:: : TechnoGreek : ::

Long Live

2010-06-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

As you can see from below, it's been a while since I posted. Life has been busy and these days, it seems like just sending out mini updates on Twitter is enough for me to share what is happening in my life without going on and on about it here. I'm not saying this blog is dead, but it's not really alive anymore.

To wit, since last I wrote, I got rid of my old website which, unfortunately, also hosted all my blog pictures. So unfortunately, all the photos in the posts will no longer work.

That's all for now, if you're looking for updates, please follow me on Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/technogreek

Lastly, these days, most of my time is spent on two things:

Emerald City Comicon - http://www.emeraldcitycomicon.com/

Kirby Krackle - http://www.kirbykracklemusic.com

Please do check 'em out...

Fo Realz

2009-08-23T22:40:00.000-07:00

Has it really been over four months since I posted? Ridonk. Life has been super busy, but what's new?

I couldn't help posting tonight because something awesome just arrived in my inbox and I had to share. It is the first page of art from my first graphic novel, The Silence of Our Friends.

The artist is Nate Powell, who just won an Eisner last month for his own graphic novel (which he wrote AND drew), Swallow Me Whole. He was nominated for THREE, won one. He's all kinds of amazing.

I digress. So, this art. Page 1. It's the first of two hundred (!) pages that poor guy has to draw. It's a nice quiet opening and for me, is the first step in the book slowly but surely becoming real (hence the post title). Take a look:

In other news, I'm hip deep editing Shrapnel Vol. 2 which is going quite nicely. Len Wiseman (who directed/created Underworld and also directed Die Hard 4) has picked up Shrapnel for development in to a feature film, which is kind of a trip.

I'm also editing a new collection of a comic series called Jack The Lantern. It's been out of print for a while and it's being edited for the first time before it's recollected. It's been really interesting editing a book that's already been published because you have no input on story or art, you just have to work with what's already there. It's been both challenging and actually quite fun.

Speaking of fun, Kyle and I have been hard at work on the next Kirby Krackle album. Our writing sessions have been very fruitful and we've currently completed four songs with plenty more to follow, definitely hoping to have a minimum of 12 full songs on the next album, more if time & creativity allows.

Lastly, there's the ever-present Emerald City ComiCon. It's already been nuts, more pre-order booths than we've ever done before, if we keep up this pace we'll be sold out by the first of the year. Lots of great guests already announced and definitely more to come.

On a personal level, things have been great with Cheryl, finished a week of opera (the Ring of Nibelung) and will be heading to Europe next month, overall just been having a ball.

Also just finished painting interiors, so now every single room in the house is painted. There's some minor touch-up work to do, but it's looking really great and is motivating me to get some cool art framed and make it even more decorated up.

That's it for now!

The other side

2009-04-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

You know what's great? Naps.

I've seriously never taken more naps than I have this week. My average day has consisted of going to bed by midnight, up at around 7 or 8, then around 2 in the afternoon I'll take a four hour nap. Rinse, lather, repeat. I've been feeling pretty drained this week (weird, right?), but I'm slowly getting back to normal. One thing I can safely say is that the 2009 Emerald City ComiCon was a HUGE success!

Speaking of the show, let me just say that my friends fucking rule. I've said it before, and it's definitely worth repeating, but I have the best group of friends on the planet. They're my friends all year around, but during ECCC time, those who step up, step up BIG. They bust their asses without complaint and make the show run like clockwork. I don't think I can ever express how truly grateful I am to them. Know this, the Emerald City ComiCon COULD NOT HAPPEN without them. Period. Thanks guys, you are the best.

Something else I've said before? I am super, ridiculously lucky. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of work involved in all the things I work on, but both on a personal and professional level, I feel well and truly blessed.

Personally, aside from my aforementioned friends, I have a great and supportive family that has always (eventually) been okay with everything I decide to do (such as opening a comic book store, starting a convention, moving out-of-state for work and co-creating a rock band, to name a few).

In addition, I've totally lucked out and have found an absolutely amazing girlfriend. She's smart, funny, talented & beautiful, and most importantly, also likes me as well.

In a couple weeks, I'll have been in my house for a full year. It's been great and I'm looking forward to finishing painting the downstairs in May. I foresee a painting a painting party in the future. Emphasis on party.

Professionally, ECCC turned out fantastic and I already have some cool things in the works for 2010. Kirby Krackle has been really taking off, played @ ECCC and we'll be heading out to NYC next week to play a couple gigs there too, then a trip up to Calgary and then it's all build-up to San Diego.

Four of the five issues of Shrapnel have come out, the book is doing very well and we're already working on the sequel which should launch by the end of the year, plus I'm editing a couple other books for them coming up. There's also huge news regarding Shrapnel (Hollywood-related) that will be announced at SDCC, super exciting stuff.

Nate Powell, the artist for the graphic novel I co-wrote, just got nominated for THREE Eisner awards. Something I wrote, being drawn by an Eisner-award nominated artist. Weird.

The secret video game project is still moving forward, glacially slow, though there was some great progress recently at GDC. Between that project and two other unannounced projects, 2009 is shaping up to be a busy year.

That said, I'm definitely trying to handle my post-ECCC time differently than last year. I'd really like to take more time to hang out with my friends, go on interesting dates with my girlfriend, catch up on some TV/movie watching, travel and especially relax.

The relax part should be a little easier as well, I've started to learn to say 'no.' This may not seem like a big deal to you, but trust me, it is to me. The problem I run in to is whenever I get approached about working on something cool, even when I have a ton of other things on my plate, is that I generally say 'yes,' because really, who doesn't want to work on cool shit? The problem lies in the fact that I then get overloaded with work, and even though it's cool stuff to work on, I spend all my time working.

So, for the rest of this year, unless it's already in the works or is ridiculously awesome, the answer is gonna have to be 'no.' We'll see how it goes!

So...

2009-03-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

I had an entirely different post written and decided to scrap it because I felt it leaned in to woe-is-me territory.

But life is grand - I have a roof over my head, good friends, an awesome girlfriend, work is going great, the convention is around the corner and it's gonna rock, and things are just generally tops. So fuck it, what is there to complain about?

Turns out: nothing.

So that concludes another awesome blog post.

New York Comic Con

2009-02-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

was awesome. I don't have time to write up a full recap, but Kyle did a great job of it over at his blog. Enjoy!

Tokyo!

2009-02-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

No secret that I'm a fan of director Michel Gondry, so it's cool to see the trailer for his new film (well, 'his' is not exactly correct as he's one of three directors) called "Tokyo!" Looks really interesting:

Thanks to Paul for sending me the link

Webcomics Weekly #52

2009-02-01T22:11:00.000-08:00

Ever wish you could hear me talk for over an hour about conventions, comics & more? Well, boy howdy, do I have a treat for you!

Scott Kurtz, Dave Kellett, Brad Guigar and Kris Straub invited me to be a guest on their very fine podcast, Webcomics Weekly (Episode #52).

It was a lot of fun to do, if you click through to hear it (or find it on iTunes for free), I hope you enjoy it!

Kirby Krackle debuts

2009-01-27T13:25:00.000-08:00

That's right boys and girls, after over a year of work, our self-titled debut album featuring 10 songs of unabashed nerddom is on sale as of today!

You can download it at Digstation, or order a physical CD (featuring the bomb artwork above by Jim Mahfood & Justin Stewart) by visiting the kirbykracklemusic.com. You can also stream all the songs on the site to check 'em out!

For all the local peeps, check us out at the KIRBY KRACKLE CD Release Party this Saturday, January 31st, which is part of a day of awesome at the Comic Stop in Lynnwood. The day starts off with a signing by superstar-artist Mike Oeming (from 1pm-4pm), and then KK will be performing the entire album starting at 4:00!

I'd love to hear what you think of the songs so feel free to comment or drop me a line!

Blogging

2009-01-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

I don't really find a whole lot of time to blog these days, I kind of make up for it by using Twitter and Facebook. There's something about the compactness of those formats that I enjoy, and they seem to fit in to my currently more busy schedule, while whenever I blog I feel like I have to say something a bit more substantial.

That said, it is nice to find a bit of time to blog, and though I'm sure there won't be much substance to this post, at least it's longer than 140 characters! I'm up in Canada (Calgary) to help celebrate my buddy Kandrix's birthday, it's a short trip, I'll be back in the States on Tuesday, but for now there's another couple days of Canadain hijinx to be had.

I got here Friday morning after some flight delays. I got on the plane, they told us there was mechanical issues and took us off and back in to the terminal. Instead of a direct flight to Calgary, they booked us (20 people total on the plane) on to the next flight to Vancouver, BC, which then we'd get a connection to Calgary.

After a few minutes, they found that there was a Horizon flight that would go directly to Calgary and would arrive sooner than the Vancover-based trip, so they re-booked us on that. After another twenty minutes or so, they fixed the original plane and loaded us back on. Overall, the delay was only like an hour, but just a bit of a hassle. Oh well, it all worked out so no complaints.

The rest of Friday was pretty mellow, involving a couple meetings, a movie and some barbecue.

Yesterday was quite fun, as we pretty much wandered around downtown Calgary for hours on end, culminating in taking in a Calgary Flames game (they played the Phoenix Coyotes for those interested). Close game, they lost 4-3, but it was a lot of fun and our seats were as nose-bleed as they could be (we were one row from the very top of the stadium). Yet, they were great and the atmosphere was good, except for the one yelling drunk guy who got all quiet and sullen about halfway through, which worked out well. Afterwards it was a late night meal at Joey Tomato's (a place that I manage to visit every time I'm here, even though I actually find their food quite average, it seems to be the one place open late that is convenient (side rant: you can't get your burgers medium in Calgary by state law, everything has to be well done. I cry shenanigans!)).

Today, Kandrix has to pop in to work for a bit so I'm spending the morning just taking care of some Emerald City e-mail and doing stuff for Kirby Krackle (which is having it's CD release party in a couple weeks) (more on KK soon) while we wait for him to return.

Anyway, that's it for now - I'll try to post pictures after I get back!

Decisions, Decisions

2008-12-29T20:19:00.000-08:00

How far back do decisions you made, even unwittingly, affect you to this day? Was there one big decision that has made a world of difference or is it a constant array of small decisions?

I feel like you make small decisions every day, of course - which way do I head home, do I go my usual route or try to shave a few extra minutes off my commute by going the back route and oh, shit, the back route is backed up and now it took me twice as long to get home, so I get dinner started late and it took a bit longer than I thought so now I'm not going to have time to watch that DVD before I go to bed so instead I'll maybe read this book that I've been meaning to and wow, this book is actually really good so I'll just stay up a few more minutes, half an hour, two hours and now its way past my bed time, way later than I would have stayed up if I watched the DVD instead, but its okay except the next morning I overslept because I stayed up so late and got in to work late and missed the morning meeting by a few minutes, etc...

