WRITING: I'm back...again.
Let's get the excuse talk over with: work reared its ugly head, followed by an unusually strong blip on the EKG monitoring my comatose social life, with it all ending, as it always does, with getting sick for a week.
That being said, I've had the time and energy to write this past week and chosen not to. If I go even a day without writing, I quickly lose interest in the whole damn thing. This continues until I realize just how long it's been between posts and guilt myself back into working.
Lame. I know.
Anyway, Issue #1 of the comic is up to snuff and has been handed off to an illustrator. This will, I think, be his first stab at doing something more than sketches or doodles. It'd be nice if one of us knew what the hell we were doing, but that doesn't mean it won't come together. In fact, it might even be a bonus: no matter the medium -- music, movies, comics -- there's a certain energy that comes from a bunch of novices jumping into the deep end together. Here's hoping.
I did put some time this week into making a mix CD for Merrick to listen to as he begins work on issue #1 -- music that captures the energy or the vibe of the story and its characters. After listening to the playlist a few times, I realized that almost half the songs are the opening tracks of their respective albums, and have a wonderful declarative energy about them -- a perfect fit for our debut issue. I didn't do this on purpose, but it's a wonderful sign/coincidence that I can't help but find heartening. Here's the playlist, with an asterisk next to the opening songs.
Rush -- "Tom Sawyer" *
The Flaming Lips -- "Flight Test" *
R.E.M. -- "Discoverer" *
Paul Westerberg -- "Let's Not Belong Together"
Tom Waits -- "Lie to Me" *
Iggy Pop -- "Funtime"
Ben Folds & William Shatner -- "In Love"
They Might Be Giants -- "Ana Ng" *
Queen -- "Hammer to Fall"
Journey -- "Only Solutions"
Pearl Jam -- "The Fixer"
New Order -- "Regret" *
The Beatles -- "And Your Bird Can Sing"
Iggy Pop -- "The Passenger"
Sugar -- "The Act We Act" *
The Replacements -- "Can't Hardly Wait"
Paul Westerberg -- "It's a Wonderful Lie" *
R.E.M. -- "The Great Beyond"
John Williams -- "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)"
On the last weekend update, I mentioned that I had no idea how to get issue #2 -- the pay off to issue #1's setup -- to work. The very next day, it all fell into place. It was one of those rare, special days where pages of material -- good material -- came out effortlessly. There's still a lot of work to go, to get all the pieces to fit together and to get it all to work in 21 or 22 pages. As much as I like this story arc -- the comic book equivalent to a TV pilot -- I have started this series off on what is quickly becoming familiar ground: nerds playing D&D. Want to move on to things that are more personal and/or bizarre with this concept.
TV and MOVIES: This post is already pretty damn wordy, so I'll keep things to a minimum.
On season 2 of Slings and Arrows, a real find on Netflix.
GAMES: Still catching up on the backlog of titles for the newly acquired PS3. I got both Uncharted games for Christmas, and I finally started the first one this week. Uncharted 1 is uneven and often frustrating, but I can see how the gameplay and characters could be turned into something brilliant. Have to see if Uncharted 2 lives up to all its praise. These two games, along with finishing Dragon Quest IX for the DS, should keep me sated until early March, when Dawn of War II: Retribution and Dragon Age II are released in quick succession.
BOOKS: Trashy sci-fi.
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Have a good weekend, people.
End of line.
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