Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Ecclesiastes 3:1
Has this been your experience as well? Has the summer of 2009 been a productive one
for you, creatively? Well, in that case I invite you to share the fruits of your imagination
with the rest of us here at RKYV ONLINE! You can post your creations on anyone of a
number of online sites [Facebook, Xanga, Bebo, Blogger, Google Groups] or you can e-
mail me directly and I will make sure your submission gets included in an upcoming
issue for everyone to enjoy.
This month we received some wonderful poetry from a variety of contributors; one short
story from regular columnist Larissa Gula and a second from yours truly that will be
published in a series of installments. We’re also happy to direct our readers to some
interesting and thought provoking columns from Jon Biermann & Brad Bellmore as well
as some entertaining reviews from Brad, Larissa and my lovely wife Pauline Paré.
Food columnist Christina Marchetti embarks on the 1st of a series of articles exploring
Japanese Cuisine, its culture and traditions. I don’t know about you, but mouth is
watering and my chopsticks are ready!
Many thanks, of course, to the continued support and participation of numerous artists
who are individually credited throughout this issue. I am awed by the visual inventions of
our contributors and inspired to try, in turn, to reach new heights of creativity myself.
r. j. pare
EIC RKYV ONLINE e-Zine
The Forgotten
By Jonathan Biermann
I sit there in my car, looking at this world around me. Then I see him. He is only
in his early forties. He has a full beard and ragged clothes. He is holding up a sign asking
for spare change or for some food.
Not far from him, always within sight, is a shopping cart filled with various items.
Every car passes him by. Every driver, every professional working man, every
mom and her kids and every single person who likes to think of themselves as religious
and pure… they all still pass him by. Either they are oblivious of him because their own
world is more important to them, or they just choose to ignore him.
Every once in a while someone will stop and toss him some spare change,
believing in their heart of hearts that they are making a difference.
Or is it just because everyone else is looking and they want to feel like they are
better than those around them?
They presume that these people choose this life; that they are lazy or addicted to
drugs; that they are not suitable to be a part of society. Many people feel that they deserve
the lives they have. Who are we to judge? Who are we to scorn? Who are we to look
down on them as less then human?
When all it takes is a bit of bad luck, a bad break or making one wrong choice in
life, and we too could very well be one of those who are the forgotten.
So think about that the next time you sit on your couch or work on your computer.
Consider it when you turn on your surround sound system and watch your big screen TV.
Wonder about it as you get in your fancy car or head off to your cabin by the beach.
The next time you toss a half-eaten sandwich out the window or can’t decide on
which fast food joint to stop at... think real hard on the life you have:
Then think on what it would be like if you lost it all. Do you think the world
would look at you with compassion or would the world just pass you by? When you see
the forgotten see them as yourself. Then treat them as you would wish to be treated:
• With respect.
• With dignity.
• With compassion.
Does yours?
My tribute to Batman issue 40 from 1946 © DC Comics – by Jonathan Biermann
Featured Artist Review
By r. j. paré
BIO: [by Elisa Féliz]: My name is Elisa Féliz. I'm 21 years
old. I'm a comic artist, web developer and designer. I was
born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, but I
currently live in New Jersey, where I attend the Joe Kubert
School of cartoon and graphic art. I published my first
comic strip in 1998, but my career started years before,
when I began to participate in several national and
international art contests at the age of 6. I started drawing
comic books as a self-trained artist in 2007 and have been
working as a penciller and a colorist.
I recently worked as one of the artists for the Villikon Chronicles Proclivity series by
Silent Nemesis Workshop, created by Bryan Kinnaird. The series precedes the film
"Villikon Chronicles: Genesis of Evil". I also did some digital illustrations for the film.
Some other comics I've worked on are "Dallas" (Based on the popular TV series),
"Intrepid", "Knight Reavers" and "RX Tales". I'm the creator of "Alice in
Nightmareland" and co-creator of "Intrepid".
I own a clothing line called Elliz Clothing www.ellizclothing.com and a huge network of
websites. I'll own a comic company soon, I'm still doing the registration. I started doing
web design and programming in 2003, and got engaged in a project for a Dominican
social network called "A Tu Nivel" in 2005. Not long after I worked as a CSS layout
designer for some UFO Film websites.
r. j. pare: Have you always known that you wanted to be or, rather, were an artist?
