2007
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| Doodle Genesis | ||
| Jan 15, 2007 8:52 pm | ||
| It was lightly snowing today at Doodle Alley. Almost all the shops closed. "Have to get home," my German landlady said, "before the roads freeze over."
I sadly watched people leave through my window. I just moved to Doodle Alley, and I have a nice apartment near the ocean. The ocean’s way too cold to go surfing, but at least it’s pretty. I finished unpacking my last box while I was watching a Miyazaki film. After that I watched some cartoon network. And then I watched more TV while I ate lunch. I soon realized that I needed to get away from the stark walls and empty boxes, so I donned my coat and braved the weather. I walked down to the merchant’s district but it was like a ghost town. No cars were parked anywhere. Nothing could be heard, not even the waves on the beach, except for the soft sound of snow falling, which is really only perceived on a subconscious level. I sighed, watching the small cloud of my breath bleed away into the fog. I was about to turn around when I saw the solitary light of a shop. It was called, Unc’s Eatery. A bell on the door rang as I walked in, but there seemed to be no one behind the counter. An old man sat in the corner playing chess with himself. I sat at the counter and looked back into the kitchen to see if anyone was there. “There’s a half a sandwich in the icebox if you’re hungry. Other than that I don’t feel like making anything.” “Oh, ha ha.” I turned around. “You’re the owner… of this place.” “I’m Unc.” He said. “Unk?” “It’s a shortened form of Uncle.” “Oh.” I sat back and looked outside. “Unc... My name is Stephen.” He proceeded to checkmated himself, but was looking at me out of the corner of his eye. “You look a little down in the dumps…” “Yeah. I just moved here. I’ll be attending the community college tomorrow, but I haven’t met anyone yet. Kinda lonely, I guess.” I unzipped my coat. “And now everyone’s gone home ‘cause of the snow.” Unc looked at me. “Who told you that?” “Uh… my landlady.” “Ha ha. You really haven’t been here for long have you?” He leaned back in his chair, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “Alley time runs different than the rest of the world, see… People don’t mind taking there time as long as the job gets done, and if the opportunity for fun comes along they take it. When people say they ‘have to leave because of the snow,’ what the mean is ‘let’s get the heck out of here and go play!’ I can guarantee you that half of the town is up on the ski hill right now, living it up.” “Really? Ha ha. Cool. Maybe I’ll go snow boarding.” I stood up and walked to the door. He was stacking chess pieces back on the board. I looked at the snow, and then back at him. “Do… you want to play a game of chess?” I asked. “Sure.” He said. “Are you any good?” “Well, I was in chess club in high school.” I sat down in front of him. “What degree are you studying for now?” “Art. I want to become a cartoonist.” “Oh! Like the funny papers, ay?” “Sort of.” “Well. I think you’ll do fine. Welcome to Doodle Alley.” | ||
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| Flip Floppers | ||
| Jan 19, 2007 12:00 am | ||
| I am happy to report that my first week living here was nice. No snow since my last blog, but a big storm is supposed to come tonight.
I made some good friends already at school. This semester I think I will be able to buy all my text books for under two hundred dollars! “TWO HUNDRED?” said Unc. “That’s robbery! How many books did you get?” “Um…” I poured sugar into my coffee, unable to look him in the eye. “Two. Two books.” “Two books! In my day a man didn’t make that much in a month!” He brought out a rag a scrubbed furiously at the counter. “You kids this days… ipod toting, flip-flop dragging, pants sagging…” Remind me never to mention money to Unc again. Other than the school fees, life’s pretty good. I’ve finally got a good amount of content online… so I can dive in to website promotion! As a treat I’ll be updating my college newspaper comic, College 101, five times a week for a couple weeks. Then I’ll be switching to a Tues/Thurs update schedule. Cheers! | ||
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| Barnaby Booblesmith | ||
| Jan 27, 2007 12:00 am | ||
| This morning as I was sitting at the bus stop I saw from far off a man in a grey suit. He had just bought a news paper.
I decided to name him Barnaby Booblesmith. Barnaby was obviously a very serious business man, because he immediately opened to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and dived nose-first into the paper. What caught my eye about him was that although he couldn’t see through his newspaper blindfold, he nevertheless insisted on taking the most dangerous, albeit, efficient, route to his destination. He cut the straightest of lines as he walked, crossing through people’s gardens, through the busy Comic Street intersection, cutting off pedestrians, and kicking aside people’s dogs. I moved my back pack out of the way as he glided past. Barnaby then turned on his heel and sat down next to me. I suddenly became very curious to learn where he worked, because his demeanor was in direct contrast with the laid-back, lackadaisical people who make up a majority of this town’s population. “Hi,” I said, turning to him. “Yes, fine thank you,” he muttered. I faced forward and stared for a good moment at a planter full of poppies across the street. Inside I was laughing at this man with the one-track mind. “Nice weather today,” I cheerfully observed. “The snow’s almost melted away.” “What? Yes, well, I suppose so.” He squirmed, trying to get out of the spotlight of my attention. I chuckled all the more at this dry, mild-mannered fellow. I was as worm in his apple, and I was enjoying it. “And you really do look like a Barnaby Booblesmith too! Ha ha!“ I then realized that one of my thoughts had dripped out of my brain and slipped through my mouth. “Oh dear me.” I said in shock. “What did you just say?” He said, taking his laser eyes out of the business section and blasting me with them. “Ah, ha ha. Nothing.” I looked away. The rest of the wait for the bus was spent in awkward silence. Seeing my eyes dart over his paper, Barnaby silently handed me the comics section. An overall good guy, really. | ||
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| Word Paintings | ||
| Jan 23, 2007 9:05 am | ||
| Our campus is big, so I do a lot of walking. Especially since I don’t have a car.
When I walk, I whistle, or, recently, I lay down slam poetry. “Walking downtown, and alooking around, at the fine dining people drinking the fine wines and having a fine time at the restaurant, that I walk by casually, wondering about things like if the weather’s mad at me, snowing in a flurry, or whether my clothes are just a fad to be tossed away, here today and then gone tomorrow, the sorrow of a barely worn pair of shoes adorning my toes for just a second and then cast aside, I must confide that I have a few pairs sharing a space under my bed.” It’s nothing much, but I really like saying whatever comes to mind, letting the shape of the words affect what is said. Usually, only the birds listen as they sit on the telephone pole wires that drape across the Alley. There is something beautiful about free, unadulterated expression. | ||
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| The Future: Good to Be Here. | ||
| Feb 5, 2007 12:00 am | ||
| “Do you run often?” asked Unc as he slid an omelet across the counter to me.