You get the idea - a minuscule decision has now created large ramifications in this scenario. Not everything is so life-or-death, but a domino effect in your life can be set off by the smallest decision and that's pretty crazy.

For me personally, I feel like the decision that has affected my life most was the decision to open The Comic Stop. I can, in a way, trace everything I'm doing now back to that decision almost nine years ago. Which is nothing I could have ever predicted at that point. Who knew it was such a momentous decision? Not me, that's for sure...

I don't have any deep insight regarding this, it's just something that was on my mind today as I was looking forward to 2009 and what it may bring, and what decisions I will make (or maybe have already made?) that will continue to change my life. So I thought I'd share my thoughts.

Because sharing is caring.

Silence

2008-12-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

Just got this in my inbox and thought I'd share, it is the color mock-up of the cover to mine & Mark's graphic novel "The Silence of Our Friends" I mentioned a couple posts ago. The art is by Nate Powell. Enjoy:

Snowventure

2008-12-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

I had long-standing plans with Chris Rangel yesterday to go see Brett Favre and the Jets play the last home game of the season vs. the Seahawks. As it turns out, the weather made the plan a bit more complicated.

Originally, I was going to meet Chris at his place and then we were going to catch the train from Everett down to the stadium. Unfortunately, not only did my car not get out of my driveway, I couldn't get it back in to the garage it was so stuck!

I called Chris and we decided to go to our nearest park-n-rides and take the bus down to Seattle. So I walked about a mile downhill, in the snow, to the Lynnwood park-n-ride and got myself downtown.

My buddy Jason was tailgating in the 22 degree cold, so naturally I went over to join him. Here's a shot of the tailgaters:

and here is Jason & I around the barbecue:

Soon after, I headed in to the game and Chris showed up shortly thereafter. It was a fun game, pretty cool to actually see a game in the snow, which did not let up the entire time:

Here's a shot of our bundled-up selves:

This was also Mike Holmgren's last game as coach of the Hawks, so he did a lap around the stadium to thank the fans:

After the game, we headed to the bus stop, where not shockingly, it was still crazy snowing:

Our bus was over an hour late and standing-room-only, but it got us back so no complaints. Then I had to walk up the hill back to my place, which I still won't complain about, but I can't say that I was a fan of that part of the day... :)

Looking ahead

2008-12-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty excited for 2009. I felt like 2008 was a "building" year, getting things in place for next year. One of the reasons I've not been blogging, just keeping crazy busy. A ton of stuff is already on my plate:

1 - Super secret video game thing is looking 95% that it's going to happen. If the trigger is pulled, the game will hit stands by Christmas '09.

2 - The graphic novel I co-wrote is done. It takes place during the civil rights movement of the late 60's in Texas. Working with an artist now, also looking at a late '09 pub date.

3 - Kirby Krackle's first CD is done, actually dropping it off today at the manufacturer to have the discs printed! We're also hitting up NYCC as our first show as exhibitors, which should be a pretty interesting experience!

4 - Shrapnel, which I've been working on since '07, finally drops in January and will be out every month for 5 months in a row from Radical.

5 - The Emerald City ComiCon - the '09 show is shaping up to be our best yet and I'm excited about our "Monsters & Dames" art book... more on that soon.

6 - A handful of other projects, including another graphic novel, a couple video game things and more, are all in the works too. Too much good stuff!

I'm jazzed to put some more awesome out in to the world... :)

T-shirt design

2008-12-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

Quiana and Paul volunteer coach a couple of robotics teams for a local school. Q asked me if I could design logos for the teams, with the theme for the robots being the use of technology and its effect on the environment.

It was fun to design and draw, and the shirt turned out great (I don't have a picture of the other design, unfortunately, though this one is the stronger of the two), so I thought I'd share:

I'm Thankful for...

2008-11-27T10:44:00.000-08:00

waking up this morning
being healthy
cool friends
great family
rad roommate
being awesome
doing work I love
making music
having fun
girls
food
life
everything

Too many people think about what they don't have and don't appreciate what they do have. Take today and realize how lucky you are and how much worse life could be, and forget about what is not in your life and instead be thankful for what is.

Lucky!

2008-11-25T22:03:00.000-08:00

I received a call last night:

*ring* (unknown number on my cell phone)

"Hello?"

"Hi. Is this Jim?"

"Yes it is."

"Hi, this is Deanna from the Oaktree Cinemas"

"Hey, how are you?" (please note, I do not know this person)

"I'm good. We found a bunch of your cards in a wallet here and so I figured I'd call since it might be yours. Did you lose your wallet?"

"Uh, yeah, I did. I lost it there NINE MONTHS AGO when I came for a screening of Jumper."

"Oh. Well, I was cleaning out our office and found it. It has a bunch of gift cards and other stuff in it too."

"Wow."

"Anyway, I have it here for you, stop by any time and pick it up."

"Great!"

So after losing my wallet in February, going TO THE THEATER and asking about it ("Sorry, nothing found.") and me completely forgetting about it, out of the blue I totally get my wallet back with all the stuff in it (luckily, I never keep money or my credit cards in there, and I didn't have my driver's license in there either).

Bonus: I had forgotten there was a gift card for framing in there. Awww, yeah!

Awesomeness level: high

Heartless

2008-11-07T22:14:00.001-08:00

Second song & video from Kanye West's upcoming album, 808's & Heartbreak:

Diggin' it. You?

Shrapnel

2008-11-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

After working on the book for a year and a half, Shrapnel is finally being solicited for this January by Radical Comics.

I'm really happy with how the book turned out, great story and fully painted art, it's quite a treat to look at. The first 48-page issue will only be $1.99, so I encourage you to check it out if you're in to sci-fi or things that are awesome.

Flipping through Previews, it was a staff pick, here's the write-up:

It'll be six issues total, running through June. I'm also working on another project for Radical (not Shrapnel-related) that will launch in July. Another six-issue thing, so it'll be kind of cool to have at least one book a month I worked on out on the shelves next year. That's not even counting The Corps! or the other project I'm working on at DDP. 2009 is shaping up nice and busy.

Halloween Photo Parade

2008-11-02T23:34:00.000-08:00

Friday night, I hosted a Halloween party at my house. Lots of people, lots of great costumes. Here's a selection of some of the cool costumes, also these are the photos that came out as I had quite a few that did not turn out well at all. A new camera is in my future. Anyway, enjoy the costumed shenanigans.

Roomie Quiana:

Brother George:

Michael:

Joe:

Kyle & Mandi:

Tom:

Ildi:

Steve:

JD:

Chris:

Yours truly:

Zombie party

2008-10-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

My Kirby Krackle co-conspirator Kyle Stevens had a zombie-themed birthday party last Saturday night. Tons of fun, good food, poker and more. Here's a few photos...

Kyle and his undead bride:

My zombie self:

Even the pumpkins were drunk:

Fun w/ Photoshop - Old School me and Mandi:

Carvin

2008-10-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

Want to impress the neighbors with you pumpkin carving skills? Try this:

Good luck!

The return of T.T.

2008-10-22T10:07:00.001-07:00

I can't say more, since it'll ruin it, but if you have no patience, fast forward to the :40 mark.

Trek vs. Trek

2008-10-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to avoid as much as I can about the new JJ Abrams Star Trek movie. I saw a couple of screen caps and that was more than plenty, I already know I'm gonna see it, so I'd rather hear as little about it as possible.

The new Entertainment Weekly has an article on it and as I was passing it by, I saw a little thing that said "they're Trekkers, not Trekkies."

I never really understood this. I always understood "Trekkie," but "Trekker" doesn't even really make sense to me. "Trekker" implies that you, y'know, Trek. Like in the outdoors. "Trekkie" implies you're a fan of Star Trek.

If you're a fan of food, you're a "Foodie" not a "Fooder."

The end.

Bloglect

2008-10-07T19:18:00.000-07:00

It's like neglect. But for a blog. Get it?

Tomorrow Corps! #0 debuts from Devil's Due for a measly 99 cents and features the first 8 pages of the book plus a bunch of cool backup material. It's edited by yours truly and written by Ravishing Rick Remender, art by Mighty Micheal Penick and colors by Keen Kevin Cross. Friendly tip, no one calls them by their nicknames. Not to their faces. If you know what's good for you.

I've finished doing final edits on issue #1 of Shrapnel, the whole thing is done and ready for the printer and it's a January book, so that's well ahead of schedule. Just doing final touches on #2, so I should be done with the entire 6-issue miniseries in another month or so.

Just got done with the first draft of "Silence," the graphic novel I'm co-writing. It's clocking in at around 200 pages. More on that as it progresses.

Been hustling with Kyle on Kirby Krackle, looks like our first album will be around 9 or 10 songs. That continues to move forward well, look for news in another month or so.

Working on a video game right now too, it's not scheduled to hit stands until fall of 2010 though, so it's super early, I should be able to blab about it by spring '09 though as we're doing a cool prequel to the game that I'm involved in.

Also, there's this whole Emerald City ComiCon thing, we just had a few rounds of cool guest announcements, there's some more cool peeps to be announced soon so stay tuned to the site...

That's it work-wise. Fun time-wise, I've been trying to sneak in some video game time - Mega Man 9 is super bad ass, it's frustratingly hard and totally awesome all rolled in to one. It's like playing Mega Man 2 again for the first time. Also, Lego Batman is cute and playing it co-op has been fun. Lastly, Bionic Commando Rearmed is a great download for the 360.

I've also been watching Dexter Season 2 on DVD (awesome), checked out the premieres of Pushing Daisies (ridiculously cute, still good) and Dirty Sexy Money (I enjoyed it), plus Amazing Race 13, my reality show crush, is back on. I'm disappointed they didn't pick me and Paul (or me & Anthony) as we would've rocked, but considering I wouldn't have done a Yoda immitation, maybe they made the right choice...

That's it! More when I have it...

Hippity Hop

2008-09-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

Thursday night went with Beau to Showbox SoDo to check out N.E.R.D. and Common. Pretty bomb show, N.E.R.D. was up first:

Afterwards Common came out and rocked it:

For a few songs, Pharrell came out and backed up Common:

Common ended his set, then came back out for a hugely long like 40-minute encore:

Super high energy, good venue, all in all, pretty sweet.

Also, it's totally my birthday, which means I have 31 years of awesomeness under my belt (and counting :) as of today. Off to celebrate by consuming awesome food, going bowling and eating cake.

Why Comics?

2008-09-09T00:07:00.000-07:00

Why do comics? That's something I ask myself a lot. My answer? Because I love 'em and it makes me happy, plain and simple.

I never got in to comics for money. I could have been making way more money in the high tech field that I left to get in to comics, no question.

At what price, though? Happiness? I never found myself particularly happy designing some website or creating some code for random tech companies in Seattle. Well paying? Sure. Satisfying? Not really.

