Blogs Will Live! Blogs Will Die!

...And nothing will ever be the same!

One of my favorite phrases when I'm working on a project of some kind is "going down rabbit holes." That's when you get distracted from the task at hand by something or other and it consumes you enough that it starts to take on its own importance. Occasionally, going down rabbit holes has led to unexpected rewards. More often than not, it's just a waste of time.

I first signed up for Tumblr in 2011. I have had as many as seven different individual Tumblr blogs at a time. There's a lot to like about Tumblr. So it may be a surprise that I have come to the conclusion that maintaining a "personal" Tumblr blog presence has been one of the single biggest rabbit holes of my life.

I have written in the past (probably too much) about my problems with Tumblr. I thought it might be an ample, low-maintenance replacement for this blog when I went into semi-retirement here in September. I tried, I really tried to make it work this time. But I have decided that I am just not happy with what I have been doing there and that my energies can be directed in more constructive pursuits.

Basically, I have burned OWARI 2.0 down to the ground. There are still some posts there, to prove that it existed. However, I am officially closing that place. There is a slight chance I might post there every so often, but it's really not in my plans. I'm done with the notion of keeping a personal Tumblr. It just doesn't suit my ideas of blogging at all.

This does not mean I am leaving Tumblr. I will still be following other people on there (though not nearly as many as I once was), and people are still welcome to follow me. I'll still be liking posts. Frankly, there is too much I would miss to give Tumblr the old heave-ho.

There's also the little matter of Captain Satellite. Ironically, given my many misgivings about Tumblr, it has been the perfect home for the Owariverse. I have no better options for hosting that material, and I am queasy about starting all over right now. So I stay with Tumblr and nothing really changes for Cap and company.

As far as my other Tumblrs? Some of those have already been deleted or cleaned out. Others will continue in some form, whether they are active or not. I haven't decided on everything just yet, but the beauty of it is, I don't really need to make a big splashy announcement with the way Tumblr works. I can just quietly stop posting if that's what I'm feeling.

What does this mean for this blog? Well, nothing much. Ironically, I had just been contemplating how OWARI has sort of become its own island in my works and is now disconnected from everything else. I see this as a GOOD thing. Sometimes, I need a forum that only this blog can provide. Besides, there is way too much good stuff here to just delete it all. For all my mixed feelings about this blog, it has been pretty successful in getting the word out as far as non-fiction goes.

And now, back to work!

Captain Satellite Fights On!

I owe you guys a proper post for the month, but tonight doesn't look like it's going to be the night. So in the meantime and in-between time, here's a reminder - Captain Satellite is still going strong on Tumblr. In fact, it has gotten busier of late as I've gotten around to reblogging some posts and adding "classic" artwork of mine. So check it out and take a trip to the Owariverse!

Captain Satellite and the Island of Broken Links

I wrote about Bob March, the ORIGINAL "Captain Satellite" as a TV host, back in 2012. This great picture of March was recently shared by KTVU Channel 2's Facebook page. I thought it might be of interest to those of you out there searching for more info on him. I know you're out there, because I see your searches.

You might notice that two of the three external links in that entry no longer work properly. Such is the way of the internet. I discovered this while updating the Captain Satellite FAQ not long ago. I have replaced those links with the following:

'Captain Satellite' was a TV space pioneer / Bob March's show gave children insider's view of NASA missions

Mike Humbert's Idiosyncratic Guide to San Francisco: Captain Satellite

This reminds me that I have been whittling away entries on my primary Tumblr again, and once more, there are probably more dead links on this blog. I don't expect it's a huge deal to anyone, but I thought I should acknowledge it. Nothing has been permanently discarded, but as the Captain Satellite blog gets going a bit more, there is less need for a lot of older, redundant posts. If you absolutely can't find something, let me know and I'll try to point you in the right direction.

Ringing Out The Year With Gift Art!

raffle- velvet by kennasaur on DeviantArt

I recently was one of the winners of an art raffle by kennasaur. I asked her to draw Velvet Verity. I think we can all agree the results are smashing!

I was also the lucky recipient of some holiday art from Wandering Kotka. However, given that this art is most assuredly NSFW, you will have to view it on my Tumblr. Nuff said?

Reaching The Finish Line

No no, not with this blog. As you can see, the blog is still kicking against all odds. In fact, I think I've finally decided what to do here. But that will be a topic for another day. Spoiler though - I'm not closing it permanently.

This post is here because I am celebrating. You see, in September, I decided to embark on the Captain Satellite Tumblr Project. I wanted to create a place for the Owariverse, and I wanted to use it to make a fresh start. The evolution of my fictional world has been filled with starts and stops, and as a result, there were plenty of things about it that I found wanting. It has long been my desire to try to set things up in a way I found artistically satisfying.

The problem was that making such fixes as you go is terribly awkward. Please see the fact that I have established things on this blog that blatantly contradict the book I published of those characters in 2011. So I've been putting a lot of bandages on a continuity I was making up as I went. And to be honest, much of what had been written was pretty sparse in the detail department.

The Tumblr account was exactly the remedy for what ailed the Owariverse. Taking this new start as an opportunity, I declared that I was blowing up everything and putting the pieces back together again. Of course, to do that, I had re-examine every single profile for my world. And that was, uh, a lot. Seventy-eight (78), to be precise.

The first order of business was sitting down and examining what I had and consider how I wanted to go forward with each character. Because, in truth, I had fallen victim to the idea of throwing together profiles for any supporting character who popped into my head semi-formed. A lot of them only merited two or three sentences. If I wanted readers to care about these people, I needed to care enough about them to tell their story in a little more depth.

