Ain't Got No J.O.B. But I'm back on the mic.

Should I stop accepting social security health care paycheck from the government for "mental illness" claims on behalf of my doctors/therapists in favor of finding actual work? Well, if I ever did find a job, which I probably won't ever), the government would stop writing me checks. And I'd have to rely on J.O.B. money instead, but because no one seems to be able to hire me, we all know that's not happenin anytime soon. So I guess its government money for the time being.


For now I'm excelling in a very rewarding career as an internet hobo.

By why converse with Lower, Scatalogically-faced Life Forms?

.....When you can innovate anyway?

Not really much of a comparison in quality, if you ask. You never do that though.

Anatomical Proportions in Art

My current art teacher. Her skill at precision measuring of proportions in fine art, whether its pencil, pen, gouache, or acrylics, just impresses me. I love artists who can get proportions right, even if what they're drawing is conceptual art and funk-dified character design like some of the stuff I draw.

I get impatient with proportions especially, so since I'm being taught  by someone who's mastered proportions in their fine art over the years, she's applying all this scientific and international knowledge to her sketching and painting that I wonder if I'll ever get right on a personal artistic and stylistic level.

Ah. You're GOOD, Teacher. Must be all that art education she accumulated in France when she lived there.

It should be noted...If you want to discuss what you JUST WATCHED last night on Tokyo TV Networks......

Well, I suppose if you really WANTED TO do that here, you could, as some of my readers live in Japan, but I'd recommend posting such things in places where you'll find people who have the same privilege (i.e. not me or most people who go here). We're stuck in America here. Can't speak for other websites. Heh.

Incredibly DETAILED Cyberpunk Co-Production Films for Anime Fans....

I'm in the midst of watching Sky Blue: Wonderful Days on Blu-Ray, which I now own a copy of.

If you like John Woo style action and Ghost in the Shell and Moebius level detail, I give it 5/5 stars.

Masterpiece. The Film Has No Flaws.

You can buy it on Amazon under the title Sky Blue, available on Blu-Ray.

Guilds and Unions online

You know, online broadcasting and webcomics really need a labor guild and union. Hollywood has one. No wonder the online world is such a mess. No one's getting paid anything, so they feel the need to act out I guess.

Johnny Cash Was The Greatest Goth....

"Man In Black"

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

When I think "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics"

I think:

Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP" and "The Slim Shady LP" and Marilyn Manson's "Antichrist Superstar"

And when I think metal, I think Marilyn Manson, Pantera, and Primus

When I think black, I think Metal Music and Noir

And when I think Cyberpunk, I think Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner, and AKIRA.

So when I say "Designer"

When I think "designer", I think and say character designer. Specifically Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Bruce Timm, and Jhonen Vasquez.

And when I think and say "indie comic book" I pretty much only think Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.

All the other stuff, the FLUFF. The things you've HEARD, is whack.

Yup. How Bout Them Stories. Flowin' Prose

Yup. I gots me some stories and scripts written

Get Serious....

Let's get real here.

If you're not you, and you're not BEING You, who the hell ARE You? You're a Nobody.

If you're not even trying to be yourself, and not anyone else, you're really striving to  be a Nobody.

An Unimportant Nobody. No one respects someone who can't really be themselves deep down.

If you're not really trying to be yourself, you're really just a loser.

#ToonamiIsBackBitches; Lyricist Lounge Flow

I don't think of my prose for the most part as traditional literature. My writing style, my unconscious writing style would appeal to hip-hoppers. Poets and freestyle lyricists of the hip hop world, in the same way the Beastie Boys lyrics and lyric sheets on the albums and the Beat Movement of the 60s did. My teachers in high school always used to go on and on about how my words "have a certain flow" to them. And while I'm a terrible rapper, I'm a pretty good non-musical written word lyricist. I do listen to my share of rap, rap-metal, nu-metal, hip-hop, and progressive hip-hop.

I've checked out the websites and mp3s of Richie Branson and MC Chris. I think those nerdcore cats are onto something here.

But I'm also big on Busta Rhymes, Eminem, Bloodhound Gang, and the Beastie Boys, as well as my man, Jack Kerouac. I guess my words and rants do kind of have a hip-hop drum n' bass lyrical beat generation vibe to them, considering I write essays, poems, journals, along with scripts and fiction.  Word flow is very important to me though.

R.I.P. Adam Yauch 

Manga Studio - Sequential Artist's Godsend

Manga Studio is a Godsend. It makes designing sequential art a thousand times easier. Now I can focus on just drawing really good pictures. Sizing the art up and fitting it to scale in the panels won't be a problem, and when all that's approved, I can print the page out and move onto the next page.

Honestly I don't have that much difficulty drawing the actual pictures. It was the fitting them to a comic book format that kept tripping me up. But with the Art Importing and Panel Drawing options available in Manga Studio, it makes things so much easier, I can leave comic  book retirement!

That's really all I wanted all along, was an easy way to structure panel compositions and fit my artwork into panels on comic book printer paper. 

3 Differing Kinds of Update Schedules... (Bookmark these sites)

My various websites I run can be grouped into 3 or so categories, in terms of major updates:

Get ready to update your bookmarks when you click these links! That way I don't have to REMIND you to visit them!