These days I've got a dozen projects on my plate, from comics to graphic novels to Emerald City to vinyl toys to webcomics to video game projects to half a dozen other things. I'm not sure which to get to first and I can't wait to get to the ones that I'm not working on.

You can't put a price on that, it fucking rules.

Eisner Award winner Fabio Moon asks some fellow creators (Matt Fraction, Ivan Brandon, Grampá, Gerard Way, Gabriel Bá and Dave Stewart) the question "Why Comics?" Here are their answers:

I want to blog...

2008-09-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

...but my life is a combination of boring and busy, so I'm not.

Sorry, okay?

Hugs,

Jim

D'oh!

2008-09-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

It was Don Lafontaine who passed away, not Hal Douglas...

Robin's Big Date

2008-08-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

How have I not seen this before? Starring Justin Long as Robin. Genius!

Not sure why the video is choppy, but obviously the sound is fine. Ah well...

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Madcap

2008-08-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Check out the great Photoshop contest over at Worth1000 where classical art has been improved with spraypaint.

In other stuff and things and news, the last few days have been pretty busy with non-work stuff. On Thursday, my friend Shannon was in from NYC so I showed her around town, took her to the White Horse and then the Crab Pot.

Friday was all work-work, but then included an unplanned game night that got me back home after midnight.

Saturday morning a bunch of us helped Paul move his stuff from storage back to his house, bought bedroom furniture (more on that later... not later this post though) and had a party at the shop which included the live performance of three Kirby Krackle tracks. There's video. More soon.

Sunday I hung out with Shannon one more time (took her to Cupcake Royale and Ezell's for some full-on good Seattle eats), then headed to a late birthday party for Quiana.

Now it's back to the grind, off to work on Shrapnel, The Corps!, Emerald City and a couple other things too... Good times!

Kirby Krackle debuts!

2008-08-21T00:31:00.000-07:00

Though it's been something we've been working on for a while now, Kirby Krackle has finally made its debut on MySpace today so I can now officially talk about it.

Kirby Krackle is the "geek rock" band that consists of myself and my buddy Kyle Stevens. Kyle does a better job of explaining the detailed back story on his blog, but the nuts and the bolts of it is that we've been talking about doing something collaboratively for a while, specifically by merging our interests in music and pop culture.

It's really a fusion of all the different stuff we're interested in, specifically comic books, but also movies, video games, art, music and more. We've been having a blast the last few months writing and recording songs, which I hope you'll enjoy!

Speaking of songs, on our MySpace page, you can check out our first demo for the song "One Of The Guys". Please go give it a listen and let me know what you think, I'd love to hear your comments!

Lastly, a big shout out to Brian Meredith for coming up with the title and JG Roshell of Comicraft for creating a great logo, you guys rock!

Stay tuned for more...

Coloring

2008-08-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

I'm always interested in process, which is why I enjoy much of the behind-the-scenes material you find on DVDs. You usually don't get a lot of that in comics, but Mike Choi posted the original line art to his cover to X-Force #9 side-by-side with the final colored version by Sonia Oback. Interesting stuff (click for larger view):

What is Kirby Krackle?

2008-08-18T23:36:00.001-07:00

It's coming. To Rock You.

(Logo by JG Roshell @ Comicraft, purveyors of awesome.)

Game Day

2008-08-17T20:46:00.000-07:00

What a great game! Overtime at a pre-season game? Crazy! It was super close all game, and the missed field goal on the Bears' end with 3 seconds on the clock set up an overtime drive that got us a field goal and the win in overtime - 29-26!

Lots of third stringers were playing, but no one stepped up bigger than Justin Forsett with 261 rushing yards, I'm sure he'll be making his way to starting position this season and be a great asset.

Not sure I ever mentioned this, but thanks to a cool set of circumstances late last year, I was able to purchase a PSL (permanent seat license) at Qwest, meaning I have the option to purchase season tickets every season for as long as the Hawks play at Qwest. The seats are great too, Charter Section 107, 25 yard line, 8 rows from the field facing West:

Not sure I will be going to every single game, but it's great to have the option and it should be a fun season no matter what. Also, because there's not enough pictures of me on my blog, here's one more:

Are you ready for some football?

2008-08-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the first pre-season game for the Seahawks at home vs. Chicago. They won their opener against the Vikings in Minnesota, but unfortunately the team has been plagued by injuries and the receiving staff is pretty weak right now. I think the Seahawks will do well this season, but they need their WR squad to get healthy and stay that way. Still, should be a fun game against the Bears.

I don't play Fantasy Football, but these commercials for FF by Reebok are pretty awesome. There's a whole series at nfl.com, but here's a couple of the cooler ones:

Corps!

2008-08-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ouch! Above is a panel from The Corps! book that I'm editing, can't show a whole lot but I figure this silhouette panel is a good teaser image. The book is chugging along quite nicely, #0 will be in stores October, it's a 99 cent special so make sure you check it out, you won't be disappointed. The book is color, by the way, the panel above is just the line art by Mike Penick.

Haven't posted much since I've been sick with Con Sars, which I managed to avoid but then acquired from Paul when I helped him move furniture (thanks Paul!). Ah well, unfortunately it's meant that I've been less productive than usual. I did fight back the cold yesterday and journeyed up north with the Jason² and Quiana to do some shopping. Came away with what is probably my last pair of new shoes for a while, some Puma Ferrari kicks. Dope.

Another reason for lack of blogging is Twitter. You can see on the right, the micro-blogging premise for Twitter has worked out well for me. I try to balance, but a lot of times their 140-character limit is more than plenty to say what I need rather than an entire blog post.

The Future of Time?

2008-08-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

Check out one of Timex's experimental new watches that fit on top of your thumbnail:

I'm sure at some point we're going to have a whole array of media devices that are that big, your other thumbnail will contain your iPod which will connect through Bluetooth (or whatever new technology) to your earphones that are practically invisible...

Phases

2008-08-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of people ask me what's up with ol' blog. I think it sort of goes in phases, sometimes I'm posting like every day and other times more sporadically. Sometimes the blog is very "me" centric while other times it's just a "check out something cool" blog. Lately, I've been unmotivated to blog mostly due to being pretty busy.

I'm never one to complain about having too much work, because better too much than not enough. I'm just swamped because I'm also trying to catch up with work that piled up while I was gone and I've also taken on some new projects and things are always very front-loaded on new projects.

That said, the three books I'm working on are going quite well and I'm especially excited for people to read The Corps! as the whole team is doing a bang-up job and I think it'll be a real surprise book.

I've also been doing a bunch of work on Emerald City already, there have been numerous guest updates already and I have two guests to announce next week that should be pretty awesome.

So I guess that's it, I'll do my best to post again soon, I have a couple other projects in the works that I haven't talked about at all yet and I'll mention them when I can.

Busy!

2008-08-04T23:37:00.000-07:00

Seems like a ton of stuff is piling up on my plate, so con recap keeps getting pushed back (overall, it was great, even with bar brawls and people being punched out on the show floor). At this point I'm not sure I'll even do one, but anyway, I wanted to share this, Estelle f. Kanye West, American Boy, and it's pretty dope:

Olympics videos

2008-08-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple Olympics-related videos.

This one is for the Olympics itself, created by the Gorillaz guys:

While this one is a CGI Coke commercial featuring LeBron James & Yao Ming:

Fun stuff.

Safeword

2008-08-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

There's something cool about randomly seeing a cute girl in a corset wearing a t-shirt that you designed at SDCC:

Shameless plug: if you'd like to buy one, you can do so here. More SDCC stuff soon...

Radical

2008-08-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

Back from my big ol' Comic Con/road trip adventure, being away from home for a full week+ means I have a bazillion things to take catch up on. I'll post again soon, for now, check out the trailer for Shrapnel, the 6-issue series I've been working on for Radical Comics. It debuted at SDCC and was quite the hit, we also had a preview book of some of the gorgeous art by Imaginary Friends Studios. Enjoy!

San Diego!

2008-07-22T13:32:00.001-07:00

Okay kids, I'm off to San Diego for the convention. I'll be driving back with Kandrix, stopping at as many delicious In & Out Burgers as possible, big ol' report and such next week.

Play nice while I'm gone!

Wheel of Fortune

2008-07-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday, I convinced the roomie to take the day off work and join me in a shopping-furniture-hunting-trying-out-for-wheel-of-fortune-extravaganza.

On the shopping front, she had more luck than I did, though I did buy a new watch.

Furniture-wise, I found a table for what I'll generously call my dining room. It's a pub table with six chairs, dark cherry in color. I'll be getting it on August 11th, so that means I'll be one step closer to maybe actually having a housewarming.

After all that, we met up with Joe & Susan at the Emerald Queen Casino to try out for Wheel of Fortune. On the way there, we passed by a restaurant with the oddest name:

That's right: "Poodle Dog" (and underneath, "Good Food"). If you look at the sign, you'll see there's also something called the "Pup Room" attached. Bizarre...

Anyway, we get to the EQC and there were probably 600 people waiting to try out:

The way it worked was you filled out a form, then five people at a time were randomly picked to go on stage and play a mini version of WoF (pick a letter, if it's up there, you have 3 seconds to solve or it goes to the next player).

None of us were picked to try out, though they may still pick your name later if your application seems interesting. Funny enough, my accountant, Otto Chase, was picked and he got to try out:

He ended up winning the mini game, so I hope he gets to go all the way through and play on the Wheel.

Afterwards, we hit Harmon’s pub in Tacoma - the food wasn't all that great (dessert was good), but it was fun hanging out with Joe & Susan. Then we drove home and that was that...

Is This Your Sandwich?

2008-07-16T09:41:00.000-07:00

Bring the funny

2008-07-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, a group of us went to the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary comedy show at the Moore Theater.

It was hosted/MC'd by Kristen Schaal and featured four comedians (in order of performance): Todd Barry, Eugene Mirman, Patton Oswalt and David Cross.

Each comedian did a roughly 30-minute set and Kristen performed in between sets, so the show was about two and a half hours long overall.

The Moore gets really hot, so by the end of the show we were pretty uncomfortable, but the show itself was really good and the comedians more or less got better and better as the night went on. Not bad for only $20!

Here's a parting shot from the end of the show with all the comedians:

Max Payne Trailer

2008-07-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

Looks... interesting. Starring Mark Wahlberg:

Converse music video

2008-07-10T16:18:00.000-07:00

The song is cool ("My Drive Thru"), but the video is even cooler. Featuring N*E*R*D (and produced by Pharrell), Santogold and Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes) for Converse:

Iron Man & Punisher

2008-07-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

Was feeling kinda crappy yesterday because of allergies, so after finishing work I decided to not do anything constructive or go out, but instead spend a couple hours reading comics.

I'm really behind on reading tons of mainstream Marvel/DC books, so I've slowly been catching up on a lot of series. Last night, I read Iron Man for the first time in something like two years, pretty much since the Ellis/Granov run.

