Friday, October 15, 2010

An excuse to post and meaningless content to fill it up

Well, I just finished pencilling the last page of the upcoming Obscure Tales comic (written by Andre). It's only nine pages, but it's pretty good. I was managing to get a page done in a night, so this bodes well for the future. I should have the pages inked, colored and posted in a couple of weeks.

I also went to the Vermont Tech Jam today to try to find some contacts to get a design job. However, they should put an asterisk after the name of the event. The footnote should read: "If you're not a developer or a salesperson, don't bother coming because there's nothing for you here". So, the evening's been pretty down. I'm going back tomorrow just to drop my name at the booth of a local web design shop. I know they're only hiring PHP and CSS coders, but I'm going to try to leave a card.

To lighten the mood, here's a Hallowe'en meme I'm stealing from Becca. I'm not really a big Hallowe'en fan, but what the heck:

1.What is the worst treat to get when trick-or-treating?

Can't think of anything. I dig it all. I'll even eat those cheapo chocolate characters wrapped in printed foil. (that is not to say that I don't enjoy and savor the good stuff)

2.What character from any horror film would you most like to play?

Any werewolf, pretty much. Probably something Freudian in that, eh?

3.Would you rather be a zombie, alien, or psycho? (why)

Weird question. Probably an alien. Psychos are everywhere in real life and zombies are way over done.

4.How many Halloween, Friday the 13th, or Nightmare on Elm Street movies combined do you have on dvd?

Zero. But we do have John Carpenter's "The Thing" and "An American Werewolf In London'

5.What is the scariest movie you have ever seen?
Horror movies don't really scare me much. But, Sweet Enemy and I once watched Dog Soldiers together at a friend's house deep in the woods on windy night. We watched the film in a "mother-in-law" apartment with tiny windowsin the house's basement. We were pretty sure that, even if there were werewolves, the odds of them choosing that particular night to attack were slim, but we spent the night pretty creeped out.

6. Lamest costume you have worn on Halloween?

In 1984 we flew across the country to visit my grandparents in Irvine, CA over Hallowe'en. I could think of nothing so I put a paper bag over my head and went as the Unknown Comic and canvassed my grandparent's subdivision. When people asked if they knew me, I'd say "No! I'm the Unknown Comic!" and beat feet.

7.Favorite Halloween treat?

For some reason, Smarties. I seemed to only get them on Hallowe'en, so they are the quintessential Hallowe'en candy for me. One taste and it's the Eighties all over again.

8. Friendly-faced jack o’lantern or scary one?

As long as it isn't one of the "stencils carved on the front of a pumpkin" ones, I'm happy.

9.Have you ever had nightmares about a scary movie character chasing you?

Never actually. However, when I was four, I did have a vivid nightmare that the counting hands from Sesame Street held me down while other counting hands pulled my mother into a mattress that was leaning up against the wall of my bedroom. Watching that video still creeps me out.

10.Best thing about Halloween?

Umm. Cheap candy in November?

11.Strangest Halloween custom you’ve heard of?

Well, there's this one house we drive by that puts up Hallowe'en lights that look just like X-mas lights only in orange. That's weird. They're in the middle of nowhere, too.

12.Person in your family who most likes Halloween (not counting yourself)?

Sweet Enemy by a long shot! She loves it and her only regret about our house is that it's too remote for trick-or-treaters. She'd do the whole house up if we got 'em.

13.Are you superstitious? If so, name at least one superstition of yours.

Occasionally, but not obsessively. I'm generally superstitious until I forget to be. For instance, I once had a great mountain bike racing season where I only used blue Gatorade. However, once I was out of blue and used lemon-lime and I raced anyway (I still placed third, as usual).

Listening to while posting: "Earthquakes and Sharks" by Brandston

6 comments:

Don Snabulus said...

It sounds like our Halloween habits are fairly similar, but since I haven't blogged since the age of dinosaurs, maybe I ought to give the questions a shot.

Pandabonium said...

It took me three tries to get this right on Snabby's blog, so you get the end result without having to tolerate re-takes....

1) Those orange marshmallow peanuts. Inedible. Invented in the 1800s and taste like they are still using the original batch.

2) Klatu (Okay so The Day the Earth Stood Still wasn't a horror flick).

3) Alien.

4) None. I like films such as Psycho rather than those listed.

5) Dracula (1931) with Bela Lugosi

6) Badly done mummy

7) Butterfinger

8) One of each.

9) Nope. My nightmares are more like being in a faulty elevator or a car with no brakes. What does that mean, Doctor?

10) Seeing kids get to express themselves creatively

11) People who tell kids that the "or" in Trick or Treat should really be "for" and it means that the kids have to perform a trick to get a treat. (Are they are asking for a nasty trick big time, or what?)

12) My two granddaughters (ages 3 & 7)

13) Na. Cross my heart and hope to die.

Happy Halloween!

WV - clieners: a laundry that deals in mortgage backed securities.

Arkonbey said...

@pandabonium:

You could have done it in Word first ;)

1) you don't like circus peanuts? do you also dislike candy corn? Sacrilege!

2) That can be scary.

4) definitely

5) really? I would have hoped for an elaboration for such a provocative statement

6) I think everyone has been a badly done mummy at one time or another. However, nobody had trick-or-treated as Badly Drawn Boy

7) you just made me start missing Zagnuts.

9) Radiolab had a great segment on how all dreams are just our brains preparing us for stress situations; that's why all dreams are at least a little bit stressful. I couldn't find the segment, you'll just have to listen through all four years on your own
10) that is awesome.

11) Huh? I've never heard that before.
12) back to (10)
13)ha!

Pandabonium said...

Arkonbey - I've always loved candy corn - sugar rush.

2) To clarify, I am referring of course to the original 1951 movie. Gort can be pretty scary.

5) Well, I was about 8 years old when I first saw Dracula and so had not formed my adult view that such things don't exist and thus aren't scary. That film was done so well and the ride up to the castle, and the castle's cavernous dungeons with spiders and rats was really creepy. Lugosi is great in that with his spellbinding stare.

9) I think the scary elevator/car dreams have something to do with feelings that I don't have control of my life.

11) I was told that a few times when I was a kid. Hopefully such folks have died out.

Pandabonium said...

Where the "trick FOR treat" notion may have originated: ...Scotland, where it is called guising. This is a clear predecessor of trick or treat. The main difference between the two was that the children performed small entertainments before being given gifts - poems, jokes etc.

From a good article on the history of "trick or treat" http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/trick-or-treat.html

Arkonbey said...

@panda:

2) I figured. Unless it was the 'acting' of Keanu that scared you.

5) Ok. I'll buy that. BL was good in the day.

11) interesting. That makes more sense. You have to do something for your candy. It was probably olden days teenagers that started the tricking part.