Wednesday, September 29, 2010

WHAT I'M DOING FOR BANNED BOOKS WEEK

BANNED BOOKS WEEK

For Banned Books Week I'm going to be listening to two books that have been challenged and banned at different times; while walking and working out at the gym. Plus, plus. Both of these are considered classics by some but I haven't gotten the chance to read them, though I did see The Chocolate War on TV once.

Also remember to support your local libraries because right now they need that support.

THE CHOCOLATE WAR
BY ROBERT CORMIER
PERFORMED BY GEROGE CUIDALL

ATHLETIC SHORTS
BY CHRIS CRUTCHER
PERFORMED BY FRANK MULLER

 


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Tuesday, September 28, 2010


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Sunday, September 26, 2010

SUCK IT, WONDER WOMAN! THE MISADVENTURES OF A HOLLYWOOD GEEK


By- Olivia Munn
with Mac Montandon

Published by St. Martin's Press

Being a fan of Attack Of The Show I wanted to check out this book. But also being a fan of the show I really wish Olivia Munn was on the show more often. I don't think she has been on the show since Comic Con but that is neither here nor there, this is a book review.

From what I've read about her life I would be really interested in a full book her story.

I found the book to be a bit uneven which I guess is the style of these types of books but I would have really have liked to have heard more about her personal life growing up and how she got onto Attack Of The Show and the entertainment industry in general.

The uneven nature of the book keep taking me out of it every time I read a section I enjoyed. The low rating I think comes a lot from really looking forward to a better read and not getting it.

1 Out Of 5 Stars

Review by Brian C. Williams

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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

TECHNOLOGY AND THE ARTS INTERVIEW QUESTION SERIES #2: Lea Hernandez

Welcome to the second of three interviews were I have sent out questions to several people about the connection between technology and the arts. I picked the three best interviews and I’m presenting them now and hope you enjoy reading these answers.
The subject of technology and the arts is one I’ve always had a vested interest in, from making fanzines on copiers when I was in high school to connecting with people through the internet on blogs and the other opportunities the internet can offer up to artists. But with those opportunities for artist to grow and shine, technology has also always been a double edged sword for the artist and the consumer also with pirating hitting artists and consumer fraud for those purchasing the works of artists. I hope to get a better understanding from this series of what is being felt on the subject not just by me but by others. I also hope you enjoy reading these interviews as much as I have as they have come into my inbox.
With this interview I get answers from Lea Hernandez

Lea Hernandez is a twenty-plus years comics veteran who has published in traditional print and led the charge to publish comics on the web. Her graphic novel series include Texas Steampunk, the tart pop satire Rumble Girls (the first print comic series to move to the web) and the 90% true Near-Life Experience. Her comic, "Ribbons Undone" was part of the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning "Comic Book Tattoo" anthology.


She is currently writing and drawing a new middle-grades series, "The Garlicks," and publishes "Near-Life Experience" weekly-ish at divalea.livejournal.com. She also does lots of work hidden deep under layers of non-disclosure agreements.

Lea is a single mom of two teenagers, and lives in San Antonio, Texas.



QUESTIONS FOR LEA HERNANDEZ

-Hi Lea! Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to answers some questions! I will try to keep these short but cover as much as we can. With your work with Rumble Girls in mind do you believe things are headed in the right direction for artists when it comes to technology?

*Absolutely, you can connect with an audience without an intermediary and keep costs down. Having been in comics since the black & white boom where getting one's work out meant paying for printed books, convincing the distributors to carry you, hand-selling to stores who only had what distros fed them, and a lot of road time to build an audience, GOD DO I LOVE THE FUTURE. The old way was expensive, difficult and frustrating. It sucked.

-I have enjoyed viewing some of The DivaLea Shows you have done. What made you decide to do this?

*It's the kind of thing I like to watch: someone's drawing process with smartassery. I love commentary tracks and making of documentaries and short subjects.

-Have you ever gone the pdf route or considered doing so with your work? Any big reasons for or against? This is my preferred way of getting my work out but I know others have problems with going that way.

*I've thought of it, but never had the time to pursue it. There will be paid digital distro for some of my work in the near future.
Let's turn this around: why do you prefer PDFs? Ease of reading? (Not having to click endlessly through online archives.) Ease of distribution?

-I prefer PDFs because one, you can get a large amount of materials out there pretty quickly. Another is the money you can save. The only thing I spend money on is for cover artists and editors and then share profits with LuLu who I publish my PDFs through. 
The main reason I started  in the begining releasing stuff as PDF was during a time when I was sending free short stories and poetry collections to friends by email. The PDFs could be read on most computers without screwing up my formatting.
The main reason I’m doing it now to be honest is because I’m still learning the craft. I handled my learning disability and the diffcultity it gave me when it came to writing with anger for years and that slowed my progress down. If I had thought my first book was good enough I would have tried print publishing but it wasn’t. When my 2nd book is full and complete I will look it over also and make a decision but as long as I’m inproving and getting better that is my biggest goal. PDFs and internet release lets me release projects as my learning process keeps going, get feedback, and it not cost me tons of money…which I don’t have anyways.
Isn’t it great no one wants to interview me, I just ramble.

-With piracy issues for every form of art when it comes to technology at large and what seems to be a twisted view by some that all things should be free do you think the pros will out run the cons when it comes to the effects of technology and the arts?

