tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63170411015511944502024-03-05T19:45:17.533-08:00The MuseMike Hoffman's Blog about Art and LifeTheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-47324693506792963172022-02-05T08:19:00.001-08:002022-02-05T08:19:15.223-08:00"100 Years of Rain" Original Song by Mike Hoffman AKA Arturo Bastard<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/_OluDkfuczw" frameborder="0"></iframe>TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-76322568102912227102020-01-07T05:36:00.001-08:002020-01-07T05:36:40.759-08:00Fanatics Reunion Show 2019<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qRtLJc5Ryos" width="480"></iframe>TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-57609709826599763662020-01-06T12:45:00.001-08:002020-01-06T12:45:03.909-08:00The StarTrip Band Performance Project<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xnkJX-VHwzg" width="480"></iframe>TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-58069451838313480872017-05-04T05:07:00.001-07:002017-05-04T05:07:33.514-07:00Mike Hoffman Patreon Page Intro Video<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Exw2VKyOkbk" width="480"></iframe>TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-86023899560418625402016-09-13T16:54:00.001-07:002016-09-13T16:54:25.770-07:00Millions of Zombies<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/slsFo39JA-c" width="459"></iframe>TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-40981945758359109632016-06-28T19:20:00.000-07:002016-06-28T19:20:24.896-07:00<div class="payhip-embed-page" data-key="gc0j">
...</div>
<script src="https://payhip.com/embed-page.js" type="text/javascript"></script>TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-27456445954359019012016-01-28T12:38:00.000-08:002016-01-28T12:42:39.988-08:00The Year Love Got Drafted...<i>It's pretty irritating seeing the word "Love" in almost every ad, email subject line, TV commercial, billboard etc. these days, I feel it seriously cheapens the most precious Human attribute, hence this poem...</i><u> </u><br />
<u><br /></u>
<u>The Love Button</u><br />
<br />
Love that folder?<br />
Love our new "app"?<br />
Love to go shopping<br />
At the "Shop Now" command?<br />
Love that ol' eBay<br />
Love posts, pins and pics<br />
Hardly any left<br />
For all the people we'll miss<br />
That are right here around us<br />
Beside us, in fact<br />
But those who'll co-opt that "Love"<br />
Don't care about that<br />
Sure, "like" turned to "love"<br />
It wasn't strong enough<br />
To make you dig in your pocket<br />
Or push buttons on demand<br />
Is that "Love" for a button<br />
The same as the Family kind?<br />
Or the one that you've cared about<br />
Since the dawn of Time?<br />
The ante was upped<br />
Around 2015<br />
The year Love got drafted<br />
By the Powers that be<br />
Don't let them take it away<br />
Have your own say<br />
'Coz Love belongs to People<br />
Not Products and Profiteers<br />
Okay?<br />
<br />
<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-63031653336640227772015-12-19T12:50:00.003-08:002015-12-19T12:52:13.811-08:00Merry Christmas 2015...I've released a newly-colored version of my Santa Claus comic, you can get your own softcover copy on Amazon at <a href="https://www.createspace.com/5928663" target="_blank">The Jingle Book</a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRUZcP6KKI0zpezQwWllqecPHe1SAD2WyL5uSCLNHeBcJPrgdcKaPk1_Ukk02POjEeK7e1ZUQTXLHc8_1o_cWIbHxjbD7wuu6XlUggVRAvkGg8sJ-mxilItOdT4gX3EHIWn1sQjD8EGAk/s1600/wrapcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRUZcP6KKI0zpezQwWllqecPHe1SAD2WyL5uSCLNHeBcJPrgdcKaPk1_Ukk02POjEeK7e1ZUQTXLHc8_1o_cWIbHxjbD7wuu6XlUggVRAvkGg8sJ-mxilItOdT4gX3EHIWn1sQjD8EGAk/s320/wrapcover.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The magnificent new wraparound cover.</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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It's a new take on an old tale, the mythology of Santa Claus, hopefully relevant to our day and age. Some say Santa's really just an invention of Corporate America, and there's probably some truth to that. At the very least old "Saint Nick" got a little co-opted to make a buck.<br />
<br />
Corporate re-structuring of Christmas is certainly at full thrust today, as a trip to any chain store like Target or Walmart will illustrate. All the Big Boys are lined up there to deliver: Marvel, Nerf, Disney, etc. etc. The dominance is so total that there's literally no room left for anything else. No cracks at all; totally sewn-up, and scientifically engineered to penetrate kids' heads.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYRIYZvgvSXQt-DHWGW7hplFsf5ZjECIyaVp5zv6hD-cbjMenFrlPgV4WaVh6xMAmwwwZUHYUgy6d9y_MrJf6LrGAftpkqrN8DOTMcsqXP4SlpllDhXWXH9nYbfZfuOmMjjC6V02ByVg/s1600/birth-12months-v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYRIYZvgvSXQt-DHWGW7hplFsf5ZjECIyaVp5zv6hD-cbjMenFrlPgV4WaVh6xMAmwwwZUHYUgy6d9y_MrJf6LrGAftpkqrN8DOTMcsqXP4SlpllDhXWXH9nYbfZfuOmMjjC6V02ByVg/s320/birth-12months-v2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A push-button prison.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The device or "toy" shown above is only a halfway measure to overtake natural development in a child. Next are devices for intra-uterine use, so kids can get accustomed to pushing buttons while still in the womb. Would you feel comfortable giving your child this gadget "at birth"? If so, why? To prepare them for "the workplace"?<br />
<br />
Then there's the sheer expense, mainly the robotic "toys" that kids tire of in about two days but which cost families a sizeable chunk o' change. I remember the robot dinosaurs from about ten years back, do you? They're mainly forgotten in the landfills, but the profits definitely went to the Top.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpPQh0AcRBcRMHXVcYA31fDurh1cpV2HTZBiOhBDhq_Zb3uuMR3jHevdJalw042hbaykV4y2q25Abq5rqQxE1YRG5EgAkAKB3u01abMN48kVmjwHup30UP4fvbgmqa_NKgFDf8Lh-R5A0/s1600/18months-3years-v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpPQh0AcRBcRMHXVcYA31fDurh1cpV2HTZBiOhBDhq_Zb3uuMR3jHevdJalw042hbaykV4y2q25Abq5rqQxE1YRG5EgAkAKB3u01abMN48kVmjwHup30UP4fvbgmqa_NKgFDf8Lh-R5A0/s320/18months-3years-v2.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>You can't possibly be a good parent for less than $189.99</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Lastly, we have the clear messages that corporate toys send to children. Plenty of injuries are on record from kindergartens and elementary schools due to karate-chops inspired by Power Rangers, superheroes and violence-oriented toys. I realize that most stories need some level of conflict to reach necessary conclusions, but in most cases I'd trust the opinions of an expert on children like Mister Rogers rather than corporations, Hollywood or the NRA.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEbJHb66onEDCjBwu8mINdqJz_O-_Ugv0OhgZzl1NqzwWY58NlsL0KjKw3PPCtw3OWRQFMlXP9q2I_hFTi29ICLV7MKfHvrAHdYscnmJesaxgzDhrI8DdcJPG0lxdrdob3fRP7sLobkW8/s1600/3years-4years-v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEbJHb66onEDCjBwu8mINdqJz_O-_Ugv0OhgZzl1NqzwWY58NlsL0KjKw3PPCtw3OWRQFMlXP9q2I_hFTi29ICLV7MKfHvrAHdYscnmJesaxgzDhrI8DdcJPG0lxdrdob3fRP7sLobkW8/s320/3years-4years-v2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Recommended for children age 3 and up.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It's not really complicated: showing violence as a solution presents violence as a solution. But discussing this subject publicly can naturally lead to some violent verbal arguments, harmless karate chops and nerf-shootings.<br />
<br />
<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-16279801259604647442015-11-24T09:07:00.000-08:002015-11-24T09:07:17.487-08:00To a Student...<i>The following is excerpted from correspondence from my "Guru" Art instruction program.</i><br />
<br />
People live in "Seasons" you know, and the phase where we try to conquer the world does eventually pass. Then we may look back on it all more clearly.<br />
<br />
My own experience is similar because in the beginning you want to win the war, the victory, gain the adulation, respect, acknowledgement and all that. It is, of course, ego. So we want the best arsenal--or toolkit--to give us an advantage. We collect books, swipe files, go to zoos with sketchpads, and fall asleep at night wrestling with sticky drawing problems, have dreams with Famous Artists in them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3WsI1mUyyY_ovtm_eTrfBhekYRmgpIhOWbXE6G0uvIoT5KDTKCGOexE8CNqy0eQbG5yDEj8lwin3F5-dvvMACrYyBbpnb7oZ58O32kc61sq1iA6QMaprDNBfOQ9LOGFdY0D_JC7kc5-s/s1600/green+guru.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3WsI1mUyyY_ovtm_eTrfBhekYRmgpIhOWbXE6G0uvIoT5KDTKCGOexE8CNqy0eQbG5yDEj8lwin3F5-dvvMACrYyBbpnb7oZ58O32kc61sq1iA6QMaprDNBfOQ9LOGFdY0D_JC7kc5-s/s1600/green+guru.jpg" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_480374291"></span><span id="goog_480374292"></span><br />
And we may choose a "Master" artist to apprentice to. There's an inherent contradiction with admiring and emulating a "master artist" all the while trying to unseat and surpass him. It's a little like killing your parents, and seems an insoluble dilemma.<br />
<br />
But the real truth is what artists like Picasso and Chagall discovered, and that is there are no Master artists. More truthful is that everyone is an artist, but they are limited by their beliefs. They are in fact that: Limiting Beliefs. But they can be transcended.<br />
<br />
