Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Hunting the Dear...

Hey guys,

No, I haven't forgotten how to spell...

I'm just going to take a look at a band called The Dear Hunter, (that's D-E-A-R) for a little bit...

I really like the first two albums put out by this "band" and I've grown excited at the prospect of going to see them since they're coming to Pittsburgh soon.

I say "band" because the group is really mostly comprised of one person named Casey Crescenzo. He's got a little help from his friends on the first two efforts of his project, but it's mostly him doing the performing...

It didn't all begin there for Mr. Crescenzo, though...

He was in a band called The Receiving End of Sirens for a while. They put out a pretty decent album on which I think you can hear the roots of The Dear Hunter coming to light. Casey did some guitar, vocals and a lot of other things on this disc.

In this first post examining The Dear Hunter, I'm going to post all the music videos that The Receiving End of Sirens made for the above mentioned album: Between the Heart and the Synapse which involved Casey...

Enjoy below and stay tuned for more stuff involving The Dear Hunter...

Titles for the songs will appear ABOVE the videos...



Planning A Prison Break



*- In the above song "Planning a Prison Break", That's Casey that begins singing in the "Like a felon..." part. Also, notice that the song starts sounding significantly more like something from The Dear Hunter at that point...



This Armistice





The Evidence





Despite liking this album, there are more than a few moments on it that are, for me, a little too modern-pop/punk-esque... Sometime after this album, Casey left The Receiving End of Sirens to begin working on what is a significantly better project (IMHO): The Dear Hunter... Casey's new project is evolving into to one of my favorites and its entire catalog hasn't left my iPod since I discovered it. Keep checking back and reading the Llog for more things on The Dear Hunter and other stuff that I deem awesome...

Peace...

C'MON!!! All aboard Flight 815!!!

Hey guys,

As I've posted earlier, I'm getting into watching LOST again and I'm pretty still pretty early in Season 1.

I know I've ranted a lot about the show and a lot of you have heard me and said you might be interested in watching...

Now's your chance...

What's that? You don't have the DVDs? NO PROBLEM! You can still watch the entire series on www.abc.com.

If any of you are interested, please let me know. We could just all plan to watch some episodes alone and blog about them here or we could set up a sort of party or something (those of you who are within distance of me) and kind of start the whole series together or at least watch some episodes together... OR BOTH!!!

This is something I'd really be interested in doing. I'm gonna be watching them anyway in preparation for the LOST podcast The Transmission reviewing some episodes from Season 2. (HEY, Ryan and Jen!!!)

Again, if anyone wants to take me up on this, I'll give it a week and see who responds and then we'll make plans as a big group if anyone's into it...

Het me back, people...

Namaste... and peace...

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Raised by Another in Solitary

Hey guys,

I've gone and done it again...

That's right I'm getting into watching LOST again...

I just watched two episodes tonight: "Solitary" and "Raised by Another" from Season 1...

So...

BEWARE: IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE SHOW YET AND PLAN TO, THERE MAY BE SOME SPOILERS FROM THE SHOW BELOW... THAT'S LOST I'M REFERRING TO... LOST...









With that being said, I guess I'm not gonna go too deep into spoiling anything... I love the whole golf game thing in "Solitary". Especially the part where Michael and Jack are face to face and you think there's going to be some kind of big problem and they're just deciding what club to use... Classic...

I also like the part where Sawyer makes his little effort to be accepted by betting against Jack's shot... Pretty touching when you're as attached to these characters as some of us are...

The burning question in my mind and this isn't the first time I've typed this today: With what we know now (that's by the end of Season 4) why isn't it still important that Claire raises Aaron... Surely there couldn't be that big of a plot hole... I mean in "Raised by Another", it's life and death that Claire raises Aaron and NO ONE ELSE... Now we know that he's with Kate and Claire may be dead!!! Is it destiny that Aaron becomes wicked or that danger befalls the little tyke or is this just that big of a plot hole??? Can someone tell me? Any theories?

This is my rant on LOST for now...

Anyone may reply and I hope that a lot of you do...

Peace...

The move that wouldn't die...

Hey guys,
As most of you who are actually reading this know, I've been moving...

I've gotta say... I'M SICK OF IT...

I'll be glad to settle into my new place once all the shit gets put away, but for right now, it's a mess. There's stuff EVERYWHERE... I've not even been able to reap the benefits of one of the main reasons why I moved up here yet: SAVING ON GAS! I've been making so many trips back and forth that I've been burning as much gas as I would have (and the extra weight doesn't help the gas mileage...).

Ah well, I'll be settled soon enough...

Just ranting on how much it sucks to move, but there should come a reward at the end of it...

'Til next time and as always: Peace...

