I'm on spring break, and I say that it couldn't have gotten off to a better start.
1. Banjo arrived on Friday. Also had a good Garg meeting, despite low turnout (due to break). Also chilled with The Ninja and Co. An activity always guaranteed to lift the spirits.
2. Had a fabulous stay at home with family (and Banjo). Spent many hours with Lyons and Eddys alike. Received notes and advice re: life/banjo from entire family. Also watched The Incredibles for the first time since it's release. I had forgotten what a good movie it is.
3. Banjo stationed in Ann Arbor as I continued to West Lafayette to see even more family. From there, will proceed on to Illinois to locate Girlfriend (Claire) and obtain Opera (The Barber of Seville).
I'm loving this.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Announcements and Happenings
Out and out with it: Claire is going to GWU. It's a little disconcerting since everyone calls it "Gee-Dubya," and I get scared that she is attending George W. Bush University. Thankfully, I have been informed that it stands for George Washington. An important distinction.
Since Claire is headed that way, it follows that I follow. I have ramped up my job/internship seeking. Thanks to Mos Daniel, I have a lot more leads now and I am hoping to find something in the coming weeks. At least I better find something.
In the meantime, Claire and I are searching for housing in the D.C. area. If anyone has any suggestions, please TELL ME NOW.
I get asked this a lot, so I will mention that Claire is getting a Masters in Museum Studies. Her goal is to achieve employment as a collections manager. A big part of her decision on GW was their excellent program, reputation, and the opportunity to intern at the Smithsonian. I sound like an advertisement.
Got a museum? HIRE HER.
Speaking of Mos Daniel, I have started to write for his blog Write No Evil. My modest contribution can be found here, but the whole thing is certainly recommended reading. It's been fun so far, just trying to keep new content on the page. For someone who wants to make his living doing the writing game (e.g. me) it's certainly good practice. Daniel comes to the Garg from the Daily, and we love him dearly. He also looks like Mos Def.
Today is the first deadline for my last issue with the Gargoyle. Strange times indeed. I am pretty pleased that there were so many on-time responses. The Garg has come so far that I hardly recognize it. I have no idea where it will go from here, but I'm glad to have been here.
My cohorts on the staff accuse me, rightly, of getting overly nostalgic about the Garg. Lucky for them, it will stop soon. (CRYING)
These are ridiculous. Seriously, people.
Lastly, I must confess that I am a copy-cat. Or in this case a "copy-cathy!" (Rimshot)
Recently, Cathy (Gargoyle art director, friend) announced that she was purchasing a banjo. She'd talked about it for sometime around the office, and yesterday she went and did it.
So, today I went and did the same.
Now, I will admit to be being partly motivated by jealousy. But the fact of the matter is that I have had a long-abiding want to play the banjo. I have been talking myself out of it for years (I don't have the time, I don't have the money, I don't have the skills, I don't have the commitment), but seeing Cathy fulfill her dreams with nary a backwards glance inspired me to do the same.
It's a Washburn, coming to me cheap from the internet. In fulfillment of ancient prophecy, it is the same kind of banjo won by my father in ages past. The circle is now complete.
Since Claire is headed that way, it follows that I follow. I have ramped up my job/internship seeking. Thanks to Mos Daniel, I have a lot more leads now and I am hoping to find something in the coming weeks. At least I better find something.
In the meantime, Claire and I are searching for housing in the D.C. area. If anyone has any suggestions, please TELL ME NOW.
I get asked this a lot, so I will mention that Claire is getting a Masters in Museum Studies. Her goal is to achieve employment as a collections manager. A big part of her decision on GW was their excellent program, reputation, and the opportunity to intern at the Smithsonian. I sound like an advertisement.
Got a museum? HIRE HER.
Speaking of Mos Daniel, I have started to write for his blog Write No Evil. My modest contribution can be found here, but the whole thing is certainly recommended reading. It's been fun so far, just trying to keep new content on the page. For someone who wants to make his living doing the writing game (e.g. me) it's certainly good practice. Daniel comes to the Garg from the Daily, and we love him dearly. He also looks like Mos Def.
