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hootbon · 3 months

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For the people that thought that Pomni was a nutcracker:

This, is a Nutcracker

According to German folklore, nutcrackers we given as keepsakes to bring luck to the family and protect the home. It is said that they represent strength and power and watches over the family keeping evil spirits and danger away.

They originate from ancestral dining customs where unusual, novelty nutcrackers were part of dining entertainment during the dessert course. It would generate fun conversation whilst tucking into their final course which could include pecans and hazelnuts.

Many of the early designs of nutcrackers were of birds, animals and people. It wasn’t until the 1600’s and 1700’s that they took the shape of kings and soldiers that we are familiar with today!

Nutcrackers were mainly popular in Germany to begin with, and were crafted in the Erzgebirge mountain regions.

It wasn’t until the 1800’s that this tradition was known worldwide from the release of the Tchaikovsky ballet ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ in 1892.

Many of us will have heard of this ballet and may treat ourselves to a trip to the theatre to see it over Christmas. The story of this production first came from the novel ‘The Nutcracker and the king of Mice’ by E.T. Amadeus Hoffman in the late 1700’s/early 1800’s, and is probably where we recognise the Christmas nutcracker from the most. The ballet was debuted in 1892 in St. Petersburg and is an ever popular festive treat for young and old worldwide due to its Christmassy theme.

From this point on, the ballet and German nutcracker figure have become well known around the world, and fans have demanded high quality German nutcrackers ever since. This therefore was where the nutcracker gained its popularity every Christmas time!

https://www.ukchristmasworld.com

This, is ventriloquist doll

Ventriloquism is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it looks like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy".

Ventriloquism got its start as a religious practice amongst the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The name, in fact, comes from the Latin words for “to speak from the stomach." The Greek phrase for ventriloquism was gastromancy. Ancient peoples thought that noises produced by the stomach were the voices of the dead, which could be interpreted by the ventriloquist.

During the 18th century, ventriloquism became less spiritual and more of a performance art. It gained popularity as an act at traveling fairs. The earliest records related to ventriloquism date back to 1753 in England. The father of modern ventriloquism is considered to be Fred Russell, who began a stage show in London in 1886 and developed the now-familiar technique of using a doll to engage in back-and-forth conversation.

Edgar Bergen popularized a new form of comedic ventriloquism in the 1930s with his favorite dummy, Charlie McCarthy. Over the years, there have been many famous entertainers associated with ventriloquism, including Jeff Dunham and Shari Lewis.

If you've ever tried to “throw" your voice to imitate a ventriloquist, you know it's not the easiest technique to learn. Most ventriloquists perform with their lips slightly separated to allow sounds to emanate from their mouths without moving their lips. This is easy for some sounds and more difficult for others.

For example, the sounds of the letters f, v, b, p, w, and m can be particularly difficult, because they involve the lips meeting to help form the sounds. Professional ventriloquists learn to make these sounds by replacing them with other, similar sounds and speaking quickly enough for listeners not to notice.

Fortunately for ventriloquists, the human ear is not great at locating the source of a sound without visual or other cues. Therefore, if a ventriloquist can keep from moving his lips, it's very easy to fool the human ear into believing the sound is coming from the moving mouth of the ventriloquist's dummy!

There's more to ventriloquism than simply not moving your lips, though. You also have to learn to change your voice so that it sounds different than your normal voice. Doing so allows you to have a conversation with your dummy. Professional ventriloquists develop many different personalities for different dummies, and each one requires a unique voice and way of speaking.

https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-a-ventriloquist#:~:text=Ventriloquism%20got%20its%20start%20as,phrase%20for%20ventriloquism%20was%20gastromancy.

There you have it folks! If you have more questions, you're free to go to my blog and ask away! ^^

#the amazing digital circus #tadc #freakshow au #tadc freakshow #freakshow pomni

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orojuice · 1 year

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Commentary:

I've seen lots of "in the style of" art pieces of certain manga characters in the illustrative style of other manga, but almost never a "what if this character was written by this author". So I thought I'd write up this set of short satirical fan comics with my frequent collaborator Sha-Y based on that conceit.

The One Piece comic almost didn't make the cut as the joke is really simple if relevant, but it just wouldn't leave my head until I jotted it down. I'm not sure if Law had to be a "D", but I'm just really, really surprised that the Will of D didn't originate in Wano like almost everything else of note in One Piece (Best Swords, Strongest Yonkous, Poneglyphs, etc).

