Hey, It's A Free Country

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Sat, 20 Dec 2008 23:56:03 GMT

Randomness from BagnewsNotes.com

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:16:07 GMT

"I Know You. You Used to Write Comics."

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:33:29 GMT

Hello.

It's been a while since I've been around, sorry for the lack of updates but it's been kind of a crazy year. Or two. Yikes! Uh... yeah, I had a bunch of jobs. Lately they've been more freelance write-y and less administrative assistant-y. Which is nice. I'm still working as the LA City Editor at Going.com, and also picked up some website writing on life insurance, a.k.a. The Dryest Subject on Earth. I get to write from home, while I watch 24 Season 6 in the background. It's fun, but a bit lonely. I've become unreasonably obsessed with my Netflix cue. Sometimes I wonder how I got to be 41 and writing at home in my underwear, but hey, what the hell. Livin' the dream, I say.

Life on the comic book front has been stupendously quiet. So quiet, in fact, when I went to Meltdown Comics to help shoot the "Y The Last Man" party a couple months ago, the owner greeted me with, "Hey, I know you. You used to write comics." I'm not sure which is more disturbing, the fact that it's a pretty fair assessment of my so-called career in comics, or the fact that, it's a pretty fair assessment of my so-called career in comics, and I don't really care all that much. I do have a couple pitches around to various comic book and animation companies, with folks who were kind enough to sollicit them from me, but other than that, my writing focus has really turned to screenplays over the last year or so. I'll let you know if anything happens, and that's about all the coy internet posturing I'm capable of on that front.

Filmmaking updates: "Guitar Player's Girlfriend" is winding down its festival run. It's been a good run. We haven't won any awards, but I got to watch my film at the Director's Guild and in a little church in Ireland. So I can't complain too much. We're still out to about four or five festivals right now, so hopefully it'll get a bit more play by the end of the year.

"All the Fish In The Sea" also got a good run this year, Charlie got some props in the LA Weekly for the directing on that one, and we took it to Sundance (and I took it to Cannes Short Film Corner this year). And "Gravity" (remember Gravity?) isn't even out the gate yet, despite being the first short we completed principal photography on. Believe it or not, I am STILL pursuing the music rights. The good news is, I'm finally talking to the right people, but the bad news is, once they find out how much we are paying, they take their sweet-ass time getting back to us. But in the process, I got to talk to Knox Phillips at Sun Records, which made my little rockabilly heart go SQUEEE! I totally geeked out on him and was like, "OMG, Sam Phillips was your dad, he's a legend," etc etc etc. He was quite gracious and I think kind of pleased that I knew something about Sun. Anyway, once that is sorted, it'll be up on MiniMovies and playing on a website near you.

I did get to go to Cannes again this year, and met up with an old friend of mine from Columbia who is now producing features. She's quite keen on a script I have been developing and wants to see a draft, so I've been up to my neck in that. The idea of directing a feature is challenging, but in a good way and I think this concept will lend itself well to a cheap, low budget HD shoot so I am excited about that.

At some point there's gonna be a website up at www.guitarplayersgirlfriend.com. (Probably sometime around the time the festival run ends, since I'm the one building it, but it can't be helped). If I have mastered Wordpress tricknology by that point, you might see something at www.janetharvey.com or, now that I've got the domain back, maybe even www.junglegirlstudios.com (if I'm feeling very ambitious, and can think of some way to wring money out of it). I'll announce any website action when it's ready to go.

Other than that, I think it's time for this livejournal to become friends-only. It's been a fun way to connect with "my invisible friends," as my friend Jackie calls them, but most of you have migrated over to Facebook anyway and I'm not seeing the point anymore. This started out as a way to track my workouts, ended up becoming a place for my drunken political rants (thank you, thank you) and somewhere in the middle shot to the top of search engine results for Janet Harvey. Then my parents showed up, so the party's over, you guys. No seriously, I've just run out of things to say on my soapbox since a) Obama is going to win in 2008 and b) I'm sober. Most of you probably won't even notice the difference, except that I might write more when I can talk trash and spill my juicy industry gossip (I have none, really) behind closed doors. So, yay! It's all good.

Oh, and I almost forgot the whole reason I was posting today - I am NOT going to Comicon. I spent all my money on the French Riviera. I know, tragic. Have fun, you crazy kids.

