SPACE, Azalia Snail, Silbeer

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Brian John Mitchell

So as you regular readers know, I went up to Columbus for SPACE (Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo) this past weekend.  I got up there on Friday & hung out with Jerry Kranitz (Aural Innovations) getting some in-house brewed beers at a barbecue joint & then picking up some Chinese & drinking a few of my home brews back at my hotel.  Jerry might start writing some for our fun review blogs as he (like me) is burned out from doing them in a more professional side for his webzine.  But the big event for Friday was I put a bottle of weaponized root beer in the ice bucket to chill it exploded.  I don’t mean the cap blew off.  I mean the bottle shattered.  It sounded like a gunshot.  Bits of glass making it into the bathroom & onto both beds in the room & an inch long piece going through my sweatshirt & into my arm.  Here’s a photo after it stopped most of its bleeding.
awesomeSaturday morning I setup my table I had Marble Works setup which was a big hit, but didn’t generate extra sales.  Of course I did get the whole reason to be there taken care of, which was getting the award plaques for me & Dave Sim for Ultimate Lost Kisses.
Still a lot of fun hanging out with the Gutter Trash guys (who have a special podcast about this year’s SPACE) & Nick Marino (Super Haters) & I might have found a couple new collaborators & I did a panel for a jam comic for Candy or Medicine who I’ve been meaning to contribute to for a couple of years now.

I got some work done on the art for the Azalia Snail release.  So that should be coming to fruition fairly soon.  The first “major” Silber release in a year.

I’m having some kind of problem with a couple of my soda weaponizations for Silbeer.  Not sure what is going on, but the orange soda seems to kill the yeast & so does the cream soda while the ginger ale & root beer weaponize just fine.  Maybe they have more preservatives in or something?  I don’t know.  It’s weird since the cream soda & root beer are made by the same company.

Posted in beer, comics, daily news | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

4 Responses to SPACE, Azalia Snail, Silbeer

  1. GoddakkAttack says:
    March 23, 2011 at 7:33 am

    it’s great that it was the weaponized beer that fragged you.

    also, in boston some dude died cuz a glass was thrown and shattered and a piece pierced some bystanders artery or something.

    wear protective gear to the anniversary.

  2. GoddakkAttack says:
    March 23, 2011 at 7:34 am

    also would it be offensive for you to change the name to Jihad Juice?

  4. Brian John Mitchell says:
    March 23, 2011 at 1:00 pm

    I feel like I should be able to get money from the Pentagon for my soda weaponizations. Send Coke in a glass bottle to whoever the likely presidential candidates are or whatever (because homegrown politicians are america’s worst enemies).

Comics, Spy Cameras, Buttons, QRD, Wheelchairs

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Brian John Mitchell

Got the layout done for Monthly.  Did some mild website edits about the new comics.  Printed  out everything I need to (with the exception of XO#7 which may or may not make it out tomorrow) & just need to wait & see what happens as far as assembling everything in a timely manner.

I ordered this little spy camera thing from Hong Kong today for $20.  I was looking for something small, portable, & cheap that doesn’t look too bad to use on YouTube & it seems to fit the bill, but I guess I don’t really find out until I start using it.

The new glow in the dark Silber buttons are here.  I’m pretty stoked about them.

A bunch of interviews are trickling in for QRD.  I feel a bit overwhelmed, but I guess after the comic book show I’ll be looking for some work to do.

Today my grandmother seems to have started to make the shift from using a walker to a wheelchair.  Kinda depressing, but I’m trying to be upbeat about it, now I can take her to walk around the lake.

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One Response to Comics, Spy Cameras, Buttons, QRD, Wheelchairs

  1. JohnSmith says:
    August 11, 2011 at 2:42 am

    I like to use the spy camera. It is so widely used and so popular.

Comics, Azalia Snail, Silbeer, Dreams

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Brian John Mitchell

I got the initial layout done for the new comic Monthly today & tomorrow I should get the print layout done & print it up. I’ve got two-thirds of the stuff printed out for SPACE now & I may even get to assemble some prior to getting to Columbus.

Been working with Azalia Snail a bit as far as figuring out about doing a mini-comic to promote her album & acting as a sounding board for mixing a couple new tracks.  I really like the idea of working with artists as a semi-collaborator like this.  It makes me feel more useful as a label owner for sure as far as having the ability to help an artist put out the best release they can.

I made some more batches of stuff brewing today (two new batches of mead & a weaponized ginger ale & a weaponized creme soda).  So now I have six things fermenting in my room & my room smells a bit like bread from the yeast.  Not quite sure if it’s a good smell or not at the strength level it’s at.

