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Words of the Year

The American Dialect Society has released their list of Words of the Year.  It includes some obvious candidates like metrosexual and governator, but also some I wasn’t even aware of.  How great is tanorexia?

It’s interesting, however, to look at the number one results of past years:

1990 - Bushlips
1991 - Mother of All
1992 - Not!
1993 - Information Superhighway
1994 - Cyber and Morph
1995 - Web and Newt
1996 - Mom
1997 - Millenium Bug
1998 - The “e-” prefix
1999 - Y2K
2000 - chad
2001 - 9-11
2002 - Weapons of Mass Destruction
2003 - Metrosexual

It’s clear that since 1993 the words of the year are either technological or political ("mom" referred to “soccer moms” as an undervalued voter).  It seems that two years is all takes for our priorities to switch from global terrorism to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.  Fab!

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Back Off Man, I’m a Scientist

Some friends and I caught a screening of Ghostbusters at thre Revue Cinema last night.  We had such a great time—why don’t they make comedies like that anymore?  Even though I own the movie and we’ve all seen it at least 20 times each, we still laughed at every single line, even the ones we most aniticipated…

“Listen… do you smell something?”

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More on Kliban

As promised, here are some examples of B. Kliban’s work from the elusive book that I finally tracked down.  Many of his books are still available via Amazon, so if you’re a fan of cartoons and are looking for something a little different, go buy some of Kliban’s work.  You won’t be disappointed… (just steer clear of his cat-related stuff)

Since you can’t see the label on the can, I’ll help you out.  It reads “RAZOR SHARP PEACH SLICES.”

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DVD + TV = P.U.

A while ago Disney tried out a test project of self-destructing, disposable DVDs, that immediately drew fire from nearly everyone who thinks the environment is actually worth saving.  But I actually think there’s a much more sinister DVD foe threatening our environment—a much worse waste of paper and plastic that can only possibly serve to feed our landfills.

The culprit?  “Classic” television shows on DVD.

I can understand, to a point, preserving our favourite tv programs on DVD.  Certainly some shows have a devoted fan base and also a certain level of rewatchability that extends beyond regular everyday syndication.  Star Trek on DVD?  Perfectly understandable.  Fawlty Towers?  Why, it’s a classic!

But DVD is such a hot ticket these days that consumers will eat up just about anything with those letters on the cover.

Do we really need the entire series of Mad About You?  And what about Barney Miller?

Was Three’s Company really that good?  Do all the episodes of Gilligan’s Island differ enough that you need to own every single one?  (Let’s hope the set includes that episode where they almost get off the island!)

I don’t know a single person who watches The King of Queens now, let alone anyone who’ll want to preserve it for all time.

Who’s buying all of this?

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My Birthday Book Adventure

Yes, my birthday was in November, but my friend Mira told me that for my gift from her we would need a free Saturday sometime in the future.  That saturday was this weekend.

When I got home on Friday night there was a package waiting for me.  In it was a cheesy romance novel and a series of clues that I needed to decode which would tell me exactly where and when I needed to meet Mira the next morning.

Once decoded, I found that I needed to meet her at the library on College street in The Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation, and Fantasy.  It was there where I was told that the day was to be a book-themed day.  We spent some time in the Merril Collection where I read a Hellboy graphic novel (I had never read any of Mignola’s work before).

Next we trotted upstairs to the library’s Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books, which had a great exhibit of antique children’s books featuring clowns, jesters, and lots of Punch & Judy.  There were a lot of beautiful illustrations, which you should definitely check out if you’re in Toronto.

Next on the agenda was to check out some used book stores around the city.  After finding out that nearby Balfour Books wasn’t open yet, we hit the road for a mystery roadtrip.  I soon found out that we were headed to my hometown of Kitchener where I was surprised by my friend Sara.  We visited a few of the local comic shops before heading to A Second Look where I bought 3 books: The Prehistory of the Far Side, since it has some content not found in the massive The Complete Far Side.

I also picked up a book of paintings by Amadeo Modigliani whose work I’ve always loved due to its illustrative, almost cartoony style.

Finally, I found a book that I have been looking for for the longest time: B. Kliban’s Advanced Cartooning and Other Drawings.  It’s out of print, and Amazon is never in stock, and eBay prices are always astronomical, but I found it here used for $5.00! 