Monday, July 28, 2008

Studies of the Clown Prince, Part Eight

Hey guys,

This is a pivotal study in the history of the Joker. The feel that the viewing of The Dark Knight has probably made it that way, whether I wanted it to or not. Also, the study up until this point has been pretty much in chronological order. That's really another thing that's made this pivotal... Having viewed the film that is basically the latest piece of Joker mythos, anything that I would read or view now will be a step back in the Joker's timeline... That being said, let's take a look a what I've taken in so far...

-The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told (Graphic Novel, 1988; Collecting stories from 1939-1983)

-Batman: The Animated Series (Cartoon, 1992-1995)

-Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Comics, 1986)

-Batman: The Killing Joke (Comic, 1988)

-Batman: A Death in the Family (Comics, 1988-1989)

-The Dark Knight (Film, 2008)



Now then, let's move on...

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS A FEW SPOILERS FROM THE COMICS SERIES "BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM".

Finally, another Joker story that I've really been looking forward to. Any of you who've read prior posts of this blog, looked at my MySpace, or been around me long enough to hear me start rambling about comics know that I love Grant Morrison's work. Batman: Arkham Asylum is a story that is crafted by the one and only Grant Morrison with the unmistakable abstract genius Dave McKean doing the artwork.

Some of you may have read some Grant Morrison, but I'd be willing to bet that all of you have seen Dave McKean's artwork... He's done various comics (all of the covers to DC/Vertigo's landmark series The Sandman), over 150 CD covers, ad campaigns for Kodak, Nike, BMW, and Smirnoff, and has contributed to the production design on some of the Harry Potter films. His style is very abstract and has a presence that you won't soon forget... Just wait 'til you see some of the pics of the Joker I'm about to post from this book.

If you thought Heath Ledger's Joker was disturbing or frightening and you didn't think it could get any worse, check this book out... This Joker is completely insane.

The story centers around the building of Arkham Asylum, a facility that houses the Joker and all of Batman's other foes when he catches them time after time. With the Joker leading the charge, the inmates take over the facility, beckoning Batman's presence inside... What Batman arrives to is something of a grand haunted house with a gallery of vicious madmen supplying the bumps in the night...

The Joker first lures the Batman inside by saying that he has a nineteen-year-old girl hostage (among others). He talks on the phone to Batman. "She just drew me a beautiful house," he says. "She drew it with this pencil. The one I've just sharpened. OPEN YOUR EYES WIDE, PEARL! Beautiful... Blue... Oh..." The scene ends with a blood-curdling scream and Batman exclaiming, "Jesus, NO!" (Could the Joker's "magic trick" in his opening scene in The Dark Knight be a reference to this?)

If the Joker's sexuality in The Dark Knight Returns was questionable, it's markedly more ambiguous in this tale. At one point he actually grabs Batman's ass saying, "Loosen up, TIGHT ASS!" He also calls Batman "honey" and "honey-pie" on different occasions... Is this just a grand jest or is the Joker in love with the thrill that Batman gives him? Or in love with the man himself? Hmmmm...

Though not really the "Joker story" that Batman: The Killing Joke or The Dark Knight are, this tale definitely has its Joker moments... It's a tale that I'd include on my short list simply because I've really never seen the Joker this way before thematically or visually...

FINAL VERDICT: This is a Joker story you should read. As I've said, it's the Joker as I've never seen him before and that's thanks to Grant Morrison and Dave McKean. C'mon! With two geniuses such as these at the helm, the story's gotta be good!

I'll now include the cover the to the 15th Anniversary Edition of this book and an interior shot of the Joker below by Dave McKean.







If you guys know anything else that pertains to the Joker that I should check out, let me know. My plans for future studies include but are not limited to:

-Batman (Film, 1989)

-Batman: The Man Who Laughs (Comic)

-Mad Love (Comic)

-Slayride (Detectice Comics #826)

-Robin II: Joker's Wild (Comic)

-Going Sane (Legends of the Dark Knight #65-68)




Let me know if there's something I should read/watch that I missed...

Until next time...

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Studies of the Clown Prince, Part Seven

Hey guys,

And here... we... GO!

What can I say that hasn't already been said?

We've come to that point in our studies of the Clown Prince...

The Dark Knight.

I loved this movie so much that the only thing I'm going to do or say in the way of spoilers is put a couple of clips at the bottom of this post. If you've had any interest in the film or have seen it, these won't really be spoilers for you and you've probably already seen them...

Again, what can I say?

I will say that I started to become afraid when I heard all of the hype about Heath Ledger as the Joker. People talking Oscars for the performance already, teenage girls touting the Joker as their favorite character, and Heath Ledger's death prior to the role really scared me. I thought, "Can this role and bit of acting really be THAT good?"

