:: Mikel's Mind ::

:: Thursday, February 21, 2002 ::

Courtesy of Alex's blog:

I'm Mystique
What X-Men Character are You?

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

*ahem*

We're moving ahead with film stuff. I've got the teacher cast....going in on Monday to see about using the spaces where he works. My high school drama teacher turned it down--she's more a director than an actor, which is fine. John Tilford is one hell of an actor---I was in Thurber with him and have seen him a few other times. He's usually in a comedic role so I'm looking forward to seeing him in this.

My Grendel collection is 1 issue away from being complete....grrrrrr. I have to wait a bit to get Issue 30, but I've got everything else. yay!

Time for lunch. Work is aggravating.

Mikel

:: Mikel 11:27 AM [+] ::
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Currently listening to one of Alan Moore's performance pieces: The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels. Part theatrical performance/part magical ceremony. Alan Moore not only looks like what people expect a modern-day magi to look like, he sounds like one too. That, or a serial killer (for both his appearance and his voice). He is, however, quite charming and funny in the interviews I've read and it was interesting to read his more recent stuff which goes away from the horror, distopyian socities of his more famous works. (Watchmen, Swamp Thing, From Hell)

Appolyan, a Vessel of Inquity, apparently looks like Moore's picture on the back of Watchmen, which is a frightening picture indeed.

I've realized recently that it's been several years since I've truly lived the magical road I once started on. I don't have the focus I used to--- during a very difficult time that kind of focus lent itself to wallowing in the misery and hardships. I threw it off, at length, and am now at a time in my life where it would be more useful. I wouldn't be as I was. I picked up the Liber Null and Psychonaut by Carroll---an introduction to Chaos Magic. Chaos magic seems a more natural progression from the Shamanic path I've walked on. Hermetic magic fucks with my head too much--- the rituals and ceremony goes against the ways I've always viewed magical things.

I want to learn more on magical theory. I should probably keep a magical journal, which everyone seems to recommend keeping. I can see the use even if it's just as a place to think aloud on what you've done and how things have changed. I may keep it as a blogger, though time may be a problem in general.

I need to keep more on my writing---took a week off from writing and working out (pretty much) and need to fix that this week. No Final Fantasy X for me today (though I'm fucking loving that game). Picked up State of Emergency the other day--- an interesting game that's fun, mindless violence that puts you smack in the middle of a riot. Lowell loved it--- he's going to break one day, I know it, you can't repress that much and not go a little loony. I look forward to helping him to freedom.

Enjoyed Gosford Park. Kelly McDonald makes me want to hug her everytime I see her. She's so cute. :) GP was a facinating character piece, though the plot (Murder-mystery, though I hadn't seen any adverts for it and was unaware of this) is sort of secondary and not all that necessary. Bough Die Hard, the criterion collection edition. Or maybe it was the Platinum...can't recall off hand. Love this flick.
:: Mikel 1:48 PM [+] ::
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Comic Recommendations:

Bone--Good for all ages. Fun fantasy book with cartoonish protagonist that ends up becoming more serious.

Transmetropolitan-- Hunter S. Thompson-esque Journalist in a decadant future against an insane president. Information is power.

Sandman-- Neil Gaiman's masterpiece about the Incarnation of Dream

From Hell-- Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's masterwork on Jack the Ripper. Kicks the Movies ass.

The Crow (the original)-- All the pain and rawness that the movie lacked.

American Flagg!-- 1st volume 1-12 (1983). Kick ass sci-fi. The stuff after this doesn't come recommended to me as much, though I have 1-12 of Volume 2, thinking they were Vol 1. Have yet to read these.

Whiteout-- Murder in the antarctice

Jinx, Torso, Goldfish, Fire-- Gritty crime Dramas by Brian Michael Bendis. Great shit.
Fortune and Glory-- The real life adventures of Brian Michael Bendis while trying to sell Goldfish to hollywood. Hysterically funny and drawn like Peanuts.
Ultimate Spider Man-- Again, by Brian Michael Bendis. Very good.

Stormwatch vol 1-5 trade paperbacks-- By Warren Ellis (Transmet). Superheroes as UN strike force. Very intlligent.

Watchmen-- One of the two seminal Superhero works. This one is by Alan Moore.
Dark Knight Returns-- 2nd of the two seminal Superhero works by Frank Miller. Released the same year as Watchmen.

Grendel-- I have Grendel tattooed on my arm. I used the Grendel mask in the Jack the Ripper show I did when I taught theatre. Grendel is soemthing you NEED to read.

Miracleman-- Good luck getting it, but this is one of the best superhero stories every written. Alan Moore with the 4th book by Neil Gaiman

Cages-- Dave McKean's opus on creativity

Sin City-- Frank Miller's film noir books. Got a little tired by the last series, but the early ones are well worth it.

