Natasha Clark, the Assistant Managing Editor at Reminder Publications, is a person who believes in public service, a personality trait I find most admirable until now.
She has been raising money for the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in memory of her late father Walt for a while now and recently she asked me if I could help.
No, it wasn't a request to join Team Walt for the Step Out Walk to Fight Diabetes scheduled for Sept. 27 at Look Park in Northampton. And no, she wasn't looking for a donation from me.
Instead she wanted me to volunteer to raise money for her team through potential public humiliation.
Since I am one of the almost 24 million Americans who have diabetes my staff has frequently yelled at me about my blood sugar I couldn't resist her offer.
Now there are many ways I could be humiliated in public as part of a fundraiser sitting in a dunk tank, having people take aim at me with pies or forcing me to shave my head or beard but Natasha had another plan in mind.
Would I kiss an animal at the Zoo in Forest Park if the public donated $250? That's it? Kiss an animal? I'm being let off easy.
Hey, I'm a farm boy. I've been around cows, goats, pigs, chickens, a mule, a pony, a donkey, ducks and sheep.
I'm also a dedicated dog and cat guy. I'm sure I've ingested plenty of animal spit and hair over the years through accident.
So, I go to the zoo and kiss a goat? No problem. However, as the late Billy Mays would say, "But wait! There's more."
I don't get to pick the animal and the powers to be decided it wouldn't be a domesticated farm animal.
I get to go wild.
So the readers of these newspapers can vote with their donations whether I pucker up with a llama or a camel. I'm just thankful I wasn't told to choose between one of the mountain lions and one of the bears.
So, this promotion can appeal to those who appreciate my work and would like to help out and those who don't care for me and would like to see me at least slightly embarrassed.
Send a check made out to the American Diabetes Association (put Team Walt in the memo line) and send it to Natasha Clark, Reminder Publications, 280 N. Main St., East Longmeadow, MA 10128.
Enclose a note with your check on whether you prefer me to kiss the llama or the camel.
As they say in Chicago, "Vote early and vote often." Donations will be accepted until Aug. 1. There is no minimum donation and any amount is appreciated in helping the ADA continue services to diabetics as well as finding a cure.
The animal you choose will be announced after Aug. 1 and a date and time for the exchange of pleasantries will also be announced so interested readers can plan to attend.
Like most working people, I've had to kiss a lot of unpleasant things in my life as part of my job. At least smooching a llama or camel will do some good!
Here comes a parade: Myself (in my summer hat at left) Amanda Lemon (one of our summer interns) and big bad Bill Dusty of The Springfield Intruder heading towards the governor's press conference in the South End's Emerson Wright Park recently.
Setting up at the press conference. I like the woman who is checking out Amanda's iced tea. Out of the Inkwell photos by Mary Cassidy
Look at what's wrong here? This program was from the big ceremony that transferred power from the Finance Control Board back to the city government and someone made quite an error in history.
Samuel Chapin is indeed the guy depicted in the statue but William Pynchon was the founder of Springfield. Should have called me or someone at the Quadrangle.
From the Hadley Flea Market: This building was on Worthington Street and was the home of Good Housekeeping Magazine and other publications.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Indies
I love independent creative projects. Few things give me greater pleasure than discovering a book, a comic, music or a film that is not part of the great big corporate sausage factory. I recently wrote the following piece for the weeklies I edit. Check these comics and film out for yourself.
You might read "Entertainment Weekly" to see who and what is hot right now, but you have to do a little digging to see the up-and-comers.
The next great pop culture star probably may be found in an unlikely place: an alternative comic book show or a horror film convention. They might also come from your backyard.
At the recent annual show presented by the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MOCCA) in New York City, cartoonists from western New England were represented at several of the many tables.
The MOCCA show is not about superheroes. You won't find tables of "Batman" or "Spiderman" back issues and merchandise. Instead, the cartoonists exhibiting there have more in common with the underground stars of the 1970s such as Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton.
The comics are more personal in story and design and can be funny, tragic, whimsical or profound.
"First Harvest," Trees & Hills' first paperback collection of work, made its premiere at the MOCCA show. Trees & Hills is a group of cartoonist from Western Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire that has published several collections of themed comic stories.
