Erin Kubinek's Blog

The Great Migration

2012-01-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

IF there were to be a Fright Night sequel

2011-08-31T09:06:00.000-07:00

(WARNING: This post if rife with SPOILERS!!!)

I loved Fright Night.
No shock there.
But apparently not nearly as many of YOU out there did as I hoped would. As it has so far only grossed half of what it took to make it.
So IF (and judging by the numbers it is a pretty BIG if) Fright Night gets a sequel my predictions for what it will entail is as follows;

(PLEASE NOTE: I have a history of calling these things VERY accurately. Such as my prediction on the direction of Catwoman in the 3rd batman film. )

This is Ginger.
Ginger will be the Big Bad.
In the new Fright Night remake instead of making sure that Jerry is killed before Dawn to save Charlie Brewsters girlfriend from becoming a creature of the night (like in the original), they use the gimmick of a trick stake blessed by a Saint that reverts all victims back to their humanity. But if you will recall - this doesn't account for every one.

Ginger (who is played by Sandra Vergara and pictured above) is the less than content significant other and stage star to David Tenant's Peter Vincent. She is killed answering the door to Evil Ed. She is Ed's Victim and thus immune to the magic of the blessed stake.

This would work great for a sequel that sought to mimic the second film as much as this one mimicked the first.

In the second Fright Night film that came out in 1988. Charlie Brewster and Peter Vincent become the targets of a vengeful she vamp Regine (then played by the very exotic Julie Carmen who Vergara reminded me of INSTANTLY ). Regine hides her self in plain sight by working as a performance artist and travels with a loyal cadre of equally eccentric monsters. Regine seeks to turn Charlie (for killing her brother Jerry) and to ruin Vincent's life by stealing the one thing he really has - his show.

Ginger is the new Regine.

One aspect of the new film that people I know disliked was that they fail to address certain things like; Where did the dead guards and Ginger go? After Evil Ed and Jerry attack Vincents high rise abode they are left with quite a body count. Later, after Jerry is staked the film ends at the same high rise residence all seems to be well. Better than well - jolly even. No police tape. No inquiry. No signs that any one surviving this incident had to bullshit a cop on how a whole lot of people died and disappeared. Also - they fail to show that no one calls the police when Charlie's house is engulfed by a ball of fire because the block is SO empty due to people moving out and Jerry's killing spree (editing fail?). But the lack of explanation with the dead at Vincents apartment is probably the kind of mindful hole left to set up a sequel. Or you would REALLY hope so (editing fail?). So if they don't show police showing up and things being done with dead bodies - are we to assume that it isn't shown because it didn't happen? Which makes the "victory party" like atmosphere of the final scene a wee bit odd. Cause if my honey bunny had their throat ripped out by a vampire - and their dead body wasn't there when I got back from slaying said undead thing - personally I would be REALLY FREAKED OUT. But there is a running theme in the film of people dealing with shit by not dealing with shit. So maybe the protagonists just collectively put their head in the sand once more at the end. Which - kind of works with the whole "mimicking the original sequel" thing - as that is EXACTLY what the first Charlie Brewster did. Pretend it never happened and go into therapy for years to convince yourself thus.

So if I am right - Ginger is still out there. They establish what her feelings for Vincent are strained in a love/Hate (but mostly hate) kind of way pretty securely with this film. Also - and most importantly; She knows Vincents entire stage act. If she wants revenge on Peter for putting her on a path that lead to her becoming what she is - What better way to get back at him than by stealing his show? Which AGAIN is a parallel to the original. All Peter has is smoke and mirrors. But She is an actual Vampire now with actual supernatural powers. As the female lead of his act & as his partner in real life she literally knows all his tricks, and how to hit him where it hurts. Because the remake takes place in Las Vegas and Ginger is a professional performer working on the strip she is most likely friends with all sorts of strange and talented people who also work the shows at the casinos. So instead of a bug eater, a werewolf, and a VERY 80's styled roller skating vampire - MIGHT we see circ de soleil, Blue man, or Elvis vampires?

I don't know how much Charlie Brewster will play into it all. I don't really see him as the main protagonist. In the original 1988 sequel Regine has the motivation of personal revenge for the loss of a loved one to go after and turn Charlie. In the new remake Ginger flirts with Charlie, and seems to think he is cute - but there is no hint of personal interest beyond shallow flirtation. Also - Charlie (and everyone for that matter) seem pretty happy to move on as if nothing has happened. In the film Brewster even says "I don't want to know these things!". So maybe the plot of the sequel would be Peter Vincent watching his life come apart at the hand of Ginger and then trying to convince Charlie that it was all real and he needs his help - which would be a reverse of the original sequel. This would also be great as it would make David Tenant the proper lead. While I liked the entire cast in this new Fright Night and thought they all were great - it was Tenant that brought the most attention to this film for me and most of my nerdy friends that were enthusiastic for it's release.

But as I started this blog with - all this looks highly unlikely. Just based on the numbers being reported for how much this has made. I just wanted to put this out there in case it DOES happen. Hubris? Yes. But really - is it hubris if I turn out to be right?

THE RANDOM WEIRDNESS PROJECT

2011-08-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

I am getting rid of things. I loath online selling. But I love sending packages. And all signs show that garage and yard sales will be fruitless in unloading the bulk of the trinkets.

Send me your address.
( erin.kubinek@gmail.com )
I will send you something random and strange from my menagerie. A comic book. A doll. A cup. A necklace. WHO KNOWS. You won't - until you get it.
I promise to be thoughtful in my choices of who gets what.
But I will send you things.
Who doesn't love getting a package in the mail?

I promise that I won't be using your postal address for nefarious deeds. Like selling data to junk mailers, etc.
All packages will be sent United States Postal Service, in the cheapest (and slowest) way possible.
At no cost to you.

Why I am MORE excited for the new Fright Night remake than any other summer movie.

2011-05-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

There are a LOT of nerd heavy films coming out this summer. Captain America, X-men: First Class, Green Lantern, Super 8, another Transformers sequel, The last Harry Potter film, and even a new Pirates of the Caribbean flick. But I am not nearly half as curious and excited for ANY of those movies as I am for the new Fright Night remake.

FIRST OFF LOOK AT THIS:

That is David Tennant of Dr. Who fame done up ala Criss Angel to play the roll of Peter Vincent (vampire slayer?). If this does not have you giggling then you either have never seen Dr. Who , OR you also have never seen the original Fright Night where the role of Peter Vincent was played with tremendous comedic genius by Roddy McDowall . If by chance you ARE a Dr. Who fan, But have NOT seen the original 1985 classic - then either Netflix it OR buy Fright Night and you will quickly understand why this is just stellar casting. On top of that you have other such quality actors like Anton Yelchin , Toni Collette , and Colin Farrell rounding out the cast as well as relative new face Imogen Poots , and nerd character veteran Christopher Mintz-Plasse .

