Nozz World Tour!

Yeah, that's right. Its Sunday, January 30, 2011, I'm ready for the zombie apocalypse, and this is The Side. All and all, I don't sweat a zombie apocalypse. The shambling dead don't scare me but I don't fear what I can outthink, outfight and outrun. The preparedness comes from the mountain of bagged leaves I amassed yesterday. It would make a convincing barricade.

Its like this every year. I make some decent headway in keeping the yard up. The weather turn and the leaves get ahead of me. I finally get back to dealing with the yard. I finally get all the leaves up, and by then they're getting ready to fall again.

I love my house, but its time for a getaway. Off we go!

NERDOM 'ROUND THE WORLD

I've seen a lot of kids who think they've got what it takes to be a manga artist and say they're going to someday move to Japan to pursue their dream. The majority of these kids can't draw worth a damn and have no clue about what it takes to make it as an artist there. I used to think it was just a fad appeal and that it would blow over. Made me wonder why kids like these weren't watching Disney or Pixar flicks flicks and saying they wanted to move down to Florida to work for them. Now I know. The level of nerdom in Japan overshadows the nerdom of Florida exponentially.



I think the kiddies think that Disney may have the Magic Kingdom, but Japan is the Magic Nation. They can sit and draw all the live long day and stay in a place like this.

I'm just thankful my young cousin Jacob hasn't fallen into this. He probably hasn't because he and his parents are all sane, rational people. Japan: seems like a lovely place to visit, but I wouldn't want to draw there.

WORLD AT LARGE

There's some crazy stuff going on around the world. Well, there usually is, but this could get really ugly. If you don't know that there's major protests going on in Egypt and that their government is on verge of a likely collapse then you really need to pay more attention. There's other protests popping up in Jordan and Libya. Egypt has killed the internet for its citizens because it was allowing them to get word out about what was happening and letting them organize to easily.



Egypt is a dictatorship. The people are sick of it and want reform. Obviously the dictator doesn't want that, so now we have protests that are getting very violent. Tunisia just had its government ousted and it looks like Egypt will follow suite.

But there's a problem. Assholes and bastards have taken notice and the potential for a power grab. The Muslim Brotherhood, who are dedicated Jihadists, have joined up with the protesters. This is bad because the Muslim Brotherhood has some organization and that alone can supply some stability if and when the current government collapses. This is bad. That's not even bringing into play the violence that has erupted, the artifacts in museums that have been destroyed, or the massive jailbreak.

America is in a tight spot because we know the current dictator is an asshole, but we also know that there's bigger assholes poised to seize power when he's gone. If we go in to try to help to make sure those assholes don't seize power we end up looking like imperialists who don't care about the Egyptian people.

This is why killing the internet is so dangerous right now. The people who were getting the world out don't know how many people here in America are pulling for them. Yes, there needs to be serious government reform there. No, we don't want a bunch of jihadist pricks taking over. I can do post after post, and tweet after tweet showing my support for the people who are living under a government they cannot tolerate. I truly hope for the best for the Egyptian people, because what's going on right now over there is going to have an impact over here.

We get our oil from that region, which is completely stupid, but the idiot hippies won't let us use our own resources and the government like to appease the idiot hippies. Energy is vital to the economy. Since we can't use our own, we're stuck having to deal with those who do have it, and these protests are going on right in the middle of things. So yes, we in America are affected by this. And don't start posting comment about alternative energy sources and driving your stupid electric cars. We are nowhere near ready to transfer over away from fossil fuel based energy resources. The technology isn't there.

But even that is down the road a bit. Right now there are people taking to the streets against a dictatorship and they don't know how many people around the world are sending them hopes, well wishes, and prayers.

Keep that in mind the next time you hear people talking about net neutrality and having a "kill switch" for the internet. Information is power. The Egyptian government took that power from its people this week.

MUSIC!!

While not a huge Joan Jett fan, this song is awesome. Easily as awesome as Megumi Fugii.



Thus completes our Sunday world tour. My continued hopes and prayers go out to the people of Egypt and I hope things turn out alright there. See y'all Wednesday.

