A Million Little Panels

Baby- if you ever wondered
Wondered whatever became of J.C.-
I’m posting on the web on Cinerati
Cinerati- on your PC

I’m glad to be a guest poster on Cinerati. I am a regular reader and fan so it’s an honor to be invited by Christian and Company to share some thoughts with you. And now my childhood plan to memorize the WKRP theme song has finally paid off- in spades. As you may or may not know, you can usually find me over at The Shelf along with fellow cynic at large and all around jovial guy, Wolf Flywheel. However, I thought that my message that I had today was important to share wherever I can. You see, I used to have a problem. A serious problem, in fact. A problem that took so much of my time and money. I am proud to say that I am well on the road to recovery. That is why I’m sharing this with you, in hopes that I can reach someone else out there who knows of what I speak. Yes, my friends I am a recovering comic book collector.

Confessions...
Don’t laugh. Don’t judge. You may look at me and mock - but you do not understand. Have you ever been standing by a section of comics, knowing full well that the money you’ve saved could go to so many other worthwhile, important things? Charity, helping the homeless, animal shelters, bills, food, gas... well you get the idea. You stand there, guilty as hell, but you’ve just got to have issue #294- because it all leads up to the Ultimate Crisis Crossover Infinite Megawar limited series that you’ve already preordered. Besides- this issue has the brand new costume. You buy it, avoiding the gaze of the cashier at the bookstore or megastore. Hopefully she doesn’t recognize you from school. Darn your stupidity- your irrational judgement! Yes you should have gone to the comics store- but they sold out a week before release. And you just had to have it. You just had to!

Oh it started simply enough. My dad would buy me the occasional Disney Comic. Harmless right? Junior Woodchucks and the like. Little did he know that Uncle Scrooge was a gateway comic. Soon I was experimenting with the Whitman 3-pack. Three comics in one plastic bag- who could resist? Before you know it, I’m standing next to the comics rack at the convenience store trying to figure out how I can score both a pack of Sweetarts and the new issues of the X-men and Spider-man. It wasn’t long before I was into the hard stuff. Limited Series, Annual issues, Crossover series, and even the occasional preorder. I wasn’t hanging out at the grocery store either. I was at the comic shop watching some greasy, overweight, bearded asthmatic putting my weekly fix in a bag and telling me how if I haven’t read the black and white indie comics I haven’t READ comics. I remember telling myself- I can stop. I’m not going to be that guy. I’m normal... I’ve got a girlfriend, I go to school- I don’t have a problem. Then it happened. I went home and read through my whole new score in a measly afternoon and was already wondering where I was going to get my next fix. Heck, that guy mentioned the black and white indies. I could try those - or maybe even a graphic novel. Yeah, that's it. I'll just try to find some loose change. Oh maybe I could sell something. Then I realized... oh god, I am that guy.

Realization and Recovery...

I had to stop and think - maybe I do have a problem. What had happened to me. Where did the fun go and become replaced with obsession? That was it. It wasn't fun anymore. It was a necessity. I couldn't fall behind. If I missed just one issue, I... I... I shuddered to consider the implications. And what’s worse- the comics themselves just weren’t the same anymore. I didn’t even really read them to enjoy them. I had to have them, because I had to keep up- I had to know what was going on. Little had I noticed that they were more expensive, and while I had to keep up with the storyline, the comics companies themselves had given up on the storyline a long time ago. In fact, I couldn’t count the different origin stories anymore. Or the new costumes, or who was allied with who, who ticked off who, or even who was now a hero and who was a villain. The comics had abandoned me... that little kid who years ago couldn’t wait to go to the grocery store to pick up a great story about their favorite hero. The comics companies made it too hard to even enjoy them anymore- but I was hooked. I knew what I had to do... I had to go cold turkey.

I declared my independence from comics collecting. I left the country for a while, helping other people. That is perhaps the indication that you are on the road to recovery. I fought hard. I occasionaly stepped it down a notch by reading a three panel comic... like a patch. Oh sure, I felt the occasional pang for a full color giant size issue, but I fought it by remembering that ultimately that road lead to disappointment. Those comics weren’t the comics I wanted. Those were gone- replaced by expensive, audience targeted, marketing ready product. Not the joyful art I missed. Ironically, I was the very target audience that the comics sought, the 18-30 year old male. But they lost me because they abandoned the key demographic that kept them alive for so long: the kid. Because they left the kid behind, they lost their innocence and it was a way out.

