Archive for February, 2009
Wordcount Follies: On a whim, I tried to figure out what my wordcount has been like in these daily journal entries and weekly reviews. We’re looking at between 3,500-4,000 words a week which puts me between 14,000 and 16,000 words for February alone. That’s not counting writing that doesn’t appear in the blogosphere. That’s not even trying very hard.
What I really need to do is apply some of that energy to my fiction writing. One reason why I started to keep a regular webjournal again was to get back my discipline mjojo in writing each and every day. It’s the one key exercise I’ve found that works in keeping me in a writing mood. Well, I think I’ve got the discipline mojo down.
Time to get to work.
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Rumor has it… Before was known for his TV and movie roles, Tom Selleck made a living as a pornographic clown.
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Good week. This month’s medical journal is a phonecall away from being okayed for press. This issue features a lot of color and loads of tables. I’m glad it’s come out so well. Ben and I have been trying to decide what the next Big Three projects are going to be, but in the meantime I’ve been doing a lot of work on TumbleTap stuff–the most important being getting the dang webpages ready–as well as others seemingly small, but important, details done.
I got my box of printed SFWA Bulletins in yesterday and the new issue looks fantastic. Expect to see if showing up in mailboxes and some magazine racks soon!
And I’m getting a little bit of writing done. Always a good thing.
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Today’s link is a shameless plus for my own weekly review column, Falling Off the Shelf over at Forces of Geek. This week’s columns features a more in-depth review of Hideo Azuma’s Disapeearance Diary than the very brief one I posted here a couple of days ago.
Cheers!
Filed under: Blogosphere, Publishing, Reviews, Rumor | |No Comments
I’m reading Microserfs right now by Douglas Coupland and am finding it an interesting experience somewhat. It has much in common with Coupland’s later work, Jpod, in that it’s about a small group of verk geek-intensive computer programmer types (at Microsoft in Seattle) in their early 20s to early 30s. Like Jpod, there is a single focus character whose parents enter the story, pages with random arragements of words, and an abundance pop-culture references. The novel takes place in the mid-90s so it’s not too far off from thge contemporary world, but in reading you can’t help but say to yourself, “Huh, if they knew then what we know now…”
It’s a fun novel, a little more clumsy than Coupland’s later novels, but that’s to be expected. It’s not bad by any stretch. I wish I had read it when it first came out–it would have blown me away. Granted, there’s an o’erabundance of GenX-style philosophical meanderings, but it resonates with me and mine. It’s downside is that I’m probably the oldest someone can read this book as.
I’m enjoying it, but it’s not Coupland’s best. His better days were ahead of him then as they still are now. It’s fun watching how a novelist grows over 15 or so years. I can’t wait for his next book.
(Unrelated) Final word…
Ben lies.
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I’m behind on my writing, but ahead on most everything else. Today I should be able to focus on the writing end of things once I get some morning tasks out of the way. Post cards. Medical journal. Some edits. One thing I need to do is get a bunch of stuff back out into markets. I have a few stories that need to make the rounds, and a stack of poems that need to be sent to journals.
Always good to be busy.
Rumor has is… The ancient Mayans developed a beverage remarkably similar to our modern coca-cola using cane sugar, kola nuts, arrowroot, and cocaine leaves. A form of carbonation was achieved by having priests blow into the beverage through a reed, forming a “holy” bubbling. The result was quickly capped and buried for a year before drinking.
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Today’s link goes to Chris Reilly’s CastleFreak Midnight Movie Double Feature. Chris has taken on a mission to bring back the midnight movie/double feature experience by dredging up great unsung classics in movie-horror and science fiction. Interpsersed are ancient animated calls to go to the lobby for all your epicurean desires, classic cartoon shorts, and background information on the features. There is a lot to be seen–impressive as the site has only been up for a couple of weeks. While the video is embedded into a Blogger page, it’s surprisingly decent quality–especially in sound. I’ve yet to find a way to enlarge the viewing screen, but after a few minutes of viewing, you kind of forget it’s a small screen and you’re just enjoying the flick.
