Compton: A Tribute to Dennis Patrick in "Joe"

Here's a follow up to the review I wrote in Wide to Receive zine #3...

The more you ignore me the closer I get...

Just a couple of quick things:

First, expect the new issue of Wide to Receive print zine (#3) very soon. As in, "within the month." There were 2 main "issues" slowing down the release of this volume, both of which have now been resolved. The first "issue" was Christian was in the midst of studying for an exam, so he had no time to do his usual comic strips for the "Funnies" feature. (And I for one look forward to seeing the latest "Ratman" and "Tape Men" comics!) Now that his exam is over, he should have those ready very soon. The second "issue" was that I had a variety of problems with my inkjet printer. It was mostly a case of the colour cartridge running empty, I'd refill it only to have the black run empty, then repeat all over again! Ultimately, I found out the last colour cartridge was actually defective (after I'd already gone out & bought a new black one!), so I decided enough was enough, took Christian's advice and bought myself a colour laser printer. Just the cheapest one I could find, but it seems to do the trick quite nicely!

So, what else is new? Not a whole lot. I am still sitting on a huge stack of books that I had intended to read & review for the zine but haven't gotten around to yet. Same goes for some DVDs. After I've done doing the things I "need to do" (work, chores, eat, sleep, etc.) and the things I "want to do" (see people, shop, work on creative projects, waste time on the internet, etc.) there just aren't enough hours in the day to get to everything!

Oh, I've been on a "healthy eating plan" diet since about the start of the month. I think I've lost 6 lbs. I'd like to shed about 4 or 5 more. It's been a difficult time of the year because when the weather is cold & it's dark & the sidewalks are icy I tend not to move very much (i.e., not outside doing yard work or renovations, sitting around indoors a lot watching tv, driving places where normally I would walk, etc.) so this it the time of the year I gain a little weight. Yeah, that's it! Sounds like a good excuse! As far as "dieting" goes, I find it's actually a good thing because then I don't have to think about what to buy or what to cook. The less I have to think the better! The hardest part is that I've had to cut out my consumption of wine & Bailey's Irish Cream. Not that consume a lot of alcohol or anything, I just got used to having a glass of something with my dinner or while watching my shows and now I don't. (Well, I admit I have snuck a swig or two of Bailey's this week. And I do have a Guinness stashed away for St. Patrick's Day this Thursday!) Other than that, I think I've been pretty good about it.

Here's my latest pet peeve: People who don't acknowledge my emails. Example A: I email something to someone (like, a spreadsheet for example) and then I get radio silence. Did they receive it? Did they get it but just didn't look at it yet? Is it a classic case of "if you have don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything"? Or did they get it, read it, whatever and just have no further need of me? Even a little "Got it, thanks" email would be nice. Example B: I email someone and ask them a specific question and get no reply. I'll let what I think a "reasonable" period of time elapse before I mention it again (if at all, depending on how important the matter was.) The result is I feel like I'm being a nag & a pest (which maybe I am!) I guess I just don't understand the proper "netiquette."

Finally, a few things that have been on my radar lately:

* Alphonse Mucha
* John Connolly
* The 1970s
* John Waters & how much "camp" has made me who I am!
* Paying particular attention to people's clothing and the state of their hygiene (or lack thereof!) The people in this town are positively Dickensian!
* Patsy Cline & Jim Reeves


Among other things.

A century of Vincent Price

This year, in May to be precise, marks the 100th birthday of Vincent Price.

One of the most iconic figures to ever grace the screen to be sure. I'm not sure if there are necessarily any "events" scheduled to celebrate this "centennial" occasion, but I have picked up a couple of magazines recently which are dedicated to him: most notably, the latest issue of the "new" Famous Monsters of Filmland (#254). Sadly I got the "retail" cover instead of the version with the awesome VP cover art by Jason Edmiston (whom I met in Toronto last year.)

So, I suggest that you all celebrate by watching a Vincent Price movie sometime in the coming months. God knows there are plenty to choose from! One of my favourites is "The Masque of the Red Death". VP's character of Prospero is a total badass! So deliciously evil and so many memorable quips. Another suggestion is "The Tingler",the quintessential William Castle "gimmick" movie which is a total riot! ("Do not panic...but SCREAM! Scream for your lives!") And finally, another of my personal favourites, "Theatre of Blood" a great horror that verges on black comedy, where VP plays a hammy actor who gets revenge on his critics! (Also notable for co-starring one of my heroes, Diana Rigg - aka Mrs. Peel from The Avengers.)

