...Long Time Coming...

What up!? Ok, so it's been...well...a really long time.

(Isn't it amazing how many blog posts start like this? Not just on my blog. On all blogs...)

...but I digress. I'm on here tonight for a few reasons.

1) I actually drew something! Look at me! I drew:

Pinky and the Brain! But my own messed up version of them!

You see, I was in a meeting the other day at work, and someone in the meeting mentioned something about how they saw an episode of Pinky and the Brain the other day, and how they forgot how much they liked that show, which made me think, "Ha! Pinky and the Brain RULED!" So, of course, in my own, "Yes I'm listening to what you are saying, bosses, but I'm also drawing during a meeting" way, I doodled head shots of Pinky and the Brain. Unfortunately, it had been so long since I last saw a Pinky and the Brain cartoon, they looked a little messed up. Kinda twisted-like. And I thought, "I should push that a bit further...that would be fun!" Thus, wah-lah...Pinky and the Brain, a la Troy.

So, that's #1...

2) #2 is kind of bittersweet. You see, I've FINALLY installed wordpress over at my "real" website...http://www.popmatic.com. I'm thinking it's maybe time to move back to where I should be. However, I'll kind of miss Blogger...it's nice around here.

Of course, this probably won't happen until Barack is in the White House (and he WILL be in the White House!) but I'm working towards it. Now I just have to set up a pretty template to make it look nice. Which we all know will take well over a zillion years, so I should probably just stay comfortable where I am.

...and that's really it. Just thought I should pop on and say 'hey, stuff is going on'. I may even get my $h!+ together enough to throw up the fun pictures I took in Chicago this weekend.

Post-It Note Project: Accomplished!

Hooray! February 1st is here! I can't explain it, but I've really been looking forward to doing this project. I've just needed an excuse to do something frivolous and fun.

Unfortunately, this has been an insanely busy week. My poor wife had some minor surgery (don't worry, she's fine...though I think she's starting to go a bit stir crazy!) and I've had to take care of the poor girl. Luckily, I was able to get three post-its doodled upon before the end of the day. So, after dinner, I head down to the local Wal-Mart to pick up some brownies, and to leave what I hope are seen as happy little surprises throughout the store. (Don't ask me why I was fixated on leaving these things at a Wal-Mart...it just seeemed like the perfect place to do this)

There was no question where my monkey was going to go, of course. I wish the photo was clearer, but I like to think that he's happy, surrounded by his favorite fruit.

My spaceman has confused "The Rock" terribly. Poor Dwayne just can't understand why this spaceman would want to cover his tu-tu'd dog's face. Sorry Rock, spacemen can sometimes just be like that.

Talk about Rock! He was my favorite, and I figured all the hippy ice cream would enjoy some kick-ass rockin' for a while. Stand back, Willie!

Man, that was fun. I may just have to make this an annual event. Or monthly. Or when I get bored. We'll have to see....

Thanks again to Fiona for proposing this really fun project!

Post-It Notes Project, Feb 1st

This Friday, February 1, there is a really cool project going on, started by blogger Fiona Harding, called the "Post-It Notes Project". The idea is really simple, and it sounds like a ton of fun. The object is to simply doodle on a stack of Post-It Notes, and then leave your drawings in random locations around the globe, documenting it all in pictures. Then, send the pictures to Fiona, and she'll post them all on her blog!

I'll probably be posting my post-its here too. I'm thinking a trip to Wal-Mart is in order. I'm not sure why, but the thought of leaving a little post-it of a martian in the bread aisle over there makes me smile. =)

Sketches!

I've been a drawing fool lately. Can't help myself. It's been a long time since I had the desire to draw this much.

There should be a lot more to come in the weeks and months ahead...I'm drawing two comics at the moment! One is a short, contained story, the other a series of short contained stories, revolving around one character...more to come when there is more to say! In the meantime, however, here are a few quick sketches that I've done in my spare time. Hope you like them!

This Dracula was done based off the Drac seen in Buffy the Vampire Slayer...

I call this one, "Flyboy".

I have no idea where this came from. I drew the demon first, and then thought there should be someone kicking him in the head...so there you go. A look into my creative process. Woot.

You can click on the images above to get better look. Leave me a comment. That is all.


----------------
Now playing: The Broken West / Slow
via FoxyTunes

Pictures! Of Me!

Well lookie here, I've finally put some new pictures of my life out there for everyone to see...



...here are some pictures of a wonderful day my wife and I spent in the Old Deaf School Topiary garden downtown to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary. (We had a picnic!)



...and these are pictures from my brother-in-law's wedding at Confluence Park two weeks ago. What a great time! I danced my poor wife into a migraine, but besides that, we had a blast!

