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Sunday, November 30, 2008 Thanksgiving Vacation Listening to: Kanye West - Amazing 
This Thanksgiving Weekend has been an incredible vacation full of movie watching, craft making, song writing, video game playing and making Thanksgiving dinner for my parents. I even had the opportunity to see some old friends who came back to visit, not to mention Brad and Shannon over in the 'Meda. All in all, it was a really rewarding vacation and I actually got a lot done outside of eating. Some highlights from this break include the following: - I created a Victory Box (pictures and video to be uploaded soon). What it basically is is this small tin box (Altoids tin) that has a button on top. When you press the button, it plays the chorus of Joe Esposito's "You're The Best Around". It was probably my most ambitious soldering project as the parts to solder were considerably small compared to the other things I've done. If I messed up, I would have permanently closed the circuit and wasted my $10 on the 9V Recording Module. - I avoided the Black Friday mobs this year. There just wasn't anything that caught my eye in this year's mad rush to save money on consumer items. I ended up going to Joann's early in the morning to pick up some embroidery floss. There were like twelve people in the store. Josie and I got to Target at around 11:30am. I ended up buying a cleaning disk for the toilet. What a bargain! - Anime News Network recently put up an interview about me in their column space, "The Gallery". I met Evan Miller, the writer of the article, over at APE this year and we got to talking. Go ahead and give it a read if you'd like. You can get to it by hitting this link here. Thanks Evan! Thanks Anime News Network! - My designs are now up over at Threadless.com! You can vote on it by clicking here and here (or you can click on the pictures below). The greatest thing about this is that the comments have been relatively positive and I haven't been kicked out of the race yet! If you have an account, I'd really appreciate it if you went out to vote. Someone commented and said the following about the Pirate "R" shirt: "This has GOT to have been done at this stage in t-shirt history, hasn't it?" I must admit, I would've thought so as well. But to my recollection and other t-shirt connoisseurs, we haven't seen this bad boy floating around in the market. Go figure. So winds up another vacation and back to the daily nine-to-six grindstone tomorrow. Good night everyone and have a great Sunday!  "Cock of the Wok"  "The Letter 'Pirate'" posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 10:26 PM Permalink | | Wednesday, November 26, 2008 I Just Need You Tonight (Zombie Love Song) Listening to: That Guy Alex - I Just Need You Tonight (Zombie Love Song) It's been a while since I've gotten my creative juices flowing to write a song. I guess all this talk about Left 4 Dead has got me thinking about zombies. I started out plunking around on my guitar this morning and writing a commonplace love song when I realized that I needed to grow and mature in my music writing. I need to tell stories, bring in new perspectives and ultimately get out of that mushy poop. So, this is what happened. On a side note, I'm kneeling on the floor because the cat is sleeping in my chair. See lyrics below. I Just Need You Tonight (Zombie Love Song) Lyrics All alone Shabby clothes in a broken home I mean literally it's a broken home I came crashing through just hours ago But you, yeah you Heard me in the dark So you left, you ran Now there's a hole in my heart I just want to eat your brains I want to rip off your face No, no, no I won't share Because I care This pain is driving me insane I just need you tonight I need to feed on you tonight I just want to eat your brains How'd I let you get away No, no, no I don't share Because I care This pain is driving me insane I just need you tonight (I just need you tonight) I need feed on you tonight (I need to feed on you tonight) I need you inside me tonight (um... okay) I just need you tonight I just need you tonight posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 10:41 AM Permalink | | Tuesday, November 25, 2008 A New Episode of Dragon Ball Listening to: Nothing.   The only characters worth mentioning. So to celebrate the 40th year anniversary of Shonen Jump, the folks at Bird Studio have gone and created a new episode of Dragon Ball that you can watch over here. It takes place two years after the end of Z, but still takes place before GT. It's nice to see that they spent the time and money into investing in something like this for fans of the series. Though it's nothing groundbreaking, it's nice to see all of the characters back together. Another plus is that the episode is in Japanese with English subtitles. Way to go! ...and I just found out that they have a new offshoot One Piece episode to watch! Talk about a wonderful week in the world of mass media anime! Link: Shonen Jump Super Anime Tour posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 1:43 PM Permalink | | Friday, November 21, 2008 Oh my! That's flattering. Listening to: Nothing. 
