Special Announcement! plus preview in previews=SPOILERS!

okay...

so, i don't know if you're one of those people who has diamond distributor's monthly catalogue PREVIEWS on their pull list at their local comic book shop. i do and just assume that everyone else does as well.
and i'm wrong, of course.
(never assume)

so, if you, in fact, do NOT get previews then you did NOT see the solicit for PERHAPANAUTS #1 (Coming out in April--You should order yours NOW!) or the gorgeous three-page preview from the PERHAPANAUTS ANNUAL! (IMAGE showing us some big love--we love you too, IMAGE!!)

well, if you don't get previews and you didn't get to see them, i thought that i should post them here as well, for those of you interested in seeing them a week or so early. for those of you who don't want to see them--and i'm with you, brothers and sisters! say the word spoiler and i head in the other direction! i love surprises...!
so i posted the three pages way down as the bottom. scroll no farther if you'd rather not see--though the pages don't really reveal all too much about the story or anything, but you decide for yourself what you want to do...


in the meantime, hope y'all had a great weekend and craig and i thought we'd let you know that--and here's that special announcement i was hinting at on friday--very shortly we will be offering, both in the comic and here on the website, these very nice, very affordable

PERHAPANAUTS T-SHIRTS!





we just thought you'd wanna know so you can start saving your money and getting your relatives shirt sizes from them. you're gonna want a lot of these!

okay, so here's the answers
to the "five for friday"

and then the preview pages from PERHAPANAUTS ANNUAL...!

1. what was the wrecking ball for the brady's house of cards?

the dog, tiger, actually knocked the house down, but the girls won the contest

2. in the who's 1975, tommy, who played the specialist brought in to cure tommy's afflictions?

jack nicholson

3. how many days in a leap year?

366

4. what breed of dog is snoopy?

5. stephen king section
give the title of the stephen king novel or short story from the following descriptions:

a. a hotel with a haunted history possesses a man to murder his family

the shining

b. the end of the world comes not with a bang but a bad cell phone message

cell

c. a car that isn't a car but may be a portal to another dimension

from a buick 8

d. the end of the world comes not with a bang but a bad case of the flu

the stand and night surf

e. four young boys go on an adventure to see a dead body

the body
































gotta run!
smell ya later!
todd

cold as ice

okay...

cold here the past three days. gray and freezing rain and ice.



for me, that's great writing weather! no bright sunshine and green grass to lure me outside and away from the keyboard. jake, of course, insists on at least one good long walk a day, so i get out...

but i've been having a great time playing with the perhapanauts and i can't wait until we can get that annual out and this monthly gig goin'!! (as craig mentioned in the comments section the other day, due to a mix up at image, the annual, which was scheduled for the beginning of this month, is now coming out at the end. the bad news is...well, that was the bad news. the good news is that the wait for issue one to come out will be that much shorter! sweet!

gotta go and get back to it!
we'll have yet another special announcement right here next monday as we build to the launch of the all new PERHAPANAUTS!

and here are your

"five for friday"

1. what was the wrecking ball for the brady's house of cards?

2. in the who's 1975, tommy, who played the specialist brought in to cure tommy's afflictions?

3. how many days in a leap year?

4. what breed of dog is snoopy?

5. stephen king section
give the title of the stephen king novel or short story from the following descriptions:

a. a hotel with a haunted history possesses a man to murder his family

b. the end of the world comes not with a bang but a bad cell phone message

c. a car that isn't a car but may be a portal to another dimension

d. the end of the world comes not with a bang but a bad case of the flu

e. four young boys go on an adventure to see a dead body

have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

invariably...

okay...

so, i still can't get over how really great this site looks. kieran did a phenomenal job!
i love it! hope you've taken some time to check it out...

we told IMAGE that we were hoping for a little publicity, well...

as we continue to build toward the release of our first image issue--The PERHAPANAUTS ANNUAL #1--craig and i find ourselves in a veritable whirlwind of publicity!! joe keatinge at image has arranged for the perhapanauts to be seen in so many places on so many levels that we are really left wondering how he does it?! (we think that he is a robot, a living computer capable of accessing countless comic book news feeds and bending them to his mighty will...) (but that's just us; there could be another explanation...) we couldn't be happier with the coverage our little book has been getting!