“I… try to.” I said, breathless and sweaty as I sat on a stool in Unc’s café. I’d just finished a run down at the beach, and I was hungry for breakfast. “I haven’t exercised since 1948, when I got out of the army.” He cracked an egg for himself, which sizzled and spat in the pan. “And look at me, after all these years, I’m just fine!” “Ha ha!” I laughed, and then realized he was serious. “Ahem, well, I suppose I’d be proud to have a figure like that when I get to be your age.” “Darn straight.” He muttered. He popped the top off his pepper shaker and poured a pile onto his eggs. I watched through the café window as a foggy mist began to seep into Doodle Alley, quenching the orange flames of sunrise. The sun tried to fight back, but was fast becoming a blurry, white hole in the clouds. “Hey, my website is doing pretty well.” My words barely managed to poke through a mouthful of omelet. “Your what?” Unc looked up I swallowed. “My website. My webpage.” “Ah yes, the world wide web.” He came around the counter and sat next to me, setting his egg in front of him, and spreading a napkin on his lap. “I did that once. My grandson got me a computer for Christmas. It’s alright.” “It’s so great to live in the future… I mean, we might not have flying cars or anything, but I really believe that we’ve finally arrived in the future. The internet opens so many doors of communication.” I looked out at the fog with a glass of orange juice in hand. “A couple days ago, I emailed one of my favorite cartoonists some fan art. I nervously waited for a reply, checking my email constantly. And after a few days, he emailed me back! And today, he put my work on his site! It makes me so happy! A little over ten years ago, this would have never happened. I’m just happy to be here, that’s all, to be here in the future. And I’m really excited to meet people like me, who love comics.” Unc sneezed from the haze of pepper that floated as an ever-present cloud over his eggs. “Well that’s… ahrumph, that’s just great.” He tried to smile with tears in his eyes. I could tell that Unc wanted to share my excitement, but faced the barrier of age and time. Society was starting to leave him behind—he still lived in an era that predated mine. Suddenly I felt a great appreciation for this kind-hearted man. “Where’s that computer of yours?” “It’s still upstairs. I haven’t turned it on for years.” “Really? I could, you know, teach you some things. Teach you how to use it.” He smiled to himself as he cut his egg with the edge of his fork. “Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to play another game of chess.” “Well, sure!” I jumped off my stool. “That is, if you’re willing to get beat again.” “I only lost last time because I got all cocky after capturing your knight in the opening. I won’t be caught off guard this round!” I went to the cabinet and got out his old wood board with the onyx chess pieces. Unc chuckled and finished his pepper-black egg, which was no doubt hot enough to reach is old taste buds. | ||
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| The Whole World is in my Shoebox. | ||
| Feb 8, 2007 12:00 am | ||
| The other day I realized that I don’t know who threaded the shoelaces in my shoes.
This bothers me a lot. I bought them with the shoelaces already in, which means someone else, maybe someone halfway around the world, laced my shoes. Sitting in the library, I wondered who this someone is. I imagined a small Chinese lady kneeling at my feet to put my shoe laces in. Or maybe this person is a teenager from Brooklyn, who dropped out of high school to work at the shoe factory. Or maybe it’s a girl my age, who lives in India, and is lacing shoes for a living until she can make enough money to go to college in the UK. I don’t know who you are, but thank you. We may not know each other, we might never know each other, but you and I are connected by an invisible thread, a single invisible shoe lace that threads its way through out the entire human race. | ||
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| There's a Body in the Freezer. | ||
| Feb 13, 2007 12:00 am | ||
| I have a printmaking class until 8:15 pm, so I have to take the late bus home.
Tonight was cold. Dark clouds were smeared across the gaping horizon of the night sky, and the moon was big and red. Getting off the bus, I still had a short walk up Doodle Alley to reach my apartment. I zipped up my jacket. I heard footsteps walking behind me, the soft slap of shoes on pavement. Someone else had gotten off at my bus stop. I nervously tried to look behind me. I heard a cell phone ring. It had a Beatles ring tone. “Hello?” The mysterious person behind me had a young female voice. She sounds pretty, I thought. There was a long pause. “What? No. No I—What?” Another pause. “Well where do you expect me to put him? I can’t bury him until nightfall, so the freezer seemed like a very logical place.” What is she talking about? Who is she putting in the freezer? I could feel my ears stretch open wide so I could hear the conversation better. “You got the money though, right? From the will?” Something’s definitely not right, I thought. “The lawyer wanted how much? Aw c’mon!” She was walking faster, gaining on me. “Okay, give him whatever he wants, just keep him quiet. Dang lawyers. Oh well. We’ll have more than enough money for the both of us afterwards, right? Okay. Good. Now all we have to do is dispose of the body and skip town! Malibu, here we come!” Oh. My. Gosh. A murderer is walking behind me. A cold-blooded murderer. I looked ahead of me, sweating bullets. Okay, I’m close to my apartment. Just a few steps more and I’ll be safe. And then, it happened. She had sped up and was walking right next to me. I instinctively slowed down to make distance between us, and to my shock, she turned right at the entrance to my apartment complex, and walked in! She lives in my building. I stopped and tried to decide what to do, but all I could think about was the poor old man she and her cohort had killed, and about the cold corpse that was folded neatly in a refrigerator somewhere in my apartment building. Oh no, what if she kills my roommate! He’s up there, all alone, probably playing World of Warcraft or something, not knowing how close he is to danger! Suddenly, the front door swung open, and she walked out! The butterflies in my stomach all leapt at once, and my heart was beating so fast, it shook my chest. The girl was devastatingly beautiful. She had long, brown hair and dark, green eyes. Her freckled face smiled at me. “You can come in now,” She said, and then proceeding to laugh at me for a good minute as I stood there in shock. She clutched her belly and bent over, tears coming to her eyes as she laughed. “You should see the look on your face! Ha ha!” I was confused. “I made all that up,” she said, between giggles. “I got a random call from someone, and they hung up—wrong number or something—and then I was like, ‘This is the perfect opportunity to totally freak that guy out and, oh I’m sorry if I scared you I just—ah ha ha hah!” I started to laugh half-heartedly, but I was still scared of this girl. Was she trying to trick me? “My name’s Lara. I’ve wanted to introduce myself to you ever since I realized we live in the same apartment, and I guess now I have…” “In the worst way possible!” I said, as I began to believe her. “Man, I’m still scared of you…” “I’m sorry, ha ha!” Her laugh is wonderful, I thought, as I went to bed. | ||
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| Drunk Sharks | ||
| Feb 15, 2007 6:50 pm | ||
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Many things have happened in my little town, but for better or for worse the people here just seem to smile, bow their heads and say, “Just wait for the sun to come out. It always does.” Our one claim to fame, which is not something were exactly proud of, but it’s impressive nonetheless, is that in the Prohibition Era, a high profile mafia man was forced to dock in our harbor to avoid the coast guard. The fishermen were the first to notice the fancy yacht that rose a full story over the other ships, but it didn’t take long before the entire town was whispering about the mysterious ship. No one ever came in or out of it, except a single sailor with a strange accent and a missing ear who took care of matters with the dockmaster. Well, in the meantime, the coast guard had sent out a telegraph to all the ports on our coast, describing a yacht that was suspected of bootlegging all manner of wines, liqueurs and whiskeys, the very same yacht, in fact, that was at the very moment docked in our harbor. Our small town lacked the proper force to board the ship and bring its inhabitants to justice, so the people radioed the coast guard and said to themselves, “Just wait for the sun to come out. It always does.” The next morning’s sun came out as planned, and the coast guard came out too, but much to the peoples shagrin, the mysterious yacht had dissappeared. Perhaps the mafia man had informers who alerted him. The guard left and things began to return to normal, until one day a shark was sighted swimming by the beach. The shark wasn’t hurting anybody, but it was acting incredibly strange. I seemed to be swimming aimlessly, slowly circling, and moving with the waves. The shark was drunk. Taking note of this, the fishermen casually ambled over to there ships, and uncharacteristically let down their nets while still docked in the harbor. Much to their delight, they pulled up hundreds of bottles of alcohol. The mobster had dumped his entire shipment, over two tons of alcohol into our humble waters. It was a giant Boston tea party of booze. And for some reason, the local authorities weren’t alerted about the moonshine until there were only a couple hundred bottles left on the seafloor. | ||
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| Psychodelic Pandas | ||
| Feb 21, 2007 12:00 am | ||
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The Youtube Pick of the Week is Louis Vitton's advertisement for the superflat monogram. Absolutely excellent animation. This week's Pick is dedicated to Mandy, who inspired me to start the Youtube Pick of the Week when she sent me an encouraging email about Doodle Alley, and a funny Youtube video. If you've got a Youtube video that you think I'd like, send it in, and I might feature it in The Youtube Pick of the Week! | ||
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| Art is in My Eyes | ||
| Feb 27, 2007 7:49 am | ||
| Right now, I am at my art class, on the third floor of the art building, in an art critique. I scrawl a spot of blog in my notebook, hoping the teacher doesn’t notice as I critique the beautiful scene outdoors, framed by a window.
