Pack Rat doesn’t want to work, we just want to read our books all day

I have a sickness in my brain, there’s no other way around it. Why else would I go to a used book sale when I am actively engaged in the painful, on-going process of ridding myself of the main piles of books cluttering up my tiny apartment? Well, I guess the fact that library book sales are THE go-to event for super amazing deals on great reads could factor in. But I have a sickness, none the less.

But how could I pass this sale up? If library sales in general are the bee’s knees, then this one (which happens every year in the town of Mansfield, CT) is the dog’s bollocks of great deals. I got a handful of goodies for only $2.50. $2.50! I can’t even get a pretzel for $2.50 these days. Now, before you judge me and my Pack Rat ways, lets look at my haul, shall we?

First up, classic naturalist fiction The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett. I luv this book, with its quiet descriptions of the sleepy little seaside town in Maine. It is so deeply soul soothing, its like a literary cup of tea. I somehow lost my original copy (the shame!), so I was thrilled to find this retro-looking cover. Plus, none of my insipid undergrad notes and half-hearted highlighting muck up this text, unlike the lost copy. Bonus.

Next, In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje, which I have yet to read. I’ve never seen The English Patient the movie, but the book was surprisingly intriguing with exotic locales and mixes of traditional story telling and stream of consciousness rambling that was balanced enough to serve the story instead of hurting it, which can’t be said for a lot of “experimental” fiction. I expect more of the same in this tale of Toronto immigrant workers in the 1920s. Also to note: if it’s good enough for Maxine Hong Kingston then it’s good enough for me (yay Warrior Women!)

I also snagged the epic poem about a cockroach and a cat in her ninth life, Archy and Mehitabel, on my dad’s recommendation. I’m not typically a poem kinda gal, but this is categorized under humor and the pen and ink illustrations struck a chord with my comic book loving heart. Plus, I always like to buy books with inscriptions in them, and someone wrote in this copy, “For Mary and Bill (P.S. I know Mary, I’m not Irish–But I am–to quote Popeye: ‘I yam what I yam’) Lee.”

And, because as we all know, I’m a DIY dork, I grabbed Sheetrock & Shellac, a Connecticut (CT Represent!) homeowner’s memoir into his foray with DIY home projects. This will probably not be the kind of book I can talk about at cocktail parties, unlike the other three, but who the hell goes to cocktail parties in a PBR economy anyway? Sheee-it.

And finally (and this is the one that I couldn’t wait to share), I happened to glance at the “travel” table as I wandered around the room, and I found this distinctly un-travel related Chinese/English design magazine that I’m totally grokking out about. It’s called Zing. My issue is from back in September 2006, but it’s still in print and can be found online at xintiandi.com (not to be confused with Zing magazine which is something different, apparently). I managed to hook the Fashion Issue (I love the extra added touch of the pink, fabric “The Fashion Issue” tag sticking out of the binding), and it’s chock a block with cool designs, modern layouts, and interesting articles on a variety of artists, crafters, and designers. Plus– super, uber, double, mega bonus–it’s in both Chinese and English. And I would have bought it just for the pretty pictures. The current issue online features vibrant photos–both expansive and intimate, as well as intriguing articles about artists and their projects, like Lindley Warren’s photo project, The Ones we Love. I’m not quite sure yet how I can get my hands on another physical copy, but if I find out I’ll let you guys know. Until then, we should both keep Zing, and its stream-lined urban sophistication on our radar. Check out some pics below.

Pack Rat is pulling your strings

Some people have marionette fears. I would never judge these people…except that I do. Now, don’t get me wrong. The soulless eyes of a baby doll can totally creep me out, given the right set of circumstances (like if I woke up and it’s little glass eyes were right there, staring into mine? I got a chill just thinking about it). But puppets? How can anyone be scared of puppets? They’re so cool. Now, while the figures who inhabit Chris Sickles’ Red Nose Studio 3D illustrated surreality aren’t technically puppets, they have all the allure of a puppet with their quasi-humanistic features slightly off kilter by strange, angled features and carved details that allow for some pretty serious dramatic shadowing. There’s definitely something Punch and Judy about his subjects.

