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November 18th, 2009
10:44 am - *is shoved on stage*
Oh boy, everyone's posting their "I'm still alive" comics.
I'm currently in the middle of drawing out all my july to october comics. The backlog's so big I haven't been too worried about drawing them in order. But that's the catch eh? If I'm to post them here, they should be in order shouldn't they? Or should I just post SOME? Eh? Anyone? Skip some comics & post other ones now, or get back to finishing the oldest ones first? Well, now that I think of it, I'll probably finish the june/july ones first regardless.
OK back to work!
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November 5th, 2009
10:44 am - On Zombies
Preface: I'm not going to go into detail about why I love zombies so much, Max Brook's opinion of what makes them cool and/or scary is spot on. Read his stuff.
I know a lot of people are talking about zombies getting over-exposed this decade, and I agree, if you count absolutely everything 'zombie' from video games to direct-to-DVD movies to toys etc.
But if you just focus on the good stuff, I'm really happy with their success as a monster. I was talking to a coworker the other day, and I realized that we automatically group zombies in with the 'classic' monsters like vampires and ghouls, but man how old is the actual concept of the modern 'zombie'? Most people know of no earlier incarnation that Night of the Living Dead (1968) when George Romero said, "Hey, how about clinically dead people walking around, eating the living?" Compare that to the 100+ years that most monster myths enjoy and I said to this coworker, "Zombies are to monsters what Google is to the stock market: new and freakishly successful."
On top of that, how many other monsters have been 'invented' in the last 50 years? Space monsters, mutant hillbillies, physically aggressive japanese ghosts. It's not my intention to harsh on those guys, just pointing out the tremendous relative success of animated corpses!
Recently I watched Zombieland, and I am proud to say that David Wellington's Monster Island was tucked away in my backpack, partial read, during the movie. Zombieland was such a fresh slice of zombie goodness that that night I finished reading Monster Island and the following days I devoured the other 2 books in the series. This was my second reading of this series, and it's made me very certain that these stories would make a formidable zombie movie trilogy!
What we have seen so far from zombie cinema, is that zombies can be used in the classic genre of horror (Reanimator, 28 Days Later), but they've been bent to fit into many other genres:
Political Commentary (Diary of the Dead, Homecoming)
Comedy (Shaun of the Dead, Idle Hands)
Romance (Fido, Zombieland)
Cop Drama (Dead Heat, The Dead Next Door)
Sci Fi (Slither, Planet Terror)
Fantasy (and pretty much all of the above) (Dead Alive)
A genre that's had a poor showing of zombies is: Adventure/Epic. Read the Monster Island trilogy, and you will see: These books don't just have zombies in them, they are zombie-centric, and they are more sweeping epic that horror. A subject that is touched on just a little in Reanimator and The Dead Next Door is the thinking, commanding zombie. David Wellington takes the thinking corpse, so commonly know in Fantasy as the Lich, and applies it to the modern zombie mythology. (I'm not really spoiling anything here, it's like 10 pages into Monster Island)
Pretty much all zombie movies, regardless of genre, have fit the formula of regular people under siege by an aimless wave of zombies. It puts zombies more in the company of swarming-insects or creeping-fungus movies. In movies like 28 Days, terror is drawn from the hopelessly one-sided struggle, and in Shaun of the Dead, the characters never really feel like they're in danger until things get climactic. In Welligton's series, there are realistic, motivated characters on all sides of this worldwide battle (it's not nearly as simple as living vs. dead) and there is just as much horror in the realization that these zombies are not just shuffling around pointlessly. By the third book, well, it's like Lord of the Rings. People are gathering their resources, rallying the troops, various players are coming out of the woodworks to see how it will all end. Who will ive, who will die, and who will neither??
Imagine the scope of the Stephen Sommers' Mummy trilogy, with the gore of the 2004 Dawn of the Dead, and characters as classic as the original cast of Night of the Living Dead?
Read those books. See for yourself how great they are, and besides the movie potential, Monster Nation has the best explanation of how zombies could happen. Ever.
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October 8th, 2009
12:18 am - On Shelves.
Picked up my book from the printers. Cost me every penny I had (plus an awesome loan from Gareth). Website is updated. Happy 24th Birthday to me :D
Actsofdan.com
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/sad.gif) exhausted
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September 29th, 2009
September 22nd, 2009
07:25 pm - OH MAN BIG NEWS!!
OK everybody, I'm compiling the final PDF files for the printing of my next book!
Before the weekend I plan to have my personal site up again with pre-order (and regular order) information on it.
What I can tell you right now is it's 4x6 inches, 111 pages, $7, and pre-orders will include free colour sketches!
I just just just finished stitching together the front & back covers into a single file, what a rush!
