I was itching to paint something the other day and decided to paint a couple of my vending machine toys.
It was so much fun painting these little guys I decided to dig out all the toys I’ve ever gotten from a vending machine and paint them. I had given a bunch to my kids so I had to dig through their toy box and try to find them all. So for the next several months I’ll be sharing with you my paintings and notes about the toys!
Now for something different. This past Saturday I completed the Texas Coast Tough Mudder challenge. My wife, dad, brother, and 2 cousins and a boyfriend all did it with me; and it was my dad’s 62st birthday. It was 12 miles of running with 28 or so obstacles thrown in as well. Anything from climbing walls to walking in the mud for a mile to getting shocked with electricity. I’m super-proud of my team so I wanted to share this with you guys!
We had just finshed the last obstacle (Electric shocking) and were about to run across the finish line…
Christmas this year was great and we had a lot of fun. I thought I would share with you a few of the gifts I got that were extra cool and retro themed:
1. Pogo Mug- When we were kids my brother and I watched a Pogo movie that was claymation and so much fun. I actually paused the movie and took pictures of the TV screen and put the pictures in my scrapbook.
2. Michael Jackson Card set- Michael Jackson is an amazing artist and my brother and I were both fans growing up. We all wanted to wear a Thriller jacket and parachute pants. Ah, the good old days!
3. LEGO mug- This isn’t really retro but LEGOs are awesome and we played with them a lot growing up. Isn’t this the coolest mug? It’s even got my name on it!
I’ve seen several 80′s movies recently that feature characters in the movie drinking TAB. I can’t remember the last time I even had TAB, if in fact I ever did. I just remember it from my childhood for some reason and then they said it caused cancer and that was that. But I guess the causing cancer bit is up for debate because you can still find TAB in the stores and even in my tiny little town they have TAB. So after seeing it on the shelves for the past four years I decided to give it a try and see what it’s all about…
So what’s it all about? Well, I can’t say…to me it tasted like an over-carbaronated, flat Diet Coke. Not very good and not very impressive. And so my little experiment ends, not with a bang but with a fizzle. Haha-that was pretty clever, right? I just thought of that…
My writer-friend Felicty Lennie just posted her 2012 Challenges on her blog and we chatted a bit about it and I decided I would post mine too. It will be fun to keep an eye on each other and see what happens in the new year. Any of you readers are welcome to join us, the more the merrier! We can support each other and even feed off of each other’s ideas!
So here is what I have planned for the new year:
1. Finish 2 graphic novels – one is almost done so it’s kinda cheating but whatever it’s my list
2. Delve deeper into my faith, have a firmer conviction of what I believe and be a better disciple of Jesus.
3. Take the kids camping-I’ve been waiting for Rylan to get a little older and now seems about right. The last couple times I’ve gone camping I’ve gone by myself and I pack lite and simple. I usually just sleep in the car. So to take kids with me will be a lesson in slowing down; and packing a tent and enough food and water. Last time I didn’t have enough water and got bad cramps from hiking 8 hours straight.
4. Table at a Convention- Its been years since I’ve tabled at a convention and it wasn’t a very good time mainly due to the person I was with. I did get to see San Deigo (twice) and San Francisco so I can’t complain. But I’d like to try it again.
5. Take the Kids Hiking- We’ve taken our kids to a lot of places over the years but never have we been officially hiking. When we lived in Austin I hiked all the time but where we live now there is not any decent hiking within an hour and half to three hour drive and sometimes it’s just not worth a whole day just to hike for a couple hours. But this year I want to do some hiking, it’s in my blood and I need it…need it!
So after that list I went a step further and started my Life Challenges or Bucket List:
1. Travel- I love to travel, almost as much as I love to create art. I’ve been lucky enough to have gotten to travel quite a bit the past 6 years or so and one of my plans as an adult has been to take a major trip once a year. Thankfully my job has sent me to conferences each year so Ive seen a fair bit of the south. There is so much to see in this world and I want to see it all. My dream would be to take a trip once a month! And one of my all-time favorite things to do is make a travel journal of my trip- I get to combine traveling with art and it’s wonderful!
2. Take My Parents on a Trip – This is something I’ve wanted to do for years and years. To take my parents on a dream trip to thank them for being such great parents. Hopefully one day I will have enough money to do just that.
3. Write a Novel
4. Travel by Train
5. Snow Sledding- I grew up in Indiana and fondly remember playing in the snow. Saddly in South Texas we don’t get that very often. I would love to have a couple days to play in the snow.
6. Be on TV or in a Movie – not really important to me or something I really want, just think it’d be fun. Probably shouldn’t even be on this list…
7. Have Someone Fly Me Out to Meet Them- When I was in college I had several classmates who were flown out to various parts of the country for big-time interviews and I always thought how cool that must be. So my dream would be some big-time publisher flying me out to meet them and being wined and dined; preferably in a foreign country, like Japan!
