Art & Music & Making People Happy: Cinedork Interview with Billygoat

It’s pretty rare something comes across my desk that I just love to pieces.  Usually if I love something to pieces, I will specifically ask to write about it.  But hey, I don’t know about everything in the world, and when something shows up that I’ve never heard of but come to adore, it’s a pretty great feeling.

Such was the case with Billygoat.  I consider myself lucky to have found out about this group and gotten a chance to interview them.  The work they’re doing is astounding, and, to my mind, unlike anything else out there.

The duo makes stop motion animated art films and then scores them.  But that description doesn’t do it justice.  You have to see for yourself.

Your films are incredible detailed. How long does it take to make one?

Only 1-2 minutes of footage is created each month because stop-motion photography is so extremely tedious. It’s the prepping that really takes quite a bit of time and what we are doing behind the scenes that consumes equal if not more time than actually shooting photos. If you’re hasty with this process the results can weaken. It does take about 12-16 months to complete an animation.

Can you describe the process you go through to make each film?

Our process involves shooting in a room and recording images that inspire us. The set dictates where subjects are going to be placed as it morphs over time. It’s a lot like the game MouseTrap, in that everything is cause and effect. We rarely script and our ideas can completely change overnight sending the animation down a completely unpredictable avenue.

Continue reading at Cinedork.

Sad news: Venus Zine’s print version is no more

Venus Zine's Winter 2010 issue will be its last

I got some really sad news today: Venus Zine will no longer publish its print version.

The website will stay up and continue to publish new content, but the magazine will no longer appear on newsstands.

This breaks my heart.  Venus Zine has been the go-to source for celebrating women in the arts and media.  Their articles and interviews have been intelligent, fun, and informative. They made me feel like the newsstand was a place where I was represented: as a woman, as a feminist, and as a lady who supports other lady projects.

More than that, Venus Zine was a creative home for me at a time when I was just starting out as a feature writer and blogger.  Back in 2005, they published my first article ever — an interview with comics creator Brian Wood — and for the next 3 1/2 years, they let me write about what I love.  A chance encounter with another Venus Zine writer at a Northern State show led me to reviewing music, something I fell in love with and have continued to do ever since.

Print media is truly losing one of the best and smartest magazines for women in Venus Zine.  And while I consider myself and all the other readers lucky that the first-class web content will continue, nothing will fill the print version-shaped hole in my heart.

Album review: Rusty Willoughby

The boys at Cinedork, who I adore, asked me to write about music for them—something I’ve missed doing since moving to Philly.  My first review for the site just went up:

Rusty Willoughby has been around the block — playing in Pure Joy, Flop and Llama over the years — but it’s a specifically Seattle block, and so the rest of us are forgiven for not knowing who he is.

But don’t let that stop you from checking out his most recent project, Cobirds Unite. The album is a series of duets with Rachel Flotard, a charming trip through the sounds of Americana.

Continue reading at Cinedork.

Superheroes and Scholars on display

The most exciting part of the lead-up to our Graphic Novel Event was, for me, helping to create a library exhibit that showcased both our concept and the graphic novels we have in the stacks.

Our graphic designer, the inimitable Joanne Quinn, initiated the process by buying three giant superhero cutouts.  From there, I developed the idea to have each of our superheroes — Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man — quote a famous scholar or author.  I picked out quotations for all three, and finished the whole thing off by writing up exhibit text that explained the concept and connections.

Sorry for the terrible cell phone photos, but I don’t have higher quality images yet.  Hopefully soon!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The exhibit was featured on the library blog.  All my lovely friends here stopped by to see it, and one even gave me what may be the biggest compliment of my life:

RussInReview Finally..a school library that resembles my bedroom. @AlexandraDit ‘s reimagining of Superman=best since Morrison’s http://yfrog.com/63sgtaj about 18 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

Library press materials: graphic novel reviews

For our Graphic Novel Event, I wanted to do something a little different than the standard interview-style preview blog post.  (Those work well, but they can get repetitive.)

I pitched the idea to my editor for a series of graphic novel reviews done by library staffers and others involved in the event.  Once I got approval, I contacted about 15 potential reviewers, most of whom were willing to help out.  The process was fairly painless — I set a deadline and almost everyone met it!  In the end, we posted 7 reviews in three separate posts to the library news blog.

Since I was organizing the whole thing, I got first pick of what to review.  I chose, of course, the Scott Pilgrim series.  Here was what I had to say:

Imagine if your life were like a video game. Sounds fun, right? But now imagine that the video game was really hard — like Battletoads hard — and it kept you from doing the things you wanted.

Such is the fate of Scott Pilgrim, the hero of the eponymous, six-volume graphic novel series created by Bryan Lee O’Malley. All Scott wants to do is date Ramona Flowers, the literal girl of his dreams (her favorite shortcut is the subspace highway travelling through his head). But in order to date her, he has to defeat her seven evil exes, in increasingly awesome and ridiculous video game-style boss fights that continually interrupt his life and his band.

The Scott Pilgrim series features a feast of in-jokes for gamers, comic book lovers, and Generation Y. But its greatness lies in what else is on every page: a poignant look at life and love in your early 20s. While Ramona and Scott’s exes may try to interrupt their story, the metatextual elements and metaphors never do. What results is the perfect balance between the frivolous, the hilarious, and the touching.

