I had blood drawn today like a good little vegan. I wanted to test vitamin levels and all of that crap, as well as test for food allergies. oh, and I completely passed out after. It was straaaaaaaange.
Oh. But that’s not what I meant to post about. I redid the needies website. Why? Why would I redo a website for a band that stopped playing like four years ago?
Because I uploaded the unreleased album. It’s FREE FOR DOWNLOAD! You should get it.
I’m visiting my sister in Fort Worth. She and her husband live in a nice house in a lovely neighborhood near the museums and the botanical gardens. She keeps telling me that I should move into the garage and be a manny to her future children. The thought is both flattering and depressing.
She works all day at a museum, so I’m mostly hanging out at the house, making smoothies, watching movies, and working on book stuff. It’s been a nice, relaxing week. I love my sister!
In other news, I’m working on expanding Finish the Monster, and one of my recent drawings is directly inspired by – actually, you know what? It’s a total rip-off. It’s a total ripoff of the creature in the awesome, the classic, the I-do-what-I-want-because-it’s-in-the-public-domain film, Robot Monster. Get a hold of this movie. It’s GREAT!
I saw this on a morning walk.
WHAT AN AMAZING WORLD! AAAAAAAAAH!!!
There’s been some confusion today. I’ve received a few emails about my new book of poetry, Iowa, that came out today. The thing is, that’s not my book. It was written by another writer named Travis Nichols who lives in Seattle. Emails were sent to everyone who bought Punk Rock Etiquette on Amazon telling them about the release.
I DO have a book coming out next year, and some others in the works, but nothing that’s on Amazon right now. Just good ol’ Punk Rock Etiquette.
But hey, check out Iowa.
So… short story long, my children will have names like “Jupiter Basil” and “Elizabethany Sunrise” so they won’t encounter issues like this.
I came to LA to see The Pee-Wee Herman Show. I have been a fan of Pee-Wee Herman (and all of Paul Reubens’s work) since Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, and have always loved the original live show. Last fall, when I saw the announcement about the new live show, I called Jessica in a panic to let her know that I had found my birthday present. We got tickets for Thanksgiving weekend (so she could actually go), but after the venue/date changes, she ended up not being able to go to the show we got tickets for in January. My friend Pearl came with, and the show was AMAAAAAAAAAAAAZING.
When the curtain pulled back to reveal the set, my heart exploded. The new show has about 25% of the original live show’s content (rent it, buy it, study it) with tons of new stuff. It’s more like Pee-Wee’s Playhouse when it comes to all of the characters, and again, the set, but yeah, a little more adult. There’s a duet that Pee-Wee sings with Chairy that brought tears to my eyes. As one guy said in the meet and greet, it was like my childhood on stage.
So yeah, original ticket holders got to go to a meet and greet after, where Pee-Wee walked around answering questions. I snagged a photo as he walked by.
I also bought the coolest merch ever. An abstinence ring!!!
Best. Show. Ever. My face hurts from smiling, and now that it’s over, several hours have passed, my friends are all asleep, and I’m getting ready for bed, I… might… yeah, I think I might cry.
This was really important.
This is the most detailed one of these here drawing things I’ve ever done. Oh, the pictures? They ARE crappy. Thanks for noticing. The batteries for my camera are missing. I think I put one of them in my beard trimmer thing, but where’s the other one?
Anyway, this drawing is for a thing with a person. More on that later.
I saw Daybreakers a couple of days ago, and I was really affected by it. By the mediocrity of it. I posted some mini reviews on Twitter, then checked out the trending topics. So many were in praise of the film. Many declared that it was “awesome” and offered such exclamations as “I never seen so much gore LOL”. I watched Let the Right One In last night, and to say that it was ten times better than Daybreakers would be an insult to Let the Right One In. I mean, the only reason I’d rank Daybreakers above the crapfest of Blade II in vampire movies is that Blade II was so bad that I repressed the memory of seing it in the theatre out of my mind. Before Blade: Trinity (which I liked) came out, I rented Blade II, and it took me an hour to realize that I had seen it before.
Anyway, I didn’t like Daybreakers. It was unintentionally campy. There were hints at it being that kind of movie (crossbows, muscle cars, “Elvis”), but it didn’t go far enough to be a real deal fun vampire flick. It was trying to be cool. And it came off… well, mediocre. So I decided to celebrate its mediocrity with some mediocre comics.
Hell, go see the movie. And if you really like it, you need to see some good vampire movies. Some recommendations: John Carpenter’s Vampires, Fright Night, From Dusk Till Dawn, Near Dark, Shadow of the Vampire (Dafoe was in a good one!), The Lost Boys, Let the Right One In, Nosferatu (history!).
I now have a tiny lil’ zine of drawings out called “Charting the Furtiverse”. Drawings of neighborhoods. Islands. Planets. Friends.
There are 24 alternating sherbet-y cherry and goldenrod pages measuring approx. 4″ x 4.5″. Salvaged paper. Ooh, baby.
Available in my Etsy shop!
Hey, pals,
2010 is upon us. The New Year, while in the grand scheme of the universe is far from noteworthy, is a symbolic time of change, growth, and goal-setting.
I’ll try to spare the preachy stuff and simply say this. We’re screwing up the planet. At the very least, we’re screwing it up for ourselves. As individuals, there are lots of little things we can do – recycling, buying locally and seasonally, conserving water, etc. etc. etc. We all know that stuff. However, yes, the Big Boys are doing the bulk of the damage. Factories, power plants, militaries, etc.
The power of the individual is stronger than we may realize. We consume the products that necessitate those industries. We buy the plastic. We power our homes and fill our tanks. We don’t pay full attention to what happens overseas. And while we’re currently virtually unable to 100% sustainably fulfill all of our needs (I’m not wandering into the wilderness anytime soon), there are more little things we can do.
In 2010, challenge yourself to think more about the things you eat, buy, and use. Trace items to their origins and manufacturing. What is the real cost? Think about the items you make and sell. Where do your source materials come from and what are they made of? How are you packaging your items? Are there options that are more eco-friendly?
I could soooo easily stray from the original intent of this post. I am tempted to go into a rant about the constant flow of new electronics and the evil irony of Avatar toys at McDonald’s. But I’m fighting it. I’m fighting it. I’d just like to challenge my fellow crafters, makers, musicians, and bizfolks to consider these things in the new year. God. I know. I know how I come off writing this. And yes. There are many things I can improve. For sure. I’m sorry. It’s just… just… greeting cards don’t need individual little baggies, dad gummit. Indie bands don’t NEED to press a thousand CDs in plastic cases. Can your comics, tags, cards, etc. be printed on recycled or salvaged paper for a good price (yes)? Innovate. Be creative. The Universe will thank you, and your customers will appreciate the effort.
Oh. And prepare to go insane from obsessing over this stuff. It consumes my SOUL.
Truly,
Travis
P.S. Here are some links. Aaaaand there are lots of other great resources out there.
www.greenerprinter.com
www.1984printing.com
www.pinballpublishing.com
www.earthpack.com
