Mike Kelley, a sure godfather figure to many who have followed, including the likes of Fort Thunder and Brown Cuts Neighbors, has left this world. He will be much missed. I just wanted to share a few images and link to some words about the man…

LA Times Obit | Pictures | Culture Monster | Dan Nadel | Robert Boyd | Art 21

Many images after the jump….

Somewhat appropriately, today marks one year since legendary college radio station KUSF 90.3FM was shut down.

Media artist Dara Greenwald has been a close friend to many of the people involved in Wow Cool on both coasts for many, many years. I am sad to report that she lost her fight with cancer on Monday, January 9th, 2012. Although I have never met Dara in person, I feel her loss greatly and have never heard so many great things said about someone by so many people involved in my life and work from so many different areas. She contributed much to this world and I invite you to explore her work at http://daragreenwald.com/

This post will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

Yes, it is I. The irregular Wow Cool link dump. Usually posted on a Monday or Tuesday, often in two parts, often skipping many weeks. We are well back from the holidays, and therefore it is time to obliterate every open tab and share the good bits that emerge.

We open with the fight song from of the original St. Trinnian’s films. As you may have heard, St. Trinnian’s creator Ronald Searle passed away a few days ago. He has been remembered far and wide. I tried and failed to find what I thought would be the perfect image to present, so I went with the video instead. If you are going to read only one obituary of the late British cartoonist, you should read the one by Steven Heller in the New York Times. And, hey, I actually liked the newer St. Trinnian’s films.

If you have a couple days to spare you really should take the time to read this interview with amigo Steve Bissette – part of the Comics Reporter holiday interview series. I could list about half of the rest as must reads too, but I’ll let you pick your own favorites.

I was hit totally from left field to see that the Comics Journal had run this astoundingly comprehensive profile of the great Motorbooty zine assembled by Frank Santoro. Mark Dancey is the man and make no doubt.

Our late friend and inspiration Dylan Williams, of Sparkplug Comics, is being chronicled in bloggy fashion at the DYLAN WILLIAMS ARCHIVES – The life and work of Dylan F. Williams 1970 – 2011. “We are attempting to archive the life and work of Dylan Williams: Collected writings, comics, artwork, sketches, letters, stories, photos and tributes. This is an ongoing project compiled by Dylan’s friends and family. If you have something you would like to contribute, please write to tom (at) iwilldestroyyou (dot) com” If you knew Dylan, then the Amazon reviews will make you chuckle and miss him all the more. I lied a couple paragraphs ago, you also must read this Comics Reporter holiday interview with the current proprietors of Sparkplug.

I would be amiss to not give a shout-out to Sean T. Collins for giving us a Shout-out in this post-holiday roundup of amazing comics stuff. It’s part three of… how many? Does this guy ever sleep? So much goodness out there.

In related news, CBR’s Robot 6 has gone into overdrive the last few days (while most of us were relaxing) with great news, bits, previews and more. Seriously, too much to mention, just start digging.

And give special attention to this Robot 6 exclusive preview of titles coming from Koyama Press in 2012. We’ve just added a couple more Koyama titles to the shop here at Wow Cool. Snatch those up, because they are low in quantity and not likely to be reprinted.

OK… in more related news, just one more specific Robot 6 link, and another Koyama-related bit, even… you should really read their recent interview with Michael DeForge, who is also one of the featured artists at Wow Cool.

I’m not sure if Wednesday or Thursday is new comics day where you are. All I know is Paul Grist’s Mudman issue 2 is out from Image. Go get that!

I’m sure I could go on… but I refuse. Carry on… single file, begone with you!

Link dumpage composed while listening to Tom Ravenscroft sitting in for Gideon Coe on BBC 6Music.

Dig deep into this roundup of classic video game magazines that are archived online. Via Rock Paper Shotgun

Printrbot: Your First 3D Printer by Brook Drumm — Comfy couch not included on Kickstarter. Also via RPS, same link as above.

