Now selling a PEAVY amp. Local pickup only.

I've had this for almost 10 years. Bought it used for $300 I think. This sucker is LOUD! I've never turned it up beyond like 2 or 3. Tons of channels and mixes with channels. Comes with a channel switch pedal. 300 Watt Bandit 112. Asking $100 or best offer. Just wanna get rid of it. Could use a cleaning but otherwise it works great last time I used it over a year ago. Local pickup only. Email me at phymns@yahoo.com if interested.

T

LANSING trip

Hey everyone! I took the SABO post down, so hopefully it isn't missed. It was just a beast of a collection of pictures and made scrolling through here a pain. Sorry.

Anyway, took off for Lansing (our new home!) today at 8am. Got there and looked at our actual new apartment we're going into in November. Then paid for our deposit, officially making the deal legal. So its really happening folks. November 1st, I shall have a new home! The apartment is in a primo location in the complex, in a front building facing the pool and the front exit in and out. The only thing I don't like is that the living room and kitchen is smaller than ours right now. So there's no room for me to have my
"office" in the main living area anymore. But what I lose in that, I gain in the following: A large "STUDIO" room that will house all my stuff just like it did before bots came along. A LARGE walk-in closet and master bedroom. WASHER AND DRYER! and a great, great, great, great, great amount of town with enough stuff to do to build a lifetime!

After paying our lease stuff, we drove up Saginaw Hwy to check out all that it would offer us in our new life there. Which was damned plenty. I located Clem's comics, which was DOWNTOWN Lansing, right by the capital. Then down Michigan Ave to Captial City Collectibles, which is in a new location near the old one. But I went in, fell in love with the store's vast collection of old stuff and found out they had a pull list and discount. I chatted with the manager and promised to return. Looks like they are gonna carry my books there! Then off to East Lansing, which houses MSU. We parked and checked out our old haunts of 21st Century Comics (Talked with a dude there and they said they'd be interested in carrying my books as well) and Flat, Black and Circular (the best used record, dvd, cd store in town! Possibly ever!) We combed the cheap bins and I found a couple PANTERA albums I don't have and a used BLUR hits CD for dirt cheap.

So then it was back to Westside lansing for some lunch at Cheddars, a nice restaurant off of Saginaw Hwy. Then we hit the mall, natch. After that, we headed back to home. We were sad to leave really. But it had been such a long day already that it was necessary cause of the kid and me being dead tired.

The general feeling was extreme excitement and freedom. Excitement of the possibilities that the new town has to offer us. And the idea of total freedom from the troubles that chase us right now here. We're very happy and excited by the potential presented us by Lansing right now. and Nov. 1st seems such a long way away. There's tons of work to be done before we get to go. We have to finish tossing out a ton of stuff and pack all of the rest. All greatness. I couldn't be happier or more excited folks!

Well, I got commissions to work on. Back to work with me!

Cheers, T

Post-WALL stuff and new thingies...

Hey all. Still winding down from the awesomeness of Friday night's THE WALL concert. I also have to say a hearty thank you to Col who runs the great fansite: pinkfloydz.com cause he used my previous blog entry and some photos in his ROGER WATERS tour blog page! I was very excited to be included. I've read pinkfloydz.com for well over a decade now and am very glad to have contributed! To see the site, go HERE and to see my contribution to the tour page and a nice video of the opening song IN THE FLESH, click HERE. Thanks Col! Keep up the good work with the site!

Today I am busy doing a nice new 11x17 print. Features a character and property I have never drawn before. Lets just tease it by saying it features an 80's cartoon character that was recently realized in a live action film within the last 5 years. (teased!)

I am also working on small card versions of my prints to premiere at the DETROIT FANFARE show coming up quick! I got more plastic card holders today so its time to get those finished. Also bagged and boarded new prints, new original art to sell and other things for the con. I'm coming with guns loaded and blazing. See you there!

Anyway, about to take a break and see the FAMILY GUY season premiere episode. Then the plan the rest of this week is to continue sorting and tossing crap and working on new pages for the next comic project. Oh, and coloring ANNA pages! Take care you all! Have a week!

