YOU SURE CAN SEE PLENTY FROM UP HERE...

I love this cartoon by Bill Ward. I saw it and had to swipe it from rhade-zapan's tumblr.


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

THE TROPIC OF CANCER IS NOT A DISEASE

I have been trying to track down a copy of Henry Miller's The Tropic of Cancer.  I do have a copy on order, but the other day, on a whim, I ducked into one of two used bookstores that the small town in which I live boasts. (And they don't really boast about it at all. Most people's reaction is: "Why do we need two used book stores?" We have five pubs and three pet stores but the consensus is that two used bookstores is too much).


The very nice lady minding the store asked if she could help me. "I'm looking for a copy of The Tropic of Cancer." I said. The woman gave me a funny look. "By Henry Miller?" I added.


She sighed and nodded. "The section is over here," she said. I followed her as she led me to a corner of the store. "We have a wide selection," she said with a sympathetic tone. "Which is good. Sadly, too many people need them these days."

Okay. Henry Miller's novel, written in the early 1930's, (and banned in the USA and Britain) is centered in France and concerns Miller's life as a struggling writer. So why was I standing in front of a very large and prodigiously stocked section on Health and Wellness?


Confused (but suddenly suspecting the misunderstanding) I was about to say something when the owner, another pleasant woman, came up and asked if she could be of help. "This fellow is looking for books about cancer," the first woman said.


The owner gave me a look of deepest sadness and sympathy.


I shook my head. "No, no no. I'm looking for a book called The Tropic of Cancer. It's not about cancer, it's just... that's the title. It's by Henry Miller."


"Oh," the owner said, suddenly understanding. "That would be in our classics section," she said, pointing to a much smaller section of shelves. With that, both women seemed to vanish as they went back to what they were doing, leaving me on my own.


The "classics" section had a collection of older looking books, arranged alphabetically but in a desultory fashion. I found the M's. They had Moliere and they had Milton and they had Lucy Maude Montgomery, but no Miller.


As I was walking out the door the owner called from the back; "Any luck?"


I shook my head. She shrugged and gave me a sympathetic (though not as sympathetic as when she thought I was dealing with cancer) look. "No? Sorry."


Maybe tomorrow I'll try the other used bookstore. I am not hopeful.


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARLAN ELLISON!

I first posted this two years ago. I am reposting it again just 'cus it's Harlan's birthday and I got nothin' else goin' on.
_____________________________________


I have mentioned before about meeting Harlan Ellison. As today is his birthday I thought it would be appropriate to cobble together my memories of that evening. So here it is:

IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY...

...that Harlan Ellison came to Vancouver to speak. It was in late May and close to Mister Ellison's birthday. My friend Leonard Wong was organizing the event and we came up with the idea to throw a bit of a birthday celebration for Harlan.

I was the host of a weekly sf radio show called The Ether Patrol and we were publicizing the event. We booked a local Thai Restaurant and invited many of the local authors to come by. Unfortunately few were able to show up. Most of the guests were staffers of the show. Comic artist George Metzger and his son were in attendance as well as Harlan's former secretary and her husband Wes who had moved to the Pacific Northwest.

Harlan and Susan arrived and Harlan, in one of the classiest moves I have ever seen, took what could have been an awkward situation (a birthday party thrown by people that you don't even know) and turned it completely around. He made a point of meeting all the guests and hosts, putting everybody at complete ease.

The dinner went really well other than an incident where the co-host of the show, Kyle Kirkwood, tried to take Harlan's picture.

After the dinner we walked to the Vancouver Art Gallery where the talk was to take place and I took the opportunity to chat with Harlan. I can't remember what we talked about but I do remember it being a very pleasant conversation. As we approached the Art Gallery Harlan didn't see any people. He kept shaking his head and saying "You're gonna lose money on this," to Leonard. He didn't have to worry. The audience was already inside and waiting to get into the specific room in which he was going to speak.

I had the privilege of introducing Harlan to the audience. I was nervous but it went well other than getting a few facts wrong, which Harlan corrected by shouting them up at me. That done Harlan took the stage and enthralled us for the better part of two hours followed by an exhaustive autograph session.

