Newsflash! I started a company. It's been a dream of mine for years to be a writer/struggling artist/random idea creator dude. And it turns out, I have the abilities and the friends to make that dream a reality. So a few weeks ago, I got together with about 6-7 friends and started talking about it. We've trimmed down to just four guys, and things couldn't be better. We have 2 webcomics in the works, with random t-shirt/apparel designs coming along as well. Want something drawn in a particular style to fit a hat or sweatshirt? Come to us. Want to just help us out? Come to us. Moving on...
Tonight we made two major strides in the company. We got the website domain name on lock, and on top of that, have a good chunk of our artwork done, and two story boards moving forward at a promising pace. The second big stride in fact is that, the second webcomic even exists as an idea.
Putting my credit card numbers into that damn web domain registration service was like putting a ring on a girls finger. It's not necessarily about the guaranteed 90 bucks lost, its more about now, I lose 90 bucks for real if I don't get to work, and make sure my friend/partners/peoplethings, aren't working too.
Raise your glasses ladies and gentlemen. Here's to Logic Fails Studios.
Hopefully we'll be here tomorrow.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
The Bands of Orlando....
Well, some bands anyway...
So my good buddy Byro has been ranting and raving and railing and just generally pushing for me to come to one of his shows. He promotes bands through his own company, Glass Kiss Promotions/Productions. It's an interesting gig and watching him work can really teach you something about building myspace pages, t-shirts or relationships in general. When someone talks to me about Byro, the word they most often use to describe him is: interesting.
So Saturday, I got a few friends together, protection really, and headed out to the Haven. It's an interesting scene, and definitely not one I'm familiar with. I go to sporting events and conventions-I'm used to drunken middle aged men and dressed up nerds, punk rock kids fall somewhere in the smoky darkness between those two extremes.
The bands that played were all pretty interesting, but nothing particularly special. Which is what I think the music industry is really looking for, it's what any industry is looking for, the next big thing. To put it another way, I'll probably remember my first time at the Haven twenty years from now, but ask me what the bands sounded like, and I'm willing to bet I'll say: "Well, they screamed...and there were guitars. Yeah, guitars."
We saw, After Play Rewind, Cities Underground, The Vanity Plan and Yellow Day Union. They all put on pretty good shows, and I could say negative and positive things about them, but instead I'll use the word "potential." All of these bands have the potential to grow, move onto bigger and better things, but in that same light, they are all just as likely to fizzle out and die. My hopes go out to them as they try to push their music forward. Remember, at that level, most musicians are paying their own way. They pay for housing, gas, their instruments...these shows cost them more often than pay them-these are normally kids with no money, losing money. So, best wishes, I know where they're coming from.
Only one band really sparked my interest, and it wasn't because of the quality of music they put out. Yellow Day Union is a local group that really throws down when they get on stage. The singer is everywhere, the bassist is screaming, and the guitarist literally ended up jumping off the stage. He was rockin' out a riff by the bar at one point.
It was a different kind of concert. Mind you, the Haven is a small joint, maybe room for 200 people, crammed shoulder to shoulder, and we might have almost pushed a hundred there Saturday. Probably more, I was in the front, watching the "moshers." I had a table to go along with my front row seat. For the first three bands, I was able to sit there in relative peace, just listening and enjoying. For Yellow Day Union, I spent a good chunk of their set defending my table and my person. There were only about 10 or so moshers, but they moshed with extreme efficiency. There were at least four falls, and a few near-death experiences involving a mosher foot to a mosher face.
But like I said, Y.D.U. brought passion to their show. I think they have a ways to go with their music and separating themselves from the rest of the up-and-coming pack, but as it stands now, they're a passionate bunch, and if you get a chance to see them, you should. At the very least, it's interesting.
Most of the bands I mentioned have a myspace.com page, excepting Cities Underground, theirs is under construction. Also, if you get a chance, check out Glass Kiss and some other bands they're promoting. The local scene is alive and well, and new comers are always appreciated.
So my good buddy Byro has been ranting and raving and railing and just generally pushing for me to come to one of his shows. He promotes bands through his own company, Glass Kiss Promotions/Productions. It's an interesting gig and watching him work can really teach you something about building myspace pages, t-shirts or relationships in general. When someone talks to me about Byro, the word they most often use to describe him is: interesting.
So Saturday, I got a few friends together, protection really, and headed out to the Haven. It's an interesting scene, and definitely not one I'm familiar with. I go to sporting events and conventions-I'm used to drunken middle aged men and dressed up nerds, punk rock kids fall somewhere in the smoky darkness between those two extremes.
The bands that played were all pretty interesting, but nothing particularly special. Which is what I think the music industry is really looking for, it's what any industry is looking for, the next big thing. To put it another way, I'll probably remember my first time at the Haven twenty years from now, but ask me what the bands sounded like, and I'm willing to bet I'll say: "Well, they screamed...and there were guitars. Yeah, guitars."
