Below are the most recent 15 friends' journal entries.

Sunday, July 6th, 2008
darth_artsy [ ramova ]	1:53a	STAR WARS GRINDHOUSE Go check my entries on the STAR WARS FAN FILM CONTEST and leave some love. It is a double feature kiddies!! VOTING PAGE: http://www.atom.com/spotlights/starwars/challenge/ See Ponda Baba go alone against the Empire in this extravaganza action packed short. Featuring Bossk, Boba Fett, Darth Vader, C3PO and more awesome characters! All caught up in a crazy violent adventure titled RAW DEAL SEE IT HERE: http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/sw_grindhouse_raw_deal/ As a yummie dessert see DON'T GO IN THE ENDOR WOODS were you can see Ewoks are not at all cuddly teddy bears. Where hot sexy ladies get tortured, degraded, murdered and eaten alive by this furry forest dwellers. DON'T GO IN THE ENDOR WOODS will shock you and remind you NOT GO IN THE ENDOR WOODS. SEE IT HERE: http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/sw_grindhouse_endor_woods/ Both shorts only at www.atomfilms.com So go, sit back and enjoy the show. Michael Ramova Current Mood: creative (Comment on this)
clockwork_hands	9:39a	Asian Horror Movie Night Whew, I am tired this morning, and my head hurts. Anyway, I attended the Asian Horror Movie Night at the University last night, and here's what I saw. ( Read more... ) Seb and I had to walk home across three suburbs (and mostly uphill). There's snow on the mountain right now, and it's really, really cold in Hobart even during the day. But walking home last night was something else. I swear I actually lost feeling in my thighs as I was walking, and my ears felt like they could snap off in a strong breeze. Won't be doing that again in a hurry! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
svetlania	10:37p	Quickie post Heeeeey, guess who! :D I kind of disappeared for half a year there, didn't I... Again... Well, I had good reasons!! Work ate me :O I am slowly starting to come back to the internets but before I am back completely I need to just quickly post about the fanart contest for the collected Dramacon volume (due out this fall): The contest was over, but I asked that the deadline be extended to allow for a second round in case anyone from lj land wants to participate as well. (People who have already submitted--your entries are received, safe and sound, thank you very much!) The new deadline is July 7th morning! The details of where to send stuff are in the above link. And now I crawl off to bed. x___x Cool comic links tomorrow + a couple of updates! Happy belated Canada day and an early 4th of July to all, Svet! Current Mood: dorky (39 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
clockwork_hands	9:11a	Mildew Sorry for being slow with comments. I am being killed by work. Helping yellowblacktrip with his University application. Trying to get HF3 chapter 4 done. Real estate agent has NOT replied to my maintenance submission. Mildew in bathroom worsening. Mouthwash bottle was found with mildew on it. Ugh. Have thrown out. Will have to phone them this afternoon. Rain is lovely, but clogged drainpipe that rattles all night long is not. Can't reach the damn thing, either. Positioned so that it's on the second floor, unreachable by window. Looking forward, for the hundredth time, to moving. EDIT: Sparkies have just turned up to fix the bathroom fan. With no warning. And no advance call. Despite the fact that when I handed in the maintenance form to the agent, I ticked the box that said, "I require the agent to call me first before sending maintenance to the house." Despite the fact that I wrote in pen next to the checked box, "please call above mobile number before sending electrician to house." So now the sparkies are in my very, very messy bathroom I had no warning to clean, knocking stuff over (I can hear them). Crap, I gotta go downstairs and hide my wallet. And the bowl we keep the loose change in. Current Mood: cranky (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
lilsuika	1:55p	Birdies! My sister thinks we live in a menagerie and keeps bringing home new additions every once in a while. >_< The latest: At first it was just the blue one, but we thought he was lonely so we got him a friend. I'm not too sure of their genders but I think the blue one is a boy and the yellow-ish one is a girl... or maybe not. Could be both boys or girls for all I know. Lar, I know nothing about birds. ^^; They're really cute, but my little doggie haaaaaaaaates them. She spends every chance she gets to watch their every move. If I ever so much move the birdcage by even a centimeter, she bolts from wherever she is and charges towards the cage. When my sister takes the birdies away, she gets sad and doesn't want to eat (luckily she doesn't want to stay hungry for long). I don't get it. I'm stumped for names. Thought about naming them "Romeo and Juliet" or "Hamlet and Ophelia" but nahhh, don't wanna name them after tragic lovers. For now, the blue one is "Flappy" and the other "Birdie". T_T Current Mood: amused Current Music: Escape Club - I'll be there (1 Comment |Comment on this)