Finished Harry Potter

Don't worry. I'm not going to spoil a single thing. I would hate it if anyone dared to try that with me. I just want to say that, now that it is over, I am honestly going to miss each and every character from those books. The fact that I don't have another Harry Potter novel to look forward to is almost depressing. But I can't thank J.K. Rowling enough...It was everything I hoped it would be and nothing that I expected...as with each of the 7 novels.

What a great time. And now that the book no longer has a hold on me, maybe I can get to bed before 3am?

The Google Phone!

Engaget has been spouting off rumors of a "gPhone" for quite some time now, but recently, it seems to be getting a bit more specific. Enough that I'm seriously intrigued now.

But, as usual, it comes with reservations. Mostly from the last couple of lines from this article...

HTC is being tapped to build a Linux-based Gphone to be launched on T-Mobile in the US in early 2008, with Orange getting the exclusive in France and other countries. Anian also says Google has been in talks with Verizon and AT&T, and that Verizon has already shot the big G down -- much like it did with Apple and the iPhone.

...already shot it down, did you Verizon? Seriously? That's the way you want to play?

With the exception of one or two LG phones, Verizon has the worst phone choices on the planet. I recently had to find myself a new one, after my current 2 year contract had run out, and there are slim pickin's, let me tell you. So, if Google comes up with a winner of a handset (which I'm confident they'll do, despite rumors of having to listen to ads before you make your call in exchange for free cell service...I find that hard to believe...) I'm thinkin' it may be time to give up on Verizon.

So, all that having been said, I guess what my rambling comes down to is that I'm intrigued. I'm a total Google whore, and I probably spend at least half of my web-surfing time in some Google-built application or site. So, when I hear that they may finally save me from my boring ol' cell phone, I can't help but perk up and listen. And get just a bit excited.

What does it MEAN!?!!?

So, I just took an online test from the Prosopagnosia Research Center at Harvard University and University College London. In it, they check your ability to recognize faces, objects and how well you do with verbal recognition.

I won't give away the tests, in case you want to try them. I figure that would skew the results. However, I found my results extremely interesting.

For facial recognition, I got a near perfect...96%. That puts me in the top 88% of everyone who has taken the test so far. I didn't do quite as well for the object recognition. Apparently, I'm totally average at that...I'm in the 50 percentile.

But, for the verbal recognition portion of the test, I only scored a 33%...less than 1% of everyone who took that test did worse than I did!!! So...WTF? Do I have some kind of mental problem where words don't register with me? I've always noticed that names go in one ear and out the other, but I never figured I was in the bottom 1% of the world!

I'm kind of freaking out about this!

Someone else take the test! Tell me what you think!

Troy Sleepy...

My God. What a month.

Since I've started this blog, I've done a fair job of posting every once in a while. But recently, I just haven't found the time. It's not that there hasn't been anything to talk about or that I don't want to, but it's simply been a matter of not having 5 minutes to spare and sit down to write anything out. It's amazing.

And now that I finally have ten minutes to spare...I can't think of anything to say. I've been playing with Photoshop recently (one of the million things that has taken up so much time this month) and I put together a cartoon picture of me, specifically for this blog post. And now I've forgotten what I wanted to say.

...I need to get more sleep, apparently.

Google Calendar on your Phone!

So, my two years is up on my piece of crap flip phone at last. May 31, I can throw this thing with all my might across some vacant parking lot and watch it explode into teeny-tiny little pieces, as I've dreamed of doing for, oh, 1 year, 11 months and 364 days now...

(Flip phones. Why the fascination, Verizon? Why?)

So, for months, I've been dreaming of the normal, candy-bar, no frills, no web access, no mp3 player, no nothin' fancy phone I was going to buy. A phone that takes phone calls. That's all.

And then my work blocked Google Calendar.

I had no idea how much I relied on Google Calendar until the day I pulled up the site and was met with the message "Computing/Internet;Interactive Web Applications" content is forbidden.... At first, I cursed my employer (again), shrugged, and went about my business. But it slowly dawned on me that this was not a shrugging situation. This was a sit on the floor and weep situation. People kept asking me if I could join them for things that weekend (I don't KNOW!) if I had remembered the concert that took place last night (no! I wasn't on the computer at home, and I can't check my calendar from work to remind myself of ANYTHING!)

So now, I need web access. Access that can get around work firewalls, while I'm at work. And Google just made their calendar accessible to cell phones.

Helllloooo smartphone!

My Supergirl...

So, there have been all these drawing memes recently, that I really wanted to get in on, but when I saw the talent posting there, I could never squeeze one out in time.

