Uchu Kaisoku-sen

Today I finally decided to bite the bullet and participate in National Novel Writing Month. You will be able to follow my luck here, at a new blog I have created just for this event. I guess it's my version of rock climbing or bungee jumping or some other tests of manhood, like when I did the 24 Hour Comics Challenge a few years ago on my 35th birthday. Nerd extreme sports, I guess.

All I have decided is that I am going to call it URAMESHIYA, which translates from the Japanese to "Ghost Scream," because that was a cool word I ran across while reading LONE WOLF AND CUB and I have always wanted to use it for the title of something. I will probably do a sci-fi or fantasy story. I'm not going to actually cheat, like some other NaNoWriMo bloggers I came across today, and start writing early, or spiritually cheat by thinking of plots and characters and so on ahead of time.

More here and at my other blog later; until then, give me a holler at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Ghost Fever

We tried to force some family togetherness on our teenaged daughter and watch the Charlie Brown Halloween show on TV, which I hadn't seen for quite a few years. I think the cartoon was made sometime around the birth of Jesus so I had sort of forgotten about the lengthy World War I subplot. Odd.

Afterwards we watched OUTFOXED, a documentary about the Fox News Channel. I had no concept about it as I had never watched one second of FNC before (it resides somewhere below HGTV in the 50s or 60s on my cable dial where I never go). It seemed to be about how FNC was basically a propaganda arm of the Republican party, which seemed unbelievable, so as soon as the movie was over I turned on the channel to see for myself, and saw Bill O'Reilly telling someone to shut up because we were winning the war in Iraq, and John Kerry wanted to turn the country over to the United Nations to run (as a Communist Utopia, one supposes), a surprising bit of news to me. So the documentary may be worth a look after all.

I mean this without rancor; I wish someone who is intelligent and reads this blog (one hopes this is not mutually exclusive) would write me an email and tell me why they are voting for George W. Bush.

Speaking of my teenaged daughter, I anticipate being the recipient of a "shock and awe" toilet paper campaign over Halloween weekend; the young Hoosieroon boy's way of saying "I like you."

Still need to check on whether AMONG US has made it to the local video store. In the meantime, got a few threads out there that may yet turn into projects. More later.

Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Solar Crisis

My new favorite website is this place. It would be funnier if it wasn't so painful, and if I hadn't lived just a little slice of it.

I also really liked this article from The Nation called 100 Facts and 1 Opinion. No matter what you think about it, don't forget to vote.

Apparently RAZORTEETH was well-received by the distributor; hopefully more news on that shortly.

It has been reported to me that AMONG US has finally shown up in my own hometown video store; I will try to confirm this happy report on the way home.

More later; until then, give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders

Saturday was my 17th wedding anniversary and we decided to go camping, even though rain and cold were forecasted (accurately). Saturday afternoon it poured, so we hunkered down in our pop-up camper and read and played board games and dozed. We had fun, though, and I had a dream that John Kerry passed through the state park where we were camping and thought our camper was so cozy that he asked if he could sleep on the extra little single bed and get away from the campaign for one night. What a happy dream. Today, more harsh reality.

Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Operator 13

On Friday I like to do a blog meme, so here's one from Four for Friday, straight off the top of my head:

Q1: When and/or where do you do your best thinking?
The day after a migraine.

Q2: Do you ever have epiphanies, moments when things become so abundantly clear that you're left wondering what in the heck you were thinking up until that point in time?
Yes, often when listening to 70s soul music.

Q3: They say every one of us has at least one in our lifetime... Without revealing something you're not comfortable sharing, have you ever had what you believed to be a million dollar business idea?
In college I did a Super-8 Batman movie before Tim Burton and a sunglasses-and-trenchcoats movie before Quentin Tarantino. Later I had a comic book character called "Retro Girl" before Brian Michael Bendis. Having the idea isn't the hard part.

Q4: Mandatory/planned fire drills in the workplace... an unnecessary waste of time or in the best interests of the employee and company?
Sure, everybody likes to loaf off for a few minutes!

Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Blogger Photo Request #3

Everybody should have one nude bathing shot on their blog. Here I am showering with a hose behind a barn while camping on my wife's family's land on the Ohio River recently.

Blogger Photo Request #2

Me hiking at Brown County State Park. I took this so the guys who made that t-shirt (a couple of skatepunks who work for me) could use it if they ever did a Lands End style catalogue (as if!). Note my "superpants," my favorite durable hiking shorts.

Blogger Photo Request #1

Blogger HQ recently asked all bloggers to post three pictures at their sites, as per readers' requests. I didn't get any, so here are some shots I thought might be interesting. This is me tasting five gallons of a very good Merlot I made with a "wine thief," just after racking.

Da Hong Deng Long Gao Gao Gua

I found out Saturday was the 30th Anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons, which was fitting as we played the first installment of Dungeon Magazine's ten-adventure "Shackled City" Adventure Path, a pretty clever, chromed-out adventure IN WHICH EVERY CHARACTER GOT KILLED. An editor's note in the next issue basically gives helpful suggestions for what to do in case of TPK (Total Party Kill) during the first module, always a warning sign. It was fun, until the last few minutes, when it wasn't so much.

Still getting over the flu and needing to get back in touch with the muse. Until then, give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Bronenosets Potyomkin

I've been knocked out with the flu for the last few days and thus had disappeared from the cyber-world, if anyone noticed. I'm going to play D&D with some friends tomorrow, then hopefully feel well enough to get back into writing on Sunday with some new projects.

I keep forgetting to mention that my beloved Cleveland Spiders finished third in my Yahoo Fantasy Baseball League against some rugged competition.

