Hope, Tragedy and Extreme Manliness

Hmm... I like the uniqueness of the straight road cutting through the lake... and the asymmetric layout (as opposed to centering the road in the shot), but really, the mountainsides just aren't interesting enough to really make the shot zing. If the clouds were more dramatic, maybe it would have held the pic together better...

Lemme see what else I have...

OK, this one was taken in Israel, so that's a plus, cuz... you know... Holy Land and all that. The trees are unique, and I like the grouping. The overall color scheme is balanced well, with the beige/brown half and the blue/white half... but the foreground is too bland for my tastes. And for some reason, it just seems a bit too muddy overall for me. Needs more contrast and crispness.Believe it or not, I'm most drawn to the extreme right and left sides of the shot, right on the horizon line.

Let's see what else I got...

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THE PHOTO THAT WAS HERE was forcibly removed by a rabid band of alien invaders, let by a Man Named Aitor, who claims to have taken the picture and is deeply offended at my use of it in this venue... of course, no one but HE and I will ever know this, because no one will ever read this post again! MUAHAHAH!!!!  Love ya, Aitor! *smooch*

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OK, what else do I have...

OK, now this is even better. The picture has a nice vertical division to it, and a nice nostalgic feel. Old time baseball fans will immediately recognize the person pictured, as well as his unique delivery. He is obviously about to pass wind on that little man in front of him there... but picking on midgets has never been amusing to me. Of course, the picture could have the contrast bumped up. And I'd photoshop a goatee and a birthday hat on him, plus add a picture of a young Buddy Hackett riding a giraffe in the background. Other than that, I think it's a keeper, but still not worthy to lead tonight's post.

The search continues... OK, what else have I got?

This one is striking. A sculpture carved from a melon. I'm sure it was under-ripe, so that the material was firm enough to carve. Brings to mind the old saying about "when life gives you melons, carve it into a sculpture," which I'm sure was the artist's initial inspiration for the piece. Not sure why the guy on the right has a tire around his neck. Perhaps it's for an ad for Goodyear or something. And thankfully, the lady of the left is facing the other way. She appears to be exposing herself - and this is a family blog, so we can't have any of that around here. But overall, good contrast and color distribution, and the proportions are good.

Still, not a worthy opening picture. Maybe somewhere in the main body of the post. But I need a good one to lead. What else have I got?

OK, a weinerdog in a hot dog bun. Now we're getting close... The concept is good, but the execution is not quite there. The dog's snout is cropped off, for starters, and the flash was a mistake, since the shot is washed out. And the bun is sort of falling apart, which speaks to me of gross amateurishness and impatience. I'm sure the photographer is a liberal, so I'll cut him some slack. He obviously lives alone, and that's sad... he had to take the picture himself, plus he owns a weinerdog.

Still, a swing and a miss....

And we have a winner! So, it looks like my good friend Dave-O has been hastily photoshopped into a field of sunflowers, while the Hindenburg explodes in the background, in glorious black and white. It is a touching tribute to the military on Memorial Day... it projects hope (sunflowers), tragedy (Hindenburg) and extreme manliness (Dave-O) all in one shot. To me, it says, "In life, you will have hay-fever. And occasionally, things will indeed be black and white, and they might blow up. But fear not! Dave-O will be there, to take out the jerks sneaking up on your six. And all will be well in the world."

So much, conveyed in such a simple, beautiful picture.

OK, now I can begin tonight's post.

What? We're done? How is that possible!

Ah, well. I can't argue with the blog's sponsors. If I do, they'll send Baldie and Blondie back to torment me... can't have that.

Adios for now.

Dave

Selective Amnesia, Shredded Worlds and Epic Beards

Is it the weekend yet? Hold on, lemme check what day it is... Thursday! Yay! See, when you're really hip and cool, like me, it's a positive thing to not know what day it is. Yep, a nice, beautiful August day here in sunny Milwaukee...

What?

So, I told you at the end of the last post that I had a surprise for you, if you behaved in the interim. Well, most of you behaved well enough (except for you, Paula! You miscreant!). So here is your surprise.

