Black Cape #17

Understanding Comics

Here's a rare thing, it's a comic post by me. I spent a large chunk of yesterday at the library, when I was supposed to be writing, reading Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud.

Published in 1993 it's as the title says a book about understanding comics, presented by McCloud and written in the form of a comic. Kind of like Kramer's coffee table book about coffee tables it's a comic book about comics. It's both educational and entertaining.

McCloud himself is a man who never seems to stop thinking and has a number of projects ongoing at any one time. He came up with the idea for The 24-Hour Comic, which led to The 24 Hour Play.

I think 'Pish's regular comics guru will agree when I say he's a guy who's worth checking out.

Katie in the Evening Times

Here is the feature from today's Evening Times on Katie. Be warned though. There is a picture of me as well.

Black Cape #16

Black Cape #15

Jack Lemmon on The Charlie Rose Show

Jack Lemmon was one of my favourite actors. Here he is on The Charlie Rose Show. This is the whole show, just under an hour. It begins with Lemmon talking about the time Ving Rhames handed his Golden Globes award to him. There are thousands more complete Charlie Rose shows available for viewing if you click through the links.

The Evening Times' New Columnist

Meet the Evening Times' newest columnist. Or look at a picture of her at least. Our pal and former colleague Katie starts writing a column on Wednesday. If you pick up an Evening Times on Tuesday you should see a feature introducing her to the readers.

Katie writes a blog linked over there on the left called Long Ayelander. All about her experiences as an American living in Glasgow it's her writing on there that's landed the new job. Plus I helped a bit.

So be sure to get the Evening Times Tuesday and Wednesday this week then every Wednesday to see what Katie's on about.

In Demand Fizzy

Its fairly common knowledge that I am to good looks what pro wrestling is to genuine sporting endeavour, and that may well be why despite being married, I’ve never really experienced the heightened attraction that is supposed to come from being hitched and unavailable.

But I’m starting to get the picture from a different perspective.

As you may have read on this very blog, I recently managed to land a job, after about 12 weeks of fairly relentless trying.

During those weeks, I barely got a sniff at a job and managed two interviews in the entire time, and that includes the one for the job I'm about to embark upon.

Weirdly though, since accepting the position I have been phoned up and invited to no less than four interviews in the space of a week and offered one job.

I can’t help but think that if I needed the work, these folk wouldn’t be calling, that there is maybe some pheromone you exude when you’re no longer desperate for cash to pay the bills.

Who knows? All I know is that after weeks of being flung the deafy from what seems like every employer in the Western hemisphere, the chance to stick two fingers up to a few of them is predictably gratifying.

Black Cape #14

Black Cape #13

Black Cape #12

Black Cape #11

Thatcher's Children

Again from The Guardian, Ken Loach, has had a go at Andrew Marr over the broadcaster's apparent 'swallowing of the whole Thatcher ideology'.

"Even Andrew Marr talked about the mighty unions and praised the fact that their power was undermined," Mr Loach told journalists.

"That idea about the unions has passed into the liberal consensus but it is the very thing that created the situation we see in this film.

"Does he really think it was a good thing, given the way people have been exploited as a result, working on the minimum wage? If Andrew Marr says that, he's happy with what we see happens in this film."

Steve Coogan on Tony Wilson

This is from yesterday's Guardian. It's Steve Coogan's tribute to Tony Wilson on the day of his funeral.

"Tony was the apotheosis of those baby boomers who wanted to reach beyond their background and find the poetry in this post-industrial landscape. He gave confidence and legitimacy to an army of haltingly insecure men.

Put simply, he showed it wasn't poofy to wear nice clothes and use long words.

But above all he was a true civic champion, who found excitement and creativity on his own doorstep. Under his stewardship, Manchester became, and still is, an alternative metropolis. That is his legacy."

Crisis at Ibrox

First we highlighted the desperation of Man U. now it looks like Rangers are in financial bother, as they start a firesale.

Or more accurately what used to be the Rangers Shop on Sauchiehall Street has become a pound shop. Only it looks like they cannae be bothered doing anything about the previous decoration.

Black Cape #10

Breaking into Comics

Since 'Pish has become a hotbed of comics and comic discussion recently I thought I would post this. This is from David at Vicious Imagery.

It's a brief guide to breaking into comics that he has just reposted. He originally wrote it in December 2005.

The Bridge

Over the weekend I saw The Bridge, a documentary about The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. More accurately it’s a documentary about the suicides that occur on the bridge.

There was some controversy about how the film was made. The filmmakers set up numerous cameras at various points across the bridge and recorded all the activity there for a year. They told the authorities that they were making a film about a year in the life of the bridge, but didn't tell them they would be focusing solely on those people who chose to jump from there.

It captures many people jumping to their death and it’s quite a haunting and affecting film. It’s such a picturesque scene it can’t help but look great visually.

There are interviews with friends and family of those who jumped. There’s footage of someone who was rescued by a passer-by and there’s an interview with Kevin Hines. Kevin jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge, but survived.

It offers no solutions for the people in the film wondering why their loved one chose to kill themselves. It also provides no suggestions for how San Francisco can stop the bridge staying the World’s no. 1 suicide hotspot.

Early on there’s a fascinating contrast that the location provides. One of the jumpers was found by two guys who were on the water water kiting. They commented on the fact that they used the water as a celebration of life doing something they loved on it, while someone else used it to end their life.

It’s certainly not the easiest film to watch but it’s powerful, moving and totally compelling.

Here's a review of the film from Paste magazine.

Black Cape #9

Desperation at Old Trafford

I know Man Utd are having problems up front at the moment, but surely, as this text update from the Manchester derby shows, recruiting from You Owe Me Glue is just out and out desperation.