NIN Concert in Detroit - Oct 2018

So I saw NIN for the second time in Detroit. I only went because my girl hasn't seen them ever and they are in her favorite bands list. They did something different to keep the tickets from bots and scalpers. You had to physically go to the venue a couple months ago and buy the ticket. Then you come back and see the show. (LIKE THE GOOD OL DAYS!) In actuality, I kinda liked this system. Yeah it was a pain to get up at 3-4 in the morning and go buy the ticket, but I used to do that same thing when I was a kid. I'd stand outside Warehouse Records in Mt. Pleasant (RIP) and line up for tickets to a show. You could pick you seat and found happiness. So this was similar and it kept it going to the real fans. Of course you are going to get people buying extras and scalping them. Assholes abound in this world. What you gonna do?

I saw them live in 2014 I think it was. They played a lot of the more later albums. But this show the majority was PRETTY HATE MACHINE and BROKEN. A couple from this album and that, and four new ones. But nothing off the later albums really. The stage was stripped down, no screens. Lights and smoke. It was a rockin' good time. 

I'm showing you folks some of my pics and then pics from the Detroit Newspaper, as they got MUCH closer than I. So enjoy these. They played at the Fox theatre... which is GORGEOUS! Here are my pics:

I'd say that this show tops the last time I saw them, for sure. I love those first two albums. While there were a couple songs that they've been playing on this tour that they didn't play the night I saw them, overall I'd say it was a killer time. And you know what? No assholes around us. Perhaps doing the tickets the way they did got it to the real fans who appreciated the show for what it should be. Of course there were loud, drunk arseholes... probably bought tickets from a scalper... but luckily they weren't around me and didn't dampen my experience. 

Concert retirement begins now for me? In a way, I hope so. I'm getting too old for this type of thing. My feet, back and ears hurt a bit. I've seen some great fucking shows in my days of concert going. Legendary performers. If this is indeed my last show ever, its a good one to go out on. 

But it will happen again. Maybe I'm still a bit too young to retire. We'll see. 

-T

Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden at DTE July 26, 2014

Hey folks. Long night but I am back and I had a great time seeing NIN & Soundgarden at DTE in Clarkston, MI. I had to remember back and that I discovered NIN around 1993 or early 1994 and always vowed I'd see them live. But it took 20 years to do so!! Certainly, they did not dissapoint. I'm not a massive Soundgarden guy but I like three of their albums.

Soundgarden: Played all the hits. Some good stuff from BADMOTORFINGER and SUPERUNKNOWN. I woulda loved hearing "Pretty Noose," but I was happy with what I got. Chris Cornell still has the voice, thats for damn sure. I was especially excited to see the drummer Matt Cameron, who drums with Soundgarden but also Pearl Jam. He's one of my favorite 90s drummers.

After a nice break where my buddy Matt and I acted like idiots...

Nine Inch Nails came on and they certainly put on a show. The stage had these rolling backdrops that changed every song. There really was an onslaught of songs with really no breaks. There was only one minor break toward the end where Trent addressed the audience. His voice and the music copied the albums to a capital T and sounded great. I heard complaints from people in the lawn area of the venue that NIN was quieter than Soundgarden but I didn't experience that. We got pavillion seats, so we were in the pink.

If I had ANY complaint on NIN's set was that they neglected to play anything from "The Fragile." I woulda loved hearing "the Wretched" or "Somewhat Damaged." Oh well. They played lots from pretty much all the albums from Pretty Hate Machine to Hesitation Marks. A visual treat. If you download my Morning Show Podcast episode #262, you will hear a bit of audio from the show. I also recorded little snippets of video I'll upload to Youtube at some point.

One cool thing that happened was inbetween sets, we were talking with a couple in front of us and I didn't say much. The dude mentioned he had kids and the wife and I could take our kids to a kid friendly beer place in Lansing he knew of. then I mentioned "Well, its hard for us to get out because my five year old has autism." And he said "whoa! Our four year old does too!" So we swapped autism parenting war stories for a bit. I woulda loved to talk to them a bit more about it, because autism parents love to chat about techniques that work and what not. But Trent walked on and interrupted us! HA!!! But thats the third time I casually mention my son's autism to a couple and they say they have the same thing going on with their kids! So weird. You think you are struggling alone as a parent and no one understands what you got on your plate and all around are people going through the same thing, silently. I just thought it was a cool moment.