Two games I’ve been exploring today that are well worth checking out are Kairo (available as a very affordable pre-order with an alpha download) and English Country Tune, which is in full release, but you might want to wait to see if your mind survives the experience of playing the demo first before making the plunge. Again, both via RPS.

Alan Moore on how the mask of “V” became the face of a global movement in the Guardian.

The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy “The violent police assaults across the US are no coincidence. Occupy has touched the third rail of our political class’s venality.” Also in the Guardian.

The archives of Anthony Burgess reveal many gems on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of his notorious Clockwork Orange. I had a great book-nerd conversation with the clerk at Shakespeare & Co. in Paris a few years ago about Burgess. He totally hard sold me on one of his later books. Sly bastard.

Giving comics for the holidays? Tom Spurgeon’s “The Comics Reporter’s Black Friday Holiday Shopping Guide 2011” is the definitive guide. It appears to be possibly still a work in progress.

Washington D.C.’s Emo-Punk über-dudes Fugazi are launching an online archive of 800-odd live show recordings, as first reported in the New York Times, and last reported here.

You can stare at this for hours… Michael DeForge’s concept art for one of the best Adventure Time episodes ever, Beautopia. And, wait, there’s more. And much more on the Frederator blog.

Beautiful Decay did a lovely post on Derek M. Ballard a few days ago that you should check out. A bit NSFW in most districts.

I could probably add tons more, but it’s late. Sorry, not much in the way of images or videos this time… click on for that. In case you missed it, Image Comics is having an SF Bay Area shindig this coming February. We haven’t signed off on anything yet, but Wow Cool will likely have a presence there. So, hope to see you at the Image Expo in late February in Oakland, CA.

I used to play the shit out of We Got Our Own Thang back in ’89. It was such an amazing time for music and this was a great bridge between hip hop and the emerging House music scene. Godspeed, brother.

LA Times: Heavy D dies at 44; singer who shaped rap music

I’ve been wanting to write something here about Susie Cagle’s coverage of Occupy Oakland for a couple weeks now. But, given the occupation’s escalating nature and Susie’s work on it being ongoing observation and documentation for an eventual full report, there was not an easy way in to hang a post on. Recent events and the press attention given them makes this seem like a good time to jump in. Occupy Oakland has been a strange story to try to follow, from the reports that make it all sound like a raging riot in the Guardian to the feel good piece in the LA Times on Thursday morning about protesters grabbing breakfast burritos from a food truck with the dockworkers Union boss. Add to this the such mindblowing events as solidarity protests in Tahrir Square and it’s all just a bit much to take in. One thing is certain, however, The Oakland Police Department is deeply fucked up. That’s not a big surprise to anyone, but it is shocking that the press has repeatedly been on the direct receiving end of their repressive measures — from their dusting off the riot playbook last Tuesday to this weeks imprisonment and intimidation exercises. Susie Cagle has been one of the most visible targets of their insane anti-journalist campaign — catching an exploding can of teargas right in front of her face (video above) to her arrest, imprisonment and the holding of her personal belongings by the police over the last few hours. As of this writing they are still holding her stuff, including her apartment keys. Yet, she is determined to follow this story until the end despite all of this. That level of commitment is a true inspiration. Just be safe out there, Susie. I don’t ever want to see you added to this roster at CPJ.

Follow Susie’s regular updates from the occupation on Twitter.

Susie’s homepage “This Is What Concerns Me“. You will want to also check out her Copyright Explained cartoon and her investigation of Bay Area faith-based ‘pregnancy centers’ What Every Woman Should Know and the accompanying Behind The Scenes report.

UPDATE: Posted late today on YouTube, Susie’s video from the plaza raid right before she was arrested. Yes, the footage is a bit rough. If I was ever in a situation where a large group of people were being told “Get on the ground, you’re under arrest”, I would probably try to run, break into a building, something–all Gordon Freeman style–because I would assume the alternative was far worse…

Mary Blair was born 100 years ago today. Even Google noticed. Her shapes and colors still fascinate. Below are a few photos I took earlier this year at the Disneyland Gallery show “The Colors of Mary Blair“. Clicking will make them twice the size. It’s magic.

http://www.gothicfuturism.com/

Stalker is an astounding film that you simply must see.

