Comics

I kind of abhor the term "web comics" as, while I understand it is simply a way to differentiate a subset of the overall comics medium, I feel like it has a stigma attached to it so I simply avoid using it as much as I can.  I've been reading a lot of new comics lately though, and I thought I'd create a list of links here to share them and sort of keep track of the ones that stand out.  The problem is, there are a lot of good ones, but there are a choice few that have simply hit the mark for me.

http://amultiverse.com/ - Scenes From A Multiverse by Jonathan Rosenberg
http://gunshowcomic.com/ - Gunshow by KC Green
http://www.qwantz.com/index.php - Dinosaur Comics by Ryan North
http://www.dieselsweeties.com/ - Diesel Sweeties by R Stevens

That's all for now, I may update this list later.

THE SHARK

My first solo effort self titled "The Shark" came out yesterday. I'm excited about it because it represents the culmination of a lot of musical ideas I've had floating around for a while and also represents a significant amount of time spent over the last few months hammering out those ideas and developing them into something resembling songs.

I'm still putting the final touches on a physical release so that probably won't be ready to go for a bit still but it will be something special I think once it is finished. At that time hopefully I can play a show or two to support it as I really want to let some of these songs breathe in a live setting.

Beyond that, the future holds a little bit more time to rest and enjoy this release before I get back to work finishing up a Not Equal project.

Last but not least, the fort worth music fest is this weekend! Only five bucks for great music and then you can get in for free to any of the after parties happening that night featuring local bands tearing up. The one you should be most interested in is at the grotto where I will be playing with Dru B Shinin! we are being preceded by Dallas band BASS DRUM before the night is closed out by our friends The Skeeves. Gonna be a part-ay yeah!!!

The Shark

Gonna be trying to do some cleaning up around here over the next few weeks.  I'm going back to the studio to finish everything up this Friday!  In the meantime, gotta make everything look nice and consistent so I can effectively try to promote this record.  Being an independent artist is like being a record label and an artist all at the same time so I'm grateful to my Sphere Music Group family for helping me keep things together!  I probably won't have much else to say here from now until the album is out so now you can begin to wait anxiously if you like...  The Shark is coming!

Layover

So everything is pretty much done, the usually eternal mixing process cut short by my desire to just really try to focus on the basic elements of each song and make sure they are heard. The rest is just icing on an otherwise well crafted cake and I want it to be able to speak for itself. Too much mixing might result in it sounding stiff and inorganic.

I can't believe I forgot to record vocals for a song so I'm gonna have to go back to the studio to get that done this week and also to get my friend Sean's guitar parts recorded as well. It won't take long to do and once done, those elements can be easily added to what is mixed down on those songs so far. But it's a matter of scheduling the time.

So I feel like I've been talking about nothing but me me me all the time on here lately so I'll take this time to talk about a couple friends of mine that have projects out or coming out soon as well.

First up, Wrex Washington put out a project a couple weeks ago called The 22nd. It's a banging 8 track ep filled with Wrex's introspective lyrical stylings combined with a cool confident flow that anyone should be able to get down to.

Next we have A-Roy's new album Commencement coming out, a debut for the rapper if you don't count his rough draft ep or exercises in style mixtape. I think a lot of people are gonna be surprised by this one when it drops tomorrow.

Later this fall, Dru B Shinin drops a mixtape and a new album that I know everyone should be looking forward to. Check out his past work here as always.
Look out for sphere music group this fall, we've got some big things happening coming up and it would be a shame for you to miss out!

The final countdown

Well, this is it. All features and guest musicians are arranged, all songs are written and demo'd, the recording sessions are planned and scheduled. Rehearsing with EyeJay Thursday to get the drums down and then after this weekend, if I don't have a full album recorded, it won't be for lack of trying.

No turning back now!

Progress, schemes and dreams

So work on writing for my project has been progressing nicely. I've got most of my album done being written, just trying to crack the last two songs for it and go back and refine what I've written so far. It's always funny to me how the process of creating songs from scratch feels like cutting and pasting a collage of ideas and mashing it flat and trimming off the dangling bits until you have something that resembles a well thought out piece of work. 

EyeJay has been helpful and patiently letting me use his brain to help produce the demos out so I have a good foundation to teach someone drums to and then record at eagle audio some time in august. I'm pretty much doing the whole thing on my own cause it's easier than finding session musicians but I can't play drums and I'm trying to get a little string section together to perform on one of the songs. 