Cerebus-- 300 issue lifes work of Dave Sim, nearing completion. About an anthropomorphic aardvark who goes from beind a mercenary to prime minister to pope to house guest, back to pope, house guest again, saviour, bar owner, private citizen, Five Bar Gate near-Champion and back to saviour. Enough cannot be said about this, especially the works up to Going Home, where Dave Sim's encroaching insanity and hatred towards women really starts to show. Ignore the Text sections of Reads.

Top 10-- Alan Moore does Hill Street Blues in a world of Superheroes. Very funny and well writted and touching, at times.
Prometha-- Alan Moore explores myth and magic.
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen-- Mr. Moore brings Allan Quartermain, Mina Murry, Captain Nemo, Campion Bond, the Invisible Man, and Jeckyll and Hyde together for a rocking good pulp adventure.

Shade: The Changing Man-- Psychadelic mysticism

There are tons more. I've got a bookshelf full of graphic novels.
:: Mikel 10:10 AM [+] ::
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Post on The Invisibles:

One night, many months ago, I had a flash of insight that seared my frontal lobes. I gained understanding of the Invisibles Volumes 1 and 2. I was in a mystical Nirvana web of conspiracy theories, magic, guns, sex, and violence. The door to another realm had been opened and, for a short time, I stepped through into it and embraced that world as a fiction suit for me to live in.

My roommates claim that I was bouncing around the house and vigerously masturbating our monkey for the two weeks of real time that I lost. Small price, I thought, for such a peek into the corners of the universe.

Being such a revolutionary flash of light, I of course cannot remember great deals of it but what I remembered was filled with hyperdimensional language that took on tangibility, hints of the Illuminatus! Triliogy, Terrence McKenna breathing opium fumes into my brain, and all of the ideas that were stolen, reduced and placed into The Matrix blowing wide open my chakras. These still come to me in my dreams, where I often awake across the country in a dead man's clothes.

It was cool.

And then, yesterday, I recieved the full 12 issues of the 3rd Volume of the Invisibles. I'm confused, it hurts my brain and makes me question the worl that I live in. I'm not positive now if that flash of brilliant synergy was real or if I was merely tripping the light fantastic into the nether realms of imagination instead of reality. I've nearly finished the 3rd Volume and it's thrown everything into question and highlighted the need for me to reread the entire thing in as close to one sitting as I can before my eyes start to bleed. In other words....

It was cool.

I don't understand it yet, but it's cool and I fucking love this mind trip. I imagine this is what mushrooms and alien contact is like. Sometimes I wish I was Grant Morrison, soemtimes I wish Grant Morrison was me. Maybe he is, maybe I am. Who knows, but here's to the end of the Aztec calander, my friends.

And while some of the above may be hyperbole, this is still something you should read. We don't even have a monkey. He won't look me in the eyes anymore, though. It makes the house uncomfortable.

:: Mikel 3:02 PM [+] ::
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If she is to believe, Brittany is partly my fault and, for that, I apologize to any and all.

Getting another bunch of stuff off Ebay....this is truly going to break me but I'll have all of Miracleman, the Lone Wolf and Cub films and other goodies off of it. Just got the entire Volume 3 of the Invisibles and it's all I can do not to duck out of work to go read them. Ah, well...what's money for, if not to spend.

Got some writing done over the weekend. Meeting for lunch tomorrow to get things in line for shooting. Can't wait to get this bitch going.
:: Mikel 1:42 PM [+] ::
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Okay, for those who know me well: you know I can be rather shy at times. Those who only know me from certain situations (work situations, etc.) don't think this. This has been problematic in the past.

Ended up working at C-Street last night (I'm a bouncer there on occassion. It's primarily a gay club but the nice thing is that we often get a lot of straight girls who either go to not be hit on by creeps or are fag-hags. That leaves the straight, male workers (all of security and a few others) someone to hit on. I'm not particularly good at this, though as it's becoming more comfortable a place for me it's becoming easier.) Last night there were two Frat/Sorority parties. Talked with some of the sorority girls... I started off fairly tired and out of it so the first two I talked to, I wasn't really showing the best parts of me. Later, though, a group of girls upstairs were a lot of fun to hang and talk with for a bit. One was hanging all over us. (Reuben, my friend and roommate works there as a bouncer, also) We ended up giving her a ride home since she missed the bus and we both got copious kisses on the cheek---and this was before we left. It was fun and she was cute as hell, though apparently had a boyfriend. She was a fun drunk-- affectionate and full of energy. With her and a few others at the end of the night I did pretty well. They found me very funny and enjoyed my presence--- I need to realize that this is often how I come across when I'm not shy and withdrawn. There's no reason I can't go up to anyone and say hey, just like I do at our house parties.

I'll work on it. It would have been nice to have gone home with someone, though... been too long.