Co-editors Dan Barlow and Colin Tedford have put together a collection that is a sort of "best of" or introduction to the group's work. It's a wildly diverse collection and quite entertaining. For instance, Megan Baehr's work is done strictly in pictures with no dialogue, such as a great strip about hiking up a mountain. Anne Thalheimer takes the opposite tact with her story on Florence that is heavy on words and lighter on graphics.
Both approaches are completely valid and the rule seems to be for these creators to do what they want in order to tell their story.
Old comic book pros Stephen R. Bissette and Mark Martin are both contributors, but for the most part the talent presented here is fresh and new.
For ordering information on all of the Trees & Hills books, log onto its Web site. Modern Myths on Bridge Street in Northampton carries the new collection.
Among those newcomers in the Trees & Hills group is Colleen Frakes, who is a graduate of the Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) in White River Junction, Vt., and the recipient of a Xeric Foundation grant to publish her work.
Frakes' "Space Ninja Versus Zombies" in the Trees & Hills book demonstrates her deceptively simple cartoony style. She uses her lines sparingly, but exactly.
This is much more in evidence in her book that also made its debut at MOCCA, "Woman King." Again, her simple style seems right at home telling what appears to be a fairy tale-type story about a girl who is adopted by bears.
There are many more dimensions to the story as well as a surreally disturbing theme that shows Frakes' accomplished grasp on the medium.
If you're someone interested in discovering the potential the medium has beyond conventional comic books, you need to discover Frakes' work.
Another graduate of CCS is Denis St. James (denisstjohn.blogspot.com), whose second volume of "Amelia" was also at MOCCA. "Amelia" is a horror comic that has moments of humor, but essentially is a pretty compelling fever dream of a narrative. Centered on a young woman who is trying to make sense of an artifact left to her by her mother, the book is genuinely disturbing in a way that horror fans should appreciate.
The Monster Mania show conducted in Cromwell, Conn., June 12 through 14 was another place where new talent was vying for attention.
While Low Budget Pictures was selling self-produced films such as "Teen Ape Camp," "Deathbone" and "Wet Heat" that flaunted their micro-budgets, there was another independent film at the show that clearly had greater intentions and succeeded in reaching them.
"Ninjas Versus Zombies" has one of the most commercial titles I could think of for a horror film and according to the film's press materials, the title and subject matter came from examining what kinds of films and titles seem to pop out from the walls of video rental stories.
The film is a horror action comedy in which a group of slacker friends are magically endowed with ninja powers so they can defeat an army of zombies created by a recently resurrected neighbor.
Writer and director Justin Timpane told Reminder Publications his intent was to make the best film he could and he took the extras step of shooting the entire film in his backyard and basement first as a rehearsal. He then shot the actual feature, screened a first cut for friends and then re-cut and re-shot the film to improve the story and pacing.
He said he wasn't afraid to re-write a character or find a better location in order to produce a better movie.
Timpane's efforts paid off with a fast-moving film that wisely presents a story that doesn't overwhelm its small budget. While there are some missteps the final scene is a bit confusing until one remembers a throwaway line from the climax of the story this is a fun film well worth discovering by horror fans.
The entire process from buying his equipment to receiving the batch of DVDs took from April 2008 to this May. His total cost including setting up his mini-studio was just under $18,000.
His greatest expense was paying for the use of some of the locations and feeding his zombie army.
Timpane said the films of directors and writers Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon and Sam Raimi inspired him, which was pretty clear to this viewer.
Timpane said he is now seeking professional distribution of the film as a direct-to-DVD. His hope is to be the "impulse buy," the second movie people might try when they are renting a big budget Hollywood production.
Caution: some mild swearing and city living frustration
The songs of summer
No, it's not the often incessant driving sounds of salsa music played out of cars and houses for the entertainment of everyone, including people who need to sleep or listen to their own frickin' televisions sets BUT CAN'T BECAUSE EVERYONE MUST LISTEN TO THE SAME GODAMM BEATS PLAYED OVER AND OVER AND OVER.
Excuse me.
