ENTERTAINMENT WEAKLY

Hey...
I just read a couple of 'entertainment news' headlines...
It would seem that Lindsay Lohan is tired of being referred to as a 'teen queen'...
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
It also seems that there's a sex-tape circulating with Kid Rock and he's upset because 'rock stars have rights to privacy too!'
DOUBLE-AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Celebrities in general just kinda make me ill these days. They're so self-important and convinced that because they can scream into a microphone or pretend-to-be-someone-else in a movie that their opinions actually matter.

Make no mistake, people, for the most part celebrities are the most rock-stupid people on the face of the earth.

The only difference between "According to Jim" and the puppet show in the park is BUDGET.

Have you ever noticed how self-referrential the entertainment industry is?
Sometime, try to think of all of the TV shows that star characters who are - in some way - involved in the entertainment industry.
There's a lot.
It's sad to me that America seems to have lost interest in 'regular' people. We watch TV shows about TV shows. Where are the Archie Bunkers? Where are the Fred Sanfords?

Regular people are generally WAY more interesting than show-biz people.

KONTROVERSY KORNER

Okay, I've resisted this long enough.
I want to use this section for what I am hoping will be an intelligent, calm, good-natured exchange of ideas and opinions. If it ever goes beyond that, I'll just get rid of it altogether 'cause the last thing I need are more headaches in my life...

Having said that, I was thinking about laws today. Specifically, laws in a democratic political system.

It seems to me that the biggest obstacle in understanding the idea behind 'laws' is the inherent human tendency to let their emotions rule everything.

But it seems to me that the reason democracy works as well as it does (at its core anyway) and that laws work as well as they do (in theory) is that they are not based on emotions. They're based on objective facts. When objectivity is discarded in favor of an emotional viewpoint, both democracy and laws become less and less effective.

Bear with me on this...

In a democratic system, you are 'free'. Theoretically, your freedoms are limited only by the caveat that you may not interfere with someone ELSE'S freedoms.

So, in essence, there really should be only ONE law in a democratic society: You can do whatever you want so long as it doesn't LITERALLY interfere with someone else's freedoms.

In other words, you have the freedom to buy any kind of car you want. But if you steal someone's car, you have interfered with their right to own something that they paid for. Thus, you have broken the law.

"Well DUH" I can almost hear you saying... but this leaves me to ask the question: Do we punish someone for stealing because stealing is 'EVIL'? I say no. We punish someone for stealing because it interferes with someone else's freedoms - and that's against the law. 'Good' and 'evil' are subjective terms... we may have a general consensus on what they mean, but when you are dealing with a democracy - which by nature allows for the freedom to hold many different viewpoints - terms like 'right' and 'wrong' and 'good' and 'evil' become HIGHLY subjective and open to interpretation and, consequently, a stumbling-block for effectively governing and upholding laws.

Maybe there's something I'm missing - but that's what I've been thinking about.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

Hey, guess what?
I'M ENGAGED! TO BE MARRIED! TO A GIRL!

Believe me, the astonishing fact that some woman out there is nutty enough to marry me is just as baffling to me as it is to you, but there ya go... it's a wacky, wacky world!

How's THAT for a blog entry...

More details to come...

TV = HAPPY

Yes... this is the TV review section...

I love television. Television serves as a mervelous reminder of how capitalism works. Everything you see on TV is there because we, the people, demanded it.
Consequently, tv shows compete not only with each other for ratings and ad dollars, they're competing with movies... AND WINNING!
Every week when 'LOST' comes on, I feel like I'm watching a really great movie but with no crying babies or jabbering teenagers to ruin the experience.
But I digress...
I have watched a total of 3 full episodes (at most) of "American Idol", so I may not know what I'm talking about... but is it just me or does EVERY (with only occasional exceptions) singer ALWAYS perform either R&B songs?
I realize that R&B helps showcase your vocal range, but criminy are these people dullards... ENOUGH with the extended vibrato already!
Besides, there's LOTS of other music out there to show off your range... or could it be that my suspicions are correct: Most people have mind-numblingly dull tastes in everything.