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/user/SplitAtomBoom

Writing:

http://www.jm-macabre.com
http://www.jm-essays.com
http://www.jm-manifesto.com
http://www.millenniumpoetry.com
https://twitter.com/#!/JM_Strebler

Webcomics: 

http://www.webcomicsnation.com/jm
http://www.monocomics.com

VISIT THESE SITES CONSTANTLY AND BOOKMARK ALL THESE SITE URLs!!!! 

NOW!!!!

Running an Animation Studio: How to Draw Comics The Strebler Way! REQUIRED READING

REQUIRED READING: The Only Books You'll Ever Need to Start Your Own Animation & Comics Studio:

Here are the books I Own, Refer To, and Never Put Down:

• How to Draw Comics The Marvel Way
• Batman: Animated
• The Art of Oban Star-Racers
• AKIRA and AKIRA CLUB by Katsuhiro Otomo
• Pulp Fiction: A Quentin Tarantino Screenplay
• Fight Choreography: The Art of Non-Verbal Dialogue by John Kreng
• Start Your Own Business: The Only Startup Book You'll Ever Need by Entrepreneur Magazine
• How to Write for Animation byJeffrey Scott
• Story by Robert McKee
• Drawing on the Right Side of theBrain by Betty Edwards
• The Natural Way to Draw by Kimon Nicolaides
• How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott CArd
• Producing Animation by CatherineWinder and Zahra Dowlatabadi 
• Animation: From Script to Screen by Shamus Culhane

These (for the most part) academic books will teach you everything you could want to know about being a cartoonist, designer, screenwriter, production designer, or producer. Some books are better for certain fields mentioned here than others. But the more skills you learn and teach yourself from studying and copying from books, the better. Regardless of your level of talent, you will find every single one of these books is a classic in their field just about. 

Secrets of Drawing Action and Fighting in Comics/Animation: Today's Lesson: Path of Action

Cartoon Action Fight Force and Momentum Is Always Visually Horizontal

Fighting Poses are always more intense and dynamic when They're Horizontal

Please refer to How to Draw Comics: The Marvel Way: Page 59: "Action"

Always lay out anatomy poses with a path of action.

When Drawing Action and Fighting, Keep the Path of Action Sideways and diagonal (Horizontal)

Nearly All Major Action Panels & Camera Shots feature a horizontal path of action

Striking an opponent is a sideways force, NOT a vertical force, unless the characters are in flight. But even then they're throwing punches, kicking, and striking horizontally the vast majority of the time.

No matter what kind of action scene or sequence your watching in animation or reading in comics, whether it's manga, superheroes, or TV action cartoons and anime, punches, blocks, and kicks, their force will 99% of the time be horizontal.

And that's all there is to that...Oh. Wait. Come to think of it, art students like visual examples, don't they.

Very well. Here are some poses I drew to demonstrate my theory. Note the curve of the torso / path of action / spine...

For more information on this comics fight drawing technique, check out the most classic book on comic book fighting: How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way. Though the artwork is a little dated, it's a must read for any artists who wants to portray action in their comic book illustrations and sequential art. If you want to draw Shonen or Seienen manga, it's also useful. Action is a universal language in comics and animation, so really, people shouldn't care if you're using a Marvel academic book to help you draw manga, indie comics, or anything else for that matter. Action is a universal language, regardless of filmmaker, illustrator, publication, country or genre. Fists move at the same pace in any language. 

LINK TO THE BOOK

One Easy Way to Figure Out What Kind of Job You'd Be Good at is By Narrowing Down Your Fields of Expertise

So for starters if you want to know what you're good at in terms of employable skills, get a notepad and pen and make a list. List all you're Strongest Areas and Fields You Can Potentially See Yourself Getting Hired in, and Narrow it Down to Your Strongest Fields and Employable Skills....I tried this technique myself:

Here's my own Business Media Bucket List:

• Trademarks
• Pitching Ideas
• Getting Creative Ideas
• Registering With a Creative Guild
• Seeking Representation with an Agency
• Graphic Novels and Comics
• Animation "Bibles"
• Broadcast Studios
• Film Editor
• CD Mixer
• Video Engineer
• Comic Book Publisher
• Character Design (Animation)
• Costume Design
• Light and Shadow Design
• TV Animation and Live Action Screenwriter
• Executive Producer
• Creative Consultant
• Production Designer / Art Director
• Storyboard Artist
• Novelist
• Webmaster
• Blogger, Tweeter

Some People

There really isn't any such thing as a "typical rags to riches" or success stories. Success stories come in wide varieties.

Some people wonder why I'm so rude to shut my family out of my work.

Others thing I don't rag on my family anywhere near "enough"

My parents have never consciously tried to STOP me from making a living as an artists, but they have accidentally sabotaged my moral by being a bit too demanding, COMMANDING, and strict.

They don't seem to have the same respect for the medium I have. Primarily because my family doesn't have the gift for it the way I do. They're also quite a bit more grounded in the so-called "real world" than I am.

Where was I going with this entry again?

Much thanks to whoever the random stranger was that clicked on my ONE YouTube Banner ad ONE time.

Thanks! You earned me $0.04 cents in royalties. I'll take all the spare change I can get!

ahh, I LUV when random strangers are charitable enough with me to click my banner ads. Every click you make on my ads contributes to my survival and being able to bring You all more of whatever the heck it is I do that you love so much. Support of my habit of writing blog entries and uploading videos is much appreciated.

