WARNING - There may be spoilers in this post.
I finally got to see X3 with my little brother today. We missed the first two showtimes we were aiming for today, but finally made it in and I just got back home.
I don't know what the general consensus is of the film as I have avoided every mention of the movie like the plague so nothing would be spoiled for me. All I knew going in beyond what the trailers showed was how much it made on opening weekend.
Now, as for what I thought of the film, I thought it was decent. It wasn't great, but it didn't suck either. It definitely wasn't as good plot-wise or story-wise as the first two. But it was better than say, Daredevil and Hulk.
So here are the positive points. We got to see more mutants such as Kitty Pryde and Juggernaut, and they were awesome. We also got to see more and better use of powers by the star cast. Iceman iced up all the way finally, Kitty rocked the house against Juggy, and Storm got to flex her powers a bit more.
The fight scenes were awesome, especially Beast, who I was thoroughly impressed with and pleasantly surprised by. I knew Grammar as Hank would be awesome, but as Beast in action I had reservations. Beast was excellent through and through.
It was cool seeing the danger room, albeit briefly.
Phoenix was very well done and gave some very shocking moments.
Some of Magneto's merry mutants were cool, such as the quill guy, Arclight (despite the bizarre appearance) and the girl who could run fast.
The way it ended did give hope for another sequel (stay until the credits roll for a very brief scene).
Now the negative. The plot was fine, but the execution of it was lame. Sure, it's cool seeing the mutants war over the supposed cure, but when that lone fight on a small island (where Alcatraz is) is the only threat and you have the President of the US saying God help us all, it just doesn't play well. If Magneto and company had waged war on the country or even the world because of the cure it would have lived up to its potential. But as it was, it was an isolated attack that amounted to nothing but a bunch of senseless casualties.
The acting in this movie was not as good as previous films. Halle was better, but the overall factor in the lameness was the cheesy and uncharacteristic dialogue. They had Wolverine being big brother, all emotional and crying. Crying? It's Wolverine! And Magneto having remorse seconds after he's defeated just felt really forced.
Speaking of characterization, there was very little of it in this movie. Bobby, Kitty, Storm and Beast had their moments, but they just wasted Psylocke and Angel. Two major characters like those and they are in like three small scenes each with little or no lines.
The Danger Room for me was a let down. They had showed the entire Danger Room scene in the trailer except for it all fading away revealing the empty room. That was it. I don't know what was so expensive about that.
The scenes were choppy and all over the place jumping from this to that constantly throughout.
Cyclops supposedly dies in the first 15 minutes of the film, as does Xavier. What a rip!
Colossus has no growth in this film, and they failed to take advantage of Colossus vs. Juggernaut!
I could go on, but suffice it to say, if this was the last one it sucked. If it continues I can forgive this one as long as they get Singer back for the fourth!
I will say that the action and fight scenes in this one were far better than the previous two. We got to see Wolverine in full berserker mode, Beast as agile as he should be, Kitty taking full advantage of her powers, the fastball special, Storm and the speed girl really going at it, Jean Grey doing the unthinkable, etc. The action alone was worth it. Had the action been subpar the movie would've possibly been a flop in my opinion.
I just think there were so many great ideas in this movie that were executed poorly. Every element of the film had humongous potential and promise, but it fell short on so many levels. It's like you could see how this would go this way or that and then they'd blow it.
I think they messed up having too many mutants in this one taking away from being able to build upon Juggy, Colossus, Angel, etc. more.
I's still recommend going to see it. If you can sit through Hulk this will be a piece of cake and much more enjoyable. Let's just hope this isn't a trend and Spidey 3 doesn't fall prey to the same problems here.
So I give it a C+ to a B-. That's the best I can do I'm afraid.
B-Out
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
June 15, 2006
That's the new date for my official website relaunch.
I mad a lot of progress on the website the past couple of days and I'm getting really excited about it. However, there is still more to do than I realized, so instead of killing myself to get it ready by tomorrow, I've given myself two extra weeks so nothing gets the rush treatment.
If you click the post title you'll be taken to my temporary index screen, which announces the date and features the new title logo for the site.
It's a complete tease because it tells nothing about what the site will actually look like.
I will say it's not going to be everything I wanted it to be simply because I don't have the expertise to make it as such, nor do I have the money to pay someone else to do it for me.
I wanted something industrial, yet artistic, all the while staying very simple and easy to navigate. I also wanted to brighten it up from the previous incarnation, so I made the main page white this time around.
If you don't remember what the old one looked like, check out www.brantfowler.com/home.html.
In the right column there was a scrolling frame that contained a journal of sorts with dated posts. Aside from that, it's exactly as it was when it was live. None of the other links will work, not even the home link as I took the rest of it down.
Anyway, though I would have liked some other stuff done to the site, I think I accomplished the basics of what I mention above in the new version. Just 16 days and you will all discover it for yourselves. :)
B-Out
I mad a lot of progress on the website the past couple of days and I'm getting really excited about it. However, there is still more to do than I realized, so instead of killing myself to get it ready by tomorrow, I've given myself two extra weeks so nothing gets the rush treatment.
If you click the post title you'll be taken to my temporary index screen, which announces the date and features the new title logo for the site.
It's a complete tease because it tells nothing about what the site will actually look like.
I will say it's not going to be everything I wanted it to be simply because I don't have the expertise to make it as such, nor do I have the money to pay someone else to do it for me.
I wanted something industrial, yet artistic, all the while staying very simple and easy to navigate. I also wanted to brighten it up from the previous incarnation, so I made the main page white this time around.
If you don't remember what the old one looked like, check out www.brantfowler.com/home.html.
In the right column there was a scrolling frame that contained a journal of sorts with dated posts. Aside from that, it's exactly as it was when it was live. None of the other links will work, not even the home link as I took the rest of it down.
Anyway, though I would have liked some other stuff done to the site, I think I accomplished the basics of what I mention above in the new version. Just 16 days and you will all discover it for yourselves. :)
B-Out
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
The Ellipsis
Lately this little writing device has been giving me multiple headaches. First of all, I have always thought there were no spaces when using an ellipsis, such as, "I went to buy milk and...anyway, then I ran into...".
So then I started seeing tons of people in columns, messageboard posts, and scripts I was lettering using a space after the ellipsis, like so, "I went to buy milk and... anyway, then I ran into... ".
So after dealing with this headache I looked it up and found we actually use it wrong anyway. Aside from the examples above, we use it at times to bridge to thoughts broken by separate balloons or whatever. This is actually an incorrect use. It's supposed to be used to omit words, such as the examples above, which is good to know now.
But I also learned that not only is there supposed to be a space after the ellipsis, but unless it's a cut off word there's supposed to be one before!
Using the above example, it actually should be, "I went to buy milk and ... anyway, then I ran into ... ".
Now that doesn't look right at all to me, but that's what my research revealed.
If it's a cut off word then it's okay if there isn't a space, like, "I went to buy mil... anyway, then I ran into ... ".
The spaces still don't look or feel right to me at all, though, so I don't know. I'm beginning to loathe the device.
B-Out
So then I started seeing tons of people in columns, messageboard posts, and scripts I was lettering using a space after the ellipsis, like so, "I went to buy milk and... anyway, then I ran into... ".
So after dealing with this headache I looked it up and found we actually use it wrong anyway. Aside from the examples above, we use it at times to bridge to thoughts broken by separate balloons or whatever. This is actually an incorrect use. It's supposed to be used to omit words, such as the examples above, which is good to know now.
But I also learned that not only is there supposed to be a space after the ellipsis, but unless it's a cut off word there's supposed to be one before!
Using the above example, it actually should be, "I went to buy milk and ... anyway, then I ran into ... ".
Now that doesn't look right at all to me, but that's what my research revealed.
If it's a cut off word then it's okay if there isn't a space, like, "I went to buy mil... anyway, then I ran into ... ".
The spaces still don't look or feel right to me at all, though, so I don't know. I'm beginning to loathe the device.
B-Out
Monday, May 29, 2006
*Sigh*
First of all, God Bless our troops, and much thanks to the veterans and those that gave their lives for our great country.