FILM FLAM

Check in here for my bloated opinions on movies...


I used to LOVE going to the movies. I'm a film whore. I love all kinds... idiotic car-chase movies, summer blockbusters, chick flicks, foreign 'films', incomprehensible art-house fare, holiday feel-good movies, sequels, prequels, thrillers, gore-fests... I love 'em all!
Unfortunately, I can no longer GO to the movies because I live in Los Angeles where everyone who goes to my local theater is a monumental jackass.
A friend of mine and I went to go see "Jackie Brown" (which, if you haven't seen it, is really quite good... I don't seem to recall it being much of a hit, but then I also don't recall what I had for lunch today, so I'm not a good judge of such things)... the movie was perpetually serrenaded by the screeches and howls of the INFANT-CHILD-BABY IN THE ROW IN FRONT OF US! Now, this wasn't a matinee of "Austin Powers" or even an evening showing of "Batman and Robin" (although that movie is equally unsuitable for children, adults and sentient life-forms in general... but I digress)... THIS WAS A MIDNIGHT SHOWING OF "JACKIE BROWN"!!!
I realize I'm not the first self-proclaimed misanthrope to rail against those who bring babies to movies, but shouldn't that be the whole point? I mean, how much more needs to be said on the subject before you dull-witted, irresponsible parents out there stop dragging your poor, defenseless, doomed-to-therapy little yuppie-spawn into R-rated movies?!?!
And on those RARE occasions when I can manage to find a theater sans-toddlers, there are invariably at least a half a dozen of THIS guy sitting within earshot of me:
Again... STOP IT! Okay?!? JUST STOP IT! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT... UP!

ARTSY FARTSY

Come here frequently if you want to make fun of my artistic ineptitude, or if you're actually INTO this sort of thing, inquire about purchasing original 'art'...

Recently I just started getting the hankerin' to paint again. This was brought on by lots of things - seeing friends and collegues making more personal work, etc. - but mostly it got brought on by the fact that my multi-talented girlfriend Leigh decided that a wall in the apartment needed some color, so she just jammed out this amazing acrylic painting as if it took no effort whatsoever. I'd post it here if it were small enough to scan, but just trust me... it's very rad. And, like I said, she just decided she wanted to do it, so she just DID it.
I tend to overthink things - particularly when it comes to creating 'art'... I become far too stunted by my anal-retentive desire to make everything perfect and it winds up giving me multiple excuses for procrastinating.
Well NO MORE!
From now on, I'm gonna just make stuff and if it comes out right - great... if not, c'est la vie. If people like it - great... if not, I'll just kill myself so that I won't have to hear their taunts echoing through my head as I lay curled up in a corner of my studio! I think that's a healthy attitude, right? RIGHT?!?!
Anyway...
I've had the idea for a long time to do a series of 'pinup girl' paintings... firstly, because I like pinups... secondly because it's a hot trend in the art world right now and I wanted in on the racket.
The type of pinup girls I have always enjoyed were curvy ones during the pre-Kate-Moss era of America (sigh)... women with 'hourglass figures'...
So, as a guy who simply can't resist a good pun, I give you the first in a long series of paintings of hourglass women...
I call this one 'WASTED TIME'

I gotta say, I'm having a blast with this little venture - I'll be updating this as frequently as possible with new ones.

I, NERD

This, too, shall be a frequently updated topic...


Every day, in every way, I become a bigger and bigger dork.
And I'm fine with that...
"Oh come now, John" I can almost hear you saying, "I like 'Star Wars' too! I'm a nerd too!"... I can only chortle churlishly at your well-intentioned yet feeble attempt to 'relate' to my geekiness.
Think you're 'nerdy', eh? Well, allow me to share THIS with you:

This is a caricature/painting of Adam Saezler and Morgan Webb - the hosts of G4-Tech TV's video-game-review show 'X-Play'. I did this. Because I wanted to.
I, my friend, am a bigger nerd than thou.

THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY

Look here for constant updates on this wonderful topic...

...today was one of those days that made me wish I'd opened that bait-and-tackle shop in Saugatuck, Michigan.


This past Saturday, ASIFA-Hollywood (which is the big-shot animation association here in lovely L.A.) hosted their annual 'Annie Awards' (this is where a more experienced blogger would put a link, but I'm too lazy and inexperienced to bother with that right now, so just lookit up on Google or something if you're really that interested).
The Annies are like our Oscars... I always look forward to attending the awards ceremony because it's almost like a class-reunion... I wind up seeing lots of people I'm fond of but don't see very often because I'm too busy sitting at home watching the DVD commentary for "Dark City".
I'm always somewhat saddened by the Annies, though, because they serve as a reminder that animation is the redheaded stepchild at the ass-end of the entertainment industry.
Despite the fact that practically every moneymaking film from the past several decades has either been animated or relied heavily on animation in some way, this industry just has no luck in getting the respect it deserves.
Contrary to what many might think, I'm against the 'Best Animated Feature' category for the Oscars. This implies that animation is a seperate artform in need of its own category. I disagree. Animation is a filmmaking technique... nothing more and nothing less.
The word "animation" means life... it implies movement... well, don't ALL movies portray life and have movement?
Brad Bird - who wrote and directed the mind-alteringly amazing "Iron Giant" and "The Incredibles" is, technically, not eligible to join the director's guild of Los Angeles because he 'makes cartoons', yet whoever directed those reprehensible commercials for Subway where a baby's mouth is lyp-synched with the most grating voice on the face of the earth is undoubtedly a member in good standing, and before you know it he'll be tapped to direct the next X-Men movie while some of the most talented filmmakers in Hollywood are struggling to make ends meet because animation (though much more technically challanging than live-action) pays about a twentieth of what your average grip makes.
I dunno... I shouldn't be bitter... animation HAS made some big strides in the last couple of decades... things ARE improving albiet at a snail's pace...
In the meantime, I guess we should cherish the time we have in our relative obscurity and enjoy the peace and quiet.

SUPER-BOWEL SUNDAY!

Okay... I USED to be one of those guys who hated sports.
Having grown up as an uncoordinated, unathletic art-nerd, I simply had very little interest in them. Oh, I like playing softball with a group of friends and for a while I even got into volleyball (stunningly, I discovered that while I was inept in all other aspects of the game, I - shockingly - had a killer serve).
But as for watching and following professional sports... I dunno, it just never seemed like a priority.
Of course, having grown up around a lot of country-bumpkin trailer-trash-tornado-bait-rednecks, I can very vividly recall being alienated for my lack of interest in sports... I've always found it ironic that - among the vast unwashed - if you don't embrace a passtime that involves voyeuristically watching big, muscly men run around in alpha-male-enhancing Freudian costumes and jump all over each other, this somehow made you "queer".
And, of course, being "queer" brought on all sorts of bullying from the beefhead sons of petty larsonists that made up the vast majority of my classmates at school.
Like so many overly-sensitive-tortured-artists-in-the-making, I blamed sports and - like so many pretentious-wanna-be-art-geniuses, I
Over the years, however, I've shed that resentment. I'm still not 'into' sports per se, but I "get it." I get the excitement of the competition and gladitorial blah blah blah (I'm particularly fond of Hockey - but don't ask me to quote a bunch of statistics or have strong opinions about any of it... I just like watching it... especially when there's bloodshed).
Somewhere during my last couple of senior years in college, I realized that hating sports simply because lots of stupid people love it isn't fair to the sports in general. Lots of stupid people drive cars, too... that doesn't mean I'm gonna start walking everywhere. If I were to reject absolutely everything that is embraced by stupid people, I'd wind up having no choice but to go off into the mountains somewhere and become a hermit... and even then I'd probably come across other hermits who were stupid and pissed me off.
Ultimately, sports are no different than anything else in this world... when enjoyed responsibly with a healthy attitude, they're as legitimate as anything else.
After all... who am I to judge? I love transforming robots... you could probably make all sorts of psychoanalytical analyses about that if you wanted to. Any time anything is given unhealthy levels of priority (including one's own ego) it becomes annoying.
Anyway, these were the thoughts that inspired the cartoon below... the cartoon itself is in rough form because it was a submission for a magazine that got rejected (shortsighted bastards!), but it seemed appropriate to run the day after the Superbowl.
By the way... who won?

