Archive for August, 2004
August 27, 2004 at 12:48 am · Posted by kalman
I just saw Before Sunset, the sequel to Richard LinklaterÕs brilliant 1995 film Before Sunrise. Back when I first saw Sunrise I think I had been a year or two out from a broken heart, and it had had a profound effect on me. It reminded me, simply by example, that all the good parts of my ill-fated affair had been real and, ultimately, worth it.
So I had some real apprehension about a sequel to such a personal, special film; a film that had been designed to zero in on an isolated period of time; a film that in no way seemed to require any more anything. The two movies bookend beautifully though, and add up to more than the sum of the parts. The parts are each moving, sincere, and astute essays on the nature of love, connection, and the elusive ÔclickÕ. But the sum is now something that is mobile in time, that has moved forward in life along with you.
A couple of caveats though. First: this movie seems to resonate a lot more for guys than girls. This can probably be chalked up to the fact that every red blooded male can see Julie DelpyÕs appeal immediately, while Ethan Hawke seems to be more of an acquired taste. IÕve had several female friends describe him is as ÔsmarmyÕ. So if you hate Ethan Hawke (or God help you, Julie Delpy, but you must be surely mad if you doÉ) youÕre just not going to buy any of it.
Second (and far more importantly): despite itÕs deceptive appearance as a date movie, I would recommend seeing this movie with a friend. Ideally this would be a friend youÕve always had vaguely mushy crushy feelings for, someone who understands you, who you can really talk to, and who has seen you cry and can deal. If you must go with someone youÕre involved with (like, say they cornered you and you already agreed to go prior to reading this) then make damn sure they are the One. Yes, that ‘One’. If you are living a lie in your relationship, if youÕve been having doubts but have been terrified to broach the subject, if you bitterly slammed the door on your own fractured heart years ago and compulsively latched onto the nearest warm body, a body whoÕs eagerly trying to get you to go see this move with them now, donÕt do it Mate, because all thatÕll come bubbling up. In some way it will. And he/she will ask ÒWhat is it Puckerpuss? You seem so distantÉÓ
Track of the Day: What else? Waltz for a night - Julie Delpy
August 21, 2004 at 7:07 pm · Posted by kalman
I’ve pulled some old crap down from my gallery that had been vexing me. In the interest of balance, though, I’ve also added some pages from iCandy #3 to the iCandy section. All four pages were colored by the inimitable Jamie Noguchi, under the auspices of UDON.
One thing that distinguished Frank Frazetta from his peers (let’s be honest one thing among many, many things…) was his tendency to revisit, tweak and sometimes wholly rework pieces years, sometimes decades, after their initial publication.
In the spirit of Frank, I’ve decided I’ll be revisiting some pieces in my gallery over the next few weeks, and giving them some post publication love. I won’t say which, but if something seems a little different than you remembered it, just know you’re not losing your mind.
Oh, and I’m 29 today. Gah.
August 19, 2004 at 1:25 pm · Posted by kalman
I accidentally typed ÔbecasueÕ for the six billionth time in an email today, and I noted that I actually type ÔbecasueÕ way more often than I actually type ÔbecauseÕ, and that unlike most of my typos, this one actually slips by.
I see other people doing it constantly too.
This makes me wonder about the way the advent of the internet will change the face of the written language over the next several decades. The fact that so many people all over the world do so much of their written communication on it, often in new contexts unique to the web, like email, blogs, and IM is already having all kinds of subtle effects.
Maybe IÕm even looking too far ahead, I mean, first blood has already been drawn. There are elements of the written English language already dead online, and kids who grow up with the web, won’t know they ever existed. One example: the indent. Remember that? Dead dead dead. You can hear it gasping itÕs last ragged breaths at our feet right now. Who bothers to indent anymore? IM messages are typically too short to require it, and indenting in an email is just masochistic; it turns into a bloody mess if you try. I also notice less and less people capitalizing. I guess the risk of hitting Caps Lock by mistake is just too great to bother with Shift.
ÔBecasueÕ could become this perfectly legitimate alternate spelling of the word, perhaps even eventually eclipsing the old school, uncool ÔbecauseÕ. There are already many many words in which the letters spell out different sounds from the ones we utter when we say them, like ÔironÕ or ÔWednesdayÕ or ‘lamb’. Now admittedly these were spelled that way first, and then the pronunciation evolved (or devolved), but why canÕt it work the other way too? The proliferation of written media and literacy we enjoy today is unprecedented in history, and itÕs bound to have new effects.
Actually all this is incidental, what I really wonder about is whether children born in the next 10-20 years will be named things like TylerDurden76 or Jarjarsux.
Now I offer all this without a value judgment. IÕm not saying itÕs good, not saying itÕs bad. IÕm just kind of noticing and extrapolating and musing, just killing time between yoga and a coffee date really. But efore you language banshees descend on me (and I am one of you, really, despite all the sentences I begin with ÔsoÕ and ÔnowÕÉ) remember that the elite had a collective aneurysm, and predicted the immediate downfall of civilized society, when people first started using things like ÔIÕmÕ and ÔdonÕtÕ.