I used to think that Naruto had it bad with bourgeois bloodline privileges until the final arc of Bleach. An alternate gag involved Denji saying Spanish and German words apropos of nothing apart from thinking they sounded cool.

The Naruto/Boruto one might seem hypocritical of me given that I'm a fan of Fate. However, I must point out that Notes. was one of the first stories in the Type-Moon multiverse canon. So I'm in the clear. Also, like Kishimoto, I wanted to do a retread of that pigeon scene from Bolt. That said, I admit to being delighted by Silent Hill UFO endings and even Paul Phoenix's Tekken 5 ending. Plus, I didn't mind the escalation in No More Heroes III. I just feel a little bit bad for the likes of Zabuza and Pain and everyone else in that book trying to have a sincere emotional moment when the root of the whole setting and its woes lies with E.T. eating a Devil Fruit. Anyway, back to the comic, Denji was originally going to wear a t-shirt espousing the phrase "Ska Messiah", but I ultimately decided it would make him look too young, especially since he and his hypothetical son are supposed to be the stars of it.

Demon Slayer was a wonderful book, but it didn't quite click for me until I saw Hotaru freaking out over his swords being lost or damaged, took note of what year the manga took place in, and gave a second look at the manner Muzan was dressed. A last hurrah for the samurai icon, a nation dealing with the dirty laundry of previous centuries so it can enter the open ports of the 20th without urban fantasy horror criminals worsening its upcoming bad decisions and eventual reinvention. Fittingly, Chainsaw Man has the Future Devil, which allowed for Denji to spell out the subtext of Kimetsu no Yaiba in a characteristically churlish yet everyman way. If he survives Part 2, I'm looking forward to seeing Denji fight the Y2K Devil. The Future Rules!

I'm sorry this isn't a "ten years at least" joke. But someone already did that better, so we're doing this old meme instead. The Bat Devil coming out of nowhere to wreck Power's easygoing (if roguish) existence with Meowy always stuck out to me as one of the most quietly nightmarish moments in Chainsaw Man. He just swooped in, snatched her cat while they were napping, and started making dark demands and threats. So, for a laugh, I decided to do what Isayama did with almost every aspect of Attack on Titan and Lelouch it. You thought it was one of the Four Horseman or a Primal Fear, but it was Denji who was behind everything all along!

I'm fairly certain that Horikoshi is just padding things out until he can get MHA to Chapter 400. He could surprise us all. The final (THIRD) battle with All for One could end at Part 41 or even Part 40. I understand given how Oumagadoki Zoo and Barrage panned out that he'd cling a little fiercely to his little superhero tribute that could, but the plot armor of his baddies has gotten so humongous that it can be observed from orbit at this point. If Chainsaw Man has taught the manga world anything it's that just because your main villain has power copying/stealing abilities that could allow a writer to extend a series indefinite with the convenient excuse of said villain just pulling whatever plot extending necessity the author needs out of their rear, doesn't mean that such a plot device should be abused in perpetuity or through, if I'm counting right, five characters (six if you count the one in Vigilantes). The restraint on Fujimoto; some thought Part 1 would go the typical shounen route and double in size just to deal with the big antagonist reveal. Instead, a miracle of good taste and protagonist proactiveness occurred. You love to see it. That said, there's like a sweet spot between 9-minute live-action superhero v. supervillain fights and the final act of MHA for ideal superhuman action length. Maybe we'll find it someday...I should really rewatch Mystery Men this year.

#chainsaw man #denji #one piece #bleach #naruto #demon slayer #attack on titan #my hero academia

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transformers-mosaic · 1 year

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Transformers: Mosaic #234 - "Warped"

Originally posted on September 1st, 2008

Story - Martin Fisher Art - Mike Ackerman Colours - Matthew Colby Black Letters - E.T. Dollman

deviantART | TFW2005 | BotTalk

wada sez: Is this the first prankster!Skywarp strip we’ve had? The idea that Skywarp likes to play jokes on people originated in his Budiansky bio, but has barely been touched on by official media—despite being a fan-favourite characterisation for him, constantly cropping up in fanworks like this one! Clean inks and colors below.