We saw, After Play Rewind, Cities Underground, The Vanity Plan and Yellow Day Union. They all put on pretty good shows, and I could say negative and positive things about them, but instead I'll use the word "potential." All of these bands have the potential to grow, move onto bigger and better things, but in that same light, they are all just as likely to fizzle out and die. My hopes go out to them as they try to push their music forward. Remember, at that level, most musicians are paying their own way. They pay for housing, gas, their instruments...these shows cost them more often than pay them-these are normally kids with no money, losing money. So, best wishes, I know where they're coming from.
Only one band really sparked my interest, and it wasn't because of the quality of music they put out. Yellow Day Union is a local group that really throws down when they get on stage. The singer is everywhere, the bassist is screaming, and the guitarist literally ended up jumping off the stage. He was rockin' out a riff by the bar at one point.
It was a different kind of concert. Mind you, the Haven is a small joint, maybe room for 200 people, crammed shoulder to shoulder, and we might have almost pushed a hundred there Saturday. Probably more, I was in the front, watching the "moshers." I had a table to go along with my front row seat. For the first three bands, I was able to sit there in relative peace, just listening and enjoying. For Yellow Day Union, I spent a good chunk of their set defending my table and my person. There were only about 10 or so moshers, but they moshed with extreme efficiency. There were at least four falls, and a few near-death experiences involving a mosher foot to a mosher face.
But like I said, Y.D.U. brought passion to their show. I think they have a ways to go with their music and separating themselves from the rest of the up-and-coming pack, but as it stands now, they're a passionate bunch, and if you get a chance to see them, you should. At the very least, it's interesting.
Most of the bands I mentioned have a myspace.com page, excepting Cities Underground, theirs is under construction. Also, if you get a chance, check out Glass Kiss and some other bands they're promoting. The local scene is alive and well, and new comers are always appreciated.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Grandma's Gifts...
So, my mother is talking to me about my Grandmother again. Or more accurately, talking about my Grandmother when I'm around. Which is the same thing, in this case. Grandma is upset, my older sister took gifts from my younger sister, and my younger sister gave them willingly. I understand her issue, but at the same time, it's a very silly grudge to have. Especially for my Grandmother...
Grandma, or Grandmommy as my cousins and I grew up calling her, is what I have termed a "thriftaholic." She shops for deals, at garage sales and thrift stores, if it's cheap, shes interested. My Grandmother personally kept the Salvation Army open for business from the mid-eighties until the late nineties.
But it worked for her, a little too well actually. When I was five years old, I would sit down on her multi-colored carpet in front of the Christmas tree, next to one of my cousins, and open a box bigger than I was filled to the brim with toys. We would spend the rest of the evening digging through our presents, trying to catalog what we got. But those boxes were-and are- like Marry Poppin's purse, seemingly bottomless. By the time I actually got to the last toy in the package, it was Christmas all over again. It's a beautiful system in that regard.
I have a theory, that somewhere in her house, is a secret room with about twenty or so cubbies, our families names written over each one. They are probably filled to boiling with random toys, books and gadgets. Each year, around November, I imagine she goes down those stairs with as many boxes as she feels she needs, and just reaches in and pulls out whatever it takes to fill each one.
Everyone likes getting gifts, and the more the merrier-but Grandmommy goes overboard. She finds so many deals, so many toys that she just knows one of us has to have, a camera here or a statuette there, and she has to buy them. And she can't simply stop finding them-much to my Grandfathers chagrin, it's her calling.
So now, 22, and I'm still getting massive boxes of gifts-the kicker is, she's in a thrift cycle. She buys more than each kid needs in a year, so she buys in advance for years to come. But she doesn't stop buying. In otherwords, she buys half again what she actually gives us. So what happens? Run-on happens. I get gifts in 1994 that I was supposed to get in '93, and so on. So here we are, adults in our twenties, getting boxes full of action figures, Mr. Potatoe Head and friends-with a few priceless gems mixed in. When I was twenty, I got my older cousins gift. A ceramic vas, printed with roses and a ceramic rose. There were recipe books for women being in shape-and a small sweatshirt. Grandma' claimed she didn't mix it up. I still have the vas, the rose was just too much.
But hey, no complaints here. Every Christmas for 22 years I get a big box of some of the coolest gifts you can believe. And now as always, you might be surprised what priceless item you find in a sale, the diamond in the rough as it were. Grandmommy's boxes are always a joy to open, because you literally never know what you'll find. A recipe book about only PB&J, why not? A ceramic rose? Sure. Every year Grandmommy's boxes serve as a reminder, firstly that my Grandmother is still alive, still bringing happiness to our family, and secondly that there is no such thing as a bad gift, its in the act of giving that really counts-to be overly cliche and under-sentimental.
