BOOK BY ITS COVER: VALIS & ASTRO BOY

On Thursday’s, The Werewolf participates in that time-honored tradition of judging a book by its cover – literally.  I mean, let’s admit it, we all do it.  And, as much as I’m in to audiobooks and eBooks, there’s nothing like having the real book in your hand, especially when it features particularly appealing artwork or design elements.  And, while the recent Chip Kidd school is all fine and good, I’m a much bigger fan of the older, outmoded styles.  I have to say that I fetishize book covers and so I present this feature where I cull Google images for the best cover art of whichever 3 or 4 books I happen to be reading that week.  (Yes, 3 or 4 a week!  Generally, a paperback at work for reading on the can, something from Audible on my iPod for when I’m doing mindless data entry or running, one CD book in the car from the library and usually even one more book for home.)   
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So, I’ve all done with “Ubik” and “Heart-Shaped Box” from last week and still cranking through “The Orphan” on the toilet at my office (Don’t say you weren’t warned when you ask to borrow my copy!) and “The Shining” as well.  But, I’ve added a couple more to the pile this week, so here goes…

VALIS by Philip K. Dick:

I have to apologize that last week, in presenting a couple of “Ubik” covers, I mistakenly identified that novel as coming after Dick’s Gnostic toothache nuttiness, but that was wrong.  I know that now because I looked at the dates again, but also because “Ubik,” though mind-alteringly amazing and full of truly high-grade mad science, still makes the reader comfortable that they’re in the hands of a storyteller in full command of his faculties.

Whereas “Valis,” is a car going a hundred miles an hour with the driver laughing at you from the back seat while you cling to your seatbelt trying not to piss yourself.  Not only does this book follow the spiritual revelations that Dick experienced in the mid to late 70’s, it is the ultimate expression of those revelations. 

I’m not up to the task of even attempting a synopsis, but I’ll gladly show you some amazing covers…

First off is the British cover.  Very similar to the original US paperback cover, this one differs in one major way, which is the addition of the actual Christ instead of a spacey looking surrogate…

Then we have the ever-batshit Japanese cover.  I’m nearly done with the book and I honestly can’t say where this one fits the story at all, but it was too arresting an image not to present…

 

The German cover gives us one of the greater motifs in Dick cover art and that is the inclusion of the author himself into the image.  This, more than any other instance of the technique, is the most obvious novel of his to do it with as he himself is the main character….

 

 

By the way, you can read a little more about the inclusion of Dick’s visage into his covers at the truly excellent blog entitled “Total Dick Head” (BEST – BLOG – NAME – EVER) which I’ll link to HERE.  But, make sure you’ve got some time on your hands.  I’ve spent way too much of my employers time at his blog and to the multitude of links it has sent me to. 

 

Now, for the best of the best.  This French cover for VALIS is beyond brilliant.  Not sure what it is that strikes me so, but I wish to hell I had a poster of this one…

 

 

The image instantly recalls for me this quote from Herman Hesse’s “Demian”…

“The bird struggles out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born, must first destroy a world.”

And now, for something completely different…

 

ASTRO BOY, Vol.1&2 by Osamu Tezuka:

 

My son and I have recently discovered a host of episodes of the 80’s “Astro Boy” cartoon on the watch now feature of my Netflix account.  And, while it certainly has its charms, I still have the same trouble I always have with the weird translation and the truly awful voice acting.  But, who cares about me?  My boy is obsessed.  So, when I saw Dark Horse was releasing the first two volumes of the original Manga in one edition, I knew it would make instantly good bedtime reading. 

 

That said, when it comes to covers, I actually like the cover for the Vol.3 Dark Horse edition much more than the volume I bought, so I thought I’d present that here…

 

And, now that I think about it, if you’ve read “Valis,” then I suppose there is a slightly oblique connection here to Sofia, the girl savior who is some sort of android mainframe….I think…I’m not really sure. 

 

Anyway, there ya go folks!

