Sketchblogaroo

Back (in Black!)

2012-01-13T08:18:00.002-07:00

It's been a while since my last blog post. There are a lot of reasons for that. I've been busy with school, trying to get everything on track to graduate this semester (woot!), and most of my blogging has been Superhero of the Month-centric. However, I'd like to get this bad boy going again periodically, and with the 2012 election in high gear, it seems like now's as good a time as any. So expect some political discourse, and drawings (when I finish them) from time to time.

Batgirl - Inks

2011-10-05T22:10:00.003-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted on here. I've been busy with work and school, and most of my blogging has been in the form of Superhero of the Month posts.

In any case, I took a picture of this Batgirl illustration I did. I'm hoping to color it someday soon.

Atom Eve Redesign

2011-04-12T10:29:00.001-06:00

I did a submission (ineligible, of course) for Superhero of the Month for April. This month, the hero is Atom Eve.

Black Cat Redesign

2011-01-15T23:46:00.000-07:00

My (ineligible) submission for January's Black Cat contest over at Superhero of the Month!

Superhero Coco - Scarlet Witch

2010-12-04T22:47:00.001-07:00

I submitted this to Superhero Coco. They do superhero redesigns, but usually with a themed twist. This time, it was literature. So I recast the Scarlet Witch as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Anyone checking this out via SHCC may be interested in checking out my superhero redesign site, Superhero of the Month, where each month we have one superhero on the block. Readers of the site get to choose the winner. Check it out at http://www.superheroofthemonth.com.

Illustration Friday - Sneaky

2010-11-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

The theme this week for Illustration Friday is "Sneaky." And really, what's sneakier than Batman?

If you're checking this out, be sure to check my superhero redesign website, Superhero of the Month. One superhero each month is chosen to be redesigned. Check it out, I'd love to have you contribute!

Illustration Friday - Spooky

2010-10-18T21:41:00.002-06:00

I posted this back in May, but am posting it again for Illustration Friday. The theme is "Spooky." And really, what's spookier than The Joker?

If you're checking this out via Illustration Friday, be sure to check out Superhero of the Month, my other site where we take fan redesigns of classic comic book characters. First to be redesigned is Robin, and entries are due by November 20 at Noon. We'd love to see your redesign!

Thanks for checking out my IF submission, I hope to submit a bit more!

Superhero of the Month

2010-09-28T23:06:00.000-06:00

Hey, everyone -

I just wanted to take some time on my personal blog and fill you in on a little project I've started called Superhero of the Month. You may have seen some of the art I did here as submissions for Project: Rooftop. Since then, I've come across the Superhero Costume Coalition (or Superhero Coco). Both sites offer awesome takes on superhero costume redesigns, but I felt like I could offer something different. That's where SHotM came in.

SHotM is similar in offering fresh redesigns of classic superheroes. What is quite different is that SHotM lets the public decide who they think deserves the top spot in each monthly contest. SHotM will have a regular schedule, offering redesigns of a particular hero or villain each month (hence the name).

The first contest is to redesign Batman's sidekick, Robin. Details can be found here about the contest. I really hope to get a lot of entries. I don't want the site to be successful for my sake, but because I want to share very cool artwork with people on a regular basis. Superhero redesign art is a very cool, very particular niche among comic artists and fans, and I'm excited to get artwork from people and to help spread the word about their art.

SHotM has already had some fantastic support from Dr. Volt's Comic Connection, who is sponsoring our first contest by providing the winner's prize, and Big Shiny Robot, who posted a fantastic summary of SHotM here.

I hope that many artists can find out about and contribute to SHotM. Let the fun begin.

- Alex

PS - By no means does this mean that this blog is over! :)

Marcio Takara's Power Girl

2010-08-25T08:54:00.000-06:00

Marcio Takara is a professional comic book artist, having done work for Marvel and Image comics. He is currently doing the artwork for The Incredibles, based off of the Disney/Pixar movie of the same name. He also seems to be one of the coolest people you could meet, regularly answering questions from fans on Formspring and Twitter.

Recently, he posted a new illustration of Power Girl on his blog that I loved. I've never really gotten into the Superman side of DC Comics, but the character seems like a cool deviation from the rest of the Super-family.

Nonetheless, I was surprised when I asked if I could give a go at coloring the Power Girl drawing, and was given the go-ahead. So, here is what I came up with.

Art by Marcio Takara, colors by Alex Getts.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased. The hardest part, I thought, was working with the white of Power Girl's body suit, since I'm just not used to that. I also tried to emphasize more light coming from above and from her right, with less light coming from her left. Hopefully my coloring does the beautiful artwork some justice.

You can check out Marcio Takara's process here: pencils, inks, and color. His style of coloring is so unique and enjoyable, so please check it out! And a HUGE thank you for letting me color this piece!

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything original of mine. I didn't finish in time for Superhero Coco's Skeletor contest, but I hope to get a Storm redesign cranked out and submitted by September 5. Hopefully I can get back into the sketching swing of things and get some new stuff posted within the next couple of weeks.

The First Amendment

2010-08-21T00:31:00.000-06:00

Things have been busy here since my last post. I thought that with a couple of weeks off of school, I'd be able to get a lot of drawing done and update the heck out of this thing, but ultimately things just got busy, and I found myself hardly at home. In any case, maybe school will bring a little stability to things as the semester begins on Monday.

So while I haven't made the most of the "sketchblog" aspect of this page, I am going to make some use on my political thoughts. The last few days have brought about quite a few developments, all of which I think are absolutely ludicrous.

One most recently is the continued rumor that President Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim. In the AP report I just cited, it states that Pew Research found 18% of Americans think the President is a Muslim. This in spite of affirmation after affirmation after affirmation that the President is a Christian.

Even Reverend Franklin Graham, who muddies the waters a bit in stating that Obama was born a Muslim, admits that "[Obama] has renounced Islam, and he has accepted Jesus. That's what he has said he has done. I cannot say that he hasn't, so I just have to believe the president is what he has said,” further stating that "...the president says he is a Christian, and we just have to accept it as that.”

I have two large problems with this whole thing. First, since when was a religious litmus test instituted for the Presidency? The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, be that Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or whatever. When Mitt Romney was running for the Republican Presidential ticket, questions were raised regarding his LDS faith, and whether he was qualified for the Presidency because of it, culminating in Romney's speech on the matter. Many people were upset on the matter. Why should it matter if Romney is a Mormon?

Which brings me to my second point: why should it matter if Obama were a Muslim. Which he's not. But if he were, why should it matter. Yes, faith plays an important role in people's lives if they ascribe to a theological belief, but I believe our country was founded in a way to prevent the Presidency from operating as a theocracy. It would, I believe, actually be unconstitutional. So should Romney be elected to the Presidency, or a Muslim, or the Pope, according to our laws, theocratic rule would be impossible. I think people actually fear that religion would be forced on them in some way. It won't, and can't. The First Amendment strictly prohibits that. But it also grants people to worship as they choose. So they can choose Catholicism, Buddhism, Mormonism, Evangelical Christianity, Islam, Scientology, Judaism, or whatever else. Or nothing at all. That's their right. And since there is no religious requirement for the Presidency, if a person meets the qualifications to become president, they can do so. Obama meets these requirements. He's a natural born citizen, over 35 years old, and resided in the U.S. for fourteen years. Qualified, Muslim or not.

(He's a Christian.)

Second is this whole mosque at Ground Zero debate. To begin, this is factually inaccurate. The "mosque" is actually an Islamic cultural center, and it's two blocks from where Ground Zero stands. The outrage is over the fact that it's an Islamic center, and Muslims orchestrated the 9/11 attacks.

What strikes me the hardest is tying over one billion people, who largely denounced and denounce acts of terrorism, with the actions of a few radicals with twisted ideas of what Islam is. Anyone who attends the cultural center didn't plan out the 9/11 attacks, and they certainly didn't execute them. Yet the cultural center is being labeled as insensitive to those who suffered on 9/11.

While I can understand this to a degree, I fundamentally disagree. You can't tell me that, out of the three thousand who died on 9/11 -- in New York City, no less -- there wasn't one innocent person that died that wasn't Muslim. Or that no one that suffered injuries in the aftermath wasn't a Muslim. There is no way that I find that plausible. Arguably, every American suffered that Tuesday morning, and in the days that passed, including members of the American Islamic community. So Muslim Americans suffered, too. As much as you can't equate Islam at large with the few who carried out 9/11, you can't exclude them from those that suffered because of those madmen's attacks.

So it comes down to, "should they build a 'mosque' near Ground Zero." That's much more debatable, but regardless, it's their right. First Amendment guaranteed. The President, a Constitutional Law scholar, declared this same thing late last week. The right to build an Islamic cultural center falls under freedom of religion. If all other laws and ordinances are followed, the American Islamic community has every right to build a cultural center or a mosque near or far from Ground Zero, just as the Christian community has a right to build a church or the Jewish community a synagogue.

Finally, we come to Freedom of Speech, also guaranteed under the First Amendment. Let's wind the clock back a little bit. A while ago, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel found himself in hot water for using the "R-word" in a private meeting. Sarah Palin, who's youngest son has Down's syndrome, rightfully took offense to its usage. We all should. There is no need to use that word in a derogatory manner.

What was ridiculous, though, was when Palin gave Rush Limbaugh a pass for doing the same thing. Clearly, both have the right do say what they want under the First Amendment, but should they? And what makes it okay, really, for Rush to use the "R-word," and not Rahm?

Recently, Dr. Laura Schlessinger used the "N-word" eleven times, on air, discussing interracial relations with a caller. The controversy ultimately led to the cancellation of her show. She claims she's been unfairly censored, but ask just about anyone in the country, and they'll tell you that it's not okay to use the "N-word." Strangely enough though, Sarah Palin stepped up to Schlessinger's defense.

The hypocrisy here is astounding. The "N-word" has a long and ugly history in US English. There are calls to abolish it completely from our language. Is Sarah Palin really defending someone's right to use it?

I suppose, under the letter of the law, we are protected in using it. That doesn't make it right. But it's also not right to call for Rahm Emmanuel to be fired, and then give Limbaugh and Schlessinger a pass and cite the First Amendment, particularly in the latter's case.

