July 03, 2008
Quantum of Solace Trailer
Yes.
Posted by Schamberger at 05:37 AM
June 26, 2008
Drive-In Saturday
One of my very favorite Bowie tracks. The Aladdin Sane 30th Anniversary 2 CD Edition has a very beautiful live version on it that just...haunts me. Anyway, yeah, the robber's shirt is the cover to Aladdin Sane, for you two or three people that didn't catch that.
Posted by Schamberger at 08:21 PM
June 23, 2008
Sad Day
RIP George Carlin
Man, where do I even start with what an impact Carlin had on my life?
Bill and Ted, probably, was my first memory of him, or maybe Thomas the Tank Engine.
But I really Came To Know Him in 1998, driving around Lees Summit, smoking pot with my buddy Brennan and he put in the tape of 'Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics' and I just died. It was like, this guy GETS IT. And jesus fuck, he's funny!
I got to see him live in concert in 2003 with my buddy Gary, which I feel very, very lucky about. It came off as very personal, like he was just that guy at the party who had all of the entertaining shit to say and everybody was laughing at what he said.
I'll miss him. But, in his honor, I'd like to say a few more words in his memory. Seven words, in fact.
Shit.
Piss.
Fuck.
Cunt.
Cocksucker.
Motherfucker.
Tits.
We'll miss ya, ya dirty bastard.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:46 PM
June 12, 2008
My Show is One of Ink's Event Picks for Friday!
And hey! Their other pick is hosted by my buddies Sean, Rachel and John who host the regular Dr Sketchy's!
Posted by Schamberger at 06:58 PM
May 29, 2008
This is the place to be on June One Three
Posted by Schamberger at 05:19 PM
April 07, 2008
Yup, They're Mine
Roger and Dee Clark, the Misty River Duo, in action!
Posted by Schamberger at 06:01 AM
February 22, 2008
I'm Not Really Sure About Barack's New Slogan
Found via LP Cover Lover
Posted by Schamberger at 08:11 AM
February 21, 2008
Charles and Hudson
My lovely lady Katy has started her first pro blogging job at Charles and Hudson. Give her a read and add the feed to your Bloglines!
Posted by Schamberger at 08:24 AM
November 07, 2007
New Essay Up at TB
Posted by Schamberger at 04:41 PM
October 31, 2007
Talented Bastard
My good buddy Kevin Mellon's started up the group blog of the above name and invited me to be a member. Here's my first post. Give it a read and let me know what'cha think.
Posted by Schamberger at 09:20 AM
July 09, 2007
My Parents' Famous Neighbor
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11833506
That's a link to a story about prices at the pumps, and the station manager they interview is my folks' neighbor, Hersh Casey, who owns and operates the famous Casey Brothers' Sinclair in Mission off of Johnson Drive. He's a good guy, and it was fun hearing him on NPR. He's a big supporter of my folks' band, so he's aces in my book even though I already like him.
Posted by Schamberger at 05:54 PM
June 12, 2007
Dr Sketchy's KC!
Details Here! Sweet!
Posted by Schamberger at 06:58 PM
May 18, 2007
I Would Totally Watch This
"I have not kept up with any alleged issues between The Iron Sheik and The Ultimate Warrior. Sounds entertaining nonetheless. Maybe it’s a reality show in the making?? Perhaps some enterprising TV producer should put Sheik and Warrior in a motor home and tape them driving across the country! There might be a need for sub-titles, but I would watch it."
Posted by Schamberger at 12:06 PM
March 19, 2007
Congratulations, Kyle!
I just saw that Ambrosia Publishing will be putting out a collection of my friend Kyle Strahm's Clockwork Creature. Longtime followers of this site will know that in its prior incarnation, Comixperience was where this story started out (kinda sorta).
So, a big, big congratulations to Mr Strahm.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:28 PM
March 15, 2007
Jack Woodford's Rules for Writing a Novel
I was asked about this and thought it'd be nice to put it up for those interested. This was a scrap that Chandler had pasted into his notebooks:
Remembered from Trial and Error
1. Plan a length of 75,000 words because all publishers love to cut and 65,000 is about the right length.
2. Write a 5000 word synopsis of the action leaving out descriptive matter and character analysis and dialogue - in short everything but roughly what happens, in a major way.