This is a must site for movie buffs–especially of horror, science fiction, and the so-called “cult” variety.
Enjoy!
Filed under: Book review, Movie review, Rumor | Coupland, Microserfs, Reilly|No Comments
I’ve been reading Disappearance Diary by Hideo Azuma. It’s the fascinating story of Azuma who is a respected and fairly well-known manga artist in Japan who, during the 70s, dropped out and lived as a bum for a while when the pressures of his career were getting too much. It also relates his descent into alcoholism and subsequent recovery. What’s kind of revealing, and it’s something I’ve known but often forget… manga artists are nuts!
And by nuts, I mean they willingly work these insane schedules where they’re something writing and drawing 16 or more pages a day. Every day.
Find me a comic artist in the US or anywhere else in the Western world that does that. Not even comic strip artists work at that kind of pace. It’s no wonder there is such a high burnout rate among manga artists. Sure, they work with assistants who help with inking, lettering, and backgrounds. Sure, most of the work is in black and white. But many of these artists also come up with the plots and writing.
I suppose that’s why a lot of manga is pretty formulaic… but jeez. What a schedule.
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Been a fairly productive week. We’re trying to figure out exactly what the next projects are going to be. In the meantime, I took care of some detail work and some promo work.. one item being a postcard for Jan Wahl pushing his book Through a Lens Darkly and his newest childrens book, Bear Dance. The medical journal has a lot of color content this month, so I’ve been taking care of the additional details involved with that. This month’s theme? Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
Rumor has it… the retractable ball point pen was developed after Charles Cross saw the design for a retracting needle device used by witch hunters to extract confessions from suspected witches in the 17th century.
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Because philately will get you anywhere, today’s link drops by Stamps.org the site of the American Philatelic Society. Why stamps? Why not? I had a collection when I was a kid… it might even still be somewhere around here. I have no idea. My mother collected sets and I have a bunch of her old pieces. Someday I’ll figure out what to do with all of them. Maybe I’ll have a kid who will be into stamps and all these might be worth some coin someday. Still, I think I have a fond memory of stamp collecting because it was my very first hobby.
You never forget your first.
Filed under: Rumor | Azuma, stamps|No Comments
Yeah, yeah. Award shows. Can’t be a film fan and can’t have a weekend of award shows without some kind of commentary, can I? So let’s see.
I do consider the Oscars still relevant and worth watching. The “improvements” this year didn’t really seem like improvements to me, but I will admit that there were moments when I felt genuinely entertained. Still, I wished they’d have stuck more to the awards than in the pap and poorly-written humor. In other words, it was a night of hits and misses, and because they ran long and always do, I wish they’d trim out the misses beforehand during rehearsals. There are rehearsals, aren’t there?
As for the red carpet coverage that eats up a good hour or more… I understand why they have them, but think maybe their time has passed. Yeah, it’s the time for the fashionistas to shine, but I don’t care. Start the ceremonies earlier..let the shows that want to cover the red carpet drag do so, but don’t sacrifice potential award time. How about an Oscars that ends no later than 11pm?
And I haven’t even talked about the results. I was disappointed that Viola Davis didn’t get Best Supporting Actress. Glad that Heath Ledger got Best Supporting Actor, and that Dustin Lance Black got the Best Original Screenplay for Milk. It was good to see films like Slumdog Millionaire and the Benjamin Buttons movie do well also.
What was more fun was the Independent Spirit Awards. Less glitz and glam, more time with the artists and some genuinely amusing unscripted moments. I suppose that’s the whole point. Access to alcohol makes for a very different awards ceremony. Good on Mickey Rourke for his winning speech for Best Actor in The Wrestler (which won a few awards) and I was happy to see that Tom McCarthy picked up a Best Director for The Visitor. Synecdoche, New York had barely no public release, and the DVD won’t come out for a couple of more weeks, but that got Best First Feature.