Now, today was kind of same old, same old for me. My family got together and went swimming and had a cookout, while my little brother went skateboarding with a friend. I stayed home as I wasn't really up to it today. So I just kind of lounged around the house, did some minimal lettering, worked on my website a bit and caught X-Men and X2 on FX back-to-back warming me up for tomorrow when (hopefully) my brother and I finally go see X3.
I say hopefully because my brother has possibly made other plans again, which is nothing new. He gets caught up with his friends and forgets all about his big bro. It's understandable though as he's 13.
I started a fan fiction piece on a Marvel character last night based on an idea I was going to pitch at Epic way back when. I'm hoping to have the first part of it finished and ready to go with my website launch.
Wrestling was okay tonight, but for the most part as boring as it has been for months now.
Heard from Scott, the artist on WBZ tonight. He's deep in wedding preparations and school at the moment.
I'm looking forward to the MTV Movie Awards coming up. I usually don't watch this and then sometimes tape a replay and fast forward through it just to see the funny stuff. But this year my girl Jessica Alba is hosting!
I'm really tired right now, but have too much on my mind to sleep, so here I am. I'm trying to wake myself up enough to get something accomplished. I have about 6 pages I need to letter by tomorrow, but two of those I can't because the files were corrupted. I just don't feel like doing them. Ugh.
I am definitely going to write some more Myth Conceptions and Indy-Pendant columns this week to get way ahead. I just need the break desperately.
A summer vacation isn't looking promising this year. I really, really wanted to go to California, but if I go anywhere it'll probably be Kings Island or a water in Cincinatti. I'm not thrilled with those prospects. I'd much rather hit Cali or Florida. I love the beach. Hate the ocean, but love the beach. :)
Since I mentioned my forgotten Epic pitches, there's one particular story I had that I have really seriously been considering changing to original characters. My only fear is the way the story was set up it was based heavily in the Marvel Universe. Oddly enough, the break out that ushered in the New Avengers had a lot of similar elements in it. So I'm kind of leary it won't come off as well as it could of. But I love the cinematic feel I put in it, so I hope I find a way to make it work.
Anyway, that's about it from me tonight. Just wasting time really.
B-Out
Now, today was kind of same old, same old for me. My family got together and went swimming and had a cookout, while my little brother went skateboarding with a friend. I stayed home as I wasn't really up to it today. So I just kind of lounged around the house, did some minimal lettering, worked on my website a bit and caught X-Men and X2 on FX back-to-back warming me up for tomorrow when (hopefully) my brother and I finally go see X3.
I say hopefully because my brother has possibly made other plans again, which is nothing new. He gets caught up with his friends and forgets all about his big bro. It's understandable though as he's 13.
I started a fan fiction piece on a Marvel character last night based on an idea I was going to pitch at Epic way back when. I'm hoping to have the first part of it finished and ready to go with my website launch.
Wrestling was okay tonight, but for the most part as boring as it has been for months now.
Heard from Scott, the artist on WBZ tonight. He's deep in wedding preparations and school at the moment.
I'm looking forward to the MTV Movie Awards coming up. I usually don't watch this and then sometimes tape a replay and fast forward through it just to see the funny stuff. But this year my girl Jessica Alba is hosting!
I'm really tired right now, but have too much on my mind to sleep, so here I am. I'm trying to wake myself up enough to get something accomplished. I have about 6 pages I need to letter by tomorrow, but two of those I can't because the files were corrupted. I just don't feel like doing them. Ugh.
I am definitely going to write some more Myth Conceptions and Indy-Pendant columns this week to get way ahead. I just need the break desperately.
A summer vacation isn't looking promising this year. I really, really wanted to go to California, but if I go anywhere it'll probably be Kings Island or a water in Cincinatti. I'm not thrilled with those prospects. I'd much rather hit Cali or Florida. I love the beach. Hate the ocean, but love the beach. :)
Since I mentioned my forgotten Epic pitches, there's one particular story I had that I have really seriously been considering changing to original characters. My only fear is the way the story was set up it was based heavily in the Marvel Universe. Oddly enough, the break out that ushered in the New Avengers had a lot of similar elements in it. So I'm kind of leary it won't come off as well as it could of. But I love the cinematic feel I put in it, so I hope I find a way to make it work.
Anyway, that's about it from me tonight. Just wasting time really.
B-Out
Myth Conceptions
The new column is up!
This week I talk about outside properties making the transition to comics, such as film, TV and video game franchises.
Check it out, and if you feel so inclined, leave a post on the SBC forums.
Click the post title to read the column.
B-Out
Sunday, May 28, 2006
...And the Good Start Ends...
I'm not going to go into detail about what happened, but let's just say that a life altering event occurred just moments ago and I am deeply hurt by it.
No one died or got hurt, or anything like that. It's nothing physical, but rather emotional and spiritual. It's a long and complicated story, but suffice it to say that what just happened has cut me to the very soul.
I did see it coming sort of, but having it actually take place is far more jarring than I could have imagined.
I'm okay, this won't destroy me or anything, it's just very hard to deal with and in the rare case anyone involved happens to read this I am very hurt and feel betrayed to the utmost degree. But as I said, I expected it and I'll survive and be the better man for it. God bless you all, I still love you all no matter what.
Needless to say, while I'll still be busy doing what I do, I may not be as vocal this week. Then again I may be more vocal as I tend to talk a lot or none at all when I'm upset. Just depends.
At some point maybe I'll be able to talk about it, but right now it's just too hard.
And this has nothing to do with a love interest or family. Like I said it's complicated and very hard to explain. I just wanted to get it out as this blog at times has become a sort of therapy for me to let out the frustrations of life.
I feel like screaming or punching right now, but I am oddly calm and reserved. I feel slapped in the face basically, and that's the best way to describe what I'm going through right now.
Anyway, I'm not looking for sympathy or pity, or whatever. I'm just getting it off my chest in what happens to be a method that potentially thousands of people can read. lol.
What can I say? Sigh. Such is life.
B-Out
No one died or got hurt, or anything like that. It's nothing physical, but rather emotional and spiritual. It's a long and complicated story, but suffice it to say that what just happened has cut me to the very soul.
I did see it coming sort of, but having it actually take place is far more jarring than I could have imagined.
I'm okay, this won't destroy me or anything, it's just very hard to deal with and in the rare case anyone involved happens to read this I am very hurt and feel betrayed to the utmost degree. But as I said, I expected it and I'll survive and be the better man for it. God bless you all, I still love you all no matter what.
Needless to say, while I'll still be busy doing what I do, I may not be as vocal this week. Then again I may be more vocal as I tend to talk a lot or none at all when I'm upset. Just depends.
At some point maybe I'll be able to talk about it, but right now it's just too hard.
And this has nothing to do with a love interest or family. Like I said it's complicated and very hard to explain. I just wanted to get it out as this blog at times has become a sort of therapy for me to let out the frustrations of life.
I feel like screaming or punching right now, but I am oddly calm and reserved. I feel slapped in the face basically, and that's the best way to describe what I'm going through right now.
Anyway, I'm not looking for sympathy or pity, or whatever. I'm just getting it off my chest in what happens to be a method that potentially thousands of people can read. lol.
What can I say? Sigh. Such is life.
B-Out
Starting the Week Off Right
Whew! I just finished and sent off four installments of Myth Conceptions putting me ahead through June 19th, meaning technically I'd have until June 25th before having to write another one. That really takes a load off. I hope to do the same thing with Indy-Pendant here soon to give myself a break from the weekend scramble.
I also finished an Approbation comics short (lettering) and will finish another one today as well as two pages of a Ronin title. Then all I've have left to complete my goals this weekend is to finally finish the Aroquin script.
I may go see X3 with my brother today, I don't know yet. It depends on how the day goes after 12.
The rest of the week will be filled with another revision on Lab Rats and getting my website up and running, which is still proving to be difficult.
I think I found a way to have a scrolling page without a frame, which is what I really wanted for the design I've got going. But I probably won't have as much content as I really wanted to have when it goes live.
