Not okay

I'm not okay.

I haven't been okay for a while, but in the last few weeks it has become increasingly difficult to get through each day.

Logically I know I need to seek help- speak with my doctor, maybe see about seeing a therapist or some such- buy I just can't bring myself there. It's stupid, and to be perfectly frank, it's selfish: it affects everyone around me, particularly my wife, which in turn makes me feel worse.

Depression is vicious cycle (side note: I nearly said it was a viscous cycle. Hah!) and I hate the way it gnaws away at everything i am and want to be, but I just have this illogical and stubborn streak that keeps telling me I can deal with it myself, which clearly isn't true. I'm spiraling down into the molasses-like sludge (there's that viscosity I must have been thinking of earlier) of utter despair and hopelessness and can't even bring myself to do anything about it.

Colour is The Spice of Kings

For those of you who don't know, I like to ink pictures. I'm really bad at drawing them, but hot-damn, do I ever have fun slappin' the ol' inks on the page. Sometimes I use pens and brush markers, sometimes I use inkpots an' nibs. Because I can't draw these things for myself, I look for penciled drawings all over and ink them to the best of my ability**, because, well, I've gotta practice somehow! iIused to just take low res jpegs and print them on my mega crappy desktop printer, but recently I've started printing the pencils on 11x17 card stock so I can try inking at the size REAL inkers do it. However, that doesnt fit in my scanner, so you cant see it. Take that!

Anyhoo, so a few years ago (4-ish) i decided to try colouring these inks using the Photoshops (the ones on the standard printer paper, obviously). I posted my results on this blog, I believe it was a Mega Man picture. I was never happy with the results, however, and always meant to give it a go again. Today was the day I did it, and man, am I pleased with the results.  I used this tutorial and a picture I inked some time ago.

I chose Hellboy because he's fairly simple, and I figured that would be best for me to start with. Now, obviously it isn't perfect, but for my first try, I think I did a fine job. Now, the inks and colours are by me, but I have no idea who the original artist was, as the image I found had no signature or names attached.

Until next time, Kiddies, stay the hell off my lawn!




**The pencils I use for prcticing on are in no way used for any purpose other than practice, they are seen by pretty much just me, unless I'm particularly proud of it, in which case I will post it here once every few years. I would never sell a piece or try to use it to get a job, unless I contacted the artist specifically and they were all "yeah sure, you can put it in your portfolio." But I gots ta learn!

Saturday Night (Or Sunday Morning) Lights

I was going to start this off with "It's Saturday, bitches!!"except now it's sunday, so that shit is old and tired. Like Santa.

So what the fuck is up with youse guys? Why don't you ever respond to my questions and what-not? It's not easy having a one sided conversation, you know. Show some respect, you jive turkeys. 

In other news, I spent most of the day with Jon and Leslie going over the scripts for the first four episodes of the animated series Jon has been writing for the last while. We laughed, we swore, we made fun of people, we made sex jokes... Good times were had by all, but mainly us. This show is shaping up to be to pretty damn fun, because so far it's just the three of us doing all the voices. It's extra fun when wee keep drifiting mid sentence to different voices, because we've been doing it for the last 5 hours. Everyone winds up being from Brooklyn, for some reason. So watch the fuck out for more news on that front. I think we want to have at least one episode (maybe multiples) gently stroked into completion in a year or so. That's Johns timeline, but he wants to have at least 4 episodes done before doing anyhting with it. It makes sense, but I'm impatient as fuck, and have the attention span of a... something... you know what show has some pretty bad acting? Arrow. I blame you. You and your sexy legs and/or gentitals.

What was I saying? Something about salad? Or riding the tiger? 

You can see his stripes, so you know he's clean.

Now in my last post, I said I'd review some toys, and I totally will, but right meow I've gotta  show you the sweet ass lights I put on my figure shelf. 

Purple 'n shit!

IT CHANGES COLOURS!

He's the best at what he does... which is pose dramaticaly over strip lights

Ker-Thwip!

My favorite look for Batgirl. Thanks for that, Jim Lee

SNIKT!

JUMP 'N SLASH!

