Anyone looking for free ringtones? Try here...set up a username and password and then you can create or download your own ringtones.
http://www.phonezoo.com/Welcome.do
I've downloaded about 20 of them already and will probably continue to download even more.
So my former assistant manager and I had a conversation today. I can't go into it all for legal reasons and such, but lets just say two options were given to him, and he chose the one that was best suited for his future...
I am a little upset it didn't work out better, but with his resignation, I learn that now you never hire your friends. It puts an added pressure on everything that you were trying to accomplish, and more than anything else, you never know what you are going to get in terms of the employee, comparably to what you get as a friend.
Certain people make good friends, and yet bad employees...I'm sure people would say that some people make good friends and bad bosses, or the other way around as well, but in my history, you can become friends with people that work for you, but mostly, you can't bring your friends into your workplace. Someone always takes advantage of someone else, and even if they are attempting to NOT create a dissention, there's still one that forms.
I am harder on keyholders, because they hold a much larger amount of responsibility than a non-keyholder They are guaranteed a specific amount of hours, which means they handle a majority of the store's transactions, which means, YOU MUST perform. Some of your non-keys are expected to have better tasking abilities, but a key's job is to be 80% sales and 20% operations...worst case scenario, 70/30...a manager's job is supposed to be the other way around, 20% sales/80% ops...my problem was that I was pulling 90% of the stores sales numbers and doing 75% (or more) of the store's operational work.
It was a downer to know that the store was sitting squarely on my shoulders. I still got my numbers, and in some cases, I got everyone else's too. Some people don't understand the strain it puts on one person to have to keep that up, and what happens when they have a bad week, as well? The whole store falters.
Well, anyway, things have been weird recently, but now I know that I get to start moving in a different direction, and if everything's going the way I want, I'll go through christmas without much to worry about...hopefully that's how it goes.
Am I upset by what occurred today? It felt like it was likely to happen. It became more about excuses and less about how to do it, and it became more about victim statements and less about succeeding at all costs.
I'm competitive. You have to be in this field...especially if you want to succeed or survive...or hell, at least get a decent raise. I personally got tired of showing nothing for my personal numbers. It was like, "Oh, I'm the second best selling manager in the district, and my store is third to last..." Not exactly how anyone wants to look at it. It gets tiresome, and it drags even the most positive people down...of which I am not.
I am successful because I don't let things hold me back for long...and yes, I would cut ties to help my store and myself be more successful...sometimes you just have to...and that's just how it goes.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
6-27-07: What a difference a couple days make...
Everybody that knows me, knows that I'm a fan of pro-wrestling...and up until Tuesday morning, a fan of Chris Benoit. I still feel the WWE was correct in their 3 hour presentation of ALL THE GOOD he was. No one may ever know what the truth is to the story, whether he couldn't cope with a wife that may have been unfaithful, or a son that was undersized and given Human Growth Hormone to attempt to help him grow, we will just never know.
The man himself went from an Instant Classic to a horror story. I find it difficult to write this, not because it is the most talked about incident on the internet, the news, what have you, but because this was a man that you could tell cared for people, and they cared for him. Now, I bet most of those people want to take back any and all of the kind words that were said about him.
I do not condone his actions, and part of me hopes that there was still some sort of hostage situation, that he had to play along with and made it look like a double murder suicide, because I can not fathom what it would be like to ever consider murder, let alone, murder of a young child.
As a writer, I often times put dark places in my head to be able to reach that level that the readers want to see...hell, I've even killed of 75% of humanity in LANDIS, but one thing I've never been able to wrap my head around is what causes a man to do this.
One can wonder, one can guess, but I still feel a little sorry that now, a man that I've watched on tv as a wholesome husband and father, a champion among champions, is now run through the dirt, and I, along with millions of others, now wonder, "Why?"
I'm not sure I want the answer. It is simple to see that the man went from a Hall of Fame wrestling career, to one of America's darkest moments. All his merchandise has been pulled, all his memories of good now stripped, and no one is to blame but himself.
I bet now, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Mick Foley and others that traveled with him thousands of nights are glad they didn't speak on Chris Benoit at his tribute, and having heard all the lingering stories, you can see why people such as John Cena were hesitant to speak in the first place, but I now feel really bad for Chavo and Dean Malenko, spilling their tears over a man that had many more problems than he ever let anyone know.
--------------------------
As an update, wrapping my head around this actually IS a part of why THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES has not been updated. I've mostly been in shell shock from the events of the past week, as my wife has dealt with two up close and personal tragedies, and now, I'm coming to terms with this. I apologize for my lack of professionalism around this, as it did not affect me personally, but mentally, it pressed against me, and I'll pick up the pieces as we continue TAVA beginning Tuesday, July 3rd.
The man himself went from an Instant Classic to a horror story. I find it difficult to write this, not because it is the most talked about incident on the internet, the news, what have you, but because this was a man that you could tell cared for people, and they cared for him. Now, I bet most of those people want to take back any and all of the kind words that were said about him.
I do not condone his actions, and part of me hopes that there was still some sort of hostage situation, that he had to play along with and made it look like a double murder suicide, because I can not fathom what it would be like to ever consider murder, let alone, murder of a young child.
As a writer, I often times put dark places in my head to be able to reach that level that the readers want to see...hell, I've even killed of 75% of humanity in LANDIS, but one thing I've never been able to wrap my head around is what causes a man to do this.
One can wonder, one can guess, but I still feel a little sorry that now, a man that I've watched on tv as a wholesome husband and father, a champion among champions, is now run through the dirt, and I, along with millions of others, now wonder, "Why?"
I'm not sure I want the answer. It is simple to see that the man went from a Hall of Fame wrestling career, to one of America's darkest moments. All his merchandise has been pulled, all his memories of good now stripped, and no one is to blame but himself.
I bet now, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Mick Foley and others that traveled with him thousands of nights are glad they didn't speak on Chris Benoit at his tribute, and having heard all the lingering stories, you can see why people such as John Cena were hesitant to speak in the first place, but I now feel really bad for Chavo and Dean Malenko, spilling their tears over a man that had many more problems than he ever let anyone know.
--------------------------
As an update, wrapping my head around this actually IS a part of why THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES has not been updated. I've mostly been in shell shock from the events of the past week, as my wife has dealt with two up close and personal tragedies, and now, I'm coming to terms with this. I apologize for my lack of professionalism around this, as it did not affect me personally, but mentally, it pressed against me, and I'll pick up the pieces as we continue TAVA beginning Tuesday, July 3rd.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
6-23-07: The week I'm having...
So it all starts off with my computer getting a virus, and now, I'm unable to update the comic, which I feel horrible about and need to figure out another way to make sure I get this thing updated, because I feel like a jerk not getting the pages up and on at the right time...THIS is the reason we missed the Thursday update, folks, no other reason than my computer is now going through its 8th time of Virus Scan trying to get rid of this shite.
So that was all well and good, and then I decide I'm going to update my cell phone, since I'm at the renewal date and I can get a pretty cool phone, right? Well, I did and this is going dandy, but while this may be going well right now, there's something looming...
My dog jumped our fence yesterday. He does it every so often, and NOW my homeowners association has changed the fencing to include a 6ft fence...so now, I'll probably have to consider a larger fence if the dog keeps doing this. Normally, no big deal, but the next door neighbors have a newborn baby, and apparently, Ardy got a little excited and bouncing around seems to have scratched the baby. The police show up at my house and I tell him that the dog is in his cage where he goes when he's bad. The police tell me to just make sure I keep him chained up outside to prevent him from getting out, or to make sure we keep a better eye on him in the back yard. I'm thinking no big deal (since I hadn't heard about the baby getting hurt). Animal Control shows up shortly thereafter, telling me that the baby had been struck, and had scratches (and has now gone to the doctor to get looked at) due to anything happening to a baby and the possible severity of it. I had no idea that this occurred, and feel horrible. There's no other way to look at it. I thought just with the fact that the police had shown up, that if anything like him getting out again happened, I may have to put a dog down, now its just a situation where we have to think of the livelihood of the neighbors. Ardy is NOT a violent dog. Even when he plays, he's not the type that nips or bites at your hands. He's just an excitable dog...bigger than he thinks he is.
I go to a restaurant called the FOX AND THE HOUND last night because a buddy of mine, Carlos (another Gamestop Manager) is going to be judging a bikini contest and just figures it'd be cool to go. He starts telling me about this hot Asian girl that is in the contest, and he's saying things like, "well, she's got my vote..." to which I begin thinking for some ungodly reason, "Y'know, I bet I know who it is..." Low and behold, its our old bar-buddy, Jackie, sitting there on the stage and waving at me. After the ladies do there struts in the bikinis, and while the judges are tabulating their results, somehow, I get entered into a WING EATING CONTEST... not most in a timeframe, but fastest wing eater of a basket of wings. Guess who won...that's right, the R O B won out...funny how my gluttony seemed to help for once. Jackie ended up winning the bikini contest, but I don't know if her $250 prize is as good as my "Party for 10-20 people for appetizers and pizza" prize that I won, but who knows.
Sometimes during the week, my wife lost an aunt. No, she didn't just disappear, she passed away. Yeah, perfect time to be funny, I know. Anyway, she wasn't as upset by it then, but then a person that was a musician that would come and play at her bar passed away, as well, and the crazy thing about it was that his car keys were still at her bar, since someone had gotten him a cab home. He apparently died from a massive heart attack, and I don't think I ever met the guy, but she's pretty shaken up by it.
Its been one of them weeks. I've started making contingency plans about how to fix my store at work, and all it'll require is a signoff from my boss, Kevin, with whom I expect to have a conversation about what to do on Monday. You know, my biggest rule at work, and the first thing I let every new hire know is simple..."I will not lose my job for you." And the second thing I say is, "I do not expect you to lose your job for me." I respect them enough right after hiring to let them know that I don't WANT them to take a bullet for it, because with my family at home, I don't think I'd be taking one for them.
Our company has a KEY CARD that we give every employee which gives our company stances. The main thing about this that I take from it is this..."NO VICTIMS" You sleep in the bed you make. You don't perform, YOU are responsible...not the customer that says NO, but the employee that doesn't make them want to say YES. I think I finally figured out where your mindset needs to be to be successful in sales...John Michael and Kristian at AT&T would always say, "It doesn't matter if you take those customers, because I'm gonna get mine..." They were simply stating the fact of, "You are the new guy...you want to come in and take everything, but the truth is, I'll still hit my quota, and laugh at you when you don't hit yours." (without ever saying that, because they both helped me understand HOW to get the move on).
