It's Never the One Thing

"If the rule you followed brought you here, what good was the rule?"

The Eastern Front

 

If you didn't hear, Moscow got blown up a couple of days ago. While I can't say that I'm a fan of how the Russian government has handled its sundry of renegade provinces, blowing up commuters on a train isn't exactly the way to go on this. It doesn't present the opportunity to state your cause or anything, it's just fucked up, repugnant shit.

It isn't hard to make the Russians look like the bad guy, how the Chechan rebels have fucked that up astounds me. Only hideous assholes like it when people going to work get hit with bombs and, if they're your only fans, you should probably go back to the home base and do some hard thinking about what got you there.

So I figured to counter-act the ugliness of terrorism, I thought I'd post a picture of Russia during a better time.

Then, somehow, I just ended up posting another World War II photo, as is the case much of the time.

A Genuine Exploding Dog

 

Don't worry, the dog was fine.

Probably.

Director Duesday

This is how movies get made, folks.

(via Tout Le Cine)

I Did a Terrible Thing

My friend Paul won a bet, so I did a comic for him.

Here it is:
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
Part 4.

I've still got to do a ton of clean-up work and I'm not happy with how the shading turned out and its still missing all of its captions and the title page, but I'm still kind of happy with how the whole thing turned out. I can do better and it will look better in a week or two, but until then, it'll do.

The Dead Weather

I like this song and I like this video and I liked it even more when I figured out that the chick in this video is the chick from The Kills.

Then I figured out that the muzzle flashes are digital. The blood splatters probably are too.

The video is still cool, but fake muzzle flashes are not.

I Knew I Shouldn't Have Eaten that Packet of Powdered Gravy I Found

Jeepers.

Hippos are Jerks

(Married to the Sea)

The Best Plastic Bag You'll See All Day

Werner Herzog as a plastic bag. Watch it.

Happy Birthday, Steve

Today would have been the 80th birthday of film legend and genuine badass Steve McQueen. He died at the age of 50 of a heart attack.

Crashing and Burning

 

A Japanese plane burns off the coast of the Mariana Islands.

(from the Denver Post)

Apparently in China, When You Get Rich, You Go Insane

Not to beat the sinophobia drum to hard, but I had to link this story about a nascent dog craze in China.

I have a theory about this. Basically, I believe that if you get a person or a culture that is exceptionally poor, that is used to subsistance that, if

Think about it. This isn't unique to China. If some guy in a trailer park suddenly wins the lottery or, more likely, his rich Aunt Hortense dies, he isn't suddenly going to go from liking Jerry Springer, Cobra, Kraft Singles, and hating black people to liking Rembrandt, champagne, feta cheese, and cosanguinity. Of course not. He's going to be the same low-class schlub that he's always been, except that now he has money, so his taste doesn't get any better or worse, it just gets louder and bigger.

Just look at rappers. There's a whole segment of society that goes from having nothing than having more money than God. And what do they spend their new found wealth on? Grills, Benzs, and more expensive fighting dogs. Unlike 50 Cent most rappers don't seem to understand the finer points of investment and instead go for the ostentatious exhibitions.

This theory also explains why Italians love gold chains and concrete lions or why Russians now are so caught up in status that the entire country is caught up in buying counterfeits to the point that even mementos from vacations can be counterfeited.

Now, to be fair, when the poor suddenly get a ton of scratch, they don't all go insane. There isn't some gene in the poor that makes them lose their goddamn mind. They're just as flawed as anyone else, so when they have the cash to show off, they show off these flaws like anyone else. And it isn't as though the rich are padded from craziness, but people who have had money for a long time just go mad in different, usually quieter ways. But, that's another subject for another day.

What it all comes down to is that you can buy a two-hundred pound killer dog, but you can't buy class.

There is just something about rapidly changing classes that makes people go insane. It happens everywhere and now, thanks to the internet, we can see this drama unravel in China day by day.

The Long War

The long, damn war, as collected at The Big Picture.

Yoshitaka Amano

It's a kind of a shame that Yoshitaka Amano almost exclusively makes art for videogames, because if he didn't more people than just us nerds would know about him.

I mean, just look at his work. He's a guy that should be enjoyed by an audience larger than those who know what a "chocobo" is.








I like Amano because, while he isn't making what a snootier person would call "high art," he doesn't half-ass his work. Even his older, less stylistic work looks amazing, if a bit more traditional. He's a fine artist that just happens to be known for working in Japanese role-playing games. I guess what I'm saying is that the man clearly knows how to work a pencil and a brush and manages to make some really fantastic artwork without it only being fantasy art.

