tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26518772167222064752024-03-15T22:56:23.478-07:00The Freedom Suiteonce again, back is the incredible...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-46481196664066516852009-03-20T06:06:00.000-07:002009-03-20T06:15:01.140-07:00Each One, Teach OneMy one-time NYU professor dropped science on Tavis Smiley last night. Now, I never watch Tavis, but Tricia Rose was an influential mentor back in my "When Am I Going to Make a Living" days. (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0KMBDQWaAM">Peace, Sade.</a>)<br /><br />I really liked the point she made about the Unholy Trinity of gangsta, pimp and ho coming to dominance in the mid-90s and the contradictory tensions that emerged as a result. Also loved the point she made about hip-hop being a gateway for people to talk about race.<br /><br />Here's a snippet:<br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/js/pap/embed.js?tavi08s21eaq7e6"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-7404354924683303962009-03-17T09:08:00.000-07:002009-03-17T09:38:44.895-07:00Comics for ObamaMuch has been made of the fact that Barack Obama’s a nerd and a (former?) comic reader. I’ve not been a fan of all the quick cash-in “appearances” of the 44th President in various comics. Unless the creators are making a point about a certain political era or such an appearance organically fuels story and character development, the use of any President never really shakes the stunt dust off of it.<br /><br />A hallmark of the “Bang! Pow! Comics Aren’t For Kids Anymore” era of media coverage has been a list of comics anyone/everyone should read. I haven’t seen this type of list compiled for the Commander-in-Chief, which is odd considering how popular he is. <br /><br />Here’s my stab at it:<br /><br />1. Conan: Born on the Battlefield by Kurt Busiek and Greg Ruth<br />When the initial shock of those first reports of Obama’s nerd pedigree wore off, the first thing I thought was, “The brother read Conan comics?!” My guess is he probably read a mix of Marvel’s long-running color series–Savage Sword of Conan, Conan the Barbarian and Conan the King. Barry probably snuck in some of the racier, raunchier material that Marvel put out in a more “adult” Black-and-white format. Dark Horse got the rights to Robert E. Howard’s characters a while back and Kurt Busiek’s run polishes the source material to an irresistible sheen and extrapolates it in ways that feel faithful and fresh. Born on the Battlefield serves as the “origin” story for a modern Conan, but centers a palpable sense of place amongst all the well-executed blood-letting, lust and thievery that fans of the character would expect. <br /><br />2. Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughn & Tony Harris<br />Fictional political intrigue is probably the last thing our new POTUS needs, but Vaughn’s well-researched work shows some insight into infrastructure and personality juggling that I think Obama would appreciate. With the hook of Mayor Mitchell Hundred having been a former superhero, Ex Machina also mines the rich territory of the gap between people’s expectations and what a person’s actually able to deliver. It’s very much a comic about how people view public figures, which should strike a chord with Obama. <br /><br />3. Incognegro by Mat Johnson & Warren Pleece<br />Yes, this one’s kinda obvious. And, I do kill zombies with Mr. Johnson on a semi-regular basis on Xbox Live. But, I really do feel like Incognegro’s one of the best graphic novels in the last five years, on the basis of its meditation on race and the American identity. Its facility with weaving its themes into the plot keeps everything going at a nice clip. I also think Obama would appreciate its tonal shifts, too.<br /><br />4. Invincible by Robert Kirkman & Ryan Ottley<br />Given his age, it’s a pretty safe bet that Barack was reading Spider-Man comics in the 70s and 80s. Kirkman and Ottley’s creator-owned Image book comes closest to matching those books’ sudsy mix of melodrama and fast-paced superheroics. The family drama– Invincible’s got daddy issues, too–and a sprawling cast of characters make for good escapism.<br /><br />5. Orbiter by Warren Ellis & Colleen Doran<br />The economy being what it is, ain’t nobody thinking about spending money on NASA and the space program. But, the most affecting part about Ellis ad Doran’s collaboration is how it treats space exploration as metaphor for the human spirit. True, it’s not the newest idea in sci-fi, but I especially like how they frame it as the universe calling to us. Because we belong there. <br /><br /><br />6. Krazy & Ignatz collections by George Herriman <br />You can tell by the way dude speaks that Barack’s got a love of language. No, strike that. He’s got a love of dialect. When he slips into vernacular, there’s a slight smile that betrays his enjoyment. There’s a certain mischief itch that simple usage can scratch and to my mind, nobody did that better than Herriman. I think he’s the closest thing American sequential art has to a creator laureate, with themes about class, passing and identity that, depending on how you read the strips, may or may not even be there. There’s something sweetly lyrical about the dysfunction of connection between the lovelorn cat and the torturous, brick-throwing mouse and I kinda think Barack would get it.<br /><br />7. Concrete by Paul Chadwick<br />Achingly beautiful in the draftsmanship and character dynamics as well as smoothly naturalistic in dialogue and viewpoint, Paul Chadwick’s signature works never get mentioned in all-time best comics list. I’ve choked up reading these stories and Chadwicks’s prescience about celebrity, media culture and the human consumption debate make these stories damn near timeless. The best thing about these stories is how they use the one fantastical element–a speechwriter trapped in an unfeeling rock body– as a lens on mankind’s behavioral wiring.<br /><br />8. The Night Fisher by R. Kikuo Johnson<br />It’s the kind of coming of age story that Barack doesn’t have any need for, but Johnson evokes the Hawaiian setting beautifully, in terms of art and atmosphere. It’s a bit dark, what with the fraying friendship and meth addiction, but I could see him giving this to the girls when they’re old enough. <br /><br /><br />9. Curses by Kevin Huizenga<br />This collection of Kevin Huizenga’s existential, ephermeral short stories represents the kind of sincere, literate and mature creations that best showcase the depth of the medium. Huizenga uses his Glenn Ganges character to reflect on how personal faith drives our interactions with the world and each other.<br /><br />10. We3 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely<br />Sure , the gummint’s the bad guy in this series but it’s mostly about weaponized cyborg animals looking for home. Seeing as how the First Family’s search for a pet dog made headlines for weeks on end, Morrison and Quitely’s adventure story might resonate with Mr. Obama. Way too dark and violent for the girls, thoughUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-59804971001576261192008-12-23T13:52:00.000-08:002008-12-23T17:00:55.053-08:00Work in ProgressI haven't talked a lot about the book I'm working on this here blog, because (1) no one comes here and (2) I haven't been entirely comfortable with how work has progressed. The first assertion is probably true and the second is slowly changing. Things are ramping up and, starting in 2009, I'm going to be delivering a couple of entries a week to my editor.
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<br />Here's kind of a boilerplate that I've been using to tell people about the book in shorthand:
<br />Black 2.0 [working title] is a project that I'm co-writing with <a href="http://www.myspace.com/mosdef">Mos Def</a> for <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/spiegelandgrau/">Spiegel & Grau</a>, which is a division of Random House. The book is envisioned as a spiritual successor to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Black-Book-Middleton-Harris/dp/0394706226/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230070827&sr=8-12">The Black Book</a> from 1973, which was commissioned by Toni Morrison back when she was still an editor at Random House. Described in very broad strokes, Black 2.0 hopes to look at the shifts and changes in black culture and the larger American mainstream since the publication of The Black Book.
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<br />My awesome editor Chris Jackson and I are trying to make it smart, funny, insightful and incisive. We'll see about all that. Here are some sample entries I've worked up that should give a bit of the feeling we're going for. These are subject to change, blah, blah, blah. The janky-ass layouts are all my work in Word and will be realized to brilliant fruition by our designer. Basically, if you're someone who's asked me how the book is going, this post is for you.
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<br /><div><object style="width:425px;height:301px" ><param name="movie" value="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf?mode=preview&previewLayout=white&username=EvNarc2&docName=black-2.0----weems-sample&documentId=081223211127-3291e8a3a6df49cb993e670a88d497ec&autoFlip=true" /><embed src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" style="width:425px;height:301px" flashvars="mode=preview&previewLayout=white&username=EvNarc2&docName=black-2.0----weems-sample&documentId=081223211127-3291e8a3a6df49cb993e670a88d497ec&autoFlip=true" /></object><div style="width:425px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://issuu.com" target="_blank">Get your own</a> - <a href="http://issuu.com/evnarc2/docs/black-2.0----weems-sample?mode=embed&documentId=081223211127-3291e8a3a6df49cb993e670a88d497ec" target="_blank">Open publication</a><a href="http://issuu.com/embed/guide?documentId=081223211127-3291e8a3a6df49cb993e670a88d497ec&width=425&height=301" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/previewers/style1/v1/m3.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div>
