Archive for April, 2009

My view for four days. Well, add some rain and maybe a fire.

Yep, kids, I’m back from the wilds of Michigan. I spent four days in the middle of farms, lakes and various wildlife doing a whole lot of nothing. Well, that’s not true. I did drink a lot. And eat cake (it was my girlfriend’s birthday). And chuck wood. And draw. And write a bit. But mostly, it was nothing.

However, that’s not why we’re here. We’re here because this week’s episode of the internet’s favorite emo high school dramedy webcomic, The Utopian, is now live and available for your perusal. Even better, I got the hair up my butt to launch it on a brand-new website, so, yeah, go check it out: www.theutopiancomic.com

Here’s a totally out-of-context preview:

Jocks, murder and parties? GREATEST COMIC EVER.

Yeah, you can’t go wrong.

A preview from this week's "The Utopian"

Harrah’s Rock Band competitions and As Yet Unbroken shows aside, I’ve been somewhat of a recluse lately, as between the regular freelance journalism gigs, I’ve been spending just about every waking minute working on writing of a different kind: Comic books. In addition to wrapping up a series pitch about which I’ve only mentioned in hushed tones publicly, you should be vaguely aware of the weekly digital comic series I launched last week at the all-new Pop! Goes the Icon, The Utopian. The newest installment is live and ready for your enjoyment (or disappointment).

In addition, I penned a blog post over at PGTI pulling back the curtain to reveal the process that goes into the making of even the seemingly simplest webcomic. Because, you know, why not?

Allegedly, I have a review in the current issue of What’s On Las Vegas, though I haven’t seen it yet. The magazine, I mean.

What’s my point? Oh. Yeah, so I’ve been busy doing all this other nonsense, and in the meantime, I have about a half-dozen saved drafts of blog posts with titles such as “L.A. Story” and “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood” sitting on the back end of this site, just waiting for my completion, as well as a spreadsheet full of upcoming art-related events needing attention for my Las Vegas Fine Arts Examiner gig.

I’m flying off to the Midwest for five days, which means none of these things will get much attention, because I could really use a mental break. But I will have a notebook and sketchbook with me, so hopefully all that time either cooped up in airplanes or surrounded by lakes and trees will shake out some junk trapped up in this noggin of mine. When I return, well, I’ll be hard at work but that’ll just give you kids something more to look at. So there.

I learned of Boom Studios’ Cover Girl graphic novel (actually, a trade collection of the eponymous five-issue series) via Kevin Church’s website, BeaucoupKevin.com. As a regular reader of his blog and webcomic The Rack, I figured anything Kevin touched couldn’t suck. Plus, I try to support my friends’ creative output, so I clicked the Amazon link on his website and bought the trade, not really knowing what to expect.

Well, it turned out that I wasn’t just humoring Kevin by buying Cover Girl, which he scripted from a plot by Eureka creator Andrew Crosby: It’s a damn good story, one that packs in a whole lot of dialog, action and humor into 128 pages. The basic premise: Struggling, dumb-but-pretty actor Alex Martin plays hero, becomes Hollywood’s next “It” boy, gets wrapped up in a mystery that finds him on the wrong end of guns, explosives and fists, and is saddled with tough-but-smoking-hot bodyguard Rachel Dodd.

Yeah, on the surface, it’s pretty much Moonlighting-meets-Lethal Weapon, but along the way, Andrew and Kevin use Cover Girl to take shots at just about every aspect of the motion picture industry, punctuated by acerbic, punchy dialog crafted by … acerbic, punchy Kevin. While the resolution of the main plotline comes a little too easy, it doesn’t detract from the overall satisfaction I felt finishing the book. It’s just a fun, engaging read, with vibrant, clean art from Mateus Santolouco. And really, what more can one ask from their funnybooks?

Hey, remember I wrote that I’d be singing with my fake band, SP7.3, at the Harrah’s Total Rock, Total Rewards “Rock Band” competition on Tuesday?

Yeah, that’s done.

Scott, Cindi, Josh and I brought the thunder and tore up the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer.” While at least three other “bands” chose Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Give it Away” in order to rack up millions of points to like, win or something, we decided to put more emphasis on performance and not worry about silly things like scoring or whatever. And … hell, we got a better reception that my REAL band usually does! (Ha, just kidding Tim, Mark and Rick! Really! Don’t fire me!)

