...children's book art and bitching, I also still have a thing for beautiful women and violence.

Check this out.

Okay, maybe that should've said impending violence.

...since my last journal. So why do I write one now?

I really don't have a whole lot going on in my life beyond the norm. I'm making a halloween costume for my kid.

The reason I'm making this post is I have to point something out. Someone I watch here on FA recently, about a week ago, had a fight with their boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever. They then proceeded to have a messy break-up through a series of daily journal posts. Despite not having anything to do with the break-up, being cause, effect or even tangent to it, I had to deal with an emo bitchfest.
"OOH! I'm so hurt!"
"Oh, you don't think I hurt, too?"
"You know what you did."
"No I really don't. I'm sincere."
"You don't know what sincere is."
"Yes I do."
"No. you don't. I'm a liar, too."
and on and on and on.

Firstly, other than the announcement that, "I'm going through some shit, so you won't see me/hear from me for a while," or, "I'm going through some shit, don't fuck with me or there will be consequences you want no part of," there's no real reason to bring me into your personal life unless we chat together. I watch people here mostly because I like their work or they're good friends of mine. If I like your work, I like announcements as to the supply of and developments around your work. If you're my friend, I talk to you through notes or instant messaging. I already know what's going on in your life. If I needed to watch your relationship break down, I'd look in your windows at night.

This is a public forum, akin to meeting in the mall or in a crowded street or in a library. This is not the place to hash out the details of your relationship problems. A journal on a site like FA is a place you post your public ideas, your shouts out to your friends and opinions on public issues. It is not a place where I have to watch your soap-opera, emo-drama, personal-life bullshit. I watched my parents argue their marriage apart and when it did go public it was far more interesting and spectacular than the little, small-potatoes bullshit that I recently saw here.

To put it in bite sized chunks so everyone can take it, conveniently, to where they need it, "I am not part of your pubescent relationships. If you need to self destruct in plain view or to torture the person you picked, erroneously, to begin a relationship with, take it to myspace and leave me in peace. I'd hate to miss art that I like because I find your personal issues odious and trying, but I will stop watching you if you can't keep your asshattery in check. Please, quietly, fuck off."

If you aren't having a public, emo, bitch-and-moan-about-everything fest, this isn't to you. If you are, please fuck off again, for good measure. You know. In case you missed it when I said it before.

I found a tutorial that does realistic hair far better than anything I know how to do. You can find it here.

If it helps anyone, it makes me glad.

... I have updated the example pages.

You can find the preview of the book HERE.

http://porsylin.deviantart.com/art/.....irls1-66607604

Check out her gallery. Porcelain (somebody on DA already had the proper spelling so she spelled it with bizarre phonetics.) is a really hot chick with some really great piercings and she's been photographed by such greats as Lithium Picnic (Has a shot with Apnea), Hakan, Christine Kessler. If you like artistic nudes, erotic or fetish photography, this is a bitchin' gallery. If you're underage, don't look at the inappropriate naked.

A buddy of mine from back in my webcomic days, Lee Herold, has taken the gauntlet back up with CHOPPING BLOCK. This is a dark and humorous comic that has one of the most unique artistic visions I've ever seen. It features a gut-rending, teeth-smashing, body-hiding, blood-drinking, skinsuit-making, all around lovable guy, named Butch R. Mann. My rendition of satan from Hell Sweet Hell made an appearance several years ago and I've done some guest strips for him around the same time. Check the dude out and show him as much love as you can muster. He brings the funny and makes the amazing art.

I am a font of photoshop knowledge. I may not be the best, but I do have a lot of little techniques and tricks I use. Here's your chance to get the goods you want by pumping my brain.

What tutorial would you like to see me do?

Any technique you've seen me use or even show me someone else's pic or technique and I'll try to break it down for you. I'm serious. I will consider anything posted here.

I know photoshop cs and earlier very well and cs2 pretty well and I've developed a certain amount of illustrator expertise, as well. Ask away!

Okay for anyone who hasn't had access to news from the U.S. for the past decade or so, the American school system is being sent to the toilet by Christian fundamentalists who say that science should be made illegal because it proves things and that's bad. (Trial of Galileo, much?)

