Improbable Reality

The Hobgoblin

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:29:01 GMT

Sorry, I've been lax in updating. Fatherhood does that to a person.

To make up for it here are two new pictures from a story in progress. Click the images for a larger view.

Sad Memories

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:39:21 GMT

Just got an e-mail that a family friend, Ann Kirchhoff, died Easter morning after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

The Kirchhoffs were (are) friends of my parents, and we used to celebrate Thanksgiving with them, year in and year out, for almost two decades. We would go on family outings with them, go to religious retreats with them, go to church with them, so they were very familiar faces in our lives. They were always kind to me. I hadn't seen Ann in almost ten years, since she and her husband moved to Seattle, but I had heard about her diagnosis. Even though I knew she was dying and that the end was close, finally hearing the inevitable news today hit me more emotionally than I thought it would. Ten years since I last saw her. This morning my memories of Ann were hazy, but the news of her death has brought my memory back into sharp focus and how kind she was to me.

Amazing how you sometimes don't value what you have until it's gone.

Silly, silly links...

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:18:50 GMT

First off, something so ridiculous you think it has to be fiction. Apparently the cast of Battlestar Galactica has been invited to the UN to discuss human rights and world affairs with the delegates. Nothing against the cast of BSG, but... really? The UN doesn't have anything better to do?

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2009/03/17/battlestar-galactica-at-the-un/

Next up, something so idiotic you wonder how this got past the focus groups. The Sci-Fi channel is going to be rebranded the "SyFy" channel so as to appeal to women. 'Cause, ya know, women hate "Sci-Fi" but spell it phonetically and then it's all okay. No, I'm not joking.

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/zuckered-scifi-channel-and-website-to-be-rebranded-as-syfy/

Here's another. The fact that this toy even got to market is amazing. The fact that a Christian group sees it as evidence of a homosexual conspiracy rather than just stupidity is even more amazing. Ladies and gentlemen, the Wolverine Twiddle Rumpus blow-up doll. Yes, it's real.

http://christwire.org/2009/03/marvel-now-promotes-gay-agenda-with-wolverine-toy/

Some days I just have to wonder if a higher power isn't messing with us.

My Watchmen Review

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:26:25 GMT

WATCHMEN (Minor spoilers, if any)

Bottom Line: It was good. Not great, but good.

Second Bottom Line: I don't think I've ever seen a feature film with more full frontal male nudity.

I'm certainly not an unbiased reviewer for this film. I read the original comic-books as they were being published back in 1986, falling in love with the work month by month as the tale unfolded. I puzzled over the mystery of the so-called "mask killer" and poured over the detailed back story for hints as to the killer's identity. This is a story I'm intimately familiar with.

In the twenty plus years since it's also become a bit of a sacred cow for comic-book fans. It's one of those key-stone books that those who are interested in the medium should read. That doesn't make it perfect (I did wince a bit at the marketing that claimed Watchmen was the most acclaimed graphic novel of all time: what about Maus?) but it's certainly a good and important read to understand the growth of the medium. It was one of the first books to honestly ask and answer the question of "how would super-heroes behave in the so-called 'real world?'" Moore and Gibbons (the original creators) hedged their bets a bit by making it an alternate 1985 where Richard Nixon was enjoying his third (fourth?) term as President, but the nuclear paranoia that hangs over the story is instantly recognizable to any child of the 80's. How would characters that dress in fetish outfits to fight crime react to a threat that could literally end the world?

I think the reviews of the group I went with is telling. I saw the film in iMax with eight people, six of which had read the book and two who had not. Coming out of the theater the six who had read the book gave it mostly a thumbs up. The two who had not read the book gave it a big thumbs down. It wasn't at all what they had expected, and they hated the flashbacks the film (and comic) used to flesh out the tale.

I've heard for years that the comic is "unfilmable" and that it would never translate to the screen, but when I saw the first trailer I dared to hope that Snyder and Co. had finally done it. The trailer LOOKED amazing. It LOOKED right. There were shots in there that looked ripped right from Dave Gibbons artwork.

The same could be said of the film. It LOOKS amazing. It LOOKS right. There are even many scenes taken line for line from the comic (as there should be.) Indeed, the most powerful scenes in the film are those that translated Alan Moore's original script word for word. But there are also many scenes which you watch and say to yourself, "man, that worked better on paper." Whether that's just the material, the performances, or the directing it's tough to say, but there were some clunker moments that made my inner fan-boy wince.

For example, there is a sequence set on Mars where an enormous secret about a character's history is revealed. The way this played out in the comic book the revelation is done through a clever repetition of a sequence in the past. The secret is not directly stated, the information comes to the reader through context as the past is replayed over and over. Here in the film version the secret is plainly stated in dialog. No need to spend time with clever repetition or art, let's just get it out there for the audience and move on.

