the heart of the watchmen

okay...

so the watchmen came out on the same weekend that my play went up.
so i couldn't go.
then i got the flu.
which lasted, like, a week and a half.
then my dad got the flu.
(since i'd made him read the book twenty years ago, we wanted to see it together.)
week and a half for him.
so we didn't get a chance to get out and see it until last week.
thursday, in fact.
a matinee.


overall, i dug it a lot.
visually, it was stunning. and stunningly accurate.
zack snyder--a man who obviously held the story in the same high regard we all do and poured a great deal of love and energy into the film--accomplished what hollywood (and most of comicdom) long said couldn't be done. he made a (good) watchmen movie.

if you haven't seen it, i'll warn you now that there might be a SPOILER or two between here and the bottom of this section. (i worked so hard to avoid mention of the movie in magazines and on tv--and matt's blog--until i saw it.)

the casting was great and i "felt" the characters. they all did a great job of bringing each of them to life. these actors obviously read and studied the source material. (although i do think that the acting was somewhat melodramatic and "comic book-y"--it could have been played a little straighter.) the story unfolded very close to that of the original and i realized as i watched the movie, that, in all my many readings of the graphic novel, i've memorized it and was able to anticipate what would (or should) be coming next. and while the "new twist" in the tale to present a new and (supposedly) more character-centric ending was interesting...man, i really woulda liked to've seen the giant squid.

the thing that kinda jarred me was, oddly enough, right at the beginning. one of the rules of storytelling is that somewhere right in the first chapter, you establish your environment, your world, the stage that you are going to present your story on. faced with the daunting task of trying to cram a 12 issue graphic novel into a three hour movie, zack snyder used his opening credits to present us with a dazzling montage recounting the "history" of the watchmen world, a maybe too-fast-to-take-in barrage of images depicting the original minutemen (here called the watchmen to avoid confusion), the devolution of "the hero", the fascist presidency that was going into it's fifth term, the keene act. a great use of time and a fantastic parade of images, but...it lacked heart. that's kinda what i felt about most of the movie--i know that zack snyder put all of his into it, but i only ever felt that i was watching a movie. he did a great job of establishing this world, but i never felt welcomed into it.

that said, i can't wait to see it again. and might go tonight.
and i'll pick up the dvd and watch those opening credits over and over...


but, that's me.
i'm usually very easy on movies--if i did movie reviews, i'd give everything five stars.
but with comic book movies, i'm much more...critical, more hardline.
ask craig, he'll tell you.
(don't get me started on batman begins...)







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

here's an awesome choopie sketch that i got from artist, nikos koutsis, artist on abacus comics' "the imaginiaries" and colorist on erik's "savage dragon"! nikos will be doing a perhapanauts back-up story for us in the near future!...



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

here are the
answers to the
"five for friday"

1. what is the name of the little dog listening to the phonograph in the famous RCA logo?

nipper

2. and what is the name of the painting that that image is taken from?

"his masters voice"

3. what popular american sitcom was based on the uk hit series "til death us do part?"

all in the family

4. who played chandler's father on "friends?"

kathleen turner

5. which superhero is seen or referenced in every episode of "seinfeld?"

superman


have a nice day!
smell ya later!
todd

awakening

okay...

i have lots of friends who are storytellers. many of them--most of them--like to tell their stories as comics, using that very unique art form that marries words and pictures together to tell as story that unfolds before a reader in a way unlike any other medium. they love comics and stories and are moved to present them to you in a stream of balloons and panels. i know that i am driven to tell my stories that way.

in the past, i've done my best to pimp my friends' efforts as much as i can. as i've said regarding our own book, it's a tough market out there and many smaller books just don't have a chance to even be noticed on the racks. i've made sure to tell you--and show you--a preview of my pal, kelly yates' amber atoms knowing that kelly has spent years developing and writing and illustrating her adventures simply out of his love for comics and his desire to tell her story. i've sent you all over to our boy, scott weinstein's site for after school agent because i've seen the blood, sweat, and tears that scott (and chris) have put into the books and how very much scott just needs to tell the story of gordon's adventures.

well, here's a chance again, for me to tell you about a friend of mine, his wickedly creepy book, and how you can help support another "little guy."

my friend, nick tapalansky, is, by day, the manager at a nearby barnes and noble.
that's nice. plus, he made sure to keep the first perhapanauts trades in stock.
thanks, nick.

at night, however, he writes this darkly powerful, eerily compelling horror narrative called AWAKENING.
i won't tell you much about the story because i don't want to inadvertently give something away. i will say, if you like horror, check it out--i think you'll dig it.



also know that nick and his artist-partner, alex eckman-lawn, are working on a chilling two-part perhapanauts back-up story featuring mg and big and will be published in perhapanauts no's 9 and 10!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

as i mentioned in passing the other day, i'm going to be making a concerted effort in this blog to focus a bit more on the creepy and the cryptid, the spooky and the strange. this is, after all, the perhapa-blog and it should have at least a little paranormal content each week. right?

with that in mind, i'll be posting (and linking to) some of the stranger things i find in my travels around the shadowier parts of the web and maybe see what kind of bizarre things we can find under those rocks. here, just to start out with something slightly familiar, is a story culled from one of my favorite places --YOUR TRUE TALES over at paranormal@about.com. if this whets your appetite for the unexplained, head on over there and check out some of the other creepy tales. there's a new batch posted every month! (i especially like the one entiteld, "three tall beings.")

