Thursday, November 8, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
web comic review
So I need to be more active in my blog, and I think one way I'll do that is through reviews of things like web-comics, movies, and books. Really just anything that I feel like talking about I guess. So I decided to start off by reviewing the comics in a comic community I found out about called Koala Wallop.
Koala wallop is a small community that consists of 6 main comics that update on a semi-regular basis. They're a lot more artistic then what you normally find, and most of them are of just a much higher quality then what you'll find just fallowing links from one comic to another.
The first one I want to review is called Dresden Codack. I've decided to start with this one because its probably Koala wallops' most popular comic and the one I found the community through. If you go and read through the archive of it, you'll find several things to be true about Dresden Codack.
1) The art is continually growing and changing styles. This is one of its major strong points if you ask me. While plenty of web comics and print comics evolve over time, you can tell that Aaron, the writer and artist, is constantly refining his work and experimenting with new styles and themes.
2) This comic is smart. Now, this is kind of a win-loss for DC if you ask me. While I can certainly appreciate striving to go beyond the typical gag comic you might find anywhere, sometimes it goes a little too far into obscurity.
Exhibit A: A good example of its anything but typical humor.
Exhibit B: A comic that unless you're aware of these semi obscure references, you'll spend a lot of time on Wikipedia.
so you can see where the problems may be.
3) Dresden Codack has updated about 30 times in the last two years. So to say that you'll be waiting quite some time before the next installment is an understatement. Now while this does bring in negative points, I really don't have much room to complain. Each comic has a lot of time and thought put into it, and it shows. Its much more gratifying to have a comic that updates infrequently and is 95% Gold then one that updates regularly and like clockwork, but has large areas of mediocrity or even just plain bad updates.
While Dresden Codack may not update regularly, it does always tend to provide you with something. Aaron often gives his readers what he calls "stall comics" which consist of his stick figured alter ego. They're simple, but still good and funny in the same type of humor you can expect from Dresden Codack. Its a refreshing substitute to the typical filler art you'll get at other sites.
Although, in recent news Aaron has declared that he will be quitting his current job to focus on the comic full time. This should be interesting, as he has promised continuous weekly updates. Hopefully this will work out for him, as I could see this going in either extremes for DC.
Should the increased updates bring in enough revenue for Aaron, we can expect a great deal more comics. Currently DC relies on simple donations, along with sales of prints and T-shirts which are a new addition. Its a solid way of making money that I have no problems with. I can tell you right now that if I had the money to spend, I would probably help myself to one or two of the T-shirt designs and possibly a print.
All around I have to say that this is one of the highest quality comics online. Its continuously expanding and evolving, and each update is something to look forward to. I would certainly recommend this to anyone.
Koala wallop is a small community that consists of 6 main comics that update on a semi-regular basis. They're a lot more artistic then what you normally find, and most of them are of just a much higher quality then what you'll find just fallowing links from one comic to another.
The first one I want to review is called Dresden Codack. I've decided to start with this one because its probably Koala wallops' most popular comic and the one I found the community through. If you go and read through the archive of it, you'll find several things to be true about Dresden Codack.
1) The art is continually growing and changing styles. This is one of its major strong points if you ask me. While plenty of web comics and print comics evolve over time, you can tell that Aaron, the writer and artist, is constantly refining his work and experimenting with new styles and themes.
2) This comic is smart. Now, this is kind of a win-loss for DC if you ask me. While I can certainly appreciate striving to go beyond the typical gag comic you might find anywhere, sometimes it goes a little too far into obscurity.
Exhibit A: A good example of its anything but typical humor.
Exhibit B: A comic that unless you're aware of these semi obscure references, you'll spend a lot of time on Wikipedia.
so you can see where the problems may be.
3) Dresden Codack has updated about 30 times in the last two years. So to say that you'll be waiting quite some time before the next installment is an understatement. Now while this does bring in negative points, I really don't have much room to complain. Each comic has a lot of time and thought put into it, and it shows. Its much more gratifying to have a comic that updates infrequently and is 95% Gold then one that updates regularly and like clockwork, but has large areas of mediocrity or even just plain bad updates.
While Dresden Codack may not update regularly, it does always tend to provide you with something. Aaron often gives his readers what he calls "stall comics" which consist of his stick figured alter ego. They're simple, but still good and funny in the same type of humor you can expect from Dresden Codack. Its a refreshing substitute to the typical filler art you'll get at other sites.
Although, in recent news Aaron has declared that he will be quitting his current job to focus on the comic full time. This should be interesting, as he has promised continuous weekly updates. Hopefully this will work out for him, as I could see this going in either extremes for DC.
Should the increased updates bring in enough revenue for Aaron, we can expect a great deal more comics. Currently DC relies on simple donations, along with sales of prints and T-shirts which are a new addition. Its a solid way of making money that I have no problems with. I can tell you right now that if I had the money to spend, I would probably help myself to one or two of the T-shirt designs and possibly a print.
All around I have to say that this is one of the highest quality comics online. Its continuously expanding and evolving, and each update is something to look forward to. I would certainly recommend this to anyone.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Short Story so far
Dream Machine (Or the Girl of his Dreams, haven’t decided)
A short story by Phil Rigney
Chapter 1
“So how did you like you first surprise party?”
“I still can’t believe how many people showed up”
“Well all I had to do was drop your name and everyone showed right up”
“I’m sure the free drinks had nothing to do with it,”
“Free my ass! All of that set me back 50 bucks, plus what I got you on top of that,”
“Which one did you get me? I don’t remember,”
“That’s because I haven’t given it to you yet! I hid it in my car, let me go get it”
John sat down on his couch and wiped the sweat from his palms. His stomach was giving him the same feeling as it does on a roller coaster. He took a deep breath, counted to three and waited for her to return. Once she came back he would do it. It was the perfect time, wasn’t it?
Autumn entered through the front holding a package in both of her hands. It was a medium sized box covered in wrapping paper.
“Geeze, what’d you get me?”
“If I wanted you to know right off the bat, I wouldn’t have wrapped it up, now would I?”
John couldn’t argue with irrefutable logic like that. He gently accepted the gift and set it on his coffee table. He began to tear at the paper ever so slightly.
“Oh come on, rip it open, I’m dying here! I want you to know what it is!”
“Oh fine, take all the suspense out of your own gift why don’t ya?”
John bent to her will and ripped open the paper as quickly as he could. He opened the box and dug through the packaging material to find an old typewriter. He carefully lifted it out of the box and set it down on the table. The keys were small and round and gave the most delightful TAK when pressed. It was old, purely mechanical and perfect in every way conceivable.
“Where did you find this? The only other typewriter I’ve ever seen is my grandma’s old electric one. This is so awesome.”
“It was at an old antique store just outside town. Do you really like it? I thought that if you were serious about this writing stuff you should have a proper means of showing the world your work,”
John was so overjoyed with is new gift he sprang up to hug his good friend and gave her a slight kiss on the cheek. John looked her in the eyes and whispered a soft
“Thank you”
The response to this however, was a forced smile as Autumn sat down on his couch and picked up her half empty beer. She leaned away from John on the couch with her legs crossed while looking at nothing in particular on the ground.
“We should probably think about cleaning up a bit, I’ve got work tomorrow so I need to get to bed at some kind of reasonable hour,”
“Oh, yeah sure, sure. Uh, I can clean up; it’s no biggie for me. I don’t have anything going on tomorrow so I might just do it then anyway,” He looked around as if searching for the cue card with his next line one it. “Do you need a ride? I don’t know how much you had to drink, it’d be no trouble for me,” He said.
“Oh…no I couldn’t impose, besides I’ve hardly had a thing. Trust me I’ll be fine. Um…uh…Happy Birthday John, really, I hope you had a blast,”
“Yeah I did, thanks again for the party,”
With a wave and a smile she was out the door and out of the rest of John’s night. There was nothing left to do but clean a little and get some sleep before the next day snuck up on him. He surveyed his apartment and found himself dismayed at the mess left behind. He should have accepted her help regardless of the situation. No, cleaning was out of the question, there was only one sure fire remedy for how John was feeling at the moment. He would need a sad song and a strong drink and the sooner he had the both of them the better.
On his way to get the scotch from on top of his refrigerator, John remembered the typewriter. He came back the long way after stopping in his bedroom for some printer paper. The blues were playing, the scotch was delicious and John sat down to write out the misery that was surrounding him. He wrote about how he would be alone and he wrote about the futility of trying to fix that. All of this came through the actions of a character that ends up killing himself over some girl. While complementing his current mood, this did nothing to remedy it, so John decided to go in another direction.
A new page was stated about a great space explorer. He was tall and handsome and did everything right. He was a hero among men and a legend among the stars and he was everything John wished himself to be. Again John found himself in the same mood he had been in for the last few hours. There was nothing to do but roll with it and hope that tomorrow brought a better day.
Chapter 2
John awoke the next day not wholly convinced that he was no longer dreaming. He needed to find the pages from last night. He needed to be sure of what had happened.
“All of it,” he said as he skimmed the pages on his coffee table. “It’s all right here. No way,”
It really was all right there, every vivid detail, every small occurrences, even all the sounds and smells that came to him in the night were staring at him on the paper.
“It’s just a coincidence, I was just thinking about it when I went to bed and this is what I dreamed about,”
And yet it still pressed him. He read over the pages again and again he found his first assumption to be true. John leaned back with his mouth open in a half smile. This was the single truly uncanny event in his life. He wasn’t even sure how he really felt about it, or even how he should feel about it.
He put it from his mind as it was too early and he was too hung over to dwell on such events. A shower helped one of his problems yet the other remained in the back of his mind. All throughout the day it dwelled on him. While he cleaned up after last night’s party he found himself taking breaks to re-read what he had written the day before.
“I just need to get my thoughts together about it” he said to himself. “I’ll write it all down and sort it all out.”
He readied a new page in the typewriter that Autumn gave him and began to recount the day’s events. When he was done he was able to sit back and stretch his arms out as a long sigh escaped from inside of him. His hands fell to his sides and one landed on his remote control. This would prove a useful step in forgetting the day.
John slammed his hands against the couch cushion and supported himself up in a half push up. It was dark and yet he just remembered it being light outside. No, that was a dream; it was light in his dream that had ended with him watching television.
“No, this is ridiculous,” he thought “a bad case of Déjà vu or whatever,”
He reached out his hand and groped for the page still in the typewriter. He held it so the blue of the screen showed him the words.
“It is though, it happened again,”
He dropped the paper and looked to the side at nothing in particular. He slowly turned his gaze to the typewriter on his table.
“That,” he said to it. “That’s the only thing different; it’s the only new element and the only real difference.”
He thought about what he was saying.
“No, no, no. It’s just me, after what happened with Autumn I’m just trying to make myself feel special. I can prove it too.”
He went to his computer and quickly searched the internet for someone who keeps a dream blog. He found several and decided to prove to himself that he was merely too stressed and to put this crazy idea to rest. He set up his type writer work station and began to type through the night. For each person he wrote about he crafted a story of great detail from the furthest depths of his imagination. They rode wild animals that no one had ever seen before and went to lands with customs stranger then anything you might see even in bad episodes of Star Trek. It wasn’t good, but it didn’t need to be good, it only had to be easily remembered.
It was late when he finished and he simply let himself fall asleep with the satisfaction that his questions would be answered tomorrow. It was good to know he could put this oddity behind him and get back to his normal actions.
Chapter 3
When John awoke he felt nervous . Not a single dream had haunted him during the night and today would bring an end to his questions. He began to walk to his computer.
“What if it’s real? What do I do? Can I make money off of this? What if I’m going crazy? I bet it didn’t work, but what if it did? What if I am going crazy? If I know I’m going crazy am I really going crazy then?”
The walk to the computer couldn’t be longer. He sat down and checked the online dream journals of people who he had written for last night. Five minutes had passed before John could even begin to think.
“Its true then,” he thought “it’s all there, all the important parts anyway. I’ve composed their dreams and mine.”
The only question was what to do with it. What could be done? A list that was what he was looking for. He wrote out all the possibilities that he could think of for a man who could write dreams.
“Write them for me, write them for friends, sell them to others, influence officials, and communicate with others. What else?” He looked at the type writer for answers, and it gave him one that he didn’t expect.
“Autumn” he said “I can write dreams for her. I could write her the dreams she needs to see and realize that we’re perfect for each other.”
No, he would need more then that. Simple dreams can be explained away, he needed a truly uncanny event like the one he had to really make this work.
“Halloween! A costume party, I’ll be the hero from her dreams. She’ll walk into the room and see the man who saves her in her dreams, the man who protects her and gives her the life she deserves and it’ll be me.”
He would need to refine it of course, but it was the best he could do at the moment. Surely a coincidence such as this could not be mistaken or written off as anything less then fate. By the end of the year, Autumn would see John for the man that he is. He sat down, with a notebook this time, and began to write out an outline of what he would do to win over the girl who he loved.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
testing things out.
ok, blog problems are done, so now its time to test the printer/scanner etc.
Word, I got it to work. Heres a little thing i threw together today. Weird though, I drew it on white paper in black ink, but when I scanned it, it came out like this. I guess I did something wrong in the scanning process. I like it better this way though
Word, I got it to work. Heres a little thing i threw together today. Weird though, I drew it on white paper in black ink, but when I scanned it, it came out like this. I guess I did something wrong in the scanning process. I like it better this way though
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
thoughts
I've been thinking about my superhero comic more and more lately and I've come up with some ideas. One thing that I think I'm going to do is put him on a super hero team kind of like the JLA of his universe. It should be cool because he wouldn't really be one of the heavy hitters of the team as he's just the medic of the group.
My reason for doing this is because I want him to be different from most other super heroes. All other super heroes solve their problems by hitting something, or shooting it with a laser out of their ass or something. The main power of The Medic is to heal people, so obviously theres little offensive capabilities to start with. So if his power is to heal, then how is he going to stop a purse snatcher or mugger? Its not like healing him would really have any effect, though I suppose if he initiated a massive reproduction of cells he could effectively give someone cancer. Man, I need to remember that.
Now, I've been also thinking of giving him additional powers besides healing, but still have them be defensive in nature. I think force fields (think invisible woman) would be a good one, because while still primarily defensive, it could be used offensively by creating a small, baseball sized force sphere and throwing it at someone. I mean he's going to need something besides natural fighting ability if he's going to eventually fight the bad guy. So I'm trying to think of other powers that are defensive, but could be used offensively if need be.