Today is the first deadline for my last issue with the Gargoyle. Strange times indeed. I am pretty pleased that there were so many on-time responses. The Garg has come so far that I hardly recognize it. I have no idea where it will go from here, but I'm glad to have been here.
My cohorts on the staff accuse me, rightly, of getting overly nostalgic about the Garg. Lucky for them, it will stop soon. (CRYING)
These are ridiculous. Seriously, people.
Lastly, I must confess that I am a copy-cat. Or in this case a "copy-cathy!" (Rimshot)
Recently, Cathy (Gargoyle art director, friend) announced that she was purchasing a banjo. She'd talked about it for sometime around the office, and yesterday she went and did it.
So, today I went and did the same.
Now, I will admit to be being partly motivated by jealousy. But the fact of the matter is that I have had a long-abiding want to play the banjo. I have been talking myself out of it for years (I don't have the time, I don't have the money, I don't have the skills, I don't have the commitment), but seeing Cathy fulfill her dreams with nary a backwards glance inspired me to do the same.
It's a Washburn, coming to me cheap from the internet. In fulfillment of ancient prophecy, it is the same kind of banjo won by my father in ages past. The circle is now complete.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Spore
Spore will be the greatest game. If you haven't heard of it, you must have a personality disorder because every single news outlet has mentioned it at least once in the past four years.
We've seen demo upon demo, read the same news about how it will be the end-all be-all, but we've never known when it will be ours.
Until the day before yesterday.
Will Wright, the man behind The Sims and other best-selling games, has told us the time of reckoning and it is Sept. 7, 2008.
For the uninitiated, Spore is a game that starts you as a single-celled critter fighting to survive in a universe that seems to exist only to eat you. As you progress, you can "evolve" your creatures through a series of editors and you eventually find yourself galavanting across the Universe in a spaceship (of your own design).
Whatever I could say about this game would pale in comparison to actually seeing it, so please: partake of these videos.
Joystiq Write up
Hour-Long Explanation
36-Minute Spiel
If you need something shorter, a quick Google search will yield results
We've seen demo upon demo, read the same news about how it will be the end-all be-all, but we've never known when it will be ours.
Until the day before yesterday.
Will Wright, the man behind The Sims and other best-selling games, has told us the time of reckoning and it is Sept. 7, 2008.
For the uninitiated, Spore is a game that starts you as a single-celled critter fighting to survive in a universe that seems to exist only to eat you. As you progress, you can "evolve" your creatures through a series of editors and you eventually find yourself galavanting across the Universe in a spaceship (of your own design).
Whatever I could say about this game would pale in comparison to actually seeing it, so please: partake of these videos.
Joystiq Write up
Hour-Long Explanation
36-Minute Spiel
If you need something shorter, a quick Google search will yield results
Monday, February 11, 2008
Good Lord
I just read over the last post.
It's terrible.
I mean, it's really awful.
If you are part of a company's human resource division, please ignore the previous post.
It's terrible.
I mean, it's really awful.
If you are part of a company's human resource division, please ignore the previous post.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Yelling Outside of the Saudi Embassy
Claire and I have made it in to Washington D.C. and have begun our takeover plans.
Keith, my friend from Gargoyle days past, met us at the airport and has been our guide in this strange place of towering white stone. He's also letting us stay at his place for free.
Keith, we love you.
The feeling around D.C. is a very strange one. Last night we wandered the town, having parked the car over at the Watergate. How cool is it to say that? Very.
Many of my friends have either lived or worked in the capital, but this is my first time here. Aside from a brief lay-over on a 13-hour train ride.
I feel very strange about D.C.. So far, everything seems very clean, and very empty. Claire describes it as as pretend city: oddly empty, and without the kind of places and people that you might find in a place like Chicago or New York. Though that might be because of the areas we have seen.
There is something strange about the area. I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps its the positively balmy weather.
Today, we're going to see some museums -- where Claire plans to make her livelihood -- and then meet with Claire's dear family friend Lisa. Tomorrow is campus tours and an evening flight out.
