Calvin & Hobbes 'finally' get a movie, It's not clinically an official project, and it is just a documentary, but this is as official as its going to get. You see, if you didn't already know this, Creator Bill Watterson has never allowed his comic to be commercialized. This is why you don't see Calvin&Hobbes mugs, duvet covers and T-shirts, or feature length animated films. Sure, some fans have printed their own variety of C&H merchandise, but its never been requisitioned for mass production - he felt that taking this route would cheapen his comic. "Watterson is known for his views on licensing and Syndication" - Wikipedia. The Calvin and Hobbes cartoon ran for ten years from 1985 to 31 Dec 1995. The comic only came to my attention a couple of years later, but still, I've been a fan since the Spice Girls still had chart toppers. And, as you may well have noticed whilst perusing this website, my 'fandom' remains steadfast, actually its stronger than ever, because as you will know, or soon find out, this comic is timeless. From myself: Thank you Mr. Watterson. Your genius is much appreciated! Here's the trailer for Documentary "Dear Mr. Watterson": Bill Watterson's note to his fans on ending the publication: Dear Reader: Bill Watterson quotes: I liked things better when I didn't understand them. I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can play together all night. That's the whole problem with science. You've got a bunch of empiricists trying to describe things of unimaginable wonder.
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News surrounding Edward Snowden continues to dominate headlines, another "secret spilling" case tied directly to Wikileaks is coming to light in the form of a documentary film that looks, and reportedly feels, like an espionage thriller. As a film "We Steal Secrets' only received an average rating on IMDB, but interestingly was rated by Rotten Tomatoes at 94% - either way, it will be an interesting watch. Synopsis: This film basically tells the story of Wikileaks - quite possibly the biggest phenomena to hit the internet and modern media (It's amazing that Wikileaks was only started in 2006!). Put together by acclaimed Director Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side, 2007 - 100% on RT - watch trailer here) and featuring in depth behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with founder Julian Assange, with prominent focus on the Bradley Manning affair. It covers a variety of cases involving government secrets - particularly the US, and how the managers of the website (and their sources) are treated like "most wanted" criminals. It once again poses that question of transparency - what information should we be privy to, if not all... in light of at least one Pentagon official's belief that government cannot run without secrets. It's another look (for this director) at what goes on in the shadows, and what really happens when (US) governments get scared - or what the public may learn about their methods... My comment: I've always been a believer in that credo that 'a government should be afraid of those they govern' - not the other way around. Secrets are just another medium for government to instil fear and thence manipulate the people. Sex Scandal: It seems that the trend for most governments - when faced with an intelligence leak and possibly compromising and damaging information comes to light in the public - immediately rely on a smear campaign against the would-be whistle-blower which invariably involves a sex scandal of some kind. It seems like the easiest and dirtiest trick in the book, to try and "drag their name through the mud". Maybe its because so many politicians are caught with their pants down, so this is their way of getting their own back, sort of... although, how many scandals don't we know about. Everyone's guilty of something - but who do you believe? Certainly not the government... The Fifth Estate - the Hollywood biopic film on Julian Assange This film, starring Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC TV's Sherlock Holmes, for those in the dark or sleeping under a rock) as Assange, looks to be touted as an Oscar contender. It also stars Daniel Bruhl. Benjamin John Howard - aka, Ben Howard... is a man who knows how to make music. If you're tired of the superficial, overproduced, loud collaborations of the music industry today (despite many of them actually possessing some talent - only to be drowned out by commercialism), then I implore you to lend your ears to this man's sound. It's deep, it's instrumental and some might even call it an acquired 'genre specific' taste (only if you like this type of music) - regardless of your taste-buds, you will have to admit that whatever he does, he does it well. He's the sort of musician that's a rather rare or dying breed in the modern music landscape - a throwback to the acoustic artists of old. Rising to prominence in Britain in 2008 (at the age of twenty) with his first self released EP (followed by two more in the next two years), he finally released his debut album Every Kingdom in 2011. His early fame can be attributed to word-of-mouth advertising, gaining traction through the most personal of mediums. So, from humble beginnings in rural Devon, spending considerable time out on the waves surfing (when not playing music), to being featured on David Letterman's Late Show. Officially released late last year, his latest EP The Burgh Island (named after a tidal island off the Devon coast) is, in my humble opinion, a bold and intriguing step up from his debut album which is still entrenched in my playlist. I've played that album to death but it seems to never tire, and now this... The Burgh Island EP, which only contains four songs: Esmerelda, Oats in the Water, To Be Alone and Burgh Island - all of which I listen to on repeat. His new sound is rich, dark and brooding, and personally, I can't get enough - The contrast in album/EP covers is a clear indication of the change in direction he's taken. There is of course the similar sound to all his tracks - the common thread - (it is his voice after all), but each one has a distinctive personality; some will make you sit still and listen, others will be slower in drawing you in, while others still will have you with your eyes shut in plain appreciation. He has a variety of instruments