Books I Should Have Already Read, Vol 4

Just in time for the movie...

Books I Should Have Already Read, Volume 4

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Well, first off, I will defend considering graphic novels on equal footing as any "proper" novel. Reading six issues of your favorite monthly comic book wrapped into a trade paperback format is not reading a novel, but graphic novels are one shots designed with characterization, depth, and length in mind. Graphic novels have won Pulitzer Prizes and Time Magazine considers Watchmen one of the 100 Best of the English language. So, if my lowly opinion isn't enough (It isn't!?) then trust these respected institutions.

Considering that I discovered my inner comic book geek a scant two years ago it makes some sense that I missed Watchmen. However, the work is seminal and won a Hugo award, so it is not like I had failed to hear about it before I stepped into Comics for Collectors one June day.

I had read some of Moore's work before and appreciated the sense of detail and expansiveness to his graphic novels. I enjoyed the hell of out of Top 10 and it's police drama meets comic book world. It had so many injokes and references to other comic books that it really was a delight to read. In a world where everyone has super powers and/or is a super heroes it makes perfect sense for things to play out in comic book logic. So having the exterminator reset the timeline for your mouse infestation makes perfect sense even though you do not remember asking him to do so.

V for Vendetta was a great book even though it took me a few reads to wrap my head around it. I have yet to read From Hell and some of his single issue work, but there is still plenty of time.

But, how did I miss Watchmen for this long? Isn't it the best graphic novel of all time? Many believe so.

As I have mentioned before in these posts, it is difficult to write anything new about these works. I started reading comics in a post Watchmen world and the book's influence is apparent. I imagine reading Watchmen when it first came out and rereading the hell out of it because it just felt so real. Wouldn't it make sense that the government would try to crack down on masked vigilantes. If cities can now legislate what kind of oil a restaurant can use then why would they stand by and let some armor clad weirdo jump over roof tops? And Watchmen dares to answer all those "what if" questions like "What is Batman has to pee while chasing the mugger" or "What happens when Daredevil sleeps those two hours every night?" Well, people get hurt and crime keeps going on. Superheroes (Or "Masked Adventurers" as per the book's terminology) inspire fear in criminals, but they might also inspire fear in those they protect. Aren't these people human? Maybe they might mistake me for the perp and crack my back in half by accident? Regular cops did have some code to bind them.

Of course, there are numerous examples of this kind of realism or psychological depth in current comics. I read one analysis of Watchmen that said Moore had released a sort of four-ink genie that now equated gratuitous violence with real and real with good. Hey, Rorschach shoved someone into a refrigerator, so why shouldn't we do the same thing to Kyle Rayner's girlfriend? I think you can trace the umpteen times that Daredevil has been pushed way too far and has had to go way too violent to Watchmen. And where did all this raping in Identity Crisis come from? Well, not Watchmen per se, but I can see the point. Watchmen was wonderful because it broke from comics as a kitschy escape art for kids. Of course, some of those old stories were just lots of fun! Can't we have fun comics and "real" comics. I appreciate some nice realism, but sometimes I want to see a guy drop a battleship on the other guy.

However, this was not the effect Moore and Gibbons had in mind. The reason comics get any respect (albeit still minimum) is from seminal works like Watchmen. And, guess what, the book was both fun and real at the same time! Not for faint at heart, but it had some jokes, some punches, and some thinking to it. What is the real point of a superhero if all they do is fight the sickness of crime? If someone robs a store because they can't make the rent then should the hero try to smash the CEOs that terminated the robber's previous job? Or should the hero punish them both? One for robbing a man of his life and the other for robbing the 7-11 of one-hundred dollars. Why are these masked people better than me? Because they spent more time in the gym than I? Well I had to work! And, I look funny on the elliptical machine.

If you have not heard, there is a Watchmen movie coming out and upon first seeing the trailer I was thourughly confused. After reading the book, there is a spine tingling excitement in seeing the scenes play out now that I understand what is happening. I think they are definetly going for the fanboy approach here. It might be hard on those that are unfamiliar with the book. Spiderman and Batman have a ton of backstory, but in the end they are guys that punch the hell out of the others. The Watchmen do the same thing, but have all those neuroses that make you and me a delight to others.

I did not enjoy the story in 300, but appreciated the director's loyalty to the original comic's panels. If he does the same thing with Watchmen then it will be a movie to enjoy several times*. Just like the book.

Peace!

*Unfortunately Alan Moore has ben quite vocal in his disapproval of the film and his name is never to be seen on any of the credits. I only hope that the movie does well and introduces more people to comics and his work. Even if they came via the film.

