45th birthday

Today is my 45th birthday. :\ I hope to score some shrimp in a basket later.

Here's the script that was attached to the John Henry synopsis. I don't have any more John Henry art (which is why this entry is probably a long-shot), so here's a quickie Ward Kimball homage that I drew last night.

John Henry
Jay Ward pastiche/update
By Doug Holverson

TITLE:

Pastiche Parables:
“John Henry Gets Spiked”
or
“The Hammer & Fickle”

SCENE#1: (John Henry shows up for work in front of the building for the H&O Railroad. Standing there is Shorty, a diminutive white trashy fellow with an engineer’s cap and overalls and a straw dangling from under his bushy mustache).

John Henry Hello, Shorty!

Shorty How’s things, John Henry?

John I’m rarin’ to beat my personal best rail spike poundin’ record!

Shorty Ya cain’t, all ya steel drivin’ men have done been laid off ‘n’ replaced by a gismo called the Inky Poo!

(John strikes an assertive pose while Shorty just stands there.)

John This can’t be! I’m going to the complaint department!

Shorty Ya cain’t! They’s been replaced by voice mail…

John Then, I’m seeing human resources!

Shorty Cain’t! Been replaced by web services,,,

John Then I’ll tell accounting that they could pay years ‘n’ years of wages for what just one Inky Poo must cost!

Shorty Cain’t! Replaced by computers….

John I’m going to send a memo to the Bossman’s secretary!

Shorty Cain’t! Been replaced by a robot…

(John Henry is getting unsure of what actions to take. Shorty just stands there replying.)

John Go directly to the Bossman himself?

Shorty Cain’t do that neither, John….

(John sheepishly asks Shorty.)

John Been replaced by a machine too?

Shorty Worser! Outsourced!

(John and Shorty hang their hands like they’re doing their last respects…)

John Even a dog that won’t hunt don’t deserve that….

Shorty The Bossman, maybe…

(John stands there determinedly with his arms akimbo. Shorty just stands there.)

John Somebody needs to take a stand against all these inhuman trends! I will beat the Inky Poo in a challenge! Mano y Machino!

(John points to a high propose in the sky. Shorty just stands there.)

John Henry Alert the media! A living breathing soul can beat a machine if they put their mind to it!

Shorty I’ll get pay-per-view. There’s good money in people publicly humiliatin’ themselves!

SCENE #2: (The Inky Poo is looking like a cartoonifed hybred of a comical steam locomotive and the monster truck from Damnation Alley is sitting on the farthest of two sets of tracks. In the foreground, standing on the closest set of tracks is a smiling and confident John Henry with a sledgehammer in each hand. Shorty is doing the introductions and gesturing towards the John Henry.)

Shorty Welcome people to the all time classic All American kick down and drag out man versus the machine braaaawl! On this track, at three hundred and ninety-six pounds of solid muscle, John “The Steel Drivin’ Man” Henry!

(Shorty gestures to the Inky Poo.)

Shorty And on this track, weighing in at five point two metric tons, The Sioux City Cast Iron Foundry and Cookie Shop’s own Inky Poo Twenty-one Hundred, Mark Two!

(Shorty fires a popgun into the air.)

Shorty May the best entity win!

(John Henry is running over hills and valleys while pounding away like crazy on those railroad spikes!)

John I’m in the zone today! I’ve never pounded so many spikes before!

(John Henry pauses to raise his hand to wipe the sweat of his brow and look behind him.)

John I’m so far ahead I can’t even see that Inky Poo!

(Shorty is tugging at John’s elbow):

Shorty Um, John Henry…. Look the other way….

(John watches as the Inky Poo disappears on the distant horizon, leaving miles of track behind it.)

John Duh-ang! That thing must by miles ahead of me!

(Shorty is playing with a slide rule.)

Shorty 31.09 kilometers and accelerating at point nine eight meters per minute per minute!

(John scratches his head while Shorty just stands there as usual.)

John I don’t get it… A living breathing soul is supposed to beat the machine when they put their mind to it!

(Shorty holds up a calendar in front of John. The calendar’s picture is of two gentlemen with string ties tipping their bowlers to two ladies with corsets and bustles)

Shorty What century is that sappy sentiment from?

John The nineteenth?

