Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Limonciello - Here we go...

Step One - Peel The Lemons


You can use a peeler or knife to slice the peels away into any sizes pieces you want, but I find it easier to cut the lemons into quarters first and then scoop out the fruit leaving just the peels.

Step Two - Fill The Jar


Once you've peeled all ten lemons, place the peels in the mason jar and open your bottle of grain alcohol.

Step Three - Adding the Hooch


Now pour the contents of the bottle of grain into the jar and over the peels so that they now soak in the alcohol.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Chesterfest Limonciello - The Ingredients

For anyone who wants to join in the fun, here's what you'll need to make your own Limonciello...


10 Fresh Lemons
One Bottle of Grain Alcohol
One Mason Jar
700 Grams of Sugar
One Liter of Water


Graves Grain Alcohol! The name says it all. 190 proof?! I honestly don't think I've bought grain alcohol since high school when we used to dare each other to do straight shots as it was supposed to make you go blind. What the hell were we thinking?! You know that clip that's been going around the internet of the kid who sets his face on fire doing a flaming shot and dunks his head in the toilet? Well I saw that live before my eyes a few times about 17 years ago courtesy of this stuff! Ah, the good old days...

Going, Going, Gone...

On our trip to the Amalfi Coast in Italy, Mutsumi and I were treated nightly to Limonciello, a strong local liquor made from the large lemons that grew in the area. It was served after every meal, and was quite tasty but stong as hell. We couldn't leave Italy without it and brought two bottles of Il Limoncello Di Masaniello back with us.


I usually don't keep liquor in the house, but for this stuff we made an exception. And now, slowly but surely, meal after meal, our Limonciello reserves have dwindled. We now find ourselves with only about half a bottle left, less than what you see in this picture.


So two weekends ago when I was back at my parents' home in CT, their neighbor Vinny Bassani drops by for a visit. (Long time readers will remember how fondly I speak of Mrs. Bassani's lasagna.) We get to talking about Italy and Limonciello comes up. I tell him our tale of woe about our supply soon running dry, and he asks very matter-of-factly in his smooth Italian accent, "Why don't you just make it yourself?" I must have let out an audible "Wha.. huh?" because he quickly followed that up with, "It's easy, let me tell you the recipe." And he did.

Now I've thrown my fair share of parties, consumed copious amounts of beer and liquor, and mixed plenty of drinks over the years, but I'm getting into new territory here now. So over the course of the next two weeks, I'll be documenting my first attempt at making an actual alcoholic beverage here on Chesterfest.

Everybody Loves Runaways!

EW baby!!

Congrats to Brian, Adrian, Craig, Takeshi, Christina, Randy, Jo and Mac!

Monday, August 29, 2005

One Man Army Club?

We went to this club called The Next Level at The Docks in Toronto and the hand stamp you got at the door looked like this:

If I didn't know any better, I'd say DC sponsored the event. We kept looking down at our hands all night thinking "OMAC is watching!"

Like Peanut Butter and Chocolate


Star Wars and Naruto... two great sets of characters that look so good together!

The Sith vs. ninja?! I see a dojinishi in the making here! The story would just write itself.

Frodo and Fatty


From the mouse of Nick Lowe...

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Frodo in Chesterfest

In Toronto on Saturday, I finished a nice lunch and was heading back to the con as I had a panel to do. I wanted to stop by and see Skottie and Josh and get my bag before going to the panel as I wanted to take a few pictures at it to post here. But I got waylayed on the con floor and decided to go right to the panel instead as I figured there wouldn't really be anything exciting to take pictures of anyway. My mistake...

When the panel wrapped up, I went back to the VIP room to use the washroom (as they say in Canada) and grab some water. And no sooner do I walk in than the show's organizer Aman grabs me and tells me there's someone he'd like me to meet. He leads me over to this kid playing a guitar and says, "Elijah, I'd like you to meet my friend C.B."

And Frodo Baggins himself looked up from the guitar. It was Elijah Wood!

He put down the guitar, shook my hand and introduced himself. Then he asked what I do and we got into a nice conversation about comics and movies. I haven't met many celebrities in my life, but Elijah was such and honest and cool guy. No ego whatsoever, just a normal dude hanging out at a show, complaining about how much money he spent buying stuff and worried about how he was going to get it all home with him. He even asked if I could get him a job wiritng comics if his movie career ended up not going anywhere. I told him I didn't think he had to worry about that happening.