So, this week, I finally got around to just playing with a Supergirl re-design, and came up with something kind of fun. (Click the image for a little bit larger view)

The idea stemmed from this: "Who the hell is going to go out and buy / make a costume?! Even for aliens from another world, one would think that crimefighting gear should be comfortable. Like clothes you wear to work out in." So, I thought about what people wear to the gym, threw on some Chuck Taylor's for good measure, because they are always cool, and there you go. Supergirl.

We're up to Episode 6 - The Pack!

We have just posted episode 6 for The Watchercast. For those who don't know yet, the Watchercast is an episode by episode analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon's masterwork.

Check it out, if you get the chance. I think we're pretty good!

Watchercast Episode 4 - Teacher's Pet

Episode 4 of our podcast, "The Watchercast" is out! (We finally got over that third episode hump!)

Teacher's Pet is a favorite of many, I know, and it's especially good for the first season. It has some great Xander moments. Come on over and hear Jason pretend not to find Miss French attractive!

(yeah, SURE Jason. not hot at all!)

Picasa Web Albums

So, I've grown very bored with gathering up photos and posting them to the web. Up until now, I've always created my own thumbnails of each picture, linked those to the web-optimized full sized picture, and FTP'd them to my site. I know that there are sites that are supposed to make this easy for you, but I haven't discovered the one to fit me yet...

My Web Albums!

... until now. Leave it to Google to finally release the tool that would give me everything that I wanted in a web album. Just out of the box, you get:

• A photo gathering and organizing application, called Picasa, that isn't intrusive, annoying or difficult to use. It gathers and organizes your photos based upon the folders they are kept in and the timestamps when they were taken


• 250 MB of space to hold your photos online. So, far, I have over 70 photos online, and I'm only using 9% of my space. That's a lot of free photo storage.


• One button clicking to upload my photos to my web albums...highlight the photos you want to upload, click the "Web Album" button, fill out a name for your album...and you are done.


• Attractively organized web pages...the Picasa site is simple to navigate, and it automatically creates all the thumbnails and navigation I want

Friends can leave comments on my photos, I can easily caption the pictures, albums that I have made public can be downloaded in one click by friends and family.

Now if only they could help me take prettier pictures (thank god for Kathleen!)

Wow!

When I first started this blog, I listed Sean Esty as a major inspiration. (see here) So you can imagine how honored I was when I found that he had LINKED TO ME! Somehow, he had found the original post I had made over at my livejournal blog, and he really liked my fan art! (GOD, I wish I would have finished that bird now!)

Anyway, let me just re-iterate....if you haven't checked out Marooned yet, you are missing out. It's a beautiful thing. Can't wait to see where it goes!

Thanks again, Sean!

My Dog, the Critic

So, yesterday, I did a picture of the Hulk that turned out to be ok. I liked it. I thought to myself, "Huh. I should try and color that and see how it turns out."

So, this morning, I scanned the pencils into the computer and just was goofing around, trying to decide if I would want some light reflecting off him, or maybe make it a darker peice...just goofing off. My wife calls me from the room to ask me something from the shower, and while we're talking in the bathroom, I hear Ruby, our dog, going crazy in my office. So, when I peek around the corner to see what the hubbub is, I find her staring at my screen, barking at my picture of the Hulk as if it's the most horrible thing she's ever seen!

Everyone's a critic...I don't think the Hulk looks that bad, do you?

As a matter of fact, I plan on inking it and doing the colors right later on! Yeah! That'll show you, Ruby!!!

My first shirt and the World Series of Pop Culture!

I just created a shirt for my wife's trivia team! That's right...Kathleen is heading off to Chicago to try out for VH1's World Series of Pop Culture!

They are the Ambassadors of Quan. They wanted a shirt to reflect all the different aspects of Quan...Respect, Love, Community and (of course) the MONEY! (Show me the money!)

It's late, and I'm tired, but it's been a long trip to get from the original idea ("Honey, could you design a tee-shirt for my team when we try out for the World Series of Pop Culture?") to the shirt you see today. I would kind of like to document that process, but I must sleep at some point this evening, and that should probably be sooner rather than later, so I will leave you with this slick-o post of my tee-shirt design.

In other words, "To be continued"...

My Pull List

So, earlier this week, my wife asked me how much I spend a week on comics (I had been teasing her about how much money she spent on scrapbooking stuff...last time I pull THAT!)

But it brought up a good question...I have no idea how much I spend each month on comics, or even how MANY books I pick up!

So, I thought it would be fun to go through this month's pull and see what on the list.

Superman Confidential - Not a huge Superman fan, but if Darwyn Cooke is on the book, I'll be buying it.

