Chris Ullrich dot net - Page 44 of 93 - A Blog About Stuff and Things

I realize I missed this week’s ‘Photo Tuesday’ but I have a good excuse for it. Unfortunately, I can’t say what it was because its a secret — at least for now. Let’s just say I spent some time on Tuesday doing something very cool and I will be revealing just what that thing was shortly.

Until then, let’s take a look at some interesting links for the week, shall we?

My interview with Hack/Slash creator Tim Seeley at ComicMix

My latest BSG Weekly at ComicMix

My interview with innovative filmmaker James Liu at TUAW

I thought I had a lot of computers.

If you happen to be in LA on June 1st and want to take a stand against abuse of photographers taking pictures in public places, check out this post.

And just so we have some artwork to accompany this post, here’s a couple of my favorites from Tim Seeley. One from Hack/Slash. Which, by the way, is a great comic you should be reading. And one from his other work on Forgotten Realms: Halfling’s Gem. Enjoy

hackslashSG.jpg

halflinggem.jpg

Writing Stuff

I don’t know about you, but many times when I’m writing a story, a script or something else that calls for a particular character to have a name (which happens frequently — characters need names after all), I sometimes get stuck on what name to use. Fortunately, through the miracle of modern technology, this problem is now a thing of the past.

Behold, the random name generator. Refresh a few times to get the name you want and then use it for all its worth. While we’re on the subject of writing, here’s a few other cool writing-related sites (and sites maintained by writers I like) that I sometimes use for inspiration, knowledge and/or to steal ideas from (No, not actual story ideas. More ‘how’ rather than ‘what’).

In fact, I actually ‘borrowed’ some of these links from fellow writer and all-around-nice-guy (aka ‘non-dick’) Wil Wheaton. Turns out we have similar tastes in writing resources. Who knew?

Jane Espenson

Mark Verheiden

Mark Millar

Garth Ennis

Warren Ellis

4 Must-Read Books for Aspiring Writers

Some Very Helpful Grammar Lessons

And, seeing as we happen to still be on the subject of writing, one of my comic books is inching dangerously close to actually getting art to go along with its wonderfully realized prose — which also means its inching closer to publication too. For now, that’s all I can say. Still, this is very good time for me and may lead to an even better time soon. But as they say in the news biz “More on that story as it develops.”

In other words, I’ll let you know as soon as I know.

Quick Links for the Day and Tuesday Photos

Yes, I’ve been busy contributing and making the Internets a better place with my work. You want examples you say? Well, come close and take a look at these: My latest BSG Weekly article and also my article about the Six Worst Movies Adapted from Comic Books.

And of course, it being Tuesday and all, how about some photos? Sure, what the heck. Here’s a couple taken by me on my recent trip to New York.

buildingcloser.jpg

central park2.jpg

cpwalk2.jpg

Photo Tuesday with Princess Leia, Selma Blair, Milo Ventimiglia and More!

Here’s some photos for ‘Photo Tuesday’ from the recent New York Comic Con. These were taken by my pal Tony Mark at the show and feature some people you may know and characters you may recognize. Enjoy.

milo.jpg
Milo Ventimiglia from Heroes

reika.jpg
Rehka Sharma from Battlestar Galactica

selma.jpg
Selma Blair

lieas.jpg
Some Slave Leias

michaelhogan.jpg
Colonial Tigh himself, Michael Hogan

ronp.jpg
Hellboy’s Ron Perlman

New York Comic Con Final Thoughts

ironmanglasses.jpg

You know, maybe I won’t bother to do a brain dump post about the NYCC after all. Sure, I could hit you with all the things I liked about the Con from the not overly-crowded show floor to the weather in NYC to the well-run and often interesting panels.

Or, I could complain about the few things I didn’t like about the Con such as the sometimes lateness of the panels which caused us a bit of trouble, the overpriced food and the extra-super-crappy wireless internet which they should not charge for and give money back to anyone dumb enough to get it. But really, what do I have to complain about?

Life is pretty good. I got to spend several days “working” with some of the most talented, interesting, gracious and fun people around. Yes, I’m talking about the ComicMix team. In short, I had a great time and one that I hope to repeat come San Diego Comic-Con in July. Which, hopefully, I will be attending again under the gracious auspices of ComicMix/Crowd Fusion and its super-talented and benevolent rockstar Brian Alvey.