T

ROGER WATERS - THE WALL LIVE 9-24-10 Report

This is a concert I've waited all my life to see, and now I have seen it. Of course, its not the full Floyd, it was just Roger. But still, I feel like I saw the whole thing. The whole shebang. A Full performance of my favorite album of all time. Lets begin:

I drove through the traffic jam infested and treacherous skyway of Chicago to arrive downtown at the United Center (otherwise known as BULLS' STADIUM). To be in the place where Michael Jordan won so many games and took home championships was awesome in itself. I used to be an avid basketball watcher back in the 90's of the BULLS' heyday. Only problem, the seats are STEEP! Check it out:



I found my seat in section 307 on the top level and immediately my vertigo set in. There were no guard rails and if I stood up there I would get all dizzy and want to fall over. The seats were damn close together too and considering I am a man of size, it wouldn't have been good for my poor neighbors. Luckily for me, right next to my section was a bar lounge. The ledge looked out onto the concert floor, giving me the same angle and view I would have had anyway. But-without all the people around me, the people talking through the show and the pot smoking. So I hung out there at the bar. There were people on the ledge with me looking out, including this nice couple whom I chatted with during the show. Man, could they drink! I scored a Sam Adams and waited for the show to start.





It started off with a bang with fireworks, chanting and explosions galore. And what followed next was what I feel to be, a very faithful (and very modern) re-creation of the 1980-1981 WALL TOUR Pink Floyd put on. Complete with teacher, wife and mother puppets, wall construction, Gerald Scarfe animation, and costumes. The only thing really that has changed was there was no "surragate band" and there was a TON of updated and modern graphics that were projected onto the Wall itself. Alot of eye candy.




Oh yeah, and the famous PIG made an appearance...



It really is hard to reconstruct the visual feast I was presented with. But all in all, it was a stunning performance. I really noticed no mistakes or miscues on a part of the band or the massive lightshow. Everything seemed to be pretty on. Perhaps the kinks are now worked out on this, the sixth show of the tour.





I had bought my ticket back in July/August before we had to move and I had a bit of money. After we found out we have to move come November and how tight everything is as a result, I tried even to see if I could generate some funds by getting my ticket refunded. I could not. So I decided to go anyway and just have fun. and I am soooooo glad it worked out the way it did. It was a wonderful show. Only a few times did I feel the twinge of remorse that it wasn't the full monty of Floyd on the stage instead of just Roger and his band. But there were some really good musicians with him. Including G.E. Smith from the Sat. Night Live band. Remember that dude? Yeah, he wailed. Snowy White and Jon Carin were in, as well as Harry Waters on organ (yes, Roger's son). There were some touching moments, such as when Roger sang harmony perfectly with his audio track from 1980, and him walking outside the wall during the solo to comfortably numb, lightly caressing the wall.. his baby. His masterpiece. The thing he's built. I couldn't help but think that in that moment. There was also a massive amount of anti-war graphics and feel to the projections. Including a list of lost soldiers and people from 9-11, Iraq War, World War 2 and other various evils from the past 80 years. Some touching videos of soldiers coming home and surprising their kids at school with their arrival. The look on the kids' faces when they saw that daddy was home was a real tear-jerker. This played on a longer version of "Bring the Boys Back Home."




All in all, it was a great show and I am extremely glad I went. It kind of sucked to not have anyone to share the experience with cause I went solo. But really, THE WALL has been MY favorite album. Usually all my music peeps appreciate it, but not nearly as much as I do. I fell in love with it when I first heard it. and I fell in love with it again last night. Cause now I have memories to relive with it even more now. I am not so much the angry and bitter young man that I was when I first heard and related to the album so long ago. But I can certainly see new things in it and relate it to how things feel for me now. In short, it still holds up, even over thirty years later.





I wish the band the best of luck on the rest of this tour. And urge anyone interested in seeing possibly one of the greatest rock shows ever put on, to go. There's tons of dates across the US and it will venture across the pond for next year. Just go. You'll thank me. We'll all stagger and fall, after all its not easy... to bang your heart against some mad buggar's wall.

T

Moving triumphs and WWF!

I've been sorting all sorts of crap all around the house and actually tossing alot. I mean, alot! Alot of big coffeetable type of books. I tossed out some old sketchbooks of mine. I tore out pages and poems I wanted to keep and tossed the rest of those heavy mother fuckers. I got 8 boxes of crap sitting by the door right now full of crap that I am tossing out. Yay me! Its very liberating I must say. I am proud of the mental adjustments I am making. We also got alot of toys we are donating to TOYS FOR TOTS for Xmas. YAY!

Anyway, back to work with me. but the main reason I posted is cause we were going through photos and I found these. They are from a WWF Wrestling event I saw in June of 1991 in Flint, MI. Brought back some memories of back when I used to watch wrestling. thought I'd share with you some of the memories. Please forgive the crappy pics. The lighting didn't work so well with the film camera I had at the time. Oh, the age of digital doth spoil us all! (speaking of which, I hear we can take pics at the Roger Waters concert tomorrow, so yay!) So here ya go!








