...there will be no new fiction, podcast or video content posted until 01/01/14.
Until then I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Rockin' Saturnalia!
Monday, December 23, 2013
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
I would like to welcome Kenneth Penn to the Patron's Page!
Thank you Kenneth Penn for your support. Donations like yours are what keep the lights on here at Casa de Bruno.
And remember folks for each donation of over $100 I will obscure this picture of me even more!
And remember folks for each donation of over $100 I will obscure this picture of me even more!
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Do you like my stories, videos and podcasts? Then why not make a donation? Only YOU can help me get my daughter's Ipad out of the pawn shop!
Make a donation! All money donated goes to upkeep and art and getting my damn furniture back! All donors will be listed on the PATRONS' PAGE!
Some of my works are only available in Ebook format. Why not pick one up? And don't forget to leave a review!
PRICE BREAKS AND HEARTACHES VOLUME ONE
available in Ebook Format for 99 Cents.
PRICE BREAKS AND HEARTACHES VOLUME TWO
available in Ebook Format for 99 Cents.
IN THE MIDNIGHT OF HIS HEART
available in Ebook Format for 99 Cents.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Hey fellow old farts - do you remember BATTLE OF THE PLANETS?
From BOING BOING
It's one of the first US adaptations of a Japanese anime series that I am aware of (Robotech is my favorite in this genre). Sandy Frank Productions draws on all the popular sci-fi memes of the day and brutally rips off R2-D2 to create a fast, fun and confusing series. Five young and highly-trained agents who dress like birds and fly like gravity doesn't exist gather to defend the Earth from Zoltar, the Luminious One, and planet Spectra...
It's one of the first US adaptations of a Japanese anime series that I am aware of (Robotech is my favorite in this genre). Sandy Frank Productions draws on all the popular sci-fi memes of the day and brutally rips off R2-D2 to create a fast, fun and confusing series. Five young and highly-trained agents who dress like birds and fly like gravity doesn't exist gather to defend the Earth from Zoltar, the Luminious One, and planet Spectra...
Hey! This is a Sandy Frank production! You know what that means!
This is what HELLRAISER films could be!
TOPLESS ROBOT
If this can be made on almost no budget, Dimension has definitely been doing the sequels wrong. Director Mike Le Han's most prominent directorial credits are on various UK true-crime reconstruction shows. With the aid of concept artist Paul Gerrard (Wrath of the Titans, Seventh Son) he has done one hell of a lot more than simply reconstructing Clive Barker's world. Think Hellraiser meets Silent Hill meets whatever other Japanese video games have depicted Hell over the years...
If this can be made on almost no budget, Dimension has definitely been doing the sequels wrong. Director Mike Le Han's most prominent directorial credits are on various UK true-crime reconstruction shows. With the aid of concept artist Paul Gerrard (Wrath of the Titans, Seventh Son) he has done one hell of a lot more than simply reconstructing Clive Barker's world. Think Hellraiser meets Silent Hill meets whatever other Japanese video games have depicted Hell over the years...
Friday, December 6, 2013
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
ARMAGIDEON TIME reminds me about the day Snowbird fought a white monster in a blizzard!
From ARMAGIDEON TIME
Where other Alpha Flight members were given ample moments of characterization, Snowbird (a.k.a. Narya a.k.a. Anne McKenzie) spend most of her time flitting about the periphery as a roaming plot device. The daughter of the Inuit goddess Nelvanna (a nice tribute to Canada’s first superhero) and a human archeologist, Snowbird was born to combat the Great Beasts, a group of primordial demons whose return served as a primary plot thread throughout most of Byrne’s tenure on the series.
Apart from participation in one of greatest instances of brass-balls reader-trolling in funnybook history…
Apart from participation in one of greatest instances of brass-balls reader-trolling in funnybook history…
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Have you met my new co-writer?
This is Rocky the Boid... I bought him for my missus but he decided I'm the only person he wants anything to do with.
I'm having a birdie bromance!
(Recommended Reads) Check out John Kenneth Muir's musings on the movie PHANTASM (my favorite horror film btw.)
