Monday, September 30, 2013


We're now booked for a one-two punch double-dose of Zomkeys release-date action come the end of October. First, on Saturday the 26th I'll be at the Comic Book Shoppe on Bank Street with the rest of the Mirror Comics gang. Then, the next day, Zomkeys will invade the Mayfair Theatre to battle a murderous orangutan in the 1980's B-horror movie Link (doors at 8:00pm, movie starts at 8:30pm). It's the perfect new comic to read right before Halloween.

Sunday, September 29, 2013


One of my roller derby pals has a new crafty business venture called Melting Plastic. You can buy one of her awesome hand made limited edition banners that proclaim your love for Meat or Beer or being a Vegan. I'm ordering one for the Mayfair.

Saturday, September 28, 2013


Very pleasantly surprised, Sharknado attracted a packed house at the Mayfair. The patrons in attendance were in the perfect mood for this genre of movie, and a large portion of the audience even responded with a standing ovation by the time the credits rolled.

Sharknado was indeed a bad movie. I can see why it has garnered much more attention then all the SyFy teevee movie offerings that have come before it. In-between the Playstation 2 video game caliber sharks and sub-par acting, there were quite a few really great gore gags, comic moments and knowingly over-the-top action. This team with a bigger budget might just produce something actually good. I liked it better then both the recent Piranha movies, and they had a much bigger budget then this tiny budgeted small screen production. It's quite the back-handed compliment, but Sharknado was a really good bad movie.

It was genuinely one of the most fun nights we've ever had at the Mayfair. Thanks to all the patrons of questionable taste who joined us for a fantastical evening.

Friday, September 27, 2013


Tomorrow night the unexpected cult phenomenon that is Sharknado invades the Mayfair Theatre for a one night only extra special screening extravaganza. Booking bad movies like this is always a risky endeavor. Sometimes patrons are in on the joke, sometimes they logically would rather actually save their money to spend on an actual good movie. I have a good feeling about this one though. I think we may have gotten a hold of it before people are tired of hearing about it. The concept of sharks dropping on California from a tornado is still a comedic piece of horror plot that might attract a morbidly curious audience.

If you a brave (or foolish) enough for a potentially hilarious B-grade drive-in classic kinda' sea-monster filled night at the movies, join us at the Mayfair tomorrow night at 9:00pm for Sharknado.

Thursday, September 26, 2013


Watched Pacific Rim in all of it's giant anime style robots punching Godzilla caliber monsters last night at the Mayfair Theatre. It was exactly what I hoped it would be, I was immensely impressed. I think that this is the movie that Steven Spielberg wishes Michael Bay had the talent to produce. Sure, Transformers made all the monies, but just imagine if it had actually been good too? If there had been a camera on me, I would have been recorded in wide eyed geeky wonder throughout much of the movie.

Pacific Rim screens one more time at the Mayfair, tonight at 9:00pm

Wednesday, September 25, 2013


Another few Zomkeys teaser panels! Will that news crew and those cops make it out alive!? You will find out in approximately four short weeks!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013


In the recently released Forever Evil #1 from DC Comics, Lex Luthor is seen in conversation with Thomas Kord. In the previous DC Universe, Thomas Kord is the father of Ted Kord. Being a new universe, plot-points don't necessarily have to match up, but Ted Kord is of course the second incarnation of Blue Beetle. Blue Beetle is one of my favourite characters of all time, so I'm hoping that this hints at a return of the the character who died a few years before the reboot and hasn't been refereed to yet in the DCnU. The third incarnation of Blue Beetle is already out and about battling evil in space, so it'd be a bit weird to have Ted Kord show up now...but I don't care. I just want more Blue Beetle. Then thy can get around to bringing in Plastic Man and I'll be really geek happy.

Monday, September 23, 2013


I really admire the career of Ryan Gosling. He could easily be doing sappy romantic comedies or sub-par action franchises, but instead he's filling his resume with non-Hollywood weird, dark, and indie offerings. His latest to the left of mainstream offering is Only God Forgives, reuniting him with the director of drive. It is definitely not for everyone...I think we've had walk-out's every night. I enjoyed it though. The movie reminded me of something that David Lynch might do with Nic Cage in the early 1990's.

