It's been something I've been wanting to do for a long time and I finally got off my butt and did it.
I'm starting my own web comic.
Ever since I was little, I was fascinated with comics. While most of my friends were immersed in comic books, I always gravitated towards comic strips. I would buy collected editions of The Far Side, Bloom County, B.C., Beetle Bailey and of course, my well known love of all things Popeye. There was just something about the simple, 3-4 panel "gag a day" style storytelling in comic strips that really captured my imagination.
After attending the San Diego Comic-Con in '04 and sitting in on a panel discussion on creating web comics, I got inspired. I used to draw all the time as a child and in recent years haven't picked up a pen or pencil other than to sign a check to pay my bills. I batted a few ideas around and then came upon a combination of two. A "workplace" style strip set in a Customer Service call/computer center and a screenplay I wrote a few years ago entitled Breaking the Ice.
Ice is about a stand-up comic who feels he has to sell out and become edgy in order to make an impact in show business. I really love the characters in that script and if nothing ever comes of it, they will at least find new life her in the strip.
The above is merely a test to see how this would look and come out. I'm going to try to get a backlog of about 5 or 6 before I really start posting them in earnest. HUGE thanks to my close friend Jeff Schuetze as he was instrumental in showing me Photoshop techniques to give the flat inks some life. Jeff is the artist on 60 Minute Broadway and will be launching a new website with his own webcomic in the coming month. So please visit him and check his out...you won't be disappointed.
For me, this is just going to be a fun hobby. If I can pick up some readers along the way and people start to dig the strip then all the better. You can click on the image above to see the full sized "beta strip". I'm really happy with how it came out and I'm looking forward to really getting going on it.
You know how sometimes I pick a theme and write a (at least I think so) witty diatribe on it and come to a great conclusion? This is not one of those times.
Just a random sampling of stuff:
Scrubs - I have to admit that before November of 2006 I had never seen an episode of Scrubs. I don't know why, as I like Zach Braff a lot and really loved Garden State. I also really dig John C. McGinley. For some unknown reason, I had never tuned into the show. Comedy Central started running the re-runs and I got hooked. Gobbling up a 4 episode a day diet for about 2 months, I think I've finally seen every episode and am totally caught up to the present sixth season. I think this is truly one of the best shows on TV.
First off, I'm a big fan of single camera sitcoms with no laugh tracks or audience. I think it allows for more inventive humor and better pacing and acting. The cast is fantastic and the storylines continue and evolve. One of the biggest complaints about most sitcoms is how nothing ever changes. That one character flaw will always be there and nothing is ever learned and no situation really has any consequence after the half hour wraps up. Scrubs has a continuing storyline, evolution of characters and some of the funniest moments I've seen on TV. It can also rip your heart out and choke you up. They do a great job of combining really heartbreaking moments and insane comedy. The show is brilliant and I have made it my mission to get on it before it wraps up it's run on NBC.
Some of my favorite episodes: My Musical (from last week); My Lunch and My Fallen IdolMy Screwup; My Philosophy
Colin Hay - Man @ Work - This has been playing in my iPod virtually nonstop since I bought it a month or so ago. Colin Hay was the frontman for Men at Work and on this recording he redoes some of his biggest hits (Down Under, Overkill, It's a Mistake) in a more acoustic style. He also includes some of his great solo work like the aforementioned "Waiting for My Real Life to Begin" and "Beautiful World". Check it out on iTunes and see what you think. Everyone I've recommended it to has loved it.
Auditions - Pilot Season is underway and I'm hoping to get out a lot this year. The whole pilot season thing is really a misnomer though. With cable channels running off season programming, it's not the focal point that it used to be. Still it's a busy time of the year. I had an audition this afternoon to host a talk show/game show. Not exactly my cup of tea and the audition was a little strange. Basically it was "ok go ahead and talk about something current for a few minutes" so I had to talk. For like 3 minutes. About nothing, really. Very odd.
