5-1-07: Some People

"Unfortunatley your videogame store manager husband goes wacko if I post anything on your page" --My Wife's ex.

I'm proud of what I do for a living, making people happy in a field I enjoy. Do I think I could be doing more to help support my family, yes...do I think it's necessary to attempt to insult the guy that got the girl, just for your own shits and giggles? Sure, why the hell not?

Y'see, I'm secure enough in my relationship with my wife, that she knows of women I find attractive, certain qualities she doesn't have that I like, and so on. She knows I love her, and that I love her more than anything. Funny, then, isn't it, that we get this feeling that someone is trying to disturb the pot?

Oh well. To me it's the same old shit with him. He's been in the background, trying to get Christy back since before I ever knew her, and that'll probably continue until the day I die.

Psycho? Me? Nah. Tempermental? Sure. That's more like me. I've got a temper. Hell, I've got a mean streak, but in no way am I psycho...now however, maybe someone needs to look in the mirror, thank their blessings that God gave them the opportunity to find a person that loves them for who they are...and love them back.

I hope you find what you are looking for in yourself to love YOUR wife, Corey. I can understand why you never want to let Christy go, she is the most precious being in this world, and your abusive behavior and not knowing how to let things be lost her for you.

Its okay, sport, I know you are just trying to rile me up, and I figured I'd give you this response, rather than what you want, which is probably a tongue lashing that you can try to spin your own way...Sorry. As much as a debate might be fun, I feel I've given you too much space and empowerment already.

I'm not jealous of something you don't have...not like you, so I can't say I know how you feel, because I don't. I hit the jackpot with her, and it almost seems like you've hit a wall without.

4-26-07: Slow NEWS month...sheesh.

This is normally my favorite time of year, when you find out which comic artists and writers are signing exclusive contracts with the competition and having all the big news for the remainder of the year coming at us for what's next in comics...in fact, it used to be the same type of thing in pro-wrestling, but even that's tapered off since McMahon took over 95% of the Wrestling Biz (in the states).

This year, however, its slow. DREADFULLY slow. Like, *I* personally have to make the news, or find something to write about because no one else is...and that's just silly. Now's when all the big news should be coming...take a look at Last year...

ULTIMATES 3 to be written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Joe Madureira...Wow! To start shortly after ULTIMATES 2...heh, which now, 1 year later, still hasn't finished.

ULTIMATES 4 to be written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Ed McGuiness...WOW! Another home run...to start shortly after ULTIMATES 3, which is now officially a year old in production and the rumor is that the artist, Joe Mad, is only three issues into his run, whereas Ed McGuiness has been working on other books for Marvel already.

SPIDER-MAN secret project written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by J Scott Campbell.... this one was actually announced BEFORE either of the other two, and no further updates have been announced.

SPIDER-MAN ONE MORE DAY, Written by J Michael Stracynzski and art by Joe Quesada... okay, give Joe Q some credit, dude works as the Editor in Chief at Marvel, so if they say its going to run IN all the Spidey Books in September, I'll believe it when I see it, but I believe this one is in the can.

ACTION COMICS by Richard Donner, Geoff Johns and drawn by Adam Kubert... This one is going the way of ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN (TBW)... let's just finish it when we can? What happened to Adam Kubert getting 8 issues done in a year? The man had 6 months to get a head start. YES, he's not using an inker, but COME ON...don't use your new-found fame to blame your not getting your work done on time...Donner DIRECTED a MOVIE in the time you've been taking to draw SIX ISSUES.

JIM LEE on Batman AND WILDCATS? Who ever thought this guy was going to maintain two series? Sure, one issue every other month, keeping HIM monthly...Jim, I love your work, I mean LOVE IT...but stick to 6 issue stints, that way you can do six months of CONs, too...PLEASE?!

See, lots of stuff announced FOR LAST YEAR that HASN'T even shipped THIS YEAR...WHY try to get people's hopes up, only to not deliver the goods AT ALL?

It bugs...

It annoys...

and it takes away creativity from people like me.

4-424-07: Adding Deviantart to the bloggings.

So here's the deal, I post a blog...a lot. I'm a blogging whore, I guess. Why? Yes, partly because I like hearing myself speak...type...whatever. the other part, was to basically give my feelings on how things should be going down in all aspects of life I care about...so I write about my art, my writing, my family, my dogs, my love of pro wrestling / UFC, my day job, whatever floats your boat...so now, this thing can be found in these places...

http://robpotchak.blogspot.com
www.elisalandis.com
myspace.com/potsandpansink

and now...dun da da...

rpotchak.deviantart.com

Why am I placing it everywhere? I don't know...maybe this way people that interact with me one way or another will start interacting with me a little more frequently. Maybe I'll be content that I get read by more than 1000 people a month and add another 500 people to that? Who knows. Truth be told, I'm really just doing it because I want to keep that page active, like both of the others.

Now, to compliment this, I think I'll start an art exchange with it. If anyone wants to draw Ardy or Elisa Landis, from either of their respective comic series on Keenspot (elisalandis.com and ardyvanstarr.com) let me know.

I'll try my hand at your characters, you try yours at mine. Hell, if I like'm enough, the art trades may get included in a future collected version of either story. So anyway, here are the characters, and you guys tell me if you are interested...

