Tales from the Brain Jar, #2

Last week I started talking about my sketchbook. I had my plan set in motion. I had run out of space on my walls and I was tired of getting things framed. I had even gotten the hardest part out of the way, the first sketch was done. It would be easier asking people to draw a character with a brain jar if they saw someone else had already done it, right? I hadn’t really commissioned a lot of work yet, so I was pretty naïve to what some sketches would cost. It was 05 then and I was getting ready to go to Megacon.


So what was next? Check it out after the jump.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Flash

Welcome back to Flash Friday. Today I’m going to talk about something special in my collection. To set it up we have to travel back in time. According to the dates I’ve looked up, I had to be 4 may 5 at the time. I was still living just outside Detroit; Warren, Michigan to be exact. There was a convenience store just a few minutes down the road called Vans, my family would go there all the time. On one such trip I got my first Flash comic.

This is the cover to that book. No hyperbole here, this comic is the one that made me a Flash fan. But this book is a little different. What’s so different about it? Check it out after the jump.

Buckets of Beer

The beer list is back. I have started going about this a little smarter and now when I drink I’m going to group like beers together. There had been too many nights where the stouts, ipa, and lagers were not getting along in my stomach. So I would have made my father proud tonight, I tackled five beers from the Budweiser family. I’m not going to go into detailed analysis of these beers; most people have tried them I’m sure. I wouldn’t wish Bud Light Lime on my enemies, but some people like it so what do I know.


So in my bucket was Budweiser, Bud Light, Bud Select 55, Bud Light Lime, Bud Light Golden Wheat. These are beers 56-60. I’m around the halfway point now, wooo. I would have more to share today, but I was only at the bar an hour.

Surfers Encounter Great White Shark

Just from the headline it sounds like it is going to be a horror story doesn’t it? Like the poor Australian surfer, Nicholas Edwards who was killed by a great white on the 18th. But this is a different kind of story. This is the story of a 10 foot great white sharked beached and the two people who found it.

Andrew Eckersley came across a surfer pouring water on the shark and trying to dig a channel in the sand to get it back into the water. I haven’t seen any articles identifying the surfer, but that is even more impressive to me. That guy found the shark on an empty beach and started trying to help. If something happened there wasn’t even anyone else there to go get help.

Anyway, Ruth Fahey also shows up and gets some incredible pictures of the whole thing (those are her pictures posted in this blog). The two men eventually have to drag the shark back into the water. They took the shark into the water past mid-thigh level, which has to be pretty scary. The shark eventually swam out to sea.

Sadly, it was probably beached because it was sick. The next day it was found on the beach dead. On top of that some asshole cut out the jaws as a souvenir. I feel bad for the poor shark, but I love hearing how the two men risked their own safety to try and save it.

Tales from the Brain Jar, #1

I like original comic art a lot, but there are problems with collecting it. It gets expensive quick and before you realize it, you’ve run out of wall space to display things. Back in 04 I got the idea to start a sketchbook. Now I had seen some amazing books online, so I knew I wanted a theme. At the time I had grand illusions of writing a few web comics and using a brain in a jar as the logo. So I figured I’d get some of my favorite characters interacting somehow with a brain jar. This has made it very hard to set up with some characters but so far has gotten some pretty amazing results.

The link to my sketchbook is on this blog, so you may have already seen the sketches. But I figured I’d take one sketch a week and tell the story behind them. Some of them are pretty funny. Some may just introduce a comic or character you aren’t familiar with.
Check out after the jump to see the first sketch.

Pinkerton in Concert? Please Make it so!

Rivers Cuomo told MTV that he is considering doing a tour where they play two nights in each city that go to. The first night they’ll play the entire blue album, the next night the entire Pinkerton album. Now the blue album has some amazing songs, “Surf Wax America” and “In the Garage” are favorites of mine, but Pinkerton is an amazing album. I would pull a serious road trip to hear the entire album played live. That’s saying a lot considering it would be a 35 minute concert. Pinkerton isn’t a very long album.