Not to make little or light of how you feel at the moment, or make the solution look too easy, too obvious or too clear.<br />
<br />
But Art can exist for many different reasons, it can come from "the Soul", dependent on your beliefs and experiences, or it can come from the Ego. Children and Aborigines draw from their core selves, but we make the mistake of trying to do it from our egos and intellects. Then we have to take it all the way and hopefully come out on the other side.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIfcBhqandvBygJ98oVLoifl0c9AWg0BA58hY8cD_6BZLXO7zTWkO8ElCwagRwBfGU4qDa5Q93V98ojVdts0slWYbkP0HGjwQKXV0K9DNJbSz-xQyE8pUVGBsJ9lZsfIFJqF83VE7hqw/s1600/aboriginal-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiIfcBhqandvBygJ98oVLoifl0c9AWg0BA58hY8cD_6BZLXO7zTWkO8ElCwagRwBfGU4qDa5Q93V98ojVdts0slWYbkP0HGjwQKXV0K9DNJbSz-xQyE8pUVGBsJ9lZsfIFJqF83VE7hqw/s1600/aboriginal-art.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Another artist who is working from his Ego is not going to help you, in fact he is only going to beat you down. <br />
<br />
I've had students who experience tremendous anxieties, fears of failure, and minds that race nonstop in a mad-dash attempt to conquer the problem--or climb the mountain, or whatever. When you consider how technically difficult it all is it does get a little daunting. But it all happens a step at a time. Racing, getting ahead of oneself, can be self-sabotage.<br />
<br />
It's frustrating to be going at maximum effort and then fail over and over again, so in a way the answer has got to be some sort of Zen-like understanding of one's self and one's Intentions, our inner programming.<br />
<br />
Have you wondered why drawing figures engenders a constant "failure mode" for years and years, but a child can't possibly fail to create a picture they find pleasing and satisfying? Is their picture "better" than ours, or the other way around?<br />
<br />
Being an artist and trying to master complex skills like Drawing and Painting is like falling off a bike over and over again, so no wonder it is terrible for morale. But there are ways around it. <br />
<br />
You know my Monster drawing books say you're going to make mistakes and you should encourage them, after all you're drawing monsters? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-GXJq2mn-VL5osG97Wc9bZcsQn5Gv2Vfw1spmzc32GmNa-kUVPlroRyHOfbDhRjUgn0FRQjFiEC86xrNqlACelFpFoqHXTmOFwKP8G5inHZW-6Wdh7ozMzHIjpNzFRLbES0RQYdcxF6Q/s1600/ycdm-23+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-GXJq2mn-VL5osG97Wc9bZcsQn5Gv2Vfw1spmzc32GmNa-kUVPlroRyHOfbDhRjUgn0FRQjFiEC86xrNqlACelFpFoqHXTmOFwKP8G5inHZW-6Wdh7ozMzHIjpNzFRLbES0RQYdcxF6Q/s320/ycdm-23+copy.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
<br />
So making mistakes is actually a good process because we have to in order to learn. There is no other way. Feet too big? Head too small? Change them next time around. <br />
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You're always going be changing and evolving, your Art too, so there never really is "a destination" you arrive at. At any given time, you are where you're meant to be. When you look at a drawing from last year, or even last week, you know you've evolved since then. And you know you'll do better next time, and after that, after that....<br />
<br />
But pushing too hard in the wrong areas can severely choke off progress, but we "obsessive types" like to do that. So we may need to take a break, back off and develop a deeper understanding of what's going on, our motivations, our hopes, and what we bring to it all from our background.<br />
<br />
One of the main reasons The Artist gets killed in people is due to their parents lack of encouragement or outright criticism. All our later acts in life get molded by these sorts of experiences. My Dad hated comics with a passion, right up until I got my first paycheck for drawing them. <br />
<br />
But you can get other aspects of yourself badly bruised and they will profoundly affect your life's trajectory, even though The Folks might have totally approved of the Art Career. Those old wounds, patterns, or whatever, can still dictate and "pilot the vehicle" so to speak.<br />
<br />
But what you don't need is to believe you're somehow doing something wrong.TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-25605101457173134082015-11-23T11:10:00.000-08:002015-11-23T19:23:10.043-08:00Shock of the You...I knew a guy once who had a "cheek tear", this was way back in grade school, he'd gotten caught with a nail some kids has stuck into a baseball bat and were swinging around. It must be strange to get stared at your whole life because of an injury or abnormality.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVSdD9CpE03c4UUXv-QXf7MHYN_0H4UATj0L2Kh1mEwxxKhvmh3g-a_TxeT3Zwuji5yAbmcId0QUA6ktDMrBL6agFHhTst2nF6zjOsI0waeVW3njCOItbHEEJnbX7RwlYLDGr7n7myqdY/s1600/cheektear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVSdD9CpE03c4UUXv-QXf7MHYN_0H4UATj0L2Kh1mEwxxKhvmh3g-a_TxeT3Zwuji5yAbmcId0QUA6ktDMrBL6agFHhTst2nF6zjOsI0waeVW3njCOItbHEEJnbX7RwlYLDGr7n7myqdY/s200/cheektear.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>No limits on limits.</i></span></div>
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Nowadays, that guy would probably get lots of comments like "great makeup job!" especially around October. I've recently seen the face tear thing even on women, and I'm sorry for being old-fashioned, but it bothers me a little. Add to that the billions of gallons of fake blood every Halloween, I'm beginning to lose any understanding of what's happening. Or maybe I can figure it out here. Should I try?<br />
<br />
It's no mistake that we live in a World loaded with Suffering, pain is everywhere, and though sometimes it's nice and sunny there's always a duality at play. With Art, the Shock of the New tends to make the Establishment react--so they'll reflexively dub any new movements "ugly". The <a href="https://www.artrenewal.org/" target="_blank">ARC</a> folks claim all Modern Art in an ugly swindle. What do you think?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1xKqR5xQGe2_Nic_vSkpodeP7K_AYUPZH_wIWN36omwBQdo75AxPHL3QQIPc2dqTXg2UnCXMBpXvi1NRmKs4VT4JhgDplbZlAhuWWDxc9zm2u-_5cW7_Z0vB2bsXghP-PCW0QOE7_qGw/s1600/Pollack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1xKqR5xQGe2_Nic_vSkpodeP7K_AYUPZH_wIWN36omwBQdo75AxPHL3QQIPc2dqTXg2UnCXMBpXvi1NRmKs4VT4JhgDplbZlAhuWWDxc9zm2u-_5cW7_Z0vB2bsXghP-PCW0QOE7_qGw/s320/Pollack.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> An ugly stain from the kitchen?</i></span></div>
<br />
Today I leafed through the new issue of "Juxtapoz" while at the local grocery store, and I suppose I am the type of person that the younger breed of shock artists are after when they break out the blood, guts and negativity--notice I didn't say "ugly". If rotting baby corpses on pitchforks get someone some attention, then you can be sure someone will do it. It's probably already been done, probably in the Death Metal circles.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJTuIrRUup0mMFBNNaDFf3EXLi2ljPBsmZ9bEGONBywqntAiFivtwpul-ZQCGnGird-0e8p14UpYnY3pDKnB5cuuT0uhWPd4CIs-WknGBITaUQU4xI2seNlt7u1ky1_Ud6IFgZVHSfIU/s1600/gwar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLJTuIrRUup0mMFBNNaDFf3EXLi2ljPBsmZ9bEGONBywqntAiFivtwpul-ZQCGnGird-0e8p14UpYnY3pDKnB5cuuT0uhWPd4CIs-WknGBITaUQU4xI2seNlt7u1ky1_Ud6IFgZVHSfIU/s320/gwar.jpg" width="255" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Check out the mag--it's all status-quo revolting.</i></span></div>
<br />
I'm not arguing that Evil doesn't or shouldn't exist, or that Art shouldn't include Pain as a subject, but rather simply to state that negativity is <i>easy. </i> If you roll in something dead and go to party, then you will get noticed. But the other thing, the opposite, which might be called "upliftment", is certainly not easy, nor is it as corny as the nego-death crowd would like to have it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UrBxQCLUpKYeanwzYOpGzjaYf5HcKFXkeVsv5t0vlYRn2WFHJ7Fh8oaiymC7155n1e31sz8jDjG9pbB0PoqDMbYhR9gSAx4bUlWE_BoBfXqVOzOPHMO3e0L0SOK10SVGgT3pDI0tYZ0/s1600/Big+Eye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UrBxQCLUpKYeanwzYOpGzjaYf5HcKFXkeVsv5t0vlYRn2WFHJ7Fh8oaiymC7155n1e31sz8jDjG9pbB0PoqDMbYhR9gSAx4bUlWE_BoBfXqVOzOPHMO3e0L0SOK10SVGgT3pDI0tYZ0/s1600/Big+Eye.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Big-Eye puppy need face tear?</i></span></div>
<br />
So people inevitably work out their inner conflicts, and if babies on meathooks help then so be it, but I for one can't see how. It just seems to be cheap, fast gimmick to replace talent, imagination and hard work, and supply a quick fame-fix. And trying to avoid criticism by saying it's all "just fake" is getting to be a tired excuse. How about just fake Nazi Concentration camps? People with anorexia could find work there. <br />
<br />
Shock is a poor replacement for Talent.<br />
<br />
<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-53873162582404529972015-05-29T15:26:00.000-07:002015-05-29T15:30:18.120-07:00A Random Episode...Jack had moved into the neighborhood a few years back and got along relatively well with his next-door neighbor Fred initially, but after a few months found himself becoming more and more irritated by little things, his mannerisms, their gardening methods, the timbre and volume of his voice, playing their radio outside, all these things and more got stored away in a little mental folder Jack was amassing.<br />
<br />
That library was growing constantly and became a pretty huge collection right before "The Episode".