Which brings me to my conclusion. I think I'm starting to really think that some people who are rallying around the Constitution really don't understand it at all. I'm not claiming that I do, but I understand that freedom of religion means that anyone, regardless of their theological beliefs (or lack thereof), has a right to be President if they meet the Constitutional requirements, and that freedom of speech, whether what is said is right or not, applies to everyone, not just those that you agree with politically. You can't proclaim the Second Amendment wholeheartedly, and then pick and choose what you want to adhere to when it comes to the First Amendment.

I'm Done

2010-08-07T15:29:00.000-06:00

I'm done with school for two glorious weeks. Not nearly as much time as I would like, but that's good enough or me; I'm kind of sick of school. But I really hope the next semester is better.

Apple Marinated Lamb

2010-08-03T21:50:00.000-06:00

Wanted to give you a bit of a look into what I made tonight. We modified a Fannie Farmer Cookbook recipe, and added a few of our own touches to it, but all-in-all it turned out great, and we enjoyed a really tasty dish!

Lamb marinated in an apple juice mix, adorned with red bell peppers and granny smith apple bits to the side.

Should Chuck Continue Past Season 4?

2010-07-31T23:59:00.000-06:00

Thanks, Wikipedia!

Recently, we discovered Chuck. We picked up Season 1 on Blu-Ray a while back, and finally got into it. We blazed through the thirteen episodes of Season 1, and quickly rushed out to pick up Season 2.

Prior to this was the Subway campaign to save Chuck from cancellation, which I was vaguely aware of. Thank goodness it worked and that NBC decided to renew Chuck for Season 3. What was nerve-wracking was watching a similar thing happen after Season 3 ended, only for Chuck to be renewed for Season 4.

I honestly wasn't sure it would happen. You see, after the way the conflict with The Tonight Show was handled, I had little faith in NBC to renew Chuck. Nonetheless, they pulled through, and we'll be seeing Chuck Bartowski and his colleagues in action this fall again.

What I'm wondering is, should the creative team behind Chuck intentionally wrap up the series this season? Of course, I'd love to see that not happen. Chuck has been a great show, but the Nielsen ratings, the outdated system that they are, aren't always there. Since the Nielsen ratings still seem to weigh heavily in a show's chance of renewal, I'd hate to see Chuck end in a similar manner as My Name is Earl.

As bittersweet as it sounds, if ratings don't improve I'd like to see Chuck end on a high note. Leave the audience begging for more. It would be better than a cliffhanger ending that is never resolved, or seeing the show decline in quality.

What do you have to say? Let me know in the Poll to the side.

Concert Review - Silversun Pickups - July 27, 2010

2010-07-30T23:21:00.005-06:00

As a rather nice surprise, my friend Patrick called me up around 6:30 P.M. Tuesday night and asked me if I wanted to go see Silversun Pickups. The show started at 7:00, so I quickly agreed, and off we went.

What a show! Opening were the Henry Clay People and Against Me!, both of whom I was unfamiliar with. I had heard one Against Me! song before, and we heard another one in the car on the way to the show. HCP were performing when we got there. They played a decent set, and were followed by Against Me! Their set was a bit harder, but it was more of a melodic type of punk rock, but not quite pop-punk or anything like that. You could tell their singer was having a blast. My major complaint regarding both HCP and Against Me! was that their keyboard players were drowned out in the mix, but that's more of a mixing complaint than it is regarding them.

It was hard to get a picture of just Christopher Guanlao!

Silversun's performance was more than I thought it would be. It was all energy, all night. Drummer Christopher Guanlao was arguably the most energetic drummer I've seen live. I've never seen a drummer perform open-handed before, so it was pretty cool to see and recognize this technique.

One of the highlights was watching bassist Nikki Monninger play -- what a talented bassist! I also enjoyed the crowd's enthusiastic response every time she sang a lead vocal.

Bandleader Brian Aubert was right on, enjoying performing for the crowd, telling us that the band always got excited when they planned a stop in Salt Lake City. While his guitar playing was great, the highlight of his performance was his unique voice.

Often, due to my position and lighting, it was difficult to get a decent picture of Silversun's keyboardist, too.

Unfortunately, I was unable to see keyboardist Joe Lester for the majority of the performance, but unlike with the Henry Clay People or Against Me!, he was able to be heard loud and clear throughout the whole performance.

All in all, though, it was an absolute blast of a show to attend. I hope to catch Silversun again, they're a phenomenal band. If you haven't listened to them before, check out their music!

Update 7/31 - Here is the video I shot of "Well Thought-Out Twinkles," the second song in their set. Sorry for some of the sound distortion, there wasn't really anything I could do about that.

Film Review - Inception

2010-07-20T21:34:00.001-06:00

After seeing Inception twice, I finally feel comfortable giving an official review.

I can't in good conscience tell much of anything about the film without giving much away, and not knowing anything really is half the fun. You know it's about dreams; what fun would your dreams be if you already knew what was coming? That's why I recommend going into Inception not knowing anything. And if you think you know anything based on the trailers, forget it. The trailers are, of course, entirely out of context, and really don't give anything away. If anything, they actually mislead you, making you think the movie is something else entirely.

And that's brilliant in a way, too. Christopher Nolan is a master of deception. Rewatch The Prestige and The Dark Knight; there is so much going on, and you're deceived at every turn. So it is with Inception.

What I can tell you is that this is a film that will make you think, and one that is one heck of a thrill ride from start to finish. At the midnight screening I attended, I felt the two-and-a-half hour run time breeze by; the second time was just as brisk. So don't be deterred by that.

All in all, you won't feel your money is wasted. If you're like me, you'll want to go right back to the counter and pick up another ticket. It'll take a couple of viewings just to wrap your head around what you've just seen. And the final scene will have you wondering what you've just seen.

4/4 Stars. Inception is rated PG-13 for violence and profanity (relatively mild aside from a handful of religious exclamations.

New Old Stuff - Banner Girl

2010-07-04T08:00:00.002-06:00

If you drive by Dr. Volt's Comic Connection, you will see this image hanging in their window. No joke. When the store was being moved around or otherwise decorated as a comics emporium, I was allowed to do an original image that has been hanging in the window for several years.

This image comes courtesy of the Dr. Volt's website. You can see her hanging in the window in the left-hand side of the picture.

I didn't want to draw another person's character, so I came up with my own. I think she embodies the spirit of comics, though; that sense of being close to our world, but there is something magical and mysterious about her that sets her apart from the real world.

Since I have it on file, here is the original line art, as well.

Thanks for checking out the old stuff! Hopefully before long I can get back to posting some new things!

New Old Stuff - Supergirl

2010-07-03T08:00:00.003-06:00

This is an old Supergirl from 2004. My style's changes a bit since then, which is something you can tell particularly within the way the eyes and hair are drawn, yet I think the overall style is still very much "me."

I'm just going to apologize for the ridiculously short skirt and attribute it to the fact that I was 19.

One thing I really like are the eyes, even though they're an unrealistically bright sky blue. I think they bring out what I perceive to be the jovial nature of Supergirl.

New Old Stuff - The Painter

2010-07-02T08:22:00.002-06:00

As I mentioned, we're moving. In cleaning out and getting rid of a lot of old stuff, I came across a CD that had a few old drawings on it. So, since I mentioned I didn't have time to do anything new recently, I've decided to share some new old stuff with you all over the next few days. :)

This guy is something I did for the newsletter we published when I worked at Dr. Volt's Comic Connection. (You can also check out the Dr. Volt's blog, Facebook, and Twitter pages!) He would get cropped for the banner, but it was something I thought was fun at the time, and something I think still holds up today.

The original image

This is how it would show up cropped on the newsletter.

I also just realized that this is kind of similar in style to my Joker drawing I submitted to Project: Rooftop. Maybe I inadvertently have the urge to do a graffiti-inspired drawing every four years, as the similarities were completely unintentional; I forgot about this drawing until I rediscovered it last night.

Also, if you're into comics and are in the Salt Lake City area, check out Dr. Volt's at 2043 East 3300 South. They will take care of you. :)

P:R Update, and a Regular Update

2010-07-01T12:58:00.000-06:00

Canary on the Catwalk runners-up have been posted on Project: Rooftop. Alas, I did not make the cut. Congratulations to everyone who did, though.

I really thought I was doing well on keeping the blog updated on a semi-regular basis, but then life hits you and it takes a back seat. I got really busy with school; now we're moving, so it'll be crazy getting things organized and all of that, too. So I don't have a ton of time to draw right now. I do want to keep the blog going, though, so until I can really get situated, I may just post more reviews, critiques, thoughts on life, etc. Before long, though, I hope to get some more drawings posted on here.

Color Job

2010-06-21T12:33:00.002-06:00

Sara knocked out this cool drawing of a girl and posted it on Facebook. I liked it a lot, and she was kind enough to let me color it. She was happy with how it turned out, so that was good!

It was really different to try coloring someone else's work. You obviously have your way of doing things, but you also want to compliment their style and really make their work come alive.

I tried a couple of different things with this one. I tried a (clearly off-screen) light source to the character's right, hence stronger highlights on the right side of her body and minimal highlights on the left. Conversely, you might notice stronger shadows on the left, but not as much, since I didn't give her super-strong shadows to begin with. Also, I used a different brush to try to give her gauntlets a wear-and-tear, dirty/used effect.

My favorite part about this coloring job is how the makeup around her eye turned out.

Overall, working on someone else's drawing was a fun exercise that I'd like to try again. It kind of makes you think differently and try new things, and helps you play up to someone else's strengths, while building your own skills up a bit.

"5 Minute Marvel" Black Canary / Update

2010-06-14T07:57:00.001-06:00

A few months ago I joined Twitter to follow Conan O'Brien as my little way of showing support. I've also found a whole bunch of other people to follow, and found some cool sites in the process. 5 Minute Marvels showrunner was nearing 500 followers, and the 500th got to request a character to draw for the site. 5MM's concept is really cool: an adult and a kid take five minutes together to draw a comic book character. That's it. Then they can send them in and get posted on the Interwebs. So, seeing that the follow count was at 499, I jumped on board and got the lucky number. I requested Black Canary, and you can see the awesome results here!

I should have some stuff to show (hopefully) next week. This last week was incredibly busy, and the first half of this week looks like it might be the same.

Marcio Takara's Catwoman

2010-06-02T11:16:00.000-06:00

Marcio Takara is a comic book artist that has done work on The Incredibles: Family Matters comic book, as well as work for Marvel and Image Comics. He regularly updates his Twitter feed, and recently asked for suggestions of what to do for a warm-up sketch. I suggested several characters, and he did one of them! You can check it out by going here!