#Transformers #Transformers Mosaic #Maccadam #IDW Transformers #Martin Fisher #Mike Ackerman #Matthew Colby Black #E.T. Dollman #Skywarp #Astrotrain #Blitzwing

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smashpages · 2 years

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Archie will reanimate their Archie Horror line in a big way later this year with four new titles that arrive just in time for Halloween. They include:

CHILLING ADVENTURES PRESENTS . . . WEIRDER MYSTERIES

This trio of dark sci-fi tales kicks off with a story by writer Frank Tieri (Deadpool) in a welcome return to the universe of his previous hit Archie Horror series, with art by Federico Sabbatini (Moon Knight). Tieri said, “In ‘Betty Cooper: Alien Hunter,’ a spine-tingling tale set in the Jughead: The Hunger universe, we’ll find the fan-favorite werewolf hunter trade in her silver bullets for a UFO detector as she tries to uncover a mystery that’s not of this world. But in typical Betty Cooper fashion, she may be the bigger threat to the good folks of Riverdale than anything any E.T. can dole out.” The issue is rounded out with two stories written by Joanne Starer (Sirens of the City) and Ron Robbins (Archie Digest Library) with art by Juan Bobillo (Fantastic Four) and Ryan Jampole (Sonic the Hedgehog), featuring rare appearances by Bingo Wilkin, star of the ’70s comic series That Wilkin Boy, and Alexandra Cabot, a foil for Josie and the Pussycats.

See what else is creeping into stores from Archie Horror this year.

#archie comics #archie horror #chilling adventures presents ... weirder mysteries #joanne starer #ron robbins #juan bobillo #ryan jampole #bingo wilkin #alexandra cabot

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tafsircareercounselor · 7 months

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Graphic Design in the Video Game Industry

Graphic Design is a generalized profession with the potential for near- limitless specialization. In essence, it serves as a toolset applicable to almost every industry. This blog will explore one of the many career opportunities – the video game industry. Between consoles, PC, and mobile there are more than three billion gamers around the world. In 2023, global gaming industry revenue is projected to surpass CAD 480 Billion. In comparison, for 2022, the combined global total for movies, television, music, and other forms of entertainment was only CAD 125 Billion roughly one-quarter of the size.

Whether you already have a Graphic Design Diploma Online, or are looking into Graphic Design Courses Online, securing a key role in the video game industry can be less than a year away. From marketing materials to concept art, your skills and natural talent might help drive the next big hit. Find out how Graphic Designers help to create virtual worlds right here!

The Evolution of Art in Gaming

Once upon a time, video game art was… limited. In the early years, characters were represented with blocky icons – something 16x16 pixels in size was fairly standard. In comparison, modern iPhone App icons are 180x180 pixels in size. Since the in-game visuals were severely lacking, it fell to artists to inspire gamers’ imaginations with unique cover art, logos, magazine ads, and more.

Denis Loubet is one of many notable and highly respected industry veterans. He is best known for his invaluable contributions to the Ultima and Wing Commander series from Origin Systems. Since his gaming debut in 1980, he has created artwork for almost a hundred different games. Cover art, logos, concept art, marketing materials, pixel art, 3D models… Denis has done it all.

The term Graphic Design is commonly traced back to 1922 as a process of combining typesetting, illustration, and design. The most notable changes over the decades have been in the techniques used by creatives. In his earlier years, most of Denis’ work was sketched on paper or painted on canvas. As the technology evolved, his more recent creations have shifted primarily digitally.

Digital designs offer numerous convenient benefits including dynamic layering of line art, coloring, shading, and backgrounds. It also allows for easier adjustments and more efficient repurposing of assets. You can become a Graphic Designer online to learn all the essential principles of Graphic Design.

Multimedia Empires

Video game adaptations were once predictable abominations – in both directions. The 1982 video game based on E.T. was so unplayable that Atari buried hundreds of thousands of its cartridges in a New Mexico landfill. Game- to- movie conversions were no better with atrocities like House of the Dead by German “filmmaker” Uwe Boll.

Times have changed. The Super Mario Bros Movie grossed over $1.3 Billion worldwide, ranking it as the second-highest animated film of all time. The Witcher began as a series of Polish novels, but it was the visually stunning video game adaptations that gained attention worldwide. Its popularity continued to grow with the successful launch of the Netflix TV series.

The Last of Us is yet another great example of how graphic design breathed life into a franchise that transitioned from a popular game series to an equally popular TV series. From the original concept art onwards, the art team created a cohesive and memorable design for the characters and environments.