(Shorty flips the calendar page to a picture of a Jetsons-like cityscape with flying bubble cars.)

Shorty And in just what century is we currently residin’ in, luddite?

John The twenty…first?

(In the background behind Shorty, is a cartoonified tracked killer robot chasing and shooting its zap guns at a cartoonified Schwarzenegger.)

Shorty We do things different in these here new fangled days….

(John Henry scratches his head again as Shorty just stands there.)

John What’s an able-bodied man s’pose to do for gainful employment in these here modern times?

Shorty Well…..

SCENE#3: (John and Shorty are wearing silly hats and aprons while working at a cartoonified burger franchise. Shorty is holding up some fries while John is holding up a 55-gallon paper cup.)

Shorty Want fries with that?

John How about super duper sized?

"john henry gets spiked"

Today is one of my days off. Tomorrow is my 45th birthday :\ Just scanning and photo-correcting old art today and trying to kick Captain Saucer in gear again.

Here's the John Henry picture again. This time it's colored! It went with my next entry in the Fox and Film Roman contest:

“John Henry gets Spiked” Synopsis
By Doug Holverson

This, of course, is an update on John Henry, finding himself automated out of a job in the 21st century. This closely adheres to the tradition of the classic Jay Ward Fractured Fairy Tales.

John Henry shows up for work in front of the building for the H&O Railroad, “rarin’ to beat my personal best rail spike poundin’ record!”

Standing there is his friend, Shorty, a diminutive white trashy fellow with an engineer’s cap and overalls, who explains “Ya cain’t, all ya steel drivin’ men have done been laid off ‘n’ replaced by a gizmo called the Inky Poo!”

John strikes an assertive pose ready to take his case to various facets of Management. Shorty explains “Ya cain’t!” and then explains it case by case. The complaint department has been replaced by voice mail. Human resources have been replaced by web services. Accounting has been replaced by computers. The Bossman’s secretary has been replaced by a robot. Even the Bossman himself, has suffered a “worser” fate of being outsourced! “That shouldn’t even happen to a dog that won’t hunt.”

John decides to take his case to the media and challenge the Inky Poo “Mano y Machino!”

Shorty replies, “I’ll get pay-per-view. There’s good money in people publicly humiliatin’ themselves!”

The big contest comes with confident John Henry, with a sledgehammer in each hand, squaring off against the The Sioux City Cast Iron Foundry and Cookie Shop’s five point two metric ton Inky Poo Twenty-one Hundred, Mark Two. A popgun is fired and the race is on! John Henry is in “The Zone”, running over hills and valleys while pounding away like crazy on those railroad spikes like he never has before. He pauses to raise his hand to wipe the sweat of his brow and look behind him. “I’m so far ahead I can’t even see that Inky Poo!”

Shorty corrects him, “Um, John Henry…. Look the other way….”

John watches as the Inky Poo disappears on the distant horizon, leaving miles of track behind it. John doesn’t quite believe it because a living breathing soul is supposed to beat the machine when they put their mind to it! Shorty asks what century is that sappy sentiment from? John answers the nineteenth. Shorty then asks what century “is we currently residin’ in?” John sheepishly answers The Twenty-first. John ponders “what’s an able-bodied man s’pose to do for gainful employment in these here modern times?”

John and Shorty are wearing silly hats and aprons while working at a burger franchise. Shorty is holding up some fries “Want fries with that?” John trying to grin while cringing while holding up a 55-gallon paper cup, “How about super duper sized?”

"cyclopses"

Now that I ran out of "Dream Machines", I'm going to burn off the proposals that I sent into the Film Roman & Fox contest in the order that they were completed. Here's the "Cyclopses" proposal, as it stands . I really don't know how to write these things and I am just winging it.

Of course, I came up with better ways to articulate what this hypothetical show would be like two days after the proposal was mailed. Then again, if the show is done the way I would like to see it done, it would be hard to explain.

This was an idea that was thrown into the dust pan around 1980 and then dusted off for this contest. The original version would have had Star Truck and late '70s incarnation of The Feirds as the main reoccurring segments. Star Truck in long gone and buried. A fragment of the Feirds has been dove-tailed into InterStellar OverDrive. Just ask Big Bill or Winnie.

