Filming began Sunday on the newest episode of Those Funky Idiots. It's being directed by a guest director and Tim tells me the first shoot went extremely well. Boffo!

As for me, I really need to get cranking on the strips and on my new comic book and on my syndication package and tens of thousands of other things that I want done. Typical. So typical.

  March 18, 2004
Whatever happened to Shelley Duvall? This fat cartoonist wants to know!

March 16, 2004
Well, the rehearsal process continues. Tonight's scenes mainly dealt with my character, Little Harp, and his bodiless brother, Big Harp. A lot of stage directions were laid out and we began to tackle a couple of the songs. One is called "Two Heads" and the other is "Poor Tied Up Darlin'". They are Little Harp's two major numbers with "Darlin'" being the hardest. A lot of stuff to remember, but it was fun flopping around on the floor and acting like a giant thug.

My next rehearsal is next Monday and I have lines and more lines to memorize between now and then. I hope to be off book sooner than later, but that's going to take some work. Wish me luck.  

March 15, 2004
I just got back from my first rehearsal for The Robber Bridegroom. It was a read through and I think it went pretty well. A lot of talented people are in the cast and everyone was friendly. The music is pretty challenging. It's basically bluegrass in nature.
Hopefully, with a great deal of practice, I'll get it under my belt.
We'll see how it goes.

With rehearsals and such for the next few weeks, I moved to first shift today. The morning really dragged its carcass, but the afternoon went by more quickly. I'm sure first shift has its good points, but I'll be glad when I'm back on second. Just six weeks and four days to go.

March 13, 2004

Quackers

Just got back from taping the St. Patrick's Day parade with Tim behind the camera. It wasn't that bad. The turnout wasn't as great as last year's parade, but there were plenty of folks lining the streets despite the cooler temperatures. The parade was a lot longer than I thought it would be, but I think that's true every year. A lot of familiar folks marched downtown, the usual politicians, horsemen, and such. A five member lawn chair brigade brought something new to the proceedings and I was thrilled to see someone dressed up as a gorilla, but the clowns continued to be a disappointment. As usual, the greasepaint mafia didn't even show up. Thus strongly reaffirming my opinion that all local clowns suck.

Joining me on hosting duties was Quackers the duck. Instead of giving away a box of Lucky Charms, Quackers was our shtick for this year's parade. I thought it might be amusing if Arlo (played by me, of course) decided he was a ventriloquist and he badly bantered with a puppet throughout the parade. I don't know if we struck comedy gold with the routine, but I must admit I enjoyed asking people "Would you like to talk to my duck?". Surprisingly, nobody did.

After the parade was over, we were approached by a reporter from The Star Press. Unfortunately, I stayed in character during our brief exchange and I think that may have prevented us from getting a mention in tomorrow's paper. However, after the reporter took off, a fan of the show came by and took my picture. That was cool. It's always great when someone who watches the show comes up and says "hello".

Overall, despite our old school equipment, I think the taping was a success. I know Tim and I had fun and hopefully our dear viewers will, too.

Eric turned another year older last Thursday. Happy belated birthday, old man!

March 10, 2004
I feel like I should be writing something, but not many things are going on at the moment. I'm working on my next minicomic which I hope will be done by the end of the month. I have been reading the script for The Robber Bridegroom, but I haven't started memorizing my lines just yet. Work on my syndication package is going very slowly. It looks like Tim and I will be taping this year's St. Patrick's Day parade this upcoming Saturday. I should be coming up with some sort of material for that. I don't think I'll be giving away a box of Lucky Charms this year, but I may change my mind. We'll see.

March 5, 2003
I was wrong. Thursday ran pretty smooth at work. No bumps nor hiccups. I guess I should be wary today.

I should have mentioned this in my last post, but I didn't get around to it so I'm saying it now: My 24 hour comic failure
is now ready for purchase! It's only 75¢ and a stamp! If you like the strips found on this here site, you might fancy a copy! To learn more, just click here!

March 4, 2004
Well, I'm back at work. Monday was my first day back and it wasn't too bad. Tuesday made me remember how much I hated my job, but Wednesday was better. The hatred will probably resume today and then relative calm will return on Friday as the weekend eases in. So it's shaping up to be a typical workweek at Touchie-Feely Fotos (Results may vary).

Before I went to work today, I swung by the Civic to pick up a copy of The Robber Bridegroom. I haven't read through the entire script yet, but I have noticed my part is bigger than I thought. Little Harp has plenty of lines and four songs to remember, but I think I can handle it. Just a lot of memorizing for yours truly over the next couple of months.

From what I have read, Little Harp is a dastardly villain. I would list his various foul misdeeds, but I don't want to ruin the plot for anybody who wants to attend one of the performances. He should be fun to play with all his cursing and attacking and such, but I guess I won't find out until the nit meets the grit.

My Aunt Linda is currently recuperating at home after a stay at the hospital and I just want to wish her a speedy recovery!

There's some more stuff I wanted to touch upon, but it can wait for later. This puppy needs updated right now!

February 25, 2004
Something unexpected happened to me on Monday: I got a part in a musical! Of course, this didn't happened just out of the blue. A couple Sundays back, I auditioned at the Muncie Civic Theatre. They were casting for their last few productions of the season and I decided to go just to go. I have auditioned several times in the past and I never got offered anything so I wasn't expecting anything different this time around. I just wanted to audition just to prove to myself I could do it again and maybe get some material for the strip.

So after waiting an hour or so in the lobby, I got called in and I walked on stage. I sang the first verse of Roger Miller's "Kansas City Star" and then I read a brief scene from The Robber Bridegroom. It took less than five minutes and then I was done. I thought I did fairly well and the director was nice so I left feeling pretty good.

A week passes and I get an e-mail from the Civic. After reading the opening paragraph that thanked everyone for showing up and auditioning, I find my name in the cast list for The Robber Bridegroom. I got the part of Little Harp, a not-too-bright thug (My first play and I'm already typecast). Wowzers.

I can't tell you how thrilling it felt to get the part. Sally Field's " You like me, you really like me" Oscar speech comes to mind. After a handful of attempts, I finally passed the muster for someone at the Muncie Civic! I am finally worthy to be seen on their stage! Perhaps my theory of being on a blacklist isn't true after all! Unbelievable.

Of course, my sense of euphoria faded once reality sunk in. I may have got the part, but rehearsals were going to be in the evenings and I work second shift. I may be on layoff now, but once the first rehearsal rolls around (March 15) I'll be back at Touchy Feely Fotos. However, after calling work and talking to my supervisor, I found out it was possible to do the play. For the six weeks or so of rehearsals, I'll be working first shift and once the show is over I'll go back to second. Yay! 

And that's how it stands for the moment. I'm sure I'll be discussing my theatre experiences in the future. I'll leave you to decide if that's worth looking forward to or not.

February 19, 2004
Last month, I attempted to do a 24 hour comic book. For those not in the know, a 24 hour comic book is a 24 page comic that is started and completed in 24 continuous hours. On January 1, I began work on my comic at 3:35 pm. After 20 penciled pages, I threw in the towel at 9:10 am on January 2, 2004. Then I fell asleep.

Since then I have been working on my 24 hour comic failure off and on for the last few weeks. I finally finished the comic book yesterday and I'll be in the process of printing some copies in the next couple of days. Though it is a failure, I will be offering it for sell soon for anyone who is interested. The comic stars The 3 Sissies, a set of 3 year-old triplet sisters, and features a guest appearance by Oscar!  I'll have more details about the book once I have some copies to share. Until then, here's a panel to puzzle over:

Sissy gets a boo-boo