*I think the pros still outrun the cons. I also think there are people who, even if given something for free, would STILL steal it, because it's not about having, it's about GETTING. They steal because they can. Some of them are childish, whiny, entitled and impatient. Others are convinced they're sticking it to "the man," whoever the man is. The man is certainly not the artist whose work is pirated.
OTOH, creators need to, as much as possible, identify the people who steal their work because their books are hard to find, to get readers to buy online, get from libraries, buy at shows.
Comickers are in a position to have more direct contact with their audience than prose writers. It's a business that has a lot of hand-selling. So, it's easier to follow this route. By which I mean other than comics and Cory Doctorow, I may be talking right out of my ass.

-Here is my off the wall questions. Is technology like Twitter helping more artists or hurting them?

*It depends. There are days when I love Twitter. There's this good flow, like I'm giving a talk, or doing a stand-up act 140 characters at a time. There are also days when Twitter depresses the fuck out of me, when I have gotten a rejection or work or the personal life is going poorly, and things for others seem (the operative word is "seem") to be going fantastic. Then Twitter can be pure poison for anyone.
It can be another excellent online procrastination tool, like web forums, and newsgroups and AOL and Compuerve...
On the whole, I find it fun and it's wonderful and there's an instant gratification that helps motivate creators who usually work in a vacuum. It's a great way to connect. I am fascinated by the way it's shaping lives and events in its tiny bites.

-Anything you want to promote?

*I'll be appearing at MangaNEXT (http://manganext.org/) as a guest, likely running a workshop on story conception, and a panel that is unlike anything done at an anime/manga convention.
I'm currently writing and drawing an all-new middle-grades comic, The Garlicks. Think a supernatural "Romona and Beezus."
I also put up a sketchnote comic, "Near-Life Experience" once a week-ish at divalea.livejournal.com. NLEx has been running off and on since 2003. It debuted with the launch of Modern Tales.

-Thanks Lea, and again Thank You for taking part in this series and answering these questions.



The next Interview in this series will be posted on October 22 as I ask Damon Ford questions about art and technology.


And as always support your local comic book store, Mine is Famous Faces And Funnies
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Friday, September 17, 2010

TEASER



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Monday, September 13, 2010

K.S.C. TRIP SEPT 11TH 2010

Saturday we went to Kenndy Space Center. It was my first trip there, Mar has been several times, and it was one of the things I've always wanted to do ever since I moved to Florida. It was free for those who lived in Brevard County and so we couldn't pass up the chance to go. Plus there ant nothing cooler than space. No, not the british tv show though it is so cool. We are talking THE SPACE ladies and gentleman and all creatures of great shapes, sizes, and smiles. What follows are a ton of pictures we took on the trip. Hope you enjoy the pictures and if you get a chance go to K.S.C., it is really worth the money and time. I'm not a space geek but I really enjoyed myself.

The entrance to Kennedy Space Center.

Right after you get through the ticket gates if you wish they will take your picture for you infront of the NASA symbol.

A little down from the main entrance is the place workers and the like get their IDs and you find this rocket there.

You can take a bus tour with three stops. The tour is about three hours and really worth the time.

Stope one. They have a lift here also if you cann't climb stairs.

Looking up.

It takes a lot of skill to build something like this but it also tells you how low tech in some ways things still are. A tube, a screw, and everything goes wrong.

I forgot my sunglasses and too many late nights writing have marked me with dark circles under my eyes.

Looking down.

Mar took most of these pictures and this one looks like a NASA postcard.

This isn't a rebuild of the old control room but the original.

Now that's just cool to look up at something like that.

There is so much stuff in the second stop hanging above you.

See, tons of cool stuff.

Mar walks the steps on the moon.

This area was really cool with the Snoopy statue and the background is tons of really cool newspapers from all over the country and the world when the moon landing happen.

I've actually been in one of these. A story for another time.

Mar took this while we were taking a break.

Nice display.

I good veiw inside. KSC has so many cool things to look at. You could spent a few days taking your time looking everything over.

We smelled french fries as soon as we got into this building and finally gave in. They were good also just so you know.

For driving on the moon.

Now that's a big door. And this also reminds me, Is the Tron sequal out already?

I use to have a toy of this when I was little that I use to throw around all over the place. It was made of metal so the time I was done with it, it appeared to have been used by Galactus as a baseball.

The molds they used to make gloves and a cool image on its own.

The third stop is the area of the International Space Station.

Walk inside and see what the outside and inside of the space station is like.

That tube scares me.

Zoom in Mar's camera takes great pics. This poster is about a book written a long time ago and I took this picture to remind to to try and track it down.

You can look down from a viewing room to see the people at work.

You couldn't get near this that often, the kids just loved this thing. KSC has tons of things great for kids that keeps their attention beyond the facts.

Another cool image.

Stay away from the Starfleet Academy show. I know its suppose to be for kids but we wondered if they even bothered doing much research on Star Trek when writing the show. Just terriable.

They have a launch ride which Mar road while I sat outside talking to an artist I'm working on a project with. I'm not much for rides tha just shake me like a martini anyways.

I collection patches from the places we go. They have patches for every mission in the gift shops, which there are many, and I choose this one. Anyone want to guess why?

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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Weekly Writing

I will no longer be writing on daily sch to make sure I get more work on my book and other projects finished on time. I still will be doing interviews, writing reviews, writing poetry, and writing the Clean Cue City series a lot. I just have to change my focus because serveral writing oppertunities outside my own self published work has entered my life and a different focus is needed. Follow my Twitter or Facebook or Live Journal(links to on this site) for updates when I have posted new materials here.
Reminder that the next interview in my series of interviews on the arts and technology with Lea Hernandez will be posted on Wed-9/22/2010
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