PIERRE CARLES AGAINST THE MEDIA SYSTEMS.
the guy used to get Pierre Bourdieu in his angry squad...

on tuesday evening, in my local tiny town, was some kind of meeting with one of the baddest asshole in the french media business, some guy called Pierre Carles. at first there was some projection of his latest project ("enfin pris ?", some kind of analysis and criticism of a so-called french journalist called Daniel Schneiderman, who got a tv show -on "France 5"- where everybody just launch shit to another one face, without any really smart ideas behind, well you got the point...).
we spoke with Mr Carles of many different things like neo-liberalism who isn't "neo" that much anymore, of the magnificient EU, of the place of the differents medias in our [nowadays] world (differences and interests -and whatever- in the press, the tv and even the radio...), and of course of the brand new totalitarism at its (soon future) best that comin slowly but surely here in France, thanks to our new government (i got agree that so-called socialism that rule the coutry before got looooaaads of bad results, too, except maybe the 35 hours of work/week laws) (and fuck to thoses who don't think the 35h are truly a good thing, by the way) : not only we had to choose between two assholes, but the winner of this stupid pseudo democratic game got some really hot suckers in his crew (Sarkozy and co and their many hardcore way of thinking "security in our country"). anyway. we talked about democrats, and why democratizzzm isn't 200% of pure happiness, we spoke about Michael Moore and his ability of playing with the medias for gaining more exposure, which is really something great (at least one thing) in the states today ; well, and of many other topics.
here's "enfinpris", his last documentary which is (like all his other ones) censured in France and not allowed to be broadcasted on french channels, and "rienfoutre", another project where Pierre Carles the utopist explains with examples why the whole concept of "working for live" is something that we shouldn't have to stand anymore (is my english clear on this last sentence ? i don't think so).
there's also some interesting infos here, here is his "journal of one week", something asked by the french magazine called "les inrocks", and which was censured by them, here is an interview to Uzine, and another one to S.P.A.M... i'm still waiting for infos about Pierre Carles's work in english : all the above mentionned links are in french... :(

RADIO KILLED THE VIDEO STARS.

Well, it was a mess for months, so after some hard thoughts (with myself) and talks (with close and music enthusiasts of my friends), i've finally decided to stop my weekly radioshow on our tiny local campus radio ; this is only a matter of time, as i really want to find some more interesting radio to do this, as the current one i used for 3 years or something is just slowly becoming far from what a "campus" radio should be (well, my point -1 or 2- of view, eh eh, but i doubt you'll get "their" versions, uh...) ; it's a real shame and i'm not feeling lonely as a few friends decided to stop their programs too, so it feels more like a wastin' work from the so-called "boss" of this campus radio, than the loss of our passion, interest, and love of what we do (which is still hot, no worries).
we used to live some really good times up there, and my radio show was probably one of the best time in my weeks, as i was alone with my records and maybe a few people listening to it, sometimes giving me a phone call for tellin me how this record was cool or how my voice sucks. anyway.
i wonder how my sundays evenings will look like, now : do i really have to watch "ER" on TV ? will i fall asleep while reaching the end of the last Frank Miller's DK2, issue 3 (blearwweurwg...) ? maybe i'll finally be ready to finish the layouts for this page 14 who bring me so much pain to finish ? hell...
i'm working hard to find some safe place to bring my addiction (and maybe my pals), so i'll keep infos updated as far as i'll get some news about it.
well, at last there will be this (third info from the top... in fact, the bottom one), in something like 3 weeks ; oh yeah, and i'm not coming alone as my friends Alcor, Flo/Ease, JB and Farid will be part of the fiesta. Sounds fuckin'great, hotdammit. STAY AROUND YOUR COMPUTER, AND LISTEN TO IT ! please... eh eh eh.

