..."18 000 morts 50000 blesses !"

COLD. GRRRRRR...

i got some strong throat ache. i know from what's it coming, and this summer when i got the same shit, my doctor told me that i really got to go through some throat surgery, which is something i probably got to do before starting my new job. sounds like too late, uh. 8)
we'll see. i'll try to take care, if i can take care any much more ? i'm still on a no-orange (and all citrus fruits), either fruits or juices, no-bubllized drinks (gooooodbye coca, which is something my stomach says "thanks") daily basis, which is something quite irritating.
"you only got one life, lil' boy !", as always says my grandma. 8)

so another long time without updates. as you could guess, i'm always trying to fix all the little parts of what should be my life, and as you could guess, it's not this easy. but as you cannot guess, i finally, slowly, surely, comin to something.
the good news is that after real brain damage (as if really need this, uh...), i finally took some decisions that makes me feel more comfortable about my little future. more about it soon, but it talks about place to live, job to start, and my own real flat, back at least. i'm fed up with it ; i cannot stay any longer from one place to another. if it was me, i should write this from some little house in some little towns in the middle of some of my eastern france fields. anyway. more news, as i said before.

soooooooo... what's new ?
well, on the "my face is up-and-down" topic, i have to say that it's been YEARS since i hadn't such a good weekend :

- Thursday, mix in the usual headquarters, the only place where headphones got more power than speakers, "le 7th".


(thanks to Howard for the pics).

it was 3 weeks that i hadn't spin there, so i was pretty happy to go, i think.
and once again, havin' to deal with some crap and used material just mades me reminds of "why i'm here ?". i don't even talk about crap techno fans who asked for some "more speed shit, man !", if only these kakis fuckers could take some bad acids for their next trip in the woods, it should be fine for me. 8)
fucked-up hip hop, heavy abstract, a few broken beat shit, i tried some electronica at the very beginning... well. Besancon is more than ever a "hard techno" town. bullshit. 8))))

- Friday, Ososphere festival in Strasbourg.
a 2 hours-and-a-half-drive with some friends for see Scratch Massive, Gold Chains, Hexstatic / Dj Food, Mira Calix & Andrea Parker, Zimpala, Dirty Sound System, M83, Emilie Simon, Abstrackt Keal Agram, Prefuse 73, TTC, dj Spooky, Bumcello, Alexkid, and many others...

Emilie Simon was huge on stage. real new approach of how to deal with speakers and make some real nice sounds ; smells IRCAM here, and it was really interesting. oh, and the girl is as pretty on stage as her voice supposed to be.

TTC ? well, real better than the last times i saw them on stage ; the boys really know how to return the audience, and they got cool ideas. "dans les clubs" ("in da clubs", yes) is their new 12" available on Big Dada in a few weeks (complete with some Teamtendo mix), and it's a huge tune.

dj Food did some classic dance floor mix, pretty cool but without any surprises, Abstract Keal Agram, if they're pretty good on their records (instrumental hip hop, correct), were awful on stage, Prefuse 73 canceled the show (fuck !), Andrea Parker do some heavy shit (and she's the nicest girl in this bizz, too), dj Spooky did some full spectrum selection complete with Bali music, old school hip hop, fat abstract, and the likes, and with video shit, too, pretty subversive and political ("fuck bush", of course)...

nice night. it stopped at 6 in the morning and when we came back to besancon, we stopped on the highway just for see some old husband and his old wife, in some highway stop, in the middle of the grass, near the car parks, with the woman just in the position of doing some, hum, i dunno what exactly... she bended down, and the husband, in front of her, standed up.
no, it wasn't just some sex at 7 in the morning on some highway stop. she was making her whole excrements in front of him. curious, as there was some toilets near. but no, in the grass. anyway. we were all dead of laughing out loud. tired after one night.