4-22-07: Couture gets what he wants...

Truthfully, he doesn't. He said that if he had his way, his style would give him a better shot at facing Mirko Cro Cop for his title...however, he picked Gonzaga to win the fight...

Gonzaga Kicked Cro Cop SO HARD IN THE HEAD that it KNOCKED him out clean...in what I believe was the first round, and was out of nowhere. It was an amazing kick. I mean, Cro Cop was OUT for literally the entire 4 minute commercial break.

Though I'm in the minority, I believe UFC is starting to have certain people throw fights. Why? Because truthfully, these guys sometimes look like they are just waiting for 15 minutes (or 25 in the case of Sylvia losing to Couture at UFC 68). It leads me to wonder something.

Is it better to have pre-determined outcomes, and not let anyone know that its fake? Like only doing it for the main fights, and everything else is as expected, a shootfight?

I think it allows for the great fights that you see, but also allows the drama if you start believing certain outcomes are pre-determined. I mean, who DIDN'T want to see Couture WIN the World Title again?

In a fight like Tito vs. Chuck? I don't care who wins, I enjoy watching both, so why pre-determine it? It has the build up, the drive and the delivery...

But with Cro Cop vs. Gonzaga? Who heard of Gonzaga? But to see Couture say that he thought Gonzaga was going to win, even though he felt he matched up better with the other? Boom... Create the Drama and the story.

You have to admit, that for the last 20 years, even KNOWING that Hulk Hogan was going to win, Vince McMahon created the drama that makes people go, "Wow." I know I'm just as good at calling outcomes with wrestling as I am in tv drama, but when it comes to fruitition, you go, "Man, I'm glad they went there...I'm glad I'm a fan."

And that's how I feel tonight. I saw that kick...and no, I was NOT at a strip club, even though I wanted to be...and I saw that kick, and it made me go, "We got ourselves a great match coming up."

4-20-07: 4-20-07: The First MySpace POTS AND PANS INK CONTEST

A contest now? Why?

Simple. Yes, after writing that blog a couple days ago about how I write this for me and it doesn't bother me who is reading, I've decided that TODAY I would like to know who is reading. So here's how this works.

Just write a Comment to this on the blog, (or a reply on the Blogspot blog), and I'll wait about three days, and then based on the people that have responded just by responding with a "Hi!" I'll pick a name out of the hat and the winner will receive a copy of the LIMITED EDITION Dead Sonja cover, autographed by yours truly.

Yes, I am going to post a bulletin about this as well, but today, I just want to see who wants to win something cool. Is that so wrong?

Again, just reply with a "Hi!" and you'll be entered to win. IF you are chosen as the winner, I'll send you a message on MySpace and have you send me your address to send you the copy of the book...Remember, these are limited to 400 TOTAL copies, so this is going to be EXTREMELY RARE.

If more than 20 people reply, I'll pick TWO winners...if more than 50 reply, I'll do a personalized sketch for the winner.

I think that's fair.

4-20-07: My first failed proposal...OR...How I was sucker punched by Marvel's Editor in Chief, Joe Quesada...

Anybody who knows me, knows that I've always liked Guido, aka Strong Guy and Jamie Madrox, aka the Multiple Man for Marvel Comics.

When Joe Quesada became Marvel EIC (Editor in Chief, or EEK as he likes to put it), I'm sure LOTS of people sent in proposals, because they felt more comfortable chatting with him. I have on a number of occasions been able to chat with him both in real life and online. He has always respected my opinions, by replying in short bursts, and even allowing me to email or IM him. Of course, he wouldn't remember me from Adam, but he at least makes it known that he reads my emails, and replies in kind. For that, I have the utmost respect...so the title here may be a bit misleading.

When he took over at Marvel, I sent a proposal to him, since two of my favorite characters were not being used, and that really upset me. The proposal was for Guido to get back from bodyguarding for Lila Cheney and her intergalactic band, to find that Jamie Madrox had hit rock bottom without his best friend, and was truly about as bad as someone could get before contemplating suicide...of course, problem with being a guy that when pain is inflicted, you multiply yourself, it means suicide is really tough.

Anyway, when Guido gets into town and finds Madrox strung out, he wants to help, so he gets a place, and both of them are trying to get different kinds of jobs. One scene specifically was of Jamie working a checkout lane at the local grocery store, only to have a woman say, "Thanks for the advice last week..." Only to have Jamie look at her and go, "Sorry ma'am, I don't believe that was me...maybe it was one of these guys..." and point back to have all of the different Madrox dupes looking and waving and saying hi, to which the woman passes out.

The next scene would be right out of Kindergarden Cop, where Guido is a kindergarden teacher and as a parent is picking up their kid, Guido is seen with three on his back, picking one off and then the parent storming off.

I won't get into all of it, but it got to the point where they just decided that it was time for them to go into business for themselves so they open a bar, called SECRET BARS...its a Super-Hero Only bar. Guido will work the door, and Madrox works the rest...scenes would include Quicksilver, former member of X-Factor coming up and biting his finger nails because he can't stand to be stuck in one place at one time...he needs to constantly be moving. He finally gets up to the front and Guido says, "Sorry Pietro, you are the son of Magneto...and he is a bad guy." Only to have Pietro say something like, "But this is my Avengers Membership card..." And Guido telling him its expired.

Anyway, I sent the proposal to Joe Q, and this is when these characters were NOT IN ANY BOOK, but X-Factor had only ended about a year prior. I got a response from him, letting me know he sent it to Mike Marts, former Editor of the X-Men line, but then he ended the message with something like this...

"I have to be honest, Rob, these characters just aren't popular enough to garner their own book."

These characters HAD BOTH been brought back from the dead because of rabid fan response, and yet, they weren't popular enough.

Shortly after that, Peter David announced that he would be writing a Madrox Mini-series where he opens up his own Private Investigation firm...starring both Madrox and Guido...to be followed up by you guessed it...X-Factor making a return after House of M...

This is not a slight on Joe. I understand that he basically meant, "These characters are not popular enough to have a NO NAME writer working on the title," because then to put it out with Peter David in charge, it had the name recognition. I just wish the idea had been given a little more consideration, since it was such a fun idea, and it could have ran as a backup somewhere, just to keep people abreast of where the characters were in a humorous kind of way.

I still have some art I drew to show with it, too...maybe I'll find it and post it...

4-19-07: Comics and other.

So today I went to the comic store. This is two of the last three days that I've been there, and I have to say, I'm sorely disappointed by what I picked up...It cost me nearly $90 for two weeks worth of comics...if it continues to be as pointless to pick up comics as it was today, I'll start saving the money and start putting it on all the video games I've pre-ordered...

I picked up the latest issue of Wolverine: Origins the other day and apparently, Logan has a son that he didn't know about until that completely worthless Marvel Even called HOUSE OF M, which started with Promise...then died for 6 issues and 21 pages and then on the last panel of the last page, the scarlet witch (Magneto's daughter) said, "No More Mutants..." and suddenly, there were only 200 or so left. 7 issues and only ONE PANEL was necessary...that's $21 down the drain. Not to mention the HOUSE OF M Spider-Man 5 issue series ($15 wasted), the HOM X-Men series ($15 wasted) and everything else...so anyways, now Wolverine remembers his past...so we've been reading for 30+ years of his, and NOW he just knows his past because some schmuck writer named Brian Bendis had Scarlet Witch whisper those stupid words...huh? Anyway, they give him his memory back, and now he has a second series where it takes 10 issues for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HAPPEN except they bring back a character they killed...because he can project his mind into others now...yeah...whatever.

So that's a title I'm probably going to drop.

I picked up 52 #50 and the entire World War III 4 part series that ALL CAME OUT ON THE SAME DAY...just plain stupid. If you picked these books up, take the miniseries back... you ONLY need to read the 52 #50, because THE ENTIRE MINISERIES is spotlighted in this one book. On the cover, its right, "World War II starts here." However, it should be followed up by "It also ends here, so don't pick up the other FOUR books we forced you to think you need for the whole story..." The ONLY good that came of the miniseries is they TRY to explain WHY the Martian Manhunter has changed his appearance, and they do a freaking horrible job at that, too.

So there's two worthless books. Or technically 5.

Punisher War Journal? Decompression at its worst. Just give me a good story, guys. I'm tired of reading six issues for 2 issues worth of story. THIS is why Captain America #25 was such a jem...it TOLD EVERYTHING...one book...one story...WOW factor #10. WHY do we have to buy all the crap just to get one gem? This is HARD earned money here.

Justice League of America #8. Shane Davis is THE new artist...and his work has been stellar. Couple him with Meltzer and you have what I would HOPE is the #1 book for the month. It is gorgeous, A LOT happens, and you feel like your money is well spent. I really felt like this book deserves the #1 book of the week award, if not the month. It was worth the $3, and since it goes without saying that this miniseries within two series (this is a crossover with JSA) this is going to be worth it since it has Meltzer working with Geoff Johns, Alex Ross, Ed Benes, the aforementioned Davis, Dale Eaglesham and others I'm probably forgetting. WORTH IT, FOLKS... BUY IT.

One for three so far.

Uncanny X-Men...part 11 of 12. Hmm...let's make sure that a lot of the X-Men are off planet for 12 issues so they don't mess up Civil War...shit, it worked for the Hulk, WHY NOT the X-Men, too? At least with this, you have Ed "I'll save the Marvel Universe by my damn self" Brubaker writing it, and I must say, everything this dude touches is gold. I'll stay on ANY book he writes until he starts Bendis-ing.

2 for 4, good.

I saw that Ultimate Spider-man came out this week. I passed. Why? FUCKING RONIN is on the cover. Marvel hasn't even truly gone into WHO is Ronin in Avengers (one of the titles) yet, BUT Bendis, convoluting the ENTIRE Ultimate Universe in 1/6 of the time it took to convolute the original Marvel universe, has decided to bring his half-assed writing talent over to the one book he still seemed to give a damn about. And don't tell me this book is worth $3 an issue. It's not, hasn't been since the Venom story, and even that was only barely readable...the Carnage "saga" of EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN A FLASHBACK was a WASTE of paper and time.

2 of 5.


Did I actually buy any others that I liked? 52 #50 was good, as I said. Trials of Shazam has been interesting. Iron Man was readable.