Elisa Féliz: Ever since I was born. I've been drawing for as long as I can remember. My
teachers referred to me as a child prodigy and convinced my parents to have me
participate in art contests. I couldn't say I had a normal childhood 'cause I was
interviewed for Newspapers and forced to be on TV... I hate being on TV. I didn't like the
attention but loved being part of the art world. I was never too interested in fine arts, I
wanted to do comic art. So I retired for a few years. I always said that I would move to
US someday and create comics. From an early age I felt like I was born in the wrong
place, 'cause we didn't have a comic industry in Santo Domingo.
rjp: Did you study or major in art while in
school?
rjp: Who was you biggest influence or source of encouragement, as a child, in pursuing art?
EF: It's hard to say 'cause I didn't really have much influence from artists while growing
up. I grew up in a place where I didn't really have access to comics. I knew comic art
though, but still didn't know any graphic artists to be influenced by. I was actually
encouraged to pursue art by a musician. But when it comes to comic art, I was only
influenced by what I understood as comic art style and by the animated shows I saw on
TV.
rjp: Do you use any special tools and techniques to create your art?
EF: Well... That would be Photoshop. For most of my work, I first draw in pencil, then
do the inking over and scan it to do the coloring in the computer. Sometimes I feel like
trying something different like Inkwash or digital painting.
EF: I'm usually inspired by art itself, it could be graphic art, it could be music... art in any
form. The work of other artists is always inspiring as long as it's something I can relate
to. It encourages me to get better and to try to reach the level of quality of their work.
rjp: How would you categorize your artistic style?
EF: I would describe my artwork as a mix of realistic and cartoony style. In most of the
cases I try to keep the main characteristics of comic book style and also try to stay away
from flat coloring and exaggerated proportions. It depends on what kind of story I'm
working on. For example, if I'm drawing comedy I always go for a most cartoony style
like when I'm working on comics like "Alice in Nightmareland". In that case I enjoyed
drawing goth style spooky toons. In other cases, when I'm drawing comics like "Dallas",
I try to keep it realistic.
rjp: Would you say that there is a "message" or "unifying theme" in your work?
EF: Yes, I try to always keep a message in my work at least when I'm creating comics.
There's always some positive idea to interpret.
EF: I think, since the moment I broke into comics in US I've been influenced by the work
of great artists such as Mike Choi and Sonia Oback, Adam Hughes, Stanley Lau, Adriana
Melo, Christina Strain and many others. Those are artist who have influenced my work
me and inspired me enormously. I think it's not just the beauty and the quality of their
work that has inspired me, it's also their passion and dedication.
rjp: If you could meet any living or dead artist, who would it be?
EF: I've met many of my favorites already, but one that I don't have the chance to meet
('Cause he's dead) is Walt Disney.
http://www.villikonchronicles.com/home.htm
EF: Well, there would be many questions to ask, but if I had to choose just one.... honestly... I
couldn't help myself from asking where his cryogenically frozen head is, really stored?
EF: I think it's funny, 'cause most of the people that I hear using the term, are people who think
that a career in art means you are going to be poor and unsuccessful. Exactly what my mom said
when I graduated from high school and told her that I was going to pursue a career in art no
matter what. And I strongly disagree with that. I know most of the richest and successful people
in the world are artists and their talent got them there but I understand the use of the term when
people refer to how hard and competitive it is starting in the business of art. But still most of the
people who are talented and try to have a career as an artist become successful in it. Though I'm
not sure if that's the way it is in USA.
rjp: Do you feel more a sense of community with other artists or a sense of competition?
EF: A sense of community actually. I always loved meeting other artists and learning from them.
There are so many artists out there that I admire and whose work inspires me every single day. I
would describe the art community as a world apart where you, as an artist, fit in perfectly with
everyone. Like a place you belong to.
EF: I have my own website on the internet and I do a lot of networking online. I'm often asked
for interviews for the internet, magazines and newspapers and get mentions when people talk
about the projects I've been involved with. I don't have an agent or anything, it's like if I work
hard and in as many projects as I can, I get enough exposure and the attention comes easily
without me doing any effort to get it. I also give away business cards randomly when I meet
people who have heard about me and my work.
EF: Not really. I'm often inspired by the world that surrounds me, anything in it that has
an artistic value and that I can relate myself to. I get inspiration when i read a great comic
or when I watch a very well written movie or TV show... When I play videogames... I
feel encouraged to create something as cool as what I'm seeing.
EF: Full time. Sometimes I wish I had more spare time to do other things or to work on
my own projects, but I don't complain really. Just to think that all of my hobbies have
always been related to art.
rjp: Looking for cool, urban punk/skater-wear? Then look no further. With Elisa’s
line of custom clothes you can look the part of the young hipster of the half-pipe
regardless of whether you can actually do a kick-flip or just love the style for kicks.
