Bang! Bang!

We jumped at the sound of automatic weapon fire. The sound echoed off the cement block walls and after the burst the clink of spent cartridges falling on the concrete floor. There was a heavy smell of cordite in the air. And it smelled good! I sent Claudette to see the girl behind the counter for some hearing protection because my ears were ringing. The earplugs used for rock concerts didn't come close to doing the job. When safe inside the earmuffs I filled the cylinder of the revolver with .32 caliber Smith and Wesson long cartridges. Taking careful aim at the silhouette target down range I squeezed off three shots. . Then Claudette had the opportunity to further ventilate the target. With a flip of the toggle switch on my left the target comes to us on a device similar to clothesline apparatus. Upon care observation we found that all bullets had perforated the torso of the target. This lead us to believe that we could have stopped and intruder during a attempted home invasion.

Fishing and so on...

It has been good week. Several good movies watched, daily gym trips, and the Wednesday morning apple fritter breakfast with friends. Did I mention fishing? This week I think we went 3 times to our neighborhood lake. Some days we were lucky and some days we weren't. One thing of interest though, alligators. When the gators are close I keep one eye on the bobber and one on the alligator!
I finished the Shutterfly picture book for Mama. It took a little while but I think it came out good. I had a coupon from Delta Airlines for a free 20 page book. all I had to pay was the shipping.
I won my auction on Ebay for a deHavilland DH-3 Otter model airplane kit. I will construct it as a turbo Otter like the one we flew on in the Misty Fjords of Alaska. And speaking of Alaska, I spoke with David this week and he is doing well. Making music and making beer! He has also caught a lot of salmon that he is processing for the winter food supply.

Paper vs. Pixels

I recently watched two films via DVD based on comic books, Ghostrider and Electra. Although they were beautifully done, they seemed to be missing something. What was it? I don't know but I think it has to do with the imagination. We all know that story telling, especially in print, feeds the imagination. When we read those words in print we interpret them into visual images. When you first read Tom Clancy, did Jack Ryan look like Harrison Ford? Probably not. I think that the same is true when making the transition form comic book or graphic novel to movie. Regardless of how the artist has depicted the events, the images remain static. For that reason the movies take away that bit of the imagination used to animate. And , besides, you miss the great pictorial layouts in film.

By the way I liked both movies, but the comics appeal more to me.

The drawing below was done during vewing the films....

Just a Building

I've just finished reading these two books. I first read Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth and found it fascinating. Although the excess of 900 pages almost did me in. I'm not a very patient guy. I applaud the writer for keeping my interest. Pillars is about the construction of a cathedral during the Middle Ages and the people involved in that monumental endeavour. Although the writer offers much architectural detail there are some gaps that must be filled in by the imagination. Enter David Macauley. His book, Cathedral, fills in the blanks with beautiful drawings. I was familiar with Macauley's work from a previous book.

I had recently visited cathedrals in the British isles which piqued my interest.

Recent films watched, DVD and otherwise:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Hostel

Cannery Row

Jacket

Gotta Play

Now there was a little time to play. I wanted to throw some of my favorite images into a mix with a little animation. Of course there's Marilyn and me. The premier issue of Vampirella cover by Frank Frazetta. There is something about fish I like for moving objects. The use of found images...it sounds almost ecological. I used Photoshop and Ulead for software.