new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: caption, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 18 of 18
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: caption in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
By: ChloeF,
on 12/14/2012
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
photo,
Sociology,
images,
image,
Current Affairs,
controversy,
death,
Media,
government,
protest,
circulation,
photograph,
dying,
VSI,
demonstration,
conspiracy,
very short Introductions,
caption,
Iran,
martyrdom,
reprint,
neda,
demonstrations,
mistake,
hate mail,
*Featured,
martyrs,
Law & Politics,
Tehran,
VSIs,
inaccuracy,
Jolyon Mitchell,
martyr,
Neda Agha-Soltan,
agha,
soltani,
soltan,
protestor,
Add a tag
Jolyon Mitchell
A protestor holds a picture of a blood spattered Neda Agha-Soltan and another of a woman, Neda Soltani, who was widely misidentified as Neda Agha-Soltan.
It was agonizing, just a few weeks before publication of Martyrdom: A Very Short Introduction, to discover that there was a minor mistake in one of the captions. Especially frustrating, as it was too late to make the necessary correction to the first print run, though it will be repaired when the book is reprinted. New research had revealed the original mistake. The inaccuracy we had been given had circulated the web and had been published by numerous press agencies and journalists too. What precisely was wrong?
To answer this question it is necessary to go back to Iran. During one of the demonstrations in Tehran following the contested re-election of President Ahmadinejad in 2009, a young woman (Neda Agha-Soltan) stepped out of the car for some fresh air. A few moments later she was shot. As she lay on the ground dying her last moments were captured on film. These graphic pictures were then posted online. Within a few days these images had gone global. Soon demonstrators were using her blood-spattered face on posters protesting against the Iranian regime. Even though she had not intended to be a martyr, her death was turned into a martyrdom in Iran and around the world.
Many reports also placed another photo, purportedly of her looking healthy and flourishing, alongside the one of her bloodied face. It turns out that this was not actually her face but an image taken from the Facebook page of another Iranian with a similar name, Neda Soltani. This woman is still alive, but being incorrectly identified as the martyr has radically changed her life. She later described on BBC World Service (Outlook, 2 October 2012) and on BBC Radio 4 (Woman’s Hour, 22 October 2012) how she received hate mail and pressure from the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence to support the claim that the other Neda was never killed. The visual error made it almost impossible for Soltani to stay in her home country. She fled Iran and was recently granted asylum in Germany. Neda Soltani has even written a book, entitled My Stolen Face, about her experience of being mistaken for a martyr.
The caption should therefore read something like: ‘A protestor holds a picture of a blood spattered Neda Agha-Soltan and another of a woman, Neda Soltani, who was widely misidentified as Neda Agha-Soltan.’ This mistake underlines how significant the role is of those who are left behind after a death. Martyrs are made. They are rarely, if ever, born. Communities remember, preserve, and elaborate upon fatal stories, sometimes turning them into martyrdoms. Neda’s actual death was commonly contested. Some members of the Iranian government described it as the result of a foreign conspiracy, while many others saw her as an innocent martyr. For these protestors she represents the tip of an iceberg of individuals who have recently lost their lives, their freedom, or their relatives in Iran. As such her death became the symbol of a wider protest movement.
This was also the case in several North African countries during the so-called Arab Spring. In Tunisia, in Algeria, and in Egypt the death of an individual was put to use soon after their passing. This is by no means a new phenomenon. Ancient, medieval, and early modern martyrdom stories are still retold, even if they were not captured on film. Tales of martyrdom have been regularly reiterated and amplified through a wide range of media. Woodcuts of martyrdoms from the sixteenth century, gruesome paintings from the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, photographs of executions from the nineteenth century, and fictional or documentary films from the twentieth century all contribute to the making of martyrs. Inevitably, martyrdom stories are elaborated upon. Like a shipwreck at the bottom of the ocean, they collect barnacles of additional detail. These details may be rooted in history,unintentional mistakes, or simply fictional leaps of the imagination. There is an ongoing debate, for example, around Neda’s life and death. Was she a protestor? How old was she when she died? Who killed her? Was she a martyr?
Martyrdoms commonly attract controversy. One person’s ‘martyr’ is another person’s ‘accidental death’ or ‘suicide bomber’ or ‘terrorist’. One community’s ‘heroic saint’ who died a martyr’s death is another’s ‘pseudo-martyr’ who wasted their life for a false set of beliefs. Martyrs can become the subject of political debate as well as religious devotion. The remains of a well-known martyr can be viewed as holy or in some way sacred. At least one Russian czar, two English kings, and a French monarch have all been described after their death as martyrs.
