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Xenosaga 2 Trailer -:- Friday, February 29, 2008
Here's the musical inspiration for The Temple of a Thousand Tears:
@$$hole! Laura's 21st Birthday p5-9 -:- Don't you always feel a little better after a rant? I know I do (and I tend to rant a lot). There will be some more ranting throughout this story arc, but hopefully it'll be funny and eccentric.  My Site and Drunk Duck Ah yes, the mall...I do loathe this place. I try to avoid it as much as possible, but not for the reasons that Trevor will mention in the story (although I used to joke about them when I was younger). No, I tend to avoid it because it's overpriced and the quality of the products sold there are not usually higher. I tend to shop online, or visit a specialty store for my needs. Which are few. Mostly comics, or DVDs....  My Site and Drunk Duck I had this hilarious vision in my head of Susie going outside in he winter time wearing a coat that was much too large for her. Here's a product of that hilarious vision (which was executed possibly in a slightly less hilarious fashion as it cold have been). How's everyone enjoying the story so far? Anyone minding the lack of color? Anyone liking the more frequent update schedule? Honest feedback is always appreciated.  My Site and Drunk Duck A little more teaser in here about what Trevor hates about the mall so much...I do tend to tease and foreshadow quite a bit in my stories, I'm noticing....  My Site and Drunk Duck Note that this is in no way based on a true story (although I was not a popular kid in high school, and did get made fun of quite a bit). However, it's an accumulation of real events between myself and observations made about other students. I used it as a motivator for Trevor's character to avoid the mall, because just saying that the place is overpriced isn't as funny. Also, 12 year old frighten the hell out of me....
Blood and violence. It's about time this comic earned that "M" rating, eh?  Chapter 5.9 And here's the man with Beady Eyes. His appearance has been made. Time for the blood to flow, and the death of a major character looms on the horizon....  Chapter 5.10 Amanda submitted this piece of fan art depicting her favorite character, Seymour, in an attempt to persuade me from not killing him. I've been teasing that someone was going to die in this chapter - a major character - and several people have voiced concerns about Seymour being the first one I off. Little does she know that his fate has been written for some time now (and so has this story arc). :P Amanda's comic, Salt the Holly, is a really cute comic that has multiple stories going through it, centering on the life of Lia and her roommate Daisey. My favorite draw with the comic is the creepy bald neighbor (being a bald guy myself, but hopefully not creepy). The really interesting part is that he's named Mr Travon - which is pretty damn close to my name...almost too close. Recently, the artwork has improved by leaps and bounds, as she's been having her roommate model for her on some rather tricky and unqiue poses. The story has turned into a fast-paced action / fantasy tale, which was the last thing I was expecting from this comic. But I love a good twist, and enjoy being surprised. If you like a good natured comic with interesting characters and some unexpected plot twists, you deserve to read Salt the Holly! ### You too can contribute to "Fan Art Fridays!" Fan Art will be displayed in the order that they are received, and each person who submits a piece of fan art will receive a mini-review like above. Please include a link to the comic you would like reviewed if you have multiple titles. Please send me fan art and links through a PM (or quack). :D
Trevor on the PimpCAST, tonight 10pm EST -:- Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tonight I'll be on the PimpCAST over on talkshoe with some of my friends who run the Digital Pimp Online.
Be sure to check out the podcast tonight at 10pm EST, and you can even participate live! Without having to sign up or download anything you too can listen in or chat live with the group! Can't make it on the site live at 10pm EST tonight? You can download / stream the podcast afterwards, so no big deal. Check it out, and I hope to see you all online tonight!
Movie Night 79: Spaceballs and Zoolander -:- Tuesday, February 26, 2008
It was the night of silly stupidity (because of the movies, duh), and a bunch of new faces. People were just in a goofy mood. We selected two flicks to watch during what was almost a non-Movie Night (which i'll need to have one of these soon - schedule pending).