I, QUEUE: Son of Rambow & The Howling

On Wednesday’s I bring you the latest to arrive in my mail box courtesy of the glorious, life-giving Netflix queue.  Going forward I’ll provide mini-reviews of the previous weeks arrivals as well, provided I’m not covering them in the podcast. 

 

 

Only two new titles from the queue this week as I’ve yet to rip open the first disc of Season 5 of “The Wire.”  What can I say, we had a houseguest on our couch that was much more interested in that other subtle, Dickensian look at the underbelly of our society – “America’s Got Talent.”  Fuck.  They should just call that thing “Apocalypse: The Show.”

Anyway, here are the other two that have shot through the mail slot most recently…

1)  SON OF RAMBOW (2007):

This image and the concept of the film (two kids in the 80’s making a home movie inspired by First Blood) alone is enough to sell me on this movie and, frankly, it’ll have to work really damn hard for me to not like the thing.  It’s already got my support sight unseen.  I, like many aspiring filmmakers, toiled many hours of my youth forcing neighborhood friends to don costumes and film epics in the fields and backyards of our subdivision.  I often think I havne’t written anything as pure or heart-felt as the scripts I wrote when I was 11 and 12.  

 

 

(REPLACES:  “Battlestar Galactica: Razor “– Even though George Lucas has pretty much made the term “Sci-Fi Prequel” a swear word on par with the word “cunt,” this one flew in the face of that stereotype by actually being good.  Although I’m never big on a character being ret-conned into an existing universe, the main chick who does a bad thing but redeems herself in the end worked out pretty good.  Also, it was cool that this was a stand-alone story that also shed light on the shows mythos and gave the viewer even more subtext leading into the 4th and final season.)

2)  THE HOWLING (1980):

Folks, I don’t have a good excuse for why this one escaped me.  I mean, when the home video explosion happened in the 80’s I was one of those kids on the forefront renting every horror movie there was to rent.  Dad worked midnights and Mom was just happy I wasn’t getting in the way, so I watched some crazy, bloody stuff in those days.  Ahh, my formative years.  Anyway, thanks to my recent lacynthropy kick, I’m finally gonna get caught up on this puppy (pun intended).  Joe Dante is its strongest selling point for me despite some of the negatives I’ve heard from friends. 

 

 

(REPLACES:  “Company of Wolves” — Still not sure what I think of this one.  Definitely admired the lush, fairy-tale look of the film and the re-working of the Red Riding Hood fable, but I don’t know if it really held together for me.  It all seemed kind of obvious and I think I’m probably biased because I think the werewolf myth is so much more elastic a metaphor and can cover a lot more territory than just the typical Freudian sex theories and the horrors of adolesence.  Still, I loved the transformations and the effects and, of course, no one can bad-mouth some Angela Lansbury decapitation.  Also, the wedding scene (if you’ve seen it, you know) is truly amazing.) 

THE VIDEODROME: Bimbo’s Initiation

On Tuesday’s we enter the Videodrome where I present a couple of choice clips from the wastelands of YouTube and elsewhere.  These will typically be related to the craft of writing specifically (from actual, real, full-time writer’s you can trust) or be tangentially about what I’m reading or writing myself on that given day.  Now, that’s the intent, but I just know I won’t be able to resist the utterly random video from time to time.   

 

 

Well, it’s only my second edition of The Videodrome and I’m already giving in to the temptation of the “utterly random” as mentioned above.

 

Inspired by my recent forays into the writings of one Philip K. Dick, I thought I’d hunt around YouTube for some clips of other writers discussing the man’s works and influences for today’s entry, and indeed, I found a lot of great stuff to pull from.  But, somewhere, in one of my search requests, I came upon a cartoon from 1931 that someone had posted over a year ago, they said, in honor of the final release of the film adaptation of “A Scanner Darkly.”

 

Deeply intruiged, naturally, I clicked immediately on on this short entitled “Bimbo’s Initiation,” excited as to what the connection to Dick would be. 

 

And, now having watched it multiple times in slack-jawed amazement, I still can’t say what the hell the connection was supposed to be, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t the best thing I’ve laid eyes on in something like forever.

