Killjoys...

I'm a fan of Christmas.  Christmas for me is a remembrance of love, unity, and giving.

That, of course is not what others celebrate.  In fact, it is so much what others don't want you to celebrate that they go out of their way to make it unpleasant for everyone.

Take Christians.  If you take Christ out of the equation, then you get assholes like Pastor Fred Phelps, who wants to put up signs up in Washington that read, "Santa Claus will take you to Hell."

Classy guy.

But hey, how about those agnostics or atheists?  Well sure, they got their dickeries out in about, can't wait to prove that Christ isn't real and that the season is just a ploy to get people to spend their money yada, yada, yada.

You even have moderates who have to just analyze the shit out of every aspect of, well, everything.  Case in point...

The gender of Rudolph and his or her sleigh-hauling friends -- the subject of goofy Internet chatter every year around this time -- is now being pondered by renowned wildlife experts at Texas A & M University.

"Santa's reindeers were really females, most likely," said Alice Blue-McLendon, a veterinary medicine professor specializing in deer who cites the depictions of Santa's helpers with antlers as the primary evidence. It turns out reindeer grow antlers regardless of gender, and most bulls typically shed their fuzzy protrusions before Christmas.

But Santa's sleigh helpers might also be castrated males, known as steers, said Greg Finstad, who manages the Reindeer Research Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Really?  Either the wildlife experts at Texas A&M are all high and have given up on trying to figure out how to make their fingers "fing", or they've got nothing better in the fucking world to do.

Out of all the things to work on, did they think that saying to a bunch of kids, "Hey, Rudolph's actually a girl.  That song and that T.V. special that comes on every year are way wrong!", that this was the way to go?

Look, December 25th was used as a marking point for the winter solstice in the Julian calendar.  It was later adopted as a date of significance by the Church in order to make it easier for pagans to convert.

That's it.  That's the bottom line of the day.  It's also a Thursday, if you want to be more specific.

Some people have chosen to make the day special for certain reasons, others have not.

I choose to be a person who has taken the day, and made it my own, and in the face of idiocy, dare to call it Christmas.

Happy Holidays folks, enjoy it.  Cause honestly, life is too short to be a killjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving, sorry about getting screwed over, Native Americans.

I have one thing above all to be thankful for today.

My girl.

Because of her, my world is brighter, shinier, and I am aware of how incredibly lucky I am.

Happy Day, folks.

And now for a taste of things to come...

10 years ago, I made a movie.  And it's getting an anniversary treatment.  Enjoy the titles.

10 years in the making...

A little over 10 years ago, I switched my major in college from fine arts to film.  I never looked back.  My very first film was a short that I shot on Super 8mm.  It landed me my first paid gig in directing a documentary.

In the 10 years since, the only copy I've ever had was the original film reel, and a video copy that I recorded from a projected image on the wall.

Needless to say the resulting image was blurred and out of focus due to the flicker from the projector.

Well, I figured it was time to give the "little film that did" its proper telecine transfer.

And man, did it turn out beautiful.  So for the 10th anniversary of my peregrination in film, I have decided to treat "Krucial Kombat" (yes that is the title) to a new soundtrack and new titles, and a new cut.  Considering that the old soundtrack is on a cassette tape and the old edits were done by hand.

Stay tuned for the groovy, in the meantime, a couple more pics.

fOoLhArDi are fools hardly...

I'm a fan pimping those that warrant pimpage.  And no one warrants more pimpage than my best friend's sister.

Errr...  Her site warrants the pimpage, I mean.

Dana and Jen have gone and opened up a site with a line of clothes featuring some cool skater/punk/groovy designs for those who're into awesomeness.

And it's not just chick wear, they've got some gear for the fellas as well.

If you get a chance, I suggest you go ahead and take a gander at fOoLhArDi and get yourself some stupid-fresh-all up in your eye hole gear.

Boldly go, where no man, woman, kitty, ferret, dingo...

Say hello to the "water bear".  Or rather tardigrades, as they are more commonly known (by who, I don't know, cause for most I guarantee they have heard of neither term).

