Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Wizards in Winter

Merry Christmas everybody!!!!

You can do it Charlie Brown!

The good wife has conquered all the to do items for Christmas, while I have finally turned my sleep back around from the last stint of night shift.  Today we'll be visiting with some friends, the first of the holiday social get-togethers.  Let the festivities begin.

Next page is up!

Somebody is about to bust loose.  Click here to find out who. ;)

Now this is how you do kid's meal toys

To the merchandise people at Arby's: You guys are weak!

McDonald's has their new Avatar promo going.  Here are the toys in the Happy Meals:

Now that's what I'm talking about.  You can seldom go wrong with action figures, unless of course you are a bunch of cheap punks and make them out of paper.  The Avatar figures are also interactive.  Our boys got the 'Jake' Avatar (the blue guy in the tan pants).  It's face lights up when you talk at it.  Good job, McDonalds.  I stilll hate your food but your coffee and kids meals rock.

Comic is updated

The webcomic has a few more panels up.  Other than that not much happening.  Or rather, too much to post about right now.  Maybe I'll catch the blog up some time soon.

Peace.

Page Seven

This one took a while to get up.  I'm working 12 hr days right now, and we've also been out of town.  But I'm thrilled to report that all but one page has been inked.  Coloring is what takes so long, but to have only one more to draw... man I can't wait.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bobcat Badge

Last night at the Pack meeting Caleb was presented with his Bobcat badge.  The first picture is of his part of the ceremony, painting a white stripe down his nose.  The last picture is of him addressing the Pack, yes every cubscout and boyscout den in the area--a roomful of people.  He was telling about the 'Go and See' that his den went on to the local animal shelter.  And I quote: "Those dogs smelled disgusting!"

Yep, that is exactly what he said.

Hopper, the webcomic

I broke down and put 'The Adventures of Sparky and Mr. Hopper" online in it's own site.  It's hosted by comicfury, and I'm pretty happy with it.  I may still put up the individual pages here as I produce them, but I'm also putting a link on my sidebar so the comic can be read sequentially, as intended.

Peace

Work in progress

Not much to blog about.  Here's a piece I'm working on.

I found it!

I've been looking for a novel that I started writing and for the longest time could only find chapter one.  I just knew I had lost it forever, but then I remembered:

I set up a google account when I started this blog.  I also sent my writings to myself via email so that I would always be able to get to them.

If only I had remembered that I'd done this, I could've saved myself a lot of worry.  I mean I've been looking for those pages for over a year!  Duh.  Now that I've found it, I may get started on it again.  It's a time travel novel about a Retro-assassin that is given the mission of precluding the existence of Jesus Christ.  I've gotten a good 17 K words down (4 chapters), about fifteen percent of what I estimate the final length to be (yes, I do outline a plot in advance--Stephen King is lying when he says he doesn't).  I also strongly suspect that some of my other missing works are waiting for me in the saved folder.

ANYWAY, I'm pretty relieved and excited.  Now let me go refresh myself.

Peace.

Page Six

This one took a little longer to get done.  Looks like the next one will be a bit slow too.  Oh well.  Sorry. (note to self: the boots still need highlights)

Family Photos

So we finally had some family photos professionally done.  We went with Chris Burke, who works out at the power plant and does photography on the side.  All I can say after seeing a sneak peek of his results with us is this: Quit your day job dude; you're good enough to make a living with this!

Okay, maybe Chris shouldn't quit his day job just yet, but if he is looking for an exit plan, then I think he's found a very viable one.  We were extremely pleased with the few shots we've been able to see so far and can hardly wait to see all the photos we have to choose from.  Here's one of the family photos he has posted at his blog.  Cruise on over using the link above and check out the rest of his work.

There's a few more pictures of us over there.  Some awesome shots of the boys.  (And I'll give you one guess as to what Caleb has in the jar he's holding up.)

The pictures were taken over at Brewton Parker College, which is nearby.  We were at the historic village which is nestled in the woods behind the campus.  You would never know it was there (and we didn't) unless you are poking around looking for a good place to take pictures (which we were).  Anyway, very very pleased with what we have seen so far.

Peace.

PAGE FIVE

       

Update - fixed the various editorial problems.  Now, let the action commence!

Page Four

I'm putting this up while still incomplete.  (No shading yet.)  I've been busy this week, end of soccer season, cub scout meeting, church; thus the dearth of posts.  Maybe it'll get better once night shift is over too.


About the comic: I was surprised at how much work goes into even a simple attempt.  I now understand why you need a team to get these things out in a timely manner.  (It probably helps too if that's your chosen profession and you have the luxury of it being your only one.)  Anyway, I'm beginning to see the artwork evolve a little, and I think it's finding its style.  So far I like it, but I'm anxious to get to page five and beyond, when the conflict begins (villains!).

