An old story, explained:

Throughout the life muddle-headed and ignorant and has a liking for alcoholic drink if the Wu Dynasty overhaul ordering what once drunkly returns home on the road , sticking out round kidnapping , and is closed in a private prison that does not see light , the most only matter can do of every day is seeing television and three meals of a day the person who eats only fries Jiao. Learning on television , wife is murdered the unknown overhaul why to meet with kidnapping continuously , and the young girl whereabouts are unknown , and the police is doubted that the Wu Dynasty overhaul is a murderer , and dreads punishment for crime to abscond. In order to wash clearly the case of injustice , run away to go out from the intimate cave excavated at last after 15 years with the ladle. He has just spread out , and the average plans , but and he personal enemy plum has really " puts the words " , as long as he can guess kidnaps in five days the union has been locked up 15 years the cause , just can " give up the life " voluntarily What can round this cause of cruel recreation be actually ?

from the bootleg DVD notes of Korean film "Oldboy," 2003.

If I had another 28k I could add a ducky.

Next song please

I woke up with an Aerosmith song in my head. Specifically "Janie's Got A Gun." I don't know why it's there and at first I didn't mind it, but now I'm trying to knock it out.

How 'bout a nice band from Canada? I heard Rock Plaza Central for the first time a couple of days ago. They have a glockenspiel player and they're from Toronto, so I'm thinking this might be the other end of the spectrum from Aerosmith (aka America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band). Furthermore, their latest album is all about robotic horses. Match that Steven Tyler.

Have a nice listen: "My Children, Be Joyful"

Pirates of the Quotidian

One of my favorite things since touching this Blogspot has been that tiny button at the top of the screen: Next Blog. This is what I imagined satellite television would be when I first read about it. One button, and you change the world's channel. Argentinian horseback riding! Schlager from Sweden! Mouse-divination from Cote D'Ivoire!

Here are some highlights of my travels:

http://livinginburystedmunds.blogspot.com/
Really charming. Ruby lives in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, and writes about it. Even better if you read it like a "Frog and Toad" book.

http://mii-simplieemii-justtmii.blogspot.com/
Written in some parallel-universe English, this young woman goes through what we all went through, then makes us old people decipher it. Warning: be ready with your Mute button!

http://rainbowwildlife.blogspot.com/
Small urban wildlife rescue! Pictures of baby squirrels, birds, and um, possums.

THE FUDGE

I've been obsessed with Travis Millard's drawings for a while now.

Check out Fudge Factory.

City Birdwatching

I saw the splat of a pigeon on the street Monday. One of its wings was stuck to the curbside, still waving, as in "Help," or, "I can still do this, no problem."

Tuesday, I came the other way, and saw the other wing. The width of the two-lane road now represented the entire bird. Twenty-four feet of pavement with two wings on either side. Not leaving.

Early morning Wednesday, outside the hotel riverwalk, two seagulls are fighting over the remnants of last night's Popeye's chicken dinner. Screaming, feinting, shaking loose the meat with tight jerks of the neck. A sparrow sneaks in and grabs a crumb from a shower of breading. A second smart one gets bold and flies off with the last bone's worth. Three others track it to the pebbled edge of a construction site.

Thursday: A small sparrow splayed in the shape of Somalia, dead in the shadow of a skyscraper. Then a huge crow, taking little hops ever closer. Does he want the sparrow? Yes. He keeps his eye on me, as he pecks and picks up the body of the sparrow. Rips some feathers off. Flies up to the park bench. Tears some more feathers off, they sail off into the wind like dandelion seeds. He gets a piece of meat. More feathers take flight without their bird. The crow is not pleased that I am watching, so he takes his prize and flies away, heavy like a military transport. I lose him in the varying windows of the condominiums.

On Friday, a floating bird in the municipal fountain. Not a water bird, just a big puff of feathermass, stickly legs dangling uselessly below. The beak is open, frozen in calling out – now closed! The beak is opening and closing. This little ball of head is held strenuously up over the water's surface, open and closing, silently calling. Close to dead? Close enough.