Lots of planning and doing coming up, the not so fun aspects of creativity. I'm looking forward to having the project in my hand to be able to give to people especially since I've seen the art development so far and it's looking pretty good if I say so. Justin Kiehl killing it as usual. And that is it for my update!

we are always under construction

Alright, well it's been a long time since I posted anything here and I recently was invited to get to try google + so I figure since this is a little more visible through that at least, I should come in and dust things off.  Some things have changed, others haven't but you probably didn't even notice anyways, did you. All my hard work and effort gone to waste...

Okay so the last thing I worked on was another project for Dru B Shinin' who you may or may not know - if not, get to know him here and listen to his latest EP The Clean Up!  I play pretty much all the guitars you hear and co-produced while up and coming super producer Eyejay arranged everything and made all of our ideas into actual songs that a person can rap over.  I co-wrote and produced Just Got Home for which I also added vocals  as well.  I hope you like it, to me the album is a great collection of songs to listen to especially on a summer day but it could inspire you on a winter one too.  I'm proud of the end result!

Most of the recording for the album was done at Eagle Audio Recording and if you live around fort worth and scrape together the money to record a project of your own, take advantage of the friendly people there and the ridiculously awesome facilities they have.  Jeff, the engineer there makes it his job to help you sound as good as you can.

Let's see, other than that, I am working on a solo project in my spare time that I intend to get recorded in the next month or so and my Midi McFly work almost never stops.  So get at us if you need a track or a song or any guidance with a project your working on!

Dru B Shinin' Photos

Here are some photos of Dru with EyeJay and myself, The Shark

So I don't know about you

but working to produce creative content is one of the most fulfilling forms of work I know besides good hard labor. The work I do on an every day basis I don't really care for all that much. It's interesting enough to do for money...

There isn't enough joy in life lately, or ever really. There is always too much despair.

I've been reading a lot lately, or at least a lot compared to where I'd been for the last few years which was nothing. I used to love reading but nowadays the tired excuse "I don't have the time" seems to suddenly have the energy to produce itself with a surprising regularity. I've been working on things instead which is good but stressful. I don't think I'm getting enough sleep so I guess here's where we find out can I crack it or just crack? I think I'm doing fine though. Anyways, fine enough to sit here wasting time blogging instead of working! Oh god, where am I?

I have a show on February 11th with my band Not Equal. It's going to be really awesome. Having a show scheduled is a galvanizing feeling. I feel like I can conquer anything! The next day though who knows. It's this kind of uncertainty, like walking over the edge of a cliff with your eyes closed. Is there a bottom or will you just fall forever?

I'm looking forwad to playing shows because to me I guess that is the reason for doing what you're doing. Being in a band and not getting gigs is pointless or, at least it can feel that way. What's the point of playing or writing songs if you're not going to find some way to share them with people? I don't even care if people love us but I'm going to try my best to get them to. Fame is unimportant but success I guess by my own definition is important.

Things happen, slowly but surely. It's hard to remember to just breathe sometimes and experience one moment to the next.

So the last day of Comicon was an interesting one. I didn't do a whole lot and part of it was just a mad scurry to find any last minute cool things to get for people. I did go to a panel for Doctor Who though and got to hear David Tennant give his farewell to the show and talk about the last specials that will be airing. Also, Russel T Davies was there which was cool too as we got to get a lot of insight into the production of the show and hear them talk about the experience of working on it. It was interesting and the trailers for the specials look awesome. I'm excited about the direction the show can take with the person that will be running it who was one of the best writers on the show and also even though David Tennant was amazing, I think he is right in that one of the things that keeps the show watchable is the chance to meet and get to know a new doctor each time he changes.

Afterward, I wandered around some more and then sat and people watched at a cafe near the convention. I met and talked a bit with a lady whose husband works on a tv show called Kid Vs Kat. It seems that the theme of everything I have heard from all of these creators is that the only way to do anything at all well or in a capacity that people can respond to and enjoy, you have to just work every day and do it. Write when you don't want write, write everything that you think you might want to write, even if it's not good, learn from what you did wrong and then work to improve that. This applies to drawing, kung fu and pretty much everything. It's a constant and perpetual battle but if you enjoy it, it will never feel like work at all.