Only God Forgives screens for one more time at the Mayfair Theatre, tonight at 9:15pm

Sunday, September 22, 2013


Read the first Kevin Keller collection. The fact that Archie Comics had the guts to invent this character gives me comic geek pride. That the character and his stories have been heaped with praise from fans, awards, good reviews from critics, and excellent sales...that makes me think that there is hope for our society. Sure it's just a character in teen comedic soap opera comics, but to have a positive gay teen representation in comic books aimed at kids and teens is an amazing turn.

Saturday, September 21, 2013


Went to see a bizarre animated pseudo biography about Monty Python alum Graham Chapman called A Liar's Autobiography. It had interesting intentions and some cool stories within it, it just didn't gel together for me.

Managed to see a real gem at the Ottawa International Animation Festival yesterday though. Was in attendance for a screening of the new Disney short 'Get a Horse'. The gimmick of the animation is that it goes from old-timey black & white hand-drawn animation, to modern day 3-D c computer animation. In a Purple Rose of Cairo / Last Action Hero like turn, Mickey and his pals go back and fourth between the different styles. The cartoon was filled with all kinds of retro characters who haven't appeared for generations. Including a guy called Jazz Cat who I thought was extra awesome looking.

As a bonus, the director was on hand to power-point presentation us through the behind the scenes aspects of the film. As an extra bonus, animator Eric Goldberg was there to show us how to draw Mickey (he designed the Genie!). And they gave us all super limited edition prints of the short. You can see it for yourself when Disney tags it in front their new movie Frozen, later in the year.



Friday, September 20, 2013


The big screen ad for Zomkeys, currently being seen in rotation in the slide-show before movies at the Mayfair Theatre. It's already garnered three people to ask me about when and where they can get the book. Advertising works!

Thursday, September 19, 2013


I forgot to post news on this last week. Here is a wonderful teaser image in regards to the comic book that I wrote. Within that envelope is the completed artwork by the talented Barb Felix for Zomkeys!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013


Sadly, I have a non-Mayfair work gig tonight (and I did last night too), so I'm going to miss out on seeing The To Do List. This 1990's era sex comedy from the female perspective stars Aubrey Plaza of Parks & Recreation and Scott Pilgrim fame, along with a truck-load of other talented funny people. I really wanna see it, but alas I have to work like a chump. So, you should go and then taunt me for having missed an awesome indie movie in the theatre of which I am a co-owner of.

The To Do List screens tonight at 7:00pm at the Mayfair

Tuesday, September 17, 2013


On my way home from a lighting gig tonight, I walked by John Cleese. My brain didn't even catch up to what had happened until I was five seconds past him. I would have been extra confused if I hadn't of found out earlier in the day that he was in town doing his one-man show. When I see someone like Guillermo Del Toro, I have no qualm in pestering him with praise. Guillermo ave me a hug...Mr. Cleese didn't look like he would have reacted in a similarly positive and enthusiastic manner. None the less, it was a great Run Lola Run coincidental experience. Even if he didn't give me a hug.

Monday, September 16, 2013


I'm back on Canadian soil which means my mind is back to normal and I'm back to talking about what's on at the Mayfair. We are currently in the midst of screening The Canyons. The Canyons is not a good movie, but it a fascinating train-wreck of a movie. I don't think I've ever seen a movie with a couple of big names behind it that is so top to bottom horrible. You would think that the creators of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and American Psycho would at least be able to cobble something at least sub-par together.

Of course, film geeks and tabloid worshipers know of this one 'cause it stars the sadly fallen from grace Lindsay Lohan. Once upon a time, during happier career moments like Mean Girls, who could have ever of thought that her path would have lead her to this. The Canyons is a pulp fiction erotica tale set within the back-stabbing douche-bag filled surroundings of Hollywood. Not only is it almost porn, is stars a porn star. It's also filled with uncomfortably put together sex scenes, not a single one of them is actually anywhere near sexy.