Given the trend of recent years for romantic vampires in cinema, television, and literature I understand initial hesitation and consternation about yet ANOTHER vampire film - let alone a remake of a beloved 80's classic. Other than the cast a big thing that perked my interest was hearing that Marti Noxon was the screen writer (My sister and I were pretty big Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans once upon a time). Then DreamWorks started to release photo's from the production and they just struck something in my brain. The ol' Spider Sense perked up and my curiosity was in full gear. Then I read MTV's interview with Marti Noxon and got a bit more excited. Then this week shocktillyoudrop released a great interview with director Craig Gillespie and star Colin Farrell as well as the first teaser poster and the trailer.

The sum of all of this is that I am STILL excited for it's release. It could suck. Hollywood has uncharted ability to fuck up perfectly good movies. But I am hopeful, and damned curious. Perhaps it is because I have NO idea how this film will go that makes it more interesting than all the big block busters that are coming out. With all the comic book movies I have a general idea of the story. With this one - I can only assume they it will be in any way like the original beyond the basic premise. So it is that element of the unknown that has me much more enthusiastic for this films release then ANY of the comic book based films. Will I be disappointed? Only time and it's release in August will tell.

CHECK OUT THE OFFICIAL WEB SITE NOW UP HERE

Being Productive

2011-05-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

This is the cover I did for a friends book "Lost at the Con" which is available for pre order . I didn't originally know it would be the cover - it was more just a test. But dead lines loomed - and busy bees we all are - and thus this is now the cover. I am tremendously proud of it. Happy accidents as it were - as I was experimenting heavily technique wise with it. I think I may just take on what I did here as my standard. I have a bad habit of over thinking a project to a point of stagnation. With this I avoided sketching out in pencil and THEN inking and instead went straight for a pen nib and ink well. Water color is also something I don't have a LOT of experience with. But I like the chaos factor of something being permanent. Hopefully I will have more to post soon. I have just learned of Blogger's new "pages" option, so when I have a day I can devote to fiddling around with that I hope to make this Blog a great deal MORE. Possibly a portfolio and resume and such attached. But there is a great deal on my plate - so It may be June before I can get to it. In the mean time I have been trying to get more onto my Etsy Store . Right now it is a LOT of old jewelry and hand made jewelry I made myself when I went through a jewelry making phase like 5 years ago. But I am just starting to get some old art world up there, and hope to get more paintings and other original works soon. In the mean time I leave you with THIS painting I did in college. It took me 3 months to paint and while I LOVE it - I could really use the money. So help a nerd out.

If you don't VOTE, you are not even human to me.

2011-04-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

"There is nothing in this life we HAVE to do. We CHOOSE to do, or we CHOOSE the CONSEQUENCES of NOT doing"

I don't recall the author of the above quote, but nonetheless I find it holds true. Nothing upsets me greater than apathy. Apathy allows so much injustice in the world. I would consider it tantamount to cowardice. Yesterday marked a VERY important election to my beloved State of Wisconsin. This is where we were going to make a stand and make the first strike in a long battle to get our state out of the hands of the morally bankrupt and corporate corrupt. But only 33% of eligible voters turned out yesterday. And that paltry few are HIGHLY polarized. The race is SO tight (practically 50/50 straight down the middle) - recounts are inevitable. But the truth is the MAJORITY of Wisconsinites apparently can not be made to care. They have abdicated their responsibility to this State to partake in the democratic system that governs us. How can we EVER try to sell "Democracy" to other peoples through out the world when we have states where 67% of the eligible voters just don't give a shit?

I understand that there is a psychology to political apathy. Cognitive dissonance and all that. Feelings; Powerful, irrational, easy to manipulate - FEELINGS. I get it. Maybe you feel helpless, that your vote doesn't matter so you just don't deal with it - you don't vote. Or perhaps You find politics unpleasant (all that conflict and arguing) - so you don't get involved, pay attention, or vote. Or just maybe You think the system is corrupt (and I'm not saying it isn't) and you think you're smarter than said "system" - and so in effort to game it you don't vote. Really stick it too them. You won't be suckered into making the choice between lesser evils! (blah blah blah). So you don't vote. Well, there is no sugar coated way to put this; FUCK YOU. I am calling bullshit on ALL of that.

I know ALL the apathetic arguments; "My vote doesn't matter.", "They'll just steal the election..", "Its just the lesser of the two evils...", "I don't like politics..." etc etc etc - ad nauseam. Well your fucking WRONG. Not voting is NOT a moral high ground for those of you who find it all too "negative". And your vote DOES matter - ESPECIALLY at the local and state level. When you don't vote you are just letting the truly corrupt WIN. As far as I am concerned that makes you an accomplice to what ever extremely ethically unsound shit they do. YOU. The Lazy apathetic person that can not be bothered to head down to the voting hall and do your DUTY.

An Odd Thought about INSIDIOUS

2011-03-31T17:34:00.000-07:00

Now - I have NOT seen the film Insidious YET - though I AM really looking forward to seeing it. I have heard some good reviews from some people I know, and general buzz seems positive. But I HAVE seen the trailer many a time by now. And before I see the movie and find out what this image is actually about - I HAVE to get an odd thought about an image from the trailer out of my head....

Am I the only who thought this??

Why Viggo and Kevin are smart choices for the Man of Steel?

2011-02-27T11:32:00.000-08:00

What do Viggo Mortensen and Kevin Costner have in common other then they have BOTH been mentioned as being "of Interest" for the new Zach Snyder helmed Superman reboot? The same die hard audience is what. That being pretty much every older female nerd I have EVER met in my life - and possibly every single one out there. It's like the "Caine / Hackman Theory" from PCU; If you know an older female nerd, chances are she likes one of these two if not BOTH. Yes that is a grand and assumptive statement. But there is a scientific reason why Snyder's previous hit "300" did so amazingly well at the box office; Chemistry! As in Hormones.

Women hit their sexual peak in their 30's. The biological imperative begins to apply huge amounts of pressure to find a mate and fast as the time frame to have a baby grows short. Even if a woman has no interest in having a baby - her body is still trying to. Couple that with the social trend of women to simply be more comfortable with themselves when they get older due to experience. Together you have the wonderful set of circumstances that support a whole bevy of industries like Romance novel publications, Male strippers, and the occasional film where 300 ripped, tanned, and well oiled dudes fight a war in naught but their underwear. You can basically chalk Gerard Butler's entire career on the hormonal and lusty.

