At least I think that's what the warning lable next to her face should say.

This is the face Aurora gives to her Great Grandmother EVERY time they see each other. It's amazing, and makes me wonder what she sees there... some magical aura, or just my Grand's goood nature? Sometimes I even wonder if she doesn't recognize her from that strange space where people come from and return to.
Or maybe she just likes wrinkles and raspy voices?...

The Lady and I both got our hair cut at Ananda on Wednesday - I had a trim, but The Lady chopped nearly 10 inches from her head.
The lovely Charlotte, our stylist, is a friend from Dragon*Con, an HP cosplayer and costumer extrodinaire (responsible for Alex-Snape & Lance-Sirius' outfits).

I went first and while The Lady was in the chair, took over watching and entertaining Aurora. It didn't take long before the little Lady passed out on my shoulder... and I was able to capture the moment with my celly. Charlotte did amazing work and we're both happy with our heads as well as each others.

I love it when Aurora falls asleep in my arms...it's times like these that I really feel like a father.

I finally did it.
I've completed an original piece of art, had it printed and mailed out cards for the holidays! It's really exciting to see this through!

Strange to say such -since I've seen my artwork animated- that I've never seen my work in print. Unfortunately, I didn't think to include a few blank-backs in my print order, and thus the only people who will receive one of these cards are those who mean a lot to me personally (AND sent me their snailmail addy as requested!). If I've left anybody out, forgive me: we still don't have easy access to the net, and I'm limited to text messages.
In my defense, I have switched cellphones and in doing so, lost a bundle of information on my contacts.

However, If YOU did NOT recieve a card from me -and want one- and YOU can read this filtered friends list, You deserve one! Hurry, I only made 100, sent out at least 75, and I won't be doing reprints (although an 11x17 poster sized version could be available if there's interest).

Send me your snail mail addy in a private comment, and I'll get one out to you! (Plopplopplop, PixieCup, Porphyre, Dishliquid, Chibitoaster, this means YOU specifically!)


It's no secret that I'm an armchair cryptozoologist and have a fondness for all life, be it scientifically provable or not.
As for holidays, I'm not big on celebrating anything at face value or pressing such affairs upon others who feel the same way.
So I wanted to create a card with a little hint of paganism, nature and perhaps some animism as well. Who better to replace Santa than the original wild-man, Sasquatch?

The idea of Kissing under the Mistletoe comes to us from Scandinavia, where it was the plant of peace. "If enemies met by chance beneath it in a forest, they laid down their arms and maintained a truce until the next day." I've also heard that it's a symbol of fertility, but I can't trace that source.

There is a short story behind the squirrel.
I like squirrels.
...but that's not the story.

While I was completing the artwork, I rescued a real squirrel from the fireplace in our home. She had been in there for a few days, but because she was quiet for so long between activity, we assumed she was able to enter and exit without trouble. But I got to thinking, what if she couldn't get out?
I decided that it would be a terrible irony for a squirrel to die in our living room while I sent out holiday tidings boasting a flirty squirrel, an investigated the fireplace. I set a spelunking headlamp in the vent space above the fireplace and using a digital camera to explore, I found the Squirrel, trapped on an outcrop of masonry. I also could see that the flue of the chimney is a ceramic pipe with no exposed brick and therefore no footholds for escape.

On the roof, I built a ladder from plastic netting and twigs, weighted it, and lowered it down the chimney. This however had the opposite effect and encouraged the squirrel to drop down into the fireplace, trapped now behind glass doors. We could see her silhouette, backlit by the headlamp, which she'd knocked down during her dive. While she was trying to get back into the flue, I rigged the door of our pet carrier with twine so it could be closed remotely and crammed it sideways into the open fireplace with the door acting as a ramp.

I placed another headlamp on the topside of the carrier, over the vent holes, and sat out of view, holding the end of the twine. Within ten minutes, she had descended again, and immediately entered the pet carrier... stepping so lightly that I almost didn't realize she was inside. I tugged on the twine, closing the door behind her and pulled the carrier free from the fireplace. She was extremely docile and I was concerned that her imprisonment might have weakened her.

Keeping her in the cage, I checked her out in the light of the kitchen to make certain she was healthy enough to be released. She looked sturdy, full-grown, battle worn and solid. Her right ear was damaged from some old wound, split down the middle, almost to the base. But otherwise she looked fantastic.