"Cyclopses"; A Series Proposal by Doug Holverson

“Cyclopses” is the working title for a proposed animated variety and variety show that cuts directly to animated fun and more animated fun and gets rid of deadwood of boring variety show things like hosts, guest stars, and musical guests. This show has nothing really to do with Cyclopes, outside of the occasional alien or monster walking through. “Cyclopses” will be a show that the viewers can consistently turn to for the joys of splitting a kidney. This show will have black out-and sketch comedy, be a clearinghouse of one-offs and random ideas, maybe a little experimentation, homages and parodies of classic animated cartoons, and will some short series with lots of spin-off potential.

The black out-and sketch comedy will be freed away from real people with real physics amp it up into something that utilizes into cartoon slapstick and hyperbole. Somewhat in feeling vaguely similar to the loosey-goosey freewheeling Pythons or Summer Replacement Variety shows of the ‘70s, although, “Cyclopses” will not necessary derivative of either of these. And of course, this will be as great as a former kid’s rose-colored nostalgic memories of Summer Variety Replacement shows, instead of as lame as they probably were.

The homage to the classics will be like the example of “The Pastiche Parables” which is not a cheep knock off of Jay Ward but an attempt to match the wittiness and style of the originals. Three are already scripted with “The Dumpy Little Princess” who stalks her Prince Charming, “John Henry Gets Spiked or The Hammer and Fickle”, and “The Car That Cried Alarm”. More are in progress

A classic cartoons parody would be like “Pugnacious Pussies” which is patterned after early ‘50s Warners and MGM cartoons. This certain romp is played so straight faced that when it veers into off-color territory, such as one feline female flushing another down the toilet in the men’s room, it will bring laughter of “they’re not suppose to be doing that!” surprise.

The short series with spin-off potential could be Captain Saucer, a Saturday morning cartoon parody; Fanboy and Scapegoat, a gallows humored update on a Bullwinkle style romp; and InterStellar OverDrive, a stylish space series.

By the way, “Cyclopses” is not the correct plural of Cyclops. The irregular plural of Cyclopes is correct. “Cyclopses” is just a deliberately incorrect plural that I thought was funky which I came up with in high school back in the ‘70s. I created the one-eyed smiley to go with the title at the time, too. Actually, this proposal is a revival of an animated variety show that I came up with in late junior and toyed with and pipe-dreamed about all through high school and a little while after. The hypothetical variety show was called “The Holverson Magneto and Spark Plug Company and “Cyclopses” was the name of a proposed theatrical spin-off. A personal in-joke explained.

dream machines #7

Still winding down a little from the two and a half week push to get those proposals out. To celebrate, I did have a Swiss mushroom burger at Runza yesterday and drew this blast from the past last night.

It's Star Truck, from a fannish Trek parody (is there any other kind?) that I did during my freshman year in high school, although I was screwing around with the idea during the previous summer. This spans 1975 and 1976.

Oddly, Star Truck is an ancestor to InterStellar OverDrive. Star Truck was dove tailed into the hypothetical Holverson Magneto and Spark Plug Company show which spin-off the equally imaginary "Cyclopses", which was telescoped down to Captain Saucer which then sprawled back out into InterStellar OverDrive. Some of this will be more clear when I post some of the proposals over the next few days.

Star Truck must be fairly obvious idea for a spoof. It was also popped in in Skip Williamson's comic strip for C.B. Digest, and on The California Raisins Special and Animaniacs.

Looking into doing monthly and weekly maintenance on my machine at the Post Office tonight.

dream machines #6

The last proposal has been dumped in the mail for Film Roman. It was a reworking of a Fanboy & Scapegoat proposal from 1992.

Yeah! It's Over! I feel a bit exhausted, but satisfied.

Now it's just all up to fate and circumstance.

(Please fate and circumstance, be kinder than Fun Rockets!)

Here's a fantasy tractor inspired by one that I drew in a fourth or fifth grade notebook back in the early '70s.

dream machines #5

I got the InterStellar OverDrive proposal wrapped up and in the mail this before work. How I wish that I had a week or two more to work on it. I would do a lot of new and more polished material.

Especially, I would have liked to have drawn up some new group "pin-ups". I'd do a Wayne, Winnie, Didi, Big Bill, and Ulviox in a group. The Bast family together with Flexia, Leonina, Montue, and Pursia. Flexia would be "semi-earth-native", wearing a banker's suit with jacket, vest, and pants, but with no shirt underneath, just a lot of brass jewelry. And, of course, an alien group with the Cses, Hampions, Claireans, Inols, etc.