A new Wagnervana comic strip! Woot woot!

I'm going to post it in two parts.

That should display big enough to read. If not, click to enlarge.

I also redesigned the webcomic page on my Wagnervana site. I made the page a blog (instead of a gallery), and each comic strip is in its own post. Now I can add notes to each one and you can add comments and tell me how much you love me! See? I'm so insecure, I've lost all tact and decorum when it comes to eliciting love!

I was re-reading some of the old ones. They make me laugh.

I really need to go back to doing smaller strips... 6 panels, at the most. This one was fun, but I'm embarrassed to admit, it took me about 14 hours total to get it to its current form. There are still little details to tinker with, including inconsistent shading, and other details (like the missing monitor artwork in panel 10 - you can see the wall poster behind the monitor), and I'd like to add some more little fun(ny) touches here and there, if possible. [EDIT: fixed panel 10, and more tweaks. Added Mel Gibson, lol]

Another thing that made this strip unique was that it's the first strip (or project of any kind, really) that I created using my new Wacom tablet input device. Check it out...

It can be used as a touch-screen, like a laptop has, or I can use the pressure-sensitive pen to draw with. I'm sure you could tell the (hopefully not distracting) variations in pen widths in all the panels. It makes it feel more like actually drawing. I picked the technique up quickly. Before this, I would do all the drawing with the mouse, which was fine, I suppose, since it was all I knew.

Now I know better!

OK, enough shameless self-absorption.

Saw this amazing set of "before/after" pictures from Joplin after that insane tornado a few days ago. Saw it on Bits and Pieces. The guy that runs that site has a fascination like I do, regarding the crazy destructive power of nature.

Kind of takes your breath away, doesn't it. That people can bounce back from things like this is amazing to me. Brings to mind the tsunami videos I peppered you with a month or two ago. Tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes... I wonder which one is the most pants-soaking frightening event to experience first hand? I've ridden out my fair share of mild earthquakes, which to this point have actually been kind of fun. Beyond that, I can only imagine what it's like to see a mile-wide, 200MPH whirling vortex of doom and destruction bearing down on you, with nowhere to run.

I better lighten the mood back up again...

I think that's enough goofiness for now. I've collected a lot of fun stuff to share with you of late. I may bump up the frequency of new posts for a while.

Stay tuned!

Dave the Absurd

Dave Is Moody; Enter at Your Own Risk...

Pull up a chair and stay for a spell, eh? Good... good... now... let me just think up a really hard word for you to spell...

Greetings, y'all, Dave the Moody here for another blast of hot air in blog form. Art thou prepared?

Being moody and stuff, I thought I'd post some cool (to me) music and some intriguing (to me) photos, just to kick the angst level up a bit. Cuz sometimes I can be all serious. I'm not just all about being goofy and juvenile... and to prove it, I'm going to start of with a song called The Wind.

Now, wait, hear me out here. This has nothing to do with flatulence. It's actually a song that I've known and loved for years - and it popped up the other day when I had my iPod on shuffle, and it took me away, to a better place. You know how it is when you're in "a mood" and a song comes on that comes pre-loaded with a lot of personal accoutrements and emotional tack-ons, such that when it first starts, you're whisked away.

Well, this is one of those songs for me. It really is called The Wind, and it's by CeCe Winans.



If it doesn't do anything for you, then just skim the lyrics and move on...

The Wind by CeCe Winans
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With all of my heart I know I could love you
But with all of my soul I'm driftin' away
And with all of my mind I know you can save me from
myself, and anything else 

With all of my strength I wanna reach out for you
With every breath, call out your name
With every step I just want to turn around and say
Make it okay 

But I'm so afriad you've forgiven one too many times
And I'm so afraid to give my heart again
Just to have a change of mind
And I'm not quite sure that you can trust me
And I would hate to have you find me again
Driftin' away like the wind 

With all of my heart I know I disappointed you
And altough I'm real sorry I don't know how to say this time
But if I were to lose you I know, I know I'd go completely
Out of my mind, but I'm running out of time 

But I'm so afriad you've forgiven one too many times
And I'm so afraid to give my heart again
Just to have a change of mind
And I'm not quite sure that you can trust me
And I would hate to have you find me again
Driftin' away like the wind 

It blows and nobody know where it's goin' to (Like the wind)
It blows and nobody know what it's gonna do (Like the wind)
At night you can hear it cry as the teardrops fall
From Heaven's eyes and somehow you know it's true
These tears that fall could be fallin' for you 

OK, so that's that. Yeah, I know, it probably doesn't do much for anyone else, but hey, it's my blog, and I'm Dave the Moody today, so there it is!

