The Academy of Miyazaki

This past Tuesday, Amy and I spent a delightful evening at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of a sold-out audience to master American animation director John Lasseter's interview of master Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki.



The evening was punctuated by several of Lasseter's favorite clips from Miyazaki's movies, such as the incredible bus stop/catbus sequence from MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO; Pazu's rescue of Sheeta from CASTLE IN THE SKY:LAPUTA; the Hotel Adriano scene from PORCO ROSSO; and the bit from HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE that begins with Sofie quietly mending hats and ends with her literally walking on air arm-in-arm with a wizard.

The clips illustrated the magic of Miyazaki's films. Miyazaki dares to focus on quiet moments, such as a little girl falling asleep while waiting for her father at a rainy bus stop, or a pig-faced pilot pouring a glass of wine for an old friend who's learned that her husband has died. We watch such sequences, because (a) they're beautifully realized and (b) we know something incredible is going to happen next.

Miyazaki was charming. He embraced his old friend Lasseter at the beginning and end of the evening. When the audience gave him standing ovations, he bowed and applauded the audience. When a question called for a complicated answer, he would bow his head and rub his brow, as if crafting the perfect response. We learned fascinating tidbits. He felt he was "tricked" into directing his first feature, CASTLE CAGLIOSTRO (the assigned director came to him and asked for help); and he completed the film in four-and-a-half months -- an incredible feat for a film Steven Spielberg once hailed as one of the best action movies he had ever seen. (When he was done, Miyazaki said, he had forgotten to walk by putting one foot in front of the other.) He related that starting his studio, Studio Ghibli, was easy; he and his partners only had to rent a building, and the staff would gather for each project. (It got more complicated later on, he said.) The plot for TOTORO, according to Miyazaki, started with two images in his head: a girl chasing a tiny spirit through a forest; and another girl waiting at a bus stop and encountering a magical creature. He thought the first girl had to be a little girl; and that the other had to be a slightly older girl, to be waiting at the bus stop. He connected them by deciding they were sisters. After that, the story fell into place.

We ended the evening by walking through the incredible exhibition at the Academy, "Anime -- High Art and Pop Culture." The exhibit was a broad survey of the field, and included lots of rare art and cels. The exhibit runs through part of August; and if you're in the Beverly Hills area, I highly recommend you see it. Best of all, it's free.

Miyazaki's Beverly Hills gig was the last stop in a three-stop tour of California that included an appearance in Northern California, and another at a Disney panel at the San Diego Comic-Con. I missed the Comic-Con appearance (it was in the 6,000 seat Hall H, and I never ventured into that hall during this year's con), but the kind folks at Anime News Network have posted a video of it.

A Haunted Sleep

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, the House of Mouse is allowing four contest winners to sleep in the parlor at the beginning of the ride -- the one that seems to "stretch" as Paul Frees's recorded voice intones ominously.

How could one sleep in such a creepy place?

Of course, there's always my way . . . .

The Onion: Apple Claims New iPhone Only Visible To Most Loyal Of Customers | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

"The Onion" nailed this one.

Conan & Andy Do Manga (07/24/09)

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A Cloudburst of Steampunk

Los Angeles - Style Council - Comic-Con's Steampunk Revolution, It's Coming

While I wait to upload my Comic-Con photos and write up my experience in style, I'll vamp with this bit from one of L.A. Weekly's blogs. It discusses the Steampunk panel on Saturday for which we waited in line for an hour, only to be turned away at the door (the room held 60; there were around 300 lined up); and features a photo of an event in which we did take part: what is reputed to have been the largest steampunk outfit photoshoot in history (there was allegedly a representative of Guinness there to confirm it). We're in the upper left-hand corner. (Part of being tall is that you tend to gravitate toward the back of group photos.)

Comic-Con and Cousins

I'm in the midst of Comic-Con Internati0nal: San Diego, and while there are wi-fi locations everywhere, I haven't had time to post mu. ch to the blog. Plus, although I brought an arsenal of electronic gadgets to San Diego, I somehow neglected to bring anything that would transport photos from my camera to the computer. So for now you'll have to content yourself with my cousin Tod Goldberg's description of the con for the LA Times Book Jacket. (Yesterday, Amy and I went to see both Tod and his brother, Lee, at the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers Awards. Both of us wore BURN NOTICE T-shirts that we got as free swag from the BN panel the previous day.)

More after we get back to LA.

Comic-Con 2009: The Mark of Evanier

If you're going to Comic-Con, and are overwhelmed by the programming choices, you could do worse than merely attending the panels Mark Evanier is hosting. You won't be at a loss for things to do, because he's hosting 12 events (it was 13, but the spotlight on Gene Colan was unfortunately cancelled because Mr. Colan can't attend). Most of them are in Evanier's traditional spot, Room 8, which really should be named the ME room.

Full-Blooded Adaptation of "Half-Blood Prince"

We saw HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE last night at the Century City AMC Imax theater. The writer and director did an impressive job of making an enjoyable movie -- indeed, one of the best-looking of the Potter series -- out of a story that is basically a second act intended to set the stage for the final book (which will be split into two movies). Much of the credit goes to Steve Kloves, the screenwriter for all the Potter movies except the previous one. Kloves excels at cramming lots of story into the screenplay, while also allowing time for character moments and set pieces that look great.

One criticism: The movie had one of the most pointless uses of 3-D technology I've seen. The previous film had a climactic battle in 3-D, which was fine; the audience got worked up waiting for it. Here, the opening sequence was in 3-D -- and nothing else in the movie was. So the audience was left with the enormous 3-D glasses sitting in their laps (or on their heads, if they wanted headaches) useless.

The filmmakers are also dealing with an unavoidable complication that arises when adapting the late chapters in a multi-character epic: Gobs of characters have walks-ons. Here, Timothy Spall has about 30 seconds as Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail, which I imagine was at least a day for the actor (particularly with his silver-hand prosthetic). The writer can add a character to a scene with a few strokes of the keyboard; but it's quite another thing for the producers to corral the actor from a previous movie and haul him or her onto the set for a few seconds of looking sheepish.

Latest Developments in Goldberg Country

Once again, I will assume my familial responsibilities and plug some projects in which that my cousins, the Goldberg Brothers, are involved. Since Lee and Tod Goldberg's blogs average as many hits in a day as I get in about a year, you could say that they don't need my help; but I think print needs to be promoted, particularly when it comes from my family. (And their books are lots of fun to read.)

Lee has reissued a book from him published in the early 90's, TELEVISION SERIES REVIVALS. It catalogs and discusses various reunion specials and series based on canceled TV shows. I love this type of book, so I'll probably be buying a copy.

Lee has also reissued his satirical mystery novel MY GUN HAS BULLETS, which I do own (and have read). This edition was released for the Kindle; and features a rather somber cover by Lee's sister Linda. If you want to read a savage attack on the TV industry by an inside man, this book's for you. It's one of my favorites of Lee's books.

Finally, if you find yourself at the Comic-Con in San Diego next week, both Lee and Tod will be on the panel given by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, on Friday afternoon from 3:00-4:30 in Room 4. At the panel, the organization's Scribe Awards will be given out; and Tod's first BURN NOTICE tie-in book is nominated for one. Oddly, the three-ring-circus programming of Comic-Con has scheduled their panel to overlap with other panels featuring tie-in writers (Kevin J. Anderson in Room 2; James Robinson and Greg Rucka in Room 6DE; Peter David in Room 30CDE) and a panel on tie-in series (Room 5AB), as well as panels featuring Tim Burton, Elijah Wood, David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, Stan Freberg, and the cast of EUREKA. At least they're not scheduled against Hayao Miyazaki, whose panel will be held earlier that day.