After introducing her to The Lady, and snapping a few captive photos of her, I released her into the yard. Notably, as we entered the yard, her demeanor changed and she lunged for the bars of her cage, rattling them and squirking desperately. I carefully unlatched the door and stepped back, upon which she bolted from the cage. She paused only briefly, a few bounds away, looked sidelong at us before darting across the street to a stash beneath a tree.

In honour of our impromptu prisoner, I have dubbed the squirrel character “ASH” and I've joked that, perhaps the card should be entitled "Kiss My Ash!"
Had I not been on deadline to beat the holiday, I would have redrawn her right ear to have the same scar. Expect that in future versions.

Speaking of that, I'm already working on something for Valentine's & Halloween, and have something different planned for Easter/Spring: which reminds me, does anybody know about industrial packaging or a good recipe for "healthy" candies or a place to have them made? I want raspberry & chocolate nuggets...or perhaps chocolate covered carrot bits (gross I know, but it's a Smudge Wumpus thing).

The Lady, The Baby and I are all in the Ashes, sharing coffee at Caffeine with Kim and her brother (who is performing in a moment). Kimbly brought me a copy of Tales of the Beedle Bard, which I'm going to have to pull from The Lady's hands when we get back to the nest tonight! Maybe she'll let me read it to them as a bedtime story?

We came up here on Thursday to surprise my Grandmother with a mid-holiday visit.
The Grand isn't doing so well; she had bronchitis and she's having trouble getting around on shaky legs... which could be a result of the stroke she had in April...
Regardless, I wanted her to have some more time with her Great-Grand Daughter.

Speaking of: Check this awesome shot that I caught of Aurora at Urban Burrito on Friday>

I'm in Calgary, Canada enjoying an April snow!

Froggy flew me up here to work with him at the Calgary Expo this weekend.
BSG & Buffy/Angel fans: I get to work with Caprica Six and Darla! Woot!

Right now we're just hanging at the hotel, I'mbrowsing the multiple cartoon channels while we wait for our ride to the Expo center. I love Canadians because they really love animation as an art...
Froggy just got back from the lobby and tells me he turned down lunch with Kevin Sorbo...(Update: He just found out that we won't be able to set up until tonight... so I think we're going to drop in on Kevin and have a drink.)

So far, the small chunk of Canada I've seen is beautiful and friendly, although it's fairly flat. I have found something I want though. While Olympic Mascots have never been a great point of interest for me, I really want a Quatchi for our baby's collection of Cryptozoological toys. Quatchi is King Cute and he's a Sasquatch. What more could you ask for?

Speaking of baby Sasquatches and travel... I'm already missing The Lady and our Baby Sasquatch. I was feeling "Home Sickness" before I even left... and that's not something I'm used to, especially since I don't anchor to a home as such. Home is where the heart is, buried in my chest... and a chunk of mine is on the other end of the country.

Our next stop is Seattle, WA and the Emerald City Con. Since we'll be there for over a week, I want to drive down to Portland, OR to check out an animation studio there. If I get the time, I'll post pics to my Flickr.

It's the start of another hard April for my family.

The Lady and I have returned to the Cayce Nest and are settling in after a trying week in Transylvania County. We've been there since April Fool's Day, taking care of family and saying goodbyes.

A good few of you already know of what's transpired, though the details were lost through the limits of txt msging. Those of you we've told, also know what it means to us that you're there.

I'm working on a longer post, to express my grief, honor my teacher and relate the passing of man who was grand in my world. The person who taught me what a loving relationship is and if there's a gene for Impish nature, it was his that skipped a generation and found dominance me. The man who stitched up my Security Blanket with a clumsy, comical cross hatch. The man who planted a Sibling Tree for me in the front yard.
One of the Five Parents who raised me, and he's the fourth to go.

It's worth noting, as I work on an outline of recent events, that the first week of April has been riddled with extremes in my family's history.

My Grandparents were married on April 5th, 1941.

Father and a favorite Cousin were both born on April 3rd.

Mother contracted polio on April 6th and died a lifetime later on the same day in 2004.

My Turner/Cartoon Network badge was issued on April 1st, 2005.

Grandmother suffered a mild stroke on April 1st, 2008...

My first passport was issued on April 2nd, 2008.

