Bloody.......red.....TERROR......

I have begun the first of many Trans-Chronological Peregrinations (I will refer to these as TCP's hereafter). And I have decided to include renderings of some of the local fauna.

An unforeseen complication has arisen. My formula has not only allowed TCP's but also Trans-Dimensional Peregrinations, or TDP's. Needless to say, this has complicated things somewhat. Alas, as I contemplate my next step, feel free to view this, my first rendering. I have named this beast....... the CRIMSON DEATH SQUIRREL.

I would tell tale of the horrors I have seen these monsters wreak upon their prey............
but it's more than I can stand to retell for now. Perhaps another time............

EUREKA! (no, not the fucking T.V. show....)

I have discovered the mathematical proof that allows quantum physics and string theory to co-exist and complement each other. Needless to say, it is very complicated and involves chocolate pudding, Einstein's theory of relativity, and the film Night of the Lepus. This discovery also reveals the secret of one of mankind's greatest wishes..........the ability to TRAVEL THROUGH TIME!!!!!

The possibility of this formula falling into the wrong hands is far too great to risk posting here on this blog. So, in an effort to document this momentous occasion I will put myself in deadly peril by undertaking the first Trans-Chronological Peregrination alone, whilst illustrating the fantastic images I come upon, in glorious pen and ink.

Fear not, noble readers. I will venture into the unknown and return unscathed. (hopefully) Please return here, for future updates on my travels through the SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM!!
Until then, I bid you adieu.

Some More Art!

Some Art!

TATTOOooooooooo!

Above, you see the shorn chest of one Shaun. Upon that freshly shaven chest is the pretty purple stencil for my new tattoo. Awesome. I know.



In the picture above, you are witness to the tattoo's outline at 70 percent complete. This picture was taken during the artist's Sprite break. Mmmm, cool refreshing Sprite. Ahhhhh.....
Anyway, at this point I had discovered where the most uncomfortable tattooing spots were. On the sternum felt like burning, and the lower pectoral region was the most painful. Like getting the flesh pinched and twisted over and over. FUN!!!!

I'll post another picture as soon as I pull the gauze off of my sting-y chest so's you all can see the completed outline. Until then...........!

Warped Tour, or The Music of the Apocalypse

Sweet fuck almighty.


This past Monday I attended Warped Tour with my good pals Jeff Elden and Mike Jones.
And we all agreed that despite the fact that we saw Less Than Jake, Bouncing Souls and Bad Religion in that order, no more than 10 minutes apart from each other, AND Streetlight Manifesto to end the day, that this once mighty bastion of punk music and culture has become just another cog in the machine that is popular music.


I remember seeing The Vandals, Dropkick Murphys, The Aquabats, Buck-o-Nine and others
I can't remember, but were ACTUAL punk/ska bands, at the two previous Warped Tours I had attended. These tours consisted of 90 percent punk/ska bands and the occasional Deftones or Black Eyed Peas (this was pre-Fergie, thank god). But now, now......they had bands that belonged to a bastard genre known as........emo-crunk? How can this even be possible? We saw band with a member playing a keytar (a horrible guitar/keyboard monstrosity) A FUCKING KEYTAR! With pants so tight I thought the guy would start bleeding from the ears.


I saw so many guys wearing make up I wasn't sure if we had stumbled into a drag queen pagaent of some sort.........or perhaps a Boy George look-a-like contest. It was fucking ridiculous.
It was just whiny emo band after crap hip-hop group, after nu-metal tard-gang, after whiny emo band. There were 69 bands playing, with approximately 10 of them worth seeing. I feel like my parents but, what the fuck is wrong with these kids? Are they mentally retarded? This was quite possibly some of the shittiest music I have ever heard that wasn't being played by your local Top 40 station! Some real asshat standouts were: Breathe Carolina (the aforementioned Keytar players band), Brokencyde (the aforementioned, sign of the apocalypse, emo-crunk purveyors), and a very classy set of 14 year old girls called Millionaire. Sample lyric, "let's get fucked up!". Fantastic.


