The Walking Dead - "Seed" and "Sick"

My personal love-hate relationship with AMC's The Walking Dead is well-chronicled in this space. Every bit of cache and artistic license the series earned in its spectacular first season was quickly spent in the second. Of course, even Season 2 had its high points, hinging entirely on the plotlines involving Shane and Rick's decaying friendship/relationship. The tension and brooding and carefully plotted losses of innocence throughout Season 2 were powerful, but not enough to redeem an off-balance, dialogue-overloaded mess that always felt inconsistent, preachy, chaotic (in the worst way), and insecure (as in not sure of itself, rather than the expected insecurity of a zombie apocalypse).

To redeem Season 2 some more before we move on, let's observe The Walking Dead through the Kübler-Ross Five Stages of Grief. Season 1 focuses on Stage 1: Denial. We watch Rick try to find civilization, going to great lengths to find the humanity that he believes must still exist ("This isn't happening everywhere!"). The initial survivor group bonds and lives life almost exactly as they would on a camping trip, until the fateful attack. They go to the CDC hoping for a cure, or a solution. Society for the survivors still exists in Season 1. They're in denial. Season 2, we transition to Stage 2: Anger. While still trying to deny the reality, by taking refuge on Hershel's farm, who is himself locked in Stage 1, anger emerges among the survivors. Shane's anger overwhelms him, he exists Denial, and lands firmly in Crazy. Rick's anger releases in small bursts that slowly remove his Denial and his humanity. The reason Season 2 was so mediocre, was because only Shane and Rick made the jump to Anger. Everyone else kept coping with denial in an endless loop.

In Season 3, at least through episode 1 and 2, "Seed" and "Sick" respectively, Rick is firmly in Bargaining mode (Stage 3) and the rest of the group wavers between that, Anger, and Depression. In "Seed" Rick leads the group in an efficient, steady attack and clearing of a prison, their new chosen home for strategic purposes. Rick is no longer denying that his situation with Lori, or that of the world, is something that can be fixed. Instead, he's willingly risking his life, and the lives of his people, to make the steps he sees necessary to reaching a safe place for Stage 5: Acceptance. Is he in Denial because he believes he can still keep them safe? No. Rick is running on instinct now. If something happens to someone, like Hershel, he's not thinking anymore, he's not weighing options, he's not hoping for the best. He's just making executive decisions, like leg removal. It's not about people anymore, it's about survival, or not, but it won't be about hope.

Rick's new mindset is even more evident in "Sick." He takes out two survivor prisoners, and while there's a moment when he appears to feel about it coming to this, he does it without negotiation. His mind is made up. The world is shit. Other people are shit. His only job is to make sure that as many of his people die of old age as possible. Beyond that, there is no bargaining. But Rick's not the only reason that The Walking Dead Season 3 is starting so well. He's not even the main reason. The key is in the writing. For most of "Seed," no one speaks. And "Sick" while more dialogue-heavy, is still light by Season 2 standards. Why's that important? Well, in a world when humanity is dwindling and dying out, language becomes a precious commodity. In a world when making noise can lead to your demise, language becomes a dangerous commodity. The bottom line is that no one needs to talk anymore. They all realize that they're not talking their way out of it. Language is a tool of peace. Communication is something we do daily because we're not fighting. In a world that's all fighting, there's no point in pleasantries, philosophizing, or expressing your dreams.

As Season 3 advances, the previews have already shown a world with more civilization and more conversation, but hopefully it will be as spare and careful as the words in these first episodes. I'll be back in two weeks with more. Go watch the show(s).

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Shameless Self-Promotion: The Devious Crump

Announcing, possibly the greatest mixed-media children's book available in digital formats for people of all ages created by me, Gas Lantern's Nate Ragolia: The Devious Crump is a picture story, told in stunning words and images. Originally finished in 2009 - 2010, this beautiful little tale is available now in iTunes, Nook Bookstore and Lulu.com for only $5.99. It tells of the titular Devious Crump, a squat, pointy little monster that hypnotizes people and animals to steal from them. He's a mischievous little bugger. All seems well and good in the Crump's friendless, thieving little world until the day he tries to steal flowers from Jean Elamoo and discovers that not only is she immune to his magic, swirling eyes, disguises and tricks, but she also hides a secret that could lead the Crump to his untimely demise. Oh what will become of that Devious Crump?