Comicon Saturday July 25

So I hate to say it but comicon is pretty much almost over. There's not much to do that I haven't already done or much to say I haven't already said. The costumes have been great, a brilliant mix of terrible and awesome and at least the ratio of Rorschach's and Jokers to the rest of the costumed crowd is a bit more balanced. Even so, there were still more of them than anything and seriously if you're going to go out as fucking Rorschach, just... just don't. Anymore. Please for the love of alan moore, make it stop. And you Jokers, well you're just ironic without even knowing or trying, so please continue.

The con has been amazing. I've met and talked to so many amazing people. Frazier Irving, Camilla D'errico, and lots of others. amazing is a word to me that can't be overused. It has been used to describe Spiderman for a million years and still remains effective. These are the kind of people I want to be. The kind that are just talented enough and hard working enough that they get just enough recognition to subsist upon doing nothing but creating art. Show me how to live.

I tried to go to one panel today and that was the only disappointment. It was a panel where David Finch was going to, in front of all of us, describe and execute the process of creating a layout and foundations of a page of comic art from a page of comic script in real time. I was finally going to see a professional do it and would have learned so much. If only... If only the professionals of comicon.. no that's not fair. Here, let me just re-enact it for you.

Me: Hey, this is the David Finch Panel right?

Comicon Professional: Yes, the other panel is still going on.

Richard: Oh, so is there a line yet?

Comicon Professional: Yes, they are lining up there (points to a few people lined up against a wall opposite the door.

Me: Cool, thanks!

Richard and Greg walk over to stand against the wall at the end of the line where roughly 20 people are waiting to see the David Finch creating a page of comic art panel. We proceed to have conversation with the people in front of us about art and how they are working on stuff themselves comics-wise. Some time passes and we realize it is now about five minutes past when David Finch's panel was supposed to start. Suddenly, a lady approaches!

Lady: I'm sorry, the current panel is running a bit longer than they intended, they're still in the middle of a Q&A session but they'll be finishing shortly.

Me: Oh well it's no problem!

Me (thought bubble): As long as I'm about to watch David Finch draw for an hour, who gives a dick what this panel is doing?

Richard: Man, I hope that they hurry up though.

So we wait. And we continue to wait. And then some more waiting takes place. It is now about 5:25 and the panel was scheduled to start at 5. All of a sudden, the doors open and David Finch comes running out of the panel room down the hallway toward the mezzanine to disappear around the corner.

Richard: Wasn't that David Finch?

Guy behind us: That looked like David Finch didn't it?

Richard: Yeah that's what I'm saying, that was David Finch! Maybe he forgot something in his car?

Me: Well, maybe. I'm sure he'll be back.

Two ladies then come out of the room.

Richard: Was that David Finch? Where was he going?

Lady One: I'm very sorry. David Finch thought his panel was supposed to start at 4 and so since he was already here, he went ahead an joined Arthur Suydam and they sort of did a co-panel together.

Random Guy: So then what were we waiting in line for just now?

Lady One: David Finch's Panel. But it's over now, I'm very sorry. He went ahead and did his with-

Random Guy: Well look just so you know it would have been nice if someone had told us that is what was going on. We've all been waiting here for an hour (I had only been there about 40 minutes.) for this panel and they told us that the last one was still going on so it would have been nice to know that the one we were actually waiting for was going on in fact now. Just sayin'.

Indeed sir. Just sayin' for the benefit of us all. This time, I couldn't use my magic to save the day. David Finch did not materialize again to us in any way shape or form. Truly, the blackest hour of comicon. All the poor lady had to offer was apologies because, after all, she was not the one who told us to wait in line for a panel that had already started. She had no way of knowing but.. whatever! I had to console Richard because as an artist, he was most upset. He cried on the couch for nearly an hour. Not really but yeah, he did, like a little girl. Anyways, my point is... well there isn't one. It was simply an example of the kind of frustration that a comicon can provide. I'm really not even that upset because the rest of the time spent was so great.

Tomorrow I will go to the Doctor Who Panel. Then I will go home. I have a medium size box of stuff. Stuff I bought for me and stuff I bought for other people and stuff other people bought for other people through me. I can't wait to go home and share it all.

