Author Archives: Jarett Kobek
Teen-Age Love #61 (1968): Meet Jonnie L♥ve and the Hippies
Having received a cache of Psychedelic Romance Comics, a sub-genre that I appear to be inventing, I thought I’d post the best of the new acquisitions– Teen-Age Love #61: I don’t have a lot to say about this story; its … Continue reading
Your Mission is a Failure, Your Lifestyle's Too Extreme: 5124 De Longpre Ave
5124 De Longpre Avenue, Los Angeles, California, United States of America, North American Continent, Planet Earth, System Sol: one-time residence of Charles Bukowski. Now an Historic Landmark and now occupied after a long vacancy. Incidentally, this is located about 5 … Continue reading
hollywood center motel
Plus, a repeat visit with the God of Medicine, now tagged:
Ask the Dust (1939) by John Fante
John Fante is oft considered the real deal, a Los Angeles writer of genuine talent; as far as I can tell, this reputation is based entirely on the word of one man– Chuckie Bukowski– and one novel, Ask the Dust, … Continue reading
old favorites + new joys
This post is long overdue. I first mentioned my copy of Herzog way back on June 7th, 2007, in this blog’s second week of existence. Less than two years but feels like an eternity. I’m still buying cheap books from … Continue reading
a new coercive technique: storyboarding
I see this guy nearly every time I’m at the Starbucks at Hollywood & Western, churning out screenplays on an old electric typewriter. Normally I wouldn’t photograph him– and never have– but this encounter amazed me. He was hand drawing … Continue reading
4647 Kingswell Ave, Los Angeles, California
From the Los Feliz Ledger, “The ‘Happiest Place on Earth’ started on Kingswell,” by Jean Luc Renault, Community News, February 2008: LOS FELIZ—When Extra Copy on Kingswell Avenue opened in 1994, the staff knew nothing about the small storefront’s unique … Continue reading
Secret Romance #48 (1980)
Okay, I own it, so why not? Here we go– Secret Romance #48, a true relic. According to Dan Stevenson’s invaluable list of romance comics, after Secret Romance #48, the last of its series, only about ten more individual issues … Continue reading
Love Diary #99 (1976)
After my last two posts on the topic of counterculture bleed into Romance Comics, and my broad assertions as to the slow death of the genre at Charlton, I thought it might behoove me to post an example of how … Continue reading
For Lovers Only #61: In Search of Love (1971)
After my last post, wherein I rambled about the slow bleed of counterculture imagery into Romance Comics, I thought it might behoove me to post an example. I’ve chosen a story from my own modest collection– Charlton’s For Lovers Only … Continue reading
Heart Throbs #92: The Nights That Never Ended (1964)
If 20th Century narrative taught us anything, it’s that people’s respectable facades are lies constructed to hide a bitter core of resentment, malice and disquieting interests. And hey, I’m no diff– I got my own weird kicks, and the one … Continue reading
god hates us all: the owl ship lands in hollywood
Pictures of what I assume is the US premiere of Watchmen at Grauman’s Chinese. This is the second time that I’ve been in the presence of the movie’s big stupid prop Owl Ship. My first time was at the San … Continue reading
february coming fire: looking down sunset, wondering what day it ain't
2/24/09: We still all want our time in Hell.
where big bela lugosi bit it
5260 Harold Way, off Western, between Hollywood & Sunset. Where Bela Lugosi died. Proof that you see the same places on the way down.
in hopes of days brighter
The touristy picture par excellence. But it is where we live.
The Hill of Dreams by Arthur Machen
Like any feller under the influence & sway of our main man Howard P. Lovecraft, I’ve had my Arthur Machen phases– one in the mid 90s, one in early 00s– and though I remembered his work fondly, esp. that amusing … Continue reading
country blues: a visit to the huntington of lovely pasadena, california
The Wrestler (2008)
The most philosophically evil film of our time. A post-TMZ, post-Perez, post-Reality TV hand-held dialectic in which the argument is not about the virtue of seeking fame, but rather the absolute necessity of recapturing it at any cost. Replete with … Continue reading
kicking it with The King
Kicking it with The King of mid-century American Illustration. Covers by Robert McGinnis, a man who dominated an entirely unique type of smut.
A Visit to the Connecticut Book Barn in December 2008
The Book Barn is one of the best bookstores in America– but bookstore seems a misuse of terms. It is a small farm given over entirely to the distribution of books, with each of its several buildings thematized according to … Continue reading
last night I was about to throw it all away
January 10th, 2009. Looking West Hollywood-ishy. From the porch-thing of LACMA Broad Contemporary.
a well regulated militia (bang bang shoot shoot)
Return to the Getty Villa, January 2009
It had been over a year. Look at the difference in image quality. Different camera, hacked firmware.
2008: yonder comes sin
Seriously, what the fuck? What a weird year. And now I’m sick.