As one might guess from the long absence of any online presence, it's been Life In Hell around here. Back troubles, illness, hospital time, burning through ... (let's see...Bob...Mario...R.J....Ray...Jim...Jim...Jim...) ...seven! roommates, crunched deadlines, and the usual assortment of RT madness, among other things.

It's odd how for a fair bit of the last decade I've existed more in cyberspace than in meatspace. Barely existed on paper in the real world, but maintained a variety of websites ranging from Web Series to Hong Kong & Comic Book Movie Guides to Memorial Sites to 3D Modeling Resources - even an Art Project that existed in pieces on 33 servers around the world.

But the past couple years, I've barely existed in either of the two, spending far more time in a universe less shared.

I begin to feel as though my existence is mere shadow and whisper - with little beyond my work on La Muse to affirm my presence at all to the outside world.

Perhaps that's changing. I make no definitive claims at this stage, but I do believe it to be the case. Most definitely there are more tangible roots in the "real" world these days - little basic things like keeping a bank account again. (Yes, it IS possible to exist without one, despite what one might think to the contrary)

There are projects in the works that I expect to see the light of day soon. Will expectations form tangible results? We'll all have to wait and see together.

Illness crippled this years 24 Hour Comic Challenge, but didn't kill it. There was a locally hosted event this year, so I wasn't working in the void like last year, but I didn't have the energy reserved built back up to go 24 hours, especially not with deadlines looming at that point. Nonetheless, I did manage a 24 page comic - in 12 hours. A couple hours before the local 24HCD event began, I was hit by an inspiration that allowed me to zip through - a tale told primarily in hieroglyphics. While it doesn't hold up to last year's tale, I'm still pleased at being able to create it in half the alloted time. To make up for the speedy creation time, it took nearly seven weeks to get the damn thing posted online. But it is finally available through the 24 Hour Comic link in the site menu.

Besides the projects in the works, I intend to be back posting to the blog on a much more regular basis again. Besides talking about movies and books and such, I'll be going back to commenting on politics and related matters that I've avoided since the last major revamp of The Third Road. Perhaps returning to political cartooning as well. Some will recall my old T.W.A.T.* The MisAdventure's Of Bush And Dick strips from the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. I'm tempted to resume them with the current push to an even more disastrous war with Iran, but with Colon & John gone from the mix, I doubt that format will return.

In the meantime, let me leave you with the words of one of the most brilliant minds of the last century:

"A foolish faith in authority is worst enemy of Truth" - Albert Einstein

Damn near four freakin' months!
I know I've been busy since the last post, but still!
Not just busy with the work, but dealing with life in general.
Major general, even.

I moved six times since my last entry. SIX!
What a nightmare that was.
But settled into new place quite nicely now, I'm happy to say.
(For those who may be wondering, Yes, that does mean there is little hope for a revival of The Graveyard Desk since I no longer work it)

Work on La Muse progresses very nicely - we passed the 25% mark published recently.
Other work is coming together as well. The image above is from an as yet untitled (FragMentations?) bio strip in the works. You'll hear more about that here eventually.

Speaking of work in progress, Adi Tantimedh, the writer for La Muse, has an exciting project coming together, too. And it's even named after me! (Well, sort of)
But contracts on that are as yet unfinalized, so we'll have to wait to talk about that, too.

What can we talk about now?
Well, I've been seeking rexual satisfaction in recent times.

Anonymous Rex - Casual Rex - Hot And Sweaty Rex ... all deeply satisfying.

No, we're not talking about my rex life - I'm refering to a series of novels by Eric Garcia, author of Matchstick Men.
Some of the most deeply twisted original tales I've run across in quite some time.
As the cover blurb for the first book declares:
Murder...
Deceit...
And The Best Interspecies Sex Ever!

Vincent Rubio is a hard-boiled private eye on the mean streets of LA. Or sometimes NY. Or maybe Hawaii. Or Florida...
Okay, forget that part.

Rubio is a little different from the P.I.s you've encountered before - he's a velociraptor wearing a human suit to blend in.
And he's not alone...

Sixteen species of dinosaur survived the Great Showers and continued to evolved, growing smaller and more bipedal while the apes were starting to move up the chain, too.
Now they live among us in a hidden society within a society.

It's strange, it's silly, and Garcia makes it work, and work beautifully.
There's very little I could tell you to set you up for reading it, other than to say it's good, it's funny, and I'm hoping for more rex in my life soon.