Freaky Doppelganger Experience
BY Steven M..
By Stephen Wagner, About.com

This weird incident happened to me in mid-November of 2008. I lived in a very little town named Palatka, Florida, and there is not much to this town, but what happened to me blew me away. I thought maybe my friends were playing a sick game with me or maybe they were drunk, but what they showed me was even more impossible for my mind to take in.

As I was talking to my friends on my cellphone from my lunch break at work, they said I just went into a bar where they were. I told them I was at work, but they didn't believe me. So they decided to follow the person they said was me and take a cell phone picture. Sure enough, if you would have held a mirror up to me, the picture they showed me was shocking, because "I" was sitting at the bar waving at them with a beer in my hand.

Then it really got weird. My friend was sitting there and said to me, if "I" am in front of them now, then how am I speaking to them on the phone? I told them the same thing, but by the time they turned back around to the bar area, they said "I" was gone -- but "I" left the barkeep a tip. They tried to find out what happened, but the barkeep stated that they never saw "me" leave the bar that night. To this day, my friends are still freaked out by that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i also eluded the other day to the fact that we will be featuring more actual perhapanauts news and updates here on the blog as well--and we will--but i didn't mean to make it sound like we had big news to announce here today. (brian kinda read it that way and i'm sorry brian.) i will say that, aside from the news above about nick and alex's perhapanauts back-up, we also have an awesome cover by comics legend and my pal, JIM STARLIN! and inked by another comics legend and also my pal, TERRY AUSTIN! after a few minor setbacks (ie; work and life) craig is back to work finishing up perhapanauts no.6--which will also feature stories by scott weinstein and leanne hannah and me and jason armstrong!--and we'll have more about that--like the cover--next week! you won't want to miss it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'nother picture of that baby elephant



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and now here,
your
"five for friday"

1. what is the name of the little dog listening to the phonograph in the famous RCA logo?

2. and what is the name of the painting that that image is taken from?

3. what popular american sitcom was based on the uk hit series "til death us do part?"

4. who played chandler's father on "friends?"

5. which superhero is seen or referenced in every episode of "seinfeld?"




smell ya later!
todd

scrips and scraps

okay...

my office is a mess.

it is worse than a mess, it is a bonafide disaster.
i need to do some serious cleaning--some quantum spring cleaning. to clear my space and clear my head and get rid of the clutter, both literally and figuratively.

where to start...?

from here i can see a box that is busting with computer parts and accessories that have fallen into the categories of either obsolete or redundant. that can go. i see a stack of toys that i told myself i was gonna put up on ebay about 4 months ago. they can go. there are piles of comic books, here and there, like little encampments waiting for their orders. some will go to friends, some to ebay, some to a box marked "nobody's ever gonna want these." i look at my two book shelves, close to bursting with books, some wedged in sideways, some jammed in wherever there was extra room. do i need all of these books? some are reference and some were gifts, but there are many that i know i'm never gonna read again. wouldn't that book be happier with someone who was going to read it...?
they can go.

it's all a part, i know, of the collector mentality. and where did i get that save from my comic books? i hang onto stuff and save stuff and try to recycle everything that comes into my possession. but sometimes--and spring time is a good time to do this--you just gotta purge. they say a clean desk is the sign of a sick mind. but, for a writer, a clean desk--and an uncluttered workspace--is a distraction-free zone, a place where you can hone in on your ideas and let your imagination go, where you can transcribe your fantasies onto the paper/into the computer, where you can truly immerse yourself in whatever world you happen to be sculpting at the moment.

so clean up. clean out. you don't need that shit. are you ever, really, gonna need or read that again?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and then as soon as you get rid of it...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

as the snow continues to melt all around here, this c & h made me start to miss it...




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

from my friend, heather~~


HOW TO INSTALL A HOME SECURITY SYSTEM


1. Go to a secondhand store and buy a pair of men's used size 14-16 work boots.

2. Place them on your front porch, along with a copy of Guns & Ammo Magazine.

3. Put a few giant dog dishes next to the boots and magazines.

4. Leave a note on your door that reads:


Bubba,

Big'un, Duke, Slim, & I went for more ammo and beer. Back in an hour.
Don't mess with the pit bulls - they attacked the mailman this morning
and messed him up bad. I don't think Killer took part, but it was hard
to tell from all the blood. Anyway, I locked all four of 'em in the house.
Better wait outside.

