Zombies II: The Deadening

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!

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!!!!!!!!

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!

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.

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!"

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?

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.