Archie Wedding Disenchants Collector

This "silly season" story comes from the Comic Buyers' Guide Extra website. Archie Comics has announced a "what if?" type storyline for Archie # 600 in which the rambunctious redhead marries Veronica. The news has prompted a longtime Archie fan to sell his prized Archie #1 in "protest":

“I just feel betrayed. All of these years I have been waiting for Archie to man up and realize what a treasure Betty is," he told CBG. "Is it the economy? Is Archie’s proposal just for the money? Is Archie really that shallow?"

Of course, given that this is a "what if" story that will likely have no effect on the decade-long repetition of patterns that is the Archie "continuity," and given that the comics line will likely do a similar story positing that Archie marries Betty, one could suspect that this "protest" is really an attempt to drive up interest in the comic, which he is selling through Heritage Auction Galleries.

My only thought is that with all the billions Mr. Lodge has squirreled away, it's a wonder he never hired a hitman to rub out that pesky kid who keeps invading his mansion and drooling after his daughter.

And That's the Way It Was

Another familiar voice from my youth silenced: Walter Cronkite, dead at 92.

Photo from Dementia

KMET Photo Gallery

Who's demented enough to wear a tuxedo and top hat for radio? Why, Dr. Demento, of course!

Here he is from last Friday's KMET Finally Friday day on 100.3 The Sound.

For a time when I was a kid, I was corresponding with the Good Doctor. He'd send me typewritten letters on his letterhead stationary, which featured a drawing of him when his beard was dark. It's wonderful to see him still going strong a quarter of a century later.

Nixon the Conqueror

I caught a cold at AX, so I've been taking it easy at home this weekend. Yesterday, I watched two movies on video: MASTER OF THE WORLD, a 1961 American International Pictures adaptation of a Jules Verne novel, which was essentially 20,000 Leagues over the Sea; and FROST/NIXON, Ron Howard's 2008 movie about, well, David Frost and Richard Nixon.

At some level, I think, both movies told the same story.

You Say it's Soda, and I Say It's Pop

When I was growing up in Southeastern Washington, we'd call a can of fizzy carbonated beverage a can of "pop." Here in SoCal, it's called a can of "soda." In many places, "coke" has become a generic term for the stuff, whether it's Coca-Cola or not.

Here's a chart of generic names for soft drinks, county by county. It confirms that soft drinks in my home county continue to be called "pop," while all of Southern California calls them "soda."

Thanks to Mark Evanier's blog for the link.

AX 2009: Post-Mortem

Anime Expo 2009 took place at the LA Convention Center from July 2 through July 5. A number of portents could have justified an attendee in suspecting that this AX would be a subdued one, if not an odd one. The economy is in a doldrums. More specifically, the entire DVD industry, and in particular the US licensing of anime for DVD, has taken a nosedive since AX 2008. That was evident in the dealer's room (or, as the organizers called it, the "Exhibit Hall"). AX dealer's rooms were once dominated by Bandai's, Geneon's, ADV's, and Tokyopop's giant booths. This time, the only companies that displayed large booths were Funimation (the blood-streaked survivor in the licensor battles), Crunchyroll (the vanguard of anime's future: online distribution), and the company that will put out the computer-animated ASTRO BOY and GATCHAMAN feature films. Geneon USA has been out of commission for a while (except as an adjunct to Funimation); and Bandai, ADV and Tokyopop did not even have booths. Further, while booth after booth sold character goods and fashion items, few booths actually sold anime dvds.

So, did the Expo fall flat?

Far from it.





The attendance was 44,000 -- a record. And everyone there seemed to be having a great time.

A billboard on the side of a building just north of the convention center gave a hint that the anime-related video game industry, at least, is doing well:



And as usual, a huge number of fans came in astonishingly-detailed costumes.







Although Thursday was mainly devoted to greeting friends, getting event tickets, and haunting the dealer's room, I received a surprise Thursday evening, as I, Amy, and friends were returning from dinner to the Convention Center. A detail of LAPD officers were guarding the front of Staples Center, which had just been announced as the site for the Michael Jackson Memorial. As we walked past a group of officers, one of them appeared to be paying unusual attention to us. Then one of them detached from the group, walked toward me, and called, sternly, "Mr. Barer." I obediently halted. The officer grinned at me, and I saw that his nametag read "Riddick." I suddenly realized that the officer was David Riddick. David, in addition to being one of the pioneers of licensing uncut anime for American video distribution, was a good friend of mine in the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization back in the mid-80's. He recognized me because he had read -- yes -- this blog. (Hi, David.)

On Thursday, we got tickets for my favorite AX event: The Meet the Guests reception, this year held as a Friday breakfast at the nearby Bonaventure Hotel.

For the first time, I went to one day of the AX wearing a costume -- a steampunk outfit. Since the Steampunk photo gathering was set for Friday, I went to the Meet the Guests Reception wearing the outfit. Amy wore her own Steampunk ensemble. Here's a photo of us, from The Manticore Society blog:



The outfit drew unexpected praise from Yasuhiro Nightow (the creator of the manga TRIGUN) and Takashi Okazaki, the creator of AFRO SAMURAI. The MTG reception remains the best way to meet and talk with the guests one-on-one, and hear such interesting stories as Okazaki's delight that the English voice casting for the Afro Samurai movie featured not only Samuel L. Jackson (the voice for Afro in both the movie and TV series) but also Mark Hamill -- two jedi in one cast!

The steampunk photo shoot later that day was delightful. A lot of folks showed up, many carrying ingenious DIY-type inventions. Here's a photo from the blog HOW A GIRL FIGURES:



On Friday night, we went to the Anime Music Videos. I was amused by the sign outside the video hall that forbade photography or video of the AMVs. The AMVs themselves are copyright-infringing compilations of anime (and sometimes videogame) clips set to music, by creators who don't have the rights to use either the clips or music. They are tolerated by the rights holders, because they are generally a good promotional tool for the source material. But for these infringers to sternly warn those who would copy their copies was rather ironic.

Saturday was a big day for photoshoots gatherings. There was a gigantic one for Kuroshitsuji, or "Black Butler." During our 2007 trip to Japan, Amy picked up the first volume of this manga because she enjoyed the art. At that time, almost no one in the U.S. had heard of the property. Neither the manga nor the anime tv series that adapted it has been licensed in the U.S. Yet due presumably to pirated fansubs of the anime, the property has picked up numerous fans, as the photogathering showed. LA Weekly wrote up the phenomenon









Early that evening was the first Hellsing photo shoot Amy was dressed up for it, as usual.




Although there has been a long pause since the last Hellsing video (Hellsing Ultimate 4) was released in the US -- apparently because the negotiations are still on for the licensing of Hellsing Ultimate Volume 5 -- the gathering drew a large, enthusiastic crowd.











After the photoshoot, we planned to eat with friends at the Rock'n'Fish at the L.A. Live complex, which featured a special $9.95 entree menu for AX members. Two of us went there in advance, got there at 6:45, and were informed the joint was closing at 7 pm due to slow business. We managed to persuade them that our party was going to get there before that for dinner, and would make it worth their while. That turned out to be fortunate for the restaurant; by the time it got there our dinner party totaled 14 people.



On Sunday, we went to a panel that featured the creative staff of Adult Swim's hilarious stop-motion animated series ROBOT CHICKEN, including creative force and actor (memorable in both the BUFFY TV series and the AUSTIN POWERS movies) Seth Green.



We ended the day with a second Hellsing photoshoot, this one outdoors.





Amy dressed up for this one too -- and recreated a scene from the final chapter of the Hellsing manga.



We ended the convention by entertaining a group of friends at our house -- who left just as I had to prepare for my court appearance the next day.

As long as the American anime industry survives -- and perhaps afterward -- AX will survive.

Hero Initiative works to save the day - Los Angeles Times

Today's LA Times Calendar section features an article about the fine folks at Hero Initiative, a nonprofit organization that helps down-on-their-luck comics creators. The print version of the article includes photos of ace artist Gene Colan, whom Hero Initiative aided during multiple health crises.