Normally, I'd shy away from writing about outside creative projects, but the Crump is something that I'm quite proud of, and hope to share with readers who love original, off-kilter art, and a cute, storybook-style narrative. I submit it for your digestion and hopeful approval. Check out some pages from the book below, and consider giving it a shot. Or, maybe just passing it along to a child-ful family near you. Thank you, and I promise I will never promote in this space again... until there's something new to promote. ;)

All words and images Copyright Nate Ragolia 2009 - 2012

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Why the Superhero Resurgence in Film and Culture has Everything to do with our Unstable World

In the last 10 years, beginning with Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, the U.S. cinema scene has thrived on reboots, redesigns, launches and adaptations of comic book superhero stories. Batman Begins reimagined the Batman franchise, and via Christopher Nolan's genius, the Dark Knight Saga has completely altered the way that comic book movies are held in popular culture. These are no longer films for children, or for a fringe set of basement-dwelling, sun-allergic nerds, these are films for families, for dates, for everyone in equal portion. Marvel's Iron Man came out in 2008. There were two Maguire Spider-Man sequels. Then Thor, Captain America, and this Summer's phenomenal The Avengers. There were three Incredible Hulks, a pair of Fantastic Four flops, Green Lantern, Daredevil, Elektra, and an abysmal Catwoman. Oh, and Punisher, Ghost Rider, and all those X-Men films, et al. All in all, this decade of superhero films has been 50/50, as any group of similar films will be considering the issue of true directorial talent. In 10 years, there have been nearly 30 superhero movies released, a substantial spike.

Of course, part of the interest is the age of the viewing audience. More people who attend movies, and are willing to pay theatre prices are in their late-20s, 30s and 40s, and grew up with comic books as a standard personal entertainment staple. There's also technology available now to make comic book special effects possible, without relying on animation alone, or on the hokey cut-and-paste overlays of the '70s and '80s. But these factors aside, superhero cinema is actually just a stand-in for the traditional action flick. Like Rambo and Die Hard and Lethal Weapon before them (all products of the mystery and fear of the Cold War), these superhero films exist as a sort of adventurous safety blanket for an America that remains unsure about itself, its future and role in the world.

Since 2001, this country has become less and less sure of itself. The world is different. The globe is different. But, superheroes represent a constant, simple, wonderful struggle: Good vs. Evil. While we cannot get clear answers about who the good guys and bad guys are in our real world, we can escape to a place where those answers are clear cut, appropriately costumed, and scored and lit for effect. Even a complex character like Batman provides us with no real question as to who is good and who is bad. We might question motivations for those actions, but the side to root for is clear. Spider-Man makes that even easier, with a cartoonier, softer hand. And then when we arrive to an epic like The Avengers, well we just love the exhilaration of knowing that no matter how bad shit gets in the fictional world, a band of good guys with the answers will clean it up and everything will be fine.

Captain America with its self-aware patriotism drove that very point home, though I don't know how deeply it resonated with all audiences. When our backs are up against the wall, either literally, or just philosophically, we need a hero, and we love to imagine that there's a magical Answer-Man out there who will look, smirk, and charge head-long into our problems. We know, at our core, that there is no easy answer. That scares the shit out of us. The idea that problems are so complex that no one person could solve them, even with superpowers, is a devastating one, but it's the truth. Superheroes are our national answer to the complexities of international relations. We should be able to look forward to years of reboots and rewrites and relaunches. There will be another Flash, and 100 more Wolverine movies, ending with Hugh Jackman shuffling in robe and slippers, Admantium claws at the ready, down the mutant nursing home hallway, and I look forward to it. In a scary world, the best gift we can make ourselves is the gift of joy.

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Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits

If you were as sad as I was to hear that Wolf Parade was no more AND if you were devastated with the Meh and Blah natures of Spoon's Transference, then I have a delicious vial of snake oil that will cure what ails you and turn your privates into your own personal ideal. (Hey we don't make judgements as to what privates are the best privates around here.) Divine Fits! This new super-group, at least in indie circles, features Britt Daniel, icon voice of Spoon, Dan Boeckner formerly of Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs, and Sam Brown drummer of the New Bomb Turks. The result is an album A Thing Called Divine Fits that perfectly walks the line between Spoon and Wolf Parade. Both Daniel and Boeckner hit the mic. And both the syncopated, ratcheting quality of Spoon and the dissonant, rumbling, scratching guitars of Wolf Parade live in harmony.

