Wet Zombies.
So Saturday was rainy and cold and wet.
Though it broke our hearts, we skipped the Zombie Walk. The girls really wanted to go, but the weather would have made them miserable and I know they wouldn’t have lasted very long. It was a hard decision, but in the end, I’d rather have them dissapointed about not going to an event they were looking forward to than have them go, be unhappy and turn what should have been a fun experience into a negative one.
Nevertheless, they decided they still wanted to dress up…even if it was just to hang around the house. I didn’t manage to get the She-Ra costume done, but Maddie still had her old skeleton princess costume and wanted to wear that. So this is a taste of what we would have looked like if we had gone.
I’m sorry if anyone was watching for us, you’ll see us around the area for Free Comic book Day next weekend and we’ll be lined up for the Zombie Walk in the fall.
One last note, Commenter Wendy mentioned that she wished this event was better publicized. I whole heartedly agree. Sometimes I see it publicized a week or two ahead of time at Cinema Wasteland, but most of the time I have to ask around to find out when the date is. Google searches are useless….they turn up nothing but years old results. I think we’d all be well served by better publicity in this. Hopefully Facebook and blogs will help this out in the future.
Lakewood Zombie Walk
So the reason I’m perforating my fingers to finish that She-Ra costume six-year-old Maddie has been begging for is because the Lakewood Zombie walk is coming up this weekend and Maddie wants to wear it for the walk. She and her four-year-old sister Lydia have gone with me for the last two years and it’s a fun little bit of time they can spend in my world. It’s also a good chance for them to learn about giving to charity (the zombie walk is a food drive and designed to promote awareness of hunger in our community). If you’re interested in joining us, here’s some more information straight from the Old School Sinema Facebook page :
OSS presents its 9th Cleveland Charity ZOMBIE WALK & Festival. Doors open at 11 a.m. Walk starts at 3 p.m. Admission is $5 plus two canned or non-perishable food items. Makeup is available for a minimal fee (anywhere from $3 to $10, depending on the details, materials you request). If you need makeup, PLEASE arrive before noon due to long lines. We suggest you do your own makeup or buy supplies and bring them there ahead of time if you can’t arrive early. There will be vendors, games, giveaways, prizes and a music video shoot with Lords of the Highway! Drink specials, too!
The girls and I do our own makeup and really just come for the walk and to hang out with the other zombies for a little while. One of those rare places I don’t go to promote Violent Blue, because this event is working for a good cause. We hope to see you there!
Deadpool’s new power
You know, I don’t usually do these kinds of gags (that’s why this isn’t appearing over at Violent Blue) but it was a funny bit that happened one night as we were playing over at Warzone. I forget what all figures Jesse was playing, but he had his everpresent Deadpool, along with another piece that gave a free smoke cloud barrier each turn. His turn came and he started up the clouds around Deadpool. Someone (possibly Mark) made acomment about how he didn’t realize Deadpool had that power, and before he could point out that it was coming from another figure..well…..
I’ll admit to laughing.
Drive In Double Feature?
Trying really hard to decide if I want to go to the movies tonight. The Aut-O-Rama drive in theatre near me is showing “Cabin in the Woods” and “Woman in Black” as a double feature. REALLY tempting.
And if I bring a sketch pad I could work on Violent Blue in between movies.
Hmmmm.
Is it okay for me to be a little freaked out by Dick Clark’s passing? I mean, I only just got this about nine months ago.
If that needle pokes me one more time….
DO YOU PEOPLE REALIZE HOW HARD IT IS TO MAKE A SHE-RA COSTUME FOR A SIX-YEAR-OLD WHEN IT’S NOT 1986??????
Future Shock
Today over at Violent Blue, we’re talking about our expectations of the future and hwo they go awry.
I think I got my first bit of Future Shock when I was visiting the library at Lorain County Community College. I was looking for a specific book at my local library and they had referred me there. As I went through the aisles, I noticed buttons on some of the bookshelves. When you pushed the button, the shelves parted and a light went on, forming a new aisles. That way, bookshelves could be compacted and more shelves could be squeezed into the space.
It seemed like the most ludicrous use of technology I’d ever seen…then I though about the matchbox sized iPod clipped to my jacket. The Nintendo DS (hacked to do other things like play music, read books and hold several games at once) in my car. I kind of realized I’m living in the future. We didn’t get jet pack and silvery jumpsuits. Still, what we have gotten is pretty amazing when you stop to think about it. My car is equipped with a GPS. A holder on the dash mounts my smart phone which has a touch screen and speaker if someone calls. An FM transmitter plugs into my iPod and sends a signal to my radio so I can listen to podcasts of Danny Bonaduche’s radio show from Seattle while the cruise control allows the car to drive itself.
Sounds like the future to me.