Something else I need to think about is what the other heroes are going to be. Something that I don't want to do is create throw away characters that I won't care about but fill the rolls of superhero archetypes that are easily recognizable. I think one is going to have telekinetic powers, because I think with that you can emulate a lot of other classic powers like flight (move yourself) strength (move just about anything) and even bullet proof (move the bullets out of the way). The only hero that I can really think of who thats their thing is Gene Grey from X-men, and even then half the time she's evil and dead.
I think either a robot or a guy in a robotic suit might be cool without being too over done. I would probably want to avoid the patriotic american hero, or the traditional Superman/Batman. I know I want an agility based hero, because those are always cooler then strength based ones to me.
So far that would make:
1) The Medic
2) Telekinetic
3) Agility based
4) Robot.
I think thats good so far, I'll probably want two more to round it all out but its a good start. Anyway, more on that later. Its bedtime now.
My reason for doing this is because I want him to be different from most other super heroes. All other super heroes solve their problems by hitting something, or shooting it with a laser out of their ass or something. The main power of The Medic is to heal people, so obviously theres little offensive capabilities to start with. So if his power is to heal, then how is he going to stop a purse snatcher or mugger? Its not like healing him would really have any effect, though I suppose if he initiated a massive reproduction of cells he could effectively give someone cancer. Man, I need to remember that.
Now, I've been also thinking of giving him additional powers besides healing, but still have them be defensive in nature. I think force fields (think invisible woman) would be a good one, because while still primarily defensive, it could be used offensively by creating a small, baseball sized force sphere and throwing it at someone. I mean he's going to need something besides natural fighting ability if he's going to eventually fight the bad guy. So I'm trying to think of other powers that are defensive, but could be used offensively if need be.
Something else I need to think about is what the other heroes are going to be. Something that I don't want to do is create throw away characters that I won't care about but fill the rolls of superhero archetypes that are easily recognizable. I think one is going to have telekinetic powers, because I think with that you can emulate a lot of other classic powers like flight (move yourself) strength (move just about anything) and even bullet proof (move the bullets out of the way). The only hero that I can really think of who thats their thing is Gene Grey from X-men, and even then half the time she's evil and dead.
I think either a robot or a guy in a robotic suit might be cool without being too over done. I would probably want to avoid the patriotic american hero, or the traditional Superman/Batman. I know I want an agility based hero, because those are always cooler then strength based ones to me.
So far that would make:
1) The Medic
2) Telekinetic
3) Agility based
4) Robot.
I think thats good so far, I'll probably want two more to round it all out but its a good start. Anyway, more on that later. Its bedtime now.
Friday, August 10, 2007
crazy times again
Its now Aug. 11, and school starts in something like two weeks. I'll be moving on aug. 18 into my new apartment in San Marcos, which I'm excited about for the most part. I'm going to like having an actual apartment, but I'm not excited at all about having to share it with 3 other guys. I didn't exactly like having a roommate in the dorm, and now I'm going to times that by 3. Don't get me wrong though, Dusty's a cool guy and everything, and its not like it was hell or anything, but we where two different people with different habits and sometimes those habits came into conflict with each other. He was particularly clean and I was messy, he liked to listen to his music while I prefer my music, little things that make people unique and different, but also make people unique and different. So now I'm worried about a worst case scenario where I'm roomed with say 3 neo conservative republicans who only talk about politics and think the arts are for pussyfaggots. I know thats not going to be the case, I mean if anything thats just not statistically likely. I suppose a more realistic worry of mine would be just three other people who all have conflicting schedules and practices then everyone else which will occasionally come to conflict between one another.
Anyway, no time to worry about that though, theres still the matter of moving out and going to see April for a few days before coming back here and then actually moving. I spent bits and pieces of yesterday getting my stuff together and ready to move, which was actually pretty easy all things considered. Most of my big things are still in Austin where I left them and everything else was in my car so all I had to do was clear out a few dresser drawers and boom bam I was done. After some general cleaning after I wake up today everything will be ready for my parents to move whatever they want to move around and by the time I get back I wont live here anymore. This is going to be a weird move for me. Last year I moved out and into a dorm, and it was the first time I really lived "on my own" in my life, but I still had a room here which was mainly considered "my room" and it was always in what I would consider "my house" (I LOVE QUOTATION MARKS). This is going to be different though, because I'll be moving out of this room into my room in the apartment, but then after my 12 month lease with this apartment is done, I'll either get another 12 monther or move from one apartment in San Marcos to another apartment in San Marcos. Basically this is the big move where I don't really come back except to visit. This is going to be the move where I've officially moved out of my parents house and am on my own. I'm excited, a little sad and a little scared I have to admit because I don't really know what to expect I guess. Oh well, I'm sure it'll all turn out well.
In other news I've been continuing to read Fables and I'm still loving the hell out of it. Little Boy Blue is a complete badass and its cool to see the story diving more into the question of who/what the adversary is and what type of plans are being considered to retake the homelands. They've revealed who the adversary actually is and his motives for doing what he did, which I liked. His reasons for building his empire seemed cool and his way of doing it was even cooler. I like where its going with the introduction of the Arabian fables like Sinbad. This was something I was thinking about during the Wooden Soldier attack when in the infermery I noticed someone who looked like a Samurai and though to myself "wait, what about non western fables? Have their lands been conquered as well?" and apparently they haven't which would be a neat area to explore. So now they have an alliance with the Arabian fables, so if they can get one with the Asian and African fables as well, then they certainly stand a chance to defeat the adversary and retake the homelands.
This does beg several questions which I've been wondering about and lead to a bigger question for me. The Arabian fables have possession of at least one Dinjin (genie) which they went to great lengths to emphasize the great magical power these Dinjin posses. With that in mind, why didn't the Arabian fables simply wish the Adversary's armies be defeated at the first sign of trouble? The only explanation that I could think of is that the combined might of all of the Empire's warlocks might be enough to capture a Dinjin? If thats true I don't remember them mentioning that in the comic. Because right now between the power of the Dinjin and the Northern wind, who has apparently done battle with and killed other Dinjin, they could have this war won by this time next year. So now, if they have the power to win the war, we have to ask why don't they use it? The answer for this is obviously to keep the story alive and keep it dramatic and keep it interesting, but this all is somewhat sullied by the fact that it isn't realistic.
This brings me to my writing topic of discussion. When should drama bow down to realism? In an online comic I read called "Goblins: life through their eyes" one of the main characters has just fought and lost to one of the main villains who is several times more powerful then the main character.
to make this a little easier I'll go into some back story: some goblins in the D&D world where attacked by adventurers who slaughtered their entire warcamp save for the lucky few who escaped. Those few then got the crazy idea to become player characters so they could level up and better defend their village next time some adventurers come around looking for easy EXP. Fast forward to now and the paladin of the group, Big Ears, just left the party to go on a suicide mission to distract Saral cain (a really powerful bad guy) away from the other goblins. Saral cain then proceeded to beat the living snot out of Big ears and end the battle with Saral's ax sticking out of the majority of Big Ear's body.
Now the main question amung the fans is this: there is no apparent wound made by the ax itself and thus Big Ears may still be alive, while the ax simply did some other form of damadge to him that is not entirely physical.
Now the question of realism Vs. dramatic effect comes into play. Saral cain is several levels higher then Big Ears, and as can be seen in the fight is a much better combatant as well. Saral cain should of won this fight and he did, this makes sense and is realistic. However, if for some reason Big Ears lives through this then that takes away all suspense because we know that he'll never really die then due to him being a main character. I've heard one person argue that its ok for him to love now because its not about the realism its about the drama and moving the story along, so having a character live through vary unlikely stuff only to die in an unlikely way later on is ok because so long as it moves the story along, thats what it should always do.
I disagree with that sentiment because of how the reader is going to interpret that. If you have a character survive some crazy mess, thats going to become aparent to the reader that they have main character immunity. I will never actually be afraid of Batman dieing because he's Batman. So you can pit him against anyone you want, be it the joker, superman of friggin' Galactus and I know Batman is going to come out on top because he's Batman. Keeping Batman alive through all of these scinarios keeps the story going and keeps it dramatic and adventurous and everything but lets face it, keeps it far from realistic which is also a necessary element in any good piece of fiction. The way they keep it dramatic and realistic though is by not placing the element of danger so much on Batman, but on those around him. I'm not afraid of Batman dieing, but I am afraid that he won't make it to the hostages in time.
So lets look at it in the other way, lets kill off Batman, and in a completely unrealistic way, but one thats completely dramatic. What if while in the Batcave, a mind controlled Robin comes up to him and slits his throat? Its dramatic because Batman was betrayed by the one person he trusts most, and Robin has to deal with the guild of killing Batman while he himself takes up the mantel and becomes the next Batman. This is unrealistic though because its friggin' Batman, he would've seen the knife coming a mile away and easily taken out Robin before he could of killed him. Thus in the end, we're left with what is ultimately a lame death of Batman despite its dramatic effect.
its 130 now and I've gotta get up hella early so I'm going to go to bed. Toodles. More on this later hopefully.
Anyway, no time to worry about that though, theres still the matter of moving out and going to see April for a few days before coming back here and then actually moving. I spent bits and pieces of yesterday getting my stuff together and ready to move, which was actually pretty easy all things considered. Most of my big things are still in Austin where I left them and everything else was in my car so all I had to do was clear out a few dresser drawers and boom bam I was done. After some general cleaning after I wake up today everything will be ready for my parents to move whatever they want to move around and by the time I get back I wont live here anymore. This is going to be a weird move for me. Last year I moved out and into a dorm, and it was the first time I really lived "on my own" in my life, but I still had a room here which was mainly considered "my room" and it was always in what I would consider "my house" (I LOVE QUOTATION MARKS). This is going to be different though, because I'll be moving out of this room into my room in the apartment, but then after my 12 month lease with this apartment is done, I'll either get another 12 monther or move from one apartment in San Marcos to another apartment in San Marcos. Basically this is the big move where I don't really come back except to visit. This is going to be the move where I've officially moved out of my parents house and am on my own. I'm excited, a little sad and a little scared I have to admit because I don't really know what to expect I guess. Oh well, I'm sure it'll all turn out well.
In other news I've been continuing to read Fables and I'm still loving the hell out of it. Little Boy Blue is a complete badass and its cool to see the story diving more into the question of who/what the adversary is and what type of plans are being considered to retake the homelands. They've revealed who the adversary actually is and his motives for doing what he did, which I liked. His reasons for building his empire seemed cool and his way of doing it was even cooler. I like where its going with the introduction of the Arabian fables like Sinbad. This was something I was thinking about during the Wooden Soldier attack when in the infermery I noticed someone who looked like a Samurai and though to myself "wait, what about non western fables? Have their lands been conquered as well?" and apparently they haven't which would be a neat area to explore. So now they have an alliance with the Arabian fables, so if they can get one with the Asian and African fables as well, then they certainly stand a chance to defeat the adversary and retake the homelands.
This does beg several questions which I've been wondering about and lead to a bigger question for me. The Arabian fables have possession of at least one Dinjin (genie) which they went to great lengths to emphasize the great magical power these Dinjin posses. With that in mind, why didn't the Arabian fables simply wish the Adversary's armies be defeated at the first sign of trouble? The only explanation that I could think of is that the combined might of all of the Empire's warlocks might be enough to capture a Dinjin? If thats true I don't remember them mentioning that in the comic. Because right now between the power of the Dinjin and the Northern wind, who has apparently done battle with and killed other Dinjin, they could have this war won by this time next year. So now, if they have the power to win the war, we have to ask why don't they use it? The answer for this is obviously to keep the story alive and keep it dramatic and keep it interesting, but this all is somewhat sullied by the fact that it isn't realistic.
This brings me to my writing topic of discussion. When should drama bow down to realism? In an online comic I read called "Goblins: life through their eyes" one of the main characters has just fought and lost to one of the main villains who is several times more powerful then the main character.
to make this a little easier I'll go into some back story: some goblins in the D&D world where attacked by adventurers who slaughtered their entire warcamp save for the lucky few who escaped. Those few then got the crazy idea to become player characters so they could level up and better defend their village next time some adventurers come around looking for easy EXP. Fast forward to now and the paladin of the group, Big Ears, just left the party to go on a suicide mission to distract Saral cain (a really powerful bad guy) away from the other goblins. Saral cain then proceeded to beat the living snot out of Big ears and end the battle with Saral's ax sticking out of the majority of Big Ear's body.
Now the main question amung the fans is this: there is no apparent wound made by the ax itself and thus Big Ears may still be alive, while the ax simply did some other form of damadge to him that is not entirely physical.
Now the question of realism Vs. dramatic effect comes into play. Saral cain is several levels higher then Big Ears, and as can be seen in the fight is a much better combatant as well. Saral cain should of won this fight and he did, this makes sense and is realistic. However, if for some reason Big Ears lives through this then that takes away all suspense because we know that he'll never really die then due to him being a main character. I've heard one person argue that its ok for him to love now because its not about the realism its about the drama and moving the story along, so having a character live through vary unlikely stuff only to die in an unlikely way later on is ok because so long as it moves the story along, thats what it should always do.
I disagree with that sentiment because of how the reader is going to interpret that. If you have a character survive some crazy mess, thats going to become aparent to the reader that they have main character immunity. I will never actually be afraid of Batman dieing because he's Batman. So you can pit him against anyone you want, be it the joker, superman of friggin' Galactus and I know Batman is going to come out on top because he's Batman. Keeping Batman alive through all of these scinarios keeps the story going and keeps it dramatic and adventurous and everything but lets face it, keeps it far from realistic which is also a necessary element in any good piece of fiction. The way they keep it dramatic and realistic though is by not placing the element of danger so much on Batman, but on those around him. I'm not afraid of Batman dieing, but I am afraid that he won't make it to the hostages in time.
So lets look at it in the other way, lets kill off Batman, and in a completely unrealistic way, but one thats completely dramatic. What if while in the Batcave, a mind controlled Robin comes up to him and slits his throat? Its dramatic because Batman was betrayed by the one person he trusts most, and Robin has to deal with the guild of killing Batman while he himself takes up the mantel and becomes the next Batman. This is unrealistic though because its friggin' Batman, he would've seen the knife coming a mile away and easily taken out Robin before he could of killed him. Thus in the end, we're left with what is ultimately a lame death of Batman despite its dramatic effect.
its 130 now and I've gotta get up hella early so I'm going to go to bed. Toodles. More on this later hopefully.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Happy birthday to me
So it happened, after years of planning, preparation and speculation, I turned 21. All in all it was a good birthday. I guess I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to see all my friends, but I'll see the rest of them soon so its no big deal.
