Cartoon

Technical Difficulties

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Yes, I am late (again, as usual). I have been rearranging my place. It has been a mess (messier than usual). My desk fell apart while I was moving it. I had to put the top onto a dresser, instead. It turned out not to actually fit into the corner where I wanted it. So, I sawed a 1/3 of the desk off to make it fit. I attempted to cannibalize three broken computers into one workable one for the studio. But, ah, well….that didn’t work out. Some of my other gear needs repairing as well. So, I’ve fallen behind really bad (again, as usual).

I did finally hooked up my old WIN 98 computer that I’ve had lying around for ages. I intend to use it mainly as a glorified jukebox, to play mp3s in the living room. It will also be handy for MIDI applications with some of my gear in the studio. There are some old obsolete programs I want to try on that, too. MarshaKat & I had a pretty decent MOTU setup with one of these at our place in Westland, before we sold everything and moved a couple of years ago. I had some pretty rad gear back then, including a sampler & monitor system exactly like DEVO used way back when. At least we still have the keyboards and a few of our other instruments.

I’m gradually catching up to where I was, before. But, everything I am doing is hindered without the necessary equipment hooked up or repaired. That is how that goes. I’m trying not to let it bring me down. I have lots of stuff that needs to be done. But, I’m terrible at multi-tasking. I need to focus and prioritize. I just don’t know what to do next, without my studio set-up. Planned videos need to be made… can’t. Partial song tracks need completion… can’t. An inspection is coming next week. So, the apartment has to be cleaned. I’m working on that.

Some of the unfinished music currently in progress is really simple and accessible. Some of it is whacked-out Frank Zappa / Mr. Bungle kind of shit. Some of it is an awful noisy racket to clear out the room with.

Almost a dozen Spacecat zines are 90% done. But, need recorded music to be finished.

Harry Cloud has requested for me to make a music video for him. That should have been done months ago. I dunno if I will make another video for this year’s Planet 9 Film Festival. I didn’t last year. I’ve gotta clear out some space and get everything up and running again before I work on videos again, though.

I had to relocate my junk from a storage locker in the building back to a storage unit that I had rented a few years ago. It is more expensive. But, the new building manager pissed me off by cutting off the padlock on my locker, then claiming that I hadn’t paid my rental fees. What?! Excuse me? So, I cannot trust her to not violate my property.

I started a bullet journal a few months ago, for keeping all my notes in one place. It is described by it’s creator, Ryder Carroll, as a “mindfulness exercise disguised as a productivity planner system”. It has helped me quite a lot to be more organized, get my thoughts out on paper, keep better track of things, and focus my mind. I’m less likely to forget important things, like my medications. It’s not a be-all-end-all panacea. But, because it is such a flexible system, I can experiment and try out different things until I find what works best for me. There are thousands of bullet journaling examples online. So, I won’t run out of ideas anytime soon.

Aside from housework, there is not much time for making art. I’m mostly writing and drawing, for now. I will attempt to release SOMETHING, anything, at least weekly. No one cares about excuses. They want results.

Tank Girl

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Last year was the 30th anniversary of the British comic book Tank Girl. There wasn’t much mention of it in the press, that I remember. It is a classic cult comic. So, why not? Admittedly, the 1995 movie stunk.

It only made $6 million against a $25 million budget. That is an apt metaphor for the post-Nirvanamania alternative craze of the 1990’s. Mega-corporations foolishly believed that they could reproduce “the next Nirvana” by slapping “grunge” or “alternative” on everything. They bought up hundreds of independent labels and signed artists left and right, regardless of any talent or experience they may possess. It doesn’t work like that. Mostly, they failed spectacularly.

But, nonetheless, I liked the idea of adapting this comic into a movie. Comic book movies are HUGE now, compared to the 1990’s. Can’t somebody else give it ago? Hey Hollywood, throw some money my way! I’ll do it!

One thing that I actually LIKED about the original movie was the animated sequences. So, firstly, animate the entire thing. Co-creator Jamie Hewlett went on to form the virtual band Gorillaz. It would be a natural fit for him to direct. And don’t wimp out with a PG version. Go for a solid R-rating. It could be badass as Heavy Metal (1981).

Second, it needs better casting. Lori Petty? Blecchh! Stay true to the source material and get an Australian cast. This takes place in a post-apocalyptic Australia. Maybe include a few Brits or Americans in certain roles. But, c’mon, Ice-T as a kangaroo? Are you shitting me? Eddie Izzard plays a great villain. Get him. I kinda liked that the fascist water company ruled everything in the original. Keep that. Put Eddie in charge. Make him a middle management Darth Vader for a multi-national monopoly.

The original soundtrack had a few good tunes. I could see staying with that sort of tone; punk rock, hip-hop, metal, indie pop, etc. Courtney Love chose songs for the original. Get Quentin Tarantino’s music supervisor to do the reboot.

If Hollywood insists on bombarding us with reboots, don’t ruin perfectly good movies PLEASE! Reboot movies that had a good premise, but were shit produced, and fix them. There is no shortage of them. Comic book movies are BIG now. So, it isn’t even much of a gamble anymore. I bet that any independent studio could do a decent job of it with a small budget. Jamie Hewlett’s success with the Gorillaz could almost guarantee a bigger budget with a few well-known actors. Someone make this happen!

2019… So Far, So Good… I Guess.

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Almost done........................
Almost done…………………….

Time still flies when you aren’t having any fun. I am absolutely certain that time speeds up as you age. That is why old people wear clothes that are out of style. It was still in fashion just a minute ago, for them.

I was planning to include a vlog today, since vlogging is meant to be half of these posts. But, honestly, I don’t have anything worth videotaping right now. I also don’t have any new paintings to show.

2019 is speeding by, just like the past few years have. WTF is wrong with me? Besides the usual shit? Things actually are going pretty okay right now. I had a few rough months between December and February. That mess is finally settled, notwithstanding my growing piles of debt.

I have a list of folks waiting for Theee Urban SpaceCat cassette-zine. I have been digging through stacks of demo tapes and gigabytes of incomplete data trying to finish it. I have enough material already done for a complete issue or two… or three. But, I have spread it out over several zines. I didn’t like the way it was when I compiled it all together. So, I am filling each issue, finishing each song, one-at-a-time. A friend suggested that I do this to get myself focused, instead of hopping all over the place like I usually do. Get one thing done. Then, move on to the next thing. This approach seems to be pushing the process along, I suppose. Creating the equivalent of two double albums every few months is kinda hard when doing it all alone and you keep shooting yourself in the foot. Everything is absurdly late getting it out.

I asked around about getting my mixes mastered. But, I cannot afford to do it, not entire albums anyway. I might have one or two singles mastered for radio… maybe. The rest will just have to be a raw mix.

I am waiting for the government to process some of my tax shit, so I can finish setting up the business side of things. They’re still catching up from the Trumptard shutdown a few weeks ago. It has delayed everything. I’m never happy dealing with that sort of stuff. But, I anxiously want to get it done and out of the way.

Here is a Daniel Johnston song from my record collection for you. I get the same feeling myself sometimes. I am always starting my life over again… and again… and again… and again….