Now I KNOW what you are saying - and I agree, there is nothing attractive about Kevin Costner. I am in NO WAY trying to infer parallels of his aesthetic value to anyone in 300 (in fact the idea of him tanned, oiled, and in loincloth is a sure fire way to never have sex again). But some lusty 30 something gals got crushes on him in Robin Hood back in the day; and ANYONE who has ever been to a convention KNOWS how insanely loyal Science Fiction and Fantasy fans can be. Thusly 20 years later the now 50 something women STILL like him. Films like Water World, and The Postman (despite how poorly they did at the box office) have endeared him still to those ladies. Whether Costner wants it or not - he does get some nerd cred.

(Admit it, you liked it, and the only thing that would make that film better is zombies)

With Mortensen, well....

(If you can't figure why your female nerd friends or girlfriend like him this photo explains it all)

So what does this mean for the the Superman reboot? Well as the linked to article from the Hollywood reporter mentions nothing is set and no one is signed. Do I think Snyder is in any way doing this because of the spending power of the above spoken about demographic? NO. I do think these would make great casting choices for both characters of General Zod and Pa Kent. Plus I just find it REALLY humorous. Given all the heavy shit coming down here in Wisconsin it is just nice to speculate about something that really isn't of any great consequence and of SOME levity.

The older female nerd demographic also - in MY humble opinion - doesn't get much love from the greater nerd-sphere press. Young female geeks get a decent amount of attention - and many times so if they are attractive looking. Not to mention the various media hopefuls that play the Nerd game to garner attention ( female G4 tv personalities I am looking at YOU ). But there is a great core of supportive matronly (and sometimes MILFy) nerds out there making their own subtle mark on the market. Zach Snyder may be approaching casting purely from the directorial stance of who will best help tell the story he wants to tell. But if these two get cast I won't be surprised to see every older female nerd I know at the movie house opening night. And that is not exactly something I can say for ALL the comic adapted films currently slated to hit theaters some time in the next couple of years.

In Defense of TRON

2011-01-05T00:38:00.000-08:00

I like many a nerd was very excited for the new Tron sequel Tron: Legacy. But in the month since its release I have been REALLY surprised to hear that apparently I am in the minority of geeks that actually really LIKED it. I found that odd as it met ALL my expectations of just pure shiny PG rated Futurism. I was stoked when the teaser trailer was released at San Diego Comic Con two years ago. I was itching in my seat waiting for the Sound track to be released as a fan of Daft Punk AND sound tracks in general. Not to mention the rather expansive merchandising campaign Disney went with (Oh so many lovely things i can not afford -thank you recession ::sigh:: ). And when the movie finally came out - I was not one bit let down.

First off - this is Disney. Secondly - the rating is PG. In all the negative reviews I have heard both professional and just nerd talk - there has been a constant thread of higher expectations. But how one even musters higher expectations with a Disney made PG rated film I have no idea. It just seems delusional. Not every film is going to be an Oscar worthy drama. Some times (especially when it is made by Disney and rated PG) a movie is just meant to be a fun ride. It is pretty safe to assume that the moment this was given the green light it was to be targeted at FAMILIES. Not hyper intellectual and bitter nerds. Once again I have to ask my social sphere to recognize that not EVERYTHING is made for our demographics consumption and tastes. Be realistic.

I saw the original Tron when I was a kid and then the last time I saw it was about 10 years ago. After I saw Tron; Legacy I decided to go to my local rental shop and rent the original. After word it only made me think better of Tron; Legacy even more. I had not realized how much of the original film I had forgotten. Like many I remembered the game field, light cycles, identity discs, and the trade mark fight sequences. But I had forgotten what a lush, expansive, and inhabited world was set up in the first film. The team behind Tron: Legacy really did their home work and created a true sequel (NOT "re boot" as many a review I read called it). They really did a great job with continuity in EVERY regard. I was just blown away how subtle and smart they were in tying those two films together and creating one evolving cohesive world. I think I could write an entire other blog just dedicated to that alone.

I also have to say - that I think Tron Legacy does something for Disney that Disney has not done for itself in a LONG time - and that is invest in futurism. "Keep moving Forward" was on of Walt's motto's and he was VERY interested in future design and the idea of better living through science. I think there is something really awesome in the company getting away from the family kitch a little more and embracing that "world of tomorrow" feel they seemed to abandon for so long. I would really love to see Tron expand not only into a larger franchise, but also a streak for the company touching back to some of their SciFi roots.

Dr. Who Christmas special

2010-12-26T13:27:00.000-08:00

Yes - that is flying carriage being pulled by a shark

Dr. Who has just steadily gotten better and better with each progressive season since its return. This years special finds us an unspecified amount of time from the end of "Big Bang". A Ship full of life forms is under threat of crashing if the Scrooge-like old miser that runs the planet (played by Michael Gambon) doesn't stop acting like a douche bag and allow them to land through the scientifically manipulated cloud belt that circles it. Enter the Dr. with his trade mark way of interjecting him self in peoples lives. A wonderful retelling of Dickens's "The Christmas Carol" ensues.

This is one of the most visually lush episodes to date. It actually reminded me some of a Terry Gilliam production, or something of the Jim Henson Company's work. I find that Dr. Who stories sometimes have some rather truck sized holes in them that are usually rather humorously patched up with dialogue. But this episode was surprisingly lacking in that regard. If you purposefully alter the time stream wouldn't that lead to alternate realities and would you even be able to the get back the future of your destination? I don't know. Story wise I guess it depends more if you are Marty Mcfly or a 900 & some years old Time Lord from Gallifrey.

This special also gave us here in the US the first Tv adverts for the new season (which was shot in the US for the first time) and announced the Where's the Tardis? contest. I am ridiculously tempted to overload my schedule even more than it is in the pursuit of making a mock Tardis to enter the contest with. But being a perfectionist with such things I know it is just better to not even start. I look forward greatly to the next season, and to seeing what fellow Who fans create for the new site/ contest.

(This is going to be my Christmas card next year)

Time (and TV) Can Be Rewritten

2010-12-26T13:20:00.000-08:00

Did any one else feel like they lost their mind a little last night watching the HOURS of Dr. Who BBC America broadcasted leading up to this years Christmas Special? Perhaps like this years Christmas special's antagonist Kazran Sardick you thought you had developed new memories, or like Amy Pond - remembered things that hadn't been? Before the christmas special BBC America played the last seasons 2 hour finale "The Pandorica Opens/ Big Bang", and if you felt a little off/ confused that is because the episode had been reedited.

