made sense? I mean, I don’t own any of this material, and if EMI doesn’t want people to … Continue reading Today’s Copyright Claim
MCMXXXIX XXVI: Bachelor Mother
(January 29, 2021)Bachelor Mother. Garson Kanin. 1939. WON”T ANYBODY FEED THE BABY I’m getting anxious. Anyway, this is most amusing. And kinda nightmarish: She’s totally trapped: Bullied, threatened, hounded into taking care of a baby that’s not hers. This could easily have been a kafkaesque drama with just a less bouncy soundtracks. FINALLY SOME FOOD This is … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXVI: Bachelor Mother
MCMXXXIX XXV: Five Came Back
(January 29, 2021)Five Came Back. John Farrow. 1939. Oh, Lucille Ball in a dramatic part? I think I’ve seen her only in comedies? This looks like a pretty low budget movie? I mean, just by how awkward these shots are — it’s like nobody had time to do any blocking, and everybody’s hidden behind something else. Or … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXV: Five Came Back
Comics Daze
(January 26, 2021)My sleeping patterns are all fucked up again, so I’ll be reading comics until morn. And beyond? Bobbie Gentry: The Girl From Chickasaw County: The Delta Sweete 01:45: Ric Hochet 3: Comment réussir un assasinat by Zidrou & Van Liemt (Zoom) This is from the Ric Hochet revival: The old series had a certain charm, … Continue reading Comics Daze
MCMXXXIX XXIV: Fric-Frac
(January 24, 2021)Fric-Frac. Claude Autant-Lara & Maurice Lehmann. 1939. Another French movie! What are the odds! Very stylish title sequence. Natcherly the French movies we (that is I) see from this era are the indisputable classeec arteest films… but this is an out and out low budged entertaining non-art movie? How exciting! It’s a comedy about… a … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXIV: Fric-Frac
MCMXXXIX XXIII: Le jour se lève
(January 24, 2021)Daybreak. Marcel Carné. 1939. *gasp* The first non-English language movie in this blog series! I’m not familiar with Marcel Carné’s movies… Wasn’t he the director the brats I mean geniuses from Cahiers du cinéma heaped all kinds of scorn upon? Indeed: In the 1950s the belligerent critics of Cahiers du cinéma, soon to be film-makers … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXIII: Le jour se lève
MCMXXXIX XXII: Charlie Chan in Reno
(January 24, 2021)Charlie Chan in Reno. Norman Foster. 1939. I may never have seen a Charlie Chan movie before? I mean, I must have, but I can’t recall doing so. So this comes as something of a surprise: It feels pretty much like a TV episode of a long-running show (which I guess it is, except it’s … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXII: Charlie Chan in Reno
MCMXXXIX XXI: The Gorilla
(January 23, 2021)The Gorilla. Allan Dwan. 1939. I wonder whether this DVD has been sourced from a recording from a broadcast? Hm… probably not? It’s very artefactey, but it doesn’t look like VHS artefacts. This is a Ritz Brothers movie? I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never heard of them. But: That’s a lot of movies. They … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XXI: The Gorilla
MCMXXXIX XX: Goodbye, Mr. Chips
(January 23, 2021)Goodbye Mr. Chips. Sidney Franklin & Sam Wood. 1939. This is a very odd movie… in that it’s so quotidian. It’s basically the story (told in flashback) of a guy that’s worked as a teacher at a public, i.e., private school in England. So we follow him from when he starts as a young, not … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XX: Goodbye, Mr. Chips
MCMXXXIX XIX: Jamaica Inn
(January 23, 2021)Jamaica Inn. Alfred Hitchcock. 1939. Oooh! Hitch! And I don’t think I’ve seen this one before? Is that even possible? This has been expertly restored by the Cohen Film Collection and the BFI. Looks really sharp, but with lots of grain. : In 1978, film critic Michael Medved gave Jamaica Inn a place in his … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XIX: Jamaica Inn
MCMXXXIX XVIII: Rose of Washington Square
(January 22, 2021)Rose of Washington Square. Gregory Ratoff. 1939. Oh, this is by the same guy who made the confusingly made “Wife, Husband and Friend” movie earlier this year. (Are they all the same person? Two people? Three?) We’re now in May, for those people who don’t know where week eighteen is. This is an odd one. … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XVIII: Rose of Washington Square
MCMXXXIX XVII: Union Pacific
(January 21, 2021)Union Pacific. Cecil B. DeMille. 1939. So this is the XVIIth, I mean, seventeenth week of 1939, which means that we’re in late April. What kind of movies are movies are they doing in spring? This is really epic — it’s got that epic movie feeling going: One group of people is trying to get … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XVII: Union Pacific
MCMXXXIX XVI: Dark Victory
(January 17, 2021)Dark Victory. Edmund Goulding. 1939. *gasp* Bette! They’re talking really fast, see? Is that Ronnie? It is! I thought this was gonna be a noir crime thing, but it’s a very dramatic drama instead? I’m digging it. Everybody’s talking like they’re in an early 30s crime thing, though. See? Boo. When they introduce the male … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XVI: Dark Victory
MCMXXXIX XV: Never Say Die
(January 16, 2021)Never Say Die. Elliott Nugent. 1939. OK, so this is about a hypochondriac millionaire at a spa. I’m guessing there’ll be hi jinx! Monty Woolley! This is very funny! And quite risque. As screwball comedies go, it’s very, very screwy. Martha Raye is a comedic genius. Oh! Preston Sturges! I should have known! The script … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XV: Never Say Die
MCMXXXIX XIV: East Side of Heaven
(January 16, 2021)East Side of Heaven. David Butler. 1939. This is most amiable. Joan Blondell, Bing Crosby, and a plot that doesn’t feel like it’s going to be too taxing for my poor branes. There haven’t been many musicals in this blog series? Last night was the Vernon and Irene thing, which was, I suppose, but like … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XIV: East Side of Heaven
Linux on the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Fold
(January 16, 2021)For some reason I can’t quite imagine, I’m a bit bored these days? It’s a mystery. So I seem to be buying more … stuff, and today I got a Lenovo Fold. Yes, yes, I know. Epic unpacking sequence (on the couch; it’s cold): It folds! See? Anyway, I don’t quite know what I’m going … Continue reading Linux on the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Fold
MCMXXXIX XIII: The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
(January 16, 2021)The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle. H.C. Potter. 1939. Hey! I thought this was gonna be a Thin Man movie! But it’s not! This is better! I’m really enjoying this… the only thing I’m confused about is whether we’re supposed to thing that the Castles are wonderful dancers or not? I mean, Astaire and … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XIII: The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
MCMXXXIX XII: You Can’t Get Away with Murder
(January 15, 2021)You Can’t Get Away With Murder. Lewis Seiler. 1939. Bogie! This is an odd movie. It started in one place, and now we’re in a totally different place. I wonder where this is going. OK, now the two parts are connected… but… it’s kinda boring now? So this is all about a kid who’s on … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XII: You Can’t Get Away with Murder
Comics Daze
(January 13, 2021)What? Another day of comics so soon after the last one? Yes, I’m slacking off this week. Let’s get readin’. Hilt: Stoneman 10:57: The Contradictions by Sophie Yanow (Drawn & Quarterly) The way Yanow portrays awkwardness is absolutely amazing. On the other hand, the book is such a “oh look how stupid I was when … Continue reading Comics Daze
The Only M1 Benchmark That Matters
(January 13, 2021)I’ve got a new Apple laptop, so I thought I’d do an Emacs build benchmark. Building Emacs is what people do on computers, right? At least if I extrapolate from myself, which is the only natural thing to do. It’s called proof by induction. Look it up, nerds. So here’s the benchmarks: My Main Build … Continue reading The Only M1 Benchmark That Matters
Comics Daze
(January 9, 2021)Let’s do it! I’ve wanted to do a comics reading day for yonks now, but things keep getting in the way. But now! I’ve got candy! I’ve got a new, soft blanket! (It’s chilly.) I’ve got comics! And Now That’s What I Call Quite 80s on the stereo! Let’s go! The Smiths: Complete (5): The … Continue reading Comics Daze
My New Couture Blog
(January 7, 2021)MCMXXXIX XI: Midnight
(January 5, 2021)Midnight. Mitchell Leisen. 1939. Claudette Colbert! I like her. This movie gets off to a really great start: Everything is explained in a couple of sentences and then we’re off. Colbert is a lot of fun to watch, too. I’m all in. This movie is a lot of fun. It’s got a great set-up: A … Continue reading MCMXXXIX XI: Midnight
MCMXXXIX X: The Little Princess
(January 5, 2021)The Little Princess. Walter Lang, William A. Seiter. 1939. So this is the tenth week of 1939… so we’re into March? And this movie is in colour! Oh, they’re using the Boer War (turn of the century? the previous one?) as a proxy for the war that’s currently brewing in Europe? This movie is quite … Continue reading MCMXXXIX X: The Little Princess
MCMXXXIX IX: The Oklahoma Kid
(January 5, 2021)Oklahoma Kid. Lloyd Bacon. 1939. But… but… that’s… that’s… It is! It’s Bogart! What’s he doing in this cheapie western? Was this before he became famous? Ah, right, he was doing all these things in the 30s until his big break in 1941, I guess. Because this is a Cagney vehicle. This isn’t a very … Continue reading MCMXXXIX IX: The Oklahoma Kid
December Music
(January 1, 2021)Music I’ve bought in December. I rediscovered LTM Recordings this month, and placed such a large order that they thought I was running some kind of scam. LTM specialises in re-releasing music originally released by Factory Benelux, Les Disques du Crépuscule and related labels in the early 80s. So it’s totally in my wheelhouse, and … Continue reading December Music
New Gadget!
(December 29, 2020)It’s been so long since I got a new gadget. So when I saw this e-ink frame the other week, I bought one immediately. And it arrived today: What’s appealing about this e-ink thing is that it’s freestanding: It’s got a battery (supposed to last a year), and communicates via wifi. So you can put … Continue reading New Gadget!