Fred had borrowed some tools a few weeks prior, and Jack asked to have them back. The innocuous way Fred answered wouldn't have caused a second thought for most people, but whereas Jack's extensive Library of History was concerned is was rude, obnoxious, and mainly--it was arrogant. It may be often said that it takes one to recognize one, but Jack's library didn't contain that info yet.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpfjCuTbLdUkzT4A-o7sPuQqPCy4JDyem41dKc5DImuYaHSKRjH_b-8_RR0RG3YAeSwwh1_Wv-NoqWn7N8PfrZBY_3DC6SEz7OzKgA8cC2ti_nvx8Y-A8Iffxl3wJN1TGZAfLPAjqV_BM/s1600/Hammer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpfjCuTbLdUkzT4A-o7sPuQqPCy4JDyem41dKc5DImuYaHSKRjH_b-8_RR0RG3YAeSwwh1_Wv-NoqWn7N8PfrZBY_3DC6SEz7OzKgA8cC2ti_nvx8Y-A8Iffxl3wJN1TGZAfLPAjqV_BM/s320/Hammer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A reasonable facsimile of the hammer.</span></i></div>
<br />
So Jack went to his garage, picked up a hammer, and entered Fred's back yard via the alleyway gate. The shouting argument that ensued wound up with Jack smacking Fred twice in the head with the hammer. His wife ran outside in shock as Fred's two kids stared in amazement from a window. Fred died of those head injuries a few hours later in the hospital. The local media had a field day.<br />
<br />
At a point before sentencing, Jack was interviewed by a court Psychologist. He'd expressed shock, wonderment and guilt regarding his actions against Fred, but admitted that immediately after the murder he'd felt "just fine, very calm". It was only later, several days later, that the true impact of his deed settled in.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65GsjUctPMGTmZmAa8AYibEN2L0jwI5zUVp7LTEYPzHXKt1aetMfVw3kj0-KLweA7hG4TOYfUSxYUgvItZnO0H9dzgv3uW8JDNo_m6SJF93mmew5dxBD4qV500GeUvk7GVkQip5MK-OQ/s1600/Window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi65GsjUctPMGTmZmAa8AYibEN2L0jwI5zUVp7LTEYPzHXKt1aetMfVw3kj0-KLweA7hG4TOYfUSxYUgvItZnO0H9dzgv3uW8JDNo_m6SJF93mmew5dxBD4qV500GeUvk7GVkQip5MK-OQ/s320/Window.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The witnesses' window.</i></span></div>
<br />
Fred's surviving wife and children were devastated, to say the least. Jack was given 50 years, essentially a life sentence.
No one could really understand why the killing had happened, but the official diagnosis of the Psychiatrist was that Jack was "Third-Degree Bi-Polar". To some, that's an adequate explanation.<br />
<br />
Jack discovered that the prison was full of others just like himself, people with the very same diagnosis. Some called it 3D-BPD.<br />
<br />
<i><u>Addendum</u></i><br />
<br />
<i>In another timeline, a scientist developed a technique by which a triangulation of laser beams was used to stimulate inactive portions of the brain, thereby creating a more balanced mood and moderate behavior. In this reality, however, people with such disorders as BPD may simply wind up incarcerated--period.</i>TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-76444832947655595222015-04-14T16:00:00.001-07:002015-04-14T16:00:11.941-07:00Mike Hoffman Video Blog "Vlog" Debut...I've mainly stopped writing text entries for this Blog and switched to the no-typing version, like the "Vlog" episode #3 below. So now you can quickly & easily find out what I'm up to in "real time" over on my Youtube channel. But of course you can still comment here. <br><br>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q1Wktzdd_PU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-82353338490202021352015-01-08T18:45:00.001-08:002015-03-05T09:16:16.826-08:00Abstract Demo by Mike Hoffman 2 Handed Sharpie Intuitive GraffitiI do a fair bit of abstract drawing & painting these days, some with both hands simultaneously (like this demo) and others with only the left. Or, novel approaches like changing the hand grip to something awkward and unusual--a stabbing fist, for example. <br />
<br />
It's surprising how this kick-starting of unused portions of your brain affects your "regular drawing" when you go back to the patterns you know well. I mean, after a while, like many decades, your drawing ideas, conceptually, just flow out on automatic, without thinking. That's good for some tasks, but it's not everything.<br />
<br />
Some call drawing like this "Meditative", and considering how it reeducates your brain wiring that's quite appropriate.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xwolVddRXVw" width="480"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
Here's another demo, accelerated, showing how the drawing approach has changed from using the left hand and R/L techniques for a while.<br />
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<iframe width="480" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QZi61khxbzk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />
<br />
And you don't really have to be an artist to try this sorta stuff, I encourage everyone to grab a couple of Sharpies (I use the giant chisel points) and give it a try. And please send your results to me and we'll share 'em!<br />
<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-63163109769066552582014-09-17T15:04:00.003-07:002014-09-17T17:20:31.873-07:00Good Vibrations...The other day I had a visit from a trans-dimensional being, you know, the kind from a higher vibratory plane? That sorta stuff happens all the time around here. Don't think what you see is all that exists, it ain't. But don't just take my word for it either, or else you'd technically be hallucinating.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOEqih0CAMLx9ErVSFXQnJv5zG_9scZdte6F61uvbReh0RieGLR2vRho4PBC7npbMc_Q6f8U5C4bFKDrc9uaGRdBeED8dFbq-r2eLB9yX7bahkBw1uxV0cQgrylFl3d_ZLJeWATgkz4g/s1600/Lotus+Portal+12x15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOEqih0CAMLx9ErVSFXQnJv5zG_9scZdte6F61uvbReh0RieGLR2vRho4PBC7npbMc_Q6f8U5C4bFKDrc9uaGRdBeED8dFbq-r2eLB9yX7bahkBw1uxV0cQgrylFl3d_ZLJeWATgkz4g/s1600/Lotus+Portal+12x15.jpg" height="320" width="256" /> </a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">A recent artwork inspired by a download from 5D.</span></i></div>
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Anyway, there we were chatting in the kitchen, and our cat walked by. This visitor took one look and said "You'd better get that cat looked at, it's got a growth in its abdomen". I wasn't surprised as "Tiggy" has been having trouble leaping around lately. Later, the vet verified it-- a tumor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJuXvLlmjnyXla9E0V2pIRlFHXUfWtGtm8wqiEW1iqwLjXAYiIeCiDNjcBibF5UGkRofDZcQVzNY2g_vqIhyphenhyphenZufHaT2XtnbfLbwkdGzF1RstK14c7CcZgqAfdbG8mxN6AsrIusVJaA9Y/s1600/OpeningShapeGlow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJuXvLlmjnyXla9E0V2pIRlFHXUfWtGtm8wqiEW1iqwLjXAYiIeCiDNjcBibF5UGkRofDZcQVzNY2g_vqIhyphenhyphenZufHaT2XtnbfLbwkdGzF1RstK14c7CcZgqAfdbG8mxN6AsrIusVJaA9Y/s1600/OpeningShapeGlow.jpg" height="213" width="320" /> </a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I had to pull the car over to receive this one.</i></span></div>
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If you think of Sound as a vibration, which it is, then imagine Sound increased in vibration a few million times, beyond the level of hearing, microwaves and all else, and you get <i>LIGHT</i>. Light is currently an absolute for our Science, the "speed limit" of the Universe, etc. etc.<br />
<br />
But if you take Light and increase its vibration to a similar degree, then what do you get, kids? You get <i>CONSCIOUSNESS</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbN9LRhToYWAiWyXhtkzGJIjhn_QiTZUIGxhNUDQZJ6rF96ULVuyhCo4E71TycqnP1UmzW6kuOSwQwRDnNQ7JCS7HBDy5lFi2Nwhdm1mxB_9xG4zrKEPry8bfAtnTyrBZ8TsDl1tXc51Q/s1600/Leaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbN9LRhToYWAiWyXhtkzGJIjhn_QiTZUIGxhNUDQZJ6rF96ULVuyhCo4E71TycqnP1UmzW6kuOSwQwRDnNQ7JCS7HBDy5lFi2Nwhdm1mxB_9xG4zrKEPry8bfAtnTyrBZ8TsDl1tXc51Q/s1600/Leaf.jpg" height="320" width="221" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>And now today--it's back again as a reminder.</i></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">This is why your consciousness inhabits multiple planes, timelines, past/future scenarios, etc., and why it seems intangible and is currently unmeasurable.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">But don't take my word for it, that would be wrong.</span><br />
<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-85106679226025679162014-07-18T17:45:00.001-07:002014-09-17T15:08:40.997-07:00I Miss Octavia...I received the following communication in September 2011, concerning my first novel <i>The Gemini Ring.</i><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"> There are hints in the book that the reality we are presented with
may be other than normal, but we are experiencing it through Peters'
point of view, and Peters is a rationalist. Is he experiencing premonition and transformation from life to afterlife?
Is Octavia some mad Frankensteinian genius, a devotee of the
transformative power of creation, ensnaring men in her seductive
web? Is she some darkly angelic force of nature who ushers the doomed to
their next incarnation? Does being one preclude being the other? In
this story, I think, by being the former, she also acts in the role of
the latter. Is she truly timeless? When she says that she has known
Peters' father and grandfather, does she mean his direct progenitors, or
is she referring to his "father" as all men who have come before? By
how many names has she been known, and by how many men? I do not obsess
over answers, I revel in the Mystery - it is a philosophy I have come to
embrace over time. I got to the final page of THE GEMINI RING after a
second reading and found my self halted in my tracks, once again. What I
take from it is a sense of transformative freedom, all ego destroyed,
and existence simplified. Anyhow, as I see it, by the end, Peters has
traveled beyond the point of return, but he finds that he cannot
continue on in the direction he has been going, so he relies upon
Octavia and friends to choose what is best for him. And what is best for
Peters, the most compassionate decision, is to release him from it all.
He will never be one of them, and he cannot go back to who he once
was. At least that is how I feel about it. The ending is beautiful, and
that is not changed by whatever horrors may have led up to it, or
whatever tragedies may lay behind it . If anything, that is what makes
the final passage so powerful for me.
