Perfect!

Yes, We Have No Brains!

I realize that I seem to end up talking about vampires quite frequently on this blog and I'm not really sure why... so let's give some equal time to the current horror flavour of the month: zombies.

Why are zombies so popular? Well, for one thing, they are probably the most "sex, drugs and rock n roll" of all the standard horror monsters. If you don't believe me, just take a close look at some of the legendary guitar gods and you'll see what I mean. Unlike vampires, zombies aren't sexy. They have hard living (and hard dying) written all over them. Their existence is completely from the gut, instinctual and "do as you please". Zombies just do not give a fuck about anything except for one thing: their addiction. Their whole motivation is getting their next fix. And they don't care what kind of abuse they have to suffer to get it. As for the "sex" part, well they're totally into "flesh"... only in their case, they just happen to feed on it.

On the flip side, every zombie story has its hero. The few, or the one, who wades through the mindless mob; the lone fighter in the sea of rotting humanity. Natural selection has given them the uncanny mix of brains, brawn and good luck and they manage to survive. Perhaps we identify with these characters, our feelings of alienation or individualism: "us against them", the age old conflict of man versus society. Or maybe we want to be them. Who doesn't want to be a survivor?

Beyond all that though, I think the real appeal is that at the heart of every zombie story lies a conspiracy theory. For every Raccoon City there has to be an Umbrella Corporation. Who doesn't love a juicy conspiracy theory? Every zombie outbreak can be blamed on the two most obvious perpetrators: big business or science. And who better to blame? It only confirms our suspicions that both are too rich, too powerful, and too secretive. While they play God our lives hang in the balance. Now, wouldn't a zombie outbreak be the ultimate "I told you so!"

Personally, my favourite zombie flick is "28 Days Later". For one thing, the idea of a "rage virus" strikes me as being plausible (in fact, some days I'm convinced I suffer from it myself!). Well, more plausible than waking the dead at any rate! Probably my favourite scene in the movie is when Jim, our survivor, first leaves the hospital and walks through the completely deserted London. The mood is strange and chilling, and probably one of the most effective I've ever seen in a horror film. According to my husband, the scene represents a utopia because there are no people. (He's a misanthropic sort!).

Over the past year or so I've been enjoying a variety of titles in "The Mammoth Book of..." series. These are thick anthologies on specific genres, the ones I get are different genres of comics but they make other titles as well. Admittedly, some of the stories collected therein aren't necessarily the "best" but they do cover a broad, international spectrum. The thing I enjoy most about the Mammoth Book series is that you get a nice sample of writers and artists that you might not have otherwise heard of and some of them are quite good.

In "The Mammoth Book of Zombie Comics" the gem for me was the multi-part "Dead Eyes Open" by Matthew Shepheard and Roy Boney Jr. Apparently the story came out of a failed internet project called DEADIES. This is a zombie story with a twist. Here, the zombies are rational, sentient, multi-faceted characters and the story is rather complex. Without giving away too much, the story creates a society where zombies have become a "race" and like any other minority group must the struggle for their rights and freedoms, rebel against the system and deal with prejudice. And Wil Wheaton is a character in it. Seriously. Check it out sometime.

In closing, a prediction: The next big thing will be werewolves. You've heard it here first.

In other news

This has been another crazy busy couple of weeks. I've been working longer hours and by the time I get home I am just ready to crash. So, once again I'm making excuses for not writing any new articles. Hopefully I'll have some new reviews soon. I've been reading some interesting things that I'm going to share later. In the meantime, here are some more random snippets of news, observations and free-floating hostility.

The loser cruiser. I've started commuting to and from work on the bus and I'm absolutely loving it. It gives me a good 30 minutes in the morning and again at the end of the day to unwind, listen to music, stare out the window. The walk home from my stop takes another 10 or 15 minutes, so I feel it gives me a bit more exercise too. Not sure how much I'll like it come winter but right now it is great. When I'm on the bus, I feel like I'm doing a good thing and besides, I really don't care to drive as much as I used to. I'm gradually freeing myself from the slavery of the automobile. My mind wanders on the bus too. I look around at the other people, these commuters all going off to fulfill their designated roles in society and I start to question my own place in it. I guess it gets a little deep.

