Vigorously Lazy

So Very Happy.

heavener — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

This feels like it's been popping up everywhere, but if you haven't seen it yet, this print from daseychic is a one of the least saccharin filled daily affirmations I've ever seen. It also sets itself from other daily affirmations in that it works somewhat.

Dr. Death.

heavener — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

About

admin — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:32:26 +0000

This is an example of a WordPress page, you could edit this to put information about yourself or your site so readers know where you are coming from. You can create as many pages like this one or sub-pages as you like and manage all of your content inside of WordPress.

beanforweb

admin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:10:32 +0000

Halloween.

heavener — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:46:43 +0000

Halloween

heavener — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:53:13 +0000

Trav and the goils were at my house the week before Halloween.

A Love Dog got booked at Gainesville Fest so we were trying to get it tight all week.

We hadn't played a show together in two years. Michelle had never sang on stage before.

They left a day before Halloween so we had our own little celebration on Devil's Night.

I doused T with silly string.

Somehow, this crazy old dude just walked right in my house and started telling all these really inappropriate jokes.

Turned out he was a forest demon and started going around biting all of us and infecting us with his crazy.

Josh pretended to be a soap opera star to stave the old demon off.

Then the demon morphed into a dead biker.

And that was just more than Josh could bear.

The forest demon is neither a forest, nor a demon. Discuss.

"Lapdaaance?! Anybody want a lapdaaaaaaaaance!?"

Costume aftermath. See you dudes and dudettes in G-ville!

The Fest pt. 1

heavener — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:34:43 +0000

Hey Ben. I like your new whip.

Hey Anne. I like your new grill.

Hey B. I like your new bus.

Coalesce. They have to be seen to be believed, my friends. Last time I saw them was Michigan fest 2002. They are still lighting people ears on fire.

And lighting my eyes on fire with their new t's.

Maxin'.

Relaxin'.

When did G-ville become such a hippy town?

Mike getting ready to rock. Hey dude, can I just play something real quick?

Yes!

At the Able Baker Fox show I kind of fell into photo happy mode and started asking interesting looking folks if I could take their pics. I like this dude a lot. I feel like he'd be happy to take me surfing tomorrow.

ABF.

Interesting looking person #2. I feel like this person knows a lot about engineering and used to huff a ton of glue back in high school.

Dude on the left in the blue T was feeling it. It was hard not to. Dudes rip! And they were LOUD.

This is one of about a thousand photos I took of Michi and Lishi.

Jeff is trying to play cool like he can lift Trav no problem, but look how red his face is.

I think these dudes have known each other from birth.

The Fest pt. 2

heavener — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:20:30 +0000

Jeff starts each morning with a few binding poses. Josh starts off with some feverish crotch drumming.

Girls start out in a different way.

"What's that? Would I like a progressive bumper sticker? You bet your ass I would."

Girls through the glass. In case you can't tell I'm in love with these two.

If I had $700 to drop on a bong I would have got that dragon for Trav

Free jimmy hats. Makes a lot of sense in a college town.

People deal with pre-show jitters differently. I tend to freak out and go blind from hyper-tension. Jeff likes to razor scooter.

We played Sunday. After four days of being overrun by crusties, almost every inch University Ave. looked like this.

Antarctic. Very talented instrumental dudes (from St. Augustine, I believe) played after us. I don't have any pics from us playing. They are floating around Myspace somewhere. We've got footage, I just have to upload it. It was a crazy show. We practiced all week and all fucked up in some capacity. Doesn't matter. Was still a fun weekend.

"I'm gonna miss you, bro."

"Not as much as I'm gonna miss you, bro."

"Not as much I'm gonna enjoy this 'za, bro."

Yo.

heavener — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:26:44 +0000

Hey dudes and dudettes, This your boy KANE here. I started a new personal (read: shameless self-promotion) blog so I could keep the Annalemma blog clear for magazine business only. I'm gonna be posting a lot more here than I was on the old site now that it's all about me, me, me. I already posted some photos from the past couple weeks up here. Keep an eye out for more. I'm gonna try and have as much original content as I can. Don't get all up in my face if some reposting goes down. I know I went on a whole thing a year or so ago about reposting blogs being total bullshit. Let's just acknowledge that I'm a hypocrite and move on (Deep breath) Good. Now that's out of the way, let's have some fun.

Wait is over.

heavener — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:48:53 +0000

The new site finally launched this morning. It was a hard battle but here we stand, clothes torn, breathe heavy, bianary numbers and silicon chips stuck in our teeth. Go check out our spoils of war: www.annalemma.net And don't forget to buy some shit! Gotta make them duckets.

Bonfire

heavener — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:38:17 +0000

Weather is getting unbearably cold in Florida (read: 50 to 60 degrees, almost tropical by Midwest standards), so Jason open the fire pit up for the season.

A beautiful phenomenon that is happening all over town right now.

Everyone says they see a demon in the pic.

It's just the top of Ryan's head. Which is pretty evil in its own right.

Beautiful lighting for beautiful ladies.

Leah writes romance novels under the name Veronica Beatrice Robishaw and she asked me to take this picture for her book jacket covers.

"We must ride again, amigo."

"But we swore to Padre Rodriguez that we would never ride again." "Yes, but my sister has been has been dishonored by the coward Capitan Finch." "Then what are we waiting for? Vaminos amigo! Let us ride like the wind!"

And this is why we don't turn the flash on at the bonfire.

This is also why.

Arts 'n farts 'n crafts

heavener — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:50:45 +0000

Jason and Gabbi picked me up from my regularly scheduled Sunday afternoon slovenliness at took me to the Rollins Gallery.

Rembrandt made this etching of a dude peeing. He's holding his dong upside down and backwards, if that makes sense. It was probably fashionable at the time.

So tiny.

We were there to see the Josef Albers exhibit. Apparently he's a color genius. To me that's like saying you're an eating genius.

Those bricks are both the same shade of red. Illusion.

Jason and Gabbi, learnin' shit.

These were pretty cool.

This lady did these massive surreal triptychs that were covered in a shiny corvette-like resin.

Those flower stems were made with bomb fuses.

Pretty rad, though the giant flowers kind of ruined it for me.

I'm really pumped that Jason and Gabbi rescued me from the Sunday Blues.

And Chase is back from LA!

10

heavener — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:14:57 +0000

101

heavener — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:15:20 +0000

Mini Martinez.

heavener — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:22:53 +0000

I've been getting really into this dude Alexander Martinez lately. He does some stuff with Hamburger Eyes. Here's a mini interview with him on FecalFace.com. Even more reason to get excited about Alexander is because it looks like we may get the chance to do something with him in the future. Woo Hoo!

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heavener — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:57:23 +0000

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heavener — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:07:07 +0000

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heavener — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:09:31 +0000

Mask.

heavener — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:10:50 +0000

Cara got on the ichat after months of unintentional radio silencio. She gave me a virtual studio tour and showed me her mask collection: Hey! It'sa da Pope! She freaking made these. Out of what, I'm not sure. All I know is I'm impressed. And jealous. End of virtual studio tour. Keep in touch stranger. See you at Art Basel.

Junot Diaz.

heavener — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:04:16 +0000

I know this absolute gem came out almost a year ago, but I'm still kind of reeling over how dope it was. Buy it, check it out of your library, read the shit out of it two times, love it. Here's a kinda cool interview with the man himself c/o Google. I don't know if it's bad sound or something but you kind of get the sense that the Google minions don't really give a shit about having a Pulitzer Prize winner in their midst. I guess only nerds like myself care about that sort of thing. Anywhatsit...can't embed, must click link.

MAKR bag shoot.

heavener — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:55:46 +0000

Jason came over to my crib cause he wanted to shoot his bags.

And not the bags you're thinking about.

I'm talking about his testicles.

Josh was the model, of course.

What's the matter Jason? Am I too much of a man for you? You need a waifish, ladyboy like J Man?

Just kidding. J Man's beard kind of out-man's us all.

Sexy man.

Sexy man got places to go with his new tote. What kind of secrets you hiding in that tote, sexy man?

He's an angel he is.

And there's the shot. See? You gotta provoke your subject to get what you need. You're welcome.

Lovely Dogs.

heavener — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:37:46 +0000

Jeff got around to posting that Love Dog show that I was telling you about on YouberTuber. There's the whole set is here. There's about seven jams total, though I think the adrift was the best. Anybody know how to embed this YouTube stuff? I'm clueless.

Mountain Home.

heavener — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:45:15 +0000

Gabbi and Jason blew my mind the other day when they came over to give me a mini pumpkin pie.

Awesome and delicious.

Then a homeless dude busted in my crib and started eating it. Stay away from that shit dude! That's my pie!

Lea's been flooding Orlando with these new fixed gear Vans.

Kind of a ridiculous notion, but I will say that the reflective piping looks pretty cool with the flash and my feet feel espescially secure while riding.

Then, like a bullet train, we left to spend time with a rarely seen faction of the family.

Up in the Misty Mountains.

I wasn't gonna blog about this cause I'm a little uneasy about telling a shit ton of people when I'm not going to be in my house for a long period of time, but Chase already blew my cover. Oh well. I've got nothing of value in that house anyway, unless you consider a collection of Nicholas Cage action movies something of value.

It's so cold and quiet up here I feel like I'm on the moon.

I pretty much school my mom, my aunt and Pattie at Boggle.

Meanwhile the men were hooking up a ginormous TV for my Grandpops.

My cousin, Cam, is an engineer and hooking up a DVD player to a flat screen holds no mysteries for him.

This, however, does not preclude the rest of the menfolk to tell him what he is doing wrong every step of the way.

Pull up a chair for a big steaming bowl of familial dramady. Yum, yum.

il_430xn23174138

heavener — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:08:25 +0000

il_430xn231741381

heavener — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:08:55 +0000

il_430xn231741382

heavener — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:12:13 +0000

So Very Happy

heavener — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:14:14 +0000

This feels like it's been popping up everywhere, but if you haven't seen it yet, this print from daseychic has to be the least saccharine-filled daily affirmation I've ever seen. It also sets itself apart from other affirmations in that it's somewhat effective. Kudos dasey.

xgiving

heavener — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:26:03 +0000

Happy T Bird Day.

heavener — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:26:44 +0000

Now let's carbo load like we're running the NY Marathon.

Trapped.

heavener — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:54:49 +0000

Still in the land of mountains. Wondering if I'l ever leave.

But we got good friends here, so it's okay.

We took a road trip to West Jellystone...

...to what I can only imagine is the most depressing place in the entire park.

You said it dude. Polar Bear from Lost in the background, btw.

It gets weirder.

Trapped grizzlies.

Welcome to the West Yellowstone Bear and Wolf Experience. Bears and wolves that have become too sensitized to humans are collected and kept in captivity here. If they weren't in this sanctuary they would be put to death.

Honestly, I don't know what is worse, death or a cage.

All I know is that this place is a bummer.

Bear trap.

Medieval looking bear trap.

The crows here can grow up to three feet in height cause people feed them so much. Technically that might make then ravens.

Alright, let's leave this shitty place.

Meanwhile, back at the homested, Grandpops was listening to his new iPod.

He didn't know how to turn it up so he just started screaming, "VOLUME!" Laugh if you want, you've done it too.

Paris, je t'aime.

heavener — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:35:41 +0000

I figured out how to embed stuff! Hooray for me. To celebrate, here is the best skate part I've seen in years. It's more of a visual bittersweet love letter to Paris than it is a showcase for dope skating. If you told the 15-year-old me that I'd ever type that last sentence I'd have called you a bullshitter. Regardless, this is a pretty stunning piece.

decathlon launch copy

heavener — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:07:23 +0000

Todd Jordan.

heavener — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:09:35 +0000

An internet bud of mine is having a show at Art Basel next week for his new photo book. Should be an awesome event. I'm going. You should too. Which reminds me, my whip is M.I.A. Anybody wanna gimme a ride?

More Mountains.

heavener — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:32:47 +0000

Here's the last of the Montana pics.

Downtown Boseman.

At lunch Cam illustrated how missiles worked.

Chase's blog headquarters.

When we got back to the mountain we saw that it was on fire.

We stopped to take photos.

I asked Cam if he ever did any professional modeling. He told me only in his younger and more impressionable days.

I thought we were in the middle of a forest fire. Turns out it was just a controlled burn.

The next day, in order to earn our turkey, we took a hike.

The forest reminded me of E.T. for some reason.

Steep areas.

A true mover and shaker, my dad was on his Blackberry the whole time.

Ice falls 1.

Ice falls 2. I was under the impression that I waterfall couldn't freeze seeing as it's moving. Turns out they freeze just like unmoving water and people like to climb up and down them.

Megan holding a brand from my Granpops old ranch.

Chase and I tried a new carving technique this year. I learned it from Alton Brown. You get a lot more meat out of it and you don't have to shave the thing down to the bone.

Guess what's next?

Alright, now I'm tired. Damn tryptophan. Night everybody.

image54

heavener — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:25:27 +0000

Nick Dewar.

heavener — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:28:42 +0000

Been a fan of this guy for a bit. Been thinking about getting him involved for #5, just waiting for the right story to come down the pipe. And the dough. He seems a little out of our price range. But it looks like he'd be worth it. Go to his site to see his beautiful, beautiful images.

Me. Ah, me. pt 1

heavener — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:15:06 +0000

I haven't been to Miami in 6 years. And the last time I was there was kind of a bummer.

But I'm a different person now and I think this was the best time I've ever had there, hands down.

Mainly because this awesome person was there.

And we got to eat awesome food.

And wear awesome hats.

Spanning time with friends has always been preferable instead of going to some club, which is where, I think, most bad Miami vibes come from.

Regardless, we hit the streets in search of an industry event.

And it didn't fail to disappoint. So we said, "Fuck this place, let's go get rad."

And we did.

This girl was giving Matt a hard time at the sandwich joint and kept saying Obama was her cousin.

And internet bud Todd Jordan is now real life bud.

My favorite part of the night, pigging out on sandwiches at 3am.

And tomorrow, we art.

Me. Ah, me. pt 2

heavener — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:59:42 +0000

I almost busted my head open trying to take this pic.

Suck it in Matt.

Bet yall don't know nothing bout this.

Lookin sharp!

I couldn't ask for anything more beautiful. Riding bikes along the water with dear old friends.

COOL! Imagine road-tripping all over Fiji with that thing.

Trip out! This is an actual tube thing and not a camera filter. Wild!

Cara asked me what I would take home if I could. I said this thing.

Beekeepers are the new hot thing, FYI.

Mr. McGee. This was easily the best art fair I've ever been to.

The text at the bottom reads:

The word derives from the Hebrew abreg ad hirbra meaning, 'strike dead with thy lightning'. In Hebrew it comprises nine letters. Placing aleph on the left side of the triangle is the magical (illegible).

I thought "strike dead with thy lightening" would be a good band name.

Whoa.

Cara gave us a little info on Henry Darger.

Okay, someone give this guy the "Creepiest" award.

haha.

These dudes were sewing themselves together with red thread. I thought it was really cool and kind of touching. Then about twenty minutes later I saw them walking out of the fair, totally separated and going to get a sandwich at the snack stand. Totally ruined it for me.

I thought this piece (called 'Group Show') was bullshit till I started reading the names out loud.

Keep dreaming sister.

Thomas and his Roller Ball gloves.

Then we went to the Scope far, which was fun.

Ugh, this dude again. What compels a man to cover his Miata with mirrors?

Dear friends, we don't see each other enough.

stephen

heavener — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:57:15 +0000

Raid.

heavener — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:00:10 +0000

This guy's graphics and illustrations are good for a mid-afternoon chuckle/heartwarming.

Hey! Steve!

heavener — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:51:29 +0000

Look who made a cameo at the office today. It's Theo and Steve!

Steve likes to kick it under my desk.

And he gnaws on anything within mouths reach.

He likes bananas.

Eclipse gum, not so much.

He loves Jum Blo gumballs.

I mean LOVES 'EM.

New York City?!

heavener — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:56:44 +0000

David and I went up last weekend to kick off Christmas with this girl and her roomates.

We were out of our fucking minds with excitement.

They were throwing a big fancy party (for us), so to get out of their party-planning hair Dave and I decided to go to MOMA. This was my favorite piece.

This one was pretty cool too. There was this entire exhibit about the history of printing. It was really extensive and interesting but I couldn't focus on it. There was a voice in my head that kept saying, "You should really be paying attention with all of this. This has to do with you." But there was another part of me that was saying, "Meh, too much work."

Or we'll chop your fingers off.

I think Bob would've creamed his jeans over this dude.

I guess the real interesting about MOMA is that people of all ages, races, and genders can sit on a plush, eyeball-shaped couch in the middle of a large room and watch a movie of a naked woman crawling through a field.

Meanwhile, back at the lab. There are two inappropriately decorated cookies here. Can you spot them?

This tiny apartment is about to explode.

Lookin' sharp!

Lookin' hot!

It started to snow just as the guests started to arrive.

Emily said her earrings hurt. I said I'd be the judge of that.

Am I the only one who feels compelled to roll around in all these coats?

Poor dude got jumped the night before and beat with a bat. Still in holiday spirits though. Way to be positive dude!

80 people in a 700 sq. ft. apartment.

