35 years later

It took a very long time to finally get through this story.

I got Captain Canuck 10 while on vaction in the Summer of 1980.  When the series ended the backup feature Beyond also ended.  It was finally finished.  Got it in the mail,  Happy to see this finally released like this.

If this gets old

If this ever gets old ... then I need move.

Thanksgiving night ferry ride view of Seattle leaving Edmonds.

18th successful Seattle Marathon

#jeffisnotveryfast

I like the new building

2015 was my:

12th Apple Cup 

4-8

5th in Seattle

1st in new building
1st with my son

#GoCougs!

New official ShotgunProse author photo

Polyhistoric Adventurer

November 22, 2015

photo by R. Carroll

(taken at the Fremont Sunday Market)

Happily drinking from a Starbucks red cup right now as I post this

Because reasons ...

Dad's Weekend 2015

A fantastic experience all around. Alum and student. Peers

WSU 38
ASU 24

November 7, 2015
Martin Stadium - Pullman, WA

Jet City Comic Show 2015

A great weekend working with the Jet City Comic Show team in Tacoma.

Hankler Fish

Thanks, Hank.

Last night at Town Hall Seattle, Hank moderated a discussion on the new Welcome To Night Vale novel with Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink and did this doodle for me.

John Scalzi Writing Workshop

October 24, 2105

Tacoma Public Library

Cascade Writers

1 - "You will suck."

2 - "And that's awesome!"

Tifo at the early stages

Above is what the early stage of multi-section Tifo looks like.

Below is the end result from USA v Brasil October 21 at Clink.

I did not manage to get in on the painting, but American Outlaws did a great job on this.

So there is now a shotgunprose dot com

ShotgunProse dot com now exists.

I have given the working title of 

"97 Seconds of Static"

to the work in progress urban fantasy title. 

The first two of the old material have been formatted and prepared for download as PDF files.

I have now made the branding choice, and have the blog, site, twitter, facebook, ello, and instagram all properly @shotgunprose for moving foward.  

In the interest of keeping things on track, I am setting a deadline of November 8 for the site to have basic links and the first few PDF's available for download. And, I am setting the date of January 8 for having a basic draft of 97 Seconds of Static for first readers to go over.

Meanwhile, I am now my own employee.  I am working to treat the site as the boss and to make certain that I am steadily moving forward with a to do list that includes getting links, videos, and files all onto a properly formatted page.

For right now, and only for a short time, there is a simple holding page.

ShotgunProse.com 

The best way to remember someone

Ric Flair defended his NWA World Heavywieght Title in 1982 against Playboy Buddy Rose at Seattle Center in what became known as Mercer Arena. It was a great match. it was a great card with Buzz & Hack Sawyer and Chris Adams and Rip Oliver and others. We had seats only seven rows back.

During the card we crept forward to the aisle and when Flair was bleeding and out of the ring he was within arms reach on the other side of a roped off ringside area.  Flair briefly made eye contact with me.

My aunt and uncle took me, my bro, and at least one other cousin that night.  It was a school night.

The next couple years the family loaded up, one time on seriously short notice, and headed back into town to the same venue for pro wrestling cards. The combinations changed a bit and we even got my dad to go once. But, there were two constants; my brother and my uncle.

When someone passes away I believe you not only lose the person, but also your routine or things you do with that person. The loss of the person is part of life that we all come to grips with in different ways, but we understand.  The second one is where our grief hits.  The loss of routine or activities is where we feel the loss again and again.

Whenever I see Ric Flair, still involved in pro wrestling after all this time, I will always think back on the time I got to see him back in the day with my family, and I will miss my uncle again.

Taking pictures felt creepy

First of all, great show.

Right near the front on the floor a couple people back.

Given my proximity to the stage, zooming in to take pictures when only a few feet away felt creepy.

Again, great show.

Game design

It has been over a year now ...

But, I am actually working on my first board game.

12 Year Old Scotch.

Some day I hope to have more details.

I am suddenly faced with a branding choice

I have been using the name Keeper Studios for about two decades now. During that time my email and previous web presence has used that name.

Today, I went to create a new Twitter account for it and found out it is already in use and that there is an Irish company using it too.  Apparently, it gaming related.