Deep Fried Peeps
Generally I try to make only one food run a day while I’m at Cinema Wasteland. It’s either to get a $5.00 pizza from Georgios that I can slip out to the car and grab a bite all day, or it’s over to Chipoltle for a burrito so big that I don’t have to eat again for 24 hours.
I was pulling out of Georgios and hading up Pearl road when I spotted a sign for a little bakery advertising “Deep Fried Peeps”. I’ve tried deep fried twinkis and pickles and made deep fried oreos. honestly, I’m not a big fan of this stuff outside the novelty value but…..well I had to know.
It’s not bad. The marshmallows don’t entirely melt inside the batter and there’s a little cup of choclate for dipping. Still you have to contend with the taste of deep fryer oil and stuff so unless your a real fan of the deep frying craze it’s probably not going to be your first choice. And as far as the whole deep frying thing, I think Penny Arcade put it best with this strip.
(Okay, now that you’ve gone and read thier webcomic, why don’t you go and read mine over at Violent Blue)
Monster
This is a really early drawing of Maddie’s. The two circles in the middle are meant to be eyes. Her Nana wrote the title “Monster” on it at her request. I know this really just seems like a scribble at first but look close…especially where the eyes are. I see curved horns….it’s almost like the Baphomet head on Skeletor’s havoc staff….
Maybe I’m just seeing things, but that IS what I see. Perhaps I should read some Violent Blue to get my mind off it….
One of those moments yesterday. I finished off a weeks worth of comics and then found myself staring at a blank grid, unable to think of a thing.
For a little while there, I though I was done. Empty.
Then I pushed through and did another weeks worth.
Only one hundred left to go. (working on story arcs today)
Thank you Jeri Ryan
A big thanks going out to jeri Ryan for the autographs she sent me! I may be the only person on the planet that actually likes Dracula 2000 (actually one of my favorite vampire films ever) and she was nice enough to sign a still from that as well as the obligitory Seven of Nine photo!
Happy Belated Easter
Doing some Easter stuff over at Violent Blue today. I’m bummed couldn’t get this up before Easter, but my scheduling has been a little off here.
It’s just never occurred to me to be offended by the whole “Happy Zombie Jesus Day” thing before -I’m still not but I can see how some people might try to use this as something insulting. I prefer to look at it as a fun way of describing Christ…then again I’ve always been into using pop culture as metaphor.
I hit the Cedar Lee Saturday night/ Sunday morning for a midnight showing of the Terminator – the original. It was incredible to see that on the big screen although I’ll grant, some of the effects do not hold up. The head with the exposed robot eye never did, but even some of those future war sequences don’t look all that great. It’s just one or two, but it’s stuff I never noticed watching it on TV.
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the full version of this before. It’s always been edited for TV.
Anyhow, it was fun to start my Easter off with Ahhhnold, though I was dragging a bit that morning heading to Church. Still managed to shred my way through the morning music and had a nice Easter morning with my wife and girls. Also a big thanks to Angelique Bone for posting a link to “Night of the Lepus”. A perfect way to end my Easter. We had a good one. Hope you did too!
Whew. Acomplished a lot yesterday – two weeks worth of Violent Blue created, and pretty much the whole first chapter of CONundrum scripted. I took a bunch of referance photos this year at the HolidayInn so when it comes time to draw this thing I can feel a little better about the backgrounds. I’m still fresh of the convention experiance so that might explain the creative jag right now…and it’s sure not going to last.
The gag-a-day stips for Violent Blue are easier to create than the story arc ones and I think we’ll be going back to those for a little while starting next week. Come on over and see what’s happening with Taylor, Steve, Chloe and Acid at www.violentblue.thecomicseries.com! and don’t forget, I’ll be at the Cedar Lee tomorrow night for the Terminator. Come on out and join me for the movie!
Cinema Wasteland Spring 2012
Spent the weekend at Cinema Wasteland. Of all the cons I go to it’s my favorite -the best programming, the most interestign people and always good guests. John Saxon was a returning guest this year, but this time around he brough Jim Kelly with him! You know, Enter the dragon was the first thing I recognized Saxon in outside of Nightmare on Elm street. I hit the guest room a little early so I could get a picture with both of them.
Of course there are always other interesting things in the dealers room….
Looks like there are Zombie hunters afoot! Good thing too, because there seem to be an awful lot of zombies running around this time at CW.
Actually I’ve been meaning to get a photo with Sally the Zombie Cheerleader for ages. I watch her show on Youtube and I’ve noticed that she does the best games during Ghastlee’s show on Saturday nights. In fact, I played her game this year – hot potato using a severed head. I almost won….but really, when it’s the guy in a red hoodie and a hottie in a vinyl dress….yeah, I didn’t stand a chance! Seriously though, really fun and I won a Hellraiser / Cinema Wasteland shirt.
Met my first Bond girl ever! Lana Wood was nice and I got my Captain America poster signed, and she gave me a message to deliver to Reb Brown in October….”I can see you from up here”. She said it was an inside joke.