Cooter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


5 days old baby asian elephant, ko raya, at the berlin zoo.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



this is choopie.
remember him?
we'll be back to more perhapanauts
and paranormal talk on friday;
updates, stories, and contests...

smell ya later!
todd

i've got pages...

(note: i don't know whether it was blogger or me, but i wasn't able to upload a lot of the jpgs i had for this post. sorry...)

okay...

in my career as a writer in comics, i have been blessed to've worked with some truly amazing artists. and i've been lucky enough to've been gifted with a page or two from most of the projects i've worked on. i have a page from a spectacular spider-man story i did that was drawn by the great sal buscema (and inked by bill sienkewicz). i have several pages that humberto ramos gave me from our jla; world without grown-ups mini that introduced young justice (yes, i have the bart's "grandpa?" page...). i have a page from both ethan van sciver and carlo barberi from my run on impulse, and a page--this is true--from walt simonson from the impulse issue he guest-artisted in!
i have pages from rich case from the spider-man story he and i did back in the day and a few pages from karl kesel from our more recent spider-man family/looter story that was our tribute to mike.
i, of course, have a bunch of pages each from mike and from craig--a page from the first sensational spider-man mike and i did, from our x-men 1/2 story, from the first issue of tellos, and a bunch of other pages, my favorites from sensational and tellos. from craig i have a page from our first perhapanauts book, the hostess fruit pies page from the not gigantic color special, the original for choopie's "hey! jerks!" ad.



my originals from nick cardy are in a special place; he drew me a gorgeous black canary several years ago that hangs by my bed, the sherlock holmes poster that he made for me (and the production) when i was in the play a few years back, the "jake steals my sandwich" pitcures...




i have pages from, andy smith, derec aucoin (now donavan), rich faber, mike mckone, howard porter, and many more! most are framed and in rotation here in my (too small) house.
yes, i am really lucky.

so, that's my collection of stuff i've worked on. so very nice of the artists to give them to me--i offered to pay them for them, but no go--and i can't thank them all enough for these great treasures.

my other collection of comic art is considerably smaller, mostly 'cause i just don't have the money. and because what i'm looking for are very rare pieces. these are the nostalgic pieces, the ones from my childhood wish list and, sadly, the guys i'll never have the chance to work with.

when i started reading--and loving--comics as a kid (and remember, i was mostly a dc guy to start out with...), two of the guys who really got me, the guys who really knew how to tell a story and carry you along for the ride, were jim aparo, and dick dillin! jim's stuff on brave and the bold and aquaman (not to mention those moody, spooky spectre and phantom stranger stories...) was just everything to me! yeah, i dug neal adams at the time the most, but neal was all about graphic spectacle and, sorry, not really that great at storytelling. jim would strap you in and you were off with stunning shading and shadows, dynamic action and clean storytelling! you could ALWAYS tell what was going on!
dick dillin, on the justice league, was, in my mind, a hero just for being able to juggle all of those characters and make them work! a lot of people say that dick's characters were sometimes stiff and mechanical looking...well, yeah! when they were under the mind control of starro or dr, destiny!!! i loved his work and you could see how much he loved doing it in every panel--he had such respect for both the story and the characters!

sadly, like so many other great artists of the time, jim and dick have passed on, leaving behind two wonderful legacies and generations of appreciative fans. my little regret is that i never got a chance to meet them. or work with them. and so those are the two names that i throw into the search on ebay from time to time, looking for a page or two that i might be able to pick up, something from that magical time period when i just couldn't get enough of their work, an early to mid-seventies brave and the bold or a justice league. they are few and far between. and often, far out of my price range.
but you can dream, right?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

my pal, terry, sent me this video/link yesterday and i thought it was cute/cool, so check it out and see if you agree...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and here,
once again,
are your
"five for friday"

1. mark twain once said that the worst winter he ever experienced was summer in what american city?

san francisco

2. what is the princess' actual name in disney's "sleeping beauty?"

princess aurora

3. united states currency is printed, not on paper, but on a "fabric" that is 25% linen and 75% what?

cotton

4. powered by the larva of moths, what nervous novelty items are called brincadores in their native country?

mexican jumping beans

5. from the book of revelation, name the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

a. war

b. famine

c. pestilence

d. death


gotta go finish a story!
have a good monday!
smell ya later!
todd

my obsession (well, one of 'em, anyway...)

okay...