Is it just me - or does it seem a little bit cruel to do THAT in a show about manipulating time and our perception of it? I really thought I had imagined parts of the story from the season finale. I kept expecting something to happen and it didn't happen. It wasn't until my sister who had slept through the evenings television watching due to food intoxication watched the episode again - but THIS time, the one I had DVR'ed from when it originally aired here in the US earlier in the year. Low and Behold - there were the missing scenes. Once my perception had been vindicated - I was left just plain perturbed.

If you like my sister had not seen the original airing of "The Pandorica Opens/ Big Bang", and unlike my sister did NOT have the charity of a friend or family member with a Tivo/ DVR then you got left with a second rate product last night. While what was edited out were tiny jokes that were not vital to the story - their absence makes a difference in over all quality. I am sure it was just done for time. I am also sure that this is NOT the only time it has been done, and that I am simply ignorant to all the jokes i've missed out on. Regardless, It still sucks.

"You won't remember this latter Pond, time will be reedited..."

I've had worse ideas

2010-12-12T15:20:00.000-08:00

Lately I have noticed a lot of national discussion to the topic of "Civility". Perhaps not unconnectedly I have also noticed a lot of people being rather graceless bastards online. Peoples frustration tolerance just seems to be shot. Is it the economy? The subsequent effect that has on everyones Holiday season? Is it the recent political operas? I don't know. I don't have any answers. But I can say I find it frustrating. I don't write this with impunity. I have written no less than five blogs today. Do you think any of them will be published? No. I write, reread, and then delete. I can't describe the urge I have to go on flamed out random tangents, or what feels like a compulsion to be rude and foul mouthed. The impetus to play the roll of rabble rouser and internet Troll is parallel to some freakish internet form of lycanthropy. And it seems to be effecting a surprisingly large amount of the public. At least as far as their endeavors in cyberspace are concerned.

In astrology - right now an event called "Mercury Retrograde" is happening. It is the fairly common occurrence of the planet Mercury appearing to move backwards in the night sky. It isn't really moving backwards, it is just a trick of perspective and the planet moving along its elliptical orbit. Mercury in classical mythology, astrology, and alchemy is the "messenger" and associated heavily with travel and communications. Periods of Mercury in Retrograde are in general considered to be bad times for such endeavors. So writing blogs can be less than a good idea. Yet here I am. Despite my better judgement and a serious case of writers block. I hate going for too long with out a blog up. It just doesn't seem right - it makes me feel lazy. Many a time - I just have too many ideas in my head all at once and fail to congeal one into something worth writing about. I also find that if I talk to a friend about something on my mind it totally takes the wind out of the sails for blogging about it. It proves too effective a cathartic device. But with all that in mind; One of my goals for the next year is to just vastly increase the sheer amount of writing I do - regardless of some serious bouts of foot in mouth disease.

Holidays

2010-12-10T08:11:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I'm broke.
This year is basically a White Elephant Christmas. Which kind of works out well for me, because I have a lot of stuff I want to get rid of any way. But I know a lot of people are in the same boat, and it is really bringing them down. A tip I have for people to restore a little of the holiday cheer in the case that like me you are giving away old junk or hand made items; It helps to put a little extra effort into the wrapping. This year I am using really old wrapping paper I bought for spare change at a local thrift shop. In years past I have just decorated old paper grocery bags with what has become a standard for me of ink stamps, wax seals, ribbons, and twine. Truth be told its a bait and switch. But it works. People always say that "its the thought that counts". Something about wrapping even old junk like a Dickens era treasure really brings that home for people. I also just find it fun. Like over the top X-mas props. But that is just me.

Here is a photo of some gifts going out.

Materials

These are "water bomb" oragami boxes.
I wanted to do something a little different and found THIS tutorial on how to fold these. I used 12 inch squares which gave me a resultant 3 1/2 inch box. I cut an X shape in the top as to be able to stuff it with tissue paper and the item I am giving. Then some ribbon (long enough to tie on top) and a wax seal placed so that the box does not come undone go a long way. This also makes good cheap christmas ornaments (use enough ribbon as to hang them).

Over all I don't think a low key Holiday season is a bad thing AT ALL. I get really turned off by the hyper emphasis on consumerism this time of year. That the gift giving season has become so integral to our now consumer based economy makes these holidays almost sickly nationalistic as well. Like you are not contributing to the economy if you are not buying people things, and that makes you a bad American. It just makes the season all the more revolting.

This is the point where it becomes all to easy to segue into a moralizing rant on the spirit of the holidays and all we have yet to be thankful for. Yes people have it worse than you and me in life. Yes I count my self as very lucky for not only what but who I have in my life. Yes I plan to emphasis my appreciation for both of those things this season. I will just be doing so by giving away old junk wrapped in pretty ribbons.

Airport "Naked Scanners"

2010-11-24T12:06:00.000-08:00

Today there is a semi-organized protest where as people can show their outrage about these newly installed highly exposing security scanners by opting out of the scan and taking the full body pat down instead. I have heard the arguments of the upset. I respect their right to their feelings. I don't think any one would deny that there is an emotional gravitas to personal space that is firmly founded in psychological study and human reality. But I can honestly say I do not sympathize.

The moment this story broke (and then monopolized the news outlets) what immediately came to mind was the Janet Jackson "Wardrobe Malfunction" uproar from the super bowl some years back. America (or a portion of it) had a rancorous freak out about seeing a titty for a couple of seconds on TV. People got all riled up that their children had been exposed to mammary glands (I guess no one breast feeds anymore?). Oddly people did NOT get riled up that their children had been exposed to a dozen erectile dysfunction adverts. Why did the "news" story about the TSA full body scanner make me think of this. Because it all comes back to the american populace having some seriously deep rooted neurotic issues with the human body and nakedness.

America's prudishness is part of its culture. And to criticize it in a way as to infer it is wrong and needs to change is just delusional. Regardless of for good or ill - It's not going to change. It has been in the culture since the settlers got to this continent. One could argue it is part of the culture BECAUSE the settlers got to the continent. If Plymouth Rock had been a military outpost of the Crown, and not a settlement of deeply conservative religious wing nuts, maybe America wouldn't go into fits every time it saw a booby. But regardless - it is what it is. Sadly though it does prove to be a highly irritable and easily roused neurotic issue for the country. One which I think is manipulated to the populaces detriment.