Night all!

T

Moving and Print Plug.

Here's a pic from three days ago of my precious office...



Today, the bookcases are mostly cleared off and moved to the side and tons of boxes surrounding them. So the packing for our eventual relocation to Lansing is well underway. I've sold a ton of things on ebay and frankly, its a crapshoot as always. Seems the things I never think will sell do for high amounts and the things that are worth high amounts DO NOT sell. Its odd. And the shipping costs is eating at my time and money alike. So I think that is it for ebay for me for now. If I find anything I am willing to part with, I will just toss it. Unless I think I know someone it can go to. Other than that, its sort of liberating to toss all this stuff that has been keeping me down. Its great to have stuff but I find as I grow older I am more interested in buying things for my kids and making sure the things we have are nice and up to date. Granted, I'll still buy books, Cds and DVDs, but not nearly as much as I used to. The kid is getting to the age of wanting "bigger kid toys." and my oldest will be wanting "BIG KID" toys! So yeah, time to let this big kid take a break on being so selfish. Its better for me methinks.

In other news, got this in the mail:



I ordered some prints from CATPRINT.com based on a recomendation and I gotta say folks, that it is AWESOME! The quality is just jaw droppingly incredible. So I got these three done and they will premiere at the DETROIT FANFARE show this coming October. I "may" do one or two more, I haven't decided. But for now, I got enough copies of these to last for the show. The only way to get prints from me is at the shows as I never sell these online. So try to make a show if you can. All prints come either matted and wrapped or wrapped with a protective board. Extremely nice quality by catprint... My new favorite place to shop! I know I will definitely be ordering more from them. I got high glossy stock paper for these and I got more pieces in my spine flower that I would like to see get the catprint.com treatment! So I highly recommend them for you artistic types out there. And I recommend you get a print from me at DETROIT FANFARE! :)

The packing is going well. We got a rediculous quote from TWO MEN AND A TRUCK to move our stuff today. Like, $1300!!!!! So we are looking at other options. We are calling in favors left and right to see who can help us move. I think we got it under control though. No problems. Word. Its great to have such great friends!

Lastly, I started on the art for the new post-ANNA project yesterday. Its really looking good folks. Not just saying that. I means it. Will tease soon.

Anyway, I guess thats it for now. I got artwork to finish this week, coloring to do and ROGER WATERS on Friday. An exciting rest of the week ahead for me!

Luvs, T

Brick in the Wall pt II: The second doctor's visit.

---After last week's fiasco of doctors and bowel movements, I tried to take it easy and get better. But still off and on, the uncomfortable feeling in my left side remains. So my family urged me once again to get tested by the regular doctor. Also the walk in clinic doctor I saw called me and said he saw calcification in my abdomen and I should get checked out if I get worse. I went ahead and got an appointment. Went in today and got tested and really, they could find nothing. They think the problem is abdominal muscle strain or tear. There's no bump or severe pain so that rules out anything major with my organs or anything. Its just simple strain and it could last a week, a month, a few months, etc. Most likely causes are the kid jumping on my belly from time to time as he does and me bending over with an extra 150 pounds pulling me down as I lift. Natch.

So yeah, bottom line. I'm not dying. Things seem to be okay. I've been instructed to take Advil and Alieve and put a heating pad on it when the feeling flares up. So hopefully soon the whole thing will be resolved. I intend on taking it easy the rest of the week and just relaxing. I'll let ya'll know if it worsens. But for now, I am alive and well. No worries. Just like I thought it would be in the beginning. But for a moment there, I was indeed scared. But all is well it seems for now.




This Friday: ROGER WATERS "THE WALL" LIVE!!!!! All this week he's playing in Chicago and I got a ticket for the Friday show. There's a possiblity that David Gilmour will be at the show as a guest, which would be fuckin' dope! We'll see. I'm really looking forward to it.

Yesterday, Shane and I recorded a new podcast for the IDIOTHEAD.COM podcast that is available to download at talkshoe.com or through itunes. We discuss the above concert, the football season so far, Mike Portnoy leaving Dream Theater (natch) and other stuff. So download it and check it out. Also sometime this week I will be doing my first live movie commentary on the podcast. I'm thinking a STAR TREK movie of course. Maybe do STAR TREK 5: THE FINAL FRONTIER. Just for the fun of it. Just to keep entertaining you fine folks!

