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8:06 am
January 4, 2012
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Nice! 
My Power User Profile
11:45 am
January 17, 2012
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Thanks, Kaylin
Character Contest 59 – Pisces
Again, couldn't quite get into the whole Zodiac aspect. Instead, I went with references to water, mythology, birthstones, and obscure movies.
Ironic thing about "Going for Gold" is that I did not watch any of the 2012 Olympics. I was going for the effect of splashing water, but it comes across as blue flames.
Going for Gold
5:33 am
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 59 – Pisces
The Pisces is a fictional basketball team from the movie The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. I consider this movie a classic. Coincidentally, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and I share the same birthday, April 16th.
The IMDB synopsis reads: "The Pittsburgh basketball team is hopeless. Maybe with the aid of an astrologer, and some new astrologically compatible players, they can become winners."
Close-up
7:29 pm
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 59 – Pisces
We are coming to the close of the Age of Pisces. Soon will be the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Which, coincidentally, begins on December 21, 2012. Why is that date so familiar?
Thinking of a character, I recalled some Sumerian legends. These stories have found their way into modern belief systems (notably Judaism and Christianity). As fate would have it, Ancient Aliens was on History Channel. So I wrapped all these elements together to create an interpretation of Zu, the Southern Wind. A creature said to exist in the first days of the Age of Pisces.
On a personal note, I encourage everyone to play "Age of Aquarius (Let the Sunshine In)" by The Fifth Dimension on December 21st. Then any song with "time" in its title or as its theme. Except "Time" by Pink Floyd if you are at a bar. Great song if you play "Dark Side of the Moon" in its entirety at a house party, but it really kills the atmosphere as a single.
Also, "apocalypse" is the Greek word for "unveiling" not "the end of the world." I know what I'm doing that Friday!
Zu
Close-up
The Legend
The Lion-Headed Thunderbird of Sumerian and Akkadian mythology. Also called Anzu or Imdugud, Zu stole the Tablets of Destiny from Enlil, the Lord of the Wind. He hid them on a mountaintop. Many tried to find them. Many failed.
Some say it was Marduk, son of Enki, who dispatched Zu. Others claim Nin Ur, the Lord Plough, slew the demon. One thing is certain. It was Moses who retrieved the Tablets from Mount Sinai.
10:35 am
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 59 – Pisces
The Cat's Eye is considered a "luckstone" for Pisces. It's also the fiendish creature who wakes me up at 5 in the morning…
7:20 am
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 60 – Revamp 2.0
The contest was to re-design or re-imagine another HeroMachine creation. Had a lot of fun with this one.
First was Muhammet's Ghost Monk. Pretty straight-forward character. I wasn't satisfied with my flame effects, so I removed them altogether.
Ghost Monk
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Original character by Muhammet
7:21 pm
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 60 – Revamp 2.0
Jeff announced today that the HeroMachine Pin-Up Edition is now available. I believe it and other versions of HM were in limbo while Jeff and UGO finalized some agreements. What coincidence, because Janie is my original character who I created in HM Pin-Up then re-envisioned for this Character Contest.
Haven't decided where she fits. I could work either version or both into my meta-verse, my mecha-verse, or just about any short story or continuum. In the HM 3 version, I wanted to give her a Yellow Rose tattoo. The yellow didn't show very well, so I stuck with red. Looking again, I should have stayed with yellow.
Without further adieu, gentlemen (and ladies), taking the stage tonight… Janie!
Concept and design by the Atomic Punk
Janie was a 19-year old freshman at the University of Texas-Austin. She was "working her way through college" at The Shack just off US Highway 183 South. That changed when Time Revolutionaries "drafted" her to be a cybersoldier in Texas' third war for independence.
HeroMachine Pin-Up Edition
HeroMachine 3 Alpha
9:30 pm
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 60 – Revamp 2.0
Emmanuel Sosa designed his knights in HeroMachine 2.5. I re-imagined them as ska cover-band "The Sugg Knights," influenced by the classic 1980s British comedy "The Young Ones" and one of my favorite bands Madness. Madness' lead singer goes by the name of "Suggs." My gathering of the term "sugg" is that it means something along the lines of "an unemployed punk in a cheap suit." "Sugg Knights" is a play on the name of notorious Death Row producer "Sug Knight."
Audiophiles might also enjoy bands like The Jam, The Specials, The Members, the compilation album "Bad Hair Day" (ska covers of heavy metal and hard rock songs), and any of the "Give 'Em the Boot" compilations.
