In Memoriam

Another great. Gone.

My dad took me to see The Color of Money when I was eight years old. While The Hustler is a vastly superior film, that 1986 film was the first time I met Fast Eddie Felson. And amidst the many characters that have come and gone and occupied important places in my life, Fast Eddie's always been there. And he'll never leave.

But Mr. Newman? The only thing I'd add to all the wonderful things that he's said and that have been said about him, is that it's a difficult thing to be that good a gent while being that cool a gent.

And he did it as effortlessly as the smoothest straight shot to the pocket.

And the world's a lesser place for his leaving it.

Like Fast Eddie said, "It's just like one of those things that you never think about...but can make your day like electricity."

Spiro Was a Good Cat

I've had an awful couple of weeks, spent either doing too much navel-gazing or cleaning up the messes of others. In fact, I'm so full of regret and exhaustion that, quite absent-mindedly, I almost combed my hair with my razor today.

And if I ever get up off my lazy ass and get to writing seriously, that'll make a great first line of a story someday.

There have been a scant few moments of joy along the way. Here's one.

I was on the phone with my father two Wednesdays ago. To quote Fitzgerald, my father and I have "always been unusually communicative in a reserved way." I was talking to him about a whole host of things, including the fact that I'm thinking about getting a pet for the first time in a long time.

I'm going to get a cat; I'm just not sure when. Certainly not now, because my apartment complex doesn't allow cats if they're not de-clawed, and I won't have a de-clawed cat. I understand why people think that's a good idea; I'm just not one of those people. I think it's cruel.

Anyway, as I'm going on about wanting to get my first pet in over 10 years, out of nowhere he tells me this story about a cat named Spiro (yes, kids, for that Agnew guy). Incredulous at the fact that he'd had a cat named Spiro, I just had to hear more.

Now, as you read the following, it's even better if you can hear my dad's voice. For those of you who haven't met him, think of my voice lowered an octave and a touch more on the brusque side.

"Yep, I had a cat named Spiro. He actually belonged to all of us--me, Gary and Jon (his best friends and roommates at the time). Now, you see, the thing about Spiro was he loved to hang out on our spiral staircase. He'd just plant himself in about the middle of the stairs, which were those open air jobs (the kind without risers). Whenever one of us would walk by, cool cat that he was, he'd quietly try to swipe our toupees. 'Course, the problem was none of us had toupees, you know?"

And I was laughing. Just couldn't help myself. It was the first time I'd laughed in, oh, 72 hours or so. And my dad did what anyone who'd received laughter from his storytelling would do: he continued.

"Ah, but there was one night, when Gary had some people over from work. And one of the poor guys walked under the staircase on his way to the bathroom. And ol' Spiro's just sittin' there, king of the whole place. And once that guy went under him, sure enough: THWIP! Off comes that guy's rug, and Spiro fuckin' bolts, man. I mean, he rockets up that staircase, and the guy's goin' apeshit chasin' after him."

I was, at this point, laughing hysterically.

"Spiro hides under the dresser upstairs, and oh no: he's not lettin' go of that toup. Gary ran up there after them, apoplectic as he could be, and he tried to get it back from Spiro. Me and Jon are just laughin' it up. Now, after a good little fight, Spiro let go of it, but not before he'd chewed a hole right through the middle of it.

"Yeah...Spiro was a good cat."

Was there some deeper meaning to all this? Of course not. It's merely a funny story, at least to me. So why did I preface it all with that Gatsby quote? Because one of the things about my father is that he knows that, regardless of how awful things are for me, sometimes all I need is a good story.

This good story suffers from my retelling, but I post it nonetheless. I hope it's been worth your time to read it.


Read: I Never Sang for My Father, by Robert Anderson
Watch: Redbelt (dir. David Mamet, 2008)
Listen to: Still, Moving, Light, by Simon Fisher Turner

Passage

That was the rule. All the world could turn on them, but D-Ops would always defend the Minders. At the cost of prospects, career, friends, liberty, life, Crocker would protect them. He would sacrifice everything for them, because that was what he expected in return, that was the agreement. He would order them over the hills and far away, then demand the impossible of them upon their arrival. And Chace, and Poole, and perhaps one day Lankford, too, would give it to him without hesitation, without questioning the reasons or the merits or the causes; they would do as ordered, as they were expected. They would go, and they would even die, if he demanded it.