I've written out the plot for the whole first issue; it's just a matter of getting it drawn, etc.  Page five is inked, so maybe I can get it colored soon.

Peace.

For all the dieters out there

I really have nothing to add, the video says it all. Enjoy.

(especially you, Wunderkraut)

Page Three

Not very much text yet.  The first four or five pages are heavy on action, but slim on dialogue.  I expect that to change when the villains start showing up.  Right now I'm really just learning how to create the artwork.

Peace.

Cheap!

So Arby's is advertising bobble-head super heroes with their kid's meals.  Whatever.  You get this cardboard piece of crap that you have to assemble.  Make sure you reinforce the fold in tabs with scotch tape or they just fall apart.  We went tonight and got the Martian Manhunter bobble-head.  I spent about thirty minutes putting two of them together.  They will be waiting for the boys at the breakfast table in the morning and will likely be tore up before breakfast is over.

Why is it that every way I turn, it seems that the world is just getting cheaper and cheaper?

 Behold, the Just-a-piece-a-crap League.

I'm going to bed now.

Page Two

Styx - Blue Collar Man

So, what am I doing right now? Working the night shift, of course. The month of October will also find me working long nights with impossible odds. (Click on the above video so Tommy can tell you all about it.)

Now excuse me while I go eat something and head on in.

Page One

Here's page one.  Click on it for a closer view.

The prologue

 

So here's the prologue to the comic I'm making for the boys.  Stylistically, it's a bit different from the rest of the comic, and that's on purpose.  Rather than being a part of the story, it is merely a setup for the character--to show how he became guardian of the forest.  The rest of the comic is your standard panel layout: five to seven panels per page.  I've finished page one of the story and will post it soon.  Two additional pages have been written and inked. 

Peace.

So I lied

Yeah.  I was gonna blog more.  That was a ridiculous thing to say.  What was I thinking?

Green scales fell like rain.

 

R.I.P. Mary.  Thanks for the songs.

Compliment Guys at Purdue University

Coming soon

 

If you're interested to see how a frog comes to wear camouflage, wield a deadly spork, and have a dog as his trusty steed, then this comic is for you.  If not, then it's just for my boys (who asked for the comic in the first place).

Peace. 

Happy Belated Birthday!

Monday was the special day.  Happy birthday to the most beautiful woman in the world!

I hit the Kamandi mother load!

Funny how things happen.  A few posts ago Cullen commented on a drawing I did, saying it was very 'Ka-zar', I commented on his comment by saying I was impressed he knew who Ka-zar was, and then he commented again that he liked his comics 'old school yo' citing Jack Kirby and 'Kamandi'.  Then Mike K. chimes in that he still has a Kamandi comic book. 

Well all this got me to thinking about my old comic book collection and Kamandi in particular (it was always one of my favorites).  And, since all of my comics got loved to death a long time ago, I wondered if I could find any pics of the old Jack Kirby Kamandi art online. 

Let's just say it this way:  I hit the mother load!

Here's an image of issue one's cover.

If you go here, you will find an archive of every Kamandi issue ever published.  You can download them and view them at will.  You can even print them out if you feel that obsessive about it.  All the Jack Kirby greatness that you could ask for.

I've been sitting here for the past hour or so, just basking in Kirby's style.  You can tell a Kirby drawing at a glance.  The dude packed a powerful visual punch, and could do more in an inch and a half panel than some modern pencillers can do with a two page spread.  Just check out the sample below.  Four panels from issue number one.  Look at how this dude just propels you; it's like you're the one getting knocked around.  Action in every panel!  No talking heads here.

What really awes me though is that all of this was before the slick pages and photo-realism that marks so much of the comic art today.  We've lost something folks.   The old school artists; Kirby, Ditko, and Kubert, produced work that was visceral and powerful, even though the coloring was flat by necessity.  There were no gradients, no color-holds, no translucent sparkles or flames that seemed to burn the page.  The line art itself was what burned.  The color did it's job, supporting the artwork, but it never compensated for poor artwork.  (If Kirby had a favorite pencil it had to be named Mjöllnir!)

Look, I could geek out about this all night, but I guess I'm going to go get some sleep.  If you follow the link, then scroll down the side.  There are issues of Ka-zar if you go down far enough.  Some old school Tarzan too folks.  (Which I happen to be downloading this very moment.)


Awesome.  Just freaking awesome.

Jugheads

Some drawings of Jughead by Caleb.  For seven years old he is pretty good.  Better than I was at that age, actually.  He is also understanding the concept of profile.  The white Jughead and little cowboy are drawn on the same sheet.  The black Jughead was drawn on a separate sheet and then cut out. 

