moons and stuff

north pole moon

okay...

every once in a while someone will send me a photo that makes me smile. or sad. or laugh out loud. or drop my jaw in amazement. these last are usually spectacular shots of the earth or the elements or nature.

a post or two back was one of those that i picked up offa yahoo of a nacreous cloud--some rare super-stratospherical anomaly high over australia (my friend eddie lives in australia). views like this just leave me in awe at the truly beautiful world we live in and so i thought i'd go through my files and throw up a few more just to share some of that for those of you inclined.

moon over athens



see, last winter was really long for me--it seemed longer and colder and darker and just...endless. and as winter turned to spring i realized that that was prob'ly my fault, 'cause i really hadn't done anything last SUMMER to keep me warm throughout the winter. you know--SUMMER things!

jake in the grass


so this year i promised myself that i'd get outside more. two long walks for jake everyday instead of just one! i'd go swimming (i realized that i hadn't been in 2 years--and i LOVE to swim!) i'd go hiking up in the catskills, again something i used to do a lot of but hadn't for a while. camping! theme parks! water parks! the county fair! drive-in movies! i'd go to the ocean! lay in the grass! play in the stream with my niece and nephew (actually MOST of these things i've been doing with my niece and nephew)!

wedged


and i've been doing them. haven't been camping yet, but summer isn't over. the fair starts next week so i'll hit that then. but i can cross off just about everything else on the list.

and so can you.
summer isn't over.

so that's my reason for putting up these pictures. i didn't take all of 'em but they make me wanna enjoy the outdoors, and the world, and summer.


mom's garden

this winter i'll have lotsa good memories to keep me goin'.

hope you will too!

scared slide

smell ya later!
todd

PERHAPANAUTS!

okay...

i keep looking back at prior posts and am feeling very self-centered and egotistical--this is s'posed to be a perhapanauts blog, dammit! but how many times have i droned on and on about nothing or got on my soapbox about things you prob'ly don't care about or gone off on some crazy tangent that has absolutely nothing to do with the blog's title or the perhapanauts or even comes close?!

so, i'm dedicating myself to be more perhapanauts-oriented here--enough about me and what i think or how i see things...WHO CARES?!! i don't anymore. and if you're like most people (and who ISN'T?) you shouldn't either.

so, okay--the perhapanauts...

...

...

umm...

we got a new book coming out in november.

you knew that?

oh.

and a trade in septem–

you knew that too?

yeah, there's nothing much to get excited about really. not until the new book comes out anyway. i mean, craig and rico and i are excited about it because, really, we think this new story, art, and colors are lookin'...well, great! (does THAT sound arrogant? selfish?) but it does! i mean, i won't say anything about the story--that might sound like bragging--but i WILL tell ya about the art! i know i've said it before, but craig has really outdone himself on second chances and it shows in every single panel! rico too--his colors make this series jump so much more than the first!
still can't get excited about it, right...?
sorry. man, if you could just see...

oh, wait a minute.
you can.

(don't tell those guys...)










enjoy!
todd

fast!

okay...

there are times when i come here with absolutely nothing to say. and then, when i get to the bottom, i look back and am amazed at how much nothing i actually said.

like, today; i really don't have a topic to discuss, a story to tell, an agenda to further.

about a week and a half ago i got hooked up with hi-speed cable. i had been on dial-up since the cavemen invented hand-held calculators. i have since been going in a million different directions checking out new music--i've easily spent $100 at itunes, which i couldn't do before 'cause the connection was so bad--new videos and funny clips on youtube, and upgrading all my files so that i can plugged in to the art side of the perhapanauts, doing the lettering with craig and seeing in faster and higher resolution the beautiful colors rico lays down on each page. things have moved faster in the past two weeks around here than in years--prob'ly since i got my computer in the first place!

and i'm learning a lot.

and having a lot of fun!

so i was watching the pop culture championship on vh1--and doing quite well, i might add!--and easily got drawn into 'i love the 70's' and saw a commercial for this OTHER show they've got called 'the best week ever'. i didn't watch that show. but i did see a clip of a cool new video by OK Go and i'm thinkin', "wow! that looked cool, i'll hafta catch that if they show it again." and then i realize, 'ha ha, idiot! you got hi-speed!' and i hi-speed it over to the computer, google OK Go video and i see that i can see the video on their myspace space. so i go there and dig, not only that video, the one for 'here it goes again' where they're on the treadmills, but the 'a million ways' vid with them in the backyard that it seems everybody is doing a version of! then i run over to itunes and buy the album not only 'cause the videos are good (i've done that. stupid.) but 'cause i really dig the tunes as well.
so when i tell ringo about this, he tells me that he's putting a myspace page of his own together and that i should too, not just to keep him company or 'cause we usually do a lot of the same stuff, but to have another place to show our stuff and maybe get a few more people interested in tellos. and the perhapanauts.

so i've got a myspace space now.
you can go see it if you want.
it's at www.myspace.com/99228910
mostly, it's just gonna re-route people back here to read this, so...

so, now i'm being inundated by people i don't know (mostly) who want to be my friend. virtual friend, i guess. okay...but this one girl invites me to be her friend and i check out her myspace page and SHE'S GOT MUSIC! cool! i wish i could do that! oh, wait...i CAN! so i put the song 'here it goes again' by OK Go on my page! (Mike pointed out that, after the novelty of it, it gets a little irritating...and i've found it can kinda scare ya if you don't know it's coming. you click on this page and suddenly the music kicks in, BAM!) i'm not sick of it yet. it's fun! and by the way, the tune on that girl's page was this fun song called 'requiem for o.m.m.' by of montreal and i went to itunes and bought that right away too!