But, unlike a puppet show where the boundaries of the stage always keep the audience aware that there are hidden hands pulling strings, the illustrations coming out of Red Nose Studio are so complete and detailed (with no strings visible), that you get the sense not that you’re looking at a staged photo, but rather a window into another, more magical world. What’s even better, is that Sickles seems to primarily ply his trade to niche magazines, so a lot of his wild dreamscapes are really illustrating a magazine article on, say, how annuities are a promising option for retirement income. Insane! Who ever thought someone could take such a concrete (and dry) topic and turn it into a conceptual visual of a man literally rooting himself to the ground? Or take this awesome example. The magazine article is about how to predict where your small business will be in five years. Sickles took that basic premise and twisted it around like a Rubik’s cube, and ended up with this whimsical, fantastic little guy peering into the future. I think Neil Gaiman wishes he lived in Chris Sickles’ imagination. I know I do.

Photo copyright Red Nose Studio

Pack Rat’s favorite noise is snikkt!

In the words of the priest who blessed the cow pasture, HOLY SHIT. Have you people seen the trailer for the new X-Men movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine? This is like if Awesome and Hot Damn got drunk and fooled around one night, woke up the next morning and promised that it wouldn’t change their friendship, only to find out Hot Damn was pregnant. Pregnant with this movie.

O.K. I admit a little bit of skepticism and perspective are in order here. As anyone who has ever picked up an X-Men comic book before the year 2000 will tell you, the X-Men trilogy of movies was God awful. Or, maybe not so much bad as sacrilegious. And I had such high hopes, too. After growing up with these characters, to finally see them on the big screen was so exciting…until I actually saw them on the big screen. And realized that what I was getting was the watered down, Reader’s Digest condensed version of forty years of story telling. Plus, Rogue sucked in the movies and if there’s one thing Rogue doesn’t do in the comics, it’s suck.

So realistically, since they managed to botch not one, but three movies about the X-Men, I probably shouldn’t get my hopes up about Wolverine. It’ll probably be too much action, not enough character development. They’ll probably miss-cast all of the characters in an effort to get “it,” name brand stars (although I have to say that I just about peed myself when I saw Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights as Gambit). They’ll probably do a hack job editing Wolverine and Sabretooth’s back story (oh, I also almost soiled myself when I saw Ryan Reynolds was Dead Pool). And even though I love Hugh Jackman (plus, Hugh Jackman’s in this movie!!), I do have to admit that seeing him with steroid bulging, veiny muscles is kind of a turn off. If the past has dictated anything, then the odds are stacked squarely against this movie.

But have you see the part in the trailer when Wolverine is being chased by a Jeep and then all of a sudden the Jeep blows up, rolling ass over tea kettle, a huge gasoline plume of fire shooting out it’s ass, a helicopter hovering over head and all you see is this little dot flying through the air toward the helicopter? THAT DOT IS WOLVERINE!! The dot flying in the air and landing on the helicopter is freaking Wolverine. Sign me up. I am on board. May 1, 2009 son!

Pack Rat will always fight the enemies of love. We promise to Shine On.

I offer you a few of my favorite new eweb finds. They have tremendous re-visit value. And if laughs were some kind of plastic explosive, they would be dropping bombs left and right.

First up are the comic book kids of Questionable Content.  They’re like every indie punk rock listening, ironic t-shirt wearing, body piercing, withering glance giving hipster you know, except they only exist for six panels of comic goodness a day so they are actually funny and not, you know, immensely depressing. It’s fun to play “non-mainstream” bingo with the many band references, and the creator/writer/illustrator Jeph Jacques gets that the “counter culture” his characters inhabit is a bit insipid and so dishes out the skinny-jeans cool with a generous helping of self-deprecation.

