Starting tomorrow: A post every day for the entire month of July!
Obligatory Michael Jackson Post
I dunno, it seems like the thing to do. Thriller was my favorite record when I was 12 years old, as I'm sure it pretty much was for almost every other person my age. Hell, I even thought parts of Bad were pretty awesome, but Jacko completely lost me soon after that with the plastic surgery and especially the pedophilia.
Damaged and sad, yes, but I stop short of calling his a tragic case...He was a colossal weirdo, a frankenstein monster with enough fortune to afford any and every of his crazy whims.
Anyway, I've drawn Jacko several times over the past few years. This was the first, for Savage Love in the early aughts. Don't recall why he was holding a tampon, but my brain shudders at the possibilities.
Then there was this from last summer, the "Over It" issue of the Las Vegas Weekly...postulating that people were over MJ sightings around town. I don't remember if having his nose pop off was my idea or the art director's, but it's definitely kinda hilarious.
Amber Heard
Amber Laura Heard (born April 22, 1986) is an American actress. She attended St. Michael's Catholic Academy in Austin, Texas until junior year, when she left to pursue a career in Hollywood. She has played minor roles in various television shows and movies. She is perhaps best known for her role of Greta Matthews on the CW television show, Hidden Palms. She plays the lead role (and title character) in All The Boys Love Mandy Lane, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006 and was released theatrically in 2008.
She has also been on the cover of Maxim and played Seth Rogen's character's girlfriend in Pineapple Express. She appears in the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel The Informers.
Personal life
Heard was born and raised in Austin, Texas. Her father David is a contractor and her mother Paige is an Internet researcher for the state. As a teenager Heard was active in her school's drama department and appeared in local commercials and campaigns.
At the age of 16 she lost her best friend in a car crash. Heard said of the accident "That was the hardest blow emotionally that I have ever had to endure. Suddenly, you realize tomorrow might not come. Now I live by the motto, 'Today is what I have.'" Heard, who was raised Catholic, now declares herself an atheist. After the death of her friend, Heard met her first serious boyfriend, who introduced her to the writings of Russian-born atheist Ayn Rand. "I've read all of her books," says Heard. "Ever since then, I have been obsessed with her ideals. All I've ever needed is myself." She dropped out of St. Michael's Catholic Academy at the age of 17 she went to New York to start a career in modeling — but she did not enjoy it. "There's no real talent involved in modeling. Acting has substance." She next located to Los Angeles to get into acting.
Career
Once in Los Angeles, Heard made appearances in various TV shows. She was cast as Liz in the pilot episode of The WB's Jack & Bobby (2004), as Riley in an episode of The Mountain (2004) and she had a brief cameo as a salesgirl in The O.C. (2005). Her first movie role was Maria in Friday Night Lights (2004). "When I was on the set, just doing day-playing work, I remember thinking, 'This is what I want to do forever'", she said. "Knowing that with such certainty at 17 was just life-altering." She next starred as Shay in Side FX (2005), an independent horror film, and had supporting roles in Drop Dead Sexy (2005), Price to Pay (2006) and You Are Here (2006). Heard had more prominent parts in Niki Caro's North Country (2005) as young Josey and as Alma in Nick Cassavetes' Alpha Dog (2006). To play the part in the latter film, Heard "tapped into a reckless, naïve teenager. It was difficult to channel but I had to completely disconnect any humane aspects she had. I've known girls like her... You don't have a lot of sympathy for them." In 2006 she starred as Lila in an episode of Criminal Minds.
Heard was next cast in the CW Network's Hidden Palms. On the show she portrayed Greta Matthews, who suffered the losses of both her mother and boyfriend, Eddie, and befriends Johnny, the anti-hero of the show. Heard was immediately drawn to her character: "Greta is complicated. She's like I was when I was a teenager. It's why I relate to her." In order to get the part, Heard was asked to lose weight. It took her four months, daily workouts and a ban on carbohydrates to lose 25 pounds. "At first I said no, but it's about the work. I cared about the project and the character, so I was willing to do it. It's called dedication." Hidden Palms premiered in the US on May 30, 2007. Ultimately, The CW wrapped the summer series early; instead of the initial 12 episode arc, only eight were aired. The show ended on July 4, two weeks prior than originally planned.
She was next cast in the title role in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. The horror film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2006, immediately generating buzz and landing a deal with Harvey Weinstein. However, nearly a year after its Toronto debut, the movie had not reached theaters. In July 2007, Mandy Lane found a new distribution home and the film finally was released in 2008 with a February UK release and DVD release in June.