I used to look forward to, and regret not making it to Warped Tour in the past. Now, I think I'll just dread its return.

Body Modification!

So. I have decided that I will be finally be getting my second tattoo.

Why, all of a sudden, did I decide to get another tattoo you ask? Well, here's
how it happened. I was flipping channels the other night and happened upon the
show L.A. Ink. I'd never seen the show before, but was familiar with Kat Von D and
the what the show entails. As I was watching the various people coming into the shop
and being tattooed I felt the urge to get another myself. So I started drawing.


I've been wanting to get a Chinese or Japanese style dragon for a long time
so I started sketching out a dragon design.....and then hit a wall. I could not think of
any other detail other than the basic layout of the body. So, I abandoned that (for now)
and got to thinking about other tattoo ideas. Which brought me to the design I've chosen.


As I sat thinking about images I wouldn't mind having stabbed repeatedly into
my body I looked around the room, and my eyeballs stopped at a book about the history
of one of my favorite bands, the Japanese horrorpunk band, BALZAC. I first heard them
about 7 or 8 years ago and have been a fan ever since. So, I began flipping through this
book and it had a few designs within that I thought would be good. Then I stumbled across
one that really stood out for some reason. I don't know why, but it just felt right.


Anyway, this post has gone on far too long. I'm going into Cheap Trix up on South
Grand to get the outline done this coming Saturday, August 8th. I might see if I can get the
whole thing done, but I just had them block out the time for the outline. I'm going to have Kim take pictures during the process so I can post them here.


I guess I'll see you next Saturday night. Adios!

Another Watchmen post?

I know I just posted something about Watchmen. I just have one more thing to say. On Saturday, July 25th there was a live chat/commentary with Zack Snyder from SDCC via the BD-Live on the new Watchmen Blu-Ray. I did participate, and it was pretty fun. While the only interaction you could have with Zack was via questions you could send through an email system, there were quite a few good questions, and a lot of ridiculous ones. All of them were entertaining though. Snyder talked about the studios reticence to include SO much blue cock, the reasons behind some of the cut footage and also the reasons behind some of the sequences or lines that didn't make the transistion from page to screen. I have to say I really enjoyed this and I hope there are more studios, directors, etc. that take advantage of this capability in the future. So to anyone who does not have their BD player hooked up to their network........DO IT! Do it now. It's definitely worth it.

A late slap in the face

Hey....sorry I'm late.....I HAD SHIT TO DO, ALRIGHT? Christ......

Anyway.....

I picked up Watchmen Director's Cut on Blu-Ray last Tuesday and it is a really nice
package. A lot of director's cuts are little more than the studio shoveling unnecessary footage
back into the movie to give the illusion of "the director's true vision" kinda thing. I don't feel that this is the case for Watchmen. The director's cut includes 24 minutes of footage trimmed for the theatrical release and most of it fits back into the film so well I barely noticed it. Other scenes, such as Hollis Mason's murder really stood out. Not because it didn't mesh well or felt out of place, but because it was a very well done sequence that I think definitely enhanced the viewing experience.


I'm happy to say this is a literal "2 disc special edition". I say literal because I have gotten increasingly tired of buying a film that says 2 disc special edition, and getting a pretty much worthless digital copy disc. That is not what I expect when I read the above. When I see 2 disc, I expect a disc for the film, and a disc of special features. If I want a digital copy, I will rip it, or buy it from iTunes, Amazon, etc. Anyway. The special features are decent and the "maximum movie mode" is pretty cool. Also the downloadable content via BD-Live was cool. You can download a few more behind the scenes featurettes, and cooler still, the viral marketing videos about Dr. Manhattan and The Keene Act. Now we come to the slap.....


