Going Back....(and to the left)

Hit by a rush of nostalgia this morning so excuse me if this post meanders.

I started the day furious at my roommate and his alarm clock's seemingly endless cycles of SNOOZE. I have been getting up early for the past few weeks for work and today I didn't need to be up until about 6:45, so when the alarm starts to go off at 5:30 and continues to go off every ten minutes until 6am I tossed and turned and steamed until I quiet literally exploded out of bed, into the shower and out the door to the office.

Being about an hour and a half early for work I had plenty of time to browse through my Google Reader new feeds and sip coffee. Which is what I was doing when I came across this:

FIRST TRIP TO E.R

 If you DIDN'T click on the link it is a picture of a little boy's head with four staples in it. Under the picture is the following:

First ER trip for the boy. 4 staples in his head. He was a trooper.

This, of course, took me back a few years to the time with my ex-girlfriend and her daughter. These were wonderful times overall and although things didn't work out the way I hoped I still have a wealth of happy memories from this time.

One of these memories, happy in retrospect but scary at the time, was of our own trip to the ER.

The kid, Faye, was playing with my sisters on my Mom's couch. Everyone was gathered around the kitchen/living room having conversation. If I remember correctly my Mom was washing dishes with my ex, Ali. The sister were entertaining the little one on the couch and I think I was sitting across from them watching TV.

Like most accidents involving kids no one was prepared for the sudden shift in mood as Faye went from happily bouncing on the couch (which was far to close to the edge of the kitchen counter for an accident NOT to occur). to slamming her head back into the counter, to crying before any of us realized what happened.

Immediately she wailed for her mommy. Ali ran around to the kid and scooped her up. Held her close and motioned with her eyes for me to take a look at the damage.

I moved in to examine even as my own Mom was grabbing towels and ice, while my sisters sat shocked on either end of the couch. The wound looked worse than it actually was, which I've found to be true of most head wounds.

The back of her head had struck the counter splitting the skin open and bleeding like hell, which looked all the worse as it matted Faye's platinum blonde hair. Alison was looking at the wound as well when my Mom came over and put the wadded kitchen towel on it and said to Ali, "Keep pressure until you get to the hospital."

At that point I was already heading for the door. The kid, who only moments ago had been laughing and carefree sniffled the entire ride, sounding not in pain so much as in shock that her fun-time could end so abruptly painful.

This has always been the worst part of seeing a kid get hurt for me. That moment right before it happens when it seems like they feel invincible to the world, not yet mindful of how delicate their own bodies can be.

So we arrived at the ER and fill out forms and wait around  for so long that Faye actually cycles through the pain back into happy kid mode and we have to keep her calm and on Ali's lap so as not to aggravate the wound.

Finally a nurse calls us into a room and asks a million questions in that annoying, disaffected, I-have-seen-it-all-voice that I feel is laced with contempt and lacking any empathy, something crucial to good bedside manner. As Ali describes what happened the nurse roughly pulls the kitchen towels away and moves the bloody blonde hairs to get a good look.  Faye begins to cry again.

The nurse mumbles somethings about not needing stitches and reaches into a drawer pulling out a staple gun. If you've ever seen one of these things you know there is no exaggeration in that description. It is literally the same size and shape as the office supply. The only difference is that is seems to be made of a white plastic instead of the metal most staple guns are made of.

The nurse tells Alison to hold Faye close and moves in with the gun.

Mother and daughter cling to each other as the impassive nurse puts three staples into the back of the three-year-old's head: CLIP! CLIP! CLIP!

It's over. The nurse gives us a bill and some printed instructions. Says to wash the blood out with water but no soap and then to leave it alone for a few days. She gives Faye a sticker or a lollipop or something and walks out.

I don't think the kid even knew what hit her. Alison was shaken.

I would have been more rocked by the whole event had i not lived through similar situations with my younger sisters. They had both had mishaps at home as little girls and needed to take a trip to the ER for a stitch or twelve.

Not sure why I felt the need to tell this story now but there you go. Still think about both those girls (Ali and Faye) but now only with a misty fondness that can be best compared to that feeling of regret you have when you wake up from a really awesome dream; It was a wonderful, sometimes heartbreaking, time but not something you could ever recreate or get back to no matter how hard you might try.

Anyway, first time parents, the moral of the story is: injuries tend to hurt and scar parents more than the children they've happened to. Don't panic. React but be calm.

