Hola, Sneakers! Welcome to the podcast that constantly lowers its standards!
This week: hand-me-down witticisms; osmosis bones; Birbiglia trivia; grovin’; untameable fruit; toss salad; a remembrance of things pasta; comfort junk; decision to sleeve; limbo line; holy itinerary; thank you for your service; praying madness; tyrannosaurus sex; hard bore; saturated X; thinking about Rome; added attractions; no time for comedy; Top 5 films; passing gas; trivial dead end; Trimpe cocktail; Question of the Week – Sneakers respond; raunch hands; Queen killer; brain capers; critical wits; inside man; and, finally, giving up giving up.
Question of the Week: What relative was a big influence on you?
Sub-question of the Week: What is a documentary you’d recommend?
Thanks for listening.
If you’d like to see the Hergé documentary discussed in the show, then follow this link.
Here is the trailer for Penthouse’s production of Caligula. (We’ve never seen the film, but the trailer uses Prokofiev’s score from the ballet Romeo and Juliet, which we can’t imagine was used in the actual movie!):
It’s hard to find a good representation of They Call Her One-Eye online, but this testimonial from Trailers from Hell gives a good sense of the film:
If you’re interested in the Herb Trimpe documentary that was discussed on the show, then cast your eyes on this:
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If there are any ballet fans out there, I’d recommend “First Position” which is a 2011 documentary about six young dancers from around the world preparing for the Youth American Grand Prix (for dancers aged 9 to 19.) The subjects were from different ethnic and economic backgrounds. What struck me was how driven and dedicated they were at such a young age. It’s in the same vein as the documentary “Spellbound” from 2002 about kids competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. There is inherent drama in the genre since the producers themselves don’t know if which, if any, of the subjects they are following are going emerge the winner.
Nice conversation about Herb Trimpe, I had a huge Hulk trade paperback before I collected any Hulk comics early on and I remember Trimpe’s work from that. I liked him on Hulk but I can’t remember his work from much else due to his impact he had on me with Hulk. I compare his style to Steranko’s work more than anyone, it has just the right amount of a modern flair that pushed it into the later part of the Silver Age, almost like a design more than a comic illustration. When I think of both Steranko and Trimpe, I remember the amazing compositions those two used to work into their comics, almost like an ad for the comic itself. Great memories of both those men.
My Uncle Don, who is my Dad’s older brother and my Godfather, was quite the influence on me when I was young. My Grandmother used to say I was more like him than my own father because my Uncle Don was an artist. I’ve mentioned him before in writing, he was a musician and music librarian in Chicago for close to 40 years and never owned a car. And he collected comics, the old Walt Disney ones. I can remember visiting Chicago early on and my Uncle Don took me to some comic shops he went to, I was in search of the Lee & Kirby run on Fantastic Four at the time. I remember saying to him that I was looking for issues from 1967, which seemed like such a long time ago at the time, he laughed at that and replied, “That was only 10 years ago! Those comics aren’t that old!” This coming from a man who had a collection of Disney comics from the decades before that. My Uncle introduced me to classical music and old radio dramas like the Superman series, we bonded as artists of like-minded fandom over many years. Into his 90’s I still hear from him, he writes stories about the family and always sends me a copy. I send him restored family photos I fix in Photoshop for his genealogy he does with Dad. Occasionally, he sends me a drawing of Donald Duck he drew in art class with a “How’s this? Am I good enough?” Again, this from a man with an amazing Disney knowledge of comics who still takes art classes in his 90’s and still plays music. He still never owned a car.
There is a documentary that was on HBO back in 2018 called “The Price of Everything”. It shocked me, saddened me and I cried as I watched it unfold. I know I’ve mentioned it to you before but if you’ve never seen this documentary, please find it and watch. Director Nathanial Kahn shows us the world of both working artists and art dealers and how caustic it can get when they collide. It’s insane what I learned from this and the fate of the working fine artists in the world today, what dealers can do with their art. This trailer might get you started.
https://youtu.be/iejpS_PpPJk?feature=shared
Say a prayer for me guys, I have an 11 year-old pup who may not make it through the weekend, so here we go again…he’s been the perfect example of “Man’s Best Friend” and this one will be difficult.
Best to all my fellow Sneakers!
Hug your pets while you can.