Go to nostalghia.com for all the Tarkovsky info you could ever want.
You can watch just about every film Tarkovsky made and much more online. Here’s a convenient gateway.

Stalker is also available on DVD Sadly no Criterion edition yet.

Found via Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Adam Curtis may be the greatest journalist of our age. Yes, whatever, or whenever, that is… He is certainly one of its greatest documentarians. His skilled use of the video medium – in films that demand that you both look and listen to get the full effect – persuasively show and tell that things are not quite as you have been told (and shown). His most recent work – All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace – named for the Richard Brautigan poem of the same name – seems particularly relevant in light of the spread of the current Occupy movement. This documentary series also gives perspective on the origins of aspects of the Tea Party Movement and the influence of Ayn Rand in particular. Strangely, one of the greatest proselytizers of Randian Objectivism – especially in Canada and the Northern mid-west – the rock band Rush, is not mentioned.

You will want to pay regular visits to Curtis’ blog at the BBC. His access to their archives has leant him unique incite into many of the world’s recent shaking events.

Watch All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace on Archive.org.

The Google tribute is all kinds of awesome. I made the above video with my son last year.

I was just sent this by Scott Beibin, who worked on it, and am sharing it. I’m a little behind on what is going on in New York at the moment, so playing catchup now. Whatever your view, this is pretty major and you should stay informed. This video makes an interesting gateway into the datastream.

I’ve been watching the news enough to think that is very likely that London is going to erupt over the next few days. The City of London, commonly just, The City, is one of the largest financial services centers in the world. It has just been revealed that half the donations to the Tories have come from that sector. The Conservative Party Conference is underway. In the meanwhile, you see articles like this one in the Guardian about how great the $100 Million Lloyd’s building is and you can start to get a little steamed too. So… Occupy the City? I can’t wait to read what Charlie Brooker has to say.

More info: Adbusters Occupy Wall Street Page

A three-story, 20,000 square meter storage home for music from a number of independent labels from the UK and the US including 4AD, Beggars Group, Dead Oceans, Def Jux, Domino, Jagjaguwar, Matador, Ninja Tune, Polyvinyl, Rough Trade, Secretly Canadian, Side One Dummy, Silva Screen, Sub Pop, Too Pure, True Panther, Vagrant, Warp, XL among others. (A full list from PIAS’s website is here).  The warehouse was a temporary home for releases from all manner of indie labels and offshoots, and the extent of its destruction is starting to become tragically apparent.  While the full impact of last night’s events is still emerging, numerous indies have confirmed massive losses.  Beggars Chairman Martin Mills called it a “horrible” setback for the indie sector.

What music fans can do to show their support for the indie label community, and help them survive this disaster is to buy a digital download of an album from any one of the digital retailers going to their local record store while stocks last.

This way, the labels will be able to remanufacture their CD’s and vinyl more quickly, to resupply the record shops who are also affected by the riots.

Alison Wenham, Chairman and CEO of AIM, the UK’s Trade Association for the Independent Music Industry commented: “This is a disaster for the music community, but with the fans’ help, labels and artists will survive. Please show your support for the music community by buying a digital album from an independent label today”.

Reposted from A2IM.

UPDATE – “In Wake of London Fire, Organizers Answers Questions About Supporting Indie Labels” – by Peter Kirn on Create Digital Music. Includes news on PIAS’ fund to help labels and an interview with the organizers of “Label Love”

More news on DigitalMusicNews.com | BBC | The Guardian’s UK Riots page 

IFC – Indie Film Distributor also hit hard

Several book stores have also been ransacked, including several comic book shops and the UK’s oldest queer book store.

Pegacorn Press from Caroline Paquita on Vimeo.

Big thanks to Doug Rogers – formerly of God Hates Computers and Chased & Smashed – for turning me on to this new publishing project led by great great artist Caroline Paquita. Caroline is starting a small queer, feminist, total-art-freaker publishing house called PEGACORN PRESS. Through your help, she hopes to raise funds for new and better equipment to make this easier and all the more possible. Help pitch in to make this a reality over on IndieGoGo.