craig and i have been besieged by people seeking interviews about the book, some of them by long time friends in the industry, some arranged by joe, and others from people who have just heard about the book and are keen to find out more! seriously--it seems we been inundated with hundreds--no, thousands, of interview requests in the past two months.
i have responded to them all.
craig has done...one.

no, i'm joking.
he's done two.

well, one and a half...

actually, i'm no dummy. i try as hard as i can to field these questions and interviews, to shield craig from that part of the process, because craig does ALL of the heavy lifting on this book.
oh, it's not all fun and games coming up with these little stories for him to draw--and it can be REAL WORK to get the characters to do what you want and make it all come together--but craig's the one that makes it all come to life! he's the one that brings the magic! (and, of course, rico comes in with his own bit of magic to charge it all up a little more...!) and so i don't want to let anything interrupt him in that, don't want to take him away from makin' that magic.


so, lots of interviews.
and i'm not complaining. man, we are so lucky to have so many reporters interested in what we're doing and who we are and--and this is what i was getting at...or trying to--who the PERHAPANAUTS are... every interview invariably starts with the question; "for readers who don't know, who are the perhapanauts?"
oh, its a great question. and the one any good journalist would and should start with. and, really, its a wonderful opportunity for me to be creative and give the reader an exciting look at who are characters are and what they as a team are all about.
but after responding to that question for the, i think, twentieth time, you start to look at it differently. "wow. what would be a new way to describe this team, these characters, this book?" i try desperately not to be repetitious. should i try to be more literal? more mysterious and vague? more tantalizing? funnier?

whichever way i go now, it really doesn't matter. as with the book itself, i try to give as much as i can to each question. i give it my full attention and do my best. i look at each and every story on us and interview and review as a chance to reach some new readers with our crew of crazy, creepy cryptids and try to let them know that each and every issue will be full of surprises.

hey, "crew of crazy, creepy cryptids"!? maybe that should be my new answer for that question...? maybe a little too "stan" on the alliteration, but...

gotta go!
smell ya later!
todd

WELCOME and WELCOME and WELCOME!

okay...

well, welcome!

if you are new to the site--and maybe even new to the perhapanauts--then please let me welcome you in to our all-new, newly-re-designed PERHAPANAUTS website! we're glad you're here! we hope you'll check us out from time to time!

here you'll find galleries and character bios, back issues and prints and original art for sale, a forum where you can chat about the paranormal or cryptids or just about anything, and a blog--this blog--where i regularly run-off-at-the-keyboard about some nonsense or other. and there is, of course, a place for you to contact us should you feel the need to drop us a line telling us what you dig or don't dig about our little book!

so welcome!

for those of you who've been here before, maybe a visit or two at some point in the past, thanks for stopping by again! we hope you'll stop by more often as we have a whole lot going on all of a sudden! most importantly, the PERHAPANAUTS is now a new monthly series that will be hitting your favorite comic shop later this month! we're ready to go and we have all kindsa crazy things planned for our team and you won't want to miss an issue! and we wouldn't want to miss you!

we'll also be announcing some other cool perhapanauts shwag and contests and prizes over the next few months as we celebrate the new series and the beginning of the perhapa-mania that is bound to start sweeping the country...any minute now...

well...

and for those of you who count yourself as regulars around here, members of the perhapa-family, you employees of bedlam...

pretty nice, huh?

kieran did a PHENOMENAL job on the website--big props to kieran!!--so what are ya doin' readin my stupid babble...?

take a tour! get yourself acquanted!

enjoy!

smell ya soon!
todd

ps. oh, here are the answers to your
"five for friday"

"five for friday"

1. considered one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated, what towering figure was commissioned of chicago sculptors and buried in a field in upstate new york?

the cardiff giant
(rich--google "cardiff giant" and check out hoaxapedia.com for the full story on this great hoax!)