I have also been mostly using the ShotgunProse name a lot, not merely in this blog, but as another email and the @shotgunprose Twitter and Instagram accounts, along with a Facebook page.

There is a new site in progress for near future launch to be a catch all and business presence for my writings and creative endeavors.  I was about to go and register a domain name for Keeper Studios, but that is already taken.

So, I really see no reason to get into any sort of a fight over it, I could just move everything to the ShotgunProse brand or I could create an entirely new one. The choices are pretty straight forward and the benefits and drawbacks are fairly clear to me.

Future posting will announce what that choice turns out to be.

Costume Building

We really took the time to design, shop for, work up, touch up, and make this Steampunk Dandy Lion work.

Old glass doorknob wedged into a bamboo stick with a normal cane stopper painted gold and the same ribbon as for the hat.

My previous elaborate costume was the scarecrow mask.  Beyond that making pants into smarty pants.  So, this was a huge step for me.

The could have, should have, of today

Today could have been much different professionally.

Today could have been something special professionally.

There are no guarantees, but today should have been much different professionally.

There are no guarantees, but today should have been something special professionally.

And yet, it's not.

And there are reasons.

Mistakes were made.

Because mistakes were made, opportunities were lost.

All that is left is pointing fingers or letting it pass.

Pointing fingers burns bridges.

Letting it pass only is a quieter version of pointing fingers by omission.

So, today was just another in a long line of work days.

The Truth (or not) In Retrospect

Dear Mr. Gaiman,

A few years ago at EMP you stepped in for Harlan Ellison.  During a break I took the opportunity to step up and make a comment, shake your hand, and get a picture.  During our brief exchange I mentioned I had recently re-watched Neverwhere, and you commented back about your Dr. Who episode and how the BBC had done a wonderful and even better job.  I looked you in the eye at your question and agreed with you.  This was not true.

Having been told that time is wibbly wobbly or something, I decided that it could be that I was not lying, but was in fact telling the truth out of order.

I had not watched Dr. Who at that point.  It was too huge a project and daunting to begin.  So, I eventually dove in starting with the 1996 film and new incarnations forward. On Dec 25th 2014 I finally saw the episode in question.  I enjoyed it. I liked it.  But, I actually still have a bigger place in my heart for the Neverwhere adaptation. So, it appears I was in fact, lying.

So, live in Seattle again this Spring I was going to make a follow up comment. Did not get a chance.  I did mention this to Amanda at a book signing and she laughed about it.

Urban Fantasy novel underway

Art for the urban fantasy novel I am working on. 

No other details at this time.

Just getting this out there.

2014 Reading Log

Those Feet: A Sensual History of English Football by David Winner
- When something is as big in a culture as Football is in England, looking at it from a cultural standpoint makes sense.

AROD lawsuit
- I so wish he would have followed through on this just to have Bud Selig under oath admitting that the owners and management always knew about the steroids.  He was never going to win, but baseball is dirty on this and deserves to be brought to account.

Program or be Programmed: Ten Commands For A Digital Age by Douglas Rushkoff, Illustrations by Leland Purvis
- Basically a call to action to remain technically adept in an age when that does matter and to not fall further behind.

Distant Corners: American Soccer's History of Missed Opportunities and Lost Causes by David Wangerin
- 2nd book by Wangerin looking at US Soccer history.  He digs in deep looking at where mistakes have been made when there were real opportunities.

The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know about Soccer Is Wrong By Christopher Anderson

- Part of me wishes that a lot of the statistical analysis today was not so accurate, but the sophistication of statistical models is more and more viable.

Sounders FC, Authentic Masterpiece: The inside Story of the Best Franchise Launch in American Sports History By Mike Gastineau

- Kind of a love letter, but true.  The people who launched MLS really have done so much right.

Husbands by Brad Bell

- Graphic novel collection of the comic web series about the online web series.


Hell Bent by Devon Monk
The Callahan Chronicals by Spider Robinson
The Complete Irish Pub Cookbook: The Best of Traditional and Contemporary Irish Cooking by Love Food Editors
Guardians of the Galaxy (Volume 2): Angela by Brian Michael Bendis and others

- Part one of two and technically book ten.

Black Holes paper by Stephen Hawking
- Way over my head in 4 short pages.

Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics By Jonathan Wilson

- My 4th grade team played a 2-3-5 and the first HS assistant job I had played a 5-3-2.  The 4th grade team won.