Artist: Elisa Féliz
Title: Alice in Nightmareland
Media Used: Pencils & colouring done in
Photoshop
Size: 8.5” x 11”
Date Created: July 2008
http://www.comicspace.com/elisafeliz/comics.
php?action=gallery&comic_id=21401
EF: I loooove anything related to the film industry. I watch new movies all day. I was
also always interested in music and Skateboarding. I wanted to grow up and dedicate my
life to both, and never stop drawing, of course.
rjp: What advice would you have for a young artist starting out today?
EF: Yes, I'll be in the artist’s alley at the New York Anime Festival in September and I'll
be joining the X-con at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina as a guest in October.
rjp: How would you like your art, and by extension yourself, to be remembered?
EF: I don't think I've achieved enough yet for my work to be remembered, but I'd like to
think that throughout the years, my work will evolve and become something
recognizable. I never cared much about being remembered as an artist, honestly, but I
always wanted my stories and characters to be remembered.
rjp: This design demonstrates a fusion of the super-slick technical proficiency of the
commercial artist & the graffiti inspired aesthetic of the urban scrawler. I love all of the visual
representations of city life distractions & violence pulling at her in different directions… and
yet with headphones on… and the sweet-ass, solid kind – the sort that bring back 1970’s style
stereophonic dreams and not some impotent, EMO-tech buds…
Anyhow, with such headphones on & the tunes a-blaring - the world and all its troubles just
drifts away… ☺
[DC2 Fan-Fic Web Comic Cover] Nightwing # 31 – pencils and Inks by Steven
Howard; Colours by Jon Biermann – all characters © DC Comics
Poetry
Selected Poems
By Frances Nichols Vargas
The Glass
CROSSROADS
stop
and stare and though the time is racing by
then walk on by what stays the same is the sky
I'll dry
the rain its different every time I look
that fell from my eye moving faster than my book
and the sound of the plane roaring over my the plain, washed out light blue sky
head dries the rain that fell from my eye
reminds me its good to be alive not dead
and now I know that I never knew
but i just have to stop and wonder what it takes to be myself around you
why the sky is more alive with thunder
and screaming doesn’t make a difference
and then the lightning flashes down while the rain pours down the suns up high
although I’m safe upon the ground doing their dance down from the sky
but every time I hear that sound and the stone will wear with time
I wonder if they're coming down so I'll hold tight onto my mind
just this once and I'll never let it go
cause we weren’t ever don’t look now; you'll never know
good enough
cause what I think stop and stare
is gone in a blink walk on by
faster than the water rushing I'll dry the rain
down the sink that fell from my eye
and though I know
I'll never know in my own time
I have to wonder hesitate
how the sun blends its good enough
with the thunder I wont be late
Newt – by De Tourist
I promise this won't end
5 I promise we will always stay friends"
To a stranger!
I remember her.
Years is moving like a drifting wind carrying me to more cold nights ahead.
Untitled – by Engin Korkmaz
-CHANGE-
Five years have passed and yet I am still haunted by your memory.
I still look for the familiar contour of your face in the faces of the women I meet.
In conversations,
I look for you in the words that they utter
Hoping to hear you speak to me through the lips of another.
There is your shadow everywhere I look.
I see your eyes staring back at me in the eyes of the women who are strangers to me.
I hear your voice even in the nights
when I could have almost believed to have fallen asleep.
You still visit me in the middle of the nights.
The thoughts I have of you are still lucid and flowing
like life itself that keeps on going around in circles.
Repeating a never-ending cycle of loses.
I am faced by the dilemma of finally setting myself free from your memory.
For everywhere I look there you are.
Looking.
I am in doubt.
Whether if I can really free myself from this despair in losing that fight.
Maybe I struggled too much
that it only slipped through my hands further more.
Forever abandoning me.
Maybe I didn’t say the right words.
Maybe I am not good enough in keeping these things.
“Change”
Do you think one can still change
If the heart is still tied to the memories of the lost love?
Something
Untitled – by Josh Bowe
LIKE BONFIRES
Through chat on facebook, Bob let me know that the painting had been inspired by the
music of local recording artist he was friends with. Specifically a song called “Starfire”.
Well, of course, now I was hooked. Ever the fan of cross medium / mixed medium
inspiration and creativity, I had to hear this song!