2. which friend learned to ride a bike as an adult?

phoebe

3. the u.s. military's alleged project to turn a battleship invisible was known by what name...?

the philadelphia experiment

4. speaking of jokers, in steve miller's the joker, some people call him maurice, 'cause he speaks of what...?

the pompatus of love

5. name three actors who have portrayed the joker.

cesar romero, jack nicholson, heath ledger, and mark hammill on batman: the animated series

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!

okay...

so i am so totally psyched...

we've been hinting, we've been teasing, but come monday morning, YOU, our favorite perhapa-fan (and you know who you are... : ) will need to set aside a little extra time so that you can check out the all-new, all-cool brand-spankin'-new PERHAPANAUTS WEBSITE!!
oh, you heard right.
designed by web designer extraordinaire, KIERAN CHAPMAN, the 'haps site is gonna blow your tiny little mind!
i have access to it right now--12:00 am, thursday night--and i just can't stop roaming about the place! kieran's done a fabulous job and i just can't wait until you get a chance to see it!

even the blog is gonna look pretty!!!

so this is our last blog before the new website goes live--the answers to the "five for friday" below will be part of our first new post! and all this is just the first step in the build up/count down to The PERHAPANAUTS ANNUAL 1 next month! stay tuned! there's more and more and more!

"random picture..."

apparently, this is called a grey-faced sengi, a member of the shrew family found in tanzia. i thought he was kinda cute. also known as the elephant shrew. poor guy.

"five for friday"

1. considered one of the greatest hoaxes ever perpetrated, what towering figure was commissioned of chicago sculptors and buried in a field in upstate new york?

2. which friend learned to ride a bike as an adult?

3. the u.s. military's alleged project to turn a battleship invisible was known by what name...?

4. speaking of jokers, in steve miller's the joker, some people call him maurice, 'cause he speaks of what...?

5. name three actors who have portrayed the joker.

as kieran will be working on the blog and website this weekend, i'm not sure if your answers in the comments section will be affected, so please 'e' your answers over to me at
todd@perhapanauts.com
and i'll post them up there as soon as i can.

see ya monday!
with a whole new site!
woo hoo!
smell ya later!
todd

not much.

okay...

matt sent me this and it's very funny, very cute, and i hope i'm not stealing something that he was planning on posting on his blog...

if this doesn't come up as a link



please cut and paste this:

http://www.glumbert.com/media/thx

he also sent me this (can you tell that i really don't have much to say today...?)



again, if there's no link, please cut and paste this

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K2triiYXSY8

while not a serious football fan (like craig, brian, and bill), and certainly not a fan of hitler (though having painted a few homes myself, i must say that his earlier work was competent if not imaginative), throw a couple of ideas together and hilarity ensues.

and, when i posted quotes last week, i looked and looked for this one, but couldn't find it anywhere. so here it is now. one of my favorites.

"archie, it has always been a pet contention of mine that people are crazier than anybody!"
--jughead
archie's pals and gals #11
winter 59-60



also, HEY!

check out the really nice (advance) review we got for the PERHAPANAUTS ANNUAL #1 from calvin over at comicgeeknews

http://www.comicgeeknews.com/comic_geek_news_site_016.htm

"random picture"


smell ya later!
todd

just another manic monday

okay...

having both deadline and computer problems...

so here are a coupla calvin and hobbes...






a cool seal story, submitted by our pal, mike/heywood--





and
here are the
answers to your

"five for friday"

1. anatomy: bodily fluids; in what part of the human body would you find vitreous humor?

the eye

2. what popular cartoon character made his debut in the comic strip "thimble theater"?

popeye

3. which came first, wyatt earp or tombstone?

tombstone

4. name the dogs in the following comics strips.

a. dennis the menace

ruff

b. hi and lois

dawg

c. beetle bailey

otto

5. name the five states with directions in their names.
north carolina
south carolina
north dakota
south dakota
west virginia

bonus monday question--

who recorded "manic monday"
and
who wrote it...?

gotta go
smell ya later!
todd

big on mars...!

okay...

so rich woodall hit me up with this first the other day, so rich, you win the race!
rich sent the video clip and i killed myself trying to find an image to post here on the blog!

rich was closely followed by leaf and scott in getting me further notification of the sighting and leaf was able to include a jpeg.
(see below)

scott and i shot jokes back and forth and talked about life and love in this 21st century...

so, here is the news...

bigfoot has been sighted on mars!



over on the perhapanauts forum i noted that this was all just more of the awesome publicity and promotion that IMAGE'S joe keatinge has put together for us and, man, what a great, great job!

anderson cooper even mentioned it on his show...
(see below)



i think it's awesome!

busy and wishing i had more time, but here's a cute cartoon sharon sent me the other day followed by the "five"...



"five for friday"

1. anatomy: bodily fluids; in what part of the human body would you find vitreous humor?

2. what popular cartoon character made his debut in the comic strip "thimble theater"?

