That Trip to the Swamp Might Make A Good Hotfoot Cure At Least…

Posted on August 18, 2013 by geelw

I forgot to add a suitable image to that Status post, so some quick digging gets you this old (and incomplete) watercolor art from 1990 to ogle. Blub. Actually, I burned my foot pouring some water for a cup of tea a few minutes back, but it’s not an emergency room deal (it did hurts like hell, though). So, hopping into a swamp might be a good idea right about now.

Off to hop about here and see if there’s any aloe floating around. I think there is, but if not I can do the Flintstone Flop across the street and pick up a plant at the supermarket… back in a bit.

Work in Hell Can Be Fun (If You’re Supervisor, That Is)…

Posted on August 17, 2013 by geelw

While it’s incredibly easy to get a job in Hell (they’ve got a 100% employment rate there), you’d probably want to seek out a higher level position as opposed to being trapped in the usual entry level position for eternity. Granted, EVERYONE starts out as entry level there, but it’s the true go-getters that actually make their way up the corporate ladder. All you have to do is ask your supervisor about how he or she got his or her gig and they’ll probably NOT tell you anything at all, whip you some more (or send you to the lava wash… you really don’t want to work there, trust me) or flat out lie about it.

Perseverance pays off handsomely (as does pushing your old supervisor off something high onto something hard and flat, hot and bubbly or really pointy – bonus points for all three at once) and you’ll soon find yourself yelling and punishing with the best of them…

Continue reading →

You KNOW You NEED A Vacation When…

Posted on August 14, 2013 by geelw

Places you’re been to turn into warped versions of themselves even in the photos you’ve taken. Of course, this is what both real Paris and Hell Paris look like after a few drinks (actually, Hell Paris ALWAYS looks like this, and remember… there’s no beer served in Hell at all despite what some of those signs you’ll come across say).

In short, I really need a vacation, but first I need to be able to PAY for a vacation. I’m working on that, or at least trying to make more money in general. If I can’t go somewhere fancy, it’s at least good enough to pretend at somewhere local and appropriate in its selection of diversions.

OK, OK… I could just go back to Hell for a bit, but I think they’re starting to notice I keep popping up for the free hot buffet and leaving right before the mandatory floor show experience. Hey, that key I found on the street happens to fit the exit door AND gets me in the front gate when I wave it at the guard, so I may as well use it while I can, right?

Planet Maker Will KILL Your Workday (But You’ll Feel Like Your Deity of Choice For a While)…

Posted on August 12, 2013 by geelw

Don’t do it. Absolutely DO NOT go to the Planet Maker website and start fooling around with all those sliders and buttons to make your own planet that you can snapshot and save as a wallpaper or do other stuff with. If you do, once you get started, there goes your work day and then all your free time is eaten up and the next thing you know, they have to drag your grinning corpse away from a burned out monitor and after they go through that hard drive expecting to find… well, you know… they end up seeing all the planets you’ve created and some of the people who got inspired by your cosmic creativity are now hooked and then there are MORE grinning dessicated corpses collecting all over town. Just look what you’ve started, you evil deceased deity, you…

Random Art: OK, I Wasn’t THAT Lazy…

Posted on August 4, 2013 by geelw

Nyah. I actually did some art this weekend, so there! I was waiting for a bunch of downloads to complete and knocked out a few tree drawings in MS Paint. I guess that counts as “work” right? RIGHT? OK, so I don’t make a dime from my art these days, but hey… practice keeps my brain from folding itself up into a little box. Although, my poor wrist is kicking me in the shins from making that mouse do all those tricks (and the mouse isn’t paid either for it’s troubles. It’s wireless and that makes it tailless and you should be singing “Three Blind Mice” right about now…)

Random Art: Killer Tree to Get A Makeover? Probably (It May Take a While, Though)…

Posted on July 31, 2013 by geelw

Eh, I’ll need to do this piece over one day and probably as a normal drawing rather than a digital one. I just had the thought as I was looking at it a day ago that I needed to find a copy of From Hell it Came out in the wild on DVD just so I have my stiff wooden tree suit muse thing down pat.

What, you’ve NEVER seen From Hell it Came? Shame, shame, shame! Hell, it’s an awesomely cheesy but surprisingly watchable classic “B” horror flick from 1957. Yeah, yeah, yeah- it’s filled with quasi-Polynesian or whatever random exotic island stereotypes the producers want to make you think exist somewhere in the world, a sort of atomic radiation and voodoo-doodoo created monster and plenty of laughs I’m betting were unintended. I grew up with this one and cut it a LOT of slack because even as a kid it never scared me… but I think it may have started a healthy tree fetish.

