Nokia 6620.

Couple of new posts to the work blog.

Apparently, if you toss your futurephone into the bag you take to the dog park, and the jug of water spills on it, it will cease to function and you will have to drop $200 to get another with similar functions.

Now I know.

Anybody know of any fables or pop culture references or any context at all, really, in which eating a mushroom might make you grow large?

Any pointers appreciated.

Okay, so this isn't going to be a big deal to anyone but me, but I'm going to share anyway because...well, because it's in my nature to do so.

I never finished my SDCC Con Report so I never got around to telling you that the cab driver who took me to the airport on Monday was a very nice man, an African immigrant, who had pictures of his son, a runner, pinned up in his cab. The man told me very excitedly that his son was going to run in the Olympics. I congratulated him and we talked a little and I wrote his son's name down. I promised that I would be sure to watch for him and that I would think of the nice cab driver when I saw his boy. Well, I've finally saw him tonight: Meb Keflezighi -- he won the freakin' silver medal in the marathon!

I am so excited I have goosebumps.

I bet my friend the cab driver's smile is so bright, he could driver without headlights tonight.

Wow. These guys make WHAM! look positively butch.

Imagine Winona Ryder covering "Bad to the Bone" while Molly Ringwald tries to be a flygirl in the back. Oh, and Shania Twain raps.

Yeah.

It's like that. Only it's boys.

Via MeFi and Joshua Ellis.

Thanks, Fraction.

See also: The Angry Left. The Edwards-Obama 2012 stickers are priceless.

Vertical books has a blog.

Vertical translates the best contemporary Japanese books. We select our popular novels, graphic novels, and quality nonfiction from a rich, variegated stock: Japan's huge and vibrant book market.

In fields like animation and video games, Japanese entertainment thrills people worldwide. The Japanese book world's offerings are equally entertaining. Until now, however, most Japanese books translated into English have been either literary classics or introductions to traditional culture meant for a limited circle of Japanophiles. Vertical publishes exciting titles that require no prior knowledge of Japanese culture and are not intended primarily to familiarize readers with it; we choose good reads with universal themes.

Read different. Read Vertical.

Vinny's guest-blogging over at Xtop's place.

I just pre-ordered MY NAME IS MODESTY on Adi's recommendation.

So psyched. I have a real soft spot for the O'Donnell books and strips, but the Vitti-Stamp movie suh-ucked.

Thanks to Laurenn for the posters; to April for the photos.

Mike's got a fancy new site.

This song makes me want to smoke cigarettes, wear high heels and mislead the cops.

Thanks to ProjectJ.net for the pointer.

Japanese Language Center, based in Bellevue, Washington, and serving the greater Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland, Renton, Redmond and Tacoma area, provides Japanese Language instruction, courses, seminars, translator and translation services to individuals, groups, and businesses. Serving all levels of Japanese language learning, from middle school, high school, and university students including post graduate. Professional Japanese Interpreters and Translators. JLC provides Manga Course.

You will learn Japanese language through very popular Manga. The textbook is "Japanese for Busy People" and one of the popular Manga such as "Fullmoon wo sagashite" or "Naruto".

This course is open to teens and adults. It is designed for those who love Manga and have a beginner's level of Japanese skill. This course is perfect for those who wish to learn casual Japanese language. You will learn standard Japanese conversation including grammar for one hour using the regular textbook and for another hour using Manga as alternate text for each lesson. This course is designed to cover reading (Hiragana/Katakana and 100 Kanji), writing, listening, and speaking the Japanese language.

More info: Press Release

redvsblue
public service announcement
real life vs. the internet

Thanks, Fraction.

Just because I don't have any money to shop right now doesn't mean you don't.

Makita and Shiva Shakti Yoga Wear

From now until Sunday August 22th and get 60% Off all Marika Fitness Fashion apparel in the Marika Shop and any Summer Shiva Shakti collection in the Yoga Shop.

Drunken Master DVDs

From now until 8/25/04 save 15% off entire order (some restrictions apply). Use coupon code "San Diego" at checkout.

Drunken Master claims to have the West Coast's best selection of Asian and cult cinema and is 100% bootleg free.

http://www.rightstuf.com/

From now until 8/29/04, get 40% OFF Retail Price on all Viz DVD/VHS and 35% OFF Retail Price on all other Viz Products! [READ: MANGA]

Reusable coupon code:

Coupon Code: sail
Expires: 8/29/04

Michael who?

Ladies, ladies, ladies:

Ian Thorpe's official site
The Thorpedo Zone

Fraction's particularly enjoying Beach Volleyball. Huh. To each their own, I guess.

