So, I just updated my webcomic. For longtime fans, this is somewhat of a monumental event. Not that I updated my comic on time, (okay, that might be a reason to celebrate), but the fact that the main character of the whole shebang, Angela, actually spoke in this comic. For the uninitiated, Angela has been mute for the entire series. Okay, I kinda cheat by having her thoughts narrate the first volume of Kissing Chaos, as well as at least one one-shot comic. But she has never spoken to another character. The closest she's come is via txt message and email in various instances.

I think, part of the hook of the series was the fact that she was mute, and the narrator. It definitely added to the, dreamlike ether that prevaded the series 16 page debut, and set the tone for the countless pages that followed.

Why did I have her speak? I can tell you, and you'll most likely think I'm nuts. But here goes...

The story for 'Til I Die was written a while back, when I was still working with Oni Press. All I've been doing for the webcomic is drawing out a meticulously crafted tale, four years in the making. This elevator scene with Damien and Angela was originally going to be silent, with both of them staring at each other during the course of the elevator ride. It was going to be cute.

Well, this morning, when I got out of bed, I awoke from a dream where this girl and I, who'll remain unnamed had were at a bar with a group of people. I had to leave early, and she walked me out where we said out good byes, and proceeded to have the exchange that Damien and Angela have in the elevator.

D:Angela...

D:Don't go.

A:What's that supposed to mean?

D: I don't know.

D: Just, don't go.

I dunno. I like it. LOL

18 more comics til I finish up 'Til I Die!!! can't wait!!!

ADC

Allright. Here we go with some movie slash TV reviews!!!

I saw Public Enemies over the weekend. Well, I quote/unquote saw it. I had a long and crazy day with only 2 hours of sleep max the previous night, so by the time we rolled into the theatre for the last showing of the Johnny Depp vehicle, I was pretty beat. Honestly, after the first fifteen minutes or so, I started dozing every 2 minutes. I know nothing of John Dillinger, other than what the trailers for this very movie have divulged, so about halfway through the movie I absolutely had no clue what the hell was happening.
I think I like Michael Mann, I think. He's one of those directors that's considered to be "good", but really, has he done anything truly stellar? Within his given genre, I suppose he's tops, but does that make one a great creator?
The one qualm I can actually legitimately have against this movie that I slept through, was the extensive use of digital, as opposed to film. Mann has been doing this with all his recent films. There's a distinct, seeming low budget look to his recent work like the Miami Vice movie, and Collateral, due to the digital cameras, and the appearance of using only existing light sources (I dig the lighting for this fact alone). This aesthetic is perfect for a film like Collateral, adding to the grit and grime, giving the film an almost cenema verite sort of look.
However, for a gangster period piece, a time when there were no digital cameras, the look is a fail, IMHO. Some scenes felt like we were looking at Dillinger through the lense of a papparazzis camera. This totally ruined the immersion of the film.
All this said, the movie could be fucking great. Who knows? LOL

I've been marathoning the second season of Breaking Bad the past few days. For those unfamiliar, BB follows Walter White, an aged high school science teacher who, due to cancer, has been given but months to live. Walter's been dealt a horrible hand in life, with his former business/science partner stealing his work and screwing him out of a massive fortune.
So, in order to make some money to leave his family when his number is up, Walter uses his chemistry skills to cook meth, and with the help of a former student who is now a small time drug dealer, he enters the seedy under belly of the meth trade and Mexican gangs.
The show is gut wrenching, but incredible. Even if the subject matter isn't your cup of tea, the characters are fantastic. Seeing Walter balance the life of crime and his family woes is brought to life with some exceptional acting.
Recommend Breaking Bad for shizzle.