Maybe I'll have the place figured out by then. Or maybe it's just too strange for this simple midwest boy.
Keith, my friend from Gargoyle days past, met us at the airport and has been our guide in this strange place of towering white stone. He's also letting us stay at his place for free.
Keith, we love you.
The feeling around D.C. is a very strange one. Last night we wandered the town, having parked the car over at the Watergate. How cool is it to say that? Very.
Many of my friends have either lived or worked in the capital, but this is my first time here. Aside from a brief lay-over on a 13-hour train ride.
I feel very strange about D.C.. So far, everything seems very clean, and very empty. Claire describes it as as pretend city: oddly empty, and without the kind of places and people that you might find in a place like Chicago or New York. Though that might be because of the areas we have seen.
There is something strange about the area. I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps its the positively balmy weather.
Today, we're going to see some museums -- where Claire plans to make her livelihood -- and then meet with Claire's dear family friend Lisa. Tomorrow is campus tours and an evening flight out.
Maybe I'll have the place figured out by then. Or maybe it's just too strange for this simple midwest boy.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Northlanders
Brian Wood is easily one of the biggest stars in the comic book world right now. His series of short, self-contained comics called Demo made quite an impression and his popularity has exploded with the continuing series DMZ.
Personally, I hadn't had all that much exposure to Wood until DMZ went into trade paperback a few years ago. While I was initially unimpressed, it was Wood's story that drew me in. His characters, his plots were mostly uninteresting, and occasionally laughable. Especially in the most recent "Public Works" story arc (recently collected in trade paperback), Wood has shown such a penchant ham-handed story-telling that it has driven me away from the series. In the end, I couldn't take the irritating mixture of a byronic hero and a bubbling baby, or the Law and Order "ripped from the headlines" plot-lines for more than three books. Perhaps the next trade will redeem DMZ in my eyes, but I digress.
Wood has redeemed himself in my eyes, if only for using Vikings, in his newest continuous series from Vertigo called Northlanders. The story is set in 980 C.E., and follows the dark and violent story of a young Norseman who returns home to find his father dead, and his family's power usurped by his evil uncle. It's all very Shakespearean.
Despite the cast being headed by another brooding, dark-haired man, Northlander holds much more promise than the early DMZ issues did. Sven, the main character, may be dower but he's also capable and has motivation unlike the DMZ's aimless and endlessly naive Matty. This drive seems, at least in the first two installments, to be enough to hold the story together and keep readers interested.
What has impressed me most thus far is how well Northlander represents the period. The big things, like houses, clothing and boats are less movie-Viking and much closer to the real thing. Beyond that, the story is masterfully atmospheric, sometimes with whole panels showing the distant mountains and dark, alienating sea set against grey skies. It doesn't make the Orkney Islands look like a major vacation attraction, but it does capture the quiet majesty, and subtle grimness of Nordic life. The panels look like grittier, dirtier figures from illuminated manuscripts or stained glass. Figures idealized by history, but touched with humanity and reality.
Also, the premise of the story -- a young Viking abroad with the varangians, returning to seek his inheritance from greedy family -- is spot on for period Nordic stories. Even the land-grabbing, similar to the consolidation of power in the Norse world toward the end of the Viking age, seems quite natural.
If I must complain, and I must, I am annoyed by Wood's main character -- but just a bit. While he's more palatable than DMZ's lead, he falls more into the traditional comic book male role. Strong, violent, oppressed, aloof. While these characteristics are certainly natural for a Viking, it's handling seems thoroughly modern. The use of modern-english curses, for instance, just ruins the moment for me, and while I acknowledge that Vikings were probably a surly bunch I am certain that they weren't using words that I know. It's not that I don't think they should be swearing, it's just annoying to see "cursing" passing for being "atmospheric" or "character development."
What might be most exciting, especially for people like me, is not where Northlander is now but where it will be soon. 980 C.E. was the tail end of the Viking Age, and already the world was starting to squeeze them out. By 1000 C.E., Christianity had spread as far as Iceland and the sixty-six years later King Harald would be defeated in England, bringing an end to the fury of the Norseman. A comic series featuring some of the least celebrated and most interesting groups in history, poised on the edge of massive social upheaval is really something to get worked up about.
