| Dusting off the Journal |
[19 Feb 2006|11:43pm] |
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Returning from a rather long respite, I find that not much has changed besides the vast majority of my life. Here's the short version: became a full-time film student, joined a fraternity, started looking a lot like a viking (or a guy from Medieval Times), met a lot of people, did some soul searching, and enrolled in a full-credit college course in Comics as Literature.
Now that that's settled, I'm going to start talking about the comic. I like the direction the comic is going, visually anyway. All that means is that I admit that the drawings are looking less and less like crap. Story-wise, however, I'm beginning to feel concern over my overall message. When I started the comic, I decided that I would try to end each page with a joke whenever possible, but humor was only going to be one of my guiding principles. The other was, of course, violence. I mean top-quality shake-hands-with-your-own-intestines violence. In truth, I don't think I've been giving you nearly enough, but you can expect that to change.
P.S.
Anyone offended by violence, don't worry. I have no intention of showing anything graphic, unless of course it's sex. Oh, yeah.
P.P.S
Of course I'm kidding. No graphic sex, that goes against my principles. Child sacrifice on the other hand...
P.P.P.S
You shouldn't even have to read this one. Learn to take a joke, people.
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| In the Bag Poll - Puppy |
[20 Aug 2005|02:34pm] |
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By commenting to this, you cast a vote for the puppy to be in the sack.
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| Looks Sort of Familiar, Doesn't It? |
[03 Jun 2005|04:40pm] |
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mood |
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 hot |
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music |
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Ramstein - FEUER FREI! |
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Anyone who's been to my site recently has already seen my new avatar. The question is, what do you think of it? I've already had a rave review from my Scandinavian fanbase, also known as Gillsing, but I'd like to hear from the rest of you. Especially if you don't like it. Tell me why. Just keep in mind, pyrokinesis.
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| Clearing up the Business of Old Lady |
[25 May 2005|06:10pm] |
I do have to apologize for my lack of apologys at my last update. It was less than stellar, especially after I made you wait so long. The only real explaination I have is that I was working on a job as a graphic designer. My site was supposed to be my portfolio, and I'd rather have my black and white manga attempt at the forefront. Lousy excuse, but hey, that's what I'm all about.
As for the title of this entry, a friend of mine thought the old lady in my last page didn't talk like a peasant. I agree, but since I can't allow any plot holes in my masterpiece(ha, and again I say ha), I'll do my best to give you an explaination. The old lady, we'll call her Maureen, lives in a village in the Milar Woodlands. Chances are, if you live in Milar you're either a noble or you work for nobles. Maureen, before she married, had lived as a tutor for the children of the Sinclair family, where she taught reading, writing, and proper speech. She speaks normally at home, but in formal situation, like dealing with a stranger that saved her life, she slips into more graceful language. That's my story. I doubt any of you cared, but this was really more for my benefit.
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| I Really Hate to Do This |
[05 May 2005|10:53pm] |
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mood |
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force dominated |
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music |
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John Williams-Imperial March |
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I don't like the idea of quizing for quizing's sake, but this one had some interesting answers. Besides, I'll do another post when I update the comic.
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| Responsible Parties |
[21 Apr 2005|03:21pm] |
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mood |
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anticipating |
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music |
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Foo Fighters - Best of You |
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The concept of responsibility, to me, has profound depth. I'm responsible for the maintenance of my home, my grades, and several locales on the web. The problem: I'm responsible for all of them at the same time. I'm doing my best not to let my studies slide while simultaneously providing you with comics that are both comedic and violent. And sometimes, I take responsibilities in areas that make no sense at all. Video games, for example. I am the pround order of a limited edition copy of Bioware's Jade Empire. It's still in the shrink wrap. Why? I haven't finished Knights of the Old Republic II yet. The sequal KOTOR isn't even as good as the original, and I'm 106% sure it's way behind JE in every conceivable area. I'm going to finish that game. It's a matter of honor.