No and it's not the sound of poor Gizmo the pit bull trying to get his owner's attention by barking for 20 minutes straight. Or the four or five or six dogs next door – we can't tell exactly how many, but we think it's a puppy farm of some sort.
Nope, it's the ice cream truck or trucks, I should say.
From 1957 to 1962, we lived at 104 Navajo Rd. in the Sixteen Acres part of Springfield. Ah, the salad days. There was a great variety of food trucks that came through the 'hood.
I distantly remember there was one that sold just Popsicles; another that was soft serve – the ubiquitous Mr. Softee; The Ding Dong truck that sold ice cream novelties; a old man and his wife who sold popcorn – really!; and the Roll Royce of ice cream trucks, the Good Humor Man.
What a buffet of options and if you had a dime you were in business. A quarter could send you into a sugar coma.
I never remember them coming around at night. Perhaps they did.
Fast forward a whole bunch of year – we have two regular ice cream trucks coming through the neighborhood with the worst recycling electronic jingles ever. I long for the day when a simple bell or buzzer was enough to alert the urchins.
Still every now and then I feel like running out to them with a quarter clutched in my hand only now it's more like $3!
Recently I wrote about the three of the worst interviews I've conducted in my career as a journalist. Today I'd like to look at some of the best.
There's an element of bragging rights among writers when it comes to interviewing. It's our version of big game hunting. And I think most writers would agree that too often all you get with a celeb interview subject is 10 to 20 minutes. That's why long form interview/personality pieces are the Holy Grail for writers.
For me growing up, the "Playboy" interview was the gold standard. I think it is still the gold standard. In those pieces, a writer met repeatedly with someone over a period of sometimes months to get the best stuff. What a luxury that would be!
Generally if you have someone on the phone, you've got maybe 20 minutes before they have to move on. When I interviewed horror rock icon Alice Cooper, he had set up a number of 10 minute conversations. He was very prepared, very conversational and very professional. Obviously he was watching the clock, too and knew when to wrap things up. Could I have spoken to him more? Certainly, but those were the conditions for the interview.
Well, these following picks were for the most part longer term interviews and they are among my favorites because there was a a personal connection for me.
Vincent Price: the great actor appeared at UMass in 1983 for a performance of his one-man show "The Villain Still Pursues Me." My wife and I attended the show and the next day writer Stanley Wiater and I joined some Umass students for an interview with the man. Stan and I asked most of the questions and then walked out with Price. I taped the conversation and played it on my talk radio program. Stan sold it to Fangoria.
Price was engaged, witty and fulfilled all of my expectations as a fan as well as a journalist.
Jack Mercer: I spent over an hour with the man who was Popeye's voice for nearly 50 years at his home in the Woodside neighborhood of NYC. He and his wife Virginia were very gracious and as an audio souvenir I asked him at the end of the interview to say something as Popeye. Mercer's voice had a high pitch and it was amazing to hear him assume Popeye's gruff tones.
I couldn't look at him, though. I'm not sure why.
Jonathan Harris: The character actor best known for his role as Dr. Smith in "Lost in Space," was here in Springfield to appear at a primarily "Star Trek" convention. he was a joy to speak with and afterwards Harris wrote me a letter every time I sent him a copy of my animation magazine "Animato."
I would see him at other conventions and he would greet me warmly. He was so nice I couldn't tell him that as a kid I regularly hoped he would die so the Robinsons would finally get back to Earth.
Lillian Gish: The first lady of American movies had re-issued her autobiography in the 1980s and I contacted the publisher. I was informed that Gish wouldn't be interested in doing a radio interview, but I didn't believe it so I found her agent and asked her. Gish said, "Yes."
She was very sharp and accommodating and it was a thrill to speak with someone who career went back to some of the earliest days of cinema. Afterwards she sent me a thank you letter when I sent her a copy of the interview as it appeared in "The Valley Advocate."
Other satisfying interviews have included my three conversations with comic Dave Attell; interviewing Rachel Maddow after watching her perform her radio show; having Clayton Moore – the Lone Ranger on television – tell me that I actually knew something about his career; and meeting Maureen O'Hara and revealing to her I've had a crush on her since I was a kid – that effectively broke the ice.
