Seven things you didn't need to know about Auckland Armageddon
- Because lists are actually a good way of displaying information. Cracked is case in point.

1. Easy Mac

Any hapless punter wandering too near the Video Ezy stall who happened to make eye contact or have a free hand was pressed with a bag full of goodies. Interesting to see what it contained; various fliers, brochures, a map and schedule, an Oreo bar or two, a mini bottle of shower gel (which I thought was brilliant if a little un-subtle), and the ubiquitous pottles of Easy Mac.
Verily, our cups runneth over with this product. Whose bright idea was it to hand out bags and bags of microwave pasta that no one there could use? You couldn't get water for asking, and even if you did there was no way to heat it. They earned nothing but derision, I am sure. Nevertheless we have a couple shopping-bags-ful of the stuff sitting on the bench. I'm eating one now and let's just say it doesn't exactly set my world on fire.

2. Stall

There are few things as rewarding as pushing through lines of mundies waiting impatiently for the gates to open, flashing that exhibitor's pass and strolling inside. Plus earning money (however little) to sit on your arse drawing pictures is a great way to spend a weekend. This year ~Calron and I had a litle stall in Artists' Alley to ourselves, going in shifts with ~Dagath. Quite a good spot, too.
I got a contentable amount of positive comments and gave away every business card I had. It's hard to predict what people will like; the buttons went like candy of course, and I sold an eclectic mix of prints and comics. I'm pretty sure I came close to making a profit, even.

3. Sketches

Far and above the actual products on display, the biggest spinner however was the $5 sketches; I bought an A5 pad and used two-thirds of it drawing a collection of b&w ditties; everything from Batman to Evil Dead, a high tea party with zombies to unintelligible experimental comics in the old west; which you'll see as I release them to the prying eye of the internet. It seems I never do as much or as good art as at these events. This year saw extensive use of high contrast, Sin City-inspired art. I did a sweet Miho pic which someone bought before I got a picture of it, but I should be able to reproduce it easy enough.

4. Peeps

I ran into a bunch of you however briefly; I do apologise if I was too busy being a reclusive introvert to actually talk to you for any length of time with any coherency. Way to play to the stereotype, Tim. So a belated greetings to anyone I didn't get around to: do please make yourself known as I'm always keen to watch kiwi deviants. On an unrelated note, it turns out that people you meet on the internet often turn out to be extremely odd in real life and scare your RL friends. Who knew?
The guys at the stalls around us were awesome; check out the guys from ActionManAdam and PodgyPanda show us up with their professional stuff- the same goes for ~pd-inc and others I can't recall. Directly across from us was the 'unite' stand, petitioning to get the minimum wage raised (rather a short-sighted and pointless goal if you have even a passing knowledge of economics) and generally being quite fail, like sellotaping their banner up, backwards.

5. Gutache

All weekend I had a mysterious ache around my middle which doctors could find no explanation for. It doesn't seem to be Appendicitis, so that's nice; but it doesn't seem to be anything at all which is less so. But at any rate I was limited to sitting, walking and leaning and thus didn't get to do as much as I'd hoped. It's pretty well better now.

6. Roller Derby

...is brilliant and I don't know why it isn't more popular. Same goes for ska music which is interesting given the strong links between the cultures. I caught the end of Saturday's jam and all of Sunday's and if in the far-off future I ever have any daughters I'm making sure to enter them in a league. Netball? Gymnastics? Rubbish. What you need for an after-school activity is a pair of skates, a helmet with a skull-and-bones on it and a terribly punny yet morbidly appealing pop-culture-referencing nickname.

7. The Man made me buy Jandals

Went to watch Surrogates at the movies- perfectly good movie, doesn't reinvent the wheel but well entertaining- and wasn't allowed in the theatre with bare feet. The absurdity of it all. Was forced to buy Jandals (an invention I can fathom only one practical use for, and that is public showers) from an asian junk shop, just in order to get through the door where of course I promptly took them off again. Stupid bloody modern bureaucratic nonsense.

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Currently on the go:

= pencils = inks = finished

Armageddon Comic - Now available to read
Sketches from Armageddon - For most part I'm finished with 'em.
Carnella - My first real vector work, done from one of my con sketches.
Art trade with - Finished [link]

NaNoWriMo - 31000 words
Logo for Belmont Centenary - planning
~flickwit comic buffer - One, maybe two pages to go till chapter end
Buttons for Armageddon - They've arrived; now to figure out what the hell to do with 'em.
Logo for HamJam - not started
Logo for Dee's dance studio - not started
Drawing for baby Connie - not started
Torn comics round robin - on hold

Still not sick of: Your Heart Is Breaking - "Summer" Album

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webcomic
main account

-Tim