Most of the people at the show were around my age, mid-30s. I saw no fights and no arseholes. Everyone was getting along, reliving their teen angst and enjoying every second. And both bands put on a damn good show and sounded just as good as they did 20 years ago. I am now assured that the 90's are very much alive and I'm glad they are still around. (and me too!)

If you get the chance to see this tour, I hereby recommend it.

T

Comics Mayhem!!!

Hey everyone! Well, our Kickstarter for our EC HORROR comics tribute "TALES OF SEQUENTIAL MAYHEM" was a sweet success! We got officially funded yesterday and then some. So I am putting the finishing touches on the files before they go to the printer today and tomorrow. Here's a look at a color version of a pinup of "ZOMBIE QUEEN" I did for the book. It appears as a fake ad for a drive in movie:

Zombies are lead by her boobs!

I've been pencilling new STARSLAM strips and I uploaded Chapter 5 to the site. So we're good until July. Its looking likely that I will get all the original art done before that too. So I am thinking by the fall time I will have a full book for that comic in the online store here. I've done too many book plugs this early part of the year so I don't want to drop that on you now. Besides, we got our SUPER ONLINE BOOK SALE going on right now. Don't want to get any of my books lost in the mix as we go along.

So this makes FOUR books published by me this year. With a FIFTH one promised around the fall. Eh? What cha think? Aren't we the hardest working indie comic people out there right now? :) Its all for me celebrating 20 years of doing this, this year. I love this life!

In non-pluggy type of news, I've been working my way through Band of Brothers and re-watching Game of Thrones with the wife. Almost done with the first show. Its quite good. I also have been moving around furniture and I am ready to get a big box and start tossing crap. The weather outside is hot and then cold here in Michigan, but I am forcing spring to hurry up via doing some hardcore cleaning and moving. I moved the living room and office around a bit. Hopefully the kids stay out of my books because they are now at a level where they can tamper with them. They are gonna hear a lot of "NOs" from me!

I've also been reading some of the comics I've bought recently and forgot I read or giving them a fair shake read on the toilet (as I often do). All New X-men, Batman, The Dirty Pair, Empowered, Invincible, 90's Prophet, Soul Saga and others. I also finally got my buddy Jay Fosgitt's Bodie Troll trade. I gotta make a list of the comics and trades I am missing. And I am trying to finish Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, but with all the work I am getting done, I don't have much time to sit and read a book like I did. Hopefully soon I'll get ahead of where I need to be and then I can slack off some more to read some new shit.

As far as vinyl, I haven't picked up too many new records. The most recent aquirements are Pearl Jam Vitology, Def Leppard's Pyromania and Saxon Denim and Leather. I did order White Zombie's Astro Creep 2000 and it should come in soon. Record Store Day is coming up and I got my eye on that Type O Negative record. I scored tickets to see Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden for the summer as well. Finally going to scratch those bands off my list.

I suppose thats enough updating for now. Be sure that you are keeping up with my PODCAST for additional news and talkingzzzz. Much love to you all!

T

Year End Lists - Xmas - More

Hey everyone! We're close to Santa's arrival! You got alla yer shoppin' done yet? Wife gets her bonus this week and thats when we are gonna rock and roll. We got all the kids squared away, but not ourselves! So looking to do that this weekend. I'm anticipating all vinyl-related materials. :)

Hey folks! The 200th Episode of the IDIOTHEAD MORNING SHOW is up, and we're at episode #202 now, where I do my annual year end TOP 5 lists and all that. I will redo it here in the blog (see below) but this is audio extra content, plus my list of RIPs of people we lost this year. Download and subscribe via Itunes right HERE. Its free! Can't beat that!

I've been working on some card commissions this week, however I did go through a bout of sickness too. It really derailed me. A nice feeling of weakness and nausea. Awesome. But I am back to 99% today and feeling good. I need to rock and roll on these cards and other commissions tonight and this weekend and get caught back up. I'm really behind on shit. I need to light the fire here!