In Brightest Day - Friday July 24 2009

I accomplished quite a bit today. But before I bore you with things like Ron Jeremy texting on the pee soaked streets of San Diego or using my will power to alter reality so as to make absolutely sure I got to see Warren Ellis, I think we should take a moment for what I'd like to call the Shark Consumer Corner.

First of all, Hotels.com is the worst. With the exception of one person who was actually willing and able to get off their ass (and probably not even literally as she just had to make some calls) the whole of Hotels.com customer service department is a bunch of goat lickers. Specifically, goat testicle lickers. When I originally arrived in SD, I made my way to the hotel by cab after waiting twice for a shuttle which never came after calling for it and was able to check in thanks to Richard calling in and letting them know I was coming. This was fine and helpful even though at first I wasn't really sure what to think when I was pointed to our room and it had a handicapped logo on the sign. Okay says I. So its the handicapped room, whatever. There was nothing I could do, I didn't think about it any more. I had a comicon to get to and get registered for! So anyways, fast forward and I'm back in the room and Richard and Stephen show up. Richard is a little upset and understandably so. He explains how he went about registering specifically for a room with 2 beds that would be able to contain 3 adults. He explained this to the hotel and they told him that Hotels.com told them to just give us whatever is available. The rest of the night is spent with Richard on the phone trying to explain to hotels.com why it doesn't make any sense whatsoever for him to specifically request and make a reservation for a room with 2 beds for 3 adults if they are just going to tell the hotel to give us the handicapped room. We finally got someone there who was reasonable and so after a night of sleeping on the floor, we are in a room with 2 beds and at a lower rate. None of this was the hotel's fault and the only thing hotels.com ever tried to do with the exception of the one lady who fixed our problem was tell us that they can't be responsible for anything and place Richard on interminable hold.

Also, there is no fan in the bathroom so we have set a rule of asking the other two people sharing the room if they would like to "go down to the bar, per chance". This is to avoid any discomfort that should arise due to the smell of shit that is forced to permeate the apartment because they don't have a stupid fan of any kind.

So whatever, that's fine. Last night, I went with Richard to a pub called Henessy's where some people were holding a Drink and Draw event. It was a great opportunity to meet other artists and comic fans while killing brain cells and I enjoyed the inspiration that comes from talking to these people. A lot of really good artists were there and a lot of amateur artists but you could see the passion in each one of them for what they were doing. I even got a Richard Georges 2009 comicon exclusive sketch out of it! I need to write more...

Today, I woke up still a bit tipsy from last night and wasn't sure if I had it in me to go through with anything at all. I allowed myself to take requests from friends back home see and since none of them were necessarily unreasonable, I felt it would only solidify my slacker image if I was incapable of returning with anything at all. I think I did pretty well though. Today was filled with meeting and listening to creators who have made it big in their respective fields. People I have a tremendous amount of respect for and if I could only emulate their hardworking nature even in a small way, I would feel validated as a creator. I have seen so much and got some cool things as well.

The first thing I did was to get down to the convention center so that I could have a chance to meet Terry Brooks. While I myself may not have read many of his books, I'm a fan of his Magic Kingdom of Landover novels and my friend Justin is an even bigger fan of his Shannara series of books so it was nice to get to meet him and see that he is just a nice guy who clearly just loves to write. I also got to have him sign some stuff. Someday I'll get around to reading more of his work but i know Justin will be a very happy person when I get back.

For comics, there really isn't that much going on. I got a sketchbook from Steve Epting cause that guy is just the bee's knees when it comes to drawing. I got to hang and talk with Carlos D'Anda with Richard while flipping through his art and see all of the radical stuff he has been doing for DC of late. I found out he's been doing a lot of concept work for DC Video games like Arkham Asylum and got to see them. He's really good and I'd keep an eye on him as he has done some interiors as well. He has a good eye for composition of his images and the technical proficiency to pull off what he visualizes. He's also really cool and everyone should check out his stuff.

After this, I walked around a bit more with Richard and I visited the Behemoth booth to check out their new game. It looks kind of neat and should be another fun multiplayer game to play but I'm such a fan of the brawler genre that I don't think I'll be interested in any game from them now that isn't castle crashers 2.