Pretty fuckin' sweet, yeah? I can make it strobe so they rave and do all kinds of weird drugs. It's pretty sweet. If you collect toys, I reccomend you pick some up. A starter set costs something like $30 at Costco, But if you want to use them in an area where you use other remote controls, just be warned that the IR blaster in the remote sends the same signals as a lot of other remotes (stereo, tv, etc) so if you try to change channels on your tv, you might change the colour of your lights. OH DAYUM! Just cover up the IR reciever and you'll have no problems.

I'mma just leave this here for you until next time. Enjoy it friends. Enjoy it so hard.

And get off my lawn. It's made of hot lava now.

Toys, Mother Fucker!

WHAAAAAA!

Okay, so I put this bitch down, and left it there since fuckin' JANUARY! Well, I'm pickin' it up again, dusting it off, setting on a plushy pouffe (which really sets the room off, by the way) and kissing it fully on the goddamn mouth!

Take some time to really get that image burned into you minds eye, I'll wait. It was a big sloppy wet one, with lots of toungue if that helps at all. Got it? Good.

Alrighty, down to the meat and 'taters.

Toys are fucking cool. They were when I was six, and they still are. Fuck you, I'm right. There are times, however, where I pick up a new toy and I'm less than pleased with the product. Sadly, it's been the case with the last couple of Marvel Legends figures I picked up. ML used be the gold fuckin' standard in collectable figures back when Toybiz ran the show, but ever since Hasbro got hold of em, I've been generally underwhelmed. I still dig a lot of 'em, but it is certainly  hard to justify the twenty bucks sometimes: Sloppy paint, weak joints, bad sculpting choices (I'm looking at you, Ultimate Captain America's pistol that's molded to his leg!) and my least favorite, joints that are too damn stiff to move without fear of snapping the limb off. What happened to quality, motherfuckers!?!? But I keep giving them my fucking money, like some kind of chump.

Check out my shelf, mostly composed of Legends, some new, some old. This comprises about 1/4 of my collection, and shelf is more crowded now, because I kept unpacking boxes and trying to cram 'em on there.

This is why my living room is better than yours.

I'm gonna get down to some reviews of some figures in the coming days, but my camera is dead so it'll have to wait.

You know what I really fucking hate? The Marvel 3.75" stuff. I bought a few of them, just because i like the characters, and then discovered they look shitty, accesories are ALWAYS oversized and dumb looking, and all those things I dislike about the new Legends figures are even worse on the 3.75" stuff.

FUCK YOU, HASBRO! I WILL CURSE YOUR NAME EVERYTIME I DROP $20 ON A NEW TOY!! BLARGOOLDY BLURGH!

grumble grumble grumble

Aight, thats all I've got for now. I realize it might not be particularly interesting for most of you, but since when do I give a fuck about what you think?*


Now get off my lawn, 'fore I sic Galactus on your ass.

* I always care, please don't stop liking me! I'll do better, I swear! Oh God, jsut don't leave me!

Ice is back with a brand new invention.

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiittty balls.

So I kinda forgot about this thing...
...for about a year and a half. My bad, Internets!

Blogger has changed the way it is layed out since then, and i am finding it very peculiar. I guess it's a lot more like Google Docs (sorry, now it's called Google Drive I guess?), but I don't really use that very often either, so there is going to be some adjusting.

So what's been going on, Internet? I feel like I barely know you anymore. Are you seeing someone? How's your mom? And that Chlamydia? How's that going?

Yeah, my rash is all cleared up, thanks for asking.

So recently Amanda (fiance) and I decided to watch all of Smallville.

 So far we've made it to season 8, but my god! You'd think that after 8 years the actors would have improved, but NO! Not even a bit! Sometimes I wonder how it lasted ten years, especially with it's atrocious theme song. I swear on of the lyrics is "Let your organs break right through me." I realize that is likely not the case, but listen for yourselves, alright?

At least Lana Lang (Kristen Kreuk) is finally gone. 7 years of the same expression and wooden acting, not to mention they changed her personality about 5 friggen times.

