Such a Lovely Day...

New Journal.

2004-06-11T17:54:41Z

http://www.livejournal.com/users/tristan_crane/

Hiya!

Good To Know.

2004-05-25T00:40:55Z

You're Mead!

What Type of Alcoholic Beverage Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Daze Away.

2004-05-22T17:41:55Z

The breeze has been blowing for days. Yesterday, pushing my car towards the guard-rail of the Bay Bridge, and today whipping the trees outside my parent's house into a frenzy.

Got out of dodge for a couple of days (ie. San Francisco to Stockton...) there is a specific task I'm assigned, someone's gotta be here to be woken up at 6am when the cat's decide they would like to be fed. This is what happens when some mom gets up at 5 am every morning to meditate, little beasties become adapted to this schedule and will let you know in no uncertain terms that they Wish To Be Fed. Now.

I wasn't going to have internet access, but then my brother came over with one little cable and here were go again... I will still get to.. 1. lettering and 2. writing. Here for a purpose, other than to be stepped on at 6am by a pair of rabid semi-starving beasts which desperatly need a good brushing.

There is nothing going on in this city, and no one I really know except for my brother. Which is just fine. The people I knew here are either dead or married or doing the same thing they were when I left seven-or-so years ago. All good enough reasons to avoid them. All the better to not distract my from the cats, my work, and a rare (for me, anyway) glimpse at cable tv.

In a perfect world.... my lunch looks like This!

2004-05-19T17:52:21Z

More cuteness here.

Sent to me from Laurenn.. aww!

Sunday Morning Cartoons on my 'navi'.

2004-05-16T18:59:01Z

Poor little Lain. Though I still want her hat.

Final stretches....

2004-05-13T02:23:59Z

Last Friday was my final photo shoot modeling for 'Rent Girl'. It's been an interesting bunch of months working on this book, and I can hear Laurenn cussing me out already, since she's Still working on the book. It will be done soon, and the world will gasp at the wonderment she's wrought.

We've got over 26 gigs of digital pictures, the illustrations of which are on average a couple of megs each, average of one illustration per page. Four or five wigs. An entire tube of mascara. Countless pairs of boots. A headache or three, a little help from one cat that sounds like a cricket, and it all started with one hilarious script by Michelle Tea.

No rest for the wicked, however. There's a tour to plan, merch to create, and of course, future projects to write proposals for. And in the meantime, i'm wondering if the 'How Loathsome' collection is going to make it into stores before 'Rent Girl' ships.

It's just nice to have you back again.

2004-05-10T01:02:53Z

weekend update...

Saw 'Godzilla' friday night at the Castro theater and it was fairly brilliant. I hadn't seen that film since I think watching it one afternoon with my dad many, many, many moons ago. Needless to say I had forgotten pretty much everything except for the basic idea - that a giant monster would stomp Tokyo. Pleasantly suprised to find that it's a reasonable story, well acted, and shot in gorgeous b/w film... I'd say this one's a classic, and well worth the trip to the theater.

Saturday there were visitors from out of town to entertain, and saturday night was SIN fetish club. Lots of people, some drunk, and other's semi-drunk. We didn't sell a single book, but talked to a bunch of people and had a good time dressing up and all that, so I counted the evening as a success.

My boot heels constantly were caught in the gaps between the roof deck floorboards, but I somehow managed to avoid falling down for the entire night. This, apparently, is my super-hero power. Able to climb whole staircases in thigh-high six-inch stiletto boots.

Now I have an amazing butt-load of work to do, and my toes are still a little numb from last night. Where is my sexy subservient footslave with a massage when I need one??

This here Giraffe... Laughed.

2004-05-07T01:09:26Z

Extremely Silly Lyrics are happy-inducing.

Laurenn's bashing Led Zep and Pink Floyd, and while she does have a point, I still gotta defend those bastards. It's like, hard-wired into the brain or something. Interesting, because so few things are.. hard-wired that is. At least in my mind.

