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[comics] According to Comic Geek Jeff Smith has replied to Dave Sim in Cerebus #266… ‘Dear Dave, First you come into my home and insult my wife and I, then you publish a delusional and fictitious account of the event. Now, seven years later, you want to square all accounts by climbing into a boxing ring? Get stuffed. Yours truly, Jeff Smith.’ [Related: Earlier Posting on LMG]

[politics] Votémon — excellent children’s guide to the General Election from BBC Newsround. [via Interconnected]

[profile] Hey, look at me! Cool, or what? — The Independent profiles Nicky Haslam. ‘So far, so posh. But it would not be possible to listen to Nicky Haslam for very long without becoming aware that he is a most unusual sexagenarian. Here he is, for example, describing a recent social outing. “The other night I went to Catherine Guinness’s for drinks. I hadn’t been there for ages and ages, and I just didn’t know what to wear. All day I’d worn really, really filthy ripped Levi’s with oil all the way down them. The oil’s fake, you buy them like that. And I’d bought the new Converse sneakers that are pre-dirtied. I put on top of it a very chic pony-skin jacket that Jamiroquai had given me….’

[tv] Big Brother goes digital. ‘The new series of Big Brother will run for up to 21 hours a day on digital network E4, Channel 4 has announced. Fans will be able to spy on the house on TV all day long, and many will be able to make their weekly eviction votes through their remote control.’

[distraction] Excellent on-line gameboy emulator with a number of games… just like the real thing.

[comics] Pope Fiction. The Vatican approves a comic about Pope John II… Joe Quesada (Editor-In-Chief of Marvel Comics): ‘”Like Spider-Man, the Pope has incredible compassion for the human spirit,” he said. “It’s no secret that this pope has been in frail health for the last few years, yet much like Spider-Man, he perseveres through great adversity. It is the calling and trademark of the great hero!”‘

[politics] Long, interesting profile of Tony Blair’s last four years as Prime Minister….. ‘The more disappointing Blair is manifest when he is controlled by the side of his nature which is cramped by calculation and caution. A female member of the Cabinet privately refers to him as ‘Mr Crab’ for scuttling away from difficult decisions. As time has stripped off the rhetorical varnishing, the Government emerges through the hyperbole for what it is: incrementally reforming, social democrat, with some illiberally socially authoritarian edges, which broadly sums up Blair himself. A couple of months ago, he gave an under-reported and remarkably candid speech self-dissecting the Government. He conceded that the ‘first phase of New Labour was essentially one of reassurance’. The overwhelming driver has been to prove they are safe hands, fit to run the country, especially its economy. Allied to that has been the obsession with re-election, ‘the most important thing’, as he put it to me in the garden of Number 10 in the spring of 1997.’

[the joy of stats] Why I Will Never Have A Girlfriend. ‘…. I, for one, refuse to spend my life brooding over my lack of luck with women. While I’ll be the first to admit that my chances of ever entering into a meaningful relationship with someone special are practically non-existent, I staunchly refuse to admit that it has anything to do with some inherent problem with me. Instead, I am convinced that the situation can be readily explained in purely scientific terms, using nothing more than demographics and some elementary statistical calculus.’

[comics] Interesting interview with Alex Robinson the artist/writer behind Box Office Poison. ‘Box Office Poison is about the pros and cons of loyalty vs betrayal. There are two main stories: one deals with Sherman Davies, a bookstore clerk who wants to be a writer. The other is about Sherman’s friend, Ed, a cartoonist. They each get involved in a relationship–Sherman with a girl, Ed with his boss, an old cartoonist–that puts their loyalty to the test. Sherman’s girlfriend, Dorothy, is kind of crazy, while Ed’s boss, Irving Flavor, is cranky. Flavor created a superhero back in 1941 that made millions for his publisher, but he never saw a dime. Ed decides to help him remedy this. Plus, there’s cursing and nudity! That’s the one line way I’ve been describing the book: It’s like “Archie” but with cursing and nudity.’ [Related: Buy Box Office Poison at Amazon]