Last Night’s Dreams:
The Earth has been abandoned & is just a cemetery where people get their bodies shipped to rest after traveling through space.  My job is to try to find plots to put the bodies in & stack no more than twenty people in the same grave.

I’m trying to clean my face & it’s so dirty that I cut the skin off & am washing it in the sink like a stained silk shirt.  I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get it back on.  The air stings the exposed muscles of my face, but the cold water feels good on my hands.

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Comics & Flashdance

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Brian John Mitchell

So I worked some more on my standee & did some more with getting comics ready for SPACE this weekend. That will probably be more or less the story of the next several days. So I might not bother to do blog entries as they’d be boring even by my standards.

I got an email from Music Supervisor (a music placement library) today that included this story I thought you might like.
“As songwriters ourselves, we can’t tell you how many times we’ve penned songs for a movie or TV show, without getting the placement, but then, that song ended up being used in something else. & making money later.
A prime example in music history was “Maniac” written by Michael Sembello. Originally written for a 1980 horror flick of the same name, the original lyrics were: “He’s a maniac, maniac that’s for sure. He will kill your cat & nail him to the door.” When selected for the film Flashdance & the soundtrack album, Sembello changed the lyrics to: “She’s a maniac, maniac on the floor. & she’s dancing like she’s never danced before.” The song & Flashdance soundtrack eventually reached #1 in the Billboard charts, won a Grammy, & went on to become one of the biggest soundtrack singles in history.”

Posted in comics, daily news, movies & television, music | Tagged , | 1 Comment

One Response to Comics & Flashdance

  1. GoddakkAttack says:
    March 15, 2011 at 8:11 am

    the flashdance version is definitely a better rhyme.

Silbeer, Mini-Comics, Nostalgia Equals Distortion, Outer Limits

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Brian John Mitchell

Today I went around looking for bottles for Silbeer & was surprised that the mexican restaurant near me has a padlock on their recycle bins so I couldn’t get bottles there & then I went to a local club/bar & they didn’t even have recycle bins.  So on tonight’s bottling I ended up using a couple of twist-offs, so I guess I’ll find out if they hold up to things.

Worked on the standee display for the mini-comics.  Cut all the holes out & put on two coats of primer.  I have to buy some more posterboard & some red spray paint to finish it.

There’s a review of Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark over on Nostalgia Equals Distortion.

Watched this bizarre episode of Outer Limits.  It’s one of the more famous ones I believe, but I’d never seen it.  It’s called “Don’t Open Until Doomsday.”

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Lost Kisses, Monthly, Silbeer

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Brian John Mitchell

I got Lost Kisses #21 scanned in, still need to lay it out & do a proof.

I got in a preliminary draft of the art Eric Shonborn did for Monthly (new comic).  It’s kind of a weird comic because it’s bit of a punchline story & it’s hard to say what it’s about without giving away the punchline.  So I’ll just say it’s about finding a lady who loves you.

Mixed up a couple more batches of Silbeer.  Another batch of honey apple mead (this time with a little less apple juice & a little more black pepper) & a weaponized orange soda.  I talked to Nic Slaton a bit about the brewing (his day job is making wine) & he said that most yeasts start to die when the alcohol percentage hits 16% so I don’t need to worry about too strong of beers quite as much as I thought.

Me & Nic also talked about doing a small show in Raleigh the night before the Silber 15 show that will probably be Slicnaton, Electric Bird Noise, & Small Life Form.  I’ll let you know if it happens.  There is going to be a show the Thursday before in Greensboro that is Hotel Hotel, Slicnaton, & Andrew Weathers.

I got sent some questions for doing an interview to promote the 15 year anniversary show.  So that’s nice that somebody seems to care.

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Lost Kisses & Display

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Brian John Mitchell

So I finally finished drawing Lost Kisses #21.  I got a fourth of it scanned in.  Scanning it in & cleaning it up is kind of a bitch.  Also this issue has a lot more clipped in images than any previous issue & I’m not sure how I feel about it.  I guess after it is out a while I’ll figure out if I like it or not.  I am running the images through filters, so that makes it a little less junior high looking.  It’s also got the most referential gags of any of them.  Maybe it’s just that it’s been two years since I’ve done a full issue of Lost Kisses (not including Ultimate Lost Kisses or Extreme Lost Kisses) that is making me have doubts about it.  I suppose the good thing about a stick figure comic is if people take it too seriously or whatever, that’s their problem.  I’m hoping to finish it tomorrow.

I started building my three foot tall display tower for the mini-comics.  It seems like it’s going to work.  I just need to paint the box so it’s not an ad for an Ionic Breeze behind the comics.