Now she's babbling about the joys of traveling cross-country. Going to experience that for the first time ever in September, which is far enough away that I'm not really thinking about it yet close enough that i'm already planning what to wear and anticipating long searches for soy-products. I've traveled to places all around the world, and I've been to the east coast, but until now have not made the bi-coastal trek. Part of me wants to drive out to Ocean Beach once the car is fully stocked and start the whole trip from there.

Ha. Knowing me, I'll decide that West Oakland is West enough. And for once, I might be right.

Oh yeah...

2004-05-05T04:28:59Z

The one amazingly amazing thing of last week was seeing these guys...

We caught the second night of their show at the Warfield, and then they went down to Coachella and blew everyone else away, like my little brother... Went on just after 8, and played straight thru for a respectable three curtain-calls (appearing once as their robotic counterparts doing that weird barely-synchronized dance that reminds one of Very Drunken Goth Girls when they play a good Cure song at the end of the night...)

The visuals were mind-blowing and impossible to explain, but there was copious use of the color Red on some songs, and the computer graphics referenced a simpler and cleaner time in computer generated imagery... all in all the show looks like their album covers, just as it ought to. Clean design should always be the rule. Always.

Worst Office Party. Ever.

2004-05-04T17:11:49Z

Someone quite close pointed out the other day that Comic Book Conventions are like the worst office party ever. It's kind of true, although the main element missing from Wondercon this weekend was the Bar. (There was one at APE, which made the 4pm stretch just that much easier to endure) Solace had to be found at the $6 expense of a well-salted pretzle and a diet pepsi I was yelled-at for by the long-suffering Laurenn who no doubt has my best interests at heart... apparently it causes cancer. Much like most everything else, including the ink they use to print comics with.

We did sell some copies of the Trade, and to several people who furtively slink up to the table and won't even meet my eyes, just hand over the money and dash with the product. Not sure why this is, and I'm halfway temped to chase them shouting 'why?? why?? where did you hear of this book?? and why would you buy it but not say hello?' but that would be bad form. Even for a convention.

Met lots of other nice people, some of them wearing brilliant costumes.

There were, as always, way too many stormtroopers in attendance, although this year the rebellion made an effort and i think not 1 but 2 girls came out as Leia in a slavegirl outfit. Much to the joy of the galactic empire. The first thing I saw upon showing up for the start of the con on Friday morning was a stormtrooper coming out of the men's room adjusting his white plastic cod-piece, and that pretty much summed up the weekend.

Yesterday I had people poisoning and spent most of the day indoors being chewed on by the cat, and today it's back to work work work. I hereby apologise for missing all of the fun events i missed this weekend.

Wondercon.

2004-04-27T22:22:10Z

This weekend is Wondercon, downtown in Moscone center, just in case anyone is looking for something to do. I will be there sharing a table with Michael Manning somewhere in Artists Alley (probably near the icky porn guys, they always put people with 'questionable' subject matter next to one another). On hand will be copies of the 'How Loathsome' trade, before it hits the shelves, even. And buttons and patches as well.

I will also have copies of the first 'Vinyl' mini-comic, a collaboration between myself and my friend Aaron Farmer (robotsinlove.com).

'Vinyl' is about a goth band trying to get gigs, only they wind up playing weddings, karaoke parties, ect. Sort of light and funny and not nearly as drug-fueled as 'How Loathsome', there are of course, queer people of several varieties. Because I think stories about just straight people are totally boring.

Right. Back to lettering this comic book sos i'll actually have the thing finished to print out tomorrow.

Bit of the old ultra violence.

2004-04-27T15:56:10Z

Watched 'Once upon a time in Mexico' last night, and mostly greatly enjoyed the experience. The movie was fairly obviously designed for thee boyz (and by that I mean from a conventional marketing stance, throwing in gushy love scenes between Selma and Antonio could conceivable have been masterminded to keep thee boys's girlfriends in their seats, but you never know.)