The argument that comes from the deepest parts of the south, that is to say, the most devout followers of the Christian Fundamentalist movement, is Creationism. Short form, "The bible states, clearly, that God created the universe in seven days, roughly six thousand years ago, and the Earth is the center of the universe. God created all life as it is in its current form and things may change from time to time but it is the will of god not some intangible force invented by Darwin." This is pure religious doctrine and that is illegal to force upon public school students.

The opposing argument is a well founded precept of science: Evolution. Short form on the theory of evolution, "Living things are shaped by forces present in the world with them; these forces being the scarcity of food sources, the changing of climate, population levels, water availability, predatory presence to name just a few. These forces kill those unsuited to the conditions and the ones that survive, produce offspring more adapted to fit their environment. Only so much adaptation can occur before one life form has to be considered something else by difference in form, function or structure." This is legal to teach in public schools because it is covered under the realm of science and is not a unilateral edict on what is right or wrong, but what is logical.

The "compromise" proposed by the religious folk who can't understand how to resolve the science with religious doctrine is more or less creationism repackaged with illogical scientific overtones, "Intelligent Design." Much like the "non-christian" permutations of twelve step programs, which claim that a "higher power" is in charge of their destinies, thinly glossing over the fact that they're just saying "god" in different terms, Intelligent Design tries to scientifically legitimize Christian doctrine as science by saying there is a governing intellect that controls all forms of matter and growth in the universe.

The problem is: Belief does not make science. Belief has nothing to do with science. Belief is anti-science. Science is logical and objectively observable, if not 100% provable. Belief is the emotional insistence that something is real without the benefit of concrete proof of any kind; any observation or proof is subjective. There is room for both science and religion in a human mind.

Here is the argument (that forces Christian doctrine back upon itself) that always gets overlooked: Given: Humans didn't evolve. God created Adam from the dust and Eve from Adam's rib. They were the extent of created humans. God only created two. They had children together and parented all the humans in the world. Who did Caine and Abel's generation mate with to produce children? Did they reproduce with their own siblings or mother and father? Is this a Christian endorsement of incest? If they didn't reproduce with their family members, did they mate with animals and produce all the people? Is this a Christian endorsement of beastiality? It has to be one or the other, if it isn't evolution.

Which is it, father, pastor, reverend or whoever you are? Did people evolve, should they sleep with their cousins or cozy up to their pets. I'm having a crisis of faith, please help me.

Don't collect checks 'cuz I'm unemployed.
Used to like hip hop, now it sucks like 'roids.
I'm here to fill the void, lemme hear ya say "OI!"
I'm The type dude that'll rap for food.
Rhyme real smooth cause I don't produce.
MTV said no so I'm just confused.
Everything to Gain but nothing to lose.

Well I'm the baddest MC
Switch bladin' the mike.
Playground player 5th grader for life.
Only bling that I wear's in my baby blue eyes.
I keep my bitches on a short leash with a tracking device.
My name is MC I got carcinogen beats.
Been compared to Manet I been compared to Matisse.
When I'm not rhymin' or fuckin' I'm lookin' for trees,
Or giving hand jobs by the blood bank for a nickel a piece.
I bring the jams, like strawberry or smuckers.
Mother fuckers better duck 'cuz I'm on downers and uppers.
Got a sack of nutter butters and a head in the gutter.
I waste wack MC's like when fuelin' their hummers.

Mad props to mc chris (all lower case, bitches) for supplyin' lyrics that echo my life a little too closely for comfort.

Man. Yesterday sucked. Thanks, everybody who tried to cheer me up.

...and it's mine.
The most loneliest day of my life.


This has been a very trying day. I have been angry. I have been frustrated. I have been lonely. Very little went right and even more completely sucked. The cherry on this sundae: I have insomnia and the day won't end.

I'm not being emo, I don't need cheering up, this isn't a cry for help and I'm not suicidal. Sometimes you need to vent and screaming into the ether isn't enough.

Back to business as usual. No more pointed book pimpin'.

So I get a comment the other day that I was totally not expectin'. Remember I did that tutorial the other month? The shading thingy? Well, somebody went and used it and did a fairly good job wit' it.

Check it out and show the guy some page view love over there. He did a really nice job.

I was trying to hold out on this but I'm too excited.

I am officially an author, now. Check out my book here! It's my first collected edition and ranges from rough sketches to polished and ready for general consumption work. There's commentary on most of the work. Now, this book is the "Adults Only" edition, due to some of the content, but, for those of you not into the "pr0nz" I have another edition that sticks a bit more closely to the "R" rating and can be found HERE!