This book is REALLY good.

Daniel and Charles Knauf have done a great job of taking Ellis' concept of Extremis and creating an extended and well thought-out run, re-introducing the Mandarin in a slow burn that was excellent to read all the way through.

I don't hear a lot of buzz about this book, but I feel like it compares to the recent run on Captain America by Brubaker in how much set up and pay off you get every issue for the entire series. Highly recommended.

I've also been slowly working my way through the Punisher series by Garth Ennis. 60 issues worth and much like Iron Man, I was pleasantly surprised to see Ennis continue to take elements from early stories and work them throughout his series all the way to the conclusion, giving you a sense that if you read the series from the get-go, you're getting a great long story that never feels stale. Violent, over-the-top, gritty, interesting and fun, this book never dragged on for me. I can see Marvel doing a couple of Punsiher Omnibus' worth of Ennis' stuff for sure.

Next up for me, I'm catching up on some DC books, including the Morrison Batman run...

Colt 45: Works Every Time

2008-07-09T11:25:00.000-07:00

Check out these bomb Colt 45 limited edition cans designed by Jim Mahfood:

Trip Recap: Wizard World Chicago

2008-07-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

So Thursday evening, Jenna and I headed over to WW:Chicago for their Preview Night (which is from 4pm - 7pm). Jenna was volunteering for the CBLDF, so while she was doing that, I just wandered around the show and caught up with various people.

Post-show, there was a big DC dinner which the two of us were invited to (Jenna used to work at DC, which is where I met her). We went to Bob Chinn's Crabhouse which had some great seafood, including some of the best coconut shrimp I'd ever had.

Afterwards, we headed back to the Hyatt, where I was staying with Chris Burnham. Jenna took off, that was the last I saw of her as she had more trip stuff to take care of. The Hyatt bar was where pretty much every night was spent drinking and chatting. I got to bed pretty late that first night, like 3am.

Friday, I didn't get to the show until noon, but I pretty much just scoped out the show, talked with some dealers and guests, caught up with friends, the usual. There's a theater only three blocks from the show, so after closing Chris and I went and saw Wanted which was actually really good. Then it was back to the convention center for the Warren Ellis Q&A. Picture by Chris:

It was fun, Warren read from his book and then answered all kinds of crazy questions, plus did his Alan Moore impression and generally was quite entertaining. The evening ended at the Hyatt bar.

Saturday was more of the same, this time my only obligation was for the Devil's Due panel announcing the projects I was working on and a bunch of other upcoming DD projects.

The rest of the day was like Friday & Sunday, it's hard not to turn these con reports in to a name-drop fest, I talked to a lot of people, met some cool guys and gals and
just generally had a lot of fun.

Post show, had dinner, saw Wall-E (so good!) and then retired to the bar.

Sunday, nothing to report, just closed out the show, then had some drinks with Adi. I got to spend a lot of time with Adi over the weekend, which was great, at shows we never seem to have time to chat and with him living in England, we definitely don't chat as often as I'd like.

After drinks, we headed out to Giordano's for dinner (deep dish pizza place, though I ended up having pasta), then back to the bar for a while. Our flight wasn't until 10:40pm, and long story short, it didn't take off until 1am. According to Chris, I was annoyingly nonplussed by the whole event while he was quite agitated by the whole situation. Granted it sucked, but we did eventually get home (not until 3am local time), but we did get home, so it all worked out.

The end.

Trip Recap: Chicago

2008-07-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

After Charlotte, instead of going back to Seattle, I crashed with my friend Jenna in Chicago before I headed to Rosemont for Wizard World.

I landed in Chicago around 5 in the afternoon on Monday. Jenna was there to pick me up. We went back to her place, dropped off my stuff and then headed out for some awesome Korean barbecue.

The bbq place was interesting too because we were, obviously, not Korean and were treated as such, including ordering some items and being told that, in the nicest way possible, we weren't Korean and shouldn't order it, even though we'd all had it before. That experience was offset by the fact they re-filled our side dishes dozens of times which no other place had done. Plus, $90 for four people was not bad considering how much food we had.

We headed over to a place called the Outdoor Cafe, another Korean Place, for some Bing Soo dessert and back to her place for sleepy time.

On Tuesday, we walked around Chicago, did a bit of shopping and had lunch at Gibson's Steakhouse, then went on an architecture cruise. The cruise thing was cool, it's a narrated tour that takes you through all the canals and talks about the architectural history of the buildings around Chicago. Here's me and Jenna on the boat:

Afterwards, we did a bit more shopping and then headed to Greek Town for dinner at a place called The Greek Islands. The food was great (yay flaming cheese!) and by that point we were pretty exhausted, so it was back home and that was that.

Wednesday we started off the day by heading to a farmers market in a park, where we had delicious organic (read: expensive) burgers. Jenna had some stuff to do before her trip to Rome (that coming Sunday) and I had some business stuff, so we parted ways. I went to Chicago Comics and met up with Adi, Gene Ha and Alex Ross for lunch at a little sushi place. Good food, good company, great conversation, I had a blast.

Afterwards, I headed over to the Devil's Due office to talk to the guys about The Corps and Vampire Hunter D, spent a few hours there and then headed off to meet Jenna at Wrigley Field for the Cubs/Orioles game:

It was perfect baseball weather, sunny but not super hot, we had great seats and the Cubs won, plus I got to see a game at Wrigely, so no complaints.

Afterwards, we headed to Little Saigon to eat at a place called Pho Viet. The food was fine, but the highlight was that there was a kid there from Vietnam (who apparently is very well known there) singing and dancing. I managed to snag a short clip of him dancing some Michael Jackson moves:

That was that for Wednesday. Thursday morning was pretty chill, just relaxed at home, read and we watched the semi-final Euro 2008 soccer game between Spain and Russia in the afternoon before heading over to Rosemont for the preview night of Wizard World: Chicago, which I'll get to in the last recap post tomorrow...

Weekend fun

2008-07-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

Trip recap continues next week when I have time, for the weekend I leave you with this awesomely innovative commercial for... well, you'll find out:

Trip Recap: Charlotte / Heroes

2008-07-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, finally getting around to talking about my 10-day trip, which I'll do in three parts so it's not just one ginormous block of text.

The trip started off a bit sucky, I had a flight to Charlotte that connected through Denver. Here in Seattle, they loaded 20,000 pounds of extra fuel on the plane, which made it 8,000 pounds to heavy to take off with. At first they tried to take some freight they were carrying out, but that didn't work, so eventually they siphoned the extra fuel out.

Delays suck, and I wouldn't have cared if I didn't have a very close connecting flight in Denver (40 minutes). Considering we took off over an hour late, I wasn't too confident that I'd be making the connection. We landed in Denver eleven minutes before my connection took off and sure enough, when I turned on my phone, there was a voicemail from United telling me that I had been re-booked on to another flight. That left the following day. :(

The flight attendants had announced all the connecting gates, mine being at Gate 19 and we had arrived at Gate 32. I decided to grab my luggage (I hadn't checked any luggage, it was all carry-ons) and ran to the other gate. Luckily, I made it literally a minute before they closed the door. Special thanks to JD for taking me out to Green Lake and making me do a mile or two so that this run in the airport didn't make my body explode. Thanks bud!

Having caught the connecting flight, I ended up sitting next to a couple guys who were also headed to Heroes Con. The one guy was playing Mario Kart on the DS, so I promptly challenged him. After dozens of races, our point score was in the low 200's, but then it was time to land and our point differential was only four, so we decided to call it a tie. Even though I clearly won.

At the airport, I hung around for a half hour until Kandrix's flight landed, then we took a cab to the hotel and checked in. By this time, it was one in the morning and considering I didn't have time to grab some grub in Denver, I was running on fumes so we wandered around and found a Fuel pizzeria and grabbed a late night slice, went back to the hotel and crashed.

Friday was the first day of Heroes Con, the show is still one of my favorites, all about the comics and a great atmosphere. Saw tons and tons of people, had a bazillion conversations and generally had a blast. Caught up with I met up with Chris Giarrusso, Gregg Shigiel and Eisner Award nominee Jacob Chabot, who had all come out to ECCC. I asked Gregg about where to eat, since he meticulously researches all the good places to eat around any convention.

So that night, Kandrix and I, plus the trio above, along with a bunch of guys from the Image crew (Larsen, Kirkman, Ottley, Howard, Keatinge to name a few) all went out to Lupie's Cafe. Lupie's is known for its chili and it definitely lived up to the hype, it was great!

Post-dinner, we headed back and hung out at the Westin bar, which became a nightly occurrence (as it does pretty much every year).

Saturday was rinse, lather, repeat - more show, then another food fest, then hangout time at the bar.

Sunday was mellow, I had finished most of the stuff I needed to get done, so I browsed around for things to buy, got a couple of super awesome shirts but that's about it. Ended up having lunch with Dan DiDio & Jann Jones from DC Comics, then dinner with another big Image group, this time to the Cajun Queen where we had Cajun steak and etouffee, great stuff.

Following dinner, we met up at Heroes Aren't Hard To Find, the shop that Shelton (the guy who runs Heroes Con) owns for a dead dog party. He has a great shop and we spent quite a few hours there shooting the breeze. After that, it was back to the hotel for some comatose-like sleep.

Monday morning, I met with Frank Cho for breakfast (joined by Brandon Peterson, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner), then took a shuttle to the airport and headed off to Chicago, which shall be recounted in part two (guaranteed to have at least a couple of photos to break up all the damn text!)

Thai Bulbs

2008-07-02T23:30:00.001-07:00

Check out this great ad for Sylvania Light Bulbs from Thailand

Balls!

2008-07-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to the Mariners game vs. the Toronto Blue Jays. Amazing seats, only six rows from the field and right behind the Blue Jays' dugout:

In the bottom of the sixth, Ichiro grounded out to short stop Marco "Segway" Scutaro. As Segway was headed back to the dugout, he tossed the ball in to the crowd.

And by "in to the crowd," I mean "to me:"

Bomb!

The game seemed like it was out of hand early on, but the Mariners kept it close and and Willie Bloomquist singled in the bottom of the ninth to drive in Raul Ibanez for the win, 7-6. Fun times!

VHD and The Corps!

2008-06-30T17:53:00.001-07:00

I'll have a recap of my trip soon, but I wanted to share this bit of news separately. I haven't officially been able to talk about this, but with the panel on Saturday at Wizard World: Chicago, both projects I'm editing for Devil's Due were announced.

The first one is still in the early stages of development, but that being said I'm excited to announce that I am editing an all-new Vampire Hunter D series! This is super cool for me as I was a fan growing up and being able to bring a whole new VHD series to the shelves is pretty rockin'. The series will be called Vampire Hunter D: American Wasteland and will feature D here in the US. Even cooler is that D's creator Hideyuki Kikuchi is actively involved. You can read more about it here.