6×10%
(December 28, 2020)Look! We cracked the 3K line! I’ve been tricking myself into working by gamifying Emacs bug handling, but this 10%-er was kinda a slog. Even if it was just 311 bugs this time around. I’ve been doing mostly newer bugs, and they’re often more work than geriatric bugs — many of the older bugs are … Continue reading 6×10%
The Year In Review
(December 27, 2020)When this year started out, I had so many plans! I was going to go to the Big Ears festival in Knoxville, and perhaps go to some islands, and zip and zoom around, and… So instead I was standing before the wall of unread books, as so often before, and thinking “I’m never going to … Continue reading The Year In Review
Building the Development Version of Emacs on Windows (mingw edition)
(December 24, 2020)Some days ago, I gave a brief write-up on how to build the development version of Emacs on Windows under Cygwin. Cygwin is all well and nice, but some prefer the fully native mingw-w64 version, so here’s the howto for that. The first four steps are identical with the previous recipe, so let’s just skip … Continue reading Building the Development Version of Emacs on Windows (mingw edition)
MCMXXXIX VIII: Wife, Husband and Friend
(December 20, 2020)Wife, Husband and Friend. Gregory Ratoff. 1939. What! There were no lanes in New York in 1939? Just total anarchy? I love it! This movie’s got a whole bunch of gags… but none of them really land? I mean, very few do. I almost feel bad at not enjoying this movie, because it’s puttering along … Continue reading MCMXXXIX VIII: Wife, Husband and Friend
Building the Development Version of Emacs on Macos (Macports Edition)
(December 18, 2020)A while back, I wrote a how-to for building Emacs on Macos (for people who have no interest in using Macos), but I based that recipe on HomeBrew. There was recently a Macports-related bug report, so I set up a VM with Macports, and I thought I might as well write that up, too. It … Continue reading Building the Development Version of Emacs on Macos (Macports Edition)
How To Build the Development Version of Emacs on Windows
(December 18, 2020)I think I’ve probably spent… more than an hour? but less than three hours? My entire life? on a Windows machine, so I’m the most qualified person ever to explain how to get started developing Emacs on Windows. Because people who’ve used Windows before don’t really know what other people don’t know. It’s about the … Continue reading How To Build the Development Version of Emacs on Windows
The Best Albums of 2020
(December 12, 2020)It’s that time of year again: December. Unlike other people who come up with “best of” lists, I use a totally scientific method, and therefore my list is more correct: Emacs tallies which albums I’ve listened to the most in 2020, and those are ipso facto cogito alea jacta hoc the best albums of the … Continue reading The Best Albums of 2020
MCMXXXIX VII: Nancy Drew… Reporter
(December 4, 2020)Nancy Drew… Reporter. 1939. William Clemens. I mean… I didn’t expect much from this movie — it’s a shortish, goofy B movie thing. But it seems odd to me how little of the Nancy Drewiverse they’ve retained? I mean… I don’t remember much of Nancy Drew… but didn’t she have a gal pal? And stuff? … Continue reading MCMXXXIX VII: Nancy Drew… Reporter
MCMXXXIX VI: Made for Each Other
(December 4, 2020)Made For Each Other. John Cromwell. 1939. Oh, I’ve seen this one before! And not too long ago, either. I wonder where… Emacs knows everything. I watched this in… October? Last year? Hey! I even blogged about it. This is a serious break-down in my movie methodology. Oh well! Now it’s in 2K. I’m liking … Continue reading MCMXXXIX VI: Made for Each Other
November Music
(December 1, 2020)Music I’ve bought in November. Let’s see… I guess this month it’s just the usual mix of new and old stuff… Oh, yeah, I’ve been shopping a bunch of CDs from Häpna records from around 2000-2005 that I didn’t get at the time. And some albums from people connected to the band Tape, like Ass … Continue reading November Music
MCMXXXIX V: Honolulu
(November 30, 2020)Honolulu. Edward Buzzell. 1939. So much drama! Heh. That was a good fake-out. This is most amusing. And horribly racist. And that’s the main problem with this movie: Robert Young really isn’t that believable as somebody who’d people would go nuts for. I mean, he’s great and all, but imagine if this were Cary Grant … Continue reading MCMXXXIX V: Honolulu
Comics Daze
(November 28, 2020)Hey! It’s been a while since I did one of these, so… er… there’s a lot of new comics to read. Let’s get started: All comics, all day, until I plotz. Zazou Bikaye: Mr. Manager 11:09: The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott by Zoe Thorogood (Avery Hill) Man, this is a lot, just visually. I … Continue reading Comics Daze
MCMXXXIX IV: Idiot’s Delight
(November 26, 2020)Idiot’s Delight. Clarence Brown. 1939. Hey… this is fun. It’s about a soldier (Clark Gable) returning from the previous war, and he’s an actor on a downwards trajectory. It’s very fleet-footed. The movie has turned kinda strange. Clark is being pursued desperately by Norma Shearer… I mean, that’s not odd, but the way the movie … Continue reading MCMXXXIX IV: Idiot’s Delight
MCMXXXIX III: They Made Me a Criminal
(November 26, 2020)They Made Me A Criminal. Busby Berkeley. 1939. So here in this blog post is where I was supposed to make some food, but the next dish in the Bistro Cooking book was a mussel dish, and… while I was waiting for the grocery delivery guys to deliver a kilo of live mussels for me … Continue reading MCMXXXIX III: They Made Me a Criminal
A Panel from a Comic Strip Presented Without Comment
(November 15, 2020)MCMXXXIX II: Son of Frankenstein
(November 15, 2020)Son of Frankenstein. Rowland V. Lee. 1939. For today’s dish from the Bistro Cooking, we have another apple tart. I mean sex worker. This one looks less like an omelette than the previous one… it’s a cream and egg thing (and apples, of course). It is, again, as with many of the recipes in this … Continue reading MCMXXXIX II: Son of Frankenstein
MCMXXXIX I: King of the Underworld
(November 12, 2020)King of the Underworld. Lewis Seiler. 1939. Welcome to the first week of the 1939 movie blog. But first: Some food. So tonight’s dish from Patricia Well’s Bistro Cooking (which I’m cooking my way through, semi-chronologically) is a chick pea salad. I’m not really all that enthusiastic about this one, because I’m seeing “onion” and … Continue reading MCMXXXIX I: King of the Underworld
MCMXXXIX
(November 12, 2020)I hate choosing movies to watch; it’s just … better … to watch the next scheduled one, so a schedule has to be created. A few years back, I watched one movie per year from 1918 to 2018 (i.e, a century), and then last year I did a decade (the 1940s); one movie per month. … Continue reading MCMXXXIX
Today
(November 6, 2020)John King At Home
(November 5, 2020)As we already know, this soup is under seasoned, so I asked you to send me the salt, and bear with me, you sent me the salt, and I added this salt to the soup and then, as we all know, I sent the salt back to you. Now, this means that my soup should … Continue reading John King At Home
Today
(November 5, 2020)Today
(November 4, 2020)One More Bergman Thing: Rabies
(November 1, 2020)A few years back, I watched 87 Bergman things, but I was unable to find this TV movie from 1958. A comment on Youtube alerted me to somebody uploading it, and after spending two days downloading it, I’ve now put the movie on Youtube: Enjoy it before the copyright strike, I guess? Gotta hand it … Continue reading One More Bergman Thing: Rabies
October Music
(October 31, 2020)Music I’ve bought in October. Oopsie! That was more… than… I should have? Let’s see… it’s not all old stuff, either? It’s a pretty good mix. So what are the most interesting ones? Er… as you can imagine, I haven’t really heard many of these a lot of times, so I don’t really know. But … Continue reading October Music
5×10%
(October 26, 2020)Hey! Target reached: Bragging time! I mean, this is the irregular Emacs update … stats … report… thing… So, I’m gamifying Emacs development by setting myself a goal of closing (i.e., fixing, triaging, etc) 10% of the Emacs bugs, and since the trend is downwards: That’s fewer bugs each time. (But harder bugs, so it … Continue reading 5×10%
BC&B: Poulet Mistral le Prieuré w/ Tarte aux Pommes Françoise Potel
(October 22, 2020)This is it: The final post in this exciting blog series, where I cook two dishes from Patricia Wells’ Bistro Cooking book (sequentially), and read one book from the shelf that had the most recently acquired books. (Yes, it makes no sense as a blogging concept.) I’ve only made it about… a fifth? of my … Continue reading BC&B: Poulet Mistral le Prieuré w/ Tarte aux Pommes Françoise Potel
Into the Vortex Redux
(October 16, 2020)Vortex (1982) #1-15 Stig’s Inferno (1984) #1-5 Mister X (1984) #1-14 Those Annoying Post Bros. (1985) #1-18 Kelvin Mace (1985) #1-2 Kaptain Keen and Kompany (1986) #1-6 Yummy Fur (1986) #1-24 Savage Henry (1987) #1-13 Bloodlines (1987) #1-4 Ken Steacy’s Summer Rerun (1987) Paradax! (1987) #1-2 Transit (1987) #1-5 Black Kiss (1988) #1-12 Mister X … Continue reading Into the Vortex Redux
V2018: Hellmington
(October 15, 2020)Vortex (2018) by Justin Hewitt-Drakulic (as Jay Drakulic), Alex Lee Williams and others Hellmington. Justin Hewitt-Drakulic. 2018. ⚁ [two minutes pass] Well! Perhaps I should just get all the films Vortex has produced? Wolfcop was a barrel of laughs, and this starts off really well. [twenty minutes pass] Or… perhaps not? This is like a … Continue reading V2018: Hellmington
V2014: WolfCop
(October 14, 2020)Vortex (2014) by Lowell Dean and others “What’s this then? A MOVIE?!?! BUT THIS IS A COMICS BLOG!” Once again, dear reader, I can read your mind. But you see, after Vortex Comics stopped publishing comics, they… Well, I don’t quite know what they did at first, but they ended up as an independent movie … Continue reading V2014: WolfCop
V1991: Nocturnal Emissions
(October 13, 2020)Nocturnal Emissions (1991) #1-4 by Fiona Smyth Welcome back to the blog that covers all your NASCAR sports racing comics needs. Today we’re… we’re… HANG ON! THESE AREN”T SPORTS COMICS! Yes, Vortex had one last hurrah in the midst of all the NASCAR comics they suddenly started selling: Fiona Smyth’s Nocturnal Emissions, and if there’s … Continue reading V1991: Nocturnal Emissions
V1991: NASCAR Adventures
(October 12, 2020)NASCAR Adventures (1991) #1-8 by a bunch of people Welcome back to the sports blog! We’re all sports, all the time. Today we have NASCAR Adventures, the companion title to Legends of NASCAR, and the way to tell them apart is that one is called “NASCAR Adventures” and the other is called “Legends of NASCAR”. … Continue reading V1991: NASCAR Adventures
Comics Daze
(October 12, 2020)What? Another daze less than a week after the previous one? And… this one starts right after midnight? What can I say… my sleeping patterns are all fucked up. Let’s get started. 00:35: Sweet Time & other stories by Weng Pixin (Drawn & Quarterly) Oh, yeah, the style seemed familiar: A couple of these stories … Continue reading Comics Daze
V1991: The Nascubs Adventures
(October 11, 2020)The Nascubs Adventures (1991) #1 by Andrew Trull and J. C. Caskey Uhm… this is a sports blog about Vortex Comics, right? But is this comic published by Vortex? There’s nothing really indicating that anywhere, and I got this comic from somebody who included it in my NASCAR order. Some people think that it’s by … Continue reading V1991: The Nascubs Adventures
V1991: Legends of NASCAR Christmas Special
(October 10, 2020)Legends of NASCAR Christmas Special (1991) by a bunch of people Here on the Sports Blog, we continue looking at Vortex’ NASCAR series, and this time it’s an Xmas special. Let’s read the first three pages together: Well, that’s kinda cute, isn’t it? These drivers are helping santa. Well whaddayouknow! *slaps thighs* But that’s just … Continue reading V1991: Legends of NASCAR Christmas Special
V1991: Daytona Special No. 1: The Daytona 500 Story
(October 9, 2020)Daytona Special No. 1: The Daytona 500 Story (1991) #1 by Nat and JJ Gertler and Herb Trimpe and others OK, we continue traipsing through the Latter Days of Vortex. Let’s read the first three pages of this special: The Gertlers wrote one of the best issues of the Legends of NASCAR series (that’s not … Continue reading V1991: Daytona Special No. 1: The Daytona 500 Story
V1991: The Legends of NASCAR
(October 8, 2020)The Legends of NASCAR (1991) #1-13 by a whole bunch of people “WHAT THE FUCK!” Yes, if you’ve been reading this blog series from the start (and if you have… why?), that’s what you’re saying now. “WHAT THE FUCK! I CAME HERE FOR YUMMY FUR AND OTHER COMICS ABOUT PENIS MUTILATION! WHAT”S THIS SPORTS SHIT!” … Continue reading V1991: The Legends of NASCAR
V1990: S’Not for Kids
(October 7, 2020)S’Not for Kids (1990) #1, S’Not for Kids (1991) #1 by Matso and a bunch of other people I bought the first issue of this at the time, but didn’t know there was a Vortex connection. And perhaps there isn’t? No publisher listed. Assumed to be Vortex due to Vortex being the publisher of S’not … Continue reading V1990: S’Not for Kids
Comics Daze
(October 6, 2020)Man, I’ve totally screwed up my sleeping schedule again… getting up at two in the morning wasn’t really my plan. But, OK, what better way to spend the night than reading comics, eh? Eh? 04:00: Future #1-2 by Tommi Musturi (Boing Being) Wow! Haven’t seen anything like this in a while: It’s a one-person anthology … Continue reading Comics Daze
V1990: Mister X Special
(October 6, 2020)Mister X Special (1990) #1 by Pete Milligan, Brett Ewins and others This is billed as “Special no. 1”, which probably means that there was a bunch of Mister X specials planned, but this one was the only one published. It’s a 24-page black and white book, but with cardboard covers, and what was probably … Continue reading V1990: Mister X Special
BC&B: Tian de Légumes w/ La Brandade de Morue de Madame Cartet
(October 5, 2020)Another day (or week or something), another book to read and another couple of dishes from the Bistro Cooking book by Patricia Wells. Only two more posts to go, though: I’m running out of books from that cubby. So today we have: A veggie gratin! With… courgettes and aubergine and stuff. But mostly those two … Continue reading BC&B: Tian de Légumes w/ La Brandade de Morue de Madame Cartet
V1990: Badlands
(October 5, 2020)Badlands (1990) #1 by Steven Grant, Vincent Giarrano and others So this is the second ambitious series Vortex launched early in 1990, and like Doc Chaos, it’s also 32-page (well, 28-page), has shiny paper, colour, and lasted one issue. “A Red Fist Production”. Well, the design here isn’t up to Vortex’ usual standards… Anyway, let’s … Continue reading V1990: Badlands
A Panel From A Comic Book Presented Without Comment
(October 4, 2020)V1990: Doc Chaos: The Strange Attractor
(October 4, 2020)This blog post is part of the Into the Vortex series. Doc Chaos: The Strange Attractor (1990) #1 by David Thorpe and Stephen Sampson Based on the name alone (“Doc Chaos”), I assumed that might be a book by Peter Milligan or somebody like that. If there are anybody like that. I mean… Freakwave… Paradax… … Continue reading V1990: Doc Chaos: The Strange Attractor
V1989: Mister X
(October 3, 2020)Mister X (1989) #1-13 by Jeffrey Morgan, D’Israeli, Ken Holewczynski, Shane Oakley and others So this is the second Mister X series, and shopping the issues I didn’t have was an er interesting experience. Most of these covers don’t have an issue number, and you have to read the often-minuscule indicia printed on the inside … Continue reading V1989: Mister X
September Music
(October 1, 2020)Music I’ve bought in September. So what have we got here… oh yeah, I finished up buying all the Consolidated EPs I missed back then. And… Yup. It’s all old, old, old music. Except a couple new things. But! I did get one interesting thing: The 433 thing by Saito Koji. I was intrigued by … Continue reading September Music
Possibly The Most Unnecessary Thing I’ve Ever Bought
(September 28, 2020)V1988: Black Kiss
(September 26, 2020)Black Kiss (1988) #1-12 by Howard Chaykin Howard Chaykin was a hugely influential comics storytelling innovator in the 80s. We were all quite impressed by American Flagg, right? All those little insets and the cacophony. Re-reading it the other year, I was struck by how little substance Flagg had: It’s a fun read, but it’s … Continue reading V1988: Black Kiss
Movie Distribution Appreciation Time
(September 24, 2020)Being a movie nerd, what you really start appreciating after a while aren’t the people who make the movies, but the people who make the movies available so that you can watch them. Or perhaps that’s just me. With less-popular movies, it seems like such a thankless task: To try to find ways of packaging … Continue reading Movie Distribution Appreciation Time
My New Innovations in Packaging Blog
(September 23, 2020)Today I’ve gotten two musicalish things in the mail. The first is by Crickets: Which is JD Samson’s new thing. It’s in this very papery paper sleeve. Nice. The other odd thing I’ve gotten today is “It’s A Project” by Chicks on Speed. I think this is pretty old? I got this from somebody on … Continue reading My New Innovations in Packaging Blog
You Can Read Twitter With Gnus
(September 19, 2020)Remember just the other week when I almost got Gnus to read Twitter? But not quite? No? Anyway, it was a whole thing. The use case was pretty simple: Just read a single Twitter thread sensibly, without the endless clickery. But it *sniff* didn’t work for bigger threads. But now Johann Klähn fixed it! By … Continue reading You Can Read Twitter With Gnus
“You Are Tilda Fucking Swinton”
(September 18, 2020)This post is not part of The Tilda Swinton Project.