A forum poster over at the Mochi Ads forums made a post and called me a legend. I haven't been called a legend since that time I saved post-apocalyptic New York from a cancerous zombie virus. In any case, it's pretty flattering. They were specifically referring to this comic strip regarding my bleak take on the current state of the Flash games industry and their disgustingly grubby hands (not all, some). In other news, I've tried my hands at some Threadless designs again. I know I could go the route of a Shirtcity or something, but the prize money and bragging rights are a little too enticing for an "attention whore" like me. If they get "Blam'd" out the door, I'll then go the indie route and try to hock my wares through this site here. Maybe Notcot.org will deem something of mine worth posting again. Anyhow, here are the shirts. As of this post, they aren't available for voting just yet. You can, however, click on the links to be taken to their proper landing pages. "Cock of the Wok" "The Letter 'Pirate'" posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 3:46 PM Permalink | | Wednesday, November 19, 2008 Hey, I like toys. Listening to: Nothing. 
I finally found the time to open my Figma figures that I purchased a little while ago. I'm quite a fan of the Lucky Star anime and found it fun to pose them. To be honest, I enjoy these figures made by Max Factory/Good Smile more than the Revoltech figures. These figures seem to be softer and more sturdy, as if they're actually filled with a strong material. The Revoltech figures feel like cheap plastic and I'm always afraid I'm going to break a joint when I'm trying to move them around. They also, geniuses as they are, include plastic bags with each figure. This lets you store all the extra pieces (they often come with an extra face and hands) in a convenient and accessible place. I don't have to put them all back in the box now. Anyway, that's all I had worth posting tonight. Here's a few more photos. I'll probably have an art update soon.  
posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 11:57 PM Permalink | | Tuesday, November 18, 2008 Sleep - New Interactive Fiction Game Listening to: Engineers talking about API integration. 
So, I'm finally done with my first Interactive Fiction game. The game is called "Sleep" and it is based off an entry from HP Lovecraft's Commonplace Book, which is essentially a diary/notebook full of ideas and random thoughts from the literary genius. "The man who would not sleep-dares not sleep-takes drugs to keep himself awake. Finally falls asleep-and something happens." The game is pretty short. You could probably beat it in five or so minutes. There's five points to score (you earn points by doing certain things in the game). You'll very likely get the first three points with the last two involving some extra exploring of the world. This was more of an experiment to test out my creative writing chops and try a completely new game style. The game that got me interested in the genre again was Gun Mute. Go play it. Seriously. You should be reading more anyway. Comics and manga don't count. ...sort of. The game is for Windows only. I'm trying to figure out how to get the MAC OS interpreter up and running. Download: Sleep (0.9MB) posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 1:41 PM Permalink | | Sunday, November 16, 2008 $2.00 Churro Listening to: Something playing on Josie's computer. 
When I was on my way to the bank this past Friday, I passed by a woman selling churros on the corner of New Montgomery and Mission. I felt that it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Unfortunately, I came up with this conclusion after I had already traversed two blocks past her. I decided that if she was still there on my return trip, I would definitely buy one. Sure enough, she was still there 15 minutes later and I became the new owner of a slightly warm churro in a brown paper bag. Street vendors are the kinds of things you only see in more urban city environments, like San Francisco, New York and even sometimes in Berkeley. The only vendor I've ever seen in San Jose had a hot dog cart called "All-Star Hot Dogs" outside of a Fry's Electronics. Edit: Josie has reminded me that we have men who push around tiny carts with bells who sell questionable tortilla chips. The carts are the poor man's Ice Cream vehicle of choice (no truck with music, just a cart with bells and fruit flavored ones only). 