I've come across some photos recently that seem to me to tell entire stories by themselves. There's an art to that, I think. The best ones sort of pull you in and take you somewhere. Gee, have you detected tonight's theme yet? Sheesh!

Anyway, check this pic out, and see what it stirs within you...

Now, don't freak out, the photo was set up that way - it wasn't a photo-journalist, "capture a real life moment" type of thing. Still, from a story-telling standpoint, this picture is remarkable to me.

Here's another... same photographer. It's a portrait this time...

He reminds me of a character in a fantasy novel somewhere. A mage, or a silent warrior type. Maybe even with a strong religious facet, in spite of the black clothing. I don't know... something about his look says good, rather than evil to me.

Here's another one...

Honestly, I don't recall where this was taken. Still, I can't help but look at it and wonder about the people that passed through this set of rooms, and what they were doing. I wonder what the rooms were used for. Those look like benches rather than beds (too short), so I don't think they were sleeping quarters. Seems like a cool setting, whatever it is/was.

Better throw another song in here...

Around the house lately, it's been all about Christina Perri. The girls introduced me to her a couple days ago, and I really dig her voice and style - like an edgier Norah Jones. Check this songs out - it's quite cool. It's called Black and Blue.



That was supposedly recorded live. If so, kudos to her. She sounds great live.

I've never been big on going to live concerts. The few I've been to have had certain things in common.

• Way too loud. Ruins the enjoyment when the volume is that high, IMO.
• People standing up in front of me (often on their chairs) so I can't see. I don't want to stand, or have to sit the whole time looking at backsides instead of the stage, thank you!
• They never sing the songs the way I know them. Yeah, I know that's part of the intrigue for some folks, hearing different versions of the songs they know. Me, I like the songs as they play on the CD...
• Crowds bug me to begin with. That's just a personal issue with me. Being surrounded by a sea of people unnerves me for some reason.
• Not a fan of the type of "smoke" that often wafts about from the other concert-goers.
• Ticket prices are ridiculous.

 All things considered, if I like a band, I'd rather save the cash, the angst, and the headache and just stay home and listen to their music on my computer. I guess I'm old after all.

Well, I warned you I was moody tonight! What did you expect? Something uplifting? Whining is very rarely uplifting...

OK, well, I think I'll quit while I'm behind, and call this post done. I have other goofy things to bring to you soon, including a surprise, if you behave...

Until then.

Dave the Cracked.

Hedges, Unjins, Rocketmen and Elephants.

Hey, remember that time I updated my blog, right in the middle of the weekend? On Saturday night, when no one in their right mind would be around to read a blog post? I mean, you all have things to do, places to go, people to see, all manner of fun and useful and productive activities to partake of. Yep, that's my collection of blog readers for you... hip, beautiful, intelligent, cool, strong, rich, semi-famous... and so I write this, alone, in an empty blog room... the soft sounds of lonely keystrokes, hunting and pecking in time with the click-click of the second hand on my wall clock... in an office that is at once too hot and too cold... a hundred different thoughts slowly whirling around inside my mostly-vacant head...

Only one thing to do.

Run around unclothed, waving my arms like Kermit the Frog!

YEEAAAAHHH!!!!!

Aww, yeah, that works!

Wait... oh, no! My webcam was on! And recording! And streaming live to the CNN website! Doh!