Comic-con Schedule's Coming Up

The Comic-Con schedule is gradually being put online, with Thursday and Friday up and Saturday/Sunday coming. Just the two schedules that are up show that the convention, as usual, will feature more unbelievable events and guests than any human being could possibly see without cloning.

My day job

For anyone who has read the heading to this blog and wondered what I actually sounded like in court, a recording of my most recent appellate oral argument is up on the web.

KMET: Heaven Returns

Massive kudos to LA station 100.3 The Sound,which for today only has taken on the guise of my favorite LA rock station from my college years, KMET 94.7. KMET radio personalities have been sounding off on the station, and they've also been playing sound clips from back in the day.

As I write, a real voice from my past, Dr. Demento, is spinning the wax. (And the webcam on the station's website shows he's actually wearing a tux. Yes, he dressed up for radio.) His first song? An appropriate one -- "Time Warp."

My Anime Expo 2009 Photos are Up

While plans were developing for the Michael Jackson tribute down the street from the LA Convention Center, we spent Thursday through Sunday in the center itself for the annual Anime Expo. More about the experience later. For now, here are the photos.

What happened right after my oral argument in the 9th Circuit today

Karl Malden, R.I.P.

A mainstay of the large and small screens for decades. I particularly liked him as Omar Bradley in the movie "Patton."

The YouTube of Haruhi Suzumiya

Now here's something you don't see every day on YouTube . . . .

According to Anime News Network, Kadokawa, the owner of the Japanese rights to the anime TV series THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA, has been re-showing (aka re-running) episodes of the 2006 series and posting the re-ran episodes on YouTube. This past weekend, Kadokawa put the first eight episodes up with English subtitles -- including the eighth episode, which is actually a new episode that wasn't screened with the rest three years ago (and hence wasn't included on the American DVDS of the show that Bandai released in 2007).

The episode streams until July 5, 2009 -- so until then, I can paste it right here, nice and legal-like:

Will Miyazaki Attend Comic-Con?

According to an article in today's LA Times about Hayao Miyazaki's film "Ponyo" -- which will close the LA Film Festival tomorrow -- ". For the first time in his career, Miyazaki will be appearing at Comic-Con in San Diego in July showing clips from 'Ponyo,' which has made $182.1 million internationally."

There's nothing about this on the Comic-Con's own website, which one would expect to trumpet the news that this most revered of anime directors will appear there for the first time. (Of course, since Comic-Con is completely sold out, it has little to gain from publicity.) So it remains to see if this is an error by the Times, or a legit announcement.

Comic-Con 2009 :: Exhibitors List

The San Diego Comic-Con Website has posted its list of the exhibitors that will fill its unbelievably humongous dealers' room.

No wonder some attendees spend the whole con in there.

Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson

Two pop icons of my youth, gone in one day. I recall Michael Jackson as the kid from the Jackson 5 in the early '70's. And I had the infamous Farrah poster on the wall of the basement in my family's home.

In 1987, I was working part-time at Graphitti Comics in Westwood. A thin African-American man with a moustache came in and sought to buy a box of Three Stooges trading cards. He wanted to pay with a credit card, which required my boss's ok. I called the owner while "Miko James," as the credit card identified him, browsed the store. The transaction was approved, and Mr. James left the store with a box of Stooges.

Later that day, the boss came in and reported that some kids in the Westwood videogame arcade had recognized "Miko James" was Michael Jackson -- then at the height of his popularity -- in disguise.

I may not have been as fond of his music as others; and I was definitely saddened by the shambles the man's life became as he became more and more of a laughingstock. But still, there's a little sparkle that's gone from the world now that it no longer has a Michael Jackson in it.

You Can Call Him Al

The latest addition to our home decor: A wall-mounted standee of gun-toting vampire Alucard, from Hellsing

If it looks familiar, you might have seen it here:

It was used at the 2005 Anime Expo at the Geneon Booth when Hellsing creator Kohta Hirano signed autographs.

Hirano drew a sketch on the standee; and since then, most of the cast who dubbed Hellsing into English has signed it.

Amy picked it up at an auction at Sakura Con. Now it hangs behind our bed.

Sweet dreams . . . .

It Ain't Tobey Maguire

Ah, the wonders of the Internet. Marvel.com has finally brought to the U.S. this bizarre meld of Eastern and Western pop culture, Toei's 1970's SPIDER-MAN live action TV series. Featuring all the trademarks of Japanese live action superhero shows: breakneck pacing, awful acting, mind-bendingly cheesy special effects, and editing that bears no resemblance to logic. Oh, and he's got a transforming giant robot. And a flying race car. And he announces himself to his foes as "An emissary from Hell!" Delirious.

A Pile of Print in Your DVD Drive

I recently learned that a couple of years ago Gitcorp lost the license to produce its DVD-Rom collections of various Marvel comics. I immediately bought the company's collections of Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer and Iron Man comics, to join their Avengers and Spider-Man (on 11 CD-roms) collections on my shelf.

Each disc collects scans of every issue of the spotlighted series, from the first issue in the '60's to a mid-2000's cutoff date. That represents a huge pile of comics, all squeezed into a wafer-thin disk.

Marvel has put out other collections of these comics, in a variety of formats, from their deluxe hardcover Masterworks series to their inexpensive, phone-book-thick black and white Essentials series. But no format is as comprehensive or offers more bang-for-buck than this one (with the possible exception of Marvel's subscription Website, which offers scans for a set price).

Further, unlike the other reprints, these are taken directly from the original comics. And they are not all immaculate file copies; many plainly came from private collections, and were bought off the stands by actual kids. The first issue of FANTASTIC FOUR, for instance, features the name and address of its (once?) owner stamped on the splash page. Turn the page of another comic, and you'll find that the owner used a ballpoint pen to tick off issues he bought on a house-ad checklist of titles released that month. You'll find every ad, every letters page, every distributor's mark. If the particular copy of the issue scanned has off-register printing (i.e., the colors are printed outside the lines), that's what you get. Musty smell of old newsprint aside, it's the closest you'll get to poring through actual old comics without shelling out the multibucks it would take to accumulate them.

The downside of comprehensiveness is that when a title is published for over 40 years, there'll be a lot of mediocre work -- particularly since each title had a myriad of creators. (Probably the most sustained run of brilliance is the over 100 issues of FANTASTIC FOUR that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created from 1961 to 1970.) But there's little risk; if a particular issue disappoints, the reader can close it with a mouseclick and pick up another one.

If you can find these online or in stores, I recommend picking them up while they're still available.

BURL BARER BARES ALL (MOST)

My cousin Burl Barer -- radio personality, true-crime writer, mystery-novelist, and expert on many aspects of pop culture -- is interviewed on Carl Brookins's blog. Burl displays his usual quick wit and self-deprecating style of salesmanship.

Swashes Buckled

Last weekend, Amy and I once again bypassed the latest summer movies, and headed to the Aero Theater in Santa Monica for a double bill of Hollywood past's finest swashbuckling: CAPTAIN BLOOD and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. American Cinematheque, which put on the program, presented the movies in style; before the first film began, a stage-fencing teacher and his students put on a demonstration of historical and Hollywood swordfighting that was a treat to watch.

As for the films, they remain crowd-pleasers despite being over 70 years old. ROBIN HOOD and CAPTAIN BLOOD are surprisingly different from each other, despite sharing a director (Michael Curtiz) and most of the cast (including lead Errol Flynn; romantic foil Olivia de Havilland; and Basil Rathbone, who has relatively minor role in BLOOD but graduates to main heavy Guy of Gisborne in ROBIN HOOD).

ROBIN HOOD is a straightforward tale of a nobleman whose heroism leads him to become an outlaw (although he certainly seems to have plenty of fun doing it). And it has some sparkling dialogue. (Marian: "You speak treason!" Robin: "Fluently.")