at his disposal which sometimes flirts with a few jazz notes in the way his songs sometimes don't quite resolve, but he's never afraid to push the envelope whilst keeping everything centered on the strings of his acoustic guitar. This may sound corny or preachy, but at twenty five - one of the things most impressive is the maturity in not only his voice (both vocally and artistically) but also in his lyrics. But enough writing, lets get to the listening (and looking), so you can soak in the melodies... (FYI - I updated these videos - The previous vimeo vid I posted of 'Oats in the water' was a fan-made video - still beautiful mind you - but these two were taken from Ben Howard's official Youtube channel) Here's a (I think anyway) fan made video of the mesmerizing song Esmerelda of the Burgh Island EP. Ben Howard quotes: "'Black Flies' is the best song I've ever written" "We’re getting a bit more creative with the songs and I’m looking forward to doing some solid rehearsal days and adding a few new instruments" "Anyone’s debut record becomes their greatest hits really... "It comes down to the mental space you’re in; the songs just depend on how much you invest in them. If you really put your heart and soul into them and believe in what you’re singing or what you’re playing, then it comes across. That slightly loose edge when you’re not overly conscious of what you’re doing, but you’re really in tune with what you’re singing about." "Once you get onto a D28, you don’t really go back" - (referring to his Martin guitar) We’re getting a bit more creative with the songs and I’m looking forward to doing some solid rehearsal days and adding a few new instruments "Ben brings a crisp freshness to the world of acoustic troubadours, he’ll make you feel like it’s the first time you’ve ever heard anything like it, but still having a rootsy lustre seemingly as old as the country side in which he wrote the songs Like on FACEBOOK Follow on TWITTER Link to BEN HOWARD's Official Website Ben Howard music channel on YOUTUBE I recommend this book to you as it was recommended to me, and then the same guy (Shout-out to Jonathan Strysko) who did the recommending, then gave me the book a few days later just before attending another friend's wedding. In a way, it kind of found me at just the right moment (not between weddings, but in my writing). This also happens to be the first book I've actually read from start to finish in quite a while. I've started a few novels but haven't gotten round to finishing them (one by Roald Dahl - for those tracking me on Goodreads) - this is what happens when you read for the sake of reading, as apposed to reading what you need or really want to read in that moment (one novel I started but haven't finished, is the latest in the Myron Bolitar crime series 'Live Wire' by Harlen Coben - and that was a book I was looking forward to , but somehow, my heart and mind was in search of something else - although I will definitely get back to savoring that one - and then, out of nowhere, came this book by Donald Miller, an author I admittedly didn't know much about). I've never done a review for a book before so I'll hijack the format we use at In The Kan for films (its more fun that way); to read it, just click the read more tab at the bottom of this post (I only display what I think people actually want to see - and I for one, am not a fan of reading book reviews, I'm more of an impulsive and instinctual reader, whatever that is...) so let me rather add Miller's Author's Note which got me (recommendations and gifts by friends aside) intrigued enough to turn the page. Author's Note: (A Million miles in a Thousand Years) If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn't cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn't tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the movie you'd seen.The truth is, you wouldn't remember that movie a week later, except you'd feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of movie about a guy who wants a Volvo. So, here's why this book appealed to me . You see, within this journey of writing a book, I've learned quite a lot and, as I've said to many folks, "I wrote a book, and then, during the process of editing and rewriting, I learned how to actually write a book". There are actually courses and textbooks to creative writing and story construction (one course is even mentioned in A Million miles) that I didn't know about, so effectively I skipped all the boring stuff about developing plot and subplot and constructing a protagonist etc... most of that came naturally (although I did need some refining), what I really needed to learn, was why I wrote this book in the first place, and how I can now make it better. I wont go too far into the details, but suffice is to say that after writing my first manuscript, I, like so many others who have done so, thought I was THE BOMB... as it turned out, my boom wasn't that spectacular (more of a PUFF really, I mean I knew it was only a first draft, but it was my first, first draft, EVER - and for a moment there, I could kind of live in that spotlight that only I could see). And then I learned that that was actually normal. It has been said by someone famous, that a 1st draft is simply a blank formless lump of clay, and that from then on, the writer chips and chisels away with subsequent drafts and rewrites to reveal the actual story, buried in there somewhere. And, it's been within this stage where the REAL questions started to come up, about my story, my main character and his conflict, his life and those around him... and by extension, those questions sort of crept up on me and my life, and this career of writing I've chosen, one that hasn't produced much as of yet, that anyone can see anyway... So yeah, in this journey I've needed, and received, many nudges in the right direction, from professionals, professors, journalists and perfect strangers (some of whom have become friends).
It's been frustrating, but I anticipate, as I near the completion of my 3rd (and a half) draft, that when this book (prior to all the others I will write, and after I acquire a Literary Agent)) eventually gets published that the main sensation I'll feel, the one that will be most prevalent, is Relief! |
[Banner illustration by Joel Kanar]
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