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<br /><div><object style="width:425px;height:301px" ><param name="movie" value="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf?mode=preview&previewLayout=white&username=EvNarc2&docName=black-2.0----wiley-sample&documentId=081223211133-5a68dedfcc324cae92faa7e1e8b593e9&autoFlip=true" /><embed src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" style="width:425px;height:301px" flashvars="mode=preview&previewLayout=white&username=EvNarc2&docName=black-2.0----wiley-sample&documentId=081223211133-5a68dedfcc324cae92faa7e1e8b593e9&autoFlip=true" /></object><div style="width:425px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://issuu.com" target="_blank">Get your own</a> - <a href="http://issuu.com/evnarc2/docs/black-2.0----wiley-sample?mode=embed&documentId=081223211133-5a68dedfcc324cae92faa7e1e8b593e9" target="_blank">Open publication</a><a href="http://issuu.com/embed/guide?documentId=081223211133-5a68dedfcc324cae92faa7e1e8b593e9&width=425&height=301" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/previewers/style1/v1/m3.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div>
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<br /><div><object style="width:425px;height:301px" ><param name="movie" value="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf?mode=preview&previewLayout=white&username=EvNarc2&docName=black-2.0----walker-sample&documentId=081223211121-b6ee0e00e48d40d1a60e5ccc6b2e6806&autoFlip=true" /><embed src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" style="width:425px;height:301px" flashvars="mode=preview&previewLayout=white&username=EvNarc2&docName=black-2.0----walker-sample&documentId=081223211121-b6ee0e00e48d40d1a60e5ccc6b2e6806&autoFlip=true" /></object><div style="width:425px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://issuu.com" target="_blank">Get your own</a> - <a href="http://issuu.com/evnarc2/docs/black-2.0----walker-sample?mode=embed&documentId=081223211121-b6ee0e00e48d40d1a60e5ccc6b2e6806" target="_blank">Open publication</a><a href="http://issuu.com/embed/guide?documentId=081223211121-b6ee0e00e48d40d1a60e5ccc6b2e6806&width=425&height=301" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/previewers/style1/v1/m3.gif" border="0" /></a></div></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-55038406851293450842008-12-02T08:07:00.000-08:002008-12-02T09:20:16.623-08:002008's Best Comics (so far)<div><br /></div><div><br />One of my editors at Time Out New York asked me for my favorite books this year. I put together this list, with contextual descriptions that it turned out he didn't need. It's kind of an impulsive list, but I'd back most of this stuff up if pressed.<br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjHC21wq_PigPHudTXgjur41BGTCZmxwhX-g4h11p2ud0Cw-4O4IzECywwNvqV7eNV-_F4hUPPkj6V0sWJkjbSeD2jIf_GmRKJnGGgEixdqBMl6dvm7njWTSZ1O-m89jLH5riIt-b8xA/s1600-h/allstarsuperman10.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpjHC21wq_PigPHudTXgjur41BGTCZmxwhX-g4h11p2ud0Cw-4O4IzECywwNvqV7eNV-_F4hUPPkj6V0sWJkjbSeD2jIf_GmRKJnGGgEixdqBMl6dvm7njWTSZ1O-m89jLH5riIt-b8xA/s320/allstarsuperman10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275238484248883522" border="0" /></a><br /><div>All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely<br />the whole run, but especially # 10 where Superman struggles against his own mortality to leave a lasting legacy of good.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQsrgEAgLNrqXnOoP81N1r1PXQLnPMaxZr77X5R3Nfh5tno-yH7UJuXztTBnw5kjPigK6k4nVurPPj_eCO3noibIqk02HO89jNrYC58NEHSheubMfuQl1rxMpAPs3fa6czyLNf7XGjoKA/s1600-h/tall-criminal-lawless.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQsrgEAgLNrqXnOoP81N1r1PXQLnPMaxZr77X5R3Nfh5tno-yH7UJuXztTBnw5kjPigK6k4nVurPPj_eCO3noibIqk02HO89jNrYC58NEHSheubMfuQl1rxMpAPs3fa6czyLNf7XGjoKA/s320/tall-criminal-lawless.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275238388770904450" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div>Criminal by Ed Brubaker and Sean McKeever<br />a perfectly dirty and intertwined noir series, full of sex, guilt and violence.<br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Bh6S7VEVWhQgqeWr10X3D0N05bGQJFQ0R4EGkfvhujGEDsE0MON3UxbIsEPdKvuP72eOtgI4z3PJO_BR9BAMxeXlrVj5XtFAKcF784wutQBAplZa0gtl7oy6PO2boZRCb6aqEcx9MVY/s1600-h/captain_america_new.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Bh6S7VEVWhQgqeWr10X3D0N05bGQJFQ0R4EGkfvhujGEDsE0MON3UxbIsEPdKvuP72eOtgI4z3PJO_BR9BAMxeXlrVj5XtFAKcF784wutQBAplZa0gtl7oy6PO2boZRCb6aqEcx9MVY/s320/captain_america_new.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275238379696972194" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div>Captain America by Ed Brubaker and various<br />A solid re-invention of a seemingly jingoistic icon by passing the mantle to a supposedly dead sidekick filled with regret over past sins and the weight of expectations.<br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UGQPqOmpP2u1h7ORc-pb3CcH4zqXC5YJunVxXJF9BobFyibtOQz4jUT5NR8FNi1eqsdRjU1m4QTYVyExg3z8ja63rokTAMtPYd8q7q9XK_CLiLeOdZklz8Nl2yP5o5h2GYUWMYblAIg/s1600-h/scalped.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UGQPqOmpP2u1h7ORc-pb3CcH4zqXC5YJunVxXJF9BobFyibtOQz4jUT5NR8FNi1eqsdRjU1m4QTYVyExg3z8ja63rokTAMtPYd8q7q9XK_CLiLeOdZklz8Nl2yP5o5h2GYUWMYblAIg/s320/scalped.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275238376933759970" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div>Scalped by Jason Aaron and various<br />The story of Dashiell Bad Horse, a bad seed who returns to his old reservation as an undercover FBI agent. It's ornery yet deeply affecting and every issue feels like a punch in the stomach.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPi3RXZKqFdL1-2TZFgCa3VMSKwsiPKZfINGMHmkapaXXTeY_SUKFsu0mLcwEzAupIm-y5wACkBVrUV5QyxQDX2ViVvSXATko04XdHQWS7HDwJXF8vh76a410kvmrnor60EJO7ceXHCC0/s1600-h/buffy+season+8.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPi3RXZKqFdL1-2TZFgCa3VMSKwsiPKZfINGMHmkapaXXTeY_SUKFsu0mLcwEzAupIm-y5wACkBVrUV5QyxQDX2ViVvSXATko04XdHQWS7HDwJXF8vh76a410kvmrnor60EJO7ceXHCC0/s320/buffy+season+8.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275238370952075026" border="0" /></a><br />Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season Eight<br />by Joss Whedon and various<br />Moving the series to comics form lets Whedon and his collaborators do things that would have been budget-prohibitive on the screen and he chooses to let the characters grow rather than freeze them in time.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMvBDsB5zPNjt7KHPbiRLpXeO0GkjR_zBZEf1gDbsbR-133msOrarPJ4d4LEKa1rqndrZJOzsGa1J15ph5F0MuPiaTSuhluX3nuaeHVlVUQi0riPQaWCbcPCLmASopTMurnprnm2rwzQ/s1600-h/iron+man.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMvBDsB5zPNjt7KHPbiRLpXeO0GkjR_zBZEf1gDbsbR-133msOrarPJ4d4LEKa1rqndrZJOzsGa1J15ph5F0MuPiaTSuhluX3nuaeHVlVUQi0riPQaWCbcPCLmASopTMurnprnm2rwzQ/s320/iron+man.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275238361993939634" border="0" /></a>Invincible Iron Man by Matt Fraction and various<br />Fraction's post-movie series looks shiny on the outside but examines what happens when old mistakes come back to haunt a man who can't afford to be fallible.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhItYut5bEu_GHBFuObLzok4VuONtiA4fzaFMy_3H51eOuWHAhDklr1YqgZUhyebAkN8P9Lnpn4a1UZSR6cORLdtttU6IlgAfNUrrzSTq1Cg4PpQyo1yimA7aTKSe_eubAyNBFj1Ju-lkw/s1600-h/dash-shaw-bottomless.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhItYut5bEu_GHBFuObLzok4VuONtiA4fzaFMy_3H51eOuWHAhDklr1YqgZUhyebAkN8P9Lnpn4a1UZSR6cORLdtttU6IlgAfNUrrzSTq1Cg4PpQyo1yimA7aTKSe_eubAyNBFj1Ju-lkw/s320/dash-shaw-bottomless.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275237723876067506" border="0" /></a>Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw<br />A dysfunctional family portrait that manages to avoid being prosaic by the specificity of its internal logic and sharply delineated loneliness.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyphenhyphenVOzo1PSlpxUGF5iTFIDG31JLqqcLheWI8606JcEO3LOKbqFDan1C3q6k_inEp1DESWeIG50TGTSuuT0ZfbaICqooYANqGEFbkDueuT1B_WwokRaENQO4TcLzjLB6LRuN9hEz84Kte8/s1600-h/path+assassin.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyphenhyphenVOzo1PSlpxUGF5iTFIDG31JLqqcLheWI8606JcEO3LOKbqFDan1C3q6k_inEp1DESWeIG50TGTSuuT0ZfbaICqooYANqGEFbkDueuT1B_WwokRaENQO4TcLzjLB6LRuN9hEz84Kte8/s320/path+assassin.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275237721458184370" border="0" /></a><br />Path of the Assassin, Vol. 13: Hateful Burden by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima<br />This installment of the fictionalized historical manga about the rise of iconic shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu had me gasping multiple at the tightrope walk of suspense and sexual intrigue. I was nearly late for a meeting with my book editor because of it.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO93pP6v9BiSFvB8yQ21su6SvkTYeJ9kaPZ1chrj8jEX5dsor4KSptEkjDkBtpzi2oSiZeAF3kRa48o8IEneAIITSUzWbq53xaC9kvPFtpWBOnQRly_AwIHqAEaljh-Z5idSq8oPqp4g/s1600-h/exmachina.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO93pP6v9BiSFvB8yQ21su6SvkTYeJ9kaPZ1chrj8jEX5dsor4KSptEkjDkBtpzi2oSiZeAF3kRa48o8IEneAIITSUzWbq53xaC9kvPFtpWBOnQRly_AwIHqAEaljh-Z5idSq8oPqp4g/s320/exmachina.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275237720063357762" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPF90D3en22_4n0IOTij2docGdEP7n7srff6qar4SZw7lSCaKSGj2pNuxX7y693zK-Zk4Ovm2Vamcj5Q4G3PFw_fRCiSpSEZEXCfSsmpfdTL0mkEMwryZCPWnuLDwVwFA5zGX4rNjqOU/s1600-h/now+the+hell.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPF90D3en22_4n0IOTij2docGdEP7n7srff6qar4SZw7lSCaKSGj2pNuxX7y693zK-Zk4Ovm2Vamcj5Q4G3PFw_fRCiSpSEZEXCfSsmpfdTL0mkEMwryZCPWnuLDwVwFA5zGX4rNjqOU/s320/now+the+hell.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275237720934133186" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div>Now The Hell Will Start by Brendan Koerner<br />This WWII micro-history–focusing on the trials of a black GI who shot a white lieutenant–features drug use, brutal racism and cross-cultural lust in a story that seems like it could never be true.</div><div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiS2lVzEoBbxnFGsNb48ub45UY-edO0sKC4DFwhfdIorulrVxaq3Lzci520Ep2k-6aJnrTLL2WxcNrV5r1F3sFl5lI4dZOHQU2m2g5Rc3_ipQpdLKNRix7FWxFayaplNdJX49h8skQ5F4/s1600-h/the+jazz+ear.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiS2lVzEoBbxnFGsNb48ub45UY-edO0sKC4DFwhfdIorulrVxaq3Lzci520Ep2k-6aJnrTLL2WxcNrV5r1F3sFl5lI4dZOHQU2m2g5Rc3_ipQpdLKNRix7FWxFayaplNdJX49h8skQ5F4/s320/the+jazz+ear.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275237716792114050" border="0" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br />The Jazz Ear by Ben Ratliff<br />The NY Times writer listens to music with some of jazz's greatest and most misunderstood players. It opened up new understandings about the things driving musicians I already know and introduced me to tunes and people I'd never heard of before. Ratliff does a hard thing: making jazz seem accessible to to those who don't listen to it and deepening the understanding of those already trained to hear it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO93pP6v9BiSFvB8yQ21su6SvkTYeJ9kaPZ1chrj8jEX5dsor4KSptEkjDkBtpzi2oSiZeAF3kRa48o8IEneAIITSUzWbq53xaC9kvPFtpWBOnQRly_AwIHqAEaljh-Z5idSq8oPqp4g/s1600-h/exmachina.