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Watchmen: a Deconstructed Graphic Novel

Watchmen was published in an era when the comic book genre was dominated by superheroes and antiheroes with black and white views about good and evil. It is a parody of the overman in dystopia. A combination of dark, pulp, and deconstructed comic book style, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon offered something that caters to both comic book aficionados and common readers.

Watchmen is not your typical graphic novel. It defies all other conventions in the comic book genre and deviates from the usual larger-than-life comic book characters we have come to know. Instead of an alien from Krypton or a dark knight in a bat mobile, Watchmen offers a different set of superheroes with insecurities, imperfections, and emotional disturbances.

The graphic novel is somewhat an oxymoron. On one hand, this is slated to a wider range of audience, but this doesn’t make the graphic novel an easy read. It is designed to be read more than once. Watchmen brings the readers into a dynamic state, into a questioning mode of thinking. Every encounter with this comic book elicits a different response from readers. As said by Moore and Gibbon in an interview, they intended the graphic novel to hold different meanings to different people.

The art and structure of the graphic novel are equally fascinating and original as its content. Watchmen showcases unseen features of the comics medium and puts its strong points to the fore. In an interview, Moore said, "What I'd like to explore is the areas that comics succeed in where no other media is capable of operating". The graphic novel became ultimately different from the movies.

What’s more unique about the art is that it exploits the use of panels. The creators really intended its panels to be distinct from other comic books. The use of symbolisms is also superb giving reference to the story’s theme. This is why reading the graphic novel once betrays the purpose of the act of reading Watchmen. As the plot thickens, the readers are drawn into an intellectual challenge of piecing the puzzles together to fully grasp the depth of the novel.

It is important to note that the novel might not be aimed at people who are not familiar with the comic book genre. Appreciating the profundity of this comic book necessitates knowledge about genre and exposure to other graphic novels. Since Watchmen is a hard read, it is easy for someone unfamiliar wit the world of comic books to be lost in the ebbs of symbolisms and themes.

Watchmen is a great alternative to comic fans tired of the usual goody-two-shoe and perfect hero stories. Although this is a difficult to decode for beginners, for comic book enthusiasts, this is a knockout.

About the Author

A Computer Engineering student and loves to travel. Reading current news in the internet is one of his past times. Taking pictures of the things around him fully satisfies him. He loves to play badminton and his favorite pets are cats.

For more information and queries, you may visit Watchmen Graphic Novel

What comic books or graphic novels are a good read?

I have been out of the comic book world for 15 years and a friend recommended Josh Whedon's Astonishing X-men vol 1 - 4. I loved it and looking for more comic books that are just a fun read with great art. What do you recommend?

I personally loe astonishing x men by josh whedons story line. I loe how kitty pryde sacrafises her self to save the world and infuses to a bullet. I would recommend spidergirl that is a great read about the future of alot of the marvel charecters especialy spiderman. This is a summary of the story.

http://www.spider-girl.net/characters/spider-girl.html

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The Comic Conspiracy opens its doors, again, today

You may need to be logged in to see stories listed here that are in our archives. ASHEBORO — North Carolina’s oldest comic book shop will re-open its doors today, this time with the original owner who opened it 32 years ago.

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Batman Movie Costumes: Find Out The Actors Who Worn Them

Who are the best actors to have worn Batman costumes over the years?

The very first person to play The Caped Crusader was Lewis Wilson in a fifteen part serial. It was simply called, 'The Batman' and it was first shown in 1943. Robin was played by Douglas Croft. The serial is still enjoyed by fans of The Dark Knight even today.

In 1949 a second serial was released. This one saw Robert Lowery and John Duncan donning Batman costumes for the lead parts. This time, Bruce Wayne also had a girlfriend involved in the story. Her name was Vicky Vale and she was played by Jane Adams. However, the overall style and quality of this second adventure, 'Batman and Robin', did not quite measure up to the first offering.

The airwaves also featured serialised adventures with the hero. These first started in 1945 and continued until 1950. After this time the adventures of The Caped Crusader stayed only within the pages of his comic books. The actors had taken a break and the Batman costumes were all sent off for dry-cleaning.

The Dark Knight made a comeback to the screen in 1966. This time the Dynamic Duo were played by Adam West and Burt Ward. The whole of Batman was to take on a far more camp image. The television series proved to be very popular and the actors managed to create a feature length film in between shooting episodes for the show.

After the live action show, the actors again hung up their Batman costumes and made way for several animated portrayals of The Dark Knight. These continued, in different forms, throughout the 1970s.

In the 1980s, Batman again stayed within the realms of comic pages but things were starting to change with the character. The stories began to become far more gritty and realistic. The Batman costumes were starting to evolve as well. They were getting to be far more battle-orientated and the campness of the 1960s was gone.

1989 saw the release of Tim Burtons 'Batman'. It was a huge success and it went on to redefine the lead character for a new generation of fans. The film was dark and sombre. Even the Jokers' gags had a cruelness about them that had previously not existed. This time it was Michael Keaton who played the lead role with support from Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger.

Since this, the character has retained much the same image for all of the subsequent movies. That brooding, Gothic feel is evident right up to the latest addition in the film franchise. Actors to have dressed in Batman costumes since 1989 include; George Clooney, Val Kilmer and Christian Bale. There have also been some very good villains who have been portrayed by the likes of Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It is safe to say that Batman is going be staying around for a good few years to come. Whoever next plays the main character is uncertain, but it is sure to be interesting.

Halloween batman costume

About the Author

Roberta Knight organises children's parties and supplies as well as halloween costumes .

is there going to be a batman beyond comic?

i know there was a comic based on the tas but i want to read more about terry's adventures as the new dark knight.

There's a couple of ways you can get the already-existing series. You can be good & buy them at Mile High Comics or some other retial website, you can be fair & get them on eBay, or you can be naughty & just download them at Isohunt.com (you'll also need to download Bittorrent to get them & CDisplay to view them).

