Convention Crowds

I think there's something about going to a convention and being so wrapped up in activities that you barely ever sleep and then rush out of your hotel room to get to your first game neglecting to take care of personal hygiene. Gamer Funk is what I've heard it referred to, at least at the conventions I've attended, Gen Con and Origins. I'm not sure if it holds true for PAX or San Diego Comicon, since I haven't been to either yet. Hopefully both someday. I've heard the term Con Crud as well, but I think that's reserved for the sharing of germs between attendees.

For those attending PAX this weekend, I hope you have a blast! Maybe I'll see you there next year!

Face Your Fears

This is a stand alone post from my short lived first foray into web comics. It's a statement I think still holds up. Plus, it's got a tentacle in it and tentacles are always a pretty good thing...  Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

This past week Tabletop, the great web series from Wil Wheaton on Felicia Day's You Tube Network, did a review and gameplay video of Elder Sign. A pretty fun, if slightly difficult while you get used to what the various investigator abilities are, dice game from Fantasy Flight Games. It's also available as an iPad app.

OOooo Scary

click to enlarge

The title should be read in the voice of Count Floyd (Joe Flaherty) from SCTV. I really like the old EC comics. Recently Eerie and Creepy have begun to start up with new stories. So much fun to read.  I've been working on this gag for about a week so until I get my chops up to speed this style will probably be a rarity. Unless I come up with a bunch more gags and then I'll have to burn a little midnight oil.

I think some of my love of this style of comic derives from watching the Son of Svengoolie portrayed by Rich Koz. When he debuted in 1979 it was so much fun to watch the movies that I loved, b-movie monster fare, with a host that used (and still uses) humor to show how much he loves them too. In Berwyn, IL there's a horror shop called Horrorbles that carries a lot of his merchandise in addition to a TON of horror memorabilia. They have a series of shirts that feature the art of Basil Gogos who is famous for his "Famous Monster" magazine covers.  His use of color for what were black and white movies is pretty amazing. Great stuff and well worth checking out.

I just started posting my site to Reddit in addition to my facebook, Google +, and twitter feed. Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone gets a kick out of my sense of humor. It's been a lot of fun so far sharing the things I used to just keep in my sketch books.

Shotgun!

Another coffee comic. On a weekday basis I generally go with the free coffee at work, but occasionally I'll stop on the way in at Caribou for a Depth Charge or at Starbucks for a Red Eye. At home I treated myself to a Keurig, because generally when I was making a pot of coffee I'd have a cup or two leftover and felt like I was wasting the coffee I was making. I'm thinking about picking up a french press though. I used to have one and it make really good coffee but it broke and I replaced it with a free Mr. Coffee hand me sideways from a cousin.

Coffee wise, with the Keurig, I'm pretty impressed with the Green Mountain Co.'s Dark Magic, and Caribou's Obsidian. The Starbucks K-cups are good too, they're just a little bit cheaper since there are 2 less per box in comparison to the Green Mountain or Caribou.

When I grind my own though, I love Intelligensia! Their El Diablo is probably my favorite. I've heard that they recommend the Chemex style coffee maker and it does seem pretty cool, almost ceremonial in how you make it. I'm thinking though for myself, the french press has a similar "ceremony" but I won't have to invest in filters all the time. I will end up having to get a better grinder though as my electric one has a tendency to make the grain too small and it makes it's way through the mesh so I end up with a bit of mud in the last cup or two.

Mondays

Seems like most Monday's I start out feeling this way. I want to sleep in on the weekdays and get up super early on the weekends when it's my time. Seems crazy, but if I could just stay up for 72 hours from Friday through Sunday I'd be good. Guess that's why during the week it's best to get a good nights sleep.

I seem to get my best results sleeping soundly by reading till my eyes can't stay open, turning off the light and going to sleep. Unfortunately, I'm addicted to some of my comedy shows on my iPad, Louie C.K., Jim Gaffigan, and Aziz Ansari. Each of which are available for $5 DRM free from their respective sites. Louie started the concept and I think it's worked pretty well for all three, but I'm not sure. I think it works mainly if you've got a huge following and your 1000 true fans not only support you but are also way more than 1000. If you haven't checked out their concerts I highly recommend them. Jim Gaffigan is the most family friendly, with Aziz being next but not really and the Louie C.K. is hilarious and thought provoking but definitely crude in an amazingly spectacular phenomenal way.

Bring on the Monday coffee carafe!

Artists Block Editorial

Yep, I had a bit of an artist block this week. At least with regards to the theme. What it did make me remember though is that this blog is still evolving and probably always will be. I'm still going to be posting Monday through Friday, but instead of a weekly theme I'm just going to keep posting the best that I can come up with on any given weekday. Sometimes there will be a few that link together and sometimes, probably more often than not, they'll be all over the place. 