I need to do something to this site to separate the business from the personal more distinctly. I pretty much post everything to the main blog and ignore CURRENT PROJECTS all-but-entirely. I'm leaning toward putting a simple illustration up on at kellysue.com that has two links - business and personal. The personal page will then get all the house and dog updates (and my business contacts will be spared that embarrassment) and all comics/manga/and writing entries will go on CURRENT PROJECTS. How hard it will be to make that happen, I have no idea.

In the meantime, here are my current projects:

Viz
Sensual Phrase
Kare First Love
...and two unannounced titles

Tokyopop
Girl Got Game
Slayers! novelization

IDW
Untitled vampire short story

Misc
Two book projects with Nikol Lohr
Original 5-issue action comic series pitch
artbomb.net reviews

Maggie writes to say, "I have a new, semi filthy short story up at Nerve for their PULP issue.  It should be right there on the cover page and has a great pulpy illustration.  It's called FAILED TO MENACE.  May it entertain you wildly."

Go forth and read smut.

I used the ISBN number off the back of my comp copy to look up the link for Sensual Phrase Vol. 3 on Amazon.com.

Of course, it doesn't *say* that it's Volume 3, which strikes me as problematic, but it's Volume 3.

And if you haven't seen this, you owe yourself.

The world has gone nuts.

Save ROE.

9,000-year-old local NPR host Walt Bodine interviews Larry Flynt on KCUR in about ten minutes. This should be high comedy. Imagine Don Knotts interviewing The Penguin.
___

My grandparents were supposed to come for a visit this Saturday and Fraction and I have been scrambling to the get the house in reasonable-ish shape for visitors (reasonable-ish, because it will still be months before we finish unpacking). It looks like the trip may be off, though, as Nana and Pop have retired to Port Charlotte, Florida and Hurricane Charley has deprived them of electricity and a phone line and they're concerned about leaving their home for an extended period of time. I wish they'd come - particularly because my grandmother is not in good heath and the hospitals down there are closed. I don't think it's wise for her to be the Florida heat without A/C, but you can't make people do what you want them to do. So for the moment, the trip is on hold.

Work-wise, that's best for me, of course, as I've been running behind since March, but work is secondary to the wellbeing of my family.
___

I haven't picked up knitting needles since before San Diego, so my poncho is still in the works. Next up is Laurenn's, then slippers for Nana. Someday I will post pictures, I hope.
___

The house is coming along. Chris Pavlik came and worked on the back yard yesterday, doing wonders. He edged the beds and weeded and put down some cotton burr compost and generally did in three hours what it would have taken me three days to do at best. We've started talking about what I'd like to have out there next year, but I need to do some more research on shade gardens. I want poppies out front, I know that, but the back gets so very little sun it's going to be tough.
___

On the culinary front, I owe great thanks to Hector Casanova for my current obsession with cardamom coffee. Uh, yum.
___

My office is coming along nicely. I hung some shelves and few more wall bins this weekend. I only want to keep out the manga out that I'm actively working on. I'd like to put the rest in the storage benches that I have yet to build/have built. Until then, they stay in boxes in the diningroom, I guess. Ugh.

I also haven't solved the problem of what to do with the printer.
___

Speaking of diningrooms, Grandma DeConnick is moving in with Aunt Judi and is gifting me with the diningroom set she's had for as long as I can remember. It's just beautiful. I have mixed feelings, of course, as it's sad to see Grandma dismantling her home, but I'm honored that she'd trust me to take care of pretty things. I have so many wonderful memories around that table.
___

Fraction and I fell in love with chair at ZGallerie this weekend and I wanted to show you a picture, but alas, they don't have their furniture online. Suffice it to say the chair is called The Hemingway. The only thing about it that bothers me is that I wish it had a straight back. That would make it ideal for the spot in the livingroom where we want to put it. They also had a beautiful couch and chair set.
___

I could go on talking about furniture and the house and various projects we've got going for the rest of the day, but according to my calendar I need to finish Sensual Phrase Vol. 7, part 1, today, to alas - back to work.

I can't seem to find a purchase link for Sensual Phrase Vol. 3 on Amazon yet. Anybody have any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Best Con Report Ever.

Switzerland


?? Which Country Are You From ??
brought to you by Quizilla

WTF?!

If you're at work, or if you're my great aunt, DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK.

Can anyone explain this? It looks like a gameshow...only...not at all. "Who Wants to Be a Pr0nstar?"

Thanks, Johnathan. I think.

To each their own, the world is a lonely place and all that, blah blah blah.

Um, ew.

Watched the Region 1 DVD of Blue Spring last night, with the commentary and LOVED IT. I'm really disturbed, however, by how different it was from the Region 3 version that I'd seen twice before. THERE WERE NEW SCENES! What the hell is that about?

Also enjoyed The Most Terrible Time in My Life.