I GET MINE. In my second bad week of this month, I still hit my numbers. Anyone who says "I can't." simply isn't trying hard enough. I had three employees bust their butts in numbers this week, and the store is still having a rough week because of the amount of transactions done by a select few. The difference between me and others is that I say, "I'm gonna get mine..." and they say, "Well, why am I not getting any?" I look past the past, and move on. I tell myself that I WILL succeed and therefore put myself in the frame of mind to do so. Those who do not, DON'T. Its that simple. You must think you ARE going to succeed to be successful. You can't think, "Why haven't I" when you simply need to begin thinking, I most definitely WILL.
Those who don't get it, haven't tapped into it. That's why some people who can't move faster than ketchup coming out of a jar can still be better sales people than that person with a quick wit and sharp tongue.
Maybe I'm off here, but all I can ask is...if I am wrong, why am I successful as a salesperson everywhere I've gone? And no, I don't hound customers, I simply make them see the benefit in doing it. Sometimes its because they are loyal to the store. Sometimes its because we are loyal to them for doing it. Sometimes its just something that makes sense. It isn't always the same answer, and sometimes, its multiples of them. No two people are alike, but if you keep thinking, "I don't get why I can't get there..." instead of, "Oh, I'm gonna get there..." you are just missing it, and its passing you by.
So that was all well and good, and then I decide I'm going to update my cell phone, since I'm at the renewal date and I can get a pretty cool phone, right? Well, I did and this is going dandy, but while this may be going well right now, there's something looming...
My dog jumped our fence yesterday. He does it every so often, and NOW my homeowners association has changed the fencing to include a 6ft fence...so now, I'll probably have to consider a larger fence if the dog keeps doing this. Normally, no big deal, but the next door neighbors have a newborn baby, and apparently, Ardy got a little excited and bouncing around seems to have scratched the baby. The police show up at my house and I tell him that the dog is in his cage where he goes when he's bad. The police tell me to just make sure I keep him chained up outside to prevent him from getting out, or to make sure we keep a better eye on him in the back yard. I'm thinking no big deal (since I hadn't heard about the baby getting hurt). Animal Control shows up shortly thereafter, telling me that the baby had been struck, and had scratches (and has now gone to the doctor to get looked at) due to anything happening to a baby and the possible severity of it. I had no idea that this occurred, and feel horrible. There's no other way to look at it. I thought just with the fact that the police had shown up, that if anything like him getting out again happened, I may have to put a dog down, now its just a situation where we have to think of the livelihood of the neighbors. Ardy is NOT a violent dog. Even when he plays, he's not the type that nips or bites at your hands. He's just an excitable dog...bigger than he thinks he is.
I go to a restaurant called the FOX AND THE HOUND last night because a buddy of mine, Carlos (another Gamestop Manager) is going to be judging a bikini contest and just figures it'd be cool to go. He starts telling me about this hot Asian girl that is in the contest, and he's saying things like, "well, she's got my vote..." to which I begin thinking for some ungodly reason, "Y'know, I bet I know who it is..." Low and behold, its our old bar-buddy, Jackie, sitting there on the stage and waving at me. After the ladies do there struts in the bikinis, and while the judges are tabulating their results, somehow, I get entered into a WING EATING CONTEST... not most in a timeframe, but fastest wing eater of a basket of wings. Guess who won...that's right, the R O B won out...funny how my gluttony seemed to help for once. Jackie ended up winning the bikini contest, but I don't know if her $250 prize is as good as my "Party for 10-20 people for appetizers and pizza" prize that I won, but who knows.
Sometimes during the week, my wife lost an aunt. No, she didn't just disappear, she passed away. Yeah, perfect time to be funny, I know. Anyway, she wasn't as upset by it then, but then a person that was a musician that would come and play at her bar passed away, as well, and the crazy thing about it was that his car keys were still at her bar, since someone had gotten him a cab home. He apparently died from a massive heart attack, and I don't think I ever met the guy, but she's pretty shaken up by it.
Its been one of them weeks. I've started making contingency plans about how to fix my store at work, and all it'll require is a signoff from my boss, Kevin, with whom I expect to have a conversation about what to do on Monday. You know, my biggest rule at work, and the first thing I let every new hire know is simple..."I will not lose my job for you." And the second thing I say is, "I do not expect you to lose your job for me." I respect them enough right after hiring to let them know that I don't WANT them to take a bullet for it, because with my family at home, I don't think I'd be taking one for them.
Our company has a KEY CARD that we give every employee which gives our company stances. The main thing about this that I take from it is this..."NO VICTIMS" You sleep in the bed you make. You don't perform, YOU are responsible...not the customer that says NO, but the employee that doesn't make them want to say YES. I think I finally figured out where your mindset needs to be to be successful in sales...John Michael and Kristian at AT&T would always say, "It doesn't matter if you take those customers, because I'm gonna get mine..." They were simply stating the fact of, "You are the new guy...you want to come in and take everything, but the truth is, I'll still hit my quota, and laugh at you when you don't hit yours." (without ever saying that, because they both helped me understand HOW to get the move on).
I GET MINE. In my second bad week of this month, I still hit my numbers. Anyone who says "I can't." simply isn't trying hard enough. I had three employees bust their butts in numbers this week, and the store is still having a rough week because of the amount of transactions done by a select few. The difference between me and others is that I say, "I'm gonna get mine..." and they say, "Well, why am I not getting any?" I look past the past, and move on. I tell myself that I WILL succeed and therefore put myself in the frame of mind to do so. Those who do not, DON'T. Its that simple. You must think you ARE going to succeed to be successful. You can't think, "Why haven't I" when you simply need to begin thinking, I most definitely WILL.
Those who don't get it, haven't tapped into it. That's why some people who can't move faster than ketchup coming out of a jar can still be better sales people than that person with a quick wit and sharp tongue.
Maybe I'm off here, but all I can ask is...if I am wrong, why am I successful as a salesperson everywhere I've gone? And no, I don't hound customers, I simply make them see the benefit in doing it. Sometimes its because they are loyal to the store. Sometimes its because we are loyal to them for doing it. Sometimes its just something that makes sense. It isn't always the same answer, and sometimes, its multiples of them. No two people are alike, but if you keep thinking, "I don't get why I can't get there..." instead of, "Oh, I'm gonna get there..." you are just missing it, and its passing you by.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
6/19/07: Man how long has it been?
So I sit here, on my day off and I'm watching STAR WARS: EPISODE 3 in HD because I have nothing else to do, and I think to myself..."I haven't blogged in a while." And then if hits me. Yesterday, I received a great gift from JK, three original art pieces of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES. These are beautiful pieces, and two have been seen already (as I've colored both and made t-shirts of both). The third piece, however, is completely new to me, and I'll hope to have a copy scanned soon.
I'm really excited about where the series is going, and I've written probably the first 10 or so pages of the next run, where we get introduced to Ardy's new secretary, who'll probably make appearances on the next run of TAVA advertisements, since it'll probably help hits.
Last night, the wife and I went to see Mr. Brooks, since I had heard good things about it. It was decent, and I liked looking at Costner as a man with schizophrenia, as well as constantly talking to himself through another character that only he could see named Marshall. The kicker of the film was Dane Cook and his appearance as a character that was lovably creepy, in that, he was a sick twisted watcher, and yet, Costner was trying to "teach him to kill" so that later, Cook may take his life. Interesting plot, though I was underwhelmed by Demi Moore in the role she played as a police detective.
So I ordered a new phone from Verizon. The Motorola KRZR. I'll probably receive it tomorrow, since I ordered it from them since they wouldn't let me buy it from Best Buy. From what I have read about it, it seems to be one of the better tested models of phone, and it includes all the features of my current phone. I've decided I may try the ESPN MVP service that Verizon now offers, if it is available for that phone model.
I need to letter a couple more pages of TAVA, and JK should be getting ahead in where we are in the development of it, so hopefully that is the case...
And on a final note of the day...April, I haven't forgotten the prize owed to you, but I'm afraid I lost the address and I'll attempt to send it by Thursday.
I'm really excited about where the series is going, and I've written probably the first 10 or so pages of the next run, where we get introduced to Ardy's new secretary, who'll probably make appearances on the next run of TAVA advertisements, since it'll probably help hits.
Last night, the wife and I went to see Mr. Brooks, since I had heard good things about it. It was decent, and I liked looking at Costner as a man with schizophrenia, as well as constantly talking to himself through another character that only he could see named Marshall. The kicker of the film was Dane Cook and his appearance as a character that was lovably creepy, in that, he was a sick twisted watcher, and yet, Costner was trying to "teach him to kill" so that later, Cook may take his life. Interesting plot, though I was underwhelmed by Demi Moore in the role she played as a police detective.
So I ordered a new phone from Verizon. The Motorola KRZR. I'll probably receive it tomorrow, since I ordered it from them since they wouldn't let me buy it from Best Buy. From what I have read about it, it seems to be one of the better tested models of phone, and it includes all the features of my current phone. I've decided I may try the ESPN MVP service that Verizon now offers, if it is available for that phone model.
I need to letter a couple more pages of TAVA, and JK should be getting ahead in where we are in the development of it, so hopefully that is the case...
And on a final note of the day...April, I haven't forgotten the prize owed to you, but I'm afraid I lost the address and I'll attempt to send it by Thursday.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
6-13-07: Marvel upsets with "BIGGEST PAGE OF THE YEAR"
So I read WORLD WAR HULK #1...good book. lots of interesting points, counterpoints, and perspectives...all that and Tony Stark offers a PARDON to any unregistered hero that helps them with the evacuation...BOOM, Rob hit the big news, right? Nope.
Turns out the big deal is a "HUGE" spoiler, that isn't all that huge.
Don't read any further if you don't want to know...
Jessica Jones must be a Skrull...why? Because here baby has eyes that are tinted green. That's what Marvel wants to shell off to you. That the Skrulls have taken a huge placement in the Marvel universe, and the first one found was none other than Elektra.
