Jared

PhilCon Doth Approach!

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:57:53 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

PhilCon ‘09 is this weekend. And you know I’m ready for it.

My schedule for the con is as follows:

Sat 12:00 PM in Plaza II (Two): STEAMPUNK FOR SIMPLETONS

[Panelists: Jared Axelrod (mod), Matt Black, Nikki Cohen, Christine Norris, Jeff Mach]

Ladies and Gentlemen of stern and noble character are invited to participate in a salon whereupon we shall discuss the genre and lifestyle known to the rabble as “steampunk”. What is it, where did it come from, and what is with those brass goggles

Sat 4:00 PM in Plaza III (Three) PULPED!

[Panelists: Michael J. Walsh (mod), C.J. Henderson, Jared Axelrod, James Daniel Ross, Eric Avedissian]

What do we mean by pulp fiction? Is it a synonym for trash or does it represent a vigorous type of popular fiction that continues to appeal? If someone calls your book “”pulp”", is that an insult or a compliment

Sun 1:00 PM in Plaza V (Five) EAT RIGHT, EXERCISE, DIE ANYWAY… HEALTHY LIVING FOR FANS

[Panelists: James Prego (mod), Alyce Wilson, Jared Axelrod]

In general, fans tend to be a rather… sedentary… group. What simple things can we do to improve our health and life a better life

Sun 2:00 PM in Executive Suite 823 MICROFICTION: THE NEXT BIG THING?

[Panelists: Nathan Lilly (mod), Michael Swanwick, Ef Deal, Dina Leacock, Jared Axelrod]

A number of magazines have opened dedicated to the art of the quick-fic. Pros and cons of flash fiction (under 1,000 words), nanofiction (under 40 words), and Twitter fiction (under 140 characters)

Hope to see you there.

Now I’m A Believer

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:52:35 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

Sometimes, mythical creatures burst into being. The borders between fiction and reality are thin, and sometimes—like, say 2am on Saturday—they appear to you. Just such a thing happened to JR and I tonight, on our way home from Shadowland (which, frankly, is a little too fitting). Standing by the side of the road, looking lost and forlorn, stood two creatures out of myth and legend.

I speak of course, of the Magical Pixie Dream Girl. One is rare indeed. But two? That, my friends, is nothing short of a miracle.

These two beautiful young ladies in their tiny black dresses and ballet flats flagged down our car, asking us if we could drive them to 3rd and Chesnut. One of them, the brunette, had left her credit card there. Seeing no harm in driving two tiny twenty-somethings a few blocks, JR and I agreed, and they climbed in.

“We’ll give you money,” the blonde said. I assured her that would not be necessary. Both of the girls were clearly smashed out of their skulls, though the blonde more so than the brunette. She was the louder of the two.

“What’s your favorite bands?” she asked. “Top three. C’mon!”

We admitted that we did not actually know our favorite bands—it’s one of those questions that really should have come up before but hadn’t, and we tried to steer the subject away. But neither girl was having it.

“How long have you been dating, if you don’t your favorite bands?” the burnette asked. We told them we were married, which was met with squeals and clapped hands. “Tell us your bands. We’re music snobs.”

It then came out that my current favorite bands are, in fact, The New Pornographers, The Veils, and P.O.S.—the last two the brunette had not heard of, and it blew her mind—and JR’s were Ani DiFranco, Regina Spector, and she was cut off before she could get out a third.

“Those are so awesome,” the brunette said. “Are you a feminist?” JR said that yes, she was. This brought more squeals of joy from the two girls.

“VAGINAS!!!” yelled the blonde, her head out the window. “VVVVVVAAAAAAAGGGINAS!!!!”

The conversation then turned to how awesome I am—“So awesome”—and how hot JR is—“So hot”—which then led to the inevitable question. Would it be okay if they made out JR?

“You’re so hot,” said the blonde to JR, to which the brunette agreed. “Let’s make out. Would that be cool?”

“Lay off,” said the brunette. “They said they were married.”

“She can do it if she wants to. Look at her. She’s so hot. She’s got his balls in her hand.” JR protested that she does not like to make out with people she doesn’t know. “It’s because you think I’m ugly, isn’t it?”

“Not at all,” JR said. “You could be a model. If you told me you used to be a model, but you quit to go to school, I would have believed you.” I agreed with this.

“So I not pretty enough for you,” the blonde said, pouting and following her own train of logic. “I just want to make out with someone,”

“I’ll make out with you,” said the brunette.

“Shut up, Allie.” This was the first mention of either of their names. Katelyn and Allie. We pressed for more information. Allie liked Led Zepplin, but recently was turned on to folk music (“My friends from college would kill me if they knew I was into folk music”). Katelyn was a die-hard follower of Bob Dylan.