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JONAH HEX Celebrates Year 5 With Comics, Movie, Animation

As notorious gunslinger Jonah Hex hits theaters in June, writers of the monthly Jonah Hex comic are making sure fans of the film can keep enjoying the character's adventures. Jonah Hex #56, being released on June 2nd, reiterates Jonah's origin story while also telling new adventures about the Western anti-hero by the book's co-writers, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray. The two writers launched ...

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comic book collection

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Poetry in Modern Literary Culture

   Newspapers are no longer posting poetry reviews, and if they do, they are slim to none. The general press provides very little coverage of poetry or poets. While there are existing today literary journals that print verse, they have exonerated the printing of literary reviews. They publish page upon page of jam-packed poems, one right after the other. Reading these journals is an absolute travesty and completely defames the spiritual culture of verse. And yet, the poor and unsuspecting, first-time poet still believes that this is a creditworthy accomplishment. 
   There is, however, an exceptional escalation for the need of the art. There are a record number of literary magazines being established and thousands of poetry books being published both in the self-published industry as well as in the traditional sector every year. There are a vast amount of teaching careers in creative writing, book awards, poetry contests, conventions and retreats. In fact, there are a number of programs federally, state and/or privately funded to help further and enhance the writing careers of poets. Colleges are filled with students studying poetry from undergraduates to graduates.
   Poetry is a specialized art that proffers to unique spectators. Over the years, however, the viewers have progressively become the creators thereby vastly decreasing the readership base. Unwittingly, the same organizations that promote writing poetry have sponsored the fall of spectators. The focus needs to redirect toward the fundamental value of reading verse. Ask an avid reader who their favorite contemporary poet is and you are likely to obtain a blank stare for an answer. Query aspiring poets who the U.S. Poet Laureate is and you are likely to get a resounding bewilderment. Now, ask a few fiction writers who their favorite authors are and you’d better be prepared to take those names down in shorthand. A complete paradox, wouldn’t you say?  Names such as John Grisham, Dan Brown and Dean Koontz may spark some great conversation whereas names like Billy Collins, Charles Simic and Rita Dove would be completely foreign.
   Poets continually promote themselves by posting their poetry on the internet, reading their poetry, submitting their work to small literary presses, attending workshops and the occasional retreat. In fact, the number of venues hosting readings has dramatically increased over the years. When the authors at these events read verse, however, it is usually their own. This neither promotes the poet nor the art, but rather, further laminates poetry from the thriving literary world. Readers should prepare a large selection of poems from all different poets, alongside of their own to read. This will establish the author’s true admiration of the art, and at the same time, will help revive its essentialness.
   There is another, more destructive problem looming over contemporary poetry.  With all of the thousands of run-of-the-mill verse being published annually, it is well presumed among our erudite readers and literary society that momentous poetry is a thing of the past. It is up to poets to take pause, reevaluate prior to publishing and work together to bring back, out of the catacombs of isolation the vital essentialness of verse.
   In closing, I would like to give you some helpful suggestions for improving your craft.

The Expressive Rut.  Often times, you will find that you are in an “expressive rut,” which is a term that I use for poets who are experiencing “writer’s block.”  Either you are drawing a complete blank, or you may find that you are writing about the same feelings or thoughts. Or, you may be using the same words over and over again in your verse. When this happens, take a break from writing altogether and find a new muse. For instance, you may try taking a walk in the park, going to the beach, watching a movie, or reading a book of poetry.  Write when you are “uninspired.”  Write when you are “unemotional.” Most of all, write to be read, not to work through some personal difficulty.

The Vocabulary Debate.  You find yourself stuck on a verse. You know what you are trying to say and you cannot quite find the exact word you are looking for, so you “make a word up.” This is completely unacceptable and is a literary expulsion. Do not, under any circumstances, make up a word. Read the dictionary or study the thesaurus. There is always a word for what you want to say. Poetry is an art, however, it is a literary art and you must use real vocabulary.

Even Free Verse is not Free.  Do not write a letter, break it off where you feel like it and call it verse. This is not a poem and does not qualify as free verse.  Watch your meter and your flow.

Meter Example One (Wrong)                       Meter Example Two (Right)

She walked through the desert                    Through the desert
With her cane                                                 She walked with cane
And hurried back                                           And hurried back
To me                                                             To me –

Letter Example (Do Not Do)
I wanted to let you know that I
landed safely. The plane ride was
delayed and although it was supposed
to be a three hour ride, it took six hours,
but at least we made it. I have jet
lag and I am really hungry so I am
going to get some food to eat now
but I wanted to tell you that I made it safely.

About the Author

• Motivational / Inspirational Speaker
• Ghostwriter
• Creator of educational series - The Poetry Addies (copyright - 2008)
• Founder and Administrator of Ning Networks: The Authors Society, The Signs Network, The Poet's Lounge, Americans for America and The Mystical Divine
• Founder and Moderator of the inspirational group, EternalSunrise on Yahoo.com
• Founder and Moderator of Deborah Simpson's Poetry Forum
• Poetry Editor
• Former Director of Poetry Development of TRIAD Publishing Group
• Sponsor of International Poetry Contests
• In association with Amazon.com and Indiebound
• Contributor of Literary Works to the Associated Services for the Blind
• 20+ years legal writing experience

How has Walt Whitman influenced modern art and poets?

the argument i have is . How has Whitman’s influence manifested itself in thought and art of modern American poets?

i would say that whitman's emphases on eclecticism, freedom, diversity, curiosity, and personal exploration have continued to influence american letters.

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Lost voice of Belfast Poet heard

Padraic Fiacc, once called the "patron saint of the insane" is known for his stark and sometimes brutal poems about the Troubles in his native Northern Ireland.

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Beat-To-Bit

"Confusion will be my epitaph"

King Crimson

Smells like…medicine.

This is the feeling I get when I read reports about copyright and “legal” music battlefields.

Over the past twenty years far more than one industry were called home due to the onslaught of technological innovations.

The most intelligent and successful ones has been cured and made a profit on this transformation.

Others have just died simply, quietly and without all of that noise in vain. They will be for sure forgotten very soon, nevertheless, some people will keep good memories about them.

But the most awful are those, who are screaming like slaughtered pigs while dying, and in their fever attack, they’re smashing all medications on the table. Medications, that might have served of some improvements of their disease, if they had paid any attention to them.