STORYBOARDING

This is a comic strip I originally created for NEWTYPE KOREA magazine - I do a monthly column for them outlining various aspects of the American animation industry. This particular strip was the illustration to a column I wrote explaining storyboarding.
Generally speaking, before any cameras are turned on or any animators start animating, some poor schmuck works for months on end with no sleep to create the 'visual blueprint' of the film or show - what results is a storyboard (along with hair loss, back-pains, chronic migranes, etc.).
Storyboarding is, in my utterly self-rightous opinion, the backbone of the animation industry if not the entire entertainment industry. Obviously, I'm biased in that regard since the better part of my career has been spent as a storyboard artist.
The fact is, in collaborative mediums, everyone's contributions are monumentally indispensible... so don't think I'm intentionally being a douche... but what I CAN say with complete objectivity is that I've held a lot of different jobs in my life (both in animation and in other areas) and storyboarding is by far the most taxing.
Right now I'm working as a director and I thank my lucky stars that I don't have to do it nearly as much as I used to.
It's one of the career paths for an animation artist with the most amount of creative input on the overall finished film, but it's also a gargantuan pain in the anus.
Thus, this strip.

MY SO-CALLED CAREER

So, I work in the animation industry here in Los Angeles... right now I work at Disney Television Animation as the director of a show that hasn't premiered yet.
You'll be hearing my goofy career, but for the time being, let me just say that if you're planning on getting into the animation industry, be aware that it's REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY HARD!!!
Everyone I know works these ridiculously long hours (myself included although things have gotten a little more normal in recent months) and we're all always burned out.
In case you're interested (and why would you be?) I've worked on The Fairly Oddparents (director, storyboard artist), Invader Zim (character designer), My Life As A Teenage Robot (writer, directer, storyboard artist), South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (animator), The Wild Thornberrys (storyboard artist) and a handfull of other stuff.
I wrote, produced, directed and designed a pilot for Nickelodeon about seven years ago called "The Tantrum"... it occasionally airs at 3 AM on Nicktoons TV (I think) when they re-run season 3 of Oh Yeah! Cartoons! (which is almost never).
Apart from my animation job, I'm trying to put together a series of paintings, a comic book and a children's book - all of which will be shamelessly plugged on this here blog.

February has been a particularly draining month...

LET THE IDIOCY BEGIN!

Well, it would be just downright negligent of me if I didn't start things off by whooping out a great big "THANKS!" to my former animation student Heather Chavez for setting up this blog for me.
You see, in spite of the fact that I'm a college-educated professional, I'm still too dumb to set up a blog.

I'd also like to thank my wonderful girlfriend and collaborator Leigh for taking the photo of me doodling... it was taken while waiting for food at Tavern on the Green in New York.

This space will be used primarily for two reasons... 1) To plug art, books and comics I want to sell - and 2) To espouse my unpopular opinions and rant about everything that gets on my nerves (this is, naturally, a lifelong endeavor).

Depending on what type of person you are, there's probably a really good chance that eventually I'll say something that pisses you off... I love a good debate, so bring it on... but if you are - in fact - an easily-offended-politically-correct-fascist-type, you really should just spare yourself the agitation and go back to writing angry e-mails to cable networks and video-game publishers about how they're destroying the fabric of our society blah blah blah blah blah.

But I digress...

Welcome to my shamelessly self-promoting corner of the internet!

ONWARD TO OBSCURITY!!!