Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Inducted

Well, the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were announced, and for once I really cant complain about them - a pretty decent bunch, all meritorious in their service of the Teenage God of Rock (as Bernie Taupin once put it). I had my misgivings about Van Halen but they really did launch a thousand metal(ish) ships over the years and I do love many of their works...so we'll give them a pass on any of my own personal qualms. Though I do still ask, if Van Halen, why not then Kiss? And if Kiss, why not Rush? Those are my major questions of the Rock Hall.

R.E.M, certainly a no-brainer. The band that practically invented all things "indie" and made college rock an actual category. While they have done almost nothing of note in nearly a decade or more, their achievements up through, say, Document are legendary and almost flawless and their work up through, say, Automatic for the People or Monster is outstanding. After that, well....but Murmur, Reckoning, Fables, Lifes Rich Pageant, even Dead Letter Office are indicative of a truly powerful and original collective voice at work and will forever be among the Mole's favorites.

And The Ronettes are sorely overdue for inclusion, leaving hope for other groups that have been left in the dust in the past - perhaps later and more inclusing Rock Hall boards will be kinder as time goes on. The Ronettes are one of those great girl groups that sound like one voice singing three voices OR vice versa all at once. While they had a long wait, thankfully Patti Smith and Grandmaster Flash did not - both highly deserving and certainly an indication that Punk and Rap will continue to get their due in the hall.

Finally, Van Halen. First of all, I'll be interested to see who all shows up for the ceremony; I heard a rumor through my teenage son that Edward VH has fired Michael Anthony and installed his son Wolfgang in the bassist slot, whilst trying to get David Lee back in the fold once again. But whither Mr. Hagar? Assuming any of the above is true, it will be an interesting reunion on the night of the show.

I'm looking for that Jam session - unlikely partners, big egos, disparate styles. But thats what Rock and Roll is all about, boyee. Peace out.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Anybody else notice...

....that leftover hippies from the '60's are now starting to sound as hidebound and boring as the old guys they were rebelling against? All their stories about tripping and rebellion sound like the stories their own fathers told them about what they did in the war. Give it a rest, bro. Give peace a chance. Timothy Leary, Hunter Thompson, Lenny Bruce, and most of the other people that made the '60's interesting are now dead. It's never too late to get a life.

...that Battlestar:Galactica (the new version) isn't really, uhm, all that interesting? I find it tedious, and the real find on the Sci Fi channel is the new Dr. Who with some of the best writing, acting, and special effects on TV. David Tennant makes a fabulous Doctor (and Christopher Eccleston before him in season one) and I cant wait for season three. If I want Galactica, I want Lorne Greene and Richard Hatch. Nothing else suffices.

...that unclogging a bathtub is a real pain in the neck? I poured two bottles of Drano Extra Mega Super Nuclear Formula One Million down my drain and still STILL had standing water. My landlord has now informed the Mole that Drano is BAD. They came and snaked that puppy and now I have my tub back. But it took weeks. Yes, it is true, the cause was probably the Mole's voluminous hair, but still gross and disgusting. I will attempt to keep the drain clean going forward.

Peace in our time. Live long and prosper. He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghost. Nite nite.

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Tuesday, January 02, 2007

The smell of hospitals in winter, and the feeling that it's all a lot of oysters, but no pearls.


I have a list of things here to my immediate left (that would be your right) that I could be writing about - reviews of things, media stuff I could wax slightly poetic about. But none of them seem terribly inspiring right now. Plus, I've had a glass of wine and I'm listening to a slightly melancholic mixtape I made for a friend of mine - one that includes the Cure, and the Decemberists, and "Here Comes The Flood" by Peter Gabriel, maybe the saddest sounding song ever recorded. It includes "Long December", the song that contains the lyrics at the top of this post - a song by Counting Crows that is just about the most perfect song about melancholy ever recorded.
In short, it's a tape for "the deep midwinter" as the old carol goes, when the days are short and the nights are somehow darker than normal. There's something akin to a full moon tonight, and I sit in my tiny darkened office involuntarily ruminating on the year that ended about 48 hours ago.
It was a weird year, and it ended weird - CNN was truly surreal in the last days of ought-6 (is that like a 30-ought-6?), with overlapping celebrity deaths - the pomp and solemnity of Gerald Ford, the boisterous gospel party of James Brown, the ugly, brutal hanging of the ugly, brutal Saddam Hussein. For all the death, it seemed an appropriate end to an especially troubling year, both on a national scale and a personal one, for the Mole. A year that included more legal activity than I had known in the previous 39 years; a year that was full of heart palpitations and fear and loathing and outright hatred. At the end of 2006 I have a doctor, a lawyer, and a therapist. If you have those three figures in your life you are both cursed and blessed - cursed that you need them, blessed that they are there.
I am older, this year - and that isn't just about turning 40 - its about learning, and experience, and pain, and disappointment. As ugly and vulgar as the last few years have been, this one seemed to contain the most body blows, the most eye-opening, awakening kinds of moments. I feel 40 years old, whereas when I was 39 I think I still felt about 30. In the course of one year I aged ten.
At the same time, I have found more true hope and peace in the last year than I ever have before - rediscovered the path I was on before I took a major detour about 16 years ago. As old as I feel, I also dont want to waste a minute of what's next, because I have much to make up for. Turning 40 still involves music, and comic books, and creativity, and friends, and love. But its all very different now, in ways that I cant put my finger on. But some nights, when all the cares that belong to me sit heavy 'pon my brow, it all still feels the way that line does up there, that beautiful couplet that says so much. It feels like a shock of recognition.
A later line in that song says "It's been a long December, and there's reason to believe that maybe this year will be better than the last." That's what hope feels like to me - maybe this year will be a little better than the last one - that's about all I can manage and still be honest. So here's to all of you three or four people who might read this little tome - here's hoping this year will be better than last year. Or even maybe a little better than that.