Comics Daze
(September 16, 2020)I’m totally taking the day off today, and that means: Comics all day and all night. 13:51: Natacha Collected Edition: Vol 2 by Walthéry, Tillieux, Mittëi and others (Cobolt) I thinking that it’d had been a long time since I ordered anything from Denmark, so here I am now, with 30kgs of new/old comics that … Continue reading Comics Daze
V1987: Transit
(September 16, 2020)Transit (1987) #1-5 by Ted McKeever As a teenager, McKeever’s artwork fascinated me. All my doodles turned into McKeever faces, replete with way too many teeth. Lou Stathis, the editor, writes an introduction to the series. I think he’s going for punk smart aleck, but he lands at hard-sell card salesman with delusions of grandeur. … Continue reading V1987: Transit
V1987: Paradax!
(September 15, 2020)Paradax! (1987) #1-2 by Peter Milligan, Brendan McCarthy and others These are the people that did Johnny Nemo and Strange Days at Eclipse, right? And one of the characters in the latter series was Paradax… So let’s read the first four pages: Wow! That’s a lot. An explosion of colour and silliness, and also (of … Continue reading V1987: Paradax!
V1987: Ken Steacy’s Summer Rerun
(September 14, 2020)Ken Steacy’s Summer Rerun (1987) by Ken Steacy So what’s this then? That looks very familiar… From the Vortex anthology, I guess? Yes. Oh, it’s all from the Vortex anthology? Which I read the other week. Well, that’s a disappointment. The introduction at the back explains that, indeed, it’s from the Vortex anthology. But that … Continue reading V1987: Ken Steacy’s Summer Rerun
V1987: Bloodlines
(September 13, 2020)Bloodlines (1987) #1-4 by Rob Walton I know, this is a blog series about Vortex, but this series started at Aircel, before moving to… Blackburn Videos + Comics (!!!)… before moving to Vortex. 1 issue at Aircel, 2 issues at the video store, and 4 issues at Vortex, so you’d expect 8 issues at the … Continue reading V1987: Bloodlines
V1987: Savage Henry
(September 12, 2020)Savage Henry (1987) #1-13 by Matt Howarth This series is a spin-off from Those Annoying Post Bros, and is, if I remember correctly, less concerned with atrocities and more fun? At least that’s what I’ve gleaned over the years — I’ve been picking up an issue here and an issue there, but I’ve never read … Continue reading V1987: Savage Henry
4×10%
(September 11, 2020)Time for another bragging post! I’ve been gamifying triaging/fixing Emacs bugs, setting myself as a goal 10% of the total (which hopefully decreases each time, otherwise it’s no fun): And today! The fourth lap completed! Just a bit over a month. When going after bugs, I find it useful to concentrate on some “seam” or … Continue reading 4×10%
V1986: Yummy Fur
(September 8, 2020)Yummy Fur (1986) #1-24, Ed the Happy Clown: The Definitive Ed Book (1992) by Chester Brown *gasp* In this blog series, today we’ve come to Vortex’ second claim to fame: Chester Brown’s Yummy Fur. This was at the height of the black and white boom, and you could publish anything (as long as it was … Continue reading V1986: Yummy Fur
V1986: Kaptain Keen and Kompany
(September 6, 2020)Kaptain Keen and Kompany (1986) #1-6 by Bill White and Gary Fields This is one of the Vortex series that’s most unfamiliar to me. I think I picked up one issue over the years, but I’m reading the rest for the first time today. And why is that, if I was such a Vortex fanboy … Continue reading V1986: Kaptain Keen and Kompany
V1985: Kelvin Mace
(September 5, 2020)Kelvin Mace (1985) #1-2 by Klaus Schönefeld, Ty Templeton and others Ty Templeton introduced Schönefeld in Stig’s Inferno as a young guy mainly working in the commercial illustration business, and was therefore swimming in money… But after the Templeton lured Schönefeld back to the comics business, and they collaborated on several things, and Schönefeld also … Continue reading V1985: Kelvin Mace
V1985: Those Annoying Post Bros.
(September 3, 2020)Those Annoying Post Bros. (1985) #1-18 by Matt Howarth and others As a teenager, I read first few issues of this series, but found the nihilistic over-the-top violence off-putting, so I stopped buying it. I have, however, continued to pick up issues now and then, and over the years I seem to have accrued a … Continue reading V1985: Those Annoying Post Bros.
V1984: Mister X
(September 2, 2020)Mister X (1984) #1-14 by Dean Motter, Jaime & Mario & Jaime Hernandez, Seth, and a whole bunch of other people Mister X is an interesting book: Not really for the contents, which are uneven, but for its publishing history. Well… Its history of… not being published. In 1982 (I think it was), Vortex announced … Continue reading V1984: Mister X
V1984: Stig’s Inferno
(September 1, 2020)Stig’s Inferno (1984) #1-5 by Ty Templeton and others Oh, I wrote about this over at the Eclipse blog, so I’m not going to repeat myself here. But it’s a lot of fun. One of my favourite comics as a teenager. This blog post is part of the Into the Vortex series.
V1982: Vortex
(September 1, 2020)Vortex (1982) #1-15 edited by Bill Marks and others Hi! Welcome to the blog series where I (re-)read all the comics Vortex has published. I have mixed feelings about setting out on this er “venture”, because… some of the comics I’ve read so many times (as a teenager) (I’m speaking of Yummy Fur) that I’m … Continue reading V1982: Vortex
Into the Vortex
(September 1, 2020)Often when I’m walking down the street, people will stop me and ask me “Lars, what’s the best mid-80s alternative American comics publisher?” To which I’ll respond by thwapping them over their heads with my backpack, which doubles as an assault weapon. But upon arriving home to my humble garret, I’ll frequently start pondering the … Continue reading Into the Vortex
August Music
(August 31, 2020)Music I’ve bought in August. This month I’ve bought some actual new music. Released this year and everything. I’m impressed by the Nihiloxica album… very fresh. Shirley Collins has a new album out! *gasp* So do the Residents, but… I don’t like it. It’s called Metal, Meat & Bone, and it’s a parody of murder … Continue reading August Music
You Still Can’t Read Twitter With Gnus
(August 31, 2020)I accidentally ingested some caffeine last night, so I went to bed at two and fell asleep six-ish. That gave me a lot of time to think about the important things in life, so I thought about how fun it would be if you could read Twitter threads with Gnus. “But why; for the love … Continue reading You Still Can’t Read Twitter With Gnus
ELC1994: “Saint in Neon”
(August 30, 2020)“Saint in Neon” by Elaine Lee, published by Marvel. What’s this then!? Ectokid Unleashed? But that’s not Elaine Lee? (Oh, Here’s an explanation of what this blog series is.) No it isn’t, but comics.org says there’s a Saint Sinner story (remember Saint Sinner?) in here, so I’m reading it. So… I have no idea what … Continue reading ELC1994: “Saint in Neon”
ELC2010: Honey West: This Girl For Hire
(August 30, 2020)Honey West: This Girl For Hire by Trina Robbins, Elaine Lee and various, published by Moonstone. Hey! It’s been a month since the previous article in this blog series. That’s mainly because I discovered a couple Lee items while I was doing the main part of the series, so here we are in a mop-up … Continue reading ELC2010: Honey West: This Girl For Hire
Building the Development Version of Emacs on NetBSD
(August 25, 2020)I hadn’t really planned on installing a NetBSD VM (after doing all the other two BSDs), but then a NetBSD-related Emacs bug report arrived. The first it… years? So here I am! Actually finding the correct .iso to install took days, but with the help of some friends I finally found the right set! Go … Continue reading Building the Development Version of Emacs on NetBSD
Comics Daze
(August 24, 2020)It’s less than a week since I did the previous daze, but I feel like taking a break from triaging Emacs bugs. So… another day of just doing nothing but reading comics. NOTHING ELSE I TELLS YA. 14:48: I Know What I Am by Gina Siciliano (Fantagraphics) OK, I got up a bit late today. … Continue reading Comics Daze
Changing the Input Source on a Sony A1 TV
(August 21, 2020)I’ve got the most obscure and least important problem in the world, so I’ve just spent four hours investigate it and find a solution. So now you have to read about it! Hah! Share the pain! OK, backstory: I’ve got a Sony A1 TV, and it’s very nice: Nothing annoying about it, which is the … Continue reading Changing the Input Source on a Sony A1 TV
Comics Daze
(August 17, 2020)I should be doing more Emacs bug database spelunking… but I’m taking the day off, and that means: Nothing But Comics Today. 12:32: Un uomo un’avventura: L’uomo del Sertão by Hugo Pratt (Faraos) Oh, wow: New Hugo Pratt!!! I mean, old Hugo Pratt, finally available in a language I can understand! (I.e., Danish.) Huh, this … Continue reading Comics Daze
Building the Development Version of Emacs on OpenBSD
(August 16, 2020)And now, the continuing stoooory of a quack who’s gone to the dogs, I mean, a recipe for how to build the development version of Emacs as easily as possible under yet another operating system: This time it’s OpenBSD. (This recipe is for OpenBSD 6.7, but it should be the same on most modern versions … Continue reading Building the Development Version of Emacs on OpenBSD
Building the Development Version of Emacs on FreeBSD
(August 14, 2020)Today in our series “How To Build Emacs For Fun And No Profit Whatsoever“, we’ve reached FreeBSD. Building Emacs here is very straightforward. First, as root, install the compilation dependencies like this: pkg update -f pkg install -y autoconf git gmake pkgconf texinfo pkg install -y `pkg rquery %dn emacs-devel` Then, as a non-root user, … Continue reading Building the Development Version of Emacs on FreeBSD
Have You Ever Seen Something That Is So Ugly That You Think “I Have To Have That”?
(August 7, 2020)Well, I did! It’s a teapot from Jason Miller Areaware. You may not be surprised to hear that they don’t make these any more. After only three years with a watchlist on Ebay, I finally got one! And it didn’t shatter in the mail! Isn’t that just uniquely horrible? It’s a bit less horrifying on … Continue reading Have You Ever Seen Something That Is So Ugly That You Think “I Have To Have That”?
My New Innovations in Packaging Blog
(August 7, 2020)So I’m opening packages, and out of an envelope this drops: Hi, Jack! Wut? Oh, it’s a record cover used as packaging: Reuse before recycle! (Oh, it was used as packaging for this classic comic by Lee Marrs):
3×10%
(August 4, 2020)Last summer I went on an Emacs bug spelunking, and set as a goal for me to close (i.e., fix, prod people about, or determine if the bug reports were invalid, etc.) 10% of the open bugs. I did that twice (which isn’t the same as fixing 20% of the bugs, because the 10% gets … Continue reading 3×10%
Emacs on Macos for Linux Peeps
(August 2, 2020)Looking at the Emacs bug tracker, there’s a bunch of Apple-specific Emacs bugs, and I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the more trivial bugs. So I wondered what you’d have to do to build Emacs under Macos, and… I found a bunch of people talking about how easy … Continue reading Emacs on Macos for Linux Peeps
Comics Daze
(August 1, 2020)The other week I spent all day doing absolutely nothing but read comics (and eat takeout pizza) and writing a couple words about each book, and today I’ve got an open schedule again, so here goes. 06:23: Uncle Scrooge: The Twenty-four Carat Moon by Carl Barks (Fantagraphics) It’s been too long since I’ve read one … Continue reading Comics Daze
July Music
(August 1, 2020)Music I’ve bought in July.
User-Contributed Subtitles on Youtube
(July 31, 2020)Gah. Remember just the other week? When I was nattering on about how nice it is that people can add subtitles on Youtube? This allows people to, like, watch stuff in other languages, like this Spanish translation of this Swedish-language Bergman obscurity that some kind soul just contributed? Well, since Youtube is Google, I should … Continue reading User-Contributed Subtitles on Youtube
BC&B: La Volaille au Vinaigre de Vin Bistro d’à Côté w/ Financiers aux Noisettes
(July 30, 2020)The dead animal dishes I’ve enjoyed most from this Bistro Cooking book (by Patricia Wells) have definitely been the dead chicken dishes. The dead cow dishes have all (I think? how long has this blog series gone on now? a decade or two?) been disappointing: Very heavy and somewhat offputting. So this week I’m doing … Continue reading BC&B: La Volaille au Vinaigre de Vin Bistro d’à Côté w/ Financiers aux Noisettes
TSP2013: Death for a Unicorn
(July 28, 2020)I found this short from 2015 on Amazon Prime, and I updated the placeholder post. Clicky the linky for postie. And that concludes this year’s Tilda Swinton Project update, I think. I found more stuff this year then the previous ones, for some reason or other. This post is part of The Tilda Swinton Project.
TSP1990: Fruits of Fear
(July 28, 2020)Somebody finally (like six years ago) finally uploaded this documentary short to youtube, so I could fill in a missing post. This post is part of The Tilda Swinton Project.