To create strong branding, Naughty Dog’s digital marketers ensured all of the marketing and merchandizing maintained the game’s aesthetic. In 2021, the game’s unique visual style was painstakingly recreated in locations across Alberta for the Netflix series. The efforts were well received and enjoyed universal acclaim from original game fans, general audiences, and critics alike.

The Major Players in Gaming

As of 2023, there are more than 2,800 active game studios in the USA alone. Not surprisingly, the heaviest hitters still include console giants Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. In Canada, some of the most notable game studios include BioWare, Electronic Arts, UbiSoft, Rockstar, WB Games, Eidos, Behaviour Interactive, Relic Entertainment, and Radical Entertainment.

While the USA and Japan are more commonly known as hubs for game development, a number of iconic AAA games were developed in Canada. Some of the country’s biggest hits include releases from Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, Deus Ex, and Call of Duty.

Final Thoughts

Graphic Design has the power to bring ideas to life in a unique way that resonates with audiences. Can you get a graphic design diploma online? You sure can. Are online graphic design courses worth it? Absolutely. Popular game franchises sell millions of copies worldwide, which can be incredible exposure for your digital creations. The Graphic Design Courses Online at ABM College takes less than a year to complete and can pave the way for exciting career opportunities, especially if you want to become a Graphic Designer in Ontario.

‍Contact us now to learn more about ABM College.

You can also read more industry-relevant blogs here.

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#diploma in graphic design #graphic design diploma #graphic design diploma online #graphic design online diploma canada #graphic designing diploma #advanced diploma of graphic design #diploma in graphic design online #graphic design diploma calgary #graphic design diploma courses #graphic design diploma in canada #graphic design diploma toronto #Youtube

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tilbageidanmark · 7 months

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youtube

Movies I watched (and books I read) this Week # 143 (Year 3/Week 39):

Jules, E.T. for senior citizens. A simple (and simplistic) story about 79-year-old Ben Kingsley (with a head full of hair) and early onset dementia who discovers an alien ship in his back yard. More of a character study that sci-fi. It's nice to see a light movie about old people. 4/10.

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2 documentaries from a 'different' New Yorker list, Richard Brody's '62 Films That Shaped the Art of Documentary Filmmaking':

🍿 The Lenny Bruce Performance Film (1967), more of an interesting historic document, than a funny-ha-ha stand up of the iconic rabble-rouser. His next-to-last live performance, at a small San Francisco cabaret hall, consists mostly of readings from the legal transcripts of his prosecutions. Paranoiac ramblings, strung on drugs, intense. Born 30 years too early.

🍿 A Plate of Sardines, (1997) a short Syrian poem about Quneitra, a city at the Golan Heights that was razed to the ground by the Israeli army in 1974. Disturbing (but not a very good).

🍿

The last film I saw in Israel, Tel Aviv on fire, only my 3rd Palestinian movie. It's an implausible story about a soap opera of a Palestinian spy who falls in lave with an Israeli general. Filmed in Ramallah, it is popular with Arabs and Jews alike. A low-level production assistant on the set becomes a writer, and is forced to use input for the plot from a soldier who mans the checkpoint he must drive through every day. An intriguing premise which predictably ends as a light soap opera itself.

I had a hard time with the more realistic parts of the movie, showing the oppressive humiliations that the Arabs have to go through every day, as they live "side by side" with the occupying soldiers. It's the first film I've seen that takes part on the eastern side of the border wall.

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(Completely unplanned) 2 With minor character actor Guy Boyd:

🍿I've seen all but one of Charlie Kaufman's eight features, but I can't say I'm a big fan. His 'mysterious', unexplainable I'm Thinking Of Ending Things didn't win me over. Creepy Jesse Plemons brings his new girlfriend to meet his bizarre parents at their secluded farmhouse, and "nothing is what it seems" there. I liked the enigmatic ballet and "revelations" at the end, but the 'snowstorm from hell' and intellectual, unsympathetic characters turned me off. 3/10.

(From a list of '96 Best Thrillers')

🍿Body double, one of the old Brian De Palma Hitchcock homages, felt like one of the worst movies I ever saw. I know it wasn't, but it felt like it. 80's gratuitous "voyeurism", trashy prurient porn-parody, with a young Bill Maher-clone who can't act as the protagonist. Just horrible. 1/10.

🍿

2 X London gangsters action from the early 2000:

🍿Snatch, my first crime comedy by Guy Ritchie. All macho and bravado, bad accents and testosterone-fueled attitudes, wise cracks and brutal mayhem.