After it was all over I walked partway to the hotel with Harlan and Susan. He pointed to me and said "You're weird". I wasn't quite sure how he meant it but I decided to take it as a complement. Just before we parted he saw a penny on the ground. "You know what my wife says? If you pick up a penny and put it in your pocket, then all day long you will have a penny in your pocket," Harlan was too wiped out to pick up the penny (he was suffering from chronic fatigue) so I picked up the penny.

"Here, Harlan," I handed it to him. "Have a penny in your pocket."

People have said that Harlan Ellison is acerbic at best, outright rude at worst, but that evening (and the week before when I spoke to him on the phone for about an hour) I found him to be charming, engaging and every inch the gentleman.

He is a class act and it is an evening that I remember with a great deal of fondness.

(By the way: these are NOT my pictures. The pictures from that evening are not in my possession. But this is basically how he looked back then.)

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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

VANISHING GIRL

By the Dukes of the Stratosphere (a.k.a: XTC)


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

LOVE HURTS

...and it`s also kind of annoying.


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

THE RAVEN

The Raven, far from being an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's immortal poem (nor a remake of the 1963 Roger Corman movie), is one of those movies of a particular genre of which I am quite fond. That is, a movie about a famous author being dragged into an adventure that is just like those that he or she writes about.

Not a biography at all, these films are adventures in their own rights but usually contain many literary allusions. Wim Wenders' 1983 film Hammet, starring Frederick Forrest as author Dashiel Hammet who gets involved in a Hammet-like hardboiled mystery, is one of the best examples. Another is Steven Soderbergh's 1991 Kafka in which Jeremy Irons plays the author Franz Kafka as he gets involved in a mystery that is... well... kafka-esque.

In The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe, played with a manic intensity by John Cusak, is drawn into a mystery that has overtones of Poe's own writing. Someone is literally recreating murder scenes from Poe's stories.


The film opens with a recreation of the murder scene from Murders in the Rue Morgue. Anyone who is vaguely familiar with the story can see it right away. Unfortunately the police in Baltimore are clueless except for Detective Fields (played by Luke Evans) who has read a book or two. He calls Poe in, at first as a suspect, then later to consult on the case.

What is the case? In a nutshell a deranged serial killer is racking up a body count all the while orchestrating the murders to resemble Poe's stories and poems. As a turn-of-the-century serial killer movie The Raven hits all the familiar notes: taunting messages to the police from the killer, a living hostage (in this case Emily, Poe's fiancee) whose life hangs in the balance, cryptic clues placed on the victim's bodies which tip the erstwhile investigators to the location of the next murder (where they arrive just slightly too late, of course). Time is running out for poor Emily and the detectives become more desperate as the movie progresses.


As a serial killer movie there is little here that is new, other than the inclusion of Edgar Allan Poe. Cusack plays Poe with a manic intensity and anger that seems more like a 19th century Harlan Ellison rather than the sedate and gloomy author that most would have expected to see. I'm not sure if I buy Poe as action hero, but then again, this is Hollywood.

Luke Evans is rather stiff as Detective Fields and Alice Eve plays Poe's love interest with a predictably modern sensibility, only falling into 19th century stereotypical behaviour when the plot calls for it.

The movie is kind of fun if one doesn't take it too seriously. The allusions to Poe's work are interesting, if  not overly clever. Nor is it entirely historically accurate. One of the victims, Griswald, was a real-life critic and rival who actually survived Poe and wrote some nasty stuff about him after his death. The film takes its revenge on Griswald in a particularly nauseating scene where the critic is very messily eviscerated by a giant pendulum (I saw that one coming) lovingly rendered using make-up and CGI. Not for the squeamish. I was only thankful that the film was NOT in 3D.

The film is visually arresting, particularly the opening a closing sequences which take historical fact and stitch it together with the movie's plot to try to explain the mysterious circumstances surrounding the final days of Poe's life. The cinematography is well done and the whole atmosphere of 19th century Baltimore is rendered well.


