john and jana

Boogie Man

In revisiting the political career of the late Lee Atwater, director Stefan Forbes unveils the template by which the current election — and indeed our entire political system’s norm — clings. Atwater virtually created the world we live in — now helmed by disciple Karl Rove — and painted that reality with a level of vileness that had not been seen in presidential politics before. It started with Reagan and is still going strong — you can see it in the undertone of the McCain campaign, especially in the rhetoric of his running mate Sarah Palin and some members of the audience that have found their fiery passions overtaking their mouths.

Atwater perfected the idea that the presidency must be won at any costs– it is a game with rules to be broken. The breaking of rules does not necessarily inspire illegalities, but lies at worst and insinuations at best. Continue Reading…

My Year Writing This Book About My Year Writing This Book

My Year Writing This Book About My Year Writing This Book

What’s good for the goose

John McCain has had enough of his copyright infringement woes and is now asking YouTube to basically bend the rules for him. As if the Obama iPhone app wasn’t indication enough that McCain is behind the times in technology issues and possibilities, this really shows how little his campaign is in touch. Essentially, John McCain’s campaign is saying that he is above the law! He can say it all he wants, but no one seems to agree with him, as we have witnessed from the campaigns earlier scuffles with copyrights.

My Year Writing This Book About My Year Writing This Book

Sarah Palin Poetry 7

I’m not saying that he is dishonest,
But in terms of judgment
And in terms of being able to answer a question forthrightly
It has —
It has two different parts to
It’s that judgment
And that truthfulness
And just being able to answer very candidly
A simple question about
When did you know him, how did you know him?
Is there still —
Has there been an association with him since ‘02 and ‘05?
We’ve heard a couple of different stories.
I think it is relevant

My Year Writing This Book About My Year Writing This Book

Aya of Yop City by Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie

The second in a series of graphic novels following teenager Aya in the Ivory Coast in the 1970s, “Aya of Yop City” is that great sort of teen drama that never panders nor becomes prosaic in its effort to teach its reader a little something about another culture. As a best case scenario in the young adult genre, the “Aya” series treats its subjects as individuals of depth and uses the characterizations and situations to unite teenagers around the world.

As author Marguerite Abouet notes in an interview at the end of the book, teenagers are fairly similar the world over and part of her goal was to capture that truth. It’s an admirable goal that has found champions in other skilled storytellers in this day and age — graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi being the most prominent. Continue Reading…

Jack and the Box by Art Spiegelman

It’s always a great day when Art Spiegelman puts out something new and “Jack and the Box” is as delightful as a children’s book can be.

Spiegelman’s set-up is simple — a little bunny kid named Jack is given an unpredictable Jack in the Box toy that inspires slight terror before giggly delight. The Jack in the Box — whose name is Zack — is a mischievous toy who is so often pronounced silly that he’s able to get away with quite a bit. It becomes a Seussian tale of absurd excess as Jack must corral what he has unleashed from this playful Pandora’s Box.

As part of the Toon Books line, “Jack and the Box” is an easy reader comic, but rather than going for either the traditional page grid or a free form sequential style, Spiegelman has the story unfold entirely horizontally. It creates an ongoing narrative that begs the question, “Oh, no, what’s next?” Spiegelman lends plenty of atmosphere to the story by placing his characters against some unusual background washes, with foregrounds equally as off-the-beaten path — pages that mix gray-blues with aquas or throw light purples in there. Spiegelman’s shifting of the color scheme, which builds through the book, is simply masterful — it’s a multi-hued map of the emotional pathways in the story.

It’s always a pleasure to see someone so skilled as Spiegelman not only opt for simplicity to express his ideas, but to direct what results to kids.

American Photobooth by Nakki Goranin

In the efforts of ordinary Americans to document their own visual history, a consumer-level camera has always been the most common tool for any of us, whether it’s an old Brownie or a Kodak Instamatic or a Polaroid or an inexpensive digital camera. There is another receptacle for the average person that we’ve all encountered at one time or another as a novelty — the photo booth. It’s hard to say what it is about photo booths that inspires glee.

When I was a kid, they were the sort of thing you didn’t find everywhere — maybe a traveling carnival. As I grew up, they became more common, they’d pop up in K-Marts and malls. Eventually, I noticed them getting placed in big city hipster boutiques and night clubs. It never occurred to me to ask where in the world these things came from — they were like phone booths, permanent marks on the American landscape. Continue Reading…

Sarah Palin Poetry 6

It is pertinent,
It’s important
Because
When you consider Barack Obama’s reaction to
And explanation to
His association there
And without him being clear at all
On what he knew
And when he knew it
That I think kinda peeks
Into his ability to tell us the truth on
Not only on association
But perhaps
Other things also
So it’s relevant
I believe
And I brought it up
In response to the New York Times article
Having been printed recently
And I think it just makes us ask the question that,
If there’s not forthrightness there
With that association
And what was known
And when it was known,
Does that lead us to ask,
Is there forthrightness
With the plans Barack Obama has
Or say tax cuts,
Or spending increases,
Makes us question judgment.
And I think it’s fair and relevant

My Year Writing This Book About My Year Writing This Book