- Saturday eve, TTC were playing near Besancon.
on the afternoon, i worked at the record shop, and we went to the TTC live place by train with somebody that i'll talk later.
the whole crew was here of course, seing the awful quartet (TTC played with their own dj, Orgasmic), along side Akroe, some graff beginner. 8) good times too, even if fuck, one sleepless night behind me (strasbourg) nearly broke me in the middle of the night. Cuizinier, Teki Latex and Tido Berman were huge on stage, even if seing them on friday was more cool : Strasbourg sound was better, i suppose.

oups, gotta go. more tomorrow.


thanks to the incredible Negative Velocity for this one...

"THE FUTURE IS SUBVERSIVE, DAVID."

waoh. cool movie yesterday nite with Drine : Max, from Menno Meyjes, and featuring John Cusack, Noah Taylor, Leelee Sobieski & Molly Parker.
it will be hard to talk about this and to tell you things that you won't read if you look interested into it.

however, what about a few words ? 8)
so, let see... hitler, art, 1918, soon-called "degenerated art", Grosz, politic, love, hope, future, idealism.
go and see this movie, it's not everyday that mainstream offers such a good thing...

LINK OF THE YEAR !!!

i just looooooooved this.
many thanks to Cadou for sharing such beautiful shit. 8)

YYYAAAAYYYY !!!

a few shit who'll help the days to be more sunny :

- Jamie aka pmpknface is doing a pretty good job talking about various comics stuff, mostly maintream one on his pmpknface website.
check this neato pic he took while at the Wizard World East 2003 Con. 8)




- took these fingers out of your nose and write some nice stuff to your friends with a... uh... different tool, which works really good, indeed. great link. 8)

- i was waiting for some confirmation about it, and i got it :
"According to a posting here, Bill Sienkiewicz stated at this past weekend’s Dragon*Con in Atlanta that he and David Lapham (Stray Bullets) would follow the creative team of Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso on Batman following the former’s arc, which begings with issue #620 in October.
Lapham will write, and Sienkiewicz will provide the art. According to the report, the artist has already begun work. When asked by Newsarama, DC Comics confirmed that Lapham and Sienkiewicz are working on a Batman project together."

8))) i'm not a big Batman fan this much, ever if i loved when my favorites authors took care of the dark knight ; but seing these 2 great creators on this project is one of the exciting news i got for years about this Bruce Wayne guy...

- Ego-comme-X, one the best indy french publisher got some fat releases ready to leave their house : Yoshiharu Tsuge's ""L'homme sans talent", James Kochalka's "Carnets #1", Kazuichi Hanawa's "Dans la prison", between various other stuff...

you cannot imagine how i'm waiting for more Fabrice Neaud stuff. i've just re-re-re-re-read his 4 "carnets" and fuck, it's huge. some of the best comics that french publishers offered us for a long time.

ps : feel comfortable to send emails to Ego-Comme-X for asking them some english version of their website. i'll not continue to translate some approximative Neaud to my friends any longer. 8)

- if you need luck, somebody can probably sell you some. maybe this guy...
"I'm very fortunate I'm not paralyzed or dead," the 41-year-old electrician said Friday. come on... 8)

- dirty ashamed americans readers should be aware that dj Vadim and his Russian Percussian (featuring among others the brilliant Yarah Bravo) will go town to town for the next weeks, and the never-tired hairy MPC master got some cool news, too :

Vadim wrote : "(...)i also have started working on the new lp. i have made a lot of music recently which i am really happy with. i think there will be more instrumentals on the new lp.i have recorded a lot of new stuff with Pelding. their new stuff is amazing(...)".

sounds great ; but hey, their older stuff was already huge, too ! 8)
still on the scandinavian hip hop topic, check out new shit from the Prunes, back a last, thanks to Jazz Fudge. The Prunes are famous for their work for the Beastie Boys or for the cultissim uk label Mo'Wax (and no, i got nothing to say about this new Unkle project. or you prefer not to know...)