The only panel I went to today was one called After the first 1000 pages. It was interesting because it was basically a panel of some great artists like Becky Cloonan and Gene Colan talking about their approach to developing their art. The fact that they all repeated the same message that in order to improve, you simply have to continue to draw every day even when you don't want to. One of the panelists likened the discouragement that comes with closely watching your own art improve to the same feeling you get watching the minute hand on a clock move and I thought that was appropriate. It was informative and inspiring. I also got to meet and get a picture with Becky Cloonan and tell her how much I loved her work on Demo, forgetting to mention anything else she's drawn like a moron but whatever. She was really nice.

Afterward, it was back to the convention floor. I spent most of the afternoon trying to find out exactly where Warren Ellis was going to be and the people at the Marvel Booth pointed out where but neglected to mention there was already a line forming for him. Thankfully I was able to spot the various copies of Transmetropolitan and Planetary people were holding for him to sign and made my way to the back of the line only to find that there was a guy there with a sign pinned to his shirt that said "LAST IN LINE. 'NUFF SAID." Fuck that I said! There were a couple people standing around him in a sort of line like fashion lamenting that there were only going to be so few people allowed in line and it really was short, maybe 20-30 people long. I stayed there anyways and my persistence paid off when one of the booth people finally came along after Warren and Masao Maruyama showed up and took the sign to move it back about 10 more places. There was already a huge line behind me even at this point so I don't know if any of those people got to actually get in but whatever, I was official now! I got to meet and shake Masao Maruyama's hand and tell him that Madhouse was one of my very favorite animation studios and they should be yours too because the work that they put out for all of their various projects is nothing short of extraordinary. Seeing this guy from Japan who is pushing 70 sitting there with all of his accomplishments under his belt was something I never thought I'd get to experience in person. I got to tell Warren Ellis that he was the main reason I got into reading comics in the first place and he apologized to me in his deadpan fashion. Richard had given me his sketchbook where the first page was a sketch of a woman to sign but Warren didn't want to sign someone else's art even though there was plenty of space on the boob for it. He was nice though and still signed the inside cover of it for him.

By this time, I am feeling pretty overwhelmed from carrying all the weight of my day around with me and so Richard and I returned to the hotel laden with accomplishment and inspiration. I hope that someday someone can tell me that I inspired them to greatness the same way these people have done for me. I am tired now though so I am going to bed. The rest of the evening wasn't much to note with the exception of one thing. On our way out to find somewhere to eat, we were walking along one of the seedier streets of SD which I have noticed is very much a fucked up city like anywhere else. It seems all you have to do is go one or two streets away from Fifth in either direction and you will find urine, homeless people and Ron Jeremy hanging out texting on his phone. What a great city.

Drunk and Wrote

There is something that I haven't figured out yet how to express that is held within our temporal interactions. That spark, that flame, going back to the days when we were cave men and women discovering how to create, how to change, how to take hold of this life that we are given; this life that we must take and grasp by its lowly but still intimidating and intimate horns that provide fear and reassurance. This creative slight that I inflict upon this virtual space is simply temporary for as long as the data is held in place by the electromagnetic field created by the interaction of molecules that we all can manipulate.


I have walked so far this evening and found yet again as with any big city, the countless lives given to waste, they have nothing left to offer but everything to take, I often wonder what the difference is that puts them in their place. Compared to them, I'm like a golden calf, fed grain and milk and diatribe ubiquitous disgrace I wonder if I wear it on my face the same as those left more despondent. Those left to ask themselves or God why it befalls them to be the ones who must teach everyone that in every action, there lies a reaction. That reaction is the only thing that you can not control. Some give their lives to art the senseless selfess self expression of their selves broken in parts, an attempt at digression from the senselessness of human life or any life of any creature that was given any chance to put their fool mark on this earth.


There's something to be said for inspiration but without the friction of a noble heart that learns to push forth regardless of the doubts of others or itself or of the pack of ravenous creatures that seek to enslave life just so that it fulfills no other purpose than its own survival. There's not necessarily anything wrong with that but life lived with that mindset is doomed to extinction. Doomed to death, doomed to oblivion, doomed to only be remembered for the things it took away in the face of a destined self destruction that we all must come to face and I know that I'm a part of it, I'm still trying to not be part of it, is it possible to not be part of it, or is it just our human nature, is it just the destiny of atoms vibrating in place.

drunken banter

all it takes is wind in your face

and then you know what to do

you have to continue

to push forward

and do the things you do

with gusto

participate in

this human race

and be the thing you

were born to be

do the things you were brought up to do

push that race into its place

thank you for everything

youre welcome to anything

I have created and shared

anything I've dreamt or dared

nothing is the counter source

nothing is give in

to the people that would seek to

dominate discriminate

hating and criticizing

instead of just plain living

we are just a people an ectoplasmic

response to the infatuation with everything we know and love

Comicon 2009

So this has been somewhat of a whirlwind of a year. The kind that picks you up and moves you around a whole lot but you still end up set down no better or worse than you started... The theme however as Sean says is "tangible progress". We'll see...