Also maybe just keep a staple gun handy and save yourself the ER trip.


KIDDING!

:)

A Special Holiday Video!

SHAWN WRITES….A COMIC BOOK!

Finally I can live up to the title of this blog, I have WRITTEN!

Not only have I written (I actually write a lot) but a thing I wrote is COMING TO A STORE NEAR YOU! Now I will give you a moment to collect yourselves.

 

Composed? Good because now we need to get into the nitty-gritty, the fun stuff that we have been building to since the day I launched this pathetic excuse for a blog. There is some information I need to impart and a few pleas that I must make but rest assured it will all be accompanied by pretty pictures to look at. Like this:

What you see is some of the very first color pages I’ve gotten in of a book I co-wrote called, “Pixies”, which was announced today as officially available for pre-order from Arcana Comics via Diamond Distribution.

Once again let me repeat that oh so crucial information:

PIXIES – an original graphic novel

Can be ordered using: DIAMOND ORDER # NOV10 0715

.....SHIPS JAN 2011!

I am beyond excited for this book, more so by the fact that the art and coloring look extensively better than I could ever have hoped for.

I know what you’re thinking as you read this, something along the lines of, sure you wrote a comic and the art looks great but is it any good? Does it have a plot and character that I’ll actually give a shit about?

To this I say, “Of course it does! Now stop thinking in italics and dig on this…”

Our story follow two of the fellows depicted in the above page. The guy in his boxers by the sink is our human protagonist, Joe. As you can see Joe has had nothing but bad luck his entire life. Anything that can go wrong always does, but Joe doesn’t let it get him down. He never assumes for a moment it could be anything other than plain old bad luck. What he doesn’t realize is that our pixie protagonist, Sam, has dedicated his life to making sure that black cloud follows Joe forever.

You see Joe did something in his past that caused him the unlucky fate of the Pixie Curse, condemning him to a life of pain humiliation and failure.

However, all of this changes the day Joe catches Sam the Pixie under a glass in his kitchen and demands the curse be lifted. Almost instantly his luck changes for the better.

Now Joe has a chance to win the heart of the girl of his dreams but only if he can do it before Sam escapes his drinking-glass prison and alerts the rest of the pixies.

It’s a whopper of a book, over 90 pages, and that serves as the set up to what myself and the other writers involved (creator and Arcana owner, Sean O’Reilly as well as co-writer Robert Olmedo) hope to be a fun and hilarious book that comic fans can read to their kids.

Hopefully I’ve piqued your interest with this tiny glimpse into the world of Pixies. There is a strong possibility that a much larger company will be helping us get this book into Border and Barnes and Noble but until I have that info  and because at heart I’m a huge comic book nerd, I would like to request you find your LOCAL COMIC SHOP (which you can do by clicking on those words) and brave the perhaps intimidating surroundings, muster up to the proprietor and (politely) ask to pre-order a copy of the PIXIES HARDCOVER FROM ARCANA COMICS. At which point he will likely not know what your talking about but that’s okay because you’re capable and always come prepared and you’ve brought along the following information:

PIXIES – an original graphic novel

DIAMOND ORDER # NOV10 0715

.....SHIPS JAN 2011!

After the comic shop guy acknowledges he will order you a copy (which helps not just you but also others because usually he’ll order more than just one and stick the copies you don’t by out onto the shelf for others to stumble into), ask you how to contact you when your copy arrives and send you on your way.

 

As we get closer to the release of the book I will post a lettered preview of the book either here or somewhere just as easily accessible. Thanks in advance for reading or even being curious. Certainly pass this blog link along to anyone who you think might enjoy these types of things.

 

   From the Compound,

                           Shawn D.

Please Watch the Linked Video

My roommate is an actor. Here he acts as the Russian kid who invented Chat Roulette. It's funny to me. I think you will agree....please watch and pass it around the webs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8FkENU1bZ4

Seekrit Projects, Sims and Slacking Off or "How I Wasted A Weekend Playing Video Games and Last Minute Lettering"

It's Monday.

It's Monday?!?

Fuck. My weekend flew by and looking back I'm not sure where it went.

That isn't true. I know exactly where it went....to a town called Sunset Valley.

I've been introduced to the world of the SIMS and I have to say I think I have a problem. For years I've heard about these games (mostly from my two younger sisters, HI GIRLS) but never paid them much mind until this weekend.