Head packed, feverish, nauseous, the whole joyful package. Can't focus on getting any work done, and for extra fun bursitis flared up in the drawing wrist. So screw it - not going to try to work. Going to try to catch up on a few other things instead. Like the blog.

One of my current favorite authors was in town for a signing a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't able to attend. Damn!
Most annoying. I really wanted to get him to autograph my Bible.

No, it wasn't some time traveling author of the original gospels (or what passes for them these days).
It was Christopher Moore, one of the absolutely funniest writers you're likely to enjoy these days.

So why autograph my Bible? Well, the first I encountered him was quite by accident. I saw a title on the shelf in the library (in the young adult section, oddly enough, though all of his other works are in the standard adult fiction area, where this one really belongs.)

It was called: Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

As one might suspect, that caused a true WTF moment when I saw it, and I had to look closer. His writing is irreverent and biting, truly damn funny, and yet he maintained the feel of one who had actual respect for the source material, if not for the staid and joyless guardians of the Bible.

For example, the book covers much of the "missing years" of Joshua AKA Jesus. In this time, He sought to prepare himself for His destiny, and part of that was heading east to seek out the three wise men who visited His birth. In the far East, the masters attempted to teach him martial arts, but He rejected that. How could He embrace violence geared to hurting His flock? And so they created a new martial arts form specifically geared with Joshua in mind - one that redirected and deflected an attacker's energy rather than seeking to directly hurt. And they called it "The Way Of The Jew", or Judo.

It takes a seriously twisted individual to come down that convoluted path and make it work, and Chris Moore is just the twisted freak to do it. His books are hilarious, outrageous, and just plain damned fun to read.
Who else could make "heinous fuckery most foul" his trademark phrase in recent novels?

Since discovering Lamb, I've gone back and read every book he's written, except the first - Practical Demonkeeping. Got to save something for when there's nothing else to enjoy.

His latest book, You Suck: A Love Story, came out at the beginning of the year. It's a sequel to his earlier Bloodsucking Fiends. I recommend it, as I do all his novels, but you might want to read them in order of publication. While You Suck stands entirely on its own, and everything you need to know from the first book is recapped in the narrative, you'll miss little references if you haven't read his previous novel - A Dirty Job, as well as the original Bloodsucking Fiends.

So here's a list of his books in order:

Practical Demonkeeping
Coyote Blue
Bloodsucking Fiends
Island of the Sequined Love Nun
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror
A Dirty Job
You Suck: A Love Story

Go read them - I think you'll enjoy them.
I know damn well I have!

La Muse has launched online serialization, and the early reviews are looking great:

"Must-Read Online Graphic Novel...It's amazing. I wish more print comics were this good"

"LA MUSE is a winner, pure and simple. It's a wonderfully smart and hilarious comedy"

"I've rarely read Webcomics, but LA MUSE is the best gateway drug one can hope for."

The first 13 pages are now available here on the Big Head Press website, with new pages every Monday.

Check it out, and if you like it, spread the word.

Lam Ching-Ying died almost 10 years ago, in November of 1997. But his many works live on with us still. Even if you've not seen his many films - if you're wholey unfamiliar with his internationally famous undead fighting Taoist Priest characters or the wide variety of roles he's played in front of the camera - you've likely seen his works without realizing it.

Seen a Bruce Lee movie?
You've seen Lam Ching-Ying's action direction - he choreographed Bruce's fights in the films. Not to mention he was the stand-in for the aging Shek Kin against Bruce Lee in the big confrontational fight at the end of Enter The Dragon

Seen Michelle Yeoh's amazing action work in films like James Bond - Tomorrow Never Dies?
You've seen his teachings - he trained a former dancer to be the #1 female action star in the world.

Perhaps you've seen him opposite Jackie Chan in films like Heart Of Dragon or My Lucky Stars.

If you're a Hong Kong film fan, you've almost certainly seen him in dozens of Sammo Hung's movies.

You may even have seen him or his work in old movies starring actors like Robert Mitchum, Chuck Norris, or George Lazenby, surprisingly enough.

But to really enjoy him, you should see some of the films that made him a world famous star. Movies like the Mr. Vampire series, Close Encounters Of The Spooky Kind 2, Magic Cop, John Woo's Heroes Shed No Tears, Tsui Hark's Swordsman, Ringo Lam's School On Fire and many, many others.

