July 30th, 2010: YOU GUYS! At San Diego I also saw some AMAZING T-Rex and Utahraptor cosplayers named Emily (Utahraptor) and Ambrose (T-Rex). Ambrose's sister tailored the T-Rex's trousers and suit and Emily's mom made her dress! It was amazing, and then I put on the T-Rex head and this is what my world looked like. TOTALLY EXCELLENT. Great work, guys! We posed for a few photos and people kept coming by insisting that they take a picture too, which is the mark of a great costume. Ambrose's T-Rex was wearing a bow tie (nailed it!) and Emily's Utahraptor even had the foot claw. It was the best ever; I'd never even imagined people dressing up as T-Rex and Utahraptor before SDCC and I am forced to rate it FIVE out of a possible four awesomes!

– Ryan

A diabolical honeypot, oh my!

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["Never Pick A Fight" print here.]

OK, now this is interesting…

Of the forty of so entries to the Cube Grenade competition, about one third of them are for businesses and starts ups, and about two thirds of them are for nonprofits and worthy causes.

I was expecting the opposite ratio, to be honest. [BTW There's still a couple of days left to submit an idea, so go for it etc.]

So what does this tell us?

1. Causes are more idea-driven, rather than “rational-utility” driven. “Here’s why this matters”, more than “Here’s why you should buy our product”. I think Cube Grendes are the same. They’re designed to spread ideas and start conversations, not to SELL. Designed to hit a nerve, not to just tick of a box on some random marketing checklist.

2. As nonprofits are rarely funded with anything like what they really need to get the job done, they have to be creative. And I’ve always thought that everyone has to be creative, not just those with no money. So there’s a fit there.

But there’s a fit EVERYWHERE. Business need to be more like causes. Causes need to be more like businesses. Which is what makes this whole thing so much damn fun…

July 29th, 2010: Also at Comic Con I met someone who had this excellent and much-less-blurry-in-real-life T-Rex necklace! And the transit stop signs by the convention centre were in Klingon.

– Ryan

July 28th, 2010: I decided to write about SDCC in several parts so as to not make an extremely long post! On the first day I met an extremely excellent lady who had an extremely excellent tattoo starring someone you might recognize! I rate this tattoo: ENTIRELY EXCELLENT. We also found a book called "Gay's Anatomy" (NSFW? Maybe?) which I really liked because of the pun and maybe you will too? GAYS ANATOMY, you guys!

Finally, I got a few emails about yesterday's comic wondering how T-Rex could travel BACK in time to the Titanic's sinking if he's in dinosaur times. The answer is that he was referring to the Dinosaur Titanic, an entirely different ship with a very similar story and he was just dropping the "dinosaur", the same way as when he refers to Dinosaur Bill Cosby or Dinosaur Last Thursday. It is an entirely satisfying explanation!

– Ryan

Watch out parents!

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July 27th, 2010: San Diego Comic Con was awesome and I am still jetlagged and recovering, BUT, I will have some awesome things to share with you tomorrow. It will feature PICTURES.

– Ryan

July 26th, 2010: San Diego was awesome! I'm in a plane on my way back to Toronto when you're reading this (either that or I am sleeping before or after the flight or I am boarding it or whatever, POINT IS, at some point Monday I am up in the air and that is Exciting)

– Ryan

Look to my coming on first light on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east.

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["Breakfast", which I sent out in the newsletter recently. You can buy the print here etc.]

“TREAT IT LIKE AN ADVENTURE. AN ADVENTURE WORTH SHARING.”

1. Now that Evil Plans is at the publisher’s and in production (Release date: February 17th), the newsletter and the art gallery chugging along nicely, I’m starting to think about my next adventure.

Some people live paycheck to paycheck. Some people live project to project. I prefer living “adventure to adventure”.

I reckon that if you can’t treat what you’re doing like an adventure, it’s not worth doing. You might as well be dead.

What’s my next adventure about? Haven’t quite decided yet. Something to do with Cube Grenades and the next book I plan to write. Plus the cartooning, of course.

It’ll all fit together somehow…

2. Here’s what I’ve always noticed about us humans: We all want the feeling of adventure. It’s just about the closest you can get to God while you’re still alive.

And often, we fail to heed the call. We’re too busy with IMPORTANT things. Cars to buy, bills to pay, people to schmooze and meetings to attend.

It’s not the American Dream if it kills you for stupid reasons. Sorry.

3. I wrote this little rant earlier today, while in a grumpy mood:

Fuck y’all.

You know who you are.

Your endless droning on about nothing, the endless tedium that is your career…

Well, it makes the CEO of your employer rich, but does little else.

Surrounding yourself with the overpriced, plastic baubles you learned about from TV, like anyone actually cares.

And you’re raising your kids the same way, raising them to be the same fine specimen of nowheresville. Lucky them.

You are boring. You are boredom. And that’s what you peddle.

Every day. To anyone who is desperate enough to listen.

An empty life, followed by an equally empty death.

Fuck y’all and good riddance.

My definition of “Mediocrity” is: A Triumvirate of small minds, smaller hearts and even smaller deeds. Usually with some lame-ass, entitlement power trip going on. One rarely has to look very hard to find it; it’s everywhere.

To have an adventure, is to reject that.

4. The Cube Grenade idea is all about making drawings about other people’s adventures.

That’s why I started the Cube Grenade giveaway competition. That’s why I hope you’ll nominate somebody. That’s why I hope you’ll go read some of the nominations.

It’s all about the adventure, People.

5. [TO BE CONTINUED...]

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July 23rd, 2010: San Diego Comic Con is crazy: there's this huge room and it's all full of comics and STUFF. San Diego itself is transformed into this alternate universe where comics are the dominate form of cultural expression and every other medium panders to them, which is rad!

An example: there's bus ads for shows like Nurse Jackie with the slogan "Our heroes have more fun" complete with "biff" "bam" and "pow" sound effects on the images. It's patronizing and ridiculous, but it's also kinda neat, like the coolest kid in class dropping thousands of dollars on giant coke-bottle glasses only to calmly snap them in half and tape them together in the middle, wearing them around so he looks like a nerd, what he thinks nerds look like, what TV nerds looked like on TV in the 1960s. Cargo-cult advertising.

Anyway, it's pretty fun!

– Ryan

At least it would cut down on the poking.

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