Consider that this is a 12 issue comic book series that has been condensed down to under three hours. There's an enormous, enormous amount of material that's been left on the cutting room floor. Some of it was cut to stream-line the story (Example 1- the squid ending.) Some of it was cut for time (the Black Freighter plotline - Soon to be a DVD you can purchase! Oooo! Not sure how I feel about selling cut material, but there it is.) But they are still CUTS. What made Watchmen such a rich tapestry in the original version was the sheer amount of detail that populated every page, every word, every plotline. What we're left with in this film is a cliff-notes version of the richer tapestry that is the comic book. That could be said of almost any novel that's been adapted to the screen, but Watchmen the movie really is the lesser for it. I cite the confusion of my two friends who saw the movie but had not read the source material. Does the story work stripped of its rich detail? I honestly can't say, because I KNOW those details. I'm not the person to ask.

I should also mention the music choices. Almost every piece of music in here was instantly recognizable, from "Ride of the Valkyries" to Dylan's "The Times They Are A'Changin'" to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" to Mozart's "Requiem." Heck, I even think I heard Nena's "99 Red Balloons" in there! Some choices work, like playing "Unforgetable" over the opening murder. Some come off WAY over the top, no more so than playing "Requiem" after the villain's scheme is fully revealed. I rolled my eyes. I've read the term "obvious" for Snyder's music choices, and that's a good term for it. For a "visionary" directory Snyder went with song choices almost anyone could have made.

So should you see it? That really depends. Do you like whiz-bang effects? Plenty of eye candy here. Have you read Watchmen? Enough of the story survives to make the almost three hour running time worth while. Is this a good introduction to an important story for the comic book medium? I'd say no, but as I've made clear above, I'm biased. If you're never going to read the comic book for whatever reason then I suppose it's an acceptable substitute, but really it should be considered a supplement to the original.

A bunch o' images and links...

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:01:20 GMT

Did I somehow miss February? I guess I did. Oops.

In any case, today it's a bunch o' images off the drawing board.

First off we have a new Rocket Cat illustration. Lawsuit, here I come! At least people will stop asking me who "Agent James A" really is.

Next up we have a new character I'm developing. Those who knew me in High School have said that he looks like Corey. Not sure I agree, but there it is. His name is Cedric Jones.

Next we have the obligatory Coraline photo. You just gotta have one, right?

And then we have a two page Epilogue for the comic book story I ran in this blog awhile back. Click on the images to make them readable.

And a link. I think I mentioned awhile back how I was following the saga of "Sita Sings the Blues," a solo-animation project made by one woman who was running into copyright trouble? Well, the film has finally come out onto the net in glorious copyleft format (meaning you're free to download it, distribute it, etc. as long as you credit the source). It can be found here: www.sitasingstheblues.com. The trailer is up on YouTube! There's a reason it's called "the greatest break-up story ever told."

Happy March, everyone!

-Jeremy

How I spent the Inauguration

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:45:53 GMT

Given my tastes, there really was not a more appropriate way.

Kyle Baker Inauguration Day brilliance

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:02:27 GMT

This is taken directly from Kyle Baker's blogspot, which can be read here:

http://thebakersanimationcartoons.blogspot.com/

(Baker doesn't do links to individual posts, so I'm just copying and pasting the relevant text. Check out his work. You won't be disappointed.)

INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - INAUGURATION DAY

The small murmuring crowd of Secret Service agents and Joe Biden parts to make way for Barack Obama. He knocks on a closed door.

Knock Knock.

"Dick? It's the President. Unlock the door."

Silence.

"Come on, I know you're in there, Dick. Unlock the door so we can talk."

A muffled voice is heard through the locked door. "You have to call me Mr. Vice-President. It's the law."

"It's not, Dick. I looked it up. Just open the door."

"I'm not leaving."

"It's time."

"I have a gun."

"I've seen how you shoot, Dick. I'm not scared. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."

Some Random Thoughts

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:26:17 GMT

- It seems incredible that we're now in the final 24 hours of a Bush presidency.

- Saw over the weekend the new BBC detective series, Wallander, starring Kenneth Branagh. For those not in the know (and I wasn't before I saw this,) Wallander is the most popular detective in Sweden, and the BBC has imported him in an effort to replace its now retired Inspector Morse series. I thought it was quite good, riding mainly on the performance of Branagh, but also featuring some clever plotting and production techniques. Recommended. It does seem a bit strange that Branagh is now doing episodic television, but hey I'll take what Branagh I can get.