[crime] He’s been getting away with it all his life Ronnie Biggs — A Sunday Times Profile. ‘How did a small-time crook come to occupy such a prominent place in the criminal iconography? Partly it is because many people saw the robbery as a bit of a “caper”. Although Jack Mills, the train driver who was hit over the head with an iron bar, never fully recovered from his injuries and died of leukaemia seven years later, the heist was amateurish by today’s standards. No guns were carried, for example. Then there was the classic battle of wits between Biggs and Superintendent Jack Slipper of Scotland Yard, in which Slipper, now 77 but suffering from cancer, always failed at the last minute to get his man.’ [Related: Ronnie Biggs Official Site]

[comics] Ask Dave Sim: Relationship Expert ‘Mr. Sim, I find women to be completely illogical and beguiling, yet I also find myself irrationally attracted to them. Is this a problem, and is there a solution? William Spock, Vulcan ND’ [via John at Linkworthy]

[century] 1974 – Nixon Resigns … ‘If Mr Nixon had been at his best last night, then he was at his worst this morning. Sometimes one wished that his agonized wife would take this wretched slobbering, spluttering man away by the arm and propel him into some windowless vehicle for transport to obscurity. But Pat Nixon, with Julie and Tricia and their grey-faced husbands beside them, allowed the man to proceed. It would have been worse, perhaps, if they had tried to stop him. “I remember my old man. They would have called him a common man… he was a street car motorman at first… my mother” – at this point he sobbed violently, his tears somehow eluding the gravitational pull and remaining shining in his eyes – “a saint. She will have no books written about her.”‘

[comics] Suck looks looks at why so many cartoonists are cranks (after Dave Sim’s Tangent). ‘Now, it’s not important whether you agree or disagree with Sim, just so you marvel at the sheer depth of his obsession. Jack Chick cuts the Pope more slack than Sim does women. Some might say it’s not women, but Feminist ideology ? but what’s that got to do with Sim leaving his dick alone? And it could be said that this is taking things out of context, but since the only context here is Sim, not the window dressing that there’s a real issue here, what difference does it make? Like Chick, Sim wants his word out. The inside back cover of Cerebus 265 makes “Tangents” a public domain property, one you should feel to distribute, as long as you do it in its entirety, unedited. Like any cartoonist crank, Sim wants it all his way.’ [Related: Discussion on Plastic about the Suck Article]

[nwo] Conspirators — Jon Ronson on Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing. ‘April 19 is holy day for anti-government activists and conspiracy theorists. On April 19, 1993, Federal agents ended the siege at Waco. David Koresh’s Branch Davidian church went up in flames. On April 19, 1775, 400 British government troops attempted to disarm the citizens of Lexington, Massachusetts. A hundred colonists shot back, the first shots of the American Revolution, the “shots heard around the world”. (When I visit American militias and patriots and neo-Nazis, they often ask me what I, a Brit, thinks of the Lexington uprising. I explain that I’m not au fait with the ins and outs. They are scandalised that our syllabus doesn’t teach this pivotal moment in British history.)’

[distractions] You are… The Surrealist Link. ‘You are the most gutless cassock. Goodbye!’

[century] 1965 — The Guardian sums up after the death of Winston Churchill…. ‘It was his fate that in spite of his gifts he had only at exceptional moments the full confidence of his fellow-countrymen. This lack of trust cut across all parties. Labour feared what it called his class bias. Some Conservatives thought that he was not biased enough; they felt that, with his past, he was not a sound party man, and they did not like the warmth for his former associates, the Liberals, which he never wholly extinguished. A sentiment very widespread was that Churchill was to be kept only for great occasions: he was too incalculable – or dangerous – for politicians’ daily food.’

