The weeks in review.
Uhhhhh really long post about lots of things. Probably boring for you, but OH WELL.
First off: Halloween! Sitting next to the stairs has some advantages for decorating my space at work. We also had a sort of pseudo party in the afternoon, complete with a costume contest. I wish I could show you the group shot we took in the parking lot, but I don't know whose camera was used for that. Here's a shot of some folks in the office.
I went as generic steampunk person*. Now, because I'd like to show off this outfit, but I'm still phobic about showing myself, you get strategically blurred out photos. Here's the front and back (I really like the tails on this coat). Underneath, I wore this. The camera I used was pretty crappy, so you can't see much of the detail. (For example, the trousers and waistcoat are both pinstriped, and I'm wearing my leather gaiters over my boots, but most of this doesn't show up.) Not that this "costume" was particularly impressive, since I didn't make anything, and basically everything I'm wearing was already in my closet. I only bought the shirt and tie for this occasion. (I did learn to tie a necktie just for this, though.) If I had more time, I'd do more to "steam" it up, add accessories and tweak the clothes and etc. But given the lack of time and effort, I think it turned out ok. Thank goodness for a rather anachronistic wardrobe.
*I had no particular plan for my outfit, so based on how it looked, I decided I was some kind of military clerk. People weren't entirely sure what I supposed to be. With the hat and coat on, some guessed "Sgt. Pepper" and "an Adam and the Ants music video". Minus the outerwear, guesses were "Annie Hall" and "a member of the Axe Gang from Kung Fu Hustle" - I rather like that one.
Benedek also went steampunk, turning out as a smashing aviator. (You can't tell from that photo, but the leather coat is really long. Also, he's wearing suspenders as well.) He ended up winning the costume contest, which made me proud since I had helped him put the whole thing together. Victory!
Halloween night was fairly uneventful, although we did watch Dog Soldiers, ahahaha! A variety of delightful British accents, terrible werewolves, and sausages. And by sausages, I mean guts.
Then it was APE! Nedaj and Jareph came up for the weekend, so it was just like old times. (I think that's sufficiently blurry to be safe.) It was a pretty decent show, the highlight of which was seeing ADS at her table! (Obviously, blurry photography is the recurring theme here.) It was so fun to hang out with her and her brother and meet Armanda, who was super cool.
My best accidental find was Seamus Heffernan, who had these incredible pages at his table. I really wanted a poster of that badass Ben Franklin image, but he only had small cards of it. He work was astonishingly excellent, comic pages done with delicate inking and such painstaking linework, omg. I was asking him about how he was planning to distribute the comic, and he said he wanted to print it big and cheap, like broadsheets. It's an unusual and possibly unique idea, but it could be very interesting. At any rate, I can't wait to see more of his stuff. It's pretty exciting to see something as different and good as this.
Arrrrrggggghhhhhhh I want to work on my comics SO BAD, you have no idea. Yeah, I know, the actual process of making comics is kinda a huge pain. But I still want to do this! I have stories I want to tell and all this stuff trapped in my head and ARGH. It's really frustrating because I have time every day when I get home from work, but I have to spare my limbs and so I don't draw. At all. I realize I whinge about this all the time, but it's so hard. And APE is so inspiring, in two very different ways. For one, there's some remarkable work that makes me want to strive for that kind of quality. And then there's the bulk of the stuff there that's total crap and it's like I can do better than that! Rrrrrrrr. I doubt I'll be able to produce enough work to be behind a table next year, but maybe 2010?? Ngh, seems so far away.
Anyway, I was kinda disappointed at the lack of guests or panels that interested me (I didn't go to anything), but it was still nice walking around and looking at stuff. I didn't take around a sketchbook, as I usually have in the past, but I did buy things and/or got things signed by Becky Cloonan, Jason Shiga, Steve Purcell, Rhode Montijo, and Ben Templesmith. This last encounter was totally awesome and embarassing. I actually sorta met him previously at Wondercon, but mostly I just stammered a lot. I think I was more coherent this time, but still. He is so brilliant, also really nice, and always wears those snappy pinstripe suits and has a charming Australian accent and ok maybe I sorta have a little crush on him.