Lots of people I know kinda hated the movie when it came out, for reasons I am no longer completely clear of. Heard enough 'eh' reports that I didn't bother to see it in the theater (consider that movie tickets in the Bay Area are now upwards of 8 bucks and you have to sit through half an hour of commercials before the thing even starts and you know why I don't waste my time that often.)

Note, I haven't yet seen 'Kill Bill', but it seems like a similar flick, lots of over-the-top cartoony violence, people dying in droves, losing eyes, ect. I might be making a colossal mistake in lumping these movies into a similar genre... but I am left wondering, would more people have liked O.U.A.T.I.M. if it had been more obviously ripped off from another culture's genre of action films? ie. Mexican gangsters with super-sexy swords instead of boring ol' guns?

It's true.

2004-04-26T16:56:50Z

Happiness is a Warm Cat.

Snore.

2004-04-06T18:09:53Z

"I'm a failure," she replied. "How can I give anybody advice?"

- Sharon Osbourn
http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=154603

No shit.

Hippie shit.

2004-04-03T19:44:50Z

You ever have that thing where you see something or hear something in a movie - a line or phrase, or image, and later on that same element pops up in your life in a completely un-connected way?

It's been happening a lot lately.

It's so easy, even a computer can do it.

2004-03-31T19:38:50Z

Random advertising slogan generator...

Anytime, anyplace, How Loathsome
and
Semper How Loathsome

Were among my favorites..

And then there's 'Absolut Rent Girl'.

Just to get this off my chest, I adore the Absolute Vodka advertising campaign. Yes, it's Evil Corporate Entity, and yes, it's probably a not-so-good-for-us substance, and yes, advertising is totally evil and everpresent in our society but you gotta admit it's catchy. Some of their ads are completely obscure, i've run across them in all kinds of magazines, from art to fetish, mainstream to multi-media. There is a thick coffee-table book out there consisting of like the entire history of their ads.

Not sure what i'm getting at here, other than is this an example of advertising as art? It's culturally-relevant, changes with the times, adapts to consumer tastes yet remains innovative enough that even after years of looking at them, I still will take a moment to examine each and every Absolut ad, because you never know what they're going to use next.

Or perhaps i'm just media-obsessed and have bought into their gimic? Hard to tell, but I can't remember the last time I actually Purchased a bottle of Absolut Vodka, even though I also quite like the shape of the bottle.

Spam Poetry? or just Prose? Or just Spam?

2004-03-30T18:47:01Z

Still learn a hard lesson from her from about cream puff, mourn her midwife from with buzzard living with.Unlike so many onlookers who have made their orbiting cyprus mulch to us.If pickup truck behind tr to seduce of onlooker, then for judge hibernates.
require marijuana statler trample caustic septillion

When cough syrup about hides, earring toward scythe prays.
algorithm trite lithosphere carlton

Kittie pron.

2004-03-29T22:08:37Z

Yes I might Be Bored.

Some news...

2004-03-29T18:06:45Z

'Aravanis' (eunuchs) in Tamil Nadu have decided to move the Madras High Court to declare them as 'third gender'.

"With the growing number of problems and discrimination being faced by them (aravanis), they need an independent identity (third gender) and will move the High Court soon", P Mohana, Managing Trustee, South India Aravanigal Rights and Rehabilitation Centre (SIARRC), told reporters here on Thursday.

(http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/581837.cms)

Lemming'd from www.diepunyhumans.com where it had popped up a while ago and I didn't have reliable net access.

Mwahahah.

2004-03-28T23:48:50Z

I got DSL. It's so fast that i'm having trouble repressing the urge to laugh like a crazed maniac and never leave it's side again. Sweet, sweet, bandwidth.

Holy poo, though. Two hours on Tech Support to get it to work. And lest ye doubt my dork-points, it was something I never would have come up with on my own. An essential program didn't install correctly when I installed it initially. Ok, so eventually I might have figured it out, but specifically what program off the auto-start-install-disk-that-should-as-hell-install-correctly?? Nah. I needed the tech support guy to walk me thru it.

