I used to have a lot of energy back then – back when it used to be zine – back when I used to handcode everything, and had to manually update every single individual page of every individual article, every single time I decided to change either the look of the site or the added a new link to the navbar. I don’t know how I did it…but I did, and I managed to update often.

Now? It’s just a template that I coded in XHTML and CSS that’s loaded by a content management system (CMS) and I have less motivation to get to work on the back-end of things than ever before.  In my old age, I’m not so much of a “do-it-ALL-your-damn-selfer” anymore.

It’s a lot of work to get stuff ready for an audience. Which I guess is why not so many people have their own websites anymore, so much as “profiles,” “streams,” and “channels” (the list goes on) these days – leaving the joys of website ownership to the professionals whose careers demand that their portfolios be self contained within a fortress of solitude. Meaning – it’s a lot easier to hand something off to someone else to package, than it is to do all the packaging and marketing yourself.

Marketing can be fun. However, it’s also takes a huge chunk out of my creation time. But what good is a comic or a video if nobody sees it?

So I’ve started sending over comics, mostly a bit older from my book, over to this new zine that asked me to. I really appreciate the interest. It’s called People Under the Stairs, and can be found at  www.putszine.com

They update my comics every Monday.

It’s pretty good. Really helping me to get motivated again.

16pgs, b/w

cover price $3.50

$2.99 + s/h through Indyplanet.com

http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5289

I unfortunately didn’t take any photos when I posted it up, however, you’ll just have to trust me: this copy is like new. All that’s missing is the shrink wrap and original price sticker. The manual is pristine. I doubt it’s ever been removed from the case more than a couple times – in fact, I’m willing to bet the previous owner had the same habit as I do: open the game, pop it in the system, and never bother to read the manual unless you get really really super stuck on something.

I bought it a few months ago at a local used game shop for about $50. It just hasn’t been seeing much love from me, so even as good as it looks in my collection, I’m selling it off.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300544427832

For those of you not familiar with the game, here’s a clip off Youtube. The game is actually heavily story based, and has a lot of dialogue in between fights when playing the single player Campaign mode. The 3D is really good though for a 3D fighter made in 2001, and still stands up well today. It only looks bad when compared to the likes of SF IV and the new King of Fighters on XBOX 360.

The idea of a remake of AKIRA makes me sick. The idea of an Americanized live-action version makes me feel even worse. The rumor mill has it that this film will take place in New York City. Which, NYC is actually quite logical, as it’s perhaps the city most representative of America – the most symbolic. Although, I think LA could work as well (or maybe just for something more like BUBBLE GUM CRISIS? eep I better stop before I give the Hollywood rapists anymore ideas.)

I think that the film could be OK, if given to the right hands, but the original AKIRA film was already so monumental that it doesn’t need a remake, and in fact, it’s coming out soon on Blu-Ray in a special “restored” Anniversary edition.

Realistically, I know that regardless of whether the movie is good or bad, this remake won’t detract from the original, and if anything could bring about renewed interest in the original. Just look at the film adaptation of the English book series HIS DARK MATERIALS, the freakin’ pile of garbage that was THE GOLDEN COMPASS. Wasn’t for my anticipation of that movie, I never would have read the books. They’re great – I recommend them for anyone of any age – but the movie was a pile of shit:  Why the hell would you hand over a book about ATHEISM and the corruption of the Catholic Church over to a Catholic director to make in to a movie? Needless to say, many of the layers were lost with that one as all the central themes were stripped, in favor of turning it in to a simple adventure film. But anywhooo, I’m pretty glad I got to read those books that I otherwise wouldn’t have had it not been for the movie.

Then we have the SILENT HILL movie. It made sense actually to make an American adaptation of Silent Hill, since the games took place in a fictional small American town. I did enjoy the film, it’s probably the best video game movie ever made, but while I won’t say it sucked, I won’t say I was completely satisfied either. They changed the male lead to a female lead – in an interview the director Christophe Gans said that this decision was made because the role was a “motherly one,” and American audiences wouldn’t find a man in that position “believable.” I found that to be bullshit.

With Silent Hill I think there was too much money behind it. The “Hollywood” system needs to make their money back, or else a lot of people lose jobs. And because they rely on movies to make a living, they keep upping the ante with more and more gimmicks. I honestly believe the only real way to handle a property like SILENT HILL is with a modest budget, and a damn good director. Just go back and look at what’s already been made prior to Silent Hill, look at films that had a closer feel to the original mood of the game: David Lynch’s Eraserhead, the classic 60s horror film Carnival of Souls, Jacob’s Ladder, or even Takashi Miike’s GOZU. But instead, we got a relatively true to the original source game that was altered enough to appeal to a much more massive crowd.