TSP2020: Story and the Writer
(July 28, 2020)Story and the Writer. Andrew Ondrejcak. 2020. So, this is a short you can watch on Youtube. Swinton does the voiceover… which is pretty oddly recorded. It’s very dry, as if she’s just talking into her phone or something. Which is a wasted opportunity. And… when you’re doing this sort of thing, your performers had … Continue reading TSP2020: Story and the Writer
TSP2019: What We Do in the Shadows: “The Trial”
(July 28, 2020)What We Do in the Shadows: “The Trial”. Taika Waititi. 2019. Oh, OK — this is the TV series based on the movie? I saw that movie at the Sundance Film Festival! (I know! How hoity toity!) I think I gave it a… five? a four? on the score cards. It was fun, but kinda … Continue reading TSP2019: What We Do in the Shadows: “The Trial”
So you want to run your own mail server… redux
(July 26, 2020)I was reading this blog article today, and it reminded me that I hadn’t implemented MTA-STS in that mail server setup script I put together the other month. MTA-STS isn’t really… vital… for running a mail server, but I guess it’s nice to have, and it’s easy enough to add. It does mean that the … Continue reading So you want to run your own mail server… redux
TSP2019: Uncut Gems
(July 25, 2020)Uncut Gems. Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie. 2019. [twenty minutes pass] Oh deer. This is the Adam Sandler Oscar bait movie? To ensure getting nominated, you have to have some sort of health angle, so it starts with a colonoscopy (it is Sandler, after all) and some possible cancer, before we go into full-bore New … Continue reading TSP2019: Uncut Gems
TSP2019: The Dead Don’t Die
(July 25, 2020)The Dead Don’t Die. Jim Jarmusch. 2019. [five minutes pass; i.e., I watched the titles] Wow; this movie basically has everybody that’s famous. It’s not just Jarmusch’s normal troupe (although many of them are here), but a bunch of random famous people. I’m assuming they called his agent or his agent called them and they … Continue reading TSP2019: The Dead Don’t Die
TSP2017: War Machine
(July 25, 2020)War Machine. David Michôd. 2017. Oops. This is a Netflix movie from 2017? Starring Brad Pitt? I’ve never heard of it, but apparently Tilda Swinton has a tiny role in this, so I’ve gotta see it for this blog series. [ten minutes pass] Oh deer. This is my least favourite movie genre ever? The satirical-military-movie-with-an-omniscient-voice-over … Continue reading TSP2017: War Machine
TSP2019: The Souvenir
(July 24, 2020)The Souvenir. Joanna Hogg. 2019. Hey! We’re back with our sorta-yearly “what has that Swinton woman been up to since last we checked?” This year, we have … about half a dozen movies? So she’s been busy. First off a movie by Joanna Hogg? That name seems so familiar to me that I assumed that … Continue reading TSP2019: The Souvenir
BC&B: Sauté de Veau aux Carottes La Boutarde w/ Harengs Marinés
(July 23, 2020)Just four (?) posts to go! So that’s eight dishes and four books. The first dish of the day is the mains, because it turns out that the starter takes four days! Who knew! Not me! I never read these recipes before I start to cook; I just get the ingredients and hope for the … Continue reading BC&B: Sauté de Veau aux Carottes La Boutarde w/ Harengs Marinés
The Horror
(July 23, 2020)So I was unpacking a mega package from the US today (I’m using a forwarding service, because it’s just … more fun), and one of the packages inside contained this item. “Queensryche? On tape?” I thought? “JUST HOW DRUNK HAVE I BEEN!!!1” “Oh, OK, perhaps it’s something so avant garde that they sell it in … Continue reading The Horror
Comics Daze
(July 22, 2020)It’s been such a long time since I just sat down with a bunch of new comics… I’ve been reading (eww!) books all spring and summer (in addition to the Epic Comics thing), so my queue of incoming comics has grown to ridiculous lengths. So! Newish blog concept! I get up in the morning, and … Continue reading Comics Daze
BC&B: Terrine de Poireaux aux Lamelles de Truffes Michel Trama w/ Terrine aux Herbes de Provence Madame Cartet
(July 18, 2020)It’s a new week, so it’s another couple of Patricia Wells recipes and a new book. OK, for the starter this week, I’m doing this… terrine? Tell me you’re reading this recipe the same way I’m reading it: It’s a bunch of boiled leeks? (Leek? What’s the plural? One leek, two leek… probably with an … Continue reading BC&B: Terrine de Poireaux aux Lamelles de Truffes Michel Trama w/ Terrine aux Herbes de Provence Madame Cartet
Some Bergman Youtube
(July 16, 2020)Some years ago, I watched a whole bunch of stuff by Ingmar Bergman. As a result, I was sitting on a pile of really obscure things that I had acquired from various sources that I uploaded to Youtube a few years later. I then uploaded a bunch of subtitles and translated one of the pieces … Continue reading Some Bergman Youtube
ELC1995: Skin Tight Orbit
(July 15, 2020)Skin Tight Orbit vols 1 & 2 by Elaine Lee and various, published by NBM/Amerotica. The US direct sales comics market has been through so many upheavals since it started in the late 70s. It always seems to be either going through a huge growth spurt or a catastrophic downturn? The reason I’m mentioning this … Continue reading ELC1995: Skin Tight Orbit
Newspeak
(July 14, 2020)So… is “keep less relevant ads” the answer when you don’t want Twitter to use that extensive file on you that I’m sure they’re already maintaining?
ELC1990: Starstruck: The Expanding Universe
(July 14, 2020)Starstruck: The Expanding Universe #1-4 by Elaine Lee, William Michael Kaluta, published by Dark Horse. I wasn’t going to do any Starstruck-related stuff in this blog series, but it occurred to me that I had the Dark Horse series, and it might be interesting to read it and compare it to the IDW collected edition. … Continue reading ELC1990: Starstruck: The Expanding Universe
ELC2011: “Mischief”
(July 13, 2020)“Mischief” by Elaine Lee in Chicks with Capes, edited by Lori Gentile and Karen O’Brien, published by Moonstone. OK, this blog series is about Elaine Lee’s comics, and this isn’t a comic book. Instead it’s an anthology of short stories about super-heroes. But I’ve bought it, so I might as well read it. Oh, it’s … Continue reading ELC2011: “Mischief”
BC&B: Poulet Sauté aux Echalotes w/ Tarte au Fromage Blanc Ferme d’Alsace
(July 11, 2020)Hi! It’s been quite a while since the last chapter of this blog series… since before The Pandemic, I think? It seems like most people reacted to the thing by starting to bake and cook like crazy, but I mostly just… sat on the couch and read stacks and stacks of books. For some reason, … Continue reading BC&B: Poulet Sauté aux Echalotes w/ Tarte au Fromage Blanc Ferme d’Alsace
ELC1994: Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant
(July 11, 2020)Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant #1-4 by Charles Vess, Elaine Lee, John Ridgway and others, published by Marvel. What on Earth is this, then? A… new Prince Valiant? Published by Marvel? Wat? Oh, Charles Vess has done the plot, and Lee is doing the words, I guess? (Oh, Here’s an explanation of what this blog series … Continue reading ELC1994: Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant
ELC1999: Vamps: Pumpkin Time
(July 10, 2020)Vamps: Pumpkin Time #1-3 by Elaine Lee, William Simpson and others, published by DC/Vertigo. This is the third and final Vamps mini-series, and I wrote about the first one here and the second one here. (Oh, Here’s an explanation of what this blog series is.) Let’s read the first three pages. Well.. the first thing … Continue reading ELC1999: Vamps: Pumpkin Time
ELC1996: Vamps: Hollywood and Vein
(July 9, 2020)Vamps: Hollywood and Vein #1-6 by Elaine Lee, William Simpson and others, published by DC/Vertigo. This is the second Vamps mini-series, and I wrote about the previous one the other day. (Oh, Here’s an explanation of what this blog series is.) Let’s read the first three pages. Oh, the art style has changed substantially since … Continue reading ELC1996: Vamps: Hollywood and Vein
ELC1994: Vamps
(July 8, 2020)Vamps #1-6 by Elaine Lee, William Simpson and others, published by DC/Vertigo. I’m guessing this is the most commercially successful series I’m covering in this blog series — it’s got two followup mini-series and has been collected later. (Oh, Here’s an explanation of what this blog series is.) Let’s read the first three pages. Hey! … Continue reading ELC1994: Vamps
ELC1993: Saint Sinner
(July 7, 2020)Saint Sinner #1-7 by Elaine Lee, Max Douglas, Larry Brown and others, published by Marvel Comics. This book is part of Marvel’s Razorline — basically super-hero concepts from Clive Barker expanded into a line of four continuing series. I approached this series with a bit of trepidation after having read far too many Barker-based comics … Continue reading ELC1993: Saint Sinner
Emacs Screensaving Redux
(July 5, 2020)Yesterday, I tweaked my toy Emacs screensaver to display images, and discovered that that was very slow indeed. Today I started actually benchmarking this stuff instead of just guessing what was taking all that time, and surprise, surprise, the problem wasn’t where I thought it was at all. Instead it was in the xelb library, … Continue reading Emacs Screensaving Redux
More Emacs Screensaver Fun
(July 4, 2020)As I’m no doubt you all remember *cough* *cough* I hacked up an Emacs-based screensaver the other year because XScreenSaver twaddles the DPMS too much. (Yes really! I mean probably! I didn’t actually look at the source code.) My er solution used a transparent X frame to catch the mouse/keyboard so that it knew when … Continue reading More Emacs Screensaver Fun
ELC1997: BrainBanx
(July 3, 2020)BrainBanx #1-6 by Elaine Lee, Temujin and others, published by DC/Helix. After a couple of less than totally thrilling series, I’m having high hopes for this series: The best Lee comics I’ve read have been science fiction, and this is science fiction… so there! (Oh, Here’s an explanation of what this blog series is.) I’ve … Continue reading ELC1997: BrainBanx
June Music
(June 30, 2020)Music I’ve bought in June. It’s a good mix of stuff… old and new. And new stuff from old favourites like Aksak Maboul: Hm. Well, there’s not actually that much new stuff from new people this month, is there? Last month we had Irreversible Intanglements and Yves Tumor, but this month we have a 1984 … Continue reading June Music
ELC1995: Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny
(June 29, 2020)Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny #1-4 by Elaine Lee, Dan Spiegle and Will Simpson, published by Dark Horse comics. (See this for what this blog series is about.) Hm! I assumed that this was an adaptation of one of the movies? Wasn’t one of them called something like “Spear of Destiny”? But it’s … Continue reading ELC1995: Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny
Home Renovations
(June 28, 2020)So, I’ve got this chair on the balcony, and it’s got this brilliant design…. See if you can detect the minor irritating problem here. 1, 2… Yes, exactly. So whenever the weather turns nice and I want to sit down in it, there’s usually still a puddle there, and I can’t just tip it over … Continue reading Home Renovations
ELC1993: Ragman: Cry of the Dead
(June 27, 2020)Ragman: Cry of the Dead #1-6 by Elaine Lee and Gabriel Morrissette, published by DC Comics. (See this for what this blog series is about.) This is the only series Lee wrote for DC Comics proper, but I’ll be covering her Helix and Vertigo (both DC imprints) later in this blog series. Let’s read the … Continue reading ELC1993: Ragman: Cry of the Dead
ELC1990: Steeltown Rockers
(June 25, 2020)Steeltown Rockers #1-6 by Elaine Lee, Steve Leialoha and others. I wasn’t planning on doing the Lee comics in chronological order, but I think this may be the earliest one of the ones I’m covering in this blog series, anyway? (Oh, Here’s an explanation of what this blog series is.) Let’s read the first three … Continue reading ELC1990: Steeltown Rockers
Elaine Lee Comics
(June 24, 2020)Starstruck, written by Elaine Lee and with artwork by Michael William Kaluta is one of my favourite comics. It’s certainly my favourite genre comic — it’s an exhilarating reading experience, and seemed to hint at an entirely new way of doing comics. Over the years, I’ve re-read it many times… mostly because they keep releasing … Continue reading Elaine Lee Comics
Totally Epic
(June 23, 2020)Half a year ago I started (re-)reading everything published by Epic Comics. Today, I finished. It was an… it was an… isn’t there an expression for “big task”? I guess not. It was a big task. And stupid. Let’s not forget stupid — I never should have done it, but I did get to read … Continue reading Totally Epic
Officially The Best Redux
(June 13, 2020)As a contrast, after watching a year’s worth of Netflix movies, I thought it would be fun to watch all the films on the Sight & Sound directors’ poll, so I did, and probably bored all you all to death while doing it. Or was that the COVID? It was probably the COVID. *crosses fingers* … Continue reading Officially The Best Redux
OTB#1: Tokyo Story
(June 10, 2020)Tokyo Story. Yasujirô Ozu. 1953. ⚄ We’ve reached the end of this blog series, and we go out on a really good one. It’s a really moving film; even more so than that bicycle thief one. I can totally see why this ended up as #1 in 2012: The performances are swell, the cinematography is … Continue reading OTB#1: Tokyo Story
OTB#2: 2001: A Space Odyssey
(June 10, 2020)2001: A Space Odyssey. Stanley Kubrick. 1968. ⚅ The end is nigh! For this blog series. I think… I haven’t seen this movie since the 80s? I think I saw it in a movie theatre? Yeah, I’m pretty sure I did. And then on VHS later. When thinking back on it, there’s so many scenes … Continue reading OTB#2: 2001: A Space Odyssey
OTB#2: Citizen Kane
(June 9, 2020)Citizen Kane. Orson Welles. 1941. ⚂ I have seen this movie a number of times before — I’m not a complete moron. (Note: “Complete”.) But it’s been several decades, and I just remember some flashes of a huge, empty house, and a sled being thrown into an incinerator? Oh, now it’s coming back to me… … Continue reading OTB#2: Citizen Kane
OTB#4: 8½
(June 8, 2020)8½. Federico Fellini. 1963. ⚅ I watched this (wow) six years ago, and it’s a wonderful movie. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#5: Taxi Driver