so, i'm in. i'm hooked up. i'm part of it.

hopefully, i'll be much faster and consistent with these posts.

now, i really hafta get to work. i've allowed myself a little playtime the past two weeks as i get used to it, but now i've gotta make it make my life easier. and my work faster.

smell ya later!
todd





stay cool!

stalling...

okay...

i've been stalling the past few days, trying to get some info that i can break for you. y'know... i learned in journalism class that you don't report on something unless you can answer all the questions. i've got the who, what, where, why, and how...i just don't have the whens...

i've got some close to whens. i can tell you when-ish...

so here's what all's goin' on!

at wizard's chicagocon--which is going on as we speak. or rather, as i type. and probably as you read... anyway, dark horse will be making the big announcement that you, faithful (3) readers of this blog already know, that the perhapanauts are gonna be back for a second outing starting in november with issue 1 of PERHAPANAUTS:SECOND CHANCES!
unfortunately, craig and i are't able to make the convention this weekend, but if anybody is there at the 'dark horse special announcements of upcoming projects'panel, please yell 'woo hoo!' really loud for me when they say that.

another other cool thing is that jason, dark horse's new marketing guy, set up an interview for us with matt brady at newsarama!
that's one of the things that i don't know when...later today? tomorrow? anyway, i'll list it here when it finally comes up but check out www.newsarama.com anyway, and let us know whatcha think? i think that interview made me look fat...

so, after doing THAT interview, i was talking with our good pal, augie de blieck (jr) over at comic book resources (cbr) and he hooked us up with jonah weiland who also interviewed us and asked us TOTALLY DIFFERENT QUESTIONS! his interview will be posted at www.comicbookresources.com and again...i think it's today...i'll get back to ya...

i also did an interview about the new series a few weeks back with roger ash from westfield comics which will premiere in their catalogue and on their website simultaneously. like live aid. again, i have no idea when...

exciting, no...?

sheesh.

okay, okay, this i DO know.

craig has posted on the front page of the perhapanauts website (ummm... www.perhapanauts.com) the ENTIRE FIRST ISSUE of the first series for those of you who have been enjoying the sound of my blog but have yet to dive into the crazy world of BEDLAM! it's up there! NOW! you can read it! Free! go right away! have fun!
lemme know whatcha think...


so to recap;
cool article on newsarama. don't know when. IT'S UP! www.newsarama.com!
great interview on cbr. don't know when. IT'S UP! www.comicbookresources.com
revealing story on perhapanauts:second chances in both westfield catalogue and on line. dunno when. IT'S UP! www.westfieldcomics.com
announcement by dark horse at wizard chicago. sometime this weekend...? THEY DID IT! first thing today! woo hoo!
free perhapanauts #1 online. now! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW!

as i said, i'll be updating later.
sorry for the vagueness.

and because i don't really have any cool pictures to post (that one above is a weird cloud formation [called a nacreous cloud]they spotted over australia...) i thought i'd post this email i got from my cousin. you may have seen it before and if you have, i apologize, but i definitely think it's worth seeing. and don't be a wus. make sure to look at the photo.


*WILD DOG PACK KILLS GATOR*
It's always awesome and a little disturbing to see nature at work.
Now, thanks to a photo from Nature Magazine, Inc., we're able to see it in full force.
One reason alligators can become so overwhelming in population in certain areas is because they have no natural predators. They are eating machines, and with a tough outer coating and great swimming ability, they generally get to fight on their own turf where they nearly always win. In this case a wild dog pack caught the gator on land, unable to make it back to his soggy home field. The dogs, working together as a team, managed to take the gator down. Note how the alpha dog, the leader, is holding onto the gator's snout to keep him from biting, while the others hold him down to keep him from rolling and thrashing. I won't lie to you, the picture is disturbing, and this page is set up in such a way that you'll have to scroll down to see it, in case there are any squeamish among you who don't want a peek.
Please, check this photo out before you clear your children or any minor to look at it:



































i liked it.

have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

shameless self-promotion

okay...

i am not the super-huckster that stan lee was.

i am not good at pushing my own product.

i am not entirely comfortable with that whole end of the business.

the business end.

i like telling stories. i like to make you happy, make you laugh, make you cry, make you think.

i don't know how to make you buy.

stan was awesome at it! stan was the ultimate carnival barker, the guy you trusted immediately, the guy who could actually tell you what you wanted! let me say that again; stan could TELL YOU WHAT YOU WANTED! he was amazing! and it was so simple--he put it right there on the cover!
"BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT!!"
"WORLD'S GREATEST COMIC MAGAZINE!!"
"COLLECTOR'S ITEM!!"
"FACE IT, TRUE BELIEVER--YOU CAN'T MISS THIS ONE!"
along with the unique and colorful characters and the dynamic and stunning artwork, one of the most endearing things about ALL those early marvel covers is that they absolutely DRIPPED with hype!
and that was stan! all stan!






and he was right! you COULDN'T miss it! (of course, looking back it would seem that those very words were the hypnotic triggers that created generations of marvel zombies...but that's a different story...it wasn't until recently, some 40 years later, that some of us are finally waking up, saying, "hey, wait a minute...I don't remember demanding THIS?!?!?")

anyway, stan was the man! and we loved him for it! why, i even watched the first ten minutes of that painful, insufferable, superhero reality train wreck the other night JUST TO SEE STAN!! (then i hadda turn it off--it was makin' my eyes burn...)

but i'm not stan. i don't know how to make you think that your life will be an empty, vaccuous void if you don't order the next issue of the perhapanauts. actually, i don't WANT you to feel bad if you don't get it.