This is really the only facial expression she

 has

And yet... I CANNOT STOP WATCHING! All this bad acting/writing/allusions to Clark Kent being Superman one day, all of which I'm totally aware of, but I'm absolutely enthralled. Sigh. It'll be over soon, though, and I'll get my evenings back. Have you guys seen this show? Fucking crazy.

This is just some filler by the way, until I get my groove back. That is, if I ever really had a groove. It may have been more of a rut, I'm not sure.


Now get off my damn lawn, you layabouts.

Dear Interwebz: A poem.

Dear Interwebz:

I think I spend too much time on you.

You be suckin' up all mah time, Interwebz.
Suckin' it up like a digital Dyson,
Never losin' yer suction.
What'chu doin' with it all?

Why you be gettin' up in mah Brainz,
Stealin' all my Motivationz?
And Killin' all my Doodz?
What did my Doodz do to you, Interwebz? Huh?

You with yer Piano Catz...
And yer LOL Catz...
And yer Suprized Catz...
Why you got so many catz, Interwebz?

Yerz 4EVAR
-Stu.

Friday is Doctor Who day, I guess.

Oh man. It's Friday, and you know what that means, don't you? It means we need to decide whether or not to take the front seat or the back seat. Which one should I take? It's tough, 'cuz if I'm in the front seat, I get to be... well, in the front seat. But if I take the back seat, I get to be in the back! ARG! Why is life so hard?

Also, why does that song suck sooooooooooooo much? Seriously, it has something like 2 million dislikes on YouTube. I feel if anything I ever put up had that many people publicly display their dislike, I would just quit. At everything. And so should Rebecca Black, before she gets any more death threats. Yeah, that's right kids. she has received threats to her life if she does not remove her music from the Interwebz.
On the one hand, I agree with that: her "music" is "awful" and "shouldn't be heard by human ears," but on the other hand, isn't the Internet supposed to be a place of free speech and creativity, where we can express ourselves in nearly anyway we can imagine? And look at porn? Lots and lots of porn?

In other news... um...

Look at this!



Pretty awesome, right? Now, i've never actually watched any Dr. Who, but I know the basic idea, and the Daleks and Davros and The Master and Cybermen and all that. The problem is I'm such a completest that I would want to watch from the very beginning, which is indeed a daunting task, as it first started way back in 1963 and originally ran until 1989. So there's 26 years there to catch up on, plus the 1996 TV movie, and then we get into the re-launch in 2005 thats still running... so another 5-ish years. Not to mention that 108 episodes are bassically gone, and not held in the BBC's archives. Mayhaps I'll juSt have to suck it up and start from the easily available stuff.

A Movie review that tells you very little about the movie, as i don't want to spoil it for you.

I fell off of the "A-Z post-a-day" bandwagon. But it's not my fault, alright? There were no seat belts and we hit a bump.

Anyhoo, I'm 8 days behind, so I'm not even going to bother trying to catch up. Instead I'm just going to do a regular non-alphabet related post.

Most important things first. Best name for a cab company ever: Schindler's Lifts. I know, I'm awesome. I thought of that while waiting for the SkyTrain this fair morn.

So I just watched this fantastic movie, and so I thought I would share it with you. It's called Burke and Hare, and it stars none other than Simon Pegg (he of Shaun of the Dead fame) and Andy Serkis (he of Gollum fame), Tom Wilkinson (he of... well, lots of stuff really... fame.. er..) and TIM CURRY! WHAAAAAAAAT! So awesome. Also, Christopher Lee makes an appearance as an old dude who snuffs it, and when he showed up I was like "Is that Christopher Lee? Nah, couldn't be." Turns out it was. Ten points, Burke and Hare. Ten points.



Oh yeah, it also has Isla Fisher, but she really adds very little to the movie. She's there, whatever, lets move on.

So the movie is about these two (factual) grave robbers in the 1800's. Wikipedia them if you want the real life story, 'cuz this movie opens with the best disclaimer ever: "This is a true story. Except for the parts that are not." I feel like every movie that claims to be "based on a true story" should start with this, because I'm not stupid and I know that what they show is barely whatever happened. that was a poorly worded sentence, and I apologize. I'm very tired and I'm just trying to fire this off before going to bed. maybe I'll come back tomorrow and edit this, and possibly add something to it. We'll see how my day at work goes.