Neda was neither royalty nor politician. She had a relatively ordinary life, but an extraordinary death. Neda is like so many other individuals who are turned into martyrs: it is by their demise that they are often remembered. In this way even the most ordinary individual can become a martyr to the living after their deaths. Preserving their memory becomes a communal practice, taking place on canvas, in stone, and most recently online. Interpretations, elaborations, and mistakes commonly cluster around martyrdom narratives. These memories can be used both to incite violence and to promote peace. How martyrs are made, remembered, and then used remains the responsibility of the living.
Jolyon Mitchell is Professor of Communications, Arts and Religion, Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues (CTPI) and Deputy Director of the Institute for the Advanced Study in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh. He is author and editor of a wide range of books including most recently: Promoting Peace, Inciting Violence: The Role of Religion and Media (2012); and Martyrdom: A Very Short Introduction (2012).
The Very Short Introductions (VSI) series combines a small format with authoritative analysis and big ideas for hundreds of topic areas. Written by our expert authors, these books can change the way you think about the things that interest you and are the perfect introduction to subjects you previously knew nothing about. Grow your knowledge with OUPblog and the VSI series every Friday!
Subscribe to the OUPblog via email or RSS.
Subscribe to only VSI articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS.
Subscribe to only articles on law and politics on the OUPblog via email or RSS.
Image credit: A protestor holds a picture of a blood spattered Neda Agha-Soltan and another of a woman, Neda Soltani, who was widely misidentified as Neda Agha-Soltan, used in full page context of p.49, Martyrdom: A Very Short Introduction, by Jolyon Mitchell. Image courtesy of Getty Images.
The post Making and mistaking martyrs appeared first on OUPblog.
A few days ago, I posted a caption challenge on my Facebook wall. Lots of great suggestions, and I ended picking Paul Carroll's caption. :-)
Doing some housecleaning of my archived images and came across this one. Caption suggestions, anyone?
By: Lauren,
on 9/19/2011
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Education,
World,
Anthropology,
This Day in History,
Europe,
caption,
mummy,
shoulder,
*Featured,
higher education,
Images & Slideshows,
Classics & Archaeology,
alps,
otzi,
this day in world history,
mummified,
attachment_18424,
Ötzi’s,
arrowhead,
Add a tag
This Day in World History - While hiking through the Alps on the Italian-Austrian border, Erika and Helmut Simon, a German couple, spotted a brown shape in a watery gully below them. Scrambling down to investigate, they realized that they were looking at a human head and shoulder. Assuming the body was a climber who had been killed in a fall, they reported their find to authorities. The body was removed with a jackhammer and tourists made off with some of its clothing and the tools that were found with it.
By: Michelle,
on 2/24/2011
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
*Featured,
Theater & Dance,
Indiana,
budget,
concert,
caption,
Frank Gehry,
Carmel,
attractions,
Naked City,
Sharon Zukin,
Guggenheim Bilbao effect,
McGuggenization,
Palladium,
Current Events,
Geography,
Architecture,
Add a tag
By Michelle Rafferty
When my friend sent me a link with the subject line: Carmel in WSJ! I clicked with trepidation. The last time my hometown made national news it involved a sodomy hazing incident and the high school basketball team. Phew. This time, it was only about a local dispute over an expensive new piece of suburban architecture:
Photo by Melissa Rafferty
This is the Palladium, a $126 million concert hall, whose controversial price tag is heating up this spring’s mayoral election. My first thought was: why, when Indianapolis theater and concert venues reside a mere 20 minutes south, did Carmel do this?* I asked our resident city expert Sharon Zukin for her opinion on the matter and she wrote:
…so Carmel, Indiana, has entered the global sweepstakes of destination culture!…every city copies every bigger, more famous, more glamorous city to build cultural attractions in the hope of attracting tourists and (hope against hope) They hire starchitects (usually Frank Gehry but in this case…the long-dead Andrea Palladio!) to design flagship buildings that will get media attention (the Guggenheim Bilbao effect). They sign up for the Cow Parade (see the website) if they have a low budget and for “The Gates” (Christo in Central Park, 2008) if they have a big budget and for the Olympics if they have a huge budget. All of which puts them on a treadmill of cultural competition.
And the ironic thing is that the more cities compete, trying to differentiate themselves with “cultural attractions,” the more alike they become. As Zukin also told me:
…so many cities do the same thing that they ALL wind up building the same kind of attraction, so the uniqueness of any of these attractions is submerged in the wave of same-old same-old spectacles; the resulting standardization is called, thanks to the geographer Donald McNeil, McGuggenization.