I had wanted to have a couple of fan fiction pieces, two or three sets of new sequentials, new poetry and other writing, new pics, etc. But it's just not feasible unless I want to wait a couple more months, which I most certainly dont.
I will have some new poetry up and I'm going to try earnestly to get at least one fan fiction piece and one set of sequentials up if not by launch by a week after launch. I really hope to update both the art and the writing weekly this time around.
One thing I will have is plenty of lettering and logos to showcase, which is good since that's what I'm actually getting paid for these days.
I'm debating on actual comic scripts. 90% of everything I have is creator-owned stuff and I'm hesitant to put any of that up. I'll probably just stick with the fan fiction and say scripts are available upon request or something.
The trick to the website is going to be integrating this blog to match. I decided not to go with the blog for the home page. I probably should, but I figure the home page can be an intro that will have the basic updates listed as things are added, and the blog will serve as a detailed account or journal.
It's so confusing on what to use and what not to use. I'm trying to design it in a way I don't have to update everything (myspace, blog, site), but just one for certain things. I don't know, it's such a headache. I'll be glad when the lettering I have to do right now is done and the Aqoquin script so I can focus on the site.
If I see X3 today I'll post my thoughts here tonight. If I don't I'll continue to avoid the news bytes and dedicated threads of discussion until I do.
B-Out
I also finished an Approbation comics short (lettering) and will finish another one today as well as two pages of a Ronin title. Then all I've have left to complete my goals this weekend is to finally finish the Aroquin script.
I may go see X3 with my brother today, I don't know yet. It depends on how the day goes after 12.
The rest of the week will be filled with another revision on Lab Rats and getting my website up and running, which is still proving to be difficult.
I think I found a way to have a scrolling page without a frame, which is what I really wanted for the design I've got going. But I probably won't have as much content as I really wanted to have when it goes live.
I had wanted to have a couple of fan fiction pieces, two or three sets of new sequentials, new poetry and other writing, new pics, etc. But it's just not feasible unless I want to wait a couple more months, which I most certainly dont.
I will have some new poetry up and I'm going to try earnestly to get at least one fan fiction piece and one set of sequentials up if not by launch by a week after launch. I really hope to update both the art and the writing weekly this time around.
One thing I will have is plenty of lettering and logos to showcase, which is good since that's what I'm actually getting paid for these days.
I'm debating on actual comic scripts. 90% of everything I have is creator-owned stuff and I'm hesitant to put any of that up. I'll probably just stick with the fan fiction and say scripts are available upon request or something.
The trick to the website is going to be integrating this blog to match. I decided not to go with the blog for the home page. I probably should, but I figure the home page can be an intro that will have the basic updates listed as things are added, and the blog will serve as a detailed account or journal.
It's so confusing on what to use and what not to use. I'm trying to design it in a way I don't have to update everything (myspace, blog, site), but just one for certain things. I don't know, it's such a headache. I'll be glad when the lettering I have to do right now is done and the Aqoquin script so I can focus on the site.
If I see X3 today I'll post my thoughts here tonight. If I don't I'll continue to avoid the news bytes and dedicated threads of discussion until I do.
B-Out
Indy-Pendant #49
The new column is up!This week I highlight Drew Melbourne, creator of the Dark Horse Comics mini-series Archenemies and a fellow Scryptonian!
Drew beat me and hundreds of others out in the Wizard sponsored Top Cow "Breaking In" contest a few years back, and was also one that fell to the disaster of the Epic line, much like myself. But he's struck gold with this series.
Check out how Drew got where he is today and where he plans on going!
Click the post title to read the column.
B-Out
Friday, May 26, 2006
First Published Lettering!
Well, it's official. I am a published letterer!
My first published lettering appears in chapter 6 of a TPB entitled "Division Shadow". You can order it in print or online form by clicking the post title.
I thought some others would beat this one to press, but alas, this is my first published lettering, in case I didn't mention that yet. If you can go check it out.
B-Out
Goofed!
Aw man, I just goofed BIG TIME! I was supposed to have the letters transferred from inks to colors for the first ten pages of a book I'm lettering (obviously) by at the latest 12pm my time (almost 5 hours ago). I was told late Wednesday night (around Midnight) that they would be uploaded in the next four hours.
Now, with this particular client we typically transfer files via ftp. Recently I was told to start sending in pdf to cut down on the process. So somehow I got the idea in my head that he would be emailing me the pages. He didn't. I just realized, then checked to confirm, that he uploaded them to the ftp server.
The thing that makes all this worse is the reason they needed to be done by 12 today. The writer had a meeting with an interested publisher who wanted to see the first 10 pages fully complete at 10am his time, 1pm my time. So I totally dropped the ball here and feel completely and utterly awful.
I haven't heard one peep from the writer yet, as I assume he's either out or ticked at me, so I don't know how it went, if I'm fired, or what. lol (nervous laugh).
What a great way to end a horrid week!
B-Out
Now, with this particular client we typically transfer files via ftp. Recently I was told to start sending in pdf to cut down on the process. So somehow I got the idea in my head that he would be emailing me the pages. He didn't. I just realized, then checked to confirm, that he uploaded them to the ftp server.
The thing that makes all this worse is the reason they needed to be done by 12 today. The writer had a meeting with an interested publisher who wanted to see the first 10 pages fully complete at 10am his time, 1pm my time. So I totally dropped the ball here and feel completely and utterly awful.
I haven't heard one peep from the writer yet, as I assume he's either out or ticked at me, so I don't know how it went, if I'm fired, or what. lol (nervous laugh).
What a great way to end a horrid week!
B-Out
Surviving the Storm
Last night we had a pretty nasty storm with the loudest thunder and most frequent lightning I have ever seen! Luckily it was only flash lightning as opposed to fork lightning, which causes the real problems. We also had tornado warnings and watches, and the way the thunder was rolling it really sounded like it was possible.
Now the last tornado I remember actually touching down around here was many, many years ago when I was between the ages of 5 and 6, but I could be wrong. It was still a pretty vicious storm for the second night in a row. Luckily it calmed down and there wasn't much if any real damage, so that's a great thing.
I got off the computer for a while last night just in case. With all the computer problems I've been having I didn't want to take a chance. I have a surge protector, but those things don't always work.
I managed to finish lettering on a short story prior to the storm, and now that corrections are made I just have to make the high res versions and send them off. Then I have two more short lettering assignments and I'll be free and clear until the next batch comes in, which could be two days or two weeks from now, or longer, who knows?
I didn't get any writing done at all, or work on my website, though my intentions were to do both.
Today X-Men 3: The Last Stand opens. I plan on going to see it with my brother sometime this weekend unless he's tied up with his friends. He's out of school for the summer and likes to go to the skate park and skateboard. Plus he has a little girlfriend that he's afraid to tell me about because he thinks I'll tease him. It's hard to not let him know I already know when I catch him covering up. Mom will ask if he's going with Nicki and if I'm in earshot he'll quickly say, "Yeah, with Nicki and Doug and some other people". lol.
I picked up the Summer Mega Movie edition of Wizard Magazine and so far it's a good read. It's not like the regular magazine in that this is completely about comic related movies and TV shows without their regular content like the Picks, Price Guide, etc.
I was pleasantly surprised to see they mentioned El Muerto on page 142, the comic of which I have showcased in Indy-Pendant. The movie stars Wilmer Vilderamma of That 70's Show fame (Fez). The trailer, I found out recently, is online here:
El Muerto Movie Trailer
According to Wizard, Eric Bana probably won't be returning as Banner in Hulk 2, but the movie is going back to the comic and TV show roots having Banner on the run.
Todd McFarlane is looking to make a new live action Spawn movie hopefully far, far superior to the original starring Michael Jai White, which was abyssmal. I'm not a fan of Spawn, but I did check the movie out when it went on cable, and recently it came on again so I watched bits and pieces. This movie was just awful.
Lots of Top Cow projects in the works for translation to the big and little screen including The Darkness, Witchblade, Spear of Destiny (Magdalena), Aphrodite IX, Wanted and a few others.