3. With a blue (or possibly red) [note from Rob - LIKE IT FUCKING MATTERS YOU ANAL FUCK!] pencil, mark off where natural chapter endings may come. It is not necessary that these chapters be of equal length. It would look silly if they were. They may vary from 500 to five thousand words or even more. Nor is the number of chapters important. Thirty would be a good average, which makes an average of 2500 words to a chapter.
4. In a large loose leaf book - letter size [note from Rob - JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!] - head up a page for each chapter with its number and an expanded (about double or treble expanded, not more) synopsis of the business allocated to that chapter. Also note the estimated number of words you are going to use for this chapter.
5. Put all these chapter pages together in a folder and at the end put a couple of pages of analysis and description of the two or three principal characters - a dossier that will make you feel you know them. Describe them physically, spritually, and their education and background - but don't slop all over the lot and write essays.
6. In the days, weeks, or months that follow - BEFORE you actually start writing the novel - let your mind play with it bit by bit, here and there, without reference to temporal order in the story. If you think of any piece of business, character, dialogue, or in fact anything at all about any part of the story that interests you - make a note of it under the appropriate chapter.
7. The time you take on this is up to you. If you have a full mind and like the story you will soon have a full book.
8. Write the first chapter with the best opening you can think of at the moment AND LEAVE IT ALONE. If you start rewriting it and messing with it, you'll never get the book done at all. Leave it lay, brother, until the book is done.
9. Note wordage you actually use and open a shorts and overs account [note from Rob - How much you want to bet this guy irons his underwear?] at the end of your loose leaf folder. In one column put words estimated for each chapter, in the next words used, and use two more columns for shorts and overs of words. This is very important indeed. Because you have to pay back every overage before the book is half written and similarly you have to pick up every short, in expandedwriting, new business, or what have you, before the book is half written. If you don't do this you will get the novel out of proportion and it will be a flop, even if you ever finish it, which you probably will not.
10. The same goes for the second half of the book.
11. If you don't know how much action it takes to fill a 75,000 word novel, synopsize a few and find out. Another way is to figure about two novelettes contain action for a full novel. This does not mean that the same number of incidents may be used and expanded as incidents. It means the same amount of action. In the novel there will be more transition writing, more relief writing, more playing around with dialogue and description. The actual speed of the novel should be as fast, or very nearly as fast, as the novelette, but too much story makes just as dull reading as too little story. The novel reader in general will pay some attention to haow things happen and what short of people they happen to - even if he is the same man as the novelette reader. He will have an instinctive respect for book covers that he will never give to a magazine piece, however good.
12. Don't use more than two, or at most, three main characters at first. Even very good writers get in trouble by trying to handle too many. [Note from Rob - Unless their name is DAVID FUCKING MILCH]
13. Alter your story all you please as you go along PROVIDED you don't go back and rewrite, and PROVIDED you don't stop keeping a shorts and overs account. [Note from Rob - Seriously, the OCD on this guy blows my mind]
14. This is all there is. There isn't any more. We are talking about writing a novel - not just writing fiction. We assume you already know how to write fiction in shorter lengths. If you do, this is all you need to bother about to finish a novel or a hundred novels.
Note by Raymond Chandler. It should of course be born in mind that Jack Woodford can't write worth a damn on any plane BUT he probably knows plenty about how it ought to be done, if he could do it. He estimates three months as ample for a novel chore - even with other work on the side.
Further note by Raymond Chandler. The above is all bunk, in a way, although it may contain germs of truth. I paid no attention to it whatever when I wrote The Big Sleep.
[Note from Rob - With the mathematics involved in doing a graphic novel, I can actually see how the word bank could come into play. The old Stan Lee word of thumb was to have about 100 words per page. So, if you have about 200 pages in your book, you'd need about 20,000 words. That's not counting in for pacing or dramatic effect, but it is a good average to keep in mind. I'm structuring my pages a little differently for this next book than the average 1960's Jack Kirby/Steve Ditko page, but I'll still have about that many words, I reckon. Maybe more. I do really like the bit about doing the synopsis and breaking it down to chapters or scenes.]
Posted by Schamberger at 08:06 AM
March 06, 2007
Famous Artists School on Inking
More and more of these are becoming available online (most notably at the always awesome ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive blog), but here's a Flickr set containing the inking chapter put together by Leif Peng of Today's Inspiration fame. Sweet!
Posted by Schamberger at 10:43 AM
January 26, 2007
Awesome
Posted by Schamberger at 09:38 PM
January 20, 2007
Cover Resources
I'm, like, always trying to decide what to do for the cover of Black Chamber. Seriously, I've no idea. But, while investigating, sometimes I come across a neat website that unearths a gem like this:
Possibly, he was.