In some fashion direct or indirect, all horror films grapple with the ultimate human fear, mortality. But Don Coscarelli’s landmark 1979 horror Phantasm is a film veritably obsessed with the cessation of life, and also the terrible grief that accompanies death for those left behind on this mortal coil..
Friday, November 29, 2013
A special thank you to Sam Hunt: writer, artist and all around Renaissance man.
He helped me out with the design for 'the Sign of Ninazu' and I couldn't be more grateful.
Visit his website http://www.theusualmadman.net ! Read his books! Peruse his art! Send him erotic poetry in Klingon!
From THE WHIRLWIND IN THE THORN TREE
THE SOUND OF GUNFIRE startled him awake, but instead of his bed, he was underwater. Lucidity came at him from every angle, a silent flock of doves converging on his confusion, and brought him to a diamond clarity. A dark and subtle landscape of undulating blue, red, and green materialized from the nothing-world that was his slumber, and the cold water threatened to take his breath away. Somehow he'd gone fromhis bedroom to the brook out back, and shot in the neck somewhere between the two...
WHEN MIKE ELLINGTON WOKE up, he was naked and couldn't move. Not that he was paralyzed--he could feel the cold surface of the table against his back--but he was wrapped in a ton of Christmas lights. His own lights, he realized as he angled his head to look at his bonds. He had been bound to the dining room table with his own damn Christmas lights, the green cords looping over and over and over around his legs, midsection, and arms until he was completely immobilized...
"VERY GOOD, BLANCO," I SAID, praising my subject. I held up another card, this one with a picture of a Bengal tiger on it. He leaned closer, and I could hear his eyes focus more precisely on the card. He seemed to be processing it, and then said, "It is an image of a tiger."...
I bet this brought a tear to every MSTie's eye yesterday!
Joel I was proud to be able to shake your hand recently...
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Foreplay On The Edge Of Forever part five
Price Breaks and Heartaches
A journal of retail and failed romance
Chapter Six
Foreplay On The Edge Of Forever
part five
A journal of retail and failed romance
Chapter Six
Foreplay On The Edge Of Forever
part five
Our first an only performance of Love and How to Cure It went smoothly enough, at least until my final speech.
This was to be the dramatic highpoint not only of the play but also of my amateur acting career, if I found success here who knows what might happen next... Community Theater? Or dare I hope- dinner theater?
All I had to do was put on my jacket and give my speech, then hold a gun to my head. Simple enough eh?
Except that somehow the inner lining of my coat sleeves had gotten torn out so I couldn't get my hand through the arm of my coat. I stumbled over the first line of my heart wrenching speech twice before I finally shoved my arm through the sleeve with such force that I almost set myself spinning in place. By the time I had the gun to my head my heartfelt speech had become the stuff of comedy.
The story of my goddamn life.
Still thought we got applause and when Ramona and I and the rest of the cast took out bows she held my hand.
Not too shabby. I thought to myself.
*
Usually when struck by personal disaster or setback I tend to just curl into a ball of self pity like a dateless armadillo. I am rarely one to hit the ground running emotionally, and even if I do I just end up shattering my emotional ankles.
As you can see I have the same problems in love that I do when it comes to creating metaphors.
The important thing is this, I had lost Tallulah only to find myself falling into a fresh romance. I suddenly understood what it must feel like to be my Dad- save for the whole wearing spangled shirts thing.
Every few days Ramona and I would get together to grab a bite to eat or just to talk. She pretty much told me she was very uncertain about what she wanted from this relationship so I took things slowly with her, like an animal control officer trying to coax a kitten from its cage so he could gas it with his love.
Damn-it! See what I mean about those metaphors? They get me every time.
But the important thing was that I was sitting laughing in Dunkin' Donuts at 9:30 at night with a very pretty girl and I could see that her eyes were become glazed with desire and soon the cream filling of-
Ok that's it. I'm taking a break from narration until I get this out of my system.
*
“Are you taking drama again next semester?” Ramona asked.
“Umm--what?” I had been watching her lick icing from her fingers and consequently had no idea what she had just said.
“I said,” she repeated. “Are you taking drama again next semester?”