Best looking couple of the night.

Ugh, get it together dude. It's not even midnight. Anna and Emily sure do know a lot of preppy dudes.

Robo Albino Preppy.

circle

heavener — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:43:38 +0000

Nice.

heavener — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:48:48 +0000

Came across this little project this afternoon. Only visit them if you like good things.

thith1

heavener — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:44:12 +0000

Hundreds.

heavener — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:47:33 +0000

Got to chatting with a friend from the old days, Josh Johnson, this afternoon and he opened my eyes to all the deliciously decadent things happening to the beautiful young'ns in La La Land. Check out this music blog/band/zine and get motivated to do something with your life.

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heavener — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:51:41 +0000

Moments Ago.

heavener — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:46:22 +0000

Holy shit! Who is this guy? I think I have positive ID on the suspect:

page1

heavener — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:06:56 +0000

You're doing it wrong.

heavener — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:10:47 +0000

Got a stickler for clean lines and serious typography in your life? This is for them. Looks like I know what I'm getting Bob for Christmas.

Bike Weekend.

heavener — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:30:49 +0000

In conjunction with Orlando Bike Weekend, Blackshaw opened up his new bike shop. Check it out here: myspace.com/acemetricorlando

People were flying off the walls with excitement.

If you live in the area and you're into bikes then you should spend every dollar in your posession at this shop.

Matha was a little bummed when he found out he was the only one who adhered to the dress code.

Bet you didn't know there's such a thing as bike nerds.

Bike weekend wasn't the only thing goin on. It was also Orlando Dance Weekend.

Bike nerds don't know nothin about this.

Yeah! Get it Gabi!

Yeah Lea! Get that M.C. Hammer crab walk!

Jason doesn't dance. He just rides strange bikes.

There was some sort of wacky race the next day.

At one of the checkpoints you were required to eat a plate of cold mashed potatoes. Ugh.

This guy just showed up out of nowhere.

They showed this Council of Doom movie at Backbooth. Frankly, it was really fucking boring. I think they blew their wad with the trailer: http://vimeo.com/796328

At least someone was having fun.

Enough with the bikes already.

We went back to Jason's to decorate Christmas trees.

I made the world's longest friendship bracelet.

Jen put it on top of her tree.

Roster.

heavener — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:47:12 +0000

The lineup for Annalemma Issue #4 got announced today. Check it out over here. Don't feel bad if you didn't make the cut. I almost didn't put myself in this issue.

The Forking.

heavener — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:38:44 +0000

Dear friend, Cara, has been working on some art for this Mexico City musician Natalia Lafourcade for the past few months now. She sent me Lafourcade's new jam and I loved it (though I'm not sure if I can post it here seeing as the album isn't out yet and I don't want to get my friend in trouble with Sony). Check out this jam that appears to be part of some sound track to a Mexican indie film: UPDATE: Video removed, click here. This one's pretty fun too: UPDATE: Video removed (wtf?), click here. She apparently started out doing nueva bossa nova type stuff, her new stuff sounds different though. Check out La 4 Estaciones del Amor (The 4 Seasons of Love), an instrumental EP. Very good, uplifting and, at times, sweetly sad stuff. Also, according to wiki, her name is French and means "the forking", in reference to a road. If I were a music writer I'd point out how symbolic her name is in regard to her shifting musical styles. But I'm not. So I won't.

father

heavener — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:37:36 +0000

Casey.

heavener — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:40:33 +0000

From the department of freaky Friday: Go spend some time in John Casey's wild wonderful world.

r0012404

heavener — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:57:46 +0000

r00124041

heavener — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:00:33 +0000

Exif_JPEG_PICTURE

Hardly Working.

heavener — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:05:57 +0000

Me and this dude are finishing up the new issue today and tomorrow. Don't bug us. Unless it has something to do with this.

picture-2

heavener — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:02:16 +0000

Cover Songs.

heavener — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:10:00 +0000

Here's a taste of the fruits of me and Bob's labor. Well, Bob's labor mainly. I mostly sit around being fed grapes by young Argentinian women and shoot all of Bob's ideas down whenever he surfaces from the design dungeon. So this is the new cover. The image is by Justin Gibbens. More on him, and other contributors, in the future. Enjoy this for now and brace yourself for the issue #4 hype train.

howardduck5

heavener — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 21:28:55 +0000

Howard the Duck.

heavener — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 21:44:57 +0000

Holy Shit. Hulu just recently posted Howard the Duck. Howard the fucking Duck. The entire movie. For your viewing pleasure. For free. When this movie first came out I wasn't allowed to watch it due to all the gratuitous sex in it (still got a PG rating somehow). But I've been intrigued by it ever since. Why? Not sure, maybe just cause the simple look of the Howard character is so creepy, borderline nightmarish, and I wanted to see how if the filmmakers got away with making him endearing. It's really hard to find on DVD and if you want the VHS you have to search around eBay. So I was really psyched when I saw it posted up there. But then I watched it. Wow. I wish my parents had let me watch this movie when I was five as it's probably the only age where I would have enjoyed the shit out it. Honestly, the script sounds like it was written by a smart-ass middle schooler. The puns, the corny one-liners, the space aliens, the rockin' guitar solos, and let's not forget the gratuitous sex that barred me from seeing it in the first place. It was filled to the brim with all of that and more. Things I can't believe: That this movie got past a pitch meeting, much less got made. That George Lucas produced it. That I watched the whole thing start to finish. And I loved it. While you may not enjoy subjecting yourself to shitty movies as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to see this film. If only to say that you have. Plus it's the holidays, you've got nothing to do tomorrow so pop some popcorn and get read for a quack-tastic time.

Submissions etc.

heavener — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:04:32 +0000

If you've submitted to the mag in the past month and haven't got a response yet, there's an explanation over at the mag site. And for the non-submitters, the explanation is followed by a juicy rant wherein I write something I later regret.

photo

heavener — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:05:19 +0000

Spotted.

heavener — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:07:10 +0000

Dear friend, Rose, spotted us on a NYC news stand. Pretty cool!

Happy New Year!

heavener — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:49:03 +0000

Happy New Year Y'all! I rang it in at Jen's house. Gabbi made a wicked spread

There was a mustache theme.

I call this one the Gentleman.

And this one, the Perv.

Hands down, best 'staches.

I turned the tables on beer and gave it a mustache for once.

The John Waters.

The Vincent Price. My finest creation.

Dude had a pretty spot-on Chaplin.

Who'd have thought mustachioed ladies could be so hot.

I call this one the Horizon.

The Vincent Price with optional Soul Patch.

I love all my friends. And I told them so last night. Hope I didn't freak yall out too much.

Stole this idea from J. Hopper. Trying to start a new tradition. We wrote one thing down that we were going to leave in '08 and then burned it in the back yard.

I think you're supposed to scatter the ashes, but someone poured beer in the pot and ruined it. Oh well, guess we don't get to progress this year.

New Year, new 'do.

Nastrovia!

Resolutions:

1. Yoga 5 days a week.

2. Hang out with my friends as much as possible.

3. Live in the moment. Always.

picture-1

heavener — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:07:09 +0000

Noir.

heavener — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:11:12 +0000

I bought that Arcade Fire tour doc over the weekend. I love that Neon Bible album and they got a shit ton of footage of them recording it, which was cool to see. Go here to buy it digitally or wait a few months for it to come out on some weird format called a Dee-Vay-Dee. Am I pronouncing that right?

Male Bonding on the High Seas.

heavener — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:34:48 +0000

As a Christmas present to my pops, Marconi took the menfolk on a fishing trip the day after Christmas.

Dad and bro.

Fishermenfolk.

My first catch. I didn't get any keepers. Couldn't figure out how to snag them when I felt a couple bites. Sounds like my love life. Zing!

Crack a cold one Chris. You deserve it.

Nothin' like the golden hour on the open seas.

We may not be the best at catching fish, but we look damn good doing it.

Our final haul. Chase and Tony caught most of them. Grouper. They were still breathing (or at least trying to) when we got back to the dock.

Male bonding and beer drinking is all well and good, but for my money, this is the best part of fishing.

Fresh grouper sandwiches. MMMMM. Thanks Chris!

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heavener — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:51:37 +0000

thumbnail1

heavener — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:05:28 +0000

Raquel Fairy Tale.

heavener — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:10:59 +0000

If you don't know anything about Raquel Aparicio then you should strongly consider checking yourself. We were lucky enough to have her contribute some work for the new issue (release date to be announced soon, btw) and it's phenomenal. While searching for her web address I came across this: I feel lucky to have met this person, if only through the internet.

Break Misc.

heavener — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:06:09 +0000

Here's some misc. pics from the break. Jova and Kittybats new crib is the new party house. Great times happening there these days.

Tash invited me to paint in the park with her.

I would have been a fool to refuse.

Yahaira said if I posted these pics online she would destroy me.

While waiting for inspirato to hit me, I decided to paint the clovers.

Yahaira's entry in the abstract category.

Tash's entry in the impressionistic category.

My entry in the paints-like-a-three-year-old category.

I put it up in the tree.

And left it there. It's the trees painting now.

Thanks Tash.

Go Gators.

heavener — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:27:19 +0000

We got to go to the BCS Championship game last week.

We got to ride in a bus with bunk beds.

My dad set the whole thing up. To say he is a huge Gators fan is a huge understatement. He bleeds orange and blue.

I didn't know what an Oklahoma Sooner was so I wiki'd it. Turns out it's another word for cheater.

We tailgated for five hours.

Danny Wuerffel was there throwing long bombs to fans. My dad caught one. You couldn't wipe the smile off his face with a floor buffer.

Ages later, the game actually started.

I'm not the biggest football fan. Never really grew up playing it or watching that many games. Chase is the same way. When he told my Uncle that he wasn't really into football my Uncle goes, "What is wrong with you?"

The halftime show was a salute to South Beach. It was unusually gay for a football halftime show.

BCS Half Time fabulousness from chris heavener on Vimeo.

Chase played video games on his cell phone the whole time.

We won! Does it bug anyone else when sports fans say that? "Our defense was really spotty in the first half, but we stepped up our game in the second half and it brought us all the way to victory." I'm sorry, how many passes did you throw? How many yards did you run?

Still, felt pretty good to be rooting for the winners for once.

bleed

heavener — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:02:33 +0000

Irena Zablotska.

heavener — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:07:25 +0000

Irena is a hugely talented artist from the Ukraine. Go here to check out all her beautiful monsters.

Planet Floyd.

heavener — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 06:02:12 +0000

The Dark Side of Planet Earth from mrcorbtt on Vimeo. Design student Allan Corbett mashed Dark Side of the Moon with the first episode of Planet Earth. Just when you thought smoking weed to either of these things couldn't get any better.

firstbasketball

heavener — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:58:55 +0000

Best or First?

heavener — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:34:11 +0000

Some thing I've been thinking about lately: Is it better to be the best at something or to be the first at something? In 1891, Dr. James Naismith nailed a peach basket to a gymnasium wall and made his phys. ed. students lob a ball through it. One hundred years later, Michael Jordan lead the Chicago Bulls to victory in the NBA Championships, and did so again in '92 and '93. Johann Zahn built the first portable practical camera in 1685. In 1927 Ansel Adams snapped his famous "Monolith" photo. Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu put "The Tale of Genji" to paper in the early 11th century. In 1884 "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was published by Mark Twain. In 1956 George C. Devol and Joseph F. Engelberger developed a robotic arm called the "Unimate." In 2005, Honda unveiled this: If you're the first, people may not remember you, but you've definitely changed the world. If you're the best you get both sides of the pie. My question is this: If you succeed in doing something different, something no one has ever done before, would you be able to live with the fact that you might never be remembered for it? Or is simply doing it satisfaction enough? Or do you gain satisfaction from knowing that you paved the way for others like yourself? Are you capable of having no ego? Are you lying?

New Fire.

heavener — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:13:38 +0000

Josh once trained to be an actor.

I wish he would've stuck with it.

He's got some serious range.

Matt pulled this gem of a shirt out of the archives.

Count yourself a lucky man if two gorgeous ladies come over to your house and make garlic bread.

And turkey meatballs!

And count yourself extra lucky if you've got serious buds to span time with by the fire.

Count yourself lucky for zoom lenses.

Count yourself lucky for fire.

And bamboo javelins.

Most of all, count yourself lucky that tomorrow is 1.20.09.

See you in D.C.

Let's Get Change-ified.

heavener — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:41:22 +0000

I don't know if you heard, but this nations shit just got all changed up last Tuesday.

I pitched that slogan to the campaign by the way, "Obama sez: Let's change this nations shit up."

I thought it was a winner, guess everyone else thought different.

Blue Brains.

We woke up at 5am to walk the streets.

The official tickets.

People going to get change-ified.

This guy probably sold this thing for $500.00. Guaranteed. How do I know? You're lookin' at the buyer.

There was a lot of people wearing furs, which was strange considering most liberals have a PETA stance when it comes to that sort of thing.

Chase bought a four dollar cold stale pretzel while waiting in line.

We waited in line for two and a half hours. I thought my feet were gonna get frostbite.

This is 2 million people from far away.

And here they are up close.

Biden swearing in.

Sharp shooters.

Obama being sworn in.

Inauguration from chris heavener on Vimeo. Seconds after completing the oath

And then it was over, and we all walked home.

It was an amazing day. I almost cried.

Almost.

parafora

heavener — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:22:15 +0000

Young Brother.

heavener — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 17:35:22 +0000

If you're in O-town tomorrow come and see this show. I'm playing bass in Josh, Jeff and Alberto's band. We are called Young Brother because the band used to be called Galleries, but Josh thought that name was whack so we agreed on something less pussified. I'm not saying you'll regret missing this show, I'm just saying if I don't see you there you might live to regret it. Not a threat. Just a promise.

technical-difficulties

heavener — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:58:56 +0000

Down like China Town.

heavener — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:59:19 +0000

The Annalemma site is having some technical problems today. I'll keep you posted as to what's going on as soon as things get rolling with us. And to thank you for your patience I'm going to be throwing a story from the new issue up on there this afternoon. I'll be posting one or two stories up there per week until the new issue release date, which is February 13th, btw. Those of you attending AWP will be the first to get your mitts on it. UPDATE: We're up and running again. Not sure what happened. I think our host decided April Fools Day came early this year.

The Brothers Young.

heavener — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 14:52:12 +0000

"You guys have a great show tonight."

Man, you shoulda come out last Saturday.

You missed a pretty good show. Dudes were doing pushups just to get psyched for the pit.

Dark Sea of Awareness. Improvisational sequencer sampler dudes. Very good vibes from these two.

Bear took some pictures of us. Chase has a bunch on his blog too: http://www.adefonline.com/blog/2009/01/26/older-brothers-management/

These next dudes were the real stars of the show if you ask me.

Future on Films in Space. Psych rock geniuses. I have a hard time believing these guys live in the same city as me. They should be on Mars or something.

4 songs, 45 minutes, no breaks. Awesome.

It was truly a pleasure to be on the same bill as these dudes.

This dude was nailing it.

"Great show tonight guys."

After the show it's the after party...

...where this little hobbit D&D lookin dude just popped out of the ground and started absolutely SHAMING everyone with his dance moves.

SHAMING, I tell you.

We parked next to this house. I thought it was really creepy so I took a pic to see if I could find a ghost. Right after I snapped this pic a couple of weiner dogs came barking up to me. Scared the shit out of me. That's what I get for taking pics of strange houses.

baseball

heavener — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:14:41 +0000

New and Good.

heavener — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:24:30 +0000

New and exciting things happening over at Annalemma. We've got a new story from Nick Ostdick accompanied by a pretty wicked depth-of-field shot by Mr. Bryan "Bear" Soderlind. All this is just a whistle-wetter for issue #4 which, I might add, j ust became available for pre-sale. Issue #4 will ship on 2.17.09. Order from the website and you get 25% off the cover price! Can't beat that deal with a lone baseball's shadow growing longer in the dusk light symbolizing waning youth.

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heavener — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:59:51 +0000

More Zombies Please.

heavener — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:03:31 +0000

Looks like I'll finally get around to reading some Jane Austin. Thanks, Chronicle, for making boring things not so boring anymore.

In case you missed it the first time...

heavener — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:22:16 +0000

Mysterious Dance Hero from chris heavener on Vimeo. This guy is a fucking genius. Please repost on your various blogs and social networking sites. This man's magic must be shown to the world. This is the next internet super star! Come on people! Let's do this! Together!

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heavener — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:43:42 +0000

Another Case of the Mondays.

heavener — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:48:18 +0000

My mom sends me a lot of these inspirational chain emails like, "If you're ever feeling sad, read these pick-me-ups..." and "50 reasons God loves you..." I'm pumped every time I see one in my inbox. This pic of hungover Garfield was at the bottom of the email I got this morning. Thought I'd share.