Posted by Schamberger at 03:09 PM
January 18, 2007
In The Meantime
So, for the past week, I've been working hard on BC pages. But, they're all from crucial scenes that I don't want to spoil. So, to at least put up something here, I present to you the best scene from Heat:
Posted by Schamberger at 03:37 PM
January 09, 2007
Things that have the potential to rock
Alan Martin and Ashley Wood doing Tank Girl
The Good, The Bad, and The Queen
And I think this video by Charlotte Hatherley is just plain rad.
I also hear that there's some upcoming comical book by a couple of hicks that may be alright.
Posted by Schamberger at 12:00 PM
December 28, 2006
Don't Look
Posted by Schamberger at 03:20 PM
December 04, 2006
Loomis! Downloads!
Posted by Schamberger at 06:59 PM
November 09, 2006
The Fountain
I know J and I have been anticipating this movie for quite a while now, and here's another savory nugget to make me even more anxious:
Eleven illustrations by eleven artists depicting their feelings from the movie. Billy the Sink! Seth Fisher! Jim Lee! James Jean! Dave Gibbons! Phil Hale!
Go on, check it out.
Posted by Schamberger at 02:13 PM
November 06, 2006
Anna Christie
With all of my affection towards Garbo, last night I actually watched one of her movies for the first time. What a fascinating experience!
Anna Christie was her first 'Talkie'. So many of the huge Silent stars didn't transition over to the talking roles, due to a myriad of reasons from squeaky voices to just not being able to remember their lines. There was a lot of trepidation at the studio as to whether the foreign starlet could make the leap, mainly due to the fact that she hardly spoke any English at all.
So, sixteen minutes into this adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Garbo makes her dramatic entrance to the realm of talking pictures, stumbling into a bar, sitting down at a table, and uttering her first line, "Gimme a whiskey."
I thought I was in love with her before, but that entrance, followed by the full context of her performance in the film, made me...I don't know, what term best describes an intense admiration that outshines love? That's the emotion I have towards this actress, this phenomenon.
Garbo easily outshone the other actors in the film. I don't know their biographies, but judging their performances, I would say that their origins were on the stage, if not Vaudeville. Garbo, though, brought this...explosion of a performance. Decades, if not half a century, before method acting, she BECAME Anna Christie. There was nothing forced there, all natural, and so much emotion coming through in her eyes.
Wow. Finding out that she was having to literally memorize her lines because she had no idea what she was saying is even more astounding. We'll never see her like again.
Posted by Schamberger at 11:32 AM
November 05, 2006
Latest Thing I Have That You Don't
Left of the Dial: Dispatches from the '80s Underground
If this isn't the greatest box set ever made, I'm interested to know what is. Check out the tracks on this!
