2008: All a-Blur...
The cover to Blur, Volume 2; cover painting/collage by yours truly, cover design by Jon-Mikel Gates (copyright 2008 SR Bissette)I've been writing non-stop for two full weeks! It's been a productive stretch, but with the break between Center for Cartoon Studies semesters almost over, I'm feeling pretty woozy.
Currently on the keyboards: CCS syllabus revisions; ongoing work (transcription, fact and trivia checks) on The Neil Gaiman Companion; a massive essay Rick Veitch commissioned from me for the upcoming King Hell definitive edition of Brat Pack, an article which has been as research-heavy as the book on Neil (I'll excerpt some of that piece here, down the road); and -- at last -- Blur volumes 2, 3 and 4.
Jon-Mikel Gates just sent me his cover designs for Blur volumes 2 and 3, and I love 'em. With Jon-Mikel's considerable help, the old digital files for those three volumes are now on my laptop, and we'll be getting volume 2 to Jean-Marc Lofficier at Black Coat Press early in February, with volumes 3 & 4 to follow pretty quickly. It's foot-noting, formatting and proof-reading left to do, with a bit of cross-checking of my VMag collection to ensure correct references to some of the original publication dates of the "Video Views" columns reprinted in the Blur series. When all is said and done, it'll offer over 1000 pages of my writings on movies, video and DVD -- I hope some of you indulge the purchase of the complete collection. Announcements and release and ordering info to follow, here, when the time arrives!
I'm also drawing again, and will have some announcements about that soon.
But first, I have to finish my revised syllabus for this semester's CCS classes... a busy January, to say the least!
Note: For your peace of mind, a Middle East trip update:
Have a titanic Tuesday...
Labels: Blur, Brat Pack, Jon-Mikel Gates, Neil Gaiman Companion
posted by SRBissette at
1:12 PM
7 Comments:
Help me out here, guys. As you know, I'm retarded.
What thing Condi said so outrages you. The reach out to Israel thing?
But Steve, peace is busting out all over the Middle East, just as W predicted. Democracy is spreading like wildfire. The sheiks resigned in Saudi Arabia and elected a government so fairly that even Jimmy Carter would approve. I don't know what your problem is.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Not having coughed syrup, I'll ask Bob to weigh in first as to what precise Tuesday Condi quote to slammed him.
Mark, let's see. TEN points:
1. Planes hijacked by SAUDI radical Islamists slam into US landmarks and kill 3000+, 9/11/01
2. Saudi Arabia remains our ally. Bush instead cites three other countries as the "Axis of Terror," invades Afghanistan (NOT one of the three countries named, and not part of 9/11) chasing Osama; we never catch him, despite a report of UK military having Osama in their sights and being told to stand down.
3. Saudi Arabia remains our ally. Rather than maintain focus on finishing what we start in Afghanistan, much less do what braggart Bush says we were gonna do with Osama (catch him), we bomb the living fuck out of IRAQ (NOT part of the 9/11 plot, and NOT a terrorist base of operations) and invade sans planning. "We" also ignore the advice of our own military, and "we" fire the only military reps who honestly report what the war will cost. Condi Rice, for six years, argues all this is correct and justified.
4. Saudi Arabia remains our ally. Iraq becomes a vital center of terrorist operations, due primarily to US actions against that country and complete mismanagement of the preemptive war (the reasons for which are proven repeatedly to have been falsely portrayed to the world and US public, to the point where Bush himself publicly discounts the reasons given to justify the war).
5. Saudi Arabia remains our ally. Distracted by waging war in Iraq, Afghanistan unravels, and the Taliban reasserts itself in that country. No centralized government is established, much less reinforced. Iraq descends into increasing chaos, its infrastructure destroyed. Osama is never caught, but Saddam Hussein (who had nothing to do with 9/11) is. He is executed; his brother's head pops off during his respective execution.
6. Saudi Arabia remains our ally, Osama remains uncaught and at large. The wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan (neither part of 9/11) plunged further into chaos, generating anti-US ire and a new generation of radical extremists and terrorists. Having failed on two fronts, Bush vehemently and persistently argues IRAN (one of the three countries named as part of the "Axis of Evil") is a world problem, and should be dealt with sternly -- even after his OWN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY reports Iran has no nuclear program, Bush persists.
7. Saudi Arabia remains our ally, Osama remains uncaught and at large. The wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan (neither part of 9/11) plunged further into chaos. Traveling to the MIDDLE EAST, advocating PEACE, Bush vehemently and persistently argues IRAN (one of the three countries named as part of the "Axis of Evil") is a world problem, and should be dealt with sternly -- Rice agrees, but also argues for PEACE.
8. Bush completes a major SALE OF ARMS to our ally SAUDI ARABIA (remember, SAUDI radicals helmed the planes 9/11), talking PEACE while aggressively arguing IRAN is the most dire threat against world PEACE ("...threaten the security of nations everywhere...") -- despite the NIE report to the contrary.
9. Condi argues, with a prominent SAUDI gov't official at her side, that ISRAEL and ARAB countries should work toward PEACE in THE MIDDLE EAST, a region destabilized by US ACTIONS since 2002. Meanwhile, our pre-emptive, unprovoked wars in Afghanistan and Iraq rage, no end in sight. Arab governments are understandably cynical about anything that comes out of the mouths of Bush and Rice, knowing too that (given failed US military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq) Bush can't back his tough talk about Iran with action.
10. Saudi Arabia remains our ally, Osama remains uncaught and at large. The wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan (neither part of 9/11) plunge further into chaos, generating increasing anti-US ire and uncountable radical extremists and terrorists. The 3000+ killed on US soil on 9/11 has been met with 24,000+ uncharged "detainees" still in various prison facilities (and fresh recruitment centers for radicalized extremists), 4000 US military dead, uncounted US military wounded, uncounted US contracted workers/mercenary dead and/or wounded, and 1 MILLION+ Iraqi dead and more wounded -- NONE dying or wounded on soil from which came a single member of the 9/11 SAUDI radicals who attacked the US. Bush and Condi have one year left in office; argue for PEACE while in the MIDDLE EAST, but foment 'strong action' against IRAN.
C'mon, Mark.
Condi is steadfastly and publicly backing a completely FAILED and MORALLY BANKRUPT foreign policy.
Condi is talking PEACE in a region WE (and SHE) destabilized by waging unprovoked, preemptive (their term) WAR.
As a result, everything coming out of Condi's mouth is patently absurd and sounds increasingly unhinged.
Condi is ridiculous, at best -- and that's a stretch.
Thanks for the lecture.
I just wondered what specific thing Condi said that enraged you so. I am still not sure if there was any one statement, but in general was it that she had the audacious hypocricy to talk peace in the Middle East?
Just you wait. When the NeoCon Regime is overthrown, we won't have to pussyfoot around with those damn Saudis any more!
JIM BOB! What made you hurl cough syrup???
Great cover for BLUR, which reminds me that I still need to buy the first one from you.
Rick is doing another printing of BRAT PACK? But I already have that nice signed and numbered hardcover from the 90s!
Also, wrong post, but I'm glad to see that Alan Moore DVD finally come out - the trailer I saw last year on the web looked great.
"JIM BOB! What made you hurl cough syrup???"
Her request that Arab countries reach out to Israel. LOL!
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