Sandwiches I’m not keen on

Anyone that works in the corporate world will have eaten one. I’m sick to death of the taste of them. The “compliment sandwich”. Bleurrghhh. Does your boss not realise you know what’s going on? Do they not realise that by over-abusing this managerial tactic they are forever tainting the taste of compliments?
In this economic climate we need all the praise and motivation we can get. Times are tough, granted and we get that you want us to improve [read: keep the business afloat]. But, seriously, using this method means that employees swiftly learn that praise means jack shit. When praise is used as a buffer for what you fucked up, you begin to mistake any acknowledgment of your work-place successes as merely a precursor to your failings.
Employers: take note!
(on a positive note, if any one has any sandwich recommendations in the Charlotte St area, I’m all ears)

I love lomo

I have become obsessed with the idea of creating pictures that look like this....

What I need is one of these....

and a lot of practice.

*sigh*

All blogged out...

Or "The perils of working in social media"

Don't get me wrong, working in social media is great. Few people know what it's *really* about, professionally, and it seems to be relatively untapped. Great! I'm employed and right now that is the best thing ever.

However, I find that being a professional blogger and social-networker leaves me with little motivation to update my personal social media outposts. Writing daily blog posts at work leaves me blogged out and the last thing I can think of upon getting home is writing an interesting blog!

I have a blog, a Myspace, a Twitter and a Facebook. (God, I would love to have a Flickr too but I fear that might fall by the wayside fairly quickly)

-My blog I haven't updated in oh so long. Then again, it was meant to be a place to keep all my published articles and seeing as how that hasn't happened since I entered the world of digital marketing, I guess my words are kept elsewhere.
http://clevererthanyouraveragebear.blogspot.com

-My Twitter I updated for the first time in six months yesterday. Then again, as my friend Raff posted as his first ever Twitter update only days ago "raff is dandy after work and wishes someone he knew was on ere". I don't know anyone on Twitter and everything I read professes micro-blogging to be the future. Coming from a writing background this makes me sad. However, blates add me on Twitter.
http://twitter.com/rachaelwilliams

-My Myspace I have sorely neglected like an old friend who I think I can lose touch with for months on end but when we see each other it'll all be fine and dandy. Such is not the case. Myspace has become a wasteland in my absence. It's such an earnest, sweet network that I wish to keep my Myspace page shiny pretty and bestow it with regular blogs and pictures. Viva la revolucion.
http://www.myspace.com/rachsmell

-Facebook, strangely, doesn't suffer from this apathy. I am as addicted to my own Facebook as I am to all my work FB accounts. Why is this? I think I quite like (not so secretly as I announced it on my status updates yesterday) grimacing at people's poor spelling and grammar and random ugly people who tag my friends in pictures. Yes, FB is my own personal bottle-necking car-crash experience. I can sit behind my screen gaping at the (inner) lives of the dregs of society. Brill. Add me on Facebook so I can vicariously enjoy your life too.




Now to blogging. I think of blogging in 3 distinct types. The first you have is the most common one- the diary blog. It's easy, and simple for people to formulate. It's also the most self-indulgent and therefore generally the most boring. An exceptional example of the diary blog was that of American pornstar ChristianXXX. His hit blog ran for exactly one year, with a mammoth post every single day. I enjoyed reading it because it was so intimate and so personal in a very unblinking way. He laid out his life from working out, what he ate, to whom he fucked at work and their performance, and if you didn't like it well that was your business not his. It would seem he lost and made a lot of friends as a result of his blog. Diary blogs are rarely interesting to others beyond the writer and his/her personal friends. You may argue that Christian's blog is merely interesting because of his life in the adult industry, well I'd disagree. You'd only have to compare his blog to that of Digital Playground contract girl Stoya. I'm sorry Stoya, you might be hot, but you have yet to pique my obsessive blogging interest.
The second type of blog you get is a newsblog. They aren't generally written by the average blogger admittedly, but I can't exactly omit them from the list. I'm kinda lumping corporate blogs into this as well btw as they are essentially the news from within a company. Corporate blogs are proper smart these days though, and can be a genuinely enjoyable read. Check out my friend the TVXMole's blog, as it's really only about TVX but it's still funny and interesting ;)
http://tvxmole.wordpress.com
The third type of blog you get, is I guess, sorta what type this blog is. Essays, articles, thoughts of life and society, all that jazz come under this massive umbrella that I daren't put a label on. My friend Anne Wollenberg is bloody ace at this. Lucky for her, The Guardian think so too. Check out her amazing blogs on their website.
More increasingly I'm convinced that hybrid blogs are the way forward. (please bear in mind I spend my working life on adult sites so the blogs that tend to come to mind first are, well, smutty ones okay) A perfect example of this is the wonder that is Club1985. The editor Scott Steele posts witty and self-deprecating posts that are newsworthy posts. In between all this he has employed hot pornstars to fill up the diary-esque blogging quota. Yes, these posts are filled with images of said hot starlet doing naughty things but it does mean that not one reader is bored.
By now I imagine that you, oh reader of mine, would have checked your FB status maybe twice (I know I have!) so I'll cut to the chase.
Mags like Wired may be convinced that micro-blogging is the future but I for one, still enjoy a good old fashioned read. Therefore I will continue to scour the blog-o-sphere for my kicks alongside updating my Twitter a little bit more than twice a year. I suggest you do the same.