I've also basically taught myself to use GIMP over the last 2 weeks. So before the year's over I should have a digitally comic experiment done! Exciting!!
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August 14th, 2009
06:43 pm - what a day!
OK so I opened some mail yesterday, and it's my tax refund. The day before that I'd been putting a lot of thought & budget planning around getting my next book printed, and into my lap falls most of the money I need!!!
To celebrate, I went out today and bought The Boys Vol. 4, Mighty Boosh Season 1, and I cashed in a Vancouver Island Brewery gift certificate that Jordan gave me! That was my favorite part. I'd been holding off buying any alcohol as part of my budget. Today DID try to be a bad day. The book printer was gone for the day, so I had hauled my beer all the way out there for nothing, and said beer also broke the shoulder strap on my tote bag, the one I got as a high school grad door prize 5 years ago, so I had to buy a fabric shopping bag while I was downtown, and somewhere down the line a bottle broke inside the case, so this bag I just bought got soaked with beer. But I was happy anyway, because that cheque in the mail has just made everything right again. :D Now I'm going grocery shopping. Gonna get eggs, another thing I denied myself for the sake of this book. Then I'm more likely than not off to see Ponyo!
There are Daily Dan strips that I just haven't scanned. They are there, waiting to be seen.
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August 6th, 2009
08:04 pm - super old conversations
Here I am, kicking around at home. I did some cleaning & sorting. I also wanted to do some comicing, but all my projects are at the scripting stage and I can't get the juices flowing. I was poking around the ol' hard drive to see if I'd written some stuff down and forgotten about it. Instead I stumble across an MSN convo from way back last year that I saved as an rtf so I could clean it up and post it. Because lots of funny people post their convos.
Without further delay, September 30, 2008 /10:45pm
Evin says: Today was pretty arty for me
Evin says: I also went out and bought more pens
Evin says: You might have a sudden case of deadly boners over my new markers
Evin says: They were on sale
Dan says: WHAT
Evin says: They're the superfancyexpensive, refillable Letraset ones
Evin says: With the changeable nibs
Dan says: BUT...
Dan says: WAIT...
Dan says: ARGH
Evin says: Yeah
Evin says: I got the greyscale set
Dan says: :|
Evin says: 12 markers, normally $70
Evin says: On sale for $35
Dan says: :|!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dan says: EVIN
Dan says: WHY ARE YOU INFORMING ME OF ALL THE BOATS I AM MISSING
Evin says: Haha
Dan says: D:
Evin says: http://www.letraset.com/design/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=22&cat=Black\Grey+Tria+Markers
Evin says: They are pretty keen
Dan says: EVIN THESE ARE NOT DEADLY BONERS I AM HAVING
Evin says: I mean, I don't really have a project to use them on right now, but I had to get them. They were on sale.
Dan says: THEY ARE RAGE BONERS
Evin says: They have more
Dan says: BONERS OF RAGE WHERE WERE THEY ON SALE
Evin says: As well as like, 3 different colour sets
Evin says: Go get some
Evin says: Opus
Dan says: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dan says: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Evin says: Haha
Dan says: THIS IS WHY I GET THE NEWSLETTER
Dan says: WHERE IS MY NEWSLETTER??
Evin says: Ohhhhh wait
Evin says: Hold on
Evin says: You might be out of luck
Dan says: :C ?
Evin says: I vaguely remember them being the manager's special for September
Evin says: Tomorrow is October
Dan says: / ;,CZVX;L,SCVL,SCL;KASLK;MADSF;LKMASDF;LKADS;LKASDL;KSD;LJKSDFL;KJSDL;DSKLWK;WDLK;JWDFL;WDFL;DFWK;JLSDFL;
Evin says: Yeahhhhhhhh
Dan says: .FDKJFDKJFRKJDKJDRKJDFJKWEAHGWEIKFTIODKJEKDFXKRKJRKJERMESRJMERSMJSERJMERSJMERW
Evin says: I am sorry Dan
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August 1st, 2009
11:24 am - Comic Battle online
Still getting back on my feet as far as dailies go, but here's something completely different:
http://entervoid.com/comic.php?id=2356
Void battle!!
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July 21st, 2009
06:42 pm - Drinks
Hey so knowing that about half the people reading this don't drink, I pose an unlikely-to-be-answered question:
Next week I'm going to a beach party. Do I get Southern Comfort & Ginger Ale, or buy some Kaluha and make my own White Russians?
I know I like SC & I know I like White Russians. I'm more interested in persuing the WR but I've never mixed my own, and found out today the nearest liquor store doesn't sell the premixed ones :(
Meanwhile, with wedding season over I'm playing catch up with the dailies, and in a few pay cheques I should be able to pay for The Daily Dans Book 2: 2008.
Still thinking about potential bonus features. Photographs, trivia, any ideas?