Ah...NEW AVENGERS and MIGHTY AVENGERS...give me a break. Though bubbles that say EXACTLY the same thing as what they are saying? Does Bendis get paid by the word? We already know that Ultron is a woman so Frank Cho gets to draw a naked woman in a Marvel book, but NOTHING HAPPENED...two issues and NOTHING...New Avengers? Thank you for explaining that Captain America IS dead and the "New Avengers" are wanted...wait...didn't we find that out in Civil War #7 and Captain America #25? Didn't we see that they were going to save Mia in New Avengers last month? Oh yeah...Bendis is writing...nothing happens except the art is nice in both. At least we have that.

I'm not TRYING to be bitter about the entire comic book industry...Marvel Zombies vs. the Army of Darkness has been classic. Its a gem that makes sense AND is written and drawn well. I'm so glad they found people that CARE about those properties.

Sensational Spider-man was horrible, AGAIN...the writer on that book did something amazing on 4 before IT was cancelled, and now...dud.

It is disappointing when you hear about all these GREAT new things coming in comics, and then they turn out to be BORING...or don't ever happen. I don't truly believe that Marvel is ahead with ULTIMATES 3 and ULTIMATES 4, or the J Scott Campbell SPIDER-MAN story. Why should I? If ULTIMATES 3 does NOT start directly after the finish of ULTIMATES 2, at this point (over a YEAR since it was to have finished), WHY is WIZARD reporting it? Don't get my hopes up on anything that hasn't started yet by now...I'm tired of it.

Don't tell me about ULTIMATES 3, ULTIMATES 4, Bryan Singer's ULTIMATE X-MEN issues, ONE MORE DAY, what happens AFTER COUNTDOWN or ANY of that bs. I'm tired of it. GIVE ME A GOOD STORY TODAY DAMMIT.

It's such a disappointing site when I'm comics fan. And I mean that as I wrote it...I am COMICS FAN...as in the industry. You can produce an entire MOVIE in the amount of time it has taken to get the 6th issue of All-Star Batman and Robin the boy wonder out. Hell, Sam Raimi has done it. And it probably cost about the same as Jim Lee's page rate.

Just give me something that is worth it for once guys...before I stop collecting entirely.

4-19-07: Weekend fast approaching...

This week has been a bear. I had to work on Sunday even though it was technically my day off. Then, I promised myself and my wife I'd start those Alcohol classes. I did that, too, and though I feel like its obvious that sometimes that will feel like a total bust, the first class went over well, and I know that I'm going to be the one people either like or hate, since I'll probably be the most vocal person in the room...

Wednesday, I had inventory at my store. I told everyone there that we'd be done by midnight, and guess what? All the counting in my store was DONE by midnight, and we were out of there by 12:30...not bad when you don't get started until 10:00pm and there's over 7600 pieces counted... since the last store we did had 6600 pieces and took until 1:30. We were properly organized and only needed to find sku numbers for 5 items all night...damn I'm good. Now, hopefully, we weren't missing A LOT, because this way I can get my team rolling the way we need to for the summer.

Tomorrow, my district Loss Prevention managers are going to be in the area, which means Derek and Kyle have got to be on their p's and q's...

Friday, well, Friday is a fun one, since originally I thought my Regional Manager, Cindy, was going to be there...now I know she isn't going to be there, but three DMs will be, including my personal DM, Kevin, but I'm not really worried about that visit, since they want to be conducting manager interviews.

Saturday should be fun. I work the morning shift, and then the big thing I'm kinda excited about is going to THEE DOLLHOUSE, a gentlemen's club, to see Jenna Haze. I didn't go to the Tera Patrick one the last time one of these went on, but Jenna...wow...going to see her do her thing is like going to the Superbowl...you just don't expect to be in the right place at the right time to be able to see that more than a couple times in your lifetime. Christy is okay with going, but I told her she didn't have to go if she didn't want to. Truthfully, I hope someone drives, because I'd like to consume a little bit more than the atmosphere that night.

Finally, the weekend cramps right back up because after working and then going out to see Haze, we get to launch the new Pokemon game for all the kids in the world that can't EVER seem to get enough of those damn little critters in their damn little balls. I'm being forced to work this day by the company, and won't have a day off until a couple shifts after that, which is horseshit in and of itself, but you do what you gotta.

So this weekend will have some bright spots if it pans out, but you take it however you can, and at least I can figure on Fubar going to the stripclub with me.

4-17-07: Comments on blogs and such.

My wife and I both write blogs. On hers, if she doesn't receive a reply from it, she feels disconnected from the world, however, when she gets folks responses, not only does she know that people are reading her blog (which you can see from the hits counter), but it gives her a sense of accomplishment...or something.

With me, I write because I want a running journal of day to day experiences, but a real writer doesn't write to see what other people have to say, they write for themselves. And I'm NOT knocking on my wife, as I know that she writes her blog for her...she just writes it for her, and hopes that everyone in this world gets an understanding of how she feels...and lets her know about it.

After posting the simple 1000 hits on myspace blog that I did yesterday, 27 people hit the page. That sent me over the 1000 hits spot and today's will probably bring in that many more hits, yet the only person who generally responds is my wife. Am I not leaving the posts with questions requesting answers, or are people just satisfied with reading and knowing that I'm okay?