I discovered the sounds of a skilled and mature musician. His work blends the
New Age-y trips of Moody Blues and Pink Floyd with an indie cred variation – less
‘wall of sound’ orchestration and more a concentration on the sounds of a smaller
ensemble. A good analogy to describe Rick’s sound would be if the aforementioned
bands were to perform an “unplugged” or small pub set… that should give you an idea.
BIO:
I enjoy working & collaborating with professional musicians & writers for radio and
film. I have expanded my writing to many more styles of music in the past 10 years. I
am inspired by good natured people who enjoy and share their voyage of life.
I am always shopping songs for radio and film industry and special events. At the
moment, I am looking for new management and agent support. Many styles and demos
ready for other artists and media to take on!
Inspired by the song ‘Starfire’ – by Bob Labute
Listen to Starfire & other songs by Rick Rock @:
http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/eyerock http://www.showcaseyourmusic.com/rickrock
STARFIRE
It's been such a long long day, away from you babe
I've been driving all night, crying in the rain
Dreaming of your eyes, and going insane
Dreaming of your eyes...
The neon lights, the highway rolls, marker signs and tolls.
I may go on forever, on this endless road
Searching for the memories, lost in your eyes
Searching for your heart...
Regretful rays of sunshine abandoned the earth they protected each day, as the tilt of the
planet dragged the light behind the community church. Little feet scrambled to run
indoors before their names were harshly called into echoing streets. Water ran from
faucets inside houses as the families rinsed away the taint of the night before supper. All
members of the community spoke an individual family prayer; their houses swiftly filled
with family chatter and the clatter of silverware.
Yet something was missing inside each set of the supposedly safe walls, a harmony to
complete the overall score of small town life - laughter.
Inside the community church itself, two children mechanically lifted half-filled spoons to
their soft lips as their grandmother spoke to them. The woman had clearly won in her
battle against Father Time. Her short body was lean; though she chose to conceal her
body beneath floating robes, she carried herself with the air of a woman trained in
powerful arts.
“There are many beings on this earth,” she told the children, carefully plaiting her silver
hair into a braid as she spoke. “Some are good. Some are evil. Some can be either. Now,
name some evil things for me.”
“Demons,” the boy whispered, dripping red liquid from his spoon. His light eyes, full of
fear and tension, contrasted with his greasy dark hair.
The woman nodded, a slow and reluctant twitch. The children were young, both under
the age of ten. There would be a day they found themselves wise enough for her to
explain herself thoroughly. Until they could understand, they had to believe what their
pastor taught them – whether the young man was correct or mislead himself.
“Mother,” a man called from a top floor. “If the kids are done, they need to come upstairs
to do their chores.”
The boy and girl groaned. The old woman smiled, her fingers finishing off the stiff braid.
“Ah, Grandma,” the girl protested. Under the stern gaze of their grandmother’s dark eyes,
they stood and kissed the woman’s pale cheek before stampeding away.
A younger lady came in to clear the table. “I always wonder about those two,” she
admitted with a glance at the stairs. “I wonder how they’ll grow...”
“They will be smart, like their mother,” the old woman confidently assured her daughter.
The woman shook her head and opened her mouth to wave off the compliment, only to
be interrupted by a ringing emergency bell. The sound clashed through closed windows,
demanding attention and arrogantly calling away any who would dare to silent it.
With a sigh, the grandmother stood up. “I feel my body protesting this more and more
every night,” she murmured quietly as she strolled out of the church.
Her daughter forced herself to pretend she had not heard the words the grandmother had
uttered. The grandmother had no successor, could not even think of aging when no one
stood ready to take the protector’s place.
***
Outside, the night had swiftly been clasped between the fingers of a deep chill. Ignoring
the icy blasts of a furious wind on her face, the old woman raised a cedar wood cross that
hung from her boney wrist.
“Demons of the night,” she growled to the wind. “Enough with this! Enough of the
crimes you commit in this community! Return to the place in Hell you belong!”
A shadowy hand reached from the darkness behind her. She couldn’t see it; she could
merely feel it, as well as the arctic grasp colder than the raging autumn winds.
The grandmother gasped as the arctic shadow wound itself around her body, a dark chain
made to cling and destroy by touch alone.
Desperately, the grandmother chanted, the rhythm of her voice interrupted by gulps of
air. But the arctic shadow did not weaken at the words of her ancestors. It tightened,
clamped around her waist and imprinting its numbing signature into her skin.
The bubble in the grandmother’s chest broke as she saw her pale skin beginning to
resemble radiant snow drifts. She struck the shadow with a blessed pointed tip of her
cross. The shadow did not react with more than a snarl over the wind.
