A Play in One Really Short Act
The scene: It's December 2008. The global economy is going down the tubes thanks in part to bad investments in subprime mortgages made by Wall Street firms. Two titans of the now-dying giant investment banks meet for lunch at a hoity-toity Manhattan dining room.
Banker #1: Hell of a year, huh? Who would have ever thought that we, the engines of American capitalism, would be on the verge of extinction, due to our own hubris, greed, and careless management?
Banker #2: Truer words were never spoken. Thank goodness for Hank Paulson and the TARP! If not for Hank getting us these no-strings-attached taxpayer funded loans, we'd be meeting for falafels on the corner, not sitting here enjoying a three hundred dollar lunch.
Banker #1: Falafel gives me the wind, so thank goodness indeed.
They chuckle. Banker #1 raises his glass in a toast.
Banker #1: To Hank!
Banker #2: To Hank!
Banker #1: So, now that we've pretty much sunk the global economy and killed our own industry, let's talk about what's really important.
Banker #2: Bonuses!
Banker #1: Bonuses. Since this is looking like our last hurrah, let's get while the gettin' is good - that luxury yacht isn't going to pay it's own mooring fees down in the Caymans, know what I mean?
Banker #2: I hear what you're saying. Now, in 2007, we gave ourselves $32.9 billion in bonuses, but given that times are tough all over, I propose we slash that by about 40 percent, to $18.4 billion.
Banker #1: Whoa - that's a tough pill to swallow! But I don't think anyone could get upset over that, least of all the American taxpayer who is bailing us out.
Banker #2: Right you are, my friend! So, I think I'm going to get one of those new Bentleys to celebrate...
Fade out.
-EB
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Motion Comics
There's been a lot of talk lately about "motion comics," which is the process of taking an existing comic book property and turning it into a video by adding some limited animation, voice work, music, and sound effects, as has been done with the high-profile "motion comics" adaptations of Watchmen and Batman: Black & White (both of which are available on iTunes). "Motion Comic" itself is an oxymoronic term, as comics are a static medium; to quote Mark Waid, again, "a comic story is made up of frozen moments. Screen stills. Snapshots." So it's a tough thing to create a "motion comic," because by adding motion what you have created is, by definition, no longer a comic. It's an argument of semantics, I know, but "motion comic" is ultimately just a fancy name for "limited animation." Nevertheless, since "motion comics" is now the term in common use, I'll bow to convention and use it from this point forth sans the quotation marks.
So, as I said above, it's a tough thing to make a motion comic, for a couple of reasons beyond semantics: 1) if you're too respectful of the material, as I feel was the case with the adaptation of the first issue of Watchmen, you wind up with something that's poorly paced and too limited in animation; and 2) it's easy to get too tied to the tropes of the medium you're trying to adapt, especially the word balloons. Both the Watchmen motion comic and MTV's adaptation of Invincible use the world balloons in conjunction with voiceover, despite the fact that having the characters speak obviates the need for the balloons themselves. It's a young medium, motion comics, and how you can adapt a comic into something less than full animation but more than an animatic, with a (presumably) limited budget and schedule is still being figured out.
But...
...if you'd like to see what I think is a good example of an early motion comic, I'd like to offer the following episode of the GameTap series Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider - "A Complicated Woman." Produced by me, written by Jim Lee and Christos Gage, designed and laid out by the fine Wildstorm crew of Carlos D'Anda, Michael Lopes, JJ Kirby, and Oliver Nome, with final animation by the San Francisco based studio Ghostbot.
We were not setting out to make a motion comic with this episode of Re\Visioned - the term had not yet been invented when we got started in mid-2007 - but in early talks, Wildstorm VP-General Manager Hank Kanalz and I (with the blessing of Re\Visioned series creator/GameTap VP Rick Sanchez and executive producer Chris Peeler) quickly arrived at a creative strategy that would play to Wildstorm's strengths as a comic book studio - we would make a living comic book, utilizing limited animation and great Wildstorm art. I think we arrived at a reasonable hybrid, still employing some of the tools of comics, such as visible sound effects, captions, panel borders, and dynamic posing, and marrying those to animation that was for the most part very limited, except for in a couple of action sequences which received a more fully animated treatment for greater impact. Is it perfect? No, but I do think this could provide a good road map for future attempts at motion comic creation.
