Bin Laden as Rasputin

Mos Def had a great comment on Real Time With Bill Maher the other night about how, at this point, Bin Laden might as well be a mythical wizard, or Rasputin. I paraphrase, of course, but his point was, Florida just laid off over a hundred teachers. Who cares where Bin Laden is?

Quote at 1:10:

I also found another one of my favorites, where Bill makes a truly salient point, which Andrew Sullivan underlines and brings home.

‘Give me liberty or give me death’ indeed.

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Enough With the Roasts Already (Norm McDonald is a Genius)

I thought Roasts were dead, especially after Norm McDonald’s genius “anti-set” during the Bob Saget roast. McDonald came onstage, and made the filth look completely irrelevent, by being funnier than ever comedian onstage by refusing to play by the dirty one-upsmanship game.

You could see everyone onstage going, “What is he doing?” until they got it, and then every comic onstage realizes they’ve been owned by a guy who doesn’t really care whether the audience gets it or not. True bravery.

So I’m not really taking a shot at Larry the Cable Guy or whomever they decide to do next. After Norm, the whole format is tired, which to me is the antithesis of comedy.

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I Hear Your Concerns + Fail to Sympathize

I understand the precious argument out there about “leaving some books alone.” I used to feel that a book is tainted by a bad theatrical production. (I don’t exactly sit with Moore in thinking they are totally irrelevant, either.)

The thing is, lately, the movies have been doing a pretty good job. The Harry Potter movies are great. I think the choice of a “visionless hack” like Chris Columbus was in retrospect a really smart choice for the first one, because his slavish  accuracy created a setting for the other more creative (Cuaron) directors to play with. The Narnia books were a little soppy, but certainly no more so than the books themselves. The screen realization of the first movie was a fucking dream. I was literally trembling for more than half of the movie, and the scenes of the kids walking through the forest in their fur coats so perfectly captured the Pauline Baines illos that I very nearly shit myself. I’ll grant you that if you are a fan of His Dark Materials, you got fairly well dicked over by Hollywood.

Okay, so Where the Wild Things Are is going to be a movie. I hear you bitching. Yes, it’s all of our private treasure. But here’s the thing: Sendak chose Jonze. So that just about settles for me. One more time: Sendak. Chose. Jonze. It almost rhymes with stfu.

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Like a Vampire, But for Dogs

1) I am not your Teddy.

Speaking of “makes me laugh every single time” I’m gonna post this little loogy here and you will LIKE IT. The premise of this SNL sketch is more clever than most, and it could almost get by just on the strength of the idea alone if it weren’t also rip-your-hernia-stitches-out funny. But as it is your pretty much forget the premise halfway though: famous lefty musicians support Obama, famous redneck musicians support McCain. We all know how celebrities line up and make (usually) embarassing appeals for a vote. But What If! a famous rock duo were had divided loyalties?

What’s brilliant about this sketch, aside from it’s gemlike absurdity, is that it speaks to some larger truths: what WAS the oddly subordinate role of John Oates, really? (and the old “married couple” dynamic portrayed the sketch also suggests the answer we suspected all along.

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How’s This For Arts ‘n’ Crafts?

I laugh every single time I hear him yell “That’s right!”

Sifl and Olly would be proud, Rivers.

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Carl is my Teddy KGB- Page 3 is Live.

Just posted Page 3 pencils here. And, just like that, Carl becomes Teddy KGB to my Mike McDermott. Calm down, Teddy. Have an Oreo.

(By the way, guys, playing cards is not macho. It’s just a damn card game. It’s not like it’s rugby or anything.)

Also, WordPress is doing something wonky with the order of the posts when you scroll down. Some older posts are higher in order than some of the more recent posts. Oh well. Perhaps that’ll get fixed at some point.

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Sending Carl New Panels Tonight

The dogs howl, but the caravan rolls on.

Carl just called from NE to taunt me for not having any panels to ink. Never poke the bear, Carl. The coming artistic onslaught will melt your brain.

Listening to a new Bob Mould song on The Current online (you can find it on iTunes radio Alternative section) called “I’m Sorry Baby.” What a great songwriter.

That is all. Rock!

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Tool Academy on VH1

Wow. Just… wow.

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My Hair Is A Bird. Your Argument is Invalid

How to win every argument, ever:

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Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

Carl sent me page 2 of inked panels today. Ball’s back in my court. I’m planning on knocking out three pages of pencils this weekend. The point is this: Carl has artistically slapped me in the face, challenging me to an duel. I have a vicious terrapin ready to amphibiously destroy his underachieving reptilian tortoise.