"In the quiet words of the Virgin Mary… come again?" 8/10.

🍿"Listen, I know it’s not your thing, but if you ever have to kill someone, never ever tell a living soul."

Layer cake, another highly-quotable story from the same source, with the same people and the same sensibilities. The film that helped Daniel Craig land the role of James Bond. Terrific entertainment all around with a shocking last scene. 8/10.

RIP, Michael Gambon!

🍿

7 more shorts:

🍿 Shall we kiss? (On s’embresse?), one of my favourite French shorts. (Video Above).

🍿 How to count a wolf, a short conservation documentary, about the process of tracking wolves across many seasons in Washington state.

🍿 Encarnación, a New Yorker documentary: A Ninety-Five-Year-Old Shares Her Secret to Happiness.

🍿Also, 4 more of Wes Anderson shorts:

Now that Netflix spent £500 million for Roald Dahl's works, we'll see many more of them. The swan, The rat catcher and Poison are 3 adaptations from his short stories. I've seen nearly all of Wes Anderson's films, features, shorts and commercial, and he is indeed a real 'auteur', but (Like Kaufman above), his work, except of small brilliant moments here and there, leave me cold.

Castello Cavalcanti is actually my favourite of today’s bunch. Another stylish Prada advertisement, a Fellini product placement, rustic Italy for nostalgic tourists.

🍿

Alice Kuypers’ Life on the Refrigerator Door, a British book about a 15-year-old and her single mother who discovers she has cancer. It features a unique 'hook'; The story unfolds 100% via a series of notes the two leave for each other in the kitchen. It’s a very light, 240 page / 40 minute read - 7/10.

🍿

(My complete movie list is here)

#movies

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artbyjasonleung · 2 months

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E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial 🛸

#et #et the extra terrestrial #et fan art #et fanart #e.t.#e.t. the extra terrestrial #alien #alien art #art #illustration #copic markers

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markmonlux · 11 months

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Weekly Dose of Mark

Sunday, May 28th 2023 • 05/28/23 – Memorial Day Weekend

I didn’t write a Weekly Dose last Friday because there was too much going on at the time. And, as often happens, so much kept happening that another week went by. I’m going to do my best to get you caught up.

The first change to my schedule occurred on Monday, May 15th. Normally I would host a freelancer gathering at the Red Elm Café. This small gathering is called Freelance Fandango, and it runs from 11am until 1pm. However, I had to miss it because the Tacoma Art Commission scheduled an online video conference for all selected artists to create artwork wraps for crosswalk utility boxes. We were going to be instructed on how to file contracts and the measurements of the artwork. Representatives from the print company and the city were both there. After their presentation, I had several questions. The questions I raised inspired the other artists to ask for clarification on small specifics. I’m very glad I took the time to attend and didn’t rely on the recording of the event. I went onto Freelance Fandango’s Facebook page and saw that there was a fun turnout of people without me. Everyone complained about the lack of Kit Kats.

Another change to the schedule was Krista having to go into her office in Olympia on Wednesday. She does much better working at home. But, this was a council meeting, and it needed someone on-site to run events.

Thursday, I was busy prepping my bins for Crypticon. Crypticon is the largest horror-themed convention in Washington State and is held at a hotel in SeaTac, very near Sea-Tac airport. It runs three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. John Draper helped me on Friday. I spent a little extra to be in the vendor hall rather than the artists’ alley. Not only did I have a backdrop, but the vendor to my right put up a plywood wall between us. With their permission took advantage and draped a spare red tablecloth over it and then hung my shirts on it rather than the poster backdrop. The folks on my other side were a tattooist. He had people booked on his table throughout the entire event. I was grateful for John being there. I would have taken him out to dinner as a thank you. But when I sent him out at lunchtime for some sandwiches, he bought himself a sandwich for dinner. That was a good idea as the Crypticon show starts late and ends late. The vendor’s hall didn’t close until 8 pm. I dropped John off at nine and ate a small dinner with Krista when we got home. I would have to ask John if he had a chance to talk with any of the writers who were selling books at the show.

