March 30th Update.

Last week was a pretty busy week actually. Got our taxes done this weekend. whoo hoo! Mailing those off after I'm done with work and all will be well. :)

Red Lights of Death: UPDATE. The Xbox is back!!! Whooo hooo! Oh how I've missed it. I plugged it in and instantly tapped my "Portal" vein. ooooh it was sweet to play it again. :)

In TR News: Josh and I ordered some very cool merch. in preperation for SDCC and the relaunch of the book this August. :evil grin: I can't wait till we get these things in. I'm going to leave it a secret for now... but I will say that you can wear them but they are not t-shirts. :)

Takshaka News: if you haven't yet, be sure to check out the Takshaka MySpace page to hear four (that's 4) full tracks. As well, in a few days, check out the Official Takshaka Website to hear the full album. :)

And last, but not least, on Saturday Josh and I hung out with Jules Rivera of Marsh Rocket and her husband, Alex. Strangely enough we met eachother in San Fransisco and discovered that we lived only a few miles away. Weird. We went to dinner at a local irish pub and wound up talking for 4 hrs. Good times had by all. It's so nice to get out and hang with fun people once in a while. :)

And that's it for now. Just wanted to post a general update.

-Kat

Awakening Volume One Now Available for Pre-Order!

In an effort to spread the word that Archaia is back and all the quality you had come to expect from them is still there, many of the Archaia talent have banded together to help pimp eachother's books and get the word out. So, I encourage anyone who reads this blog to take a moment to view their copy of the April Previews and check out The Awakening.

Below is a press release from Nick (the writer) discribing the book. And, I must say that as a rule, if I don't like something I won't pimp it. I loved this book. It's more of a dark, psychological mystery than a "zombie" book. Kinda reminds me of the X-Files when it was good.

Anyway, I will now leave you to Nick.
-Kat

------BEGIN TRANSMISSION---------

Nick.Tapalansky@gmail.com
http://www.archaiasp.com/awakening.php
For Immediate Release:

Awakening Volume One Now Available for Pre-Order!

March 26th, 2009 – New Paltz, NY. Creators Nick Tapalansky and Alex Eckman-Lawn are thrilled to announce that Awakening Volume One, the first of two volumes of the critically acclaimed Archaia series, is now available for pre-order.

"It’s been a long, strange trip getting here," Tapalansky says, referring to the restructuring Archaia (Mouse Guard, Artesia, The Killer, etc.) underwent throughout the entirety of 2008. "Archaia is a fantastic company and all we can say is the wait was well worth it. These guys came out on the other side as a stronger company with some great initiatives for fans and creators alike. We’re proud to be a part of their line-up and can’t wait for people to see what they’ve got coming, especially Awakening. Not that we’re partial or anything.”

The solicitation for Awakening Volume One reads as follows:

“The once peaceful city of Park Falls has been tainted by a series of gruesome murders and missing persons. Cynthia Ford, well known as the town crazy, comes forward to speak with retired police detective Derrick Peters one January afternoon. She claims to have information about the murders, but does she hold the key to unlocking the mystery or has she truly gone insane?

To Derrick’s disbelief she utters one word:

Zombies.

Unable to ignore Cynthia’s information, though not sharing her beliefs, Derrick and others in the city explore the mystery as weeks turn to months and the death toll rises. Could Cynthia have been right? Follow the first half of Park Falls’s year-long struggle for answers here…”

“We’re really taking a grass roots approach to getting the word out,” Tapalansky explains. “We want to reach out to as many fans and retailers as possible. We’re hitting
MySpace, deviantArt, message boards, you name it. We’re hoping that fans of the floppy issues will jump on board and help spread the word. That’s also why we’ve released our fancy pre-order coupon, which is a huge component of that initiative.”

The coupon Tapalansky refers to can be found ----->. It contains all the information a retailer will need to order a copy of the book from Diamond’s Previews catalog.

“All anybody needs to do is print this sucker out and bring it to their local comic shop. That’s it! Come June they’ll have a tome of existential horror and noir mystery to enjoy. We’re hoping that fans and folks interested in the book will feature the coupon and some links on their blogs, message boards, bathroom stalls - whatever it takes to get the word out.”

“We couldn’t have gotten this far without our rabid fan base,” Tapalansky continues, “We’re hoping they’ll turn their unnatural lust for horror and good comics towards spreading the word.”

Those without local shops needn’t worry – as soon as the book is available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book retailers, links will be posted to Nick and Alex’s websites, various message boards, and blogs across the internet.

So spread the word and get ready: Awakening is coming.

You’ve been warned.