(June 8, 2020)Taxi Driver. Martin Scorsese. 1976. ⚅ OK, let me just tell you where I’m coming from: I don’t like Martin Scorsese’s movies. All the ones I can recall seeing are about uninteresting morons that do uninteresting and stupid things. They’re usually competently shot, with a cast of actors that make watching the movies not sheer … Continue reading OTB#5: Taxi Driver
OTB#6: Apocalypse Now
(June 8, 2020)Apocalypse Now. Francis Ford Coppola. 1979. ⚃ I’ve seen this a couple of times before? But back in the 80s. I remember being quite taken with most of Coppola’s movies at the time — I even liked One from the Heart and Rumble Fish (well, sort of). Sitting down to watch this, though, I have … Continue reading OTB#6: Apocalypse Now
OTB#7: Vertigo
(June 6, 2020)Vertigo. Alfred Hitchcock. 1958. ⚅ This movie is #1 on the critics’ poll. I have seen this before, of course, but… it’s probably a while ago? Is this the one with the Dali sequences? Hm… No, that was Spellbound! Which I have to see again. Oh right, this is the one with Kim Novak… Which … Continue reading OTB#7: Vertigo
OTB#7: The Godfather
(June 5, 2020)The Godfather. Francis Ford Coppola. 1972. ⚄ I watched the second episode in this series a couple of months ago, and it was (to my great surprise) quite fun. So I’m guessing this is gonna suck. [five minutes pass] I can’t stop staring at the huge wads of cotton they’ve stuffed into Brando’s face: He … Continue reading OTB#7: The Godfather
OTB#9: Mirror
(June 5, 2020)The Mirror. Andrei Tarkovski. 1975. ⚅ I watched this film when doing the one-movie-from-each-country blog thing. It’s really good, but I think Stalker is better, really. And perhaps Solaris, too? But I can kinda see why that one isn’t on this OTB list… I think… Anyway! This one is really good, too. This blog post … Continue reading OTB#9: Mirror
OTB#10: The Bicycle Thieves
(June 5, 2020)Bicycle Thieves. Vittorio De Sica. 1948. ⚅ I watched this amazing movie in 2014? I’m not rewatching it now, because I’m all out of kleenexes. *sniff* I’m tearing up just thinking about the movie. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#11: Breathless
(June 5, 2020)Breathless. Jean-Luc Godard. 1960. ⚄ I watched this some years ago, and it’s a wonderful movie. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#12: Raging Bull
(June 5, 2020)Raging Bull. Martin Scorsese. 1980. ⚁ OK, we’re now in the final dozen movies in this blog series, and what’s striking about the final (i.e., most highly rated) movies is that they’re mostly box office smashes: It is, perhaps, not surprising, exactly — but it’s definitely a thing. It’s not that the OTB list is … Continue reading OTB#12: Raging Bull
OTB#13: Persona
(June 4, 2020)Persona. Ingmar Bergman. 1966. ⚅ I watched this movie two years ago during the 87 Bergman Things blog series, but I wanted to watch it again, so here you go: Probably a slightly different series of screenshots? You gets what you pays for, dead reader. [thirty minutes pass] Looking at the remaining films on the … Continue reading OTB#13: Persona
OTB#13: The 400 Blows
(June 4, 2020)The 400 Blows. François Truffaut. 1959. ⚅ I really thought I’d seen this before, but I couldn’t find it anywhere… until I searched for Quatre Cents Coups. Duh. Anyway, I watched this in 2016, and now I’m watching it again. I don’t actually remember much of this (pre?-)Nouvelle Vague movie other than that it was … Continue reading OTB#13: The 400 Blows
OTB#13: Andrei Rublev
(June 3, 2020)Andrei Rublev. Andrei Tarkovsky. 1966. ⚂ I watched this a couple of years ago, and it’s a bit naff. Which was really surprising for me, because Tarkovsky is usually absolutely brilliant. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#16: Fanny and Alexander
(June 3, 2020)Fanny & Alexander. Ingmar Bergman. 1982. ⚅ I watched this in 2018, but I’ve watched it a bunch of times before. It is 100% amazeballs. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#17: Seven Samurai
(June 3, 2020)Seven Samurai. Akira Kurosawa. 1954. ⚂ [two minutes pass] I thought I had seen this movie before, but now I think not? And it lasts ALL THE HOURS. I may have to take a pause in the middle of this. I mean, I got up at 6 this morning and it’s 20 now… [half an … Continue reading OTB#17: Seven Samurai
OTB#18: Rashomon
(June 3, 2020)Rashomon. Akira Kurosawa. 1950. ⚃ [fifteen minutes pass] I’ve seen this before, of course, but only once? I think? But the Rashomon concept is so well-known that it feels like I’m just waiting for the plot elements to happen… which isn’t the best way to watch a movie. So far, the cinematography has been a … Continue reading OTB#18: Rashomon
May Music
(May 31, 2020)Music I’ve bought in May. The albums I bought this month seems to be all over the place… new stuff, old stuff… and unusually enough, I haven’t actually listened to any of it, because I’ve been listening to old stuff. But I can recommend this one:
OTB#19: Barry Lyndon
(May 31, 2020)Barry Lyndon. Stanley Kubrick. 1975. ⚁ Oh, I saw this as a (young) teenager. I remember renting it on VHS. What I remember from it is… er… that there were a lot of green hills? Correct! I also remember that I really liked the movie. And that it’s somehow a Kubrick movie that all Kubrick … Continue reading OTB#19: Barry Lyndon
OTB#19: Ordet
(May 31, 2020)Ordet. Carl Theodor Dreyer. 1955. ⚄ I watched this in 2015, and it’s really good. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#21: Au Hasard Balthazar
(May 31, 2020)Au hasard Balthazar. Robert Bresson. 1966. ⚃ I watched this five years ago. I remember liking this a lot more than I apparently did. I was probably wrong! This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#22: Sunrise
(May 31, 2020)Sunrise. F.W. Murnau. 1927. ⚅ This is a 2K version (from Eureka (Masters of Cinema)), but it’s only been very lightly restored? That is, it’s got a lot of horizontal shudder going on, which is usually the first thing they fix (since it can be done pretty much automatically by computers these days)… but otherwise, … Continue reading OTB#22: Sunrise
OTB#22: Modern Times
(May 31, 2020)I think that guy might have nose powder. Modern Times. Charles Chaplin. 1936. ⚄ Here’s the thing: Obviously Chaplin is a genius etc bla bla bla, but… they’re not movies that I would seek out to watch on my own, because… I just don’t enjoy them that much? So I’ve never seen this one; perhaps … Continue reading OTB#22: Modern Times
OTB#22: L’Atalante
(May 28, 2020)L’Atalante. Jean Vigo. 1934. ⚄ I watched this in 2015, and … I vaguely remember this movie. It’s pretty spiffy. And has cats! This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#22: La Règle du jeu
(May 28, 2020)La Regle du jeu. Jean Renoir. 1939. ⚃ I watched this in… 2014!? That’s like half a lifetime ago. I have absolutely no recollection of having seen this, but apparently I wasn’t too impressed. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#26: The Night of the Hunter
(May 28, 2020)The Night of the Hunter. Charles Laughton. 1955. ⚅ Ooo. This is a good one, I think. I may have seen this only once before? Or… I think I remember thinking the last time I saw this (in the 90s? at the Cinematheque?) that I must have seen it before, so I was probably scarred … Continue reading OTB#26: The Night of the Hunter
OTB#26: Touch of Evil
(May 28, 2020)Touch of Evil. Orson Welles. 1958. ⚄ I watched this movie in 2015, and it was apparently really good. I remember zilch about it now, though. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#26: The Battle of Algiers
(May 28, 2020)The Battle of Algiers. Gillo Pontecorvo. 1966. ⚃ I watched this movie when doing the “one movie from every country” thing. It’s a bit disappointing. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#26: La strada
(May 28, 2020)La Strada. Federico Fellini. 1954. ⚄ I talked about this movie here. It’s good. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#30: Stalker
(May 28, 2020)Stalker. Andrei Tarkovsky. 1979. ⚅ I was so sure I’d already blogged about this movie that I didn’t re-buy it for this Officially The Best blog series. But then it turned out that I hadn’t, so I rebought it on bluray. Which took weeks to get here. And now it turns out that the bluray … Continue reading OTB#30: Stalker
Useful Consumer Review
(May 25, 2020)A few years back, I got a Dyson robot vacuum — the 360 Eye. I’d tried various other robot vacuums before, like the iRobot thingie, but the problem with those is that they’re… so noisy. I mean, not to me: I can just leave the room and sit somewhere else. But they seem to be … Continue reading Useful Consumer Review
Self-Hosting WordPress Even More
(May 24, 2020)I know, I know; all blogs that’s hosted on WordPress inevitably turns into a blog about WordPress… Sorry! This is just a post of aimless complaining about an issue that’s so minor you won’t believe it, but these days there aren’t anybody on my lawn that I can shout at. Sorry! I started this blogging … Continue reading Self-Hosting WordPress Even More
I Am So Observant
(May 22, 2020)They’ve been … grinding away at the stairs in this building for the last few days. The house is from the late 1800s, and (apparently unusually) the tiles in the stairwell are made from concrete, not ceramics. So they’re porous, and grow ever-more dirty over the years? I’m not an expert. I didn’t know that … Continue reading I Am So Observant
Outline
(May 4, 2020)I’ve just read the second book in Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy, and it’s fabulous — perhaps even better than the first? Anyway, it reminded me that I read a shattering and hilarious parody of Cusk in a Norwegian newspaper a few months back. So I translated it into English; I hope nobody minds? I think … Continue reading Outline
OTB#30: Amarcord
(May 2, 2020)Amarcord. Federico Fellini. 1973. ⚂ Ah, yes… I saw this a few years ago, but on a horrible interlaced DVD (so the effective resolution was horrible). The is a 2K version restored by Criterion, and… it… still doesn’t really look very good? Like… the colours are kinda all over the place and… but that’s probably … Continue reading OTB#30: Amarcord
April Music
(April 30, 2020)Music I’ve bought in April. Oh my. That’s a lot of new music. How did that happen? Did I spend the entire month of April on my couch shopping? Yes, I did. The two main threads here are my continuing fascination with Ze Records. They were a late-70s/early-80s New York record company (very, very New … Continue reading April Music
OTB#30: L’Avventura
(April 29, 2020)L’avventura. Michelangelo Antonioni. 1960. ⚅ Emacs tells me that I watched this in 2014, but that was before I started movie blogging 4 realz, so I have no recollection of this movie. But I’ve quite enjoyed the other Antonioni films on the list, so this is probably going to be spiffy. [half an hour passes] … Continue reading OTB#30: L’Avventura
OTB#30: The Godfather: Part II
(April 25, 2020)The Godfather Part II. Francis Ford Coppola. 1974. ⚄ I’m watching the movies on this list of the officially best movies in reverse order, and since the first Godfather movie is further up on the list, I’m watching part II first. ¡Scandalo! But I gotta keep the blogging concept going, right? Right. I haven’t seen … Continue reading OTB#30: The Godfather: Part II
OTB#30: Il Vangelo secondo Matteo
(April 21, 2020)The Gospel According to Matthew. Pier Paolo Pasolini. 1964. ⚅ I watched this move a few years ago, and it’s pretty spiffy. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#30: City Lights
(April 21, 2020)City Lights. Charles Chaplin. 1931. ⚃ Oh, wow. It’s a silent movie? From 1931? I thought Hollywood had stopped making these at least a couple years before? And everybody had hastily started converting everything into talkies? Was Chaplin one of those people who thought that silent movies were for art and sound was vulgar or … Continue reading OTB#30: City Lights
OTB#30: Come And See
(April 21, 2020)Come and See. Elem Klimov. 1985. ⚂ I watched this movie the other year, and I wasn’t very impressed, but that might have been because of the horrendous DVD transfer I was watching? This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#37: Un condamné à mort s’est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut
(April 21, 2020)A Man Escaped. Robert Bresson. 1956. ⚄ There’s four films by Bresson on this “officially the best” list, which is a lot? I don’t think there’s anybody with five movies, but Bresson is tied for the coveted Most Movies On The List prize with Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Stanley Kubrick and John Cassavetes. … Continue reading OTB#37: Un condamné à mort s’est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut
OTB#37: Some Like It Hot
(April 20, 2020)Some Like It Hot. Billy Wilder. 1959. ⚄ I’ve blogged about this movie before, but we’re in a pretty serious grouping of movies on this list, so I want to re-watch it. Here’s a second look at the screenshots from that movie. You’re welcome. The last time I watched this, it was on an interlaced … Continue reading OTB#37: Some Like It Hot
My New Exnovations in Packaging Blog
(April 18, 2020)Oh boy oh boy! I braved the throngs of shuffling zombies I mean panting jogging sportspeople to go to the post office to collect a biiig package from Staples: (Orange for scale.) What could it be!? It was… some Post-It index flags (the primary and vital tool for my comics blog). Thanks, Staples! Your packing … Continue reading My New Exnovations in Packaging Blog
OTB#37: La dolce vita
(April 17, 2020)La dolce vita. Federico Fellini. 1960. ⚅ I must have seen this before? Right? But I can’t really recall it… This is the one with the fountain scene? I must have seen it… or perhaps I’ve just seen that scene, which is included in every documentary about Italian cinema. Oh, yeah! Here’s the opening shot … Continue reading OTB#37: La dolce vita
Storage… To The Max!
(April 16, 2020)For some years now, I’ve been ripping DVDs (and blu-rays) before watching, both for practical reasons and stupid reasons. One theoretical nice side effect of all this is that I can re-watch movies without rummaging through boxes of stuff… And I actually did re-watch something this year, although I should have re-bought it on blu-ray. … Continue reading Storage… To The Max!
