How about I DON'T embarrass myself on my blog for a change?

Well, I've gone through all the really cool stuff from "the pile". But don't fear...there's more where that came from. I've already pulled out a notebook stuffed with drawings, including some really tragic attempts at doing comics. Worst of all would have to be my attempts at editorial cartoons at age 9. It might take some cajoling before I'll voluntarily set myself up for that much abuse. ;) Also I was talking to my Mom and she's found a bunch of my drawings while working on scrapbooks. Didn't get any details...but that just makes it more exciting!

As much fun as this trip down amnesia lane has been, I'd like to get some other stuff going here. What I really want to start sharing with all of you is some recent stuff from my sketchbooks. The weekly trips for drawing at Third Place Books have been really paying off. This week I'm finally going to give watercolors a try. I'm inspired by the great looking stuff Angie has been doing (I've been trying to talk her into starting a blog where she can post her stuff) as well as some really cool work by Anton Bogatythat Drawn! clued me into.

We're planning to take a trip out to Daniel Smith for some better marker colors, water color sketchbooks, watercolors...and I'm going to pick up some photo emulsion to finally do some screen printing! Now if I can just decide what to do. :P

Oh, and I'm still planning to finish that recreation of the Donkey Kong level...sometime soonish.

"Children and dogs should not look at this candle. May cause their eyes to disappear"

From a box of Partylite candles

Actual text:
Keep out of reach of children and pets. 

Little Billy's TV Repair. The kids selling lemonade are a bunch of suckers.

From a 1970s Sears "Safety Tips" brochure.

Actual text for this image:
12) Do not drop or push objects into cabinent slots or openings. Some internal parts carry hazardous voltages and contact may result in electrical shock hazard. Never spill liquid of any kind on the appliance.  

Here's that Donkey Kong level mentioned in one of the comments threads. Jack and I came up with this when we were kids. It's a little bit of everything from the game...plus a few new surprises. Falling boulders, doors to jump through, unstable platforms, a super hammer that doesn't time out, a trampoline, and a cage that drops you into the oil barrel to burn...muaaah haa haa!

I'm working on recreating this bit of "hey wouldn't it be cool if..." with screenshots from the game. I'll post it soon. 

This is a pretty good example of what I looked like around the time of the self portrait. Oh dear. Look at my shoes.

But it's a merry Izod Christmas...me with my sweater and jack with his windbreaker. If I'm not mistaken it was one of those ones that folded up in it's own pouch with an attached belt for easy carrying. Taking the date from the ornament, it's at least 1982. That would make me around 11 and Jack 12. Hee hee.

Also, lots of cool atari stuff. The Pitfall box at my feet and it's cartridge sitting on the 2600 case. And that wicker basket...I kept all my cartridges and controllers in that thing for quite a long time. Jack, you probably remember that. Unfortunately the game on the screen isn't showing up enough for me to figure it out...anyone got a educated guess?  

Self portrait - Age 10 (approximately)

I'd tell you to stop laughing...but I know it won't do any good. *sigh* Go ahead. Enjoy.

It's very detailed...though a bit misshapen. My real glasses at that age really were that bad. (They just cried out to be taped in the middle, didn't they?). Based on the unfortunate pants photo, you could easily see me wearing a shirt this odd. What I want to know is, why am I wearing lipstick? *sigh* 

Computers are cool...but I'm obviously not.

Can you believe that my young self took the time to write this out this silly little program by hand? Even worse is that the final product ended up being much, much longer, but all based around the same trick of scrolling ascii art and calling for the user to press a key to continue. I may still have the disk around, but it's a 5 1/4 mac format...so it would take a bit to transfer, and it's really not worth the effort.

Tomorrow, the jewel of this collection. A self portrait done around age 10. None of you will ever be able to look me in the eyes without giggling again. Now remind me why I'm doing this again?

Note the all important copyright date of 1982. I clearly own all uses of smiley faces in the realm of computers. Tomorrow I'll begin collecting royalties for every use of an emoticon. I'll be a millionare before the day is through. Ha-HA! 

Unfortunate Pants

You asked for it Richmond...here are my unfortunate pants in all their splendor.

Why did my Mom let me dress like this? I don't think I can pin this on her. Take a look at her outfit...there's nothing odd about it. Nothing about it screams "special class" the way a pair of highwater bellbottoms topped off with a visor does. 

Hey everybody it's dinosaur day!

I'm not sure what it is, but kids and dinosaurs go together like Martin & Lewis...and I was no exception to this rule. The pile included a rich central vein of dinosaur stuff. Below are some of the more interesting examples.

In the early 80s my parents took me to the mecca for all 10 years old boys in the Pacific Northwest. Prehistoric Gardens! How could my little mind not have been completely blown by the wonders of painted concrete life-size recreations from the primeval world? I absolutely loved this place and brought home everything I could; the brochure, 8 postcards, an old school window decal, and a cardboard banner.

The elasmosaurus was hands down the coolest of my postcards...looks nice and menacing. And it crosses over with another childhood obsession because of it's similarity to some descriptions of the Loch Ness Monster. I had a book about Nessie that I read over and over and over...I probably still have it too. 

Tyrannosaurus vs Oviraptor! Who's cuisine will reign supreme?