This piece is simple, but striking. Trees move silently, tickled by the wind, whilst the blue hues of the sky try to dominate the picture, beaten back barely by a blurry horizon. Quick! Sit up straight and stop writing— the teacher is right behind us! “Hmm.” She says, looking outside, “What a nice day.” “Yes, yes it is.” I say, as she walks away. It’s amazing how, if you look at the world as a piece of art, life becomes beautiful. | ||
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| Buck Rogers and Baby Boomers | ||
| Mar 2, 2007 1:55 pm | ||
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The town I live in didn’t really begin to grow until 1941—when a Naval Base was constructed. The base brought with it military personnel from all corners of America, big cruisers that dwarfed our little fishing rigs—and a small economic boom. The short, humble street leading down to the docks became the central street for the bustling downtown, full of Model T’s and shouting vendors and men in uniform. This street would someday be called Doodle Alley. Unc was in his early teens around this time. He told me a story about how he and his brother would go digging in trashcans to find that day’s newspaper, just so they could read that day’s episode of the ongoing Buck Roger’s comic strip: “Buck Rogers was a true hero to us. He represented everything we wanted to be when we grew up. “You’d probably call it propaganda today, but it was real meaningful to us that Buck went to war when America did. Buck fought the Mongols and the Martians whilst we fought the Nazi’s and the Japanese. Us kids dug the newspapers out of the trash everyday to follow Buck into all his battles and adventures, but I guess what we were really trying to do was follow our dads and brothers into their battles. We felt closer to the soldiers when we read Buck Rogers.” Our naval base was closed down exactly ten years after the war. After Pearl Harbor, Politicians were more wary of having military bases on the vulnerable coastline, so they decided to close our base to free up money to strengthen other bases. Fortunately, our town didn’t shrivel up with the base—many military personnel came back after the war to raise their kids. And indeed, who wasn’t raising kids? Strollers were everywhere and a new housing district was built, the beginning of the town’s suburban district. The baby boom had arrived. | ||
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| Animusic | ||
| Mar 4, 2007 12:00 am | ||
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This week's You Tube Pick of the Week was done by a company called Animusic. If you find a video you like, pop me an email and I might feature it! Oh, and there is a new photography section on gallery avenue if you guys are interested. | ||
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| Spring Break at the Comics Cloister | ||
| Mar 10, 2007 12:00 am | ||
| Hey, everybody. Time for some announcements.
College 101 will not be updating this week, because it’s Spring Break and I plan to color my comic for the Parables Anthology. I’m excited to see how the story will turn out, I’ve got the entire thing penciled, and hopefully by the end of the week it’ll be colored too. I'll be working like a comics monk, thinking of nothing but the comic, eating nothing but bread and water as I work deep into the night by candlelight. I can't wait! Ha ha! As penance for the lack of College 101 updates, I’ll be adding some more content to this site throughout the next week. Check out the gallery, I’ve added a new printmaking section, and a new photography section. Also, stay tuned for a 24 hour comic I did a couple years ago. Hopefully, if I get the comic done, I’ll be able to publish a couple preview pages for you guys. Parables is going to be a very cool anthology, check it out! | ||
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| The Stellar Sandwich | ||
| Mar 25, 2007 12:00 am | ||
| “Good gravy, this is an amazing sandwich, Unc.”
“Well, thank you.” “Just think, fifteen billion years ago, all the matter that would someday make up this sandwich was in a micro-spec of compacted matter… then, there was the big bang— and all the elements for this sandwich was blown out into space as the universe expanded at a velocity greater than the speed of light! A couple billion years later, the matter for this sandwich cooled off, and got stuck to a large globule of matter that would later be called the Earth. Who knows, maybe some of the atoms in this sandwich were part of a dinosaur a couple million years ago, maybe a couple of the atoms floated in the upper atmosphere for a hundred years or so, maybe parts of this sandwich were digested by some famous person!” I rested my arms on the countertop at Unc’s café and stared outside at the sunlit trees. My perfect sandwich was propped on my hands, in front of my face, and Unc was propped on a stool, reading a newspaper. I closed my eyes and took a bite of the sandwich, and with a full mouth said: “In other words, the entire universe has been working to get these all atoms here, at this time, for my mouth to enjoy. It was fate for me to eat this sandwich.” “Hmmmm,” said Unc, turning the page. | ||
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| Uniqlo Mixplay | ||
| Mar 13, 2007 12:00 am | ||
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This week's You Tube Pick of the Week features some m4D d4ncing by Uniqlo Mixplay. If you find a video you like, pop me an email and I might feature it! | ||
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| My Umbrella Machine | ||
| Mar 21, 2007 12:00 am | ||
| Last night I had a dream… it was so vivid and so beautiful. Everything about it was wonderful, but I can only remember snippets of it; I can only speak about it in vague, hard-to-understand poetry:
A green little shop, with many drawers inside, many compartments, and a launch pad, for my parachute umbrella machine, that I used to fly in the sunset clouds, until I met a beautiful girl with a tender touch, and then I woke up. I’ve been quite busy lately. Spring break was fun, and I got ten pages colored for my short story for the Parables Anthology. I lived like a bachelor, forgetting to shower, staying up as late as I could, working like a dog, and having a good time. So it was fun. And did you see Tuesday’s College 101? I must say, I never expected that I’d ever get the opportunity to draw a robotic duck sucking down a t-rex. I actually laughed while drawing it, which is really rare for a cartoonist to do when he sees his own work. If any of you are dreaming out there, be sure to ride the umbrella machine. It's amazing. | ||
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| Harsh Advice | ||
| Mar 26, 2007 12:00 am | ||
| “You look different today,” said Unc, as I walked out of the sunny afternoon and into his little café.