And in return, Crocker sheltered them, guarded them, fought for them, lied for them. All of Whitehall could turn on the Special Section, but Crocker would remain, lone against the tide, to give cover to his Minders.

Crocker would protect her.

She fell asleep.

--Greg Rucka, A Gentleman's Game


This is how things are supposed to be. But they're not. Take whatever meaning you like from that.

I've Read Watchmen, Too

A while back, I came across this story on Newsarama: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080828-AfterWatchmen.html

This brief article posits next steps for new comic readers after reading Watchmen, those novice 'mics readers presumably dashing to better bookstores everywhere in fevered anticipation of the film coming to a theater near everyone in March.

Before I go off on my little rant here, let me first say that I love the book. It's far from my favorite comic, but any reader with half a brain will tell you what a seminal work it is for graphic storytelling. I'm also simply blown away by the fact that a teaser trailer for the film is moving so much paper. And heartening as it is to see stacks of Watchmen flying off the shelves--be it at a comic shop or at a Borders--my fear is this:

If you're starting out with Watchmen, you're never going to want to go near another comic book ever again.

No disrespect to the retailer who provided the article, but I would NEVER send a new comic reader immediately to Alan Moore (with 1 exception), or Grant Morrison for that matter. Maybe I'm wrong. True, Watchmen has few continuity obstacles, but it also belongs to a very specific time in comics history and is, in several ways, much too cumbersome a work to hurl into a new comic reader's hands and say, "Hey, newbie! This is what comics are all about! En-joy."

People need to go gently into that good night.

I know, I know. Opinions are like assholes. So let me be an asshole and give you my opinion.

The books below are, in my view, all perfectly reasonable--and reasonably perfect--jumping off points to read comics. I feel there's a solid mix of styles below, though all of the titles very clearly play to my sensibilities. The scripts possess no substantial continuity problems for the reader to tackle. The panel construction is readily decipherable (something I've given quite a bit of thought to over the past couple of years, as I've introduced or re-introduced several of my friends to comics).

And, perhaps most importantly, while Watchmen may be tossed around by the cartooning cognoscenti as comics for smart people, only the most ignorant of readers deny the intelligence to be found in a story simply told.

This is also not to say that what I've listed below are my absolute favorite books. For example, you won't find books like DC: The New Frontier or Identity Crisis on this, because they both require a working knowledge of the scope of the DC Universe. Even so...

Alright. Enough disclaimer-esque foreplay. Want to start (or restart) reading comics? These'll suit you right down to the ground:

Here we go, in no particular order...

1) Superman: For All Seasons, by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
2) Batman: Year One, by Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli
3) A Contract with God, by Will Eisner
4) Queen & Country, Vol. 1: Operation Broken Ground, by Greg Rucka & Steve Rolston
5) Fell, Vol. 1: Feral City, by Warren Ellis & Ben Templesmith
6) Rising Stars, by J. Michael Straczynski et al
7) The Amazing Spider-Man, by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
8) Marvels, by Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross
9) Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
10) Concrete, by Paul Chadwick
11) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1, by Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill
12) The Lone Ranger, by Brett Matthews et al
13) Jack Kirby's Fourth World Saga, by Jack Kirby
14) Athena Voltaire: Flight of the Falcon, by Steve Bryant
15) Grendel, by Matt Wagner
16) Criminal, by Ed Brubaker & Sean Philips
17) Peanuts, by Charles Schultz
18) Y: The Last Man, by Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra
19) Shortcomings, by Adrian Tomine
20) Exit Wounds, by Rutu Modan

Let me know what you think of this list, particularly if you read any of these for the first time. I'll try to write more on each title at a later date.

As I said, while many of them are, not all of these are my absolute favorites. However, maybe one or more of them can serve as a good first step...to you finding your own.