Unfit parent. Today I was mistaken for an unfit mother. And yes, I probably would be if I had any kids. Today I ran into a friend and her 6 month old son. We talked for a while, then she told me she was on her way to the market to meet someone for lunch however, the elevator was out of order so she couldn't get the stroller there via the pedway. As plan B she was going to walk outside but it was teeming rain, so it didn't really seem like an option either. I offered to help out: one of us go up the escalator with the baby, the other with the stroller. Given the choice, naturally I opted to take the stroller. So, off she goes with the baby. I try to take the stroller up the escalator but the wheel base is too wide to fit. Of course, a small line starts to form behind me. I'd rather carry it up the stairs but it's a big, awkward stroller, too unwieldy for one person to carry. Thinking that I'm some helpless mother all by myself, some good Samaritan offers to help me carry it up the stairs, so she grabs the front and up we go. She quickly notices that the stroller is empty. "Where's the baby?" she asks. Seeing my friend coming back down the escalator I reply "Probably right behind us." The lady looks. "I don't see any baby...?" To which I reply: "Oh. Then I don't know." She gives me a slightly horrified look. At this point, she's probably thinking that, at best, I'm some crazy lady pushing around an empty baby carriage and at worst, that I've neglectfully let my toddler wander off into a crowd of strangers to be abducted. A quick glance around I see my friend's lunch date over in the corner holding the baby. So I did point him out to her.

"Mad about the boy..." My obsession with classic movies continues. I've been revisiting a lot of them in my off-time lately. This week my copy of the "Centennial edition" 2-disc version of "Sunset Boulevard" finally arrived. It is one of my all-time favourites, and watching it again I remembered why. (Note to self: I should blog about the awesomeness of it and film noir generally later.) It was the first time hubby had seen it and frankly I think he was more than a little horrified by it. Now he's finally seen the source of many of my creepy Norma Desmond-isms and jokes about our older woman/younger man relationship that I've been teasing him with for the past 8 years.


















Red thumb? The house has been taking up a lot of my time and energy lately too. Specifically, I am obsessed with improving the backyard and I will not rest until it is done! This is only aggravated by the ridiculous amount of rain we've gotten this summer. I am gagging to stain the deck and fence and plant something in that mud hole back there but the weather will not co-operate so I just can't get at it. When it does stop raining everything is dripping and mucky, and any activity just stirs up the bugs. It's not like I have a "green thumb" or any idea what I'm doing back there... I just know that it's f-ugly and it bothers me. I have a vision in my mind of what I want it to look like. Whether I have the skill to bring it off is doubtful. If any of you out there have any gardening skills or a particular flair for landscaping, please let me know! Last weekend I had a window of 2 hours of sunshine. I went out with my rake and got bitten by a huge mosquito and later, bitten by a spider. I'm still waiting for the proportional strength and web slinging to kick in.

I realize we've been neglectful about inviting people over to see the new place. We don't mean to be rude, we've just been busy. Honestly, it works best when people just invite themselves over! And I've been obsessing that certain things (like the backyard) are not up to standards yet and I'd like people to see them only once they are.

It's a total Disaster!

"There's a moment you know

You're fucked."

- "Totally Fucked" from Spring Awakening

Do you remember the trend of disaster movies from the 1970s? "Airport", "The Poseidon Adventure", "Gray Lady Down", "Earthquake"...the list goes on and on. Usually they featured a large ensemble cast of big name stars, and the plots followed different "threads" of characters that eventually pull together in the end as they all try to survive. I remember seeing quite a few of these movies at the drive-in as a kid. I wonder what was going on in the culture at the time that made these so popular? Did it have something to do with the Cold War? Was there a growing distrust of technology? A fear of mass transportation? Some reason to think "the end is near"? I'll have to bone up on my 70s history. I'd be interested in figuring it out.