“Oh.” I put my backpack on the counter and checked to see if the seat was dirty. I didn’t want to ruin my suit. “Today’s laundry day,” I explained. “I’m too lazy to do my laundry, so I wait until I have no clothes left. All I have left to wear is my nice clothes.” “So you look nicest when your clothes smell the worst, ay?” Said Unc, smiling and leaning over the counter. “Uh… I guess so.” “Actually, I was talking about the colorful spots on your nose.” “Oh,” I grabbed a napkin to wipe it off. “Those are smears from Lucky Charms marshmallows. When I’m… bummed, I eat a cup full of sugar cereal for comfort food.” “So your got your nose too far in the cup, ay?” “I was extra hungry for the Lucky Charms today.” “Does that mean you’re extra sad about something too?” “Meh. You know how it is.” “I bet I do.” Unc went into the back and came back with a carton of ice-cream. “This is what I eat for comfort food. It’s called Chocolate Moose. Now then, what’s the problem?” “I probably shouldn’t waste time whining about it… Pity parties don’t help anything.” I said, resting my chin on the counter. “Well, if there’s not going to be a party, I guess we don’t need any ice-cream,” said Unc mischievously, putting the lid back on the carton. “Alright, alright. …I’m sad about not having a girlfriend.” “Ah yes. I remember when I was in your exact predicament.” Unc glanced at a picture on the wall as he scooped ice cream. I sighed. “Being single wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t constantly reminded of my singleness. It’s just… I don’t know. There are some days where every girl I see is just drop dead gorgeous. Every one of them. They’re all so beautiful. And I sort of feel like, if there aren’t any girls who like me, then I’m not as valuable as the next guy, you know what I mean?” “I seriously doubt that there aren’t any girls out there who like you. What about that Lara girl you were telling me about?” “Lara? She’s pretty, yeah, but totally insane! I’m still afraid to open refrigerators because of her. And besides, I think she has a boyfriend.” “Oh.” “So. Anyway. That’s my problem. I’m worried I might be alone forever.” “I see.” Unc went to put the ice-cream away. I looked outside at the sun. Spring was beginning to peak out. “Now here’s some good advice. Pay attention now. ‘You can’t worry about things you can’t change. And if you can change them, do so instead of worrying!’ That’s what I always say,” chuckled Unc. “But sometimes it feels like I have no choice but to worry. The circumstances demand it!” “You always have a choice, but if you tell yourself that you don’t, then I guess you don’t. Look at it this way though. You may or may not get a girl someday, but either way, how do you want to live in the meantime? Do you want to live in fear and emptiness, or in peace and contentment? The choice is up to you.” “But if I don’t keep an anxious eye out for a girl, I’m afraid I might miss the one that’s right for me! I’d miss my chance and regret it for the rest of my life.” Unc put his spoon down. “You know what regret is? Regret is not forgiving yourself for things that you can’t change. You might make mistakes, but you sure can’t change them. You need to let it go.” “Yeah.” “Here’s the deal, life’s painful at times, and it’s happy at times, and then you die. But the good news is, we can work to keep the painful times from destroying the happy times if we practice forgiveness, patience, contentment, peaceful living, and… well, love, I guess.” “Gosh, that’s harsh! Seems like it would be hard to do all that, but I guess it makes sense.” “Take life at slow, content pace, you’ll find a woman soon enough.” Unc took a big bite of his ice cream. “When I was 17, I met the most amazing gal and I said, ‘Baby, let’s get hitched,’ and she said, ‘Okay!’” I chuckled. “But then, America entered World War II and I was drafted. And I had to wait for two years to get back to her. In that time I only saw her twice! And in the meantime, all my buds were playing around with the European girls. It was lonely, let me tell you, and worried. What if she wasn’t there when I got back? What if she met someone better than me?” “What happened when you got back?” I asked. “Well, she had waited, and by golly I married her! Ha ha!” I laughed some more. I felt better. “Things will work out, see? When you fall in love it’ll be amazing, but in the meantime, don’t let loneliness and doubt take control of your life.” I smiled, looking down into my empty bowl. “You’ve got some ice cream on your nose, son.” “Oh, ha ha. That means that I’m thankful for an old man’s wisdom.” I wiped it off. | ||
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| High Speed Camera | ||
| Mar 26, 2007 10:18 pm | ||
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This week's You Tube Pick of the Week shows the high speed camera work of Takeharu Sensei! The whole thing's in Japanese, but it's still very fun. If you find a video you like, pop me an email and I might feature it! | ||
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| Straight from the Duck's Butt | ||
| Apr 5, 2007 10:08 am | ||
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I recently got a care package from my mom for Easter. In the little basket, I found a plastic egg full of whopper candies, and a little chocolate bunny. But the coolest thing hidden in the green plastic grass was… the poop duck. The poop duck is a wonderful little creature that I think came from my great grandma Alice. It is a knitted duck, about the size of one of my ankle socks. The duck’s butt is like the end of a draw-string bag: you fill up the duck with jellybeans, tighten the end to a certain diameter, and the poop duck is ready. If you want some candy, simply squeeze the little duck, and a little payload of sugary goodness comes out in your hand. I have many good memories with the poop duck. Going to visit the creaky but quiet tick-tock house of my grandparents, trying to catch fire flies with my sister out on their lawn, sitting on the couch reading grandpa’s Pogo comics, all these things come to mind when I see the poop duck. My mom’s the coolest, what can I say. And not only that, but she sent an electronic toothbrush along in the package for after I get done eating my share of duck turds. I feel so blessed. Happy Easter everybody.  | ||
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| Unc's Better than Aesop | ||
| Apr 10, 2007 10:01 pm | ||
| Unc said something today that was really cool.
We were doing our best to finish off his Easter candy basket, while we sat outside under a canopy umbrella at the one table that’s outside his café. It had just rained this morning, but the sky was clear. It's snail season, so there was snails crawling on wet brick walls and in muddy planters. Whenever anyone would walk by, we’d try to give them candy. Unc knew almost everyone by name, and the people he didn’t know he introduced himself to with a chocolate. When no one had walked by for a while, he pealed the tinfoil wrapper off a chocolate egg, looked at it, and said: “Life, is like… a chocolate egg.” “Really,” I said. “Once upon a time, a man found a chocolate egg just like this one. He said to his older brother, ‘I’ll betcha this egg has caramel filling in it.’ But his brother said, ‘I’ll betcha there’s nothing in it. I think it’s a hollow chocolate egg.’ The man broke the egg in half and discovered that the egg was the same plain chocolate, inside and out. The man was disappointed at first, but his older brother said, ‘Well, it seems that this chocolate egg is not as good, or as bad as we expected it to be. Our expectations have made fools of us, and now I see that the best option was to be content. If you are content and thankful, then whatever you get, whether it is many eggs or few, caramel or empty, will satisfy.” Unc handed me the chocolate egg and I ate it, watching a wet snail slide slowly down a tree. On this beautiful spring day, I’m thankful for Unc… and for just about everything else. | ||
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| How It Should Have Ended... | ||
| Apr 16, 2007 5:50 pm | ||
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This week's You Tube Pick of the Week features a hilarious parody by the How it Should Have Ended group. Much more hilarious videos at their site, one of my favorites is How the Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended. Ha ha! If you find a video you like, pop me an email and I might feature it! | ||
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| A Quick Note | ||
| May 1, 2007 9:44 am | ||
| Crikey am I busy. Finals week is here, and I've got a lot of stuff to do and big decisions to make. I've been so busy that I haven't even gone to see Unc for a while.