Spirit Awards, good…Oscars…meh. But I’ll keep watching both.
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The week is starting out fairly easy. Today I’ll be working on the 2nd edition to Spotlights & Shadows: The Albert Salmi Story by Sandra Grabman. Who? You’d know him if you saw him from any one of thousands of TV and movie appearances like Kung Fu, Lost in Space, Bonanza, and Planet of the Apes. I first worked on this back in 2004 and it’s good to see the book has done well enough to warrant an update.
I’ll also be tackling edits to the medical journal, scouting cover artists for the next SFWA Bulletin, and doing some writing. A decent amount of writing hopefully over the next couple of days.
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Today’s link goes to one of my favorite free-to-read script sites: WeeklyScript.com. Sadly, it’s not been updated in a year, and its featured “current” script is still Juno, but hey–it’s a good read, and you don’t have to navigate far to find some really great scripts to enjoy… like Bad Day at Black Rock.
Enjoy!
Filed under: Layouts, Reviews, Rumor | Oscars, Spirit Awards|No Comments
I’m not going to turn this into an official facebook meme entry. You good folks deserve a rest, but one interesting one I saw floating out there–a shame no one tagged me–was the top 15 albums that changed your life. I thought it was an interesting idea… so let’s see…what would I choose? Can I do 15? Let’s start easy and do just ten, and maybe next week I’ll think of 5 more.
the Chieftains 4 (The Chieftains) - My dad used to play this in his bookstore and it’s what first turned me on to traditional Irish music
Steam-Powered Aereo-Plain (John Hartford) - A Friend turned me on to this one afternoon and I’ve not been the same since. I consider it one of the best bluegrass albums ever made.
The Ever-Popular Tortured Artist Effect (Todd Rundgren) - Maybe not his best album, but one of his more popular. It was my first Rundgren album and it made me a lifelong fan of the rainbow-colored demon.
Never Mind the Bollocks (The Sex Pistols) - Okay, the Sex Pistols were a little silly, but nine out of ten punk fans started with this album. It’s the preschool of punk to which we listened to, got excited about, then graduated on to much better stuff like…
Damaged (Black Flag) - this was more like it. And from there I went on to Fear, X, the Circle Jerks
Rock and Roll Heart (Lou Reed) - My first Lou Reed album which was quickly followed by Transformer and then the whole Velvet Underground catalog
Blue (Joni Mitchell) - Changed the way I thought about listening and enjoying female singers. I could still put this on and be carried away.
…from the Hungry i (The Kingston Trio) - Early Greenwich Village folk music at one of its finest hours. “Zombie Jamboree” remains one of my favorite songs to this day
Newport In New York ‘72: The Jam Sessions Vols 1 through 4 (various artists) - I wore my vinyls of this out and I really wish this would be released on CD. I’ve only found copies on vinyl and I don’t have a turntable anymore. This is probably one of the best live jazz album sets anywhere and it turned me on to a lot of folks too numerous to mention.
The Bothy Band (The Bothy Band) - These guys took trad Irish music out of the concert hall and into the kitchen. Gotta love ‘em for that
And that’s ten for now. I know five minutes after I post this, I’ll think of more, but we’ll just have to wait and see if I decide to share further.
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Rumor has it… Cracked magazine is the only publication to have once been owned by the Unification Church and then sold. Lawrence Kim, then head of the church’s publishing division was quoted “We’re nuts, but come on now. We’re not that nuts. We thought we were buying Mad Magazine.”
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The last two books that have been currently-in-progress are now out the door. There are some fun projects coming up including the autobiography of the Amazing Kreskin, the letters of Louise Brooks, and a history of Cracked magazine. I expect a new quiz book by Mel Simons to be appearing soon, and there’s an interesting book on the creative process coming up featuring interviews with actors, directors and writers.
