After another horrendous outing by the Canucks, I needed something to cheer me up:

TAK

It’s hot! And it’s only the beginning of June still! Fack!?

Spent the morning watching the first 2 periods of the Vancouver v. Bruins game. I had to go shopping so I left right about the time the Bruins looked like they had gotten their shit together and were pressing for a win. Yet… I came back to another overtime win??? Nice! Must be a huuuge party in Vancouver right now. Jealous of my friends there. Why couldn’t they kick ass 5 years ago so I could join the party??

T2 was on TV last night. Always makes me drop everything and watch, that movie. I still remember going to my shitty mall theatre (Pickering Town Center! Woot!) with the bro to see it when I was, like, 13 or 14. Was blown away. I’m still blown away by it. Except for Eddy Furlong… But the rest of the awesome makes up for it so it’s okay.

More writing this week. Almost have a solid first chapter plot ready.

TAK

Evidence of yesterday’s battle. Still burping garlic…

TAK

The writing continues.

I’ve been, like, rebooting characters and plot points so many times I’m starting to feel my initial ideas were actually the best. Tabarnak… hate when that happens!

I have a killer craving for my favourite ramen so, despite the threat of torrential rain today, I think I’ll be loading up on some major carbs. If you’ve been in Tokyo long enough, no doubt you’ve heard of Ramen Jiro. If you don’t know what it is just Google it and you’ll get an eye full. Also, listen to this. Anyway, my fave place is a Jiro off-shoot called Ramen Dai. There are a handful of locations but I frequent the one on the West-side of Ikebukuro.

Gawdamn, can’t wait…

TAK

So, apparently the world was supposed to end this past weekend? But now it’s been pushed back to October. Nice.

In other news, some guy ate his 25000th Big Mac a few days ago. It made me really want to eat one so I did. I bet this guy single-handedly pushed sales for McD’s this past week. Best form of advertising ever.

TAK

Currently reading and listening and writing. Lots. Being unemployed has it’s advantages.

After 4 years I feel like I’m finally at the point where I’m in tune with how comics and the process of making them work here. In short, I’m convinced that the art part of the work is all gravy. Good and tasty gravy but it’s purely a bonus to your protein. You can’t have a meal without protein. Are my food analogies annoying you yet?

So, anyway, that’s where I stand and I’ve been researching and putting most of my efforts into my characters and story structure. I haven’t really lifted my pencil in over 2 months. It’s depressing watching the days fly by without any evidence of progress but my brain and I know what’s up. We’re still high-fiving at the end of each day.

More info as my brain and I work shit oooooout.

TAK

Received my copies yesterday. I’m a lot more happy with this second book in terms of art and direction. Buy it! Feed meeeeee!!

TAK

A bittersweet blossoming this year.

TAK

Currently writing out story plots and doing research. It’s tough. Really tough. The little me that keeps echoing things like “That’s crap, dude.” and “That’ll never work.” is really getting on my nerves. Buuuut I forge on. This is what I came here for, dammit! I have a few months worth of back-end money coming in so at least I don’t have to worry about rent and bills for the time-being. Life always seems gets in the way don’t it?

I’ve been buying a lot of comics and manga magazines this past week. I picked up Dogesen since I heard a coupla Japanese guys talk about it on a podcast. It’s pretty awesome.

It’s about a high school teacher that uses dogeza to win confrontations and, in effect, inspire people. For example, he uses dogeza to ask a student to use a condom while having sex. It works. Completely ridiculous but it’s damn entertaining and oddly touching. This article sums it up a million times better than I ever could.

Back to the battle.

TAK

I may be late on the ball on these but I just found them so gimme a break. I’ve been busy for the last little while.

For you process junkies you can check out vids of OKAMA, Terada and Miwa Shirow of DOGS fame in action here.

Navigate the rest of the site for interviews with creators, tools of the trade and other industry insider tips. Seems like the site is only in Japanese but I’m sure you can find something of interest regardless.

TAK