I hope my Grandmother keeps bargain shopping for the rest of her life, it's good to know someone's out there, thinking about me. Even if all the shopping does drive my Grandfather crazy.
If it sounds sappy-well, I can live with that, I get more gifts than you do.
Grandma, or Grandmommy as my cousins and I grew up calling her, is what I have termed a "thriftaholic." She shops for deals, at garage sales and thrift stores, if it's cheap, shes interested. My Grandmother personally kept the Salvation Army open for business from the mid-eighties until the late nineties.
But it worked for her, a little too well actually. When I was five years old, I would sit down on her multi-colored carpet in front of the Christmas tree, next to one of my cousins, and open a box bigger than I was filled to the brim with toys. We would spend the rest of the evening digging through our presents, trying to catalog what we got. But those boxes were-and are- like Marry Poppin's purse, seemingly bottomless. By the time I actually got to the last toy in the package, it was Christmas all over again. It's a beautiful system in that regard.
I have a theory, that somewhere in her house, is a secret room with about twenty or so cubbies, our families names written over each one. They are probably filled to boiling with random toys, books and gadgets. Each year, around November, I imagine she goes down those stairs with as many boxes as she feels she needs, and just reaches in and pulls out whatever it takes to fill each one.
Everyone likes getting gifts, and the more the merrier-but Grandmommy goes overboard. She finds so many deals, so many toys that she just knows one of us has to have, a camera here or a statuette there, and she has to buy them. And she can't simply stop finding them-much to my Grandfathers chagrin, it's her calling.
So now, 22, and I'm still getting massive boxes of gifts-the kicker is, she's in a thrift cycle. She buys more than each kid needs in a year, so she buys in advance for years to come. But she doesn't stop buying. In otherwords, she buys half again what she actually gives us. So what happens? Run-on happens. I get gifts in 1994 that I was supposed to get in '93, and so on. So here we are, adults in our twenties, getting boxes full of action figures, Mr. Potatoe Head and friends-with a few priceless gems mixed in. When I was twenty, I got my older cousins gift. A ceramic vas, printed with roses and a ceramic rose. There were recipe books for women being in shape-and a small sweatshirt. Grandma' claimed she didn't mix it up. I still have the vas, the rose was just too much.
But hey, no complaints here. Every Christmas for 22 years I get a big box of some of the coolest gifts you can believe. And now as always, you might be surprised what priceless item you find in a sale, the diamond in the rough as it were. Grandmommy's boxes are always a joy to open, because you literally never know what you'll find. A recipe book about only PB&J, why not? A ceramic rose? Sure. Every year Grandmommy's boxes serve as a reminder, firstly that my Grandmother is still alive, still bringing happiness to our family, and secondly that there is no such thing as a bad gift, its in the act of giving that really counts-to be overly cliche and under-sentimental.
I hope my Grandmother keeps bargain shopping for the rest of her life, it's good to know someone's out there, thinking about me. Even if all the shopping does drive my Grandfather crazy.
If it sounds sappy-well, I can live with that, I get more gifts than you do.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A simple head's up...
If you are interested in actually following my blog, please do, sign up, however that is done. I have no idea how many people actually read. This site does not track visitors. So throw down as a follower.
Bam bam, done.
Bam bam, done.
Cliche Party
Ready for a cliche?
Well heads up.
Incoming.
I don't understand women. Not at all. I just don't get them.
What does too nice mean? Really? Can someone tell me? Clue me in. Leave a post if you have an idea.
That's not something you ever hear a guy say about a girl.
"Hey man, whatever happened to Jackie, she was hot."
"Yeah, dude, about her...man she was just too damn nice."
No. It doesn't happen. Sure, you see guys abuse nice girls, generally treat them like dirt, but we do not push something away because its just too amazing.
Second, what is so difficult about communicating-when it's needed and or wanted, when it's asked for? When a guy wants silence, or just to be left alone, he can't get away from her voice. Oh no, she has something to say then. Lots to say. She wants to talk about her needs. About what she wants. About what he never delivers or should deliver or isn't capable of delivering. Lots of delivering and giving and such. But ask a girl in the bedroom what she wants, and suddenly it's like trying to pull open a two-ton clam shell with your bare hands. It's not happening, so just give up.
Ask your girlfriend about what she wants for Christmas, or her birthday. You might get a general idea, but screw her telling you anything that will actually help. No, you have to con her into going shopping with you, then talk her out of buying something so you can swing by later and pick it up, praying all the while that she isn't doing the exact same thing.