Stone Cold by Devon Monk
- I got an ARC copy, there is a review on this blog from April 7.

Born of the Gods Players Guide
- Part two of the Theros block.

The World Is A Ball: The Joy, Madness, and Meaning of Soccer By John Doyle

- Having traveled to foreign lands for the World Cup, I enjoy stories of those who do the same.

Finding the Game: Three Years, Twenty-five Countries, and the Search for Pickup Soccer By Gwendolyn Oxenham

- More than just a recounting of Pelada, it really gets to the root of how it was made.

Feet of the Chameleon: The Story of African Football by Ian Hawkey

- The development of the game across the continent.

However Tall The Mountain: A Dream, Eight Girls, and a Journey Home by Awista Ayub

- Pre and Post Taliban gender and sports.

12-536_e1: MCCUTCHEON ET AL. v. FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION 

- Actual text of the released SCOTUS ruling on campaign finance limits.

Africa United: Soccer, Passion, Politics and the First World Cup in Africa by Steve Bloomfield

- A journalistic look at the way soccer and politics have blended across Africa, written during the build up to 2010 in South Africa.

Long-Range Goals: The Success Story of Major League Soccer by Beau Dure

- The business side of MLS was really patient and I hope the current rapid expansion works out.

Stamping Grounds: Exploring Liechtenstein and its World Cup Dream by Charlie Connely
- I totally understand the obsession with a team no one else has similar feelings for. It's sort of the whole point of my own Oxymoron Project.

Babysitting George by Celia Walden
- What this book really shows is the celebrity tabloid industry behind the scenes and the notion of how celebrity translates over time.

More Than Just a Game: Soccer Vs. Apartheid: The Most Important Soccer Story Ever Told 

by Charles P. Korr

- One of the most interesting books I have read in some time.

Chew Volume 7
- I have reached the point where I read several series like this in collected form as they come out.

Fairest: In All The Land by Bill Willingham
- I understand why Bill is ending things, but I hope he revisits it now and then with other GNs.

On The Physical Condition Of The Supernovae by Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin
- An old science paper from a scientific pioneer.

FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics (Volume 1): The Paradigm Shift by Simon Oliver & Robbi Rodriguez
- I see so much potential in this.

Donald Sterling response to NBA Charges
- Goodness, the man should just shut up, cash the check, and go away. This was posted as a pdf on ESPN.

William's Doll by Charlotte Zolotow & William Pene Du Bois
- A wonderful parenting lesson.

Girl Genius Volume 12: Agatha Heterodyne and the Siege of Mechanicsburg by Phil & Kaja Foglio
- Finally almost current.  Now to read 13 this summer and then keep up online better.

Journey Into Nyx Players Guide
- part 3 of Theros

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
- Was given this and will read more of the series eventually.

The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex by Kristen Schaal & Rich Blomquist
- I am a big fan if Kristen, so this was pretty funny.

Girl Genius 13
- I am now finally current on the series and read it online every few weeks to keep up.

M15 Players Guide

- And from this sprung forth my slivers deck.

- Collection of stories from back in the day.

The Brothers Grimm Volume 2: 110 Grimmer Fairy Tales by Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, Margaret Hunt (Translator)
- Some of these are short and sweet, but not many are to feel warm and fuzzy from.

- Making a few of these.

- Bringing the Neil Gaiman creation into the Marvel universe.

Star Wreck: The Generation Gap by Leah Rewolinski
- Parodies like this need to be short like this or the jokes wear thin fast.

Old Man's War by John Scalzi
- Now to eventually read the rest.

The Princess and the Queen by George RR Martin
- Prequel stuff.

The Rogue Prince by George RR Martin
- More prequel.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
- I could not stop reading this and kept reading everything else he published in one huge binge.

The Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed by Patrick Rothfuss
- Not for children.

Mercycle by Piers Anthony
- There are reasons for me reading this.

The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman
- It is.

The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
- Part two.

The Slow Regard of Simple Things by Patrick Rothfuss
- Read the other books just to understand this.  I love it so much.

How Old Holly Came To Be by Patrick Rothfuss
- A lovely piece about a tree.

The Lightning Tree by Patrick Rothfuss
- A day in the life of Bast.

