20
Jul

Nice & Quiet Weekends…

By Mark Liebrecht 2 Comments
Categories: Blog

Last night we ended up not going to see the new Batman movie. I’m not sure when I’ll be seeing it, if I see it before August 4th. Instead we ended up going to the book store and Denny’s.

This morning I woke up kinda early(for a Sunday) and went to the comic shop. When we were at Chapters last night, I found the most recent issue of The Hulk, and after reading one page I put it down, and was hellbent on reading all the issues up until that one. So, I went out and picked up The Hulk #1-4 + King Size Hulk #1, Thunderbolts: Faith In Monsters, and Showcase Presents: Batman and The Outsiders Volume #1.

All of which were pretty good. I am addicted to this new Hulk storyline. It’s reasons like this that I started reading comics in the first place. The story is good, the artwork is amazing, and you keep wanting to know what happens next. Those are elements that have been lacking in most comics as of late, so it’s a pleasant surprise to find all of that in one series. I even chose the current storyline to be my first article over at Caffeinated Comics. I’m gonna try to post a new article over there every Sunday.

While I was at the comic shop, I was given an advertisement featuring the 2008 Manitoba Comic Con & Sci Fi Expo. I told Aly that I’m taking her to it, and she seems pretty excited. I’m really happy about that! :D

I don’t like the idea of paying for Autographed pictures…at least not $35, but there’s a couple of people there I’d like to meet….like Lou Ferrigno, John De Lancie, Helen Slater and Kurt Busiek. So, I’m thinking I should probably put aside a couple hundred dollars for that weekend, just in case I wanna geek out and buy some merch. Also, a certain percentage of all the autograph sales are going to the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, so I guess I feel alright about paying for maybe a couple of autographed photos…

19
Jul

It’s Been A Slow Month…

By Mark Liebrecht 2 Comments
Categories: Blog
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It’s been a really slow month. Especially since I bought my tickets to BC.
I leave in 10 days, but it still feels so far away.

Last weekend we shot a video of me building a dresser….and now my videos will have their own home over at:

I’d like to say I’m through with trying to make more professional looking short films, but that would be a lie. These are a lot more inexpensive, require no planning and can be edited and posted almost as soon as they’re shot. I think I’ll try to do at least one a month, just for fun….I’ve still got a couple of others that I’m working on, but I need to get myself a copy of MS Word for the MacBook. I hate writing in notepad. I think I may actually pick up a copy tonight when I pay my bill. It would be nice to see what documents look like with headers and footers….as well as word counts and page numbers…

It’s been a very slow week. I’m done doing my over-time stint, so I’ve started working on a couple of new blogs. One of which, I’m going to force myself to write for weekly. Another one, I want to turn into a group blog, similar to that of The Hellblog. The third, I’d still like to do a comic strip for, but until I find an artist that’s looking for a writer to collaborate with, that can stand my sense of humor, I’ll have to put that idea on the back burner.

I am hoping to make a bit of money off of Explaining Comics. That’s the one I want to do weekly articles for. I have become an affiliate with Amazon, and am looking to ad their stuff to all of my blogs, but this is just going to be the test blog, to see it it works.

I’m also looking at doing my online used comic shop. Ebay looks like the best price so far, but Yahoo might be the best deal. This will require further investigation. I may have to wait until Aly and I move into our new place, so I can keep my inventory on site, instead of in my parents basement. I don’t feel right selling anything that isn’t within a ten foot radius of me. I’ve still got inventory all of my comics and whatnot that I plan on selling. I’ve also got a few other things I’d like to get into, but I think I’ve got enough on my plate at the moment.

I’ve still got a business plan I need to get cracking on again…which is something that Word would be useful for.

So much to do, so little free time.

I’m supposed to see The Dark Knight with Mike and Patrick tonight. I wanted to wait and see it with Aly, but they’re pretty adamant about me going tonight. I told Aly last night, that whatever happens, I’m taking her to see it on August 4th…which will be our first actual day living together in Winnipeg.

18
Jul

Mark Meets Rollins

By Mark Liebrecht 0 Comments
Categories: Blog
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Back in 2005, I finally had the opportunity to meet Henry Rollins. About eight of us went to see his Spoken Word show at the UofM, and unlike past years, I decided to stick around after the show. Since I drove that night, my friend were forced to wait with me…and there were about 30 other people who also had the same idea.

As soon as he left his dressing room, some guy who I recognized from past shows walked right up to him and asked if he had time to talk and sign things. Rollins just threw down his bag and said “Sure, I’m not going anywhere!” Upon hearing that, all of us who were scattered all over the place lined up single file and awaited our turn to meet him. It seemed like everyone who went up there to have their picture taken with them was having problems with their camera. They’d give their cameras to total strangers and expect them to know how to use them…

I saw the error there, so I grabbed one of my friends who claimed that photography was an interest of his. I figured I’d make this go as smoothly as possible, since my idol had taken time after a three hour show to meet all of us. I finally get to the front of the line, and I went right up to him, shook his hand, and asked him to sign the DVD I purchased off of his website a year earlier. I went on about how I’ve been reading his books for years, and how I loved his music in Rollins Band, etc. He took the DVD shook his head and said, “You poor bastard, you deserve an award!” and handed it back to me as we posed for a photo…and it didn’t work…my camera guy couldn’t get my camera to work….finally Rollins just says “How fucking hard is it to work a camera?” This was it, he was getting mad, and I had to put in my two cents. I was like, here’s my chance to say something funny! Think Mark! Think! Oh wait, I got it: “Ten thousand dollars spent on a university education and they don’t teach you how to use a camera?” Okay, so it wasn’t that funny, but I got the picture, shook his hand and told him what a pleasure it was to meet him and was on my way. He was extremely polite considering how he just finished a three hour show, and to meet thirty-some people who couldn’t work their cameras when I’m pretty sure he wanted nothing more than to get back on his bus and get some rest on his way to the next town.

