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Arlo and Janis
This comic pisses me off whenever I read our newspaper. Out of all the comics I’ve read over the years, this one consistently makes me go “what the ****?” And it’s really a combination of a lot of things. Mostly storytelling failure. When you have only 4 panels to tell your story and have a joke in the end, you have to be as clear and concise as possible. But for some reason, Arlo and Janis always seem to be missing a vital clear clue to help you “get” the joke. Here, take a look at this recent one for example:
[IMG]http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i
Now read that and tell me what happened. I know NOW what the joke is, but I’m curious to see if you guys can get it too. I might hate how the camera in Get Fuzzy breaks the 180 rule all the time, but even then it’s never had an unclear joke. I can still follow it, even when odd things in the drawings occur. But not with Arlo and Janis.
Pokemon on the DS
I just recently beat the game and have finally figured out how to transfer my 495 pokemon from Leaf Green to the DS. Now I have EVERY GOD DAMN POKEMON on Leaf Green (action replay for the win). When you transfer from the GBA to the DS, you can’t go back, so it’s a one way ticket. Imagine my dismay then, when after I started transferring some of my best pokemon from the GBA game, I realized that the DS actually doesn’t have enough ROOM for all the pokemon in the storage banks. Now what kind of ****ed up logic is THAT? A game who’s logo is “Gotta Catch Them All” making it impossible to actually OWN all of them?
And to make matters worse, you can’t transfer pokemon that know an HM move. Why? Why can’t I transfer those? All your pokemon that you use while on your journey in Leaf Green have to have those HMs to make it though the game, and you can’t delete HM moves, so that means that you can’t transfer the pokemon that you actually CARE about. So should I transfer all the pokemon I can? Or should I not? I spent A LOT of time getting all 495+ for the GBA game and it’s nice to know “I have every one pokemon all in one cartridge.” But I can’t do that for the DS game... is it worth it?
So those are a couple of annoyances. Sometimes ya just gotta write these things out and get them out of your system.
In case you haven’t noticed, nearly all animated films for the theater are going 3-D. The next big ones Coraline, Monsters VS. Aliens, Pixar’s UP, and Astro Boy, are all taking the leap. Also, Pixar is going to be re-releasing Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3-D. I’ve even heard word that Disney is going to somehow release Beauty and the Beast in 3-D, though I am not sure how that’s going to work...
But the biggest news is that 3-D TV is already here, and you don’t need glasses. Apparently Phillips Electronics has already developed the first 3-D TV, although I still haven’t been able to figure out how it doesn’t require glasses. These TV’s are already on sale for $3,000. But as you know with most electronics that price is NEVER gonna stay that high. I wouldn’t be surprised if in 2 years we see a 3-D TV at Wal-Mart for under $300.
Even cooler, however, is that this special 3-D TV that Phillips has developed can turn any already 3-D source into 3-D images on the screen. In other words, say you hook up a Ps2 to your new TV, it can somehow read the date and generate a second image (2 different views are required for any 3-D effect to work) in real time and present the game in 3-D! How cool is THAT? That means that you can play any of your video game systems in 3-D without buying some special device to do it for you. Just plug and play!
Seriously I am excited for this stuff and I really wish I could see one of these 3-D TV’s in action. But what do you all think? How would you feel about having a 3-D TV?
PS:
On a side note, advancements in Holographic technology have taken a huge leap forward. Scientists have been able to create the first hologram that can re-write it’s data in under 2 minutes. That means a new 3-D image is displayed every 2 minutes. That might seem slow, but if they keep working on it, I’m sure they can bring that down to 1 minute, then 1 second, then 24 times per second... and soon we’ll have holographic TV displays too!
-A George Forman Grill
Specifically the kind that the grill comes out and is dishwasher safe, making cleaning a breeze. I have a George Forman grill, but it’s 6 years old and it’s crusty and gross and you can’t use soap to clean it. I like cooking meat, but the frying pan sets off the smoke alarms and in the oven takes forever.
-Rock Band 2 for Wii
I was thinking of Guitar Hero World Tour, but I think Rock Band has a much wider selection of music to choose from.
-Wii Games
—Wario Land: Shake It (cuz I love 2-D)
—Bully: Scholarship Edition
—Trauma Center: Under the Knife
—De Blob
—$50 Wii Points card for WiiWare and VC downloads
-A new External Hard Drive. Mine is only 30gigs, and of that 30 I have 2 left to use, and I need 1 to run my computer. So more memory is always welcome. Plus I don’t want my old hard drive to crash like my LAST External Hard Drive did... Damn Death Star...
-New “Indiana Jones” like hat. I wear a hat a lot and it’s how many people identify me. Last week my hat finally broke it’s rim and I almost lost my P-chan pin. I need a new hat.
-More Blue-Line Comic Paper. It’s expensive stuff... $24 for 24 sheets? Wow. But if I wanna make comics, I gotta work on the pro stuff.