Every level of this movie just doesn't work. The extras stand out as being extras, the sound is bad, the music doesn't fit, and there's cut-away's to abandoned movie theatres that don't attach to the story at all. Now, having said all that, if you are a film geek, you are going to be fascinated by this thing. It should be screened to film students as what not to do. We may just have another The Room on our hands here.

It's horrible, but mesmerizing, and I think you should see it. It makes for endless conversation points afterward. The Canyons screens tonight at 9:30pm and tomorrow (Tuesday September 17th) at 9:15pm. Poor,poor Lindsay.

Sunday, September 15, 2013


Good bye Atlanta! Your residents have been lovely, your weather hot, your food delicious, your cockroaches plentiful. It's been fun, but I am very much looking forward to getting home to Canada.

Saturday, September 14, 2013


I was very glad that the work-day got ahead of schedule and we only worked into the early afternoon. It meant our evening got freed up and we got to go to a baseball game. I have no interest in baseball day to day, or in actually following a team throughout their insanely long season of a couple hundred games. When visiting out neighbours to the South though, when time permits and there is a Major League Baseball team nearby, going to a game is a fun way to spend a few hours. I've now done this in Florida, San Diego, Boston, and Atlanta.

Sure it's a statistic heavy, overly long, easy to be distracted from game. What it does have over the faster paced sports is that their surrounding stadiums are temples to the love of the game. Even modern fields like Atlanta's have a purposeful old-timey charm to them. Much like stepping in to a classic rep theatre like the Mayfair, it can really help you in getting lost in the moment. I can't say that I like baseball all that much, but I do enjoy checking in and watching a game in person every so often. I couldn't tell you the name of a single Atlanta player, unless I happened to be holding onto the souvenir plastic cup that has the picture of a player on it.

A midst the joy of unlimited popcorn and baseball headed mascots, there is the looming unfortunate name of the franchise. When 40,000 people are chanting and doing the 'tomahawk chop', I can't help but want to point out to them all that this might not be an acceptable thing to do. On a sliding scale of racism in sports, Atlanta Braves might not be as bad as the Cleveland Indians or the Washington Redskins, but I still found their tradition uncomfortable and cringe-worthy.

Atlanta won. I already forget the score. I will never forget the giant tomahawk-chopping cow.

Friday, September 13, 2013


More proof that being a vegan on the road ain't all that hard is Johnny Rockets. They've got a vegan approved veggie burger, fries AND apple pie! Plus they've got a great staff and they give you nickels to put in the jukebox so you can listen to Buddy Holly and The Beach Boys. And they have vegan apple pie!

Thursday, September 12, 2013


In my second day of possibly breaking vegan rules, today we visited the Georgia Aquarium. I didn't know that it is in fact the biggest aquarium on the whole planet. They most impressive under-water amazement's living there are the whale sharks. Much smaller, but equally cool, are the sea dragons (who look like something right out of science fiction). All the fishy's in attendance seemed quite content in their football field sized surroundings. So, hopefully I don't get in too much trouble from the vegan league. I got to pet manta rays and tiny hammerhead sharks! How am I expected to refrain from doing that!? I din't eat them!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013


Today's paid vacation inbetween working hours in Atlanta event was a visit to the zoo! I'm not sure what levels of hypocriticalness it is for a vegan to visit a zoo. I don't know if I lose points, or if it's okay as long as it's a legit zoo where the animals aren't being beaten and kept in tiny boxes and then turned into gloves and lampshades when they die.

Th zoo in Atlanta mustn't be that harshly looked upon by naysayers though. It's a sprawling green-space filled with giant plots of land for their bigger animals and nice big surroundings for their smaller beasties. They had all the zoo favourite mainstays: elephants, lions, rhinos, giraffes. Giraffes look so alien, like something that a Jedi should be riding in a Star Wars movie. There were also some birds who looked like they popped up in prehistoric times right after dinosaurs disappeared.

