Month: November 2002

Comic Book Geek

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When I posted the entry earlier this week on news articles touting the respectability of comic books, I must have been brain dead to forget my personal involvement in just such an endeavor.
In 1987, at the tender age of 18, I had my first-ever published article. It was a piece on comic book censorship, and it ran in the local daily in Kenai, Alaska, along with an article called “The Evolution of Comic Books.” I was the featured “expert” in the “Evolution” article, which was accompanied by a picture that to this day I’m embarrassed to see.
Re-reading my article, I’m pleasantly surprised at the quality (and by this I mean it doesn’t suck). Was I really only 18? Then I re-read the article in which I’m interviewed and come across this:

“Superman has been pretty much redone. He not as powerful, no romance with Lois… He’s more of a yuppie than he used to be,” Gerhard said.

Groan… And this proved comics were becoming more respectable? Well, it was the 80s and I was just a boy.
For the amusement of all, I’m posting both articles here.

Continue reading “Comic Book Geek” →

Don’t Make Us Make More Crappy Movies

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As if his recent movies weren’t proof enough, George Lucas offers the following, showing he needs emergency remedial education in both metaphors and logic:

Star Wars Creator Calls for Attack on Piracy
“I am begging for co-operation. There are unintended consequences of piracy. If piracy is not stopped, the rainforest of the entertainment business ecosystem will collapse. I am pleading for the creative people in this industry,” he said.
Mr. Lucas warned that piracy threatened to reduce the movie industry’s revenues, forcing film corporations to concentrate on blockbusters, rather than also investing in smaller art movies.

Rainforest? Ecosystem? Give me a break.
And correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the film industry already concentrating on blockbusters? And isn’t that due more to the success of blockbusters created by Lucas and Steven Spielberg (who lends his voice to Lucas’ plea) rather than to piracy? This is the film industry holding a gun to the head of movies they already don’t like to make and telling viewers, “Don’t make me shoot her.”

Stop Trying So Hard

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I can’t count the number of times over the years I’ve read news articles along the lines of, “Guess what! Comic books are serious art!” Here’s another one.
Inevitably, these articles always present a laundry list of serious issues ripped from the headlines of the day that are dealt with in current comic books. Inevitably, reading this list always makes me think, god that sounds boring.
In my mind, comics—like so many other forms of art—are at their worst when they consciously try to be serious and earnest. The magic of comics has always been found in unexpected places and in surprising forms. Alcoholism, sexual-identity crises, drug addiction, abusive childhood, terrorism? Including these issues within stories is not a bad thing, per say. But it shouldn’t be the main focus.
There are exceptions, of course. The astonishing Maus always tops that list. But when you try to mix, say, Green Lantern and the serious issues of the day, the effect comes off as kind of sad and comical, or a lot like a lecture from Tipper Gore.
I wish the comic book world would stop craving mainstream legitimacy and go right on creating worlds of wonder for those who know where to look.

Cokie Contemptus

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I can’t stand Cokie Roberts. For me, she personifies the world of snobby, know-it-all Washington punditry. Raised a D.C. political brat, she is now a pampered Washington insider who can’t see issues except through myopic Beltway lenses.
The tone of her commentaries oozes with contempt for her audience as she regurgitates the conventional thinking of Washington’s elites. She offers nothing new, only a bored, haughty recitation of the court whisper.
A low point in journalism—and the period when I became somewhat embarrassed to tell people I’d studied the craft in college&#8212came back when ABC News paired Roberts with Sam Donaldson for its Sunday morning show, This Week.
For an example of Roberts’ thinking, read this column, written with her husband back in 1997, wherein they argue that the internet could become a threat to representative democracy—by giving more power to the people. Horrors!

“If you’re on-line, you’re inside the Beltway,” in the opinion of Graeme Browning, author of the book Electronic Democracy, which argues that the Internet is making individuals more politically powerful. Sounds good, but is it?

Cokie doesn’t want to hear from you. She just wants to keep pontificating from her comfortable perch. Someone get her off of NPR.

My Bank Is Sooooooo Cute

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This, dear friends, is my bank card. Let me emphatically state that I did not specifically request this design. Believe it or not, this is a general issue card design. And it’s from the largest bank in Nagano Prefecture. Only in Japan. I feel self-conscious every time I take it out to get cash from an ATM.
That said, my favorite character is the cross-eyed owl in the background (not so clearly seen in this photo). Obviously, he’s been shunned by the group and is no longer allowed to join in their silly reindeer games and shameless mugging. He’ll just have to learn to get along with the happy homosexual fish back in his neck of the woods.

Featured Food – Yogurt

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It’s always an adventure trying to figure out exactly what you’re buying in Japan. Modern packaging provides many visual clues, which is what I rely on most of the time.
Case in point: yogurt. Take a look at the picture above and tell me the yogurt on the left doesn’t look like the healthy version. This is no heavily-sweetened, high-fat “dessert” yogurt. That would have pastel berry colors and cute little animals buzzed up on sugar.
Plus, I can actually read the large katakana word here—it says “na-chu-re” (that would be “natural”). And there’s a little icon of a human jumping into the air, full of vim and vigor. Finally, there are some unknown additives presented in a style which says to me, “Good for you!”, and which I can only hope remain in the “nachure” realm.
Do you like how I’ve art directed this shot? I arranged all the healthiest foods in my fridge for a snapshot of wholesome eating. Let’s just hope I use that broccoli before it goes bad.

Let’s Look At Engrish!

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Mangled English provides many an entertaining moment here in Japan, as noted recently. I’ve lost count of the t-shirts I’ve wanted to photograph (but never do for fear of the reputation I’d get as the foreigner who takes pictures of the backsides of young girls).
Tonight I stumbled upon a site that lets you enjoy “Engrish” from afar. Let’s enjoy the spirited feeling that rises from seeing Engrish.com.
I can only hope to mangle Japanese in such an unintentionally fabulous way some day.

Teaching English to the Undead

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It was horrible. Three young, female zombies trooped into my classroom tonight and sat down, expecting me to teach them English. They couldn’t have been more than sixteen. By all outward appearances, they looked like a trio of Japanese pixies. Only their dead silence and eyelids that drooped to their knees exposed them for what they were.
Horrified though I was, I took a deep breath and decided to give it a try.
Today’s lesson: Give a speech about your morning. “I get up around 6:00.” (That’s something these zombies can relate to, I thought.) “I brush my teeth. After that, I eat breakfast.” Simple stuff. Or so I thought.
Thirty minutes in and we’re still on drills. Their insidious droning was a narcotic, and I had to fight to stay awake.
Me: “Repeat after me. ‘I get up around 6:00.'”
Them: “I………. get………. up……… around………. 6:00.”
Me: “Great! Excellent! Okay, again. Repeat after me: ‘I get up around 6:00.'”
Them: “I………. get………. up……… around………. 6:00.”
This went on and on and on and—you get the picture. Teaching English can be so exciting!