Shut Up And Listen 37 Sunday November 25, 2001 The Gulf War . . . Is It Over Yet? Watching The Awful Truth right now and they just did an excellent piece of Iraq and how the Gulf War never really ended. Because of UN sanctions, millions of civilians have died since the Gulf War “ended” and these sanctions have caused a huge amount of resignations over the years from the UN. Including the former president of the human rights section. In the Gulf War, US bombers targeted water treatment plants. Did you know that? Now, the Iraqi people have contaminated water and tens of thousands of children die a month because of this. The problem it seems is that, again, the leader of a country is fucking over the innocents and the UN is just allowing it. Fuck that, fuck them. I am sick of this bullshit about it being internal affairs and all that. You know what, the vast majority of people think that eating and drinking is necessary to live, and obviously, these people aren’t getting that, so WHY AREN’T WE DOING ANYTHING? You got a problem with Sadam? THEN TAKE IT UP WITH SADAM AND QUIT PUNISHING INNOCENT PEOPLE! Honestly, when it comes to bombing people, we seem to say fuck their internal affairs, but when it comes to helping innocent people live, we have to stay out of it. We like to think we’re better than the likes of Sadam and Osama and the Taliban, but we aren’t. Drop the bomb, starve the innocent. Tuesday November 27, 2001 Writing For School Wrote half of my writer’s craft ISP yesterday because the rough had to be done by today. The thing is, I need to get it peer edited and I’m not sure anyone my age would understand a lot of it. Ask an 18-year old if they’ve ever heard of Crossfire and see a blank stare. I asked my law teacher to look over as he’s familiar with stuff like Crossfire, Hunter Thompson and Politically Incorrect, all of which I use. People are dumb. What’s In It For Us? Been talking to some people about Iraq, the US and other bad shit in the world and the simple explanation is: the US doesn’t get involved unless something’s in it for them. They stayed out of Rwanda because of Semolina. A couple of their soldiers got killed and they went all pussy on the situation. Why? Because they might get a bloody nose. Clinton has said he regrets not getting involved with Rwanda, but because the AMERICAN PUBLIC were against it, he didn’t. The problem is, countries behave too much like people and think short-term. You want to know what’s in it for the US and every other country to not allow horrible shit to happen to the citizens of foreign countries? IT WILL MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE AND HELP HUMANITY IN GENERAL! Now, I know it’s easy for some little geek in Canada to be saying that the US and Canada and Britain and Germany should be sending their citizens to die in some far off foreign countries. I’m not sure if I’d do it if I was in power, but I’d like to think I would be able to do it and the people I send to help in those countries would understand and agree. These are hard issues and tough decisions, but they must be made. We shouldn’t just limit ourselves to defending the innocent of our country, but the innocent of the world. Haven’t we learned that if you let some prick trample all over those who cannot stand up to his tyranny, that he will get more and more power hungry and then come after us? It will happen and if you don’t think so, you’re deluding yourself. Quote Of The Week A guy on my bus said this today: “It’s as useless as tits on a nun.” I like that. Wednesday November 28, 2001 Bastardly School Goddamn school is pissing me off. It’s not enough we’ve got this play going on now—which really hasn’t started yet—but I’ve also got the fucking vice principals making my life even worse. Now, with the play going on, the cafetorium is closed, so we are stuck having lunch and such in the forum, which includes my first period spare. Everyday for the past two weeks, one of the vice principals has approached me and those I hang out with in the morning and told us to fuck out of the forum up to the library. Now, let me get this straight: when the caf is open, people are allowed to spend first period on the forum, and now that it’s closed, they aren’t? What if we want to eat a muffin or doughnut or drink a cappuccino (which we aren’t allowed to do in the library)? I know, this is a little thing, but as I’ve thought about it and twisted it to my own agenda, I realized one thing: this is about respect. We students are not treated with respect. Would these bastards and bitches tell another adult—which I am legally—to not sit there? No, they wouldn’t, but they will to us. Again, I am pissed off and almost feel like using the “golden rule” against them and treat them with the same lack of respect they treat me—obviously, they are treating me, and my fellow students the way they wish to be treated. These thought led to another and another and another until I came across another wild idea that if probably far-fetched and totally wrong: how do they expect us to grow up into adults if they don’t treat us with the same respect as a grown-up? Maybe college kids act the way they do because of how they are treated in high school. The radical jump from coddling and treated like fucking morons—okay, they are—to pure and utter lack of guidance may be too much for some, hence the drop-out rate. They know that many dropout of college because they can’t handle it and yet they do nothing to try and prepare