DETROIT FANFARE is coming up soon! I'll be there with a crap ton of my artist brothers and sisters. Also some guy named "Stan Lee." Its October 30-31, Dearborn, MI. Details HERE

I am busy coloring ANNA POCALYPSE pages this week and will start on word balloons next week and get this sucker in the can by the end of the month. Will print in November I think and be ready in time for a nice Xmas present! So save yer pennies! It will be an 80 page graphic novel and retail below $15.00. Maybe closer to $10.00. We'll see what comes.

I guess thats all I got for now folks. Thanks for the emails and well wishes. I really appreciate your thoughts and prayers. I do hope indeed it is muscle strain and all of this has indeed been a false alarm. Now, onward and upward!

Cheers, T

PERSONAL SALE!!!!

As you know, I selling off stuff for my upcoming move. I am getting rid of a ton of stuff. I am offering the following:

First up, a collection of my EARLIEST PRINTED WORK! I only have a lot of two of these. What I will do it this---You get My first self published work of DARKNESS #1, DARKNESS #2 and PLEASANT HYMNS #1 And a 8.5x11 on Bristol one-three figure inked commission for $20.00. Best deal in the house and only TWO of these can be done. First come, first served. So email me at phymns@yahoo.com and snatch these up! (Note: I did these DARKNESS comics back in 1993-1995 before IMAGE COMICS DARKNESS was even invented. Hence the name. And yes, this is the first published appearance of LUCAS and the gang from PLEASANT LIFE. Only 100-300 copies of these books exist and will NEVER be reprinted in this form!!!!! Come get an opportunity to laugh at my earliest work and what a hack I was back then!)

New Project preview and sale!

As promised here is a look at a character sketch of some of the main characters of my next book project. the comic book will be around 80 pages in one self contained trade and will come out next year. The style of clothes is a clue to WHEN the book will take place. During my favorite decade of all time! Word! Let me know what you think!!!


____________

Lastly, some pics/video of the bots. First up, him playing with a PICARD and DATA figure. I SWEAR I didn't force him to play with these. He picked em up on his own. Two years old and he's already a nerd. :)



Lastly, a video of him bouncing on his play mat. He loves it. I don't get it. But its funny to watch.

Top worst TREK MOVIE moments..

Its been a while since I've done one of these, and I keep meaning to, so here it is. Another TREK list: The TOP WORST TREK MOVIE MOMENTS!!!! Starting with my personal #1...

1-ENTERPRISE JOYSTICK from "Insurrection"

What the hell is this? I mean... what THE HELL IS THIS?!?!!?!?!?! All the sudden you got a joystick to come up by the captain's chair and Riker can control the ship like he plays Atari? Easily the worst moment in Trek movie history.


2-Chick stars at old Riker "Insurrection"

You can tell how Insurrection is my least favorite Trek movie. This takes place around the same time as the Enterprise joystick. Riker makes some tough ass comment about kicking the bad guy's ass during a fight and the cut to a shot of the female helm officer shooting a look at Riker that basically says "Dude, I want to suck you off so bad right now you make me so hot." I don't get it. Why cut to that? Makes no damn sense.

3. KIRK DEATH from "Generations"

Not only did we not want it to happen, it happened in the worst way possible. And right after this, he was buried under some stones under a random planet! I don't get it. I was so upset on leaving the theater that day I saw it. If the internet would have been around back then, I would have bitched on every message board possible. Its been about 16 years since then and the pain still hasn't changed for me. It still sucks.

4. TROI RAPE "Nemesis"

I guess it gives her character something to do, but did I really need a rape scene in my Star Trek movie? Really? I guess it provides her with a reason to get back at the Remans later in the film during the fight, but even that scene seems to slow down the pacing of it. I guess I am just voicing some disgust over a rape scene in Trek. Granted, I don't like Troi at all, never have, but she don't deserve that. and we don't deserve to be forced to see that. Bad call.

5. DECKS in "The Final Frontier"

Its been brought up a million times but it bares repeating. Yes, the Enterprise has only 24-26 decks. Yes they go down instead of up. And it was Shatner that made the decision to do these things. He messed up. Plain and simple. But even though it keeps being brought up, doesn't excuse it from my mighty worst of list.

6. KIRK POINTS in "Undiscovered Country"

Two Kirks fight. Classic. But look at this pic. Where the hell is he pointing? The bad Kirk isn't standing on a ladder for God's sake! Couldn't they have fixed that in post? Just makes it look more fake than we know it is.