CAPTAIN BLOOD, a historical-fiction epic, is more morally complex, as one might expect since it adapts a 20th-Century novel. It tells how adventurer-turned-physician Peter Blood is unjustly convicted in the Bloody Assizes; sentenced to slavery in colonial Jamaica; escapes; and becomes a Pirate of the Caribbean. Flynn's attempt at an Irish brogue is awful (he and other characters have to keep telling the audience he's Irish; occasional interjections of "Faith!" and calling male characters "darlin'" isn't enough) but his twinkling eyes and devil-may-care grin are magnetic.

Each is marked by fantastic action set pieces, the most wonderful of which is the climactic swordfight between Flynn and Rathbone in ROBIN HOOD -- perhaps the most entertaining one in Hollywood history.

There's no substitute for watching films like this on a big screen, with a cheering audience that's in the mood to be thrilled.

July: Hot with a Strong Chance of Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki won the 2002 Best Animated Film Oscar for "Spirited Away"; but Miyazaki himself wasn't at the award ceremony. Well, if Miyazaki won't go to the Oscars, the Oscars will go to him. Sort of.

On July 28, 2009, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theater will host a rare visit by Miyazaki to Southern California -- Beverly Hills, to be exact.

Tickets go on sale June 25. They're just $5 each, so I expect they'll evaporate like the proverbial expectorant on July asphalt.

Another Lazy Sunday Morning

This morning I hit the road on my bicycle around 7:45 am; rode over to Santa Monica Beach; participated in a fitness class by the sea from 8:30 to 9:50; had breakfast at Jinky's with Amy; then peddled back.

That took care of the morning.

Now for the afternoon.

Robots: Big in Japan

After a hard day of work, what brings a smile to my face? How about a photo of a life-size (59 feet tall!) statue of the eponymous robot from the anime series MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM, built to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the still-thriving Gundam franchise. (If we're attacked by space colonies, just hope that there's a 14-year-old introverted genius around to operate the dang thing.)

Or, not quite as tall but perhaps more impressive, is this Popular Science magazine story about an Alaska army mechanic who has built a working -- yes, working -- 18-foot "mecha" exoskeleton that mimics the movements of its operator, who rides inside the chest. It can purportedly raise its arms, bend its knees, and do sit-ups. And it was built for about the price of a car: $25,000.

What will really amaze me is if someone comes up with a giant robot that actually walks. Duplicating human locomotion on a small scale has always challenged robotics engineers. Creating a machine that lifts and drops the equivalent of a grain silo with each step -- and keeps its balance -- seems to verge on the impossible. (And even if it was possible, why do it? Why not put the thing on tank tracks -- as MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM did with one of its more plausible robots, Guntank.)

Diagnostic Stunts

On his blog, my cousin Lee Goldberg reminisces about the "stunt casting" episodes he and his writing/producing partner Bill Rabkin engineered on the Dick Van Dyke mystery show "Diagnosis Murder."  The crossover with "Mannix" and the TV Spies episode are particularly well remembered.

Above is a photo of Patrick Macnee (top professional) with Lee (talented amateur).

Fannatiku Fest 2009 -- Utah March 2009

Origins

Amid hard times, an influx in real superheroes - CNN.com

According to this CNN article about a purported influx of real-life superheroes, I shouldn't have just been chatting with family, shopping at local stores, and tasting wine while in Walla Walla; I should have been experiencing a superhero origin.

(Personally, I would have thought that more likely at the nearby Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Much more ambient radiation.)

Hat-tip to Don Burr.

Steve and Dawn's Wedding Photos II

My photos (in which group I include the pictures Amy took with my camera) from our trip to Walla Walla last week are up on Photobucket; just click on the title to this post. They include pictures from the rehearsal; the rehearsal dinner; the reception; a family dinner at Whoopemup Hollow Cafe in Waitsburg; the post-nuptial brunch this past Monday; and assorted other adventures. Here are some highlights.



Lunch at the Ice-Burg, a drive-in burger joint that's been around for decades. It sells T-shirts that refer to the place as a "legend." It has an amazing menu of shake flavors. I had butterscotch.


Hot Poop features a plaque on the wall outside the store, commemorating the joint's status as the oldest independent record store in the state.



Mike, me, and the bridesmaids during the rehearsal. We're standing in front of the 100-year-old bandstand in Pioneer Park.



The cunningly-folded napkins at the rehearsal dinner, held at the Marcus Whitman Hotel.



On the day of the wedding, Steve and Dawn's pups, Buddy and Zorro.



The Whoopemup Hollow Cafe in Waitsburg, about 20 minutes east of Walla Walla.



An amazing smoked-trout dinner salad at the cafe.



Parked across the street from the cafe.



The deserted Sunday night main street of Waitsburg.


Finally, the house on Palouse Street in which I grew up. When my family owned the house, we had a gigantic pine tree in the front yard, and a rough-rock wall out front. The current owners took out the tree, and put a top on the fence.

Up, Up and Away

The new Pixar movie UP lives up (ahem) to its hype. Within the framework of a deceptively simple story, it explores themes of lost opportunities and chaining yourself to the goals of the past at the expense of the present. Plus, it's visually spectacular (particularly for fans of lighter- than-air crafts), often hilarious, and features some terrific characterization, through both visuals and dialogue. It's particularly impressive near the beginning when it gives the main character's backstory over several decades -- practically a movie in itself -- in a montage without a word of dialogue.

It's nice to know that the American animated film -- better yet, the Disney animated film -- is alive and well (albeit in 3-dimensional computer animation).

I heartily recommend seeing it in 3-D. The 3-D effects don't hit you over the head (as they do in some of the trailers shown before the feature) but the accentuate the visual splendor nicely.

Photos of Steve's and Dawn's Wedding, Part I

My brother Steve's new father-in-law, Don Davis, has posted these photos of Steve and Dawn's wedding this past Sunday. Here are a few samples.

Here I am with brothers Steve and Mike, dressed like international men of mystery. With us is our father, Alan Barer. I'm the one with the receding hairline.

Here's the wedding. Mike was the best man. The groomsmen were me and Dawn's son (who is, coincidentally, also named Danny).


And here I am walking toward the staging area. The lady on my arm is one of the bridesmaids, Liz.

We'll have our own photos up shortly.

One Bad Apple Spoils the Anime

Well, it started out as a good idea . . . .

Previous attempts to show the anime ONE PIECE, a hit in Japan, on American airwaves having failed for various reasons (censorship, differences between Japanese and American standards for violence in all-ages shows, etc.), Funimation reached a deal with animation studio Toei to simulcast subtitled episodes of the show online, immediately after each episode aired in Japan. The broadcasts were to start this past Saturday.

Unfortunately, someone (presumably unauthorized) accessed Saturday's episode from Funimation's servers; and leaked the episode onto the Internet -- before the episode aired in Japan.

Result: the Japanese rights holders are apparently unhappy. "[A]s a direct result of this illegal act," Funimation writes in a statement on its Website, "all U.S. and Canadian fans will be deprived of access to this great anime series for the immediate future."

I know the show is about pirates. But that's no reason to pirate the series.

Walla Walla Wedding Wedding

I am presently in my home town of Walla Walla, Washington, where mere hours ago I participated in the wedding of my younger brother, Steve, to new sister-in-law Dawn Marie.

Walla Walla is pretty much identical to how it was when I last visited here three years ago: a city that was once dominated by the wheat and sweet onion business, but that now focuses on tourism revolving around the multitude of wineries in the area.

Shops that were around when I was kid are still around, run by the same people. I stopped into Earthlight Books, still run by David Crosby (no, not that one), and picked up a first edition paperback of I, THE JURY, kinda beat up (as is appropriate for a hardboiled novel) for a few bucks. Hot Poop records, which recently celebrated its 35th anniversary, is still around, on Main Street, and still run by Jim McGuinn. Amy and Jim traded stories about the tour of the Dead that both watched, albeit at different tour dates and locations.

