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Below are the 7 most recent journal entries recorded in
Random Missives of an Idiot's InsaneJournal:
| Monday, September 11th, 2006 | |
| 3:15 pm | Another Fun Item From Lifeclever ;-) Found this site [indexed] from Lifeclever ;-). It's a good waste of five minutes. EDIT: Added a link to the site I was referencing because I'm a dumb ass. |
| Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 | |
| 4:57 pm | My Quest for Comics Knowledge So I officially very much like Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, but I love Making Comics by the same author. One thing I need to mention, though, is that page 171 of Understanding Comics, panels 3-9, gives one of the finest examples of why comics is an extraordinary storytelling method. And speaking of sequential art, after plowing through Brian K. Vaughan's Ex Machina Vol. 3 Fact V. Fiction, art by Tony Harris and Tom Feister, (thanks again,  hannibalvail, for lending it out to me) I have started to read Will Eisner's Comics & Sequential Art. I just got through the foreword and the first chapter this morning and I was loathed to head off to work because I was enjoying it so much. It feels a lot more academic than McCloud's work. This makes sense since it is a compilation of essays he wrote that were a spin off from the course he was teaching at the School of Visual Arts in New York.It's interesting what a few extra hours make. For the last year or so, I have had such a hard time finding time to read. Over the last six to eight weeks I have been reading in the mornings before work and in the evenings before bed (instead of dicking around on the computer at both times) and I have been getting through a great deal more reading. It's awful nice. |
| Saturday, January 20th, 2007 | |
| 9:01 pm | Pi Very nice:  Insane: |
| Sunday, January 21st, 2007 | |
| 8:31 pm | Comics and Sequential Art So I just completed Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential Art. My initial impressions after completing the book are the same as when I started it. Wow. And anyone who believes that Scott McCloud's books make Eisner's obsolete has clearly not read it. As a collection these are really especially good. I also know that I will need to go back and read this again (as well as McCloud's). Soon, actually. It's one of these works that require multiple readings to appreciate all the goodness that is found in it. The interesting thing about the book is that I feel it could be applied anywhere; not just in comics. The one main complaint that I have is Eisner's clear bias that the best way to write a comic or a graphic novel is with the writer and the artist being the same person. I wish I could say that I'm convinced by that. This gets into some oddly philosophical complications in my mind. The first being that I have read far too many works that have been done by a team to suggest that this is the best way to make a comic. Alan Moore is a perfect example of this. Same with Neil Gaiman. None of these guys were the artists for their graphic novels and comics, but they have created spectacular stories. (As I was mentioning to hannibalvail, Alan Moore's The Watchmen, specifically his comic within the comic, has been popping up during my daydreams lately. And more specifically than that, the idea that Moore put that comic within the comic has been bothering me lately.) So what would have been a good idea? Would it have been a good idea if both Moore (who is one of the finest comic writer's ever) or Gaiman just decided that they wouldn't write for comics because they didn't have the skills as an artist? Of course not! So for Eisner to put such a heavy emphasis on this point in the latter part of the book definitely leaves me wanting for a greater explanation of it. Obviously if the writer/artist has talent on both the writing and the art side then that would be exceptional, but I just can't imagine that having a team is that great of a detriment to good work.Even with (and possibly due to) this point of contention, this is a great read and something anyone with an interest in visual arts should pick up. |
| Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 | |
| 11:24 pm | Yeah I'm Still Talking About Comics So a couple of things: First is this scan of page 171 of Understanding Comics, which I promised a while ago. I'll put it behind the cut.  So the reason I like this so much is that it is a perfect example of words and images working beautifully hand in hand. There is a lot of build up to the penultimate panel on this page (in the chapter) and when it finally comes you just aren't disappointed by the results at all. hannibalvail lent me volume four of Ex Machina. It really is good. As I was going through the artwork again (as I am one of the few (apparently) who often misses the artwork in lieu of the story and not vice versa) I noticed something that struck me even more the second time than it did the first."Then how come I hear old elevators singing at night?" is asked by Mitchell Hundred (the protagonist) to a priest after asking the priest about the living nature of buildings. This question about the animation of buildings was brought forward because Mitchell had felt guilty that he had been sad over the loss of great buildings during the first Gulf War and not over the loss of life. Hundred, for those not familiar with the storyline, has an ability to speak to and hear from machines. But what's particularly cool about this is that while Mitchell had a conversation with a man (who has the nearly same ability to talk to animals) he claims that just because they (meaning both machines and animals) have something to say it doesn't mean that they are conscious creatures. Now this is during a flashback that he has the conversation with the animal speaker and it is during the "present" time that he's speaking to the priest. This is some pretty fascinating character development. This is a good goddamn story. |
| Thursday, February 1st, 2007 | |