"My Love Is Real" is incredible and "What Gets You Alone" washes with feedback while marching at high speed. "Would That Not Be Nice" hearkens back to Girls Can Tell. The chaotic, synthy "The Salton Sea" may not be instantly pleasurable, but infuses each writer's weirder leanings. Not the best track on the album, but as a centerpiece, it breaks the album up well. "Baby Get Worse" channels Apologies to the Queen Mary. It's really fucking good. Like, dampen your previously mentioned perfect privates good. And both gents sing on it. The acoustic "Civilian Stripes" is another beautiful anthem, potent and thoughtful in its lyrics, but even more poignant in its simplicity and clarity.

A Thing Called Divine Fits brings two unique, instantly identifiable, and brilliant singer/band leaders together. The result is a complete, quality and instantly lovable album. The side-effects include some phenomenal harmonies between two notably strange singing voices, and a healthy dose of straight rock that works well with strange, experimental, elaborate arrangements and odd instrumentations. All this fancy talk really just goes back to what was noted previously. This album is so good it will dampen your private parts, priming them for the ultimate pleasure. And it's music to your ears too. (The album streams below. Listen to it. Wait. Listen. To. It. Thank you.)

- Nate Ragolia

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On Stage: The Book of Mormon

That's right, yesterday, due to the civil and delightful sharing of my buddy Chris, I saw The Book of Mormon, live on stage in Denver's little Broadway, the DCPA. I entered this show with high expectations, largely fueled by the generally exceptionally high opinion of the show shared by reviewers and fellow viewers. I was only partially, like less than partially cloudy, more like scarcely, disappointed. The performance, which hits all the usual South Park marks of swearing, satire, well-meaning-but-misguided-people-doing-something-absurd-and-offensive, and careful jokes about AIDS, is enjoyable throughout, and/but, it also fills a traditional musical role easily and somewhat un-daringly. It is limited by its medium, and by the stage and time-constraints, but The Book of Mormon doesn't challenge "the musical" the way one might expect from Trey Parker and Matt Stone. In a season in which I've seen The Addams Family musical and Bring It On! the musical, The Book of Mormon doesn't feel radically different. It differentiates itself primarily on the dialogue and lyrics, but that's where the challenge seems most to end.

The songs are good, but not great, and the traditional musical style compositions/standards tone breaks only for two excellent scenes: The "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" which rocks out to show not only some hilarious contrasts in what Hell could be and the Hell Mormons conceive of, but also to demonstrate that an electric guitar solo is probably the most religiously threatening musical act man can create; and "Joseph Smith American Moses" wherein a play-within-the-play occurs (likening The Book of Mormon immediately to Hamlet) and the cast plays themselves playing themselves catering to a visiting Mormon leader. Otherwise, the songs are very traditionally "musical," which is by no means a bad thing, but considering Parker and Stone's history of bringing similar music to South Park, there was part of me that expected them to push it a little more, to be more clearly self-aware of singing, or the obvious narrative structure.

There's also some epic allusions to the nerdiest of pop culture references, especially well done because they make allusions to different (vague as not to spoil) behaviors themselves. The dreamy, voice-over fueled opening sequences that set the stage with a little historical information on Mormonism was great. They satirical challenge of missionary work, spreading religion to foreign lands, and racism were potent and well-created. But the play felt unbalanced, and perhaps this is just a complication with the medium that I'm now noticing, in that the first half was both more challenging to the standard form and slower in pace, while the second half was expeditious and less daring (aside, of course, from the "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream".) It's not laugh-all-the-time-until-you-cry-and-ejaculate funny, but it is exceptionally well done. As an introduction to Broadway and theater, it is palatable for all people familiar with, but not addicted to, South Park. Perhaps that means Parker and Stone's next play will push the limits further, as they've demonstrated with the show. If they do, the lines for that play will be longer and even more rabid.

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5 Songs About Abstinence

Music, by its nature a passionate performance of rhythm and vocalization often finds sex, as its subject matter, whether overtly or obliquely. For a bit of fun, I decided to try to find some songs about abstinence. Of course, as noted above, there's something absurd about creating a song about abstinence because music is an art form. Art has always been inspired by beauty, and one of the most direct, universal forms of human beauty lies in sex. Most of music is about coupling. Most musicals are about coupling. And while in many cases, the direct subject of sex may not come up, that doesn't mean that the allusion is there. So, let's look at 5 songs about the opposite of sex.