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Once again, I enjoyed the book immensely as a fun, weird read, and I
have never read anything quite like it. So, thanks again for writing
it. I look forward reading THE ICE CAVES.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="background-color: white;">You can grab this very book right now on Amazon, in fact both novels are collected into one volume called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Octavia-Dream-Chronicles-Mike-Hoffman-ebook/dp/B00JUEFEXK/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1" target="_blank">Octavia: The Dream Chronicles</a>. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqoRY6CvH7bBaH9bmTbFm3mB6PFbNNVQPKZNwiVJMFXDQTOKOgo4ihQwXyoQ8LRSnBj6XOOiFIWmjVTYfeuzizhXMMGw-GKvuY6aqXbZQ0uBe0XBX-CPk1aEeV2Zw8KCaBbco9KYIslM/s1600/obj38geo29pg1p9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqoRY6CvH7bBaH9bmTbFm3mB6PFbNNVQPKZNwiVJMFXDQTOKOgo4ihQwXyoQ8LRSnBj6XOOiFIWmjVTYfeuzizhXMMGw-GKvuY6aqXbZQ0uBe0XBX-CPk1aEeV2Zw8KCaBbco9KYIslM/s1600/obj38geo29pg1p9.jpg" height="320" width="199" /></a></div>
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<b>NOTE: </b> When you order your copy from Amazon, please email me with your order info, as apparently their system is not reporting all sales, or royalties, to we authors.TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-63282148597788694082014-06-18T17:23:00.001-07:002014-06-19T12:29:15.028-07:00New Mags in the Pipeline...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ELrT5yavZbuNue6XcNxD3jC8ZBY0odh2NcUnRI-5lO4Zbp7S1QauN-lG26dZ47OpIDhhbLsWNgIuel7yth4rRXV9DDeFO_iUYuEyOiodcxES9dLUxe_c4mwaSV-bHaNZH-PQlQRBMp4/s1600/MMC1Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ELrT5yavZbuNue6XcNxD3jC8ZBY0odh2NcUnRI-5lO4Zbp7S1QauN-lG26dZ47OpIDhhbLsWNgIuel7yth4rRXV9DDeFO_iUYuEyOiodcxES9dLUxe_c4mwaSV-bHaNZH-PQlQRBMp4/s1600/MMC1Cover.jpg" height="320" width="251" /></a></div>
<br />
I'm developing several new publications at the moment, the above tryout cover is a sort of parasitic twin on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Blokes-Terrible-Tomb-Of-Terror/177605358954830" target="_blank"><i>Bloke's Terrible TOMB of Terror</i></a> called <i>Mad Monster Cartoons</i>. Will it be an economic failure? I sure hope so, that way I'll know I did good.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Gc1icJiQ9OP7EdUQlyGgth-gve6u4sagX3aX-aOVBULJxMb_Mo5dy6sx28lUePDpmzbFhpG6miPQRrMTEGuGUzgm7cu-iFaTOYC7VJsznHJydO8Qqa7wOBAPvmHsvd_OnmWa3L_BLWQ/s1600/superclowns1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Gc1icJiQ9OP7EdUQlyGgth-gve6u4sagX3aX-aOVBULJxMb_Mo5dy6sx28lUePDpmzbFhpG6miPQRrMTEGuGUzgm7cu-iFaTOYC7VJsznHJydO8Qqa7wOBAPvmHsvd_OnmWa3L_BLWQ/s1600/superclowns1.jpg" height="320" width="206" /></a></div>
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<i><a href="http://www.indyplanet.com/front/?product=30522" target="_blank">Super Clowns #1</a> an example of a fine artistic achievement & terrible seller.</i></div>
Also planned is a sort of psychological/New Age Horror mag called <i>Epitaph</i>. It's a place for stories too bizarre for TOMB, with subjects like Ghosts, Channeling, PSI, "The Shift" and so on. If you don't know what The Shift is, I encourage you to look into it. We is all shifting, boss.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jANnDWkLXstAT1phWQFhi6Y-_8oQ-XRz0r_yzf-HMBDGczc9KpIkmKltuGQiEIQ8T1bkrhPjica4IL5-YRz5b5gCM5AEfw74rELJHzSWGHVcFaMX29B5P143W8gXpHFYnodfgBCEZZk/s1600/epitaph1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jANnDWkLXstAT1phWQFhi6Y-_8oQ-XRz0r_yzf-HMBDGczc9KpIkmKltuGQiEIQ8T1bkrhPjica4IL5-YRz5b5gCM5AEfw74rELJHzSWGHVcFaMX29B5P143W8gXpHFYnodfgBCEZZk/s1600/epitaph1.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> A unique home for The New Weird.</i></div>
<br />
AND, Hoffman's hired a few folks to help out around the studio, so production will probably be increasing. So what took me so long? Too many hats!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWZrnfXYevLv8LqzfNSnc7oTpwvhSqUPcFSoyBwSiplCth3L3Yy6Q3q2I3lWf743lQqSgpJuTbQ1-d9YfO-r1D4ZG3FqXGJJzMPw8WYrD2BDj5LsQ57ddRWDF95QmmYU89wR70CcPajw/s1600/AlphaMale1Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWZrnfXYevLv8LqzfNSnc7oTpwvhSqUPcFSoyBwSiplCth3L3Yy6Q3q2I3lWf743lQqSgpJuTbQ1-d9YfO-r1D4ZG3FqXGJJzMPw8WYrD2BDj5LsQ57ddRWDF95QmmYU89wR70CcPajw/s1600/AlphaMale1Cover.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
<br />
Does the above magazine concept have a future? Tell me about it <a href="mailto:hoffmanintl@hotmail.com" target="_blank">HERE</a>.TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-56064112521302329362014-04-24T11:58:00.001-07:002014-04-24T14:33:46.297-07:00"Progress Report" New Blog...I've done what I threatened to do, and that is start another Blog devoted strictly to showing my more offbeat artwork. It's live now with its first posting at <a href="http://hoffmanprogressreport.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">hoffmanprogressreport.blogspot.com </a>I encourage you all to join up there publicly so I'll have an idea how much time & energy to devote to it.<br />
<br />
In fact there's so much unseen artwork I intend to display there that I had to start way back at the beginning of 2013. <br />
<br />
In the meantime, here's two seriously new projects due out soon...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFDraL6FPFID9m_tOXt4P3TrTzzD_NuoH7mDMCjTwkYZDM7HG9vbSTb76UfA1svuZd2bmONMrTNA2WV_jylcwnMEAHHCJ-lN7FxWU2JgUPERIPvEXKF-0ICIUXrhm6kq03DkUJ6vFMzSI/s1600/futurewest2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFDraL6FPFID9m_tOXt4P3TrTzzD_NuoH7mDMCjTwkYZDM7HG9vbSTb76UfA1svuZd2bmONMrTNA2WV_jylcwnMEAHHCJ-lN7FxWU2JgUPERIPvEXKF-0ICIUXrhm6kq03DkUJ6vFMzSI/s1600/futurewest2.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i> "Madame Tarantula Futurewest" collects all Madame Tarantula Comics to date plus some new material.</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78DyG7iZvwU3e4vhBFtQKesVBPNMiwnzOAvwqmmGsDNnmZJGcqmlOn2WZH2fNM1RJ_H6xoBCxNNzzAmXeqnzu8r9nzsaZORzOm70cjz_EWd_EaUvuFHw4l5DJ7_vDbWRXZmo01L-UuXc/s1600/deepspacecover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh78DyG7iZvwU3e4vhBFtQKesVBPNMiwnzOAvwqmmGsDNnmZJGcqmlOn2WZH2fNM1RJ_H6xoBCxNNzzAmXeqnzu8r9nzsaZORzOm70cjz_EWd_EaUvuFHw4l5DJ7_vDbWRXZmo01L-UuXc/s1600/deepspacecover.jpg" height="320" width="247" /></a></div>
<i>"Deep Space" is not only a gallery of recent ink drawings, but also offers technical instruction and custom perspective grids for artists.</i><br />
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<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-28255217937816421512014-04-19T16:24:00.002-07:002014-04-19T16:37:07.495-07:00Over and Out...I was talking to someone about self-promotion the other day, and they said "Why don't you get a Blog?" You guys know I have a Blog, but it's rarely for self-promotion. The whole idea of self-promotion can get slippery fast. And I have to wrestle with it almost all the time.<br />
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In a sense everyone's self-promoting in a way, but some are more guilty than others in how they do it. Or maybe more importantly, the WHY they're doing it. It's only a matter of degree between some huge celebrity on a magazine cover and a kid with three chords and a guitar and no audience-- it obviously feeds the Ego. And that can easily become a dangerous habit, a loop, so sometimes all the rest of Reality sorta fades away.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOBk7sNmv_sEwdRKjO8d21mgoFxplyiDWl8EqpEGe2qEa0bsQBtKgiFdalGvOpt5yzgzyLM6vUyngDbSKRuLuNVXjQ0AwlGKKp6xNgEWh-rGhiw9L9WZpFk1uQZjjM302vCwLSwL1rgQ/s1600/Devil's_Due_Digital_Logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOBk7sNmv_sEwdRKjO8d21mgoFxplyiDWl8EqpEGe2qEa0bsQBtKgiFdalGvOpt5yzgzyLM6vUyngDbSKRuLuNVXjQ0AwlGKKp6xNgEWh-rGhiw9L9WZpFk1uQZjjM302vCwLSwL1rgQ/s1600/Devil's_Due_Digital_Logo.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">You can now start your own publishing business without paying creators anything.</span></i></div>
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"Devil's Due Digital" is a company run by one <a href="mailto:mthompson@checkerbpg.com" target="_blank">Mark Thompson</a>, who continued selling downloads of my comics after our contract expired in 2013. He has worked hard to rip people off, like myself, and to earn an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau for it. Stay away from him, kids.<br />
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So I recently had to contact Amazon, Comixology, Barnes & Noble and a bunch of other venues and ask they remove all the stuff Thompson was selling. And not paying me for, incidentally. It took almost all afternoon one day, that I could've been using instead to madly promote myself. <br />
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I really don't want to fight with people, not anymore anyway, but this Devil's Due Digital thing was like someone literally robbing you. And you can't sue Thompson, coz he's hiding all the time. No one knows where he is, even Intelius can't find a decent address for him.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDy-NU5FAe35DQ-mbcOharLWkL2sfAZ2czzNpdn-dGca0xZUH48NIrIzdwmlNU6ObkC-BtssFLNNr5qf__O8ILoLa9NUJ8puiCsbSYeub8qBFjLpvlGz3bT3maRLqQy7_0YAOm7bw_wtk/s1600/CDBookletOutside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDy-NU5FAe35DQ-mbcOharLWkL2sfAZ2czzNpdn-dGca0xZUH48NIrIzdwmlNU6ObkC-BtssFLNNr5qf__O8ILoLa9NUJ8puiCsbSYeub8qBFjLpvlGz3bT3maRLqQy7_0YAOm7bw_wtk/s1600/CDBookletOutside.jpg" height="162" width="320" /></a></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> A newly-reformatted music album by the Von Hoffman Orchestra.</span></i></div>
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On another note, many of you know of my "Monster University" properties, which began in 2002 or so. There have been three full music albums, a half-hour cartoon, plus some comics, prints, and other merch. The songs are some of the best work I've ever done, I think. It's sold steadily for years, especially around Halloween. Remember? Remember?<br />