-Renewal to Nintendo Power. Ok so I don’t really NEED this... but I like to feel secure that my subscription isn’t going to run out...
-A Tablet PC. Yeah I know I’m not gonna get THIS for a while. Costing well over $2,000 this is by far my most fantastical dream. Owning a Tablet PC would just be AWESOME... being able to draw RIGHT ON THE SCREEN would just make doing artwork so SO much easier. Especially if I wanted to do paintings.
-A Widescreen HD-TV. Again, don’t need, but would be nice to have eventually... especially as everything is going HD anyway.
-A Widescreen monitor for my computer. I had one, but as we all know, it died about 2 weeks ago just a few days past it’s warranty. I have a replacement, but it’s not widescreen and it’s a tube, so the quality is a little lacking. I miss having my wide screen monitor.
-A Printer. I have a scanner/printer combo that I’ve had since 2000. It’s worked fine till about a year ago. Then the printer started crinkling up the paper as it took it in. Now it doesn’t print at all. For someone who’s always making new artwork on the computer, not being able to print it out and have a version I can take around to conventions and stuff is quite the handicap.
-A LARGE scanner. I know there are scanners larger than 8x11. I need one that can scan in one of my blue-line comic pages. Something large enough to scan in 15x20. That would be ideal. Because right now I have to scan my blue-line artwork in parts and stitch them together.
-Some Comics
— The rest of Ranma ½. I’d really like to get this before they go out of print.
— Some Batman or Superman or something. I don’t know really, so that’s kinda hit or miss.
So there are a few things I wish I could get this Christmas. It ain’t gonna happen, but it’s nice to have a list I can refer back to when I have some extra money. Sigh....
I saw the trailer for this movie during Wall-E and have wanted to see it for a long time. I don’t watch TV, so I never saw any previews for it and always thought it was the next Pixar movie. Turns out I was wrong. It’s a Disney movie (kinda like Chicken Little) which kinda turned me down as their movies have kinda stunk lately. But it IS produced by John Lassetter of Pixar fame, so that made me curious again. Today we finally go to see it. In 3-D no less.
I have to say that the 3-D really made this movie a bit more special than if it were just 2-D. The first 5 minutes of crazy action really brought you into the movie with the depth the 3-D gave, but it was the emotional journey of the characters which made you completely forget it was 3-D and just enjoy it for what it was, a really good movie.
At times it kinda felt like a hodgepodge of various sources. The main female protagonist named “Penny” who has a special dog and fights an evil corporation who have evil cats? Hmm... kinda sounds like Inspector Gadget.
The notion that a film company is taking great lengths to keep a character deluded and not aware of the fact it’s all fake? Kinda sounds like The Truman Show.
A character who’s from a hit-TV show who’s totally into his role and doesn’t know that he’s not real? Kinda sounds like Buzz Lightyear.
A bunch of GodFather-like pigeons? The sad stray Alley Cat? Goodfeathers and Rita from Animaniacs.
But aside from the hodgepodges of other sources, this movie is still really enjoyable. It’s not crazy whiz-bang-in-your-face like so many other movies have been (including Disney’s own recent CG movies) and the characters develop nicely and it’s a joy to watch them all interact with each other. Bolt is especially cute to watch and you just feel so much sympathy for him towards the end when he thinks he’s lost the love of Penny.
There are some great character animations throughout the film, including an overzealous uncaring agent, a crazy enthusiastic geeky hamster in a ball, and a bunch of forgetful pigeons. The animation is really spot on, and sometimes you forget that you’re watching a cartoon, which is wonderful. While the story may not be 100% original, it was still very entertaining and enjoyable and definitely worth watching again.
I guess my only real gripe is that I won’t get to see this movie in 3-D on DVD. The glasses were fantastic in the theater, but I doubt they’d be as good at home. On a side note: I think 3-D animated films are going to be the next big thing. It seems like everything is going 3-D now. We saw 4 previews for upcoming animated films, and all of them were in 3-D. It makes me wonder if it might be possible to do a 3-D 2-D animated film without it looking flat... after all, they did it just fine with the “Nightmare before Christmas” and that was never meant to be in 3-D... so why not? Something to ponder I guess....
Went to Minneapolis to attend my girlfriend’s nephew’s birthday party. 9 screaming rambunctious kids running around with little to no way of restraining them for 6 hours? Ugh... fun but exhausting.
Tried to rent a Red-Box DVD for the first time ever and I gotta say that I am largely impressed. You’re given till 9pm the next day to return the movie, so if you can watch a movie within 24 hours, Red Box is certainly a cheap alternative to Block-Buster. I was able to rent “Wall-E” and “Forbidden Kingdom” for $2.06! Wow... That would’ve cost me about $10 at Blockbuster since they’re New Releases and they would’ve been only overnight as well. (Also since I don’t think many people use these machines you can find brand-new releases in stock whereas at Blockbuster or Movie Gallery they would be sold out) So yay!