Another issue of The SFWA Bulletin isn’t too far off, the medical journal steams along, and the TumbleTap Presents: 2009 preview will be done soon. I just need to rescan some items and write some copy.
So good stuff. And a good week for getting things out the door. And a good week’s start on the spring cleaning. This heralds a decent weekend.
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Today’s link goes to a review of the Venture Bros. season 3 that I wrote for Forces of Geek this week. The third season comes out on DVD and Blu-ray on March 24th and I’m psyched. Even if I didn’t think that this was the show’s strongest season, I’m still looking forward to picking this up.
Check out the review, then hit the top banner and scope out the many other fine pieces at ForcesOfGeek.com.
Cheers!
Filed under: Music, Publishing, Rumor | facebook|No Comments
So…..
So, so, so, so……
United States of Tara, anyone?
This is a very twisted little show. Thank ghu for cable networks like Showtime and HBO that can broadcast shows like these. For those not yet in the know, it’s a show about a family. A regular, plain-ole American family. Oh yeah, the mom, Tara, suffers from Disassociative Identity Disorder and she has decided to go off her meds. This results in the emergence of three “alters”–T, an annoying teenage girl with issues; Alice, a Donna Reed-type mom but with a definite undercurrent of something nasty; and Bud, a womanizing, homophobic trucker type–and the only male. The family is pretty cool with all this. Tara is an artist and the meds were not making for a great life. This experiment in going off the meds seems to be more welcomed than not–although Tara’s teenage daughter is feeling the stress.
We’ve watched the first 3 episodes available on Verizon’s on-demand service and there are a few more to go through before we’re up to date, but it’s yet another series I’m getting sucked into.
So yeah, I recommend it. There are a number of cringe-moments, but also a lot of laugh moments and many staring-at-the-tube-with-mouth-hanging-open moments. And Kudos to the actors. Toni Collette (Tara) should get four cast credits–she’s that good. And applause for the son, Marshall. And yeah, to Diablo Cody as well. It ain’t Juno but you can certainly see her hand in this.
When the hell did TV get watchable? It must be a fluke. When summer comes there will be nothing to watch again and life will get back to normal.
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Rumor has it… CD recording technology was originally developed as a method to record ghost hauntings which required a clarity in sound reproduction that was not then available.
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Confessions of an Accidental Mouseketeer by Lonnie Burr was signed off today, as was Lewis Stadlen’s Acting Foolish. I love getting books out the door. I’ll be making the high-res files for the printer this morning, and hopefully sending them off by this afternoon.
Woot!
So the next couple of days I’ll be able to concentrate on TumbleTap stuff. The Teaser test book is nearly done. I need to finish the webpage. At least the way is clear for a few days. With the exception of a postcard and some minor promo work… it’s pretty open until next week.
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Looking for fonts? Especially display fonts? Give dafont.com for an incredible offering of many fine free fonts. This site has helped me out numerous times when trying to match certain TV-show fonts for certain books, and interesting, but not over-wrought, fonts for flyers.
Worth a look if you need fonts and are stuck.
Cheers!
Filed under: Publishing, Reviews, Rumor | United States of Tara|No Comments
I is on a wonderous journey full of adventure, mystery, romance, and mad science. Folks, what are you sitting around reading me for when you could be hieing thee hence to Phil and Kaja Foglio’s Girl Genius? Really, now.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been a fan of Phil’s since his days in the late 70s as a fan artist scribbling Star Trek con reports on the back of Leonard Nimoy’s neck. He wrote and drew the famous What’s New comic in Dragon? magazine, the infamous Buck Godot, the vastly entertaining XXXenophile series, and illustrated the first novel in Robert Asprin’s MythAdventures series. He’s put his pen to countless book and magazine covers, Magic ™ cards, fanzines, and royalty checks.