Now to push out Fanboy & Scapegoat proposal before the Post Office closes tomorrow and it will be all done.

Anyway, here's a sketch of a Leian four legged off-road jalopy for the proposed "Meat is Nature's Candy" story for InterStellar OverDrive.

dream machines #4

Another of my "ornicycles", this time a "uni-ornicycle".

I got the first five proposals for wrapped up and in the envelope. They are Pugnacious Pussies, The Car That Cried Alarm, John Henry gets Spiked, The Dumpy Little Princess, and Captain Saucer.

I will see how much of InterStellar OverDrive can get wrapped up before work tomorrow and mailed along its merry way. Ironically, I have ISOD stuff going back to 1987, and none of it is really proposal ready and there's too little time to really work some up. I will improvise with the comic panels and sketches that I can dig up and scan and crop in a hurry.

After that, I will work up a Fanboy & Scapegoat proposal as an afterthought and have that in the box on Saturday.

I'm going to deserve a Runza burger or Gyro after this...

dream machines #3

This one is a visual non-sequitur that popped into my head.

Busted my butt getting all sorts of stuff together for those proposals. I don't think I've been this prolific with my comic and cartoon stuff since my Small Press days back in the '80s.

dream machines #2

This looks like it's out of a dream, but it's based on a home cobbled spaceship from a comic that I drew back around maybe third grade.

Trying to overcome momentum to get these proposals done for Film Roman. Rewrote the "Cyclopses" and Captain Saucer proposals today. Will busk away at InterStellar OverDrive and Pugnacious Pussies next. Hope to get most of the additional art for these things done tomorrow.

dream machines

Here's a hot rod that I saw in a Saturday morning cartoon that I was watching in a dream.

Guess what studio is responsible? >:)

Finished up the Captain Saucer proposal and one the InterStellar OverDrive synopsis for the Film Roman & Fox contest. Will get started on another ISOD synopsis and that proposal.

the eyes have it, #3

This is based on an arcane toy in a dream that the top had a funny face that changed when one turned a wheel that stuck out of the toy's edge. These are the two most memorable faces, apparently when a cluster of eyes rotated near the top or bottom in an internal mechanism.

Worked up a Film Roman synopsis for both John Henry and the Car That Cried Alarm this morning. Also made a start on the "Cyclopses" proposal, which is a warming over of an idea for an animated comedy-variety show that I came come with back in high school in the middle to late '70s .

the eyes have it, #2

Why stupid aliens shouldn't have too much caffeine!

Did a draft of the Captain Saucer synopsis for the Film Roman contest. Would like to prune it more because it took a little bit of "cheating", narrow margins and single spacing, to make it fit on one page.

Now onward to the InterStellar OverDrive synopsis.

the eyes have it

You see the occasional cyclops depicted in a cartoon, but you don't see Argus much.

The cyclops is pretty much my favorite mythical creature. I don't know why. I think it is because they fascinated me as a little kid because their trademark deformity really creeped me out.

It's warm enough to make the snow stop dripping off things. I'm trying to get back to working on my Film Roman proposals. The Dumpy Little Princess synopsis is running long and needs pruned.

ligermimi (?) "pretty much my favorite animal...."

I'm still trying to work up some proposals, although it's just narrowed down to a Fox and Film Roman contest. The others require a demo reel which I have no expertise to do at this point. I am little hamstrung by a migraine this morning.

Ended up replacing fifty dollars and four hundred watts worth of power supply in the ol' Wintel. Meanwhile, the old and new Macs keep running like tops. There are reasons I don't believe in the Invisible Hand of the Marketplace theory.

Here's a sketch of Flexia as a nekomimi.

Maybe it's a full circle thing....

cootie baits

It stopped snowing but it's sure still blowing!

Rewrote Captain Saucer, The Dumpy Little Princess, and The Car That Cried Alarm as TV scripts last night. Will try to rewrite John Henry and The first InterStellar OverDrive before a planned trip up to Soldier, Iowa.

My old PC won't start up. I think it's the power supply. Please don't be the mobo!

Meanwhile, both the old and new Macs run like a top.