Disc: 1
1. Radio Free Europe - R.E.M.
2. Going Underground - The Jam
3. A Forest - The Cure
4. Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedys
5. I'm In Love With A German Film Star - Passions
6. I Will Dare - The Replacements
7. That's When I Reach For My Revolver - Mission Of Burma
8. Johny Hit And Run Paulene - x
9. Just Like Honey - The Jesus And Mary Chain
10. Black Celebration - Depeche Mode
11. Tell Me When It's Over - The Dream Syndicate
12. Hollywood (Africa) - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
13. Temptation - New Order
14. Ghosts - Japan
15. A Song From Under The Floorboards - Magazine
16. Oblivious - Aztec Camera
17. Don't Want To Know If You Are Lonely - Husker Du
18. Rise Above - Black Flag
19. Back In Flesh - Wall Of Voodoo
20. Cattle And Cane - The Go-Betweens
Disc: 2
1. Message Of Love - The Pretenders
2. Vienna - Ultravox
3. Freak Scene - Dinosaur Jr.
4. The Charming Man - The Smiths
5. Stigmata - Ministry
6. Ways To Be Wicked - Lone Justice
7. Wardance - Killing Joke
8. Enola Gay - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
9. Mirror In The Bathroom - The English Beat
10. Fairytale In The Supermarket - The Raincoats
11. Behind The Wall Of Sleep - The Smithereens
12. Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing - Minutemen
13. Punk Rock Girl - The Dead Milkmen
14. Still In Hollywood - Concrete Blonde
15. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
16. Blister In The Sun - Violent Femmes
17. Lake Of Fire - Meat Puppets
18. Amplifier - The DB's
19. When Love Breaks Down - Prefab Sprout
20. Goo Goo Muck - The Cramps
21. This Corrosion - Sisters Of Mercy
22. Senses Working Overtime - XTC
Disc: 3
1. The Cutter - Echo & The Bunnymen
2. Pay To Cum! - Bad Brains
3. Birthday - The Sugarcubes
4. Madonna Of The Wasps - Robyn Hitchcock 'n' The Egyptians
5. We Care A Lot - Faith No More
6. Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth
7. To Hell With Poverty - Gang Of Four
8. Fa Ce-La - The Feelies
9. Ana Ng - They Might Be Giants
10. Swamp Thing - The Chameleons UK
11. The Mercy Seat - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
12. I Look Around - The Rain Parade
13. All That Money Wants - Psychedelic Furs
14. Under The Milky Way - The Church
15. Rise - Public Image Ltd.
16. Kundalini Express - Love And Rockets
17. Gravity Talks - Green On Red
18. Adrenalin - Throbbing Gristle
19. She Bangs The Drums - The Stone Roses
Disc: 4
1. Monkey Gone To Heaven - Pixies
2. Uncertain Smile (Original 7 Inch Version) - The The
3. Bela Lugosi's Dead - Bauhaus
4. Christine - Siouxsie And The Banshees
5. Straight Edge - Minor Threat
6. I Want To Help You Ann - The Lyres
7. Our Secret - Beat Happening
8. Jane Says - Jane's Addiction
9. World Shut Your Mouth - Julian Cope
10. Running Up That Hill - Kate Bush
11. Sex Beat - Gun Club
12. Take The Skinheads Bowling - Camper Van Beethoven
13. Institutionalized - Suicidal Tendencies
14. Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops - Cocteau Twins
15. 24 Hour Party People - Happy Mondays
16. I Want You Back - Hoodoo Gurus
17. Suburban Home - Descendents
18. A Pair Of Brown Eyes - The Pogues
19. Jet Fighter - The Three O'Clock
20. Moving To Florida - Butthole Surfers
21. A New England - Billy Bragg
Posted by Schamberger at 09:38 PM
September 27, 2006
KC Comics Creators Q&A
I had a good time going to this. There was a great line-up of local creators, with good insights and a great atmosphere. It's always great catching up with Ande Parks, and it was great meeting Kelly Sue (who I really didn't get to talk to for more than a few words), Jason Aaron, Steven Sanders and Tony Moore. Also great seeing once again Matt Fraction (who I unfortunately didn't get to speak with), Hector Casanova, and B Clay Moore.
The highlight for me, of course, was when a bunch of them circled around my Black Chamber pages and started complimenting me. Having Tony Moore and Hector Casanova say in unison "That's beautiful" made it really hard for me to fit my head out of the door.
Thanks again to all of them for putting on a really nice event.
Posted by Schamberger at 08:37 PM
August 31, 2006
Today's Inspiration
This is probably my new favorite art history site, called Today's Inspiration. The author, Leif Peng, puts up at least one glorious illustration every weekday. This week has been focusing on Joe Bowler's crime work for Collier's Magazine back in the early 1950's.
Check this out:
Posted by Schamberger at 07:34 AM
August 27, 2006
Weird Synchronicity
Seperated at birth?
Drawn yesterday by yours truly:
Drawn yesterday by Kevin Mellon:
I can't decide if its me trying to be cool like him or Kevin trying to be cool like me. Most likely the latter.
Posted by Schamberger at 12:01 PM
August 05, 2006
Something I Have That You Don't
The Complete Set of EC's Picto-Fiction! Oh wow, this thing is so BEAUTIFUL. The majority of it has never been published before, including Frank Frazetta's take on the classic Al Feldstein script 'Came The Dawn', originally illustrated by Wally Wood (is there a comics writer outside of Feldstein and Harvey Kurtzman that's worked with a more talented stable of artists? Possibly Stan Lee?), which was never actually completed because the plug was pulled on the line. Unseen work by the likes of Wally Wood, Jack Kamen, Joe Orlando, Al Williamson, Reed Crandall, Jack Davis, and my personal favorite, Johnny Craig! Now, get a bucket ready to catch your drool, and be ready to be amazed:
Posted by Schamberger at 04:12 PM
August 04, 2006
Fantastic Pattern Resource
Vintage wallpapers and wallcoverings.