After I came back into the country, I got a job and went to college. I got married and had kids. I graduated with honors and became a useful member of society. I beat the problem. And you can to. Just have the courage to look at your problem and realize what it has become. Don’t let it beat you. Take it one day at a time. Everyday I tell myself, I am a recovering comic collector. I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and dog-gone it people like me. I realized that my life is full and there are so many things out there to enjoy... and I know you can do it also.

Thanks for listening, and please take my story to heart and learn from it. I must go now, my son has just gotten into my mylar bags in the garage. I need to make sure he doesn’t mess with that issue where Spider-man gets the black suit. I need that one for the movie.

J.C. Loophole

J.C. Loophole is one of the creators of The Shelf. He takes full responsibility for all comments made here, although any complaints must be directed elsewhere... possibly to an email account that will lead nowhere and to a dummy corporation that will not respond to any inquires and will ultimately shield J.C. Loophole from all lawsuits. Any requests to appear on Larry King Live, Letterman, or any other talk show, or any request for book contracts may be directed to The Shelf. Please understand that due to the current nature of publishing memiors that the author's tongue may have been firmly planted in cheek. PS- Oprah, call me.

Why Entry Level Gaming Industry Jobs Aren't Wise in Southern California

I love playing games. All kinds of games. Boardgames, roleplaying games, computer games, you name it. If I had infinite time and no responsibilities, I would become a professional game player. Not a professional game "winner," more likely a professional game loser, but I would have a great time.

I also like to tinker with game rules and game master a Savage Worlds or D&D 3.5 game every now and again. So naturally, I have grandiose dreams of becoming a hugely successful, and lavishly wealthy, game designer like Matt Forbeck or Chris Pramas.

This is why I like to look to see when new entry level jobs are available in the gaming industry, especially from companies I like. One such company, Fantasy Flight Games, is apparently growing at a good pace given that they seem to be continually on the lookout for new employees. This is amazing, especially given the current soft-ness of the gaming marketplace. It is not so amazing when you look at the quality of Fantasy Flight's games, which are very high indeed. No fewer than three of the boardgames I play most frequently were produced by FFG.

But given the fact that according to USC's Lusk Center, "Rent increases of six to seven percent can be expected in Los Angeles where the average monthly rent at the end of last year was $1,416," I don't think I will be able to work for the $10/hr that FFG pays its entry level employees. To be fair, the job is in Minnesota where rent is much cheaper. It is also true a friend of mine is looking for an assistant in a similar (i.e. Marketing) position and is paying a similar wage (in Los Angeles). As an entry level job, the wages aren't bad, but they aren't going to support my family.

To be honest, the more I look at how much the people who work making the games I enjoy earn, the more it makes me want to win the lottery to start a high paying game company. The people who work in the industry are brave indeed, and the freelance ones are definitely living "without a net." Especially when you have a very successful product and never see a dime because your fulfillment house goes bankrupt. I can't even imagine how much elbow grease and work ethic it takes to be able to pay the bills, by selling new products, that it takes in that situation.

To put $1,416 a month in perspective, for those who don't live in SoCal. It's essentially a mortgage payment on a $250,000 home. Like those exist in SoCal!

What $250,000 gets you in Inglewood. One bedroom condos and Inglewood isn't known as the safest place in the world.

What $200,000 gets you in Minneapolis. I don't know if the area is safe, but the picture sure looks nice.

Needless to say, if you want to be a game designer in SoCal, you better have a day job.

Cooking Up a Winner?

I expected to hate Bravo's new series Top Chef. I have avoided watching episodes of the show for weeks. I was a pretty big fan of Hell's Kitchen, which I discovered thanks to Fritz, and I just didn't think a new show could measure up to Chef Ramsay.

My objection to watching the show were overthrown the other day by two clips from a promo for the show. The first was listening to the chef's complain about having to make dishes from food purchased at a mini-market. This was immediately followed by Top Chef's top chef, Tom Colicchio, saying that he wished the rules allowed him to fire "two...no all three of you." I immediately knew I had to give this show a try. Besides, it was a Bravo show. They were responsible for Blow Out, another show I enjoy when I am feeling ornery.

Top Chef follows a tried and true formula for reality television. First you have an "immunity" competition, followed by an elimination competition, ending with the board room interview. This is the Apprentice/Endurance model and creates a natural narrative structure with minimal need for "editorial creativity" to increase tension. The challenges, like the mini-mart grocery hunt, are sometimes silly, but they highlight the creativity and talent of the chefs. In fact, that is where this show truly shines. I actually believe that the contestants on this show are all competent cooks. That wasn't true on Hell's Kitchen which seemed more about turning people into good chefs by putting them through cooking boot camp.

Every week, on Top Chef, the winning recipe from the elimination challenge is featured on the website allowing for additional audience participation. This is something that was lacking on Ramsay's show. In fact, I can't really recall much about many of the contestents on Kitchen other than the fact that they all smoked like chimneys.

Hell's Kitchen was about how well the contestants could handle the stress of running a high-end kitchen. Top Chef combines the stress of providing and presenting food. The chef's are expected to be more than cooks, but personalities as well. After all, if you want to be a "famous chef" your personality is almost as important as your other talents.

The prize competed for is another major difference between HK and Chef. Chef Ramsay was supposed to provide the winning chef on HK with their own restaurant, but when Chef Michael won he was offered a job at one of Ramsay's existing restaurants. This is a significant offer, but is more along the lines of Trump's Apprentice than the initially advertised prize. Top Chef, on the other hand, offers a three prong prize. First, the contestant will be featured in Food and Wine Magazine and be a featured chef at Aspen's Food & Wine classic. Second, they will receive a full line of Kenwood appliances for a restaurant kitchen. Finally, they will receive $100,000 to assist in their culinary career, a nice down payment on a loan to start a business if you ask me.

Structurally, I think Chef is what I wished Kitchen would be. The lack of a strong personality like Ramsay is a drawback, but overall I think Chef is a better show. I have already begun developing favorites and foes.

Invitation to Bloggers

When I first envisioned Cinerati, I desired a blog with several members who discussed popular culture. Currently, we have three regular posters from our list of "columnists."

I want more.

So if you are interested in blogging about the topics we like, even if we don't blog about them enough, and you want to be a "cinerati-ite," let me know and I'll ship you an invite via email.

Live the Dream or Merely Dream

For the past two days this blog has idled in its subject matter, all the posts have been about Bones, that will not be the case today. Instead, I think that I would like to begin a discussion on a theme which will continue for the remainder of the week. Certainly, it will be the focus of my post today. That subject is the disconnect between "Living the Dream" and "Merely Dreaming."

What do I mean by "Living the Dream?" As you might have guessed, it deals with having a job in some creative/entertainment field. A professional baseball player, minor league on up, is living the sporting dream. The struggling rock band playing at a local dive bar is living the rock and roll dream. The author who slavishly writes stories and books with the hopes that they will sell, is living the literary dream. You get the picture. Naturally, in all of these cases the more successful the person is in their professional field the more of the dream they are living. But what I mean by living the dream is the actual taking of the risks and making of effort to actually attempt to succeed at a desired entertainment profession.

This is opposed to "Merely Dreaming." A mere dreamer is the person who goes to batting cages, buys baseball cards, and carefully monitors his Orosco Number, but who never even tries out for independant baseball. It is the girl who sings in the shower knowing that a famous record producer is going to call and she doesn't have to put in any effort. It is the "idea man" who has hundreds of great story ideas that he never shares with anyone or bothers to jot down on paper. The "mere dreamer" is the person who expects to be discovered and handed the dream, but who doesn't put in any effort.

This may all sound very hard on the dreamer. After all, it is important for all of us to be able to fantasize about being a professional athlete, rockstar, or writer. Fantasies help us deal with the stress of our day to day lives. That is not the kind of mere dreamer to whom I am referring, that would describe everyone. I am pointing out the person who knows they "deserve" to be a superstar.

There are also those who want to succeed, and don't know how. There are those who find the prospect of trying daunting or even frightening. Where do they fit in? They aren't "living the dream," but they aren't "merely dreamers." They are in a kind of goal limbo. An acquaintance and I were having a discussion about life and I asked her what her brother was currently doing.

Since I work for a non-profit devoted to youth civic engagement, I often find myself talking with young adults just deciding their potential careers. I also am presumptuous and typically decide to give my own, obviously invaluable and correct, advice on "how to succeeed."

My acquaintance told me that her brother wanted to do computer graphics work on video games or become a professional, but that he was currently not studying it in school or anything. I responded with my typical two-fold answer. First, college isn't necessary for every occupation particularly artistically oriented ones. Sure it can be helpful in programming etc., but a real "computer genius" could be self-taught. Second, that too many young people think they have to hurry into life and often rush into bad decisions.