7. WHO ARE YOU? in "The Voyage Home"

Maybe I missed something. Who is this person and why does she get screentime and a name? It ruins the pacing of the scene and really doesn't need to be there. Unless its a cameo by a crewmember and there's an inside back story I don't know about. It takes place during the Scotty/McCoy giving the glassmaker the formula for Transparent Aluminum. All the sudden this bitch bursts in the office and he screams "NOT NOW MADALINE!" and she backs out the door like KOOL AID MAN in Family Guy bursting through the wall. What is this? Who is she? It causes more confusion than anything. Didn't need to be there.
(EDIT) Okay, I looked it up and apparently, this girl is the hair stylist for the film. Still couldn't find a reason why she's in the damn film!)

BONUS: No pic for this but a movie mistake in STAR TREK IV that no one ever mentions: Early in the film, the President of the Federation tells the Klingon Ambassador that Kirk is charged with nine violations of Starfleet Regulations. At his court-martial at the end, only six charges are listed: 1. Conspiracy, 2. Assault on Federation Officers, 3. Theft of Federation Property (the Enterprise), 4. Sabotage of the Excelsior, 5. Destruction of Federation Property (the Enterprise again), and 6. Disobeying direct orders of a superior officer. So... what happened to the other three? Am I obsessive? Indeed.


Hope you enjoyed. I got one more list to go in the future. Top 10 best STAR TREK original series moments. For looks at my previous lists, go through my earlier blogs, they are there somewhere.

Cheers, T

wayyyyy more than you care to know about me...

Went today to Lansing to look at apartments. We looked at 5-6 or so. Ended up the first one we looked at is our likely best bet just for the price alone. We're not 100% happy with the layout, but it will do. And its the smarter option for now. We need to save some $$$ for me a new car, so this is the best chance for that. We will know for sure 100% if we got it maybe tomorrow or monday at the latest.

Problem is, my stomach problems got in the way of our looking. The whole time, my left side was uncomfortable and at times, painful. So much so that I did agree to hit a walk-in clinic on the way home. We did and they run an EKG, Xrays and all sorts of test and could find nothing MAJOR wrong with me. and surprisingly with my weight and all, my stats are close to normal. So thats reassuring for the long run for now. But still, the ache remains when I sit. The problem (cover your eyes for those who don't want to know more about me than they care to) is constipation. Major. Big time. Xrays showed tons of hard clay poo in there. So I am stuffed full of stool softeners, ex lax and prune juice to clean me out. Yeah, that means more pain for my precious nether-hole, but I got Preperation H on hand and ready. The pain on my left side is likely backed up, hard bowel obstruction in my large intestine. So maybe after a couple hours here, I will be "cleaning house."

Wish me luck. The good news at least is that my stats appear normal. And considering I am a man in the "morbidly obsese" catagory, thats not bad. I'll take that. PLUS---the doctor's scales show me down another 5 pounds from where I was! I guess everytime I change diet I always will have this. I need to be more conscious of what I am doing now that I am getting older. I had a huge salad yesterday, and been eating well for 5 days now. That is probably whats throwing my system out of whack.

Anyway, enough about my colon, on to some GOOD news!!!!

1-As of last night, the art on ANNA POCALYPSE is FINISHED!!!!!! YAY! Now I just gotta scan the last 20 pages, color 30 pages or so and do the dialog. And then put it all together and she be done! Maybe release around Xmas if I am lucky, so save yer pennies! Makes a great stocking stuffer! All in all, it should be around 80 pages.

2-I started work on my next comic project. I did a loose pass at the script then a tighter first draft. I'm gonna take another pass at it and then get it going. I'm already doing lots of research and character sketches. I will release a photo of these character sketches on here at my blog very soon, so keep checking back! Lets just say fans of boobies and horror movies will be very pleased with what I got planned!

3-After having to cancel DETROIT FANFARE for halloween weekend, it was decided that with the move, the wife can take the time off indeed. So I contacted them and its back on. I WILL be at the DETROIT FANFARE comic con in Dearborn, MI on Halloween weekend. So make plans to come out and see me! (and bring spare change to score some stuff from me as all the funds I make there goes to printing ANNA POCALYPSE and to the new apartment!) Mucho appreciate!

4-We officially move in to the new Lansing place on Nov. 1st. Details to come but its 100% definite! We're excited!

Okay, thats all I know. Thanks for reading through this difficult blog. Excuse me now, as I have to spend the next 10 hours on the toilet. Yum.

T

NOT down with the sickness....

I'm sick today.