Heh, to me it doesn't matter, unless I specifically ask for responses, which I haven't really done since LANDIS was still in regular updates, and I guess I may start to do it a little more frequently to see about getting some responses and seeing how people feel about the things I've written.

I really find it interesting here on blogspot, as well, because the people that respond here seem more interesting that the people on myspace. Not trying to knock all you hobos that are hooked to myspace like a crackwhore looking for a rock, but generally speaking, the people that have posted responses here have been real people...a mother of 4, readers of my comic that I'd love to bring it back for, a young woman who used to be in the second oldest profession...They come here to write, and when they see that someone has written something they can relate to, that's when they post a response.

Sure, my wife is a bartender, and most of our friends spend about 30% of their week in one, so they relate a lot more frequently than I guess people reading about my comic, but alas.

I guess this post is just going to end up being a big rant...tonight I actually start my alcohol intervention classes. They have asked that I remain sober for the six weeks of the program, and I'll comply for the most part. I think that anyone a year after their "incident" has already either made the attempts to correct their behaviors, as I have, or have decided to go back down the wrong path, with drinking and driving an inevitability, as I have not.

They give you workbooks and homework for these classes and make you relive what I would assume to most people was the worst experience of their lives (as is the case with me), where you feel like reliving it is just going to dredge up bad feelings and be against any true help.

I guess since I know I made a mistake, and I told myself I'll NOT drink and drive again, that I have fixed the glitch. Since I don't sugar coat, and all I do is tell what I consider to be the truth, I hold myself to a very high standard.

Do I really feel these six classes should be necessary for me to get on with my life? No...but I thought about it a little more today, and if that accident hadn't occurred, my wife may never have realized how important the US was to her...thus, a blessing in disguise? Yeah... for the car insurance people...fucking rates.

Ultimately, with myself, I don't think its necessary for these classes to make me realize my mistakes...just having to go to court, spend over $4000 and all of that stuff was enough to make me go, "Rob, don't be so fucking stupid...you could have killed yourself, your friend and left this world and people that care about you...or worse, you could have hurt or killed someone else and spent the rest of your life in jail..."

To that, I'm lucky, and thankful...I just wish I didn't have to go somewhere that they will want to hear the why's all over again...we're passed that...can't we just stay past it? (IF you couldn't tell, I wasn't sure which spelling of passed/past I should have used, so I used both...)

4-16-07: 1000 hits on the myspace blog!

So literally 3 posts after I hit my 400th blog post, the MySpace blog that I began writing this to is now about to hit 1000 hits. This is a sign of accomplishment, as both my wife and myself take pride in our writing, almost as much so as in our art (in her case...in mine, I take more pride in my written word, hehe).

In an update of sorts on The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures, both JK and I have fallen behind in our duties, as was BOUND to happen since we're both slackers, however, I've found the perfect thing to take the place of some of it until we can catch back up.

Today, JK re-sent me the rough sketches for the first 19 pages of the story, and since my life is all about comics, dvds and videogames, I've gone ahead and placed behind the scenes materials in the place of the comic for the next two weeks. Not only have I gone ahead and placed these rough pages up there, but I've written in some commentary and thoughts that have been ongoing since we started this ordeal and the contract that we abide to.

I've also decided that if he haven't caught up with a decent amount of material before that's over, that I'll actually start placing some sketches from both myself and JK on the site to show people more behind the scenes stuff and what goes on between our moments of genius.

I'll probably write more tonight on this thing, but 24 just came on, so I'm gonna bolt...yes, like with the SHIELD, I'm addicted.

4-13-07: LANDIS: The Movie (that hasn't happened)

Did you all know that I wrote a movie one time? Alright, not a FULL blown movie, and it was never made, but I wrote a movie treatment.

I'll probably get asked to take this down from Chris Crosby, my publisher, since it's still in early stages, and sometimes, apparently it can take years to get anywhere, but here's the deal.

I honestly don't feel as though LANDIS ever reached "the height of its popularity," but at the same time, it was getting what seems to be a million hits a month. Not necessarily all by new people, but sometimes by people re-going to the site...but alas.

It was about January of 2005, and Landis was nearing its end in about four months, and I was discussing writing a sequel with Crosby, but wanted to know when I should begin writing it, see if we could get Owen (Gieni, the original artist) to draw it, and keep the whole team together, and Chris said he had a better idea.

Keenspot had just helped a comic strip called YOU DAMN KID get optioned by FOX, so they figured now was the time to jump into other projects, get something written and try to go from there. Well, Crosby realized that LANDIS was a great project from the get go, (to which I'm extremely grateful, and he I hope knows that) and wanted to see if I could write a little something that was similar to the "first season" of Landis (the first 5 issues of the comic that were seen online) and see if we could make it into a treatment. He told me that a two hour "movie" is typically broken down into chapters, much like a comic book, and to go from there. If anybody optioned it as a TV show, you'd want that two hour block to be broken down to where every chapter has a cliffhanger, but otherwise, you just want to make sure that the story flows, you leave room for a sequel and you try to characterize what will happen, and set the pacing.

You obviously don't want to pace a story where a lot happens at the beginning and next to nothing happens at the end, or vice versa (achem, DEATH PROOF), but you try to balance it.