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO93pP6v9BiSFvB8yQ21su6SvkTYeJ9kaPZ1chrj8jEX5dsor4KSptEkjDkBtpzi2oSiZeAF3kRa48o8IEneAIITSUzWbq53xaC9kvPFtpWBOnQRly_AwIHqAEaljh-Z5idSq8oPqp4g/s320/exmachina.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275237720063357762" border="0" /></a></div><div><br /><br />Ex Machina #35 by Brian K. Vaughn and Tony Harris<br />Superhero-tuned-mayor is the high concept that drives Ex Machina but it's really about the collision of the personal and political. This issue deals with the legacy of slavery in downtown Manhattan, centering on City Hall, and Vaughn avoids easy platiitudes to wind up in an uncomfortable but honest place.<br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-37685339838357959512008-11-05T09:00:00.000-08:002008-11-05T09:03:41.380-08:00The Greatest Fictional Politician of Our Times?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnA7N0QuWPCzQxftoJe4Wah2hshbUWpczq7ihYp2dm0HpzZm4p1utYHCNQMp7Q7Wgs7PwBVCBo0ReZhjnZKoCAXs2R8mWuA8IL8jYpcwKlxWR8wkte5kZtDlgawU-VAQ8hDg4W547lHM/s1600-h/clay+davis.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnA7N0QuWPCzQxftoJe4Wah2hshbUWpczq7ihYp2dm0HpzZm4p1utYHCNQMp7Q7Wgs7PwBVCBo0ReZhjnZKoCAXs2R8mWuA8IL8jYpcwKlxWR8wkte5kZtDlgawU-VAQ8hDg4W547lHM/s320/clay+davis.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265220184721204658" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-24235454429148348932008-05-19T18:07:00.000-07:002008-05-19T18:15:56.574-07:00Grand Text Auto<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PIscVkcphEdDoJZhbr1Om-BpDJZqLGrVm0ENDSriZnbLflzazuiLqKNLtVcFPT8PAB7KNX-rLmrMOURbrJyZzH3fLwGEAt75hV4MJqxUGUiBDyG8urfXGkFU4lN6taxS2yzod1aqJAY/s1600-h/View+from+the+top.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PIscVkcphEdDoJZhbr1Om-BpDJZqLGrVm0ENDSriZnbLflzazuiLqKNLtVcFPT8PAB7KNX-rLmrMOURbrJyZzH3fLwGEAt75hV4MJqxUGUiBDyG8urfXGkFU4lN6taxS2yzod1aqJAY/s320/View+from+the+top.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202262587548751602" border="0" /></a><br /><br />From <a href="http://www.crispygamer.com/_GeneratedPages/Previews/Preview74.aspx">pre-release hands-on</a> to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/source/media-mix/042708.html">writing</a> and talking about the game, it’s been damn near a month of GTA-mania for me. Here’s a few quick links to the things I’ve been working on:<br /><br /><a href="http://media.switchpod.com/users/crispygamer/BlazingPrattles12.m4a">Blazing Prattles</a><br />I got a bunch of folks together to talk GTA for Crispy Gamer’s podcast and everybody seems to have had a great time doing it. Let history show that my Crispy colleague Gus Mastrapa made a bold, early prophecy about possible cross-country travel in Niko Bellic’s future. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5xudBJ2fDKkXtoD7y4ZfrbBCMI_-4s1WOfv5hrqEb9_blQi5mo6q9qR3BtAhS3i8r0U71OVyjgFzliSCZgGcX2g6ydGce1B4UiYuomXAzVIR_YFinPMBb2mtwRSmIV8mYcChE42RDUk/s1600-h/Blazing+Prattles+art.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ5xudBJ2fDKkXtoD7y4ZfrbBCMI_-4s1WOfv5hrqEb9_blQi5mo6q9qR3BtAhS3i8r0U71OVyjgFzliSCZgGcX2g6ydGce1B4UiYuomXAzVIR_YFinPMBb2mtwRSmIV8mYcChE42RDUk/s320/Blazing+Prattles+art.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5202261797274769122" border="0" /></a>(Gus was answering my question about what might be next in terms of GTA’s forthcoming episodic content.) A few days after the podcast was recorded, <a href="http://kotaku.com/388835/niko-bellic-going-to-san-andreas">the internets went crazy over this shot</a> that appeared on the Rockstar Social Club site. When talking about the Little Jacob character fro GTA IV, Gus (who also writes for Paste, the Onion’s AV Club and Media Coverage at GameDaily) also had my favorite line from the podcast: “I never knew I wanted to be friends with a Jamaican drug dealer…”<br /><br /><a href="http://www.crispygamer.com/_GeneratedPages/Columns/Column813.aspx"><br />Thought/Process 004: Building Better Wor(l)ds</a><br />The idea here was to try and work out some of the thoughts I’ve been having about the intersection of story and experience in video games.<br /><blockquote>With our copter in freefall, I hit the Y button, foolishly thinking I could jump into the pilot's seat. Instead, I followed after our fellow gunsel, as if we had some bizarre suicide love pact.</blockquote>I don’t know how successful I was in breaking any kind of new theoretical ground, but I’m glad to have gotten that stuff out of my brain.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/time-in/29509/grand-theft-auto-iv">Time Out Chicago review</a><br />Here we have the pitfalls of multiple-outlet deadline crunch, in that you’ll see some of the same thoughts and language I’ve used elsewhere about GTA IV crop again.Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-34665486316701173762008-03-19T12:54:00.000-07:002008-03-19T13:04:05.671-07:00Writers I Like<a href="http://www.tnr.com/story.html?id=c6ac05ce-3b9b-4040-94f0-de31c849692c">Paul Beatty on Obama</a>:<br /><blockquote>Yes, I know that after his resounding victory in the Iowa caucus, pundits decided that Barack's win proved that race was of political inconsequence, but I bet that they thought the same thing the day after O.J. Simpson was arrested.<br /></blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/books/review/Whitehead-t.html?scp=1&sq=colson+whitehead&st=nyt">Colson Whitehead on the Brooklyn Writer Mystique</a>:<br /><blockquote>What do they expect me to say? “Instead of ink, I write in mustard from Nathan’s Famous, a Brooklyn institution since 1916.” “I built my desk out of wooden planks taken from the authentic rubble of Ebbets Field. Have I mentioned how I still haven’t forgiven the Dodgers for moving to Los Angeles?”</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="http://www.ta-nehisi.com/2008/03/blogging-the--1.html">Ta-Nehisi Coates on writing his memoir</a> (his blog is a must-read, btw):<br /><blockquote>Ah well, I can remember cats coming to school the next day bragging about how Humpty ripped it on that "the underground's down for peace among brothers" (how is it that him and Shock G are on stage together). But all I remember watching this clip was that the dark-skin chick in Oaktown 357 was a stunner. We'll get Juicy Got You Crazy in here at some point. No pubescent boy should have seen that video.</blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-83194368523540506632008-03-19T12:38:00.000-07:002008-03-19T12:56:54.734-07:00Haitian Cogitation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNqeFGKGFGhnAGbNa7TKsIqF7p2CY5ZvfEAlDGxKJ6U7nB1sELXPtknorGMbr7TcgNRqvzNt9WfNzCmlk4c1BddiVV_PvPnPgzekpXWynaFhcWZ2IBhKynDffj1plt-5O0bO5e5_nhPQ/s1600-h/Every+Extend+Extra.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWNqeFGKGFGhnAGbNa7TKsIqF7p2CY5ZvfEAlDGxKJ6U7nB1sELXPtknorGMbr7TcgNRqvzNt9WfNzCmlk4c1BddiVV_PvPnPgzekpXWynaFhcWZ2IBhKynDffj1plt-5O0bO5e5_nhPQ/s320/Every+Extend+Extra.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179543517229316146" /></a><br /><br /><br />The latest edition of my Thought/Process column went live at <a href="http://crispygamer.com/">Crispy Gamer</a>. In this edition, I talk abut why it's hard to get a sense of auteurship out of video game development and some games that I think verge on the artistic. It's a brain-twisting premise, but I'm pretty proud of at least attempting to tweak the lens through which we look at video games.<br /><br />A quick excerpt:<br /> <blockquote>The thing about game development is that it's still a market-driven mode of creativity, and it's creativity by committee. As such, it's hard to build a body of work that evinces a particular aesthetic, a sense of where the creators' head/heart might be at in a moment of time. There's a reason that games like Rez get trotted out when the ongoing "Are Games Art?" argument boils over periodically. Rez and, to a degree, its EEE cousins try to alter the user's perceptions of sight and hearing. By intertwining the two senses closely, it attempts to blur the lines between the two in an effort to simulate synesthesia.</blockquote><br /><br />For more, follow the link: <a href="http://crispygamer.com/_GeneratedPages/Columns/Column650.aspx">Thought/Process 002</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-71856443200865428952008-03-17T12:47:00.000-07:002008-03-17T15:52:37.467-07:00Haitian Moderation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5oG96sNwvOTwe6dzxfVx6ool2EqbiregVq82ZY7nJHc4tG9RQKXVlWaNmu9DtLpCkrj2xk4XPzCtJcQKOisJWiAVitmBdBfWyLC4aZV20VCSZOFCIUsd2kpbIou0BDcJ3XLol_jFQtt4/s1600-h/splat.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5oG96sNwvOTwe6dzxfVx6ool2EqbiregVq82ZY7nJHc4tG9RQKXVlWaNmu9DtLpCkrj2xk4XPzCtJcQKOisJWiAVitmBdBfWyLC4aZV20VCSZOFCIUsd2kpbIou0BDcJ3XLol_jFQtt4/s320/splat.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5178847212405393794" /></a><br /><br />Last Saturday, I moderated a panel at <a href="http://www.nycip.org/graphicnovelsymposium/panel.php">Splat</a>!, a graphic novel symposium. It was a last-minute set-up, with the e-mail asking me to participate coming on the preceding Wednesday. I had little prep time and the 9:00 am start time was hella early for me–especially considering it was on the weekend–but I think it went pretty well. (It's the first one on the linked page; things happened so quickly they didn't have time to update the info with my name and bio.) Of special note was that there were three black men on the panel of nerd experts, the first time any such thing has ever happened to me.<br /><br />Here's a snippet from a blog post on <a href="http://www.fleen.com/archives/2008/03/17/splat-aftermath-splaftermath/">Fleen</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>In terms of presentation, the Who Reads Graphic Novels? and Webcomics: A Primer seemed to run most smoothly; this was probably a function of the panelists present and the moderators — wrangling smart, opinionated people is an art form, and Evan Narcisse and Colleen Venable just seemed to do the best job of it (it doesn’t hurt that Narcisse has both a conversational style and voice very similar to that of Elvis Mitchell).</blockquote><br /><br /><br />NPR, here I come!