Hey there.

How've you been?

I know, I know. I've been gone for so long now, neglecting my DA page for... well, a long time! It's not you. No, no, It's me. Really. Ok, no stop, you don't have to start breaking things and yanking your hair like that. Let me explain.

Well, what's been keeping me busy:

Nosferatu - a Graphic Novel 88 years in the making! Written by Christopher H. Wolf , Lineart by Justin Wayne , and Color & Paint ups by yours truly - Sal aka 'thedarkcloak' .

So far, the reviews have been extremely positive!

You can find out more about the book here - www.bookofvampires.com
Also, amuse yourself and your friends by spreading the non-glittery vampire

You can order the book directly from me ($10 + S&H, roughly $4-6 additional, depending on where you live), just send me an email (I don't log into DA often enough lately).

OR, you can also order the book directly from Amazon.com - [link]

It is being distributed by Diamond Direct, also... so you can also order it through your local comic shop. In fact, go bother them right now, and ask them to get it in stock!

Here's a slew of reviews, and an interview, so you have an idea what you're getting yourself into:

Zedura review - [link]

The Pullbox review - [link]

The Pullbox - Interview with the Vampire - or at least the creative team behind the vampire? - [link]

Rue Morgue Magazine - [link]

Graphic Policy Review - [link]

Impulse Gamer - [link]

As for other stuff that has kept me busy... well, did a couple of big audio/sound design/music composition projects for a live show with my good friend Hanakia. We're hoping to put it all to video and make the show available through youtube in the coming months. Been getting my head back into the music vibe, and that's been really good. Looking forward to doing more.

Got some video projects lined up, as well as some more Intergalactic Kung Fu Zombies content which will be coming soon. Trying out & experimenting with additional tools & techniques for when I start doing the regular ani-comic episodes!

Welcome to the DA page of TDC...

Updates coming shortly.

With mischief & mayhem,
TDC



Shout Out's! in no particular order & quite random!


On to the groups!

Wolverine - eh, not HORRIBLE, but definitely not great either. Not worth full price, but it did have some nice sequences, mostly the first half. The second half gets pretty WTF. And what the hell, Gambit sucked. Disappointing. and the Deadpool thing was kind of stupid as well. Just lots of disjointed directing on this one. Blergh. Sabretooth was kinda fun, though. I'm glad they didn't just make him into some dumb animal type guy like they did in the first Xmen movie... 2/5

Terminator 4 - MUCH better than Terminator 3. It's like, it took most of what was ok in T3 and turned it up a notch, got rid of most of the cheesy cheese poof humor/ parody, and added a few twists along with some other interesting concepts. The 'surprise' cameo towards the end knocked my socks off just because I was not even expecting it. Overall, I'd say a matinee, it's a pretty decent action movie. It was missing something, but I can't quite figure out what. It IS a step back in the right direction for Terminator, however. 3/5 stars

TRANSFORMERS 2 - sigh... fucking despicable. Horrible. This one is easily at the bottom of the barrel for me this year. Probably even the last 3 years. It had fucking BALLS on transformers for f***s sake!

The movie was hardly about the transformers at all. Yes, the CG was INCREDIBLE, the fight sequences were pretty damn cool and pretty fucking hardcore brutal. There's a couple of times when Optimus is kinda scary, because he's all callous and almost cruel - not the honorable warrior type of Optimus you'd grown up with if you were a fan of the old show. The thing is... like I was saying, the movie was hardly about the transformers at all.

They had VERY LITTLE personality and character going on with the transformers. Aside from Starscream, Megatron, Optimus, & Bumblebee (who mind you, still had very little fleshing out to be had), the rest of the metallic hunks were reduced to being mere set pieces. And as a result, you hardly give a shit when they die or are hurt (unlike the old show, the Transformers' various personalities and clashes were a big part of the point - why doesn't anybody seem to get that?). Mind you, it was nice to see some banter finally between Megatron & Starscream that was heavily reminiscent of the good ol stuff... But overall the treatment of the characters was just disrespectful and insulting at best.

Oh, just one thing tho. For some reason, they forgot Megatron is a power hungry megalomaniac. They have him being all subservient to 'the fallen', for no real reason, with nothing up his sleeve, no hidden agenda, not even a 'Megatron obeys no one!' or any sort of backstabbery at all. C'mon, the real Megatron would've screwed 'the fallen' over to keep all the energon for himself, or something devious like that!

The movie was packed with crude humor, leg humping robots, fucking Devastator testicles that they show not once, but THREE times, and if that's not enough, Simmons yells out 'I'm underneath the enemies' scrotum!' at one point when asked for coordinates. Fucking groan. Near the beginning there's a fruit fucker (like the one from Penny Arcade) - complete with penis and shiny red lightbulb on the tip of it. And there's farting transformers, too. Oh, and there's a couple of dog humping scene's too, cause you know, that's exactly what you should expect if you go see a Transformers movie. Seriously.

Gawd I wish I was kidding...

And I'm sure by now you've heard of what's been dubbed the Jar-Jar Bots... you know, they were pretty bad, but I think the prepubescent so-called humor nearly overshadowed that nonsense.


If you MUST see it (or are even morbidly curious), I would recommend a $2 show, or a cheap matinee. If the crass & cheap humor I described is your cup of tea though, you may enjoy it more than I did. I just found all that shit out of context, inappropriate and again, disrespectful to the source material.

The plot & premise was kinda decent, it's just unfortunate that the filmmakers didn't really make you care enough about it.

Some people may cry 'blasphemer!' or whatever, and say things like 'well what'd you expect, it's a movie about big robots f***ing stuff up!' - 'omg it's not supposed to be Shakespeare or whatever.' Give me a break, there's plenty of intelligent action movies (that are PACKED with action), and this could've been one hell of an epic.
If I had gone in to see, I dunno, Anchorman or even Year One, sure, ok whatever... but this was Transformers, you guys! Grargh

You know what this was? This movie was the next entry from the people that made SCARY MOVIE, EPIC MOVIE, and they should've called this one 'ROBOT MOVIE'. Same quality of humor.

Yeah, I was expecting some character development, a better focus on the Decepticons and the Autobots, you know... actually making them Characters, not just disposable set pieces which is what it seems they've been reduced to - So yeah, all that as well as the action, gripping edge of your seat scenes, and all that good stuff that fun stuff that should be in a big action movie. It's not like it can't be done!

1.5/5 stars (and most of that is only earned due to the visual effects and amazing graphics - otherwise this thing would be in the negatives. Kudos to the artists behind those great scenes, though I feel sorry for whoever had to render the Devastator's constructicle balls - I can picture the brief "Mr. Bay wants more sparks as they clang together and also wants them swinging more!")

Give me the old Transformers: The Movie (animated) any time over this trash.

At least that had substance, was GOOD, and most importantly was actually ABOUT transformers, instead of Bay's frat boy fantasies and petty humor.