Here's a meme from The Friday Four:

What's your favorite type of:

1. Cookie Chocolate Chip

2. Candy York Peppermint Patty

3. Chocolate The chocolate maker in Union City, Indiana, whose name escapes me

4. Cake A raspberry-filled cake with ganache frosting my wife sometimes makes for my birthday

Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Ladri di Biciclette

I have been a bit ill the last few days, but still trying to cast my net far and wide to root out some new projects. This time last year, I had just finished the rewrite on PETER ROTTENTAIL and started the rewrite on an as-yet unrealized Polonia Brothers project, a ghost pirate movie called GIZZARD GUTS. A few new possibilities are in the works, more later.

Last night I went to the first preseason game for the Indiana Pacers, playing the lowly Washington Wizards and barely scraping out with a last-second tip-in to win. Slightly disappointing that the heavy hitters only played the first quarter, the bench the middle two, and all the scrubs the last quarter.

Saturday my brother and some friends and I are going to try to start playing Dungeon Magazine's D&D Adventure Path "Shackled City," which is ten modules over ten issues designed to take new characters to around 20th level. I am curious to see if this could be done in theory as well as practice, and will report more as it is ongoing. We are hoping to write a sage article about it when it's all over, at some point in the far future.

I have been so jazzed about SEX MACHINE lately that I just had to post a few more cool pictures today, courtesy of Christopher Sharpe.

Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Sex Machine #14

On a roadtrip to Ass-Kicking Town from Christopher Sharpe's SEX MACHINE.

Sex Machine #13

High-Tech Noir in Christopher Sharpe's SEX MACHINE.

Ubijtsi

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Sex Machine #11

A meeting of badasses, with noir lighting and all, in Christopher Sharpe's SEX MACHINE.

Sex Machine #10

A neat look at Frank's tattooed arm, a critical plot point in Christopher Sharpe's SEX MACHINE.

Konna Yume Wo Mita

Blogger is asking everyone to ask their blog readers what three photos they would like to see posted on this site. I suspect it is to interest people in using the new blog photo feature, which I already have well in hand (as seen today). But I'm curious what people will ask for. Please, no nude photos of me, those can be found at other places on the internet.

There's a new update on SEX MACHINE over at Christopher Sharpe's site here.

Lots of irons in the fire with new projects I hope to talk about shortly.

Until then, give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Kumonosu Jô

So I found out today PETER ROTTENTAIL has shown up on one of those Bit Torrent DVD-ripping sites. Is it a compliment? An insult? If people like the movie, will they go buy the DVD to get the packaging and the extras? If they don't, will my children be forced to eat cat food?

People say that making bootlegs and burning CDs and so on doesn't hurt people, only corporations, but Mark and John Polonia are real people and so am I (to some extent). I can't take the road of righteous indignation as I have copied a few CDs in my time, and taped shows off of TV back in the day, and maybe borrowed a bit of software here and there, but it does make me think twice.

If you want to see what a microcinema filmmaker would look like if you punched him or her in the stomach, go to a film fest (like I did in Rapid City this summer) and tell them that you liked their movie so much you make 20 copies for all of your friends (substitutue "garage band" and "CD" if you are into that scene).

So is it okay if you only steal from big people? It's a rocky road, ironic as the answers are easy. Nobody should be ripping, burning, taping stuff that is the intellectual property of somebody else, for free. What kind of sea change in the culture would that entail? Just because it would be difficult, does that mean it shouldn't be done?

Will I ever stop asking rhetorical questions? Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.

Polonia Brothers #8

Dalton Brothers. Polonia Brothers. The team-up that had to happen.

Polonia Brothers #5

Todd Carpenter, me, and Todd's wife at the Polonia Brothers surprise party. Todd Carpenter has probably been in more b-movies than Elvis.

Polonia Brothers #7

Me and Steve Torpy, John Polonia's brother-in-law, who I think had hilarious bits in AMONG US and PETER ROTTENTAIL. The Brothers left him in the wings too long!

Polonia Brothers #6

Me, Dave Fife from PETER ROTTENTAIL and future PBE director Anthony Polonia, already enjoying craft services.

Kakushi Toride No San Akunin

On Fridays I like to do a blog meme, so here's one from Four for Friday, somewhat wordy today:

Q1: When shopping for food or related sundries, how important are brands in your decision-making process? For instance, let's say you're standing in the cereal isle at your local supermarket, and right there in front of you are two of essentially the same item, but one carries a brand name or label you're familiar with, while the other is labeled with the name of the supermarket? All things being equal except price, which box of cereal do you purchase?

I like to try off brands more than generics because I've read a bit about positioning in stores and how certain items which are perfectly good get nudged out by big companies paying "shelf fees" and what have you. I also like trying regional brands.


Q2: If you wore eyeglasses, based on what you know today about the procedure, would you choose to have elective laser surgery to correct a common eye disorder such as nearsightedness, farsightedness or an astigmatism (distorted vision)? Do you know anyone who has had this sort of surgery, and if so, what have they said about the experience and/or the results?

I know everybody gets through the surgery fine, with no complaints, but I can't help but think someday there will be all these old people walking around with raisins for eyes. Just like I think somebody will say to me, "Grandpa, did you guys really think microwaves were okay to cook with back then?'

Q3: What do you do when you're given the wrong amount of change when purchasing something with cash? Does your reaction differ depending on which side of the equation you land, i.e., receiving too much change verses not enough?

I actually was given ten dollars too much in change just the other day and I gave it right back. Call it karma or whatever, but I think I might get shorted one day when I really need the money to balance it out, so I am always very careful not to consider it "found money."

Q4: Do you have confidence in the airport screening procedures in place in the United States?

Yeah, because the last couple of times I've flown I got pulled aside and given "the full Monty."

Give me a shout at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.