Okay, so all I have to ask is this...if you are going to state that this is the LARGEST page to hit this year, WHY have it come out on the SAME DAY AS YOUR BIG EVENTS FIRST ISSUE?!
Okay...so there you have it...I was right, and I was wrong...all at the same time. I am, however, waiting for the great SWERVE where Tony Stark gets amnesia and forgets EVER offering a pardon. That'd be cool.
Turns out the big deal is a "HUGE" spoiler, that isn't all that huge.
Don't read any further if you don't want to know...
Jessica Jones must be a Skrull...why? Because here baby has eyes that are tinted green. That's what Marvel wants to shell off to you. That the Skrulls have taken a huge placement in the Marvel universe, and the first one found was none other than Elektra.
Okay, so all I have to ask is this...if you are going to state that this is the LARGEST page to hit this year, WHY have it come out on the SAME DAY AS YOUR BIG EVENTS FIRST ISSUE?!
Okay...so there you have it...I was right, and I was wrong...all at the same time. I am, however, waiting for the great SWERVE where Tony Stark gets amnesia and forgets EVER offering a pardon. That'd be cool.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
6-12-07: Marvel lets the cat out of the bag early?
In what could be the most important blog entry I make to date, I've been saying it all along...
PETER PARKER JOINS TONY STARK AGAIN IN NEW AVENGERS #31.
I know, you are going, "Why in the blue hell would he do that?" And my only answer is, "It's the only way that Peter Parker can be a likable character again." And this little tidbit...
http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/June07/previews/WWHULK001_int0030.jpg
On this preview page from Newsarama, Marvel has let the ball drop again. Peter Parker is back to calling Tony Stark "Boss" and couple that with the fact that he's seen WITH the MIGHTY AVENGERS (plus Luke Cage of all people), it leads one to believe that Peter Parker has RE-signed the Registration act as a way to attempt to get his life back in order.
If you were on the run, your aunt was about to die, and your wife who was a supermodel wasn't allowed to work, all because you were a fugitive, don't you think you'd do whatever you could to start getting back on the right path?
Apparently NEW AVENGERS #31 AND WORLD WAR HULK #1 come out of the same day, so technically, NEW AVENGERS #31 could have some other information in it, but there's no denying that Peter Parker is standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF IRON MAN and NOT being arrested here...
Now how will it all play out?
PETER PARKER JOINS TONY STARK AGAIN IN NEW AVENGERS #31.
I know, you are going, "Why in the blue hell would he do that?" And my only answer is, "It's the only way that Peter Parker can be a likable character again." And this little tidbit...
http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/June07/previews/WWHULK001_int0030.jpgOn this preview page from Newsarama, Marvel has let the ball drop again. Peter Parker is back to calling Tony Stark "Boss" and couple that with the fact that he's seen WITH the MIGHTY AVENGERS (plus Luke Cage of all people), it leads one to believe that Peter Parker has RE-signed the Registration act as a way to attempt to get his life back in order.
If you were on the run, your aunt was about to die, and your wife who was a supermodel wasn't allowed to work, all because you were a fugitive, don't you think you'd do whatever you could to start getting back on the right path?
Apparently NEW AVENGERS #31 AND WORLD WAR HULK #1 come out of the same day, so technically, NEW AVENGERS #31 could have some other information in it, but there's no denying that Peter Parker is standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF IRON MAN and NOT being arrested here...
Now how will it all play out?
Sunday, June 10, 2007
6-10-07: Just watching lots of different stuff, today...
www.ardyvanstarr.com <--The Official homepage for THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, Updates Every Tuesday and Thursday from Pots and Pans Ink and Junior Bruce Productions.
In case anyone games and wants to add me as a friend, here are how you can get in touch with me...
XBOX LIVE ID: RPotchak
Playstation Online ID: Potsy
So I took a day off today. It was weird, I'd only worked two days since vacation, and yet felt exhausted, like I'd been running on all cylinders for weeks. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that during my trip, I probably only slept for about 7 hours the entire four days, which is alright with me, since I had a blast, but after a while the body just doesn't want to hold up, and today was one of those recharge your batteries kinda days.
Speaking of cylinders and batteries, tonight was the first time I watched PIXAR'S CARS from Disney. Now, I'll admit, it wasn't a perfect film, but it was a real cute movie. Owen Wilson and Paul Newman were great in their roles, not to mention when watching it in High Definition, you look at it and just get amazed by things like the water effects. I really enjoyed it, as it had humor and drama, and of course, that lovable "Cosby Show Ending" that every Pixar film seems to. I can TOTALLY understand why this film seems to connect with 2-5 year old boys better than most, since my nephew Drew is constantly saying, "Cars, cars, cars..." Which gets mixed in with some jibberish that apparently my sister, can understand without hesitation, but me? I feel like I'd need about 6 drinks in an hour to understand that much, heh.
I also watched 5 episodes of THE TUDORS, the story of Henry VIII and his kingship and courtship of Anne Bouline. I'm sure I spelled her name wrong, but if you have NOT watched this show, YOU NEED TO. I'm amazed at how well they keep to history, while still making it highly entertaining. It does seem a little odd that every time the king plays a sport, he loses, and yet maintains his court and leadership. A pompous ass, but yet still overly commanding, this first season has to do with his constant change in stance with whether or not he wants a treaty with Spain or France, and his introduction to Anne. It is an amazing array, and the only thing I would fix for the second season is brightening the lighting in the show. Sure, I understand that they used candle-light, but you are utilizing High Definition, so brighten it up some. All in all, though, check it out if you haven't.
On the comic end of things, we're still in search of an artist for DEAD SONJA VS. THE ARMY OF DARKNUTS, and nothing really seems to be materializing here. We would like someone kind of cartoony or maybe even manga-y, but I just want it to get made. I may revisit trying to get AP Furtado to participate, but it was just the largest stroke of luck that he found the time to do the first one, and I'd hate to have him think that I don't trust that he's too busy with his own projects, which I know he is (check out apfurtado.com when you get a chance).
I've decided when I find some time that I really need to hamper down and knock out THIEF. Eric was telling me that on his art page, that the hits for those pages EASILY are three times higher than any other project he's worked on, and that's because we both truly see the project as a first, and it really needs to see a quality end that neither of us have hit previously. Heck, even before that story is finished, I'm already being courted for a webcomic site and publishing, and we haven't got the script done yet (Though Eric is at least 2 full comics into the art, if I remember correctly).
We're about to the point in THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES where we will be introducing a new character to the story, but I'm not going to say more about it, other than you'll see a lot of him...or her...hehehe.
Finally, I'm considering where to take LANDIS next. I am actually considering finding a model, taking photos and then drawing from the photo reference. This would be a long, painstaking process, but I could only figure that the final product would be amazing...but I'd also have to figure out who to use as a model, and then find the time to snap a thousand photos to use...not to mention, I'm already thinking if I did that, I'd want to do it very Sin City -ish with the lighting, high contrast black and white. Very Specific light sourcing...which means finding a place to take those kinds of photos, as well...eh, who knows, wishful thinking right now.
Thanks to all the kind comments for the HULK piece, folks, as much as I like full color, I simply love that art style that much more.
In case anyone games and wants to add me as a friend, here are how you can get in touch with me...
XBOX LIVE ID: RPotchak
Playstation Online ID: Potsy
So I took a day off today. It was weird, I'd only worked two days since vacation, and yet felt exhausted, like I'd been running on all cylinders for weeks. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that during my trip, I probably only slept for about 7 hours the entire four days, which is alright with me, since I had a blast, but after a while the body just doesn't want to hold up, and today was one of those recharge your batteries kinda days.
Speaking of cylinders and batteries, tonight was the first time I watched PIXAR'S CARS from Disney. Now, I'll admit, it wasn't a perfect film, but it was a real cute movie. Owen Wilson and Paul Newman were great in their roles, not to mention when watching it in High Definition, you look at it and just get amazed by things like the water effects. I really enjoyed it, as it had humor and drama, and of course, that lovable "Cosby Show Ending" that every Pixar film seems to. I can TOTALLY understand why this film seems to connect with 2-5 year old boys better than most, since my nephew Drew is constantly saying, "Cars, cars, cars..." Which gets mixed in with some jibberish that apparently my sister, can understand without hesitation, but me? I feel like I'd need about 6 drinks in an hour to understand that much, heh.
I also watched 5 episodes of THE TUDORS, the story of Henry VIII and his kingship and courtship of Anne Bouline. I'm sure I spelled her name wrong, but if you have NOT watched this show, YOU NEED TO. I'm amazed at how well they keep to history, while still making it highly entertaining. It does seem a little odd that every time the king plays a sport, he loses, and yet maintains his court and leadership. A pompous ass, but yet still overly commanding, this first season has to do with his constant change in stance with whether or not he wants a treaty with Spain or France, and his introduction to Anne. It is an amazing array, and the only thing I would fix for the second season is brightening the lighting in the show. Sure, I understand that they used candle-light, but you are utilizing High Definition, so brighten it up some. All in all, though, check it out if you haven't.
On the comic end of things, we're still in search of an artist for DEAD SONJA VS. THE ARMY OF DARKNUTS, and nothing really seems to be materializing here. We would like someone kind of cartoony or maybe even manga-y, but I just want it to get made. I may revisit trying to get AP Furtado to participate, but it was just the largest stroke of luck that he found the time to do the first one, and I'd hate to have him think that I don't trust that he's too busy with his own projects, which I know he is (check out apfurtado.com when you get a chance).
I've decided when I find some time that I really need to hamper down and knock out THIEF. Eric was telling me that on his art page, that the hits for those pages EASILY are three times higher than any other project he's worked on, and that's because we both truly see the project as a first, and it really needs to see a quality end that neither of us have hit previously. Heck, even before that story is finished, I'm already being courted for a webcomic site and publishing, and we haven't got the script done yet (Though Eric is at least 2 full comics into the art, if I remember correctly).
We're about to the point in THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES where we will be introducing a new character to the story, but I'm not going to say more about it, other than you'll see a lot of him...or her...hehehe.
Finally, I'm considering where to take LANDIS next. I am actually considering finding a model, taking photos and then drawing from the photo reference. This would be a long, painstaking process, but I could only figure that the final product would be amazing...but I'd also have to figure out who to use as a model, and then find the time to snap a thousand photos to use...not to mention, I'm already thinking if I did that, I'd want to do it very Sin City -ish with the lighting, high contrast black and white. Very Specific light sourcing...which means finding a place to take those kinds of photos, as well...eh, who knows, wishful thinking right now.