Bloody Hell: LaVena Johnson

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:58:15 GMT

"This is Private First Class LaVena Johnson of Missouri. An honors student who nonetheless didn't quite know what she wanted to do with her life, she enlisted in the Army right out of high school in 2003 and was sent to Iraq, where she died. When the Army returned her mutilated body to her grieving parents as a suicide, her dad, Dr. John Johnson said to himself and the Army coroner, "Somebody murdered my daughter and you picked the wrong person to fuck with." Fucking right...

...Since then, the Army has continued to insist that LaVena committed suicide by pointing her rifle with her non-dominant hand at the side of her head and set herself on fire, all after she beat herself up and poured acid on her genitals (since their was no apparent investigation into whatever happened there). Oh, and there was a trail of blood leading away from the tent where her body was found."

The whole rage embolism-inducing story here.

Oh, bama!

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:09:51 GMT

"I opposed this war from the start in part because I was concerned that it would take our eye off al Qaeda and distract us from finishing the job in Afghanistan. Sadly, that's what happened..."

Happy 2008

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:25:22 GMT

It's a beautiful night outside. The deluge may start tomorrow, but right now the air is cool and damp and charged with electricity.

It's like Batman in a Pink Sari

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:27:05 GMT

India's 'pink' vigilante women
By Soutik Biswas
BBC News, Banda

They wear pink saris and go after corrupt officials and boorish men with sticks and axes.

The several hundred vigilante women of India's northern Uttar Pradesh state's Banda area proudly call themselves the "gulabi gang" (pink gang), striking fear in the hearts of wrongdoers and earning the grudging respect of officials.

The pink women of Banda shun political parties and NGOs because, in the words of their feisty leader, Sampat Pal Devi, "they are always looking for kickbacks when they offer to fund us".

Two years after they gave themselves a name and an attire, the women in pink have thrashed men who have abandoned or beaten their wives and unearthed corruption in the distribution of grain to the poor.

They have also stormed a police station and attacked a policeman after they took in an untouchable man and refused to register a case.

"Nobody comes to our help in these parts. The officials and the police are corrupt and anti-poor. So sometimes we have to take the law in our hands. At other times, we prefer to shame the wrongdoers," says Sampat Pal Devi, between teaching a "gang" member on how to use a lathi (traditional Indian stick) in self defence.

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:53:38 GMT

Marie Severin in hospital

Tuesday October 16, 2007, 8:46 am

Sub-Mariner #9 (aug 1969)

Fantagraphic’s blog reported comic legend Marie Severin is recovering from a stroke which struck her on October 11th.

My pal Greg Sadowski just passed on news that legendary EC and Marvel Comics’ cartoonist/colorist/designer Marie Severin suffered a stroke last Thursday. Direct your get-well cards to her at:

Marie Severin, patient
c/o Huntington Hospital
270 Park Ave.
Huntington, NY 11743

Severin began her career at EC Comics in the 1950s as one of the great colouring pioneers, followed by a lengthly three decade stint with Marvel which included penciling, inking and colouring numerous titles. And for me personally, she is one of my inspirations to get into this industry.

All of us at Newsarama wish her a speedy recovery.

Back from Dingle

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:35:30 GMT

Just got back from Dingle, Ireland, where we've just heard the good news that Guitar Player's Girlfriend received an Honorable Mention from Colin Vaines of the Weinstein Company.

Charlie took bunches of beautiful pictures of Dingle with his new Nikon camera, here!

And tomorrow, we're playing the LA Shortsfest at the Burbank Town Center 6 at 3pm. If you are unemployed and have nothing better to do, you can purchase tickets here (it's for Shorts Program #67).

My friends Matt and Kelly Sue just had a baby. There's no link for that. You'll just have to take my word for it. Yay, little Henry Leo!

Them's the headlines - one day I will post a real update, but right now I am jetlagged and snowed under with deadlines for the new job at www.going.com. Later!

Seriously....

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 19:16:33 GMT

The next person who tells me that Burning Man "cannot be described, only experienced" is gonna get punched in the mouth.

Do You Know How to Pony?

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 20:15:03 GMT

Patti Smith is playing for free on Thursday at the Santa Monica Pier. I, for one, hope she opens with "Redondo Beach."

http://losangeles.going.com/event-160041

Riot on Sunset Strip

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 22:00:07 GMT

I always knew the internet had a purpose, and here it is: to bring me my favorite LSD Interpretive Dance Sequence from the AIP classic, "Riot on Sunset Strip."