I’ve also gotten some offers from some different places over the weekend too. One place wants to use an image I made in a book, and another ... well I guess I can’t really say too much without knowing for certain yet... so let’s just say... I got some potential art-related offers which might help me in the long run. Lol.
I also don’t think I’m gonna go anywhere to celebrate Thanksgiving. My family is all out in Massachusetts, and with all the traveling I’ve been doing lately, I’m starting to get really sick of going anywhere. Not to mention I’ll be working, probably hard to get the time off, and why bother anyway, as it pays more as a holiday to work. I need the money. Sigh...
Winter depression is starting to set in on me... just gotta keep my chin up and focus on what’s around me rather than what’s unknown ahead of me. Sigh...
- Mood:
blah
What a crazy week it’s been eh? Comic Con on Sunday, Election on Tuesday, dying computer on Wednesday, and buying new monitor on Friday. The first African-American president along with a severe blow to gay rights activists, coupled with some of the highest percentage of unemployment seen in a century. Wow...
Well I can’t stay and chat but at least I’m back up and running. Although I gotta admit that I was spoiled. This new resolution, although technically is still quite large, feels kinda like I’m looking through a tube or something. Sigh... I liked my wide-screen monitor... oh well...
What the FUCK?
The worse thing is that since Mario is not my own character, there’s probably nothing I can do about it. But even still... holy hell...
The company, as far as I can tell, is based in Malaysia and the person answering the phone kept hanging up on me and spoke very little English.
Thanks to the person online who found this rip-off. I am in the process of trying to get it taken down, but as I already said... I dunno if I’ll be able to...
Of course unless you’ve been under a rock, you know now that Barack Obama is our new President. I heard the announcement today while I was at work, and I was able to get off just in time to hear McCain’s defeated speech. While walking to the car I could hear horns on the road beeping triumphantly, and I could see crowds of people on the sidewalks jumping, cheering and laughing. Shortly after picking up my girlfriend from her work, we both sat and listened to Obama’s acceptance speech live on the radio.
Today was seriously one of the most surreal days I have ever experienced. From waiting in line in the morning to vote, to the bits and pieces of information that trickled in while I was at work, to the final moment when I heard that Obama had one. It ended almost a good 4 or 5 months of worry, doubt, fear, and dread that I have been experiencing. It was like someone just took a weight off my back.
Now I just wanted to point out a curious thing I noticed while listening to the defeated speech and the acceptance speech. I noticed that Obama mentioned how John McCain had served for America and put up with a lot of stuff and fought valiantly, to which he got cheers and applause. But the moment Obama’s name came up in McCain’s speech, there were loud groups of people booing, hissing, and shouting negative things. That struck me as a little odd and it can really show you the difference in mentality between the republicans and the democrats. One wants to extend an olive branch to the other side, while the other side wants to cuss, point fingers, and blame. That’s a little sad.
I liked the story at the end of Obama’s speech which talked about the 106 year old black lady who has been through so much in such a short amount of time. I think that was a nice touch and it perfectly summed up the achievement of this win.
Of course there’s a lot to be done now. Obama may be our next president but we don’t know if he’s going to be able to live up to his promises, if he’s going to be able to fix our economy, or possibly fend off another potential terrorist attack. Time will tell I guess, if Obama’s got the answers to all those things.
At the most, I would like to see Obama restore the balance of power in the government which has been for so long screwed up thanks to Bush. When 9/11 happened, Bush acted so fast that it was hard to truly understand what he was doing, and soon enough, he has had more influence and power than anyone EVER should have. I would Like to see Obama bring that tip of the scale back to normal so that BOTH parties have equal shares and say, the way it’s suppose to be.
All I can say is...
I’m just happy Palin’s not in a position of power.
I was able to sell a lot of books, and I even sold a couple prints I made up which I had no intention of selling. Lol. I had made up some art folders for people to look through with the original drawing on one side of the book and the finished colored print of it on the other. But so many of the colored pictures were drawing attention, that I actually sold some of them to people. Which if fine for me, cuz I can always print up more. Lol.
It was a good time had by all. I would go into insane detail but I’m really really tired right now and I gotta go vote for the presidential election. I’ll catch ya all later.
Why?
Because it’s Pokemon. That’s right. I’ve decided to draw EVERY Pokemon creature from every game and lump them all together into one large image. THAT, my friends, is INSANE!
I’ve only drawn 52 of them so far, aided by the games and many players guides, and I am getting a little weary already. I may stop at 151, cuz I don’t know how much more of this I can take, and I don’t know how much more my computer can handle. To make things easier, I have been drawing each pokemon separately. Then in Photoshop I resize them, and place them anywhere I want. This gives me a lot more freedom to be able to move them around as I add more pokemon. BUT that also means that each pokemon has it’s own layer. And right now with 52 layers, it’s starting to become a little hard to manage and my computer doesn’t like it. Lol.
Not to mention once I finally get all the pokemon where I want them, I’m going to have to go in and shade every god-damn-one. That’s going to be one hell of a task right there... Ugh...