Posted by Schamberger at 07:37 PM
August 02, 2006
Congratulations to the Preu Family on Their Awesome Addition
There's a new pirate on the loose!
Way to go, Jason and Sarah!
Posted by Schamberger at 10:15 AM
August 01, 2006
Far and Wide
http://www.lapl.org/virgal/travel/index.html
Travel Posters. Mmm. Gorgeous.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:21 PM
July 13, 2006
It's Like the Archie Gang Getting Drunk
Alcoholics Anonymous Comic Strips.
(Andy, replace 'Alice' and the boobs with 'Andy' and backhair, and this is so you!)
Posted by Schamberger at 08:03 PM
The Big Here
30 questions to elevate your awareness (and literacy) of the greater place in which you live.
found via Warren Ellis
Posted by Schamberger at 10:34 AM
July 06, 2006
Read all of the Star's Superman Strips
Plus! You get to see all of our horrible photographs!
Cringe! To Travis Fox' Yearbook Stylin' and Profilin'!
Fear! The mysterious lighting job on Freddie Williams!
Shock! That's the emotion on Duane "I Look Like Rob Thomas" Cunningham's face!
Horror! At how awful I am at having my picture taken!
EDIT: Bonus! Tom Spurgeon's always excellent 'The Comics Reporter' gives the Star's bit a nod.
Posted by Schamberger at 09:32 PM
July 02, 2006
More Bowie Goodness
David Bowie and Annie Lennox's rehearsal for 'Under Pressure':
If this song isn't in the top five all-time best duet songs, then it's easily in the top ten. I love how casual Bowie is in this rendition, just puffin' on a smoke, but still having that...presence that he brings to his performances. Also, I swear he and Lennox are twins seperated at birth.
Posted by Schamberger at 12:35 PM
June 18, 2006
This has the potential to totally rock out
Posted by Schamberger at 09:53 AM
June 12, 2006
The new object of my stalking desires
Mariska Hargitay, starlet of Law & Order: SVU. Roar.
Posted by Schamberger at 07:11 PM
May 30, 2006
Doing Jason Preu's Bidding
"...Last, but not least, this just came to me from my beautiful wife:
“Afentra just mentioned that the Emasculators is going to be a comic book but they need artists.”
E-mail Afentra: afentra(at)965thbuzz.com for details."
Guess I'll be shooting off an email this evening. Three months in The Star and my Super Secret Project aren't enough anymore.
Posted by Schamberger at 01:13 PM
May 16, 2006
Separated At Birth?
Rob Thomas, of Matchbox 20 Fame:
Duane Cunningham, of Band on the Sun Fame:
If Duane had pushed it, I dunno, we probably would have gotten comped everywhere we went.
Posted by Schamberger at 03:51 PM
May 06, 2006
Outland
Posted by Schamberger at 08:53 AM
May 04, 2006
Because I Love You All
I present the greatest moment in wrestling history:
Posted by Schamberger at 06:52 AM
May 03, 2006
This is Tomorrow, Folks
Posted by Schamberger at 07:37 PM
Wow Wow Wow
Best birthday present ever (even though it's the day before my birthday, but hey...). Midnight showing? There with bells on. Seeing it again on the 30th? You betcha. On my birthday? Duh.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:47 AM
May 01, 2006
Totally Awesome New Blog (aka Go Support My Mommy)
My mom, Dee Clark, has set up a blog to share her HUGE postcard collection with the world. There's some really cool gems in there, running the gamut of what postcards have to offer.
Here's the first one:
Yeah, it actually reads, "Will Leave My Happy Home For You", printed and sent in 1909.
Go check 'er out and let her know what'cha think. She's planning to update it every day, so be sure to add it to your feed reader!
Posted by Schamberger at 07:20 PM
April 14, 2006
Robots Fighting in Space! I SAID ROBOTS FIGHTING IN SPACE!
Posted by Schamberger at 07:18 AM
April 08, 2006
New Music
Well, the new music season seems to be starting off much stronger than last year's arguable performance.
The first album to really get me excited, which I'd talked about briefly before, is Josh Rouse's 'Subtitulo'.
As with any Rouse album, this was a slow burn, but once I 'got' it, I really fell in as much love with it as I had his other works. Somehow even more stripped down than 'Nashville', it also brings somehow even more emotional punch. Rouse has expatriated to Spain, and the album simultaneously talks about that experience as well as looking back on his childhood. Rouse's vocals never disappoint, and his instrumental choices blend as perfectly as always. Have I ever said I like this guy? I do.