The other announcement was I would be editing a new series called The Corps!, a spy action thriller drama written by Rick Remender.

Check out the bitchin' cover to #0 by Tony Shasteen:

Art on the series will be by Roberto Carlos. I'm jazzed as I think the story that Rick and I have come up with will be a lot of fun and feature enough twists and turns to definitely keep you coming back for more. You can read interviews with Rick about the series here (Comic Book Resources), here (Newsarama) and here (Wizard).

That's it, more on this stuff as it moves along...

RIP Mike Turner

2008-06-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

If you hadn't heard by now, Michael Turner passed away over the weekend after an 8-year long battle with bone cancer. I was at the bar with a lot of the Top Cow and Aspen guys when the news broke, so it was very emotional.

Though I can't say I was ever a big fan of his art, I was always a fan of Mike as a person, he was a great guy and one of the most upbeat people you'd ever have the pleasure of meeting.

I remember in Baltimore a few years back I was in a big poker game with him. On one particular hand, it had came down to just the two of us; we were both betting aggressively and eventually I went all-in. I lost. Mike had the better hand by one card.

Afterwards, he congratulates me on a good game. He then hands me some cash and asks me if I could get him an ice water from the bar (Mike was on crutches at the time, having recently had surgery on his hip) and to use the money to buy myself a drink as thanks.

Mike was real class act and he'll be missed.

Straight Trippin'

2008-06-19T10:15:00.001-07:00

Once again I'm off on a trip. This one is kind of long, actually, but should be super fun. I'm headed out in like an hour straight (well, through Denver) to North Carolina for Heroes Con.

I'll be there through the weekend, then on Monday I'll fly out to Chicago. I'd been thinking about going to Wizard World Chicago, which is the weekend after Heroes, but I wasn't sure I should. Now, I I totally am.

Why? Well, a whole confluence of events came together and convinced me.

First off, my friend Chris Burnham is going, which means I had someone to split a hotel room with.

Then, I got a call from Adi Granov who is a guest of the show and he wanted to know if he'd see me there.

After that, while at Super Con, I arranged a meeting in Chicago that could lead to some cool guest action for Emerald City.

Lastly, I've gotten a couple of freelance editing gigs with a company, based in Chicago, who would like me to come in-office for a chat about the books.

All that, plus I have friends who live in Chicago, convinced me that I should go. And not just go, but instead of flying back to Seattle then back to Chicago, I should just fly out, hang out with my friends, then do the show and kill like a dozen birds with one stone. Plus, save me one flight too!

In addition, I also bought tickets to see the Cubs (vs. Baltimore, thanks inter-league play) at Wrigley on Wednesday, so that ought to be damn cool.

10 days - it's gonna be a hell of a busy trip, but it should be a blast!

Don't break the interwebs while I'm gone and I'll post after I get back.

Neighbors

2008-06-17T12:58:00.001-07:00

I've only gotten to meet a couple of my neighbors so far (Q has met even more, though she has met all the crazies). Last week, I meet Krissy, who lives across the street (and is normal).

Krissy rings the doorbell and introduces herself, then tells me she's bought a big wheel bike for her son and is having trouble putting it together. So I go on over and finish it off. Bike is put together, all is right in the world.

We do the neighbor thing of asking what we each do for a living. She works for XBox Live. In the events division. It just so happens that I run an event that would benefit from XBox Live attending, so funny how things work out sometimes...

As a thank you for helping her out, she hooks me up with a Halo 3 wireless headset on the spot and yesterday, drops off a copy of Ninja Gaiden II.

Awesome.

Soccer, Games, Life

2008-06-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

SOCCER!
So Greece played, honestly, one of the worst games I've ever seen, not just because they lost (Switzerland played like shit too), it was just one crappy game. If they keep this up, they'll be out before the next round.

Italy got upset, but the Portugal game yesterday was a blast to watch all the way the through. There's been some great games, and hopefully it'll keep up, it's been an entertaining Euro 2008 tournament so far.

GAMES!
So I've gotten myself an X-Box 360 and it's the shiz. I've been playing three games - Assassin's Creed, Project Gotham Racing 4 and Lego Indiana Jones. Mostly Assassin's the last few days. My 360 has a blog which ought to be interesting to read when I get back from my upcoming 10-day trip. I hope it's not suicidal by then.

My gamertag is technogreek (surprising, I know) and here's my Gamer Card:

LIFE!
Finally feel totally unpacked, though now it's time to get rid of a ton of stuff. I've already sold one piece of art, gotten rid of four boxes of books and eBay-ed a bunch of DVDs in my effort to trim down the amount of crap I have.

No longer seeing the "Halloween" girl I mentioned a couple times. Sucky, but c'est la vie...

I'm one week in to a a two-week diet that JD has me on which involves a lot of delicious stuff. Like whey. DEEE. LISH.

END!

BMW GINA Light

2008-06-12T11:38:00.000-07:00

The BMW GINA Light features a fabric body that bends into different shapes. This model was built on a discontinued Z8 platform - complete with a 5.0 liter V8 engine.

Chris Bangle, BMW's design chief hopes this car is a showcase of what could be possible in 10 years time when drivers could choose the shape of their vehicle with a push of a button:

The future looks bad ass.

Burn After Reading

2008-06-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Check out the Red Band trailer to the Coen brothers' new film, Burn After Reading:

My Soccer Blog

2008-06-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

The UEFA European Championship 2008 (commonly known as Euro 2008) has officially kicked off as of June 7th. Taking place every four years, two years off-set from the World Cup, it is one of the world's major sporting events.

Not shockingly, I'll be rooting for Greece, who won Euro 2004 defeating host country Portugal and made it in to Euro 2008 by winning every single one of their qualifying matches. This year's Euro is taking place all over Austria and Switzerland.

There are 16 teams in the tournament, divided in to four groups:

Group A - Portugal, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Turkey
Group B - Germany, Croatia, Austria, Poland
Group C - France, Romania, Italy, Netherlands
Group D - Greece, Sweden, Spain, Russia

Each team plays each of the other teams in the same group according to the league system (3 points per win, 1 point per draw, 0 points for loss).

The winner and runner-up from each group moves on, leaving us with 8 teams. Each Group winner will then play a Group runner-up (from a different group), narrowing it down to four teams.

Those four teams will square off, eliminating two teams and setting up the finals, to be played on June 29th. Which means I'll probably be talking about soccer quite a bit through the end of the month.

I've watched two games so far (Germany 2/0 Poland and Switzerland 0/1 Czech Republic), with the Germany game being the most watchable and fun. Today I'm gonna watch Italy vs. Netherlands and then tomorrow group D kicks off with Greece vs. Sweden. I figure watching one game a day is doable, but I might squeeze in more if time allows.

Friday link dump

2008-06-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

Nothing terribly exciting, getting the last of the stuff at the house unpacked and put in to their place, I think this weekend will pretty well wrap it up. So here's some interesting stuff that I've had floating around, hope you enjoy:

1 - If you want a crazy big explanation to what happened in that comic, Douglas Wolk has annotated Final Crisis #1.

2 - Some guys with a lot of free time have made a car that gets 230 MPG. It even looks like it's from the future.

3 - Kozyndan have designed some new clothing for Puma Europe. That penguin t-shirt is bomb.

4 - Check out this live advertisement. I'm not sure it makes me want to buy a Honda, but it's definitely something different:

5 - Here is a collection of 10 crazy Star Wars posters from Japan, like this one:

(EDIT) 5.5 - Whoops, forgot this, Jim 2.0's sister talks about him and her experience at ECCC.

6 - The end!

Independent Confirmation of Awesomeness

2008-06-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Steve Rolston for this post-ECCC thank you gift. If you don't know Steve, check out his run on Queen & Country and The Escapists, it's bomb stuff!

Post 600

2008-06-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

That's right, according to Blogger this marks post #600 for me. Yeesh! That's a whole lot of nothingness added to the internet... To celebrate this momentous post, let's talk shoes.

In moving, I realized that I own a ton of shoes. I like all kinds of kicks; Chucks, Ben Sherman slip-ons, non-boot Tims, etc... I'm especially an Adidas fan and in fact I just picked up a new pair a couple weeks ago. What? They were cool (and on sale!).

I've been really cutting back on any extraneous spending and impulse buying stuff I don't need. In addition, I've been getting ready to get rid of a lot of stuff I found during the move that I just have no real use for. I definitely want to streamline the amount of stuff I own and get to a more spartan existence as to not be defined by what I own.

That said, shoes are one of the few things that I tend to impulse buy and I'm trying to put a moratorium on that. So it's a good thing that Adidas decided to go gloss and not matte on these limited edition Hellboy shoes:

These would have been awesome if they were matte and canvas, like a pair of Chuck Taylors. Anyway, they're still pretty dope, but I'll be passing (the other pair I don't like at all, follow the link to see).

Which is good, because really, do I need more shoes? The answer: kinda. Dammit, I mean no! *sigh*

I'll leave you on a non-shoe note, check out Weezer's video for "Pork & Beans" from their new album (out tomorrow), it's a fun video especially if you've ever been linked to the numerous YouTube videos referenced:

Busy week

2008-06-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Date!
2nd outing; good food + drinks + fun show + cool company = great time!

House!
Cable & internet all set up. New TV acquired from Beau and set up. Unpacking going well, still too much of it to be done and I'm not a fan of the disarray, but it's getting there.

Soccer!
Went to see the Brazil vs. Canada exhibition match on Saturday at Qwest. It's was pretty packed and there was a section of Brazilian fans playing drums and horns the entire time. Great seats and a super fun atmosphere! It was a close game (3-2 Brazil was the final) which made it that much better.

Work!
Had a meeting on Wednesday that turned in to a job working on another graphic novel. Woo!

Work 2.0!
NDA editing project has been tricky in getting the creative team nailed down, but so far it's been a good experience.

Work 3.0!
Now working on a secret toy creation project which is already moving forward nicely. Will get a quote on manufacturing next week and will see if the price makes the project feasible. Fingers crossed.

End!
Kinda self-explanatory...

Sore

2008-05-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

For a while now, I've been working out with JD three times a week. If you've thought to yourself lately "Man, Jim seems in ridiculously good shape" then you were probably looking at a different Jim. :)

Actually, it's been great working out regularly again as I fell off the wagon during my time at Image and I just never got back on it. Funny how easy it is to stop but how hard it is to keep going.

In addition to working out, I've slowly been trying to change my eating habits to lose some weight too, but that's been slower going. Still, I'm working on it!

The reason for the subject line is that thanks to Emerald City (my favorite excuse apparently!) and then the trip to San Jose, I hadn't worked out in about three weeks or so.

Yesterday, I met up with JD & Steve at Green Lake. We ended up doing about two miles, which I felt really good about afterwards, but this morning I had a hard time getting out of bed because my legs were so sore. One more reason to continue to work out regularly...