Now get the hell of my lawn, I just re-seeded it.

Dungeons and Dragons.

I play D&D. I would play every day if I could. Ideally, I would play for a living, but I think we can all agree that that seems fairly unlikely.

Alright. Now you know how big of a nerd I really am. Although, since all of you who read this know me in real life, i guess you already knew...

It all started back in high school. I think grade 11, but I'm really not sure. could have been 10. Anyhoo, there was a power outage at the school, and school policy was to let us goo after a certain amount of time had past. Well, Lee and I figured that there was no way the power was going to come back on, so we decided to leave school and go hang out at his place. Whilst trying to figure out what to do with our sudden freedom, we started playing with his brothers Lego. Somehow (I'm not entirely sure how) we started making the little dudes battle, and I was like: "This is fun. If only we could put rules to it and stuff," To which Lee replied "We can," and pulled out a Players Handbook. So I made my very first character. It was a Half-Elf Paladin, and we fought a lion that had an Elvis haircut, and a dude with Jar-Jar Bink's head on a chain. It was awesome.

I have played ever since, and it will be a big part of my life forever. I can't wait until I can play with my kids. That'll be fun.

Now get off my lawn, before I beat you down with my +1 mace.

Also, it's Riella's 6 Month Blogiversary! she's giving away a gift card for Aldo to celebrate, so if you wanna win yourself some shoeses, head on over and check it out!

C is for Cun...ning....

Some of my favorite things start with the letter c. Cookies, Cupcakes, Caramel, Cats, Catman.... I could go on.

But I won't. I have to go to bed, so I can get up for work. I wish I could get some Coca-Cola tomorrow, to wash down my Corned Beef Cruissant and Choco-Cherry Love blizzard, which I plan to get after riding my Chocobo to Cloud City, where I'm picking up my brand new Charizard from Carol Channing. Off to hit the hay, then. I hope I dream about a certain Corellian and his Comrade-at-arms Chewbacca.

Ciao!

Batman.

Who's cooler than Batman? Nobody, that's who. Batman is the be all end all in badassery. He's like Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, and Sherlock Holmes all rolled into one. I mean, guy had his back broken and still came back to kick more ass. How fucking cool is that?



Not to mention he has some of the best villains ever: The Joker, Bane, Harley Quinn... and Catman...



Yeah... he totally exists... He's like Batmans equal in almost every way. ALMOST, because obviously no-one can be as good as Batman at anything. In fact, in the Batman roleplaying game, his stats are literally the best they can be while still being human. It's kind of ri-donkey-kong.

Also, if you ever have a bomb to get rid of, he's your guy.

And that's why Batman is the awesome-est. Forever.

Now gerrof mah lawn.

This blog post is brought to you by the letter "A"

Okay, so I'm going to try this April A-Z challenge deal. I realize I've technically already failed, but I was too busy watching YouTube for five straight hours yesterday. So this is yesterdays, and I'll post another later on today. Cool beans? Aight.

A. A is for many things. A is for Awesome. A is for Avarice. A is for Alcohol, Aardvark, Apple, Annoying, Art, and soooooooo much more. A is also for.... ready? ALAN SCOTT!

"Who?"

you know.... Alan Scott... the first Green Lantern... found a magical lantern and made a ring out of part of it? Weakness was wood?

Fine. Never mind then.

Like I said, A is for a lot of thingses. I couldn't possibly think of them all. I mean, do you realize how many animals there are that begin with the letter "A?" I don't, but I wouldn't be surprised if this kid does. He has Autism, which, coincidentally, also begins with our letter o the day (yesterday).

Aaaaand I'm spent. I'll see you later, but in the meantime: I pity the fool who doesn't get off my lawn. ("A" is also for A-Team.)

Heroes in A CGI Shell

Okay, so I realize I've been seriously (or "srsly" for all you young hip kids out there.) lacking in the post department, but fuck you, alright? I've been busy having a job which unfortunately, must take up most of my time. I know, lamezors, right?

Anyhoo, for those of you who may not know, way way back in the ninteen eighties secret government employees dug up famous guys and ladies...