I'll be posting more when summer comes, but now, a quick announcement: This will probably be the last week of College 101. This might be a little shocking for those of you who have just started reading. After all, College 101 only became available online a couple months ago. But I’ve been doing this comic for two years, publishing it in my college newspaper. The reason I am finishing the strip is because I am ready to move on to bigger and better things. The newspaper I work for will be closing for the summer, and I am ready to jumpstart my career as a professional cartoonist. Don’t worry; there will still be plenty of content coming your way. I’ve got my old 24 hour comic scanned in, and so I’ll be putting that online in a couple of weeks. And if you want to see a book of all the College 101’s plus some extra material, email me and let me know. Also, I have plans to bring you a funny little comic collaboration that I started which was drawn entirely on napkins… Finally, check the gallery to see my sweet picture of supergirl! Love you guys! | ||
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| Sogno ad Occhi Aperti (Daydream) | ||
| May 11, 2007 3:24 pm | ||
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This week's You Tube Pick of the Week features an amazing journey through the daydreaming mind of a concert attendee. Created by Lasse Gjertsen, this music video is for composer and celloist, Giovanni Sollima of Sonzogno studios. If you enjoy the music, there's also a Part 2. If you find a video you like, pop me an email and I might feature it! PS-- Boy am I glad finals are over. I just finished mine, and now I'm free for the summer. This summer will be a little different than previous summers. I'm going to be taking summer classes for college, illustrating a comic submission to Tokyopop, and finishing up for Parables and trying to write a script for a future comic. Wish me luck! | ||
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| Death By Hobos | ||
| May 15, 2007 8:30 pm | ||
| This summer is exciting because instead of moving home I am staying here to take summer classes at the university. I’m also attempting to learn Japanese. But even with all the classes I’m taking, there will be plenty of time to write and draw and have fun. And I’m going to Comicon! Anyone else going?
This will be my first summer away from home, and I’m learning a lot of new things about living on your own. The cafeteria that I usually go to is closed for a while, so without my usual source of food I found myself buying groceries for the first time. And since I am without a car, today I learned all about the public transportation system as I tried to make my way across the city to the house of my Japanese tutor. And because I am without cooking devices, I have been forced to engineer new ways of cooking food with a microwave. Yes indeed, I am learning a lot about the world, let me tell you. Here are some of the things I’ve learned in just the past two days: 1) If you are going to attempt to cook oatmeal in a tall plastic coffee cup, microwave the oatmeal for a half a minute less than what the package recommends. If you don’t, the heat will cause the oatmeal to expand quickly, and since the long cup has a perfect cannon shape, molten oatmeal will soon vomit explosively onto the interior of your microwave. Ick. 2) Never buy milk from a dollar store. If it’s that cheap, something must be wrong with the cows. And if you do buy milk from a dollar store, at least check the expiration date before you glug down a curiously tangy cup of it. Oog. 3) If you are at a bus stop and a hobo approaches you for a dollar, look around to see that there is no one else there before giving him money. If you give a hobo money in the presence of other hobos, you will soon be sadly watching bills fly out of your wallet, as hobos bombard you with requests for money. Sheesh! 4) If you are planning on using a bus or train system near you, be sure to look at the departure and arrival schedules before you go. Today I found myself at the end of a long bus route with one leg left to travel and no bus coming to take me for another 3 hours. Luckly, my tutor and her students were nice enough to come save me. Phew! 5) And did you know that you can cook eggs with just a paper plate and a microwave? I was very proud of myself. You just gotta remember to stir the eggs ever twenty seconds until they’re done. Yay! PS-- So the first ten pages of the 24 Hour comic is up... I will be updating a page a day for two weeks! Check it out! | ||
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| My Glutton vs My Tightwad | ||
| May 17, 2007 7:58 pm | ||
| Since all I had was a spoiled gallon of milk, I needed to go buy more, this time of the fresher variety. Because the store’s so far away and because I am without a car, I decided that things would go faster if I went on a run, buying the milk while I was doing my workout. Things were going pretty well for a while as I ran toward the store with my backpack swinging back and forth, but after purchasing milk and a box of cereal, the return trip was a little hard. The gallon of milk was cool and wet as I ran back; it bounced up and down inside my backpack like a child that’s not buckled into to his car seat properly.
Suddenly I realized that it was feeling a little too wet. And to my dismay, I found a leaking carton of milk in my backpack. I sadly carried it upside down to prevent more spillage, all the way back to my apartment. When I got back, I siphoned the milk into a large water-bottle of mine. My adventures with milk have yet to be successful. And I was sad to discover that my microwave egg trick isn’t as neat as I thought. Today I was cooking some eggs, and I accidentally cooked it a little too long… and yet… though they were steaming… they looked alright… they looked relatively safe and edible… I slowly opened the door of the microwave, peaking around it… There was a loud pop, and hot egg hit me right in the face. Ouch! Microwave eggs are time bombs. But naturally, I still ate them. They’re perfectly good eggs after all. Eating, eating, eating. That’s what I do. It’s been two days since I bought that leaky gallon of milk, and I’ve already finished it. You never really realize how much food you eat until you buy it yourself. I’m amazed that my parents could afford to feed me. So right now, the tightwad in me is telling the glutton to stop eating so much. It’s an interesting battle. | ||
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| Beatboxing on a Flute | ||
| May 18, 2007 1:57 pm | ||
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This week's You Tube Pick of the Week features a the talents of streetperformers Greg Pattillo and Eric Stevenson, one playing a cello and the other beatboxing on a flute! If you find a video you like, pop me an email and I might feature it! | ||
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| Butterfly Angels | ||
| May 25, 2007 1:40 pm | ||
| No one knows exactly how Doodle Alley got its name.