I'm Legit!- I'm finally up on IMDB with my own entry and page. It's here if you want to check it out. Hopefully that scant page will be filling up with entries soon.
That's about it from this end of the keyboard. Have a good weekend everyone! (Has some amazing moments with McGinley's Dr. Cox character); (which has a great rendition of Colin Hay's Waiting for My Real Life to Begin sung by the actors on the show in a dream sequence). You can't go wrong with any episode though. Just great TV all around.
I don't ask for much in this world. Someone to love me. Enough money so I'm not struggling to live. Some friends and a career doing what makes me happy. Not too much to ask for at all, really. Above all else, though...
Please don't talk to me while I'm peeing.
It's not you, it's me. You talk, I lock up. Once that happens I have to either A) stand there awkwardly waiting for you to stop talking to me or finish your business. Or, more likely B) stand there and pretend like I went. Zip up, wash hands, exit...only to sneak back into said restroom a few minutes later to pee in peace.
I used to think that office banter was the one thing I detested more than anything in this world. You know the kind. One guy sneezes and his co-worker leans over and asks if he has any allergies.
"Yeah, I'm allergic to work!"
Chuckle, chuckle...good one nameless cubicle person! Scenes like this would make me hunker down in my cubicle praying for the sweet release from this office building prison.
Office banter has now been replaced on my list by bathroom banter.
One time, I was heading into the restroom at the same time as someone I knew and we were discussing one thing or another. That is, until he headed into the stall. I stood in shock and awe as he kept talking to me. As far as I'm concerned, the conversation is over or at least put on hold for that time being. I felt violated. A line had been crossed.
At an office job I had awhile back I had a co-worker, oh lets call him Jim, who I seemed to meet in the bathroom everytime I had to go. At one point he turns to me and says:
"Heh, it looks like we're on the same pee schedule. "
I forced a grin and nodded politely, hoping that would be enough for him. It wasn't.
"Next time I see you going to the restroom I'll have to hold it or else it might get awkward."
As most people who read this or know me at all understand, I am an aficionado of Professional Wrestling. Have been since I was about 10 years old and it has been well documented on this site many many times.
One thing I've noticed over the years is that the abdominal stretch has pretty much become obsolete as a finishing move, if it's ever used in a match at all. I have a fondness for the abdominal stretch as when I was an amateur wrestler myself, I used to use a variation of it called the Guillotine that was pretty much the same move, except you performed it on the mat instead of standing up. Side note: Yes, I used to wrestle in high school and it was one of the most horrific periods of my life. At 16 you're not feeling so great about yourself as it is, never mind having to go out in front of a gym full of people wearing a skin tight singlet and rolling around on a staph infected mat with a dude possessing more "back-ne" than I ever had on my face. That doesn't even take into account the starving myself for a week just to get down to the weight class to have the privilegeof said match. I hated it. But, I digress...
After close examination and studies the world over (OK, me and my friend Rich talked about it over Christmas for about 15 minutes over a pizza) I believe I have stumbled upon the reason for the castration of this once proud and noble move....
No one ever hooks the foot the anymore. They all just drape the front foot over the opponent's leg and let it hang there. Of course you're going to have the move reversed on you and get hip-tossed out of it! Here I have painstakingly created a comparison of hooked and not hooked. In the first we see it properly applied. In the second, the dude is looking to get beat and if you look really closely you can see the disgust in all seven onlookers' faces at the application of the hold.
Correct
Not so much
Not only is the move much more effective in the first picture but the second application of said move also seems to have turned the fans away in droves. Let that be a lesson...a properly applied abdominal stretch puts asses in the seats!
If I was ever a pro wrestler, and admittedly that window has long since come and gone, I would use the abdominal stretch and hook the foot, bringing the move back to it's former glory.
Actually, that's not true. I would be called The Architect and my finishing move would be called The Flying Buttress.