Here's Captain Saucer villains, girl Anime parody, and cat-girl yakuza Pretty Princess Purri and the Neko Meanis to add some color to this blog. There's Sweeti, the sycophant; Princess Purri, the mob boss; Calli, who's kind of there; and Dainti, the muscle.

snowing and blowing

Well, it's snowing and blowing. Power was off a couple of hours, putting some of these projects behind scedule.

Had some dreams last night conserning New Wave and 1980.

Here's a sketch thinking of some warmer times.

bird brained

It's as windy as ever and the temperature is dropping. Did some sewing repairs on some clothes today. Will hopefully will work up some Dumpy, InterStellar OverDrive, and other animated proposals to pitch to Frederator and Fox.

Scanning in those old comics of mine and it looks like it's going to be literally a month of Sundays project. Which would explain the previous false starts. I've only scanned through half a handful of old drawings in the past three days and I have two and a half big boxes of stuff waiting!

Here's the first "Ornicycle" drawing, which started as a challenge to myself to draw something really off the wall. Although I believe that this could be worked into a assemblage style sculpture. Just replace the Ward Kimball head with maybe a polled cow skull that's been altered to look avian.

And then add ping-pong ball eyes...

let there be electric light!

It's sunny out, but my is it breezy!

Tonight I'm looking into finishing up my daily on DBCS #11. Last night AFCS #1 was giving MAL AM1 TRNS CLK errors and I was glad that I just came back from training!

Set a what could be a couple of personal records. First I changed the bulbs in my reading lamp, and drawing table lamp, and even my drawing table lamp. Imagine all those bulbs burning out at once! I almost feel like a regular ol' Jeff Lynne with all that restored Electric Light. Also got my G5 Mac, my G3 Mac and my P4 Wintel all networking together for the first time.

I'm keeping the old G3 around to run the Microtek 6400XL scanner until I ferret out the software and hardware to run it on my new G5. That G3 was probably the best computer that I ever owned.

Made another start on scanning in Tube Punk today. It's planned as a chronological collection of Captain Saucer, Fanboy, InterStellar OverDrive, and a long list of related projects. I've made a couple of false starts before on this just because the project is so big, covering countless pages over 25 plus years.

Anyway, One of the old finds is this 1987 drawing of Hercula, the prototype for Wingding. She's a character from an aborted project. Plus my clunky style from back then.

get free cooties with that rocket?

Yesterday I was going through some old floppies from the '80s and '90s and brought back some memories.

It thundered and rained this morning.

Here's the planned decals for the Whorl. Somebody said that they looked girly, but it was the first good idea that popped into my mind and it fit the rocket. The colors are just standard printers magenta and cyan to make the thing easier to print.

Sometimes, I feel that it's nice to have one good inspired idea at the start and run with it. Otherwise, you have to force yourself to come up with many variations, and pick the best one and still have a lesser inspired idea for all that extra work and effort.

The original decal was whipped up in Freehand back in the fall of '99, right before fate threw me the Fun Rockets detour. The original name was the Vortex, but I went to RCTHA and found that Quest have already beat me to that handle. The name for the original prototype was the Quixote, from the windmill connection, and the next prototype was the Dervish because it whirls.

I tried to apply a Bauhaus type geometric purity and simplicity to this rocket since most helicopter recovery rockets are quite clunky and cluttered in their designs and appearance. I take a little pride in that the final prototype had nine less parts than the original.

whorl

It's unseasonably warm out, so I'd thought that I'd enjoy the warm weather by cleaning the top layer of junk out of the cab of the Farmer's Cadillac and even sewing a button on a shirt on the front deck.

BTW, You can plug a ADB keyboard into a Belkin ADB to USB adapter directly to a Mac and it will recognize it as a keyboard. It won't recognize it as a known device through a KVM.

Here's a peak at a lost and abandoned kit called the Whorl from the stillborn Holverson Designs comeback. Sort of combining the best of the old school Estes and Centuri instructions. Also mimicking their pen and ink and instrument drawings in Freehand.

for i have the uranium cumulous 404++ hyperbot, ha ha!

Found a stack of misplaced drawings eariler today.

Set up the old G3 Mac and the old PC on a KVM. That was a minor experience. The Option key seems to have no effect in Windows.