 Director: Mel Brooks Cast: Bill Pullman, John Candy, Rick Moranis, Mel Brooks Plot: Lone Starr (Pullman) is an outsider among the space community, living in a flying mobile home spaceship with his friend, Barf (Candy). When Pizza the Hutt tells Lone Starr that he owes 100,000 space bucks, he makes a deal with a king to rescue his daughter from the dreaded Dark Helmet (Moranis) and the Spaceball Empire. Hilarious situations and very quotable scenes follow! Director: Ben Stiller Cast: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrel, Milla Jovovich, Jerry Stiller, David Duchovny, Jon Voight, and many others Plot: Mugatu (Ferrel) is a fashion designer that also belongs to an international cartel of criminals that are looking out for their own interests. When the new Prime Minister of Malaysian starts implimenting child labor laws, Mugatu is forced to hire an operative to dispatch of him - and who stupider than male model Derek Zoolander (Stiller)! Full of celebrity cameo appearances (including Billy Zane, Christian Slater, and David Bowie), this movie is very stupid...but very very funny! As I mentioned above, I'm thinking about getting a schedule going again for Movie Night (especially since I'm going to be taking some vacation time starting in April), and I wanted to bring back some theme nights and have a few non-Movie Nights (since the last one was in June 2007). Ergo, here's the schedule that I'm thinking for the next month or so: February 29: Anime Night March 7: Superhero Night (Batman, Superman, whatever) March 14: Nerd Night (Star Trek, sci-fi, Clerks....) March 21: Laura's 21st birthday party! March 28: Prison Night (Could be a Johnny Dangerously in here) April 4: Time Burton Night April 11: Game Night April 18: POSTPONED (I'll be in New York City) April 25: TBD Here's the original list of themes that we came up with back in September 2006. Feel free to help me add to it: - 70s Night
Movie Night #78: Constantine -:- Thursday, February 21, 2008  Director: Frances Lawrence Cast: Keanu Reeves, Rachael Weisz, Shai LeBeouf, Tilda Swinton, Peter Stormare Plot: John Constantine (Reeves) is an exorcist from LA who has stumbled upon a religious uprising within the holy community. It appears that God and the Devil have made a wager for the custody of all mankind - by influencing people, but not directly manipulating them, who could control them the best. But it appears that a new player as entered the mix, and is trying to jump-start armageddon before either side is ready for the final confrontation. And it's up to chain-smoking Constantine to save the day. Another example of an Alan Moore comic property that couldn't be translated well into film (John's a blonde haired, chain smoking British magician who wears a brown over coat). Reeves is very uncomfortable in his role as the main protagonist, and cannot convince me that he's been smoking since 13. He's so uncomfortable using that over-sized zippo throughout the flick. His delivery is probably the poorest I've seen since Bill and Ted. Despite that, the flick has some decent special effects and a few nice "Oh shit!" moments. Honestly, I bought it for the special features - which were 2-3 minutes each, and not worth the money. I feel cheated. :P
Temple Chapter 5.8 -:- Wednesday, February 20, 2008 The decision is made. The swordsman is now ready to be a samurai once again (which is why I have not refer to him as "the samurai" previously). Before now, he was not a samurai, but now he has a purpose, and a motivation. And someone is going to die because of it.  Chapter 5.8
@$$hole! Laura's 21st Birthday p5 -:-
Don't you always feel a little better after a rant? I know I do (and I tend to rant a lot).
There will be some more ranting throughout this story arc, but hopefully it'll be funny and eccentric.