I then geeked out a little and told him I would love to get a picture with him, but that I just had to run up and grab my camera. (Arrgghh!! If only I went to get it before going to the panel!) He said he had to run but could hang out and wait a few minutes. I fought my way through the fans, got my backpack and rushed back downstairs, but to no avail. He'd just jumped in a limo and jetted. Oh, well... I'm going to see if Nick Lowe can't work his Photoshop magic and get a pic done up of me and Frodo for you all.

Oh, and as I met Sean Astin about a year ago (that's a story I'll save for a rainy day for you), I've decided one of my new goals in life is to try and meet all the hobbits from Lord of The Rings. With Frodo and Samwise now down, I have Merry, Pippin and Bilbo to go. Anyone got any phone numbers or addresses?

Con FYI

Now most people who read this blog have been to a comic con and understand the world I work and play in. But I'm slowly finding out that some of the readers here don't know what goes on at these kinds of events. It's not all comics and artists as one might suspect. These days, more and more media stars from genre TV shows are showing up and selling pictures and signing autographs, just like Johnny Drama and his Viking Quest signing on Entourage. ("Victory!!") So I snapped a few pics of some of the "stars" who showed up at the Toronto con for you to check out.


Margot Kidder, Lois Lane from the Superman movies


Back to the Future's George McFly, Crispin Glover


Marina Sirtis, Star Trek's Counselor Deanna Troy


Erica Durance, Lois Lane from the Smallville TV series
(Having met her, I don't know how she passes for a teenager. She's a beautiful woman, don't get me wrong, but she looks a lot older in person.)


And Grace Park, from that last Star Trek series no one watched

No Smoking... Or Else!

I wish we had warning labels like these on our cigarettes in the States...

Now this one is pretty direct:



But I think this one sends a better message:

Friday, August 26, 2005

Sit-In Protests



Neither Clyde or Lotto wanted me to leave for Toronto today so they staged a sit-in (sleep-in?) protest in my suitcase.

Yes, I lied. I did indeed mention that Chicago was the end of my con season, but here I am at the Canadian National Comic Book Expo in Toronto. However, this con is always more fun than work as Aman is always kind enough to invite me up as a guest to speak on panels and do portfolio reviews every year. It's much more relaxed, and often a lot more fun, than a lot of the other cons I attend every year. This show also draws cool media guests, and in the past I've found myself drinking beers and doing shots with people like Mini-Me, Billy Dee Williams, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, some of the Buffy hotties, and even Lieutenant Uhura from teh original Star Trek. Elijah Wood is here this year so maybe me and Frodo can share some hobbit ale. Who knows?

Whatever happens, Finch, McNiven, Bagley, Takeshi, Skottie, Middelton and a whole bunch of other friends are all here, so we're guaranteed a good time! (But not too good a time, Mutsumi. I promise!)

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Bobby Flay Who?


It's obvious from looking at me that I enjoy a good meal. What many people don't know is that I also like to cook. However, as most of my specialties are of the meat variety and my recipes call for lots of butter, oil, garlic and hot sauce, Mutsumi prefers I stay out of the kitchen and leave the cooking to her. But to help wrap up my "food finds" weekend, I jumped in on the ol' BBQ and roasted up a meal for the family. The main course... lamb!!

We found lamb was actually cheaper in CT than it is here in NYC, so we bought quite a bit, as you can see. (That's for six people!) I marinated it the night before in extra virgin olive oil, ground black pepper, canned diced garlic and fresh chopped garlic. It sat for about 18 hours, letting the oil and spices sink in. Then all I did was grab the tongs and drop the meat on the grill. One thing to keep in mind though is that it's a shame to let the extra marinade go waste. There's a lot of flavor in it and you don't want to just throw it out. So what I recommend doing, as seen here, is slicing a few peppers in half and filling them with the leftover marinade as you grill. They end up quite tasty!

And just so you have the full menu, the lamb was accompanied by fresh corn on the cob, salad with a lemon-mustard dressing Mutsumi made, and a side of Tabasco-infused mac and chesse that Erika whipped up.

