Today, I found out Harvey Pekar, writer of American Splendor and related comics, died. Before blogs and even before reality TV ever took off, Pekar broadcast his life in print with the help of a few artist friends, most notably Robert Crumb. Over the past few years, his work became important to me because his stories were effectively conveyed in visual form (thanks to his artist friends), but he also told his own stories and observations, and they were funny, witty, and moving, even disturbing, but always entertaining. With a healthy dose of misanthropy, he was very relatable. American Splendor, etc, were definitely influential to my Resplendence project. Thanks Harvey, amongst others, for inspiring other artists and writers. Rest in peace.
books
20
Feb 10
The Doctor, Amazon.Com, Healthcare FAIL, etc
The new trailer for the upcoming Dr. Who with the newly regenerated 11th Doctor and new companion Amy Pond.
With the Christmas and New Year Specials giving David Tennant’s 10th Doctor a proper send-off and effectively ending the Russell T Davies’ era of Doctor Who, this trailer helps whet our appetites for the coming season with Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor and Steven Moffat, who wrote some brilliant episodes in the past such as “The Girl in the Fireplace” and “Blink” among others, taking the helm as executive producer. The trailer above, recently posted to BBC America‘s Doctor Who site, definitely promises the season to be a good one. The previous trailer gives more of a dramatic sense with actual scenes, whereas this one simply sells it. Best Doctor Who teaser since Christopher Eccleston’s offer of a “trip of a lifetime.”
12
Jul 09
Books: The Writing Class
What happens when a misanthropic has-been creative writing teacher is put together with students of varying levels of talent? Murder and mayhem. Well, murder occurs in small doses, but a much-aggrieved, much-rejected, aspiring literary hack does a lot to cause the mayhem, which terrorizes Amy Gallop, the instructor, and her class of mostly novice writers. The mystery of the perpertrator, however, fascinates the group and is a much stronger draw than getting one’s stories torn apart. Jincy Willett‘s The Writing Class is one of those books I came across purely by accident while shopping for steampunk novels at Mysterious Galaxy in Kearny Mesa.