Vincent Price. They don't make 'em like that anymore. :(

The play is the thing

Many, many years ago I wrote a script for a stage play. It's certainly nothing that I consider "good" or anything, but looking back it was a decent first attempt, I guess. Obviously, it went nowhere. I do a lot of things and then tuck them away, embarrassed and never show anyone. But theatre is something that really interests me. It's always been a secret little fantasy of mine to be involved in the production of a play in some capacity. Not as a "star" or anything - God no. The only "acting" experience I ever had was when I played Little Miss Muffet on stage in elementary school once. And yes, it was a "speaking part" with dialogue I had to memorize & deliver. :) (Yeah. I totally rocked that "tuffet"!) It's on my "bucket list" to get involved in theatre someday in some small way... like working on creating/painting the sets, or maybe as a non-speaking extra in the background. And of course, writing a short play that actually got performed would be a dream come true! (Naturally I'm thinking like on a small, local indie scale -- I don't have unreasonable expectations!)

I think maybe after I wrap up my current little "pet projects", I will turn my attention to this. I've kind of caught the writing "bug" lately, so I want to try my hand at writing another little script or two.

Do you know anyone who might be "bipolar"?

Manic-Depression: I looked it up and according to the US National Institute of Mental Health...

Here are some symptoms of a "manic" episode:
Increased energy, activity, or feelings of restlessness
Feelings of an excessive ‘high,’; an extremely good, euphoric mood
Distractibility, lack of concentration
Having "racing" thoughts and talking very fast
Lack of focus,jumping from one idea to another
Feeling like you need little sleep
Increased sex drive
Going on spending sprees
Exhibiting poor judgment
Unrealistic confidence in one’s own abilities
Irritability
Provocative, intrusive, or aggressive behavior
Drug abuse, especially alcohol or sleeping pills
Denial
Lasting period of unusual behavior

Here are some symptoms of a "depressive" episode:
Extended feelings of sadness, anxiousness, or emptiness
Hopelessness or pessimism
Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed, including sex
Decreased energy, fatigue or feeling “run down”
Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
Restlessness or irritability
Sleeping too much, or insomnia
Change in appetite and / or unintended weight loss or gain
Chronic pain or persistent bodily symptoms not caused by illness or injury
Thoughts of death or suicide / suicide attempts

This charming man, Jason McGuire

"Do you go everywhere 10 times?"

"You're the most drinkin'est gal I know!"

Back in the 80s when my brother & I were teenagers we went through a John Waters phase. We rented & watched all the John Waters movies we could get our hands on back then (although there are still some that I haven't seen.) A particular favourite of ours was "Polyester". Although we only watched it once, there were so many quotes & moments that made their way into our daily little vernacular and running jokes. I just re-watched "Polyester" for a 2nd time, and was reminded of so many golden moments. (And only now was I able to, er... "enjoy" Odorama, since the copy we rented back then didn't have the Odorama card.)



Oh "purr, purr Francine" (Divine, doing the best Elizabeth Taylor-esque performance of her career) and the one & only Edith Massey as Cuddles (the definite show stealer!) And I'd forgotten how skinny & ineffectual that "tough" Bo-Bo was! Here are a few of my favourite quotes from this classic. These are words to live by!

***

"Children would only get in the way of our erotic lifestyle!" (Sandra Sullivan)



"Oh Heintz, she's straight from the gutter!"
"A sporting girl, I would imagine."
"A fille de joie."
"It saddens me that you have to see anything this common, madame."
"Purr Francince! Purr purr Francine!"
(Cuddles Kovinsky & Heintz the chaffeur)



"Don't you know it's bad luck to let retards in your home?" (La Rue)


"At first I thought he was walking his dog. Then I realized it was his date!" (Cuddles Kovinsky)

Plans for the new year

When I make a tally of the events of 2010, overall it was a shitty year. Mostly because of things (health related) that were happening to people I care about, not necessarily anything that happened to me personally. Nevertheless, when I look back on 2010, I feel that it was mostly a productive and satisfying year. I finally got around to "doing" instead of just "thinking about" a lot of creative projects that I wanted to tackle for a long time (eg, video making, the zine, drawing & creative writing, even writing/playing a little bit of music again, etc.) Also, I find I've been devoting a lot more of my time to things that I genuinely enjoy, and saying to hell with what I "should" do or am "supposed to" do. I'm enjoying the virtue of selfishness. All of this (the equation of creativity plus selfishness) I find has put me in a pretty good mental place. I hope to continue the same trend for 2011.