Grandfather broke his hip on April 2nd, 2008 and died the next day.

April 5th, 2008 was my Grandparents 67th wedding anniversary.

-----------------------

In exchange for any words of condolence or sympathy, I'd rather know something:

What simple thing would you miss if you died today?

Would you be upset that you didn't get to finish the book you're reading or that you'd missed the season finale of your favorite show? Would you miss the moment before waking when Dreams are as close as the warm Lover in your arms? Would you want one more morning walk? Would you wish for just one more chip from the bag?

I'd miss all that and more...
Heaven's allure lost it's luster with me when I realized how wonderful Creation is. I'd hate to break through the gates to tell the Creator how I couldn't wait to leave the mess he'd made...

So WHAT WOULD YOU ACHE FOR IF THERE WERE NO MORE You?

Never put a T.A.O. Rabbit in the drier after washing.... they shrink.

Actually, this chibi-Smudge got a (super-super deformed) make-over because of a doodle I started at the Midwife's office last month. The original doodle was much simpler and represented Smudge before the "health problems" from transgenetic complications set in.

In other words: the first doodle was Cute Smudge.

For those of you keeping field notes on the SWO, this is post-migration, superdeformed Smudge.

About a week after the Midwife visit we also received a scanner and I decided to transfer "Cute Doodle Smudge" to vector format. However, as you can see, while working on the super-deformed, super-cute vector widdle Wumpus the leering Smudge leaked in...

Although this piece was finished in time for Easter Sunday (because nothing says "Resurrection of Christ" like bunnies, especially those who've been through the gene-splicer) it's far from complete.
I had hoped to create a packaging design for SMUDGE NUGGETS CANDY CORN (not candycorn, but rather KERNALS OF CORN covered in chocolate! An idea which is at least as disturbing as Smudge, if only because it would resemble rabbit poop). I would then print the labels, and paste them on Raisinetts boxes to be sent out in lieu of holiday cards.
(imagine the surprise of timidly tasting a Smudge Nugget, expecting chocolate corn and discovering a squishy blob of brownish raisin stuff instead!)



(I'm still going to do it. Who wants some?)

Never one to cut corners on my own work (which means it rarely reaches completion -thus the lack of evidence), I decided that I may as well make Smudge's Body beneath the hoodie. So, for the first time on the online, I present the naked Wumpus.

It's been suggested that I make more clothing for him and create a sort of dress up dolly. Perhaps that could go on the back of the box?



Since he's naked, it should be noted that Smudge has no genitalia. That's important, because although he identifies as male, s/he's physiologically genderless.... but that's a longer story.

In the realm of the physical, I maintain numerous empty pockets for filling...something shiny for distraction, and at least one tool of the scribe, be it pencil or pen.

Taking the question philosophically, I always carry a pouch of Optimism, a pipe full of Dreams, and the rucksack filled with my History flawed and fine.

A great photo of this year's Stabby-Jack with the knife still in.
The Lady has more photos in her album, including her ornate, swirly-faced Jack, and the punkin gutting process which involved the help of our resident cat, Bugaboo Bonzai. I was going to carve a cartoony, cute Jack this year, but decided that I felt stabby.

I've been fighting sickness and fever since Friday night's Haunted Art Show at the dooGallery. The prior four days were a blur of intermittent sleep, sweat, moans and groans and aching joints. My fever broke Tuesday morning although the cough and stuffiness linger still.
Considering recent developments (which are still relatively private or at least being kept close to the heart), I did what I could to quarantine myself from The Lady, but unfortunately, as I left for work Wednesday morning, she seemed to be showing signs of sickness.

Tuesday night we sat on our new found couch (finally, no more sharing a papasan chair or the floor! If only I'd found it over the weekend -and had the strength to move it- I could have slept prostrate instead of curled like a squirrel in a hat.) and carved pumpkins while watching Mad Monster Party, and switching channels between Dirty Jobs (w, Toby Sells the FX artist I trained under briefly) and Nostradamus specials.

I made it home today in time for Trick-or-Treaters and saw that our neighborhood was full of families going door to door. However, I'm noticing an upsetting trend in the local kids and Halloween: No Costumes. Just plain clothes, plastic grocery bags and repeated shouts of "Trick-or-Treat." Out of about 18 revelers I saw TWO costumes, one was an infant wearing a vampire cape, the other was a toddler in skeleton pajamas.