Those Crazy Swedes!

Regular readers of my ramblings here have probably figured out that I'm part Swedish. For those that didn't know, well, I am. My mother's "right off the boat" as they like to say, having moved here from Sweden over 40 years ago. So I grew up with a lot of Swedish in my life. (Not many bikini teams dropped in though, unfortunately.)

When we were younger, we used to get together with a tight knit group of Swedish friends and have parties and celebrate holidays and things. As we kids got older and moved away, these gatherings became less and less frequent. However, one tradition remained, the annual crayfish party! Every summer all the families and as many of the kids as possible would all get back together in Fairfield, CT at the same home to catch up, drink and eat... lobster. (See, it used to be crayfish, as per Swedish tradition, but there's not enough meat on those suckers, so it was changed to lobsters years back.) This year was no different, and last Saturday the party was held and my gourmet weekend continued. It was a Swedish feast with herring and meatballs and Johnson's Temptation and breads and cheeses, and even more of my mom's special cookies! And of course there were lobsters...



And what kind of party would it be without drinking?



That's me, my sister, Erika, and my brother, Roman.

And more drinking, with even my dad joining in...

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Clyde Is Watching!

Chesterfest meets Oysterfest

After AQUAVIT, we headed back to CT to hang with my parents and just chill in the country. That evening's dinner was had at the Connecticut-only, king of fast food chains: DUCHESS. If you've never had Duchess before, I suggest you get in your car and head to Connecticut now. You don't know what you're missing! The chicken sandwiches, chili cheese dogs and double cheeseburgers with fried onions cannot be passed up! Their food is backed by the Cebulski family money-back guarantee!

We got up bright and early the next morning and skipped breakfast before running a few errands because we knew we needed our appetites later that afternoon as we would be eating our fill at the Milford Oyster Festival!

We began with a few cold brews as we got the lay of land then started with some friend clams stips and a dozen clams on the half-shell. This was all a warm-up to keep us heldover as we waited for the fresh oysters. It was a long line but well worth the wait. 10 different kinds of oysters to choose from, opened right in front of you. One dollar per oyster, take as many as you like. Mutsumi and I went to town and filled up with a two of each variety.



And those twenty slowly but surely disappeared!

Feed A Cold

Ever since I got back from Wizard World Chicago a few eeks back, I've had this summer cold that just won't go away. It sucks. So this past weekend, I decided to live by the old adage "Feed a cold, starve a fever" and with the help of my family, I went on a bit of a food binge and splurged on some good eating. Given my size, it's not like I needed to stuff my face with gourmet treats, but I love to eat and thoroughly enjoyed myself!

The weekend started with a wonderful meal at AQUAVIT in NYC. It's a Scandanavian restaurant run by Marcus Samuelson and I highly recommend it. One of my brother's best buds is a PR guy for celebrity chefs and he reps Marcus, so he booked us a great table and hooked us up.

We started with an assortment of herring...



Moved on to some gravlax...



And then went on to a main course of crayfish.



In between the dishes (but not pictured) we had an amazing trout roast in a garlic/apple soup, swedish meatballs, a fantastic baked salmon, and plenty of beer and aquavit to wash it all down!

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Recommended Comic!


Sometimes you read a comic that, once you've finished it, you put down and just go, "Wow! That was a great read!" I just had one of those moments. I read the Ultimate Spider-Man Annual and truly believe it's one of the best comics I've read this year. Granted I have a natural affinity for these characters as I worked in the Ulitmate office for three years, but this is one of the first Ult, spidey comics I had not read the scripts for that I was reading cold for the first time in its published format. This comic is so worth it. Bendis nails the characters and the tender teen moments and makes us remember what it's like to have a crush again. Thanks, Brian!

Monday, August 22, 2005

Crazy Japanese Item of the Week

Taking ergonomics to the next level...



Thanks to UDON's Erik Ko for pointing this one out to me.

Friday, August 19, 2005

DRAIN - Chinatsu's History

As told in Sana's newest double-page spread...

An Eyeopener - Part Three

I've always written for myself, kept journals and notebooks and diaries and such. I always got As in English and Creative Writing in school. It came naturally. I never took it seriously as a profession until two things happened to me within a year of each other.