SPLITATOMBOOM@YOUTUBE

If you REALLY want to benefit me and pay me back for entertaining you people, the number one thing you CAN do to support me bringing you more cutting edge material (other than visiting my sites) is to click my ads within my videos and blogs, as the profits go directly to me primarily. I don't know if anyone cares if I say this or not, but I kind of doubt anyone does care if I say how I'm actually paid for my work.

And before you ditch me when the TV humming in the background of the room your reading this in pressures your to turn away from me, just remember, who do you trust? Me, or a lying TV show? Which one has a better track record of treating you, the audience well? Me, or that monopolistic tool the TV? After how much the TV lies to steal your business from me and keeps you from knowing me as I really am, the LEAST you can do is click on my ads, IF you like me better than TV of course.

Stick with me kid. You'll go farther with me than you EVER could TV, the Lie Box. 

Thank you for your time, and Goodnight. 

Been reading up on Japan....

And if there's one thing I've learned, it's that there's more to incorporating Japanese influence in one's work than merely making everything cute, simple, flat, and drawing every with big eyes. 

There's an entire cultural value system in Japan. Most storytellers just want to imitate the art style. But what of incorporating long standing Japanese values in American storytelling. Everything from humility to ambiguity. There's quite a few of them...

Not Saying That

I'm not saying rich and powerful and famous people are the happiest. They're NOT and never will be. Spiritually devout people are the happiest, historically speaking. 

But rich, famous, and powerful people are certainly well enough off to realize their words online have consequence due to the weight of their status, which is exactly the reason you don't see them running amuck online ranting and cyber-bullying the way BROKE COLLEGE KIDS and teens and TWEENS (the easily influenced) living in GHETTO NEIGHBORHOODS and APARTMENTS do. 

Young, inexperienced, and broke people (what is essentially kids and teenagers and college kids, anime fans included) have the biggest mouths online. The reason is obvious. They have the least amount of shit to lose. The more power money fame whatever, or material possessions you have to lose by saying the wrong things, the less wrong things you will learn to say. 

Animation's a tough, tricky business.

When going into animation, there's already a system set up that's both very efficient and very defective. There really isn't a battle between American and Japanese animation.

It comes down to one question?

Do you want to Get Rich & Suck Out Loud, or do you want to Be "Cool" and Go Broke.

Because you can't and won't have both. You HAVE TO choose your career path at some point. I guarantee that much.

Generally, the unwritten law is:

The more $ you have at your disposal, the less popular you're going to be with the intelligentsia.

Hey Publishing Company! I'm With Adsense

ME: "Hey Adsense! My project finally earned $22. I  believe that's the minimum I need to actually get paid for what my work earns! How about a paycheck finally?"

ADSENSE: "Up! WHOOPS! Did we say them minimum was "$22"?? Whoops, we lied! Since our books are selling more, the minimum is now $200. You'll STILL get nothing and LIKE it! Go back to Chapter 11. We don't need your kind on our publishing roster. You've got some audacity to say we should be paying you. We're not obligated for that, don't you read your contract??"

ME: "WHATEVS MAN..."

Had Another...

$$$Money$$$ dream this morning. In the dream I was looking at myself, either from outside myself or in the mirror, and I was standing their, with a grin and a big wad of cash in my hand.

Jeez people, if you're gonna read my blog entries...and your reading this right now

Bear with me and read through them all. Don't just skip a bunch of entries and go with only the ones that "sound fun"

They're ALL fun!

Overall,

"Good Riddance To Bad Rubbish: A Commemeration"

Well aside from celebrating the Devil's Departure from my Neighborhood, which was in a VIOLENT STATE OF ANARCHY for a while there, I've also been sketchin'. Now that the noise down the street is leaving, I can celebrate the noise in my head with actual REAL value.

Praise Jebus! The Devil Clouds are Lifting...

After years of audio torture, that noise, nasty, EVIL family who lives down the street on the cul-de-sac, three or four houses down from my house, is high tailing it out of the neighborhood.

Those DEVIL KIDS are GONE! Jesus be praised! I'm gonna throw a party. A GOOD RIDDANCE EVIL NOISY NEIGHBORS party.

Not just ANY Architectonics: Organic Architectonics

My architectural philosophy, though primarily fantastical and fictional, is a mixture of organic architecture and architectonics and my Design Imaginatorium. The shapes and forms just make sense to me. Their freakish eccentricity speaks my language, the language of organic design.

Other Organic Designers: Moebius (probably the greatest organic fantastical architect of all time, in terms of fantasy) Jhonen Vasquez, Katsuhiro Otomo, Syd Mead, Corey Jackson (Indigoskynet).

Design Countries with organic architecture in real life: Germany, Japan, China, France

Look it up. That's how I draw buildings. From an organic architectonic perspective. Otherworldly. Alien-like.

But seriously though, Indeed I am...

I am indeed a Bastard Son. I've never lied about that, or tried to hide it. It's just a matter of fact.

If you're multiracial and you don't know anything about your genealogy, because you were raised in a closed adoption like I was, the best thing you can probably do if you want to know more about your genealogical heritage is get a DNA test. That's how I found out I was part French, Part Australian, Part French, Part British, Part Chinese, Part Arab, and of course, Part American. I ain't making this stuff up. Where do you think I got it from? A DNA test of course. Otherwise if I HADN'T taken an ancestral DNA test, all I'd know about myself was that I had black curly hair, brown eyes, and tan reddish skin. That's no way to go through life. Get a DNA test. Find some answers if you don't have any, like I did.