- I wrote a story in 1997 called "The Prince of the Moon." I never could get the ending right, so its been languishing in a drawer since. While driving around last week, out of the blue, it suddenly occurred to me what I'd been doing wrong on the story, and how it could be made to work. I haven't thought of this tale in years, so the answer completely surprised me. Now I have to find the manuscript again and see if its worth salvaging.

- Man, I want an iPhone.

- I did not predict who the final Cylon was. I had suspected that character back in the beginning of season 3, but ruled [gender deleted] out when [gender deleted] was [status deleted.] A clever ploy by the writers of BSG. Opens up a host of possibilities. For the record I thought it was Tom Zerrick.

- I'm running out of room in our driveway to put snow. More is forecast for Friday.

- Coraline is now four months, 1 week. She attended Anne Pelz' Battlestar premiere get-together with us. Baby's first Battlestar! Tanya was completely lost.

Whine, whine, whine (2008)...

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:21:09 GMT

So it's been a crazy month.

Yes, this is a tale of woe, so feel free to skip.

Let's set the stage. When we bought our house in 2004 one of the features that appealed to us was the furnished basement. Our basement is comprised of three rooms, two of which had either carpet or tile on the floor, the third hard concrete. The two furnished areas were also about six inches higher than the concrete area, which should have given us a clue as to how the basement was constructed, but we'll discuss that more in a moment. In the corner of the concrete area was a sump pump. We asked the then owner of the house if flooding was an issue. "Not at all," she said and we believed her.

Three years ago Tanya came to me and said we had water in the basement. This happened to be a day when I was home with a 100+ fever so it was the last thing I needed, but I wandered down and checked it out. The Sump-pump was busted, and the concrete area was flooded with an inch or two of water: not enough to reach the carpeted or tiled area, but enough to reveal that the previous owner of the house had been lying. Fine. I ran down to the hardware store, bought some pumps to get the water out along with a replacement sump-pump. A few hours work in a fever induced fog and the problem was resolved. For now (cue ominous music).

So it's the 12th of December, 2008, which is the day Tanya marks a difficult anniversary in her past by baking cookies. I'm home to help out with Coraline while Tanya does her annual ritual, or so I thought. The night before a HUGE storm rolls in and dumps an enormous amount of rain onto the ground. Like much of the state of Massachusetts and New Hampshire we wake up that morning to no power. Our neighbors had power, of course, but not us. No heat either, which meant no cookies. Coraline's cranky, so we fire up the wood-stove and play music on the portable music player and try to keep her entertained while we wait for the power to come back on. We weren't thinking about the basement, because the sump-pump was down there, right?

The power comes on late in the day, maybe five o'clock or so. We do a quick check of everything, including a quick peek down into the basement. It looked fine, so we weren't too worried, at least until we noticed that the heat and hot water had not come back with the power. When we walked down to check it out and stepped on the carpet, the first thing we hear is a "squish!"

In hindsight it's simple logic. No power, no sump-pump.

When the power came back on the sump-pump sucked up all the water, but the damage had been done. We'd gotten a good foot and a half of water in the basement, enough to flood both the carpeted and tiled areas.

First thing to check were the possessions in the basement. Many of our papers and such were down there. We lost some XMas ornaments, some XMas gifts that had been hidden downstairs, etc. The most precious for me was a box of my high school drawings that are now ruined. If that had been all, we would have counted our blessings, but it wasn't over yet.

Right around this time came the phone call from some dear friends of ours up north in New Hampshire. They also had no power or heat, and needed a place to crash. No problem, we said. C'mon down. They (and their two dogs) stayed with us for a week before their power was returned, so count us lucky on that front.

The plumber came and repaired the hot water heater. He came three times over the next few days, actually, just to cut that portion of the story short. The furnace came back after it dried out, thank goodness.

Two days after the rug started to smell, really badly. I ripped it up, hoping that would be the end of it. Then contractors came through and told us the entire flooring would have to go. So goodbye to our carpeted and tiled areas. In the process of ripping up the floor they took out our water main, but they repaired that eventually.

That night we discovered that the freezer downstairs wasn't actually cooling anything, despite it drawing power. So all the food contained therein was a loss as well.

Then we discovered ground water coming in. It's possible that this had been coming in all along with the water being hidden by the tiled floor, but we have no way of knowing. The contractors told me I'd have to seal up the hole where the water main comes into the house with hydrolic concrete before they'd proceed with drying, so I've been working on that. I think I finally have it as of this morning, but it's been a learning process.

Oh, and while all this was going on I hit a pothole with my car and lost a wheel, along with my catalytic converter tanking in the engine. When it rains it pours.

So where are we now, New Years eve and almost three weeks after the flood? We've thrown out an enormous amount of stuff that was down there, but more can be gotten rid of.

All the possessions are currently stacked up in one of the rooms, and need to be sorted. We've no idea what we're going to do with the space long term.