The other night I brought out "The Towering Inferno" for our movie date night. Actually, this one was pretty damn good. And despite the inclusion of OJ Simpson, has a great cast. Although surprisingly low celebrity death toll in it. (I certainly didn't expect Fred Astaire to dance his way out of that one!) This movie is such a huge homage to firefighters, I'm frankly surprised that no one in Hollywood attempted to remake this one after 9/11.

In the 90s, there seemed to be a revival of the disaster movie: "Titanic", "Twister", "Armageddon", "Deep Impact" to name a few. People have always been fascinated with tragedy, and the more epic the scale the better. (Notice the introduction of disasters from outer space, so we don't just have Mother Nature or human stupidity to worry about anymore!) Hollywood loves to tap into our fears and paranoias, doesn't it? In the conflict of Man versus Nature we are horribly outmatched. Unlike the 70s disaster movies, these more recent movies seemed to focus on small groups of characters or individuals, rather than the big superstar casts. Looking back, I wonder if it was the fear of Y2K and the anxiety of the impending "end of the world", and the growing awareness of our ecological problems that sparked the interest in disaster movies again?

Similarly, movies and television in the 70s were fascinated by "the Bermuda Triangle". I often recall it as an often used plot device: airplanes mysteriously vanishing into the Bermuda Triangle and the travelers are gone forever. It was the geographical equivalent of oblivion. Whatever happened to that? Has our modern technology finally outwitted the ominous Triangle? Does anything disappear into it anymore? I just don't seem to hear about it as much anymore.

Count Dracula's Secret Ice Lollies

Finally, I feel validated.

For years I've been harping on about the short-lived "Dracula" ice cream bar from the 70s. As I recall they were a purple (grape?) popsicle shell, vanilla ice cream filling and a red jelly type of centre. I only remember having them a couple of times and then they disappeared. Whenever I'd get into one of those "do you remember..."/"whatever happened to..." conversations I'd mention them but no one else could recall them. I was starting to think I'd invented the things!

Not anymore.

As it turns out, they were actually called "Count Dracula's Secret". Whodda thought?

http://cobwebbedroom.blogspot.com/2007/08/count-draculas-secret-ice-lolly-ads.html

Thank you Paul from the Cob Webbed Room, David from the Do You Remember forum for the picture and to Christian, Lawrence and Karyn for helping me finally track it down!

Of course, at the same time I now feel a slight tinge of sadness. Yet another of my life's elusive mysteries solved. Without the seeking, what is left?



Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.
- T.S. Eliot

Update

Ok, so I haven't forgotten about this blog! I've just been super busy lately but I hope to settle down & write something new soon.

What I will say for now: Home ownership is both satisfying and very tiring! It takes a lot of time and hard work to make a house into your "home".

Lives of Quiet Desperation: In praise of William Holden

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."
- Henry David Thoreau

My favourite actor from the golden age of Hollywood is William Holden.

Sure, the man was gorgeous. But beyond that, I've always been drawn to the type of characters he tended to play: the cynical, defeated anti-hero. The man who "could have been" but knows damn well that he never will be. I found this quote by Michael Atkinson, in a piece called "William Holden: A Different Kind of Hero", that sums up his appeal quite nicely:

Holden was 'on the surface one of the Hollywood century’s typical all-purpose leading men, but beneath it [he was] the keeper of poisoned secrets, and a living embodiment of America’s postwar self-doubt and idealistic failure. He seethed with disappointment as a persona, and we all knew what he meant. Holden was the anti-Duke, an avatar of hopelessness, shrouded in the smiling physique of an all-American boyo. For every high school football star turned pot-bellied gym teacher, every prom queen turned food-stamp mom, and every good-hearted B student turned Cracker Barrel waiter, Holden was the walking, talking, growling truth, in a sea of showbiz lies. He always radiated the confidence and physical grace of an Ivy League wunderkind, and his timing and pitch were always perfect. Yet in his voice and eyes lurked a crushed dream."