And I'm available for just that sort of thing, by the way - if you have any questions, please contact me via the email link in my profile to the right.
-EB
p.s. I found the video on YouTube, evidently uploaded by someone in Russia who felt like pirating the video gave them enough ownership to put their own logo over it. CroftNotes.ru had nothing to do with the making of "A Complicated Woman."
So, as I said above, it's a tough thing to make a motion comic, for a couple of reasons beyond semantics: 1) if you're too respectful of the material, as I feel was the case with the adaptation of the first issue of Watchmen, you wind up with something that's poorly paced and too limited in animation; and 2) it's easy to get too tied to the tropes of the medium you're trying to adapt, especially the word balloons. Both the Watchmen motion comic and MTV's adaptation of Invincible use the world balloons in conjunction with voiceover, despite the fact that having the characters speak obviates the need for the balloons themselves. It's a young medium, motion comics, and how you can adapt a comic into something less than full animation but more than an animatic, with a (presumably) limited budget and schedule is still being figured out.
But...
...if you'd like to see what I think is a good example of an early motion comic, I'd like to offer the following episode of the GameTap series Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider - "A Complicated Woman." Produced by me, written by Jim Lee and Christos Gage, designed and laid out by the fine Wildstorm crew of Carlos D'Anda, Michael Lopes, JJ Kirby, and Oliver Nome, with final animation by the San Francisco based studio Ghostbot.
We were not setting out to make a motion comic with this episode of Re\Visioned - the term had not yet been invented when we got started in mid-2007 - but in early talks, Wildstorm VP-General Manager Hank Kanalz and I (with the blessing of Re\Visioned series creator/GameTap VP Rick Sanchez and executive producer Chris Peeler) quickly arrived at a creative strategy that would play to Wildstorm's strengths as a comic book studio - we would make a living comic book, utilizing limited animation and great Wildstorm art. I think we arrived at a reasonable hybrid, still employing some of the tools of comics, such as visible sound effects, captions, panel borders, and dynamic posing, and marrying those to animation that was for the most part very limited, except for in a couple of action sequences which received a more fully animated treatment for greater impact. Is it perfect? No, but I do think this could provide a good road map for future attempts at motion comic creation.
And I'm available for just that sort of thing, by the way - if you have any questions, please contact me via the email link in my profile to the right.
-EB
p.s. I found the video on YouTube, evidently uploaded by someone in Russia who felt like pirating the video gave them enough ownership to put their own logo over it. CroftNotes.ru had nothing to do with the making of "A Complicated Woman."
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Good Comics Writing
We'll take a break from politics in order to turn to another obsession of mine: comic books. It's no secret that I like comics, and that I have strong opinions about what makes a good comic. So, as a writer, I've decided to discuss comics writing that I think is of exceptionally good quality, and fully embraces the strengths of the medium to tell compelling, gripping stories. First on that list is the outstanding Vertigo crime title Scalped, created by writer Jason Aaron and artist R.M. Guera.
I don't want to give away too much, because I think you should go and buy it, but Scalped takes place on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota plagued by unemployment and crime, and centers on a cast of characters led by Dashiell Bad Horse, son of a former radical who has returned to the rez after years away. Dash, who has some issues with anger and his mother, has taken a job with the Tribal Police at the behest of corrupt tribal chief Lincoln Red Crow. Chief Red Crow, meanwhile, has brought a casino to the rez in order to try and provide a better life for his people, but has gotten into bed with some nasty characters to make it happen.
Aaron and Guera have done a remarkable job bringing these characters, along with smaller supporting roles, to unique life; the dialogue rings true, the situations are compelling and dire, and the artwork provides firm ground for each character's desperation and regrets. The whole thing comes across as intensely cinematic - or, tv-matic, if you will - it would make a great HBO series. That said, don't wait for HBO - go out and buy the collected editions at your local comic shop. Really.