If you aren’t familiar with it, Pinkerton tanked when it came out. The songs were too dark and serious is the thing I see cited most often. Now it is considered a really important album and everyone loves it. I didn’t understand the original dislike. I got the CD when it came out and it has been one of my favorites ever since. Some day we’ll have to go into my odd music tastes that range from Dropkicks to Carl Perkins to Dean Martin, but right now I’m just excited about the chance of hearing “The Good Life,” “Why Bother,” “No Other One,” and “Across the Sea” in concert; especially “Across the Sea.”

If they added "Suzanne" to that set list my head would explode.

Fastest Mail Alive

Flash Friday is back. Way back in 2006 put out a line of stamps that celebrated pop culture. During the year they put out stamps with Disney, American Motorcycles, and DC Superheroes. I knew about the stamps, thought they were cool, and even bought a sheet of them. I mean, there were two Flash stamps, I had to buy it. But what I didn’t know is that the post office was selling more then stamps. Luckily for me my uncle is a post master in Michigan and knew how much I loved the Flash.

Check it out after the jump.

Return of the Beer

Still feeling like crap. The only thing I’ve been drinking the past couple days is NyQuil. Luckily I still had some beers to list from my birthday and the Wednesday afterwards. This is all in addition to the shots that were pictured last week and the other shots of peach craziness.

The day started great with a Tucher. Then it went very, very south with Oude Gueuze. It was like drinking a dirty sock. Afterwards I went for the power trio of Miller High Life, 16oz PBR, and Natty Light. I kept joking that I was classing the joint. Of course this was when I was wearing a Viking helmet, so it’s all relative I suppose.

The week after that, I had a Rolling Rock. Here’s a tip, never drink Rolling Rock directly after drinking a Guinness. Water will have more flavor. Then I decided to take out two IPAs. I can’t give you much of an opinion of them, I’ve stated elsewhere that I’m not a fan of them. But I had a Sea Hag, whose logo is quite awesome, and a Hercules.

So these beers will be numbers 48-55.

Kilowog the TV Star

Since Brandon went into his Kilowog rant the other day I thought I’d share some interesting pictures. This is a lot like the time I posted all the different animated Jonah Hex pictures, except I can’t really discuss much about how Kilowog acted in these cartoons. Besides muttering the word Poozer, he is pretty much a background character. He may stand up for John in the JLU episode or back up Hal in first flight, but his characterization is pretty much the same.

Justice League Unlimited

Duck Dodgers: The Green LanToon

Green Lantern: First Flight

Batman Brave and the Bold

So you have the many TV screen looks of character. I’m waiting to see how he looks in the movie before making any assumptions. As I mentioned in the comments of Brandon’s article, I’m more worried that they’ll have him saying Poozer every time he talks. Really guys, once or twice in the whole movie will be enough.

Back from CV

Spent the weekend at Star Wars Celebration V. Saw some neat things, drank a whole lot, and most importantly I saw a number of good friends that I haven’t seen in a long time. Outside of cornering artists for my sketchbook conventions have mainly become a meeting place for friends who have moved away. Now that it is all over though, I got it. Con Crud.


Happens after every convention, I’m sick. Can’t remember the last time I had a sore throat that hurt this bad. It has to be a combination of people from all over the world, confined space, drinking, and too little sleep. Because I still feel like crap, I’m going to cut this short today. I’ll leave you with a picture I got from Katie Cook. She has an amazing little book called, fuck you, box about the inner thoughts of a cat. This picture represents an everyday occurrence at my house.

Nerd Rage

Well folks sorry to disappoint but there will be no Flash Friday today due to Ken being at Celebration V in sunny orLando. So we know what that means...
 

Even for us nerds that blend into normal everyday society and can hold a conversation with people that have no idea what the words Weyland Yutani mean, Nerd Rage can take a hold at any time. It all has to do with one particular persons "temple of nerd", that in which the viewer holds dear and has invested copious amounts of time with. Take me for instance. I like the character of Thor and am looking forward to the movie. With that in mind I can look at this picture from the movie and just shake my head and wonder why Asgardians are going to Glamor Shots.

However I do have a friend that holds Thor very close. He lost his facade of normalcy and showed his true nerd in the form of a Rage over seeing that. All that being said my personal triggers for this unfortunate phenomenon are the Green Lantern and Daredevil. So what has my underoos in such a bunch that a long winded description of Nerd Rage was required?

This monstrosity.