Go Mimsy, go!

And Don't Forget to Wiggle Your Toes

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 19:39:26 GMT

You can thank Frank 151 for bringing this month's little-known holidays to our collective attention. I kinda wish my birthday fell on National Cherry Popsicle Day but, close enough.

"Weird August

Today is August 1st, marking the beginning of a month chock-full of special, fun, and mostly irrelevant holidays. The year is full of them, but in our busy lives we rarely get to participate because we aren’t aware they are taking place! Imagine how many “Play God Days” (January 9th, fyi) and “Child Labor Days” (January 31st) have gone and passed all the fun you could have had with them. Did you thank your exterminator on Ratcatcher’s Day (July 22nd)? We didn’t think so, and who knows what he’s been doing in retalliation. A lot of them have access to master keys. We’re gonna help you out. Here is a list of all those wonderful days for August. You can thank us by having a great National Eye Exam month.

August 1 is Friendship Day and National Raspberry Cream Pie Day
August 2 is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day
August 3 is National Watermelon Day
August 4 is Twins Day Festival
August 5 is National Mustard Day
August 6 is Wiggle Your Toes Day
August 7 is Sea Serpent Day
August 8 is Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Night
August 9 is National Polka Festival
August 10 is LazyDay
August 11 is Presidential Joke Day
August 12 is Middle Child’s Day
August 13 is Blame Someone Else Day
August 14 is National Creamsicle Day
August 15 is National Relaxation Day and National Failures Day
August 16 is Bratwurst Festival
August 17 is National Thriftshop Day
August 18 is Bad Poetry Day
August 19 is Potato Day
August 20 is National Radio Day
August 21 is National Spumoni Day
August 22 is Be An Angel Day
August 23 is National Spongecake Day
August 24 is Knife Day
August 25 is Kiss-And-Make-Up Day
August 26 is National Cherry Popsicle Day
August 27 is Petroleum Day
August 28 is World Sauntering Day
August 29 is More Herbs, Less Salt Day
August 30 is National Toasted Marshmallow Day
August 31 is National Trail Mix Day

DON’T FORGET THE ZUCCHINIS FOR THE 8th!"

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 00:35:54 GMT

Your Score: Lion Warning Cat

54% Affectionate, 53% Excitable, 35% Hungry

You are the good Samaritan of the lolcat world. Protecting others from danger by shouting observations and guidance in cases of imminent threat, you believe in the well-being of everyone.

To see all possible results, checka dis.

Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Dances with Films

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 08:51:04 GMT

Hello,

Yes it is the absolute last minute, but if you are in LA tomorrow and have nothing to do at 5pm, GUITAR PLAYERS GIRLFRIEND is playing at the Laemmle Sunset 5:

Monday / July 9th, 2007 / 5:00pm
Dances With Films - Fusion Shorts GR 1 ( buy tickets)

Sunset 5
8000 Sunset Blvd. (@ Crescent Heights)
West Hollywood, CA 90046

It's part of DANCES WITH FILMS, which got a nice write up in this weeks LA Weekly, actually:

LA WEEKLY
Dances With Films

By Scott Foundas
Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - 6:00 pm
When it began in 1998, Dances With Films felt like a suicidal novelty act — a film festival devoted to movies lacking so much as a single recognizable name in the credits, held in a city where celebrity is the highest form of culture. Attendance was spotty in those early years, dependant on how many family members and friends the selected filmmakers could recruit for their screenings. But under the stewardship of its indefatigable co-founder Leslee Scallon, Dances With Films has stayed the course. Now, as it closes out its first decade amid the major studios’ rapid colonization of the indie-film landscape, the festival feels more vital than ever. Here you won’t find any high-concept “calling card” movies made by schmoozy film-school grads lusting after a studio deal, or Oscar-baiting vanity projects in which some has-been matinee idol goes angling for “artistic credibility,” or anything starring a member of the Arquette, Tilly or Wilson clans. Instead, you will find more genuinely encouraging vital signs from the American independent film movement than could be detected in all of Park City this past January.

How about them apples.

Anyway, the screening time is kind of sucky but if you want to join us afterwards, We'll be at some bar around the corner celebrating so feel free to swing by.

MISS FANCY PANTS WENT TO FRANCE

Sun, 27 May 2007 02:26:54 GMT

Bonjour! I have returned! You didn't even know I was away, did you? Well, guess where I was?