OTB#37: Close-Up
(April 14, 2020)Close-Up. Abbas Kiarostami. 1990. ⚄ This is one of the rare movies on this “officially the best” from outside of the US/Europe/Japan/Hong Kong Axis of Movies, and I watched it for my World of Films and Cocktails blog series. It’s really good. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#37: Viridiana
(April 14, 2020)Viridiana. Luis Buñuel. 1961. ⚄ The third and final Buñuel movie on this list of movies. (Well, or the first, if you’re counting from the top, which would be more logical…) Eep! No English subtitles on this bluray! *phew* Subscene to the rescue. Without kindly pirates it would be next to impossible to watch the … Continue reading OTB#37: Viridiana
OTB#37: Passion of Joan of Arc
(April 13, 2020)The Passion of Joan of Arc. Carl Theodor Dreyer. 1928. ⚅ This film is absolutely amazeballs, and I wrote about it here. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#37: Playtime
(April 13, 2020)Playtime. Jacques Tati. 1967. ⚅ So this is where Roy Andersson got his aesthetic from! Oh my. I realise now that I’m in a kinda multiple French delusion zone: For some reason, the name “Tati” made me think both of that umbrella movie by Jacques Demy, so slightly understandable, but also of Louis de Funès, … Continue reading OTB#37: Playtime
OTB#44: Le mépris
(April 9, 2020)Les Mepris. Jean-Luc Godard. 1963. ⚂ I watched this in 2015 and didn’t like it at all, apparently. I was probably wrong, because the screenshots look lovely. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#44: Once Upon a Time in the West
(April 9, 2020)One Upon a Time in the West. Sergio Leone. 1968. ⚃ I’ve seen all the Eastwood Leone movies… but I may never have seen this one? I probably have, though, on third-generation VHS back in the 80s. Oh wow. Argento and Bertolucci? Well, the first sounds good, but not the second… OH WOW! This is … Continue reading OTB#44: Once Upon a Time in the West
OTB#44: The Apartment
(April 9, 2020)The Apartment. Billy Wilder. 1960. ⚂ I watched this movie five years ago, and apparently I didn’t like it? I can’t remember why. I mean, it looks fun? I may be wrong here? I kinda want to re-watch it, but not with that DVD transfer, which sounds tragic. This blog post is part of the … Continue reading OTB#44: The Apartment
OTB#44: Hour of the Wolf
(April 9, 2020)Hour of the Wolf. Ingmar Bergman. 1968. ⚃ I watched this a couple years ago, and I think it’s an odd Bergman movie to land on this “Officially the Best” list. It’s… I think there’s at least 20 better Bergman movies out there? I mean, it’s not bad, but… This blog post is part of … Continue reading OTB#44: Hour of the Wolf
OTB#48: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
(April 9, 2020)One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Milos Forman. 1975. ⚄ I think I saw this when I was a child. I remember… it being sad? Yes. That’s all I remember. And I think I may have it confused with Birdy. And… Oh! Now I remember the Mad parody of it. There’s some pillow action at … Continue reading OTB#48: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Noindex Redux
(April 8, 2020)A month ago, I wondered whether there was any way to make those useless WordPress overview pages (i.e., category, author and “page X” pages) go away from search index results. To recap, whenever I’m looking for something, Google has a tendency to return a result pointing to “page 35” of somebody’s blog, but when I … Continue reading Noindex Redux
OTB#48: L’eclisse
(April 6, 2020)L’eclisse. Michelangelo Antonioni. 1962. ⚅ Oh, L’eclisse… not Réglisse… So this isn’t a French movie about liquorice, but an Italian movie about an eclipse. Makes more sense. [time passes] OH MY EMACS! Everything in this movie is so gorgeous! The performers, the lighting, the costumes, the interiors, the framing, the film stock, the 2K transfer… … Continue reading OTB#48: L’eclisse
The Campaign Against Link Rot
(April 6, 2020)This blog has been going for a while, and more and more of the very, very useful external links (ahem) now point to sites that have disappeared, or that have rearranged all their internal links. This is sad. I wondered whether there was a tool that’d just point all the broken links to archive.org, and … Continue reading The Campaign Against Link Rot
The Google Audit
(April 6, 2020)As I’m sure you remember perfectly, in 2012 (!) I did something silly (no really): I scripted a teensy thing that would check what was playing on the stereo, and then search Youtube for a video that matched that as best it could (based on artist name, track title and the length of the track), … Continue reading The Google Audit
OTB#48: Lawrence of Arabia
(April 4, 2020)Lawrence of Arabia. David Lean. 1962. ⚁ This isn’t a movie I’ve looked forwards to watching. I think I’ve seen it… a couple of times? Back in the 80s? I seem to remember it being one of those double VHS box things? And all I remember about the movie is that it’s one portentous desert … Continue reading OTB#48: Lawrence of Arabia
March Music
(April 1, 2020)Music I’ve bought in March. After a very slow February, I pulled myself together and got buyin’. And not just new old music: But mostly. And, hey, a new single from Team Dresch!
So You Want To Run Your Own Mail Server…
(March 25, 2020)Whenever the subject of running your own mail server comes up, there’ll always be two people who chime in. The first will say “No, don’t do it! It’s a virtually impossible thing to do these days!” The second will say “Don’t listen to that guy! It’s trivial! I just installed one and I had no … Continue reading So You Want To Run Your Own Mail Server…
Outgoing DKIM and exim4
(March 22, 2020)So, I sent an email to my sister, and I didn’t hear back. After exchanging some SMS-es, it turns out my mails went to the spam box on Gmail. Rude! That’s a new development for my MTA (quimby.gnus.org), so I tried poking around seeing whether I’d ended up in a blacklist or something. But, no, … Continue reading Outgoing DKIM and exim4
OTB#48: The Searchers
(March 22, 2020)The Searchers. John Ford. 1956. ⚃ There’s sure a whole bunch of westerns on this survey, padner. I got this one from a 20 disc box set some years back. I think it was this? That’s a pretty solid collection. This is the only John Ford movie on the list, which is somewhat surprising. And … Continue reading OTB#48: The Searchers
OTB#48: Pickpocket
(March 21, 2020)Pickpocket. Robert Bresson. 1959. ⚅ Oh, I’ve got this both on DVD from Artificial Eye and bluray from Criterion… I’m watching the Criterion release. OH MY EMACS! Bresson is straight from the screen into my pretentious mind. Those affectless deliveries! The moral quandaries! Those French hairstyles! It’s just pure fabulousness. I’m there from the first … Continue reading OTB#48: Pickpocket
OTB#48: Pather Panchali
(March 20, 2020)Pather Panchali. Satyajit Ray. 1955. ⚄ There aren’t a lot of movies on this list from outside the US/Europe/Japan/Hong Kong axis. Is this the only one? Haven’t made a survey, but it kinda looks like it? Uhm… Oh! It’s got Close-Up by Abbas Kiarostami, too. (From Iran.) That one’s really good. My guess is that … Continue reading OTB#48: Pather Panchali
Washing
(March 19, 2020)OTB#48: Man with a Movie Camera
(March 19, 2020)Man With A Movie Camera. Dziga Vertov. 1929. ⚅ I think… when English translators are translating from certain languages… they always end up with “scenario” being “SCENARIO” instead of “script”, which is what it means… At least that’s my impression after reading a book about movies translated from French to English the other month. And … Continue reading OTB#48: Man with a Movie Camera
OTB#48: Rear Window
(March 18, 2020)Rear Window. Alfred Hitchcock. 1954. ⚅ I saw this movie just the other year (I think… on a plane?), but now I’ve got it in 2K, so I’m rewatching it. The movie is kinda perfect, but this 2K transfer isn’t. Or perhaps it was just this soft on the celluloid (or er whatever the young … Continue reading OTB#48: Rear Window
OTB#48: Goodfellas
(March 18, 2020)Goodfellas. Martin Scorsese. 1990. ⚂ My most shocking, controversial opinion ever is this: I think Scorsese is overrated. I was amused by all the accolades The Irishman got when it came out. I mean, just look at the critics falling over themselves in trying to praise it more than everybody else. It’s a mediocre movie, … Continue reading OTB#48: Goodfellas
Did You Ever Wonder What It Would Look Like If You Pointed A Lamp Down Into A Scanner And Then Scanned?
(March 17, 2020)No? But now you know.
OTB#48: Shoah
(March 17, 2020)Shoah. Claude Lanzmann. 1985. ⚂ I suspect I’ve seen this before: Was it serialised on TV in the 80s? But it’s just a perfect day for watching this nine hour kneeslapper, isn’t it? Oh, yeah, I have definitely seen this before: I remember the really annoying way it has of have people talking in Polish/Czech/whatever … Continue reading OTB#48: Shoah
OTB#48: Psycho
(March 14, 2020)Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock. 1960. ⚅ Oooh! Psycho! I haven’t seen this for quite some time! And now in a restored 2K version! Oh, it’s not in “acedemy” ratio? That’s the way I remember it, but perhaps it was pan-and-scanned when I watched it on VHS in the 80s… Hitchcock was a fucking asshole and apparently … Continue reading OTB#48: Psycho
Organs
(March 14, 2020)I was just walking back to the couch to watch the next movie when… OH MY EMACS! I’ve had that Zamioculcas for over a decade, and it’s never done that before. Is it Corona!?
OTB#59: Blow Up
(March 14, 2020)Blow Up. Michelangelo Antonioni. 1966. ⚄ Whu uh. I thought I had seen this movie before, but in my mind it’s in black and white, and it’s set in Italy. This is in colour and is set in the UK. From the first five minutes, I would have guessed that this was a Nick Roeg … Continue reading OTB#59: Blow Up
OTB#59: Gertrud
(March 13, 2020)Gertrud. Carl Theodor Dreyer. 1964. ⚅ Oh, wow — a Dreyer movie from 1964? I had no idea he lived that long. Hm… Ah. It’s his final movie. I’ve seen the fabulous Joan of Arc he did back in the 20s, but not a lot of his later movies. This is some grade-A bizarre acting. … Continue reading OTB#59: Gertrud
Stockpiling the Essentials
(March 13, 2020)OTB#59: Aguirre, Wrath of God
(March 12, 2020)Aguirre, Wrath of God. Werner Herzog. 1972. ⚅ Wow, this is the only Herzog movie on the list… and it’s a Herzog movie I haven’t watched! Amazeballs. (Not really.) Anyway, this is so incredibly lush… every scenes seems out of control and fraught with danger. And Klaus Kinski is insane here. (And probably in real … Continue reading OTB#59: Aguirre, Wrath of God
OTB#59: A Woman Under the Influence
(March 12, 2020)A Woman Under the Influence. John Cassavetes. 1974. ⚅ This is the fourth (and highest-rated) Cassavetes movie on the list of Best Movies Ever (Officially). OK, after watching all these Cassavetes movies, it’s hard not to be charmed by his aesthetic. I think that he’s thinking that he’s showing us actual, real, life, and everything … Continue reading OTB#59: A Woman Under the Influence
OTB#59: Il conformista
(March 12, 2020)The Conformist. Bernardo Bertolucci. 1970. ☐ I am not a fan of Bertolucci, so I was happy to see that there’s only one movie by him on the “Best Of” list. And this is movie of his I haven’t seen before, so that’s even better. Perhaps this one will be great! There’s a whole bunch … Continue reading OTB#59: Il conformista
The Mysteries of WordPress
(March 12, 2020)I moved to a self-hosted WordPress last week, and importing the images failed, so I had to do that manually. (That is, with rsync.) Everything seemed to work fine, but then I noticed that loading the images of some of the older pages seemed to take a long time. Like, downloading megabytes and megabytes of … Continue reading The Mysteries of WordPress
OTB#59: Blue Velvet
(March 9, 2020)Blue Velvet. David Lynch. 1986. ⚅ I think I may only have seen this movie once before, which is odd, because I love David Lynch. On the other hand, I remember not being … thrilled? by this movie when I saw it. Which was probably on VHS in 1987 when I was 19. What I … Continue reading OTB#59: Blue Velvet
OTB#59: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
(March 9, 2020)The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Sergio Leone. 1966. ⚄ Has anybody remarked on the similarity between the first trumpet thing (mow mow moooow) in the theme song and the Sad Trombone thing? No? Anyway, this is the first Leone movie in this blog series, and it’s a movie I’ve seen a couple times … Continue reading OTB#59: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
OTB#59: La grande illusion
(March 9, 2020)La Grande Illusion. Jean Renoir. 1937. ⚄ I watched this movie about five years ago, and it’s pretty spiffy. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#67: Ugetsu Monogatari
(March 8, 2020)Ugetsu. Kenji Mizoguchi. 1953. ⚂ I read a compilation of Cahiers de cinema (the 50s years) the other month, and one film that was mentioned a lot was this one. I haven’t seen it before… I haven’t seen it before, and it definitely has it going on. But… there’s a whiff of super-simplified morality play … Continue reading OTB#67: Ugetsu Monogatari
This Is A Test
(March 8, 2020)This blog has been hosted on WordPress.com for many a year. It has, all in all, been a very pleasant experience: It feels like the uptime has been at least 110%, and most everything just works. The problems with using that solution is that it’s very restrictive. There’s so many little things you just can’t … Continue reading This Is A Test
Search Index Cleanliness Is Next To Something
(March 5, 2020)Allegedly, 30% of all web pages are now WordPress. I’m guessing most of these WordPress sites aren’t typical blog sites, but there sure are many of them out there. Which makes it so puzzling why Google and WordPress don’t really play together very well. Lemme just use on of my own stupid hobby sites, Totally … Continue reading Search Index Cleanliness Is Next To Something
OTB#67: Badlands
(March 3, 2020)Badlands. Terrence Malick. 1973. ⚄ As usual with American movies depicting teenagers, it’s always confusing: Are these older actors really supposed to be teenagers, or are they developmentally challenged adults? Spacek looks mid-20s, but acts like she’s aiming for twelve, and Sheen looks like he’s late-30s, but acts like aiming for fifteen? Or are they … Continue reading OTB#67: Badlands
BC&B: Morue à la Provençale le Caméléon w/ Aïoli
(February 29, 2020)Food time! The salt cod dishes in the Bistro Cooking book have been pretty spiffy… this one looks like it’s in a more bacalaoish direction than the previous ones, what with all the tomatoes and stuff. There’s all the usual stuff… and then a whole lot of herbs. Even before starting to cook, it smells … Continue reading BC&B: Morue à la Provençale le Caméléon w/ Aïoli
February Music
(February 29, 2020)Music I’ve bought in February. *gasp* Virtually no new music! Well, it’s been a slow February.
