Norris's Ramblings

WANT!!

2010-04-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

Can someone help me track this bastard down? I must have this! I don't care if the game sucks, it's Ghostbusters, so therefore, I must own.

Ask me ANYTHING!

2010-03-22T18:26:00.001-07:00

No, really! Ask away-
http://www.formspring.me/Venkman007

SUPER-visor

2010-03-06T05:09:00.001-08:00

SO I've been a supervisor for just over a week now. I have never held this title at any job I've ever had, so this is new for me, I gotta tell you.

With (most) of my anxiety issues behind me, I find some of them creeping back again, as I am worried that I won't do a great job right out of the gate, and look like a failure as a supervisor to MY supervisors. But it's only been a week, and I am starting to get the hang of most of what is expected of me, but I know there is a LOT more to do, especially when the warmer weather hits, and we start to get crazy busy.

Right now, I'm "in charge" of 7 or so guys, but come warmer weather, that number will jump up to 18-20. Yikes. Most of these guys I haven't worked with for five years, and the guy they remember (me) was not the worker I am now. I admit- I was a tad lazy back then, taking shortcuts with the job, etc. Haven't been "that guy" since 2006.
But I guess I also fret about those fellas taking orders from the "Chris of old", and not wanting any part of it.

But that's just my idiosyncrasies acting up, I guess. My wife tells me that the brass wouldn't have promoted me, had they not felt I'd be up for the job, so....

I *do* feel some resentment from some of the other fellas in the York Region office, as I have only been there for 7 months, and am now a supervisor, but I have to say- in those 7 months, I busted my ass to make money and make a name for myself there.

I am trying to do a good job with this new promotion, but I get all fretty when I call my bosses, asking them what I should do when a particular situation arises, yet I have had no training to BE a super, so why am I getting tense when I make those calls?

I really dont want the super-anxt to come back, like it did last year. I got a GOOD thing going on here with this company, and I certainly don't want to blow it.

More on this, as the weeks go by.

New "Kick-Ass" trailer!

2010-02-20T07:23:00.001-08:00

For those not in the know, "Kick-Ass" is an ULTRA-violent comicbook miniseries from Marvel Comics, and it is filled to the brim with hardcore violence, language, and intense action scenes.

Lionsgate Films has stepped up, and decided to make this terrific mini series into a feature film, starring Nicolas Cage (a self-professed comic geek), and the guy that played "McLovin" in "Superbad" (Not gonna look his name up)

From what I have seen in the various trailers, this flick is 100 percent faithful to the source material, like "Sin City", and "300".

This clip is EXTREMELEY Not Safe For Work, so be warned.

I can't wait to check this movie out.

Brand New Day

2010-02-19T17:56:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone-

It has been FAR too long since my last blog post; there's been a LOT of stuff that has happened to me since I last posted. Let's run those down, shall we?

- I lost my job.
Yeah- I lost my job for perhaps, the stupidest reason ever: I wasnt wearing my hard hat on a road job here in Barrie. The on site safety inspector TOOK MY PICTURE and sent it to the president of the company that I work for, and suffice it to say, shit does indeed, roll downhill. My boss's boss had no choice but to let me go, to make an example of me for the rest of the company. Being one of the top workers in the company, it was certainly a shock to all my fellow employees. More of a shock to my wife, cause...

-We had another child!
When I lost my job, my wife was 9 months pregnant, so we were freaking out, but I was able to procure another job at another company inside two days, so that was a relief.
But anyway- on Wednesday, August 26th, Daniel Charles Norris was welcomed into the world, and the Norris family.
Yes- his name is "Danny Chuck Norris". Too cool.
He's now 6 months old, and happy and healthy as a horse.
Here's a pic of the cutie-

He's insanely cute, innit he?

-I started a new job.

The guys I work for are wicked cool. They love the work I do for them, and I've been recently made supervisor of the Barrie office, and that starts next week! Yay!

I have been neglecting this blog for MONTHS, and I am certainly gonna try to post more often.

Hopefully, you readers have been sticking with me, and will stick around for a little while longer.

-Chris

Jim Lee's "MAYHEM" cover!

2009-08-08T16:04:00.000-07:00

....astounding.
It's a tragedy that DC is wasting an immense talent such as Lee's. It'll be awesome if he ever gets released from his contract and firesout some QUALITY work for image or Marvel again, I'll tell you that much.

This "mayhem" comic- I know zilch about it, other than it's written by the actor known as "Tyrese", last seen in "Transformers", so...but top quality artists such as Rob Liefeld and Todd McFarlane have contributed sketces for the campaign, and Image is REALLY hyping this, I may just have to buy it and take a look.

*click to view this whole bad boy in all it's glory*

Ghostbusters/Liefeld mash up!

2009-08-05T18:29:00.001-07:00

Just for shits and giggles- lemme know whatcha think-

Cyborgs! Robots!

2009-07-11T15:18:00.001-07:00

I thought this was kinda neat/funny...

Get Your Cyborg Name

DANNY!

2009-06-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

On Friday, June 12, 2009, I had the pleasure of meeting one of my idols, Dan Aykroyd in my hometown of Barrie for the fifth time (more on that later).

I had heard through my good friend Rob that none other than Danny would be signing bottles of his wine at our local LCBO (read: Liquor store) about a block away from my home.

Naturally- I freaked.

So on the day in question, I picked Rob up, and we ventured to the store to meet the man himself.
We got there at 12:50 (the signing was scheduled to start at 1:00 PM), and Dan was late anyway, so the line wasn't that bad, considering the calibre of celebrity that was slated to appear.

Dan arrived around 1:15PM, and by 2:00, I was shaking hands with one of my childhood idols. I got one of his bottles of wine signed, as well as an uber-rare piece of Ghostbusters memorabilia, "Making Ghostbusters".

Take a gander at these photos:

So very cool!

I first met Dan in 1990 in Toronto. I was 18 and just visiting the town with a buddy, and I just *happened* to run into him, whilst crossing the street.
Second time was in 1997, while me and a friend were walking to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, for the annual Comic Convention.
Third, was later that day, we watched a scene being filmed for "Blues Brothers 2000"
Lastly was in 1998, my wife and I volunteered to help with a charity concert that Dan co-organized in Kingston, ON. Special musical guests were Prairie Oyster.

And here we are.
Hope you enjoyed my story!

UPDATES??

2009-06-13T16:06:00.001-07:00

--New posts (including more sketches/etc) coming soon, I promise!

DEADPOOL in "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2"!!

2009-05-19T14:58:00.001-07:00

Deadpool is the coolest. What more is there to say?
And created by Rob Liefeld. Double win!

KISS!!!

2009-04-19T06:34:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm 36 years of age, I can only rock n roll all night and PART OF every day.
Be that as it may- enjoy this drawing I scribbled out 11 (!) years ago.

Medieval (Savage) Dragon!

2009-04-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a cool idea I was messin' around with, just having one of my favourite comicbook characters in different time periods.
Here we have him in Medieval times, I guess.
Kinda looks like a refugee from Mike Wieringo's "Tellos", doesn't he?

Comments more than welcome.

"The Mummy: Curse of the Dragon Emperor" review

2009-03-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

Well now.