Thanks to all the kind comments for the HULK piece, folks, as much as I like full color, I simply love that art style that much more.
Friday, June 08, 2007
6/8/07: Back from Vacation...too bad its over...
www.ardyvanstarr.com <--The Official Home of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, Updated Tuesday and Thursday!
Wow, can you believe its been 4 days since I left? Wow...man, I hate that. it like flew by, which is funny because at one point during the trip, my wife, Christy said to me, "Don't you hate it when days just drag on?" And I said, "Fuck no...vacation SHOULD drag on...its all those work days that need to fly by..."
We saw a lot of funny things while we were gone, but overall, it was your regular vacation... lots of drinking, gambling, forgetting where the room is, and so forth. I really enjoyed my time away from here, but really wish I had handled the money a little better...
I was playing 3 card poker on the last night with $200. I got it up to anywhere between $500 - $600, and that would have left us decent for the week, but I was so drunk during the time that A) I never counted my chips and B) when the streak of hotness ended, I didn't see it until the chips were gone.
It was too bad, as well, because I really had fun, but the $200 was the last of my gambling money for this trip, and when I say the last of the gamble money, I mean THE LAST of it.
This was the first trip where I really attempted to play table games, and when I head back up at the end of next month, I'm going to play the tables a little harder, since there are some games I really want to try out (Texas Hold'm Table, and Let It Ride, both of which on slower nights you can play for about $5 hands). I enjoyed my time, and had my winning moments, and the wife and I DID come back with some money, and lots of candy, heh.
I missed everyone here, but unlike my wife, who'll probably blog the entire trip out in detail (and I may link everyone to it), I just didn't have a lot to say about it.
Wow, can you believe its been 4 days since I left? Wow...man, I hate that. it like flew by, which is funny because at one point during the trip, my wife, Christy said to me, "Don't you hate it when days just drag on?" And I said, "Fuck no...vacation SHOULD drag on...its all those work days that need to fly by..."
We saw a lot of funny things while we were gone, but overall, it was your regular vacation... lots of drinking, gambling, forgetting where the room is, and so forth. I really enjoyed my time away from here, but really wish I had handled the money a little better...
I was playing 3 card poker on the last night with $200. I got it up to anywhere between $500 - $600, and that would have left us decent for the week, but I was so drunk during the time that A) I never counted my chips and B) when the streak of hotness ended, I didn't see it until the chips were gone.
It was too bad, as well, because I really had fun, but the $200 was the last of my gambling money for this trip, and when I say the last of the gamble money, I mean THE LAST of it.
This was the first trip where I really attempted to play table games, and when I head back up at the end of next month, I'm going to play the tables a little harder, since there are some games I really want to try out (Texas Hold'm Table, and Let It Ride, both of which on slower nights you can play for about $5 hands). I enjoyed my time, and had my winning moments, and the wife and I DID come back with some money, and lots of candy, heh.
I missed everyone here, but unlike my wife, who'll probably blog the entire trip out in detail (and I may link everyone to it), I just didn't have a lot to say about it.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
6-2-07: Hulk
So I got bored and drew this...its an attempt in the very savagery that is the Hulk.
I was playing with some tools I had used before, I pulled some green drawing paper, a white out pen (they now make retractable ones), a Pilot G2 black ink 1omm tip, and a green thick and thin sharpie, oh, and don't forget the pencil).
I got the whole thing done in pencil, inked it with the G2, and then added a third dimension to it using the whiteout. That's when I got the crazy idea to push it a bit and grabbed the green sharpie. I really like this piece...
MY ONE disappointment is that I couldn't get my scanner to grab the image, so this is a photo file from my 6mp digital camera. So if you can't see how truly intricate it is, I apologize, but otherwise, I'm really happy with this, since it take up most of my 11X17 green paper.
What's everyone else think?
6/2/07: Two days til vacation and I wanna blog...
www.ardyvanstarr.com <--The Official Comic Homepage of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES (By Rob Potchak and JK Radtke)
http://forums.keenspot.com/viewforum.php?f=100 <--The Official FORUM of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, and now the latest place I'll be posting this blog!
Alright, so I've now decided that I'll be posting this blog on the Keenspot Forum for LANDIS and THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES...why? Why the hell not? I am the moderator for the blog, so why not give my opinions and such in yet another forum...I mean, shit, I'm only posting it four places now, right? That's still less sites than are posting fake Paris Hilton naked videos (and some real ones, too...that girl doesn't seem to mind showing them little titties to anyone).
Alright, enough with being a guy, now its time to write...
So I know this person, calling them a friend would be a kick to the nuts for all my real friends (or a bite of the ass for the female ones), who seems to have a really high personal opinion of themselves, even though its so obvious this has only been inflated by his mother grabbing his cheek and telling him he's a handsome little man. My question is this...where in the blue hell do these people seem to think this from? I mean, we all know someone like this person, and hell, some of you have even met the one I'm talking about, and I don't want to sour him at all, so I'll call him Rayner. Anyone who can catch the comic reference, buy yourselves a cookie!
So I got into a conversation with him one time, and it went something like this. "So, Kevin and I were having this conversation, and we agree with Hugh Laurie from HOUSE when he said, '5's date 5's, 7's date 7's, and so forth...' The only obstruction to the rule is typically Money." (At least, that's when you don't have the sparkling cider based personality that I've got)... So anyway, he actually says, "Whoa, buddy...don't go lumping me in with you here..." To which I just look at him and state, "You shit, I've got a hot wife, so what does that tell you?"
He was left for a second without a response, and then stated, "Yeah, we're still not sure what you gave her to keep her around that long..." And then was like, "But dude, I'm a hot guy. I'm a sexy man..."
I looked back, with Dane Cook comments going through my scatterbrain and what came out was none to pleasing to anyone's ego..."Just because your mom tells you when you get home, doesn't mean its true..."
Sick Burn. Knockout...I believe I hear the bell.
I have to hand it to the guy, though...thinking he is "hot stuff" enough to have the balls to ask a girl out is not something everyone has. Hell, I didn't have it until like 11th grade, and even after that, when I knew I was out of my league, I had to bring a friend with the first name Crown last name Royal with me to the bash just to muster up the words. But you know what?
I've never claimed to be a sexy man. I'm my own worst critic. "No one can hurt me as long as I make the harshest jokes about me, " right? Truth is, I know I'm not a bad looking guy, but I also know that I have one of those personalities that place me at the front of the line of other 6's and 7's (depends on if I've cleaned myself up, heh).
Anyway, Rayner just makes me laugh sometimes. However, one thing you begin to learn is that you can state your lack of desperation, only to have the truth shine through by your actions.
None of us know the answer as to why Christy loves me...I mean, sure I'm a charmer, and we both love to bust balls, but that's a blog from her unto itself, I'm sure.
So my trip starts on Monday at about 3:30, (sweetheart, don't stick around the bar, get home ASAP, we want to miss Washington traffic if we can), I get to bust out the EZ Pass and the GPS, and go up to Atlantic City, where I hope to be by 1pm at the latest. For the first time, I'm not really in a rush to get up there, I just don't want to fall asleep on the drive. I'll probably be up til about 11:30 the night before anyway, so I'll be on maybe 4 hours of sleep...that's if I do everything I have to before we leave (pack, shower, etc).
I love trips like this, and I hate them at the same time. Its a little rough, since its a 7 hour (+) drive both ways, and I have to be back at work on Friday.
Derek actually didn't get mad at my inspirational statements in our gamebook (our bible), since I only want them to call me with performance numbers, but remember to get EVERYTHING done, because the LAST thing anyone wants when they get back from vacation is when you have to catch up on all the work since you were the only one DOING ANY work before you left.
I think he understands what needs to be done, but I told him I needed his I-9 form already, and he's still yet to give it to me. Geez...do you want to get paid?! Heh.
Anyway, you folks MAY NOT hear from me for a couple days while I'm up there, unless I can figure out how to use my phone as a modem, since the hotels/casino typically charge I think $8 per 24hrs to use the internet, and unfortunately, I'd probably only be posting a blog of how much I've lost, so it isn't worth even more money to do so...don't fret, though, any interesting winnings I see I'll be sure to attempt a snapshot, though no guarantees, since I guess I can technically be tossed out for it...and we don't want that.
Oh, and I got the COOLEST case for my Nintendo DS...its made by NERF and is an official product from Nintendo...it's just awesome...you have got to find one if you have a nintendo DS...
http://forums.keenspot.com/viewforum.php?f=100 <--The Official FORUM of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, and now the latest place I'll be posting this blog!
Alright, so I've now decided that I'll be posting this blog on the Keenspot Forum for LANDIS and THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES...why? Why the hell not? I am the moderator for the blog, so why not give my opinions and such in yet another forum...I mean, shit, I'm only posting it four places now, right? That's still less sites than are posting fake Paris Hilton naked videos (and some real ones, too...that girl doesn't seem to mind showing them little titties to anyone).
Alright, enough with being a guy, now its time to write...
So I know this person, calling them a friend would be a kick to the nuts for all my real friends (or a bite of the ass for the female ones), who seems to have a really high personal opinion of themselves, even though its so obvious this has only been inflated by his mother grabbing his cheek and telling him he's a handsome little man. My question is this...where in the blue hell do these people seem to think this from? I mean, we all know someone like this person, and hell, some of you have even met the one I'm talking about, and I don't want to sour him at all, so I'll call him Rayner. Anyone who can catch the comic reference, buy yourselves a cookie!
So I got into a conversation with him one time, and it went something like this. "So, Kevin and I were having this conversation, and we agree with Hugh Laurie from HOUSE when he said, '5's date 5's, 7's date 7's, and so forth...' The only obstruction to the rule is typically Money." (At least, that's when you don't have the sparkling cider based personality that I've got)... So anyway, he actually says, "Whoa, buddy...don't go lumping me in with you here..." To which I just look at him and state, "You shit, I've got a hot wife, so what does that tell you?"
He was left for a second without a response, and then stated, "Yeah, we're still not sure what you gave her to keep her around that long..." And then was like, "But dude, I'm a hot guy. I'm a sexy man..."