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Well, nowadays you can Google "Monster University" and none of that stuff appears. I mean NONE OF IT. All you get is Pixar's "Monsters University". And the boat slowly sinks under the waves.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJ5Oeke_85wjq_oFine-eFtwc2EQ5tga-i4s1RMAaGrNnN0yCSJSV07dkYcSR0sZ9Lbkpa5Sa-P53d8Iop417ugmIB83qkVl-3rnpEk5lYqGf2FKFCcaH552g_cposoW6LGbb3brLDls/s1600/monstersu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaJ5Oeke_85wjq_oFine-eFtwc2EQ5tga-i4s1RMAaGrNnN0yCSJSV07dkYcSR0sZ9Lbkpa5Sa-P53d8Iop417ugmIB83qkVl-3rnpEk5lYqGf2FKFCcaH552g_cposoW6LGbb3brLDls/s1600/monstersu.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nowadays a green circle can be a character. </span></i></div>
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Now, I'm not saying they ripped off my idea, but think about my side of it. What if it were you? <br />
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Never mind that there's also a Japanese "Squid Girl" cartoon on in America now, after I went and created one waayy back in 2001. Mine is called "Squid Girl" too. Another amazing coincidence.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjAI4MtTglCXuxw-u95QdzE_3QsGu5-Z9gqWJBSRajuuUZqXewWI8Ia1sdZJCeq7x5d-3bvk4z2qjgb14EJV006cXlBYxYqUub5QhBviTM1DsfSrMYJgIQ4c713bcwYEb-0qV_Mcf78OA/s1600/squidgirljp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjAI4MtTglCXuxw-u95QdzE_3QsGu5-Z9gqWJBSRajuuUZqXewWI8Ia1sdZJCeq7x5d-3bvk4z2qjgb14EJV006cXlBYxYqUub5QhBviTM1DsfSrMYJgIQ4c713bcwYEb-0qV_Mcf78OA/s1600/squidgirljp.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLXbfxHQrq9f8mVeUcwMOIj_GSgQxEcxlNzby2x_6RIeYlQQmQ4J59ANFjIF7iRP_b4Ud1ZTdOHOG2GdeLHW-hDg8LLV9kU8DwT0d12hU4JG3EU_USNPMHQ5Wt1eMtyIPHzHPJdj2Tc9Y/s1600/squidgirlmh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLXbfxHQrq9f8mVeUcwMOIj_GSgQxEcxlNzby2x_6RIeYlQQmQ4J59ANFjIF7iRP_b4Ud1ZTdOHOG2GdeLHW-hDg8LLV9kU8DwT0d12hU4JG3EU_USNPMHQ5Wt1eMtyIPHzHPJdj2Tc9Y/s1600/squidgirlmh.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> The two Squid Girls meet.</i></span></div>
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I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm pretty tired of the whole "entertainment" thing. And it's not just that I'm not richer or more famous. I want to create things and have freedom to do so, but I can't wear all the hats. I don't know why I thought I ever could.<br />
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So rather than talk to you all, I could just can it and start another Blog just for "promotion". <br />
<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-42764987194226588522014-04-14T13:49:00.000-07:002014-04-14T15:21:25.074-07:00The Beauty Standard...I've made quite a few notes recently about topics I want to write about here, but I confess I'm falling behind. I know folks are reading these entries, but of course it's a job to write them and I don't really get much back except tons of glory.<br />
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One such topic is my new theory concerning Standards of Beauty. We all think we know what "beauty" is, personally, but also our culture tries to tell us what's beautiful, too. Trying to nail it down actually can be confusing. But I'm not so confused anymore.<br />
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Did you know that in parts of China, enormous ears on women are considered the apex of beauty? I can't even get a handle on that. Pardon the joke.<br />
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Or it could be foot-binding, tribal scarring, breast implants, neck-rings, lip-plates, tattoos or you name it. Then there are the Actions of Beauty, which in our culture can mean doing your best imitation of an object. Or if you're here in Wisconsin, using the word "like" multiple times in every sentence. That is like, so, like, attractive.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1HN9acwPhCEqRJzxCCX7Hr5lE2cJyQAA0BDx1aVTcXkbWWsSmzQ88Cu2Z5KfRiAPTqZ1ubJMW1OTv4JRTdNjKrtXWE_aIw4QHygfw5TejeKD06SPhbfSDDBTHSw10BhRR5Mb9WgepbK0/s1600/beauty1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1HN9acwPhCEqRJzxCCX7Hr5lE2cJyQAA0BDx1aVTcXkbWWsSmzQ88Cu2Z5KfRiAPTqZ1ubJMW1OTv4JRTdNjKrtXWE_aIw4QHygfw5TejeKD06SPhbfSDDBTHSw10BhRR5Mb9WgepbK0/s1600/beauty1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> A random Money-Honey picked from the hat of today's Fashion.</span></i></div>
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So everything is beautiful, and it really is, even all the karmic blemishes and societal pock-marks of collective Humanity, but I also think we need to be really, really careful and observant about who's trying to decide these things for us. After all, there's big, big money in Beauty.<br />
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Your Beauty could launch a thousand ships, for example. You could have a pyramid built in your honor. You might get paid six figures or more to be a model or actress that fits the weird genetic roulette beauty ideal thingie we have now. Men could actually be beautiful. It could all get confusing fast, and scary too, but never fear, you have Hoffy here to bail you out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNDGF0Sz3j2RkZKsDSWyBUEwHuol7wbRk8RHUbuANVo14hdZH6jbBwBzvkD5aKlslsKm5oYkNYFuklbneB5keIaoCPtshRsXwrQO_M6CRt1RYWF20ioPYaTtgYlSNCsVZRseBvAa7pBgM/s1600/beauty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNDGF0Sz3j2RkZKsDSWyBUEwHuol7wbRk8RHUbuANVo14hdZH6jbBwBzvkD5aKlslsKm5oYkNYFuklbneB5keIaoCPtshRsXwrQO_M6CRt1RYWF20ioPYaTtgYlSNCsVZRseBvAa7pBgM/s1600/beauty.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Another prisoner of an aesthetic.</i></span></div>
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Basically, part 1 of the Theory is this: Beauty is everywhere and omnipresent, in a flower, a sunset, a cracked pavement block, a Downs Syndrome child's smiling face, and even the hideous scarring that occurs at your friendly local plastic surgeon's office as you seek answers to the aesthetic issues that drive your mysterious life. Beauty is blue baby barf, or your lips locking onto a damp cigarette butt you picked up off the street.<br />
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Part 2 says that in the hierarchy of power, the force of money drives domination. So, your homespun, quirky and likely unfashionable concepts of Beauty mean nothing without adequate funding. As a spectator to all this, you are continually devalued, even as an object, your basic humanity unrecognized and therefore nonexistent.<br />
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And with any value that equates to money, the system must be rigged, and it is, towards scarcity. We already apply the idea of scarcity to precious metals, like gold, and to diamonds and other rarities. In fact, whole nations economies' are backed up & based on these "rarities". But you can't eat or breathe gold, and diamonds ain't bringing grandma back either.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcnSiHnTk4JaNDe28YEAhOjnrTf7oJw9JOntz1XhKPG2vnhYvJPfrlYyiw_NO-tSI0baMi5iiteL0tTiq_gEHmVJaaZhWCDpF9bG5_QrcRiBBMKMYYkpVMKQ4bFnUX9dV2H5ZD22XVEqw/s1600/goldsafe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcnSiHnTk4JaNDe28YEAhOjnrTf7oJw9JOntz1XhKPG2vnhYvJPfrlYyiw_NO-tSI0baMi5iiteL0tTiq_gEHmVJaaZhWCDpF9bG5_QrcRiBBMKMYYkpVMKQ4bFnUX9dV2H5ZD22XVEqw/s1600/goldsafe.jpg" height="242" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Worried? Keep your valuables inside another valuable.</span></i></div>
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So in the current Beauty market, there must be SCARCITY. "Average"-looking people on streetcorners simply can't qualify. They have no backers. Forget that little kids' feelings get totally tromped on during this whole process, that little girls are flooding and verily overflowing shrinks' offices today, infected with serious body-perception issues they've picked up--somewhere. Push that from your mind.<br />
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This is why the most popular (re: highly paid) actresses today look like some sort of bony giraffe/human genetic hybrid. It's a little freakish. But that is how it works: again, SCARCITY. Beauty must be RARE at all costs. If it were really common as dirt (which it is) our whole system would collapse.<br />
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But that's coming, too.<br />
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I'd add that while assembling a few images to illustrate this entry, I Googled "Beauty" and "Cosmetic Mutilation". Either one is apt to completely creep you out. Even worse, the line between them gets blurry fast.<br />
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How do we un-explain all this to our children?<br />
<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-44512715480945087912014-03-10T15:42:00.004-07:002014-03-11T14:23:31.635-07:00Taro Mochi Snacktime...In case some of you imagine that all I do is complain, find fault, cause injuries and then pour acid into the wounds, here is a hot 'n' fuzzy experience I'd like to share gleaned from a trip to the local Asian grocery store. That's Asian, not Oriental, to you other acid-pourers out there. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJSPSmA6I-LU8HbUJVEzY869a404gOOBkkCr-vD3W6zOZ1Mxbwr_7-YxWJ927MYEVughPW6B0OC-P3oWFAug0rA1d1sszaIgZ_mNJbmrQpo0-Mmw8NbPaDaplTdAnSP3_Sk1sFVqzDtwg/s1600/Taro+Mochi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJSPSmA6I-LU8HbUJVEzY869a404gOOBkkCr-vD3W6zOZ1Mxbwr_7-YxWJ927MYEVughPW6B0OC-P3oWFAug0rA1d1sszaIgZ_mNJbmrQpo0-Mmw8NbPaDaplTdAnSP3_Sk1sFVqzDtwg/s1600/Taro+Mochi.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">No matter how attractive the packaging, don't eat it.</span></i></div>