I'm as sensitive as the next person at the idea of peeping toms seeing me in my birthday suit. But TSA scanners are not peeping toms. Precautions to protect anonymity has been enacted - such as your face being obscured. But they could go a lot further - like having the attendant viewing the scan not being in line of sight of the line for the scanner if not a different room. The mental fantasy that the human beings manning the machines are all a bunch of sex fiends wanking it to your body scan is a fable that says more about the american mind and all its issues than it does reality. The similar fantasy that the people tasked to preform the mandatory pat downs are sexual perverts is parallely delusional.

Will these machines stop terrorists? Probably only the really disorganized and poorly planned ones. Will terrorists think of new ways to take down airplanes? Most likely. Will horrible things continue to happen in the world? Yeah. Duh. If you are going to be pissed off about something - be pissed off that these scanners DON'T see things people may have shoved up their asses or swallowed. That is a solid argument. For what these things cost - they should do more.

But for what it is worth I am not going to let a machine that exposes how badly I need to lose 30 lbs to keep me from the convenience of flying. To me that would be letting crazy people win and that is something I can not abide. As a side note; the imagery of the scanners produce is rather interesting. I think the TSA should complimentary offer various quality and sized prints of your scan as a souvenir of your trip. It would make a nice companion piece to the Wolverine style full body X-ray one plans to have someday.

Tiresome Endeavor

2010-11-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

About 4 or 5 years ago I went through a jewelry making phase. A friend started doing it, and like a gate way drug or a creepy craft cult next thing you know I was doing it too. Goaded and emboldened by my friends natural success at selling her wares I ventured into not just making shiny baubles for my self, but making shiny baubles to sell to others. But I am not really a good business person. Yeah - I can make things. Lovely things. Things like the necklace in the above picture. But selling them? THAT I am shit at.

I reached a point where my frustration tolerance absolutely broke. I enjoyed it all for its sculptural creativity. But what I found in the "scene" is that it is mired by overabundance. Jewelry is post-scarcity. I don't care what ANYONE tries to tell you about the rarity of stones, or metals, or odd found objects. The mass effect of it all is there are more than enough readily acquired shiny things to appease the magpie in humanity ten fold. Now I don't mean that to say that you should haggle down prices on a truly fine work of artisan made jewelry. There are real talents out there - and what they make is beyond beautiful; it borders on magical. But from the point of view of a would be creator attempting to navigate the terrain it was overwhelming and maddening.

So I gave it up lock stock and barrel. I was so emotionally done with it all I just put it in boxes and forgot about it for a while. But a new problem has emerged. In between the jewelry making phase, and all the OTHER phases I have gone through in the past 15 years - I am now drowning in stuff. Stuff I don't need. Stuff I no longer want. So I have opened an Etsy store to sell things off with. I'll be posting things up as time allows me. Right now I only have five jewelry items up (including the necklace pictured above) but I intend to post original drawings, paintings, sculptures, various craft projects, and vintage clothes and jewelry as well. It is just really tiresome to photo/ scan it all, edit those jpeg's to the right size requirements, list them right through etsy's dichotomous key style posting filer, and figure our postage. I know that sounds lazy. But it is more an example of just how tired and done I am with the things I am posting.

Then there is the question of price. People tell me that you need to mark high, or else people doubt the quality of your items. But again - I just want the stuff GONE. I think I have priced my things extremely humbly and reasonably. Take the said necklace above. I think that is the bee's knees. I am extremely proud of it. And my ego would LOVE to charge over $100 for it. But I am only selling it for $20.00. Just take a look on etsy. Remember that thing I told you about jewelry being post-scarcity? We are in the middle of the worst economic climate since the great depression and there are TONS of jewelry for sale on Etsy. My purpose on there is not to take on a new career. My point is to clear house. So thusly some Fire Sale prices. Minus the bother of smoke damage.

If ever you have like the artwork I have posted here - I politely ask you to check back on my Etsy store . There is a very good chance it will end up there.

Nerdy Righteousness

2010-10-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

I LOVE being right.

Two years ago I argued that the Riddler would make a stupid villain for the 3rd Nolan directed Batman movie. And today, thanks to an interview appearing in the LA Times Hero Complex I am vindicated as the man him self, Mr. Christopher Nolan declares "it won’t be the Riddler". I REALLY should start putting money on these things.

So yeah - that is all that I am going to rub it in peoples faces.
I will be grinning the grin of "I told you so" the rest of the day though.
Damn if that didn't just put me on a nerdy sort of cloud 9.

Never trust Baby Boomers with your electronic accessories

2010-10-17T22:40:00.000-07:00

I was an honorary "Booth Babe" once. I attended the 2006 Wizard World Chicago comic book convention, and the second day I was there I was walking around and a couple of guys working a booth asked if I would be their booth babe literally out of nowhere. Having seen pretty much every thing there was to see at the con the previous day I said sure. They were very surprised, they had been asking girls all morning to no avail. I am no, nor have ever been some extraordinary "looker" - but I do have breasts, and that frankly is enough to get a males attention at a comic book convention. So I put on a t-shirt for the product, got a crash course in what it was, and started hoisting flyers and post cards on any unsuspecting male that even so much as glanced at me. The product was the then newly minted MIMOBOT designer flash drive. The experience was so overwhelmingly positive that it has forever endeared the brand to me. My payment for killing my time that day was the t-shirt I dawned, and my own little wonderful mimobot to take home with me. It was a limited edition glow in the dark ghost with a little blood dripping out of its mouth. I loved that little thing. So cute. SO useful. And now it is gone.

A month or so ago I lent it to a friend to transfer some pictures on. I have others, but they have stuff I am saving on them, and the Ghost one was the only one that was empty. She was visiting from out of town, and ended up not being able to hand it back to me - instead leaving it at her parents to for me to pick up at my leisure. A couple of weeks ago - I attended this same said friends wedding. Her Mom - knowing that she would see me there thought to bring the USB drive with her to give it to me when she saw me at the wedding. She forgot. She then gave the bag it was in to her sister, and accidentally forgot it AGAIN. Her sister then went to catch her flight out of town. While unloading the pack for the security check she then found the USB drive. Not knowing what it was, and apparently having no clue what a USB keychain is, AND fearing it something nefarious like a BOMB, she promptly deposited my beloved Ghost Mimobot in the trash bin. Or at least this is what my friend has reported to me.