Personally, and I did say I was biased toward Vikings, I think this is a series that is certainly worth a look. It's very early in the series now, so it could easily go sour, but it has enough going for it to have me signed up -- at least for now.
---
The author wishes you to note that he did not go into an extended discussion of how happy he was to see scorn poles, and other such Norse minutia, and tried to be all "professional."
The Author is also feeling much better, and considers himself no longer sick.
---
Corrected the year Iceland converted.
Personally, I hadn't had all that much exposure to Wood until DMZ went into trade paperback a few years ago. While I was initially unimpressed, it was Wood's story that drew me in. His characters, his plots were mostly uninteresting, and occasionally laughable. Especially in the most recent "Public Works" story arc (recently collected in trade paperback), Wood has shown such a penchant ham-handed story-telling that it has driven me away from the series. In the end, I couldn't take the irritating mixture of a byronic hero and a bubbling baby, or the Law and Order "ripped from the headlines" plot-lines for more than three books. Perhaps the next trade will redeem DMZ in my eyes, but I digress.
Wood has redeemed himself in my eyes, if only for using Vikings, in his newest continuous series from Vertigo called Northlanders. The story is set in 980 C.E., and follows the dark and violent story of a young Norseman who returns home to find his father dead, and his family's power usurped by his evil uncle. It's all very Shakespearean.
Despite the cast being headed by another brooding, dark-haired man, Northlander holds much more promise than the early DMZ issues did. Sven, the main character, may be dower but he's also capable and has motivation unlike the DMZ's aimless and endlessly naive Matty. This drive seems, at least in the first two installments, to be enough to hold the story together and keep readers interested.
What has impressed me most thus far is how well Northlander represents the period. The big things, like houses, clothing and boats are less movie-Viking and much closer to the real thing. Beyond that, the story is masterfully atmospheric, sometimes with whole panels showing the distant mountains and dark, alienating sea set against grey skies. It doesn't make the Orkney Islands look like a major vacation attraction, but it does capture the quiet majesty, and subtle grimness of Nordic life. The panels look like grittier, dirtier figures from illuminated manuscripts or stained glass. Figures idealized by history, but touched with humanity and reality.
Also, the premise of the story -- a young Viking abroad with the varangians, returning to seek his inheritance from greedy family -- is spot on for period Nordic stories. Even the land-grabbing, similar to the consolidation of power in the Norse world toward the end of the Viking age, seems quite natural.
If I must complain, and I must, I am annoyed by Wood's main character -- but just a bit. While he's more palatable than DMZ's lead, he falls more into the traditional comic book male role. Strong, violent, oppressed, aloof. While these characteristics are certainly natural for a Viking, it's handling seems thoroughly modern. The use of modern-english curses, for instance, just ruins the moment for me, and while I acknowledge that Vikings were probably a surly bunch I am certain that they weren't using words that I know. It's not that I don't think they should be swearing, it's just annoying to see "cursing" passing for being "atmospheric" or "character development."
What might be most exciting, especially for people like me, is not where Northlander is now but where it will be soon. 980 C.E. was the tail end of the Viking Age, and already the world was starting to squeeze them out. By 1000 C.E., Christianity had spread as far as Iceland and the sixty-six years later King Harald would be defeated in England, bringing an end to the fury of the Norseman. A comic series featuring some of the least celebrated and most interesting groups in history, poised on the edge of massive social upheaval is really something to get worked up about.
Personally, and I did say I was biased toward Vikings, I think this is a series that is certainly worth a look. It's very early in the series now, so it could easily go sour, but it has enough going for it to have me signed up -- at least for now.
---
The author wishes you to note that he did not go into an extended discussion of how happy he was to see scorn poles, and other such Norse minutia, and tried to be all "professional."
The Author is also feeling much better, and considers himself no longer sick.
---
Corrected the year Iceland converted.
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