Check out my original drawing of Cthulhu…
And what this guy posted on his deviantart site.
Slackademics on Myspace
For Vancouverites only!
http://www.myspace.com/slackademicsvancouver
All friend requests pass through the discerning eye of MODOK.
Whahuh
Everybody deserves to know that the Wachowski brothers are apparently working on a live action Speed Racer movie. What did you do to deserve that? I’ll let you reflect.
But it’s not all bad news on this blog entry. Here’s a tip from Steve Schnier what he posted in the comments of Uncle Eddie’s Theory Corner
Back in my student days, we had a ‘bit’ that we always pulled on the grumpy guy who owned the local deli . We made up cards that read, “Congratulations! Your meal is on the house!” Every now and then, we’d pull a bunch of napkins from the dispenser, slip in a card and replace the napkins – knowing that in a few hours time, someone would claim their ‘free” meal…
That’s a good one.
Cthulhu Limericks
The High Priest was queerly perplexed
When the cultists spilled blood on the text
He was heard (to his shame)
When the Outer Gods came
Chanting “sexed” when it should have been “hexed”
Though the cultists were dressed to the nines
The Grand Rite was of unsound design
For Cthulhu to stir
With his buddy Hastur
They should wait for the stars to align
A fiendish fakir fond of floggin’
Was found with a bug in his noggin
As we drilled in his head
He was heard to have said
“Cthulhu Wagn’nagl Fhtagn”
With my roleplaying buddies I planned
A Lovecraftian rock n roll band
When the media tires me
And asks what inspires me
I just show them my pineal gland
$50 Fantasy
On the Vancouver Gaming Guild messageboards some feller posted that he was moving out of town (to Victoria) and was getting rid of a bunch of warhammer & D&D miniatures. I conned Joyce into driving me out to Richmond so that I could look at what he had. I told him I had $40 to spend. He originally quoted a buck a miniature. I walked away with probably 300 miniatures, a battlemat, a bunch of primers, paints etc, and about 15 books and magazines for $50. Joyce, not being privy to the nerdiness that you all are, just stood there and looked at me like I was Jack the Knife, which was very amusing to me. But she warmed up to me after that when we went to the Aberdeen Mall and I bought her some thai curry chicken and we took in the spectacle that is Daiso (I got some striped toe socks for myself).
We then came home and watched Requiem For A Dream which had great acting, great music, and great cinematography, but as anyone who has seen it knows, is a bit much. Joyce agreed to watch it thinking it was Memento. HAHAHAHA!
After she left, I spent 2-3 hours picking out the minis and books that I wanted to keep. Then I packed the rest up to give to Paul and to take to the Drexoll Games First Annual Game Auction, which was tons of fun (and free donuts). I sold 54 rare Eldar minis for $7, probably about 75 orcs for $1, and probably about 50-100 assorted D&D miniatures (some painted, some not, some plastic, some pewter, some lead) including 2 dragons and a big ass minotaur for $10. And with the $17 I made from the battlemat (thanks Geisel) I already made back $34 of the $50 I spent the night before. The assorted magazines, books, crazy D&D collectible cards, and rest of the stuff in a two foot stack that nobody bid on I gave to a 10 year old keener who was the only person that was interested in them. His dad wouldn’t let me sell it to him for 50 cents, so I took a fin. The kid was super-stoked and that made me feel good. Truly, the children are our nerdy future.
Lost My Bike Lock
Anyone looking to get rid of one?
Assorted Miscellany
Today I am working on the “Greasy Spawn” toque graphic. I’ll be making up 48 of these babies in green and black toques with a green and dark purple image of “GREASY SPAWN” against tentacled bat-wings. Should be fun.
I’ve also been focussing on prepping the Thickets album. What we do, see, is we record the band during practice in Chilliwack with Troy’s equipment, then it gets put on CD and I bring it home and add vocals, maraccas, whatever. So in a few days I’ll pretty much have the entire album done “unprofessionally” but still good enough quality to make out what’s going on. Maybe if you’re lucky you’ll get to hear some tracks. But not over the internet. No no no.
I think I am now up-to-date on Battlestar Galactica, thanks to Stephane. I really think, to misquote Egon, TV is dead. Or TV as we know it. I notice a couple more commercial-free channels have come onto my dial since Turner Classic Movies (which showed The Seventh Seal today – something that’s been on my list forever!). I mean who really has the time to schedule themselves around TV shows? In modern dramas, you miss one show and you’re hooped. Might as well wait for the DVD or, if you’re like my friends, download them from the Intraweb.
I’ve recently been in contact with someone who wants to do a Rocket Robin Hood comic book. I really really like that idea. That’s all I’ll say about it for the moment.
I went on the Ghost Train on Wednesday. I had no idea we had a little train in Stanley Park. I’ve lived here for 10 years. The Ghost Train was cheesy and about $3.50 overpriced but entertaining.
On Sunday I’ll be at the Vancouver Comicon at Heritage Hall at 11am on the dot, then I have to burn rubber for the Drexoll Games auction at noon. Now that’s exciting!
Hello, Ween
Up Up and Away
Tomorrow (Saturday) at 7am on Turner Classic Movies they’re showing the old Superman serials. I think The Day the Earth Stood Still and the original King Kong are also on. Check your local listings, bitch!
Bunch of Haggard Filmmakers: I Judge You
So tonight I went down to the ANZA club to be one of three judges for BLOODSHOTS: The 48 Hour Horror Film Challenge. Of the eight films submitted, six were turned in on time.
As hundreds of DV filmmakers the world over have already learned, making a short film in one weekend can be terrifying. Lack of sleep is just the beginning of your problems when you are trying to corral actors into repeating their performance with more energy at 5 in the morning and you know you have only got another 6 hours to get a final edit of your masterpiece put together.
Each film was given it’s own sub-genre of horror and weapon. All of the films had to incorporate a fannypack and the phrase “They may drink alcohol, but they’re still human.”
Below are the award categories. I would have added two more categories if I were in charge: Best choreography and best score. Hell’s Habit would have won best score, I’m sure of it. I’ve inserted links to youtube so you too can enjoy the films.
Best acting: Hell’s Habit by Mike Jackson (you know him, you love him). On Jackson’s team was Peter New and Sam Dulmage among others. They all did exceptional jobs. Though Soylent Red was very close, Hell’s Habit got extra marks for having way solid acting even though none of the characters really had lines, in a sense.
Best editing: Hell’s Habit. Soylent Red was runner up, if such a thing existed. A lot of the films had brutal editing. Again Habit stands out for the fact that they shot on super 8mm and as such they had huge technical constraints. Balsy!
Best death: Soylent Red for the ‘art imitates death’ motif. 13 Steps came close, and if you watch the video, you’ll see why.
Best subversive use of genre. What does this category mean? Your guess is as good as mine. The winner: 13 Steps.
Best use of prop (fanny pack). Though I was pitching for the origami fanny pack in Death Cart 2.0, the other judges shouted me down and the winner was 13 Steps.
Best use of required dialogue. This one went to Soylent Red who incorporated it into a song.
Best costumes: Hell’s Habit
Best screenplay: There was some discussion about what a screenplay was (it’s not just dialogue!). I am not sure but I think 13 Steps won.
The films that won no awards were Song of the Dead, which was was pretty dreadful in many areas but had some good death and gore in it. Overtime Bites was uh… a film.
Best film won $2000 worth of lighting equipment. Mike and Sam and the rest of the cats in Hell’s Habit truly deserved it. Way to go guyses!