Waid made Cap a Derivative of Batman

Hey Nonee Nonee, it's Wednesday, July 21, 2010 and in a startling change of pace I'm actually wearing pants as I post this. In another change of pace, I've discontinued the "Pop Quiz" section as one one person has actually answered any of the questions since I started doing them. See? Even an e-troglodyte can e-evolve.

Today's Side is a bit light on news and heavy on my opining and rambling. I'd have gone through more effort to hunt down more news, but I'm working hard to curb the crime spree of a three-year-old who despite knowing you have to pay for things in stores thought it was a good idea to haul ass out of an FYE in the mall with a SUPER FRIENDS DVD before paying.

OK, that may not technically be a "spree" but that's how these things start!

HOWDY MISTER ROGERS

That's some art that's mostly likely going to be the look Captain America sports in the upcoming movie. They look to be going with WWII era heavily and that's fine by me. Should be fun.

BAT-THEORIES

With Bruce Wayne returning there's a lot going on in the Batman comics. For those new to here and that have not been following Batman, Bruce Wayne was trapped in the past after battling Darkseid. Now something has him bouncing through time and we're told that if he gets back to the present very bad things will happen. Here's some of what we know:

* Bruce Wayne traveling through time seems to be allowing him to reclaim different aspects of himself and his memory seems to be starting to come back.

* Wayne is also creating a situation that will allow for himself to become Batman.

* Bruce Wayne was at the end of time.

* The Black Glove is shown to be Bruce Wayne's father Thomas in an origin that isn't possible.

* The Black Glove cursed Bruce and it seemed to come true as his very next case led him straight to Darkseid.

* The events that led to the story in BATMAN #666 featuring Dick Grayson's death and Damien Wayne becoming Batman seem to be coming true.

But there's still a lot we don't know and the pertinent questions seem to be:

* What is the true identity of The Black Glove?

* Is there a connection between The Black Glove and Darkseid?

* What is within Bruce Wayne that is so dangerous?

* What is the Joker's hand in this?

So, what are the possibilities? Well there's a lot, but I've got a few thoughts:

* This could be Darkseid centric. After the war we did not see in FINAL CRISIS the New Gods and the Gods of Apokalypse got bounced backwards in time. The methods of the Black Glove and Darkseid resemble each other in that they want to twist and corrupt that which is good. The Black Glove could be one of Darkseid's agents and the alternate origin could be what he hopes to replace the history we know with. What Bruce could be carrying inside him is an "imprint" of Darkseid which is growing and hoping to be reborn when the time is right.

* This could be Devil centric. Going with the notion that the Black Glove is an incarnation of the Devil and let's assume that he's factored in Darkseid with his curse on Batman's cape and cowl. Perhaps he's trying to manipulate events so that Bruce's time traveling somehow allows a situation in which the impossible origin become possible. Its like time and reality are a slinky bouncing down the stairs. the same events keep circling around each other, but each time just a little more removed from the original loop.

This is of course the conjecture of one nutter that really should get more sleep.

BY THE NUMBERS

Currently I have 41 follower on this blog. That's about 30-some more than expected. This also does not take into account the ones that follow that are not shown, so the actual number may indeed be 42. The number of blogs I currently follow is in the single digits. Over on Google Buzz I have just over 150 followers and i follow just over 50. Twitter is another story. My account there is less than a week old. I follow a dozen folks and am followed by two.

My online time is limited so there's only so much content I can view and mentally process. That's why the number of things I follow is very limited. Looking at some accounts I see that there are people that follow hundreds, sometimes thousands of people, and they have a few hundred followers themselves. This is the I'll follow you if you'll follow me and really this is pointless for anyone who wants to see content. Its fine if all you want to do is sell sell sell. But consider this if you want people to read and appreciate your content: if they follow hundred of thousands of people, there's not way that they are going to pay any attention to your work. It'll be lost in the shuffle.

