WHOLE LOTTA SHAKING GOIN ON

Let me talk about some fun stuff first, starting with a check in with some of my friend's creative endeavors, as well as my own.

*Peter Tangen- the 20/20 show airs tonight and you can see some of Peter's portrait, poster, and group shot photos both at 20/20's site and his site, reallifesuperheroes.com...I told you they were awesome! There is also a short video about the project on the site:


*Amber Gant- got her comic rolling at www.rlshcomic.com with updates on Mondays and Thursdays...that makes her the hardest working woman in the RLSH comic drawing biz!

////////////BREAKING NEWS////////////////

*As you may recall, French photojournalist Pierre-Elie de Pibrac will be doing a coast to coast tour of the U.S. this summer, photographing RLSHs as he goes. He'll be crashing at my place at the end of July to capture some local RLSH as they participate in a 24 hour bicycle race.

Pierre-Elie has just informed me that he has been given the green light to return to the US in September (or October) to film a documentary about RLSH. Not only that, he has asked yours truly to help in some sort of advisory role for the project, which we'll talk more about in July.

If you haven't contacted Pierre-Elie, you should. If you've tried and haven't gotten a response, try again. pierre.elie.de.pibrac@gmail.com

I think this could be a good opportunity, 52 minutes is nothing to sneeze at, and there is enough foreign media depicting Americans as fathead selfish greedbags, so let's give them something positive to ooo la la about!

*ANOTHER ANNOUNCEMENT: Writing for my book will be done in a first draft by JULY 1, 2010. All that means is that an entire draft of the book will be done. It's still not sold and the editing process can be long and tedious.
There are 17 Chapters (I count the intro as a chapter). I have 8 of these chapters finished, and they are in the hands of a variety of people, reading them to offer feedback.

I have 5 more chapters that are looking pretty solid, but need more work.

The last 4 chapters are what I'll be concentrating on at the end of the month. One of these chapters will include my trip to New York City this week (Thurs.-Mon.by the way- will try to do daily blogs from NYC, much like I did from Vancouver)as well as a secret event.

ZETAMAN'S TIRES SLASHED

I think Zetaman is a great guy. I got to meet him at the SA3 conference and while I was there got to see him swing into action as he helped a woman carry an overflowing burden of laundry. That may seem like nothing- not exactly something you'd depict on the cover of a comic book- but the simple fact is she was struggling to carry the laundry, and Zetaman helped her.

I think Zetaman is sometimes criticized for embracing media attention or projects, but I think he has been effective in channeling this for fund raising- he recently raised $750 for March of Dimes, and I think that's amazing- the most I've ever raised is 5 bucks for some Girl Scout cookies.

Not only that, Zetaman has been helpful with my writing, consenting to interviews, and reading over a chapter I thought he could offer insight on, which he did.

And so I was not happy when I found out that vandals had slashed his tires and left a note with the ROACH logo on it. Besides the property damage, it sucks big time to know some creeper was lurking around your house. Zetaman writes about the incident HERE.

Zetaman- awesome guy- don't slash his tires. Photo by Tea Krulos.

I am an unusual creature in that I also happen to know and like several members of ROACH and have inside communication with them. I met the four most active members at their "Seattle Headquarters"- a hot dog restaurant. Agent Beryllium has also been helpful with my writing, also reviewing a chapter for me and offering her insight.

That's not to say I agree with ROACH views, necessarily (or all RLSH views for that matter) but I like to be open minded with who I talk to.

So before people get hysterical, let me tell you what I know about ROACH. And let me tell you, I don't say things publicly unless I'm sure I know what I'm talking about.

1. The active ROACH members didn't have knowledge of this. The actual, active ROACH members are The Potentate, Agent Beryllium, Aluminum Chef,and Fatal Phyllo. Poop Knife, Lord Malignance, Malvado, and Overlord are not members of ROACH. All these people were confused by early, vague reports of the incident.

2. ROACH doesn't have any members in Portland (Zetaman's home)

3. ROACH has stated several times that they are a satirical organization and do not support real world violence and I believe slashing tires is not their style.

4. I also know that ROACH, besides making jokes about him in the past, also has thought Zetaman was a decent guy and appreciated his level headed responses to them. Having met both parties, I actually think Zeta and the ROACHs* would actually get along pretty well if they met in person.

5. In my opinion, you can't pick and choose what ROACH says. If you believe a comic book style threat The Potentate makes, then you are obligated to believe that he actually, literally has a smoldering volcano for a head.

ROACH- likes joking around, hot dogs. Photo by Fatal Phyllo.

This unfortunate attack on Zetaman's property was most likely carried out by d-bags armed with the following- an online article or episode of Real Adventures of Zetaman, a phone book,an unsatisfactory life, and a printer to print off the ROACH graphic they found online.

A lot of people do stupid, cowardly stuff in other people's name and I hope Portland's finest nab whoever did this.

The ROACH logo- easily right clickable

UPDATE: Official ROACH response HERE


* Zeta and the ROACHs would be a pretty excellent name for a David Bowie style band.