500 Impressions (in 2 Minutes)

This dude is amazing!

Who watches the Watchmen?

Well, me ...finally.

Got it via Netflix this weekend and watched it.  This is one I wish I'd seen in the theater, but for some reason or the other that never seemed to work out.

As I expected, those with whom I watched fell away before the story really got underway.  First my mother-in-law called it a night, and then my wife fell asleep on the couch.  I didn't really mind; it's not exactly the kind of movie I'd expect my mother-in-law to enjoy, and, even though my wife has excellent taste in movies, without any kind of idea of who these characters were or what this was about, she was almost guaranteed to be outlasted (the movie ran about 2.5 hours, I think).

My verdict:  AWESOME!  This is probably the best comic adaptation I have ever seen.  I latched onto the comic when it first came out and was blown away.  The recurring smiley, the story within a story (which they understandably didn't have time for in the movie), great characterization, loads of moral ambiguity, an epic theme.  They took comics to the next level with this 12 issue masterpiece.

My favorite scene in the movie:  Easy; when Rorschach is captured and put in prison with the very criminals he helped put away.  He promptly dispatches his first challenger and yells to the mob in the chow hall,  "None of you understand.  I'm not locked up in here with you!  You're locked up in here with ME!"

And it makes you think.  I'm one of those who think that justice should be swift and sure.  People who do vile things should be punished severely.  Rorschach is that way, and even I was apalled at how violently he meted out justice.  "Men get arrested.  Dogs get put down."

Then you have Ozymandias, cold and calculating, for whom the ends are everything and must be attained by whatever means necessary.  For the greater good of mankind, he sacrifices millions in order to save billions.  These two characters are kind of at opposite ends of the spectrum, and yet both are brutal.  But then even those characters who do see the shades of gray end up siding with Ozymandias because they realize they truly have no choice.  As a result, there are no villains in this story.  Just as there are no heroes.  The heroes are the villains.

You don't exactly walk away with warm fuzzies, but it's a great film anyway.  Watch it if you dare.

First experiment

My first experiment with the birthday gifts:



This is a scanned line drawing, which was then completely colored using the wacom and photoshop.

I like pictures of dudes attacking dinosaurs, so sue me.

Please pray

Please pray for my wife. She is sicker than I've ever seen her. We believe it is a virus. She hasn't been able to eat in two days and is in a lot of pain. We have been to the hospital once this weekend, and have made a doctor's appt for this morning.

Thanks.

*UPDATE*

I think she's turned the corner. It's been a rough three days around here, but she's feeling a lot better right now.

Nine years today!

Although it's a little worn, this is one of my favorite pictures of us. Doesn't she just shine? Anyway, it's been nine glorious years today since we got married. I sure do love you darling.

Bluegrass

Cause life is more than just heavy metal. It's bluegrass too.

Here's a group of master musicians: Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush, Mark O'Conner, Mark Schatz, and Bela Fleck all on the same stage.

What I got for my 41st birthday.

Old as dirt is what I got.

No, seriously I got some really cool gifts. Exactly what I wanted. A bamboo tablet by Wacom:
And a book on coloring comics using photoshop:





(Also of note is that the author of the above book is all about customer service. I was having trouble using some of the scripts included on the CD that came with the book, so I sent him an email before I left for work this morning. By the time I got home, he had replied, explaining how to work around my problem.)

Now if I can just find time to play with my new toys.

Look what I found at the library!

A book by Georgia's Poet Laureate, David Bottoms. This is the dude who brought us the great poems, In a U-Haul North of Damascus, Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump, and (my favorite) Under the Vulture-Tree.

This is what poetry should be; accessible, relevant, and set in the South.

Rockin'.

Harry Potter

My mother-in-law came and kept the boys while we went to see the new Harry Potter film last night. While I enjoyed the movie, there was a definite lack of depth to it. I've only read the first book of the series, so I won't make any unrealistic comparisons between Half Blood Prince the movie and book, but I will say this: even to one who has not read the book, this movie felt like a stone being skipped across the surface of something vast. At about two and a half hours, it still felt rushed. Oh well.

Little thrills

We were trying to squeeze in a little fun before the school year starts up, so on Saturday we packed up and drove to Tybee island. We'd never been there so we didn't know what to expect. It was nowhere near as nice as Daytona in terms of the sand and water clarity, but the upside was that there were many more shells to be found--especially on the north end of the beach.

One thing I'd never found, though, was a shark's tooth. I was building sand castles with the boys, and I remember sort of thinking/praying at some point: Lord, it would be really cool if I could find a shark tooth today.