Tardigrades are small, water-dwelling segmented animals with eight legs.  The biggest adults may reach a body length of 1.5mm, the smallest below 0.1mm. Freshly hatched larvae may be smaller than 0.05mm.

Tardigrades are able to survive in extreme environments that would kill almost any other animal. Some can survive temperatures close to absolute zero, temperatures as high as 151 °C (303 °F), 1,000 times more radiation than any other animal, nearly a decade without water, and now, even the vacuum of space.

That's right folks, scientists have taken two species of tardigrades and ventured them into the great beyond on an ESA satellite a year ago.  After 10 days in space, the little guys were brought back for study.  It was found that the Sun's UV rays, 1,000 times stronger in space than here on Earth, would oddly act as tardigrade Kryptonite.  Of those shielded from the rays, nearly 70% went on to reproduce successfully.  Of those exposed to the Sun, almost all of them died.  Still, the intrepid buggers are now the first creature ever known to be able to survive in open space.

THE VACUUM OF FUCKING SPACE!!!

What's this mean?  It means we're learning, all the time folks.  Dream, people.  Cause it's all possible.

Welcome To Jerry Siegel's This Ol' Fortress of Solitude.

I was about 2 or 3 years old.

And yeah, I was a fan of Superman.

Flash forward 30 years later, and the fanboy is still a fan, though no longer a boy.

Superman was created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, a couple of guys who had no idea at the time, that they created one of the most iconic characters in history.

Sadly, they never got to see the fruits of their labors (they lost battles to keep the copyright of the character for 30 years) until the twilight of their lives.

Folks may hear the name Shuster and Siegel and never bat an eye.  Mention Superman, and they know exactly who you're talking about.  A sad fact but at the very least the creators can take some solace in leaving a kryptonian footprint on the face of this little planet.

And fortunately those who want to embark on a voyage into history can take it upon themselves to go visit Jerry Siegel's house (since Joe Shuster's house was demolished), and soak in a little piece of Americana.

Of course you'll be appalled to find that what you're more likely soaking in is rain water coming from the missing roof since the house has fallen into disarray.  You'll see a house painted red and blue (seriously), owned by a very sweet old couple.  And walking in, you'll be able to see the missing ceiling, cracked walls, missing sheet rock...  Well words don't do it justice...

For shame Cleveland.

The folks over at Ordinary People Change The World are trying to rectify this situation.  Brad Meltzer and Mike San Giacomo are spearheading the Siegel and Shuster Society in order to try to raise money to restore and save the Siegel house.  The house where Superman was created.

So if you can, please, bid, buy, or donate to the Siegel and Shuster Society.  It's the very least we can do for the guys who gave us the greatest Superhero of all time.

Today was my one-hundred and eleventieth birthday.

Thirty-second, actually.

Alas thirty-two years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable people.

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

I, uh... I...  have things to do...

I've put this off for far too long.

I am happy to announce, this is not the end.

I'm going, for now - I bid you all a very fond farewell.

Good-bye.

Beyond the Sea...

For those unaware, a baby humpback whale named Colin was lost in Sydney harbor earlier this week.  The little guy was found trying to suckle on boats in the harbor, after many attempts to have the little guy join other pods out in the ocean, Colin would just come back and try to suckle on the boat.

He was euthanized today, amongst a lot of heartbreak.

It's strange when the best in humanity shines brightest when they come together to help out a defenseless creature.

It's a shame that they can't do the same for each other unless there's a disaster.

Be careful what you ask for, no?

Bare Bones Project.

So my best friend asked me to fuck with some footage that he shot while walking in the woods.

Here's the rough intro.  Enjoy.

Now you see it... In about a minute you'll see it again.

August 1st will bring a total solar eclipse.  Sure this happens every so often, sure we've all seen pictures (not many of us can be in Russia, Canada, and China to check out this bad boy), but do you understand how fortunate we are to witness an event like this?  The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun.  And by a huge coincidence it is also 400 times closer to us, making the Moon and Sun appear the same size in our sky.