We know that the name came out of the 60’s and 70’s, but under what context was the road that I live on named? The 60’s was a very exciting time for our town, like any other town in America. The Peace Corps was started, we beat the Ruskies to the moon, and the beatles started this crazy thing called rock and roll. “I still don’t like that noisy stuff,” said Unc, my elderly friend who owns the café I frequent. “You can’t understand what they’re saying!” Unc says that Doodle Alley got its name from the art community that moved to this area in the Seventies. “They weren’t really artists as much as they were hippies,” said Unc. “They would go paint daisies and stuff on the old naval base buildings. They sang songs about the war in ‘Nam and did drugs. ” So some say it was these “dove doodlers” that inspired the name Doodle Alley, but other’s point to a business man named Darcy MacGregor who started a jazz club near the beach in the ‘80s. Darcy MacGregor, like many shop owners on the Alley at that time, had a problem with graffiti. The tradition of the drawing on walls that the doodler’s had started was still going strong. It was extremely popular among high school kids and college students would go on “paint jams” a leave there mark on any open wall they came across. One day, MacGregor caught a boy painting an angel with butterfly wings on the side of his building. The boy tried to run but MacGregor caught him. “How would you like a job, kid?” “What?” “This is beautiful!” said MacGregor, as he gazed into the eyes of the angel (which is still there today). “How’s about you round up some of your friends and I’ll pay you guy’s fifty dollars for every mural you make.” MacGregor’s club was soon a hot stop for tourists. Every wall in his establishment was full of strange creatures and crazy cityscapes and psychedelic faces. A couple other businesses tried to mimic MacGregor’s place by having murals made too, with varying success. And it is because of this new look for the alley that some people say Doodle Alley got its name. But nobody really knows. | ||
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| Dancing Sugar Cubes | ||
| Jun 10, 2007 3:41 pm | ||
| Hey everybody.
Well, the first part of the napkin comic is up. I’ll start doing daily updates tomorrow. Life’s been a little lonely lately here at college, taking summer classes. But I’m living close to my dreams, working toward my goals. I’ll be starting a new feature for my school newspaper this next summer. Any ideas? I am thinking of taking a whack at the gag-a-day type comic, although I’m not exactly sure. Anyway, here’s the Youtube Pick of the Week! This week's You Tube Pick of the Week features a crazy music video by a band called Cornelius. Is it stop-action, or is it computer animation? Either way, it's really well done. If you find a video you like, pop me an email and I might feature it! | ||
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| Internet Man is Killing TV Boy | ||
| Jun 26, 2007 12:08 pm | ||
| Back in the day, many struggling, independent creators started using the internet to get published. People posted comics, artwork, movies and essays.
Because of the incentive of free entertainment, immense audiences flocked to the creators who posted works of quality. Nowadays, a lot of these successful artists are able to support themselves through advertising and selling merchandise to their audiences. It was only recently that the big companies began realizing power of this business model. As a result, we’ll be seeing more and more free, quality material online. This makes me very excited. Have you guys heard of Heroes, the series on NBC? The plot is excellent, the characters are solid, and two seasons are posted for free on NBC Video. It’s sort of like X-men for a more mature audience. In fact, Stan Lee worked on this series, and if you keep your eyes peeled, you’ll see him appear in the show. Also, Cartoon Network posts some great cartoons from its lineup each week. For the kids, there’s Cartoon Network Video. For the anime lovers, there’s Toonami Jetstream. And for the more adult audience, there’s Adult Swim. Some of my favorites on these channels are Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Samurai Jack, Full Metal Alchemist, Samurai Champloo, and Home Movies. Here’s a warning though—don’t let all this great stuff consume your life. You guys have probably been wondering where I’ve been for the last two weeks… Sorry. This week's You Tube Pick of the Week features an nice music video animation for the Telemetry Orchestra, directed by Steve Scott. If you find a video you like, pop me an email and I might feature it! | ||
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| Cave Doodles | ||
| Jul 6, 2007 12:31 pm | ||
| I’m at home right now, visiting for the Fourth of July.
I went on a run yesterday with a good friend of mine and her dogs. We ran down a long canyon riverbed until we reached a dark cement tunnel that was made for flood prevention. “Me and my family snuck down here a while ago and painted cave paintings in here,” she said, her voice echoing. “We drew the animals from those prehistoric caves in France.” “That’s so cool!” I gushed. She has a very interesting family. We had to walk because it got too dark. I couldn’t see either end of the tunnel. There was a little river running down the center of the cylindrical tunnel. We walked on either side of the trickle, and her dogs splashed down the middle, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Finally we found the primitive painted figures. We viewed them in small glimpses under the flickering light of a cellphone. It’s good to be back home, though it’s a temporary visit. And here's the Youtube Pick of the Week! This short was based on a comic by Hiroshi Masamura. I really like the use of photorealistic backgrounds-- the technique is very exciting. If you find a video you like, pop me an email and I might feature it! Oh, and Comicon is coming! I’ll be going this year! If you want to meet up, send me an email so we can exchange phone numbers. Or I could wear some strange but highly recognizable hat or something. | ||
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| Comicon is On | ||
| Jul 24, 2007 5:50 pm | ||
 Above is the first panel from my minicomic: The Invasion of the Chimneyheads. I will be passing out this comic at Comicon. After Comicon I’ll publish this minicomic on Doodle Alley. If you see me there, (I’m tall, blonde, and there will be a bright orange ribbon tied at the top of my backpack.) I’ll give you a minicomic! This is my first Comicon, so my mind is saturated with anticipation. I’m really excited to actually meet all my favorite cartoonists. I can only fantasize about what it will be like: “Hi, my name is Stephen.” “Hi, Stephen. I’m the best cartoonist in the universe.” “Uh, here is a minicomic that I made. Please take one.” “Hey… hey this is really good stuff!” “Heh, heh, well, you know…” “Seriously! Could I hire you? Do you want to collaborate on a comic?” “Well, I, heh heh… I don’t know what to say!” “Don’t say anything. Where are you staying?” “I’m just down the road at a cheap hotel.” “Oh that’s just terrible! Come sleep at my place! I’ll introduce you to the wife, the kids… you could see my studio.” “Wow, um…” “And why don’t you go out to dinner with us tonight? And when I say us, I mean all of my infinitely cool cartoonist friends. I’m sure they’d just love you.” “Cool, sure!” And then the fantasy sort of breaks down when I get voted the coolest person in the history of mankind, etc., etc. Whatever happens, this is going to be fun. | ||
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| Dreams Do Come True | ||
| Jul 30, 2007 7:24 pm | ||
| How can I begin to describe comicon? Things began to happen as soon as I got there.