| 3:45 pm | Aqua Teen Hunger Force Emboldens the Enemy At the risk of sounding really insensitive to the people of Boston, but people in positions to make high level decisions need to get a fucking grip and get their heads out of their asses! I'm sorry, but how the fuck does this image:  suggest a bomb threat? Does no one under the age of fucking sixty work for city hall or the police department? Mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino is quoted in the article linked above (a CNN article, I know, and its parent company is Turner the company that also owns Adult Swim) saying, "'I just think this is outrageous, what they've done ... It's all about corporate greed.'" And his little stunt isn't about his political greed? Also quoted from the article, "Rep. Ed Markey, a Boston-area congressman, said, 'Whoever thought this up needs to find another job.'" I hope the illustrious Congressman Markey is talking about the fucking moron that thought that the Mooninite was a terrorist attack. But I'm sure I don't know all the details and I'll be put in my place before too long. Either that or I'll be put in fucking Gitmo for suggesting that the government get just a goddamn taste of popular culture. I say we bomb the fuck out of Iran over this. Christ we went after Iraq for about the same thing. |
| Friday, March 31st, 2006 | |
| 11:53 am | Friday Update Yesterday was terribly exciting. Well, maybe not terribly exciting, but exciting. Well, maybe not exciting but it was yesterday. Anyway, I finished the final piece to the master bedroom puzzle yesterday. I changed out the ceiling fan. Before was this pretty ugly gold, open bulb fan that was just not right for the room. In its place I have installed a rather understated matte finished silver fan with dark reddish brown wood blades. It really works for the room. I think the key to putting in a good ceiling fan is that it isn't noticed when you walk into the room. This fits the bill. The installation process was a little more than the other lighting I've done, but nothing over the top. The primary challenge was getting through the overly verbose instructions that came with the fan. Sometimes the instructions are just poor translations and then others are filled with labels that make the fan sound like it is a device from an operating room. These instructions were the latter. It is a nice change and C is pleased as punch. But as I said, this is the final touch to the room. I need to do a little bit of work on the floors still, the t-bar that I was going to use to cover a gap isn't wide enough so that means I'll need to re-cut a piece and to install that piece I'll need to take out three or four boards. Nothing outrageous, but just a little more work. Then the room will be finished. More excitement, though. I found hannibalvail's Top 10 Book 2!!! I was a) extremely happy that I hadn't lost it, and b) very pleased that I could read it! Of course I plowed through it in a matter of hours, and I was very impressed. I've mentioned it before, but I didn't like the first book initially. But after getting into the story I really started to appreciate what Moore was doing and then began to find it exceptional in quality. The second book is not disappointing either. Beautiful artwork, a great story and the dude even makes an alternative universe (several, in fact) in a book that is based in an alternative universe. Really intelligent storytelling. I understand now why Alan Moore is considered one of the greats. I hope Book 2 isn't the end of the series.I also started Gene Wolfe's Shadow & Claw a couple of days ago. Again I found myself unsure about the book. Personally I am not a fan of first person narratives when reading a novel, but I soon moved past that and started to get into the story. The first few chapters probably have stuff that I missed as I skimmed some of the more detailed environment stuff, but I suspect that I'll be able to catch it when it comes up again. I'm only a few chapters in, but I can definitely see potential in this story. I also like the novel concept of a torturers guild. The rather creepy detail about how they gave a woman drugs so that she wouldn't pass out while they flayed her leg from the knee down definite peaked my gruesome side. Finally, I have started to play more over-the-board chess lately. I have been trying to get my ass out of the house to play at a local chess club at a Barnes and Noble about six miles away from me on Thursday evenings. I have mixed feelings about this club, and I intend on checking out another club that's on the other side of town on Wednesdays (those who know Albuquerque it is at the Frontier). But last night redeemed the club in my eyes. I have yet to win a single game, even to those who I should have easily beaten. But last night I played a exceptionally pleasant older man (he claimed that he was turning 80 in the next month or so). I know who he is by his reputation. He's the tournament manager for many of the Albuquerque chess tournaments and he rather highly rated. I played him twice last night and it was a great deal of fun. I lost to him both times, and I couldn't be more pleased. Had I not screwed up a move or two in the end game I could have possibly drawn him, which is really wonderful to know. And it got me thinking about why I am consistently losing to other people who I know I can beat. First off, I think it is just getting familiar with playing over the board. I'm used to playing on a two dimensional board which makes to see chess in a very different way. Secondly, I think that when I'm playing people who aren't that great (and I know this line of thinking sounds arrogant, but they aren't bad players, they just aren't the level I'm used to playing) that my own game suffers accordingly. That when I play good players, I play good chess. I could be full of it, but this is what makes sense for the moment. But I should go make some chess moves against murva and doctorellisdee before the kiddo wakes up. She's actually taking a mid-day nap for once, but I don't know how long it'll be. |