The Ties That Bind

Cliché as it sounds, I had a summer that changed my life. Really. It was literally one of those special times you never forget, where you stop and look around and realize how fun and special and exciting your life is and how much you want to continue enjoying each and every day. When you see your friends and the girls and the cars and the booze and the sex and the laughter (and the comics!), and you just know that all these experiences are all combining to form the whole of the real person that you’re slowly becoming. That it’s all becoming a part of who you are. The circumstances that surrounded me that summer were just too unreal to be believed and too amazing not to be shared. The cast of characters that came in and out of my life during that three month period was the most unique and interesting collection of people ever gathered in close proximity to each other. I knew it had to be written down and remembered, and I vowed that someday my summer of 1990 would be immortalized in print.

The Man From Medford

I worked at a comic book store to help support myself through college. Five dollars cash/ five dollars credit an hour. It was a great job for someone like me whose only expenses were mainly comics and beer anyway. Twenty hours a week and I had $100 for funny books and $100 for brew. Life was good.

It was also though the shop, the Magic Dragon, that I started hanging out with “townies”. Most of the kids at my school hung out with the other “who’s dad’s got more money, wish they had gotten into an Ivy League school” pricks that infested the campus. They didn’t like to associate with the actual people who lived and worked in the town. Didn’t bother me though. Way I looked it, I was a kind of a townie back home in Fairfield where I hung out anyway, so we got a long just fine.

Two of my best friends at the time were a pair of local brothers whose dad was a hard-living, hard-drinking Irishman from Southie in Boston. Think Good Will Hunting. He was older, retired and settled down at this point, but he was still a no bullshit kind of guy. To this day I still have nothing but respect for the man. Anyway, we used to hang at their house, drink beer and play cards and whatnot, and the dad, Mr. M, would always join us. He’d sit around and tell stories and we’d all laugh and enjoy hearing the tales of his youth. We’d then always try to one up him by regaling him with wild tales of our “misspent youths”, trying to prove things were just as “hardcore” now as they were back in the day. Naturally, most of my stories were about the past summer I’d just lived through. Mr. M would laugh and swig his beer and deal another hand and I always assumed my stories went in one ear and out the other. Until one memorable afternoon, that is…

We were all in their living room, just talking and drinking and bullshitting one weekend . There was a brief pause in conversation and that’s when Mr. M just stood up, pointed his cane at me and said, “I want to talk to you.” After a few confused looks between me and my friends, he went and grabbed two fresh Buds from the fridge and I followed him out to the back porch. We sat there in silence for a bit as he opened the beers, handed me one, and took a long drag off his. He put the beer down, pointed his cane at me again and said, “Do you know what you’re gonna do with yer life?”. And before it even hit me he was asking a rhetorical question, he followed up with, “Well, I’m gonna tell you what you should do.” Then he told me the following, which I still remember clear as day:

“You should write a book. That’s what you gotta do. You’ve gotta write down all those stories you tell. You remind me of me, you’re still young but you’ve seen and done more than most in your life already. Don’t waste it. It’d be a shame if everything you’ve told us is never told to anyone else. Do something with it. And I want the first copy.”

So that’s what I did. That was the kick in the ass I needed. I wrote it all down. And now all 648 pages sit somewhere in my parents basement, untouched for over ten years, just waiting to be dusted off. The story remains unfinished, you see, as the final piece needed to complete it, a eulogy I wrote for a friend's funeral that ended that summer, remains missing to this day. That search continues...

Hopefully Mr. M will have his copy soon.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Aeon Flux

Apple.com has the AEON FLUX trailer up, and I gotta say, it looks pretty cool.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/aeon_flux/large.html

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

An Eyeopener - Part Two

"A Question of Time"

(Phew, I panicked for second there because I couldn't find any Depeche Mode on my iTunes. Got it now!)

I have ideas falling out of my head. I can't get them down on paper or type them out on this keyboard fast enough. I have to carry a pad with me everywhere I go. I sleep with a pen and notebook by the bed. Ever since I put the burden of a full-time job behind me, it's like my mind has opened up and stories, characters, plots, dialogue, jokes, situations... it's all come pouring out.