 

Calling it surreal doesn’t even skim the surface.  This thing is agressively weird in every way and while it certainly doesn’t appear Philip K. Dickian at first, second, or sixtieth brush, one can only wonder at what a viewing of this by the man himself would have inspired.  I suspect he could have cranked out a couple dozen novels on the quick ruminating on just this one cartoon.

 

While I’m not up to that task myself as a writer, I’ve already cranked out some pages today as a direct result of viewing this and am itching like a junkie to write more.  Bimbo has truly inspired me. 

 

So, while I do that, please take the time to give this thing your full attention…

 

 

 

I suspect, if you’re anything like me, then you’re wanting to re-watch this thing, like, now.  If so, you might go HERE to watch it in far superior quality.

 

Pretty great, right?

 

THE FRIDAY BLOG HAS NO NAME

No time today to figure out what the Friday blog is going to be about.  But, this affords me the opportunity to share with you one of my top ten films of all time.  And, as it happens, it’s the only film in my top ten that neatly fits into two YouTube clips. 

Behold, “The Fatal Glass of Beer,” written by and starring the galactically brilliant W.C. Fields.  I think Fields (in this short as well as a couple of his features – Bank Dick and Never Give a Sucker an Even Break specifically) was, if not the first, definitely one of the original pioneers of post-modern filmmaking before that even existed. 

“Fatal Glass” could almost be considered the anti-film.  Of course, it was spoofing a type of film from the era, but beyond that it was turning film storytelling inside out and sort of deconstructing it.

But, don’t let me get too high-falutin’.  Mainly, it’s damned funny and completely accessible all these years later.  The titular song Field’s croons never fails to drive me to the floor.

Please, enjoy todays matinee…

It ain’t a fit night out for man nor beast, indeed!

BOOK BY ITS COVER: Shining, Ubik, Orphan & Heart-Shaped Box

On Thursday’s, The Werewolf participates in that time-honored tradition of judging a book by its cover – literally.  I mean, let’s admit it, we all do it.  And, as much as I’m in to audiobooks and eBooks, there’s nothing like having the real book in your hand, especially when it features particularly appealing artwork or design elements.  And, while the recent Chip Kidd school is all fine and good, I’m a much bigger fan of the older, outmoded styles.  I have to say that I fetishize book covers and so I present this feature where I cull Google images for the best cover art of whichever 3 or 4 books I happen to be reading that week.  (Yes, 3 or 4 a week!  Generally, a paperback at work for reading on the can, something from Audible on my iPod for when I’m doing mindless data entry or running, one CD book in the car from the library and usually even one more book for home.)   

 

 

THE SHINING by Stephen King

 

As mentioned in Tuesday’s post, I’ve finally started in on this one and I am loving the hell out of it.  When I started looking through cover images from years gone by, I eventually came to this one which happened to be the paperback my brother had lying around when I was a kid…

 

 

At the time I thought it was pretty lame and never picked it up – even though I loved the King back then perhaps more than I do now.  But, as I look at this again this many years later I am gobstruck by the simple creepiness of the image.  I even kind of remember that the silver of it did seem to really shine. 

 

Now, as a rule, I pretty much hate any book cover that uses images from its movie adaptation.  This other Shining cover doesn’t really break that rule, but instead uses one of the brilliant posters from the movie’s original release.  I suppose it’s sort of cheating to call this a book cover since it was a poster first, but I can’t help it.  If I saw this on the used book shelf I’d snatch it right up…

 

 

 

UBIK by Philip K. Dick

 

My Audible subscription has me finally getting into the utterly singular sci-fi madness of Mr. Dick.  I meant to read his stuff chronologically after I first listened to “Man in the High Castle,” but I had to ditch that plan in favor of what was readily available.  So, I’ve ended up at the far end of his career instead, deep in the middle of his Gnostic-inspired, bat-shit crazy, toothache fiction. 