PG Porn

PG Porn

Has anyone else seen the PG Porn at spike.com? I saw my first one last year and it piqued my interest because here was proper pornstars (Aria Giovanni yum) with proper cool actors (Nathan Fillion, a Whedon-favourite) in funny situations! Okay so there's no actual sex or even gratuious nudity but they are funny as! The latest one I completely love, and not just because I have a huge girl-crush on Sasha Grey. Check it out, it's hilarious.

Watch Sasha Grey

AKIRA LIVE-ACTION GETS THE GO-AHEAD

TITANTIC STAR TO HELM PROJECT AS PRODUCER


Most people know of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira. If you haven’t read through the entirety of the six telephone-directory sized graphic novels then chances are you’ve seen the 1988 anime classic. Even if you’ve not got round to either you’re bound to be aware of Akira because it has become embedded into western pop culture in a way no other Japanese objet d’art has managed.


This is exactly why Warner Bros think they’re onto a winner. Reports have been floating about since 2005 of a live-action remake of Akira but not until last month have details begun to surface. They plan to make 2 films scheduled for release throughout 2009 with the first film being based on the initial 3 books and the second film based on the latter part of the seminal hexology. No cast has been assigned yet but the only big name being attached to the project so far being Leonardo Di Caprio, leaving fanboys across the forums rather perturbed. The director and the screenwriter seem worryingly green, with the former, an Irish man named Ruairi Robinson, having only made 2 short films in his entire career. Writer Gary Whitta used to be the editor in chief of PC Gamer Magazine and also penned quirky comic Death Jnr so it’s fair to say that at least he has his geek pedigree, if not a screen-writing one.


So far all this has divided fans 50/50, some think it’ll be great, some think it’ll be shit. However, there is one change that has been made that has everyone up in arms. The film is no longer set in Neo-Tokyo. They’ve changed it to New Manhattan. Leah Holmes, resident anime-expert at SFX Magazine points out a crucial problem, as she believes “some level of localisation will have to be done.” Otomo’s vision of a future Tokyo portrays a complete dissolution of order and structure – the breakdown of “the very thing that Japanese society thrives on. Disillusioned young people became delinquents - girls were mostly on the game, boys were mostly thugs, terrorism was rife - and the one-time enforcers of social structure were either non-existent (ie, the family unit) or utterly corrupt and amoral (the school system, the police, the military). This is a vision that would still be considered nightmarish to many Japanese. [But] these issues just don't hold the same kind of impact in the West.”


So what does it take to make an impact on Western audiences? Guns, gratuitous nudity and some good old-fashioned terrorism? Fighting it out in the red corner on behalf of comic book adaptations is Stan Lee Award Winner Mark Millar. With his 2003 comic Wanted having been adapted into a film (starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman) due for release this June it’s no wonder he’s ready to go in to bat. “I went to see Wanted last weekend in L.A. and they’d made about 30% changes to it. I really felt they’re improved upon it and I walked out beaming. So Akira may just have a different flavour. It’s weird because we can be incredibly precious about the things we love.” As a creator Otomo has stuck by Akira through all it’s incarnations but it remains to be seen how involved he will be in the live-action version. However Mark assures us not to worry about the names already on board, proclaiming, “Leonardo Di Caprio is a smart motherfucker… It’s possible he’ll be the next Di Niro. And at least he’s a fanboy.”


Whenever discussing comic book adaptations the mind always finds itself uncomfortably drawn to the Alan Moore Problem. It’s a known fact that he wants nothing to do with Hollywood except take their cash and have no link to the end project, including his name. Mr. Moore likes to fall back on an old Raymond Chandler quotation that I’m sure keeps many a creator warm at night. “People said: ‘Raymond, don't you feel devastated by how Hollywood has destroyed your books?’ And he would take them into his study, point to the bookshelf and say, ‘There they are. Look, they're fine. The film has got nothing to do with my work. It has a coincidental title to a book I've done and they've given me a huge wedge of money. No problem with that.” One could take the same opinion with Akira and easily say that if you want to see it set in Japan then chances are it’s already there sat on your shelf.


