October 31, 2006
Haunted Hype Machine

   Before I roll out the big barrel of me this week, I'd like to thank my amigo Gary Sella for emailing me when my site went down last weekend. It was a minor glitch that turned out to be easily corrected, but if Gary hadn't pointed it out, it would still be down today! Believe it or not, I don't check out my site every day. I used to, when I had the late-lamented-but rarely-visited message board, but now I just check old blogs to prevent myself from repeating a subject.

   Random ramblings:

   * As we prepared for Halloween, I recalled fond memories of my father making candy apples for Halloween treats. This was back in the '70's when it seemed that everybody knew their neighbors and moving away was a major event, also, serial killers weren't so glamorized as they are today, so our apples were safe to eat. In fact, we'd get neighbors coming around for seconds! My dad had an old gas stove and a giant copper pot and the smell of hot corn syrup...mmm...corn syrup...where was I?

   * I used to think that Thanksgiving was the start of the binge-eating season, but Halloween actually is, when you have leftover candy lying invitingly on the tabletops.

   * Really, really looking forward to Darwyn Cooke's The Spirit monthly starting in December. If anyone can do Eisner's character justice, it'd be Cooke. I love thumbing through The New Frontier trade paperbacks and the N.F. action figure line is a true joy to behold!

   * Did you know that my Funk & Wagnall's standard desk dictionary contains the word "Co-equal"? What the-? It means: adj: "Of the same value, age, size, etc. N: The equal of another or others." Uh, isn't that what equal means?!! Why oh why would someone come up with a pointless term as "Co-equal?" Something's either equal or it's not! I suppose some scholar who's studied the nuances of the english language can justify it, but it really stood out when I came upon it in the dictionary. Much like when people use the improper term "Irregardless" instead of "regardless". It shouldn't chap my ass, but it does, for some reason. Grrrr...

   * Time to remind myself of calming influences...Hey, ya know what? One thing I genuinely love about Florida is the variety of tiny lizards that dart around everywhere outside, and occasionally inside, if you're not careful. You know how the Star Wars movies have little automatons skittering jerkily by a character's feet? Same thing. I never tire of watching the lizards zip around. I thought you'd like to know that.

   * I get some requests to bring back some musical recommendations in my blogs, so here we go, but keep in mind, I like jangly guitar garage rock so if you're not into that, you might want to skip this. Bands I'm diggin' lately, in no particular order:

   Art Brut! Good snarky British New Wave revisited.

   All things Jack White, whether White Stripes or his side-project, The Raconteaurs! I know it's perceived as "tre cool" to like him, but the accolades are deserved.

   Manic Hispanic! A mexi-mosh freewheeling punk band who's been around entirely too long for me not to have known of them, but I know of them now and love 'em! One song I love by them is a sped-up cover a Ramones song (didn't think it was possible) of Sheena is a Punk Rocker, rechristened "Creeper is a Low Rider".

   Amy Rigby! Speaking of The Ramones, buy a download of the song "Dancing with Joey Ramone" by Amy. It's a heartfelt love letter to the late punk pioneer with sweetly-sung cooing lyrics and an infectious handclapping beat that you can't resist shaking to! Look'a me, I'm shakin'!

   The Teddy Bears! The sound is a bit of Iggy Pop mixed with Bauhaus' Peter Murphy (remember him?)

   The Raspberries, my retro-recommendation. This '70's band, fronted by Cleveland's Eric Carmen (not Cartman) who went onto sappy hits that naturally topped the charts, as rockers traditionally rarely make the top ten. Anyway, everybody knows the big hit of The Raspberries, Go All The Way, but via my Sirius Satellite Radio, I've been exposed to more songs that rock just as hard, such as Ecstasy.

   Well, I've been keeping myself busy in between 52 issues, inking some pages for the relaunched Gen13 over Sunny Lee, who's got a fun, energetic style and seems to like the extra rendering I've been adding in the ink stage, particuarly on trees, as you'll see in #4. Editor Ben Abernathy and I have been wanting to work together again since Team Zero, and we have a good rapport. In this age, with all the freelancers and editors, it's rare to find time to get chummy with each other when deadlines neccesitate short conversations, but with Ben and 52 editor Michael Siglain, I feel more comfortable than I have since I worked on the Bat-titles in the '90's.

   So I've been nauseatingly content lately (as long as you don't bring up the word co-equal), and, quite possibly, full of myself, so I've been getting out the word in interviews (and the word is Drew, I guess). Old pal Jennifer Contino had a handfull of good questions for me. Last time she interviewed me was almost two years ago and I was in a much different place, mentally back then. Now I positively drip enthusiasm (just don't step in it). You can read it at:
http://www.comicon.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/ubb/get_topic/f/36/t/005693.html

   And if you haven't had your fill of me, (really, is too much ever enough?) you can listen to me prattle on geek speak episode 194. Check it out at http://www.comicgeekspeak.com/episodes.asp if you can white-knuckle it through my nasal drone. Eh. It was terrific fun doing the phone interview, but I cringed upon hearing the play-back as I hate my everyday speaking voice. When I'm at conventions, for instance, this upcoming Wizard World Texas show November 10-12, I instinctively project my voice with a clearer resonance, as I'm aware of the competing noises around me. But when I'm on the phone, I tend to have this wheezy honk in my voice. I spent most of my developing years a softspoken kid who just wanted to be invisible most of the time, and when I have to go into fanboy/salesman mode, I have to work up a head of steam before talking, sorta crank myself up as I pick up a phone. It's a miracle anyone can yap with me for more than a few minutes but friends and family overlook one's shortcomings...

   Here's a wacky note to end on, courtesy of friend Chuck Dixon, who took this pic for me! Thanks, old bean!
 
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