Nextwave : Agents of Hate - Not the best Warren Ellis book on the stands, but one of the only ones to come out on a regular schedule. I've enjoyed it so far, but won't miss it too much when it's gone in a few issues.

The Walking Dead - Oh HELL yeah! One of the best books on the stands. Issue #33 nearly made me gag. That's some intense stuff.

Desolation Jones - Really enjoyed the first arc of this book, but now it's almost ruined by Zezelj's art. It's pretty, but you can't tell one character from another!

Daredevil - I honestly didn't think even Brubaker could follow Bendis' run. He's not only followed it, I think he's surpassing it. The man is amazing.

Ex Machina - I can't believe that Brian K. Vaughan can keep up so many fantastic, quality books each month. This one kind of smolders. It sneaks up on you when you aren't ready for it. Intriguing, fascinating look at politics and our culture.

Criminal - Another gem by Brubaker. I missed Sleeper desperately when it ended. So nice to have something of that caliber again.

Y the Last Man - Vaughan again. Every issue surprises me. This book is begging to be made into a mediocre movie that could never begin to stand up to it's source material. =)

The New Avengers - Bendis has been really on and off for me recently. But when he writes a good story, it's gold.

Ultimate Spider-Man - My favorite Bendis book. Even beats what he did on Daredevil. The man can write teen angst.

Conan - Every month, I think I should drop this book. Yet, I pick it up, read it, love it and wonder how I could ever think of dropping it. I thought that Busiek leaving would give me my out, but Truman is knocking out of the park now too. Damn it.

All-Star Superman - Not a book I thought I would enjoy. Grant Morrison is SO hit or miss, but I came for Quitely and I'm sticking around for the fun neo-Silver Age-y madness.

The Boys - Not as good as Preacher, but it's a fine substitute. As the story is starting to build some steam, I'm becoming more and more of a fan.

Astonishing X-Men - Dear God, it's been years and years and years since the X-Men have been good. And this is really, really good. I love you Joss Whedon!!!

The Spirit - There's that Darwyn Cooke again! It's somehow very appropriate that he's doing this book. He still seems kind of fresh on the scene to be "legendary", but his storytelling is some of the best I've seen in years. A worthy heir to Eisner.

True Story, Swear to God - I am so wrapped up with what is going to happen in this book. It's hypnotic. Wish it came out more.

Ultimates - Bryan Hitch can make me believe in anything. This is bigger and better than any blockbuster movie ever made.

Runaways - The best of the Brian K. Vaughan books. And that's saying a hell of a lot. I love these kids, and the fact that no one is safe while Vaughan is on the book makes this the most "must read" of all my books. I live for this book. Buy the damn book already! (Joss Whedon is taking over once Vaughan leaves for Hollywood to write "Lost"...is that reason enough!?)

100 Bullets - I'm just sticking around to see how it ends now. This book started SO strong, but it's just gotten muddy as hell. Maybe if I sit down and read it front to back? At least the art is still gorgeous.

Astro City - Wish it came out more. It's like comic books distilled to their essence.

Fell - The best Warren Ellis in ages. Please tell me this isn't canceled. Please! (I miss it! Where did it go!?)

The Goon - God, this book is cool.

Local - Brian Wood's slice of life books rock my socks off.

Planetary - I so don't want this to end. This one has it's hooks in me deep. OK, I lied earlier. THIS is the best Warren Ellis book.

Stray Bullets - And here she is. The big momma of them all. The most outrageous, insane, you-never-know-what-you're-gonna-get book on the market. It doesn't come out near enough, and I don't care. I'll wait years between issues if it keeps up the quality. My favorite book.

Now, these don't all come out every month, but it's a pretty good representation of what I'll pick up. Besides, I always have a mini-series or one shot that I'm picking up. So, that's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...23, 24, TWENTY-FIVE!? And let's see, at around three bucks a book, that makes...um...seventy-five dollars?! (you won't tell my wife, right?)

Geek Cred Rising...

So, let's run down the list...

• Huge collection of comics...check


• Have my own blog...check


• Can recite every line from Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail...check

And now, you can add one more huge check to my list of geek cred...I've got a podcast.

Point your browser to dubbya-dubbya-dubbya dot watchercast dot com and revel in the Joss Whedon-y goodness as we run down every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and pick it apart, episode by episode.

Oh, did I fail to mention my Buffy fanboy-ness? Check.

A few more sketches...

Why is it that I can only draw on lined paper recently!?

Anyway, I was hoping to draw a truly regal Superman. It came out a little more snobbish than I had intended, but I like it well enough to share it.

The Hulk, on the other hand, was simply a doodle that took on a life of its own. Hope you enjoy. Hope to have more soon.