‘Am I going to die?’ the grandmother asked herself within her struggle. Would the next
exorcist and protector in training have to take her place too soon, without proper training,
preparation – initiation?
The grandmother’s fading vision latched onto a shining movement of silver; the
shapeless, floating color slipped among the shadow, breaking the chain-formed darkness
into separate strands. The darkness was forced to release its grip, cracking apart with a
metallic growl. Along with the freedom of movement came the blessing of warmth, and
the return of color underneath the grandmother’s wrinkled epidermis.
The old woman surveyed her surroundings; both black chain and mysterious silver had
disappeared.
Her weak, trembling legs barely managed to support her frame as the relief bubble
replaced the panic one.
“Is anything truly evil?” she wondered aloud with a shaking voice, remembering the
friend she had made in the night twenty-some years ago. How in a stroke of compassion,
she had bandaged the arm of a demon in its human form.
He had been more charming than any she had found, asking for her love and receiving it
in a moment of blind abandonment.
He had also been easily influenced and swayed by her compassion. Never again had he
committed a crime that led her to exorcise him.
“And are the answers ever simple?” the grandmother asked the sky that had swallowed
her dark lover and the enemy he had battled.
She walked back towards the church that her job and tradition demanded she dwell in;
never mind her differences of opinion.
Her daughter stood waiting in the door frame. “Are you all right?” she asked.
“Yes,” snapped the aging woman, in a tight voice meant to strangle any who tried to
protest it.
“Mother...this is the third time you have been caught within the last few years. You never
had this problem before this decade. Perhaps...”
“No!” The grandmother smacked her hand into the wall as she caught her balance. “It’s
not the end of my time yet. I will not choose a successor to finish training yet!”
Inside her mind, away from the probing of her limited daughter, her thoughts did not
agree. It was her time, yes…yet…
‘I cannot let my friend fall victim to an exorcism by mistake. One day, I will die. Until
then, I will protect him as he protects me. I will find the way. I will convince the next
protector not all the demons are evil. Not all deserve to be locked back to the Hell they
sprouted from…
‘We like to think the world is so simple, under our control, when truly we have no power.
We only long for comfort, stability, and knowledge. Are even the facts we live by
reliable? And who am I, to judge these things?’
She had the answers to none of her questions; the claustrophobia of her attic room could
force her to ponder continuously, but never participated in the discussion.
A part of her knew she never would understand, no matter how extensive her pondering.
Despite her powers of exorcism, her gift to protect, she pondered as much as her relatives
just what humanity needed to be protected from.
That was her connection to all others – the pondering, the hesitancy to claim one evil was
greater than any other forms.
r. j. paré
Pre – Flop
“When the first two cards [hole cards] are dealt, face down.”
Croupier
“The opening round of betting in a hand of poker.”
Gambler
“That moment, when any outcome remains possible…
ya know, before it all goes to hell.”
Recovering Addict
I would like to start this tale with, “Once upon a time…” but that would be
misleading. For starters, it infers that the events in this story take place at a distance; that
they are the sort of troubles that only happen to “other” people. Nothing could be further
from the truth. This is a tale both fictional and brutally real. There is a truth, within the
prose, that transcends the bounds of fantasy making its lessons applicable to the flesh and
blood, non-fiction world.
But, don’t worry it’s not a preachy tale. You will find no Gideon Bibles hidden in
the bedside drawers and there won’t be anyone knocking on the door asking if you’ve
heard the Good Word. What you will find is an entertaining yarn [hopefully] about a man
and his…
Well, why don’t I just let the story speak for itself?
* * *
There once was a man from the city, let us call him Mr. Grey. That is not his real
name, of course, but who am I to argue with the likes of Tarantino. Besides, assigning
colours for names is as functional a form of pseudonym as any other.
Now one day, not so long ago, Mr. Grey got lucky. He met the perfect girl, Missy
White. I did explain the whole pseudonym thing, right? So, just go with it. Missy White
agreed to marry Mr. Grey even though he had no job and was voted “Most likely to
VEG” by his graduating class [a witty bunch, indeed]. But Missy saw that he had a good
heart and felt they could have a good life together. Love may indeed make the world go
‘round but frankly, it rarely makes any sort of rationale sense.
They both wanted kids and Missy had a good career… so they decided Mr. Grey
would play the role of home-maker, care-giver… Mr. Mom. There was some good
natured ribbing from friends and family but his Dad secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He
never really thought his lazy, day dreaming son would amount to much in the world of
business but maybe he would make someone a good wife… err… husband.