darth_artsy [ rurouni_jedi ]	1:27a	Legacy of the Force fanart I'm a big fan of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, so most of my fanart revolves around that (mainly, the YJK characters). ( So, here's a few (VERY LARGE) ink drawings and one colored piece. Also, SPOILER IMAGE FOR INVINCIBLE. ) (6 Comments |Comment on this)
lilrivkah	12:55a	Mmm! Cake! Ever had whipped chocolate icing? The kind that's light and airy yet dark and sweet? I just made a birthday cake for A and it was deliciously yummy. Well, my sister handed down the most incredible recipe to me, and I'M NOT SHARING. Mwahahah. The only thing that would have made the finished cake better was if I'd soaked the strawberries that I put inside the cake in some sort of dessert liquor. I'm thinking amaretto, but I'm not sure how the nutty flavor would go with the strawberries. dark chocolate + strawberries + whipped cream = bliss Anywho, I thought I would share the pictures for friends to drool over. Too bad there are only two people to eat it! At least I can justify the fact that with all this biking and the record heat (20 days over 100 degrees in one month!), I really need the extra calories. It was tres yum. Since drawing can't be my hobby, baking will have to do! (15 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 30th, 2008
queeniechan	10:42p	Lucid Walking: The Dreaming Writing Competition Entries Folks, I'll be attending GenCon in Brisbane from the 4th to 7th July. Enthusiasts, see you there! In Odd We Trust: Is out in bookstores and Amazon, and has been since the 24th June. The book has gone back to print due to requests from Amazon, Borders and Barnes and Noble, so that's probably a good sign (cue baffled reactions from Koontz fans who can't grasp the idea of a "comic"). I also have a Publishers Weekly interview here with Brigid of Mangablog in regards to the book. Thanks to Brigid and Publishers Weekly. The Dreaming Writing Competition: TOKYOPOP finally announced the winners last Friday, and now I get the honour of posting all winning entries up for everyone to enjoy. I'm cross-posting the content of the TOKYOPOP announcement post, complete with comments and all. -------------------------- First Prize: The Sketch Album by Conda V. Douglas, Boise, Idaho Comments: I awarded this because it gave me the creeps—an admirable achievement considering I wrote the story that it's based on! It's a fantastic idea, and executed quite well. The other stories were also very good, but I had to give this one the top prize because of the 'creep' factor, which I think is crucial because The Dreaming is a horror story after all. Second Prize: An End by by Chelsea M. Smith (18), Woodlands, Texas Comments: This was probably my favourite one in terms of writing style—I think it has the best writing out of all the entries (my personal opinion, and I'm biased). I also like the interpretation of Amber's 'state of being' too. I only wish the reader was told the content of the paintings that Amber had in the suitcase—that is my only complaint (because I wanna know badly!) Third Prize: Retrospect by by Xandria L. Johnson (14), Ocala, Florida Comments: I liked how this one took the perspective of Miss Anu—it does a pretty good job of exploring her as a character. I loved the way the story ended. It also mentioned some things about the art I never noticed myself, despite having drawn the book! -------------------------- And here are some of the wonderful honourable mentions: The Coffin by Elizabeth Napoletano (26), Cicero, Illinois Records Keeper by Allegra Condiotte The Cost of Living by Sarah Lamb (28), Houston, Texas Thank you to everyone who entered this writing competition. Your entries were all so very fantastic, and I hope you all continue writing. It's certainly inspired me to attempt writing prose again. If anyone else has an entry they'd like to be posted up here, please post your email address in the comments, and I'll contact you to get a digital copy of your story. I think we'll all love to read the stories - I for one am darn curious about the stories that didn't quite make "the cut". All 6 finalists, please post your email address (again) in the comments, or email me to organise the prizes. I'd like your mailing addresses for sending the prizes to. I'll be giving out copies of the new "In Odd We Trust" book, and original art from "In Odd We Trust" for the top 3 winners (unless you don't want art from that, please let me know). Current Mood: worried (13 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, June 29th, 2008