OK, so where to start? Today I went over to Pastor Stan's house and helped him trim the giant hedge out in front. Speaking of Kermit arms, my arms felt about as strong as Kermit's look, after about a half-hour. On top of a ladder, arms outstretched holding an electric hedge trimmer out, trying to reach as far over toward the center as possible... gads, I am so weak! Too much time in front of a computer, I guess. Arms all shaky, like a newborn. I felt foolish. Thankfully, Stan was on the other side, so no one saw how weak I am... except the Holy Ghost! And He was taking notes! I think He even shot a video. I hope it doesn't show up on God's blog any time soon! How embarrassing!

I took some "before and after" pictures of the hedge... but honestly, you can't really tell the difference!

I didn't get the angle right. Trust me, we worked on that sucker for about 3 hours!

Ah, well. At least I have a nice neck sunburn to show for it. I didn't even think about sunscreen. Plus, Stan gave me a couple onions from his garden, too! Lemme dart into the kitchen and grab a quick pic, you gotta see these...

Check out those bad boys! Yep, straight from the garden. How many other blogs would post a picture of unjins, like me? None! That's right, just me. Me and my unjins. That's the type of content that you tune in for. Vegetation, both edible and inedible!

So, some of you might recall how I'd like to some day own (or at least drive) a Mini Cooper. Yeah, I know, I've wanted a BMW forever, you're right... but BMW makes the mini Cooper! So it's almost the same thing! Anyway, here's the version I want... it's called the Rocketman. It's just a concept car at this point... but who knows what the future holds!

The doors kind of pop out instead of swinging out, and the trunk space can pop out, like sliding open an ash tray. Impractical, but very cool, eh! Actually, I could say that about the whole car... not practical, but quite cool. You gotta see the interior. I didn't want to post all the pictures here -- go check out this link, and read about it, and see all the pictures. I should photoshop myself inside that pic, so it looks like I'm driving it. Yeah... gee... that would be cool. O_O

It occurred to me recently that I've been doing photoshop tricks since before photoshop existed. In fact, before Windows existed! Let me explain... I was in high school (back in the DOS days), must have been 10th grade. 11th? I don't know. Anyway, I had a boring World History textbook for one of my classes that I thought could use a little spicing up...

I had a gigantic stash of skateboard magazines at home, so in a fit of boredom-inspired creativity, I began cutting pictures out of my magazines, carefully trimming the skateboarders out of the pictures, and then scotch-taping them into the pictures in my textbook. I would trim the scotch tape so that it just barely extended beyond the edge of cut-out shape, and when I taped it into the pictures, I'd smooth the tape down with my thumbnail, to minimize glare and any bubbles/creases in the tape. I would match the color and proportion of the cut-out as closely as possible to the textbook picture, so that at first glance, you wouldn't really notice the skater in there. But if you looked closely, yep, there's Rodney Mullen in the background of the famous black-n-white picture of the 1945 Meeting in Yalta between FDR, Churchill and Stalin! And Tommy Guerrero street-planting in the background of the pic of Richard Nixon's historic 1972 trip to China!

Gads, I spent countless hours doing that. I turned the book back in at the end of the school year. I often wonder what the student thought who got the textbook the next year... I'm sure it's long gone. Wish I had it still.

And now, from the blog archives, the Three Stooges pie fight scene!



OMG, I'm sorry. Call me a simpleton, but I laugh like a fool every time I watch that. Of all the great moments in that clip, I think the "triple slap" near the end was the most sublime... for some reason, that really does it for me...

And now, a Lord of the Rings - Fifth Element fantasy/sci-fi mashup comic...

Come on... that's funny... if you didn't get it, you're not dorky enough...

If you get a chance, go check out Shellie's new blog banner, at her blog Layers of Thought. Wow, it's amazing! Makes me think I should modify mine soon... I am nothing if not lemming-like...

And now, finally, Tim Conway's "Elephant Story" blooper from a taping of the Carol Burnett Show, back in the day...



Of course, I have a truck-load of other stuff to post, but I'll get to it soon, fear not. I'll wait for a weekday, so there's more people around here. It's kind of quiet. Peaceful.

Maybe everyone got raptured after all! O_O

Dave the Goof