Today we gathered in Pioneer Park for the wedding, I in a tux. The weather cooperated; although it's been roasting lately in Walla Walla, nature's thermostat turned itself down slightly. So we had the best of all worlds: Sunny skies, slight breezes, and temps in the 70's and low 80's. The wedding went off without a hitch (except the obvious one), and matrimony ensued.

The most action-packed moment in the ceremony was when Steve stomped the wine glass. Beforehand, there were concerns that the glass was too sturdy, and that the soft grass of the park would render shattering difficult. But Steve is a black belt in karate. With the encouragement of the rabbi, he shouted a kyaa and pulverized the glass into sand molecules.

Unfortunately, I didn't bring anything to connect my camera to my laptop; so no photos can be posted yet. (Soon.)

What I Did on My 3-Day Weekend

This past Memorial Day Weekend -- the hallowed weekend for watching new movies -- I bucked tradition and watched two old (and long) movies. On Friday night, I rented Otto Preminger's ANATOMY OF A MURDER on DVD. And on Sunday we went to the Aero Theater in Santa Monica for American Cinematheque's twice-yearly showing of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA in 70mm. (They purportedly sell out each time they show it; they certainly sold out this time.)

It was interesting to contrast these two classics, made within a few years of each other. ANATOMY OF A MURDER, although shot with a snappy visual style, is based foremost on the spoken word -- or, more accurately, on the spoken version of the written word. LAWRENCE has eloquent writing as well; but as one would expect from a Panavision epic, it draws most of its storytelling power from its visuals. It's hard to imagine a scene in ANATOMY in which the camera simply focuses on an empty horizon for awhile until a tiny figure materializes; but such shots are the bread and butter of LAWRENCE.

Oh, and I also bicycled from West LA to Hermosa Beach on Memorial Day. (I lazed out for the trip back -- Amy met me with the car.)

What Were They Smoking?!

This comes from Mark Evanier's blog. When I was a kid, the Lawrence Welk Show was often on at various grandparents' homes -- but I certainly don't remember them doing this number.

Did they know what they were singing about? I'm sure they did. They were musicians.

Wonderful Time-Waster

If you have some time to kill (or don't have to be anywhere anytime soon), a page that is likely to suck you in is TVtropes.org, discussing trends that run through TV shows (and all of fiction) with numerous examples. Tremendous fun. (At least for me.)

Give Me Steam

For anyone who thinks the new "Star Trek" movie is just a bit too modern-looking . . . .

Is the Neverending Battle the Neverending Story?

A post in this NPR blog poses the question of whether continuing characters, whose stories never really end, violate the basic concept of what a "story" is.

One response in the commentary is that a neverending cycle of stories is a mythology. Or life.

Wedding Bells in Riverdale

In the latest publicity ploy from Archie comics, movie producer (and '70's comics writer) Michael Uslan will collaborate with veteran Archie artist Stan Goldberg on a story, set in the future, in which septugenarian teenager Archie Andrews will get engaged and then get hitched.

Which of course raises the age-old question: Betty or Veronica? (Or someone else?)

Strange Visitor from Another Planet

Greenbriar Picture Shows

Superman's first appearances in movie theaters came in the form of the Fleischer cartoon shorts of the early '40's, which debuted about two years after Superman's first appearance in comics and soon after his radio show debuted.  Nowadays, the cartoons (readily available on DVD) are viewed as masterpieces, with their fluid animation and art deco stylings.  This blog article looks at some of the critical reaction of the time -- and how much of it was negative.  A lot of the negativity stems from the stereotype that animated shorts were supposed to be comedic, not adventurous. Some of it is difficulty buying the adventures of a man clad in circus tights who flies (or leaps, in the earliest shorts) through the air and bends steel -- after all, the concept of costumed superheroes was brand new.

 The most surprising criticisms are of the animation quality.  Critics call the animation "jerky" and "terrible"; and complain that Superman looks like a wooden puppet.  Anyone who has seen these shorts will find it difficult to believe these critics actually saw them, since the animation is anything but jerky.

Ironically, about 20 years after the last Superman short was made, Superman had perhaps his greatest animated success -- in Filmation's "The New Adventures of Superman," which essentially created the genre of the Saturday morning superhero cartoon, but which was animated far more statically (and cheaply) than the Fleischer cartoons.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Defensive Spelling

Here's a safety tip for Amazon.com reviewers: If you're going to criticize a book for spelling errors, don't misspell "griped" as "gripped." And for heaven's sake, don't make that mistake when reviewing my cousin Tod Goldberg's book. A merciless mocking awaits.

Going Medieval on an Auction

Or actually Renaissance, to be exact.

According to this L.A. Times story, a woman was moved by recent news stories on "enhanced interrogation techniques" to offer up for auction a collection she inherited, with part of the proceeds to go to Amnesty International and other human rights organizations.

The collection: A set of 16th-century torture implements, designed to cause mayhem (in the traditional sense of the word) to various parts of prisoners' bodies. The collection, which will be sold as a set if possible, is estimated at more than $3 million in value; and it will be sold only to a buyer deemed morally worthy to take possession of these hellish devices without using them for their intended purpose.

Steal This Movie

Last night I headed over to the Aero Theater for a double bill of Jules Dassin's euro-caper movies, RIFIFI and TOPKAPI. The two films are literally night and day: RIFIFI is dark film noir, from the era in which France was besotted with the genre and gave it its name (and in this case, hired an American to direct an FN movie), while TOPKAPI is a candy-colored confection. (Boy, when they made brightly-colored films in the sixties, they made them bright!)

What unites the films, besides exiled director Dassin, is that each features a group of experts who unite to pull off a high-stakes theft; and each features a long heist sequence that is among the best in cinema history. RIFIFI has a 30 minute long burglary that is shown without dialogue and without music, and which is riveting. TOPKAPI has the hanging-trapeze scene that has been copied by countless movies and TV shows. Further, the structure of bringing in folks to carry off a job (in the case of TOPKAPI, amateurs) has been the inspiration of numerous properties, most noticeably MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE. (Indeed, the sudden disability of one of the team members -- the same disability, caused in the exact same manner -- was used on Wally Cox in one of the first season M:I episodes.)

Although RIFIFI was more emotionally gripping than TOPKAPI, both were reminders of how entertaining it can be to sit in a theater and watch bravura filmmaking -- the kind that sucks you into the filmmakers' world and forces you to accept the most outlandish situations as logical plot developments.

Wi-Fi Watering Holes: The Coffee Connection in Mar Vista

This WFWH is on Centinela just south of Venice Boulevard, around the corner from the far busier Venice Grind. It is operated by -- and physically attached to -- the Vineyard Christian Fellowship, a church. (The only aspect of the church operation apparent is the stained glass windows in the front.) Coffee Connection is marked by its quiet atmosphere (everybody in it on a Saturday afternoon seems to be studying or banging away on a computer), the nice dark-wood interior, the strong wi-fi signal, and a garden-like courtyard/patio. The drinks are ok, but not spectacular. There's also free parking (although, since I rode my bike there today, I didn't use it.)

Stunning

I remember the thrill my 17-year-old self felt in the summer of 1982 when I watch STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN in Walla Walla's Liberty Theater, and thought, "They got it. They made a good Star Trek movie." Yes, they captured the deft blend between the profound and the cheesy, between solemnity and sillyness, between ideas and action, that defines the best of this decades-old franchise.

Twenty-seven years later, I felt much the same watching the new STAR TREK movie. With all the years being jaded by special effects and failed attempts at meaningful spectacle, and after multiple STAR TREK series turning the franchise into the equivalent of the chewing gum that had been chewed far too many times, I found great delight in being thrilled, touched, and entertained by a new summer movie -- and even better, a new Star Trek movie.