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heavener — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:29:35 +0000

letch

heavener — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:31:23 +0000

Autosave-File vom d-lab2/3 der AgfaPhoto GmbH

Stella.

heavener — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:40:30 +0000

Just uploaded a new essay over at Annalemma. Stella is a bitter sweet love letter to a '91 Cutlass Cierra that saw a family through good times and bad, sickness and health, life and death. You Chicagoans may recognize the author, Rob Duffer, from the beer-hazed nights at Sheffield's monthly reading series RUI. Also accompanying the essay is a stellar soft-focus image by long-time friend Josh Letchworth. It's all part of our lead-up to the release of issue #4 which is available for pre-sale now!

mickey

heavener — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:26:35 +0000

The Tale of the Doodler from Norway.

heavener — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:30:30 +0000

Looks like Nordic illustrator Esra Roise's site got a bit of a makeover. It also looks like she's moving beyond the hyper-realistic pencil drawings she's famous for and is moving into more collage and water-color type stuff. Exciting!

indexfinal

heavener — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:32:59 +0000

A.E.M.

heavener — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:48:46 +0000

We were lucky enough to have Chicago small press stalwart Anne Elizabeth Moore contribute a little something to issue #4. Anne edited the now-defunct Punk Planet as well as Best American Comics series. So the lady has chops. Oh, and if you're the pro-integrity, anti-advertising type and you haven't read Unmarketable yet then you're clearly not taking adbusting culture to its logical conclusion.

Annalemma Issue #4 Preview.

heavener — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:00:06 +0000

Annalemma #4 Preview from chris heavener on Vimeo. So this thing is here, though I don't have the big shipment yet, just a rush box. Pre-order now! I can just tell this issue is going to sell faster than ice tea at a sweat lodge.

35895958

heavener — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:59:04 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:12:29 +0000

This is me trying to start a new segment on the blog. Seems like T.C. Boyle's latest is getting more attention over a particular review than the actual work itself. His most recent effort chronicles a semi-fictionalized life of Frank Lloyd Wright. The jacket design seems to subtly take into account Wright's rigorous and unflinching architectural style while still incorporating some stellar sepia babes. Well done, nameless Viking Penguin designer.

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heavener — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:50:20 +0000

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heavener — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:51:36 +0000

Annalemma presents Stories and Songs.

heavener — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:57:48 +0000

We're having a party at the end of the month to celebrate the release of issue #4. Everything you need to know is listed above. We're gonna try to turn this into a monthly event if people like it. Do I even need to ask you to come out? I think we both know the answer to that question.

chicago09s

heavener — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:51:49 +0000

Another Wicked Party.

heavener — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:59:05 +0000

I'm gonna be in Chi this weekend promoting issue #4 at AWP. Come stop by booth 791 and visit me if you're one of the 23 people living in Chicago who read this blog (Google Analytics knows all). In between not selling anything I'm going to be celebrating Sheebs's b-day and going to see Joe Meno, ZZ Packer and Dorothy Allison read tomorrow night. Should be a wicked nerdy/fun time. See you there!

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heavener — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:13:26 +0000

Lost and Found.

heavener — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 18:16:07 +0000

There's a new story up over at Annalemma. It's called Lost and Found. It was written by Thomas Cooper and is accompanied by an illustration by Salamat Ali. It's one of my favorites. Check it out. Just got back from AWP and I'm fried. I'll post pics tomorrow.

AWP Chicago 2009.

heavener — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:06:34 +0000

I went to my first AWP last weekend. I thought it was going to be boring and uneventful and I wouldn't sell anything and no one would care that I was there. Boy was I wrong.

My first sale! It was the first of many. I got rid of all my copies. Brought 48, gave 15 away and sold the rest.

I was like, "I'm the belle of the ball!" Then I ran into the Hobart dudes and dudettes and felt a little less fancy. They were pouring shots and selling cigs. It was like Pleasure Island on a particle-board folding table.

Looked like a fun table to be at.

Our humble setup in comparison.

I was making friendship bracelets as a diversion. Sold a few too. not as many as the mags. Guess people don't really want to have friends.

Man, you know the economy is bad when even the rodents are offing themselves.

A blurry photo of Dorothy Allison.

A less blurry photo of Dorothy Allison. We went to the reading and Allison pretty much shook the halls of the Hilton with her rendition of "Frog Fucking" as she calls it. Me and Mary thought it was awesome. Seems like everyone else was like, "Meh." Haters, man, haters.

Snowing when we got outside.

So much so that peeps started carving it.

My fave.

You said it.

It was cool to be back in Chi. And this was a way more productive trip than my last visit, but there were definitely some moments where I was like, "Man, this is exactly why I left."

The few moments I found myself wandering the streets it really reminded me of how damn lonely I was while I lived there. Some of the most amazing people I've met in my life live there, but really, I never saw them much. With the exception of Sheebs, of course.

We stumbled across this artifact of Kane mythology.

And Sheba found the store of her dreams.

I snapped this pic of some dudes plaing speed chess and Sheba got all mad at me. "Leave those people alone," she said, "You can't just take pictures of people without asking them." Isn't that what a photographer is supposed to do though? Catch candid moments? How you gonna catch a candid moment if you ask someone? It might not be polite, sure, but it gets results. Anyone think different? An even better question: Anyone care?

Old Town Ale House. The bar that made headlines for publicly displaying a nude portrait of Palin. It's just below the ceiling, about three pictures over from the TV.

I love my Chicago friends and I wish I could see them more. But that's just life, I suppose.

The view from my hotel room.

On the flight back we crossed over polar bear lake.

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heavener — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:33:27 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:45:12 +0000

Ever wonder if people survive natural disasters and human atrocities by some simple twist of fate or if they make their own luck? So does Ben Sherwood and he wrote all about it in his Tipping Point-esque new book The Survivors Club. Futura font will forever be synonymous with Wes Anderson films for me, not necessarily a bad thing. And nothing pops like a nice red background. Well done, nameless Grand Central Publishing art director.

l_f95779c633714421976babfcf72b4e08

heavener — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:00:42 +0000

Young Bro Show Number Toe.

heavener — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:06:26 +0000

Everybody who's anybody in Orlando is going to be at this show tomorrow night. You really wanna fake your way through that conversation the next day? "Man, wasn't it awesome when Alberto did 100 consecutive guitar windmills?" everyone will ask you. "Um, yeah, pretty awesome," you'll reply. "How about when Josh did that solo that was so potent it got a girl pregnant?" "Yeah, uh, wow, it was all pretty amazing." After everyone stares at you for what feels like forever, they will say, "You weren't there, were you?" "No man! I was there. I liked the, um, the glockenspiel parts." "Get out of my car."

picture-11

heavener — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:06:42 +0000

Mumble.

heavener — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:10:49 +0000

Very excited to be getting some cyber ink over at clubmumble.com thanks to current contributor and all-around-good-dude Todd Jordan. Check it out, even though it's going to eventually re-direct you right back here. Still exciting!

Dragons.

heavener — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:00:32 +0000

Dragons Trailer from Dragons on Vimeo. So my buddies made this pilot that was adapted from a short film we made about two or three years ago. Aaaaand it's pretty much the funniest fucking thing I've seen in a long time. Well done boys. Check out this here trailer. Oh, and put on your chuckle turban cause you're going to Laffganistan.

annalemma_cover_4

heavener — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:21:18 +0000

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heavener — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:04:52 +0000

Come Find Me.

heavener — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:07:20 +0000

Indiebound.org just updated their book store finder. Pretty awesome resource for yours truly. Now I know where my people are. Thanks Galleycat.

Another Brother.

heavener — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:47:32 +0000

Young Brother set Will's ablaze last Thursday. Very busy today and cannot write appropriate captions. Top of the world!

Thanks to everyone for comin out!

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heavener — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:59:13 +0000

New Fiction.

heavener — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:04:25 +0000

Fiction launched their new site yesterday. I recommend give the 2009 reel a look, some good stuff there. Sorry for not posting earlier, Got a lot on my plate getting ready for this. Ah, and while we're mentioning it, don't forget about this.

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heavener — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:55:47 +0000

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heavener — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:56:12 +0000

Worser Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 06:07:09 +0000

While combing the webs for a good book cover design for this weeks entry of BBCDW, I came to realize something: Most book cover designs fucking suck. Well, fiction at least. There's more bad out there than good is all I'm saying. So, not really trying to spread any negative vibes around the earth, but it's just easier to find bad book covers than it is to find good ones. If a real gem comes down the pike, I'll shine a light on it. So. Chabon. What the fuck. You used to be able to count on this guy for some cool looking shit. WTF happened? That subtitle font looks like those little plastic refrigerator magnet letters you had as a kid. Only a designer who's truly given up could not see that. Anyone know the name of that font? Bob? I propose we address the Lords of Typography and have it stricken from the National Font Conservatory. On an unrelated note, DON'T FORGET.

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heavener — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:05:19 +0000

Tonight, Tonight. Till the Early Light.

heavener — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:19:58 +0000

Remember when I told you not to forget? You probably did. That's okay. Here's the last reminder. Come out and get 'krumped' tonight, as the kids say. That's what they say, right?

Videbro.

heavener — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:31:31 +0000

Young Brother from Northern Lights on Vimeo. Here's a jam called "The Mayor" from the Young Bro show that took place not one week ago. I gotta remember to wear some some contrasting colors next time. I look like a disembodied head and a pair of arms jamming on the bass. Thanks Chase for filming and posting.

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heavener — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:41:16 +0000

Sale!

heavener — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 17:48:02 +0000

To celebrate the fact that I have an overabundance of boxes in my closet, Annalemma Issue #3 is on sale for half the cover price. Click here to check it out. While you're there, be sure to check out issue #4, which is no longer on pre-order and is shipping promptly. Stories & Songs was really fun last Friday, I'll post pics tomorrow

Stories & Songs Vol. 1

heavener — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:52:54 +0000

So Stories & Songs happened last Friday and it went reasonably well for a first time monthly event. Jen up there was so blown away by the quality of the prose her head almost exploded.

Gabi, Kristen, and Jen started a new gang called the Cardigan Crew. They will fuck you up.

Chase was our sound guy. For some reason the mixer was nailed to the back of the bar.

This man was in control of everything the people heard. Kind of scary.

So I didn't take that many pics of the event cause I was too busy performing. I'll make sure to link if anyone else blogs about it. Don't hold your breath, they probably won't.

We had an after party at my crib and Steve showed up with his new whip.

He's in love.

These are the daaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyss! After parties at my house always have a bit of a strange vibe.

The following day there was a Ramp Jam at Jasons.

It was easily more fun than any hyper-planned, exhaustively rehearsed, event I will probably ever throw.

And people dressed much better for it.

And Tito was there.

Cooking meat. Sheba will love this pic.

Lea cooked an octopus. I was in heaven.

I skated for at least three or four hours. It was my first time skating in over a year. The next day my legs felt like they were made of strep throat.

Still, it was worth it. It was the best day I've had in a long time.

And there was a strawberry ramp cake. Seriously. No one deserves friends this good.

Least of all me.

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heavener — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:04:00 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:09:41 +0000

Author Zoe Heller comes back with a tragicomic tale of a family in turmoil after the patriarch falls after suffering a stroke. Might be a good story, but more importantly, what's going on with the cover? Well, you can't really go wrong with arranging religious and idealogical imagery in some kind of organized chaos. Well done, nameless HarperCollins graphic designer.

picture-11

heavener — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:45:28 +0000

Kristen Lepore.

heavener — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:49:25 +0000

Check out Jersey-based renaissance woman Kristen Lepore. I could take or leave the illustrations, but her demo reel is something to be remembered.

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heavener — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:50:15 +0000

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heavener — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:51:42 +0000

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heavener — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:53:48 +0000

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heavener — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:55:21 +0000

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heavener — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:54:27 +0000

Green Porn.

heavener — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:58:55 +0000

Wow. If you haven't seen Isabella Rossellini's Green Porno yet, then you're purposefully starving yourself from good watching. Big post coming Monday. Keep your peepers pealed.

010_singles

heavener — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:25:01 +0000

Picture 004

Rune Guneriussen.

heavener — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:32:12 +0000

My friend Tito and I were talking about paintings and stuff this weekend. He's been saying how he's over portraits, that he needs more than just a face. I told him an image with a person in it is way more interesting to me than one without. He agreed but said that there's things that the portrait doesn't capture, like gesture and connections. I'd say that Rune Guneriussen has accomplished specifically what me and Tito were looking for: Gesture and connection without humans. Or something like that, I dunno. Check him out. He plays with light really well. Still tweaking that big post I mentioned Friday. I'll try to get it ready for tomorrow.

storypic

heavener — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:47:53 +0000

Exif_JPEG_PICTURE

How to Write a Good Story.

heavener — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:05:02 +0000

So I’m in the midst of sifting through submissions for issue #5 and this process has compelled me to go on a bit of a tirade about the business of writing good stories. Seems that some of you submitters out there have forgotten some fundamental principles of good storytelling so I thought it would be in both of our best interests if we took a little trip to Writing Day Camp. Here is what you are about to say: “Who the fuck is this guy telling me how to write good stories? I’m already a good writer. I drink and I smoke and I read Chuck Palahniuk. End of discussion. I’m a fuckin’ writer.” Take it easy. I promise you will get something out of this. And if you don’t then, well, you can punch me in the arm at about 40 percent. No, 30 percent. Also, I wanted to do a “list” kind of post cause apparently they’re really popular with internet nerds and I want to drive up my hits. Tryin’ to make dat internet money son! (ahem) Sorry. Let’s begin… 1. Give a shit. I know these funny little ideas pop into your head like, “What would it be like if animals could talk and they played dress-up and were your bestest friends ever?” These ideas should not, under any circumstances, be expanded into literary fiction. Manly because you don’t really give a shit about them, do you? It’s a quirky premise and that’s about it. When you’re writing a story that you don’t care about, it becomes immediately transparent on the page. And if you don’t care what you’re writing about, why the hell should I? Why should anybody? That’s right, they shouldn’t. If you’re going to take the time to sit down and make something good, something meant to last, make it something you can’t stop talking about, or a part of your life that you can’t live without. There’s a few sentences in the prologue to The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao that sums this point up for me: As I’m sure you’ve guessed, I have a fukú (bad luck) story too. I wish I could say it was the best of the lot - fukú number one - but I can’t. Mine ain’t the scariest, the clearest, the most painful or the most beautiful. It just happens to be the one that’s got its fingers around my throat. So I ask you this: What story are you dying (clawing at the cage, screaming) to tell? What story has its fingers around your throat? 2. Keep it simple. Say you and I are friends. Say you’re walking down the street and you see me walking towards you. You smile and you wave and I see you and I smile and wave and when we get closer together we hi-five and I pull you in for a bro hug and even though that’s a little weird for you, you’re cool with it cause we’re such good friends. “Hey Chris,” you say, “What’s goin on, man? How’s your life?” I laugh heartily, arms akimbo like a genie, and say “Simply splendid dearest friend. And what an auspicious occasion for our twain tracks to intersect as my satchel is abounding with delectable ephemera and other such pleasantries! Let us feast like the kings of yor, my proprietor of such friendshiply delights!” After staring at me in silence for a moment, you punch me in the face for talking like a fucking idiot and you walk away. Don’t pull out the big words cause you want to sound smart or more like “a real writer,” whatever that means. That’s not to say you shouldn’t use florid language. If you can wield the language well, like a Zadie Smith or a Jonathan Lethem, then more power to you. It can come out as some truly pleasurable reading. But the truth of the matter is, those people are geniuses and the rest of us are not. Words are tools used to convey meaning and feeling. If you’re not a professional contractor then it’s probably not the best idea to pull out the concrete drill and start boring away at the walls. So leave the fancy talk to the fancy people. Write with your own voice. 3. Have a problem. You know how life just kind of goes along in one straight line and things are all nice and quiet and beige and nothing ever happens and no one ever really changes? No, you don’t, because life is violent and beautiful and explodes into different angles and paths that you never saw coming and has more colors than a kaleidoscope on amphetamines. Life is like this because of one unifying concept: Conflict. Even though we may claim to hate it, we, as humans, cannot get enough of it. We thrive on it. It drives us. Especially if it’s not happening to us personally. Why? Not sure. But we do. So in order for a story to be interesting you have to have a big problem. Consider the concept of conflict as the seed that grows the story tree. Wow, that was a super lame sentence I just typed just now. I’m really embarrassed. I don’t know how I’ll ever recover from this. Maybe I’ll never get over it for the rest of my life. Hey, wait a minute, maybe that’s a potential conflict for a story! See how that works? And say you do wrap your mitts around a good conflict. Don’t just let it sit there. As a Muscovite once told me, a conflict must cast itself over the entire story. Don’t just mention it once and be on your merry way. Let the conflict BE the story. 4. Show, don’t tell. This is a staple cliché saying of most writing workshops, but the reason it’s cliché is cause it’s true. Man, I remember this one time that my buddy did this crazy thing at this crazy place and after he did it I was like, “Whaaaaat?!” Man, it was wild, you shoulda been there. Good story, no? No, not remotely. Mainly because I’ve given the audience nothing to latch onto. No distinguishing characters or human characteristics of said characters, no accurate description of where the story takes place, no clear gestures or scene-moving dialogue, nothing. Typically people make this mistake when writing in third person. Third person can remove the narrator from the story he/she is telling and sometimes they are so far removed that the audience can’t get a clear draw on the characters or actions the narrator is referring to. Ray Bradbury said that most stories are better in first person. I’m inclined to agree. Tell me what’s better… -Mary felt despondent in her cold dark apartment, all alone. Or, -I couldn’t seem to get myself out of bed today. There was frost on the inside of the windows cause the gas got shut off last night. Gotta remember to pay my bills on time. You used to remind me about paying the gas bill, but since you left I guess I just let things fall apart. Okay, maybe neither is all that good. But the second example is more immediate. When the audience feels as if the narrator is speaking directly to them, they’re more likely to immerse themselves into the story. Just because a story makes sense in your head doesn’t mean anyone else will understand it. Make the audience and active participant in your story. Show the story unfolding right in front of their eyes. That’s basically it. There are a few other things that you need to worry about like pacing, structure and working towards an acceptable ending. But everything will more or less fall into place if you work on these four fundamentals. At least, they are the things that make a story work for me. Then again, I’ve accepted stories that have achieved only one of these guidelines, but done so in such a way that they had the ability to carry the entire story. So there’s really no definitive way to write a good story. The best thing to remember is this: There are no rules. If it works, it works. I just realized that I kind of just negated everything this post was supposed to be about. Oh well. Good luck and keep writing!

ambook

heavener — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:58:23 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:21:10 +0000

This week's entry is a little bit biased. I've known some of the Featherproof guys and gals for a little bit and Mr. Zach Plague had a novel excerpt in issue #3 (which is on sale btw). Amelia Gray's first book, AM/PM, is a semi-connected collection of flash pieces, one per page, each of them packing a huge punch in each paragraph. My favorite so far is an entry that tells of a PDF file that is a symbol for love. Keep an eye on this book and this author. Both are poised for blow-up status. The aforementioned Mr. Plague is responsible for the pen-and-paper cover drawing. Simple, effective, charming, interesting, and accessible. Well done Zach.

installation_conjoinedyetis_01

heavener — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:06:40 +0000

Sarah Applebaum.

heavener — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:10:39 +0000

A lot of ladies are into quilting these days, but none of them have taken the craft to such surreal and extravagant heights as California artist Sarah Moli Newton Applebaum. Things have been slow over at Annalemma for the past couple of weeks. I'm going to upload some new shizz in the next few weeks.