During this time of totality, the sun's solar corona becomes visible.

I hear it's a sight to behold, and as a citizen of this planet, I would be remiss if I didn't try to at least see this thing in person at least once in my life.  Here's hoping to catch the next one.

Geek Proof, Second Year In A Row...

Yet again, this year us comic geeks over at ViewAskew are holding a Super Hero Draft, I'm currently writing my story, but here's my cover.

Yup, I'm a geek.

Poppa's got a brand new bag.

My other comp died.

Long live my new Macbook Pro!

Yes, this 'pc-boy 4 life' has gone Mac.  And you know what?  It's pretty fucking sweet.  Vista was fucking up way too much for me to get behind it.

God bless this comp.  It's fucking sweet.

Nice to be back among the blogging.

More news to come shortly.

The last days of a bad guy.

On the 28th of April, 1945, Hitler discovered that SS leader Heinrich Himmler was trying to discuss surrender terms with the Allies. Hitler ordered Himmler's arrest and had Himmler's representative in Berlin Hermann Fegelein shot.

During the night of 28 April, General Wenck reported that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front. Wenck noted that no further attacks towards Berlin were possible. General Alfred Jodl (Supreme Army Command) did not provide this information to Hans Krebs in Berlin until early in the morning of 30 April.

On 29 April, Hans Krebs, Wilhelm Burgdorf, Joseph Goebbels, and Martin Bormann witnessed and signed the last will and testament of Adolf Hitler. Hitler dictated the document to his private secretary, Traudl Junge. Hitler was also that day informed of the violent death of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on 28 April, which is presumed to have increased his determination to avoid capture.

On 30 April 1945, after intense street-to-street combat, when Soviet troops were within a block or two of the Reich Chancellory, Hitler committed suicide, shooting himself while simultaneously biting into a cyanide capsule. Hitler's body and that of Eva Braun (his mistress whom he had married the day before) were put in a bomb crater, doused in gasoline by Otto Günsche and other Führerbunker aides, and set alight as the Red Army advanced and shelling continued. Hitler also poisoned his dog Blondi to test the poison he and Eva Braun were going to take.

Those were the last three days of Hitler's life.

I wonder, if at any time, did he think to himself, "Maybe this was not the way to go?"

I have to think that for however evil a man is, there's gotta be a moment of questioning, it's only human. But maybe I've answered my own question. He wasn't human. He walked, talked, and shat as a human, but his humanity left him a long time before the bite into a cyanide pill.

Here's what I find hilarious, though. Hitler's whole concept of racial hygiene was based on the ideas of Joseph Arthur Comte de Gobineau, who became famous for developing the racialist theory of the Aryan master race.

Now here begins the irony. His father was a government official and staunch royalist, his mother, Anne-Louise Magdeleine de Gercy, was the daughter of a royal tax official and a Creole woman from Santo Domingo. When he was fourteen his mother eloped with another man and brought Josef with her to Switzerland for a few years. It was in Switzerland that he began his interest in Orientalism.

Obviously this was the catalyst of his hatred towards other races. He came to believe that race created culture, arguing that distinctions between the three "black", "white", and "yellow" races were natural barriers, and that "race-mixing" breaks those barriers and leads to chaos.

Gobineau believed the white race was superior to the others. He thought it corresponded to the ancient Indo-European culture, also known as "Aryan"(Indo-Iranian race). Gobineau originally wrote that white race miscegenation was inevitable. He attributed much of the economic turmoils in France to pollution of races. Later on in his life, he altered his opinion to believe that the white race could be saved.

Here's the kicker. Gobineau saw Jews as intelligent people who were very much a part of the superior race and who, if anything, stimulated industry and culture.

Hitler and Nazism borrowed much of Gobineau's ideology, though Gobineau himself was not particularly anti-Semitic. When the Nazis adopted Gobineau's theories, they were forced to edit his work extensively to make it conform to their views, much as they did in the case of Nietzsche.

So a guy, who was part Jewish himself, decides to base his ideology of hatred and murder, on another guy who actually includes Jews in the superior race demographic.