January is a "clean slate" time of year, when the obligations of the holidays are finally over, things settle back into a routine again, and I find I have a lot more ambition and energy. Instead of making "resolutions", I often make "to do lists" for myself, and surprisingly, I usually accomplish most of the list (unlike vague "resolutions" that I never have the willpower to achieve!)

So, what are some of the things on my "to do" list for 2011?

• Devote more time to writing & drawing
• Take at least 1 really good vacation this year (ie, travel)
• Publish at least 1 more issue of W2R zine and try to finish the comic by the end of the year
• Make at least 1 new YouTube video this year (I've been thinking about a few)

And a few other things I won't mention here. The only vague "resolutions" I hope to achieve this year...

• Try to curb the "time wasters" in my life
• Say "yes" when I really mean "no" less often, and vice versa

Update on W2R #3 and "HROS" Comic project

Just a quick update on a couple of projects:

"Wide to Receive" paper zine issue #3 will probably be in your hands by late February. I've got a few pieces for it already, but there's still plenty of space if you want to submit something (articles, reviews, photography, drawings, rants, etc.) Send me your stuff! This issue is going to be a good one, if I do say so myself...!

"Hollow Round of Skull" issue #1 (the anthology comic book) is coming along nicely. I don't expect this to be ready until probably late 2011. As it stands, I think there are about 6 stories that I've collected for it so far -- and a number of other people have promised to send stories as well so I'm expecting more! I won't give too much away, but the stories have all been very different but flow together nicely in their quirkiness (which is exactly what I was hoping for.) At this rate, the comic will either be very thick, or possibly come in 2 or 3 issues (which is fantastic either way!) I'm VERY excited about this! I would like to appeal to all of you to consider doing some artwork for it. A lot of people tell me they "don't draw", but think outside the box -- photography, digital manipulations, collages of pasted magazine clippings, etc would be great as well. This is the time to get creative & experimental, people! No one is expecting you to be the next Moebius. Just have fun with it!

Cope

"Several of my incestors are buried here"

Here's a video I threw together highlighting just a few of the flubs that came up within 1 hour of watching "Dark Shadows" last night. For those of you who've heard me talk before how messed-up this show can be, here's some proof. Again, I emphasize these aren't the "worst" bloopers from the show: just a taste of what 1 random hour gives you.

Sometime soon I'll post of video showing why I genuinely like "Dark Shadows", but for now this is a pretty good example of what I find so funny about it. :) I hope you get a LOL out of it too.

It's Only the End of the World

2 new songs from Black Box Recorder - YAY!

The last 2 songs they ever plan to do - BOO!

We downloaded them off iTunes - YAY!

And.... they're not very good -- BOO!

Why are all my favourite bands reforming this year just to suck & disappoint me? What's next? A reunion of The Smiths, only featuring Rihanna? Gawd!

It's like Sarah Nixey is giving those "2 fingers up" to me. :(

"Joe" who?

Has anyone seen or heard of this movie before? My fascination with Dennis Patrick of "Dark Shadows" lead me to find this. It looks really bizarre and seems to be a bit of a "cult" classic in some circles. Seems like it's Archie Bunker meets "The Odd Couple" gone "Natural Born Killers". It's described as an extremely violent buddy movie/social commentary dark comedy about the generation gap. Apparently it's also notable as the first appearance by a young Susan Sarandon. All I can say is ...Weird! O_o

Art technique

In continuation to my last post...

I recently started using this technique for my comic book art, and am having surprisingly good results from it. It's nothing startling or "new", just a different way of working that I've started, and am so far very pleased with the results. Basically, here's the steps:

1. Draw the pencil sketch. I do this in my regular old sketchbook. I usually use something light, like a 2H. I bring it up to the point that the main features are all there, but without really any shading, etc.

2. Scan the sketch. I adjust the midtones, highlights. etc and darken it a bit. Then I can put away the "original" sketch for posterity. If I screw-up in the later stages (as I often do), the original is still "clean".

3. Print out the scan, just on regular old computer paper. When the scan prints, everything has a nice grey cast to it. It's just "warmer" over all & automatically "fill" shaded a bit in the background, which works out nice for the B&W format of the comic book.