but i do want you to pick it up if you want to.
and i want you to be sure to tell your local comic shop owner that they should order a bunch for their store 'cause it's gonna be a good seller. and i do want the word to get out that this series is gonna blow the last series away! and tell your friends! and tell them to tell their friends! and tell them all to call, not just their comic shops, but LOTS of comic shops and just ask if they're going to have it! and i do wantcha to do that NOW 'cause this is the month that perhapanauts:second coming #1 is solicited in PREVIEWS and so this is the time for EVERYBODY to put their orders in!











































>> here's how to do that: pick a zip code at random. anywhere in the country will do. call that handy toll-free comic shop locator number listed in every comic book (it's 1-888-266-4226). enter the zip code. and then call the shop or shops they give you and ask them the magic question, "will you be carrying the perhapanauts:second coming in your shop?" (if they ask you if you'd like to reserve one, say yes and tell them your name is 'hugh jass'. then hang up.) <<

also ask 'em if they ordered the perhapanauts trade, first blood.
not only will you have mine and craig's eternal thanks, but you'll get a nice warm feeling inside.

bottom line, perhapa-pals, is that we need the word out and we need it out NOW!!

thank you thank you thank you!
excelsior!
todd

ps. anybody who would like one or both of the previously featured perhapanauts postcards sent to them need only 'e' me with their name and address at todd@perhapanauts.com. i'll put 'em in the mail pronto and you too--along with your postal carrier--will finally be able to read all the goofy stuff on the back! if you want the infamous choopie card that's making mother's nervous nationwide, let us know. we'll find a way to get that out to ya too!

> NOTICE! NOTICE! <

okay...
quick note here...

my friend, jason (armstrong, not copland) brought it to my attention that in order to log in and post a comment in the comment section at the bottom of these posts, blogspot (our kind and generous host) requires that YOU yourself sign up for a blog to play.
while you DO have to register and they do offer you a blog as part of the whole thing, that blog is only there for you if you choose to activate it. so you really don't have to have that responsibility/pressure hanging over your head. or maybe you DO want a blog and don't know it.
either way, if you don't want to sign up for ONE MORE THING (i can empathize...), then please feel free to send me any comments you might have at todd@perhapanauts.com and i'll post 'em for you! (or not, if that's what you'd prefer. just write 'not for post' at the top or bottom of your message.)

anyway, as i said, we'd love to hear from ya.
i just want to make it as easy as possible to log in and share your stories, comments, recipes. lucky numbers...

later
todd

anatomy of a comic book page

okay...

recently, several friends/acquaintances/exes/relatives/former gambling buddies/and the like have revealed to me that they actually read this blog.
this is both surprising and intimidating to me. for so long now i've been fairly convinced that it's just been me, brian, jason, kojee, and sometimes scott, and that was that. now suddenly i discover that there are those of you out there that read it but who then will never ever comment. or join in. or send me something to post!

hey, send me something to post!

since this is the perhapanauts blog, i do try to keep stories and such to the weird, the unexplained, and the just-plain-scary, but, hey! feel free--make your voice heard! start thinking about the scariest stories you ever heard and send 'em in--it would be great to have some fun/creepy horror stories to post around halloween time.

anyway, that said, i'd thought i'd start bringing things back around toward the perhapanauts again since the trade will be out in september and the new series, perhapanauts:second chances will be hitting the stands in november. (order yours today!)

















craig, rico, and i are hard at work on the second issue already and so i thought now might be a good time to give you a sneak peek at issue #1, as well as show you how we do it, break it down so's you can see the steps that go into it.

SPOILER ALERT!! i'm going to show you a page of plot from perhapanauts:second chances, as well as both the rough and finished art for the page, that, while fun, will not reveal any vital plot points of the story as a whole. if ya don't wanna see it and just wanna be surprised, good for you!, but get out now while you can...!

first, of course, we start with a story, and that's my job. i really like to work "marvel style', which means giving craig a plot detailing the story we're gonna tell and a panel-to-panel description of what I'M seeing in my head so that he can bring it to life, turning it into an actual story. i also give some indications of what the dialogue will be and usually the mood/attitude/emotions of the characterss so that he can put the proper expression on their faces, in their body language. (i do see a LOT in my head and i give big credit to craig for being able to sift out the important stuff from the extra stuff...!)
here's the plot for page 13...

PAGE THIRTEEN
Cut to; the CHIEF’S Office, where the CHIEF, JOANN, and DR. TRISH SHEEHAN are holed up along with our two new Drs, DR. BALDEV DAS (an older Indian man responsible for many of BEDLAMs bio-related breakthroughs) and DR. O’NEILL (BEDLAM’S medical doctor and CHOOPIE’S vet-- white hair--looks like a somewhat stocky version of John Mahoney/Frasier’s Dad). They are not scared, more slightly anxious--they’ve all been in situations such as this before. They are intently watching the monitors (where, as with BIG’S realization in the COMSEC office, nothing is happening) as DR. O’NEILL regards the door. The CHIEF is commenting that there seems to be no sign of them anywhere, they’ve disappeared, as O’NEILL points out that he can’t hear them outside the door anymore either.
On JOANN and maybe DAS behind her as she looks up, listening, her telepathy maybe kicking in, as she ominously whispers, “something’s coming…”
On the room, draped in shadows of course for TRISH and The CHIEF, as the 5 of them look around, now nervousness setting in. DAS: "Do you…do you hear that…?"
On O’NEILL as he looks up, listening, as he adds, : "Like something… screaming… " (we can hear a small sound effect of “aaaeeiiii”)
On TRISH, as she says, “No. It’s…singing.”
From over their heads as they look up toward the air vent which they now know is where the noise is coming from and now we can distinctly hear the “dum da dum da dum dum dum”
And, different angle as CHOOPIE kicks through the vent making his dramatic entrance, finishing up his song as he bursts through. The others don’t move, all having grown used to this kinda behavior from their combined years at BEDLAM.