My friend, Carissa (pictured - the picture is two years old now, but she looks the same), whom I've mentioned before here is still planning on getting married on June 19th, then she and her new husband are moving to Ohio (where he lives now). I haven't seen Carissa in several months and I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it to the wedding. She's a very special girl and I miss her dearly. I've known her since she was a baby and watching her grow from an awkward yet outspoken young girl into the beautiful young woman she is today has been a pleasure. She is truly one of the special people on this planet. One of the most compassionate and loving people I have ever known, and she has always been there for me. As long as this guy, who I don't know that well, makes her happy I'm happy.
I'm sad to see her getting married and moving away though. Deeply sad. Of course I'm not a fan of young marriages these days. I've seen too many friends end up miserable or in divorce. At her age I thought I was ready for marriage, but looking back I am glad I didn't go that route at that time. She'll be 21 in July, and she's excited about the prospect of being married. She probably also relishes the thought of being on her own as her parents (my pastor and his wife) and sister (the choir leader) are very, very strict with her, and she still lives at home. They put a lot of pressure on her, so I can imagine wanting to break away.
I wish her the best in life as if anyone on this earth deserves it she does.
Back to comics for a minute. DC's 52 is one of the few titles I am able to pick up and I have been thoroughly enjoying it. With the star creative team engineering it there's no way it couldn't be good, but it really is one of the best written comics out right now. The art ain't too shabby either. And as Crazz pointed out on his blog (Chuck Kennedy - sidebar) DC set up a fictional Daily Planet site for 52 in real time highlighting the events of the comic as they take place and all kinds of other stuff like sports scores, etc. The whole experience is really cool. But the coolest thing about 52 is the showcasing of second stringers like Booster Gold and John Henry Irons (Steel). The creative team is taking these characters who have sometimes been considered lame and really defining them and making them interesting characters you care about and want to know about. I highly recommend picking this series up even if you haven't followed Infinite Crisis. The short of what you need to know is Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are nowhere to be found (yet Clark Kent is - Superman lost his powers) following the events of IC and the worlds were combined into New Earth, meaning a lot of people died and a lot of people lived. Black Adam is now the ambassador of Kandaq and rules with an iron fist. And that's pretty much it. Now you can go and enjoy this fine series.
This week a variant of Nextwave is released in which you can color. Yes, I said color. It's a contest sponsored by CBR. Check it out here:
Nextwave Coloring Contest
Ultimate Fighter was...interesting last night. I don't like either of the guys who fought. The one guy, Danny, just ran his mouth constantly obviously out of some insecurity issues. I've known plenty of people just like him. But once he got into the octagon he had something to prove. He got pulverized mainly by just not fighting back as he looked scared to death. But he wouldn't tap until he had no choice or end up with a broken arm.
Ed, the other fighter, is just so arrogant he gets on my nerves. He's full of macho crap, thinks he's the best fighter, blah blah blah. Plus he didn't fight that well. The first blow of the fight was a stiff shot to the side of his face by Danny, which rocked him. He won and beat the crap out of the other guy, but not that great. Danny just didn't fight back and wasn't really trying all that much to escape the ground and pound.
The problem with guys like Ed is they believe their own hype. And that's fine and well until you prove you can't live up to that hype, which was what we saw last night.
My mom had to go in for blood work today to prepare for her surgery on June 6th. She couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight, and seeing she's a bit of a night owl as well that was hard. The food wasn't so bad, but not drinking anything before you go to bed or after you wake up is hard. She, my brother and I have always been the way where we always have to have something to drink. So I know it was hard on her not to have her coffee this morning.
And that's all I can really think of right now.
I guess I should probably do some lettering, writing or web design now, huh?
B-Out
Now the last tornado I remember actually touching down around here was many, many years ago when I was between the ages of 5 and 6, but I could be wrong. It was still a pretty vicious storm for the second night in a row. Luckily it calmed down and there wasn't much if any real damage, so that's a great thing.
I got off the computer for a while last night just in case. With all the computer problems I've been having I didn't want to take a chance. I have a surge protector, but those things don't always work.
I managed to finish lettering on a short story prior to the storm, and now that corrections are made I just have to make the high res versions and send them off. Then I have two more short lettering assignments and I'll be free and clear until the next batch comes in, which could be two days or two weeks from now, or longer, who knows?
I didn't get any writing done at all, or work on my website, though my intentions were to do both.
Today X-Men 3: The Last Stand opens. I plan on going to see it with my brother sometime this weekend unless he's tied up with his friends. He's out of school for the summer and likes to go to the skate park and skateboard. Plus he has a little girlfriend that he's afraid to tell me about because he thinks I'll tease him. It's hard to not let him know I already know when I catch him covering up. Mom will ask if he's going with Nicki and if I'm in earshot he'll quickly say, "Yeah, with Nicki and Doug and some other people". lol.
I picked up the Summer Mega Movie edition of Wizard Magazine and so far it's a good read. It's not like the regular magazine in that this is completely about comic related movies and TV shows without their regular content like the Picks, Price Guide, etc.
I was pleasantly surprised to see they mentioned El Muerto on page 142, the comic of which I have showcased in Indy-Pendant. The movie stars Wilmer Vilderamma of That 70's Show fame (Fez). The trailer, I found out recently, is online here:
El Muerto Movie Trailer
According to Wizard, Eric Bana probably won't be returning as Banner in Hulk 2, but the movie is going back to the comic and TV show roots having Banner on the run.
Todd McFarlane is looking to make a new live action Spawn movie hopefully far, far superior to the original starring Michael Jai White, which was abyssmal. I'm not a fan of Spawn, but I did check the movie out when it went on cable, and recently it came on again so I watched bits and pieces. This movie was just awful.
Lots of Top Cow projects in the works for translation to the big and little screen including The Darkness, Witchblade, Spear of Destiny (Magdalena), Aphrodite IX, Wanted and a few others.
My friend, Carissa (pictured - the picture is two years old now, but she looks the same), whom I've mentioned before here is still planning on getting married on June 19th, then she and her new husband are moving to Ohio (where he lives now). I haven't seen Carissa in several months and I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it to the wedding. She's a very special girl and I miss her dearly. I've known her since she was a baby and watching her grow from an awkward yet outspoken young girl into the beautiful young woman she is today has been a pleasure. She is truly one of the special people on this planet. One of the most compassionate and loving people I have ever known, and she has always been there for me. As long as this guy, who I don't know that well, makes her happy I'm happy.I'm sad to see her getting married and moving away though. Deeply sad. Of course I'm not a fan of young marriages these days. I've seen too many friends end up miserable or in divorce. At her age I thought I was ready for marriage, but looking back I am glad I didn't go that route at that time. She'll be 21 in July, and she's excited about the prospect of being married. She probably also relishes the thought of being on her own as her parents (my pastor and his wife) and sister (the choir leader) are very, very strict with her, and she still lives at home. They put a lot of pressure on her, so I can imagine wanting to break away.
I wish her the best in life as if anyone on this earth deserves it she does.
Back to comics for a minute. DC's 52 is one of the few titles I am able to pick up and I have been thoroughly enjoying it. With the star creative team engineering it there's no way it couldn't be good, but it really is one of the best written comics out right now. The art ain't too shabby either. And as Crazz pointed out on his blog (Chuck Kennedy - sidebar) DC set up a fictional Daily Planet site for 52 in real time highlighting the events of the comic as they take place and all kinds of other stuff like sports scores, etc. The whole experience is really cool. But the coolest thing about 52 is the showcasing of second stringers like Booster Gold and John Henry Irons (Steel). The creative team is taking these characters who have sometimes been considered lame and really defining them and making them interesting characters you care about and want to know about. I highly recommend picking this series up even if you haven't followed Infinite Crisis. The short of what you need to know is Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are nowhere to be found (yet Clark Kent is - Superman lost his powers) following the events of IC and the worlds were combined into New Earth, meaning a lot of people died and a lot of people lived. Black Adam is now the ambassador of Kandaq and rules with an iron fist. And that's pretty much it. Now you can go and enjoy this fine series.