If you have the means, I heartily suggest seeing the movie in Imax, where it will run for just two weeks. Bigger can be better.

Anime Simulcasts: Give Them Steak and They Demand Filet Mignon

Back in the '80's (yes, it's one of those "back when I was a kid" stories, except I wasn't a kid at that point), when we wanted to watch Japanese animation, we watched videotapes sent from correspondents in Japan, without dubbing or subtitles; and sometimes we watched a second- or third-generation copy. And the tapes would be distributed by daisy-chaining VCRs. And we liked it! Well, we liked it because there was nothing better available.

A couple of decades later, the Internet gave rise to fansubbing, the phenomenon in which fans in Japan would upload video programs soon after they aired, and fans would add subtitles and distribute them in the U.S. -- all without the copyright owners seeing a dime.

Even when shows were licensed and sold in the U.S., fans would stick with their fansubs. The main reason given was that the licensed product wasn't released fast enough in the U.S. And it wasn't free. That is likely one of the factors that popped the bubble of anime sales in the U.S. (along with the general decline of the economy and of the DVD market).

Now various Japanese studios and licensors have struck deals by which Japanese animated shows are professionally subtitled and shown on streaming video in the U.S., free of charge to viewers (the profit is from advertising at the beginning of the stream), often simultaneous with or within hours after the Japanese showings.

That's light years from what we had in the '80's. Surely that would be enough to stop the flight to fansubbing.

Well, no. When a copyright enforcer from licensor Funimation was interviewed on Anime News Network, fans wrote comments complaining about these streams. They're too slow, the fans write. The buffer rates are frustrating. The translations aren't as good as fan-produced ones. (If the viewers can tell the difference, why do they need subtitles at all?) They complain about hypertechnical video quality details.

To quote Brian from Monty Python's LIFE OF, "There's just no pleasing some people."

Blood: The Last Vampire Live Action Movie

Many live-action adaptations of manga and anime properties are terrible. This trailer, as well as the one on the Sony site, suggests this summer's release of BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE may be different. It doesn't look deep, but it does look like fun.

Shields Up

Well, we almost got a head start on the rest of the country in seeing the new STAR TREK movie. We had a pass for a Wednesday showing at The Bridge Cinemas. Unfortunately, so did just about everyone in the LA area who had ever heard of STAR TREK. Although I got there an hour before the screening time, a representative told us and lots of people in front of us that the theater was overbooked and full.

We then retired to the theater and bought advance tickets for a regular showing. Because we wanted to see it in Imax, the earliest showing that would not require us to press our noses against the screen was tomorrow.

So tomorrow afternoon we'll see the movie the rest of the country has seen and is raving about.

Bad Words! Bad! Bad!

What word did Justice Harlan write in the 1971 U.S. Supreme Court opinion Cohen v. State of California, but none of the justices who wrote the majority, concurring, or dissenting opinions in last week's FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. spell out?

Here's a hint: It's a word that is used, described, and testified about in courthouses of every level across the U.S. Spelled out in full. Not spelled with asterisks or by its first letter, a hyphen, and the word "word." Both of which euphemistic abbreviations are used in Justice Scalia's majority opinion in the FCC case.

Here's another hint: It starts with an F, and rhymes with a large vehicle used to haul freight. (And no, I don't mean "flocomotive." Although that might make a good interjection.)

If a word is the subject matter of a court case, is it too much to ask that the court actually describe the word?

Is It Gonna Get Them?

Of all the theme songs Chase Manhattan could have chosen for its ad campaign introducing itself to the California market . . ..

Why pick "Instant Karma?"

Yet Another Anime Casualty of the Economy

This morning we visited our neighborhood anime store, Power Anime, only to learn that it is closing its brick-and-mortar store in the Westside Pavillion mall. This is news we received with great sadness. PA has come a long way in the last five years, from a tiny kiosk in the mall hallway, through multiple locations in the mall, and finally to a huge location on the ground floor in the former Waldenbooks space. The Rancho Park area used to boast multiple anime stores, including PA, Anime Gamers, and Banzai Anime; now, apart from some import stores in the Sawtelle area, it has none.

Power Anime is running some great store-closing deals right now, so if you're in the area this is a good time to stock up.

Another Anime Victim of the Economy

Central Park Media Files for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy (Update 2) - Anime News Network


American anime and manga distributor Central Park Media filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and closed its doors this past week. According to Anime News Network's story, this was at least in part a chain reaction This from the bankruptcy a few years ago of the retail chain Musicland, which put a strain on many DVD sellers.

As ANN reports:

CPM and its Software Sculptors, U.S. Manga Corps, and Anime 18 labels were once the North American homes of such prominent works as Grave of the Fireflies, Utena, Mobile Police Patlabor, Record of Lodoss War, Slayers, Night on the Galactic Railroad, Project A-Ko, Dominion Tank Police, Descendants of Darkness, Demon City Shinjuku, Urotsukidoji, and La Blue Girl. It later branched out into the book publishing field by releasing Comic Party, Record of Lodoss War, Slayers, Embracing Love, Kizuna, and other titles under the CPM Manga and Be Beautiful Manga imprints. It sponsored the Big Apple Anime Fest earlier this decade.

The market has changed significantly from where it was just a few years ago, when it seemed American licensors were grabbing every anime propery in sight. Now licensors are hunkering down and going with only the most commercial-seeming titles.

One last refuge for more obscure stuff: The online sites, such as Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu. Funimation, in particular, is running the 1970's Leiji Matsumoto series CAPTAIN HARLOCK and GALAXY EXPRESS 999 -- neither of which, to my knowledge, was ever released on DVD in the U.S., or released uncut on video here.

Private Jet Operators Need Love Too

An adicle (my portmanteau for an article that is actually a paid advertisement) in a recent issue of FORTUNE, paid for by a company that operates fleets of private planes and sells fractional shares in them, bemoaned the drop in private jet usage after Congress and the press lambasted the Big Three chiefs who jetted to Washington to beg for money. The article complained that legislators misunderstood the convenience, importance, and, yes, economy of private airplane travel to business. It asserted that many users were "middle management" and salespeople. And it worried that the legislators' attacks endangered the jobs of over a million people who worked in the small plane air travel business.

All of which missed the point: It looks really bad when you travel in luxury to plead poverty.

Happy Free Comic Book Day!

Yes, today you can head down to your local participating comics shop, and pick up free comics samplers put out by the major companies. We did.

Here's an apropos spokesman for FCBD:

He's the Best There Is at What He Does -- and What He Does Is Okay

We saw the WOLVERINE movie -- or, excuse me, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (colons really do not belong in movie titles. Didn't they learn anything from BALLISTIC: ECKS VS. SEVER?) last night at The Bridge. In my opinion, the creators did a magnificently adequate job.

The pacing went down well. The acting was up to the job; and Hugh Jackman is a lot of fun to watch as Jamie Hewlett, aka Logan, aka Wolverine. The set pieces were enjoyable, and looked like comics scenes brought to life. (Though at some point the PG-13 suspension of disbelief starts to ebb: You have characters slicing and dicing each other multiple times with blades and claws and big swords, with nary a drop of blood shed. Granted, watching people realistically slice each other into coldcuts wouldn't be very entertaining (at least to me); but the dishonest treatment of the aftermath of violence starts to edge into the offensive.) The story served as an okay frame for the punching and kicking and slicing and booms.

But I felt zero emotional connection with what was going on. And that is not par for the course. I did connect with the first two X-Men movies; with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films; with the Iron Man flick; and, crossing over into DC territory, with Chris Nolan's Batman films and the first two Supermans. Yet I viewed this movie as an efficient summer comics entertainment, out to put butts in seats and keep them there through the closing credits. (I've heard reports that there are different final post-credits scenes for different prints of the flick.) No more than that.

