Hot Prototypes and Cool Gadgets
Take a look at the following picture:
Now, yes…you are absolutely correct in what you are thinking. It’s a computer. WOW!!! That is nuts. I’m really stoked about it as well as a number of other prototypes and future electronic gadgets. You can check out a number of them here. You can also see some more pictures of the Roll Computer and find out more information on it here.
Let me know what you think.
I Gotta Feelin’…
…Today’s Gonna Be a Good Day….
The Black Eyed Peas are awesome, and their newest album is amazing. Check out this video of a live performance in the heart of Chicago!!! Amazingly cool!!!! Enjoy:
Priest - A Movie Adaptation
Now, I guess, in order to understand my frustration with what I’m about to bring light too, I should provide a little bit of back story. There is a story that I’ve been working on for the better part of a decade now and I can only hope and pray that I finish it. It’s what I would call, my masterpiece. I have no idea if it’ll ever be completed. The scope and details are just so involved and intertwined that I honestly think it’ll take me years of full time devotion to ever finish it. But I digress….
Anyways, a while back I came across this manga called “Priest” by Hyung Min-woo and I was blown away. I was so impressed by the depth of the plot and the characters that Hyung created that I yearned for each book to come out. There was so much inspiration coming from the pages that it really helped me in developing my story and provided fuel for my imagination. I was able to accomplish quite a lot with my story while I was reading and living in the world that Hyung had created. Sadly, there’s only 16 books so far in the series, it is nowhere near the end of the story, and currently it appears that no more books are being produced. It’s looking like the world will never know the fate of Ivan Isaacs and Temozarela.
Now “they” - being the movie studios - have decided to make this manga into a movie. At first I can easily say I was excited until I read the plot synopsis for the movie:
The film centers around a world where vampires and humans are at war. A priest, presumably Ivan Isaacs, goes against the church to track down a band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece.
So, you might ask, what’s the big deal, other than the fact that it seems like another “vampire” movie. Well, allow me to introduce you to the plot of the manga (from Wikipedia):
Priest tells the story of humanity’s battle against 12 fallen angels, led by the archangel Temozarela. Despite having fought for God in the battle against Lucifer, Temozarela and his cohorts shortly thereafter found that God had lost interest in them. Upon finding God has focused his attention on humans they decide to rebel against God in light of God’s favoritism towards the human race. They descend upon Earth to ‘play God’ among the humans who build a temple and statues for them. For their rebellion and acts against humanity, God destroyed their temple and their statues were cast underground, with their souls being trapped within the statues.
Centuries later, there lives a Holy Knight called Vascar De Gullion, a killer of heretics in the name of God. After his wife and children were burned alive, Vascar De Gullion ‘loses faith’ and wanders the earth in a ‘blood rage,’ leaving a wake of slaughter wherever he goes. His journey comes to an end when he discovers a hidden cave with the statues of the 12 fallen angels. Temozarela talks Vascar De Gullion into giving his body to him in the hopes of gaining revenge on God.
It is again centuries later that Vascar De Gullion is found alive and sentenced to be judged as a Heretic by Betheal, a powerful priest. Upon dealing with Vascar De Gullion, Betheal discovers from Vascar De Gullion that he is not who he is meant to be, but rather Temozarela. Temozarela plays with Betheal’s only pride and joy in life, a child he saved from a heretic sacrifice. The fallen angel manipulates the child into brutally slaughtering a young woman, taking her arms and heart, and setting up a blasphemous ritual room with her blood. Once Betheal sees what his child had done, he instead sees Temozarela laughing and ends up killing the child with his own hands. Betheal loses faith in God also and Temozarela takes Betheal under his wing as one of his disciples. Instead of turning in favor of Temozarela, Betheal acts as the Judas in this story, betraying Temozarela. Betheal devotes his life to study a way to trap Temozarela so that people can be free from him. This came in heretic invention of the Domas Porada. Betheal’s body is needed to be the key in keeping the lock on this ‘cage’ locked. With his soul trapped inside the Domas Porada, Betheal enters a new life altogether with the power he gained from turning away from God. He is a now a kind of demon, called Belial.