I’ve also emailed him twice, and both times he replied within 24 hours. Hell, the first time he replied in less than three minutes. I was nervous about emailing him. I didn’t expect a reply, and as soon as I hit send, I was filled with regret. I started thinking, “Why did I go and do that? He must have better things to do than reply to fanboy emails….” Then the notification popped up on my screen telling me I had a reply. My jaw just hit the fucking floor. He is out there doing spoken word shows, recording songs, doing movies, a tv show, and running his own business, yet he still has time to reply to my little emails? Let’s just say that kept me smiling for over a week.

I was going to meet him again when he was in town this past March, but it was so cold outside and I was dealing with a case of food poisoning, so we decided to just take off. It would have been nice to meet him again. Perhaps next time.

17
Jul

Mark Builds A Dresser….sorta…

By Mark Liebrecht 0 Comments
Categories: Blog

SplashCast isn’t working properly.

Check out the video here!

16
Jul

Get Smart’s Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control

By Mark Liebrecht 6 Comments
Categories: Blog

I just watched Get Smart’s Bruce and Lloyd: Out Of Control…and I completely understand why it was direct to DVD.

I really don’t want to ruin it for you. I’d much rather you learn to dislike it on your own, much like I did. You see, it takes place DURING the Get Smart movie… and with the exception of a cameo by Agent 99, that’s about as close as it gets to having anything to do with the movie.

The main reason I watched this movie, is because I’m a huge fan of Patrick Warburton, who played the part of Hymie, who just happened to be one of my favorite characters in the original Get Smart series. You can only imagine my disappointment when I found out how little he was actually in the movie. I think he knew it was bad. He knew it was so bad, he didn’t even take credit for it on the IMDB. Seriously, I dare you to find any evidence of him being listed as a part of this movie.

Still on the fence about seeing this movie? Well, I think you should see it anyway. Maybe then you can convince me that it’s not that bad. To me it seemed like American Pie and all of those other teen movies, mashed together and forced into the Get Smart continuity. This wasn’t a spin off, it was a spoof. It’s like they had some extra cash kicking around and were like, “Hey, you guys wanna make a movie? I’ll write the script with my church group on my lunch break!“

Please, watch this movie and then convince me it doesn’t suck….







12
Jul

Quick Post….

By Mark Liebrecht 2 Comments
Categories: Blog
Tags: , , , , , , ,

I’m just heading out to see Hellboy 2….I’ll probably discuss it on The HellBlog later tonight… Get it? Hellboy on The HellBlog? Meh. Whatever.

I’ve also rented that Get Smart spin off from iTunes. I may watch it when I get home. I’ve got a list of movies I have to watch soon, including a couple my dad and brother lent me.

Yup. I’m gonna try to watch all of these by the end of the weekend, but I really don’t see myself accomplishing that goal.

Anyway, I’ve gotta head out. I’ll write more later!

10
Jul

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

By Mark Liebrecht 8 Comments
Categories: Blog
Tags: , , , , , ,

I don’t know what the hell happened to me yesterday, but I was dead by 9pm. I did my usual routine of getting up, going to work, texting Aly, coming home, and then I started doing some work on the coding for Caffeinated Ramblings. I finally got it working the way I wanted to, and I was feeling a little tired, so I went to go lay down for an hour or two….well, that hour or two turned into roughly 9.5 hours. I woke up just in time to go back to work this morning. On the bright side, I got the coding for the posts just the way I want them. Now I feel confident I can set up The HellBlog in a similar fashion once I transfer everything over to the new site.

Today, I worked my ass off to get everything done on time. Now I am home, and trying to decide what to make for dinner….I bought some salad stuff last night, so I might mix all that together…. Every summer I try to start eating healthier, and by the time winter rolls around, I’m back to my normal eating habits, that are somewhat reminiscent of that of a six year old….thank god for a speedy metabolism!

I’m also trying out a new coffee creamer… I usually drink my coffee black, but due to the stuff at work being so horrible, I’m starting to get used to adding cream and sugar…. My theory is if you make good coffee, you don’t need to add anything to it….well, I don’t know how to make good coffee, and the coffee at work ruined me, so now I have to add stuff to it… bleh…I see the caffeine is kicking in, hence the ramblings…

Starting tomorrow, Patrick is going to start forcing me to go to the gym with him twice a week. Mostly cause I really need to get in shape…and cause he likes to watch me suffer….and lifting weights is a good way to make me suffer….

Oh, and before I forget, Aly passed THIS my way!

You can almost feel the caffeine high setting in….

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