3. which came first, wyatt earp or tombstone?

4. name the dogs in the following comics strips.

a. dennis the menace

b. hi and lois

c. beetle bailey

5. name the five states with directions in their names.

have a great weekend!
smell ya later!
todd

finnegan

okay...

so i'm still very busy...
which is good.

i wish that i had more to show at the end of the day for my time, but i'm starting to really get into the rhythm of all this again.
that, said, i'm fudging today's blog by copying over a sweet e-mail i got from heather (who has raised squirrels herself...!) the other day.
i'll have darker/creepier things to talk about friday.
and some questions...

enjoy!

"FINNEGAN THE SQUIRREL"

Debby Cantlon, who plans to release Finnegan, the young squirrel,
back into the wild, bottle-fed the infant squirrel after it was brought to her house.

When Cantlon took in the tiny creature and began caring for him,
she found herself with an unlikely nurse's aide: her pregnant
Papillion, Mademoiselle Giselle.

Finnegan was resting in a nest in a cage just days before Giselle
was due to deliver her puppies.

Cantlon and her husband watched as the dog dragged the squirrel's
cage twice to her own bedside before she gave birth.

Cantlon was concerned, yet ultimately decided to allow the
squirrel out and the inter-species bonding began.

Finnegan rides a puppy mosh pit of sorts, burrowing in for warmth
after feeding, eventually working his way beneath his new litter mates.

Two days after giving birth, mama dog Giselle allowed Finnegan
to nurse; family photos and a videotape show her encouraging
him to suckle alongside her litter of five pups.

Now, Finnegan mostly uses a bottle, but still snuggles with his
"siblings" in a mosh pit of puppies, rolling atop their bodies
and sinking in deeply for a nap.

Finnegan and his new litter mates, five Papillion puppies,
get along together as if they were meant to.

Finnegan naps after feeding.

Finnegan makes himself at home with his new litter mates,
nuzzling nose-to-nose for a nap after feeding.

smell ya later!
todd

goin' to the movies...

okay...

matt and i went to see cloverfield the other night.
oh, not together.
we live hundreds of miles apart.

mike and i did that from time to time. chattin' on the phone, eagerly anticipating a movie, no one to go with, bummed that we lived so far away from each other...
so we'd head out, see it alone, and then come back home and call each other. usually we had pretty much the same experience and similar reactions, but it was also a lot more fun--and funnier--when one of us had liked it (usually him) and the other not so much (usually me).
we saw the first two spider-mans this way and the hulk, the incredibles and a few others.

i saw cloverfield with sharon. matt saw it with suzanne and paul and laura.

matt and i thought it was great. i won't say anymore.
but try to catch this in the theater--the sound plays a really big part that you won't get at home.



matt, we gotta start going to the movies together.

in other perhapa-news; i mentioned last week that, in addition to the annual and the new series, we were looking into some other perhapanaut shwag and, especially, a newly designed website. well, i don't have the exact launch date yet, but i can tell you that craig's pal, kieran chapman, web designer extraordinaire and all-around awesome guy, has been working hard on something really, really special, with lotsa fun and surprises built in! stay tuned as we get closer and closer...it's gonna be sweet!


and here are
the answers to the

"five for friday"

1. what british unit of measurement is equal to 14 pounds?

stone

2. what band had hits with albums titled monster, reckoning, and fables of the reconstruction?

rem

3. ganymede and europa are moons of what planet?

jupiter

4. knife wielding housewife...?

lorena bobbit

5. famous parents, sibs, sons or daughters--

name...

a. jamie lee curtis' father--tony curtis

b. vic morrow's daughter--jennifer jason leigh

c. jon voight's daughter--angelina jolie

d. warren beatty's sister--shirley maclaine

e. jamie lee curtis' mother--janet leigh

f. emilio estevez's father--martin sheen

g. tommy smothers' brother--dick smothers

h. nicholas cage's cousin--sophia coppola

i. jamie lee curtis' husband--christopher guest

j. candace bergen's two "uncles"--charlie mccarthy and mortimer snerd
(edgar bergen was candace's dad, charlie and mortimer his two most famous dummies. charlie now resides in the smithsonian institute. what always got me about edgar bergen was that he was a famous ventriloquist...on the radio!!!)



gotta fly!
smell ya later!
todd

mish-mash

saw this on a bumper sticker the other day...