Now this would be a “nice” point to end our tale with “and the lived happily ever
after.” Mr. and Mrs. Grey grew old together and enjoyed the company of their
grandchildren in their golden years. That has a comforting ring to it, doesn’t it?
One day, while Missy was at work Mr. Grey was relaxing, after putting their
bouncing baby boy down for his afternoon nap. While surfing through channels
overloaded with daytime soaps and talk shows he tossed the remote onto the couch in
disgust.
“No way am I going to start watching ‘As the Stomach Churns.’” He says aloud,
chuckling at his own wit. “I may be the one staying at home but that don’t mean I gotta
act like some bored housewife!”
“Are you bored and looking for a little excitement? Have you heard of Poker
Mania.com? Sign up today and try your hand at Texas Hold ‘Em Poker. Our online
service has millions of registered players, it’s social, it’s fun and most of all it’s FREE!
Learn the exciting game of Texas Hold ‘Em poker from the comfort of your own home
and see if you’ve got what it takes to go ‘All In’ or to successfully bluff one of the many
pros who use our service.”
“I find Pandemonium Poker.com a great place to practice and chat with poker
aficionados around the world! I highly recommend this site, so sign up today!”
Mr. Grey got up from the couch, turned off the TV and walked over to the desk
top PC they kept in a nook between the kitchen and family room. He typed
pokermania.com into the address bar and quickly navigated through the colourful and
enticing instructions on how to play.
He was still playing, much later when the baby woke up. With reluctance he
logged off the site, got a spoon and cracked open a jar of Gerber’s.
Hi there folks,
2. Of note, the Japanese name for the country "Nippon" comes from the Chinese
"tai nyih pung kok" meaning "Great Sunrise Kingdom"
• 1 bag of store bought salad that has carrot, cabage and lettluce. Go ahead and add
some radish and cucumber to boot. No tomatoes though!!!
• Mix up your lettuce and add dressing to taste. Refrigerate. Now I am not one for
advertising things, but I will say this much, that is some good dressing and all for
about $2.50 to $3.00 a bottle.
Yakitori
• 1/2 cup cooking sake (yes • Mix all of the above ingrediants, bring to a
go to your oriental grocer boil. Remove from heat and let cool.
and by cooking sake, it is
fairly inexpensive) • Now take about 2 and 1/2 pounds of chicken
cut into cubes and skewer onto soaked
• 3/4 cup soy sauce. bamboo skewers or onto metal skewers.
• 1/4 cup mirin (sweet • Grill meat until half cooked and then brush
cooking wine, also found at with yakitori sauce. Finish cooking, but
your grocers) make sure it does not burn. Remember, the
sauce will carmalize with the heat due to the
• 2 tbsp sugar sugar content.
Tori No Mizudaki
• 4 cups of chicken stock • Trim the roots off the leeks along with loose green
tops. Cut into six inch pieces and slice length
• 11/2 tbsp soy sauce wise and wash out all the sand. Set aside.
• 1 tbsp mirin • Bring the stock to a boil and add the chicken.
Simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the rest of the
• salt and pepper to taste ingredients and simmer until leeks are tender.
• lime or lemon juice • Add lemon or lime to taste and serve in six bowls.
Garnish with peel.
NOTE: Mirin and cooking sake are present in just about every recipe I am going to send
out. You should just use a couple of tbsp at a time, so buy accordingly.
Tastefully yours,
Tina
DON'T start eating until everybody is DO dip your sushi in accompanying sauce
served. using fingers or chopsticks.
DO say "itadakimasu" (I will eat/drink) DON'T pick over your food with your
before the meal and "gochiso-sama chopsticks.
(everything was delicious) after the meal.
DON'T pick up a dish with the hand DO accept second helpings of rice or soup
holding your chopsticks. with both hands and place it on the table
before you before you start eating.
DO lift bowls of rice or soup toward you to DON'T spear your food with you
eat to eat. It helps prevent spillage. chopsticks.
DON'T use your chopsticks to shift dishes.
DO follow a morsel from a dish with a
DO slurp your noodles. mouthful of rice.
DON'T point with your chopsticks or wave DON'T leave your chopsticks standing
them in the air. vertically in the rice.