The simple answer:

YES.

For once, all the hype is true. If you're into movies at all, if you're just a comic book geek, if you're a chick that thinks Heath Ledger is the hottest thing ever to walk planet Earth, if you're Mr. Ledger's father giving the thumbs up as he walks from watching his dead son's performance, if you're Jack Nicholson's #1 fan... Any of that... If you don't think the Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker is amazing, I doubt you have a pulse...

Heath Ledger has immortalized himself and the Joker on the silver screen for eras to come...

Our look at the evolution of the Joker has come full circle and then some. From the Joker being a cold blooded killer in the 1940s to him having to be tamed in the 1950s to The Dark Knight Returns to The Killing Joke and beyond, Heath Ledger, Christopher Nolan and The Dark Knight have made the Joker complete...

You've GOT to see some of this for yourself (if you haven't already), so I'm gonna post a couple YouTube clips right below here. If you haven't seen the flick and don't want absolutely ANYTHING spoiled, don't watch... However, these clips aren't plot-breakers or anything and are really just examples of a couple of my favorite moments from the film... Check 'em out...





Amazing...

Just one more thought... You know, if no one ever told you who the actor was and the Joker was never shown without the make-up, would you be able to tell who the actor was? That's how great Heath Ledger's performance was...

Well, there it is: Some of my thoughts on The Dark Knight... The Studies of the Clown Prince aren't over, though... (Well, maybe just the first round of them are...) I hope to read more comics and take in more media in the coming weeks and keep this thing going... Hope you guys have enjoyed it and will enjoy it as much as I am...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Studies of the Clown Prince, Part Six

Hey guys,
Finally back from the complications of the big move and on to another installment in my studies of the Joker...

You guys were probably expecting me to blog about the stellar film The Dark Knight... That will come in the next post about the Joker...

As for this one...

BEWARE: SPOILERS FOR THE COMICS EPIC "BATMAN: A DEATH IN THE FAMILY" FOLLOW...

Okay...

So we've been reading and reading. The Joker's gotten more and more disturbing, more and more crazy, more and more developed as the character that he's come to be known as...

Until now...

Batman: A Death in the Family seems for the most part to just be a step backward for the Joker's development if we're viewing it as a progression up until now. The Joker has become concerned with politics in this series of books. Most of his evil doings take place in foreign countries, some with cruise missiles!!! The Joker we've come to see and come to love watching and reading through all these magnificent stories up until now isn't going to care about politics or war... HE'S TOO CRAZY!!!

Maybe this was just the story-telling (or simply the story) of the day back in 1989... It just doesn't seem like the same Joker that we've just seen in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns or Batman: The Killing Joke, though... These were madmen, these Jokers... They had deep personal reasons for killing and pranking...

Maybe this was the next logical step for the Joker, as he seemed bent on world-domination...

The moment that saves this story (if any does) and the evolution of our Clown Prince is where the Joker beats and beats... and beats... and beats on Robin with a crow bar... As some of you may know, this is the story where DC Comics editors and writers opened up a phone poll to the public, posing the question, "Kill Jason Todd (Robin) or let him live?" The public gave him a thumbs-down... The Joker's brutal beating of Jason Todd is disturbing and detonating a bomb that blows young master Todd up just as he finds his real mother is heartbreaking...

All in all, though, reading this (especially after seeing The Dark Knight this past weekend) just seems like a step that's out of place in the Joker's evolution...

FINAL VERDICT: Though it appears on many lists as a must-read Joker story, the tale is really driven by Jason Todd's search for truth and independence. I guess where this falls in as a Joker story is that the Harlequin of Hate ends that search... brutally...

You knew I HAD to include a visual... Below is part of the cover to Batman #429 which was part of the series, art by Jim Aparo, Mike Decarlo, and Adrienne Roy

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Studies of the Clown Prince, Part Five

Hey guys,
I've finished yet another chapter in my research of the Joker and I've gotta say... This is the Joker story I've been waiting for...

Last night, I sat down and read Batman: The Killing Joke in its entirety. Much like the last story I reviewed, I don't think this one takes place in the normal DC continuity and is more of an Elseworlds type of story. Don't know what I'm talking about? See my post "Studies of the Clown Prince, Part Four"... Go ahead, I'll wait...

Done?

OK...

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS TO THE COMIC BOOK ONE-SHOT "BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE"

Now then, I view Batman: The Killing Joke as a story of one possible origin of the Joker... In the beginning, we see Batman pull up to Arkham Asylum in the Batmobile to visit the Joker. Batman sits down and speaks to the Joker, says that maybe they can stop trying to kill each other. Batman doesn't want it to end that way... The Joker sits in silence. Batman grabs Joker's hands to get his point across and white greasepaint smudges from the hands of the Joker. Batman then wipes the make-up from the face of the imposter Joker... The real menace has escaped...