The other album that's been sitting on the much-anticipated list is the new one from The Flaming Lips, 'At War With the Mystics'.
I'm a nut for electro-synth-sci-fi-rock concept albums. I mean, hell, my favorite album of all time is Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust'. So, the Lips' prior album, 'Yoshimi', made an instant fan out of me. 'Mystics' doesn't leave me wanting one bit. The lyrics are all great, the arrangements flawless, and they bring a real Wall Of Sound approach to the overall album that sucked me right in. If 'Subtitulo' is minimalism at its best, 'Mystics' is maximalism. It's like putting Mondrian next to Pollack, y'dig? I'll be listening to this one for years.
The album that came out of left field was 'The Little Willies'.
It's one of those supergroups consisting of Gen X and Y'er rock/jazz musicians, playing old country tunes. Now, my mom and stepdad happen to be in a country cover band, so this one hit me at an emotional core. These are the same songs my folks play, so I went into it knowing all of the words. The twist here is that they're really doing it jazz, not country, which I think shows the strength in these lyrics. Their rendition of Hank Williams' 'I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive' is beautiful. 'Night Life' is no slouch, either. You've probably heard the Norah Jones-lead 'Roll On' played on the radio, and its a good first single off the album. This is a great one to come home, kick off the shoes, and relax to with a nice cold beer. Listen to the words in these songs, folks, and appreciate the timelessness to them.
I can't wait to see what else the season brings us!
Posted by Schamberger at 09:22 AM
April 02, 2006
Rob Schamberger: Electric Boogaloo
Mom must be so proud.
Posted by Schamberger at 01:07 PM
March 31, 2006
Rob Schamberger's Junk: International TV Superstar
As seen on TV:
Posted by Schamberger at 09:52 PM
March 25, 2006
Monkey Cat
Posted by Schamberger at 03:01 PM
March 03, 2006
To Quote The Immortal Bard Ric Flair...
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Josh Rouse has a new album hitting this month! Fuck yeah! Rouse is my favorite contemporary singer/songwriter. I mean, I just adore his music. The sound connects with me, but it's the lyrics that really keep me coming back.
Click that there link above to hear two full songs from the album and see the video for the first single. Awesome possum.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:36 PM
February 11, 2006
"I Call Him Supe"
Possibly the greatest moment in TV history.
Posted by Schamberger at 09:08 PM
Bill Shapiro Cracks Me Up
Just heard on Cypress Avenue, talking about the great songwriter John Denver and his impact on country music:
"Not to speak ill of the dead, but I found him to be an insipid singer."
Which led to him playing Ray Charles' cover of Country Road. I'd never heard it before and it was just gorgeous. Actually, the whole hour was dedicated to Ray's country songs.
For those who don't know, my parents have a country band. While it's hard for me to get into any post-Eagles country music, I do have a soft spot for the older stuff like Cash, Nelson, Williams Sr, and Rodgers. There was a real humanistic quality to the lyrics, the performances, and the performers themselves that's so rare in modern music, and just plain absent in modern country music. I really find a lot of similarity between original country and original blues, a genre I lean more towards in my own preferences. Blacks weren't the only poor people in the 1920's, and people like Hank Williams Sr and Buddy Rodgers were writing songs describing the same hard times and common elements. Sure, there's the racial divide, but it seems that with early country and early blues that these guys may have been living on opposite sides of the same blocks, you know?
John Denver had that in a lot of his lyrics, too. My folks perform some of his songs, and it really brought out a new level appreciation for Denver the Writer in me.
Posted by Schamberger at 01:48 PM
February 10, 2006
For Future Use
Collection of Japanese Gangster Movie Posters
Killoffer Interview (must buy this book!)
Posted by Schamberger at 11:28 AM
Japanese Spiderman
OMFG THAT'S A GIANT ROBOT!
Posted by Schamberger at 09:53 AM
February 09, 2006
Art Blogs
I like introducing beauty to my life throughout the day, in one form or another. A nice way to do this is to set up a feedreader (I use Bloglines myself) and subscribe to some nice art blogs.
Here's what I check out:
Ashley Wood - I've always had a soft spot for his paintings and ink work.
Drawn! - My favorite blog, hands down. Most of the art feeds I subscribe to are directly because of this awesome site.