"those who say it cannot be done
shouldn't interrupt the people doing it."

okay...

crazy mish-mash of stuff today; some random pictures, a couple cool quotes, your "five for friday"... i'm kinda goin' free-from today and letting things just float around on their own. i think i'm gonna try to do that the entire weekend. i do that once in a while--especially after a long run of working hard to meet deadlines and keeping to schedule--just sit back a little from all that's going on around me and watch as things fall into place for themselves. it's amazing how many things you think need your constant attention will really just find their own solution or resolution if left alone.
so here's the mish-mash...

i invite you to throw in your own contributions to the mish-mash too.
post a quote or a joke or a little story in the comments section or send me a jpeg and i'll post it up on the blog.
(send it to todd@perhapanauts.com)


an aye aye named raz
no i've never seen one before either...

for christmas sharon's mom gave me a joke a day desk calendar. some of them are cute. some were really funny when i was in third grade. some of them are ancient corny, groaners that weren't even funny in vaudeville. but there are a couple good ones in there...

joke:
two young engineers applied for a single position at a computer company. they both had the same qualifications, so they were asked to take a test by the department manager.
in reviewing the test, the manager noticed that both men had been unable to answer only one of the ten questions.
the manager went to the first applicant and said, 'we've decided to give the job to the other applicant."
"if we both got nine answers correct," said the rejected applicant, "why did you pick him over me?"
the department manageer said, "we have based our decision on the question you missed."
"but why would his incorrect answer be better than mine?" the rejected applicant inquired.
"simple," said the department manager, "the other applicant put down 'i don't know.' you put down, 'neither do i.'"



looking forward to iron man~~




ha! love this one!
from our pal, adam!

some random randomness from roger ash!

Hi Todd,

Here’s some more randomness for your day.

“Never miss a good chance to shut up.” – Will Rogers (I love that quote.)

My friend Mary’s favorite bit of trivia – Yak milk is pink. The color is caused by blood in the milk.

and a calvin and hobbes--snowman spectacular from mike (heywood)!



your
"five for friday"

1. what british unit of measurement is equal to 14 pounds?

2. what band had hits with albums titled monster, reckoning, and fables of the reconstruction?

3. ganymede and europa are moons of what planet?

4. knife wielding housewife...?

5. famous parents, sibs, sons or daughters--

name...

a. jamie lee curtis' father

b. vic morrow's daughter

c. jon voight's daughter

d. warren beatty's sister

e. jamie lee curtis' mother

f. emilio estevez's father

g. tommy smothers' brother

h. nicholas cage's cousin

i. jamie lee curtis' husband

j. candace bergen's two "uncles"

"i've had a perfectly wonderful evening.
but this wasn't it."
~groucho marx

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

more chupacabra fun!

okay...

in one of my breaks from work the other day, i jumped over to ebay to see what i might see. i've picked up a few very nice items recently--that two-issue captain america special edition set from 1984 reprinting the sterenko issues, a beat up copy of a book that i cherished in high school, roger dean's views (dean was the album cover artist for yes), a couple long lost cd's, and a pantload of dvd's; the mothman prophesies (though i'd like to see them film the actual book, the movie was eerie--and has the best jump scene of the past ten years...!), robot chicken season one, and, 'cause leaf gave it such a nice write up over on his blog, the zombies can be pets film, fido.

of course, as i am wont to do, i searched chupacabra and saw this way cool, one of a kind, chupacabra model/figure and thought i'd post the cool photos. and here's the item description too.
i guess that's okay...right?


CHUPACABRA!
CRYPTOZOOLOGY OOAK ACTION STATUE!
MUSEUM QUALITY! RARE

THIS CUSTOM ONE OF A KIND POSEABLE CRYPTOZOOLOGY ACTION-STATUE IS DESIGNED FOR MINOR PLAY AND MAJOR DISPLAY!