And you know... some people are going to say stuff like 'Well I'm a BIG FAN and I grew up with Transformers, etc etc', Yeah SPARE ME. I know. I find it baffling how I too am a fan etc etc, but it's crazy how divided the fans (both new and old) are  about this pile of doggy doo. Some say 'omg so awsum best movie evarr!!!' and others say 'this movie is crap! F U Michael Bay!'.

(on another note... Michael Bay has managed to teabag millions of people, repeatedly, and at least half of them seem to have enjoyed that... Idiocracy seems all too real - remembering that 'Ass: The Movie' they talked about in that movie)

for another take on Transformers 2 - go check out ~Eidolon-Grey's review in her journal - [link]

It's kind of sad when the movie game Transformers 2: Rise of the Fallen is better than the actual movie. How often do you hear of that happening? I mean, the substance is there, the honorable Optimus is there. The banter between the various Transformers (both friends and foes) is definitely there. You get a better sense of who the characters are, and why they do what they do. They're not just pieces of furniture waiting to be blown up.

blargh...

Sorry for the rant... just thought I'd belch and spew out my !!!



Shout Out's! in no particular order & quite random!


On to the groups!

BIG MASSIVE LOAD OF AN UPDATE!

First of all, thanks to everyone who gave their input about the problems I was having with my website as I was creating it. I've destroyed it, scrapped it, flung it against the wall, rebuilt it, retooled it, re-imagined it, and refrankensteined it into a whole new website, from scratch, from the ground up.

It's much more streamlined, lighter on content, and straight to the point - and most of all, I hope you guys all find it at least amusing and impressive.

Please let me know what you think, and be sure to gaze at the very first page for at least a minute (it's a surprise!) > www.thedarkcloak.com - plus you'll get a lil preview of my first baby steps in digital animation

I'm working towards making a big push with my work this year, and I think it's about time for me to step up my creative game, you know?

Also... again, I have to ask. What kind of entries would you rather see here on DA, and what kind of entries should I put on my 'blog'? On one hand, I want to replicate the same blogs here and there, but on the other hand, I'm not sure which one I should use to spew my personal brain rambles and ideas on. I have lots of concepts and stories I want to tell and talk about, but not sure which avenue would have more tolerance
On the other hand, my blog is generally ignored at the moment, but that's probably due to me having to post on that a bit more, too!

Anyways!

STUFF I'm WORKING ON:
Well, currently I'm working on putting together some initial sequentials for a graphic novel project collaboration with a writer. It's due to be a bit hefty, and will be an interesting challenge, going to try to get it going and gone by the end of the year. More on that as it develops.

I'm also working on and driving a couple of major animation projects, too. I'm doing the majority of the artwork & backgrounds, but luckily I will have a little help and input by ~Eidolon-Grey putting all that together (After Effects FTW!) and tackling these animated projects. I'll likely end up doing a big majority of the voice work and music too... WOOF! Wish I could tell you guys a little more about what they are, but at this stage it'd be a bit premature... However, rest assured you'll start seeing things trickle in here soon enough, and hopefully I'll be able to submit them on DA as film/ animation deviations, too. This stuff will definitely hit YouTube, though.

One of them will be a short run of really short episodes, and the other project is probably going to be a perpetual run of somewhat short episodes, too. I dunno, think TDC meets Adult Swim. lol

Anyone out there have experience doing digital animation?

That reminds me...
Stuff that's been on my mind:

You know... there's something I've been yearning to do for a long time. I really want to be able to either put together or become a part of some kind of creative collective/ studio/ team. What I mean is, a group of creative & like-minded folks, who do and work on all sorts of different things, which we could pool our talents and skills, and work on & launch projects, or even collectively offer our services (kinda like a creative one-stop shop, I guess in many ways!) for outside/ freelance work, or even to use as a front for everyone involved to get work, especially in their respective areas as it comes along. I could see a collective like this being hired for websites, cartoons/ animations, games, comics, concepts, illustration, etc etc - and collaborating together on the same kinds of projects of our own. It'd be all about teamwork fueled by will and passion to make awesome things happen, whilst at the same time keeping each other sharp and practiced in all the things we'd do.

A creative team & resource pool, basically.

What do you guys think of this? How could I go about starting or joining something like this? Is anyone else interested? I've been thinking about this and wanting this for a LONG time, now, but I find myself sometimes hitting a wall, primarily because it's been a bit tough for me to make those kinds of connections, locally even. Do you know anyone who could be interested? Would you be interested in that sort of thing?

Additionally - I'm seriously looking into outfitting and converting my garage into a workshop for sculpting and FX work. Well, it turns out, the previous owner used to work with heavy machinery, sheet metal, and would build his own motorbikes or work on others, so the garage is all set up like a workshop to begin with - and to top it off he did his own welding work in there, so he got it set up with it's own fusebox and amp, too. Heck, there's even an air conditioner built in. I'm thinking of setting up shop in there this summer, and getting it all ready and going for that type of work. The main question I'm facing at the moment is what kind of oven would I actually need in there for baking sculpts and casts? What other tools or hardware should I be looking into? I already have quite a few tools for sculpting and cutting, I'm just wondering what else I would need to move more into that sort of work. I'm also talking to my friend Mark who's got quite a history of FX work under his belt, and he's looking to get back into it (he's more on the make up side of things, I want to collaborate by doing sculpts and casts which he could then use to make appliances from, etc). You can see some of his work here - [link] (and it's kinda funny, but at cons he gets mistaken for "that Tom Savini guy" )

Also, I've been working on a welding mask for a 'Geared-up Zombie Fighter' outfit and artwork concept I've been putting stuff together for. So far, it's looking quite killer. I picked up my first dremel tool a couple of weeks ago, and I'm hooked. I can see why there's whole forum's dedicated to dremel addicts! lol - I just have to put a couple of other pieces together and then start putting together some reference shots for the artwork (and maybe animation) I have in mind.

Hmm... it's been so long I've updated my journal in here... and I have a few game concepts I want to talk about, but I'm not sure if I should spew that stuff in here, or if I should save it for my blog. Whoopdeedoo.

Oh yeah, and I'm thinking of opening up shop for $15 sketch commissions... I want to put some money together so I can pick up Zbrush 3 , as I tried it once, and I really want to get into some serious 3d work with it... Whatja think?

Well... that's enough brain spewings for now, I've rambled on long enough and I'm spent!

Talk to you soon,
With mischief & mayhem,
TDC



Shout Out's! in no particular order & quite random!


On to the groups!

Hey everybody!

Well, first, I'll start with the invitation part.
Not to long ago, I started a blogspot blog (is that redundant?). I haven't done much with it yet, but I will be using it for works in progress, sketches, things like that, that I would rather not spam my DA account with...

Go check it out, here -> [link]

Now for the question, what other kind of stuff do you guys want to see there? Do you want me to post thoughts, rants, introspective babble, general soapbox stuff there? My observations and musings on so called humanity, conversations about conditioning, social institutionalization, art, music, science, whatever the hell and other brain farts to the wind?