In the last issue to hit the shelves, #24, I came across a six panel sequence that, in my opinion, is one of the best uses of time I have ever seen in a comic. Time in comics is a funny thing, because, as Mark Waid puts it, "a comic story is made up of frozen moments. Screen stills. Snapshots." So how do you control time in a comic? The answer, at least in part, is through the use of space. The artist can break up a moment - say, someone reaching for a gun - into a bunch of panels, or just represent that action in a single panel. There are a lot of options for pacing, but ultimately, much of that control is ceded to the reader and his or her interpretation of what's on the page. So how does this apply the sequence I was referring to in Scalped #24? See below (click image for larger):
In these two pages, Chief Red Crow walks into a bar interrupting some bad guys doing some bad things on his reservation, and gets into a gunfight. I've labeled the panels A-F - now let's break down what's happening, and why I think this sequence is noteworthy:
Panel A - Take a look behind the short guy in the apron - laying on the bar is Dino Poor Bear.
Panel B - A clearer shot of Dino behind the bad guys, one of whom is telling Red Crow to put down his gun.
Panel C - This is where it gets really interesting. Left to right, three things are happening in a fraction of a second - the thuggish bad guy gets shot in the head; Dino starts to pick himself off the bar, and the short guy (Brass) reacts.
Panel D - The thug hasn't quite dropped to the ground yet; Dino is making his way off the bar; Brass dives for cover; and the other thug opens fire on Chief Red Crow.
Panel E - Chief Red Crow returns fire.
Panel F - Dino makes it off the bar and scrambles for cover, while the dead thug finally starts falling backwards.
What makes this sequence special, and unique to comics, is that it's happening quickly and in slow motion simultaneously - the beginning of the shootout is represented as if in the blink of an eye, but Dino, terribly wounded, seems to be moving in slow motion. It's virtuoso piece of comics writing, perfectly served by the art. So now that you're as impressed as I am, go out and buy Scalped - you'll be glad you did.
-EB
p.s. Long-time comics writer and editor Mark Waid is doing a weekly column on comics writing at John Rogers' Kung Fu Monkey blog, which you can find here. I highly recommend it.
I don't want to give away too much, because I think you should go and buy it, but Scalped takes place on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota plagued by unemployment and crime, and centers on a cast of characters led by Dashiell Bad Horse, son of a former radical who has returned to the rez after years away. Dash, who has some issues with anger and his mother, has taken a job with the Tribal Police at the behest of corrupt tribal chief Lincoln Red Crow. Chief Red Crow, meanwhile, has brought a casino to the rez in order to try and provide a better life for his people, but has gotten into bed with some nasty characters to make it happen.
Aaron and Guera have done a remarkable job bringing these characters, along with smaller supporting roles, to unique life; the dialogue rings true, the situations are compelling and dire, and the artwork provides firm ground for each character's desperation and regrets. The whole thing comes across as intensely cinematic - or, tv-matic, if you will - it would make a great HBO series. That said, don't wait for HBO - go out and buy the collected editions at your local comic shop. Really.
In the last issue to hit the shelves, #24, I came across a six panel sequence that, in my opinion, is one of the best uses of time I have ever seen in a comic. Time in comics is a funny thing, because, as Mark Waid puts it, "a comic story is made up of frozen moments. Screen stills. Snapshots." So how do you control time in a comic? The answer, at least in part, is through the use of space. The artist can break up a moment - say, someone reaching for a gun - into a bunch of panels, or just represent that action in a single panel. There are a lot of options for pacing, but ultimately, much of that control is ceded to the reader and his or her interpretation of what's on the page. So how does this apply the sequence I was referring to in Scalped #24? See below (click image for larger):
In these two pages, Chief Red Crow walks into a bar interrupting some bad guys doing some bad things on his reservation, and gets into a gunfight. I've labeled the panels A-F - now let's break down what's happening, and why I think this sequence is noteworthy:Panel A - Take a look behind the short guy in the apron - laying on the bar is Dino Poor Bear.
Panel B - A clearer shot of Dino behind the bad guys, one of whom is telling Red Crow to put down his gun.
Panel C - This is where it gets really interesting. Left to right, three things are happening in a fraction of a second - the thuggish bad guy gets shot in the head; Dino starts to pick himself off the bar, and the short guy (Brass) reacts.
Panel D - The thug hasn't quite dropped to the ground yet; Dino is making his way off the bar; Brass dives for cover; and the other thug opens fire on Chief Red Crow.