Farel Dalrymple - I've dug his work since he won the Xeric for Pop Gun War, and it's cool seeing the sketchbook pages he posts.
The Girls - Just got turned onto this one. Quirky paintings and plushies.
act-i-vate - THE spot for webcomics right now.
Lotte Klaver - I love love love her ink lines and the fullness of her figures. Gorgeous.
Plati - I'd seen his work on the Drawing Board forum a while back, and dug his Illustrator work.
James Jean - Arguably the best cover artist in comix today (alongside Brian Wood, Dave Johnson, and Tony Harris). He's got a lot of his developmental and figure work in here.
Rare Erotica - There's some real gems in here. They had a Klimt ink piece the other day that was really striking.
Royal Academy of Illustration and Design - The coolest studio going right now? It seems that way.
Gelatometti - Hey, I have no problem saying I dig the Wildstorm gang, and it's a fun blog with killer art.
Asaf and Tomer Hanuka - If I become half as good as Tomer Hanuka, I'll be famous.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:45 PM
January 22, 2006
Coloring Tutorial
I keep losing this link, so I'm posting it here for future reference. Matt Hollingsworth on his approach to coloring.
Posted by Schamberger at 12:58 PM
January 11, 2006
This Could Prove To Be Useful
Posted by Schamberger at 09:24 AM
January 03, 2006
I'm a Geek for Fonts
Suh-Weet!
Posted by Schamberger at 03:29 PM
December 28, 2005
Invaluable
Posted by Schamberger at 02:15 PM
December 16, 2005
Greatest Time Waster...EVER!!
http://www.simonsezsanta.com/
Type in "smoke pot" or "get drunk".
Posted by Schamberger at 02:16 PM
Lorenzo Mattotti
Apparently, I've been living in a cave my whole life, because I'd never heard of this amazing artist. Thankfully, The Comics Reporter enlightened me.
Just look at this stuff! I am so inspired.
Posted by Schamberger at 12:12 PM
December 11, 2005
The Year That Was In Comix
Overall, this seemed to be The Year of the Archival Collections, as well as The Year of the Original Graphic Novels.
Here's what stood out for me personally:
COLLECTIONS
350 pages for under thirty bucks, hardcover. But, mainly, the complete Black Hole by Charles Burns, all in one very handsome package.
Howard Chaykin's 'Black Kiss' is something that I always wanted to track down, and thankfully Fantagraphics this last year put out a nice collection of both issues. This is arguably Chaykin's very best work.
DC's new Showcase collections are all really great, for a really great price (this particular volume is over 500 pages for ten bucks!), and to me this one is the cream of the crop. Gil Kane is one of the really great creators of our time, and five hundred of his pages is a great treat any day of the week.
B Krigstein Comics is one of those things that I consider a crown jewel in my collection. Bernie Krigstein is one of the greatest comic book artists of all times, and this nice oversized book gives we the lucky readers over 200 pages of his work.
Book of the year. No argument.
While the brief partnership between DC and Humanoids may have been overall horrid, it did finally get we Americans the complete Incal by Alexandro Jodorowsky and Moebius, newly recolored by Valerie Beltran. The Incal is one of the seminal bodies of works in the history of comic books, and it's really a shame that once again it is out of print here in the states.
If you want balls to the walls action and fantastic art, you need this great collection of Wally Wood's M.A.R.S. Patrol. This is GI Joe, but, like, cool.
Wally Wood said that this is the best work of his career. I agree with him.
ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVELS
I think I talked about this book not too long ago, didn't I? Yeah, it's still good. If the Little Nemo book hadn't come out, I would have to say it's the best comic book of the year.
Will Eisner's last work. Actually finished it on his death bed, from what I've heard. It's really, really, good.
Technically Michael Chabon's first graphic novel, with art by Eduardo Barretto, who is one of my very favorite artists. A great story by one of America's greatest writers.
When I'd bought this, I had thought that I would just read a chapter, put it down, come back to it later, to make it last. Nope. Read it cover to cover. This is Alan Moore's second graphic novel (the first being A Small Killing), and he really hits all of the beats on this. Having it wonderfully illustrated by Gene Ha didn't hurt, either.
Hitting some weird sort of zeitgeist, Ande Parks and Chris Samnee delivered a fantastic piece of historical fiction about Truman Capote's time in Kansas while writing arguably America's greatest novel, 'In Cold Blood'.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:15 PM
December 07, 2005
I Just Bought...