Just under 10 years since the release of the original "Mummy" movie, starring Brendan Fraser and the delicious Rachel Weisz, and the geniuses in Hollywood decided to green light another installment of the Mummy franchise, following a lack lustre sequel in 2001, and a spin off flick, "The Scorpion King" in 2003, starring my man, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

First off, the lack of Ms Weisz in this movie is felt right from the get go. She's been replaced by Maria Bello, last seen in "World Trade Center", and I give her props for trying to fill Weisz's shoes, but sadly, does not pull it off. A valiant effort, but....no dice.

Brendan Fraser is back as adventurer Rick O'Connell, and he looks weary. Not just the character, but Fraser himself. Fraser's movie choices of late haven't been the strongest (Journey to Centre of the Earth, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, etc), so when Hollywood came knockin' with another "Guaranteed" money maker, he jumped all over it like stink on a monkey.

Newcomer Luke Ford plays an 18-year old Alex O'Connell, and he seems to be channelling Matt Damon with his delivery, albeit stiff and uncoloured.

Asian stars Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh are also in this film, and their performances are just as stiff as everyone elses.

The SFX seem..........dated to me. Almost like they were done in 1998 or something. Case in point? The appearances of the Yetis.

Yes.

YETIS.

Painful. My brain hurts.

All in all, it was kinda refreshing to see the characters back in action, but I feel this was a poor performance all around.

I give this one 4.5 out of 10.

Your mileage may vary.

MAXIM Mags for sale!

2009-02-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

LOT of 36 Maxim/Stuff/FHM/Blender Magazines, incuding the VERY FIRST ISSUE of Maxim, circa 1997!
Condition of magazines range from fine to Near Mint.
Comes from a smoke free household.

Featured celebrities include:
-Rebecca Romijn-O'Connell (X-Men I-III)
-Lucy Lawless (Xena, Battlestar Galactica)
-Gwen Stefani (No Doubt)
-Hilary Duff
-Shania Twain (hard to find!)
-Monica Bellucci (The Matrix Reloaded)

And many, many others! A Must for the collector of fine gentlemen's magazines!

If you're interested, fire me off a message; we'll work out particulars.

Jason takes Chicago!

2009-02-15T07:53:00.000-08:00

Latest installment in the "Friday the 13th" franchise? I wish.
To celebrate the latest "Friday" movie, as well as the most recent date of the 13th of Friday, I present this to you, the good viewers with a match up that we'd never see: Jason Voorhees VS Savage Dragon!!
Thoughts?

Ghostbusters TOYS!!!

2009-02-08T04:35:00.001-08:00

Debuting at the New York COmicCon this past weekend, these things look SICK.
The likenesses are just.....wow. Bang on.

This is something that a die hard Ghostbuster fan such as myself has been waiting for for YEARS.

Read more all about the arrival of the "Boys in grey" in toy form over here

"The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley"

2009-01-18T05:30:00.000-08:00

........brilliant!
I remember when this show used to be on, but I couldn't watch cartoons on Saturday (esp in the early 90s), as my Dad used to "claim" the television and watch fucking "This Old House", and other home improvement shows.

SO I would go to school, and hear my buddies talking about this new animated series that Ed "SCTV" Grimley is in. I'm like, "They made a CARTOON" of Ed??? I LOVED Ed!!

This is one of the best cartoon intros out there; I love it. Totally captures the essence of Ed.

Anyone know if there's plans afoot for a DVD release? Heck, even if some eps were released on VHS??

Now open for Commissions!

2009-01-11T06:44:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone-

I've got some stuff cleared out schedule-wise, and I am open for art commissions.
Anyone interested in a drawing of their favourite characters? You've come to the right place. Here's the deets-

Pencils- $15
Inks- $20

All drawings will be done on an 11x17 bristol art board.
For multi character pieces, we can definitely hammer out a negotiated price.

For all interested, drop me a line here, or on my FaceBook page (linked on the main title page), and we'll discuss deets.

Thanks!

Deadlock!!!

2009-01-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

This here is Deadlock, from Bloodstrike, from the mind of my personal comi God, Rob Liefeld. The only thing bugging me about this piece is hisleft foot. It's not "jiving" with the rest of his leg, but overall I like it.

Santa the BARBARIAN

2008-12-26T02:52:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, everyone!

NEW "Wolverine" trailer!!

2008-12-15T08:52:00.001-08:00

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

Looks.
AWESOME.

NEW Metallica video!

2008-12-08T15:30:00.000-08:00

Consider my ass duly KICKED. Wow. An amazing vid for an ass-kicking tune.
ENJOY!

NEW "Ghostbusters" video game trailer!

2008-12-07T11:14:00.001-08:00

Featuring ALL the Ghostbusters, including my man Venkman!
The likenesses are BANG FRIGGIN ON.
What do you guys think???

Things I Hate, Pt I

2008-11-26T16:29:00.000-08:00

Short and sweet here-

1-Toronto drivers. You ALL suck. Every single absent-minded, too lazy to move your idiot fingers two lousy inches to the turn signal indicator one of you, you stupid ignorant bastards. You should all die in a fire.

2- Old Man Winter. Gimme a fucking break. It's November 26th, and we're already 2+ feet in snow accumulation. Eat shit. You deserve a shot in the balls, you old douchebag. You and Mother Nature, the dirty ditchpig that she is, you can both fuck off and die.

I'll be back to bitch some more, don't go anywhere. And hey- in the meantime, feel free to tell me what you hate.

And for those that say "you", or "this blog", you should get herpes of the ass.

Those cheesy 90s

2008-11-22T15:20:00.000-08:00

Hey all-

This is part one of my "Cheesy 90s" series of sketches. Any comic collector'll tell you that the early 90s brought some seriously cheesy characters, such as this one right here, the Punisher in the year 2099.
Hope you like.

Suprema!

2008-11-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

Long time, no posty.
Here's a quick sketch in pen and ink of the Rob Liefeld created, "Suprema"
Whattya think?

"Dead Rising"

2008-10-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

Just picked up this game. Heck, just picked up an XBox360. Nice! After being a die hard PlayStation guy for a decade or so, my eyes have seen the light!

Now- this game is insane. As you all know, I love zombies. Can't get enough of em.
This game here, the premise is similar to "Dawn of the Dead", as it takes place in a mall, but you have 72 hours to investigate WHY this zombie plague is happening, and you also have to survive literally THOUSANDS of zombies at every turn.

You can venture into ANY store, and change your clothes, get food, use almost anything as a weapon (like throwing a 12-pack of pop cans at zombies...). My all time favourite weapon so far is the auger. Awesome.

I've only got like, 20 percent of the game done, but I can't get enough of it. I can't wait to see how it ends, and if there's gonna be a sequel.

My ONLY gripes with the game is the sub microscopic font designed for HD televisions (of which, I am bereft), and the friggin phone ringing every three seconds from the superintendant, alerting me to survivors.

I wish there was a "free play", where you could just go apeshit and destroy thousands of zombies, with little recourse.

What're your thoughts on this game? Any tips for a noob?

Crystal Head Vodka

2008-10-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

WAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNT.
http://www.crystalheadvodka.com

Number of 5 year olds I could take in a fight?