I looked back, with Dane Cook comments going through my scatterbrain and what came out was none to pleasing to anyone's ego..."Just because your mom tells you when you get home, doesn't mean its true..."
Sick Burn. Knockout...I believe I hear the bell.
I have to hand it to the guy, though...thinking he is "hot stuff" enough to have the balls to ask a girl out is not something everyone has. Hell, I didn't have it until like 11th grade, and even after that, when I knew I was out of my league, I had to bring a friend with the first name Crown last name Royal with me to the bash just to muster up the words. But you know what?
I've never claimed to be a sexy man. I'm my own worst critic. "No one can hurt me as long as I make the harshest jokes about me, " right? Truth is, I know I'm not a bad looking guy, but I also know that I have one of those personalities that place me at the front of the line of other 6's and 7's (depends on if I've cleaned myself up, heh).
Anyway, Rayner just makes me laugh sometimes. However, one thing you begin to learn is that you can state your lack of desperation, only to have the truth shine through by your actions.
None of us know the answer as to why Christy loves me...I mean, sure I'm a charmer, and we both love to bust balls, but that's a blog from her unto itself, I'm sure.
So my trip starts on Monday at about 3:30, (sweetheart, don't stick around the bar, get home ASAP, we want to miss Washington traffic if we can), I get to bust out the EZ Pass and the GPS, and go up to Atlantic City, where I hope to be by 1pm at the latest. For the first time, I'm not really in a rush to get up there, I just don't want to fall asleep on the drive. I'll probably be up til about 11:30 the night before anyway, so I'll be on maybe 4 hours of sleep...that's if I do everything I have to before we leave (pack, shower, etc).
I love trips like this, and I hate them at the same time. Its a little rough, since its a 7 hour (+) drive both ways, and I have to be back at work on Friday.
Derek actually didn't get mad at my inspirational statements in our gamebook (our bible), since I only want them to call me with performance numbers, but remember to get EVERYTHING done, because the LAST thing anyone wants when they get back from vacation is when you have to catch up on all the work since you were the only one DOING ANY work before you left.
I think he understands what needs to be done, but I told him I needed his I-9 form already, and he's still yet to give it to me. Geez...do you want to get paid?! Heh.
Anyway, you folks MAY NOT hear from me for a couple days while I'm up there, unless I can figure out how to use my phone as a modem, since the hotels/casino typically charge I think $8 per 24hrs to use the internet, and unfortunately, I'd probably only be posting a blog of how much I've lost, so it isn't worth even more money to do so...don't fret, though, any interesting winnings I see I'll be sure to attempt a snapshot, though no guarantees, since I guess I can technically be tossed out for it...and we don't want that.
Oh, and I got the COOLEST case for my Nintendo DS...its made by NERF and is an official product from Nintendo...it's just awesome...you have got to find one if you have a nintendo DS...
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
5/29/07: Other Photos, Rob in a bad mood.
ME with my new prize from the Sony Loyalty site, a rifle from the game, KILLZONE. Yeah, I'm still not sure where I'm going to put it, either...
Me with a Mohawk...before I cut all the hair and beard.
Fubar and his daughter, Hayden.
Rob, foaming at the mouth...okay, not really in a bad mood. Stop thinking nasty thoughts, you sick fucks.
Me with a Mohawk...before I cut all the hair and beard.
Fubar and his daughter, Hayden.
Rob, foaming at the mouth...okay, not really in a bad mood. Stop thinking nasty thoughts, you sick fucks.
5/29/07: The Dogs...
Landis and Ardy...in odd, and embarassing moments.
The second one is my personal favorite, since Landis looks like Flo from 227...yeah, that really bad show that used the front flat from Sesame Street. The first two pics taken by Christy, and the last one, taken by me.
The second one is my personal favorite, since Landis looks like Flo from 227...yeah, that really bad show that used the front flat from Sesame Street. The first two pics taken by Christy, and the last one, taken by me.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
5/28/07: Comic Update and more shite...
www.ardyvanstarr.com <--The Official homepage of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES by JK Radke of Junior Bruce and Rob Potchak of Pots and Pans Ink. (Updates Every Tuesday and Thursday)
Yeah, I'm putting the advertisement on every blog for the time being. I know, everyone is probably getting sick of it, already, but heck, if it helps more people check out the comic, then I am getting the job done and my point across...so don't be mad.
The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures started Chapter 2 the other day, and I'm really excited to see how many people that read through the first three months worth of strips feel and their opinions of it, however, we haven't gotten the direct link to the forums up yet...oops. Oh well, its just a minor detail, I guess. JK says he's got more new pages ready to send me, as well as the promo art piece that he's going to be getting scanned over at his local Kinkos. When he does get that to me, I'm going to color it and make a print out of it (and maybe give some away, and YES, April, I know I still haven't gotten to the post office, but I have to this week, so your comic will be in the mail, and probably with a little extra...even though you haven't bugged me at all about it, I'm feeling bad about not having sent the prize yet).
I did some art recently, a piece of Batman closeup, that makes him look battered and beaten, so I'm pretty happy with it, I drew Strong Guy again, and then two other pieces, completely off the wall for me, Tony Stark cartoony style as well as Morpheus from SANDMAN...which I think looks interesting, but I'd definitely need more visual of the character to perfect him. I'm contemplating doing more of my colored paper drawings that utilize both black and white ink, and maybe even some red ink, to try to add a new element to some pieces of art. I really enjoy looking at when Jim Lee or Travis Charest or Adam Kubert do it, so I want to really try that some more and I think I want to use a dark gray board to do it on, or maybe even a brown, but who knows...still in the thinking stage with it at this point.
The search for an artist begins...I'm looking for an artist to draw the second issue of DEAD SONJA, which will actually be called DEAD SONJA VS. THE ARMY OF DARKNUTS, as it will be a parody crossover like no other. Being a Red Sonja AND Army of Darkness fan, I'm really hoping to find a cartoony artist to lend their talents, and though my old pal and partner in comic projects, Eric Kent is working on some samples, we may be looking for multiple artists to draw different parts, similar to how Tony, Owen and Eisu did with the first one, which is now getting reviewed better than by some folks that reviewed it earlier.
In the coming weeks, I'll begin the next TAVA script, and I think I'm going to have a six page interlude that may introduce a character JK created, but I've been wanting to write since he came up with him, THE SILVERFISH. Trust me when I say, he's not your typical Supervillain, but he is definitely ...something. I just love the concept of the character so much that he just makes me laugh everytime I think about it.
I'll also go back and edit both of my other side (pet) projects, THIEF and TAGGER, which I haven't touched in lord knows how long. I just wasn't happy with where Thief was headed, as its supposed to be about the struggles of a man, and yet it started getting campy...and Tagger, I'm almost wondering where I want that to go, since its his ultimate origin story, and I don't want people to be let down by possibly my favorite character from the LANDIS tale.
Also...The search for a manga style artist for the next arc of LANDIS has started...ANYONE know anyone? Owen, if you are reading this, I know how busy ya are, pal, but we could go with a simpler style if you think you could take on the project, hehe...I'd ALWAYS ask to have you back on the project, since I feel that it just wouldn't be the same without you, but I understand the need to have shelter over your head :).
I was thinking about it the other day, and the people that were starting out when I first started writing books that were getting published were numerous...crazy thing now, is that all these guys are getting bigger work...for example, Alp Altiner (alpaltiner.com) drew the first SCORN tale I fully wrote myself, and he's worked on Spawn, for Top Cow, and now is a graphic artist for movies like FF2 and Transformers. Tony Furtado (AP to non-friends, heh) drew a lot of the Blatant books I originally wrote, and has worked for Heavy Metal. Owen's worked with John Layman on projects, and he's writing Army of Darkness...Ryan Stegman, who I met over ten years ago online and was supposed to draw ARDY at one point is now working for Marvel through the Dabel Brothers imprint. Mike Kelleher (of RIB fame) is now doing the redrawn classic covers for Marvel's Masterworks titles (like Amazing Fantasy) for the large oversized books...Buddy Scalera has written for Marvel and Wizard, Jas Ingram, Rus Wooten, Rob Nikolakakis, all working for other big time folks, the list goes on and on.
And then I look at myself, and I see that I haven't gotten the "big" break, yet. I've gotten breaks, like the fact that Chris Crosby sees enough in my work to hire me for Blatant books, even to this day, though I am sure it is less because of the quality and more because of the price I charge, heh. I wonder if my break will happen? I'm not down about it...I KNOW I haven't put as much time into it as I'd like, and that's because I have a motivation factor of paying bills and living a certain type of life.
I want to publish THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES in book format by middle of next year, and then I want to try to get some guys together and finally do my Horror Anthology called HORROLOGY, since it never came to fruition the first go round. This time, I want to do it, and get the proceeds to a charity, probably the MAke a Wish foundation, or heck, even the HERO INTIATIVE, since I believe in that cause...and may even be able to get some backing from Joe Quesada for that one...
Anyway folks, this rant has gone on long enough. Its late, I have a long day ahead of me, and Happy Birthday, Dave...and everyone else have a happy holiday.
Yeah, I'm putting the advertisement on every blog for the time being. I know, everyone is probably getting sick of it, already, but heck, if it helps more people check out the comic, then I am getting the job done and my point across...so don't be mad.
The Ardy Vanstarr Adventures started Chapter 2 the other day, and I'm really excited to see how many people that read through the first three months worth of strips feel and their opinions of it, however, we haven't gotten the direct link to the forums up yet...oops. Oh well, its just a minor detail, I guess. JK says he's got more new pages ready to send me, as well as the promo art piece that he's going to be getting scanned over at his local Kinkos. When he does get that to me, I'm going to color it and make a print out of it (and maybe give some away, and YES, April, I know I still haven't gotten to the post office, but I have to this week, so your comic will be in the mail, and probably with a little extra...even though you haven't bugged me at all about it, I'm feeling bad about not having sent the prize yet).
