Michael Jackson doll

Now that he's dead, I guess everybody loves Michael Jackson. You know it's true. A car pulls up --- you hear Mike. Sideshow Collectibles is putting out a doll. A very expensive doll. The 12" Michael Jackson Thriller doll costs $189. He comes with 32-points of articulation, two heads (one Thriller, one un-Thriller MJ when he was cute and still black --- the face is gorgeous), five interchangeable sets of hands + one for various poses (crotch grabbing looks possible). Sideshow Collectibles has always put out some incredible work and this doll (not action figure) is no exception. I remember proudly wearing my Michael Jackson button (Thriller album, posed, white suit) to 8th grade math class and one of my friends politely told me, "Michael Jackson --- is out." I didn't know. I thought I was being cool for once. I was so embarrassed that it was put away before math class ended. But, other children normally find a way to crush your spirit. Mike is going to be here for awhile. Especially now that he's cool again. And, he might as well line up next to Marilyn Monroe and Elvis and have his place in history, too.

In Case Your Forgot ...

While people are sitting around making decisions about what rights we, as lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer folks, should and should not have, they need to remember that we are still people, too. Can you believe that straight people in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area are sitting around trying to decide whether or not WE, consenting grown folks, can get married?!? Most of them can't even STAY married!!!! I think the right should be taken away from them, we get to vote on them as well OR whether ANYBODY should be able to get married at all. Where's the love?
I got the idea for this image from one of my newest friends, Thomas Allen Harris, an incredible filmmaker, journalist, artist and activist, who did the film"That's My Face." He has another film that he's working on called "Through A Lens Darkly." Check out the trailer for it and his other films here. It completely got me inspired to do this.

Persuasion

All evening, I have been watching "Persuasion" with Sally Hawkins as "Anne," yet another Jane Austen adaptation brought to life. WE were there. Perhaps, not in this form. However ...

A Nightmare on Elm Street

It's funny when a movie you used to love from your childhood is re-made so quickly in your lifetime. A Nightmare on Elm Street came out in 1984. It spawned 8 movies and a short-lived tv series, Freddy's Nightmares which came on the same night as Friday the 13th - The Series (which I loved). I was heavily into the supernatural horror movies then -- even writing horror at the time. Poltergeist, starring my favorite actress, Jobeth Williams, was my favorite movie of all time. And, still is. (More on that later.) I don't know what got me into the theater in 1984, but I instantly fell in love with the Elm Street series. Looking back, it was a low budget horror movie with a twist: the villain, Freddy Krueger, could kill you in your dreams! If he killed you in your dreams, then you were dead FOREAL!!!! Bwha-ha-ha-ha! It wasn't the burned face, red and green sweater/fedora wearing, Freddy Krueger who wore knives as fingers and delivered badly timed, gut-wrenching and sometimes gut-splitting, puns that enthralled me. It was its heroine, Nancy Thompson, played by the beautiful, Heather Langenkamp. The first movie's catch phrase was a sputtered, defiant warning from Nancy to a verrrrry young Johnny Depp, "Whatever you do --- don't-fall-asleep!" And, some of us didn't.

I was into the heroines fighting the good fight. (Like Kirsty Cotton [Ashley Laurence] from the Hellraiser movies.) It was never about the villains. Not the bastards who would try to kill them or destroy the world. It was always about saving the day. Bloodied, battered, sliced up and nearly defeated, they would battle through hell in their tattered,horrible 80s fashions to an even worse, blaring 80s soundtrack and save the world. I never cheered on Freddy's witty banter as he "creatively" sliced up dreaming teens. It was always about Nancy's courage. It was always about her saving the day. When she returned in the third movie, "Dream Warriors," I nearly fainted. Nancy was back! Then, there was Kristen (originally played by Patricia Arquette, then Tuesday Knight) who had the uber-cool ability to pull people into her dreams. And finally, Alice (Lisa Wilcox) who rivaled Nancy in the bravery department.

The other night, I found out about the new movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street for 2010. I won't say I cringed. I think I just sighed heavily. Is nothing scared?!? Is NOTHING?!? (Fist raised skyward, shaking in rage.) But then, I decided --- Hmph. Okay. Rooney Mara plays my beloved Nancy Thompson. Some things look the same, so it's definitely a remake. I think it incorporates some things from the other movies. Whatever the case, I'm onboard. I don't have any general comments to make about the trailer. I'll have to let go some things and open my mind, as always, and just enjoy.

1984. 2009. (Doing the math here ....) Shit. It's been --- 25 years!!! Damn. (Getting old.) I guess it might be time for a new generation to discover Freddy Krueger. Hope I'm this understanding when it comes to the Poltergeist remake. Speaking of which --- it's actually happening!!!! Once again, reserving judgment. It will be interesting to see what they do with it. Especially with today's special effects. The corpses will probably be climbing out of their coffins. Tobe Hooper & Steven Speilberg's Poltergeist (1982) was a movie which really changed my life. I took it waaaay seriously. For the remake, I'm just hoping for a good movie. Who knows, maybe it will reboot the franchise. I always wondered what a grown up Carol Ann (played by child star Heather O'Rourke) would have been like in a sequel. Oh, come on. If you grew up in the 80s like me, you would have seen that one coming, too had the poor girl not died as a child.