But instead of this the shattered bottles make the room’s full of that heavy fragrance – and it smells like medicine.

One can judge by patient’s behavior that the action’s taking place in a psychiatric clinic. Those actions of the patient are illogical, absurd and damn clumsy. So, on the one hand, you want to come closer, and help him, even by simple talk. But on the other hand, you feel fastidious and awareness. And due to this nuts’ behavior, you are completely discouraged from taking part in his fate even a bit. And you’re left looking at this ugly picture, you know what? - I prefer leaving the room. Let’s make the patient’s best years (which he, without a doubt, had plenty of) comes back to our memory instead.

I’ve been asking myself for far too long about that moment when the record industry lost all of its charm and attraction, all of that belonged to it in the old days? Good old days, when each record label had its own recognizable face – a bright personality, which was expressed not only in design of vinyl records’ labels, but in everything the label were doing.

What happened to the record industry on the road from the “Beat” era to the “Bit” era?

There are many articles written on the topic, mostly nonsensical, referring to the “business model” and “market share” concepts and other abstractions.

They remind me a placebo – a dummy pill that you place on the patient’s table. The patient looks at the pill and put it into his head that everything will be fine, everything goes as expected, everything will come back to normal…

I would like to talk about abstractions of another level, the ones not directly related to the business itself, but directly related to its death – Charisma, Illusions and Energy…

Charisma

What is the main difference between record labels of the golden “Beat” era, namely the seventies of the last century, and their today’s followers of the “Bit” era?

Indeed, there are plenty of differences, but one catches the eye.

In those days, little record labels were led by great people. Personalities!

Today, huge record labels are headed by small people from the category of “no-body, and no-name”.

The majority of them has no relationship to the music whatsoever. They are either accountants or lawyers. Sometimes at heart, which is particularly awful.

That is, in classic’s words – “office plankton”.

Even if it is a very well paid and glossy plankton, it is still plankton, and it would be a great mistake to think that the quality of music depends just on the musicians themselves.

People like Richard Brenson (Virgin), Stig Anderson (Polar Music), Berry Gordy (Motown) and Daniel Miller (Mute) had huge charisma just by themselves. And yet it is not clear who had more of it – record labels’ artists or record labels’ leaders. Brenson’s charisma certainly did outweigh the one of all his musicians, and it still hovers over his 200 companies, no matter what they were doing.

Only an idiot would confuse Motown’s vinyl with Virgin’s vinyl. They were carriers of a specific culture. They had both style and drive.

Their product outlived both the record labels themselves and the artists they were recording. Today, 30-40 years later, their products is still being sold, changing hands several times and, the most important, with price going up.

Sold for real money, despite the fact that the music from these records is available on millions of websites. Despite its free availability, people spend 30 dollars for the same thing on vinyl.

This is not because vinyl records sound in some special way.

The reason is charisma, which is present not only in people, but in inanimate objects too, despite what organized religion would make you think.

But this holds under one condition: only if the inanimate objects were created by people who had that charisma. Only if the creator put his soul into the product it is possible.

Charisma creates added value. And in our times, where everything is becoming free, it creates simply value. Not added, but simply value, which is amazing just by itself.

Charisma is the key to success of computers with the ‘bitten’ apple logo.

Charisma sells The Beatles vinyl records with the “incised” apple. These two companies Apples– musical one and computer one – are the most remarkable examples of charisma. No one needs to be persuaded to buy their product. People fight for it, despite of the millions of seemingly free of charge alternatives.

What I would like to know is that when has all of this become mass production of piles of faceless plastic, that needs persuasion to be bought?

This moment is actually well-known. It is the moment by which all brilliant and interesting music labels have been bought out by transnational companies, beginning full depersonalization of music products.

A mere acquisition of one company by another has little meaning by itself. It doesn’t happen when it has brought some real benefits to justify the acquisition cost. Especially when a huge accounting firm acquires a little creative and effective team in the hope to buy its creativity and charisma. However, the only thing they can achieve by this is killing all of the creativity and bringing their former charisma to zero, sinking it in the muddy puddle named “corporate culture”.

But one way or another, acquisition cost needed to be recouped. And then a new format in the form of questionable-sounding but low-cost and convenient compact discs appeared.

Vinyl records, being also a result of pressing plastics at the same time still had great individuality. Let’s start with the fact that the same record, released on different labels in different countries, sounded absolutely differently, and had a bunch of other fine details. But greed and desire to re-sell the recording material bought from genuine record labels in a new form has led to mountains of inanimate plastic. That put a first nail in the coffin of the record industry.

Despite the euphoria about huge initial sales of CDs, it may only be compared with an injection of a last dose of a strong drugs. You will feel very good, but not for long, though.

In the meantime, charisma of artists was suffering equally dramatic changes. The era of musicians whose life could fill a book was replaced by the era of musicians, one could only write an article about.

And then, one could only write a paid advertorial, because there was really nothing to write about the artist. And only journalists’ and PR managers’ creative thinking could help to get the public to know the artist, whose disc they had to sell.

We all know how it ended. Music press has come to naught almost everywhere all around the world because of the absolute lack of basis for its activity. Cheap scandals and attempts to “make up” a bright personality do not work for the new generation, who feels it’s all fake. While Amy Winehouse scandals look comical, in the case of some B. Spears they are just abject.

Charisma is charisma because it attracts people. This attraction works for the benefit of the charisma-possessor and those, who are close to him all the time.

Even when things go universally free of charge, charisma would generate money for its possessor – one way or another.

There is only one issue (problem) with charisma. It cannot be created artificially. It either exists or does not. And those who preach pop psychology and claim they will teach you to be charismatic through various NLP methods - well, they can all go to hell. As everyone knows, the only benefit of an NLP training is NLP instructor’s salary.

One last difference of the old record industry from the new one, which is though unrelated to charisma but deserves to be mentioned, is functionality.

What were the historical functions of recording labels?