It was a serious effort and why I've not been around much lately.

Please, if you like boobs, show it by ordering my book (in one version or another).

I am collecting some of my art into a book format to sell through Lulu.com.

I've been going through my gallery and a lot of my art contains other people's characters, particularly commission works. I've reserved copyrights on all the images I produce, meaning I can print them, legally, when I choose. However, I don't wish to have any problems with my book or make anybody who's helped me out with commissions getting their feelings hurt if and when I go to press with this.

If anyone wishes me not to use their ideas in my art collection, please let me know. Wherever I use your character/idea, I will credit you as the creator.

A certain image has characters from many different creators and there are a few others that have some of your characters in them and I'll track you down and ask your permission if I need to, but I'd rather ask it here first.

"Do I have permission to put your character's images that I've already drawn into an art collection book?"

Thanks for reading.

Hey, again. Check this out! Is that ant not the cutest damn thing you ever saw?

As my latest piece shows, I follow the "five elements" model from asian mysticism. I find it makes more sense to split earth into living and non-living elements.

A few years ago I started an observational study of people. This study was partially rooted in my dislike and distrust for the zodiac system of personal classification. I think horoscopes are bullshit, but I find that in the personality profiling, there is some merit to the zodiac system and even the chinese zodiac system. Fundamentally, there is a flaw in classifying everyone born between a set of dates as being similar. I've heard the "rising sign is more important" argument and it sounds to me like people make that argument because they need to feel like the system is infallible. Astrology, in my opinion, is generally bullshit that flakes latch onto because they want to feel connected to the spiritual in a way that requires nothing from them and is in no way reliable so they don't have to invest any real belief in it.

While I was making the observations that led me to these conclusions, I started noticing other things; things that connected to the elements. One of my biggest problems with traditional western astrology is that there seems an arbitrary connection between signs and their elements.
"Cancer is a water sign."
"Why?"
"Because it's the crab and crabs live in water."
"Isn't capricorn a water sign? Isn't it the goat?"
"We draw that goat with a fish tail. It's a water sign now."

I don't buy that.

I have created a system of classification that has nothing to do with when or where you were born and groups people into one of the five elemental headings based on their behavior. Originally, I reckoned on the four element system but found problems. There were always people who didn't fit. Anyway, the following is my system on this. Give it a try and try to classify yourself. "Know yourself," and all that, then try classifying people you know. The funny thing is: You'll start to notice people all over the place who fit into these categories.

The first thing you need to know about the system is that there are people with one element and people with a major and a minor element. For those who are single element, they will be pretty easy to spot, for the most part. The splits will be harder to spot and you'll usually lump them in as water before figuring out what they are.

Fire type: The fire type is aggressive and quirky. They are usually light sleepers and enjoy high energy pursuits and or violent ones. These guys have a short fuse but tend not to hold grudges very long. They also tend toward impulsive behavior and regrets afterward. Impatience and high energy/nervous habits (bouncing a knee, tapping fingers on a table, and such) are almost always present in these guys. they tend to have big egos and are equally self deprecating. These are creatures of extremes. Fire types get along best with other fire types and have difficulty with all other types besides water, because of some strong similarities. Fire types will often seek out a position of authority, primarily for the control over others that it gives them. That is not to say they wouldn't be good leaders, just that they actively seek out power over others, which can be a means unto itself.

Air type: Air is an element of formlessness and whim. Air types are usually perceived as no-accounts and irresponsibles. While they can fit well into any circumstance in the short term, they don't hold a given shape (job, project) for very long. They are very disconnected and have a lot of difficulty living beyond the now. Air types are known to ditch school, blow off work, blow off appointments, forget dates they agreed to. They seem highly inconsiderate, even infuriating, to other types but get along very well with other air types. They are known for sentiments about having no regrets. If you've ever had a co-worker or known a student who scraped by on bare minimum effort and always gave the impression they couold care less whether or not they ever advanced or graduated, they were likely air types.

Earth type: Earth types are sturdy and contemplative. They tend toward bookish behavior and tend to be highly developed conversationalists. Earth types frustrate fire and water types which tend to lack patience, but get along with air types, being that earth types have great patience and are very accepting of others, knowing that they (the earth types) are sturdy and can't be harmed by the presence or actions of others. The buzzword of the earth type is "Let me think about it." They don't rush into anything and take few risks. Earth types are excellent middle management types. They will take on responsibility with little reward and patiently wait for that to give some sort of return.