WITNESSES SAY THE CHUPACABRA IS A BIPEDAL CREATURE AROUND FOUR TO FIVE FEET TALL; SORT OF A CROSS BETWEEN A ‘GREY’ ALIEN HUMANOID, MAINLY BECAUSE THE SHAPE OF ITS HEAD AND EYES, AND WHAT MOST WITNESSES DESCRIBE AS THE BODY OF AN ERECT DINOSAUR.
IT HAS TWO ARMS WITH A THREE-FINGERED CLAWED HAND, TWO STRONG HIND ALMOST REPTILIAN LEGS, AGAIN WITH THREE CLAWS AND SPINAL QUILLS DOWN ITS BACK, WHICH HELPS IT RUN QUICKLY AND LEAP OVER SMALL TREES. SOME REPORTS SAY SMALL WINGS ASSIST IN SHORT FLIGHTS.
ITS HEAD IS OVAL IN SHAPE AND HAS AN ELONGATED JAW. TWO RED OR BLACK BEADY EYES HAVE BEEN REPORTED, TOGETHER WITH SMALL HOLES IN THE NOSTRIL AREA AND A MOUTH WITH FANG-TYPE TEETH PROTRUDING UPWARDS AND DOWNWARDS.

THIS CUSTOM ONE OF A KIND POSEABLE CRYPTOZOOLOGY ACTION STATUE IS APPROX. 7” TALL CROUCHING AND A BIG 10" TALL STANDING!

A VERY UNIQUE ADDITION TO YOUR CRYPTO/MONSTER COLLECTION!





and it sold the other day for $56.66.
very nice!

i gotta get back to work!
have a good day!
smell ya later!
todd

this is the week...!

okay...

well, according to previews and my local comic shop owner, this is the week that EVERYBODY should be ordering their own personal copy of the first issue of the all-new, NOW MONTHLY!!!, on-going PERHAPANAUTS!!

this is issue 1, folks, and the numbers just go up from there...!

we've got lotsa cool things planned for your favorite team of less-than-normal paranormal investigators and, like the annual, this issue, is going to be the perfect jumping on point for anyone new to the whole PERHAPANAUT experience!

and they make great gifts!

you can find it in the IMAGE section of your previews catalogue or just tell YOUR local comic shop owner that you need you some PERHAPANAUTS!


cover by the lovely and talented craig rousseau!


there will also be an alternate cover by comics legend, ART ADAMS!

busy man that he is, art hasn't had a chance to finish the snazzy cover yet, but we'll post it here when its done!
in the meantime, here's the awesome TELLOS cover that art did for mike and i a few years back to get ya in the mood...!


sweet, right?

and we've got lots of things in store for the PERHAPANAUTS outside the monthly book including an all-new professionally designed website and PERHAPANAUTS merchandise in the works! you keep coming back to the blog and we'll keep you posted!

other than you'd better go and order your PERHAPANUTS #1, i also wanna send ya over to matt's blog (http://mafus.blogspot.com)
to check out the cool horror trailers he found on youtube (and somehow has mastered the technology to actually post them on his blog...) (not me. i'm an idiot.) the second two are really creepy. but the first clip he's got is not really scary at all. (although it was to a five year old matt wieringo! ) i can see it. that could be scary...
to me though, well...it actually choked me up. i remember watching the movie of the week and the graphics and that voice over and that quality of the film that was just so...seventies!...that clip overwhelmed me with such a feeling of nostalgia that i got sad longing for that time, when i was a kid and it was a treat to get to stay up to watch the whole movie!

thanks, matt!
you got me.

still rushing around.
more on wednesday!
smell ya later!
todd

scrambling...

okay...

i am crazy busy scramblin' to get everything i owe to everyone to them before the end of today or by monday or by who knows when...! needless to say, as i owe several of you phone calls--sorry, matt, i'm dyin' to talk to ya--i don't even have time to call to tell you i can't talk!! i am swamped and my head just hasn't had a chance to process any trivia for our usual "five for friday".
so sorry--i feel terrible.

but, maybe my pal, nick, came up with the perfect solution; open it up (as we kinda did once before...) to YOUR questions for me. whaddaya say? got some trivia for me? something you think you wanna stump me with? or try?

that's all i got, all i can do right now.
here are a couple "random pictures of the week" to pretty this place up...




also, my (patient) pal, matt, sent me and leaf this link the other day, and i laughed so hard i hurt myself!
easily the funniest thing i've seen in a long, long time!

http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=5524

thank you, matt!

so okay--go!

smell ya later!
todd

ps--OH! i forgot to say, either leaev your questions in the comments section or e-mail them to me directly at

todd@perhapanauts.com

ghostly encounters, paranormal state, monster quest...

okay...

too much to do today to really stay too long.
i am SWAMPED with work!
(not complaining.)
(just busy.)

