& speaking of Vevo... ;D

All hail Vevo!

All hail Vevo, The New MTV!

Imagine you're MTV. Old, reality-obsessed, fat cat MTV. Your glory days are gone. Everyone's outraged because U barely play music at all anymore, but instead all those dumb reality programs that the rest of the world wishes would just go away. I mean, why bother calling yourself Music Television is you're not even going 2 play music anymore?

2 make matters worse, U attempt 2 turn off your audience from the notion of wanting 2 see music videos by stating in newspapers around 2005 or so that "we realized that the novelty of music videos had worn off, so we had 2 adapt ourselves 2 other styles of programming," which as we all know is a bunch of BS. Completely ignoring your original audience, U are simply content with doing whatever stupid stunt U feel convinced will earn a quick buck from advertisers.

Then one day, U yawn as U learn that so-&-so has a new album coming out & that they've just released their new music video 2 promote it. Oh well, U think, maybe we can sandwich it in somewhere & forget it, so long as we play it once or twice. So, again yawning with disinterest, U pick up the phone, as U have sooooo many times before, & call so-&-so's record label 2 make the arrangements 2 debut their new vid.

Suddenly, your draw simply DROPS in SHEER SHOCK as they cheerful reply, "No can do!"

At first U can't believe it. This has gotta be a joke. It must be. U say, "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope, not at all! Sorry, U can't have it."

U start 2 stammer in disbelief, "But... b-but, but we're MTV! We're THE music authority, EVERYBODY ALWAYS gives us their videos!"

"Not anymore!" the label cheerfully informs U. "There's a new competitor on the map. They're called Vevo. See, we got sick & tired of U ignoring all R artists & videos, so a bunch of us labels got together & teamed up with, who was it, Universal? & we've put together our OWN music video outlet, & it's zoomin' SKY HIGH in less than a year!"

U then go on 2 realize with horror that... well, that huge back catalog of music videos u've been ignoring, & sitting on all these years? All that stuff u've taken 4 granted? Well, U no longer have the rights 2 broadcast a lot of them anymore. Vevo does. & now U find yourself in the extremely awkward position of attempting 2 arrange a deal with this upstart idea while being forced 2 your knees. U suddenly realize that U are not King Of The Mountain anymore. 4 the very first time, U've encountered a genuine threat 2 your very existance.

& that's precisely what's happened. & I, 4 one, am glad! MTV's finally gotten a long-deserved & awaited wakeup call.

Vevo, or VEVO, is the highly-anticipated saviour that music & music video fans have been waiting 4 all these years. They broadcast nothing, absolutely nothing, but music videos. All the time, any time. &, best of all, U even get 2 look up the videos yourself & even create your own set playlists 4 them. The coolest part, of course, is that it's free.

Vevo is available as a wildly-popular app 4 smartphones such as the everultracool iPhone models, & is also available online here. No frills, no pretentious flash, no attempting 2 be something they're not. They simply focus on providing U with all the music U could ever want. Or almost; from what I hear, the only label that has not signed up with them is Warner Bros. & its various outlets. Apart from that, Vevo is huge & keeps adding 2 its catalog continuously.

& although they aren't TV-based yet, I've heard whispers that they are toying with the idea of actually having their own television channel. This, of course, is driving MTV absolutely bananas, as they are suddenly being assaulted by a new kid who's successfully giving music fans what they want, the same sort of stuff that MTV refused 2 keep doing decades ago. & more power 2 'em, I say! I'm a dedicated Vevo fan.

Check it out today! :D

Jellyfish? Hmm, not bad!

Although I had heard of this band back in 1990 when they first came out (I only saw about fifteen seconds of a music clip on MTV) and ESPECIALLY saw their incredibly eye-catching album cover in the store I had otherwise never actually heard them before. I looked this up because I found a used $2 CD of their album Bellybutton at Goodwill yesterday & decided 2 give it a try. Not bad, not bad at all.

The odd thing is, this band doesn't strike me somehow as being/feeling like a *real* band, especially in this video: they seem/feel more like one of those pretend early '70s cartoon show bands U might see on Saturday mornings circa '72 or so. U know the kind, the type that might be in a Syd & Marty Krofft production or something? That may be one reason why they failed 2 reach commercial success despite critical raves and apparently heavy MTV rotation.

However, I am not in the least bit at all surprised that they hail from San Francisco! ;D

Click here 2 watch their video 4 "Baby's Coming Back" courtesy of Vevo.

Sample of an Indiana Goof sketch

This is an example of one of my 30-second quicksketches of Indiana Goof from my new story-in-progress The Valley of The Jade Stars.

The question of my Indiana Goof trilogy

Despite technical problems with sharing my storyboards of my Indiana Goof tales (I now have a scanner and intend to attempt improving picture quality within a few hours of this post), it has basically been underway.

Personal friends of mine have had access to this story in its near-entirety for quite some time now, so I thought I'd post a public response to the most-often-asked question regarding my trilogy:

"Craig, do you really wish that Indiana Goof was your dad?"

This has been asked of me about my project more than any other question.

So to anyone else who checks out my Indiana Goof trilogy in the future as I upload it frame by frame and touch it up: yes, it is true that I draw on inspiration from my personal emotions and experiences in life when creating, and it is also true that I always throw my all into all my work, always guaranteeing it to be a highly personal catharsis.

But you've got to remember, it's a story. ;)

So while the whole thing expresses personal emotions and the like, there's no need to take it that literally. In other words, the answer is no.

Actual Indiana Goof magazine cover from overseas

The Partridge Family Party Bus!

Well, check this out! :D

I actually discovered this about a year or two ago, but I love it. If ever the day comes when I have to go somewhere for some huge public special occasion, this is the way I want to do it! Check it out:

THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY PARTY BUS!

Looks like things are looking up. ;)

I sincerely hope that my earlier posts have not given the intention that I plan to fill this slot with nothing more than negatives. In fact, quite the opposite is true.

But I guess you can say I've felt the need to purge everything I've had to deal with for the past few years in my long difficult road on my career and get it out of my system before I continue. Truth is, I've actually felt torn in writing my earler entries discussing various difficulties I've had.

That's because I had always been one to say, "Focus on the positive, don't dwell on the negative." So, in that spirit and tradition, I really shouldn't be saying anything at all. But the truth of the matter is that I've felt very, very hurt by the severe backlack I received simply for existing and hoping to make people happy with my cartoons. I guess I do have the right to publicly share my side of the story.

But looking back on the whole situation, it feels like this: in the 80s, I got to experience a taste of what it was like to have a large and genuinely wonderful audience. I never actually had any reactions that were negative -- until the 90s. Then I got my first taste of nothing but a thoroughly negative reaction.

My personal theory? I think it was a sign of the times.

The decades I grew up in were so cheery for the most part, so filled with positivity, and around 1992 suddenly nihilistic negativity has been the trend for the longest time now. I was an easy target, I guess.

I keep hoping the pendulum will swing back to times when things were more upbeat and when people felt more happy and trusting with one another. Who knows, maybe what I plan to release with the help with my publisher can help spread that.

You just never know.