Half the trash the contractors ripped up is still in our yard. He has yet to come through and pick it up. He also has yet to come through and dry the basement, although that's partly my fault for not being skilled enough with concrete to fix the ground water problem on my first try (it took several tries, and I'm still not convinced it's over.)

The freezer is still broken, and the insurance isn't going to cover it. Actually the insurance is treating this as a "sump-pump malfunction" and thus will only cover maybe half of what we've spent or lost down in the basement and that's a conservative estimate. I was quoted 700 dollars to fix it by a somewhat shady source, so I'm going to look elsewhere once I've caught up on other areas (like the trash, the ground water, etc.)

The car's fixed. We have hot water. We have heat. We can be thankful for that.

Bring on 2009 and the second mortgage of day-care.

Happy New Year, everyone. Let us hope the coming year brings us happier times.

First a black President...

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:23:22 GMT

...and now a black Doctor Who?

The times they are a changin'.

This isn't official yet, but the hot rumor is that actor Paterson Joseph has been offered the role of Doctor Who, replacing David Tennant. I've only seen Joseph in the BBC series "Neverwhere," so I'm really not familiar with his work, but I trust new show-runner Stephen Moffat's instincts. If Joseph really is Moffat's choice for Doctor Who then I'm on board.

Oh, and I promised new Coraline photos last time, but I really don't have many to share (they're all on Tanya's lap-top). Here's one I snapped recently at a friend's house.

Although the more entertaining photo is this one of our pal Tammy laying down the law with her daughter Camden, while Finnegan the dog sits hopefully, waiting for crackers to drop to the floor.

I was wrong

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:57:15 GMT

Almost a year ago I sat down for a dinner with two of our politically active friends, and they asked me about the democratic presidential field.

"I don't know," I said. "I just don't see how a black man or a woman can be elected president. I just don't think the country is ready for that."

I was wrong.

And I couldn't be happier about it.

Anne Rice and God (and something that made me smile)

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:21:43 GMT

I have a good friend who I exchange audio-books with, and she's a bit of a vampire fan. Just yesterday I finished a book she lent me; "Danse Macabre" by Laura K. Hamilton.

My goodness, is it a trashy book.

For those not in the know, this is a book about a female Vampire Hunter who happens to be in love with a powerful vampire herself. The books are full of monsters, conspiracies, power-plays, and, you guessed it, sex. Lots of sex. The sort of graphic sex usually reserved for Penthouse Forum sex.

Honestly, hearing this material as an audio-book makes me blush. The narrator (http://cynthiaholloway.com/) gives the sex scenes her all in terms of performance, and if these were motion-pictures I think the tales would be hard pressed to qualify for an "R" rating as opposed to an "X".

But it also puts something in perspective.

Back in High School the Anne Rice Vampire books were all the rage, especially amidst the girls. Let's face it, besides the characters one of the reasons we teenagers were so into Anne Rice was the element of titilation, the current of sexuality that ran an as undercurrent throughout all of Rice's tales.

Putting Rice's work next to Hamilton's makes the exploits of Lasher or Lestat look like Disneyworld. I wonder if I went back and re-read the Witching Hour I'd find it as sexy now as I did then? Times have changed.

So imagine my surprise, with Hamilton's work still fresh in mind, here comes an interview with Rice talking about how she's now converted to Christianity. She also denies that her Vampire books were about sex, but were instead about the quest for faith.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/10/31/books.anne.rice.ap/index.html

Rice is welcome to put a revisionist spin to her tales, but I think she's deluding herself. Vampire books ARE about sex. It's just part and parcel of the genre. The degree of sex may vary (see Hamilton vs. Rice above) but it still comes down to penetration at the end of the day.

I'd heard that Rice was going to write one more Vampire novel now that she's turned to Jesus, but it appears as if that's now off the table. It's a pity. I'd long since given up on Rice's Vampire books, but her born-again Vampire tale would have been one I'd have liked to read.

SOMETHING THAT MADE ME SMILE THIS WEEK:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrJusPoFRrI

Various and Sundry Topics

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:57:30 GMT

Yes, I've been bad about updating. Who knew having an infant was so much work? :)

Coraline turned one month old last week, btw. 8.5 pounds now, up almost three pounds from her birth weight. I don't have any new close-ups, but here's a photo of three generations of women on Tanya's branch of the family.

- I continue to be absolutely fascinated by the election. The fact that a black man might win the presidency in two weeks seems astonishing to me. I never thought I'd see this in my lifetime. The McCain/Palin ticket continues to flail, trying something different every other day in an attempt to gain footing with the undecided voters (Joe the Plumber on day, Acorn and Ayers the next, Socialism the following). It's amazing to see the once straight talk express become the smear machine. If the economy wasn't in the dumps I suspect Obama would be having a tougher time of it, but right now people are scared and Obama projects such an air of confidence and calm....

I still believe that it's the youth vote that will carry the day on November 4th. The way I see it, as long as the youth vote turns out, Obama wins. If they stay home, then it's a toss-up.

- The comic strip Opus is ending. Again. This is the Sunday only comic strip that features Opus the penguin, who was the star of the beloved 80's strip Bloom County and the not-so-beloved 90's strip Outland. I was overjoyed when Breathed returned to the comics pages in 2004, but sadly the Opus that returned was not the Opus I remembered. I was upset the first two times Breathed retired his strip, but this time I'm only mildly curious what final image he will provide. (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20081018/NEWS/810180291?Title=Cartoonist_bids_farewell_to_Opus)

- Robert Downey Jr. is Sherlock Holmes! Er, maybe. Is it just me, or does he look like Charlie Chaplin? Again? (http://justjared.buzznet.com/2008/10/10/robert-downey-jr-as-sherlock-holmes-first-pictures/)

- Meanwhile, one of my favorite Holmes/Watson teams is back in the studio recording new adventures. Clive Merrison and Andrew Sachs. Yes, THAT Andrew Sachs. Manuel from Fawlty Towers. He looks a little different these days, but he makes a great Watson.

- After the announcement of a 6th Hitchhiker's Book I took the time to listen to the first Artemis Fowl novel, and it was surprisingly good. Colfer's not Douglas Adams, certainly not as science based as Adams was, but I'm now more willing to give his new Hitchhiker's book a listen.

- Our friends Anne and Chris' baby had open heart surgery last weekend. I just as I've been typing this received an e-mail that Milo is home again, less than a week after the operation. Absolutely amazing, and a huge relief for those of us watching from the sidelines. (Not to mention a huge relief for the parents in question!)

I have more topics to ramble about, including a horrible cafe experience, the effect the economy is having on friends and vampire puppets, but I think I've rambled enough for this morning.

Hope everyone is hanging in out there...

-Jeremy

HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD?

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:17:03 GMT

See what happens when I drop off the grid for a week to have a kid? Someone announces a 6th Hitchhiker's book.

I've not read Eoin Colfer's work, but this just sounds like a bad idea to me. It was one thing when Dirk Maggs wrote a new ending to Hitchhiker, as he was at least working with Douglas Adams at the time of his death on that very project (a radio re-telling of the last three books), and his coda was a ten minute audio epilogue to the whole she-bang. It's a beautiful ending, btw. Really, I could not, as a fan, have asked for better.

Now the series will continue under hands disconnected from Douglas Adams. For all I know it'll be brilliant, but right now it just has me very, very worried.

And Another Thing (MP3 File)

Yes, that's Simon Jones, the original Arthur Dent. I echo his sentiments.

Two quick pix

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 01:58:14 GMT

These are my favorite pictures so far.

Coraline!

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:41:55 GMT

She's two weeks early (a good sign for my plan to potty train her by two months,) but here's our little girl.

That durn Palin speech

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:41:24 GMT

Okay.

The speech.

I'm assuming you at least saw clips?

Right at the outset let me concede that it was a good speech. She hit the notes she wanted to hit, didn't look all that nervous (well, maybe at first) and got the crowd energized. She did what she set out to do.

BUT.

It wasn't the be-all end-all of speeches either. The way that right wing pundits are falling all over themselves today to praise her you'd think she was Moses delivering the ten commandments.

Really, the bottom line is that expectations were low going in and Palin exceeded them. End of story. As one commentator put it this morning, "as long as she didn't belch in the middle of the speech she would have received a passing grade."

Oh, and just a note that all quotes in this post are paraphrases. I have not looked up the text of the original speeches as I've just eaten lunch and really don't feel like tossing my cookies.

By the time Palin hit the stage I was already angry about the way that Giuliani was portraying Obama. "Maybe she [Palin] isn't cosmopolitan enough for them," says Rudy. "How dare they attack her for being a working mother!" Etc. etc. etc. None of which the Obama camp has raised as an issue. But the crowd ate it up like it was gospel and it made me sick to my stomach.

Then Palin began her speech.

Did she discuss policy at all? I think I heard something about oil drilling, but the words were really a run down of her life's story and some praise for John McCain. That was the speech. Oh, and half-truth smears on Obama. "This is a man who's authored two memoirs, but never a major bill or legislation." Not true. "He opposes drilling without offering an alternative." Also not true. I thought it ironic that she then goes on to list the energy initiatives that Obama DOES support, claiming them as her own. The number of half truths and smears became pretty disgusting, frankly. I'm sure we're in for more tonight with McCain's speech.