I have much more respect for films that attempt something original, without having to name itself after its inspirational source. Take FEARdotCOM for example. That movie while not necessarily a classic, as a fan of RINGU I found it be quite interesting and enjoyable.  FEARdotCOM is an adaptation of the 3 original RINGU films, with elements of the Korean tv series thrown in, that came out the same year as THE RING in 2002. I caught it on tv a few years ago, and was actually quite surprised at how much better they were at telling the story than the American  RING series was.  THE RING had much better special effects, but had much less believability because it just seemed to throw in random supernatural stuff for the sake of special effects, while the original Japanese films seemed to work a logical set of rules (within the confines of its “world” anyway) and created a much more believable and psychological experience on a more modest budget.

I mention that because, well, I would much rather see a film inspired by Akira, with a different title and what not, than an adaptation that shares the same name. Especially if it’s altered enough to essentially not be the same story. Which, placing Akira in America does kind of undermine a great deal of the symbolism behind the original story! Which isn’t to say that some of those elements aren’t universal and couldn’t be transfered to another location, it just is a story that’s inherently very Japanese, that “America” itself doesn’t have quite the same right to. It’s would almost be akin to if we made our own version of GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES set here in America.

I’m hoping that this will turn out to be another Karate Kid, and totally surprise at me at how good it is when I see it, but I honestly doubt it will. Unless they get some serious talent that’s completely sensitive to the original sources behind this project, that has a real love of cinema, it’s going to suck. Especially, if it’s as the rumor mill has it: going to be PG-13 and split up in to multiple films.

That’s all for now.

I think I’ll plan something special for October. A contest or giveaway of some sort. We haven’t had one since 2002, when we gave away a crummy t-shirt from Cafepress. No, it’ll be much better than that.

In other news, I’ve been overhauling the backend of the site a good bit  this past month. That means, soon I won’t be using this wordpress blog anymore. The new blog will be hosted directly on Syrup Pirates, and will most definitely be updated way more frequently. In addition to just talking about SP related updates, I plan to post even more about things that interest me, such as schlocky films, 8bit games, golden-age comics, and vinyl records. If you’ve visited the site at all lately, you’ve seen that my past couple front page posts included 70s film trailers – expect more of that!

Aren't those some pretty stamps? And look at that bow.

I took the Holga out for a spin today. I was a little nervous taking photos with this analog camera, as it has been a long time since I’ve been without the instant gratifications of digital. Makes me wonder now how I did it, taking roll after roll of pictures when I was growing up. It’s been over a decade now since I used film.

I’m hoping that this roll will turn out good, and I am shooting ISO 400, so it shouldn’t be too bad. But, I just hope I really did take the lens cap off, and that I did hold the shutter down for the “right” amount of time. I know with these cameras you should expect WYSIWYG either (I’ve read the Holga view finder only shows about 60-70% of the area), so I hope I overestimated correctly in the right directions as well.

I mainly bought this camera because I’m going to a wedding, and I’ve always believed that “memories” just looked more authentic if they looked older. The Holga takes really fuzzy dreamy photos, although not as dreamy as the Diana F+ (which is the camera I really wanted), but “older looking” just the same. I can only hope my photos turns out something like this:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/tbd/3589075778/

The process of loading the film had me nervous enough. While turning the sprocket, so many film advance turns, I was so afraid of passing that “1″ I was s’posed to turn to. All those dots and dashes and arrows had me crazy nervous.

But hopefully by sometime next week I’ll have some photos to share. In the mean time, enjoy another photo taken with my phone.

Piggy posed for Holga today.

Speaking of my phone…I’m just amazed how good the outdoor shots look with that thing. The pictures in this post were taken with my Palm Pre. There’s no traces of the 90s webcam look that my old flip phones have had. It is really awkward trying to take photos with a smart phone, but I have definitely been taking a lot more photos with this phone than I ever took with my priors. Of course, the ability to upload directly to Facebook has had a major hand in that.

https://account.lomography.com/register?voucher=syrupneko

In their store you’ll find replica vintage toy cameras, vintage Russian SLRs, expired 120 film, and various accessories.

If anyone reading this is in the Tallahassee area, keep an eye out as I’ll be posting for auditions in the coming months.

My card arrived today, and I’m pretty happy with it. I ordered 2 actually: one is fine, while the other has a weird red smudge on it, so I don’t know if that’s from shipping or printers error. Either way, it looks good, colors came out great, and it’s on a pretty good card stock.

I first learned out this service through a Illustrator’s Market guide. It had suggested designing a card featuring samples of your work that can be mailed out to clients (current and potential) and galleries.

They have a wide range of services available, brochures, fliers, and even catalogs, all available at really reasonable rates (very low set up and printing costs!.) And they do all the printing and shipping for you. They also provide InDesign and Word templates for all their products.

At any rate, it’s goooood stuff. And if you’re looking to get in some last minute cards mailed out, I recommend using this service. Sure, it’s sort of like being a cheapskate, but at the same time, people will appreciate the personal touch of having sent out a card you designed yourself, even if it was bulk printed and mailed and a dozen other people all received the same card.