1243889710_c8c6e78709

heavener — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:52:00 +0000

Aleks Sennwald

heavener — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:57:05 +0000

Illustrator Aleks Sennwald does a lot of kick-ass freelance work, but his drawings are something to stop and take a look at. Okay, I've been feeling like a douche for doing a lot of re-posting lately. Things have been somewhat quiet on the magazine front since the launch. I'm gonna get off my ass and show you some good original stuff soon. Just you wait.

Face Shuttle.

heavener — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:06:39 +0000

We finally caught up to the 90's and launched a Facebook page. To celebrate, NASA launched a shuttle off in our honor. Chase has some better pics here. So, yeah, we're on the Facebooks now. Check us out here. Go ahead and friend us. Or "face" us, or "poke" us or whatever it is you're supposed to do on this thing.

picture-13

heavener — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:46:29 +0000

51asgwrxecl

heavener — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:56:59 +0000

51myoslftgl_ss500_

heavener — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 15:59:27 +0000

51zndm8turl_sl500_

heavener — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:00:06 +0000

booksmoorestupid

heavener — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:03:13 +0000

thetruth

heavener — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:03:37 +0000

41g76khauxl_ss500_

heavener — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:06:29 +0000

Worser Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:07:57 +0000

Steve Harvey can best be described as "whatever" boarding on "unfunny and annoying" and I don't really know what kind of self-help bullshit he's peddling with this book, but I chose this cover to bring up the issue of people putting themselves on their own book covers. Generally you'll find this concept is usually practiced in nonfiction. I'm not sure if a fiction author has ever done it, but I'd love to meet the guy or gal who has the balls or ovaries to do it. I don't know why but I easily see one of those grocery store/airport authors like Grisham or Stephen King to be the ones to do it. Anyway, this is a practice mostly held by TV or Movie personalities to help sell books. But there's a thread of commonality that I've noticed in it: Douchebags put themselves on the covers of their own books. Lots of conservative pundits serve as examples: But the douchebaggery doesn't reserve itself to the right. Many left leaning d-bags get in on the fun too: Of course there are exceptions to the rule: But by and large if you put yourself on your book cover you are an egotistical asshole who cares more about selling a book more than anything contained therein.

ngca6

heavener — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:55:11 +0000

Ben Lawson.

heavener — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:58:02 +0000

Beautiful creepy crawlies from beneath the sea await you at Ben Lawson's portfolio site.

Mr. Meno.

heavener — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:08:09 +0000

While scouring the webs yesterday I came across this video of recent contributor Joe Meno reading from his new book. Joe has been kicking ass lately. Makes me feel like a proud poppa. Even though he's seven or eight years my senior. And is my former teacher. And has published a bajillion more things than I ever have or will. And has met Salman Rushdie. Proud poppa nonetheless.

Fart Fest.

heavener — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:51:54 +0000

Few pics from the last couple weeks. Cara came in town and we made our famous sesame seed encrusted halibut with teriyaki glaze over cucumber noodles and brown rice. Really need to make up a name for that. Almost ran out of breath there.

The next day was the Winter Park Art Festival. A celebration of all things Adult Contemporary.

This festival is normally 90% dumb boring shit, 10% mildly interesting shit. The metal bear and horse fall into the latter category, of course.

Wizards!

Harry Potter would be creaming his jeans.

Moms was into the glass.

This made me think of this.

Imaging if your local smooth jazz radio station threw an art festival. This would be it.

I was modeling these hats for my crew as a goof and this lady came up and started freaking on them.

As usual, the high schoolers pretty much had the coolest shit there.

Honestly, you'll never see anyone over 40 putting a totally ceramic jansport complete with Yeah Yeah Yeahs and No Doubt patches on display. And a fucking Batman bust?! Awesome.

The only bummer is the high school stuff is never on sale. If it were I would have snatched up some of these masks. That one in the top middle is twisted. I love it. I can't believe they let high schoolers make that sort of stuff. If I'd made that in high school they would have given me an exorcism.

High school skeleton love.

Speaking of my high school...

Don't know who this girl is but she dominated an entire wall.

Fucking awesome.

I want to get this kid to paint an album cover for me.

Cara trying on a few hats. Dude got all bent cause I took a picture. People were all worried about getting their designs stolen.

And we got to see Nicholas! He didn't remember me, but that's cool.

Met a new woodland friend on the way home.

Chase carried him out of harm's way.

picture-41

heavener — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:51:13 +0000

The Great Sperm Race.

heavener — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:53:01 +0000

I love this game so much I'm going to get it pregnant.

one-more-year

heavener — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:53:26 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:10:17 +0000

Actually, this one probably falls under "Almost Good Book Cover Design of the Week." The cover for Sana Krasikov's debut of stories falls just short of sublime due to publishing house pressures to put a big ugly blurb from a wildly bestselling author conspicuously on the front. Also, that stock Adobe cursive font used for her name isn't helping things either. Regardless, this looks to be a good writer to keep an eye on. Check out one of her stories here. And have you seen a picture of her yet? Yowza! I gotta move to New York.

picture-51

heavener — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:47:36 +0000

Vera Bee.

heavener — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:50:32 +0000

Stumbled upon this note-perfect animated short by super talented Russian-born illustrator, animator and story artist Vera Brosgol. Definitely worth your two and a half minutes.

Wings and Breasts.

heavener — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:29:35 +0000

Jeff needed to write an article yesterday so we proposed the great American motorcycle trip. Just of the top of our head.

I don't want to scoop Jeff so I'll keep the words to a minimum and the photos to the outakes.

Tony wanted to come too but his hog wasn't workin.

We tried to help him get it started, but no go. We decided to look good on our bikes instead.

We sat around looking good for a good 45 minutes. Sunlight started burning.

So we said fuck it, let's go to Wing House.

And many wings were had.

And then we said fuck it again, Let's go to Kathy's, get more wings.

The we said "fuck it" one last time and went to Hooters. Strange things were afoot at the Hooters.

Josh became the first man in the universe to take home two Hooters waitresses on a Vespa.

I was falling fast into the world of testosterone and jock-ism. So Jen and I decided to have an acoustic jam sesh to twee me up a bit.

picture-2

heavener — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:28:09 +0000

picture-42

heavener — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:29:49 +0000

picture-6

heavener — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:30:35 +0000

From the Edge.

heavener — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:35:07 +0000

I'm making some postcards this week. Here's the first two and the back. I'm making them to get ready for this. Last book fair we had no little trinkets to give away. People like free shit apparently. Anyway, lemme know what you think about these, or if there's a particular image or story from issue #4 that you think should be immortalized on a postcard.

picture-1

heavener — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:41:09 +0000

Big News.

heavener — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:50:53 +0000

Hey y'all, big news in my neck of the woods today. I been keeping this one a secret for a while now but the cat's out of the bag today. It's with great pleasure that I announce that my first collection of poetry is going to be published by Simon & Schuster this fall. It's called "But by Then I Was Too Famous" and I'm really proud of it. Most of you who know me know that I've held adamant stances against most poetry and poets in the past, but that was all just a clever ruse to throw you off my scent. So that's the big news! It's not a joke! Read all about it here.

156025959001_sclzzzzzzz_

heavener — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:01:07 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:12:05 +0000

Even though this little gem was a steady competitor for this week's BBCDW, I decided not to go with something that took me five minutes to mock-up in InDesign. This collection came out almost a year ago but it's just popping up on my radar. The cover for the Justin Taylor-edited collection concerning the end of days has a look like it's survived a 50 year stint in an underground fallout shelter. No surprise why this is viscerally appealing. Writers and lit types love old shit. Preferably mid century old shit. It reminds them of a time when novels and stories held greater sway with the average American psyche. Days before the Facebooks, days before every new product name was preceded by a lower case "i". Don't worry writers. Those days will be over soon. In fact, all the days will be over soon. Excellent work on facilitating the end of the world, Justin Taylor.

River is alive.

heavener — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 15:31:46 +0000

Hays and Ryan are in town doing some creative type things for their new musical stylings Bluebrain. Give them a listen and be pumped and psyched.

Tony and Chase were shooting their EP cover in my house.

Oh yeah, and someone turned old!

The big guy is the big three oh. Still hasn't sunk in for me yet. I'm next I suppose.

We had a big party at my parents house. BB came and brought his lowrider.

Christmas card.

So to celebrate the momentous event we piled into a couple house boats and made like Huck Finn down the river.

"Dude, you're 30." "Dude, I know."

The river is alive.

Our racist houseboat.

The river is home to many alligators. We saw dozens.

Stunning times.

Goodbye river. Goodbye man burning things.

BLUEBRAIN.

heavener — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:05:09 +0000

In case you missed it yesterday. New goodness.

picture-5

heavener — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:10:41 +0000

Green Porn 2.

heavener — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 18:13:08 +0000

Isabella Rosselini is back with season 2 of Green Porno, this time the focus is the sea. A little more sedate and dull than season 1, but still funny and informative.

jan090074

heavener — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:45:50 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:05:24 +0000

I'm a bit of a late-comer to Chris Onstad's Achewood-verse. I got turned on about six months ago with The Great Outdoor Fight and have been hooked to the weekly strip ever since. So the announcement of a new Achewood book made my mind boner perk up. (Clarification: few weeks back we decided that boners didn't have to just be used to describe sexual arousal i.e. "The smell of that bar-b-que sandwich is giving me a stomach boner," or "That new Macbook is giving me a technology boner"). In a grand execution of the old adage, "Keep it simple, stupid" Onstad (a graphic designer himself) reveals nothing to the casual passerby and relies only on the devoted fans to get hyped on it. Well done, Chris.

art_beguiled

heavener — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:12:19 +0000

Melissa Haslam.

heavener — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:15:37 +0000

Australian artist Melissa Haslam draws pictures of gorgeous females accompanied by exotic animals. So, naturally, I'm a fan.

Mountain A.

heavener — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:06:05 +0000

Back in Big Sky country.

We came up to visit gramps for Easter. Except he doesn't really celebrate that holiday.

He's an old ranching man, from the days when men knew how use guns from the age of 5.

Gas explosion in downtown Bozeman.

I tried to be a kid again.

You can't be a kid again.

The local townsfolk hold a sunrise Easter service at the top of the mountain every year.

We rode up the chairlift without skis.

We soon wished we'd been born with thicker blood.

Snow Angel.

Easter prayer. Jesus isn't white. from chris heavener on Vimeo.

And after celebrating J.C.'s resurrection everyone skis down the mountain. All very strange.

Goodbye cold. I won't miss you.

2589

heavener — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:38:37 +0000

Omar Arcega Morales.

heavener — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:40:31 +0000

Check out the wicked creatures created by Omar Arcega Morales.

columbine1

heavener — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:05:57 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:29:49 +0000

While the question of "why?" in regards to the Columbine tragedy may seem like kind of a duh question to you and I, author Dave Cullen and anyone else over 40 during the time of the incident were left scratching their heads to the skull and blaming the playstations and the Marlyn Mansons and trenchcoat mafias and other trivial distractions. Kelbold and Harris weren't exacting revenge on a society that scorned them. They were fucking crazy. End of discussion. It would seem in the light of even the most preliminary of evidence that this is a logical conclusion. Not so, says Cullen, who spends 432 pages explaining that the Columbine killers did it because they were (gasp) "psychotic". No fucking doye, dude. What other breathtaking revelation are you gonna lay on us next? Michael Jackson has had plastic surgery? Bruce Willis' character at the end of Sixth Sense was actually a ghost? Anyway. This books seems, at best, a waste of time and money and, at worst, an exploitation. In spite of all that, the cover is still pretty cool. I'd go so far as to say boarderline groundbreaking. Most big publishing house releases, when they try to go for stark and profound end up fucking it all up by putting a big ugly blurb on there or placing the authors name and credits in a conspicuous place. Not so for this one. Helvetica font floating like a ghost above a photo of the infamous school on an overcast day. A perfect execution of understatement, proving that not much is needed to solemnly remind the average American of the chilling and horrific act that took place that day.

lost-city-z

heavener — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:02:03 +0000

bolano

heavener — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:10:36 +0000

9780374292195

heavener — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:20:24 +0000

A Big Steaming Pile of Books.

heavener — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:33:50 +0000

Here's a new feature that I'll try to cram in every Friday wherein I talk about some hot new books I've got my hands on. So hot they are steaming. And there's a lot of them and I'm unorganized so they're in a pile. Here we go! The Lost City of Z by David Grann This book is fucking sick. It's all over the place right now and there's talks that Brad Pitt is turning it into a movie so I'm sure you've been bombarded with it on your most recent trip to Boarders. Don't be try to be cool and pretend that you only go to the independant bookstore. We all know you're a fiend for Barnes and Noble and their infinite racks of magazines. Anyway, I'm only 40 pages into this book and I'm hooked. It's a real life Indiana Jones story of Percy Harrison Fawcett, one of the last Victorian explorers who was bound and determined to find El Dorado, the lost city of Mayan gold, deep in the Amazon rain forest. He disappeared and was never heard from again. Grann recounts Fawcett's journey and even takes one himself, trying to find out what drives men to explore and why that drive can lead them to obsession and madness. Creative nonfiction book of the year, so far. The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano I started a book club with some friends a few weeks back. We're called the Hard Covers and I'll talk more about that in a few weeks. We chose this as our first book. Why? Not sure. There was a list of books that we all wanted to read and this one had the coolest cover. Also, Bolano is credited with being one of the creators of Mexican literature and some of us in the club habla espaniol, so it seemed like the right fit. Bolano's got an interesting story. According to the introduction in the hard cover edition he was one of those possessed writers who did nothing but read, travel the world on a shoestring budget and write his gosh darn dong off. And that's really what this book is about. Travel, poetry (I know, I know), Mexico and writing. It starts off real good with steady pace and interesting narrator, but 125 pages or so in he switches to an unconventional form that can come off as annoying at first but once you sink into it, you kind of get what he's doing, but it doesn't make the form any more interesting once you know what that form is. Guess you just kind of have to stick with it. Kind of hard to explain. Just read it. It will teach you how to live. Everything Raved, Everything Burned by Wells Tower I first came across this dude after reading one of his stories in the most powerful lit mag in all the land. It was a good'n of his that they published so I bought his recently released debut collection. Lemme tell you. If you're a story writer and you've been trying to get your stuff published for a long time to no avail, pick this book up. This is how modern short stories are written. Tower's main strength is his characters. They're real, fully-drawn people, not caricatures propped up by disingenuous quirks. Most of them are males careening into a mid-life crisis, coping with the stunted growth of their 20's and 30's and waking up to realize that they are nowhere close to where they thought they would be at this age. That, and vikings, apparently. I don't know, I haven't read that far. Long story short: good stories, this guy will win awards, hop on the bandwagon early. That concludes this edition of A Big Steaming Pile of Books. Hope you enjoyed. And if you've got your own steaming pile nestled next to your bed or in between the couch and the end table, feel free to share in the comments below.

la_timgases

heavener — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:58:09 +0000

Fest.

heavener — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:15:55 +0000

Are you going to be in the greater Los Angeles area this coming weekend (25th-26th)? Do you like books? Do you like festivals? Do you like book festivals? If you said yes to any of these questions then you need to come out to the LA Times Festival of Books where myself and a special mystery guest will be holding court and making friendship bracelets all weekend at the Annalemma booth # 146. Come check us out! Never reluctant to flaunt star power, La La Land is pulling out the big guns for this event. Ever heard of a little author called Tori Spelling? How about Tom Bergeron? Hello?! It's called AFV and it's the funniest program on television.

r0012002

heavener — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:30:33 +0000

Exif_JPEG_PICTURE

Call for Essays.

heavener — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:31:05 +0000

Not sure if anyone who reads this blog is the same type of person who submits to the magazine. Regardless, figured I'd give this a shot anyway. ANNALEMMA NEEDS CREATIVE NONFICTION If you or anyone you know is in possession of any kind of CNF (essays, memoir, interviews) that you're willing to have published send it ASAP to chris@annalemma.net. The submissions department is currently drowning in short stories and we need some nonfiction to balance it out. Tell your story people! Your real story. It's not hard. You're already doing it. You're just changing the names and calling it fiction. Keep them names in there! Dish about that time you and your cousin ot stuck in the UN and ended up as Chancellors to Belgium and subsequently caused an international incident when it was learned you only knew how to say, "Where is the H&M?" in German. Let's be honest. Your family was going to disown you at some point anyway. May as well make it happen on your terms. Click here for more details.

bdr_winter_2008

heavener — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:57:32 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week: Website Edition!

heavener — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:15:59 +0000

While trolling the webs for a good (or really shitty) book cover for this week's BBCDW I came across The Book Design Review which seems to be an extension of the NY Times Book Review. They stole my idea to review book covers about 4 years before I came up with it and compiled the best designs into an annual list. Check them out here.

img_2271

heavener — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:05:32 +0000

img_2277

heavener — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:06:29 +0000

P.S.

heavener — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:13:49 +0000

I got these guys to print up some post cards for me for this. If you show up this weekend (we're at booth #146) I will give you one of each of these extremely limited edition postcards. For FREE. That's right Chicken Little. The sky is falling. Been a little boring on the blog this week, I know. Life got the best of me. What am I gonna do? Blog about my life? Yeah, right. The internet don't care about that. All they care about is this. You know it's true. Admit it.