Ref: Asia the Beautiful Cookbook, HarperCollins, 1992; Japanese Cooking, Shunsuke
Fukushima, 2001; Yamasa Student Network, www.yamash.org ; Ethnic Foods.com
Piggyback – by De Tourist
Untitled – by Bob Labute
Pop Culture
Comic Book Review
By Brad Bellmore
Elemental Fources
The tale, written by Crisman Strunk, in this first issue focuses mostly on these heroes, the
Brotherhood’s attempt to prevent the rise of evil and the evil forces trying to destroy
humanity. There are a handful of small battles to give you ideas of powers and what the
war at hand looks like. This portion of the book feels a little rushed. I think they could
have drawn out some of the skirmishes to reveal a bit more about the characters and their
powers as well as enjoy the action a bit.
At the end of the issue, there is apparently an additional segment, focusing on police
investigating the residual damage of the battles that the Elemental Fources fought. The
dialogue here was surprisingly more crisp and alive than the rest of the book.
The basic story of these normal everyday cops trying to wrap their heads around what
people told them had happened offered a considerably more compelling story than the
focus story. Then again, how many more stories can there be about cops investigating the
supernatural?
At times, the art in this issue really shines, lending the look of standard mainstream stuff
on the shelves in your local comic store. At other times, it isn’t as sharp and feels more
like it would fit better in an underground drama than a supernatural thriller comic. John
Becaro and Ernest Jocson combined to deliver the art.
Overall, I wasn’t thrilled with this book. As I said, the afterthought at the end of the issue
was more interesting than the rest of the book. The front cover made me wonder if this
might be a bad knock off of the Fantastic Four, with very obvious parallels with the
heroes’ powers. They did some nice changes in terms of power to separate themselves
and the underlying idea for the supernatural side of things is nice too. However, I don’t
feel like this issue does anything to distance itself from other comics in any real way.
So, sadly because I really like to support independent work and would like this book to
be able to flourish, it’s not really worth the effort.
Editor’s Note: I tried this book myself and thought there were some parallels to
an old Comico Series called The Elementals and with good reason! After speaking to
Crisman at SPACE Con I discovered that early on in the creative process he had
looked into securing the rights to create a New Elementals series but was unable to
do so. That was part of how the idea for this book came about.
However, if you decide to give it a try, by the third issue Crisman’s writing really
begins to shine and the art, which for an indie is pretty cool to begin with, develops
greater consistency.
http://www.elementalfources.com/
The Anatomy of Hate
Film Review
By Brad Bellmore
The Anatomy of Hate is an intriguing film that looks at hate and the fear that drives it. Mike
Ramsdell documents situations in the USA and in Palestine and Iraq, trying to catalyze dialogue
about why things are as they are and offer some glimmers of hope in some rather bleak situations.
So far this film is not released into theaters but is instead enjoying some grass roots promotion
being screened and discussed by community and religious groups interested in pursuing
understanding. This is a tough film to watch at times but well worth it. I took some time to
connect with Mike about his film and why he made it.
Mike Ramsdell: I was just out of film school, looking for a project to start on when 9/11
happened. Being raised by a social studies teacher and a Lebanese woman (my parents) I knew
that the complexities of the situation were far more significant than “We're gonna go get the bad
guys.” It was clear a lot of people were going to die, and I wanted to understand what it was in us
Human beings that can make us as a creature, who I believe openly and honestly seek peace,
prosperity, and happiness - fail so miserably at these goals on a collective level.
BB: How did you track down the people you interviewed?
MR: Lots of different ways. In the white power movement it was a lot of e-mails, which were
responded to with - GO JUMP IN A LAKE. (not in those words mind you.) But then I got in
touch with Tom Metzger, who is a big leader in the movement, and he got me in places - one of
which is where I met Billy, who I focus on in the film. WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH - I
just called. They like having cameras around. US ARMY - Tons and tons of red tape. And the
middle east - just showed up with a camera and an interpreter.
MR: I told people my intentions, and most importantly spoke with them from a perspective of
understanding. They saw pretty quick I wasn't just looking for a sound bite.
BB: Were you ever scared?
MR: Yep.
BB: Did you have any trepidation interviewing the Aryans when you aren’t quite as Aryan?
MR: I did at first. I didn't put my interview with Shaun Walker, leader of the National Alliance in
the film. But pulling into that compound I had no idea what was going to greet me. When it was
a guy in a flannel shirt with his dogs, I relaxed a bit. A little to much, as I got a bit careless in
some other interviews.
BB: In the cross burning scene, they were singing “Amazing Grace”; was there any sense that
they understood the story behind that hymn, that John Newton (the author of the song) was a
repentant slave trader?