ANGOULEME 2003 :
30 YEARS OF CELEBRATING THE COMIC BOOK MEDIUM. OR SOMETHING.

from january 23 to 26, in a nice lil' french town called Angouleme, will be the annual "Festival international de la bande dessinée".
some excerpts from the great people who will (maybe) be there are known for a few days, and all seems like it will be anniversary time at its best.




this years's president is François Schuiten, and "international" means "international" with him : on the list are (at the moment) Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), Art Spiegelman (Maus), Neil Gaiman (Sandman), José Muñoz, Carlos Sampayo, Jiro Taniguchi, Dave McKean (Arkham Asylum), Benoît Sokal (Canardo), Todd McFarlane (Spawn), Miguelanxo Prado and a few extra things like expos about Reiser, Rosinski, Nicolas de Crecy, and many more to come...

and if i don't give a shit about McFarlane, i'm really glad to see (for the second time) Neil Gaiman, this time with his partner McKean. the pair will be celebrated as they don't come this often in France ; in my "must catch" list are of course the legandary nippon Otomo, Art Spiegelman (we'll get more "Little Lit" infos, at last), Munoz, Taniguchi... and probably loads of great french/western european creators will be here too. i'm planning to get there and will update the news about it as soon as i'll get some.

more news about this festival here on the official page (english & french), and on BD News, probably the best (and smartest) french website devoted to the comics medium.

YOU SHOULD READ "JENNY EVERYWHERE", FUTURE INSTANT HIT. REALLY.
(click on the tiny sketches pages you'll see on this link : it definitely wort it !)

give a try to some really, really nice work from some of the artists-but-also-barbelithers crew. this collective has ideas for years, and sometimes they really do some brilliant stuff... now they offer us some shots of Jenny Everywhere, a new project they work on for, eh, good times...
i cant' wait for seing the full shit !

YEP IT'S ANOTHA FRENCH COMICS ARTIST FREE ADVERTISING. it's my blog, i do wanna i wanna do...

i updated the left column these last days. a few artists who weren't already here ARE by now, and you should find a few links on many publishers, magazines or comics online, too. oh, yes, and i finally decided to put a second link on Lewis Trondheim, also ; this guy is just amazing and he's part of the crew i already talked about, too, alongside Christophe Blain, Joann Sfar, Manu Larcenet, Matt Konture and the others "push forward" same generation of french (or near France related...) artists...



now with this brilliant version of Lewis done by Larcenet, tell me you don't wanna try them ? uh ?

STRAY BULLETS RADIO SHOW
(tracklisting for the 03/11/02 show)

dj vadim "don't sleep" (ninja tune)
danmass "happy here" (sunday best)
the herbaliser band "shattered soul (live)" (department h)
leroy hutson "it's different" (curtom)
danmass "happy here (instrumental)" (sunday best)
billie holiday "don't explain (dzihan & kamien remix)" (verve)
peace orchestra "shining" (g-stone)
gotan project "triptico (peter kruder remix)" (ya basta !)
yesterdays new quintet "heaven must be like this" (ubiquity)
billie holiday "strange fruit (tricky remix)" (verve)
joakim "cotton gun (kirk de giorgo remix)" (versatile)
jack costazo "calypso blues (as one remix)" (ubiquity)
neon phusion "kaleidoscope" (laws of motion)
zero 7 "distractions (bugz in the attic co-operative dub)" (ultimate dilemna)
vikter duplaix "sensuality" (!k7)
dom un romao "lake of perseverance (opaque -bugz- remix)" (head to toe)
agent k featuring don ricardo "ladies" (laws of motion)
part 2 featuring lsk "life without you" (big dada)
kaidi tatham featuring izzi "betcha' did" (bitasweet)
nubian minds "check da vibe" (2000 black)
seiji featuring lyric l "loose lips" (bitasweet)
dj shadow "6dw" (mca)
dj jazzy jeff "da ntro" (bbe)
dj spinna featuring shadowman "drive" (bbe)
dj jazzy jeff "mystery man" (bbe)
oil "slight of hand" (electronic brain violence)
abstract tribe unique "yesterday and today (instrumental)" (massmen)
dj design featuring madlb & quasimoto "sparkdala" (stonesthrow)
buck 65 "three dimensionnal" (anticon/hard leaders)
prefuse 73 "back in time" (warp)
dj vadim featuring curse "ich darf nicht nehr" (ninja tune/russian percussian)
kid acne "def prezident" (invisible spies)
boom bip featuring slug "want" (mush)
quasimoto "astronaut" (stonesthrow)
dj vadim featuring slug "eddie brikell" (ninja tune)
lune tns "the story entangles (instrumental)" (subverse)
gnawa njoum experience "i lala dub" (no fridge/night&day)
etienne de crecy "liquidation totale" (superdiscount/solid)
clubbed to death (la funk mob variation) (mo'wax)
mr scruff "large pies (ratman mix)" (cup of tea)
seelenluft "manilla (headman remix)" (klein)