Not offensive, but maybe not work-safe -- depending on your office.

Click

Thanks, Mike.

This isn't the first time Fraction and his crew have filmed an anti-establishment commercial. On April 12, inspired by the Federal Communications Commission's response to Janet Jackson's Super Bowl performance, Fraction invited Ken and Barbie knockoffs from local talent agencies and a few friends -- who came in realistic shapes and sizes -- to an auditorium-sized room to spout an exhaustive list of dirty but technically unregulated words for television. At one point, Jacob Corbin, a University of Missouri-Kansas City economics major who'd met Fraction 2 years earlier at a comic-book forum, stood beneath a boom mike in front of a white cloth backdrop as Fraction asked him to read a list of words. Corbin, a heavyset guy with short-cropped hair and round glasses, tells the Pitch how he faced the camera as Fraction directed from offstage:

OK, you can get pretty crazy when you're worked up. Give me some of that.

Say "assmaster."

"When I first read Fraction's story, I almost pulled a Todd! 'My vampires don't talk like this!' I had to tell myself, 'Well, that's because these aren't my vampires!' I'm loving it, I'm absolutely getting the biggest kick out of seeing what people are doing.

"I'm safe with Fraction. Well, as far as his writing goes. I just don't want to hang out with him too much. (laughs)"

While Niles is letting other writers play in his universe, he'll still be overseeing what happens with the franchise, as he'll be around as a creative director. Niles noted he plans on doing a "Bloodsucker" one-shot story with artist Laurenn McCubbin ("XXX Live Nude Girls") at some point in the future.

Click the picture of Flavor Flav for the whole story.

Annual comics fair expected to shatter previous records
2004-08-11 / Taiwan News, Staff Reporter / By Marie Feliciano

The fifth annual Taipei Comics Fair is expected to draw at least a hundred thousand manga fans this week, event organizers said yesterday.

"We expect it to break previous records," said Minnie Wu, a media relations executive at Top Link International Exhibition Co. Ltd. Top Link was the organization that put the Taipei and Kaohsiung fairs together.

...

Japanese comic books, however, currently dominate the market because Japanese "manga" boasts of a longer history, said Wu.

"In Japan, comic books are read, not just by children, but by adults as well. Manga has also spawned several industries from TV cartoons and movies to toys and novelty items," she said.

"In Taiwan, people still think that comic books are just for kids."

More in link.

How many people were at SDCC this year? Wasn't it around 100k?

I'm a little caught up in the Michael Phelps hype.

I just got two questionable e-mails with this attachment: new_price.zip

I'm sure it's a virus, but a google search doesn't turn anything up on it yet.

This thing, it goes on and on and on.

Okay.

Got up on Saturday, ate half a protein bar and e-mailed [WARNING: DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES NAMES ABOUT TO DROP. If that sort of thing gets your knickers in a twist, surf on, Gentle Reader] Gaiman to apologize for missing the screening, Ellis with an update on futurephone technical issues and Quesada to explain the strange girl in the hall and say that I hoped to make it to the Cup O'Joe panel later that day.

Headed off the IDW panel, which featured (!!) Matt Fraction and Will Eisner. Eep! (I was so proud I e-mailed his mom. Matt's, I mean. Not Eisner's.) Niles was on the panel too, and I wouldn't have e-mailed his mom, but a) I don't know her and b) Tom Jane and Brian Posehn were also panelists, and once you start e-mailing moms, you have to e-mail all the moms, or feelings get hurt. And Mrs. Posehn has blocked my IP.

Niles made me feel like a superstar by mentioning that I'll be writing a short prose piece for the Bloodsuckers book. I've been invited to submit one, anyway -- never underestimate my ability to screw this up, pretties. Actually...I should probably find out when they need this exactly. I know "ASAP" but it seems all my deadlines are "ASAP" these days and that becomes hard to manage...hm.

After the panel Laurenn and I scooted off to find lunch and -- more importantly -- CHOCOLATE. The dark chocolate ice cream in the gaslamp (sadly, I can't remember the name of the chocolate shop) is quite possibly the best thing I have ever put in my mouth. OH MY GOD.

(Speaking of which, I just heard that Christopher Elbow chocolates is opening a shop/chocolate factory at High Cotton in the Crossroads District. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. September-eee!)

Anyway, so I'm eating my ice cream in the shop, feeling guilty that McKillah can't consume this nectar of the gods (she's allergic to things that taste good) when she bursts back in, "OH MY GOD. Jonathan from Buffy is out there and I want to have my picture taken with him but I don't want to look like a dork!"

I counseled her to suck it up and embrace her inner dork. It's a comic con after all, right?