Girl Genius started out as a print book, and moved online a couple of years ago… all content free (and available for purchase in book form) and it’s easily one of the very best stories around. The story centers on the adventures of one Agatha Clay, a young woman living in a re-imagined 19th century Europe where technhology takes the form of a combination of steampunk and alchemy. (In fact, it could be argued that Girl Genius is what started the whole current steampunk fad.) Young Agatha is a woman with a Great Destiny, a fascinating Company of Characters, and access to an Air Ship. She fights monsters, evil tyrants, mad robots, mad scientists, mad scientist robots, and her own Mysterious Past.
Oh, and there’s a talking cat. Gotta have a talking cat.
Phil and Kaja Foglio’s Girl Genius takes the very best of the old gaslight adventure stories, shakes them up and spins an original yarn via the most amazing comic art you’ve ever seen. This is how I read Foglio’s work… once for the story, then again for the art, then again for the background art.
Yeah… It’s that good. The Foglios are masters of the interesting prop.
Again… why are you reading me? Phil and Kaja have written this comic that is funny, scary, pulse-pounding, and inspiring. (Yeah, John, why don’t you marry it? Answer: I’m already married, and state laws do not recognize men marrying comic books…yet.) Hie thee hence. G’wan…scat!
Here…have a link to the first page of the adventure. Some of the first issues were in black and white, but no worries, it moves into dazzling color before long. If you don’t fall in love with Phil and Kaja Foglio’s Girl Genius within 15 pages, I will pay you $20.*
(*Offer not valid anywhere. John may have been drinking spoilt milk. We don’t know for sure; he won’t show us the bottle.)
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It’s been a pretty dang productive week thus far, and it’s barely Wedsnesday morning. The second proof to an extra-large and somewhat complex medical journal is done and back with the editor, and the 556-page Hardcastle and McCormick book is finally at the printer. Today I’ll tie up the loose ends on Lonnie Burr’s book, and possible Lewis Stadlen’s. I see the next projects on the horizon, coming into port, its sailors already drunk, but I’m the shore patrol and I’m armed.
I have no idea what that means. Suffice to say, I’m ready for the next round of jobs. Does anyone know if spoilt milk gives you hallucinations?
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Girl Genius links to comics weren’t enough for you? Okay, here’s something else.. The Girl Genius RPG (for GURPS, 4th edition) from Steve Jackson Games. Adventure with Agatha and her motley crew… create your own characters, build clanks, the works!
Enjoy!
Filed under: Comics, Publishing | Foglio, Girl Genius|No Comments
I got tagged by three people right in a row, so obviously my life is such a rich pageant that the adoring public can’t help but know more about how I tick…how I tock.
Actually, what it is is a good excuse for me not to do a real journal entry today as I have a lot of work ahead of me this morning. For those keeping track, the Hardcastle and McCormick episode guide has been signed off, and is heading to the printer’s today! Woot!
Now on with the show…
1. Do you like blue cheese? Absolutely. Dryish, and not too marbled, or as a dip
2. Have you ever smoked? Since 1986. This might be the year I quit.
3. Do You own a gun? Nope. And unless the world goes all post-apocalyptic and over-run with zombies, I doubt I would.
4. What flavor Kool Aid was your favorite? Lemon-lime, then electric, now plain lemonade,
5. Favorite Ice Cream from the ice cream truck? That vanilla cone with the chocolate and nuts on the top
6. What do you think of hot dogs? I prefer the so-called New York-style weiners with meat sauce, onions, and celery salt.
7. Favorite Christmas movie? Scrooged
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? COFFEE!!! (with milk… no sugar, thenk yew)
9. Can you do push ups? Yes, but not enough as I probably should
10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding ring
11. Favorite hobby? That’s a tough one. I have a lot of interests and things to keep me busy, but none of which I’m really expert at. I’m going to say playing the banjo.
12. Do you have A. D. D.? Probably not. I’m not qualified to say, but I would guess… hey! a squirrel with a pirate hat! Woohoo! Here Captain Fluffytail!! Here Captain Fluffytail!! Ooooh! incoming e-mail!
13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? Yes, but only as my mild-mannered alter-ego
14. Middle name? Dennis. Wanna fight?
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: Breakfast is cooking. Howard Hughes was a nut-job. My ear itches. (fascinating, wot?)
16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Coffee, Diet Coke, lemonade. Not blood.
17. Current worry? I might be too interesting.
18. Current hate right now? B strings on guitars and banjos. They are always the hardest to tune, and the first to break.
19. Favorite place to be? Wherever I am so long as my shadow is my own.
20. How did you bring in the new year? With great fire and fear… no… that was my birthday. The new year was rung in with Margaret, friends, and only a little bit of fire.
21. Where would you like to go? Japan. Mars. The Antipodes
22. Name three people who will complete this: Margaret, Kim, and KaeLee (thems who tagged me first)
23. Do you own slippers? Yes. Comfy ones.
24 What color shirt are you wearing? Black and white plaid with streaks of red
25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Meh.
26. Can you whistle? The sole pitch in which I can whistle can only be heard by angry killer bees and lawyers, so no. I don’t whistle.
27. Where are you now? My office, holding on for dear, sweet life.
28. Would you be a pirate? What do you mean by “would”? Aaarr!! Some be askin’ fer a space-keelhaulin’! (which is like a regular keel-hauling but, you know…in space.)
29. Do you sing in the shower? Rarely. Only in an empty house, and even then, rarely. The court order is very limiting.
30. Favorite Girl’s Name? Cornucopia
31. Favorite boy’s name? Sebastian Dangerfield
32. What is in your pocket right now? Wallet, change, guitar pick, miracles
33. Last thing that made you laugh? The Monty Python episode with the viking that visits North Malden.
34. What vehicle do you drive? Epistological
35. Worst injury you’ve every had? Tore my knee. Dang that hurt.
36. Do you love where you live? Yes, but we’re not an exhibitionists. The curtains will be closed when we’re doing that. Sorry pervs.
37. How many TVs do you have in your house? At least 3. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more, but at least 3.
Now let’s get back to work.
Filed under: Blogosphere, Writing | facebook, meme|1 Comment
It’s Monday! Or is it? Again, the conundrum of the self-employed. Do I treat today like a holiday like many other folk? Or do I get to work because the work needs doing?
The answer is obvious… but I’m going to work anyway. A couple of books may get signed off on by tomorrow if I turn in the last loose strands today, and the medical journal is going all glossy this issue and needs a decent amount of work to prep it.
Tumbletap continues and I’m nearly done with the inside for the sampler book which will run around 120 pages. I have a few scans to make for the last section, need to write up some intro material, and then do the cover. I want to have a bunch of books ready for upcoming conventions like MoCCa, San Diego Comiccon, and the Small Press Expo (I will not be at SDCC, but may show up at the other two and if I have books in hand–all the better).
And I have some mailings and phone calls to make.
So no… it’s going to be a real workday. Dammit.
Pretty nice weekend, though. We hung out with some friends. I had a tremendous pastrami sandwich at a pub downtown that used to be a real dive. Cleans up nice. Weather was good. Looks like spring may not be too far off. Here’s hoping. And last night I got in a great little session at Ward’s Pub. Crowded with folks enjoying a three-day weekend and a goodly number of great musicians sitting in.
So yeah. Nice weekend.
Rumor has it… If every man, woman and child in China took one quick step to the left at the same time, the Earth’s rotation would permanently slow down five seconds.
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Save the cheerleader, save the world?
You probably already know what happens. We don’t. Heroes was another one of those shows I got for Christmas and, like Lost we’re in danger of getting sucked in. It’s got that kid from the Gilmore Girls who has the perpetual sneer. And that guy who could be Kurt Russell’s nerdy brother. And that lady who always plays a lush. And that woman who always plays someone Who Cares.
That ain’t a bad thing. Kinda the opposite actually. It’s a show with middling actors that really step up to some nearly-awesome writing. I think I know what’s going on. Or what’s going to happen, but I know enough now to know that I don’t know. Ain’t that something? When did TV get interesting again? (I understand that the last statement is entirely a matter of opinion. Many folks are still waiting.)
We’re still fairly new into the first season. Lots more to see. Hopefully it won’t mess me up as much as Lost did.
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Today’s link goes to the recently notorious TVTropes.org. It’s an…interesting site. I’m still not entirely sure what I think of it. This wiki-type site examines the common tropes (and cliches and such) found in fiction, with an aim, I think, of exploring trends in fiction and so forth… but it kind of comes across a bit as a spoilsport. For example…who doesn’t like huge airships in fantastic-fiction settings? Armored zeppelins in alt-realities rock. Rather than celebrate this trope, however, the entry I read seemed to more be interesting in cataloging appearances of the airship in order to dismiss it.
I may be being unfair. I’ve not explored a lot of the site..just parts and I may not be getting the whole picture. I leave the link, though, for you to decide.
Filed under: Comics, Rumor | Heroes|No Comments
Friends, what are we going to do about Jack Black? I mean, really.
We all know he has talent. We all saw High Fidelity. Yeah, yeah, he can kinda sing and kinda play the guitar, but he keeps getting billed as a comedic actor and I’m just not buying it anymore.
I think what set me off was a recent viewing of Be Kind Rewind. The concept was good enough–the exectuion a bit shaky and some of the reasoning unsound, but overall a better movie than a bad movie. It’s probably one of Jack Black’s best performances in recent years, but sadly it’s not saying much. I really expected more from him, and don’t know why.
Once upon a time, seeing Jack Black’s name in a cast list was a good thing. Then movie after movie he kept disappointing me until Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny just broke me.
I watched Be Kind Rewind because the thought of amateur re-shoots of popular movies on video was an amusing enough idea to start watching a movie–not because Jack Black was in it. Now his presence is more of a distraction because I haven’t forgiven him yet for Nacho Libre.
But you know what the thing is? I know that someday he’s going to win our hearts again. It won’t be via buffoonery (I’m looking at you Orange County) and it won’t be because someone gave you a serious role that you decided to ham up (King Kong). No. Jack Black will grow up, take a mature role… maybe have a few grey hairs on his head…or a comedic role that’s not based on the “deluded loser” character type, and we’re going to see an actor who makes us smile, maybe laught, maybe weep, but not wince.
Trust me on this. It’ll happen. We believe in you Jack. Don’t fuck us over.
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The week continues to be nicely productive and it looks like that by the end of the day I will have hit all my work goals for the week. Nearly all. I have some webpage work to do as well and will try to catch up on that this weekend, but as far as print stuff is concerned, I’m just about there.
One thing that would make my job easier is if the writers and editors actually edited their text before submitting it to me. It sometimes takes as much time to line-edit a job after I’ve finished laying it out as it does to do the initial layout. One interesting difference I note is that those who type their manuscripts on computers are guilty of this more than those who type their manuscripts on old-fashioned typewriters.
I wonder why that is. Maybe computers really are making us lazier. At least schools still aren’t accepting papers written in internat-speak, but you know it’s just a matter of time.
Rumor has it… - In 1956, Padraig Carvey (father of comedian Dana Carvey) the Atlantic in a sailoat made entirely of paper.
By the way, School of Rock wasn’t too bad.
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Today’s link visits the blog site for the New England Webcomics Weekend to be held March 20-22 in Easthampton, MA. Guest include Randy Milholland of Something Positive, Scott Kurtz of PVP Online, Jeph Jacques of Questionable Content, David Willis of Shortpacked, Zach Weiner of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal and many, many more.
Cheers!
Filed under: Book layouts, Publishing, Rumor, Webcomics | Jack Black|No Comments
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