@$$hole! Laura's 21st Birthday p2-4 -:- Monday, February 18, 2008 Another teaser page, this is something that I would put a "dedicated in loving memory to my baby" underneath if I were to print it in a book (which I may do). However, I think instead I may instigate the rivalry that her and I have going and just simply put "Plus One." It's a personal joke, but if you remember the very first page of @$$hole, I mention a competition between Laura and myself over who loves who more. Well, since that time we've come to the conclusion that "plus one" trumps anything that another person could say. Because no matter what they say, you're going to be that thing "plus one." Well, I'd have a printed book to back up my statement, so..."plus one, baby!" Cover will post on Friday, and the story will begin next week. Enjoy! PS: I would really love a bumper sticker that says this....  My Site and Drunk Duck Here's the cover. Note that red is Laura's favorite color. Get ready for some fun times, starting up on Monday!  My Site and Drunk Duck I wrote this story when I was working hella hours at the office, not leaving until 7pm every night for 3 months (something my account team tells me they also did, but I don't believe a single thing they say - since only lies spew forth from their filthy fucking mouths. Note my bitterness towards them). In any case, it was always a nice thing to come home and be able to work on the comic (although there were a few nights where I wouldn't come home until midnight or later...I hadn't worked on any comics for 3-5 days straight at one point). Please note that in order to take place on Laura's 21st birthday, this story will be taking place in March 2008 (even though it's currently February, and it will continue after March). Conflict established, time to tell some jokes....  My Site and Drunk Duck
The tragic death of your entire family, and loss of your children, and the fact that you then have to bury them yourself, and go on a final mission for your master. But wait, that's that in the final panel...?  Chapter 5.6 Here's Sophia, the character that has the smallest amount of time in this story, but probably has the most significance of any of the characters - especially to the swordsman. I am piecing together an origin story for her, because I have some tales that I can tell about this warrior woman. Although I don't have an origin tale fully fleshed out at this point in time, I do have a few interesting little tales that could be told about the first time she meets the Swordsman, and eventually how they fall in love. However, that's a story that may not be told for a few years or so....  Fan Art Friday - Sketch of Sophia And the Bishops attack! Time for some ass kicking, loads of violence, and a decision - a very difficult decision for one of our characters. And death. There will also be death. From the Hagakuri: "When one has made a decision to kill a person, even if it will be difficult to succeed by advancing straight ahead, it will not do to think about going at it in a long roundabout way. One's heart may slacken, he may miss his chance, and by and large there will be no success. The Way of the Samurai is one of immediacy, and it is best to dash in headlong."  Chapter 5.7
@$$hole! #49 and Laura's Birthday comic -:- Tuesday, February 12, 2008 And Susie makes somewhat of a return to her roots, where she kills people for watching her video and not showing it to someone in 7 days. Next week starts up the 3-per week black and white story, which will go on for 38 pages (about 3 months). Again, this is just a mini-project to do a few things: 1) to test and see if I can maintain the increased schedule 2) to make a birthday card / gift for Laura's 21st birthday 3) to hopefully get me in the habit of doing more than one comic per week, so when I return to doing a color one I can maybe do another one on top of it - either in color or black and white. The new update schedule will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The first few comics will be goofy and unrelated to the actual story, which will really start on Friday with a cover shot. After that, it's 38 pages of a related (and I hope funny) plot. Enjoy!  My site and Drunk Duck The first page (more of a teaser / explanation, really) of Laura's birthday story / the 3x per week black and white schedule is also page 75! Whoo-hoo! Cross your fingers for me and hope that I can complete this exercise / test of my ability to update 3x per week for 3 months. At the end of the 3 months, color updates will resume - possibly with additional content during the week. Wish me luck, and enjoy the page!  My site and Drunk Duck
New Temple pages have been going live over at Drunk Duck, including the revelation about the swordsman's past....  Chapter 5.4  Fan Art Friday - Sketch of Kimberly and Daniel  Chapter 5.5
Temple Chapter 5.2 -:- Tuesday, February 05, 2008 Imagine coming home to this mess. Answers are right around the corner. From the Hagakuri: "Master Ittei said, 'If one were to say what it is to do good, in a single word it would be to endure suffering. Not enduring is bad without exception." ... "It is bad when one thing becomes two. One should not look for anything else in the Way of the Samurai. It is the samr for anything that is called a Way. Therefore, it is inconsistent to hear something of the Way of Confucius or the Way of the Buddha, and say that this is the Way of the Samurai. If one understands things in this manner, he should be able to hear about all Ways and be more and more in accord with his own."  Chapter 5.2
Movie Night #76: Batman Begins -:-  Movie Night #76: Batman Begins (2005) Director: Christopher Nolan Cast: Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman Plot: Bruce Wayne (Bale) lost his mother and father to a robber when he was a little boy, and has saught vengence ever since. However, upon meeting the League of Shadows and receiving training to defeat evil, he realizes that he's not willing to kill to uphold the law. As such, he learns that the League of Shadows has been trying to destroy Gotham City before, and so he goes back to defend the city that he loves. A city corrupt with crime and filled with criminals. Upon his return, Bruce enlists the help of his butler Alfred (Caine) and a police officer Gordon (Oldman) and becomes a vigilante champion of justice, Batman! Now, the League of Shadows has come to Gotham to destroy the entire city and everyone within it, and it's up to Batman to save them all.