Kliban is one of my absolute favourite cartoonists, and his bizarre sense of humour makes the Far Side look like the Family Circus.  I have several of his books, such as Whack Your Porcupine and Other Drawings, Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head and Other Drawings, and Luminous Animals and Other Drawings,
but this one has remained the most elusive.

If you’re unfamiliar with Kliban, you might know his work with cats, but it’s his lesser-known bizarre cartoons that I love.  I’ll try and find some examples tomorrow.

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Belleville Rendez-Vous

I caught a sneak preview of The Triplets of Belleville last night.

I’ve been hearing for a while now about how fantastic this film is… and even after seeing the trailer I knew that it looked gorgeous, but I still had my doubts.  But the hype isn’t uncalled for—it’s this year’s Spirited Away—a traditionally-animated film that’s anything but traditional.

It’s probably true that this will be Pixar’s main competition come Oscar time, and what’s funny is that both this and Finding Nemo have essentially the same storyline—a parent on a wild journey to find their kidnapped son.

Finding Nemo will win the Oscar I think, but after finally seeing it, I think The Triplets of Belleville actually deserves it (I was skeptical of the hype before seeing it, but originality won out).  They both tell the same story, but Triplets does it in a way unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and as good as Nemo was, it was unquestionably a safe by-the-books Pixar outing.

And what makes Triplets so special is that it tells the story without any dialogue—it’s true animation.

It’s also decidedly anti-Disney, not only in its visual style and pantomime approach to storytelling, but also via a handful of visual gags dissing the House of Mouse.  (Some obvious, like the picture of a character holding a costumed mouse’s hand and a lollipop labelled ‘sucker’, and some a little more subtle, which I’ll let you find yourself… hint: keep your eye on the contents of the toilets).

Check it out if you’re interested in a unique animated experience, but when you see it be warned: you’ll have that song from the trailer stuck in your head hours after the movie’s over.

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Independent Animation Online

AnimWatch is a great showcase of independant animated films on the Internet.

Of particular note: Going Nuts and Bert.

But even cooler: I just found out that Aardman Animation has created a new series of Nick Park’s Oscar-winning Creature Comforts.  Be sure to watch all the clips…

Oh, and this is just plain adorable.

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Building a Better Sketchbook

I finally got around to purchasing Chris Ware’s Acme Novelty Datebook.  And yesterday Keri pointed out a new sketchbook blog by Danny Gregory (who, coincidentally, also mentions Chris Ware’s book today).

Both Chris and Danny create such beautiful detail-filled journals, and both seem to adhere to the belief that one must constantly be drawing—bring a book and pen everywhere you go!  I am also amazed at Robert Crumb’s various published sketchbooks, and the fact that every time I see him in documentaries he’s usually always drawing, no matter what he’s doing, where he is, or who he’s with.

I feel guilty enough that I’ve let my own sketchbook journals fall by the wayside, but now I just sit, jaw agape, jealous of such beauty and dedication. 

I suppose the start of this new year is the perfect time to try and catch up to their level of dedication and creativity.  Colour me inspired.

Any other great sketchbook blogs out there?

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Missing Images?

A reader named Oscar wrote to tell me that he can’t see the title and navigation images on my site.

A while ago I employed an .htaccess file on my server to prevent deep-linking, which has been a real problem due to people using my images on message boards, etc.  I am guessing that this is the culprit in Oscar’s problem, but since he’s the only one who’s mentioned this, I wonder if he’s not alone.

Does anyone else have any problems with any images on this site?  Can you see everything?  Any web gurus out there know what the problem might be?

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Very Vicious Viscous Viscus

This weekend I purchased (and watched the hell out of) The Alien Quadrilogy DVD box set.

After watching the majority of all the documentaries and bonus features, I can certainly tell you one thing that was on the minds of the cast and crew during the production of all four movies: viscera.

“I wanted to create a real visceral mood...”
“The music is so visceral...”
“The sequels are just as visceral as the original...”
“It’s a visceral journey...”
“These films reach audiences on a visceral level...”

Okay, I get it, I get it!  Viscera all around!

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