Distraction. I has it.

The drawing above is my entry into the Project Rooftop: Captain America costume redesign contest. I scoured the rules two or three times and there was no mention of not posting your entries elsewhere and, as I don't have any sketches to post (mostly because I was working on this) I'm hoping they won't mind. Other than Dean, I don't think any of the judges come here so it's not like I'm influencing anyone with it.

Christian pointed out to me that there was a new contest in the works and suggested I enter. I was nervous because costume design is one of my many weak points and, besides, Captain America's uniform is one I've always considered to be "perfect". Really no room for improvement, much like Green Lantern, Spider-Man and (dare I say it), the original Nova suit. But I thought maybe Cap could use a formal military outfit for special occasions like funerals, award ceremonies, inaugurations, etc. But you never know when trouble will come calling so I made sure he had a helmet and a place to keep his keys and cell phone. I've already seen a few things I wish I'd done differently but the contest is closed now and I'm just waiting to see if I made the cut. I'm just hoping to make it as far as getting posted on the site. And I can't wait to see the other entries. Looking through the other contest results just make me feel like the amateur I am. Some great stuff there. Anyway, I hope you like it. Wish me luck.

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Suzanne and I have noticed that whenever we're trying to lose weight, as we are now (I'm down 12 pounds and counting since Todd posted that picture of me from Heroes, thank you very much.) people hear the word "diet" and translate that as "please give me fattening food." It seems like everywhere we go there's someone wanting to give us free grub. Restaurants I can understand but with friends and family it's like they find our desire to drop some pounds personally offensive.

It's like that with distractions too. Now that I've made a concerted effort to work on HAND ME DOWN HORROR, my world is filled with people and things vying for my attention. Either it's a poker game with my co-workers, the release of STARCRAFT 2 (which, thankfully, doesn't work on my home computer) or the slew of cool horror movies coming to Blu-ray (GALAXY OF TERROR, HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP, PIRANHA and FORBIDDEN WORLD, baby!) and to theaters (PIRANHA 3D and LAST EXORCISM leading the charge.) I've still managed to avoid as much of this as possible and get some writing time in whenever possible but with football season starting soon, I'm a little concerned. Fortunately, the upcoming fall TV season doesn't appear to offer any new shows that interest me in the slightest. And with FLASH/FORWARD and LOST off the plate, I'm looking good in that department.

Speaking of distraction. Today, Suze and I finally made it to "Movies and Mimosas" at the Bowtie Cinema here in Richmond. (The mimosas are served outside in the lobby.) On weekend mornings, they show classic movies from yesteryear and this weekend it was DIAL "M" FOR MURDER, one of Hitchcock's films I had not yet seen. It was a blast. An entire film that takes place in one room. I have a great love for Hitchcock and Suze and I laughed at several shots that would be taken for granted now or considered cheesy but were quite innovative and clever in their time.

After that, we swung by the Virginia Comicon and spent most of our time there talking to Shelton Drum of Heroes Con who was set up there. It's really nice that he comes to these smaller cons because we don't really get much chance to thank him personally at Heroes as he's so busy. We also confirmed with Brett Carreras that we'll be setting up at the November Virginia Comicon which is a two-day affair. And we're tentatively scheduled to appear at Chris Garvey's convention at the Salem Civic Center in October. Whew. We were disappointed that Marc Nathan couldn't make it but, as he's expecting to become a first-time Dad any minute now, it was understandable. Good luck, Marc and Shelley!

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The title of this post is a reference to my new favorite television commercial. I usually can't stand advertisements. That's a direct result of working in the business for so long. The sheer egotism and douchebaggery in the industry has turned me off to the stuff. Whenever I see a TV spot, even one I like, all I can think about is all the crap that most likely went on behind the scenes. (Do other professions have people that show up for work on a 105-degree day wearing a wool cap as a fashion statement?) But this one is so much damned fun I can't help myself. Every time I see it, I break up laughing. It really is brilliant. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkMsSIjQXxo

Okay, this is long enough. Later.