And if someone ever airbrushed an Amano dragon onto a van, it would be the coolest van in the history of time.

He Say You Brade Runnah

"I need you, Deck. I need the old blade runner. I need your magic."

You might say that he was an American hero!

Let's not go overboard.

Don't Ever Change, China

Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Basically, if you don't want to read the article, what happened is that Google is now refusing to censor its internet results based on the Chinese government's wishes. Google isn't pulling out of the country, but it also isn't playing by the government's rules any longer.

Good for them.

Right now China seems to be trying to pass this off as an overreaction by Google because of the cyber attacks on some of their e-mail accounts within the past year. That seems like a strange case to make, because it's established that the attacks originated from China. Secondly, why would Google make such big waves if the evidence pointed towards isolated hackers screwing with the system? One would assume that this points towards a larger, possible systemic problem.

Most of China's responses to this decision seem to be rather off-base. They also seem to be rather poorly translated. It sounds like someone is trying to express their umbrage through Babelfish or something. It's hard to express outrage when you're speaking that formally.

Also, China's complaints about how Google is politicizing commerce, strikes me as a silly statement. Considering that China is a country that, as a matter of record, monitors the internet for dissidents and others hostile to their government. Of course they want to keep commerce from being political. If it was political, people might want access to the entire internet or, God-forbid, start using words like "democracy." The Chinese don't want anything to be political, especially anything (like Google) that will cost them either diplomatic or economic standing in the years to come.

China wants to be a big boy, so when things like this happen, the government tends to get a bit ornery.

Whatever the case may be, its an interesting move for Google to make. Its an interesting move for any corporation to make, much less one of the biggest names on the internet. As time goes on, I imagine it will only get more interesting.

And here's another quick, semi-related burst:
China has been caught bugging and burgling Britian's commercial sector.

Eight children stabbed to death at a Chinese school.

Lee Damn Marvin

He's a man. He does manly things. He makes all of your dads looks like Liberace.

He is Lee Damn Marvin, damnit.

(From Starlet Showcase)

My Sentiments Exactly

Pulp

 

Someone recently posted this book on a forum I frequent.

I think it's downright perfect.

Homeless Man's Mom

I drew this on a lark last night because my friend had a fairly funny Facebook status. She said she looked like the mom of a homeless guy. So, taking that as a prompt, I followed it up with this drawing.

More Than This

I asked my friend Steven for something to draw and he told me to do Bill Murray looking classy and drinking some whiskey. This isn't that picture, but I wanted to make sure that I could actually draw a Bill Murray that looked something like Bill Murray.

I think I didn't do a bad job of it at all.

I inked it all with a brush and I'm also fairly pleased at how that turned out. It's probably because it's a fairly large drawing.

I Will Watch This

I will watch the Hell out of this.

Come at the King, You Best Not Miss

Terry Richardson and Michael K. Williams dressed as Shakespeare characters at Vice.

Well, that's certainly a weird looking paragraph.

Parachute Bombs on Boeroe Island

I don't know much about Boeroe Island, I just know that I don't want to go there.

Little Irish Girls Love Co-Op Sweaters!

And that is a fact!

This is For My Hibernians!

I kid because I love.

A Sneak Preview to a HORRIFYING FUTURE

Boardwalk Empire

Preview Trailer #2

While I am officially excited for this show, my excitement comes with a bit of annoyance. Mostly because I didn't know who was on the show up until right now.

I mean, how come nobody told me that Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Kelly McDonald, Michael Shannon, Michael K. Williams, and Paz de la Huerta were in it?

Come on, world, don't let me down like that.

Real Irishmen in History

Tom Crean.

He left the family farm near Annascaul to enlist in the Royal Navy at the age of fifteen. In 1901, while serving on HMS Ringarooma in New Zealand, he volunteered to join Scott's 1901–04 British National Antarctic Expedition on Discovery, thus beginning a distinguished career as an explorer during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. After the Discovery Expedition, he joined Scott's 1911–13 Terra Nova Expedition, which saw the race to reach the South Pole lost to Roald Amundsen, and ended in the deaths of Scott and his polar party. During this expedition, Crean's 56 km solo walk across the Ross Ice Shelf to save the life of Edward Evans led to him receiving the Albert Medal. His third Antarctic venture was the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition on Endurance led by Ernest Shackleton, in which he served as Second Officer. His contributions to these expeditions earned him three Polar Medals, and a reputation as a tough and dependable polar traveller.

