 |
||
You are what you read. And what you see. And what you hear.
I am Heath.
Who are you? 
Email Heath at heath at mediadiet dot net about items of possible impact, interest, and intrigue. Or just to say hey! (Portions of our correspondence might make its way back here. If this makes you feel uncomfortable, be sure to let me know.) Send me links. Use Delicious, and tag them for:h3athrow.
AOL IM: h3athrow Delicious Links: Twitter Bits
Online: Steal this button and link to Media Diet.
Logo by Joe Szilagyi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
 |
Friday, September 26, 2003
Selling Out II This is too cool. I listed about 25 books for sale in Amazon's Marketplace over the last couple of days. So far today, I've sold three. I've got a ways to go to clean house, but that's still about $30 income on books I don't need in about as many hours. Pretty nifty. Business Media Reportage Goes Bust, Now Boom? XIII 'Tis the season for business magazine redesigns, it seems. Fast Company is refreshing its look and feel. Technology Review retools with its October issue. And now BusinessWeek gets in on the action. I'm only 20 pages into the Oct. 6 edition, but it's a drastic departure from the BW of yore -- and it's looking good. Monsters, Inland The folks behind Kaiju Big Battel are about to undertake the most ambitious video project in Studio Kaiju's history: The Birth of the Swarm. The centerpiece of Kaiju's second nationally-distributed DVD -- the first will be released Sept. 30 -- this shoot on Saturday, Oct. 11, calls for almost 70 performers plus crew. If you're interested in participating, the deadline is today. The Birth of the Swarm shoot is a Kaiju-branded spoof of the battle scenes in the movie Braveheart. Firmly grounded in the Kaiju brand, the script calls for a healthy mix of physical action, storytelling, parody, and comedy. Performers will be wearing costumes (including masks), primarily as one of Dr. Cube's Minions or as a Swarm member. Light physical activity (running down a field, simple choreographed movements) is required. The vast majority of the roles require no experience in either acting or live monster combat, however. If you live in the Boston area and want to get in on the Big Battel action, email the studio your name, age, and contact information soon. Like today. Nervy, Pervy XIX More like "Pervy, Unnerving," Zombie Pinups portrays cheesecake images of women in various states of decay. Think Suicide Girls as in committed, not attempted. Think a more fleshy Fangoria. Creepy! Thanks to Memepool. Thursday, September 25, 2003
Music to My Ears XLVII Chris Maguire's songs in Hypercombofinish are fun bits of hobbyist rock. "Recursive Rock" reminds me a little of the Ne'er Do Wells and that part of the northern California punk scene in the early '90s. Boss Town Tidbits Gawker disses Boston today. Number one phrase New Yorkers dread to hear in the office: "I need you to go to Boston for a few days." Of being in that city itself, we can only offer our apologies and slip you an Ambien. You can't pretend that the bus is not bound for the soul-death that is Boston. Soul Death? I thought that was in Idaho. Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Books Worth a Look XVII I still need to review the books I read in July and August 2003, but the American Library Association recently issued a list of the top 100 most frequently challenged books of 1990-2000. Required reading for Media Dieticians everywhere! Monday, September 22, 2003
From the Reading Pile XXI Styx Taxi: Pastrami for the Dead Written by Steven Goldman and drawn by Jeremy Arambulo, this 28-page self-published comic outshines some of the recent work written by Neil Gaiman and Warren Ellis. Blending the gritty reality of New York City with the mythic travails of next-gen boatmen on the River Styx, the book considers what it might be like if cab drivers ferried the recently dead to the afterlife. While Arambulo's art is solid and at times reminiscent of Jim Valentino's early work (p. 5, panel three; p. 9, panel two), it is the story that carries this read. Following the fares -- and farings -- of three cabbies (Charon, Circe, and Dom), the call outs made by the dispatcher are almost competitive as the drivers strive to make quota. Possessing living liverymen, the drivers help the recently departed revisit loved ones, elephants, old haunts, and unclosed clauses in their lives. Charon even leaves one soul in the lurch because his final request was lacking: a last meal at McDonalds. Styx Taxi is a great concept and a brilliant book. Is it sustainable for multiple issues? Where will the drivers go? Who is the dispatcher? Interesting stuff. $2.50 to Steven Goldman, 1771 E. 14th St., 2nd floor, Brooklyn, NY 11229. Tread #6 When I met Robert Young, publisher of the Comics Interpreter -- only the most important replacement of the Comics Interviewer and fanzine corollary to the Comics Journal -- at SPX, this 36-page comic was well placed on his table, and I ignored it. Totally. Regardless, I'm glad artist Greg Vondruska sent me a copy for review. The first story, "The Snake Charmer," was actually written by Young and is a 17-page text-heavy tale about a snake charmer with aspirations to become an asp himself. It's