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09.29.03
– Feeling a little better…
Recent
Movies: Thunderblah!
Music: Johnny Cash: Classic Cash, The Patsy Cline
Story, various video game music (Nerd)
Literature: On Writing Well by William
Zinsser, Pumping Irony by Tony Kornheiser, If Chins
Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell
Games: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (GBA)
My day, albeit
a school day, was better than most, as it featured contact with
friendly human beings, some of which I hadn’t seen in awhile.
And I had actual conversations (as opposed to the usual speed greetings
whilst going to my next class) with these people. This made me feel
like much less of a chump and much less lonely, which is always
good. Erin Hyden told me she thinks Thunderblah! is awesome,
and after watching it again, I would have to agree. Anyway, back
to loneliness… it’ll probably be back by the weekend…
at least it wouldn’t surprise me, anyway.
I finally finished
Kornheiser’s book yesterday, which has been on loan to me
from my sister since early last summer, I believe. I know, I read
so quickly I can’t get anything out of it. Recently, my interest
in reading somehow resurfaced. I can’t say I’ve really
had an interest in reading since... probably my sophomore year of
high school. I’ve read ten pages of Campbell’s book,
and any schlub could tell just from Bruce’s childhood (which
I’m not even finished with, yet) that he is an awesome and
hilarious dude. I can’t wait to read the rest. His picture
on the cover is so ridiculously smug, it’s as if he’s
calling me an asshole and telling me he’s an asshole
without saying a word. One cannot ask for more than that. The next
book on my list is Lucky Wander Boy, which Matthew Sissom
recommended to me… y’know, since the book has video
games in it, and we like to play video games, and Matt works at
a video game store, and… sorry, I ran out of our connections
to video games.
You know what’s
funny about labs in college? You really don’t have to do much
work at all. Today, I got about three-quarters of the answers to
my Exploring the Universe lab just by overhearing what the people
around me were saying. Remember, be ever vigilant, and it’s
not cheating if others are too loud to keep it a secret.
Craig (that’s
my brother, foolishes) was telling me about some feature in an issue
of Electronic Gaming Monthly that was about young kids (between
10-12, I think) and classic video games. We were both pretty disappointed
in the results. These kids played oldies like Pac-Man, Q*Bert, Pong,
Donkey Kong, and Tetris. The results of this article prove to me
that this generation of youngsters has no class. None of these kids
liked a single one of the games, with the exception of Q*Bert, which
they liked because he cusses whenever he dies. What a disappointing
reason to like a game. Also, these kids had never even heard
of Tetris. Who hasn’t heard of Tetris?! I thought it was ageless!
I must be getting old or something. So I hope these kids go back
to their Grand Theft Auto and their Pokemon and their Final Fantasy
X-2: Three Naked Girlfriends for Nerds Everywhere, because I don’t
even want them playing the stuff I grew up with.
And now, it’s
time for some Bruce Campbell. Goodbye.
09.18.03
– “I don’t like it, but I guess things happen
that way”
Recent
Movies: Strangers on a Train, Groundhog Day,
Cléo de 5 á 7
Music: Highwayman 2; Gunfighter Ballads
Literature: On Writing Well by William
Zinsser, Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Games: Ninja Gaiden (NES), Castlevania: Circle
of the Moon (GBA), Final Fantasy Tactics (PS)
Well, last Friday
sort of got off to a bad start when I learned that both Johnny Cash
and John Ritter had died. I don’t usually take it hard when
celebrities die (exceptions off the top of my head: Jack Buck, Darryl
Kile, Owen Hart), but I did this time. I knew Cash was going soon,
but not Ritter. But, I grew up with both of these guys, so there
was more of an impact. I can remember watching Three’s Company
as early as age three or four. I didn’t know what the hell
was going on and obviously didn’t realize the significance
of the double entendre or the sexual innuendo at the time, but I
knew Jack Tripper was funny, and that’s all that mattered.