I do not know if the film is still in theaters, so even were I to recommend it (which I do, just) you could try to hunt it out, or wait until its arrival on DVD. It would certainly be worth the rental.

Or you could just go read some Poe. Hunt up a copy of Tales of Mystery and Imagination from the library or bookstore or Amazon.com and read for a change and stop being illiterate cretins!


Kidding... just kidding. Love you all, you know that.




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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

QUEEN VICTORIA WAS A BABE

The Young Queen Victoria by  Franz Xavier Winterhalter

Queen Victoria was the hottest thing going when she became the monarch of Great Britain at the age of 18 in 1837. Well, maybe not by today's internet standards, but by the standards of the day she was the most desirable woman in England. She had beautiful doe eyes and a pointed nose, compact cherry lips and a gentle chin. She suffered a gloomy childhood, she was melancholy and pale as milk and a tiny little thing but she was in charge of the mightiest empire the world had ever seen.

``Why Mister Jackson, that is a rather naughty proposal! Let me dismiss the servants and we will explore it further!``

In three years she must have had many suitors. I'm certain I would have taken a run at her if I'd been in the sceptere'd Isle at that time (I was sailing with pirates in the West Indies at the time and we had a very busy schedule). In 1840 she married her first cousin from Germany, Albert.

Well, Babe, you had your chance. If only you`d been willing to wait for your Pirate King to come ashore you wouldn`t have had to settle for your German first cousin.

They had a passel of kids and ruled the empire together until Albert died and the now grey-haired and plump monarch who was "not amused" that most people know her as, went into mourning and never came out of it, despite occasional dalliances with her Scottish manservant, John Brown.


She died in 1901 but it is her birthdate that is celebrated in May here in Canada with a long weekend.


So here I am in the middle of this long weekend. I spent yesterday cleaning out the garage, an odious enough task that had to be done. The result of which is that I was sore and very stiff the next day.

Why do I mention that? Because the next day I had to do a rather large pen-and-ink on paper portrait that I had been commissioned to do. So there I was pacing back and forth in front of this large sheet of paper, putting down careful lines and strokes, all the while my muscles were screaming in agony. And it is a portrait, so I have to be very careful because it has sort of has to resemble the subject (who I have met casually, but don't really know) from two little photographs.


It is one of two portraits that I am working on at the moment. The other has a deadline that I am not going to make, which is adding to my stress.


So this weekend my attention to things has been kind of fractured. I have avoided being online (except for a few emails that were very important) and I could not seem to finish a single thought.


I also took a break to try to see the annular eclipse on Sunday afternoon. Alas the only thing eclipsing the sun in my part of the world was rain clouds. I hope other parts of the world had a better view than I did.

``Oh, yeah, baby. Give me that backwards glance again. You know it drives me wild!

Now, it is because the beautiful Victoria had the foresight to be born on this day, that I am now going to enjoy a whole and complete third day of the weekend. What will I do this day? I do not know. Sleeping is certainly desirable. Perhaps the review of the movie The Raven, which I saw on Thursday, that I have been wanting to get to.


Or maybe I'll just sit around. I do not know. Either way, thank you Victoria, for being born on this day and giving me an extra day to recover from my exertions.

Big kiss, Vicky. Love ya!






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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

GROUCHO

I picked this up at a garage sale a couple of weekends back. It was originally a Christmas ornament but now it sits on my CPU reminding me every day (like I need reminding) not to take life too seriously.


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

BRITISH COLUMBIA'S GOVERNMENT KNOWS WHAT'S UP

I'm so glad I live in a country and a province that really cares about the welfare of its citizens.


The British Columbia Emergency Preparedness website has a page dedicated to surviving the Zombie Apocalypse. On it you can find such common sense tips as:

• Tip #1: Ensure your gas tank is always half full.
• Tip #2: Have emergency kits for your home, office and car.

The rest of Canada might think we're crazy, but us BC'ers know better. Stay alert. Stay safe!


You can find out how British Columbia is preparing its citizens for the Zombie Apocalypse here.


