Bliggity-Blog

A couple of half-assed entries are floating around my hard drive. Rather than subject the reading public to them, here are a few bloggity bites.

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A poem by James McIntyre (1827-1906), furniture maker, Canadian patriot, cheese enthusiast:

Ode on the Mammoth Cheese

(Weighing over 7000 pounds)

We have seen thee, queen of cheese,
Lying quietly at your ease,
Gently fanned by evening breeze,
Thy fair form no flies dare seize.

All gaily dressed soon you’ll go
To the great Provincial show,
To be admired by many a beau
In the city of Toronto.

Cows numerous as a swarm of bees,
Or as the leaves upon the trees,
It did require to make thee please,
And stand unrivalled, queen of cheese.

May you not receive a scar as
We have heard that Mr. Harris
Intends to send you off as far as
The great world’s show at Paris.

Of the youth beware of these,
For some of them might rudely squeeze
And bite your cheek, then songs or glees
We could not sing, oh! queen of cheese.

We’rt thou suspended from balloon,
You’d cast a shade even at noon,
Folks would think it was the moon
About to fall and crush them soon.

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My high school bud is back from Iraq, shrapnel-free! Woo-hah! We talked over the weekend, and made tentative plans for him and his wife to visit me and the missus sometime. He didn’t talk much about his deployment except to say that (a) it was really hot over there, (b) he hated it, and (c) he’s really glad to be back. He’s spent the last few weeks adjusting to life without snipers, IEDs, and mortar attacks.

While he was over there, one of the packages of goodies I sent him came from Treat Any Soldier. Early in his deployment, I asked my bud what he wanted most. The answer? Junk food. Apparently a lot of guys answer the same way. The site sends the packages to either a soldier you specify, or a random soldier they pick. It’s a fine service. The "goodie time" package was a raging hit. (Also useful is Amazon—DVDs are appreciated.)

I still believe that the war was a melonheaded idea born of wishful thinking and sold to the public by a sack of lies and irresponsible fear-mongering. I also believe that the military folks in Iraq are doing the best they can in nigh-impossible circumstances. It’s not their fault they’re stuck in a godawful and dangerous situation.

Protesting the war and sending longed-for Doritos to the soldiers strikes me as a way to express these beliefs. I recommend both.

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I haven’t abandoned my Audio Comic Book idea. Part of my slowdown of blog posting is due to a shifting of free time away from Filing Cabinet towards Radio Comics. (Also, I haven’t had much to say about comics lately. Dang.)

The initial project is Green Lantern, a four or five episode arc about the switch from Hal to Kyle. Rather than hew to the comics, I’m doing an “animated series” approach, mucking with the story as necessary for good drama. Figuring out what to leave in, what to strip away, what to change completely, and how to adapt all of it to audio has been both a hoot and a holler. Writing, she is fun. Kilowog was born for radio, I tell ya.

This “animated series” approach means that I don’t fit with Pendant Production's schemes, so I’ll have to host the sucker on my own website. (Or find someone else who wants ‘em.) I do understand why: their three superhero shows are interlocked and pride themselves on close linkages to existing comic continuity. Ah, well. They inspired me to do this, so I owe 'em a little.

With luck, Green Lantern will be gripping space opera with wit, drama, excitement, charm, and Hal getting hit in the head. Without luck, it’ll be a disjointed fanboy wankfest with wooden dialogue and Hal getting hit in the head. Thus far, it feels promising, so there’s that.

Here’s to hoping that my fruit-fly-esque attention span won’t give out. Fortunately, I’ve got a few people working with me already. Peer pressure makes me do things. Maybe this time it’ll make me do a good thing. For once.

(“Set that chicken on fire! All the cool kids are doing it!” Man, what was I thinking?)

Details on the GL project will pop up as it develops. Upcoming deets will include the opening of the new website, audition calls, and timetables for release.

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I really do have a plan for the Champions Project thingy. I do. Got the arcs for all six minis and the conclusion worked out. Themes, motifs, big action set pieces, it’s in my notes.

But there’s my fruit-fly-esque attention span, cited above.

Ah, hell with it. Second “issues” of Mephisto and the Reject are a’comin’.

Really, this time.

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This site is in danger of going all fan-fiction, isn’t it? Oh dear. I’ll have to scrounge up some good criticism shortly.