Read: um, any of the above, eh?
Watch: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (dir. Mike Hodges, 2003)
Listen to: Do You Believe in Gosh?, by Mitch Hedberg (may he rest in peace)

No Goatees, Injustice Leagues, or Other Assorted Apocalypses

A quick one, as slumber's calling...

On September 10, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN was activated. And no black hole opened up and swallowed us all.

It may surprise some of you to hear this from me, but there's a small part of me that's sad that there was no black hole. Truly.

I mean, what a way to go: activating an underground machine in the noblest of pursuits--to understand the universe--which in turn boomerangs humanity's collective ass and throws us all a quantum middle finger on the way out.

Instead, maybe we're just a stride closer to discovering the shape of reality.

Which I'm hoping really is a theoretical snowflake existing in 196,833 dimensional space.


Read: Planetary, by Warren Ellis & John Cassaday
Watch: Papillon (dir. Franklin J. Schaffner, 1973)
Listen to: O, by Tilly and the Wall

James...Move Your Ass.

Once again, I post this link for a reason. You should know what this means.

http://www.007.com/

Check out the new trailer, kids. Now!

What more do I need to say?

T-Minus 66 days and counting.

Shotgun Full of Buck-thought

Another smattering for you. Here we go.

Apparently the word "millennials," as a reference to Gen-Y'ers, has been around since the early 90s. I only heard it for the first time this past week. I bloody hate it. I mean, it makes our generation sound like we're on a space-faring quest for some crystal city or some such nonsense as that.

You know, there's nothing like a good French gangster film to make you (meaning me) feel utterly grand. Especially if it's got Jean Gabin or Alain Delon. Or Jean Gabin AND Alain Delon.

Singin' in the Rain will also make you feel grand. I watched it in 35mm last night. If you don't walk out of that film with a smile on your face, um, check your pulse. There were three times where the audience applauded. Now, I've never been afraid to applaud for a movie, but I confess to feeling always a bit awkward when I do applaud. No reason to feel awkward, though. An audience breaking into applause is the same thing as the stars breaking into song. Our emotions can't be contained by our thoughts, our feelings, and our widespread smiles any longer, just like--as a friend once told me--the characters' emotions are so full that they can only be expressed in song.

Most of you who know me know that I'm not easily offended by violence. Indeed, I'll say it: I like it. In my movies, comics, etc., of course. In life...not really, no. But in fiction, oh yes. So, how can a comic book cross the line?

If this were a book by Warren Ellis or Garth Ennis, I wouldn't think twice. I expect this kind of ultraviolent gore from those esteemed gents. (Well, Warren's esteemed, at least.) But in a little ol' DC comic called Teen Titans, whose title would ostensibly intend it for people of a teen demographic, it's just plain wrong. I don't care that it's a dream sequence. I don't care that it's a villainous character and she's just doing her thing. This is just plain unnecessary. Although, in a way, I'm kind of grateful. It saves me 3 bucks a month, after all. This sort of crap actually does have wider implications for mainstream comics, and I would point you here for more: http://occasionalsuperheroine.blogspot.com/2008/08/in-this-issuewendy-and-marvin-die.html. She pretty much says all that I want to, and where she mentions there being "no in-between?" That's an ongoing concern for me, which I'll probably talk more about another time.

Current needs: some tennis matches, a trip to a large city, a good freeware program for DVD screen captures on the PC. Oh, and ribs.

Rewatching The Sandbaggers. Dear God, I hope I'm not as dour as Neil Burnside ten years from now...though working for SIS wouldn't be all bad. And I have such better looking hair...

Working on another list for you good folks. This one's a list of the 20 best books to start with if you've either never read comics or haven't read them in a while. Coming soon to a monitor near you.

As much as I'm TV'ed out right now, I went on and started The Office (the US version). I finished the first season. You were all right: taking a break between the British version and this one was a very good idea.

Books I need to reread soon (can't say why, just need to):

• Light in August, by William Faulkner
• Gun, with Occasional Music, by Jonathan Lethem
• Minotaur, by Benjamin Tammuz

Finally...in a world...where Don LaFontaine is no longer with us...Damn. It's just hard to imagine that world.