Austin Kleon – Page 574

MO’ BOOKS, MO’ PROBLEMS

Thursday, June 15, 2006

$The Botany of Desire: A Plant\'s-Eye View of the World$

After reading her short comic, “The Squirrel Mother,” I am a new fan of Megan Kelso. Check out this interview, where she talks about wanting to do something with pictures and words, but not finding the form of comics until her 20s.
The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project blog has cool posts on everything from drawing animals to creating storyboards for TV.
I just got Craig Yoe’s book in the mail yesterday. Wacky stuff exploring the link between fine art and comics.
Whitney Matheson loves Y: The Last Man, and points to an excerpt. I’ve been reading it on and off in the break room.
You will be able to watch some of Bonnaroo via webcast.
Search the plays of Shakespeare with Google.
Graphic novels in libraries? Of course. But the 741.45 dewey decimal has got to go. They deserve their own section.
Eduardo Galeano has a new book out. I can’t recommend SOCCER IN SUN AND SHADOW enough.

GOOD TIMES IN WOOSTER, OHIO

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Josh Krajcik, Mitch Pinkston, Gran Bel Fisher, and Corey Gillen

Last weekend we went down to Wooster to see my best friend and best man, Corey Gillen, play drums with Josh Krajcik Band and Gran Bel Fisher at a little coffee house named Seattle’s. The place was absolutely packed, with an unbelievably good audience. Krajcik Band is filling as Gran Bel’s backing band on his current tour, but in Krajcik’s hometown, Fisher was opening for Krajcik.

“Krajcik Band always brings a packed house,” said Wilson, the owner of Seattle’s. “These people come in here to hear original music. You get a cover band in here, they’ll boo them off the stage.”

Watch the rockage. Nothing against Josh or Gran Bel, but you could put Howdy Doody in front of that rhythym section and you’d melt some faces off.

They’re playing the Cambridge room at the Cleveland House of Blues tonight and tomorrow night. Then it’s off to a sold-out Bonnaroo on Saturday, where you can see them at the Kat Nap Cafe in between Elvis Costello and Beck.

You can check both Krajcik and Bel Fisher out on Myspace, but nothing compares to seeing these cats onstage.

And if you ever get a chance to hit up Wooster, just hang out on Liberty Street: you can try the catfish dinner at CW Burgerstein’s, get ice cream at the Dari-Land, and browse the awesome selection at the Books In Stock bookstore. If you happen upon Seattle’s, ask them for a shot of Le-Bomb James: a Krajcik Band original concoction of Crown Royal, Sprite, grenadine, and sweet and sour mix. It won’t disappoint.

a drunken bar napkin drawing from the event

“NO APOLOGY NECESSARY” AT DANCINGONFLYASH.COM

Monday, June 12, 2006

Matt Bell and Josh Maday, the two fellas who run Dancing On Fly Ash, asked me if I would like to reimagine one of their 100-word stories into a comic. I like the site, they seem like nice guys, so I said sure:

The original story, “Rationalization/Apology,” is from their book, DANCING ON FLY ASH: ONE HUNDRED WORD STORIES, which is getting some good reviews.

Go check it out.

POSSIBLE SAILOR

Monday, June 12, 2006

a bar napkin sketch from this weekend…

Monday links:

You should head over to Kevin Huizenga’s blog and see the booklet he’s working on for the Center For Cartoon Studies.
NYTimes profiles Deadwood, ponders the influence of The Searchers, and Salon proclaims the Western will never die and provides a great reading list to catch up.
Some of my favorite Westerns, courtesy of YouTube: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Once Upon A Time In The West, Dead Man, Deadwood, and Unforgiven.
LCRW #18 is out.
I’ve never owned a video gaming console before, but the supreme coolness of the Wii matched with the stress of doing this book makes me think I will soon.
My Bloody Valentine, 1992. For noise last week it was Black Sabbath, this week it’s Tool.
At the Independent, Saunders talks Carver.

2005 RTA BUS CARD PROJECT

Saturday, June 10, 2006

(click to make it bigger…)

A poem of mine, “I saw a man on my way to work,” was selected for the second year of the Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s MOVING MINDS: VERSE AND VISION PROJECT. The piece will be displayed on over 700 trains and buses all around Cleveland for the next year.

The card’s design was by Kayne Toukonen, a student from the Glyphix Design Studio at Kent State’s School of Visual Communication Design.

Here’s the Official RTA Press Release, and announcement from the Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland site (which, has scans of all the bus cards, including my favorite.)

Back in May, Meghan and I were invited to the RTA headquarters to celebrate the unveiling of the cards with a reception and poetry reading. They had a special bus parked out front, displaying all the cards. Here’s my ugly mug in front of the piece:

And hamming it up for the photographer:

And a great pic of Meg with the bus driver, who was cool enough to chat with us about the bus’s soundsystem, and let Meghan pull the horn:

All in all, it was a fun project. 200,000 people ride the RTA every day, and I love the idea that random people from all over the city will see the work. It’s like legitimized graffiti.

They altered the poem slightly for the card, so here’s the original (and an embarrassing video of me reading it):

I saw a man on my way to work

standing in the middle of his yard
hands in his pockets
watching clouds and traffic

He caught me looking at him,
and gave me the eye
as if to say,

“Son, what do you do that’s so important?”