lilrivkah	4:25p	Classes Update Phew! Been working on the handouts for my class, and I've just finished five pages for an essay/worksheet on colloquialisms. And I haven't gotten to idioms and aphorisms yet! (which I strictly tell students to AVOID unless they're working on a highly stylized or experimental piece) Having had three different presentations in the past month with a public library, a 4th grade elementary class, and one rambunctious but eager high school art class, I've realized that my 3-hour length classes are going to need to be more directed and structured as I've a tendency to spill all the beans and pack as much information into an hour as possible. But for the classes, I'd like to make sure the lessons to STICK. Hence, worksheets. So I never realized there was so much to say about writing dialog, but I'm learning a new appreciation of what I've learned through observation and trial and error. It's getting me excited about starting up classes and keeping me too busy to brood. I've set "Steady Beat 3" completely to the side while things get worked out at TP and have been working solely on classes and "Jane's S.O.S.". I just sent out my first query letter for "Jane's S.O.S." yesterday (from one of the publishers who've actually asked to see the story already). I've also been working on sample pages for the first chapter of the graphic novel and went back over and re-edited the first chapter of the novel since that's the first thing a publisher reads and IMHO should be the most polished and engaging of any chapter, but I left the rest of the book alone. Any more tweaking at this point, and it'd be overkill. I haven't heard back anything from Tokyopop about acquiring my print rights yet, but I'm trying to be patient. I honestly believe TP could do nothing but benefit by giving me the rights back. I actually don't mind if they keep the secondary rights (perhaps mainly because I don't believe anything will actually come of it). Anyway, I'll keep people updated on progress . . . when it's actually going somewhere. Now to continue debating in my head whether or not I REALLY need an agent. It's an ongoing battle. All out war, actually. And both sides are winning. (14 Comments |Comment on this)
darkkof	12:08a	Michael Turner It's no big secret, I'm not a Michael Turner fan and yeah, I don't really like his work, but that doesn't mean I can be all mean and not acknowledge him as an artist. I do, he is and artist and he will be missed in the community, whether or not you're a fan. So, I'm just here to just say that... rest in peace, Michael Turner. You fought the good fight and in a sense, considering the phenomenal state of fame you were in, it was a well fought fight.
Friday, June 27th, 2008
lilrivkah	4:03p	Applied Materials: Bright Futures Card Game Hurray! I can finally announce the news! Applied Materials, the world's leading manufacture in semiconductors and a multi-billion dollar NASDAQ 100 company, commissioned me to illustrate a children's card game designed to spread environmental awareness. It will be distributed to classrooms in the US, China, India, Israel, Germany, and Japan. The cards themselves can be downloaded for free from the website in both black and white and color artwork versions: http://brightfuture.appliedmaterials.com/game/ If you are a teacher in the US, follow the link at the bottom of the page, "How to Order", to find out how to become a part of the Bright Futures program and have decks of cards sent to you in time for the August 2008/2009 school year: http://brightfuture.appliedmaterials.com/game/order.php And apparently there's even a testimonial video as well! Kid's saying they'd rather play cards than go outside and play. Awesome. XD -------------------- Bright Future Card Game © Applied Materials, Inc. 2008. Illustrations by Rivkah Colors by Rivkah and Faye Yong Thank you Faye for doing such a wonderful job on the colors! You're stellar! :) (31 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
darkkof	9:49p	Marry Me Marry Me, an online comic I did with Bobby Crosby, has finally reached it's end. Or rather, it's end to it's main storyline. We'll still have future storylines down the pipe, but it'll just be extra side stories of the characters. Now, the real news. The news is that this book will be turned into a Graphic Novel, mainly to be sold at San Diego Comic Con at the Blatant Booth, #1328. But if you can't make it to SDCC like me, you Pre-order it online! I actually had a lot of fun doing the comic though there were some sloppy pages where I was either too busy to really put an effort on it or the page just doesn't grip me. In any case, I still had a lot of fun drawing these characters and they're finally done. Now... on to my baby... (6 Comments |Comment on this)
