auto_apocrypha

fer class:


http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r166/outlaworacle/?action=view&current=Sequence01.flv

Link:




14 seconds of the greatest rock and roll record you will ever hear only 14 seconds of today. Courtesy of Them Crooked Vultures, a new band featuring Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, The Eagles of Death Metal) and John Paul Jones (LED ZEPPELIN).

The Adventure of Link:

Animation and Interaction in Flash Tutorial


Link's Awakening:

Animated Flash Backgrounds Tutorial

Real news coming soon, this post is just an informative jumble of words to inform everyone that most of my artwork has been removed from this blog for the time being as I am moving my files to different places on the interwebs. Most of it will be reposted soon, along with new stuff. Live long and prosper.

Well, it looks like my goal of updating this thing several times a week has resulted in catastrophic failure. Sorry. It's not you, it's me. I probably could benefit from journaling more seriously but I have so little time in my little house where things are quiet enough for me to write and I just feel bad wasing it on a journal.

Life is normal... all kinds of people coming back to the bookstore for the summer season, cut hours and crushed dreams abound. I am now a part-time wage slave. On the other hand, working less gives me more time to do things and have a life, which has been sorely lacking of late. Now I just have to get serious about generating some alternative streams of income. I think maybe I'll turn this into a porn affiliate blog. If I did it gradually enough probably no one would notice. I'll probably be putting a bunch of my old comics on Ebay soon so if you're looking for any back issues let me know.

Other than that, same shit, new decade and all. Saw Terminator: Salvation which was a decent enough distraction for an afternoon. Right now I'm working on some short stories and stuff, really too early to talk about it...  I'm still working on a comic too, also too early to really talk about it but I can say it involves robots and explosions and sexy ladies (it's very Dickens, really) here's some random detrius from that project...

...feels a lot like the giant motherfucking toothache I have.

SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT, it has been a long week and it is only getting longer. I was sick last weekend and had to pick up extra hours this week to cover for it, won't be off again until Thursday. So all of my projects are falling behind and I vacillate between completely wired and falling asleep mid-step.

So that's all I've been up to, really. Getting sick off bad sushi and going to work. Work is going well though. A quick scan of my Friends Page though tells me most of you have been having more interesting weeks, for better or for worse. One friend gets engaged, another gets a potentially life-threatening illness... yeah.

I'll try to be back soon with more interesting news.

Short entries are great
brevity equals wit but
twitter is for fags

I set an alarm on my cell phone every night before I got to bed which is how I wake up in the mornings at the ungodly hour that I am paid to get up at. Since cellphones automatically jump forward I set the bitch like the normal. However, instead of going off at 7, it went off at 8, even though it said "7 AM!" on the goddamn alarm still, the phone knew it was 8 o'clock, I knew it was 8 o'clock... hell, everybody knew, except my girlfriend, who's still asleep even as I type this.

I have a new reason to travel through time. To murder all farmers. Why the fuck do we still have to mess with our fucking clocks?! AAAAAAARRRSGRRGSRSRSRSALALALKEKAKALALALA JIHAD JIHAD!!

So now I'm running late for work where I am probably going to get thrown into another new department that I only had 1 hour of training on yesterday, all of which I have already forgotten.

HERE IS MY HEARTFELT MESSAGE OF EMOTION FOR THOSE OF YOU GOING TO SEE THE FILM: WATCHMEN!!

Read the book.

Seriously.

Look, I've been really cool for a long time now and one of the main reasons is because I read Watchmen when I was a kid. For a lot of us long-time comic readers, Watchmen is a holy grail of sorts, definitely one of the most compelling and expertly crafted superhero stories and frequently referenced as "the greatest comic of all time". It's been a secret little treasure for me and probably less than a million other people since it came out in the  mid-80's.

