3 economic misconceptions that need to die
Almost all good writign begins with terrible first efforts
Asteroid Vesta may hold vast water ice reserves
Bill Watch (Updated)
Bill Quickies (maybe not the best title)
Black History Month Links
Collapse of 19th-Century Sewer Closes Portland Street
Congress Debates Infrastructure, Jobs Bills
Disney comic strip artists kit
Ephesians
Golden Gate Bridge 75 Years Old
Highway Trust Fund Running Out of Money
Infrastructure & Environment Tweets
Infrastructurist Blog Closes
Life is So Good by George Dawson & Richard Glaubman
New & Interesting Stuff January 9, 2012
Nominations Announced for Federal Environmental & Energy Positions
On the Mississippi…and Lake Michigan
Passion is always a slippery slope to God
Power in Praise by Merlin R. Carothers
Short Items
Sudoku
-Mathematician claims breakthrough in Sudoku puzzle
-Solving the Sudoku: Magic number turns out to be 17
-There is no 16-Clue Sudoku: Solving the Sudoku Minimum Number of Clues Problem
Water News
We can’t live without water operators
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Portland, OR. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Portland, OR. Sort by date Show all posts
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley
O’Malley, Bryan Lee. Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life. Portland, OR: Oni, 2004.
Precious Little Life is the first in series of critically-acclaimed graphic novels by writer-artist Bryan Lee O’Malley. This comic, like the others in the series, is a paperback book rather than a magazine.
Scott is 23 going on 17. He is immature, dating a high schooler, unemployed, and mooching off his roommate. He is even in a band, Sex Bob-omb. (When I was young, bands were cool and dangerous. Now they can be full of video game-playing, comics-reading nerds like Scott Pilgrim.) He runs from trouble. He is a jerk to nearly everyone he knows. Fortunately for him, they seem to care about him anyway and stand up to help him.
Scott’s immaturity is epitomized by his dating a high-school girl, Knives Chau, who hasn’t even kissed a boy. His friends and sister confront him, but he justifies himself. He seems satisfied with a simple, no-pressure relationship with a girl whose world of school and conservative, Chinese family is even smaller than his own.
His satisfaction with Knives disappears when he meets and falls in love with Ramona Flowers, a woman his own age who has a lot more going on. This is complicated by the fact that Knives is falling in love with him, or at least the adventure and independence he represents to her. In attempting a retreat to a simpler time (he even takes Knives by his childhood home, though is family moved out), he unwittingly open’s her eyes to a new world where she can try things she never imagined doing before.
That is only the beginning of the complications. To date Ramona, he must defeat her seven evil exes. Fortunately, Scott is a good fighter, having learned from video games (his defeated opponents disappear in a “pop” leaving a little pile of coins behind). In this volume, the first evil ex makes his appearance.
The fight may be the main fantasy element of the book, but fantastic things begin with Ramona, who skates through Scott’s dreams to deliver packages because a subspace highway runs through his head—and there isn’t much traffic there. An opposing band knocks out the crowd with lightning and Kirby crackle. Scott’s Toronto is a little bit magical.
One can probably read this book as a stand-alone story. However, it is definitely the start of a series. If you can’t leave something at “to be continued,” you may want to skim the series to see if you’re willing to commit. Alternatively, the movie adaption presents the main story line for the whole series.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Film)
Precious Little Life is the first in series of critically-acclaimed graphic novels by writer-artist Bryan Lee O’Malley. This comic, like the others in the series, is a paperback book rather than a magazine.
Scott is 23 going on 17. He is immature, dating a high schooler, unemployed, and mooching off his roommate. He is even in a band, Sex Bob-omb. (When I was young, bands were cool and dangerous. Now they can be full of video game-playing, comics-reading nerds like Scott Pilgrim.) He runs from trouble. He is a jerk to nearly everyone he knows. Fortunately for him, they seem to care about him anyway and stand up to help him.
Scott’s immaturity is epitomized by his dating a high-school girl, Knives Chau, who hasn’t even kissed a boy. His friends and sister confront him, but he justifies himself. He seems satisfied with a simple, no-pressure relationship with a girl whose world of school and conservative, Chinese family is even smaller than his own.