“My mom toured with Bob Dylan,” Katelyn said. “And my father toured with Eric Clapton. That’s how they met. And then, they fucked,” this was punctuated with a clap, and then a collapse back into the seat. “And that’s how I got here. I am so smashed. I just want to get something to eat, make out, and get fucked. Can we go back to the hotel?”

Making out and getting fucked was floated up several times—with the suggestion all four of us would be involved—and it was the combination of that and the notion of a hotel that became clear that these were no ordinary girls. These were Magical Pixie Dream Girls, the mythical creatures bi-curious couples seek out, hoping to add a third sexual partner for a night of debauchery, only to disappear back where they came from (in Katelyn and Allie’s case, that would be the Bronx), never to be seen from again.

These unicorns, these centaurs, these nymphs of legend were in the back seat of our car, pleading with us to talk about bands and make out with them and take them back to their hotel.

Naturally, we dropped them off at their originally specified destination (though not without circling it three times), and sent them on their way.

“My vagina’s hanging out,” Katelyn said as she got out of the car, adjusting her skirt. “Do you guys want money?”

No, Magical Pixie Dream Girls. The story is payment enough.

Superheroes Who Are Super: Duel of the Superheroes!

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:08:28 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

ocal theater group Plays & Players have started a series called Super Heroes Who Are Super, staged readings of comics with costumes, props, and the appropriate combination of respect and silliness. Their first performance was the infamous "Boner Crimes" Batman story, which gives you an idea of the kind of comics they seek out for this series. I've seen two--they also did the first appearance of the Punisher, which proved that played straight, Frank Castle is far more funny than Spider-Man, quips and all--and loved them both. After talking with the organizer, I agreed to help out with the superhero suits for the rest of the series.

This month is the comic of choice is GREEN LANTERN #13 (June 1962): "The Duel of the Super Heroes!" the first meeting of Flash and Green Lantern, and after seeing my GL jacket, they asked if I could make a Flash one to match. So, I did.

There's lots of charges from secret identity to superhero for both characters, so the director wanted something easily removable. I also made a Flash cowl and giant head extension (to mimic the cover). Dress rehearsal was Tuesday, so JR got some fabulous pics of the actors in costume.

Feel the power of the head extension:

I feel I should point out that is not the set they are going to use, but it makes a wonderfully surreal backdrop. More pics here.

It was so great to see the actors in the costumes. Doug Thomas, the actor playing Green Lantern, guy put his on an immediately struck a hero pose The director asked him how he felt in the costume. He said "I feel awesome!" He's apparently been a Green Lantern fan since childhood. And Brian R. Caine, the actor playing Flash, was running all around the stage. The costumes really brought a physicality to their performance that they apparently didn't have in the other rehearsals. Oh, the power of costuming. Performance is this Saturday, the 14th at 10:30 on the 3rd Floor of Plays & Players Theater. Hope to see you there!

Halloween Costume Deal ‘09: Leather & Silk, Linen & Steel

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:47:34 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

And so does the first 2/3rds of this year’s Halloween Costume Deal come to a close (the third was not actually needed for Halloween, so will be completed in the next few weeks). These costumes forced me to stretch a bit, as one was very complex, while the other was deceptively simple. Both, naturally, look awesome:

Steampunk Spider-Woman

Matt Wagner’s Grendel

I’ll be delivering these in person tomorrow, which has gotten me even more excited about the holiday than usual. I can’t wait to see these costumes worn!

I’m A Ninja

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:54:40 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

I thought ninjas were rockers

I Spent My Anniversary Surrounded By Love

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:24:29 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

JR and I spend our days being insufferably pleased with our lot. Things are going well for us, and despite some bumps and shattered bones, it has been a fantastic year for our marriage. And what better way to celebrate it than by throwing in with those who, because of the law and the land, cannot enjoy what has made us so happy in the past 12 months?

As the saying goes, there but for the grace of the universe go we. Had I not found the perfect partner in J.R., it is entirely possible that I would be lamenting my inability to marry my boyfriend. Actually, it is far more likely that I would be lamenting not having a boyfriend, legal wedding march or not. But the sentiment would be there.

So when this March for Equality happened to fall on my wedding anniversary, it seemed appropriate to go and, well, march. And march we did.

The whole trip seemed fairly magical. None of the bumps and bruises that normally accompany travel were apparent. We got there safely, got a wonderful room at the hotel, then went down to the hotel bar to toast our good fortune of nothing bad happening.

And who should be at the bar, but three of the organizers at the march. I don’t remember their names, only that one looked alot like Mark Sheppard, and another resembled a more hard-core Mur Lafferty (imagine what Mur would look like after a lifetime of cage-fighting). The Mur-looklike was revealed to be a sargent in the LA police force, and was worried that not enough people would show up for the March. “We may only get 20,000,” she said.