Upon unsealing your fancy new movie, you notice a card on the left side of the case that says, "Coming December 09! Watchmen Ultimate Cut! 5 Discs etc, etc." Now I know that double dipping special editions have become a frustratingly commonplace occurrence in the home entertainment industry. Especially when it comes to genre films. To me, it is a real slap in the face when you buy a new DVD, or BD and you immediately get notification of a more "complete" version of a the film coming in the near future. Luckily, I am not interested in the new version coming. So, not THAT big of a deal to me. But I'm sure some people are probably pretty pissed. It's like paying to see a movie at the theatre, sitting down, and seeing a trailer for a new and improved version of the movie you just paid to watch coming next month! Maybe it's just me, but that seems like a real dick move. Whatever. Bottom line: movie was good, special features worth watching, and extra footage was seamless. I say pick it up, unless you are a big fanboy then wait for the "super special edition" in December.

It's been a while.

Well, it certainly has been. I am going to try to post a blog a week starting with this one.

I haven't been posting because I just got bored with it. It's not that I dislike blogging I just find it kind of boring, and I've never been one to be desperate for attention. I find it hard to be interested in the inanities of the lives of others, so by deduction I assume the same of others and my own.

Too bad. Now I guess I'll post and if you get bored.....don't worry. I am too.

New RMD Drawing!

One more done. Slowly getting the hang of drawing with a tablet and their online drawing tool. Check it out here. If you join the site, ratings are appreciated, as are critiques.

Cool Site.

For all of my fellow artists...illustrators....doodlers....what ever you consider yourselves, you should check out this website I found called Rate My Drawings. It's a cool site with a ton of artists from all over the world. The only catch is that all drawings submitted are drawn online using your mouse or tablet, and their Flash drawing program. Apparently, after you've done a few drawings you can open up a more advanced Java app. So check it out, it's a better way to spend time on the internet than looking up porn. Here's my first attempt.

Christianity, or Why are Christians almost always annoying?

First off, I'm not an atheist. I was raised Catholic, which led to my disdain for organized religion, but not necessarily to my agnosticism on the verge of atheism. Also, this isn't about my religious views. This is about Christians. Not all Christians mind you, just the vast majority. There are a few sane Christians. Somewhere.......


Okay. So here it is. I'm really tired of people saying "thank God for this", or "praise Jesus for that" for every little fucking thing. Not, "thank God I survived this 50 car pile-up" but, "thank God for that chocolate cake I ate at lunch." or "praise Jesus for American Idol." Now, these are not actual things I have heard or read, just slightly more absurd versions of the inane bullshit I'm tired of hearing and reading. Please. Stop kissing your god's ass for fuck's sake. It's pathetic. Give yourself some credit. Maybe God didn't help you land that new job. Maybe, just MAYBE, IT WAS YOU! Maybe all the hard work YOU did, and all of the things YOU'VE learned made you the right person for the job.


This probably sounds harsh, but I'm just so fucking tired of hearing about "God". It's shit like this that pushes me ever closer to being an atheist. I find it amazing that people have so little faith in themselves. Even more amazing to me is the people who NEED "God". They are so afraid of death, or being alone, or taking responsibility for their lives that they rely on some, very possibly imaginary, figure to take care of them. I just don't get it.


I'm ending this rant now. I could go on forever.

April Fool's Joke Gone Serious

The title makes this sound like some horrible accident that happened due to a foolhardy April Fool's Day joke but it is not. This is something wonderful.

As most people in my generation, I have fond memories of the original Star Wars trilogy. I saw them multiple times, I had a metric shit-ton of the toys, even had some of the old Marvel comics. But yesterday, a little company called ThinkGeek made a mock product for April Fool's and received so many requests for said product that they will be attempting to get licensing for it. What is this product you ask? Why.........this.......
That's right. A FRICKIN' TAUNTAUN SLEEPING BAG!!! I love the innard lining, the tauntaun head pillow, and the "light-up" lightsaber zipper pull. I'm no Lucas fanboy, but this would be a fantastic thing for anyone to own. One of the coolest references to THE coolest Star Wars film. Here's a link if you would like to let ThinkGeek know, you too, are interested in this becoming reality.