Water type: Water types are the hardest to identify. They fit in anywhere, like air, but are patient. This patience gives them the seeming of earth types, but they are also known for occasional explosive outbursts or nervous habits, like fire. They are often misclassified. This is a dominant personality that will often seek out authority, not for the power of it, but because they feel most balanced and well suited for a leadership position. Water seeks out its own level. Water types are found at all levels of competence and authority and they are often there in the company of other water types or fire types.

Metal type: Metal is one of the rarest elemental type of people. People connected strongly to the metal element are brittle, mentally and emotionally, and have difficulty changing themselves or adapting to new situations. Most metal types are pretty emotionally unstable, or even major depressive or psychotic, and have difficulty coping with the situations others put upon them. One of the hallmarks of the metal type is a small self-created world. They blame themselves for all wrong in their lives and shun anyone who could mess up anything good that they have yet to ruin. Being metal type means a certain degree of isolation from others. They don't have a particular affinity for any of the other types but may tolerate the presence of earth types as they are least likely to create difficult situations where change is necessary.

I haven't always been a fan of the Dark Knight. When I was little, my first real exposure to Batman was through the Adam West/Burt Ward Batman and Robin of campy sixties and seventies era TV. I didn't warm to him. Even then, I thought the show was campy and fun and it just didn't seem right. I thought a penguin that quacked was a stupid idea (no offense, Mr. Meredith.) and was still too young to appreciate the appeal of Julie Newmar as Cat Woman. I have since learned the proper appreciation of the lovely lady, as have I learned it for Batman.

As I got older, I was exposed to Batman in many guises. I saw the crappy Hanna-Barbera 'toons, both the Batman one and the Superfriends, in which Batman was almost always accompanied by Robin, whom he insisted upon calling "Chum." Stupid campy '60s and '70s.

In the '80s, a man to whom we fans of the dark owe much, Frank Miller, resuscitated the original idea that Bob Kane had: A dark, brooding and frightening creature of the night who fought on the side of good and protected the helpless when they were most helpless. Batman became an emblem of the disenfranchised and moody. This was perfect seeder ground for the Tim Burton Batman movies. These should have been named, "Tim Burton's idea of what Batman should be like in a Hot Topic meets Disney sort of world." At least they had a vague darkness to them. Joel Schumacher should be fed, feet first, to carrion beetles for what he did with his chance to make Batman movies.

On to my analysis. Bruce Wayne, a privileged child from a rich family, sees his parents murdered and is left feeling helpless. To alleviate his fear, he overcompensates and becomes an embodiment of fear itself. He turns his privilege and genius and commitment into a means of sparing the suffering of others. In order to survive the night, he becomes the night, and in so becoming avenges his family and all others he can save and help. The only line he can't allow himself to cross: He can't allow himself to kill or through inaction or inability, to allow death. he has to fight the dishonorable on honorable terms. He has to win as the underdog or he sees no victory.

Bruce Wayne is as insane as any of the villains he combats as his alter-ego. The greatest separation between him and his quarry is their morality. Bruce's is the strictest code: chivalry, bushido, call it what you will. Theirs is purely a matter of getting the job done. If not for this difference, they would be on equal footing and equally opposed to the law. He is obsessive compulsive with a minor messiah complex. He truly believes that he can be a normal man and a hero in the same life. He truly believes that one man (with no super powers) makes all the difference, and in his world, perhaps he is correct.

Batman is seen as a powerless vigilante gadgeteer to a lot of people not in the know. They cite his lack of superpowers as marking him as "not a superhero." I, personally, see Batman as a superhero. I judge the character by the caliber of his opponents rather than his personal abilities. Batman has taken down heavy hitters like Blockbuster (remember him?) and Bane, genius villains like Lex Luthor and the Joker, magical creatures, even other superheroes when they went bad. When Superman beats Braniac, it's like, "Oh, well, yeah. He's Superman." When Batman does it, he's just a vigilante? Bullshit. Batman is one of the few characetrs who's ever had to bring Superman down, and he's done it quite handily.

