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| http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/12/xmas-roundup-with-some-good-links-and.html posted by Neil
How the hell did it get to be December the 18th? Ohhh. All the links I meant to post. Arghh.
For a start, I want to repost this little true thing I wrote, from last year's Independent: it's about being an eight year old Jewish kid who really wanted a Christmas tree...http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/neil-gaiman-hanukkah-with-bells-on-1203307.htmlI wanted to tell you that you can still get the signed prints of "Before You Read This" I did with Todd Klein -- it's a poem I wrote that Todd lettered -- at Todd's website (along with Todd's other unique signed prints -- collaborations with Alex Ross, Alan Moore and J.H. Williams). http://kleinletters.com/Blog/?p=6525. (If you're hesitating, order: they're really cheap, and the second printing will be gone soon.) Also, for signed things and rare stuff, you can Do Good while last minute shopping by heading over to the CBLDF shop website. Here's the page with stuff related to me on it.) I just got my author's copies of "A Hundred Words To Talk of Death", the poem I wrote that Jim Lee illustrated and Todd Klein lettered. (Someone wrote to me on Twitter pointing out that it is two syllables short, and unable to figure out why. I will leave that as a problem for you to solve.) It's beautiful -- the same size and quality as the print of "The Day The Saucers Came". It's glorious. (Thinks: I can take a photo to show people.)
I didn't used to think of Jim Lee as a glorious and subtle pencil artist, but he really is, and this is wonderful. (You can order them from here, and read about Kitty's adventures in shipping them out over at http://kittysneverwear.blogspot.com/, with bonus pictures right now of my Very Late Guy Fawkes Part of last month.)  Here is a photo of an author who needs a shave holding a print of "One Hundred Words" poem.
Kitty herself is heading off on tour with Lady Gaga early next year, and Maddy is going to see them in Chicago (where, about eight years ago, I first met Kitty, on the road with Tori) ( Who will be interviewed tonight on ABC -- Tori that is, not Kitty or Maddy).
Amanda and I have been having something that isn't quite an argument about Lady Gaga for a few weeks. We have really rubbish arguments, because they normally resolve into the discovery that we weren't arguing at all, just saying the same thing from two different points of view. Amanda posted a ukulele video-song-blog she'd written late last night from her Boston flat when she was probably meant to be practising her New Year's Eve Tchaikovsky, and I discovered that our latest argument wasn't an argument and we were talking about the same things again. It's art. You make it.
I don't think I will ever write songs and post them on YouTube instead of blogging. I'm in awe of someone who can. It's a good song, too, not just a funny and wise end-of-an-argument, even if she has to stop and scroll down at the last verse. Also, she said "aluminium".
And finally, in keeping with the not-exactly-Christmassy-but-sort-of theme of this blog...
| comments: 16 comments or Leave a comment   |
| Iki Maska - Nina Hagen
State Farm - Yaz
Song to the Siren - This Mortal Coil
Planet Dada - Yello
Marmaduke - Charlie Parker
Blue Charlie Brown - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Your Socks Don't Match - Louis Jordan
Mask - Bauhaus
Worst Audience Ever - Bill Hicks
Chocolate Jesus - Tom Waits | | comments: Leave a comment |
| Quick round-up before the holidays...
(I'll do a proper year in review post soon, but may not have time before the new year.)
Comic Book Resources interviewed me recently about WASTELAND, DAREDEVIL and COLD CITY. You can read it here.
WOLVERINE: PRODIGAL SON, which was shortlisted in the Texas Library Association's Maverick YA reading recommendations, made the final list. See the full thing here.
The lovely and generous Jeff VanderMeer talks about Volume 1 of the WASTELAND Apocalyptic Edition hardback on Amazon today, with an excerpt from his introduction to the book. Read it here.
DEAD SPACE 2 has been officially announced, and a lot of people have asked me if I'm on board once more. Sadly, no, I won't be writing this game. It hopefully won't be my last excursion into the Dead Space universe, though...