Famous Irishmen in Time

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Famous Irishmen in Time

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Caught up in the Frenzy

I remember years ago in high school, my church small group leader told me to read the liner notes for "Fight For Your Right" on the Beastie Boys' The Sounds of Science anthology. I did and I was kind of blown away by it. As the years went by I realized just how true of an observation it was. I guess Nietzsche said something very similar along the same lines, but I'm a much bigger fan of hip-hop than I am of unstable, German philosophers. So I think I'll stick with what I've got.

Anyways, here's the excerpt:

We thought that a history of the band would be incomplete without this song. Because, oddly enough, I think that it is still the work we are most well known for. The reason I say oddly is because, by my recollection, it was a joke that went too far.

. . . It began in clubs. We were drinking Budweiser on stage and playign the role of these snotty kids. No one expected us to act that way so it seemed really funny.

But as the record began to explode, things changed. People did begin to expect us to act that way. . . We found ourselves playing in the same arenas that we'd opened for Madonna and RUN-DMC in. But now they were filled with a new fan base, frat kids. I remember looking out at concerts and seeing these huge drunken football jocks pushing their way up to the front and screaming the lyrics to our songs, and thinking "What the hell is going on here?"

But it was too late to turn in any other direction; we were caught up in the frenzy. The shows were sold out. It seemed like there was nothing to do but keep coming out on stage every night drinking beer and playing the role. The strangest part about it was that after a short time I think we actually became just what it was we'd set out to make fun of. By drinking so much beer and acting like sexist macho jerks we actually became just that.

So I guess that the story might have a couple of possible morals. One might be, "Be careful of what you make fun of or you might become it." But the other one, the one that I like is, "All of the sexist macho jerks in the world are just pretending cause they're caught in a rut, and maybe, at some point in the future, when all the planets line up in a certain way, they'll all just snap out of it."

Reading this now, year later, I'm struck by a few things. The first is that the line about becoming what you make fun of is just as true then as it is now. More true, I think. Maybe its the state of our culture or maybe it's that I just know a wider array of people, but I know these kinds of people intimately. It's a lesson that's stuck with me forever and that's because I keep being reminded of it, sometimes even by myself.

The second is that I never remembered what the second moral from the passage was. And now that I think on it, I think that's the one I like, too.

I'm also struck by the fact that the single clearest and most practical lesson I learned from my years in church was from the Beastie Boys.

Now Here's a TV Show

Why isn't anyone making this on HBO?

And how on earth is that dress staying up?

(via Swimsuit Issue)

What 'Nam was really like

"War hero? No. I was a doc in Vietnam. My job was to say "This is what happens when you screw a hooker, kid. Put this cream on your pecker."

--Shit my Dad Says

Clint

Another part of the depressed, Cash-centric phase I had was an unerring love of Clint Eastwood.

Well, I guess some things never change.

Sit Perfectly Still

Cash

Without a doubt this is one of my favorite songs of all time.

There was a time in my life not too long ago where this was more or less the soundtrack to my life. There was a lot of Tom Waits and Nick Cave sprinkled around that phase and as much as I love those artists I'm real glad I've moved on from there.

It's a Beautiful Culture

Dear Turkey,

What the hell goes through that head of yours when you wake up?

Your pal,
James K.

Silver Lining

I love this song and I love this album.

Watch it, dang it.

You know what?

This is cool.

Noir

Oh My Goodness

Yes. A million times yes.

Just in Case You Had Any Doubts

Scientology is a creepy, insane cult that needs to be outed for what it is. I don't so much hate the organization for being secretive and weird, I hate it because it uses threats, lawyers, and scumball-like behavior any time someone says they're being secretive and weird. That in my book is indictative of an organization with something to hide. And I doubt what they're hiding is their unerring love of their fellow man.

Also, this article passing through time, not being paid attention to is exactly what the Scientology goons want.

So, fuck 'em, I say.

What movie is this?

I know I've seen it, but I can't figure it out. Someone help me out here.

Edit: Solved it.


What the hell was that?

This is Pretty Cool

I'm also sure it's pretty sexist. I think this is what History of Women in US Film was talking about.

This Damn War

The Day After by Stephanie Sinclar. A part of "The Shooting War."

This photo is surreal. It barely even looks like it's on earth or in this century. And once more, I'll say this, I am glad I'm a fat, lazy American with fay, lazy American problems.

I Have Learned a Lot Tonight

I feel like I've learned a whole bunch just in this past hour. Mostly only about hipsters, but still. That should count for something. I also learned that my idea "Hipster or Homeless" is already something and that I, more likely than not, stole it and then forgot that I stole it. Damn. That site would have made me a million dollars.

