Back in 2002, director Darren Aronofsky was filming the follow-up to his heartwarming Requiem For A Dream when the Hollywood suits holding the pursestrings began getting nervous about their investment and pulled the plug. Not to be deterred, Aronofsky rejigged the story into what he describes as “a lean, mean, indie film”, and The Fountain, starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, will be hitting theatres next year – the teaser trailer was recently unveiled and damn if it doesn’t look intriguing. It follows three parallel tales set in the past, present and future revolving around the same couple (in incarnations thereof) and matters of life, death, immortality, etc etc. For more info, check out the following interviews – Suicide Girls visited Aronofsky on the set of The Fountain and Ari Handel, the co-screenwriter of the film, in May.

But if you happen to see this hardcover graphic novel of The Fountain by Aronofsky and Kent Williams, don’t go thinking it’s an adapataion – as Aronofsky tells Newsarama and Vertigo: On The Ledge, even though he had to re-envision his original story to get it onto the screen, he didn’t just toss it aside. Instead, he’s converted it into a 176-page graphic novel which went on sale a couple of weeks ago. He likens the film and the graphic novel as distinct, yet related – like siblings. You can see a PDF preview of the graphic novel here, and not surprisingly, it looks gorgeous. I’d forgotten how good a painter Kent Williams is. The hardcover is a little pricey, so I’m hoping that it gets a softcover release sometime… maybe around whenever the film version comes out. Either way, I’d like to read it.

And on the topic of comics, Image has a very interesting item in their February solicitations – Put The Book Back On The Shelf: A Belle & Sebastian Anthology. In it, a plethora of indie comics luminaries like Laurenn McCubbin, Ande Parks, Chris Samnee, Jamie S Rich, Mark Richetts, Leann Buckley, Rick Spears, Rob G, and Andi Watson create stories based on Belle & Sebastian songs. Could be great, could be awful (like the cover art), but it’ll surely be different. The 132-page collection will have a cover price of $19.99 and be out on February 1, just a week before The Life Pursuit hits stores.

Also keeping February twee, Vancouver’s Young & Sexy will release their third album, Panic When You Find It, on February 14 courtesy of Mint Records. There’s a new song, “The Curious Organ”, streaming on their MySpace page.

Also on Valentine’s Day – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club return to town for a show at the Phoenix with Scottish electonicisit MYLO, and proving that multi-night stands are the new black, Metric have added a second show at the Kool Haus on February 25.

The Toronto Star talks to Mark Gardener about starting his solo career nearly ten years after the end of Ride. Gardener is at Lee’s Palace on December 7. I would have written this one up for my Torontoist week in shows this week, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to put that in mothballs for the forseeable future, or at the very least scale it back. I barely have time to stay on top of this site, let alone deal with extra-cirricular activities. Maybe things will ease up in the future and I’ll be able to get back to it, but no promises. Instead, in the off chance that anyone actually used that thing to plan their evenings, I direct you to the Zoilus Gig Guide, from whence I got much of my information anyway.

Harp profiles Laura Veirs and So Much Silence has converted her recent KCRW appearance into MP3s.

Coolfer wonders out loud, “why cover songs”? Easy – so I have something to post every week.

Traveler’s Diagram has posted his year-end list. Mine now has an ETA of about two weeks, give or take. Wheels are in motion. Games are afoot. The magpie flies at midnight. Caw, caw.

And finally, anyone keeping a candle lit for a Smiths reunion… read this, and forget about it.

np – Bluescreen / A Survival Guide To Mishaps And Losses