Lord knows, I did. I spent 3+ years as a 21/Craps dealer, not going to school, because I thought it would be a good paying career choice. It can be, but it was misery for me. In fact, I was a "mere dreamer" when it came to being a college student for a time. I claimed to be a student when I hadn't been for a couple of years. I was dreaming, but not making effort to return to school.

The young woman followed up my responses with a very simple statement. "Well, actually, he just spends a lot of time playing World of Warcraft, and he doesn't even draw anymore." Boom! Instant "mere dreamer," right?

Not so fast. Given her brother's youth, he is twenty, there is hope for the young man yet. Sometimes there is a tendency to make even slight obstacles seem epic. When I dropped out of college for four years, returning to school seemed an absolute impossibility. So I didn't even try for a few years. It wasn't until I met the woman who is now my wife that I was able to see how easy it was to get back into school. We weren't dating at the time, we were just friends, but she was a subtle inspiration and constant reminder of possibility.

So I gave my third piece of advice, this for my acquaintance. Don't worry. Be supportive and discuss realistic ways to a career path. When one only looks at the end goal, in this case being the person who designs the next World of Warcraft equivalent success, it seems impossible and is hugely demoralizing to the beginner. Instead, I offered, talk to him about his drawings. See if he is interested in cartooning. If he still is have him draw some single panel jokes based on op-eds written in small local papers. When he gets about thirty, have him send them in to those same local papers asking if they need a cartoonist or illustrator. It won't pay a lot, but it will build a resume and give good experience. Of course, then he will also be..."living the dream!"

I should offer that the advice I gave is basically a description of how John Kovalic and Patrick McDonell, among others, got their start.

But that's not where my advice comes from, no it comes from watching my wife. You see, one of the things that was so inspiring about her was that she was able to live off of money she was being paid as an illustrator for two local papers and the university newspaper. She wasn't making much money at all, but she was making just enough to live with 3 roommates as long as her scholarships kept paying for school. She wrote a romance novel as her Master's thesis, and directed a neat 8 minute romantic comedy as her MFA thesis for film school. My wife is "living the dream." It is a true inspiration to watch and it started with very small steps.

Chewing on Old Bones

I know I just posted some reasons why I like Bones, Fox Network's semi-procedural, but I have to be completely honest and admit that I went into viewing the first episode with a very positive "pro-Bones bias. Was it because I was an Angel and Buffy fan? Sure, but it was more than that.

David Boreanaz answers a fan's question at the 2005 San Diego Comic Con

At last year's San Diego Comic Con, Fox did a presentation on the show where they screened the entire Pilot and provided David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel as panelists to discuss the show. In retrospect, I wish that they had included Micheala Conlin and some of the other cast members as well, but Emily and David were the only cast members most people would recognize. I say that realizing that my own remembered experience of Emily had been in the movie Boogeyman, and that in all honesty not many people other than those who saw Boogeyman three or more times would recognize her. Point of fact, during the panel discussion all the questions were directed at David Boreanaz.

It was an excellent panel and David was the perfect "fanboy/girl" interviewee. Emily and David were on time. David answered every question, no matter how silly with seriousness, candor, and humor. He was also gentleman enough to make sure that Emily, who was being ignored by the audience (for the most part), was included in the discussion. He spent time using his own "clout" to promote the relative newcomer to the "Whedonfanverse."

Emily Deschanel is baffled by just how specific "Whedonfans" knowledge of David Boreanaz is.

BTW, if you want a preview of the television shows coming out in the next season are, at least those that might be of interest to comic fans, the San Diego Comic Con has some of the best pre-season panels/presentations around. If The Inside hadn't been cancelled, I also would have attended a panel with Tim Minear.

Bones to Pick

Friday, Shouting at the Wind linked an article at the Hollywood Reporter confirming that Bones had been picked up for a second season. In her post, Shawna Benson (the author of Shouting), added the descriptive "against all reasonable thought" to the news of the shows renewal. I was surprised, not disappointed, at the comment because my wife and I are regular Bones watchers.

[BTW, being disappointed because someone disagrees with your taste in film/tv is ridiculous. Entertainment is one of those cases where friendly disagreement easily accomodated.]

For those of you who don't watch a lot of TV or who might not know what I am writing about, Bones is a one-hour semi-procedural on Fox. The show is loosely based on the very procedural Temperance Brennan novels by Kathy Reichs. The novels are often gruesome and let you see more into the mind of Tempe Brennan than any television or film can accomplish (as an aside The Weather Man with Nicholas Cage did a pretty good job of getting into the head of the character, just the right amount of voice over).