I woke up early and just kinda chilled which was nice, because I really haven't been able to do that in a while, what with me either having to go somewhere or something happening. After that I went to the bank, target and two comic shops which was nice because I got myself a few things and April a few presents as well.
For myself I picked up:
Die hard 1-3 in a nice small boxed set for only 20 bucks, so that rocks it hardcore.
Fables Vol. 4, which I'm really enjoying.
Some misc. comics that I've been meaning to get for a while now. I just realized today that I'm like 6 months behind on all my comic books, which sucks, but it shouldn't be too hard to recover from.
After that Mom and I went to get some dinner at Atlanta bread company, and lets face it, potato soup in a sour dough bread bowl is always a good idea. Its an anytime food.
we came home, where I proceeded to read half of m fables volume which is so far blowing me away and also kind of depressing to see these guys get slaughtered by the nemesis.
I really like comics, and I really wish I read more. Its weird though, I love super heroes and super hero comics, but I don't actually read any. Theres so much continuity in them that it feels wierd for me to just try and jump into the series and try to figure out who everyone is. Plus there are always so many tie ins between all the major heroes in both DC and Marvel that it feels like you have to buy just about everything out at the time to get the whole story. Take Civil War for example, this was an event that involved every super hero in the marvel universe more or less, so to get the full story you would of had to buy Iron man, Fantastic four, spiderman, Avengers, Punisher, etc. I mean I would love to jump in and start reading all this world war Hulk going on, but I'd probably have to get about a years worth of hulk back issues to get the context of it all. I think thats why I like the independent works so much, you don't need to read anything but Fables to enjoy Fables, and you don't need to read other Kirkman works to enjoy Invincible.
Speaking of Fables, i've been reading through the volumes of it and I'm really liking it so far. I like how the characters are portrayed and how they all act, but there are a few things that I'm not digging about it. The main problem that I have with it is that the Fables supposedly came to the mundane world centuries ago, like 1500s or something is when the first ones showed up. So they've been here for a long time and now currently most of them reside in New York city in what they call Fabletown, which is actually just a few buildings in NYC. The way they act though it really seems more like they all just recently got there, like 10 years max. Lots of the fables are still struggling to make a living in the mundane world, but I don't see how that would really be if they've been here for so long. Like I don't see how Beauty from Beauty and the Beast could work in a book store, if she's been here for centuries, just because all she'd have to do is save a little each year and be a millionaire by now.
Also there is the issue of magic. Now in the comic, magic is very rare and expensive, as there are only a handful of wizards and witches that made it out of the fable world. This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me though as I would think that in such a crisis situation, the wizards would just give out more or less any enchantment and spell that anyone needs. For example, there is "the farm" which is a place where all of the non-human looking fables live (the three bears and the three little pigs for example) and Bigsby (the big bad wolf) is not allowed to live there because of his past attempts to eat most of the fables there, but because he was reformed and allowed to live in the mundane world, they put an enchantment on him to allow him to shapeshift into a human and back into his wolf form at will. If they could do it for him, why not all the other ones who don't want to live on the farm? Its jut one of those things that I keep thinking about.
anyway, i'm pretty tiered right now, so thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I'll see you guys tomarrow and I'll try to finish pictures for the rest of ya
I woke up early and just kinda chilled which was nice, because I really haven't been able to do that in a while, what with me either having to go somewhere or something happening. After that I went to the bank, target and two comic shops which was nice because I got myself a few things and April a few presents as well.
For myself I picked up:
Die hard 1-3 in a nice small boxed set for only 20 bucks, so that rocks it hardcore.
Fables Vol. 4, which I'm really enjoying.
Some misc. comics that I've been meaning to get for a while now. I just realized today that I'm like 6 months behind on all my comic books, which sucks, but it shouldn't be too hard to recover from.
After that Mom and I went to get some dinner at Atlanta bread company, and lets face it, potato soup in a sour dough bread bowl is always a good idea. Its an anytime food.
we came home, where I proceeded to read half of m fables volume which is so far blowing me away and also kind of depressing to see these guys get slaughtered by the nemesis.
I really like comics, and I really wish I read more. Its weird though, I love super heroes and super hero comics, but I don't actually read any. Theres so much continuity in them that it feels wierd for me to just try and jump into the series and try to figure out who everyone is. Plus there are always so many tie ins between all the major heroes in both DC and Marvel that it feels like you have to buy just about everything out at the time to get the whole story. Take Civil War for example, this was an event that involved every super hero in the marvel universe more or less, so to get the full story you would of had to buy Iron man, Fantastic four, spiderman, Avengers, Punisher, etc. I mean I would love to jump in and start reading all this world war Hulk going on, but I'd probably have to get about a years worth of hulk back issues to get the context of it all. I think thats why I like the independent works so much, you don't need to read anything but Fables to enjoy Fables, and you don't need to read other Kirkman works to enjoy Invincible.
Speaking of Fables, i've been reading through the volumes of it and I'm really liking it so far. I like how the characters are portrayed and how they all act, but there are a few things that I'm not digging about it. The main problem that I have with it is that the Fables supposedly came to the mundane world centuries ago, like 1500s or something is when the first ones showed up. So they've been here for a long time and now currently most of them reside in New York city in what they call Fabletown, which is actually just a few buildings in NYC. The way they act though it really seems more like they all just recently got there, like 10 years max. Lots of the fables are still struggling to make a living in the mundane world, but I don't see how that would really be if they've been here for so long. Like I don't see how Beauty from Beauty and the Beast could work in a book store, if she's been here for centuries, just because all she'd have to do is save a little each year and be a millionaire by now.
Also there is the issue of magic. Now in the comic, magic is very rare and expensive, as there are only a handful of wizards and witches that made it out of the fable world. This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me though as I would think that in such a crisis situation, the wizards would just give out more or less any enchantment and spell that anyone needs. For example, there is "the farm" which is a place where all of the non-human looking fables live (the three bears and the three little pigs for example) and Bigsby (the big bad wolf) is not allowed to live there because of his past attempts to eat most of the fables there, but because he was reformed and allowed to live in the mundane world, they put an enchantment on him to allow him to shapeshift into a human and back into his wolf form at will. If they could do it for him, why not all the other ones who don't want to live on the farm? Its jut one of those things that I keep thinking about.
anyway, i'm pretty tiered right now, so thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I'll see you guys tomarrow and I'll try to finish pictures for the rest of ya
Friday, July 27, 2007
quick update
Ok, so Bob Barker retired from The Price is Right recently and there was a lot of speculation about who was going to replace him. Well, turns out its Drew Carry is who they chose. I'll give you a moment to let that sink in.
exactly.
Now don't get me wrong, they could of done a lot worse. And by a lot worse I mean Rosie O Donald and the guy who played Slater on Saved by the bell. I mean this just seems like such a random choice to me. I guess its just me, but I don't find Drew Carry charming in the least, ya know? Like old game show hosts where charming as hell, they where all of the Hugh Heffner variety. Todays gameshow hosts are people who where big at one point and just need work now. That and game shows are just so different now, they used to be about mostly ridiculous challenges, questions and GAMES, now its shit like open boxes to see if you won something, or answer a few questions and get insane amounts of money. Like I would totally go on Deal or No Deal just because its about an hour of your time to win at least 20,000. If you can't walk away from Deal or no Deal with at least 20k you should not fly home because you're the unluckiest guy ever.
Same with "are you smarter then a 5th grader" which i saw an episode of, and to me it seemed like the only challenge was to not over think the question. The one that made me kind of trip up was "which star is closest to the earth" and I sat there thinking "ok, they must mean 'besides the sun' on that one, because otherwise they should just ask 'name that giant fiery ball in the sky'" But apparently "the Sun" was correct and you just need to take the questions at face value. I mean some of the questions where just simple math equations that would be asked to a 4th grader.
Thats why I like the older game shows more, where it does take some amount of work or whatever to win at them, but its not just crazy hard like say Jeopardy. anyway, sleep for now.
exactly.Now don't get me wrong, they could of done a lot worse. And by a lot worse I mean Rosie O Donald and the guy who played Slater on Saved by the bell. I mean this just seems like such a random choice to me. I guess its just me, but I don't find Drew Carry charming in the least, ya know? Like old game show hosts where charming as hell, they where all of the Hugh Heffner variety. Todays gameshow hosts are people who where big at one point and just need work now. That and game shows are just so different now, they used to be about mostly ridiculous challenges, questions and GAMES, now its shit like open boxes to see if you won something, or answer a few questions and get insane amounts of money. Like I would totally go on Deal or No Deal just because its about an hour of your time to win at least 20,000. If you can't walk away from Deal or no Deal with at least 20k you should not fly home because you're the unluckiest guy ever.
Same with "are you smarter then a 5th grader" which i saw an episode of, and to me it seemed like the only challenge was to not over think the question. The one that made me kind of trip up was "which star is closest to the earth" and I sat there thinking "ok, they must mean 'besides the sun' on that one, because otherwise they should just ask 'name that giant fiery ball in the sky'" But apparently "the Sun" was correct and you just need to take the questions at face value. I mean some of the questions where just simple math equations that would be asked to a 4th grader.
Thats why I like the older game shows more, where it does take some amount of work or whatever to win at them, but its not just crazy hard like say Jeopardy. anyway, sleep for now.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
shit
Funeral and viewing information is as fallows.
Viewing: tomorrow 6-8 viewing restland, off of Greenville
Funeral: friday 12:30 at chapel hill on restland. Don't wear all black, but do dress nice.
Sammy's old cell number, which is in posesion of his parents if you want to try and call or whatever 214-662-4318
Viewing: tomorrow 6-8 viewing restland, off of Greenville
Funeral: friday 12:30 at chapel hill on restland. Don't wear all black, but do dress nice.
Sammy's old cell number, which is in posesion of his parents if you want to try and call or whatever 214-662-4318
Monday, July 16, 2007
web-comic news
OK, so I've started really playing with the concept art for a web comic that I could draw myself. Its the stick figure style in previous posts but its a bit more refined now. A few issues arose while doodeling though that I still need help on and might requisition the aid of sean tomorrow.
1) chicks. I cant really mage gender apparent yet, without drawing awkward boobs and or huge lips.
2) Hands. Cant quite get 'em the way I like them yet, but practice will change that.
I'm getting to the point where I need to decide on what exactly I'm going to do with this once I'm done. I suppose I could just re-start the old web-comic and maybe either re-do the first few strips in this new style, or maybe just pick up where the last one left off?
I mean they're so different I should probably just start over I guess. I mean I only got up to like 10 strips anyway so it would be entirely possible for me to just do that again. But then that Raises other questions like the Ogre character. Origonally the main cast was going to revolve around the main character (who I never named) the Ogre (who was named Krog, but I might change because the name is really similar to the demon on VGcats) and a zombie that never made it into the comic yet named Lord Lexington nickelbottom III. I have yet to try and draw an ogre or a zombie in the new style yet so I might try and it could look completely incomprehensible/silly. In the event that it does, I'm stuck with ether needing to learn how to draw like a normal person or getting a whole new cast.
Anyway, I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill, but its still a bit of a concern of mine. I also need to think about how I want to do my web-comic. Do I want to update every day? only 3 days a week? Or should I just update as often as I can, be it once a week, twice a day or whatever? I kind of like the third option as it doesn't really tie me down to any set routine and I won't have to dive into the realm of Filler material for updates, and thats something I want to avoid completely. Not that theres anything wrong with filler, I mean its better to give something then nothing, but its like skipping class to me: the more you do it, the more you will do it. Take ZAP! for example, they used to do filler art when they needed it, but now its just their Thursday update.
Another thing I need to worry about is originality. With so many other comics out there, its hard to come up with a truly original idea. I mean on the one hand, there really isn't anything thats REALLY original anymore. Most radio songs are covers, most movies are re-makes of older movies or older television shows, most video games are sequels. Without Dirty Harry there wouldn't be a Die Hard, without the Simpsons there wouldn't be a Family Guy, without Lord of the Rings, there wouldn't be War hammer and without War hammer there wouldn't be Warcraft. There are distinct origins of certain icons in other sources and its hard to deny that there wasn't any influence, but does influence equal plagiarism? I would like to think not, as much of our media is influenced by one source or another, generally just everyday life.
So if the topic and idea is fair game, if not all zombie movies are just ripping off Night of the Living Dead (Which is ripping off I am Legend) then where do we draw the line? What if this zombie movie has really similar zombies and rules for their zombies? What if this one is set in the 60s? what if this one is in black and white? When does something stop being original, and start being a copy?
I like this strips interpretation
Penny Arcade does the gaming comic right, and has been for a long time. You could call any number of other gaming comics a copy of Penny Arcade, just based off of the idea that its about two guys playing video games. The gray area starts when you come to realize that the style of each gaming comic is unique in some way. On the one hand, CTR-ALT-DEL is done in a 4 panel style, and has more characters that make frequent appearances then Penny Arcade; meanwhile little gamers does stick figures instead of the cartoony art of PA. On the other, both often have the same type of humor and jokes often found in Penny Arcade.
This brings me to my web-comic and how I want to conduct it. I want it to be as original as I can get it, but I know that there has to be some kind of cut off point with how much I worry about this because then I might end up producing something I don't like, out of fear of someone calling me out on something I accidentally plagiarized. I got some advice from a comic once about when people call you out for stealing material, and thats just to take it with a grain of salt, because usually the person calling you would doesn't know what he's talking about. Just because you made a joke about the post office, doesn't mean you stole it from some other comic who made a joke about the post office. They probably just heard both, and since they're both about the post office, assumed it was the same and sided with who he heard it from first. I think thats the take I need to have when it comes to originality in my webcomic, just because something may be similar to something else, doesn't mean its the same thing.
But then theres the other side of that, in where I steal something without even realizing I did it. What if I make a joke, and think that I thought it up, even though I actually saw it a few years ago and just don't remember seeing it?
I guess these are things I need to think about when it comes time to tweak my first couple of comics and get them ready for posting on a site. I think the plan right now is to get as many as I can done right now, then get a site up and running where I can post them. Maybe if I do the first say 50 or so comics, I could then post them at like 2 a day for the first month to get the ball rolling. I mean my first post should have at least 10 I'd say, then I want a good reserve going for when a few months or so down the line I want to take a week off, I can still do that while updating.
anyway, thats all for now...its about 3 am and I think I might go to Wal-mart to find something to occupy my waking hours during the night. Ugh this night job sucks right now
1) chicks. I cant really mage gender apparent yet, without drawing awkward boobs and or huge lips.