Parallax Error Beheads You
(February 25, 2020)tl;dr: I made a silly 3D web page thing. Yadda yadda: For entirely nostalgic reasons, I’ve been buying a bunch of paperback books published by the largest Norwegian publishing house, Gyldendal, in the 60s and 70s. I guess these are the Norwegian equivalents of what Penguin was at the time: Cheap, but nice and with … Continue reading Parallax Error Beheads You
The Fate of gmane.org
(February 25, 2020)As previously discussed in this embarrassing saga, gmane.org was bought by Yomura Corporation, and they have now let the domain expire. The domain went to the normal Namesilo auction process, and I was waiting for it to appear there so I could buy it back. I didn’t check often enough, and before I was able … Continue reading The Fate of gmane.org
OTB#67: Vivre sa vie
(February 24, 2020)Vivre sa vie. Jean-Luc Godard. 1962. ⚅ Godard movies of this era are such a delight to watch. He’s having so much fun, being all mischievous and stuff. Like filming the actors from behind for the first five minutes, and fading the music in and out at seemingly random. He’s so punk. Every single scene … Continue reading OTB#67: Vivre sa vie
OTB#67: Blade Runner
(February 23, 2020)Blade Runner. Ridley Scott. 1982. ⚃ Apparently, I didn’t really like this movie when I saw it some years back. It seems better in my head than a ⚃, so it’s quite possible I was too grouchy when I watched it. On the other hand, perhaps not? This blog post is part of the Officially … Continue reading OTB#67: Blade Runner
OTB#67: Sunset Blvd.
(February 23, 2020)Sunset Boulevard. Billy Wilder. 1950. ⚄ It’s a Billy Wilder movie, so I assumed that this was a comedy. It’s not, and I’m a moron. That’s some supporting cast. This is one of three Billy Wilder movies on this “best of” list, and the only one I haven’t seen recently. (Or… ever? But it does … Continue reading OTB#67: Sunset Blvd.
OTB#67: Journey to Italy
(February 19, 2020)Journey to Italy. Roberto Rossellini. 1954. ⚅ This 2K restoration looks great: Another class release by the British Film Institute. Your tax money at work, for some values of “your”. But… “English version”? Oh! They seem to be moving their mouths in a slightly English-looking way? Did Rossellini film several versions of this? (As usual … Continue reading OTB#67: Journey to Italy
BC&B: Tranche de Gigot La Boutarde w/ Tarte au Citron Madame Cartet
(February 19, 2020)Food and book time! I usually shop specifically for the dishes in the Bistro Cooking book, but today I saw some lamb cutlets and I thought that surely there’d be a recipe for that in the book, even if that meant I had to cheat and skip forward a bit in the Les Viandes chapter. … Continue reading BC&B: Tranche de Gigot La Boutarde w/ Tarte au Citron Madame Cartet
OTB#67: In The Mood For Love
(February 18, 2020)In The Mood For Love. Kar Wai Wong. 2000. ⚄ I saw this movie a couple of years ago, and I’m not rewatching it for this blog series. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#67: Singin’ in the Rain
(February 17, 2020)Singin’ in the Rain. Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen. 1952. ⚅ Hey! We’re no longer on #75! It was a 16-way split, so we stayed on the same number for a while. #67 is only split between… eight movies… Oh well. I’ve seen this movie a bunch of times, but it’s been a few years … Continue reading OTB#67: Singin’ in the Rain
OTB#75: M
(February 16, 2020)M. Fritz Lang. 1931. ⚃ Oh! It’s German? I really thought I’d seen this before and that it was an American movie? Perhaps I was thinking of the 1951 Losey movie… but… I do remember Peter Lorre being in it? I’m all kinds of confused. Anyway, this is a very narrow movie. I mean, format … Continue reading OTB#75: M
BC&B: Poulet Basquaise w/ Céleri Rémoulade
(February 15, 2020)Food time. The next starter in the Bistro Cooking book is another rémoulade. And… it does look like a nice slaw, doesn’t it? Celery root and Dijon mustard. But… that’s like the entire dish? Just a slaw as a dish? That’s… kinda… Perhaps this is the the best slaw ever. Anyway, it’s just those ingredients. … Continue reading BC&B: Poulet Basquaise w/ Céleri Rémoulade
OTB#75: Battleship Potemkin
(February 13, 2020)Potemkin. Sergei M. Eisenstein. 1925. ⚅ I’ve been looking for the Pet Shop Boys version of this movie, but that’s apparently never been released, so I watched this movie while playing the CD and things probably didn’t line up perfectly… I mean, it can’t because silent movies have a kinda vague connection to timing anyway… … Continue reading OTB#75: Battleship Potemkin
New Lists Can Now Be Added To Gmane
(February 12, 2020)I’ve now hacked up a new admin interface to the Gmane mailing list archive. If you want to add new lists, use the new admin interface. Older lists can also be edited, and you can request resubscription and stuff. This stuff has not exactly been rigorously tested, so if you have any problems with the … Continue reading New Lists Can Now Be Added To Gmane
OTB#75: The General
(February 11, 2020)The General. Clyde Bruckman / Buster Keaton. 1926. ⚃ Lobster? Who are they, then? Over the years, the companies doing releases and restoration of classic (and not-so-classic) movies has been ever-changing. Let’s see… there’s Criterion, of course, who’s been going all along. And BFI, doing more and more stuff, presumably gummint-funded. But I was thinking … Continue reading OTB#75: The General
OTB#75: There Will Be Blood
(February 11, 2020)There Will Be Blood. Paul Thomas Anderson. 2007. ⚂ Is this one of those movies designed for an actor that acts big to be allowed to be totally over the top so that he can win an Oscar (see all male actor Oscar wins ever)? Oh it is: The standard joke is that the craft … Continue reading OTB#75: There Will Be Blood
Reagent is… Nice?
(February 11, 2020)I’ve been procrastinating on writing a web-based admin interface for news.gmane.io… because I just haven’t been able to make up my mind as to what technologies to use. I hate learning new stuff, but it feels pretty stagnant to tap away in Javascript (on the frontend) and PHP for whatever has to happen on the … Continue reading Reagent is… Nice?
BC&B: Gardiane La Cargue w/ Cervelas Rémoulade
(February 10, 2020)Busyness never ends, so I’ve had no time to read anything… which means that I can’t cook anything either. It’s this whole concept. Finally, time for some food. So the starter couldn’t possibly be simpler: It’s sausages with a Dijon mayonnaise. But that means that I get another crack at making mayonnaise: My two previous … Continue reading BC&B: Gardiane La Cargue w/ Cervelas Rémoulade
Strict Lamp Policies
(February 10, 2020)I bought a lamp the other day. I had no idea what I had signed up for! “Failure to do so will be punished according to the current national legislation.” Is this what they call a zero-click license agreement?
OTB#75: A Clockwork Orange
(February 6, 2020)A Clockwork Orange. Stanley Kubrick. 1971. ⚂ I’ve seen this before, but it was in my teens and I don’t really remember much about the actual movie. But everything from it is part of popular culture now, so it all seems so familiar anyway. Surely those bar tables aren’t very practical. Virtually no critics thought … Continue reading OTB#75: A Clockwork Orange
OTB#75: Angst essen Seele auf
(February 6, 2020)Fear Eats The Soul. Rainer Werner Fassbinder. 1973. ⚄ This is the only Fassbinder on the “best of” list, and it’s a movie I can’t recall seeing anybody mention before, so I’m excited. Well, some things just aren’t believable here! Like the bartender not knowing how to pour beer! That’s a lot of foam, dude. … Continue reading OTB#75: Angst essen Seele auf
OTB#75: Hidden
(February 5, 2020)Hidden. Michael Haneke. 2005. ⚃ I talked about this movie here. It’s the best Haneke movie I’ve seen, so I’m not shocked it ended up on this list of movies. I had expected Amour to show up either on this list or the critics’ list, but I realise now that that movie was released after … Continue reading OTB#75: Hidden
OTB#75: The Shining
(February 5, 2020)The Shining. Stanley Kubrick. 1980. ⚄ Yesterday I watched Salò, and I may have given the impression that it’s more interesting than it is. It isn’t interesting. There’s no reason to watch it; it’s just audience abuse. So tonight (while waiting for the dinner to cook) I’m watching a much cosier movie. I don’t think … Continue reading OTB#75: The Shining
OTB#75: The Seventh Seal
(February 4, 2020)The Seventh Seal. Ingmar Bergman. 1957. ⚅ I watched this movie two years ago, and it’s fabulous, of course. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#75: Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma
(February 3, 2020)Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom. Pier Paolo Pasolini. 1975. ⚁ Well, this isn’t a movie I’ve been looking forward to seeing… I’m so over the whole épatering la bourgeoisie thing. Somewhat interestingly, the critics and the directors are really divergent on this one, only getting to the 202nd place in the critics’ poll. … Continue reading OTB#75: Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma
OTB#75: Kes
(February 3, 2020)Kes. Ken Loach. 1969. ⚃ I’ve seen this before… like, a handful of years ago? I did not much like it then: The relentless awfulness of the boy’s life is… relentless? (I have a way with words.) But perhaps I misremember. Especially now that I’ve got a 2K copy of the movie. Heh heh: The … Continue reading OTB#75: Kes
OTB#75: Mulholland Dr
(February 2, 2020)Mulholland Drive. David Lynch. 2001. ⚅ I’ve seen this several times before, of course… but now it’s in 2K! I adore Lynch, but I wonder: Why Mulholland Dr. and not… like… Inland Empire? There’s two Lynch Movies on this list: Blue Velvet (duh) and this. Perhaps the attraction of this movie is that it’s, well, … Continue reading OTB#75: Mulholland Dr
OTB#75: Husbands
(February 2, 2020)Husbands. John Cassavetes. 1970. ⚀ I watched this movie a few years back, and I really loathed it. I can’t quite remember why, but I was probably right? Was is something about that interminable dinner scene? Hm… This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#75: The Wild Bunch
(February 2, 2020)The Wild Bunch. Sam Peckinpah. 1969. ⚂ Oh, I’ve got this on an old 6Mbps DVD release… I should have bought a 2K version, because it looks like that would have been really nice… OK; I’m going through all the rest of the movies to see whether they’re suspiciously small files and re-buying them. But … Continue reading OTB#75: The Wild Bunch
OTB#75: Los Olvidados
(February 1, 2020)Los olvidados. Luis Buñuel. 1950. ⚄ I didn’t know that Buñuel made straight-up sappy movies like this. This feels like it could have been any Italian neorealist movie of its time. Only set in Mexico. Not surprising: Los Olvidados was largely disparaged by the Mexican press upon its release. It’s a very picaresque look at … Continue reading OTB#75: Los Olvidados
The Best Comics of 2019
(February 1, 2020)When reading comics, the ones that seem particularly interesting end up in this little shelf in the living room that I can then sit and ponder. I meant to do this blog post at least a month ago, but time flies, so here goes. And I don’t have time tonight to write anything insightful (hah! … Continue reading The Best Comics of 2019
January Music
(February 1, 2020)Music I’ve bought in January. There’s proportionally fewer Discogs finds this month, because I went through Norman Record’s Best Albums of 2019 list and picked up some stuff that seemed fun. Like black midi: Which, indeed, turns out to be very good. Well, OK, I also bought ‘ard Corr by Well ‘ard from Discogs, because … Continue reading January Music
Innovations in Music Distribution
(January 30, 2020)I was at a concert the other day, and as usual, I checked out what wares the musicians had to sell in the interval. And there was this box: … with a card inside: It’s USB! Isn’t that great? It conducts light really well, so that if your USB hub has a LED, it looks … Continue reading Innovations in Music Distribution
OTB#75: Jaws
(January 30, 2020)Jaws. Steven Spielberg. 1975. ⚂ This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series. I assume this has been voted the 75th best movie of all time by directors is because of the technical qualities. I mean, nobody can argue against how effective the “doon duun” scary music is. It’s beyond perfect. And … Continue reading OTB#75: Jaws
OTB#91: Pierrot le Fou
(January 30, 2020)Pierrot le fou. Jean-Luc Godard. 1965. ⚅ I did not re-watch this movie for this blog series, but you can read about it here. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#91: Un chien andalou
(January 30, 2020)Un Chien Andalou. Luis Buñuel. 1929. ⚄ I have never seen this, but I’ve seen shots from every scene from this movie in various articles over the years. So I knew when to hold a pillow before my face, and I still haven’t seen That Scene. This is Luis Buñuel’s famous exercise in épater la … Continue reading OTB#91: Un chien andalou
OTB#91: Chinatown
(January 30, 2020)Chinatown. Roman Polanski. 1974. ⚄ I’ve seen this before, but I was like… twelve. The only thing I remember is the shocking ending. This is like a proper mystery movie! With lots of detecting and conspiracies and stuff. I did not remember that at all. Very moody. Nicholson is great, of course, as the somewhat … Continue reading OTB#91: Chinatown
OTB#91: La Maman et la putain
(January 28, 2020)*gasp* Shoes in bed! La maman et la putain. Jean Eustache. 1973. ⚄ All the movies on the list of the best movies (officially) are readily available… except this one. The only legit source I could find it from was this $80 VHS tape, and since my VHS player i… somewhere… I bought a bootleg … Continue reading OTB#91: La Maman et la putain
OTB#91: Beau Travail
(January 27, 2020)Beau Travail. Claire Denis. 1999. ⚅ Somebody described Denis as “the best living director today” a few years back, and that’s what it takes to get on the Official The Best list if you’re a woman. (At #91.) There are no further female directors on the list. I’ve seen this movie several times before, and … Continue reading OTB#91: Beau Travail
OTB#91: Opening Night
(January 27, 2020)Opening Night. John Cassavetes. 1977. ⚅ Gina Rowlands! I love her. I’ve had my doubts about Cassavetes before. I mean: But this is brilliant. Everybody behaves so awfully towards the Rowlands character (including the Cassavetes character (her husband, after all) slapping her), that it starts getting… is like Cassavetes trying to say something to her? … Continue reading OTB#91: Opening Night
OTB#91: The Gold Rush
(January 25, 2020)The Gold Rush. Charles Chaplin. 1925. ⚄ Man, this has been beautifully restored by Criterion. It’s a 2K release, and it looks super sharp. OK, some of the shots are a bit blurry, but it generally looks great. Much better than the transfers I saw back when I was a child. Because I think it’s … Continue reading OTB#91: The Gold Rush
OTB#91: The Deer Hunter
(January 25, 2020)The Deer Hunter. Michael Cimino. 1978. ⚂ This won all the Oscars, which immediately makes me suspicious. And I have seen it before, but I was probably… twelve…? at the time (probably got it on VHS some years after the release). And I remember absolutely nothing about it except that it’s sweaty and there’s some … Continue reading OTB#91: The Deer Hunter
OTB#91: Zéro de Conduite
(January 24, 2020)Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège. Jean Vigo. 1933. ⚃ Since there are 16 movies tying for “last place” on this top 100 (all at #91), it means that I’ve got some leeway in choosing the order of movies. So the next film alphabetically was The Deer Hunter, but that’s over three hours long!? … Continue reading OTB#91: Zéro de Conduite
OTB#91: L’argent
(January 20, 2020)L’Argent. Robert Bresson. 1983. ⚅ I blogged about this movie here. I should probably re-watch it, but I’m not. This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.