Or would you rather I keep that for sketches and keep those rantings here? (Do you guys care for my ranting at all? LOL - shuttup and get back to your corner, Cloak!)

Some input would be great, as I really would like to put the blogspot to use, highlighting resources, sketches, etc...

Ok, now for the 'OMG I CAN HAZ HALP? teh helpz, I needs it!' call for help.

I'm currently working on COMPLETELY DESTROYING and redesigning www.thedarkcloak.com from the ground up. I've already got a design and a template, now it's just a matter of chopping it up, animating a few select slices, and getting the site map layout all set up.

I'm also thinking I will condense it, as at the moment it's become a bit of a sprawling maze of... well... stuff!

Here's the problem: my site layout is going to be pretty static (mostly limited to monitor viewing area, so less scrolling and clutter!), and I want to create  thumbnail galleries on my own background pattern where the thumbnails will pop up the images fullscreen without navigating to another page or creating further clutter on your browser. From what I understand, some of that behaviour is either flash driven, or PHP driven. Unfortunately, me no am familyur wit da PHP, and I'd be mostly creating the website using HTML, Photoshop, Fireworks for my slice ups , and of course, Dreamweaver for my content building. (All CS3, if that helps).

I guess my biggest challenge is keeping my template intact, setting up thumbnails that can dynamically go to next pages and pop up those fancy full sized image views (where it kinda folds open on your screen, and closes automatically when you click the image again). I have looked at some Gallery generators - but they all seem to use their own preset interface and backgrounds, and there doesn't always seem to be control over the size.

WILL DRAW FOR CODE!

Would it help if I showed you guys the design templates I would be slicing up for the site's creation?

Also, for those of you that know my work, and maybe my site, any suggests as to what pages I should keep, or what kind of pages I should keep it limited to? I think I've built my tabs to allow for about 5-6 links!

Speaking of animation - We're working on creating a special series of animation that I'm sure you guys will all enjoy immensely (the idea alone has been driving me nuts for a few months) - besides Flash & Toon Boom, does anyone know of other apps or utilities one can use to create digital cartoons using imported pixel images? Say for example if I created a bunch of body parts for characters, etc, and then wanted to use all those parts for animation? Or if I wanted to layer a bunch of digital artworks done on transparent backgrounds, and then animate them moving over eachother, etc etc?

Well anyway, that's about it. I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me out, point me to some resources where I could 'inject' the right codes into my site build, etc, to get this done!

Thank you very much in advance!!!

Shout Out's! in no particular order & quite random!


On to the groups!

Allright... WATCHMEN.

I originally wrote most of this as a response to [link] - Liam's entry about Watchmen.

If you haven't seen it yet, you might not want to read this, I have not been mindful about tip toeing gently around *SPOILERS* and all that. No, no... I'm more like stomping around like a bull on PCP in some kind of shop full of fragile stuff (which contain aforementioned spoilers).

Now... if you've read the books? Well, I suppose there isn't TOO much I can spoil for you. Anyways...

You'll have to forgive me in advanced if this review/ entry seems rambling and disjointed, I have lots to talk about, but keep having to come back and edit this and add to it amidst interruptions and what not. So it's going to seem like a garbled mess of laggy flow of consciousness. HAH!

I know that there have been mixed feelings about the movie so far... But, I think many of the people that left the cinemas disappointed were the folks who went in expecting a slam bam action saturated flick, which perhaps let lots of the subtext and perspectives the movie delivered get lost in translation.

You know, I think the movie was very smartly done.

First thing I noticed... The movie was crafted, truely crafted, in a respectful and you could tell that great care & thought was put into it's execution. I also liked that things didn't look too dorky, even the 'old school golden age' costumes looked pretty damn cool. The intro montage was fantastic.

The Comedian's death was an ongoing undercurrent of the movie, and there seemed to be more of an impact that could be felt throughout the whole story. I think, sometimes in the book the Comedian's death, and the comedian himself was used as 'PLOTPOINT', and I think he was fleshed out quite nicely in the movie. It almost seems as though, the Comedian's demise, as well as the Comedian himself, was felt throughout the whole movie, both in the real impact it was having, the mystery, etc, but also in that fucked up 'geez he's a fucking sleezeball' kinda way at the same time. Which, given the Comedian's character in and of itself, makes lots of sense. Cause he was a freaking dirty SOB, but at the same time, there was some things to like about him, and he did have some interesting and valid points in his views of the world and humanity. Blah blah, moving on.

The music was chosen really well, too. Which surprised me, cause I was expecting to be mostly annoyed with the idea that they were going to include, you know... actual songs.
For example, when they used 'The Sound of Silence' for the Ed Blake's funeral, that was really really well done, and presented, timed, etc... What with the presence of Dr. Manhattan, and the impending nuclear war, Armageddon, etc... And it actually confused me for a bit, I could not remember if the song had been quoted in the book during those scenes or any point within them. Again, the intro montage with the 'the times they are a'changin'... very well put together.

Rorschach's & his exit: I think it was handled brilliantly in the movie, and in fact I felt it was a scene treated with more heart, as opposed to how it was in the book (I always thought it seemed a bit abrupt and throwaway in the book, which always pissed me off). Rorschach was AWESOME. The 'without his face on' Rorschach was superb as well. He was well cast, and excellently acted. In fact, I think I liked his maskless version more in the movie than I did in the book. And yeah, I always thought Rorschach was 'the batman' of the watchmen, not Night Owl. At least at the heart of the character, the damaged child, the pathos, the cynicism, etc.etc. His intensity was greatly portrayed, and is one I could definitely relate to, especially when it comes to the kinds of infuriating injustice that one sees in the world. I don't think Rorschach is entirely insane, either... I just think he's so passionate about what he believes, and so fucked up by cynicism that it's molded him into the rorschach we see. But at the same time, his eyes are open to the injustices of the world, and it's really pissed him off and broken him in many ways (his intro monologue alone illustrates this very well). Rorschach & his practicality are just awesome, and some of the biggest things I always have loved and enjoyed about the character.

And you know, Dr. Manhattan was done really well, too (that flashback scene depicting his origin was absolutely brilliant).
Also, I don't quite get what's the big deal about him being naked and all that. I didn't think the movie was waving his neon blue member in your face or anything, It was just kinda like 'oh he's naked, whatever'. And that was that. I don't get what the uproar/ offense people are taking at blue penis. It wasn't framed in any way that made it 'oh fer fuck's sake, he's naked, we get it!' or anything like that. It was very matter of fact and not at all important. Though, he COULD wear clothes, I suppose he doesn't bother to do so, because you know... to him, what's the point of wearing all that extra material? Kinda like Einstein and the no-socks story thing, I suppose. And I did appreciate his melancholy and his sadness, as well as his loneliness. It all made sense within the context of the character.