Saw Watchmen. Prefer it to the book.

I saw Watchmen over the weekend and I have to say that I quite enjoyed it.
Actually, I now prefer the film to the print version for a few reasons. Please don't think
I'm knocking the book. Far from it. The book is an interesting and fulfilling piece of literature.
Well drawn, and well written. But.................

GOD IS IT BORING! Yes. I said it. Watchmen, the book, is boring. Not to say that the movie doesn't have it's slow bits. It does. But the film does a very good job of streamlining the story into a digestible and entertaining 2.5 to 3 hours. The book took me longer to read than most novels. Simply because it is not really entertaining. All the "Black Freighter" stuff and the magazine interviews.....interesting. But boring.

The movie. A lot less boring. A little too much slow-mo, a little too "look how we framed the shot exactly like the comic panels!" but a lot less boring, and a lot more entertaining. Also, I LIKED the changed ending. The Dr. Manhattan frame up? Waaaaay better than the "war of the worlds" of the book. Just my opinion of course.

That's it. Go forth and multiply.

Hello. New art. Yay.

Coming Home

We'll be leaving for the airport here in just a few minutes. I will miss Japan, it is a beautiful and interesting country. And I hope to return here someday. We'll be home around 8 or 9 pm, and we'll hopefully talk to everyone this weekend. See you soon!

Days 4 and 5

So, I went to Shibuya and was slightly disappointed in the scale. It looks ALOT bigger in films. The city was still really cool, but my expectations were not met. Other than that pretty awesome place. Lots of shops selling the newest, most popular fad items, a metric shit-ton of music stores. We went to Tower Records, HMV, Disk Union, Book Off, and a few others I can't remember the names of. Overall a very stylish place to go.



The next we took a daytrip to Kyoto, and then to Osaka so's I could go to Shocker!, Japanese punk band Balzac's store. Kyoto reminded me of downtown L.A. Alot of very shiny, very tall office buildings. Unlike L.A. there were pachinko parlors in between most of them. Saw Kyoto Tower, nothing special. Really. Bought a statue of a tanuki, which the sales lady tried to wrap, which they often do in Japan, (almost every individual item) and TORE THE PAPER!!! She was very apologetic, "Gomenasai, gomenasai..." I told her, "Daijobu. Daijobu desu." Luckily she let it drop, it took her about 10 minutes to get as far as she did. We then headed of to Osaka. I didn't really see much of Osaka because we had a really fun time just trying to find Shocker!. We asked a cop, and he told Michiko, my friend Joe's mother, how to get there.......and she promptly forgot. So we hailed a cab, and the cab driver promptly drove IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. FOR 15 MINUTES. Needless to say he only charged us for half of the trip. We got close to the shop, asked another cop directions (apparently that's all cops do in Japan, give directions) walked a few minutes, asked a random pedestrian, and finally found the joint. Very cool, very small shop. I wished I had more money. Then we got on the subway, and back to the Shinkansen.

The Shinkansen is the famous "bullet train", and it is fast. Really fast. Sometimes sounds like you are on a plane fast. Very comfortable ride, they even have someone walk a cart down the aisle with refreshments every 20 minutes or so. It was around a 7 hour round trip from Osaka to Tokyo. So that was pretty much the entire day.

Day Three

Okay. Today kinda blew. It rained ALL day. Not pissy drizzle, RAINED. I went back to Akihabara to scope out some more places and take some more pics, but the rain really put a monkey wrench into that. So, hopefully today will be better. Weather's looking good so far. Planning on hitting Shibuya today. That's the huge crossing with all the neon and video screens you see in everything that has to do with Japan. Update later........