Think of the Guggenheims, Times Squares, MOMA’s, and MOCA’s across the world. That’s McGuggenization. And your city could be next!
*In the Palladium’s defense, I spoke with my mom and she happened to like the center (they offered a free concert for the grand opening). And she didn’t have much sympathy for the outcry about a potential raise in taxes due to Palladium expenses. Turns out Carmel has one of the cheapest tax brackets in the area, meaning the residents have gotten a lot of bang for their buck over their years. Like a brand new Arts & Design District. Safer roads. And Waterslides.
By: Lauren,
on 2/17/2011
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Politics,
Current Events,
Middle East,
lesley,
Egypt,
caption,
Revolution,
cairo,
*Featured,
american university in cairo,
Neil Hewison,
Tahrir Square,
tahrir,
lesley lababidi,
lababidi,
fgw_zfllvh8,
leaving—sweeping,
Add a tag
When the demonstrations began in Cairo, communication with the staff at our newest distribution partner, American University in Cairo Press was immediately disrupted. AUCP editorial director Neil Hewison has been sending dispatches to update us on events and the state of the Press itself – which is situated close to Tahrir Square. We continue to wish our colleagues in Cairo well, and hope to continue receiving periodic updates. You can read Neil’s previous accounts here and here.
Photo by Lesley Lababidi
The mood of celebration in Egypt after the resignation of the president is uncontainable. Egyptians know there are unanswered questions and uncertain times ahead, and the country’s woes have not been wiped out overnight, but they have achieved something that a few weeks ago was unthinkable, and they are proud not just of that achievement but of the way they did it: The 25 January Revolution, as it is being called here (from the date of the first protests), has been an incredibly impressive peaceful mass movement (sometimes confronted with sickening violence) of young and old, men and women, rich and poor, whole families, all out there day after day in Tahrir, a name now as familiar to the world as Tianenmen (though with happier connotations). The indomitable spirit of the people, cowed for thirty years by a coarse and brutal dictatorship, was humbling. The scenes of the protesters cleaning the square before leaving—sweeping up, clearing garbage, repainting fences and curbstones, washing graffiti off tanks and walls—were the sign of not just a new-found voice but a new-found pride and determination to clean up the country both literally and metaphorically.
One of our authors, Lesley Lababidi, posted this great collection of photographs on Picasa, which give a good idea of the message and the spirit.
And how’s this for a great song of the revolution? (Click on the cc button for English subtitles.)
Click here to view the embedded video.
In the meantime, we’re putting our vandalized offices that overlook Tahrir Square to rights and are very happy to be back at work since Wednesday, with great plans for a whole range of new books on the new Egypt that aim to reflect and catch up with the spirit of this extraordinarily intelligent, creative, pacifist, determined, patient, total people’s Revolution.
0 Comments on
The View from Cairo: Dispatch 3 as of 1/1/1900
By: Lauren,
on 2/4/2011
Blog:
OUPblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Politics,
Middle East,
Egypt,
caption,
Revolution,
ciaro,
riots,
placards,
cairo,
mubarak,
american university in cairo,
Neil Hewison,
Tahrir Square,
tahrir,
aucp,
protesters,
square,
Current Events,
*Featured,
Add a tag
When the demonstrations began in Cairo last week, communication with the staff at our newest distribution partner, American University in Cairo Press was immediately disrupted. As most of our readers know, the Egyptian government suspended internet and cell phone service in Cairo, and the only way the AUCP representative in New York could contact the home office was via a spotty land line connection. Fortunately, we’ve since learned that all AUCP staff are safe and sound, and communication has improved somewhat in recent days. But as you’ll see from AUCP editorial director Neil Hewison’s harrowing account below, the Press itself – which is situated close to Tahrir Square – was directly affected by the unrest. We continue to wish our colleagues in Cairo well, and hope to have periodic updates from Neil in the days ahead.
We are all fine. Many dramatic events over the last few days. Particularly disturbing was the battle for the Interior Ministry just up the road from my house, which went on for eight hours on Saturday: we heard and watched the police firing tear gas and live fire (including automatic weapons) and the protesters ducking into back alleys to make and throw Molotov cocktails. Also very disturbing the violent clashes that are happening right now on Tahrir Square, while the army stand and watch.