In 2007, Heard also appeared in the short movie Day 73 with Sarah and Jess Manafort's indie drama Remember the Daze (aka The Beautiful Ordinary), which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June and opened in limited release in April 2008. She then appeared in the Judd Apatow comedy Pineapple Express and the martial arts drama Never Back Down, released in 2008, back-to-back. The latter opened in March and Heard played the role of the free-spirited Baja Miller who falls for Sean Faris' Jake Tyler. "I play Baja Miller in the movie and it's a very important role because she serves as a mirror to society; to all those young girls that either you knew or you were. I believe that it's really important to address that. Art should and does imitate life. If we do it in a truthful manner, you'll walk away with a message." The film did well in the box office and raised Heard's profile a great deal. She appeared in numerous magazines and promoted the film internationally.
Heard also made a brief appearance in Showtime's Californication and joined the ensemble cast of The Informers, based on Bret Easton Ellis' novel of the same title, set to be released in 2009. "I hope the audiences have a really difficult time with it. That's why I'm in this industry. I want to challenge people. I want people to think. I don't want people to just zone out and get everything that expected when they walked into the movie. The novel by Bret Easton Ellis I was a big fan of. It's dark and it's real and it's gritty and it's hard to swallow." She also filmed the horror film The Stepfather and the comedy film Ex-Terminators back-to-back in 2008 while promoting Never Back Down, Mandy Lane and Remember the Daze.
In late 2008 she filmed The River Why and The Joneses; two independent features due out later this year. At the beginning of 2009 The Informers made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The reviews were mostly negative. It was also announced in early February that Heard would take part in three new projects. Zombieland, aiming for an October 9, 2009 release where Heard will play the small role of the object of Jesse Eisenberg’s affection who turns into a zombie. She will then appear in John Carpenter's The Ward. "I am especially pleased to be working with Amber because I know she will create a powerful central performance," says Carpenter. In March Heard begins filming The Rum Diary, opposite Johnny Depp, in Puerto Rico. Heard's is reported to have won the role out over Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley. In 2010, she will star in and produce And Soon the Darkness.
She has also been on the cover of Maxim and played Seth Rogen's character's girlfriend in Pineapple Express. She appears in the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel The Informers.
Personal life
Heard was born and raised in Austin, Texas. Her father David is a contractor and her mother Paige is an Internet researcher for the state. As a teenager Heard was active in her school's drama department and appeared in local commercials and campaigns.
At the age of 16 she lost her best friend in a car crash. Heard said of the accident "That was the hardest blow emotionally that I have ever had to endure. Suddenly, you realize tomorrow might not come. Now I live by the motto, 'Today is what I have.'" Heard, who was raised Catholic, now declares herself an atheist. After the death of her friend, Heard met her first serious boyfriend, who introduced her to the writings of Russian-born atheist Ayn Rand. "I've read all of her books," says Heard. "Ever since then, I have been obsessed with her ideals. All I've ever needed is myself." She dropped out of St. Michael's Catholic Academy at the age of 17 she went to New York to start a career in modeling — but she did not enjoy it. "There's no real talent involved in modeling. Acting has substance." She next located to Los Angeles to get into acting.
Career
Once in Los Angeles, Heard made appearances in various TV shows. She was cast as Liz in the pilot episode of The WB's Jack & Bobby (2004), as Riley in an episode of The Mountain (2004) and she had a brief cameo as a salesgirl in The O.C. (2005). Her first movie role was Maria in Friday Night Lights (2004). "When I was on the set, just doing day-playing work, I remember thinking, 'This is what I want to do forever'", she said. "Knowing that with such certainty at 17 was just life-altering." She next starred as Shay in Side FX (2005), an independent horror film, and had supporting roles in Drop Dead Sexy (2005), Price to Pay (2006) and You Are Here (2006). Heard had more prominent parts in Niki Caro's North Country (2005) as young Josey and as Alma in Nick Cassavetes' Alpha Dog (2006). To play the part in the latter film, Heard "tapped into a reckless, naïve teenager. It was difficult to channel but I had to completely disconnect any humane aspects she had. I've known girls like her... You don't have a lot of sympathy for them." In 2006 she starred as Lila in an episode of Criminal Minds.
