A thought...

Bloody hell, I've been writing and publishing this blog now for more than 8 years.

My activity has been intermittent but it is a sustained body of work.  I accept that most of it is shite and that few people read it but I've stuck with it for a long time.  I've now published 664 posts.  Wow.

Fantagraphics Kickstarter Project

Fantagraphics are one of the best comic book publishers in the world.  They publish intelligent books by intelligent people.  They make comic books that are art.  Their books are often beautiful.

The first Fantagraphics comic that I remember buying was Hate number 1 by Pete Bagge.  I actually bought it from Bagge himself at the Glasgow Comic Convention in 1989 (or around then).  He signed it for me.  I was really too young for the comic at the time.  I must have been 12 or 13 but I became a massive fan.

Fantagraphics also publish Robert Crumb, Love & Rockets, Castle Waiting, The Comics Journal, beautiful reprint collections of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge, English language translations of the works of Tardi, collections of Pogo by Walt Kelly.  All amazing comic art that fights for space on my cramped book shelves.  They don't really publish potboiler superhero rubbish.  I am glad that they exist and I hope they continue to exist.

So, I've pledged for a couple of things on their Kickstarter and I hope that some other people do the same.  They have had a bad year in 2013 with the death of Kim Thompson, Fantagraphics co-founder, and the subsequent disruption of their publishing schedule.  They are raising money to stay independent and stay afloat.  I'm happy to give them cash directly instead of buying from Amazon.  I see it as a donation to an art gallery or a museum. It's just that I get to have this art at home with me.

Anyway, check it out.

Autobiography - Morrissey

I made myself finish the Morrissey Autobiography today.  I think much of it is an elaborate practical joke.  It's written in a stream of consciousness splurge that does not appear to have been edited in any way.  He has a very breathless voice and he seems to recount every negative encounter that he has ever had.  He has a special amount of anger reserved for an ex-band member and a Judge who labelled him as 'devious, truculent and unreliable'.

He also spends a lot of time with dying birds.  I suspect that the dying birds sections are elaborate parodies.

I would have liked some chapters.  It is nice to hear that Morrissey has had sex with a few people.

I like the records more than the book.

Scotland in November

On holiday in the west coast of Scotland. It's raining a fair bit but still some decent views.