Emerald City is a-Comin'

Things have been crankin' here at the CerebraMill.  Turns out we're much closer to our Ordinary Angels pitch than we presumed, and preparation continues on the Airship Daedalus property which launches officially the Sunday before Emerald City Comicon. 

In brainstorming promotional ideas for Daedalus, Brian Beardsley and I were chatting about getting some cheap plastic secret decoder rings made, a la the classic pulp radio & television serials.  But then I had the idea of taking the secret code element and merging it with a collectible postcard...

Character bio on the front:

Cipher wheel on the back:

Every Sunday we'll release a new strip, and include an encoded message for our faithful readers.  It might be a clue to future story events, or it may be some hidden background elements.  In any case, I can assure you it will never say, "BE SURE TO DRINK YOUR OVALTINE."  Unless Ovaltine suddenly decides to sponsor the site, in which case all bets are off.

It's One Louder, Innit?

Many thanks to This is Spinal Tap for all the great references to eleven we can make regarding the new year, including the title of wifey's current blog entry.

It's been a busy holiday season, hence the whopping TWO entries for December.  Let me fill you in on what's been going on:

• Opened and closed It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Kenyon Hall, which I've talked about extensively here.
• Finished and submitted our Airship Daedalus feature for the debut issue of Mash Tun, to be released at ECC this year.
• Christmas was low-key and we did zero traveling, which led to a much nicer, calmer and less stressful holiday within the immediate family unit.  I got some DVDs (including the out-of-print Dead Can Dance Toward the Within live concert, taken from the tour Sam & I got to see in the front row on our anniversary when they played the Moore Theatre in 1993) and some cool books and some very useful gift cards, with which I got this, and this, and this.
• Hosted my family for a post-Christmas Christmas gathering on the 29th.  I baked a ham, roasted potatoes and made my specialty salad (mixed baby greens, red grapes, dried cranberries, walnuts and feta cheese with a raspberry walnut vinaigrette dressing).  My stepdad brought homemade orange cheesecake.  You know you're jealous.
• Got to have drinks with Muriel, who has the distinction of being the catalyst for Raechelle's and my meeting.  Rae tells the story in her post, and of course the whole thing is laid out in our blogs.
• Spent New Year's Eve at dinner with Steve, Steph and Isabella, followed by drinks and snacking and general merriment at Dan & Trish's with some other friends as well.  The kids went to spend the night with Uncle Gavin & Aunt Michelle in Poulsbo, playing boardgames and having fun.
• Seahawks second string QB Charlie Whitehurst (aka Clipboard Jesus), in combination with a fired-up defense and the loudest fanbase in the NFL, led our rather pitiful 7-9 team to a wildcard spot in the playoffs over the shellshocked St. Louis Rams.  Although it's great that we got the division title, here's two things to consider: 1) winning that game reduced our 7th round draft pick for next year to 21st at best; 2) Even if the Hawks can overcome New Orleans this Saturday (which is actually a possibility, given home field advantage, the aforementioned loudest fans in the NFL and a seriously injured New Orleans roster), it's doubtful.that the first team to clinch a division title with a 7-9 record can compete against the eastern division teams with their 12-4 stats and their serious-football-playing.  I hope the division title is worth it in the long run...
• Got turned on to Pomplamoose, a duo from San Francisco.  You've seen them on the Hyundai commercials.  I've been seriously inspired to record again.  Thanks a lot, you talented cuties.
• Took the kids to see Tron: Legacy.  Pros: decent follow-up to the early '80s classic, amazing visuals, good cast, amazing visuals, and amazing visuals.  Cons: major plot holes, jarring CG in the flashback scenes trying to "youthify" Jeff Bridges, major plot holes, cheesy Neo/Matrix finale... and did I mention the plot holes?

So that's pretty much how I spent my holidays.  If I have a resolution for 2011, it's to post a bit more often (and have interesting things to post about!).

Olde Time Radio Show

Our production of It's a Wonderful Life opened last Friday, and the show has gone really well so far (despite the double indignity of whacking my skull on the control room door on my way to the stage on Sunday, followed immediately by my involuntary power slide from the second step onto the floor, knees first (of course).  The Wurlitzer is like a whole character unto itself, and doing my best Hugh-Beaumont-meets-Walter-Cronkite-meets-Orson-Welles while wearing a tie and sweater vest is really putting me back in the period.  My one complaint is that my jaw, which has not been naked in a good four years, is really cold right now.  And the stubble is really annoying between shaves.  Fortunately this weekend is the last three shows, and Friday morning should be the last razor-shave for some time.

Meanwhile, I'm editing the first world resource for Arrowflight, entitled Northern Empires; I'm outlining Ordinary Angels season 1 episode 4; and I'm coloring and lettering the Airship Daedalus comic strip.  It's going to be a busy new year...

Opening Night

For my Puget Sound peeps: come see It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Kenyon Hall in West Seattle.  It's a great story performed by local actors (portraying 1940s radio actors) in a real historic vaudeville hall, complete with a Mighty Wurlitzer.

I will be playing Joseph, the Superintendent of Angels, on stage with some old Twelfth Night compadres.

We run Friday, Saturday and Sunday (matinee) for the next two weeks.  Make some time for this one - you'll thank me later.

2011: A Geek Odyssey

First of all, I'm happy to announce that 2011 will see not only our pitch-ready materials for the Ordinary Angels television series, but I'll be joining artist Brian Beardsley to promote Airship Daedalus at Emerald City Comicon in March.  Coinciding with ECC with be the a four-page teaser of Airship Daedalus in Brian Meredith's new pulp anthology comic magazine, Mash Tun.

And then there's stuff like this that makes me all kinds of happy:



As one of my Facebook buddies observed, "Indiana Jones and James Bond in one movie..."  With Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Steven Spielberg producing.  And Jon Favreau at the helm.

Yes, it will be an effects-laden sausage fest.  But it will be an AWESOME effects-laden sausage fest.

That, plus the Thor and Captain America films (still not sure about Green Lantern) will make 2011 a good time to be a geek!

Loving the Challenge

It's a great feeling to have two very different development projects on the grill and be kicking ass at both of them.  Ordinary Angels is contemporary, collaborative, and incredibly deep, as witnessed by last night's production meeting, wherein Trish, Dan and I fleshed out the climactic two-part episode, weaving together subplots and characters from throughout the five-season arc.  There is no doubt in my mind that the viewer will be satisfied.

Airship Daedalus, by contrast, is just deep enough to inspire me as the writer, while challenging me with the constraints not only of the pulp genre, but also with the sequential format of the comic book.  I started producing my own comics in grade school, moving up to making indie 'zines and comix in the 1980s, and web comics in the late '90s and early '00s.  So I'm no stranger to the format.  It's just very different to be writing for comics again after writing in screenplay and stage play format (not to mention long form narrative fiction) for so long.  Different and very satisfying.

Happy New Year

Happy Celtic New Year/Samhain. 
Also, Feliz Dia de los Muertos.
Also, this happened.  Fun times. 
Also, this happened.  Nice to see, San Francisco.  Well done.