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-34811126505421934002008-03-05T09:28:00.000-08:002008-03-06T20:16:24.909-08:00Haitian RepresentationHere's what I've been up to, in terms of non-book stuff:<br /><br />• The usual weekly <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/source/media-mix/030208.html">Washington Post</a> and bi-weekly <a href="http://www.timeout.com/chicago/Search.do?q=Evan+Narcisse&x=0&y=0&DCMP=OTC-chicago-home-search">Time Out Chicago</a> game reviews keep on rolling along.<br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/levelup/archive/2008/03/05/evan-narcisse-on-shared-single-player-gaming.aspx">A guest post on Level Up</a>, N'Gai Croal's video game blog at Newsweek, just went up today. Aside from being a friend, N'Gai's one of the most well-regarded journalists working in the video game space right now and Level Up may be THE place to go for high-level critique (at least in the mainstream media) so it's very cool of him to let me play in his "house", as it were. My admittedly heady entry talks about how a solo game experience changes when it's shared, using my examples of playing Portal (below) and Assassins' Creed with a friend as a launching pad.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rDzjTWCk9JL3VycqH2PKWm1iu9Anc__k4awfHjq5cMSevO0G8b6B772a4LBsCSU0Gbi_SinKyKQSad0tG4809kyATxARemJTtfGP966GaLgTGXn879TcTAmWzWzw-iT4hMEEh00oVoA/s1600-h/portal+screenshot.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rDzjTWCk9JL3VycqH2PKWm1iu9Anc__k4awfHjq5cMSevO0G8b6B772a4LBsCSU0Gbi_SinKyKQSad0tG4809kyATxARemJTtfGP966GaLgTGXn879TcTAmWzWzw-iT4hMEEh00oVoA/s320/portal+screenshot.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174381898645490978" /></a><br /><br />• <a href="http://crispygamer.com/">Crispy Gamer</a>, a new video game website powered by a murderer's row of freelancers including yours truly, launched about a month ago. I'm producing and moderating their podcast, Blazing Prattles, and writing Thought/Process, a monthly column of critique for the site, too. You should be able to click on my name and get a page with all my contributions so far. I'm pretty proud of the stuff I'm doing for CG so please check it out. While I was at GDC, my Crispy Gamer colleagues and I did an interview with iconic game developer Warren Spector. I kinda took the bull by the horns here and commandeered the time we had with Warren, but I feel like the resulting podcast came out great.<br /><br />• Because no one demanded it, Scott Jones and I did another video game segment on the local CW affiliate (Channel 11). We talk about recent releases that are fun to play during Spring Break. You can see it <a href="http://cw11.trb.com/news/local/morningnews/?track=nav">here</a>, once you scroll down a bit. <br /><br />• <a href="http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/books/26573/passing-game">My piece on Mat Johnson ran a few weeks ago in Time Out New York</a>. This one was a weird tightrope to walk, since it had to talk about both Mat and his new graphic novel Incognegro. I liked Mat's writing way before I ever met him, but I didn't want the article to come off like one friend writing about another. Nevertheless, it was a fun piece to write.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6gf9V-Ak8UF4f7z6H8ubbqTYMtJx0__JUMvPV4mAA3XlQToPYTElAkGC_LoA8WQuDHiTxZhj7Q-1oUWH8Vh08_jW6hjIeE7GREnAD85Ot310FialIkb4Tj7kj4wUSEfIeYKuWsO4TQM/s1600-h/Incognegro.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX6gf9V-Ak8UF4f7z6H8ubbqTYMtJx0__JUMvPV4mAA3XlQToPYTElAkGC_LoA8WQuDHiTxZhj7Q-1oUWH8Vh08_jW6hjIeE7GREnAD85Ot310FialIkb4Tj7kj4wUSEfIeYKuWsO4TQM/s320/Incognegro.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174383290214894898" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-71530794856050820602008-02-26T22:14:00.000-08:002008-02-26T23:11:08.134-08:00On the RealSome weeks ago, my friend Jamie told me to keep Tuesday open for some sort of mystery man-date. He then had to reschedule in two weeks because of some work drama, but the event would still be on a Tuesday. I was guessing that it would be us going to <a href="http://popcultureshock.com/cbclub/">Comic Book Club</a>, since I'd mentioned a while ago that we should check it out.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3W0lLozD-fDGSMA3d_vP9d7eGilPvcLwjlZNcjjHbNqTP-JSJbFyg-ZRBKVUzdZNHWVZxc157hBtEdLMwAkVn9tC-whWUisTc7fx_W9fXlNZv2k6QKjNPoYENcxHPlsXoTEobZJjsK0/s1600-h/passingstrange2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw3W0lLozD-fDGSMA3d_vP9d7eGilPvcLwjlZNcjjHbNqTP-JSJbFyg-ZRBKVUzdZNHWVZxc157hBtEdLMwAkVn9tC-whWUisTc7fx_W9fXlNZv2k6QKjNPoYENcxHPlsXoTEobZJjsK0/s320/passingstrange2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171551788768600226" border="0" /></a><br />I'd never have guessed that I'd be seeing a musical. But, there we were, two straight men in the mezzanine, talking about our girlfriends until the lights dimmed. I recently read a piece in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/magazine/17wwln-Q4-t.html">New York Times Magazine </a>about Stew, the play's writer/subject/performer, and thought some of the ideas in the production sounded cool, but filed it away in the back of my head. A while back, Jamie had played me some of Stew's music–from his band The Negro Problem and his solo stuff–and while I dug the power of his voice and the smartness of his lyrics, the music overall sounded too neat, too mannered for me. Passing Strange elicited the exact opposite reaction out of me. The play's a piece of "autobiographical fiction" that traces Stew's coming-of-age from South Central LA to Amsterdam to Germany.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnj5XehGPwGYmqDBhn3FvBSvKaHlQxmRhVICXTdNHYs4_0Y7aSpIgNqPdx9KkWNcgxaQ_UIsiZu17U4ic-hwXerku1kwrQRRfWOcF_rVRED8nOVWF2FJr7IITOw2kWeDwWTT9-Iu3aDVE/s1600-h/passingstrange.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnj5XehGPwGYmqDBhn3FvBSvKaHlQxmRhVICXTdNHYs4_0Y7aSpIgNqPdx9KkWNcgxaQ_UIsiZu17U4ic-hwXerku1kwrQRRfWOcF_rVRED8nOVWF2FJr7IITOw2kWeDwWTT9-Iu3aDVE/s320/passingstrange.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171552007811932338" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Stew's songs wrap humor around tension around sadness with a bunch of funk, church and Broadway sprinkled all over them. (Now that I'm writing this, the music sorta reminds me of Cee-Lo's solo albums in their wide-ranging, psychedelic ambition.) He deals a lot with the idea of authenticity, especially as regards blackness. As Stew's onstage avatar tries to figure out what it means to really be an artist, to be really black and to be the real him, I laughed out in certain places where it kinda felt wrong but I couldn't help it.<br /><br />The staging and the structure are spare and clever, with the small, terrific cast assuming multiple parts, singing along with the band, dancing, vamping and basically doing whatever is required of them. Stew himself narrates and interacts with his younger self, adding a fun metatextual layer to the proceedings. The emotions ring true in every bit of Passing Strange and, as Jamie said, it's good to see a rock musical that actually rocks. As I was watching it, I was thinking everybody I know needs to see this. (Some more than others: *Rakisha*)<br /><br />There's no doubt I'll be seeing this again.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-90580844009526973122008-02-21T08:19:00.000-08:002008-02-21T09:54:44.103-08:00Check the RimeI'm out in San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference, which has increased my love of the world of video games, like, a thousandfold. Seems to me like this is where the ideas flow and where people think of games as a medium first, and an industry second.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9SKUQ8wKsSdp-rNOhyphenhyphenPVClBj7z_frWiQRN69CpLqt_uD1docScZHu2kmOKrPiC9Ffj5P4hnQLS5lG5BNIQh4qKG2tumhzC3oQD0JikczxW7B5k7P6oATj73sk_1TcULcuGZ0oRLpZyM/s1600-h/gdc08_black.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9SKUQ8wKsSdp-rNOhyphenhyphenPVClBj7z_frWiQRN69CpLqt_uD1docScZHu2kmOKrPiC9Ffj5P4hnQLS5lG5BNIQh4qKG2tumhzC3oQD0JikczxW7B5k7P6oATj73sk_1TcULcuGZ0oRLpZyM/s320/gdc08_black.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169488117112414322" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Last night, Sony threw a great party where Guru and Q-Tip performed. I haven't been a hip-hop concert in ages and honestly, my old, still-on-East-Coast-time ass was thinking about not going. "Oh, I should go home and work. Oh, it's too late. Oh, the show won't start until 1 a.m. Oh, what do I need to see those fools for? I saw them back in the day."<br /><br />Fuck all that.<br /><br />This show did what it was supposed to do, which I think was transporting folks back to the days when Sony dominated the home console market, instead struggling for second place the way they are now. The party started at 9, and it was a cool block party set up in a club called Mezzanine. Open bar, finger food, blah blah blah. The event firm did have some nice touches, though: basketball hoops off to the side of the stage, '70s-era flicks projected onto the wall, b-boys and girls uprocking and spinning, and my favorite bit, two barbers cutting heads, so you could get that "fresh fade from Rob" look without going to a barbershop right behind the mall.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifi4qOOLbEFgEU-Tn1X_LijyXZkpJJoaG0g5PqTdzrt09sd-57y4ngLVpjN5tRL0T4Y2a3vRp1KCXFUwQJV44Z2xw09b8eAjsjDB4jQ_iMkUzvWxIRRudh2T5Hka5y8tnosyRQOUQrAcY/s1600-h/DSCF1793.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifi4qOOLbEFgEU-Tn1X_LijyXZkpJJoaG0g5PqTdzrt09sd-57y4ngLVpjN5tRL0T4Y2a3vRp1KCXFUwQJV44Z2xw09b8eAjsjDB4jQ_iMkUzvWxIRRudh2T5Hka5y8tnosyRQOUQrAcY/s320/DSCF1793.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169488903091429506" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Anyway, the other cool thing about this show was that Guru strolled onto the stage at about 10 pm, meaning that I wasn't going to lose my voice for screaming over the music or drink too much because I was bored. His hype man (no, I don't know his name; he's a hype man, for Christ's sake) was type annoying during his crowd warm-up and after, but Keith Elam opened strong with "Mass Appeal." From then on, it was a set heavy with post-Gangstarr and Jazzmatazz cuts. Guru's behind may be on the fringes, but he's stayed busy. I stopped paying attention after the second Jazzmatazz album and, honestly, the shit they did wasn't impressive enough to make me want to run out and get a complete set. I was glad to see that Guru apparently doesn't suffer from much of that angry-rapper bitterness that sets in when trends pass them by. He seemed sincere about the shit he's putting out now through his 7 Grand label. One thing that struck me about his half of the show is the depth of Guru's lyricism. Dude wrote and continues to write some pretty insightful lines. Two things bothered me about his set, though: (1) both Guru and hype-dude kept on reminding us that we were hearing hip-hop and jazz, but a live instrument was nowhere to be found. Kind of a glaring contradiction, no? (2) they also kept on referring to tunes as classics and while some of them were, some of them most certainly weren't. And, y'know true classics don't need calling out.