Notice the incredibly anal-retentive addition of the "s" to the end of "My Own Dinosaurs" by my young self. "Well technically there are two dinosaurs so...". Oh god, why am I still doing these same kind of things. :P

I almost forgot, this was scribbled in a Land of The Lost coloring book. Much to say on that one, but I'll save it until I get some pics scanned in. 

Y'know...I'm really quite proud of this picture. I'd actually be pretty pleased with it if I drew it today.

It's like a cross between a crocodile and a dolphin...making it rather shark-like. Two obsessions with a common point. Hmm. 

Second semester progress report - 6/1978

Back in the days of handwritten report cards you got so much more information than a simple grade. My first grade teacher Mrs. Bronson included some of these jems...that will no doubt haunt me for quite some time to come:

• Chris is making very excellent progress in all areas of reading. He is wonderful to work with. I've discussed his continual talking, and he is trying to improve.
• Very verbal in participation
• Very creative and expressive drawings.
• Chris is coming along excellently in all areas of 1st grade. Academics seem easy for him. He does still need daily reminders to be less social and concentrate on his seatwork. I enjoy Chris very much.

Stop laughing. Yes, yes...it's amusing how little things can change in 30 years. *sigh*

Warning: If you begin to see red and yellow crosshatched blobs while wearing your Majestic Sunglasses, remove them immediately or risk permanent cornea damage.

I have no idea where this came from. 

Ignore that geeky boy behind the curtain...

While going through some boxes in the garage yesterday, I opened up one that's been sealed for about 10 years. Beneath a bunch of model train stuff I found a pile of papers from my childhood. Postcards purchased on family vacations, coloring books, my first grade report card, a bunch of drawings.

I can tell you that Angie just about laughed herself silly looking at this stuff. So in the interest of entertaining everyone, I'll be offering up stuff from this treasure trove over the next week or so. A portrait of the young geek. Oh dear...what am I doing?

Ooh...mean scary purple shark. 

The shark attack cake

Once again, I have the best wife ever. Angie made me this fantastic shark attack cake. Damn she's good. It makes me want to have birthdays more often so I can get more great cakes.

Look at the detail on this! The sparkling and frothing water, the shadow of the shark's body below the surface, the pool of blood that's brought the shark to the surface... 

Crikey! The Great White Shark is heading right for the injured swimmer! 

My birthday at the zoo

I managed to talk a bunch of friends (Scott, Deb, Liam, ) into joining me for the long drive to Tacoma, just so I could see sharks on my birthday. Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium has a really great collection of sharks in their South Pacific aquarium.

Cutest shot from the whole day. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting Liam and his faboo dad, Scott. If you look closely, you can see there's an elephant in the background. You might have to squint a little. Just let your eyes unfocus. 

Damn sharks are cool... 

This shot straight out of my nightmares...with all the nasty pointy teeth.  

Nice blurry action shot. It was really hard to get good pics because they were swimming so fast! 

Me and my good friends the sharks. :) 

Latest Posies rumblings...

• Jon has finished the mastering on his long, long awaited solo project "Songs from the Year of Our Demise" on 3/1. No details on the release yet, but keep a watch on his site, JonAuer.com, and on Pattern25.com.
• Ken reports on his site KenStringfellow.com that the new Posies album is done and will be out worldwide at the end of June. They'll also be touring heavily in support of it (to quote Ken, "be assured that even if you live in outer mongolia, you're likely to get an opportunity to see them this time around")
• The Posies will be playing at the Nightlight in Bellingham, WA on 5/7. Hmm...perhaps those in Seattle and those in Vancouver BC could meet in B'ham for the day?
• Jon & Ken have both contributed tracks to Bread tribute album, titled "Friends and Lovers". Jon does "Games of Magic" and Ken does "Down on My Knees". I remember something from my Posies archives where the boys are joking about starting a Bread tribute band called The Knead. :)

Cold, Hard Flash

Another great site I stumbled across on Cartoon Brew (do you get the idea that you might want to check out that site too?)

It's a great blog tracking the latest developments in Flash animation. Lots of interviews with cool people doing amazing stuff with Flash. Worth the read just for the examples of Flash used REALLY well.

Now if I could just get off my butt and do something cool with Flash myself. *sigh*

Drawn

One of my favorite blogs, Cartoon Brew brought me another blog gem yesterday: Drawn!

Right from their about page: "Drawn! site is a multi-author blog devoted to illustration, art, cartooning and drawing. Its purpose is to inspire creativity by sharing links and resources."

All sorts of great stuff has shown up here; Ed Emberley, The Gruesome's from The Flintstones, Jamie Hewlett, Katie Nice...a variety of very cool illustration.

'Napoleon Dynamite' fever makes little town a hot spot

Nice little article from the PI today about Preston, Idaho, home of Napolean Dynamite. If you missed this gem of a movie, stop what you're doing and go rent it. Right now. I know the trailer made this film look horrible. Now stop arguing with me and let me tell you the cool bit.

Pennie Christensen, executive director of Preston's Chamber of Commerce, is planning a Napoleon Dynamite Fest in June, complete with tetherball tournaments, a disco dance-off and a look-alike contest.

Who's up for a road trip?