Of course, the need for DSL is completely work-related. Now I can ftp pages and high-res photos and stuff. Of course.

The webcam in the shower is just icing on the cake.

Tuesday Morning. (Self Explanatory)

2004-03-23T17:52:36Z

Watching 'Ed Wood' on dvd with the commentary on, and Damn. Speaking of geek-outs, director and producers are currently discussing where to get the film processed correctly, and of course, we are Utterly Facinated. Like seriously. Someday, i'll have all my black and white film stock processed in New York as well...

Been dreaming vividly and overwhelmingly lately. Waking up groggy, as opposed to more often when i'm wired and up super early. This much dreaming isn't always nice, I can't remember any of them so it's like an intense drug trip my brain won't recall.

Starting to make some kinda sense.

2004-03-16T07:12:30Z

Just gonna sit here and watch the patterns repeat themselves. It's been a couple of those kind of days, the sun has baked me bloody and the heat lingers in my limbs. People showing their true colors and for once someone seems to be watching. if not paying too much attention.

Friday Finally.

2004-03-12T18:42:57Z

1. What was the last song you heard?

Peter Murphy - cuts you up. Played on KUSF this morning, I swear it wasn't me.

2. What were the last two movies you saw?

'League of Ext. Gentlemen' which wasn't terribly.. extraordinary.
'Ed Wood'- managed to snag it on dvd before it sold out. Fuck 'Big Fish', this was Burton's last decent movie - but damn it's a good one.

3. What were the last three things you purchased?

A slice of chocolate cake for breakfast yesterday. (Just call me the role-model of the new millenium.)
A six-pack of Kirin Beer.
A bottle of Rasberry Ale for when my sweet Mandy comes to town this weekend.

4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?

Work on lettering 'Inu Yasha'.
Shoot about 15 shots for 'Rent Girl'.
Get nice and drunk with Mandy on Saturday night.
Paint the loft in the bedroom white.

5. Who are the last five people you talked to?

This is a stupid question, but i'll answer it anyway because it's that kinda day. Laurenn, eM, Violet, the customer service rep from Earthlink who might be getting money for DSL off of us, and the girl who's number I got on Craigslist who's getting rid of a futon.

Speaking of which, now I need to find someone with a truck type of vehicle who can help me go and pick up that thing.. got any suggestions?

Awards that cough.

2004-03-10T21:09:47Z

Didn't miss much e-mail wise while moving. An invitation to a 'Gaylaxicon 2004', which I am unable to attend. (http://www.gaylaxicon.org/2004/index.htm) They're supposedly the 'the national annual gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and friends science fiction, fantasy, horror, comics and gaming convention'. This might be good, might be bad. Anyone out there have any idea??

In addition the GLAAD Media awards are announced at the end of this month. Doesn't look like I'll be walking down the red aisle towards my LGBTIQQect. Gift Bag of Schwag anytime soon... despite throwing three award events (NY, LA, SF.) They announce only a couple of winners there.. the rest of these categories are announced in their 'National Program Book'. Whatever that is. So sorry if you speak Spanish, you're lumped in with the rest of us who make comics and stuff..

Outstanding Comic Book
Outstanding New York Theater: Off-Off Broadway
Outstanding Spanish-language Individual Episode
Outstanding Spanish-language Daily Drama
Outstanding Spanish-language Reality Program
Outstanding Spanish-language Newspaper Columnist
Outstanding Spanish-language Newspaper Article
Off the Roof - Special Recognition
"Tu Boca" Cabas - Special Recognition

You can read the whole deal here (http://www.glaad.org/publications/resource_doc_detail.php?id=3615)

That's right. Comic books and off-off Broadway go hand in hand. Weirdly enough, the other comics nominated are on-Broadway in terms of the comic book community. Which is pretty sad for us all in about a thousand ways.

Holy fused frogs!

2004-03-07T01:18:08Z

Yikes! (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/3534361.stm)

Mutants aside, things for the future are looking like travel.

Who goes on tour? Rock stars. And writers.

uh oh.