Allen Gladfelter helped me on Saturday. Allen picked me up at eight, and we had breakfast at Little Jerry’s down the street. We didn’t have to rush and enjoyed a nicely paced breakfast. I’m not used to eating a big breakfast and was quite fortified. Allen was kind enough to use his car so that Krista could use our car to pick up plants and the like for her weekend activities. Allen has helped me at several conventions, and I can rely on him to pitch and sell items when I step away from the table. Allen is slowly getting items of his own to sell: books, prints, and stickers. So we added those to the display, and he made some sales.

I allow myself to get one autograph when I’m at Crypticon. There were a lot of celebrities to choose from. This year I chose Dee Wallace. Dee Wallace is an Actress I’ve been following since the ’80s. Most people will remember her as the mom in “E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial.” She was also the lead actress in “The Howling” and” Cujo.” She’s been active for decades in both film and television. Most of the films have been horror films, so it was very easy for me to keep track of her. I left Allen at the table to see if the line for her autographs was short enough for Allen to get a signature for me. But I got lucky, and she was finishing up with a fan as I went to the table and chose a headshot from “The Howling” for her to sign. As she signed it, she asked if I’d be willing to toss in another $20 for a selfie with her. I couldn’t refuse! I could not get over what a small petite woman she was. And as she signed the photo, I complemented how well her most recent headshot looked. She then said, “Oh, let me give that to you for free.” And she signed it as well. So I had to do something for her. I went back to my table and drew a picture of her in the movie “Cujo,” where she is trapped in the car with the dog on the hood, trying to get in. I then went back and gave it to her when her line had quieted down. She laughed when she saw it. She then flipped through the book to where I drew a review of “E.T.” I’d compared the movie to a boy and his dog film. She laughed again and gave me a motherly slap on the shoulder like I had just tried to pull a fast one. “My husband is going to love this.” She told me.

I have lots of friends who have tables at Crypticon. It’s hard for me to get time to visit them all. Elizabeth Guizzetti writes and illustrates books featuring vampires and aliens. Other artists I know who were in Artist Alley are Eli Wolff, Mark Brill, Chad Scheres, and Nick Gucker. I chose to be over in the vendor’s room this time and sat across from Jason Emmott and his wife at Evil Threads. I was worried that my friend Travis Bundy wasn’t going to be able to sit the entire convention because of back pain. But he has Kevin McCoy with him, and that lightened the load enough that he was able to manage all three days. I’d hoped to have my neighbor Pat Smith with me on Sunday, but he had other commitments. Thankfully I was able to manage by myself, and Crypticon is a very easy show to set and tear down as the car was parked very close by. The show was not as profitable as last year, but last year it was absolutely nuts! So, it’s tough to compare the two shows. I think I will still stay in the vendor’s hall because of the extra display options.

My Uncle Bill, an identical twin to my father, moved to Shoreline, WA, on May 25th. I’m going to give him a call in a few days. I think his daughters are moving him into his apartment right now. I know that they were invited to a wedding. I believe it’s Cody Wagner’s wedding, a relative on his late wife’s side of the family.

I was able to host Freelance Fandango this last Monday. There were seven of us in attendance: Britton Sukys, Corey Macourek, Stan Brown, Nori Kimura, Haley Waddington, Mark Brill and myself. Cory and Brill brought in movie poster art to show. Brittan brought comic and graphic novel art that he’s been working on. Brill brought in another art book. I asked everyone to submit suggestions for a new bingo game I’m creating. I made one for horror movie fans that is selling well, so I want to create one for Anime fans. By the end of the meeting, the whiteboard was filled with suggestions. These were erased, and then we all drew versions of the proposals. I brought a new KitKat flavor this week: Banana Caramel. It was voted one of the better flavors. I made sure to bring one home for Krista since she found the bag. I also have been giving a couple to the staff of the Red Elm Café as a thank you. They have been very generous in letting us use their meeting room for nothing more than the snacks and meals we buy.

Once a month, I host another event, a drawing session at the Grand Cinema. We call it The Grand Drawing Room. It runs for two hours from 6-8pm. Attendance for this event has been filling the room. This month we had a cosplayer named Miriam as our model. One of my tasks is to position the model into interesting poses for the artists. We also changed the room’s layout this time, with the tables close to the sofa on which the artist stood and sat. Before, we had things arranged with the tables in rows, and late arrivals were stuck in the back rows. This month many of the artists brought friends who were in the back reading books and watching the group quietly draw. One of the artists approached me after the show and asked if she could be the cosplay model for next month. I've already posted the event announcement with her photo. I set up a Facebook page so everyone had a location where they could show off their artwork. You can see photos and sketches of our sessions at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1042279923844176

Speaking of the Grand Cinemas, both Mark Brill and James Stowe did movie posters this week. Brill did a poster for “The Seven Samurai,” and Stowe did a poster for “Perfect Blue.” I gave the binders holding past posters to Brill before his on Thursday. I then retrieved them and took them to Stowe for his turn in the lobby on Friday. I sat with him and helped to keep track of sales. He sold more posters on Saturday.