In other news, I am in San Diego at Comicon! Holy shit! Anyways, it's been pretty cool so far. The novelty isn't quite there as this is the second one I've been to but it's still only the second and so, still pretty overwhelming. So far my time has been spent doing secret things but tonight, Richard and I are going to head out to a Drink and Draw at a bar downtown so that should be cool. I will be doing the drinking and wondering why I am not a more prolific writer that can take advantage of this opportunity to meet and drink with (maybe) great artists.

The only things of note that I have done are wait in line, wait in line and then there was some more waiting in line. I also took some pictures of some of the people I have seen but there's a lot. I hope to have a lot more pics by the end but as I post them I will let you know. After that, I waited in line some more. Oh yeah, Warren Ellis is gonna be here! I need to remember to stop by one of the discount trade retailers for a book to get him to sign and any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm wishing I had brought my copy of Ocean now that I think about it. But whatever, I may see if I can't find a copy of New Universal in hard cover or something.

Anyways, I did go to one panel so far. It was an Assassin's Creed 2 panel so I got to pretend I was at E3 cause they gave the exact same demo. Am I allowed to talk about video game panels at a Comicon? I guess I better remember to add Video Games to the labels for this post. It looks awesome but the panel really bored us with their talk of convergence or, as it is better known to some, CROSS PROMOTIONAL MARKETING OF AN IP THROUGH A COLLECTIVE OF MEDIUMS AS OPPOSED TO ONE. Basically, Ubisoft paid to make some assassin's creed live action movies along with the studio that did all the cg work for 300 and Sin City and they're excited that they didn't just throw money around to farm it out like some big corporation might have done. Wait...

In other news, the booths are all lively and more or less the same. Marvel is all about the Iron Man 2, DC is all about the Blackest Night but not as much as they should be since it's the only cool thing they've got going on, boosh! Also, they did give lots of room to their Vertigo and Wildstorm friends so that was nice. I hope I get to see Becky Cloonan somewhere... She doesn't know it yet (except in dreams and premonitions that come to her in the night) but she and I are getting married. I should carry around a bag so I can capture her Borat style as soon as I see her. I think they're giving away bags at the Warner Bros booth that are just about right actually...

The War of Art

I just read through the war of art by Steven Pressfield in one sitting. An hour even. I think that if I am capable of this, you are too and if you have ever had a feeling that you were not doing what you should be doing with your life, you are doing yourself a disservice by not reading this book and learning why.

For real.

Resistance killed my push up test. Along with everything else I have ever truly wanted to do in life. I feel like I have finally been given a weapon in a war I didn't even know I was fighting.

Even within part three, for all it's posturing about angels and God as the source of creativity in all human beings, there was a wealth of information about how failure is in a way ingrained within our dna and within the social constructs that we have evolved as human beings. Are you your Ego or your Self? Are you the lone coyote with dominion over all that your will encompasses or the pack dog begging for scraps from the alpha dog and growling at those who would try to take your barely earned scraps away? Point being, it's a great book, beginning to end. I hate religion but thankfully the spirituality that Pressfield espouses never resorts to doctrine or religion. So go read it.

Push up test

So I am going to try this. I have been doing some push ups every monday and wednesday with some regularity after each kung fu class anyways so I think this will be a good intensive way to help build up my upper body strength and hopefully build my endurance up a bit more anyways. I'm not in terrible shape but I'm not in great shape and there's no such thing as too good of shape right? I just did my initial test and was able to do 19 push-ups. not the 60+ I was hoping to achieve but hey, it's a good solid number to work from. I plan to go friday sunday and tuesday. I wonder if I'll have any of my comics scripts finished before I can do 100 push ups? :D

What has religion done for you lately?

Okay, so I was talking with Justin today about religion and atheism and there's a few things I want to clear up for anyone who reads this and anyone who may have a misconception about what an atheist is.