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Monday, January 01, 2007

Hey Kids! New Links!

Over there on the right (my left, your right) you see my lengthy list of links to various worthwhile websites, all of which will thankfully open in a new window so that you can easily find your way back here to the merry, madcap, moribund Motherbox (is Stan Lee in here?). In my New Year Effort to revitalize the ol' MB I added and subtracted from the list and I thought a few explanations might be in order...so here's some quick one-liners on a few:

Beaucoup Kevin - is the blog of comic writer and critic Kevin Church; I find him always entertaining and his posts and links very worthwhile. A Kirby fan to boot.

Hyaena Gallery - Earlier this year, the Hyaena Gallery hosted an exhibit of artwork done by artist Michael Kelleher which were exact reproductions of early Marvel covers to be used in their high-end "Marvel Masterworks" reprint hardcovers. These were covers for which the originals were too damaged to be reproduced from the originals, so Mr. K reproduced them as original comic art so they would look close to the originals. The show, hosted in November, was a benefit for the HERO Intiative, a cause that raises money for the needs of older comic creators who often worked without benefits or pensions and need the help for medical, living, and other needs. Well, my 40th birthday present to myself was to buy Mr. K's reproduction of Jack Kirby's 1959 cover to Tales of Suspense #4, (that link takes you the original cover, not my piece) probably the closest I will ever get to owning an actual piece of original Kirby art as their prices continue to spiral into the thousands of dollars per page. I will write more about the whole original art thing in the future but Hyaena does some interesting things in their gallery shows so you might want to check it out.

The Original Comic Art Section - As I said, more about this soon, but these are four vendors that I peruse regularly, and dream and drool.

Mastodon - the current standard bearers of the heavy metal scene, these guys to me sound like a really good progressive jazz band, only playing really fast and really loud metal. Something like that. Their current album, "Blood Mountain" continues to intrigue, and I am looking forward at some point to picking up their album "Leviathan", a metal album based on Moby Dick. As Uncle Duke once said to Zonker Harris, "Their music will sterilize frogs at 50 yards." Thats a compliment.

JBox - A friend of mine let me know about this: this guy sells all things Japanese pop culture, from Miyazaki related stuff to CD's to books to clothes. Direct from Japan! There is also a sister site, J-List, the primary difference of which is that J-List includes porn. JBox is safe for family viewing - Hello Kitty! items notwithstanding. You will be amazed at what you can get for your favority kaiju junkie or harajuku girl.

There are more, but that's a start. I will be focusing on other sites in upcoming posts. Enjoy your January 2 and we'll talk soon.....

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Captain's Log, Supplemental: See? 2007 is better already....

New Indiana Jones movie to film in '07! -- via CNN

The quote about it being a "character piece" makes me a tad nervous, but at least Lucas isn't writing or directing....

Great Comic Book Covers #1: Nextwave #11

Happy New Year! Already 2007 feels like the downy fuzz of a newborn chick. Or something. Anyway - a new feature here on the 'box - comic book covers old and new, the finest of the lot, in yours truly's humble opinion, for your dining and dancing pleasure. Unfortunately I cant seem to get blogger to upload my images this morning and I am rapidly running out of patience - so here is a link to the cover I would have loaded here, courtesy of www.warrenellis.com:

http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=3037

Nextwave: Agents of Hate is one of the weirdest comic books ever produced by one of the "big two" comic book companies - Marvel and DC - therefore as you might expect, it is about to end. Basically, five B-list Marvel characters were put in the hands of prolific comic mad genius Warren Ellis and this what came out - five heroes hired by an international conglomerate to fight terrorism, only to discover that the company itself was the terrorist. Breaking away, they are hunted by their former employer's lead wacko, a cross-dressing, suicidal (and in this issue, undead) loony named Dirk Anger. And that's a very thin summary of the story....

This cover relates, of course, to the current Civil War stories occupying the rest of the Marvel Universe, in which the A-list heroes (Captain America, Spider-man, etc.) are lining up on opposite sides of a new Federal superhero registration law. Nextwave has had nothing whatsoever to do with that plot line, which is selling in the bajillions. Nextwave as a series is also ending with the next issue, so obviously they have nothing to lose by openly mocking the sober and serious tone of Civil War (and the distinctive cover design of CW-related comic books) with this gem. (In relation to the above cover, Mark Millar is the writer for Civil War. I hope he is Warren Ellis's friend).

If you are a fan of clever comic book art, I would suggest you pick up this particular issue of Nextwave for the completely over-the-top designs of artist Stuart Immonen. Part of the reason Nextwave is ending is that Immonen has been assigned to take over Ultimate Spider-man soon and can't do both - Ellis doesn't want to continue without him, and for that I am grateful. There are a number of two-page spreads showing the Nextwave team in battle with the bizarre creations of the Beyond Corporation, including giant Wolverine-costumed monkeys, Modok units that look like Elvis and fire hamburgers at our heroes, and a giant purple brachiosaurus that shoots Cyclops-style eyebeams. And so much more. You really have to see it to believe it - any one of those pages could be posters. And hilarious.

As far as how I got into Nextwave, well, as you might expect, there's a Kirby connection. One of the team is Aaron Stack, occasionally known as Machine Man, created by Jack Kirby in 2001: A Space Odyssey #8 about 30 years ago. Here, he is a snarky, irritating comedy relief, annoyed by the "fleshy" foibles of regular humans. Apparently Immonen and Ellis will continue the Nextwave saga in future mini-series and such as time permits, and I for one will be awaiting with open arms.

They are producing trade paperbacks of the series, so if you've missed issues up to this point, you can still catch up.

Next up: New links on the sidebar!

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