Haven’t felt much like blogging here this month. Things have been different what with the upcoming move. But now I have an interesting story to tell.

In the summer of 2006 I put my Cupacabra artwork up on deviantART, before I ever added it here. I guess you could say that it got pretty popular there, since there are a lot of people into that sort of artwork and my piece would come up as a search result when people are looking for chupacabra pics.

Anyway, a little over a month ago I got a comment from someone working for Latina Magazine, who was looking for artwork of a chupacabra for an article. So I was asked if it was ok for the magazine to publish the art and if I could provide a high resolution image for them. So, I figured why not? I sent the original artwork, and now that the issue has printed, they sent me a copy of the magazine. So, here it is.

Yep, it’s Latina Magazine all right. A magazine for Hispanic women. Not something that this Canadian fella would ever think about owning, but here it is. This is the December 2008/January 2009 issue. Hey, it’s Eva Mendes! Right on.

This is the page my artwork is on. Can you see it amidst everything else that’s going on? Yeah, it’s a tiny little spec on the left side. I was kind of expecting something a little bigger. Let’s take a closer look.

There it is along with a little blurb. Seemed like a lot of trouble for them to remove the background. Doesn’t really do the artwork any favors, since I had lighting effects in there, but whatever. I’m credited along the inside of the page with my website and dA account.

This sort of thing is not really what I ever expected to be my first taste of national publication, but it’s interesting all the same. I originally did this artwork for some other project that has probably never materialized for all I know, and I did it for free just for the experience. It’s good that someone else got some use out of it, and that it’s out there for the (latina) world to see. While I doubt that this is going to provide my career with the sort of boost I could really use right now, it’s cool all the same.

Besides, I got a free magazine with Eva Mendes on the cover. Score!

Latina Magazine: BIG TIME.

Sayonara.

I’m in the middle of a move so I’ve been busy packing up everything. And by everything I really mean my action figure collection. Packing up Transformers is a surprisingly time-consuming task. The room feels cold and empty without them.

I’m not taking everything with me, though. I’ve got a bunch of stuff on eBay right now, with more on the way. Including these:

Yep, almost all of my Marvel figures in one lot. More than 80 in all. They’re really cool, and I’ll miss having them, but it’s time to let someone else add them to their collection. A few other Marvel toys are up for auction too, as well as some Star Wars. The collection is getting trimmed.

Check out all of my auctions here and keep an eye on that page for more yet to come.

Sayonara.

Sorry folks, I just haven’t felt much like blogging these days. Everything is fine, I just feel more like playing Spore instead. I find it much more interesting than this regular, normal, boring Earth.

Did you know that here on Earth, there are no such things as two headed blue lizards with space ships? That’s ridiculous! But on the planet of Ninjapocalypse, they are the dominant species! They are known as the Ultimate Sykogriphik, and they are warriors on a galactic scale! They have a vast empire of planets, full of things like evil buildings, cool vehicles, and robotic dinosaurs. They mine spices of every colour imaginable, creating wealth beyond your wildest dreams. But if any aliens make them mad, or are just annoying, then the Ultimate Sykogriphik will simply destroy them. And they do all of this because I tell them too, for I am their creator!

I also made some Pineapples. I think they are nice.

Sayonara.

So, no blogs for awhile. I can explain.

In the post before the previous, I mentioned that my new Computer was giving me a lot of problems, and so I gave it the network name of “Nightmare“. Indeed, it was a nightmare to assemble and get to operate properly with the 64 bit edition of Windows Vista. I closed the post off by saying that maybe the Nightmare wouldn’t end.

Well, it didn’t end. Things just got worse and worse. My login profile got corrupted again somehow. If I wasn’t getting a “blue screen of death” with some vague error message, I was getting a blank black screen that didn’t do anything. I tried to fix it but eventually I was left with a machine that simply would not boot to Windows. I had enough of trying to work with this bloody beast, so I gave up. I didn’t touch it for a week. In that time, I hypothesized that perhaps if I tried using Windows XP instead of Vista, then maybe I’d have better luck. But traditional retail channels are no longer selling any flavors of Windows XP. Microsoft has forced the largely inferior Vista upon the world, and there’s little anyone can do about it.