I’ll eschew the boring details and go right into the video and photos, because, well, that’s why you’re here, right?

Patrick Berge, John Meglen, Carlos Santana, Mayor Oscar Goodman and Randy Kwasniewski cut the cord on the new Joint. (Photo by Erik Kabik / Retna)

I was not a fan of the Joint concert hall inside the Hard Rock Hotel. Oh, sure I saw dozens of shows there — including Modest Mouse, Morrissey, Marilyn Manson, No Doubt and Air — but its cavernous, boxy design, poor sightlines, impossible bar situation, echoey sound and irritating traffic flow made it somewhat less than a stellar live music venue.

But with the property-wide remodeling of the Hard Rock, the Joint has been shuttered (closed down with a two-night stint by Motley Crue) and across the casino floor, an entirely new Joint has been erected. The $60 million venue is double the size and capacity of its predecessor — adding 700 fixed balcony seats and seven VIP suites  — yet retains the relatively intimate feel audiences have come to know, with no seat more than 155 feet from the stage.

Designed by renowned Montreal architectural firm Scéno Plus, the new concert hall incorporates new features such as wireless internet access, a full blogging station for media and 38 flat screens throughout the venue. Oddly, the blogging station, located near the main doors next to the balcony escalator, is not within sight of either one of those flat screens or the actual stage.

Despite that minor complaint, I have to admit: It’s a beautiful improvement over the old Joint. The general floor area now has multiple, staggered levels (unlike the two sharp drops in the original). The bar area, which caused much misery due to its proximity to the exits and its understaffing, is now greatly expanded and enclosed behind half walls. With glass and steel accents, lighted guitar fretboard walls and multiple viewing levels, this new Joint feels like a real, modern concert venue and not a makeshift gymnasium — a distinction it had to make once the much-better-equipped Pearl concert hall opened at the Palms a few years ago.

Of course, the real proof of success will come when the first shows hit the new Joint this weekend: The Killers on Friday, Avenged Sevenfold on Saturday and Sir Paul McCartney himself on Sunday. Not that you’d be able to get tickets to the Friday or Sunday gigs, but Aveneged Sevenfold — if that’s your thing — still has spots available. If anyone goes to any of this opening weekend’s shows, swing back by here and let me know how they went. I’m curious if the sound in the new Joint is as much of an improvement over its predecessor as its aesthetics already have proven to be.

April Fool’s pronouncements of authoring ridiculous Marvel Comics storylines aside, I really have been toiling away on writing a comic book series or two for pitching to a publisher or ten. I won’t say much more than that, but I will say that in the meantime I went off half-cocked, relaunched the Pop! Goes the Icon website, and even worse, further proved I’m a glutton for punishment who hates sleep and everyone else by launching with it a weekly webcomic written and drawn by yours truly.

And so, kiddies, allow me to introduce you to The Utopian, the first digital release from Pop! Goes the Icon. The weekly serialized strip follows the exploits of high school senior James Douglas. He has little to show for his 17 years and no prospects ahead. But what happens next could change all of that … or end it. If you’re in the least bit curious, the first four-page installment is now posted over at PGTI, as will each new chapter every Wednesday (I hope).

Feel free to lunge feedback my way. In the meantime, I’ll be feverishly working on next week’s strip. Thanks for your support.

This Fine Arts Examiner thing is interesting. It’s giving me an opportunity to broaden my understanding of facets of the arts I’ve previously had little experience with. During my time as a contributor to the CityLife and as editor at both The Rebel Yell newspaper and Racket magazine, I covered visual art inside and out, from interviews with artists and gallerists to assessments (let’s not call them reviews) of painting, sculpture, mixed media, photography and other gallery staples.

But areas such as dance, opera and — to some extent — poetry are fairly undiscovered territory for me, journalistically.  So forgive me if I stumble a bit, but I have to say I’m fairly pleased with my first review of a ballet performance, and expect to see more such coverage in the near future. Here’s what you may have missed:

• Nevada Ballet Theatre breaks genre barriers with “American Masters”
• Clark County School District students given a “VOICE” in the art world
• Contemporary Arts Center encourages culture lovers to get “Off The Strip”

In the works are reviews of the “Classic Contemporary” show at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art and the new Danielle Kelly exhibit at Henri & Odette, and other stuff that’s all artsy and whatnot. If it’s your thing, be sure to sign up for RSS updates. Go art!