Fall 2009 CYOB Spooktacular
Posted by trev | Filed under Odds & EndsThe following is my contribution to this season’s edition of Choose Your Own Blogventure, a modern tribute to the Choose Your Own Adventure books of yore. You can read the entry that led to mine here, or you can start at the beginning here. Enjoy!
———
Julie was right, we needed to get home and leave this craziness behind us. “Okay” I told her. “We’re going.”
We hurried back to my house, locked the door, and ran up to my room. Once safely inside, we both slumped onto my bed and just laid there for several minutes, reflecting on the events of the night. Did we just really encounter a fictional character in the flesh? “Julie, hold on a sec,” I said. “Was that really Annelise? The girl from the movie?”
“I thought it was. But now that I say it out loud, it seems kind of ridiculous” said Julie.
“I have an idea,” I said. I fired up my the computer on my desk. “Let’s just see what IMDB has to say about this.” As I read the movie’s entry, my blood grew cold. “It says here, that the girl who played Annelise is named Chloe Hardaway.”
Julie rubbed her chin. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
I turned gravely to Julie. “There’s more. It also says here, that she disappeared shortly after the movie’s completion five years ago.”
Julie’s face turned white and we both sat in silence for several minutes. “Whoa,” was all Julie could say.
“Yeah. Whoa.” I replied.
We sat in there in silence for what seemed like hours. Finally, Julie looked uneasily at her watch and said, “Uh, it’s a lot later than I thought. I really need to be getting home.” We both looked at one another and sound good night. I watched as she disappeared into the night. It really wasn’t that late, but I just wanted the night to be over. I crawled into bed and fell asleep thinking about that old iron key.
The next morning I made my way back to the Halloween House. The chest was still there, and it still looked as ominous as ever.
It was open!
As I slowly crept over to it, I was relieved to find it empty. Or was it? I couldn’t actually see the bottom of the chest, only an inky blackness. A blackness that seemed to be calling to me. Before I knew what was happening, I found myself leaning into the chest and falling into the emptiness inside.
I fell for what seemed like an eternity. At some point, I must have blacked out, because the next thing I remember I was in a strangely familiar place. Oh my God! It was the library from the film! I was in the movie! And I was dressed like Annelise!
And I wasn’t alone. The old woman from the Martinez house was here, glowering at me from a corner of the library.
“I entrusted you with the key and you threw it away,” she said in a raspy voice. “And now, there’s no escape. You are trapped here forever.”
I looked around and she was right. There was no chest and no key. I was trapped here. Trapped in a movie for the rest of my days!
Tags: Choose Your Own Blogventure, cyob, halloween, spooktacular
Gallery Show
Posted by trev | Filed under Figure Drawing, Odds & Ends
The figure drawing group I take part in is having a show of the work during our Wednesday night figure drawing sessions. The opening reception is tonight at 7pm at the Newburyport Art Association. If past receptions are any indication, it should be quite the shindig.
Tags: Figure Drawing, gallery, newburyport, newburyport art association, reception
Quick & Messy
Posted by trev | Filed under Odds & Ends
This was for a quick figure drawing for a ten minute pose done entirely in ink.
Tags: brush, figure, Figure Drawing, ink, model, wash
Image of the Day
Posted by trev | Filed under Odds & EndsI’ve been slowly getting sucked into the whole Twitter thing. It’s difficult to articulate exactly why it is sucking me in, but I seem to be hooked. Perhaps, it’s just because all of the cool kids are doing it. I am highly impressionable.
Anyways, Twitter seemed like the perfect platform to share some of the cool and inspiring illustrations and images that I have stumbled across during my travels on the interwebs. Starting today, I will be posting my selection for Image of the Day to my Twitter stream. You can subscribe here, or follow along via the updates in the sidebar. Enjoy!
Tags: Illustration, image, image of the day, twitter
Merry Christmas!
Posted by trev | Filed under Odds & Ends
Here’s a look at this year’s edition of my holiday card (the inside reads “Happy Holidays to Friends Near and Far”). Merry Christmas everyone!