Bookfair Bullshit.

heavener — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:28:00 +0000

Went to the LA Times book fair this weekend. It was kind of whack. We didn't sell much and most of the people there didn't even seem interested in anything we were doing. We still had fun though.

Rose was enamored with the trees that looked like they had skin.

This is Joe Jost. Probably the best bar in southern California. You can get a giant goblet of beer and a polish sausage in a slice of bread for under six bucks.

The polish sausage in question. Hey, what does this look like to you?

Our humble booth setup on the first day. I caught Maceo to the right there, we hadn't met at the time but we were to become good friends with her over the course of the weekend.

Our first sale! Like I said, we didn't sell many but the people who did buy them seemed like the cream of the crop. Thanks yous guys and gals.

Rose Made some new friends who taught her a new necklace method.

This poor girl left her cell phone on the table and some guy picked it up and ran off. Dick.

Another book fair, another round of bracelets.

The Scientologists were there being their usual creepy selves. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the LA Times Festival of books is complete bullshit. Time Warner Cable had a booth there. At a book festival. I rest my case.

Although we did meet some cool people, like Maceo, who gave Rose a collection of postcards commemorating social activists and martyrs. So that kind of made the trip worth it.

Looking out at this view Rose told me, "This town is about to fucking go off."

We drove up Mullholland and climbed a hill and looked out on the city. It was quiet up there. Hard to believe it's LA at that height.

2nd Day, better table setup, and wonderful signage/collage/mobile work by Rose.

We got our In-N-Out Burger fix.

And our kettle corn fix. If we're going to a fair we're going to have some fair food goddamnit.

And we ran into this fine fellow. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Sam Ratto.

He cooks, he gardens and he golfs. Sorry ladies, he's engaged.

He also chills out.

A home cooked meal to warm our hearts. Thanks Sam.

And thanks Rose. This trip would not have been nearly as fun without you.

picture-2

heavener — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:02:46 +0000

Blog Madness.

heavener — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:08:12 +0000

After years of silence (for no apparent reason) I just started talking with extreme journalist Brooke Geery today. Turns out she recently blogged about my blog, so in good form I'm blogging about her blog about blogging me. Blog.

Missed.

heavener — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:44:02 +0000

You missed a good show last night.

Dear old friend Natalie Weiss has been in town working on a new musical.

She capped off her month-long Orlando stint with a house show.

Story time.

The claw. Her music is called Unicornicopia.

These kids are pure energy.

When does this ever happen at your local venue?

Impromptu choreography? Yeah.

Fade out.

So long Natalie. You are an insanely beautiful human.

9780061735004

heavener — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:32:26 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:40:23 +0000

Ha. So looks like ABSPB might have to be a bi-weekly thing seeing that I still haven't finished any one of the 3 books I first showcased. Looks like I'm not as quick a reader as I thought I was! Heh Heh! Looks like I'm not as smart either! Looks like I bit off more than I can chew! Ha Ha! Looks like I'm a complete failure at everything I do and I fail to finish the things that I start! HA HA HA! Haha, hah, whoo (whiping tear from eye), heh heh, ha... (sigh). Anyway here's the cover for Mark Twain's "Who is Mark Twain?" A collection of unpublished journals, letters and lectures. A beautiful and playful little cover. Though I'm not sure what all that top hat business is about. I don't remember him being known for that. A head of billowy white hair maybe, but top hat? Maybe Harper Collins saw how much Slash's memoir was selling so they threw Samual Clemmins on the top hat bandwagon. Or maybe the answer to the titular question is right here.

ssmlogo

heavener — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:10:31 +0000

ShoStoMo.

heavener — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:17:37 +0000

Dan Wickett over at EWN has been promoting the shit out of the month of May being Short Story Month. In an effort to support the cause I'm providing a link to the best story I've read most recently. "Leopard" by Wells Tower. It isn't the greatest story in his new collection Everything Raveged, Everything Burned, but it's still a hum dinger. A young boy, tormented by his stepdad, stays home from school and revels in the idea that there may or may not be a jungle cat prowling around his woodland home. If you're not the reading type I'd wager it's because you've just never read anyhting good before. Do yourself a favor and change that.

mirror_hourglass_prism

heavener — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:55:31 +0000

Erika Somogyi.

heavener — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:06:49 +0000

NY artist Erika Somogyi is doing some inspiring things with watercolor and gouache. A lot of artists lately have been trying to capture that magic of finding yourself in nature. Erica nails it without veering into the realm of corny myhtological creatures and co-opted indian imagery. Also, I don't think I've ever seen a painting recreate the look of staring directly at the sun. Very impressive. Well done, Erika.

domdeluise-02_1143629211

heavener — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:39:41 +0000

R.I.P. Dom.

heavener — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:40:55 +0000

When I was a kid no one made me laugh harder than this man.

picture-3

heavener — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:53:12 +0000

MAKR.

heavener — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:57:28 +0000

Dear friend Jason Gregory just launched a new version of the MAKR site. Jason makes insanely high qulaity leather goods. If you're into fashion and hand crafted things that carry other things then you should check him out.

51fm0bpqzl_ss400_

heavener — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:05:09 +0000

Kindle DX.

heavener — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:28:50 +0000

So this thing just came in hot off the wire. The second I saw that it had an MSRP of $489.00 I was pretty livid and was all ready to write some tirade about how Amazon is totally out of touch with the modern reader and that this product could, in no way, be the future of books and how I got my hands on an original Kindle a couple years ago and was not that impressed and found it to be a middle piece of technology on the road to something better (iPhone reader? When is this going to happen? Hello?) and how it should be reserved for late 40's techies who want to get in early on some hot new piece of gear but feel too old to Twitter. Some angry bullshit like that. But then I looked at the specs. This thing is 1/3" thick and has a 9.7" screen that can show a shitload more detail than the first Kindle. It holds 3500 books and Amazon is now in league with a handful of major colleges to provide this new gadget to students for all their textbook uses. Dare I say it: this thing is kind of cool. This doesn't mean I'm going to go out and buy one. $500 for an ebook reader is fucking stupid, I don't care how much money you have. But if you're a student getting one for free and you don't have to pay an ungodly amount for heavy textbooks that you will use once and store on your bookshelf for the rest of your life in hopes that it will serve you at some later date, well, then you're stoked. The concept of an ebook is a ways off from being revolutionary. Nothing will replace a real, perfect bound, paperback book. Nothing will replace the ability to dog ear, make notes in the margin, underline. Not to mention a paperback is never subject to battery failure, blunt trauma and if you spill a beer on it all you do is stick it out in the sun for a while. Sure it's gonna be all puffy and stinky when it dries out, but it will technically still function. This whole Kindle experiment whiffs of desperation to me: An ailing company trying way too hard to maintain relevancy in an advance technological age. Something tells me Jeff Bezos thinks so too. The book is not broken, Amazon. Johannes Gutenburg got it right the first time. Quit trying to fix it. Thanks Gallycat.

51dkps7layl_ss500_

heavener — Thu, 07 May 2009 15:52:06 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Thu, 07 May 2009 16:20:00 +0000

Full disclosure: This weeks BBCDW entry comes more out of an interest in the material itself than an interest in the accompanying design, which, as will soon be explained, is not all that great. I've been sitting at my desk all this week (plopped in front of my desk, really) contentedly chipping away at a new issue. Yesterday, though, something hit me all the sudden. Holy Shit. I'm a 27-year-old healthy young man. What the fuck am I doing whiling away my days at a fucking desk when I could be out breaking laws and jumping my motorcycle over gorges. Or at the very least, introducing myself to random women on the street and having long drawn out conversations about life and love, a la Before Sunrise. Taking some sort of risks, I guess, instead of being cautious and careful all the time. That's why William Gurstelle's new book struck a chord with me. Living dangerously reminds you that you're alive, not a worker drone toiling away for dubious reasons. Kind of an idealistic, college kid notion, but the truth nonetheless. The cover design, on the other hand, is nothing special. It aspires to greatness, something along the whimiscal lines of The Dangerous Book for Boys, but falls shamefully short. The little flamethrower man is an almost embareassing example of poor Adobe Illustrator skills and the knives in the lower left almost look like cooking cutlery, not anything truly menacing, like so. It appears they were going for the turn-of-the-century Almanac aesthetic but just ended up with a design hodge podge straight out of Stuff magazine. Hopefully they can get it together for the paperback. What's that? This is the paperback? Yikes.

satanic

heavener — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:58:39 +0000

n122065

heavener — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:16:54 +0000

longgoodbye

heavener — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:30:48 +0000

Friday Failure Book Pile.

heavener — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:43:53 +0000

ABSPB started out with great ambitions. A chronicle of my extensive, ongoing reading list. Then I remembered I read slower than a stoned turtle. So we're changing it up a bit. Welcome to Friday Failure Book Pile, a chronicle of books started but not finished. This is in no way reflective of the engaging abilities of the books reviewed here (as you'll see most of the books listed are modern classics, critical and financial successes). This is merely a record of my inability to focus on anything for more than 50 pages. Let the laziness begin! The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. The real reason I picked up this book in the first place was out of some rebellious fascination. I was raised Presbyterian, so the Dark Prince has held a sort of tantalizing mystique going as far back as I can remember. Don't get me wrong, I was never into the Ozzy Osbourne, fire and brimstone, Tim-Curry-in-Legend style devil. No, I was more into the Alister Crowley, top hat and tails, Al-Pacino-in-Devil's-Advocate style of devil. Evil incarnate, the devil made man. So when this book started out with a couple of angels falling out of the sky my mind started to wander pretty quickly. Another reason I don't think I could have gone all the way with this one is Rushdie's voice. I love Rushdie's style, but I feel like he spawned a bajillion mediochre imitators. Just the thought of all those people out there butchering the language in hopes of having an original voice made me sad. So I shelved this one. The Human Stain by Philip Roth Sometimes I feel obligated to read books. Like if there's an author who is considered one of the greatest living American novelests and publishes a book a year and has won countless awards, and then there's little old me who's never read sentance one from said author, I feel put-upon to read said author. Like how could you even consider being a fiction writer if you've never read Mark Twain, or Nabokov, or Toni Morrision, or J.D. Salinger, or Hemingway, or any of the other giants? This is the guilt that surrounds me when I walk through the book store. And this is the guilt I went into with Philip Roth and The Human Stain. Lemme say this: You should never feel like you have to read a book. Reading novels should be an overwhelmingly pleasurable experience. And if they're not, they should at least help you wallow in your delicious misery for a little while, offer you a little light in the darkness. I know in my case, if I have to do something, I'm never going to get it done. That's the reason I never finished this book. And it's a shame cause it seemed like a pretty good story. I guess I also got a little bored of the real-to-life drama of Roth's characters. Soemtimes it's hard to force yourself to read about someone's crippling problems. The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler Sometimes you feel obligated to read a book and sometimes a book thrusts itself upon you, cosmically putting you in a submission hold until you tap out and agree to sit down with it for a few hours. There was about a month period where I kept seeing this book popping up everywhere. Library windows, DVD commentaries, random conversations. This book is speaking to me, I thought, Surely it must contain some well polished aphorism somewhere within its 224 pages that has been traveling across the earth from Chandler's brain for decades only to find me and bore its way into my being. So I bought the book. I got about a third of the way through it and then watched The Big Sleep (an adaptation of another Phillip Marlow book by Chandler) and I felt like I got a pretty good bead on what Chandler's al about. So I quit. Don't judge me. So that's a current list of my failures. I know you're thinking, "You know, you could just pick them up and start reading them again." And that is true. I could pick them up and start reading again... I could do a lot of things...

ShoStoMo.

heavener — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:43:05 +0000

As mentioned last week, Dan Wicket over at EWN is whooping much ass in the name of short fiction everywhere. He started claiming he was gonna post one story a day for the entire month of May. Now EWN, the unnofficial headquarters for Short Story Month, has morphed into an avalanche-like showcase for short fiction all over the web. Guest posts have even started cropping up from writers of all stripes and even former Annalemma contributor John McNally. So, like last week, in an effort to support the cause, I'm posting an old favorite of mine. Miracle by Judy Budnitz is the story of a young white couple who have a black baby. I probably don't need to lead you into it anymore than that. p.s. What ever happened to Judy Budnitz? Haven't heard much from her after Nice Big American Baby. Someone send out a search party.

Sixty.

heavener — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:21:02 +0000

My moms turned the big six oh last week, so we threw her a big party.

The decorations were my favorite part. Most of the photos I took are of family and friends and will probably be of little interest to the casual reader. If you're one of those family members or friends and you want to see all the photos go to me flickr stream.

Reminders to live fast and take chances.

Happy Birthday Mom!

picture-1

heavener — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:15:16 +0000

Boom.

heavener — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:22:48 +0000

Very exciting stuff happening on the internet front. The inimitable Jeff Hamada over at BOOOOOOOM! gave us some cyber ink this afternoon. If you've never come across Jeff's site you're missing out. It's a daily-updated compendium of some of the most talented creative people in the world these days and we're happy beyond the ability to express ourselves to be included among them. Thanks Jeff!

officegirl_00

heavener — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:16:03 +0000

More Boom.

heavener — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:21:03 +0000

And the cyber ink continues over at BOOOOOOOM! Jeff posted the web debut of the story Office Girl by Joe Meno, originally appearing in issue #4. If you haven't read this story yet, do yourself a favor and take advantage of this magical piece appearing for free on the internet. And don't forget to take in the amazing accompanying images by Raquel Aparicio.

1411157030_82a3e85b08_b

heavener — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:45:57 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:07:17 +0000

Harper Collins wishes they had the balls to release a book cover like this. Last week Keith Phipps of the AV Club posted this review of Theodor Sturgeon's classic sci-fi novel More Than Human. Before you click through I will forecast your reaction: You will shake your head and whisper, "Damn, if sci-fi novels from back in the day didn't have the tightest covers." So now I'm obsessed with these things. One google search and few clicks later and I unearthed a goldmine of the illest book covers ever drawn. A few favorites: Tales of the Cthulu Mythos The Bull and the Spear The Beast the Shouted Love at the Heart of the World Those were the days. All it took to have the sickest job was to have some drawing and painting skills and a shitload of LSD. After spending a good half an hour browsing these things, the book shelf at your local Borders will look about as stimulating as the pamphlet rack at the doctors office.

Press.

heavener — Mon, 18 May 2009 14:58:06 +0000

I hired the boys over at Mama's Sauce to make me some business cards. They were like, "So, how do you want us to make these?" and I was like, "I dunno, maybe just lazer print them on some 25 lb. white paper." They laughed. And when they realized I wasn't laughing with them, they looked at me with the seriousness of an ER doctor and said, "Aw, heeey-ell naw."

Then they took me in the back and showed me this thing. The Kluge letterpress.

"We're Making your cards on this thing," Nick said, "And that's the end of the discussion."

Plates.

Chase and Matt tagged along to shoot a mini-documentary on the Kluge.

"So, uh, Gary. When we gonna fire this thing up?"

Fired up! Ramped up!

Mama's boys.

The finished product. You'll have to have a power meeting with me if you want to get your hands on one of these. They are pretty sweet. Also, keep your peepers pealed for Chase and Matt's mini-doc. Most of the interesting info on the Kluge is reserved for that.