i've been watching a lot of the spooky shows on bio and discovery and history and a&e, and can now say that i am totally spooked out. sure, there are some episodes of each that are a bit stiff or less interesting than others, but i'm in that zone. spook me! scare me!

also, i took a moment the other day to read over some of the newest YOUR TRUE TALES over on my favorite paranormal@about.com and couldn't stop thinking about this one--the one i've posted below.

maybe because i used to work those late shifts with mentally handicapped people. or maybe because i've been watchin' all those ghost shows.

or maybe it's because i've actually heard a disembodied voice right here in my own home! (and maybe i should have sharon write up her version of that little weirdness for an upcoming post...? whaddaya say shay...? remember...?)

anyway, here it is.
yes, it's a cheap way for me to dodge doing a longer entry, but i really gotta get back to work. you'll see why in about a month!

Your True Tales
January 2008 - Page 2

Nightshift Ghost
by Veronica

I am a home healthcare provider for the developmentally disabled and am currently working in a house that has to be haunted. Let me explain why. First of all, the home is located in Chesterton, Indiana, and I split shifts with two other ladies. I work 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the other shifts are 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Now, with that out of the way, let me begin.

Our client moved into this house in October of this year and, of course, there were adjustments to be made. By her being mentally disabled, we knew that her adjusting period would be equivalent to that of a child. She normally goes to bed around 8 p.m., when the 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. person is working. The young lady that works this shift came in on the second day in order for me to leave, but she had quite a story about the previous night.

When she put the client to bed, she went into the living room to complete her paperwork. Not ten minutes later, the client came running down the hall whining that she couldn't go to sleep because "the man won't leave me alone." We both laughed it off... nervously, I might add. About a week later, the knocking began. The house would be quiet, and out of nowhere there would be light knocking on the walls and even coming from the floor. Then our nightshift person (10 p.m. to 6 a.m. ) told us that she saw a shadow cross the hall from our client's bedroom to the bathroom. Thinking it was the client, she got up to check on her. When she looked in the bathroom, there was no one there, and the client was still in her bed fast asleep. Needless to say, she was totally freaked out.

My experience happened on Thanksgiving morning as the client was taking a nap. I was sitting on the couch watching TV. From the couch, we are able to look down the hall and see into the kitchen. No one else was there except me and the client. I clearly heard a woman say, "Please help me..." and she began to sob. I am getting spooked out just writing about this. Anyway, thinking that it was the client, I got up to check on her. She was fast asleep -- and that's when it hit me. Our client has a speech impediment that prevents her from speaking clearly. The voice I heard was speaking as clearly as you or I. I went back into the living room and vowed to ignore every noise from then on.

I am spooked every day going to work, but it's my job and I have to deal with it.


there ya have it.
dja get the creeps?
i did.

oh, yeah.
and after i let you see those two unfinished pages the other day, i thought it would only be fair to show you them completely done in all their rico splendor!
ain't he great?
enjoy!



gotta go!
smell ya later!
todd

4 monday

(SPOILER!! the following contains two unfinished pages of artwork from the upcoming already-classic blockbuster, PERHAPANAUTS ANNUAL #1. they contain no real infiormation or details that might give the story away, but if you're one of those people that would rather not see--and i respect that a lot--then please go no farther. just thought i'd letcha know.)

okay...

lots of work to do and i have absolutely no time, but...

you have probably already seen the final version of the cover to PERHAPANAUTS #1 over on craig's blog, and if you haven't--WHY NOT?! you do check out craig's blog now and then, don't you? anyway, if you haven't head on over there and check out the gorgeous hues the boy laid down on it. here's the link (if it'll link...)



if not, please cut and paste this

http://www.craigrousseau.com/blog/index.html

so with that said, i wouldn't want to overlook the third member of our perhapa-team, the lovely and talented, rico renzi, and tell you once again about the awesome job he's doing with the colors on the book! i'm just blown away whenever he sends 'em over and i wanted to share something with you.

as you may or may not know, doing the colors on the computer involves using various levels and channels and stuff i still don't understand. first you have to lay down the flats and then, choose the right palette, and then hone and tweak what you have to make the magic that rico creates.

and rico is VERY creative!