Next we flash to the Joker walking around an amusement park, seemingly preparing to open it as a new hideout. From the very first time we see the real Clown Prince in this tale, he looks utterly insane... (Have a look below...)



He ends up killing the man he is talking to in this sequence. Almost from the beginning of the story, the Joker is an insane, murderous lunatic... We then go on to see why...

In this imagining of the Harlequin of Hate, he used to be a struggling stand-up comedian. He's got a wife and a baby on the way and he's worries about making ends meet. Later we learn that the Joker has turned to a life of petty crime by joining up with a band of thugs and becoming a character that is a throwback to a classic Joker tale called The Red Hood. Before his first big caper with the thugs, the Joker learns that his pregnant wife has had an accident and died. The thugs won't let him back out of the crime, though, and while being chased by Batman, he falls into a vat of chemicals at the plant that he and the thugs were casing and emerges... having become the permanently scarred madman we know and love.

The image directly after his transformation has become iconic and is a very popular depiction of the Joker. I've posted it below...



The Joker in this tale is very sadistic and truer to the Joker that we know today. This may have been the penultimate tale of his transformation into that persona. During the course of this 48 page tale, he shoots and cripples Barbara Gordon (Commissioner Gordon's daughter), he doesn't stop there, though... He then kidnaps the good Commissioner, strips him down and shows him nude photos of his crippled, ravaged daughter. The Joker in this tale is seen sitting on a throne atop a heap of what one can't tell whether is dead babies or or dolls strewn about. The Joker in this tale sings a gleeful song about going insane while Commissioner Gordon weeps for his daughter. The Joker in this tale is completely, irrevokably insane... And it's all the result of one bad day.

I'm not going to give away the climax of the tale because I truly really don't know what happens to the Joker and Batman. I don't think we're supposed to... I'll just say that the tale ends with a killing joke.

This has got to be my favorite out of all the Joker stories that I've read so far. It's been said to be Tim Burton's favorite comic and the comic that was given to Heath Ledger when he was researching his role the for upcoming film The Dark Knight.

You've all heard me mention the story Watchmen in my blogs before and you've all heard the legend of it being touted as the greatest comics series of all-time... This book is written by that same writer: Alan Moore. The art is by the extraordinary Brian Bolland (with help from John Higgins on the original version) and is truly a sight to behold... Through all the Joker's killngs, his misfortunes, and his craziness, Bolland keeps pulling at our eyeballs and heartstrings with this work...

The version that I read was the newer hardcover version which is completely done by Bolland and I think it's superior. The art jumps off the page and the covers are sensational. I'll include the orginal version of the cover and the front of the hardcover (when you take the dust jacket off) below, the lower one being the hardcover...





The final verdict on this one is that it's a great tale of the Joker, a great possible origin to the character, and a touching, yet disturbing story, whether you like the Joker and comic books or not...

See ya next time (and that might actually be my review of the long-awaited film: THE DARK KNIGHT!!!)

All above art in this post by Brian Bolland and John Higgins

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Studies of the Clown Prince, Part Four

Hey Guys,
I promised to try and get back to you after reading The Dark Knight Returns, the comics classic that was to be the next chapter in my ongoing study of the Joker.

I just finished it tonight and here I am...

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS TO THE COMICS MASTERPIECE "THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS"!!!

First, let me start out by saying that The Dark Knight Returns was not such a chapter in the Joker's history as it was Batman's. Technically, The Dark Knight Returns really isn't a page out of anyone's history. It didn't really happen... Let me explain...

When looking through the graphic novels at your local book seller or comic shop, you're going to notice some, published by DC Comics, that are labelled Elseworlds... I don't really know if The Dark Knight Returns IS an Elseworlds story (my copy isn't labelled as such), but really, it is...

You see, Elseworlds books are stories that don't really take place in the "real world". They take place out of the normal continuity of what's really going on in the DC Universe. They're kind of like Marvel's What If? series of books... It's like, "What if this or that happened?"

Get it? Okay...

That being said, The Dark Knight Returns is the story of Batman when he's an old man. Memories of his parents' murder and an ever-growing gang of young, malicious criminals called "The Mutants" prompt him out of his retirement... He wages a one man war on crime again... His age shows, though, and he enlists the help of a young girl who comes to be Robin... As the duo fight crime mercilessly, questions of Batman's morality arise in the media. Is he any better than the criminals he batters, breaks, and tortures?