Why do I do this to myself? Honestly... any sane person wouldn’t attempt this, or would fall back on an easier idea (such as just using the in-game art instead). But nooooo... i gotta draw them from SCRATCH... oy vey...
My fear is that a lot of people who initially said they would vote for Obama are going to chicken out at the last minute. Not only that, but there’s the huge evangelical and military vote that’s kept Bush in office. Although, on the flip side, we’ve got a huge majority of minorities coming out to vote this time around, which just might work in Obama’s favor. All in all, it’s going to be tight, and I think that anyone who thinks Obama will win without any problems needs to stop and look at the big picture.
I think we’ve been getting a little cocky about Obama lately. His campaign has been doing so well and has been so much farther ahead than McCain’s for so long that the idea that he might not win is almost absurd to some people. But I think it’s important to remember that it’s not a sure thing yet. We need to keep plugging on because if we become overconfident, our adversaries might be able to use that to their advantage.
I keep saying this will be the last political journal, but I can’t help myself. This has becomes such a big deal in my life right now I can’t escape it. I can’t even really concentrate on my art because of it, and I have a comic book convention coming up this weekend too.
I don’t know why this is so important to me, but this whole race with Obama VS McCain has really stopped my life and I’ve been more focused on politics than I ever have been before. It feels like there’s so much at stake, yet I question whether that’s true or not. I do not want McCain in office. Everything I’ve seen, read, and heard about him just rubs me the wrong way. And I especially do not want Palin to be vice president. She’s almost worse than him in many ways, wanting to take away rights of the people and being downright ignorant on a lot of important issues.
Obama’s made it this far, even with everything McCain has been throwing at him left and right. I just hope that he can make it to the end. There are a lot of scary people out there... vindictive, hateful, and scary people...
Baby Blues:
It’s ok, sometimes it’s funny and it’s interesting that the cartoon characters are growing up, but the addition of a “baby” to keep the title “baby blues” kinda annoys me. If that keeps up, soon the family will have like 5 or 6 babies in the strips lifetime.
Crankshaft:
It’s alright. It’s not always hilarious, but occasionally the “grumpy old man” humor is worth it. Plus they have more interesting plots such as bank robberies, comic book selling, and race discrimination in baseball.
Mutts:
I hate mutts. It’s never funny, and the drawings look like rip-offs of Krazy Kat. It’s also one of the only animal rights comics I’ve ever seen.
Garfield:
Garfield is getting to the point where it’s been around so long, the jokes are falling flat and are repetitive. You all know what I mean. But the spot-on hilarious drawings, occasionally funny jokes, and the fact that Jon is now dating Liz and is getting more screen time is keeping this strip around. I like the joke about the suicidal giant cookie dream.
Hi and Lois:
I’ve never seen anyone laugh at Hi and Lois. This is one of those 50's/60's comics that have been around FOREVER and are never going to change. They’re more or less there because people EXPECT it to be there.
Luann:
I flip-flop on liking Luann and being annoyed with Luann. There are some stories that I am very interested in (such as their house burning down), but then there are ones which annoy me (such as when Luann was considering getting a tattoo). More often than not it seems the jokes rely on the “hot” factor of Brad’s girlfriend and Luann’s naive innocence rather than any real character development.
Marvin:
Another sarcastic baby strip... ugh... I sometimes get Marvin mixed up with Garfield because the characters look like they’re from Garfield’s world.
Frank & Ernest
I like bad puns. This strip has TONS of bad puns. I like this strip.
Pickles:
Another old people comic. It’s alright, but it doesn’t have the sharp wit of Crankshaft (if you can call Crankshaft sharp). It’s more mellow innocence than anything else, which is probably why it’s stayed around for so long.
Zits:
Hit or Miss. Most of the time it’s just stereotypical teenager garbage. Sometimes it can be very funny, and it’s occasionally one of the more surreal comics in the newspaper (as is evident by a recent talking foot comic).
Beetle Bailey:
Drawn by the same guy who does Hi and Lois, this is another series that I honestly don’t understand why it’s still going. World War II ended over 50 years ago, yet it continues to go on and on in Beetle Bailey. Not to mention it’s one of the more blatantly racist and sexist comics in newspapers today. The only comic I know of in which the artist was forced to put his characters through “sensitivity training” to keep going.
Pearls Before Swine:
Hit or miss. I want to like Pearls before swine, but for some reason it doesn’t really connect with me. It’s also one of the more “chatty” comics, relying more on dialogue than actual art. In fact, many times I’ve noticed that all the panels are just photocopied and the text is the only thing changed. I hate “talking heads” comics like that. Yet I feel sympathy for the pig, and I like the Crocodile’s attempts to eat the Zebra.