Batman is a blank. He's a character upon whom we can project ourselves. He is an exceptional man, but not so much so that he isn't also "everyman." Everyone, at some point in their lives, unless they've lived in a very sheltered environment their whole lives, has run into the person who victimizes them and gets away with it. And we sit, humbled and miserable, weak and helpless, and watch them walk away. Then as we walk away, filled with impotent rage, we think about what we should have done; how we should have reacted, what we should have said, but now it's too late. The French (real french, not french canadian) have a term for this, "L'esprit de l'escalier." This means, "the Spirit of the Stairs." It's that point after you've been thrown out of somewhere or stomped out in a fury and then realized what you should have said before they got you out of there. It's a tiny regret that you weren't clever or capable enough in the moment where it mattered. Batman is this phenomenon embodied. He is the ability we all wish for to turn back the clock on that clever comeback or that timely left hook or that well placed kick or well thrown drink.

Batman is a hero to so many because he is what we will never be and does what we will never do. He has become the thing that goes bump in the night and ultimately, has covered up for his moment of helplessness by inflicting that in those who would inflict that upon others. Batman is a fair and balanced justice that we so infrequently get.

Batman gets the revenge we are all so frequently denied and that makes him what he truly, in essence is: Someone speaking out of the dark night to tell us that it's okay to not be afraid anymore.

(EDIT) As an aside, I've heard New York City called "Gotham" before and it pisses me right the fuck off. I grew up near Chicago, formerly, the gangster capital of the U.S., and it is, confirmedly, what the original Gotham was based on. It's why batman always used to fight mobsters, back in the day.

Metropolis is NYC and anyone who says otherwise can shove it.

WARNING: SERIOUS LANGUAGE MIGHT OFFEND DELICATE SENSIBILITIES. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!


1. Penny Arcade is funny. There's an MP3 of the recent PAX keynote address, given by a mister Wil Wheaton (That's right, ensign Wesley Crusher.) that is at least as funny and relevant to gamers as Penny Arcade usually is. PAX was supposed to be amazing and I really wish I could afford to go some year, despite the fact that I'm not a killer gamer.

2. If you're thinking about moving to Montreal (or anywhere in Quebec, really), fuckin' don't bother. Last week, one of the subway tunnels, a pedestrian access tunnel beneath a huge department store, developed a crack that was an inch wide and 45 feet long. In metric, that's pretty fuckin' big, (I am American and, as such, that means the metric system bounces off my skull.) I guess. They've discovered that a certain portion of the city provided water supply has unacceptable levels of lead (and I thought the huge number of stupid people I encounter here were just country folk or Quebecoises) in it. Hydro Quebec, the company that supplies electricity throughout the province, has large scale, unannounced power outages that usually last between 30 minutes and two hours, that don't seem to effect the richer neighborhoods at all. There's a law in this province (read the caption under the picture. Quebec, the friendly province.) that essentially says anybody not born to an English-speaking family from Quebec (it's really important that the english families are from here, so they can be educated as poorly in their own language as possible) has to go to a French school. If I, who can barely have a conversation in French, had married a French woman from here, instead of an English one, our daughter, despite the fact that it would limit her conversation ability with me, would have to go to a french school.

3. Fuckin' hippies.

4. Okay.  hammy brought up a pet peeve of mine in a recent picture he did. I'm pagan, which often gets me lumped into chat venues with wiccans (don't get along with them much) and other pop-culture, this-will-really-piss-off-mom-and-dad, religious-dissident pagans. There is a certain portion of pagans and furries alike, who despite all better judgement, insist that fantasy inspired spirits visit them and carry the knowledge that, "Hey, you're one of us." I'm as shamanistic as the next pagan, in fact, probably more, but what the fuck? I've seen and experienced things a lot of other people can't even believe possible. I've had dealings with out of the ordinary things. "I've seen shit that'd turn you white!" and I can't believe a lot of this shit. Why is it that when an animal spirit visits someone with a message of higher wisdom, it's always something pretty and noble or, at least, looked upon favorably from a human perspective? The wolf spirit, the lion spirit, the raven spirit, the bison. Why is nobody visited by the aardvark spirit? What the fuck is wrong with the naked mole rat? Why does nobody have a dung beetle totem? Why is it if someone, one day, realizes that he's "part elf" (a real discussion I've had) that it's a tolkien-esque elf, tall and thin (an image that didn't exist about elfin-kind until the early 1900's) and not a cobbler elf or a kringle elf? Maybe this all should've been covered under entry number three.

