Top Ten (October 2010)

Hey. Here's my ten faves from last month.

1. SCHOOL VISIT. Some may know that public speaking is not on the top of my list of junk to do. But I think I may have changed my tune. I had a really great day out in Naperville, Illinois at Chesterbrook Academy speaking to a couple of groups of kids. With lots of help and encouragement, I put together a sweet powerpoint presentation and had much fun. Now I'm ready for more!




2. PAVEMENT. There was this piece on Pavement last month in the New Yorker. About the band in general, I think, but also on the recent reunion tour and also because Pitchfork, or somebody there, made some sort of "best rock band of the 90's" claim. (Really?) Anyway, it got me listening to some early Pavement stuff again. Certainly brought back some varied memories.

3. DISNEYWORLD. We took Romy, our two-year-old sweetness, on her very first trip down to Disneyworld. Good times were had by all!




4. FEED. I'd heard of M. T. Anderson before, but hadn't read anything of his. Julie suggested this. I was not disappointed. A perfectly dismal prospect of a world future. It ain't pretty.




5. BAMBOO PEN. My ma bought me a few of these a couple years back, think it was, and I had not given them a whirl. I did recently and was pleasantly surprised at what they bring. It's not very easy to figure out or to control. Probably because I have no idea what I'm doing. But I think I may be onto something?




6. BETWEEN TWO FERNS. I was a fan of Zach Galafianakis already, mostly from BORED TO DEATH, but after getting wind of these celebrity interviews he does for Funny Or Die, I'm totally hooked. Something quite funny here in a low budget setup of one celeb mock taking the mickey out of another. Absolutely hilarious.




7. LITTLE NOTHINGS vol. 3. I've been a fan of Lewis Trondheim since I first discovered the NIMROD stuff Fantagraphics was doing in English translation. I really like his slice-of-life autobio stuff. I like how he draws people as animals and I very much like his sly subtle sense of humor. Julie and I saw him at Comic-con a couple years back and he's much like his books. Good stuff.




8. THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG. I'm not huge on the whole Disney princess thing, but this movie's got some good stuff going for it. Quality, traditional animation (gasp!), New Orleans backdrop (with characters from many different N.O. influences/backgrounds which is great), and a "princess" who's just not all princessy. I have to say I really enjoyed it.




9. HARRY BLISS ON FACEBOOK. I guess when you think of a celebrated children's book artist and cartoonist, you don't necessarily think of a foul-mouthed, cocky, dirty, so-and-so. This is the hilarity that is Harry Bliss's facebook profile. Not for kids. And not for some adults. His 200+ self-shot short vids, scripted or not, are keeping me laughing.




10. PHINEAS AND FERB. Ok, ok. This is my third Disney plug in this list. I maybe need to chill. But it's just coincidence really. The Disney Borgs dis not assimilate down in Florida. I don't think. Anyways, I like this cartoon. It's about kids. It's kid-friendly and clever. And it's old school animation (I think) and old school fun. There don't seem to be much like it on tv anymore.