Scott is having his year end/Xmas parties at school and that is fun. Holidays are great now that I get to celebrate with kids. I finally get over my sadness over the holiday season of bad old memories and get to make new ones. I enjoy shopping for them. I made my oldest son happy by scoring him an Xbox360 and we got some choice things for the other kids too. Very exciting times. I just gotta shop for myself and the wife now. She's easy. Jewelry, fuzzy pants/socks. Etc. But I got a few fun things in mind for her. I won't state it here in case she happens to read my bloggy.

2014 CONVENTION DATES are already beginning! The MSU COMICS FORUM in Lansing, MI will be On Feb 22nd on the campus of Michigan State University. I'll be set up there for the third year in a row! For info on the show go HERE.

Also, I am going to be at CHERRY CAPTIAL CON May 23-25th. My first time there! Details on the show are HERE.

Okay, without further bullshit, here's my LISTS of the year for 2013:

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BEST NEW ALBUM:

Ghost – Infantessimum

Alice in Chains – The Devil put Dinosaurs Here

Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks

Rob Zombie – Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor

Pearl Jam – Lightning Bolt

Black Sabbath – 13

The Winery Dogs

Ghost – If you have Ghost EP

Nirvana – In Utero Deluxe

Saxon - Sacrifice

BEST SONGS FOR THE YEAR:

“Year Zero”  - Ghost

“Get Lucky” – Daft Punk

“Came Back Haunted” – NIN

“Hollow” – Alice in Chains

“Rare Jam” – Nirvana (In Utero Unreleased song)/Crucified – (cover) Ghost

BEST MOVIES:

(to be honest, I haven’t seen a lot of new movies this year. Its hard to get out of the house with the kids. But the two I have seen and will put on this list are)

Sound City—EASILY My favorite movie of the year

Gravity

(and yes, TREK isn’t on my list. WOW!)

BOOKS:

(these are books that I read this year and ranked)

Ghost Rider – Neil Peart

Smoke and Mirrors – Neil Gaiman

These are the Voyages – Cushman

The War of Art – Pressfield

Happy Endings – Jim Norton

(Hon. Mention: Girlvert – Ashley Blue)

BEST EVENTS:

Concerts I went to: Rush, Black Sabbath, Saxon. All fun events!

Wizard World – I sold well. It was a great vacation. The aftermath home was not so good, but the show itself went great.

Rediscovering my Love of Vinyl Records – This is a newer development but I am submerged deeply.

Wife’s New Job – Wife got a new job as the store manager of a FIVE BELOW and she’s kicking ass at it. The money is better, she’s getting treated better and she’s really performing well, so much so that the president of the company is noticing. This leads too…

Me quitting The Strip Club – A long time coming. Glad it finally happened. Read the aftermath in my upcoming tell all book! (Due 2014)

WORST EVENTS:

Bankruptsy – Declaring it was shameful but it worked out for the best for us. Happy we did it now. But we’re working on re-building.

Scotts Meds – Trying to figure out what will help him learn what he needs to has been a roller coaster.

Star Trek Into Darkness sucked my fat balls. Yes.

Dental Surgery – All year I was dealing with a broken, rotten wisdom tooth. Got it pulled in November and its been wonderful ever since. The surgery itself was easy as hell, but the anticipation sucked.

10^th Wedding Anniversary – Not the Anniversary sucked, but we couldn’t really do anything for it. I wanted to have a big event and gather our friends but with everything going on, it just seemed impossible. I regret that we couldn’t. Maybe for the 15^th or 20^th?

BEST TV SHOWS

Breaking Bad

Walking Dead

Toy Hunter

Doctor Who (especially the 50^th Special!)

For What its Worth (helped me rediscover vinyl)

TOP THINGS I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2014:

Finishing all my projects. Especially my written books.

My 20^th Anniversary in comics celebration and convention tour.

Delving deeper into my vinyl obsession.

Paying off all cars with the wife’s new job bonus structure.

Continuing improving myself physically and mentally and ignoring  old bad habits like focusing on internet hate and social media. Just disconnecting from it and not caring anymore.

Thanks for reading! Be safe this weekend! Peace and Love, Peace and Love.

T

Post-Thanksgiving Blah Blah...

