Some quick site notes:

• Some people may have noticed a lack of news from The Pulse in the Comic Book Headlines newswire here. The Pulse had a server crash a little while ago, and when it came back, it looks like they made changes to the message board software where they post their news. This caused two problems… my code couldn’t grab headlines from the message board any more, and (when they reimported all their old message board posts), none of the 4100 current links to articles at the Pulse in my database point to the correct article. I’m working on code to hopefully fix both of those problems.

• Seth and I have something new in the works. The coding’s nearly complete for it… I have a few more things to tweak and then we’ll start testing it out. We’ll probably run with it for a couple weeks before we hand out a live link to it (to build up a small archive of material). More on that soon.

• Changes! I’m also working on code for a few tweaks to the website. Building up some links and additional recommendations (websites, books, movies, etc) and trying to use code that works well with most browsers (and as one of my friends mentioned when he tested one piece of the code out, it has “no lag.” Now, to figure out what to do with all the real estate this could potentially free up on the pages. ^_^

Well, it looks like Ed broke down and finally gave in to the siren call of the blogosphere. What’s that? Who’s Ed? Ed’s the man behind the Digital Webbing website (and its wonderful comic book talent classifieds) and the Digital Webbing Presents comic (an anthology that’s still going strong after 3 years). Digital Webbing Presents is the place where a few stories I’ve worked on have shown up. Arazel & Xarenia, Dungeon Bears, Bob the Battleship, Yin Yang, and a couple other pieces I edited. And… it’s the book where Spook’d first made its debut.

He’s a good guy that’s helped many a creator get their foot in the door of the comics industry, so give his blog a peek and see what he’s up to.

From a recent interview with Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls, The Notebook, Wedding Crashers, and Wes Craven’s Red Eye):

How about something a little lighter for you the next time, like a comic-book character?

RM: Ah yes, Thundercats was on this morning! I would love to play Cheetara. I haven’t heard anything about an actual movie, but let me know! I’m so into graphic novels lately. I should look for one. Some of them are quite romantic. They make these really beautiful comic novels, and they’re so dark and twisted.

The girl has a Teen Choice award for Best Liplock, reads dark and twisted graphic novels, wants to run around a movie set in spandex, and has been previously quoted as saying:

“I want to try a lot of things that I haven’t tried. You know, I did a thriller [Red-Eye] after this, because it was so different and it was a genre I hadn’t worked in yet. Then I did a beautiful family ensemble drama. And next? I don’t know. I might go off to do a small independent in New York. I’m not sure. The quality of material is important, but, basically, I’m open to anything. I like to stay open to anything.”

Thunder… Thunder… Thundercats… nah, she’s just too cute to go there.

Thanks to Tom Spurgeon for the link.

Creative Screenwriting magazine has information up on their website about their free podcasts, which feature Q&A sessions with writers and directors (from the magazine’s LA screenings). Currently, they have Q&A podcasts for their screenings of Four Brothers, Fantastic Four, and The Island.

So, I’m here working on developing a bunch of characters (hashing out personalities, character flaws, appearance, mannerisms, and quick bio/history), and I look up and see it’s 3:30am. I should really go get some sleep, but there’s one little problem… I don’t even feel tired. It’s not an unusual feeling for me. I grew up dealing with that being a very energetic/hyperactive child.

But tonight, this total lack of sleepiness got me thinking. What are some good ways to start building up that sleeping momentum? I tend to fall asleep in class, but there aren’t really any classes in session this late at night. Drowsiness-inducing meds don’t work on me too well. So, I’m listing out some things I’ve done in the past to get to sleep at night.

• Read the PFE. Military folk will know about this one. For the non-military folk, the PFE was this study guide for the Promotion Fitness Exam. Basically, a promotion test came in two parts–job skills and general military knowledge (contained in the PFE book). It was written like an instruction manual (lots of passive voice and written in a tone addressing the lowest level of intellect in the military that might read it). Back when I was studying for those tests, this book put me asleep faster than anything.
• Workout madness. I remember going out for a run once at two in the morning in the middle of winter… when living up in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve also hit the weight room (whether it be one located at apartment complexes I used to live at or located in a gym I belonged to that was open 24 hours a day) late at night/early morning. And way back in high school, I even spent a good 45 minutes to an hour one night driving the blocking sled up-and-down my school’s football practice field.
• Sugar bomb. When I was younger and not really worried about how calories impacted my body (I was one of those lucky bastard kids that could eat all day long and not gain a pound), I would load up on sugary stuff to get to sleep. Pastries, candies, ice cream, chocolage pudding pies, and all that fun stuff. Sure, I’d be wired for about a half hour, but when that sugar low hit, I’d be asleep in no time.
• Don’t drink all this at home. I don’t really recommend trying this one. It worked at the time (some of my earlier days in the military), but that was mostly because I had too much stuff racing through my mind that kept me up at night. So, I drowned those thoughts out (pretty much spent every night for a long time at clubs drinking until 1-2am).
• Slow things down with movies! Especially if I sit back in a nice comfy recliner with a warm blanket and put on a movie that moved to a slower pace (usually movies I’ve already seen before). Stuff like Tremors, 2001, and Dead Poet’s Society.
• The ceiling stare. Stare at a single point on the ceiling and stare at it without blinking while counting backwards from 100 to 0. Repeat as necessary.

And apparently, just thinking about all these different things makes you sleepy… so I’m off to bed.

Well, just temporarily. I wrote this month’s Redirected Male column for Sequential Tart. They said I could write anything related to comics or the comics industry, so I did. It’s more of a reflection on my younger days of comics reading and posing the question of what comics these days have to offer that people can’t get in other media. It’s a ramble, and it’s something I like to think about when working on projects… finding little ways to recapture a little of the magic in comics.

Read. Enjoy. Dance in celebration with a tap shoe wearing octopus.