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The sheer visual noise of aisle upon aisle of crass labeling and a million words of barely comprehensible <a href="http://www.engrish.com/" target="_blank">Engrish</a> was suddenly stilled by the serene beauty of the image above; a box of desert snacks.<br />
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As a collector of Color Palettes, when I spot an unusual or unique arrangement of hues I make a note, or scan, and catalog it. When I began doing this, I learned a lot about I could apply to using color in Painting. I found, for example, that different eras seem to have their own peculiar color schemes. The 1970s naturally springs to mind, deep browns, oranges and creams on <a href="https://www.uniteditions.com/blog/1-supergraphics/" target="_blank">Supergraphics</a>, or the 1960's Leroy Neiman and Peter Max. Who are our colorists today?</div>
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Getting back the package above, make no mistake, it was designed by someone with an artist's eye. Probably, they will go on to become a painter, after they complete their time at the corporate grindstone. I hope so. This package was only one of a series of "flavors", but this one stood out.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DdKaSeI1SOE_3hS85xr4o5ydJn3oV9pdNvpImWIglhL8wkH_6N1NIn37TOgQpqtD9FaOfaz9szNySUC_X4WdYfk9SNyIeD4MWkomskOAn8hrDmeGUQsY_8xFQ0cDPiAh5ihvWarB-pY/s1600/Taro+Mochi+palette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DdKaSeI1SOE_3hS85xr4o5ydJn3oV9pdNvpImWIglhL8wkH_6N1NIn37TOgQpqtD9FaOfaz9szNySUC_X4WdYfk9SNyIeD4MWkomskOAn8hrDmeGUQsY_8xFQ0cDPiAh5ihvWarB-pY/s1600/Taro+Mochi+palette.jpg" height="208" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A digital Palette spawned by the exquisite Taro Mochi packaging currently on trial. </i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Se-RZhXejnSo7kweIVo-g7ATbLASe59GGiWBjblYpIbdLBWpiUHsDDKTpK-pup0OhoTdzqEIp-jSFYlO47zoxgzaV1L9UoGvUMVa4QVwtKdLaGeEG2c_KBirb0TCHZHtKatoe48miDA/s1600/Taro+Mochi+class.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Se-RZhXejnSo7kweIVo-g7ATbLASe59GGiWBjblYpIbdLBWpiUHsDDKTpK-pup0OhoTdzqEIp-jSFYlO47zoxgzaV1L9UoGvUMVa4QVwtKdLaGeEG2c_KBirb0TCHZHtKatoe48miDA/s1600/Taro+Mochi+class.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A Google image search's contribution to a "visually similar" picture; colors, yes, shapes, no.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">When using an image search, I found that an uncommon amount of material from foreign websites appeared. In this case, it's an example of our language limiting us from a more global experience. I had no idea just how deeply the Japanese are into the "online" experience.</span><br />
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Below is one of my recent "channeled" Symbolist paintings called <i>Vibrational Portal</i>, which I also launched an image search with. I typically create these types of pieces without much forethought, then wind up decoding them afterwards. The shapes and patterns follow a symbolic logic much like Australian aboriginal art, and the have "flows" in directional axes in linear time and multi-dimensionality. This one, for example, has a clear X/Y axis. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mZSgoB8U9OooBOyGSopnzLF5XRM6svoaldxKhWsEleVAnZRJoovikueSK7HLHLFhmKlkp6tlcndvouVeVy1HTMQeFy5xjNG23LQubWtdPPQ7ENp1AsqzPD0KdsvhGzO2tbGEOnsFPkI/s1600/Vibrational+Portal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_mZSgoB8U9OooBOyGSopnzLF5XRM6svoaldxKhWsEleVAnZRJoovikueSK7HLHLFhmKlkp6tlcndvouVeVy1HTMQeFy5xjNG23LQubWtdPPQ7ENp1AsqzPD0KdsvhGzO2tbGEOnsFPkI/s1600/Vibrational+Portal.jpg" height="320" width="269" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A recent 20"x24" acrylic painting with metallic gold. </i></span></div>
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So when searching for visually similar images to this, I found far less "people" examples, like the Taro image that yielded almost nothing but, and much more artworks and interiors.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitc-wDWu01lN8cNtJjyDMMjvT4bEhoYiBxwsIFr7IuG4_z4rOjfWIOerxvN9rd-BJDBXsRM2nhZuLAH4rm5H3l3DjrfJgLEmsNdWgAlLfmpDfvHeAKBMIaOxzgJqweceIOIF-Eq6BeVqQ/s1600/Vibrational+Portal+girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitc-wDWu01lN8cNtJjyDMMjvT4bEhoYiBxwsIFr7IuG4_z4rOjfWIOerxvN9rd-BJDBXsRM2nhZuLAH4rm5H3l3DjrfJgLEmsNdWgAlLfmpDfvHeAKBMIaOxzgJqweceIOIF-Eq6BeVqQ/s1600/Vibrational+Portal+girl.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Search result with more of a shape/color balance.</span></i></div>
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Next I inverted the colors, basically created a negative image in Photoshop, and repeated the search. I do all this to save you the time and trouble, and to discover whether technology really has any sincere intuition so that its random chaos actually jigsaws into our experience in a helpful way, but of course it doesn't. It's like getting your palm read by Robbie the Robot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoYGrpcjqg1ushcxrBWfwYNtjj7Wo0K6uXDtUABVubWGADaiBs2mF5x2yxWuq5iHpOCwLafQzuyRy9uIa5VJ9k7UPvCuzstEapeuVbcQHJRwzxG7mwYnqQNSIOkNkQCpQ0IDqYG6kumQM/s1600/Vibrational+Portal+Invert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoYGrpcjqg1ushcxrBWfwYNtjj7Wo0K6uXDtUABVubWGADaiBs2mF5x2yxWuq5iHpOCwLafQzuyRy9uIa5VJ9k7UPvCuzstEapeuVbcQHJRwzxG7mwYnqQNSIOkNkQCpQ0IDqYG6kumQM/s1600/Vibrational+Portal+Invert.jpg" height="320" width="269" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">At your marks, get set...</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Again, the results were largely foreign</span>, and probably due to the stricter geometry involved, shape and color were equally represented. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHJJ8YVd1P2XB3h6hE0GKGmvBO_OPVFXe7afmJaEG4S0yR-4oOB8wJSlBtN12IWW_hSD7YoI1tKmuL1SxIW5A4MLImxFyFpXbHs_CcHp4snlEqX8hhVV2OZLhkt86sAc2Fzab1qypZ3s/s1600/Vibrational+Portal+Invert+House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNHJJ8YVd1P2XB3h6hE0GKGmvBO_OPVFXe7afmJaEG4S0yR-4oOB8wJSlBtN12IWW_hSD7YoI1tKmuL1SxIW5A4MLImxFyFpXbHs_CcHp4snlEqX8hhVV2OZLhkt86sAc2Fzab1qypZ3s/s1600/Vibrational+Portal+Invert+House.jpg" height="320" width="222" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK7GzLtSdBuInZ9ZRRd-eQGx3GyYhbE1WiIr0QHmb7z4Z-JDMY6tk5B2t7Mtm9ziAxKepE3xSWC7QbcAa0l1EXWf26yFKLxIefPCJWuGaJGHRjwCvd_hTCW3SoB3DqUV9W3TNvgla592Q/s1600/Vibrational+Portal+Invert+Ape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK7GzLtSdBuInZ9ZRRd-eQGx3GyYhbE1WiIr0QHmb7z4Z-JDMY6tk5B2t7Mtm9ziAxKepE3xSWC7QbcAa0l1EXWf26yFKLxIefPCJWuGaJGHRjwCvd_hTCW3SoB3DqUV9W3TNvgla592Q/s1600/Vibrational+Portal+Invert+Ape.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></div>
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Sometimes there are fruitful surprises "looking" at things through a computer's "senses", but for the most part I think it tells more about the infrastructure of the technology than really relevant similarities.<br />
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I suppose the most charm the process could exhibit is the initial sensation of surprise upon seeing relationships hovering outside the sphere of our own personal/emotional makeups, but that gets old pretty fast. Rather than a smooth, continuous effect of directional motion like a roller coaster, it's more like 45-degree angle turns in a UFO. <br />
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But if you try it too, then you can be the judge.<br />
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ADDENDUM...<br />
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Here's a couple more relevant images:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2ja01HKUEWbQI4oyAKu1v0Dl7lantlNTa_O2oXDjBOaWjd-3VPZ5kgbwZBhNSTveL4h7gjoUpRibWlfpp8p0d3K8me6-tVJlStEKjxjGTPUBiV_NJgYtUchxRmKi1RSp-jZUNJ5dc9k/s1600/1970sroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj2ja01HKUEWbQI4oyAKu1v0Dl7lantlNTa_O2oXDjBOaWjd-3VPZ5kgbwZBhNSTveL4h7gjoUpRibWlfpp8p0d3K8me6-tVJlStEKjxjGTPUBiV_NJgYtUchxRmKi1RSp-jZUNJ5dc9k/s1600/1970sroom.jpg" height="320" width="252" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Warm & earthy Supergraphic from the 1970s.</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr9i5abqo3Y1b2ArZl6kv2zbj1T5IBtuW9rZnZmZx47TMwVJXHTMJxAiuy7jBWx5wIayMtxU2sLgroZz6926bHpAYFIhJA65yKJahIyQl7H5UPiGcUcWtb68ah7HFKCDtHr9Ebwi31660/s1600/springcolors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr9i5abqo3Y1b2ArZl6kv2zbj1T5IBtuW9rZnZmZx47TMwVJXHTMJxAiuy7jBWx5wIayMtxU2sLgroZz6926bHpAYFIhJA65yKJahIyQl7H5UPiGcUcWtb68ah7HFKCDtHr9Ebwi31660/s1600/springcolors.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>From the color dictatorship at the Pantone Company. </i></span></div>
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<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-59701337908878991932014-03-04T14:48:00.000-08:002014-03-04T18:41:04.094-08:00Flycatcher Filmstrips...Continuing the theme of the last entry, I'll be commenting on the 2009 film <i>Mr. Nobody,</i> which we watched last night with the whole family. I know I'm old-fashioned, but I will probably never get used to the new trend in acting of keeping your mouth hanging open. Maybe it's supposed to be "emotive". When I see it, I can only imagine a director saying "No, no, no! We've got to shoot it again, your mouth wasn't open."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivTjQYRH5aHOTnN7moV9Fyl6w3CIB_Ew0-pnYUbx7pLGJNPVAK2goBD5MeHmA-aS9zcNy57YanBypvYVZ6-iQrgUygyjUGWNwR-2fnI0VXbtJRUfwx16VFuF5JaupRd7TdMoewFtC__Q0/s1600/nobody.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivTjQYRH5aHOTnN7moV9Fyl6w3CIB_Ew0-pnYUbx7pLGJNPVAK2goBD5MeHmA-aS9zcNy57YanBypvYVZ6-iQrgUygyjUGWNwR-2fnI0VXbtJRUfwx16VFuF5JaupRd7TdMoewFtC__Q0/s1600/nobody.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> Good eyeballs can take you a long way in Hollywood.</span></i></div>