some people are a little surprised when i tell them how much i like watching boxing.
if there's a good match on, i can be glued to the set for hours.
what's a good match, you may ask? isn't it just two guys brutally bashing on each other until one of them is either unconscious or his face is too swelled up to see the other guy?
no, i really don't like those kindsa fights. when it's just a matter of two guys swinging around trying to do some kind of/any kind of damage, that's not cool. i'd rather flip it over to the food network and watch some guy bake a cake.
it's when two men (or women--women fight now too) get in the ring with all kinds of skills and training behind them and are put in the unique position of having to study and devise a strategy on the spot to defeat their respective opponent. when it's an exercise in watching and learning, in calculating what the other guy's gonna do next, what will he throw next, a left jab or a right uppercut? that's when it becomes something more!
yes, it can get bloody, and oftimes it can be brutal, but when you see a fighter, a good fighter, watching, gauging, calculating, it changes from a slug-fest to a dance. if he can figure his opponent out and then, systematically, counter his offensive blows and get through his defenses, that is the sweet science.

plus, okay, it's cool to see a guy get knocked out.

i'm telling you this because now i am hooked on both the ultimate fighter cagefighting on spike and on world extreme cagefighting on the vs. channel. UFC! WEC! i can't get enough! and much to sharon's dismay--she doesn't mind my watching it and will even sit and watch a match or two with me--i'm up last night until two a.m. glued to watching these guys practically trying to kill one another--and i just can't stop!
now, i used to flip right past it, certain that this stuff was just insane, that the rules (there are RULES?!?!!?) of this so-called sport were just crazy! mixed martial arts, wrestling, boxing, choke-holds, broken bones--this was just a couple of animals being tossed in a cage and left to fight until one of them was dead, right?

and then i watched one.
just one.
and that was it.

yes, it's bloodier, yes, it's brutal, yes, i have seen holds and moves that have made me wince~~!
but just like in boxing, i have seen some amazing competitions, seen some incredible victories by guys who have studied their adversaries, scrutinized their arsenal of moves, learned their rhythm and timing--and then stepped in to take them down. the fight can change in a heartbeat and it's thrilling and fascinating and compelling.

so that's why i'm so tired this morning.
how about you?


enough about my obsessions.
here's a squirrel asking for a hand-out.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

what i'm diggin'--
just finished listening to sarah vowell's assassination vacation (for, like, the fifith time--i love her voice and love her enthusiasm for history!) and now that i finally have my computer and itunes back, i'm catching up on episodes of coast to coast a.m. from the past two weeks! great discussions about 2012 and the end of the mayan calendar, as well as chem-trails (what are they dropping on us!), numerology, and other dimensions!
on tv; well, aside from the ultimate fighting bouts that i mentioned above, i enjoyed the second episode of castle, can see some comparison to one of my other favorite shows, life. laughed out loud a few times during earl, the office, and 30 rock last night and just can't believe that there are only two episodes left of ER! lookiong forward top watching last night's grey's later on tonight.
sharon and i watched one missed call the other night on hbo. shoulda been one missed movie...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and here,
once again,
are your
"five for friday"

1. mark twain once said that the worst winter he ever experienced was summer in what american city?

2. what is the princess' actual name in disney's "sleeping beauty?"

3. united states currency is printed, not on paper, but on a "fabric" that is 25% linen and 75% what?

4. powered by the larva of moths, what nervous novelty items are called brincadores in their native country?

5. from the book of revelation, name the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

a.

b.

c.

d.




have a grape weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

legend of the seeker

okay...

see, THIS is what makes it all worth it...

not that i'm ever really fishing for replies to any of the craziness i tend to post here, but i got this really great note from my facebook pal, max traver, in response to some of the things i talked about with pete in that newsarama interview i posted here last week.

Todd,

Just saw you getting interviewed about the 'nauts, and you made a comment that you and Craig have yet to make a dime on the book. That is so wrong!

Most of us non-published folks still kind of assume that if you get a book put out by Image (etc), that the money just rolls in :)

Anyway, the Perhapanauts is still a favorite of mine, and if you have to put out a black and white napkin version, let me know what address I can send my subscription card to, eh?

Oh, and your Marvel Adventures work has been great, too. Fun stuff, no denying it.

-Max

as i said, max--thanks so much! stuff like that makes craig and i even more excited--and more dedicated--to getting more 'haps out! that was really nice of ya! thanks!

and as if that weren't enough to brighten the day, i got this one from our pal, adam hutchinson, that afternoon...


Todd,

I just wanted to drop you a line to tell you a quick story. I was home alone with my two year daughter last weekend. As I was making her lunch she got into a stack of comics and pulled out the first Perhapanauts trade. She brought it over to me and asked me what it was. I told it was a book and we started flipping through it; with her asking me who different characters were. I sat her down and gave her lunch, and afterwards she grabbed the trade again and asked, "Show me Chooptee!" So I had to go through the book and point out all of Choopie's appearances. She's asked me, "Where Chooptee?" a couple times since then too. So you've got the toddler demo all locked up. ;)

I hope you feel better.