clockwork_hands	12:06p	Random Went and saw Kung Fu Panda, and liked it. Very cute, appealing designs. It does do that thing of, "slob picks up skills in a few days which took other characters entire lifetime, since early childhood, to learn" which a lot of kung fu movies do, but you could tell that from the ads for it anyway. Don't expect too much, and it's a great little movie. And how A-DOOOOR-able was the bad guy in the flashback seqences as a child (cub)? Yeeee!!! Although, would have been nice if the family with the screaming, crying baby had walked the baby out. Apparently, neither parent wanted to miss the movie though, so they stayed. With the baby shrieking. Through the entire final third of the movie. No one wanted to say anything, because the father was enormous, with a neck wider than his head and arms like a forklift. And this was a late session too (well, as late as an animated movie for kids can get). I guess babysitters are hard to come by, huh? Mailed off some copies of Hollow Fields 2 to family. Must get in maintenance form to real estate agent because our bathroom fan has broken and the place is starting to get that funky mildew smell (ugh). I think this rental is going to end up like the last one - it's going to gradually decompose and fall apart around our ears as we plan where to go next. Work on HF3 behind, not entirely my fault this time though, which feels better. Can't wait till next year. Current Mood: hopeful (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
tinpan	9:58p	Manga in Indonesia Whoa. I leave the Philippines for a few days and the minute I'm gone, the first big typhoon of the season rolls in. Hundreds dead, injured, missing, homeless, floods all over the island, not to mention a capsized ferry with 400+ passengers feared dead.. Please keep them in your prayers and, if possible, donate what you can to the Red Cross or other worthy charities. In other news.... It's  a good time to be an Indonesian manga fan! Every time I come here there seems to be even more manga being translated. I was feeling a bit blue after all the bad manga/ OEL-related news we've been having over the past weeks. But chins up, people who work in the manga style or do manga. There are readers out there yet! Here's some photos I took on the sly at my local Indonesian bookstore chain, Gramedia: ( Read more... ) (5 Comments |Comment on this)
queeniechan	10:20p	Lucid Walking: Borders Appearance Borders in Melbourne: I'll be doing a Borders talk and book signing for all those interested on Wednesday the 25th June, 5-7pm. There will be a 15% discount on all full-price stock in Borders, so those in Melbourne looking to score some cheaper books (and say hello to me), come on by. Location: Borders Address: 106 Melbourne Central Shopping Central, 211 Latrobe Street, Melbourne Date Wednesday 25 June, 2008, Time: 5:00 - 7:00 pm RSVP: Call Jayne Margett on 9663 8909 or email melbcentral@bordersgroupinc.com >>> The Winners Have Been Announced!! Congrats all!! <<< "The Dreaming" Writing Competition: Apologies for the delays on this. I guess you all know that TOKYOPOP is currently in the middle of a restructure, and thus in a difficult situation. I'm unsure whether the marketing department has the time to handle the results of this competition, so I'm going to take matters into my own hands. I've sent an email to TOKYOPOP on Friday the 20th, and if they don't reply by Wednesday the 25th, then I'll send another email. If that gets no replies by the 30th June, then I'll announce the winners on my blog on the 1st July. But as we now know, the winners have been announced. But For now... I announce the 6 finalists in no particular order: Drumroll... An End by Chelsea M. Smith (18), Woodlands, Texas Records Keeper by Allegra Condiotte Retrospect by Xandria L. Johnson (14), Ocala, Florida The Coffin by Elizabeth Napoletano (26), Cicero, Illinois The Cost of Living by Sarah Lamb (28), Houston, Texas The Sketch Album by Conda V. Douglas, Boise, Idaho All others who entered the competition: please also email your entries for me to post up (if you wish for it). I would love to read all your entries, since TOKYOPOP only sent me six stories to pick the top 3 winners from. *An additional 10 people were supposed to get original art pages from "The Dreaming" as prizes. I've already sent the 10 pages to TOKYOPOP, but I haven't heard back from then on that yet either, so I don't know what's happening. Personally, I'll rather sort out the winners first, so thanks for your patience. Current Mood: busy (44 Comments |Comment on this)