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Thursday, May 15th, 2008
gdwessel
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7:00a
Posted using TxtLJ
Barely caught a bus that will take me by the bar where a day job coworker will pick me up. Later he'll take me to bar. No idea how I get home at midnight.
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uberdionysus
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5:31a
Comic Journal: The apprasive quality of friendship
Comic Journal After Kevin Hooyman, an anonymous 17th c. Chinese painter, and Henri RousseauPage 1, 2, 3Had a busy last couple of days. Will write more later. Right now I just finished a marathon session of the second season of The Wire. Finished the season - and it was outstanding.    Done for now...
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(2 comments | comment on this) Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
bougieman
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11:35p
A reader named Simon requested something "Japanese flavored" for his Cinema Sewer book, so the first thing that came to mind was Bukakke! Tried to do a manga style, but I'm obviously not very good at it, so it's a sort of proto-Bougie-manga style. Which I suppose is cooler than generic ol' manga style, anyway.
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(3 comments | comment on this) Thursday, May 15th, 2008
evandorkin
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1:24a
Gene Colan
The veteran comic book artist Gene Colan is suffering from liver failure, and there have been a number of postings and updates and efforts on the artist's behalf launched over the last few days that I wanted to link to in case anyone reading is unaware of what's happening and would like to pitch in. I meant to post about this earlier but got sidetracked by the Ben's Charity debacle and work.
The simplest thing anyone interested can do is drop Mr. Colan a card or letter just to cheer him up. Well-wishes, sympathy, thanks for a lifetime of fine work enjoyed, whatever. The details, as well as a letter on the subject from Mr. Colan's wife, can be found here.
Beyond that, apparently the health issues being faced by the Colan family has taxed them financially, and there are several ways folks can help out if they can and choose to do so.
Art by Gene Colan is being auctioned off here.
Direct donations can be sent to the Colans through Paypal. The Colans are registered at genecolan@optonline.net .
I made a small donation. I wish I could have sent more. I don't know anyone who has a bad word about the Colans (we've met them briefly at two local conventions over the years and they were just simply swell folks), and if I had a dime for every person involved in comics who was a fan of Gene Colan's lovely artwork, I'd have a nice big fat check to send them.
Personally, I have tremendously fond memories of growing up on rich, non-house style Colan artwork on Daredevil, Iron man, and especially, especially, Howard the Duck, a comic I loved and was likely heavily influenced by in some way, shape or form. Steve Gerber has passed on, and Gene Colan is ill, and I'm heartsick and wish I had Todd McFarlane money. Or a way to get George Lucas to cough up a few grand in spare change lying around the couches at Skywalker Ranch as a way to apologize for the Howard the Duck "movie". And, hey, Marvel, yeah, it would be nice if they chimed in, but Marvel and DC suits don't necessarily act like heroes, they just make money off them. Okay, the cynicism's starting to leak out, so let's tie this off and wrap it up before I get good and cranky about how the publishers treated the old-timer freelancers who built them up and created their characters, and the U.S health care system and industry.
Dirk Deppey's Journalista write-up with further links can be found here.
Tom Spurgeon's write-up at The Comics Reporter with further links can be found here.
If you're a fan, give it a think, won't you? Every $5 helps. Every letter brings cheer. Skip a few crossover comics this week and send the amount to someone who broke their hand working on hundreds of comics that looked swell and entertained a ton of people. We all say we love the older artists. They ain't getting any younger, folks, and most of them didn't make anything close to the money the Wizard Top 10 studs make working on the characters and concepts the vets bashed out like clockwork in order to pay the bills.
It looks like some big guns are coming out to donate items for a benefit auction, which is a great sign and hopefully just the beginning of a major effort on the part of comics professionals and fans.
Drop a line, transfer a few bucks. Show the damned love.