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| Self Improvement |
[10 Apr 2005|06:26pm] |
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vaguely lost |
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music |
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Yoko Kanno & the Seatbelts - Tank! |
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I can't play bass guitar. I own an electric bass guitar w/ amplifier. I can't play bass guitar. I own several videos that instruct in the ways of the bass guitar, a family of South Africans who could teach me bass guitar, and a father who has offered many times to teach me how to play bass guitar. I cannot play bass guitar. What does this say about me? I've done other things with my life. Good things, if not great things. And yet, even if I succeed in everything I do from now until the end of my life, I'll always regret it if I never learn how to play that stupid mass of wire and fiberglass. Does that mean I'm going to pick up that git-box and start fiddlin' 'til I make it sing? You bet your ass I ain't.
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| Mascara, Oh! |
[20 Feb 2005|08:11pm] |
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mood |
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what the #@%&?!? |
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rimshot |
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With a title like that, you know it has to be time for another pointless page of my stand-up comedy.
I was at the movies a little while ago. Any time you're early, even five minutes early, you have to sit through those commercial slides. About seven slides shown about 10,000 times each. I don't even think this qualifies as advertisement anymore. I know it has the exact opposite effect on me. I automatically start to despise anything I see. I once saw an anti-drug add in a movie theater, I felt like running around a catholic elementary school passing out gin and vicodin cocktails. The only thing those commercials are good for: if your friend goes out for popcorn or something, you can memorize those stupid quizzes and pretend to be the smartest man alive.
So I was at the movies, sitting through those slides and something interesting happened. The slide had a giant, soft-focus photo of a mascara brush. Big, white letters read: "MASCARA."
...
That's it. That's all. No brand name. No department store selling it. Just "MASCARA." Now, I'm no advertising genius by any stretch of the imagination, but I think this takes the teaser campaign a little too far. Or was it just for mascara in general? Who would pay for that? I can just imagine some old fat ad exec smoking a cigar. He passes by some woman she's crying. He stops.
"WHAT?!? That woman is crying, but her eyelashes don't look like they're melting. Could it be that, [gasp] she's not wearing mascara? I must restore order to the universe, I must promote mascara!"
At this point, I'd probably segue to some other bit about advertising. I'm kind of curious whether any of this is funny or not. What do you think?
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| When I'm 6 feet Below |
[14 Feb 2005|09:24am] |
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mood |
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morbid |
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Nirvana - Lake of Fire |
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This Saturday, I attended my very first funeral. As you'd probably expect, it was for a grandparent, my grandmother Mary Davis. At times like these, they say its important to get a little perspective. At least you're still breathing (whether what your breathing is oxygen or not is currently under investigation by the EPA). You're supposed to see life as something precious, fragile. You could get hit by a bus tomorrow, even in your own living room if there's enough alcohol involved. For the most part, I took it as a learning experience. I learned my grandmother was originally from Iowa. I learned that Catholics have scripted responses for darn near everything the priest says. I mean I'm used to the occasional "amen," but this is just about every sentence and there are so many different ways to answer. "And also with you," "Thanks be to God," other phrases that were way too fast for me to catch. And just about everybody in the church knew them by heart, and everybody said them in unison in that low churchy voice. When you're not saying it, when you're just listening, it starts to get a little creepy. Children of the Damned speak type of stuff.
Inevitably, I started thinking about my own funeral. Who'd show up? Who'd do the talking? That doesn't matter much, so long as there's a few people. Really, what matters is that the people laugh more than they cry. If I have some notice, incurable disease or something, I'd like to make a video to be shown on a big overhead projector. I'd write up some new material. Probably ask to look in the casket, then make a crack about the make-up they put on me. Either that or I'd have a closed-casket ceremony, ask them to turn the thing around and show me, then scream histerically that they'd mixed up the coffins or something. I'd just want to let my friends and family know I don't need anybody crying over me. Not now, not when I'm 6 feet below.