Between the blog, Twitter and Buzz two of the three bast higher numbers in followers versus following. It just may be possible that I'm doing something right. Don't faint.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Being that I love comics in a way that may be considered unhealthy, I also love it when people who make good comics get their due. So when Mark Waid was shown the door over at DC I was not happy because he makes great comics. I honestly think some powers that be over there saw him as a bit of a threat because Waid could do his job better and the fans knew it. But that's history and Mister Waid has moved on over to Boom. Boom at the time had been struggling a bit. They had good stuff, but it wasn't quite hitting with readers.

Enter Mark Waid: Editor-in-chief. *Cue dramatic music.*

Now just a couple years later the company has won numerous awards and is doing quite well not only with their existing titles, but they have also bought a great line of kids comics to the forefront, which is something that's been sorely lacking. So now he's gotten a promotion to Chief Creative Officer. He'll be expanding the growth of the company in new and exciting ways. So if you haven't checked out what they're up to already, do so and thank me later.

Stepping into his previous position is Matt Gagnon. This was a no-brainer. Gagnon has an eye for talent and isn't afraid to get hands on to make sure the books get out on time. Congratulations to him as well.

CREATING BY DERIVATIVE

Reading a ton of comics does not make one qualified to write one. Certainly it helps in terms of understanding how the pacing works and how the pages break down. The problem is if all you read is one genre, in the case of comic books its most likely superhero, then you'll wind up regurgitating what you've taken in. Chris and I were talking about it last night. The best writers know to draw upon life experience or the life experience of others for their work. They know to look at classic literature to see what in these works have made them stand the test of time.

Same with art. The majority of manga is crap because the artists are under such a tight schedule to produce work that copying is encouraged. That's one of the main reasons for the generally homogeneous look of most manga art. The plots and pretty close to cookie cutter as well. Sure there's a few stand outs, but its very few and good luck finding them.

In creating you most be original and until you find your own voice and style look to others that are stand outs and originals to see what is working for them. This does not mean copying their work. It means examining the ideas and concepts that they are exploring and try to find something in there that resonates with you. But you have to be careful. Just because you think something is brilliant does not mean everyone else thinks so. If you're going to do a piece heavily inspired by Lady Gaga, you need to make sure your audience actually gives a damn about Lady Gaga. It doesn't matter how popular the media thinks she is.

Finding an original voice inside yourself is not easy and you may not have it in you, but its worth looking for.

MUSIC!!

This week I'm listing three of my all time favorite songs. Enjoy.



And that's a wrap for today. I leave with with an asignment. Its Hump Day. Go hump something. Just keep it legal. See ya Friday.

Trolling for Hornets.

Hey howdy, buckaroos! I got one response to my previous post asking whether or not I should pull back to just updating three times per week because I feared that I post so often that it becomes meaningless chatter. And that kind of said something in and of itself, so I'm trying some different things. If you like it, let me know.

TROLL ART

The above image was done by an Irish artist that didn't think much of the Pope's thoughts and comments about homosexuality and gay marriage. So, he made this 'art', which is really just trolling. 'Trolling' for those who don't know is doing something, typically online, for the expressed means of ticking people off and getting a response. Usually the troll will duck behind the shields of Free Speech and artisitic expression when attacked. Now, I fully support freedom of speech and don't think artistic expression should be stifled in any way. This way when someone does something stupid like this, we can know who they are and make fun of them, or keep an eye on them in case they get squirrelly.

The artist in question obviously isn't dangerous, but the sole purpose of this piece is to piss off Catholics. People can say how brave and righteous it is, and how 'brilliant' the 'artist' is, but really, it's guy with Photoshop who decided to make a LOLPOPE picture. The guy obviously pissed off about the Pope's stance and that's fine. He has the right to disagree with the Pope. The picture isn't horrible, but the guy is obviously looking to pick a fight. Ultimately, all he's going to get a mostly people rolling their eyes.

So this is the second time in as many months that people have attempted to use art as a means to take a jab at an organized religion that had values they didn't like. Now, this picture is nowhere near as big a fail as the Everybody Draw Muhammad Day idiocy that a bunch of internet morons put together last month, but it seems the trend is there. Be on the lookout next month for the Jews to be targeted by some artistic campaign depicting Rabis eating food that not Kosher.

GREEN HORNET, BABY!!