Nick Sambrato. Man of press. Man of passion. Thanks Nick!

ShoStoMo.

heavener — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:32:40 +0000

Short Story Month is peaking right now and none are more emphatic about its peakingness other than Dan Wickett over at EWN. Still keeping his promise almost to the point of absurdity. According to Dan (new this Wednesday on ABC!), lots of other sites are getting in on the action. Good ol' VigLaze has yet to pop up on EWN's radar, though. Ahem. UPDATE: Booyah! Anyhoozle, here's a story from Sam Lipsyte over at Failbetter.com. It's called Flashback or Why Nobody Won the Fight Between Our Fathers in Walt Wilmer's Toolshed. I could be totally wrong but I think this is from his novel-in-stories collection Venus Drive. If you've never read Lipsyte before you're missing out on one of the most brilliant living writers. Not only is dude funny beyond description, he has this beautiful way of showing the savage intensity of his characters. Heres a little snippet from the story that I like: "So," we heard my father say, "I guess the rocks really needed some trimming, huh? Figured the yard’s all done, might as well mow the rocks while I still have the guy’s machine." "Look, I didn’t mow no rocks, Charlie," said Mr. Cudahy. "I’m sorry." "What are you sorry for? You said you didn’t mow any rocks. Or no rocks, rather." This last was so shameless, so shameful, the fop’s swipe, the nerd’s gnaw, so laced with the venom of soft men, that I looked to my friend there beneath the sill, beseeched forgiveness, but I don’t think Boy Cudahy even caught the slight to his father’s speech, or maybe he had, of course he had, it just wasn’t the terrible rent in his world I thought it to be, or that maybe my father intended. I saw it a dirk sunk to hilt in the meat of decency, equality, common cause. But to a Cudahy it probably had the same power "four-eyes" would to my bi-focaled father. Big whoop. Specs. What else you got? Click on through and read the story. He's never written a boring sentence in his life.

39025089

heavener — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:08:28 +0000

Worser Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:19:06 +0000

I could go into a whole didactic breakdown of why this is a bile-inducing book cover, but this shithead who's responsible for decades of shitty music and even shittier people who follow his career religiously doesn't even deserve that much. All he gets in terms of a critique is this: Given the choice, I'd rather barf up all the cheese burgers and margaritas that ever existed than read this book.

KLUGE!

heavener — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:31:07 +0000

Remember that bad ass thing I was telling you about? Here's the video me bro made for it.

lankes

heavener — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:09:52 +0000

450px-old_tampa_bay_hotel3

heavener — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:21:15 +0000

800px-b1_005_-_2

heavener — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:22:37 +0000

800px-sitting_room_at_tampa_bay_hotel

heavener — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:26:53 +0000

The Gilded Age.

heavener — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:31:46 +0000

Earlier this morning I saw a comment left by Gary Johansan (one of the guys in the Kluge vid). His mention of the U. of Tampa Book Arts Studio piqued my interest so after a little searching around I found their blog. After further searching I even came across Gary's blog which included this particularly interesting post about the University of Tampa, formerly the Tampa Bay Hotel and currently the Henry B. Plant Museum. The 6 acre, quarter mile long, 511 room compound was built in 1891 and was an operational hotel until it closed in 1930. After three years of dormancy the University of Tamps was allowed to set up shop within its doors and used its suites as classrooms and offices. I've driven past this building many times but I had no idea what it was. I'm making a pilgrimage there one day to see if I can conjure any turn-of-the-century ghosts. There are some very cool things in your back yard if you're willing to dig around a little.

Broken Time Machine.

heavener — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:14:45 +0000

Some visual randomness from the last couple weeks. Nicholas celebrated his first birthday. If your first birthday sets the pace for all birthdays to come then Nick is in store for some wild ones.

Then I left the dismal summer rains of FL for the sunny vibes of The City.

I stayed at a time traveler's house.

And I walked inside many strangers homes.

And some homes where no one lives.

This is the last picture I took before I dropped my camera and broke it.

kevorkian-jack-war

heavener — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:28:00 +0000

Dr. Death.

heavener — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:47:42 +0000

The news came down the pike this afternoon that Al Pacino is playing Dr. Jack Kevorkian in an upcoming Showtime movie. The vid in the post showed Kevorkian talking about his artwork at a gallery opening. First off, I had no idea the guy painted. Second off, I had no idea he would be my favorite painter of all time. I would pay a VERY large amount of money to have one of these nightmare-inducing, psyche-scarring masterpieces in my possession. These were the highest res versions I could find. You still get the hellish idea. I really only knew Kevorkian from the image he held in the media as a silver-haired, murderous, demon doctor. After watching this video, he seems like kind of an awesome guy.

363981370_b22053ff9c_b

heavener — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:23:29 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:41:27 +0000

May 15th's entry of BBCDW got me digging through all sorts of Flickr pools in search of the perfect cover. I've yet to find it, but in the meantime there's some pretty stellar gems laying around. Check out this paperback pool I found this morning that seems to be loosely centered around Penguin and Pelican releases from the 60's and 70's. Must've been nice to be around in a time when people were a little more artful in their decisions for reprints seeing as it's mostly a snooze-fest now.

ShoStoMo.

heavener — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:30:30 +0000

Short Story Month is coming to a close this week. I just want to go on record saying how awesome of an idea I think this is and I want to personally thank Dan Wickett over at EWN for not only tirelessly promoting the artform that I truly, deeply love and believe can change peoples lives, but also for promoting talented writers that have yet to make a name for themselves in the world. Both highly commendable efforts. I'm looking forward to next year when I plan on taking Short Story Month events out of the blogosphere and into the real world! So to wrap SSM up here at VigLaze I decided to link a story from a man whom I believe is the greatest short story writer that ever lived: Raymond Carver. It's a story called A Small Good Thing. It's from his collection What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. If you plan on picking this collection up in the near future, make sure you've got a bag with a nice and sturdy strap to carry it around in because these stories are heavy. They may look like stylistically simple tales, but these stories will sneak in through the window of your mind when you're not paying attention and sit themselves down on your mind-couch and never leave.

clock

heavener — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:13:04 +0000

dollhouse

heavener — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:13:14 +0000

Unstuck in Time.

heavener — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:34:53 +0000

My digital camera broke so I dusted off the old manual 35mm for the weekend and snapped away. Is 35mm oblsolete? I'd say so. But in case you didn't hear, obsolete is the new up-to-date.

Things done: Sheba and I traveled in time against our will, we visited the jungle, a couple of friends got married and Wallgreen's gives me the sneaking suspicion that they simply scan your negatives then make digital prints instead of printing from the negative. Total rip!

dave-eggers

heavener — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:32:56 +0000

Dave Eggers.

heavener — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:54:29 +0000

A few weeks ago wildly successful writer and educational emporer, Dave Eggers, spoke at an Author's Guild dinner about how things in print aren't as bad as one would think and that everyone should just chill the fuck out. In the speech he gave out his email address with the instruction, "If you ever have any doubt, e-mail me, and I will buck you up and prove to you that you’re wrong." And me being a publisher myself, someone with a vested interest in the future of print (and, really, just a person wanting to get some of his concerns off his chest) I emailed him. And I heard back from him yesterday. Click through to read our correspondence. May 21, 2009 2:22:53 PM EDT Dear Dave, I run a magazine. We're pretty young. Only two years old and we do two issues a year. I thought it would be a cinch to get rid of all the copies that I had printed. Well I have a mountain of boxes in a spare room filled with back issues that, it seems, no one will ever buy. I'm pretty sure print is going to be okay, it's the other stuff that I'm worried about. The old publishing model. The old distribution model. Those are the rapidly decaying models that are making the print world suffer. Not print itself. And while it's still kind of a cool time (people are trying lots of experimental type stuff to find the new model) I'm worried my magazine is going to be one of those failed experiments and this thing that I love so much will die an untimely death. Please restore my faith not only in print, but in peoples interest in print. Thanks, Chris Heavener Editor/Publisher, Annalemma Magazine www.annalemma.net www.vigorouslylazy.com June 2, 2009 8:11:59 PM EDT Dear Person Needing Bucking Up, Hello and thank you so much for writing. I feel honored that you would take the time to reach out and in many cases tell me your very real struggles with writing and work and the future of the printed word. I have a few thoughts to share, though unfortunately in this space I can't detail all the reasons I think we have a fighting chance at keeping newspapers and books alive in physical form. But before I do blather for a few paragraphs, I should apologize for sending you a mass email. As you probably know, a week ago I gave a speech to about 100 people in New York, and I didn't foresee it getting out there on the web. (Shows how much I know.) And I really didn't expect this email address to be given out. Again, though, that was my lack of foresight. And I'm an infrequent emailer, so I'm unable to respond to most of the (plaintive, beautiful, heart-ripping) emails that have been sent to me these past few days. So I apologize for not being able to answer your email personally. Or at least not in any timely manner. Anyway. I would like to say to you good print-loving people that for every dire bit of news there is out there, there is also some good news, too. The main gist of my (rambling) speech at the Author's Guild was that because I work with kids in San Francisco, I see every day that their enthusiasm for the printed word is no different from that of kids from any other era. Reports that no one reads anymore, especially young people, are greatly overstated and almost always factually lacking. I've written about youth readership elsewhere, but to reiterate: sales of young adult books are actually up. Total volume of all book sales is actually up. Kids get the same things out of books that they have before. Reading in elementary schools and middle schools is no different than any other time. We have work to do with keeping high schoolers reading, but then again, I meet every week with 15 high schoolers in San Francisco, and all we do is read (literary magazines, books, journals, websites, everything) in the process of putting together the Best American Nonrequired Reading. And I have to say these students, 14 to 18 years old, are far better read and more astute than I was at their age, and there are a million other kids around the country just like them. These kids meet every week at McSweeney's, and things at our small publishing company are stable. We're a hand-to-mouth operation to be sure, but we haven't had to lay anyone off. To some extent, that's because we're small and independent and have always insisted on staying small and independent. We take on very little risk, and we grow very cautiously. It's our humble opinion that the world will support many more publishers of our size and focus. If you can stay small, stay independent, readers will be loyal, and you'll be able to get by publishing work of merit. Publishing has, for most of its life, been a place of small but somewhat profit margins, and the people involved in publishing were happy to be doing what they loved. It's only recently, when large conglomerates bought so many publishing companies and newspapers, that demands for certain margins squeezed some of the joy out of the business. Pretty soon, on the McSweeney's website www.mcsweeneys.net we'll be showing some of our work on this upcoming issue, which will be in newspaper form. The hope is that we can demonstrate that if you rework the newspaper model a bit, it can not only survive, but actually thrive. We're convinced that the best way to ensure the future of journalism is to create a workable model where journalists are paid well for reporting here and abroad. And that starts with paying for the physical paper. And paying for the physical paper begins with creating a physical object that doesn't retreat, but instead luxuriates in the beauties of print. We believe that if you use the hell out of the medium, if you give investigative journalism space, if you give photojournalists space, if you give graphic artists and cartoonists space, if you really truly give readers an experience that can't be duplicated on the web, then they will spend $1 for a copy. And that $1 per copy, plus the revenue from some (but not all that many) ads, will keep the enterprise afloat. As long as newspapers offer less each day, less news, less great writing, less graphic innovation, fewer photos, then they're giving readers few reasons to pay for the paper itself. With our prototype, we aim to make the physical object so beautiful and luxurious that it will seem a bargain at $1. The web obviously presents all kinds of advantages for breaking news, but the printed newspaper does and will always have a slew of advantages, too. It's our admittedly unorthodox opinion that the two can coexist, and in fact should coexist. But they need to do different things. To survive, the newspaper, and the physical book, needs to set itself apart from the web. Physical forms of the written word need to offer a clear and different experience. And if they do, we believe, they will survive. Again, this is a time to roar back and assert and celebrate the beauty of the printed page. Give people something to fight for, and they will fight for it. Give something to pay for, and they'll pay for it. We'll keep you posted throughout the summer about our progress with this newspaper prototype, and any other good news we come across. Thanks for listening for now, Dave

Bad Writing.

heavener — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 19:29:26 +0000

Seeing that this is a concept that I spend probably 60-70% of my day focusing on/wrestling with/ralleying against/crying shamefully in a corner about, I was pumped to see that someone made a documentary on the subject. I hope it turns out to be something along the lines of an orientation video for anyone thinking about committing something to paper and/or cyber paper. Thanks Papercuts.

37659616

heavener — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:53:45 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 15:17:01 +0000

After a couple weeks of dipping deeply into the nostalgia pool for BBCDW I figured it'd be a good idea to bring it back to now-times. But not too now-times. David Carr's mem-wuah The Night of the Gun chronicles the depths of his many, many years of substance abuse. Sounded like a pretty good book when it came out in hardcover about a year ago. But I didn't buy it back then cause of a personal rule of mine that might get me into trouble with most book aficionados: I can't stand hard cover books. They're cumbersome, you can't fold them back and hold them with one hand, they're unecessarily heavy, and if you get upset or dissapointed with the contents therin and decide to whip the thing across the room in a little baby tantrum you're more likely to break something valuable. Plus this one's hardcover design left a lot to be desired. It kind of smacked of a little too much effort, "It looks like a gun but it also represents drugs. Get it? Get it?!" Yeah, yeah, we get it, we get it. You enjoying your first year at art school? Something about contrast of the photos on the cover of paperback just struck me as a little more genuine and haunting. They kept the same hand-scrawled chalk font which was working well for them the first time around. And they even managed to tastefully work in a cover blurb by a insanely popular author, which, in my eyes, is often a no-no. Well done, nameless Simon & Schuster paperback designer.

franny_and_zooey_1962

heavener — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:05:28 +0000

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heavener — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:19:06 +0000

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heavener — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:26:02 +0000

Friday Failure Bookpile.

heavener — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:42:51 +0000

Welcome to a semi-weekly segment wherein I chronicle a selection of modern classics that I have started reading but subsequently given up on for various reasons. Let the failure begin! Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger I love, love, love Salinger's Nine Stories. Probably the best collection I've ever read. A true master of character, dialogue, interaction, humor and pathos. But something about his novels never really did it for me. I thought Catcher in the Rye was whatevs to be quite honest. I realize that the reason it was such a groundbreaking book was because of when it was published. Reading that book in 2003 kind of takes a bit of the subversive oomph out of it. I got about a third of the way through F & Z before I called it quits. I don't know. I just had a hard time sympathizing with the young socialite crowd of New York in the 1950's. I know with Salinger there's an eventual payoff. I just lost patience I guess. I'll come back to by, my love. Someday. The Forever War by Dexter Filkins Probably the most important book I've ever given up on. Filkins has been writing about his encounters with Islamic fundamentalism for over ten years now and it's all in this here book. Every savage detail from a public beheading he attended in a burnt out soccer stadium to wandering the ruins of the twin towers on September 11th. I don't think there's any surprise why I gave up on this one. It's an amazing book, but I simply got tired of being bummed out and scared shitless when I picked it up. The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami I've got very little tolerance for stories that go nowhere. Apparently that's just how Murakami rolls. The only thing keeping you going in this book is his voice. Slow, languid, cool, matter-of-fact, almost in total antithesis of his American conteporaries who feel the need to belt you over the head with an intense storytelling style. It's a little harsh to say that this story goes nowhere. He sets his characters a course, but where that course is going is a mystery to anyone. An unemployed man goes searching for his wife's lost cat and along the way he encounters a surly nine-year-old girl, a mysterious abandoned house and it's all supposed be a story about a deteriorating marriage. Sounds like a blast. Kind of off topic here but did you hear that he just sold roughly one bajillion copies of his new book? Man, must be doing something right. Does this make me an idiot for not getting what the big deal is? I'll give him another shot when his new 1,005 page jam comes out in English I guess. But if there's a missing cat in it, so help me...

infinite-jest

heavener — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:16:52 +0000

Infinite Summer.

heavener — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:30:10 +0000

Back when I was a cocky, naive young man in his beginning months at writing school I was under the delusion that no novel existed that could mystify or confuse me, no book could sway my lazer-like focus, and no writer existed that could bury me in weighty ideas. It's with this attitude that I picked up Infinite Jest. I got about 200 pages in and I quit. Main reason being the sheer size of it. I read that fucker like a bomb squad officer clipping at colored wires and I couldn't even make a dent in it. Other people have apparently experienced the same thing when trying to undertake IJ. They decided to take action. Infinite Summer is an online book club of sorts that challenges readers all over the globe to read Infinite Jest over the summer of 2009: "June 21st to September 22nd. A thousand pages ÷ 92 days = 75 pages a week. No sweat." I've been putting this book off for a long time and now it's time to climb this mountain. I going to do it. Who's with me? Thanks TheRumpus.net

06site_shoestampon

heavener — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:58:04 +0000

Liz Wolfe.

heavener — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:03:35 +0000

Photographer Liz Wolfe's world is one filled with delightfully horrific confections and sequined tampons. If I had a nickle for every time I typed that sentance... Check out her collections of sugar and creatures here.

