Stupid Florida

As two AM approaches I can't help but notice that the gritty feeling sliding inside my veins, the granuals of caffine coursing through my system that's perforating my brain and leaving spastic tweaks and twichtes as I turn the pages of my spanish book is far from receeding. First exam is in exactly seven hours. This is not exactly how I wanted to spend my last semester of school, but it can't be helped. This stuff is tough. Luckily, I've discovered an online resource that the rest of the class doesn't seem to know about that will be able to test me and keep me sharp throughout the rest of the semester. I should make it through this test okay, but it'll come at the cost of a night's sleep. This stuff is tough. Stupid Florida.

Good Melodies Gone Bad

There's a song that starts out well, it engages the listener with a catchy downbeat plucking of a lead guitar in a familiar melody. The beginning of this song always manages to catch me off guard. I like it. I feel as though I've heard the song before -- which I have -- but I can't place it. I continue to listen lon/g enough to hear the vocalist say "In a church..." and by that time I've realized that this is, in fact, the song with the worst lines of chorus that have ever been penned down in the history of man "Haven't you people ever heard of/ closing the g#*^!#%@ door/ it's much better to face these kinds of thing/ with a sense of poisoned rationality".

With a sense of poisoned rationality. What in the proud name of Doctor Egon Spangler does that mean? It's idiotic! What aspect of one's rationality can become poisoned, and in what refugee ridden, malaria infested, imaciated part of Darfur could it possibly be appropriate to use such tainted judgement?

Sohmer:

This is hard for me, folks, so please be patient. I’m really just not that good at asking for help, but I think its past time that I do.So here I am, all my defenses and sarcasm laid down, asking for your help.Can I please, please, borrow 35 million dollars? USD? And by ‘borrow’ I mean keep and not ever have to repay?Please?Pretty please?Seriously. Give me the damn money.

Article: CNN.com

Me:

I have mixed emotions about this, I have to say. Call me a commi, but I get a stabbing pain the back of my eyes when I think about old men paying their way into the pages of history that had before been marked for only the strongest, smartest, and most daring of men the world can find. This whole situation smacks of Mt. Everest, to me, when you parallel "A private Virginia firm" with commercial "adventuring" companies who lead amateur climbers by the mittens up the face of the world’s highest peak; a "Soyuz capsule" with a fancy, never before worn backpack and set of unscratched crampons; and the accompanying cosmonaut with a sherpa.

Something is lost when you take a feat that is nearly unattainable and bring it down to a level where it only takes a tall enough stack of money to stand on to reach it. Just as the mountaineer's unwritten code of human decency has been lost on Everest -- whereon [url=http://www.theweekmagazine.com/article.aspx?id=1540]40 climbers passed a dying man[/url] who'd run out of oxygen because they didn't want to have wasted their money by forgoing the summit to help a fellow human being in distress -- so shall it be for the institution of aviation as a whole. Pilots are a rare breed of individuals who have always unwittingly commanded the respect of men through their singular mastery of the ethereal sea of blue above, and I firmly believe that it is rare to find an aviator who does not understand that there is an unspoken knowledge of fraternity inherent to those who wear wings, no matter the country. And I also believe that there isn't an aviator in the world who doesn't hold a green-eyed respect for those who've broken through the blue and earned the right to be called astronauts. So it is a tad perturbing to imagine some bourgeois corporate chairman cutting a check with his fancy fountain pen and being handed back a space suit and a round trip ticket for the most coveted ride in all of aviation.

And yet, taking a step back -- as it is inevitable that I will -- I can see a far bigger picture and appreciate the importance of this presently infuriating set of circumstances. What is it that every Trekkie, Jedi-wanabe, and Brown Coat (Death to the Alliance for all eternity) prays for before his bust of Patrick Stewart every night? Everyday, common, unhindered interstellar space travel.

As much as it kills me to say it; this could end up being noted as a time when voyages beyond our planet's boundaries became available to the non-professional, non-governmentally trained everyman. Space travel is now regarded with such a sense of awe and fear that it will take the selling out of idealism to bring humanity as a whole to the logical next step, the step which starts down a road that leads to a place where [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Flyer]Delta Flyers[/url], [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VF-1_Valkyrie]Veritech VF-1 Valkyrie[/url] fighters, and [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Serenityship.jpg]Firefly [/url] class space-craft are all part of the everyday backdrops across humanity's domain.

But why on Earth anyone would willingly climb into a Soyuz rocket, a design that has been in Russia's space service since the sixties and has killed more commies than the Goulag, I'll never know.

The error this morning when I went to check for a response:
"There appears to be an error with the database.You can try to refresh the page by clicking here.
We apologise for any inconvenience"

Priceless

For my hosting pleasure

I am WIGGING OUT!