SIMS 3 was downloaded on Saturday night and by Sunday night at 9pm I had populated an entire household with computer-generated people whose lives are more involved and exciting than my own. This isn't an admission of my pathetic life (actually my life has been highly entertaining and busy over the last few months) but more an admiring of the programmers ability to create a world that I was totally immersed in after only fifteen minutes of game-play. If you've played this game before then I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir but if you haven't and you have a proclivity to these sorts of time-wasters I HIGHLY recommend giving it a shot.

What I SHOULD have been doing all weekend is lettering/editing comics. In fairness, I had a big project on Friday night/Saturday morning that I put a ton or hours into and finished moments before the 11am deadline Saturday morning. Still, that was one of three books I'm juggling right now and although the deadlines for the other two books aren't as tight, I should have been focused on those become my weekdays/nights have been a wash as far as getting any kind of lettering work accomplished.

None of this even takes my writing into account. Finding the time to write, letter, edit, and work my day job has transformed my life into a series of spinning plates on top of long sticks. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I would much prefer to be busy rather than not, but now a new problem of how to juggle all these activities without burning out has appeared.

Priorities become muddled when you're involved with many different passions at once. I'm a writer at heart and in the long run that's where I want to end up, but writing doesn't pay the bills. I love making comics and lettering but that only pays a few bills (READ: NOT MANY). The day job, PAing on a TV show, is what's keeping a roof over my head but isn't exactly where I want my career to stop climbing. On top of all of that there is my love for being lazy, watching too much TV and generally having an aversion to too much structure.

My solution to all of this has been to work really hard on all fronts for a few weeks and then take a two day weekend to complete waste on something inconsequential like playing The Sims 3 all weekend. It is a good life when your biggest problems are to narrow down which fun task you want to accomplish in a week/weekend.

Not sure if all of this makes for a good blog or not, it was just on my mind and need to get out. Sorry if it's not as funny or entertaining as usual (and honestly, how funny or entertaining am I usually?) but sometimes you catch me at an introspective crossroads.

For more silly posts and less ruminations on life and career I would direct you to the new tumblr that my roommate and I have started: http://blazedandneurotic.tumblr.com/

He's the neurotic one, although from just reading this blog post you that might not be clear. I swear I'm not normally this self-reflective.

Richard Pryor's alphabet on Sesame Street

Richard Pryor's alphabet on Sesame Street: "

Richard Pryor teaches the alphabet on Sesame Street, March 2, 1976, episode 0862. SFW! Seriously! (Thanks, Gabe Adiv!)

"

Thanks to BOING BOING for the link. This SHOULD go on the tumblr site but I can't remember the password from work. So this is it's home instead.

How I Would Save AMC'S 'Rubicon' or "Damn....It Had So Much Promise"

"That Glee Club will never find me in this bar...."

 When AMC started 'Rubicon' over the summer with a special online look at the one-hour premier I was as excited as everyone else. AMC has already proven it knows how t make quality TV with it's critical and fan-favorite series' 'Mad Men' and 'Breaking Bad'. These two shows have demonstrated the cable network's ability to tell quality stories using complex characters, each show has a unique visual style and stellar casts. For all purposes both of these shows are home-runs. 

I went into the pilot of 'Rubicon' with no knowledge of the series, I hadn't read even a one-line description of the premise. All I knew what that AMC made good TV and all I expect was that this new series would, at least, meet if not raise the bar already set. It didn't. 

Right out of the gate there were problems with this new series. The pilot alone took me two viewing to get through. Sure there were intriguing moments but it was very slow. Worse than the pacing was the tone of the show, deadly serious. It's as if we're to believe none of these characters have ever cracked a joke before because I don't think I saw one smile or light moment in the whole first hour. 

Obviously the high-paranoia, everything-is-a-conspiracy-style-plot doesn't leave much room for spit takes and knee-slappers but a little bit of levity would've been the first step in the right direction to bringing a new audience into this very stoic world of Government-employed, Think-Tank workers. 

In the pilot episode we meet Will Travers an intelligence analyst for a think-tank called, API, who is still dealing with the loss of his wife and daughter in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Will discovers a hidden code in crossword puzzles around the country that tie into a secret society that may have a heavy hand in orchestrating world events on a grand scale. I say "may have" because, ten episodes into season 1, and the answer is just as muddled as it was in the premiere. 