About Awakening: Chapters 1 – 3 of Awakening were originally serialized and released in 2007 to rave reviews. Fans and critics alike enjoyed the unique take on the zombie genre, focusing on the noir mystery of a city slowly rotting from within rather than the typical mass uprising/fight for survival. Referred to as existential horror by the publisher, critics have said that it’s “The coolest and most original zombie piece since The Walking Dead,” (Broken Frontier), “The next 30 Days of Night,” (The Pullbox), and that main character Derrick Peters is “where Phillip Marlowe meets George Romero,” (Horrorview). Readers can find out more by visiting the MySpace page for Awakening, Nick’s Blog, Truth in Four Colors, or the official Archaia page for Awakening.

Awakening Volume 1 is due in stores this June.

----- END TRANSMISSION -----

It's Pimp'n Time!

Made this iMix of my favorite songs that feature prominately synthesized voices... specifically robot voices because, let's face it, robot voices kick ass. And yes, there is some pimpage for Takshaka in there. :)

So listen and enjoy.

It's Official...

As of this day, I am now legally, Kat Finney. :applause: I went down to the SSA today and got it all taken care of. Took about an hour wait for a 10min. procedure. :) But now I am officially Mrs. Finney and it feels really good to say it. :) Now begins the process of changing my DL and all the financial stuff. Much fun... but well worth it. I really got a kick out of seeing "Finney" on the letter that they gave me when I left.

Ok, It's now time for "fun things overheard while at government buildings". I literally heard a woman say that not only was her son "addicted" to Craig's List and used it for everything. She then elaborated by stating that he "adopted my grandchild through Craig's List".... Does your brain blue-screen on this too? Not only is that illegal... it's just stupid. I mean, there are so many things WRONG with that statement.... and then you start thinking "they probably aren't the only ones doing this." the idea that there are actually multiple people "adopting" children through Craig's list. The stupidity... the outright wrongness... I'm so glad I'm not in retail anymore cause now I don't have to deal personally with these people.

On to other news, Josh and I just got back from AZ where we saw the air show at Luke Air Base. Well... I should say that we saw the airplanes on the tarmac... not the air show itself. The line to get into the base on Saturday was a full three blocks long and that is not an exaggeration. They had it serpentine three times down the street from one traffic light to the next. So we said "screw it" and arrived super early on Sunday morning to get in. We left before they flew any planes (got there at 8 and they weren't going to fly anything till noon) but seeing all the F16s on the field was very awesome.

We even talked to a few of the training squadrons that were selling stuff. Bought a g-string from the Fighting Bulldogs (had to. It was just too hilarious) and a charm for my charm bracelet from the Mad Mallards. They were cool. Their squadron patch has Donald Duck on it, so their attitude patch says QQMF (means Quack Quack Mother Fucker). :evil grin: Josh bought a "zap" sticker from them as well as a Raptor patch for his jacket.

Though they weren't flying any Raptors at the time we did get to see two of them on the runway. We couldn't get any closer than 100 feet or so but I got some good shots.

Well, I think that's it for now.

-Kat

Takshaka

Finally. After 8+ years of waiting, Takshaka: Black Feather is now available through iTunes.

Takshaka is the IDM musical project of Johnathan Sharp (Bio-Tek, New Mind, Barking at Butterflies) and Josh Finney. They began producton on this over eight years ago and finally it is available to the public. From the futuristic sounds and mood of "Macarther Bart (Forma Tadre version)" to the ambiance of "Curious Yellow", to the Ghost in the Shell inspired "Motoko 2501", Takshaka: Black Feather is an audio journey through the future.

Please take a moment to listen to some samples at the following websites:
Official Site - www.glitchwerk.com/takshaka
Myspace - www.myspace.com/takshaka1
Last.fm - www.last.fm/music/Takshaka

If you like what you hear you can go to iTunes and download the album.

TR News and Random Thoughts.

TR News:
First, the important stuff. Titanium Rain has it's own twitter account now. Huzzah!! So if you are on twitter, please follow us at http://www.twitter.com/TitaniumRain. As well, though I can't talk about it much, I can tell you that great things are in the works for Titanium Rain (besides more issues) such as new content for the website. Look for updates in the next month or so. :)

Zeta: Something happened this morning that just absolutely made my day. Last week I entered a contest on the Superheros-R-Us website to win a copy (out of three available) of the new Zeta DVD box set that came out... today actually. Well, this morning my inbox had a lovely email from these fine folks telling me that I had won the contest. I am so happy. I loved this show when it was on TV but rarely ever was able to catch it. I wish they had done more with not only this show but the Batman Beyond universe... but oh well. I can't wait to get this and watch it. :big grin:

And Finally:
I am very touched and honored that my friend Deseri liked the Death's Head piece that I did for her so much that she is indeed going to have it done as a tattoo. She had asked me to design something for her but didn't say what. Just said to draw something meaningful. To me she is very beautiful and kind, but also very strong and has a low tolerance for bull. Though she is very feminine, she is too strong for an image of a butterfly, so I opted for a creature that has the same semblance, but is not as fragile (at least to me).
I gave her a print for her birthday and didn't tell her what it was, figuring that this way there was no obligation to get the ink if she didn't like it. She said that she knew at once when she opened it that it was going to be her next tattoo. I almost cried (sappy I know but, hey, it meant a lot). I'm going to go with her when she gets it done in a few months. :)

-Kat

General Update 3/13/09

Happy Friday the 13th Everybody!!. Well, my goal is to make this the luckiest day ever since all my bad luck seems to have been spread out over this last week. From the Xbox dying to me yelling at my boss at the day job to major misunderstandings and downright stupidity on my part with everybody else, I’m not having a very good week. So, the purpose of this entry is to talk about nothing but the good things that have happened this week.

Red Lights of Death: UPDATE. Well, the Xbox is winging it’s way back to Planet Microsoft and I hope to have either it fixed or a new one sent to me in two to three weeks. Really looking forward to having it back. I never realized how much I relied on it until it was gone. Everything from DVDs to streaming movies to.. well, games. Since Josh and I don’t watch TV other than CNN and Stupid Criminals, the Xbox was our only viewing medium. :sigh: well, it will be fixed soon and all will be well.

Package from Chan. My friend Chandra sent me a lovely surprise yesterday. I had asked her to pick up a copy of her cousin’s book (Peach Fuzz) for me at MegaCon and she sent it along with a print of one of my favorite pieces of hers. :sniff: It made me so happy and brightened my day when I opened the package and saw that print. Isn’t it beautiful? :hug: Thanks Chan!!

Time for sketching! I got time to do some sketching yesterday at the day job! Yeah Me!! I hadn’t been getting the time I wanted to sketch random doodles and things lately. Usually I would get interrupted by phone calls. You know, what I’m “supposed” to be doing.  Well yesterday was kind of a slow day and there weren’t many people in the office so I was able to get this picture out. Since I haven’t scanned it yet, I’ll describe it to you. It’s a full body shot of a female robot kneeling on the ground. She’s not completely put together with various parts of her anatomy missing (mainly the arms) and she’s hooked up to wires hanging from the ceiling. She’s slouched over with her eyes closed.. most likely because she’s not activated yet. I’m very proud of it because I used absolutely no photo reference for it. Usually I like to view a picture or a model while I’m sketching, but this one I really wanted to push myself and it turned out beautiful.  Currently working on another piece, I think it will be the same figure, just from a different angle, and with arms.

Ok, that’s all for now.
-Kat

New Sketch

Ok, I know it's been a while since I posted a new art piece but I've been busy (mostly with TR). I guess the bright side to the Xbox dying was it gave me a chance to eek out a few hours and do this piece.
It's a death's head moth (but I'm sure you could tell that already. :)). I was inspired to do this as a possible tattoo design for a friend of mine. I drew it first on paper using pencil, then I scanned it into photoshop and "inked" it, adding some more spikes and overall improving the piece. Then I added the water colors and dodge/burned it to add depth.
I'm finding that I really enjoy doing these "tribal insect" pieces. I have also done a dragonfly and have the beginings of a butterfly. Currently working on a locust but I can't seem to get it right... I'll post it as soon as I get it to work. :)

-Kat

Three red lights of death

Holy fuck, we're a statistic now. I turned on the Xbox to play Portal and the fucking 3 red lights of death popped up. My Xbox is a paperweight now!. God this sucks. Now I gotta get a new one. :(

Argh!!!!

UPDATE: I take it back. Microsoft is an awesome company. I went to their website to see how much they would charge for repairs... and the answer is NOTHING! This is awesome! Apperantly if your 360 is less than 3yrs old (which all of them are) and you get the 3 red lights of death, they will repair it for free for you. I think they are even going to pay for the shipping. This is too cool!
I knew they had good customer service before (from experience) but the fact that they are willing to do this past the normal warentee makes me extreamly happy. You definately wouldn't get this kind of service from PlayStation. Thank you Xbox for being so awesome!

-Kat

WonderCon 2009 Update: Part 1

I'll write my 2cents tomorrow on the con. All I'll say right now is that Josh and I had a blast and it was great seeing all the ASP guys again. :) Again, more from me later.
Right now, I suggest you head on down to "the Hanger" for the first instalment of Josh's review of the con.

-Kat