Category Archives: Movies, TV, Radio, Comics, Books

Comic books dealing with mental illness

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Darryl Cunningham is a comic book creator, blogger, sculptor and more. He also spent time working in a psychiatric ward.

He is chronicling his experience working in a psychiatric ward in a new graphic novel titled “Psychiatric Tales”. He’s been posting draft chapters of of the book on his blog over the past year.

Every chapter has been speaking to me on one level or another, but I want to call out two for now: “It Could Be You” and “People With Mental Illness Enhance Our Lives”

Along a similar vein is “LOGICOMIX”, a graphic novel documenting the experience of some of the largest names in mathematics, and what they sacrificed to make their contributions, including, sometimes, their mental health.

Michael Jackson’s reach was across generations, across the seas

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YouTube: (Michael Jackson) Billie Jean – Sungha Jung:

Wow.

I had posted the following to Twitter, but it belongs here:

“11 years old, standing on chestnut st. near 11th, outside store, watching tvs play Thriller thru a window. that was me.”

Michael Jackson’s death triggered moments of reflection for many. So many that services across the Web struggled to stay functional as people either reached out for news, or to share their memories with one another.

He stands as a kind of Rorschach test. What you think of him and his contributions to music and entertainment are dependent on you – the information published about him you cared to absorb, rationalize, relate to, or reject.

He was a force. He left an imprint.

YouTube: Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” cover by Amanda Palmer (live):

Some links:

WNEW.com: The Epic of Michael Jackson

Metafilter: Ongoing thread

Attytood: The Love You Save: Michael Jackson and the rear-guard Baby Boomers

NPR.org: Michael Jackson: Life Of A Pop Icon

Susie Madrak: The Life and Death of Michael Jackson

Jeneane Sessum: Have You Seen My Childhood

Comcaster Scott Westerman: Michael Jackson’s place in the pantheon of our lives

Lisa Marie Presley: He Knew.

CSMonitor: Outpouring over Michael Jackson unlike anything since Princess Di

Koax! Koax! Koax! (via boing boing): Some thoughts on Michael Jackson

YouTube: I’ll Be There Acapella:

And lastly, a very deep thought by co-worker John: “The Michael Jackson we knew died a long time ago”

“Amusing Ourselves to Death” a comic by Stuart McMillen

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A clip of the Amusing ourselves to death comic 

Thought provoking, conversation starting, and probably controversial counting upon who you are, check out the whole single page comic.

Question to ponder: Is the Rock Star Dead?

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comcast.net Music: JT Ramsay: Is the Rock Star Dead?:

The days of major labels turning ordinary people into rock stars is over. There will be pop hits here and there, but chances are you’ll never see someone reach the heights of (sustainable) fame in the manner that artists as disparate as Guns ‘N Roses and Britney Spears enjoyed again. You could blame Britney and Miley, but we’ve always had pop stars. We could just as soon blame Frankie Avalon!

But that’s not just because of the major label’s money woes. It’s that major music media just keeps disappearing, whether it’s in print or on television. It seems much tougher for stars to create myths about themselves at a time when we know even the most minute details about them, whether it’s through outlets like TMZ.com, or from the star’s themselves (or their ghost-tweeters) via Twitter.