This week a variant of Nextwave is released in which you can color. Yes, I said color. It's a contest sponsored by CBR. Check it out here:
Nextwave Coloring Contest
Ultimate Fighter was...interesting last night. I don't like either of the guys who fought. The one guy, Danny, just ran his mouth constantly obviously out of some insecurity issues. I've known plenty of people just like him. But once he got into the octagon he had something to prove. He got pulverized mainly by just not fighting back as he looked scared to death. But he wouldn't tap until he had no choice or end up with a broken arm.
Ed, the other fighter, is just so arrogant he gets on my nerves. He's full of macho crap, thinks he's the best fighter, blah blah blah. Plus he didn't fight that well. The first blow of the fight was a stiff shot to the side of his face by Danny, which rocked him. He won and beat the crap out of the other guy, but not that great. Danny just didn't fight back and wasn't really trying all that much to escape the ground and pound.
The problem with guys like Ed is they believe their own hype. And that's fine and well until you prove you can't live up to that hype, which was what we saw last night.
My mom had to go in for blood work today to prepare for her surgery on June 6th. She couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight, and seeing she's a bit of a night owl as well that was hard. The food wasn't so bad, but not drinking anything before you go to bed or after you wake up is hard. She, my brother and I have always been the way where we always have to have something to drink. So I know it was hard on her not to have her coffee this morning.
And that's all I can really think of right now.
I guess I should probably do some lettering, writing or web design now, huh?
B-Out
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Opposite Poles
The good and the bad. Good:
My toe has eased down today after soaking and sleeping.
Bad:
I still can't put a sock on.
Good:
I found an artist for one of my plagued projects who is very, very good!
Bad:
I can't afford his rates.
Good:
A winner has been crowned on American Idol.
Bad:
I taped it so I could watch lost, and didn't want to hear the results. During a commercial break while watching Lost the local news advertised they'd be going to the hometown of the new American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks, before I could change the channel.
Good:
The second season finale of Lost was awesome. (Spoilers below)
Bad:
The season is over.
Good:
Taylor Hicks is the new American Idol
Bad:
Katherin McPhee isn't.
Good:
A new singing competition called The One is debuting on ABC in July.
Bad:
It looks second-rate and slightly boring.
Good:
FX is holding a competition to get your own sitcom. All you gotta do is make a cheap pilot episode.
Bad:
The deadline is in three or so weeks (June 19th).
Good:
ECW is coming back.
Bad:
It will be a manufactured shell of its former self missing its biggest draws.
Good:
Got encouraged to draw some after looking at some art.
Bad:
Got discouraged after seeing some awesome art.
Good:
Eric came back for the final episode of That 70's Show.
Bad:
The show is done.
Random Goods:
I got some lettering done.
Finally got in touch with Lee Nordling about Lab Rats - it's still a go, they've just been really busy.
Had some new friends added to my MySpace page.
Comic Avalanche got a new column, which I designed the logo and page for.
I'm the new champion at Pacman on the Ronin Studio forums.
I tried Coke's new product, Vault, and decided it was decent.
Found this pair of casual pants I thought had gone missing in a basket in my closet.
Got to see somebody slam their face into the floor trying to do a head spin (previews for "So You Think You Can Dance?").
Random Bads:
Had to listen to Meatloaf attempt to sing on the American Idol finale.
I overslept again.
The Comic Avalanche forums are being bombarded by spammers even though the board isn't technically active anymore.
Allergies are still acting up.
My printer's about out of ink.
While lettering a page earlier today Illustrator just closed on me causing me to have to restart the page.
It's about to storm again.
All that aside, tonight was good television. I have only watched the first half of American Idol so far, so even though I know who won, I haven't seen all the performances and stuff yet. Elliot Yamin performing with Mary J. Blige was really cool though, and so are the American Idol awards - total spoofs mostly honoring the rejects.
Now I'm not a fan of Mary J. Blige, but I recently read an interview with artist Ne-Yo where he stated his feelings about what makes a good artist (recording artist) and what he feels about Blige. He said a good singer has to be felt when they sing. And though people may criticize Blige for going off key or whatever, you always feel what she's singing, and he's right. So I give her props for that.
Lost was pretty cool. At first I thought they had a lame ending (Charlie and Claire kissing), but then they ended on a different note.
Spoilers
At the end of last week's episode a boat was coming to shore during the funeral for Libby and Ana Lucia. This week we find the boat contains Desmond, the guy who was found inside the hatch when they opened it. He tried to sail away, but came right back. We got to look into his past and find out how he came to be on the island and why he stayed.
Meanwhile, John was trying to get Mr. Eko to stop pressing the button, but he wouldn't. Jack, Michael, Sawyer, Kate and Hurley prepared to go to the Others' camp. Sayid and Jack conspired for Sayid to take the boat to the other side of the island so they could ambush the Others. Jin and Sun accompanied him.
During the trek in the woods Jack reveals to everyone Michael has been turned (in case you missed it, Michael killed Libby and Ana in order to get his son back) and Michael then revealed he killed the women. Back at the hatch, John has convinced Desmond that they must stop pressing the button. They short out the hatch causing a false lockdown, locking Eko out so they can see what happens when the button stops. So Eko and Charlie go and get dynamite as they are going to blow the blast doors open supposedly. Charlie tries to talk Eko out of it to no avail. The blast seemingly kills Charlie and Eko.
On the boat, Sayid, Jin and Sun see an enormous statue of a broken leg, meaning the rest of the statue was missing. But the even more peculiar thing was that the foot only had four toes. The three then land on the other side of the shore, but the Others aren't in their huts or anywhere else around.
Back in the forest, Jack and crew see the black signal smoke Sayid had said he would send up for them to meet. The only problem is the smoke is miles from their location, meaning Michael wasn't taking them to the camp. They are then attacked and captured by the Others.
Back in the hatch Desmond starts getting cold feet about the button and begins asking questions. Locke throws him the printouts from the other hatch he and Eko had found, which revealed this hatch (with the button) was all a psychological test. Desmond starts reading the numbers and comes to a startling conclusion. He asks John what date the plane crashed. John says Sept. 22nd.
Now a bit earlier we saw a flashback of Desmond in the hatch as his buddy was going outside in a protection suit. Desmond followed him and discovered his boat actually was still on the island instead of being destroyed as he was told. His buddy was going to leave him there. The two tussle and Calvin gets killed. Desmond rushes back to the hatch, but it's too late. The time has run out, the computer screen says over and over again "System Failure". All the metal objects begin to fly through the air towards the wall and the whole hatch shakes. Desmond enters the numbers and finally things calm down.
Back to now, the printout shows on September 22, 2004 System Failure over and over again. This was the day Desmond failed to push the button and possibly caused the plane to crash on the island.
Back to the Others on a pier. Henry Gale turns out to be their leader. They let Michael and Walt take a boat and leave the island, giving them coordinates to be rescued. They let Hurley go so he can tell everyone else never to come to the Others' camp. They keep Jack, Kate and Sawyer prisoner.
Back in the hatch, the time runs out, things start flying, Charlie gets out. Desmond decides to use the failsafe to which he had a key hidden for. This blows up the hatch. The entire island is engulfed in white light and deafening sound for a brief moment. Then the Quarantine hatch door hurtles through the sky and nearly kills Claire and her baby.
Charlie comes wondering out of the woods, but Desmond, Eko and Locke, who were all in the hatch, are nowhere to be found.
Earlier in the episode during Desmond's flashbacks we learned Desmond was in the Queen's army, but disobeyed, landed in jail, then was dishonorably discharged. Upon release he is picked up by his girlfriend's father who has intercepted all Desmond's letters so his daughter would think Des abandoned her. The father tries to pay Des off to stay away from her, but he doesn't take it. He decides later on to get his honor back he's going to win a race around the world sponsored by his girlfriend's father, then he'll go back to Penny. But he doesn't have a boat. He then meets a woman who gives him her late husband's boat. This woman was...Libby.
At the end of the episode these two guys in some cold place in a shack are playing chess as a monitor starts flashing saying there's some kind of electromagnetic anomaly. They get all excited and call Ms. Whittmoore and tell her they think they've found it. She turns the light on. It's Desmond's girlfriend.