Almost done: a summer of house repair

2010-10-14T06:36:00.000-07:00

I have never been one to look forward to winter much, but this year I find that rather different. This year winter will mean a reprieve from the seemingly endless list of house repairs we have undertaken. This past 6 months I have not been as much of a blogger, and certainly not much of an illustrator (sorry Brain). But with the coming of this winter I look forward to my distractions being forcibly put on the back burner. Since april we have done one hell of a turn around on the house. Newer people in the neighborhood actually assumed we were new owners as the renovations have been so overwhelming and drastic. We painted the entire exterior of the house, as well as the living and dining rooms. We installed new doors. We installed a fence. We built fences and gates out of old pallets and from scratch. We landscaped. We re-graveled the drive (by hand no less). We changed out light fixtures inside and outside the house. We tore out one of the garage doors of our two car garage, and walled it in, installing a salvaged door and french window in said new wall.

This sounds like a small list. Things always seem simple in lists. But at every turn, I had to learn something. Before this summer, I didn't know anything about sinking support posts in concrete, or how house wiring worked, How hard hanging a door is, or how many times a step forward meant finding a new problem that felt like you took three steps back and then having to learn how to fix that new problem as well. Be it the finer points of wood patch, the consistency of quickcrete, the mystery of ceilings within ceilings - this summer has proven many challenges that stretched simple seeming projects from days to weeks, to a totality of months. And now, here, finally, I can see the finish line. This week I have begun what promises to be the final project of this long long season - I am building an interior wall within the garage.

I am terrified. I have never built anything so large, and so in need of perfection. But it is getting done. I have been cleaning the garage for the past few days to ready the work space. And today a friend or two may stop by to help out in various ways. If I am lucky - by this time next week I will have the wall covered, and the car back to being able to fit in the car park. And then nothing more for the year. I can read all my books. I can draw until my fingers go numb and my eyes strain - and I will be damned happy to do so.

Tattoo's: The poor girls plastic surgery

2010-10-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

If there are two undeniable universal truths to women - its that 1) All women want to be pretty (or thought of as such) & 2) through out time women have engaged in some bat shit crazy behavior as means to those ends. The reality is that very few women ever naturally embody the current zeitgeist of beauty standards for their time, and so women for ages have engaged in various forms of body modification to correct this. Be if foot binding, corset wearing, lip plates, various styles of hair removal, or the occasion foray into chemicals such as diet pills or as in renaissance Italy were women would squirt the potent and toxic juice of deadly nightshade berries into their eyes to force the pupil to dilate. Women will do just about anything to obtain an edge in the endless battle of "who is the fairest of them all". Thanks to the avalanche Suicide Girls started - tattooing seems to have caught on as a quick way to establish one's self as a vixen. Or at least - that is what it SEEMS women are thinking. Especially when you see sites like Inked magazine's Tattooed Girl gallery ( where women post photo's of them selves hoping to get said picture into the monthly periodical). Tattooing seems to have become the poor girls plastic surgery.

Now any one with any sizable amount of ink done will tell you - this doesn't really make sense. Tattooing - and certainly GOOD tattooing, let alone a LOT of tattooing isn't cheap. So to describe it as such seems sort of foolish - But NOT when you compare it to the actual cost of real plastic surgery. Its a lot easier, and much less scary to go under the needle, then under the knife. People die from complications from undergoing general anesthesia all the time after all. So thusly tattooing aparently has become a pathway for women to up their aesthetic ante. Take a wall flower or door mouse of a girl, add tattoo, mix thoroughly and *BAM* = sexy ingenue (in theory). But a shitty tattoo is an ugly thing even on a pretty girl. And ladies just because you have ink that does not mean every one wants to see it - a poorly done, and/or poorly taken care of tattoo looks like shit on anyone. And in regards to the whole pin up craze ; No amount of ink, lingerie, make up, and hair styling will make up for a lack of self confidence. People can read that shit in your subtle facial expressions. If you look sad, angry, depressed, or just plain mean then all the tattoos in the world won't/ don't inherently endow you with sexiness. If you crave attention so badly that you would seek getting a tattoo with the same impetus as you would seeking out less permanent superficial accessories I ask you to please reconsider. If you need validation THAT badly then save that money you would spend on a tattoo on a good therapist. I don't mean this as one of those blogs where people bitch and moan about how a scene has changed, and had more integrity blah fucking blah blah blah. I love tattoo's. I love that people get them. The more the merrier. BUT - I worry. I worry for young women, I worry for my friends, I worry for my friends daughters. It is in that spirit of sisterhood that I feel I need to unload the constructive criticism.

When I was in 5th grade I remember a brief period of time where kids traded me various coveted candies in exchange for me to draw tattoos on them during recess. I don't remember when my tattoo fixation started, I don't remember what triggered it exactly - but by the time I was ten it had firmly taken root in my mind. When I was a kid I compulsively doodled the endless stream of mental junk that flowed through my brain. Teachers complained often to my mother of my unfinished home work assignments that had margins completely filled to the brim with little drawings. The transition of drawing on paper to drawing on myself was a rather obvious one - which led to drawing on my class mates when ever I could. Having tattoo's when I got older was never NOT going to happen for me. I had my mind made up. By the time I was 18 I had spent most my senior year of high school ruminating about my first tattoo. I can honestly say that if Star Wars; Episode 1 had come out a month later than it did, I would be sporting the Star Wars Rebel and Imperial logos on my shoulders. Instead my first tattoo ended up being an ahnk and ouroboros on the back of my neck. Ten years, and twelve more tattoo's later, the cultural terrain has changed significantly. When I was 18 Suicide Girls may at best just been a seed in the mind of its creators. Tattoo magazines were far from branching out into the "life style" sort of read. Movie stars that sported them were either branded trouble makers or as "out there". Tattoo's were still controversial. In many ways they still are. But a LOT of how American society sees and addresses tattoo's and tattoo culture has evolved - and the vast majority of it for the better if you ask me. But I can't help but notice how this change in culture has effected women. Or more how women effected the tattoo culture, and it in turn mutated and came around again to change them as well.

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My Internal hipster debate.

2010-09-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

I don't live in a city. I have - but it has been a while. I have been living back in my small home town for almost 8 years now. So not being inundated with "Hipsters" I have to say I have been late in the game of being aware that this was some sort of cultural tide, let alone one that was fair game to mock the hell out of and openly despise. I didn't really know about it at all until the book for Look at this Fucking Hipster came out and we got it in at the bookshop I work at.