2008-09-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

No less than TWENTY EIGHT. Damn, I'm awesome......and going STRAIGHT to hell.
28

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Site

Ghostbusters 3 is now happening.....?

2008-09-07T06:03:00.000-07:00

I dunno, the fanboy in me can't take much more of this. Either it's happening, and this is awesome news (makes up for the friggin game being delayed almost a YEAR), or it's happening, and this movie could go horribly sideways....

Read more about it here

That article was posted on Thursday....over the weekend, none other than Egon himself fired off an open letter to the Chicago Tribune, regarding the status of the third Ghostbusters installment, read on:

yes, columbia is developing a script for GB3 with my year one writing partners, gene stupnitsky and lee eisenberg. judd apatow is co-producing year one and has made several other films for sony, so of course the studio is hoping to tap into some of the same acting talent. aykroyd, ivan reitman and i are consulting at this point, and according to dan, bill murray is willing to be involved on some level. he did record his dialogue for the new ghostbusters video game, as did danny and i, and ernie hudson. the concept is that the old ghostbusters would appear in the film in some mentor capacity. not much else to say at this point. everyone is confident a decent script can be written and i guess we'll take it from there.
best,
harold

Does this mean we'll see such Judd Apatow staples as Seth Rogan? Paul Rudd? Time will tell..

What do you think of a third Ghostbusters? Yay or nay?

Fan Expo '08

2008-08-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

Well, the family went to the Big Toronto Fan Expo (read: ComicCon/Sci-Fi Con) and it was amazing, we havent been since 2001 when my oldest was merely 6 months old.
The only changes I really noticed were the gaming section and the lack of comics to buy. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of vendors, but nowhere near the amount that I remember from previous years.

My youngest, Ethan, had never been, so I imagine to a 5 year old, that was a LOT to take in, all the THOUSANDS of people walking around, and some of the costumes were incredible, right down to the finest detail, others were lame, but their hearts were in the right place.

I bought a whack of McFarlane Dragons figures, and a buncha comics. The kids got a bunch of Star Wars figures, and the wife bought a nice Hardcover book on the girls of DC Comics.

My buddy Rob came along, with his kids in tow, and we had an incredible time.

The Sci-Fi expo had their big name celebrites there, and I got to see:
Sean Astin, Edward James Olmos, Buzz Aldrin, Renee O'Connor (yowza), Kristy Swanson (yum!), Shawnee Smith (not too shabby), Laura Vandervoort (DROOL), Brent Spiner, Sid Haig, Wes Craven, Michael Rosenbaum, and Henry friggin Winkler.
I wasn't too concerned if I met them, it was just cool to see them in person, and thats okay with me.

I posted some pics on my FaceBook page, with more to come....

Drop a line!

I could watch this for days.......

2008-08-18T16:42:00.001-07:00

..........and STILL laugh my ass off everytime. Kids gets owned by a swing. Enjoy.

- Watch more free videos

Zombies III: Zombie harder

2008-08-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Well- according to my trusty counter, it seems that the zombies are popular, and that's what people are checkin out here.
What about the drawings? My....ramblings?
Ah well- feels like I'm talking to myself anyway.

In this latest installment, I'm gonna talk more about zombies, specifically in comics, where they've never been hotter.

I just finished up the latest "Walking Dead" trade, which is issue 48, and issue 50 just dropped, so I'm almost caught up. Wow. What an adventure this book has been, right from the get go. What I truly love about this book is that just when our characters are 'letting their guards down', BAM! some crazy zombie shit goes down.
I can't recommend this book enough.

Marvel Zombies II-

Well, lightning doesn't apparantly strike twice it seems. I was REALLY let down by this (obvious) hurried out sequel to the original smash mini. The story was incredibly weak, and as much as one can suspend their disbelief whilst reading comics, there was some.......weird......shit going down in this outing.
I dunno....some love it. The sales were definitely there, that's for sure, but as I said, it just wasnt "up to par" for me.

Marvel Zombies VS Army of Darkness-

This mini was awesome. Our boy Ash gets blasted into the 'zombie' world, and hilarity and a good amount of ass-kicking ensues.
Some hi-lites: Ash vs Howard the Duck
Ash and his comments to Dr. Doom.
The very last page of the last issue; brilliant!
The artwork was smooth and very clean in this mini.

I hear there's a Marvel Zombies III coming down the pike, but have not yet read a synopsis. Be curious to see how they pull this one off, given the events of Part II.

CrawlSpace: XXXombies-

70s porn. Zombies.
Nuff said.
Kieron Dwyer's art is PERFECT for this mini series, and Rick Remender needs help.
Be warned, however: nudity, "happy ending", dead babies, and disgusting sex acts all hide inside........(dont read this at work, okay?)

Drop me a line, lemme know how I'm doing!

The temple of Alyson

2008-08-02T04:47:00.000-07:00

I have to say it- I'm in lust.
With who? See the pic attached.
I've been infatuated with this woman since 1998, when I first discovered "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" television series. She played Willow Rosenberg, best friend to Buffy, and was the resident computer nerd of the group, who eventually became a witch, and at one time, the big villain for a season.

What *is* it with her? She's not overly sexy, she's not voluptuous, but damn, she is a cutie. She's recently dyed her hair black which I am not a fan of, not at all.
She's normally seen with locks of fiery red hair, which, is kind of a "thing" for me.

You can now catch her on the CBS series, "How I Met Your Mother", which is quite possibly the funniest show on TV right now.

Most everyone else will know her as "Band Camp Girl" in the first three "American Pie" movies. *twirls finger* They were.....*okay*...nothing spectacular. But Alyson was in them, so I had to watch.

It sounds as if I'm bordering on stalker territory here, and no....that's not the case. I'm just seriously enamoured with this incredibly cute woman, that's all.
I know I'm not in the minority here; she has quite the fan following, and who can blame them?

NEW "Ghostbusters" comic!!

2008-07-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

Yay! IDW publishing has landed the rights to publish a comicbook based on the "Ghostbusters"!!
Read all you need to right here
In the meantime, feel free to enjoy this fantastic preview art!

Image Comics UNITED

2008-07-26T04:39:00.001-07:00

So last night, the big announcement in San Diego was that Image Comics (and 6 of the 7 founders) will collaborate on a mini series that spans the entire Image Universe, starring just aboot everyone *in* the Image U (save for Jim Lee's WildStorm characters, as they are sadly, owned by the drowning DC), and it's all written by newest Image partner, Robert "Walking Dead" Kirkman.

Here's where it gets cool:

All the characters will be drawn by their respective owners throughout the mini.
So, if say, Savage Dragon, Shaft, Violator, and Velocity are in the same PANEL, then that means Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane and Marc Silvestri will also be drawing in same said panel.

Very, very cool.

I hope to the comic Gods above that this doesn't get delayed, pushed back like the Image books of old. This is definitely an even that will get even the Image haters talking.

Presenting.......the NEW Jason Voorhees!

2008-07-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

I love this, I friggin love this. Jason looks badass.
I have to admit- I was skeptical as Hell about a 're-imagining' of the "Friday the 13th" franchise, but this one single image makes all those bad feelings go south.

