Archive for July 5th, 2006

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TALLADEGA NIGHTS GAME

by Tom on July 5, 2006 at 12:00 am
Posted In: Blog
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If you're a die-hard Will Ferrell fan like me, you can't wait for Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby coming out on August 4. It's the same team that put together Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, so you know it's going to be good.



Anyway, it's a little early yet, but I thought I would share with you this game that I found online where you - as Ricky Bobby - have to sign as many objects as you can in Victory Row after winning a big race. It's pretty funny to check out just for the stuff they put in front of you to sign.




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GETTING PRESS

by Tom on July 5, 2006 at 12:00 am
Posted In: Blog
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I don't know if this will mean all that much to the majority of you, but I wanted to point you to an article I was interviewed for in The Des Moines Business Record. You can read it here.



As you might have guessed by the name of the periodical, it's a local publication that focuses on the business happenings in the Greater Des Moines area. It's significant that I was interviewed, however, because it's a subscription-based publication that a lot of big shots in the city read. They cover a lot of what's happening with companies like Principal Financial, Allied Insurance and Wells Fargo - who are all headquartered here. So it's kind of interesting company I keep by being featured in their pages.



The article is about people in the Metro who have hobby web sites and have been able to turn a profit from them. I'm really proud of how it turned out and how I was represented. They even sent a photographer over to my house to take a few shots!



Anyway, I wanted to share it because it was significant to me to be taken seriously at the local level. Hopefully it'll open a few doors when it comes time to promote the book and this is something I can use in my press kit to help me convince local retailers to pick up copies to sell in their stores.



It's actually quite serendipitous timing because we were planning on contacting them once we had copies of the completed book in hand (which you can still order here!). We were going to make the rounds with the local media and pitch it to them as a human interest story of exactly this nature. Turns out that the author - through mutual acquaintances - found out about me first and the rest is history!

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BOMBS BURSTING IN AIR

by Tom on July 5, 2006 at 12:00 am
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(7 votes, average: 8.29 out of 10)
BOMBS BURSTING IN AIR

After drawing today's comic, I realized that I had originally planned on doing a comic about my IMAX experience at Superman Returns. But then, in hindsight, it really would have been more of a rehash of this strip. Basically, the image takes up so much of your field of vision, you can't hope to see everything at once. During that plane crash where Lois is being tossed around like a rag-doll (seatbelts, people!) you can't see anything that's going on. It's all a blur. So instead of being wowed by the effects, you're looking for a pause button so your eyes can settle a little bit.



I used to be really annoyed by IMAX films because they are often so short. Like, 40 minutes tops. I think I understand why now. Because anything much longer than that and you risk a neck sprain. At two and a half hours, watching Superman Returns in IMAX  was like watching the world's longest tennis match. I mean, I had an inkling that we might be in for it when the opening title card came up with all that exposition explaining how Superman had been away for five years and you could see everyone in the audience turning their heads from left to right as fast as they could to absorb all the information - laughing nervously all the while. If this movie had subtitles, we would have been screwed.



So, I still have it in my head to check out SR for a second time on a more properly proportioned screen. Only problem is, I don't know when that will be considering Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest comes out on Friday!



I don't know if it's me or if the film's marketing team is doing a deft job, but Pirates is probably the one movie of the year that I'm most excited for and yet seen little or nothing about it. I'm serious. I just sat down to watch the full trailer maybe a day or two ago. I mean, I get the gist of the plot. Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow owes his soul to a octopus-like sea ghoul Davy Jones played by Bill Nighy. Adventure ensues. I'm there.



But usually this close to a movie's premire, I've soaked myself in the salty brine of advance promotion. I know what all the costumes look like, I've read set reports, I've seen enough "teaser" clips combined that only 20% of the actual film will be new to me when I see it in the theater... Basically, I ruin things for myself.



But not Pirates. I haven't seen hide nor hair of it and I think that's a good thing. I'm really looking forward to Friday. I loved the first film so much. Stands to reason this one should be just as good. Fingers crossed!

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