Here are five basic functions:

- Find an artist

- Record the artist

- Promote the artist

- Distribute recordings

- Deceive the artist

Until a certain time, all these tasks were performed pretty well, especially the last point, where highest levels of instruments have been achieved.

But with the advent of the Internet (it is even indecent to say now) the only one task that the label can perform better than the artist has been left to it, and this is the last one. Artists, though, can also deceive themselves well, especially in their expectations.

Otherwise, artists find themselves by themselves, record at their own expense (thanks to technologies, who made the process cheap, and the recording quality that appeared not be worried about at all). Distribution became a wonder while promotion could be held somehow with the help of that network in all its manifestations.

At some point the situation seemed to be idyllic.

Full freedom of [removed]usefulness of which needs to be discussed separately), no filters in the form of record labels’ A&R-managers (these are strange people who believe their musical taste to be close to the one of the masses), immediate distribution of music worldwide. This is just some kind of fairy tale that is coming to us!

Well, it will all be good except for the one regrettable detail.

People don’t buy this music.

And they don’t buy it in any form. Neither on CD, nor as music files. Neither expensive nor cheap. Neither from the record label, nor from the artist.

- No, thanks. I don’t need it.

- But why?

No, please, do not give me iTunes Music store and Radiohead success examples as a proof that it is still possible to sell music and you just need to find a business model.

I am sick of these two examples, because only a very lazy publication did not write a story or two about Radiohead.

Apple doesn’t make a profit on iTunes Music store, and it was declared many times by the company itself. Frankly speaking the service is on the verge of a recoupment, but it still brings the great benefit indirectly – by means of the iPod sellings. The numbers of sold tracks via iTunes sounded very persuasive on the Apple presentations and even better when Steve Jobs’s speaking. But unfortunately they are not comparable when talking about the numbers of the free of charge downloads of the music on the Internet. And this is by far the most successful store in the world!

So, If someone has taken seriously the Radiohead experiment to let the audience choose their own price for downloadable tracks from Radiohead’s new album, I wish I had have that childish naive view of the world. I think it would make my life simpler.

In reality, Radiohead’s tactic is still brilliant, but in a totally different way. By leaking their well-done foul story to the internet, the group simply f**ked the world’s media, getting an advertising campaign of an unbelievable scale and the same unbelievable arrogance. It is not surprising that, after a while, both Radiohead and its record label got what they had to get, with excellent sales of real CDs and vinyl records, and other pleasing accessories.

The only lesson I take from the Radiohead experience is that when music is really good and the artists are bright individuals, their product will be sold for real money anyway.

That is the good music. It’s really doesn’t matter if there’s any piracy or not. Especially if you throw aside your stupid illusions…

Illusions

First and most strange illusion is that a releasing of each new album should lead to a materialization of at least a huge mansion on a private island.

Even Beatles thought at the scale of “one song - one swimming pool” (and even then it was a joke). But they may think that way. Their music brings real happiness to millions of people for more than forty years and millions of copies are being sold even today.

During these forty years, no artist could get even close to their level of genius.

And who said that a singer whose album can be listened to only once and on fast-forward deserves the same income? Does the audience care that a million dollar budget has been invested in ‘this’ and it must be recouped?

Who invented that concept that a music band or composer should have excess income?

World history does not confirm this state of affairs. If you exclude these twenty to thirty years of record industry boom (which is a drop in the ocean), the rest of the time creative people had incomes that are just sufficient enough to do the things they love to do, and not to worry about money too much. At least with no need to be distracted from creative activity and forced to earn money in some other way.

Nobody ever promised a private island for this sort of activity.

Let’s have a clear look at things.

It was only a moment, a moment between the past and the future. It was called the record industry. It was very brief. It was at the crossroads between the time when there was no physical media, and the time when there is no more physical media. What is terrible about that?

We still have a lot of relics from that moment. Maybe that’s enough for everyone?

Most of all I like a phrase told me by one of my friends, who is a sound engineer. One of his job duties is to listen to a lot of new artists for one reason or another.

I do not listen to music for free, - he said.

Copyright defenders and all other lawyers, there is no need to start cheering. It does not mean that he does not listen to free of charge music. He meant that he wilfully refuses to listen to modern music, unless he is getting paid for it.

Approach that is worthy of respect and understanding. After all, if you bought a rotten fish, you consider it as damage to your health. So why do not worry also about your mental health, or at least about spoiled mood?

And the problem that we find here is created by the same advantages I mentioned earlier as a potential fairy tale for the record business.

Those technologies, which were designed to provide previously unprecedented creative freedom, the absence of barriers, free distribution, – they worked in the exactly opposite direction.

The illusion of freedom of expression

That sounds tempting, doesn’t it? Only if you put aside a fact that is proven today - 99% of people cannot in fact create anything of value.

The best way to prove it is the Internet itself, namely its Web 2.0 reincarnation.

People, who created quality content in the past, continue to create it. Everything else is filled with junk.

Have you ever noticed that people who is thought to be really serious never blog (unless it is their profession)? Chatting is not their specialty, and they have little interest in others’ opinions. Their job is to create something…

Good or bad, but other people’s purpose is to consume, not create, and this has always been so.

Today, every other person expresses himself, and this is not a problem by itself. It is even usefull, if no one sees it.

The problem is that all this is done not for oneself and one’s friends, but thrown at the market as a real music product.

Now, try to find something you would like on this market inside a pile of music junk. At the minimum, you must be a really determined music lover in order to spend all your time on filtering.

I have a question for the record industry.

Do you seriously think that I must pay the same 18 dollars for all this noise and for the Dark Side Of The Moon on a nearby shelf?

Or are you just kidding?

What have we got in the end?

Freedom of expression was good in theory but in practice has lead to the situation, in which even for people who operates technologies rather well (and I am among them, frankly speaking) it is practically impossible to find anything valuable on the internet. The noise has already surpassed all reasonable levels.

Illusion of censorship.

Previously, censors were recording labels. While they were young and managed by creative personalities - they were good filters. They have done great things, saving us, the audience, from swimming in the sea of shit.

Yes, sometimes they made mistakes and did not always recognize talents, but in general, these labels left us at least few artists of a great scale and great potential. If there were none of these filters, we would never hear about them.