Panel E - Chief Red Crow returns fire.
Panel F - Dino makes it off the bar and scrambles for cover, while the dead thug finally starts falling backwards.
What makes this sequence special, and unique to comics, is that it's happening quickly and in slow motion simultaneously - the beginning of the shootout is represented as if in the blink of an eye, but Dino, terribly wounded, seems to be moving in slow motion. It's virtuoso piece of comics writing, perfectly served by the art. So now that you're as impressed as I am, go out and buy Scalped - you'll be glad you did.
-EB
p.s. Long-time comics writer and editor Mark Waid is doing a weekly column on comics writing at John Rogers' Kung Fu Monkey blog, which you can find here. I highly recommend it.
Hail to the Chief...
...he's the chief of all we hail too. (Photo swiped from the NYTimes)I really thought that was an outstanding speech by President Obama (I like typing that!) - he didn't shy away from the challenges that face us, he didn't shy away from challenging us as citizens to do our part, and he also didn't shy away from reminding us of that the tone of politics of the last eight years, by necessity, needs to change, and that it will change. No more politics of fear, no more wedge politics, and most importantly - transparency. He gets it, this President. He gets it.
In other news, it seems like Chief Justice Roberts biffed the oath of office for Obama - watching coverage of the luncheon up on the Hill, I saw President Obama greet Roberts, who very clearly said, "It was my fault." I bet he feels like a bit of a jackass.
-EB
Micro-Blogging the Inauguration
And now, presented in chronological order, my twitter posts from the inauguration. Hard to be deep in 140 characters or less:
I am just knocked out by the sheer number of people in D.C. for the inauguration. Fantastic.
I am just knocked out by the sheer number of people in D.C. for the inauguration. Fantastic.
I'm always amazed by the orderly transfer of power we have here in the U.S.
They just said it was 25 degrees in DC, but I wonder if all those people aren't raising the temperature. How's that for a deep thought?
I wonder if I'm going to make it through this without tearing up a little.
Here he comes! I wonder what's going through his mind right now. What a moment.
Okay, I'm watching this in my house, and felt compelled to stand up and clap. And I've already welled up a little.
I am very impressed by Aretha Franklin's hat.
It's noon. Obama is officially our new president, according to the Constitution.
That's the sound of a nation exhaling. Good luck and Godspeed, Mr. President.
Okay, the most touching thing I saw today was a little boy crying on the mall at the end of Obama's speech.
-EBThat was a fantastic speech. Our new president is the right man at the right time - he gets what needs to happen.
Twittering, Continued
I have just added a Twitter widget to the sidebar of the ol' blog - look to your right. Not my right, your right. Screen right. Now scroll down a little. Just below the "Links." That's it - you found it.
I am now so Web 2.0 it hurts.
Perhaps there's a salve for that?
-EB
I am now so Web 2.0 it hurts.
Perhaps there's a salve for that?
-EB
Monday, January 19, 2009
Really!
I'm going to get to that comics writing post spotlighting Jason Aaron's Scalped. Tomorrow, even. I shall dare to post about comics on Inauguration Day.
Quite possibly I will live-blog Obama's inaugural speech, as well.
-EB
Quite possibly I will live-blog Obama's inaugural speech, as well.
-EB
Sunday, January 18, 2009
While The Nation Celebrates...
A great day today on the National Mall, as the inaugural celebration for Barack Obama was kicked off with a fun two hour concert including performances by The Boss and a typically great U2. I think the best part, though, was when Bruce brought out folk legend Pete Seeger to sing "This Land is Your Land," which in many ways is what this whole election was about. Here it is if you didn't see it:
This is our land, our United States, and with President-elect Obama on the verge of taking office, I'd like to believe that we really can take it back now - starting with an explanation of how the first $350 billion of the TARP bailout has been spent, and why the investment of taxpayer money into the banking system hasn't resulted in increased lending (at least according to what I've been reading and hearing). But more than anything, we need an explanation of why the banks that have accepted bailout money are not required to disclose what they're doing with it. This from the New York Times:
"Individually, banks that received some of the first $350 billion from the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, have offered few public details about how they plan to spend the money, and they are not required to disclose what they do with it. But in conversations behind closed doors with investment analysts, some bankers have been candid about their intentions.
