Look!

It’s… a box!
Ok, that isn’t very exciting in and of itself.

Perhaps if we open the box?

Hmmm… I think I see a familiar logo, but it is a bit obscured. Let’s clear that up.

OH!!!!

CINTIQ!!! YEAH!!!!!!

Yeah, that’s right. I now have a Wacom Cintiq 12WSX. I can draw directly on a screen. I am now like the God of a new world.

And here it is in action. I got a screen protector for it too, because I’m not stupid.

I have only had it for a few days and have just been toying around while I become accustomed to using it. So far, using it has been a pretty amazing feeling. This could both change my life and save my wrist. Drawing and painting with it is much more intuitive, and there is less strain on my hand. The downside is that there are is a difference between the color settings on my regular monitor as opposed to the Cintiq. This is something I will have to fix, probably with an external device. I also need a cable and adaptor to plug it into my laptop. Once all that’s taken care of, everything should be just about perfect. And all I had to do to afford it was teach drawing to some of the most ungrateful brats I’ve ever encountered. It’s been a tough year and I figured I deserved to get something I’ve wanted for a long time.

Of course, a Cintiq, like anything, is just a tool. Its not going to suddenly give me a lot of new skills or anything. So, those of you who don’t like my artwork, you’re probably still not going to like it. But I doubt that will ever change anyway, and I still consider myself the God of a new world regardless.

Perhaps if I draw something now, it will come to life?

Sayonara.

I saw Watchmen last weekend.

Ha ha.

In all seriousness, it was a good movie. I have not read the book. I meant to read it when I knew the movie was coming out, but never got around to obtaining a copy. But, the bright side is that I went into it fresh without really knowing what to expect. I understood that the ending was a little different and there were a few other minor differences, but that for the most part it was reported to be a faithful adaptation of the book.

It certainly wasn’t a rollicking adventure like an X-Men movie. It was a dark, challenging, dramatic mystery with lots of twists and turns. I quite enjoyed the historical references. It was a movie that you need to pay attention to and figure out what you were looking at and how it relates to the overall story. It was also pretty visceral and had some shocking images. This didn’t offend me but some some people seem upset by that. They should get over it.

The reviews on this movie have been pretty mixed all around. Some people found the movie confusing and say that being so faithful to the graphic novel was a bad move because only people who have read it will know what’s going on. I say those people are morons because I could follow it just fine and I haven’t read it. But, no matter what people think right now, I believe that in years to come, Watchmen will be one of the most talked about films in modern history, just as the book is in the world of comics. There’s just so much to look at, and it all has meaning. Students are going to be doing school projects about this movie some day. Plus, Rorschach is destined to go down as one of the all time greatest film characters. He’s just that awesome, and even if you hate the movie, you’ll probably like him.

Anyway, if you have not seen it, I urge you to at least give it a chance, and don’t feel bad about it if you didn’t like it at first viewing. It’s very important that movies like this become big success stories. If it just fades away over the next few weeks, the the people in Hollywood who make decisions are going to want to make changes and dumb things down to make movies more marketable, thus stripping away their artistic integrity. I, personally, want to see more intelligent movies that have the guts to be what they are without compromise, and that are accurate to their source material. That’s what Watchmen is.

So go see it. And if you already have, go see it again or something.

As for me, I should probably go buy the book some day.

Sayonara.

On Friday I saw Kevin Smith do a Q&A session in Toronto. It was a fun time. Not as great as that first “An Evening With” DVD that has the Superman story, but a fun experience none the less. A really funny moment was when he went on and on about how much he loves Canada and Wayne Gretzky.

There were some really stupid questions asked by the audience though, and unfortunatly I think he encourages that because he spends a lot of time saying funny/stupid things with each one. I wish he would have just talked about movies more.

It was fun, and a very interesting experience, but nothing can top that Superman story.

Sayonara.

Today I bought the Bluray version of “Hulk VS“, the new animated movie from Marvel. It’s comprised of two short films, Hulk VS Wolverine and Hulk VS Thor. I enjoyed them both very much. The animation was cool and both stories each had their own unique tone. Of course, if you’ve been following the project then you know that the main reason to watch it isn’t to see Hulk, or Wolverine, or Thor. It’s to see Deadpool! And yeah, he’s pretty awesome. So, Hulk VS gets a thumbs up from me.

I like Hulk has a character, but my view of him is forever tainted. Towards the end of December of 2007, there was a big family get-together and I was hanging out with my cousins, some of whom are quite young. One of them, a 5 year old boy genius, was talking to me and said something about “Hoak“. I was like “Hoak? Who is Hoak? What is Hoak?” and he said “Incredible Hoak!” I laughed so hard. That, for some reason, amused me to no end. I know, that’s just how kids talk, but I honestly had no idea he was trying to say “Hulk“. So we all had him telling us stories about “Incredible Hoak”. I guess you just had to be there. But a few months later I would be reminded of this almost everyday, when the Incredible Hulk movie came to theaters. Every time I saw a commercial for it, I would be reminded of “Hoak” and start laughing. I liked that movie too. But somehow I think the adventures of the “Incredible Hoak” might be more entertaining than anything.

Sayonara.

So, this came in the mail for me on Monday.

Oh yeah. What we have right here, is an Acer Aspire 8930G. It’s got a full HD 18.4 inch display, 5.1 surround sound, Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics card, and BluRay. As far as laptops go, it’s a powerhouse. And, best of all, it’s black and blue. You know how I like my black and blue.

I’ve been after a laptop for several months now, and Acer’s Gemstone Blue range caught my eye the most. So I saved my scratch, and luckily enough, I about had enough when I saw this new model for sale online. So now I can use Photoshop, play Spore, or watch Clone Wars and Afro Samurai anywhere I want. Well, that is, I will be able to once I find a case that this monster can fit inside.

I think it gets energy from eating other laptops.

Here’s my office right now. Triple impact screenanation!

Oh, but I’m not stopping there. The next mission of acquisition is confirmed. Cintiq, baby!

Sayonara.