As these truly record labels were absorbed by gangs of accountants-lawyers through transnational media groups, filters became worse and worse. Eventually, they became so crappy that, indeed, it would be better without them. But, as it turns out, the problem is not in the filters, but in their quality.

So, here is what we get.

Musicians and the industry had got everything they could even imagined. All of the most advanced technologies are in their hands.

Virtual studios – create almost for free.

Distribution system is simply free.

Marketing opportunities are enormous on the internet, given a creative marketing approach.

Everything’s just excellent, except one thing. Most people do not want to buy most of the new music at all. Bastards, they aren’t afraid neither of the laws, nor of permanent ‘harassment’. Musicians and the industry got everything they always wanted, yet people don’t buy most of their product.

Or rather their new product.

Because The Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd, ABBA, etc. are still sold in fantastic numbers of copies. In mp3, on CD, on vinyl - whatever you like. Musicians are all retired, but their records are still sold, without any special marketing efforts.

At this point it would be appropriate to accuse me of fear of novelty, but it is not necessary.

First, I don’t give a damn.

Second, I know that when a new band that can be really loved appears, I love it.

Similarly to how I fell in love with Air, Zero 7, or a reincarnation of Future Sound Of London. I already had their mp3 totally free of charge, and then went and bought everything on CD, and then on vinyl.

Crazy?

But this is an exception to the rule. Alas, there is very little to fall in love with among the new music.

Almost nothing …

Everyone knows a superb music site – Last.fm. This site is a great tool to understand what most people ‘love’. As everyone knows, Last.fm gathers statistics on what real people are actually listening to on their computers. It’s much more honest information than all paid-for charts in the world. Even if not paid-for, charts are reflecting purchases, but not real love. You can buy CD without thinking too much, or under the influence of the media. But no one will force you to listen to it every day.

So, as long as Last.Fm exists, I do not remember that The Beatles goes lower than the third rank. Forty years after their last song.

And the rest of the Top 20 are real artists and bright personalities.

And, by the way, elderly are not the only people who visit Last.fm.

“Isn’t this a sign of creative impotence? Is it that no one is able to compose new materials, relating to those that we did before? Of course, I am proud, happy, flattered and all that, but how can it happen that the greatest success that was reached was reached by stuff that was done twenty years ago – and that in a cover version? Something is wrong. This should not occur.”

Benny Andersson (ABBA)

Energy

So, there are still artists who were selling, and are still selling their music for real money.

They are not many, but who said that there have to be millions of them?

Maybe their sales numbers are now lower, but who said that every inhabitant of the planet must buy music product?

This delusion is only produced by the heads of marketing of transnational music labels.

References to past indexes (especially in the seventies of the last century) are only making me laugh.

In those days, people had no other entertainment at home except music. VCRs did not exist yet, neither did computer games nor gaming consoles. No gadgets at all! Books and vinyl records were the only entertainment in our homes. This is the first explanation. Today, customers’ attention has spread among all the new media and arts, while their available income remains pretty much the same. Music gets less attention. The attitude to it became simpler … in general. Music became nothing but a background.

When talking about energy, it is good to start with what was pointed by the sayings long ago:

“What we get cheaply, we value it little”

Or do not value at all.

This applies to music in the sense that the process has become too cheap and mechanical. Creators now invest less of their own energy. However, listeners feel this through some special sense and perfectly understand it.

‘Beat’ way

There is a musical genre such as Ambient. Many think that this is an entirely new music genre that has appeared not so long ago. However, similar to how The Beatles laid the foundation for the brit-pop with one of their song, invented the hard rock of seventies with another song and all of the contemporary psychedelic with the third one, the ambient genre in its contemporary form appeared on early Pink Floyd recordings together with that psychedelic genre.

In those days, music creation was extremely difficult and costly. Synth’s have just begun to appear and they felt out of the ark. There were no ready-to-use sound samples. To achieve the desired effect of the guitar echo, a musician needed to come down into an empty swimming pool, it was not possible to do it otherwise. So people just had to be inventive in a variety of ways.

They manipulated the tape, cut it into pieces, glued it, or even created some custom devices just for the sake of achieving that one effect. The great producer and sound engineer Alan Parsons went to a clock shop in order to record the chiming clock. And this was honest.

Honesty - this is the word that best shows how music was made at the time. There was no cover of technology behind which one could hide, and it is very clearly seen in music of that time.

And it still remains  valuable.

‘Bit’ way

Today, any teenager can instantly download from the internet a lot of trendy sounds, samples, loops, and other «content», then launch a virtual studio program on his laptop and assemble something with it.

Depending on whether that noise is performed forward or backward, the final product may be called…just whatever you like!

But it still has no sense, whatever the variant is.

Smart-looking teenager, of course, will blow his cheeks out and begin to tell that nonsense about the unique concept of his work, ideas that he put into it, and the pain of creative activity.

Music critics meanwhile will operate the words like “cult” (oh, I’d kill for this word!), “cultural layer”, and provide analogies of similar artists, whose names are kind of mystery for everybody but for the critics themselves.

However it does not work.

Music that was easily assembled from Lego blocks has no value. Musicians shouldn’t have thought that the ordinary listeners do not really care. Here the problem is not about computing, but rather in freebie.

The result, that was previously achieved by the tremendous creative efforts and mental energy of the creator, is now achieved merely through few random mouse clicks in random fields of a software tool. And at a first glance, in both cases (for ambient music) we got the same set of sounds and noises. Some sound landscape.

But I see the problem… In the first case, it sounds like a masterpiece, even forty years after its creation, while the second variant looks like a dirt-cheap stuff that any idiot can make.

Maybe it’s mental energy, that like emotions, is transmitted through the result of creative activity as well?

I made just the most extreme example, but for anyone who can think, it is easy to see all that throughout the rest of the contemporary music product.

In any case, this is the explanation for a catastrophic worldwide interest lower when it comes to electronic music. Making it became not only non-profitable but also not prestigious and topical at all.

One particular case.

Each person I believe from time to time asks himself a question of how should he personally treat the consumption of music today, when the issue of copyright is literally hanging in the air?