4. Ink over the print out. I use a variety of ink pens, with varying tips and widths. I don't use a brush, although I do use a brush-pen (ie., an ink pen with a brush tip). I like cheaper supplies because then I don't feel bad when I use them up & dry them out! I usually use Faber-Castell inking pens, in combination with just plain old dollar store Bic markers and Sharpies. **One caveat: I have noticed some of the cheaper markers and Sharpies are total shit on the computer paper! They bleed heavy & run. Therefore, I'm trying to use those less on this project. All I can say is it's a good thing I have the "back-up" of the original on the computer!

5. After inking, I shade and basically "colour" (ie, various tones of grey/black) with pencils. Lately I find I use 2H, H, HB, 4B and 6B the most. As you know, it's always best to start light, then move up to the darker pencils as you go on. This is the step where I add the most details. Lately I'm really into trying to add "textures" to things, so I'll try cross-hatching, or adding any little patterns, dots that look like zip tones, etc. I may use the inks a bit more to bring out little details.

6. Re-do any inks if necessary. That is, if the ink got pencilled over & doesn't look as crisp anymore, darken it in again.

The end result has been looking remarkably like an ink "wash" (which I wouldn't know how to actually do because I suck with a brush!) or sometimes like a "cell shaded" piece. At least, I think so. I've been pretty impressed with the results I'm getting. I'd love to show you an example, BUT I really can't without giving away a "spoiler" for the comic. So you'll just have to take my word for it. Sorry.

7. Once it's "finished" scan it back onto the computer again. This is the working copy for the comic.

Obviously, for some doing all the artwork digitally on the computer in the first place would've yielded the same results (or better) without all these manual steps. Yes, of course it would... BUT I haven't been able to master the technology & I find it very frustrating. For me, it's always easier to do things manually, even if it is more time & labour intensive!

Anyway, nothing startling new. Just wanted to talk about how I draw & what I'm learning in the course of doing this little comic.

Long time no write

Hey. Long time no write.



Well, actually that's not true. I've been writing a lot lately. In fact, I've written more these past few months than I have in years!



I guess over the past few months I've eschewed this blog in favour of the paper zine. True to form: I've always preferred doing things the old fashioned & outdated way! Doing the paper version, although maybe not as "immediate" as the blog, is just more fun for me these days because it brings together writing, drawing, planning layouts, etc that I can't really do in electronic form and so I find it to be more satisfying as a creative outlet.



There will be an issue #3 of the paper zine but probably not until the new year. I've got some sexy ideas for it -- which I'm dying to tell you about...but won't -- but I haven't really had the time yet to sit down & write anything. One slight change with #3... it may be all black & white this time. The costs associated with making colour copies for everyone is getting up there. We'll see... I may change my mind if the material warrants colour. (Some pieces just demand colour!) After all, if a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well.





What I have been working on for the past few weeks is my anthology comic book. It's been a fun and challenging project thus far. For one thing, I'm not a "fiction" writer. Back in my most depressed days (when I wrote copiously and constantly) I dabbled in poetry, drama, and even attempted a script for a graphic novel! But writing "short stories" is something I've never really done before. Although I don't think I have any skill at it I do find it a nice change of pace. Surprisingly, the little bit I've written thus far has come very easy to me...which probably confirms my suspicions that it's complete tripe. But I hope the reader will find it "interesting" at least! It's been nice to get back in touch with writing again -- sans depression! Writing is quickly re-claiming it's place as my favourite thing to do.




The artwork is certainly the more frustrating part of the project. My art skills peaked around high school, and I admit that I don't "practice" enough to improve or learn any interesting techniques. So, there's a gap between the idea I visualize in my mind and the finished image on paper. Also, I am completely useless when it comes to doing digital art on the computer. It's just too frustrating for me! But, so long as the drawings I scratch out are "passable" I plan to use them in the comic. My dream is to see this comic book completed and say "I did that" and hopefully with some level of quality!





Otherwise, not much new to report. My fixation with Dark Shadows is ever-growing...





Speaking of which, I'll end with a pic of my favourite Irish con man, Jason McGuire.

And a very cute piece of parody "slash fiction" from YouTube that makes me LOL...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4PHXRxDP4E

issue #2

Expect issue #2 of the paper zine SOON! (approximate ETA in 2 weeks!)

More vampires than you can "count"...!

These vampires are cool...





















But these vampires just plain suck...











Frankly, I'm getting a little sick of vampires everywhere.

In memory

Goodnight, Harvey. We never met yet I feel I knew you so well.

Harvey Pekar
October 8, 1939 - July 12, 2010