So out we go, and Laurenn approaches Danny, camera in hand. He's charming and gracious, poses for multiple pictures and asks us questions about ourselves. Laurenn laments the fact that she doesn't have a copy of RENT GIRL on her and Danny suggests she bring one by the autograph booth later. Yay. At this point, a kind of classis comic con guy -- big guy, Green Lantern shirt, name of "Vernon," saunters up and joins in the conversation. He seems nice enough. We talk a little more and I tell the story of how I came to possess a drop of James Marsters' dried blood.

-- I'm not going to recount that story here, because this is long enough already. Suffice it to say that it's not nearly as creepy as it sounds and it's only important that I told the story, okay? --

Okay.

I'm worried about having time to pick up my sketchbook from Lieber, so we thank Danny for his time and head back towards the con. On the way, Laurenn calls her sister to brag. Just as we get Jenna on the phone, we hear, "Girls! Girls! Quit stalking me!" shouted out behind us. We turn and...

It's Danny Strong. He's headed back to the con, too, and has decided we should all walk together. Laurenn and I find this HILARIOUS and I'm like, "Dude! Laurenn just called her sister to tell her we met you."

"Let me talk to her," he says, and Laurenn gives him the phone. Okay, good celebrity points for this guy.

While Danny's talking to Jenna, Vernon mysteriously reappears at my side.

"So, you're a James Marsters fan?" he asks.

"Well, that might be over-stating the case, but okay, sure," I reply.

"My wife, too," Vernon pipes up cheerfully. "She would like to be with him, but he would have to wear the face."

Wow. I'm sorry about that Vernon.

###

And that's enough for today.

Business:

- August's belated deadline math
- Finish SLAYERS 2, like, yesterday
- Check in with Eric about new project. Official? Not official? Dates?
- Answer Sam about column
- artbomb reviews. (oh god.)
- order BLUE SPRING Region 1 DVD - done.
- find Comics Journal Ditko issue

Personal/Household:

- Post Office/get mail ready to go out to Mom, Maggie, Johnathan & Courtney. - done; just need to be mailed now.
- Laurenn's stuff stays here?
- dig out Applejack's shot records for meeting with Amy of K-9 Club - done.
- pick up shrimp for shrimp/tomato/feta dinner
- Home Depot - paint for porch swing (?) and spice rack
- email Alex/Merry with name of the book Rory recommended
- pick up new Budget Living with Paint-by-Numbers article
- bank - done
- hang dry erase board in office
- make a list of what needs to be done before Nana & Pop's visit
- retrieve from ROOM O'BOXES AND BOOKS: Queen & Country trades, Modesty Blaise novels, James Bond novels, 100 Bullets trades
- deliver cat purse to Tamere
- finish Con Report
- get paperwork together for accountant

Somewhere in the Middle:

- expand E/T outline; start scripting
- Let Nikol you havne't forgotten or died
- By the dawning of the sun, take over the world.

Smarty Jones retired.

Episode II went live yesterday, in case you missed it.

And through that call I really sunk my teeth into the idea of trying to emulate a career like the Coen Brothers, or Soderbergh; journeymen attacking a million different genres in ways not done before-- but still getting final cut. Like, I know I'm not going to be Gilbert Hernandez, I'm not going to be Alan Moore-- but limiting yourself, limiting your options because your faux-hipster posture dictates it is retarded. It's like starting a riot by burning down your own house.

Crossing the room on a Saturday is like being one of the living trying to make your way through a zombie army-- the crowd is ambling in a hundred different directions and stopping in the middle of the walkways for no good reason. I left early and still was late to my signing at the Harris booth. They had plenty of the issue of Vampirella Magazine with my cover and story, so I helped push that. First I tried to do it by rocking out on the Limited Edition John Bolton-print D.B. Rich Vampirella electric guitar, but there was no amp and I suck and the guitar feels like it's made of plywood so I dropped that tactic. I switched to offering little sketches of the character, and that worked much better. Then I get to do what editor Maureen McTigue has to restrain herself from ten times a show. A Vampi fan came up and started tapping his stumpy index finger on one of the magazines with the photo cover, asking "Is she going to be here today?"

"Sir, she's not real," I reply.

I got what I needed. It turns out what I was trying to find a translation for was actually just a sound -- and therefore the same in any language.

I thank you, My Internet Heros.

No doubt I will call upon you again.

Who out there knows something about Kung-fu and Karate terminology? I need some to call for guidance on an adaptation.

E-mail me, please. kellysue@mac.com

The [comics] industry didn't make it easy for females to become fans. Many comics featured male-dominated stories with titles that ended with some form of the word "man" -- think "X-Men," "Batman," "Superman," or "Spider-Man." The work tended to be distributed in comic-book stores that some people would describe as creepy. Even if girls got into illustrated work, it lost its appeal once they reached a certain age.

More in link.