ADC

So, I get fashion. I understand the need to "look the part", to look "cool". I get it. However, I do have an issue with sunglasses. Sure, with the oversizeness, they do have the uncanny ability to make the average man look like celebrity or socialite, and if that's your prerogative, then accessorize away, my friends.
For some reason, I can't get past the fact that sunglasses are primarily functional, fashion being their secondary use. And because of this fact, from my perspective, it smacks of insane doucehbagery when I see people use sunglasses in situations beyond their function. Mainly indoors. Like, seriously, there's no need for sunglasses indoors, so why wear them? Can one person be that vain? I've been with friends, and had entire conversations with them in their sunglasses, indoors. WTF?

For a brief moment, I thought, perhaps the effort exerted to remove glasses when one gets indoors and put them back on is too tasking, and not worth the time.
So, the other day, I put this theory to the test. I went into a Tim Horton's to get some coffee with my sunglasses on. I stood in line and went up to the cash and waited for the cashier to take my order. But as soon as it was my turn to talk, I couldn't do it. I HAD to take off my sunglasses to look the person in the eye. Call me old fashioned, but... whatever.

Does this make me crazy? Sunglasses indoors aren't that evil, are they?

ADC

Let's see how long I can keep putting up reviews every tueday. You never know, this could be the first and last time I ever do this! Savour it!

Just watched Transformers 2. I LOVE LOVE Michael Bay. He has his style, and sticks to his guns. You gotta admire his tenacity. Plus, as part of the generation that first enjoyed Transformers in the 80s, you could say this movie, and the upcoming GI Joe flick are like my childhood dreams realized.

So, to summarize. Michael Bay? check. Giant robots kicking the shit out of each other? check. Surprisingly funny script from Kruger and Orci? check. Foxy Megan Fox? Double check. Transformers 2 is win, win, win, win, win.

Seriously, not a great movie, but good for a popcorn night. Plus, Michael Bay does Michael Bay better than JJ Abrams does. (Star Trek had the same writers, I believe...) Now onto the second review.

So, I promised a film review a while back... and I threw the film in question on again in the background while I worked last night, so while it's fresh I might as well review it.

What can I say about Soderbergh? Yes, I realize he's a respected and accomplished director, but many of his previous films left me cold. From what I can recall, most were adaptations and remakes, and I'm just not into that or the breadth of his concepts. Robbing Casinos? Trafficking drugs? I lived that shit (not really)! So, why would I give a fuck about Soderbergh's chosen subject matter?

Well, apparently, I give a fuck about upperclass call girls and escorts, because I LOVED THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE.

Of course, the big headline is that Soderbergh cast adult film star Sasha Grey as the lead. To me, it's like Tarantino casting Paris Hilton. But in this case, it works. I thought Grey was amazingly real. Sure, she could just be playing herself, but it comes off much more believable than any of the other actors in the flick, in my opinion. And I'm not gassing up Grey, the beauty that she is, she's just not my style of porn star. Not that I've seen any of her adult films. No. I've never watched porn in my life. Porn? What's porn? I just pretend to be in the know so I don't look weird. What is it again?

Plotwise, we follow the doomed relationship of a callgirl and her boyfriend. The story is chopped and screwed and reconstituted in a stream of consciousness/dreamlike narrative, which creates some interesting juxtopositions in terms of scenes and tone. The one drawback is the allusions to the Obama/Mccain campaigns of 2008. It sort of dates the film, and provides another thematic connect the metaphors puzzle for the audience to decipher. I find the emotional journey of the characters more appealing than the policital subtext.

So, bottom line: Unless you're a fan of the art house, particularly nouvelle vague and Goddard (big influences on this movie), I'd veer onto the shoulder when you see THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE in the incoming traffic.

ADC

ps- here's a self portait for the day. click to enlarge...i think.

When I was in grade one I bought my very first record (vinyl!!). That LP was Michael Jackson's Thriller. I remember bringing it to school for show and tell, and breakdancing.

Out of all the different soundbytes about MJ's life that the media has spewed, I think I dig Al Sharpton's speech the best. Clicky to read.

ADC

So, I'm on a bit of a family vacation type of thing. I'm working while I'm here, and will be back to blogging and uploading comics next week!

I would upload some pics of the lush mountain valley in Quebec which is where I'm currently typing this, but I'm lazy.

ADC

So, previously, I was turning my current graphic novel project into my own personal 8 1/2.

Currently:

I'm on the fence as to whether I should name the main character after myself. Kaufman did it in Adaptation. And numerous others in film have done it, though examples elude me at the moment.

Also needing a decision, and quick, is whether or not to make the dude an Asian, as I, am. Asian.

I've yet to create an Asian character. I lie. I have one in Kissing Chaos, and it's not like she wears it on her sleeve, or that an issue was ever made about it. I'd even say that due to my crude artwork, no one even knows that she's Asian. I'll leave it to ya'll to figure out who I'm talking about.

Now, I realize a character being asian isn't groundbreaking. It's probably a non issue for most people. Perhaps my growing up in a largely non Asian environment, and being part of a scene where in high school there were max 2 non "white" folk in my peer group of punk losers, but I have it in me that if I ever do a story where the main character is a minority, I MUST address this in the narrative. Dealing with being different than everyone,when no amount of hair styling or clothes styling could make me "like" everyone else, was a huge part of my life. Still is.

I guess I'm wondering if I make the character asian, it may just add another element to the story that would take the focus away from the current theme, and I'm not sure if I want to do that. But if I want this to be mildly autobiographical, it would make sense to make the dude a visual minority...

I dunno.

For your playlist today:

Rivers is my fucking hero.

ADC

So, a few weeks ago, myself and the rest of the TX crew did a podcast/interview thingy with the good folks at Digital Kontent. Have a listen, I'm somewhere in there with Cameron Stewart, Andy B, and Eric Vedder.

Now you'll understand why I suck at talking to people.

Listen to the podcast shenanigans...

adc

Previously on the blog, I was talking about how my current writing project is becoming a deeply personal, self referencial work. It's pretty much me doing my own personal 8 1/2 in comic form. It's kinda weird.

On today's blog:

I had this thought while writing yesterday. This project is digging deeper into who "Arthur" is, more so than anything I've ever written. It's delving into depths of my being that I hide under meticulously crafted layers of social awkwardness. This is stuff I've spent my whole life to trying hide from everyone. I'm not sure why. But there it is.

Now, at this point in time, I have a publishing company and a film producer interested in the work. There's something weird about having what is essentially my diary garner even the slightest bit of interest.

I don't know what to make of that.

IN OTHER NEWS, I finished reading Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. He's got to be my fave writer at the moment. The book is a bit harder to penatrate than other works, as we are dealing with multiple, converging narratives, but to me it's brilliant. It's actually what I've been trying to achieve with my series Kissing Chaos. So, thanks Murakami-sensei! I now there's a set precedent for my work!

The book also features what I currently believe to be the greatest line of dialogue ever written, if only because it totally relates to something going on in my life right now...

Currently I'm reading Bukowski's Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook. I had never heard of this guy til recently, and he's blowing my mind.

For your listening pleasure:

ADC

Previously, on my blog, I mentioned a personal/sorta autobiographical project that I was working on.

On this episode of blog:

I did a soft pitch to a publisher, and while they were pretty receptive to the concept, they mentioned that they had just published a book just like it. After some screaming into pillows and at no one in particular, I got over the fact that things so personal and meaningful to me, events I've gone through, aren't so unique. It's humbling to think one's lifecan essentially be reduced to dramatic fodder for writers everywhere...

But in a stroke of genius, or a stroke of plagiarism, I decided to include the process of getting the story published, in the actual story that I'm trying to get published! It's basically my version of Fellini's 8 1/2. lol. or my worst impression of Charlie Kaufman. Let's call it an homage.

cool?

/adc

ps-I'm a week behind on deadlines, so no comic/animation will be uploaded today. I know, I break promises. If you want to break up with me, I'll totally understand.