cool, huh?

okay, here's craig's rough layouts/breakdowns for the page, setting both the pace and the mood with cinematic angles and shadows. because craig is going to be inking this himself, he does this in very broad strokes, going back to tighten things up when he inks. (were he doing this for someone else to ink, his pencils would be much tighter/clearer.)























and, as promised, here is the final inked page ready to go to rico to get some masterful colors applied.






















even though i'm involved in this process--bringing the characters to life from word to drawing--i still find it amazing each and every time! craig puts so much energy and drama into his every line--it's just great!

i'll post the colors when i got 'em so you can see what rico does with it.

that's it for now!

smell ya later!
todd

support your local comic book!

okay...

two posts back, my pal scott suggested that, while standing on my soapbox suggesting that everybody check out the let's-call-them-"smaller" (indicating their print run and/or exposure in the marketplace rather than, of course, their stature as prime examples of the comic book art...whew!) comics being published these days, we make a list of books that you all are reading and recommending. i guess the only pre-rec is that they not be published by marvel or dc--again, nothing against them, just that they have it so easy.


truth, justin, and the american way



so here's the list and i'll update/compile as we go so post your picks in the 'comments' section located at the bottom of this entry.





boneyard
b.p.r.d.
death jr.
digital webbing presents
doomed mag
fear agent
ferro city
flaming carrot
godland
the goon
grimoire
hero squared
liberty meadows
lions, and tigers, and bears
local
midnight sun
mouse guard
pvp
rocketo
shaolin cowboy
strange girl
truth, justin, and the american way
walking dead








hope you're havin' a nice summer!

todd

diane's ghosts

okay...

i have this dear friend, diane. she lives just outside of philadelphia and is a licensed hypnotherapist and life coach. and a really wonderful person! her intuition, insight, and remarkable compassion make her, not only good at her job, but a great friend as well. she's a lot like our joann in the perhapanauts too; part den mother, part calming force, seeing the inner beauty in everybody.

and she's got ghosts.


now i've had this argument (or, let's call it a discussion) many times with people, that if there are ghosts and ufos and bigfoots and stuff all around, how come more people don't see them. and why, especially, aren't these spirits, entities, whatever, being seen by skeptics, more reliable witnesses, ie; pragmatists. my argument is that we--those of us who WANT to believe--are wired differently. we are open to the possibilities of there being more there than what we see. we don't dismiss things as fantasy simply 'cause we cannot touch or feel or verify them. a bump in the night is just the house settling to a scully. but it's a world of possibility to the mulder.

so diane has lived in this house for years. she says that she has always felt the presence of others. a man and a woman.
and a cat. she's seen the cat. many times. at the end of a hallway, out of the corner of her eye, shooting across the room.

"My dog and I always hear someone walking up my stone driveway, only to look and find no one there. My daughter has seen the man in my driveway. My cousin asked to sit in another chair in my kitchen, because she could see someone walking out on my deck."

"Someone tells my dog to sit and stay. She won't move and sometimes I have to say, release her, and walk up to her and tell her it's ok and to come."

diane told me that, when she first moved in, she would often smell smoke and drive herself crazy walking all around the house trying to find it. at one point, her friend, linda, announced to the house to stop with the smoke because it was frightening diane. she hasn't smelled it since then.

we've chatted a lot about this--as well as a ton of other things--but the subject came around to the ghosts again and she told me this.

"My most frightening experience was when I was on vacation, my husband and I were staying in an old cabin and I was reading one night in bed. As I read, I felt someone get into bed with me. At first I thought it was my husband, but was confused because I was facing the door and he hadn't come in, and the other side of the bed was by the window. I jumped out of bed because I thought someone had gotten in from the window. There was no one in the room. and the window was locked."

spooky. and it made my other friend, liz's, hair stand up on the back of her neck.


so here's the thing. some people would say that diane is seeing things due to an overactive imagination. they would scoff and bluster and write it all off as nonsense. they would say that she makes herself see these things because she WANTS to believe.
i think that's part true.

i think she sees them 'cause she's open to it. part of it is her natural sensitivity, she is gifted with better eyes for this. she can sense their energy. pragmatists can't do this. they either don't have the tools or they do but just won't take the time to develop them.
the other part is that diane is open to this. she makes herself open to it. yes, she wants--she wants to be open to every possibility.
we can all do that.

thanks for sharing your stories, diane!
talk to ya later!
todd

empty chamber

okay...

in the past, i've gone on about how hard it is in the current comics market, for any book NOT published by the big 2 to have any kinda presence on the shelves. with cross-overs galore and all the ad space being monopolized by marvel and dc, its tough for ANYBODY to get noticed! right, todd--we've heard it before, blah, blah, blah...but this time i'm not talkin' about the perhapanauts.
there are tons of other books; small press, independent, call it what you will, clever, unique, innovative stuff, that are drowning out there in a sea of same old, same old. i go through previews each month and skirt the dc section (well, i do go back and look--i still LOVE these characters after all and i still read some of their books) but my first priority is to see all the new stuff, the personal stuff, the passionate stories/comics that are just DYING to be looked at in the independent section of the catalogue. this is where most of my actual ordering comes from--trying out something new, something that's caught my eye, something fresh...marvel and dc are gonna be fine if i decide to spend my wampum on true story, swear to god instead of civil war: part 29. or electric girl! or e-man:recharged! or death jr! or empty chamber!

which brings me to empty chamber...
perfect example. despite the cool art, despite the thrilling story, despite the added good fortune of having matt brady write it up in a plug on newsarama (with six compelling preview pages! check it out!)