Or maybe you're in a fight, and you're just too damn stupid to know what about, or what you did wrong. Sometimes, we just don't know-we can't, because we use logic, and logic is stupid. But don't bother asking her what's wrong, because she knows you already know, and if you don't know, well you should-and she's certainly not telling. You'll just have to suffer for the rest of the week, pine away on the bench because the coach isn't putting you in.
Don't argue, but don't be patronizing, know everything about her intuitively, but treat her like she is a mystery to be unraveled.
Treat her like a person, but let her know you think shes a goddess-or at the very least a princess.
Women are nothing but walking conundrums wrapped in an attractive coating. They are the Venus Flytrap of the human world. And they enjoy every moment of it.
Well heads up.
Incoming.
I don't understand women. Not at all. I just don't get them.
What does too nice mean? Really? Can someone tell me? Clue me in. Leave a post if you have an idea.
That's not something you ever hear a guy say about a girl.
"Hey man, whatever happened to Jackie, she was hot."
"Yeah, dude, about her...man she was just too damn nice."
No. It doesn't happen. Sure, you see guys abuse nice girls, generally treat them like dirt, but we do not push something away because its just too amazing.
Second, what is so difficult about communicating-when it's needed and or wanted, when it's asked for? When a guy wants silence, or just to be left alone, he can't get away from her voice. Oh no, she has something to say then. Lots to say. She wants to talk about her needs. About what she wants. About what he never delivers or should deliver or isn't capable of delivering. Lots of delivering and giving and such. But ask a girl in the bedroom what she wants, and suddenly it's like trying to pull open a two-ton clam shell with your bare hands. It's not happening, so just give up.
Ask your girlfriend about what she wants for Christmas, or her birthday. You might get a general idea, but screw her telling you anything that will actually help. No, you have to con her into going shopping with you, then talk her out of buying something so you can swing by later and pick it up, praying all the while that she isn't doing the exact same thing.
Or maybe you're in a fight, and you're just too damn stupid to know what about, or what you did wrong. Sometimes, we just don't know-we can't, because we use logic, and logic is stupid. But don't bother asking her what's wrong, because she knows you already know, and if you don't know, well you should-and she's certainly not telling. You'll just have to suffer for the rest of the week, pine away on the bench because the coach isn't putting you in.
Don't argue, but don't be patronizing, know everything about her intuitively, but treat her like she is a mystery to be unraveled.
Treat her like a person, but let her know you think shes a goddess-or at the very least a princess.
Women are nothing but walking conundrums wrapped in an attractive coating. They are the Venus Flytrap of the human world. And they enjoy every moment of it.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Unlimited Newness...
So, I'm new to the community, if such it can be called, in fact, I'm new to blogging in general. It seems like today, I'm new to a lot of things. I got unlimited texting, and have since realized, why I didn't have it before. My fingers hurt, my numbers are already showing wear and tear, and, oh yeah, everyone I know is spamming me now. I never get four hundred phone calls in one night, people still hate talking. Something about non verbal communication is just too easy.
But it's also too impersonal. You lose something in the translation, and while, it could probably be said that I'm missing things due to my relative newness to the conversation type, I've been in internet chat rooms and on AIM for years, and it seems the same. You can't just be sarcastic, or funny, you have to explain it. I've had more 1 word texts than actual lines of conversation.
'What?' 'Huh?' This is why I avoided texting for so long. But don't tell todays average girl you don't have texting. You might not get the date off that alone. God forbid if you're ugly and lacking charm.
So what is it about texting that makes people go nuts over it? Why am I having trouble writing this blog because some girl is determined to get to over 200 texts sent from her alone, tonight? Why did the 'Gym Class Heros' write a song about it? Is it the ease, or is it the sense of anonymity? The ability to spell check and filter everything you say before hitting send. It's too planned, everything is forced and planned and that seems contrary to what the act of conversation is about in the first place.
On the other hand, I like that this girl is trying to set a record tonight. Because maybe, she'll still be talking to me tomorrow.
But it's also too impersonal. You lose something in the translation, and while, it could probably be said that I'm missing things due to my relative newness to the conversation type, I've been in internet chat rooms and on AIM for years, and it seems the same. You can't just be sarcastic, or funny, you have to explain it. I've had more 1 word texts than actual lines of conversation.
'What?' 'Huh?' This is why I avoided texting for so long. But don't tell todays average girl you don't have texting. You might not get the date off that alone. God forbid if you're ugly and lacking charm.
So what is it about texting that makes people go nuts over it? Why am I having trouble writing this blog because some girl is determined to get to over 200 texts sent from her alone, tonight? Why did the 'Gym Class Heros' write a song about it? Is it the ease, or is it the sense of anonymity? The ability to spell check and filter everything you say before hitting send. It's too planned, everything is forced and planned and that seems contrary to what the act of conversation is about in the first place.
On the other hand, I like that this girl is trying to set a record tonight. Because maybe, she'll still be talking to me tomorrow.
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