S K Y L A R K I N G: 2009

Sunday, December 6, 2009

The end of the world as we know it?

Marc Sheppard at the website American Thinker has said:

"Tomorrow, over 20,000 delegates from 193 nations will gather in Copenhagen to craft an agreement which would not only force American power consumption to levels equal to those of about 1910, but would also have us pay reparations for an imaginary “climate debt” we’ve accumulated by building the world’s greatest economy of all time. That debt is based on the amount of CO2 our financial growth has purportedly pumped into the atmosphere, which, according to the conclusions of the IPCC, based largely upon reports from the CRU, has selfishly imperiled the planet by inducing climate change.

Of course, asking Americans to pay reparations based on the claim they’ve done harm to other nations by spoiling the climate is like asking me to pay damages to my neighbor based on his claim that he can’t sell his house because my great-grandmother’s ghost is haunting it"

If the accord is signed at Copenhagen the world will be re-ordered to suit the United Nations, one of the most inneffectual and corrupt organization that exist in the 21st century. The sovereignty of the United States and, as a result, that of Canada will be suborned to the will of that organization.

The UN is not an elected body. Populations have no control over appointees to the U.N., but they will have been given authority over sovereign nations and will have the right to dictate the terms under which those nations are allowed to develop.

Who stands to gain by this? Certainly not you or I. In BC we are already subject to a Carbon Tax. Soon we will find that the price for basics - food - will skyrocket.

Amarica and Canada are currently free countries with democratically elected leadership. I fear that if the Copenhagen deal goes through, that will end.

I hope I am wrong. I fear I am right.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

David Suzuki is full of shit

The news broke this past weekend that the IPCC has been using fudged and manipulated data to make the case for Anthropogenic Global Warming. It has also been further revealed that the key scientists involved have used strongarm tactics to discredit and ruin the careers of anyone who disagrees with them.

I would expect Al Gore not to know the difference between good and bad science, or not to care as long as it makes him rich, but these key scientists knew the difference and went ahead anyway. As a result they received millions in funding from the UN.

I have never believed in the validity of man-made Global Warming and for that I have been a heretic. Now my position on the issue has been validated. The leaked documents that implicate the scientists is a smoking gun that proves that I am not a crackpot nor in the pay of the big oil companies (Hah! I wish!).

For more on what should be headline news, but is being ignored by the mainstream media, I recommend starting at James P. Hogan's excellent website http://www.jamesphogan.com/. It is an excellent place to get acquainted with all sorts of heretical science.

Until then, keep idling your vehicles. Greenhouse gasses are the only thing that will save us from the forthcoming ice age.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A Princess of Mars: The (cheezy low budget version) Movie!

Hey! Why wait for Pixar! Check it out now! Asylum Studios, Traci Lords and Antonio Sabato Jr. have done it first!

I wish I were joking. God help us all, indeed.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

Friday, October 30, 2009

We're all Ed Wood Now

Mr. Door Tree on his excellent blog Golden Age Comic Book Stories recently posted a number of photos celebrating the low-budget filmmaker Ed Wood Jr. The post got me to thinking.

Ed Wood made films in Hollywood completely outside the studio system which, at that time, was the only way that most movies ever got made. Wood made movies because he loved the cinema. Sure, he made what has been rightly called "the worst movie ever made", Plan 9 from Outer Space, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that Ed Wood did what he loved to do, on his own, completely outside of the massive studio system of Hollywood. Wood was a maverick and a visionary. He was no Orson Welles, but I would wager that over the years more people have likely seen Plan 9 from Outer Space than have seen Citizen Kane or The Magnificent Ambersons.

Today independent producers are a dime a dozen in Hollywood, but Ed Wood's spirit lives on in the rest of the world. All of us who create something and post it on the internet just because we love to do it, are just like Ed Wood. Anyone who creates a comedy sketch or a music video because they love to do it, and posts the results of their efforts on Youtube, is Ed Wood.

Anyone who makes a fan film of their favorite show or movie and makes them available for download or other methods of distribution, is Ed Wood.

Anyone who creates a comic book or a magazine sheerly for the love of doing it and puts it out there, either with mimeographed copies, or publishing through Lulu, is Ed Wood.

Anyone who starts a blog because they love to write is Ed Wood.