That's right, fuckers! CANNES! FILM FESTIVAL! And it was as awesome as you think it was! Two things in particular are awesome:

1) I sold one of my shorts to a company that is distributing mobile content. (Licensed, actually, in a non-exclusive worldwide deal - but somebody is paying me money for my movie, is the point. Not a lot of money, but hey, it's better than a kick in the eye and maybe we'll be famous in Uzbekistan).

2) I met Don "the Dragon" Wilson!

Pictures are up here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44124474075@N01/sets/72157600270484834/

It's truly amazing to get a glimpse of how utterly different the rest of the world is from the Hollywood film industry. Every European country has its own fully-funded film council that treats film like any other art, and what they are looking for is the polar opposite of the Hollywood film. I met filmmakers from Poland, producers from Hong Kong, people from all over. I danced the night away. And I even got to see a couple of movies (though none in the Lumiere theater, sadly - our market passes put us rather low on the totem pole for invitations). But all in all, it was an eye-opening experience, a dream come true, a professional triumph, a huge party - in short it was everything I hoped it would be and I hope I'm able to do it again next year.

If I had one disappointment, it was this: the coffee. What's with this trend of pressing instant nescafe into the cafe au laits now? My god that is some awful coffee. You know something is wrong when I'm sitting in a cafe on the Riviera and wishing I could find a Starbucks. Shape up, France!

LES Death Watch, part whatever

Fri, 11 May 2007 01:06:45 GMT

I hadn't expected such an impassioned response to the posting yesterday about the closing of Tonic (thanks, Dave). I guess it just goes to show that one person (or in this case, two) standing their ground and saying "we are not going to take it anymore" can inspire people around the world and perhaps turn a tide that seemed, up til this moment, inevitable.

If you are interested in following this story, check out Take it to the Bridge, where you will find news on their city hall press conference, and a petition to the city of New York to enact legislation to preserve NY's culture of music.

The wonder, as Rebecca Moore states in an open letter informed with a fine sense of outrage and irony, is not that they stood up, but that in a community so closely associated with resistance against the forces of real estate development, nobody said anything before:

...too many alternative art spaces have closed at this point, and they have closed too quietly, too complacently. It is time ALL small creative and community spaces came together to declare their collective power, and their value, to this city. New Yorkers simply cannot let real estate developers dictate the entire cultural landscape and fate of this special, historic place. We cannot let landlords tell us what music we will get to hear in our neighborhoods, what art (if any) will be placed in galleries down the block - - but that is exactly what is happening. This is not culture formed by "popular opinion" or by true market value: This is about developers running everything and everyone that is not wealthy out of this town.

Alan J. Gerson, City Council Representative for District 1, released the following statement:

The closing of Tonic is a call to action for all of us who have been fighting for the survival of creative New York, and a wake up call to those who have not yet engaged in what now amounts to an existential struggle for New York City’s identity in the face of the new global urban competitiveness. I challenge other elected officials to come to the table on the issue of public interventions to save artistic creation in NYC. The cultural value chain runs on a matrix from production to consumption and from low end to high end with intersecting vectors of non-profit and commercial contracts. Until we deal with this reality and create some market buffers, we will continue to suffer this “market failure” and we will have allowed the total collapse of what used to be a world-class professional circuit of venues...

More here.

Viva Los Cubanos Prostizos!

Thu, 10 May 2007 01:15:41 GMT

I haven't been keeping up with my NYC club closings as of late but this made me smile:

After Tonic, a plea to aid music scene
BY JUSTIN ROCKET SILVERMAN
April 18, 2007

"Ribot and another musician were arrested at a demonstration Saturday at the 9-year-old Tonic on Norfolk Street when they refused to stop playing and vacate the stage. The club had officially closed the night before, and workers were dismantling the stage as Ribot played."

Ok well, they didn't mention the other musician was the awesome Rebecca Moore, but still. Check out Ribot's wonderfully articulate interview in NY Magazine, too:

So do you see a future Tonic as subsidized or even city-owned?
A lot of musicians are basically libertarian in their outlook and opposed to subsidies. The irony is, though, that the golden era of private club ownership was subsidized in a half-dozen ways. For example, CBGB existed in the context of stabilized rents, and the record labels that — imagine — used to invest in less-commercial acts to improve their reputation. These subsidies are now drying up. I couldn't afford to do any of my bands just in New York. The real venue for jazz and experimental music is European touring, where rooms are provided rent-free by the city or region... We have to ask why the community is in crisis structurally.