I found The Fourt in darkness, and The Lady resting in bed. I laid my coat aside, emptied my pockets quietly and climbed in beside her with my boots on. We talked for a while, and decided that since we're both feeling under the weather, we would spend Halloween evening inside, watching Ghost Hunters (and pondering wtf Pro-Wrestling has to do with SCI-FI). There was cuddling, napping, baked cinnamon punkin seeds and chicken soup...not a traditional Halloween for us, but it will do.
Next year will be different: Guaranteed.

Now I need sleep... I have to be at Sketchy's in 5 hours.

I've just realized that the Jack-s are still outside in our courtyard... maybe they'll survive the night.

Haunted Art Party
Friday October 26th.



(from the website)
This Art Party will feature Halloween genre art. Monsters, Horror, Dark Art...

An Art Party is much more than your typical meet & greet art reception. Sure you can have some free drinks and talk to the artists. Hopefully you will even buy some art from them. But as the night progresses, so does the party vibe. Eventually it becomes a full on party with dancing, and music provided by DJ Dead Plasticman.

This show's artists are: Rhett Amick, Brandon D, Debra Frieden, Kombo, Laura, Marilyn, Dean Thomas, Christina Bowman, Thom Foolery, Ted Murphy, Annie Chaffer, Lorrie B, Andrew Bellury, Tony Bravo, Page Burch, Josiah Cuneo, Johannah O Donnell, Emily, Don Gaddis, Mark Gunter, k jillian, Kim Jones, Sharon Kelly, Michael Kenepp, S.Corey Adams, Dan Simonjova, Tha' GoodSon, Kat Kelly, and more TBA.

Art Raffle:
During this party there will be an Art Raffle. The raffle is to support the artists by making it possible for some patrons to purchase art. Every person who enters receives a raffle ticket and one dollar from their donation goes into the prize pot. At Midnight we will draw a winning ticket. The winner of each drawing receives an art voucher to be used to purchase art that is on display. The amount of the voucher depends upon how many people come through the door. dooGallery will also donate $20 to the pot for the drawing.

Costume Contest:
There will be a costume contest at Midnight. 1 Prize for the most original costume. 1 prize for the best couples costume. 1 prize for the best replica costume. Currently the prizes are $20 art vouchers. That amount may increase with more sponsors.

Doors open at 9pm. Door donation is $5.
Must be 21 to enter. Please wear a costume.
Drinks & snacks are availible all night.
Please car pool.
Park on the street or one of the lots down the road.
Located near the artistic district of Cabbagetown

( Directions to Cabbagetown )

This party will end at 1am.


-----------------------

I'm excited to be in this show alongside my lifelong friend, Kim Jones and my new friend Thom Foolery. Please come out and support the local artists and celebrate the fast approaching all Hallows Eve with some hauntingly good art!

I skipped work yesterday to take care of some personal issues.
During the late afternoon, The Lady and I took a walk down to Piedmont Park. We brought a bag of stale nachos along and sat down to feed the ducks by the lake.
As you can see from this photo, The Lady is a talented photographer and some of the Piedmont Ducks are rather fearless. I was actually able to groom and nuzzle several of the ducks, including this one. As the nachos ran out, a sun burnt, shabby looking man sat down on the dock steps and offered us a beer.
We discussed the ducks with the man and left him to his day. As The Lady and I walked up to Willies for burritos, I mentioned my fear that hungry homeless people could dine on duck if they learned how friendly our fowl were. However, upon passing the man by the dock, we noticed that he had been joined by a homeless lady and together they were feeding the birds bread crumbs. Seems they find it nice too.

Among all the stress we're dealing with, it's a blessing to just sit down with The Lady in the park and feed stale nachos to friendly water fowl. It's an addictive nicety.

As soon as I got home tonight (or at least after I'd finished kvetching about traffic turning my nine mile commute into an hour long drive) I encouraged The Lady to grab three tins of wet cat food -which Bugaboo hates- and walk with me down to the Highlander parking lot. There's a colony of stray cats there that I wanted to help out.
Upon arrival we found that somebody has set up several large plastic storage bins at the edge of the kudzu. Each bin has cat-sized hole cut in its side and contains a large bowl of cat kibble. Our little offerings of single serving wet food we met with casual curiosity and a few takers.