In retrospect, Mia brought up a bunch of great points about how the book's ending was rather stupid and irritating, and how the movie actually improved on it. For example, at the end of the book, Night Owl and Silk just go and screw after all the trauma. Doc Manhattan looks in on them with a 'aaaw, isn't that sweet? Good for her!' type of vibe. WTF? Also, in the book, Rorschach's demise was completely unecessary, and made no sense - considering Ozman had already said that Rorschach could go and disclose everything that had happened, but nobody would believe him anyways since he was just a throwaway kook to begin with, therefore it'd be a waste. But in the movie... well, I think if Rorschach was forced to live 'that lie'... it would've really sent him teetering over the edge and truly wrecked him. In a way, it was more of a mercy killing I suppose (on behalf of Dr. Manhattan). I also like that they gave Manhattan a consciousness about 'popping' Rorschach. In the book, again, it just seemed to not matter at all whatsoever. I also like that they changed it so that Night Owl was there, to witness his 'friends' death - instead of another 'Dan & Laurie go screw' scene. And also his reaction, and mad rush at Ozymandias.

Though I still think it sucks that Rorschach got took out, I'd rather he not. I guess in the end, he had his contingency plan, too (the journal). And if I had it my way, there would be some reason for him not to.

I think the movie was very smartly done, and also the minor tweaks and adjustments were chosen very smartly, as well. I also found it really great how some things (both changed and not) resonated in so many deep and interesting ways, given todays political/ social/ fear-based climate. For example, The whole thing about stupid politics deciding the fate of millions. Like when Nixon and the advisors are talking about nuclear fallout, collateral damage, how it wasn't "too bad"... that really resonated, too - especially, again, given what could be read into it in today's world.

I also think they pulled off a great balancing act, with all of the main characters. Feeding us their various perspectives (which were all 'right' so to speak, albeit perhaps skewed or damaged). From John's totally objective & er... omnipotent (for lack of a better word) detachment - where 'truth' and what 'real' is dictated by atoms and molecules, etc, to the ways the Comedian was right about human nature and derision at it all, to Rorschach's views about just & injust, retribution, truth, etc. Ozymandias's detached 'intelligence and numbers' almost scientific megalomaniacal coldness, down to his approach of 'the ends justify the means'... or 'you can't make an omelette without nuking a few cities'. I think it's really interesting how all these varied ways of seeing the world, despite being conflicting (or not), played off of eachother, yet complemented eachother in the way that they were all, actually quite correct in their observations.

I also liked how Ozymandias's ending was handled better, too. His catatonic trauma at the reality of what he'd brought about (for example when Dan is beating the shit out of him with frustration and rage, but he won't fight back). He ended up broken, and the commentary of 'looking into the faces of all the innocents that he had killed' helped further flesh this out. Him being left there with his conscious was quite appropriate in many ways - though I would not have complained if Dan had sent his head through one of the TV screens and taken him out .

Some people are complaining that 'super heroes aren't supposed to kill people' - in regards to the movie. Well I think that's the whole point of this 'ends justify the means' plot that Veidt carried out. It's very much a what if? And a why not? And seriously? Why not? Ideally... no of course not... but realistically, would they really stick to this 'rule'? And why should they bother?

The other side of the coin to this goes back to that scene with the politicians playing with the fates of millions of lives & innocent people. Politicians who are supposedly put into power to serve the people's best interest. Yet another reflection of a very broken system fueled by bullshit in which people's lives are meaningless in the grand scheme of things (here's looking at you, 9/11 conspiracy theorists!).

It might be blasphemous for me to say - but I do think some, if not most, of the treatments done on the material for the movie were improvements over the 'Well, good show! Everyone smiled and that's a wrap, boys and girls!' rushed end feel of the book.

Don't get me wrong, I did & always have liked & appreciated the ideas, thoughts, observations, and concepts that were presented in the book - but especially now that Mia has pointed lots of this stuff out - I don't know if there were lapses in it's creation, or if deadlines got in the way of fleshing it's weaker points out further (like the ending and other things that did not seem to make sense and seemed very much thrown to the wind like 'whatever').

I'll cut myself off the soapbox now, cause I could go on and on and on.

In short, I liked it and the more I think about it, the more I appreciate it and feel satisfied with it.

What did you guys think? Please, do discuss!

*tosses the soap box out on the floor for whomever would like to claim it next*

Shout Out's! in no particular order & quite random!


On to the groups!

Sooooo... I picked up Street Fighter IV on Thursday (How many journal entries have you read that start off just like that?!) but didn't really get to play it and put it through it's paces until Friday night.

My thoughts? Hmm, well so far, there's a LOT I really like about it, and there's quite a handful I really dislike about it.

It's not a perfect game. There, I said it.
In fact, there are times it just down right SUCKS.
And then there's those other times when it's just down right AWESOME.

So it sucks awesome? AHEM

What I like:
The old school vibe, the fact that all the original characters are back, the old school SFII/ Fighting Street gameplay, the full storyline intros & endings, the Rival Character feature, the loads of game modes and time trial/ challenge/ attack modes. I like the fact that it plays just like SFII/ II Turbo/ II CE Turbo, down to the special moves and even most of the attack animations... REALLY GOOD STUFF.

The arcade feel with the Xbox Live challenge is great, the only thing missing is the stack of quarters on your TV screen.

That new character, Abel is pretty interesting to play as, I'm enjoying learning how to play with him and get into a rythm.

The humor (like El Fuerte who is both amusing and annoying) is nice too.

The art work is both hit & miss. I like how they kinda went for a digitally painted look, I like the lighting effects and tinted shadow effects. Really nice!
The backgrounds are really great, lots of stuff going on in there.

What I don't like so much:
What the HELL is up with the stupid boy band intro music/ theme?!!? They should've just gone with the old school guitar SFII theme remix or something. Wish I could delete that stupid theme song from the disk somehow, cause it blows. The music in general, is pretty hit or miss, and not nearly as memorable or iconic as the music from SFII(etc).

The fighting stick is $160 bucks?!!? WHAT THE FUAAAAaaaa!!!

What the hell is up with C.Viper's hips/ belly/ mid section area? Did she swallow a fucking beach ball? I hope they patch that or something, cause she looks REALLY awkward.

Rufus - WHAT... THE... F-

Oh... and Seth (the new boss) SUCKS. He's soooo fuckin' stupid, he feels out of place, doesn't feel ANYTHING AT ALL like a Street Fighter character, he feels more like he belongs in a Mortal Kombat game, or even KILLER INSTINCT. This character annoys me so damned much, not only is he cheap as shit, with the retarded CPU triggered insta-grabs and insta-shoryukens, not to mention the Yoga-machingun-Teleports spazzing out all over the freakin' place - no no, he just does not seem to fit in the game. It's like all of a sudden, you get thrown into one of the OTHER aforementioned games. I hate Seth (and the idea of Seth) with a seething overbrimming passion. Ok, so he's an android, he's like a SilverSurfer meets learning supercomputer, yeah, I get it. He's supposed to be Cyber-Godlike. What the hell ever. I haven't sworn and stomped at my TV this much in years, and it's not just that he's so cheap and a pain in the ass to beat that infuriates me... it's the mere fact that he exists in this game!!! :rant:

So all in all, I think it's a fun 'reboot' of the Street Fighter thing, and luckily the good & fun outweighs the crappy & stupid.

