Bat Man

I've recieved fan letters, fan art, pictures of Hobtown cosplay but this, my first bootleg fan-figure, is very special.

Truly touched. Beautiful.

The Revue Cinema announced its complete lineup for BLEAK WEEK, June 1-7.

Given Trump’s Easter threats to carry out new war crimes in Iran, we should think one or two steps ahead about a coup attempt connected to the war. And then deter it. (1/17)

Screencap of an ill-advised post by The Walrus: Authors are using AI. Publishers know it. And now, says publishing consultant Thad McIlroy, authors are being forced to lie about it. One canceled horror novel didn’t just end into career, it exposed an industry wide reckoning.

Your friends are eating vomit. Everybody knows it. Your friends are being forced to lie about it. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Eat the delicious vomit. Delicious vomit for everyone.

SHEPARD TO DARK January 7, 2007-Kentucky [handwritten] Dear John, Sitting here by the fire in Kentucky on a grayish wet day & happened to notice a book laying randomly on a table— The Dog of the South by our old friend Charlie Portis & remembered that mad day in San Rafael years ago when, stoned of course, we absolutely had to have a copy of that book in our possession. It became a matter of life & death as we rushed over to the library in the white Nova only to discover they were about to close for the day & we began begging & pleading with the librarian how desperate our situation was—how far we'd traveled to get there-how we needed to have that book as though it were our last drink of water. Then, of course, the poor fellow let us in, we located the book, checked it out then, as I remember, neither one of us managed to read more than about five pages of the damn thing & we were on to the next mad caper-stealing bathrobes or something like that. Those were indeed rare & cherished days full of a wild sense of being alive but not having a clue why or what or how.

Only today did I learn that Sam Shepard hung out with Charles Portis, likely in Deming, NM with Shepard’s longtime friend Johnny Dark. This is from the Dark-Shepard correspondence, Two Prospectors, published by U of Texas Press in 2013. (More readable in alt-text)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Armand P. Bartos

Christo, Temporary Volume - Package - For Minneapolis School of Art, October 24-28, 1966
https://botfrens.com/collections/14377/contents/1136532

In 2000, I encountered the work of Frederick Wiseman for the first time while working on an unusual project (at least for a college freshman). Years later, I encountered Wiseman again, this time in real life. I wrote about it and him for @parisreview.bsky.social 🥊

A poster for a screening of the movie Winterbeast at the paradise theatre showing a drawing of a cloaked monster in a snowy winter scene.

If you’re in Toronto come watch WINTERBEAST with me tonight! paradiseonbloor.com/movies/winte...

Trailer I cut for my next screening in Toronto March 23. #winterbeast

painted a negative of this one it turned out ok!

This is how I've tracked my writing for 10ish years: a simple list of things that are done and not done. Some are books or movies I sold. Many became nothing even when completed.

It's small, but the act of taking the push pin out and putting it to the other side can feel like a real victory.

Book showing a double page black and white photograph of a locomotive with motion blur, by Naotaka Hirota

Book showing a two black and white photographs of a locomotive with motion blur, by Naotaka Hirota

Book showing a double plage black and white photograph of a smoke, by Naotaka Hirota

Book showing a black and white photograph of a blurred front of a locomotive, by Naotaka Hirota

Naotaka Hirota - La Scène de la Locomotive à Vapeur, 1975

Daniel Kraus: How Night of the Living Dead Saved My Life Join bestselling horror writer Daniel Kraus as he discusses the zombie classic Night of the Living Dead with film critic Adam Nayman.

Toronto! On March 31 I'll be hosting a chat at
@torontolibrary with Daniel Kraus about his terrific new book PARTIALLY DEVOURED, about the history and legacy of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Sign up below. www.eventbrite.ca/e/daniel-kra...

Person sat on the shore wathching liner Queen Mary in a blaze of light at Clydebank shipyard as men work overnight in an effort to finish her on time.

'RMS Queen Mary floodlit at night at the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland, shortly before her maiden voyage in early 1936.'

Photo of poetry chapbook Verfondre / Wormmelt by Annick MacAskill. The photo shows the cover, inner page, and two pages of bilingual poetry.