so when these two pages came in, i thought it was rico taking some artistic license and i dug them so much that it wasn't until later that craig told me, no, that one of the channels wasn't locked in and those weren't the final colors. in these, you can already see the amount of work that rico had put into them, the wonderful choices and the rich textures. again, they're not the final, and rico might get down on me for posting them, but i really loved them so much that i thought i ought to post them.

oh, and i guess they give a little look at what the team will be up to in the annual...





so there ya go.
i gotta get back to work.

here are the answers to the special double-sized
"five for friday"


1. sergeant, doctor, mill

pepper

2. america, kangaroo, caveman

captain

3. trap, place, escape

fire

4. breakfast, boys, golf

club

5. piano, house, skate

keys

6. track, medical, criminal

record

7. jazz, diet, clear

pepsi

8. churchill, hugh, syndrome

downs

9. devil, bike, nap

dirt

10. egg, chicken, tuna

salad

smell ya later!
todd

googling choopie and ten for friday

okay...

not much to report today--craig and rico and i are in the final stages of getting the PERHAPANAUTS ANNUAL done and to the printer. i don't think i've said this, but craig is doing an incredible job--especially since i (we) decided to change tracks once into the annual.
see, originally, before we were definitely signed on to move to image, we were intending this annual as a giant sized one shot story that would wrap up the hanging plotlines from the second chances storyline. (if you'll recall, karl had just taken the 'haps to the par-ha, the nexus of all time and space, the team had just returned the dover demon to the sludge pit from whence he came, having discovered that he truly was the last survivor of his race, a horde of gremlins had infiltrated BEDLAM, and a couple of cops showed up with an arrest warrant for arisa.)

craig had already gotten into seven or eight pages of this when image called and gave us the go. at that moment, we realized that we had an opportunity to introduce a lot of new people to the perhpanauts and tell a thrilling stand alone epic story that would, hopefully, make them come back for more.

so we (i) went back to the drawing board.
well, actually, i went back to my computer and craig went back to the drawing board, starting from scratch with the deadline already fast approaching. what he's sent me, under such incredible pressure, is just gold! i really think that the annual is gonna do just what we'd hoped--work as a nice introduction to the team and the characters and introduce a new nightmare--the JERSEY DEVIL!--a much more brutal beast than anything the 'haps have faced before!

we'll be posting preview pages soon!

so...

the other night, while waiting for a cd to burn for my brother, i casually googled one of my favorite words and then hit "images". these are some of what i got back.







discuss.

okay...

you've waded through alla that...

and now a double-sized
"five for friday"

each group of three words has a word in common.
you've got to find it.
(ie: mail, toy, shoe = box mailbox, toybox, shoebox)
get it?
go!

1. sergeant, doctor, mill

2. america, kangaroo, caveman

3. trap, place, escape

4. breakfast, boys, golf

5. piano, house, skate

6. track, medical, criminal

7. jazz, diet, clear

8. churchill, hugh, syndrome

9. devil, bike, nap

10. egg, chicken, tuna


okay--i gotta get to work!
have a great weekend!
smell ya l8r!
todd

forgot what day it was...

okay...

january 2nd, 2008.

got up this morning and went right to work (a very good practice for a writer, i'm told) lettering craig's amazing pages for the PERHAPANAUTS ANNUAL. got so deep into it...

...that it wasn't until about 4 o'clock that i realized that it was wednesday (these tuesday holidays have thrown off my mental/biological calendar)!

and so HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

hope you had a safe and happy new year's eve and that your new years resolutions are still intact two days into the mission.

what didja do? didja go out? didja dance in the new year?

we stayed home and stayed up, glasses of amaretto to toast in the new year as ancient but still wonderful dick clark counted it down and watched the ball drop. nice and warm and great to be with the one i love. and the two fuzzy ones we love. : )

but i think that the other highlight of the night would have to be that sharon and i had saved up the last three episodes and had our own little journeyman marathon earlier in the evening and, i can't say this enough, what a horrible, horrible waste of an amazing show for nbc to let journeyman go away. as a writer, i am thrilled each episode--THROUGHOUT each episode--as they spin their web, creating a tapestry so full of potential. the writing is tremendous, the performances are so rich--this is going to be one of those single season (or half season) dvd phenomenons--like wonderfalls and firefly!


watch this show.
it's great!


gotta get back to work!
craig is crankin' 'em out faster than i can write 'em!
more tomorrow!
smell ya later!
todd