students better for it. I tell you, bossing us around for no apparent reason isn’t helping, except to show how big of idiots they really are. Application Conditions This week, applications for Ontario Universities are due (I submitted mine on Monday); so there’s a little rushing going on to get them done. The Captain and I have made a few jokes about how the application is so damn easy to fill out and if you can’t do it, you shouldn’t be let in—oh, by the way, in Ontario there is a distinct difference between universities and colleges; namely, the OAC year of schooling. Well, on Monday I helped someone fill out hers because she couldn’t do it alone. I’ll give you one guess. Yes . . . The Girl. Now, this is one of those times where I question my standards of intelligence and my opinions of others. I really like her, you all know that and I always thought she was smart—still do. My head and heart went into some direct conflict once again and of course, my head got its ass whopped without any real effort. I really hate this situation, you know. And I’m sure you pretty much hate it too at this point. Thursday November 30, 2001 Interview With . . . Jeph Loeb! Jeph was my very first “favourite writer” when it came to comics. I had a subscription to Cable and he was writing it and he was amazing. He and Ian Churchill were doing all sorts of crazy things: going to the future, fighting clones from another dimension, fighting the Hulk, hanging out with the X-Men. I even sent him a letter care of Marvel for a school project in grade 7 (which odds are he never got--damn you, Marvel!). After a year of reading his Cable, I also picked up his X-Force, which was great too, but it didn’t compare to his work on Cable. He made me the big Cable fan I am today--well, except for that patch where Liefeld came back and Casey and Ladronn left. And, I can’t figure out a graceful way to go into the interview after that, so here it is . . . Me: Tell us a little about yourself. Loeb: I was found in a field by a pair of mid-western farmers . . . wait . . . that's . . . Um . . . Live in Los Angeles, write and produce movies and television, currently writing Superman monthly and Daredevil: Yellow. Me: How did you get into writing? Loeb: I started in high school. It was easier than math. I could never understand math. Math bad. Writing good. Me: What have you written? Loeb: Movies, television, comics, magazine articles, the occasional poem, a terrible musical, animation. I can tell you what I DON'T do is write to Mother enough. Actually, I don't think there is any way I could write to her enough, so I pretty much just gave up. Me: How was it working with Ian Churchill on Superman 176, since you two have a history of working together on Cable, Avengers and at Awesome Entertainment? Loeb: The best. Ian and I have been friends since our Cable days. He is a tremendous talent. It was a very big change from the “McGuinness” look of Superman and I was a bit worried that the fans wouldn't take to him -- but, Superman fans never cease to amaze me. They loved him. I guess there is always an appetite for a more “realistic” (that's a funny way to look at it for me) interpretation of Superman and that's what Ian delivered on. He is also doing Superman #180 which features Dracula (yes, THAT Dracula). His artwork is quite spectacular. Me: Have you found it difficult to write Daredevil: Yellow, while not just repeating the origin laid out by Stan Lee and later by Frank Miller? Loeb: I write comics the best I can. I hope folks enjoy the work; some do and some don't. I usually write what I feel my artist can best deliver on. Daredevil: Yellow was a love letter to my father and to Karen Page and Tim Sale delivered above whatever I could have dreamed of -- so, I guess the answer is no. Me: What did you think of Warren Ellis and Steven Grant's X-Man? Loeb: I never read them. When I walk away from book, that's usually the end for me. I know what I would have done and that's enough. X-Man, which I co-created with Steve Skroce was a particularly unpleasant experience since Steve and I had one vision for the book and (then, Marvel Editor-in-Chief) Bob Harras had another. Bob was wrong. That book went from selling a 500,000 copies and in the top ten to a book that was ultimately cancelled. Me: Would you ever want to do Cable or X-Force again? Loeb: I'd never say never. Marvel is a completely different place now. Joe Quesada runs a very different ship. Much, much better. But both Cable and X-Force are very different too. So, the subject is fairly moot. Me: In an interview you did for an issue of Cable (#37), you mentioned how your son loved X-Men and such. Does he find it cool that his dad is working on Superman do you think? Loeb: Superman MUCH cooler. Batman nearly as cool. Spider-Man close too. When the movie comes out, I'm fairly sure that Spidey will crawl up closer to Superman. But, Superman is the best. Me: Boxers or briefs? Loeb: Dogs or legal papers? What an odd question. I guess I prefer the dogs, since legal papers bore the hell out of me . . . Me: Cats or dogs? Loeb: Again with the dogs? Okay. I'll play. Dogs. Me: Winter or summer? Loeb: Summer. I live in Los Angeles. I used to live in New York. Pretty easy to figure out why. Cold bad. Hot good. Me: Any cool stories involving a chick? Loeb: Please. I work with Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Fray). Chicks flock to him. I get to stand near his aura. Me: I just handed you a gun and a case full