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| The Hidden Costs of Dealing Death with Big Sticks |
[27 Jan 2005|10:45pm] |
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mood |
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broke |
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Blind Melon - No Rain |
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Like most people in my situation, I'm having some money issues. My insurance payments cost more than my car payments. I'm neck deep in college, so it's almost impossible to find a decent job, especially with the added duty of entertaining you lot with full color comics just about every week. That said, I've recently become involved in martial arts. I take classes three to four times per week including one private course. For a little less than a month now, I've been eligible for weapons training. Needless to say, the idea of learning staff/spear fighting qualified as the single most badass period of my life to date (even when compared to periods of center tossing competitions during football practice and the impulse purchase of a genuine battle-axe at a local swap meet). When I asked my instructor when I could begin training, he told me I needed to add a second private class in order to learn a weapon in addition to the normal material. I asked him what the second class would cost. He said it would be the same, minus 10%. I thought for a moment. I asked him if he really meant I'd be paying almost twice what I was struggling to pay now. I pretty much zoned out when he started rattling off the price list he memorized. At least I think he memorized it. Long story short, It's going to be some time before I start attacking people with a pointed stick.
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| Changing of the Guard |
[16 Jan 2005|11:57pm] |
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mood |
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colorized |
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Lynard Skynard - Freebird |
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Recently, I looked over at my little picture icon. I saw a months old pencil drawing with a downcast face and a mutant nose. A revamp was definitely in order. This was something I've been putting off for so long, and it barely took me more than an hour. Granted, I had to completely gut the face of all structure, style, and expression and start from scratch, but I still have no idea why I waited so long to do it. Of course, now I have to live with the knowledge that I have made something that's only a few scars away from being a Bishonen.
P.S. Once again, this is not a self portrait. Nor is it something inspired by an image of a dream of my implied likeness. It's just the character I named the journal after.
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| Really Reaching for Ideas Here |
[26 Dec 2004|11:08pm] |
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mood |
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grateful |
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Anything Coming Outta My New iPod, Baby |
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So, here I am. For anyone who checks this journal before checking my website, I tried my hand at yet another "Flunking With...", this time with one of my favorite cartoons. I'm starting to enjoy doing this, so I thought I'd ask you nice people if you had any thoughts on what you'd like to see me mess with. Wait, let me clarify something. Just because I want to do more of this, doesn't mean I'm going to stop updating the story. I'm really trying my best to get back into storyteller mode, so this should be the last filler* for awhile.
*Unless I do a New Year's Filler
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| Keeping Up |
[19 Dec 2004|08:58pm] |
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Weird Al - "Party at the Leper Colony" |
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This whole journal business has turned into just another thing for me to neglect, hasn't it? I hope that'll change pretty soon. I'm really trying for an update (one that actually has story in it) by the end of this week. I'm also trying to get another "Flunking With..." going. My latest holiday pic didn't seem to be nearly as offensive as I was worried it would be. My favorite quote so far: "The Maccabees were warriors." I knew that, but I wasn't sure it justified the DBZ treatment.
My life, for those concerned, is going pretty well. I just got my grades and a 3.8 this year raised my cumulative GPA to a 3.5. I'm on vacation, and that's always good. My back has more or less healed completely since I hurt in at the martial arts tournament two weeks ago. Christmas is on the way. Someday, I may be a pirate. You heard me.
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| Lameness Explained |
[23 Nov 2004|10:19pm] |
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mood |
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The Shins - New Slang (Rebirth of the Tambourine) |
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I really do apologize for the lackluster update for my site.
Wait...
I'm not at all sorry. Do you want to know what I did this weekend? On Friday, there was an above ground pool, a large wooden deck, and a fence in my back yard. On Monday, there wasn't. Chainsaws, sledgehammers, even my own fists and feet (I wish I was kidding) were bashed repeatedly against these solid edifices. To sum it up, I'm pretting f*ing tired right now.