Read the rest of the reviews on the Falvey Library news blog: part 1, part 2, part 3.

We also shared and solicited recommendations on Twitter and Facebook (where we got a huge response).  We now have a huge list of potential graphic novels to add to our collection.

Event banner by Joanne Quinn.

Library blogging: Alan Drew reads from his critically acclaimed novel

Join us for a reading by Alan Drew, M.F.A., novelist and Villanova University faculty member. Professor Drew will read excerpts from his first novel, Gardens of Water, and from The Hidden Life, his in-progress second novel. The reading will be held at 12:30 pm on Monday, Nov. 15, 2010, in Falvey Memorial Library’s first floor lounge.

Gardens of Water (Random House, 2008) was chosen as Pasadena’s One City/One Story, University of Iowa’s Center for Human Rights One Community/One Book, and ‘one of the best books of 2008’ by School Library Journal. The novel tells the story of love and sacrifice between two families, one Kurdish and one American. Kirkus Reviews called it “a novel about lovers crossed not by the stars but by the clash of cultures.”

Professor Drew, who teaches creative writing in the English department, says he got the idea for the novel shortly after the devastating 1999 Marmara earthquake, which killed over 17,000 people, according to official reports. At the time, he and his wife felt the earthquake where they were living, about 600 miles away in Istanbul, Turkey.

Continue reading on the Falvey Library news blog.

Library blogging: Ron Chadderton on Dam Failures in “Flood City”

A house in Johnstown after the 1889 flood

This year’s Scholarship@Villanova endowed chair lecture features Ronald A. Chadderton, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, the Edward A. Daylor Chair in Environmental Engineering. Dr. Chadderton will speak at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, in the Falvey Memorial Library first floor lounge.

Dr. Chadderton, a professor and chair in the department of civil and environmental engineering, will investigate and reconstruct historic floods in the Johnstown, Pa. area, caused by dam failure. He points to the historic nature of the floods, especially the “Great Flood” of May 31, 1889, as a major point of interest.

“As a faculty member at Penn State,” he explains, “I was involved with a study of one of the Johnstown floods. It was a mathematical modeling project. Also, as a ‘history buff,’ I had read various articles about the 1889 flood.” The disaster resulted in the single largest number of civilian deaths at the time and the first major disaster relief effort handled by the American Red Cross.

Continue reading at the Falvey Library news blog.

Library blogging: Falvey Celebrates the Graphic Novel with 2nd Annual Event

Last year, comics went to college. This year, Falvey Memorial Library, in partnership with the Villanova University Writing Center, invites you to discuss superheroes and scholars at our Second Annual Graphic Novel Event, on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. in the first floor lounge.

Graphic novel writer and Philadelphia resident John Arcudi will give the keynote address. He is best known for developing The Mask for Dark Horse Comics, and his work served as the basis for the 1994 film starring Jim Carey. He has also written for both DC and Marvel Comics, taking on superheroes like Superman, the Flash and Wonder Woman.

Arcudi recently tackled the superhero genre from a more cynical perspective in his original graphic novel, A God Somewhere (Wildstorm, 2010). The story charts the loss of faith and reason in Eric, an everyman who emerges from a deadly accident with superpowers. Publishers Weekly calls the graphic novel “harrowing,” and USA Today says it is “a bold and risky book that dares to offer a challenging new take on what it would be like to be a super-man.”

Continue reading at the Falvey Library news blog.

…

This event means a lot to me, and I’ve put in a lot of behind-the-scenes work to make it as successful as possible.  You can also see it featured at cinedork.com.  Expect more about the event, including a detailed rundown of my press strategy and a post mortem in which I’ll gush about how awesome it was to meet John Arcudi, in the coming weeks.  And if you’re in Philly, come out and hang with us!

Library blogging: Marathon Community Reading Brings Saint Augustine to Life

Join the Confessions Alive! marathon reading of St. Augustine’s well-known work, hosted by Falvey Memorial Library, in partnership with the Villanova University Classical Studies Program, the Office for Mission and Ministry, and the Villanova Center for Liberal Education. The day-long public reading will begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010, in Falvey Memorial Library’s first floor lounge.

University President Rev. Peter Donohue, O.S.A., will commence the reading at 9 a.m. It will continue until midnight, with refreshments available to participants throughout the day.

“St. Augustine’s Confessions is a milestone in the history of autobiography.  It is a narrative, not just theology. Hearing it aloud is helpful,” explains Outreach librarian and theology professor Darren Poley.  “Events of this kind encourage people to understand great works of literature and truly do make ancient texts more accessible.”

Continue reading at the Falvey Library news blog.

Library blogging: Auschwitz and After

Each year, the Alfred F. Mannella and Rose T. Lauria-Mannella Distinguished Speakers Series presents a lecture on Italian history and culture. This year’s lecture, on Jewish-Italian author and Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi, will be given by Nicholas Patruno, Ph.D., at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010, in Falvey Memorial Library’s first floor lounge.

Dr. Patruno, professor emeritus in the department of Italian at Bryn Mawr College, was initially “surprised,” he says, when asked to write a book on Primo Levi. He took up the challenge, though, because he ranks Levi as “among the most important writers of post-World War II Italy and, internationally, among the most important writers of the 20th century.

Continue reading at the Falvey Library news blog.