Feb. 2 - A crowd of 2 million at Tahrir Square (Credit: Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
I’ve been out each morning since Sunday, seen the destruction, the tanks on the streets, the neighborhood watch groups armed with sticks and knives, the civilians directing traffic rather more efficiently than the police ever did, and the protesters in Tahrir Square of all social hues, well organized, with their own food, drink, garbage, and security services in place, and with some very imaginative, witty placards: “Just go! My arms ache!” – held up by a 10-year old boy, “Talk to him in Hebrew, he might understand.” One man cradled a cat that carried its own mini-placard in English: “No Mubarak.” Another man sported a banner with the crescent and the cross and the simple statement “I am Egyptian.” They renamed the square Martyrs’ Square and painted the name in giant letters on the tarmac for the constantly circling helicopter to see. They set up a display of placards discarded as people went home at night, all set out on the pavement under the sign “Revolution Museum.”
via @muslimerican
Our AUC Press offices were trashed on Friday. The police had broken into the AUC to use the roof of our wing to fire on protesters at the junction of Sheikh Rihan and Qasr al-Aini (we found empty CS canisters and shotgun cartridges up there). And persons unknown ransacked our rooms. Drawers and files emptied, windows broken, cupboards and computers smashed. But it could have been much worse. Meanwhile, the violence may get worse before it gets better.
I’m well stocked with food and water, and there’s a good gang of neighborhood lads downstairs with makeshift weapons to keep our b
This weekend I had a fabulous time in Oxford at Caption comics festival! But first, a word from The Fleece Station (...look, my desk!):
My fab studio mate, Ellen Lindner has been busy putting together an anthology with comics by Ellen, me and a whole bunch of great UK-based comics folk, including Francesca Cassavetti, Tanya Meditzky, Cliodhna Lyons and a whole bunch others. But it needs your pre-orders to get off the ground! Watch the video, then visit this site for details!
Some faces I sketched at Caption:
Thanks to organiser Selina Lock (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
girlycomic) for this photo of me interviewing Darryl Cunningham about Psychiatric Tales, his new book with Blank Slate, soon to be published in the USA by Bloomsbury.
I find interviewing someone far more challenging than being interviewed (it involves more homework!) but I think it went well and Darryl sounded very pleased with it. Psychiatric Tales seems to be going down a storm with people who don't usually read comics, in various professions including medical, and I told him afterward that I see him as a real ambassador for us all, getting comics, and an appreciation of comics as a medium, out into the wider reading world.
One of the highlights of the weekend was getting to hang out with DFC buddy Neill Cameron, and I got to meet his wife, Di, and their son for the first time:
Unfortunately Kate Brown (Spider Moon) couldn't make at the last moment it since her partner Paul had to go to hospital (he's home now), but Neill and I realised this was the first of several times we may be doing talks together about our books and had a great time giving it a first run. We showed lots of pictures and talked about the DFC weekly magazine in its heyday, its recession-timed closure after issue 43, then about how the project couldn't die because of the way the DFC creators had become a living, supportive community. And for me, it couldn't die because Vern and Lettuce had become like members of my family, who were going to go on having adventures whether they were printed or not. Neill showed some amazing images from the makings of Mo-Bot High and talked about working with the editors to learn how to craft a high-quality storyline around his ideas and brilliant images.
Here's the second round of DFC Library books in order of publication: 2 Sept, 30 Sept and 28 Oct. (Forbidden Planet International have put them on their Most Wanted List of comics in the next three months.) David Fickling's printing 5,000 of each book and they have to sell for the series to continue. Loads of pub
Posted on 9/22/2009
Blog:
Time Machine, Three Trips: Where Would You Go?
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Life,
humour,
television,
cats,
wtf,
animals,
Humor,
Arts,
funny,
lolcats,
Laugh,
lol,
caption,
loldogs,
cat pics,
cat pix,
Closed captioning,
lolbuilder,
Add a tag
Flight of the Polar Bear
Image source
Smarter than the average bear, waiting for fur seals to emerge from under the ice takes too long so a new approach is called for. This enterprising polar bear seems to have discovered a new source of nom-noms if he can just figure out how to get to them!
Amazing Drinking Bird
Image source
The bird that never stops drinking. When I was a pre-teen I had a clear plastic bird that drank from a cup of water. You wet its beak and position it in front of a cup of water, and it did the rest. Science-theme toy shops had these. The colored water (which contains ether) would rise up the clear neck of the bird and cause it to tip forward and come into contact with the cup, as if drinking. The wetting of the beak caused the fluid to rise, tip over and the bird returned to the upright formal position to repeat itself endlessly. Because of the ether used inside of the glass bird (ether is flammable) these are not considered toys but are science tools. It is like a relative humidity indicator.
Monkeys Have Feelings Too
Image source
These monkeys are taking a nap or maybe a break from each other. This image looks rather sad but I’m sure it’s just our human platitude telling us wrongly.
R2-Kitty Sez to Luke “Replay Message? What Message?”