And Johnny Cash… well… I’ll never forget the times
Dad and I would go to Marble Hill to visit my grandma when I was
young. The trip to Marble Hill takes about a million years to a
kid of seven or eight years, but Dad had a great collection of music
in his truck—Cash, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Horton, Marty Robbins,
and more. I fell in love with those good ol’ tunes before
I even knew what music really was. But my memories of that Johnny
Cash cassette stand out. On highway 34, if I drive by a certain
landmark or intersection, my mind somehow manages to flash back
to tiny fragments of memories of those trips, and I can sometimes
remember exactly what song was playing when we passed those landmarks
or intersections all those years ago. I’ll miss both of them,
but I sure am glad I have TV Land (or Nick at Nite or whatever)
and some Johnny Cash tunes. I need to make it a point to “borrow”
my dad’s cds, as well.
I guess I won’t
write funny complaints in my Advanced Composition class anymore.
We are usually assigned a MindSprint that is due at the next class
period. Y’know, you pick a topic and write as much as you
can about it for a half an hour or whatever. Anyway, I wrote this
satirical little thing about the traffic that is always in my way
when I’m trying to get to school on time (actually, I revised
and recycled it from a journal entry in my creative writing class
last year. Shhh…). When I got it back, the professor had written
“You mean like driving the speed limit?” when I introduced
the generic slow-moving vehicle, and at the bottom he wrote “Hmm,
ever hear of leaving earlier??” I guess I wasn’t detailed
enough, as the slow-moving vehicle does travel under the speed limit,
and I leave for school around 50 minutes before class starts (hey,
it’s a long drive and my parking is bad). I don’t know
if he didn’t catch the humorous tone of the paper or if he
simply didn’t appreciate it, but I believe he was determined
to destroy me. And destroy he did, even though his remarks are technically
wrong.
Sports spew:
My Eagles are 0-2 and need serious work; specifically, McNabb, the
receivers and these young defensive second-stringers filling in
for the four or five injured starters. I noticed a lot of instances
in which the Eagle defenders were not within five yards of the receivers
when they made a catch. That’s not good, and neither is the
fact that none of the Eagle receivers can perform the art of grabbing
and holding on to the football when it is thrown to them. Even when
McNabb is on target, they can’t catch it. Nevertheless, at
least the Buccaneers and the Giants lost. Oh, and time is running
out for the baseball Cardinals. If they lose just one game of this
weekend series against the Astros, they’re finished.
That is all
for this week. I apologize for the long delay.
09.09.03
– As I type this opening line, this has potential to be the
most boring entry yet…
Recent
Movies: The Professional, Stand By Me,
UHF, Major League, a bit of Aliens and
Billy Madison
Music: Queen: The Platinum Collection, Kenny Rogers
Greatest Country Hits
Literature: On Writing Well by William
Zinsser (for school), Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Games: Believe it or not, none.
My softball
team’s season came to a close on Friday the 5th with a 20-0
loss to Frohna. It seems bad, I know, but this is my third season,
and we actually made it into the playoffs this season, as opposed
to the last two. We were the eight seed playing the first seed,
granted, but it was still fun to be out there. I got to play second
base, which I love compared to the outfield. I lost the ability
to play in the outfield this year—I think I was in a stretch
at one point in which I dropped four of five fly balls hit to me.
These were legitimate drops, too, not just balls I almost got to
but didn’t. However, I think I only made one error at second
this year, so I actually have fun at that position and am not having
anxiety attacks when a ball is hit to me. I’m also learning
how to pitch. I didn’t practice for about a month, but I thought
I did pretty well on my first two practices after the hiatus. Now
my arm is really sore, though, so I’m not doing so well.
I don’t
have much to say about school, aside from the fact that it’s
school, and I don’t think much of school. My Tuesday and Thursday
classes really suck because they are all across campus from each
other, and I usually have less than 15 minutes (thanks to teachers
that have kept the class up to eight minutes late) to get to each.