Lam Ching-Ying is my favorite star, and I invite you to learn about him, and hopefully watch his films and enjoy him with me.
My memorial site, Lam Ching-Ying: Hero Of This World And The Next! returns to life online today. Stop by and check out one of the great talents taken from us too soon. (at the age of only 45)

And Happy Birthday, Lam Sifu - may you rest in peace.

Work on La Muse progresses nicely. We expect to have two months in the can when the serialization debuts next month on the Big Head Press website. To whet your appetites, we've made the 5 page prologue for the story available as a special preview for the book. You can view it here on the Art Of -3- website.

In other "L" news, next week is Lam Ching-Ying's birthday.
For those who are unfamiliar with his name, Lam Ching-Ying was a Chinese actor/director/producer/stunt choreographer/action director/vampire slayer in Hong Kong cinema before his untimely death in 1997. He gained international fame with his undead fighting Taoist priest characters, as well as choreographic Bruce Lee's fights, training dancer Michelle Yeoh to the #1 female action star in the world, and a variety of other accomplishments.
After more than a year offline, my memorial site - Lam Ching-Ying: Hero Of This World And The Next will be returning to the web on December 27th, Lam Sifu's birthday. The site is currently being updated in preparation, with new video clips, pics & posters, artwork, reviews and more.
Join me here next week to learn more about my favorite star, Lam Ching-Ying.

"This is my sister.

She’s the latest Big Thing everybody wants a piece of.

She’s the sexy tomboy you’re all in love with.

She’s arrogant, spoiled, and selfish.

She could kill every living thing on Earth in one afternoon…

And she’s going to save the world, whether you like it or not."

La Muse is the new project I mentioned last time out. The more framiliar I get with the concept, the more I like it and more excited I am to be working on it. Rather than try to sum it up for you, I'll let Adi Tantimedh, the writer, sum it up in his own words:

"Susan La Muse is a sexy, fun-loving political activist for the environment, human rights and an end to poverty. She is also an alien. When her extraordinary abilities are accidentally caught on video, she suddenly finds herself the biggest celebrity in the world Her straight-laced sister Libby is desperate to keep the world from finding out they're aliens, and becomes her agent to keep her wild hedonistic ways under control. But Susan has other ideas... She realizes that she can use her celebrity to not only campaign to save the world and help disadvantaged people, but she can actually go all out to save the world when corrupt governments and big businesses are slow to change their ways. Thus, Libby can only try to preserve Susan's image and reputation, even as her sister's increasingly outrageous acts make her a target for assassination for everyone from governments, corporations, right-wing zealots and terrorists... ...and from a member of her own alien species."

I'll post progress reports and let you know how things develop. And expect the above design to be available soon on T-shirts for those interested. La Muse will run 220 pages, and be available in a print edition after the serialization completes on the Big Head Press website. I think you'll like it - I know I will.

It's been a hectic couple of weeks, lots in development.
And so I forgot to post as promised when the Jesus Saves! T-shirt arrived.

The order was placed on Friday evening. On Monday, confirmation of the order shipping arrived by email, and on Wednesday the shirt itself arrived. Good to see they handle the processing nice and quickly. Faster, I suspect, had it not been the weekend when the order went in.

The printing is as good as I'd hoped. There are two different types of printing available - a heat transfer and a direct print. The heat transfer provides more vibrant color detail, but does so by heat-bonding a plastic film to the shirt. This makes the shirt less comfortable, and it cracks with washing. I have another shirt with some of my work on it done in that method, and I'm less than thrilled with it overall.

The direct print method I chose to use embeds dyes directly in the fabric. It's much softer and more comfortable, and the colors are still rich and vibrant. After a dozen washings, there's been no noticable fade. I'm quite pleased with the quality. Fine detail might not transfer as well, but I take that into account when creating the design for the shirt.

All in all, I give the printing that cherished rating of "doesn't suck". (The artwork I leave for you to rate)

And, of course, CafePress itself gives a money back guarantee if you're not satisfied with any product. So I'm happy, and I'll be expanding the line now that I've had a first hand look at the results.

Meanwhile....

In addition to the upcoming work you'll be seeing here (first up - short tales from Pu Song Ling, the Historian Of The Strange), I'll be starting a new project with Big Head Press.
More on that next time, but I'll tell you now that Adi Tantimedh is scripting what looks to be a great fun concept, and the pencils and inks of Hugo Petrus look dynamite. I'm going to have fun painting colors for them. But then, I've usually been quite lucky in getting projects I quite enjoy.

Work is underway now, and the story will begin serialization on the Big Head Press website in January.