5 Songs About Abstinence

1. "Abstinence" by Temple of Venus - Actually a quality track by the British pseudo-prog-pop act. This song captures the feeling of thirst that abstinence likely creates, as well as the potentially connected depression. Slow, sullen vocals take their time with every lyric because, well, if you're already waiting on one thing, why rush the music too?
   
2. "Feu d'Abstinence" by Suarez - There are a surprising number of songs about abstinence by French acts. This one, another break up style track, is a classic bit of joyous, jangly propositioning. In breathy lines, Suarez's protagonist seeks to break down the abstinence wall between him and his love. It's pretty sharp, a sweet, childlike and honest request to "go all the way." It just sounds better because it's in French.
3. "Addicted to Abstinence" by Sodom - The thrash/black metal German trio spends most of the song evoking the rending of viscera and the frailty of the body. In a harried two minutes plus, Sodom lists numerous other ways that one can be penetrated, violated, opened, split or spill fluids, sprinkling the title lyrics in as the chorus. For Sodom, it seems that an addiction to abstinence leads to homicidal, destructive tendencies. They could be right...
4. "Abstinence Redux" by Cindy Cornelsen - This comedic little bit takes direct charge at stories that kids at the Saddleback Church who began having anal sex to avoid losing their virginity to vaginal intercourse. The song never approaches a form of commentary, and it's not particularly funny, but the school-age sound and chipper Disney songbird-esque vocals add to the fun.
5. "Abstinence" by Talein - This is the Winner Winner Chicken Dinner find of my search. Evangelical Christian R&B artist Talein doesn't even bother to tell a story about what having sex could do to a child. Oh no, instead, she goes straight at it with a clinical gym-teacher-awkwardly-saying-chlamydia inflection. After explaining what bad comes from sex, Talein turns the song into a bland one-sided argument that if you have sex you will have abandoned God, and that demons will inhabit your soul. It's beautifully alarmist and absurd. And it was released in 2010.

 And here they are in embedded form! Enjoy!

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Vices I Admire - 2012 Sampler

First, an apology is in order. I was out on a long whirlwind trip to see relatives, including my elderly (95) grandfather. Those trips always remind of a few things. Thing One: We do not choose our family, but we love them anyway. Thing Two: There's something valuable about the idea of living a long life, but I wonder how much we obsess over the idea when we're younger, forgetting that those people who have reached "long life" might not be as happy as we believe they should be. Thing Three: I have a very nice life of my own that is worth enjoying for every single second of it. In any case, I have been away from this space for a little while, focusing on the comic, but I will never let Gas Lantern go because the music means so much to me. Also, it has afforded me some great inside tracks to incredible bands like Vices I Admire.

With hints of The Killers, but with Hot Fuss lyrical coherence throughout, Vice I Admire is a hidden gem. To boot, they're from Denver, my incredible home city. In short, this band fucking kills at everything. In a song like "Sweetest Girl" David Curtis's vocals growl while giving away a bit of vulnerability that makes the lusty narrative and Madonna/Whore complex story depth. Mickey Dollar on guitar shreds beautifully, angrily and sensually at once, and Dan Battenhouse's bass lines are hearty, driving, and leading. The drumming via Mark Towne, create a controlled chaos that's brain-rattling and energizing. This is driving music. This is also Queens of the Stone Age/Foo Fighters/so much more. "Kiss Kiss" sounds dangerous, but never lost of its pop sensibilities. Whispered backing vocals create a call-and-response that's haunting. The crawling guitars frighten and entice.

The band, according to their website, met at CSU up in Fort Collins, but this point, today in 2012 may well define them the most. They are Colorado's next big act. They just are. The music is refined and potent. These songs will stick in your head. They will make you move. They aren't cock rock, they aren't stadium rock, they are super-garage rock, vibrant and fiery. There are even shades of Prince in songs like "Heartbreaker." And the potent rattling march of "It Is" can give way to a more casual, softer feeling too. I hate to make broad declarations about music, but there's really no downside here. You'll find male confusion, sexuality, loss of self, rediscovery, powerful calls for revolution, and all of it with perfectly crafted melodies and arrangements. They get heavy and a little overwrought in places. "Poor Boy" felt a little too frantic, but amid the rest of the mix, it's not a failure, but a digression.

Holy shit. Listen to it here. Then think about offering Vices I Admire something and buying it.

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