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(comment on this) Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
rollick
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11:23p
Brendan Fraser is a big ol' goofball
So I missed Fashion Wednesday tonight because I was seeing Journey To The Center Of The Earth In 3D, an upcoming film that the makers are touting as a groundbreaking, history-making first digital feature CGI 3D film ever, or some such — there were enough adjectives on the claim to remind me of various tours I've been on that have bragged about Chicago landmarks in terms that seem to have more conditionals than boasts. (For instance, Buckingham Fountain is not the largest fountain in the world, in spite of what some websites say but it IS supposedly the world's largest illuminated, marble fountain.)
Anyway. The film's star, Brendan Fraser, and its director, Eric Brevig, came out beforehand to whip up enthusiasm for the film, and returned afterward for a Q&A, introduced and moderated by Richard Roeper. And Fraser was gooooooo-fy. He took the mic and rambled for a while about how this film was on the "ouchy tippy point of the spear of technology." And about "all the helpful geeks and nerds" who came in and made the film around his acting after the greenscreen shoot was done. And how proud he was to have come up from his "humble frozen caveman beginnings" to be in this film.
After 10 minutes of rambling, he suddenly said "Did I just give a speech, or preach a sermon? Never give an actor an open mic. It's just a bad idea." Then he suddenly dropped his voice an octave and annouced "Excuse me, I'm just going to nip off to Las Vegas and marry my own voice."
The Q&A was pretty bland, with people asking some fairly expected questions about what it was like being on a set with only three actors, and what else the kid co-star had been in, and how the 3D process worked. About the only surprise was an old man with a thick Hungarian-sounding accent who, rather than asking a question, announced to the theater that while he was a fan of Fraser's and had seen many of his movies, he didn't like The Mummy. Without batting an eye, Fraser said "Well, that's too bad, because we just made another one. It'll be out in August. Maybe you'll like it this time — we're going to China."
Another girl started her question for Fraser with "I've been a huge fan of yours for many, many years." He shot back "So have I!"
It was cute and pretty upbeat. Tomorrow I'm interviewing him at his hotel here in Chicago, then immediately talking to the director. I imagine it'll be fun. I'll try not to harsh on The Mummy too hard.
current mood:  amused
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ianbrill
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9:17p
Maybe this is weird but:
Whenever I feel down there's one fact I remind myself of that is sure to lift my spirits. I'm not bald. Male pattern baldness doesn't run in either side of my family. I can worry about a lot of things but losing my hair is not one of them.
I'll be honest that works every time.
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mister_f
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10:46p
With less than 76GBs left...
...and over 17,800 songs, I have effectively put all of my CD's on my iPod. There's a few things here and there to add, but it's done. In this time, I really havent drawn much. It's been a really terrible dry spot for me. I haven't been really inspired by much lately.
Which is quite the kick in the balls, considering MoCCA is coming up. That's a convention that takes place in NYC on June 7th and 8th, and focuses on mostly indie comics, which is the type of stuff I do. (www.moccany.org) I'll be sharing a table with ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jaymarcy & timkelly. And Jay will be hanging with me until Wednesday morning.
So I have little time to prepare. I'll be selling reprints of my minis, including My Happy Place. I'll be heading back into the archives for some of the old stuff, much of which most of y'all have never seen.
And I'll be doing a spin on "commissions" doing random animal drawings on small pieces of paper to sell to the art crowds of NYC. Kinda like the badges of Teh Furreh Fandumb, but say, with a Juxtapoz spin to it.
I really need to solicit publishers for Destroying The Illusion & Slammin Bunneez. Anybody want to help me write the letter I want to send along with the submission? :D
Also, it is official: I am going to AnthroCon. Prolly concentrate on running around in Divvy (and maybe Eryshé). But DO invite me to a sketchbook party, I want to get my draw on.
Ummmm. I know I'm probably forgetting something or another.
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rantcomics
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11:36p
Non-Zuda Post!
Gah, I feel like it's been ZUDAZUDAZUDA around here. What about my other loves, hopes and dreams?
Like the dream of having a place to live. See, our lease ends this month and we haven't signed the new lease because we want out of our apartment. We need a 2 bedroom for when the baby comes... but with the market being the way it is... we've been looking at houses. Let me tell you - I know more about mortgages and property tax than I ever wanted to know! Nothing's happening yet, but we're looking... the only thing is, between the stress of this, putting SDCC in order (no plane tickets yet!!!) and ah, Uda-zay, I've been in meltdown.
