Archive for August, 2004

See that comic to your left? How long would you guess that it took to get it up online? When I was considering that question this morning, the answer was a lot longer than I expected.

First I sketch a few ideas very roughly. Then I choose one to use and sketch it a little less roughly. I scan that in, perform a little contrast adjustment and resize it. Then I upload it to the site and change the HTML for the page so that viewers can enter their captions. Later in the week, I traced over it and scanned in the the tracing. I then edited the drawing a little with my computer to get rid of smudges and correct some gross perspective errors (minor ones are all part of the cartoon’s charm.) Next, it’s all about adding the colour. I spent a couple sessions colouring it, and notice that many of the elements are gradients and such. This week, I resized and uploaded a colour version a few days before the contest ended. Then on Monday, I chose my favourite caption added the text and the balloon, made some final color changes, uploaded the finished comic and changed the HTML again.

I estimate I put six to seven hours into that comic. That’s almost a full day’s work — and for only a semi-good looking comic. Imagine if I had drawn the band members in the van window! Too bad no one pays me for this. Good thing it’s fun.

Well, who knew that I could manage to produce three bi-monthly comics in a row and do it mostly on time? Well, I couldn’t have done it without caption submission by you. And without further adieu, the finalists…

What’s the point of driving carefully if we’re not drawn carefully?
:: RP :: 08.24.04 :: 9:26 am

Well if you’re going to drive like Starsky, you better call me Hutch
:: Papa Smurf :: 08.24.04 :: 1:04 pm

You know i get the climbing in the windows part, but didnt Bo and Luke drive a Charger?
:: DW :: 08.25.04 :: 12:21 pm

Yea, I remember our first gig in San Fransisco. That was the last time we used the van…
:: Andrew :: 08.26.04 :: 8:32 pm

I betcha if we got rid of the dead weight (i.e. guitar player dude) this thing would get a lot higher!
:: Doug :: 08.28.04 :: 2:01 pm

It might seem to be obvious that one shouldn’t grab bees — but there are times that I want to grab them. For example, last night, I was having dinner with Jenn and her sister on her sister’s patio — and there were these bees buzzing around, trying to steal my supper.

Well, my ignoring them didn’t make them go away, so the bee-swatter had to come out. But the bees didn’t land on anything, so the swatter wasn’t doing anything, except interrupting our meal. So, I grabbed one of the bees that was flying around. I didn’t really plan it out — maybe I supposed I’d crush it in my grip. Well, before I did that, it stung me and I let it go.

Bee 1 — Darren 0

From childhood experience, I thought I was allergic to bee stings, but it only hurt and didn’t kill* me, so at least I learned that I’m not allergic to bees. Oh, I also learned not to grab bees. We put some used food off to the side and the bees decided to busy themselves with that food instead and we enjoyed the rest of the evening.

*Robin pointed out that just becuase I didn’t die doesn’t mean that I’m not having an allergic reaction to the bee sting. It might be making me stupid or something else that I’m not noticing.

Every once in a while one stumbles across a really remarkable little website. Today, I found thegoonies.org and was quite enchanted by it. Be sure to check out the Goonies vacation movie. In it, two guys go on a road trip to Astoria, OR where The Goonies was filmed. Not only do they visit a bunch of the locations from the movie and comment on them, but they have a number of scenes from the movie where they cut themselves in and out of it. It’s quite a lot of fun.

As a side thought, I really enjoyed playing the Goonies video game on the Commodore 64 when I was younger — I’m sure I’d still enjoy it now. There were many things to appreciate about the game, especially the gameplay where you had to solve a puzzle at each stage of the game by contolling two Goonies. You could only control one of them at a time and had to swap back and forth to progress through the puzzle. For example one Goonie would have to run up to the top of the screne and push a button that let the other Goonie, in the middle of the screne, through a trap door who could then pull a cord that released some bats that would chase a bad guy away from the first Goonie who could then escape, etc. etc. Lot’s of fun.