His satisfaction with Knives disappears when he meets and falls in love with Ramona Flowers, a woman his own age who has a lot more going on. This is complicated by the fact that Knives is falling in love with him, or at least the adventure and independence he represents to her. In attempting a retreat to a simpler time (he even takes Knives by his childhood home, though is family moved out), he unwittingly open’s her eyes to a new world where she can try things she never imagined doing before.
That is only the beginning of the complications. To date Ramona, he must defeat her seven evil exes. Fortunately, Scott is a good fighter, having learned from video games (his defeated opponents disappear in a “pop” leaving a little pile of coins behind). In this volume, the first evil ex makes his appearance.
The fight may be the main fantasy element of the book, but fantastic things begin with Ramona, who skates through Scott’s dreams to deliver packages because a subspace highway runs through his head—and there isn’t much traffic there. An opposing band knocks out the crowd with lightning and Kirby crackle. Scott’s Toronto is a little bit magical.
One can probably read this book as a stand-alone story. However, it is definitely the start of a series. If you can’t leave something at “to be continued,” you may want to skim the series to see if you’re willing to commit. Alternatively, the movie adaption presents the main story line for the whole series.
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Film)
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley
I posted reviews of the
first five books in Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim series. Now I’m finally getting to
the last one eight years after it was published. It’s reflective of the way
Scott Pilgrim might get things done.
In a way, the arc of
this book reflects the arc of the series. In the start, Scott is stuck, not
wanting to face the pain of losing his girlfriend, Ramona, just as he was avoiding the pain of
entering adulthood at the start of the series. In the
middle, he finds something worth fighting for, even if it means coming to grips
with his past and facing the pain of changing. In both this book and the
series, the thing worth fighting for is his relationship with Ramona. In the
end, Scott embraces a new journey with an even more uncertain future.
Along the way, Scott’s
longsuffering friends, who are growing up in their own ways, try to help him.
Considering that Scott is often a self-centered jerk, it’s amazing he has so many
friends who care about him and stick with
him. It’s hard to make it in life without good friends.
I like the final words
of the book, spoken by Scott before he and Ramona jump hopefully into the
future, “We try again.” This is life. We try. We fail. Along the way, we make a life, a story, that we enjoy
creating as we go along. If we don’t like it, we try again.
The other books in this
series are
If you’re interested in
this book, you may also be interested in
Monday, March 7, 2011
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World by Bryan Lee O’Malley
O’Malley, Bryan Lee. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Portland, OR: Oni Press, 2005.
Scott Pilgrim is an immature jerk. You might like him, though. He’s in a cool band. Though he’s a coward in ordinary thing, he’s incredibly brave in fantastical fisticuffs.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a continuation of the titular character’s adventure that started in Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Precious Little Life. The boiled down version of the six-volume series of graphic novels is that Scott must defeat Ramona Flowers’ seven evil exes to win the right to date her.
In this second book, Scott defeats the second evil ex, a vain movie star who used to be a skate boarder. It’s a funny scene, but other parts of the book are better.
We get to see Scott create his own evil ex when he breaks up with his girlfriend, high-school girl Knives Chau. It’s probably a good thing for him to break up with Knives, but Scott is insensitive, selfish, and untruthful. In this sense, Knives isn’t evil in the grand sense of hating all that is good. She’s a wounded, jealous girl who is acting a little crazy, which is evil enough. It leads to one of the books fight scenes (they have the feel of video games and comics, which is a strange mix of weird and accepted in the fantasy of Toronto), which is longer and cooler than Scott’s fights.
Though Knives seems to be almost dismissed early in the book and could be dismissed as a nut in the middle, her story arc begins to open up in this volume. It’s not strictly a fall, but is a move from seemingly innocent ignorance to knowledge of the scary world of young adulthood and complicated relationships. Scott introduced her to this world, but he a poor guide. He would have been a poor guide even if he hadn’t abandoned her.
O’Malley reveals more about Scott’s other relationships. It looks like he might have a string of wounded exes. This includes band mate Kim and Envy Adams, leader of rival band The Clash at Demonhead.
O’Malley’s art in this and other Scott Pilgrims book is a little like manga with big-eyed characters. It is also simplified, cartoony. It has a rough feel. It’s better than I’ve made it sound. The black and white art is textured. It has varied, sometimes painterly, lines. It is full small touches that convey emotion, especially humor. Whatever one might think of the style, I’d say it is good comic book are because it interestingly conveys the story and reveals (not just depicts) the characters.
Bryan Lee O’Malley also wrote
Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
If your interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Film)
Scott Pilgrim is an immature jerk. You might like him, though. He’s in a cool band. Though he’s a coward in ordinary thing, he’s incredibly brave in fantastical fisticuffs.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a continuation of the titular character’s adventure that started in Bryan Lee O’Malley’s Precious Little Life. The boiled down version of the six-volume series of graphic novels is that Scott must defeat Ramona Flowers’ seven evil exes to win the right to date her.
In this second book, Scott defeats the second evil ex, a vain movie star who used to be a skate boarder. It’s a funny scene, but other parts of the book are better.
We get to see Scott create his own evil ex when he breaks up with his girlfriend, high-school girl Knives Chau. It’s probably a good thing for him to break up with Knives, but Scott is insensitive, selfish, and untruthful. In this sense, Knives isn’t evil in the grand sense of hating all that is good. She’s a wounded, jealous girl who is acting a little crazy, which is evil enough. It leads to one of the books fight scenes (they have the feel of video games and comics, which is a strange mix of weird and accepted in the fantasy of Toronto), which is longer and cooler than Scott’s fights.
Though Knives seems to be almost dismissed early in the book and could be dismissed as a nut in the middle, her story arc begins to open up in this volume. It’s not strictly a fall, but is a move from seemingly innocent ignorance to knowledge of the scary world of young adulthood and complicated relationships. Scott introduced her to this world, but he a poor guide. He would have been a poor guide even if he hadn’t abandoned her.
O’Malley reveals more about Scott’s other relationships. It looks like he might have a string of wounded exes. This includes band mate Kim and Envy Adams, leader of rival band The Clash at Demonhead.
O’Malley’s art in this and other Scott Pilgrims book is a little like manga with big-eyed characters. It is also simplified, cartoony. It has a rough feel. It’s better than I’ve made it sound. The black and white art is textured. It has varied, sometimes painterly, lines. It is full small touches that convey emotion, especially humor. Whatever one might think of the style, I’d say it is good comic book are because it interestingly conveys the story and reveals (not just depicts) the characters.
Bryan Lee O’Malley also wrote
Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
If your interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Maus by Art Spiegelman
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Film)
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness by Bryan Lee O'Malley
O’Malley,
Bryan Lee. Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness. Portland, OR:
Oni Press, 2006.
Google
Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite
Sadness is the third in Bryan Lee O’Malley’s epic series of graphic
novels of the title character’s journey from immaturity to—well, so far
just being slightly less of a self-centered jerk. In some ways, this book is the story of Envy
Adams, ostensibly Scott’s evil ex.
Envy is the girl that broke Scott’s heart. To make things worse, she is the lead singer
of an awesome band, The Clash at Demonhead.
It turns out Scott broke her heart, too.
She moved on to date another jerk.
Todd Ingram isn’t a shlubby, mooching bassist for a little band like
Scott. Todd is a bassist for a famous
band, and he’s handsome, powerful, attractive, secretly womanizing, and endowed
with superpowers acquired through veganism—he is a total jerk. Oh, and he’s one of the evil exes Scott must
defeat to date his new girlfriend, Ramona Flowers.
It sounds like a soap opera.
It’s better because it has kickass fight scenes. It also has character development. It’s not an easy arc for Envy. She comes in with the upper hand, ready to
exact revenge. She leaves in
defeat. It’s not all bad. Vengeful Envy was very much in touch with her
anger. Defeated Envy was also in touch
with her sadness and regrets, a sense of her losses and mistakes. She gained perspective.
This is a middle chapter for many of the other characters in the
series. They don’t change much. The book provides some of Scott and Ramona’s
history. Some subplots take a step
forward.
Based on the close of the book, I suspect Envy will return. It would be okay if she didn’t. She reached a point where she could move
on. She completed a pilgrimage,
essentially going from one place to another, though it may not have been where
she planned to go. She can find a new
bassist and start another journey.