Oh, and I wasn't sure I was going to like the EX/ Focus/ Super Combos/ Ultra Combos system at first, but once I got the hang of it, it's not too shabby. (although I am reminded of Killer Instinct again here)

Shout Out's! in no particular order & quite random!


On to the groups!

Ghostbustin' that is!

What do you get when you mix COPS + Reno 911 + Ghostbusters?


Ghostbustin' 911 that's what!

Hey gang,
Alright, so check it out! I've been helping the crew over at Ice Park City Productions with their Ghostbustin' 911 site and their first episode is finally online!

Here's the website (revamped, re-protonified, reconstituted, etc by yours truly) - [link]

They've got some neat effects going on, and their gear is top notch.
Their Ectomobile is AWESOME, and looks even better in person.

You'll find vlogs and additional footage, trailers, etc on their youtube account (just click on the YouTube Monster), as well as their MySpace, etc.

And here's the episode - [link]

Go give em' a shout, and tell 'em TDC sentcha!


Shout Out's! in no particular order & quite random!


On to the groups!

Otherwise known as Friday the 13th parts 1 - 3 combo remake/ Friday the 13th Reboot.

Saw it last week, but figured a 'review' of it is a bit long overdue.

You know... I came out of there with mixed feelings. Good in general, but still mixed.

It really threw me off, how the whole weed thing kept getting re-emphasized. I understand they wanted to give the fodder, er, I mean characters a REASON to go there in the first place, but the way they executed the whole 'legendary weed patch' thing was kinda poor. They almost made it seem like Jason was a grumpy & psychotic weed plantation dude, hell bent on protecting his stash & crop. I'm reaaaally glad that about halfway they got away from that, and it became clear that it was just good ol' Jason being motivated by being a big brutal killing machine.

I didn't like the 'cooking in the sleeping bag' kill, tho. I thought that was a bit out of character, just didn't seem right. I'd rather they had homaged the 'sleeping bag against the tree' kill, THAT was killer. Also, the hick dude's death seemed kinda pointless and thrown in (again, hick dude went for weed, & this gave the impression that he was paying the price for messing with the Big J's marijuana stash).

I think Derek Mears was pretty good, though I found his wardrobe to be a bit distracting (White wifebeater looking shirt? Why not a darker color, gray or blue or even forest green at least?) Also there was a couple of shots where the coat was hugging his waist a bit much, and it almost looked like he was wearing a short trenchcoat with a belt on, being all fashionable, it was only for a sec, but it threw me off. I like my Jason Vorhees big brawny and brutal.

On the flipside, the scene in the shed where he's just barreling through shit, walking through the shelves and muscling his way out, THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME. That really sold me on it, that this was Jason freakin' Vorhees.

*SMALL SEMI-SPOILER AHEAD*
I did get a bit worried near the end, though. I was like, oh great, killing him off already?!!? But I'm glad that's not exactly how it happened. The 'say hello to your mother... IN HELL!' lil Jason goes to hell spoof was great.

Again, after that, I got worried that 'oh and then he sinks and they live happily ever after'... and then... well you know. That gave me the maniacal knowing giggles. (but damn, he put that mask on HELLA FAST!)
***SPOILER ALERT OVER***

I think for a reboot, it was good, and I really like & can appreciate how they pretty much repackaged the first 3 films.

Oh oh, and also...
I felt the deaths shoulda been a bit more creative. Some of them were boring and throwaway (like the screwdriver). And what was up with the sleeping bag kill? Seemed too out of character. WTF was he doing sitting there watching, was he roasting marshmallows too?

The fireplace skewer was cool though, that felt appropriate, same with the dock/ girl in water kill. Antlers was good, axe to the back to the front was good also. Crunchy.

Heh, I hope they do the 'crush head eyeball pop' kill from F13th pIII again in one of these.

I'm just reaaaaaally glad they didn't go the 'gore porn' Hostel route with this movie. (I am of the opinion that Hostel sucks... and that John Doe from Se7en could kick stupid head Jigsaw's garbled ass any day, or at least out perform him with in the clever but diabolical modus operandi department).

Now, I'm really hoping that if there's another one (is it true there's supposed to be 2?) that they start going the 'undead & unstoppable huge brute' route, but doing it RIGHT. I think, most Jason/ Ft13th fans kinda glean all the best bits of the lore from all the flicks to build up the best version of Jason that we can - I'm actually really hopeful that these guys will use all that to truly revitalize and realise the character & series.

And the whole pretty people thing gets a bit old (wtf was with the one chick at the beginning's boobery? It was like she had 2 giant M&M's duct taped to her ribs!). Give me Joe Everyday Schmoe and the 'real' looking girls instead. Which is actually something I really appreciated about 'Hatchet' (which btw, have you seen that?). I hope they do more 'normal' people in the following Ft13th films.

Oddly enough... it almost seems like they took a big chunk of the formula from Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon for lots of the way the movie was set up... But I suppose, Leslie Vernon did the same when it came to the rules of the 'industry'. (By the way, if you haven't seen BTM:TROLV - I highly recommend you do... NOW!)

Anyway...

And I'd like you to see it...

This Harry Potter adventure seems like it's due to be really something on the big screen. Hopefully, they will make it much better than the book overall, as teen angst riddled whiny Potter really made me wanna smack him. Guess we'll see though, right?

That orphanage that Tom Riddle was staying at must've been pretty creepy to sleep in, can you imagine? Also, I'm not quite sure what's going on with the steampunk look to the wands though. It's almost like they're some kind of wireless devices or some crap.

I'm trying to figure out who all the characters are in that big scene in one of the clips... Hmm...

And wow... the creatures in that movie are going to be MESSED UP!

[link]

Go watch it... and when it's done... go tell aaaaaall your pals about it And, damn, doesn't Voldemort look REALLY HAPPY!

Shout Out's! in no particular order & quite random!


On to the groups!


PS. Yeah, Yeah, I know... my bad, but I couldn't see that anyone else had made this yet - and it was desperately begging to be created!!!

MAAAAAAAAaaaan. There is some NASTY nasty stuff going around. I've been neck deep in fixing PC's at our office, and also here at home.
Vundo & Zlob viruses, as well as some Seneka worms and some DJJuan crap that was infesting a couple of PC's at work. (techy guy is just one of a few hats I wear at the day gig, )

Unfortunately, one of my PC's here at the house has died completely, but it's on the hardware side of things, and I'm kind of stuck!

It's a Dell XPS 400. It started with B.S.O.D. (0x00000024) upon start up, some kind of conflict with the hard drive.
I suspect this happened when I ran Daemon Tools to run a 'virtual drive' back up of an old game I wanted to play. The game crashed, and I think what happened to lock the system up in blue screen was that the defragging service was stubbornly looking for these non-existant drives when I rebooted. I was able to enter the bios screen, etc, and tried starting in safe mode (w & w/o networking, and CMD mode) to no avail.

