Your New Crush

Hello Ladies - (Sorry gentlemen, this post is not for you.)

Meet your new crush, Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Yes, you may remember him from 3rd Rock From the Sun and 10 Things I Hate About You, but he's an adult now and really aging nicely.

I like to watch a little On Demand while I stretch out, because heaven forbid I meditate, anyway, I decided to try 500 Days of Summer. I can't say, Wow, this movie is fantastic and you should definitely watch it, but it is awfully charming in a guilty pleasure sort of way and I largely enjoyed it. Besides starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it also has Zooey Deschanel, who I pretty much like in everything she does.

But, I must caution you, that by the time you finish the movie, your Joseph Gordon-Levitt crush will probably be activated. Plus, as a bonus, he can act.

Whiteout - Greg Rucka & Steve Lieber

Whiteout, by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber is one of my favorite graphic novels. It's a well told mystery in an unusual location. I like that the female protagonist is likable, but not excessively good looking. She's smart and interesting, tough and vulnerable, but not in a cliched way. Lieber does a wonderful job showing the desolation of the Antarctic location with his black and white art.

Spend your time and money on the book. Skip the movie.

The movie seems to take everything good from the story and gets rid of it, waters it all down and then Hollywoodizes it up. The only real mystery to the movie is why they didn't just follow book.

Sp-eed

The movie Speed always reminds me of Thailand. Partly because I was living in Thailand when I saw it in the theater. (Said with a Thai accent it's Sp-eed, BTW.) That and the fact that I was once chased down an alley by a riderless motorcycle after the rider had been knocked off by a taxi shortly after seeing the film. (The traffic is pretty intense over there.)

Anyway, I recently watched the movie when I was feeling a little under the weather and needed some couch time. The thing that I find most unrealistic about Speed is not a city bus jumping a 50 foot gap in a highway. It's how everyone in LA seems to know everyone and are on a first name basis. Judging by the film, LosAngeles must be the friendliest city in America. I mean, even if you see the same driver every day, how many of you know the name of your bus driver and he knows your name as well?

There was a bus driver that I frequently saw when I had to commute to Marin County for a hideous marketing job that I suspected was the Zodiac Killer. Whenever I got on the bus, he would have found an excuse to strike up a conversation with a young woman at the front of the bus and then worked the topic around to the San Francisco serial killer, always mentioning that the killer was never found. Finally, after hearing his spiel three or four times, I googled the Zodiac Killer. The bus driver only looked in his mid-thirties so I figured that would put him at too young of an age to be the killer. Still, even though I try to be friendly and polite to everyone, that's the most I've ever known about a bus driver.

Strictly Ballroom

Yes, it's a movie that premiered in 1992, but I still find it charming. In fact, I challenge you to watch the film and not find yourself smiling at the end. Now, you may claim that you are not a straight female or gay male and therefore are exempt from this challenge, but I'm afraid I'm going to have have to call you out. Crack open your coconut just a little and watch it with an open mind. There's no singing with the dancing so that should make things a little easier.

If you're twenty minutes into the film and still hating it, then, c'est la guerre. You should probably read someone else's blog. Or go watch sports center. I am not the online presence for you. But, don't get down on yourself, I'm sure you're fabulous in your own special way.

For the rest of you, in a bit of slang from down under, give it a go.

XXOOAA

Tom Siddell - Gunnerkrigg Court - Interview!

Tom Siddell, the creator of the fabulous Gunnerkrigg Court, was kind enough to do an interview. Checkout his comic online at:

www.gunnerkrigg.com

Now, onto the interview!:

1) What was the inspiration behind creating Gunnerkrigg Court?

Mainly I was looking to do something different with my art. At the time I was stuck drawing characters floating in space not really doing anything interesting. I thought having a go at a comic would help me develop my art and draw a lot of things I normally wouldn't. I used to read a lot of mythology stories when I was a kid, so that influenced the content of the comic as I knew I wanted to write about various myths and creatures.