Anyway! The guys and I tromped around Chinatown a bit. *edit* Forgot to mention, we first went to the Cartoon Art Museum to see an exhibit of some of the work from the Totoro Forest Project. It was so lovely and wonderful, and a really great range of art. In the evening, we watched Lost Boys 2: The Tribe and Undead Or Alive (for some reason, the only trailer I could find has Italian subtitles?), oh wow. Both were totally awful and awesome.
Later on, it was Zombiefest 2008! Steve invited some of us from work to this movie marathon at a friend's house. First on the schedule was Fido, which was sweet and hilarious. Then [Rec], which was extremely intense and the last bit will HAUNT MY MIND FOREVER AUGH. Seriously, I usually enjoy zombie flicks for the action and sort of pleasurable scariness, but this went over into Truly Creepy territory and I'm still uneasy when I turn my lights out at night. Highly recommended if you want to get freaked out. (Apparently, Quarantine is the American remake of this movie, which in theaters now; looks like they're copying the original pretty closely. And oh hey, that's the actress who plays Dexter's sister!) Then we had a zombie trivia quiz, and there was also a screening of Return of the Living Dead, but we left before it started.
Then last night, I went with MTC, AB, and CS to see Repo! the Genetic Opera, which was utterly amazing and over-the-top and wonderful. Check it out. As AB pointed it, it definitely succeeded as an opera, what with excessively complicating a very simplistic plot, indulging in lavish spectacle, and being oh so melodramatic about everything. I know a lot of people will find it way too weird and gory (we're talking graphic evisceration, and lots of it) to enjoy, but I loved everything about this film! It's so outrageous and ridiculous, I can't get over it.
Things are pretty great, people. Also - I get to go to the doctor on Tuesday! Yay!
p.s. I will try to post bits of drawings at some point, as I have been slowly accumulating a few sketches.
First off: Halloween! Sitting next to the stairs has some advantages for decorating my space at work. We also had a sort of pseudo party in the afternoon, complete with a costume contest. I wish I could show you the group shot we took in the parking lot, but I don't know whose camera was used for that. Here's a shot of some folks in the office.
I went as generic steampunk person*. Now, because I'd like to show off this outfit, but I'm still phobic about showing myself, you get strategically blurred out photos. Here's the front and back (I really like the tails on this coat). Underneath, I wore this. The camera I used was pretty crappy, so you can't see much of the detail. (For example, the trousers and waistcoat are both pinstriped, and I'm wearing my leather gaiters over my boots, but most of this doesn't show up.) Not that this "costume" was particularly impressive, since I didn't make anything, and basically everything I'm wearing was already in my closet. I only bought the shirt and tie for this occasion. (I did learn to tie a necktie just for this, though.) If I had more time, I'd do more to "steam" it up, add accessories and tweak the clothes and etc. But given the lack of time and effort, I think it turned out ok. Thank goodness for a rather anachronistic wardrobe.
*I had no particular plan for my outfit, so based on how it looked, I decided I was some kind of military clerk. People weren't entirely sure what I supposed to be. With the hat and coat on, some guessed "Sgt. Pepper" and "an Adam and the Ants music video". Minus the outerwear, guesses were "Annie Hall" and "a member of the Axe Gang from Kung Fu Hustle" - I rather like that one.
Benedek also went steampunk, turning out as a smashing aviator. (You can't tell from that photo, but the leather coat is really long. Also, he's wearing suspenders as well.) He ended up winning the costume contest, which made me proud since I had helped him put the whole thing together. Victory!
Halloween night was fairly uneventful, although we did watch Dog Soldiers, ahahaha! A variety of delightful British accents, terrible werewolves, and sausages. And by sausages, I mean guts.