018_20

heavener — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:25:16 +0000

Summer in the Southeast.

heavener — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:30:06 +0000

Sheba came down to FL for her summer vacation. She's posting all the ups and downs, twists and turns, highs and lows on her blog. Check out part 1, wherein I conquer nature, and part 2, wherein the beans get spilled concerning a crush I have on a local barista and I almost get murdered by a snake.

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heavener — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:08:57 +0000

Young Breezy.

heavener — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:11:59 +0000

Me an the boys are having another show. If you've never seen us, we are pretty damn good. If you have seen us, we're going to play 10% new material!

picture-2

heavener — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:32:49 +0000

Hamburger Eyes.

heavener — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:34:04 +0000

You know it. You love it. You can't live without it. So now it's time to help them out. Kick in a little bit of cash to get the new issue of Hamburger Eyes published. Tough times in print call for those who love it to band together. Are you doing your part? Hamburger Eyes from Nick Fogarty on Vimeo.

tycoon

heavener — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:14:44 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:52:44 +0000

Like most white people, I've got a bit of an obsession with turn-of-the-century design aesthetics. Not really sure what you would call that. Rockefellerphilia, perhaps? I've got a theory that this obsession stems from a desire to hearken back to a time when white folks thought they were pretty hot shit. All building factories and swirling brandy in oak lined rooms. Can we really blame them for the vast industrialization and domination of every business venture possible and all the irreversible ramifications that came with it? Yes, we can. T. J. Stiles's The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt tells the story of a Staten Island born, steamship building, Abraham Lincoln consulting, business modeling, fist fighting, gambling addicted son having, titan of industry. Remaining true to the tone of the times, this cover implements the letterpress-style typfaces and embellishments that defined the era. And even goes the whole nine to include a daguerreotype-style image of the powdered wig captain of industry himself. A subtle head-nod to the design of the dollar bill and the pursuit of which he devoted his life to.

houseext

heavener — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:25:31 +0000

Haunted.

heavener — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:39:04 +0000

Instructions for weekend activities. Do like JustinSpace: 1. Find an abandoned house. 2. Go inside. 3. Take a bunch of pictures. 4. Make up the history of how this place came to be. 5. Try not to scare the shit out of yourself. 6. End up scaring the shit out of yourself.

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heavener — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:48:04 +0000

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heavener — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:48:32 +0000

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heavener — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:50:46 +0000

One Thousand Eyes.

heavener — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:52:53 +0000

Looks like the HE boys done did it. They said it couldn't be done but I believed in them the whole time. Congrats dudes. Did you kick in some cash? Even a dollar? If so you may have gotten some shout outs on their twitter like so: Guess this means I'll be stealing peoples bikes and punching them so hard they will fly up in the air. And then Ice Cube will beat me with a brick.

picture-5

heavener — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:18:13 +0000

Robyn Cumming.

heavener — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:20:55 +0000

Robyn Cumming has got one of the worst designed portfolio sites I've ever ever come across. Doesn't matter though. Her photos are something to behold, espescially the Lady Things series.

dj_dream_titty_wed_night

heavener — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:20:34 +0000

Yo DJ.

heavener — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:27:23 +0000

Sometimes you're jsut sitting at your desk thinking, "WTF am I gonna blog about today? What's interesting about reading a bunch of submissions? Aquiring content for the new website launch?" And then this little gem just falls right into your lap. The triumphant return of DJ Dream Titty is happening tomorrow night at the Cornell Museum of Art as part of their current weekly series Warhol Wednesdays. Come out and look at some Warhol photos, bring some cash for the bar and get lost in the mammary jams the DJ will be spinning.

93208

heavener — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:48:04 +0000

natalialafourcadehuhuhu

heavener — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:49:23 +0000

The Forking part Dos.

heavener — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:06:54 +0000

Mexico City recording artist Natalia Lafourcade just release her latest album entitled Hu Hu Hu. Dear friend Cara made the masks and the dress Lafourcade wears on the cover. Cara worked really hard on these and I'm very proud of her! The masks are also featured in the video Azul (dudes won't let me embed). The video is kinda whack (why are these twentysomethings acting like seven-year-olds?), but I think the masks are cool, they show up at the end. Congrats Cara!

Hot Pics.

heavener — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:31:20 +0000

Last night was the triumphant return of DJ Dream Titty a.k.a. DJ Mammary Jams.

Everyone was getting pretty excited about that.

Oh, and there was also some sort of Andy Warhol exhibit. It was a bunch of his Polaroids of uber famous people. My fav was Rick Ocasek. I was kinda obsessed with The Cars a few years ago.

Gretzky was also a hit.

For some reason (probably to make some sort of statement, artists are always doing that sort of thing) most of the women's faces and torsos were caked in white makeup, ruby red lipstick and a thick layer of mascara. Kinda creepy and very interesting.

"What's it gonna take to put you in a Cutlass Sierra and drive it off the lot today."

Not sure if this is the exact camera he used to take the portraits, but it's the same style. It's called the Big Shot.

"Yep, definitely at an art show..."

Natasha likes to send innocuous emails to her friends with the subject title "HOT PICS XXX" and imagine them freaking out not sure if they should open it or delete it.

This is called the Build-a-Bear. Which made me think of this. And also this.

Katy is the orchestrator of this whole thing. Thanks Katy! Fun times!

picture-1

heavener — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:23:12 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:48:50 +0000

I was going to wait about a week to get to this, but I couldn't wait. Stephen Elliott's been circulating pre-release copies of his new book, a true-crime memoir, as sort of a DIY marketing buzz generator. The gist is you email Stephen, ask him if you can read his book, convince him that you're a real person, he mails you the book and you have a week to finish it, then you mail it to someone else. Sounds like a really cool idea, no? I thought so too, so I emailed him. He sent me the book and I'm reading it right now and I'm pretty blown away by it so far. But this isn't a review of the contents inside the book. (Disclaimer: This is kind of a soft edge image that's supposed to be used for wheat pasting I think. It was the highest res image I could find. You get the idea. I'll post a sharper one next week.) The cover graphic for The Adderall Diaries has all the elements that make a stop-you-in-your-tracks image. Loss, abandonment and confusion are conveyed with a few colors, a few layers and a healthy dose of taste. What else do you need to know? Simple, beautiful, creative. Well done. P.S. The project is still going on if you want to read the book. Click the link above or right here if you're lazy. Highly recommended.

Ficciones.

heavener — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:59:51 +0000

Friday was the groundbreaking for FCTN's new building.

Everyone who's anyone in the young business world in Winter Park was there. The boys decided to do something different than the normal golden-shovel-hard-had-business-suit thing.

Finished product.

Congrats yall!

Jen made a lovely dinner that night because...

Her friend, Alix, was in town from LA. They were opposites.

Kitchen still life.

Jen wrangled everyone over to Stardust where there was a surpise pie waiting for Alix.

Surprise!

Pie!

Hell yeah!

Young Brah had a show on Saturday.

We were gonna play with this band from Miami but they cancelled. Everyone was like "Maybe we should cancel too." But I was like, "Nah, fuck that. Let's call DJ Dream Titty and rock this shit."

And rock it we did. Thanks to everyone for coming out! Most fun show we've played yet!

Then last night Alix showed her boyfriend's film.

It was an 18 minute short about a french dude and english dude who were the first dudes to cross the english channel in a baloon.

And it was pretty cute and funny.

Thanks Alix. You're the best French person I know.

picture-7

heavener — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:00:37 +0000

Alix Soubiran.

heavener — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:04:40 +0000

I just recently met Alix Soubiran and she's not only a delightful person but she's also a fantastic artist. Go check out all her patron saints and animal circus's.

coverad

heavener — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:13:16 +0000

titlepagead

heavener — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:18:47 +0000

The Adderall Diaries.

heavener — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:33:19 +0000

I mentioned Stephen Elliot's newest book last week for BBCDW and also touched upon the cool project surrounding it's marketing, but just to recap: Stephen is circulating copies of his new true-crime memoir to anyone who would care to read it. All you do is email him, prove that you're a real person, he sends you the book, you get a week to read it and when that week is up you send it to the next person on the list. Pretty cool buzz-generating idea that I will most likely steal in the forthcoming months. So I signed up and just finished it last night and I'm glad that I did. Not only is this a great book, but it's a cool thing to be involved with. It's not too often that the general public not only gets to read advance copies of books but also gets to be given the chance to by the author himself. Which, I think, is the way it should be. You should be able to reach out to these people and have them reach back to you. That's what creative writing is all about, for me at least. To connect with people. And it really bugs me when authors are reclusive, don't do interviews, don't do readings, don't really make any sort of effort to engage their audience outside of publishing. So it really pumps me up when you see a talented author getting in the mix and reaching out to people. Anyway. I think this thing is still going on and you should sign up for it so you can be a part of it too.

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heavener — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:15:22 +0000

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heavener — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:23:24 +0000

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heavener — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:33:24 +0000

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heavener — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:37:13 +0000

Worser Book Cover Design of the Week: Vanilla Edition.

heavener — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:50:52 +0000

I don't know if I'm just really uninspired this week or if there's an exceptional amount of bland shit being churned out lately, but the covers of this weeks new releases are neither rocking me or bumming me out. As if I'm standing in a hot driveway, sweating, after just having jogged three miles and I'm waiting for the publishing world to come bring me a nitrogen-cold strawberry daiquiri they promised, but instead they show up and offer me a tepid glass of milk. Here's a round-up of this weeks book covers that are totally devoid of harm, risk and fun. Wallow in the mediocrity! Wallow, I say! For the amature mortician and/or zombie enthusiast there's Larry King's new memoir. Might want to think twice about putting that mug on a book cover in order to sell books instead of inducing panic trips to the botox clinic. Photographer: Larry, give us a big warm smile. Larry King: I am smiling. Photographer: No, that's more of a Dick-Cheney-evil-genius-predator sneer you've got happening there. Think more "I'd like to share my life story with you" and less "I'd like to lure you to my dungeon and feast on your innards." Larry King: ... Photographer: Larry? Larry King: ... Photographer: Jesus. Will somebody poke him with a stick or something? More like The Forgotten Use of Restraint Concerning Vine Embellishments and Sepia Filters. Sure, Allen was a living legend in the skin moisturizer advertising comunity, but designing a book cover would be a new challenge entirely. The man who owns this book... a. leaves his television on the History Channel at all times. b. owns an impressive collection of guns and cleans them regularly. While watching the History Channel. c. prays for provocation. d. secretly wears a sports bra he stole from The Finish Line in the mall. e. All of the above.

photo5

heavener — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:21:35 +0000

BLUE cam.

heavener — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:27:23 +0000

Got this email from Bryan "Bear" Soderlind this morning: So I just wanted to inform you guys about the amazing new camera that will be available to rent to only my closest of friends. It's called the BLUE cam and it is packed with lots of high tech features starting but not ending with the fact it shoots on Hi8 tapes. I've rented it a few times to action sports cinematographer Jeff Raley and he has gotten some great results. Let me know as you get projects and need to put the BLUE on reserve. Thanks and great shooting. -Bear Check out the stunning resolution here as Bear's video interview with Josh Letchworth goes horribly awry.

Disappearing Friends.

heavener — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:48:41 +0000

Andrew is moving to LA soon.

Soon there will be no one left in this town.

There was something about this year. Summer 2008-09. Brought a lot of people together, but the feeling that it's coming to a close is tightening its grip around us.

You could get sad about it. Or you could enjoy the time you have with your friends, say, by eating a stomach-rupturing amount of food.

Or by going to the beach.

Or by jumping off of things.

Or by drawing said disappearing friends in the hopes that you will capture some part of them.

Try it. It works.

There are some friends who will forget you. But they'll always be happy to see you again.

Cept for this guy.

Rest easy Andrew. It's a long walk to the coast.

edward-bulwer-lytton-764412

heavener — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:39:55 +0000

Bulwer.

heavener — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:59:38 +0000

The winner of The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest has been announced (terrible website btw, check the wiki for better info). This particular contest (named after Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, author of the infamous line, "It was a dark and stormy night...") is a test of not how good you are at writing, but at how good you are at writing bad. The person who comes up with the best (worst) opening sentence of an imagined (bad) novel wins. David McKenzie took home this year's prize with the following hum-dinger: Folks say that if you listen real close at the height of the full moon, when the wind is blowin' off Nantucket Sound from the nor' east and the dogs are howlin' for no earthly reason, you can hear the awful screams of the crew of the "Ellie May," a sturdy whaler Captained by John McTavish; for it was on just such a night when the rum was flowin' and, Davey Jones be damned, big John brought his men on deck for the first of several screaming contests. I chuckled a bit when I read that one, then I read the wiki page for some of the past entrants and I didn't find it so funny anymore. Observational humor (funny cause it's true) reaches a breaking point where too much honesty is no longer funny and it's just depressing. That's kind of the way I felt reading these. Whoever wrote them was spot-on in their attempts at bad writing. I should know. 90% of story submissions I get start out like this. Pretentious, disengenuous, and, worst of all, dishonest. People desparately pretending to be something that they aren't, which almost always makes me want to punch things and vomit simultaniously. Kudos, Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest winners. You're bringing laughter through the tears.

the-kiss

heavener — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:38:16 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week: Well Medicated Edition.

heavener — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:44:36 +0000

In people-stealing-my-ideas news, Vancouver BC web designer Andrew Lindstrom has posted 45 beautifully designed book covers. Some pretty inspiring entries. Where are you finding these Andrew? I don't know if you saw last week's BBCDW but I'm kind of drowning in bullshit over here. Thanks Bob.

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heavener — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:52:09 +0000

Jaime Martinez.

heavener — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:57:07 +0000

Behold, Mexico City photographer Jaime Martinez. Gorgeous photographs of gorgeous people. Be sure to check out the animated .gif work in the 2009 section. They will momentarily transport you to another world. Well done, Jamie.

fireworks-4

heavener — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:50:49 +0000

Be Safe.

heavener — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:04:12 +0000

The country's birthday is tomorrow and before everyone starts priming themselves for an all day booze-a-thon, I just want to remind everyone to be safe. We all know that things have a potential to go wrong when strong drink and advanced machinery get mixed. So please, don't drink and take shitty fireworks photos. There's no greater tragedy that can happen on this national holiday than cycling through your photos on the 5th and realizing you took about 50 pics of blurry amorphous light blobs. Lifehacker's got some tips for good fireworks pics this year. And if you were planning on using a flash then just give me your camera right now and go take a time out. Thanks to Chase for the pic.

Let's Get Free.

heavener — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:26:35 +0000

I got some advice for you America: Get free with Gabi's delicious Bomb Pops.

I had lunch with "that" couple. You know, the ones that like to match outfits.

They had an all day vegan hot dog eating competition at Dandylion. Ugh. what a shitty way to spend the 4th. I'd rather be working at an outdoor mayonaise factory.

This guy's got the right idea. Fixin a car in his front yard, fresh out the shower.

This was the SECOND ramp sesh of the day.

I probably haven't skated twice in one day since I was 17.

But today was special. We had decided to do every physical activity we could think of.

Except for the ultimate, much to my chagrin.

Did yall follow my advice? Did you take shitty fireworks photos?

It's kind of hard not to without a fully manual camera, so I'll let you off the hook. This time.

Looks like it was the 4th of July and Turkey day for someone.

This is my favorite picture of right now. I snapped it a few seconds too late. She had a bottle in her hand moments before this. Would've made it perfect.

Some people like to get real excited on the 4th...

so excited that they start to dance.

Like they have never danced before.

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heavener — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:02:44 +0000

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heavener — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:23:40 +0000

Better Book Cover Design(s) of the Week.

heavener — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:40:41 +0000

A couple of covers jumped out at me this week so instead of stockpiling the blog entries I'm passing the info-tainment onto you! Methland by Nick Reding is a dissection of the image of small town America as the wholesome, honest, backbone of the country and the reality of the situation: a slow decomposition over the past three decades from that brawny image to a struggling community deteriorating due to transitioning agriculture business and little-to-no employment. All of which has left our much-revered small town America vunerable to a cancer called methamphetamine. I'm usually not a fan of gritty, textured fonts. Most of the time it's overkill, like trying to hard to convey a seedy world. Most of the time a gaunt, liberally spaced font could get the job done with a little more subtlety. But for some reason it works on this cover. Perhaps because that's just what you expect to see when you think about meth. And you can never go wrong using a big juicy photo. In this instance, the sun setting on our pre-concieved notions of what small town America means. And on the flip side we have The Science of Fear by Daniel Gardner. Ever wonder if the next plane you're getting on will get hijacked by a terrorist? If that person that sneezed in the elevator was infected with swine flu? If Kim Jong Il is mere moments away from pressing "the button"? Daniel Gardner doesn't. Instead he wonders why we have these irrational fears. What causes us to make snap judgments that more or less do nothing but cause us more pain and suffering than before we even heard about theses percieved threats? Gardner supposes that it has to do with the way our hunter-gatherer brains react to threats to our well being and how we can learn to overcome these false worries and lead a braver life. The road-cone orange and the simple, tiny iconography do a good job of approaching these subjects of fear with a pair of tweezers and a mganifying glass. As if they are nothing to be afraid of, but something to put under a microscope. Not only an enticing cover, but also adiquately suggestive of the material and an excellent execution of the thesis of the book. Well done, nameless Penguin designer.