Then there was this black-beaked Southern ground horn-bill fella who kept trying to give my girlfriend a rock. If not for the glass between us, she would have walked away with an awesome rock gift from her feathered admirer. Or been attacked by it's mate who seemed quite angry about his rock sharing generosity. Also, otters are adorable. I'm lucky that I was able to pull myself away from watching them and didn't just stand there all day before being forced to leave.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013


The World of Coca Cola museum in Atlanta is indeed a giant propaganda piece which routinely tries to convince you that Coca Cola is the greatest thing ever created in the history of the universe. Despite that continued level of Orwellian like brain-washing being thrown your way, it's a very entertaining and incredibly interesting place to visit.

They have on display original works of Norman Rockwell and Haddon Sundblom's work which introduced the world to the quintessential Santa Claus. It's a fascinating look at the evolution of advertising, and at how the Coca Cola logo has become one of the most recognizable images on the entire planet. There was a cool display with hundreds of post cards from all over the world that all happened to have a Coke logo hidden within the photo. Plus they have a big Muppet calibre polar bear mascot.

Best of all is near the end of the visit, you get to go into a room and taste test 60 or so different brands and flavours of Coke products. Some tasted good, some tasted weird, some was a completely alien beverage of an experience. There was one infamous Italian flavour called Beverly. It almost killed my girlfriend. I soldiered through every single kind, mostly 'cause if not I knew that my friends would taunt and think less of me. The endeavor left me genuinely woozy, but filled with sugary beverage consumption pride. After undertaking that grand quest, you feel like you might never drink any kind of Coke ever again. Which seems like a weird thing for them to make available for visitors to do in a Coke museum. You would think that thy would not want to turn one off from cola for the rest of their lives. So, it's good that before you leave they give you a free bottle of Coke to enjoy later.

Monday, September 09, 2013


Inspired by the movie The Big Year, my girlfriend and I have been doing a lazy big year bird watching quest throughout 2013. When undertaking a real Big Year, you put your life on hold and travel endlessly and track birds all over North America. For the lazy version, you keep track of birds that you see in day to day life. You even get to include chickens that you see when driving by a farm or penguins that you see at an aquarium. I'm not sure what number we've cheated our way up to now, I'm sure it's not even close to competitive levels, but I think we might be closing in on triple digits. Added to our list is this long tailed Thrasher which we've seen all over Atlanta the past few days. Pleas refrain from attacking me with your jealously that you haven't seen as close to as many awesome birds as I have.

Sunday, September 08, 2013


Stayed in the hotel for foods tonight. Ordered some Chinese food take-out and watched some Breaking Bad / Talking Bad. Curiously, this is the first time in my entire existence that I've received Chinese food in one of those lil' white boxes. I've seen them in movies a bazillion times, but never actually eaten from them in real life. Another first time experience, the order came with mustard. Mustard!? This far off land of Atlanta is truly a bizarre and curious land.

Saturday, September 07, 2013


There is a magical underground mall in downtown Atlanta. Instead of tearing down and plowing over the old part of the city, they just built another layer on top of it. So, what was once an outside street with sidewalks and alleys and stores, is now a boxed in basement shopping district. Makes for a bit of a bizarre experience, walking through surroundings that were once exterior that are now interior.

In one of those former alleys is now the Pac Man Play Arcade. Unlike yesterday's arcade experience, this one did a much better job of passing the arcade test of greatness. They had not one, but two machines featuring the greatest arcade game of all time...Galaga. Good news, I reached the eye-of-the-tiger, jedi master like accomplishment of 280,000 some-odd points. I saw lil' alien creatures and a speed that I had never come close to at any previous playing. Bad news, my girlfriend was also off somewhere else in the arcade,so I have no photographic evidence of my triumph. That score, though it was twice the size of any previous score I'd achieved, wasn't even close to being good enough for the top 10. Much like that time I saw a UFO, you're just going to have to take my word for it.

Friday, September 06, 2013


Went for dinner and video games at an Atlanta eatery called Game X. I was hoping that it would be an old school arcade with food. It was a bit more modern and flashy. Their menu's were even in video game boxes. They had a couple of classics like those basketball things and table-top hockey (which our friends to the South call bubble hockey). They also had an insane Pac Man themed air hockey machine that shoots out thousands of pucks all at the same time in a barrage of defensive / offensive insanity. Besides for that there were lots of video games featuring horrible amounts of gun violence and skee ball. And tickets can be traded in for high caliber, big value, fabulous prizes...like a switchblade comb. There was no Galaga, the cornerstone of any worth while arcade, but still managed to be a good time.