I did some art recently, a piece of Batman closeup, that makes him look battered and beaten, so I'm pretty happy with it, I drew Strong Guy again, and then two other pieces, completely off the wall for me, Tony Stark cartoony style as well as Morpheus from SANDMAN...which I think looks interesting, but I'd definitely need more visual of the character to perfect him. I'm contemplating doing more of my colored paper drawings that utilize both black and white ink, and maybe even some red ink, to try to add a new element to some pieces of art. I really enjoy looking at when Jim Lee or Travis Charest or Adam Kubert do it, so I want to really try that some more and I think I want to use a dark gray board to do it on, or maybe even a brown, but who knows...still in the thinking stage with it at this point.
The search for an artist begins...I'm looking for an artist to draw the second issue of DEAD SONJA, which will actually be called DEAD SONJA VS. THE ARMY OF DARKNUTS, as it will be a parody crossover like no other. Being a Red Sonja AND Army of Darkness fan, I'm really hoping to find a cartoony artist to lend their talents, and though my old pal and partner in comic projects, Eric Kent is working on some samples, we may be looking for multiple artists to draw different parts, similar to how Tony, Owen and Eisu did with the first one, which is now getting reviewed better than by some folks that reviewed it earlier.
In the coming weeks, I'll begin the next TAVA script, and I think I'm going to have a six page interlude that may introduce a character JK created, but I've been wanting to write since he came up with him, THE SILVERFISH. Trust me when I say, he's not your typical Supervillain, but he is definitely ...something. I just love the concept of the character so much that he just makes me laugh everytime I think about it.
I'll also go back and edit both of my other side (pet) projects, THIEF and TAGGER, which I haven't touched in lord knows how long. I just wasn't happy with where Thief was headed, as its supposed to be about the struggles of a man, and yet it started getting campy...and Tagger, I'm almost wondering where I want that to go, since its his ultimate origin story, and I don't want people to be let down by possibly my favorite character from the LANDIS tale.
Also...The search for a manga style artist for the next arc of LANDIS has started...ANYONE know anyone? Owen, if you are reading this, I know how busy ya are, pal, but we could go with a simpler style if you think you could take on the project, hehe...I'd ALWAYS ask to have you back on the project, since I feel that it just wouldn't be the same without you, but I understand the need to have shelter over your head :).
I was thinking about it the other day, and the people that were starting out when I first started writing books that were getting published were numerous...crazy thing now, is that all these guys are getting bigger work...for example, Alp Altiner (alpaltiner.com) drew the first SCORN tale I fully wrote myself, and he's worked on Spawn, for Top Cow, and now is a graphic artist for movies like FF2 and Transformers. Tony Furtado (AP to non-friends, heh) drew a lot of the Blatant books I originally wrote, and has worked for Heavy Metal. Owen's worked with John Layman on projects, and he's writing Army of Darkness...Ryan Stegman, who I met over ten years ago online and was supposed to draw ARDY at one point is now working for Marvel through the Dabel Brothers imprint. Mike Kelleher (of RIB fame) is now doing the redrawn classic covers for Marvel's Masterworks titles (like Amazing Fantasy) for the large oversized books...Buddy Scalera has written for Marvel and Wizard, Jas Ingram, Rus Wooten, Rob Nikolakakis, all working for other big time folks, the list goes on and on.
And then I look at myself, and I see that I haven't gotten the "big" break, yet. I've gotten breaks, like the fact that Chris Crosby sees enough in my work to hire me for Blatant books, even to this day, though I am sure it is less because of the quality and more because of the price I charge, heh. I wonder if my break will happen? I'm not down about it...I KNOW I haven't put as much time into it as I'd like, and that's because I have a motivation factor of paying bills and living a certain type of life.
I want to publish THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES in book format by middle of next year, and then I want to try to get some guys together and finally do my Horror Anthology called HORROLOGY, since it never came to fruition the first go round. This time, I want to do it, and get the proceeds to a charity, probably the MAke a Wish foundation, or heck, even the HERO INTIATIVE, since I believe in that cause...and may even be able to get some backing from Joe Quesada for that one...
Anyway folks, this rant has gone on long enough. Its late, I have a long day ahead of me, and Happy Birthday, Dave...and everyone else have a happy holiday.
Friday, May 25, 2007
5/25/07: A Brand new RECORD for THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES
www.ardyvanstarr.com <--The Official THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES Web-Comic
I started a tracker in March to show how many hits THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES got on a day to day, week to week, and month to month basis. Yesterday, we destroyed every record we had in just a couple hours, but more importantly, over 12250 hits yesterday on the Extreme Tracker we have.
Yesterday was our second advertisement for the site, so I knew we were going to make a pretty good jump, but the 14200 people (exact, as of this moment), is not only a record, but it truly is huge, since it ALMOST beats both other tracked months by 10,000 hits for the month, meaning we'll easily hit the 10,000 MORE hits than March/April combined by the end of May, unless the holiday hurts us, which has been known to happen previous holidays.
I want to say, "THANK YOU!" to everyone that DID check out the site yesterday, and apologize for the website not saying when we update (its Tuesday's and Thursday's at the moment), and that there is a forum open for anyone who wants to write in their feelings (at the keenspot forums).
This story still has some fun left in the tank, and then we'll start Chapter 3 shortly after, but I'll encourage anyone that wants to take a stab at drawing Ardy, Dread Mutt, or even FBH (Female Bounty Hunter) since I want to see what everyone else would do with the characters, and I don't think JK would mind...
Heck, if we like them enough, we'd probably post them on our Deviartart pages, or better yet, include them as a page of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES next time we take a little break to get more pages in the bag. All submissions can be sent to rpotchak@gmail.com, and I'd even be up for Art-trades, though JK is the artist on the series, we are both on deviantart.
NOW, onto my question of the week...something I'm going to ponder on and possibly even try to get some insight from the publisher (or entertainer) on, in hopes of further cluing in the public.
-------------------------------------------
Did Marvel hold off Ultimates 2 #13 for printing reasons, or was it to buy Joe Madureira more time on ULTIMATES 3?
ULTIMATES 3 and ULTIMATES 4 were announced in JOE QUESADA's own words, "like a year and a half" ago, and yet we still haven't seen anything more than a couple sketches on Newsarama or Wizard (Universe). This led me to believe that there may have been a conspiracy theory as to WHY ULTIMATES 2#13 was held off so long.
Bryan Hitch has gone on record to say that he was done penciling the book in December, and even had art to prove it. Heck, him and Mark Millar have been working on a TOP SECRET project for Marvel (art here:
http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/hitch_millar/firstpic.html , THANKS NEWSARAMA) for a while, which looks like it may be something like the PULSE meets BLACK WIDOW...who knows though.
Why would Marvel ACTIVELY hold off the sale of this book, that ends EERILY like Civil War #7 (Tony Stark claiming this was one of 15 possiblities, not 42, but you get the idea, and then the crying) until well after Civil War #7 hit the stands? I think it became clear for two reasons, the ends were very similar and they need to keep the two universes separate, and I believe that Marvel doesn't want to have a 12 month delay between Ultimates 2 and Ultimates 3...and how do you prevent this? By delaying ULTIMATES 2's finish (which will still be a 100,000 seller) and announcing Ultimates 3's release schedule at San Diego Comic Con.
Problem: This really does mean that Ultimates 3 is in the works for literally 2 years with NO Preview art to show for it, and the rumor mill had been running rampant that Joe M was way behind. However, you don't hear the same issue about Ed McGuiness on his Ultimates 4 run, which they apparently are doing simultaneously to ensure that they can keep to a tighter schedule...
But really, guys, a "Tighter Schedule?" Its been almost 20 months since we've seen ANYTHING from either of these series, we still haven't seen the end to Ultimate Wolverine vs. Ultimate Hulk, and What about Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner's Ultimate Wolverine series? What about the "Ultra secretive" Spider-man project from Jeph Loeb and J. Scott Campbell? Doesn't it seem a little odd that we were all excited to mention these titles, but yet...HAVE NOTHING PRINTED TO SHOW FOR THEM? If I remember correctly, Marvel went bankrupt at one point, with stockpiles of non-used stories and art...Though they are in a safer place today, why announce a project two years before it ever ships?
Do us all a favor...make announcements about awesome projects that are coming IN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS. There are enough Major shows throughout the year to give you enough space between MEGA-ANNOUNCEMENTS if you do it properly... And don't worry about the fans...if you give them a completed project within six months...WE'LL BE THERE TO BUY IT...but only if we are guaranteed an ending within a monthly / bi-monthly schedule.
As a lifer, I hate this...Necessary evil to stockpile the art? Sure...just don't announce it until the shit becomes a solid...heh...no one likes a fart...if they don't deliver, they can stink up a room.
I started a tracker in March to show how many hits THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES got on a day to day, week to week, and month to month basis. Yesterday, we destroyed every record we had in just a couple hours, but more importantly, over 12250 hits yesterday on the Extreme Tracker we have.
Yesterday was our second advertisement for the site, so I knew we were going to make a pretty good jump, but the 14200 people (exact, as of this moment), is not only a record, but it truly is huge, since it ALMOST beats both other tracked months by 10,000 hits for the month, meaning we'll easily hit the 10,000 MORE hits than March/April combined by the end of May, unless the holiday hurts us, which has been known to happen previous holidays.
I want to say, "THANK YOU!" to everyone that DID check out the site yesterday, and apologize for the website not saying when we update (its Tuesday's and Thursday's at the moment), and that there is a forum open for anyone who wants to write in their feelings (at the keenspot forums).
This story still has some fun left in the tank, and then we'll start Chapter 3 shortly after, but I'll encourage anyone that wants to take a stab at drawing Ardy, Dread Mutt, or even FBH (Female Bounty Hunter) since I want to see what everyone else would do with the characters, and I don't think JK would mind...
Heck, if we like them enough, we'd probably post them on our Deviartart pages, or better yet, include them as a page of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES next time we take a little break to get more pages in the bag. All submissions can be sent to rpotchak@gmail.com, and I'd even be up for Art-trades, though JK is the artist on the series, we are both on deviantart.
NOW, onto my question of the week...something I'm going to ponder on and possibly even try to get some insight from the publisher (or entertainer) on, in hopes of further cluing in the public.
-------------------------------------------
Did Marvel hold off Ultimates 2 #13 for printing reasons, or was it to buy Joe Madureira more time on ULTIMATES 3?