Tonight I have to buckle down and get some writing done that I didn't get done last night. Working out is going well and I can see the differences. Went from benchpressing alot of weight with few reps to less weight with more reps. Burned like a mother fucker, which is supposed to be good. Wish I could just snap my fingers and be back in shape. Ah, well.


:: Mikel 2:25 PM [+] ::
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If my roommates are German Terrorists, I'll have to kill them. This would suck, as they pay some rent and utility bills. If I don't, though, the terrorists win. *sigh*

Got to play some three player Twisted Metal: Black and Unreal Tournament last night, which was fun. Also cracked open Final Fantasy X. Gorgeous game that quickly got me involved in the story. A friend came over while I was playing and I then promptly spent 45 minutes trying to find a save point so we could do other things--- that's the one thing that pisses me off about these things.

Got to work this morning to find one of my ebay shipments came in. A butload of quality comics, though it would seem the American Flagg stuff is a bit different than in the collections I have. I'll have to check them tonight as I was going to send along the duplicates to Jarad. If there's extra stuff, I may send the collections instead.

Going to focus on the first act of the screenplay this week. Figure I'll spend a week making alterations to each act and then keep tinkering with it, if needed, until shooting starts. It's time to get things ready, though. Secure the places we need, get fliers and advertisements out for actors. I can almost taste it. :)

Found out Tenacious D is coming to Chicago in April... hopefully a bunch of us will get tickets to go see them again. Funniest live show I've seen... these guys know how to work an audience and are more than worth the price of admission.

Well, at work, so I figure I'll take some time to work on the script. hee hee hee. Don't tell.
:: Mikel 10:07 AM [+] ::
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Found out yesterday that two of my roommates haven't seen Die Hard.

This distresses me.

:: Mikel 3:38 PM [+] ::
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Okay, we'll try this again.

Did this yesterday and kept getting interrupted. Because of this, I had apparently timed out and, when I went to post and publish, I lost it. I stared at the screen for a moment trying to decide if I wanted to go through that crap again and decided against it.

Ebay will be the death of me, I swear. Getting a lot of great stuff off of it, though. Hopefully the Invisibles, American Flagg!, the Maxx and maybe Grendel stuff will all come this week. It's cheaper and easier than hunting a lot of this stuff down myself, though the Miracleman book 3 will probably cost me a pretty penny. On the good side of things, all I need is Grendel #25, 19, 30, and 31 to have the complete set of Comico Grendels.

If you've never read Grendel, it'll blow your mind. It's revolutionary. Starts off as an anti-Batman in Hunter Rose (years later, the Grendel/Batman 1 two-parter shows how cool these things can be when done right), but the Hunter Rose arc "Devil by the Deed" is an illustrated story instead of a comic. It ran in the back of Wagner's Mage series-- also quite good. The second installment, Devil's Legacy (which began the actual Grendel series, since Devil by the Deed was supposed to be a one shot), is both a story of revenge involving Hunter Rose's granddaughter Chrstine Spar as well as the awakening of Grendel as the Spirit of Aggression. It is only in hindsight that this can be seen, however. It continues after that with Grendel inhabiting the people associated with Christine Spar and Hunter Rose until it ends up taking over the world as a Devil figure. Eventually, it becomes a kind of twisted Savior figure and it's an amazing read.

We used the Grendel mask in the Jack the Ripper production I did when I taught. I have it tattooed on my right arm... ask to see it. And, if you're a friend, I'll lend you Grendel to read--- if you love comics, you need to read this; if you think comics are for kids, you need to read this.

Read through the first 1/2 of the script last night for effect and saw several things that had to be done to improve the 1st Act. I didn't write it in Acts but it fits nicely into them--- I'm finding I can trust my storytelling ability more and more as I keep productive. Writing comics has helped a great deal. I've got a lot of work ahead but hopefully we'll move forth with the other preperations soon and keep fixing the script as we go.

Playing the original Thief again and enjoying the hell out of it. May finish it and then play Thief 2. Best games I've ever played, hands down. (Grand Theft Auto 3 has to be included up there, though.)

Oh... the flicks:

Brotherhood of the Wolf and Counte of Monte Cristo: Both are fun and worth seeing. Brotherhood owes a lot to the epic ballads (Beowulf, the Aeneaid, etc.) and has a bit of cheesiness in it but that's part of the joy of this type of movie. I had something longer done out but lost it yesterday.
:: Mikel 2:27 PM [+] ::
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Didn't write last night. Picked up a whole bunch of stuff, since we got paid. New comics, some Playstation stuff (A multitap and extra controller so we can play 3 players on games... 4 if a friend brings a controller over). A book on camera shots in film making, among other things.

Went out drinking with Ruben and Bryan, who's the head bouncer at the club. It was fun and I didn't have to pay for anything. yay!

Going to see Brotherhood of the Wolf tonight and need to get writing done when I get home. 5 days a week will keep me pretty productive. Can't miss another one this week (I think).
:: Mikel 12:44 PM [+] ::
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