I did get the test batch of Ultimate Lost Kisses #12 done.  I’m pretty happy with it.  I need to print some more up.

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Comics, Music, & Hooch

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Brian John Mitchell

Got the layout done for ULK #12, hope to print it out tomorrow.

I did some work on remastering Aarktica’s Morning One EP (is that from 2000?) that will be re-issued at some point this year.

Assembled 40 mini-comics that Kurt Dinse will be selling at C2E2 in a couple weeks.

Set up the next batches of mead (a cran-apple mead) & weaponized root beer brewing.

Eric Shonborn says he might have Monthly #1 ready by the end of the week & Melissa Spence Gardner says XO #7 is in the mail.  So a lot of new comics.

Azalia Snail is working up a few new tracks for Celestial Respect.  So a mild delay, but a stronger album will be the result.

I think that’s it for now.

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One Response to Comics, Music, & Hooch

  1. Nick says:
    March 10, 2011 at 8:44 am

    Morning One is from 2001. I bought it used several years ago. I do not remember from where though…

Vigilant, Silber 15, Finally Checking It Out, Moodring, Buttons, Ultimate Lost Kisses

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Brian John Mitchell

So I’ve got two little “call to actions” for you kidz today.
(1) For the video version of Vigilant that will be happening in a month or so, I’m wanting to get a bunch of photos of people wearing hooded sweat shirts.  They’ll be appearing in the video for about 1/8 of a second a piece.
(2) We’ve been talking about possibly having some fans talking about Silber on videos (less than a minute long) that aren’t able to attend the 15 year show that we’ll project during band swaps.
Just let me know if you are interested in helping out.

There’s a new review of Love up on Finally Checking It Out.  I didn’t do this review, but I have to admit they are one of the bands I’ve heard about & meant to look into for twenty years.

Moodring has a new track up that you can check out at Small Town Romance.

Worked on a designs for getting some new Silber buttons made.  They will glow in the dark.

Finally finished scanning in the artwork for Ultimate Lost Kisses #12.  Makes me feel like I got something done.

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Flyers, Silbeer, QRD, Video Streams, & Kiss

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Brian John Mitchell

Been missing from the blog a couple days.  But I’ve been working.

Doing some behind the scenes stuff for the Silber 15 Year show.  Trying to figure out the order of bands & sound requirements & places where people can stay & things like that.

I put up some flyers for the anniversary show a week ago & this week they are all missing/covered.  I talked Vince Mecanikill about it & he said he’s had the same problem & then the flyers are torn down, not just covered.  His theory is that the guy in town that you can pay to put up flyers literally tears down all flyers that he’s not in charge of.  Which is really fucked up.  I also think it’s true.  If you wander through Chapel Hill you have flyers up basically only for Cat’s Cradle & Local 506 & very few (near zero) up for The Nightlight & The Cave & the other venues.  It’s a bit suspicious to say the least.  I wrote to the weekly suggesting they do an article about it.

Did a script for a comic about when a Promute record comes out on Silber.  I’m also working in my head on a potential comic script to promote the Azalia Snail disc.  I like the idea of doing them.  I don’t know who will care.

I did a bit of a tasting for some of the Silbeers the other night & the Weaponized Root Beer & Honey Apple Mead were big hits.  Those ones brew a little differently & I just ordered some supplies to be able to make some more, including a gallon of honey.

So both Thursday & Friday nights I went out to see bands & saw some people doing dance pop music (for lack of a better term) with just keyboards & drum machines.  It kind of makes me want to do a Muscle Mass record.  Maybe the time has come.

Did some recording for a final additional track for the collaborative album with my son Andrew that should pull everything together.  I need to send it to him & get him to add his parts.

I’ve gotten in about 20 interviews for the next 4 QRDs that I’m working on simultaneously this week.  Why do I line up this much work for myself.

I’m looking into doing some live video streaming things.  It looks like the most popular ones are Justin.tv, Ustream.tv, & Livestream.com.  Does anyone know anything about what makes one better than the other?  They all look about the same to me.

There’s a fun article about what you can learn about music marketing from Kiss over on Music Think Tank.

Posted in comics, daily news, music, video | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

One Response to Flyers, Silbeer, QRD, Video Streams, & Kiss

  1. GoddakkATTACK says:
    March 6, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    I had the same issue when bM were goin….especially in chapel hill area. I used to think it had to do with the city clearing the boards but then after i noticed they were going missing, i started noticing that other flyers that were up when i put the bM ones up were still there…..maybe cuz they were local they could get theirs up quicker and relatively in the same spot but that seems unlikely.