For the last couple days I've been having this odd...not pain, not ache but feeling in my stomach area. Upper left torso. I became concerned initially, but it has now developed into a full on stomach flu. Let me tell you... no... I won't tell you. You don't want to hear the gross details. But trust me, its fucking bad! It hurts.

Anyway, I've been lounging in the bed all day and now I am forcing myself to come out and get some work done. I watched BASQUIAT, The LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE and THE CARTOONIST. I was saving HELL HOUSE for my upcoming horror month, but I've been in such a horror mood for a new project that I am working on, I decided to start it early. So I am gonna start watching horror movies now in preperation for writing that project and to celebrate the month of October right.

For those that bought ebay auctions and commissions recently, many thanks and the stuff goes in the mail wednesday for sure. For now, I am gonna see what I can get done tonight and then head back to bed. Ugh... I hate being sick.

T

Busy as hell as business be good.

Hey ya'll. Just got done watching the season opener of the LIONS on NFL. I gotta hand it to them. The Defense is MUCH improved! The offense? Well, needs some work. And added to that, QB Matthew Stafford got injured and is out for god knows how long. But it was a damn close game. Johnson caught a TD pass at the end when the Lions rallied but because of some stupid bullcrap rule, the pass was ruled incomplete. I don't get how or why, but I guess its some new NFL rule about follow through when a TD is made. Absolute bullshit if you ask me and I say the Lions were robbed of a great first game effort. Already I am reading comments and tweets about "well, here they go sucking again." Fuck you! They played really good considering the circumstances. Their offense needs work, sure but they were a hair away from pulling off this win. So look at the positives! Its a long season. We got 15 weeks to go folks. Lets stick behind our team for now and hope QB Matthew Stafford comes back strong soon.

In other news related to me, I got new ebay auctions up HERE. I will be putting more up soon including original art, prints, VHS tapes and more! So stay tuned to my ebay name "Floydianslip23" and keep an eye out on my auctions. All goes to benefit my upcoming move to Lansing Nov. 1st.

We are going next week to Lansing to look at some potential places we are going to be moving into. I hope we find something in our price range and a nice area. And I also hope things connect to where we can have a full time babysitter and I can score a nice full time job.

So basically what I am saying is now is the perfect time to pick up something from me on ebay, the online Idiothead.com store or a commission! If interested in a commission, email me at phymns@yahoo.com and we'll talk.

Speaking of commissions, I better get back at it. I got some to finish tonight so they can get in the mail tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

Cheers, T

MIKE PORTNOY leaves DREAM THEATER!

Yeah, I cannot believe I typed that title either. But he released an official statement less than an hour ago and it isn't April Fool's Day. For now, it seems as though it is indeed true.



Who was the first to tell me? Shane, naturally. He was the first person to introduce me to Dream Theater. I fell in love with Mike Portnoy's drumming man. Although not a drummer myself (I dabble here and there), I just saw his enthusiasm for music and the work ethic he put into everything he does. From Dream Theater to all his side projects. He is just a complete and total inspiration to me of the type of person I would love to be. Even though our crafts are different indeed.

Its funny how I am talking about this as though he died, but in many ways it sorta is a death. Mike is going on to other projects, sure. But it won't be the same. Nothing ever will be. I hold out hope that the band can work out whatever internal differences this brought on and take a break and then come back with Portnoy hugging the guys and all will be okay. There is that possibility. Cause a Dream Theater album without their chief songwriter, arranger, fan manager, spokesman, energy and heart is nothing. Maybe I am wrong, and I am just writing out of sadness and anger at it all, but its how I feel right now. Its just so unexpected and left field. Like this should never have happened. But it is... for now anyway.

Whatever way this goes, I wish them all the best of luck and I hope that the dream can continue in the future. I will follow them all wherever they go. But once again, I am left feeling that again... all my favorite bands are either broke up, on indefinate hiatus or dead. And it saddens me no end. (sigh)



Pic of me and Mike when I met him this past year. Truly a great dude to come out and hang with us fans. I wish you luck sir. The spirit carries on.

(Shane and I will be recording the next episode of the Idiothead.com podcast this Saturday and no doubt will be discussing this in depth!)

T

EBAY!

I'm selling a TON of comics and graphic novels on ebay. Tons more to come as well. Help me out in a few ways: By getting me out from this HOARDERS lifestyle so I can move and help to generate some $$$ for my move! I appreciate you looking!

All my auctions are HERE

I am also available for commissions still until HALLOWEEN. So if you want some art for the upcoming holiday season, hit me up!

Luvs, T

LIONS GAME and the big move part 89...