In other news, unpacking is going slowly, but good. Comcast is scheduled to come out today and hook up the internet/tv, etc. So how am I posting? Thanks to my neighbor and their unsecured wireless signal. I guess information really is free...

Holy Poop!

2008-05-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

Check out this incredible street art animation, it's astounding:

101 excuses

2008-05-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

My 101 list expired yesterday, which means that exactly 1001 days (or 2.75 years) have passed since I put it up.

Of my 101 things I managed to do 74 of them. Not bad really, that's roughly 75% of the list done.

That does mean that there's another 25% that I totally didn't do, so it's now excuses time.

Things I didn't do because they were expensive:
15. Obtain a pre-1930's Mucha print (seriously, we're talking low end $5,000)
27. Buy a piece of Kirby FF art (same as above for anything decent)
90. Obtain UK HCs of all Pratchett novels (especially 1st prints of his early ones are in the low $1000s, so this may just have to be whatever printing since I want them for the cool paintings you get in the UK on the covers)

Things I didn't do because I wasn't in another country at the right time:
6. Spend New Years in another country (kind of self-explanatory)
16. Visit the Terra-cotta Army in Xi'an (totally didn't go to China)
45. Visit the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo (also didn't go to Japan)
82. Visit 25 of the 50 states (24/25) (okay, so this is in the US, but it's travel related, I just didn't end up going to another new state for anything, but I managed to add quite a few new states to that list so it's all good - it started sub-20)

Things I didn't do because I realized I had no real interest in doing but put on my list and never took off:
3. Send a message in a bottle
79. Learn a card trick (or two...)

Things I didn't do because I spent no time working on art the last few years:
14. Paint something on canvas
21. Take a drawing class
22. Draw something daily (M-F) for a month

Things that I am working on that I can't cross off because technically they're not done:
4. Learn how to make 10 mixed drinks (I'm really only at three)
19. "Produce" a comic book (I'm 60 pages in to 150 pages of this (it's a graphic novel), editing and project managing)
28. See Wagner's Ring Cycle opera (it never played during the course of my 101 list, but I have pre-sell tickets to see it in 2009)

Things that, well, I just didn't make the time to do:
7. See a movie at a drive-in
8. Take a cooking class
29. Go jetskiing (again)
35. Get a motorcycle license
40. Complete a beginners course in yoga
57. Take a photography class
62. Go scuba diving
66. Learn to drive stick shift
74. Go to a swap meet or flea market
81. Go snowmobiling (again)
96. Sell all my unwanted original art

There's also #101 (Finish this list) which is also pretty self-explanatory as to why I didn't cross off.

I'm thinking that I'd like to make another 101 list at some point. I found that there was a real motivation to do a lot of things because I made the list. It might be a little while, but I'm sure I'll do it at some point, and there's still a bunch of stuff from this list that I'd like to do, which at some point will be a good start on a new list.

An Awesome Conversation (Redux)

2008-05-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

Remember this post?

The same girl sent me a message and asked if my offer was still good. So we went out yesterday and it was awesome. True story.

Moving in to my new place today, so this weekend is already shaping up to be a whirlwind but in a good way. More soon.

RIP Rory Root

2008-05-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

I mentioned this briefly earlier, but I want to mark the passing of Rory Root. He was the owner of Comic Relief in Berkeley, which was the local shop during my time at Image Comics.

Rory was an amazing retailer and an invaluable resource for talking about all the ideas I had for Image. Rory would reject most of the ideas outright, but he'd give me detailed explanations on why, which helped make what we actually did do better.

Many of my nights were spent at Comic Relief just chatting away with Rory about not only comics, but a variety of topics, especially novels. He was a voracious reader and he turned me on to what quickly became a favorite series of mine, the Roma Sub Rosa novels.

What more to say? He was an all-around stand-up guy, a great retailer and someone I was proud to call my friend. We'll miss you Rory.

Art!

2008-05-21T08:56:00.001-07:00

Before I go in to it, between Calgary, Emerald City and Super Con, I did get a few new pieces of art, but with the scanner down, it'll be a bit before I post 'em.

This piece of art got delivered in the mail yesterday, but it was something I had worked out a while back - it's not that I had forgotten it, per se, but with Emerald City I had been distracted enough for a while that when it showed up, it was a surprise.

It is a specialty pin-up of Hal Jordan that Bryan Hitch did a few years back, I think after his run on JLA but before Ultimates. It's over-size (17x22 instead of standard 11x17) and the detail on it is outstanding, so I couldn't pass it up. Thanks to Rich D. for helping make this acquisition happen. The scan is from Rich also, enjoy!

Yes Way (San) Jose!

2008-05-20T14:52:00.000-07:00

My trip down to San Jose was a lot of fun, but I'm glad to be back home and also know that I have no travel until the end of June!

Flew in on Thursday before the show so on Friday we could go up to San Francisco. First on the agenda, ILM! That's right, thanks to my friend John Giang (who is a concept artist there), I got a tour of the Industrial Light & Magic facilities in the Presidio, right by the Golden Gate Bridge. Have I mentioned how awesome my friends are?

You couldn't take any pictures inside (not shockingly), but you could both in the lobby and outside. So I did. Here's the Yoda fountain they have outside:

In the lobby, there is a statue of Darth Vader, which came to life and tried to kill me. What a jerk:

Vader has a surprisingly weak grip, so I escaped and continued on the tour. We got to see a cool SFX reel they show to visitors, then we got the tour of the props department and other places inside, it was bad ass.

We had lunch on the balcony overlooking the city, where you could also take pictures, so here's a couple of goofy ones, first one is me & John, second one is yours truly with Kandrix & Laurie. Total fucking MySpace pictures, I swear...

Afterwards, we took off and went to Pixar. I've been before (I think it was when Incredibles was coming out), but it's always fun and this time all the art and everything was Wall*E related. That movie is going to be great, we saw a lot of character models they had there, much more than is revealed in the trailers. Good stuff. I also got to catch up with Scott Morse, who designed all the closing credits for Wall*E and talk about a couple of his upcoming projects.

Another new thing they had there since last time was a huge statue of Luxo Jr. and the ball. The light is technically wrong for the shot, but I still had fun taking a picture with them:

Afterwards, I popped in a dropped a quick visit to Image Comics to say hello to everyone. I was thinking of dropping in on Comic Relief too, but we didn't have time and that makes Rory's passing all that more depressing...

We then swung over to the theater and watched The Forbidden Kingdom. A lot of people told me they dug it, but I really didn't care for it. We finished the night by having some In & Out, which was excellent as usual. We then drove back to San Jose and sacked out.

Saturday & Sunday was Super-Con. The show was slow but I had a good time, no pictures from there, though. Had a couple nice dinners (mmmm.... 30oz Porter House) and caught up with a bunch of people, so how's that a bad thing? Flew back Monday morning and now I'm just catching up on stuff, packing and getting ready for the move on Saturday. More soon...

Lucky

2008-05-15T22:41:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting here in the lobby of the Marriott in San Jose, just chillin' out and pondering. What am I pondering? That I think I have to be the luckiest guy on the planet. This is gonna be one of those posts. Hope you're sitting comfy.

First off, I have, hands-down, the best group of friends on the fucking planet. If I haven't made this clear enough to them individually, I think my friends are the bees knees. I'm not even just talking about the two days of the show either. I'm talking all year round, I have a group of guys and gals that I can count on through thick and thin. Bomb!

I have such a great family. I'm truly thankful to my parents for all they've given me and all their support in every fucking harebrained thing I've come up with. I know they don't read this blog, and I know that I didn't follow the path that they wanted, but I tried to be a success at whatever I did and make them proud. I hope they are.

Speaking of family, there's my brother George, who is super rad and even though we disagree on things all the time, and even though I wish sometimes he'd talk more about what is going on in his life (sharing is caring, dude!), I wouldn't trade him for anything. Except maybe a signed Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade poster (Ford AND Connery, 'natch). Just sayin'... you're the best, bro!

I just bought a new house. Holy shit, my own house?! After all the time I spent looking, I finally found a place that I really liked and I'm finally going to be moving in next week! House, I totally can't wait to start living in you! I don't think my house reads my blog either, but whatever, I'm super excited!!

On top of that life stuff, I also have interesting girl stuff happening too. Woo! Stay tuned.

Speaking of life, what about work? What about work? Where to begin, it's an abundance of riches work-wise:

* I've agreed to edit a new ongoing comic book series (signed an NDA so I can't talk about it yet)
* The current GN I'm editing and overseeing production on is whizzing along at a speedy clip, hopefully to be published by the end of the year.
* I just finished editing an issue of Jack: The Lantern with more on the way
* Monday, I will be meeting a book publisher who is looking to have a graphic novel created.
* I'm helping edit an autobiography about a Caucasian man who grew up as friends with some prominent members of the civil rights movement and the difficulties that caused for his family and more. Interesting stuff, still in its infancy.
* Been approached by some parties in regards to helping organize other events in the country (not just comic shows)
* Talking to some people about creating some custom vinyl toys

That's just the tip of the iceberg, there's a ton of other stuff that I can't even talk about yet!

While we're on the topic of work, what about that Emerald City ComiCon thing I've been going on and on about? UBER success! Like, crazy awesome, above and beyond what I expected. How great is that? This year's show was ridiculous and everyone had a great time, so fucking cool! I can't believe I'm already planning stuff for 2009...

Fucking lucky. I bust my ass working, sometimes too much I realize, but I'm ridiculously lucky and I know it and I'm super thankful for it.

I'm especially thankful for you, my friends, my family, my acquaintances; everyone who hangs out with me, listens to me talk (and talk (and talk (and TALK))), who let me bounce my crazy ideas off of, who reign me and let me run wild, whose energy feeds me, whose success emboldens me and whose care & friendship drive me.

Thanks to you for making me the luckiest guy on the planet. You're awesome.

TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

The Emerald City ComiCon is less than two days away, last post for a bit, hoping for the best, fingers crossed, crazy busy, no time, making run-on sentences, awww yeah!

Shut Your Mouth, Pussycat

2008-05-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

Emerald City looms, but there is always time for.... Italian Spiderman? Enjoy....

Spam haha

2008-05-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of e-mail during a day, and of course some of it is spam. Never does spam make me laugh out loud, but today I received the greatest spam subject line I think I've ever gotten:

I've got a 8 inch hamlet noodle

'nuff said.

Rock Me Sexy Jesus

2008-05-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

How's this movie NOT going to be awesome? This is a red-band trailer, so NSFW. Enjoy!

"Sparkle & Fall"

2008-05-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

Here's the video for "Sparkle & Fall" off of Kyle Stevens' album "Songs from the Orange Room." Partially filmed at my store, The Comic Stop. Enjoy:

No time!

2008-05-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

Quickie post as I'm buried in Emerald City work.

Calgary was great, tiring but fun, Banff was nice afterwards though, lots of fun hanging out with some cool people. Good stuff.