Image source
“Help us Obi-Wan! You’re our last hope!” This cat looks a little like R2-D2 android from Star Wars. This would make a kewl Halloween costume even if it isn’t very comfortable to wear.
She’s Dating Who?
Image source
This reminds me of lyrics from the Joe Jackson song “Is she really going out with him?” The lyrics continue with “…for if my eyes don’t deceive me there’s something going wrong around here!” The Joe Jackson song came out in Sept. 1978 and was the feature track on the album called “Look sharp!” which debuted the following year.
Swedish pop star duo “Roxette” breakthrough album also named “Look Sharp!” which came out in June of 1988 but that was a coincidence of naming the albums.
Evil Trees in the Park
Image source
Have you ever felt that some trees are evil? This one I have no doubt about it.
What are You Going to Dress-up as for Halloween?
Image source
I have friends that dress-up their pets for Halloween. The most-oft seen costume for dogs is of course, a hot dog. Another favorite is a body suit with large dinosaur scales and plates along its spine and spiky tail. –It’s …Dogzilla! Run, – Dogzilla!
Just Washed Your Hare?
Image source
Washing one’s hair does this, it gets all poofy. Blow-drying just makes it worse. Rabbits can make a good pet but there are misconceptions about rabbits as pets. One is that they are low maintenance. This is not true; they require a certain amount of commitment and expense.
Did you know that rabbits can be litter-trained just like cats? They are in fact, better at being litter-trained than ferrets which I know first-hand, is a chore. Ferrets occasionally ‘forget’ to use the litter box.
Read about rabbit myths and decide for yourself.
Pets Must Wear a Collar But…
Image source
Poor kitteh! -Must wear collars.
Some larger cities in Canada like Edmonton, Alberta in an effort to prevent pet homelessness have mandated that cats must wear collars with a City-issued license tag or be permanently marked with a tattoo or microchip. Licensing is cheap, but having an unlicensed dog or cat can be a $250.00 fine so, get used to that collar, kitteh!
You Wanna Go for a Ride?
Image Source
This reminds me of a visit to my brother-in-law’s homestead in Missouri. I was on vacation and during the day while they were at work, I did yard work for them. Cutting firewood, burning leaves tree stumps, mulching their garden, etc. I was a filthy mess at the end of the day when they came home. I needed a shower and clean clothes, seriously.
My brother-in-law came down to the end of the yard where I was working and said ‘Hey, d’you want to go for a ride? We’ll go get some fast food.’ I had thought ‘Great! -McDonald’s Drive-thru and come home with it so yeah, I’ll go.’
I rinsed my hands and splashed my face with the garden hose and we all got in their car and, surprise! We drove for nearly two hours to Springfield, MO. to a very large Bass Pro store. I looked like a logger at the end of a workday… covered in dried mud, sweat, ashes and dirt on my shirt, holes in the knees of my pants, -it was embarrassing. Had I known I could have quick-showered and changed into something a little more acceptable for the public setting. But I should have known better because “Hey, you wanna go for a ride?” is a trick question with them and it is the same one they used on the family dog to get him into the car to go to the vet to be neutered!
Still, it’s Good to be the Pet
Image source
Our animal pets really have it good you have to admit. To be fed, cared for and protected.
Caption Everything!
Image source
Sometimes the funny does not have to be exclusively from animals, it comes from us.
Yesterday the animators upstairs came down to stick bits of paper onto a cad for our cafe owner (who had a family bereavement). We had fun making it, and it's a bit silly for a sympathy card, but we hoped it might help cheer her up. Jaine's the best; she's really the heart of our studio community and we're able to meet other people from the building because of her cafe.
Viviane has been introducing me to a bunch of educational folk songs, which have had Gary and me in hysterics. Here are some of the science songs.
And after her writeup of Oxford's Caption festival, I promised jinty I'd post a list of the books I mentioned in my talk about comics and picture book cross-overs. (A lot of these are cross-over books, but some of them I used to illustrate other points I was making about design and marketing issues.) I put way too much time into preparing the presentation, so I hope I'll get to use it again at some point. A bunch of people were asking about David Wiesner, so here's a link to his books; Besides The Three Pigs, I get a kick out of the surreal giant vegetables in his book June 29, 1999.