And it's not because my parents are coming to help me move out tomorrow and I've only packed two boxes. I've never been very cool when it comes to meeting celebrities -- or at least people whom I subconciously deem celebrities -- like the time when I was about seven years old and took my first trip to Universal Studios and met the guy who played the villain in The Rocketeer and got so tongue tied that I'm pretty sure he thought I was an autistic kid, or the time I met Hoobastank right outside my apartment and... well, they probably thought the same thing as the Rocketeer guy. Hell, even when I 'virtually' met Rooster Teeth's Gus on World of Warcraft, I had to conciously make myself not bug him with irrelevant questions.

Anyway, I think that I have some sort of a hero worship complex, or something, because I am downright giddy about the letter I just recieved from Lar deSouza, the artist for Least I Could Do. Last night, I decided that over the summer I would work on a comic strip to submit to USF's newspaper, the Oracle, in the fall. I have a great script, but everything I have draw hasn't impressed me. I'm having originality issues; I think that everything I draw is just a rip-off of Mark Bagley or Scott Ramsoomair. I decided to see how the master of LICD does it, so, today, I wrote him a letter.

Lar actually read and returned my letter in the same day. I thought that if I ever got anything back it would be a month down the road and some half assed, copy/pasted collection of platitudes with a request to buy an LICD T-shirt at the end. But, low and behold, it was the complete opposite. The guy didn't just answer my question, he actually ANSWERED my question. I can't get over it. Just read.

Dear Matt,
Thanks for writing :) I'm glad you're enjoying LICD so much and thatit has inspired you to create on your own. Way to go!!
First off, don't sweat the fumes. Crack a window, yes, but otherwiseyou'll stop smelling them after awhile. I think the toxin sensors inmy nose died many years ago ;)
Style? Oh geez, that's the $64 question isn't it? I've had teachersgo on and on about style and have had discussions through the yearsand y'know what? I think it just happens. Not very helpful I know,but there's just no way to NOT be influenced by the art around you.That's part of being artistic. It all goes into the pot, as it were,and some of it comes back out in your work. I think the thing is tobe sensitive to those influences and not let them dominate you so thatyou don't evolve your own distinctive work.
When you decide you like something, try to look at it critically anddecide *why* you like it and then decide whether or not what you likeabout it fits your way of working.
I love a fine oil painting of a landscape but I'm not inspired topaint one. So I just enjoy them. I doubt I take anythinginspirational away from those :)
On the other hand, I love the work of Al Hirschfeld, the renownedcaricaturist. That flowing lyrical line and sense of design. Use ofline is totally good for me as a cartoonist so I worked at creatingthat flowing line and eventually succeeded to some extent by usingsoft fine brushes and ink (and now Photoshop). Years later, Idiscovered he builds up his lines using old fashioned dip pens. I*hate* dip pens. I've never ever been good with them. However, Iswing a mean brush. Instead of slavishly trying to copy his methods,I'd found my own way to create something I can be proud of.
It may be that you don't care for the art in a comic but like thewriting. Again, ask yourself why. Is it the subject matter, thecomedic timing, the development of characters or portrayal of themes?Keep those things in mind for the next time you write and just enjoythe rest.
You don't find a style, you evolve one. And it continues to grow asyou do. Stop throwing away your art and LOOK AT IT instead. Look atit like someone else did it and figure out where it works and where itneeds improvement. Art is more about eye/brain co-ordination thanhand/eye coordination :)
I hope this helps answer your question. It's not a simple questionand is probably one you will continue to ask yourself even after folksstart telling you "Oh yeah, I knew that was your work. It just lookslike your stuff." and then you'll realize you've got a style withouteven trying.
Thanks again for writing. If you want more feedback, why not postsome of your work in Teh Art Forum. Lots of good folks hanging outthere.
Good luck :) Later!
Lar

What a little Flash can do.

"Matt, i am speechless!

This is beyond any expectations! You managed to present our material in a unique and effective way. And those great color combinations! Nicely done!"--Irina Westerfield

"Group Limelight,

I was so entertained while viewing your website...it's top of the line! The snooty voice of the professor was just perfect and the material was so educational; plus I had a great laugh. If Professor Bull is teaching next semester I'm signing up for his class!I was so impressed I find myself wanting to ask "How did you do that?" but I wouldn't get it even if you explained it. I plan on sharing this with my teenagers. Thanks, Limelight!"--Angela Tartaglia

"Matthew,

I'm speechless after viewing your group project in FlashMedia. It makes PowerPoint seem antiquated. The opening animated graphics introduce us to a chamingly packaged presentation. The bullish talking professor added a dimension of authenticity to the discourse on Strindberg's misogyny. It was worth extending the deadline for mitigating reasons. I'm glad that I'm not one of these professors that says "time's up" because we would have missed out on a treat with engaging design, imagery and special effects. I can't wait to see your final presentation. This has been a revelation to me. This class in general has demonstrated its capabilities to handle the work and produce excellent results. You have put some pizzazz in what some might consider a "stuffy" history course. I hope you are having as much fun as I am having. This course takes on new life each semester, and this project proves that history can be as entertaining as the art form at its core. Well done. "--Dr. Patrick Finelli (Professor)

This was the competition, so I probably shouldn't feel too superior.