Really, she can say almost anything she wants right now, she doesn't have much of a record to back it up. I'm sure it's pretty freeing for her speech writers.

After the speech I watched the Daily Show, and they'd done something extraordinary. They'd grabbed three major Republican spokesman (Bill O'Reiley, Karl Rove and... um, I can't remember the third woman) and played their defenses of Palin. "Sexism by the media." "Her child's choice doesn't reflect on her." "Just because she's the Governor of a small state doesn't disqualify her." They then went back six months ago and played clips by the SAME COMMENTATORS using the same arguments to smear other people. "Hillary can claim sexism all she wants, but if she gets into this game she has to suck it up." "The man is only the mayor of a two of 150,000. That's clearly not experienced enough." "Jamie Spears is pregnant and unmarried. Blame the parents."

Oy, enough.

I will say that Stewart's point about Palin claiming her daughter keeping the baby was a "personal choice" all the while opposing abortion rights is a contradiction. A very good point, Mr. Stewart. Let's hope that gets raised on the campaign trail.

The Morning After

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:23:31 GMT

Oh, boy. Sleepy this morning after staying up watching the final night of the Democratic convention.

Thought Obama's speech very good, very powerful. I wasn't quite as enthralled as some of the pundits seem to have been, but he hit the right notes and I loved watching the crowd's reactions. It's clear that if you were there, in that stadium, that there was an energy flowing through the crowd, which is a good sign.

Meanwhile, here's McCain's response:

"Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain issued a statement minutes after Obama wrapped his speech: "Tonight, Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was so fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama.

"When the temple comes down, the fireworks end and the words are over, the facts remain: Sen. Obama still has no record of bipartisanship, still opposes offshore drilling, still voted to raise taxes on those making just $42,000 per year and still voted against funds for American troops in harm's way.

"The fact remains: Barack Obama is still not ready to be president."

There was just too much glitz and glamour emanating from the floor of the Invesco Field, transformed by a crew of seasoned Hollywood veterans, conservatives said."

Too much glitz? What, your convention's going to be a bare-bones affair, Mr. McCain?

Meanwhile McCain's VP choice was just announced and it seems, well, bizarre. I was expecting Mit Romney, so his choice of Sarah Palin seemed to come out of left-field. You're complaining that Barrack is inexperienced, and you're choosing Sarah Palin? Really? She's beautiful, I'll grant that, but jeez, she's only a first term Governor. Oh, and she's under investigation by her own legislature for abuse of power! Hm. I get that it's an attempt to appear youthful and reach out to women voters, but haven't you just shot your own argument against Barack in the foot? Hm. I'm sure all the reporters out there are combing through her background right now, so we'll see how the public respond to the choice.

Another Rocket illustration

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:53:10 GMT

The weekend is never long enough.

But here's another Rocket illustration.

Rockets, Readercons and Red Sox

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:36:21 GMT

Car situation is resolved for now. We decided on doing the repair rather than retiring the vehicle. Time will tell if that was a smart decision or not, but for now Tanya's back on the road.

I promised a Rocket Cat illustration, so here's my latest, fresh off the drawing board. It needs a few Photoshop touch-ups, but I'm pretty happy with it, overall.

Private gripe, since Tanya assures me she doesn't read this blog. Do we HAVE to watch the Red-Sox EVERY night? I know sports are sacred in this town, but jeez does it get repetitive...

Readercon (www.readercon.org) This is a science-fiction convention put on every year in Burlington that puts the emphasis on the actual READING and WRITING of sci-fi. Very different than other conventions I've been to. Much more low-key than other sci-fi cons, much less glitz and much less skin being shown by the attendees (likely a good thing.) I attended panels on this history of Locus magazine, the creation and resurgence of radio-drama, reading text aloud to an audience, the altering of Tolkein's original words in the editing of the Children of Hurin and a panel on the relationship of reality to the surreal in fiction, and how it all relates to the television show Due South (although Buffy also received a lot of play during that panel). Finished the afternoon off with a trip though the book-sellers room, and listening to the poetry slan (not a typo, but a poetry reading focused on sci-fi poetry. Who knew?) Went out to dinner with a few fellow sci-fi writers, discussed the concept of cliff-hanger fortune cookies (you heard it here first!) and then called it a night.

It was a lot to take in all in one afternoon. Should I go back next year I'll try to stagger things out over a few days. Still, it was refreshing for the emphasis to be on the creation of stories and not the already created.

And to bring things full circle, all those dots in the illustration's planet? Much of that was done during the poetry slan.

Catch Up Post - Various topics (cars, bats, cats, etc.)

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:14:32 GMT

It's been a busy few weeks. We'll get to the real-world stuff in a moment, but let's touch on the not so real first.

