Tomato Can Blues
September 19, 2013 7:44 PM Subscribe
This is the story of Charlie Rowan, an undistinguished cage-fighter who faked his own death to start his life anew. What could go wrong?
I don't know, but it's very cool.
This FPP is an interesting bookend to this one, since the latter presumes that you're going to actually plan out how to make it work, not, you know, hang around your small town for weeks after your "death" and then pull off a robbery in a half-assed Batman costume.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:31 PM on September 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
This FPP is an interesting bookend to this one, since the latter presumes that you're going to actually plan out how to make it work, not, you know, hang around your small town for weeks after your "death" and then pull off a robbery in a half-assed Batman costume.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:31 PM on September 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
The writer and artist did a very good job with what isn't actually too much of a story.
posted by not that girl at 9:01 PM on September 19, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by not that girl at 9:01 PM on September 19, 2013 [3 favorites]
Though it's always interesting to read an outsider's evocative descriptions of your home. The writer made it sound like cage fighting is, like, the state sport. "The crude violence and underground feel of cage fighting draw lusty cheers across the state." Yes, indeed. At the elementary school my youngest attends, they do Junior Cage Fighting in PE, right between cup-stacking and the Mileage Club, where they get liitle foot-shaped tokens for walking on their lunch break.
posted by not that girl at 9:04 PM on September 19, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by not that girl at 9:04 PM on September 19, 2013 [4 favorites]
I tried to read that story and couldn't relate. I am reminded of how lucky I am in May respects and how little I understand of the world .
posted by dfriedman at 9:06 PM on September 19, 2013
posted by dfriedman at 9:06 PM on September 19, 2013
Fascinating story, but did anyone else find the NYT article a bit overwritten and hackneyed?
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:23 PM on September 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:23 PM on September 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
No, I did not. It was a decent example of feature/magazine writing. (The biggest problem was, as mentioned, that the basic story was a bit thin -- it only had a single M. Night Shyamalan-sized twist.)
The writer made it sound like cage fighting is, like, the state sport.
The legal status of the sport varies widely across the country. It does sound like the sport survives underground most places, but in Michigan in particular, it's completely legal and above board. The aforementioned death has led to more state regulation, something that hasn't even hit the radar in my state.
posted by dhartung at 11:37 PM on September 19, 2013
The writer made it sound like cage fighting is, like, the state sport.
The legal status of the sport varies widely across the country. It does sound like the sport survives underground most places, but in Michigan in particular, it's completely legal and above board. The aforementioned death has led to more state regulation, something that hasn't even hit the radar in my state.
posted by dhartung at 11:37 PM on September 19, 2013
@Saxon Kane
Yes at least one other person (aside from you and me) had a problem with the writing.
posted by surplus at 11:40 PM on September 19, 2013
Yes at least one other person (aside from you and me) had a problem with the writing.
posted by surplus at 11:40 PM on September 19, 2013
It was meant to be pulpy. How did you miss that? The motion comic art?
posted by converge at 1:13 AM on September 20, 2013
posted by converge at 1:13 AM on September 20, 2013
Well, it may be some flashy writing, but the Times piece is certainly more entertaining than Vice's. And Palahniuk suddenly feels like a visionary...
I work with an amateur MMA guy and have known quite a few folks, male and female, who've been in and out of the ring. They're all great people and it makes you think about why someone would jump into this dangerous sport. I see it as the cousin to working in porn.
You won't make a lot of money, but you will get to do something you really enjoy that's generally frowned upon by society. You can't do it forever. It's only for the young (in any real sense). It's best with some actual showmanship. The amateur version is taking over the professional world.
Now that we have fighting and fucking covered what do we do for fleeing? Oh right, COP SHOWS.
posted by artof.mulata at 4:27 AM on September 20, 2013
I work with an amateur MMA guy and have known quite a few folks, male and female, who've been in and out of the ring. They're all great people and it makes you think about why someone would jump into this dangerous sport. I see it as the cousin to working in porn.
You won't make a lot of money, but you will get to do something you really enjoy that's generally frowned upon by society. You can't do it forever. It's only for the young (in any real sense). It's best with some actual showmanship. The amateur version is taking over the professional world.
Now that we have fighting and fucking covered what do we do for fleeing? Oh right, COP SHOWS.
posted by artof.mulata at 4:27 AM on September 20, 2013
clever integration of illustrations and parallax slider effects. tho its kind of distracting from the article, since all i was doing was scrolling up and down to make stuff move. and i guess by the last 2 images they ran outta html5 steam.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 5:59 AM on September 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by fuzzypantalones at 5:59 AM on September 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
It can be pulpy and still not crappy.
posted by Saxon Kane at 6:38 AM on September 20, 2013
posted by Saxon Kane at 6:38 AM on September 20, 2013
Loved the audio version... killer presentation on the iPhone....
posted by ph00dz at 9:08 AM on September 20, 2013
posted by ph00dz at 9:08 AM on September 20, 2013
This made for interesting reading. Who the hell thinks they can blithely declare themselves dead and not worry about the impact on their family?
posted by arcticseal at 2:20 AM on September 21, 2013
posted by arcticseal at 2:20 AM on September 21, 2013
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posted by yohko at 8:10 PM on September 19, 2013