 

The stuff in this book lends itself to a million covers, but I imagine it’s hard to boil down to a single image.  The two I’ve picked aren’t necessarily the best, but they illustrate two wildly different approaches to making a cover for this book.

 

This first one captures the fact that it’s a very, very funny book and also supremely weird…

 

 

And, this Japanese edition cover takes the more serious, lonely approach which is still just as appropriate despite how wacky the novel really is…   

 

 

 

Both covers get major kudos for breaking the mostly ironclad law of publishing which apparently says “NO PHILIP K. DICK BOOK SHALL BE RELEASED WITHOUT MENTIONING BLADE RUNNER ON THE COVER!”  (I suppose a Japanese reader can tell me if I’m actually right about that.)

 

THE ORPHAN by Robert Stallman

 

The cover I’ve chosen for this brilliant werewolf novel happens to be the only image I could find online as well as the exact cover that’s on my paperback.  I don’t believe this book has seen much print, which is a shame.  And, when I first saw this cover I thought it was a little lame.  The wolf seemed to be too overdone and the boy too Tolkeinish.  But, every time I end a chapter and look back at the cover I can’t help but be drawn to the image.  Now I think it’s pretty much damn well perfect…

 

 

HEART SHAPED BOX by Joe Hill

 

Just about finished with this book and have to say that it hasn’t really lived up to the hype I’d read prior to it.  It’s a good yarn with interesting characters and Joe Hill’s definitely worth keeping on the radar going forward, but mostly I’ve just found it to be slightly better than okay.  And, appropriately, the covers are mostly just “okay” too.  I’ve chosen this one because it stands out a little better than the other few that I’ve seen, but I don’t necessarily like it any more than any of those. 

 

 

 

I do find it interesting that the image in the top right corner of the woman with the eyes scratched out was not visualized as it is in the book, with dark black nests of lines squiggling over the eyes of the dead.   In fact, the cover artist might have used that singular image idea as a central theme instead.  That or just the hanging, half-moon razor blade on a chain the dead man uses.

 

I do like the dogs, though.

I, QUEUE: Cylons, Werewolves and The Wire

On Wednesday’s I bring you the latest to arrive in my mail box courtesy of the glorious, life-giving Netflix queue.  Going forward I’ll provide mini-reviews of the previous weeks arrivals as well, provided I’m not covering them in the podcast. 

 

 

 

 

1)  BATTLESTAR GALACTICA:  RAZOR:

 

“I’ll take ‘Women I’d Like To Punch’ for five hundred, Alex.”

 

So, this was the summer that I got on board one of the few nerd bandwagons that I had yet to jump on.  (Sorry Doctor Who, it’s never gonna happen, man.  You either Stargate Atlantis.  Jesus.  Leave me alone.) 

 

Ah, and what a bandwagon it’s been!  I’ve had a great time watching the original mini and the first three seasons and I’m chomping at the bit for that Season 4.0 DVD set to come out.  For the time being, I’ll have to bide my time with this prequel mini from last year.  Frankly, if the only thing good about it is watching Lee Adama pork up (I believe this takes place in the year before Season 3 which began with Chubby Apollo) then it’ll be worth a watch.  I always take pleasure in watching extremely fit people go to seed. 

 

It’ll make it so much easier for me to eat that bacon burger as I watch this one. 

 

2)  THE COMPANY OF WOLVES (1984):

 

“I want these motherfucking werewolves off my motherfucking estate!”

 

The name of the blog probably attests to the fact that I’m neck deep in werewolfery of all kinds lately.  (Psst, not only is my podcast going to be called “The Werewolf,” but I’m writing a werewolf script right now as well.  Definitely more on that later.) 

 

So, I’ve been plowing through a lot of lycanthropic cinema recently — Werewolf of London, The Wolf Man, An American Werewolf in London — and this is one film that I just never got around to.  While I’m not the biggest Neil Jordan fan in the world, I am excited about this take on the Red Riding Hood story but am mostly looking forward to seeing David Warner (so great as the heavy in Tron and Time Bandits) and the sublime Angela Lansbery (no amount of Murder She Wrote could ever detract from her Manchurian Candidate greatness). 

