Mass Eulogy for Death List + Memorial

You know it's a bad month when you have to make a list of all the people who passed away to make sure you haven't missed anyone. The greatest consolation is that they were all from natural causes, no suicides are other senseless loss of life.

I've never sugarcoated death. Their story has ended, but ours go on. They will always be an important chapter in our book of life. The past should be remembered, but not relived. Life is lived forward.

 

Kiara Miatosa - a kind heart and sweet smile.  A friend from the cosplay and steampunk community.  

Ken Murphy - just an all around good dude.  Open to people of all beliefs, we are undecided on if he is spending time listening to the pipers in Azathoth's court, singing ballads in the beer halls of Valhalla, or just chillin' with Buddha.

Wakako Kawagoshi-Fisher - possibly the most tragic passing.  Her husband, pictured with her, Hart Fisher is the founder of Boneyard Press who currently runs American Horrors, a streaming horror channel.  Their relationship was one which everyone aspires to but very few ever achieve.  Their love was evident and everpresent.

Then several other friends have each lost loved ones; a father, a mother, a childhood friend, another mutual friend, and several family pets. A few were upset at the loss of Stephen Hawking, but he kinda lost his mind at the end, raving about fearing aliens invading the earth or AI destroying humanity.

I will also include my April Memorial.  Two of the greatest people I have had the pleasure of knowing but have passed into the great beyond were both lost to the world in April, so it is a very somber and introspective time for me every year.  A time to reflect on the previous year and ask myself, "Did I enjoy it?  Did I at least accomplish something worthwhile?  Have I progressed towards the goals that I want to achieve with the limited time I have left on this planet?  Did I live my life to the fullest?"  If not, how do I rectify that.

Desiree Duponte - had an incredible passion for life and music, and damn could she shred!  Though I only knew her for a few years, it was like we had been lifelong friends.  I dedicated Got a Bad Case of the Horribly Wrongs to her, and her phenomenal musical talent was the inspiration for the guitarist priestess character Strawberry Cthcake.

Sid Copeland - proprietor of the punk bar Jughead's (now also gone).  After having Thanksgiving dinner with his actual flesh and blood family, he would open the bar and have Thanksgiving dinner with his punk family who didn't have anyone else to spend the holiday with or have anywhere else to go.  It was a free, full blown, serve yourself, turkey and gravy and mashed potatoes and yams from a can Thanksgiving dinner.  He did the same on Christmas Eve.  I and my friends broke bread and vodka with Sid quite a few times.  Sid was the heart of the punk community of that bygone era.

¡Viva Sid!

Lovecraft meets Elvira, Mistress of the Dark

Issue #84 of the Elvira, Mistress of the Dark comic book starring the titular character features the story "Shadow of Sinnsport," a direct reference to "The Shadow Over Innsmouth."  The Lovecraft character, though obviously picturing the author himself, is named Professor Lucifer Conal of Mastadonic University.  It revolves around the search for the Heckronomicon and includes lots of the other puns you'd expect from an Elvira comic.  It features a fishmen attack and a decent, if not super cliché, ending.

Hitting CTRL + will enlarge the pages to make them more easily readable, then CTRL - to reduce them, or CTRL 0 will reset the modifications.

Aquaman vs. Cthulhu actually happened! + All the Memes

Aquaman actually fought Cthulhu in DC Comics!

Once, in The Brave and the Bold #32 (2010), Aquaman teams up with the Demon to journey to an underwater city, fight fishmen, and stop the horrible menace of Cth. . . wait, is that still under copyright?  Some idiots claim they own it but have no papers to prove it?  It's actually in the public domain now?  Nevermind, we'll call it, um, a Night God.  That's great!  Let's go to print!

Then, in Aquaman Vol 7 #23 (2013).

Oh, but wait, that's Aquaman's buddy, Topo, from Prime Earth.  Topo is a sentient octopus that first appeared in Adventure Comics #229 (1956).  Wanna see what he used to look like?

ALL THE MEMES

Marvel Comics rips off Lovecraft

Look familiar?  This is Marvel Comics' Dweller in Darkness who first appeared in Doctor Strange #30 (1978).  The original "The Dweller in Darkness" was written by August Derleth in 1944.  Ironic, that Marvel ripped off Cthulhu's likeness from Lovecraft, but ripped off the name from August Derleth who many consider to have ripped off Lovecraft; unscrupulously riding the coattails of the Old Gentleman from Providence.

Steampunk + Werewolves! (XD Dark Ride review)

"Turn of the century, London England. A poisonous gas has been unleashed into the air and is quickly turning everybody into ferocious werewolves. The city is being decimated as the creatures gain in numbers. Bodies are ravaged in the streets while carriages crash and burn. Can you survive this adrenaline-charged ride as you fight off the beasts that hunt us down and try to purge the city of their creator."

That is the description for the Werewolves XD Dark Ride, a 3D motion simulator interactive laser gun shoot-'em-up video game experience.  It lasts about 5 minutes and each location will have different themes (zombies, robots, Godzilla-like monster, Road Warrior style wasteland battle, etc).  It costs $5 here in Phoenix, AZ inside Castles ~n~ Coasters at Metrocenter Mall.

I've also done the zombies and the Pseudozilla, and Werewolves is the best so far.  I got outvoted for going Mad Max and doing Road Fighters.

The steampunk elements don't kick in until the end of the game, and ARE SHOWN in the trailer.  So don't watch if you don't want the spoilers.

Here is the Werewolves trailer:

This is what the typical theater-style setup looks like.

I highly recommend the experience.

Back down the Rabbit Hole

I really need to get back to the world of Chainsaw Alice.  I miss her adventures.  Here are some new pics of Tuella the Two of Hearts (The Queen of Hearts' enforcer from Chainsaw Alice in Wonderland).  After Alice, she is my favorite character.  She's tough, she's confident, and she's not afraid to let you know it - by beating your ass, if necessary!

The advancement in graphic quality in Second Life makes for quite the incredible places to discover and explore.  Most of my book graphics and covers are done using their program.

The other pics are over here.

This is at the Erotic Isle of Cthulhu.  Of course, it was a Saturday night and the place was empty.  Maybe I need to get a Third Life.  *sad lol*

My Friend Killed Herself - Suicide + Mental Illness

A
friend killed herself Monday night.  We had just seen her over
the weekend at a convention.  There were no warning signs.
She was always a positive person.  She had starred in a bunch of
local films.  She had a great job that she loved working as a
studio director and DJ at a local radio station (she loved music).
Life seemed to be going well for her.  She bought stuff at the
con, got a pic with a celeb, was making plans for later in the week.
Had messaged a couple other people to get together.  None of
these are the usual activities of someone in a suicidal state.

She
went hiking with her besties Monday morning.  Then Monday night
there was a post on Facebook that simply said, "I am done"
and she killed herself.

I
didn't know her well enough to know if there were hidden demons.
I've had family members with bi-polar disorder, and from the outside
it looks an awful lot like that, because that tends to be a genetic,
biological illness, a literal chemical imbalance.  You can have
the greatest life, friends, family, job you love, no stress, no money
worries, and still suffer from manic depression.

It
seems like she was on a great streak, but when the illness struck on
Monday night it hit her hard, too hard for her to fight back, and
dropped her into that dark pit of despair and hopelessness.

If
you suffer from bouts of depression, especially sharp declines and
ones that include suicidal thoughts, I urge you to seek help.  Even
just talking about it, how you feel, what you fear, can go great
lengths to easing your mind. 

Love

from my little black heart.