So, here we are, at long last, with the sequel to the “Lost Awesome Book Cover Designs” post. Unlike that previous posting, I can thoroughly endorse these ten covers as being very awesome. I’ve been collecting these in the last several months. You will quickly noticed that they have been arranged in a chromatic and/or thematic order. The images link to the books’ pages on Amazon. And, yes, I am selling these. I’ve got to raise money to get my next record out somehow. Give a little love if you like and buy these babies. Otherwise, watch this space and be sure to get the upcoming blasts from myself and the many other Wow Cool artists that are coming your way very soon from Wow Cool.

A hot topic recently has been that of the Chinese Ghost Cities. A Sino-Housing Bubble of a scale appropriate to the nation that happens to have the most damn people on earth living under it. Get the satellite view here.

In case you thought we might be the heck super efficient in land use here in the West, I would like to send you to this report on the UK’s Post Office Railway. You will want to read all of it and take in every photo.

In the meanwhile, for something that just quite resembles context for our position here, I request that you read these interviews with Simon Reynolds on Ballardian: “Magisterial, Precise, Unsettling” from 2007 and ‘Magisterial, precise, unsettling part 2’ from 2009.

My colleague Richard Pell is profiled on We Make Money Not Art this week and you should go read that. Not convinced? It starts like this: “If you want to see a penguin, you go to the zoo. If you’re curious about dinosaurs and dodos, any natural history museum will enlighten you. But where do you go if you want to learn about spider silk-producing goats, anti-malarial mosquitoes, fluorescent zebrafish or the terminator gene?”

The Center for PostNatural History is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge relating to the complex interplay between culture, nature and biotechnology. The PostNatural refers to living organisms that have been altered through processes such as selective breeding or genetic engineering. The mission of the Center for PostNatural History is to acquire, interpret and provide access to a collection of living, preserved and documented organisms of postnatural origin.

The Center for PostNatural History website

My portrait of Richard Pell

Reading Frenzy – An Independent Press Emporium is a small, specialty bookshop/gallery/event space in Portland, Oregon. They are having a rough patch at the moment and could use your patronage. The full message from RF follows.

The image you see above is the beautiful print that Aaron Renier created for us, No Book Ever Ends. If only we could say the same for bookstores. Every few years Reading Frenzy hits a point of financial crisis. That time has come again. As you know we’re a tiny, specialty shop devoted to independent, small and self-published titles. Reading Frenzy is more than a just store though — it’s an art exhibit and event space, a hub of cultural activity, and a community resource. It’s been a struggle to make it through the past 2+ years of the recession and we’re proud that we have. We’ve done that with a skeletal inventory and cutting back on staff and other expenses, as well as being resourceful and creative. We’ve simply reached the point where these measures are no longer sufficient.

In the past, friends and I have organized massive events with stellar musicians, writers, and artists, charged a modest admission, and raised a few thousand dollars to help us ride out tough times. We’ve done membership drives for our 500 Friends program, which haven’t garnered the hoped for hundreds of members, but have resulted in a few people giving very generously. That’s not going to happen this time. The support we need must come from the hands of many and not the backs (and bank accounts) of a few. We shouldn’t have to put on a three ring circus to garner the support we need to make this modest venture viable.

We have some exciting changes underway — a brand new computerized consignment system that will allow us to improve and expand our work (and our offerings) with small and self-publishers. A new issue of Crap Hound due out this summer, and the next print in our Reading Frenzy series by Nikki McClure. We also have top secret plans to expand our mission in a way that has never been done before. We truly believe that despite the changing nature of the publishing industry and reading habits this could be the long-awaited next step we need to take in order to achieve long-term sustainability, but it’s coming at a time where the shop is in dire straits, making it difficult to impossible to move forward.

