here's a t-shirt design/bumper sticker idea I am still working out. I may edit and play with this some more, but thought I would share. Let me know what you all think . . .

posted by jax

here's a recent poster I did for a non-profit children's theatre in providence . . .

posted by jax

Kung Fu My Ass, Master Chew!

Click on the title above for a link to an interview with Ong-Bak star, Tony Jaa. This Thai madman is coming soon to a theatre near you. HoooAAAAAAAHHHH!!

While you're there, check out some of the other interviews - they have some cool ones.

They Go in Threes . . .

Sandra Dee and Hunter Thompson over the weekend . . . who's next?

I've been a fan of Thompson's work for a long time, my personal favorite being his book on the Hell's Angels. But I think what another favorite writer of mine wrote is better than anything I would be able to fumble out. And, I agree with what Ellis has to say here, never a big fan of the suicide exit myself, I think that it kind of reeks of the drama, but that doesn't diminish the work (nor did it for my other fav, Hemingway.)

Anyway, read on:

bad signal
WARREN ELLIS

People keep asking if I'm going to
say something about the death of
Hunter S Thompson. Hell, a couple
of newspapers have asked. This
is because (for the sake of the
Marvel readers who have joined us)
I wrote a graphic novel series called
TRANSMETROPOLITAN, the creation
of whose protagonist was somewhat
influenced by Thompson's writing,
persona and life.

I got the news from a friend at CBS
at four in the morning, two minutes
after it hit the ticker. I was, and
am, numb. I've tried to write about
it a couple of times. When John
Peel died, I was wrecked. This
time, I'm just numb.

I read an article a few years ago,
that I haven't seen cited in the
obituaries yet, wherein it's stated
that Thompson's body was pretty
much packing up on him. His
stomach was having problems with
toxic substances like, um, food,
and his diet was mostly liquid,
mashed avocado and yoghurt. He'd
spent time in a wheelchair in recent
years. His drug use had always been
exaggerated for comedic effect,
but, at 67, he'd been hammering
his body in a committed way for
some 50 years. And, at 67, you
don't grow back the bits you killed.
There's a fair chance he was looking
at years of dependency, chronic
illness, and listening to his own body
die by inches. Anyone would find
that frightening.

He always wore his influences on
his sleeve. JP Donleavy, Faulkner,
Mencken, Fitzgerald, Kerouac,
Hemingway. He used and re-used
the last line from A FAREWELL TO
ARMS, over and over: "I walked back
to the hotel in the rain." Legend
has it that he retyped a Hemingway
novel to understand how the writer
got his effects.

Hemingway, of course, shot himself
in the head. Old and sick and unable
to live up to his own ideas on manhood.

I always thought it peculiarly apt
that the man who wrote that line,
whose work was all about keeping
the expression of human feeling
underneath the surface, sat
somewhere quiet and alone and put
a shotgun in his mouth.

Hunter Thompson waited until his
young wife left the house, and then
shot himself in the head with a
pistol. He must have been quite
aware that either she, or his son,
there in the house with his grandson,
would find his corpse. Dead bodies
don't lay neatly. They splay,
spastic and awful. There is often
shit.

I nev er met Thompson. Had the
opportunity a couple of times --
magazines wanting to send me out
to Woody Creek, that kind of
thing -- but turned them down. I've
been lucky so far, in meeting my
great influences. But they don't
always go well. Friends of mine have
had horrific experiences with their
personal heroes, and it often leaves
them unable to enjoy the work
afterwards. And I wanted to keep
the work. So I don't know what kind
of man he was.

And the numbness, in part, comes
from now finding that he was the
kind of man that'd let his family
find him like that. I have a personal
loathing for suicide. It's stupid and
selfish and ugly and cowardly and
reeks of weakness. Someone said
to me yesterday about Thompson,
"What a ripoff." And I kind of know
what he meant. It's become
convenient to write Thompson off
as parody in recent years, and
there's a case to be made that he
peaked around the age of 36, with
FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL '72. But he could
still make me laugh, even in the
most recent collection, HEY RUBE.
" 'We have many cigarettes here,'
I said suavely" still makes me smile.
Writing had clearly become
difficult, and a job, but every now
and then you'd get a clear burst
of the old anger, as in his support
for Lisl Auman (google it). He was
done with the big fireworks, but
the devil was still in him. Probably
his great work of the last twenty
years was in Being Hunter Thompson.
In performance.