Character Design Time! Here's one of my older characters...

Tome Title: I love  being 1/4th Chinese & 1/4th French: Episode 222.

Juh Juh Juh Juh Jah Jah, Jah JEN.

Japanese Artists Who Could Definitely Use Some Form of Official Art Site

• Katsuhiro Otomo
• Hiroaki Samura
• Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
• Yasuhiro Nightow

None of these guys have official sites, which could be useful to them for project documentation, galleries, and whatnot.

Oh man...!

You used to be able to find all the cool stuff at the bottom of the sales charts. Now it's just one big discount bin.

Dammit Why Not More Disc-To-Digital for indie manufacturers

Why can't someone invent a Disc-to-Digital rip and store on demand video technology that rips DVDs, of any sort, both recorded and bought, and stores the video on a DVD Player or Blu-Ray Player and a website database, using a Google-sized database that stores and plays videos as easily and flawlessly as YouTube, where you can store and watch 2 videos or 2 million videos you've owned and created as part of your website or home electronics collection. 

Why has no one thought to do that yet?? HUH!? HUH!? WHY!!!!!

Have You Seen Me? J.M.'s Dad...

Here's the deal. I'm adopted. I wasn't raised by my biological father and never met him. He had his own very prestigious, very important life with the clergy and automotive manufacturing to deal with before I was born.

But I really wish I knew what he looked like. I know what I look like, but I've never actually seen my birth father's face. 5 free anime DVDs from my collection to anyone who can track down a portrait or photo-portrait of my biological fathers  face. He doesn't have a famous face like I do. I'd like to say I could just take my looks, age it forward and voila.  But, no, that's not really how it works. I might NEVER see an image of my father's face. My birth mom doesn't have any actual photos of my father, even though they were best friends for a while. Odd. I remember my birth mom when I caught up with her stating my birth father had a "big gray beard".

Anime: Hint, Hint!

Hint Hint! In a place as culturally sensitive and temperamental and touchy as the anime industry, if you want to work in anime or anything resembling it (Sci-Fi, Action, avant-garde), you're an International American-Asian Diplomat First, an  Entrepreneur and Businessman/woman second, a Filmmaker Third, and a Cartoonist and-or Animator Fourth.

But above all,  you gotta be nice to people, otherwise it's easy to be mistaken for a mere fan.  

Neighbors

Neighbors. Can’t live next to em’, and can’t brain em. Well you can brain em, but you’ll face prison time for murdering your neighbors. Not a bad act in and of itself, but if you’re in jail, it’s impossible get comics drawn.

Lord's Prayer...

"Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil."

90s and New Millennium

There's no place for my kind in the New Millennium. I don't fit in anywhere. Not even in my own place where I live.

At least in the 80s and 90s I felt like I belonged for the most part. Ever since the early 2000s, nowhere feels like home to me. I'm what I call a 90s Drifter. A person who fit in, in the 80s and 90s, but got the iron boot in the New Millennium. I'm going to bed.

Hey now, what's this? My new H.P. Lovecraft fictional prose book is lying on my  bed. I'd  better read this one.

No Shortcuts to Real Success. You're gonna GET What you Deserve

In life, in my life, there are no shortcuts to money or anything else valuable. Only after years of honest, strenuous hard work will you Ever be able to reap what you sew. If you're ME. This fact that hard work and only hard work over long periods of difficult time will ever bring financial gain, applies to me and no one else. Others help themselves to getting rich off of dishonesty, cheating, manipulation, and general shortcuts and substitutes to a hard and honest day's work. Playing fair is the ONLY way I've ever gotten ahead. 

Reap What You Sew

Bryan: A Psychiatric and Legal Analysis

Bryan was a complex character. Hero to himself. Villain to probably everyone but his parents. Upon peering deep into his soul with my owl eyes, and observing his actions, crimes and all, I realize, he probably just wanted what any adolescent of high aspiration would want: Fame, respect, authority, power. And if he were a normal person whose nature wasn't so ruthless, he could very well have had those things, if only he had followed the Zen path as I did and learned patience. His intellect and genius for computers didn't get in the way of his lofty ambitions. It was his ultimately unscrupulous and malicious nature, which, to his credit in an odd way, seems to have been at least partially the product of drugs, steroids, and alcohol. It was the chemicals in his body which turned him from Dr. Jeckyl to Mr. Hyde with 1.2 million clones at his disposal. Ultimately it was either an unclean soul, heavy amounts of chemicals, or his own tendency towards sociopathological deceit, and sadistic lack of respect for humanity and life  that was the final nail in the coffin of his public reputation. I think, in the end, it was his own twisted psyche that did him in. He went some places that were incredibly darkhearted. He wanted something, ANYthing to blame (EXCEPT HIMSELF) for his ultimate failure in life and his perennial status as a "nerd loser with incredibly bad luck, maybe even cursed". And because he attempted to pile it onto other people and the world, never realizing he was the root of all those people's suffering, that one element of his unconscious mind was what was his dead weight. The only real dead weight in Bryan's life is Bryan. End of Story. How about trying to Blame Bryan next time Bryan Commits an actual Crime, instead of blaming society for calling you fat or a nerd or whatever it is that manifests itself as the chip that sits on his shoulder.