First of all, an atheist does not "believe" that there is no god or supernatural power. There is no room for something like "belief" in the mind of an atheist. All a belief does is allow your mind a shortcut to thinking about an idea in a particular way and maintaining that it does not require any further investigation; that it is what it is. I "know" that there is no proof of a higher power existing because of the fact that all of the so called proofs for said higher power existing have been explained with only a little scientific investigation.

Second of all, that faith exists and that religions (any religion at all!) exist is definitely in no way, not even one fucking iota of a shred of proof that God or any semblance of God exists (except in the way that ideas exist if you want to get technical you dick). You think that people are incapable of putting trust in the unknown or having faith in the absence of God? Even I do it more than I'd like to admit. It doesn't mean that a single one of the Judeo-Christian mythologies or any number of other polytheist mythologies are anything more than fanciful what-if tales written by people that had nothing better to do than sit and wonder about such things. And they're great and fun to read (when they aren't tedious and boring). You may even learn something from them (when they actually have something to teach).

But this brings me to my final point. If the lessons you are taking away from religion or your spirituality are that it is right and noble to commit yourself to some unknowable or even knowable higher power and that you are made even more holy by yielding unquestioningly to the words of such a power that have only ever been interpreted and presented by other men...

The fact of the matter is, you are a slave.

And you're not a slave... are you?

I forgot though! You don't 'believe' in all these religions, of course they all are getting it wrong. They are interpretations by men of something that is unknowable and undefinable! Faith is an ongoing battle and it's natural that it should be tested by the acts of wickedness that surround us all but is that not just the devil trying to convince you to give up? You think you've come to spirituality on your own terms but you really haven't. Instead you are now subscribing to the raving lunacy of your own mind instead of that of another's. I guess that's kind of mean. But I'm allowed to be mean cause I'm an atheist. I don't have to worry about any repercussions due to this. Unless you want to try to test me physically. Be satisfied in your knowledge that I am spiritually bankrupt because I revel in it. I party as hard as I can in it. Because I know there is no such thing as hell and that all the evil in the world is simply the cruel acts that we perpetrate on each other in our endless struggle to survive and be one better than those around us.

Justin made a good point in response to this:
"You might point out that the only thing atheist readily agree on is 'there is no god.' Beyond that: questions about morals, ethics, science, taste in music....whatever, that is open for debate...atheism makes no such dogmatic claims."

And this is true.

The thing that is most frustrating is that people will read this with the mindset that I am a hypocrite because for all my noise, I certainly "believe" pretty firmly in what I am saying. I can't tell you how nonsensical that is. These ideas and thoughts are like water flowing through my consciousness and open to be modified whenever there is some new bit of knowledge that presents itself in spite of what I think. People with faith on the other hand... The ones who think that faith somehow proves the existence of god and brag so loudly about their 'faith' proves god exists... well look, here is definition number 2 for faith from dictionary.com

2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact. (this is kind of funny because as I said before, even the scientist participating in the scientific process of proving his hypothesis can be susceptible to faith)

Well how the fuck can you say that your faith proves god exists when the reason you have to resort to faith in the first place is because there is no proof? The thing is, it automatically is no longer faith at that point. You're basically saying you "know" god is real, negating any amazing power that your so-called blind devotion to a mysterious unknowable entity provides you. I'm not going to talk about the people who seem to actually "know" god is real. They have spoken for themselves throughout history through the many atrocities committed in his holy name.

The point at the end of all of this i suppose is that, you can believe whatever you want because your mind developed the ability to extrapolate upon the sensory data that it receives. If you want to believe this is a magical ability granted to you by an omnipotent and omniscient being with a vested interest in your future, that's fine. But personally, as an Atheist, the quest for knowledge and understanding about life and everything will never be satisfied by such a mundane answer as "God did it."

http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/Dragon.htm
http://www.400monkeys.com/God/

Thursday

So Thursday was a busy day. The morning saw information imparted by some independent creators about an organization they founded and how forming such an organization has helped them realize a success in comics that they otherwise might not have found. It was called the Antidote Trust and I will look into it some later.