Whatever the outcome Hollywood knows it has high standards to live up to, and is aware of the potential fanboy backlash. With the rise of blogging and sites like Ain’t It Cool, Hollywood producers know what they can and can’t fuck about with. However, it’s at times like this we do have to remind ourselves that the people making these films tend to be people like us. They grew up with up probably love it so much they want to introduce it to a new audience in a way they’ll understand. “It’s a generational thing,” Mark Millar points out. Like if Sam Raimi never grew up loving Spiderman he would never have reinvigorated interest in a character that could have remained niche to the comics industry. Now, kids everywhere idolise Spiderman. Its just testament to today’s society that we can now picture a world where kids will idolise the leader of a bike gang.

Rachael Williams

Originally published in Beat Happening Issue 1

Who is Yacht?

Elliott Smith, The Shins, The Dandy Warhols, The Decemberists, Modest Mouse. There must something in the water down in Portland, Oregon. This former sundown town is like your best friend's cool mum who passes out glasses of soda pop to all the skaters, freaks and geeks of the neighbourhood with nary a judgmental eye. Portland currently plays host to a burgeoning live music scene, not to mention being the birthplace of SuicideGirls and the hometown of Chuck Palahnuick. It's clear that there's always something new to uncover in the city of roses.

One of its somewhat lesser known residents, though no less notable, is Jona Bechtolt. He began his mission of 'fine grunge music and hugs' by forming one-man-band 'Yacht' in 2001, and has since developed into a whirlwind of dance compositions and multi-media wizardry. This is a man whose creative output is almost frightening in its breadth. And if that wasn't enough to make you feel shamefully unproductive, this is also a man whose multi-faceted work stretches across the global arts community.

During 2004 he began collaborating with songstress Khaela Maricich. She had been performing alone as The Blow since 2002 but together they formed a formidable pop-duo; relentlessly recording and touring for the length of their professional relationship. During the brief period of their partnership they crafted two veritable gems; LPs masquerading as pop albums. In reality these releases are magnificent amalgamations of electronica, folk, indie, and rather surprisingly, hints of r'n'b.

Since leaving The Blow earlier this year Jona has poured all his creative energy into making Yacht this winter's indispensable audio delight. To do so he has embarked on a mammoth tour, including China of all unlikely places, before landing in the UK on 6th November – catch him in intimate surroundings at serious-indie-men-with-beards club night Stutter at the Thekla Social in Bristol.

It's Jona's shining originality that broadens his appeal across continents way beyond his native Oregon. He has a special ability of producing records that get you all tingly and excited about music. With technical abilities that mere mortals can only dream of he creates light-hearted melodies and bubblegum pop that you'd be a fool to disregard. Catch Jona now at one of Yacht's legendary dance-parties before he gets over-hyped.

www.myspace.com/yacht

www.teamyacht.com

The Wombats - Let's Dance to Joy Division

"When routine bites hard/ And ambitions are low/ And the resentment rides high/ But emotions won't grow"

It's a tale weaved from a thousand broken relationships, a tale we all know intimately. Joy Division's iconic tragi-ballad Love Will Tear Us Apart was originally penned as a sort of swan song to Ian Curtis' marriage to estranged wife Deborah, but over time has been adopted by many ideological camps who claim Curtis as their figurehead. More recently it has been appropriated by Scouse indie japesters The Wombats, who have a rather more mischievously twee outlook on life.

Perfectly pitched at a time when Curtis' morose life and subsequent suicide could hardly be closer to mind, Let's Dance to Joy Division seems released to coincide with one-time NME photographer Anton Corbijn's directorial debut 'Control', starring relative newcomer Sam Riley in the lead role and Samantha Morton as Deborah Curtis. One hopes that with Riley's previous experience portraying Factory Records icons - he was cast as Mark E Smith in 24 Party People - will help propel this film beyond it's current hype.

The Wombats, on the other hand, are placing themselves firmly as the antithesis of Curtis's melancholic mindset. They have created a call-to-arms for every Elliott Smith loving shoe-gazer out there. Head Wombat Matthew Murphy encourages you to "celebrate the irony" in dancing to Joy Division. With lyrics like "Everything is going wrong/ But we're so happy/ Let's dance to Joy Division/ And raise our glass to the ceiling", this couldn't be further from the traditional attitude to the post-punk pioneers.

Sometimes all it takes is a complete breath of fresh air to remind us why classics become classics. Every indie DJ across the land must be sorely tempted to follow Let's Dance to Joy Division with it's namesake and it will only serve to reintroduce us to that tingle up the spine that accompanies truly great pieces of music. Ultimately, The Wombats have crafted a cute novelty song that will inspire many scenesters to look up their inspiration.