Its official! I'm going to see the Lions play the Jets on Nov. 7th! My pal Jim helped score us tickets and we're all gonna be there in the 4th fuckin' row! Thats right. 4th row from the field! Damn close! Not bad for my first professional football game! Mucho thanks to Jim for scoring the tickets and its gonna be a long 2 months to wait till we get to go! Me very excited!

In other news, I guess BIG news is that yet another relocation may very well be in my future. We've become quite disenfranchised with the area of St. Joseph as of late. No friends locally, no family, no jobs available and other such things. Also we've noticed the complete racial segregation and tons of absolute rude people around here. I mean, RUDE people! Just assholes. All old retirees who just are grouchy and snide. It gets sickening at times. Not to say EVERYONE here is like that, but a good portion, it seems. Also we have a desire to move a tad closer to the old homestead of Mt. Pleasant because we are responsible for my brother's care once my parents pass on. And I want to take a more active role in that. Also, I feel as though we've used the last 4 years as down time to start a family and are now ready to go back out into the hustle and bustle and start living my life once again.

So we searched around and found a possibility that the wife can transfer to the Lansing district with Walgreens. Lansing. I was born there. and talk about activity! MSU campus, tons of comic shops, tons of job opportunity and practically the only growing job market in all of Michigan! There's tons of family oriented activities to do such as the zoo, community activities and such. Not to mention I am an hour away from my old friends, comic cons in the Michigan area and a link to the pipeline of working with people my age and getting a comic group together again. My pal Dean lives in the area so D&D might happen again. Who the fuck knows, right? The sky is the limit man!

To say that I am excited about the possibilites is an understatement. Its like emerging from under a rock that I've been in since I've become unemployed. I welcome change, wholeheartedly. So from now till Mid-November, we are gonna toss about 1/3 to 1/2 of our crap, and save up $$$ like hell! We got alot to pay for and get. Also we gotta secure a place and all that stuff. One last major hurdle to this whole thing blocks our way before it would indeed become "official." I'll let you know if and when that happens and how you can help.

All in all, its an exciting time in my life. I welcome a nice change of pace. Either get busy living, or get busy dying. and I ain't ready to croak yet.

T

To say the idea

Workin' hard and hardly workin'....

Yo yo. Just me checking in. Been busy working on commissions and figuring out INDESIGN, which I am creeping up on.

I was filling out my "TO DO" list today, something I hang by my desk and check off things that I get done. Makes me feel productive. But I noticed today that I wrote "Check Sunday ads and Stock up on Toilet Paper." Instantly I recognize how old I feel as a result. Where something like that is on my TO DO list. Wow. Just wanted to note that.

I'm working out details but its quite possible that the wife and I might be going to a Live DETROIT LIONS game with a pal of mine. I'll tell you all when plans are finalized and when we are going. Either way, I am excited about it!

I wanted to mention quickly that I got this plan of watching one horror movie per day throughout the month of October. I may make it a tradition for myself. I have a crapload of horror movies at my house but there's always room for more. If you all want to toss out suggestions, I'll load them up on my NETFLIX cue and rock it during that month. So hit me up with some suggestions of horror movies to watch. And please do not list the following: CHAOS, DEATH BED: THE BED THAT EATS PEOPLE, and SPRING BREAK MASSACRE. Cause I watched all those recently and they were crap.

I leave you now with some recent pics taken at my house. One of me as a Jedi. And two of the bots. Enjoy!





Thanks for reading! Hit me up with your horror movie ideas either here, twitter, facebook or email! YAY!

T

In Design play...

I seem to be getting the hang of In Design. I just layed out this page with full bleed and all that and I got my templates set up. Also did some minor fix its to some files for a local print shop that I do side work for. I thin I'm on my way to becoming a master at In Design!!!

Word?

I'm back bitches!!!!!

thats right. I'm reporting live from my good ol' trusty imac that went kaput this last week or two. Oh yeah! Booyah! Anyway, here's the skinny:

My hard drive for some reason decided to take a poop on me. Luckily it went sorta gradually and I was able to pull off all my comic book work files and things from it and save it all onto a DVD. If I wasn't able to do that, it would have been a MAJOR disaster!!!! But luckily, we're in business. So after making a few public calls for help, an old friend of Kelly's stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park, into the next park and out of that one as well! My homie Eric was in the area visiting friends today and is a computer tech guy by profession. He got me a new Hard Drive (a larger one mind you) and we took my precious (MY PRECIOUS!) apart....