Trying to keep a small budget-minded story at the forefront (most movies from studios like LionsGate don't go over $4 million), I entered into writing thinking okay, you can do Vampire, you can do Everlasting (the term for the immortals in LANDIS), but you can't do super crazy CGI.

I wrote a treatment of LANDIS that was very in tune with the original miniseries, but also different enough to where it could truly be used as a second miniseries if I wanted to write it out for itself, and give the fans what they'd want and have asked for.

There was the chemical dump, there was a silhouetted Ardy (so we could try to keep CGI out of it with a low budget), and Landis and Tagger were actually helped by another Everlasting that was total Bad-ass, yet always got taken advantage of.

I won't ruin the story, but I sent it to Crosby. Unlike a lot of writers, I typically try to get it right the first time. You can ask him, rarely, if ever, does my work require a re-write, and if it does, its only because it goes away from the original image, which is not where I intended to go. I've had this with two stories (THIEF and ATOMIC TEEN) but otherwise, my written word is RARELY something different.

Crosby originally repsonded with a simple, "We need to talk about the Treatment..." and left it at that. I was upset, because I didn't know what was bad, but hell, I'd never written an eight chapter (in two paragraphs or less each) treatment, so any and all feedback, I'd take and try to do the re-write thing and make it better.

When I finally got in touch with Crosby he told me the long and short of it was, "It was good. I actually liked it" and then went on to say something like it was a good treatment and (thought not quoting him) he made it sound like he enjoyed it enough to want to push it forward.

Keenspot has an agency / agent that they use to push material. They thought it would be good for SCI-FI channel, and to my knowledge have sent it that far. Personally, I think Lion's Gate would be more interested in it, but I'm okay with shopping it to SCI-FI, which is owned by NBC.
I personally am not sure if the project was shopped past Crosby handing it to his agent, and that may be my fault. I'm very protective of my work, and don't like it being played with unless I know its work for hire. With LANDIS being creator-owned, I take Chris at his word, he's always been as honest with me as he can, but with him not having an interest in the project higher than possibly "Editor In Chief," he has less interest in seeing this get greenlighted than his own Superosity or any of the other projects him, Owen, his brother Bobby or anything he owns a part of getting that all important jump.

Now, I don't want you to think I'm dogging him. I'm not. Quite the opposite. He's given me oppurtunity not many others have...and its either he sees talent there, or he sees cheap and decent, and either way, I'm okay with it.

I always look to the stars, but honestly, he's helped me exceed a lot of the goals I had at once created for myself...Getting a comic printed...check...getting a color comic printed...check. getting my character Ardy and Landis seen by over 20,000 people, check....these are things that not many small press guys can say, and to this, I'm very thankful for Chris' ambition...

I still whine to him that I want LANDIS to see print, because it may help TV execs into making a faster decision on to give LANDIS a greenlight...not to mention THAT particular labor of love NEEDS to be in book format.

While I'm giving kudos, make sure to check out superosity.com for craziness from Crosby, and check out sorethumbsonline.com to see the same type of hilarity from Crosby and Owen.

4-10-07: This blog may contain one or more missing reels...our apologies - Management.

BEFORE I BEGIN, THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

I was just thinking of the movie GRINDHOUSE, or should I say movies? This film is a stroke of genius, and yet I've heard rumors that it is doing poorly with reviews and at the box office. Sure, not too many people want to use up 3.5 hours on what I considered, "The best movie I ever saw again, for the first time." Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror," had to have been the most clever zombie flick I'd seen in almost forever, and Tarantino's "DeathProof" was a stroke of madness on wheels. If I could change anything here, I would have put the zombie film last, because it was obvious that Rodriguez paced and played his movie in such a better way than Tarantino. Quentin was very slow-paced until the last ten minutes when it was pure rage running wild, while Rodriguez had his movie going non-stop balls to the wall (or the ground) from about the three minute point throughout.

It got me thinking, though...how many NEWBIE directors are going to take advantage of all the exploited flaws of this movie? Is a Grindhouse feature something that we'll see so much of now that it'll get over-exposed like a 9th-grader's photography assignment? Or will this be a joy to happen once every few years from Dimension just because something is so good that they double-feature it, cut a few reels out and then dub in some extra bs just to finish the deal?

Not only that, but what OTHER genres/fields will incorporate the now infamous "cut ten minutes of the film because it allows you to skip the nude scene, then miss the entire plot element where one of the "heroes" gets shot by his own man and jump right to the final act? I mean, I guess comics did it when they released like the 25th issues of certain comics about a year before they were due, and then somehow had to get the story in that issue to make sense...what'd they call that, "Future Image?" Anyway...

I don't think it'd work if anyone else had done it. In fact, portions of Tarantino's cut felt forced, too rush, and just annoying...Rodriguez on the other hand seemed to get it right, pace it perfectly, and just find that right amount of genius and madness to make a truly good movie, whether by itself or as part of the double feature...the sad thing was that it wasn't the finale, and yes folks...people in the theatre DID leave before Tarantino's portion even went on the screen.

The "fake" previews were superb, and everyone I know WANTS TO SEE MACHETE...and why wouldn't you? Anytime you take all the working elements of Desperado, El Mariacho and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and couple them with Cheech playing a priest and Danny playing the role of a gardner asked to kill a man...how can it not be like the greatest thing since sliced bread?