http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76411

this book is gonna get eaten up.
sorry, jason. sorry, a..
in the current climate, sadly, a gem like this will be overlooked by far too many people.
the industry these days is all about hype. (well, really, these days, what ISN'T?) and if you don't have the money or the corporate support team to build that hype, you're gonna get lost in the sauce.



but enough about the biz--that just makes me frustrated.
i've read this book. well, the first issue. jason was kind enough to send me a preview copy a month or so ago and i really dug it. it's a great little thriller and from page to page i wasn't really sure what was unfolding in front of me. empty chamber is the kinda tale that invites you in...and then slams the door behind you once you're over the threshold. played out like a movie, it begins 'in medius res', and i don't know who are the good guys, who are the bad guys, who's that girl, where'd THAT guy come from.
it's really well done.
and you'd like it.
how do i know? 'cause two months later i still find myself thinking about it, wondering, from time to time, what's gonna happen? how are they gonna get outta THAT?!

check it out.
check 'em all out.
i'm not saying stop being a marvel zombie.
or a dc...whatever.
but there's gold out there...

smell ya later!
todd

urban legends

okay...

i love, love, LOVE a good urban legend!
after "the big book of the unexplained", "the big book of urban legends" is my favorite!
and with the advent of the internet, they get around SO much faster!

now i always say that i WANT to believe. in myths, legends, cryptid creatures, ufos, and ghosts. i WANT to believe that this is true too.
but i don't know...
that's what makes it so scary.

this is what i got from someone i KNOW believes it's true!

have fun!


MAKE SURE YOUR DAUGHTERS AND SONS KNOW!

This was written by a guy from KVLY-TV in Fargo; see bottom of msg.

This is true. Scary!


This is something that happened to us on the way back from vacation last week.
At first I didn't think much of it until now. The reason we were a little suspicious is we had been riding in a jeep all day with 100 degree temps and we stopped at a truck stop for something to drink. When I was leaving, a young girl followed me out and asked what kind of cologne I was wearing. Well, after 7 hours in the car sweating, I don't think you could tell if I was or was not wearing any cologne. We just got in the jeep and said no thanks.

Then it was about 3 weeks ago, I was at a service station in Birmingham getting gas. It was about 9:30 pm. I was approached by 2 men and 2 women in a car. The man that was driving asked me 'What kind of perfume do you wear?' I was a bit confused and I asked him 'Why?' He said, 'We are selling some name brand perfumes, at cheap prices.' I said I had no money. He then reached out of the car and handed me paper that was laminated; it had many perfumes on it. I looked quickly at it and gave it back. I said, have no money. He said it is OK, we take check, cash, or credit cards. Then the people in the car began to laugh. I just got in my car and said no thanks.

Then I received this e-mail yesterday and it sent chills up my spine.
Please read this. It is no joke. Here is the e-mail I was sent:

Dear Friends:
I know not all of you are women that I am sending this to, but am hoping you will share this with your wives, daughters, m others, sisters, etc. Our world seems to be getting crazier by the day. Pipe bombs in mail boxes and sickos in parking lots with perfume. Be careful. I was approached yesterday afternoon around 5:30 PM in the Wal-Mart parking lot by two males asking what kind of perfume I was wearing. Then they asked if I'd like to sample some fabulous scent
they were willing to sell me at very reasonable rate. I probably would have agreed had I not received an e-mail warning of a "Wanna smell this neat perfume?" scam. The men continued to stand between parked cars, I guess to wait for someone else to hit on. I stopped a lady going towards them, pointing at them and told her about how I was sent an e-mail at work about someone walking up to you at the malls or in parking lots and asking you to SNIFF PERFUME that they are selling at a cheap price or at least compare to which one you like best.

THIS IS NOT PERFUME...IT IS ETHER!

When you sniff it, you'll pass out. They'll take your wallet, your
valuables and heaven knows what else. If it were not for this e-mail, I probably would have sniffed the 'perfume' but thanks to the generosity of an e-mailing friend, I was spared whatever might have happened to me. I wanted to do the same for you.

PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO ALL YOUR WOMEN FRIENDS AND PLEASE BE ALERT AND BE AWARE. IF YOU ARE A MAN AND RECEIVE THIS, PASS IT ON TO YOUR WOMEN FRIENDS.

Ladies, this happened to me yesterday and I didn't smell the perfume
either, thanks to this email. This is true. Believe me, I know. I was over by Big Lots in the parking lot at lunch time when I was approached. So either day or night, it does not matter. There were 3 guys together when I was approached. I called the police when I got back to my desk.

Like the email says above, LET EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT THIS - YOUR
FRIENDS,FAMILY, CO-WORKERS, whomever. It helped me. The first thing that popped into my head was this e-mail warning.

Rhonda Tennyson
Girl Scouts of Northeast Mississippi
P. O. Box 1145


okay, so sharon just walked in and told me that she heard about this on the news a few weeks ago.
diabolical!

more later!
todd

back and beat...

okay...

got back from charlotte on monday.
fourth of july with my brother, dad, jake and sharon yesterday.
pick up my mac from the repair guy this morning.
and trying to write a blog before i fall asleep tonight...

charlotte, as always, was a blast! and twice as big a blast this year as the professionals came out to support shelton and the show in the wake of wizard's (crappy) attempt to squeeze him out! didn't get to hang and chat with everybody i'd hoped to see there, but had a great time with those i did and a hysterical time with my buds, craig and mike! (we were cracking up over--and annoying everyone else with--lines from the "little britan" dvd we watched upon arriving at mike's house on thursday. if you haven't seen the show--and like inane british humor, don't miss this!)
as usual in charlotte, we got to hang with mike's brother, matt, and sister-in-law, suzanne. i think the 5 of us came a lot closer to being thrown out of the very nice restaurant (harry & cheese) than we'd care to admit, laughing at our waiter who looked like jon heder and sounded like gary cole in 'office space'.