Hey all! Had a good holiday this week. My in-laws came up and ate my cooking for the first time. I made a massive 23 lb turkey, taters, chicken dumplings, corn and biscuits. I could tell they were hesitant at first to try my food but grandpa went up for seconds and grandma finished her whole plate. I think I finally won them over! But it was a good day. I watched the Lions kick the shit out of the Packers, which is always satisfying. We also put our Xmas tree up:

We didn't go out on black friday because money was tight this week. I usually think I can sneak out sometime the night of and get cheap blu-rays but then come home in anger due to rudeness and the lines. But the wife worked and I didn't want to drag the kids out into the cold. Besides, we broke anyway till payday. I got a few freelance and commission people that owe me money and have owed me money for some time now. So I am gonna start squeezing on some of them so that they pay up. I got bills to pay and this shit aint funny. But thats the life of a freelancer I suppose.

In other news, I've tried to stay busy when I can. I wrote a few more pages on my PORN STORE STORIES book. I'm about 30 more pages away from a complete first draft and then I'll work on editing it. I'm leaning towards just sticking with self publishing it, but I am not sure. I'd kind of like to work with another publisher for once and see what sales they can give the book. Its hard to run it all yourself. Would be nice to have someone else step in.

I am also working on art for the TALES OF SEQUENTIAL MAYHEM #3 book:

The art for it is not due till January and its only a quick 8 page story on my end, plus a bit of supplementary material. But I just want it done and out of my way for the big things coming. I got a mini series I was hired to do for a company revolving around a massively popular and historic fictional character and I am starting on that this week. So for now I have been putting out the little fires around me to clear the way for that. I want it to be my best work thus far. If the above is any indication of the direction I am going, then I feel like I am on the right path. I'm trying really hard to pack my panels and not bullshit my backgrounds.

Record Store Day was yesterday as well, and here I am, broke. Some nice vinyl came out too. I'm trying not to think about what I missed out on. Too depressing. But when the money rolls in, I will start buying presents for the family and myself what I really want: VINYL! I got a bunch last payday. Mostly used stuff from Rush, Van Halen, Ratt, UFO and others. But I also scored new sealed copies of NIN's "Pretty Hate Machine" and Tool's "Opiate." So I'm on my way to building my collection back. I got a massive list of albums I want and I am combing ebay, record stores and other sources for them. When the cash hits me, I will load up. And I'll be ready when santa wife gets me the record player I asked for.

Sketch card work has sort of slowed for me. I got two sets on my plate right now. Both of them are pinup girlie related. I think that is fine for me. I dipped my toe into all these cool properties and I had my fun with them. I haven't sent out new samples in a while. Some companies are great to work with, others... not so much. But overall it has been a good experience and it got me some street cred for a while. But I am happy to be on my own again for the most part and free to do my shit. Thats not to say that if I were asked and the right set came along that I might not consider it, cause I might. But I certainly am not looking as much as I once did. But sketch cards have been very very good to me!

And I emailed the folks who pre-ordered the artbook the news, but I have got a quote from the printer and the book will be headed there this next month. I am hoping it have it in time for xmas. Just waiting on a wee bit more cash to cover my overhead and personal copies, cause there is a minimum over the ones that were pre-ordered that I had to place. If you want in on it still and get a nice sketched in ARTBOOK covering my twenty years in comics and art, order now BY CLICKING HERE

I've been pretty quiet on FACEBOOK for a few weeks now and I gotta say that I am loving it. I have less bullcrap in my head and thats always a good thing. I don't feel like I have to reach out as much as I did before. I can do that right here or on my podcast. There's no fighting and no drama. I love it. I go on there about once a day and check out the few people I do pay attention to in my feed. And I only post links to my stuff. Call me a spammer, but thats all I want to say there. Everything else I say via this blog, podcast and my TWITTER account. So plenty of outlets to say what I want to say, and they are more controllable. Making the break from Facebook: Best decision ever. 

Lastly, for the adult webcomics people, STARSLAM (adults only) is nearing the end of the third chapter. The fourth is coming up. BIG things are going to be happening. Things will be revealed. Blood will be spilled. Thats all I'm saying. You won't want to miss it! So if you are over 18 and enjoy sexy stories, give it a read, please. Updates every Monday. I should have new PORN WORLD WEEKLY strips sometime soon as well.

I suppose that is it. Thanks for continuing to check back with me. I love you all. Be safe!

T