But that wasn’t even what I remember most about the game. I liked the fact that it used three colours, a deep dark red, a dark blue and white all on a black background. The C64 had sixteen colours, but the designers limited themselves to just those three and the results were beautiful. I think I remember trying to use just three colours in one of my many started (harly ever finished) C64 games. Inspiring.

I have a problem when it comes to blogging regularily — I don’t do it. The past few days, I’ve had several ideas about which I could blog, but sometimes I was too far from my computer and other times, I decided the topic was too personal. So I didn’t blog. One thing about blogging though is it stimulates my mind. For example, writing this down (or typing it in, as the case may be) I am reminded of the dream I had last night of the electric train set I somehow procured. I was having a hard time with the tracks, they were much to flexible.

I think the another problem I have with blogging is that I forget my good ideas by the time I get to the computer. So, I’m left with stuff like — boy am I sore this morning! Jenn pulled out this video tape, the imfamous Abs of Steel, earlier this week. Now, everyday, we do ten minutes of ab workouts. Man, are my abs (and obleiques, cloits, dloits, etc.) sore. Even my neck is sore from working out my abs. Which reminds me of a funny story.

Apologies to Robin, or Dave, I don’t remember who I used to say this to. But, I remember working out (with one of these guys) and saying to them, while they were doing some strenuous excercise that had nothing to do with their neck, “Work that neck!&rdquo or “That’s right, lift with your neck.” or something like that. Anyway, funny story and blog entry over.

P.S. Somehow that reminds me of a comic that I plan on drawing for a church bulletin this Christmas. It’s going to be entitled “The Christmas Pageant” and is going to feature the familiar nativity scene but everyone (including the cow) is going to be wearing sashes with titles like “Miss Stablegirl”, “Wise Man” and “King of the East” on them.

Little things make a big difference some times. Like, for instance, the comma. Or Doug’s comment to me last night that he can tell when I take the time to draw a comic. It inspired me to put some actual effort into this weeks drawing. I made it while watching Monsters Inc. with Jenn. And I noticed another little thing, for the first time.

Near the end of the movie, when Sully takes Boo back to her bedroom, she brings him a bunch of her toys. Yeah, we’ve all noticed that she has a cowboy Woody doll (from Toy Story) but tonight I noticed that she hands him a stuffed clown fish — a la Finding Nemo. Pretty cool forward looking easter egg.

I’ve learned — and it’s kind of a surprize that I haven’t learned this before — that some people actually remember the things that they read. You see I don’t. Well, not too much, anyway.

I knew I had a poor memory, but it was really unexpected when a friend told me on Friday afternoon that when he reads a book, he remembers a lot of it — expecially little facts and tid-bits of stuff. He contrasted that with the expereince of a guy he knows who remembers almost nothing of what he reads and finds it very frustrating.

I relate to the frustraed guy, but didn’t know it could be any other way. So I wonder what it’s like for most people, do they remember or not remember most of what they read. And, am I in some way learning impared because I don’t remember much?

Well, this weekend, Jenn and I didn’t play mini-golf. We went driving some golf balls instead! And it was a good time. It took me a while before I was hitting them like I used to. Note I didn’t say “hitting them long like I used to.” But as I kept driving I noticed I was consistently slicing. I don’t remember having a slice problem from a couple years ago when I was last golfing regularily. Anyways, it was a lot of fun — and Jenn enjoyed it too. I was thinking that when I get up to Thunder Bay in September maybe I can shoot a round for fun and see how off my game I am. Maybe my short game will be better with all the mini-golf practice.

I want Robin’s blog entry from yesterday to be mine. Maybe he could rewrite it from my perspective? For those of you who aren’t going to read Robin’s entry, he reminiscess about the time, seven years ago to the day almost, that he, Doug Anderson and myself finished recording and mixing down our first and only album together as North and the Sea.