Most of the banks that received the money are far smaller than behemoths like Citigroup or Bank of America. A review of investor presentations and conference calls by executives of some two dozen banks around the country found that few cited lending as a priority. An overwhelming majority saw the bailout program as a no-strings-attached windfall that could be used to pay down debt, acquire other businesses or invest for the future."
Not required to disclose what they do with it. No-strings-attached windfall. That's unbelievable to me. How stupid is that? "Hey bankers who have messed up your own business with your corrupt and greedy lending practices, here's some free cash to fix the economy! Wink, wink! We trust you! Just don't go and do anything naughty with it. Or anything at all. It might be taxpayer money we've given you, but we don't feel like that buys us any say in your financial firms, okay?" Thank you, Bush administration. Thank you Hank Paulson. And perhaps a thank you to incoming Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who had something to do with the bailout as president of the New York Fed. It's my hope that now that TARP is your responsibility, you fix this. You and President-elect Obama have to.
Because this land is our land.
And that cash is our cash.
It's not the bank's cash.
It's the public's cash.
So that means they answer to you and me.
-EB
This is our land, our United States, and with President-elect Obama on the verge of taking office, I'd like to believe that we really can take it back now - starting with an explanation of how the first $350 billion of the TARP bailout has been spent, and why the investment of taxpayer money into the banking system hasn't resulted in increased lending (at least according to what I've been reading and hearing). But more than anything, we need an explanation of why the banks that have accepted bailout money are not required to disclose what they're doing with it. This from the New York Times:
"Individually, banks that received some of the first $350 billion from the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, have offered few public details about how they plan to spend the money, and they are not required to disclose what they do with it. But in conversations behind closed doors with investment analysts, some bankers have been candid about their intentions.
Most of the banks that received the money are far smaller than behemoths like Citigroup or Bank of America. A review of investor presentations and conference calls by executives of some two dozen banks around the country found that few cited lending as a priority. An overwhelming majority saw the bailout program as a no-strings-attached windfall that could be used to pay down debt, acquire other businesses or invest for the future."
Not required to disclose what they do with it. No-strings-attached windfall. That's unbelievable to me. How stupid is that? "Hey bankers who have messed up your own business with your corrupt and greedy lending practices, here's some free cash to fix the economy! Wink, wink! We trust you! Just don't go and do anything naughty with it. Or anything at all. It might be taxpayer money we've given you, but we don't feel like that buys us any say in your financial firms, okay?" Thank you, Bush administration. Thank you Hank Paulson. And perhaps a thank you to incoming Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who had something to do with the bailout as president of the New York Fed. It's my hope that now that TARP is your responsibility, you fix this. You and President-elect Obama have to.
Because this land is our land.
And that cash is our cash.
It's not the bank's cash.
It's the public's cash.
So that means they answer to you and me.
-EB
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Chimp in Lingerie
Found today in the birthday card section at Target. Is it me, or is putting a chimpanzee in a negligee for our own amusement cruel? Perhaps even worse, the card plays an annoying song when you open it. I'm all for monkey-based humor, but no chimp deserves to be debased like this.-EB
Friday, January 16, 2009
Memo to President-Elect Obama Re: New Cabinet Post
Dear Mr. President-Elect:I'm sure that you've heard - despite how busy you've been with things like the transition and trying to figure out how to save our faltering economy - that your issue of Amazing Spider-Man (#583, above) has been a runaway success, and that people were lining up at comics shops all over the country to get a copy of it to celebrate your inauguration.
We all know you're a comic book fan from way back, and that you collected Spider-Man and Conan comics as a kid, so I would like to propose a new cabinet-level post in your administration: Secretary of Comic Book Affairs, for which I humbly submit...myself. I was an ardent supporter of your candidacy, I'm something of an expert on the subject of comics, and perhaps most importantly, I'm between gigs, so I'm available to start immediately after what is sure to be a smooth confirmation hearing in the Senate. No Holder hardball or Geithner back-tax brouhaha here. Elliot Blake is squeaky clean.