Oh, let's not forget the fact that I had a Wildstorm pitch get passed on this week and today, my Vertigo pitch sorta kinda fell apart because of politics. That one, at least, is still salvageable... but it's not like I can even work on it until June - much like ALL of my work due to the competition.
However, I have gotten some movies in - caught FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL and IRON MAN, both enjoyable flicks.. but after watching Tony Stark built giant suits of armor for two hours I gotta ask... how the hell did he carry his armor around in briefcases for all those years?! Next week? INDIANA FUCKING JONES.
Oh, the Comic Book Club was fun last night - my fellow guests were webcomickers and ACT-I-VATORS Molly Crabapple, John Leavitt and TODT HILL collaborator Kevin Colden. Kev and I grabbed drinks and shot the shit before the show and we had a decent sized crowd listen to us jabber on about webcomics, Jon Favreau and what the word "fine" actually denotes. I'll get the link to the podcast up when the boys pass it along.
This weekend, Laurie and I will be visiting my old roommates in the city and I will be deciding how I'd like to spend my birthday next week. 33. Sheesh. That's like, twice the 3.
I'll leave you with a great story; I was heading uptown yesterday, on my way to the Comic Book Club with a pocket full of ACTION, OHIO flyers and reading an old library-borrowed volume of ULTIMATE X-MEN when this woman sits down next to me and smiles down at my book. After ten minutes of this, she asks which X-Men book it is and reveals she's a big X-fan. Packed train, upwardly mobile type woman, healthy interest in the X-men book in my hands. We chatter on about continuity and storylines for a bit and it's divulged that I write comics, to which she's thrilled. I then launch into the spiel - doing a comic in DC's American Idol style competition, and hey - here's a flyer about it. She takes it, pockets it in her wallet, I get off at my stop.
Man, I hope she votes.
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rollick
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10:21p
ANTM
So I missed Fashion Wednesday, and hence the finale of America's Next Top Model, because I had to go to a screening tonight. Who won? The show's site hasn't been updated, and neither has Bravo's. Was it any good? I haven't cared much about the show this season, apart from waiting to see how long Fatima's blend of bitchiness, cattiness, playing drama queen to the cameras, and weeping on cue would play before she got booted. I never thought she'd win, but I figured she'd make it to the finals, and that she was being crafty as hell about being absolutely everything the producers want in a contestant. But now I realize that I really am curious about who came out on top, and whether the finale was any fun.
Now that I think about it, I missed the finale last cycle, too. I was off on my birthday California travel adventure.
current mood:  curious
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simonfraser
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11:07p
Amerika - Dante in the War Against Terror
This June in 2000AD Nikolai Dante finally visits 'Amerika'.
Buckle Up Ladies and Gents, this one's gonna hit hard!
current music: The American Way - The Crystal Method
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artemna
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11:08p
weirdo land
It's been a weird week, and it's only Wednesday. My license plate fell off and then came back to me. My brake light is out and I got pulled over, and now have to get it replaced, then find a random cop to sign off as proof that it was replaced, then mail in the ticket. I'm spending all my free time finding 20s themed gifts to buy for a Murder Mystery Bowling Party that my friend Kim and I are organizing for our company. I finally found a purple shirt today to go with my Professor Plum costume. Every day I go into work to find 20s themed hats on my desk as possible costume options. We can never find enough people to come out to play for our volleyball team on Wednesday nights, The Robot Monkeys of Rage. This means we scout around the Volleyball House looking for a possible sub, and somehow always end up with "Six" (we call him that for continually providing us with a sixth player), a dude who looks like Chris Farley and relentlessly coaches us while we're in the midst of games. I was convinced for a while I had developed a wheat allergy and I'm not entirely convinced I don't. My brother's having his 50th existential crisis and I don't know how to help him.
Can it be Friday and stuff already?
current mood:  distracted
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