The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle Part II: The Dark of Deep Below by Patrick Rothfuss
- More not for kids.

Omega Point by Don DeLillo
- The guy still has it.

After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris
- Little pieces about all the characters of note.

Drama by Raina Telgemeier
- I have a teenage daughter.

Smile by Raina Telgemeier
- I have a teenage daughter.

House Immortal by Devon Monk
- Book one of three.

Cold Copper by Devon Monk
- Third in her steam punk series.

Geronimo: Leadership Strategies of an American Warrior by Mike Leach and Buddy Levy
- Not many schools have their football coach on the bestseller list for something like this.

Breaking the Map by Kim-An Lieberman
- A remarkable work from a remarkable woman.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
- I need to have a midnight dinner. I love everything about this book.

Exo by Steven Gould
- He is taking the Jumper world to interesting lengths.

Redshirts by John Scalzi
- Fun and meta science fiction satire.

New JK Rowling short stories in the Harry Potter universe
- Fun little pieces on Pottermore.

The Adakian Eagle by Bradley Denton
- Short piece in a collection.

The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer
- A good and brutal read.

Stalking the Zombie by Mike Resnick
- Collection of John Justin Mallory short pieces.

Tamsin by Peter S. beagle
- Autographed copy I got for a variety of reasons.

The Best in the World: At What I Have No Idea by Chris Jericho
- Third book by Y2J.

Asterix the Gaul by Albert Uderzo & Rene Goscinny
- References to this in other media got me to finally read and enjoy this.

Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow
- Book one of six in the Jill Kismet series.

Khans of Tarkir Players Guide
- Part one of the Tarkir block.

Irkadura by Ksenia Anske
- This one kicks pretty hard and is hard to put down.

A Cup of Normal by Devon Monk
- Finally got this short story collection.

Rosehead by Ksenia Anske
- A nice little twisted tale on inheritance.

Wonder Struck by Brian Selznick
- I enjoyed this almost as much as Hugo.

Short Story Collection by Ksenia Anske
- A nice little collection.

Blue Sparrow: Tweets on Writing, Reading, and Other Creative Nonsense by Ksenia Anske
- A collection of tweets and musings.

Corners by Ksenia Anske
- This is a draft from online that has apparently been changed a lot in future drafts. It also now has a different title The Badlings.

I Could Pee On This
- The internet is for cat things, so are poetry books.

House of Cash: The Legacies of My Father, Johnny Cash  by John Carter Cash
- An intimate portrayal.

There are holes and gaps in this blog

There are times when I have a love hate relationship with this blog, social media, and the internet in general.

So, for a while now there have been minimal posts, the occasional big update, and what not.

Basically, at this point I am trying to keep this more up to date.  Check @shotgunprose on the Twitter and Instagrams to really see a lot.

My soccer writing for ProstAmerika is usually linked really well on the Twitter, with @goalieguys being a thing that goes with that now.

The Twitter feed links to the book of faces, but I really don't do much with that site other than that there are some useful aspects to having it.

In the near future I will be launching a new version of the Keeper Studios on a new site to replace the long gone one.  I might also be snagging the shotgunprose domain name too.

Time will tell. The current plan is to use this more again, it is now almost a decade old in this form.

Kirby Krackle: The Day My Powers Arrived

The third more recent acting type gig was in the video shoot for Kirby Krackle's new video for the song "The Day My Powers Arrived".

This is the second Kirby Krackle video, following the "I Wanna Live In A World Full Of Heroes" video from a few years back.

A video link will be posted soon.

I will never tire of being excited for new music from old favorites

I did wait eight full minutes after the store opened to go in and purchase this on release day Friday.

That's restraint.

That's tradition.

Ace Dangerman: Loose-cannon Law-man coming soon

More recent acting opportunities included the filming of Ace Dangerman: Loose-cannon Law-man.

My character is not one I will discuss yet much due to spoilers.  But, it plays a key role late in the season and possibly moving forward.

Links will follow when available.

Finding October coming soon

I had the good fortune to get an opportunity to shoot my scenes last October.  The film is wrapped and there will be screenings and stuff soon.

ProstAmerika has been a great experience

Back in the day ... I was a rock journalist.

I spent a fair amount of time late 1989 through mid 1991 writing a number of pieces on a little local band named Alice In Chains.

