The Happy Christmas Post

Well kids, in just a few more days Christmas will be here. I am really looking forward to a few days in the Big Apple, kickin’ back at Grandma Weg’s Home For Wayward Ninjas. While I am one of those grumpy people who does nothing but complains about the rampant commercialism of the season, this is the one trip I look forward to the most every year. If I’m really lucky, I won’t even be bringing any work with me this year! I’m just about done packing.

You may have noticed the change. It’s been about two years since I decided that my website needed an overhaul. Maybe longer. I’ve had a string of disappointments. People who said they could and would, for free or for money, etc. etc. Regardless of the specifics, I was still staring at the same lame art in the left side-bar, and wondering how the hell to change the no-longer-funny blurbs that randomly appeared under my name. I tried to figure it out, but it was way beyond me. In my own defense, people who speak code have looked at my website and can’t figure out what the dude who built it was smoking.

Anyway, in a fit of irritation -with the snow, with my child’s school being closed until Jan 5th, with my inability to screw my art-head on tight and plow through the last four pages of this Robo issue- I started tinkering. I have no idea where the art galleries (that I haven’t updated in 6 months) went. Or what happened to half of my links. But it will all work itself out eventually.

WordPress is a wonderful concept. It’s open-source, it’s constantly being expanded, and it is free. Oh and there is a shit ton of “helpful” tutorials out there. I say “Helpful”, (using big giant “Air Quotes”), because these tutorials assume that you have at least two years of undergraduate classes in computer programming, or the experiential equivalent under your belt before you attempt to fiddle with the inner workings of one of these delightful WordPress themes.

These folks think in code. And programmers just naturally assume that everyone else also thinks in code. Well head’s up nerds -we don’t! It drives me nuts. It’s like when my wife comes home from work and starts using all these big medical terms to describe her day -like I know what a fucking inter-fecal stint is, or where you should stick it? Knock that off!! It’s like when I worked at the airport -I made a point of NOT coming home and rambling on about the intricacies of dual-GPS navigation, or the vagaries and working properties of an ILS system. Nope. Because no one other than a fellow aviaton nerd would give a fuck, right? When I was asked how my days way I just said, “Fine.” or if that wasn’t enough, “My students did their best to kill, but once again I outwitted them.” Simple and to the point, in easy to follow layman terms.

So listen up code-monkeys. You claim that these tutorials are written so that anyone can build a wonderful and unique website. We’ll they’re not. Try rewriting them as if you were teaching a 5yr old. That way us normal people can actually follow along. Sheesh.

It’s a work in progress.

Okay lets see . . .Atomic Robo news and Convention Information:

Oh looks, An Atomic Robo review. FINALLY! Vol.2 has been really slim on these. It makes me feel more insecure than usual.

Also, new Robo books are coming this week, or being made available for pre-order:

Atomic Robo Vol 2 #5 (OCT084344)
June 1944 - Five long years of endless combat have taken their toll on the once invincible German war machine. The Red Army is on a year long offensive in the East while Allied forces amass in Britain for the largest amphibious assault in history. But Germany’s greatest super-weapon threatens to turn the tide of battle once and for all: the dreaded Electric Cannon can rain unparalleled destruction across all of Britain, the English Channel, and the Eastern Front. Sounds like a job for ATOMIC ROBO! But is that exactly what the Nazis were hoping for?

Atomic Robo TPB Volume 2 (DEC084219)!
Eisner-nominated ATOMIC ROBO lands on the front lines of World War II against the science freaks and devastating weird weaponry of Nazi Germany - from invincible walking tanks to atomic-powered weather cannons to the Monster Soldiers of the Third Reich. Blah, blah, blah!

I like that “Eisner-nominated” bit. “And now for more of that award-losing quality you’ve come to expect . . .”

NYCC is coming up in about 5 weeks. I will be there, but NOT in Artist Alley. My art rep has set something up. Here is a link with details. If anyone was looking to sign up for a commission before the convention I am taking orders -well, Bob at comicarthouse.com is.

It looks like Free Comic Book Day (DotCom) is not holding back anything this year. The list of 2009 participants is up. Maybe there will be another Atomic Robo story. And maaaybe it will involve an insane velocaraptor, with an Igloo cooler full of mayhem, named Dr. Dinosaur. Maybe.

On a slightly more somber note- Greece. Anyone have any thoughts? I don’t even know how much press it’s getting over here. I don’t have a TV, so most of my news comes via NPR. Unlike most major news networks, NPR does a good job of covering global events.

Aaaand, getting more positive -check out Design: E2. Despite my fairly grumpy exterior, I am a very optimistic person. While I fully believe that it takes a major crisis to get most people to remove their heads from their asses long enough to take action on anything, I also believe that the best in human nature is exposed when we are under pressure. Hulu.com in general is pretty great, but this program was super cool.

RANDOM SPLENDOR

-The Antikythera Mechanism

-Things may suck in Wilton, but they really blow in Norilsk Russia.

-The Wunder Boner. Yeah that’s right. I said Wunder Boner. Every kitchen and tackle box should have one. (don’t worry, it’s safe for work.