2) Hands. Cant quite get 'em the way I like them yet, but practice will change that.
I'm getting to the point where I need to decide on what exactly I'm going to do with this once I'm done. I suppose I could just re-start the old web-comic and maybe either re-do the first few strips in this new style, or maybe just pick up where the last one left off?
I mean they're so different I should probably just start over I guess. I mean I only got up to like 10 strips anyway so it would be entirely possible for me to just do that again. But then that Raises other questions like the Ogre character. Origonally the main cast was going to revolve around the main character (who I never named) the Ogre (who was named Krog, but I might change because the name is really similar to the demon on VGcats) and a zombie that never made it into the comic yet named Lord Lexington nickelbottom III. I have yet to try and draw an ogre or a zombie in the new style yet so I might try and it could look completely incomprehensible/silly. In the event that it does, I'm stuck with ether needing to learn how to draw like a normal person or getting a whole new cast.Anyway, I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill, but its still a bit of a concern of mine. I also need to think about how I want to do my web-comic. Do I want to update every day? only 3 days a week? Or should I just update as often as I can, be it once a week, twice a day or whatever? I kind of like the third option as it doesn't really tie me down to any set routine and I won't have to dive into the realm of Filler material for updates, and thats something I want to avoid completely. Not that theres anything wrong with filler, I mean its better to give something then nothing, but its like skipping class to me: the more you do it, the more you will do it. Take ZAP! for example, they used to do filler art when they needed it, but now its just their Thursday update.
Another thing I need to worry about is originality. With so many other comics out there, its hard to come up with a truly original idea. I mean on the one hand, there really isn't anything thats REALLY original anymore. Most radio songs are covers, most movies are re-makes of older movies or older television shows, most video games are sequels. Without Dirty Harry there wouldn't be a Die Hard, without the Simpsons there wouldn't be a Family Guy, without Lord of the Rings, there wouldn't be War hammer and without War hammer there wouldn't be Warcraft. There are distinct origins of certain icons in other sources and its hard to deny that there wasn't any influence, but does influence equal plagiarism? I would like to think not, as much of our media is influenced by one source or another, generally just everyday life.
So if the topic and idea is fair game, if not all zombie movies are just ripping off Night of the Living Dead (Which is ripping off I am Legend) then where do we draw the line? What if this zombie movie has really similar zombies and rules for their zombies? What if this one is set in the 60s? what if this one is in black and white? When does something stop being original, and start being a copy?
I like this strips interpretation
Penny Arcade does the gaming comic right, and has been for a long time. You could call any number of other gaming comics a copy of Penny Arcade, just based off of the idea that its about two guys playing video games. The gray area starts when you come to realize that the style of each gaming comic is unique in some way. On the one hand, CTR-ALT-DEL is done in a 4 panel style, and has more characters that make frequent appearances then Penny Arcade; meanwhile little gamers does stick figures instead of the cartoony art of PA. On the other, both often have the same type of humor and jokes often found in Penny Arcade.
This brings me to my web-comic and how I want to conduct it. I want it to be as original as I can get it, but I know that there has to be some kind of cut off point with how much I worry about this because then I might end up producing something I don't like, out of fear of someone calling me out on something I accidentally plagiarized. I got some advice from a comic once about when people call you out for stealing material, and thats just to take it with a grain of salt, because usually the person calling you would doesn't know what he's talking about. Just because you made a joke about the post office, doesn't mean you stole it from some other comic who made a joke about the post office. They probably just heard both, and since they're both about the post office, assumed it was the same and sided with who he heard it from first. I think thats the take I need to have when it comes to originality in my webcomic, just because something may be similar to something else, doesn't mean its the same thing.
But then theres the other side of that, in where I steal something without even realizing I did it. What if I make a joke, and think that I thought it up, even though I actually saw it a few years ago and just don't remember seeing it?
I guess these are things I need to think about when it comes time to tweak my first couple of comics and get them ready for posting on a site. I think the plan right now is to get as many as I can done right now, then get a site up and running where I can post them. Maybe if I do the first say 50 or so comics, I could then post them at like 2 a day for the first month to get the ball rolling. I mean my first post should have at least 10 I'd say, then I want a good reserve going for when a few months or so down the line I want to take a week off, I can still do that while updating.
anyway, thats all for now...its about 3 am and I think I might go to Wal-mart to find something to occupy my waking hours during the night. Ugh this night job sucks right now
Thursday, July 12, 2007
On Transformers
So I just saw Transformers off of Tvlinks and I gotta say I'm a little disappointed. I told myself I would just watch it until I see Optimus Prime transform, but by that point I was already half way through the film and decided to see it through. Its fatal flaw is that of a lot of action movies these days, the good stuff is at the end. Now I know they have to save the best fight for last, but they kind of take it to an extreme when Megatron, the main badguy, doesn't even un-freeze until theres only like 20 minutes left.
Plus I don't like it when a whole sub-plot ends up being unnecessary in a movie. Like the glasses apparently had a map to the All Spark imprinted on them, which is why the decepticons and autobots wanted them so badly. But then apparently they didn't need them because the government had the All Spark the whole time, and in the same building as Megatron.
My last gripe was that really none of the transformers got as much time as they should of, except like Bumblebee and the police car decepticon really. Starscream only had maybe 2 lines in the whole movie, while Jazz apparently died and I almost missed it because it happened so quickly.
anyway, overall it was still vary enjoyable, but some definite changes should be made if they plan on doing more.
Plus I don't like it when a whole sub-plot ends up being unnecessary in a movie. Like the glasses apparently had a map to the All Spark imprinted on them, which is why the decepticons and autobots wanted them so badly. But then apparently they didn't need them because the government had the All Spark the whole time, and in the same building as Megatron.
My last gripe was that really none of the transformers got as much time as they should of, except like Bumblebee and the police car decepticon really. Starscream only had maybe 2 lines in the whole movie, while Jazz apparently died and I almost missed it because it happened so quickly.
anyway, overall it was still vary enjoyable, but some definite changes should be made if they plan on doing more.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
some art
These are some things I did on the Graffiti application on facebook. I like them so i thought I'd post 'em here. 
This one I did on Sean's wall as an apology for not noticing the invitation to a party until last night. I liked it and decided to do more.
This is the first of the stick figure type drawings I did. I like how it turned out, 1/3 simple 2/3 adorable.
This is my green lantern one. I was watching Justice League on Tvlinks at the time i drew these. I like it in concept but am disappointed with the head and the text, so I might try it again later.
This one is my favorite out of all of them. Its mostly from 2 sources, the first being Adam Strange and the second one being I am a rocket builder. I like how it turned out the best, both in concept and artistic skippidy do. I really like the stick figure/floating arm thing going on, and I think I might experiment more with it to try and use it in my web-comic. I know its been done before, and better, but I still like it and might try to utilize it. I would change the flag if I did it again though, something more like the American flag but with the planet Earth where the stars go.
This is the next one of the I AM a space explorer series. I don't like this one as much just due to some of the sloppy parts in it, but I think its still good all things considered. I would probably put something else where the I do what others cannot text is next time, I'm not sure if that would make it too crowded though.
This one I did on Sean's wall as an apology for not noticing the invitation to a party until last night. I liked it and decided to do more.
This is the first of the stick figure type drawings I did. I like how it turned out, 1/3 simple 2/3 adorable.
This is my green lantern one. I was watching Justice League on Tvlinks at the time i drew these. I like it in concept but am disappointed with the head and the text, so I might try it again later.
This one is my favorite out of all of them. Its mostly from 2 sources, the first being Adam Strange and the second one being I am a rocket builder. I like how it turned out the best, both in concept and artistic skippidy do. I really like the stick figure/floating arm thing going on, and I think I might experiment more with it to try and use it in my web-comic. I know its been done before, and better, but I still like it and might try to utilize it. I would change the flag if I did it again though, something more like the American flag but with the planet Earth where the stars go.
This is the next one of the I AM a space explorer series. I don't like this one as much just due to some of the sloppy parts in it, but I think its still good all things considered. I would probably put something else where the I do what others cannot text is next time, I'm not sure if that would make it too crowded though.
Monday, July 9, 2007
My Memo Book
OK, so a few days ago I bought a memo pad to keep in my pocket for when I have ideas for sketches or jokes. I've started to fill it up and I think I'll post a few here to see if anyone who does read this likes it.
Sketch idea #1: a long series of gags all tied together.
It starts out with some guy at work, he makes a mistake and mimes Seppuku, immediately after hitting the ground a woman in a kimono rushes to the body and begins to cry over the body. The manager who told him of the mistake mentions that this must of been a lot of work for such a small gag. The camera then cuts to the woman without the makeup on getting a phonecall from the guy who would latter start the gag. She rings a gong and out pop ninja/stylists. One of the ninjas is black and says something stereotypically sassy and a jingle plays along the lines of "its shaniqua! shes black!" to indicate a type of sitcom. The Camera then zooms out to show it was all on a television being presented by these two guys to a focus group of only black people who all press the red button in front of them. Two security guards come in and one of the group members says "take 'em out back" where they are beaten up as someone films from some ways away saying "i'm puttin' this shit on youtube!" where it then cuts to us watching the clip as someone says "ok, this is just getting out of hand, are we even in the sketch anymore?" to which someone else replies "I'm not sure" and then it ends.
its long, but thats the point, I might change the punchline to "what is this? MADtv?"
its also a work in progress
Ok this next one I like better because its simpler and involves superheroes. This would go one of two ways, but both offer the same basic plot/joke.
version 1) Lex Luther is sitting there, when his henchman, Rocco, comes up and asks what the new plan to kill Superman is today. Lex replies that he's burned out, and just for kicks wants Rocco to come up with a plan. Rocco says he will, but needs time to think. Rocco then goes to watch some TV and some of his favorite cartoons are on and he watches The Road Runner and gets an idea. He asks Lex for a piece of kryptonite and puts it in a bowl of M&Ms labeled "For Superman" and leaves it on the roof of the daily planet. The Camera then shows a newspaper that reads "SUPERMAN FOUND DEAD ON DAILY PLANET ROOF" and Lex reading it in utter disbelief.
Version 2) The Joker dreams something like a roadrunner cartoon with him being wily coyote, wakes up and says "nah, that would never work...well...maybe" and it cuts to the newspaper where batman died, same basic idea only its the joker because he might actually try that, but batman would never fall for it. Just an alternate version of the same joke really.
Version 3) Same as version one but instead of watching the cartoon and everything, Rocco just starts out asking for the kryptonite piece, wrapping it in foil and handing it to superman who says "ooo, I love candy" and eats it, only to die right there. This one is quicker and more to the point, but then we also need someone to play Superman.
This last one is just a joke for a stand up routine. Basically it goes like this: So I was in wal-mart the other day and I noticed a type of body wash called Bodycology. With a name like that, doesn't that imply that someone out there is a bodycologist? That just sounds like a bad pick-up line, like "hey baby, I'm a bodicologist, let me tell you something I could write my thesis on you" *cheesy finger snap and point*
Sketch idea #1: a long series of gags all tied together.
It starts out with some guy at work, he makes a mistake and mimes Seppuku, immediately after hitting the ground a woman in a kimono rushes to the body and begins to cry over the body. The manager who told him of the mistake mentions that this must of been a lot of work for such a small gag. The camera then cuts to the woman without the makeup on getting a phonecall from the guy who would latter start the gag. She rings a gong and out pop ninja/stylists. One of the ninjas is black and says something stereotypically sassy and a jingle plays along the lines of "its shaniqua! shes black!" to indicate a type of sitcom. The Camera then zooms out to show it was all on a television being presented by these two guys to a focus group of only black people who all press the red button in front of them. Two security guards come in and one of the group members says "take 'em out back" where they are beaten up as someone films from some ways away saying "i'm puttin' this shit on youtube!" where it then cuts to us watching the clip as someone says "ok, this is just getting out of hand, are we even in the sketch anymore?" to which someone else replies "I'm not sure" and then it ends.
its long, but thats the point, I might change the punchline to "what is this? MADtv?"
its also a work in progress
Ok this next one I like better because its simpler and involves superheroes. This would go one of two ways, but both offer the same basic plot/joke.
version 1) Lex Luther is sitting there, when his henchman, Rocco, comes up and asks what the new plan to kill Superman is today. Lex replies that he's burned out, and just for kicks wants Rocco to come up with a plan. Rocco says he will, but needs time to think. Rocco then goes to watch some TV and some of his favorite cartoons are on and he watches The Road Runner and gets an idea. He asks Lex for a piece of kryptonite and puts it in a bowl of M&Ms labeled "For Superman" and leaves it on the roof of the daily planet. The Camera then shows a newspaper that reads "SUPERMAN FOUND DEAD ON DAILY PLANET ROOF" and Lex reading it in utter disbelief.
Version 2) The Joker dreams something like a roadrunner cartoon with him being wily coyote, wakes up and says "nah, that would never work...well...maybe" and it cuts to the newspaper where batman died, same basic idea only its the joker because he might actually try that, but batman would never fall for it. Just an alternate version of the same joke really.
Version 3) Same as version one but instead of watching the cartoon and everything, Rocco just starts out asking for the kryptonite piece, wrapping it in foil and handing it to superman who says "ooo, I love candy" and eats it, only to die right there. This one is quicker and more to the point, but then we also need someone to play Superman.
This last one is just a joke for a stand up routine. Basically it goes like this: So I was in wal-mart the other day and I noticed a type of body wash called Bodycology. With a name like that, doesn't that imply that someone out there is a bodycologist? That just sounds like a bad pick-up line, like "hey baby, I'm a bodicologist, let me tell you something I could write my thesis on you" *cheesy finger snap and point*
Friday, July 6, 2007
I am the cog that keeps this machine running
I haven't showered in like 3 days. I woke up early on wednsday to go to April's house, woke up early thursday AT april's house, and went to sleep at around 8 am today all without taking a shower. I really really should before I go to my job where I move boxes for approximately 8 hours.
