You know, I’ve never actually seen that.
Was the baby really the spawn of Satan?
And was its name Donald?
Target: 1400 words
Written: 440 words, novel: Bad Neighbours
Read: Quiet: The Power Of Introverts, Susan Cain (well, that took way too long)
Comics: Judgment Day 3, Judgment Day: Aftermath 1, Youngblood Super Special 1, Awesome Holiday Special 1
Music: Western Stars, Bruce SpringsteenNow, more than ever.
Remember.
When the masks come off, it will be the face of the hopeful that shine, and the face of the condemned that bleed with fear.
Remember.
Target: 1400 words
Written: 1623 words, novel: Bad Neighbours
Read: Quiet: The Power Of Introverts, Susan Cain
Comics: Shattered Image 1-2, X-Force/Youngblood 1, Extremely Youngblood 1
Music: Wild Horses, The Rolling StonesBah bah, bah, bahbahbah bah.
Also, I’m a little hungover. Going to a movie premiere, then rushing to a bar to catch the last two-thirds of the World Series, only to have it go extra innings, and be stressful to the point of multiple Guinnesses (Guinnessi?), well, that’s too late a night for me.
The movie was better than expected; a local production filmed two blocks from us at an abandoned prison from the old days (built by William Lyon Mackenzie King). We walked past the filming every day, saw the crew and the actors and actresses hanging out, scared the shit out of my wife given that she’s got a monster phobia of jails (and snakes and heights).
My cousin’s day worked as a PA on set too, so more ties yet. We had to go.
It was cool to see the various things we’d glimpsed translated onto the screen – the weird partial fence they put up for an outside shot, the girl leaving the jail by a side door after “killing” the Jason-like monster, Jeffrey. The old Bronco and convertible they came and left in (which had a fake severed head on the hood).
Fun times, unique kills, but maybe dragged out a little too long. A touch more editing time might help it get that really tight feeling.
Kill, or be killed – the rule of editing.
Only what’s necessary; and no more. Something I’ve been working on for months.
(It’s called Fresh Meat, if you’re interested, coming to a film festival near you, maybe?)
Target: 1400 words
Written:
Read: Quiet: The Power Of Introverts, Susan Cain
Comics: Bloodpool Special 1, Team Youngblood 21, Chapel v2 7, Youngblood v2 7
Music: Wiggle Diskette, They Might Be GiantsIt’s a fact that I’m not technically allowed to watch Bruce Lee movies, in that I get kind of hyped up and destroy college apartments.
But damn, man. So good. He beat up Jackie Chan and broke Chuck Norris’ neck (Chuck, who had a good thing going until he came out MAGA and now, no one thinks he’s invincible; he’s just another asshole).
Anyway, I should probably clean this mess up.
Target: 1300 words
Written: 1699 words, novel: Bad Neighbours
Read: Sloppy Seconds, Tucker Max (somehow even stupider than the other ones)
Comics: Tomb Raider v2 18, Lara Croft And The Frozen Omen 1-3
Music: What Hits!, Red Hot Chili PeppersAt the end of Fist Of Fury, Bruce Lee jumps toward the police, doing his classic kick pose. The screen freezes and fades to black, and we hear the police shooting, sending the suggestion that he’s committed suicide by cop.
However, there is a whole gang of people standing only about twenty feet behind him. His girl, the other students of the schools, the Japanese consul. All those people are directly in the line of fire. No doubt he thought he was being selfless in his sacrifice, or maybe it was straight hubris, but it’s pretty well a guarantee that at least a couple of the people beside him, the woman he loves, a major diplomat, got shot, possibly fatally.
Jerk move, Bruce Lee. Jerk move.
Target: 1300 words
Written: 787 words, novel: Bad Neighbours
Read: Sloppy Seconds, Tucker Max (why do I do this, again?)
Comics: Tomb Raider v2 14-17
Music: What Evil Lurks, The ProdigyThat’s it. The villain has been shanked, the prison’s a riot, the mayor’s fled the country.
All of this will make sense.
None of it will make sense, because it is about nonsense.
Our current nonsense.
LET THEM EAT LAW.
(Sorry, don’t know why I went all Dredd there for a minute – speaking of which, who saw the Karl Urban version? Fuckin’ terrific! I love Lena Headey! Something tells me she’s one of these people who plays an incredible villain, but is an absolute sweetheart in real life. Or so I hope. I honestly hope everyone is sweet in real life.)