Anyone reading this knows I'm a comic-book nut, so it'll be no surprise that I'm having a good summer at the movies. With the faboo Iron Man burning up the box office, followed by the Hulk (an average to good flick), Hellboy (a scrumptious feast for the eyes. Clunky here and there, but I left the theater with a smile on my face) and now the Dark Knight.

This is what I wrote in an e-mail upon returning from the theater. Don't worry, it's spoiler free:

"Basic review. It's amazing. A few slow moments, but they are few and far between. Applause from the audience at the end. There are several scenes that are just heart-breaking, the characterization is so strong. Ledger's performance is as good as you've heard, but Aaron Eckhart delivers as strongly and he's not getting as much credit.

It really feels as if the film-makers learned from their mistakes in Batman Begins, and polished their storytelling. A few rough edges remain, in particular the editing. For the most part a vast improvement over the first, which tended to feature so-called 'MTV Style' edits, with short shots strung together so fast it was hard to discern what the heck was going on. There were one or two 'quick cuts' in the Dark Knight, but I actually feel like I got to see Batman in action this time around.

Oh, and Maggie Gyllenhall plays the Katie Holmes character and (as expected) blows Holmes' performance out of the water. Remember the heart breaking moments I mentioned? One of them rides completely on Gyllenhall's performance. Holmes could not have pulled it off.

One surprising note. For such a big-budget film there's surprisingly few special effects. This actually plays to the film's advantage, giving it a grittier, almost real-world feel (if a story where a guy dresses in a bat-suit can be called real-world.) Most of the thrills come from character tension rather than explosions.

Best Batman film to date, hands down. It's going to be tough to top."

So there's my quick Dark Knight review. There are many nooks and crannies to explore about the film, points of storytelling, acting, etc., but I don't want to post them here as I urge you to experience the film for yourself without spoilers.

Back to the real world.

Our friends Anne and Chris had their baby last week, which is great. But the baby's been in the ICU since, which isn't. I guess it was expected, but it's still heart-wrenching to read the slow progress on their Care-pages web-page. The sooner the baby can go home with them the better for my own mental health's sake (let alone theirs!)

Tanya's seven months along now, and we're in the "taking classes" phase. We've done birthing (the lesson of the class? Every birth is different, so you can never anticipate what will happen) and Infant CPR (which was an absolutely creepy two hours huffing and puffing into this doll which looked like something out of the movie Brazil).

We also had our first shower this past Sunday at my mother's, and it was an adventure. Basically it was a ahower for all my Mom's friends, and we knew few people in the room. Certainly Tanya knew less than I did. It was also a very quick affair. People arrived around two, we opened gifts, and then they left. We were done and out by five o'clock, which surprised the heck out of us. With the car loaded with a crib and lots of "onesies" we headed back to Billerica. Was looking forward to getting home by seven, which would give me some time to work on a few things around the house, but alas it was not to be.

See, on the way out to Western Mass Tanya's car was acting funny. We didn't seem to have alot of acceleration. It was fine on flat stretches, but really struggled on hills. I was saying to Tanya that she had to get her car in first thing Monday, and she was thinking it was just the way I was driving, but once she got behind the wheel herself she agreed something was wrong.

So we're on the way out of Amherst and I decide to take the Pike to avoid as many hills as possible. Alas, between Palmer and Sturbridge we hit traffic. Where? On a BIG FRICKIN' HILL. Dead stop. We try to accelerate out of the dead stop and barely make it, the engine revving. It became clear that I was doing more harm than good to the engine, so I pulled over just behind another car (this detail will be important in a moment) and we called Triple-A. This would be maybe 6:20PM. Sorry, they say. We can't tow from the pike, you have to contact the State Police. Fine, we call the State Police. They want to know a mile marker, because it's between Sturbridge and Palmer, a 15 mile stretch. No signs nearby, so I give them my best guess and we begin to wait.

Five minutes later a tow truck pulls up, and we're amazed at how quickly they responded. No such luck, though. The truck's for the OTHER car. They assure us the State Police should be along any minute now.

An hour goes by.

Finally we call again, and the police first say, "Oh, you've already been towed." No, I assure them, we're still here. Then they say, "we couldn't find you." I repeat my guess at a position. "You're sure you're between those two exits?" Yes, I say, we absolutely are. They call the cruiser and tow company. Turns out they got confused by the OTHER car that was at our same location, and thought we'd already been taken care of. "No, we're still here," I say. They promise they'll see us soon.

By now it's starting to get dim and Tanya's beginning to freak out. I talk about walking down to get a mile marker, but she doesn't want me to for fear of my safety. So I stay.