LAST READINGS UPDATE (comics).

and once again, I cannot handle a (however soooo) simple situation : after a few weeks without any great releases, finally there's a couple of nice books in the stands, that i cannot dare to miss.
i've checked a few of those nice shit for the very last days, and here's a lil' selection, that i gotta say is the top of the list : (we speak of stuff that is printed in french here ; it could be pretty old and/or from other countries, but it's just released here in France...)

last purchases :

- "Escapo" by Paul Pope. well, i bought the US Horse Version,a nice collection of Pope work, a reprint of some 1997 T.H.B (Pope's regular serie) full-color story called "the hidden faces", and it also includes an interview with the man and a correct review of his vision of illustration. Even if the more i know about Paul Pope and the less i like this guy, i gotta admit that Escapo is one of the best comics i've read for months. a must-have that i now... have. yessss.

nota : Paul Pope will be spotlighted in today's best "about-comics-magazine" in France, a magazine called "Calliope" (yeah, there are probably more Gaiman fans here that you can imagine !) ; Calliope #4 will also feature Manu Larcenet (that i already spoke about here a few months ago...), Taiyo Matsumoto... the issue #3 (october/november) features Tim Sale, Katsuya Terada, André Juillard, Lorenzo Mattoti, Gaiman & Vess' "Stardust", Tanaka's "Gon", & many more...)

- "the Playboy" and "I never liked you" by Chester Brown (les 400 coups).
it took years but at last, french publishers looks closer to non-spandex-super-heroes only when it comes to US comics ; and for instance, such quality north american editors such as Drawn & Quaterly are now available in France thanks to this publisher that i dunno anything yet. Years ago, i discovered Chester Brown in an old "Yummy Fur", his own publication, and it looked for me like another good "i got nothing but my life to tell" author, a la Adrian Tomine or Daniel Clowes ; his art isn't as spectacular as his ideas, however, but these 2 complete series ("the playboy" collect "Yummy Fur" 21-22-23 while "I never liked you" collects26-27-28-29-30, if i'm correct) really worth it. Brown, in its own autobio style, tells stuff about his childhood and its first sexual desire, through porno press and the unpleasant feeling of it, and also tells his relationship with girls... it looks pretty non-interesting, i know that, cause it's basically something we all already lived and don't really want to be involved anew, but the result of it is really beautiful and very touching. i'll try to check if there's more Brown french traductions, or i'll have to check more old "Yummy Fur" soon...

- "Black Orchid" by Neil Gaiman and Dave Mc Kean (Reporter).
ok, i think all is already said/wrote on this 1991 mini-series from the magical tandem of Gaiman and Mc Kean. there were a pretty old french version that was correct, but this one collect them'all (i missed ish#3...), plus an introduction from Mikal Gilmore, some "Rolling Stone" (between other stuff...) contributor. it's a really nice item, with what i think is the original cover, and Reporter, its publisher, have plans to print "dust covers", the Sandman beautiful covers from Mc Kean in the next few months, so after "Mr Punch", "Arkham Asylum" from Grant Morrison and Mc Kean, and this "Black Orchid" collection, well, Reporter is definitely some publisher to keep an eye one...

- I also found some oooooold forgotten stock of french reprints (from "Comics USA"), of stuff like Miller & Mazuchelli run on "Daredevil" (with the Punisher), and also a good Kelley Jones and Mike Baron 1989's "Deadman". Which reminds me that i don't know what i did of my (same collection) "Shadow" (from Kaluta & O'Neil), or my "Batman" (from Wrightson & Starlin)... gotta check my friends for it... uhm...

next purchases :
- "Torso" by Brian Michael Bendis & Marc Andreyko (Semic noir).
yeah it seems obvious that after the success of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's "From Hell" (its french edition is a huge success, from the large quantities of sweet and nice reviews as from the answer from readers), the return of the "noir" genre was unmissable. "Torso" is a great book from one of this days top writer, the never-tired B.M. Bendis, but i gotta say that i'm more into some of his other shit than this. However, this Eliot Ness investigation about this so-called US' first serial killer is pretty cool and Andreyko shows some nice skills here. Semic is "classics" comics' number one french translator/publisher for many years, and after a few years where they let others french publishers translate no-spandex-clowns stories, they at last decide to do some nice job too : 272 pages for 15 euros, which is a pretty cool move for us.