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A friend recommended this film, and looking it up I noticed it's described as "Science Fiction", though I thought I'd understood it was about parallel lives. So, we'd find out for ourselves.<br />
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I thought <i>Mr. Nobody</i> had some things to recommend it; visually, parts were quite amazing, but that's apparently typical now. The dinosaur yawns before being put down. Characters seemed to be cast more for their appearance than acting ability. And considering it was a joint French/Belgian/German venture, it was as Hollywood-looking as all get-out. That must be Creeping Globalism.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPZhlkZyLw1Nyfz-kWT0EyjOCgT0gjm71xDBxSXZwsuW6i8P2O9Sy89S4jQd8w3MAErhHsNANy0XrqPY8l0AxaLN9ZKUKY3PUJ39JOSBxU8pCto8hRNn0SyXLC3A6Einbm3k0UAQF84g/s1600/Worlds+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPZhlkZyLw1Nyfz-kWT0EyjOCgT0gjm71xDBxSXZwsuW6i8P2O9Sy89S4jQd8w3MAErhHsNANy0XrqPY8l0AxaLN9ZKUKY3PUJ39JOSBxU8pCto8hRNn0SyXLC3A6Einbm3k0UAQF84g/s1600/Worlds+1.jpg" height="320" width="245" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A Hoffman abstraction showing whole worlds isolated from each other.</i></span></div>
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If I hadn't invested all that time in the 2.5 hour "Director's Cut" I might not be writing this now. But, I feel I have to say it--basically scream it at the stars like some baying wolfhound of prehistory who's lost its mate-- that even though this thing portrays a high-tech future, parallel lives have nothing to do with Science Fiction, any more than Edgar freakin' Cayce is interchangeable with Richard "Grumpy" Dawkins. <br />
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Not to say that in some distant future our head-up-the-ass Science won't enlarge itself to include things like parallel timelines, past lives, PSI energies and so on, but as of right now that doesn't seem likely. People could lose their jobs.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAllBxYeuE70B32EGJdVm5WXzCwKkEVxH7T76lwiHtalSB9S8WqzA3hSANnAj49aFX3kSyN0_m9YOf-sWSg5g_6WU0C2iAfoQZJaCvs9EV9r1kh5mSmNL1c_Xt8KUn9FahXIO0UhN8CI/s1600/Worlds+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAllBxYeuE70B32EGJdVm5WXzCwKkEVxH7T76lwiHtalSB9S8WqzA3hSANnAj49aFX3kSyN0_m9YOf-sWSg5g_6WU0C2iAfoQZJaCvs9EV9r1kh5mSmNL1c_Xt8KUn9FahXIO0UhN8CI/s1600/Worlds+2.jpg" height="320" width="244" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>More proof of something.</i></span></div>
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So, we have to be a little vigilant, because just as a giant corporation like Monsanto can do the Science-stomp all over small farmers with GMO contamination and then throw around words like "Coexistence", we certainly don't need them Scientisters co-opting and "co-existing" with the New Agey stuff.<br />
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They just ain't earned it.<br />
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<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-47216245206018384092014-02-18T16:13:00.001-08:002014-02-18T17:12:37.358-08:00The End of Science Fiction...As a story genre, Cowboys and Indians is today a fairly spent force, as are Cold War spy novels and Graustarkian adventure tales. Spies were undoubtedly real, but the Cowboy mythology had nearly no basis in reality. I've been to the OK Corral. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvj6f5X3n5DQm73wvGxm2JtH_yC9KjSisnKHVK0PWfCP5cHXjM8dBXByeQnXUjH-_sQIzPNRIKx0dxhBC7K85vLZkxAzMBnFt66VC3pbQQ696asAn5dgW-v6AZN53k1ahug6n6H0hljU/s1600/science_fiction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvj6f5X3n5DQm73wvGxm2JtH_yC9KjSisnKHVK0PWfCP5cHXjM8dBXByeQnXUjH-_sQIzPNRIKx0dxhBC7K85vLZkxAzMBnFt66VC3pbQQ696asAn5dgW-v6AZN53k1ahug6n6H0hljU/s1600/science_fiction.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The first yummy image a Google search coughed up for "Science Fiction".</span></i></div>
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It took the Europeans to transform geriatric Westerns into something really epic, the Spaghetti Western, where good and evil got distilled, magnified, exaggerated. Sure, you could still spin soap operas about lost love, but as soon as you point a gun at someone you have instant, high-intensity, if not high-quality, drama. That's gotten to be an incredibly overused gimmick, to me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFYKGED6gyzioLF2xJOCAikGZwryWptjb85NVH6lmrmiZ-O1CyYP8aplIWv1As91AwMNKd2IygY6O_aNsWXL2TUcCYhETYvw9GuG3CnGiEfxF_ozkB4d2vjpb9PVVwVifXZJUGLq5HjY/s1600/Planet+Of+The+Knob-Heads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFYKGED6gyzioLF2xJOCAikGZwryWptjb85NVH6lmrmiZ-O1CyYP8aplIWv1As91AwMNKd2IygY6O_aNsWXL2TUcCYhETYvw9GuG3CnGiEfxF_ozkB4d2vjpb9PVVwVifXZJUGLq5HjY/s1600/Planet+Of+The+Knob-Heads.jpg" height="320" width="223" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Adventure-tinged "Sci-Fi" with a dash of low-level porn.</i></span></div>
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I read tons of Science Fiction years ago, finally picking Stanislaw Lem as the coldest--or coolest--intellect around. Dropping his name was like offering your scent to the pack after rolling in carrion. No wonder they booted him out of American SF. But do watch the original Russian <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069293/" target="_blank">Solaris</a> film, if you get the chance. <br />
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Science Fiction has historically made some pretty huge promises, in spite of dystopian warnings. Today, Science itself is also caught red-handed making more promises than it can keep. It has claimed that we'll soon understand consciousness by studying the brain, and, we'll conquer all disease by mapping the human genome. Neither goal has been reached, and most of the investors have backed out of Genetics, which should illuminate things clearly--just by following the money, as it escapes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1ity5YcVOmmumKG3r-5_SaxBU01gT8OcCHIR-jfNWsllQNCgGgwgM5CXZ6XJi3MRDNjbPF0joGWg5MZbQU8bRWnqMCzdbFQDeZg2WFY53hNAbtsVUYGEJrub3QlGQJfVdeYFUARTZ5U/s1600/paulscifi-lo-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK1ity5YcVOmmumKG3r-5_SaxBU01gT8OcCHIR-jfNWsllQNCgGgwgM5CXZ6XJi3MRDNjbPF0joGWg5MZbQU8bRWnqMCzdbFQDeZg2WFY53hNAbtsVUYGEJrub3QlGQJfVdeYFUARTZ5U/s1600/paulscifi-lo-10.jpg" height="320" width="246" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Did anyone ever really want to live here?</span></i></div>
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Materialist Science, or "MatSci", could take a huge hit by not immediately healing all human ills as promised, but it can always request more time, which it usually does. But with Consciousness, there's no ailment to be "fixed", so there's no one to blame for a failure to produce results. But the prime fallacy of MatSci is the idea that material machines can explain the immaterial, that is, our separate consciousnesses.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvi2cS8bPSVx7m8Ay6_nk5stQXThJjMy1QUgEYeRtle7q-WR1DPC6cu0Mni8HzhKqgwHmha3nxaEPNNgJRY4FoRJ9VHPud9vpwDAPgkbSoswF2DCfWEI60ECQq1D1GnT2IWTTsnODdto/s1600/10000-year-clock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvi2cS8bPSVx7m8Ay6_nk5stQXThJjMy1QUgEYeRtle7q-WR1DPC6cu0Mni8HzhKqgwHmha3nxaEPNNgJRY4FoRJ9VHPud9vpwDAPgkbSoswF2DCfWEI60ECQq1D1GnT2IWTTsnODdto/s1600/10000-year-clock.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">The "10,000 Year Clock", the watchful, cyclopean eye/idol of MatSci.</span></i></div>
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My own experiences with "expanded" consciousness, for lack of a better term, aren't something I keep a secret, but they are somewhat personal as they're part of my evolution. Mainly, they concern many of the things MatSci dismisses out of hand: "psychic" experiences, past life memories, viewing auras and other energies, so-called "ghosts", exploring alternate timelines, and out-of-body projection. <br />
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So ultimately, I don't need the MS priesthood to give me permission to know what's up with the Universe, any more than you need it to tell you that you love someone. But then, you may think that your emotions are nothing more than chemical reactions, which is certainly a common, but false, belief. And even though the scientific priesthood claims it's so during work hours, they themselves don't bother adhering to it on the weekends.<br />
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Science Fiction illustrates all sorts of possible scenarios based around technology, some good, some bad. And that's not to say those events won't ever happen; people could well merge with machines and become cyborgs, but machines, approaching the technologic "singularity" some claim is coming, will never, ever attain consciousness.<br />
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Ask yourself how would we tell, anyway-- by using yet another machine to test for it?<br />
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Our friends the Materialists would like to imagine that everything's a machine, and that matter preceded consciousness, but in fact it didn't. Even a technologist like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla" target="_blank">Nikola Tesla</a> understood that the Universe operates vibrationally. Also true is that the frequency spectrum is infinite, spatially and dimensionally.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ937rN6iGEiXDF7ToHtMb-RBmw-5R0EhRxXcp6ObLAhEUPpdIYDUkpp7hM2G6ljTMYAE8Xr0qgBm5FsomhlSDup0DSL3-AJz0N0zeMOn7PnunqAk1JSPWQsZH5-1Qa-ou-kishKCI-Vc/s1600/vibration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ937rN6iGEiXDF7ToHtMb-RBmw-5R0EhRxXcp6ObLAhEUPpdIYDUkpp7hM2G6ljTMYAE8Xr0qgBm5FsomhlSDup0DSL3-AJz0N0zeMOn7PnunqAk1JSPWQsZH5-1Qa-ou-kishKCI-Vc/s1600/vibration.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vibration alone sends sand grains into atomic & biological patterns.</span></i></div>