That's all I can talk about for now, but as always there's a whole host of stuff bubbling under right now. Happy holidays, everyone, and remember; Santa cannot be trusted. | | comments: Leave a comment |
| | This movie got a lukewarm reception when it came out, and I'm not sure why... probably because the premise (Santa's slacker brother) seems silly. But the story is charming enough and the special effects are actually really good... especially their regular-actor-to-elf scaling technology. Vince Vaghn in the title role, plus Kathy Bates, Miranda Richardson, Kevin Spacey (!) and Paul Giamatti as Saint Nick. | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| WIN SOME SPIRIT OF CONVICTION!
As promised, here are the rules & details on how to win one of TEN "Spirit Of Conviction" Signed and Numbered Artist Proof Prints:
Each day, at 10 AM Pacific US Time, Starting today, December 18th, I will propose a simple question that can only be answered by watching "THE WINTER STALKER" video that I put up yesterday. Didn't see it??? No problem, here it is right here:
Now, that was fun, right?
OK, so, follow these instructions CLOSELY:
1. I will ask ONE simple question about "The Winter Stalker" video each day. Each day the question will be different.
2. Watch the video, get the answer in your head.
3. Wait until as close as possible to the PACIFIC STANDARD time being 12:25:09 PM.
4. Send an email to ZEROFRIENDSCONTESTS@GMAIL.COM containing the following:
*THE FULL CORRECT ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.
*YOUR FULL NAME
*YOUR FULL MAILING ADDRESS (failure to include things like zip codes or states will disqualify you)
5. Wait patiently. If you dont here from me by 3 PM Pacific time, you didnt win. BUT you can try again the next day.
Each day for 5 days there will be TWO winners per day. You can only WIN once, but you can enter each day.
How do I decide the winner: Easy. THE FIRST 2 CLOSEST PEOPLE TO SEND ME THE CORRECT ANSWER AS CLOSE TO 12:25:09 PM ON THE DOT WIN.
Each winner will receive ONE 17" x 22" Signed and numbered ARTIST PROOF Print of "THE SPIRIT OF CONVICTION".
TODAY'S QUESTION (DECEMBER 18TH):
HOW MANY TIMES DOES "THE WINTER STALKER" SAY KATIE'S NAME?
Good luck:)
See ya tomorrow with question #2:)
Here is the prize btw.
 | | comments: Leave a comment |
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Just a thing worth noting, should I ever be required to set up a service that needs payment processing with Paypal. Shitty behaviour.
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Weird, and sick. I cannot fathom a motive to do this that doesn't leave me faintly nauseous.
This entry was originally published at my workblog. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| The Bible is not getting any easier. I find that I have to put it down after 10 pages or so out of sheer exasperation. The people at the beginning of the bible are wholey amoral, and it makes no sense that God would have them as his chosen people.
Actually, it does make sense in a way.
To me, all signs point to God pulling a fast one. He has sold these people on a version of himself that doesn't exist. He's all powerful, all knowing, all loving, right? Well, then why do only a tiny percentage of early humans follow him? They are always running into groups that have no knowledge/fear of him? Why does keep making mistakes and then correction those mistakes? Why does he demand sacrifice? What would he need it for? Why do his subjects ignore his teachings and why does he let it slide?
All signs in the early Bible point to a being of very limited power who is very carefully rationing what he has and is in competition with other beings. God has chosen a select for people who he believes to be possibly influential with the right guidence, and pours his power into them.
Seriously, let's talk about the flood. God finds the earth wicked, so what does he do. Instead of talking to everyone about their choices or just eliminating evil, he talks to one small group of people and has them expend the building and gathering energy for him. Then he gathers up probably all of his power and floods the earth. Given that other people worship other gods at this time, maybe they pooled resources. Anyway, then there is only this tiny amount of people left, but they still float around for a long time, probably while the gods rest. Finally the waters recede and people get back to their sinful ways. So God accomplished what exactly? But God already knew this, right, 'cause he's all knowing. Riiiiiiiiggggghhhhhht.