It goes like this: Dempster -> Grauel -> Rhodes. When it’s
40 degrees it’ll be all right, but even in the pleasant weather
we’ve been having lately, I get to sweating, and the people
around me don’t need or deserve that. Anyway, the only class
I think I really, truly enjoy is Exploring the Universe with Cindy
and JCobb’s dad. He’s rather entertaining.
In sports, the
Eagles lost (in extremely embarrassing fashion, at that) and the
Cardinals can’t beat teams that suck, so football and baseball
aren’t looking good right now.
I’m trying
to get into shape again. I’ve been doing this for… like,
three and a half years now, and I really never get anywhere. I have
spurts of extreme activity and inactivity. In this spurt of extreme
activity, I’m actually not doing too bad. However, I have
to not quit after a month like I always (always) do. If
I could just lose the gut and whatever excess fat that’s hanging
elsewhere and gain the ability to run a mile without dying, I’d
be pleased.
And that, I
believe, is the extent of the weblog this week, which is pretty
much a sure sign that I need to get a life during the school year.
Nobody wants to do what I want to do, and I don’t want to
do what everyone else is doing, so that pretty much ends that, huh?
Dubious
email link
09.01.03
– I’m such a chump.
Recent
Movies: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
Music: The Cars Complete Greatest Hits (still),
Johnny Cash Unchained
Literature: On Writing Well by William
Zinsser (for school)
Games: Mega Man 7 (SNES), Zelda: The Wind Waker
(GC)
I have no useful
insights about anything, and it makes me feel incredibly dumb. This
usually becomes evident in group work in classes. Group work is
my most hated part of school. It’s worse than oral reports,
worse than foreign language classes, and worse than ice breakers.
When it’s time to split into groups to do whatever, the professor
might as well say, “Okay, everyone, let’s split into
groups and see how irresponsible and ignorant we can make Brian
look,” because I won’t provide a single useful bit of
information as part of a group. Even if I read whatever piece of
literature we’re analyzing two… even three times over,
I won’t be able to remember anything about it, will be too
shy to say anything anyway, and generally end up feeling worthless.
Meanwhile, the other humanoids are erupting with succulent, scholarly
bits of wisdom that make me feel even dumber. In conclusion,
I read the stuff for tomorrow more closely and slowly in hopes I
can somehow contribute, but I assume it’ll be more of the
same.
Something else
bothering me lately: Why am I so slow at drawing comic strips? I
like drawing comic strips—if I didn’t, I wouldn’t
be doing it. So why does it take so long? I have the storyboard
right next to me that has little sketches of what all the frames
will look like, and all the dialogue and sound effects, but when
I sit down to work on it, I’ll just stare at it for 45 minutes,
maybe draw somebody’s head, and that’s a day’s
work. And I’m obviously getting nowhere fast. Part of it is
that I am a perfectionist when it comes to my stuff. If Mike’s
hair or eyes don’t look just right, I can spend unheard of
amounts of time drawing and erasing until I like it. Also, I don’t
know anything about anatomy, so anytime I want to draw Stu, I have
to dig through my pile of drawing books to get my anatomy book out
and see how his muscles are going to look in whatever pose he is
in. Also, when I don’t know how to draw something, I’ll
dread it for days until I decide to find something that serves as
a model.
I guess I answered
my own question there. I just don’t know how to fix it. I’m
thinking about emailing some other webcartoonist for advice. I know
some guys like Kurtz use templates for their characters, but I don’t
see that working well with my strip.
The NFL regular
season starts this week. As always, I wish the best of luck to my
Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns, and grim misfortune upon
the New York Giants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, and
Pittsburgh Steelers.
I expect No
Budget shirts to be in sometime this week, and I’m really
getting excited about it. The thought of people roaming around town
sporting No Budget propaganda is certainly something to look forward
to. Adam is already a sort of cult icon. Just think of what these
shirts are going to do for his legacy. The halls of Jackson High
School will whisper his name everyday (instead of just on the day
of Winter Homecoming). Those who know not of him will come to be
educated by his very presence, emanating from the fabric his image
is printed on. Truly, these are exciting times.
I am done for
tonight. Send me electronic mail,
if you dare.
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