There was a few more than 20,000.

The march was immense. I am told there were 200,000 to 250,000 participants, and I don’t doubt it. The crowd snaked through Washington waving flags and shouting slogals. “Obama! Obama! Let mama marry mama!” Signs declared that it was “Time to put a ring on it!” and that “My sister has more rights than I do.” Families marched together. Children rode on the shoulders of their parents. Old lovers held hands and kissed. The march was about legitimizing the love we feel, and in that, the march was full of love. I found myself thinking, “Why would anyone think this love was wrong?”

Why, indeed.

I wish I could express the absolute joy I felt as part of this march. I wish I could bottle it and send it to you. The feeling of community, of being part of a cause fighting a clear injustice, was electric and exciting. Worth waiting hours in the sun to start, and worth marching the 2 miles or so to get to the Capital. There were speakers–Cynthia Nixon, Judy Sheppard, Lt. Dan Choi and we passed Alan Cumming, hanging out with his boyfriend–but that was icing. The march, the love that surrounded it, that was an event in of itself. That was all I needed.

I had my picture taken several times during the march, due to my fantastic sartorial sense. It’s always nice to be told you are dressed well at a queer event. The fellow who took the picture below said that I was so handsome that he would marry me.

“But I can’t,” he added. “It’s illegal.”

Hopefully, not for too much longer.

Monday Motivator: Alton Brown

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:24:38 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

–Alton Brown on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Happy Birthday, Angel

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:10:12 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

Thank you for making every day such a joy.

Your Monday Motivator

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:43:44 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

From Merlin Mann’s Inbox Zero blog

You Are Reading Jared Axelrod Dot Com

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:45:37 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

Who Is Jared Axelrod?

“Jared Axelrod and J.R. Blackwell are like Bonnie and Clyde with hot glue guns and cameras. I fully expect to see a movie about them in 20 years.”
Chris Miller

What Do I Do?

I’m a writer, sculptor, illustrator, costumer, puppeteer, freak show performer and cape enthusiast. I was a founding member of 365 Tomorrows, and wrote 78 stories for it. I am the creator of two podcasts, The Voice of Free Planet X and Aliens You Will Meet.

The Annihilation Point, a fantastic stage production of which you can see me on the set of above–taken by the talented Rae Winters, no less–used a vast collection of rayguns and gadgets that I built for the show.

I recently spoke at the New York Anime Festival about steampunk, its style, its history and why it goes so well with Japanese animation. That was a fantastic time, due in no small part to my fellow panelists Mike VanHelder, Evelyn Kriete, G. D. Falksen, and Liz Gorinsky.

If you head over to I Should Be Writing, you’ll see my conceptual espresso shot series “News From Poughkeepsie.”

Where Am I Online?

Twitter: http://twitter.com/planetx
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/freeplanetx (which I clearly don’t use much anymore)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jaredaxelrod
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/planetx/
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/user/Jared_Axelrod
Livejournal: http://planetx.livejournal.com/
Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/user696930

Born Of An Atom Bomb is my dumping ground for internet references for various projects.

Give The Robot A Beard There is no better image depository of robots with facial hair on the internet, despite it’s recent neglect.

Posts of Interest?

Allow Me To Indroduce The Aliens
Not Because They Are Easy, But Because They Are Hard
Further Evidence of My Credentials
The Superhero Films of Raja Loreddex
If I Knew Then What I Know Now…
Rayguns In The Time Of Cholera
The 10 Rules of Quality Superhero Fiction
Just A Day, Like Any Other (A Mythos Man Adventure)
The Great Temptation of Bronco McGillicutty
That’s Not Really Super, Supergirl

Ultra Galaxy Legend The Movie!!!!!

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:11:30 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

Would You Trust These Men With Your Future?

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:23:29 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

Well, you should. For these fellows are Bradley K. Wren, David Johnson and Justin Jain and along with Timothy Sawicki, they have created The Annihilation Point. Which you should go see. It’s a fantastically funny play about time travelers from the future trying prevent the destruction of the human race. Really, you will not find a more hilarious play about the apocalypse at the Fringe Festival this year (yes, that means you, Atomic Catwalk!).

I say this, not as someone who designed and built most of the props in the show (even though I did). I say this as someone who cares about you. Someone who wants the best for you. Someone who will bold as many words as it takes to get you to see this play!

I’ll be there tonight. Get your tickets while you can; they’ve already sold out Saturday.

Put the kids to bed–forever!

King Of The Sea

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:34:31 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been working on an Aquaman costume off and on for years. The appeal of this continually uncool character has a very strong pull to me, so when Rae Winters wanted to do some underwater shots, I lept at the chance to test the in-progress Aquaman costume in it’s proper environment.

I feel like the jacket needs some detailing, and the tights don’t really work. But as you can see, the photos themselves are fantastic. I cannot wait to get back in water.