the show...was AWESOME! as i've said, it's one of the last true all-about-comics comics shows! the charlotte crowd is easily the friendliest, most hospitable bunch of people i will ever meet. familiar faces--and some new ones!--everyone was happy and excited to have us there! like coming home...

the response to the perhapanauts was...wonderful. inspiring. encouraging. thank you. thank you all!

rico was with us at the tables and had done a truly incredible job with our previously mentioned banners and postcards! he also had some way-cool booklets of his way-cool coloring that EVERYBODY was eager to get their hands on! many of the pages showcase rico's work with his kickstand kids partner and studiomate, chris brunner, but also features some pages by david williams, rick leonardi, frank cho, and casey jones.
oh, and craig rousseau!
if ya wanna check it out or get your hands on a copy, check out rico's stuff at www.kickstandkids.com .

and my friend, scott weinstein, came down to hang with us but was so totally overwhelmed with the whole heroescon experience that we saw very little of him, just an occassional appearance at the table, a huge smile on his face like a kid who's discovered some secret buried treasure, and then he'd be gone again! ha, scott! toldja!

unfortunately however, like mike over on his blog, i didn't get any pictures of the show at all. well, actually mike got one (of craig and me at his house before the show) and he put it up on his site, but, mike, i don't think that counts...

i do have pics from last year's show though and promise that i'll take pictures to share at the baltimore show in september. sleazy, incriminating pics...



mike, matt, and suzanne




craig and me in a camera showdown





me and megan (man, even standing next to a beautiful [super]girl can't make me look better...)

note: megan has been our assistant/intern/gofer at heroescon since she was, like, 10?
ah, how our little girl's grown up...

that's it for now--this got waaaaay longer than i'd planned...
more next time!

todd

HEROESCON!!

okay...

craig is a stay-at-home dad.
he is with johnny, his 2-year-old son, 24/7.
he does his artwork late at night after trish and johnny are asleep.
for this alone, i am in simple awe.

on top of that, craig is a great dad.
dedicated, loving, nurturing, intelligent, involved/playful, patient.
i wish that i could be a father like that. he adores trish and he adores his son.


but, dude--we're only gonna be away for 4 DAYS!
he'll be there when you get back! will you quit with the whining!
holy crap! it's not like we're goin' on a 2 and a half year mission to mars!
i swear to god, if we don't have fun on this trip 'cause you're missing johnny, i'm blaming it all on you!




that said, i'm looking down at jake right now, his whirling tail wagging his entire body, and i'm already feeling that pang of separation anxiety that craig's been preparing me for all week. i know that mike is looking at charlie and hearing that little voice inside his head saying, "don't go! stay home and play with that crazy little guy!"


okay, so we're a buncha wusses. we'll go and we'll do what we always do; laugh and drink and tell stories and meet people and tell each other it's okay when we miss the little guys we left at home.
also, they will be having parties at home without us!
i know jake does.
i come home and the place is a mess!
(this, by the way, is us with our pal--the funniest man in comics--scott kurtz!)

rico, i think, will be bringing his family.
can't wait to see rico!


here's rico's choopie doodle before we go!

and just so you have something to comment about while we're away, how about that superman movie, huh?

see ya on tuesday!
have fun!
todd

GOING TO HEROESCON!! GOING TO CHARLOTTE!!!!

okay...

when i was a kid the two absolutely greatest things that would happen every year were christmas and the county fair.
christmas, of course, makes sense to all of you; for a kid it was a well-placed holiday. smack in the middle of winter, smack in the middle of the school year, snow, family, magic, presents...

the fair, i think, for me and my friends in town, was bigger than it would be for other kids in the area 'cause the duchess county fair was held in OUR TOWN! it was the ultimate summer event and, though it came more towards the end of summer, was our signal and our chance to blow out all the stops before summer actually ended. for about a week and a half, all bets were off, all rules could be broken, rhinebeck was so overrun with fair-goers and horse people and livestock showers and carnies...especially carnies...that no one was watching us! it was pandemonium! of course we were kids and our priorities were the rides and the games and the food and the rides and where the hole in the fence was this year and the rides...we would play in the fairgrounds all the rest of the year and so we all knew the place like the back of our hands, familiar with it on a totally different level.



so i'm a little older now and i still love christmas. and i still love the fair. but for the past almost ten years now, my new favorite thing to look forward to is going down to charlotte to attend one of the last great TRUE comics shows; shelton drum's HEROESCON. it is attended by some of the nicest, friendliest people i know, visited by some of the nicest (and most talented) guests in the business, and shelton, his family, and crew make sure that the atmosphere of the place continues to be warm and welcoming--almost homey--from year to year.
also i get to hang out and goof around for the long weekend with my two closest friends.



it started all those years ago when mike and i were still working on sensational spider-man and mike invited me down for the show. i'm sure he regrets that now 'cause i quickly made it an annual event and he hasn't been able to get rid of me since...
each year i'd fly down to raleigh-durham, hang at mike's place for a few days, and then we'd drive over to charlotte for the fun. about 5 or 6 years ago, we added craig to the mix and it's been the way it's been ever since.

next weekend is heroescon and i'm already starting to get excited! not only 'cause i'll get to see those guys, but craig and rico and i have been hard at work on a few perhapanaut promotional items that we can't wait to get into circulation.




aside from the promo postcards for our trade, "first blood", and the new series, "second chances", (seen above), we have these awesome "choopie butt cards" that any true perhapanauts fan will not want to be without! actually, anybody who ever wants to make a kid laugh in record time will wanna keep one of these in his or her wallet at all times!