Saw Iron Man last night. It's awesome. Stay through the credits. 'nuff said.

That's it for now...

Cananada Bound

2008-04-23T22:46:00.000-07:00

All right, I'm off to Canada, because obviously I can't just stay in one place for more than two days straight. Sheesh.

Kandrix's show should be fun, so should Banff for a couple days, then it's back to 1000% work to get the last details of Emerald City hammered out.

After Emerald City, it's moving time.

The next few weeks are gonna be nuts!

CONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!

2008-04-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

During my trip to NYC, I stayed with my buddy Gregg Shigiel, who I want to thank once again for letting me crash at his place. Gregg is an artist & writer, spending a lot of his time drawing SpongeBob SquarePants for Nickelodeon. He used to be an assistant editor at Marvel Comics, is a great cook and all around great guy. Staying with Gregg was another friend, Chris Giarrusso.

I got in late Thursday night, Chris G. came out to the airport to pick me up. He didn't have a car, instead he came out to help me navigate the subway system to Gregg's house. I have no problem with the NYC subway system, but the fact is I had no idea where Gregg lived. For all you stalkers, he lives on 23rd between 2nd & 3rd.

On Friday, the three of us ventured to the New York Comic Con as a group, but quickly went our separate ways as each of us had an agenda at the show.

As usual, I won't go blow-by-blow on what I did. I did not lose my voice, but it got pretty rough by the end of Sunday between the talking at the show and basically yelling to be heard at bars at night.

Not surprisingly, I pretty much spent the show talking to comics people left and right, catching up with old friends and meeting new people.

On the new people front, I was happy to meet Brian Hitch (of Ultimates and currently Fantastic Four fame), Kevin Eastman (co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and publisher of Heavy Metal) and Grant Morrison (who is the mastermind behind the upcoming Final Crisis and tons of other books). All three cool people who I had really great conversations with.

I also got to meet Scott Adsit, who you might (or might not) know as Pete Hornberger on 30 Rock. He was around all weekend, mostly at the Marvel booth, really nice guy and a huge comics fan.

This was my first NYCC but I was impressed with how well-run it was, apparently the kinks they had the first couple years were pretty well ironed out this year and overall I had a great time.

After-show was tons of fun, I got really lucky in having some great weather, mostly in the high 60's, low 70's, and considering I pretty much walked everywhere, that was nice. NYCC is in February next year, so I don't know how pleasant that's gonna be weather-wise...

Anyway, on Friday a whole big group of us tried to hit a BBQ place by the Javits (where NYCC is held) but they were closed for a private function and couldn't seat the 10 of us. We ended up at Junior's off Times Square where we surprisingly got a table for 10 in less than 5 minutes. That was about as close to anything touristy that I did the entire trip. Afterwards, Gregg, Chris and I met up with Traci & Damon from Image at a bar, where we spent the rest of the evening before heading back to Gregg's.

Saturday I managed to hit the aforementioned BBQ place before heading to the Image party, which featured a) free booze and b) an acoustic performance by Claudio Sanchez, lead singer of Coheed & Cambria:

The party was held at an art gallery that was featuring paintings by Clive Barker. It was a trip. After that, I made my way over to the Marvel party which was held at an Irish pub. We were there until the wee hours, got to catch up with a lot of people I hadn't seen in a while...

Sunday, Jacob Chabot (Eisner Award nominee for The Mighty Skullboy Army, congrats bud!) joined me, Gregg, Chris, Traci & Damon for Chinese food post-show, then headed to the West Village for a small pub crawl along with Joe Keatinge and Justin "Moritat" Norman.

We first hit a bar where everyone sang along to showtunes played on the piano:

Then went to a haunted bar called Jekyll & Hyde, where the bathroom doors are hidden among rows of bookshelves:

Then it was off to Magnolia Bakery for ridiculously delicious cupcakes, then back to the J&H for more drinks and eventually home.

Chris G. left early in the morning on Monday to get a train back to his place (he lives in upstate NY), while Gregg & I met Traci & Damon for delicious breakfast at the 6th St. Dinner (mmm... Banana Walnut pancakes). Afterwards, we dropped Gregg off at his place and the three of us split a cab to the airport.

I wrote the bulk of this on my laptop on the way back, it was an afternoon flight so I wasn't tired enough to sleep and took a break from reading to get this stuff down, I knew I wouldn't have a chance after I came back.

Now, it's a couple days of hustle before I head off and go rock it up in Calgary for Kandrix's show. Timing could be better considering how close ECCC is, but it's all good, that's what friends are for, right? At least next year his show is after Emerald City...

Though I never take pictures with people in costumes at shows, I leave you with this one picture did take, specifically for Jim 2.0:

The end.

Thanks Gregg...

2008-04-19T23:04:00.001-07:00

..for showing me the most awesomely stupid YouTube video:

Holla at 'ye!

2008-04-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

The show? Awesome.

Lupe Fiasco opened with a hell of a performance, followed by NERD who performed three songs from their new album and a few from the previous two. Rihanna was just fine, nothing exciting unfortunately. Then Kanye came out, did over an hour on some crazy sets with not even a break, he was mad man out there. The show went from 7pm to almost midnight with all the set changes and everyone performing a lot of songs, not just a couple before the big performance. Sweet.

I have pictures and stuff, but no time to format and get 'em up since I gotta catch my flight to NYC. Instead, I'm uploading one of the videos I took of Kanye performing Spaceship. Be back Tuesday, enjoy!

Glow in the Dark!

2008-04-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

Pretty excited to be going tonight, it's the first leg of the tour up here and rumor has it that it's gonna be crazy! I'll hopefully get a chance to post some stuff before I jet off to NYCC tomorrow... more soon!

Animated Action

2008-04-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

Sad news: Ollie Johnston, the last remaining of Disney's Nine Old Men, passed away today at the age of 95. He worked on all the classics (Fantasia, Pinocchio, Bambi, Song Of The South, Cinderella, Alice In Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty) and was (and will continue to be) an inspiration to animators around the world.

In other Disney-related news, the Walt Disney Studios announced a slate of 10 animated movies coming through 2012, including the Pixar films. Here's a look (stolen from the Disney site, sorry for any weird formatting):

2008:

• BOLT (Domestic Release Date: November 26th, 2008, Disney Digital 3-D) Walt Disney Animation Studios Directors: Chris Williams, Byron Howard Producer: Clark Spencer Voice Talent: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman

For super-dog Bolt (voiced by John Travolta), every day is filled with adventure, danger and intrigue — at least until the cameras stop rolling. When the canine star of a hit TV show is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he begins his biggest adventure yet — a cross-country journey through the real world. Armed only with the delusions that all his amazing feats and powers are real, and with the help of two unlikely traveling companions — a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman), and TV-obsessed hamster in a plastic ball named Rhino — Bolt discovers he doesn’t need superpowers to be a hero. Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) brings her vocal talents to the role of Penny, Bolt’s human co-star on the television series.

• TINKER BELL (Disney DVD and Blu-ray Release Date: October 28th, 2008) DisneyToon Studios Director: Bradley Raymond Producer: Jeannine Roussel

Enter the magical world of fairies and meet the enchanting creatures of Pixie Hollow, who “nurture nature” and bring about the change of the seasons. Changing the colors of the leaves, moving a sunbeam to melt snow, waking animals from their winter slumber, or giving a patch of sproutlings a sprinkle of water are all within the realm of these seasonal specialists. Tinker Bell thinks her fairy talent as a “tinker” isn’t as special or important as the other fairies’ talents. But when Tink tries to change who she is, she creates nothing but disaster! With encouragement from her friends Rosetta, Silvermist, Fawn and Iridessa, Tink learns the key to solving her problems lies in her unique tinker abilities… and discovers that when she’s true to herself, magical things can happen.

2009:

• UP (Domestic Release Date: May 29th, 2009, Disney Digital 3-D) Pixar Animation Studios Director: Pete Docter Co-Director: Bob Peterson Producer: Jonas Rivera Writer: Bob PetersonVoice Talent: Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, John Ratzenberger, Jordan Nagai

From the Academy Award-nominated team of director Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.) and co-director Bob Peterson comes Up, a comedic adventure taking off (and lifting spirits) in summer 2009. Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life. Up takes audiences on a thrilling journey where the unlikely pair encounter wild terrain, unexpected villains and jungle creatures. When seeking adventure next summer — look Up.

• TOY STORY in 3-D (Domestic Release Date: October 2nd, 2009) Pixar Animation Studios Director: John Lasseter Producers: Ralph Guggenheim, Bonnie Arnold Composer: Randy NewmanVoice Talent: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger

Originally released by Walt Disney Pictures in 1995, Toy Story was the first feature film from Pixar Animation Studios and director John Lasseter. The film went on to receive Oscar nominations for Best Original Score, Best Original Song, and Best Original Screenplay, and earned Lasseter a Special Achievement Award (Oscar) “for the development and inspired application of techniques that have made possible the first feature-length computer-animated film.” The 3-D version of this landmark film is being personally overseen by Lasseter with his acclaimed team of technical wizards handling all the necessary steps in the conversion process.

• THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (Domestic Release Date: Christmas 2009) Walt Disney Animation Studios Directors: John Musker, Ron Clements Producer: Peter Del Vecho Composer: Randy Newman Voice Talent: Anika Noni Rose, Keith David, Jenifer Lewis, John Goodman

A musical set in the greatest city of them all, New Orleans, The Princess and the Frog marks Disney’s return to the timeless art form of traditional animation. The film teams Ron Clements and John Musker, creators of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, with Oscar-winning composer Randy Newman to tell the most beautiful love story ever told … with frogs, voodoo, and a singing alligator.

• TINKER BELL NORTH OF NEVER LAND - working title (Disney DVD and Blu-ray Release Date: 2009) DisneyToon Studios Director: Klay Hall Producer: Sean Lurie

In autumn, Tinker Bell is entrusted with crafting a great treasure that can rejuvenate the Pixie Dust Tree. But when her friend Terence offers to help, Tink’s temper and stubbornness get the better of her, shattering both her creation and her friendship with Terence. To set things right again, she must embark on a journey far North of Never Land … and along the way, she will discover an even greater treasure.

2010:

• TOY STORY 2 in 3-D (Domestic Release Date: February 12th, 2010) Pixar Animation Studios Director: John Lasseter Co-Directors: Lee Unkrich, Ash Brannon Producers: Helene Plotkin, Karen Robert Jackson Composer: Randy NewmanVoice Talent: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger

Originally released in 1999, Toy Story 2 went on to become one of the most popular animated features of all time. The film picks up as Andy is heading off to Cowboy Camp and the toys are left to their own devices. When an obsessive toy collector named Al McWhiggin (owner of Al’s Toy Barn) kidnaps Woody, and Woody learns that he’s a highly valued collectable from a 1950s TV show called Woody’s Roundup, the stage is set for a daring rescue attempt by the gang from Andy’s room. The film introduced such other memorable characters from “Woody’s Roundup” as Jessie the cowgirl, Bullseye the horse, and the Prospector.