Nope, wrong story... let me try again.

Way way back in October 2009, TMNT co-creator Peter Laird sold all intellectual rights to the Turtles to Nickelodeon/Viacom for a tidy sum of sixty million cash dollarz. This has left many fans wondering what will become of the Terrific Terrapins.

Well, we need only wait until late 2012. Nickelodeon has released a sneak peek today, giving us a first glimpse. Check it out here.

Now obviously I can't form any concrete opinions yet, but I'm not entirely pleased with the look. Maybe it will be refined and messed with in the next year, maybe it won't. Either way, I eagerly anticipate the first of the planned 26 episodes, expecting good things from the folks who brought us some damn fine cartoons, like Rugrats, Spongebob, and many others that I really can't think of right now. Oh, Danny Phantom wasn't too bad.

To read Peter Lairds thoughts on the TMNT sale, check out his blog posts here and here.

Because it Sounds Nice Part 2

Alright. So I promised I would post some more of my favorite records from my collection, and I have left it far too long. So, Faithful Readers, prepare to get your nuts smashed in... BY AWESOMETOWN!!

erm... I meant PART 2 OF MY FAVORITE RECORDS LIST!

West Side Story Soundtrack
I believe I mentioned once before in this Blog how I'm a huge fan of musicals? Here's your proof. Before you judge me though, let me just say this: In 1961, "West Side Story" (the movie) won 10 Academy Awards (out of the 11 it was nominated for), including Best Picture and Best Original Score. It is the only musical to have ever won that many Oscars. And for good reason. I love these songs, and so should you. Not to mention how many times WSS has been parodied. That by itself makes it great.

Queen- A Night at the Opera
Freddy Mercury was the greatest frontman in Rock history. Disagree with me if you like, but you'll be wrong. How good is this album? It contains a song that someone I know who dislikes Queen actually enjoyed, which also happens to be my favorite Queen song: '39. However, the awesome doesn't end with that one song. Oh no. We get "The Prophets song," "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon," and of course "Bohemian Rhapsody." Get a copy of this album if you don't have one already.

Chuck Berry- The London Sessions
Chuck Berry is the King of Rock and Roll, not Elvis. He played that guitar like no one before him and subsequently changed the world of Rock. He was a huge influence on many of the early rockers that we regard so highly, including The Beatles. I mean, so was Elvis, but Chuck Berry is better right? In my mind, Rock music was invented by the African Americans. Of course, we all know now that Chuck learned it from a white guy (curse you, Marty McFly!), but I can comfortably say that Chuck was the best at what he did.

Bob Dylan- Blood on the Tracks
There is nothing I can say about Bob Dylan that somebody, somewhere hasn't said better. So I won't try. I will, however, tell you about this time when I was listening to "Tangled Up In Blue" while I was walking down the street, and I started crying. I don't know why; it's stupid really. But I guess that's what Bob Dylan does: He gets inside you and makes you feel things. That sounded a lot less sexual before I typed it out. Sorry.

The Beatles- With The Beatles
Why is this one of favorites? Mainly because it has some fantastic covers. The Beatles renditions of the Marvelette's "Please Mr. Postman" and the aforementioned Chuck Berry's "Roll Over, Beethoven" (masterfully sung by George Harrison) remain two of my favorite songs of all time. This album also marks Georges first song contribution, in the form of "Don't Bother Me," which I hear he wrote while he was sick in bed. All in all, a fantastic album.

The Beatles- The White Album
Rocky Raccoon. Glass Onion. Blackbird. Helter Skelter. While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Not only is this a list of some of my favorite Beatles songs, but they are all contained on this album. Rolling Stone ranked this album at number 10 on their Top 500 Albums of All Time list. Cool, huh? Anyways, this album marks the crumbling of The Beatles as a band. Ringo quit (for two weeks) while making this album, everybody was pissed at everybody, it seemed, and Yoko was there. Oh yeah, know what else makes this album totally rad? Eric Clapton plays guitar (uncredited) on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." How's that for mega cool?

Okay, I think that's enough for now.

You can stay on my lawn if you like, but be warned that it's covered in dog poop, soo... watch where you sit.