One of my favorite things is to bring someting to sign that the person has never seen before. I mean, I get it. These people sign the same five posters again and again every show. They share the same stories about the same movies and it’s got to get tedious. I brought cover art from “The Rat Pack” docudrama. I got it signed about a year ago from Joe Mantegna. She actually had to stare at it for a couple of minuets before it clicked and she remembered she played his wife in it!
Richard Keil couldn’t have been nicer. I got an Eegah! poster signed. He’s going to be at Monster Bash in July with Arch Hal Jr. I’m still kind of planning on going, but wanted to get his autograph at Cinema Wasteland right now so I don’t worry about trying to track him down at the Bash.
Cinema Wasteland is most of the time, a reunion show. This time around it was the key ghouls from Night of the Living Dead. There are ALWAYS romero zombies at these comventions, but these were a bunch I hadn’t seen before anywhere. They had a cool perspective on NOTLD – and let me tell you,
Ella May Smith’s memories of her husband in the movie was just the sweetest story I’ve heard involving zombies…
Of course one of the biggest things about the Wasteland is the movies. I go to this show to see movies I’d never have seen otherwise. I relax all weekend during screenings of terrible films…it’s really one ofthe things I love best about it.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) Yeah, everyone’s seen it, but not everyone’s seen it on FILM. That’s such a cool thing..but then get this…the print has a bunch of extended scenes in it. Not deleted, just extra seconds here and there. Enough to make me look and wonder “have I just never paied enough attention to this before?” They don’t make it a whole new movie like the deleted scenes in Aliens or Daredevil. Still it’s such a unique experiance. I loved it. Possibly the highligh of the weekend…and right at the start! I stuck around to watch BLACK SUNDAY (1960). I’ve had a copy of this my friend Jennifer gave me, and I’ve had it for years. I just never got around to watching it. This was really the proper format to see it. It’s another of those classic movies that remind you they still could create unbelievable effects fifty years ago.
As Saturday wore on, I slipped into BEYOND ATLANTIS (1973) John Ashley and Sid Haig are a couple of tough guys looking to rip off some “sacred pearls” from the natives of an uncharted tropical island And what I learned from this movie is that I never want to see Sid Haig with his shirt off again. Seriously though, this was so much better than I expected. More fantasy based than horror, but still really fun. I also watched THE SAD CAFE (2011) and MACHINE GUN KELLY (1958). Seems like there was way more organized crime film going on than I’m used to. Not that I’m complaining. For a low budged movie, the Sad Cafe has some really good action, though the torture scene lingers too long and the ending is a real drag. Kelly on the other hand is really strange….I’ve never seen Charles Bronson this young! The only annoying part is that they are trying to be a period piece, but those suits are of the rack from 1958. They don’t look like 30’s clothing most of the time. Otherwise a fun little movie.
Sunday was really going to be movie day. Friday and Saturday it was more about panals and stuff but Sunday I planed on camping out in Movie Room 2. Started off Sunday with THE TAPES (2011). Congratulations. You people made the first film that’s ever given me motion sickness. It’s a pity too, because you got a good solid idea, but all that shakycam honestly made me nauseous…that’s NEVER happened to me before. I kept having to look away from the screen.
THE PUPPET MONSTER MASSACRE (2011) I caught this at Motor City Nightmares last year, and liked it so much I was realy hoping to get a copy for myself this year. I saw it was playing and was hoping to meet the people behind it. I did and got an autographed copy! That’s the thing about the Wasteland. It’s rare to see a film there that you can’t turn around and talk to someone who was involved in making it. Also caught REPLIGATOR (1997) Campy and dumb, but fun. better than I expected.
I missed the Short film block as usual on Friday (the Night of the Living Dead panel was going on. There’s ALWAYS something better going on opposite the short film block!) But got to catch it on Sunday morning. It included CERTIFIED (2011) A simple certified letter causes more trouble than it’s worth for a mailman new to his route. My father was a mail man. I can’t help but think of that….and really funny. I want to know where they got that Sarsaparilla…I can’t find the kind I like anymore. Next up was GOOD TASTE (2011) A missing record sets off a series of events at least one collector is bound to regret. Kind of gives me a “High Fidelity feel. And then there was LOVE BUG (2011) >Good imagery, but meh. On the other hand, I could not make it through TORSO (1973). I’m just not into Giallo , I probably could have stuck ti through if I was on my way to another movie, but this was the last movie of the day….I’m pretty sure I’ve got a copy on tape around here. I’ll finish it eventually. Just like Black Sunday.
So I’m feeling a little bit like a punk. Remember a few days ago when I ranted about how disappointing I was that I couldn’t get an autograph from Reb Brown to have Lana Wood sign?
Guess who’s coming to the Wasteland in October?
Got Lana on that french Captian America poster, and in October I’ll get Cap himself!
Hope October is as great as this weekend was…but more on that tomorrow!
Argo City Comics 