Popping on here to share that I've a new bilingual poetry chapbook out. Verfondre / Wormmelt is an experimental melding of traditional translation with the poème fondu, a poetic form invented by Michelle Grangaud, a member of Oulipo. Out now with Baseline Press.

www.baselinepress.ca#/verfondre-w...

Black and white photograph high contrast Grainy. we see a railroad track running between Hills the land is black with no details visible except for two faint White Lines of steel rails. where the rails converge there is the white circle of the headlight of an oncoming train and a white cloud above it, steam coming off of locomotive

Naotaka Hirota

I asked him and he sent me a sneak preview

Sorcerer (1977), Dir. William Friedkin

The cost of devotion — West End Phoenix Akim Aliu is a power forward with a reputation for intensity; a celebrated advocate for diversity in hockey; and a 36-year-old who, after seven knee surgeries, still believes he’ll make it back to the...

THE COST OF DEVOTION

Akim Aliu is a power forward with a reputation for intensity; a celebrated advocate for diversity in hockey; and a 39-year-old who, after seven knee surgeries, still believes he’ll make it back to the NHL

✍️: Noel Ransome
📷: Duane Cole

www.westendphoenix.com/stories/the-...

A sample of pages of 1884: Blood Moon. A graphic novel in the works, written by @adrianlysenko.bsky.social & @justinallec807.bsky.social with art by moi. Been working for a while now but a while to go. But it’s REALLY exciting to see it come together and collaborate with some cool creators.

Modern Fairy Tales on Film: Phantom Thread Join host Adam Nayman as he discusses P.T. Anderson's masterpiece with critics Manuela Lazic and Haley Mlotek.

Starting on March 24 I'm beginning a virtual lecture series with
@torontolibrary
on modern fairy tales on film. The first episode is about Phantom Thread, with guests Haley Mlotek and Manuela Lazic; information below. eventbrite.ca/e/modern-fai...

Hobtown Mystery Stories 3: The Secret Of The Saucer - The Comics Journal A mea culpa is in order.

"What if Memento was an episode of Twin Peaks?" What if I wrote about the new @hobtown.bsky.social for @comicsjournal.bsky.social? What might that be like?

On movie listings & showtimes A chat with Don Marks of Torontoplex.

Don Marks, the man behind @torontoplex.bsky.social, is the unsung hero of Toronto moviegoing culture, who has been quietly organizing & posting rep screening information on a daily basis for over twenty years. Read my chat with him below.

Les hobtowns des éditions Delcourt sont arrivés ! Ils sont magnifiques et aussi...incroyablement GRANDS
Ça c'est un phonebook, la!

Merci de votre visite sur Hobtown.fr

Charles “Entertainment” Portis

VESTA LUNCH — West End Phoenix Michael Winter settles into the pre-dawn shift at Vesta feeling heavy loneliness with a side of doom. But his slo-mo odyssey at the classic lunch counter changes everything by sun-up.

Michael Winter settles into the pre-dawn shift at Dupont & Bathurst's late night diner Vesta Lunch feeling heavy loneliness with a side of doom. But his slo-mo odyssey at the classic lunch counter changes everything by sun-up.

www.westendphoenix.com/stories/vest...

Scotiabank’s 1832 Asset Management sells last shares in Israeli military supplier Elbit Bank faced criticism for investment, including high-profile protests at the Giller Prize

Incredible victory! After years of organizing across Canada, Scotia Bank has divested from Elbit Systems!

Elbit is Israel's largest weapons company, arming the occupation and genocide of Palestine.

www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...

It's a *great* new movie weekend but if this is playing near you, I cannot recommend it enough. Total ingenuity and joy. We'll talk about it on the pod later this month.

Duke Alvarez: American Mummy Outlaw; or, The Undead Years of Phillipe LaFontaine | Hazlitt The manner of my demise is of little interest, besides serving as our jumping off point.

New fiction up on Hazlitt

It’s about travelling sideshow mummies, decades long feuds, weird toy conventions, and the haunted 79 year history of an American pop culture icon told by the dead Canadian teenager who inadvertently inspired everything.

hazlitt.net/longreads/du...