I had the opportunity to try the Left 4 Dead demo this weekend as well. It was two missions of blood rushing, zombie killing, 4-player co-op action. It was one of the most satisfying and terrifying experiences I have ever witnessed on the console and I've played the Yaris game on the 360 (a travesty in advergaming)! It was a great combination of team work, sharp shooting and just being careful about your surroundings. I'll definitely have to pick it up one of these days. I'm sure you'll also notice that I've put some ads around the website. I decided that if I start now, it's better than never. I mean, honestly, the goal is to be able to make all of these sites self sustainable, right? The only way to do it? Friends and family clicking on those links and watching the really cool video ads about Naruto Ultimate Ninja: Storm or Scrubs: The Complete Seventh Season. We have to turn Mr. Shen into a gentleman by nightfall or he'll forever be stuck as the stepsister who's really good at cleaning toilets. Oh, and he talks to mice too. Well, time to go work on some more freelance gigs and my IF game. Good day! posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 9:52 PM Permalink | | Wednesday, November 12, 2008 Vector Relaxing Listening to: Matt Wertz - The Day Forever Died 
I took a little break while working on one of the final pages for the Secret Identities comic anthology by relaxing on the curves of a nice vector drawing. I also made some good headway on my IF game on the train. I'm considering printing out all of the manuals that come with the TADS 3 development environment, but I really don't have the ink or paper to do so (it'd be like 400+ pages worth of text). I also feel bad doing it at work since they only have this Brother fax/scanner/printer thing. I suppose I'll find someplace to do it. If anyone knows of a cheap place to print out an entire PDF file, please let me know. Worse comes to worse, I'll upload it as a private document to Lulu.com or something and print out individual copies for myself. Anyway, I'm going to do some drawing for my secret comic project and go to bed. posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 10:27 PM Permalink | | Tuesday, November 11, 2008 The World Needs More Monkeys Listening to: Sara Bareilles - Gravity 
The world needs more pictures of monkeys. That is why I drew this picture. I also felt that my blog needed an update of some sort. I am currently working on an Interactive Fiction (IF) game for the TIGSource Commonplace Book Competition. We're not doing it to win anything, outside of some bragging rights, but rather take part in something with the indie community who is so hellbent on creating games for the sake of creating games. Now I feel a rant coming on... We're hobbyists and we're doing it because it's fun, darn it. Some have found their niches and whatnot and have been able to make some money doing so, but it's really all about doing it because we love to make games and play them. It's a pure reason, and I like that about the community. Then again, I feel that the downloadable game space differs very much from the online Flash game space. Our audience is already captivated enough to download the file for a go and we feel that we owe them something more than your, for example, standard "maze game". The downloadable game space audience is more focused, seeking something worth a lunch break and hard disk space. Expectations run different. This isn't to say that great Flash games don't exist, as they clearly do, but we just see such a larger percentage of poop. Perhaps it's the ease of use of the tool. Maybe it's the ad revenue sharing opportunities available and the allure of "making it big" with the next 10-second time waster. Who knows? Maybe if we had the latter for the downloadable game space, we'd see an influx in the downloadable equivalents of Flash "jigsaw puzzles" and "dressup" games. [giant shrug] 
*sigh*...I wonder what Hannah Montana's doing right now. posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 10:31 PM Permalink | | Friday, November 7, 2008 New Game - Jimmy: TSAFAIMHTA Listening to: The central air unit.  
Hello everyone! The newest game it out now and you can find the download over at the game info page. The premise/story is pretty simple: the game teaches a lesson about greed and how it can destroy us all. I got the idea when I was on the train the other day. I guess the idea came about (trying to incorporate some kind of meaning/emotional attachment to a game) when I played I Wish I Were The Moon. It was a nice, short Flash game piece that really entertained me and got me thinking. My next gaming venture will be less poignant. It'll probably be some silly dice battling game. There's nothing like a good ol' fashioned dice battling game. posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 11:55 AM Permalink | | Thursday, November 6, 2008 It's what I do. Listening to: The train screech its way through the night. 