In this God goes about solving a problem in an extremely roundabout way and then does a piss-poor job of it for being an all knowing, all loving, all powerful being. This is not a logical interpretation of him. | | comments: 5 comments or Leave a comment |
| Today marks the holiday return of STREET CODE, my semi-autobio webcomic at Zuda, featuring the 4pp story "Snow Dope."
If you're new to STREET CODE, please take the time to read season one from last year. Otherwise, veterans of STREET CODE can skip to pages 61-64 and read the latest tale.
http://www.zudacomics.com/street_code
Thank you and enjoy!
--Dino
 | | comments: Leave a comment |
| My friend, Marty, who work as a producer in the video game world informs me that Bayonetta was made in Japan using this rational: They wanted to produce the game that every American male would want.
So this is how the Japanese see us. When you see gameplay footage or read about the game, this is how the Japanese males see American males, and unfortunately, I can't argue with them too much. Given the excitement level for this game, apparently they've hit the nail on the head.
I think I'll go vomit now. | | comments: 2 comments or Leave a comment |
| Today marks the holiday return of STREET CODE, my semi-autobio webcomic at Zuda, featuring the 4pp story "Snow Dope."
If you're new to STREET CODE, please take the time to read season one from last year. Otherwise, veterans of STREET CODE can skip to pages 61-64 and read the latest tale.
http://www.zudacomics.com/street_code
Thank you and enjoy!
--Dino | | comments: Leave a comment |
| http://www.dorktower.com/2009/12/18/dork-tower-gets-wired-geekdaddy-o/ http://www.dorktower.com/?p=4221 Look! Look! An actual Big Announcement (t)!
As of this coming Monday, Dec 21, Dork Tower will be running here and at the Wired.com blog, GeekDad!
Here’s the announcement from GeekDad editor Ken Denmead:
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It still amazes me when cool stuff like this happens to us, but I’m not one to look a gift-muskrat in the mouth. Starting this Monday, December 21st , GeekDad will be happy (nay, ecstatic!) to start presenting the thrice-weekly geeky comic joy that is Dork Tower, by John Kovalic
If you know of Dork Tower, then you’re already squee-ing in excitement right alongside us. If you don’t know what Dork Tower is, then either you’re about to add a new layer of happiness to the Photoshop composite of your life, or you’re slowly beginning to realize you didn’t click through to the Monkey Bites blog.
From the official Dork Tower website:
DORK TOWER is for anybody who’s ever been burned being an early adapter; who have more Twitter tweets than actual Twitter followers; who’s ever gone to a Star Trek convention; who’s ever played Dungeons and Dragons; who suspects Anime is more than just a passing fad; and who’s been fragged by a Gravity Hammer in Halo III – or anyone who KNOWS one of these people. But it’s REALLY for people who know what the hip social networking du jour site is; who has bookmarked thinkgeek.com; who’s memorized every lyric to Jonathan Coulton’s ouvre; who’s cataloged which Classic Trek episodes involved the Prime Directive; and who knows the names of six people and a cat that make regular appearances in Wil Wheaton’s blog. And, of course, it’s for people who know that HAN SHOT FIRST!
DORK TOWER the multi-award-winning story of Matt, Igor, Ken, Carson the Muskrat (yes, he’s a muskrat) and Gilly, the Perky Goth. They’re trapped in a world they never made… but are nevertheless striving to create a realistic yet playable simulation thereof!
Dork Tower has, in its decade of life, existed as a stand-alone comic book, a featured comic in Dragon, Scrye and Games magazines, and one of the earliest regular web-comics online. Its creator, John Kovalic, is also the illustrator and co-creator of world-renown games Munchkin and Apples to Apples. But perhaps his greatest creation is his new daughter, whose existence has transformed him from a simple, Bruce Banner-like comics and game illustrator, into a hulking green(bay) GeekDad. Which is where we come in.
