for all the writers out there.

There were a bunch of people outside the student union today handing out books. From a distance I could tell that they were novels and not bibles so I picked one up. The book was Wild Animus by Rich Shapero. Since I am well aware how expensive self-publishing costs, I asked the girl what the deal was. All the information she gave me was that Shapero decided to hand out free copies of his book instead of spending money on advertising. Made sense to me.

Standing in line for coffee I read the first few pages. I didn't think it was too bad until I started noticing that Shapero's style was needlessly wordy and full of adverbs. I saw a note on the back cover that said that there are 3 CDs that accompany the book and that "the novel serves as an emotional shell" for the music. I don't know about you but when I think of the word "Shell" I think emptiness. I think hollow. Not the best word choice. When I got to the library I hopped on a computer and googled the book. Here's some stuff I found:

- The book has been distributed (for free) throughout the US, Australia and most of Europe.

- The author was born into a rich family and serves as a board director for several different companies.

- The book has 84 one-star reviews on Amazon (out of 134 total reviews).

- I read this and then watched this and got tremendously annoyed.

And some notable comments I found about the book:

"I saw an ad on Craigslist in my city that is soliciting hires for the distribution of this book. I had to investigate and I found this article among many others that detail the curious tackiness of this whole enterprise."

"To make matters worse, Shapero has hired a number of people to distribute the already expensive box set everywhere. Shapero refuses to stop. He hired actors to dress up as “nerds,” and “wave signs and shout negative things about the book” to create controversy and interest. Evidently, he had the goal of distributing 1 million copies."

You can get the first three chapters of the book here if you want to check it out for yourself. All in all, I am going to conclude by saying that I am glad that popularity can not be bought. As a writer and a musician I see what Shapero is doing as tremendously masturbatory.

Speak easy,

Neil

Lost Ark

I am in the middle of writing a 10 page paper on Daniel Clowes' Wilson (amazing graphic novel by the way) and heard about this when I was listening to an interview with Clowes. A bunch of kids spent 8 years remaking Raiders of the Lost Ark shot for shot. They started when they were 10 years old. Sort of a real life Son of Rambow except even more fantastic. I think I'll watch the whole thing this weekend.

Speak easy,
Neil

Sanguis Circus

This weekend I am heading over to Rhode Island to take pics for Brad's band. They have a live show at a bar, three 45 minute sets. Should be pretty cool.

I created a new blog (tumblr is a blog site, right?) called New York Circus. It is a mashup comic where I take a panel from Family Circus and replace the caption with one from a New Yorker cartoon. I made the icon for the page last night in Photoshop. I am really proud of how it came out.

Got the idea while I was working on my Comic Art paper.

Only 2 projects and 2 tests until I am free to move back into my parents house and get a menial job.

Speak easy,
Neil

You don't have to understand everything...

Super busy at the moment (although I am usually busy, this is extra busy crunch-time finals week!). Moving back to Cape in 2 weeks. My friend Mike and I are setting up an office in his grandmother's basement to get work done (music, writing, animation, etc.) and I couldn't be more stoked. Pictures will be posted once we are settled. I've been making a lot of headway on the novel that has been stewing in my brain for the last 3 or 4 years. It's one thing to prepare for something and it is another to actually do it. I am really happy with it so far though. If you want

Found this picture online. Probably the funniest jpeg I have ever seen.

Speak easy,

Neil

some films

I've watched a bunch of movies within the past week and I thought I would share my thoughts on them.

Helvetica - More than just a documentary about a font, Helvetica explores the history of type faces, graphic design, and advertising. This was actually recommended to me by my technical writing professor. Click here for a great interview with the director of the film.

Nowhere Boy - I did like this film, but not as much as a wanted. Overall, it is about a boy named John Lennon who has a complicated family life. You do meet Paul and George along the way but the movie is not about The Beatles, per se. It looses focus often and keeps going without really giving any inkling on when it is going to end or peter out. Probably a good one for the Netflix Queue.

Paranormal Activity - First off, I would like to say that I love the idea that this is a low budget film that made a lot of money. Money can buy crane shots, car chases, and explosions but it can not buy good actors and a great story. With that being said, I do not think that Paranormal was a good film. Most of the film involves the audience getting to know two people, a young middle class couple named, Katie and Mescha. For such a slow burning film to work you really need characters that the audience can latch onto and some thought provoking dialogue to boot.

One more small problem I had with the film was how often Katie called Mescha by his name. It felt unnaturally and became really annoying around half way though. I know, stupid thing to get mad about but if you watch the movie again, please count how many times she does it and let me know.

Films on my to-see list:

Tarnation, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Pt. I

Speak easy,
Neil

The Rabbi.

