My Weird Love Affair With Moleskine Journals

Sorry about the absence.  Life kinda got in the way.  Don't worry, I'll be back on my usual tangent of comic books, booze, and movies shortly.  But in the meantime, I'd like to talk about something different.

I like to draw, and when I came back to the hobby around 2008 after a five year hiatus or so, I wanted something different that I could carry around, but not be bulky.  The regular sketchbooks that I would purchase from Target were little more than large, spiral notebook bound piles of almost cardstock, which had the nasty habit of not just smudging, but showing deep lines from where the previous drawing had stood.  It looked awkward, and rather ugly to boot.  Plus, like spiral notebooks tend to do, they would fall apart if they took too much abuse, which mine did while in a backpack.

I discovered the larger, bound sketchbooks over at Barnes and Noble not long after, and found them to be rather spiffy.  They were bound, first off, and didn't have that tenancy to fall to shit after some abuse.  They also had a rather nice quality paper inside, almost like Bristol, that erased well unless you were using some really dark leads.  Plus, they scanned well, which is nice, and they were sturdy for the events when I was doing a life draw, and didn't have a flat surface.  Only one problem:  these were rather massive beasts, and were a bit too large to have around for everyday carrying purposes.

It was at Barnes and Noble, when I was debating about purchasing yet another of the latter sketchbooks when I noticed a display proudly showing off the entire selection of Moleskine journals.  Whether it was due to me really being in need of a solution, or more than likely due to me not having anything else better to do then quest for sketching mediums, I headed over to check them out.

For those not in the know, this was what your basic Moleskine consists of:

It's nothing really special.  It's sixty pages of thin paper, sewed at the spine between two slightly larger pieces of board, usually black, although red, navy, and tan editions also exist.  They also come in different forms, like planners, small sketchbooks, and city guides.  But those are unimportant to the purpose of this blog post.  What I'm speaking of are the journals, which come lined, in a grid, or plain.  And I was excited as all hell when I found the plain.  And I never looked back, and and pleased as punch to say that I now have a stack of completed Moleskines in my studio, all filled to the brim with my mediocre art.

So what is it about these rather remarkable unremarkable sketchbooks that make me giddy?  It's probably because they are just so simply and unassuming, which makes them all the more flexible for one to do what they will to make them each a unique and individual piece.  Aside from the individual art inside, which is as different due to simple time and improvement, the exteriors are usually pimped out with all matter of stickers and assorted items that I encounter in my journeys.  Each sketchbook is a kind of snapshot, a peek into what was in my head, and where I was at the time.  And these sketchbooks are a cool medium to do that.

Granted, they do have their downsides.  They aren't nearly as durable as the other big beasts from Barnes and Noble, both in terms of their build and their paper.  They can't survive an overeager five year old, as I also discovered.  But they are really cool journals, and are more than versatile enough to tag along with me, no matter where I go.  And in the end, that's what matters.

Battle Royale As A Show Would Work Rather Well

Well, the news coming from the weekend was that the CW was in talks about turning Battle Royale into a television series.  While there are questions as far as to just how true to the original novel that the CW would stay, or even if they know what the book is about, turning Battle Royale into a TV series rather than a movie actually would be much more effective medium of translating the book into a visual presentation of the subject matter.  Here's why:

Allows For Fully Fleshed Narrative

The original book, Battle Royale, is not a small book by any means.  It's a rather large and detailed tome that covers the horror and depths of the central characters, and the wider world of the island, within it's handsome red cover.  And while the original narrative has been covered twice in both the movie and in it's subsequent manga, the movie, despite it's attempt to cover almost all of the main events that take place within the book, does have to cut corners.  As Stephen King once said about his truncated version of The Stand, and I'm paraphrasing this from memory, it's like a classic car, but with the paint and chrome sanded off.  It goes somewhere, but it isn't, you know, boss!  And that's how I felt about Battle Royale: The Movie.  The basic narrative of the story is there, with it's highlights, but a lot of the other little details that help develop the book, and allow for what I believe is a more enjoyable experience are missing.  A TV series, while lower budget, does allow for a fantastic medium from which to tell a story.

My favorite show at the moment, Breaking Bad, while blessed with excellent writing, wonderful characters, and great visuals, would still be an incredible movie.  However, it would also not nearly be the gripping thrill ride that I experience week to week if everything was forced to be condensed into a three hour flick.  And while this isn't a bashing of movies by any means, it is an admission that movies, while wonderful, are limited in terms of how much they are allowed to bring out and flesh out their subject material.

Allows For Focus On All Characters

Another great feature of the Battle Royale novel is that every student in the doomed class is given their own moment in the sun, whether it is their own portion of a chapter, or enough of a mention in the narrative that you do get at least a small piece of the person's essence, just enough for you to feel a slight twinge of pain or slight amusement whenever you see or feel that person die in the novel.  And while each and every student is shown whenever they've assumed their end in the film, you don't get that sort of emotional experience that you get in the book.  In the end, they're simply just mindless numbers.

However, in a television series, you would not only be able to show more than just mindless death, but also genuinely get to know each person, get the gist of each student in the class, and be able to mourn and honestly feel an emotional attachment to the characters that we see on screen.  But this doesn't just extend to the characters that are involved in what is called "The Program" in the novel, but also those who are in charge of the event.  From the average soldier that is charged with simply guarding the main fortress, to the parent who has suddenly realized that they will likely never see their child again, to the average man on the street, a television series would be able to weave each of the elements into the semi-voyueristic nature of Battle Royale, allowing for not just great story telling, but also a great way of advancing a narrative.

Allows For Exploration Of Entire Battle Royale Universe

The manga is even more expansive than the novel, with a great deal of original content covering both the characters backstories, as well as the wider world outside of the Program.  It makes for a richer piece of story telling, and allows for the creation of newer characters that don't have a stake in the actual program per se, but could in the future, whether they are in favor or opposed to the purpose of the Program itself.

Going back to Breaking Bad for a moment, the center of the show's universe is essentially the adventures of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman as the two attempt to survive their very dark world of meth cooking.  However, the show is not purely about them, as it often takes detours exploring the other characters of the show, whether it is the struggles of loyal wife Skyler White, the personal vendetta of Gus Fring, the various misadventures of Jesse's fellow band of stooges, to the machinations of Mike The Cleaner and Saul Goodman.  It's more than just the two central characters.  It's the entire ensemble and the whole wide universe that makes the show what it is.  And turning Battle Royale into Battle Royale: The Series would give the narrative such a canvas from which to work.

Allows For Multiple Classes Over The Course of Several Seasons

Finally, what a television series allows is for a series of multiple classes that find themselves victims of the program.  This wouldn't be something along the lines of Saved By The Bell, where we are forced to watch a class over the course of six or seven seasons as the gradually whack each other, but we are instead treated to a single class each season, with the potential for a larger conspiracy that seeks to end the slaughter by the end of the show's run.  It's an absolutely fantastic plot element, and keeps the central theme of the show going, but without the loss of a advancing, overarching narrative that will eventually come to a head in the final seasons.  Overall, it's perfect.

In the end, it all depends on who is placed in charge of the show, how willing the CW is willing to embrace Battle Royale's beautiful chaotic core, and how willing they are to choose not to try and adapt it toward a teen or tween audience (as many of the CW's shows are).  If done right, Battle Royale could be an instant classic.  But that's still a big If.