5. George W. Bush is still a douchebag.

If these things don't have relevance in your life, that's cool. Don't post shit about 'em in your journal. If they do, that's cool too. I know how you feel.

Now go on about your business. Nothing to see here.

I just saw a journal entry over at DeviantArt about how some people see being available on DA for commissions and such disqualifies you as a professional. Obviously, being that the journal was posted by an artist, the journal was strongly against that notion. It got me to thinking, though. "What is a professional?" It's a question we don't often explore in the artistic communities like DA and FurAffinity. We explore "What is art?" We explore "What is acceptable subject matter?" We even explore "What is your chosen fetish?" (Ad nauseum. Honestly, who gives a shit what makes a person hot if you aren't going to fuck them? Pardon my linguistic hue.)

There's a joke running around my family about professionals. My father, a carpenter of thirty odd years, once offered to do work on a cousin's house for half the price the lowest contractor bid she'd received. She replied, "Sorry, but I'd really like this done by a prfoessional." So every time somebody questions an ability we have to do something, we come back with, "Well, it's not like I'm a professional."

I'm an artist. A professional artist. I am deviating from the form in which I've made a living, (I used to do graphic design and still do from time to time.) but I am a professional. I deliver my art on time, and place my ability to produce quality materials well above any other consideration. As many people know, I'll lower my prices for things that are really interesting to me. I don't charge much but that has more to do with the needs of my clientelle than my ability. I could charge, as I've seen other artists do, ten times as much as I do, but that's against the way I do business. I don't yet feel I am worth that much. That I am expanding my skills and stretching my talent in new directions, does this make me less professional? I dunno.

What do you guys think on this? What makes a professional artist? Is that any different from any other form of professionalism?

I'd like for you guys who rarely have any input to come in on this one, too.

Hi again. Apparently it's time for me to talk again, because something has gotten in my hair, again. Figuratively. Something attempting to get into my hair in reality nowadays would find scant footing.

When, exactly, did peanuts become evil?

I'm not in the George Washington Carver fan club or anything but, didn't peanuts used to be given out on airplanes as snacks? Weren't they, on average, a staple snack food, available in candy bars and tins and big glass jars? I remember when I was a kid, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made up the average lunch bag stuffing. If you, personally, had some sort of allergy to peanuts, you avoided eating them, much like someone with a beesting allergy would avoid angering bees. Has our genome weakened to the point where a large enough portion of the population can only look on in mute terror at the consumption of that which is one of the modern protein supplement foods? Or is it, as I've heard suggested, that the mighty peanut is tired of the subjugation of its kind and has begun to develop a subtle form of self defense?

This has gotten to the point where kids can't take peanut laden edibles of any sort into the school lest someone of a weaker constitution perish at the mere scent of the malicious legume. Word of warning people: If your kid is so allergic to peanuts that he can't be around another kid who has consumed peanut treats within the previous twelve hours, he's not gonna make it. Best come to terms with his loss when little Timmy is still young and you're not too used to having him around.

As I said, I'm not a giant fan of peanuts or peanut butter. I'll eat the stuff if the urge comes to me. I'm just getting a little sick of all the labels on everything from ice cream and breakfast cereal to frozen pizza. "Peanut Free," they all disclaim with a little picture of a peanut circled and crossed out in red, as though peanuts are tiny, flavorful invaders whose only ambition is to sneak into every food and insidiously insinuate themselves into every aspect of your daily life to end your miserable little existences.

What the fuck?

How about parents doing the responsible things and telling little Timmy that if he eats peanuts, he's gonna die, so don't do that? They can add that to the list of things that are just beneath the notice of the modern parent, like, for instance, monitoring what programming and how much TV they watch, which video games they play, what are they doing with their spare time, who are they hanging around with, are they doing drugs, are they having sex and what are they like.

I have allergies and because of them, I don't snort dust (Housedust, people. Come on!), rub cats on my face, consume dairy foods without care (I know lactose intolerance isn't an allergy, but, close enough. I eat the shit, I get a bad reaction. Close enough.) or, you know, other things likely to make me die. What happened to personal responsibility?