Going to spread this one out over a few posts as I have the group picture and individual member shots. For the record, my group picture is one widescreen shot not four pictures pasted together. Which was why I chose Sosa's original design. To get a better feel for moving Items outside of the main HM window. At the time… what a pain. So I overlook my mistakes when it comes to the instruments and masking of hands.
Emmanuel Sosa's "Knights"
The Atomic Punk's "Sugg Knights": Rocking out Ska covers of Death Row Records circa 2011
4:37 pm
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 60 – Revamp 2.0
Sugg Knights' frontman Kevin McGillicuddy
Fang provides those blaring horns and crazy tones through his synthmaster keyboard
9:27 am
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 60 – Revamp 2.0
The Sugg Knights' backbeat.
Lonnie on bass
Pete Basher "on the kit" (drums)
8:21 am
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 60 – Revamp 2.0
Sebastian's original Son of Thor was a fantasy warrior. I have had the idea for a Norse demi-god character in my meta-verse for some time. It was Sebastian's version with the scar over the eye that finalized my character's direction.
Gabriel Dunderson has yet to make it into my "official" meta-verse. Dieties and mythological creatures add a dimension of power that goes beyond the levels of my meta-verse. If I continue his development, Gabriel will most likely be in a separate "mytho-verse." Not happy with his blind eye. At the time, there was no separate iris in the Eyes items. Work with what you have, ya know.
Sebastian's Son of Thor:
The Atomic Punk's Gabriel Dunderson: The Son of Thor
Close-up:
Backstory:
Gabriel Dunderson's earliest memories are those of his stepfather. An evil man who beat his mother to death. He would have killed the 8-year old Gabriel, too, if the police had not busted down the door and emptied their pistols into the raging alcoholic. A beer bottle had shattered Gabriel's right eye socket. His biological father nowhere to be found, the scarred child was placed in foster care.
As he grew older, Gabriel suffered from waking nightmares and hallucinations. They caused him to have panic attacks and violent outbursts. So bad that his foster parents consented to heavy sedatives and psychotropic drugs. Still, Gabriel would whisper of "trolls" and "demons" that he would see in the corner of his blind eye.
Gabriel decided to run away. At age 13, he jumped on a Greyhound from Madison, Wisconsin, to Saint Paul, Minnesota. He was staying at a homeless shelter when a day labor recruiter came for workers. It was obvious that Gabriel was not the 18 year-old pictured on his foster brother's Driver's License. The recruiter only smiled and put the nervous kid to work.
Soon, Gabriel found himself in demand. He worked tirelessly. What would take two, even three men, a full day, the young Swede could do in less than four hours. The day labor recruiter, Sylvia "Siffy" Eklund, gave him a cell phone so she could call as soon as a job became available. She would even let him have afternoons off with pay.
It would have been an agreeable situation except Gabriel was no longer taking the nightmare-surpressing drugs. For the most part, he was able to control his anti-social tendencies. He would go to the library or walk aimlessly for hours after his short work days.
Then the blackouts began. Some mornings, Gabriel would wake in a park under a tree. Others, in a motel room surrounded by dozens of empty beer cans. Which he could not explain as Gabriel swears that he never drinks. Nor does he ever reek of alcohol.
Gabriel once again started to see "trolls" and "demons". One night, he encountered what appeared to be a "frost giant." Angry at the hallucination, Gabriel charged the monster in the middle of the street. Only to wake up in the hospital three days later.
Before the Saint Paul Police could get to Dunderson to show him pictures of an ice cream van that had been torn asunder, Sylvia took him to the Greyhound station. She handed him a boarding pass to a "special job" in Las Vegas, Nevada. What she did not tell Gabriel was that the driver he assaulted was dealing drugs from his ice cream van. Nor did she mention the other times that Gabriel had blacked out. In waking sleep, he had put other pushers, rapists, and child abusers in the hospital.
Now 20 years-old, Gabriel still works for the day labor outfit. He even sees Siffy now and then. She calls with "special jobs" across the country. When the job is done, it is on the Greyhound to the next one.
He still sees the demons. He still loses days. Gabriel occasionally wakes up in a hospital. Sometimes hundreds of miles from the job site. When he does, Siffy is there to take him to the bus depot before the police arrive.