[comics] Fascinating…. Neil Gaiman used to be a Scientologist…. ‘Neil Gaiman. Writer (sandman comics), former Scientologist. Declared SP in 1983. He was a Class VIII auditor, and ran the Birmingham org for a while. Son of David Gaiman. He was a case supervisor at the G.O. at the time of the CMO takeover of the G.O. and the transition to RTC/ OSA. – FAQ1.’ [via WEF]

[century] The Guardian Century… 1990 – Thatcher Resigns (another posting about that joyous day): ‘For old time’s sake, she had a jolly good shout at Neil Kinnock. Before finally hanging up her handbag, she gave it one last swing at a few Labour backbenchers who strayed within range. And then Dennis Skinner engaged her in a double-act. Asked whether, in retirement, she would still oppose a European central bank, Mr Skinner fed her a line, shouting: “No, she’s goin’ to be the Guv’nor.” “What a good idea!” she cried, to swelling cheers. “I’m enjoying this,” she said, doing little bows. “Thank you. Thank you.” They have loved her never so much as when losing her.’ [discovered via Tom]

[wpa] MUST… BLOG… SOMETHING…

[cats] WTF? Cat Milk? ‘At 59p for 200ml, cat milk is just about the same price per litre as cheap white wine. It may or may not be true that destitute people sometimes resort to eating dog food, but putting cat milk in your coffee would be an extravagance. Not that you would want to. There is a weird off-whiteness to the stuff that actually makes you think twice about giving it to the cat. Test subject Kipper found it palatable enough at first, but ended up leaving most of it in the bowl. It’s hard to tell whether he thought it tasted too much like milk, or not enough. Kipper, it should be said, is an uncommonly stupid cat, and being hit by a car last year did nothing to raise his IQ. His opinion in this matter is almost worthless.’

[comics] Interesting interview with Kevin Smith about comics mainly… ‘It’s so sad that there are people who feel that comics’ salvation lies in mainstream acceptance, because it implies that comics are a dying artform. They’re not. Comics don’t need to be saved. Comics aren’t going anywhere. There will always be a comic book field, despite all the nay-saying braying of a group of Chicken Little’s, who feel like they have their finger on the pulse of a medium that’s been around far longer than their two-bit opinions of it. What fans/critics/pundits need to understand is that comics are a rarefied medium, and that they’ll never be able to compete with movies and television (or video games; or the internet; or even mimes). Just accept that and be happy with the audience that IS out there, and do your best to keep them entertained. Cater to them relentlessly with hero books and non-hero books alike. Hell, there are enough fans of both! But don’t slap them in the face by telling them constantly that they’re not enough. Heavens, love the one you’re with, you know? Besides, what kind of insecure soul would crave mainstream acceptance anyway? Aside from Warren Ellis?’

[luck] The Unluckiest Couple in Britain… what happens when you lose a winning lottery ticket. ‘The Totts have been caught in the contradiction that makes the lottery function – the insistence that it’s all just a bit of fun, a moment’s relief from the daily grind, overlain with the unspoken riposte: yes, but it could change everything forever. It was the former thought that explained why they didn’t check their ticket that week in September – “after seven years, you just think well, I buy a ticket, but I’m never going to win a blooming thing” – but it was the latter that got them hoping.’

[comics] Frank Miller’s Harvey Awards Speech — excellent stuff on the Comics industry, Wizard Magazine and the Movie Industry. ‘One TV guy I met, full of hyperactive disdain, he sniped at me, “I don’t read comic books. I read scripts.” You’re lost pal. They don’t read comic books, they read Wizard Magazine! Or at least the publishers think they do. Either way the result is the same. For all the disgust you’ll hear about Wizard and its shoddy practices when you talk to publishers and marketing folks—and I have yet to hear a single good word from anybody about this thing that ought to come on a roll—for all of that, the publishers kow-tow. Even though this tree killer here regularly cheapens and poisons our field. Aesthetically and ethically, they grovel. Even though this monthly vulgarity [rips off front cover] reinforces all the prejudice people hold about comics [rips out pages] they cry to all the world that we’re as cheap and stupid and trashy as they think we are, we sponsor this assault. We pay for the goddamn privilege. But really, when will we finally get around to flushing this thing, this load of crap, once and for all [tosses torn magazine into a trash can onstage. Applause]’ [via Comic Geek]