We got the old HD out and put the new one in with relatively no problem. and I watched closely enough that if it happens again, I'll can mostly remember how to do it. It wasn't long before I was back up and running with all the latest updates and all that cal. I installed my CS3 Photoshop successfully. Went to install QUARK 7, and it mega crashed on me. Freaked me out. Eric graciously came back and through some sleuthing found out that Snow Leopard, which I run on, does not support QUARK 7 at all.

Let me explain: QUARK is the graphics layout program I am used to from the old newspaper days. Yeah, its an archaic program, but it had all my templates I was used to, and all the short keys I knew. I have been building my comics in Quark since I started out. Well, now I am without it. And I am not going to drop another $400-1,000 for QUARK 8. I was able to obtain CS5 and ILLUSTRATOR/IN DESIGN with it. Plus some other programs. So I guess its time to start anew and learn some new tricks. I played with In Design a bit today and seems okay. I got a pal that is pretty well versed in In Design that is gonna come and show me the ropes a bit possibly next week. And perhaps there are online videos and tutorials on how to use it. Its been a looooooooong damn while since I've seen it.

So give me time to catch up on work before I can start to rebuild my old files and make NEW templates and start ANNA tradebook off right! Its gonna take some doing, but thats what we are here for, right? :) The important thing is that I am back in the saddle as far as my computer goes. Itunes is running good (although I lost all my TV/Movies I downloaded via the store cause I didn't have a backup for those!) and I cannot complain. It certainly could have been worse. A hearty hell yeah of a thank you to Eric for kicking ass for me. Appreciated sir!!!

In other news, I scored more commissions and have been working on them this week. Also been cleaning house and selling stuff on ebay. I'll sell some more stuff soon and I'll post and let ya'll know about it.

Lastly, this past Wednesday was my son Scott's second birthday! Here's a pic of him with chocolate cake on his face!




Thanks for reading! Now its off to watch some tutorials with me! I got a crapload to catch up on!!!

T

Mr. Plinkett/Red Letter Media love...

Just wanted to toss a shout out to Mr. Plinkett otherwise known as RED LETTER MEDIA on youtube. The dude does HALARIOUS movie reviews. He did all of the Next Generation TREK movie reviews and he did two absolutely MUST WATCH reviews on PHANTOM MENACE and ATTACK OF THE CLONES. In addition to being absolutely halarious, they are incredibly insightful. Highly entertaining.

He recently did a review of the 2009 STAR TREK reboot. Check it out HERE

And here is the guy's website: RED LETTER MEDIA You can also find him on YOUTUBE.

Please take the time to check out his stuff. Esp. the PHANTOM MENACE review. God I wish I had a DVD of that review!

Thoughts part 65...

Hey everyone! Hope all is well.

Today is the Scott Bot's 2nd birthday. What an weird two years it has been. I just spent some time re-reading the entire month of September 2008 on my blog here. Remembering and laughing. Man that was a time of complete ups and downs. The ups of having the kid be born. The downs of the porn shop job troubles and extended hospital stays cause of Lakeland Hospital's fuck ups. So much can happen in a month. Hell, two years!

In two years' time I've got to watch him grow, I lost my job and got a part time one, and traveled to more places than ever before with my comics. I've also increased sales and production on my work.

In life I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Even bad things. Good comes out of bad, always. And just like two years ago, this month we have had our share of challenges as well. A lot of situations and things are up in the air and left to chance. Such is the game of life. The only constant I do have in my life is my love for my family, friends and my craft. Its all I have in this world. Its all I care about. I wish I could go back and tell myself two years ago that I would be okay, and what a great two years it would be for me after that. Just like I wish the future me could do the same for me right now. I could use the encouragement.

But come what may, I face it with eyes wide open to accept it. You can't hold me down, bitches!

Well, this week I have been working on artwork pretty hardcore. I got nine new ANNA pages ready to copy and scan when my MAC returns to fully operational status by this weekend. I also got rehired by a beloved client who really digs my work and invests a lot into it. Mucho Appreciation for that!!! I am in the home stretch on ANNA pages. Maybe three more to go and the book is done. Then I can concentrate on assembling the artbook and then start the new comic property! If all goes well, Anna will be done by Xmas, the Artbook and new comic property by early 2011. Word.

Such is my stupid little life. Very exciting and full. I wouldn't change a day of it. I can see that I am way happier and better off than I was two years ago. Happy birthday Scotty. I'm proud of you and you brighten my mornings! (But would it kill you to stay out of my comic boxes and not pull books off my shelf just ONE day out of the week? lol!)

T