pc

I wasn’t happy with a house I’d originally drawn so...

Sun, 20 May 2012 15:06:00 -0400

I wasn’t happy with a house I’d originally drawn so I sketched this Toronto Bay & Gable instead. For some reason, I really like it.

Photo

Tue, 01 May 2012 15:22:50 -0400

Thoughtfuls - Page Three

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:59:00 -0400

It’s Twy - er, I mean… Wz-wyt- uh, well… however you spell it. Straight from the Infinite Cosmic Parallels it’s page three of The Thoughtfuls in “Interview” for your Monday morning viewing pleasure! Click to view bigger

I found this page particularly difficult to colour, mainly the backgrounds and everything about Ytwztz. To be honest, I’m not entirely happy with it but I’m really really looking forward to finishing the next page which is my favourite of this story. I think I might try to upload the next two pages at the same time to wrap everything up so it will probably take a little longer than my usual one a week schedule.

Kagan McLeod!!!

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:15:59 -0400

Kagan McLeod!!!

One of my favourite cartoonists, the prolific Lewis Trondheim,...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:26:00 -0400

One of my favourite cartoonists, the prolific Lewis Trondheim, visited Toronto in 2010 and painted several works depicting different parts of the city. I attended the presentation he gave at U of T but when I finally went to see the exhibit it had just closed the previous day! Needless to say I was really upset that I had missed it, so I’m very happy to have discovered this video shot during the exhibit where he walks through all of his pieces!

Naturally, they are incredible and I can definitely sense his wry sensibility in these paintings that are present throughout his comics work. I also find it so interesting to see what parts of the city he chose to paint, the small details he noticed and how he represented them. I just wish I could understand French better!

The Thoughtfuls - Page 2

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:52:00 -0400

People exploding into puffs of smoke to odd sound effects?! Whoa, indeed! Here is page two of “Interview” starring THE THOUGHTFULS! While the first page is kind of straightforward, hopefully this one hints at more strange events to come. Hope you like it! (Click the image to view larger, also click here to read page one if you haven’t already.)

On a somewhat related note, I coloured this all day yesterday while listening to the “Essential Classics” station on cbcmusic.ca. There are a lot of great stations there but this one’s pretty amazing, every track they play is a really famous classical piece that you’ll most likely recognize from film soundtracks or like Bugs Bunny cartoons. Anyway, if you’re at all interested in classical music, or are trying to listen to more like myself, I really recommend checking it out, especially nice to have in the background while working.

theairtightgarage: Career Timeline: 1985 - Little Nemo in...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:34:52 -0400

theairtightgarage:

Career Timeline: 1985 - Little Nemo in Slumberland

Moebius is approached by Tokyo Movie Shinsha to do concept design work and script revisions for their animated feature film based on Winsor McCay’s comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland.

P.S. Hayao Miyazaki was heavily involved in production early on, even making a test film, but left citing difficulties years before Moebius came on board.

The Thoughtfuls - Page 1

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:47:29 -0400

Here is the first page of five of a little comic I am working on about the greatest band to ever exist: The Thoughtfuls. Click on the image to view the full size.

Dramatic! Anyway, this comic is really kind of strange and came to me almost fully formed one night so I tried to work on it as quickly as I could. I hope to have the other pages up soon, hope you enjoy part one…

All Time Faves - Vol. 1

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:15:00 -0400

Last year my friends and I exchanged (actual physical) mix CDs of songs we were listening to at the time in an effort to get into different music. We agreed that the next mixes we’d make should be of our all-time-favourite songs, but unfortunately we never got around to it…until now. In what will hopefully reinstate our music sharing, I have gone ahead and created a 10 track playlist of songs that I truly love. Narrowing it down to just 10 tracks was extremely difficult, but of course this is just Volume One…

All Time Faves vol. 1 by Paul Covello on Grooveshark

Commentary!

1. I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song) - Louie Prima & Phil Harris

I thought that if I was doing an All Time Favourite song playlist, I had to open with something I used to listen to when I was really young. I tried to remember some of the songs I loved while in elementary school, but I couldn’t think of anything past songs from Disney movies. The Jungle Book is among my favourite animated films, and right in the middle of my favourite period of Disney films from the early 60’s to ’70s (Sword in the Stone, 101 Dalmatians, Robin Hood). I love the quirky take on the source material, and of course, the jazzy musical numbers that purposefully clash with the lush 19th century Indian jungle setting. Although “I Wan’na Be Like You” is probably less well known than “The Bare Necessities”, I think it’s way more fun and cool. From the slightly sinister and grooving opening, the incredibly clever lyrics, the catchy chorus, the cartoony vocal instrumentals, to the sublime scat duet of King Louie (Louis Prima!) and Baloo (Phil Harris!) - this song has it all! My dad loves to quote odd lines from movies, especially ones he watched with me while I was young. And so Mowgli’s plea “But I don’t know how to make fire…” (2:14) and Harris’ odd “reep-a-nozza” (3:40) bit are forever burned in my mind because he thought those parts were hilarious and continues to quote them today.

2. The Lines You Amend - Sloan

Although all of the songs on this mix are my favourites, “The Lines You Amend” is my favourite song of all time from my absolute favourite band of all time - Sloan (aka the greatest Canadian rock band of all time.) Off their much revered album “One Chord to Another” and written by my favourite songwriter of the group, Jay Ferguson, I’ve listened to “The Lines You Amend” countless upon countless times and still find it as fresh as the first time I heard it. The song definitely recalls the Beatles, but there is so much I love about the track in despite it’s revisiting of 1960’s pop rock classics: the lo-fi guitar hooks, the sad pensive lyrics juxtaposed against the grooving chunky bassline, the trade off on vocals from Jay to Chris and Patrick’s harmony, the Ringo Starr shoutout, and the quiet guitar slide at the very end. It’s perfectly executed craftsmanship. Many of my friends have accused me of being too obsessed with Sloan, but when the band continues to produce songs as fun and dazzling as this, can you really blame me?

3. A Higher Power - Jonathan Richman

Jonathan Richman is another artist whose work is extremely dear to me. His proto-punk masterpiece, the self-titled “The Modern Lovers,” is one of my favourite albums, but I am equally fascinated with his later solo stuff, especially those that veer toward 50’s style rock and roll. “A Higher Power” from his 1992 album “I, Jonathan” showcases so much I love about Richman: his perpetually nasally, slightly geeky singing style, the overtly romantic choice of subject matter, the rocking and understated guitar - and perhaps most importantly, his earnest irony-free approach to music. Although I get how some people can write this kind of music off as “corny”, as if it needs to be serious or “deep” to be important or enjoyable, for my money Jonathan Richman’s unwavering sincerity and dedication to upbeat tracks like “A Higher Power” easily cuts through any level of cynicism and snobbery.

4. Beast of Burden - The Rolling Stones

I’ll confess that most of the songs on this playlist are taken from a mix CD I made sometime in university. (The sole purpose for making the CD, I remember was so I could transfer it to cassette tape to play in my car.) For some reason I put this track on and I’m not entirely sure what to say about it despite it making my All Time Favourite mix. I love the Stones, from their early blues influenced albums, their darker introspective songs, their harder rock hits, and even their brief psychedelic phase. But there’s something about this track and I can’t explain it, but the song undeniably creates a certain sort of mood I’m really drawn towards. Maybe simply because it’s a little quieter and different but still maintains that undeniable Stones sound, evident in Jagger’s plaintive swaggering performance and Richard’s and Wood’s dueling fluid guitar improvs. And really, the lyrics are so easy and fun to sing along to, it’s a really irresistible piece of music.

5. Common People - William Shatner, Joe Jackson & Ben Folds

Another song taken from the same mix. I discovered a lot of this music in university where I had a job working at the now defunct CD/DVD retailer Music World. Looking back, in high school I was only really interested in jazz and 60’s rock and bits and pieces of 90’s indie bands. As with most people, I think this is when I started to discover just how different and fun music can really be, which sort of explains this William Shatner cover version of “Common People”. Another track that showcases very clever lyrics (a prevalent theme in this mix I’m very aware of), I can definitely admit that I like this version much more over the original. I know that’s sacrilege to say but it’s true, I can’t help it! Shatner’s spoken delivery translates a beautiful sense of disdain to the narrator that I appreciate much more than the original more detached Pulp version. Plus it’s just an unbelievably really rocking track with Joe Jackson’s(!) trade off on the chorus that absolutely blazes towards the finish.

6. Apple Blosson - The White Stripes

Sort of like “Beast of Burden,” I can’t think of exactly why I like this song, but I felt compelled to include it. I can’t help but love how special all of the White Stripes albums are, in that buried underneath all of the hard garage rockers and singles, smart little numbers like “Apple Blossom” are waiting, ready to be discovered. I love so many of their songs, but something about the sublime mix of folksy lyrics, bluesy instrumentals and punk delivery on this track creates a very sinister and sweet mood that really attracts me. And the quick and simple electric guitar solo really just knocks me out.

7. Downtown Train - Tom Waits

Speeding away in the humid summer nights after my closing shift at Music World, I used to blast Tom Waits’ “Downtown Train” out the open windows of my dearly departed cherry red ‘89 Jeep Cherokee on my way to meet my friends or head home to watch a movie. Anyone driving alongside and hearing just a short snippet of this song must have been really confused. For some reason this remains such a vivid memory for me and certainly why I continue to love this song. I know not everyone “gets” Tom Waits, but I think he’s really a total embodiment of cool. This is probably his most accessible song, and most likely how I started listening to him in the first place even though it’s quite different from the rest of his work. As you most likely can tell from this list, I’m drawn to offbeat music that create strange, complex moods. The atmospheric mid-80’s muted guitar instrumentals coupled with Waits rough and gravelly growling through the pleading lyrics of this track is so strangely romantic, weird and sad that I can’t help but love it.

8. Needles & Pins - The Ramones

You might think it’s cliche to list a Ramones track as one of your all time favourite songs, but I really don’t think it’s possible to resist the charm of their “Needles & Pins” cover. Another exercise in odd juxtapositions, this song is a total gem from such incredible musicians and to me is one of those works that are so cool and amazing you can’t really believe it exists in the first place. I really get a such kick out of hearing the hard edged Ramones take on this romantic early 60’s track (co-written by Jack” Nitzsche and Sonny Bono!) showing that once you chip away at that hard punk shell, the Ramones have a soft and sweet marshmallow center.

9. Ooh La La - Faces

This is the closing track from my favourite film Rushmore and I can remember seeing it for the first time and having my 17 year old mind completely blown by it. Could movies be this awesome? I mean, I had see Empire Strikes Back plenty of times, but this was something altogether different. And the soundtrack just killed me. I was already starting to get into British invasion artists at the time, but this movie felt like a whole new universe of music was opened up to me, as well as a completely different way of thinking about how music works in relation to film. The last scene of Rushmore is so perfect and much of that is due to the highlighting of this incredible song in such a great way. This song really is the definition of bittersweet with world-weary lyrics, an upbeat catchy sing-along chorus, and an arrangement that starts out so sparse but builds to the pleasingly jumbled honky-tonk piano solo. In my mind, “Ooh La La” has become completely tied to that scene, and I’ve since become aware of just how much of my favourite music comes from films, as well as how these songs act to inspire and really charge me up in a way that is very different from other music.

10. Apeman - The Kinks

Since the playlist begins with a song about an ape desperate to become a man, I felt it only fitting to end off with a song about a man who wishes to escape the pressures of contemporary life and enjoy freedom in the jungle by living his life as an ape. The Kinks are another of my all time favourite artists and I’m in awe of their varied and incredibly innovative career, as well as their enormous influence on so many other artists I love. Much of that is owed to Ray Davies’ amazing lyrics, and everything on this album “The Village Green Preservation Society” is unsurprisingly chock full of almost overwhelmingly clever British wit. The chorus is so fun and silly but there are so many fun details on this track, from the jarring traffic sound effect intro, the infectious rhyme scheme that builds throughout the verses, the short spoken interlude about what modern civilization has wrought, the boogie woogie bridge, and really, what other ape references could they possibly fit in this song?

BONUS TRACK

11. Take Five - The Dave Brubeck Quartet

OK, so I lied about only including 10 tracks, but how could I not include a song from one of my heroes, Dave Brubeck, on a mix of my favourite songs. I realized I should create a separate jazz mix since it’s a bit tougher to get people to listen to that as opposed to rock and pop, so I’ll save that for a later date (also this is the single version, not the album version since I doubted many non-jazz fans would sit through the epic drum solo on the latter). Time Out is the first CD I can remember buying and “Take Five” is something I am continually in awe of and one of those things I could probably talk about forever. One of my favourite memories of high school that I’ll never forget is performing it on the piano with two friends on sax and drums at a spring concert. “Take Five” is a complete work of art and has remained a great source of inspiration for me ever since I first heard it, pushing me to study instruments, listen to more jazz, and dedicate myself to work, art and things I love with the same passion and energy that Dave Brubeck continues to bring to his music.

Photo

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 23:31:46 -0400

Set me freeeeeeeeeee, little girl Had this song stuck in my...

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 12:55:45 -0400

Set me freeeeeeeeeee, little girl

Had this song stuck in my head this morning. I heard that if that happens you should listen to the song in question, which apparently acts to “scratch the itch”… IN YOUR BRAIN!

It’s America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The...

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 15:05:00 -0400

It’s America in 1962. Slavery is legal once again. The few Jews who still survive hide under assumed names. In San Francisco, the I Ching is as common as the Yellow Pages. All because some 20 years earlier the United States lost a war—and is now occupied jointly by Nazi Germany and Japan.

I just finished Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle last night and it’s really one of the most enjoyable, bizarre and interesting books I’ve ever read. It’s definitely up there with my favourite novel If on a winter’s night a traveler. I somehow discovered it through the comedian Patton Oswalt whose stand up I’ve recently been listening to and it’s definitely an influence on LOST, Fringe and Inglorious Basterds so if you like any of those things you should definitely check it out.

Also I love all these oddball covers, some of them are just insane.

spidey sense on Flickr. watercolour, pencil, ink, photoshop

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 10:03:00 -0500

spidey sense on Flickr.

watercolour, pencil, ink, photoshop

Tampopo: The Movie That Teaches Us About Living Life Via Ramen...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:09:39 -0500

Tampopo: The Movie That Teaches Us About Living Life Via Ramen & Food

Great write up on one of my favourite films,Jûzô Itami’s Tampopo

Indiana Jones and Nutella: Two great tastes that taste great...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:16:00 -0500

Indiana Jones and Nutella: Two great tastes that taste great together.

Uploaded this rare Indiana Jones Nutella Commercial to celebrate World Nutella Day!

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:32:44 -0500

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short!

Photo

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:02:43 -0500

AT&T Archives: Robot (by ATTTechChannel)

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:15:01 -0500

AT&T Archives: Robot (by ATTTechChannel)

Cosi o cosi, con Nutella, regali sempre nuovi!

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:08:22 -0500

Cosi o cosi, con Nutella, regali sempre nuovi!

Watch The Castle of Cagliostro, the first feature film written...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:10:53 -0500

Watch The Castle of Cagliostro, the first feature film written from Hayao Miyazaki in it’s entirety for free!