Forget writer's block, my worry now is "How the hell am I supposed to write all this stuff?"

Comics. Screenplays. Books. I just have to start getting it all down in one format or another. I used to think I'd never have the outlets to get my writing read or seen. Now I just have to figure out what medium to put it down in and what I should work on first. It's an amazing feeling on one hand, but incredibly frustrating on the other.

Fall Movies

Taking a break from a script, I just read EW's Fall Movie Preview and then checked out a few trailers online. The summer movie season may have sucked balls, but it looks like we have an amazing autumn ahead of us. My picks:

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang - Shane Black is back and it looks like he has not skipped a beat!

Domino - Word has it the Richard Kelly script is amazing and the trailer really kicks ass. Classic Walken!

Thumbsucker - A great ensemble cast in one of those quirky coming-of-age movies I love so much.

An Unfinished Life - Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman, you can't go wrong. I'll cry.

Shopgirl - One I would have skipped if I didn't see the trailer. Love Steve Martin and the dialogue is pretty witty.

Revolver - Another Guy Ritchie British mob movie, which always entertain.

And then there are of course the bigger movies (aka "fanboy films") that go without saying: Corpse Bride, Elizabethtown, Serenity, Aeon Flux, V for Vendetta, Narnia and King Kong. Should be a fun time at the theaters!

An Eyeopener - Part One

So I find myself with my writer's cap on again. And I'm not just talking about this blog. After three months of self-imposed unemployment and vacationing, I've come to the conclusion that I've been away from comics for too long. I've decided to get back in by returning to my first love... writing. And I could not be happier.

Before I joined Marvel full-time as a editor back in 2001, I was making my living putting pen to paper, so to speak. I was adapting and rewriting manga and anime scripts and stretching my wings into more creative areas. After writing a few independent titles, a couple Star Wars stories for Dark Horse, and selling some ideas to Marvel, I had my foot in a door that was only opening wider. But when Marvel came knocking for my editorial services, I put that part of my comic career on hold for a steady paycheck and the opportunity to work across the entire Marvel line.

I think the best piece of advice I heard when I went from being a writer to an editor was from Diana Schutz. She was commenting on how writers sometimes make the worst editors because they're too creative, that they always want to add their own opinions and ideas and infuse the stories they're editing with their own personal flairs. She concluded that editors had to be able to remove themselves from the stories on a creative/personal level and force themselves to be objective and not try to leave their mark on someone else's work. It made perfect sense to me and was something I always remembered and made myself to do over the years.

Now I'm trying to come up with some advice for myself in this new situation, from the positon of an ex-editor going back to being a writer again. As I sit down to write scripts, I'm finding myself a little too... emotionally detached, for lack of a better word. I find myself being too overly critical of my words and storytelling choices. I'm second guessing myself about creative decisions I'm making in MY OWN BOOKS. Crazy, isn't it?

So there's a balance that has to be achieved that I'm desperately searching for. I need to force myself to get personally involved in my own stories again. Am I making any sense?

I know what I want to do with my work. I have the ideas. I have the beats and visuals all worked out in my head. I just have to let myself go and start writing from the heart again.

Monday, August 15, 2005

LITG Traffic

Ha! The day that Rich Johnston finally decides to link to my blog is the day I decide to do some family heavy posting. So now all kinds of comic fans are being directed here only to be thrilled by the adventures of my cat's puking, my mom's cookies and me barbequing in the rain. Guess I can say good-bye to repeat visitiors. :)

Random Comic Thoughts

A sampling of my weekend reading...

Punisher 19-24 - This is the best Punisher has been in years! A simply amazing arc that started with an idea I'm surprised no on had ever thought of and just took off from there. Read this book!

Fables - This series continues to get better month after month. Consisently one of the best books on the stands. I put every issue down and go "Wow!"

Batman; War Crimes - DC has actually stepped it up a bit on this arc, I have to say. I have not been a big fan of what's been going on in the Bat Universe over the past six months, but this story is pretty tight, even if it is based on an older storyline. Better writing, much better art, and amazing Jock covers! But why did they have to go an add that idiotic word balloon on his awesome Joker piece?!

Winter Men - I've been waiting for ths one for a while and it does not disappoint. A pretty complex story that takes some getting into to, but the J.P. Leon art kicks ass.

