Any Day Now

Recently, I got vaccinated, although my route of vaccination was a little unorthodox, for you see, I got my flu vaccine in the form of the flu, and so have been sick at home for the past couple days.  When I wasn’t suffering a headache I did manage to squeeze out a new strip, a fun little illustration pictured below, and a new background.  Yes, I finally figured out how to change the background, so I’ll be messing with that some more in the future.  If you like it now or you have suggestions, please let me know.

And now some news.  I’ve decided to start development on a new webcomic.  This would be a true webcomic, specifically designed for the format, and possibly something I’d try to push into a newspaper– that means black and white, simple art, three panels.  It will be completely unrelated to ADN, with a whole new cast and theme and art style.  Since I experience so much downtime on ADN, I figured it would be a good idea to have something else to work on to keep the creative engine running.  I want to be able to launch by the beginning of next year so I’ll seek reader feedback in this space.  Next time I’ll show off some character design sheets to see what ya’ll think.

Admin

Entry from July 13th:

This past weekend I was in line to watch Toy Story 3, only to change my mind after stepping on a flyer for yet another 3d animated movie called Despicable Me.  I only had vague recollections about what it was supposed to be about, but I figured, What the heck.  Everyone’s watching Toy Story.  I’ll watch this.

Considering the tough act it had to follow in the powerhouse that was and still is Toy Story 3, Despicable Me is a very respectable freshman effort by production company Illumination Entertainment, founded in 2007.  The animation is of the same caliber as anything Pixar has produced, and makes excellent use of 3D, culminating in a funny game of “stretch” played by the film’s bean-shaped, somewhat cycloptic “minions” during the end credits.

The minions themselves play a very small role in the movie–especially small considering the vast numbers of them–but certainly shine when they have their moments in the sun.

Despicable Me is about one Mister Gru, a super villain whose recent heists have been upstaged by an unserious neophyte known as Vector.  Attempting to regain his crown, Gru plots to steal the Moon using a shrink ray that will allow him to carry the celestial orb in his pocket.  Through a series of events, Vector acquires the shrink ray instead, and Gru adopts a trio of cookie-selling orphan girls so that they may penetrate the impenetrable fortress of the confection-craving Vector.

The film is entertaining and technically well-achieved, however, it suffers from moments of mismatched tone and a poorly developed plot.  Unlike Toy Story 3, Despicable Me is rated PG, and you get some inkling why as some of the story’s darker elements appear.  As I sat in the theater, I had to question the purpose of such darkness.  Certainly kid movies are never without some sadness, but the almost-morose moods in Despicable Me seemed out of place and wholly unnecessary.

More significantly, several plot points made little logical sense–that or Mister Gru was just about the worst super villain I’ve ever encountered.  Illogical plans can, of course, be forgiven in a kids’ movie, but when bad illogical plans are the driving force for the entire story itself, I think it’s time to pay a little more attention to what your writers are writing.

In the end, Despicable Me is fun, touching, and a promising look at what’s to come from Illumination.  A live-action version of Where’s Waldo is currently in the works.

Admin

Speaking of things that go woob woob, ever since the Haiti tragedy people have been announcing earthquakes on Facebook.  Well I didn’t feel Haiti and I haven’t felt a single other earthquake besides.  My house must be built on killer shock absorbers for me to not feel a single one of these tremors.  That or I have Parkinson’s disease and a shaking universe is all I’ve ever known.

That kind of sucks.

Anyway I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July.  It’s not an especially important holiday for me but the fireworks did seem particularly special this year.  I can’t say why.

Admin

I had my birthday recently and I was really touched and impressed to have someone draw Thanh and Maggie on a birthday card.  That isn’t so special in itself except for the fact that the drawings were done on the spot and from memory, and showed most of the distinct facial characteristics of the girls correctly.  Here, have a look-see:

I’ve heard from at least a few that the girls all look the same, but I’ve always trusted that was so because the comment came from people who didn’t read the comic much.  Arguably the differences between them are very or too subtle but they are there, and were part of their designs from the very beginning.

Starting on the left, Marge has a tall, almond-shaped head, dash-dot eyes and a small beak-nose.  She usually wears her hair down and over her ears.  Maggie’s head, in the middle, is composed of an almond like Marge’s but isn’t as tall.  This, along with her curled short hair and squarer jaw, give her a wider face, even though in fact her face-width is exactly the same as Marge’s.