He saw me as a threat to his own power from day one (when at first I didn't even notice him around me) and his desire to portray me in such a way was not only ill founded, it was the ultimate unraveling of his twisted internal logic. His arrogance and deception and all the drugs he took somehow fooled him into thinking he wasn't to blame for EVERYTHING BAD IN HIS LIFE, when objectively, he WAS responsible for his own ultimate failure in life.

Not my fault. If he simply would have learned to think of others first for once in his life, his life might not have obliterated itself, along with many others.

Values: Purity of Heart

There are some things I value in other people: Willpower, discipline, patience, honor courage, chivalry, fortitude, autonomy, and of course, innocence. I value innocence in myself and others.

Not much scares or bothers me, except MAYBE the concepts of these virtues being taken, stolen, ransacked, or robbed from their owners by other members of society. To violate these values is an injustice and crime i cannot abide by.

Innocence and naivety, while feminine in their form of human nature, matter very much to me. Accidentally making other's frustrated or cynical is one thing. Intentionally setting out to rob others of their innocence, naivety, and purity through trickery and deception is a crime I cannot tolerate. You (spiritual thieves and sadistic pillagers) have no right to take such holy things from such blessed people, of ANY age, young OR old. Innocence and naivety is not exclusive to children. Innocence and purity exists (albeit in different guises) in any person, of any gender, or any age. This preservation of purity, if disrupted, disrupts me down to my very SOUL. Something I don't much care to tolerate. 

2012 in Pop Culture: YEAR OF THE BIG (THINGS)

A Week in Review:


• Peter S. Beagle Short Story Anhology
• Boondocks Season 4
• Toonami Is Back
• Men in Black 3
• Tim Burton's Dark Shadows Remake
• Motorcity

Toonami goes BACK ON AIR MAY 26/27th. You're welcome

Nuff said.

Some Anime Box Set DVDs I Always Keep on Hand In my CD Wallet...

Heat Guy J
Yu Yu Hakusho
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Series I & II
Gundam Wing Seasons 1 & 2
IGPX: The Immortal Grand Prix

I'm ready to marathon those suckers at a moments notice!

Bi-annual haircut

Those are always fun....

Art and DRAWING: NO, It DOESN'T Get Easier....

Will practice make you a better artist? Yes.

Will your acquired skill at art and daily practice make the actual drawing process any easier?
Will it ever become easier?

No, it DOESN'T get easier. You have to force yourself to do it every day. It will ALWAYS feel torturous every so often. Sometimes it hurts less, but not, when you're drawing at my level of skill, fame, and intensity, drawing NEVER becomes the most pleasurable activity you do. Actually it's one of the LEAST pleasurable activities one can do during the day.

Drawing will ALWAYS be stressful, even if and when it's just the stress leading UP TO the daily pencil mileage.

You can't wait to feel "inspired" just to get to work drawing. But you can get into a state where you do it a bit more compulsively.

Nice Form You've Got There...

Wow!

Nice Form you've got there

No really! You're form is very nice!

UNLESS, of course, you actually wanted to make contact and HIT me. 

In which case, you kind of suck and are a weak opponent.

New Story Arc of End Times

New Storyline for Parallax - End Times: Shadow Op 7 vs. The New-Earth Drug Lords.

Shopping List: Recently Acquired...

Things I ordered from Amazon yesterday: 

• Jhonen Vasquez National Design Triennial
• Peter S. Beagle's Secret History of Fantasy 
• Psyren manga Volume 1 
• The Best of HP Lovecraft
• Berserk manga: Volume 1
• External DVD-RW Drive

Making Friends is Sem-Challenging

As of the last five or so years, I've actually made a decent, but small amount of friends in California:

Indigoskynet, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Animation Magazine. Jhonen Vasquez Oh yeah, and some guy named Steve Blum. Whoever that is.

Bird of Prey, Right Next to Me!

See, I was watching TV in my living room, when suddenly, this big old foot tall HAWK swoops down and perches on the fence facing my living room window, peering in at me, just watching me. A Hawk, watching me watching TV. 

Local Wildlife are Cool.

Culture Count Stats Report!

There are 66 Russian people, 25 Americans, 3 English People, 2 Japanese people, 1 Canadian Person, and 1 German person reading this blog currently. Thanks for reading world! Stop by any time!

The Evil One, The Evil Twin

HAS been reported to a private investigator, as of today. Just spreading the word. Take that!!

The Chinese Pan-Asian Social Network(?)

A powerful thing it is indeed. But it's not that people don't have access to it. It's that they get lost in the untranslated language barrier. Next to Japan, or perhaps transcending Japan even, China has one of the two biggest social networks online next to the United States. Any social network that ubiquitous and instantaneous, I'd like to be a part of. After all, I do have Chinese ancestors. May as well try to  reconnect at least a little. I mean I know there's stuff like YouTube and Deviant art to keep in touch with the Chinese, but what about all those Chinese social network 2.0 sites. I can't think of the name of a single one! I'd particularly like to be more involved in the social network that like martial arts, filmmaking, art, comics, and animation. Chinese sites and Chinese people online love to talk about this stuff, and I love talking to them!

So if you're Chinese, feel free to send me an email at spindack@gmail.com with some website recommendations.

FUCK YEAH MAN. GOOD THINGS STILL DO HAPPEN TO ME....