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSjuwH6mMdzlUctxupLeB0HC3zchDkAeRDJbX9QL5YmZkrwKzKBaPCk2sYuo2B1b3eZmC3OH7tAOvYOK2QoRJFZxHEpItHMGPQMhjJ_em7lmqjerTNkwVnBJxCqTlPspc21OMVjRSmrik/s1600-h/DSCF1837.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSjuwH6mMdzlUctxupLeB0HC3zchDkAeRDJbX9QL5YmZkrwKzKBaPCk2sYuo2B1b3eZmC3OH7tAOvYOK2QoRJFZxHEpItHMGPQMhjJ_em7lmqjerTNkwVnBJxCqTlPspc21OMVjRSmrik/s320/DSCF1837.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169489920998678674" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Which brings us to The Abstract Poet Incognito. I won't be writing as much about this set because, well, I <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/evan.narcisse/GDCPlaystationParty022008?authkey=9UcZ-r0w1Po">documented</a> <a href="http://www.sendspace.com/file/s994u0">much of it</a>. I will say this, though: Tip still wants it. Jonathan Davis came out fired up and showed off a masterful command of the stage and crowd from the first note. The song transitions were seamless and even surprising at times. Dude struck some humble notes during his mic time and never ever seemed to evince an ego which, if I had his body of work, would be more than a little justified. (Unlike Mr. Fiasco, Jonathan Davis really earned his right to swagger.) Tip's band-and-DJ back-up was tight and the man himself ripped lots of classic Quest stuff. He did it all solo, too, reciting other people's parts and even crooning some hooks. The new stuff (maybe two tracks?) sounded good and seems to move away from the overly fusion-y indulgences of the never-released Kamal the Abstract album. (Todd, you better still have that somewhere for archival purposes...) Apparently, there's a new album called The Renaissance coming out in June and after last night's set, be sure that I'll be copping a CD when I get the chance. I'll let the video do most of the talking, but I'll close out by saying that it's awesome when an artist justifies the rose-colored warm fuzziness of your nostalgia.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwj4_n0WvR4BFRs04RtEx3u5cMIUVr4ysas2pSr64bZGq5f_oBiVKwR6b9vs5f6wI9cHpeob36B99O8_iEipg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-75590444913884348252008-02-06T23:44:00.000-08:002008-02-06T23:47:15.445-08:00Hater AidIssuu's a new website that converts PDF documents into Flash files. I decided to try it out on an old magazine piece I wrote a while back.<br /><br /><div><object style="width:331px;height:230px"><param name="movie" value="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf?mode=preview&previewLayout=white&documentId=080207073723-3cf09cab69c74417ab4b7e87298b6761&backgroundColor=%23000000&layout=grey"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent" style="width:331px;height:230px" flashvars="mode=preview&previewLayout=white&documentId=080207073723-3cf09cab69c74417ab4b7e87298b6761&backgroundColor=%23000000&layout=grey"></embed></object><div style="width:331px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://issuu.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/previewers/style1/v1/m1.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a><a href="http://issuu.com/viewer?mode=embed&documentId=080207073723-3cf09cab69c74417ab4b7e87298b6761&layout=grey" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/previewers/style1/v1/m2.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a><a href="http://issuu.com/embed/guide?documentId=080207073723-3cf09cab69c74417ab4b7e87298b6761&width=425&height=301" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/previewers/style1/v1/m3.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a></div></div>Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-16826756971554476022008-01-21T22:24:00.001-08:002008-01-22T01:05:55.278-08:00If Elected...It feels like I've been away longer than I actually have, but it has been a while. I've been pretty busy and generally pretty proud of the stuff I've been doing. I'm itching to share some of what I've been working on with however many loyal readers I've got out there. (Feels so weird to type that...) Things will hopefully be approved and/or launching soon and folks will get to sample the various and sundry projects that have taken up my time.<br /><br />On the book front, I had a meeting with my editor last week. We're just trying to build up momentum here and get the idea machine cranking so The Celebrity Collaborator can just jump in and press the gas. The FUNBE (friend/upstairs neighbor/book editor) and I got to talking and tried to deconstruct the intensity of the the two leading Democratic candidates' sparring. We got particularly stuck on this idea of Bill Clinton being the first black President.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlCsWJH3Tf0W73HxlBeaDSwUuzpEs4UxqmwZWZomXKA0L_p4SLJ82uqbuItYjugcsQem7pwElnvXTP-n02kZjtkP0ROTLjdMQzJ4HYBG03syk6h7OIaxEQ5ZFk5Dr0ajY02skX7AAdRnI/s1600-h/Barack+staking+it+out.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlCsWJH3Tf0W73HxlBeaDSwUuzpEs4UxqmwZWZomXKA0L_p4SLJ82uqbuItYjugcsQem7pwElnvXTP-n02kZjtkP0ROTLjdMQzJ4HYBG03syk6h7OIaxEQ5ZFk5Dr0ajY02skX7AAdRnI/s320/Barack+staking+it+out.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158222304973429842" border="0" /></a><br /><br />While it's not that surprising that this meme has come up as Clinton and Obama vie for the Democratic nomination, it's pretty amazing that people treat it as if it's an actual issue. Let's be real: the whole thing started as a joke. A warm jest, an inclusive jape. Bill Clinton, savvy image-worker that he is, never seemed to protest too much under this make-believe melanin mantle. And, sure, he's got some offices in Harlem. And, yes, you can trot out all the other things people point to as signs that Bill's got that one drop floating in his veins: the single-mom Southern roots, the saxophone, the Links/Jack-and-Jill crew he hangs with, the ladies-man swagger and all the empathy and rhythm in his voice. Debate those all you want, but the reality still remains: Bill Clinton ain't no Black President.<br /><br />I'm not talking about his political record here. I'm talking about the elusive hoodoo that makes up the collective subconscious and wells up in certain individuals. While the FUNBE (who I must note is a smarter man than myself) and I were parleying in that midtown Manhattan office, I decided that maybe, just maybe, Black President isn't even an electable position, at least not in the way that the U.S.A. selects its Commander-in-Chief anyway.<br /><br />Because, the way I envision it, becoming Black President is a hearts-and-minds thing. It's about groundswell.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfd0Qi6TqTsyGEjSltRz_Avj3x5D5YULhSkom_Eeq2-dLisaxrfVRQmj_pzww9cpx2IZcs_UGXrkOG4rUiF_9fkPI7q9z6PGLAX5nTcfDV3oyP85lIWhdd90VCbNbwLB3j9dRxzPIZlF8/s1600-h/fela+crowd.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfd0Qi6TqTsyGEjSltRz_Avj3x5D5YULhSkom_Eeq2-dLisaxrfVRQmj_pzww9cpx2IZcs_UGXrkOG4rUiF_9fkPI7q9z6PGLAX5nTcfDV3oyP85lIWhdd90VCbNbwLB3j9dRxzPIZlF8/s320/fela+crowd.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158224040140217490" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Fela Kuti was a Black President. (It's the title of one of his albums and where the germ of this idea started in my head.)<br /><br />Miles Davis was a Black President. (Yeah, even with all his fucked-up shit.)<br /><br />Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes and James Brown were the Black President at the same time. (No, not Co-Presidents. Separate Black Presidents with overlapping terms. Chew on that.)<br /><br />Duke Ellington was a Black President. (Thus proving that you can be royalty and President at the same time.)<br /><br />Jacob Lawrence was a Black President. (On the strength of the campaign posters alone...)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPclCPORqZEY6AMpdQF6AItZqxCcrWG49G6O6yeqmP4VezsqtD3-qWfYja1LwmLX_x5vt50XSV2B_F9YlqpBpvops8aUw_9VKB4H7nGfUqh9CXMzyCLlP-5Eei_DaYoPz4hgCuaT6-7-s/s1600-h/zora.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPclCPORqZEY6AMpdQF6AItZqxCcrWG49G6O6yeqmP4VezsqtD3-qWfYja1LwmLX_x5vt50XSV2B_F9YlqpBpvops8aUw_9VKB4H7nGfUqh9CXMzyCLlP-5Eei_DaYoPz4hgCuaT6-7-s/s320/zora.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158222317858331778" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Zora Neale Hurston was a Black President. (First female President in 2008? Yawn. Got there like 70, 80 years ago. Thanks for playing, though.)<br /><br />Ralph Ellison was a Black President. (Hell, <span style="font-style: italic;">Invisible Man</span>'s practically a manual about the electoral process.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbNuJFQJz9AICpXWcb-1th2crWZTwzAXsV9SPmzfw-VOLW-Nz2OKUn-Astm7AnEprd4dvGLC3JRnbA3pqCrdfjpPthNhKwWDMsPc3cHmPvW2prLa_43PwNtRmQyyf2Ao6SbuFcMR2sf-c/s1600-h/PE+logo.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbNuJFQJz9AICpXWcb-1th2crWZTwzAXsV9SPmzfw-VOLW-Nz2OKUn-Astm7AnEprd4dvGLC3JRnbA3pqCrdfjpPthNhKwWDMsPc3cHmPvW2prLa_43PwNtRmQyyf2Ao6SbuFcMR2sf-c/s320/PE+logo.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158222313563364466" border="0" /></a><br /><br />That nameless, faceless S1W (Remember them? Peace to the Security of the First World soldiers. ) in the crosshairs of the Public Enemy logo? He was a Black President.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxc_q7Ga7GkJ_eYED1o1Nan4HT98a944NQeece06tTcR_ZILQGRvvzXuXAi_8UNFbvqTK1ReOJoQr2YPr4LzUdz_X-CeFSV11CAFl_dohEHy9zY9szMPGOz-DozQYHJN4IFnzdcauj2fk/s1600-h/chapelle+prez.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxc_q7Ga7GkJ_eYED1o1Nan4HT98a944NQeece06tTcR_ZILQGRvvzXuXAi_8UNFbvqTK1ReOJoQr2YPr4LzUdz_X-CeFSV11CAFl_dohEHy9zY9szMPGOz-DozQYHJN4IFnzdcauj2fk/s320/chapelle+prez.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158222313563364450" border="0" /></a><br />Dave Chappelle was a Black President. (And he can return to active duty whenever he wants, as far as I'm concerned.)