ULTIMATES 3 and ULTIMATES 4 were announced in JOE QUESADA's own words, "like a year and a half" ago, and yet we still haven't seen anything more than a couple sketches on Newsarama or Wizard (Universe). This led me to believe that there may have been a conspiracy theory as to WHY ULTIMATES 2#13 was held off so long.
Bryan Hitch has gone on record to say that he was done penciling the book in December, and even had art to prove it. Heck, him and Mark Millar have been working on a TOP SECRET project for Marvel (art here:
http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/hitch_millar/firstpic.html , THANKS NEWSARAMA) for a while, which looks like it may be something like the PULSE meets BLACK WIDOW...who knows though.
Why would Marvel ACTIVELY hold off the sale of this book, that ends EERILY like Civil War #7 (Tony Stark claiming this was one of 15 possiblities, not 42, but you get the idea, and then the crying) until well after Civil War #7 hit the stands? I think it became clear for two reasons, the ends were very similar and they need to keep the two universes separate, and I believe that Marvel doesn't want to have a 12 month delay between Ultimates 2 and Ultimates 3...and how do you prevent this? By delaying ULTIMATES 2's finish (which will still be a 100,000 seller) and announcing Ultimates 3's release schedule at San Diego Comic Con.
Problem: This really does mean that Ultimates 3 is in the works for literally 2 years with NO Preview art to show for it, and the rumor mill had been running rampant that Joe M was way behind. However, you don't hear the same issue about Ed McGuiness on his Ultimates 4 run, which they apparently are doing simultaneously to ensure that they can keep to a tighter schedule...
But really, guys, a "Tighter Schedule?" Its been almost 20 months since we've seen ANYTHING from either of these series, we still haven't seen the end to Ultimate Wolverine vs. Ultimate Hulk, and What about Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner's Ultimate Wolverine series? What about the "Ultra secretive" Spider-man project from Jeph Loeb and J. Scott Campbell? Doesn't it seem a little odd that we were all excited to mention these titles, but yet...HAVE NOTHING PRINTED TO SHOW FOR THEM? If I remember correctly, Marvel went bankrupt at one point, with stockpiles of non-used stories and art...Though they are in a safer place today, why announce a project two years before it ever ships?
Do us all a favor...make announcements about awesome projects that are coming IN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS. There are enough Major shows throughout the year to give you enough space between MEGA-ANNOUNCEMENTS if you do it properly... And don't worry about the fans...if you give them a completed project within six months...WE'LL BE THERE TO BUY IT...but only if we are guaranteed an ending within a monthly / bi-monthly schedule.
As a lifer, I hate this...Necessary evil to stockpile the art? Sure...just don't announce it until the shit becomes a solid...heh...no one likes a fart...if they don't deliver, they can stink up a room.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
5/24/07: THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES CHAPTER 2 STARTS TODAY!
www.ardyvanstarr.com <--The Official Home of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES
Chapter Two begins today, and it starts off with a confrontation between Ardy and the mysterious bounty hunter, Dread Mutt.
To celebrate this new Chapter in THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, we've also changed the name of the LANDIS FORUM to THE LANDIS AND THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES FORUM (located here: http://forums.keenspot.com/viewforum.php?f=100&sid=09dab9f671c902eb12436980200958ad ) as well as Keenspot granting us our second adspace for the story. Its a big day as this story will change what the UNIVERSE thinks of Ardy forever.
Yes, this first story arc really does have a change in the status quo SO BIG, the whole UNIVERSE will change how they perceive the character after it is over...
Come one come all, as we invite you to take in THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES!
Chapter Two begins today, and it starts off with a confrontation between Ardy and the mysterious bounty hunter, Dread Mutt.
To celebrate this new Chapter in THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, we've also changed the name of the LANDIS FORUM to THE LANDIS AND THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES FORUM (located here: http://forums.keenspot.com/viewforum.php?f=100&sid=09dab9f671c902eb12436980200958ad ) as well as Keenspot granting us our second adspace for the story. Its a big day as this story will change what the UNIVERSE thinks of Ardy forever.
Yes, this first story arc really does have a change in the status quo SO BIG, the whole UNIVERSE will change how they perceive the character after it is over...
Come one come all, as we invite you to take in THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
5/23/07: The best DEAD SONJA REVIEW yet, and more...
"A satire that actually gets better with every page in both writing and art, Dead Sonja starts off as a fairly light, pun-based joke, and builds toward a neat, weird, little meta-fictional ending. As the basis for the jokes runs out, it feels a little padded at 48 pages, but at least it’s got great, energetic art to ogle (by three different artists) before writer Rob Potchak brings it home to rest. Assuming zombies ever rest…"
That was from atomic comics...that is probably the BEST comic site review of a book I've written...and the craziness is this...I never saw this review until today, when Chris Crosby sent it to me, publisher of Dead Sonja.
Okay, so I have a statement for everyone reading...WINNERS get the job done...everyone else make excuses. I've begun truly feeling like this...that's why I do what I can, I work on what I can, and I get my work done...why? I don't ASK that ANYONE has to do more work than their position states...However, what I've noticed is this...
Some people feel that they can leave work for others to get done, and get away with it...I've come to realize that some GET THE JOB DONE and OTHERS...give excuses.
I have two employees that will do every bit of work I ask of them...I have 7 other employees... one is too green to be explained here...one only thinks its about sales and the others think they can get by with witty banter and leaving work for everyone else.
The funny thing? The only two that get the "free pass" on sales numbers? Are the two that get the work done that's asked of them...why? Because I know that you can get one or the other done...
Some people TAKE responsibility...other's HAVE responsibility...you know the difference? Those who take it, get their work done...they're the ones that tell me, "You are a great manager..." Those who HAVE responsibility are the ones that make excuses as to why they can't get the job done in twice the time it takes a part timer to get the job done.
We all have both...but the real question is how do the TAKERS continue to do their job, when they know the HAVERS don't? And here's what happens...at some point, the takers realize that the HAVERS aren't doing their job, so the Takers stop doing their's...And where does that leave a manager or leader?
I consider myself a leader...I work more and HARDER than ALL my employees...and when I complain, its because I'm working HARDER than I need to. the word there is NEED...If I wanted to keep my job and not worry about anything, A) I wouldn't take ANY vacations... B) I wouldn't take two days off per week, and C) I'd just suck it up like some and work 60hr weeks...
Here's the problem...I don't want to do those three things...I work hard enough to deserve those things...however...does everyone else?
I've told Austin, my new third key, that I expect him to run things like a drill instructor...why? I want to rank well, and I want to win. Simply put. My job is ot to ensure that everyone likes Austin, but to ensure that everyone respects him and gets their work done around him... and that's what I feel I've done.
People who do not get respected at work have no one but themselves to look at...if you accept excuses as to WHY you can't get your job done, you are IN THE WRONG PROFESSION. If you can't EXECUTE because you don't BELIEVE, then you aren't getting YOUR JOB DONE. Don't tell me that it can't be done if others are doing it...
Hell, I admit my WORST WEEK ever last week, and ow did I return this week? I'm at 40-something percent going into the midpoint of the week, OUTSELLING THE WHOLE STORE from last week as of today...This isn't luck...its irritation as to how bad we did last week...and how bad *I* did last week.
Not only do I NOT want anybody saying "I beat you last week..." during my WORST WEEK EVER, but I don't want anyone saying, "I BEAT YOU LAST WEEK..." during my best week ever...why? I'm too competitive...
If you aren't competitive, you are in the wrong profession...if you don't have a WILL TO WIN, then you don't have a will to COMPLETE your job...this is where problems come up...
If you can't complete your tasks, you FORCE it on someone else...is that fair? Especially when part timers get that done? You need to look inside and fix the problem...you need to work harder, if the people that pull half the hours get twice the work done...
Look inside...if you don't go home tired, you aren't completing the job description.
That was from atomic comics...that is probably the BEST comic site review of a book I've written...and the craziness is this...I never saw this review until today, when Chris Crosby sent it to me, publisher of Dead Sonja.
Okay, so I have a statement for everyone reading...WINNERS get the job done...everyone else make excuses. I've begun truly feeling like this...that's why I do what I can, I work on what I can, and I get my work done...why? I don't ASK that ANYONE has to do more work than their position states...However, what I've noticed is this...
Some people feel that they can leave work for others to get done, and get away with it...I've come to realize that some GET THE JOB DONE and OTHERS...give excuses.
I have two employees that will do every bit of work I ask of them...I have 7 other employees... one is too green to be explained here...one only thinks its about sales and the others think they can get by with witty banter and leaving work for everyone else.
The funny thing? The only two that get the "free pass" on sales numbers? Are the two that get the work done that's asked of them...why? Because I know that you can get one or the other done...
Some people TAKE responsibility...other's HAVE responsibility...you know the difference? Those who take it, get their work done...they're the ones that tell me, "You are a great manager..." Those who HAVE responsibility are the ones that make excuses as to why they can't get the job done in twice the time it takes a part timer to get the job done.
We all have both...but the real question is how do the TAKERS continue to do their job, when they know the HAVERS don't? And here's what happens...at some point, the takers realize that the HAVERS aren't doing their job, so the Takers stop doing their's...And where does that leave a manager or leader?
I consider myself a leader...I work more and HARDER than ALL my employees...and when I complain, its because I'm working HARDER than I need to. the word there is NEED...If I wanted to keep my job and not worry about anything, A) I wouldn't take ANY vacations... B) I wouldn't take two days off per week, and C) I'd just suck it up like some and work 60hr weeks...
Here's the problem...I don't want to do those three things...I work hard enough to deserve those things...however...does everyone else?
I've told Austin, my new third key, that I expect him to run things like a drill instructor...why? I want to rank well, and I want to win. Simply put. My job is ot to ensure that everyone likes Austin, but to ensure that everyone respects him and gets their work done around him... and that's what I feel I've done.
People who do not get respected at work have no one but themselves to look at...if you accept excuses as to WHY you can't get your job done, you are IN THE WRONG PROFESSION. If you can't EXECUTE because you don't BELIEVE, then you aren't getting YOUR JOB DONE. Don't tell me that it can't be done if others are doing it...
Hell, I admit my WORST WEEK ever last week, and ow did I return this week? I'm at 40-something percent going into the midpoint of the week, OUTSELLING THE WHOLE STORE from last week as of today...This isn't luck...its irritation as to how bad we did last week...and how bad *I* did last week.