Temple Chapters 5.1-5.2 -:- Friday, February 01, 2008
@$$hole! #48: More Excuses.... -:- The Big Oil boys make another appearance. I like these guys a lot, because one is kind of the voice of reason (the younger black guy), and one is so evil and disparaging that he's not even aware of what he is and how he acts. I wrote this strip last year, and the statistic is actually true - oil prices are 70% higher this year than they were last year (so so NPR informs me). This is absolutely CRAZY to me! I remember when I first started driving and they raised the price of gas to $.89 per gallon. "Outragious!" I said. "No on will stand for this. They'll have to drop the price back down to $.50 where it belongs!" But the fact of the matter is that oil companies can charge whatever the hell they want for gas because 1) there's no alternative fuel source to power our vehicles (even the "alternative fuels" that are being developed rely on petrol to function - the combustible engine is outdated and will not work with fossil fuels), and 2) fossil fuels are becoming more and more rare and therefore, more and more expensive. I mean, who's bright idea was it to create a fuel system and engine based on a non-renewable resource!?! Good job, moron - we're only going to run out one day and be forced to find a truly alternative fuel source. There's my rant about Big Oil. These guys will more than likely make more appearances down the road, especially as summer gets closer and the gas prices skyrocket again (now they do it in the summer - travel season - AND the winer season - when we need the natural gas to heat out homes. I'm sure it's a great business move, but it's screwing all of us little guys and gals over big time). Next week, the last weekly color strip until I start the 3-per-week project for Laura's 21st birthday. Again, this project will only last 38 pages (about 3 months), will update in black and white 3 times per week, and should still be a lot of fun. However, I'm not going to sacrifice the color pages - they'll come back after this project is finished. And, I may also be able to update a little more often, as well. That's the hope, anyway - we'll see about the reality. See you all next week!  My site and Drunk Duck
As it was Mary's 21st birthday (at midnight), she got to pick titles this week. After a brief round of Uno, we popped in Versus (which we haven't seen since Movie Night 49).
 Movie Night 49: Versus (2000) Director: Ryuhei Kitamura Cast:Tak Sakaguchi, Hideo Sakaki, Chieko Misaka Plot:There are 666 portals that lead to difference dimensions, and in Japan exists the 444th portal: The Forrest of Ressurection.Two prisoners escape from jail during transportation with the help of some Yakuza thugs, only to be entwined in a mysterious battle that they cannot understand. Apparently, the thugs were hired by a man with no name that walks around with a brief case, and he wants one of the prisoners alive, along with a girl who has strange dreams and visions. When the meeting of these groups goes bad, they soon find out that the Forrest of Ressurection can bring the dead back to life! Now, the surviving prisoner and the girl must try to make their way out of the forrest before they become a part of the mysterious man's destiny. A destiny that spans back over 500 years! This flick is the first movie I've seen from Ryuhei Kitamura (Alive, Azumi), and it was also the most impressive.With a little budget, he managed to make a flick with some of the most interesting / innovative camera shots ever. This movie is like a martial arts Evil Dead, only without the campiness and the cottage. It has zombies, samurais, evil demons, magic spells, sword fights, and a barrage of other things that make it worth owning, much less worth owning. It's come up a few times in the past as a title that we should watch (I think it was a choice during my birthday movie night), and we finally got to watch it. Azumi is also a close second in personal favorite's from this director. He's also been rumored to direct the upcoming Metal Gear Solid movie from Sony Pictures. I actually had to buy two copies of this movie: one was a region 2 at a convention, which didn't always work in DVD players, which forced me to go out and find a region 1 copy at Best Buy. It took FOREVER for this movie to hit our shores, and it was a glorious thing to behold. Azumi took forever as well, and Laura had to buy it for me when we went to ACEN last year. And it's awesome! Later! T
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