So its kinda like that sensation you get when you love a band that no one else has ever heard of, you really really love them and then their next single explodes and suddenly everyone loves them and they want to tell you all about them when 2 weeks ago they wouldn't even listen to your mixtape. Of course the band is still great (hopefully) but you've lost your little secret; you no longer feel that instant camaraderie with someone who likes them too. Its more like "yeah, who doesn't?" That is close to how I feel about this Watchmen movie. It used to be if you wanted to show someone the true potential of comics as a storytelling medium, that is the book you put in their hands. And I still will. I will be recommending this book to people until the day I die because it really is that good.

So, go see the movie, if you want. I hope it is good; I'm not some hater wishing failure on it but the real beauty and accomplishment of Watchmen will always be as a comic. No matter how good the film turns out, it will be an abridged adaptation of one of those splendid pieces of comic book storytelling ever imagined. The book is so expertly crafted and conceived you can literally re-read it a dozen or more times and find something new every time. The structure and technique used to tell the story can be analyzed, studied and deconstructed endlessly. It is a work of sublime genius that reveals itself to you in layers over time, only revealing its deepest secrets upon intense study.

The best a 2 or 3 hour film can hope to do is offer a sexed-up, fight-laden Cliff's Notes to the original source. So while it may be good, you really are cheating yourself out of one-of-a-kind experience if you never sit down and read the book.

Please do.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to frantically search for my keys and yell at some kids to get off my lawn.

cause it's like a post, only smaller and more bad for you




This is a quick concept sketch for a character that's probably going to be in my top secret upcoming comic book project, currently code-named The T.T.P. project (The TTP Project, if you were wondering). I've never done so much post-op to a drawning before or ever really worked seriously without starting on paper first, so... comments and critique are welcome, but be gentle, damn you. This was drawn from a customized DAZ model by wacom via Photoshop (CS2) and touched up in Photoshop as well. These gadgets are all kinda new to me... anyway, I hope to simplify this and make the colors less distractingly digital, but there you have it.

Otherwise, not much to report. I'm off today and tomorrow but I have a quintjillion things to do (helping a friend make a website) and I wish I could just relax more. My new job is still going pretty well but its more hours and earlier in the day that I've been used to for years so I am a little wiped out.



( EDIT!!! NOW WITH MORE ARTSWORKS BEHIND CUT! )

Sorry, too early for coherence, but I'm on the computer for a sec and thought I would share something I WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT in case any of you are trying to sleep with me and want to bribe me with gifts:

The Cintiq 12WX integrates seamlessly into multi-monitor environments to supplement a primary display or to control other displays. Alternatively, you can use the Cintiq 12WX as a stand-alone display. Its ergonomic design and lightweight profile make it easy to add it to your laptop, desktop, or high performance workstation.

The Cintiq 12WX delivers a highly sensitive pen-on-screen experience so you can work directly on your images and applications in the most natural way possible. With "pen-point" accuracy, fast cursor control, and 1,024 levels of pressure-sensitivity on the pen tip and eraser, the Cintiq 12WX gives you increased control, comfort, and productivity.

More at the site...

I may be putting off purchasing like... anything else, while I save up for this. It would change my friggin' life.

How come, and I mean this from the bottom of my black heart, every single time I wake up at 7am it's so GODDAMN EARLY IN THE MORNING?! I almost drowned in the shower, which is about the only reason I'm still awake at all. Volumizing conditioner clogging up (i'm sorry... volumizing) in your respiratory system can have that sort of instant-awake effect, like most near-death experiences. Now I'm partially dressed and sitting in front of my computer, sucking down Coca Cola and Marlboros and praying for a fatal chemical reaction in the next 30 minutes. Otherwise, I have to go to work.

Work, actually, not bad so far. I started back yesterday after I got over the flu and things were fine except the first customer of the day was the most hilarious shoplifter, like, ever. A kinda heavyset white guy in his early 30's or so, he comes up to the register and hands me this Arthur C. Clarke book (one of the numerous, increasingly pointless 2001 sequels) and tells me he forgot his credit card and can I hold this for him until he comes back. I have no moral or scientific reason to reject this request so I am like "yes". Then, the gate beeps on his way out.