“Nah. I mean I had fun but acting isn't really my thing. I'm going to take literature and English courses so I can pursue my writing career.”
A burly man entered the Dunkin Donuts and examined the fresh pastries while tapping idly on the counter. The manager came out and yelled at him for tapping on the counter. An argument ensued and no munchkins were sold.
“You might want to think about making your stories a little less violent.” She said, “The one where the guy has his mutant little brother attached to his penis was a bit much.”
I preened, “Thank you. Are you going to pursue acting?”
“I'm not sure, I'd like to but it’s pretty chancy. I think I might try to get a teaching degree.”
“Oh that's awesome, I'd love to do the same thing but my Dad doesn't think it’s a good idea. Teachers don't make a lot of money.”
She regarded me, “But what if it’s what you want to do?”
“I suppose, maybe that's why I'm just going to keep working on writing. I can't really think of anything else I want."
"Don't you want to get married and start a family?”
“Well you know what they say. A stallion's gotta roam free.”
I like to think that the time spent studying improvisational acting allowed me to join in on Ramona's hysterical laughter and pretend I had meant what I said to be a joke.
Al And Tallulah’s Wild Ride part five
Price Breaks And Heartaches
A journal of retail and failed romance
Chapter Seven
Al And Tallulah’s Wild Ride
part five
Another Saturday at Paper Shredder.
I hated working Saturdays and not just because I missed cartoons, I also missed Tallulah because she didn't work weekends. When she wasn't there work felt like work. I was on book department duty, which was always better then the boredom of working the main register or the chaos of working in the copy center. Of course let's be honest here, part of the fun of shelving books was looking at the covers of each new tome, reading the titles, and admiring the artwork. That done I would then read the plot synopsis and maybe the few first pages of the story, all so I could sneer arrogantly and tell myself that my own work was so much better.
Unpublished and un-proofread but better.
Just like now.
“Hey! Bruno!” a voice called.
At that sound of that voice a crawling sensation started in my loins, and it wasn't the good kind of crawling sensation either. It was the voice of my arch-nemesis Orville. Personally I thought I was a little young to have an arch-nemesis but these things happen.
I put on my most professional demeanor, “Hello Orville. Welcome to Paper Helper, How may I shred you today?”
Damnit.
“Whatever,” Orville was pushing on of our squat plastic shopping carts, he handed me a list, “I need these items.”
“Oh of course let me tell you what aisle's these are in.”
“No I want you to go get them.”
“What?”
“Hey I don't work here, you do.”
I scanned the list it was mostly party supplies but it also included two sympathy cards. “Planning your own birthday party I see?”
“This is for my grandfather's funeral you ass.” Orville's lip curled in disgust.
“Oh...” I turned pale and blushed at the same time, I'm still not sure how I did it. I was sure this was going to get me sent to Hell or worse yet fired, “Oh my God I am so sorry. I didn't mean...”
“No he isn't! You are such a pussy!” Orville burst into laughter, “Now go get my order, I'll be in the book department.”
I should have refused, I should have told him that's not how we do things at Paper Shredder but I was too taken aback by his unique combination of evil and passive aggressive behavior to do anything but fulfill his request. As I pushed the cart from aisle to aisle my mind returned to the realization I had inadvertently asked my best, and only, girl to marry me. I wasn't really upset about it because she was my best, and only, girl and I had planned to ask her to marry me someday anyway. I think I was bemused by the whole thing, wasn't asking a girl to marry you supposed to be some kind of big dramatic gesture? Did this count as eloping? Did it count if I didn't even give her an engagement ring?
A ring! I crumpled Orville's note to my chest. What was I going to do about a ring? Didn't the advertisements say that a good ring should cost about three months salary? What the Hell kind of ring could I get for one hundred and sixty dollars?
With the list and cart filled I headed back to Orville, he was glancing through a Bloom County collection and chuckling. When he saw me coming he put the book down on the wrong shelf.
“Here you go,” I kept my voice neutral.
“Thanks,” he sniffed. “Took you long enough.”
“I just wanted to make sure I got it all just right for you,” I said, “Paper Shredder places a premium on customer service.”
