Mardi Gras 2011! Proteus Parade

Ever wonder what it would be like in the front row of a Mardi Gras parade crowd in New Orleans? Here we are closer to the parade starting point on St. Charles Ave. Not as many drunk college students.... Makes it MUCH easier to enjoy.

It also helps to live only a few blocks from where most of the parades run. Hint: Get there a few hours early.

June-cation! 2011

Here's some footage from the June vacation Sarah and I took....... in June. There's a sad little zoo in north Georgia, a happy family reunion in central Alabama, and an awesome housewarming in Auburn.

Who Sold Out Torchwood?

First of all, let's get a few things straight. Torchwood is a spin-off of Doctor Who. In the "Who" mythos, Queen Victoria not only founded the Torchwood Institute to fend off alien threats, but also to keep The Doctor out of Britain. Captain Jack Harkness rose through the ranks and eventually became Torchwood itself. Most of us already know that if you rearrange the letters, "Torchwood" spells "Doctor Who".

As we all know, the show has been bought and "Americanized" by the Starz cable network. While this is a travesty, we have to look deeper into the grand picture. It has been admitted that the show would have carried on in the UK had it not have been picked up in the US. What does this mean?

As much as I love Russell T. Davies for successfully reviving my favorite TV show ever (and I mean EVER), I have to fault him for the downfall of Torchwood. It is by no means what it used to be. I understand that a show has to evolve to survive. In "Miracle Day", however, I see less evolution and more catering to Hollywood culture. In my humble opinion, this show will not survive in an American market.

Blame who you will.... an American cable channel or Americans themselves... The harsh reality is that Davies himself sold the show out. What does he stand to gain? A more solid footing in US TV. It pays a LOT more. It also paves the way for American film. That jackass Moffat already has his heels dug firmly into that.

I don't like Steven Moffat.

To finish, I love Davies and what he did with WHO. Absolutely LOVE it. I also understand that what he does is business. I will not fault the man for doing his job. I WILL fault him for sacrificing his roots and his art to further his career, tho.

Torchwood is now something that I catch when I can. Truly sad.

New Doctor Who Trailer from BBC One

Here's a new trailer. Series 6 Pt. 2 starts Aug. 27th on BBC One and BBC America.

Cafe du Monde in a Minute and a Half (Almost)

I love being a New Orleanian. It's awesome being able to drive just a couple of miles down the road and being in the middle of this! I was sitting in Jackson Square a few months ago (collecting info for Sarah's visiting team members) and heard this band playing.

A Return to The AC

I recently read a post by a friend in San Francisco that dealt with our hometown. I like to call the place "The AC"... better known by its formal title "Alexander City". With this on my mind throughout the day, I became inspired to write a little bit about the place in which I was raised.

There are lots of great things about Alexander City, AL. Its proximity to Auburn, for instance. Its proximity to areas of outdoor interest (as long as you're wearing some orange while hiking, you should be ok)...... Its proximity to Atlanta. The best thing about The AC, however, is the people. Not all people. Not even by a long shot. Some of my best friends and loved ones live there, though. That's why I keep going back. If I didn't know anyone there, June 1998 would have been the last time I'd ever have seen the place.

Imagine being on a road trip. Road trips are fun. Alex City is one of those towns you drive through on the highway. There are some gas stations, a few fast food drive-thru places, a couple of hotels. Basically somewhere you might stop for gas or stay the night. A fairly quiet place. Go further in and you'll see some neighborhoods, maybe an auto parts store, restaurants with the word "sho'nuff" somewhere on the sign, and a heap of churches. Lots of churches and not a mosque in sight, if you catch my drift. Not a very diverse place. I always liked to think of these churches as "Sunday Social Clubs". Especially the church I spent many of my early days in (and not often by choice) .... Calvary Heights Baptist Church. I knew they liked their committees, but, from what I understand, things really hit the fan and the church split not long after I left.

I feel as though I may have wandered a bit from the subject. Thinking more about it, this may be a fair way of describing the city in general. Some wonderful people went to Calvary Heights. It was the backward thinking, ignorant bigots that ruined the place. The types of fundamentalist Christian conservatives who reeeeaaallly, honestly believe the GOP is working for them. Hey. If Rush says it's so, it must be so.

I'm not here to trash talk, though. Aside from my friends and family, there are a lot of things I miss.

The LAKE. Lake Martin is a beautiful man-made lake that is rapidly being overtaken by development. My grandfather helped build that dam, BTW. Speaking of Lake Martin, another thing I miss is Camp ASCCA. An Easter Seals camp where I worked as a program leader in 98.... Hmmmm. What else....? The city's proximity to DeSoto Caverns.

To be completely honest, it isn't a horrible place and folks aren't truly evil. Alot of them are just plain odd. Take the people who believe they are big fish, for instance. They very well may be in some ways. It's a small pond, however. A very small pond. Then there are the people who will tar and feather you if you're into Dungeons & Dragons. Not because they think you're a dork, but because they're afraid you are somehow going to unleash Satan upon the earth with your witchcraft and wizardry. My advice to them is to get out of town from time to time. See the world. Travel changes you.

To the people of AC who would give you the shirts off their backs without a second thought.... the ones who work hard, love their families, and just like to have good, harmless fun.... the free-thinkers and dreamers who don't quite fit the mold.... YOU are the ones who make the town worth going back to.

Well... that and the town's proximity to Birmingham.

Nawlins: Know Ya Lingo

Here's a rough draft I did for Sarah a while back. She had some team members coming into town and wanted me to make a little New Orleans guide for them.

Just some lingo and translations. I took the pic at a Mardi Gras parade this year.

Happy Shark Week!

It's Shark Week 2011 on Discovery! Big woot goes out to Andy Samberg for being their CSO (Chief Shark Officer). I know I'm giving them free advertising, and usually I am loathe to do something like that. I'm just REALLY into Shark Week.

Sure. Sharks freak me the hell out. I don't like being anywhere that I'm not at the top of the food chain. Doesn't stop me going into the water tho. I just look around alot.

Starts tonight on The Discovery Channel.

A Farewell to Arams

A fond farewell to our very good friend Aram! You will be greatly missed. Wii Sports and Apples to Apples will never be the same. Good luck and come back to visit soon... We love ya, man!

PS- I'm watching The IT Crowd right now!

The Mighty Jungle

1994- ?

It's been 17 years since I started drawing and writing The Mighty Jungle. This sample was for a website I created in 1999 to promote my work.

I'd originally started the idea as a proposal for a daily newspaper comic strip. It's still not out of the question. Unfortunately, my notorious lack of motivation holds me back. All I'd have to do is submit it.... Maybe more PG rated, though . Sure. I've succeeded at getting my work published over the years. This one, however, I found myself drawing mostly for me and my friends.

I named my 3 main characters after Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, and Isaac Newton. Weirdly enough, my favorite ended up being Otto the Alligator. Originally a sideline, but maybe the one I associated with the most. Characters do develop and evolve, which I can attest to, because all of them started to take lives of their own. Otto is a superb example of that. I'd gone from writer to documenter in no time flat.

By today's standards they would be a cliche. A belching, swearing, offensive group indeed. Four animals living in the city with human relatives and human jobs (Otto is a computer programmer). They went to strip clubs, they were stalked by a psychotic.... stalker, and dug up a dead grand-dad for a "grandson/grandfather" photo contest. Which they won. I think it was for 500 dollars. Wouldn't YOU dig up your grand-dad for 500 bucks? Maybe not.

It's a comic strip, folks.