Dr. Strangelove

Ok, so I thought that the cover art looked like some sort of hipster band concert flyer. And my roommate said that Peter Sellers is awesome in it. It's a very dark comedy and Sellers plays 3 characters: the president, Col. Mandrake, and the titular Dr. Strangelove (a quirky ex-nazi, german in a wheelchair fighting his right hand). There's even a young James Earl Jones, if James Earl Jones was ever young. So the basic plot is that a high ranking nut in the military sends a bunch of bombers to bomb the crap out of Soviet Russia during the Cold War. The dark comedy borders on absurdity as the president attempts to stop the attack and learns of the Russian's "Doomsday Device" which is their failsafe. If attacked the device detonates and the world basically ends, the device cannot be disarmed. All the while Mandrake is attempting to get the code to stop the bombing from the crazed man who called for the attack. For a movie made in 1964 it was really, really fresh and I really enjoyed it.

Mandrake

the President

Dr. Strangelove

So Libya is in a bad way. If Obama's address is anything to go by,we will be kinda policing it and kind of not. You know, the political hokey pokey, establishing a no fly zone and not deploying troops. It looks bad and I just hope that people survive and that as few people as possible get hurt. However, I also hope that Gadhafi will be forced to tone down the outfits.

Looking all high and shit.

Recently, while watching PeeWee's Playhouse for the first time in nearly two decades I remembered the puppet band and how much I liked them, especially Chicky Baby, she was so cool. I watch it recently and I realize that Chicky Baby is a one-eyed bird, Cool Cat is a Persian with glasses on, not too wierd right? But dirty dog? He is the canine version of a jazz musician/smack addict, look at his eyes, jesus.

dirty, Dirty Dog

That's about it for today.

Fables, Air and The Sandman

I really enjoy a lot of Vertigo titles that have been out. I've loved reading comics since I was a tiny kid. I remember the TMNT comic I was reading at the hospital when my sister was born, Then there was the incident when I was about 5. I went to a friends house and we were playing and he said, "I'm gonna lock you in the 

shed." I was not for this so I threw a lock at his head. I got in trouble, my mom came to pick me up and she had comics, that I could not read. I remember this vividly for some reason, especially the cover to Archie, with Jugghead eating a sandwich of course. The periodical store that sold comics in Hangtown (Placerville, CA) was a magical old building with a creeky floorboard and a unique woodsy smell. A shelf in the middle held the titles of the day: X-men 2099, X-Factor, Gen 13. I even think there was a Terminator comic. My dad also owned Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the World which I wish were the textbooks for schools around the world.

Currently I'm reading Fables by Bill Willingham. An awesomne book about exhiled Fable characters from their Fable homeland. There are 13 or 14 trade paperbacks out and every Chicago Public Library has a few of them. I love the storytelling and the use of characters that we all know and love. However, seeing them outside of the context of their particular fable is another fun treat. It's just so cool. I would recommend starting  on book #4 March of the Wooden Soldiers. The first 3 are all stand alone books that introduce the characters. However, each book has a quick character intro in the first pages so it's not entirely necessary to read the first 3. They are fun too but for some reason harder to get at the library, though I've been able to rent them 2 time because of persistence. Do read Fables.

Air is another great title though severely underrated. The series got cancelled and as such only has 4 trade paperbacks. Unfortunately #3 is not that great. However, the underlying story and ideas used are wonderful. The inclusion of world events, history and the supernatural are all used to great effect. Air is a title that will be missed. I also like Unwritten and I really hope that it doesn't get cancelled too.

Furthermore the Sandman books by Neil Gaiman have long been a favorite of mine after stealing #5 from my high school library.The sandman is Morpheus, Dream of the Endless. An incarnation of dreaming that has taken a human form. He has brothers and sisters in the form of Destiny, Death, Despar, Destruction, Delusion and the pan-sexual desire. This series was written back in 1988 through 1996. The stories are sometimes wild, or slow burning, intense thrillers. Sometimes they are scary or whimsical. My favorite character is the dream lords's nightmare creation, the Corinthean. Who will, I shit you not, eat your eyeballs. Why? Because, he's got mouths for eyes.

The sandman is super emo

Now, I'm super excited too because this months Chicago "one book" library thing is Gaiman's Neverwhere and as a result he will be coming to town to tour around. I am definitely going to one of those things if not more. He'll be doing lectures and presentations and whatnot. So that's really cool. 

So do try to check out some of the titles that I've mentioned, it's for you own good.

Beaver Boys + Taco Bell

There's a new commercial for taco bell shrimp tacos (blegh). There are these two guys who are obviously related to the beaver boys (above). They "crash parties around the world, for shrimp." Hmmmmm

(maniacal laughter)

Ok so I like minecraft a lot right now, try it I be you will.