You Are Here: Jared Axelrod Dot Com

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:07:48 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

Who Is Jared Axelrod?

Jared Axelrod has been my friend for years, and his wild mind and his inailbity to let anything stop his creative projects are a total inspiration
Mur Lafferty

What Do I Do?

Should you be in the Philadelphia area and happen to catch a showing of The Annihilation Point, you’ll see a vast collection of rayguns and gadgets that I built for the show.

I’m also the mind behind the recently relaunched “News From Poughkeepsie,” over at I Should Be Writing, doling out conceptual espresso shots every morning.

Where Am I Online?

Twitter: http://twitter.com/planetx
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/freeplanetx (which I clearly don’t use much anymore)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jaredaxelrod
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/planetx/
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/user/Jared_Axelrod
Livejournal: http://planetx.livejournal.com/
Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/user696930

Born Of An Atom Bomb is my dumping ground for internet references for various projects.

Give The Robot A Beard There is no better daily image depository of robots with facial hair on the internet.

Posts of Interest?

Not Because They Are Easy, But Because They Are Hard
Further Evidence of My Credentials
The Superhero Films of Raja Loreddex
If I Knew Then What I Know Now…
Rayguns In The Time Of Cholera
The 10 Rules of Quality Superhero Fiction
Just A Day, Like Any Other (A Mythos Man Adventure)
The Great Temptation of Bronco McGillicutty
That’s Not Really Super, Supergirl

Superman Wants Your Taxes To Pay For Health Care

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:59:56 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

I really wish these sort of “It’s the right thing to do” comic ads existed today. I’d love to see Superman swoop down at a Town Hall meeting, informing protesters that there’s no such thing as “death panels” in the Obama Health Care bill.

Yanked from ComicMix

Now Casting For STARSHIP DEADALUS

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:36:51 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

There’s been alot of talk recently (and by “recently,” I mean “Back when the film came out in May, and I haven’t had a change to write about it until now”) about STAR TREK’s reboot, the appeal of space opera (also the story implications of the reboot itself, which I’ll get to, probably in another 3 months). The appeal of space opera, essentially, is that it is a workplace drama filled with things we never experience in our own workplace. This is the same appeal of hospital dramas and cop dramas: people doing their jobs in ways we can relate to and at the same time cannot fathom. There’s been a lot made about the loose, handheld camerawork in BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, but it’s really not that different to ER and THE WEST WING.

BSG has much better dramatic lighting than either show, though. Plus robots.

The point is, space opera is compelling for the same reasons ER, THE WEST WING, THE DEADLIEST CATCH and THE WIRE are compelling. We love seeing people do their jobs, especially if those jobs involve a crisis every twenty minutes or so. It’s really too bad that the success of BGS has not lead to more space opera shows. We’ve got DEFYING GRAVITY right now, but that show seems to want to be LOST more than it wants to be ER. Which is a waste of opportunity, in my opinion, but I’m not a television executive.

But what if I was? What if I could create a whole new workplace drama in space from scratch. Naturally, this has led to a small amount of dream-casting, of who would be in my own tv space opera

Captain: Micheal K. Williams

First Officer: Michelle Rodriguez

Medic: Gina Torres

Engineer: Wes Studi

Security: Kristen Bell

Helm: Gabrielle Union

Gunner: Rick Yune

Naturally, this sort of cast is about as likely, as well, a workplace drama set in space. But a boy can dream…

Expect Me To Show Up Unexpectedly

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 20:25:15 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

Delightfully big news, as I am the first–FIRST, I say!–official contributor to the I Should Be Writing blog. Mur gives me a fantastic intro, there, which leaves me with more than a little apprehension about what the devil I’m going to be talking about. I can only hope that I live up to the introduction.

(I will, of course. Don’t worry too much. I’m just trying to build suspense.)

In addition to taking over The News From Poughkeepsie, I intend to throw out the odd essay about writing advice–as opposed to an odd essay that is writing advice–and maybe a comic or two. I haven’t done an Autobiologic in forever, and the gods know I’ve got plenty of writing-based hilarity (read: pain) to illustrate. I’m not sure what else. Any ideas?

But that’s not the only unusual place I’ve showed up on the internet today. Io9 put up a post on Steampunk novels, illustrated with nothing less than the photo of Miss Liza James and I that Kyle Cassidy took and subsequently was put on Wikipedia. Clearly, Miss James and I have become the faces of modern steampunk. Which I am okay with.

First ISBW and then Io9….clearly my plot to take over the internet is moving apace….