This guy certainly ain't no Kane Hodder (the BEST Jason EVER), but he's got the look down, no question.

What say you guys?

"Ghostbusters" video game trailer has arrived!!!

2008-07-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Oh my God Oh my God Oh my GOD....
Oh- October can't get here fast enough! This looks amazing!
My ONLY beef? It would've been nice to seen some scenes with the guys IN the game, talking, but....still looks amazing.

More Ghostbuster-y Goodness

2008-06-26T18:51:00.002-07:00

Ghostbusters/Bomb Queen crossover??

2008-06-26T13:03:00.001-07:00

Heh. Not quite. This is a gift I got from the creator, Jimmie Robinson. He did this for me, as I'm famous for my rabid fanboyishness of "Ghostbusters". I love the look on Stay-Puft's face.

No Comment.......

2008-06-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

.......is what I'm getting a lot of here on this blog.
I installed a counter, and I got some respectable hit numbers (for only having the counter for 20-something days, but)....

Leave some comments, people!
Please- tell me what you think about my art, my thoughts, my random pictures...
Info. Need. Info.

It's up to you.

Thanks!

"Punisher War Zone" movie trailer!!

2008-06-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

I have to say- this looks a bazillion times better than that John Travolta piece of crap....maybe Marvel's on the right track to getting some decent movies now..

Whattya think?

The Big Move

2008-06-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone-

The fam and I are settling into the new digs and I gotta tell ya- everything they say about a move being the most stressful thing ever? They are BANG. FRIGGIN. ON.

I was a stressed wreck for an entire month, no doubt driving my family crazier than I was being.

But after it was all said and done, we've moved into a BEAUTIFUL new place (New, meaning, it was built this century). It's a gorgeous 3 bdrm bungalow (heh-heh..."bung"), and the kids get their own room, we got a friggin huge basement (with no creepy 55 year old Shania Twain stalker residing in it).

One of these days, I'll take some pics of it, and throw 'em on my FaceBook page.

"The Real Ghostbusters" on DVD??

2008-05-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

.....and not some "4 episodes per" crap either. Nope, this is a MASSIVE TWENTY-SIX DISC set, from the fine folks at Time Life.

This is amazing news, it's about time that this show got the DVD treatment. Every single episode, fully restored....a thing of beauty.

Read more about the official announcement here

Thank the Lord they're not putting the "Extreme Ghostbusters" on this set, however. That show left a bad taste in a lot of mouths....

New "Incredible Hulk" clip!

2008-05-24T07:14:00.000-07:00

This movie looks like it's gonna smoke what was left of the 2003 Ang Lee Hulk.

Okay..........

2008-05-23T17:09:00.001-07:00

..........what's the cup got that I dont??

The rest of the world: "Hayden!!"
Me: "........................................*sigh*"

Hockey n' Hayden

2008-05-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

That cup has seen more of Hayden than I ever will. Lucky....inanimate..object.
Whoot! Stanley Cup Playoffs start this weekennd! Go Penguins!

"Youngblood: Bloodsport #2"???

2008-05-22T18:30:00.001-07:00

Remember Youngblood: Bloodsport, circa 2004? Everyone has been clamboring for issue #2. Well, wait no longer, as Rob Liefeld unveiled the cover to number 2 this past week, and I have to say to ALL the haters: Go eff yourselves, this is Rob's best cover ever. Enjoy.

Blast From the Past

2008-05-19T17:10:00.000-07:00

Hey gang- Found this whilst we were packing to move (more on that later)....

This was my "official" entry in WIZARD magazine's "create a cover" contest that started with issue #7 (to give you an idea, WIZARD's up to issue #200 now), and the deal was to make your own cover featuring a comicbook character (from any publisher), and I went with a Terminator, as I was still ridin' high from "T2"...

Enjoy.

New "DARK KNIGHT" trailer!

2008-05-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

I just made happy in my pants, I think
http://www.whysoserious.com/happytrails/trailer.htm

"Iron Man"

2008-05-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

Saw "Iron Man" last night.

WOW.

Seriously, I would have to put this at the top of the "best comic book movies ever" list, it was that good. It was VERY faithful to the comics (aside from Stark getting injured in Afghanistan, and not Vietnam, but it was very timely).
The performances were top notch. Robert Downey Jr IS Tony Stark; the womanizing, boozing, uber-mind of the tech set. Gwyneth Paltrow does a bang up job as Stark's assistant, Pepper Potts, and Jeff "The Dude" Bridges is the evil Obediah Stane. Man, he plays a great bad guy. Can't leave out Terrance Howard as James Rhodes, who, as comicgeeks'll know, is War Machine in the comics, and I have to say, there's a little War Machine tease in the flick that made me smile.

Stan Lee's cameo? Brilliant.

The FX were STELLAR.

I will see this again, probably a few more times before "Indiana Jones IV" rolls around, and I urge EVERYONE to do the same.

What the hell's going on here?

2008-04-12T16:24:00.000-07:00

Found this looking for some colouring book pages for my kids.
No WONDER Vader wanted Leia captured. hee hee.

Best. Impression. Ever.

2008-03-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

The "I can eat.....PLANETS"....that friggin kills me.

Happy Good Friday!

2008-03-21T05:21:00.001-07:00

That clicking noise you hear is my ticket being punched for my one way trip to Hell.

Dave Stevens, R.I.P

2008-03-11T14:10:00.001-07:00

*sigh*

Just heard that the creator of The Rocketeer (and good girl pin up artist) Dave Stevens passed away yesterday.
This man's art had inspired me so much; and he re-introduced Bettie Page to a whole new generation.
His art was so clean, very slick. His women were absolutely gorgeous.
He will be missed.

They did it again......

2008-03-09T04:47:00.000-07:00

That billigerant old bastard Old Man Winter and that dirty cow of a ditchpig Mother Nature double teamed us here in Barrie, and after it was all said and done, we're looking at well over 40-50 cm.
Christ. Almighty.

I can't take this anymore, I really cannot.
Dirty fucking groundhog promised us an EARLY SPRING!!
Well? Where is it? You sonofabitch!

*pant pant wheeze*

And....the Leafs lost last night.
CHRIST.

Old Man Winter......

2008-03-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

.......can EAT ME. If you reside anywhere in the Southern Ontario/Northern U.S, then you know that winter has gone on since about what feels like 1998. Jesus Christ, this winter won't end. Even as I write this, it's snowin' and blowin' like mad out there, after a delightful week of temperatures in the negative teens (that's Celcius for my American friends).

I am seriously thinking of taking out some sort of mob inspired hit on Mother Nature and Old Man Winter. Uh, if they were real people, I guess.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I detest winter. This is now March 1st. winter has gone on LONG enough.

Deadpool!

2008-02-29T14:53:00.001-08:00

This here is my entry in an online "contest" that's being held on Rob Liefeld's boards. No real prize (that I know of), save for bragging rights.
30 minutes, straight to inks, no pencils.
Comments welcome.

ANOTHER post, with some MORE art??

2008-02-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

Be still your beating hearts, eh? haha
Yep- another piece I did of X-Force's resident Longshot, SHatterstar.
I admit, I love Rob Liefeld and his art. He's been a real inspiration. I mean, think of it: WHich other artist has a target painted on him, takes abuse day in day out, and at the end of the day still sells a zillion comics? That's right.

Anyway. Here's Shatterstar, lemme know what ya think.

New(er) post, NEW(er) ART!!

2008-02-01T09:09:00.000-08:00

WOw, two posts in a row! Jeez, I'd better look outside to see if there are four dudes on horses right about now.
Next up is my favourite hacker/slasher, Jason Voorhees, who's about to get his whole story essentially raped by Jerry Bruckheimer and co. with a "re-imagining" flick set to drop this October.

In the meantime, enjoy this piece I did as a commission for a friend of mine in British Columbia.

New updates! NEW art!

2008-02-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

Happy 2008 to you all. I'm a lazy effer who doesnt update his blog; I GET it. So to that I present to you some art of mine to gaze, gander, and to leave heaps of praise.
First up is the obscure 90's Marvel comics character, Sleepwalker. It was a lame book, lame premise, but I have to admit, I always thought he looked cool.
So, I thought I'd take pen to paper, and crank out MY version of 'ol Sleepy...

Big Red

2007-11-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

Hey gang-

Time to post some art, and this time it's of the big red Demon, HellBoy.
Comments and critiques more than welcome.

RESOLVE this thing, already!

2007-11-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

You know....I don't profess to understand the intricicies as to why the Hollywood writers are on strike, all I know is that they're killing network TV!
One of my favourite shows, "Heroes", is looking at 2 episodes left, then lights go out on that production.....fuckers. The producers of "Heroes" even went and did some re-shots once the strike broke, so that the Dec. 3 episode can function as a SEASON finale....

SO does that mean we'd even see DVD sets of these so-called "micro" seasons? Doubtful. Not sure I'd want a DVD box set with friggin 12 eps, anyway.

Wow. Listen to me, here. All selfish and shit. Awesome.
I want my shows back! I REALLY REALLY do NOT want to have to suffer through reality shows all season long if this strike drags on.
(Word round the street is that the writers and unions, and so on are hitting the talks tables on the 26th of this month, so.....*crosses fingers*)

Happy Thanksgiving WEEK to my neighbours to the South. What- you need an entire damned week to eat food? Christ. We can do it in a day.

GHOSTBUSTERS 3?!?

2007-11-18T11:05:00.000-08:00

........Kinda.
No one is more stoked about this information than me, trust me.

Seems that next autumn, there'll be a video game of Ghostbusters, starring the voices of the original Ghostbusters, as well as their secretary Janine (Annie Potts), and the villainous Walter Peck, from the Environmental Protection Agency, (voiced by William Atherton). No word on any participation from Sigourney Weaver or Rick Moranis, however.

In the past week, there was an announcement of the game, Seen here, and then two days later, there was some leaked screenshots seen here, and then a couple hours later, some GAMEPLAY made it's way to the interweb, and boy howdy, it looks as good as I thought it'd be. Check that out here

Being the huge GB geek that I am, this is amazing news. A third movie has been dead in the water for quite some time, and Murray has been quoted time and again that he had/has no interest in re-visiting the franchise. But...somehow, he's down for this game, so, better than nothing.

NECA Toys made some SWEET action figures for the GB line in 2004, check 'em out here.
A damn shame that Bill Murray didnt agree for his likeness to be used, as the second wave of figures was SUPPOSED to be the four 'busters....(More proof that Murray wasn't impressed with Ghostbusters).....I wonder what changed his mind?

ANYway....

For all the info regarding the upcoming game, I'd be MORE than happy to direct your way to this site, and there's an up-to-date blog covering everything regarding this game. Check that out here.

SPREAD the word, the Ghostbusters have returned!!!!

A swell time to be a Ghostbusters fanboy, for sure. If the game's a hit, maybe some more MERCHANDISE will come down the pike....

(Sorry for the lack of updates, I'm a lazy bastard, what can I say?)

Talk to you guys soon.

Flame on!

2007-09-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

Another incredibly hard to see drawing by yours truly, but I liked it. I was kinda goin' for a "retro" feel to this Human Torch piece, thought it turned out alright.
Again- sorry for the light scan- my scanner was all gayed up back then.

If you keep picking at it, that'll never heal....

2007-09-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Hey gang-

Firin' off a commission that I did for a horror friend of mine of his absolute favourite horror icon of all time, LeatherFace.
(If you ask me who that is, then GET OUT.)

I'm very proud of this one, particularly the shading in and around L-face's legs and boots...I've never been good at that, and thought I pulled it off quite nicely.
My ONLY beef is that the chainsaw blade is far too short, but...ah well.
My friend LOVED this, by the way....framed it, and everything.

Comments/criticism welcome.

Zombies II: The Deadening

2007-09-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

Alright, kids, more talk about zombies! WHy? I believe I already covered this; they friggin rule, alright?
Mind you: I'd be one of the first getting the frig outta Dodge if there ever was a zombie epidemic, haha.

I can't believe I forgot all about The MARVEL ZOMBIES.
For those not in the know, "MZ" (As I'll refer to them now on) was a mini series releaed a couple years back about the zombie plague hitting the Marvel Universe, and turning the heroes (and villains) into the undead.
....with a twist.

The twist being, is that the zombi-fied superheroes were *aware* that they were zombies, that they craved human flesh, and also still retained their superpowers.
Spidey was the best, as he was wracked with guilt over having eaten his wife and aunt (mind out of the gutter, you!).

I can't recommend this mini series enough, go to your local comic shop, I guarantee they'll have a copy of the collected trade.

I'd love to go into great detail over some of the highlights, but that'd be spoiling, and I'd hate to do that to ya.

Oh yes! The mini was so successful, that it spawned a crossover with Ash, from the "Evil Dead" series, and a second mini is set to drop this Fall.

I'll be back soon with another post....uh....sometime.
Have a good one, gang!

Please, feel free to leave some feedback! FEED ME SEYMOUR!

Knights, Skulls, and Dragons, oh my!

2007-09-03T05:22:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post today, kids.
I found this in my old art portfolio, this one's an oldie but a goodie.
Way back in the day, I was seriously into fantasy and dragons and shit, so I took pen to paper, and produced this result.
No pencilling, just straight to pen; wish I could do more of this kinda thing, I rarely draw anywhere NEAR the amount I used to, and it is true, you CAN lose your drawing talent, if you dont stay on top of it....

ANyways, comments and critiques are appreciated/welcomed, lemme know what you think, and I'll try to find some more art to post.

Happy Labour Day, everyone!

ZOMBIES!!!!!!!!

2007-08-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

I friggin LOVE zombies.
I do.

I love almost anything in modern pop culture that has anything to do with zombies.

I think it began in 1986, when I first saw "Friday the 13th: Jason Lives", and marvelled at the fact that Mr. Voorhees was nothing more than an unstoppable zombie. (Even more so, in Part VII).

Then I watched the (crappy) remake of "Night of the Living Dead" in the early 90s, starring none other than horror vet Tony "CandyMan" Todd...the zombies were damn cool, even if the movie wasn't.

1993 I was introduced to WHite Zombie. The name alone is damned cool. (Good thing they rock large).

1998- I buy a PlayStation, and one of the first games I get is "Resident Evil".
Scared the PISS out of me. I loved that game. Set in a mansion, horror lurking around every corner...brilliant.

Flash forward to 2004. The remake of "Dawn of the Dead" turned the zombie mythos on its ear, and introduced a new generation to the wonderful world of the undead.
Instead of the slow-aimless-walking zombies, we get zombies that can run. And FAST.
(Made things SO much scarier, if you ask me).

Since the early 2000s, there's been a SLEW of zombie stuff: Resident Evil video games, RE films (starring the UBER-hot Milla Jovovich), The Walking Dead comic (which I hate to admit, I was late getting on the bandwagon for this one, but making up for it in spades, by buying the trades....highly recommended!!)

Then there was the amazing little film "Shaun of the Dead".
Dubbed as a "rom-zom-com" movie ("romantic-zombie-comedy"), it KILLED at the box office, and is a cult favourite the world over. Great zombie effects, too!

Check out "What Doesn't Die" by Anthrax on YouTube. Another zombie vid, while the boys thrash out doin' their thing.

Check your local papers for the aptly-named "Zombie walk", where regular Joes don some zombie make up, and walk slowly through the town, pretending to be a herd of zombies.

AM I missing anything? I'll bet I am. Fire me off some suggestions, recommendations!

Zombies rule, plain and simple.

I almost died......really!

2007-08-25T17:34:00.000-07:00

Hey- it appears that I am also a compulsive liar, too. Sorry for the lack of updates in.....a long time.

Internet user: "Shaddap! We wanna hear how you apparantly almost died."

Me: "alright.....sit down"

About a month ago, I snuck up on my eldest of two cats while he was sleeping on the back of the couch, and decided to spook him a bit....I just petted him a little hard, and went, "Waagh!", or something to that extent.
He didnt like to be awoken from such a deep slumber in such a manner (I mean, who WOULD?), and he bit me. HARD. Like, he broke the skin, drew blood.
I washed the area, but a few hours later, my hand was sore where he bit me.
That night, I could barely move my hand. The next morning, my hand was in full-on paralysis. I went to an after hours medical clinic, they gave me some antibiotics for the bite.....I couldnt even grasp thing in my hand without blinding pain, so I called in sick to work (Y'all remember what I do....it's in here, somewhere)..

So the wife, kids and I went to see a movie.

We get out of the movie around 6 PM, and my hand was red and even MORE swollen.
Huh.

"Well, maybe the pills havent kicked in yet", I thought.

I went to bed, slept a little better, awoke the next morning with not as much pain, but now the entire back of my left hand was red, swollen, and well....felt like a hamburger bun, it was so....spongey.

During work, I stopped into the local hospital emergency room just to get someone to look at my hand....the emergency attendant took one look at my red hand and proclaimed: "Holy Shit!"

SO I'm thinking to myself that that kinda reaction from an industry pro such as herelf is a bad thing.
Yep.

I got admitted to emergency (called in sick for the rest of the day....AGAIN), and waited to undergo an IV drip of some "really powerful" antibiotics.

How did I almost die?

The nurse took the time to show a thin red line traveling up my arm from my hand.
That was apparantly infected blood travelling to my heart.
Had I waited another day or two, I'd have been dead.
I had full on blood poisoning.

Great.

SO, the next day, the swelling went WAY down, and I felt a heck of a lot better.
The pain took a while to go away, but I went back to work and tried to do the best I could with a semi-crippled hand.

Great story.

I *had* taken a pic of my incredibly swollen hand (with red line of death), but I seemed to accidentally erase it, dammit).

So instead, I'll show you my latest (and incredibly cool eBay acquisition, this signed pic of the Ghostbusters!!!

Peace out, everyone. I shall be back....uh....when I'm back.

2007-07-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

Well.....

It's certainly been awhile since I last published something. Six weeks, if my math is correct. Far be it from me to deny the....*counting*....5 or 6 people that read this blog a new posting..
What can I say? Have I been busy? Yep- with my "real work" job.

But anyway...a lot has happened since we last confabbed, so here goes:
*fires up stream of conciousness*

My last posting was about the "Save Jericho" Television campaign. Well, I'm pleased to announce that it succeeded, and CBS will renew the show for a puny 8 episodes next winter. (8's better than nothing, I guess). Also, they'll be playing repeats of the show on Fridays at 9 throughout the summer, so anyone that wants to can see what all the fuss was about, or like me, you just wanna watch it again; it was a solid show.

As far as the summer movies go, I've seen Spidey 3, Fantastic Four 2, Pirates 3, Die Hard 4, Knocked Up, and STILL have yet to see Transformers.
Here's a quick review for these flicks as far as I'm concerned:

-Spider-Man 3: C (SUCH a letdown from the previous two films, this flick suffered the "Batman and Robin" too-many-villains curse. Venom was cool to look at, but with such an intereszting origin and ties to Spidey, Venom should have had his own flick. It's obvious he was shoe-horned into this film. Sandman was SPOT EFFIN ON. I am a huge fan of Sandman, and aside from a bit of origin tweaking, they pretty much nailed it. (Visually, anyway)

-Pirates 3 - B- Way too long, way too convoluted, and a bit of a letdown. Pretty to look at, but....1 and 2 rocked, this was overhyped, maybe I bought into the hype too much and was letdown.

-Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer: B+ FAR better than the original, this movie grew by leaps and bounds. My only beef is Dr.Doom. Way over the top, and Julian McMahon is a horrible actor. The FX on Surfer were dynamite. I even "believed" the Galactus cloud; it worked.
Jess Alba looked.............odd..........with the blue contacts, but she's still nice to look at, so.....

Die Hard 4.0: A+ Another terrific installment, Bruce did not disappoint. I was very skeptical about this flick, given that Brucey hasn't had the best luck at the box office lately, but damn, did he knock it out of the park on this one. The action is brilliant, the fight scenes, the FX were stellar. (And hey- it had Justin Long in it..the guy that gets maimed with a wrench in Dodgeball).

Knocked Up: A+ Filthy dirty, but damn funny, and as a parent, I totally could relate to the main characters, as they ventured down the road of parenthood.
Seth ROgan is my new comedy God. And....he's Canadian. More proof that we're talkin' over the world.

Probably gonna check out "Transformers" this weekend. Given my update ratio on this blog, I should have a review by Labour Day. ;^)

In the comics world, still no sign of my main man Savage Dragon. I'm seriously thinking that Dragon creator Erik Larsen has turned his back on Dragon and is focusing on other endeavours, which, as a die hard Dragon and Larsen fan, I really don't want to believe.
"World War Hulk" is off to a STELLAR start; Hulk beat the living snot out of Black Bolt, and now he's on Earth ready to turn some heroes into paste. Can't wait to see how this turns out. Hopefully, it won't be the shite letdown ending that "Civil War" had.

Alright, my friends....I'm back, and PROMISE to update more often. I have recently kept telling myself that I need to post more often, share what's going on in my noggin.

Thanks for ch-ch-checkin' me out.

"NUTS!"

2007-05-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

No, not *those* nuts.....or even uh, "those" ones, either.

