Toren Atkinson’s Absolute Blog

Pursuant to my crisis of faith in art….

“Christians Demand Removal of ‘Satanic’ 10 Commandments” is the title of this news article at worldnetdaily.com Read it if you like (there are some hilarious bits I don’t touch on here) basically it says that a Christian organization called “The Resistance for Christ” is pressuring a community in Georgia to tear down a monument built “under a cloud of mystery” that sits on private land. The commandments that are sand-blasted into granite tablets are:

* Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
* Guide reproduction wisely – improving fitness and diversity.
* Unite humanity with a living new language.
* Rule passion – faith – tradition – and all things with tempered reason.
* Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
* Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
* Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
* Balance personal rights with social duties.
* Prize truth – beauty – love – seeking harmony with the infinite.
* Be not a cancer on the Earth – leave room for nature – leave room for nature.

The article goes on with a lot of speculation from all sides that casts the stone’s origins to an almost Lovecraftian conspiracy.

Now whether or not I agree with any of these “commandments” the real question is this: why was this monument erected? Was it for art’s sake alone? Was it a literal monument to faith – a modern day religious artifact? Or a combination of both? To me, this smacks of social commentary more than sermonizing, and the fact that the answer to this question is not 100% clear is its greatest merit.

In case someone asks you how many extrasolar planets have been detected and confirmed, you can tell them: [307] (if you wait much longer that will of course go up.

But how come Deanna gets some named after her and I don’t?

Yes, this is an artificial fish. Who remembers Blade Runner?

Engineers at the University of Kitakyushu have developed an underwater survey robot that looks good enough to eat. “Tai-robot-kun,” a 7-kilogram (15.4 lb) robotic sea bream (red snapper) with a silicone body covered in realistically hand-painted scales, features a unique propulsion system that allows it to move its tail and drift silently through the water like a real fish.

Love Jamie “Tank Girl” Hewlitt’s style, not so much a fan of the Olympics.

Not that there’s anything new to my blog readers here, but I worked on my comics website today.

http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~thickets/spamcomics.htm

It’s really just another page on my regular site. Anyone want to volunteer to redesign my website? There’s cookies in it for you!

September 12

The Summoning was filmed in a two-bedroom apartment on 12th and Hemlock. Three people were living in the suite and they completely cleaned out the living room for the filming. This meant that couches and whatnot were crammed into a small kitchen, hall and bedrooms. It was a super hot day, made more hot by the fact that for the purposes of lighting, the windows were shut tight and cardboard was taped over them. A fan was brought into the room but of course we had to switch it off for sound recording purposes whenever the cameras were rolling. This isn’t news to people in the film industry, with a similar deal for having to scrub any shot where a motorcycle drives by. On set were the previously mentioned people, plus the sound guy, two “production assistants” and two of the people who lived there, usually crammed into the hall right next to the giant hot light. I think I got the better end of the deal being the actor stuck on the set.

I was supplied with knee pads which we stuck underneath the pants and we went through the shots in a similar but not exact order as the rehearsals. Ignasi ordered a Necronomicon-like book off eBay, but it didn’t come in time for the shoot, so we used an anatomy book. There was a related blooper where I couldn’t find a page that didn’t have a decidedly non-evil anatomical drawing on it as I was flipping through the book of dark magickal spells.

Overall the shooting went well, though a lot of it was very challenging for me and not just from the heat. I had to keep my hand and head perfectly still as I was supposed to be writhing in pain, more or less exactly the same from take to take. I didn’t start sweating until the climactic shots – the writhing ones – so makeup had to constantly be applied to me.

I’m intrigued to see how it all turns out!

I don’t really consider myself a comic collector. I don’t pick up titles regularly. I don’t have a box at a local comic store. If it wasn’t for the fact that my studio is over a comic book store, I wouldn’t go in every week. But as it is, I have been checking out what’s on the stand (always wise if you’re getting into the business), and something came out this week that I am very happy to add to my comic pile.

In 2004 I was in contact with Marcus Moore, with whom I traded some Rocket Robin Hood episodes on VHS. He was at the time working on some stuff for Hoverboy: The Republican Super-Hero! The stuff I saw was great – he was working on cartoons that “borrowed” from Rocket Robin Hood, Spider-Man and the Fleischer Supermans. I won’t over-describe, you should just go [here] and see for yourself. The depth of hoaxitude with all the ‘archival material’ puts Spaceship Zero to shame. So when I stumbled upon Hoverboy #1 on the stands at RX Comics I snapped it up. And believe you me, it does not disappoint! This comic gets the Toren Atkinson Stamp of Approval. Don’t be a commie – shell out the $3.99 for good old American-Made (actually Canadian) product!
(Or if you’re weird and can’t make it to a comic shop, I can grab one for you.)

Inking a comic is really hard. Especially when you don’t know what you’re doing. I started working today but after a few hours I had to stop, because everything I touched turned to poo. I spent some of my time going through my “How to Ink Comics” books and making a list of tips, tricks, and preferred tools. My brush hand is shaky, flat and inconsistent. Using pens takes too long and doesn’t give me the look I want. (I don’t really have a “look” in the same way that I have an established “look” with my illustration – I think it’s pretty clear by my work so far that I am very much trying to find my footing, and that’s a look I don’t want.) My experiment with French curves was a waste of time and I manage to smudge the wet ink with some part of my hand a few times per page.

So I left the studio, played video games for an hour, and then went home to feed the cat. I planned on going back to the studio afterwards but couldn’t muster up the energy. I wish I had more time to practice on trivial things and work out my glaring weaknesses, but I’ve got to get four pages done before August. And tomorrow I’m in Chilliwack and you can’t ink on a Greyhound. Good thing I cancelled my gaming.