Not Because They Are Easy, But Because They Are Hard

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:37:22 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

It was a Russell Davies blog post that alerted me to these mugs, which contain one of the best concepts spoken by a president, but with a helpful fill in the blank portion in place of the “go to the moon,” bit. JFK’s full quote is, of course:

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

The whole speech is here, but that’s the humdinger. “…not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills…” That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Anybody can do the easy stuff. But it’s the hard stuff that defines us.

My wife and I have started embarking on couple of difficult things ourselves. One, is a new, tight budget that forces us to spend a lot less under the dream of spending more at one big go. Less comics every Wednesday, in order for a Hawaiian vacation (or a European one. Or a Japanese one) It evens out, but it’s been difficult to stay within the narrow confines we’ve prescribed ourselves. Difficult, but not impossible

But you know, we choose to do them not because they are easy…

Along those lines, we’ve decided to become serious about losing weight and getting into shape. We’ll both be thirty next year, and the goal is to enter our thirties in better shape than we entered our twenties—an easier goal than it sounds, considering how heavy I was at 19. I’ve been working out every morning, getting at least 50 push-ups in–if not some concentration curls and some lateral raise with the 20lbs barbell–before I stumble downstairs for breakfast. I’m going to purchase a bicycle (in case anyone was wondering where that costume commission money was going to) and JR’s gonna get her old one fixed up. We’ve streamlined our diet—not eating out as much for financial reasons has really helped with that—and all this eating right and exercising has apparently transformed us into one of those couples.

For example, just the other day, I said, in all seriousness, “It’ll be great to bike down to Whole Foods and pick up some protein powder.”

Clearly, we have past some point of no return.

Which brings up the question, if you do the hard often enough, does it become second nature? Perhaps, that’s the goal itself. Do we do it not because it is easy, not because it is hard, but because it’s effortless.

And damn, if effortlessness isn’t the hardest thing in this life to pull off.

Return Of The Annual Costume Deal

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:04:36 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

I’m sure everyone remembers the epic Halloween Costume Deal of last year, which led to excitement and fist-pumping on the behalf of the young gentleman who received it. Don’t you too wish you could bask in the happiness that this young man possesses?

Of course you do. More than that, I want you feel that happiness as well. Which is why, this year I’m doing it again.

“But wait,” you say. “Jared, it’s August. That’s way too early to be planning for Halloween.” And for some people, that may indeed be true. However, due the outcropping of hopes and dreams that were unfortunately dashed last year when I only had time for one costume, I am opening up earlier. More time means more costumes.

That’s right, for the low, low prices of $200 a piece, not one, not two, but three people can look as awesome as I do come Halloween. Or Dragon*Con, for that matter, since we’re still in August.

The first three people to email me and pay $200 in advance will get a costume whatever they want* custom made head to toe—props included—done to their specifications. Want to be a pirate? I can do that. An airship pirate? No problem. An airship pirate superhero? Consider it done.

I have an extensive portfolio, should you want to peruse it.

But don’t spend too long looking! This offer is limited to the first three people who pay! Act now!

AND IT’S OVER!!! All three slots are now filled!!!

*Within reason. Some costumes will not be able to completed in the time. A rule of thumb: if it has futuristic armor, it’ll take too long.

This Is Jared Axelrod Dot Com

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 15:03:24 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

Who Is Jared Axelrod?

“…A poet of bad times and B movies”
Earl Newton, strangerthings.tv

What Do I Do?

I was recently commissioned to do costumes for a photoshoot by Rae Winters:

…which came out fantastically, I might add.

Where Am I Online?

Twitter: http://twitter.com/planetx
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/freeplanetx (which I clearly don’t use much anymore)
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jaredaxelrod
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/planetx/
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/user/Jared_Axelrod
Livejournal: http://planetx.livejournal.com/
Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/user696930

Born Of An Atom Bomb is a blog I started to keep track of internet references for various projects. There’s alot of “Waiting For Ironwine,” stuff on there now, as I just finished a comic script based on this story. I imagine “Father Brothers” and “Way of the Dodo,” will overtake them in the next few weeks.

Give The Robot A Beard is a blog I started after a phone conversation with J.C. Hutchins. There is no better daily image depository of robots with facial hair on the internet.

Posts of Interest?

Further Evidence of My Credentials
The Superhero Films of Raja Loreddex
If I Knew Then What I Know Now…
Rayguns In The Time Of Cholera
The 10 Rules of Quality Superhero Fiction
Just A Day, Like Any Other (A Mythos Man Adventure)
The Great Temptation of Bronco McGillicutty
Is It Better To Be Feared Or Respected?
It’s What Philo Farnsworth Would Have Wanted
That’s Not Really Super, Supergirl

Looking Back, Maybe We Should Have Brought More

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:21:36 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

So, I’m in the kitchen making vast amounts of soup and Kyle Cassidy calls up and says “You and JR wanna be in a photo shoot?”

“What would we have to do?” I ask, keenly aware that while my ankle has healed enough for walking, I can’t do much else.