Heard was next cast in the CW Network's Hidden Palms. On the show she portrayed Greta Matthews, who suffered the losses of both her mother and boyfriend, Eddie, and befriends Johnny, the anti-hero of the show. Heard was immediately drawn to her character: "Greta is complicated. She's like I was when I was a teenager. It's why I relate to her." In order to get the part, Heard was asked to lose weight. It took her four months, daily workouts and a ban on carbohydrates to lose 25 pounds. "At first I said no, but it's about the work. I cared about the project and the character, so I was willing to do it. It's called dedication." Hidden Palms premiered in the US on May 30, 2007. Ultimately, The CW wrapped the summer series early; instead of the initial 12 episode arc, only eight were aired. The show ended on July 4, two weeks prior than originally planned.
She was next cast in the title role in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. The horror film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2006, immediately generating buzz and landing a deal with Harvey Weinstein. However, nearly a year after its Toronto debut, the movie had not reached theaters. In July 2007, Mandy Lane found a new distribution home and the film finally was released in 2008 with a February UK release and DVD release in June.
In 2007, Heard also appeared in the short movie Day 73 with Sarah and Jess Manafort's indie drama Remember the Daze (aka The Beautiful Ordinary), which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June and opened in limited release in April 2008. She then appeared in the Judd Apatow comedy Pineapple Express and the martial arts drama Never Back Down, released in 2008, back-to-back. The latter opened in March and Heard played the role of the free-spirited Baja Miller who falls for Sean Faris' Jake Tyler. "I play Baja Miller in the movie and it's a very important role because she serves as a mirror to society; to all those young girls that either you knew or you were. I believe that it's really important to address that. Art should and does imitate life. If we do it in a truthful manner, you'll walk away with a message." The film did well in the box office and raised Heard's profile a great deal. She appeared in numerous magazines and promoted the film internationally.
Heard also made a brief appearance in Showtime's Californication and joined the ensemble cast of The Informers, based on Bret Easton Ellis' novel of the same title, set to be released in 2009. "I hope the audiences have a really difficult time with it. That's why I'm in this industry. I want to challenge people. I want people to think. I don't want people to just zone out and get everything that expected when they walked into the movie. The novel by Bret Easton Ellis I was a big fan of. It's dark and it's real and it's gritty and it's hard to swallow." She also filmed the horror film The Stepfather and the comedy film Ex-Terminators back-to-back in 2008 while promoting Never Back Down, Mandy Lane and Remember the Daze.
In late 2008 she filmed The River Why and The Joneses; two independent features due out later this year. At the beginning of 2009 The Informers made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The reviews were mostly negative. It was also announced in early February that Heard would take part in three new projects. Zombieland, aiming for an October 9, 2009 release where Heard will play the small role of the object of Jesse Eisenberg’s affection who turns into a zombie. She will then appear in John Carpenter's The Ward. "I am especially pleased to be working with Amber because I know she will create a powerful central performance," says Carpenter. In March Heard begins filming The Rum Diary, opposite Johnny Depp, in Puerto Rico. Heard's is reported to have won the role out over Scarlett Johansson and Keira Knightley. In 2010, she will star in and produce And Soon the Darkness.
Heroes Con 2009
(photo by Matt Knapik)
I spent last weekend in Charlotte, NC at the Heroes Convention. It's always a great time, well-run and just about the friendliest con in the biz, thanks to the awesome staff led by Shelton Drum, Dusty Harbin and Shawn Reynolds. Also, it's a great chance to hang out for a few days with all my awesome comics pals: J Chris Campbell, Duane Ballenger, Josh Latta, Brad Mcginty, Justin Gammon, and so many others! Being a dad and, well, old, I seldom have an opportunity to geek out and drink for three straight days, so the annual weekend in Charlotte fits the bill.
Some memorable and enjoyable stuff from this year:
• Catching a ride to Charlotte from Greensboro with Ben Towle. I've known Ben for years, but, usually seeing him at cons and larger gatherings, I haven't had the chance to speak to him one-on-one for any appreciable length of time. He's just a smart, hilarious and fascinating dude. Next year, maybe I'll offer to drive!
• Having so many folks coming up to talk about hockey in general and the Penguins Stanley Cup win in particular. I wore my Brooks Orpik/#44 Penguins t-shirt on Friday and gave anyone who said "How about those Pens?" or some such one of the little Pens Girl stickers I made up before the show. There were more than a couple folks who remembered the ignominious details of my Stanley Cup bet with Jeffrey Brown last year, so it was nice to be able to take a little more pride in this year's showing. Also, Rachelle of Living Between Wednesdays, a Nova Scotia native like Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, surprised me with the front and sports pages of the Halifax Chronicle Herald from the day after Game Seven. A rare treat!