So here's how it would work: every Wednesday (you and I and our fellow comic book devotees know it best as "New Comics Day"), right after your morning security briefing, I will provide you with a five-minute summary of the storylines of the week's comics, alerting you to your own appearances in books like Marvel's Thunderbolts #128 (here's a glimpse)...
...or Rob Liefeld's Youngblood #8:
I could also offer some useful counsel regarding these appearances, such as: "Look out for that Norman Osborn, sir! He's really a bad guy - one you've surely heard of as a Spider-Man fan - The Green Goblin!"; and, "We might want to limit your appearances in Rob Liefeld-drawn books, sir - there's a real possibility that you'll be rendered with tiny feet, excessively gritted teeth, and an overabundance of cross-hatching." Although, in fairness to Mr. Liefeld, I would also note that those complaints are practically cliché, and that he did a fine job drawing you from a photograph in the cover above. That's an example of how I would fit into your big-tent style of governance, by the way - I'm not much of Liefeld fan, but I am capable of pointing out decent work when I see it.Secretary of Comic Book Affairs, sir. Potentially a very valuable post, and I hope you'll consider it. I await your call.
Best regards,
Elliot Blake
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Update Overdue
There are several blog posts I have planned that I just have not had the time to get to. I'm going to have the time soon, but I have to take care of more pressing matters first. But here's an early look at one of the planned posts: it's about comics, it's about writing, it's about writing comics, and with an in-depth look a fantastically well done action sequence in Jason Aaron & R.M. Guera's Scalped.
There you go.
Hope to get to it soon.
-EB
There you go.
Hope to get to it soon.
-EB
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Twittering
Yeah, I've got a Twitter account. I don't know why, to be perfectly honest. I've got this here blog thang, and I've got the Facebook for my witty one-line status updates, and wisecracking about other people's updates, so do I need the Twitter? Probably not. How connected does one person need to be? But we're living in a Web 2.0 world, so here we are, with all these digital connection points.
Anyway, I bring it up because tonight I got an email alerting me that I had another follower on my Twitter account, which I had not updated since starting the account in September of last year - and the new follower of Elliot on Twitter is none other than one of my favorite bloggers, a guy named Dave Campbell, currently of The Society for the Advancement of Dave, and formerly of the comics blog Dave's Longbox, now dormant but still recommended if'n you're likin' the comics. Why he's following me on Twitter, I don't know, but it's certainly a pleasant surprise.
So now that I've got three followers - one of whom is my brother - I'm starting to feel a responsibility to update the Twitter periodically. I shall endeavour to do so. And when I spell "endeavour," I shall do so with the British "u." Because it's late in the evening and I'm feeling fancy.
-EB
Anyway, I bring it up because tonight I got an email alerting me that I had another follower on my Twitter account, which I had not updated since starting the account in September of last year - and the new follower of Elliot on Twitter is none other than one of my favorite bloggers, a guy named Dave Campbell, currently of The Society for the Advancement of Dave, and formerly of the comics blog Dave's Longbox, now dormant but still recommended if'n you're likin' the comics. Why he's following me on Twitter, I don't know, but it's certainly a pleasant surprise.
So now that I've got three followers - one of whom is my brother - I'm starting to feel a responsibility to update the Twitter periodically. I shall endeavour to do so. And when I spell "endeavour," I shall do so with the British "u." Because it's late in the evening and I'm feeling fancy.
-EB
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Is There a Beer Finer than Shiner?
I don't think there is. Which is why we here at elliotblake.blogspot.com have decided to officially endorse Shiner Beer as our everyday "Beer of Choice." A cold Shiner Bock, like the one pictured above, is refreshing, smooth, and most importantly, delicious. I'm getting thirsty as I type this. Haven't had a Shiner? What are you waiting for? Try one today!
-EB
(Shiner marketing folks, you can contact me about where to send my free Shiner - hint, hint - via the email link on my Blogger profile.)
Photo by James Prescott.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Wild Kingdom
We hung a bird feeder on the fence in our backyard, and while squirrels ate most of the apparently delicious nutty suet - mmm... nutty suet... - on one particular morning, we had about four different birds taking their turns going for the suet dregs, including a sparrow, some kind of finch (we think), and these two in the picture below:
Obviously, the red one is a cardinal, but we're stumped as to the species of the black and white bird. Is it a woodpecker? Anyone know? If you can identify the mystery bird, please leave a comment and let us know what it is, because we've been wondering. Seriously, it's keeping me awake at night.