Another important thing about Maggie is that by default her eyes and eyebrows are always connected.  This makes her eyes look bigger (even though they’re not) and somewhat crossed, which is characteristic of her personality.

Thanh’s head height is about the same as Maggie, but is egg-shaped, and sometimes bean-shaped when viewed from the side.  Thanh has no sharp corners in her chin, unlike the Margarets.  Her most distinguishing features, of course, are her hair– typically in a ponytail– and her nose, what I refer to as “The Speed Bump.”

You could argue for Maggie’s wide-eyed appearance, but ultimately it’s Thanh that is the most child-like in her design.  Flat-nosed, with a round, indistinguishable chin, Thanh is remniscient of a prebuscent child, her gender barely recognizable in this lineup with her hair tied into an unseen tail.  Her attitide, too, is immature and reflective of her story.

I’ve noticed that the recent strips haven’t had the usual image quality and I need to fish out what’s causing that.  In the mean time, I wanted to zoom in a little here to show the textures I’m getting in the habit of using.  Seeing as I’m such a terrible colorist, maybe this is one way to stand apart and give the art some accent.

Oh and yes I have noticed the navigation system on this site is stupid as sin.  I’m working on it.

Admin

They who desire the undesirable — they are the people to fear!  Sometimes you think these people are doing you a favor.  He’s taking a bullet for the team!  Way to go?  Just think of the reason why they would want what everyone else does not.

“Car’s full?  All right.  I’ll take the back middle seat.  Woe is me.”: Wants to cop lots of feels.

“Let me get those broccoli off your plate if you’re not going to eat them.”: Denying you precious vitamins and minerals; wants to see you shrivel in a slow, malnourished death.

“That’s ok.  There’ll be a lot of traffic but I’ll drive.”: In a bad mood and wants to go postal by playing bumper cars on the highway; needs screaming passengers for his soundtrack.

So, beware next time you think you’re getting a favor!  Or, thank the guy.  I don’t know.  YOU DECIDE.

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Z Gozer pulls through once again with another guest strip.  Thanks Z Man!  Anyway, Strip 85 and the close of the chapter will be up very soon.  I know I promised that there would be guys in this chapter but after Ass Ed and I went over  the scripts we decided it needed to be postponed a little.  Well, at least I delivered on the half-naked girls, right?

Admin

Global warming is a hot issue.  But since I’m not a climate scientist nor have I studied climate, I refrain from stating opinions except to say that I trust the scientific community.  This can be kind of hard when two of the engineers I work with are climate skeptics.

But now take a look at this story  about the “sinking” of a disputed isle in the Bay of Bengal.  India and Bangladesh had been fighting for ownership of the island up until today, when it was declared that New Moore Island– aka South Talpatti, depending who you ask– now officially no longer exists.  Global warming, according to the story, is the culprit, and it’s apparently not the first island to disappear under the waves of the Indian Ocean.

As I said, I trust climate scientists to get the information right, but science reporting is notoriously sensationalized (through fault of the media, usually), so I think it’s important to fact-check things like this.  So I started by checking to see how big or small the island is was on Google Maps.  This is what I saw:

The scale is for 5 miles.  Holy shit, that’s one tiny island.  Okay, so it got flooded.  Big frickin deal.  Crab farts are probably strong enough to do that.

But hold on now.  I kept zooming in but the darn thing never got any bigger.  And then I switched to satellite view and got this:

Ha!  Look at that.  Okay, so it’s a little bigger than I thought but it’s already disappeared on the map.  It’s under the frickin ocean.  Furthermore, it looks like some Google Map tech smudged it out this morning in Photoshop.

This story is not a smoking gun for global warming, as the story may suggest.  Check the Wikipedia, which explains that the island itself just appeared after a cyclone in 1970.  I suppose that if a land mass can appear for capricious reasons, it can disappear for capricious reasons, too.

On a related note, if you’ve ever wondered how land disputes begin, there’s your answer: it’s because the land just magically appeared one day.

Just like Israel!

Admin

Of course the real reason for Thanh’s sweater is not because she’s belligerently bashful but because it’s St Patrick’s Day!  I won’t go into detail about what kind of pinching is going on after the green comes off but I’m sure you can figure it out.  Or fantasize.  You pervs.  I’m talking to you, Haris.

Oh wait…

Apparently I’m talking to several of you.