No, "Nuts" seems to be the new battle cry for all the fans that are super-pissed at CBS for the cancellation of "Jericho", a show that debuted last season, and since it's return from winter hiatus, has chugged along pretty good, and the writing had improved tenfold.
SO what does the network do? Cancel it, in the middle of a rather exciting cliffhanger......jerks.

"Nuts" is a response from the Americans to the Germans during WWII, when America was given the option to surrender. They simply responded with one word: "nuts"

SO all you fans of the series (such as myself) that are angry, and wanna voice your opinion, and would like to see Jericho return to the airwaves, the best thing to do is to fire off a letter. Not an email, mind you, but an actual pysical letter on a piece of paper, mailed, stamped, etc. This shows the network bigwigs that you actually took the time to express your thoughts on paper, rather than anonymously sign your name on a "means-nothing" petition.

Here's the addresses of the two clods you need to direct your pleas to:

Mr. Kelly Kahl
Senior Exec VP of Programming
CBS Television Network
51 West 52nd St.
New York, NY 10019

Ms. Nina Tassler, President
CBS Entertainment
7800 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036-2112

Apparantly- the mail is FLOWING in, and this whole thing is getting some media coverage from ENtertainment Weekly, to Variety, New York Post, etc.

So go on! Sit yourself down, and make a passionate plea for the return of a GOOD show. (It's got Gerald McRaney on it, you cannot go wrong)

DAILY postings, eh?

2007-05-13T04:57:00.000-07:00

Yeah yeah, yeah....
What can I say? I've been uber-busy, now that Spring is well under way.
So what's happened in my life since my last post where I took the time to describe in detail what I do, that NO ONE responded to? *sigh*
(I need a bigger audience)

If I'm not slaving away at work, I come home, just in time for the wife to inform what the kids'll be having for dinner, what the oldest child has in terms of homework, then SHE flies out the door, to go to HER work.

So, I make the little guys some supper, help with homework, some reading, then they go off to bed, and for a couple hours, it's QUIET, kinda like having the house to myself. So then instead of practicing, perfecting, and honing my drawing skills (which DO need some honing), I.........watch the idiot box.
*sigh*

WHat can I say? There's actually some terrific television this season.
Here's how it breaks down for me, my "can't miss" shows:

Sunday: "Smallville"- The adventures of a pre-tights Superman. Now in its 6th season, it's the best its ever been, and the once tight friendship of Clark Kent and Lex Luther has crumbled, with Lex and Clark now at eachothers' throats. The supporting cast is brilliant, especially Allison Mack as the "Lois Lane" of the show, and Erica (DROOL) Durance as uh, Lois Lane.

"Gene Simmons's Family Jewels"- The funniest reality show. EVER. The lead man for KISS gets the Ozzy treatmnent, as cameras follow his (and his family's) movements 24 hours a day. SHannon Tweed's holding up fine, and Gene's two kids, Sophie, and Nick are the real stars of the show. Nick is HYSTERICAL.

"Battlestar Galactica"- Best remake of a TV show. Ever. Nuff said.

Monday: "Heroes"- I am a comicgeek, and this show is perfect for geeks and non-geeks alike. Solid storytelling, with characters and powers you actually BELIEVE. Doesn't hurt that the show has some eye candy like Ali Larter and Hayden Panettierre.

Tuesday: "House, M.D"- Hugh Laurie is my new God. You hate Greg House, and you love him as well. A doctor with a drug problem. The show is pretty formulaic, but somewhow, they manage to knock it out of the park every week, with solid storytelling, and top notch performances by the aforementioned Laurie, and the insanely hot Jennifer Morrison (rumoured to be Doors frontman Jim Morrison's neice)

Wednesday: "Jericho"- Life in rural Kansas, after nuclear armageddeon. Interesting concept. I admit, I had no designs on watching it when I first heard about it, but the storyline pulled me in, and you watch and really get an understanding for the things we really take for granted. Plus, the always excellent Gerald McRaney is in it. Mr. Rick Simon himself.

"LOST"- Season 3 draws to a close in a couple of weeks, and after a HORRIFIC opening third season, the show has once again found it's niche, and is in top form once again. I find myself on Wednesday afternoons REALLY looking forward to the evening's programming. "Must see Wednesdays", haha

Thursday: "C.S.I: Crime Scene Investigations"- The wife is slowly falling off the show's wagon, but I'm still hooked. 7 seasons in, and it's still in fine form. The science and technology with which they use to solve crimes is mind boggling. Basically, never commit a crime. They *will* catch you. The great William Peterson is always in top form, and Marg Helgenberger is nice to stare at.

So yeah- I'm not a total couch potato, but those are the shows I would definitely move Heaven and Earth for, for sure.

Other shows I catch whenever I can- The Batman, SpongeBob SquarePants (not just for kids, it's hysterical), and Family Guy.

Peace in.

"What exactly is it that you DO, anyway?"

2007-04-15T05:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, I get that question all the time. So- I thought I'd share with everyone out there in cyberspace what my job is, and what it entails.

For all intents and purposes, I am the "Call before you dig" guy....
The technical term for my job is "Damage Prevention Technician"
You know when you're walking down a street, and you see orange/yellow/pink paint on the curbs, sidewalks, etc? Well, that's an indication as to where the underground utility lines are located.

Here's how it breaks down:
1- You (a homeowner, or contractor) wants to do some digging (be it for a fence, some gardening, or something as big as road reconstruction/water/sewers, etc)
2- (Up here in Canada, anyway) it's the LAW to "call before you dig", because well, you *really* wouldn't wanna hit a gas line, would you? Or maybe knock out the main telephone lines for your street? Didn't think so.
3- You call this 1-800 number, they take all the info, and in turn, dispatch us to locate the gas and telephone plant for the providers in that region.
4- I spray paint your lawn, road, and stick flags in the ground that often disappear 10 minutes after being placed.

There you go- that's pretty much it.

Perks to my job-

-I work from my home; no office to report to.
- All the locate requests get emailed to me
-My company puts me in a new 2007 Jeep Compass to drive around to said locate uh, locations...
-NO boss breathing down my neck all day
-I'm outside. Like, 10 hours a day, and I love it.

The downside-

-Middle of July, it gets VERY hot and INCREDIBLY humid; very hard to work in, much less breathe....the workload is overwhelming sometimes. You have to able to juggle all your work, and not fall behind, keep contractors happy, etc.
-Middle of January.....you guessed it- lotsa snow, and cold. (Cold I can handle, I HATE snow)...and the workload is almost non-existant.

So there you have it. That's what I do. Not a typical job for a self-professed comicbook geek, is it? haha

Old Man Winter is a stupid f**ktard

2007-04-06T04:22:00.000-07:00

*sigh*

Happy Good Friday, indeed.
I wake up this morning to see that it looks like "The Day After Tomorrow" out there.
Like, a good 20cm (and still falling as I write this) is what I'm looking at.

For those that don't know, I work outside all day. My workload is basically dependant on good weather. It was *just* starting to pick up, when THIS happens.
This past winter was incredibly tough- almost no work, no money coming in, the wife and I BARELY scraping by.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I detest winter.
Everyone else: "Yeah, but you live in Canada, deal with it!!"
Me: "I'd move to a warmer, snow free climate in a nanosecond"

Alright- that's my rant- I had to vent.