Robin has kind words for me, not for my drumming abilities, but for the musical chemistry that we share. Hey, I’m the first to admit that I’m no Lance Schibler, or Ben Seibel — I’m more of a Ringo Starr, but I make more mistakes. I was thinking the other day while listening to CBC Radio’s 50 Tracks that it would be fun (I guess I wasn’t thinking it through enough) to be the band leader for Mike Hurlburt’s fringe talk show so that Robin and I could play the main riff of Billy Jean together.

I’ve been fortunate to be able to play music (well, drums mostly) with a bunch of people, often overlapping in a bunch of bands. Way back in time, it was Robin, Ron and me (on guitar) during that summer between highschool and university in — what did we call ourselves? Something that rhymes with Fat Chance? Playing Power, Oh Canada Dance and That Meaningless Love Song. Haul out those tapes and make mp3’s of them!

Then Robin and I recorded a few of my songs on the 2+2 and the four track, like Bears in the Woods (which deserves a webpage of it’s own), Cross Eyed Stare and who can forget I Hope All The Good Ones Aren’t Gone. Boy, we were really happy with how that one sounded in the Monarch.

Of course, it was with The Transparencies that I first felt like I was in a real band. Robin, Richard, Shawn and I played together — mostly out at Dorion and often joined and replaced with Mike and Chris and Lance and others. The Transparencies were also the unofficial Richard Pepper and the Band band.

North and the Sea came next and is the band that I most felt could make it, but ambition was never my strong suit and Bible school got in the way and recording, while rewarding, took some of the fun out of NatS for me. But without a doubt the best time I ever had playing a show with a band was with Robin and Doug opening for The Dustkickers on a snowy February evening. I think I enjoy the tape from that show even more than New Material Only.

At Bible school Doug and I were Reliable Toasters, though if anyone cared to notice, I was Doug’s Garfunkel — and was delighted to be so. I wish I could have been part of the New Reliable Toasters Band that took part in the New Union battle of the bands, but I don’t think they would have gone as far if I was behind the kit.

Doug and I were drafted into what was supposed to be Mark Owens’ worship team, that was demoted to a Christian service team, that mutated into Stoned and Left for Dead with Curtis and Chris. Our sweaty recording sessions in the sweltering heatwave that was Minneapolis, July 1999 were a tonne of fun and probably the best closure to my Bible school experience that I could have had. We even got a CD out of the whole effort.

I also played with Mark Owens on the worship team at Central Community Circus — I mean Church. Doug and Curtis occassionally sat in with us too. But that was a paying gig, so it hardly counts as being in a band. All real bands have to struggle and don’t get paid.

When I returned to Thunder Bay at the turn of the millenium (minus one year) I picked up in The Transparencies with Robin, Richard and Lance. I also started playing with Tom at church and sort of drafted him into playing gigs at the Outpost and other venues with whatever the band was being called for a given performance: King Jimmy and the Sixteen Eleven’s, The Hockey Band, whatever. I also did some recording with (and church playing) with Brian during that time and Robin brought in Doug and Kent and others (maybe?) to record other tracks on his unreleased CD.

There was also the SNL band lead by the fearless (though maybe she should have) J. Barker and Eamon. Those were great excercises in seeing how far they could be musically abused before they just ended the practice. Of course, Eamon always joined in on the trouble making leaving poor Barker to deal with us on her own.

Hmm, what a rich and varied musical experience I’ve had. Thank you to everyone who’s let me play along with them. Hopefuly in the future I’ll get to play again with you and others. I think I was given a glimpse of the future when I went to a Lost Dogs concert a couple months ago. The opening act was made of three guys in their late fourties and a teenage boy — maybe someone’s son? They played and wrote their own stuff and they enjoyed it, even if no one else did. I was thinking, “Hey, that big guy reminds me of Robin. And I could be playing that old worn out kit. I wonder who’s son that is?”

So, I’m an uncle again — and my nephew Caleb has a brother. This information will come in handy mostly for Tom, who has a knack of learning these things before everyone else. Ethan David Thomas Lammers was born today at 10:57 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was 19¼″.