I will definitely say that I'll always do my best to produce the best quality piece I can each day. Occasionally there may be squiggly sketches, but hopefully that will be part of the design rather than because I've run short on time and need to post something to meet the daily deadline. 

Thanks for continuing to check out the blog and comics. Please share the ones you like with your friends. I'm having a blast. 

Happy Friday Everyone!

Store-Bought Job

I guess you have to buy your board from a store, but I guess what I mean is there's a big difference between one you'd get at Toy's R Us and one that you get at your local skate shop. So much customizing goes into a board that the off the shelf model can barely keep up with the custom ones in the graphics department much less performance. I just noticed that the one near me closed, which is a shame. I guess that's happening a lot lately with the hobby hangout spots. It happened with my game store, it's happened with knitting stores, and stained glass stores. I guess real estate prices and taxes couldn't get low enough fast enough for these small specialty shops. Seems like nowadays you have to have an internet presence and it has to be profitable first before you can open doors on a small specialty shop, unless you own the property. Leasing and renting doesn't seem to work anymore, at least around here near Chicago.

Brain Bomber

This one got me thinking about the brain power that a zombie needs and at first I thought, well a zombie wouldn't be able to do this really, but then I start to think about the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. One of the passages I especially like is,

“When people see some things as beautiful,

other things become ugly.

When people see some things as good,

other things become bad.

Being and non-being create each other.

Difficult and easy support each other.

Long and short define each other.

High and low depend on each other.

Before and after follow each other.

Therefore the Master

acts without doing anything

and teaches without saying anything.

Things arise and she lets them come;

things disappear and she lets them go.

She has but doesn't possess,

acts but doesn't expect.

When her work is done, she forgets it.

That is why it lasts forever.” 

― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

I think what this means with regards to a master skateboarder is that if they become a zombie, they'll still be able to skate for the "Master acts without doing anything"... I mean not many people have to think about breathing or walking so Tony Hawk probably doesn't have to think too much about skating. 

This passage can really apply to anything in life, once you master it you don't have to think about it anymore it just becomes a part of you. 

Blister

Writers block, I couldn't think what I should write about this little guy so I figured I should just start rambling and maybe it would come to me. The nice thing about going at writers block this way is that you keep on typing and listening to the voices in your head and all of sudden you look back and realize you've written almost a paragraph. Block destroyed.

In the background I was going a bit for the look of a pool. The Dew Tour has an event called the Bowl and is basically a perfectly designed swimming pool for skating sans the water but with all of the waves and smooth curves. I've seen skaters tackle a pool before, since that's kind of how the sport took off,  but I don't think I've ever seen it as an event. The other events I've seen are the half-pipe, which was my favorite, and the one I think might be called freestyle that is built to look like a variety of outdoor elements like park benches, quarter pipes, hills and rails. It's not that I don't like that event, but it just feels like a bit of a mish mash to me. The air that some of the athletes are able to achieve on the half-pipe event is part of what keeps me watching. I can't believe that someone not only throws themselves 20-30 feet up in the air but then decides it's a good time to spin around do flips before getting both feet back on the board and landing back on the pipe and then having their momentum carry them through the curve and back up into the air again. It's like some kind of roller coaster without seat or rails, that's got to be a blast right?

Master of the Faceplant

This weekend as I was brainstorming about what my theme would be this week and flipping channels, I came across the Mountain Dew Tour on NBC sports. I've always been a fan of these gravity defying athletes but unfortunately for myself my body is built like a gravity magnet. Even as a child I was constantly at battle with sidewalks and I don't think a week went by without a scab or two. I was so bruised up at points that my folks have said the family doctor at the time reported them to DCFS.

In grade school I had a skateboard that was plastic and was similar to this one here. Mine was new in the late 70s and I remember a slight incline (1-2 ft maybe) that I would glide down with occasional skips that would launch the board out in an opposite direction. About 7 or 8 years ago I picked up a longboard, thinking that a board designed for a slow even street surf experience would be doable for me. Nope, gravity is still a bit too strong.

Now if I were able to collect it would be for the art work so this week I'll be paying tribute to skateboarding and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Who even though he dealt in hot rods I think his style translates pretty well to the world of skating and the fact that his art is one of my influences doesn't exactly hurt. Don Martin's feet and the Muppets (especially the show) ooze out a bit from my subconscious too.