As I am trapped behind the register, my manager Paula shows up and starts the whole routine and he's playing along all innocent like he's got nothing to hide. So, Paula holds onto his phone as he walks through again, BEEP. Next up, his car keys, which he hands over willingly. BEEP. Confounded, the guy is still just standing there with us, pretending to be as confused as we are. Politely and apologetically, Paula asks him to unzip his jacket, he complies and shows her the contents of all of its pockets, mostly lint and sunglasses and lip balm. Strange. Ok, one more time then? Surely there must be a mistake.

BEEP!

Now, at this point, I was actually thinking to myself "geez, just let him go". I mean, he handed over his keys and his phone, he's totally compliant, it's just some kind of machine error. Paula, however, hates the living and doesn't trust them an inch. Knowing better, she asks him to remove his jacket entirely and he complies, although there is now suddenly a book in his left hand! (it was yet another stupid Space Oddysey sequel, too!)

"Lookee there", Paula says. Stunned, hurt, wounded even, the guy sputters out something about the book was in his hand the whole time. Right, we're epic morons, you're walking through our theft detector with merchandise in your fucking hand and none of us can wrap our heads around why it might be going off. Yes. We are an equal oppurtunity employer that hires only the deeply, brutally retarded. Or perhaps you're a fucking thief, buddy!

Which is when things got really hilarious... the guy starts begging, pleading with Paula. Meanwhile, my co-workers Charlie and Shannon are lurking in the shadows waiting to poke out his eyeballs if he starts some shit. Still trapped behind the counter, I have an extra-heavy tape dispenser at the ready, calculating all the angles from which I could end his life with it. Then he is all like "please guys, don't do this! guys, please! I CAN'T GO TO JAIL!!!" at which point we all burst into maniacal laughter over the idea of someone going to jail over 7.99 plus tax.

Anyhow, that is basically the end of the story. The guy tried to bolt but he was surrounded... not to mention, where the fuck was he going since we had his phone AND his keys?!  He begged some more and then finally let us haul him off to the back to wait for the cops, who escorted him off and gave him some kind of lame-ass ticket since that is what cops do. Really, I feel for the guy. I'm sure he thought it was nothing and he could just waltz out, it has to be terribly embarassing for a grown man to get apprehended for shoplifting a paperback. Great way to start the day, though.

Speaking of which, I need to get to work...

I love starting any kind of writing endeavor, especially one as personal and autobiographical as this, with vomit and the runs. I feel like it is something almost anybody can identify with. Even Keanu Reeves.




I have been stricken with the dreaded Zombie Flu this past week, which ruined pretty much of all my plans, but in typical scientific fashion, lead to the peripheral discovery of a time machine in my stomach which allows for digested or partially digested food from nearly any era to be expunged into the present with only the minor side-effects of it stinking and being nasty as hell; other side-effects include run-on sentences.

The main reason this is bad news for me is that I started a new job here in Albuquerque this week, at an independent bookstore. Having worked at some form of bookstore for most of my life, this is a real blessing for me since I'm in familiar territory in an unfamiliar place. My co-workers are cool, the pay is decent, the schedule is perfect, its close to my house and once they finish training me I'll be in their web department which means severely diminished customer interaction! So, yes, it is a blessing. However, I missed the last 3 days due to this satanic stomach virus and I won't know until tomorrow or Monday how hard this will bite me in the ass, if it all. They seem pretty understanding so far but I feel lame having dive out halfway though my first week.

You'll be glad to know I've started feeling better but I foolishly decided to celebrate this occassion with a Mexican feast and now I have a different manner of embarassing stomach complications! And today was the day we were supposed to finish the house... we've been moved in for a month and we're mostly finished but there's still a few dozen things to hang and a box or two to unpack and some new blinds to put up and a leak in the kitchen to fix and cleaning to do... nnnggggg. I'm secretly hoping my girlfriend is as laid out by the dueling fists of Tequila and Carne Adovado as I am and we can hold off another day or two.

So that's my weekend!

Is this thing on?

I don't really have anything to say, but I made this journal and what's a journal if you don't post in it?

Well, I dunno either. I didn't want to find out so I made this post.