- "Breakfast after noon", by Andi Watson (Casterman).
i love this guy's style, and his story about a couple who goes through unemployement, crisis, and redeployment looks nice enough to check it out. great thing, it seems that "old" publishers will look closer to UK and US stuff : if you told me 2 years ago that Casterman ("Tintin", goddddammmmit !) will publish Andi Watson work, i probably had a big laugh. it's good.

- "Black Hole", ish # 4, by mister Charles Burns (Delcourt).
well, what can i say ? i guess it's #7 and #8 we talk here. i haven't read the originals one (for lowering of comics budget, i know, bad excuse here...), but i'm pretty sure i'll get Burns unique visions of para-horror-human in this little gem.

- "Hellboy", tome 5, by the boundless and incredible Mike Mignola (Delcourt). YEEEESSSSSSSS ! at last, after some late shipping, the return of the red one, in some adventures i can't wait to get in my little shakin' hands. i've read somewhere that this version will get some introduction byt eh soon-to-be director of the full screen adaptation of Mignola's creation, Guillermo Del Toro. I think i already read 6 or 7 things where Del Toro said how much he looooooooovvves both Mignola and Hellboy, so i think we just have to wait for see the results of another hollywood try on our favorite medium. we'll see. The french #5 will probably features "conqueror worm". Delcourt already released (a few months ago) a nice boxset with 4 beautiful editions of Hellboy adventures, including "les germes de la destruction" ("Seed of destruction", from Mignola's 94 series), "le cercueil enchainé & autres histoires" ("the chained coffin", 95, "almost colossus", 97, and "the baba yaga", 98), "la main droite de la mort & autres histoires" ("the right hand of doom", 98 and a few others short stories, too, like "heads", etc) and "le diable dans la boite" ("box full of evil", 99). The result ? Mike Mignola is an author that french publishers really takes care of, and it's COOOOL !

- "Quartier Lointain", by Jiro Taniguchi (Casterman). the man who did "l'homme qui marche" ("the man who walk" ? anybody here ?) did a new cool book. i'm not a lot into japanese stuff, but a few names really deserve more exposure. ok, these guys could have names a little less complicated, for sure... Taniguchi is one the best out there, and this first part of his new work looks really, really interesting.

- "Vampires 2" is out, thanks to Carabas publisher. as for its first number, it's still from plenty of US, UK and France top talents and i can't wait for see what's inside. for information, "Vampires", the first ish, was a beautiful collection of work and views about, guess what, vampires, right, and on the line-up were Mike Mignola (who ?...), Chris Bacchalo ("SteamPunk", "Generation X", "Death"...), Mathieu Lauffray (who did a huge cover -for you Starwars addicts, he did a few covers and works a lot with Olivier Vatine), Yoann & Sfar (both of them are some of the best talents around and you got to check Sfar brilliant work for Delcourt or l'Association, but also Yoann for his really nice "Toto l'ornithorinque", a high quality - presumed for children ! - book), Philippe Caza, Bryan Talbot ("Tales of one bad rat", "Heart of empire", "Sandman"...), Gary Gianni (a painter who did some "Conan" covers), Claire Wendling (the slowest woman in the business : we wait for some of her shit for, erh, years ? she also did the colors for Mignola's drawing here), David Lloyd ("V for vendetta"...), and many more... i don't know exactly WHO is at the origine of the project, but the idea, as its result (for the first issue, at least), is handsome.

- "Little Lit", collective work (Le Seuil). Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly asked for brilliant artists to give their interpretation of classic tales from our childhood, and it's looks great : Art Spiegelman, David Mazzuchelli, Charles Burns, Lorenzo Mattoti, Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes... a litany of big names for what looks like another good idea. i haven't seen any of it for now, so i don't know the results, the format, or anything yet, but something where Spiegelman and all these huge artists are involved cannot be bad, right ?

more kickass art from this side of europe, soon. as far as my bank account will looks better, that's it.

OHHHH...
i just found some old shit in old zip disks...
back in feb, 2001.. stuff that i sent to some olds pals of mine. anyway.

uncle ju's stories - feb 2001, 14th.
well, it was something like 6:30pm, but i was so tired of my last nite that i leave my job sooner, only thinking about eating something, and grab some comics before jumping into my bathroom. anyway, there's something that i hate : it's the sound of music altered by the noise of the water filling this very bath, so i don't put any wax on the table while it's becoming wet and hot in the tub (no ayyyo here please).
so i turn on the tv, and, i guess it's kind of the same outhere in your cowboys country, there's really nothing to see at these hours, so i just stay tuned on "Futurama", this (Simpsons' creator) Matt Groening guy's new cartoon, and well, it was quite funny and all, but the fact is that right after it, there's this quite big (Rooophy can tell you about it) tv show called "Nulle Part Ailleurs", on Canal+, with loads of guests, loads of entertainment, including a live show from some musical artists ; well, the guy said there will be some rap stuff at the end of the show, so i didn't do anything but stay tuned, thinking about another brand new annoying french act, dreaming about Jurassic Five, which must be live in Paris on friday ; heck, why not?
well, "here's some old-school oriented new york hip hop act right now,..."
(thinking to myself : "well, old school can't be bad, uh...")
"...but take care of your childrens as they've got pretty particular reputation,..."
(still me : fuck, some gangsta shit again...)
"...like rappin' a lot about porno stuff, beside some other things..."
(me, always : WAIT A MINUT...)
"...we've got a band called SMUT PEDDLERS on stage, aka mr Eon, mighty Mi.."
(me : FUCK FUCK FUCK)
"... a new track from their own compilation, it's called Porn Again and now you've got an idea about their lyrics. Let's chek 'em..."
Well, and our favorite Phila crew, even if i'm not sure if the third asshole was Cage cause his flow was, well, different from all the releases i've got, but yes indeed, Eric and Milo did their thing. i've go to say that Eon was huge in front of the camera, and that the Mighty Mi was looking as if he was afraid or something... funny! anyway, it kicked my ass for sure, and at the very end, i understood it was probably Cage himself cause the guy, something like 2 times the size of Eric, just grab one of the tables and launched it on the floor, rock'n'roll style, while, maybe Eric (tons of fog effects, holy shit) took the mic and broke it on the floor, too, with sounds larsens and all, as i said, rock'n'roll style. 2 turntables, mixer, microphones, all on the floor thanks to this Pensylvania disaster called Eastern Conference artists.
Well, it wasn't The Who, nor it was the 2 Live Crew back in '87, no, it was the Eastern Conference crew live and direct on french tv, with animators like "shit, what's happening here?!", and myself, exstatic in front of my little tv...
I'm just mad about one fact : if the guys are promoting the Porn Again compilation (i'm waiting for it through my local wax dealer, so i didn't recognize the track yet), so probably they'll do some dates in France, at last in Paris (they won't come just for a tv show, right? it's not the usual promo plan) ; and if so, why my favorite big beared phila guy didn't told me so? ARGH ! and now, i'm far from Paris where there's probably some huge hip hop show while i'm here typing these words with my typical (worldwide famous) grammar and vocabulary english, saying "ADAM, IF THESE FAT ASSES ARE YOUR FRIENDS, YOU PROBABLY KNEW THAT THEY WILL COME IN PARIS. AND YOU DIDN'T TOLD ME ABOUT IT?"
It's interesting to see how people change as soon as they got their shoes in some hype galleries...
;) peace y'all.
we'll speak soon, en français, ce sera mieux et plus comprehensible pour tout le monde !
a+. ju

ALL TOMORROWS PARTIES - 4-6 APRIL 2003

here's the last updated Artists performing at ATP UK 2003 list.
damn, this is pretty cool, isn't it ?