Pretty cool ending. Can't wait for season three!
And with this being the third long post of the past four, that's enough for now.
B-Out
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Civil War Banner
Just One Of Dem Days
So today has just been a mess and everything has gone wrong.
I think I broke the lawnmower as it won't start anymore.
My toe problem worsened today and I couldn't even get a sock on it hurt so bad (I need minor surgery on my toe - no big deal, it's just very painful and I can't wear regular shoes until I get it done).
My tooth problem escalated to painful heights today, though it has thankfully subsided.
My little brother, bless his heart, completely wiped my username off Mozilla losing all my bookmarks, which gave me a slight scare, but I found them once again.
There were banana peppers on my sandwhich I didn't want, and it ruined the taste.
Katherine McPhee's last song of the night on American Idol was just an awful song that probably lost the competition for her. It wasn't her, the song was just terrible.
Because I mowed the lawn the allergies I managed to pretty much avoid this year so far have finally flared up and now my nose and ears are stopped up, my eyes are itching, swelling and watering, my throat is getting sore and I have a slight headache.
I came in second for a paid lettering gig, which means I didn't get it.
I wanted to spend some time with my brother today, but I overslept and he went to the park with some friends all day.
I forgot epsom salt at the store for the third time in a row, which I needed to soak my foot to ease the pain.
I've killed like 5 mosquitos in my house and the bites on my arms and legs tell me there are more looming about.
I ran out of shampoo.
My straw broke.
I got completely grossed out catching a glimpse of the show House, which featured a guy with a swollen tongue whose eye popped out of its socket and his...lower regions exploded as he tried to urinate. Not a pleasant sight!
I've read all the comics I have that I tried to pace out since I can't buy them regularly right now.
American Idol Season 5 ends tomorrow, which means I can no longer live vicariously through the show as I have the past five months.
My favorite t-shirt has a big rip in it under the right arm exposing half my chest.
And that about sums up this glorious day.
Some positive things happened and were accomplished, honestly, I just don't remember what they were. ;)
Just One Of Dem Days.
B-Out
I think I broke the lawnmower as it won't start anymore.
My toe problem worsened today and I couldn't even get a sock on it hurt so bad (I need minor surgery on my toe - no big deal, it's just very painful and I can't wear regular shoes until I get it done).
My tooth problem escalated to painful heights today, though it has thankfully subsided.
My little brother, bless his heart, completely wiped my username off Mozilla losing all my bookmarks, which gave me a slight scare, but I found them once again.
There were banana peppers on my sandwhich I didn't want, and it ruined the taste.
Katherine McPhee's last song of the night on American Idol was just an awful song that probably lost the competition for her. It wasn't her, the song was just terrible.
Because I mowed the lawn the allergies I managed to pretty much avoid this year so far have finally flared up and now my nose and ears are stopped up, my eyes are itching, swelling and watering, my throat is getting sore and I have a slight headache.
I came in second for a paid lettering gig, which means I didn't get it.
I wanted to spend some time with my brother today, but I overslept and he went to the park with some friends all day.
I forgot epsom salt at the store for the third time in a row, which I needed to soak my foot to ease the pain.
I've killed like 5 mosquitos in my house and the bites on my arms and legs tell me there are more looming about.
I ran out of shampoo.
My straw broke.
I got completely grossed out catching a glimpse of the show House, which featured a guy with a swollen tongue whose eye popped out of its socket and his...lower regions exploded as he tried to urinate. Not a pleasant sight!
I've read all the comics I have that I tried to pace out since I can't buy them regularly right now.
American Idol Season 5 ends tomorrow, which means I can no longer live vicariously through the show as I have the past five months.
My favorite t-shirt has a big rip in it under the right arm exposing half my chest.
And that about sums up this glorious day.
Some positive things happened and were accomplished, honestly, I just don't remember what they were. ;)
Just One Of Dem Days.
B-Out
Potluck
Cary got through his edits of the breakdowns for the entire WBZ mini and only had a few corrections to suggest, so that made me feel really good. This project is getting me very excited as it nears time to send out the submission packets one more time, this time to more companies as well.
The writer of Warbreed started a blog, which is currently showcasing Warbreed stuff and probably will solely do that at least throughout the competition. You can check it out here:
graphitejones.blogspot.com
As I mentioned a couple of posts back, I haven't been able to get real motivated lately, so I have yet to finish the Aroquin script and I feel terrible about it.
Haven't heard anything new on The Kansas Hit yet, and I haven't had a chance to work on the logo anymore.
I did create another logo for a project called Nation. Don't know if it's okay to show it yet, so I'll hold off for now. I'm building quite a library of logos though.
I may redo one logo I did for a book called 3rd System. After seeing the art I'm not completely satisfied with the logo.
My website design took a turn for the worse last night as I realized I didn't like the revisions I made any more than I liked the previous design. So now I've got the title bar and sidebar done, but none of the rest of it and I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of it. My self-imposed deadline is June 1st, which is only 9 days away. I haven't even finished or started on all the content I wanted up when it went live. I've had the domain since last August and I still haven't gotten to the point I wanted. Such is life.
Ryan Scott Ottney seems frustrated as he is making changes in his life as is evidenced by his statement on his website, www.ryanscottottney.com. I hope everything works out for Ryan.
For those of you who may not know, Ryan is one of the founders of www.scrypticstudios.com. He's also written titles for Alias Comics and a Spider-Man story for Marvel that I don't believe ever saw print, but was picked up if I recall correctly. Best of luck, Ryan.
Recently on his blog Chuck "Crazz" Kennedy mentioned the new drama coming to NBC, Heroes, a show about a number of ordinary people waking up one day with super powers and a possible destiny to save mankind. Looks and sounds like a pretty cool show. While two or three of the cast members look familiar only one of them do I know by name, which is Ali Larter of Final Destination and Varsity Blues fame.
But I've been seeing commercials lately on the USA network advertising the third season of an oddly similar show called The 4400. In this show a meteor races towards earth threatening armageddon when suddenly it slows and lands on a lake. Then 4400 people who have been missing emerge from it with super powers and a possible destiny to save mankind. Evidently these 4400 were abducted then returned by humans in the future.
Now I'm not saying anyone ripped anyone off or anything...
Regardless, these are two shows featuring regularly dressed people (no costumes) a la Smallville, who have powers akin to our beloved comic book heroes. Interesting to say the least.
Not to mention the six-week superhero reality TV show, Who Wants to be a Superhero? Stan Lee is involved in coming to the Sci-Fi channel in which the winner will be immortalized in a new comic book by Stan Lee. Comic geeks will turn out in groves for the auditions, I'm sure. The prize is pretty cool nonetheless.
So it looks like TV has jumped on the superhero bandwagon full force despite the possible cancellation of the Aquaman series Mercy Reef.
Wrestling was a complete bore fest tonight. Not one match was entertaining at all. This was the lamest episode of Raw in a while, and that's not saying a whole lot.
Wrestling in general has gotten really boring lately, and it's a shame. They have incredibly talented wrestlers and they don't utilize them. On Smackdown they finally had a decent, yet small tag team division going and they break up the top team! I just don't get it.
TNA isn't much better in the storyline department, but at least most of their matches are more exciting to watch. Granted at that rate those guys are going to be retired with multiple injuries by the age of 30, but it's fun at the moment.
The Lost season 2 finale airs this week and things have gotten real interesting. The group was about to storm the Others' camp at the end of last week's episode when Sun sees a boat coming towards the island. It will definitely be interesting to see how the season ends. I'm gonna have to get my hands on season one this summer so I don't go into Lost withdrawal!
My TV watching is going to decrease a great deal after this week unless some really good summer shows come on. Just about everything I watch regularly or occasionally has ended for the season. After this week I'm left with wrestling, Ultimate Fighter and Deal or No Deal.
American Idol also ends this week as Kat and Taylor battle for the 5th American Idol crown. I don't care which one wins as I love both of them and know both will get record deals without a doubt. I'm still looking forward to the performances. Clay Aiken and Carrie Underwood will be onhand at the finale.