...The Fountain by Darren (Pi, Requiem For A Dream) Aronofsky and Kent (Holy Shit He's An Awesome Artist) Williams. It is god damned gorgeous. If I hadn't bought that Little Nemo book last week, I'd say it's the most gorgeous book to come out this year. Yowza. It literally took my breath away when I opened it up and looked at it. I'll update this post later tonight or tomorrow morning with a good review.
EDIT: Okay, done reading it. Wow.
For those not familiar, 'The Fountain' was to be Aronofsky's third film. Towards the end of 2002, he was told that the film would not be made. Luckily, he had retained the graphic novel rights for the property, and sent the script to Karen Berger at DC/Vertigo. She hooked him up with Kent Williams, and the result is this book. As a nice outcome of the book's production, Aronofsky realized how to make the movie for about half the budget, and it should be coming out shortly.
So, the book.
Lately, I've been describing a lot of artists as 'deceptively simple'. Minimalism. Williams, however, is the first person that I've described as 'deceptively complex'. Maximalism. See, Mr. Williams gets the sequential artform. Sure, he puts a lot of work into each panel, but it's in the service of the story. It's stripped down sometimes, monochromatic in others, grayscale for a few pages, and full-blown multimedia other times. Why the changes, you may ask? Pacing. Servicing the story. Not pretentious, not art for art's sake, no showboating. It's that one thing that's missing from so many graphic novelists today: Storytelling. Conveying an idea through a sequence of images.
Today at work, a couple coworkers and I were gushing over the book, talking about what the art said to us (yeah, that whole art gallery thing I'm doing there has caused in-depth art criticism discussions), and we were pretty danged close to 'getting' what the story was about, just from the art.
And that story?
Wow. I don't really want to say anything about it, because it would honestly give it away. It's very textured, multi-layered, and I think it's one of those rare stories that five different people can read, and they'll give you five different descriptions of what it was about. It makes the reader an integral part of the process. Which, you know, is what comix are all about.
Here's a pull-quote from the book, that really sums it up. For me, at least. Talk to someone else, and they'll probably give you something different to ponder on:
"Remember Moses Morales?"
"Who?"
"The Mayan Shaman."
"From your trip?"
"The last night I was with him he told me about his father. His father who had died. But Moses wouldn't believe it."
"This is in the book?"
"Just listen."
"He said if they dug his father's body up it would be gone. They had planted a seed over his grave. The seed became a tree.
"Moses said, his father became part of that tree. He grew into the wood and into the bloom.
"Then, when a sparrow ate the tree's fruit, his father flew with the birds.
"He said, death was his father's road to awe. That's what he called it. The road to awe."
Posted by Schamberger at 10:29 AM
November 30, 2005
I Have Something You Don't Have
This is me with the gigormous "Little Nemo In Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays!" Yes, it cost a ton of money. No, mom, I didn't spend a ton of money on it. I traded about 200 comic books for it.
Don't I look so seductive there?
This is the title page to the gigormous "Little Nemo In Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays!" Nemo may be little, but this book is not. I shot this with it on my lap, and it was Just Too Big to be captured by my puny camera.
Yellow!
This is just one of the gigormous pages from "Little Nemo In Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays!" There's about a hundred more like it.
And that's all that you get to see, because I'm stingy and selfish and don't like to share. So nyeah!
Posted by Schamberger at 09:34 PM
Ric Flair's New Mugshot
From TheSmokingGun.com:
NOVEMBER 29--Wrestler Ric "The Nature Boy" Flair surrendered this morning to North Carolina cops on misdemeanor charges that he throttled a fellow motorist during a road rage incident last week on Interstate 485. The 56-year-old Flair (real name: Richard Fliehr) was booked this morning at the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, where the below mug shot was snapped. Flair, who allegedly grabbed a Charlotte man by the throat and kicked (and dented) the guy's Toyota during the November 23 confrontation, posted $1000 bond and was released. Flair is facing simple assault and battery and injury to personal property charges.
Posted by Schamberger at 05:03 AM
November 29, 2005
Fritz Lang's M
I found this at the always helpful We Make Money Not Art:
Fritz Lang's "M" is now available for free download at the Internet Archive. I am, of course, a gigormous Lang nerd, so this is a Very Good Thing.
(Side question: Did anyone ever pick up the Jon J Muth adaptation of the film? Is it worth getting? I'm always hesitant to pick up adaptations.)
Posted by Schamberger at 05:06 PM