a solid piece, but the heavy exposition makes this more of an illustrated story than a comic -- and slows the pacing somewhat. Greg's artwork is dark and heavily inked, reminding me at times of Gene Day's work. "You Waited at the Airport" considers the lives of people encountered while traveling. And the final selection, "Insomniacs and Cockroaches" is a mysterious story about a man who dreams of meeting what might be the queen of the cockroaches. The man-roach image on p. 28 is awesome. Of the three stories, I enjoyed the airport piece the most because of the personal aspects. I look forward to more semi-autobiographical work from Greg! $3 to Greg Vondruska, P.O. Box 273415, Tampa, FL 33688. True Adult Fantasy This 40-page glossy "comic art sketchbook" collects selections created by Emmy-award winning animation director and storyboard artist Bradley Rader over the course of 20 years. Having worked on the cartoon Spawn and drawn for DC Comics' Catwoman, as well as the gay erotic periodicals Drummer, In Touch for Men, First Hand, and Chiron Rising, Rader's taste run to those of the bear. Including ink and watercolor work, the collection touches on many of the things bears might like: shower scenes, male-to-female fantasies (a seven-page preview of a story Rader plans to continue), pianos, shaving, saunas, hair, and the military. Indicating that he was somewhat isolated during his formative years in Anchorage, Alaska -- as well as that there was a 12-year gap between 1989 and 2001 while Rader recuperated from a car accident -- the artist was inspired by 911 to return to erotic art. While I need to check out his general comics and illo work -- and while I appreciate his New Yorker-esque watercolors more than most of the material -- True Adult Fantasy shows that it's not always a bad thing to be a near-Tom of Finland. Not really my bag, but respectable nonetheless. $6.95 to Bradley Rader, 4470 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90027. Yellow Baby #1 I buy most of the comics published by Jeff Mason, but this is the first book his company has actually sent me for review consideration. Usually, I only review self-published and minicomics that I buy, but in the hopes that Jeff will "service" me, here we are. Is this whoring or wholesome commentary? You be the judge. Jed Alexander's 36-page pamphlet is interesting but not really my cup of tea. His art is slightly messy -- what I'd call ugly in the Alison Taylor sense (grotesque, not idealized) -- and the writing, while solid, falls slightly short of what I'd guess to be his goal. The 13-page untitled piece that opens the book comes closest to Alexander's potential as the protagonist ponders his American-Mexican-Jewish heritage during a plane ride. Otherwise, readers get an analysis of Alexander's creative process, a sloppy-flabby return to the old dingaling joke, and a Chester Brown-esque attempt at the golem myth. Maybe Alexander's art is getting in the way of my appreciation of the writing, but for the most part, Yellow Baby visually represents a more fully formed Victor Julio Cayro and does little else. Perhaps concentrate on the writing? $3.95 to Alternative Comics, 503 NW 37th Ave., Gainesville, FL 32609. Thanks to Media Dietician Tony Shenton, who seems to be spreading the word about my comics reviews far and wide. Both Tread and True Adult Fantasy seem to have reached Media Diet based on his say so. Blogging About Blogging LXX Blogmapper takes us one step closer to true mapblogging. By associating blog posts with points on an online map, you can create a physical visualization of your movement and location online -- and offline. The process involves embedding GPS data as hidden tags in your posts, so it's not as point and click as I'd like, but there is a handy Flash app you can use to extract the necessary code from Blogmapper's catalog of maps. I'll have to poke around a little, but this looks pretty cool. Map your blog, map your world. Thanks to Media Dietician Joe Germuska. Among the Literati LII Swingset is an online and print magazine that publishes interviews and reviews of indie bands, short fiction, artwork, and photography. This weekend, they discovered that they were 15 pages short of what they needed to send to the printers early this week. It may be too late already, but this could be a good way to get in the pipeline for next issue, as well. Quoth an email plea for submissions: "If you write music-related articles, short stories, or draw/paint/take photos, and have completed work ready for publication (or nearly), you should consider submitting something, but you have to email him fast. It'd be a great place to get your work in print. Email attached pieces to Howard Wyman, the submissions editor." Corollary: Conferences and Community VIII And now I've been comped a pass to BloggerCon, which takes place Oct. 4. Dave Winer indicates that the con's site was Slashdotted, so I'll have to check back on the schedule in a bit. Thanks are due Ethan Zuckerman and Wendy Koslow, as well as all of the other participants who've emailed me to see if I'll be there. Kinda flattering to feel like I'd be missed if I skipped it! |
Last.fm Playlist
Confblogs: Sections: Things to Do: Honorary Media Dieticians: Media Morsels: |