On the one hand, I am sure that, at heart, almost everyone understands that the work of good writers, composers and other creators of intellectual property must to some degree be compensated cash.

Otherwise its production would almost stop which I believe nobody wants to happen.

On the other hand, when we begin to apply this issue to ourselves, we realize it quite fast that when we get the slightest opportunity not to pay for books, music and movies (and in fact, for everything else), we are happy to use it.

And it doesn’t matter what the law says on this issue, because the influence of law on our internet activity is greatly exaggerated. Ready to bet – whatever copyright defenders and other controllers invented the more the information technologies develop the less that influence of the law would become. In fact, it is approaching zero rapidly.

Individuals will not be able to fight the majority, especially in high tech era.

It was shown and proven a million times, but if someone still don’t get it - it is absolutely his own problem.

The morality of the problem also don’t bother me a lot. I believe that truly free people will never be guided by principles of public morality, which they replaced with personal principles long ago.

Taking into account the absolute subjectivity of such concepts as “good” and “evil” the majority’s opinion concerning those concepts would bother him as less also.

“Morality please the weak, but falls under the strong”. I agree with that beaten truth and would only add that the strong in the new century are precisely those who obtain technologies. That is the vast majority of young and even smart people, but not a bunch of managers, who had an obvious problem with an e-mail sending yesterday.

So, different ways, just for myself, I tried to define the way I am going to consume music, while being in harmony with myself, what is important.

Earlier, like most other people I used to practice digital hoarding. But one day I did understand the absolute stupidity of that activity.

And moreover I found it extremely inefficient in the expansion of my personal music outlook development, which I care about deeply.

I’ve noticed that 99% of all new music that I downloaded, I listened to only once. And after that it was either dead rubbish on my computer, or deleted from it immediately. I wrote about the causes of this phenomenon in details above, but now I want to deal with the consequences.

You don’t need to think much to realize that I consumed most of this music in radio mode, and not in a home media center mode. Such music never reached my iPod. I kept downloading, deleting, downloading, deleting until I understood all the senseless of the process.

At this moment all music in the world have been divided into two classes for me – music that is good enough for me so that I will listen to it for my entire life, and music, which is so “nothing”, that is only worthy of brief one-time listening.

Since then, I stopped downloading anything from the internet.

All of my favourite albums have been already bought long time ago on CDs and on vinyls, and of course they were regulars on my iPod.

I switched to the radio-listener almost completely.

By radio, I certainly do not mean that mediocrity that is presented on the FM in Russia (and not only there). I am talking about real radio, the one that internet gives me in the form of thousands of stations from all over the world, in quality that is acceptable for one-time music.

Soon I discovered real practical benefits of this kind of music listening.

Unlike their prehistoric “colleagues” on the FM, real radio stations always tell me what they are playing at the moment. This leads to a huge number of musical discoveries, which I could only dream of before. I often come across real masterpieces, which I would never get to know through visiting countless music websites, with millions of bands whose names don’t tell me much.

And when I come across them, I get an opportunity to explore the band’s creativity and perhaps to buy their CD. Or download…

But it depends on the degree of the genius of the album and its ability to stand on a shelf next to ‘Queen: The Night at the Opera’ or ‘Air: Moon Safari’.

Record industry now has one and only chance to sell something to me: to show me something that I can strongly fall in love with. Love it so much that I will willingly want to buy it and put on my shelf. I think that it won’t have any other way ever again.

From now on, only super-rarities will be sold for money. Masterpieces that are impossible to pass by. And whether record industry will offer me such music or not, it remains its own problem.

But I do not rule out another scenario, furthermore, I feel it would be ideal.

By the moment record business almost ceases generating income (and this will happen for sure), all those involved in music just for money will have left it.

The few that remain will be creating music only because they have real spiritual needs fro that.

And, as usually in such cases, all that is done with soul will be so good that we will desire to buy it again.

It’s never too much when it comes to the real music…

Record industry in the state it has reached, does not like their customers. It does not like artists either. The record industry loves only itself. And this is the reason why the energy it spends does not come back to it in any form.

I started this article with a quote from King Crimson, and will finish it with the last line of the last song of the last LP by The Beatles.

This message has a strong meaning and is the quintessence of what the band wanted to say to the world. It shows their true attitude to people and creativity, and that is why records of this band is sold and will always be.

If the record industry could apply these words to itself just for a little, then it has a chance.

- and in the end the love you take

is equal to the love you make (The Beatles).

/translation from russian/

About the Author

Cartoon/Comic book creator software?

Was just wondering. Is there any cartoon/comic book character creation software out there? I am talking about fun 'avatar' building software, which doesn't involve drawing yourself, but perhaps choosing options off the software? Something that would allow you to make your own comic book strip, but for fun rather than a professional 'artists' programme?Answers would be much appreciated!

manga studios, but i dont see why u cant draw it your self

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Artist equally comfortable at laptop or easel

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How to make a Photo Slideshow DVD with digital photos

Sometimes,people would like to share their photos with friends.But how to share photos with firends? What is the best way to share photos with friends easily? As for me,I will make a dynamic photo slideshow DVD or video to share photographs with friends.But how to make a photo slideshow DVD easily?

Of course, to create a slide show can be using any video editor. But if you do not feel too confident with such programs, it makes sense to look at the special tool designed exclusively for the slideshow. Here is an  slideshow programs will be discussed in this article about how to make photo slideshow DVD.

Since the program are designed primarily for home users, they have a fairly simple interface, with which the strength to understand, even the older generation. Typically, a program for creating slide shows have similar features: allow to create a project based on the photos, arranging them in the correct order, to determine the duration of display for each image on the screen, add transition effects and sound, and then burn the project to DVD or stored in any other convenient format.

At the interface of DVD Photo Slideshow Pro, as already considered in my  DVD Slideshow Builder, It is tab, resulting in a single window is placed a maximum of tool for creating slideshows. Effectively used, even a status bar: it can specify in what format you want to save videos and see how much space your project.