so, URSS invades USA :
TUE 9/16PHILADELPHIA, PASilk City
WED 9/17BALTIMORE, MDOttobar
THU 9/18RICHMOND, VAAlley Katz
FRI 9/19CHAPEL HILL, NCRoom Four
SAT 9/20CHARLOTTE, NCThe Room
SUN 9/21ATLANTA, GAEcho Lounge
TUE 9/23HOUSTON, TXFat Cat's
WED 9/24AUSTIN, TXMercury
THU 9/25DENTON, TXRubber Gloves
FRI 9/26LAWRENCE, KSJazz Haus
SAT 9/27DENVER, COBluebird
SUN 9/28ALBUQUERQUE, NMSmooch's
MON 9/29TBA
WED 10/1SAN DIEGO, CACasbah
THU 10/2LOS ANGELES, CASpaceland
FRI 10/03SAN FRANCISCO, CAMilk
SAT 10/4SAN FRANCISCO, CABottom of the Hill
WED 10/8PORTLAND, ORHolocene
THU 10/9SEATTLE, WAChop Suey
FRI 10/10VICTORIA, BCLegendsheld
SAT 10/11VANCOUVER, BCCommodore Ballroom
SUN 10/12WHISTLER, BCGarfinkel's
TUE 10/14NELSON, BCFluid Lounge
WED 10/15BANFF, ABTBA
THU 10/16CALGARY, ABNight Gallery
FRI 10/17EDMONTON, ABStarlite Lounge
SAT10/18SASKATOON, SKAmigo's
SUN 10/19REGINA, SKThe State
MON 10/20WINNIPEG, MBPyramid Cabaret
TUE 10/21MINNEAPOLIS, MN7th Street Entry
WED 10/22MADISON, WITBA
THU 10/23MILWAUKEE, WIOnopa Brewing Co.
FRI 10/24CHICAGO, ILEmpty Bottle
SAT10/25CLEVELAND, OHGrog Shop
SUN 10/26TOLEDO, OHHoward's Club
TUE 10/28PITTSBURGH, PARex
WED 10/29BOWLING GREEN, OHHoward's Club H
THU 10/30DETROIT, MISmalls
FRI 10/31LONDON, ONCall The Office
SAT11/1TORONTO, ONEl Macambo
SUN 11/2GUELPH, ONTrasheteria
MON 11/3HAMILTON, ONThe Underground
WED 11/5PETERBOROUGH, ONTrasheteria
THU 11/6KINGSTON, ONElixir
FRI 11/7OTTAWA, ONBabylon
SAT 11/8MONTREAL, PQLa Sala Rossa

never tired, i tell you ; when he's not playing or spinning live on stage in front of collapsing crowds, the man from the East is producing shit while on the road. 8) but... wait ! that's not all.

Vads also release some compilation for MK2 french record label. Stereo Pictures vol. 3 is an eclectic dj mix with stuff from Portishead, dj Food, Photek, Prefuse 73, Gotan Project, Blackalicious, dj Krush, Super Furry Animals, Roni Size, some Jazz Fudge stuff, etc...

oh, and i don't know how many 5" (Andre Gurov "Are U Listening ?") are still available at your local record shop. 8)

- publisher HarperCollins (New York) finally tell us about the last Warren Ellis secret project :
"Senior Editor Josh Behar has just acquired rights from Lydia Wills of Writers and Artists to the first novel by best-selling comic book writer Warren Ellis, who has authored two of DC's hottest franchises, The Authority and Transmetropolitan.
This comic tour of the dark underbelly of American culture features a down-and-out private detective who is hired by heroin-addled G-men to find the lost Constitution to the United States. Publication is slated for Winter/Spring 05."

Note from Warren Ellis : "(...)That should be "lost *secret* Constitution to the United States(...)"

- Johhny Ryan got some Angry Youth Comics thanks to Fantagraphics.
his last ish (vol.2 #5, with a real stupid cover in french -en francais- that rocks !) is probably in the same range of what the guy always do, brilliant caustic and cynical humor at its best.
once again, thanks to mister Ceransky for the update. 8)
here's one of the last Ryan piece of shit... 8)




- while on the good old' humor side, and as usual, the joke of the day is available here. arf. christian + guitars = pure good moment of loud laugh. stupid, stupid christian creature.