Fuck

From Kieren Gillen:

We’ve been doing "Phonogram" for over 4 years, not including the years before the first series came out. Imagine if we could have just done the comic and not had to deal with any of the shit we’ve had to. We’d have been up to issue 44 now. Instead, we have 13 issues.

I feel frustrated. Enormously lucky, sure, but frustrated. We’ve done this wonderful thing we’re crazy-proud about. But if the whole economic system was just a couple of degrees to the left, everything would have been different. I mean, just to give you an idea about narrow the margins are between what we are and what we could be, if we were selling 6K instead of 4K, we could have done those 44 issues. The difference between breaking even and actually being able to do it in comics is insane. It’s like being kept under ice, clawing. I feel like a bonsai plant.

That's certainly depressing.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go rethink my life six years ago.

(Stolen from Warren Ellis.)

You'll Have to Speak Up

I'm wearing a towel.

Hurting For a Locker Pun

Alright. That's it. No more Hurt Locker hyping. I've done my part already. I think it's time The Hurt Locker pays me back a bit for helping it out so much.

Hams and Racks

It was a watershed day when I found this one.

No context, no explanation, just a dwarf hamster, and some big boobs. Nice. Well met, internet.

(via Cute Overload)

The Boot

How To

With the little I know about being an artist, I think this sounds about right. I mean, I've got enough things trying to push me to become miserable and crazy, so it's good to know I can at least avoid some of the pit falls. Theoretically, at least.

(via Bad Bot.)

Bill Murray Just Gets Cooler and Cooler

He's like a fine wine. As times goes on, Bill Murray just becomes a cooler and cooler dude.

Or crazier.

Either way, he's definitely a celebrity I'm going to be sad about outliving.

Bigger Dorks Than Myself

Every time I bust out a reference to medieval firing mechanisms or the works of Hideo Kojima just keep in mind that these guys are bigger dorks than I'll ever be and they're rich. RICH I TELL YOU.

Forced Rebellion

In the early 1960's the CIA recruited and led the Hmong people of Laos to fight the communist forces during the Vietnam War in what is known as "The Secret War". Known as some of the world's best guerilla fighters, the Hmong loyally served as an efficient counter attack to communist forces on America's behalf.

In 1975 the US withdrew from the region, leaving the Hmong behind in communist controlled territory to fend for themselves. Many attempted to flee to refuge in Thailand, thousands were killed by Lao and Vietnamese forces during that journey. Some returned to their villages where they suffered retaliations such as death and prison, and even others escaped to the remote mountains and jungle in fear of that same fate.

An AK 47 hangs in the Hmong camp. Guns are an everyday part of life for the Hmong in the jungle. All men constantly carry their gun at all times in case of a sudden attack from the LPA.

This is one of those situations where I go, "Hey, you know what? Things aren't so bad on my end." Like, I may be broke, but I don't have to run bare foot for my life through one of the more unpleasant jungles on the face of the earth.

(Photo by KC Ortiz.)

Cars are Awesome

It might not be a brilliant statement, but it's the truth.

(via the old LJs)

See, It's Not Just Me!

"Women who drink less gain weight!" See, ladies, I wasn't just telling you to drink for the heck of it! I was looking out for your health!

I deserve a medal.

COMICS!

(Afrodisiac)

Now, where's me hat?

Audrey

Sorry, no pet dears here.

(Photo by Dennis Stock)

Audrey

I'm sorry that I keep telling people that Audrey Hepburn used to be 400 pounds.


(This is the closest I can find to an origin of this photo.)

Forget It, Jake

As I understand it, this is from the press packet of Chinatown when it was originally released.

So I'm not crediting anyone, damnit!

How you like them apples?

They Love Their Wine Over There

Comicry for the Devil

Look at this shit. Look at this madness. Just look at it!

Speaking of Being an Ass

Iranian "President" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a massive ass.

I mean, besides stealing the election from those hot Iranian co-eds (and millions of others, presumably), he has to go pick on September 11th. Really dude? Are you so unpopular domestically that you've got to pander to the pro-9-11/9-11 Was a Lie/terrorist asswipe crowd? Couldn't you just have a photo op on a farm or something? Maybe riding a horse? I feel like there's better cards to play than the 9-11 card.

At least it's not the Holocaust denial card.

Don't Be an Ass

Give credit where credit is due.

(Though, admittedly, I'm pretty fucking bad about this.)

BEING A MAN

As a man, sometimes you just gotta say "Fuck it" and ride off in your convertible, smoking a cigarette with Marilyn Monroe in the passenger seat.

(I don't know where this is from. Maybe If Charlie Parker, maybe The Impossible Cool. I just don't know. I'm sorry.)