Inks are under Page 2 in the Pages section.

Glove slap!

The Interweb is weird. You can find anything on it, but seldom the thing you’re looking for.

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The Goon Concept Art is Glorious

Haven’t read The Goon. Looks fun, in an EC comics/Little Annie Fannie/Harvey Kurtzman meets zombie/mafia fun.

Concept art is here. Fincher is producing. Looks promising as hell. With this and 9 on the way, maybe Hollywood is starting to get it a little bit.

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Eastbound and Down Is Transcendant

Watched the first four episodes this weekend. Man, Danny McBride is a force of nature. Playing a completely unapologetic and clueless bastard, with no moral compass or self-awareness whatsoever. It really is a comedic tour de force.

It’s also completely vulgar. I would never suggest it to my parents.

Direction is great, casting is great, acting is great. Jealous.

I love the ‘start at the end of the last episode’ convention. Really fresh and fun. Watch it if ya can still afford HBO. I know I can’t!

UPDATE: Someone cut together all of the clips of Kenny listening to his own audiobook, “You’re Fucking Out, I’m Fucking IN.” Righteous:

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Sigh. If I Must: Watchmen

Went against my better instincts and saw Zack Snyder’s Watchmen Monday. Woof. I was fighting myself, as, of course, Moore’s Watchmen and Miller’s Dark Knight melted my brain back in ’87.

I’ll make this quick, as who-the-hell-cares. What I liked:

• Stunning opening credits, except for the JFK/Comedian connection. Ponderous. Like a rhino with a paintbrush.
• Added scene with Rorschach and his therapist (surprisingly).
• Jackie Earle Haley and his performance in general. One of the few people in the film you care about at all. His last scene is really touching.

What I didn’t like so much:

• Malin Ackerman. She’s beautiful, and looks as close to a real world Laurie as possible, but… just wasn’t ready for this. Could have been the direction. In her defense, I wasn’t really blown away by anyone save JEH.
• The endless stop-start slo-mo bullshit. Everything doesn’t have to be fucking WAY COOL. Tell the goddamn story. Every action scene is a showstopper. If everything is amazing looking, nothing is amazing. Nothing has any weight. Snyder has no subtlety at all.
• The gratuitous violence: Bones snapping, close up on the arms being sawed, fetishizing the violence. Needless. And why did the Ozymandias/Rorschach/NiteOwl fight have to go on FOR YEARS? This isn’t the Matrix; the point of that fight was to show Veidt’s phyical dominance over both Rorschach and NiteOwl.

As Joe Jackson would sing, I could go on but what’s the use? Overall, I was surprised that I didn’t hate the changed ending. Maybe by that point I had given up. More than anything, I feel as if I compromised myself, and didn’t respect Alan Moore’s wishes as a creator. I went in with high hopes but low expectations, and came out feeling like a sell-out.

“Disappointed!” yelled Kevin Kline.

I will say this: it was beautifully shot.

UPDATE: Patton Oswalt has a great opinion on his myspace blog, completely dismantling my cynicism. He’s right. It was gonna get made no matter what. I think what I’m annoyed about is the inevitability of Hollywood narrative corruption (“I’m not sure if the blue penis works…”) and just the lazy acceptance of it.

Zack Snyder did a great job. I’m still not sure if that justifies the adaptation, but I’m glad it was Zack who did it, someone who clearly loves the material, even if I quibble with his execution of it. After all, what the f*ck have I directed?

It takes vigilance to not turn into Jeff Albertson.

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Moving is the WORST

Just had to move. Closer to the ocean. Like Bodhi from Point Break. JUST LIKE Bodhi from Point Break. “If you want the ultimate, you’ve got to be willing to pay the ultimate price.” We know, Bodhi, we know.

Point being, we’ll have some more panels up this week. I’m still exited to be working with Carl, and I’ll be sending him some more panels this week.

On another note, could the RNC be more ridiculous? Jindal is the best you’ve got? Really? JINDAL? And he’s bringing up Katrina? Have you all gone MAD?!

Obama has done to the Repubs what Reagan did to liberalism. Get ready for 12 years of Democratic administrations. Thank God for the wisom of the Founding Fathers and their checks ‘n’ balances foresight.

Thus endeth the politicizing of the blog.

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