Finally, at around quarter to eight, a highway vehicle pulls up. Then a State Police cruiser. Only the highway guy gets out, the cruiser doesn't even bother. He assures us that we'll see someone soon. Then they both drive away, leaving us alone again. Now Tanya's REALLY getting annoyed.

Fortunately the tow truck does show up five minutes later. We'll be towed to Sturbridge by this one, the "short tow guy" and then we have to wait for the "long tow guy" to get us to the dealer in Lexington. I won't bore you with the details (I've likely already done that) but after riding with two tow-guys for hours, hearing them gripe about the dispatcher and that "frickin' Eli Manning" (yes, the Patriots was the topic du jour) we drop off the car where we're met by our saintly neighbor Liz who gets us the rest of the way home. Get home just past eleven that evening.

Really, it could have been worse. 95% of the time Tanya's in that car alone, so she could have been broken down on any back road in the Boston area without me to back her up (not that she can't handle herself, but a woman with a man is less of a target than a woman alone). Considering many of her clients live in some not-so-nice areas it's almost a blessing we broke down where we did.

Turned out to be the clutch assembly, and yes, it's a pricey repair. Agonized over it for a few hours, but decided in the end to go ahead and do it. The last thing we need in the coming year is another monthly car-payment.

I've got a few Rocket Cat illustrations that are nearing completion. Look for a few of those in the next few days, I hope.

The Perils of Silliness

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:17:43 GMT

Okay, confession time.

I love silly.

Sometimes I'm the only one in the room laughing, but the sillier it is the more I laugh.

Like in the Woody Allen movie Celebrity. I remember one character asking another what their next film project was going to be. "I was thinking of an all black remake of Birth of a Nation." I cracked up. The rest of the audience stayed stone silent.

Sometimes it gets me into trouble. Like when my cousin Carrie, my Uncle Bill's daughter, told me her favorite movie was "Kill Bill," I responded, "Oh, how very Oedipal of you." She didn't appreciate that.

My latest conflict of interest is the ABC Family series, "The Middleman." Think a much hipper version of Men in Black, full of pop culture and geek references, and you've got the picture.

I was watching Monday's episode with Tanya, and twenty minutes in Tanya declared, "this is stupid. Listen to the way they talk. It's worse than Star Trek talk!" Meanwhile, I was laughing at maybe 50% of the jokes, and argued back, "it's not stupid, it's goofy." Where's the fine line, people?

I think I like the concept of the series more than I like the episodes themselves. It's got almost every element I enjoy. B-movie style monster plots? Check! Sexy protagonist? Check! Witty geek-culture dialog and title cards? Check!

But there are three things going against it. 1) It's low budget. Not sure if that's a conscious choice or just the reality of the money they have to spend, but it feels like an early 80's Doctor Who. A tough sell, when even the lowest budget of shows has good computer effects these days. 2) The geek-culture dialog is delivered so quickly that it can be hard to follow. I have to do a double take now and again. 3) As I said above, not all the jokes work. I'd say more work than not, but your mileage will vary depending on how tolerant you are of goofy.

But the girl is hot, and they have no hesitation in dressing her up in skin-tight outfits to suit the plot. I'm hanging around, but I suspect this will not be the breakout hit ABC Family was hoping. Their moving it to a 10PM timeslot kinda speaks to that.

And, finally, one more very, very silly thing that I'm looking forward to. Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. Enjoy.

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

P.S. Speaking of silly, how silly is it that Livejournal does not have the word "Blog" in its spell-checker?

Showers!

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:04:35 GMT

So we're starting to get the baby showers together for Tanya.

Here's the illustration I threw together for some of them.

It's a quicky, but I like it.

My very deep thoughts on McCain

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:47:51 GMT

I was flipping through channels last night, and stumbled across a McCain speech trying to contrast his policy on Iraq with Obama. It was, frankly, a bad speech. He stumbled over words, looked a bit befuddled and his language was full of contradictions. My favorite, the he kept repeating, was something to the effect of "Mister Obama is trying to stop our continued success in Iraq." "The surge succeeded, despite Mister Obama's opposition." "How can he oppose the success of our fighting men and women?"

All paraphrases, but they illustrate the tone.

I'd say that at this point most Americans see the campaign in Iraq as a failure, yet McCain's campaign seems desperate to link Iraq with the word "success." It's certainly the tactic I've heard Right Wing talk-show hosts use when someone suggests a pullout of American forces. "You don't want us to LOSE, do you? That's cutting and running!" To this day I've yet to understand what the goal of invading Iraq was if not to finish was Bush Sr. started. How do you succeed on a mission without a goal?

This is VERY simplistic analysis, I realize that, but it's where my mind is going today after McCain's speech.

Is it wrong that I want a pair of these?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:38:51 GMT

Hellboy shoes. Who could resist?

http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/06/02/the-right-foot-of-doom/