Or maybe I’m just nice to them so if one ever does come to life, it’s not going to wobble down the street after me first… “Not ME! Get the guy with the poodle! The guy with the POODLE! Gyaaaaaah!“

Swamp Thing Headed to Blu-Ray/DVD August 6: Still A Coin Toss For This Fan…

Posted on July 31, 2013 by geelw

I wasn’t the biggest supporter of either of the two Swamp Thing films as neither was as close to the comics as I’d have liked and even the 70+ episode TV series was hugely flawed (but the makeup and costume were superb by that time). Still, after recently watching a friend’s copy of the DVD (it’s the recalled 2000 version he lent me, by the way), I have to say I don’t dislike it as much as I did back in 1982. I definitely liked it a LOT more than the stupidly campy sequel (which has a grand total of ONE really funny line in it that was worth the ticket price) and inane kiddie cartoon series created primarily to sell toys to parents who probably would be shocked out of their skins by the darker tone of many of the first ten issues of the original comics by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson and especially Alan Moore’s later (and much darker) run on the series that featured some amazing scripts and still stunning artwork primarily from Steve Bissette, John Totleben and Rick Veitch.

Of course, those who were kids when the films, cartoon or TV show were new may feel otherwise, so there’s that to consider. Of course, I’ve always “gotten” the weirder elements of the character and for some kooky reason, he’s been one of my favorites to draw (so I guess that piece above can indeed be called “fan art”, whee). Anyway, I’m not sure just yet if I’ll buy this new Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack, but it’s nice to know it exists if I decide to take the plunge…

KRONOS: 1957’s Alien Planet Eater Makes For An Interesting Muse…

Posted on July 29, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, ScienceFictionFLIX!)

Another favorite sci-fi flick from my younger days (OK, it still holds up today on a few fronts), Kurt Neumann’s 1957 film KRONOS is a really well-made and fun cheapie that benefits from some prescient scripting, pretty decent effects work (some nice for the era animation of the titular massive alien energy accumulator in a few quick shots), a snappy running time and a few unintentional chuckles from the usual overacting cast members emoting with relish about the over-sized and unstoppable alien threat of the week. Anyway, back in 2011 I was dinking around in MS Paint and had a sudden flash of inspiration to do a goofy tribute image and here you go. I guess it’s technically a piece of “fan art” although I have to chuckle at the “fan” part as it’s not exactly something I do on a regular basis. Yeah, I guess this gets added to the Random Film of the Week pile at some point. Feel free to check it out, as yep – it comes highly recommended.

Random Art: While You’re Waiting For Updates… A Few Pics From Hell!

Posted on July 25, 2013 by geelw

OK, I do need to catch upon a TON of stuff I’ve missed out on over the past few weeks, but I may as well drop in another random piece or three from the gallery for fun. These are from a “series” of fake vacation photos from a trip to hell, which looks just like here, but with more heat and different neon signs. I can’t say if it’s any more miserable a place than the “real” world, as both have good and bad points.

For one thing, despite what some tavern signs say (hey, lies are everywhere down there!)… they don’t serve beer in hell, but the food is always hot and cheap. Yes, that includes the ice cream, which is weird… but tasty and somehow holds that familiar shape when it’s scooped and put on a hot off the stack waffle cone. Yum-o(uch)!

Oh, I just KNOW you’re curious now. Don’t worry, though… you’ll find out soon enough. I went and got you a free ticket while I was there. The place is ALWAYS open and yep, they just love visitors. Don’t forget to visit the gift shop on the way back up. Everything is free and they’ll even gift wrap as much as you can carry. Just avoid the Sisyphus Rock replica, as it’s actual size, but to a mortal, only feels as heavy as an average-sized grapefruit in the underworld. However, it turns into a REAL 500-plus pound boulder when it leaves the basement level. if you can roll it home afterwards, it DOES make a great gag gift for a friend or enemy…

Random Art: The Return of Frankenstein’s Monster? Sort Of… Maybe?

Posted on July 23, 2013 by geelw

I forget if I’ve posted this piece here before, but what the hell – I need to up my post count a bit, as it’s way down this month thanks to all the stuff going on around here. Anyway, this one’s a MS Paint experiment (yeah, done entirely with a mouse) from 2011 when I was really bored yet inspired to fiddle around with that stupid program just to see if I could get it to do stuff in as simple a way as possible but look somewhat hand-drawn. I have a Wolfman pic that’s been sitting around unfinished for a while, but I may start it over, as it wasn’t coming along well at all (the layout is OK, it’s just in need of some scaling of the figures and I haven’t had the time to get back to it since. Eh, perhaps I’ll just redraw the whole thing… we’ll see.