Favorite Songs of 2008
Posted by trev | Filed under Odds & EndsIt’s that time of the year again. Time to thrust my musical tastes on an unwilling (and largely uninterested) public. Here are my ten favorite songs released this year. As I mentioned last year, it is important to keep in mind that it is harder and harder to keep up with new music, so this list will undoubtedly change as I finally get tuned in to more and more stuff that was released this year. Still, it’s a nice snapshot of what I’ve been listening to this year.
Lost Coastlines - Okkervil River. This band is quickly becoming one of my favorites. They just have a knack for crafting songs that seep into my brain and refuse to leave.
Gamma Ray - Beck. When I heard that Beck and Danger Mouse were together, Modern Guilt quickly became my most anticipated album of the year. It didn’t disappoint.
I Will Possess Your Heart – Death Cab for Cutie. This is a strange song in many ways. It’s four minute plus intro and it’s decidely non-Death Cab ominous bass line doesn’t seem like a recipe for success, but it works. Don’t settle for the neutered radio edit, embrace it in it’s full eight-minute glory.
Great DJ - The Ting Tings. Give me a catchy hook and I’m a happy man. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a catchier hook than this one.
Furr – Blitzen Trapper. I got turned onto this track by All Songs Considered, and it stuck in my iPod ever since. This song somehow pulls off the tricky task of having a timeless quality and while being so effortlessly “now”.
Living Well is the Best Revenge – R.E.M. Wow, talk about a blast from the past. R.E.M. returns with an energy and passion that they haven’t displayed since Monster. This track is an instant classic and reminds me of why I spent so much time with their stuff in my younger days.
Salute Your Solution – The Raconteurs. I found the first album from this band to be a bit of a mixed bag, but they really started to gell with their latest. This track is the sonic boom that announces their coming out as a true band.
Campus – Vampire Weekend. I resisted the hype surrounding these guys for some time, but once I started to weaken, I was hooked. Some other tracks on this album may eventually surpass this for me, but this was the one that wore me down so it gets the nod.
Better to Be – Liam Finn. Take the offspring of one of my favorite artists. Add influences by the likes of Elliott Smith, Pavement and Nirvana. It’s almost like this guy was genetically engineered especially for me.
Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? – She & Him. When I first heard about this album, I thought it smacked of a total celebrity vanity project but this pairing of actress Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward is pure magic. Also check out their fantastic cover of Smokey Robinson’s “You Really Got a Hold on Me.”
One last note on this list. Both the Beck and Raconteurs videos (and albums) feature photography by Autumn De Wilde, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite photographers. She has beautifully photographed some of my favorite musicians, including a book of photographs of Elliott Smith that is high on my wish list.
Tags: autumn dewilde, beck, best of 2008, blizten trapper, death cab for cutie, liam finn, music, okkervil river, r.e.m., she & him, the raconteurs, the ting tings, vampire weekend, zooey deschanel
Top Tunes
Posted by trev | Filed under Odds & EndsAnother “Better Late Than Never” entry. Earlier in the month, I compiled a list of my favorite songs of 2007, but then never got around to posting it. I figure it’s still relevant (barely) until the end of the month, so here goes.
Keep in mind that I don’t stay up with the current music scene as much as I used to, so this may not be the coolest list in the world. I tend to get exposed to the good stuff long after it is released, so I’m sure I’ll be getting around to a lot of great 2007 songs in the next couple of years. That being said, here are the tracks that were released last year that I really got into.
- “While You Were Sleeping” Elvis Perkins — I got hooked by this song while perusing one music blog or another and it just wouldn’t let go of me. Extremely evocative and uplifting in a quiet introspective kind of way.
- “Because We’re Dead” Slow Club — Pure jubiliance. Upbeat, messy and just plain fun. Kudos to Warren Ellis who plugged it on his blog (or maybe it was his mailing list). Would’ve never found this without that heads up.
- “Myriad Harbor” The New Pornographers — The New Pornographers are probably my favorite band, but I was a bit underwhelmed with Challengers (their 2007 album). This track is a happy exception to my disappointment. I am a total sucker for the Pixies vibe emanating from this one.