I love old Green Hornet TV show. They did a marathon on FX years ago and my father and I sat in front of the TV for hours watching it. I'm pretty sure having to listen to the jazzy Flight of the Bumblebess theme song over and over and over again is the reason mom left.

The trailer looks good. Seth Rogan dropped a lot of weight for the role, so good for him. Looks like we'll be getting plenty of action and laughs. I'm all in. There's been a lot of people ticked off at Rogan playing the role. Well, there were a lot of people who were pissed off when Michael Keaton got the role of Batman too. The movie is coming out in January. Smart move. It'll avoid the annual May Marvel madness.

POP POLITICS

The 2010 Political Bashyo is rolling along. Primaries are being held. People are in a tizzy. The Pop-Star-Turned-Finger-Pointer-in-Chief his just seeing everything meltdown around him and his every decision get lambasted, with people wondering if he just hit is head one too many times on Marine One while getting in. The public at large are really unhappy with the Government, and no amount of advertising and whitewashing is going to make that go away before the election in November. It really is like one monstrous sumo tournament out there.

BOOGIE WOOGIE

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE is on tonight. YAY! So let's have some music.



But that's my wrap-up of today. Feel free to comment on any of bits a talked about and let me know what you think of this new format. See y'all Friday.

Interesting person of the month: Kat Hogan

I like talking with people, and by golly, Kat Hogan is a person. Does the name sound familiar? It should if you've been following Duck and Cover Studios for a while. Kat's been a regular contributor on Tales of Night Life and was the artist for our Twitter mystery Lost to Chaos last summer. Let's get to know her a little better, shall we?

Marty Nozz: Alrighty, first off, thanks for volunteering to be my first interview for the blog. Let's start with some basics for those who don't know you: what do you do as far as day job?

Kat Hogan: I am that laziest of creatures, a college student. I'm afraid I don't have gainful employment just now, except for studying to be a history major.

Student by day and artist by night?

Indeed.

Let's talk about your nighttime artistic activities. You've been drawing live of Livestream, correct?

Occasionally, yes. If I'm drawing on Livestream it generally means I've made a thread about it and invited a small community to come and take a gander at what I'm doing.

Is this an invitation only thing or can anyone come and check it out?

Oh, it's definitely a thing to which anyone can come, it's just usually not a thing too many people know about.

And where can folks find you on there?

Here. I've usually got this show about bikers running when I'm not livestreaming. Not entirely sure how to turn it off, actually. It's still a pretty new program for me.

What type of things can viewers expect to see you working on?

Mostly little sketches for the people in the forum threads I make, occasionally commissions for Gaia; basically line art and the occasional more finished work with coloring. I'm hoping to do more painterly pieces in the future, though. Effective color use has been something that escapes me.

So what are the weapons of choice for your artistic endeavors?

Um, I vary things up a little. On the rare lovely occasions I get to do life studies, I prefer charcoal for its speedy expressiveness, but if it's just me doing little doodles, I use pencil and ink, and watercolors when I need to make things a little brighter. Lately I've started becoming a dab hand with a tablet, and digitally my weapon of choice is Photoshop. Ink-wise I used to mostly use dip-pens, but brush inking has grown on me lately.

Sounds like quite an artistic arsenal. What's been your most challenging commission thus far?

Um, hard to say. If I'm having a problem with a commission it's more that I'm having difficulty generating interest in a subject than any kind of technical approach. It's unprofessional of me, but there it is. I suck at drawing things that bore me. So, er, my most challenging commission has been this realistic portrait of a princely avatar. But I haven't had terribly many commissions in my brief career.

What work have you been the proudest of?

Oh wow, that's a tough question. God. Well, perhaps one of my final projects back in the days when I was still an art major. We were required to do a "masterwork" for our drawing class, picking an established artist and trying to mimic their style. I convinced my teacher that Mike Mignola, the artist who got me started drawing seriously in the first place, was a worthy choice for this assignment, and got started. In retrospect it was probably the most serious I'd ever been about an art project. I went out and bought props, and I made this poor boy I was friends with stand for at least an hour posing so that I could get the drawing just right. He even drove me out to get the apron I needed him to wear. A real sweetheart. I still love the underdrawing a bit more, but the end result I still have and enjoy.