Kitty Cat Rising

Below you will find the reason why I have not blogged in about two weeks...



The newest addition to our menagerie of animals: Lila M. Kitty!

We got her as a stray at the beginning of August and have spent the past weeks cat proofing the house and introducing her to the animals. She seems terrified of Carson Rabbit, but his routine of sleeping and eating has not been very fazed by her presence. And I think Dante Pig believes cats are just an urban legend. The little guy does not get out very much. Oh, but she is so cute and has extra digits on her front paws! She can hitch hike to places with those thumbs.

Of course, this now means I have another animal to PhotoShop with funny hats.

Posts will continue to be erratic, but I have a "Book I Should Have Already Read" for you by tomorrow!

Peace!

A Deer

At the end of this week, it will be four months since we moved to Lakewood from Ithaca. We have everything unpacked, but only a few days ago did I find a final spot for this one throw rug we dragged around the living room. This also means that the summer is ending. Where the hell did that go?

I am a nester. An emotional nester as opposed to a physical one. I used to sleep on a tapestry that I substituted for bed sheets proper and made maximum use of a dutch oven pot as bowl and deep frying pan. By nester, I mean that I tend to settle into a situation quickly. In all of my jobs I imagine the rest of my life as if it were my last job. What can I do with a career as a janitor? After twenty years of making copies as a law office assistant. I would hope for a raise or promotion, but I tried to make my peace as early as possible. This helps when dealing with horrible jobs and it does not stifle any desire for upward mobility. That is the whole reason why we moved.

I got used to the move quickly. Ithaca and New York state were the only places I ever lived in after my move from Puerto Rico. So, I accept that everyone says "pop" here even though you will never catch me saying that. Did we go through a time warp here and start saying pop, shopping at Woolworth's, and getting our food from car hops? I have already spoken about the cadence of the Cleveland, OH metro area and how it is refreshing after the Ithaca scene.

However, there is one aspect of Cleveland living that I have yet to acclimatize myself to.

People tend to freak out here when they see a deer. We were driving though the Metroparks (A lovely set of urban parks in Cuyahoga County) and suddenly hit a four car long crawl. People take the Metroparks' roads for both the scenery and lack of traffic lights. Why were people going so slow?

There was a deer. A pretty ho-hum doe. However, there was also a fawn and this must have flipped people's lids. It was a late summer fawn and the speckled white pattern faded underneath he adolescent chestnut coat. Cute, but considering that our old house in Ithaca had three to four fawns living on the lawn we reacted with "Get the hell going!" as opposed to "Oh, honey go get your camera!"

Anyone living on Ithaca's hills shares an intimate relationship with deer. Deer are so common place that they end up becoming defacto neighbors with their own patterns and preferences. I used to whiz surplus apples into the hedges and one resident put our entire heads of Romaine lettuce for the deer. This might seem excessive, but these are sacrificial gestures designed to protect mums and lily bulbs. We just had too many apples and I swear those deer knew me as the "Crazy Apple Guy." When you stare at their black mirror eyes you begin to imagine and legitimize anything in that void. All the deer need to do is ask to borrow a cup of sugar and they can become full fledged neighborhood citizens!* If deer were ever to evolve into a new species, it would happen in Ithaca.

Everything is relative. While people here might scream out, "Holy shit! Look at that deer!" an average Ithaca resident visiting the Cleveland area might remark, "Damn! Synchronized stop lights!"

Peace!

They do exist!

*If there isn't already someone advocating for deer rights in Ithaca then they are to come. Whatever happened to the dog park people? TCDEER, much?

Firemen Ring Out The Night

Here is that fiction piece I mentioned last week. It takes a letter to the editor format, which is figurative crutch since it helps me frame the action. I strain to use the word fiction since this could really be just a little slice of life piece. Vonnegut and Saunders have used this format in their short story compilations and in the hands of such talent, you get some poignant pieces. Saunders has this one piece ("99390" from In Persuasion Nation) which is nothing but the type out of a lab report (Made up, of course). It narrates the clinical results of brutal animal experiments and the repetition hammers away at your heart strings. This is just cranky. The title is supposed to remind you of the headlines you see above letters to the editor in the paper. There must be a subtle art to that titling. You could save time by just saying 'This guy is pissed!"

Enjoy!

___________________________________________________

Firemen Ring Out The Night
By Garik Charneco

Dear Editor O' Lalan:

Well, I have done it! I decided to "Not take it anymore!" I decided to remain patient no longer.

Oh, I had said these statements before. I will not lie. I often said them to the TV screen or the headlines of your very paper, but, I have now actually done it. I felt empowered after doing it. After taking this stand. Imagine voting, but with your lungs and not with a piece of paper.