As a series-long LOST fan I'm accustomed and totally okay with not have all (or ANY) of the answers up front. I'm generous with TV, especially new shows, and as long as you keep me invested in the people I'll stick through muddle plot details and over-worked conspiracy stories. Rubicon has only succeeded in making one character worth watching, Kale Ingram (played by the spectacular Arliss Howard). 

Kale Ingram is one of Will Traver's supervisors at API, an enigmatic man who speaks in whispered puzzles, is the most appealing and humanized character on the series. He has a live-in boyfriend whom we've been shown he adores, if only because he's so easy to keep in the dark (when you work at API you can't tell anyone what you really do...mysterious, isn't it?). 

So, with all the bits and pieces that are good and bad, how can we save this show? With a few MINOR adjustments I think this could be one of the best show's on TV so I'm going to list them and maybe, someone out there will know a Rubicon writer and pass along this list of suggestions. Or else we can just debate it here. 

1. MORE KALE - This one should be hard to accomplish. Write this guy more scenes and give him more business. It seems like the writers are already onto this gem in their cast, as this most recent episode spent a lot of time with Kale. They're on the right path but they can do more. Kale has recently been helping Will (or at least it seems this way, he could also be working against him) and should continue to do so. Since one of the major faults of this show is that the stakes are unclear, let's start by making our heroes a little clearer. I'm not saying there should be distinctive Good and Evil characters, this show works well in the grey-areas, but it wouldn't hurt to make Kale as definite friend of Will Travers and his ongoing investigation.  Perhaps add some danger to the show by having Kale tell Will everything he knows and agree to help him, in secret, take down API only to have him lose his live-in boyfriend in a tragic accident similar to the one that started Will's investigation (the mysterious death of Will's father-in-law is what begins the series). 
2. ANSWER QUESTIONS AND ASK NEW ONES - This was the one major flaw LOST seemed to have, it constantly asked new questions before it gave satisfying answers to the old ones. Rubicon doesn't do either. In the ten episodes I've seen, we have learned almost NOTHING worth-while about the over-all conspiracy, it's players, it's pawns or it's purpose. This is a bad move. The audience isn't going to stick around just because you keep a carrot on a stick in front of them. The characters will keep asses in the seats but for a show about conspiracy, you need to have lots of conspiring. Let us in on the plan. Show some of your cards and then think up new mysteries to tease us with. By episode 5 we should know exactly what the Crossword Puzzle Hiding Men hope to achieve.  By episode 10 we should know, without question, what Will is going up against. If we knew how high a mountain he has to climb we might be more inclined to stick around and watch him try to climb it. 
3. MORE CONSPIRACY THEORIES - The crossword puzzle thing was cool. So are all the hidden four-leaf clovers people keep finding at random, that somehow tie into the large conspiracy. I would love to continue telling you about the cool little bits of intrigue on this series but it stops there. It shouldn't. Wrap the the xword puzzle and the clovers by episode 6 and then introduce us to something new. Maybe there are hidden messages on TV or in a prominent Gossip rag. If this show gave us more little details to investigate with Will perhaps it wouldn't feel like we've spent the last 10 episodes treading water. 
4.  COMEDY WORKS TO INCREASE TENSION - As I said at the beginning of this piece a little levity goes a long way. If we could see some of these characters out of their work element, or even a bit happier at work, it would help to not only humanize them but increase the tension of the quiet serious scenes just enough to keep the show out of the feet-dragging pace it's been slogging along at. They tried this with light banter amongst Will's team but, for whatever reason, this falls flat and seems forced. Maybe it's because we know so little about these characters outside of the four-industrial green colored walls they work behind it's hard to tell what's meant to be sarcastic and what's meant to be serious. Which leads me to my final suggestion...
5. LET THE SUPPORTING CAST BREATH- We've gotten a little bit of info about each of the supporting characters but not enough information. If a bit more time was spent on each of these characters throughout the ten episodes that have aired, we could be more invested in their personal lives and therefore care more about what happens to them professionally. 

What's past is past and there's nothing we can do but I have no doubt that this show will get a second season and hopefully the creators will look back on the complaints the first season has received and search for ways to fix it. These 5 suggestions are a great place to start. I'm hoping for the best because there are many things about this show I like and with a few tweaks it could be as strong as my other favorite, quietly brooding series, DAMAGES. 

Am I way off base? Do you love Rubicon? Hate it? Share your thoughts below.