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The prime component of the militant MatSci guerrilla force, the "skeptics", "debunkers" and other members of the scientific clergy, is <i>Ego,</i> the same aspect of consciousness that currently holds much of humanity at a vibrationa<span style="font-size: small;">l impasse.</span> Nowadays most people--men, usually--have flexible definitions of ego that allow them to maintain their bad behaviour, but its actual function owes more to eastern mysticism than psychology.<br />
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Basically, ego is what a dog doesn't have that allows it to live in the moment, thereby experiencing total Buddha-like connection to the Universe. In that sense, every animal on Earth down to the last tiny little bug has an advantage over most us. Even your pets can tell when an earthquake's coming. A real, inquiring Science would study that, but of course dogmatic MatSci won't even acknowledge it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6FT9a_3UCsrw2RDeK_BdNpAdt7CmO2rlcHaSdo_rVFClnIVHCNv0c10AL10UZh2Zqo2Hcrp7V06vRP_1McNr7ZF-_rcFTg6YQR57hj6Xw0d7zk-5UKCMnHrzURVHS8OqY5rEhj7yUVY/s1600/Lassie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6FT9a_3UCsrw2RDeK_BdNpAdt7CmO2rlcHaSdo_rVFClnIVHCNv0c10AL10UZh2Zqo2Hcrp7V06vRP_1McNr7ZF-_rcFTg6YQR57hj6Xw0d7zk-5UKCMnHrzURVHS8OqY5rEhj7yUVY/s1600/Lassie.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Your dog has an invisible halo.</span></i></div>
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Consciousness is a big subject, probably the biggest, so staying close to our theme I'd end by saying that Science Fiction, of the speculative sort--not blasters and cowboys in space a la <i>Star Wars</i>--is completely and utterly bankrupt because its foundation, the materialist/mechanistic paradigm, is false.<br />
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And "pure" extrapolative SF is rarely even a good story, it's just a manual to a potential destination, with reams of MatSci dogma lurking in the margins.<br />
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But no new mode of fiction need be invented to take its place, because even though Science Fiction is technically false, our Mythologies aren't. <br />
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<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-30935022447738937712014-01-13T08:44:00.001-08:002014-01-13T12:14:49.516-08:00DIY Genius...<div style="text-align: center;">
<u><span style="font-size: large;">How To Be an Artistic Genius</span></u></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A Ten-Step Program</div>
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<ol>
<li>Find an Artistic Genius to copy.</li>
<li>If discovered, deny copying.</li>
<li>Continue copying.</li>
<li>Seek out powerful symbols, ideas or totems to include in your art as content.</li>
<li>Check to make sure that content is offensive and negative.</li>
<li>Accept accolades from audience who accepts offensiveness as Artistic Genius.</li>
<li>Ego inflates accordingly. Enjoy.</li>
<li>Face criticisms from a minority who are actually offended by offensive content.</li>
<li>Become artistic martyr via attacks that reinforce and validate your special authority to use offensive subject matter.</li>
<li>Artistic Genius achieved via mimicry, negativity and offensiveness. </li>
</ol>
All joking aside, this process is everywhere in the Art world. I know it especially well because I've done it myself. <br />
<ol>
</ol>
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<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-6371799343096059242013-08-17T16:10:00.000-07:002013-08-17T16:10:19.150-07:00More Violation...You may know that someone recently burglarized the stockroom here at Hoffman International and took off with all the stock. All the Art books, Comics & everything else was discovered in the trash. Amazing. And we never caught who did it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJkJ4jt9jl13WC96qwGxFxq0RRFWFPBCTnB8zn_m2h8jjrvGzDFzq3DeDCOYUy6TKDyzBcutB4-9hPadP01RT5WFUSI9CiodtBcyVrGR3NiZCEDyc_tYhlwOuWW4IMi4_6VMPMwYhYTc/s1600/DSC_0030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJkJ4jt9jl13WC96qwGxFxq0RRFWFPBCTnB8zn_m2h8jjrvGzDFzq3DeDCOYUy6TKDyzBcutB4-9hPadP01RT5WFUSI9CiodtBcyVrGR3NiZCEDyc_tYhlwOuWW4IMi4_6VMPMwYhYTc/s320/DSC_0030.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Now we're re-doing the tile in our bathroom, and while we stepped out briefly for some heroin, some bozoidal maniac came through here and scrawled some of the most banal, pointless cartoons on the concrete backer board that I'd ever seen. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxo2Uv-zhvaLB8Z8ypKTlBFqDWq5NFMHadY6yEwGDyprZSHjpEzQCNdLiTcSxXFk0wZ1wwPbiPcnoz_8fDSKIFgYCns10xjr5QIL7te1x_yTHjxv9Y_HkwKioiRTq3DBDU_bx64-Oti2c/s1600/DSC_0034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxo2Uv-zhvaLB8Z8ypKTlBFqDWq5NFMHadY6yEwGDyprZSHjpEzQCNdLiTcSxXFk0wZ1wwPbiPcnoz_8fDSKIFgYCns10xjr5QIL7te1x_yTHjxv9Y_HkwKioiRTq3DBDU_bx64-Oti2c/s320/DSC_0034.jpg" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLDxT6qgT_kQSpA3Y_dyE80bQ7oqq2uLX78Xg1Kqs85DhmtQAVuVLwL1o_bn9AOlmzDDsRfRNglLBxIVsltXkyYUjNfJ0mEgz9R3z-wa5VueHqfYB44fcAwYpwGb-VmPhVHlWSpqCMr4/s1600/DSC_0036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLDxT6qgT_kQSpA3Y_dyE80bQ7oqq2uLX78Xg1Kqs85DhmtQAVuVLwL1o_bn9AOlmzDDsRfRNglLBxIVsltXkyYUjNfJ0mEgz9R3z-wa5VueHqfYB44fcAwYpwGb-VmPhVHlWSpqCMr4/s320/DSC_0036.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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So we took photos for the Police, and believe me, you have no idea how it feels to have your virgin privacy burgled especially if it has not been burgled before. It is a nightmare from which there is no waking. You never know when it may or may not happen again.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirt6l19wAE91QKhiofZWrs-XnhY1Eut6nYMr8e4gz3xnAM8YRnNGrIzKV7cWDKzYoKyBRmxDfgErAYvh0U2cFzCBZVnkLcglFdpJ_xQxA5Hh3vGrKuDi4lCrpvzR60yRvBcI9SYPrij10/s1600/DSC_0038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirt6l19wAE91QKhiofZWrs-XnhY1Eut6nYMr8e4gz3xnAM8YRnNGrIzKV7cWDKzYoKyBRmxDfgErAYvh0U2cFzCBZVnkLcglFdpJ_xQxA5Hh3vGrKuDi4lCrpvzR60yRvBcI9SYPrij10/s320/DSC_0038.jpg" width="213" /> </a></div>
So here are the grotesque "Art" works, and I show them now only so that you will remember to keep your doors locked and trust no one.<br />
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<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6317041101551194450.post-44036646149745452542013-04-29T18:05:00.000-07:002013-04-29T18:06:14.007-07:00Abandonment & Monsters...Hey, this Blog has had almost 70,000 page views. Amazing.<br />
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Those of you on my mailing list may know that I have dug up and burned the roots of all my comics and fantasy art stuff. Trying to go in new directions while constantly returning to draw "sexy" for some extra money was not working at all. So, it all had to go. And I'm not sorry in the least.<br />
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Some people took it hard, as if I'd abandoned them somehow, or they'd been hustled; other got pretty angry and abusive. The latter was an especially good reason to get the hell out.<br />
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<img border="0" height="57" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEOtbnqzPyrUIIRZAlOLerKQTXvB6sXpZEEK6fap0Ci00fAgPAL-8gTri3DyHjF9Q1DQ2aogP0zGxyrN_BqWFhACCMiPiOLrpDBFKrQ5AUSUDSr_sQLtCw80KfRgcWVZFxxmSCfbDD9DA/s320/Banner.jpg" width="320" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> The newest venue for gro<span style="font-size: x-small;">ss </span>monstrosities, <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/MonsterMotel" target="_blank"><b>Monster Motel</b></a></i></span></div>
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One thing I did not trash was my Monster U. stuff, in fact I started an Etsy store just for that and have stocked it full of the older items and some new tweaked "remastered" ones.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgml03_MKV2OI9EH9JeH3-zSuQmSwK76A7CqX_zKLilGa_-k81v_w0Fe-TIWL4cOuXVS2y3y5JgLwrBcIqs2colJRb5wiBzA3GBRF4OYy6rrK4kk-YOR6P6EI7ZhGHwf09cBkeDL0r1w8/s1600/Party+Before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgml03_MKV2OI9EH9JeH3-zSuQmSwK76A7CqX_zKLilGa_-k81v_w0Fe-TIWL4cOuXVS2y3y5JgLwrBcIqs2colJRb5wiBzA3GBRF4OYy6rrK4kk-YOR6P6EI7ZhGHwf09cBkeDL0r1w8/s320/Party+Before.jpg" width="316" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> The original, unmodified Monster U. album cover art.</i></span></div>
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Monster movies might be called Horror by some, and therefore "bleed" into the Slasher genre, but to me they have always been about Love, and the Monsters represent our desire for it along with our feelings of ugliness or unworthiness. Frankenstein & the Bride, Quasimodo, Erik the Phantom--they are all Love stories. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBhyLp6lHRDEITyJ4xZgU63Ew9ddtOZVCtlchwlccReiTCLHg2GXFcRme6wndBoZByVXLItyoeC5etgPbstnKAVSSg3Xpo4gb1q3yBOocGEplDdri_tFNWenO-3thYEPVxY6dGXv_AEA/s1600/Party+After.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsBhyLp6lHRDEITyJ4xZgU63Ew9ddtOZVCtlchwlccReiTCLHg2GXFcRme6wndBoZByVXLItyoeC5etgPbstnKAVSSg3Xpo4gb1q3yBOocGEplDdri_tFNWenO-3thYEPVxY6dGXv_AEA/s320/Party+After.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/130799690/go-big-frankie-frankenstein-monster?ref=shop_home_active" target="_blank">"Big Frankie"</a>, the</span> digitally tweaked version of the first Monster U.'s album cover art. </i></span></div>
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As upset as some people are with me, finally being free of obligations to the Past is real liberation. <br />
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<br />TheMikeHoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08897906018856079123noreply@blogger.com2