I hate mowing the lawn! When we lived with my Papaw either he or my uncle or a kid down the street would mow our yard. Since then I've lived in apartments until we moved here. Now I have to mow the lawn, and though it's a small lawn I've only mowed about 6 times in my entire life. I hate it. It also doesn't help that freshly cut grass sends my eyes and nose into water works of various kinds as my allergies go into full affect. I have to immediately take off all my clothes and take a shower or my eyes will swell up and I'll be itchy all over. Ugh!
I'm having teeth problems and don't have the money or insurance to take care of them, and it's ticking me off. The pain right now is only occasional, but when it goes it goes.
I keep trying to make myself excercise more as I'm starting to get flabby and have lost a bit of muscle mass, what little I had, but I can't seem to actually do it. The sad thing is I hardly eat at all (like literally one meal a day - supper - and maybe some chips or fruit or something small like a cheese sandwhich throughout the day) but I'm gaining weight.
I think my metabolism has changed again. When I was a kid I ate a LOT! I'm talking every fast food joint I passed I had to have something. I was addicted to food. At the age of 14 I was 4 foot something and 195 pounds with no muscle in site. Since muscle weighs more than fat you do the math.
When I was 15 I hit a growing spurt, shot up to 6 feet and everything evened out. I even dropped to 155 pounds for nearly a year then evened out at around 180 with some muscle. From that point until about a year ago I could eat anything and not gain much weight. Oh how the tides have changed.
There's a lot of hoopla over The Da Vinci Code. Here's my personal take on it not knowing much about it. I am completely opposed to some of the things it presents, such as Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene and other Gnostic views expressed. But I'm not condoning banning the movie as it is a work of fiction. I do have a problem with it influencing people that are gullible enough to believe it and then get engrossed in it and maybe start up a religion somewhere down the line. And yes I'm exaggerating for effect.
As long as it is a work of fiction then I may not agree with it (I didn't agree with several things in Constantine or many other movies, books, etc. either) but I think it's a little drastic to want to ban it. This isn't The Last Temptation we're talking about where it was being passed off as fact. That I was in favor of banning, regardless of my feelings on censorship. It openly attacked my faith. This movie, however, is presenting a fictional theory that there are hidden signs in a deceased artist's paintings that could point to him being a Gnostic. It's action adventure fiction based purely on speculation with no facts to back it, so there's nothing to be up in arms about.
What does aggravate me though is when people say that the church is up in arms because they're not founded enough in their faith so they fear this kind of thing will shake them. That's complete rubbish. It's not that, it's that the church is coming against absurd theories that try to basically spit on their beliefs.
Anyway, I will probably watch this movie somewhere down the line and judge for myself. There's nothing that can sway me from my faith, so I'm definitely not worried about it influencing me. But I will say that anyone who thinks that movies, music, books, and anything else we take in don't have a spiritual and emotional effect on us to some degree is just plain delusional.
I did watch some stuff on the Discovery channel last night about the fabled spear of destiny and the Da Vinci code, both of which are shrouded in a lot of assumptions and speculation, and this is coming from experts. Take that for what it's worth.
And I think I've said enough for one night. Four days until X-3!
B-Out
The writer of Warbreed started a blog, which is currently showcasing Warbreed stuff and probably will solely do that at least throughout the competition. You can check it out here:
graphitejones.blogspot.com
As I mentioned a couple of posts back, I haven't been able to get real motivated lately, so I have yet to finish the Aroquin script and I feel terrible about it.
Haven't heard anything new on The Kansas Hit yet, and I haven't had a chance to work on the logo anymore.
I did create another logo for a project called Nation. Don't know if it's okay to show it yet, so I'll hold off for now. I'm building quite a library of logos though.
I may redo one logo I did for a book called 3rd System. After seeing the art I'm not completely satisfied with the logo.
My website design took a turn for the worse last night as I realized I didn't like the revisions I made any more than I liked the previous design. So now I've got the title bar and sidebar done, but none of the rest of it and I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of it. My self-imposed deadline is June 1st, which is only 9 days away. I haven't even finished or started on all the content I wanted up when it went live. I've had the domain since last August and I still haven't gotten to the point I wanted. Such is life.
Ryan Scott Ottney seems frustrated as he is making changes in his life as is evidenced by his statement on his website, www.ryanscottottney.com. I hope everything works out for Ryan.
For those of you who may not know, Ryan is one of the founders of www.scrypticstudios.com. He's also written titles for Alias Comics and a Spider-Man story for Marvel that I don't believe ever saw print, but was picked up if I recall correctly. Best of luck, Ryan.
Recently on his blog Chuck "Crazz" Kennedy mentioned the new drama coming to NBC, Heroes, a show about a number of ordinary people waking up one day with super powers and a possible destiny to save mankind. Looks and sounds like a pretty cool show. While two or three of the cast members look familiar only one of them do I know by name, which is Ali Larter of Final Destination and Varsity Blues fame.But I've been seeing commercials lately on the USA network advertising the third season of an oddly similar show called The 4400. In this show a meteor races towards earth threatening armageddon when suddenly it slows and lands on a lake. Then 4400 people who have been missing emerge from it with super powers and a possible destiny to save mankind. Evidently these 4400 were abducted then returned by humans in the future.
Now I'm not saying anyone ripped anyone off or anything...
Regardless, these are two shows featuring regularly dressed people (no costumes) a la Smallville, who have powers akin to our beloved comic book heroes. Interesting to say the least.
Not to mention the six-week superhero reality TV show, Who Wants to be a Superhero? Stan Lee is involved in coming to the Sci-Fi channel in which the winner will be immortalized in a new comic book by Stan Lee. Comic geeks will turn out in groves for the auditions, I'm sure. The prize is pretty cool nonetheless.
So it looks like TV has jumped on the superhero bandwagon full force despite the possible cancellation of the Aquaman series Mercy Reef.Wrestling was a complete bore fest tonight. Not one match was entertaining at all. This was the lamest episode of Raw in a while, and that's not saying a whole lot.
Wrestling in general has gotten really boring lately, and it's a shame. They have incredibly talented wrestlers and they don't utilize them. On Smackdown they finally had a decent, yet small tag team division going and they break up the top team! I just don't get it.
TNA isn't much better in the storyline department, but at least most of their matches are more exciting to watch. Granted at that rate those guys are going to be retired with multiple injuries by the age of 30, but it's fun at the moment.
The Lost season 2 finale airs this week and things have gotten real interesting. The group was about to storm the Others' camp at the end of last week's episode when Sun sees a boat coming towards the island. It will definitely be interesting to see how the season ends. I'm gonna have to get my hands on season one this summer so I don't go into Lost withdrawal!
My TV watching is going to decrease a great deal after this week unless some really good summer shows come on. Just about everything I watch regularly or occasionally has ended for the season. After this week I'm left with wrestling, Ultimate Fighter and Deal or No Deal.
American Idol also ends this week as Kat and Taylor battle for the 5th American Idol crown. I don't care which one wins as I love both of them and know both will get record deals without a doubt. I'm still looking forward to the performances. Clay Aiken and Carrie Underwood will be onhand at the finale.
I hate mowing the lawn! When we lived with my Papaw either he or my uncle or a kid down the street would mow our yard. Since then I've lived in apartments until we moved here. Now I have to mow the lawn, and though it's a small lawn I've only mowed about 6 times in my entire life. I hate it. It also doesn't help that freshly cut grass sends my eyes and nose into water works of various kinds as my allergies go into full affect. I have to immediately take off all my clothes and take a shower or my eyes will swell up and I'll be itchy all over. Ugh!
I'm having teeth problems and don't have the money or insurance to take care of them, and it's ticking me off. The pain right now is only occasional, but when it goes it goes.
I keep trying to make myself excercise more as I'm starting to get flabby and have lost a bit of muscle mass, what little I had, but I can't seem to actually do it. The sad thing is I hardly eat at all (like literally one meal a day - supper - and maybe some chips or fruit or something small like a cheese sandwhich throughout the day) but I'm gaining weight.