Maurice Sendak: In the Night Kitchen
Winsor McCay: Little Nemo in Slumberland
Gary Northfield: Derek the Sheep
Raina Telgemeiergoraina : The Baby-Sitters Club series
Ellen Lindner ellenlindner : Little Rock Nine
Kate Brown: Spider Moon, The DFC
Emma Vieceli emmav : Manga Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing
Simone Lia: Billy Bean’s Dream
Posy Simmonds: Lavender
Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean: The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish
Raymond Briggs: Gentleman Jim, The Snowman, Fungus the Bogeyman
Satoshi Kitamura: Comic Adventures of Boots; Me and my Cat
Viviane Schwarz: Shark & Lobster; There are Cats in this Book
Bob Graham: How to Heal a Broken Wing
Gregory Rogers: The Boy, the Bear, the Baron, the Bard
Mark Newgarden & Megan Montague Cash: Bow-Wow Bugs a Bug
Mo Willems: Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!
Anne Cottringer & Alex T. Smith: Eliot Jones, Midnight Superhero
Mini Grey: Traction Man is Here; Biscuit Bear
Fiona McDonald & David Antram: Avoid becoming an Aztec Sacrifice!
Marcia Williams: My Secret War Diary by Flossie Albright
David McKee: Mr Benn Gladiator
Allan Ahlberg & Faith Jaques: Mr Tick the Teacher
Sara Midda: Growing Up and Other Vices
David Schiller & Marc Rosenthal: The Runaway Beard
Joyce Dunbar & Russell Ayto: Baby Bird
Ian Whybrow & Russell Ayto: Where’s Tim’s Ted?
Andy Cutbill & Russell Ayto: The Cow that Laid an Egg
Lauren Child: My Uncle is a Hunkle says Clarice Bean
Delphine Durand: Ma Maison/My House
Les Chats Pelés: Long Live Music!
Lane Smith: Pinocchio, the Boy
Oliver Jeffers: The Incredible Book Eating Boy
Beatrice Masini & Anna Laura Cantone: The Wedding Dress Mess
Shaun Tan: The Lost Thing; The Arrival
Jonny Hannah: Hot Jazz Special
David Almond & Dave McKean: The Savage
Philip Pullman & Patrice Aggs: Count Karlstein
Susan Schade & Jon Buller: The Fog Mound: Travels of Thelonious
Anders Brundin & Joanna Rubin Dranger: Dudley the Daydreamer
Stina Langlo Ørdal: Princess Aasta
Sara Fanelli: Dear Diary
Sylvia van Ommen: Sweets
Edward Gorey: The Gashlycrumb Tinies
Nick Sharratt: Ketchup on Your Cornflakes?; You Choose
David Wiesner: The Three Pigs
Barbara Lehman: The Red Book
Coleman Polhemus: The Crocodile Blues
Hurrah, another good year of Caption! Thanks, everyone who came to Oxford for the comics festival, and those who worked so hard to make it happen. We got to listen to great talks by V&A Comics Artist in Residence Karen Rubins, Rainbow Orchid creator Garen Ewing and British-Libyan manga artist Asia Alfasi.
Karen Rubins and seannazz
There had been a huge number of people who'd braved the long and complicated V&A application for the comics post, so I was very curious to find out who this person was that they'd picked, and Karen turned out to be lovely and good fun, and we had a nice dinner together at a Chinese place (where I ate something called Wild Ants Climbing Trees Glass Noodles, which disappointingly turned out to be something better named Slimy Noodles with Little Quorn-like Bits Stuck to Them).
Me, Elyssa Campbell-Barr, Garen Ewing, Dave West, DFC dude Neilll Cameron, and Colin Mathieson
We had lunch the next day with Asia, who was great fun and both of us are excited to be doing a joint panel together in Cambridge in October for the Women in Comics Conference. Annoyingly, I forgot about my camera on the second day, so I didn't get any pictures of Asia... next time! I think my talk about picture book and comics cross-overs went well; I put way too much time into getting it ready, but people were really positive afterward, so I was glad I had.
I could identify with a lot of the stuff Asia was talking about; if you ever get a chance to hear her, do go along. One thing she challenged us to do, as people who draw comics (particularly manga) is not to regurgitate Japanese themes, but use the tools to tell stories based on our own experiences and from within our own cultures. Asia can't understand why people have such a hard time coming up with material that's 'original'; everyone has a different experience and can tell stories their own unique way if they tap into what they know from everyday life. It was fascinating to hear the way that Japanese manga bridged the gap for her between her Libyan upbringing and Scottish schoolmates. (She hadn't even realised manga was Japanese, just assumed it was Arabic.)
Another highlight was Ellen Lindner (ellenlindner) introducing me to Jason Little. I've just had a browse through his website and have ordered a copy of his graphic novel Shutterbug Follies, looks really good.
And the other best thing that happened was a flying visit from a girl named Emma, whose parents I recognised as architects in Paris from Twitter... thanks for coming, guys! Emma showed me her sketchbook and she is remarkably talented with her drawings... I think you're be seeing more of this girl in the publishing world! Here she is with her little brother and some of her drawings. Serious talent.