OH NOES HE HAS A RAZOR D: by ~anoneemoose on deviantART
Right, I'm reminded that it was THREE hours, and he was one hell of a dude to put up with it. Here's the final project itself:

Sweeney Todd by ~anoneemoose on deviantART

"God, that's good!" You mentioned Mignola. Which other artists do you draw inspiration from?

Well Mignola was my first major influence, that really shocked me into trying to draw for myself. Beautiful design and German Expressionistic tones. He and Jamie Hewlett kind of defined my high school art career, along with Gustav Klimt and later Egon Schiele. Back in the day Jamie Hewlett's influence was pretty incredibly apparent, but I like to think I kind of found my own style since then and I don't seem to mimic much of anyone. There are so many artists that I find amazing and inspiring, that it's hard to pick out any but the earliest. I suppose recently the artist who's been inspiring me most is this European gentleman who goes by the name of Sublimate in some channels. He's running a webcomic over on his Furaffinity account that would knock your socks off. Lovely page design, intriguing world-setting, and compelling story-telling.

We've delved into the past. Let's look at the future. Got anything in the planning stages for us to look forward to?

Well the only thing I'm really trying to fashion into a story revolves around this character of mine who, through various internet vagaries, transformed into something completely different than what I originally meant him for, and thus became a lot more interesting.

Is this possibly going to be a webcomic?

If it ever sees the light of day, then yes, it will definitely be a webcomic. It'll be set in the early 1920s or right beforehand; I'm obsessed with research, so I have a lot more reading to do before I come up with a plot I'm entirely satisfied with. The lead is a veteran of World War One dealing with "shellshock" and going on with life after the traumatic experiences of war. Unfortunately, I've always been more interested in World War Two, so this has been a real undertaking for me study-wise.

It almost sounds like being a History Major is a cunning ruse to do research for your project.

You would think, but alas, it doesn't seem to coincide with what I'm researching too often. Although that Pirates and Smugglers course should come in handy on the whole bootlegging angle.

Wow. The things you can study for college credit nowadays. Ready for the Lightning Round?

Hoo, okay. I think I'm all warmed up. Hit me with it.

Preferred Aquaman: beard or no beard?

Definitely beard. As long as it's an OUTRAGEOUS! beard.

If you could pick one person, living or dead, to kick in the nuts, who would it be?

An intriguing notion, and I suppose, er. Henry David Thoreau.

Your preferred apocalypse?

I think as apocalypses go I'd be cool with mutually assured nuclear destruction. Less disturbing than zombies, more realistic, and no religious qualifiers entering into the business. It'll be one hell of a screw-up, but by God it'll be our screw-up...also I really want to play Fallout sometime, it looks awesome.

Breakfast for dinner: what's on your menu?

Cereal, eggs, or toast. It's nice to have a little variety I find.

Favorite online hangout?

I tend to have lots that I flit form back and forth, but IRC channels, while slow, tend to be a good gathering when they aren't chock-full of inanities.

What's in the CD player right now?

I'm listening to it on Youtube, actually, but it's George London singing "Abendlich Strahlt der Sonne Auge", from Wagner's Rheingold. I'm not usually one for opera, but this guy had such an amazing voice. Tears to my eyes most every time.


Final question: what percentage of your soul would you give to Guillermo Del Toro to be in the next Hellboy movie?

Oh lord. ...well, I love both Del Toro and Hellboy, but... is. Is 25% stake too much a claim?

It seems like a solid offer, but this is soul bargaining, not Texas Hold 'Em.

I'll just have to leave it at that. Unless they offer Ron Perlman into the bargain somehow.

And if the deal involves makeout scene with Perlman in full Hellboy make-up?

....all bets might be off. Non-make upped is fine. God, I am such a creepy fangirl. Whatever, Ron Perlman is magnificent.

Thus concludes the interview. Any final thoughts?

Nothing coherent in nature, I suppose. Thanks for the consideration, it's really been an honor.