It's nice to know that some human is looking after the strays.

The boring facts of my day:
In prep for a birthday party this weekend I sculpted:
10 Megalodon teeth
10 T-Rex Teeth
10 Spinosaurs Footprints.
Received a compliment from the boss-lady, "Mommy-O," who compared my Megalodon teeth looked to souvenir replicas of the real thing.... so I spent rest of the afternoon daydreaming that I was a museum sculptor, immortalizing fossils (rather redundant really) for museums around the world.

Anyhow, that's my post.... I'm very tired.

I'm working the ASIFA table at AWA this weekend!

Stop by my table and allow me to explain the benefits of becoming a member of the world's largest Animation Collective.

That is... IF you can find my table, since I wasn't able to last night....

While listening to Mysterious Universe episode 75 podcast last night, I learned through a story called "My Invisible World" that Mark Twain was close friends with Nikola Tesla... the author relates the following:

"Nikola Tesla... locked himself in his lab for days unaware that his best friend, Mark Twain was dying. When Mark Twain had died April 21, 1910, Tesla was not answering the door. Days later, Tesla was notified that Twain had passed away days before. Tesla answered, “That is impossible, he was with me in the lab last night.”"

I haven't found any verification of this story, but I honestly I haven't looked to hard.
I did however find this "haunting" photo of Mark Twain in Tesla's lab... Tesla is lurking in the background, with what looks like a pleased smile on his face.

Tesla and Twain

Something about this photo makes me very happy.

...I was also reminded of one of my favorite Twain quotes:

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

Sasquatch! ...design for a Sasquatch character that I'm creating.

After a year of toil and turmoil, bloodshed and tears, the Dragon has been laid to rest... not slain as such since she triumphs in the film- she was just retired.

Last Sunday, well before sunrise, The Lady and I crawled into the mechabee, picked up Mr. Parham and headed over to Karla Jean Davis' house for a breakfast of Mickey D's and Karla's killer coffee. Once our crew had assembled, and our lead actor was in costume, we loaded up the caravan and set off for White River Cave, a small, natural cave pressed up alongside highway 113, near "Iron Stab" northeast of Rockmart, Ga.. For decades the cave has been a popular destination with the locals, especially the kids from a neighboring high school, a fact evident in the layers of spray paint and etchings declaring who was there, who loves who, where hell is and who "sux" etc...

( The Story of the Dragon in White River Cave )

The Lady took some awesome pictures that KJD plans to use in the "making of" extras.


Click the pics for larger versions.

Although the entire head only weighed ten pounds, when held twelve feet away from the puppeteer it weighed close to 96 pounds and required almost 100 pounds of counter balance in order for the main operator (Cooper) to lift it.

( In which the Dragon succumbs to gravity and bad planning )



The Dragon, full of cracks and tears, slack jawed and neck broken, had defeated itself.

( Parham, Munger and Adams venture into the abyss.... )

Building this beast has been a lesson in design, sculpture, puppet building and personal limitations among other things. When Karla Jean Davis approached me over a year ago, and asked if I'd like to design a dragon for her film I had no idea I'd end up building it or that it would take twelve months longer than she had originally anticipated to complete it (we were scheduled to shoot after Dragon Con last year!). But it's allowed me to collaborate with some of the most talented and understanding people that Atlanta has to offer. Furthermore, I'm glad that Karla and many others had faith in me even when I didn't.

I almost forgot: Karla Jean Davis was recently interviewed in Go English! Magazine in which she gives a brief summary of her movie Golgotha!
Click the pic for "original size" in order to read it.



You can find more pics of the Dragon's construction in Karla's Flickr set:

To Make A Dragon

...and pics of the shoot in The Lady's Flickr set:

GOLGOTHA-The Last day of filming-
behind the scenes shots


Then Mr. Parham got eaten....

Dragon*Con is fast approaching and in anticipation, I've uploaded some fresh pics from last year's D*Con and thought I'd share.

There are about 450 unedited photos from 2005 & 2006 in my Zombie Lunchbox but a few of my favorites can be found in the Cream of the Con Flickr Set.




If I have the time, I'll be editing more pics and posting them in my Flickr account in the weeks to come. I especially want to get the Gotham Villians variants cleaned up and online... Unfortunately, I don't think I collected each villian last year...