I think my metabolism has changed again. When I was a kid I ate a LOT! I'm talking every fast food joint I passed I had to have something. I was addicted to food. At the age of 14 I was 4 foot something and 195 pounds with no muscle in site. Since muscle weighs more than fat you do the math.
When I was 15 I hit a growing spurt, shot up to 6 feet and everything evened out. I even dropped to 155 pounds for nearly a year then evened out at around 180 with some muscle. From that point until about a year ago I could eat anything and not gain much weight. Oh how the tides have changed.
There's a lot of hoopla over The Da Vinci Code. Here's my personal take on it not knowing much about it. I am completely opposed to some of the things it presents, such as Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene and other Gnostic views expressed. But I'm not condoning banning the movie as it is a work of fiction. I do have a problem with it influencing people that are gullible enough to believe it and then get engrossed in it and maybe start up a religion somewhere down the line. And yes I'm exaggerating for effect.
As long as it is a work of fiction then I may not agree with it (I didn't agree with several things in Constantine or many other movies, books, etc. either) but I think it's a little drastic to want to ban it. This isn't The Last Temptation we're talking about where it was being passed off as fact. That I was in favor of banning, regardless of my feelings on censorship. It openly attacked my faith. This movie, however, is presenting a fictional theory that there are hidden signs in a deceased artist's paintings that could point to him being a Gnostic. It's action adventure fiction based purely on speculation with no facts to back it, so there's nothing to be up in arms about.
What does aggravate me though is when people say that the church is up in arms because they're not founded enough in their faith so they fear this kind of thing will shake them. That's complete rubbish. It's not that, it's that the church is coming against absurd theories that try to basically spit on their beliefs.
Anyway, I will probably watch this movie somewhere down the line and judge for myself. There's nothing that can sway me from my faith, so I'm definitely not worried about it influencing me. But I will say that anyone who thinks that movies, music, books, and anything else we take in don't have a spiritual and emotional effect on us to some degree is just plain delusional.
I did watch some stuff on the Discovery channel last night about the fabled spear of destiny and the Da Vinci code, both of which are shrouded in a lot of assumptions and speculation, and this is coming from experts. Take that for what it's worth.
And I think I've said enough for one night. Four days until X-3!
B-Out
Monday, May 22, 2006
Myth Conceptions
This week's column is up as I continue adaptations in a different light.
This time it's "Multimedia" as I explore what happens when comics are translated to other media such as movies, television, toys, video games, etc.
Check out the column by clicking the post title.
I also have links to every Myth Conceptions column below in the sidebar should you feel so inclined to check them all out. :)
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G.I. Joe Sigma 6 #5
Yet another review from Devil's Due. Hey that rhymes! :)
This time it's Sigma 6 #5
Decent issue. I really thought I'd hate this and the last issue because the cartoon is definitely aimed at kids, but the books are better written than the cartoon and appeal to all.
Check out the review by clicking the post title!
B-Out
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Funky Town
I don't know what it is about this weekend, but I have just not been able to get motivated about doing anything. I've basically laid around the house all weekend watching TV, which is something I don't do on the weekends.
It's some sort of a funk I'm in. I'm not down or anything, at least not about stuff that would affect me doing stuff. I just don't feel like doing anything. I haven't really felt like being on the computer, in front of the TV, reading, out doing something active or anything. I'm just kind of here and bored. lol.
I get like this for a day every once in a while, but it usually ends pretty quickly. This has been going on for three or four days now. I have managed to force myself to get some things done, but not much.
I think maybe I've just got some decisions and some direction changes on my mind that have temporarily halted me in my pursuits, or some philosophical crap like that.
I don't know, it's just strange. The odd thing is several people online and in person around me are all in states of frustration as well. Maybe it's just something that's going around.
If I really dug deep I think I know what the real problem is, but it's a hard one to face, so I ignore it. :)
I'm not looking for pats on the back or encouragement at this point, or anything like that. I just felt like writing out what I was feeling and figured why not lay myself open to the scrutiny of thousands of potential readers? Of course I don't get even hundreds of readers each week so maybe it's not that big of a revealing moment. Whatever.
Either way, that's one of the reasons I started this blog. I've attempted to keep traditional journals before, but months and sometimes years would pass between entries. With the computer for whatever reason I am more prone to keep up with it.
Of course I still wouldn't post my most personal thoughts here for the world to see, but at least I can use this space as both an outlet for some things and to continue to showcase my work and talk about whatever floats my boat any given day. That's a good thing to have.
Speaking of the blog, I am getting real ansy about the website, which I haven't worked on in a week. And my self-imposed deadline is fastly approaching. But today and yesterday I made minor changes to the sidebar and am looking forward to changing the entire look of the blog eventually. I haven't figured out how exactly I'm going to implement the blog into the site yet, whether I will do it as the main page or a link, or how I'm going to get it to match the layout of the site as I can't stand sites that have forums and blogs, stores, etc. that don't match the site design - just a pet peeve of mine.
Hopefully it will all come together.
Anyway, here it is 10pm Sunday evening and I'm ranting about absolutely nothing. I guess all I have left to say is keep an eye on this blog as I feel big changes are coming soon - at least big to me...I think...
B-Out
It's some sort of a funk I'm in. I'm not down or anything, at least not about stuff that would affect me doing stuff. I just don't feel like doing anything. I haven't really felt like being on the computer, in front of the TV, reading, out doing something active or anything. I'm just kind of here and bored. lol.
I get like this for a day every once in a while, but it usually ends pretty quickly. This has been going on for three or four days now. I have managed to force myself to get some things done, but not much.
I think maybe I've just got some decisions and some direction changes on my mind that have temporarily halted me in my pursuits, or some philosophical crap like that.
I don't know, it's just strange. The odd thing is several people online and in person around me are all in states of frustration as well. Maybe it's just something that's going around.
If I really dug deep I think I know what the real problem is, but it's a hard one to face, so I ignore it. :)
I'm not looking for pats on the back or encouragement at this point, or anything like that. I just felt like writing out what I was feeling and figured why not lay myself open to the scrutiny of thousands of potential readers? Of course I don't get even hundreds of readers each week so maybe it's not that big of a revealing moment. Whatever.
Either way, that's one of the reasons I started this blog. I've attempted to keep traditional journals before, but months and sometimes years would pass between entries. With the computer for whatever reason I am more prone to keep up with it.
Of course I still wouldn't post my most personal thoughts here for the world to see, but at least I can use this space as both an outlet for some things and to continue to showcase my work and talk about whatever floats my boat any given day. That's a good thing to have.
Speaking of the blog, I am getting real ansy about the website, which I haven't worked on in a week. And my self-imposed deadline is fastly approaching. But today and yesterday I made minor changes to the sidebar and am looking forward to changing the entire look of the blog eventually. I haven't figured out how exactly I'm going to implement the blog into the site yet, whether I will do it as the main page or a link, or how I'm going to get it to match the layout of the site as I can't stand sites that have forums and blogs, stores, etc. that don't match the site design - just a pet peeve of mine.
Hopefully it will all come together.
Anyway, here it is 10pm Sunday evening and I'm ranting about absolutely nothing. I guess all I have left to say is keep an eye on this blog as I feel big changes are coming soon - at least big to me...I think...
B-Out
G.I. Joe vs. Transformers
My latest DDP review is up!
This time it's G.I. Joe vs. Transformers: The Art of War #2.
I've been a huge fan of the concept of combining the two properties, but haven't really enjoyed the execution of it in any previous incarnation.
This issue was actually pretty good though and presented a radical and cool new origin for Serpentor, who looked cooler than ever.
To read the review click the post title, and if you feel so inclined leave a comment on the forums in the Reviews section where I have started a thread for it (and all my other reviews for that matter). :)
B-Out
Indy-Pendant #48
The new column just went up!
This week I review Robotika #3 (of 4) from Archaia Studios Press.
I also take a look at second issues of titles I have reviewed previously in the column. Among those are 66 Thousand Miles Per Hour #2, Super Real #2 and Free Fall #2.
And finally, I give another update on the Small Press Idol contest.
Check out the column by clicking the title post!
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