I’m asking you to support the shop through your patronage. Not a donation or an act of charity, simply a decision to help support a venture that you want to see continue to exist by purchasing something. Here are ten meaningful things you can do today to support us:

1. Visit the shop today at 921 SW Oak St or online and spend $20 on anything.
2. Purchase our print No Book Ever Ends by Aaron Renier: $30
3. Purchase our print Reading Frenzy! by Carson Ellis: $40
4. Purchase a Reading Frenzy! t-shirt or tote by Carson Ellis: $18-$20
5. Purchase one of our Crap Hound prints — Hands, Hearts or Eyes by Sean Tejaratchi: $40
6. Purchase a Crap Hound t-shirt (currently not available online but we’re working on it): $20
7. Become a member of 500 Friends of Reading Frenzy and receive annual discounts and perks: $25
8. Purchase any issue of Crap Hound: $12-$40
9. Promote Reading Frenzy on your website, blog, Facebook, etc. You can find us on FB here.
10. Make a commitment to visiting our shop in person or online on a regular basis. If everyone on our mailing list spent just $5-$10 a month we could cover our basic monthly expenses.

Thanks for your time and hopefully your support.
Your Faithful Proprietress,
Chloe

Reading Frenzy/strong>
921 SW Oak St.
Portland, Ore 97205
(503) 274-1449
Open Mon-Sat 11-7, Sun 12-6

The multi-talented Mark Sunshine (singer of Monster Magnet splinter faction Riot God and an artist most awesome) has updated his site again. Minimal, bold, and links to greatness.

Sam McPheeters of Vermiform/Born Against/etc. fame has released a collection of his early 1990s Hardcore Punk Zine Dear Jesus, as a velo-bound collection. Wow Cool still has a few copies of the first of his Shooting Space zine available.

Dear Jesus was a hardcore punk fanzine I produced between 1989 and 1992. There were four full issues, and a mini-issue I made 50 copies of and sold at one show in 1990. Everything is included in this collection. The anthology totals 140 pages, with a new intro, color cover, and sturdy velo binding. More work by Sam is available on BuyOlympia.com.

These five issues include interviews with Jello Biafra, Richie Birkenhead (of Underdog & Youth Of Today), Doc Dart (this is the piece that led, 17 years later, to my Vice Magazine profile “The Troublemaker”), Econochrist, Lifesblood, CBGB owner Hilly Kristal, Ian MacKaye, Maximumrocknroll, Mike BS (of ABC No Rio), Mykel Board (of MRR), Nation Of Ulysses (pictorial), Nausea, Neanderthal, No For An Answer, Revelation Records, Rorschach, Soulside, Supertouch, artist Seth Tobocman, Swiz, and Tit Wrench. This collection also includes articles on the first Gulf War, punk in Latin America, an extensive Born Against tour diary, and many, many painfully opinionated reviews. Dear Jesus was one of the most consistent hardcore punk zines to document the early 1990′s ABC No Rio scene in New York. If this is a historical period that interests you, then this is perhaps something you will want to own.

Last, and far from least. Today’s absolute must-read is this post from Adam Curtis on his blog at the BBC – “RUPERT MURDOCH – A PORTRAIT OF SATAN“
Related Reading: Charlie Brooker’s “Q: When does a tabloid become crude propaganda? A: When it starts printing it” in the Guardian.

Enjoy

This book is an endless source of wonder and speculation. I can spend hours imagining the adventures of the Easy Wizards. I saw this little sticker book randomly in one of those little over-priced toy stores that inexplicably thrive in the strip-malls of central California. “You gotta be kidding. I mean, you know who this is, man? This is Captain America. I’m Billy. Hey, we’re headliners baby. We played every fair in this part of the country. I mean, for top dollar, too!” -Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider.

Former Magic Band drummer Robert Williams posted this to his MySpace blog this morning. It is an astounding performance. If you can wrap your head around it, then you might get a bit why people can get so crazy about the music of Captain Beefheart. I love how chunky the bass is in this.

It might be going too far to say that none of this (Wow Cool, Brown Cuts Neighbors, etc….) wouldn’t be here without Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band… but it wouldn’t be going very far from the truth. I tend to spend much of my casual thinking time thinking in music, and much of it is the music of Don Van Vliet. My octave range may not be as great as Don’s, but I can hum and whistle in some pretty right on it pitch.