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

LISTEN TO THE LADY IN THE LAKE

This song has been spooling continuously in my head all day.


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

SIMPLE PIN-UP

All I've managed to do today. Too much running around throughout the day and the evening is too hot.


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

WESTERN WONDER

Kind of a silly drawin', for all you comic book cowpokes out there!


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

THE AVENGERS MOVIE: A SLIGHTLY SPOILERY REVIEW

Honestly, I can't say anything about the film any better than anyone else has said. Nor can I revert to supurlatives to describe how good it is, as many others have done ("Awesome" being the descriptor of choice)

Instead I will merely touch on some of the things that stand out about it for me (and mention a few quibbles).

As others have pointed out Mark Ruffalo makes Bruce Banner interesting and compelling. He's a quiet, calm guy who gets across the idea that he is holding back a beast for the first half of the film without showing the actual transformation. That's the mark of a great actor.


It's was also clever storytelling: having everyone talk about the Hulk (even showing Black Widow afraid of Banner) before showing the transformation.

The Hulk himself is brought to life by Ruffalo (through motion capture) and a great swollen team of effects guys. Nevertheless, the Hulk is believable and even likable.

The Hulk in 3D. 'nuff said.

Chris Evans is plays Captain America as the straight-arrow he is but still makes him interesting. Same goes for Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Great stuff.

Robert Downy Junior as Tony Stark can do no wrong.

Scarlett Johannson gives Black Widow depth and a guarded vulnerability. She also has a fabulous ass.

Scarlett Johannson's ass in 3D. "nuff said.

Jeremy Renner is great, but his transition from Loki-controlled bad guy to being accepted back into the team happened way too fast and with hardly any angst or second-guessing. Weak.

Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill. She's hot, she's from my hometown of Vancouver and she kicks ass like nobody's business. I look forward to seeing more of her, either in The Avengers 2 (or as Wonder Woman if Joss Whedon could work that out).

Nick Fury jumping out of the crashing helicopter? Uh-uh. Nope. I know Samuel L Jackson is a badass but I would believe Captain America or Thor doing that, but not Nick Fury.

Agent Coulson. At the end of the day, he was part of the team.

Loved all the Joss Whedon touches. No one writes or directs an ensemble like Whedon. His dialogue is crisp and snappy and never devolves into cliched non-sequitors. The through line of the story never gets lost.

My favourite line: "That's my secret. I'm always angry." Means nothing out of context but in the context of the story it is amazing.

The triumph of this film, despite the great actors and the visual eye candy, rests with the script. Why is The Avengers so good? Because it is so well written. The balance, the characters, the interplay -- they were all there in the script before all the green screen and the CGI. Great filmmaking starts with great scriptwriting.

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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

THE AVENGERS

My daughter and I just go back from seeing this tonight.


Without spoiling anything I can tell you that a lot of stuff gets broken.


I'll have a longer review later.


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

BLOGGER ATE MY BLOG!

I lost access to my blog. Apparently some "suspicious activity" caused blogger to lock me out of my own blog. Personally I think the "suspicious activity" was blogger wanting me to give them my cell phone number in order to increase the security of my blog.


Perhaps there was "suspicious activity". Perhaps it was all for my own good. Maybe Google has my best interest at heart.


Bullshit! They wanted my cell number so they could try to sell me shit over my phone.


So I gave them my land line number because I don't have a cell phone.


The end result: Several of the comments I made to other blogs disappeared this morning. Oh yeah, and it PISSED ME OFF!


So when Google demands your cell phone number, buy a burner phone. When they text you your verification, chuck the phone and continue blogging.






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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

SPACE MAIDEN

Unobscured version here.


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

SPACEGIRL

Found this picture that I had not finished and decided to finish it.


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio

SIREN

Okay. Slowing down a little bit. This one took me closer to two hours.


I've been looking at a lot of Frank Kelly Freas' art. Kinda shows, doesn't it?


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?
www.mdjacksonart.weebly.com
http://mdjackson.deviantart.com
http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/mdjacksons%5Fportfolio