I tried doing a 'restart with last known working good configuration', etc, but still got B.S.O.D'd. On all these attempts, it always crashed before even getting to the desktop screen. Also, I think I'm in the unlucky batch of people that didn't get a recovery disk packaged in with my PC, so I've contacted them and put in a request for a boot disk (Windows XP Media Center Ed.).

But it also gets worse!!!

Now it won't even turn on anymore! (no power, but the LED on the MOBO still turns on, so does the ethernet cable plug)
I took the whole thing apart, and even reseated the Processor, plugging and unplugging as I went along, holding the power button down, etc.
Until I eventually plugged everything back in again, except I left out the 2nd slave HDD, but still no dice.

As far as I can tell, I've narrowed it down to possibly one of 3 things (besides the issue with the harddrive conflict)
power switch or power switch cable
power supply
motherboard

I don't know what to do, but I've been working on it all day yesterday, and all day today, and still nothing.

Any ideas? I am on an extremely tight budget, so I can't just willy nilly jump on to an Alienware or Blackhawk gaming monster rig, and I sure as hell don't want to pay Geek Squad out the nose!

The alternative is just buying another barebones machine from Tiger, plugging in this drive as a secondary, pulling everything I need from it and then just formatting the thing as an extra drive.

These are kind of what I'm looking at (and yeah, looks like I would have to buy a copy of Windows XP, and a cooling unit for these).

[link]
[link]

Or if you have some PC suggestions, please do link me.
I would be looking for something with a minimum of 6 USB ports, 4 memory slots (on a mobo that supports at LEAST 4GB of ram or more), AMD or Intel is fine, on the faster end of things (higher than 2.1ghz ideally) and a decent sound card.

I would likely just end up Frankensteining all the extra gear, memory, disk drives, etc, off of the currently dead PC. What do you think?

The choices between repairing the XPS, or buying another machine seem to each have their own hefty pros & cons, too. blargh.

AAaaaaaaah!

We are the clouds that veil the midnight moon;
     How restlessly they speed, and gleam, and quiver,
Streaking the darkness radiantly!--yet soon
     Night closes round, and they are lost forever:

Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings
     Give various response to each varying blast,
To whose frail frame no second motion brings
     One mood or modulation like the last.

We rest.--A dream has power to poison sleep;
     We rise.--One wandering thought pollutes the day;
We feel, conceive or reason, laugh or weep;
     Embrace fond foe, or cast our cares away:

It is the same!--For, be it joy or sorrow,
     The path of its departure still is free:
Man's yesterday may ne'er be like his morrow;
     Nought may endure but Mutability.

- Percy Bysshe Shelley
as read also in 'Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein'.



Shout Out's! in no particular order & somewhat random!


On to the groups!

Otherwise known as 'this amuses cloak because he's such an unprofessional ass'

So, you know how it goes with those emails, right? I'm sure you guys have gotten these emails from the Nigerian/Russian/Martian/Hillbilly/French/etc/419 scammers before, where they say they have millions of dollars and that some wealthy schmoe somewhere died in a plane crash, and they want to give you a cut of the inheritance, because they work at a high end financial institution, and so forth blah blah blah...

I have a hobby around this: sometimes if these emails catch me in a particularly vindictive mood, I'll have fun with them.

The following is one of those times, you can just skim loosely over the italicized part, you pretty much get the idea. That's just the email from the scammer, but my reply is the text afterwards. Enjoy!

PS. does anyone know how to shrink text in journals?

Subject: THE SENIOR AUDITOR INCHARGE

FROM THE DESK OF MR.NANGA SAAR,
THE SENIOR AUDITOR INCHARGE
FORIEGN REMITTANCE UNIT,
CENTRAL BANK OF AFRICA (B0A)
GUINEE CONAKRY .

DEAR FRIEND,

I PRESUMED THAT ALL IS WELL WITH YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.PLEASE LET THIS NOT BE A SURPRISED MESSAGE TO YOU BECAUSE I GOT YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION FROM THE INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY FEW WEEKS AGO BEFORE I DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU ON THIS MAGNITUDE AND LUCRATIVE TRANSACTION FOR OUR PRESENT AND FUTURE SURVIVAL IN LIFE. MOREOVER,I HAVE LAID ALL THE SOLEMN TRUST IN YOU BEFORE I DECIDED TO DISCLOSE THIS SUCCSSFUL AND CONFIDENTIAL TRANSACTION TO YOU.

I AM THE SENIOR AUDITOR INCHARGE OF FORIEGN REMITTANCE UNIT OF OUR BANK AND I DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU FOR THIS FINANCIAL TRANSACTION WORTH FOURTEEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND US DOLLARS (14.5M) FOR OUR PRESENT AND FUTURE SUCCESS. THIS IS AN ABANDONED FUND THAT BELONGS TO ONE OF OUR BANK FORIEGN CUSTOMERS WHO DIED ALONG WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY THROUGH PLANE CRASH FEW YEARS AGO.

MEANWHILE,I WAS VERY FORTUNATE TO COME ACCROSS THE DECEASED FILE WHEN I WAS ARRANGING THE OLD AND ABANDONED CUSTOMERS FILE IN OTHER TO SIGN AND SUBMIT TO THE ENTIRE BANK MANAGEMENT FOR AN OFFICIAL RE DOCUMENTATION AND AUDIT OF THE YEAR AGAINST 2007.

INFORMED CLEARLY THAT IT WAS STATED IN OUR FORIEGN BANKING RULES AND REGULATIONS WHICH WAS SIGNED LAWFULLY THAT IF SUCH FUND REMAINS UNCLAIMED TILL THE PERIOD OF EIGHT YEARS STARTED FROM THE DATE THE BENEFICIARY DIED, THE MONEY WILL BE TRANSFERRED INTO THE TREASURY AS UNCLAIMED FUNDHOWEVER, IT IS NOT AUTHORIZES BY THE RULES GUIDING OUR BANK FOR A CITIZEN OF GUINEE CONAKRY TO MAKE THE CLAIM OF THE FUND UNLESS YOU ARE A FORIEGNER NO MATTER THE COUNTRY.

SO THE REQUEST OF YOU AS A FORIEGNER IS NECESSARY TO APPLY FOR THE CLAIM AND TRANSFER OF THE FUND SMOOTHLY INTO YOUR RELIABLE BANK ACCOUNT AS THE NEXT OF KIN TO THE DECEASED.WHEN THE FUND IS TRANSFERRED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT 35% WILL BE FOR YOU IN RESPECT OF ALL YOUR ASSISTANCE FOR THE TRANSFER OF THE FUND INTO YOUR ACCOUNT AND PROVISION OF THE BANK ACCOUNT WHERE THE BANK WILL REMIT THE FUND, 60% WILL BE FOR ME BEING THE PIONEER OF THE BUSINESS WHILE THE REST 5% WILL BE SHARED TO RESPECTABLE ORGANISATIONS SUCH
AS CHARITY AND THE DESTITUDES HOMES AROUND US IN THE WORLD.