Thanks!
-EB
(Clearly not Marlon Perkins. Or that Audobon guy.)
UPDATE! 1/8/08, 2:40pm
Thanks to Bart Hoffstein for identifying our mystery bird as a female Downy Woodpecker. Bart even included a link: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Downy_Woodpecker.html
Obviously, the red one is a cardinal, but we're stumped as to the species of the black and white bird. Is it a woodpecker? Anyone know? If you can identify the mystery bird, please leave a comment and let us know what it is, because we've been wondering. Seriously, it's keeping me awake at night.Thanks!
-EB
(Clearly not Marlon Perkins. Or that Audobon guy.)
UPDATE! 1/8/08, 2:40pm
Thanks to Bart Hoffstein for identifying our mystery bird as a female Downy Woodpecker. Bart even included a link: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Downy_Woodpecker.html
The Package
I'm writing a crime comic called "The Package" with the amazing illustrator Alexis Ziritt of Calavera Comics, who sent me some rough ads he mocked up before the holidays as a tune-up of sorts for diving into the art for the story. I thought I'd share them here:
To say I'm excited about this project would be a serious understatement. More on this to come.
-EB
To say I'm excited about this project would be a serious understatement. More on this to come.-EB
And Now for Something Completely Different
Poking around online today, I found a copy of a special promo I produced for the Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider series. Here it is:
&amp;amp;amp;<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">lt</span>;a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">href</span>="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&amp;amp;amp;amp;<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">playlist</span>=<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">videoByUuids</span>:<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">uuids</span>:2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">bdd</span>689e-3a94-4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">fe</span>3-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">ade</span>7-1<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">eb</span>539dc9239&amp;amp;amp;amp;<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">showPlaylist</span>=true&amp;amp;amp;amp;from=<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">msnvideo</span>" target="_new" title="<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">ReVisioned</span>: Tomb Raider - Mummy Promo"&amp;amp;amp;gt;Video: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">ReVisioned</span>: Tomb Raider - Mummy Promo&amp;amp;amp;<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">lt</span>;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;
Written by me, animated in CGI by D.C. Sayre, voiced by Jon Lipow. A version of this promo was awarded a 2008 Emmy for Outstanding Achievement, Television Spot Announcements Excellence by the Southeast Regional Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Written by me, animated in CGI by D.C. Sayre, voiced by Jon Lipow. A version of this promo was awarded a 2008 Emmy for Outstanding Achievement, Television Spot Announcements Excellence by the Southeast Regional Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
Gaza Follow-Up
Perhaps hearing the public outcry about the tenor of the media coverage towards Israel, CNN last night ran a vivid report from correspondent Nic Robertson during Anderson Cooper's live report from Israel, showing a rocket attack and its immediate aftermath from the point of view of Israelis living in the border town of Sderot. The report showed people waiting in a bomb shelter, waiting for the explosion, and their reaction when it went off. Chilling stuff. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Cooper himself did a report from an Israeli police station, showing a storage area where police have collected all the rockets that have fallen on Sderot since the conflict began. Also chilling. So at least there is some attempt being made to show the Israeli point of view on this. Points for Anderson Cooper.
-EB
-EB
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Gaza
Since the end of the election, I've pretty much stayed away from news, politics, and the like, and kept it light here at elliotblake.blogspot.com, but what's happening in Gaza right now between Israel and Hamas is really troubling, as is the coverage of the conflict.
First, the coverage, which is making Israel the villain in this untenable situation. Hamas broke a cease-fire agreement and started shooting rockets out of Gaza into Israel. What were the Israelis supposed to do? Not respond? What would we be doing if a radical group took over Tijuana and started firing mortars into San Diego? Just let it be? I don't think so. Israel was forced by Hamas to go into Gaza to put a stop to this, but if you look at the front page of the New York Times website, watch CNN or ABC, it's as if Israel just decided it would be a good idea to start something violent in Gaza. Are terrible things happening to innocent people who don't deserve to be in the line of fire? Yes! So where is the criticism of Hamas, for inviting this response with their rocket fire? Hamas has control of Gaza, Hamas is responsible for the safety and welfare of the people there, and they invited an invasion by the Israeli military, which seems to me to indicate that Hamas cares more about Hamas than about the people they are responsible for. (Which also makes me wonder why Hamas has any support at all from anyone; it seems like the nations that support Hamas - like Syria - hate Israel more than they like Palestinians, because if it were the other way around, they'd be doing something to help the Palestinians find a political solution to their problems; as it is, they seem content to just use the plight of the Palestinians as a reason to hate Israel.)