For todays illo, here's Captain Saucer villain, Hyperbot: Uranium Cumulous FlyFlyBoy 404++! Technically he's supposed to be a fellow space hero, but he's so whacked out and has so much fire power that he's pretty much a menace to the galaxy.

never fear!

I made an errand run up to Soldier yesterday and I am putting in some overtime today.

I watched a dollar store VHS tape of Underdog yesterday. Not nearly as witty and charming as Bullwinkle, although they ape the Ward visual style better than I have so far.

Hmmm, the beefy Overcat comes from the planet Felina, populated by cat people.

Here's a picture of beefy Flexia, who comes from planet Leiania, populated by....

dime auctions

So far things have settled down enough on eBay that I'm going to try to post some items on their 10¢ listing days and see how far these go without interruption.

One belated thought is that I find the drive from Omaha to Norman or back to be a bit long and tedious. Just watching a lot of flat or rolling landscape slowly go from green and fertile to more arid, sandy, and rocky. Or reverse the process on the way back.

I did finally manage that goofy triple dog-leg through Topeka to connect between US75 and I-335 going both ways.

Here are the revised Prince and Nekomimi from "The Dumpy Little Princess", revised Dog from the "Car That Cried Alarm", and the original Shorty from "John Henry".

hacked and hawked

My eBay account was hacked a second time yesterday. Passwords have been changed and I've sent emails to my ISP and eBay. I'm scratching my head over this. Is it personal with this guy? Are there any spyware or other security breeches or anything that this person could use on my Mac running OS 10.4.3?

Somebody requested that I post pictures of Studebakers. Here's a picture of my Hawk when I brought it over to the body shop last fall.

a little wigged out

I'm back in Omaha now, but while I was on the road yesterday, some "unauthorized third party" hacked into my eBay account, changed the password and email and posted their own auction. EBay then TKO'd that their account and sale, but I'm wondering, what now?

BTW, here's more cast from the "Car the Cried Alarm".

long drive home

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a $80 fill up.

I'm driving up to Omaha or Soldier today and I wish that this was a short flight instead of a long drive.

So I'm posting one of my 'ornicycle" sketches.

Although if I redo it, it will have car engine fans instead of HVAC fans for the "wheels". It will also have more exotic, more arcane, and wider spanned bat-like wings instead of a mere hang glider bolted on.

DGH

it's friday...

AFCS classes are over today.

Here's a picture for some of the cast of "The Car That Cried Alarm", another proposed Fractured Fairy Tale pastiche. Some the the characters are going to get tweaked a bit more.

second stringers

Here's John Henry and his friend shorty from one of my proposed Fractured Fairy Tale pastiches.

I was thinking about those stupid Van Beuren elves. Thinking about how the gloomy gnomes did instigate the conflict just because the they didn't like the elves ruining their day with happiness and sunshine, when they should have been keeping their distance from those horrible purveyors of joy. See, the aggressor or instigator in cartoons always gets the short end, unless they're Woody Woodpecker. Whether it's wrong to force somebody to be something against their will and nature even if it's consensus conventional wisdom that it's for their own good. And that I shouldn't think so much about a stupid obscure old cartoon.

Is it me or does about any Van Bueren, Iwerks, or post WW2 Famous cartoon just drip second stringiness?

Got two and a half pages left to pencil on Captain Saucer. More importantly, there's a big AFCS final tomorrow.

DGH

"i don't wanna be happy! i wanna be sad!"

Here's Puff Puff from "The Dumpy Little Princess". I might change its horns from the sides of the head to the nose to make it more monster-like and less cow-like.

Saw Van Beuren's "Sunshine Makers" on a dollar DVD last night. So were the sunny elves right in forcing the gloomy gnomes and associated animals and plants to be conform to their idea of happy and colorful? For their supposed good? Even if it's against their will and nature?

Otherwise a nondescript humpday in Norman, OK.

"they got their steely dan t-shirts...."

Here's a picture of Wingding from Captain Saucer, doing one of the things she does best, stretching Steely Dan T-shirts out of shape!

And the big frumpette is far from being a "Show Biz Kid".

For Trick or Treat yesterday, I was treated by somebody in a black turtle neck and jeans. The OS 10.4.3 update is out and I snagged it!

Also rewrote some Captain Saucer pages after class.