2) Are you the artist behind all aspects of Gunnerkrigg Court? Pencil’s, Writer, Color, everything? Please tell us a bit about your process.

Yeah, it's just me working on the comic. When I started I drew on printer paper with pencil and inks, and then coloured the pages on the computer in an old copy of Photoshop. Somewhere around chapter 14 I switched to all digital production as it made the whole process easier. I write the story chapter at a time (while keeping in line with my overall plot) and then sketch each page roughly, ink them and then colour them. Then, of course, I upload them to the Internet for everyone to see.

3) What have you worked on besides Gunnerkrigg Court? Hit us with the highlights?

Gunnerkrigg is my first comic, so nothing really! I have a full time job, so I don't get a lot of time to work on other things, although I would really like to.

4) What are you working on currently?

Aside from Gunnerkigg I always have a few stories in mind I'd like to develop, and I am currently collaborating on a short story with fellow webcomics creator Magnolia Porter of www.bobwhitecomics.com.

5) Archaia has recently put out a lovely hardcover edition of Gunnerkrigg Court? Did you contact them? They contact you? How did that all come together?

Well my agent and I were looking for a publisher and Archaia stepped forward and put the books together! I'm afraid it doesn't get much more exciting than that.

6) You have to survive for a month in the wilderness with another famous Tom. Who would you choose and why? You have to select from the following list:

Thomas Edison, Tom Petty, Thomas Paine, Thomas the Tank Engine, Tom Cruise, or Tom Jones.

I think I would choose Thomas Edison, because he would be the brains of the operation (he would also probably be the brawn).

7) What comic book are you currently reading?

I recently got Pim and Francie by Al Columbia. It's really great and really scary. There's not a lot quite like it!

8) Who’s your comic book hero?

Well Yukito Kishiro is my favourite comic creator. He makes Battle Angel Alita, my all time favourite comic series.

9) What are your three things?

For example: salty, sweet and citrus. Or cranky, moody and bleak. Etc…?

Dinosaurs, skates and falling

10) Was San Diego your first comic book convention? What was your impression of the show?

I've been to a few conventions here in the UK, but it was my first US convention. I thought it was really great. We don't have anything of that size in the UK, and being able to go and be at the Archaia booth and meet people who read my comic was a fantastic experience. I'd love to go to more cons in the US (I will be at the New York Comic Con).

11) What’s the best thing you saw at SDCC?

It was definitely the readers of my comic. A lot of people turned up to see me and it was very flattering and surprising! Working on a comic usually means sitting alone in a room for hours, and over here in the UK I don't get much chance to talk to people who have actually read my story, so meeting all those people at SDCC was worth the trip alone.

12) What’s your dream project?

Honestly, I'd like it if I could work on my comic full time. More and more people are making webcomics their full time job, so I would like to do that too.

13) What would ten-year-old Tom think of present day Tom?

He would probably wonder why I spend so much time in front of a computer. Oh, and why I hadn't figured out how to make a real hover board yet, since It's almost 2015

14) Anything else you’d like to plug?

Bad Machinery is my current favourite webcomic. It's a really fun story about a group of kids who solve weird mysteries. http://www.badmachinery.com/

Hotel Matches

I love matchbooks.

Although I am absolutely thrilled how smoke free America has become, it has seriously cut down on the availability of matchbooks and that depresses me. A very good reason to travel in Europe is to stock up on matchbooks. Then, every time you use a match, you can reminisce about the place where you got it.

It does help that one of the burners on our stove doesn't ignite on its own.

Sequel

Belle Bridge Books has been kind enough to offer me a contract to write the sequel to What I Learned From Being a Cheerleader.

Yay!

What other dramas and misadventures will Elaine encounter?

Yep, that's what I have to figure out so I can write this thing. ;O) Good thing I found junior high so challenging. (Yes, when I went to school, it was called junior high) Lots of memories to harvest.