Like all studio contracted actors of the day, he made a lot of forgettable movies; but when he was great, he was sublime. Perhaps his greatest role was as gigolo Joe Gillis in "Sunset Boulevard"; a shamed man who pays the price for selling out his principles. I always associate him most with Cmdr. Shears, the bitter, self-loathing everyman, torn between his own selfishness and inescapable fate in "The Bridge on the River Kwai". Holden was a master of portraying characters who, either as a result of their own poor choices or by cruel destiny, are painfully aware that they are in a situation from which they can never escape. I have always found this to be a powerful theme.

Random Shuffle

When things get busy in my personal life I tend to have difficulty focusing on anything for very long. Tonight my thoughts are all over the place, so I'll put the blog on "random shuffle" and share a smattering of things that have been occupying my head space as of late.

Flickr. I've been addicted to Flickr for a quite some time. When I first got a Flickr account my intention was to have a place to post my drawings and photos (which I still do). A nice bonus of adding your stuff to Flickr is that total strangers will look at your stuff and often comment on it or even add it as a favourite, which is pretty cool. Getting feedback on your work is always great, especially when it's from an unbiased source. Lately I find myself trolling other people's Flickr sites and discovering a lot of cool stuff along the way. Sure, some people use it as a repository for their boring party photos and such, but you can also find a lot of really interesting creative and artistic work there too. It's great for archival information too. Admittedly, I can waste many hours just creeping around on Flickr.

kijiji. It's a well known & documented fact that I am a cheapskate. I like to bargain hunt and I also like old, retro things. Ok, I have yet to actually buy anything off kijiji... but I check it constantly just in case something I want ever shows up there! With the move into the townhouse brings the need for some new (to me) household items. Right now I'm in the market for bedroom furniture. I want something high quality, in good taste -- and I want to pay next to nothing for it! I realize it is highly unlikely I will ever find anything there... but I've gotta look! After browsing a great number of ads there, I've come to the conclusion that (a) most people have no idea how to use a digital camera (pictures, when provided, are usually blurry and displayed sideways!) and (b) some people don't really give a shit about presentation, or accurately describing their item or even about spelling.

Movies. I've never been what you'd call a "movie buff" but I am slowly getting around to watching some on my "want to see" list. I've been having a weekly "movie date" night with my husband which is a nice change of pace for us. He likes romantic comedies, whereas my taste usually gravitates more toward older classics or rough & tumble escapism so we're enjoying a mix. Usually whatever we can borrow for free is what we end-up watching (... remember what I said about being a cheapskate?) Showing this weekend: "The Wild Bunch", "The Great Escape" and "American Graffiti". Mmmm... young Harrison Ford.... To Flickr!!!

"Heroes" Since this series premiered I've tried to follow it but only caught episodes sporadically. I borrowed season 1 on DVD and am finally watching it in sequence. Liking it a lot so far... although Hiro's childlike goofiness and constant squealing grates on my nerves. Thankfully I really enjoy the rest of the ensemble cast so they're a good buffer! My current favourite series is still "Lost", which gets more deliciously convoluted every episode and I love it. I can't wait for the season 5 DVD to be released so I can re-watch it.

Music. I haven't really been listening to anything new lately. I'm sort of going through a dry period right now where nothing new has captured my attention. I've been listening to Daft Punk "Alive" a lot, and I got a newly remastered double CD of The Smiths a while ago that I'll probably blog about later.

And to shift gears for a moment: Is it just me, or have you noticed an increasing amount of musical plagiarism on top 40 radio these days? The radio plays at my work so I am subjected to it all day long, and it seems every other song uses the music of some hit from the 70s or 80s with new, irrelevant vocals over top? It's like some vapid karaoke. And I have yet to hear any song that has been improved upon in this way -- just the opposite actually-- which begs the question, why bother? What a lazy, obvious cash grab that is! More and more I am learning that pop music really is just for teenagers. A 3 minute pop song is just the aural equivalent of fast food anyway; there comes a point when your tastes change or you just outgrow it and you really can't stomach it anymore. People take their musical taste very personally and seriously (myself included -- I can be as big of a music snob as anyone!) but in the end it just boils down to one thing: ENTERTAINMENT. When I was in high school we had an English assignment where we had to choose a song and prove that it was poetry. Most of the class failed that assignment. (I didn't. I chose the alternate assignment: to do a literary comparison of a song to a specific piece of poetry). Anyway, to me it proved conclusively that no matter how strongly you may feel about it, Bon Jovi or Poison isn't poetry. Rhyming couplets set to a catchy tune does not make art. Anyway, maybe my musical memory is too long. The entire evolution of popular music seems to be the bastardization of something that has already been done. Meh. I think it's just my old fartism setting in.