oh, and huge props to craig and rico for doing such an amazing job on these--as well as the gorgeous banners that we'll have behind us at the show! rico did all the physical work of printing/making the cards and banners and i can't thank him enough!

so if you wanna come to (what i consider) one of the last best comics conventions around, come by and see us and pick up a couple cards. and maybe some perhapanauts.

it's like christmas and the fair all rolled into one!

see ya there!
todd

perhapanauts from france

okay...

craig got this really nice letter from philippe scherding, a reader in france, as well as this terrific pin-up of molly!



i can't tell you what it means when someone likes your characters so much that they want to draw them themselves! (and though craig's the one who designed our gang, i still feel that i can take a little pride; they're our "babies"...)
thank you, philippe! manifique!



and, of course, anyone else who'd like to take a swing at the 'haps, we'd love to see it!
and post it for everyone else to see...

just send 'em to me at todd@perhapanauts.com and we'll get it up there!


more from the scary movie comments:

JohnRaygun said...
As a kid my dad let me watch scary movies... I lived in the back woods of Clarksville Arkansas... we didn't even have a McDonalds in town until the mid 80s.



He let me watch Evil Dead, and a movie called Demons.... both still scare the crap out of me. The pencil in the foot scene in Evil Dead will forever haunt me.


todd said...
yeah, the original 'evil dead' was much darker, much more sinister than it's sequel/remake. my roommate and i used to refer to that one as "the one where that chick gets raped by a vine".




and 'demons' was my first dario argento movie. not his best, but still full of images that will stay with you for a long time. and...wasn't jennifer connolly in that? like, right after 'labyrinth'? cute kid.
and then she grew up to be an oscar winner.
and, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful women on the planet.
(definitely on my list. she's hot!)

(note: just checked and, no, jennifer connelly was not in that.
or anything like it.
what was I thinkin'...?
and i spelled her name wrong.)

(i still think she's super-hot though...)

besides rich's offering of 'evil' dead' and 'demons', i'm adding two others of my own.



like 'the ufo incident', 'communion' is a chilling re-telling of author whitley strieber's frightening alien abduction(s). it's really well done, it's unsettling atmosphere established right at the beginning of the film and enveloping you through the entire movie. the fact that christopher walken plays strieber only makes things more offsetting. scary. suspenseful. and in one scene, to me anyway, terrifying. i will never get THAT image outta my head...



the other is 'jacob's ladder' and i'm amazed that i hadn't thought of this one before. also filmed through a nightmare lens, this is one slow-burn that never ends. tim robbins is excellent in the lead and this is another one that doesn't let you go.

anyway, here's the list.
we can re-visit it sometime if anyone wants to add or share.
thanks, everybody, for playing along.

alien
the blair witch project
the blob
communion
demons
don't be afraid of the dark
evil dead
the exorcist
freaks
friday the 13th
halloween
hush hush sweet charlotte
it
jacob's ladder
jaws
psycho
the sixth sense
the thing (from another planet)
the thing
trilogy of terror
the ufo incident

later--
todd

just plain scary...

okay...

from the comments...

Brian said...
Thanks for reminding me about trilogy of terror. Not only was that lillle guy scary as hell, the whole show came out of left center. Really didn't expect to see something that scary on TV at that time. The whole school was talking about it the next day.



As for The Thing, I still think of the original as being the scary of the two, but that might just be because of the age at which I saw them. However, the remake had the far superior final scene.





todd said...
brian~~
funny, your comment about seeing 'something that scary on tv at the time.' my friend and i were just talking about that. at the time (back in the 60's and 70's), there were a LOT of scary things on tv that today would be slapped with that 'parental advisory' announcement they make nowadays or not be allowed on at all! prior to 1980, there wasn't much governing what the networks would run, especially when it came to made-for-tv movies. along with trilogy and don't be afraid of the dark, there were countless other movies (another favorite of mine is 'the ufo incident') that were slowly making the fcc take notice. it all came to a head, of course, with 'the day after', the movie depicting life--or what was left of it--following a nuclear attack.
sorry, got goin'...
as for the original thing, though i remember being scared by the concept, the creature--and he did look like a giant carrot, didn't he?--was another one that i knew i could outrun...




that 'ufo incident' by the way, is the account of betty and barney hill, the massachusetts couple who were the first to report that they had been abducted by a ufo late one night on the way home from a vacation back in the early 60's. chilling story, but it wouldn't have been half as scary if not for the incredible performances of james earl jones, estelle parsons, and barnard hughes! i've seen jones in tons of stuff and he is a magnificent actor, but you ain't seen nothin' 'til you've seen him cry and scream as he recounts the aliens approaching him while under hypnosis! try to get your hands on a copy! it's a great film!
i'm adding it to the list...

the list so far...

alien
the blair witch project
the blob
don't be afraid of the dark
the exorcist
freaks
friday the 13th
halloween
hush hush sweet charlotte
it
jaws
psycho
the thing (from another planet)
the thing
trilogy of terror
the ufo incident

anybody else...?

scary movies 3: the context of fear

okay...

so my pal kojee weighs in with these additions:

Kojee said...
Here's my list:

The Thing
Halloween
Freaks
Jaws
Psycho
It

all excellent choices, kojee!



the thing is definitely in my top 5! that one destroyed me in the theater--no one could sit still! it works you on so many different levels.






and freaks will always be a bit uncomfortable to watch,
especially that armless, legless guy squirming through the mud with that knife in his mouth! (shouldn't BE scary--i mean, what's he gonna do with it...? but it is.)