Happy Good Friday, Happy Easter.
*eats Chocolate Jesus*

Frank and Boo, wherefore art thou?

2007-04-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

Ah yes- time to wax nostalgic, and to educate all you fine folks out there about a so-called "crusade" of mine that I've been working on for the last 9 years or so.

The year is 1985. I am 12 years old, and as luck would have it (or lack of luck), it would be the last time that I, and MILLIONS of Canadians would ever taste the strawberry-flavoured goodness of the General Mills cereal known as FrankenBerry. (And his counterpart, Boo Berry).

............bummer.

Flash forward to 1998. While messing around with this really cool thing called the internet, I happenupon a webpage devoted to Franken Berry. Man, I couldn't believe it. Instantly, I was transported to 1985 again, with the taste of that long-forgotten cereal FRESH in my mind. I was 12 again, and I was looking at pictures of old boxes, and then was stunned to see that it was only available in the United States, and NOT Canada.

What.
The.
F**k?

So, after a bit of sleuthing, I find the phone number for General Mills in the States, get a hold of someone, and before I could even get my whole question out, they tell me that I have to get a hold of the CANADIAN offices of General Mills.

A second phone call is placed. After what seemed like an eternity, I was talking with a live person about the frightening lack of Frank and Boo up here on Canadian grocery shelves. Apparantly- the reason that F & B were taken off in the first place was poor sales. And now being the health-concious world that we are, F & B do NOT "meet the stringent nutritional guidelines" set out by the Canadian Food Administration.

.......bummer.

That was in 1998.

Nowadays, all the GM cereals are 100% whole grain, fibre, etc. They are CONSIDERABLY healthier than they once were. So- I tried again- pleading my case to Canadian General Mills folks.
The response I got this time was that there quite frankly wasn't any demand for those two cereals up here. I was flabbergasted (great word, BTW).
If demand *was* high enough, GM (the food people, not the car makers) would "consider" bringing F & B BACK onto Canadian shelves.

This, my friends--is where YOU come in.

It is time to speak up, and DEMAND that these quality cereals from your childhood be a part of your lives once again. And I.....am gonna help you attain that goal.

I have enclosed some sites and numbers for you to contact, and request the strawberry and blueberry flavoured goodness that was once a part of your life.

Here's a contact page that goes DIRECTLY to General Mills Canada:http://consumercontacts.generalmills.com/ConsolidatedContact.aspx?page=http://www.doughboy.ca

If your so inclined (and can afford the ridiculous shipping charges and exchange rate) you can order some online from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Frankenberry-10-25-Ounce-Boxes-Pack-6/dp/B000FIDLE4

Quite possibly, the best Boo Berry page on the net, check 'em out:http://www.i-mockery.com/booberry/main.htm

Alright, my children- you have your mission. Go. Make some NOISE!!!

I AM THE LAW!!!!

2007-03-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Another old drawing, this was a simple pen and ink- yeah, the gun;s off-kilter, I know. Comments welcome!

Uh, Your Pants are on Fire.

2007-03-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

So there you go- a drawing of X-Men villain Pyro. I've been somewhat inspired to pick up pen and paper again....I *can* draw, I just don't. .....anywhere NEAR as much as I'd like. *sigh*

Comments welcome!

Will post later on with all the deets on my crusade, and how YOU can help.

Old Man Winter is FINALLY taking off

2007-03-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

...........about time, too.
Crotchy old bastard. He can get bent, so he can. Stupid old fart cost me lots of lost hours, as I work outside all day, and there was no work to be had, due to the incredible amounts of snow and cold we got. But I guess we should still be thankful, as winter didn't *really* kick in until first week of January. Christmas Day was what, 6degress Celcius. I wasn't complaining.

So I haven't been to the theatres in awhile. Last flick I saw theatrically was "Ghost Rider".....it was *okay*....I knew I wasn't seeing Superman: The Motion Picture, so I wasn't let down. The acting is pretty bad, Nic Cage basically plays Elvis Presley, and Eva Mendes' cleavage is FINE. Oh, and the SFX are INCREDIBLE.
I collect comicbook movies on DVD; I'll pick that up, for sure.
Pretty decent year this year for comicbook flicks: "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer", "TMNT", "300", and of course, "Spider-Man III". Banner year to be a comicgeek. Next year, we've got "Sin City II", "Wolverine", and a slew of animated direct-to-DVD movies.

So me and the kids are absolutely HOOKED on "Sly Cooper 2: Band of Thieves" ,for the PS2.....lotsa fun, incredible gameplay, 3-D environments, and lots of action. Hightly recommended.

That's all for today, I'll fill y'all in my quest for some childhood cereals next post.

Welcome to the Jungle, Pt II: The Jungling.

2007-03-18T04:56:00.000-07:00

Well, Day II of my adventures in Blog land. No one's viewed my blog, except for me, when I somehow got "locked out" of the editing page...*sigh*
I'd like to think that I don't have the computer skills of a six year old, but...

So...how about Marvel's Civil War, eh? Took a YEAR for seven issues to come out, and to an incredibly anti-climactic ending, wowsers. The whole mini was INCREDIBLE up to the final moments when Captain America..........surrendered. (Wha-?) Please. Oh, and now, if you *don't* know, the man's now wormfood. Charming. I expect him to return, ala Superman in 1993, with 4 guys all claiming to the Star-Spangled Avenger.

So it's March 18th, and still no sign of Spring. We were viciously cock-teased last week, when the temperature soared to 12C....(for someone who works outside all day, THAT was a nice couple days, lemme tell you). Takin' a look at the incredibly unreliable 7-Day forecast, it seems we are destined to hit double digits again by Wednesday. We shall see. I for one, can't wait, as I absolutely DETEST winter.
I am Canadian, and I HATE winter, you heard right. I'd move to flippin' Phoenix in a second.

St. Patty's Day has come and gone, and up here in the Great White North, no Shamrock Shakes at our local McDonald's. I can VIVIDLY recall having one, for the last time, back in 1987. 20 years, guys! There's actually a website devoted to nothing more than to bringing back the Shamrock to ALL McDonald's...here's the link:http://www.tiktok.org/shamrock/ or you can wax nostalgic on X-Entertainment's musings about the Shake, including a downloadable copy of the SHamrock Shake commercial, starring Grimace's GREEN Irish uncle, check it out, kids: http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0948/
Tune in later on, when I tell you all about ANOTHER quest of mine....I'll give you a hint: Frankenstein, and a Ghost.

Welcome to the Jungle............?

2007-03-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

Alright-

This is my first attempt at a "blog" (God, what a LAME term), I've unsuccessfully maintained a blog on my MySpace page, and even my MSN Space....*sigh*

Perhaps I should regail y'all with a little bit about myself: I'm 34 years of age, married with two children (both boys, ages 4 and 6, yeesh), and I reside in the thriving metropolis of Barrie, ON, Canada (at one time, the fastest growing city in North friggin America!

Here's a lovely pic of me and the fam, enjoy:

Come here (whenever I update) for all my thoughts on all things comics, toys, sci-fi, television, not-so- drunken rampblings, and the madness that is my existence.