8. Own a Muscle Car- I’ve always wanted a sweet ride, maybe one day…
9. Drive a Motorcycle- My wife is adamantly against this. She used to work next to a doctor who made prosthetics and 90% of his customers were motorcycle accident victims so that scared her, plus we have two kids who really like the Daddy to be healthy and whole. 
But it kinda sucks cause my brother just got into riding bikes and he has two sweet ones.
10. Drive a car into a Lake- Not mine of course. Not sure why this popped into my head but I’ve always wanted to see what it’s like. Too many action movies I guess…
11. Scuba Diving- Always wanted to do this but in South Texas there is not many places I would want to Scuba. Plus I’m usually broke and don’t have the money to learn and go Scuba diving. But one day…
12. Kayaking- One thing I can do here where I live is go kayaking. I’ve been meaning to for the past 4 years but just haven’t had the time. So now it’s on the list.
So these are the physical and somewhat selfish challenges. On a real and person note I want to be a positive role model to whoever may be watching me and therefore have a positive impact on someone or something and to be a good example of God’s love- no, make that a great example.
One of the things I like to do as a cartoonist/artist and father is keep an art journal of my kids. I document all the sweet, weird, crazy and sad things that they say and do. It’s really fun to look back after a year and see the things you had forgotten (or not forgotten) and to laugh and cry all over again. It’s also very sweet to share these drawing, sketches and writings with my daughter who laughs as much as I do when she sees some of things she’s done or said.
So I thought I would share one with you guys. This comic I sketched up but then went ahead and inked it up and colored it in the computer and then printed it out and pasted it back in my journal.
Jason over at Rediscover the ’80s did a very nice and extensive post about my retro art!
Click here to read the article and view the art!
Thanks so much Jason!!!
I watched Better Off Dead last night for the first time. It’s a pretty fun, quirky movie. I did notice a few things in the film I thought I’d share with you:
First up is a scene with a He-Man toy in it (Talonfighter). I haven’t seen this toy in ages so it was pretty cool to see it here. It’s on the bottom shelf:
There are several scenes with someone drinking TAB in it so I picked one to show. You can still get TAB today but I haven’t had any in over 20 years. I think the next time I go to the store I may get one.
A few scenes from Christmas:
Secret Wars toy:
Twiki from Buck Rogers:
A Monchichi:
I really enjoy watching movies from the 80s; most of the time they’re pretty fun and have a real sense of optimism and can-do attitude that I particularly like. But even more fun is all the little things I notice in the background. A lot of movies back then didn’t worry about product placement or getting sued and you can see popular toys and posters in the kids rooms. It’s always a treat when I spot something I had as a kid or knew about. For instance in Poltergeist, the kid can be seen playing with Star Wars toys.
I’ve seen several 80s movies recently and I have noticed some pretty neat things in the backgrounds of some of them and I thought I would share them with you guys.
First up is the movie Explorers:
This is a fun movie about some kids that make a spaceship out of junk parts and an old amusement park ride. I have always like the design of the ship. The ending of the movie is kinda lame but the first 3/4 of the movie is pretty cool.
In the opening scene the main character has a dream and wakes up and goes to a table and starts to draw what he dreamt; on the table you can see a Robo Force comic, A Scrooge McDuck comic, a Marvel comic and some Space Camp stickers:
Our next movie is Chopping Mall:
I also like watching 80s movies that take place in a mall or have scenes in a mall. It’s neat to see what malls used to look like and what kind of stores they had back then.
In this scene, the main characters are running from some security robots gone rogue and they hide out in a storage room. On the self you can see a GiJoe Dragonfly box. Not sure why it’s in the storage room and why it’s the only toy there but it was neat to see it there:
And lastly is the movie Zapped:
In this flick a young guy gets the power to move things with his mind. It’s a pretty fun high school movie with some really well done special effects. In one scene the boy moves a model around his room with his mind. As you can see the model is half Star Trek and half Star Wars (Millenium Falcon)
Well, that’s all for now, I’m sure I’ll find some more to share with you in the future!
I wanted to share with you all one of my favorite candies.
I get a bag of these during the Halloween season at the dollar store for $1. Each of the little boxes has two candy sticks in them, like the candy cigarettes they make. I like the art on the boxes and the variety of characters they have. For the past several years it’s either been Hanna Barbera or X-Men. I don’t know, there’s something neat about getting candy in a little box. Only bad side, it seems like a large waste of resources to make a little box for two candy sticks. I need to find something neat to do with the empty boxes…
Another interesting thing is the writing is in English and French. Where I live it’s almost always English and Spanish so it’s refreshing to see something besides that. Candy sticks in French is Batonnets de Bonbon -makes it sound gourmet, yes?