My one true faceplant experience actually happened when I was working at an ice rink. Working late a friend of mine and I were putting an early coat of water down before we started with the colors. A nice thin sheet of ice plus a bit of water makes for an incredibly slick surface and you can really slide a long way just in gym shoes. Well, my friend took a running start and he slid out from the Zamboni doors out almost to the goal box. I figured I could beat that easy, one thing being heavy has going for it is momentum, so I took a running start and really started flying across the ice. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL... then I decided to stop, with my FACE. So, now my eyebrow is gashed open, I'm bleeding out on the ice, and I have a head ache. The face plant surprised me so much that I was actually laughing. Deep down though, I felt awful enough that there was no way I'd be able to drive myself home. So, I decided to call my dad to see if he could pick me up. At the time the rink still had rotary dial phones. For the youngsters this meant I had to put my finger into a little hole with the number in it and rotate it around to a stopping point and let the dial reset. Until the point of making the phone call and having to dial home I thought that double vision and stars were something that only happened to the Coyote when an Anvil dropped on his head. I had to actually pick the number in the middle to make the call and it seemed to take forever. Thankfully, it wasn't too serious, though I probably should have gone to the doctor and it also might be one of the reasons I draw things the way I do. But, that could be due to football or rugby, maybe.

Be the Dragon

In role playing games and in life, sometimes it's good to be the dragon. I mean, lets admit it, dragons are bad asses. One, you can easily TPK a group of average PCs, two piles and piles of gold to sleep on, three armor plating (just watch out for thrushes), and four a built in oven roaster. You can't go wrong unless you start dealing in the various chromatic colors, who wants to breath chlorine gas or acid? Electricity wouldn't be bad  you'd never have to charge up your phone or tablets but you'd probably have to invest in a serious surge protector.

In real life, when going after goals, a dragon could be an unstoppable machine. Make that to do list and take it out with a breath of fiery energy.

A blog that I follow that has a lot of great tips for getting things done with a nerdy perspective is Nerd Fitness. Steve Kamb has done a great job linking up the things we love with how to apply them to our lives to get things done and live a more full-filling life. So, check out his blog I think you'll dig it as much as I do.

Happy Friday Everyone! BE THE DRAGON!

Dice Collections

Dice collections, we've all got them. I've always tended to go with Chessex for my dice they have an amazing selection and quite a few that are easy to read from across the table. Chessex seems to have a good handle on the plastic mix and how to make amazing multi-colored dice. Some companies though, are doing a great job with etching in additional designs on the faces besides just the numbers. Q-Workshop in particular have done an amazing job pushing the envelope on design while still keeping the numbers legible, though there are a few types that are almost impossible to see the numbers until you concentrate, they're still cool to look at.

For a time I went through a period, while playing the game Seventh Sea original John Wick version, where my d10s never seemed to roll well unless I didn't touch them at all. I used a dice cup and rolled them into a tray, both were from Chessex. Eventually I outgrew my superstition and just sucked it up when I rolled a 1 on a d20. Come to think of it, I think I stopped using the dice cup with D&D 3.0. Must have been the fate witches in Seventh Sea that got my hackles raised.

Tomorrow's post is something I've been working on all week, hope you like it as much as I do. Have a great Thursday!

Morlock Life

Morlocks, the socially awkward gamers. We've all been there at one time or another. You've mostly kept to yourself or a select group of friends talking about slaying beasts in a dungeon and relishing the clutch critical rolls. Then you attend a convention and what you thought was a small group of people turns out to be 40,000 people all playing the same games or similar and in your excitement you begin to share things... My half-demon-angel-barbarian-fighter! My Elfin Archer with the Bow of Beast Slaying! Do you remember that time I rolled that crit when half the party was unconscious or dying? Most of us are lucky enough to realize at a young age that those stories are best told with the group of people that were involved with the story in the first place.

Unfortunately, sometimes the Morlock reverts to it's true nature, consumes the flesh of some lowly eloi and destroys a conversation. Those of us that remember being that awkward youth tend to smile and nod, hoping for a quick end to the story we've heard and told ourselves hundreds of times. That's when you need a quick conversation turner. Have you seen the new game from (insert publisher name here)? Where'd you get that backpack? Would you be interested in buying some insurance? Or the ever popular, "Oh man (looks at non-existent watch), gotta run or I'll miss my game." Sometimes that tactic backfires and you have to do the quick, "Um, don't follow me I've gotta go burn a mule"

The image on the "cover" is a bit of a self-portrait. I still need to pick up a fez from Fez-o-rama. I've got my heart set on a few, the Flying Monkey and Sons of the Desert being my favorites. It's where Wil Wheaton and the Dungeon Bastard picked up their d20 fezzes from.