From there it was to the Doctor Who panel (sans Russel T Davies who is apparently 'hard at work' writing Torchwood) in which we were treated to Stephen Moffat telling about his enjoyment working on the show and his new position as showrunner. We got to see some clips from his episodes, listen to him be hiliarious and hear some good and terrible questions from the audience. At the end we got to see a trailer for the christmas episode that comes out this year. It involves Cybermen and it is set in Victorian England. And having Stephen Moffat in charge is going to make this season give Russel T Davies previous 3 a serious run for their money.

Next up, the Torchwood Panel began with Jason Barrowman leaping up onto the stage and the very table like a rockstar at his introduction. He was joined by David Gareth-Lloyd and Naoko Mori for what was a very entertaining about working on the show. We weren't treated to anything new really here but I did leave early so it may have come at the end. I did get to hear John Barrowman express his desire to play Captain America though in response to a fan question about it and apparently he's a contender. A good one in my oppinion.

Next came a panel that Entertainment Weekly put together featuring Grant Morrison, Jim Lee, John Cassaday, Mike Mignola, Robert Kirkman and Matt Fraction. It was interesting to hear them all speak about comics, the impact of hollywood on comics, the impact of comics on hollywood. The nice thing is all of them are very down to earth and it was just cool to see these people that could be you or I (except for Grant Morrison who we all know is an alien) sitting up there talking about the future of comics. It was at this point that I started to really get a feeling for just how possible it is to be a comics creator. We also cut off about a hundred other people to be in this panel. It's funny all you have to do is act bewildered and innocent at all times and then the end of the line is anywhere you choose for it to be.

Next up, Richard and I skipped next door to the Afro Samurai Panel and got to hear the man himself, Samuel L Jackson express his liking for the character of Afro and his excitement at being involved with this creation. The RZA was running late but he made it still. I enjoyed hearing him talk about the creative process for the music of the original series and the new movie coming out. He said he was trying to essentially capture the spirit of a crazy bitch in his sound this time since the antagonist is a woman in the movie. We then got to see a trailer and also got to watch the producer for the new video game play some of it. They did an excellent job capturing the feel of the show in the game. and the music is all by the RZA and the voices from the original show returned for the game. It looks really slick production-wise with tons of stylistic blood and samurai action. Worth a rent at least.

The last panel of the day was one about creating a graphic novel. A lot of people were there, the only name I really knew was Stephen Grant but there were some others that I'm sure I'll be embarassed later at not knowing. At any rate, it was interesting enough but mainly amounted to the same advice anyone can give. Create what you want, don't compromise your art for the sake of being adapted to another medium and if you are a writer and want actual good art, be prepared to pay for it. sigh.

The feeling of walking through the exhibit hall is something that can only be expressed through pictures. I'm sorry for not having uploaded them yet. I haven't really had the opportunity but if I can tonight, I will. I've been trying to get as much free shit as possible but so far i've been beaten by the early risers. Today will be no different I'm sure but tomorrow...

Preview Night

so it's only been one day and not even a full day and already my eyes have seen more than my brain wanted to bother processing. At the Marvel booth, we saw a mock up of the iron-monger. Ed Brubaker and Humberto Ramos stood idly around chatting with people while Matt Fraction and others signed autographs off to the side. The DC booth was a whirlwind of activity that I barely spent any time in but will definitely check out more later. DC Universe Online was on display in pre-alpha stage and the rest of the exhibit hall was awash in color and light. So many artists are there and so many writers. The Spirit is the theme as everything from busses to bilboards are advertising the movie. I imagine only during comicon will you see something like the stargate MMORPG advertising covering an entire bus in downtown SD.

Today I will simply have to take pictures of everything. And try not to go crazy spending money...

There are so many panels I want to go to yet so many that conflict with each other. Plus with the number of people that are there it may be a matter of not even being able to fit into the rooms. I guess I haven't been learning kung fu for nothing.

Richard and I got to have a special studio pass and sit in a mostly empty reserved section for the screening of Fringe. It looks interesting, already we have a sort of Lost like conspiracy-mystery and drug induced science. Which is the only kind of science if you ask me. The show takes it's name from the idea of "fringe science" which you may know as pseudo science or crap. However, the premise is one of science fiction and once the mysterious Massive Dynamics corporation rears it's ugly head as a result of an investigation into flesh devouring chemicals you quickly get a sense of the kind of show you're watching. Ultimately it's a question of where the show is going and what it will be about as it goes on. Thumbs sideways I say so far.