If you know any of the peeps in the pics, feel free to share and invite them to leave comments if they're so inclined. Hope to see you all at D*Con this year!

(x-posted to the Dragon Con communities. My apologies for any echoes.)

It's a sleepy, gray Sunday in Atlantis and The Fourt is steeped in muffled drowsing.
Not even the sun or rain are committed to today, resulting in a rather ineffective drizzle... more of a drizz really.
The day typically is officially underway when our roomie cracks open her paint sealed bedroom door and slips into the shower, but her room remains dim and dormant.

The Lady, still buried in bedsheets behind me, is chasing dreams in her threadbare Tigger socks. Although only her feet poke out from the comforter, I know she's mostly naked, and I think about curling up next to her, how warm she'd be, and how nice it would be to drift off to sleep again. But there are things to do... (yet still I dodge them).

It's just one of those sunless Sundays...

The only active members of The Fourt are the cat, Bugaboo Bonsai, and myself -and I'm awake largely because Ms. Bonsai was uncharacteristically vocal this morning, mewling and cavorting to get my attention. Normally she's most communicative in the morning, but she was mewling incessantly and wouldn't let me rest. I followed her into the living room. She walked straight to the front door stretched out her paws to the doorknob mewled again and turned to look at me. I promised her we'd try her out on a leash before setting her out in the world.

After that she seemed content to sit on the porch with me while I drank reheated coffee, and read the last of Tailchaser's Song. Now Ms. Bonsai is curled up on the bed next to the The Lady.

And I'm left alone, awake and discontent (although as I type this, The Lady wakes: must be the changing of the guard).

The past few days have been a trial for the two of us full of self-doubts and mild depression. Curiously, the weather outside compliments our mood completely.
I won't speak for The Lady, but for myself, the issues and tribulations are recurrent and gaining strength.

Thinking of it, I have too many concerns to log...
Put far too simply I'm worried about my viability as a creative fount. My age and lack of education -which once were a belligerent badge of pride- and subsequent lack of regular income are beginning to weigh heavily on me. Having creatively failed several people in the past year (Joey, the Dragon, Toby Sells), I'm beginning to feel like a hack.

However, I had a great talk with Ms. Mew and Mr. Fish(er) last night and they've inspired me to persevere... to start some personal projects which might bolster a fan base for larger projects and provide supplemental income at the same time. More to come on that later.

But now The Lady is awake, and teaching Ms. Bonsai to curse... so I must be off.

"June 20-21 is start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere but simultaneously the start of winter in the Southern Hemisphere. It's also the longest day of sunlight for places in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest day for cities south of the equator."

And so, with the death of Spring begins another Lap around the my Clock.

It could have been a passive passing but...

The Lady surprised me.
According to our plans, the two of us were going alone to dinner at The Brickstore. I attempted to invite some people along, but found my phone had been disconnected. By the time I got it back online, we were heading out the door.

Somehow the little imp had wrangled together as many of my dear friends as she could, without my knowledge! When we arrived at The Brickstore, there were so many friends waiting that The Lady had to sit in my lap! Eventually there were enough of us to take over the neighboring tables.
I think the biggest surprise was having spiralriding arrive with beachsomewhere and vidicon shortly after we ordered our drinks! (Yesterday was beachsomewhere's birthday and Saturday is spiralriding's, so it quickly became a group birthday celebration)

I'm not one to itemize or judge gifts, but, aside from the lovely surprise bestowed on me by The Lady, I think the greatest gift -the one that will make me laugh for years to come- was the mug ladykinbote made for me. She took one of those hollowed out travel mugs, and pasted the best Caturday memes (as well as "I hasa bucket") around it's perimeter.

Thank you to everybody who wished me well, and especially those who came out to surprise me at The Brickstore on Wednesday!

There are some great shots of our friends in The Lady's flickr account, but you may have to be logged in to view them.

I have some of the most eclectic, wonderful friends ever...
I mean seriously check this out:



(L-R: beachsomewhere, spiralriding, vidicon)
Badminton or Croquette in the parking deck?
There are no soccer moms in my Extended family.

Yesterday was a perfect way to start my new year:

The Lady got a job with a coffee house in the Highlands! YAY!

I received the script for the next animated spot I'll be working on (includes Courage the cowardly dog!).