Oh, and did ANYONE else want to see HALLOWEEN directed by Rob Zombie after seeing this film as much as I did? If he incorporated the "grindhouse" effect to the film, that may be the next and only other time this year that it would be deemed appropriate...if only to add a nostalgia feel to it, since it is a remake of the #2 horror film of all time (behind the Exorcist).

Alright, I've taken up enough of everyone's time...but I'll finish with this...Grindhouse IS a Testosterone movie. You do not take a date to it, and you have to probably see it at midnight just to feel like you didn't waste a night on it...it reminds me of the time I stayed up to watch "Billy the Kid vs. Dracula." You just don't get more assinine than that...and yet, it still holds a dear part of my heart.

This movie WAS an instant classic, but only if you LIKE cheesy, dressed up films that NO ONE else could pull off...and that is where the genius lies.

4-7-07: Three contests won since October

So yeah, today, I receive something in the mail telling me that I've won first prize in Sony's KILLZONE LIBERATION contest. So I've now won second place in the Tony Montana Scarface contest, first prize in the Nintendo Yoshi's Island contest, and now, the weirdest of the bunch, the Killzone contest.

The prize? Well, its a copy of the game...and something else.

A Killzone Gun. A lifesize gun that I guess Sony stores had on display or something...retail value of the gun, $179.99...sheesh, huh?

So I've won $250 from Scarface, a statue from Nintendo and now I've won a gun from Sony... heh. What a weird world we live in...but its still cool.

4-6-07: My 400th blog post!

so its been one of those weeks. I got my review from my boss about the job I've been doing and it included random phrases like, "You can be a dick sometimes," "We really don't need to work as hard" and "I'm not as good as a district manager as I was as a store manager..." Overall, I was a three, which means I do my job correctly, and there are some things I need to improve, and other things that I EXCEL in, so that's good. He knows I'm try ing and he either respects me, or he's truly scared of me...either way, he gave me a fair review with the two areas of improvement being places I agree 100% with.

JK is on vacation this week, and we've conversed only once on an update of where he is with TAVA. I'm assuming he's laying out the next portion of the story so we can try to get a month ahead again, since at the moment, we're about 2 weeks ahead in story. For anyone who hasn't checked it out, its at www.ardyvanstarr.com and it would be really helpful for everyone to check it out and tell their friends, since this is our life's work and we're damn proud of it.

Oh well, with everything else going on, I guess we just need to make sure we keep up with everything. My brother-in-law and father-in-law came and visited me at work and started the conversation with "we'd like to complain to the manager" which actually DID make the other three customers in the store actually turn to look, as if in a "Why, these guys are awesome" manner. That was funny and cool.

Next week, FINALLY, I start my alcohol classes, and it will take me 6 weeks to get through it all, and it has to be 6 weeks straight. This is pretty buggy, and I really don't want to do it, but I have to, and it will take up my entire tuesday nights off for a while. Oh well, just get it over with and not deal with any of it.

The TV is doing really well, though it changes the aspect ratio back to 16:9 after about 20 minutes, so I've just decided I'm going to leave it alone. Still have to call to get the other tv serviced.

Well, this wasn't really an eventful 400th post, but I can't believe that I've been writing this thing for two plus years and I'm up to a huge post number. I'm almost thinking I should start filing these to make a book out of them someday...The Potchak Files.... well, it has a ring to it.

Not as cool as my wife having to deal with a co-worker with a John Deere tractor tattoo, or carnies stumbling in...all we ever get at my job are Mexicans that ask "No spreaka Spanish?" and I just look at them and go, "No...Speaka English?" and they just stare at me like I'm supposed to be bilingual. Trust me, if I were, I'd be making more money working somewhere else, or hell, making more where I'm at, but overall, I speak English...I work in an environment where ALL my signage is in English, and that's how it is...don't look at me like I'm stupid because you didn't feel you should attempt to learn what everyone else is speaking due to where you are? I'll get looked at as an asshole here, but it's THEIR ignorance that we are adhering to, and it is completely unnecessary for ME to adhere to it. I learned what I was taught when I was BORN HERE...if they don't feel they have to, they should stay in a spanish community and speak spanish there...where it is expected.

I know, I'll ruffle a few feathers there...but its true. Don't make me feel stupid for not knowing your language when you come into MY STORE. That's YOUR ignorance and stupidity, not mine. Don't think you can make gestures in other languages, either, because we all understand them well enough to know that you are NOT being nice.

I swear, ignorance is spreading like killer bees...and people are accepting it because they are not strong enough to do anything about it.

Ugh...

4/1/07: Yes, two blogs...this one about Wrestling.

Below are the matches for Wrestlemania, and all the predictions for each. While this is normally the best event of the year from the WWE, The show looks a little...no, maybe a lot of WEAK this year. Anyways, I'll go from the card, and yes, get over the fact that the Main Events are first. links FROM WWE.com have been included...HOPEFULLY they won't get all tiffy with me.