Lastly, I'm going insane over "Cross" by Justice. What an album!!!
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July 19th, 2009
01:08 am - Hey a photo meme!
Oh boy, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) daleof has keyed me in to a photo meme:
* Post ten of any pictures currently on your hard drive that you think are self-expressive.
* No captions. It must be like we're speaking with images and we have to interpret your visual language just like we have to interpret your words.
* They must ALREADY be on your hard drive - no googling or flickr! They have to have been saved to your folders sometime in the past. They must be something you've saved there because it resonated with you for some reason.
* You do NOT have to answer any questions about any of your pictures if you don't want to. You can make them as mysterious as you like. Or you can explain them away as much as you like.
[my nod to daleof, I'm starting my list with a bangalores pic too]
( 9 more under yon lj cut )
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July 17th, 2009
12:01 am
Wow the pilot light really went out on my artistic stove. But when it gets going again, hoo boy, yeah, probably a lot of drawing. Here's a good quiz:
Your result for The 3 Variable Funny Test...
the Shock Jock(62% dark, 46% spontaneous, 42% vulgar)your humor style:
VULGAR | SPONTANEOUS | DARKYour sense of humor is off-the-cuff and kind of gross. Is it is also sinister, cynical, and vaguely threatening to the purer folks of this world. You probably get off on that. You would cut a greasy fart, then blame it on your mom, and then just shrug when someone pointed out that she's dead. Yours is hands-down the most outrageous sense of humor; you like things trangressive and hardcore. It's highly likely (a) you have no limits (b) you have no scruples and (c) you have no job. Ironically, it's your type of humor that can make the biggest bucks in show business. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Howard Stern - Adam Sandler - Roseanne Barr
The 3-Variable Funny Test!
- it rules -
Take The 3 Variable Funny Test at HelloQuizzy
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July 6th, 2009
12:27 am - I am a man with some things to say
OK I was just surfin' da net and Tweeting way too much so I should stop putterin' about and post a journal (aka vent with more than 140 characters)
*Reading David Wellington's newest book: Frostbite, which is an Advance Readers Copy because I work at a book store aw yeah! It is coming along nicely. Surprisingly short time frame it's taking place in but that's not affecting the quality know what I mean? It's about sparklewerewolves lol not really.
*Finished The Eternal Smile in an hour. I got very emotional, it's an amazing anthology. I'll buy it when I can afford to. (read it for free, Book Store!!) A+++
*I'm shipping out to Banff in a couple days. Meeting my parents & brother in Naniamo, stopping in Vancouver to see my grandpeeps. It's been a couple years, I'm sad I didn't visit under my own power. Then over the border for my sister's wedding. I got my old suit from high school grad re-fitted (then lost, then found the ticket for the tailors!)
*I guess this has turned into an unofficial 1 month break from drawing anything, which I guess would be OK if I was pushing myself or significantly producing in any medium prior to said break SIGH. If I ever find a substance that reliably makes me productive, I don't care if it's Ecstasy or ground up octopus beaks, I'm taking it ever other day.
I'm following a pretty big group of comic makers, most of whom draw copiously and furiously when they're not doin' anything in particular. My drawing table is all covered in stuff because with Evin moving in I'm not sure where all my stuff is going (closet dividing, etc.) [EDIT: that was a bad excuse and I realize that before I've even posted this]
I've always felt this invisible wall between my personality and that good habit of just drawing constantly whenever I can. The more I see people drawing, just moving pencil over paper as much as they can, and me sitting around in my spare time just absorbing stuff off a screen, the lower than wall seems to get. Like I've drawn (ha) a bath and I'm waiting years for it to cool to the right temperature.
*In the last couple days I've started reading solmaru and Ink Dick and they are both Cool People Who I Would Like To Meet.
*I'm basically out of money because of all these weddings and besides the minor annoyances of eating poorly and not getting the books & films I want till much later, I'm only really sore about the fact that I have to delay printing my next book. I don't know for how long but there's no way I"ll have enough saved up by August. Well, slim to no chance...
*I have plenty of great ideas so at least I'm not, like, losing my talent. That has been a big fear of mine ever since I really started following other artists' journals. Over the years I see really talented people run out of ideas, stop drawing all together, and then abandon their websites. :C
There, I think that was everything I was bottling up. (that I wanted to talk about, that is)
I am gonna go to bed and hopefully sleep as well as I did last night though I doubt it because Monday means shitty things like building maintenance start up again so I'll either be woken up at 8am by a lawn mover outside my window or construction workers under my floorboards (our apartment's foundation is getting de-borked apparently)
sweet dreams internet B)
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/classic/blah.gif) okay
Current Music: Justice
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July 1st, 2009
01:37 am - heavy thinking
Hey so I was in bed trying to fall asleep but I started thinking about gravity.