Sincerely,
Adam Hutchinson


so, now that we've got the next generation ready for perhapamania, it's just a matter of time, right...?
thanks, adam~! we'll hafta hook her up with a chooptee button or something...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

as i sit here thinking about how really tough this industry is--and how very hard it is for a small book to get noticed--my indignation spreads out, not only amongst the other really great books out there that deserve more attention and support, but a tv show that sharon and i have been watching--and enjoying--since last fall that, as far as i can tell, is getting no respect and no support at all!

i don't watch a lot of shows on the cw and so i'm not really sure what we were watching when sharon and i tipped to "legend of the seeker" totally by accident one night last fall. a short commercial announcing this sam raimi produced series based on terry goodkind's "sword of truth" novels was all the warning we had, but we made it a point to look it up on the "guide" and set the dvr to catch it...

only it wasn't on the guide.

so we set the dvr for the appropriate time (and hoped that the guide was wrong and that we weren't going to get american idol redux as the guide listed > shudder < ) and were pleasantly surprised by the exciting, adventurous, and just plain fun premiere of what promised to be a solid new sword and sorcery series! the story was solid, the casting was great--newcomers craig horner and bridget regan are both talented actors, obviously having fun (and she's just beautiful), and bruce spence (the whack-job gyro man from the road warrior) pushes at the edges of cliche as the wizard zed--and the scenery is that new zealand fantastic that we all got a look at on xena, hercules, and the lord of the ring tril.

we've been watching each episode and enjoying it for the fun and adventure, the good verses evil, every saturday night at 8 pm on the cw...only...
let me know if it';s listed on your "guide." it's not listed on mine.
every week, for the past five months, we've had to program the dvr for that time slot because the show itself isn't listed on the guide. now how, i ask you, is a show going to get ANY kind of viewership, ANY kind of support, ANY kind of oh-so-freakin'-important ratings if the network can't even get it in the freakin' listings?!?!? sure, it's syndicated, i get that--but COME ON!!





anyway, check the show out.
it's well done. it's on saturday.
it's a shame.
that's my rant for today. i'm done.


smell ya later!
todd

monday morning rock!

okay...

as any of you who know me on facebook probably already know, my won't-go-away cold is now that-damn-flu-that's-going-around. poor sharon. i was a shuffling zombie all weekend and not that much fun to be around. sorry, shay. add that to my computer troubles and it wasn't a great week last week. THIS week is gonna be much, much better...

so...

by an almost unanimous vote, we will be returning to our previous mon-wed-fri slat--with the caveat that i will happily accept and entertain any guest blogs or offerings of any kind that anyone would like to submit. buying me a day off from time to time will save me from having to run 'borrowed' material or, god forbid, 'the best of the perhapa-blog'!
if you've got something to share, say, report, respond to, etc., please send it in! i've always wanted this to be more of a community blog anyway and we'd love to hear anything you'd like to say about comics, tv, movies, books, music, the paranormal, the supernatural, whatever...consider the floor open!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i love matt.
matt, man, i love ya so much!
i love suzanne too, but this is about matt. (i'm sure you understand, squeeze.)
i love him and he lives so far away and i don't call him enough and i wish we could get together and hang out more. so whoever is working on those personal teleportation devices for work and home, hurry up. matt and i wanna go to the movies...

matt sent us his cool new alter ego the other day--the spectacled arrow!--courtesy of this cool new hero generator he found while not working. you choose the gender, the facial features (mask or no mask), upper body spandex, lower body spandex, color scheme, accessories, powers--it's a lotta fun!




whether you choose to do up yourself or create your dream hero of the opposite sex (mine is below), you can waste hours of valuable company time playing with this thing.
my only qualm is that they then name your character for you. i coulda done that.
i'd call her 'heartslayer.'





go make your own hero--or heroine--at:

http://cpbintegrated.com/theherofactory/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

knowing how much i dig these funny signs and stuff, our pal, nic carcieri (portal comics), sent these over to me the other day--actually, there were a few more, these were a couple of my favorites.





i think it's okay for you to do this ONLY if you REALLY did wait the 30 minutes...



thanks, nic!
these were great!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and here are your
answers to the
"three for thursday"

by popular request, here are a few "chain reactions"...

1. flip
off
broadway
show
times

2. monster
movie
theater
seat
cushion

3. miami
vice
president
lincoln
logs

4. lost
horizon
line
up
shot


5. cars have names
i've always named my cars; bessie, sally, jerry mertz, the black mamba...
can you give the names of these more famous vehicles?

a. the love bug

herbie

b. the '69 dodge charger from the dukes of hazzard

the general lee

c. knight rider

kitt

d. the cab in "who framed roger rabbit?"

benny the cab

e. ian fleming's amphibious, flying car

chitty chitty bang bang


that's it for me!
smell ya later!
and a happy st. pat's to all o' ye!
todd

newsarama and stuff

okay...

while in new york a few weeks back, attending the awesome new york city comicon--you guys remember when we were there, right?--i was flattered to be interviewed by newsarama's ace reporter (can i say 'ace reporter,' pete?) pete lepage, who asked me some hard-hitting questions about the perhapanauts and their future, both as a team and as a comic book.
check it out.