Get Fuzzy:
You know, it’s weird. I LOVE Get Fuzzy, but I hate reading it in the Newspaper. As a stand alone comic in the paper it’s very wordy and uninteresting. But as a comic book compilation I get more milage because I can read each strip from page to page. Many times there seems to be no “joke” at the end, which makes the comic book compilations feel more like comic BOOKS than anything else. Either way, it’s still one of the most edgy comics in Newspapers right now, and Bucky is just hilarious to read.
Grand Avenue:
I hate the art. It’s just sarcastic kids living with the grandmother. Never very funny and did I mention I hate the art?
Mother Goose & Grimm
Occasionally funny to me. It’s another one of those bad pun series. Sometimes they are really good, and every now and then they go into a Far Side mode and tell jokes with one panel (which is refreshing).
Baldo:
I like baldo. The art is very well done, it teaches kids about Spanish words and phrases, and the jokes tend to be spot on. My only regret about this comic is that like Pearls Before Swine, many of the time the panels are just copy and pasted.
Sally Forth:
I started by hating Sally Forth. In every god damn comic, no matter what situation was going on, no matter what tragedy was unfolding, none of the characters ever lost their sarcastic smile from their faces. There was a whole series (i think it lasted a year) in which the husband lost his job, was destitute, started going a little insane, didn’t shave, was depressed and sad.... and yet... he never stopped smiling. NEVER!!!!!!
I started reading Sally Forth because I hated it so much and I was always poking fun at it. But now it’s starting to grow on me, which disturbs me greatly. Also, I think Hil’s best friend is a lesbian.
Jumpstart:
Innocent humor comic. I have nothing against it, and nothing to say either. It’s alright, but it’s never really caught my attention.
Between Friends:
Aside from Sally Forth, this is the only other comic that I try to follow religiously. The story going on now about an abusive husband and her friend trying to help her has taken a turn for the worse and it’s pretty darn rare to see anything of the sort in a newspaper comic. I can’t think of any other strip besides “For Better or Worse” that would attempt to addresses such issues in a tasteful manner. The only thing that bothers me is that many of the women are drawn similar and sometimes I get confused about who I am reading about. Also, the main protagonist’s nose is point when seen at a 3/4th angle, but has a sharp ledge when seen from the side. Strange inconsistencies like that throw me off.
Daddy’s Home:
I never knew that it was possible to draw all men like lesbians. Kudos for this strip in showing me that I was wrong.
Arlo & Janis:
Part of making a successful comic strip is putting all the right pieces together. Whenever I read Arlo and Janis I always fee like I’m missing something. I don’t know what it is, but many of the strips just fall flat and I either can’t figure out what the **** they’re talking about, or the panel transitions from one to the next make no sense to me.
Curtis:
I like Curtis. I like the style it’s drawn in. I like the stories that they’ve told so far. I like the characterization of them all. My only fear is that it’s going to fall into a rut like Garfield and start becoming repetitive. The idea that Curtis had to go back to school for the summer because of bad grades was also something I don’t see in comic strips either, so that was refreshing, AND it led to some interesting side stories.
I refuse to review “Bizarro,” “Family Circus,” and “Ziggy” because those are not comic strips. Comic strips are sequential art. These are just single panel cartoons, which by the definition of sequential art, are not comics. They are cartoons. Also... I hate Family Circus and it infuriates me to no end that the greatest Disney Animator alive today (glen Keane) is related to the writer of the strip (Bil Keane).
So now that I have totally wasted your time with this pointless review of my local newspapers comics, what do YOU all read? What comics in the newspaper do you actually look forward to reading, or read without the gag reflex? Do you disagree or agree with some of my reviews?
First it was the whole moving situation, but that was a month ago so I should be over my slump now. Then it was the comic convention, which I was a little creative at, but not very. Then it was this whole NYC trip, which thankfully has come and gone. Now it’s the Presidential Election and the Boston Comic con which is sapping up my will to draw.
It may be that I am just in a slump right now. I seem to go on these cycles of being overly productive, with being totally lethargic and unproductive. It’s for this reason that I like Sherlock Holmes, for he too had vices like this (although he got out of them by doing drugs).
The Election too is drawing up a lot of my attention. For the past month and more, I have been reading, searching, watching, and listening to anything I can find that has to deal with the Presidential Election. Recent issues with my Obama drawing have only intensified my interest in this race, and not a day passes where I don’t try to keep up with the events. My mind dwells upon it when I am suppose to be working or drawing, so it makes it hard for me to concentrate. I will be very happy when this election is finally over. Even MORE happy if my candidate wins.
Then of course there’s the simple lack of time to do anything. While I have plenty of time at work to draw, I have almost zero time at home to scan and color. This puts a huge damper on any efforts I may have to work on anything as in the back of my mind it keeps saying “why bother? You won’t have time to color it anyway.” I do believe I have a very mild form of depression and this is it manifesting itself. As we move into the winter months, this will probably only be increased.
I’ve been forcing myself to work on some things though, even if my brain tells me it’s pointless. I have been slowly retooling my website and updating it. I have a new opening page and I added a page (and blog) for Formera as well. A little bit here, and a little bit there, and soon my website will be totally redone. Hopefully I can work on this just in time for the Boston Comic Con.