In the midst of all of this, the fellow who we're studying (THE JOKER) comes due to be released from prison after serving years for heinous crimes... His first appearance in the story is dishearteningly un-crazy and not the least bit menacing as he simply peers from behind the bars of his prison...

The next time we see the Joker, he becomes a little more disturbing and a bit strange... His smile perks as he asks someone planning a mass bombing, "What kind of bombs?" Shortly thereafter, the Joker's sexuality (I've even read articles studying this very aspect of the Joker in this work) comes into question as he sees Batman on the TV and mutters "Batman... Darling..." (Scene included below)



Is the Joker in love with Batman? Or does he fancy Batman so much because the Bat gives him a contest and outlet for his insane deeds? I prefer to think the latter. The Joker looks undisputedly crazy in these scenes. He seems to hunger for a battle with the Batman...

The Joker next makes a play for the sympathies of the powers that be, sobbing to a psychogist, "I don't deserve this charity... ...Just lock me away from human memory..." A brilliant maneuver by the Clown Prince... This is the first part of his plan to utterly destroy Batman upon his release...

The next time we see the Joker is the real evolution of the character if any is seen in The Dark Knight Returns. The Joker is released from prison and is a guest on a late-night talk show... He nonchalantly says that he's going to kill everyone in the room. In the span of the Joker's appperances in this book (just under twenty pages of a two-hundred page epic) he kills something like 227 people... These scenes are mostly comprised of his talk-show appearance and a day at an amusement park... Maniacally killing with gun and deadly laughing gas, he says that he doesn't count the deaths. They fill him with glee. He loves it. I have a feeling that this is the merciless Joker that I'll come to see in my further readings and the crazed lunatic that Mr. Heath Ledger has brought to life in the upcoming film The Dark Knight...

The Joker's final strategy in The Dark Knight Returns is one that heaps a load of trouble on Batman. Bringing fight to the Joker in the Tunnel of Love at the amusement park (another hint at the Joker's deviated sexuality?), Batman beats the Clown Prince within an inch of his life... This demented Joker, the craziest, most demonic, most unhinged Joker we've seen thus far in our readings is almost totally incapacitated. This insane, brilliant character then heaps the straw upon the proverbial camel's back. With the last of his disturbed, demented strength, he twists his own neck around and breaks it, framing Batman for killing him to gain even further outcry against The Dark Knight... Oh yeah, he even rigged his own body to explode and burst into flame to take out those who would come to investigate his death...

Truly disturbed and brialliant...

Though The Dark Knight Returns is SO much more a Batman story than it is a Joker one, this tale was one that definitely advanced the Joker into the manaic that we're used to seeing today...

The Dark Knight Returns is DEFINITELY worth the read and I've enjoyed it SO much more this time around. According to many, it takes its place as a tie with the book Watchmen as the greatest comics story of all time... It's easy to see why. This is the most bad-ass I've ever seen Batman be and the most dementedly brilliant I've ever seen the Joker... With this, the whole atmosphere, and re-imaginings of all our favorite DC characters, it deserves all the hype... Pick it up, if you're so inclined... I've only scratched the surface in this post... Writer (and artist, with help) Frank Miller has crafted THE Batman story...

For the sake of our study... The final word... The Joker has never been this well-written... or this utterly, fascinatingly sick...

Until next time...

Art in this post by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Rooting for the Underdogs

Hey guys,
Aside from going crazy with Joker stuff lately, I've still been listening to Matthew Good Band. After all, I can't read comics in the car... We all know what happened last time I tried to read in the car...
Anyway...
I've made it through to listening to the second full-length effort from the Matthew Good Band called Underdogs... The album was released in 1997.
After listening to it a couple of times, I've gotta say that I like the debut album Last of the Ghetto Astronauts better... Still a great album, though... I'm really glad that I've finally decided to get into to all of Matt Good's stuff... It's really excellent...
I'm gonna post videos for the singles from the album below... If any of you are familiar with the MGB album Beautful Midnight (which is the next album in chronological order), you'll notice that a couple of songs from this album got recycled onto it...
Anyway, enjoy these tracks from Underdogs (listed in the order they were released)...

Everything is Automatic





Indestructible





Apparitions





Rico





Hope you enjoyed those... I sure did... Hit me up and let me know what you think. Also, see some of my previous posts for earlier Matthew Good stuff...

Peace, as always...

Studies of the Clown Prince, Part Three

Hey guys,
Part three of my little look at the Joker won't be as in-depth a study as the past two have been...

I've been watching Batman: The Animated Series just to get a look at ALL facets of the Joker mythos.

Something that still fascinates me as I watch is that Mark Hamill, that's right, all you Warsies' beloved Luke Skywalker, is the voice behind our cackling criminal clown...