I’m obviously avoiding the issue here.

Despite about 17 years since his last public appearance in the Some Yo Yo Stuff film and a quarter century plus since the Magic Band was last active, the death of Don Van Vliet on Friday, December 17, 2010, has had a profound affect on me and many others around the world.

Here is the Guardian’s obituary of Don.

There will be much more posted here in the next few days about the greatness of Captain Beefheart, For now, here are a few videos that you simply have to watch.

More after the jump

It’s not a big secret that I am a huge fan of Nuisance. I booked them twice for shows in Western Massachusetts. Once at a spectacularly disastrous warehouse show in Florence (at the Arts & Industry building, now home to Ecstatic Peace/Father Yod, then the home to Wow Cool, Al Columbia and Sebadoh); and again at the Majestic Theater in Easthampton. The Majestic apparently burned down in 2007. The Arts & Industry show had a small getting busted by the cops problem which eventually cost me 50 bucks. I have several blurry black and white photos of the warehouse show and full video of Nuisance’s set at the Majestic (as well as some of Doc Hopper and Beef, who opened). I wrote about these shows a bit in Andy’s Chair printed zines numbers 2 and 3. Those photos and video are very likely to show up online sometime next year. In the meanwhile, today’s gem showed up online… coming to me somehow or other through the facebook. It’s a demo tape from 1987(?) with 5 songs. They are: Your House, Brighter Flower, Censorship Song, Waiting Room, and Days Of Sun.

Nuisance’s albums on Lookout are available on iTunes: Confusion Hill | Sunny Side Down or as CDs on Amazon: Confusion Hill | Sunny Side Down

So… you’ve read Rip It Up and Start Again, and Simon Reynolds follow-up Totally Wired, and are ass-deep in post-punk lore and legend and spend your days wandering the record stalls humming “She Is Beyond Good and Evil” by the Pop Group. And you start to wonder… “Can I plunge any teh further down thee rabbit hole” Oh yeah. Oh yeah. You really can. Somewhere while digging up some background for my few bits on the late Peter Christopherson the other day (see previous post), I stumbled across the impossible time-sink of a music blog Kill Your Pet Puppy. I was looking for a copy of the fanzine by CRASS, Toxic Grafity, and discovered KYPP. Strangely, or not so much, the worlds of CRASS and other anarcho-punk goings on, were not so far separate from the industrial goings-on by G. P’Orridge and crew. The signs are clearly visible in street art of that era and later. Further digging led me to find that M’Colleague at Maximum RockNRoll, Paul, had flagged it for blog of the week a few weeks back. It’s hard to encapsulate the wonders to be found within KYPP… You just need to dive in.

In the meanwhile, speaking of the Pop Group… I would love to see this full documentary – “Mark Stewart – ON/OFF – Pop Group to Maffia”. I contacted Monitorpop to try to find out what had become of this film, but have heard nothing back yet.

UPDATE: I somehow failed to mention that The Pop Group have reformed, and are playing two shows on the last two days of 2010, with Sonic Youth in Manchester and London. More info, photos, video and a history of the band are on the Pop Group’s site.

Peter, P2, Krems, originally uploaded by Chris_Carter_.

Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson has often been the man behind the scenes in his 35+ year career in music. He was known and celebrated as a pioneer in electronic and industrial music, sampling and video – first with Throbbing Gristle – and in the last 30 years with his own long-running Coil project (from 1982 until co-conspirator Jhonn Balance’s death in 2004), Psychic TV, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Rage Against the Machine and many more. But much of his work – the stuff your mom probably was aware of – was behind the scenes. He often portrayed himself in this boy in the back room image in Coil publicity shots. Little about his biography indicates that he was very shy. But it seems clear he had his hands firmly on the controls creating images and video for Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel (his first three solo album covers), Paul McCartney, Jah Wobble, The Crystal Method, Rollins Band, Hanson, Erasure, Robert Plant, Sepultura, Van Halen, and Yes, for the Owner of A Lonely Heart Video. Now that is subversive. There are even more curious entries to be found in his videography. (A partial list is to be found on Wikipedia.) We have lost one of the premier image makers in popular music, aged only 55. And he could make the electronics scream real good, too.