To my horror - my friends and my self skirt upon the edge of this apparent cultural sink hole. I have text tattoos (at the time I got them they meant a lot to me, but I am looking to get them covered up). I own a fixed gear bicycle (I traded in my Mountain bike because this was more practical for my lifestyle & mundane trips to the grocers). My friends drink PBR (god only knows why). I have male friends (and a younger Brother) who are capable of growing facial hair - this some times leads to poor choices in facial hair growth and grooming that could be typified as "Ironic facial hair" (Where did that term come from???). I wear nerdy glasses. So do my friends. They are prescription. I have never known any one that wears "cosmetic eye frames" save for on Halloween. And don't even get me started about trust fund kids.

If you only ever interacted with me, or my friends on the internet - particularly via social networking sites, you could easily find a wealth of photo's (such as my profile photo here) as evidence to a pathetic group of hipsters. But the hole in that reasoning is that you are not seeing photo's that represent reality in its totality. I can not speak for other people, But I don't take photo's every where all the time. I certainly don't take them at my job, Or at my friends jobs. I don't take them when I am doing house chores and repairs. Or running errands in town.

Last night I watched an episode of Dr. Who with the "weeping Angels" (creature that are stone when they are observed and living lethal entities when they are not), and it made me think of this Hipster thing. For me this is a Quantum problem. We are observing people through the internet. We are estimating them to be a thing/ title based on our observations. We make presumptions based on patterns of our observations that this is some larger trend. But what are these people when they are not being observed? You would never guess from the photo's of me on facebook that I actively and consciously try to dress as bland and approachable as possible for my job to make my customers feel more at ease in asking me for help. And that being able to be consistently employed is a major motivator in decisions of how far I take my personal self expression through my appearance. What photo's there are of me online are usually from a party - and a fancy dress party at that. Or an outing ( and this being Wisconsin, outings often times involve drinking). My friends and I probably look like a bunch of dickheads. But the internet is NOT reality.

I wonder at how this all happened. At how so many people could be so convinced that they are individuals totally unique and separate from every one else, yet all so very much on the same page. Is this a side effect of too much praise and the "Every one gets a trophy" parenting techniques of the past 20 years? Is it marketing? It is just culture in its exponential march toward oblivion? If it wasn't for the internet would be reveling in such a trend (like the Boomers and their Hippies) or would there still be this cynical back lash? Is it too soon to pass judgement - or will it only seem worse with time as it leads possibly to ever worse things? I don't know. I don't get to see much of this culture live and in person. It is definitely going to be a subject of debate for me for some time.

Last Nights Dream

2010-09-05T08:40:00.000-07:00

I'm twelve. I don't know if I am supposed to be ME when I WAS twelve, or if I am some one else who IS twelve (which is what I am leaning towards in hindsight). But I know I am twelve, and I know I am sleeping over at my friend's "house". It isn't really her house. Her Mom and Dad are going through a divorce (a really bad one) and her and her Mom have been living with her (my friends) uncle and aunt. I don't know which of the two of them is the sibling to the mother. We sleep on the couch - we're small enough to fit on it feet to feet, and we watch scary movies all night and eat pop corn until we passed out. I know all of this when I "wake up" in the dream.

I wake up and the uncle is shaking me and my friend awake. A woman is screaming and sobbing in the back ground. The house is dark still - its not yet morning, and the room is lit in the inconsistent light from static on the television in front of the couch. My eyes are burry, my head is still thick with sleep. But I can hear the panic in his voice, something is really wrong. My chest tightens in flight or fight. My brain clears, and I start to look around - my friend is just starting to wake up like I am. A man is crumpled on the floor in front of the couch before us. The blood is like a lake. The Couch is a make shift raft on a pool of blood that encompasses the man and continues to engulf the couch. That explains why My friends uncle is crouching on the couch, kneeling half on our feet. I don't know why but it just makes sense to me. I don't know if he jumped over the blood, and the corpse to the couch to us. But it lends the feel that we are all clinging to this sofa shaped life raft in an impossible amount of blood.

A woman is still bellowing in the back ground. All this rest happens so fast, its all so discombobulating that I don't know the how or the what. But I think the uncle tells us that the dead man is my friends dad - or she knew and recognized him and he confirmed it was him. The Dead man is her father. Her mother is upstairs, and she is dead as well. He broke in, found the sleeping mother, stabbed her to death, and then came down stairs. They don't know if he intended to kill my friend as well - maybe he did and changed his mind, maybe he saw us there and thought she was happy with friends etc, and didn't want to take that. I don't know. But he killed him self - put the knife into his chest. That is why he was crumpled on the floor in front of us.

At some point the uncle isn't with us on the couch any more. He is with the aunt across the room. She is covered in blood, and crying, and destroyed. I figure she must have been my friends mom's sister. Then something happens. I feel something in the air like steam, or a current rippling through water cuts through the air. And everything in me wants to run. I look behind me towards the grey light of the TV and onto the floor with the bloodless man. The air blurs, something moves past me from the ground and the area of the corpse. It feels like hot sticky wind and I go all goose pimply as I turn in the direction the mass headed. The uncles voice suddenly drops by several octaves and sounds warbled like an old record. His candor towards his wife switches from consoling her and mumbling about the police getting there to squeezing her arms and that voice coming out of him.

"YoU kNoW i'Ve BeEn UnDeR a LoT of PrESsuRe!" Roars out of the uncle. The voice is like an angry river, it isn't human. I want to run SO bad. I think he is possessed. Maybe by the dead father. I don't know. I think of things I see in movies. Ways to stop him. I feel my hands go numb. Its something bigger. Some thing impossible. I want to run. I wake up instead.

An odd comment about "The Social Network"

2010-09-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

So last night I went to see "The American" staring George Clooney - which is a WONDERFUL movie by the way. I don't care if its Rotten Tomatoes meter has it as rotten at 59% right now. To me that just proves as a friend of mine put it "American's don't deserve good movies". But anyways, I digress; I am not actually bloging right now to discuss my thoughts on that film - I am bloging to disseminate my thoughts about the TRAILERS I saw before that film. Two in particular. "The Social Network" (aka, that movie about facebook) and "Fair Game" (which is about the outing of Valerie Plame as a covert agent for the CIA by the Bush White house).

These two movies having their trailers back to back provide a wonderful contrast in that I feel I need to address.

Many of the comments I heard of "The Social Network" from friends and various non-industry spectators (and have thought myself at first seeing the trailer) is that the story is too recent. It is too soon to do this film, it needs more distance to have any real resonance. If you are going to make a movie that lets people know what was happening behind the scenes, you really need to have a audience that gives a shit about what happened behind the scenes. And most people I know have too much of a love/ hate relationship with Facebook for that to be the case. If people are discussing facebook outside of the context of what they themselves actually posted/ experienced on their accounts - it usually is either about what new dick move Facebook has done concerning privacy setting defaults, or the great question of "To keep or to quite Facebook?".

