rjbartrop

Just wishing a happy 4th to the Americans on FA. Sure, there have been differences, and not relationship is going to be completely without friction, but I do think Americas contribution to the world is mostly a positive one. The government that the American created, born during the Age of Reason, and found of rational secular principles, was the prototype for the democratic state that so many of us enjoy in our own countries.
     America's contribution in WW2 in well documented, but I think it was after the war, that they really showed their greatness. showing uncommon generosity of spirit when they helped to rebuild their former enemies. That those nation still continue to prosper, and remain staunch allies shows the wisdom of this policy. I would even argue that the progressive, liberal state that so many of us enjoy is a result of American influence in the immediate postwar years.
     Looking at what's happening elsewhere, I am glad the Americans don't feel the need to send in troops to "restore democracy" every time our elections don't go the was they think they should. No scene of American tanks doing donuts in the parking lots of Canadian Tire here. If I have to live next to a superpower, I'll go with the one that lets us run our affairs as we see fit.
     Americans have a gift for taking the best that the world has to offer, and turning it into something new. They are at their best when they look at the world and say, "How can we make this better?"

Happy 238th guys! Enjoy the weekend.

I found out my work on Lynda Willliam's Reality Skimming blog http://okalrel.org/reality-skimming/ has earned me a nomination in the Best Artist category of the The Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association's Aurora Awards. http://www.prixaurorawards.ca/2013-aurora-award-ballot/

The first man to walk on another world passed away today. He was part of an age when people dared to try great things, an age that continues to slip ever further in the past, and we have become diminished by its passing.

An article on how the retro-Victorian look of the Nautilus in Disney's 20000 Leagues under the Sea came about. If there's a moment you could point to as the birth of what came to be known as steampunk, this would be it.

http://www.n-e-m-o.org/scale_modeler_oct74.html

This one was pointed out to me by tuftears
The film is called Technotise: Edit iJa (Edit & I). It's science fiction with definite Japanese anime influences, but with a visual style that comes out of European comics. I you're a fan of Heavy Metal, or Ghost in the Shell, you should give this a watch.

[Error: unknown template qotd]
In the oy of the beholder.

A couple of vintage pinup style pics that will be on sale at this weekend's Further Confusion.
( Art behind the cut )

http://www.furbuy.com/auctions/1011157.html

This time,  I'm selling a real media piece of Pi, the cyborg vixen from my cyberpunk comic, "Zaibatsu Tears",  getting ready to engage in a little wetwork.  The piece is 8 1/2 by 12 inches, and is done in acrylic wash on heavy watercolour paper.  No reserve, and shipping is included.

( Read more... )