Finally, money problems always seem to linger upon my mind. If I can’t bring my bank account positive by the beginning of November, I won’t HAVE a bank account.
All of these worries I think are putting so much pressure upon me that I don’t have the energy to pick up a pencil and draw whatever I want. Instead I have been spending the bulk of my time at work playing Pokemon on the DS. The only good news with this is that I got over my stumbling block and have actually started making progress in the game. All of my Pokemon are at level 30 or above, and I am now heading to the second lake, where Team Galatica are suppose to be doing some evil or something. The turn based action of Pokemon is perfect for a job where you are constantly being interrupted by phone calls. You can put it down at any time without worrying about someone hurting you or falling off a platform or whatever.
So anyway... that’s what is new here... I’m not asking for any help or anything. I just felt the need to get it out and write it down. Maybe doing so will get me out of this slump.
Since posting that picture I have gotten 3 types of responses. Ones in support of Obama and think the picture is great. Ones who aren’t supportive of Obama and think it sucks. And ones in which they want to kill me. Seriously that last one surprised the heck out of me. Here’s just a sample of some of the hate responses I have gotten since I posted the Obama picture online:
“He's a musliam. he's up to something. I have feeling he's working with Osama Bin Laden with something. But the Goverment might kill him just like JFK
I don't know why everyone wants to vote for him because they think Obama is 100% black. Obama is half white and black and brought up in the life of a musliam world.
de ja vu of 9/11 anyone?????? “
“I'll fucking rip your head off. FUCK THAT TOWEL HEAD “
“FUCK YOU SAND NIGGER LOVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! people like you who who the world trade center bombed. I hope you rot in hell. America is for IN GOD WE TRUST not no fucking Mahuma.”
“You don't know any fucking real fucks your belives are wrong and twisted. Fuck you mother fucking redneck, farmboy. I hope you get shot. “
So yeah...
I really did think we were a LITTLE more civilized than that, but apparently I was wrong. It’s sad really, and kind of scary, that there are some people in the world who are like this.
Since I’ve posted journals showing my support of Obama, many have tried to persuade me to vote for McCain instead or at the very least, give reasons why Obama sucks. That’s natural and I expect that. But let me just outline a few things which I agree on that Obama is offering.
Obama, in the last presidential debate, wants to help our economy by creating more jobs here. One of the ways to do that would be to get rid of the tax break companies get for doing stuff overseas, and give them a tax break if they do it here in America. That would encourage companies to stop sending all their work overseas, which affects ME personally in a big way.
When I graduated from College in 2004, I had a BFA in classical 2-D Animation. That was right when the 2-D animation industry crashed and Disney fired all their animators in favor of doing their 2-D work overseas. Because Disney did it, other companies started to do it too, until there was practically nothing left for me to even try. I’m too young and inexperienced to get a job at Disney, but this crash made it so that there weren’t ANY jobs available to me. I struggled for a good 3 years trying to find something before settling down on my Comics instead. I am a true-blue animator at heart though, and if I was given the opportunity I would LOVE to go back to animating. What Obama is suggesting would stimulate the animation industry in that we would want to hire people here in America... and if there’s a chance for that to happen, I want in. McCain is not proposing anything of the sort.
There are other things I agree with. I agree with his decision on abortion. Now I honestly don’t know how I feel about abortion, as I CAN see both sides to the issue. But people are going to get them whether I like it or not, and whether it’s outlawed by the government or not. If someone wants to get an abortion, it’s not up to me to tell them they can or can’t, that’s their own personal problem. BUT... I do think that we should keep it legalized because if someone DOES choose to get an Abortion, I would rather a doctor, who is capable of what they’re, doing handle it. Obama wants to keep it legal, McCain wants to take it away (which in fact would put MORE people at risk). So I agree with Obama. (Also, if you’re gonna give me that pro-life crap, you better not be eating hamburger or cheese or chicken or anything that comes from another animal cuz otherwise you are not “pro-life”).
I’m not going to go further into detail on anything because I really do hate politics and I hate the inevitable flame wars that ensue whenever anyone tries to express their own opinion. And seriously... just because I believe some certain things, doesn’t make me a bad person nor should I be receiving death-threats over a stupid cartoon. Heaven forbid I be allowed to say something personal in MY JOURNAL. What a concept.
Sigh... anyway... yeah... those are a few reasons. My mind is kinda shot right now, so forgive me if I didn’t put any of that eloquently. I am going on an overnight trip to New York City tonight and I am a little nervous. I’ve only ever been there 3 times before and this will be the first time by myself. I hope it goes Ok...
Speaking of my book however, we’ve finally got a rough estimate for when Book 2 of Formera will be released. It’s looking like it’s going to be January. It’s a little sad because that’s AFTER Christmas, and Christmas for ALL companies is a big time to sell. The good news about this is that it is still going to be published in-time before the big February New York comic con in 2009, so at least I will have the book for this event! I was worried I might not. When I have an exact date, I will definitely keep you all posted!