There were several shows happening this weekend. I didn’t make it into the Punk Rock Flea Market. I was accepted off the waiting list for Tacoma’s Night Market, but by then, I’d already committed to doing the Tabletop Expo. But this week was up in the air as Krista and I weren’t sure if we’d be traveling or not. In the end, I did not table at the Table Top Expo, but Allen Gladfelter and Mark Brill did. Instead, Stowe and I carpooled up to Renton to be part of a panel. Polo, the organizer, asked me if I could line up some artists. Stowe and I stopped at The Cedar River Smokehouse for a BBQ lunch before we went to the expo. He had a chopped porked sandwich. I ordered the brisket sandwich. The owner came out and told us about some new sandwiches he was offering. Instead of a long bun, these would be on a round potato or onion bun, with coleslaw and pickles as part of the sandwich. I changed my order to it and was glad I did so; it was delicious. Stowe’s side selection was coleslaw, so he didn’t change his order. My side was macaroni and cheese. The extra carbs were delicious. Our panel was not as well attended as I had hoped. It was Stowe, Allen, and myself at the table with nobody in the audience. The show was very small and thinly attended. However, we turned on the microphones and made them loud enough that they could be heard over some of the expo hall and got into a discussion with each other. The debate lured our lone audience member into the room. He was joined by the organizer, and we had fun. Both Stowe and Allen are teachers and are looking forward to summer break so that they can hang out with the rest of their artist buddies. Stowe made sure to give me the Grand Cinema poster binders for safekeeping.

Alley News

My neighbor Pat Smith and I have gone on walks nearly every day, even on days when I’ve already gone on a walk with Krista. Pat taught me a couple of Pokemon Go this week. He called me up yesterday to see if I wanted to go for a walk. I turned him down as I was busy out in the yard with the weed whacker. The replacement for the battery I ordered still is being processed. I wonder if they discovered that all of their stock is filled with faulty batteries. In the meantime, I’m stuck using the weedwhacker. I tried the push mover, but the grass was too long for it to function easily. It’s been sitting idle for several years, and I’m sure the blades need sharpening. Krista bought plants. She’s also been planting seeds and cuttings that she nurtured over the winter. We should be getting some vegetables soon. Judy Martin is sitting outside on her carport now that the weather is warmer. The Smiths are over at her house a couple of times each day. We were yelling at each other not to give away any spoilers, as today was the last day of the Sumo Tournament. Krista and I have gotten our neighbors addicted to watching sumo.

I had some dreams:

May 14

#IDreamt time-traveling teenagers from the future infiltrated high schools in the past. Rather than murder, they assassinated would-be politicians’ characters with rumor, innuendo, and such.

May 15

#IDreamt I was a runaway youth who was also a material witness. I was bad at faces but good at remembering badge numbers. I ran from the police assigned to my transportation because they had black tape over their badge numbers.

May 16

#IDreamt that I could tell when one dream stopped and another began. My brain then had the option of rewinding the dream for two minutes to change the ending.

May 17

#IDreamt While doing an old friend a favor, I walked into a plot to blow up a wealthy oil magnate while he was getting drunk at a club. I think I was the only sober one there, but high school chemistry was a long time ago.

May 18

#IDreamt Barack Obama wanted to hire me to do a graphic novel. He’d hired another artist who did it, but his advisors didn’t like it. I looked at it and saw it was superior to what I could do and told him so. He still wanted to do it.

May 19

#IDreamt creating a space station with a functioning pool was less of a challenge than you would think. The surprise was in water in the pool becoming sentient a few decades later.

May 22

#IDreamt I was meeting my sister at Steam Engine Station’s Cafe, where she went to get a Latte. I found her flirting with a young Marlon Brando. I wondered if we were in the afterlife, and I was just slow in figuring it out.

May 23

I dreamt I was at a client’s convention, searching through two flash drives for images to insert into a PowerPoint presentation mere minutes before their time slot was scheduled.