This is supposed to be Kilowog. Kilowog is a member of the Green Lantern Corps and one of the greatest drill sergeants for the new recruits into that illustrious group of ring slingin' space cops. He also has a penchant of calling others "Poozer" (sometimes entirely too much, depending on the writer). Where to begin on this picture? First off what is with that goofy look on his mug? It kinda looks like that turtle you could draw to get into art school. Does he even have a neck or is his head placed directly on his trapezius muscles? Oh the pain that picture brings. For some prospective this is what he should look like.

See that? A square shaped head that is not as angular, no stupid grin, and lo and behold... shoulders! He also does not have fraking neck rolls like King Kong Bundy. As Ken rightly pointed out, after I saw this and blasted his phone with pure Rage, that this is just a still and may not be final (one would hope). The strange looking costume is in and of itself a Rage worthy thing. That is a whole other post on it's own along with the first pics of Ryan Reynolds as Hal so I will leave that alone for now. So freshly vented I must admit that I am holding out that in motion all of this will leave my mind and I can enjoy a Green Lantern movie for what it is. That is the hope of all nerds in the powerful thrall of that strange force known as Nerd Rage.

Also is anyone suprised that Ken's favorite Lantern happens to be the one that rebels against authority, makes constant wise cracks, but still has a heart of gold? Just sayin', the guy has a type.

Beer is Peachy?

The last update had the beer list up to 31, well on my way to that magic number of 126. Why am I counting to 126? That’s the number it takes in my local bar to get my own mug and a tasty 10% discount. Now as we found out with the Bacardi Silver Raz, the name beer list is a little misleading. While there is no liquor at the bar I go to, there are a few more things then beer. There is also wine. Now I’m not a fan of wine but I knew I’d eventually have to drink some. What happens next I was not expecting.


Check out the full story after the jump.

Guest Writer Hired!!

I haven’t been crushed under the pressure of daily blog writing or anything. I just a strange frantic idea forming in my head, much like when I decided to blog in the first place, I decided that I needed a guest writer. He is in Texas and I’m in Orlando, so he probably hasn’t read the text I sent him yet. He really has little choice in the matter though. One of my closest friends for years now he has had a giant list of nicknames (BK, Beatbox, Meatbox, Dancin’ Brandon) but his posts will be marked with this image:

 The picture is from the great Chris Moreno. The same image is where I pulled my headshot. There is no one better at doing strange Comic Convention commissions. Seriously, give Chris your money.  But back to the Cake Fucker. This year is going to be full of big Green Lantern news. Now I’m pretty well versed in Lanterns, enough to know that Guy Gardner is the best one anyway. But good old CFer has been a Lantern fan long, long before Rebirth so I’ll be relying on him for any doses of Nerd Rage or fans perspective.

So remember. The next time you see that image of awesomeness, it won’t be my inane ramblings. Oh and CFer, when you read this for the first time. Welcome aboard!

Building a better Noir....body wash

Bath and Body works has a body wash for men named Noir. According to them, “Noir is a bold, exotic blend of black cardamom and white musk. Key fragrance notes: Sage, Coriander, Cardamom, White Vanilla, Vetiver and Amber Musk.” I didn’t smell it, I just saw it in a flier that my wife was mailed. I don’t know what half of those “Key fragrances” are so I have no idea what it smells like.  But I think I know enough about Noir to put together what it should smell like.

Noir to me would probably not be a scent most people would pay for. So today I’m going to build my own Noir Fragrance. I’m going to say to start off we’ll use a base of sweat. Can't have a good Noir scene without someone ending up as a sweaty mess.  Maybe even add some undertones of Old Spice and Aqua Velva.

Working with that as our base we’ll add the smoky aroma of…well smoke. We could go a number of different ways here, but I think stale Lucky Strike would be the best one. I think adding hints of that match head smell would probably be appropriate too.

Next up, it is time to add the alcohol. There are so many ways to go here. I think it would have to be bourbon, rye, or gin. Maybe a splash of all three would be the way to go. On a side note, it should be much easier to find a picture of William Powell with a drink in his hand.

I think I’ve built a pretty standard Noir smell. Maybe add the scent of gunpowder and that smell rain makes when it hits hot asphalt. Did I miss anything important? Am I out of my mind and Bath and Bodyworks got it right? Oh well if nothing else, I think I just inspired myself to watch the Big Sleep when I get off work tonight.