• TOY STORY 3 (Domestic Release Date: June 18th, 2010, Disney Digital 3-D) Pixar Animation Studios Director: Lee Unkrich Producer: Darla K. Anderson Writer: Michael Arndt Composer: Randy NewmanVoice Talent: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Estelle Harris, John Ratzenberger, Ned Beatty

The creators of the beloved Toy Story films re-open the toy box and bring moviegoers back to the delightful world of Woody, Buzz and our favorite gang of toy characters in Toy Story 3. Lee Unkrich (co-director of Toy Story 2 and Finding Nemo) directs this highly anticipated film, and Michael Arndt, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Little Miss Sunshine, brings his unique talents and comedic sensibilities to the proceedings.

• RAPUNZEL (Domestic Release Date: Christmas 2010, Disney Digital 3-D) Walt Disney Animation Studios Directors: Glen Keane, Dean Wellins Producer: Roy Conli

In this new telling of the classic fairy tale, Rapunzel, audiences will be transported to a stunning CG fantasy world complete with the iconic tower, an evil witch, a gallant hero and, of course, the mysterious girl with the long golden tresses. Expect adventure, heart, humor, and hair … lots of hair, when Rapunzel unleashes her locks in theaters for the 2010 holiday.

• TINKER BELL A MIDSUMMER STORM - working title (Disney DVD and Blu-ray Release Date: 2010) DisneyToon Studios Director: Carolyn Gair Producer: Margot Pipkin

After being confronted by her antagonist Vidia, an irritated Tinker Bell retaliates by taking a photograph of Vidia … without considering the consequences. Now, the two must set aside their differences and cooperate to prevent evidence of the existence of fairies from falling into human hands.

2011:

• NEWT (Domestic Release Date: Summer 2011, Disney Digital 3-D) Pixar Animation Studios Director: Gary Rydstrom Producer: Richard Hollander Writers: Gary Rydstrom, Leslie Caveny

What happens when the last remaining male and female blue-footed newts on the planet are forced together by science to save the species, and they can’t stand each other? That’s the problem facing Newt and Brooke, heroes of newt, the Pixar film by seven-time Academy Award winner for sound Gary Rydstrom, and director of Pixar’s Oscar-nominated short, Lifted. Newt and Brooke embark on a perilous, unpredictable adventure and discover that finding a mate never goes as planned, even when you only have one choice. Love, it turns out, is not a science.

• THE BEAR AND THE BOW (Domestic Release Date: Christmas 2011, Disney Digital 3-D) Pixar Animation Studios Director: Brenda Chapman Producer: Katherine Sarafian Voice Talent: Reese Witherspoon, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson

A rugged and mythic Scotland is the setting for Pixar’s action-adventure The Bear and the Bow. The impetuous, tangle-haired Merida, though a daughter of royalty, would prefer to make her mark as a great archer. A clash of wills with her mother compels Merida to make a reckless choice, which unleashes unintended peril on her father’s kingdom and her mother’s life. Merida struggles with the unpredictable forces of nature, magic and a dark, ancient curse to set things right. Director Brenda Chapman (The Prince of Egypt, The Lion King) and the storytelling wizards of Pixar conjure humor, fantasy and excitement in this rich Highland tale.

• TINKER BELL A WINTER STORY - working title (Disney DVD and Blu-ray Release Date: 2011) DisneyToon Studios Producer: Sean Lurie

The fourth, as-yet-untold story of Tinker Bell and her fairy friends will take place in winter, completing the cycle of the seasons.

2012:

• CARS 2 (Domestic Release Date: Summer 2012, Disney Digital 3-D) Pixar Animation Studios Director: Brad Lewis

All the world’s a racetrack as racing superstar Lightning McQueen zooms back into action, with his best friend Mater in tow, to take on the globe’s fastest and finest in this thrilling high-octane new installment of the Cars saga. Mater and McQueen will need their passports as they find themselves in a new world of intrigue, thrills and fast-paced comedic escapades around the globe. Cars 2 is being directed by Brad Lewis, producer of the Oscar- winning film Ratatouille.

• KING OF THE ELVES (Domestic Release Date: Christmas 2012, Disney Digital 3-D) Walt Disney Animation Studios Directors: Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker Producer: Chuck Williams

Legendary storyteller Phillip K. Dick’s short story (his only experiment in the fantasy genre) becomes the basis for this fantastic and imaginative tale about an average man living in the Mississippi Delta, whose reluctant actions to help a desperate band of elves leads them to name him their new king. Joining the innocent and endangered elves as they attempt to escape from an evil and menacing troll, their unlikely new leader finds himself caught on a journey filled with unimaginable dangers and a chance to bring real meaning back to his own life.

Random Bits

2008-04-14T23:24:00.000-07:00

Saw Marjane Satrapi (creator/writer/artist of Persepolis) speak at the Moore Theater tonight with Quiana. The evening included delicious Argentine meat for dinner pre-talk and cupcakes post-talk. The event was both interesting and intelligent, quite enjoyable.

Liverpool Station gets RickRolled as hundreds of people sing Never Gonna Give You Up.

This movie (Blindness) looks cool and I'm diggin' the poster:

More reason to hate spiders? They enjoy kinky sex. In your shower.

Volkswagen supports indy films and their new campaign is great. You'll never look at Toy Story the same way again:

Here's one for Ghostbusters:

That's all for now...

Clarification

2008-04-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

From the post below, apparently there has been some confusion in regards to my feelings on the magazines, so let me clarify.

Comic Foundry = AWESOME

Wizard = not awesome

The end

How Cool Is This?

2008-04-11T17:41:00.001-07:00

Stolen from Tim @ Comic Foundry.

Speaking CF, if you're one of the masses who bitches about Wizard monthly, then you need to pop to your local shop and grab a copy - it's awesome, great graphic design and actual comics content cover to cover. I can't say enough good things, I support it with my ad dollars for ECCC and also by carrying it at my stores. Please buy a copy and ensure this awesome magazine continues to thrive.

Stupid Aliens

2008-04-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

Hurling rocks at this dude's house. Not cool.

Wedding Bells

2008-04-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my friend Chris Rangel got married up at a nice hall at Forest Park in Everett. The wedding (both ceremony & reception) was quite intimate with a very small amount of people in attendance, which made it easy to talk and get to know most everyone.

Not a lot to say, really: Chris cleans up well, Karissa looked beautiful and it was great! Plus, turns out my buddy Scott Nicholson presided over their marriage, so that was quite cool to see a friend marrying a friend. Wait a minute. That sounds weird... you know what I mean!

Anyway, just a couple of shots, here's George (happy!), Chris and myself:

and a quick snap of the wedding during the vows:

Gah!

2008-04-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

Dude, where does the time go? I can't believe we've almost killed the first week of April already.

As usual, I've been slammin' on the Emerald City ComiCon, just did some big updates (Wil Wheaton! Julie Benz! Spanish Artists!) and I have an awesome announcement Tuesday, so check back then!

On Thursday I headed downtown with Quiana to check out the Roman Collection on loan from the Louvre. They also had 3 panels of the Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti, which were amazing. Having been reading a multitude of ancient Roman mysteries, it was cool to see a lot of everyday objects and such from the time period. Great stuff

Took the day off yesterday, helped Paul move, then spent most of the at IKEA and Mor looking at furniture and such for the new pad (also with Q). I think I got the office pretty well done (well, picked out, not purchased) and may have also found a good couch/love seat/chair set for the living room. Measurements needed to verify.

My bud (and fellow Comic Stop co-owner) Chris Rangel is getting married today. I'll be suiting up shortly and heading off to that. Picures later. Prepare for the awesomeness.

I leave you with Super Deformed Sagat!

These are some cool-ass Street Fighter toys imported from Japan, check out the rest of the collection here.

Mariners Opening Day

2008-04-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

Mariners opening day was Monday. As you may (or more than likely don't) recall, a few weeks back I went with the Jasons to buy Mariners tix at Safeco, with the main motivation on my part to pick up opening day tickets.

A group of five of us headed out to our opening day whooping of the Texas Rangers. Started off the afternoon with some delicious Longhorn Barbecue, then headed over to the stadium for all the cool opening day festivities. That included a Golden Glove and Silver Slugger award for Ichiro, Dave Niehaus throwing out the first pitch and snow.

Here's a pic of the Mariners coming out on to the field:

and a picture of the crew at the end of the game (it was COLD!). From left to right: Jim 2.0, George, myself, Jason & Deuce:

After the game, we headed up to Deuce's where we enjoyed a showing of Shoot 'Em Up, which was awesome on Blu Ray.

All in all, it was a super kick ass day. Friends, barbecue, opening day & a movie = awesomeness.

James Jean live

2008-04-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

James Jean did all those designs for Prada, and now they've taken the designs and along with the aesthetic of his art, created this beautiful animation called "Trembled Blossoms." Enjoy:

Star Wars ad

2008-03-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

Check out this awesome ad at a bus stop for Spike TV showing the Star Wars movies:

See it unlit here.

Also, speaking of Star Wars, watched Empire last night. Have you ever noticed Yoda's semi-psychotic behavior? Methinks he's been on Dagobah by himself a little too long...

Templesmith

2008-03-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

Friend and mondo cool illustrator Ben Templesmith posted this up on his blog:

Made for the He-Man Animated DVD. I'd love to see a He-Man show in this type of style, would definitely be quite a different feel. Anyway, check out the rest of his blog and if you're not already, his very cool Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse series from IDW.

Remember that time...

2008-03-27T08:44:00.001-07:00

...we made out in the bathroom in LA and we never thought we'd see each other again? And then I saw you at the show the next day? And then it was awkward? And then you Facebooked me yesterday? And then it was awkward again?

Awesome.

(This one's for you Fil)

#61 - Buy a House

2008-03-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

True story.

After what seems like forever, but has been in reality over a year, I have found and successfully purchased a house!

It's a 1500 sq. ft. 3-bedroom townhouse in Mountlake Terrace (for those of you non-Seattleites, that's about 13 miles north of Seattle) that was built in 2003. It's an end/corner unit, which means I share only one wall with neighbors.

Here's a shot of the outside (front door is on the right about half way back):

I'm quite happy with it, it's in a good location with easy highway access, nice neighborhood with a grocery store in walking distance, etc. No pictures of the interior yet, I'll try to snap a few next time I'm in.

I'm not in a huge rush to move in, which is good - between Emerald City and knowing I'll be gone for 1/3 of April between New York Comic Con & Calgary Expo, it's gonna be rough finding actual "official" moving time.

That's cool with me though, I want get some of the rooms painted before I furnish 'em, so having it empty will make that process much easier. I think overall it should work out pretty nicely. Yay house!