“Just stand there while Trillian hovers in midair. Maybe look like you’re reading something.”

That, we decided, we could do.

After the bus stop fun was concluded, Kyle and Trillian invited us back to their place to watch ONG BAK 2. This sounded like a fine time to us, but we had to get back and finish our soups. We resolved to return for the film. Kyle oft handedly mentioned that he had was trying to figure out the proper lighting rig for taking pictures of con-goers World Con, and since we were going home anyway, if we wanted to bring some costumes back he would try out some lights.

How many could we bring, we ask?

“As many as you like,” Kyle said. “You bring 10, we’ll shoot 10.”

We brought 11.

Something about seeing all these fantastic pictures at once has caused me to reconsider both my costuming and why I do it in the first place. I’ve said that my interest in costuming is mainly sculptural, and I’m going take the next few days to look at these costumes from that perspective, and in doing so, pinpoint where I’m going to go next.

Oh, and if you’re going to World Con, you’re a fool if you pass up a chance to get Kyle to take your picture. He’ll be set up on Saturday, right at the top of the escalators at the 5th floor.

Further Evidence of My Credentials

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:23:10 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

Listen, I’m certain your fictional airship is intensely fascinating, and you scoured eBay for absolute minutes for the watch gears to paste on to your top hat, but I’m going to have to ask you not to question my authority on the matter of steampunk again.

Because if you look up steampunk in the encyclopedia you’ll find a picture of me:

In short, one of us is an example to others as to how steampunk should be presented, and one of us is wearing goggles on their hat. Good day.

This of course, has nothing to do with me and everything to do with how awesome Kyle Cassidy is, but I take my jollies where I can.

And How Was Your Birthday?

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:26:02 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

‘Cause mine was pretty awesome. As you can see:

The idea, of course was to do something different. I had held themed parties before, but I wanted to something…more. Inspired by the awesome costume soirées of my NC buddies, I decided it was time to step it up. There would be costumes, dammit! Oh, how there would be costumes.

If you were thinking that this whole theme was an excuse to wear the batsuit since I wouldn’t be going to Dragon*Con this year…well…you’re part right. It was really just an excuse to wear the batsuit.

This idea met some small resistance, of course. Luckily, we were prepared. I sent out an extensive list of “non-costumey” costume ideas, while JR met every “Do we have to dress up?” with a “You know what Jared wants more than anything? To be surrounded by his friends in costume.” Which is true, too.

Luckily, my friends did not disappoint. Daniel and Avalon were the first to arrive–before I even had my costume on!–and their Joker and Harley Quinn set a high bar for the costumes that followed. But the fantastic costumes continued right on up to Viv and Chooch’s Ventriloquist and Scarface, who arrived just in time for the cupcakes.

Thanks to everyone who came. I could have made mixed drinks in tights without you, but it wouldn’t have been near as much fun. And there wouldn’t have been robotic pandas or Beowulf readings, either, so there you go.

Pictures of the decorations, the present unwrapping and everyones amazing costumes are over at my Flikr. More pictures of the costumes are over at JR’s Flickr.

To DexCon!

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:56:11 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

JR and I will spending the weekend at DexCon 12. JR is running her game Shelter In Place, at the coveted Saturday Midnight slot. For those of you who have forgotten how awesome Shelter In Place is, here’s a refresher:

The Voice of Free Planet X, Episode 158: Gimmie Shelter from Jared Axelrod on Vimeo.

J.R.’s streamlined the game even more than before, making it a truly slick, cinematic experience. I can’t wait to see it action! Plus there should be a chance to squeeze in some games of Contract Work by Russell Collins (yes, that Russell Collins) and Robert Bohl’s Misspent Youth.

Yeah, should be awesome.

The Superhero Films of Raja Loreddex

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:34:13 GMT

Originally published at jaredaxelrod.com. You can comment here or there.

Few filmmakers have affected me like Raja Loreddex. With the new Criterion collection of his self-described “superhero films” having just come out, it’s an excellent time to re-examine the filmmaker’s body of work. Never a critical success, Loreddex created unique genre films, studies of secret identities, of powerful individuals, and of battles between good and evil. While clearly a fan of comicbooks, Loreddex never made a “proper” comicbook movie, though he was offered the opportunity to direct the failed SUPERMAN LIVES in 1996. Loreddex declined in order to work on GONE, his greatest, and last, film.

I’ve always been interested in Lorreddex, ever since my first viewing of a midnight showing of MAN ALIVE. His films, I believe, show how superheroes can make the jump from comics to cinema. With so many superhero films bogged down with the details, there’s alot to learn from Raja Lorredex’s heroes, and who they are.

SPOILERS below, natch.