I bought Night Watch with birthday cash.

The Lady and I had an impromptu picnic in Piedmont Park with spiralriding.

My high school sweetheart, Margi, called to say that she won a quarter of million dollars and set a legal precedent in a lawsuit.
( (excerpts from the article behind cut) )

And The Lightbringer called to say that she got a better job in San Jose.

NOW, I'm going to go pounce on The Lady and wake her up with kisses.

On my way to the show last week, I tried to get some pics of my two contributions. I only had my phone camera, but I was able to get a couple decent shots of Lefty and Mr. Rites. Although my phone cam is good, it doesn't always take the best photos, especially not while sitting in traffic, taking a shot over my shoulder of something in the back seat of my car.

However, last night while cleaning out my phone, I found an image of Lefty and decided to sweeten it up. I ended up creating virtually another piece of art altogether.
Yes this image was originally a 'blind' shot and I had to work a little to be happy with the image.
Because it was a bit pixelated where it wasn't blurry, I opted for an old photo effect...I think I did okay.

Here he is along with his new bio:

Giuseppe 'Lefty' Piccoli


Lefty's remains remain restless.
In life, he was not very well liked, but in death he's almost tolerable.

During his "short" life, the three foot, one inch tall Giuseppe "Lefty" Piccoli was an aspiring bootlegger who provided 'specialized' services during the American prohibition years. Aggressively ambitious, and prone to turbulent moodswings, Lefty didn't mind doing his own dirty work and clawed his way up the racketerring ladder through knee-capping and other, under-belt assaults.

Unfortunately, his career was interupted when his bodyguards left him in the bay with a bucket of cement on his right foot. And while Lefty's sudden demise didn't come as much of a surprise to his competitors, his post mortem return did.


The Lady has posted better pictures from the "Taking Care of Business" show at the Yoyo Gallery in Cabbagetown, (You might have to be logged in to Yahoo in order to view them). Check out all them hipsters. There are also some great shots of the stylish Mr. Thom Foolery, who, in spite of humidity, dominated the scene with coolness.

Speaking of hipsters at the show, one of them came up to The Lady and stated that he'd like to see her wearing nothing but her goggles, then walked away. There was no other formal greeting, just, I, Ugbar the Unwashed Hipster, want you naked. While I emphatically concur, (and must take a moment to imagine her in such a state) it's just not what I'd consider a viable pick-up line. I mean, does that ever work? Have we lost all social grace?

(partially cross-posted to illustrators)

The Yoyo Gallery opening last weekend went smoothly.
Scrambling to produce three works of art did not go smoothly. In fact I freaked out.

If it hadn't been for The Lady's loving support, and a dose of blind perseverance I wouldn't have made it. However, in the end, I was able to provide two finished pieces which I'm resolutely proud of.
( Taking Care of Business )

GREAT GIFT IDEAS
because I'm getting older
I'm approaching my life lap...
Five days from now, as Spring 07' lays dying, I'll be 3 years shy of 40.
37
You think 28 is ponderous? I'm filled with ponderings and doubts about my future, my worth, my impact, my values and valuables and all that... but sweating 'all that' usually means I'm doing even less to improve it.
I've concluded that it's time I get some culture in me... and I don't mean Yogurt (although that would be nice too).

That being said, I need to see this opera:


Monkey, Journey to the West

omg

"Gorillaz designer Jamie Hewlett and 2-D's very own voice coach Damon Albarn have teamed up on the amazing opera Monkey: Journey to the West. Monkey will be taking place as part of the Manchester International Festival from 28 June to 7 July and over the next week we'll be releasing some behind the scenes goodies for you to check out, so stay tuned to the fan site. Fans of Gorillaz' music and artistic details will be sure to love Monkey as well.

Tickets are still available for the Manchester shows, and you can order them by clicking here: MONKEY!"

Simple request: I would like tickets to an opera in Manchester, England (as well as plane tickets to Manchester, England).

pharminatrix introduced me to the novel Journey to the West (aka The Adventures of Monkey) a Chinese classic about a picaresque monkey who gains godlike powers. She also gave me the word picaresque.

Think Brer Rabbit meets X-men.
Think Immortal Monkey with a Dobbsian dose of Slack to back him.
I love the creatures who live by their wits, the monkeys, foxes and rabbits.
...and I love Jamie Hewlett.