New Warriors - Zeb and Skottie are really firing on all cylinders here and are winning over even the most diehard old skool New Warriors fans. Funny as hell and visually dynamic. They nailed this one!

Ultimates Annual - The curse of the shitty annuals is broken! Millar and Dillon team up for an inside elook into the Ulitmates that's just as compelling as any of the regular issues of the series.

Iron Man 4 - Worth the wait! To be honest, I thought the start of this arc was a little slow, but this issue was a kick in the ass it needed. Wow, it all comes together now! Click. I totally see what Warren is doing in his examination of Tony Stark and Iron Man now. And the Adi art is breathtaking as always!

You might think I'm crazy...

...but I actually liked Spanglish.

Mutsumi popped in the DVD last night and I figured "What the hell? It can't be that bad, right?" And it wasn't. Now I'm not saying it was a great movie. it had it's share of problems and I thought the ending left a lot to be desired. But it was one of those films that had some great character moments and wonderful dialogue that really made you stop and think and reflect on your own life. Not many movies this summer have had that effect on me. This movie actually had something to say and I really appreciated the ways it spoke to me.

Hungover?

Clyde had a rough night earlier this week. He got sick around 3AM, threw up six times and kept us up all night. Mutsumi thinks he's been partying a little too hard recently. He was fine the next day, but exhausted, so he ended up sleeping for about ten hours straight. It was the perfect time for taking pictures! I love the last one: "Oh, what the hell did I do last night?"



To Die For!


My mother makes these special Swedish cookies that are just to die for. Really. They're these amazing butter-filled, chocolate-covered confectionary masterpieces. Problem is they're a pain-in-the-ass to prepare so she only ends up making them like once every five years! So guess what Roman got as a 30th birthday present! Yup... cookies!!!

Rumor has it though that mom will also be making them for our big Swedish crayfish party next weekend!

Heaven twice in one week!!

CT Cat Pics

While Lotto and Clyde relaxed at home in the AC in NYC, Mutsumi and I got to spend time with the Connecticut cats at my parents place. First up we have Monty, the cat that eats like a horse but weighs next to nothing. Then there's Willie, who's a changed man after some good country living; he's never been friendlier and more playful. Then lastly, our spy cams caught Shaker sneaking a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat! Who knew cats liked microbrews?!



Rain Date

We went home to see my family this weekend. It was the first time we'd all been together for a few months due to our various travels so it was nice to catch up with everyone. We also finally got to celebrate Roman's 30th birthday. Granted, we were a week late, but better late than never. The weather wasn't the best unfortunately, but as you can see, even thunder and lightning can't stop a Chesterfest BBQ!

Friday, August 12, 2005

DRAIN - And away we go...

I'm pleased as punch to report that things are moving along on DRAIN, my centuries-spanning vampire epic! We now have a publisher and Sana Takeda is painting pages as we speak. The eight-page preview is done, and I'm happy to debut two of those pages here for your viewing pleasure! It's another world premiere right here at Chesterfest! I could not be happier with the way things are turning out on this project!



A Public Service Announcement

As some of the people who read this blog may already know, I'm slowly making my way back into the comics business. (More on that in a later post.) So a friend of mine who knows about my plans asked if this would affect the blog. I'm happy to report that it won't.

Yes, posting was a bit sporadic at times over the past few months, but our travels are over for thr time being, con season is drawing to a close, and I'm settling back in here at Casa de Cebulski.

What I plan on doing is making the blog a little more topical, a little more informative. I have a lot going on, and I want to tell you about some of it. I'd like to keep you up to date on my current projects and passions. Post more art from things I have going and more news about comics and entertainment. I'm even toying with the idea of writing and posting a few short fiction and non-fiction pieces here, but I still have to put some more thought into that as I don't want to embarrass myself too badly. So there's change in the air...

I'll still be posting dumb pics and stupid observations, but hopefully I'll be a little better about keeping up the blog and keeping you up to date on all things Chester.

Thanks for reading.

Netflix Best Customer...

...is me!