Ivan Isaacs, the hero, is called upon to solve the puzzle that the Domas Porada presents. Upon solving it Ivan is cast onto a cross after witnessing his only love, Gena, die in his arms. It is then that Belial takes Ivan, who in the madness of losing Gena denounces God. Ivan is reborn as an immortal serving Belial. Because of Gena’s death Ivan devotes himself for vengeance against Temozarela and his men.
The Priest story spans three distinct time periods; modern times, the Crusades and the Wild West, although it is primarily focused on the last period. Whilst featuring a large cast of heroes, anti-heroes and villains, a number of which enjoying in depth and detailed character development within the plot, the lead antagonist of Priest is Temozarela, whilst the main protagonist is Ivan Isaacs, a now immortal, 19th century priest who sold his soul to Belial, a former priest turned devil, in the pursuit of revenge and redemption after unwittingly unleashing Temozarela from the Domas Porada, a prison of sorts constructed by Belial (then Betheal) to imprison Temozarela.
Now, I ask you, where are the vampires or a niece in that synopsis? This is completely unbelievable. Why do studios do this? You already have an incredible story full of action, suspense, love and pain. There are characters that have depth and a story large enough to easily make three movies. Why would you take a character’s name and supposed profession, and title and a similar likeness (e.g. a cross on the forehead) and leave out all the rest. Well, that’s not entirely true. The sheriff character - Coburn - is also supposed to be in the movie, however, his character is butchered as well. I just don’t understand. What’s the point?
Anyways, given that “Priest” was such an inspiration to me and such a great story, I really don’t know if I’ll ever be able to watch the movie. Honestly, I think the movie will still be decent, but given what it could have been, I will most likely be too disgusted to subject myself to it, or give the studios my money - thereby encouraging their disgraceful acts of butchery. Unfortunate…most unfortunate.
Comic Book Update
Matt and I have been making some decent progress on the comic book. I’ve finally have a rough skeleton outline developed for the first six issues. Now, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this already or not, but we have envisioned ourselves creating a six issue mini-series comic to introduce the main characters of our story and set the setting for an extended series run should we successfully pitch the comic to a publishing company - or decide to produce it on our own. So, having said that, it’s pretty exciting to finally have an idea of what we are trying to accomplish in this mini-series.
Currently the first two issues have been outlined in detail and are ready to written into a script, however, due to the way I am writing the first six issues, I needed to figure out what was going to happen in all six issues before I could start writing the first. Now that I finally know where I am going, the scripts can begin and the characters can come alive.
In addition, last month a Mini MegaCon went on in Orlando. It’s called a “Mini” MegaCon because the really one happens in April every year and is 4 times as big. Now MegaCon is the largest southeastern United States comic book convention. Think of it as the San Diego Comic-Con but with more comics and less movies and movie stars. Anyways, MegaCon is both a fun and interesting experience. On the one hand, you are surrounded by a huge amount of talent in both writing and drawing. Hundreds of people are there pitching and showing off their work to the masses. It’s fantastic to be around people doing the same things your are. Now, on the other hand, people to “dress up” at these conventions too. So it’s like Halloween only unless you are a Sci-Fi, anime or comic book fan, you aren’t going to recognize any of the characters. (Case in point: my financee) All in all though, it really is fun to go and attend.
Now the reason we went to convention was because there were a number of panels going on dealing with creating your own comic. We sat in on panels that had a number of famous artists and writers and we were able to ask questions and get answers from people working in the industry that we, ourselves, want to someday get into. We were able to understand what it’s like to work under the larger publishing companies like Marvel or DC, as well as, learn just what it takes to produce and market your comic on your own. It was very educational and we learned a lot. Some really good ideas came out of the convention too. And I don’t want to get into too much detail because for one they are still in development, but for another, I don’t want to give any of our ideas away. Matt and I have some pretty ambitious plans though. I just really hope that we can put the time and effort needed to do the ideas justice.
Anyways, I’ll leave you with some updates on the concept work my brother’s been working on. Enjoy.
