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"NOTES OF A SECOND CLASS CITIZEN (INTO THE BASEMENT)" cont.

 

Here are two new pages for the continuing story of the Second Class Citizen, who not only inhabited the pages of ABANDONED CARS, but will continue to do so in FOLKTALES. The Second Class Citizen stems from, and is inspired by, Dostoevsky's NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND, a book that I first read in high school and has captivated me ever since. In a sense, my second class citizen is my response to Dostoevsky's underground man, as I believe whole-heartedly that a Dostoevsky's 19th Century underground man could easily find his counterpart in the 21st Century. Graphically, I'm shooting for a kind of CABINET OF DOCTOR CALIGARI eeriness and architectural distortion, coupled by a F.W.Murnau kind of expressionism. Also very influential to the look and pacing of Second Class Citizen is Henning Carlsen's film adaptation of Knut Hamsun's HUNGER.

 

COMING SOON: WEBSITE/BLOG REVAMP & CONSOLIDATION

 

For the past year, I've been working in conjunction with two young hotshot designers, Alan Sheu & Michael Murdock, on a major renovation of the JACKIE NO-NAME INDUSTRIES & WORKS website & weblog. The design Alan & Mike have come up with, based on my very arbitrary collection of influential material (ranging from old Soviet poster designs, 1950's comic ads, and IWW propaganda to a large variety of memorabilia I've collected over the years) is excellent, in my opinion, and, although the site is still in progress, I wanted to post a sample of the design. Hopefully the site will be finished within the next month or so. It's been a long time comin', but in my estimation will be well worth the wait.

 

THE MAGIC DWINDLER'S APOLOGY #2

 

Once again, the second annual WHIRLING GYPSY COMICAROUSELESQUE REVUE & BURLESQUE was thwarted by our scheduled host's, THE MAGIC DWINDLER, absence. And once again, he offered an apology by way of a communique wired to me only an hour before the performance. Below is the documentation of that apology, thanks to the very talented Michael Murdock, who happened to have a recorder on-hand. Stay tuned for further footage of the "performances" of both WHIRLING GYPSY #'s 1 & 2. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/24298839 w=400&h=300]

Untitled from Timothy Lane on Vimeo.

 

SMOKE SIGNAL #5

Above is the introduction and most recent miniature collectible cut-out in the BELLIGERENT PIANO diorama set, "JACKIE GETS THROW'D FROM THE TRAIN". Below are samples of how the pages will look in SMOKE SIGNAL and page #2...

A NIGHT AT RUBY RAY'S

With the upcoming publication of HAPPY HOUR IN AMERICA #3 due to be out in June, I'm including an installment of BELLIGERENT PIANO that picks up where the narrative left off in the last issue of HAPPY HOUR. Of course, it's been several years since HAPPY HOUR last saw print, but I've decided to maintain a relatively consistent schedule with it from now on, primarily because I love the look and feel of the old comic book format, now called "pamphlets" (A term I just can't seem to get used to, although I understand the point of it), but also because I see it as a great outlet for limited material meant for other books - such as FOLKTALES - and to experiment with a wide variety of story-telling techniques. Getting back to the above splash page: It is a redrawn image that I first attempted back in around 1996 or so. I decided to include it in this post for the sake of comparison.

Although I'm very confident in the decision to redraw the image, I was sort of pleasantly surprised that some of the designerly decisions I made back in 96' weren't half-bad. Most of the work I've redrawn for BELLIGERENT PIANO has been pretty dramatically changed from the original drawings, but now I find that I'm finally starting to (kind of) like some of the earlier drawings, however sophmoric they might be on certain levels. But redrawing the splash page was an excellent experience. Although I always love to draw, the best moments for me are when the act itself feels like playing a Miles Davis solo with your pen. I don't mean to compare myself to Davis's virtuosity, but the very experience itself - the movement of the pen across the page, the slight friction caused by the surface of the paper - feels transendant like a Miles Davis trumpet solo. Pure bliss. Otherworldly. It reminds me of the line from The Hustler when Paul Newman's character, Fast Eddie Felson, tries to describe those moments when he's playing and the pool cue feels like a part of him. But I guess such abstract explanations are better left unsaid.

Here's the following page, drawn around 2003. This one I'm NOT going to redraw.

THE MAGIC DWINDLER'S ABSURD APOLOGY

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/22762908]NOTES ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S CAROUSEL PERFORMANCE AT SUBTERRANEAN BOOKS: The adventure and exploration into the performance of words & images that is to be at the heart of THE WHIRLING GYPSY COMICAROUSELESQUE REVUE & BURLESQUE WITH YOUR HOST THE MAGIC DWINDLER was sadly thwarted in its first engagement because our expected host, THE MAGIC DWINDLER (who many months ago agreed to be the regular Master of Ceremonies), failed to make an appearance. He did, however, cable me an apology with instructions to read it in his absence. The above film clip is a portion of that statement of apology - a statement that went on for some time, and, in fact, seemed to go on forever. So long, in fact, that apparently the person who shot the footage ran out of tape before it concluded. Nevertheless, DWINDLER has promised me that he'll be there for next month's show. Things went a little dippy as a result, but since this whole endeavor is an experiment and work-in-progress, one really can't expect seamlessness, especially on the first night, and I expect we'll learn as we go along. Stay tuned for more footage of the actual carousel performances: I'll post them after some editing. And a special thanks to my performers, accomplices, and hired goons: Scott Phillips, Jed Ayres, Kristen Valaika, Franklin Oros (who wasn't there, but helped me compile sound FX, soundtracks, & the AMERICAN STANDARD AIR commercials & jingles; and Adam Wand. And, of course, thank you Subterranean Books for the great venue, patient support, and blind faith.

THE WHIRLING GYPSY COMICAROUSELESQUE REVUE & BURLESQUE

THE WHIRLING GYPSY COMICAROUSELEQUE REVUE & BURLESQUE WITH YOUR HOST, THE MAGIC DWINDLER, ESQ will be events loosely based on traditional carousel comic performances, but are also meant to facilitate explorations and experimentation in inventive ways of bringing comics - or I should say pictures and words - into the realm of performance. The events will take place once a month at Subterranean Books in St Louis, and will feature a revolving door of participants. Just about anything goes here. The Whirling Gypsy is funny that way. The first show is this Wednesday; come join us if you're in the St Louis area.