It certainly is NOT on the lines of of how this great and terrible thing ever got started. Or wether or not one of its founders was a royal douche bag that fucked his friends out of their slices of the pie (which is what I has deduced the movie is about from having watched the trailer). To make a film about Facebook seems self referencing to the point of absurdity. After all - 2003 was only seven years ago. And at this point it is easy to make many arguments about the lack of new idea in Hollywood, or the contrary - the ever rapidly expanding rate of novelty and new ideas in the universe. Things are moving so fast that we are ALREADY making a film about Facebook! O' the Singularity loomith! Or our generation is such a bunch of narcissistic nut jobs that we just can't wait to pat our selves on the back for something like Facebook by making a movie about how it got started.

But then you have "Fair game", a political thriller based on true events that happened within the same pedigree of recent history. At this point some one my age could easily see this film as reinforcement to the assumptions stated above (about hollywood and the rate of new ideas or the clear lack there of). But making a political thriller shortly after its real life counterpart isn't anything new. "All the Presidents Men" the famous political thriller about reporters Woodward and Bernstein staring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman came out only a scant three years after Watergate. And so it is here that I ask people my own age to stop for a moment, consider the facts, and realize that "The Social Network" isn't too soon. We are just getting older.

The San Diego Effect.

2010-08-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was lucky enough to get to have some adventures, one of which was to survey the mania of the Wizard World Chicago comic book convention for that Saturday. I have been mentally searching for eloquent ways to say and explain it. But, well - it sucked. I am not saying I didn't have a good time - I had a GREAT time! But I greatly chalk that up to the stellar company I was privileged to keep in my comrades from the DelToroFilms.com posting boards. What I am talking about is a change in the scene. What I am talking about is the same thing I have heard from nerds for years that used to frequent the San Diego Comic Convention and no longer do for the intolerable crowds, and celebrity hysteria.

For almost the past decade now we nerds have been laughing (some of us so lucky as to do so on the way to the bank) about the growing popularity of nerd culture. Our collective ascension to a place of social and market dominance seemed truly like the rightful revenge of the nerds that in our darkest heart of hearts we all dreamed of. But what I saw at Chicago last weekend reminded me of the story I read as a kid of the girl who finds a cute monster whom she takes home & hides in her basement where it feasts on potatoes until it grows so large that getting rid of it literally tears her house apart. So to my fellow nerds I ask; Are we collectively that little girl, and is the spectating public our potato eating monster?

Last time I was at Wizard World Chicago was 4 years ago. I would go so far to call it a pitch perfect con. Not too many people, not too few. A well rounded event of artists, retailers, celebrities, and fans in spandex. This past weekend, there were 2 to 3 times as many people there on the saturday of the event as there were 4 years ago. And while in a purely demographical context that IS exciting. It was just plain uncomfortable. Too little space, hot temperatures, and too little air conditioning added up to a less than desirable atmosphere. And I have to ask - is this the way the scene is going? When you have so many spectators coming to cons that it alienates the nerds them selves from going what will be left of the "culture"? Do we all just migrate to smaller and more obscure upstart cons? Or do we embrace and dismiss it as a possible fad for the short attention spanned public? But what if it isn't a fad? What if non nerd persons coming to nerd conventions for some people watching and a laugh become the norm? That to me doesn't seem sustainable, as those people seem to take from our culture and give nothing back.

But then again, maybe it am just getting old. I was a plucky 24 when I first went to Wizard World Chicago and now I am a grounded 28. Is it really fair of me to expect the same experience my 24 year old mind invented for me when I am 28 and a different person on the chemical level? Probably not. But there is for many the fear of the thing we love being over run and taken away with by people who love it less and respect it not at all. Scenes change all the time. It is very common to hear the veterans of any particular musical scene talk in a less than loving way about how that scene has changed, and how the newest members to claim to belong to that tribe are less legitimate, don't get it, love it less, and/ or are "posers". And maybe this is the same thing. But my spider sense is telling me something is afoot. Maybe it is just something silent and unseen building in my own mind, in my own life. But something is telling me that I really don't want to attend another con from the attendee/ fan side of the table again. When I look back, I might just say "Chicago is what changed it for me".

SDCC

2010-07-15T15:52:00.000-07:00

Its almost that time of year again - where every one I respect the hell out of is busy like a bee getting ready for the annual pilgrimage to San Diego Comic Con. I always get a little bit bummed out this time of year. While I have never gone ( I hear it isn't the good time it used to be) I would still like to finally go to SDCC. I am going to DragonCon which is more than enough nerdy goodness, and very likely Wizard World Chicago as well. But At this point it is SUCH a fixture in the culture that not going can't help but make a nerd such as myself feel like that kid in the end of the Pied Piper with the limp who doesn't get to the magical opening in the mountain side before it is closed and is left behind as the only kid in the village.
So, maybe next year.
Or, maybe not.

My comic I came up in high school "Children of Oblivion"

2010-07-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

The story I had in my head when I was 16 was a wholly unrealistic spectacle for a comic book. Where it done as a movie it would be migraine inducing in its chop cuts. My high school reunion is less than 2 weeks away. Looking back at this story line which I obsessed over, I just have to shake my head and laugh at what a walking cliche me and my interests were.

The story follows 4 people who are a hodge podge of 90's stereotypes as they embark on a typically 90's misadventure / road trip through the south western states of the USA. I was mentally BINGEING on all things alternative. underground, and shocking. It shines through in the unimaginative, bloody, and down right illogical story you'll find below. These pages are very raw. they are presented here as I drew them in my standard size spiral backed drawing sketch book I used for a class. The spelling (never my strength) is just beyond horrific.

In a lot of ways I am proud of these pages. I think for a 17 year old with no real tools other than pencils, pens, markers, and rulers - I did pretty well. They really represent everything I was into in high school, so I see them as 2 parts embarrassing and 1 part endearing reminder of that time. Part of me likes the idea of coming back to this, of rewriting it in some way where the story actually makes sense. There must be a part of the brain that thinks that any thing you invest time in must be made something out of. Maybe there is still a spark of some sort of life in this story. Maybe it could be retooled. Maybe if some one like Bryan Lee O'Malley gave it a whirl it would be a seriously funny commentary on the 90's. I don't know. For now, I am just going to trick that part of my brain that says I have to do something with this (or any of my stories) and put it here.

(Please click on the image to see the larger/ readable version.)