But how you leave the stage is at
least as important as how you enter
it. And he left it alone in a kitchen
with a .45, dying in -- and wouldn't
it be nice if it were the last time
these words were typed together? --

-- dying in fear, and loathing.

Warren Ellis
down by the sea
February 2005

the latest poster for my brother's and friends' band SIX STAR GENERAL. See the poster, hear the band. Rock on . . .

posted by jax

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Who indeed? Finally, after years of languishing in studio limbo, "Watchmen" -- the most critically acclaimed comic of all time by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons -- is under way as a film. With Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremecy) set to direct, the official movie website is up at http://www.watchmenmovie.com/

Go now.

Then read the book, dunderheads.

Thunder-Spiel

From my friend Slick's blog, I re-post to spread the word. Check out this website: http://www.theminutemen.com/home.html to see the trailer and more about the seminal Minutemen.

From the man himself:

an email i received from mike watt....

We are proud to announce that WE JAM ECONO -
THE STORY OF THE MINUTEMEN is done! Please
help us get the word out about the premiere.
Post the info to every newsgroup that you're on,
e-mail your friends, and tell the whole world!

The San Pedro Film Society in association
with Rocket Fuel Films is proud to announce
the premiere of WE JAM ECONO - THE STORY OF
THE MINUTEMEN at 8PM on Friday, February 25,
2005 at San Pedro's historic Warner Grand
Theatre. Minutemen Mike Watt and George
Hurley along with Director Tim Irwin and
Producer Keith Schieron will sit for a
question and answer session with the audience
after the screening.

WE JAM ECONO - THE STORY OF THE MINUTEMEN is
a feature length documentary chronicling this
ground breaking, early 80's punk rock band
from their humble beginnings in the harbor
town of San Pedro, CA to their untimely
demise when lead singer and guitarist D. Boon
was killed in a van accident in December of
1985.

Told by those who were there, WE JAM ECONO -
THE STORY OF THE MINUTEMEN weaves together
footage from over fifty newly shot interviews
with archival interviews and live performances
to capture the dynamic energy and
do-it-yourself spirit of these punk rock
pioneers. Newly shot interviews include
Minutemen Mike Watt and George Hurley as well
as Bill Morgan, Brendan Mullen, Brother Dale,
Brother Matt, Byron Coley, Carla Bozulich,
Carlos Guitarlos, Chris Morris, Colin Newman,
Dave Markey, David Rees, Dez Cadena, Ed
Crawford, Flea, Greg Ginn, Henry Rollins, Ian
Mackaye, J Mascis, Jack Brewer, Jean Watt,
Jello Biafra, Joe Baiza, Joe Carducci, John
Doe, John Talley-jones, Keith Morris, Kevin
Barrett, Kira Roessler, Kjehl Johansen, Kurt
Schellenbach, Lisa Roeland, Martin Lyon,
Michel C. Ford, Mike Martt, Milo Auckerman,
Nannette Roeland, Nels Cline, Pat Hoed, Randy
Jahnson, Ray Farrell, Raymond Pettibon,
Richard Bonney, Richard Derrick, Richard
Hell, Richard Meltzer, Bobby Holtzman, Scott
Becker, Thurston Moore, Tom Watson, Tony
Platon and Vince Meghrouni.

No Ass Crack

In Virginia today, the powers that be passed a law that fines people up to $50 for wearing their pants below their underwear. Gangstas and plumbers BEWARE!

Also, in Michigan a CEO fired a number of employees for failing his Tobacco Tests or refusing to submit to the tests. Apparently, employers can now dictate what you may do outside of work in your own homes. Yippee.

Freedom spreads at an unbelieveable pace with this fine President we have. 4 more years! Great.

Next stop, Iran!