http://www.newsarama.com/common/media/video/player.php?aid=26584


and thanks, pete--for the great questions and for your own enthusiasm!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

so, now that the play is over--not that i'm quite over it yet...or the tenacious cold that i picked up the day after--i've been getting a lot of emails asking if i will now be switching back to the thrice a week, mondaywednesdayfriday schedule from before. some people commented that tuesdays and thursdays were just "off" days and that they would often forget to check for new posts, while others claim that the monday and friday posts were nice ways to start and end their week.
i liked tuesdays and thursdays 'cause it was, y'know, less work...
but i leave it to you, perhapa-pals!
what say you?
mon-wed-fri or tue-thur???
lemme know what YOU think!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

came in with the (e)mail...

i got these from my uncle and thought a couple of them were cute.
(obviously they are intended for people who actually have grandkids, but...)

1. She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under
the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter, as she'd done
many times before. After she applied her lipstick and
started to leave , the little one said, 'But Gramma, you
forgot to kiss the toilet paper Good-bye!' I will probably
never put lipstick on again without thinking about kissing
the toilet paper good-bye.

2. My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy
Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, '62.'
He was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, 'Did you
start at 1?'

3. After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother
changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded
to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and
more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she
threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room,
putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left
the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling
voice, 'Who was THAT?'

4. A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what
her own childhood was like: 'We used to skate outside on a
pond I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in
our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild
raspberries in the woods. The little girl was wide-eyed,
taking this all in. At last she said, 'I sure wish I'd
gotten to know you sooner!'

5. My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, 'Grandma
, do you know how you and God are alike?' I mentally
polished my Halo and I said, 'No, how are we alike?''
You're both old,' he replied.

6. A little girl was diligently pounding away on her
grandfather's word processor. She told him she was writing
a story. 'What's it about?' he asked. 'I don't know,' she
replied. 'I can't read.'

7. I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors
yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something
and ask what color it was. She would tell me and was
always correct. It was fun for me, so I continued. At
last she headed for the door, Saying, 'Grandma, I think you
should try to figure out some of these yourself!'

8. When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin,
we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from
attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us
in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, 'It's no
use Grandpa. Now the mosquitoes are coming after us with
flashlights.'

9. When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly
replied, "I'm not sure." "Look in your underwear, Grandpa,"
he advised. "Mine says I'm four to six."

10. A second grader came home from school and said to her
grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make
babies today." The grandmother, more than a little
surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting," she
said, "how do you make babies?" ''It's simple," replied
the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."

11. Children's Logic: "Give me a sentence about a public
servant," said a teacher. The small boy wrote: 'The
fireman came down the ladder pregnant.' The teacher took
the lad aside to correct him. "Don't you know what
pregnant means?" she asked. "Sure," said the young boy
confidently. "It means carrying a child."

12. A nursery school teacher was delivering a station wagon
full of kids home one day when a fire truck zoomed past.
Sitting in the front seat of the truck was a Dalmatian dog.
The children started discussing the dog's duties. " They
use him to keep crowds back," said one child. "No," said
another. "He's just for good luck." A third child brought
the argument to a close. "They use dogs," she said firmly,
"to find the fire hydrants."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

now that we're having a chance to catch up on all the shows that the dvr was holding for us during the play, we are, of course, loving lost--can't wait for each new mind-bending episode--and life, getting sad that er will be leaving us soon, and we checked out the new nathan fillion show, castle, and thought it was a lot of fun--if for nothing else but nate fillion! the jury's still out for me on dollhouse--i love joss, but unsure as to whether eliza can pull this off...fringe is intriguing, but i'm glad to hear that they're actually going to give joshua jackson more of a backstory.

earl, the office, and 30 rock are always fun--each of them almost always supplying at least one laugh out loud during their half hour. at least one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and here are your
"three for thursday"

by popular request, here are a few "chain reactions"...

1. flip
o
b
s
times

2. monster
m
t
s
cushion

3. miami
v
p
l
logs

4. lost
h
l
u
shot


5. cars have names
i've always named my cars; bessie, sally, jerry mertz, the black mamba...
can you give the names of these more famous vehicles?

a. the love bug

b. the '69 dodge charger from the dukes of hazzard

c. knight rider

d. the cab in "who framed roger rabbit?"

e. ian fleming's amphibious, flying car



have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

getting back into it...

okay...

so, the play went wonderfully and i had an amazing time getting to know the actors, working with them, and designing what turned out to be a pretty nice production, if i do say so myself. of course, after working with them so intently over the past two months, i'm gonna miss them like crazy, but sharon and jake are really ready for me to be home nights again and a part of the household. kayla too. sorta.

i'd share some pictures from the play, but i'm locked out of my iphoto library/program, so maybe later.