There are a number of reasons:

-- The director was not as good as Chris Nolan, or Sam Raimi, or Jon Favreau. He put the story on the screen. He didn't go into any layers beneath the story.

-- As with many of these films, there are two many licensable characters crammed in. The scenes with Gambit are fun, but not particularly vital to the film. The Blob scene could be razored out without perceptible effect. Sure, the advantage of these X-Men films is the ability to put in multiple superpowered characters, because that's the way the X-Men comics have always been. But larding a story with so many distractions hampers its ability to reach any kind of emotional threshhold.

-- Finally, and this is personal to me, I'm rather disenchanted with the comics the movie was adapting. It draws on several stories done in the 90's and 00's designed to flesh out Wolverine's past. Frankly, that past did not demand fleshing out. He was much more effective as a mysterious figure with a shadowy past, with bits and pieces occasionally floating to the surface. True, the character stayed that way for over 20 years before these backfill stories were released -- Wolverines been in the comics for over 35 years, after all. But I feel no connection with the stories. I have to imagine the average moviegoer, who has never picked up a Wolverine comic or any comic in his or her life, will feel even less.

So not a negative review. Not an overwhelmingly positive one either. Somewhere in the enjoyable but not excellent category.

Birthday and Books

Blogging was light this weekend, because I soaked up the beautiful SoCal sunshine (minus the heat last weekend at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. You can see details of the Festival (and photos) on my cousin Lee's blog.

I spent Saturday at a birthday picnic for myself on the lawn of the UCLA campus, with the Festival going on around me. (I didn't leave the picnic to go to any festival activities; that would seem rude when people are there to celebrate my birthday). Several folks, known and unknown, showed up for cake and Junior's sandwiches. Among them were Lee's brother, Tod, and Tod's wife Wendy. Lee himself didn't show up (a busy schedule and back pain); but oddly enough, Lee and Tod's friend Sarah Weinman spent some time with us -- totally independent of Lee or Tod. She was a friend of a friend of a friend . . . .

Today we hit a couple of panels (one on humor, featuring Tod and two other writers whose last names begin with "G"; and another on Victorian Age fiction, vintage and modern); dropped some bucks on books; and ate a fairly subpar orange-chicken bowl.

The ranks of the booksellers were thinned somewhat (no Borders or Barnes & Noble), but the crowds seemed as large as ever. I chalk both up to the economy. After all, the Festival was free.

35 Years of Comic Book Character Progress for Red Sonja

March 1973:

"The Song of Red Sonja."

October 2008:

The thong of Red Sonja.

Is Comic Sans Just Not Your Type?

Typeface Inspired by Comic Books Has Become a Font of Ill Will - WSJ.com

In the midst of an economic maelstrom, the Wall Street Journal devotes some space to a real controversy: The appropriateness and history of the Comic Sans typeface. (A font not available on Blogger. This is the closest approximation.)

LA Times Festival of Books: The Family Presence

The LA Times Festival of Books is being held at the UCLA campus next weekend; and it behooves me to publicize my author cousins' various signings and panel discussions at the event. This information is filched directly from each cousin's blog.

For Tod Goldberg:

Appearances & Signings
Los Angeles Times Festival Of Books
April 25th:
Panel
PANEL 1104
3:30 PM Humor & Race Moderator Mr. Tod Goldberg Mr. Lalo Alcaraz Mr. Christian Lander Mr. Larry Wilmore
Signing to follow
April 26th
PANEL 2102
12:30 PM
Enough About You: Fiction & Humor Moderator Ms. Carolyn Kellogg Mr. Tod Goldberg Mr. Seth Greenland Mr. Ben Greenman
Signing to follow
2:00pm
The Mystery Bookstore booth #411 with Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin
3:00pm
Mysterious Galaxy Booth

And for Lee Goldberg:

April 25, 10:30 am, Dodd Hall
moderating a panel with Craig Johnson and Stephen J. Cannell
Signing to follow
April 25, 2pm, Mystery Bookstore Booth
Signing with Tod Goldberg, William Rabkin & others

The "Let's Rebuild Len Wein's Comic Book Collection" Project

Earlier this month, Len Wein and Chris Valada's house was almost completely destroyed by fire. If you've read any comic books in the last 40 years, you're likely to have seen Wein's name -- or his work. If you haven't read any comics, but have watched comic-based movies, you've likely seen movie characters based on his creations. Wein, you see, has created or co-created Swamp Thing, Wolverine, numerous X-Men (including Storm and Nightcrawler), and the character Lucius Fox, seen in the Chris Nolan Batman movies. He's also written just about every DC and Marvel character. And that's on top of his work as a comics editor, which includes the WATCHMEN miniseries, the NEW TEEN TITANS . . . it goes on and on. He even co-created the HUMAN TARGET, which was adapted into a short-lived TV series a few years ago and is slated to be adapted into another one.

One of the victims of the fire was Wein's comics collection -- including every comic he wrote.

Wein's friend Mark Evanier has started a project to rebuild Wein's comic book collection. He's asking fans to send in copies of Wein's comics. He's put up a web page and listed the comics needed. (See the link above.) If you have any, or if you want to buy some comics and send them to a writer who has given readers of all ages lots of fun over the decades, send him some comics.

Other Hollywood Adventures

Besides venturing into Hollywood on Tuesday for the PaleyFest event (see post below), I made two other trips to Cinemaland recently.

On Thursday, April 9, we went to the Knitting Factory (amazing -- a down-and-dirty rock club ensconced in a shiny shopping center, complete with underground parking) to see a concert by Voltaire. Voltaire is your average everyday School of Visual Arts Professor/animator/comics artist/goth-rock-swing-klezmer-caberet performer. He sings what he cheerfully describes as "death death devil devil devil evil evil evil songs" with a tremendous amount of stage presence and a maniacal gleam in his eye. His recordings are fun, but they can't compare with the sheer entertainment value of his live performances.

On Sunday, Amy was out of town, and I drove to the Egyptian Theater for that evening's installment of the American Cinematheque's annual Film Noir festival. The theater served up a double feature of Fritz Lang's last two American movies, both from 1956 -- WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS and BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. The former is a wild mashup of two diverse plotlines: the noir story of a comic-book-crazed serial killer, played by John Barrymore Jr. in a black leather jacket and Greek fisherman's cap, pursued by an investigative reporter; and a newspaper version of "King Lear," in which feckless media company heir Vincent Price forces three potential candidates to run his company to compete for his attentions -- by trying to capture Barrymore. The latter is an 80-minute bundle of complicated plotting with almost none of Lang's trademark visuals -- but, as the erudite host for the program pointed out, lots of visual symbolism. The host stated that book-length essays have been written about this film in France. I don't know if there's that much there, but it was a diverting 80 minutes.

Part of the fun of attending a film noir festival is people watching, as the film noir fanboys and fangirls showed up in pinstripes and fedoras.

The Horribleness of It All

The Cinerama Dome in Hollywood was originally built as one of the early '60's gimmicks designed to wean viewers away from their televisions and back to movie theaters. It's therefore ironic that it is being used for Paleyfest 09, a celebration of television. And the irony was intensified on Tuesday, when the Dome was the venue for a Paleyfest program on DR. HORRIBLE'S SING-ALONG BLOG, the first Paley Festival presentation on a show that was not designed for television; it was shown only on the newest magnet for attention, the Internet.

We attended the program on Dr. Horrible, and were treated to a showing of Joss Whedon's three-act comedy/tragedy/satire/musical on the gigantic Cinerama screen -- quite a change from when I saw it on my video iPod.

Afterward, TV Guide's Matt Rausch moderated a panel discussion with the multiple Whedon's involved in the production -- Joss, brothers Zack and Jed, and even Joss's future sister-in-law -- along with BLOG stars Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. (The doc himself, Neil Patrick Harris, was reportedly out of the country and couldn't attend.)