Saturday, a blue plastic tarp covering a sidewalk marketplace. It has recently rained, and everything is still in puddles. In the center of one covering, a bird, belly up, its tail feathers fanned like cards. No head. Just a body ending in neck. Where is the head? Is this a voodoo message? A message not to sell fake designer sunglasses? Maybe the bird had no head and that's why it crashed into a building. Not my mystery.

Sunday, a Flicker pecking energetically into a paper tree. Wiping his beak sideways against the flapping bark. Table, meal, napkin. For tomorrow will worry about itself.

Steve Perry explains:

resolution update

So I resolved a week ago to see more shows, starting with Treaty of Paris at the Metro last Saturday. It was tough sledding first time out of the gate. First the Clark Street bus left me hanging out on the curb for half on hour - okay this isn't that unusual, but it was still a hurdle. After jumping in a cab, we get to Metro, and one of the opening bands has a giant, inflatable, red ball on stage. As in 10 feet by 10 feet giant. I slide over to the bar to get a beer - not a difficult task because I was one of the few lucky ones at the show in the 21 and older category. The bartender, perhaps eager for a tip from one of the few non-soda buying patrons, was chatty enough to respond to questions regarding the big, red ball. Deadpan - "Oh I believe that's supposed to be... a cherry." Okay.

Then we secured a spot amongst the fans where I was touched, semi-inappropriately, by a 17 -year-old boy. You know how someone might put his hand on your back to navigate through a crowd, sometimes his hand may linger too way long between your shoulder blades, and sometimes your skin starts to crawl when you realize you're probably fifteen years older than him? So on to the music ... Treaty of Paris was fine, maybe just not my thing, a little too radio friendly for me. Turns out the band is going to be part of a reality show that started taping that night, maybe I'll get to see myself groped on tv someday.
The evening was saved when we moved on to Ronny's on California and saw the Fake Fictions and Blueblood. Cool space, nice crowd, and great music. Great place to see a band - maybe fits fifty or sixty people in a old garage space. Here's something from the Fake Fictions: Time Machine

ONE TROOP = ONE HUMAN

F.Y.I.

NOw yOu CAn wATcH CHiPs ANyWHere

With the introduction of iPhone, DirecTV's portable satellite television system seems to have been slightly overshadowed. The obviously-named Sat-Go will cost about a thousand bucks and is contained in a 25 pound suitcase. More fascinating to me than the Sat-Go's details is that Rick Rosner, the creator of CHiPs, also created Sat-Go. The NY Times has an interesting article on the him and on getting Sat-Go the go-ahead.

You may ask...

...what is right with the world. Don't ask, just click.

Chicago artist gone all New Yorker

Chicago illustrator/comics artist Ivan Brunetti has his first ever New Yorker cover coming out on January 8. Following Chris Ware's cover last year, this bodes well for the Chicago graphic arts community.


Also check out the Fantagraphics Books blog. They publish Brunetti's work and their blog tipped me off to the New Yorker cover.

resolve to resolve something easy

I once read that something like only 8% of new year's resolvers completely stick to their pledge by year's end. Makes you think, why should I resolve at all, right? Well, it's a nice idea. A new start. So, this year, I'm gonna pick something that's easy. After all, it's not like I'm about to resolve to something that's painful... like the year I resolved to run a marathon. Which I did run, but was painful.

So this year, I'll make an effort to get myself off the cozyness of my couch and away from my "Alias" addiction, and go see more live music / shows. Diversify. Pick a random band at the Empty Bottle or Schubas or Metro and go. I know this isn't the most altruistic or self-bettering of pledges. But it'll be fun. And I love going to shows. And there'll be beer when it sucks. You win some, you lose some, but you also support people who are trying to make music. Which I admire very much.

I'm starting with "Treaty of Paris" at Metro this Saturday:


Local chicago band. Powerpop/punk. Check out their myspace.

Cheers.

CHUCK IT ALL

Hey, check out illustrator Nate Williams' site at n8w.com

He's got some cool, reasonably priced silk-screens. He worked as a web designer and art director for Microsoft and XBox for 7 years before he decided to chuck it all and become an illustrator full-time.

He also runs an illustration site called illustrationmundo

Reaw