I've found a short clip of Mark Hamill talking about the various laughs of the Joker he's done on the show... Enjoy...





Just a another little piece of Joker stuff to tide you over...

I'll be back soon (hopefully) to talk about the Joker's role in the legendary comics masterpiece, The Dark Knight Returns, which is next on my list of reading for the study of the Clown Prince...

See you then...

As always, peace...

Monday, July 14, 2008

Studies of the Clown Prince, Part Two

Hey guys,
Here I am, continuing my somewhat in-depth look at a character who's promised to blow us away on the big screen this weekend...
The Joker...
As I said in the first post about the Harlequin of Hate, he started out as an insane, vicious killer. With the advent of the Comics Code Authority in 1956, the Joker almost blinked into obscurity...
Prior to the inception of the Comics Code, the Joker appeared almost monthly in the various Batman books in circulation at the time. When the Code came down, he almost disappeared...
Despite what you might think, this actually helped The Joker to become what he is today... Writers who wrote the Joker had to resort to having him pull silly pranks and tame hijinks to comply with the code. Perhaps they didn't want this... His appearances waned due to this stricture...
When things started to ease up with the Code, he started coming back around... Of all the things that I've read lately, there is a noticeable turning point in the Joker's behavior in a 1973 story called The Joker's Five-Way Revenge, written by Denny O'Neil... The Joker returns to his homicidal self, giving an exploding cigar (I mean a BIG explosion) to one of his former thugs, hanging another, and throwing an elderly man (and Batman) to the sharks...
Subsequent stories on through the 1980s see the Joker doing a combination of pranks and murder... Use of Joker Venom (a drug that kills its victims, leaving a deadly scowl on their mugs), deadly laughing gas, and things like a gun with the flag saying "BANG! You're Dead!" and then shooting from the gun like a spear were things that the Joker used for killing... He even forces some of his victims to a birthday party for himself and then straps them to the candles of a giant birthday cake, attempting to burn them alive... With things such as shootings and outright murder mixed with deadly pranks, the Joker's step at this point of his evolution seemed to mix both incarnations of his former self...

And that's where I'm at at this point in my study of the Clown Prince of Crime... All of my readings thus far have been comprised of a softcover graphic novel called The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told (Original Version). A new version has been released lately (we all know why) and should be available at your local bookstore or comic shop... I'll try and include pictures of the covers below...

I'll be back hopefully at least a couple more times before The Dark Knight hits the screen this weekend...

"If I were sane, I might not be so BRILLIANT!" - The Joker





Above art by Brian Bolland





Above art by Alex Ross

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Studies of the Clown Prince, Part One

Hey guys,
I've always been intrigued with the Joker. I guess a lot of people are nowadays with Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in the upcoming film The Dark Knight already garnering Oscar attention...
This week, before I go to see the film, I've decided to brush up on that Clown Prince of Crime: our beloved Joker...
My first readings about the character are comprised of very early comic book appearances from the 40's and 50's. The Joker's appearance is said to be based on an actor named Conrad Veidt from his role in the film The Man Who Laughs. Take a look at these photos...

Conrad Veidt from The Man Who Laughs

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The Joker from his first appearance in Batman #1, 1940





Despite my thinking that the early Joker was just a silly, hyena-like criminal, he really always has been pretty murderous. He speaks of (and commits) murder in his very first appearance. I'm sure that this streak will only become more maniacal and sadistic in further studies...

Another avenue of my exploration of the Joker has involved me watching a cartoon from the early 90's called Batman: The Animated Series. The Clown Prince is equally disturbed in this representation, though maybe a bit more silly...

Another thing that I thought was pretty interesting was that Mark Hamill (that's right, Luke Skywalker) does the voice for the Joker in this series... Check out these short clips below from an episode called Christmas with The Joker.



I love the "Ho, ho, ho, isn't she jolly?" part and when Batman gets the pie in the face... Excellent stuff...



Well, that's about it for the first installment of my look at the Joker. I hope to post a lot more before going the see The Dark Knight and maybe to go more in depth...

Ta-ta for now...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!



Art above by Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson

The Llog lives...

Hey guys,
I know it's been almost a week since I've posted...
Don't worry...
I'm still here...

I'm studying...



HAHA!!!
More soon...

Art by Brian Bolland

Monday, July 7, 2008

A look back at the weekend and some thanks to pass out... That's right, a whole big, f@#%-ing bag of thanks...

Hey guys,
Having just had three days off and having my better half asleep or at work most of the time, I took in some things this weekend.