• MAN-DAR! We hosted a screening in our hotel room of Brad Mcginty's new animated sword-and-sorcery spoof on Friday night, and it was almost-pee-your-pants hilarious. The twenty or so folks we had crammed into our room were cracking up so loudly that the staff had to come up and yell at us. Even cooler, we used a projector to screen it on the massive window shade, creating an 11th floor show for those outside as well. Wish I had a photo of that!
• I scored some great con deals...the first volumes of both the MAD Archives (which DC put out a few years back) and Kurtzman's Two-Fisted Tales...for ten bucks each! Retail on each of them is $50...that's the find of the show right there. I also picked up the New Frontier Martian Manhunter figure for $3, and managed to talk a guy down to less than half price on the Jim Aparo Batman: Black and White statue. Aparo's Batman was the one I grew up with, and they did a great job on this supremely geeky item.
• The last several years, I've gotten up a little bit early and gone for a several-mile run down past the Panthers' stadium on Saturday morning. It's a great way to clear the head before the biggest day of the show, and it makes consuming nothing but crap food and alcohol for three consecutive days feel a lot less dangerous.
On the not so good side, there was the fact that I had so few books to sell...well, so few expensive books to sell. I had a preview of the new Atom-Bomb Bikini book on the table, and a lot of folks took a gander...I woulda sold a shit-ton of 'em if I'd had them there. Ah well, there's always next year. My other books all seemed to do fine, including my new mini-comic collection of the Traffic & Weather strips from Richmond Magazine, and (to my surprise) the super-gay Atom-Bomb Banana Hammock, which lots of people really got a kick out of and really seemed to genuinely enjoy. It was awesome.
I did a lot of sketches for folks as well, and though my on-the-fly chops aren't in the neighborhood of some of my peers, I do feel like my con sketches have gotten a lot stronger in the last couple years. I didn't bring a camera (it went to Aunt Sandra's lake house with mom and Evie), so I didn't get photos of any of 'em, but maybe they'll end up on Comic Art Fans or somewheres.
Alas, not having any photos to talk about probably also means that's about all there is to tell...In fact, I had to steal the one of J. Chris Campbell, Dollar-Binner Brian Eison and myself at the top of this post from Heroes' Flickr stream! I promise to take tons of 'em in San Diego next month, where JCC and I are headed next!
Auburn
Got some thought on Heroes Con I plan to post eventually, but for the moment, have a look at this commission I did for Kevin M. of his girlfriend Nicole in Auburn Tigers garb, which he gave her for her birthday. I seldom get to see where my work ends up once I send it off, so this is a real treat! Thanks, you guys!
Christushafen
Porto Cristo („Christushafen“), auch Port de Manacor oder Es Port genannt, ist ein vom Tourismus geprägter Ort auf der spanischen Baleareninsel Mallorca etwa 70 km von Palma de Mallorca entfernt. Er liegt an der Ostküste der Insel in der Region (Comarca) Llevant.
Bikini - Albenga
Albenga ist ein Ort in der Provinz Savona in Ligurien mit den Nachbargemeinden sind Alassio, Arnasco, Ceriale, Cisano sul Neva, Ortovero und Villanova d'Albenga.
Bikini - Propriano
Korsika (Kors. Corsica, Frz. Corse) ist eine Insel im Mittelmeer und eine Region Frankreichs. Sie liegt westlich von Italien, auf der Höhe der Abruzzen, nördlich der italienischen Insel Sardinien und südöstlich des Mutterlandes. Nach Sizilien, Sardinien und Zypern ist Korsika die viertgrößte Mittelmeerinsel.
Propriano (Korsisch Prupià) ist eine kleine Hafenstadt auf der Mittelmeerinsel Korsika und liegt an der südlichen Westküste zwischen der Hauptstadt Ajaccio und Bonifacio. Das französische Département Haute-Corse liegt im Norden der Mittelmeerinsel Korsika und wird in der alphabetischen Reihenfolge der Departements als Nr. 20b bezeichnet
Bar Rafaeli is on the cover of Swimsuit
More Sexy, Bar Rafaeli is on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit
A new collection Bikini 2009
There is a new collection of women's swimsuit in the summer boutigue Chez Parisienne in the Paris street.