“Then why did they hire you?”
I pursed my lips, “Is there anything else?”
“Nope,” he turned to go and then paused. “Hey, have you been talking to Captain Majors?”
I looked around cautiously, “You mean the Army recruiter?”
“No the gynecologist!” Orville rolled his eyes, “Of course I mean the recruiter you moron.”
Where was a call for a price check when you needed it?
“I think I did speak to him,” I said.
“Why?”
“Just was looking into my options for the future.”
There were customer’s everywhere but none of them made eye contact with me. Of all the times for it not to be busy. By this point I would have been happy for a small fire or a robbery.
Orville sneered, “He said you chickened out.”
“How do you know him?” I asked.
“He’s a friend of my Dad’s.”
“Oh. That’s great,” I decided to just get away from him. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”
“He figured you wouldn’t do it,” Orville called as I walked away, “He said you weren’t going to amount to much of anything.”
I froze in place, “He what?”
“Yeah,” Orville snorted, “he was talking about you at dinner a couple of nights ago.”
“Me? Me specifically?”
“He knew you were class of ’86 so he figured I might know you,” Orville started to had for the registers, “we all had a good laugh about it.”
My teeth were clenched tightly to keep me from hurling insults and profanities at him. I walked away because I knew a physical confrontation could cost me my job. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than losing being able to see Tallulah while getting paid minimum wage.
But that night, when I was driving home I wondered if there had really been common sense in my brain or just cowardice in my heart.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Monday, November 25, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Let AIRLORDS OF AIRIA give you a dose of steampunk!
From MACHINMA
Credits
Airlords Channel:
www.youtube.com/user/Airlordsofairia/videos
Homepage:
www.airlordsofairia.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/airlordsofairia
startnext:
www.startnext.de/en/airlords
Credits
Airlords Channel:
www.youtube.com/user/Airlordsofairia/videos
Homepage:
www.airlordsofairia.com
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/airlordsofairia
startnext:
www.startnext.de/en/airlords
Monday, November 18, 2013
(Recommended Read) WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES: THE UNDISCUSSED HORROR STAPLE OF FEMALE CHARACTERS
From DAY OF THE WOMAN
Physically, sensory, or mentally disabled women have been popping up in horror films from the very beginning. THE MAN WHO LAUGHS is often regarded as the first horror film, and the female lead was a beautiful, blind woman. From the very beginning of the horror genre, the damsel in distress character was the quickest way to write a story. "Girl needs saving from someone or something, man saves girl from someone or something, girl is indebted to man and thanks him by kisses or marriage, the end." Whether it was because male writers needed to make their female characters SUPER vulnerable or whether they needed an excuse to make a woman "weaker," adding a physical/mental/sensory disability to a woman became a quick way to differentiate female characters from the usual damsel in distress. The beginnings showcased disabilities as a major reason for the demise of female characters. 1959's THE TINGLER had a creature that could only be killed by screaming. The death in the film that acts as the catalyst for the entire movie was centered around a woman who was a deaf/mute, and therefore, could not "scream for her life." We can't have a woman be brave enough not to scream when frightened, so we must make her mute…
Click here to read the rest
Physically, sensory, or mentally disabled women have been popping up in horror films from the very beginning. THE MAN WHO LAUGHS is often regarded as the first horror film, and the female lead was a beautiful, blind woman. From the very beginning of the horror genre, the damsel in distress character was the quickest way to write a story. "Girl needs saving from someone or something, man saves girl from someone or something, girl is indebted to man and thanks him by kisses or marriage, the end." Whether it was because male writers needed to make their female characters SUPER vulnerable or whether they needed an excuse to make a woman "weaker," adding a physical/mental/sensory disability to a woman became a quick way to differentiate female characters from the usual damsel in distress. The beginnings showcased disabilities as a major reason for the demise of female characters. 1959's THE TINGLER had a creature that could only be killed by screaming. The death in the film that acts as the catalyst for the entire movie was centered around a woman who was a deaf/mute, and therefore, could not "scream for her life." We can't have a woman be brave enough not to scream when frightened, so we must make her mute…
Click here to read the rest
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
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