Anyone who does what they love to do, with little or no expectation of remuneration, and puts the results out there either via the web or local cable channel, or photocopies that they sell on the street is Ed Wood.

I'm not saying that these projects are bad. Some are bad. Some are good. Some are excellent and some are better than the "professional" projects. The quality doesn't really matter.

What really matters is that we are doing something that we love to do. We put our attention and care into the project because we love it., whether it be movies or books or comics or art. When we do this we are Ed Wood.

You know, Wood's movies are terrible, but they have stood the test of time in a way that neither Ed Wood himself or anyone else could possibly have foreseen.

Any of us who does what we do should be as lucky as Ed Wood.

I've been here and there. I've drawn a lot of pictures. I've written a bit, too. I'm not good at this self-promotion thing. Look, you want to know about me? just visit these websites. Okay?
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

Friday, September 18, 2009

GEEK OUT FRIDAY: TREK LOVE

It doesn't get much geekier than this.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Bizzare Creature Found In North Carolina Sewer

Some say it's a colony of tubifex worms, but I'm not convinced. It looks pretty... eldritch... to me.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

BORIS!

I made a lucky find last week. I had no idea that this book even existed.

Back in 1978 I loved Boris paintings. I have become less enamored of them over the years but this collection from Maryland's Anaconda Press really reminded me of what it was that I found exciting about the fantasy illustrator all those years ago. Here are a few random pages.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Jack Vettriano

Pretty much everyone has seen a Jack Vettriano or two in their time. You can't go into a poster shop or a mid-level restaurant without seeing one of his prints. You know the ones of men in tuxedos dancing with ladies in evening gowns on an endless beach?

Here's a few that you won't likely see hanging on the walls of your dentist's office. They have a very "noir" sensibility and a raw sensuality that would not be out of place on the cover of an old crime or spicy pulp magazine.

Friday, September 11, 2009

GEEK OUT FRIDAY: Addendum

A brief history of Star Trek title logos.

Seriously.

Video put together by Thorsten Wulff

GEEK OUT FRIDAY: DOCTOR WHO FAN FILMS

My friend Frank Garcia, author of the amazing Science Fiction Television Series: 1959-1989 and Science Fiction Television Series: 1990 - 2004, pointed out a new Doctor Who fan film made by british fans. The film looks almost professional. You can check out their website.

I have dubious feelings about fan films despite having directed a Doctor Who fan film years ago (I'll blog about it one day. The wounds are still too raw.)

This, however, has to be my absolute favourite Doctor Who fan film.

Dalek invaders 2008ad

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

PULP!

I do not have what you would call a prodigious pulp collection, but the ones that I do have I love dearly.

There is something about an old pulp magazine that I find irresistibly alluring. I keep them in plastic bags and try not to open them too often as it distresses and already distressed publication. There is something about the smell of the old pulp -- that musty, almost vinegary smell -- that heightens my sense of anticipation.

This one is one of my favourites. I’ve loved Doc Savage since discovering the Bantam paperbacks when I was thirteen. To find an original from 1938 was a real thrill and this is one of the ones that I possess that is in such good condition.

The artists for the interior and the cover are unidentified, although the interior illustrations are likely by Paul Orban. The cover artist may well be Walter Baumhofer, although I can’t be 100 percent certain.

If anyone knows for sure please let me know.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

DISNEY BUYS MARVEL

It happened yesterday. Check out the Dark Worlds Magazine blog if you don't believe me.

What will it mean? Spiderman will show up in the Disney Christmas Parade. The Jonas Brothers will have a song on the Wolverine 2 soundtrack. The theme song for Iron Man 2 will be sung by Hannah Montana. The saturday morning cartoons based on Marvel characters will get better animation. Other than that it will be business as usual.

That and my daughter, who owns shares in Disney, just got richer. She now owns a piece of the Marvel Pie. Cha ching!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

MATTHEW STAWICKI

As with Glen Orbik this is an artist whose work I have seen on the cover of many books but I did not know who he was. Matthew Stawicki started out working traditional medium in 1992 but in the last few years switched to digital painting.

What I like about his work is the very lush "painterly" look that his pieces have. I like digital work that doesn't look "digital" and these very definitely don't look digital. His paintings remind me (in a good way) of some of Tim Hildebrandt's work

You can see more of his artwork on his website at http://www.mattstawicki.com/index.html