Starting in December 1989 when I saw them play the CUB Ballroom at WSU as a still unsigned band through Seattle gigs and a record release party at the Seattle Aquarium, I had the good fortune to bear witness to that emergence and speak at length with members of the band.

For the past year or so I have been working with ProstAmerika covering the Seattle Reign FC. I have not had this interesting an experience hold my attention with people interesting to cover and report on since those days of yore.

ProstAmerika Women Section

Click on the above link and you will find many of my pieces listed under Coach's Corner.  My colleague Vanya Tucherov has been a wonderful partner in this endeavor.  Our new joint Twitter feed is @goalieguys (a nickname given to us by two of the Reign FC's goalkeepers Haley Kopmeyer and Caroline Stanley).

A lot of bands

June 9, 2015

Showbox SODO

Halestorm

A lot of bands try.

Halestorm does.

Computer Repair Achievement Unlocked

Swapped out a computer screen. 

On. My. Own.

Feeling all techie. 

I am a Hufflepuff

Digital camera blurry

Moon and Venus the other night.  

With digital there is a fight to focus.  Film would have given me time to set the camera and the speed.  But, given this was a short window, I tried a few and got this one.

And now my son has something like this

Go Cougs!

Ephemera 2014

My annual list making is behind and posted late, but there is a personal purpose for this.

Movies in Theatre
American Hustle
Divergent
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Maleficent
X-Men Days of Future Past
Lucy
Guardians of the Galaxy (3x)
Fading Gigolo
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Last Unicorn
Hector and the Search for Happiness
Into The Woods

Shows and odd events
Elvis Invitational @ EMP 1-12
Giselle - Fathom Events 1-27
MTG Prerelease & Super Bowl Party @ Luke's 2-2
12th Man March / Seahawks Parade @ Westlake 2-5
Small Talks for p@L 2-6
Vulgar Valentine - Rendezvous Jewel Box Theatre 2-6

Dean Moller and Wayne Porter - Local Color 2-24

August: Osage County - Theatre in the Grove 3-1
Final Fantasy Imrov - Unexpected Productions - 3-21
Noises Off! - Late Night Improv - BAT (@ Staples) 3-22
ECCC - Night Vale & Thrilling Adventure Hour w/ Jason Webley 3-27/30
T&D Review LRH 5-27
Oddmall -  Comcast Arena 5-30
Jerry & the Philbillies LRH 6-12
A Chorus Line - 5th Avenue 9-9
Neil degrasse Tyson @ Paramount 9-15
Wes Jones @ LRH 11-21
The Davanos @ LRH 1221

Amanda Palmer - The Art of Asking Tour @ THS
Thanksgiving versus Christmas @ The Triple Door
John Scalzi @ UW Bookstore
Patrick Rothfuss @ PAX Prime
Y2J @ Third Place Books
Raina Telgemeier @ TEG
Patrick Rothfuss & Molly Lewis

Seattle Mariners 10 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 3 - Safeco Field Open House 3-31-14
Seattle Reign FC 3 Boston Breakers 0 NWSL Regular Season Memorial Stadium 4-13-14
Seattle Reign FC 3 FC Kansas City 2 NWSL Regular Season Memorial Stadium 5-14-14
Seattle Reign FC 3 Boston Breakers 2 NWSL Regular Season Memorial Stadium 7-6-14
SSFC 1 SJE 1 (4-1 PKs) USOC Starfire Stadium 6-25
SSFC 2 LAG 0 MLS regular Season CLink Field 10-25-14
- ECS Evans meetup @ Fuel
- S2 announcement @ Fuel

Worked Events
MFR 5-3/4 Luchadores
AngelHack 5-18
Vets Shoot 4-26 KGC - Benefit August
DragonFest - 7-13-14
PAX Prime - Enforcer - Hedgehog Theatre 8/27 - 9/2
Rose City Comic Con - Henchman - Celeb Ops - 9/19-21

p@L

Belltown Burlesque

Final Fantasy Improv

BAT Noises Off

Museum thoughts

There's something about sitting on a bench in a museum gallery that makes me feel like I'm in a spy thriller movie waiting for something.

A beautiful day for a 20 second swim

For the record, the water in Puget Sound is cold today if you are going swimming.