May 24

#IDreamt David Hasselhoff was celebrating his birthday by giving away fried chicken at a seaside bar. He was also signing his autograph. He was behaving just like he did in “Piranha 3DD”.

May 25

#IDreamt after its debut at a county fair, the Rat-Bait Guitar was remarked as a dog’s chew toy (minus the rat poison). Sales soared after a TikTok video showed a dog being a music critic.

May 26

I dreamt I took a large cedar tree pole to a lumberyard and haggled with them over its value.

May 28

#IDreamt I was mistaken for a spy and found myself wearing an exosuit that could mimic my physical appearance and completely protect me. The drawback was I couldn’t take it off. And it could mess with my mind by feeding me false info.

I read a couple of books:

“Paperback From Hell: The Twisted Story of ’70s and ’80s Twisted Horror Fiction” by Grady Hendrix, Rating: 10

I was a voracious reader from an early age. As a teenager and college student, I consumed 3-5 books a week, often re-reading my favorites. And I was a horror fan. It never occurred to me that these decades would be the heyday for such books. As I flipped through the pages, I was amazed. I pointed to the covers and said, “I read this one, and this one, and this one, and this one. Oh, and this one too.” I’ve been showing this book to my friends, and they asked if I’ve read any of the ones featured. They chortle when I confess I’ve read most of them. They become intrigued. I don’t know why. A lot of those books were completely trashy! Most of them were! But I couldn’t get enough of their gory, nightmare-fueling contents. Now I’m using it as a reference to hunt down books at the used bookstore. These aren’t titles you will find in the audiobook section of the library. My niece, who bought me this book as a gift, was intrigued and might get herself a copy.

“Sacrament” by Clive Barker, Rating:7

There was less goo and grisel than I was expecting. And since I kept expecting it, I was kept on edge. It wasn’t until I was halfway through the book that I settled on the rhythm the author established for the story. That was a bit of relief. I hadn’t read a horror novel in a while. I first started to read Barker in the ’80s when horror was a bit extreme in themes, description, and insane writing decisions. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to wade up to my hips in gore and goop. That’s not to say that there is a lack of some disturbing images. I enjoyed hearing Mr. Barker’s storytelling voice again.

I’ve watched some movies

53. May 16

No Man of Her Own (1932) Rating: 7

It’s quite possible I watched this film when I was a kid, that is, if they allowed pre-code movies on television. The romance angle must have left me flat if I had watched it before. I was probably more interested in the card shark aspects. As an adult, I enjoyed it for many reasons. I got to think about how much better movies were pre-code when the innuendo allowed for more salaciousness. I enjoyed it as it was the only time the two leads worked together, even though they would marry years later. And I enjoyed it because of the character actors and the wonderful sets. These early films kindle my nostalgia. I watched it on a Netflix DVD.

54. May 18

Ted (2012) Rating: 7

There comes a time when you realize you’ve watched the same clips from a movie so many times that had you spent that same amount of time just watching the film, you would have seen the whole thing by now. So, before I started to get my Ted clips confused with Ted 2 clips, and before the rumored Ted 3 came out, I thought I should see the film. Why haven’t I seen this film? Perhaps it’s because I don’t smoke pot, drink beer, or make jokes about hookers. And having met Sam J. Jones, I can tell you my reaction to the experience was very much like that in the movie - minus the cocaine. I watched it on Amazon Prime.

55. May 24

The Deadly Mantix (1956) Rating: 6

Do you want to see a giant mantis? This is the film for you. It also comes with lots of stock footage of air force planes. There’s also a lot of footage of civilian airforce spotters. Perhaps a thank you for all their hard work in looking for airplanes that never appeared during WWII. The danger of the cold war was made abundantly clear with multiple references to the various lines of defense against “the threat” against “us.” I watched it on a DVD from my personal collection.

Not a movie, but an Anime series on Netflix I finished watching:

Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (2023) Rating: 6

I lived in Japan for a year back in 1979 before Anime and Manga started to influence American culture. But I got hooked on it while I was there, and I was particularly fascinated by their spooky tales, which differed in their approach to horror. This collection captures the weirdness of their horror.

Songs I woke up with in my head:

“Honky Tong Women” by the Rolling Stones

“Royals” by Pentatonix

“Here Comes The Sun” by the Beatles

“The Distance” by Cake

“Tusk” by Fleetwood Mac

More next week,

Mark

#cosplay #journal

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