After the presentation, we had dinner in the Arclight Theater Lounge adjoining the Dome. As we ate, all of the program participants (along with the Whedon boys' father) paraded past our table, as they trooped to a dinner in the same restaurant.

Joss and crew were, as usual, fun and insightful to listen to as they waxed Horrible. But when attending a fency-shemncey program devoted to his work, you'd think the guy would dress up a little. Maybe business casual. Flannel is so '90's.

Area Code

Following the declassification of their project, some former employees at Area 51 finally explain what the heck was going on there: Test flights of top-secret Air Force spy aircraft called OXCART. Which looked amazingly saucer-shaped when viewed from above or below. And if commercial pilots saw one, FBI agents (no doubt wearing black) would question them and ask them to sign non-disclosure statements.

Explains a lot, doesn't it?

Except to the conspiracy theorists who'll say it's just creative misdirection . . . .

The Circle of Quest

The '60's prime-time animated adventure series JONNY QUEST started life as an attempted adaptation of the radio show JACK ARMSTRONG: ALL-AMERICAN BOY. In look and spirit, it strongly resembled Milton Caniff's comic strip TERRY AND THE PIRATES. So it's entirely appropriate that although filmmakers developing a live-action adaptation of JQ, starring Zac Ephron as Jonny and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Race Bannon don't want to call the project "Jonny Quest" anymore -- the SPEED RACER live-action movie made studio execs nervous about adaptations of '60's cartoons -- they still want to make the movie, albeit under another title. The cycle of semi-adaptations continues.

****Update*****

Geoff Boucher, the L.A.Times blogger of the fannish, posted this ode to the JQ series a few months ago. It includes a YouTube compilation of scenes from the top 5 episodes. Number one was the episode that stands out most starkly in my childhood memories: "The Invisible Monster." It was notable both for its ingenuity (how do you fight an invisible monster? Throw bags of paint at it, so that it's not invisible any more!) and for the horrifyingly abstract monster, animated in a style different from anything else in the series.

Wi-Fi Watering Holes: Frogo Gourmet Frozen Yogurt & Organic Coffee

This window-filled corner shop at the intersection of Wilshire and Euclid in downtown Santa Monica features modern (generic) decor, a 99-cent cup of organic coffee, and fairly tasty frozen yogurt. (I had the swirl of Death by Chocolate and Peanut Butter). There are plenty of outlets around the store within easy reach of the tables, and the wi-fi is fairly strong. (I'm there now.) It also has the benefit of long hours: It opens at 6 am on weekdays; and the closing times range from 10 pm on Sunday to Midnight on Friday and Saturday. The service is quite friendly. If you don't mind spartan decor, this is a pretty good Santa Monica WFWH.

More Fresh-Served Anime: SHANGRI-LA

Continuing the anime marketing trend of streaming anime in the U.S. market (with limited ads) shortly after it shows in Japan, Crunchyroll is streaming SHANGRI-LA, an adaptation of a Japanese science fiction novel. The first episode, shown in Japan last Sunday, is online now.

The show looks like it might be fun. It balances deadly-dull scenes of talking heads addressing manipulation of the international carbon-credit market (such things never animate well) with spectacular, colorful action set pieces. Plus, it's got character designs by Range Murata, who designed LAST EXILE and BLUE SUB 6 from the same studio, Gonzo. And since it's anime science fiction, the protagonist is a teenage girl in a schoolgirl's outfit, accompanied by a transvestite. What can you say?

Freshly-Served Anime: The New FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST

In Japan, a new reversioning of the much-loved anime TV series from the mid-decade, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, premiered Sunday; and only four days later, American licensors Funimation began streaming this legal, subtitled version of the first episode.

Naturally, in the interim, folks fan-subbed pirated versions of the episode and posted them on the Web.

The new series comes from a new director, and is said to hew more faithfully to the manga that was the source material for both series. Since the first series came out when there were only three or four volumes of the manga issued, and numerous volumes followed, the first anime diverged from the manga's storyline. This version's character designs are closer to the manga drawings, and will purportedly follow the story as told in the manga.

As for the show itself: Well, I hope the studio isn't just pouring its money into the first episode to hook viewers. It looks great.

Starlog Logs Off

The downturn in magazine publishing has taken another victim. On Wednesday, the publisher of Starlog, the 33-year-old slick magazine about science fiction films, TV and print (in that order), announced that the magazine will cease print publication and become a Web-only magazine.

Although I haven't bought or read an issue of Starlog in years, it's one of those seminal publications (like ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS or THE VISUAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION) that fired my enthusiasm and shaped my interests when I was a kid. I picked up my first copy (the seventh issue, I believe) in the summer of 1977. That's when a magazine that had started surfing on the crest of Star Trek fandom and had bobbed with movies such as Logan's Run hit a monster wave: Star Wars, and the slew of SF movies that followed. I took the issue with me on a family road trip to Southern California, and read it cover to cover a few times. It had a photo spread on Star Wars (when I loaned the issue to a friend, he cut out all those photos, much to my chagrin.) It had a cover feature on stop-motion animation, something I hadn't thought much of before. It featured an interview with Harlan Ellison, which led me to start reading Ellison's books; he became one of my favorite writers. It featured ads for novelizations of something called Doctor Who; that was my introduction to that venerable British SF franchise. In that issue, and in many issues to come, Starlog's combination of journalism and fannish enthusiasm hooked me.

I picked up Starlog's fits-and-starts comic book news spinoff,COMICS SCENE, and occasionally its sister publication FANGORIA (which started out dedicated to both horror and fantasy films, before the horror took over everything). I also picked up several of the Starlog imitations from other publishers, none of which could match Starlog's Methuselah-like resilience.

In the early '80's, Starlog took on a new dimension for me: A family dimension. I was surprised to see the byline "Lee Goldberg" on several articles. What were the odds of a Starlog writer having the same name as one of my cousins? Pretty good, it turned out; it was my cousin. On his blog, Lee discusses his own history with Starlog, one of his earliest writing gigs, and one that eventually led to his marriage.

I'd like to say that being related to the prolific Starlog journalist brought me derivative fame, fortune, and romantic luck. Actually, what it got me was a comp subscription to Starlog (until the publisher cut it off) and a rainbow-foil BRAINSTORM sticker that I put on the door of my dorm room at UCLA.

I also recall the convention Starlog put on in LA in the mid-eighties. I wrote a letter to the Starlog publisher with a critique of how the con was run. I got back a two-page, single-spaced typewritten letter from the publisher responding point-by-point to the criticism. (Didn't the guy have enough to do around the office?)

In recent years, when I picked up a Starlog on the newsstands (that is, when I could find it), I found less enthusiasm in it; it seemed to become more a forum for press releases than a font of fannish delight. Maybe it's because I was an adult, and Starlog would always be directed toward the adolescent or the adolescent at heart.

Of course, Starlog isn't gone; it'll still be around as a Web magazine. But it'll be one of zillions of Web pages, and could easily disappear in the crowd. We'll have to see if a leaner economic profile will help it continue to survive.

Early Dub

A sign of the interdependence of Japan's anime industry and its U.S. market: The producers of the animated adaptation of GUIN SAGA, a 123-volume series of Japanese fantasy novels, has released a trailer for the series in both Japanese and English language versions (with the English version apparently dubbed by known American dub actors)-- even though the series just debuted this past Sunday in Japan; apparently hasn't yet been licensed for release in English speaking countries.

Desert Dreams

I''m posting this from my father's computer. Amy and I are spending a weekend in the Palm Springs area visiting my dad and Regina. Ít's an interesting contrast to the other desert we visited last weekend, when we drove over to Utah and back. Deserts are deceptively similar at first glance; but each holds unique riches upon further examination.