Alchemy.

heavener — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:29:20 +0000

I like watching people make things. Doesn't really matter what it is. Cars, food, origami, furniture. Anything. As long as it's someone who's dedicated to their craft. I like to see passion manifested. Modern Alchemy is a short documentary on this subject. Coulda done without the overdubbed sound effects. Kinda makes it a bit clumsy upon second viewing. No matter, though. Give this one a watch if you're looking to spend six and a half minutes wisely. These guys look like they enjoy the shit out of their jobs.

store_interior

heavener — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:34:45 +0000

Golden Age.

heavener — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:41:06 +0000

Dunno if any of the remaining Chicagoans who read this blog (close to 60 of you!) are still interested in buying books, zines and other shit for weirdos. But if you are, I would reccomend heading on down to Golden Age on the lower west side-ish area. I ain't never been there, looks like they opened right when I left. But the place looks dope. If you go you should take some pictures and talk to the peeps who run the place and maintian an overall interest in the operation of brick-and-motar art/book/art book stores.

Lymbyc Fish.

heavener — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:31:22 +0000

The menfolk gathered on a boat once again to bring home the sea bacon.

I woke up before dawn and rode my freedom machine out to the coast. I was excited to catch a fish, but also very annoyed that I had to be up that early. You'd think that both those feelings would balance each other out, make you kind of stable. Not the case. Instead I just felt kind of manic. Compounded by the 2 and a half hour boat ride and unsteady swells of the ocean, wasn't that much of an enjoyable experience.

But we got to see this pod of dolphins, which was kind of a silent spiritual moment for everyone involved. Even if they don't care to admit it.

I didn't catch shit. Everyone else caught a bunch of snapper. The snapper caught a crab in its belly.

Sea bounty.

I love spending time with my dad and bro, but this was the real reason I wanted to go fishing.

This truck smelled of fish.

And the Black Box smelled of sweat and desperation.

Jason and I caught Lymbyc Systym. A fucking great band. Go see them. They are still on tour. If you live in FL you missed them already.

Thanks dudes. Lymbyc Systym @ Black Box 7.11.09 from chris heavener on Vimeo.

cafe___by_sedatgirgin

heavener — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:50:41 +0000

Sedat Girgin.

heavener — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:05:47 +0000

Something I've been obsessing over lately in the visual arts realm is the ability to capture subtle gesture. Sedat Girgin's illustrations are sometimes a little scratchy for my tastes, but he's got a knack for showing a character's tiny movements in a single frame. Kind of reminds me of the Triplets of Bellville and this:

kurlandjustine1-orringerc

heavener — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:17:31 +0000

1998 Alfred A. Knopf 2003 Carol Devine Carson

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:26:08 +0000

Even though they failed to contact the expert on the subject, an interesting round-up/discussion/highlight on the subject of book cover designs over at The Rumpus pointed me in the direction of Julie Orringer's collection I like photos that tell stories. Ones that perfectly freeze a moment in time when things are about about to change. Or ones that at least capture a certain mood. Accomplish that and you're a good photographer. Throw that photo on the cover of a book and you should win awards. Or at least a blog post.

dashsnow

heavener — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:30:51 +0000

RIP Dash Snow.

heavener — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:38:36 +0000

Love him or hate him, he was an interesting person: SBTCV Epicly Laterd Tiny Vices NY Magazine

02

heavener — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:05:17 +0000

Weekly.

heavener — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:16:11 +0000

Got a little bit of ink over at the Orlando Weekly. It's the best and only award we've ever recieved. Check it out here. I've always been a fan of the Weekly's "Best of Orlando" issue. For one it occasionally turns me on to some previously unheard of spots around town as well as highlighting some of the cooler aspects of the city. Also I find it really funny when the editor's picks contrast so vastly with the reader's picks. Best subs of 2009: Editor's pick - Philly Style Hoagies and Deli Reader's pick - Publix Supermarket

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heavener — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:27:03 +0000

drop-city_l

heavener — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:30:14 +0000

love_in_the_time_of_cholera

heavener — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:42:56 +0000

9780140189445

heavener — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:57:14 +0000

Friday Failure Book Pile.

heavener — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:05:07 +0000

I pulled all the old books out of storage to find a few gems: Ugh. Kinda gross. Anyway I thought I'd take this opportunity to dig through muck and find a few modern classics that I never completed. Let the failure begin! Drop City by T.C. Boyle Man, I must not have gotten far in this one cause save for a small fold on the upper right corner my copy of this book looks like it came right off the shelf of the book store. I'd always heard Boyle was supposed to be one of the funniest writers of his generation. I guess that's what motivated me to pick up Drop City in the first place. When I think of funny I don't think of spending a few dozen pages setting the scene of the novel: a group of 1970's hippies on a commune setting out to colonize Alaska. That, and I think around the time I picked up this book I had jsut finished reading an issue of Vice that was devoted to destroying the baby boomer generation, so I was all, "fuck these self-diluted people." Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez I think I picked this one up cause it seemed like a good book to have under your belt to talk about with girls. I'd say the same about 100 Years of Solitude, which I enjoyed the shit out of. I thought to myself, "For some reason babes love the fiery latin rhythms that GGM is capable of throwing, so why not familiarize yourself? You might learn something." Turns out the only thing I learned was that unrequited love has never been so boring. Thing about Marquez is he's real hit and miss. 100 Years of Solitude may be one of the best books I've ever read, but Love and Other Demons? Holy shit, what a stink pile. Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow I've no excuse for not finishing this one other than being downright lazy. It had everything going for it: set in Chicago (a town I was in love with at the time), a narritorial voice that gripped you like an old friend putting his arm around you and walking you to the bar to buy you a drink, and Saul Bellow, master storyteller. I need to read this one. I will read this one. Lemme just check out these lolcats first. Goddamn internet.

Jam.

heavener — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:35:58 +0000

We got invited to the Orlando Weekly's Best of Orlando party. In a perfect world the invites would have said, "If you only go to one industry party with house music and crepes this year, make it this one."

Imagine all the nerds in your high school getting a very large budget to throw a party...

This is what it would look like.

And there will be way more exciting clothes.

And way better dancing. And there may even be a sighting of the most elusive of night time creatures: And it will be way more fun than you expected it to be.

But that night will soon be over and you will come upon new adventures.

With celebrity cameos.

And it all takes place in the mind of a 12-year-old anime fan's brain.

Breathe it all in, as fast as you can.

And dress your best. Cause that makes you feel better.

And keep an eye out for sea monsters.

And strange water foul behavior. Cause those things could make you a lot of money.

If you have to reflect, only do so sparingly. You don't want to get stuck in the past.

And make sure to thank your lucky goddamn stars for every moment you get to be alive.

Cause you definitely don't want to miss anything like this:

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heavener — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:54:41 +0000

Jennifer O'Malley.

heavener — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:04:46 +0000

Dear friend and fashion guru Jen O'Malley unveiled a new bunch of headbands this week. Dunno of she's selling them yet (UPDATE: She is!) but if you've got a special lady in your life this would make a pretty sweet gift. And if you are a special lady you might wanna get your hands on one before one shows up on the noggin of Bat for Lashes or Joanna Newsome and by then you're behind the fashion curve. Which is undoubtedly a fate worse than death.

420172

heavener — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:55:03 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:42:58 +0000

What do you think of when you think of the word scouring? I imagine myself on a horse drawn covered wagon with fifteen mustangs pulling me, galloping wildly, leather straps and buckles jostling and snapping and clanging, each horses eyes open frighteningly wide showing the little sliver of white, saliva ribboning from their mouths, my one hand on the reins, the other shielding the sun from my eyes, looking out across the desert landscape rapidly coming towards me then disappearing, wind thundering in my ears, hollering through a dry and cracked throat at the horses, "H-yaw! H-yaw!", looking for someone. A fugitive, a doctor, a law man. Someone who holds my life and the lives of others in their hands. I learned a couple years ago during a game of Scatagories that it really means "to rub hard especially with a rough material for cleansing." It also means "to suffer from diarrhea or dysentery" but that's not really the point. I was scouring the internet this morning, in only one sense of the word, looking for a good book cover for this weeks BBCDW and basically getting a little depressed at the amount of bullshit out there. Then, in my darkest hour, this little diamond popped out of the rough. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer turns the Faust legend on it's ear as a man who's sold his soul to learn the secrets of raising the dead now tries to win it back from the Devil by getting 100 people to commit their souls to be damned. Sounds like it might run the risk of either being some lame-ass genre bullshit or it could be really awesome. The woodcut skeleton dude, the black and white with a splash of blood red, it all evokes a healthy dose of deliciously evil fun. Well done, nameless Double Day designer.

picture-1

heavener — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:28:13 +0000

blue_horizon

heavener — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:59:45 +0000

Bill Harris.

heavener — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:12:31 +0000

Bill Harris's work is a little hit and miss, as well as a little scattered, but that's the way it goes when you're as prolific as he is. Nevertheless, when he's on, he's fucking ON. His portraits are seemingly mundane snapshots of everyday life, but it doesn't take too long before you realize the weight of what's happening in these scenes. You know a painting is good when the story starts telling itself in your head.

11conjuringarock

heavener — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:28:48 +0000

011surlveillanceobscura

heavener — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:29:10 +0000

04obscuraengraving

heavener — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:30:36 +0000

08lookingglassstudy-koshers

heavener — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:32:18 +0000

Stephen Berkman.

heavener — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:50:53 +0000

I don't know much about Stephen Berkman, except that his other-worldly images have the power to make you smile with inspiration and freak the hell out of you at the same time. Most interesting is how he gathers heavily from the late 1800's to create a vibe of surreal whimsey, particularly his use of old-timey ambrotype technology (positive image burned on to a sheet of glass, as opposed to daguerreotype, in which the image is exposed to polished silver). I couldn't decide on which image I liked the best, so I just included all my favs. Here's to a delightfully nightmarish weekend!

Keirin.

heavener — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:44:45 +0000

Dear friend Thomas up and started himself a bike shop down in Miami called Keirin. To celebrate the achievment DVS decided to design him some special kicks. And in the bottomless generosity of his heart he saw fit to send me a pair. I rode to work in them today and they are very comfortable and made me go very fast. Faster than most cars. Though that's not partcularly uncommon in Winter Park where motorists are more concerned with window dressings of local shops than of maintaining the legal speed limit. Nevertheless, good kicks. Check out all the cool fun shit Thomas is up to on the Keirin Cycles blog. Thanks dude!

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heavener — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:29:45 +0000

3215_i2_penguin-classics-2

heavener — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:30:13 +0000

3215_i3_penguin-classics-3

heavener — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:30:29 +0000

picture-4

heavener — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:25:25 +0000

picture-5

heavener — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:48:48 +0000

picture-6

heavener — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:52:47 +0000

Mneh-er Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:53:44 +0000

Penguin commissioned Ruben Toledo to draw up some covers for some of their classic snooze-fests in celebration of fashion week or some bullshit. Penguin's heart is in the right place, trying to spruce up some old dogs with fancy new covers, and the drawings aren't bad, but good book covers these do not make. It makes these books look like a Tim Burton picture book adaptation of the classic stories. If you're going to get some new artists to gussy up some old novels how about doing it with a little bit of balls and/or ovaries? How about Aurel Schmidt takes on Bukowski: Or Dante by Neckface. Or better yet, let Angela Boatwright tackle Emily Bronte. There. All fixed.

warm_red_edge

heavener — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:50:43 +0000

The Gilded Age 2.

heavener — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:58:28 +0000

Surely you didn't think we were done with business cards after the Kluge. The Mama's boys hooked me up with bookbinder extrodinaire Monica Holtsclaw of Boombox Bindery to do some gilding for us. How off the sicktor chain is this? Pretty off the sicktor chain. It blows my mind that someone is doing this type of thing in my town. Thanks Monica!

Magic Boys and Girls.

heavener — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:35:25 +0000

I found your Christmas present, Katie. Except it was about 500 bucks. We saw Harry Potter. It was too fucking long. So we decided to go to the magic realm and make a big stink about it.

I went to a magic world, with a magic girl.

Many treasures to behold.

The wizards didn't want to hear any of it. They're not fans of the franchise to begin with.

Don't hate these people. They are completely innocent.

These people on the other hand. Trouble.

I bought a belt off some pretty ladies selling their handmade wares.

Potion bottles.

Am I absolutely crazy or does this look like Eric Wahlman? Someone please say it's just me.

Rose Wind Jerome.

heavener — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:42:35 +0000

I got a package in the mail the other day with some very pretty stamps on it.

I was already pretty excited about that, then I opened it up and saw a new photo zine thingy from Rose!

It's all about discarded umbrellas. It made me think about all the shitty days that must have happened to all those people who gave up on their umbrellas like that.

It also made me think of that Rihanna jam.

Thanks Rose!

wickedplants-799x1024

heavener — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:30:45 +0000

Better Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:45:19 +0000

Who knew combining Gregory Maguire and a shitty tattoo would result in something mildly cool. So, you think this green movement is the best move society has made since outlawing murder? Think again, says Amy Stewart. In Wicked Plants, Stewart reveals that the leafy green world is filled with trecherous organisms have no interest in producing tasty salad fixins and nourishing oxygen. In fact, they'd like to see you dead. And not just weird Amazonian plants with long scientific names. There's plants right outside your door that have it in for you. I would have tightended up the boarder a little bit, but for the most part this cover does a good job presenting the reader with the elegantly deadly subject matter. Well done, nameless Algonquin designer.

catstairs

heavener — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:45:35 +0000

blogeyes.

heavener — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:51:10 +0000

Issue #3 contributor and all around fantastic artist owleyes has exploded onto the blogosphere in the last few months with andiamonds. Certainly interesting to get a looksee into all the freaky things that influence his work. Enjoy your freaky Friday and equally freaky weekend!

Projections.

heavener — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:42:58 +0000

We're working on a big project. These are some out-takes.

Wish I could tell you about it but it's a secret for now.

A big secret. Oh, if you only knew!

A big and strange secret.

I'm very excited about it. I can't wait to show it to you.

It's really going to be something special.

0023

heavener — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:14:08 +0000

Martine Johanna.

heavener — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:18:25 +0000

I'm sick today and the only thing that's making me feel better is Martine Johanna's crazy ass ilustrations. Her work, at times, feels like a mix between Alfons Mucha and J-horror films. Frightening and beautiful all at once. Just what I need to clear my sinuses.

35911983

heavener — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:16:06 +0000

stephen-king-it

heavener — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:25:59 +0000

80s-trash2

heavener — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:29:14 +0000

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heavener — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:34:57 +0000

Worser Book Cover Design of the Week.

heavener — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:41:38 +0000

Got read a good submission yesterday from David Peak that got me thinking about horror. He wrote a bit about the video boxes of 80's horror movies, which no one can deny the awesomeness of. It made me wonder if there were horror novels out there that reflected that era. Because as the above shows, there's some vanilla bullshit out there right now. I'm not going to go into how boring and unscary this cover is, or how that cover blurb is borderline embareassing (Most likeable book? Not exactly saying it's a "triumph of the genre", more like saying, "I had very little urge to barf."), let's just say horror novel covers these days are garbage and move on. And now for some good old fashioned nostalgia... Holy shit, did you not just piss yourself a little when you looked at this? Okay, maybe you didn't cause you're 26 years old, but imagine looking at this when you were 5 when you actually played on the sidewalk near storm drains and actually made paper boats. Nightmare city. Yes! Getting a little bit more schlocky now. It seems to me that there was a groundswell in the 80's design world that just decided to throw subtlety and innuendo completely out the window. And I love them for it. I guess this would be considered the Penguin Classics version of horror books. The Cthulhu mythos is really interesting but there's so many better renderings of Lovecraft's infamous god that this one seems a bit Marvel Comics in comparison. Why do horror book covers suck so bad right now? I think people are too lazy or apathetic to be scared nowadays and the book covers reflect that. Gimme the old nightmare days. I want to see a new golden age of scary-as-shit horror book covers. Anybody got any old favorites they want to share?

jenitals

heavener — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:10:55 +0000

jenitals1

heavener — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:22:22 +0000

Go away. Just kidding. C'mere.

heavener — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:28:05 +0000

I hired Jen O'Malley to lay out the new issue. We're at Stardust working on it all day today. I would tell you to come over and say hi, but we're very, very busy and must avoid all distractions. So please leave us alone. Sorry, you can come chill with us if you want to.

Conch.

heavener — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:09:55 +0000

We're less than two weeks away from sending the magazine off to the printer and we don't have all the content ready yet.

Also there's the exciting project I told you about last week. That's supposed to launch next week and we don't have that ready yet either.

Probably not the best time to make a weekend getaway. Whatever, we did anyways. When life comes knocking you have to answer the door, grab it by the balls and take it out to dinner.

Wrap it up dudes.

Either a very talented Bahamian graffiti artist is inspired by androgynous Euros or this was done by an androgynous Euro.

Reminds me a of a graphic Jason did for Thomas once.

Amazing scripts. Gothic fonts are cheesy you say? Not when they're hand painted on an entertainment cabana.

Conch graveyard.

Matt took us to his restaurant.

And Chase taught us about Mondrian.

Nailing it!!!

For every time you grab life's balls, there are times when you must release them.

Otherwise, how would it make more life?