You are close to ideal. So close, and yet so far. Amusing, really, to watch someone squirm so close to the vaunted ranks of perfection and still remain so very, very ordinary. It is all one can do to keep one’s ingratiating smile from polluting one’s perfect face.
Actually, one recommends you take the quiz again and lie a little
via VirtuallyNicky
I can’t remember where I put the Dead Pool list, so I can’t tell you whether Marlon Brando was on it or not.
Screaming in the wilderness, JoHannaH pronounced “LOOK OUT INFIDELS ART KIEDA IS EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE ALL AND NOTHING MORECAMBE AND WISE” in a comment somewhere and pointed me to Art Kieda, which is kinda like Art Kaida, only with dyslexia.
Uncle Sam poster image from this page. Saddam nicked from the Guardian to illustrate an earlier post.
I still don’t know when webcomicsnation is going to launch and I can start publishing Deputised Experts. But I thought it was time I highlighted some of the work that’s gone into the comic, so now there’s a gallery. It’s not in the pinup collection style of the Mary Tales gallery. No I thought I’d do something a little different. I’ve assembled a collection of the backgrounds. Let me introduce you to them.
Chapter 1, Page 1 is a full page shot of the front of a block of apartments. I cheat a lot with the backgrounds, tracing them from photos then adding shading in a variety of ways. The building in this picture was actually boarded up when I took the shot, but, as with almost every building within three miles of the city centre, it’s now being turned into posh flats just like the one in the comic.
Some early scenes take place on the periphery of a big demo. Most of the reference photos for this were from a few years ago and one from a recent Anti War demo.
A later scene takes place in a deli, as two of the characters discuss matters over a coffee. These were images where layering really came into its own for the various patches of shading.
Chapter 3 (they’re short chapters) opens in Salford Quays with two panoramic establishing shots. One of the Lowry and Imperial War Museum from across the Ship Canal and another of the Lowry from close to the War Museum. For the second picture I thought I’d experiment with ways to get the grey fills that bulk out the basic black and white art. In the end I used a Photoshop filter for removing scratches and dust with the size limit set way up to remove loads of detail.
Some other images used in establishing shots- MI6 headquarters, a street near to Manchester’s central Police station and the Katja. The original MI6 picture was taken in the summer of 2001 on a wander along the banks of the Thames. There’s a terrace overlooking the river that I’d actually been able to walk along before crossing the bridge. I imagine that’s closed to the public nowadays. The Katja was taken from a found image of a cargo ship, with the watercolour filter applied to get the background greys. The ship plays an important part in the backstory to the first DEx storyline. I’ll probably be using a 3d model for future views of it.
And finally, some out takes. The Flea and Firkin and some woodland. Now I’ve done these images I’ll just have to find a use for them some day.
I just love this picture of pointy man Saddam.
Some of the details of The Trial, (or at least, yesterday’s prelude to The Trial) just scream “Re-elect Bush!” For instance, why was the only Iraqi journalist present thrown out before the hearing began? Even Saddam knows it’s a farce-
“Everyone knows this is theatre by Bush the criminal in an attempt to win the election.”
Edit Oddly enough, the Telegraph report doesn’t mention the restrictions on the press.
This week’s theme is Father. I don’t have any pictures of my Dad, or anyone else’s, but I do (sort of) have one of Alan Turing father of computing.
More tenuously, I also have Jim Bob, formerly of Carter USM, when he played an acoustic gig in Manchester. Prior to that I had seen him on the Who’s The Daddy Now? tour.
And, finally, Father Christmas.
Dear Friend,
When my Democratic colleagues in the House elected me as Democratic Leader after the 2002 elections, I vowed to them and to you that never again will the Democrats go into a campaign where the public doesn’t know who we are, what we stand for and how different we are from the extremist Republicans who currently control our government. I believed then, as I do today, that standing up and speaking out against the Bush/Cheney Administration and their reckless method of governing was our only hope.
A majority of my Democratic House colleagues joined me in this fight. Despite the withering abuse heaped on us by Republican leaders and their right-wing allies, we stood up and spoke out against the war in Iraq. We challenged the radical policies being driven by George W. Bush, John Ashcroft, Tom Delay and their cohorts — policies too often substituting fear and terror for the need to identify workable solutions to the challenges that confronted our nation. However, the fact remains that as hard as we fight everyday to block the GOP and pass our common sense agenda, we are 11 seats short of a majority in the House. To put our country back on track, we must elect more Democrats in November and end the reign of Republican tyranny.
https://www.democraticaction.org/getinvolved/donations/q2end
And I am counting on you to help us. You have brought us to the verge of victory in so many ways:
YOU have spoken out against the radical policies of the Administration and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
YOU have spoken out against the War in Iraq.
YOU have stood up to call for affordable health care.
YOU have worked to elect new Democratic Members of Congress in heavily Republican districts in Kentucky and South Dakota.
And YOU have re-ignited the Democratic Party.
https://www.democraticaction.org/getinvolved/donations/q2end
Now we must work together to cross the finish line — to elect Members of Congress who represent Americans, not corporate special interests or extreme right-wing ideology. I ask you today to continue your help and support of Democratic House Candidates. $100 today, small to some, and everything to others, will make the difference.
We must have the funds to provide resources to our candidates. We must have YOU. With your continued voice, we can move forward our Campaign for a New Majority – a Majority of progressive representation of all Americans. Contribute to our cause today.
https://www.democraticaction.org/getinvolved/donations/q2end
And after you give, send this on to your friends and colleagues. The House of Representatives has for too long been under the control of right-wing ideologues. Like the White House, the House – once known as the “People’s House” – has forgotten the very people that it is supposed to represent.
Thank you for standing up. Keep up the fight.
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
House Democratic Leader
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