Recent Reading: Taking a break from the French Revolution

“Once in Amsterdam, I was chased around the stage by someone’s dog. Dogs hate clowns. I spent a lot of time on top of a chair. I approached the guy who had the dog after the show. I said, ‘How dare you bring your dog to the theater?’ and he said, ‘My dog’s got a perfect right to come to the theater.’ I couldn’t think of anything to say to him after that, apart from punching him.”
Nola Rae, from “Clowns. In Conversation with Modern Masters,” edited by Ezra LeBank and David Bridel

And you thought you were suffering for your art.

Defendez les clowns. This clown book so awesome. You’re probably not wondering why I read and really dug it. You see, I was looking for a business book mentioned in the Economist in the HV section of the library, and it wasn’t on the shelf. So I looked around a little, this book and the book on Cocteau were in the GV section, on the same shelf. I took it as a sign I should take a break from the French Revolution for a while.

“The Dance Theater of Jean Cocteau,” by Frank W.D. Ries

“Dragon’s Breath and Other Stories,” by Mari Naomi

“Fade into You,” by Nikki Darling
My adolescence rises to my teeth.

Comics Agonistes: Pibgorn June 10, 2019… Um…

Thank you, GoComics, you know I’m loving this.

Joy of Webcomics. Bless you, Brooke. Any chance of a plot or some storytelling any time in the near future? Just wondering about that.

June 15, 2019 Update: Pretty good punchline here. Maybe Brooke’s getting his groove back or on or something.

Half-way Good Omens

“THERE ARE not a lot of things at which the English can still claim to be world champions, but being twee is one of them. Even the Scandinavians, with their bicycles and midsummer celebrations and hygge, cannot match the everyday tweeness of the English, who go on holibobs (holidays) and say “soz” (sorry) because they can’t make it “tomoz” (tomorrow). The Scandinavians have dark winters and darker thrillers to balance out their twee. England has rather grim soap operas, and Brexit.”

~snip~

“Which brings us to Good Omens, a book published in 1990. The authors, both legends in their own right, are Neil Gaiman, latterly of Sandman and American Gods fame, and the late Terry Pratchett, of the Discworld series. Being both English writers with a penchant for dressing in black and writing humorous sci-fi/fantasy novels, the pair’s collaboration inevitably produced a book that used twee as its narrative engine. Nearly three decades later, Amazon Prime has brought it to the screen in six very twee episodes.”
“Good Omens”: too twee or not too twee?, Prospero, Economist, June 6, 2019

Here are my problems with “Good Omens” the TV show:

1. It aired on May 30, when it was supposed to air on May 31, so I spent the first 10 minutes convincing myself it was really the episode and not yet another trailer. Then I had to convince myself I wasn’t watching a “Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy” remake.
2. My goodness, Neil Gaiman really really really wants to be Douglas Adams, doesn’t he? And his screenplay shows it.
3. Crowley should have bent Aziraphale over the hood of his vintage Bently and fucked him at least once. Or at least just one a big wet kiss. Oh, c’mon! I can’t possibly the only one who wants that!
4. It could have been 3 satisfying episodes instead cumulatively 3 satisfying episodes and 3 tedious unnecessary episodes.
5. It shocked me when I realized Michael Sheen was the drug crazed lawyer from S3 of The Good Fight. What range that man has.
6. I just love David Tennant. But I love Bill Nighy more.

Oh well, still glad I got to see it and enjoy about 50% of it (see #4 above).

They’re tagging the murals

“The 1984 project was all about portraying L.A. as a the mural capital of the world, she said. But because of these whitewashing policies from Metro and Caltrans, the city has never lived up to that title — ‘Not by any stretch of the imagination,’ she says. ‘I would say that something like 60% of the legacy of Los Angeles murals has been lost because of very poor public policy.’

“Over time, various groups across the city were given contracts to remove graffiti within 24 hours of its creation, she explained, so taggers started spray-painting murals in an effort to have their messages stay up longer.

“‘Paint on that mural and it’ll stay up there for a while. Paint on a blank wall and it’ll be gone in 24 hours,’ said Baca.

“That could be why her mural was initially targeted by taggers…and why the contractor, according to Metro, didn’t realize there was a mural underneath.”
Metro Admits To Painting Over Historic LA Mural, by Gina Pollack, LAist, April 23, 2019

I had a long talk with the legendary Leo Limón some years ago, and he touched on this subject:

“No, because these kids know nothing about the local art history, they’re tagging the murals. There’s commercialism in tagging. Like I said, I have a certificate in sign painting, and these guys (taggers ED) are signing, but they’re not saying anything. Their tag, which is their art, is their signature. And they sign them, and they actually put a copyright on them, with a stencil.”
LHLS Leo Limón Interview, with Ginger Mayerson, June 11, 2015 (by the way, liheliso.com is going away next year)

Read on for the full interview which is moved here for posterity.
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