 

As long as it doesn’t end with Jaye Davidson whipping out his junk at the end, it should be fine. By the way, why do folks consider that scene from “The Crying Game” so earth-shattering?  “Sleepaway Camp” had the exact same shocking reveal, I mean EXACTLY the same (only freeze-framed as the entire end credits rolled over top of it) nearly ten years earlier!  Sure, “Sleepaway Camp” didn’t really have the “Oscar buzz” or “quality filmmaking” behind it, but still.  That shit freaked me out as a kid.  By the time “Crying Game” came around I could only shrug and say, “Been done before.” 

 

3)  THE WIRE, SEASON 5, DISC ONE:

 

 

Oh yes, another bandwagon I joined this year.  And, I almost had the first four seasons watched before season 5 debuted, but was about three episodes too late.  But, I’m learning more and more that my HBO subscription is completely useless unless I find myself with an insatiable need to watch “Garfield 2” five times in a week because I generally watch their original shows on DVD anyway.  Of course, it figures that when I finally did decide to watch an HBO show as it aired with this past weeks “True Blood” it kicked me in the nuts with a steel-toed work-boot made of awful! 

 

Anyway, back to the good.  “The Wire,” while not the greatest show ever created since the invention of the vacuum tube as many have asserted, is still really, really amazing.  I’ve heard it called Dickensian and I can’t disagree.  What it is is like a five season autopsy of a dead city; a post-mortem assessment in grizzly detail of an industrial urban wasteland.  Each season is a dissection and diagnosis of a different part of crime-plagued Baltimore (the corners, the cops, the docks, city hall, the schools) and each one has been harrowing.

 

And, each one has required me to watch with subtitles.  I don’t have a hearing impairment, but I’ll be damned if I can understand a word anyone is saying without it. 

THE VIDEODROME: Kubrick, the King and You

On Tuesday’s we enter the Videodrome where I present a couple of choice clips from the wastelands of YouTube and elsewhere.  These will typically be related to the craft of writing specifically (from actual, real, full-time writer’s you can trust) or be tangentially about what I’m reading or writing myself on that given day.  Now, that’s the intent, but I just know I won’t be able to resist the utterly random video from time to time.   

 

 

In the lead up to my podcast debut in mid-October, I wanted to kick-start the blog side of things here at “The Werewolf” with my first daily post (Daily not counting the weekend, of course.  Who do you people think I am?).  Each weekday I’ll bring you something on the quick but with a theme.  Of course, I may write an entry with some substance every once and a while if I get a wild hair, but in order to keep on task with my daily writing and keep the procrastination at a bare minimum these entries will be mostly on the pithy side; odds and ends really.  But, odds and ends that I’ll run under blanket categories such as this first entry in Tuesday’s Videodrome. 

 

KUBRICK, THE KING AND YOU 

So, after a couple decades of reading Stephen King novels, I’m finally getting around to reading “The Shining” for the first time.  Please, hold your gasps.  You’ll have much more to shake your head in disgust at as you get to know me.

 

Anyway, I never got around to reading the darn thing and that probably has everything to do with the impression that the Kubrick movie made on me at an early age.  Since then, I’ve resisted going to the book because I couldn’t imagine anything that would equal my reaction to that movie. 

 

But, I’ve just had way too many people extol it’s virtues to me over the years and been told too many times how the film betrays King’s novel that I’m finally ready to read it and decide for myself.  (Of course, I’ve mostly erased from my memory the Steven Weber starring TV adaptation that King wrote as an attempt to make a more faithful rendering of the novel and which unfortunately just contributed more to my reluctance to read it.)   