OTB#91: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
(January 20, 2020)The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. John Cassavetes. 1976. ⚂ OK, the weirdest thing about the list of 100 best movies I’m doing is that Cassavetes has four movies on it. I mean, there’s nobody on here with more movies than Cassavetes. I wonder whether that’s an artefact of the age of the participating voting … Continue reading OTB#91: The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
OTB#91: Sans Soleil
(January 20, 2020)Sans Soleil. Chris Marker. 1983. ⚃ The DVD of this I bought has La jetée as the main attraction, and this movie as the extra. Which makes sense, because I’ve heard of La Jetée, but I haven’t heard of this movie. Which makes me excited. I really love the central conceit of this movie: It’s … Continue reading OTB#91: Sans Soleil
OTB#91: Don’t Look Now
(January 18, 2020)Don’t Look Now. Nicolas Roeg. 1973. ⚄ Oh, man. I have no recollection of having seen this movie, but every scene there’s a kind of primeval recognition. Could I have seen this, like, on TV as a child or something? It’s deja vu all the way for me. I must have been scared shitless while … Continue reading OTB#91: Don’t Look Now
OTB#91: Soy Cuba
(January 18, 2020)I Am Cuba. Mikhail Kalatozov. 1964. ⚅ This is a movie I was completely unaware of, and I don’t seem to be the only one: It really is a neglected classic. It’s so weird! Movies this weird don’t usually end up on lists like these. Is it recently rediscovered or something? I’ve never seen cinematography … Continue reading OTB#91: Soy Cuba
Clownin’
(January 18, 2020)I’ve had my servers in my employer’s data room since 1997, but (since that company doesn’t exist any more), I had to make some changes. I had planned on doing some coloc thing locally here, so I bought some semi-spiffy new servers. But then I changed my mind. It all just seemed too much work: … Continue reading Clownin’
OTB#91: L’Année dernière à Marienbad
(January 16, 2020)L’Année dernière à Marienbad. Alain Resnais. 1961. ⚅ I’ve seen this at least a couple of times before. The last time was in 2015 according to Emacs… I regret not rebuying it on 2K. It’s such a beautiful film, and I’ve got it on a windowboxed DVD, so the resolution is like nil by nought. … Continue reading OTB#91: L’Année dernière à Marienbad
OTB#91: Le Samouraï
(January 16, 2020)Le Samouraï. Jean-Pierre Melville. 1967. ⚃ I have apparently bought the Spanish version of this, but fortunately there’s also a French soundtrack. But no English subtitles! Subscene to the rescue! What would we do without pirates? Just watch Michael Bay movies? Oh, wow. Alain Delon. I don’t think I’ve seen any films by Melville? But … Continue reading OTB#91: Le Samouraï
Officially The Best
(January 16, 2020)I’ve always wanted to watch all the movies on the Sight and Sound list of movies. First of all, it’s a poll taken of working directors, and that in itself makes it interesting. Secondly, the film that won was neither Citizen Kane nor Vertigo, which immediately makes it seem more relevant. I’ve jokingly referred to … Continue reading Officially The Best
B&CB: Aïoli Monstre w/ Aïoli
(January 16, 2020)New year, new decade, new food. The previous salt cod dish from the Bistro Cooking book was delicious, so I’m all excited about this one: Lots of veggies, cod and aioli. The only thing that’s odd about this recipe is its name: Grand aioli. I mean, that’s just the sauce. So this is a two-for-one … Continue reading B&CB: Aïoli Monstre w/ Aïoli
news.gmane.org is now news.gmane.io
(January 15, 2020)As previously discussed, the gmane.org domain was no longer viable, and the NNTP server has now moved to news.gmane.io. Likewise, mailing list subscriptions have been moved from m.gmane.org to m.gmane-mx.org. As of this writing, neither service is up, because I’m doing the final resync before restarting the services on a new server. I expect the … Continue reading news.gmane.org is now news.gmane.io
SMTP Callouts
(January 13, 2020)After doing several rounds of mop-ups after moving all the mailing lists from gmane.org to gmane-mx.org, I was wondering whether there were any way of checking whether a mailing list is dead for sure or not (mostly to see what percentage had been ported), and… of course there isn’t. But you can use SMTP callouts … Continue reading SMTP Callouts
“Spamtraps”
(January 10, 2020)When looking at the log on my mail server, it usually looks like this: Just and endless stream of spammers sending spam to addresses that don’t exist. I’ve often wondered why people who run MTAs don’t just band together and work out was to just ban these obviously horrible spammy monsters from the interweb totally! … Continue reading “Spamtraps”
Whatever Happened To news.gmane.org?
(January 6, 2020)I fucked up. Short version: If you’re reading mailing lists with an NNTP news reader via news.gmane.org, you should update your news reader to point to news.gmane.io instead. Over the past few years, people have asked me what happened to Gmane, and I’ve mostly clasped my hands over my ears and gone “la la la … Continue reading Whatever Happened To news.gmane.org?
NFLX2019 Redux
(January 4, 2020)Almost a year ago I foolishly decided to watch all “Netflix Originals” movies to see what it’s like. Here’s the tl;dr: Based on these movies, Netflix is doomed. There were some movies I enjoyed, but none I could recommend without any caveats. However, it’d be a mistake to think that these movies have that much … Continue reading NFLX2019 Redux
NFLX2019 December 31st: Ghost Stories
(January 4, 2020)Ghost Stories. Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap. 2019. ☆☆☆☆☆★ Nooo! The final Netflix Original movie of 2019 is an Indian movie! Nooo!!! Not that there’s anything wrong with Indian movies. Some of my best friends are Indian movies. It was just not what I was expecting to round off the year. … Continue reading NFLX2019 December 31st: Ghost Stories
NFLX2019 December 31st: Dead Kids
(January 3, 2020)Dead Kids. Mikhail Red. 2019. ☆☆★★★★★ Huh. A Filipino movie? That’s definitely a first in this year of Netflix Originals. It’s… a bit amateurish. The actors are pretty likeable, but take that scene in the bar where they’re arguing about going to a night club: There wasn’t anything much wrong about any single line, but … Continue reading NFLX2019 December 31st: Dead Kids
NFLX2019 December 26th: The App
(January 3, 2020)The App. Elisa Fuksas. 2019. ☆☆☆★★★ Hey! It’s Italian! I think this is the first Italian Netflix Original I’ve seen in this blog series? Perhaps it’ll be wonderful! Hm… that’s a lot of mobile phone screen caps… In portrait mode… Well, that’s harsh… But what does he really mean? Well, I can see why people … Continue reading NFLX2019 December 26th: The App
The Best Albums of 2019
(January 1, 2020)Here’s the best music of 2019, according to Emacs, which has carefully tallied what I’ve been listening to: Sam Amidon I See The Sign Meat Beat Manifesto Opaque Couche Coil Swanyard Various Third Noise Principle (Formative North American Electronica 1975-1984) Brigid Mae Power The Bones You Keep Close Lucy Roleff Left Open in a Room … Continue reading The Best Albums of 2019
December Music
(January 1, 2020)Music I’ve bought in December. Hm… not a very exciting month for new music, apparently. But I got a bunch of old stuff that I remembered needing, like Chrome Hoof:
NFLX2019 December 24th: Como Caído del Cielo
(December 30, 2019)Como Caído del Cielo. José Pepe Bojórquez. 2019. ☆☆★★★★ A Mexican movie? I think this is the first one I’ve seen in this blog series? So the plot is that a dead guy’s er spirit gets to take over a dying guy’s body. Hilarity should ensue, but doesn’t really. Instead they go right to the … Continue reading NFLX2019 December 24th: Como Caído del Cielo
NFLX2019 December 20th: The Two Popes
(December 30, 2019)The Two Popes. Fernando Meirelles. 2019. ☆☆☆★★★ Oh, fuck. This is that Catholic propaganda movie? Gah. OK, perhaps it’s watcheable anyway? I mean, the Riefenstahl movie was pretty good. This is also one of the few Netflix movies that has gotten some attention in the media, so it’s a movie Netflix has pushed hard, I … Continue reading NFLX2019 December 20th: The Two Popes
NFLX2019 December 13th: 6 Underground
(December 30, 2019)6 Underground. Michael Bay. 2019. ☆☆☆☆☆☆ Huh! It’s that guy from Deadpool! In a plane! And now he faked crashing the plane! And now they’re in a car chase! Is this the best movie ever? And the car chase is in Italy! And now there’s guns! There’s somebody in the back seat doing surgery to … Continue reading NFLX2019 December 13th: 6 Underground
BC&B: Poulet au Vinaigre Le Petit Truc w/ Estouffade Provençale
(December 27, 2019)The next poultry disk in the Bistro Cooking book is a chicken-in-vinegar thing, and I’m not all that fond of vinegar, so I’m slightly sceptical. But let’s see. The ingredients are simple enough: A chicken, tarragon, wine and vinegar (and some veggies). And Stargate: SG1. So to get the show started, the chicken has to … Continue reading BC&B: Poulet au Vinaigre Le Petit Truc w/ Estouffade Provençale
Visitors
(December 27, 2019)Blinded by the neighbour’s house.
The Best Albums of the Decade
(December 13, 2019)As a data scientist, applying machine learning to my listening patterns has led to this quantitative analysis of the albums of the decade. I can therefore reveal that these are officially the best albums released during the previous ten year period: Dani Siciliano Dani Siciliano Black Cab Games of the XXI Olympiad Anohni Hopelessness Grumbling … Continue reading The Best Albums of the Decade
NFLX2019 December 6th: Marriage Story
(December 7, 2019)Marriage Story. Noah Baumbach. 2019. ☆☆☆☆★★ Oh, I’ve seen reviews of this movie in all the newspapers. And it’s always that way: A Netflix movie either has no presence whatsoever in mass media or it’s absolutely everywhere. So I guess that there’s certain Netflix movies that Netflix pushes really hard, and the rest they just … Continue reading NFLX2019 December 6th: Marriage Story
NFLX2019 December 5th: A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby
(December 6, 2019)A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby. John Schultz. 2019. ☆☆★★★ Oh, this is part of a series? At least, while searching for it, there seemed to be some other movies with suspiciously similar names. And it starts with a recap. Check. Man, it just immediately seems like a super-cheap film: The early crowd scenes seems … Continue reading NFLX2019 December 5th: A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby
NFLX2019 November 28th: Holiday Rush
(December 6, 2019)Holiday Rush. Leslie Small. 2019. ☆☆★★★★ I think we’re getting to a certain … time of year. I think Netflix has done at least half a dozen Xmas movies this year? But interestingly enough, each one seems to target a lightly different genres. Or audiences. So this is the black one. Uh-oh. OK, but these … Continue reading NFLX2019 November 28th: Holiday Rush
Stereo
(December 6, 2019)So I’ve been futzing with my living room stereo setup lately after getting new speakers, and things look a bit too… stacked? So I thought I’d at least slim down the box the stereo is sitting on: That’s an Ikea box, and it’s too wide and too high and too deep. Inside that box is … Continue reading Stereo
NFLX2019 November 27th: The Irishman
(December 5, 2019)The Irishman. Martin Scorsese. 2019. ☆☆☆☆★★ So here it is: Netflix claim to cinematic greatness. They shovelled a whole lot more money in Scorsese’s way than anybody else would have, and they got a movie (shown in actual cinemas (for a couple of weeks)) that all the newspapers in the entire world wrote think pieces … Continue reading NFLX2019 November 27th: The Irishman
NFLX2019 November 21st: The Knight Before Christmas
(December 4, 2019)The Knight Before Christmas. Monika Mitchell. 2019. ☆☆★★★★ Uh-oh. This movie starts off with that sample of an eagle er falcon that’s used everywhere. Yeah, this one: This doesn’t bode well for the budget. OK, this is very high concept: A knight from the thirteen hundreds (I think?) is magically transported to the present day. … Continue reading NFLX2019 November 21st: The Knight Before Christmas
NFLX2019 November 15th: House Arrest
(December 4, 2019)House Arrest. Shashanka Ghosh, Samit Basu. 2019. ☆☆☆★★★ I think this may be the final Indian Netflix Original of the year. They’ve been more miss than hit, so my expectations aren’t high. This one starts off really well: They’re going for a kooky, topsy-turvy aesthetic, and the actors seem charming. It’s basically a screwball comedy … Continue reading NFLX2019 November 15th: House Arrest
BC&B: Saucisson Chaud Pommes À L’Huile w/ Cake au Citron
(December 4, 2019)It’s been a while since I French Bistroed (had a cold twice! or two different ones once! each!), but it’s time to start cooking again. The next thing in the appetiser section is … basically some sausage with some potatoes tossed in an onion/vinegar mixture. I’m quite sceptical, because it looks (once again) like it’s … Continue reading BC&B: Saucisson Chaud Pommes À L’Huile w/ Cake au Citron
November Music
(December 1, 2019)Music I’ve bought in November. I’ve been buying all the usual nonsense this month, but I’ve particularly been delving into the output of Broklyn Beats (yes, one O), a label that was active in the early noughts. They concentrated on what some people at the time called “brokebeat”: Harsh, annoying music you can’t dance to. … Continue reading November Music