Giant Sized Flash Friday

Flash Friday is here again and today is going to be a giant sized edition. Not that the review itself is going to be double sized or anything, I’m talking more about the size of the item I’m reviewing. Last week I said I was waiting for UPS to deliver a package and happily it did come on time. From SDCC 09 we have the 12 inch Flash, Giants of Justice figure.

So it is over sized, but is it any good? Check out after the jump.

Hangover Cures

So it is Hangover Thursday and I feel great. It might have something to do with I had other obligations last night and was only at the bar for an hour. I stuck to Session Black and Guinness, so nothing to mark off my list. But after going through my personal hangover ritual last Thursday I started thinking about what other people do to cure hangovers. Sure there is the drink lots of water beforehand or don’t drink to excess but those are no fun.

My personal favorite is orange Gatoraide and a giant chicken parmesan sub from Jersey Mikes. Something about the way the sauce, cheese, and bread merge together just makes me feel better. I drink orange Gatoraide because I don’t like many other of the flavors. Do they still make cherry? That stuff was fantastic. I seem to like doughy things when I’m hung over. Back when I was in the Air Force I’d spend Sunday Morning eating two or three bowls of Chicken and Dumplings at a local restaurant when I was really hung over.

The internet tells me some people like raw eggs or Prairie Oysters (Raw Egg, Worcestershire Sauce, Salt, and Pepper). It also told me that after Oktoberfest Germans eat a breakfast of pickled herring and onions. Japanese people go for umeboshi, a pickled plum-like fruit. In my mind the funniest cure is Director Edgar Wright’s preference for Cornettos when hung over. I tried it with the American equivalent, the drumstick, and it didn’t do much for me.

By this point I was pretty interested in what everyone else does so I started polling people in my office. The results were fun. There was the very specific mixing half a quart of Gatoraide with half a quart of water; to the unexpected Hot Tea with Lemon. Ibuprofen is apparently good with water the night before or a beer the day after depending on who I asked. Advil was much the same, although it was paired with a greasy cheeseburger and weed. Water, water, water, was of course the most sensible and least fun answer. I think there were equal parts Advil, Aspirin, and Ibuprofen. Did I miss anything? What is your hangover cure?

Blacksad

Blacksad is one of those things I’ve heard about for years. “You have to read it, you’d love it,” people would tell me. I’ve seen the pictures for the book’s hero numerous places. Artists I really admire have done their own pictures of John Blacksad and I’d look at those and say to myself, I really need to track that book down. But I put it off and after a while I’d forget about it. Until earlier in July I finally got around to reading it. It helps that Dark Horse just put out a hard cover collection of the first three stories. And now that I’ve read them I can honestly say this, you need to read Blacksad.

So what is so good about this book? Check it out after the jump.

Copepods or WTF is in that shark’s mouth??

So Shark Week is well underway. I’ll take back what I said about Ultimate Air Jaws, the show was fantastic especially the ending sequence. I’ll still give Expedition great white the edge on being the coolest show about the whites, but Ultimate was very cool. Then we come to Into the Shark Bite. The point of the show is to have the shark bite an object that is protecting the camera so we can see into the shark’s mouth when it bites.

The show has some good footage of sharks but was pretty pointless until they showed inside the shark’s mouth and then, “Oh my god what is that?!?” It looked like a white barnacle attached to the shark’s gums and then a patch of hair came flying out of it. It was a Copepod.

These things are pretty common apparently. In a paper I found written by George Benz and Susan Dippenaar they go on to say that the blue shark holds the record for having the most different kinds of Copepods. They could have some on their pectoral fins, on their nose, in their gills, and on their body. There may be around 3,000 of these things living on the shark.

The one I saw on the white shark lives between the teeth. There are some that attach to mako sharks that live on their tongue and the roof of their mouth. Virtually ever Greenland shark has these things living on their eyes. On their eyes. They go partially blind because of these things. And that is all the time I’m going to spend on these things, because looking for images of these things has been pretty nasty. On the bright side, I couldn’t find pictures of the hairy looking ones inside the shark’s mouth. So on that note, Happy Shark Week!