The program has a built-in file manager, allowing you to preview and select pictures, without resorting to other applications for viewing images. In the transition to the folder that contains the photos, the program immediately creates thumbnails. You can add photos to the project by one or a whole folder at once.

Very convenient that the sizes of all elements of the program's interface can be changed. Therefore, after the selection of photos can be, for example, to maximize an area where you put pictures slide show, by reducing the size of the file manager.

Work on the slide show is divided into several simple steps. After adding the photos is to determine the order in which order they will be displayed on the screen. If the order is incorrect, then it can be changed. Tab Transition & Music, you can work on sound and visual design slideshow. Transition effects between pictures will be added automatically, but you can change and those that you prefer. It is worth noting that the DVD Photo Slideshow Pro allows you to opt out of transition effects, if you consider them irrelevant.

By clicking on the pictures to the storyboard panel, you can switch to the setting window. While in Photo Configuration, you will be able to determine the transition effects, and set the animation of each photo. Despite the fact that when you create a slide show does not use animated images, DVD Photo Slideshow Pro can create psevdoanimatsiyu, adding the effects of pan and zoom images. Such effects are often used to create slide shows and enliven them.

 In the same window Photo Configuration you can add pictures to text labels. These labels can contain text, entered by the user, or added automatically, based on the macro. For example, you can use these macros, as the current date, the date the picture was taken, file name, number slide, etc.

Another interesting possibility, which deals with registration of the slideshow - the large number of vector elements that can be added to the image. You can mark them anywhere in the picture and choose the right size for them. This may be goggles, hats, candles, balloons with text, such as those which can be seen in comic books, etc.

To place a slideshow is very interesting to use subjects - various thematic framework,which is framed photos. In the program a lot of different themes for the photo collection: holiday, vacation, sports, romance, etc.

In fact, there are templates for creating menus for DVD. Very convenient that when creating the menu can not be limited to only those templates that are offered in the program, and use as a background image, any image that is on your hard drive. Funds for the menu, of course, are not as flexible as in specialized programs for DVD-authoring, but some freedom of action still exists. So, you can control the display of menus and album name, choose the color elements and background music that will accompany the show.

 

After the photo slideshow DVD finishing creating,you can first play it on your computer,then you can play it on YV with DVD player easily.You can also control the DVD menu ro play the slideshow DVD at your pleasure.You can see the dynamic photo slideshows with backgroud music. OK,there is a successful photo slideshow DVD you created now.Congratulation to you !

About the Author

I am a girl from China.I want to make friends all over the world.
I like using the Photo Slideshow DVD software to make photo slideshow DVD to show my photographs with friends

app for viewing cbz and cbr comic book files on iphone?

hey guys, i was wondering if there was any app , via itunes store or cydia, to view comic books such as cbz and cbr? thanks.

alex m, I've had my iPhone for 4 weeks and my battery doesn't last too.

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Drama ahead for Veronica as gay teen joins Archie cast

Veronica Lodge will have trouble landing a date with the newest guy at Riverdale High, after Archie Comics announced that Kevin Keller will be the long-running comic's first gay character.

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Career in Graphic Arts

Graphic arts refers to the artistic interpretation and creation of design through artistic expression. In other words, graphic art is the art of visualizing ideas. Graphic artists use their creativity and talent to design, display, advertise, package and promote. Graphic design is seen everywhere in the world around us – from books and magazines, food products, cars, household appliances, clothing, computers, and everything in between.

A graphic artist is also often referred to as a graphic designer. He or she uses a diverse range of media to create designs and visually convey a message or an idea to the public. Since the aim of a graphic designer is to enhance the image and saleability of a product, the work profile could encompass designs for websites, logos, stationery, print material, advertisements, films and videos, posters, brochures, and other promotional materials. Responsibilities could also include overseeing layouts during printing of magazines, books and newspapers, designing sets for theatre and film and even furniture design. Many graphic designers still use traditional tools such as pencil, ink and paper but more and more now rely on computer aided technology and the latest design software to enhance their work.

Graphic artists are required to hold a Graphic Arts degree or a diploma in Graphic Design, Visual Art or Commercial Art. In addition to this, hands-on experience is necessary along with a portfolio full of ideas and work. A graphic artist needs to be independent and self motivated and possess the imagination and creativity to deal with a range of subjects and products. A close attention to detail and an instinct for color, shape and form is essential. A good graphic artist would be one with an exposure to a wide range of media and communication techniques. He or she will be fluent in handling all sorts of tools, techniques, drawings and models. Graphic designers need to evaluate their customer’s needs and must be adept at all sorts of sales and marketing strategies. Therefore, a comprehensive knowledge of theory and methodology is required to excel in this type of career.

Today, good Graphic Design Programs mix creativity with technology and business skills. Course material should include (among others) – Web page design, Flash, Typography, JavaScript, Web Animation, Photoshop, Illustrator, Pre-press Operations, Internet Management, Marketing, Computer Fundamentals, and Desktop Publishing.

Graphic designers have the choice to work alone or as a part of a large design team. They could opt for consultancy services or freelance work if they do not want to be tied down to a particular design studio or advertising agency. Media opportunities for graphic artists could be found in print, packaging, movie, video, television or radio. Graphic artists can be employed by magazines or newspapers, books, advertising agencies and graphic design firms as well as non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, companies and for specific events.

A career in design could lead to various positions in the field of graphic arts such as Art director, Directors - state, motion picture, television, radio, Visual artists, Animators, Children book illustrators, Commercial and industrial designer, Fashion designer, Interior designer, Set designer, Painters and illustrators, Cartoonist, comic book artists, Camera operator, television, video or motion picture operators, Desktop publisher, Composing room supervisor and Online producer.

And as the years go by, jobs for graphic designers are only expected to rise and individuals with experience in animation and Web design will have the best opportunity to qualify for the newer job positions being created in the fields of technology. A career in graphic design is assuredly fast growing and one that is becoming more and more competitive with every passing day. People now recognize the earning potential of such a career and the flexibility and independence offered by the choices within this field. Whether you work full-time in a small studio or large agency or freelance full-time on your own terms, the bottom line is that graphic arts is a great choice for people who need to express themselves creatively and earn well at the same time.