Why is it?
The discrepancy in funding for different forms of music in the city. Why does the Lincoln Center get $75 million for renovation? The opera is not New York's contribution to the world culture. CBGB, and Tonic, is. If Europeans want to hear Mozart, there are great orchestras in Salzburg and Vienna. But, on any given night, New York jazz and avant-garde musicians are playing in every city in the world. This is important economically. It's a major factor in tourism. People come to New York to hear these musicians in their natural habitat. There needs to be that habitat.

It looks like CB's, the Cocteau Theater and the wonderful alt.coffee are all gone, as well. So sad - especially about our friends at alt.coffee who took such good care of us when we were shooting up the street at Accidental CDs (which is also gone). Manhattan continues its slow march toward becoming a pedestrian park for lawyers. I hope all those sterile "investment properties" are worth living in when there's no culture left.

Guitar Players Girlfriend at Silverlake Film Festival

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 07:28:29 GMT

Hello my internetty friends,

Sorry to have been out of touch for so long - so much is going on that by the time I get to thinking "you know I should mention that on my blog," three more things have happened and Charlie's already posted the pictures and I'm like "fuck it, I'll get to it later" as I sink, muttering, under a pile of press kits and postcards. But among the most pressing things I have to communicate to the world, is the following:

Good news! "Guitar Players Girlfriend" got into the Silverlake Festival!

"THE GUITAR PLAYERS GIRLFRIEND"
Mon, May 7 2007 10:00 pm The Los Feliz 3 The Los Feliz 3- Theatre 1

Those of you who are in LA and so inclined can BUY TICKETS at Withoutabox.com.

Now, I go back under my pile. Assuming I am not suffocated by promotional materials, I hope to see you there.

xx's and oo's,
J

And I'm not here, either

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:53:46 GMT

It's funny, I've been filing Canadian tax info on this production since January and because David Cross was in it, I thought it was a comedy.

Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There," due out in 2007.

She Seeks Revenge

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 23:13:07 GMT

Am I the ONLY person on earth who didn't know about The SXSW Grindhouse Trailer Contest?

Seriously, you people are ALL FIRED.

This Heart's on Fire

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 01:15:02 GMT

works for me

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 20:33:53 GMT

In 2007, janet_harvey resolves to...

Cut down on my weightlifting.
Backup my psychotronic regularly.
Tell my family about spaghetti westerns.
Find a new subculture.
Connect with my inner dculver.
Spend more time with my comic books.

Hello, 2007

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:17:15 GMT

Well, we didn't make it into Sundance. Word has it that GIRLFRIEND was among the last 120 finalists, and one of the programmers really went to bat for us, which is gratifying. And honestly, even with winning the no-prize and all, its better than I had hoped for, expecially considering it was the temp sound mix we screened with at the DGA.

Now, after much sweat and blood, the surround mix is final and sounds fantastic. We're pressing copies and sending them out to festivals - Seattle, LA Film Fest, Silverlake and Tribeca are next, I believe.

Finishing GRAVITY is next on the hit parade, and this week I am taking a run at a first draft for the next feature script. We'll see how that goes.

Paul Schrader says he started out writing TAXI DRIVER about a man who was doomed by loneliness, and as he went along, he found out he was writing about something far more interesting: a man who continually doomed HIMSELF to loneliness. Always oscillating between polar impulses - puritanism and porn, saying "I gotta get healthy" while pouring peach brandy on his corn flakes - Travis' actions pretty much guarantee he'll continue hating himself until his alienation reaches its bloody apotheosis.

Cool beans.

Anyway I'm beginning to think - hoping, really - that something similar is happening with my script. As this character becomes more solid in my mind I'm discovering she's on the merry go round because if she gets off, she has to deal with life - and that's much more scary.

Anyway. I don't know if I'm making sense anymore but its good to be writing again. I've missed it. A lot. And I plan to be doing a lot more of it in the coming year.

I suppose this is the part where I insert something reflective about how far I've come in the last year, and say something hopeful about the future, isn't it? I feel like I should but there isn't any fucking time to reflect. I hope that's a good thing!

Happy New Year everybody.

Sun, 24 Dec 2006 00:05:55 GMT