IF YOU ARE REALLY SURE OF YOUR TRUSTWORTHINESS,ACCOUNTABILITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY ON THIS TRANSACTION, CONTACT ME AND ACCEPT NOT TO CHANGE YOUR MIND TO CHEAT OR DISAPPOINT ME WHEN THE FUND IS TRANSFERRED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT REPLY FOR THE ASSURANCE WITH YOUR TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBERS TO FACILITATE EASY COMMUNICATION.

AS SOON AS YOU REPLY, YOU NOTIFY ME SO THAT I WILL LET YOU KNOW THE NEXT STEP AND PROCEDURE TO FOLLOW IN ORDER TO FINALIZE THIS TRANSACTION SUCCESSFULLY.

I EXPECT YOUR URGENT COMMUNICATION.
YOURS SINCERELY,
MR.NANGA SAAR

AND MY REPLY...

Hello Mr. Nanga Saar.

I hope you regret terribly, that you actually presume wrong. And this is in fact, quite a 'surprised' message for me to receive at these dire times. Thank you regardless, for contacting me at this magnitude, latitude, longitude, with your wildly ambitious lucrative fabrications.
So please, allow me to kindly dispose of some of your allocated time, and enlighten you with a much well deserved response.

Everyone in my family have been launched into orbit and placed in a lunar colony, as part of a harrowing test being performed for research purposes, for the introduction of humanity into the rest of the solar system. However, I hear there are some conflicts occurring with a certain Dr. Smith, who seems to have interests of his own. And then there is the Robinsons whose work is extremely vital to the project. William, especially, with his artificially intelligent mechanical companion, and the rock specimens they acquire during their surveys - research, you understand, that is of the utmost importance. I just hope they never become lost in space, for if they do, that would certainly mean the demise of the rest of us down here on this pretty blue Earth.

I know of the plane crash you are speaking of. From what I have surmised from the evidence the scientific response team brought back, it appears that everyone on board had become tainted by a tissue replicating microscopic creature or virus, that seems to have been thawed out from the Antarctic bio-research lab. One of my colleagues, R.J. MacReady, happened to be stationed there, but the facility was apparently destroyed. As far as we know, everyone on the flight you are speaking of was no longer human. In fact, they were all replicated creatures, now hosts to this peculiar 'Thing' parasite, which was attempting to reach the mainland, to replicate itself and become a new dominant species. Unfortunately, we have not heard back from the Biological Response team, or S.T.A.R.S. And I certainly hope that they have not fallen prey to the Nemesis Project.

I'm sure that the Resident 'Destitudes' you mention would see no Evil in that much funding going to such a charitable good cause. That is to say, I know that such a generous and overwhelming amount of money will be easy for you to ingest as it is quite understandably intangible. However, I also don't know if this will help the good citizens of Raccoon City, because of the aforementioned blight with the tissue replicating parasite, and what the widely known mega-corporation, Umbrella, decided to do with that location. It is also suspected that the large international banking and finance franchises have already become hosts to the 'Thing' virus. The John Carpenter Financial Insitution in Little China for example, as reported by Michael Myers in the popular news pamphlet - The Shape, has been plagued with reports of employees no longer behaving like themselves, and being prone to mimicking others' behaviour patterns. I'm sure you can begin to understand how this is an inconvenience.

Also, Mr. Nanga Saar, how am I to be sure that you have not fallen prey to the 'Thing' parasite yourself, and you are in fact just an alien impostor, that has replicated the real Nanga, and is now running a whole coven of hosts, bent on spreading their affliction? Perhaps you have lobster claws coming out of your wrists, and a swarm of tentacles bursting forth from your nostrils. What will happen then?

This is most unreasonable, and I am appalled that you have not even bothered to speak about Robert Paulson. His name was Robert Paulson. Do you understand? His name was Robert Paulson. Please be aware of this in future, or the integrity of your humanity will remain subject to further scrutiny. Unless I am only telling you this, because I myself, am one of them? THEY LIVE... Mr. Nanga Saar. Oh yes, they live, but for the right price, I perhaps could be willing to send you a proper occular apparatus so that you may be able to differentiate between who remains biologically intact, and who is not to be trusted, in a quantifiable manner!

I expect you to implode and for your socks to become wildly carnivorous with a voracious appetite, as you desperately try to respond urgently to this communication.
Kind regards,

Lovecraft Cthulhu

PS. Your usage of caps lock, and unfamiliarity with caps lock etiquette also raises to question if you are a pod person, or 'Thing' host. Just thought I would point this out.



Is it me? or do people enjoy making me grumpy around the holidays?

Another dose of healthy sarcasm from this journal... straight to your heart (a little Fallout 3 reference for you there).

UPDATE

Well, it looks like the most obvious stolen artwork has been removed from Omnibum's Zazzle shop ... However, I just wanted to share with you (since it was posted in public, anyways) a cute little tidbit that occurred, once I posted my own product (with my artwork, as you do - crazy, I know).

Lord_Omnibus said 9 hours ago

ok first off i didn't know the design was yours , 2nd all u had to do was ask i would remove it, which i did, and 3rd u bashing me on deviant is bullshit :eatshit:, since i never knew the art was yours ... so i apologize for the use of your art, and srry u could not handle this in a professional way instead of being an ass .



Here's a screenshot, just so you know I'm not making this up - [link]

So, here's a wise word to all you ruthless and mercyless artists out there. Take heed, lest you be black of heart and uneducated on copyright like so many an uninformed troglodyte philistine:

It is completely unprofessional - AND unreasonable, mind you - to defend your artwork from folks who would take it without prior authorization or permission to make money off your work . I mean, HOW DARE YOU?! We have to learn to respect these professional rippers who often times have no idea, that the artwork they are stealing is NOT THEIRS. I know, I KNOW! See, he never knew the art was mine (even though the website is RIGHT ON IT), and I'm sure he didn't know that Bryan Baughs artwork belonged to Bryan, or that Noistars artwork *GASP* belongs to Noistar... because it was just there.

"But gee, Mr. Cloak ," you say, "if they didn't make it themselves, should they not know it's not THEIRS because they didn't make it?" Ah, Timmy! Don't be so naive!

The artwork 'was asking for it, it should not have dressed that way, and flirted the way it did with me, teasing & coaxing me into taking it - because that's exactly what it wanted, and it knows it!' - because it was just 'there', and oh so obviously available! Folks, I think what we're missing here, is that the hardworking rippers, such as Omnibum, and others like him, are the real VICTIMS!

Somewhere in all of this, there's a valuable lesson to be learned: perhaps it's that we need to learn how to have pity for these poor rippers who are only trying to make a quick buck on artwork that CLEARLY deserved to be stolen.

