Viewer Discretion Advised

well we threw dude a early surprise birthday party on saturday

herein lies the true account of the events that occured

of course we spent all day sat running around like chickens with our heads cut off

juli and i, i mean

the cake itself (pic so very related) took alot longer than juli expected

she baked at my parents house, who thought it was a riot, and oddly enough everyone got involved

i mean everyone, the skin colored frosting was courtesy of one of josh's friends who happens to be an artist as i understand

everyone else helped prepare it in someway he loved the cake and after egging him on he even motorboated it lol

a good time was had by all and apart from me realizing i had left my 12 pack of Mountain Dew Voltage in the shopping cart at target it was a good night

then around midnight the blackout happened

pretty much any resident of el paso knows what im talking about

the whole eastside which is the cities second largest area was entirely blacked out
for us, it lasted about 3 hours

we had fun though, we hung out and chatted by candal light for 3 hours before finally deciding to pack it up and head home

at first the street lights and traffic lights were actually off but then they were starting to be switched on, one by one as we were driving home

pretty soon they were all on and power was restored to our apt by the time we got home.

all in all a good day

i still miss those Mountain Dews though >.>

More things i wont be getting...

Well lookie here. isnt this just fancy?

its an extended art promo card based on the character Rehgar from the WildStorm World of Warcraft comics illustrated by Jim Lee, one of todays top 5 best comic book illustrators (still always second to the late, great Michael Turner though)

it and several other very cool promos from the upcomming WoW TCG expansion Blood of Gladiators will never see my hands

why? because El Paso isnt the best city for hobby gaming, thats why

it used to be that a big city meant more gamers but apparently mexicans arent big on card games

in fact most of my ita's business (at Sunrise Games and Comics) comes from soldiers at Fort Bliss
what hobby gamers i do see either play Magic or some kind of tabletop miniatures game like Warhammer or Heroclix

i hold out hope that one day we can actually have events for other games too, the WoW TCG is actually very cool in tournament format and Decipher's new tcg, Fight Klub is coming out soon so i really hope to see some organized play for that

heres to hoping eh?

well just to round off the day heres some more of those ultra pretty cards i wont be getting XD

Nectar of the Gods

God i miss Game Fuel

im pretty sure its just me but that exquisite taste of cherry citrus and caffiene was enough to make me jizz in my pants

(speaking of which that song is hilarious)

alas though it was for a limited time only forcing me to pine for its flavor reminicient of flinstones vitamins and sherbet push pops for the rest of my life

i guess what really reminded me is the release of Halo Wars coming up here in about 10 days



im excited personally

afterall i love Halo and i love RTS games

what really got me was when the released the video demo a year or so ago

i mean who doesnt flip over being able to call in orbital laser strikes!?

no one i know... thats who

and of course the playable demo is now on xbl

i played through it and i have to say i was scared about how it would play out on a controller but it seems to work very well

i am going to miss the ability to voom out really far to see the whole map but other than that there seems to be no limitations with a controller

good for me

bad for competition heheh

so i anxiously await to play through that one

perhaps itll hold me until Halo Recon comes out lol

if i dont get the Battle of New Mombassa in one of these games though im gonna be PISSED!

View from the top... Sort of

like this?

this is the view from the second floor of my new office

you dont wanna know what the second floor looks like

you dont want to know what the first floor looks like for that matter

but yes... i found a job, well rather my father found one for me

i guess it doesnt sound good to admit your family helps you find jobs

its better than not having a job though

this new gig is data entry

it ranges between alot of work you have to rush through to having no work at all on certain days

sounds like a really lazy kinda gig. i.e. my kinda gig

so thankfully im back on my feet again although my mom and buddies arent yet

im just gonna keep hoping for em really

The Great Purging

Well i know ive slacked it posting...

but ive actually been really busy.

too busy to post?

not quite but hey... i did warn you.

well christmas, got alot of cool stuff, if i find the time ill review some of it for yall, but im gonna fast forward to two weeks ago.

(hurray for time paradoxes in my blog)

we call it... The Great Purging

as you may or may not know i got laid off from C&R on the 4th or so.

the owners of the company let me go to make room for people coming in from howdys, a subsidiary of a company the recently purchased.

but... it wasnt just me

they also let my mom (HR manager and 20 year employee), my bud Omega (Billing entry, 3+ years) and my bud Zeta (Safety assistant, like me, and about 2 years)

i was with them for 6 years

what a deal huh?

so i was left with housework and watching anime to occupy me while i searched for a job.

good news: i watched Macross Frontier

good news: i found a job

bad news: housework sucks

well at least thats over with eh?

Michael Turner

Ok, i totally was not preparred for what to say last night.

i literally spent like an hour in front of the computer blinking in 3-second intervals.

i guess i was realy blindsided by this. even still i dont entirely have the words to express how i'm feeling.

shocked is one.

saddend.... theres another good one.

i mean he was an incredible artist with an excellent imagination. he gave us what is still one of my favorite comic book series, Fathom.

but more importantly he was the first illustrator i ever cared about as a person. 

sure i know the big names of todays comics, john romita jr. is another favorite of mine. 

but, you never really felt like you know any of em. 

but Michael was different. i remember reading the the wizard special issue on Fathom/Top Cow. it had a very personal look into Michael's life.

we got to watch him talk to Marc Sylvestri, and Peter Stiergewald, we got to see him creating the comics we loved, we even got to see him doing what he loved most, diving.

we even knew when his mother sculpted statues and busts of his characters. we saw Michael Turner on a very personal level.

i did alot of surfing last night in his name and i found countless blogs and articles all relating to what a friendly and awesome guy he was.

one blogger had even said Michael had offered to show his editors samples of the blogger's work to help him get a leg up. they had never met before. 

Michael was always willing to help others experience the same success he had and above all else always had a smile on his face. he loved meeting his fans and hearing what they had to say.

i will always miss the chance to have met him personally, and the dream i once had of working for him at Aspen Comics, but at least for the time he had he made himself a great life and enjoyed what he did, sharing that joy through his art on each and every page he illustrated.

Goodbye Michael Turner, my inspiraton.

Goodnight, Sweet Prince

i honestly don't know why i didnt find out sooner.

a great man.

a great artist.

a great inspiration.

you will be missed