World Heavyweight Champion Batista vs. Undertaker

The streak vs. the title, and the Animal vs. the Deadman. This one is a tough one to call, I one I really can't give a good impression on, but if recent memory serves, I believe Batista has been getting the better of the Undertaker on pretty much a weekly basis...so with that said, I think the one thing that is constant at the past FIFTEEN Wrestlemanias stays true to form, and the Undertaker walks out the winner...the question, however, is does he walk out with the World Championship, and for some reason, I don't see Vince giving the old Deadman the belt over his prized project from Smackdown...if this match IS NOT "NO DQ," expect something underhanded to occur, allowing Batista to retain the title.

WWE Champion John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels

Anyone who knows me KNOWS for a FACT that I called that this match would be the headliner at Wrestlemania RIGHT AFTER Triple H blew out his quad. My boy Tino asked, "What do you think they are going to do?" To which my reply was, "HBK for the world title at WM and Orton and Edge fighting each other due to jealousy and blah blah bad guy ego tagteam shit..." And I was right. So now the question is, do we give HBK one last hoorah with the belt? John Cena is your "Golden Boy" and HBK is your go to guy for a good match when Triple H is out, so I would normally say, "No." I believe ONE of the world championships changes hands, so I have got to say this is the one that does. But I think he drops the belt right back to John Cena like within two months.

Battle of the Billionaires

I gotta say, the Rock said it best here...http://www.wwe.com/content/media/video/tvshows/raw/200703/4323564/031207rock
and the "Great One" normally knows what he's talking about. However, I like being unpredictable and "Swervy" in this spot. Yes, McMahon gets his head shaved, and I'm TOTALLY COOL with him just losing the match, but WHAT IF Umaga wins the match over Bobby Lashley, but Stone Cold gives Vince McMahon the stunner and lets Donald Trump shave his head anyway? That would add more to the unpredictability to help promote Austin's new movie, and be a pretty fun way for Vince to finally take the rug off his head.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Well, here, the fans win. Great competitors going for the Money in the Bank. This is almost as good as winning the KING OF THE RING Tournament. Well, I say this...Kennedy is the strongest candidate to win the world title, RIGHT NOW, that WWE has, and I think Vince knows it. His star is shining brighter than the others, and lets be honest, the reason that Edge vs. Orton isn't happening elsewhere on the card is because Edge is hurt, so he's good for a few big spots, but not necessarily for a full match. Not to mention, I don't think Vince is dumb enough to give him a second MITB, nor give it to Orton or Booker, who are already established heels.

MRRRRRRR. KENNNNNNEDYYYYYY.........................KENNEDY

ECW Originals vs. New Breed

Sad day for Tommy Dreamer and RVD...They are going to win, or lose, in the worst match of the night...okay, third worst match of the night. The rumor has the originals LOSING this match, meaning I gotta go with that. I also think its because Vince isn't really sure what to make of those guys, and their one year deals are about up...so expect RVD, Dreamer, Sandman and Sabu to fade away slowly...starting tonight.

Women's Champion Melina vs. Ashley

Second worst match of the night candidate...You've got a backstage whiner fighting a playboy bunny...man I want Stacy Keibler back on WWE tv....she looked so hot in that show I saw her in on ABC not too long ago. Does Ashley win because she's in Playboy? Probably...in a HORRIBLE match.

Kane vs. The Great Khali

STINKER OF THE NIGHT! Battle of the Big Men ought to be called, "Godzilla vs. Giant chest man with oversized chins..." This match is going to suck so bad that I truly believe my prediction is...I'm going to get up to go to the bathroom for this one.

United States Champion Chris Benoit vs. MVP

This match may end up being the best match of the night, and its only on here for Filler. With rumor that Chris Benoit will be making his way over to RAW after Wrestlemania, I believe they have him lose his title here, and I think he loses clean. Hopefully the bad taste it leaves doesn't stick after WM, though, because if he goes to RAW, it better be to help push a World Champion.



Weeeeelllll, those are the predictions, and like I said, this is going to be the worst Wrestlemania in about 15 years...but it may go down as the worst, even though it has all the hype in the world with regular media.

4/1/07 - The April Fools joke of the day?

So Yesterday, I'm at work, and a kid that works for me, Jimmy (real name, and no this isn't made up, is Jiten Girish Kumar Patel) makes a joke about something that he adds the line, "With your mom's left hand...Ohhhh son!" Don't know why he said the Oh son to the end, but I guess it was for effect.

I take the statement, and with a bold stare back, I say, "My mom doesn't have a left hand. She lost her arm a couple years ago." He's like, "I'm calling bullshit."

The other guy working for me, is like laughing about it to, and then goes, "Wait a second, are you for real?" To which I was like, "Dude, my mom lost her arm a couple years ago...that's why it was so amazing she still serves tables at the Angus Barn, and just passed ten years.:

At this point, Derek, who absolutely knows I'm bullshitting chimes in, "Dude, when I made fun of Rob's mom when he was drunk, he damn near killed me...its a sensative subject. Especially since she lost her arm."

I'm still holding a straight face, and John (I call him Manconi) is buying it now. Jimmy still says, "Rob, there's no way. I know what kind of jokes you play, this isn't funny."

I just look at him and say, "Apologize, Jimmy. It isn't funny." And he just looks at me. Derek looks at him and is like, "Dude, Jimmy, it isn't funny, man."

And then I leave...I didn't tell him it was a joke, I just left it there...its pretty damn cruel, but I think its pretty damn funny at the same time.