As for me, I've been busy lately and not had much time to draw, outside of what I need to do for class. I'll try to remedy that, since I have a few ideas that bounce through my head from time to time.

A Whole Lot of Sketches

2010-05-11T08:02:00.000-06:00

I had an old sketchbook in one of my bags that I don't really use anymore. Part of the reason is that it is a bound sketchbook, which is fine, but I've switched to the ringed book, which I think makes it easier to work with. Additionally, my ringed book is, I believe, 11" x 17"; this older one is an 8 1/2" x 11" book, which isn't bad, but now I can do full-body illustrations without having to forgo detail and/or splice two images together, which I think can be a pain in Photoshop, regardless of how well everything matches up on paper.

Anyhow, the following are some of the better sketches for you to check out; a lot of them are completely unfinished, so keep that in mind. There are a couple of non-comic ones towards the bottom, too.

Wolverine

Gambit

Spider-Man

Robin

Clockwise, from left: Batman, The Joker, Commissioner Gordon, Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn (This Harley, as with the one that preceded it, was a sketch for a comic sequel to The Dark Knight.)

Spyboy

Bombshell

Batman (This was part of a Project: Rooftop-concept redesign, as are several of the following Batman-related drawings.)

Robin

Nightwing

Batgirl

Harley Quinn

Jim (The Office)

A Girl

The Amazing Spider-Man

2010-05-06T07:55:00.001-06:00

This was something of an experiment (that I deemed a success!), in that I only used non-photo blue pencils to do my drawing, adding the inks over those, rather than tightening my roughs with a regular lead pencil. For the most part this worked, except where I started tightening the pencils with heavier, darker lines. Nonetheless, they were easily removed in Photoshop, so everything worked out the way I wanted it to.

You might look at the above and think, "Man, you screwed up! Spider-Man wears red and blue!" True, but this wasn't always so! Here's a little bit of nerdy info for you: Originally, the blue was used to highlight the black, intended to give an illusion of three-dimensionality. Eventually, the blue spread out to be the dominant color, and the blacks ended up looking like shadows. The same thing happened to Batman. I guess it makes sense for Spider-Man to wear red and blue; I mean, the guy operates in broad daylight. In the case of Batman, on the other hand, the change never made sense, since darkness and shadows are where he operates. Bright blue just doesn't flow with the character. Anyhow, I kind of prefer the black in both cases.

The line art is below.

Go Green Supergirl

2010-05-04T13:33:00.000-06:00

I was going to wait until the end of the month to post this stuff, but then I thought I'll just post it as it comes. I think it'll still be fun.

This Supergirl was sent to me from Jeremy English. We grew up in the same neighborhood, and now he gets to be an artist for a living, which is really cool. He whipped this up the other morning and sent it to me, causing my mind to explode with awesomeness. I love the green theme, which is something I never would have expected.

Check out his blog here.

"Off-Duty" Joker

2010-05-01T10:00:00.000-06:00

Project: Rooftop has a bunch of regular columns, in addition to contests (such as the recent Black Canary contest). One of them is "Off-Duty," depicting heroes and villains in plain clothes. I chose the Joker, and I'm pretty happy with how the final version came out.

I wasn't sure what the Joker would wear, especially since I decided to go with The Dark Knight style Joker, but I decided to dress him in a "Property of Arkham Asylum" t-shirt. My main thinking behind this is that I think he would find it funny, the fact that he could be considered their property, when he's likely to be pulling all of their strings.

As always, here's the line art version. There's a couple of changes, particularly in the Harvey Dent poster.

Batman

2010-05-01T09:56:00.000-06:00

Redesign of Batman's costume. While it may look like he has a gun attached to his utility belt, I intended it to be a taser. Why wouldn't Batman use a taser?!

P:R Update - Black Canary Results Are In!

2010-04-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

The results are in over at Project: Rooftop! I didn't make the winner/runner-up cuts, but it's clear upon seeing the winners. The winning pieces are top-notch, and congratulations go out to them!

Keep watching P:R, honorable mentions go up next week, so maybe my submission will be featured there.

Supergirl

2010-04-28T08:02:00.001-06:00

So here's the deal: I kind of liked how this one came out, but I have no desire to color it. Part of that is because I have a couple of other projects I have going on that I want to finish first before I tackle this. And if I try to tackle this, I'll end up with three things that aren't getting done soon enough. But I really want to see this colored. So if you or someone you know has maaaaaaaaaad Photoshop skills (or just decent Photoshop skills -- I'm not that picky) feel free to take this and give it a go. Add your signature to mine and e-mail it back to me at getts182[at]gmail[dot]com, and I'll post what I get here. And keep it clean! ;P

I'll wait until May 31 to post the submittals.

Harley Quinn

2010-04-15T07:58:00.000-06:00

Here's my cartoonized version of Harley Quinn, accomplice to the Joker and adversary of the Batman.

I wanted to stray from her classic costume of the comics and animated series, but not go as far as they did in the recent Arkham Asylum video game. I think I was able to retain a lot of the classic elements of the costume, but make it look a bit different at the same time. I'm particularly fond of the gloves and boots in this one.

Of course, here's the line art, before I colored it.

P:R Canary, Captain America

2010-04-06T13:05:00.000-06:00

News is in over at Project: Rooftop. Submissions for Black Canary are over. Apparently over 100 entries were submitted, so wish me luck! Even an honorable mention would be sweet! Next up is Captain America, so we'll have to see what I can do for that!

Batman Line Art

2010-04-02T13:05:00.000-06:00

This is the immediate predecessor to what I'm working on now. I really liked this cartoony version of Batman, but for my current piece I went with more of an action pose, rather than just a standing position.

Works in Progress

2010-03-30T13:05:00.000-06:00

It seems like it's been a while since I've posted. I have been working on something, but I don't want to share it. Yet. It's a very fun piece -- the most fun I've had drawing in a while -- but I'm not ready to give it an Interweb go just yet. It's several characters that I'm compiling into one drawing, so I'm doing each one individually; therefore I don't want to post anything just yet, because I don't want to ruin the fun of seeing everything just yet. I'm hoping to post it soon, hopefully next week early on since I still need to draw two more characters and color the whole thing, but it's coming along and I'm really enjoying it!

Project: Rooftop - Black Canary

2010-03-19T08:07:00.000-06:00

Okay, it took two late nights of coloring, but here's the final version of my Black Canary redesign:

(Click the image to go big!)

As you can see, it doesn't stray too far from the other sketches, but there are some differences. In this version, I added a faux skirt to the mix, starting where the suit zips in its distinctive fashion on the right of the body. I thought it worked well with the character, but it's also functional since it's not restrictive. The open right side and slit on the left (and it can be correctly assumed that the skirt continues on the back) allow for running without hindrance, which I would think is a requirement if you're a vigilante in Gotham City.

What's also a bit more distinctive in this version, as opposed to some of the others, are the higher gloves, which I wanted to give a more reinforced look with extra protection on the forearms. I imagine them to be some kind of lightweight metal alloy or other protective material (with a glossy shine). I also imagine the fingertips are made of a similar material. The boots follow a similar fashion, but don't cover as much of the leg.

Really, going into it, I thought two things should stay the same: 1) she needed to be wearing black (otherwise, the name doesn't really fit in my mind), and 2) she had to be wearing the fishnets, which are iconic of the character. I did want to highlight more than the current costume affords, though, so I went with the yellow piping that I feel accentuates the character, but doesn't otherwise distract. (Again, useful while operating in Gotham.)

Lastly, when I thought about it, I realized that as part of the Batman family, Canary doesn't carry much in the way of tools. Since she operates under the former Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), I thought it would make sense to incorporate some of the tools of the trade. In m redesign, she sports a few pouches on her right arm and left thigh, as well as a loose-fitting utility belt that I think could be worn or left behind to suit whatever mission she may be on.

Below, you can check out my final version of the inks before I darkened and colored the piece. Please wish me luck! This is my first submission to Project: Rooftop!

Project: Rooftop - Black Canary Redesign Sketches

2010-03-18T14:00:00.000-06:00

As I said before Project: Rooftop is doing a new contest, featuring the Batman-family character Black Canary. My final design is about 75-80% done (color and everything!) but here are some of the preliminary drawings I did.

This whole thing was a bit harder than I thought it would be, because Canary's current costume (below, art by Ed Benes) is actually pretty cool. It fits the character's history, but is completely modern.

My first attempt came out a little too similar, I thought:

The piping was to be yellow, not black, but overall it just felt too similar to her current uniform.

The above quickly became one of my favorites, and is probably what I would have stuck with if I hadn't noticed its similarities to what the current Batgirl (art by Phil Noto) wears:

That totally sucks, too; a little while before, I started doing some Batman redesigns (before the new Batgirl premiered) and my design was quite similar to what DC ended up using.
Anyways, I thought of the exposed siding/ribbing to be something like exposed Kevlar of the body suit. The whole suit was to be Kevlar with leather over the middle sections and arms, but exposed on the sides and underarms.
Also, this design had a cool jacket:

The next design didn't fare much past the penciling stage:

Unlike before, this was to be covered entirely by leather. However, it just didn't work for me, so I passed on it.

Finally, my next-to-last design. It's the closest to the final, but is also largely flawed:

I liked this pose; it looks relaxed, but not just a dead-on frontal shot. However, she's leaning in an awkward way. Secondly, if you look at her right leg, you can see a line that was originally for her upper leg. I drew this late(r) at night, so at the time it looked fine. It wasn't until inking it that I realized I'd unintentionally given her a "thunder thigh," especially compared to the more balanced left leg.
Additionally, I really screwed up the fishnets on the right leg. This is quite noticeable on her knee.
Ultimately, these mistakes (and a lot of white-out) made me rethink this version. However, like I said, it's the closest to what I went with, but there are major differences. The pose is roughly the same, but the uniform is slightly altered. The gloves and boots are pretty different and, unlike in my illustrations above, Canary has long hair, instead of the cropped 'do she sports here.
It's been a fun experience, though. What I thought was fun was that each version seemed to have some element I wanted to incorporate into the final design. I hope to have the final version posted within the next day or two, with both the final line art, and colored version (which has some digital alterations from the line art).

New(ish) Blog

2010-03-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. In the interim, I've decided something (again): I like drawing. Strangely, it's quite enjoyable when someone isn't telling you that your sketch of Batman or a picture you drew using a reference photo you didn't take is plagiarism.