I flippantly asked Shawna if she was not a big David Boreanaz fan and she responded in a very friendly fashion that she wanted to like the show, had watched the first three episodes, and had returned for the Adam Baldwin episode. Here answer told me two things. First, yes she is a David Boreanaz fan and second that she is a Joss Whedon fan. (Elementary my dear Watson!) So her disappointment lies elsewhere. In fact, according to her statement "[she] just found the whole thing predictable and though some of the dialogue is better than it used to be, they seriously need to staff some better writers."

This got me thinking. I took her comment about predictability very seriously and I agree the show is very predictable, but I find most shows to be. Take your average 1 hour drama, say last week's Smallville.

First we have the set-up or introduction, setting the stakes if you will.

Clark reveals his secret to Lana and asks her to marry him. Clark's father is finding out the results of his election bid. And the season stake is that we know someone close to Clark must die.

Second at minute 20 (usually spot on, maybe one or two minutes off depending on commercial selection), we have the moment the stakes are raised.

Clark's father wins the election. Lana goes to see Lex, gets upset, leaves and dies in car accident. After a commercial break, Clark decides to "change the result" and is notified that while he can change the past that fate will make up for the difference.

At the 40 minute mark (give or take a few seconds) the hero will suffer a major crisis. In a movie, this will be the point the hero struggles back from to save the day, in a serial TV show it may just be a character developing loss.

Clark has saved Lana, but their relationship is over forever and right at minute 40...Clark's father dies of a heart attack.

From here the story gets resolved.

Clark tells his mother everything (off camera) and his mother doesn't blame him, but it has obviously affected their closeness. Lana "supports" Clark, but abandons him. Chloe loves Clark, but can't be too close because Clark loves Lana. Lex looks on from afar. Clark is more alone than ever and more than ever needs human connection. Sets the stakes for the whole season. BTW, serial TV also has a "season" structure similar to the episode structure, and a series structure, etc. So...you might guess that before the show ends that Chloe is likely not long for the world. Why? Well, she knows Clark's secret, she is Lois' cousin, and she doesn't exist in Superman's "adult" life. Hmm...

This is a long way of saying that all narrative has a certain level of predictability. In fact, I often find myself looking at the clock during episodes of television programs. That said, it doesn't mean that Shawna is wrong. This is because Bones is a semi-procedural and thus doesn't always reveal the killer until the 40 minute mark. In fact, if it is well written it should have one or two very plausible red herrings to throw the audience off course. The question, should be (as I am interpreting Shawna's meaning), "Who did it and how?" If the answer is too obvious in the procedural then why watch the show?

It's a good question and one that I have an answer for, but it may not satisfy Shawna. I think the answer lies in the nature of the show. Bones, as I have written, is a "semi-procedural." By which I meant that it appears to be a procedural, but in reality is a romantic drama like Smallville, but instead of having superpowers Tempe Brennan has near infinite analytical skills, a superartist, super-biology geek, combat guru, and...okay they might as well be superpowers. For me, Bones is more Doc Savage than CSI, thus it is the character interactions that are most important. I like the banter and the little insights I get into the characters.

For example, during the episode where Tempe and crew solve a murder in the tunnel system under D.C., we encounter a mentally shattered veteran who asks Booth (Boreanaz) sarcastically, "Are you trying to tell me you know what I've been through?" Booth's answer immediately lets the character know that he really does have an understanding and had similar experiences. In fact, one thing the audience has learned over the course of the show is that Booth has done some horrible things. We just don't know what they are. In many ways, Booth is similar to Angel (another Boreanaz character). Except, where Angel was forced by a curse to do horrible things, it is the very sense of duty/nobility in Booth, the thing the audience most likes about him, that allowed him to do those things.

I have to admit that the surprise factor is a difficult challange for "mysteries" to maintain or achieve. That is probably why my favorite show in the genre gave up the ghost at the beginning of each story. Columbo always began with the audience watching the murder, we know all the facts. It was in watching Columbo unravel those facts that the audience was entertained. I look at Bones the same way, even though the murder and results are supposed to be "discovered."

Maybe Bones would be better if the format followed the Columbo format, but as for the dialogue I think it is some of the best on television.

Booth:"So it was the Spelunker, in the Steam Tunnel, with a Climbing Pick?"

Brennan:"I don't get it."

Oh, and I like that the show ends with the ultra-traditional (think Wild Wild West and Star Trek etc.) "group laugh" at the end of the show.