<br /><br />See, Black Presidents wage sociocultural campaigns and get elected in invisible caucuses. No announcements need to happen, because the results become readily evident. Sometimes the hoodoo vote and the ballot-and-button world might collide. (I'd like to think that Shirley Chisolm was a Black President.) The status of Black President comes from the planes of persona, iconography and metaphor, from participating in those areas in both conscious and subconscious ways. It's a dangerous alchemy that a BP candidate can't always control and, moreover, shouldn't necessarily try to. Eventually, one might find that the right stew jes grew.<br /><br /><br />I'm not gonna run the metaphor into the ground and start parsing who the Black Cabinets and the Black Prime Ministers are or have been. We can debate and disagree* on who's actually on the official roster of past and present Presidents; that's just part of the dynamic. No one person decides. Most importantly, I'd even say that you kind of know who isn't a Black President. (Sorry, Tavis...) Heck, I'll even go so far as to say that, if elected, Obama may not even wind being a Black President. He could wind up being an African-American President or a multiracial President, but it may well be that he didn't do so hot on those invisible caucuses. (However, I will quote a writer I spoke to recently who said that all it took was watching Barack greet an associate while stumping to convince him. "He gave dude a pound. Side handshake, pulled in to the chest and the pat on the back. That's not scripted. That's instinct.")<br /><br /><br />Looking back, maybe Toni Morrison was putting some rootwork on Bill. ("Oh, you know, let's call him that if it'll help him–and us–out.") What Slick Willie may not know is that nowadays he's dangerously close to Anointed Ofay** territory and those guys never become President. They're frickin' harbingers of doom.<br /><br />Developing...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3m8nbAGmW1sxxV1kRzjSV_CDfFUxRpLoBQF05J70H6uVjSlLUMcpkmD-sZO5PBuNxe-oAcEjYXud_dJGtEUjAMMGwFNEkipi4egwHiP8X4JiqkvM6b1McUF4jcKR0_4kJBTveriTQGoI/s1600-h/time+mag+jesse+cover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3m8nbAGmW1sxxV1kRzjSV_CDfFUxRpLoBQF05J70H6uVjSlLUMcpkmD-sZO5PBuNxe-oAcEjYXud_dJGtEUjAMMGwFNEkipi4egwHiP8X4JiqkvM6b1McUF4jcKR0_4kJBTveriTQGoI/s320/time+mag+jesse+cover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158222304973429826" border="0" /></a><br /><br />*Lord knows there's lots of people on the bubble. Let’s talk it out, people! Jesse? Al? Dyson? And, yes, anyone who knows me knows that I'm being generous by even putting that last guy down as a maybe.<br /><br />**If you don't already know, you'll just have to pick up the book to find out what this means. 'Course, that means I have to write it, too.Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-46079173524202467202007-12-26T14:34:00.000-08:002007-12-26T15:28:07.632-08:00Hear Ye, Yearly!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://greg.medding.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/weighted-companion-cube.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://greg.medding.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/weighted-companion-cube.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>I've been <a href="http://www.timeout.com/chicago/Search.do?q=evan+Narcisse&neighborhood=&section=&date=&x=0&y=0">writing for Time Out Chicago</a> for a minute now and you can check out <a href="http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/time-in/25226/best-video-games-of-2007">my year-end video game list</a> on their website. I tried to do something a little different. I hope <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=j0PDGp1hL4w">GLaDOS</a> likes it as much as I like <a href="http://aperturescience.com/">her Christmas screen</a>. I also did some quick hits in the same vein for <a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20166551,00.html">Entertainment Weekly</a>.Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-61393814478459949502007-12-21T21:00:00.000-08:002007-12-21T21:15:26.849-08:00A for Effort<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRFFBv_H-jFJ2njckvs0AKzHa7qCdYkF4nGno1NYPZpglv8aPqLa9iY7p-Pq-27lkAFUF9UVu1vuNT2CnjSzyTkPHxEfC_-4qaDR1mMUn3EP6BchNJgPjuQI5HZsjWhdmR-ANZ_8bENA/s1600-h/aya.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaRFFBv_H-jFJ2njckvs0AKzHa7qCdYkF4nGno1NYPZpglv8aPqLa9iY7p-Pq-27lkAFUF9UVu1vuNT2CnjSzyTkPHxEfC_-4qaDR1mMUn3EP6BchNJgPjuQI5HZsjWhdmR-ANZ_8bENA/s320/aya.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146658432729653986" border="0" /></a><br />A few weeks ago, while reading another blog, I stumbled upon the fact that the Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/30/AR2007113001287_5.html">compiled a list of everything that has gotten an “A” grade over the course of 2007</a> in the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/source/media-mix/121607.html">Media Mix grid</a> of their Sunday Source section. I’ve been writing about video games and comics for this section of the WashPost for about four years now (I think) and this seems to be the first time that they’ve done something like this.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWxzvcNb8WET0ahvTSbVE4hb7B-dOCWv3duUWGAh3z1ZU4OvqM4oLvaxV2yXH7QdqKrHBFW9JDz6S4TknHIn3akzzoP8TAA31npTp_ILEmcRgQA4Y8RxBeXneA8lprYFLYGDCHBbdfOI/s1600-h/the+other+side.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWxzvcNb8WET0ahvTSbVE4hb7B-dOCWv3duUWGAh3z1ZU4OvqM4oLvaxV2yXH7QdqKrHBFW9JDz6S4TknHIn3akzzoP8TAA31npTp_ILEmcRgQA4Y8RxBeXneA8lprYFLYGDCHBbdfOI/s320/the+other+side.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146658668952855282" border="0" /></a>It’s kinda jarring to look back and see what games and comics offerings I stamped with the first letter of the alphabet. For the most part, I don’t have much Reviewer’s Regret about much of these grades. Out of 52 weeks of the year, I gave out 14 A grades, give or take. (These ain’t super-reliable numbers, since some weeks MediaMix doesn’t run and other weeks I’ll do two reviews or no review.) I did go on to give Rock Band and the Captain America Omnibus A-minuses a week later, so that works out to be a little more than a third of the time. I’m sure somewhere out there someone is grading my grading. It’s what the intarwebs was made for!Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-16625210497182820752007-12-20T14:25:00.000-08:002007-12-20T15:42:33.583-08:00Devilishly good<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifm1CImuIks0pewju8PXuTCn40HlztD2rRMqLv71y34yWQiLWpbaXtyQMVp_pc3Fd8-LlKzexPye0IRwi4rvdAGuPN0hCGR_eNvqy8STDbEBJPOKHE8AFWbJ3ec0biQFBRV4PhF91hL64/s1600-h/hellboy+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifm1CImuIks0pewju8PXuTCn40HlztD2rRMqLv71y34yWQiLWpbaXtyQMVp_pc3Fd8-LlKzexPye0IRwi4rvdAGuPN0hCGR_eNvqy8STDbEBJPOKHE8AFWbJ3ec0biQFBRV4PhF91hL64/s320/hellboy+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146195946356253266" border="0" /></a><br />Continuing on the theme of “Stuff Evan Should Be Up On But Isn’t,” I finished reading eight volumes of Hellboy a few weeks ago. I don’t know if it’s everything that’s in print but it seems like it’s the bulk of Hellboy-related material. My first memory of seeing Mike Mignola’s work was either on Marvel’s Alpha Flight or the house ads that were running in Marvel Comics for the Rocket Raccoon mini-series in the eighties. I remember thinking that his blocky, ink-heavy style immediately stood out from other prevailing sensibilities at the time and it still does more than 20 years later.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh04wBsDkQUPg2ignf4r5sRaWJckZgEtfgs4uLWycwewDtuPMhCFEMVnM8dRvaY3W1KPiGiLbtacRV_MCsxGZTPPbjFXB3GjuN7cnVr0YhQoKMMLhPLUqsb72tsxztjRLESzrVv1K3gwvU/s1600-h/hellboy+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh04wBsDkQUPg2ignf4r5sRaWJckZgEtfgs4uLWycwewDtuPMhCFEMVnM8dRvaY3W1KPiGiLbtacRV_MCsxGZTPPbjFXB3GjuN7cnVr0YhQoKMMLhPLUqsb72tsxztjRLESzrVv1K3gwvU/s320/hellboy+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146197471069643362" border="0" /></a><br />Hellboy’s a demonic spawn summoned to earth who winds up working as a paranormal investigator. The premise essentially riffs on the Entity That Should Be Evil But Isn’t idea, which probably goes back a long ways. (Of course, now I can’t get <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daimon_Hellstrom">the Son of Satan, Marvel’s 1970s-era character</a> of my head.) The thing I’ve grown to love about the Hellboy character is his almost-blasé, workaday attitude when it comes to dealing with bizarre creatures or macabre revelations about the Dark Forces of the Universe. He’s like a shit-talking, gun-wielding plumber (with the Right Hand of Doom, of course). Slimy, tentacled Elder God about to breach the borders of our reality? For Hellboy, it’s just time to make the donuts.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipGTdNhsAWbysRdZHghvYS6S00wiaWCj7tgvSzFmCTPl-7H8BGF7X84S6FJVIDQL5zAq4Za2BldDHpoOtE9w8Gy_d4gtWJXAdQ2SkTGFhwgP_Chxu5fdkR9PK93t18owkLszW6yW8RcRA/s1600-h/hellboy003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipGTdNhsAWbysRdZHghvYS6S00wiaWCj7tgvSzFmCTPl-7H8BGF7X84S6FJVIDQL5zAq4Za2BldDHpoOtE9w8Gy_d4gtWJXAdQ2SkTGFhwgP_Chxu5fdkR9PK93t18owkLszW6yW8RcRA/s320/hellboy003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146198918473622178" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghrxRH-q1lTxNDSBjtmw5LpMMj2dgSITfQ34-PmEASoi8ebINRcgICKiePuMz262k3GEK260Vn6m-EGsuxkRiG49HRGHj2PAUfBV8hL2senH9cCXEkS6P_28nRyU-OQTv0ZnfLtCE5ilk/s1600-h/hellboy004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghrxRH-q1lTxNDSBjtmw5LpMMj2dgSITfQ34-PmEASoi8ebINRcgICKiePuMz262k3GEK260Vn6m-EGsuxkRiG49HRGHj2PAUfBV8hL2senH9cCXEkS6P_28nRyU-OQTv0ZnfLtCE5ilk/s320/hellboy004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146199485409305266" border="0" /></a>Maybe it’s because I inhaled the bulk of it in a short span but it’s pretty striking how much Hellboy is its own thing. In the trade paperbacks, Mignola’s not shy about citing influences and sources but he manages to make them into a singular experience. There’s a real sense of mythos here that you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere else in comics nowadays. All throughout the collective work, Mignola’s lean plainspoken dialogue really lets the moodiness of his art emanate from the panels.<br /><br />I’ve never seen the Hellboy movie but loved Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, so I’m looking forward to renting the DVD and seeing what kind of job Ron Perelman does as the big red guy.