For Starters, I still CAN draw....!

See???

Another Mono Print. Hot off deh presses, Bocha.

eh, Is it NORMAL?

Is it NORMAL to feel like projectile vomiting all over the room because you're so happy you're spontaneously combusting inside over how TALENTED some people you know are? I'm so happy I'm gonna puke! Seriously, I might not know what I've signed onto just yet, but I'm starting to. Getting closer to working in animation is like being on a Apollo Spaceship.

Hmmm, Very Nice Indigoskynet.....

Though I never admitted to him in direct conversation, as an American Art Director, Production Designer (anyone in animation kind of knows they're kinda the same thing. The guy who does the effects and background and props), Indigoskynet was a HUGE influence on my best production design. If I hadn't seen his artwork, (well, him and the work of Katsuhiro Otomo who in my opinion is his Japanese equivalent), if it wasn't for those guys, my layouts would be shit. They inspired me to NOT cop out in terms of portraying perspective and architecture in my stories. Don't go with traditional Hannah Barbera style (aperspectival), strive for something a little deeper, more Japanese/French. So THANKS, Indigoskynet. If it wasn't for your work in animation and illustration, I wouldn't be striving for anything.

I've spoken to the HOLY GHOST...

I was even gonna hire Holy Ghost to be part of mah little rag tag crew. Until I learned...It evaporates into dust when you most want to hire him. Live and learn.

Audience

I can worry about discipline for my art process Later. In the mean time, I have to focus all my energy to mastering the international animation contest I seem to have ended up in, which will be guaranteed to be witnessed by 120,000 loyal readers in 100 countries. That will be the biggest direct audience my design work has ever been in front of. No pressure. 

Quick Shout Out

To the Dozens of Russian Readers I seem to now have. Word, homies.

This Blog entry renovated to save time, some money, and Go Green! Uh-huh

When people say Cross-Dominance and Brain-Lateralization

They hardly ever talk about how it factors into art, literature, creativity, and multitaltedness. Being a polymath like me, Benjamin Franklin, and Leonardo, in other words. 

There really isn't much denying that most writer-artists like myself, people who can switch from doing something Right-Brained (art, design, images) to doing something Left-Brained (Writing, literature, science, words) comprise a HUGE percentage of the cross-dominance population. Many of us (not all,  but most) I'm pretty sure are real life geniuses. Rationals, Multi-talented, ingenuity, Cross-Dominance of Brain Hemispheres, Aspergers. Yeah, they're all linked. Make a note, doc. 

Famous People who are multi-talented

• Bill Gates
• Larry Page
• Todd McFarlane
• Dave Sim
• Steve Jobs
• Steve Wozniak
• Jhonen Vasquez
• Sean Akins
• Aaron McGruder
• Bruce Timm
• Glenn Murakami
• Genndy Tartakovsky
• George Lucas
• Spielberg
• James Cameron
• Chris Prynoski
• Akira Toriyama
• Katsuhiro Otomo
• Musashi Kishimoto
• Eiichiro Oda
• Osamu Tezuka
• Shinichiro Watanabe
• Plenty of animation and film producers

ME!

And those are the ones that are still alive. Many people in Silicon Valley are. So are many of the people RUNNING Hollywood and the comics and animation industries, particularly the ones like Jhonen who somehow managed animation AND comics. 

Stayin' Here, or Getting a Job Path A or Path B

You know, I've got a  good thing going here on Blogger, the Adult Swim Boards, Twitter, Adsense, and YouTube. Part of me thinks that's pretty cool, and is intimidated by moving onto work that actually pays well, and demands real work. Such confusing feelings. It's being pulled in two directions, Path A) My Small Fanbase, which pays nothing  but celebrates my holiday every day, and Path B) Corporate Payday, but few or no friends and a whole lotta loneliness to go with all that money. People like and respect me on those sites. They talk about me, and pay attention to me. Giving that up to pursue a corporate Hollywood or Silicon Valley Job. Well, yes I could buy anything I want, but there's more to life than money! I just know there is!

The only thing is, Path A is Jealous, Malicious, often Unsupportive, and Jealous of my other Loves and Interests. Path A and Path B are two Pathways of my life that don't necessarily know about each other, so i don't know exactly how they'd interact, to tell you the truth. I suspect if Path A found out I was Courting Path B, it would be like a jealous x who would stalk any of my new potential girlfriends, and demean them because "WHY CAN'T YOU STAY BROKE, HAPPY, and IN LOVE WITH ME!!!??? WHY WHY WHYYYYY!!!!!!!!!"

It's a hazardous road, having a career.  But that's how fans are. That's how fans are in regards to a little man with big dreams (aka me).

Why, Whoever Could That have been? Hmmm. I wonder

James doesn't look TOO bad. For a  bearded blogger.

Oh would you look at that, he's invisible again...

Work Productivity Stats

Total number of printed pages of Art and Literature produced: 


5,445 Pages

Total number of multi-media manuscripts produced: 


27 Manuscripts

Contest Entry Status...

Contest Entry is 50% complete. Just need to finish this bad boy up.

Good Cartoon Shows and Movies Inventors Would Like

• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
• Meet the Robinsons
• Dexter's Laboratory
• Megas XLR
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Frylock is an Inventor)
• Iron Man: Armored Adventures

Because on this blog, we love innovation. And patents.