We live in a universe where, seemingly, one of the fundamental rules of existence is that all matter is charged with this invisible, undetectable energy that pulls separate objects together. Gravity is a force that pulls us all in one direction constantly but doesn't actually affect us like radiation or electricity does. Even magnetism can affect us in large amounts, like an MRI. Gravity, as a force, is undeniable, but so unquantifiable that it's all still theories even after hundreds of years.
Thinking about how taken for granted gravity is, makes me feel like I'm living in a terrarium.
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June 29th, 2009
12:36 pm - back home for a little bit
Oh man so going to a wedding every week is a little tiring. Firstly, I thought I had more comics scanned but I have none so this week I'll be getting more coloured & scanned for posting next week. I need to do like 4 loads of laundry. This week also, evin is moving in. Oh man, ch-ch-ch-changes!
This wedding was pretty intense. A) I was a groomsman so, responsibilities, and B) Jord's parents have a private beach and Keltie's parents hosted the reception behind their biggest-house-I've-ever-been-in, it was a mansion, I still can't believe the wealth I was in proximity to!
I won't drop any anecdotes until they're in comic form, but I did make an impromptu speech that everyone laughed at and most people personally complimented me on it, so holy shit I can do good public speaking!!
Current Music: The Hidden Cameras, Justice, Wolfmother
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June 24th, 2009
02:28 am - sleeveless shirt!!
going out of town for my next wedding. Might not hear from me till Monday.
I started reading Fragment by Warren Fahy it's like the Skull Island from the new King Kong movie mixed with Andromeda Strain or Phantoms (Koontz) lots of creatures, very cool. The Amazon page has pictures.
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June 23rd, 2009
12:34 am - moving a christmas story
Still in the middle of a weddingstorm. Soon the backlog will run out so there may be delays.
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June 22nd, 2009
12:22 am - beardly matters
I might officially be "a guy with a beard" now. There are definite pros & cons.
bachelor party #1: survived
wedding #1: survived
wedding #2: this weekend!
Saw Year One tonight, don't feel pressured to do the same. The movie was fine but comedies never benifit from the big screen. Rental would be fine.
I totally spaced on Father's Day :( will call tomorrow.
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June 20th, 2009
01:40 am - hot & cold
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June 19th, 2009
12:08 am - "accomplishments"
Time passes so fast, it gets damn irritating.
Taxes make me very angry, they remind me of math class.
I'm slumping again. The days where I don't draw at all are outnumbering the days where I do. I really don't know what to put aside to make room for drawing. Should I read less? Should I put my art above all else? Maybe I should uninstall Twitter?
I really spend a lot of time just sitting still, maybe I should learn to meditate so I don't feel like a lizard in a zoo, just sitting here. I could have typed this journal up in half this time.
I looked into this year's Victoria Comic Con. There hasn't been one since 2001 apparently. The ones that are frequent are buy & trade kind of situations. This one, if more information appears on their website, could see us signing up aDorkchop table!
Tomorrow is work, Saturday is my first wedding!
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June 17th, 2009
03:05 am - here I am (but don't rock me like a hurricane, I'm sick)
Oh wow so yeah, bachelor party/day wiped the floor with me. Parts of me are still bruised, and when I thought my hangover was lasting way too long, I realized I'd gotten a cold at the exact same time. I'm just now checking mail, checking flists, etc. Going a whole 3-4 days without internet is like if you stopped eating for a few days but didn't get hungry or felt any different. You'd realize hey, maybe I don't need to be online everyday, but they you run to the kitchen & eat something because you're freaked out all of a sudden. Or, if you could fly one day, you'd eventually go back to the ground for fear of flying off into space. Anyway, here's a load of days:
I've always been honest with myself that I started these dailies way back when because I wanted to entertain people with the retellings of my hilarious life. It's been over 2 years and I don't think I'm that funny anymore, so there's the other side of autobio comics, and that's entertaining the reader by being open and personal, and drawing people in with that kind of information that you normally get through gossip, only it's being officially handed out! Still mulling all that over.
A very bad personal trait I have is that when I'm unhappy, I get all this internal anger aimed outwards, at people who don't deserve it (everyone) I get very critical, and have to flick a switch so I know not to trust my own feelings.
I am not usually the supplier of free food in the workplace, and for one second I felt upstaged, but then who has time for petty feelings when there's nachos, salsa, and donuts to eat!!
It had become a pretty reliable tradition that on Sundays, peeps would get together to watch BSG 40 minutes before I had to go to work, thus guaranteeing that I would see the bulk of one episode, but never the conclusion, before walking to work. Of course even though I've seen them all, I never had the will power to not watch it when they did. Every Sunday... 8[
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