I’d like to mention in my last few words on Infinite Sadness something about the setting of the book. It takes place in Montreal, actually a fantastical,
magical version of the city in which vegans are telekinetic. The setting is urban and the characters are
all young. It is an alien world to
me. I grew up in a rural area. When I was a young man in the city, I was in
college or working professionally. At 24
years old, the age of Envy, I was working as an environmental engineer,
writing permits and inspecting wastewater
treatment plants. The world in which a
guy like Scott plays bass in a band, squanders his days with a high school,
mooches of his roommate and still dates a woman who is out of his league is
nearly as fantastical one in which a delivery girl uses the space in his head
traverse space at supernatural speeds (he’s not using the space much).
Bryan Lee O’Malley also wrote
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley
This fifth installment of the Scott Pilgrim
series of graphic
novels by Bryan
Lee O’Malley seems to me to be the Kim Pine story.
Kim is Scott’s ex-girlfriend and bandmate. She has enough troubles of her own
with a bad roommate, cheating boyfriend, and a sense of losing her edge as Sex
Bob-omb makes and album instead of playing musing.
In spite of this, Kim musters the selfless courage to help Scott and Ramona
get over their baggage and try to make their relationship work. She draws out
the best of friends often seem to be not worth the trouble, especially Scott.
She supports and encourages both, and helps them to connect when they can’t
seem to do it on their own.
Scott is being a jerk, as usually, through much of the book. He is
incredibly forgetful. I suspect it is a kind of Peter Pan syndrome. On his 24th
birthday, Scott vows to stop aging. He seems to have trouble forming new
memories. For all the progress he made in previous books, he is still resisting
the transition to adulthood.
Even with the focus on Kim, the story of the evil exes continues. Scott
defeats the Katayanagi twins, though in a different manner than the movie. This
is another scene of Kim’s selfless friendship.
Of all the books, this one has the sense of being “in between.” It is
in between the build and the climax to be expected in the final book. I think
O’Malley made a good choice in bringing in Kim so much in this volume. He was
able to move the story of Scott and Ramona along while also giving some space
to look around and not rush to the end. Scott is too messed up to make it on
his own, so it is nice to see one of them get some attention.
Bryan Lee O’Malley also wrote
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Monday, September 1, 2014
Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
is the fourth volume of a six-volume work by Bryan
Lee O’Malley. In reviewing other volumes of the series, I’ve mentioned that
the story is a pilgrimage.
In this volume, things start moving.
Nothing signals a figurative move like an actual move. Scott’s
friend and bandmate, Kim, moves from
her apartment into a house with some friends. One of these friends has sound
editing equipment, so Scott’s band, Sex Bob-omb,
moves from playing clubs to recording an album. Eventually, Scott is forced to
move because the lease is up on the apartment he shares with Wallace.
The important moves in the series, though, are Scott’s stumbling from
an extended adolescence
toward adulthood.
His internal challenges are represented by external challenges. In order to
have a place to go when he leaves the apartment he shares with Wallace, he
proposes to move in with Ramona.
One can imagine how disastrous this might be in the state of their relationship
at the start of the book; Scott must make an emotional move to Ramona and responsibility
first.
This emotional move is achieved in several stages. Scott practices self-control
by resisting the temptation for an easy, breezy summer fling with a woman he
knew from school who has a crush on him. He takes on responsibility by getting
his first job
as a dishwasher at age 23.
His other conflicts are represented or resolved in combat. It wouldn’t
be Scott Pilgrim without cool fight scenes. His relationship with Ramona is
haunted by his not actually broken off relationship with Knives.
Knives’ vengeful father hunts down and attacks Scott. In addition, another of
Ramona’s evil exes arrives. It’s neat that he survives combat with Mr. Chau and
defeats Roxie. The powerful actions he takes are to confess his love to Ramona,
accept the baggage of her past, and treat Mr. Chau (an through him Knive’s)
with respect.
Self-control, responsibility, love, acceptance,
and respect are a decent set of virtues for a
young man to practice. Scott is not perfect, but his journey isn’t to
perfection, it’s to maturity.
Bryan Lee O’Malley also wrote
If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
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