[domains] UH! TEARS BABY — Tom’s reaction to losing the Freaky Trigger domain… ‘…this afternoon, freakytrigger.com’s new owner scented money and wrote to me – somebody had offered him $200 for the site and of course he wanted to see if I was interested first. After all, I had “previous involvement” with freakytrigger.com. I was, obviously, not interested: I wish this person joy in making cash out of the domain name because I certainly never did, but he’s not getting a penny from me.’

[distractions] I don’t want to turn LMG into That’s Life but here’s a really rude bus….* * The WPA has struck. You can tell can’t you? I’m even linking to “odd odes” by Cyril Fletcher….

[comics] A couple of Pages from Grant Morrison’s X-Men have appeared on the internet — Page #1, Page #2 — discussion about it is going on here. ‘Sunspot Activity. Manic Depressive mood swings; I feel like a Hindu Sex God, Jean.’ [via Plasticbag]

[profile] The Independent profiles Ken Livingstone after a year of being Mayor of London. ‘After Labour’s triumphant election in 1997, he predicted a recession and suggested that Gordon Brown should be sacked. When the recession did not arrive he claimed, with a mischievous smile, that this was because the Chancellor had adopted his policies. Mr Brown did not reciprocate with a smile. In the 1980s, Mr Livingstone similarly fought against Neil Kinnock’s policy reforms. At a meeting of Labour’s national executive in 1988, he is said to have declared with a hint of self-pity: “I won’t be silenced by the party machine.” Mr Kinnock responded by saying: “Silenced? You have been on every bloody media outlet for the last 24 hours.”‘

[more comics] Tim Bisley’s list of Top Ten Collected Comics… ‘Those are my fave reads of the moment. Whenever I get a coffee break from serving the great unwashed at Fantasy Bazaar, those are the books I take into the bog. However if I do not need the loo, I go into the storeroom and mutilate Jar Jar Binks dolls.’

[comics] Starman is wrapping up after seven years and eighty issues… Fandom has an interesting retrospective. ‘One of the best throughlines of the entire series that ties the past to the present, of course, was Jack?s relationship with his father, Ted Knight, the original Starman. The two began as near-opposites, but grew to like, respect, and finally love one another. It was, up until it?s end ? and even beyond, one of the most well-rounded father-son relationships in comics. Through Jack?s relationship with Ted, the elder Starman became a fully fleshed out character, rather than another suit from the ?40s. Ted had ambitions, flaws, dreams, and hopes. Resonating slightly throughout the Jack-Ted relationship was some of the relationship Robinson had with his mentor in comics, and original Starman editor, Archie Goodwin. Goodwin?s death in 1998 hit Robinson hard, and for a time, he was unsure if he would be able to finish what he had begun in Starman.’ [via GLITTERDAMMERUNG!]

[questions] The Independent’s You Ask The Questions… does Martin Amis. ‘Do you ever worry about turning into your father, Kingsley? This question cannot but sound sinisterly comic to me. If the Kingsley we are referring to is the Kingsley of his last years, then I could naturally do without the physical metamorphosis for at least the time being. Probably the suggestion is: am I worried about inheriting his political curve, worried about waking up one morning as the apoplectic reactionary he would sometimes (morosely but playfully) impersonate? No. Our political histories are antithetical. I have always been pallidly left-of-centre. In our more vituperative disagreements (about nuclear weapons, for example), I used to counter-attack by saying that he was the politically excitable being, not me (my father served as an active Communist for much of his twenties). In other ways, I wouldn’t mind turning into Kingsley. I would like to maintain such lifelong affections with all my children. And I wouldn’t mind writing a novel as good as The Old Devils, when I’m 64.’

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