The way I see it, Netflix wants people who rent their movies and then don't return them because then they don't have to send you a new one. You still pay the same monthly fee, but you don't get any new DVDs and they make more money off you this way. I just returned Cold Mountain (I know, I know) which I had sitting here for 353 days!! I had it for almost a whole damn year, and you know what... I never watched it! What a waste.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Cat Fight!

Here's Clyde teaching Lotto a lesson about playing with his toys!


Because You Demanded it!


The fans have spoken and your voices have been heard! The one thing Chesterfest readers want more of... CLYDE!! Yes, my big gray ball of fur is the hot ticket in America right now, folks, so the pics will be coming fast and furious.

Here's one where Clyde learned a valuable lesson in science... 18 pounds of cat cannot comfortably fit in a 6" x 8" box.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

The End of An Era?

Mutsumi just came home from the grocery store with a can of Folgers coffee. Do you know coffee doesn't come in metal cans anymore?! It was packed in some thin plastic container in the shape of a coffee can! Where are people supposed to keep change and nuts and bolts and screws now? Is nothing sacred?

SHIKI - In Color!!


We're beginning to think about the colors for SHIKI now that we have a publisher and João wants to start trying out a few people to see if they can achieve the more subtle, watercolor pallette he's hoping for. His friend Venâncio colored this up quick and I love it so I thought I'd share this image of Saya in sandland.

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Happy Birthday, Roman Cebulski!!

My little brother turns the Big 3-0 today!!

Sorry I couldn't be there for the BBQ, Ro. We'll celebrate next weekend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

White Castle

Went to an actual White Castle that was a white castle yesterday. I love those. The burgers were so good going down. Regretting it this morning though!!

Friday, August 05, 2005

I Smell Like Shit!

Wherever we travel to we try and stay in Hyatts. We're memebers of their point club and have earned a lot of free nights travelling around the world, mostly thanks to cons. The only problem is I always forget to bring my own shampoo as the Hyatt brand smells like SHIT!! I don't know how I'm going to put up with myself. This shit reeks. Seriously!

Best shampoo: The coconut/orange blend at The Standard in L.A.

Happy Birthday, David Macho!

David flew in from Spain last night to celebrate his 31st birthday. He brought six bottles of Spanish absinthe with him that he expects us to drink all weekend. We started making a dent in it last night. What am I doing up?! And where the hell did Frankie D. wind up?

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Knuckles, Here I Come

I'm sitting here waiting for a car to the airport. Today I'm off to Wizard World Chicago, my next-to-last summer convention. (Toronto wraps the season for me.) For anyone going, you can most likely find me hanging out at the Marvel booth or in Artist's Alley scoping new talent. After show hours, I will of course be at Knuckles Sports Bar in the Hyatt.

I'll also be making trips to Portillo's for chili cheese dogs, Ricobene's for breaded steak sandwiches and Giordano's for deep dish pizza. Anyone's free to join me. The more, the merrier. Ah, I love Chicago eats!

Change of Tune

I've always hated Starbucks. Their coffee sucks and it's way overpriced. I live in New York; why would I pay four bucks for a large coffee (oh, excuse me... I meant "venti"), when I can go to the corner bodega and get a cup for 75 cents?! And for those three quarters, they'll even put my milk and sugar in it for me! None of this do-it-yourself bullshit where you have to take the lid off and open sugar packets and stirrers. So you'd never catch me in Starbucks... until now. Until I discovered their Green Tea Lemonade!

Down in Key West, the house we were staying at didn't have high-speed internet, but the Starbucks right down the street had a wireless connection. So I had to suck it up and head down there to check my e-mail and surf the net. But I felt guilty just sitting there without ordering something, and that guilt forced me to spend some money to use the evill empire's bandwith. No way in hell I was drinking their coffee though, so I looked for something else on the menu. And there it was... a nice, refreshing, ice-cold lemonade with green tea mixed in. The perfect summer beverage! And now I'm addicted!

Damn you, Starbucks! You couldn't get me with your coffee, but you still found a way to take my money!

Monday, August 01, 2005

Fishin'



Mutsumi loves fishing so we chartered a boat and headed out bright and early Friday morning to try and land us some sushi. We caught a few smaller Yellowtails to start which were then used as bait to reel in a few bigger barracudas! Here's our intrepid fisherwoman showing of the catch of the day!