Project: Rooftop has inspired me to get back into it, and really, it's a heck of a lot of fun to get creative and let your mind run. So here we are. I really want to have fun, and I think it's going to help me reinvigorate this blog.

I've been working on something for the new P:R contest. I think I've come up with a design I quite like, but I'll post the failed attempts first, and some other stuff that's made its way into my sketchbook soon.

Sick

2009-12-09T12:10:00.000-07:00

Well, kind of. I started getting sick last week, but now feel better, with one exception: my nose. It keeps running and getting stuffed up. Which makes simple things, like eating, kind of annoying when you can't do something that is also quite necessary. Like breathe.

"Classless", or Why I Don't Like Organized Sports

2009-12-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday was "the big game" in Utah: the annual University of Utah vs. Brigham Young University football game. And here, it's a big deal. Epic. How epic? Think Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi epic. Or so you'd think.

I don't participate in organized sports, much less watch them. I used to; I think everyone probably does at some point. A lot of this changed for me around the time I was in intermediate or high school. And there is very much a reason for it: people take sports way too seriously. That's precisely why I've found this Max Hall controversy so funny, as well as a reminder of why I stay away from organized sports as much as possible.

In case you are reading this from outside of Utah or have somehow not heard about this, here is what Mr. Hall said:

I don't like Utah. In fact, I hate them. I hate everything about them. I hate their program, I hate their fans, I hate everything. So it felt really good to send those guys home. They didn't deserve it. It was our turn, and our turn to win. We deserved it. We played as hard as we could tonight. And it felt really good, again, to send them home, to get them out of here, and so it is a game I will always remember.

He was then asked to elaborate, responding, "You really want me to go into it?" He then stated:

I think the whole university, their fans and their organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year, and they did a whole bunch of nasty things, and I don't respect them, and they deserved to lose.

And thus opened up the floodgates of negativity following the game. On Facebook, I've seen a lot of anti-Hall status updates and friends joining various "Max Hall is Classless" or "Max Hall Hates Me and Thinks I'm Classless" groups. Which led me to wonder: what if a Ute had said the exact same thing about BYU? There are Max Hall support groups on Facebook; undoubtedly there would be an opposite effect had it been a Ute making the same statement. Would all of those so outraged have been upset if the same thing had been said about BYU?

There are BYU fans who were appalled by what Mr. Hall said, and--might I add--rightfully so. What Mr. Hall said was one of the most unsportsmanlike things I've heard in a long time. Undoubtedly, there would be many Ute fans who would be appalled if one of their players said something similar to what Mr. Hall said. Unfortunately, this whole thing just digs a deeper whole, taking the rivalry to new lows, on both ends of the field, so to speak.

See, I would hope that this would bring out the best in Utah fans. Take the moral high ground, and prove Mr. Hall wrong by showing genuine class. Instead, in one of these Facebook groups, I've found equally, if not more abhorrent, bad behavior pop up. Things said about Mr. Hall and mockery of sacred beliefs of the LDS faith (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--also known as the Mormons and frequently abbreviated as the LDS Church--owns BYU) are displayed and then commented on as being "hilarious" in the group's photo album.

I don't take that lightly; not simply due to the fact that I find the latter in particular offensive as a member of the LDS Church, but also because I firmly believe that things a religion finds sacred--be that religion LDS, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, or what have you--should be treated with respect, regardless of your beliefs or lack thereof. It's also a bit ironic considering that a considerable amount of the University of Utah's student body is composed of members of the LDS faith. Not only are these people mocking their rivals, they're mocking an entire religion, as well as fellow members of their own student body.

This behavior extends to the field, as well. In Utah, come October, you can never be sure if there will be snow on the ground; therefore, come game day there could be snow on the field. I recall watching a game several years ago where either a University of Utah cheerleader or fan (although I believe it was the former) threw a snowball at a BYU player, striking him in the helmet. This type of behavior is just as disrespectful and reprehensible, but how many "outraged" by Max Hall's statements would decry that action as well?

Of course, I want to make it clear that I'm not generalizing. I think the majority of Utah and BYU fans think that actions going as far as they have on either side take the rivalry away from what it should be: intense, but ultimately fun. There should be no ill feelings toward either school. No one should meet a supporter of the other team and seriously think "oh, one of those people."

But this is exactly what I dislike about organized sports: the intensity and absolutely horrible feelings that come with it when people get too involved with it. Sports should be about character building and teamwork, not hurling debris in Engery Solutions Arena, soccer stadium riots, or dedicating a Facebook page to how Max Hall thinks you're classless.

Concert Review - Imogen Heap; November 12, 2009 at In The Venue

2009-11-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Thursday night was a dream come true for me as I witnessed someone who changed how I view music take the stage and perform her music. Imogen Heap's music isn't traditional by any means, so it was interesting from a technical aspect to watch as she came out on stage holding a wineglass full of water and used that to create the interesting sound that opens her newest album, Ellipse. Using loops and bits from various technological marvels on stage (as well as help from a drummer/multi-instrumentalist and opening acts Back Ted N-Ted and Tim Exile), much of the songs' sounds were brilliantly recreated on stage.
Imogen Heap is also very personable, appearing on stage to introduce her opening acts, as well as providing bits of information about the songs prior to performing them. Overall, the concert was a smashing success, and I take her at her word when she says she will be back in April. I'd get tickets again in a heartbeat.

Aside from the performance, there were a few gripes.

1) I was embarrassed for the crowd, who I felt was disrespectful throughout the show. Imogen tried at various times to tell stories about the songs, even asking the crowd to please be quiet while she told them the story, only to be met with continued chatter. One person claimed that they "couldn't hear" her, which I don't believe. I've sat upstairs at In The Venue before, and everything was loud and clear.
In any case, it was embarrassing and frustrating as people kept shouting things and one person near us kept requesting "Candlelight", which Imogen said she would not be playing that evening upon the first request. Seriously, after that, just let it go.
Also, there were some people there who came up from Arizona. I think that's cool; we took a trip down there eight months ago to see Jimmy Eat World live on the Clarity x10 tour. But at no point did I elbow my way to get a whole row closer to the stage. Traveling eight hundred miles doesn't give you the right to push ahead of people who got there before you.

2) In The Venue is terrible, a fact Imogen even joked about as she had people facing her back throughout the show. I hope the next time she comes she skips that joint and picks a better locale. It's kind of a dingy place, but the crew there is hardly friendly. Nobody seemed to have good things to say about them. My personal suggestion would be for The Depot, which is similar in size but much nicer an better maintained. Of the two shows I've been to there, the staff has been friendly; the only drawback is the 21+ restriction as it is a private club.

Retroactive Review - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

2009-11-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

In discussions between ourselves, it came up that Rosie hadn't seen the original Star Wars films in quite some time. So we've decided to watch them, but we're going to catch up by watching them chronologically, though; so of course we watched Episode I.

Ten years ago, I was very excited for this film to come out. It wasn't until The Dark Knight came out last year that I had anything close to the excitement I had for Episode I. In retrospect, one film paid off in just about every aspect I could have hoped for, and one didn't. (Hint: the one that did came out last year.) In any case, I was somewhat worried about watching Episode I again, but I found myself pleasantly surprised.

There are, of course, hundreds of reviews out there, so we'll skip over most of that. I just want to point out a few things that I thought the film did well, and a few things I thought were lacking:

Special Effects - This one's kind of a mixed bag. In all actuality, the SFX hold up considerably well. Compared to the first Harry Potter film, which came out several years after Episode I, The Phantom Menace still had stronger special effects. (I found the SFX quality between the first two Potter films astounding.) However, the downside is that I felt some effects/creatures were there simply to "show off" what they could do. For example, the underwater scenes look cool, but when Boss Nass shakes his head, spreading his saliva about, there's no real purpose to it. It just looks like they're saying "look what we can do." The SFX overshadow the story in many instances.
Likewise, though the effects still hold up relatively well, there are clear instances of being able to distinguish what is CGI and what isn't. Some things look far too shiny, particularly creatures and other characters. It was cool what they were trying to do, and in some cases, succeeded, but at times the effect just didn't work or was otherwise distracting.

Jar Jar Binks - This was actually a relative surprise for me. Having not watched Episode I for years now, I'd read countless complaints regarding the character or Jar Jar; going into this, I was expecting to outright dislike the character, but was surprised to find that I didn't.
That said, there were some things I didn't care for. The character was relied on far too much. It's been put out there that the character was intended for 1) children, which I find fair enough, and 2) comic relief. It's the latter I tended to have an issue with because I didn't find the film particularly stressful or overtly dark. Sure, the other films had comic relief, but I never felt like it was being overdone; for example, in the battle scene with the Droid Army of the Trade Federation. Jar Jar's "clumsiness" (which in part, ironically enough, caused him to be banned from his native city) causes battlefield hijinks, which is fine occasionally but keeps continually happening. It feels like too much was spent on the character, again giving the feeling of "look what we can do" in the crafting of a near-completely digitally created character. But I do think the character has gotten an unjust bad rap.

Story - This probably impressed me the most. Having seen all of the films, there is considerable foreshadowing and interesting events that don't entirely make too much sense to the overall story until viewing the six-film saga as a whole. I can't really say much else other than that I thought is was very well done.

Dialog - Here's where there is a major problem. While a lot of the dialog is passable, portions of it are embarrassing and/or cringe worthy. One particular grievance I had this time around was with the Gungan dialect. Although I've seen the film enough times to know what is essentially going on, there were enough times that the Gungan characters were speaking and I couldn't understand a freaking thing they were saying. Likewise, some of the dialog given to Anakin was downright flat; I could have definitely gone without the "yippie"'s and other clunky dialog.

Verdict & Grade - Overall the film was okay. It wasn't the dreadful experience I was expecting, but there were definitely sections of the film that could have been worked on. For that, I'd give the film a solid C. On the plus side, though, it did have Liam Neeson in it.

Halloween Weekend 2009

2009-11-02T18:11:00.000-07:00

It was something of a weird weekend with a couple of big bombshells over the course of it. One of those was that our band's bassist is moving back to San Diego. This leaves me as the only original member of EotF. Nick and I are going to continue, though. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

The Best Part of Waking Up...

2009-10-27T05:35:00.000-06:00

As a kid, when I went grocery shopping with my Mom, the one aisle I absolutely hated walking down was the one with all of the coffee. I absolutely hated the smell of it. To this day, I still hate walking down that aisle, and will either do what I can do get what I need on said aisle by going the long way around, or attempting to hold my breath until I feel I have sufficiently evaded the aroma.