A Pretty Good Book About Fortitude Actually...

Decent book. Very decent. Nice way to learn how to increase your tolerance for fortitude.

Here's What Happened The Year I was Born (1983)

TIMELINE OF 1983

·        Michael Jackson (Moonwalk Invented; Thriller Released; First Music Video)
·        Tokyo (Disneyland Opens)
·        Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Declared
·        I.M. Pie wins Pritzker Architecture Prize
·        Katsuhiro Otomo’s Domu was Published, Became a Bestseller in Japan and won the first manga to win the Science Fiction Grand Prix Award
·        Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Apple introduce Apple Lisa (First Computer with a GUI)
·        God of Manga-Anime (Osamu Tezuka) Meets God of Franco-Belgian Comics (Jean Giraud Moebius at Angouleme Comic Comic Convention in Angouleme, France)
·        Star Wars: Episode VI (Return of the Jedi) Opens in the American Box Office, grossing $475 Million
·        Fist of the North Star Premieres
·        Manga, Manga! The World of Japanese Comics is First Published
·        Miyazaki and American Studio’s joint venture co-production, Little Nemo feature is produced, but not released due to squabbling among American and Japanese staffs.
·        Scarface sees Box Office Release
·        Stephen King’s Christine horror film is released
·        A Christmas Story is released
·        Sony Introduces the CD-ROM Player or “CD Player”

Youtube Page Not Working Right. Oh Well! Back to my 5,000 OTHER projects. Fuck YouTube.

YouTube really only interfered with my offline work anyway. Not a big deal if you ask me.

If YouTube wants to abuse it's power by banning or borderline banning me, I couldn't care less.

That just means it's back to my creative projects. Back to the old screenwriting software, Microsoft Word, and Drawing Desk to produce more comics, animation, and other things, like webcomics.

Wow, now I don't have a conflict of legal interests in my career. What a "tragedy".

Atonement

Yes, I'm no angel. You don't have as much power as I did at one point without fighting people and trashing people and things for it, and I did enough of that in my day.

Hitler Jr., Central Florida, Comedy, The TV News, American Animation, The South, My Neighbors, My Family, Disney, Viacom.

I trashed em all. Some I still would, but not ALL of them.

Some of them were aware of these facts, and plotted against me from the moment they found out I trashed them.

I'm DONE living that way. Power isn't worth anything if you have to destroy others to get it.

I never apologized to them, and they ESPECIALLY didn't apologize to me.

The Greatest Test of Your Life

Ah, don't sweat it. You made it this far, didn't you? The less of a big deal you make out of it, the less of a chance there is of Monsters From The Depths of Hell Eating You Alive.

Just sayin'.

Name Lineage...

That is correct. My Biological father's side of my family (well, technically anyway) is tangentially related to William the Conqueror in 1066.

It is pretty cool being a distant illegitimate American relative of the ancient British Monarchy.

Dreams of the Master Builder: TIME and Inventors, Sitting in a Tree!

I had a dream before I woke up this morning, where I was in a dream where I was living in this photo,

 at Steve Wozniak's house in his living room, we were hanging out, until he showed off his tech skills by assembling an Apple II prototype of the first personal computer out of a data processor, keyboard, and old school TV Monitor. Right in front of me, in his California living room.

The Era of Anime Drawn and Written Exclusively by the Japanese...is OVAH! Hurray!!!!

'Tis.

Being an Anime Character Conceptual Artist. In America

Though I don't really get any official fanmail or kudos, technically, yes, I'm an American conceptual artist who designs conceptual art that gets used in Japanese anime. That was a dream I had ever since I was 13 and learned someone actually draws such detailed things.

But my background isn't Japanese, it's American. I know American culture. I've never lived in Japan.

But I love anime with all my heart and soul. I love Japan with all my heart and soul, regardless of what I say on the surface.

I'm one of the first non-Japanese American conceptual artists, designers and cartoonists to have his costume and character designs used in Japanese anime & manga at a frequent level. It's been an honor and a privilege to see such a personal miracle happen. That the Japanese approved of my art enough to draw and write it into their shows.

That's what I wanted, wished, for and dreamed of all along. Technically that's what I've achieved. My name isn't in the credits unless it's unofficially, but technically everyone already knows I'm the guy that designed That. The "black overcoat, w/traffic lines and/or swords x guns rugged" look. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to spot a contribution like that.

I get the ULTIMATE HONOR at the end of my life and career. I get to point to the screen and say to myself and anyone around me, "HEY! I DESIGNED THAT! FUG YEAH MAN!"

Want to be an anime designer for a "living" like I've managed to do?

Here's some things you need:

• A Japanese work ethic. Always strive to work as hard and as fast as the Japanese. It doesn't matter if you "succeed officially". All that matters is that you try. People respect an honest effort.

• Strive for design originality and detail. Always work on improving your designs, even when your light years beyond the competition.

• Build a strong web presence. Draw and Publish as many webcomics and illustrations as you can. But comics especially. Don't be shy about displaying your work.

• Accept criticism as part of the job. People are going to criticize you. You think it's any different for Masashi Kishimoto or Eiichiro Oda or Akira Toriyama? No Japanese artists get just as much flack from fans as Americans do. As we all know, I'm no exception to that rule. And you shouldn't be either, if you're any good.

And THAT's all she wrote.

Oh dear God, I AM a bad designer! YOU'RE RIGHT.