Who knows, perhaps I will even be able to do a bit of work for some as-yet unrealized movie and TV related sites? Anything is possible and I will not speculate further because I think certain people may read this blog and I don’t want them to get angry at me for giving away too much or saying things I’m not supposed to say. Whew, that was a close one.

Sure, the week in NYC was not without its few glitches. But come on, I got paid to go to a comic book convention and meet writers, artists, film directors, actors and hang out with the best team working in journalism today. I don’t know about you or what you happen to do to make ends meet, but I can tell you, my life is pretty sweet — at least where my “work” is concerned. I also managed to take care of some “personal” business while in NYC as well, which was the other reason I was in New York. Lucky for me, I was able to do both while there.

As for my my personal life? Well, don’t get me started on that as its a long and winding road to be sure. Its been an interesting six months to be sure. By way of explanation, did I happen to mention how much fun I had in New York at the Comic Con? Did I tell you how great it was to be working shoulder to shoulder with people like Mike Gold, Rick Marshall, Glenn Hauman, Michael Davis, Kai Connolly, Mike Raup, Matt Raub!, Martha Thomases, Karl Cramer, Alan Kistler and the rest of the team, friends and support system.

And yes, even if Glenn did forget to bring me my “official” ComicMix business cards, I still think he’s a great, funny and intelligent guy who really knows his way around comics. Glenn, I’m sorry again that everyone gave you such a hard time about forgetting my cards. I didn’t put them up to it, I promise. Still, it was kinda funny, at least to me. And Matt Raub!

See what I did there? A little sleight-o-hand to make you forget to ask me about my personal life. We’re talking about all good things right now so I won’t muck it up with anything not good. Suffice to say that life is good but sometimes you gotta make sure you tell yourself that a lot to help get you through the times when life isn’t like that.

New York Comic Con Stalling

nyccthankyou.jpg

I’m still gathering my thoughts (such as they are) about the New York Comic Con. Rest assured I will eventually do a brain dump of whatever is left in there to dump. I know, without reservation, it will be well worth the wait. Of course, I’ve also been known to drink a bit now and then, so who knows?

Meantime, feel free to take a look at what my learned colleagues at ComicMix have to say on the subject. Here’s Mike Gold’s perspective and here’s Rick Marshall’s. Both of them are smart and have a lot of experience at these types of events so you will find what they have to say very interesting, no doubt about it.

I’ve also managed to post a few photos from my trip over at my Flickr pages. So those can also serve to give you something to look at and help pass the time between now and when my no doubt brilliant insight into the Con will arrive.

Well, now that I’ve way over-sold the whole thing I guess I should probably put my head down and write it. Ok, I will. Check back later.

New York Comic Con Fun

I’ve been in New York the past week for the Comic Con and all I can say at the moment is that I’m tired. When I can put more that a few sentences together I will thrill you with my thoughts and feeling about the people in attendance, the panels, the con in general and more.

Until then, let me leave you with this picture of a happy but somewhat worse for wear Brendan Frasier that we took during the Con. Enjoy.

brendanfrasiernyccc.jpg

Uwe Boll is a Genius — According To Him

I find this very amusing. I don’t think Uwe Boll is a very good filmmaker but I also agree a bit with his complaints about Michael Bay and the like. So much conflict for me at such a (relatively) young age.

Say what you will about his mostly-lacking skills as a filmmaker, but he sure does not lack self-confidence. Enjoy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxW_dj4cW0w&hl=en]

Random Photo Tuesday with Kristen Bell, Marissa Miller and More

As I’m stalling so I don’t have to work on something else I should be writing, I thought it would be a good time for some random photos. And, as it happens to be Tuesday, we can call this new feature: Random Photo Tuesday. Fun? Oh yeah.

Ok, let’s get to it:

cameron-diaz

Cameron Diaz.

kristen-bell

Kristen Bell.

scarlett-johansson

Scarlett Johansson from some movie or another.

meganfox1

Megan Fox.

And one more for old times sake. Marissa Miller.

marissa-miller

Mmm, all these pics seem to be of beautiful women. Not so random as I first thought. Oh well.