The daily newspaper here has been doing a slow motion death scene for a number of years – one that I think could have been prevented if the right hands were on the steering wheel.
Despite the fact they are our primarily competition, I don't think a metro area the size of Springfield – about a half million – should be without a daily newspaper.
This week, two people – both of whom are reliable, non-gossipy sources – have told me they have been told that The Republican will cease to be in October.
Now this prediction came at the same time I learned The Republican has enacted a pay cut for its staff and laid off four copy editors.
And then my friend Josh Shear pointed to this column.
In essence, columnist Rick Edmonds writes how the Ann Arbor, MI daily is about to close and be replaced with a new business model: "In several ways, though, the Ann Arbor plan goes further than Detroit or similar cutbacks at the East Valley Tribune in the Phoenix suburbs and hybrid formats at other papers:
The Ann Arbor News, after 174 years, will close as a business.
Its successor, AnnArbor.com, will be a new Web site, built from the ground up (and therefore supplanting MLive, the current site which serves several Michigan cities with locally tailored editions).
The News's distinctive headquarters, designed by prolific Detroit-area architect Albert Kahn, will be sold. AnnArbor.com has already taken the ground and top floors in a downtown office building, annoying some by supplanting a popular coffee store.
All the staff is being dismissed. Reporters and editors, whose salaries averaged around $50,000 according to one discussion post, can reapply for the many fewer jobs in the new venture, but the pay scale is being dropped to the mid-$30,000 range for reporters.
The new publication is being called a "print product" not a newspaper. Hints are that the Thursday edition may be light, targeted to weekend planning, Sunday including longer news takeouts."
Now will this be good or bad? Frankly at a time when many people who don't have home computers or high speed access and can't or won't invest in such things with the present economy, I think a combination of web and print makes sense to both advertisers and consumers.
As I have learned time and again from people being paid to study such things, content is king and making sure the content you create reaches a maximum audience through different platforms is the key.
The problem with many dailies that in the rush to shore up profits, they cut content. Or they put their content up on the web for free.
The secret is to know which story or feature is best served by which platform. I don't see that happening very much.
In any event, I know what I'll be doing this summer.
Remember the "Long Island Lolita?" The teen who served seven years in prison for shooting the wife of her lover? Well, instead of being an answer to a trivia question, Amy Fisher, now in her thirties, has re-invented herself as a porn star and featured attraction stripper.
And we in Western Mass. will be able to see her next month as she is appearing at a Springfield Club.
The question is why would you want to see her?
She's not bad looking, but strips clubs are filled with not bad looking women – in fact really good looking women. The issue is the one reason a person might want to see her is due to her notoriety – a fame brought about by trying to commit murder.
Now for me, that is both a non-starter and a buzz kill.
Her appearance brings up questions about the nature of fame – who do we consider "famous" and why?
Frankly I'm fairly old school about this matter. I'm interested in people who accomplished something – writing a book, appearing in a movie, traveling the world, creating food in a kitchen – than I am in people whose celebrity hangs by the thinnest of threads, especially when that thread is attempted murder.
I guess the New York State Son of Sam Law doesn't apply to the book she has written or her recent porn tape or her dancing activities. It's too bad as I really do believe that crimes such as this one shouldn't be rewarded.
Hi, G. Michael Dobbs (call me Mike). I’m a writer, film historian, college instructor, and former radio talk show host with now 30 years experience in mass
communications.
Currently I work as managing editor for Reminder Publications in western
Massachusetts and edit four weekly newspapers read by about 120,000 to
130,000 people every week. My blogs, (there are four of them,) have nothing to do with my employers, their advertisers or my staff. These are my words. If you don’t like them, blame me.
My specialty in film history is animation. I was at one time a nationally recognized animation authority through his position as editor of Animato! and Animation Planet, two magazines for animation fans. “Fame,” such as it was, was fleeting. I’m working to complete my book on the Fleischer Studios, though.
Here are my blogs: Out of The Inkwell is an all purpose commentary site; That’s Thirty is about the media; Made of Pen and Ink is my Fleischer book site and Animation Review is the place for people to discuss what’s good and bad in current animation.
Hope you visit frequently. I update things fairly often!
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