Questionable Content and image copyright Jeph Jacques

Next is the brillance that is Dr. McNinja. Has so much information ever been conveyed in one name? Maybe Bronze Medalist Patty McShitsalot, but that’s about it. The brain child of comic artist/author Chris Hastings, Dr. McNinja heals with one hand and kills with the other. He is aided in his many random adventures by a man-child with a SERIOUS moustache named Gordito (the man, not the moustache) who rides around on a dinosaur, and Julie, his gorilla secretary. Unlike Questionable Content (which is drawn as a fully contained story every day), Dr. McNinja is published in issues (like a paper comic book), with new pages of each issue coming out on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. He is currently working on the mysterious case of “Death Volley.” Get caught up immediately.

Dr. McNinja and image copyright Chris Hastings

And Finally, the video you’ve all been waiting for, even if you weren’t aware that you were waiting for it. I would go so far as to say that I’m not sure how I ever lived without it, it’s THAT good.  The song is called Shine On and the music video is by L.A. musician Chris Dane Owens. You need to see it before we can talk about it. I’ll wait. Take your time–you have to see the whole thing to really appreciate it. P.S. definitely worth watching in high quality. You may even want to see it direct from his website, which has it at the highest quality.

Right? RIGHT?! I seriously can’t get enough. I heard about this while reading The New Yorker blog, of all things, and I have to say that  this video is probably the best piece of information that I’ve ever gleaned from The New Yorker. Chris Dane Owens is like some alien time traveler, alternating between a parallel, magical universe and 1984. There is so, so much to love about this video (unsurprisingly directed by a wiz in the special effects biz). And it’s astonishing how much one well-placed ’stache can actually up someone’s masculinity. Here are my top ten favorite Shine On moments (but don’t hold me to them. Every time I watch this video I find more to love).

10. The Karate Kid moment (1:30 into the video)

9. His unexplained, un-introduced posse (1:36 & 3:06). What happened to the bandanna guy?

8.  Slashing sword=massive boat explosion (1:51)

7. Push it out! (1:59)

6. Some how it all leads up to his chest lighting up… (2:20)

5.  And then, the whole thing is just too overwhelming for him… (2:25)

4. Which causes him to mince his way into a fire. (2:34)

3. RANDOM CROCODILE! (I think their budget may have run out on dragons)(2:43)

2. Classic, classic slow-mo jump off the cliff (CLASSIC!) (2:49)

1. Love has enemies (4:10)

You’re welcome.

Vox populi, vox Pack Rat!

Good Monday morning to you all! When I was little, I used to be OBSESSED with Garfield cartoons. Garfield, as some of you may know, hates Mondays. They are the arm pit of the week. So I don’t know if it’s being an adult and having to go to work on Mondays, or whether that fat orange tabby predisposed me from a young age, but Monday is my least favorite of the weekdays. Fortunately for me, I am super lucky and managed to snag a job at a super awesome school that let me have TWO WHOLE weeks off for the holidays. Boo-yah! So today isn’t as much of a drag as normal. But just in case, here’s a little pick-me-up for you and me both, in the form of today’s internet discovery.

We all need to spend plenty of time at Leethal.net reading, watching, and absorbing creativity via osmosis from Lee Meredith. This young lady is a whirling dervish of activity, be it knitting, sewing, screen printing, or ‘zining. Her latest ‘zine, Do Stuff, is dedicated to her favorite things, including an incredibly cute monster hat that she provides instructions on how to create. She is such a flurry of activity and ideas that I feel all motivated to get going on my own projects after reading one of her blogs (note: check out her recent post about her new Bad Movie Bingo creation. Sounds like it could be a good drinking game :P). Read over her site. Gawk at her recycled fashions (love the tea t-shirts!). Buy the ‘zine. And get moving on your own creative cocktail!

Photo of Lee Meredith copyright leethal.net