Fire Foxes

Loreddex’s first film was a commercial success, mainly due to it’s leading lady, a then-unknown Getrude Waith spending most of her screen time in either a bikini or a series of similarly miniscule tank tops. FIRE FOXES was marketed as a sexploitation biker movie, in which Waith and her similarly attired co-stars, Angel Herrida and Margaret Yun, seek to take down the evil Emporatrix, played with much relish and black leather by Cynthia Dunhill. But while there’s plenty of cleavage on display, Loreddex has crafted a much more complex film than it at first appears. The film is noteworthy in that there is no male cast members; even the boy that Waith begrudging befriends halfway through the picture is revealed to be a young Alice Keircox, in her first film role. Lorredex apparently took Caspar Weinman’s script–which originally had one female role–and swapped all the genders.

FIRE FOXES also begins what would become a Loreddex trademark: protagonists with no real names. Waith’s character refers to herself as Dinah, Suzie, Blake, Hannah and Rose, through out the film. None are said to be her actual name. When Keircox-who’s character is simply called “Boy,” even after the reveal–asks Waith her name, she receives no answer. Waith’s flexible indentity carries over in her performance: off her bike, Waith is bubbly, friendly, a charmer. But once on the motorcycle, or engaged in one of the film’s expertly staged fist-fights, Waith’s face grows cold.

FIRE FOXES is not a perfect film–the motorcycle stunts had to be done at a distance, as Waith could barely ride one, and a female stunt rider could not be found, and they suffer for it. Though ostensibly a ensemble film, Herrida and Yun have little to do but look good in tank tops, and have no real characters to speak of. Keircox and Dunhill’s characters are little more than mirrors to Waith, showing her who she was and who she may become. But as a study into one woman’s sense of who she is, it’s one of cinema’s most fascinating.

The Young Physician

The success of FIRE FOXES gave Loreddex a degree of studio autonomy, which may be why so many critics refer to THE YOUNG PHYSICIAN as oblique. Loreddex was a huge fan of both Doctor Who and Doctor Strange, so it is no surprise that in a film about magic, our main wizard is a doctor.

Stage magician Micky Cue plays another one of Loreddex’s nameless protagonists, referred to by the other characters only by “Doctor.” “Why is movie magic never as convincing as stage magic?” Loreddex said in an interview about the film. “The most expensive special effect in the world is never as convincing a skilled pair of hands with a deck of cards.” It should come as no surprise then, that Loreddex gives Cue extensive creative credit with the film. The Doctor character was based on Cue’s stage persona–as it says in the opening titles–and it gives Cue a natural comfortability in the film. Despite the bizarre nature of the film, Cue grounds it with a effortlessly charismatic performance.

The film itself is one that requires repeated viewings. The chronology of the film is purposefully fractured and jagged, as the final scene brilliantly reveals, but it makes for a rough going the first time through. The magic that Cue creates are either taken directly from his stage act, or done through careful out-of-frame adjustments to the scene. In the film’s most lauded scene, Cue succeeds in transforming a house by walking through it, turning a farm house into a mansion, then a castle, then a mountain, and then make it disappear. The whole thing is one long steadicam take. The shot required an immense custom-built set that took months to build, and the shot itself took three days and a crew of 47 to get right.

This seems like a lot of work–there had to have been a simpler way, certainly with multiple cuts–but it fits the theme of the film. Loreddex and Cue’s wizard is constantly at war with unseen forces, be they the expectations of the people around him, or grand cosmic evil. To have every magical moment be the result of not an illusion, but of an outside hand, creates an uneasy feeling that permeates the film. After that long transformative shot, Cue stands in the middle of nowhere and breathes a sigh of relief, as do we.

Cue’s wizard has frequently been referred to as an enigma, but if you watch his scenes in reverse order–there was a series of YouTube videos that did just that, but they appear to have been taken down–it’s quite clear that Cue does have an impressive character arc. Cue goes from callow youth to the hero everyone expects him to be, and while his sacrifices appear meaningless, it’s just another bit of slight of hand.

Man Alive

Loreddex referred to MAN ALIVE as “my straight action picture.” The humor in this is clear, since despite it’s traditional action movie elements–a damsel in distress, a mustache-twisting villain who actually twists his mustache, a protagonist with a real name–MAN ALIVE is anything but a straight action movie. Even after you take away the fact that hero is gay.

Loreddex starts the film by showing us that, yes, his main character has a real name. Action star Ronald Stark plays Jim Stance, something that is driven home by a credit sequence consisting of series of ID papers, from a birth certificate to report cards to a series of driver licenses from series of states. The sequence ends with a death certificate, zooms in on the date, before starting our story 3 days before.