Then it was APE! Nedaj and Jareph came up for the weekend, so it was just like old times. (I think that's sufficiently blurry to be safe.) It was a pretty decent show, the highlight of which was seeing ADS at her table! (Obviously, blurry photography is the recurring theme here.) It was so fun to hang out with her and her brother and meet Armanda, who was super cool.
My best accidental find was Seamus Heffernan, who had these incredible pages at his table. I really wanted a poster of that badass Ben Franklin image, but he only had small cards of it. He work was astonishingly excellent, comic pages done with delicate inking and such painstaking linework, omg. I was asking him about how he was planning to distribute the comic, and he said he wanted to print it big and cheap, like broadsheets. It's an unusual and possibly unique idea, but it could be very interesting. At any rate, I can't wait to see more of his stuff. It's pretty exciting to see something as different and good as this.
Arrrrrggggghhhhhhh I want to work on my comics SO BAD, you have no idea. Yeah, I know, the actual process of making comics is kinda a huge pain. But I still want to do this! I have stories I want to tell and all this stuff trapped in my head and ARGH. It's really frustrating because I have time every day when I get home from work, but I have to spare my limbs and so I don't draw. At all. I realize I whinge about this all the time, but it's so hard. And APE is so inspiring, in two very different ways. For one, there's some remarkable work that makes me want to strive for that kind of quality. And then there's the bulk of the stuff there that's total crap and it's like I can do better than that! Rrrrrrrr. I doubt I'll be able to produce enough work to be behind a table next year, but maybe 2010?? Ngh, seems so far away.
Anyway, I was kinda disappointed at the lack of guests or panels that interested me (I didn't go to anything), but it was still nice walking around and looking at stuff. I didn't take around a sketchbook, as I usually have in the past, but I did buy things and/or got things signed by Becky Cloonan, Jason Shiga, Steve Purcell, Rhode Montijo, and Ben Templesmith. This last encounter was totally awesome and embarassing. I actually sorta met him previously at Wondercon, but mostly I just stammered a lot. I think I was more coherent this time, but still. He is so brilliant, also really nice, and always wears those snappy pinstripe suits and has a charming Australian accent and ok maybe I sorta have a little crush on him.
Anyway! The guys and I tromped around Chinatown a bit. *edit* Forgot to mention, we first went to the Cartoon Art Museum to see an exhibit of some of the work from the Totoro Forest Project. It was so lovely and wonderful, and a really great range of art. In the evening, we watched Lost Boys 2: The Tribe and Undead Or Alive (for some reason, the only trailer I could find has Italian subtitles?), oh wow. Both were totally awful and awesome.
Later on, it was Zombiefest 2008! Steve invited some of us from work to this movie marathon at a friend's house. First on the schedule was Fido, which was sweet and hilarious. Then [Rec], which was extremely intense and the last bit will HAUNT MY MIND FOREVER AUGH. Seriously, I usually enjoy zombie flicks for the action and sort of pleasurable scariness, but this went over into Truly Creepy territory and I'm still uneasy when I turn my lights out at night. Highly recommended if you want to get freaked out. (Apparently, Quarantine is the American remake of this movie, which in theaters now; looks like they're copying the original pretty closely. And oh hey, that's the actress who plays Dexter's sister!) Then we had a zombie trivia quiz, and there was also a screening of Return of the Living Dead, but we left before it started.
Then last night, I went with MTC, AB, and CS to see Repo! the Genetic Opera, which was utterly amazing and over-the-top and wonderful. Check it out. As AB pointed it, it definitely succeeded as an opera, what with excessively complicating a very simplistic plot, indulging in lavish spectacle, and being oh so melodramatic about everything. I know a lot of people will find it way too weird and gory (we're talking graphic evisceration, and lots of it) to enjoy, but I loved everything about this film! It's so outrageous and ridiculous, I can't get over it.
Things are pretty great, people. Also - I get to go to the doctor on Tuesday! Yay!
p.s. I will try to post bits of drawings at some point, as I have been slowly accumulating a few sketches.