It’s been…kind of a rough weekend for me.  Emotionally draining in good ways and bad.  Overall everything is fine but it can be pretty annoying leaving your heart out somewhere for everyone to see and feed upon.  If you’re reading this, I’m sure you think you know what I’m talking about.  But you prolly don’t.  (It’s okay, it’s not that exciting.)

It’s a strange thing to be standing in a hospital you’re all too familiar with.  There I was, the place that I was born, the place my grandfather died, and the place where I would learn my mother’s fate.  More than anything it makes me feel that I’ve been in this area too long, but then I realize that I’m there for Mom.  She gave birth here.  She’d prolly been to this hospital many times before and after.  She had history.  She had experience.  Stories.  Survival through sixty years of war, poverty and success.  And who was I?  No one.  No one at all.

I’d like to thank and introduce Mr Z Gozer here, who made this guest strip for me while I’m kind of out of commission at the moment.  I’ll also thank Q for cracking the whip, though it stings me so and is apparently ineffective…at least lately.

By the way, today’s comic is not canon, so do not read it as part of the regular plot.

Admin

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Do you ever have pretend conversations? It happens to me unwittingly when I think about someone and wonder how they would respond to something. I also apply it retroactively when I wish a conversation could have gone differently. All the “I should have said” phrases get played over and over again in my head with pretend responses. I often kick myself for not saying the perfect things, and sometimes I stump myself when I can’t think of anything at all. This habit has gotten so bad that I will speak the pretend lines of a conversation and even begin to converse with different sides of myself. How did I come to know this if it’s unwittingly? Well, I heard the echo that bounced off the men’s room wall. At that moment, I hastily looked around for an unintended audience. No one was around. I will live looking like a sane person another day.

Getting trapped thinking like that is how I came upon the idea for this comic. In an effort to phrase things succinctly, the day I contradict any such core concept devastates me. And, I’ve done it to myself, as demonstrated here between the two personifications of my mind. So, also consider this an apology in case you were in conversation with me and my brain has suddenly crashed and rebooted; you see, I’ve critically failed in solving the puzzle of our dialogue when I find the only solution is to wish to start over so I could say something else.

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omg admin is so lazy

Although I should love Halloween– and indeed, it is just about the best non-Holiday there is– it is a constant reminder of unrealized potential.  I tend to be a little ambitious in my ideas and costumes are no exception.  The only problem is that this is an area of my creative universe that I can’t seem to get myself to put a lot of effort into.  I mean everything I wanna do takes so much darn time!

Still, I won’t reveal to you my ideas because one day I’ll get them done.  I think.

Speaking of costumes, what do ya’ll think of this story about America’s Next Top Model?  Tyra Banks apparently thought it would be great to celebrate Hapas– biracial folks that I affectionately refer to as Halflings.  So of course the logical thing to do was make up the girls to appear half-African and stick them in a field.  XD

I’m not sure about the blackface part but I actually like most of these photographs.  Is this not racist because it’s tasteful?  Was Charlie Chan racist?  Were Marlon and Sean Wayans racist for appearing in whiteface and chickface in the movie White Chicks?

I’m not sure, but I feel like blackface stories have been cropping up more and more lately, and even though everytime they do there’s a mini-controversy, the frequency of its appearance must mean that it’s really not that bad anymore, especially when the term blackface now applies to what would more appropriately be called “brownface” rather than the classically racist pure black, white lipped minstrel look of the 19th century.

Of course whenever you say something there has to be a contradictory instance appearing right about now.  Oh look, there it is!  Australians on the featured TV show appeared in classic blackface as the Jackson 5.  Is this racist?  It’s a step closer, in my opinion, if this was actually a good performance then maybe I could think differently, but as Harry Connick Jr put it, we’ve spent so much time trying to “not make black people look like buffoons” and this performance is pretty much all buffoonery.

But here’s something else that bothers me about the Australian story.  While the commenter at the end of the video I linked is in definite agreement with Connick Jr, I can’t help feeling like Connick played the asshole American telling “foreigners” how to do things.  The irony here is that Connick Jr himself has been a part of a blackface act on Fox’s Mad TV.  Furthermore, the featured YouTube commenter spends a decent amount of time talking about “those clueless Australians” as he breathlessly stands up for racial harmony.

Laugh.  Out.  Loud.

Anyway, just had to get that out there.  It’s Halloween.  Go have fun!