Also, I just wanted to remind everyone that I AM open for Commissions right now. After the comic con in Minnesota I am going to just go back to my standard rates which are $30 for a fully colored digital picture, $15 for B/W line-art, and $5 for just a sketch. It’s the best time to ask for a commission for me right now because I am done with moving and I haven’t begun working on Book 3 yet, so I have plenty of time at work to draw and create. Just send me a note or better yet, send me a e-mail and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Other than that there’s not too much else going on right now. Been playing MM9's downloaded content quite a bit, been unpacking boxes and putting stuff away, and been just generally feeling much more “at home” here than at our old place. I’m still trying to draw Super Hero’s, though the work has been a bit slow lately. I’m just not a big enough fan of Super Heros to put in too much effort. I’ve been trying to color the Super Man line art for almost a week now and struggling hard with it for some reason. All the colors are roughly there, but I just can’t grip my head around finishing it. I don’t know why...
Anyway, that’s what’s up. Comic con in Nov. Book in Jan. Commissions open, and still drawing!
My girlfriend and I flew out on Friday night at 10pm for Minneapolis. We stayed at her dad’s house overnight and first thing in the morning they dropped me off at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds for the convention. The first stumbling block I ran into was that for some mysterious reason they seemed to have lost my name on their register. Apparently going back and fourth between PC and MAC computers caused some problems for them. But it was easily remedied, and soon I was off to my table.
The Lupus foundation was one of the sponsors of this convention and unfortunately for me I got wedged between two Lupus tables. The other guy at my table probably didn’t expect anyone to be sitting with him, because he spread out and was using most of the space, and on my right was the actual donation table. So between the two, I was so tightly squeezed in that I barely had enough room to put my elbows up. Not to mention the fact that I was situated between these two charitable things, probably made it harder for me to get customers or people to come up and say Hi.
It wasn’t all bad though. My table was set right beside the “fortress of solitude” or the “break room” if you will. Inside they had cakes, chips, soda, coffee, salads, sandwiches, and tons of sitting places in case the craziness outside ever got to us. It was also one of the places where people in costumes changed into other costumes, so frequently you would see people in there putting on their makeup.
My table was also right next to Peter Gross and Barbara Shultz, two of my former MCAD comic professors and professionals in their own right. So it was nice to be able to reconnect with some of the people from MCAD there.
There were a lot of people in costumes at this convention, and unlike most conventions, some of these costumes were pretty damn GOOD. I took pictures of them to pass the time away in my little niche, so here they are!:
The first day was pretty boring really. The chairs were uncomfortable and my squished area attracted little attention. I think people attend the first day at a comic book convention to snatch up all the comics and action figures they can find, then on the second day they’re a bit more relaxed and willing to chat.
I sold a few drawings (one really elaborate one of Samus fighting Ridley from Metroid), and sold a few books too, but nothing substantial. And so few people came up to say Hi, that by the end of the day I was feeling pretty depressed.
The next day was raining, and I arrived so early they had not yet opened the doors for us, forcing me to take refuge under a stair well. Once inside, I quickly made my way to my table and set up my area before the other guy showed up. I was able to spread out and actually occupy more than 1/4th of a table to a full fledged ½ of a table! Believe it or not, but I think it made a difference!
The second day went a lot better. I got to talk to more people, and I got to sell more books. I met more people from MCAD, including Marvelous Patrick and Tyler Page. There were more people in costumes, and better food this time around too. I was also interviewed for a PodCast online, though I am nervous about it.
The auction for the art cards was on the 2nd day too, so that was fun to watch as people dug their hands into a large tub and took away with them one of the sketches that we all contributed too. Somewhere out there, 5 people have my pirate sketch cards...
I am not fond of Star Wars really, but I have to give props to “The Force” cosplay group. They had some really intricate and elaborate costumes from Star Wars that they made all on their own. It was particularly hilarious when a guy in a storm trooper outfit would stand perfectly motionless along side mannequins, and when someone would come up to them he would jump out, scaring the crap out of them! The days were punctuated with little bleeps of screams of this sort.
As well as the 2nd day was going, I sadly had to cut it short. I wanted to get home as soon as possible and the prospect of having to wait until 3pm the following day, while my girlfriend was already home, depressed me. So I packed up and left early to take the 3pm flight home. I got the last seat, and it was a little tight getting in, but I made it home, safe and sound!
- Mood:
cheerful
We’ve transferred the electric bill, rented a truck, arranged pickup times for the keys, arranged walk-through times for our old place, paid off bills, etc...
Out of all the moves, this has to be the one in which I worry the LEAST about money, oddly enough considering that I am deplorably negative in my account. We’ve boxed a lot of stuff up, but for the most part we’ve been pretty slack in packing. I think that since the new place is so close, and most of the stuff we have was never unpacked in the first place, we’re planning to just move everything without much packing at all. I hope it works... we only have 2 days for the truck, and the 3rd day has to be spent in cleaning this pig-stye up. Lol.