Y'know you're opinion MUST be truthful. Those Japanese animators and character designers over in Tokyo must be using MY original costume designs because they just HATE my work. Yeah, that's it. My designs are being used in hardcore Japanese anime produced in Tokyo because I have NO talent. Yeah, it doesn't take ANY talent to influence JAPANESE artists...Yeah, I'M buying it. I love bullshit lies like the kind you talk about.

Adult Action Shows on Networks....

While they do get good ratings in Japan and on VENUES like Toonami, take it from a guy who's been around the block, non-family action is the HARDEST KIND OF SELL. When Spawn and Beavis and Butthead were on the air, maybe, but now you're better off doing a webcomic and just keeping you're fingers crossed someone licenses it from the internet if you get enough web ratings. 

With industry TV power players adult = hard sell. 

If you've got something violent, you can either A) Tone your violence, sex, and cussing down and make a REAL franchises (because adult shows aren't real franchises in the eyes of networks), i.e. PG-14 Level. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle style.

or B) Struggle with rejection. and no sale.

Just because Adult Swim uses the word "adult" in their name doesn't mean they're giving a greenlight for everyone to sell adult shows. Graphic content is the hardest sell there is. Don't dumb it down, but yes, if you want to make a TON of money, there will  be a 90% certainty networks WILL want to tone your work down. It's a casualty of war. Accept it or make a webcomic. They're the future you know...

I mean, for chriminy sake, look at Jhonen. Do you really think if Jhonen could have made Zim an adult show and had the political TV industry power to do that by now, he WOULD HAVE?? Of course he would have done Zim on MTV or Adult Swim instead of Nickelodeon. But as anyone in the industry is aware, Jhonen had to make his share of compromises to get his show on air, almost just as many as ANY children's show creator. He sold to Nick what he was ABLE to sell. Which is not to say Zim didn't recieve the TREATMENT of having an adult edge. It did.  But don't think for a second Jhonen would have Toned Zim Down for the Censors and Network business agenda if he wasn't forced to at knifepoint by the decency Police. Well, that and he didn't want the show to fail by being a completely adult show, as much as the most adult shows like Spawn and Spicy City. 

I have another new pet: The Moth

Moths are actually kinda cute for insects. All fuzzy and tiny. A moth got into my room somehow and flew right up to me, landed on my shirt. I named him Norman. I don't kill moths. They're too fuzzy and they like to fly to you. Well they do me anyway. And if I don't have to kill a bug I won't do it. According to Buddhism, insects are sentient beings too. So I let him stay for the time being. All guests are welcome in MY room.

The REAL Beasties Story....

Yeah, enjoy "Sabotage" and all the shitty techno-hop remixes of Beasties songs, cuz you ain't gonna FIND the regular Beasties songs on YouTube yet, cuz of copyright ban. Thanks Youtube and Copyright. Now we HAVE NO "legit way" of honoring MCA....You could say look elsewhere, but everybody's already ON YOUTUBE. Third or whatever number it is next to Google and Facebook. Duh.

Here's how the "Branding Name Game" Works, at least partially...

I market brands all day long, wanna know a secret?

Names mean a LOT to people, especially YOUR audience. 

One truth is, while the market does tend to hype the new and undiscovered at least 50% of the time (they HAVE to, that's part of their job.), people don't tend to gravitate towards new and unknown, or "young names" with little experience. That's just not how it works. You're not going to get to the top of the world with a new name. You "get there" with an old established one. The older a name gets in media, the more famous, "valuable" and recognized it gets. Most people don't remember a name they have just heard. But they sure as hell remember that name if it's been around for 5 to 15 years. Who hasn't?

Why? Look in the psychology of names and words.

People associate old with "established, valued, important, trustworthy and wise" Why do you think Jesus and the Buddha are so popular. Jesus' very death is the starting point of the Roman Calendar and pretty much all mainstream calendars in general. Why is this? Cuz Jesus is old.

Bottom line? Age accumulates respect, not just value. New is unpredictable. People don't know what they're getting from new. It hasn't been around long enough to prove itself the masses, to prove PEOPLE, wrong OR right. This applies to names as much as life stories. Right Adam Yauch?

HEY  LOOK! I DID A SHOUTOUT! Now you can write your little SHITTY HEADLINES NOW! AFTER THE FUCKING FACT. FAGGOTS!

I dun get PAID! Therefore I ain't going to feed that machine. I got better things to do than pretend to be hip with the music nowadays like the journalists who DIDN'T report on that (i.e. EVERYBODY), but you sure as hell can bet if I said that name sooner, people would have. Behold my power.

How to Market your "un"popular Blog....Yay.

Yay. Posting your recurring name, your nationality, links to your blog to every web profile you have does WONDERS for your blog ratings!

Believe it or not, people want to see your website all the time, if they know who you already are and have reason to do so.

The fewer amount of pseudonyms you use on each website you visit, the more people tend to want to follow you. Maybe the reason my ratings are so low on some of my profiles is because they don't know I'm that J.M. Strebler guy.....oh yea! I forgot to mention I'm also that Spindack and SplitAtomBoom guy. [We are one: Spindack/SplitAtomBoom/Strebler]. Dunno really. Well, that and the fact that I think of a new public name for myself every 5 minutes....Partially because of how krazy my audience is IN THE FIRST PLACE.