at some point last week, my computer went wacky and i have been disconnected from my external hard drive. we're working on fixing that now, but it's like waking up and finding out that you're not gonna be able to use your left arm for a few days. all my files are in there and all my work. so i'm running a little blind right now and a little wild--
can't wait to have that back...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

my friend sent me an email full of these the other day. apparently, there is or are a couple of websites dedicated to posting photos and stories of failure. while i don't consider these failures as much as some one there with a camera at just the wrong time, some of them are funny in an america's funniest home videos kinda way (the kind where you laugh and try not to wonder how much it hurt or if there was an emergency room visit right after...)
i put a couple of these in the sub-category of just poor timing.











and here are your
answers to the
"three for thursday"

1. what shakespeare play is considered by actors to be bad luck if mentioned onstage or backstage and so has been given the non de dramatis "the m-word"?

macbeth

2. what, actually, does "break a leg" mean?

in the early days of the globe theater, in being summoned to perform a production for royalty, if the king really liked it, he would allow the actors an audience before him, which generally amounted to a chance to appear before the throne and bow until the king dismissed you. the fancy bow was with one leg out straight in front of you, the other bent (broken) behind you for support. "break a leg" means that you hope the actor's performance is so good that he is fortunate enough to be called before the king.

3. stage right and stage left are fairly well-known terms in the real word, but do they refer to perspective of the actor or the audience?

stage right and stage left are designated from the actor's point of view while standing on the stage looking out at the audience.

4. is "upstage" toward the front of the stage or the back?

in the old days, stages were actually built on a slight tilt so that the audience could view more of the setting; higher in the back, lower in the front.

5. what is the name of the single bare light bulb that is left burning center stage day and night when no performance is taking place?

the ghost light. superstition says that a single light should always be lit on a stage to fend off the ghosts of past performers and performances.


gotta go!
smell ya later!
todd

the play's the thing

okay...

hi, perhapa-gang~!

well, since all i can really think of right now is whether the puppet spot is gonna move slow/smooth enough for amy's monologue or whether alyshia will be able to relax enough to realize that she KNOWS her lines, or that i set the music cues right or that we need a real champagne bottle...

i'm gonna hit you up with two creepy stories that i read late last night over on your true tales at about.com


YOUR TRUE TALES


Skinless Yellow-Eyed Creature
BY STYLES M.
By Stephen Wagner, About.com

This occurrence took place in Phoenix, Arizona in the mid-1990s. The story was told to me by one of my best friends. He was out at a party on the south side of Phoenix. If you lived there, you know that once the sunset it really got dark. While at the party, he could hear a police siren in the distance. Being from Phoenix, this was a common back then due to gang activity. So paying it no mind, the night dragged on.

But he felt surprise that now he could hear more and more sirens in the distance. Not only cop cars but fire engines. He thought it could be a car chase or something like that happening. Not having a good time and tired, he left the party.

This is where it gets crazy! Not being a drinker nor a story teller, he stated, "I was heading north on 7th St. about 2 a.m. As I approached Basline Rd., I could see to my left a line of cop cars racing at high speeds going south on Central Ave. On Basline Rd., there were no cars around that late at night. Then I saw what look like a child cross the road into the median into the bushes. I slowed to a stop and rolled down my window. What I saw scared the hell out of me!

"It looked like a small kid around three feet tall. But its glowing eyes where big and yellow. Its skin color I couldn't tell due to the darkness. It had no hair and its mouth was very small. It looked at me like it was frightened. Scared out of my mind, I took off looking back. I saw it run from the bushes across the street. I could also see what look like swarm of cops coming up from Central Ave to where I was just at."

Like I mentioned, this friend of mine is no storyteller. He's often quiet and keeps to himself.




Cornfield Creature
BY FRANK SEMKO
By Stephen Wagner, About.com

I used to work at a cheese factory on the edge of a cornfield in southwestern Minnesota. There were a series of days in the summer of '04 or '05 where it was so hot that the milk being delivered to us in trucks would evaporate before we got it. It made work easy; the dearth of milk denied us any actual labor, but management wouldn't let us not come to work, so we would show up and mess around all shift.

I was working nights at the time. It was 2 or 3 a.m., and I was out on the loading dock watching bats fly around the floodlights, because I liked being out in the cool night air. The corn was about as high as my shoulder, so about 5'10.

As I was watching the bats, I looked down at the edge of the cornfield. Something was moving there. It was the size of a small child and very, very skinny. Pale, with something that looked like a head of straight, black hair. It moved in a sort of jerky gait, like someone dancing the robot badly. It moved in chunks: legs, then hips, then torso, shoulders, neck and finally head. It was looking back into the cornfield, or at least I felt like it was.