Mixing notes on particle physics and drawings (as one does)
Ben Dickson giving his all to the colouring challenge at hand
Mark Stafford brought me fruit! And a coconut! Which we had for breakfast with jinty and tortipede. Thanks for hosting us, guys!
Edit: Caption write-ups by Neill Cameron here (including a pic of Asia as a dinosaur-riding pirate), jinty's here (that's me, gesticulating oddly in the green dress), tozocomic's is here, Rich Johnston here, Caption Twittering here
Over the past couple of weeks we’ve tried to spark some creative juices in our readers by posting a couple pictures to caption. While we thought this would be a great way for our readers to express themselves and their creativity; it kinda fell flat.
So what were we missing? What was it about these images that led people to think, “Hmmm, I’ve got an idea for that!” but then not post anything in the comments section? Were the pictures boring? Offensive? Did they smell bad? We didn’t think so.
But then it dawned on us. Free stuff! Why give away a perfectly brilliant idea without hopes of getting anything in return?! That’s just plain un-American! We can’t expect folks to dig deep into their souls and entertain us with clever remarks about silly pictures for nothing. That was just wrong of us and we apologize.
To atone for our evil mis-deeds we’ve decided to make it up to everyone. We’re going to hold a contest and the winner of said contest will be getting a brand new, one of a kind, ultra-valuable, MJM Customized Children’s Book. (I’ll give you all a minute to let that sink in)
So without further adieu gang here it is…
The Big Big Caption Contest #3
The rules are simple:
1. Anyone who wishes to enter must become our fan on Facebook. You can do so by checking us out at http://facebook.com/mjmbooks
2. There must be at least 20 reply’s in order for the contest to be valid. That’s not asking too much is it?
3. Come up with the best caption for the picture below.
Piece of cake right? Now come on folks. Be witty. Be daring. Is the cat winning? Is the dog? Is this even a fight or a horribly choreographed dance number? What led up to this moment? Only you know the answer and only you can share it with the rest of us!
This contest will be open until the end of the month at which point one of our esteemed judges will pick a winner (please note that the esteemed judges can be bribed!) However, if we don’t have 20 reply’s by the end of the month we’ll keep the contest open until we do.
Finally, as promised we’re offering free shipping to all of our devoted Facebook fans until the end of the month. Just head on over to the store, pick out a book and enter the code: #1fan when checking out.
In closing; feel free to tell as many people about this contest as possible. Get out there and spread the word! If we have a decent turnout for this event we’ll most likely hold a new give-away each month!
Thanks again to everyone out there supporting us. It hasn’t gone un-noticed!
.
Thanks, Selina Lock (girlycomic) for asking me to give a talk at this year's festival! It runs two days, 15 - 16 August, and I had so much fun last year that I decided to go again for both days, so I'm letting the planners decide which day I give my talk. It'll be great, there's already a good lineup with Garen Ewing, Asia Alfasi, Jon Spira and Jimi Gherkin, details on the Caption LJ community site here! Here's the blurb I've come up for it, let me know if this sounds too terrible or full of myself. (I'm not used to writing these things.) And let me know if there's anything in particular you'd like me to include, since I haven't planned the talk yet and I'd love suggestions.
Comics and Picture books: crossing the divide
Have the boundaries between comics and picture books shifted in recent years? Sarah McIntyre will discuss exciting opportunities she has noticed in crossover works and publisher interest, and explore the potential for comics creators to tap into both industry categories to support themselves and inject their own work with fresh energy. She will show some of her own background design work in both fields, discuss similarities and differences in production techniques, and talk about how editors have related to her work in both fields.
She will welcome observations from the members of the audience who have also had experience in these fields, and leave time for questions.
Sarah McIntyre created 'Vern and Lettuce', a weekly strip for the DFC. She illustrated seven picture books for an American publisher before studying on Camberwell's MA Illustration course and graduating in 2007. Since then, she has illustrated a picture book for David Fickling: 'Morris the Mankiest Monster', written by Giles Andreae (creator of Purple Ronnie and Edward Monkton), launching on Oct 1st. She is also illustrating picture books with Scholastic UK and Oxford University Press and has recently had some successful bids for her own picture book writing. She is represented by Rosemary Canter at United Agents. Visit her blog, where she posts new drawings almost every day: http://jabberworks.livejournal.com
So it's a good talk to come to if you know lots about comics but want to find out about picture books, or vice versa, or if you've been working in one area, but are thinking about getting work on the other side. (I know more about the picture books industry than the comics industry.)