Second, the conflict itself: it seems like a zero-sum game for both sides. Israel gets painted the villains in the eyes of the rest of the world, for defending Israeli territory and people by trying to take out Hamas's ability to fire rockets at them, while Hamas makes a bad situation even worse for Palestinians living in the Gaza strip, and quite possibly gets destroyed in the process. Meanwhile, the fighting is causing a humanitarian disaster, wounding and killing children and noncombatants on both sides. I don't know if any Israeli children have died in this latest round of rocket attacks from within Gaza, but it's almost beside the point, because the death of any children, Palestinian or Israeli, due to warfare, is equally terrible.
I realize it's easy (and probably overly simplistic) for me to say this sitting in my comfortable house far away from where this is happening, easy for me to say this having never lived in a place where a rocket could kill me or my family at any given moment, but reasonable people on both sides - and I have to believe there are reasonable Palestinians and Israelis - have to stand up and say enough is enough, we can't live this way anymore, and find a real solution for peace that recognizes Israel isn't going anywhere, and that Palestinians need to have their own state so they can move on with their lives.
-EB
First, the coverage, which is making Israel the villain in this untenable situation. Hamas broke a cease-fire agreement and started shooting rockets out of Gaza into Israel. What were the Israelis supposed to do? Not respond? What would we be doing if a radical group took over Tijuana and started firing mortars into San Diego? Just let it be? I don't think so. Israel was forced by Hamas to go into Gaza to put a stop to this, but if you look at the front page of the New York Times website, watch CNN or ABC, it's as if Israel just decided it would be a good idea to start something violent in Gaza. Are terrible things happening to innocent people who don't deserve to be in the line of fire? Yes! So where is the criticism of Hamas, for inviting this response with their rocket fire? Hamas has control of Gaza, Hamas is responsible for the safety and welfare of the people there, and they invited an invasion by the Israeli military, which seems to me to indicate that Hamas cares more about Hamas than about the people they are responsible for. (Which also makes me wonder why Hamas has any support at all from anyone; it seems like the nations that support Hamas - like Syria - hate Israel more than they like Palestinians, because if it were the other way around, they'd be doing something to help the Palestinians find a political solution to their problems; as it is, they seem content to just use the plight of the Palestinians as a reason to hate Israel.)
Second, the conflict itself: it seems like a zero-sum game for both sides. Israel gets painted the villains in the eyes of the rest of the world, for defending Israeli territory and people by trying to take out Hamas's ability to fire rockets at them, while Hamas makes a bad situation even worse for Palestinians living in the Gaza strip, and quite possibly gets destroyed in the process. Meanwhile, the fighting is causing a humanitarian disaster, wounding and killing children and noncombatants on both sides. I don't know if any Israeli children have died in this latest round of rocket attacks from within Gaza, but it's almost beside the point, because the death of any children, Palestinian or Israeli, due to warfare, is equally terrible.
I realize it's easy (and probably overly simplistic) for me to say this sitting in my comfortable house far away from where this is happening, easy for me to say this having never lived in a place where a rocket could kill me or my family at any given moment, but reasonable people on both sides - and I have to believe there are reasonable Palestinians and Israelis - have to stand up and say enough is enough, we can't live this way anymore, and find a real solution for peace that recognizes Israel isn't going anywhere, and that Palestinians need to have their own state so they can move on with their lives.
-EB
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!
To the 282 visitors from 159 cities in 20 countries who have stopped by here to see what I have to say 877 times since I started watching traffic on September 30 of 2008 - you fantastic people know who you are - best wishes for 2009 from all of us here at elliotblake.blogspot.com.
Which would be me.
Elliot Blake.
Cheers,
EB
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