I haven’t been working on much on purpose. I don’t want to spend all day drawing at my job, and then come home and color and post online obsessively when I should be packing for the move. So I won’t be working on anything until after this whole thing is finished.
I have no idea if I am going to be back online. We’ve arranged to get our internet setup on the 29th, but who knows when we’ll actually GET it. Then almost immediately after the move I have the Minnesota Comic Con the following weekend. So I guess this might be one of my last journal posts for a couple weeks.
I’ve been making up folders for the comic convention, showcasing my art. Hopefully at the last minute I’ll be able to buy a portfolio for my larger comic art... sigh... so much to do in so little time...
The good news, however, is that Mega Man 9 was released today, so while I am unable to really do much, I can still play video games to pass the time. I just want to say right now that Mega Man 9 on the Wii is pure 80's fun! This game is HARD as HELL and after an hours playing I have only been able to beat 2 of the 8 bosses.
Thank you capcom for including a “save” feature and for including a shop which allows you to purchase E tanks. I’ve been able to muscle my way through most of the levels due to the fact that I have so many E tanks in reserve. Heh.
I loved the old school Mega Man games, and this is like a fan-service-shout-out to all of us retro 80's gaming fanatics. I really really hope that this game does well to justify more sequels in this style of gaming. I would love to see a Mega Man 10 or 11 in NES style graphics too. Or better yet, a 8-bit or 16-bit sequel to a game series that never really made the jump beyond the SNES, like Adventure Island. Or a totally new game in 8-bit graphics! I tell ya, the potential is limitless now.
Anyone else been playing this game yet? And if so... what do you think and how far along are you?
So last night we FINALLY got the banner for the Comic Convention. It’s a good thing too because the comic convention is on October 4th and 5th and we’re moving from the 28th to the 2nd, so we were starting to cut it rather close. But we got it and it looks awesome. If you want to see for yourself, check out the following link:
Now as you can see it’s about the size of a door frame, but it rolls up inside a rather small stand. It’s easy to assemble, but a little fragile. When we got it I pulled it out to see the whole image, but for some reason, it wouldn’t go back into it’s case. It’s suppose to zip right inside like a window shade, but instead it just sat there and didn’t want to roll up.
Inside the aluminum casing, the roll itself was dislodged from it’s usual place (probably during shipping). It took some work, but I was able to unscrew the case, put the roll back in it’s place, and then screw it back up again. It’s not perfectly done, but at least I can get inside if I need to and it rolls up without any difficulty now.
It’s going to take at least 2 people to work this thing, though. There’s a tiny little hole where you are suppose to be able to insert a pin to stop it from rolling back up on itself. To hook the top half you have to stretch it a good foot beyond it’s viewing height, insert the pin, then let it relax itself. Since the damn thing is just beyond 6 feet tall, and I’m only 5 foot 6, that makes for quite a stretch on my part, while someone else puts the pin in.
But despite all the strenuous efforts and problems this thing has given us so far, in the end I think it’s going to be well worth it because this banner looks absolutely wonderful. We’ve got another aluminum stand on it’s way, so if ever I need to have a second one or I get another banner printed up, I’ll have a backup ready and waiting.
----COMIC CON INFORMATION----
So I said that I would let you all know about the comic con information the closer we got to the actual event. Well it’s less than 2 weeks away now, so I thought this would be as good as any time for the info...
MCBA FALLCON COMIC BOOK CELEBRATION
October 4th and 5th from 10AM to 5PM each day.
Located at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, in the Grandstand. Don’t ask me where that is, cuz I don’t know, but I’m sure Map Quest or a GPS will be able to find it without a hitch.
Admission is $11.00 per adult while children 9 and under are free. You can get $1 off your admission with a canned food donation, which is kinda cool. Tickets are available at the door and go on sale at 9:30.
And this is cool too. Remember a while ago I made up those Pirate Comic Cards and sent them in? Well they’ve been posted online, along with everyone else’s too. So if you’re curious, you can see what everyone else is doing for this event. I gotta say there is quite a diverse range of talents at this show. Some of the cards are rather simple, and others (like my own) are much more elaborate and detailed. Check them out if you’ve got a chance:
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetai
“Our plan for the cards is simple. One complete set (one card from each contributing artist) will be collected and auctioned off to benefit the MCBA charities (www.lupusmn.org & www.cbldf.org). All of the other cards will be given away to attendees, who will be able to randomly choose a card if they are one of the first arrivals at FallCon on Saturday & Sunday! First come, first served and when they're gone, they're gone! We'll provide more info when the total original art card count is finalized. The cards are still rolling in!”
So the earlier you get there, the more likely you’ll get some of these cool-ass cards for free!
I know that was a lot of information all at once, but don’t worry. I’ll probably reiterate the comic con info before long in it’s own separate journal.
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