Of course, this was long before I discovered coffee shops and brands other than Folger's. Perhaps here we'll take note that I do not drink coffee, but I do enjoy a nice hot chocolate, and several coffee shops I've been in craft fine cups of it. Needless to say, I am happily relieved to walk into a coffee shop and not want to cease breathing.

In any case, a few weeks ago I walked into my office common area where our soda machine and fridge are, and was whacked in the face by an old familiar smell. Next to the microwave is Mr. Coffee, gently bubbling a steaming pot of Folger's. Instinctively, I exhale or avoid breathing whilst walking past there now. On the other hand, Mr. Coffee does remind me of Spaceballs.

"You Just Don't Get It"

2009-10-08T17:45:00.000-06:00

Thinking over it the last day or so, there is something that really bothers me in debate. No matter how well versed you are in a subject, when encountering an opposition, the subject is quickly closed with "you just don't get it!"

To me, that is just insulting. In debates of health care, the phrase very well can and undoubtedly has been used multiple times. Either side of the debate can have valid points, but debate comes to a halt when someone says, "You just don't get it." Or, in other words, "I'm right, you're wrong. End of debate."

If that phrase is said to me, it implies that I have no clue what I'm talking about, in spite of the research I've done on the subject. Clearly, health care is a touchy subject for everyone, so clearly our feelings are mixed in. Do I think that only the rich should be responsible for a federally-funded health insurance program? No. Since the wealthy make more money, I would expect them to pay more, but not exclusively fund the operation. But I can't put aside my feelings that everyone should have some form of health insurance--especially children who have no say in the matter.

I recently read that in the German system, the only way you can be denied health coverage is to not pay your low-cost premium. To me, that makes sense. If you don't pay your power bill, clearly you shouldn't be allowed to have your electricity on. But I think it's great that everyone can have some form of coverage.

I don't know how it can work in the United States. I don't know how to make it work. But because I disagree on health care reform doesn't mean that I don't get the issue. It means that I have a different opinion, one that is just as valid as anyone else's.

In any case, like in the article liked to above, I agree that "you just don't get it" should be banned from public discourse and debate. Rather than pushing understanding and mutual agreement forward, it hinders progression and turns people off from debate.

Pam Beesly Bobblehead

2009-10-07T18:03:00.000-06:00

My Pam Beesly (soon to be Halpert) bobblehead showed up yesterday. I took these pictures at home, but now she is next to her co-workers of Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute. And The Joker.

Ensign Peak Hike

2009-10-04T16:38:00.000-06:00

Rosie and I went on a hike up Ensign Peak and took our new camera with us. I took the above picture with the sun behind me, but I have no idea what happened; the sky turned entirely green, and I became a silouette. But I thought it looked pretty cool. Below is Rosie and I at the top of the Peak.

Making Music

2009-09-21T17:45:00.000-06:00

I had band practice over the weekend. We took a long break and over the last couple of practices, have started writing some new material.

The best things come out of jams. Tony, our bassist, started experimenting with some chords, which sounded cool on the bass. The progression was similar to one of our other songs, but on the bass sounded totally different, too. So we played with it, and after a while had a start to a new song.

We've been playing together for about three years now (at least, Tony and I have; Nick's been with us for about two years), but upon practicing over the weekend, I was reminded how cool it is for a few people to get together and make music. I'm not necessarily talking about us like we're the coolest thing since sliced bread, but what I mean is that it happens all over the world; people get together, work with one another, and speak a language that surpasses nationalities. Music really is a wonderful thing. I feel very blessed that I have been able to take part of it in any way.

Eight Years Gone

2009-09-11T22:11:00.001-06:00

Today definitely feels different.

I really don't know what to say about September 11. As I thought about it today, I thought about how this morning really felt a lot like that September morning eight years ago. I had weight training in the morning, and the radio was interrupted to broadcast the events unfolding in New York. It wasn't until I got to my next class that I really grasped what was going on; until that point we only had a vague idea of what was going on; I recall hearing a plane had crashed, but thought it was an accident. But when I saw what happened, it was a different story entirely.
Everyone who was old enough to remember what happened, I'm sure, will remember it forever. That's not something that leaves you.

I hope it's the same for everyone else, but for me, I don't think I'll ever forget the sense of unity and compassion that was felt on September 12, and the hope that was felt in the days after. I think it's a shame that, after the unity we felt after the country was attacked--where race, political ideology, and religious/social/economic differences didn't matter anymore--has been replaced with a divide that polarizes us on the national issues we face currently, and over the past several years. I hope that, without another devastating event, we can agree to disagree but be respectful and caring towards one another again. Because regardless of our race, political ideologies, and religious/social/economic differences, we're all Americans and want what is best for our country.

In closing, I hope you might take a few minutes to watch this. I think of it often when I think of September 11. It touched me the first time I saw it, and it touches my heart still today.

God bless America.

I can't get the video to embed, so please go here.

A Little Update

2009-09-08T18:23:00.000-06:00

Time flies and suddenly the last post you did was something like twenty days ago. So here's what's been going on:

1 - I finally got my band back together. We're working on new stuff finally, and might be adding another guy on guitar, but that's yet to be seen. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

2 - We signed up for Verizon Wireless. After months of dropped calls and dead zones with T-Mobile, we finally gave up and switched. I loved T-Mobile back in the day, but kept having issues with my calls, and was lucky to get through a call, much less recieve it, if I was in my apartment. That's not horribly bad in the summer, but is terrible during the winter. So we switched to Verizon, and are much happier. Granted, there have been a few hiccups, but it's not on a daily basis, so that's great.

When we signed up with Verizon, we got a rebate with our phones, but instead of getting a check, we got gift cards. That ties into the next update.

3 - My birthday was last month, so between it and the Verizon rebate, I've been on the recieving end of a lot of new music and movies. I've recently put the new music from Imogen Heap. New Found Glory, Pete Yorn, Dashboard Confessional, and A Fine Frenzy on my iPod. and have a couple of seasons of The Simpsons and several movies to get through.

4 - I saw The Prestige twice over the weekend. What a trip of a movie! If you have seen it, let me know what you think in the comments!

5 - School has started up again. I'm at the University of Utah now. I don't know how to feel about it. Maybe I'll have better classes next semester, or maybe these ones will turn out to be okay, but I'm feeling a bit lackluster overall thus far.

6 - I found Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for the Wii at Target for $20. The game itself is kind of a mixed bag. At times it feels like it could be more challenging, and it feels a little on the short side, however, it is insanely fun. As in, I want to just keep playing it. There is something really cool about slashing away with a virtual lightsaber and throwing large objects at Stormtroopers. And for $20, that's a pretty good deal.

7 - Labor Day was nice. Good times seeing family and friends and relaxing.

What's That Thing Called, Where We Elect People to Public Office?

2009-08-19T18:05:00.000-06:00

Ugh. I'm getting sick of this. I just saw this video (at the end of the post), and one thing that continues to perplex me is this notion that we've lost our representation or that our representatives don't really represent us.

Well, I suppose if you voted for the candidate that lost, you'd be partially correct. They probably don't represent your views, but seriously--calling for a new revolution?

Don't get me wrong, I agree with several point in this video, but really? A revolution? If the person you didn't vote for doesn't represent your views, that doesn't call for a revolution! That's democracy!

But the last bit, the "get a gun, you'll need it" is ridiculous. It seems to me that this video was put together by a politically conservative group, but it's mind boggling that now, when the Democrats are in power, a revolution is called for. What happened to waiting for 2012, or 2010 for that matter?

No. Rather, let's take up arms and "take back the government" by force. Is this why people are showing up at health care rallies with assault rifles?

Last time I checked, we took care of those in positions of power that we didn't agree with by voting them out of office. And if they aren't voted out, then we abide by the will of the majority.

Some people are afraid of "what America is becoming" because of proposals and legislation being passed through a Democratically-controlled Congress with a Democratic President. I'm more afraid of what will happen to America if people start revolting simply because they can't handle the will of the majority.

You know, democracy.

Imogen Heap - "Ellipse" Review

2009-08-18T18:30:00.000-06:00

I initially heard Imogen Heap's music on The Last Kiss's soundtrack, which featured "Hide and Seek". After that, I ended up getting the Garden State soundtrack, which led me to Frou Frou, Heap's electronic duo project and their beautiful song "Let Go."

Eventually, I picked up Heap's sophomore album Speak For Yourself and Frou Frou's Details, finally picking up Imogen's debut I Megaphone a while later.

Speak For Yourself was, for me, one of those albums that you feel may forever change or define some part of who you are. It didn't sound like nearly anything else I had in my collection--the closest to that would probably by Jem--but it felt neatly at home. Details continued that trend, but I found I Megaphone to be somewhat lacking; it is substantially different from Speak for Yourself, and has a much different musical sound than Heap's later work. To be fair, though, it was written and recorded when Heap was around 19 or 20, and separated by a seven year gap between it and Speak for Yourself.

Needless to say, I was quite excited for Imogen's next album, Ellipse. While I was expecting a sound similar to Speak for Yourself, the album sounds like an amalgamation of I Megaphone and its predecessor, and it's own work entirely. And it comes off quite well.

Heap, who as far as I am aware wrote and recorded--for the most part--the album by herself uses an eclectic variety of instruments and methods to create sounds. "The Fire", towards the end of the album, features the crackling of a fire to start the track out, followed by piano playing over it shortly thereafter.

One of the biggest problems I had with 21st Century Breakdown was Green Day's use of using the same conventions as they did on American Idiot. To a much smaller extent, Heap uses a couple of conventions on Ellipse as she did on Speak for Yourself; for example, "Earth"starts out in a similar way to "Just for Now," with a Capella, dubbed over vocals, but it lasts for a few seconds before jumping into the rest of the song. Likewise, there is a similarity to "Hide and Seek" with similar synthesized vocal line, but done in almost an entirely different way--one that almost seems like a brief tribute to her earlier hit, rather than ripping herself off.

Ellipse is just the right amount of comfort, not steering too far away from the work of Speak for Yourself, but changes things up enough so that it's not a rehashing of its predecessor, and sounds like a natural step and progression from the album crafted four years ago.

On a four-star scale, I find this one hard to rate. Speak for Yourself is a definite 4/4, and I feel I Megaphone is a 2.5/4. Ellipse falls somewhere in between; it's by far better than I Megaphone, but it doesn't hit that same level as Speak for Yourself. I'd rate it around 3.5/4; it doesn't hit that 3.5 exactly, but it's close. This is a thoroughly enjoyable album that satisfies but doesn't shatter expectations, but that's fine by me.

TIME Magazine Universal Health Care Article

2009-08-18T18:00:00.000-06:00

I found this article on TIME magazine's website. Since health care is a passionate topic for me, I thought I'd pass it on. I've emphasized certain parts in bold italics.

In recent weeks, opponents of Barack Obama's health-care-reform plans have criticized Britain's National Health Service (NHS) in an effort to counter the President's proposals for greater government involvement in health care. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa suggested that his Democratic colleague Edward Kennedy would have been left to die in Britain because doctors would have refused the 77-year-old treatment for his brain tumor, and former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote in an article that British health care is run by "Orwellian" bureaucrats who put a price tag on life. Meanwhile, the lobby group Conservatives for Patients' Rights (CPR) has been running scare ads with horror stories from British patients on its website. TIME takes a look at what the NHS is really all about.

What is the NHS?
The NHS is a rare example of truly socialized medicine. Health care is provided by a single payer — the British government — and is funded by the taxpayer. All appointments and treatments are free to the patient (though paid for through taxes), as are almost all prescription drugs. The maximum cost of receiving any drug prescribed by the NHS is $12.

How was it formed?
The NHS officially came into being in July 1948, in the wake of World War II, to replace an inadequate system of volunteer hospitals that had, during the war, come to rely on government funding. Doctors and conservative politicians vehemently opposed the NHS in the run-up to its formation, using many of the arguments that opponents of greater government involvement in the U.S. cite today. According to Geoffrey Rivett, author of From Cradle to Grave — The First 60 Years of the NHS, the then head of doctor's body the British Medical Association (BMA), Charles Hill, gave a radio address in 1948 in which he asked, "Do you really want the state to be your doctor?" Today, the BMA is a champion of the NHS and resists any privatization initiatives. In a statement on Aug. 14, BMA chairman Dr. Hamish Meldrum said, "The NHS is not perfect. But the market-style philosophy of the U.S. is a lesson we could do well without."
How does NHS health care compare with U.S. health care?
Like most developed countries, Britain ranks above the U.S. in most health measurements. Its citizens have a longer life expectancy and lower infant mortality, and the country has more acute-care hospital beds per capita and fewer deaths related to surgical or medical mishaps. Britain achieves these results while spending proportionally less on health care than the U.S. — about $2,500 per person in Britain, compared with $6,000 in the U.S. For these reasons, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked Britain 18th in a global league table of health-care systems (the U.S. was ranked 37th). However, there are measures by which the U.S. outperforms Britain: for instance, the U.S. has lower cancer mortality rates.
Does private health insurance exist in Britain?
Yes, and it works in a similar way to health insurance in the U.S. Many employers offer private health-insurance plans as a perk to workers — a minority of patients opt out of the NHS system to receive their medical treatments privately. Private patients can choose their specialists and avoid waiting lists for non-emergency procedures; NHS patients wait an average of about eight weeks for treatments that require admission to a hospital, four weeks for out-patient treatments and two weeks for diagnostic tests. While NHS patients have a choice of hospitals, they cannot always choose their specialist.
Is it true that NHS bureaucrats put a price tag on life?
The short answer is yes. The NHS has a body called the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) that decides which new treatments and drugs the NHS should pay for. One of the factors NICE considers when deciding whether to approve funding for a new treatment or drug is cost-effectiveness. To determine the dividing line between what is cost-effective and what isn't, it must set a threshold. Taking its lead from Britain's Department of Transport — which has a cost-per-life-saved threshold for new road schemes of about $2.2 million per life, or about $45,000 per life year gained — NICE rarely approves a drug or treatment that costs more than $45,000 per life year gained. In short, NICE does not want the NHS to spend more than $45,000 to extend a citizen's life by one year.
While NICE's decisions have angered some doctors and patient groups — particularly some oncologists who say they are unable to prescribe expensive, life-extending cancer drugs — mainstream politicians, the media and most Britons accept NICE's rare rejections as a necessary compromise to keep universal coverage affordable in the face of rising health-care costs. As NICE chairman Sir Michael Rawlins recently told TIME, "All health-care systems have implicitly, if not explicitly, adopted some form of cost control. In the U.S., you do it by not providing health care to some people. That's a rather brutal way of doing it."
Is it true that old people receive inferior care on the basis of their age?
NICE uses what it calls "citizens councils" to help it sort through difficult ethical issues, and one of the decisions the councils have made is that age should not be a factor in the institute's approval process — that is to say, a year of life should be considered as valuable to a 77-year-old as to a 12-year-old. In every part of the system, a 77-year-old has the same access to treatment as anyone else in Britain.
What about the ad by lobby group CPR that interviews a British woman who developed cervical cancer after being refused a Pap test because she was too young, and another for a woman whose mother died while waiting for treatment for kidney cancer? Are these experiences typical?
As mentioned above, cancer treatment is one area in which British patients probably receive inferior treatment to Americans who have comprehensive health insurance. However, Britain's policy of beginning cervical-cancer screening at age 25 is in accordance with WHO guidelines, which are based on evidence that screening below that age produces false-positive results that can lead to unnecessary and dangerous surgical interventions. Overall, the WHO has found that the risks posed by false positives outweigh the benefits of earlier screening.
It's also true that Americans who have comprehensive health-insurance plans do, in some cases, have access to a greater range of cancer treatments, without waiting lists. The two British women used in the CPR ads have since told various newspapers that their views were inaccurately portrayed. While both have complaints about how cancer is treated within the NHS, they support the service as an institution. The woman who developed cervical cancer (it is now in remission) told the Times of London, "My point was not that the NHS shouldn't exist or that it was a bad thing."
That view seems typical. It's a British pastime to complain bitterly about the NHS but remain fiercely protective of its existence. A recent "We Love the NHS" Twitter campaign has received thousands of messages of support, including from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose eyesight was saved by British doctors after he was involved in a rugby collision as a young man and whose son suffers from cystic fibrosis. The leader of Britain's right-wing Conservative Party, David Cameron, expressed his support for the health service on Aug. 14: "One of the wonderful things about living in this country is that the moment you're injured or fall ill — no matter who you are, where you are from or how much money you've got — you know that the NHS will look after you."

21st Century Letdown

2009-08-14T17:58:00.000-06:00

Green Day is playing in Salt Lake City this Sunday, and a couple of years ago, I'd have been jumping all over the chance to see them live. That was when they were still riding the high of American Idiot, an album that had a profound impact on me regarding the world and how the political climate stood at the time.

After five years, Green Day readied their latest album, 21st Century Breakdown. Here is what I had to say about that album after listening to it:

First things first: I like Green Day. I think they are a tremendously talented band, and are an influence in music that will be felt for years and years to come. Their songs have spoken to me, motivated me, and moved me. That, in part, makes this review hard to write.

Nine years ago, Green Day released Warning:, and after some setbacks and a side project, released American Idiot four years later. It was loud, political, and in-your-face. Green Day rode their new wave of popularity high for another several years, releasing another side-project album in between, and are readying the release of 21st Century Breakdown, an album which "chronicl[es] the life of a young couple as they deal with the mess our 43rd president left behind."

Herein lies the first problem: the album is still rooted in the politics of old. When Idiot hit, everything that Green Day had to say was relevant to the times. Since the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency, it seems to me that most people just want to move forward. The theme of this album comes nearly seven months too late.

However, the real problem lies in the songs themselves. They don't sound bad, but the problem is that it sounds like I've heard each of them before. Some new things are nice, such as a piano intro and Billie Joe singing falsetto, but quickly things change, and it's the old familiar sound. Before the Lobotomy and 21 Guns each sound like a hybrid of Give Me Novocaine and Letterbomb, while Restless Heart Syndrome has an ending that reminded me of Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Last of the American Girls, thematically, is like a carbon copy of the songs regarding Whatsername on the Idiot opera. The title track sounds like Green Day's version of Working Class Hero, the John Lennon song they covered a couple of years ago; they even use that title in this song. Musically, the song is alright, until the Queen-like breakdown, which just doesn't fit the song. It's almost like an afterthought tacked on to the end of it.

Similarly, the piano intro and band entrances are used more than once, and sound too similar to one another to stand out. A little piano intro, and boom!, it's into the swing of things, but each time, it's done too similarly to the other to stand out. A piano filled bridge may have done better.

Like American Idiot had two "suites," a song composed of five shorter songs, complete with transitions, Breakdown features one--American Eulogy--composed of two shorter songs. It's about half the length of either of Idiot's suites, but the transition is reminiscent. It even starts like Idiot's latter suite, Homecoming, just Billie Joe and a guitar, though his voice is slightly distorted this time, then we get the whole band coming in. Mike Dirnt even sings lead vocals on one part...just like he did in the Homecoming suite. Each member of Green Day has a good singing voice; why not alternate whole songs? Why not trade off lead vocals with Mike singing verses, Billie Joe singing choruses, and Tre singing the bridge?

American Eulogy is divided into two parts: Mass Hysteria and Modern World. Almost immediately into Hysteria, the vocal melody reminded me of an older song. I had to check it out, and while not identical, the melody to Hysteria and Warning:'s Deadbeat Holiday are quite similar. Likewise, while remaining its own song, 21st Century Breakdown has transitional pieces into a guitar solo that sound like something heard on Idiot.

The lyrics are available online, and I've read them all. I know like Idiot, Breakdown is a rock opera, nonetheless, the conventions of repeating themes and phrases don't seem to work here, they just seem like Idiot revisited. There's not much new here, which is what kills the album.

Warning:, while not commercially viable, was strikingly different from what Green Day had done in the past and was critically acclaimed. Idiot was relevant to our times, and set a new standard for Green Day. I would have like to see that standard met, but unfortunately, thus far, it hasn't been. I would have liked to see something different. The lone song that stood out was the closer, See the Light. I enjoyed it, but it came seventeen songs (literally) too late. After four years--and a LOT has happened in that time--it would have been nice to hear something new. Green Day has proven they can do it; their side project Foxboro Hot Tubs was unlike anything they've done before. I realize it takes a lot of talent and skill to write an album, and maybe it's not my place to call this like I see it and be so critical, however, it just feels like they've rehashed their last album and released it under a different name. It feels like I've wasted my anticipation on nothing.

After hearing the album, I've changed my rating: 1/4 stars. And that one star is pushing it. Sorry to anyone who disagrees, but this is one of the most disappointing albums I've heard in recent memory.

I stand by every word I said then today. If I could change one thing, I would probably rate the album lower than I already did; a half-star would probably suffice, as a whole star feels much too generous for Idiot on replay.

Perhaps the worst part about Breakdown is the fact that it entirely killed my desire to see Green Day live. Of course they'll play a selection of songs from their back catalogue, but Breakdown is the album they're touring behind, and I really have no desire to listen to them play a majority of--if not the whole--album, filled with songs I feel are pale shadows and shallow retreads of those released on its erstwhile brother.

And so Green Day will come and go, and I don't even mind.

Walker, Texas Politician

2009-08-12T19:00:00.000-06:00

I don't even know where to begin.

Maybe with this: I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat, either. I find myself being more left-of-center than anything; mostly moderate, I tend to be more conservative on moral issues, but more liberal on issues like the economy, education, health care, and so on.

But even then, I still have issues with this.

The two political sites I often check on are Politico and The Drudge Report. That is, if you can call TDR political.

Criticism of TDR aside, an important thing to know about it is that there are rarely stories reported on there written by founder Matt Drudge (or perhaps TDR staff, if any) himself. Most of the stories link out to other websites, such as newspapers, through their headlines.

One such headline listed today states "Obamacare, page 838: 'Home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children'..." and links to townhall.com. The article in question was written by none other than Chuck Norris.

Norris, as a Republican, and has issues with the universal health care bill. Titled "Dirty Secret No. 1 in Obamacare", Norris takes issue with the federal government offering assistance to people on raising their children. Says Norris:

Dirty secret No. 1 in Obamacare is about the government's coming into homes and usurping parental rights over child care and development.

The bill says that the government agents, "well-trained and competent staff," would "provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains ... modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices," and "skills to interact with their child to enhance age-appropriate development."

Now we get into conjecture:

Are we to assume the state's mediators would understand every parent's social or religious core values on parenting? Or would they teach some secular-progressive and religiously neutered version of parental values and wisdom? And if they were to consult and coach those who expect babies, would they ever decide circumstances to be not beneficial for the children and encourage abortions?

One government rebuttal is that this program would be "voluntary." Is that right? Does that imply that this agency would just sit back passively until some parent needing parenting skills said, "I don't think I'll call my parents, priest or friends or read a plethora of books, but I'll go down to the local government offices"? To the contrary, the bill points to specific targeted groups and problems, on Page 840: The state "shall identify and prioritize serving communities that are in high need of such services, especially communities with a high proportion of low-income families."

First, I'll make note of the abortion note. One, I doubt anyone would go in and encourage that. But secondly, what is to say that one of these agents is decidedly pro-life? The assumption here sounds like this government agency will be entirely "liberal." The Obama Administration has Republicans in it. Jon Huntsman, the now former Governor of Utah, a Republican, was just appointed as the Ambassador to China. As most any job can't discriminate against one for race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion, I doubt anyone from this apparent government agency would be denied work based on their political or moral views. I doubt abortion would be readily encouraged.

Norris believes that the government should stay out of people's lives and let them raise their own children. Low-income families shouldn't be targeted by the government. Sure, I can agree with that, but if the consultation is free, it might have an application to low income people.

No, they can just turn to parents, religious leaders, friends, or books. While those are all fine and outstanding options which should be encouraged, more options provide people with more choices. They are free to choose which they may not want to use. If someone desires to consult with their bishop, priest, or rabbi, in addition to parents and the government, they will get information from different view points. They can then choose how to incorporate any of that information in taking care of their children.

Although he notes that the service would be voluntary, the question is raised of an ulterior motive. Why would the government want to interject with people raising their children, you might ask. Well, it's most likely so that they can raise them the way they want to, not the way you want to.

Government's real motives and rationale are quite simple, though rarely, if ever, stated. If one wants to control the future ebbs and flows of a country, one must have command over future generations. That is done by seizing parental and educational power, legislating preferred educational methods and materials, and limiting private educational options. It is so simple that any socialist can understand it. As Josef Stalin once stated, "Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed."

It's all an attempt to control the next generation. You know, the way that socialists tend to do.

I will give credit where credit is due. I appreciate Mr. Norris' comments regarding how the LDS Church has been unfairly be targeted for Proposition 8 when a load of organizations supported the initiative. However, that article contained facts. Much of Mr. Norris' current article is conjecture, fear-mongering, and speculation, waving around the spectre of the Hammer and Sickle.

Recently, former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin declared the Obama health care plan "downright evil" because it would institute "death panels" that decide "based on a subjective judgement of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care."

As the AP report states, the euthanasia rumors have been going around the Internet for weeks, but the non-partisan group FactCheck.org states the claim is false. In fact, FactCheck quotes the President on the actuality of the claim:

At an AARP town hall event on July 28, the president took on questions about these claims. A woman named Mary, from North Carolina, asked: “I have been told there is a clause in there that everyone that’s Medicare age will be visited and told to decide how they wish to die. This bothers me greatly and I’d like for you to promise me that this is not in this bill.” Obama responded:

I think that the only thing that may have been proposed in some of the bills – and I actually think this is a good thing – is that it makes it easier for people to fill out a living will. … And if you don’t want to fill out a living will, you don’t have to. But it’s actually a useful tool I think for a lot of families to make sure that if, heaven forbid, you contract a terminal illness, that you are somebody who is able to control this process in a dignified way that is true to your faith and true to how you think that end-of-life process should proceed. You don’t want somebody else making those decisions for you. … But, Mary, I just want to be clear: Nobody is going to be knocking on your door; nobody is going to be telling you you’ve got to fill one out. And certainly nobody is going to be forcing you to make a set of decisions on end-of-life care based on some bureaucratic law in Washington.

Moderator and AARP radio host Mike Cuthbert then told Obama: “As I read the bill, it’s saying that Medicare will, for the first time, cover consultation about end-of-life care, and that they will not pay for such a consultation more than once every five years. This is being read as saying every five years you’ll be told how you can die.” The president responded: “Well, that would be kind of morbid.”

He went on to explain: “The intent here is to simply make sure that you’ve got more information, and that Medicare will pay for it.” Exactly so.

So an option for people to have their information updated every five years and provide a way for them to have a living will has been distorted into "the government will tell you how you can die," and "death panels will decide who gets health care and who doesn't"; both radically far from what the actual clause is.

The President recently held a town hall-style meeting where he addressed some of these issues personally. He said:

"[Opponents] will try to scare the heck out of folks, and they'll create bogeymen out there that just aren't real."

Directly confronting the death panel issue, he said:

"[D]eath panels that will basically pull the plug on grandma because we've decided that it's too expensive to let her live anymore. … I'm not in favor of that."

"For all the chatter and the yelling and the shouting and the noise, what you need to know is this ... if you do have health insurance, we will make sure that no insurance company or government bureaucrat gets between you and the care you need."

I am of the belief that we need a health care plan that covers all Americans. I lived in Canada and have seen the system work--although I agree with the President that the Canadian system wouldn't work for the United States; there are definitely kinks that could and should be ironed out in an American system. I also don't believe that any legislation should be rushed through, and that it should definitely be refined before being passed into law.

No universal health care bill will get passed that pleases everyone and that doesn't have some sort of problem, but I believe it will be beneficial for everyone to either have coverage in some way, or have the cost of their existing care lowered. If the government and private care coverage can compete, then everyone can benefit from lower costs and quality care. But everyone needs to know the truth about the bill that is currently being considered, and know what is downright false.

For further information on the death panel falsehood, please click here.

Advertisements in Liner Notes

2009-08-04T18:00:00.000-06:00

So.....

I have a long history of not liking Mariah Carey. Maybe she's okay personally. I've never met her. But I've never liked her music. And this little ditty, reported by MTV News, really kind of puts it over the edge for me:

With product placement already ubiquitous in television and movies, the next logical place for brand integration is the CD — and Mariah Carey is taking the first step.

Brandweek magazine has reported that Carey's upcoming CD, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, will feature a 34-page insert in the CD booklet that is a collaboration with Elle magazine and which will include ads from upscale brands like Elizabeth Arden, Angel Champagne, Carmen Steffens, Le Métier de Beauté and the Bahamas Board of Tourism.

In addition to the ads, the mini-magazine will feature stories about the singer with titles such as "VIP Access to Her Sexy Love Life," "Amazing Closet" and "Recording Rituals" written and designed by the Elle team and mixed in with lyrics and other traditional liner-note materials. A spokesperson for Carey's label, Island/Def Jam, confirmed the report.

The ad-supported booklets — which will also be available in a digital format for downloaders — will appear in the first 1 million U.S. copies of the CD and the first 500,000 overseas, and if the experiment is well-received, even bigger branding deals could be in the works for upcoming CDs from Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Kanye West and other IDJ acts, according to the magazine.

A condensed version of the booklet, without the music-specific material, will be inserted into 500,000 subscription copies of Elle's October issue.

"The idea was really simple thinking: 'We sell millions of records, so you should advertise with us,' " said Antonio "L.A." Reid, IDJ's chairman. "My artists have substantial circulation — when you sell 2 million, 5 million, 8 million, that's a lot of eyeballs. Most magazines aren't as successful as those records." Reid said Carey was "very open" to the idea when he showed her a mock-up of the magazine with brands that fit her jet-setter lifestyle. "I wouldn't want to do Mariah Carey and Comet abrasive cleaner," Reid said. "I wanted things that really reflected her taste." Advertising revenues will subsidize the label's entire costs for producing the booklet.

The deal comes amid the continuing bad news for the music industry, which has seen sales down 13.9 percent so far this year compared with last year. It also follows on the heels of last year's deal by Chris Brown's label, Jive Records, with the William Wrigley Jr. company, which found him writing and recording a single, "Forever," that doubled as a commercial for Doublemint gum, a campaign that was suspended after Brown was arrested for assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna; Brown pleaded guilty to a felony count of assault and was recently sentenced to 180 days of community service.

The Mariah initiative also gives IDJ a chance to promote the CD outside of traditional music stores and the constantly shrinking music aisles in large retailers like Wal-Mart and Target. At Wal-Mart, the CD will be featured outside the music section in a special display coordinated with Carey's new Arden fragrance, Forever, which will be advertised on the booklet's back cover. The CD and perfume will also be displayed together in the stores' beauty departments.

Yep. Advertisements in CD's. Nothing about this seems right to me. Now here, it seems like Carey is entirely on board with the experiment; but what if the experiment is an enormous success?

I once heard that it takes about 500,000 album sales--a gold record--for a record company to start making money on an album after making back what they spent to produce it. As stated in the article, by selling ads, the record company has subsidized all of their costs for producing the booklet.

Record companies, I believe, are necessary for musicians to get their music into the mass markets. And record companies, like nearly all companies, exist to make a profit. But a lot of artists thrive off of their intergrity. Will companies start putting advertisements in the newest Pearl Jam album? (Not that Pearl Jam would go for that!) Let's look at them as an example, though. This is the last of the '90's Seattle bands that has it's main members--and I assume we can count drummer Matt Cameron, as he was in Soundgarden when the Seattle scene exploded. This is the band that fought Ticket Master and survived. This is the band that fought AT&T censorship.

But say their next album came with advertisements in it, issued not by them but by the label. Would they be considered sellouts--a term that is thrown out all too often and too loosely, in my opinion--when they had nothing to do with it?

Hopefully we can all see the problem.

Worse, would a new band be forced to compromise their intergrity in order to try and sell their album? In doing so, they could lose all credibility, and be labeled nothing more than a corporate band when, in every other way, they've earned their way to making the album they want.

The record industry is hurting, and looking for a way to make money. Throw in advertisements; problem solved.

I'm a huge advocate of actually buying a physical CD. I love reading the liner notes, and I love seeing what the band or artist has to say. But if I began opening my CD's and started seeing ads for Gucci or Burger King, I'd be rather upset. I believe I'd start buying almost exclusively on iTunes. Granted, the article says that the ads will be in the online version, too, but when it comes to digital albums, I don't personally bother with that if the liner notes are available after the first album I tried that with had issues.

As a society, we're surrounded by advertisements every day. On the drive to work, you'll see them, or you'll see them on the bus or train. Every eight or so minutes you get bombarded with them on television, or every few pages in your magazines and newspapers. They're on scores of websites. They appear before your movie in the theater, and product placement can be prevalent throughout a film. And now someone thinks we should have them in our music.

Thanks but no thanks. If I see it in the liner notes of an album I purchase, I'll know to start buying online.

Hot Diggity Daffodil!

2009-08-03T18:01:00.000-06:00

According to comingsoon.net, Futurama will be back with the original voice actors!

Forgive and Forget

2009-08-03T18:00:00.000-06:00

Something that really came to my attention yesterday is that we so often let trivial things get in the way of our friendships, and therefore our happiness. After getting together with an old friend this weekend, it became clear to me that holding on to the little things that can disrupt a friendship really only hurts yourself in the end. If I held onto things that were, for the most part not really anything to hold on to, I deprive myself of great experiences. After getting together for a little bit and having a lot of fun, it was clear to me that sometimes it's just time to let go, let bygones be bygones, and mend the fences. And I feel a lot better about it.

William Shatner Reads Sarah Palin's Resignation Speech

2009-07-30T18:00:00.000-06:00

Probably one of the funniest things I've seen in a while.

Please, No...

2009-07-28T21:19:00.000-06:00

MTV News and Hollyscoop are reporting that Miley Cyrus, of "Hannah Montana" fame, has talked to Warner Bros. executives about playing Batgirl in an upcoming Batman film.

According to Hollyscoop.com, the "Hannah Montana" star reportedly "stunned" Warner execs during her audition, even dressing for the part in a "full batsuit."

“She was sort of hopping around the room and had even written some dialogue for herself," a source said of Cyrus' audition. "The problem is some people aren’t really convinced Miley has the acting chops to pull it of.”

This conflicts with everything Christopher Nolan has done thus far to establish the new Batman film franchise as something at least semi-plausible. The good news is, I don't think Nolan would ever go for this, and I'm inclined to think that it's either a) not true, or b) Warner's was trying to be nice to Ms. Cyrus and this will never come to be.

At least, I hope it will never come to be. Otherwise, Warner's execs are jsut as good as the ones at FOX that decided to bring back Futurama, only to talk about replacing the voice talent.

Batman 2008

2009-07-27T09:02:00.000-06:00

This is a bit older; I did it in about March of 2008. I'm currently working on a bunch of new ones; I have inks done on Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, half of Harley Quinn, and pencils for Robin and about half of Poison Ivy. Still need to do a bunch of characters for a massive group drawing, and then color the sucker.

Oh, if you couldn't tell, I am a Batman fan...

Throwing Terms Around

2009-07-23T18:21:00.000-06:00

Last night, the President talked about health care reform. This is something I believe strongly in, but that's another post for another day.

I didn't actually see the press conference, as I was busy doing homework at the time. However, I had Facebook open (yeah, I know) as I worked, and I started seeing some comments come in regarding a friend's status update.

Now, I have no problem with people opposing the President's policies, or not even liking the man. That's normal; you can't win them all. However, I was shocked when I read some of the things people were saying. I refuse to use names, as I believe that is disrespectful. But here are the things I took issue with. The statements written in quotations are exactly as they were written, except where I felt clarification was needed.

"[The President]'s a lot like Hitler" because Hitler "slowly manipulated everyone into liking him and slowly took over germany and became dictator.."

"People already think that [Obama] is the Messiah and that how Germany saw Hitler.."

The biggest problem I have here is that the President of the United States is being compared to Adolf Hitler, one of the most despicable and almost universally reviled men in the history of the world. I think anyone should have a problem with that comparison, whether the President is Barack Obama, George W. Bush, or anyone that has a name that isn't Adolf Hitler.

Another person pointed out the following:

"[H]itler took power by usurping control over the following industries: banking/lending, military, health care, etc. obama may not be comitting genocide, but a lot of history is repeating itself."

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that because President Obama is a charismatic individual and an excellent orator, the Hitler comparisons are also being levied against him.

But let's look at those points: First would be the banking/lending charge. The collapse in the banking industry happened before Barack Obama was elected President. Keep in mind when it happened; Senator McCain "suspended" his campaign in order to help with the crisis.

The initial bailout was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008; this was a month before Obama became President-elect, and three-and-a-half months until the he could sign anything into law himself.

Using that logic, the Hitler charge could be issued against President Bush; does that make it true? Of course not! President Bush is no closer to being like Hitler than President Obama is.

Secondly, the charge is that Obama, like Hitler, took power by usurping control of the military. Nowhere prior to the election on November 4, 2008 to January 20, 2009, did Obama in any way utilize the military. It wasn't until his inauguration that he had any authority over the military. It was through his inauguration that he thereby took control of the armed forces of the United States, and he did so the exact same way George W. Bush, William Jefferson Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and every other President did. To compare Obama to Hitler in doing so is to compare all of the other 43 Presidents to him in the same way.

Lastly, there is the charge that Obama trying to take over health care is similar to what Hitler did. At the time of writing, I don't know where to find out if Hitler did take over Germany's health care system. Therefore, this part is speculation, but I think the same principle applies. Consider that Obama is rather trying to provide a health care system similar to Canada, England, or Australia. Weren't these countries allies of the United States during World War II? And they are allies still today. Still, does that make Canadian Tommy Douglas the same as Hitler? Does that equate every other industrialized nation that has universal health care with Nazi Germany? Clearly, as it is with the Obama-Hitler comparison, it does not.

Further are the charges that Obama is a socialist. This is a somewhat humorous charge among the Hitler comparisons, as Hitler and the Nazi Party were anti-communist. That aside, it brings us to the first order of contention here. Anymore, people are using "socialism/socialist" synonymously with "communism/communist." While socialism and communism are similar, there are also striking differences.

Webster defines socialism as:

1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

Whereas communism is described as:

1 a: a theory advocating elimination of private property b: a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed2capitalized a: a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics b: a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production c: a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably d: communist systems collectively

True, the government bailed out many corporations, but unless I'm mistaken, I believe the condition was that once those companies were back on their feet, the government-owned shares would be sold. That's vastly different in comparison to socialism or communism, wherein the means of production are owned by all or the government.

In the case of health care, I believe the plan isn't that the government owns the health care system; rather, the government health care system provides coverage to those that are not currently covered, and thereby the government's system actually competes with existing health care providers. That sounds an awful lot like capitalism.

Obama is not a dictator, and no one party permanently controls the government. Although Obama has declared he wants to "even the playing field", so to speak, it is not in the way described under definition 2b of communism listed above. Obama doesn't want to do away with private property. The vast majority of the means of production are owned by entities other than the government, and there has been no indication that Obama or the Democratically-led Congress has any intentions to change that.

A lot of his rhetoric has been about helping small businesses succeed. To me, that sounds like a capitalistic venture.

The problem is that people throw these words around without knowing what they mean. Or worse, we allow people to change the meanings of these words into shallow distortions of their original and true meanings. In the same way, the terms "liberal" and "conservative" have been warped into caricatures of their true political definitions, and are used to demonize those that adhere to a particular ideology. Similarly "socialism" has been warped to be synonymous with "communism", and in particular with Communism as defined in definition 2a, and essentially 2b; the principles of socialism appear to be quite different from Communism.

It would be my hope that we would take into consideration the terms that we haphazardly throw around, and the comparisons that I believe do more damage to ourselves than they do those we are trying to attack. In doing so, we can open an actual dialog that can produce productive debate that might change our minds on the issues, regardless of where we may currently stand.

Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009

2009-01-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

Not much is going on. I'm at work on my lunch break. Fun times.

My new phone should get here tomorrow or Friday, which is sweet, because I'm charging my RAZR every other day. This is my first eBay phone, an unlocked LG phone that was originally for use with Cigular/AT&T, so we'll see how it goes.

Last weekend, my band played a show that I organized. We had over 120 people come at various points in the show, so it was--overall--well attended. All the bands were great, and everyone scored about $45. Met some cool new people. Looking forward to writing new songs and doing it again.

2008-12-09T08:31:00.001-07:00

It's been brought to my attention that I should start a blog. The main reason for this is because I like movies, TV, and music, and that I should therefor review them. Another personal reason to do this, I suppose, is my love/hate relationship with politics and the political process. Then I realized that a long time ago, I created a blog and never did anything with it. Fortunately, it was created with my Google account, and I use Gmail and its kin all the time. So here we are, resusitated blog and its first voyage. I'd like to say "I don't know how often I'll update this," but if it's anything like Facebook, I will probably find myself addicted before long.