One of my duties at work is to go through the Approval Queue of our Flash games list. This basically involves playing the game to make sure all ad placements/loading sections are in order (you can't have other sounds playing, you can't cover the ad, etc.). If they are, they get approved and hopefully they make gabillions of dollars off of their games. For the most part, like your favorite local band who only plays at the bar down by the bus station, it just doesn't happen. One of the genres of games that I'm always lucky to get to play and rate (our internal rating system) are these dress-up games. Essentially they are like those paper dress-up dolls, but in a new digital format. Sometimes the clothing snaps to the character model, sometimes it doesn't. I prefer the former, but when it's the latter, I like to put earrings and necklaces where they shouldn't be. I also always end up making sure they're wearing as little as possible and click on the "next" or "finish" button to see them in their "totally awesome surroundings". In this case, the "next" button brought our model to her date at the cafe. I bet "Pretty Angeline" here wasn't expecting an Asian to be her date for this evening! Oh, how much fun our night will be with my old high school calculus book! In other news... 
I am almost done with my new game: Jimmy. The full title is actually Jimmy: The Stars Are Falling And I Must Have Them All. It's a small mini-game that teaches the lesson that greed is bad and insatiable. Greed will destroy you. In this story, Jimmy wants to collect all the stars he sees in the sky... especially the big one at the end. I'll probably have it posted by tomorrow. I have to right the tunes for it and then I'll be done. PC downloadable only. Sorry. Don't throw your stinky shoes at me you Mac users. posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 7:15 PM Permalink | | Tuesday, November 4, 2008 It's that feeling! The Train: Is pulling into the station. 
So ncsx.com has a sale on these Ape Escape memory cards for the PS2. To be honest, the last game I played on the PS2 was Yakuza 2 and I'm not even done with it (Fable 2 kind of took over). Why would I want this? Why, because I just do. I could then save my games in simian style, folks. In other news, pertaining more to the world of comicking and whatnot, I am working on a new work called Robot in the City. The domain's been registered and I've started on the first few strips. Though each strip can be standalone, they are all part of a bigger story that shows the progression of Toby, the robot, learning about the world. 
Whenever I finish a show like APE, I find myself wanting to throw it all into the wind and try to make a career out of drawing. Then the Chinese part of me floods my eyesight and I'm back to Earth, head far from the clouds. And in a small snippet of internet hilarity/idiocy, someone called me a "noob" after taking off 50% of their health. They can eat a B.O.D. with a spoon. I abhor teenagers like they hate their parents. posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 8:53 AM Permalink | | Sunday, November 2, 2008 Post APE 2008 Listening to: The quiet night. 
So, another Alternative Press Expo has come and gone. It was another great experience that was filled with wonderful artists, friends and supporters of the independent print scene (comics, prints, shirts, etc.). I'd like to thank Josie, Brad and Shannon McLelland (they got married this past Friday!), Rishi, Derek, Tom, Amy, Kenneth and a handful of my coworkers (Jameson, Margo and Bob) for coming out and spending some time at table #432. At the end of the two day show, I was able to score enough of other people's hard earned money to pay for the booth and a little extra to purchase a few things like comics, a print (for Josie) and some food. I thought I'd showcase a few of the things I got as they are now forever in my collection of rat-pack-stuff. Feel free to grow midori with envy as I reveal the pieces of treasure that have now come into my filthy grasp.  A sketch of Misty in my copy of Cat Getting Out of a Bag and Other Observations by Jeffrey Brown  A sketch in my copy of Further Grickle by Graham Annabele.  A sketch of me in my copy of Disquietville: Volume 2 by Daniel Spottswood  A sketch of a ghost in my copy of Thingpart Collection #6 by Joey Allison Sayers.  My copy of Sam & Max Hit the Road (circa 1993) signed by artist and writer Steve Purcell. Now that the clocks have been turned back one hour and I'm tired within every single bone in my body, I look forward to a brand new week of my nine-to-five and constant struggles with getting as much done as I can within a 24 hour day. Good night everyone! posted by Mr. Alexander Shen @ 9:41 PM Permalink | | |
       
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