I live on Dakota Avenue, right across from the Ward 3 fire station. I closed on this house forty years ago with my wife. We raised a single daughter here and now she lives in Milwaukee working at an art museum. I buried my wife from here three years ago. Well, not literally with something like an extra long steam shovel! And the school district and four different baby sitters had something to do with raising our daughter.

I am used to the noise of the fire station. My family made peace with its blaring cadence at the earliest moment. Every time before the firemen head out, a woman's voice blares from the PA. Her voice comes across muffled and nondescript like the voices of adults on the Peanuts cartoons my daughter used to watch. Her warnings bounce off the cement walls of the garage bay and come in through the living room windows.

"WUUUUUPPPP.....West Neeeintth.....akkkkkkk......truooookkkkk......kiiiiii.....WHAAAPP!"

After that comes the familiar truck and fanfare. When my daughter was younger, I secretly wished for a son that might better appreciate the trucks and tools. The whimsy waned on her as soon as she turned eight.

I did not hope to criticize firefighters. As I prepared this letter, I realized how unwise that proved today. But, I had to do something and I did it!

Neighbors will know what is next to the Ward 3 fire station. Bowden's Bar and Fan Tavern are next to the station and diagonally from my home. Why these bars have not merged into one watering hole escapes me, but I never adjusted to their cadence. It is too sporadic, fueled by different mixers and metabolisms. I have written about them before and even spoke to Mr. Bowden briefly, but I later heard he moved and left the business to his son. Screams, hollers, and the crackling of broken glass often rise up each Friday night. My wife and I made use of ear plugs and my daughter seemed to not be bothered. We made sure to keep her room as far back from Dakota Avenue so that her window overlooks our yard.

Recently, the fire station's and bar's soundtracks mixed. The firemen often spend summer nights on the driveway of their station in lounge chairs. They do not do much except sit. One sometimes reads a newspaper or paperback novel. One night they brought up a ping-pong table and exchanged volleys waiting for the alarm. This does not bother me as they would probably be doing the same thins indoor during the winter months.

But the bar patrons often approach the firemen. Particularly young ladies that like to scream out phrases like "Hooray for firemen!" or "You guys are so much cooler that those cops." Many stumbling patrons like to task the firemen to take their pictures. The men twist their hands into symbols and jut out their arms. The women strike a pose and hold their arms out the side or rest their heads on the firemen's shoulders. A bachelorette party once waltzed by the station and they made the firemen hold an inflated rubber penis while they did cartwheels on the station's lawn. The firemen clicked away with borrowed cameras and the one with the inflatable penis playful walloped his coworkers.

I do not think this would happen indoors. And why are the firemen encouraging such debauchery instead of turning the revelers away? Isn't this the kind of behavior that leaves a hot plate on the kitchen counter or knocks over an idle candle?

As I have mentioned already, I took a stance. On the night of the bachelorette party incident I sat on my porch. Through the cartwheels and screams I ducked down by the veranda and screamed out, "Hey! Are my taxes paying for this!?"

I did not notice any reaction, because I immediately scrambled back into the house. My knees still ache and I have yet to repair the door where the palm of my hand pulled the screen from the aluminum frame. Maybe this letter will bring something of it. A comment from a supervisor or remark from the fire fighter's union. I doubt the revelers will remark since they probably do not live in the city.

I suggest that all residents should try it out! The brick apartments across from city hall could become a new loud speaker for citizen's action. The bicycle shop could rent out a front window and a bullhorn allowing people to scream out "What will you do about county assessments!" or "Please lower the sales tax! The civic center is complete!"

It feels wonderful!

Sincerely,

Edward Meadows
214 Dakota Avenue

_______________________________________________

Peace!

Ball Dropped

Chuck Palahniuk released a new book* back on May 20th and I missed it!?!?!?!?! Where the hell was I? Oh yes, sitting here trying to unpack and sending off resumes at the same time. It must be mine and I put a hold on the library's copy faster than Sgt. Slaughter administers the Cobra Clutch.

While I dropped the ball on that and on posts this week, I will have something for you later. I am working on another piece of fiction. Excited? Well, probably not, but isn't that the reason I started this blog? And the reason why you tuned in?

Expect that sometime next week. I write all these fiction pieces on paper before putting them up on the blog. It helps center me and my writing (The posts would be worse if I did not use this paper filter), but it takes time.

Maybe some other pieces between now and then as well.

Peace!

*I have not read any reviews, but I get the sense that they are primarily negative. Is it another X-Files: I Want to Believe? Bah!