COIL – Windowpane
Uploaded by RileyELFuk. – Explore more music videos.

Windowpane by Coil.
The uploaded video is not of the best quality. I picked this track because it is one I used to play on my old radio show in the early 1990s. It was the white label promo 12 inch and it fit in nicely with the mix of acid house, industrial, post punk and American post-hardcore/grunge/what-have-you I would spin on Wednesday mornings on WRPI 91.5FM, Troy. WRPI’s record library contained (and still did, last I checked in 2009) an impressive collection of records by Throbbing Gristle and it’s various offspring. Windowpane also evokes some of the feel of Joy Division’s ‘New Dawn Fades’. It’s a more positive flip on that haunting melody.

Throbbing Gristle bandmates Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti have issued a statement on the band’s website.

Dave Simpson’s memorial post on the Guardian’s Music Blog.

I picked three of my favorite photos of Sleazy from Chris Carter’s flickr collection.

Don Donahue and Adam Alexander at San Diego Comic-Con 1989

Apparently you’re dead, Don. It’s been a long time. I miss seeing you around the old neighborhood. God, we used to talk and talk. You always had something going on. Usually bizarre, often sad, or at least bittersweet. Always something interesting. We all used to talk about Dori. Leslie, Adam, Kristine, you. The crew. It’s so great the book happened. Dori Stories. Without that…

I don’t know what ever happened that we all seemed to have such awful luck. Just the accumulation of events over time, I guess. Not much going on for happy endings. For the local underground comix crew… maybe less so… or more so… or whatever. Not too many of the old gang left, don’t hear much from those that are. Don’t hear much from the newer gang either. It’s a real shame about the warehouse. It looks like it’s still there. Big joke, right? I dunno. I don’t get down there much anymore.

You were a huge inspiration to alot of us, Don. You were the man who got the ball rolling.

OK. Gotta go… safe trip.

Dakin Warehouse - 2750 Adeline, Berkeley, CA 1970s

Some history of the warehouse.

The Stanley Kubrick Archive, comprising over 1000 boxes, including scripts, props, costumes, photography, correspondence, equipment and research is housed at the University of the Arts London.

And I couldn’t come up with much. I never knew or worked with the man. We had never met. But I know his art, and have saved a great deal of his comics. I still have a great admiration for his refined, yet fluid craft. One of the best lines ever put to paper. Superhuman mark making ability. I wanted to dig up some of the more obscure items from his publishing history that I have stored away here… but they are stored away pretty deeply and I have much work to do right now. And, frankly, scanning other people’s old comic work is an act that just depresses me.

Al Williamson was one of the great comics artists of the 20th century. The youngest of the EC Comics stable of greats, the definitive modern artist on Star Wars and Alex Raymond’s creations Flash Gordon and Secret Agent Corrigan (X-9). All my attempts to find something to say usually ended in memories of my mentor at the School of Visual Arts, fellow EC great, and editor of Al on several classic short stories for DC Comics, Joe Orlando, who has also long-since left us.

Rick Veitch, however, had the direct experience with the man and has had much to share about it over the last couple of weeks. Rick has always been one of my favorite people in comics, and I am very grateful that he has published a strip of mine in the past and put up with my young foolish noodling on some of his books co-published with Tundra during my time with them. Thank you for these memories Mr. Veitch.

My Friend Al Williamson

Meeting Al Williamson

Meeting Al in the Flesh

Working With Al Williamson On Star Wars

More Al Williamson Memories

NEW July 8, 2010: More Thoughts On Al Williamson including a lovely piece of art from Blade Runner.

If you got through all that, you will also want to read this post from my amigo Steve Bissette.