So the Transformers movie is out and I've only heard good things about it from those lucky few who have seen it. While at April's I had the misfortune of listening to one of her friends 2nd hand criticize it for not having a plot for the second half. This made me just roll my eyes because 1) This girl listens to Bjerk and thinks I'm a typical college dude who likes the strokes, thus I roll my eyes at everything this "if anyone else likes it, I hate it" yuppie and 2) ITS TRANSFORMERS who cares if it doesn't have a plot? I don't think anyone has ever seen an episode of Transformers and come out of it a changed man because the plot was just that deep. If you're going into the film expecting to get a commentary on the war in Iraq where the Decepticons are symbolic for terrorists and the autobots are the coalition of the willing, you're probably going to be disappointed. God I hate yuppies.
Anyway, April is leaving in a few days to go to Germany in a few days for a whole month, she'll miss her and my birthday while over there, then when she comes back she'll have to play host to a German girl for a month. This is going to be weird for me, mostly because I'll have one less person/city to worry about on my days off and I wonder what I'll do for the rest of the summer. I'll have my days off on Tuesday and Wednesday, which is cool since I don't think I'll take another summer class, so my days off will actually be days off. One plan of mine is to go down to Ennis, where there is a drive in movie theater and see Transformers in my car, which will be known as "sidewinder" for that day.
The fallowing is a list of things I plan on getting when I get my first paycheck
1) Caught up on my comic books. I haven't gone comic book shopping in like a year.
2) one of those really long pillows, they look so comfortable
3) Membership for the NAACP, for two reasons, 1) To stick it to the man 2) Just feels right
anyway, thats all. I think i'm gunna take a 20 minute nap, grab a shower the go to work. Huzzah!
So the Transformers movie is out and I've only heard good things about it from those lucky few who have seen it. While at April's I had the misfortune of listening to one of her friends 2nd hand criticize it for not having a plot for the second half. This made me just roll my eyes because 1) This girl listens to Bjerk and thinks I'm a typical college dude who likes the strokes, thus I roll my eyes at everything this "if anyone else likes it, I hate it" yuppie and 2) ITS TRANSFORMERS who cares if it doesn't have a plot? I don't think anyone has ever seen an episode of Transformers and come out of it a changed man because the plot was just that deep. If you're going into the film expecting to get a commentary on the war in Iraq where the Decepticons are symbolic for terrorists and the autobots are the coalition of the willing, you're probably going to be disappointed. God I hate yuppies.
Anyway, April is leaving in a few days to go to Germany in a few days for a whole month, she'll miss her and my birthday while over there, then when she comes back she'll have to play host to a German girl for a month. This is going to be weird for me, mostly because I'll have one less person/city to worry about on my days off and I wonder what I'll do for the rest of the summer. I'll have my days off on Tuesday and Wednesday, which is cool since I don't think I'll take another summer class, so my days off will actually be days off. One plan of mine is to go down to Ennis, where there is a drive in movie theater and see Transformers in my car, which will be known as "sidewinder" for that day.
The fallowing is a list of things I plan on getting when I get my first paycheck
1) Caught up on my comic books. I haven't gone comic book shopping in like a year.
2) one of those really long pillows, they look so comfortable
3) Membership for the NAACP, for two reasons, 1) To stick it to the man 2) Just feels right
anyway, thats all. I think i'm gunna take a 20 minute nap, grab a shower the go to work. Huzzah!
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
quick news-a-ma-goo
Couple things happening around here I feel are worth mentioning:
1) Wife of US soldier allowed to stay in country after husbands probable death. This story made me incredibly happy to hear about as it really makes me feel like theres still compassion and reason in our country. When shit like this happens I feel proud to be in America.
2) Going to Houston in like t-minus 3 or so hours. I hate the drive from here to there because it always makes me think its not going to take long, but then does. The drive from San Marcos to there is probably my favorite, except for the town that smells like sulfur.
3) I've started to loath my job, but I think its mostly because I'm in a section I don't like, and I haven't gotten actually paid yet. I got my first paycheck for my one day of orientation, but am now due my actual "you worked for us for 40 hours a week for two weeks, have some money" paycheck. I don't know what I'm going to do, if I should save it all up for something really nice (new computer, desktop this time) or save it and not get anything, so in the event I can't balance school and job this fall I'll still be able to get some hot coca at Epoch and take April out to dinner from time to time
4) I'm late for my Final exam in a class I'm making an A in. I really liked this class, its probably been my favorite class like ever in college just because the teacher is sooooo good. He really makes me interested in history, something i've never been REALLY interested in, and puts it all in perspective.
anyway, i'm off to go write about the 60s and its effects on modern America.
1) Wife of US soldier allowed to stay in country after husbands probable death. This story made me incredibly happy to hear about as it really makes me feel like theres still compassion and reason in our country. When shit like this happens I feel proud to be in America.
2) Going to Houston in like t-minus 3 or so hours. I hate the drive from here to there because it always makes me think its not going to take long, but then does. The drive from San Marcos to there is probably my favorite, except for the town that smells like sulfur.
3) I've started to loath my job, but I think its mostly because I'm in a section I don't like, and I haven't gotten actually paid yet. I got my first paycheck for my one day of orientation, but am now due my actual "you worked for us for 40 hours a week for two weeks, have some money" paycheck. I don't know what I'm going to do, if I should save it all up for something really nice (new computer, desktop this time) or save it and not get anything, so in the event I can't balance school and job this fall I'll still be able to get some hot coca at Epoch and take April out to dinner from time to time
4) I'm late for my Final exam in a class I'm making an A in. I really liked this class, its probably been my favorite class like ever in college just because the teacher is sooooo good. He really makes me interested in history, something i've never been REALLY interested in, and puts it all in perspective.
anyway, i'm off to go write about the 60s and its effects on modern America.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Work work work
So I've started my new job, and gotten my first paycheck (51.12) and I think I might like this job alright. Its hard adjusting though, just because I get off at 7 am, so I sleep all day. And I could literally sleep all day if given the chance, yesterday I didn't wake up until 8pm because I was so physically tiered. Thats the part thats really getting me, the physical strain, my feet hurt, my legs hurt, my back pops when I bend it, my arms are sore, etc. Physically its not THAT demanding of a job, its just that I have to work quickly in order to keep up with the amount of product we have to put out.
The way it works is basically this:
10:00-Get to work, clock in and have our meeting in the break room. The manager in charge for the night will go over who is working where, and about how much to expect tonight so what we should prioritize.
10:10- Go to our area and bring the shopping carts up so that we can separate our pallets by shopping isle.
11:00- Finish seperating, start upening and stocking the freight (the new stuff we just got today)
12:00- first 15 minute break
12:15- Back to work
2:00- Lunch (I get an hour for this, which is nice, but it cuts into time I could use to get my freight done and start to work on breakdown buggies)
3-Back to work
4-last 15 minute break
4:15- This is when I tend to get done with my portion of the freight and start to work on breakdown buggies. A breakdown buggie is when we have shopping carts full of just random items that go on my lane, but aren't in boxes or anything.
5:30 (ish)- Start cleaning up, getting all my trash into as few shopping carts as possible, and going to see where else I can help in my section
6- Start taking the trash into the back, I like to do this as early as possible to make sure I don't get stuck with having to make a bale ( a large compacted rectangular prism of cardbord boxes, tied together and put on a pallet) mostly because I don't know how. After this, I go back to my lane and zone it (straiten all the items on the shelves so the label is facing outward and its all uniform)
7- go home
maybe 9 ish- sleep
so its definitely not the easiest thing I've ever done, but its not TOO demanding. The work goes by pretty quick (except for the last 2 hours, but I've found that to be true of ANY job) and the pay is good, especially considering I don't pay rent or anything 'cause I'm living at home for now.
I'm wondering if I should try to get this transfered down to San Marcos when I go back to school. Its good money, and again with my parents paying my rent I could be saving easily most of it. The downside though is of course the hours and its conflict with school. Right now I'm registered for classes starting at 11 and ending at about 3 Monday-Thursday. Its a schedule I really like (no Friday classes) and I like the classes I'm taking, some of which this is the only time I COULD take those classes. But if I generally sleep from like 8-5pm, I would either have to take my classes from say 5-9pm or 8-11 am or something like that, or try to only work maybe 2 or 3 days a week so its not too much for me to handle.
I'd be scared though that those 2-3 days would be Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I would find myself sans a weekend this semester, and I desperately need my weekends because of my proximity to everyone I know. I have friends in Austin, a girlfriend in Houston, parents in Dallas and I live in San Marcos. So with the obligations and the desire to be in all of those places at once, I really need my weekends.
I guess I have a month to think about it though, so its not something I need to decide right now. Anyway, thats all for now, I'm going to go stretch out my back and get some water, then maybe a poop, who knows?!
The way it works is basically this:
10:00-Get to work, clock in and have our meeting in the break room. The manager in charge for the night will go over who is working where, and about how much to expect tonight so what we should prioritize.
10:10- Go to our area and bring the shopping carts up so that we can separate our pallets by shopping isle.
11:00- Finish seperating, start upening and stocking the freight (the new stuff we just got today)
12:00- first 15 minute break
12:15- Back to work
2:00- Lunch (I get an hour for this, which is nice, but it cuts into time I could use to get my freight done and start to work on breakdown buggies)
3-Back to work
4-last 15 minute break
4:15- This is when I tend to get done with my portion of the freight and start to work on breakdown buggies. A breakdown buggie is when we have shopping carts full of just random items that go on my lane, but aren't in boxes or anything.
5:30 (ish)- Start cleaning up, getting all my trash into as few shopping carts as possible, and going to see where else I can help in my section
6- Start taking the trash into the back, I like to do this as early as possible to make sure I don't get stuck with having to make a bale ( a large compacted rectangular prism of cardbord boxes, tied together and put on a pallet) mostly because I don't know how. After this, I go back to my lane and zone it (straiten all the items on the shelves so the label is facing outward and its all uniform)
7- go home
maybe 9 ish- sleep
so its definitely not the easiest thing I've ever done, but its not TOO demanding. The work goes by pretty quick (except for the last 2 hours, but I've found that to be true of ANY job) and the pay is good, especially considering I don't pay rent or anything 'cause I'm living at home for now.
I'm wondering if I should try to get this transfered down to San Marcos when I go back to school. Its good money, and again with my parents paying my rent I could be saving easily most of it. The downside though is of course the hours and its conflict with school. Right now I'm registered for classes starting at 11 and ending at about 3 Monday-Thursday. Its a schedule I really like (no Friday classes) and I like the classes I'm taking, some of which this is the only time I COULD take those classes. But if I generally sleep from like 8-5pm, I would either have to take my classes from say 5-9pm or 8-11 am or something like that, or try to only work maybe 2 or 3 days a week so its not too much for me to handle.
I'd be scared though that those 2-3 days would be Friday, Saturday and Sunday and I would find myself sans a weekend this semester, and I desperately need my weekends because of my proximity to everyone I know. I have friends in Austin, a girlfriend in Houston, parents in Dallas and I live in San Marcos. So with the obligations and the desire to be in all of those places at once, I really need my weekends.
I guess I have a month to think about it though, so its not something I need to decide right now. Anyway, thats all for now, I'm going to go stretch out my back and get some water, then maybe a poop, who knows?!
Friday, June 22, 2007
This honkey gunna get paid bitches!
I went to orientation all day for my new job. My new job that pays 8.45 and I work 80 hours in the next two weeks. So on July 12, my first REAL paycheck, I'm going to make $676 dollars before taxes. Thats easily the most I've ever made, like ever. Then I'm up for a raise after my first 90 days, then after a year. so hopefully I can get transfered down to San Marcos, or maybe one of the other nearby ones once school starts.
Dad is cool with my seeing April on Monday and Tuesday (the only two days I get off this week) and that was a big load off my mind. I was surprised he was as cool as he was, but he just said "you're almost 21, so its your choice" so I'll have a chance to see April before she leaves for Germany this week, next week and if I call in and ask for it off, I can probably see her go too.
Happy days happy days!
So now I'm stuck as to if I should go to bed now because I'm tiered, or stay up all night and sleep during the day, so I can wake up and go to work tomorrow at 10 pm. I mean I'm guessing either way I'll be really tiered. Anyway, I'll decide in a bit.
Dad is cool with my seeing April on Monday and Tuesday (the only two days I get off this week) and that was a big load off my mind. I was surprised he was as cool as he was, but he just said "you're almost 21, so its your choice" so I'll have a chance to see April before she leaves for Germany this week, next week and if I call in and ask for it off, I can probably see her go too.
Happy days happy days!
So now I'm stuck as to if I should go to bed now because I'm tiered, or stay up all night and sleep during the day, so I can wake up and go to work tomorrow at 10 pm. I mean I'm guessing either way I'll be really tiered. Anyway, I'll decide in a bit.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
sometimes life just piles it on
Ok, so its a little after midnight on Friday and I go to orientation for my new job at Wal-mart in just a few hours. I'm glad I have a job, but I'm also kind of depressed that I'm working the overnight at Wal-mart. I mean, I've been a stock boy, a cashier, and now a stock boy again. Is this all I'm actually good for? I look around at some of my friends and they all find really nice and interesting jobs, while I can't even get the guy who mows our lawn to call me back.
On top of that, I haven't been able to see April for like 2 weeks. First I just thought I would not see her for a weekend to get my stuff in order, find a job, make sure every thing is going well. Week two I couldn't go and see her because we had so many things to take care of, plus I was waiting for several people to call me back about jobs but of course I didn't get a call until Monday. So now I have orientation of Friday and the thing is I don't know if I'll have a chance to see April THIS weekend, because they might have me start work on like Saturday or Sunday. Including this weekend I only have 3 chances to see her before she leaves for Germany for the month of July. So now she's pissed off at me because I keep having to tell her "I don't know if I can see you this weekend because I might have to do something." In all likelihood I may not get a chance to see her before she leaves, making it one of the, if not the longest stretch without seeing her since we started dating. All of this for a crappy ass job I'll probably end up quiting when I move back to San Marcos. Thats whats really getting to me about all of this, I'm "home" for now and for the last almost 2 years I haven't really felt like I had a home, just a place I slept at. Hopefully having an actual apartment will help that out a bit.
So that all sucks, but then again it could be worse. I mean I've got one friend who's in jail but who's girlfriend is still having his baby. Another friend who got evicted from his apartment and had to give his dog to the pound while he moved back with his parents. I could be in their shoes and be envious of someone like me. So do I really have a right to complain? I guess not.