 

I’m barely into the book now, so I’ll have to save my impressions for another day.  But, naturally, it’s got me thinking of Kubrick and King and that’s led me to this handful of video nuggets…   

 

KING ON KUBRICK: 

 

In which Stephen King relates his first encounter with the late Kubrick.  A great story if not the best audio quality… 

 

 

KING ON YOU: 

 

That is, assuming you’re a struggling writer like me.  Of course, if you’re like me, you’ve already read Stephen King’s “On Writing” and have heard this advice in its expanded form… 

 

 

This advice is not earth-shattering, nor is it exclusive to King.  But, the utter simplicity of it is what makes it worth hearing.  And, it’s the main reason I’m starting “The Werewolf” to begin with.  Perhaps you recall the mantra of Billy Crystal’s character in “Throw Momma From the Train” (a flawed, but thoroughly watchable film) – “A writer writes…always.”  Well, he could have also easily said – “A writer reads…always.”   

Near as I can tell, you can’t have one without the other.   

 

THE SHINING ON YOU: 

 

Again, assuming you’re a writer, you spend a lot of lonely hours in quiet rooms going slowly insane.  This clip from the Kubrick film, split in two, gives us a dramatic interpretation of this struggle and also illustrates why the dedication page at the front of novels where writers sing the praises of their spouses should always include the sentence “I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole.”  Of course, the Torrance’s here don’t ever get to that stage in the process as you’ll no doubt remember… 

 

 

And, that’s it for Videodrome today.  If you have 30 extra minutes on your hands and you haven’t seen the brilliant documentary by Stanley Kubrick’s daughter Vivian filmed during the making of “The Shining” you should do yourself a favor and click on these convenient links.  You will not be sorry.  All I’ll say is, poor, poor Shelley Duvall… 

 

Making the Shining, Part 1 

Making the Shining, Part 2 

Making the Shining, Part 3 

Making the Shining, Part 4 

 

 

 

 

“The Werewolf” is coming soon…

October 14th will be a full moon.  I expect to have the first episode of my podcast, “The Werewolf,” posted on that night and then weekly (ish) from there. 

“Why the hell should I care when you post your ding-dong podcast, man?  Who are you anyway?”

Well, I understand the question, but really, why do I have to explain myself?  You’re the one who came here and read this.  I wasn’t bothering you.  Shit.  There’s plenty of internet to go around, man.  So, stop pestering me anyway.

“Oh.  Well, you have a point.  But, still, since I’m here, you might as well tell me what this podcast that’s coming on October 14th is gonna be about.”

Sure.  No problem.  We got off on the wrong foot here.  Sorry.  Didn’t mean to be so defensive.

Anyway, what this podcast will be and why it’s called “The Werewolf” will hopefully take shape sort of organically.  Least, that’s the plan. 

Basically, I’m a writer.  (I have to make a statement of identity like that in order to convince myself it’s true and hopefully will it to be so since nobody actually pays me to write, per se.  I mean, if you don’t count the hundreds of meaningless emails I write at my meaningless job every day.)  Anyway, as a writer I do a whole lot of shit that is not writing to distract myself from the fact that I could/should be writing.  You know, reading books and comics, watching movies and tv, etc.  As any writer knows, this is all called “research” and is time very well spent.

Of course, to say I read and watch a bunch of stuff sounds too passive.  I should say, I violently devour this stuff, chewing and swallowing truckloads of it, turning it all to my will, enslaving it to the shapeshifting beast I become in the moon-bathed hours of night or pre-dawn when the wife and kids sleep and the day job has not begun and I can howl at my computer screen, my gnarled and twisted fingers clawing desperately at the keyboard. 

So, yeah, I’m a writer or at least transform into one regularly.  I read and watch a lot and I thought, rather than podcast or blog about my writing process (which is useful to exactly nobody), I would podcast about the stuff I’m taking in as a writer every week.  A sort of travelouge of one writer’s journey of pop culture consumption and how that’s impacting or not impacting his work. 

Yeah, doesn’t sound like much of anything, does it?  I agree.  But, being a writer is damned lonely business and this is my attempt to bark into the cold, black night and see if there are any other mutants like me out there, scrambling through the brush, eyes rolling over white, teeth stained red, full of desperation, fear, and a frantic, frantic hunger.

See ya soon!

Aaaaaaah-ooooooooooh!!!!!!!!!!