Being that I live in Canadia, I have no access to the Sci-Fi channel, but I have a substitute entitled "Space." Today they were showing a special program, as they often will when they couldn't afford to license a crappy movie for Saturday afternoon, and the focus of this one was the life of Superman, as a character in our fiction, not as a real person.

There's some interesting things they covered and some points that sort of got lost. Superman was created in the 1930's. Superman's been changed, rebuilt, recreated, re-imagined, resuscitated and repurposed, again and again and again over the years.

The biggest debate's about Superman, and really all superheroes nowadays, is "what does it mean?" or, "what does it represent or symbolize?" I've heard theories that the latest Superman movie, Superman Returns, was a representation of him as a messiah, even as a panacea for all that ails society. Anybody who asserts these is missing the point of Superman entirely.

Superman is far from a panacea. He can fix individual problems on a grand scale, given, (I mean, come on. He's Superman.) but that's not fixing everything. He can't help those not wishing to be helped. He can't solve problems like starvation (He can't produce food out of his butt, though admittedly, that'd be a good trick.) or war (War is the result of political problems and have no single solution. He could break up a fight but war moves on many fronts and he couldn't be everywhere at once.) or pollution, environmental breakdown, poverty... The list goes on. Superman isn't representative of an easy solution. Far from it. He's there to show us that everyone has limits.

The things people like to cite as evidence that Superman in Superman Returns is a messiah figure is the constant parallel expression of things that happened in the life of Christ. The persecution, the dependence of the commoner on his influence, the rising from the dead, descending from heaven, I could go on for days here. The funny things about characters who get the title "messiah" hung on them: They always deny it. I think if a messiah really did show up he'd be all, "Hey, dudes! I'm the messiah! Come here and listen. I've got good news and bad news!" Superman says he is not the savior but he, "hears people calling out for one." He does what he can, but again, he can't do it all. A messiah figure, even a false one, would appear to.

The truth about Superman and why he resonates with people is his essential character. He tries his hardest for people he doesn't know. He tries as hard as he can to make the world a better place. He is everyone who we look up to. He is our dad, protecting us from anonymous terrors in the night. He is a cop, protecting us from harm that otherwise would take us whenever we stepped outside. He is our conscience, protecting us from our darker nature. He is a boyscout, which makes him apart from us, by virtue of his virtue. Therein lies the paradox of the Superman character. He is an alien who comes to earth to be one of us and has the choice to live as normal, or even as selfish and self serving, but marginalizes himself to do the right thing. Superman represents something greater in ourselves that we have a chance to see every day but most are afraid to look at.

The facts of the matter are that, for the most part, Superman has been written for the purpose of telling a story, not moralizing. If there has ever been a deeper message in Superman, it was to find in yourself that which makes you special and use it to be more a part of your society than not. The powers make him superhuman, but it's always been the "man" part of the equation that was most important to him. He never wanted anything more than to belong, and doesn't that make him more like us than not?

"In the end, the World didn't need a Superman... just a brave one."

Gabe, over at penny arcade isn't great at guitar hero. He offers an alternative for the artistically inclined.

There must be something wrong with me. I've undertaken to make a Harry Potter styled wand (not his wand, or anyone's in particular, just one based on the way they use and wield wands.) from wood. I'm carving and sanding and grinding and such and probably staining and polishing it for my daughter. I already have the correct general shape and I plan on doing some other stuff with it, but there you go. If anyone shows interest, I'll post finished pics of it when I'm done.

I saw Order of the Phoenix again on Tuesday with above mentioned daughter and I'd have to say, I really liked it. The casting was really good. I loved Luna Lovegood in the movie as much as I did in the book. Bellatrix Lestrange couldn't have been loopier if she'd been played by anyone besides Helena Bonham Carter. She was a highlight. Tonks was a hottie and Umbridge was, indeed, toad-like. It wasn't great but it had great moments and, failing on the actual greatness factor, great moments will do. This movie was made for readers of the books more than the general public so if you don't/didn't read them don't bother. It's really a movie form of literary companion. Really, though, if you didn't read the books, why the hell would you bother with the movies anyway?

I recently found, through Jolly Jack himself (or his sketchbooks he sells on his home page), that there is a book making company named LuLu that allows you to make and sell your own books with them. A bit of a Cafe Press arrangement, really. They don't allow any crazy adult stuff but artistic nudity is cool. I'm thinking of selling a sketchbook collection through them. Whattaya think?