The award-winning piece from The Walrus “Samson and Delilah,” by Jonathan Goldstein. October 2004. Or, if reading makes you carsick, just listen to the similarly named Wiretap episode.
John Hodgman’s piece “Hello, I’m Famous,” in GQ. Or, if reading makes you carsick, you can just listen to it on This American Life.
K. Bye.
Here are a couple Howard Chackowicz interviews. This one is quite recent, covering the release party of Howie Action Comix, feat. performances by Nutsak and Bug-eyed Monster (both with Howard on the drums).
First, he talks about his first collection of comics, which featured the now-retired autobiographical “Howie”:
“I can’t do Howie-the-fat-kid anymore,” announces the artist from across the table of his Fairmont Street kitchen, while an impressive array of Ray Harryhausen models stare out from their shelf behind his head. “In the past, when I drew [those comix], I used to find them very funny… my childhood was a source of endless comedy for me for an entire decade. ‘Howie’ is autobiographical – he’s naked, he’s impossibly huge, and he’s the ultimate victim of cruelty, and all he wants to be is good, and to be loved.”
He goes on to say this:
“I love life,” says Chackowicz, by way of clarification. “I think life – trees, birds, people, all that shit – is wonderful, but… I feel like the whole world’s on fire, and we’re all part of it.
[...]
In life, all I give a fuck about is being a good person, and I feel like the angry stuff in the art is an extension of my trying to be a good person.”
Much different sentiment then the lyrics in “I Hate Everything.”
Snubdom.com features a bit more darker-toned interview from 2001. Here are some tidbits:
The reason why I have a hard time doing stuff is because… I do a lot of drawings, I have boxes of sketches & half-finished comics, but I think the thing is… in my life, growing up the way I did there was a lot of underlying pressure to be liked & do something that would make me popular & be a well known artist doing comix & painting. I was born in Chomedy, Laval. My mom’s still here but everybody else moved out of Montreal. The thing with me, which relates to why I don’t “push my career” as much as I should, is that on my 17th birthday I got cancer & shit. I even published a biographical story in Real Stuff about it called “My New York Ball.” I had testicular cancer, I lost a ball. When you turn 17 & you lose a ball, there goes your fucken masculinity & chance of getting laid. Especially when the teacher announces it to the school, the fucken cunt.
Other than that downer, the article notes that Howard:
There’s also a bit of discussion about cocaine use and bukakke. Check it out.
Times-Colonist recently ran an article on Jonathan Goldstein and the Genesis of Wiretap.
The article describes Goldstein’s arc as this:
The piece notes some of the reactions to the show, mostly people not knowing if its real or not and then calling and emailing and complaining, and then this:
For the most part, however, Goldstein doesn’t know what people think of WireTap. He works long hours, stitching together every second of every show, and rarely has opportunity to socialize or meet listeners.
They also reference episodes “The New Josh” and the Howard Chackowicz interview with Paul Tough from the episode “Canadian Content” :
But there’s a downside to broadcasting conversations that sound real: Some listeners think they are real. Howard Chackowicz, another contributor, recalls an episode in which he interviewed a writer.
He began with a ridiculous question – “When I write, my hand really aches a lot. Do you use an ergonomic pen?” – and things quickly went downhill from there.
“We got e-mails from people complaining that the standards of the CBC had degraded beyond repair,” says Chackowicz.
But most exciting is this:
Biblical tales still fascinate Goldstein. His new book, out next spring, contains his take on the lives of Old Testament figures. In the Bible, Jonathan Goldstein Edition, the narratives remain intact but are infused with jokes and a modern sensibility. “I try to imagine what it was like for them,” he says, “and then I impose my own neuroses on them.”
Oh man I’ve been searching for this nonexistent book for years. All I’ve ever found on Amazon.com was this II Macabees (Anchor Bible) by Jonathan A. Goldstein (our heroes’ middle initial is “S”). I hope it won’t be disappointing that I’ve heard a vast majority of the stories already on Wiretap and This American Life.
Anyway, I had more to this post but it was tragically lost due to technical difficulties. Read the article yourself for more info.
Sorry for the recent rash of O’Neill related posts, but I just finished the book and well, there’s a lot out there. She recently read at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival and they provided a couple links on her bio:
The Christchurch City Libraries Blog also has an account of the event.
Howard does comics. Check it @ conundrumpress.com:
At the Web site, right before you buy it (which you should) you get to see two blurbs from two of his good friends:
“Imagine little old men making swans out of tin foil paper during lunch hour at the factory — Chackowicz’s art captures the same sense of longing for freedom and expression despite the corruption and horror that is everyday life.”
— Heather O’Neill, author of Lullabies for Little Criminals
“Chackowicz’s great trick is making us think that he has merely drawn us comics and cartoons both surreal and laugh-out-loud hilarious, but at a closer glance we can see that he has also here crafted honest-to-God poems — lyrical works of poignancy and depth. His art is unexpectedly wistful and warm-heartedly wise.”
— Jonathan Goldstein, Host of CBC’s “Wiretap” and author of Lenny Bruce is Dead
Listen to Wiretap Now!