DAY 1 At the intimidating but beautiful San Diego airport I was looking for a bus to take to the convention center when I met a girl named Kim Herbst from New Jersey. Perhaps it was because of her feminine intuition, psychic cartoonist sense, or that I was wearing a batman shirt, but Kim deduced that I was going to Comicon, so she introduced herself. On the bus, I gave her a copy of my little black and white minicomic, The Invasion of the Chimney Heads, which will be online shortly. To my shame and chagrin, she pulled out a full-color comic booklet to give me. She told me she was out looking for jobs, and she had brought along her portfolio. It made me feel quite unprepared. When we got to the convention center, a castle of cement and steel and glass, we were shocked to discover a line to pick up badges that stretched about a mile around the convention center. We sadly walked to the end of the line. Since I had yet to check in to my hotel, I pulled along my suitcase, and sank under the weight of my oppressive backpack. While in line, Kim and I started talking to a girl named Natalina Maggio. Natalina turned out to be a voice actress and model, who was at the convention to do some networking. She told me about her work at Cartoon Network and other studios, and of her work with Doug Tennapel. What an amazing coincidence! I told Natalina how I was part of an anthology called Parables. I was at Comicon to promote the book, show it to publishers, and give a draft of the book to Doug, who is going to write the introduction. We decided to go visit Doug at his table together. Afterwards, I went to the Flight table, where I met Flight artist and fellow Parabler, Sarah Mensinga. Sarah introduced me to Stephen, her husband, and Tony, a good friend of theirs. By then, I realized that in all the excitement, I had lost my little roller suitcase. I ran back to Doug Tennapel’s booth. A lady there told me that it had been taken to lost and found. I spent the next 30 minutes tracking it down. Later on that day, I met up with Jeremy Vanhoozer another Parable staff member. Jeremy is an illustrator, a cartoonist and a father. Besides doing a wonderful story for Parables, he’s worked at Disney, Big Idea, and Universal. That night, I had a wonderful dinner with Sarah, Stephen, Tony, Jeremy and Kim. We had excellent oriental food and talked about movies, comics, storytelling and all things near to my little cartoonist heart. These wonderful people formed the core of great friends I made at comicon. DAY 2 Kim’s hotel was only a couple of blocks away from mine, so we took the trolley down to the Convention Center in the morning. I later got a call from Christian Hill, yet another comicker from Parables. I told him to meet me and Kim in front of the convention hall snack station. He told me to keep my eyes pealed for his “lightsaber green” t-shirt. As Kim and I were waiting, resting our tired feet, Scott McCloud and his daughter walked by. I slowly turned around and glimpsed him and his family enjoying lunch at a table behind us. “Kim,” I whispered. “That’s Scott McCloud and his family back there.” “Are you sure?” “Yes. Absolutely.” “Well,” said Kim sensibly, “He probably doesn’t want to be bothered.” I noticed a man with an electric yellow shirt on, and stood up to meet him. “Lightsaber green?” I asked him cryptically, like I was whispering a secret password. The man walked onward, ignoring me. I sat down sheepishly. Kim and I waited. Finally, and man with a kind face and flaming green t-shirt approached us. I stood up to shake his hand. It was Christian. We had barely begun talking when Christian glanced over my shoulder and said, “Oh! It’s Scott. Hey Scott!” Scott McCloud looked around, and then smiled and waved when he saw Christian. “Come on,” said Christian. “I’ll introduce you.” My heart skipped a beat. Christian talked with Scott, introduced Kim and I, and had me show Scott a copy of Parables. Kim and I gave Scott our minicomics, and as we left, thanked him for his informative and influential book, Understanding Comics. … It was amazing. I introduced Christian to all the other Parablers I had met so far, including Scott Sava the creator of The Dreamland Chronicles. That night we had dinner with Greg Hardin, creator of drawergeeks.com, and John Trauscht, a Design Manager at Big Idea. Greg, who also works at Big Idea, blew my mind when he told me that tomatoes and cucumbers are fruits by definition, making Bob and Larry fruits instead of veggies! In the end, we decided that Veggie Tales was still probably a better title than Fruity Tales. DAY 3 The highlight of this day was meeting Chris and Rena Fowler. Chris works in lighting at Pixar, and Rena is an animator, who worked on productions such as Ant Bully and Jimmy Neutron. Both are friends with Stephen and Sarah. At the convention, we watched a preview of the upcoming Pixar movie, Wall-E. This movie looks to be fun. We later had lunch at a Mexican place. Stephen, Tony, Kim and I all bought sketch books to take to a sketch crawl. That night, we went to a lobby in a hotel near the Convention Center, where tons of other artists showed up to pass around sketchbooks and draw pictures for eachother. There I saw Scott Kurtz, and a lot of the Flight staff. Sarah drew this hilarious caricature of me in my sketchbook.  DAY 4 The last day of Comicon was very sad for me, because I had made so many friends, and now I had to leave. I got sketches from many members of the flight staff, and had a great talk with Amy Kim Ganter about her experience at Tokyopop. I could only have made so many great contacts by being apart of the Parables staff, so I’d like to thank our editor Mike Maihack, who unfortunately couldn’t come to Comicon, for allowing me to join the staff. I’m still just amazed that everything happened as it did. Praise God. And now I think I need to go to bed. | ||
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| Pirates and Unicorns | ||
| Aug 18, 2007 5:22 pm | ||
| College is starting again, and I am back at my Doodle Alley apartment again. Sorry for the inconsistent updates… as penance I’ve finally uploaded the rest of the Lapo Napkin Comic for your enjoyment.
And here is the Not-So-Weekly Youtube Pick of the Week: This excellent movie was done by a very talented Cal Arts student named Noel. If you find a video you like, pop me an email and I might feature it! New projects are on the way, and there is much to be posted! This summer I completed my second 24 Hour Comic. It’ll be up soon, it’s called Jim’s Song, and it’s about pirates! Also, my Comicon Mini-Comic will be up shortly, and finally, I’m hopefully going to be starting a new feature strip for my newspaper. Here’s a panel from the first comic:  Tune in soon for more stuff… | ||
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| Rasputin Laughs Last | ||
| Aug 31, 2007 5:02 pm | ||
| After reading my new comic in the school newspaper, I like to crumple it into a ball and throw it away. I might even rip it a couple of times before crumpling it up. It’s a rush. Even better is when I get a chance to step on a newspaper littering the sidewalk, with the page open to my comic.
I love the disposability of newspaper. I relish the temporality of the medium. The idea that my comic has been printed so many times that you can throw away a copy without a second thought is very cool. Just think about how many people might lay eyes on my work. It’s exciting. “So you’re a cartoonist, huh?” “Why yes, my work appears in thousands of newspapers in fact.” “Really? Which newspapers?” “Well, that one and that one and that one, and there’s a big pile over there…” So this week Mal and Chad came out in my school newspaper. The first three strips are up, and I will start updating Monday through Friday, starting this Labor Day! It’s very exciting, so please take a look. Also, I’ve been accepted into Drawergeeks, an art blog where tons of amazing artists submit their renderings of particular topics. This week’s topic was Rasputin. You can see my drawing of Rasputin in the Gallery. Finally, the Invasion of the Chimneyheads is up, so enjoy! I will post more soon! | ||
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| Flying Bison | ||
| Sep 23, 2007 7:09 pm | ||
| Finally, the next season of Avatar: The Last Airbender is out.