<br /><br /><br />If this <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDPXz0Fi-aiEFoDIPrq4qzvrg_E6evIARCe1T1lwJgfOmRtrSQt3YtLHf9yBb3Uak3xbUgiaJqFgSM5m-1EhOoR3BLIC6gH_nXq82JQq7rethq8Ed6U7mmBXrPygjumQECXh8VLAsl1XM/s1600-h/hellboy+pancakes+pg+1.jpg">two</a>-<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRq5_Ze2DB-JEDzYkwIKgteC6J7-ATBZTTBJnGK5mAO6MMl73DilQRWJIwaIvJ5-rgL89VN-ON_lYP1qWPjueUnwzNA6FUXaRhhqd72EvMVk0Bb8-kTWkAoegbL37xg8YnDukvszYIRd0/s1600-h/hellboy+pancakes+pg+2.jpg">page</a> sequence makes it into the movie, then I'm there opening day.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRq5_Ze2DB-JEDzYkwIKgteC6J7-ATBZTTBJnGK5mAO6MMl73DilQRWJIwaIvJ5-rgL89VN-ON_lYP1qWPjueUnwzNA6FUXaRhhqd72EvMVk0Bb8-kTWkAoegbL37xg8YnDukvszYIRd0/s1600-h/hellboy+pancakes+pg+2.jpg"><br /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-59866586123703852892007-11-28T23:10:00.000-08:002007-11-28T23:19:30.002-08:00"Find the Haitian"If anybody’s still checking this blog after a woeful six-week absence, then please accept my sincerest apologies. I’ve been busy with lots of things. One of them was finally watching the first season of Heroes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_euQeH-KoglSOnWm3yZYEVpCQZqpMKxNdcImghOgnLgy5R_Zc6TSBL3bAWGN114s3zpulnI6VYZC27U7UTipEWkr6CxtB9ynsLwOLh1ooAI4xZrmToEVmui3pfUR458CYPgx7IDPXnU/s1600-h/heroes_image.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW_euQeH-KoglSOnWm3yZYEVpCQZqpMKxNdcImghOgnLgy5R_Zc6TSBL3bAWGN114s3zpulnI6VYZC27U7UTipEWkr6CxtB9ynsLwOLh1ooAI4xZrmToEVmui3pfUR458CYPgx7IDPXnU/s320/heroes_image.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5138156540304198434" border="0" /></a><br />To everyone who ever said “Oh my God, how are YOU, of all people, not watching this show?”: You were right. I was cynical at first. The initial episodes were slow and I kept waiting for a misstep, for the threads to go awry and fall apart. But the mix of unapologetic superhero trappings, strong emotional performances and generous screen time for a large cast of characters won me over.<br /><br />For a long time comic nerd like me, the fun was in catching references, seeing where inspirational material peeked through and what the show’s writers did with that.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmltLwIGYFdC9bcoPFQZFbP2ShHKXtejefVSZcK1LeYGe6cvr54dad8yjJfhge73NytS4dVAld5cg8mEfHhxfJ_sfY01HjHt7m5sAFLZjoGJK9DLiglXnPjoMx5EHnJ_2HouZs8BJWV-E/s1600-h/Noah+Bennet.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmltLwIGYFdC9bcoPFQZFbP2ShHKXtejefVSZcK1LeYGe6cvr54dad8yjJfhge73NytS4dVAld5cg8mEfHhxfJ_sfY01HjHt7m5sAFLZjoGJK9DLiglXnPjoMx5EHnJ_2HouZs8BJWV-E/s320/Noah+Bennet.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5138157102944914242" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiis2fvyEmZ6U05tpoR47ZDzxSrRspbqiuvy40tdteDZ_5tiVFXQYZQrX64eZegFCoC_BH506KxaZ2wHeRNWT5V6jkSk5nqTQ0yArLT3Jysb8M88Rq9elUjo8dVg8E7zNBZ9lp3a9h2NLQ/s1600-h/Gyrich.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiis2fvyEmZ6U05tpoR47ZDzxSrRspbqiuvy40tdteDZ_5tiVFXQYZQrX64eZegFCoC_BH506KxaZ2wHeRNWT5V6jkSk5nqTQ0yArLT3Jysb8M88Rq9elUjo8dVg8E7zNBZ9lp3a9h2NLQ/s320/Gyrich.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5138157214614063954" border="0" /></a>Claire’s dad Noah Bennett seems to a version of Henry Peter Gyrich, the government agent in Marvel Comics who’s always trying to keep mutants, the Avengers and various other powered types in line. I love the way they deepen the motivations of that character type. I also love the ethnic mix on the show. I haven’t watched the second season, but I hope that they continue to dodge the tokenism that plagues so much speculative fiction.<br /><br />Something about the universe the show creates–either the implied stakes of the action or the metaphorical significance of the characters’ powers–makes emotional moments in the show ring unexpectedly true. It could be the simple fact that we get to watch the actions and consequences play out, as opposed to reading between the lines of still images. There were a lot of moments where I was watching the show and thought, “That wouldn’t have worked on the printed page.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIRdrIMKbVcbvLqUoY0NhZ9yPBnxF7JtfF6qSNcwCLvM0NGrvT8X-dx0Gmjk_2R1ZGUVl5CaULHolHoFmjzynndPXMre-qyiWJdtJUlurtgiydUJwNZQdpE4Lh61OfDURiS3HqpjYRyzM/s1600-h/Heroes+graph+novel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIRdrIMKbVcbvLqUoY0NhZ9yPBnxF7JtfF6qSNcwCLvM0NGrvT8X-dx0Gmjk_2R1ZGUVl5CaULHolHoFmjzynndPXMre-qyiWJdtJUlurtgiydUJwNZQdpE4Lh61OfDURiS3HqpjYRyzM/s320/Heroes+graph+novel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5138156862426745650" border="0" /></a><br />I also love the way the first season played with conventions of the superhero genre: secret labs, the blessing/curse dichotomy of having powers, the way they play around with the idea of secret identities. I saw the ending of the finale coming a mile away and thought it fell a little flat. But, that doesn’t matter. The best thing about serial fiction is that, if you’re clever enough, you can continually build on a mythos to keep it fresh. The best thing about Haitians? Everybody thinks we’re spooky.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2kdgmszRUJAZzztOeNxBjgXVXHVzea35NBIzL4xJDxRuwgUyBGawSlRLBOUJbRGtCxu5pagiJ1fMxQC1KqjJrCZ_MWhlwklEbxTN22EDVONDzS6hIZzCFsqdb_zQpWX2dG4kf05EMFM/s1600-h/thehaitianfromheroes.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2kdgmszRUJAZzztOeNxBjgXVXHVzea35NBIzL4xJDxRuwgUyBGawSlRLBOUJbRGtCxu5pagiJ1fMxQC1KqjJrCZ_MWhlwklEbxTN22EDVONDzS6hIZzCFsqdb_zQpWX2dG4kf05EMFM/s320/thehaitianfromheroes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5138157373527853922" border="0" /></a>Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-3089025953072349842007-10-16T08:02:00.000-07:002007-10-16T10:08:34.594-07:00Hip-Hop, Ya Don't Stop?One of the challenges I'm facing in coming up with ideas for the book is how to talk about hip-hop. The time period that the book covers is essentially the entire life span of hip-hop. However, I'm struggling to find unique angles that haven't already been put forth in the many great books about rap music and its surrounding culture.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57XT1stPeYDrlmZhQpH5YQFR0XtKM0Wv5OUKD8eCTNwDwjn5zFvddlfZTgQiX6wyYIBFnksETVyBPh5nmi7ufbvZTj9NX3ubFclX9g38m94M_DHnfQ2MVT_CMBIjAZbEGORYLt0O4Y58/s1600-h/cantstopbkcover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57XT1stPeYDrlmZhQpH5YQFR0XtKM0Wv5OUKD8eCTNwDwjn5zFvddlfZTgQiX6wyYIBFnksETVyBPh5nmi7ufbvZTj9NX3ubFclX9g38m94M_DHnfQ2MVT_CMBIjAZbEGORYLt0O4Y58/s320/cantstopbkcover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121981479404088050" border="0" /></a><br />I've been turning to my favorite rappers for inspiration and had a few random thoughts. It could be that <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0736,westhoff,77680,22.html">MF Doom has succumbed to the fantastical dementia</a> that his lyrics hint at. The greatest strengths of his musical conception is that it creates a whole alternate universe for listeners to visit. But, it's been three years since his lat album and I worry that he will have totally squandered the groundswell of attention and goodwill sparked by the DangerDoom project. Is this a case of reclusive genius or an MC too caught up in his own hype? (And, yes, I know about the health problems but the question still remains valid.)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YYDlH5fPn2swPnN1f3z8aUcqApnlUEN4ogUMw1lsWIZDjkKLLyHsjK6c-XGeiCPAPUHr87rKxYpVSCZolR6u5yG8zgm8eXaAiKOlY6qQRMq22_chIATkpyHHw8sbIFLM2USr_Srec5w/s1600-h/doomsday.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YYDlH5fPn2swPnN1f3z8aUcqApnlUEN4ogUMw1lsWIZDjkKLLyHsjK6c-XGeiCPAPUHr87rKxYpVSCZolR6u5yG8zgm8eXaAiKOlY6qQRMq22_chIATkpyHHw8sbIFLM2USr_Srec5w/s320/doomsday.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121981496583957282" border="0" /></a><br />On the other hand, Doom's former running buddy MF Grimm seems to be garnering accolades for <span style="font-style: italic;">Sentences</span>, his first graphic novel. I wrote about it <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/daily/graphics/media_mix/090207/090207.html">here</a>. After re-reading it, I realized that if <span style="font-style: italic;">Sentences</span> was a song, or more appropriately, an album, I don’t know that I’d be that enthused by it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8t9m-f518s3ohyl0byVqGA8EjeQwtECxSufijkiiBpNBljAhvLoawF8aZ4oM_7KOU4VLYlHMD-ZYranEKNOmMkaTbARi5_DgmJybfkBn9Ruk2OyNee1O6VW1zkeCOmvL3UBCnQp18po/s1600-h/sentences.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8t9m-f518s3ohyl0byVqGA8EjeQwtECxSufijkiiBpNBljAhvLoawF8aZ4oM_7KOU4VLYlHMD-ZYranEKNOmMkaTbARi5_DgmJybfkBn9Ruk2OyNee1O6VW1zkeCOmvL3UBCnQp18po/s320/sentences.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121982273973037874" border="0" /></a><br />The unapologetic sentiment of the book's early chapters would've been hard to pull off in a rap lanscape where harder-than-you is still the order of the day. (Exceptions only seem to made for Ghostface, and God knows he earns 'em. All that we need is YOU, Tony Starks.) Something about the art on Sentences reminds me of graffiti, too, with its emphasis of elasticity and the way it eschews figurative literalness.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8dTiBwoK6BDA7wM19gFjqmAjS3MYVYe6QBgNhiRInXIprCFnfFaGG8ltX3s-YIJAZG91JYhI6CBXeMfkewcjSqnrhs_Xa4G3CRjUdnb4JseqF2ap2F1twixHCO5VfuZyOpEBZ0X8oBc/s1600-h/sentences+excerpt.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8dTiBwoK6BDA7wM19gFjqmAjS3MYVYe6QBgNhiRInXIprCFnfFaGG8ltX3s-YIJAZG91JYhI6CBXeMfkewcjSqnrhs_Xa4G3CRjUdnb4JseqF2ap2F1twixHCO5VfuZyOpEBZ0X8oBc/s320/sentences+excerpt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121981492288989970" border="0" /></a>Sentences mostly triumphs by presenting some of the best aspects of hip-hop in a non-musical form. That strikes me as ironic in an age where rap music is the weakest selling point of hip-hop culture.<br /><br />All this has got me thinking about the way hip-hop creates a worldview for its faithful. Nowadays, it seems like MCs act like hip-hop owes them something. Straight out the gate, they carp about being hated on. MF'ers (no pun intended) need to realize that you're gonna get hated on; after all, no one gave rap a free pass when it started to bubble up from the streets. There's a real dearth of what I call “just happy to be here” rap. Dave turned me on to <a href="http://www.myspace.com/bluroc">Blu</a> and <a href="http://www.myspace.com/alexile">Exile</a>'s CD and the thing that grabs me is that dude just sounds like he's having fun. When did that become such a rarity?