so that puts the list like this:

the thing
halloween
freaks
jaws
psycho
it
friday the 13th
the shining
hush hush sweet charlotte
the blob
the blair witch project

i'm gonna add alien and the exorcist to the list, 'cause those are two of my favorites, alien for the fear of the unknown and the incredibly well-built suspense and the exorcist for the basic concept of it; the devil can get inside you.

and that brings me to yet ANOTHER tangent i almost took off on two posts ago--the context of fear. or rather WHY these movies are scary. (or how...?)
i'm not the type of person who always wants to catagorize things usually, but there are some really different ways that these films scare the bejeezus out of us...or don't! some do it with suspense and mounting terror, some do it viscerally, with blood and gore. others just suggest an idea and let your imagination run with it...sometimes even long after you're outta the theater.


i don't know how many people told me, after seeing jaws, that they just couldn't relax at the beach anymore. (and didn't the filmmakers know it when they tagged jaws 2 with "just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water"?)

alien scared me because you didn't really know what this thing was, what it was gonna do next. (and that had some amazingly suspenseful moments) the blair witch scared me because it looked so real. i have 'seen'--in my mind--my legs being bit off whenever i go to the ocean. i have walked through my house in the dark and felt something in the corner, watching me...


and sometimes it's a matter of WHEN you see a movie that makes it more powerful. there are some movies that i saw as a kid that prob'ly wouldn't scare you if you saw them now. i was 11 when i saw the made-for-tv 'don't be afraid of the dark' and it still flips me out.

same year, 'trilogy of terror'. that little zuni/voodoo guy might look funny to you, but he haunts my nightmares...

for the same reason, some movies scare some people and not others. i loved the blob, but it never scared me--like frankenstein and the mummy, it was just another monster i knew i could outrun. and, of course, as with all movies, certain things and styles become cliche, and 'classics' lose their uniqueness. by the time i saw psycho it had been parodied and ripped off by other filmmakers so much that it'd lost it's sting.

anyway, i'm rambling again. i promised myself i'd blog an entry every other day and so picked a topic i knew i would have something to say about. sorry.

but don't hesitate to write in and add to the list.
are we missing any?
i promise i won't drawl on so long.

thanks for listening.
scare ya later--
todd

more scary movies

okay...

thought i'd put our converstaion right up front here so that everybody knows that we ARE discussing this and we ARE makin' a list...

Rich Faber said...
Ok,Todd, as you know, I'm not a horror guy, but you did mention something in your post that made me remember something I've been meaning to tell you for a while...



Well, you mentioned The Blob. Did I ever tell you that I live in the town where it was shot? What Phoenixville, PA is most famous for (aside from it being one of the places The Sundance Kid lived as a child) is it's the home of the Colonial Theater, where the movie theater scene in the Blob was shot, as well as where a lot of the exterior scenes were shot. Every year, they do a reenactment of that scene where everyone runs from the theater. It's a big event here, and it's called "Blobfest!"

We moved here the year of the 50th anniversary of the movie, but unfortunately, weren't aware of the festival until after it had passed; which is a shame because "The Blob" happens to be Traci's favorite horror movie!

Anyway, if you ever do make it down for a visit, we'll go see a flick at the Colonial, and you can pretend you're Steve McQueen... ;-)

Best,
Rich


todd said...
rich~~
AWESOME!
that is some of the coolest news i've heard in a while! i would LOVE to go to blobfest!
saturday mornings i was glued to the tv, watching hour after hour of cartoons, my dad yelling, "get outside! it's too nice to be indoors!" there were two times i remember him actually calling my brother and i IN from playing outside to watch movies he wanted to share with us. the first one was "the blob", the second one was "the magnificent seven". (he also plunked me down in front of the set to watch the first ever episode of "batman" saying, "watch--i think you might like this..."
little did he know... : )

thanks for the cool blob story--and don't be such a baby. watch somethin' scary! : )
thanks, man!
todd


Scott Weinstein said...
Todd,



This is a fun list. I'd have to say my first thought when you say scary movies is The Shining (or the Shinnin' if this is on the Simpsons.) I was too much of a coward to watch horror movies as a kid, so I didn't see the Shining until college. And it scared me silly. It's too bad Hollywood has overused the creepy little girls bit, because those pasty twins are the most frightening thing i've ever seen.



And I'd have to follow it up with Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte with Bette Davis. We watched this in middle school once, during the middle of the day, in a crowded classroom, and I still had nightmares for weeks. This also may explain why I couldn't watch another horror film until college.

SCOTT


Rich Faber said...
Todd,

No problem. As for watching a scary movie, I can now admit that the reason I didn't want to watch Blair Witch with you and Howard that time we stayed with you, was not because I wanted to wait to see it with Traci. It was because I knew there was no way I'd be able to sleep in that house-in-the-woods of yours, after watching that movie! ;-)

Now it can be told...

Best,
Rich


Brian said...
Hey Todd,

The Blob certainly was one of the stand out scary movies from my childhood and the Shinning was another stand out thriller.

As for the original Friday the 13th, my cousin Niki's husband, Barry Abram, was the cinematographer on that bad boy so I'll have to vote for that as No. 1.


todd said...
brian~
cinematographer on the original...?!
NICE! : )

rich~
ha! yeah, i'll give ya that. dani used to get spooked out here sometimes when she would be home alone. but then, she always had gretchen to protect her.
still a baby. but thanks for reminding me of blair witch for the list...

scott~
never saw 'hush hush sweet charlotte' (though have always meant to 'cause stephen king mentions it in 'on writing') but i will definitely be looking for it now! thanks!




so we've got;

friday the 13th
the shining
hush hush sweet charlotte
the blob
the blair witch project

anybody else?