Day Two Pics Zojoji Temple

Day Two Akihabara

Day Two Pics Tokyo Tower Wax Museum

Day Two Pictures Tokyo Tower

Day Two

Well. Today we got our first experience taking the Yamanote line train which circles central Tokyo. It is CRAZY. People cram themselves onto the train like sardines. A few times I was preeetty sure the doors wouldn't close. Anyway, we went to Akihabara, otherwise known as "Electric Town" electronics everywhere, as well as arcades, claw machines, and lots and lots of manga, games, anime, and toys. Almost all of these stores are 5 or 6 floors of geek bliss. If only we had stores like this for geeks in the U.S..............Tokyo Tower was pretty cool, it looks like a bright orange Eiffel Tower. We hit the main observation deck which was 150m. You could see all of Tokyo. Pretty impressive. We also hit the very weird wax museum in the tower. It was mostly filled with wax western rock stars. Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa, and James Hetfield to name a few. Good selection of t-shirts though. None that would fit my enormous western frame though. We ate at a little 2nd floor joint that served horse meat sashimi, and I would have tried it if Kim hadn't given me the stink eye. That's it for now. I'll post some pictures later tonight.

Day One Pictures

Day One

Well. Our first day in Japan has already made all previous vacations pale in comparison. There is literally something to see everywhere you look. There is no unused space here. Every alley is filled with restaurants and shops and people. In Japan you will never go hungry or thirsty. There is a restaurant every few feet, and vending machines selling hot or cold drinks just a little further apart. The people are polite, other than that they mostly just ignore you. I did however, get spoken about as I walked by three 20 something Japanese guys. All I understood was
"America-jin" a couple times as I walked past. We went to Asakusa and visited Senso-Ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the Bohddisatva of Mercy Kwannon. It is an enormous temple with a long shopping arcade that leads to the jingu, or gate. The shops sell everything from sweets and snacks, to toys, statues, and costumes. Pretty much the only thing I did not see being sold was electronics. We also hit a couple of arcades which were mostly filled with middle aged men smoking and playing the games. They are so incredibly loud it is hard to describe. I think that is it for now, I will upload some pictures in a seperate post.

T-Minus 45 minutes...

It is 3:34 am Monday morning and we will be leaving for the airport at 4:15. All our bags are packed and we are ready to go. Just waiting for the cab that will take us to the magical flying machine. I will attempt to let you guys know whats happening if anything, when I get the chance.
Hope to everyone when we return on March 12th.


P.S. I think Kim might be a robut.

Sayonara!

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. I wish I was more interested in blogging but, it's really low on my "fun things to do" list. Anyway, this blog is about ME going to Japan. I am going to Japan. It will be awesome. I will eat whale. I will buy lots of crap from vending machines, i.e. beer, porn, comics, panties.......etc. That cannot be bought from vending machines in the U.S. Other than that, I'm going sleep (hopefully) throughout the 17 hour flights. I will drink alot of sake. (pronounced sah-keh, not sah-key) I will do my best, best to bring back crappy trinkets for all of my pals. Even Spath. I might go to a concert, I will go to see a movie in the theatre (I hear good things about Japanese theatres). I will visit places called Kabuki-cho, Roppongi, and Fukuoka. I will try not to get thrown out of the country. But who knows? Well, that's it. I'll be gone from the 2nd thru to the 12th of March. Hope to see you guys when I get back. Ja, mata ne!

Look....more art.....

I love this woman.........

Not Medea, the other chick. Olivia Munn. So hot. So funny. SO AWESOME.

A Metric Shit-Ton of Art

Here's some things I've been working on....

Geeeeeez....Sooooorry!

I would like to apologize for not updating my blog very often. You see, I don't sit in front of a fucking computer all day with my thumb up my ass. I actually have to go and do real work. When I get home from work, I have other shit I like to do besides sitting on the computer, blathering on about things that no one REALLY gives a shit about. So. From the bottom of my heart, I apologize.

Totoro Finished

This is finished product of the previous post. I originally intended to make it very clean, but ended up liking the rough look of the outline on Totoro. I drew this for a friend (big Miyazaki fan) who was having a crap weekend. Hence, "Heya Pam!"