Oh well, in other news I've been thinking of a list of things I want to start doing:
1) Play Ultimate again
2) Play Warhammer again
3) Get and learn Photoshop
4) Start drawing on a regular basis
5) Start reading/writing for an hour a day
6) Find a kind of exercise I can do regularly without any trouble
I figure if I can start doing most of those I should hopefully get myself out of this funk I seem to be in. Honestly I just can't wait to get back to school, hopefully that should help.
I'm out for now, I'll update again tomorrow after work with a list i was working on elsewhere.
On top of that, I haven't been able to see April for like 2 weeks. First I just thought I would not see her for a weekend to get my stuff in order, find a job, make sure every thing is going well. Week two I couldn't go and see her because we had so many things to take care of, plus I was waiting for several people to call me back about jobs but of course I didn't get a call until Monday. So now I have orientation of Friday and the thing is I don't know if I'll have a chance to see April THIS weekend, because they might have me start work on like Saturday or Sunday. Including this weekend I only have 3 chances to see her before she leaves for Germany for the month of July. So now she's pissed off at me because I keep having to tell her "I don't know if I can see you this weekend because I might have to do something." In all likelihood I may not get a chance to see her before she leaves, making it one of the, if not the longest stretch without seeing her since we started dating. All of this for a crappy ass job I'll probably end up quiting when I move back to San Marcos. Thats whats really getting to me about all of this, I'm "home" for now and for the last almost 2 years I haven't really felt like I had a home, just a place I slept at. Hopefully having an actual apartment will help that out a bit.
So that all sucks, but then again it could be worse. I mean I've got one friend who's in jail but who's girlfriend is still having his baby. Another friend who got evicted from his apartment and had to give his dog to the pound while he moved back with his parents. I could be in their shoes and be envious of someone like me. So do I really have a right to complain? I guess not.
Oh well, in other news I've been thinking of a list of things I want to start doing:
1) Play Ultimate again
2) Play Warhammer again
3) Get and learn Photoshop
4) Start drawing on a regular basis
5) Start reading/writing for an hour a day
6) Find a kind of exercise I can do regularly without any trouble
I figure if I can start doing most of those I should hopefully get myself out of this funk I seem to be in. Honestly I just can't wait to get back to school, hopefully that should help.
I'm out for now, I'll update again tomorrow after work with a list i was working on elsewhere.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Buisness plan
Ok, so I was talking to April last time I saw her and she mentioned opening up a movie theater. Her suggestion was to open a dollar theater and show older movies for cheaper tickets. I had actually played around with the idea myself some time before and had more or less forgotten about it until recently when thinking of what she said again.
My idea for a movie theater:
A struggle within
by Philip Rigney
A struggle within
by Philip Rigney
Let me take you on a little tour of my movie theater, a tour of the mind if you will because I don't have any pictures to post with this. You walk into a room, you check for traps and find none (bah dum ching!) there are a few couches and stuff in the room, a recliner or two, and some nice theater seating. You select your seat and sit down and notice the option to call over a waiter to bring you whatever you want. Pizza, popcorn, nachoes, a soda, a beer, its all good and its all there without you having to get up out of your seat to get it. The lights dim, you sit back and relax and the screen lights up with the magic of the silver screen. You look up and behold, the glory of Die Hard playing in full surround sound while you relax with your date and see your favorite action movie on the big screen. Tomorrow you plan on coming back to watch Casablanca because she gets to chose the movie tomorrow. The ticket prices are affordable enough to be able to see your favorite movies more then once a month. You can still come by to see the latest and greatest movies: Spiderman 6: the search for Spock, Rocky Balboa: revenge of Mr. T's son and whatever, but the main draw will be on Thursday when we're playing Jaws and you've always wanted to see the shark on a big screen like that.
That is basically my idea. It sounds simple enough, so there has to be lots of problems I don't see, like paying royalties to the actors for showing old movies like the original Star Wars. That and it would cost something like 5k per room. You'd have to get good couches and stuff, so 3k right there, a kickass surround sound, so maybe 1,500 with that? A modern movie projector AND a DVD projector, so theres another couple thousand. Then on top of that, theres the question of "would this actually work?" I mean, how much would you pay to see your favorite movie of all time on a nice and big screen, without renting out a theater and getting better seats and serves?
seriously, would you?
That is basically my idea. It sounds simple enough, so there has to be lots of problems I don't see, like paying royalties to the actors for showing old movies like the original Star Wars. That and it would cost something like 5k per room. You'd have to get good couches and stuff, so 3k right there, a kickass surround sound, so maybe 1,500 with that? A modern movie projector AND a DVD projector, so theres another couple thousand. Then on top of that, theres the question of "would this actually work?" I mean, how much would you pay to see your favorite movie of all time on a nice and big screen, without renting out a theater and getting better seats and serves?
seriously, would you?
Did somebody say webcomics?
Why yes, i believe someone did. Me to be precise.
COMICS NEWS:
first order of business: Ugly Hill This is one high quality web-comic that totally flew in under my radar while i was off reading The crap thats passing for a web comic these days yes your URL says "marrymemovie" because this guy has every intention of turning that into a movie and decided to reserve the site now.
COMICS NEWS THAT INVOLVES ME:
found a site called "smack jeeves" and while whoever stayed up all night coming up with that hilarious title should be given an award, say, the honorary "we just set fire to your cat, how you like me now?" award. Its a unique award with a rich history, but more on that later.
basically its a web-comic hosting site. Take blogger, throw up some web comics, package it and ship it out. I've set up my account but the file limit is 400kb, while it would appear that everything I've created is a tantalizing 500 or so. Here's the kicker though, for a mere 1 dollar donation I can get that increased to like 26,000. So obviously the name of the game here is "give me money" but this is a game I try to avoid playing like Ryan would avoid playing "not it" and look where that got him.
what, too soon? I just called nick and he said it was fine.
anyway if I can find a way for it to work out cash free, or just cough up the dough to get my old website back, the comic should be up and running soon.
Also, i might write and draw one, while just writing another for April. w00t!
hers is about pirates btw, they ride in a rubber ducky and have wacky adventures!
COMICS NEWS:
first order of business: Ugly Hill This is one high quality web-comic that totally flew in under my radar while i was off reading The crap thats passing for a web comic these days yes your URL says "marrymemovie" because this guy has every intention of turning that into a movie and decided to reserve the site now.
COMICS NEWS THAT INVOLVES ME:
found a site called "smack jeeves" and while whoever stayed up all night coming up with that hilarious title should be given an award, say, the honorary "we just set fire to your cat, how you like me now?" award. Its a unique award with a rich history, but more on that later.
basically its a web-comic hosting site. Take blogger, throw up some web comics, package it and ship it out. I've set up my account but the file limit is 400kb, while it would appear that everything I've created is a tantalizing 500 or so. Here's the kicker though, for a mere 1 dollar donation I can get that increased to like 26,000. So obviously the name of the game here is "give me money" but this is a game I try to avoid playing like Ryan would avoid playing "not it" and look where that got him.
what, too soon? I just called nick and he said it was fine.
anyway if I can find a way for it to work out cash free, or just cough up the dough to get my old website back, the comic should be up and running soon.
Also, i might write and draw one, while just writing another for April. w00t!
hers is about pirates btw, they ride in a rubber ducky and have wacky adventures!
Monday, June 4, 2007
Summer jobs
Ok, I've got 3 possibilities right now:
1) Gamecrazy. Its the gaming store owned by Hollywood video.
Pros: Close to home, least physical intensive of what my possibilities are, probably the most fun potential.
cons: This one could probably pay the least, and I've probably got the least chance of getting this one. They may also not actually need anyone right now, but I'm going to make sure to pester them because this is the one I think I want the most.
2) UPS package handler. Moving boxes for money!
Pros: 4-5 hours a day, Monday-Friday, at 8-9 dollars an hour. This is the most steady of pay jobs, because I'll work basically the same hours every day and not for too terribly long. I've got my appointment tomorrow and unless I just make myself look retarded or look like I can't pick up a heavy box I've probably got the job, but theres always that chance.
Cons: I think it may take me 30 minutes to get there, in decent traffic and is moving 5-70lbs boxes.
3) Yard work for the guy who mows our lawn.
Pros: Probably paid in cash. Don't have to work out, because I'll be doing intense physical labor. This might have the best pay potential as well. I've got the job already basically, all I need to do is call the guy.
Cons: I'll be doing intense physical labor. I just strait up do not want to do this, I mean, they do 30 lawns on Saturdays and work for like 15 hours. I'd rather go crawling back to Target.
On a side note, my dad gave me a lecture about responsibility and respect. Normally I have these coming and he ends up being right, but today it just completely pissed me off. He started out by saying that I called him a pushover in my last post, which when I didn't know what he was talking about he seemed to think I was playing dumb. Now, what I said was:
Now, where he got him being a pushover I have no idea. Everything in those above two sentences are just true and meant in a respectful way. Asking my parents to take summer I off probably would not of gone over too well, thats just true. They want me to take summer classes to make full use of the education they're providing for me, so every time I want to take time off, or fail a class/withdraw from one it just keeps me in school for that much longer. I understand that, they understand that but it was still something I was considering doing anyway so you can imagine that me asking them may not of been exactly what they wanted to hear.
"My dad would probably understand" this is also true. My dad understands that seeing my friends is important to me, he would of understood why I was making that request.
"Even though he might disapprove, I think he would be fine with it," Again, this is just me saying that my dad, if given the option would always chose my taking summer classes then me not taking summer classes. This is also me saying that my while my dad wants me to do that, he's pretty easy going and in the end would be fine with my decision to just not take a class now. This is probably where he got the whole pushover thing from, but I still don't see how being easy going and a generally mellow guy is being a pushover. I mean he's made a kid a footlocker cry, and almost got someone else fired at McDonald's over being overcharged 30 some odd cents for coffee.
I guess it just goes to show how important it is to chose your words carefully around people. Seems like the more I talk to people the more its like stepping through a minefield, one wrong move and it just gets messy.
1) Gamecrazy. Its the gaming store owned by Hollywood video.
Pros: Close to home, least physical intensive of what my possibilities are, probably the most fun potential.
cons: This one could probably pay the least, and I've probably got the least chance of getting this one. They may also not actually need anyone right now, but I'm going to make sure to pester them because this is the one I think I want the most.
2) UPS package handler. Moving boxes for money!
Pros: 4-5 hours a day, Monday-Friday, at 8-9 dollars an hour. This is the most steady of pay jobs, because I'll work basically the same hours every day and not for too terribly long. I've got my appointment tomorrow and unless I just make myself look retarded or look like I can't pick up a heavy box I've probably got the job, but theres always that chance.
Cons: I think it may take me 30 minutes to get there, in decent traffic and is moving 5-70lbs boxes.
3) Yard work for the guy who mows our lawn.
Pros: Probably paid in cash. Don't have to work out, because I'll be doing intense physical labor. This might have the best pay potential as well. I've got the job already basically, all I need to do is call the guy.
Cons: I'll be doing intense physical labor. I just strait up do not want to do this, I mean, they do 30 lawns on Saturdays and work for like 15 hours. I'd rather go crawling back to Target.
On a side note, my dad gave me a lecture about responsibility and respect. Normally I have these coming and he ends up being right, but today it just completely pissed me off. He started out by saying that I called him a pushover in my last post, which when I didn't know what he was talking about he seemed to think I was playing dumb. Now, what I said was:
Asking my parents to do this might not go over so well. My Dad would probably understand, and even though he might disapprove I think he would be fine with it.
Now, where he got him being a pushover I have no idea. Everything in those above two sentences are just true and meant in a respectful way. Asking my parents to take summer I off probably would not of gone over too well, thats just true. They want me to take summer classes to make full use of the education they're providing for me, so every time I want to take time off, or fail a class/withdraw from one it just keeps me in school for that much longer. I understand that, they understand that but it was still something I was considering doing anyway so you can imagine that me asking them may not of been exactly what they wanted to hear.
"My dad would probably understand" this is also true. My dad understands that seeing my friends is important to me, he would of understood why I was making that request.
"Even though he might disapprove, I think he would be fine with it," Again, this is just me saying that my dad, if given the option would always chose my taking summer classes then me not taking summer classes. This is also me saying that my while my dad wants me to do that, he's pretty easy going and in the end would be fine with my decision to just not take a class now. This is probably where he got the whole pushover thing from, but I still don't see how being easy going and a generally mellow guy is being a pushover. I mean he's made a kid a footlocker cry, and almost got someone else fired at McDonald's over being overcharged 30 some odd cents for coffee.
I guess it just goes to show how important it is to chose your words carefully around people. Seems like the more I talk to people the more its like stepping through a minefield, one wrong move and it just gets messy.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Is it still summer?
I've been having interesting conversations with people lately, most of them being along the lines of:
me: I'M SO BORED! WHY AM I SO BORED?! LETS HANG OUT AND DO SOMETHING
them: I don't live in Garland
me: oh right...so...hows it goin'?
I'm still in Garland, and its weird because its like 1 part I want to be here and two parts I have to be here, baked at 109 degrees for 3 months.
I mean I have to be here, because I can take summer classes here at like 1/50 the cost as taking classes anywhere else. I don't want to be here because my friends all live in Austin, and my girlfriend lives in Houston. I myself kinda live in San Marcos, but not until August. So for the next 3 months, I have to find a job, go to classes (at 8 am) try and read and write enough to not feel like I wasted this time, turn 21, not see my girlfriend for a month while she's in Germany, or at least German owned territory, but still find the time to see her and my friends and not neglect my parents before she leaves.
more or less the same, right?
Now this is what I'm thinking: If I ask my parents if I can not take summer I classes, then I would only have to find a job, one less thing to get in the way of seeing April and my friends for the month April will be here. Right? I mean I could still take a summer II class, then come home and take a winter class for the course I didn't take here this summer. Since I never take winter classes, this would still be knocking out the same number of classes that I normally would in a year. So really this is just a win-win situation.
Now theres only 2 problems with that really.
1) I might get a job with UPS as a mail handler, which from the description seems to be a Monday-Friday job anyway, and since school is only Monday-Thursday Everyone weekend would always be free. This wouldn't be the optimum time to visit April, but its something
1a) If I didn't have a job, I could see her from Thursday afternoon-Sunday, and if I didn't have school I could see her saturday-monday because my Job would'nt start until either 10pm or 3am
2) Asking my parents to do this might not go over so well. My Dad would probably understand, and even though he might disapprove I think he would be fine with it. However the main problem is with my Mom, who would be convinced of the fallowing:
If I don't go to summer I, I won't want to go to summer II. If I don't go to summer II I won't go back to school in the fall. If I don't go back in the Fall I won't go back at all, it'll all be for nothing and I'll never really do anything with my life and she won't have grandkids.