So please, let’s all extend John a warm (but slightly clammy) welcome to the GeekDad community, and thank him profusely for sharing Dork Tower with us, so we can help share it with the world!
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GeekDad gets around a million and a half page views per month – that’s THREE FULL WHEATONS, folks! – and about a million unique visitors.
What does this mean for DorkTower.com? Well, lots of good stuff. While web goddess Cat and I sharpen the look and speed of the site, if anything goes wrong, you can always catch the Monday/Wednesday/Friday Dork Towers at 9 am, CST, on GeekDad!. The archives will remain here, and the new comics will continue to run here. The Archives – through a redesign of the site – will become easier to use and navigate through.
It also means that, from time to time, I’ll be doing more than just running the day’s cartoons at GeekDad…I’ll also be coming up with some specific cartoons directed at the Wired/GeekDad audience. Plus, Ken and I have one or two Sekrit Projekts which are still in the planning stages, yet which are very, very kewl.
But for the moment, I’m just thrilled to be associated with Wired.com, the GeekDad blog, and the folks at GeekDad in particular
My name is John, and I’m a GeekDad!
John | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
| There’s been a lot of stuff about Art in this meme. There’s been precious little about Design in it. I like design, and back in the early days of this iteration of this blog, I spent a short while explaining what I think its relationship to Art is.
So having skipped past the need for that re-cap, I thought I’d now witter on a bit about what sort of design I like, and I thought I’d start with a couple of links to designers I know.
Phil Clandillon. I worked with Phil in a little yellow room in Acton. Dark Days. Phil’s particular knack is coming up with really interesting and clever shit using unexpected technologies. The Kasabian “Football Hero” video was him, as was the AC/DC music video that was an Excel spreadsheet, as were a few other clever things that you can find out about at his portfolio there. What I like about Phil’s best work is the strength of his ideas – the execution’s important, too, but I like the fact that Phil isn’t just turning out websites any more, but is in a place where he can come up with genuinely orginal stuff that pulls in all sorts of digital media, and generally makes me think “I wish I’d thought of that”.
BERG. BERG is the sort of place that I would love to work for, but quite frankly, am not clever enough to do so. What I love about their work is twofold: one, is that it tends to be cutting edge, at least in terms of thinking, if not technology, and two, that it tends to be made the with the aim of enabling people to do things – they’re makers, rather than marketers. Also, how can you not love an agency who named themselves after of something out of Quatermass?
Between those two, I find I’ve very neatly encapsulated what I love about design – it’s the means by which people’s ideas shape the world, and bit by bit, change our lives. Here at the start of the 21st century, if you’re not engaged with design as a (very broad) field on some level, I do kind of wonder what you’re doing with your life, apart from taking up resources that the rest of us could be making better use of.
So that’s design as idea, and design as world-shaper, which is all vitally important background, but what about aesthetics? After all, that’s what most people think of when they think of design.
Well, I only really qualified to talk about my own sense of aesthetics, and me, I’m a pretty unabashed Swiss modernist. Give me clean, clear lines, plenty of white space, and attention to simple detail in the service of clarity. Sure, I can appreciate the cluttered, hand drawn and grungy look – I quite like the work of people like Courtney Riot or Christopher Cox, but honestly, give me plain black text, well spaced, on a white background every time – a bit of simple elegance. If I had to pick my favourite font, it’d be Helevetica Neue – just about the only font face that is more precise and tidier than Helevtica.
This applies in just about everything from ink on paper to products to architecture – I love simple clear lines and an absence of clutter. Those who have seen the spaces I inhabit and the general state of my desk are probably laughing themselves sick right now, to which I can only remark that very often, really good design is an aspirational thing.
This entry was originally published at Black Ink | | comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment |
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