T Campbell's Blog

What I've been doing when NOT doing comics stuff...

Wednesday was tiring but fun. We spent the day getting Daddy's old advertising work out of his old agency and into storage or into his new home office.

There was a bit of a sad moment when we came upon a 1995 poster he did for the World Trade Center.

We left that one behind.

My favorite piece of his: a poster called "Water Lilies," advertising a Claude Monet showing in the area. It shows Monet's Lilies painting from behind, mounted on an easel, and being reviewed and enjoyed by four frogs (actual frogs, not cartoon walking frogs).

Apparently Daddy has a thing for Monet, because he worked up two faux Monets in time for a special "forgery showing" that opened tonight. A Salvador Dali impersonator announced the winners, and Daddy was clearly in his element in this artist's clique. He's always been a cheerful, easygoing guy but I don't know if I've ever seen him so happy.

Also, saw King Kong today with little brother. Good stuff. He and I quibbled over how long it *felt* like but agreed the time was well spent... and we hope Jack Black goes on to great things from here: his performance was spectacular. So was Naomi's and Andy Serkis'. Adrien Brody seemed a bit lost at times but came through nicely in the final act.

Entertainment Weekly calls Peter Jackson "the new Steven Spielberg." I like that because Jackson has the guts to do what the Spielberg of old never would: make dizzying adventures with a tragic edge. Big-budget Hollywood traditionally shies from tragedy, but Jackson doesn't. For all the triumph of good over evil in Lord of the Rings, Frodo's post-traumatic stress syndrome is what stays with me about the ending: his innocence is lost and he'll never get it back. And Kong, well, almost everyone knows how it ends.