So I don't think I have the guts to ask them, because I just don't want to deal with THAT.
But I should, because its not an unreasonable request, and I'm almost 21. I just shouldn't be afraid of my parents anymore.
Its just this crappy point in my life where I'm not an adult, but also am. I'm going to be 21, and will have an actual apartment and a job and everything; by all discernible measure, I'll be an adult. On the other hand, I've never done a thing to show that I will be an adult.
I think thats why the road trip is kind of like a rite of passage. It shows you have the ability to make your own decisions and actually just make it on your own, even for only a few days. Its like when you're 6 and run away for a few hours, only to come back because you missed your family so much and it was dinner time anyway.
Like maybe if I just made a trip over to some place, just on my own, I would learn something about myself or at least have a bitchin' time.
I dunno, i'm just rambling at this point and should be asleep
me: I'M SO BORED! WHY AM I SO BORED?! LETS HANG OUT AND DO SOMETHING
them: I don't live in Garland
me: oh right...so...hows it goin'?
I'm still in Garland, and its weird because its like 1 part I want to be here and two parts I have to be here, baked at 109 degrees for 3 months.
I mean I have to be here, because I can take summer classes here at like 1/50 the cost as taking classes anywhere else. I don't want to be here because my friends all live in Austin, and my girlfriend lives in Houston. I myself kinda live in San Marcos, but not until August. So for the next 3 months, I have to find a job, go to classes (at 8 am) try and read and write enough to not feel like I wasted this time, turn 21, not see my girlfriend for a month while she's in Germany, or at least German owned territory, but still find the time to see her and my friends and not neglect my parents before she leaves.
more or less the same, right?
Now this is what I'm thinking: If I ask my parents if I can not take summer I classes, then I would only have to find a job, one less thing to get in the way of seeing April and my friends for the month April will be here. Right? I mean I could still take a summer II class, then come home and take a winter class for the course I didn't take here this summer. Since I never take winter classes, this would still be knocking out the same number of classes that I normally would in a year. So really this is just a win-win situation.
Now theres only 2 problems with that really.
1) I might get a job with UPS as a mail handler, which from the description seems to be a Monday-Friday job anyway, and since school is only Monday-Thursday Everyone weekend would always be free. This wouldn't be the optimum time to visit April, but its something
1a) If I didn't have a job, I could see her from Thursday afternoon-Sunday, and if I didn't have school I could see her saturday-monday because my Job would'nt start until either 10pm or 3am
2) Asking my parents to do this might not go over so well. My Dad would probably understand, and even though he might disapprove I think he would be fine with it. However the main problem is with my Mom, who would be convinced of the fallowing:
If I don't go to summer I, I won't want to go to summer II. If I don't go to summer II I won't go back to school in the fall. If I don't go back in the Fall I won't go back at all, it'll all be for nothing and I'll never really do anything with my life and she won't have grandkids.
So I don't think I have the guts to ask them, because I just don't want to deal with THAT.
But I should, because its not an unreasonable request, and I'm almost 21. I just shouldn't be afraid of my parents anymore.
Its just this crappy point in my life where I'm not an adult, but also am. I'm going to be 21, and will have an actual apartment and a job and everything; by all discernible measure, I'll be an adult. On the other hand, I've never done a thing to show that I will be an adult.
I think thats why the road trip is kind of like a rite of passage. It shows you have the ability to make your own decisions and actually just make it on your own, even for only a few days. Its like when you're 6 and run away for a few hours, only to come back because you missed your family so much and it was dinner time anyway.
Like maybe if I just made a trip over to some place, just on my own, I would learn something about myself or at least have a bitchin' time.
I dunno, i'm just rambling at this point and should be asleep
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Plot Vs. character driven stories
I keep getting into debates with this guy, which basically end up being about whats better: heavy plot, or heavy character development.
For example, he loves LOST but hates Heroes. The reason being that LOST is vary character driven, each episode focuses on one character at a time and tells a little more of their story before they went to the island. Heroes on the other hand throws a lot more action and story at you then character development. I'm basically the exact opposite, I've started to hate LOST because it never goes anywhere, but I love Heroes because it gives you a vary good story, at the sacrifice of focusing on the characters in depth.
If you ask me, a story doesn't need to go that in depth on a character for you to get a good enough feel for how this person feels. Actions speak louder then words. We don't need a character to have an inner monologue about how much he hates criminals to get that point across. If he flips out and beats the crap out of every criminal he sees we get the same message, and with a lot more entertainment. And in all honesty to continuously throw at us what this character's convictions are is kind of insulting as viewers, as if we couldn't figure this out on our own.
This is also a problem I have with a lot of classic literature I read. I can't truly get into a book if I think the story is boring. Fiction is all about conflict, it all boils down to a choice the main character has to make. When the choice is something I can really feel for, like "do I use this power for good or my own personal gain" I'll love it. However if the choice is little more then "Do I marry this one person who is of my social class, or this other person who is not" then I don't give a rat's ass about any of it.
This mainly accounts for why I love superheroes so much. Their actions actually count and have meaning. When Spider-man rejects the symbiont suit he rejects having much greater power in exchange for the clarity to use his limited power responsibly. When Hester decides to make her A look nice...well...some people are kinda shocked but its mostly just business as usual.
Now I'm not saying everything needs to be a fly by the seat of your pants thrill ride, heck even heavily character driven stories can be good. Take Crash for example, this is all about the human interactions between people, everyone in that movie was connected in some way and you really got a good feel for the characters in there. But they also let the actions of these people speak for themselves. The raciest cop puts his prejudice behind him when he really needs to. The other cop who wears the mask of Political correctness turns out to have problems of his own. These are all revealed more through what these characters do then what they say in conversation or through body language or anything else.
Maybe thats just me though, what do you think?
For example, he loves LOST but hates Heroes. The reason being that LOST is vary character driven, each episode focuses on one character at a time and tells a little more of their story before they went to the island. Heroes on the other hand throws a lot more action and story at you then character development. I'm basically the exact opposite, I've started to hate LOST because it never goes anywhere, but I love Heroes because it gives you a vary good story, at the sacrifice of focusing on the characters in depth.
If you ask me, a story doesn't need to go that in depth on a character for you to get a good enough feel for how this person feels. Actions speak louder then words. We don't need a character to have an inner monologue about how much he hates criminals to get that point across. If he flips out and beats the crap out of every criminal he sees we get the same message, and with a lot more entertainment. And in all honesty to continuously throw at us what this character's convictions are is kind of insulting as viewers, as if we couldn't figure this out on our own.
This is also a problem I have with a lot of classic literature I read. I can't truly get into a book if I think the story is boring. Fiction is all about conflict, it all boils down to a choice the main character has to make. When the choice is something I can really feel for, like "do I use this power for good or my own personal gain" I'll love it. However if the choice is little more then "Do I marry this one person who is of my social class, or this other person who is not" then I don't give a rat's ass about any of it.
This mainly accounts for why I love superheroes so much. Their actions actually count and have meaning. When Spider-man rejects the symbiont suit he rejects having much greater power in exchange for the clarity to use his limited power responsibly. When Hester decides to make her A look nice...well...some people are kinda shocked but its mostly just business as usual.
Now I'm not saying everything needs to be a fly by the seat of your pants thrill ride, heck even heavily character driven stories can be good. Take Crash for example, this is all about the human interactions between people, everyone in that movie was connected in some way and you really got a good feel for the characters in there. But they also let the actions of these people speak for themselves. The raciest cop puts his prejudice behind him when he really needs to. The other cop who wears the mask of Political correctness turns out to have problems of his own. These are all revealed more through what these characters do then what they say in conversation or through body language or anything else.
Maybe thats just me though, what do you think?
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
quick notes
1)I think a good compromise might be to just take summer I or summer II classes, maybe not both so it doesn't feel like I spent my whole summer in a class room, but still do something productive.
2) My dad and nick have something in common, they both duplicate whatever annoying noise they hear, though Dad prefers Beeps and things while Nick prefers to mimic the noise you made when you burped.
3) The fallowing things suck:
a) Moving
b) Being old
c) Being responsible
d) Company policy
e) Things without spell check
f) not knowing how to spell properly
g) Not knowing where to put your computer, so you just use your mom's
h) Facebook, there I said it
i) Gorilla Warfare Honestly I just love this picture
4) My dad really enjoys sarcasm
5) I think if i had watched the Cosby show as a kid instead of fresh prince, I'd be a better person now.
6) Nothing impresses a girl more then being able to perform "who's on first" by yourself and not look silly. Really that should just impress anyone.
7) You know you need direction in your life when you see an add for truck drivers and think to yourself "those guys know whats up"
2) My dad and nick have something in common, they both duplicate whatever annoying noise they hear, though Dad prefers Beeps and things while Nick prefers to mimic the noise you made when you burped.
3) The fallowing things suck:
a) Moving
b) Being old
c) Being responsible
d) Company policy
e) Things without spell check
f) not knowing how to spell properly
g) Not knowing where to put your computer, so you just use your mom's
h) Facebook, there I said it
i) Gorilla Warfare Honestly I just love this picture
4) My dad really enjoys sarcasm
5) I think if i had watched the Cosby show as a kid instead of fresh prince, I'd be a better person now.
6) Nothing impresses a girl more then being able to perform "who's on first" by yourself and not look silly. Really that should just impress anyone.
7) You know you need direction in your life when you see an add for truck drivers and think to yourself "those guys know whats up"
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Summer thoughts
Ok, so I’m home for the summer, and I don't really know what I want to do. I definitely want to get a job this summer and save the hell up. I tried this whole "being broke" thing for the last year or so and let me tell you something, it sucks. So priority 1 this summer is a job, which shouldn't be that bad, I’ve already gotten a call back for an interview with Borders, and they where the first people I applied to.
If there’s one thing I got out of working at Target for a year, its that working retail for a year looks a hell of a lot better then not putting anything down under that "past job experience" section of the application.
The second priority should be summer classes I guess. This is where I'm a little shaky, because in all honesty I don't want to take summer classes. But the thing is, I really SHOULD take summer classes. Its cheaper, it gets me out of college quicker, and it'll be easier so I'll probably make a B or heck even an A if I really buckle down.
But its boring. And its every day. And its less free time, which means less April time and less friends time, and less doing something epic this summer. And I’ve been meaning to do something epic since I was like 16.
So the question is: What do you do when you SHOULD do something, but don't necessarily HAVE to, especially when you don't want to.
Its like going to the dentist, there’s no law that says I have to go to the dentist, and I sure as heck don't like to, but I mean...I really should every now and again.
I wanna meet the jerk who invented responsibility and kick him in the nuts.
If there’s one thing I got out of working at Target for a year, its that working retail for a year looks a hell of a lot better then not putting anything down under that "past job experience" section of the application.
The second priority should be summer classes I guess. This is where I'm a little shaky, because in all honesty I don't want to take summer classes. But the thing is, I really SHOULD take summer classes. Its cheaper, it gets me out of college quicker, and it'll be easier so I'll probably make a B or heck even an A if I really buckle down.
But its boring. And its every day. And its less free time, which means less April time and less friends time, and less doing something epic this summer. And I’ve been meaning to do something epic since I was like 16.
So the question is: What do you do when you SHOULD do something, but don't necessarily HAVE to, especially when you don't want to.
Its like going to the dentist, there’s no law that says I have to go to the dentist, and I sure as heck don't like to, but I mean...I really should every now and again.
I wanna meet the jerk who invented responsibility and kick him in the nuts.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Tail Etiquette
Ok, so I was thinking to myself today, "what if people had monkey tails?"
I mainly wonder if it would be inappropriate to touch someone else's tail. I mean in a social gathering, its "ok" to touch someone on the shoulder or arm, because it shows an interest without violating someone’s comfort zone. At the same time its not really acceptable (looking at you Nick) to touch someone’s leg because its too close to the groin and suggests something of a sexual nature, even if that’s not the intent.
Now with a tail though, its close to the butt, so that would make me think that touching it would be a no-no. On the other hand though, touching it with YOUR tail? seems alright to me. Though I bet it would be better if you knew the person before hand.
Also, I bet the schools would regulate the heck out of tail holes in pants. If we had tails, we'd need a hole in our pants for them to stick out, and you know the girls would always be yelled at for having larger then necessary tail holes. Then there'd be the real hottiez, who don't have tail holes but who's pants have like a big U in the back that go down to the tail. Then of course the schools would get fed up with it and we'd all have to wear them tucked into our pants! Way to ruin it for us all again ladies.
on a side note, don't you hate spelling? I sure as hell do
I mainly wonder if it would be inappropriate to touch someone else's tail. I mean in a social gathering, its "ok" to touch someone on the shoulder or arm, because it shows an interest without violating someone’s comfort zone. At the same time its not really acceptable (looking at you Nick) to touch someone’s leg because its too close to the groin and suggests something of a sexual nature, even if that’s not the intent.
Now with a tail though, its close to the butt, so that would make me think that touching it would be a no-no. On the other hand though, touching it with YOUR tail? seems alright to me. Though I bet it would be better if you knew the person before hand.
Also, I bet the schools would regulate the heck out of tail holes in pants. If we had tails, we'd need a hole in our pants for them to stick out, and you know the girls would always be yelled at for having larger then necessary tail holes. Then there'd be the real hottiez, who don't have tail holes but who's pants have like a big U in the back that go down to the tail. Then of course the schools would get fed up with it and we'd all have to wear them tucked into our pants! Way to ruin it for us all again ladies.
on a side note, don't you hate spelling? I sure as hell do
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
My biggest fears
1) Jeb Bush in '08
2) The south rising again
3) this guy
4) Robot apocalypse
5) Kitlers
6) Super monsters
7) Nazi super science
8) Gorilla warfare
9) well trained zombies
10) Public speaking
2) The south rising again
3) this guy
4) Robot apocalypse
5) Kitlers
6) Super monsters
7) Nazi super science
8) Gorilla warfare
9) well trained zombies
10) Public speaking
Bad webcomics
So its no secret that I love web-comics and want to start mine up again. With this in mind I always like to look at other web-comics and ask myself if I can do better, how I would do better or just how this punchline could of been done differently.
If you'll look to the right, you'll see other web-comics who already have achieved perfection, which serve as a type of inspiration as to what I want to do.