Wedding Planning
Ah, the pleasures and pains of wedding planning. I’m writing this now approximately 6 months into our engagement, and I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with everything we’ve accomplished. It was a little rough in the beginning, but once the “big” decisions were made it’s been all downhill from there. Deciding on the location and the guest list were easily the two hardest parts of this ongoing process so far. And of course, the decisions go hand and hand. You have to decide on a location that will allow you to invite all the guests you want and still keep costs on budget. Speaking of budget, I definitely would like to thank Ashley’s parents for the budget that have given us to plan the wedding. They have been very gracious.
With the two biggest decisions taken care of, the rest of the planning has been coming together just fine. We have our minister, caterer, photographer, DJ and music, and florist. Ashley has bought her wedding dress and accessories. She’s decided on the bridesmaid dresses as well. I have already my tux and groomsmen tuxes picked out as well. We’ve decided that we are going to take a cruise for our honeymoon and will be booking a cabin next month. Both of our wedding bands have been picked out and we are currently saving for their purchase. There’s really not much else to do. Just a few lose ends with invitations, cake and gifts. We also have to update our registry because some of the items we selected are out of season now. Other than that though, there’s not much left.
Location: Case Feliz
Caterer: Arthur’s Catering
Photographer: Cory Callahan
DJ: Tagas
Florist: Flowers by Lesley
100 Bullets
I have to say that “100 Bullets” was a comic book series that got me excited about comics again. And now the last of the trade paperbacks has been released ending the 100 issue series with a bang - no pun intended. The series is the brainchild of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso and started back in August of 1999. It’s a hard-edge crime series that blended noir and pulp genres with dark realism and morality.
Initially the plot of 100 Bullets hinges on the question of what would you do if you could get a chance at revenge with no recourse. That’s right. What if you were wronged in a horrible way and were given the chance to get revenge and get away with it? What would you do? The mysterious Agent Graves would approach people that have been victimized in terrible ways, and gives them a chance to set things right in the form of a simple attache case that contains an untraceable handgun , 100 untraceable bullets, a photograph of a person, and incontrovertible evidence that the target (in the photograph) presented is primarily and personally responsible for their woes.
Now, of course, it is up to the victim as to whether or not the enact their revenge…some don’t and some do to varying degrees of success and failure. There is no punishment nor reward for taking up the offer. Just the personal satisfaction of their actions and the fact that they now know who is responsible for their present state of circumstances. Eventually, the attaches and Graves’ “game” as it comes to be known are revealed to be only a minor part of a much broader storyline that eventually embraces the sense that everything - and everyone - is connected.
The series won the 2002 Harvey Awards for Best Writer, Best Artist and Best Continuing Series, and the 2003 Harvey Award for Best Artist, as well as the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story, and the 2002 and 2004 Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series.
“It’s a funeral,” Azzarello said, “Okay, it’s a wake, maybe. We did this book for nearly 10 years. 100 issues with the same team - that doesn’t happen very often.” When it came to the end of their 10 year journey, there was some talk of extending it. However, in the end it was decided that concluding the story was best and the grand finale unfolded just as he had planned it 10 years earlier. After reading it this past week, let me tell you that it was fantastic!!!
Next steps, Azzarello doesn’t rule out the possibility of a spinoff series featuring some of the remaining cast - those few that manage to stay alive at series end. In addition the author exclaims, “Television - there’s an idea! That all I’ll say. Television…or maybe something that’s not just TV.” Now anyone who has HBO knows that their slogan is “It’s not TV. It’s HBO” That idea is very exciting. The comic definitely lends itself well to a television series, and it would definitely have to be an HBO type series. It would be done a disjustice if a primetime network were to take it on.
“For it’s time, it was probably one of the most mainstream comics out there - nobody flew, no magic, no vampires,” the author explains. “I’m definitely missing the characters. I lived for these guys for 10 years.”
Brian, I think we are all going to miss these characters. They were so rich and intense. The story engulfed me in ways I was both surprised and excited about. I want to say thank you for a great 10 years.
Anyone reading this, I would encourage you to check out this series. It’s a grand and fantastic crime drama saga!!
The Crow - A Remake?
The Crow is my favorite movie and favorite comic of all time. I’ll just go on the record and say that right-a-way. I was just drawn into the world that James O’Barr created about a tortured soul brought back to life by a crow to put the wrong things right. A brutally violent comic that is at it’s heart is a poetic love story. A story of how love never dies and the pain of loss. It is truly powerful and moving.