Wednesday Comics

Wednesday Comics was a newspaper that came out (go figure) every Wednesday for 12 weeks by DC Comics. I picked up the final issue today and I can say that I'm quite pleased. I'm a DC fanboy. I have always been one and will always be one. I've been reading DC Comics ever since I could read comics. I LOVE DC Comics!!! (I can't say I'm particularly a fan right now. Too many deaths. Too much blood. Too many titties. Especially Powergirl's. Who I love. Especially by Amanda Conner, who did the beautiful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL Supergirl strip.) If we get to see that much titty going on, then I need to see more male package and/or superhero ass. When I heard that DC was going to put out a Sunday comics format for twelve weeks of comics (on Wednesday) just like the Sunday comics from back in the day --- I got excited. I was sooooo ready for this. Incredible characters. Incredible stories. Incredible artists and writers, etc. Wednesday Comics delivered what it promised. OMG. I am so happy with the final product now that the twelve weeks are over. I can honestly say that I probably couldn't handle this forever on Wednesday, but it was a really nice twelve week run.

Wednesday Comics had Batman, Kamandi: the Last Boy on Earth (work too beautiful for words), Superman (be still my beating heart -- art work: breathtaking), Deadman, Green Lantern (stunning art work), Metamorpho, Teen Titans, Adam Strange, Supergirl (Amanda Connor --- you rock!!!! Love your work on Powergirl), Metal Men (OMG --- Jose Luis Garcia Lopez is STILL the greatest EVER!!!!!), Wonder Woman, Sgt. Rock, Flash (the best feature --- spellbinding!!!), Demon and the Catwoman, and finally, Hawkman. Grabbing this every week took me back to a time when comics were fun. It reminded me of the days that I would eagerly await for the Sunday newspaper and I would grab the "funnies" after my father read them. I would go straight to Brenda Starr, Reporter. No joke. Brenda is the greatest. Good job, DC. For twelve weeks, I enjoyed comics again.

Local Man, Kevin Britt is Missing

I took this article directly from MW Magazine, but discovered it on Rod 2.0:Beta. This local Maryland man is missing. These type of stories, happening to my black gay, lesbian, transgender people --- anybody, really --- just breaks my heart. I'm sure the police and his partner would appreciate any help in finding him. It always amazes me that these type of stories aren't publicized enough on the news, if at all.
Search on for Kevin Britt, Jr, of Hyattsville

by Will O'Bryan
Originally published on 9/22/2009

The Prince George's County Police Department is looking for Kevin Britt, Jr., a 23-year-old resident of Hyattsville, Md., reported missing by his partner, Elias Fishburne. Fishburne says he last saw Britt Sunday morning at approximately 11 a.m., as Britt left their home to attend to some paperwork at his place of work. Britt, originally from Talbot County, Md., on the Eastern Shore, works as a coordinating supervisor at Psychotherapeutic Services Inc. in Landover, Md., a provider of mental-health services for Prince George's County residents.

Anyone with any information about Britt's whereabouts is asked to call Officer E. Lindeman of the P.G. County Police at 301-772-4900.

BGBF #25 - Odd Couples

Computer viruses suck! Whoever creates them must have absolutely nothing to do --- and they suck, too!!! (And, not in a good way!) With that said --- my computer is virus free and I can finally get back to work on BGBF and my blogs. Yippeee! I completely surprised myself by cranking out pages of the newest issue of BGBF #25 - "Odd Couples." Not too long ago (and I go through this periodically), I got tired of doing this book. I got tired of drawing Neil's big, round head. I got tired of the panels. I just --- got tired of it. But, it was for all of the usual reasons: 1) it was a lot of work, 2) I didn't know if I was making a difference, 3) I didn't know if people were reading my FREE online stories, 4) or if they even cared and 5) because it was just SO SO SO SO much work. I wanted to do something new --- which is why I created "The Watchers." But, another story came along with other ideas and I realized again: it really is worth it. Especially, once I completed an issue. Now, if I could just work CONSISTENTLY.

I honestly thought I could eliminate one tedious step of my drawing process --- (WARNING: boring artist details to follow) --- by going from thumb nails and directly to inks. I normally sketch out a story in pencil, then line it in ink, then trace the pencils and then ink the pencils. (AND --- erase the pencils, scan it in, stack them, line them up, clean them up, add the grays and page numbers and --- that's it.) I didn't want to do the pencils anymore. But then, I sat down and patiently (for once, understanding that it would take awhile) started doing the pencils. I LOVED the way the pencil (4H or 5H for best results, a harder lead) just SLID across the paper. It was like a writer sitting down to type. I was back in love with my pencils and I was back in love with drawing. Here are a couple of thumbnails (mine are full sized, sketched quickly with a ballpoint pen. Yes, folks ---- a simple ball point pen!) from issue #25.

SYNOPSIS: Neil ends up with some unexpected and unannounced house guests during a time when he doesn't realize that his promising relationship with Jesus is in jeopardy because of his third party fling with Imu.