Thursday, September 05, 2013


After a day of work, we explored Atlanta for a bit. The work, by the way, is setting up some big trade show booths at a glass convention. I'm riding my girlfriends coat-tails, picking up some work with the company that she works for, and getting to go and explore a city I've never been to on their dime. Conventions like this are fascinating to me. That just like comic books or cars or medical conventions, that something like this can attract glass nerds from all over the world. In fact, I have unconfirmed reports that this convention centre space is just as bi as the one as where they hold the San Diego Comic Con.

The downtown core of Atlanta is filled with some nice architecture, a big ferris-wheel, the CNN building (I find myself angrily spouting off about the state of teevee journalism every time I walk by), lots of statues, and a whole bunch of very friendly hobos. People always ask if it's difficult to travel and be a vegan, I've never had an issue. We stumbled upon a 24 hour eatery called the Landmark Diner. It looked like a traditional American greasy spoon, except they had delicious vegan onion rings and burgers! Even got to over-hear a could of locals talking about Disco Fries. That's what they call Poutine in this bizarre alternate universe.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013


It only took three more planes and many more hours then initially planned, but I eventually made it down to Atlanta, Georgia. Our first plane was broken, then we couldn't get to the back-up plane in time, so had to wait for a third plane. Then we missed the connecting plane in Toronto, meaning it took nearly a half dozen planes to get us down into the States. The horrible customer service and ineptitude of Air Canada made me miss the friendly employees and unlimited almonds of Porter.

We braved crossing over to the wrong side of the tracks to search out a Wal Mart for snacks. Where I was able to search out precious unfrosted Pop Tarts (vegan approved), that I can never seem to find back home.

I know that a lot of movies and teevee programs film in Atlanta, and I'm pretty sure I recognize our hotel hallway from something I've seen recently. Some crime genre kinda thing where someone hid in an elevator, just missing being caught by the bad guys. I can't place it and I'm sure it will drive me insane over my visit until I figure it out.

Tuesday, September 03, 2013


Off to Atlanta for a week and a half of work tomorrow morning. There are four things I know about Atlanta: if is overflowing with southern American charm, it is always hot, most of the streets are called Peachtree, and that the State is over-run with zombies.

Monday, September 02, 2013


Tonight we played Munchkin. Even though I lost handily, it is super a super fun table top game. And it's much less time consuming then undertaking a campaign of role playing with a round of Dungeons & Dragons.

Sunday, September 01, 2013


More now then ever, geeks have a voice to let their complaints and anger known thanks to the power of the interwebs. I try to avoid message boards and talk-balk sections and such, because for the most parts people annonomously expressing their opinions there infuriate me to no end. My favourite part of this kind of thing is wild, over-exaggerated, untruthful comments born from anger about a plot point happening to a super-hero that they think could be written better by themselves.

The DC Comics Universe re-booted a couple years ago. Evidently this has been a great financial success, but of course, it made for a heap of nerd rage pushed towards the folks at DC. It comes to mind, because recently I read a post online that stated that there was "literally" nothing good being produced at DC Comics. Now, of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion...but this is just plain not true. Not even close.

I wonder if this kind of single minded comic book reader had equal furious anger when the Silver Age kicked in with new versions of The Flash and Green Lantern and others. Or if the 1980's version of this person said they would never read a comic ever again after the universe combining events of Crisis on Infinite Earths. It seems that at every major story-line, people get infuriated, but then comics keep on selling.

Saying that DC is producing nothing but garbage is ridiculous. If you believe this, you clearly haven't been reading Batman, Animal Man, Green Lantern, All Star Western, Larfleeze, Batman & Robin, or Wonder Woman. Are they different then before? Yes. Should you fear change? No. If you do, you should be content to just re-read all the old comics in your closet instead of reading new stuff.