Starring in Alphabetical order :
A GUY CALLED GERALD
APHEX TWIN
BABY FORD
NED BECKETT
MARK BROOM
CANNIBAL OX
CARL CRAIG
COIL
DREXICYAN DJ STINGRAY
DISJECTA
EARTH
EL-P
THE FALL
FARMERSMANUAL
G-MAN
RUSSELL HASWELL
THIRSTIN HOWL III
HECKER
KOOL KEITH + KUTMASTER KURT
LFO
GRAHAM MASSEY -
MIRA CALIX
JIM O'ROURKE
O.S.T
ANDREA PARKER
BERNARD PARMEGIANI -perfoming De Natura Sonorum
PITA
REQ
RHYTHM AND SOUND (Dj set)
CURTIS ROADS
ANTHONY 'SHAKE' SHAKIR
SLUTA LETA
SND
SONIC SUM
STASIS
SUNN
SURGEON
YASUNAO TONE
VENETIAN SNARES
ZOVIET FRANCE

SKAM RECORDS ROOM : GESCOM
BOLA
TEAM DOYOBI
MEAM
PUSH BUTTON OBJECTS
WEVIE STONDER
FREEFORM
TATAMAX
QUINOLINE YELLOW
ALDER AND ELIUS
MADE
N M B ALLSTARS
MR 76
ZK
SKAM DJ'S
DJ WOODY (itfc champ 2001)

FROM WARREN ELLIS' "BAD SIGNAL" MAILING LIST...

here's something from Warren Ellis "bad signal" mailing list.
maybe it could be of interest or... hey, do i really have to care if it could be of interest ? should it be of interest ? hmmmmm.....

To: badsignal@lists.flirble.org
Subject: BAD SIGNAL: Fans
Date: Sat, 26 Oct 2002 11:16:24 EDT
bad signal
WARREN ELLIS

This is about a man called Ronald Moore.Ê He's a TV writer.Ê He has been approached and hired by Sci-Fi Channel to remake an old sf TV show called BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.Ê BATTLESTAR GALACTICA was a screaming piece of shit, derivative and infantile and with absurdly heavy Mormon overtones.Ê It ran for a while, it failed, a quite astonishingly bad low-budget continuation called GALACTICA 80 got a season or so before being shot in the head.Ê Historically, this thing wasn't STAR TREK, and creatively it wasn't STAR COPS, you know?

But it has fans.

Ronald Moore, for reasons best known to himself, is courting the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA fanbase, which evidently is more than three blokes with no friends and a goldfish.Ê The GALACTICA fans want a continuation of the old series, presumably complete with an exhumation of the actors who've died in the intervening years.Ê Moore has been hired to develop and write a remake.Ê This isn't exactly up for a vote.Ê Moore recently agreed to answer a list of questions posed
by fans attending a BATTLESTAR GALACTICA website.

Here's a partial list of what he was asked.Ê I haven't edited spelling, syntax or anything else bar excerpting some of the longer rants posed as questions to a professional writer who gave up paying work time to try and make a couple of hundred people who'll have no bearing on the project's success feel better:

###

Why are you trying to kill the goose that layed the golden egg? A continuation of BSG with a mix of the old and new cast is a sure winner. Why can't you and TPTB see that?

Are you lying to us, Mister Moore? NOTHING is going on with your production! Prove to us there is current movement or move on! We need some proof that you really filming & doing this miniseries.

First of all, you probably think everyone hates you and how you took over the show. That's completely true. So I will ask, how do you think fans will embrace your show and why will they embrace it?

I bumped into you at Paramount years ago. You've changed. When did you get a fire lit under you to be the next Gene Roddenberry?

why do you and others in your position fail to listen to what people want? would it not be more profitable to give the fans what they want?

I know Glen A. Larson owns the rights to the characters it was REALLY Richard Hatch who was the one who got this revival started and got the suits interested in the franchise why can you at the very least acknowledge the man and thank him for all he has accomplished Mr. Moore?

Mr. Moore, why do you lie (LIE) to us in some of your BG posts? You aren't telling the truth and you know it. Tell us.

When you were following your dream to become a writer, did you ever think that someday you would be using it to crush the dreams of others?

What right do you have to destroy something we all love?

Mr. Ronald D. Moore, recreating the cataclysmic events of human kind's destruction on BG is deplorable considering the tension over 9/11, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, fighting in other countries and warcomingsoon for Iraq, the U.S. And the U.K. Why are you choosing to retell the story of BG instead of continuing it?

###