Track of the Day: Let go - Frou frou
August 17, 2004 at 1:40 pm · Posted by kalman
Back from Wizardworld in Chicago, rested up, recharged, and renewed. Karl and I both had a brilliant time. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the table and bought sketchbooks, postcards, and original art. If you bought a piece of art from me, drop me an email, and I’ll be happy to send you a nice hi-res version of the finished, digitally colored piece to go along with it.
In order to avoid getting down to work, I’ve posted some new art to my gallery. Two more pieces of cover art for Anarchy Studios, this time alternate covers for the upcoming Vampi VS Xin mini series. Although it won’t be out for a while yet, I’ve been given the nod to ‘go forth and spread the word’. These be in the comics section.
Out this month is the Forgotten Realms supplement Serpent Kingdoms, and so, freed from the shackles of NDA, I’ve added two pieces from the book to the D&D section.
And lastly, I’ve added a new gallery section: Coldmoon. If you know me, you probably already know that Coldmoon is my Taj Mahal, the epic project I will do one day when I’m closer to being the artist that I want to be. This new painting is kind of a culmination of the last year’s worth of me struggling my way through learning Painter. It feels like the Painter-Fu is finally sort of coming together for me, and I thought I would show the world.
Track of the Day: Luetin - Underworld
August 8, 2004 at 3:29 pm · Posted by kalman
This is what I heard a female voice say from behind me, while I stood in line at the beer store yesterday.
Like just about any man in a similar situation I assumed I’d just caught an unecessarily loud snippet of someone else’s conversation, so I didn’t even think to turn around.
But then once again: “What hair product do you use? It’s awesome.” Shocked and shaky, I turned to find two women, a guy, and their dog, all looking at my hair. I sort of managed an “Are you serious?”
“Yeah!”
Now after many years I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t hate my hair utterly, and some days I actually almost like it. It’s thick and stubborn but I know it will always remain exactly where it is: I will never go bald. But there is nothing remotely unique, unusual, or comment-worthy about it, believe me.
Still, I played, and attempted to describe the waxy stuff I use. It comes in a tube, like lip balm, but fatter, larger… lime green cap. The guy joined in now, looking me in the eyes earnestly he asked “So is it a drugstore product or a salon product?”
The dog, mercifully, kept out of it.
Track of the Day: Reptilia - The Strokes
August 7, 2004 at 3:09 am · Posted by kalman
So another ‘incident’ today confirmed for me that mastery of the cursed Ikea cheese slicer was nowhere on the horizon.
Since my previous post on this topic, I’ve serendipidously come across a lot of examples of other people complaining about their cheese slicers too, but almost without exception, they centered on things like inconsistent slicing, choking half way through the cheese, and/or making blobby slices and therefore blobby sandwiches.
My cheese slicer always produces thin, elegant, and splendidly even — almost diaphanous slices every time.
And it demands to be paid in blood.
Track of the Day: Black and Gray - Julie Delpy
August 3, 2004 at 4:33 pm · Posted by karl
Well, it’s my sad duty to inform any and all visitors to the horhaus that I’ve had to close the comment feedback on all but the most recent posts. The ridiculous amount of cowardly (and, I’ll wager, 100% ineffective) spam is too time-consuming to delete individually, so until I get around to upgrading to the more efficient Movable Type 3.0 please feel free to e-mail us any thoughts you might have on older posts and I’ll do my best to play catch-up later.
All commenting is still open in the galleries, though, so keep ‘em coming!
I apologize for the lowly state of our society.
UPDATE!: Thanks to the ever-vigilant Matt Forsythe (whose advice can be seen in the comments section of this post) and Jay Allen’s fantastic Movable Type BlackList Plug-In, I’ve eradicated all spam from the site and blocked the offending spammers (at least for the moment).
In short… ALL POSTS are once again OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
So, I guess, just disregard this post, then?
August 3, 2004 at 2:28 am · Posted by kalman
On my way to brunch on Sunday morning I paused at an impromptu garage-sale-but-on-a-street-corner-type-thing. Amongst the crap I found a VHS tape of Amityville II: the possession.
While I quite enjoy my 70’s horror flicks, I’m not so keen on 80’s horror. Not so keen on anything 80’s really… but here was an 80’s horror film set in the 70’s. Could go either way, and I’d never seen it so for two bucks, why not?
The guy actually kept a straight face while he took my money.
I pulled the thing out today, and found the tape itself to be suspiciously devoid of any markings, you know, stickers, logos, or what have you. So I pop it in the machine and… no slamming doors or shrieking children, no demons or dayglo barf, it’s… Italian soaps! It turns out for two of my hard earned buckaroos I got six hours of someone’s telelatino fix.
Boo.
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