I’ve really enjoyed this show, because the characters are solid and three dimensional, and the scope of the series is very epic. The animation is very tight too, and I appreciate how they stop to show fun, quirky details of the world.  The coolest thing about this series is that you can see most of it online, for free. No joke! Most of the first two seasons, as well as the first episode of the new season, can be seen at Nickelodeon’s streaming video website, Turbonick. The navigation of Turbonick is a bit tricky, so what you have to do first is google up an episode list of the series like this one. Then use Turbonick’s search engine to call up the episodes in order. Enjoy! Also, a new Drawergeeks drawing is up in the gallery, and the topic was clowns! Please enjoy. | ||
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| Go Marching Band! | ||
| Oct 10, 2007 10:09 pm | ||
| Lots of things have been happening around Doodle Alley but definitely not in the blogspot. A lot of news has cropped up, but first, the Youtube Pick of the Week:
This awesome flash animation was animated by Joel Trussell, and the music was done by Jason Forrest. Great work, guys. I’ve been putting in a lot of hours on Mal and Chad, maybe about 15 each week. After I get done writing the script, I do the less cerebral task of penciling and inking. And while I ink, I listen to audio books that I’ve found online. There’s a great site called Podiobooks, where there’s plenty of full length novels, or, if you like sci-fi, there’s a great little audio blog called the Escape Pod that publishes some great short stories. It’s really nice to listen to a story while you work. I hope you’re enjoying Pirate Song, my 24 hour comic. I believed I called it Jim’s song before, but I decided to change the title because, well, the apostrophe in “Jim’s” didn’t take well with the html that I’m using. If you’re a member of the Online Comics community and you’ve enjoyed my content, I’d really appreciate it if you supported my comic by adding it to your list of favorites. Just click the banner on the left. Thanks! Finally, the comics anthology for which I’m on staff got a publisher: Viper Comics. The first volume of Parables should be coming out early next year! See the website for details. | ||
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| Godzilla vs Mechabambi | ||
| Oct 30, 2007 5:12 pm | ||
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This week’s Youtube video, entitled Remind Me, is a music video by Royksopp. You can watch this movie at their website, and if you’re not careful you might hear this song on a geico commercial. H5, the French studio that produced this film, did a good job telling a story using only informational diagrams. A good commentary on the modern lifestyle. Recently, I’ve been formatting College 101 into book form. There will be commentary, concept sketches, and some extra comics, including a College 101 test strip that was never published. Yesterday I realized that I have a minicomic from my freshman year that I never posted! Godzilla vs Mechabambi was the first comic I drew with Manga Studio, an excellent tablet-based drawing program by E-Frontier. I’ve posted the first five pages, and the rest will be up in a week or so. Enjoy! | ||
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| Satisfactory Sideburns | ||
| Nov 21, 2007 3:01 am | ||
| It’s two o’ clock in the morning. I just finished watching an amazing Japanese soap opera series on the Youtube. I kid you not, I was crying like a baby.
Hello everybody. It’s time for my monthly blog spot update. Sorry I don’t update this section very often, but I hope you’ve been enjoying all the Mal and Chad content. There is a whole lot of stuff to announce, but let’s watch the Youtube Pick of the Week. This movie, called Satisfactory, was made by Felix Massie, Joe Paine, Jonay Ortiz De Urbina and Eurico Da Costa NG. Good pacing, good soundtrack… very well-done. This movie was sent in by Shaun McMillan who draws an interesting comic called Grief for Glory. You should check it out. If you find a video you like on Youtube, pop me an email and I might feature it! Yesterday I signed and sent off a contract for Parables to our publisher, Viper Comics. The first volume of Parables should be coming out March of next year. (But don’t hold me accountable to that.) This is the first time in my career as a cartoonist that I will have my work published nation wide. It’s incredibly exciting. I also sent off submissions of Mal and Chad comics to four major comic syndicates around the US. Gosh, I never thought I’d look for a job doing comic strips. I mean, because of the internet, newspaper circulation is shrinking, right? And the syndicates are pretty hard on cartoonists too, I hear… And yet, if I can get a job doing what I love right out of college, why not? Which brings me to a somewhat sad announcement. Mal and Chad will continue for this week and the next, but then it’ll be on hiatus for a month, as I go home for Christmas break. It’s been a wonderful ride; I can’t believe I’ve done over 60 strips this semester. Mal and Chad will most likely start up again in January. If you’ve enjoyed the strip or have any critique, please email me and let me know. Over break I’ll be finishing my submission to Tokyo Pop’s Rising Stars Contest as well as working on my submission for Parables Volume 2! Good gravy, it’s three o’ clock in the morning. Did it really take me that long to write all this? That’s really weird… where’d the time go? I think my right sideburn is growing faster than my left sideburn. I think I need to go to bed. | ||
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| Teleporting Cows | ||
| Dec 1, 2007 9:29 am | ||
| Hey everybody!
Well, Mal and Chad is going on a hiatus, but don’t worry, it’ll be back this coming January. Sorry to leave it on a cliffhanger like that, but don’t worry. That cliffhanger is my guarantee to you that I’ll be back to do more Mal and Chad in a month. When I started this strip, I didn’t think it would grow like it did. With the plot I’ve set up, and the pace I’ve taken, this strip could easily run for years. I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately from people who have enjoyed the strip. I really appreciate the feedback and encouragement, so thank you. This short was done by a talented animator Shojiro Nishimi. This is one of many one-minute animation spots that aired on the NHK channel in Japan. These little animations have been formed into 3 seasons, and in the near future, you can watch them at their official website, called Ani-Kuri 15.  If you thought Tuesday’s Mal and Chad strip was a little strange with the teleporting cow, don’t worry, I thought it was really weird too! I was trying to draw my strip and this cow just teleported in. Well, it turns out this cow has been teleporting all around the internet after he accidentally teleported out of his own comic: Cow and Buffalo, by Mike Maihack. Mike’s in the process of trying to get his character back into his strip, so he set up this tracker to keep tabs on Cow. You can follow cow as he teleports all around the internet! Also, I got my first rejection letter back from Tribune Media Services. They said they aren’t really picking up features right now. Or at least they aren’t picking up mine. Now that I have my first rejection letter, I guess that means I’m a cartoonist! Yay! Please check back on Doodle Alley this month to see what I’m up to… I have more stuff to post and also there is a very important announcement coming up… | ||
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| I'm Going to Japan | ||
| Dec 19, 2007 7:14 pm | ||
| And now it’s time for the big announcement.
Next year, I’m going to go live in Japan. But before we talk more about that, let’s watch the Youtube Pick of the Week! This funny little piece of animation, entitled “A Great Big Robot From Outerspace Ate My Homework” was done by Vancouver Film School student Mark Shirra. I love the voices and the expressions. If you find a video you like, pop me an email and I might feature it! So anyway, next year I’m going to go live in Nagoya, Japan on a semester abroad trip. I’ll be leaving around the middle of March, since the spring semester starts late there. A year and a half ago, I enrolled in Japanese 101 to get language credit for my degree. Soon I became very much in love with the language, and very intrigued by the people. So I took 102 in the spring. Then I studied the material for 201 and 202 in the summer and skipped into 301 this fall semester. And now I’m going to Japan. Because I have such a huge Christmas break, that means that I’ll have time to draw lots of comics. My first project is completing my submission for Tokyopop’s Rising Stars Contest. Also I’ll be drawing a ton of Mal and Chad’s so that the strip can still run in the school newspaper while I’m in Japan. And finally, I’m going to be starting on my next Parables story… which, as of now, I don’t have any idea what I’ll do. This trip to Japan means that the blog spot is going to become a lot more active. I’m going to be detailing my adventures and uploading plenty of photos for you guys. If you use feeds, check out the new feature underneath the sweet links… I’ve got feeds! As a Christmas present, my uncle programmed me a comments feature for the blog spot, and for my comics. You guys now have a voice, so use it! I’m excited to meet you. If you have anything to say about anything I’m doing, say it! But of course, let’s keep it civil and clean. Merry Christmas! | ||
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All material on Doodle Alley™ is copyright 2006-2010 by Stephen McCranie, unless otherwise noted. |