of 100 untraceable bullets. Who or what do you use them on? Loeb: Give them back. I want nothing to do with either. Me: Do you find working with four others on Superman (including editor Eddie Berganza) to be difficult creatively sometimes? I mean, what happens if there's a big argument over the next storyline and how the big blue is portrayed? Loeb: Hasn't happened. That's what makes working with Eddie so cool. He runs a great ship. We're all pals. I've never had a working experience like it and suspect I never will again. Eddie is the best. Me: I know you've most likely been asked this far too many times, but are you and Tim going to do another Batman mystery mini? Loeb: Yes. Me: That one dollar you got paid for writing Fantastic Four with Carlos Pacheco: was it for the entire run or per script? And, was your wife a little peeved that you were writing a comic for only a buck? Loeb: I think what folks didn't understand was I got paid a dollar for WRITING the comic, but I also now own the Fantastic Four and the trademark. So, I was paid ten million dollars for the movie rights alone. My wife couldn't be happier. She has a house the size of the Baxter Building. Oh, and my daughter can now turn invisible. Me: Are you afraid that after you, Joe (Kelly), Joe (Casey) and Mark (Schultz) move on that a lot of the changes you made will be reversed and ignored the way changes in Superman often are? Loeb: It's not my character. I get to play with someone else's toys. They're the best toys in the box, but they still belong to someone else. If I want to make sure nobody plays with what I've done, there is a wonderful creator owned market out there. DC has given all of us every chance to tell the stories that WE wanted to tell. If they afford that luxury to the next team, good for them. Hopefully, they'll tell stories that are about NEW subjects -- at least that's what we're trying to do. I mean, look at the last two years. We didn't UNDO what came before us. Yes, Lex Luthor is President of the United States -- but that hadn't been done before. We have brought back Bizarro #1 and Krypto -- but they hadn't been seen in 15 years. I think in many ways we’re remarkably sensitive to the previous team’s efforts. Me: Any tidbits from upcoming issues you can talk about here. You know, help a long-time fan get some publicity, maybe? Loeb: Only that Superman #178, January 2002 will change Superman's life forever. Last year, it was his origin we threw into question. This year . . . well . . . it's not very long to find out. But RESERVE a copy now. That book is woefully under-ordered. Or don't and you'll wind up paying $15.00 for it in March. Tee-hee. Me: Who do you love? Loeb: My wife and kids. And that question. That question is a very close second. Me: Any final words? Loeb: Thanks for giving me the time and a big THANKS to all the fans and readers who let me do this incredibly cool job. “Would You Like To Continue This In My Office?” I jumped out of my chair and said, “Sure!” The old bitch seemed surprised at my eagerness. So, I walked into the main office and had a seat on a chair and waited. What led to this, you ask? Chad sent down to the office? Shit, yeah. Remember how I was bitching about the forum and such (of course you do; you just read it)? Well, today I talked back and the old bitch VP was none too impressed. “How dare someone question what the Administration says?” she thinks in disgust. Okay, The Girl was sitting right there and you know me: give me a Good reason to do something and I’ll do it. And trying to impress a girl with my little show of defiance is a good enough reason in my books. So, I questioned the decision to try and make us vacate the forum. “But what if I want a coffee?” “But I’m not skipping class.” “So, I’m being punished for nothing?” “Fuck the play!” Okay, I didn’t say the last one, but I did say the rest. I waited in the office for twenty minutes as she bitched out someone loathsome troublemaker who’s on the verge of being kicked out. I go into her office and we talk. I get told some bullshit about the play and skippers. I almost go into a rant, but don’t. I’ve made my point. She knows that people like me are out there now and we aren’t done yet. I’ve still got a whole week to question what I’m told and shout and get sent home. After the meeting I went up to the library and joined The Refugees and we bashed the goddamn school for an hour. Friday November 30, 2001 Day Off Today is a “prayer day” at my school. The students get it off and the teachers have to gather for a retreat of sorts. My guess is a cross, fifty hookers and a quart or two of gin. All I know is I get a day off for no good reason and couldn’t care less. Saturday December 1, 2001 I’m A Lazy Ass I should be working on my law essay that’s due Monday. Part of our ISP—worth a lot of marks. Mine is on gun control, so I think I can write 2000 words no problem. Do you think the title “Fuck Guns” is too strong? Chevett Poll--November Results Here they are. I only included the ones that I am ending. There are a couple that are continuing over from last month. Question 1: Did you have a fun Halloween? 1.) Sure did!--4 votes--67% 2.) Just like any other day--2 votes--33% Question 2: Midas or Doom? 1.) MIDAS!--3 votes--50% 2.) doom--3 votes--50% Question 3: Do you Yahoo? 1.) Yes, yes I do--5 votes--83% 2.) No, no I do not--1 vote--17% Question 6: Timmah? 1.) TIMMAH!--4 votes--67% 2.) Egh!--2 votes--33% A new poll is up for December, so go vote now!