Sorry for that. Venting. By the way, I started submitting a comic strip to my college newspaper. You want to read about Simon and Geoff's continuing adventures in bite-sized chunks? Well you can't. I chose a much dumber subject. Laugh at me and my "Pixel Perfect" self-derision!
http://sundial.csun.edu/sun/Fall%202004/October/10.18.04/spotlight/comics/comics.pdf
http://sundial.csun.edu/sun/Fall%202004/November/11.15.04/spotlight/comics/comics.pdf
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| Who Do You Love, Baby? |
[14 Nov 2004|11:16pm] |
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Incubus - Clean |
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For those of you directed here because of your negative feelings on my recent update, this is the place to make your comments. But first, in my defense, I'd like to say a few things:
- I understand that all female characters have been in subservient roles so far. I'm going to be introducing more characters very soon, including my female lead. She owns her own business and hits people with hammers. What more can you ask for?
- These three women (Lola, Kandi, and Diane by name) haven't really been introduced as full characters. If you knew them, you'd know something like this is not out of character.
- Simon was the only coherent man they've seen in years that wasn't a dwarf.
If this isn't enough, feel free to let loose your venom to its fullest.
Thank you
(or screw you, as the case may be)
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| Fall Back |
[31 Oct 2004|10:36pm] |
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mood |
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 Scary |
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Audioslave - "My Creator" |
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Happy Halloween, my peoples. I don't know if it's the holiday spirit, or the fact that it's daylight savings day, but I've decided to go all productive. I've done quite a bit of updating. Visit my site for details. Now for the picture included in this update (if there isn't a picture go here to see it). An acquaintance of mine once showed me a picture of a catguy name Felix, a male version of the Night Warriors catgirl, Felicia. The picture was nice enough, except for the fact that Felix looked about twice as effeminate as Felicia ever did. I decided to do my own version of the theoretical catguy, and this is it. </p>
The question I have: where can I find the girly-cat version of Felix I saw? I'd really like to put it alongside my take on the character. You know, for contrast. If anyone can help me with this, I'd be grateful.
May your longevity be ten-thousandfold greater than that of an unnamed, red-shirted character in a Star Trek landing party.
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| Companion Piece |
[18 Sep 2004|08:07pm] |
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mood |
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 accomplished |
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music |
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Repetitive Orchestral Video Game Music |
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For those of you redirected here by my comics site, make sure to leave a comment on my “Flunking with…” idea. For those of you who just read my journal and have no idea what I’m referring to, go to http://flunkies.keenspace.com and find out. Then come back and leave your comment.
Artist’s Note: That update, although it was severely tweaked in Photoshop afterwards, was the very first one I’ve ever inked using actual ink. Until now, I’ve only done pencil drawings, so I’m more than somewhat proud of this accomplishment. That’s sad, really.
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| Baby Going 60 |
[12 Sep 2004|10:15pm] |
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confused |
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Nirvana - Dumb |
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One thing about L.A., you need a car. You can’t exist in L.A. without a car, they just designed the city that way. You see a lot things when you’re driving around. You see things you don’t really expect. When did truckers start tying little stuffed animals to the front of their rigs? Have you seen this? What the reasoning behind this?
“Yeah, I’m driving a big-ass Mack truck! I got the naked chick mud flaps, the ‘I brake for hooters’ bumper sticker but it still needs something. What else can I put on? I know, a beanie baby! Would that just be precious?”
The last truck I saw had a baby doll strapped to the grill. A life-sized baby doll was strapped up there. I think I know what that’s about. That truck’s got to be more than ten tons. You get in a head-on collision with one of those, you know you’re not going to live through it. The trucker has to be hoping there’s going to be someone up in heaven saying:
“I looked down for a second to change the radio, and when I looked up, the last thing I saw was this baby coming at me at 60mph!”
Thank you, goodnight!
What you've just read is my attempt at stand-up comedy. I'm going to be doing this from time to time, especially when I don't have any Flunkies related info. Like just about any good bit, this one is based on my actual observations. Not only have I seen trucks do this, I've seen two different trucks doing this in one day.
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scarred_priest's journal