Target: 1300 words
Written: 1408 words, novel: Bad Neighbours
Read: The Time Machine, H.G. Wells (better than I remember, but I'm still icked by the classism)
Comics: Tomb Raider 43-45, Tomb Raider: Arabian Nights 1
Music: Welcome To The Drama Club, Everclear (underrated band, for sure)I’m not really sure what that means other than a continued reaffirmation of the cycle of life and death, or the misconception that I had that he was already dead.
Not that I’m the biggest fan of the Family Stone, but there was some good stuff.
Death in obscurity; life in obscurity.
Death in Cheers; everyone knows your name; in life, as well.
Which end of the scale? Do we all forget Angela Cartwright and her sister? Do you know her sister’s name?
Who ran IBM in the Seventies? Who stood in front of the tanks?
Whatever happened to P.J. Soles?
There’s a strong chance I’m losing it; obscurity within the family unit has me lost.
Target: 1200 words
Written: 1510 words, novel: Bad Neighbours
Read: Blackbirds, Chuck Wendig
Comics: Aspen Universe: Revelations 2-5
Music: Eponymous, R.E.M.And so, it was written, that M.T. Williams should have a day off, and that that day should be utterly compromised by everyone around him, and naught should get done that he desires.
He did watch Thelma & Louise for the first time, however. Who knew Susan Sarandon would be the sensible one?
Target: 1100 words
Written: 1001 words, novel: Bad Neighbours
Read: The Second Book Of The Tao, Stephen Mitchell (some nice things in here, but yeah, can you tell the success of his translation of the Tao Te Ching went to his head, and now he thinks he's a rock star?)
Comics: Kick-Ass v4 5-6, Hit-Girl v2 5-6
Music: It's Not Me, It's You, Lily Allen (fuck you)I understand the impulse, from a fiction standpoint. Who doesn’t love a good revenge story?
John Wick isn’t what it is for nothing. (They killed his dog, so he spent four movies murdering everyone that’s ever been even tangentially related to the guy who did it. As a dog owner, I’ve never been more invested.)
The problem is that revenge seldom works out the way we want. The fantasy that plays in our head of getting that asshole boss in trouble with HR or having the perfect takedown of that bitchy girl in your friend group, more often than not, what happens is… nothing.
HR doesn’t care, because that asshole boss is so far up his asshole boss’ ass that HR finds him untouchable. That bitchy girl, she’s been insulting people so long, she rebuts with a brutal takedown of her own, and it has truth in it, and you’re cut to the quick. Your friends all titter, because they, too, are assholes.
Congratulations, you’ve just made your life worse.
All I’m saying is that as nice as the fantasy is, unless you’re some superheroic powered individual like John Wick, it probably won’t work out for you. Better to cut those influences without words, and move toward your happy, rather than your revenge.
Of course, some of us can’t, and that seething anger becomes all consuming, until we’re delusional about the whole damn thing.
Target: 1000 words
Written: 360 words, comic: Western Cradle #2
Read: The Autobiography Of Malcolm X, Malcolm X (and Alex Haley, I guess)
Comics: Preacher 9-12
Music: Now For Plan A, Tragically Hip (the title track is so good)I’ll be honest, I’m kind of obsessed; his ability to create a mood simply by creating a static shot with a small bit of movement is unreal. The cinematography in his movies was never without purpose.
He once said “the myth is everything” and when it comes to creating a piece of art, I think he’s touched on something that transcends the idea of merely being creative or tapping emotions or cool concepts.
It’s EVERYTHING.
(Hell, it’s technically the entire reason for the MAGA movement, given that they’ve created a whole alternate reality where everything that promotes compassion, freedom or you know, intelligence is considered evil, a web of conspiracy thinking that has no actual basis in reality – except often as applied to the Trump grifters running the joint. See Gaetz, Matt. Where’s a man with no name when you need him?)
Anyway, huge fan of Leone, and at this point, praying he doesn’t turn out to be problematic, like every other artist I’ve idolized over the years and who continue to prove my point:
There is no correlation between skill and the relative morality of its wielder.
Target: 100 words
Written: 405 words, comic: Western Cradle #1
Read: The Vegetarian Myth, Lierre Keith
Comics: Chew 49-52
Music: No1 Record, Big Star