Lately...

So, before I forget, Toast Machine is gearing up for it's slow, inexorable march first across the small venue terrain of Northern (and occasionally Southern) California, then eventually across the landscapes of your mind and heart. If you think that is an exaggeration, you should read some of Gio's posts. Anyway, the dynamic duo (I'm not going to get sued for using that, am I?) has started performing again after a long absence from the stage. If you are in the Bay Area and enjoy having your soul rocked from it's fragile physical casing, their next show is in San Rafael at the Verge TONIGHT. If that is too short notice, come to the more centrally located Gilman in Berkeley on 9/23, the first full day of autumn, to rock the equinox the way Mother Nature intended.

Now then - on to Scott McCloud (as if I need to link). While MIT can often be a grueling, terrible place for us grad students, there are occasional perks like having your favorite comics writer/artist/thinker come to give a talk. Even if you haven't read Zot! (my favorite comic series, stored lovingly right next to my prized Flash #123), you must know about Understanding Comics and the new Making Comics. Scott gives a great talk, with one caveat: he often describes things the way he wants them to be (which he admitted in at least one case). I also agree with what Gary Tyrrell wrote in saying that "...McCloud places himself firmly in the Formalist camp, but I’ve been struck for 20 years more by his ability to tell a story and build characters that come alive, making him (in my eyes) more of an Animist." Scott has played around with online format a fair amount (e.g. My Obsession with Chess and The Right Number) but the storytelling still seems paramount in his work.

Petty points aside, Scott puts a lot of intelligent ideas out there for people to kick around and, really, how do we ever fully understand something without discussing it and arguing about it? Besides, he wrote ZOT!!