MOVIES:
-The Cable Guy (a comedy classic)
-The Last Kiss (see prior entries)

COMICS:
-The Invisibles (see prior entries)

LITERATURE:
-Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz (The first of Koontz's works I've ever finished. Not bad...)

Anyway, that's just a brief recap of what I read or watched this weekend. Nothing lengthy...

More importantly, I'd like to thank all those who've been posting comments to my posts. It really makes me feel good. I've tried to return in kind.
Let's keep reading each other's blogs and continuing THE GRAND DISCUSSION!!!
Really guys, I've had a lot of fun with this already...

Peace...

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Big Brother is Watching You... Learn to Become Invisible

Hey guys and gals,
I'm both re-reading and experiencing for the first time chapters of an amazing comic called The Invisibles.
It deals with aliens, the occult, grand conspiracies, dead Beatles, and all number of things that both frighten me and fascinate me...
Writer Grant Morrison proves in this series that he's as brilliant as he is driven and having just read the first two books of the series: Say You Want a Revolution and Apocalipstick, I can't wait to get deeper into the third: Entropy in the U.K....
If you're interested in someone who's been called "a regular comics apocalypse" or "the true successor to William Burroughs", go check out Grant Morrison and his crowning acheivement, The Invisibles.
It's been said to contain the original plot of the film The Matrix (I'd agree) and was written by Morrison as a super-sigil (meaning that, as a practitioner of Chaos Magic, he thinks that he's caused certain things to come to reality by writing it). He even says that he was given some of the information contained in these pages by aliens, when he was abducted by them on a trip to Katmandu...
Weird, I know... but doesn't it make you want to check this thing out?!

sMiLe...

The Last Kiss

Hey y'all,
I re-watched a movie this morning that I like, but no one else seems to... I must say that I liked it just as much this time, though, if not more so...
The movie is called The Last Kiss.
It stars Zach Braff (of Scrubs fame), Rachel Bilson (The OC) and Jacinda Barrett (some of you who are around my age may remember her from an earlier season of The Real World).
The film looks at relationships and the commitments involved with them. The characters take different approaches to the different situations and what results is a smart examination of something that affects almost all of us...
The screenplay is by Paul Haggis, who has written or co-written films such as Million Dollar Baby and Crash.
If you're in the mood for a smart and touching romantic comedy, go check out The Last Kiss.
Let me know what you think. You and I may be in the seeming minority who like this film or you may hate it...
Hit me back and give me your opinion, which I'm always looking forward to...
Peace...

Neural Itches - A Brief Look Back...

Hey guys,
While still feverishly listening to Matthew Good (Band), I've had a kind of nagging at me to do this post...
Did you ever get a song stuck in your head? I heard somewhere that that particular phenomenon is called a neural itch... It's particularly enjoyable if it's a song that you like...
Here's to taking a brief look back at some of the songs that have snaked their way around my brain relatively recently ( because I love them!!!). I've posted videos of them for your enjoyment...

Protest the Hero - "Bloodmeat"


The Mars Volta - "Wax Simulacra"


Hurt - "Ten Ton Brick"


Skillet - "Rebirthing"


Dredg - "Bug Eyes"


Breaking Benjamin - "The Diary of Jane"


Okay... There it is... A small comment... See that bit in the Dredg video where the drummer is playing a little keyboard while he's playing drums? He really does that!!! I've seen it!!!
Anyway... As I said, I just felt compelled to post this... I'm still really into Matthew Good at the moment... See the post right below this one and some other ones on here to get a look at his stuff...
Hit me with some comments and some of your favorite tunes!!!
Peace...

Friday, July 4, 2008

More "Good" Stuff

Hey guys,
I posted an entry, I guess it was yesterday now, on how I was listening to the Matthew Good Band's first album Last of the Ghetto Astronauts. Well, when I remember or get into something that I really dig, obsession usually takes hold and I'm up until the wee hours of the morning (much like now) looking at and/or listening to everything I can get my hands on about it...
If you guys are into music, intelligent and interesting people, truthful and substantial viewpoints or you are actually listening to what I'm saying on here, you should find out and get into as much as you can about Matthew Good and his music...
I'm doing this blog entry as a kind of bare bones primer to the man, his craft and his ideas...
Here we go...

These first few video clips are three parts of a bio that I found on YouTube and they feature the early exploits of the Matthew Good Band. Watch them from the top down in order... In the second two videos, the audio gets out of synch a little, but just watch them and learn anyway... It's still mighty informative if you're interested in it... (And hey, there's a lot of the music that got me into Matt sprinkled throughout these clips... ENJOY!!!)