All of this, we learn, is meaningless. As the film goes on, “Jim Stance” proves just nameless as any other Loreddex hero, discarding identities has he needs. Stark’s “Stance” isn’t Stance at all–he has stolen Jim Stance’s identity in order to gain entry into a underground “to the death” fight tournament. As Stark fights one colorfully costumed opponent after another, it becomes clear that his chameleon-like nature extends to more than just forging papers. Stark mimics the fighting styles of his opponents, effectively beating them at their own game.

Stark’s character here is similar to Waith’s in FIRE FOXES (Waith even has a small scene, as Stark’s equally combative sister). But where the other charactes in FIRE FOXES act as mirrors of Waith, here it is Stark who is the mirror, becoming who the other characters want him to be in order to get the job done. In addition to being a commentary on the blankness of cinema action heroes, and of the personality-subliminnating nature of war, MAN ALIVE does work on a “straight action film” level.

Provided you miss the final scene, where hero and villain kiss for what has to be the longest guy-on-guy make-out session in cinema history.

The Astonishers

Much as MAN ALIVE attempted the normal in order to subvert it, THE ASTONISHERS brings another genre–the murder mystery–into Loreddex-ville. The titular Astonishers, a pair of psychic detectives, are again, not given names. I recently purchased a copy of the script to find that the characters are referred to only by the colors of their shirts. “Red” and “Blue” seek to find out who murdered “Yellow,” and so on.

What’s fascinating about THE ASTONISHERS is how quickly the crime gets solved. Red and Blue, played by blind actor Adrian Tomalous and a grown-up Alice Keircox, solve the crime in the second scene, and Loreddex let’s the fall-out of the discovery of the murderer breathe in ways that most mystery movies avoid. Being psychics, our heroes have “skipped to the end,” as Keircox puts it, and in researching the hows and whys of the crime, they become less convinced by the man who the know committed the murder.

THE ASTONISHERS is the most lighthearted of any Loreddex film, and involves many actors from his previous films in small cameo roles–Waith and Stark are particularly hilarious as a pair of incompetent cops. Tomalous and Keircox give great performances, evoking William Powel and Myrna Loy from THE THIN MAN. But it’s not all froth; Loreddex themes of the nature of identity and responsibilites of the individual run through the whole film. This is most notably seen through the use of a photograph that the audience never sees, but affects the character each in a profoundly emotional way. The heartbreaking scene when Tomalous holds the picture and cannot see what’s effecting everyone is start contrast to the humor that surrounds it. But I can’t imagine the movie without it.

Loreddex had said that sequel to the THE ASTONISHERS was going to be his next film, after GONE.

Gone

…and then there’s GONE. Man, when I first saw this film, it damn near blew my head off.

Avery Gooding plays a man who is named Callahan Gone in the end credits, but in true Loreddex fashion, no one calls him that. The only reference we get to it is Gooding’s tendancy to say “I’m gone” right before leaving. Which is as good a title as any, really. For a constant traveler through space, being Gone is as good as anything else.

On first veiwing, GONE seems like a series of veinettes. Gooding shows up in some sort of sci-fi setting–a bar, a city, a farm, a school, a ship–and after encountering the trouble no one dares rise up against, puts it down. It’s almost a catch-all, as if Lorredex had set ideas for half a dozen sci-fi films, and instead of choosing one, made them all. But through these scenes, and the dialogue free, high-contrast black and white flashbacks that occur between them, we get a clear picture of Gooding’s hero. Despite the most impressive set design of any Lorredex film, it’s ultimately a very private film about the man in the middle of them.

Gooding gives a nuanced performance as a man who stands up to injustice in the future becuase he could not in the past. The flashbacks lack the stylized costume and sets of the color scenes; despite the lack of aging in Gooding, it’s quite clear that they represent the present. Gooding is, in a sense, an immortal hero, a wandering cowboy. Presumable he has a spacehip, but we never see it. He just walks in.

The final twenty minutes of the film reaches the trascendental, as the director who refused visual effects for THE YOUNG PHYSICIAN appears to making up for lost time. Gooding ends up challenging a member of the “angel race,” played by jazz luminary Kepri Atum, and the final battle puts most science fiction films to shame. The resolution of which is one of the most indelible moments in cinema, where Gooding litterally walks out of the universe into another, more colorful one. It evokes the classic western motif of riding off into the sunset, but recreates it as only Loreddex could.

Raja Lorredex did not create superheroes in the tradition sense. None of them wore spandex costumes, though they all had distinctive styles of dress. Though their identities were often obfuscated, none wore masks. Some had fantastic abilities, but none were visually dynamic. While Lorredex clearly loved traditional superheroes in comics, he had no interest in translating them litterally to film.

In his last interview, Lorredex once again defended his choice of calling his films superhero films. “If you’re a superhero, you can do anything. If you’re telling a superhero story, you can do anything. It’s the only genre that swallows all the others. I’m suprised more people don’t do them, quite frankly.”