- oh yeah, i almost forgot the little personnals messages... 8)

* congrats to Ian for his pretty good looking job. make some money and come back spend some times around now. 8)

* hello to Babass... (is it the correct spell ?). this little asshole will soon expose his hairy ass on some far away island, under a pretty cool sun and in the middle of palmtree. you deserve nothing that this :



come back soon, Seb. or stay there, and bring us with you. 8)
ps : i saw you today around 12 with some cutie girl, near the bridge... 8)))

SATURDAY NITE.



cool night alongside some of the most horrible and painters this side of the universe, Kid Acne (left), and Akroe (right). 8)
well, it was short but it was pretty cool.

Akroe did his annual birthday party, deeeep inside our beautiful woods from eastern france ; cool people, moutains of food, and stupidistic environment at its best made this no-annual rendez-vous an unmissable party. of course, once again i was in the firsts poor wretchs who left early (one day, i'll get my own car, i promise...), and i didn't live the end. holy fuck.
no doubts that it was great, and i hope it didn't turn into the shit-and-food orgy it was last year. 8)

oh yeah, and having some Invisibles Spies shit and Kid Acne's 7" on ElectroCaramel in my records bag was a good idea, too ! 8)
i hope i'll get some pics echoes from the party... i'll post some.

LAZY LAZY LAZY MONDAY.

hanging (pranking ?) around the worldwidewonderfulweb, some preet cool news (people who don't-give-a-fuck-about-comics, don't waste your time...) :


- Jenny Everywhere : All rights reversed.
a loooong time ago, some crazy cats from the Barbelith hall of fame decided to do some heavy shit.
you cand find stuff about Jenny quite everywhere by now ; no doubt that with some info relayed from each sides at once, this (first ?) comic-book open source character will turn as a massive success worlwide, thanks to this very same www who helped to promote the fuckin' good idea.
"The Shifter's mysterious Open Source origins can be traced back to a comic book discussion group hosted by hip UK-based webzine Barbelith.com. Community administrator Tom Coates uttered a plea for rights-free characters "that we declare can be used by anyone at any time in any format without there being anyone to give money to." as wrote on Exclaim! by Tony Walsh.

- "According to a Pantheon Books spokesperson, Persepolis has now sold over 35,000 copies, which puts it in the manga stratosphere of sales for graphic novels in the book channel.", catched on icv2.
i wonder if this will help Satrapi to try to focus on some better art with all this money she won by giving united states residents the first ish of Persepolis. i totally missed the 3rd vollume, and from what i saw in this summer's daily page published in french paper Liberation, i'll not buy the 4th either. we'll see.
at first i was sure that Satrapi got some strong ideas and that she knew how to release some quality books, but i'm now a little bit confused about it ; her art is not thiiis beautifully rendered, but it's not a problem : along many others, Lewis Trondheim or Jeffrey Brown doesn't do beeaaauuutiful drawings, but they tell great stories and more than everything else, they know HOW to tell it. Marjanne Satrapi just tell some stuff. and even with real interesting memories from her childhood in Iran (and god knows how there's things to tell from there), i now have doubts about the real credibility of her contribution on a "art" level. maybe writing was sufficient, i dunno.

- ...and while on the icv2 site, some juicy comment on the DVD release of the year. one of the best books ever, through the DVD prism ? i want it.

- Sean Collins talks about Grant Morrison, David Bowie, and Chris Ware ? well... let see.

- imagine the Crossgen headquarters. think about Mark Alessi seated under his office. and reading these comments about THE FIRST #34 :
"...but there was something about how all of their comics are connected because they'd all been dreamed up by this really rich guy, who doesn't actually write or draw comics himself but hired a bunch of other people to sit in an office and draw stories about his imaginary world for him. If you can afford to do that kind of stuff, hey, as long as you can pay the bills...."
wow.
i dunno what/who is this Jess Lemon, but for sure his writing about Crossgen' comics are a must-read. 8)
you can find it, and more stuff too, here on the Mile High forum. Jess Lemon just kill (and i mean my words) some stuff from Crossgen, and it's just make him public enemy number one on this very thread ; the comments from exasperated Crossgen fans/nerds are really funny (more on the "afflicting" meaning...)...

- Scott McCloud talks about stuff. and somebody talks about Scott McCloud.