Matthew Good Band - MMM Bio (Part 1)


Matthew Good Band - MMM Bio (Part 2)


Matthew Good Band - MMM Bio (Part 3)


And now I've posted the video for what Matt and the interviewer discuss as possibly "(Matt's) bets song ever". Apparitions is the name of the tune and I've gotta admit that it's one of my favorites, too. Check it out directly below...

Apparitions


And now, here's one of Matt's rants... It appears that this was a regular feature on MuchMusic (a music network in Canada where Matt's from) at some point in time... Watch below as Matt rants on tits and ass...

Matt Good Rants - Tits and Ass


And now to more recently... Matthew Good is a solo artist as of right now and he's released one of the most heartfelt and honest records that I've ever heard. It's his most recent offering... Here's an interview containing some of the story behind Hospital Music...

Matthew Good on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos


Well, there it is... If you wanna know more about Matthew Good or hear more of his music, his entire catalog is now on the U.S. version of iTunes. You can also look plenty of stuff up on YouTube or Wikipedia. If you're really into blogs (hey, you're reading one now!!!), you can go to www.matthewgood.org and read Matt's...
Hope you enjoy this guy and come to think as much of him as I do...
(Whew, longest post ever...)
Peace...

Thursday, July 3, 2008

10,000 B.ig C.onglomeration???

Hey guys,
Wow... Is conglomeration even a word?
Ah, well... It is now...
I actually sat down and watched a flick that we got from Netflix (which is an amazingly cool service, by the way) tonight...
The movie was 10,000 BC.
I've gotta say that all I could think of from about halfway through the movie to the end was this is a big mash-up of 300 and Apocalypto...
I'm not accusing the film-makers that did the movie of copying either of those films. That was just what it felt like to me...
It was a decent film, I suppose... It didn't really appeal to me as much as either of the aforementioned ones did, though...
Like I said, mix up some 300 and sprinkle a little Apocalypto with a dash of a love story and you've got your 10,000 BC.
It's worth a view if you're in the mood for this type of flick.
Check back for more reviews of films, which I watch when I can manage to put down whatever it is that I'm reading...
Peace...

"Good" Music...

Hi there,
Lloyd again (of course)...
I've been spinning the first disc (entitled "Last of the Ghetto Astronauts") from Matthew Good Band and I thought I'd share a little bit with you guys...
Realize that this was released in 1995, but the whole catalog of this band, as well as Matthew Good's solo stuff is amazing...
I've included videos for the only two singles from "Last of the Ghetto Astronauts" below...
Give 'em a shot and let me know what you guys think... If you think you might dig Matthew Good's music, check out albums called "Beautiful Midnight" and "Hospital Music"...

Alabama Motel Room


Symbolistic White Walls


Hope you enjoy Matt Good as much as I do...
Peace, as always...

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Scalped


Hello, again guys...
In the past couple of hours I've been to Indian reservations, meth labs, deadly gunfights, seedy honky-tonks, and the backs of cop cars...
No I didn't just get back from a drug binge to Arizona, I've read a comic that I've been wanting to dig into ever since I've read Jason Aaron's recent run on Wolverine and heard Brian K. Vaughan's praise...
The book was called Scalped...
Though I wouldn't rank it up there with my favorites, Scalped definitely was a decent read. The protagonist Dashiell Bad Horse doesn't only have a kick-ass name, he's one of the biggest bad-asses I've had the pleasure of meeting in reading comics in a while...
Published by the Vertigo imprint, a division of DC Comics that's been called the HBO of comic books, the first collection of Scalped, Indian Country is right up there with the quality of the books the label has produced in the past...
While it's no Sandman, Preacher, or V for Vendetta, Scalped is certainly worth the read...
Go check out this or any other Vertigo book to be impressed...

(The cover art of Scalped, Vol. 1: Indian Country shown above is by Jock)

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Hey y'all,
I've just finished reading my second work by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I took up reading him because the band I'm into at the moment (Protest the Hero), my favorite TV show (LOST) and my girlfriend have all mentioned him and have become inspired by him...
I tried to go in chronological order with reading Dostoevsky, but some of the stuff is really hard to find or expensive once you do find it.
I did read his very first work first, though... It was a book called Poor Folk. This was a great story, mostly told through a series of letters between two people and the end is one of the most beautifully sad things I have ever read. It's most definitely worth checking out...
I went on to Dostoevsky's second work, called The Double. I've gotta say, it was hard to get through about the last fourth of the book, but the end was very weird and entertaining...
I've got an inkling that this book relates to LOST somehow and the mention of Dostoevsky points to it in a very veiled way. It's like you had to do detective work to find the significance of its author's mention in the show... That's right, I'm not discounting the clone theory that a few people have had...
Anyway...
Go out and read some Dostoevsky. I've yet to get to any of his major works, but I truly have great expectations for them...