So please... Think of the downtrodden, less fortunate rippers - such as Omnibum, and others like him. *insert slow motion black and white video of depressed looking internet surfer, with a melancholy tear rolling down his cheek. The camera zooming in so we can watch it fall off, flipping and twirling, sparkling in the dim sunlight peeking through the slivers in the shut blinds, before plopping & bursting with a deafening crash upon a keyboard ridden with faded letters and the stains of time.*

Next time you see or create an inspiring piece of art, think of the rippers, and the distress they must feel as they lay eyes upon said artworks, violating their right to infringe on copyright, by having the AUDACITY to claim that what you create (or own for that matter) is not to be used for their personal monetary gain without prior authorization!


PS. Yes, this journal is just SOAKED with copious GOBS and OODLES of sarcasm.



--------------PREVIOUSLY... ON TDC DA---------------

Ok... it's bad if you rip artwork off, but it's even WORSE if you do it THIS BADLY - [link]

It's a rip off of the classic - Got Brain? [link]

BUT... on the flipside, this is even further incentive for me to create a Zazzle account! Updates on that as it develops.

I guess one could also look at it this way - they did such a crappy job ripping it off, I'd be amazed to hear if ANYBODY purchased that, and if the guy bought it for himself then that just serves him right, doesn't it?

Oh, and here's the culprit's shop - Lord Omnibus, eh? More like... Lord OmniBUSTED haw haw! [link] - Hmm... looks like I'm not the only one Lame Omnibuster ripped off here. Does anybody recognize the other art?

THE NERVE!
----------------------------------------------------

Shout Out's! in no particular order & somewhat random!


On to the groups!

Yep. It's coming down, alright!

On the flipside... what would you guys n' gals like to talk about? Hmm? Let's make with the conversing, shall we?

A reaaal journal update to follow soon. Just needed to make a little room here.

Shout Out's! in no particular order & somewhat random!


On to the groups!

"Schmoey's - Because you die just a little more... every minute of the day!"

So, yeap. Today is my birthday again. Again!?!?

Anyways, I have some new treats for everybody to gawk at that I will be posting up in a little while.

Did the Crypticon thing this past weekend, and I'm still recovering from that! We had a booth there, selling art prints of the Zombie Zodiac or [link] , and the other little surprise I'll be putting up here later, and a bunch of other artwork prints and Mia did some readings as well. Overall it seemed to go pretty decent like.

Crypticon was an awesome experience however, and I really hope they do it again next year.

Crypticon - [link]

Doug Jones is just AWESOME (Silver Surfer, Abe Sapien, Death, Pan, etc). And he gives the best hugs this side of Abe Sapien, too. He's just a really beautiful being that just blinds you with kindness and his big heart, and he was a blast to meet & joke around with. Needless to say, the dude left a huge impression on me and that doesn't happen often. It was a treat to be able to spend some time with him.

John Kassir aka the Cryptkeeper (Tales from the Crypt), another awesome fella, very nice chap, very witty and great to talk to as well. There's nothing like hearing the Cryptkeeper talking about your art, (I did a Cryptkeeper sketch for him, and gave it to him with the catch of hearing how the Crypty would react to it) too.

Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes, original)is another amazing person to meet. The Hunter of Hunters (inside story about that) The guy is all heart, and it's great to see people like him involved in the kinds of things he is involved in (animal rescue especially). It was an honor to have our stall right next to his and hear all his stories and share our interests (Mia got to spend more time with him and helping him with things than I did, tho).

And then there's James Duval - aka Jimmy!!! VERY fun guy. He was our other booth neighbor, and a real energetic dynamo. As long as the coffee was in steady supply.

Other than that, met lots of other interesting and fun people, like the folks from Transylvania-TV (look it up, it's awesome fun), LittleSalem.com (shouts out to Jeff and mega-kudos for the killer Zombie get-up), and the Zombie Ammo crew www.zombieammo.com go check em out!

:blah:

Blah blah blah, anyways lots of stories about Crypticon, ask me about it sometime or something.

I warned you...

But you didn't listen, did you? You ignored the symptoms.
The signs all pointed to the obvious. And now they're likely looking for a way to get you... Unless, of course, you too are infected?

Did you ever look up at the stars at night? Did you ever wonder what would happen if the heavens fell?

I think they just did. - [link] The ZOMBIE ZODIAC - because "You Can't Predict Everything".

Which one is yours? Go now and find out the full story of how all of our zodiac signs came to be, read your predictions and much much more...

Are you a survivor...
...or a zombie?

Exclusive art that isn't anywhere else, with loads more features and updates on the way!!!

IF YOU ARE:
Aquarius - [link]
Pisces - [link]
Aries - [link]
Taurus - [link]
Gemini - [link]
Cancer - [link]
Leo - [link]
Virgo - [link]
Libra - [link]
Scorpio - [link]
Sagittarius - [link]
Capricorn - [link]


This has been a very exciting project to work on! Hope you enjoy how your sign is portrayed.

Shout Out's! in no particular order & somewhat random!


Da clubs, yo!


I forgot what else I'm in... damn this not having a subscription crap.

George Carlin has died... First Stan Winston, and now George, too...

"Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck."

"If I had my choice of how to die, I would like to be sitting on the crosstown bus and suddenly burst into flames."

"Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time."

"I'm always relieved when someone is delivering a eulogy and I realize I'm listening to it."

- George Carlin,  

[link]

[link]

[link]

[link]

I'm just like WTF...

Who's going next week? Don't bad things come in 3's?

[link]



Well, at least we can count on this:

"I don't have any beliefs or allegiances. I don't believe in this country, I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't believe in all these man-made institutional ideas," he told Reuters in a 2001 interview.

Carlin told Playboy in 2005 that he looked forward to an afterlife where he could watch the decline of civilization on a "heavenly CNN."

"The world is a big theater-in-the round as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love to watch it spin itself into oblivion," he said. "Tune in and watch the human adventure."

George wouldn't have wanted to RIP.

I like to think that he's somewhere causing trouble now, or watching us all going 'oh give it a rest already people!'

Or maybe he's having a sit down with 'god'. I bet that would be interesting...

Who knows what else Death has up it's shrouded wraith-like sleeve.

Maybe we should start a betting pool.

Maybe it'll be Stan Lee, or Hulk Hogan. Arnold?
Spielberg. Lucas? Aaaaaaaugh...

Well... enjoy the show of our demise, George.

Wherever you are, give em hell. Unless for some crazy reason you end up in hell, then in that case, then give em heaven!!!



Well, here's a last bit of irony George has given us. He DID say Sunday would be a good day to die... [link]


Shout Out's! in no particular order & somewhat random!


Da clubs, yo!


I forgot what else I'm in... damn this not having a subscription crap.

[link]



It sucks...

I just hope the Stan Winston Studios/ effect houses can keep up the level of quality without the man himself being involved...

This is really sad...

The man that brought to life and made believable so many iconic creatures & characters including:

The Terminator
Predator
Aliens & Alien Queen
Edward Scissorhands
The Penguin
Pumpkinhead
the 'decomposing death' Lestat from Interview with a Vampire

and SO MANY other projects he had his creative genius applied to... including Iron Man & the recent Indiana Jones flicks...

Obviously a major influence and inspiration... RIP Stan.