Nothing about Hitler screams winner. Hell, even at the end of his life, he had to kill a woman and dog, he just couldn't be man enough to end it on his own.

The world is better off without him. 63 years ago today, the world got a little less evil. The only good thing he did.

5:30am...

It's such a transitionary time for me. On one hand, it's hours since I should have been asleep, and on the other, it's nearly hours before people have to get up.

If I'm awake it means that I've either been writing and didn't realize the time to stop. Or, I tried to go to sleep early, but I'm so used to waking up at this hour, my body's an idiot.

I love the smell of very early morning, merely an hour before the sun starts to warm things up. Of course I'm heading right to bed after this post. It's just such an interesting feeling to be up at this time.

Mind me not, I'm off to sleep.

Goodbye, Arthur.

Clarke's 3 laws of prediction are as follows...

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

After writing the second and third laws, Arthur said, "As three laws were good enough for Newton, I have modestly decided to stop there."


It was Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World that introduced me to the man. True I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey when I was a kid (didn't understand it then, obviously), but it was Mysterious World that captivated me. I've always had a love for sci-fi, but it was Clarke's shows that cemented my love for the sci, not just the fi.

Arthur had a way of showing the optimistic side of science in the future, as opposed to the bleak, dismal downfall of humanity. The way Arthur talked about technology, space, and the human ability to explore wonders in themselves and beyond always gave me hope, even to this day, that humanity with all of its flaws, can overcome their ignorance on the precipice of their destruction and salvation.

I could go into his contributions to the world, but if you don't know, look it up. It's worth to know what the man has done. Instead, I'd like to take a moment here and recognize that the World has become some degree dumber and less creative, now that Arthur has passed away.

On his 90th Birthday video, Arthur quotes Rudyard Kipling for what he would most like to be remembered for.

If I have given you delight
By aught that I have done,
Let me lie quiet in that night
Which shall be yours anon:
And for that little, little span
The dead are borne in mind
Seek not to question other than
The books I leave behind.

From the man who said, "Life is just one big banana. Science fiction allows us all to peel open the reality and discover the yellow truth inside." Believe us Arthur, you will be remembered for the writer that you are.

In his 1999 revision of Profiles of the Future, published in London by Indigo, Clarke added his Fourth Law: "For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert."

That's one more than Newton, Arthur. Which conveniently fits into the second law. I promise you, Sir, the few of us who know, will continue to push forward, and we'll do our best to make each orbit around the Sun count.

Thank you, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, for 90 amazing orbits. You will be missed.

Pen Mightier Than The Sword... Fear The PenSword!

This new year has been abuzz with the doings going on. It's been great so far, and the new script is coming along very nicely.

I've been doing a whole lot of reading lately, and not just comic books and literary work of yesteryear, but I've ventured into contemporary writers of today.

Now I've never been a fan of contemporary writers, specifically books of fiction. I just never really felt they've been able to grasp what classical writers were so adept at doing. Masters of the English language, as opposed to the pow, bam, and kablammos that most of these new guys tend to heavily rely on.

A snobbish point of view? Possibly. But I've asked people to show me evidence to the contrary. And so they have.

Recently read Stardust. Thought it was incredibly well written and a very interesting take on the typical fairy tale that we're used to. Personally I think the fact that Neil Gaiman is a comic book writer put him in a unique category, but it does indeed instill some piece of mind for me to think that the art isn't lost.

Of course, it's no Lord of The Rings. But then again, will anything ever be?

Toy Story.

I remember watching Robin Williams' "Toys" with my little brother. I can guarantee you, years later no one would have figured that he'd open up his own toy store.

Grand Opening is this weekend. I wish him the best, and can't wait to check it out for myself.

It's the little things...

We've heard the saying so many times, but I really think we overlook this very powerful statement.

In life, it's the little things that get you through the day, that make you sit up and realize, "Good God, it's great to be alive."

I've got a girl (that in of itself is something to be excited about), she loves me, she's awesome, and she goes and gets a xbox 360 so that she can play with me.

Yeah, she's uber awesome.