When I first saw a tweet of the news that Frank Sidebottom had left us today, I was pretty sure it could not mean that Chris Sievey, the man behind the enormous head, was actually dead. Maybe just taking a break or retiring the character he’d played for over a quarter century. But, no, very sadly, Chris Sievey, who had been fighting a cancer that he seemed very likely to win, died suddenly on the morning of June 21, 2010.

I was friends with Frank on MySpace, followed his tweets, and had even sent him music for his long running Radio Timeperley show. It always made me happy to know that he was still out there doing this extraordinarily silly work.

One of my favorite clips. David Soul! The Fall’s Hit the North! Classic!

Check out Frank’s music on Amazon and iTunes.

One of the most memorable scenes in all of cinema for me is that in Joseph Strick’s version of James Joyce’s Ulysses of the tower and the famous breakfast scene. This maverick of independent cinema has left us aged 86.

One of the true greats has left us. Sigmar Polke, known here – at least in the 80′s – as one of the ‘new German painters’ – has died at 69. A serious inspiration to myself. I love his circles and colors and will be sad that there are to be no more of them.

The Wikipedia version of Sigmar’s life.

My awesome wife Jennifer Oh has finally launched her own web site – JenOhSays.com. If you’ve ever wondered about the inner working of the Oh/Arsenault household then here’s your chance. Jen chronicles our long, strange journey into healthier and more natural living, something that was mainly prompted by trying to raise our two kids as healthy as we can. A range of topics are and will be covered, including: organic gardening, disaster preparedness, detoxifying your home, eating good on a budget, making your own cheese, bread, yogurt and more, and finding the perfect tool for the job. A great example of that last one was learning that a little phallic ten dollar device called the Clog Buster, that you can get at your local Ace hardware, will save you from ever buying or making drain cleaner again.

One of the very few films that somewhat understood punk and that awkward time of someone being pretty sure they want to be punk, but not doing so hot at it. That part may be a little to familiar for many. The rest of it, hopefully less so. Genuinely disturbing.

Nice writeup at Blastitude.

Out of the Blue is available on DVD from Anchor Bay.

Sadly this clip does not include the anecdote about the night Natalie Wood took a Champagne bath that Hopper related during the interview.

The time I played slide guitar on a performance of Roy Orbison’s ‘In Dreams‘ with Brown Cuts Neighbors may be one of the dodgiest bit of playing I’ve ever done live, but it seemed to work. The true surprise for many was when Valentine’s sound guy Tim redeemed himself by grabbing the bass and saving the song.

The above is from Hermann Vaske’s excellent The Fine Art of Separating People From Their Money. I used to make everyone in my art department and all the sales reps who used our materials watch this movie.

The work and life of Dennis Hopper has meant more to me than I can begin to express. I have every single one of the movies he directed on VHS. I attended all but a couple of the screenings of his films at the massive retrospective the Film Forum in New York ran in the 1980s (including one memorable one where Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo of Sonic Youth were seated right behind me). I could go on and on. Dennis Hopper was the best living example I can think of why it is of value in life to engage with art. I suppose that’s a statement that needs some explaining. I’ll be thinking about it. I’ll be dragging out many more of the lesser known works involving Dennis Hopper over the next few days.

Obituary from the Los Angeles Times

Dennis Hopper: A Life in Pictures at the Guardian

The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E. Smith is a marvelous BBC documentary from a few years back that I was pointed to by Richard Metzger. It is available to see on YouTube in nine parts. The first part is above.

Around when nickname: Rebel started up, me and Mike used to joke that we should follow the Fall on tour and when Mark E. Smith sacked the entire band one night, we would step in and become the Fall and finish the tour. We did not make it to one show. I was mad jealous when Jason Martin played (as part of Bunnybrains) a CMJ showcase a few years back with Guitar Wolf and The Fall. I remember he told me that Mark E. asked him where he could find a good bar in that part of New York. Watching this documentary, some musical moments still give me the chills. Cruisers Creek? So good.

The Fall’s latest LP (the 29th or something) was released Tuesday. It’s Your Future Our Clutter and you can get it as a CD or download.

Mark E. Smith’s story of the Fall is Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith

The Fall Online has all the other info you might need