Hotel Rooms

One thing about big cons, including GenCon is the cost of hotel rooms. It seems like the cost has sky rocketed over the last few years. When I first started going to GenCon and being a low wage college student it was the norm to pile 6 to 8 people into a room to keep the costs down. Then working a full-time job and making a decent wage it seemed easy to take on 5 days at a hotel myself, now it seems like it's gotten to the point almost where there has to be 4-6 people in a room again. Actually this year I ended up cancelling my yearly trip when I realized it was going to be too tight.

So, no GenCon for me this year. Bummer, since I'll be missing friends that I haven't seen in a year at least. What this means to me though is that I need to channel my energy into generating some extra income so that next year I can pay the mortgage and afford a little R&R with friends. I'm trying to adapt some of the things I learned from reading the book, "The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way you Make a Living, Do What you Love, and Create a New Future" by Chris Guillebeau Chris has a great blog that mostly deals with travel hacking but also has some wonderful insight into starting a company on a small budget and blogging. Definitely check out his post titled, "279 days to Overnight Success"

I am Your Game Master

This piece was originally done as part of the Battle of Four Armies T-shirt. A Battle Interactive for the Living Arcanis Game Universe created by Paradigm Concepts. The concept behind it was that it would be for the GM volunteers running the games for those of us playing. Ultimately when it came down to cost it had to be incorporated into one shirt that included the three main factions from the lands of Milandir, Canceri, and Coryan and the faction that most except for I think 4 or 5 pcs that represented the Swords of Nier.

Battle of Four Armies Shirt

The +1 tickets in the tentacles were representative of bonuses that were purchased for charity and could be used to increase a die roll or re-roll a missed chance if multiples were used.

I've always envisioned the GM as an Elder God controlling this little center of their universe and vision. Their Tentacles outstretched tweaking the strands of fate. Even when we're not playing Cthulu there's always something that deserves a bit of unknown terror from the great beyond. I mean would you rather fight a large brown bear or a Giant Dire Bear it's green eyes glowing in the darkness casting light upon the purple ichor dripping from it's maw. 

The system I'm currently running at home is Pathfinder, sort of a D&D 3.75. It was easy for me to adapt my 3.5 D&D thinking to it and Paizo has done a phenomenal job at generating supplements. The campaign I'm running/adapting is the Kingmaker Pathfinder Adventure Path. So far it's been a blast and hopefully we'll be able to play a little more often once the summer Saturday bbq season is over. Though that means it's the start of NCAA football, the DVR is going to be getting a serious workout. 

I set up a store on Zazzle.com and made the Game Master shirt available to purchase. Buy one or several for your friends! Happy Monday!

Coffee can be your friend...

Happy Friday everyone! Bring on the weekend! Hope you all have a safe and happy one.

Next weeks theme will be games and of course... GENCON!

The Percolator

I guess I've been thinking about this one for awhile. I even had to add in my "background" from the late 80's with the mouse hole and electric outlet.

Cold Mornings

A sultry Dark Roast or a Viennese Blend perhaps. If the moods just right some  Intelligensia Black Cat Espresso would definitely be in order.

At the Office

I did something similar to this myself once at work when I neglected to replace the pot beneath the brewer. I filled up a drawer in addition to the puddle on the floor.

The Orange Topped Horror

And so begins my first theme week here on Crackpot Uglies. Coffee. 

Feels like some days it's the only thing that keeps me going in the morning. 

Happy Friday!

Hello everyone, welcome to and welcome back to the Crackpot Uglies. I hope you're enjoying the illustrations so far. I'm set on posting Mondays through Fridays and next week I'm hoping to start doing theme weeks. I've been seeing commercials for Shark Week on the Discovery Channel and GenCon is coming up in about a week and a half. GenCon week will definitely be about games, next week I'm toying with coffee. My only qualm about coffee is that I feel like I could theme every other week about coffee. Maybe I'll get into the coffee minutia like french-press or espresso. Anyway, I'm having fun sharing what used to be just doodles in the sketchbook with you all. Hope you're having fun checking them out as well.

Happy Friday! May you all have a safe and happy weekend!
Joe

Diet Saboteur

Friday brings on the weekend when our diets have a tendency to get thrown by the wayside. Don't give into the Cupcakes of Destruction. They are pretty good though... and it is the weekend... maybe just one?

This is a piece I originally did for a game convention in 2005 that was called, "Fall Into Gaming." I had a copy without the original text and thought it still held up pretty well so I added in some new text. Keep on gaming.

Jedi Pranks

Obviously not an original character, but after 800 years you've got to believe

Master Yoda developed a classic sense of humor.