Back in 1994, Alex Proyas made a movie based on the comic and starred Brandon Lee (the legendary Bruce Lee’s only son). Lee would portray Eric Draven, a rock musician that is murdered along with his fiance, Shelly on the eve of their wedding (now, this is different then in the comic, but the impact is the same). One year later, Eric returns from the grave to bring vengence to those cut short the love of two that were meant to be together forever.
Of course, the power of the movie is amplified by a simply amazing and memorable performance by Brandon Lee and the unfortunate fact that it would be his last. Lee would be killed tragically in the final days of filming (the last day in fact with firearms) by a malfuctioning prop. Sadly, fact imitates fiction. Brandon was to wed his fiance upon completion of the film. A life - much like his father - that was cut short on the eve of greatness.
Proyas should be commended on his determination to complete the film and let the world enjoy both Brandon’s amazing performance as well as the story of The Crow. I know I for one am thankful, because I don’t think I would have come across the work otherwise.
Now, to the point of this post. I could go on and on about The Crow…doing a frame by frame of the comic or even the movie, and maybe I will one of these days, but for now I’m going to address a newly circulating rumor. Early this month there was an announcement that “Blade” director Stephen Norrington was planning a to helm a remake. WTF?? Now, like I said before, the original movie did take some liberties with the source material, and the comic was by far more violent and intense then the movie, but Lee’s performance was so spot on - intense and moving - that I can’t imagine anyone else even attempting to pull the role off. I mean, this is not a case of the Joker with Nicholson and Ledger. Those were two totally different takes on the role, and I’m sure that there will be more in the future, but Lee IS Draven, regardless of Draven being portrayed in different events - comparing the comic to the movie.
Luckily, though, a source claims that “[It's] very different from the original. A whole new story about a whole new character.” If this is true, I can rest easy. Now, the sequals of The Crow unfortunately have not been great. And of course, these are not really direct sequels - though the second one, “City of Angels” could be said to to be a direct sequel, they haven’t been able to live up to the original. The concept is ripe for interpretation. It’s powerful and moving. So, I’m all about someone visiting the idea of The Crow. Just don’t do a remake. Eric Draven’s story has been told. Leave it be. Let him rest in peace.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition
Now, I’ve reviewed Star Wars: The Force Unleashed once before. I loved it. It was fantastic and really got me back into the Star Wars Universe again. Now, What if the Dark Side had won? What if the rebellion had never come to pass? Well, LucasArts is going to be releasing a new expanded edition of The Force Unleashed called the Ultimate Sith Edition. Basically you are going to get the original game as well as all the downloadable content (DLC) and an all-new exclusive bonus level.
Now, apparently this fall a new DLC is going to be released that continues The Force Unleashed storyline in a new “Infinities” story that takes place in an entirely new and alternative universe direction. It reimagines the Star Wars Universe with the Secret Apprentice killing Darth Vader (rather than letting him live in order to adhere to the Star Wars canon) and taking his place by the Emperor’s side, becoming the most power Sith Lord in the universe. This particular Mission Pack is takes place on Tatooine and will include battles with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bobba Fett.
The Tatooine DLC will also be included in the Ultimate Sith Edition however, there will also be a new exclusive level that won’t be available as DLC that concludes the “Infinities” storyline that will take place on Hoth with the Secret Apprentice taking on Luke Skywalker. Now that is going to be awesome. I’m not exactly excited about “re-buying” a game and having to beat it all over again, but it’s going to be hard to say no. I’m really excited. No news on a release date yet, and for more information you can go here. Enjoy some still frames from the new levels below.
Marvel Anime
Now this is a pretty cool concept that I can say I’m pretty excited about. Marvel characters done by Japanese animation studio Madhouse. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I love me some anime. So, you start taking some badass Marvel characters like Iron Man and Wolverine and creating an anime series around them…I’m there. But hey, I don’t need to sit here and try to talk it up, see the trailers for yourself below. (More details can be found here.)
The Invincible Iron Man:
Wolverine: