Warren and Me

"Futurism isn't staring through a telescope, focusing on one thing. The future is a storm front. And we don't know when it's gonna break. And we don't know how long it's gonna rain for."

While he told a great many hilarious stories (including a killer about Patrick Stewart)--to say nothing of his...um...lively reading from his novel, Crooked Little Vein--that quote above was my favorite thing Warren Ellis said at his one-man panel last Friday in Chicago. That's the kind of optimism I can get behind.

Oh, yeah. That, and one other thing. When asked about the reason he maintained a CD collection instead of just having everything in mp3 format, Ellis offered two damn fine reasons: 1) as an audiophile, he wanted to have music that was good for more than just listening to on the train ride into town, and 2) as a father, he wanted for his daughter to be able to go through his CD collection and discover all sorts of music for herself, instead of merely browsing playlists.

Now, that last reason...I really quite like that one.

And at the end of the evening, after Alan Moore impressions, belittling audience members, and finally exploring the origins of Planetary, one of my heroes found time for one last thing before leaving the room.

Me, and a man to whose church I'd gladly belong (who is here closer to a smile than I've ever seen him in a photo).

I only wish he'd have let us smoke too. Although there was an open bar, so I guess I can't complain too much.


Read: Crooked Little Vein, by Warren Ellis
Watch: Godzilla: Final Wars (dir. Ryuhei Kitamura, 2004)
Listen to: The 4AM, located at http://www.warrenellis.com/?feed=podcast. It's a fine selection of work by unsigned artists.