Not only do I NOT want anybody saying "I beat you last week..." during my WORST WEEK EVER, but I don't want anyone saying, "I BEAT YOU LAST WEEK..." during my best week ever...why? I'm too competitive...
If you aren't competitive, you are in the wrong profession...if you don't have a WILL TO WIN, then you don't have a will to COMPLETE your job...this is where problems come up...
If you can't complete your tasks, you FORCE it on someone else...is that fair? Especially when part timers get that done? You need to look inside and fix the problem...you need to work harder, if the people that pull half the hours get twice the work done...
Look inside...if you don't go home tired, you aren't completing the job description.
5-22-07: New Art and my week so far...
Just got to sketching the other night. I'd noticed that every time I attempt to draw the hulk, it doesn't come out right, so this time I used the "trick" that I've seen a lot of other artists use...I gave him the Gorilla Jaw. Instead of making his mouth closer to the nose, I gave him a much more elongated area to the mouth, and I like the effect it had.
Still not comfortable drawing the Hulk, but this has been my best attempt thus far.
I also decided I was going to try to draw a Kryptonian, so I did a face of what I thought one would look like, using Jim Lee's stylings from his run on Superman. I liked how the contours in the face came out on this one, so I'm happy with the final product, here...
And finally, a quick sketch of a character I'm becoming more and more fond of, the AUTHORITY's Midnighter. This was a pretty small sketch, and very rough, but I like the feel of motion in it, but I feel I puffed his cheeks out a bit much...
Alright, so last week what my worst performing week in my store to date. I pulled a 3.0% reservation for the week, but if I had ZERO cancelled pre-orders, it would have been 9.0%. I did however, post my best Subscription percentage that I can ever remember, selling 20 subscriptions for a WHOPPING 20%!. So with our +/- 15% score (adding the goals of 10% reservations and 5% subsriptions = 15% total), I was still at a +8.0%, meaning I was third in the rankings in my store. Now, mind you, the only two people that ranked higher than me only worked one day each, I take it in stride. I will say this, though I had a ton more transactions than them, I was still confident that I could put up a good showing, which I feel I did...
The problem that this created was simple. I had MY WORST WEEK EVER, and I ranked THIRD, with everyone who worked more than one day being BEATEN by me...what does this tell you? The store RANKED HORRIBLY. Anybody who tells me, "Yeah, well I had a better Res percent than you..." is basically saying, "I didn't suck as much as you did this week..." Whereas, what they need to be saying is "Rob, I'll get my 10%, and I'll aim higher, because 10% should be the bare minimum..." But they don't.
I'm competitive, and after having my worst reservation week ever, how's this for a start to the week...fourteen reservations in two days... this is 2 more than THE ENTIRE STORE had last week. My percentage week to date...over 40%. The only person other than me to have a pre-order sold this week so far? Austin, the guy who is only on his second day, who already has one res and one sub, meaning he's doing extremely well for someone who has NEVER sold anything.
Speaking of Austin, he gets it. I told him as long as he has common sense and allots his time correctly, the job is simple. He understands this...maybe its his military background, or maybe he is just the most competent person I've seen walk through the door in a long time. Thursday is the first day he'll deal with shipments, so we'll see how that goes...but I let him close the registers on Monday night (after only seeing me do it once) and he only missed two little things, that I'll make sure he doesn't miss on Thursday and Friday night when I close with him.
So that's my week so far...it's going well, although I'm already exhausted. Tonight's my final alcohol class, so I'll be doing my homework and preparing for that. This truly closes a chapter in my life that I want behind me, so this will give me something to be proud of, as I make my final step to atone for my mistake.
Finally, although technically it started today with a rehash page, THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES is ALL NEW starting Thursday (ardyvanstarr.com). I hope everyone liked the DVD extras that JK and I provided, but its time to get the story running again. We're hoping for no interruptions before the end of this story, though we may take a little break (with more DVD extras) after this story to get a larger amount of pages done for the next story arc, so we can possibly go to updating more frequently.
Still not comfortable drawing the Hulk, but this has been my best attempt thus far.
I also decided I was going to try to draw a Kryptonian, so I did a face of what I thought one would look like, using Jim Lee's stylings from his run on Superman. I liked how the contours in the face came out on this one, so I'm happy with the final product, here...
And finally, a quick sketch of a character I'm becoming more and more fond of, the AUTHORITY's Midnighter. This was a pretty small sketch, and very rough, but I like the feel of motion in it, but I feel I puffed his cheeks out a bit much...
Alright, so last week what my worst performing week in my store to date. I pulled a 3.0% reservation for the week, but if I had ZERO cancelled pre-orders, it would have been 9.0%. I did however, post my best Subscription percentage that I can ever remember, selling 20 subscriptions for a WHOPPING 20%!. So with our +/- 15% score (adding the goals of 10% reservations and 5% subsriptions = 15% total), I was still at a +8.0%, meaning I was third in the rankings in my store. Now, mind you, the only two people that ranked higher than me only worked one day each, I take it in stride. I will say this, though I had a ton more transactions than them, I was still confident that I could put up a good showing, which I feel I did...
The problem that this created was simple. I had MY WORST WEEK EVER, and I ranked THIRD, with everyone who worked more than one day being BEATEN by me...what does this tell you? The store RANKED HORRIBLY. Anybody who tells me, "Yeah, well I had a better Res percent than you..." is basically saying, "I didn't suck as much as you did this week..." Whereas, what they need to be saying is "Rob, I'll get my 10%, and I'll aim higher, because 10% should be the bare minimum..." But they don't.
I'm competitive, and after having my worst reservation week ever, how's this for a start to the week...fourteen reservations in two days... this is 2 more than THE ENTIRE STORE had last week. My percentage week to date...over 40%. The only person other than me to have a pre-order sold this week so far? Austin, the guy who is only on his second day, who already has one res and one sub, meaning he's doing extremely well for someone who has NEVER sold anything.
Speaking of Austin, he gets it. I told him as long as he has common sense and allots his time correctly, the job is simple. He understands this...maybe its his military background, or maybe he is just the most competent person I've seen walk through the door in a long time. Thursday is the first day he'll deal with shipments, so we'll see how that goes...but I let him close the registers on Monday night (after only seeing me do it once) and he only missed two little things, that I'll make sure he doesn't miss on Thursday and Friday night when I close with him.
So that's my week so far...it's going well, although I'm already exhausted. Tonight's my final alcohol class, so I'll be doing my homework and preparing for that. This truly closes a chapter in my life that I want behind me, so this will give me something to be proud of, as I make my final step to atone for my mistake.
Finally, although technically it started today with a rehash page, THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES is ALL NEW starting Thursday (ardyvanstarr.com). I hope everyone liked the DVD extras that JK and I provided, but its time to get the story running again. We're hoping for no interruptions before the end of this story, though we may take a little break (with more DVD extras) after this story to get a larger amount of pages done for the next story arc, so we can possibly go to updating more frequently.
Friday, May 18, 2007
5/18/07: 425th post: More Photos...
Isn't this the greatest collection of pictures? Yes, I caught the wife, on the couce, using the dogs AS her pillows...I guess turnabout is fairplay, since the dogs are making sure they are using the pillows...this is one of the funniest pictures EVER.
Next two on the list are from my buddy Dominic's (don't call him Dominique's) birthday...hard to believe the Long Island native is 31... There's me pointing, Dom in the green hat, and Brian with the cocked New England hat...with Fubar jumping in at the last second just to be in the photo it seems...In the photo below that one, we again have a pic from Dom's birthday, before we got to the karaoke bar, and tested our skills as a boyband. Now, as you can see, I'm sporting the Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart goatee, and this may be the last photo that is seen with it, since I look like a Ginger Santa Claus with it...
Finally, at the bottom of the photo bucket, we've got Ardy, the dog, named after, you guessed it, Ardy from the comics...in fact, the pug's named Landis, also named after said comic character. In this photo, him and I are staring each other down while he is literally sitting ON my legs. I always win the staredown with the dog, however, as he knows which male is the dominant one in the house.
So with this blog I was going to say something like these were the photos from the 425th blog entry party, but that just sounds stupid...but now I'll definitely have to come up with something for the 500th post party.
To all the readers out there, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and based on the one of the wife with the dogs, *I'll* probably be the one sleeping with the dogs for at least the next couple weeks.
Last post of the night, I promise!
5/18/07: New PRINTS, LANDIS cover, ARDY/TORCH
Okay, so it might not end up being a "barrage" of photos, but here's the most important one of the group of photos that I've been trying to upload this evening...
What we have here are two prints that I made from my Cafepress.com/potchak site, and I just want to say how great they look.
The ARDY/TORCH one does have 1 inch borders of white on the top and bottom, but since I'm going to frame these pieces, I don't mind the borders.
The Landis piece is the same piece I gave to a former contest winner a couple months ago, and is from Owen Gieni's art, fully colored by Studio Makma, and what was our original #2 cover for the series.
At the Cafepress.com/potchak store at the moment is the ARDY/TORCH print only, but I may bring the LANDIS print back if anyone is looking for one...as of this very moment, ONLY 4 LANDIS prints are in existence and only 3 of the ARDY/TORCH prints have been made.
Any friends of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, so everyone knows, there is NO profit made from ordering the prints at the site for the 4.95 pricepoint. I'm leaving them at making NO money right now so anyone that wants them can get them and knows I'm not trying to cheat anyone.
5/18/07: New Transformers Trailer...
For all intensive purposes, this message will be real short. With the disappointment that was SPIDER-MAN 3, we've all begun to look for what is going to be the movie blockbuster, and well, the geek in me has decided it (HOPEFULLY) will be the TRANSFORMERS movie...
Now things I noticed in this trailer...Optimus made the transforming sound we are all used to... was it just for effect in the trailer? Maybe...it did kind of sound like it...but if Bay is smart, its in there.
So here's your chance to check out the new trailer, exclusive from Yahoo Movies...
http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/Transformers/1808716430/trailers/31
Now things I noticed in this trailer...Optimus made the transforming sound we are all used to... was it just for effect in the trailer? Maybe...it did kind of sound like it...but if Bay is smart, its in there.
So here's your chance to check out the new trailer, exclusive from Yahoo Movies...
http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/Transformers/1808716430/trailers/31
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