Tenko

Does anybody else remember this British tv series, "Tenko"?

Several years ago they re-ran this on the Vision tv network on Sunday nights and I became hooked on it. I would love to find this on DVD someday.

If I were to try to describe the premise, it would sound absolutely horrible in a "women in prison" kind of way but actually it was a very engaging and quality drama (in the typical British style). It was wonderfully depressing. Think "Bridge on the River Kwai", only with an all-female cast.

Read a much better description here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenko_(TV_series)

I can't even find any clips on YouTube except the opening & closing credits and a cheesy fan video. o_O

I seem to have an affinity for stories about imprisonment. Must be something psychological about my own feelings of being trapped in my job, etc!

"Secrets in the Shadows: The Art & Life of Gene Colan" by Tom Field

"Gene's work is like the seam on a black stocking -- a glimpse of it leads you to want to see more, and yet you can't, and you're seduced into looking harder. This has to be played softly; it should never look like it's trying too hard."

- from the introduction by Glen David Gold

When I read the above quote in the introduction to "Secrets in the Shadows: The Art & Life of Gene Colan" I realized why I have always been attracted to Colan's artwork. In the overly exaggerated 4 colour world of comic book art where the standard was set by the bold, forceful graphics of Jack Kirby, and later evolved into the more aggressive, "in your face" styles of hotshot artists like Rob Liefeld or Todd McFarland, Gene Colan stands apart with his subtle, atmospheric tones and the soft interplay of light and shadows. It is often said that a great storyteller won't just "show you" what's going on but rather draw you into their world. This is the source of Gene Colan's greatness. And he doesn't beat you over the head with it! His pencils can convey so much through mood and impression; whether it is the mysterious astral plane of Doctor Strange or down foggy alleyways in search of Dracula, Colan's art can give you a wonderfully disoriented and decidedly creepy feeling!


As I've mentioned before, I tend to shy away from biographies... but I will read them when they lean more toward an insightful career retrospective. "Secrets in the Shadows" is a terrific example of this. Sure, a significant chunk of the opening part of the book is biography but even it is supplemented by lots of early artwork and meaningful anecdotes. Fields presents a delightful contrast, introducing us to an extremely timid and fretful boy -- afraid of the dark, the dead, and even afraid of an antique chair! -- who became the man whose name would be forever linked with one of the most evil characters in all of horror. Without dallying too long, the book gives us a quick but succinct account of Colan's early days in the military and as a young artist in the burgeoning comics industry in the 50s and 60s. Then we get to the reason we all came to the party: his work at Marvel.

The real "prize inside" of the book are the chapters "in conversation" with Colan and his greatest collaborators: Stan Lee, Tom Palmer, Steve Gerber, and his wife, Adrienne Colan. Here you get a glimpse of "Gentleman Gene" and the people who understood his talent and helped to bring out the best in his work. Until I read this book, I guess I never realized how misunderstood and under appreciated Colan's art is, and how viciously maligned it was by a few well known comic creators. (Suffice to say I lost a lot of respect for John Byrne after reading this book!) The book also includes a fun little experiment wherein different artists (including Byrne!) attempt to ink over Colan's pencils, showing what a difficult task that can be, surely giving fans a renewed appreciation for the skills of Tom Palmer! One piece in the book that I found particularly interesting shows the same scene from "Stewart the Rat" done by artist Tom Sutton and as done by Colan, effectivley illustrating the difference in pacing and storytelling technique.

Whether you're a fan or a detractor of Colan's art, "Secrets in the Shadows" will help you gain a greater appreciation of his unique style. There's really no secret as to which camp I belong... and this seems like a good time to show off a piece from my personal collection: a Gene Colan original featuring Dr Strange vs Dracula!