I felt prickly all over. I didn't know what it was. I thought it was a heron or something at first, but it looked too much like a person. It didn't move like a person, though. Gradually, step by step, it moved toward me. Letting my curiosity better my fear, I moved toward the edge of the dock, which was raised a few feet off the ground to connect with semis. When I got within a few feet of the edge, the thing looked at me. I was paralyzed. I could have run, but I was stuck somewhere between terrified and intrigued.

It moved, its "face" still pointed at me. It ratcheted its body in that disconcerting, jerky movement toward the cornfield and went into it. I tried to watch where the field moved as it passed, but the corn remained perfectly still. I noticed that all the crickets were silent. After a few minutes, nothing happened. I stood out there for an hour, but it never came back. I never saw it again.



there are some people who can do that "pop and lock" so very precise that it can be unsettling. i've seen it on tv and in a few commercials and now they're starting to use it more in horror films. it's just so creepy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i'm in the creepy mood 'cause, aside from going over and over the script for the play, the only other thing i've been reading this week has been the new showcase house of mystery vol.3! i love 'em, i love 'em, i LOVE 'EM! i just cannot get enough of those old 70's horror tales! this volume features a lot of the filipino artists who arrived on joe orlando's doorstep in the late 60's early 70's to make his job so much easier; nestor redondo, alex nino, er cruz. some truly haunting work on some eerily chilling tales! go get some!




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


and here are your
"three for thursday"

1. what shakespeare play is considered by actors to be bad luck if mentioned onstage or backstage and so has been given the non de dramatis "the m-word"?

2. what, actually, does "break a leg" mean?

3. stage right and stage left are fairly well-kn own terms in the real word, but do they refer to perspective of the actor or the audience?

4. is "upstage" toward the front of the stage or the back?

5. what is the name of the single bare light bulb that is left burning center stage day and night when no performance is taking place?

gotta fly!
have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

ready for the show

okay...

so the past week or so, i've been jamming on rehearsals for this play and focusing all my attention on making sure that all the bases are covered (re; sets, lights, props, costumes, publicity...) i'm not doing ALL the work, but i do have to approve all the work (and make sure that it gets done in the first place). anyway, of course, this is the week my computer decides to try out a few new moves and somehow block me from some of my most important programs.
is mercury in retrograde?
and if so, when will it be out...?

in truth, i'm thrilled with how this play has turned out and amazed at some of the work that these young actors have put into it. i really wasn't sure that i had anything to offer when they asked me to do this, but...huh, i guess i do/did.
anyway, it goes up this thursday, friday, and saturday at 8 pm--sunday matinee at 2--in the james and betty hall theater at dutchess community college in the beautiful poughkeepsie, new york. if you're in the area, come. if you come because you saw it here, come and see me after the show, 'cause that'd be freaky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i haven't been able to watch much tv during these past two months, but have been listening to a lot of coast to coast a.m. on the long drives to and from rehearsals. for those that might not remember, i'm a devoted fan of this long-running, late night talk show that covers all manner of odd phenomena, myths and legends, and conspiracy theories. originally created by radio personality, art bell, the show is now hosted by george noory--with george knapp and ian punnett on weekends--and supplies enough food-for-thought in just one evening's offerings to keep you pondering for days. guests from all walks of life are featured and topics range from ufo wars being fought on the edges of our galaxy to ghosts on catalina island to a chupacabra in wisconsin to the current financial crisis (although i must say that with the economy the way it is, there have been a few too many illuminati agenda/doomsday-spouting shows for my tastes. they're even making me paranoid...)

i subscribe to the shows via www.coasttocoastam.com through their streamlink. i can download an entire show, load it onto my ipod and listen to it in the car. and you can listen to past shows as a subscriber as well. if you're looking for some great radio--and some great discussions on the paranormal and the unexplained--check it out! i love it!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and now the
answers to the
"three for thursday"
classic film!

1. what slope-nosed actor/comedian's theme song was called "thanks for the memories"?

bob hope

2. in rocky, rocky takes adrian back to his apartment and introduces him to his turtles. what were their names?

cuff and link

3. in the 1945 billy wilder film, "the lost weekend" starring ray milland, why was the weekend lost?

it was a study of a chronic alcoholic. the weekend is lost in a drunken haze.

4. who was originally cast as the tim man in the "wizard of oz" but had to drop out due to a skin allergy to the silver make-up?

buddy ebsen, star of barnaby jones and the beverly hillbillies.

5.
all of us, at some time or another, incorporate lines and phrases from favorite movies and tv into our own personal lexicons, making them such a part of our everyday conversations that sometimes we even forget where they came from. i've been doing this for all of my life. see if you can match the following to the movies they came from...

a. "mother pus bucket!"

bill murray/ghostbusters

b. "left turn, clyde."

clint eastwood/every which way but loose

c. "inconceivable!"

wallace shawn/the princess bride

d. "say 'what' one more time!"

samuel l. jackson/pulp fiction

e. "it's hot. like africa hot."

matthew broderick/biloxi blues

gotta run!
smell ya later!
todd