Okay, so there’s this guy goes to the town Synagogue and says “Look Rabbi, my life is so miserable. My house is always a mess, my wife and I don‘t get along, and my children, they don‘t listen to me. Is there anything I can do to make my life better? I am at the end of my rope.” The Rabbi thinks for a minute. He strokes his long grey beard. He tells the man “Buy a goat.”. The guy says “A goat? How can this help me? Are you sure about that, Rabbi?” “Yes” the Rabbi replies. “Buy a goat and check back with me in one week.” The man follows the Rabbi’s orders and buys a goat from a local farmer. One week later he returns to the Rabbi. He says “Rabbi, I bought a goat but it‘s only made my life worse. I have to clean up after it and feed it. It has not helped anything.” The Rabbi nods his head and says to the man “Buy another goat.” The man can not believe what he has heard but follows the Rabbi’s word. One week later he returns to speak with the Rabbi. The man says “Look, Rabbi. One goat is hard enough but two goats, a wife, three children. All of this is too much for a man to handle. What do you think I should do Rabbi? I can not go on living as I do for very much longer.” The Rabbi’s response: “Buy another goat.” The man nearly pulls out his hair. He says “One more goat? I can’t handle two living in my house. I still have to provide for my family." “Do you trust me?” The Rabbi says to the man. “Yes Rabbi. I do.” The man goes out and buys a third goat. One week later he goes back to see the Rabbi. The man looks awful. Hasn‘t shaved in weeks. He smells terrible. Large bags under his eyes. He says “Rabbi. I am a serious man. I have followed your teachings since I was a young boy. I came to you for help. To make my life better but your advice has only made things worse. These goats, I can not handle them anymore.” The Rabbi smiles at the man and says “Sell the goats.” The man can’t believe his ears. He says, “What was that Rabbi?” The Rabbi says, “Sell the goats. Come back to see me in one week.” Sure enough, one week later the man returns to the Rabbi. The Rabbi asks the man “How is everything going?” The man shakes his head, laughs and says “My life is great, Rabbi. Thank you.”

Speak easy,

Neil

Settling For Geology

Can not get over how unproductive my day has been. I guess I'll just have to work extra hard this weekend. Wish they would turn up the heat in my building.

Speak easy,

Neil

Woman, strap on your petticoats. Men, buckle your bootstraps.

Lev and I are holding a wine and cheese night at our apartment next Wednesday. I encourage you to zoom in on the image above and read through the description. I spent a lot of time on it when I should have been doing homework.

These two comics were the first to get published. Guess they put my submissions out of order. Anyway, here they are!

Speak easy,

Neil

miss lonelyhearts transends the internet

I will be publishing comics in my school newspaper starting tomorrow. That was the project I was talking about last week. I have been working on them for a the past week or so and completed 5, which I submitted to the paper last night. Decided Miss Lonelyhearts would be a good name. Same spirit, different medium. This means that I will probably be updating the blog at least five times a week, if I keep on top of the comics (already a week and a half ahead of schedule).

This will mark the first time I've ever put my stuff out there to a large audience. The comics page says that there are about 10,000 people who read the paper and even if you cut that number in half, it's still kind of scary. I actually lost some sleep over this notion. I mean, it's all well in good when you write something and you read that yourself, or hand it off to the person next to you, or write a blog with 10-15 people who follow you, but having your worked looked at by thousands of people is kind of freaks me out. I know a lot of creative types will be reading this, so you must know what I'm talking about. Anyway, off to my British Literature reading.

Speak easy,
Neil

Utopic

Spent the evening reading Utopia by Sir Thomas More. The word utopia in English means a perfect or ideal place. If you take the Latin word "Utopia" and translate it into English it literally means "no place". Thought that was kind of interesting.

Some of my favorite exerts...

..."What he fears is that his eyes will be deceived by a counterfeit. But if you consider the matter, why should a counterfeit give any less pleasure when your eyes cannot distinguish it from a gem? Both should be of equal value to you, as they would be, in fact, to a blind man."

[His thoughts on counterfeit jewelery]

..."Health itself, when distinguished by pain, gives pleasure, without any external excitement at all."

..."In choosing marriage partners, they solemnly and seriously follow a custom which seemed to us foolish and absurd in the extreme. Whether she is a widow or a virgin, the bride-to-be is shown naked to the groom by a responsible and respectable matron; and, similarly, some respectable man presents the groom naked to his future bride."

[On the subject of marriage in More's factitious land of Utopia]

Bill Cosby bought lobster for all the students at UMass. I wonder what is done with the leftovers. It would be a shame to kill all those lobsters just to throw them out. Especially when they are served full figured.

Speak easy,

Neil