MR: You must understand that people with this type of ideology are people to whom history was
written by the enemy, and only they know the real truth.
BB: Did you find yourself in disagreement with people you interviewed?
MR: On a personal level of course. But that was never my intention. No one cares what Mike
Ramsdell thinks - and making a 2 hour film about what I thought of these people and their
opinions would be worthless. So my only intention was to understand. I would question them on
inconsistencies and such, but only with the objective to better understand.
MR: As long as they weren't doing physical harm to another, not hard at all.
BB: Did you find yourself having compassion for some of these people even though you disagree
with them?
MR: Lots and lots of it. I don't believe in evil, or evil people. We are all just struggling to fill the
missing piece of the human experience. Once we understand that, the "evil" comes off and the
situation becomes so very human. Which makes it all the more sad, and hopeful. If it's just
humans doing this - then humans can also un-do all of this.
BB: How did you find the people that had more hope for the future?
MR: Luckily, they are just out there. Unfortunately, they don't get as much press.
MR: By my last week in Israel I was so depressed I wanted to go home and never think about this
stuff again. Then I met Elik and Bassam. (Combatants for Peace) Then the kids at Hand and
Hand. It was a complete refueling in my faith and
hope and a new inspiration to get the film made.
MR: A shift in the collective needle toward a more unified society through Understanding, hope,
and action. Nothing can change without UNDERSTANDING, not will change without HOPE,
nothing does change without ACTION.
BB: How have you been promoting you film? Do you have a distributor yet?
MR: We've actually had lots of offers for distribution, (which is awesome!) but we are holding
off on that, because we think that the grass roots push of our film is the most interesting thing we
can be doing right now,
BB: What contest and festival presence have you had so far?
MR: We're still pretty new into the festivals, but we've played Boston international FF, won Best
Political Doc. at Philadelphia Independent FF, will be playing at the Atlanta Doc. Fest on August
29, and the Cinema City Film Festival on Sept 12.
BB: Your website lists a mosque that withdraws from a discussion. Why was that?
MR: They felt that the film didn't accurately speak to the plight of the Palestinian People.
MR: I've certainly been told my film is biased one way or another. Interestingly enough - this
mostly comes from either Arabs or Jews. There is so much pain and emotion around that topic
that even way over here in Michigan I get a lot of very poignant and aggressive comments about
my handling of this situation. Although there are lots of very supportive comments as well.
Someone once told me, if you ask 2 people about the situation in the middle east you will get 3
opinions. That seems pretty accurate.
BB: Who has been most open to screening and discussing your film?
MR: Right now we are doing some fantastic screenings, bringing together members of the Gay
and Christian communities within different cities and towns - to screen the film and then dialogue
about how they can find ways to build a more unifying relationship. We're going to use this
model with in the Jewish and Arab communities as well, and hopefully in any way that we can
bring 2 disparate groups together.
MR: On the website ( http://dev.anatomyofhate.com/ ) there is a contact tab. In there you can let
me know about any screening you want to do, and we'll make it happen.
MR: Truth.
MR: Truth, and all those who have sought it, seek it, or have found it....and Francis Ford
Coppola.
BB: Are there any works that influenced your work on this project?
MR: Rush Dozier's WHY WE HATE and Ernest Becker's DENIAL OF DEATH were the 2
literary works that most influenced the final shape of the film - and Peter Davis's phenomenal
documentary HEARTS AND MINDS.
Film review
By Larissa Gula
http://trolleygirl13.blogspot.com/2009/08/district-9-film-review.html
***
***
“But the most fascinating aspect to watch might not be the characters and
instead might be the ability to create a clash between two societies and
cultures, a clash perhaps not very different from a true event on Earth.”
***
“Perhaps as audiences watch District 9 they too will see the parallels
between our real history and this action packed alternative story.”
To read the full review please visit Larissa’s Blog!
Raised on Saturday morning
cartoons
By Pauline Paré
If you have never heard the premise of the series I suggest you check out
http://beta.abc.go.cpm/shows/v . It will be premiering November 3rd.
There are only a handful of new series that I might check out this year. Flash Forward
appears to be the most hyped series and it looks like a Stephen King novel come to life.
Everyone on earth gets a vision of their own future. What will they do with this
knowledge? The forgotten looked forgettable until the network replaced the lead with
Christian Slater. He and his team will be looking into closed cases and hopefully solving
some of them. Boring premise but with Christian Slater, I will be watching.
Enjoy the new 2009-2010 television season, my fellow couch potatoes. The summer
of television drought is nearly over!