I'm not sure if I dug it up, or if the wave brought it in, but I was digging a hole--was about four or five inches deep--when a wave washed up far enough to sweep into my hole. As the water was receding, I felt what I thought was a shell fall into my hand. When I took my hand out of the water, what I found instead was this:



It's a fossilized Tiger Shark tooth. Now is that cool or what? God hears little prayers, and wants to give us little thrills. Cause He loves us a whole, whole bunch.

Peace.

This and that

It's been over ten days since my last post. We are busy with summer, what can I say? There was a birthday that didn't get posted, so happy birthday Caleb. He is seven now.


Here he is with the Scooby Doo giant cookie we made him. It was Scooby Doo Luau, hence the decor and Tiki cake to the side. Hey, when you let a seven-year-old choose the theme of his birthday party, you can expect this kind of craziness.

*********

We also attended a seminar in Colombia, SC, featuring Dr. Tony Attwood. He is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of Autism/Asperger's. The dude knew his stuff, which became apparent to me when he began describing my childhood step by step, with uncanny accuracy. We came away with some good info that will help us to help our son.


Here's a picture of Dr. Attwood. The photo does not lie; the dude is a real character. Click on the pic to get to his site.

**************

I've also allowed myself to do some reading. I just finished 'In a pit with a lion on a snowy day' by Mark Batterson. Good stuff. But these inspirational/motivational books always leave me with mixed feelings. Motivated, of course, but also with a sense of ...yeah but... By which I mean I think it's great to believe God for big things, to be courageous and all that, but this is still a fallen world and sometimes the lion just eats your butt for lunch.

**************

I'm also reading a bit of fiction. 'Elantris' by Brandon Sanderson. A fantasy novel which happens to be the dude's first novel. By that I mean first published novel. It is actually the sixth book he wrote, before getting a book deal. Par for the course for most writers. Which means I need to crank out some more books.


That's all for now. Peace.

4th of july

This is for all the rednecks out there tonight. You know who you are.

Peace.

............

Update: So it seems the embedding has been disabled for this video. Click here if you want some joy: 4th of July

Someone please help me find my niche!

My dilemma: I've written this really cool short story and can't find a market to submit it to.

It involves an aging herpetologist with regrets about her unfulfilled dreams who meets an Aztec vampire that has grown weary of immortality. There's a strong Christian element (it's basically a conversion story) which makes it too 'religious' for the pro fantasy markets. And if there were a paying market for short Christian fiction, I'm wondering if the vampire element might be a big turnoff. I'm going to check Ralan.com to see what I can find, but thought I'd ask my legions of loyal readers if they had any suggestions first.

So do ya?

Best Beach Vacation of my life

I'm not a big beach fan. Spent too much time on them during my Navy years, I guess. But this past week was really great. The best time I've ever had at the beach in my life. Mainly because I was there with the most beautiful woman in the world, the best mother-in-law a man could ask for, and the most precious boys on the planet. Here are some pictures:

Back in town

Just got home today. We spent the past week, Sunday to Saturday, at the beach. Then last night we went to my wife's 20th High School Reunion. We all had a blast, but now I'm beat down. I'll post some photos later.

Peace.

Raging Slab - Take a Hold

Have you had your daily dose of slab? Well here ya go then...

This song is dedicated to all the mamas out there. Not that they will understand or appreciate it. But hey, if anybody needs some love they do. And this is how I express it.

Peace.

Best Fiction Novel Ever Written

Today I give the long awaited, most coveted award in all the known blogosphere. Yes, that's right, the pinnacle of awards, the apex of achievement, the peak, the summit, the inverted nadir! The first ever, Crotalus's Best Fiction Novel Ever Written Award!

And the award goes to...

(drum roll)....

....

This book!

Now do yourself a favor. Pick it up at the library, or, better yet, buy your own copy and read it.

Peace.

Secrets exposed!

We've got some secrets around here. But being the seeker of truth that I am, I finally managed to get to the bottom of a few of them. Look if you dare...and watch as long buried secrets are finally revealed.



Peace.

Finished! (sort of)

Despite all the rain, I finished the tree house. There are a few things I still want to do, but those are merely cosmetic. Structurally speaking, it is finally done.


The front porch, with tree that extends through the deck.


Other corner.


View from the inside. Yeah I know, a carpenter I aint.



From the side.


Don't look now, but that corner post is trying to pretend it's a tree.



The sandbox is underneath. And out of the scene there is a swing set to the left, a trampoline to the right. You reckon we got kids around here?

Okay, that's it. No more big projects this summer. Maybe I'll get started on closing in the back deck later in the year. We'll just have to see. Right now I'm going to bed.

Peace.