About the Author

Stevens-Henager College was established in 1891 and is distinguished as one of the oldest colleges in Utah. It has trained generations of graduates through its on-campus and online programs for Master's, Bachelor's, and Associate's Degrees. Stevens-Henager College also offers FastFlex online degree programs for working professionals. Stevens-Henager’s degree programs help enhance your career and your qualifications, while placement staff helps to find exciting job openings and even setting up interviews as well.

Does anybody know any good Comic book inking techniques?

I want to be able to make better looking black and white images.

How about using the power of a photocopier in order to make the pages of the comic book. You can use sources like photoshop on a computer in order to decorate and design as well as beautiful inking for the comic.

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More great Comic Book Queen Aleta items at Amazon:

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How to Become a Superhero in 5 Easy Steps

So you're not more powerful than a locomotive? Who cares?

Just saw the superhero movie, Kick-Ass, and it raised an intriguing question: just because we're not superhuman, can we lead superheroic lives? I believe the answer is yes, and I believe we can do it in five easy steps! (Okay, they're not super easy, but anyone can do it.) No rippling muscles, awesome brain power, or fancy gadgets needed.

1. Create a super identity.

In the original Superman movie, young Clark Kent's father tells him, "There's one thing that I do know, son, and that is, you are here for a reason." So, Clark might ask himself: Who am I? Why am I here? What good am I doing? That's our identity. A parent, a friend, a daughter, a student, an employee, a citizen, an artist, a whatever … they're all part of it.

To create a super identity, just imagine yourself as you want to be … your ideal self. I'm not just a parent, I'm a super parent. What does that look like? I'm not just a friend, I'm a super friend. What does that look like?

That's not to say we can dip into a phone booth (Do they still exist?) and emerge as Captain Perfect Person. No one's perfect, not even superheroes. We merely want to take an honest look at who we are and who we aspire to be. Then work at moving from here to there. We don't have to leap tall buildings in a single bound, either. Just get in the habit of asking ourselves in everyday situations: "How would my superheroic self handle this?" And go from there.

2. Activate our super powers.

A cool thing about superheroes: they're all good at different things. Lot's and lot's of diversity. Some are really flexible, some are really fast, some can see things others can't, some are technical whizzes, some can move things with their mind. It's the same for us. We all have special talents and passions. We just have to know what they are and develop them.

Try this. List several things you're especially good at (or things you'd like to be especially good at): math, cooking, computers, comic book trivia, relating to people, making people laugh, making your dog laugh, whatever. We'll say these are your core super powers. Next, write down what makes each of your core super powers special: why it's valuable to you and rest of the world. Math, for example is the language of the universe; without it, we wouldn't even know where the Martian Manhunter comes from. Last, keep your core super powers in mind and look for opportunities to use them and improve them, every day. It's that simple. Know your strengths. Try to excel at the things you do best and like doing. Make the most of what you got.

3. Get a sidekick or two.

Superheroing can be a lonely business. We're out there all day (or all night), fighting the good fight, taking on all the supervillainous things that threaten our world. And who's there to help? Who's got our back? Every superhero in the history of comic books has teamed up with someone else to defeat some monstrous threat they couldn't handle alone: think Justice League and the Avengers.

We need a support team: one or more trustworthy people who get us, get what we're trying to do, and will pull us up by the cape when we need it. Diversity, again, is good. Our team members should bring different, constructive perspectives and a variety of super powers to the mix. But we must choose wisely: Blank Slate Man and Eternal Pessimist Girl might need to stay behind.

4. Be brave and bold.

Riddle me this: What are the chilliest 12 inches in the world? Cold feet.

Does it take more courage to venture down a dark alley on occasion or to face a life of no ventures at all? Both can be pretty scary. The truth is, our super identity is just a vision … a bold vision. It stays secreted up in the attic until we choose to take it down and make it a reality, which might require us to step into a few dark alleys; that's the nature of living a superheroic life.

Steve Jobs (whose black mock turtleneck and Levi's 501s are as iconic as any spandex super-costume out there) offered the following advice: "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become." That's good counsel. He also suggested we check out Marvel Comic's new iPad app.

5. Live the code.

The superhero code is pretty simple, though it trips a lot of us up. It basically tells us to not be bad guys. Superheroes sacrifice to protect others. They use their powers for good. They don't cheat or lie (maliciously) or steal or take advantage of people. They are good role models, and they do the right things, even when no one is watching.

Again, nobody's perfect, but our choices in life become far simpler when we set the standards for our own character and engage the daily struggle not to violate them. Gossip about my neighbor? I don't think so. Let a friend down who's counting on me? I'd have to have a very good reason. Cheat on my taxes? Of course not. Leave a cat in a tree? (How tall is the tree?) No … wait … heck, no! I'd at least call somebody.

There are, obviously, other superheroic steps we can take, but these are the fantastic five you might start with. Take them out for a spin and see how high you can fly.

About the Author

Dave Neal is a senior partner at 4th Street Training, a premiere instructional design group that helps move individuals and organizations to new levels. Learn more at http://www.4thstreettraining.com/

OK-let's try a little comic book trivia...1) Where does Superman live and work?

2)Where does Batman live?
3) What was the name of Supergirl's home city on Krypton?
4)What is the name of Supergirl's horse?
5)What planet was Mon-el born on?
6)Name any of Superman's girlfriends besides Lois Lane or Lana Lang.
7)From what city does the Green Arrow hail?
8)Name any Legion of Super Member other than Superboy, Supergirl or Saturn Girl
9)Who played the hulk on the tv show-( The big angry green guy)?
10)What is the effect of gold kryptonite on Superman, Supergirl, etc.?
First to answer all 10 correctly takes home the points or, in the unlikely event noone gets them all, the person with the most correct answers after 24 hrs. wins.
#8 should have read-"name any member of the Legion of Super Heroes" of course.

1Metropolis, Daily Planet
2Gotham City
3Argo City
4Comet
5Daxam
6Chloe Sullivan
7Star City
8Cosmic Boy
9Lou Ferrigno
10permanently removes superpowers

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