Unless, of course, you’re willing to break a few rules.

I experimented with a version of Linux for a few days. It was interesting, though I didn’t know how to do anything in it and wasn’t really up to learning, so there was little point in keeping it. But in using it for that brief period I knew that there was nothing wrong with the computer itself. It didn’t do anything stupid like blank out for no reason while I was running Linux. So the problem must have been Windows Vista. My other, general usage machine has been running Windows XP virtually problem free for several years now, and I had even been running Spore on it just fine. So, I needed to at least try running the 64 bit version of XP for my new computer. With no easy way to buy it, a completely paid for but totally useless Vista install disk going to waste, and only a theory of what might work, I had no choice but to turn to the dark side (more so then usual, anyway). And when I did, I found, shall we say, a “torrent” of good news.

I am now running a pirated copy of Windows XP Professional 64-Bit Edition.
I don’t care who knows it.
My new computer is now running nearly flawlessly thus far.
I absolutely have zero remorse over resorting to these illegal tactics in this situation.
I will definitely do it again when I get a laptop.
And finally, Microsoft can go to Hell.
Aside from my printer and scanner not working (which is only a minor nuisance since I just hooked them up to my other computer instead), I haven’t really had any major problems. I can even leave the computer on without getting a blue screen! Amazing!

So, there we have it. A huge problem solved by the simple answer of piracy. It’s not like I wanted to pirate it, but after everything I went through, I feel entitled. Vista didn’t work, and I was fully willing to get a legitimate copy of Windows XP, but that couldn’t happen, so screw them.

Anyway, I’m back now. Maybe I can finally do some new artwork. But I will neither confirm nor deny whether or not I’m pirating Photoshop.

Sayonara.

Wow, been way too long since I’ve done this. Needless to say, I’ve been preoccupied.

I built a new computer. Got all sorts of awesome hardware for it. Quad core processor, 8 gigs of RAM, 2 500 gig hard drives, Blu Ray, and a fan that’s about as big as your head. So I put it together on Sunday, September 7th, thinking everything was going OK and that I’d be playing Spore till morning. What proceeded to happen over the week that followed was some of the most mind blowing insanity I’ve ever experienced. You can list all things that could potentially go wrong when putting together a new computer, pretty much all of them happened. As soon as one problem was addressed and fixed, something else cropped up and ruined everything all over again.

I’ll spare everyone the complete details, as it would just take too long to write everything. For the benefit of others who may wind up in my position, I’ll say this. The main culprit for my misery? WINDOWS VISTA. I can’t tell you how many Blue Screens of Death I’ve seen from this thing. Why did that happen so much? Who knows, but the only way I got it to install and run at all was first by pulling one of the hard drives (Vista couldn’t tell the difference between two blank drives, so it wouldn’t even install unless there was only one), then stripping the entire system to the bare minimum of hardware (one stick of ram), and then running Windows Update about a hundred times until there was nothing new left to install. Only then could I put all the hardware back in place and run it without any problems. This whole time I spent starring periodically at my Spore Galactic Edition box and lamenting “I just want to play this game! Why won’t anything work?”

And it did finally work fine, for a couple days. While playing Spore, it crashed. I reset the computer and when Vista restated it acted like this was the first time I had ever run it! Apparently my profile got corrupted. The only say to fix it was to delete it. In the process, I lost my Spore saved game. Damn.

Working with this new computer has been torture. I can not believe that so many things could go wrong, on after the other, in such a short period of time. I was an absolute nightmare. And so, that’s what I’m naming the machine as its local network identity: Nightmare.

The whole intention for this computer is to use it as my high powered art machine, and for video. I haven’t even attempted to do very much with it yet except play Spore. I’m worried about really getting into something, like a new piece of art, and feeling comfortable with it, only to then have some other problem appear and slap me in the face. Eventually I’ll have to more forward and try to work with this beast, but the threat will likely always be there. I’ll have to keep on my toes, because maybe the nightmare will never really end.

Sayonara.