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuWq090BKthijnGhgx_P-tw8mHzRJjfLDpqrZnlFIgO3ND8s7PchoMEZX5q2cexoz-WPGu-pE5urNGshorv62u9iopXk9GBLMdPMlvLmFNJZKxmOdD3MbMX7KfSHbo6pZJIwd7JdKyPqg/s1600-h/SIC014-cover-400x400.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuWq090BKthijnGhgx_P-tw8mHzRJjfLDpqrZnlFIgO3ND8s7PchoMEZX5q2cexoz-WPGu-pE5urNGshorv62u9iopXk9GBLMdPMlvLmFNJZKxmOdD3MbMX7KfSHbo6pZJIwd7JdKyPqg/s320/SIC014-cover-400x400.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121981483699055362" border="0" /></a><br />So, let's look at this particular moment with regard to the two aforementioned MCs: one seemingly trapped in a world he made and the other possibly escaping boundaries by re-inventing the very thing that took away his mobility. We could be talking about either MF, right? There's gotta be somethere I can use...Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-56992705077447126352007-10-16T07:35:00.001-07:002007-10-16T08:02:13.659-07:00Black Machismo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Fjgl80dlk_UwfjUQTOwC-XpSxQjIpXEPY13Eh2voT_pZ047I9hWKWX09gqZ8i3YdIrp64xufBcGXCI7YtkRno2A7aobpsiKmLfTjWVvB9HcFgGeSOcKpZrRtUeRnJ8JnRjFmbSXqXIc/s1600-h/CIMG0981.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Fjgl80dlk_UwfjUQTOwC-XpSxQjIpXEPY13Eh2voT_pZ047I9hWKWX09gqZ8i3YdIrp64xufBcGXCI7YtkRno2A7aobpsiKmLfTjWVvB9HcFgGeSOcKpZrRtUeRnJ8JnRjFmbSXqXIc/s400/CIMG0981.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121943640742210258" border="0" /></a><br />Meet my new favorite wrestler. Jay Lethal works the ropes for TNA and he's the current champ of their lightweight X Division. I got flown down for the federation's announcement of their first-ever video game, which coincided with their Bound for Glory pay-per-view event.<br /><br /> Jay's a big nerd and we were going back and forth quoting lines from Frisky Dingo<br />before the night was over. He loves Gears of War but sadly, I didn't get his gamertag.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09jvlItFbXViACLgAM8GY8JQIhqbNegfPP-VZviLVHOcndGa7l2qEEIopzCtWtYJEk3UIPviOfECI2HNnYgCXoFk7R9lwjevGVHUZ16GJG8so30fF3NozEumquFjoXwJnEi6TEQywg8A/s1600-h/CIMG1081.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09jvlItFbXViACLgAM8GY8JQIhqbNegfPP-VZviLVHOcndGa7l2qEEIopzCtWtYJEk3UIPviOfECI2HNnYgCXoFk7R9lwjevGVHUZ16GJG8so30fF3NozEumquFjoXwJnEi6TEQywg8A/s400/CIMG1081.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5121949477602765538" border="0" /></a>The best thing about Mr. Lethal is that he's currently working a Black Machismo gimmick that has him doing a spot-on imitation of the great Macho Man Randy Savage.<br /><br /><object height="353" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/P47IuE8zKPc&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/P47IuE8zKPc&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="353" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Sheer brilliance.Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-74707445097379304322007-09-27T21:46:00.000-07:002007-09-27T21:55:02.027-07:00Halo, is it me you're looking for?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtWMri-Y006zrwOEE_atvcyP5aIY8aOEohaP7b6M5U1cTxuGqiHisJbIg984Rw0ykWf59LRuK9YJ_n7Hymwy_xSla8LEzr_DcifoUBR7pHyBwMLzTUhagr7z86ZVnj0vFluuBl_N6iMM/s1600-h/PSP_whacaweeman.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtWMri-Y006zrwOEE_atvcyP5aIY8aOEohaP7b6M5U1cTxuGqiHisJbIg984Rw0ykWf59LRuK9YJ_n7Hymwy_xSla8LEzr_DcifoUBR7pHyBwMLzTUhagr7z86ZVnj0vFluuBl_N6iMM/s400/PSP_whacaweeman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5115113791042982274" border="0" /></a><br />My piece for GameDaily (fka AOL Video Games) about <a href="http://www.gamedaily.com/games/halo-3/xbox-360/game-features/giving-halo-3-the-horns/5186/66958/">other publishers trying to counter-program Halo 3</a> went live late on Thursday. It was kind of a logistical pain-in-the-ass, to be honest, and someone really needs to teach game developers how to give good quote.Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-57167282614031360192007-09-27T13:12:00.000-07:002007-09-27T13:45:50.685-07:00Somewhere, the bells of the Apocalypse are getting ready to toll...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ-32K3NStadioaQlrWkYMEAve5pVS19wmZVNm29WhHchoGX-NISLO8E0zj1gz5oZvLi-5H_67q2g05LNHRA9wBZlljJYFrvVC43iLES-OOoyCCFl7h2kawT82aXWclVwg7qzosgMJydw/s1600-h/whatifxmen001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ-32K3NStadioaQlrWkYMEAve5pVS19wmZVNm29WhHchoGX-NISLO8E0zj1gz5oZvLi-5H_67q2g05LNHRA9wBZlljJYFrvVC43iLES-OOoyCCFl7h2kawT82aXWclVwg7qzosgMJydw/s400/whatifxmen001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114987003608404322" border="0" /></a><br />because someone went and found Larry Stroman. <a href="http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=11976">CBR</a>'s got the scoop.<br /><br />It's funny because dude has created this air of mystery by his very absence, kind of like how people used to wonder about whatever happened to Sly Stone. Maybe Mr. Stroman was inspired by Sly's recent Grammy appearance and Vanity Fair article?<br /><br />Stroman's popularity wasn't all mystery and hype, though. Dude could put serious burn on the page. Honed by early work as a caricaturist (if I'm remembering correctly), his style's never been really imitated or aped. Hell, even his influences are hard to track, though I'd guess that he studied some Michael Golden and/or Marshall Rogers back in the day. He always applied interesting layouts to both individual panels and whole pages, and used strong constrasts and sharp design sense to make even older characters seem fresh.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYugQEXaIpKaVGlw-OUTzarGQXEdJ55Oe3bilMICST2wJyfkkPw7XI_YxWK0LKKQ-7cKZnIyjUqLtcP-4_1T13C2maKibTv3GvG4r5oNcIUPoKAdNidWeU41msK5jTAnh1Vm477obykB0/s1600-h/stroman+x-factor.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYugQEXaIpKaVGlw-OUTzarGQXEdJ55Oe3bilMICST2wJyfkkPw7XI_YxWK0LKKQ-7cKZnIyjUqLtcP-4_1T13C2maKibTv3GvG4r5oNcIUPoKAdNidWeU41msK5jTAnh1Vm477obykB0/s400/stroman+x-factor.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114987630673629554" border="0" /></a><br />I first encountered him on Alien Legion from It always seemed like his work held a special significance for black nerds like me, because one could suspect--based from certain anatomical, er, proclivities--that the guy drawing Peter David's mid-90s run on X-Factor was a brother. Say what you will about essentializing conclusions with regard to artistic technique, but he knew how to draw curves on women in a way that differed from the more egregious T&A art. People who read his independent book Tribe know what I mean.<br /><br />Well, I liked the Rise & Fall of the Shiar Empire, Brubaker's intial arc on Uncanny X-Men, so Stroman's art will give me another reason to pick this up.Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-37539555485565585742007-09-26T16:46:00.000-07:002007-09-26T17:01:39.279-07:00Haitian Sensation interviews Asian Persuasion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9cE9MPXyNuNVbzWi6Wk2G9GBYqlykufBrrch_TZr_5vB4WfrYtelmyArhm-BArtNcFlMEfVdz_-shUaAPPR25V_Hjsb9kvBtkBwCOKuxGPCmRnoP_HQ9mzngJZYO3lJRU5JuVWQT3RA/s1600-h/Shortcomings+cover.jpeg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9cE9MPXyNuNVbzWi6Wk2G9GBYqlykufBrrch_TZr_5vB4WfrYtelmyArhm-BArtNcFlMEfVdz_-shUaAPPR25V_Hjsb9kvBtkBwCOKuxGPCmRnoP_HQ9mzngJZYO3lJRU5JuVWQT3RA/s400/Shortcomings+cover.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114665619795579202" border="0" /></a><br />My profile on <a href="http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/shopCatalogLong.php?st=art&art=a3dff7dd5641ba">cartoonist Adrian Tomine</a> runs in the latest issue of <a href="http://www.timeout.com/newyork/section/books">Time Out New York</a>. It was way long when I turned it in but, despite the cuts, I think<a href="http://www.timeout.com/newyork/article/22772/despair-supply"> it turned out pretty well</a>.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3WkgVZFBm3_Z5FPY6MIAsS01FgP6cugsA5I4INjgALirefaPUZ0u4oyn4ThrGX399bXVkr5xAqTYwaWhIFuwV4kAIi1mX3QlNRaj1WYCoyUqdVAqvomXU86s8Q_xt0LM5sES0VsikZQ/s1600-h/Shortcomings+page.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3WkgVZFBm3_Z5FPY6MIAsS01FgP6cugsA5I4INjgALirefaPUZ0u4oyn4ThrGX399bXVkr5xAqTYwaWhIFuwV4kAIi1mX3QlNRaj1WYCoyUqdVAqvomXU86s8Q_xt0LM5sES0VsikZQ/s400/Shortcomings+page.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114665731464728914" border="0" /></a>Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-10014718294732907272007-09-26T15:54:00.000-07:002007-09-26T17:35:03.008-07:00Halo, can anybody hear me?For your viewing pleasure, Mr. Scott Jones and I hold forth on Microsoft's rampaging juggernaut way too early on a Monday morning. (I'd like to think that I at least bend the rule--if not break it outright--that says no one can look cool while being filmed playing a video game. You readers--who are an admittedly harsh lot--can be the judges.)<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxVPx3nnngpQ2RChiQ7P9iwJc8BMKflkcqXMKyi-uFLIKjQXDP_8QjCJxntQHnhjft4ZGi-h60JiTHgGMZ3iw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Eventually, the Halo frenzy will lead to this:<br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://flash.revver.com/player/1.0/player.swf" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" scale="noScale" salign="TL" bgcolor="#000000" flashvars="mediaId=406609&affiliateId=24664&allowFullScreen=true&pngLogo=http%3A//www.loadingreadyrun.com/img/revdots_grey.png" allowfullscreen="true" height="392" width="480"></embed>Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2651877216722206475.post-81086534014163505482007-09-21T11:53:00.001-07:002007-09-21T11:56:15.061-07:00My sister gave it to me...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIU6HhJc4zi1EcQBy7aY_jD_m2sUzJAdr0_GRo1Xbdon3pLZmCyhCDmAO1b9mwz-OrQtKAU8OM8roOI71XM6_gLJ7FQ7ip5wPG55N8wXmgcTNtbtess0nQZewEfkcOp4EirRRf05vH5-o/s1600-h/CIMG0766.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIU6HhJc4zi1EcQBy7aY_jD_m2sUzJAdr0_GRo1Xbdon3pLZmCyhCDmAO1b9mwz-OrQtKAU8OM8roOI71XM6_gLJ7FQ7ip5wPG55N8wXmgcTNtbtess0nQZewEfkcOp4EirRRf05vH5-o/s320/CIMG0766.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112732923167084834" border="0" /></a><br />so, y'know, blame her. The part about cleverly placing it on the inside of the door so it's already too late by the time you see it? All me.Evan Narcissehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08069878796540626637noreply@blogger.com0