Dunderson is not a naïve child. However, he trusts Siffy. As if the work she gives him is leading him to his destiny. The monsters that he sees are growing larger and stronger… but so is Gabriel.
10:33 pm
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 61 – Aries
My sign of the Zodiac. One of the few moments where I fit in "first." My Chinese Zodiac is "Year of the Ox." My Aztec / Mayan is "Year of the Rabbit." April is the fourth month. The number four in Japanese is "yon" or "shi." "Shi" has an association with death. The ancient Roman traditions of spring planting (Ceres), the founding of Rome herself (Parilia), and a salute to grapes which would become wine in fall. April 16th is "National Stress Awareness Day." The day that Bat Masterson was gunned down in Dodge City. Lots of ups and downs during these days.
I share some famous birthdays on April 16th (for example, Charlie Chaplin). I enjoy Chaplin's work because I am a huge fan of early cinema and matinees. Most movies from the 1920s and 1930s are heavy into the industrial themes and futurism. How the generation was bearing witness to not just wonders in entertainment but a fast-paced revolution in manufacturing and machinery. The visions and warnings of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Mary Shelley, Bram Stroker; Movies like Metropolis, Golem, Nosferatu; The coming of Lon Chaney, Bela Legosi, Boris Karloff…
Anyway… Charlie Chaplin, April 16th. Same date as my birthday. He is somewhat of a controversial figure in Old Hollywood having been black-balled under a cloud of communist sympathy. Which is why I think his feature Modern Times is an all-inclusive representation.
The premise is that Charlie Chaplin is a glove-hand, care-free tramp who finds himself working in a factory. He is out of his element having to toil in a machine rather than an idyllic shop. In his day, it must have been very terse avant-garde social commentary with self-deprecating laughter from all in attendance. In my version, he is over-whelmed not just by the wheels of progress but what they have wrought. Oh, for simpler times…
Charlie Chaplin Modern Times
Close-up
5:11 am
January 29, 2012
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Nice job on the tramp, and Modern Times and most of those other silents you mentioned are simply fantastic films.
5:37 pm
January 17, 2012
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Thanks, and willkommen to HeroMachine, mayday. And thank you, Vampyrist.
Character Contest 61 – Aries
Another April 16th birthday: Basketball legend and Hall-of-Famer Kareem-Abdul Jabbar. In this design, I re-created a scene from Bruce Lee's Game of Death. A rather poor, haphazard design, but it was all for fun. Kind of ironic, though. Because if you watch the scene, Kareem is just as awkward in motion as he is in my HeroMachine homage.
Kareem-Abdul Jabbar is also famous for his role as Captain Roger Murdoch in the classic movie Airplane. I recommend both movies. Especially to those who hate martial arts and comedies. After seeing these two films, you will most likely hate the genres even more, you killjoys.
Game of Death
7:10 am
January 17, 2012
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Character Design Contest One Hundred!
Winston and Bakawk. No story, just a guy walking his dog.
Close-up
5:43 pm
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 61 – Aries
The classic sheep pun. Can't blame the guy, though. Someone just stole his car.
Gone in 60 Seconds
8:01 am
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 61 – Aries
"Aries are champions of lost causes and last-ditch resistance."
Overdid the dirt pattern. I used wrinkles as battle damage, like blows had chipped away the red paint.
Thermopylae
8:49 pm
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 61 – Aries
Mars is the ruling planet of Aries. "Mars Ultor" is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Ares. Mars is not necessarily the god of war. He is the Avenger. Literally, one who fights to right wrongs and seeks justice not simply attacks or conquers. A very different manifestation from "might makes right" but a deity of law (though by modern standards, still very savage).
I added the "swirly" Pattern to my Mars Ultor to give the design a sort of off-setting artistic Van Gogh's "Starry Night" appeal. That was supposed to be more than a pilot and her mech; rather, a piece of art and culture. It was a stretch. Personally, I like the result. One of my favorite creations.
Mars Ultor
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7:32 pm
January 17, 2012
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Character Contest 61 – Aries
Final entry (and another April 16th birthday): Detective Mancini. The legendary composer and conductor Henry Mancini who scored many movies, television shows, and various other pop culture productions. Some of his most famous work was for "The Pink Panther" movies. He also wrote the theme for "Peter Gunn." Don't forget "Baby Elephant Walk."
I tried to incorporate all of these elements of 1950s Beat culture, 1960s spyworks, and 1970s chic. Another personal favorite.
Detective Mancini
Close-up
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