Anyone already know if they're going to Caption? One day or both?
**Newsflash** Two of my favourite comics people did an interview together, Garen Ewing asking questions of Dave O'Connell (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
tozocomic), the guy who did this latest adddition to Airship. This is all very exciting, read it here!
Read from the start.
Okay, I'm off to Brussels for the wedding of two of my best friends, so I won't be posting for a few days. Here's a card I made for them, two people who have struck the most amazing balance between living simply and living the good life. Which involves lots of sunlight and good wine and picnics and riding their bicycles in the park and tending their cabbages (not to mention the incredible things they do at work, which I won't go into just now).
I don't usually get around to wrapping gifts very attractively, but I was kind of chuffed with the way this one came out, using a recycled trade show poster and some Chinese-made dolls I bought from a stall in Hay's Galleria:
And how cool is this! After teasing him about butt nuts in the last post, chamonkee got me back here with a brilliant and totally mental portrait, including Lettuce and Vern. Will Kirkby, you totally rock! :-D
Today in the tube I saw a poster for a free exhibition of all sorts of skeletons dug up under London. ginasketch gave a great link to a Times article, including a map so you can find who's been buried beneath you. The exhibition runs until 28 Sept at the Wellcome Collection in London. I'm going to try to get down there at some point to do some life drawing... er, death drawing.
And Caption photos keep coming in, here are some more by tallguywrites.
Brian Sibley has written a heart-felt and fascinating tribute on his blog to Pauline Baynes, illustrator of many books I grew up with, including the Narnia Chronicles, who died the Friday before last. I'm sure many people will remember her work very fondly, and Brian's fortunate to have known her so well.
Today's morning sketch is dedicated to chamonkee, who spent 20 minutes trying to work out from my very rough comic yesterday what 'butt nuts' were.
So fitting, my neighbour David just e-mailed a photo he took in 1982 of a comics stall in China's Sichuan province. Cool, hey?
And I've just been sorting through my loot from Caption, here it is!
I had to buy two copies of the brilliant little Curtis and Terrorist comic with the hand-drawn covers by Oliver Lambden; now I'm wishing I'd bought a couple more for gifts. Weekend Friends brings together work by Oli Smith and Sean Azzopardi from London Underground Comics, Oliver Lamden and Dan Lester. Someone called 'Peet!' made the Fume! comic, here's the crazypants website. The CD covers and books - Rumble Strip, Count Milkula, and Sugar Buzz - are by DFC colleague Woodrow Phoenix, and the two comics called The Sea are by Will Kirkby, or chamonkee.
And to finish, these days nedroidcomics are leaving me helpless on the floor.
This was my first-ever visit to Caption, Oxford's annual alternative comics festival, and I had a great time! Thanks a million to Jenni Scott (jinty) and Richard who put me up for the night and did so much, along with a bunch of other great people, to make this event happen. It was my first-ever time on a comics panel, which was a little daunting, because almost everyone in the room has made comics for longer than I have, but it was very friendly and so interesting to hear what everyone had to say. I'm always on a very steep learning curve when I go to these things. We had a great showing of the DFC crew: Kate Brown, Woodrow Phoenix, Nick Abadzis, John Aggs, Neill Cameron, Garen Ewing, Andrew Wildman, Adam Murphy and one of our editors, Will Fickling (did I leave out anyone?).
I forgot about my camera most of the time, so a lot of the photos are pretty random, but here are a few:
The very hospitable Richard and Jenni, at a breakfast with Matt Brooker (aka D'Israeli), where I learned that comics convention people can not eat without at least four computers present at the table.
Woodrow with his erupting hot chocolate with marshmallows. And Bridget and Woodrow at a nearby Brazillian restaurant. Brigdet just sent me a link to an amazing comics jam called Who Killed Round Robin? that Woodrow is working on with six other comics artists. I am going away to read it!) She said it inspired a group in Mexico to do something similar.
With my fab illustrator friend Susan Burghart (who came up to Oxford to surprise me and take me out to dinner with her fiance Mike) and the lovely Rian Hughes.
Susan and I remarked that the most rock-and-roll thing we could do after a comics convention was go to mass, so that is what we did, even though I am not Catholic. And we went for a lavish French dinner and then ice cream and I got a dark purple tongue.
Here's a very, very rough comic I made on the train ride back.
Fiona Harding wants to take the Post-It Note project global on February 1st.
Click here to find out more about the Post-It Note project.
This wouldn't take that much work and it would be fun to take part in!
Hat tip: The awesome folks at Drawn!
.jpg?picon=925)