The fallowing are examples of comics that I also gain inspiration of, in the sense of knowing what not to do.
I Drew this is one of the worst web comics I've ever read. The premise is simple enough, really liberal dude makes fun of Republicans. This ends up sucking though, because thats the only thing that ever happens, and not even in a smart Daily show kind of way.
Most of the comics boil down to this:
guy 1: States liberal belief
guy 2: Really angry Republican response
guy 1: Clarification of belief, pointing out obvious flaw in guy 2's reasoning
guy 2: Ignorant statement
Also, the main character is a bald eagle with a silly hat, and he makes strips like this: http://www.idrewthis.org/d/20070209.html
The other example of what not to do, is Wicked Powered a comic set around the idea of "these lasers are awesome, go buy them, heres some hot girls"
Basically this is just bad writing at its finest, because the joke is always the poor dialog between the characters. Bad dialog jokes work out great sometimes, like in this guys other comic Sore thumbs, but when thats the ONLY joke you tell, well, you'll find the horse died a long time ago, long before you started beating it.
If you'll look to the right, you'll see other web-comics who already have achieved perfection, which serve as a type of inspiration as to what I want to do.
The fallowing are examples of comics that I also gain inspiration of, in the sense of knowing what not to do.
I Drew this is one of the worst web comics I've ever read. The premise is simple enough, really liberal dude makes fun of Republicans. This ends up sucking though, because thats the only thing that ever happens, and not even in a smart Daily show kind of way.
Most of the comics boil down to this:
guy 1: States liberal belief
guy 2: Really angry Republican response
guy 1: Clarification of belief, pointing out obvious flaw in guy 2's reasoning
guy 2: Ignorant statement
Also, the main character is a bald eagle with a silly hat, and he makes strips like this: http://www.idrewthis.org/d/20070209.html
The other example of what not to do, is Wicked Powered a comic set around the idea of "these lasers are awesome, go buy them, heres some hot girls"
Basically this is just bad writing at its finest, because the joke is always the poor dialog between the characters. Bad dialog jokes work out great sometimes, like in this guys other comic Sore thumbs, but when thats the ONLY joke you tell, well, you'll find the horse died a long time ago, long before you started beating it.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Horror Films
I love zombie movies because they’re the only type of horror movies that really scare me and that I find interesting.
The basic idea of a horror film, once you strip it down to its basic elements is Man vs. ___ where blank is some type of evil thing that wants to kill you.
Now we move up a bit, and that ____ becomes usually one of two things. Either it’s a supernatural monster (vampire, demon, werewolf, mummy and so on) or it’s a human (the dude from Scream, the dude from I know what you did last summer, the guy from the hitcher) or some weird mix of a supernatural entity, but is ultimately human (chucky, the mutants from the hills have eyes, the guy with a chainsaw in texas chainsaw massacre) and for the most part these movies never really take with me.
Now if you’re fighting a supernatural monster, that can’t be killed, then well it was nice knowing you, here’s hoping you either don’t die in a really bad way or at die first so you don’t have to suffer through the last hour and a half of a bad movie. Movies like The grudge and the Jason movies are like this. They can’t ever really die, and in the end the movie should just be called “hey man, watch these 8 people die, its really boring”
If the monster CAN be killed, well that’s a start on the right track, and this really has the best potential to be a good horror flick. It all then boils down to the monster itself and how it can die. A vampire for example, is a pretty good monster to fight. Its really powerful with all these weird abilities, but in the end all you need is holy water, something pointy or business hours to kill it. This is why most vampires you see prey on hookers in the night or drunk/stoned club hoppers because its an easy kill. Set a vampire against someone with half a brain and their whole leather pant wearing world is turned upside down. Unfortunately this usually leads to the introduction of the super vampire, which is of a pure bloodline and yada yada yada…basically its super Dracula who can only be killed by a werewolf with silver teeth and those have been extinct for 1000 years…UNTIL NOW.
Lastly you have the human killer. These guys are people with problems and a knife who are hell bent on killing you and your 8 buddies. Now, I’m no soldier, and I don’t really believe in guns or anything but damn people, its not that hard to stop one guy when there’s like 4 of you fighting him. Even if this guy does turn out to be some kind of ex-marine who could kick your ass and kill you 5 times with his bare hands, you can always just leave. If you can win a horror film by just leaving the area, then why the hell didn’t you do that when the first member of the cast died?
This is why zombie films are so good in my opinion. The monster is easy to kill when there’s just one of them, but there usually is not just one, there’s at least a small town’s worth. You can’t really just leave the area and live because in your typical zombie flick the crisis is all over the place, you can only go to some place that is safer then where you are now. Then there are other issues you have to deal with as well, like survival. If you can’t go to the grocery store because there are several hundred zombies between you and it, how are you going to eat in a week? If they start to get into the place you’re taking shelter in, where will you go? Then there’s always the issue of what to do with those who get bitten. In a typical zombie film, when someone is bitten by a zombie its only a matter of time before they themselves turn into one, so what do you do about that?
Land of the dead dealt with this pretty well I thought. There is this part where one of the main characters gets bitten, so he knows he’s going to die and become a zombie and his friend just asks him: Do you want me to shoot you? To which he responds “nah, I think I’ll see how the other side lives” and the friend just says his goodbyes and leaves, because honestly, what else can you do?
If you where bitten by a zombie, what would you want to do? Would you want to be shot in the head before you turn into one? What about for those few seconds after you die but before you turn? Or would you just want to be sent outside the walls of wherever you’re staying and become one of them? What would you do if it was someone you loved who was bitten?
Basically I think that if you want a horror film to be good, you need to have a clear chance of victory in the film, but it should also be really hard. This is why I enjoyed the first Saw movie as well. It was scary, because these people still died horrible deaths and everything, but they clearly had a chance to win. I still need to see the next two, but if they’re anything like the first it should be really good.
The basic idea of a horror film, once you strip it down to its basic elements is Man vs. ___ where blank is some type of evil thing that wants to kill you.
Now we move up a bit, and that ____ becomes usually one of two things. Either it’s a supernatural monster (vampire, demon, werewolf, mummy and so on) or it’s a human (the dude from Scream, the dude from I know what you did last summer, the guy from the hitcher) or some weird mix of a supernatural entity, but is ultimately human (chucky, the mutants from the hills have eyes, the guy with a chainsaw in texas chainsaw massacre) and for the most part these movies never really take with me.
Now if you’re fighting a supernatural monster, that can’t be killed, then well it was nice knowing you, here’s hoping you either don’t die in a really bad way or at die first so you don’t have to suffer through the last hour and a half of a bad movie. Movies like The grudge and the Jason movies are like this. They can’t ever really die, and in the end the movie should just be called “hey man, watch these 8 people die, its really boring”
If the monster CAN be killed, well that’s a start on the right track, and this really has the best potential to be a good horror flick. It all then boils down to the monster itself and how it can die. A vampire for example, is a pretty good monster to fight. Its really powerful with all these weird abilities, but in the end all you need is holy water, something pointy or business hours to kill it. This is why most vampires you see prey on hookers in the night or drunk/stoned club hoppers because its an easy kill. Set a vampire against someone with half a brain and their whole leather pant wearing world is turned upside down. Unfortunately this usually leads to the introduction of the super vampire, which is of a pure bloodline and yada yada yada…basically its super Dracula who can only be killed by a werewolf with silver teeth and those have been extinct for 1000 years…UNTIL NOW.
Lastly you have the human killer. These guys are people with problems and a knife who are hell bent on killing you and your 8 buddies. Now, I’m no soldier, and I don’t really believe in guns or anything but damn people, its not that hard to stop one guy when there’s like 4 of you fighting him. Even if this guy does turn out to be some kind of ex-marine who could kick your ass and kill you 5 times with his bare hands, you can always just leave. If you can win a horror film by just leaving the area, then why the hell didn’t you do that when the first member of the cast died?
This is why zombie films are so good in my opinion. The monster is easy to kill when there’s just one of them, but there usually is not just one, there’s at least a small town’s worth. You can’t really just leave the area and live because in your typical zombie flick the crisis is all over the place, you can only go to some place that is safer then where you are now. Then there are other issues you have to deal with as well, like survival. If you can’t go to the grocery store because there are several hundred zombies between you and it, how are you going to eat in a week? If they start to get into the place you’re taking shelter in, where will you go? Then there’s always the issue of what to do with those who get bitten. In a typical zombie film, when someone is bitten by a zombie its only a matter of time before they themselves turn into one, so what do you do about that?
Land of the dead dealt with this pretty well I thought. There is this part where one of the main characters gets bitten, so he knows he’s going to die and become a zombie and his friend just asks him: Do you want me to shoot you? To which he responds “nah, I think I’ll see how the other side lives” and the friend just says his goodbyes and leaves, because honestly, what else can you do?
If you where bitten by a zombie, what would you want to do? Would you want to be shot in the head before you turn into one? What about for those few seconds after you die but before you turn? Or would you just want to be sent outside the walls of wherever you’re staying and become one of them? What would you do if it was someone you loved who was bitten?
Basically I think that if you want a horror film to be good, you need to have a clear chance of victory in the film, but it should also be really hard. This is why I enjoyed the first Saw movie as well. It was scary, because these people still died horrible deaths and everything, but they clearly had a chance to win. I still need to see the next two, but if they’re anything like the first it should be really good.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
you've just been cylon'd sci-fi rant 2
I just finished season 2 of battle star galactiga. this show rocks me in ways I've never dreamed possible. I have vary mixed feelings on the season finale though. It was good that they changed what was up before it got old, but I felt there were better ways of doing that.
I think I'm burned out on it for now, especially with the kind of weak ending to season 2. Some of the aspects of the situation they're in they handle well, especially in the first season where an episode about them getting more fuel is exciting. I mean the human population was reduced to 50,000 spread across something like 30 ships, its a hard concept to grasp, as the human race is literally on the verge of extinction. On top of that, they're constantly losing people as the Cylons keep attacking them. One of the aspects I love is the up to date population counter at the start of each episode. When 4 people die in the previous episode, and this one takes place the next day, the population is reduced by 4. But sometimes this next episode is a month after the last one so it drops by like 30.
Its kind of like LOST in that there are a lot of sub-plots bouncing around and lots of characters to focus an episode on. However, unlike LOST, they actually answer questions and instead of replacing them with several other questions, replace them with plot. Unlike Star Trek, planets that can support life are rare to say the least, so when they actually found one it was actually dealt with, explained and all subplots dealing with it played out. Granted, that added a NEW subplot, but its one that makes sense and fits the story.
Basically, they found the long lost planet where all humans originate from. No one has lived here for over 2000 years, and finding it is like finding proof that your religion is true. They had several sub plots and issues with it, but they dealt with them and eventually used that to find out where the legendary 13th colony (earth) of Kobold was. Now they have a new objective, get to earth because they know where it is now (kinda, they know the direction and what to look for basically).
At the end of season two, it does get a little more complicated as they deal more with the politics of the surviving fleet, and less on other questions that I would of liked to see answered. For example, they never explained how hey had enough food for everyone, even after explaining how much food they would need per month (lots).
Hopefully they'll pick things up a bit in season 3 (which I'm going to try to severely limit the number of episodes I watch, as I don't think season 4 will come out until 08) and get things back to a state of equilibrium
I think I'm burned out on it for now, especially with the kind of weak ending to season 2. Some of the aspects of the situation they're in they handle well, especially in the first season where an episode about them getting more fuel is exciting. I mean the human population was reduced to 50,000 spread across something like 30 ships, its a hard concept to grasp, as the human race is literally on the verge of extinction. On top of that, they're constantly losing people as the Cylons keep attacking them. One of the aspects I love is the up to date population counter at the start of each episode. When 4 people die in the previous episode, and this one takes place the next day, the population is reduced by 4. But sometimes this next episode is a month after the last one so it drops by like 30.
Its kind of like LOST in that there are a lot of sub-plots bouncing around and lots of characters to focus an episode on. However, unlike LOST, they actually answer questions and instead of replacing them with several other questions, replace them with plot. Unlike Star Trek, planets that can support life are rare to say the least, so when they actually found one it was actually dealt with, explained and all subplots dealing with it played out. Granted, that added a NEW subplot, but its one that makes sense and fits the story.
Basically, they found the long lost planet where all humans originate from. No one has lived here for over 2000 years, and finding it is like finding proof that your religion is true. They had several sub plots and issues with it, but they dealt with them and eventually used that to find out where the legendary 13th colony (earth) of Kobold was. Now they have a new objective, get to earth because they know where it is now (kinda, they know the direction and what to look for basically).
At the end of season two, it does get a little more complicated as they deal more with the politics of the surviving fleet, and less on other questions that I would of liked to see answered. For example, they never explained how hey had enough food for everyone, even after explaining how much food they would need per month (lots).
Hopefully they'll pick things up a bit in season 3 (which I'm going to try to severely limit the number of episodes I watch, as I don't think season 4 will come out until 08) and get things back to a state of equilibrium
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
qucik update
So I've been watching Battlestar Galactica a lot recently to see what all the fuss was about.
apparently the fuss was the best show since Firefly.
Theres been two bomb threats at my school since the VT shooting. One was during the night which prevented the campus from opening until 6am about a week or so ago. The second was today and specified for Flowers Hall, where I was headed to class. I was running a bit late because I had to use the restroom, and when I got there I saw some security outside the door who stopped me from going in.
Its weird, I don't think Garland High ever had a bomb threat, and neither did Collin county community college for the year I went there. Tx state never had one either until the VT shooting...at least I never heard about one. I don't know if they have and just ignored them or if no one has actually made one until the shooting. Its just sad because I know they won't find anything, and that this was either a prank or someone just didn't want to turn in a paper today. I hope the find the guy is all really.
apparently the fuss was the best show since Firefly.
Theres been two bomb threats at my school since the VT shooting. One was during the night which prevented the campus from opening until 6am about a week or so ago. The second was today and specified for Flowers Hall, where I was headed to class. I was running a bit late because I had to use the restroom, and when I got there I saw some security outside the door who stopped me from going in.
Its weird, I don't think Garland High ever had a bomb threat, and neither did Collin county community college for the year I went there. Tx state never had one either until the VT shooting...at least I never heard about one. I don't know if they have and just ignored them or if no one has actually made one until the shooting. Its just sad because I know they won't find anything, and that this was either a prank or someone just didn't want to turn in a paper today. I hope the find the guy is all really.
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