- “Four Winds” Bright Eyes — I run hot and cold with most of the stuff Bright Eyes puts out. When it clicks I can’t get enough. When it strays into emo-whinning I can’t get away fast enough. This one has the seething anger that cuts through the bullshit.
- “Northern Whale” The Good, The Bad & the Queen — Ever since Blur reinvented themselves with their self-titled album some time ago, I’ve been Damon Albarn’s bitch. He has a gift for crafting songs that creep into your head and settle in (kind of like those worm things in Star Trek 2, except in a good way). This song is totally ridiculous, but oddly moving.
- “1 2 3 4″ Feist — I know, I know. It’s the iPod song. And yes, it was those commercials that really got me hooked on this song. I admit it. I am consumer zombie. But that don’t mean this song ain’t good. Commercial or no commercial, it never ceases to lift my spirits.
- “Fiery Crash” Andrew Bird – Andrew Bird is crazy talented, and his 2007 album Armchair Apocrypha is crazy good. I think this song is my favorite from that, but it could have easily been a number of other tracks from that album (like Darkmatter, for instance).
- “Skyway” Apples in Stereo — Pure bliss for your ears. Can’t say much more than that. A great pop song (like many other tracks on their album).
- “Mr. Pitiful” Matt Costa — I’m a sucker for a cool piano hook and this song has got that in spades. Extremely catchy.
- “Rehab” Amy Winehouse — Sure, Winehouse has become a total trainwreck. And sure, this song has been a bit over-played (serves you right for listening to the radio in the first place). But put all of that nonsense aside, and what you have is a pretty cool R&B song. Plus, I love that old-style aesthetic that Gnarls Barkley brought back a couple of years ago.
So there you go. If you aren’t familiar with any of these, give ‘em a listen. Most can be found online (legally) through any number of sources.
Nubble Lights
Posted by trev | Filed under Odds & Ends
Housecleaning
Posted by trev | Filed under Odds & EndsRegular visitors will notice a bit of a change here art Grand Allusions. Over the past couple of months, I’ve been toying with the idea of switching my blog software. During the course of my exploration, I hit a couple of snags and wasn’t able to make the switch I wanted to (at least not at this time). Stymied, I decided to stay with Movable Type for the time being. But it was time for some long overdue upgrades. I installed the latest version of Movable Type which necessitated some behind the scenes housecleaning.
I also wanted to give the site a new coat of paint. I had wanted to redesign the site for some time, but it kept getting pushed back.Upgrading the software gave me an excuse to take the first step towards a new design. That first step is what you see before you — essentially a vanilla reboot using one of Movable Type’s default templates. I will using this template as a basis to make some cosmetic changes. In all probability, the revised design will not be anything too extravagant. I want to take some time to see how the templates are put together and then I will make a change or two to make it feel a little more mine.
Stay tuned.
Mission Accomplished!
Posted by trev | Filed under Odds & Ends
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was partcipating in this year’s National Novel Writing Month contest. Well, the month is drawing to a close and I passed the 50,000 with a few days to spare.
All in all, it was an interesting experience. I learned a bunch of stuff. I learned that I could write 50,000 words in one month. More importantly, I learned I that I shouldn’t quit my day job anytime soon. I think I will leave the novel writing to actual novelists from here on out (with the possible exception of partcipating in another Nanowrimo).
The best thing about the whole experience is that it helped me get a better grasp on some of my time management issues. It really opened my eyes to how much I could accomplish if I make a habit of cracving out some time everyday to work on my stuff. It’s amazing how much can get down when you set aside an hour or two everyday to do it. And there is still plenty of time left over for goofing off.
I also made some progress in silencing my “internal editor”. Sometimes it is more important to focus on quantity rather than quality. It’s too easy to get paralyzed creating something great that you end up not creating anything at all. Nanowrimo is all about overcoming that impluse, and in that regard, the experience was a raging success.
And what about my great American nanowrimo novel, you ask? Well, I don’t have any plans to polish it into a real novel. But I did have fun with story and I have been toying with the idea of using it for a jumping off point for a web comics project I’ve been toying with. If anything comes of it, I’ll post the details here. Stay tuned.