If you mosey over to the new Profile Page, you will see 60 entries there (though most are not actually live). Six of those do not exist in the Owariverse Encyclopedia I compiled here. Another merges what had been two separate entries. So yeah, I scrapped over 20 profiles in this new revamp. Most of those characters still exist in some form or another, but I decided I didn't have enough to say about them to warrant an individual entry. I can't say this is the way it should have always been, because it's taken me years of trial and error to get my material and my ability to the point I am today.

ANYWAY, I decided prior to launch I needed to work out all the individual profiles for these characters. I needed a clear idea of how they related to one another and the bigger universe they inhabit. But...60 profiles? Some could be rewritten, but in other cases, I was almost starting over. A few times, I was building a character from the ground up. It seemed daunting. And I'll be honest, my track record in recent times hasn't been great. Two abandoned short stories, a shelved novella, a blog fallen on hard times -- it even took three additional years after wrapping Return of Jetman to stagger to the conclusion by completing the notes.

Today, I did it. Sixty profiles are in the can and ready to go. Nine have already been posted. The remaining fifty-one await their accompanying art. That part will happen at its own pace. But in approximately three months time, I managed to achieve a personal creative goal I had set for myself. The results are some of the most satisfying works I have ever created. I am pleased.

Allow me a moment to take a victory lap for finding success amidst much failure this year. Meanwhile, Captain Satellite boosters are advised to bookmark and/or follow the Captain Satellite Tumblr. If you don't, you are missing out on such stuff as Muttnik the Satellite Dog. And that would be a pity.

Captain Satellite Flies Again!

You might want to click to make this bigger. Seriously, it's huge.

Just to prove this blog isn't quite dead, here's an announcement I've already made elsewhere. I've launched a Tumblr account specifically devoted to Captain Satellite and the Owariverse! You will see plenty of my flights of imagination and kooky art there! Plus, guest art from a wide array of talented people!

If this interests you, please follow, like, reblog, share, promote, etc. Thank you!

The link: --> Captain Satellite Tumblr

Birthday Giftart Revue #2: Wandering Kotka

Wandering Kotka, the artist formerly known as "Kabuki Katze" here, there, and everywhere, delivered this adorable chibi portrait of Kitten as a birthday gift for me. Amazingly, all the Kitten love this year was a coincidence, too! Who knew?!?!

K is one of our steadiest co-conspirators here at OWARI. Be sure to show her some love! And while you're at it, let's get her Facebook page to 100 fans! I believe in you guys!

Birthday Giftart Revue #1: Nicky Flamingo

My 42nd birthday was this past Friday (yay?), and of course, I didn't blog about it. That may be just as well, hahaha. But I had a wonderful day, and received several pieces of giftart from my talented friends to mark the occasion. This week, I'm going to share those pieces with you.

Today, I am featuring a Kitten ACEO by the fabulous and sweet Nicky Flamingo. Nicky and I are essentially birthday buddies, because hers falls the day after mine. So please, enjoy her fantastic artwork and wish the lady a (now belated!) happy birthday!

Princess Nikatonia by Discworldfan

Princess Nikatonia (Art Trade) by discworldfan on deviantART

Well, this one could've knocked me over with a feather! Our delightful friend Nicky Flamingo has adopted Princess Nikatonia (based on her, as you may recall) into her stable of original characters. This is mostly so she can show her off and offer her as a potential subject for art trades. But I gotta tell you, given how awesome Nicky's own OCs are, I wasn't expecting any art of Nikatonia to crop up anytime in the near future.

COLOR ME WRONG! "Discworldfan" stepped up to the plate and delivered a FABULOUS rendition of Princess Nikatonia! I mean, just look at it! I am really tickled to see this, especially since commissions have been a lot fewer in the last year or two.

Thank you both so much!

Red Taiyo, Chibi Style

This, ladies and gents, is a chibi style commission of my Japanese superhero Red Taiyo, as rendered by the ever-fabulous Kayleigh Lebak as part of an ongoing commission special! Isn't he fantastic in his wee! awesomeness? You can peep out more commentary at the lady's dA page for it. Maybe even get a chibi for yourself?

Speaking of that - you may have noticed I referred to her by her given name this time. Did you check the URL? Kayleigh is in the process of re-branding her online adventures from "Kabuki Katze" to "Wandering Kotka!" The old name is still in effect in a few places, but gradually, what had been the name of her travel blog will come THE brand. Eventually, I'll replace the tag here, too. Eventually.

Cat Waltz

Kabuki posted this pair of cards right here.

Cat-Man and Kitten was my second part of Kabu's recent ACEO special. I asked her to emulate this iconic Batman and Robin picture by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson, but didn't quite expect this composition. It really added to the epic feel of things, and gave her a much bigger canvas on which to create.

I'm feeling pretty good about my ACEOs from this special, if you hadn't guessed.

Monday Musing

Things are hopefully in the process of getting back to passes for "normal" here. It will be a nice change of pace to talk about stuff instead of talking about why I'm not talking about stuff. That will be cool, won't it?

Last week, I had the occasion to talk about this book. You know, I had almost forgotten how much I liked doing it three years ago. Which...wait, really? Three years? We are really overdue for a revised and updated Captain Satellite: Number Zero and my long-promised follow-up book. There have been several changes (a few significant) since the early days of 2011, and I need to seriously think about having a product that reflects them.

I've ruminated on this in the past, but this blog pretty much hit its high point in 2011. I became more focused on my universe and less on outside stuff as much. Since the Owariverse has gradually receded into the background (for assorted reasons), it's difficult to maintain the pace and enthusiasm of this blog when it was active. I dunno, it's a dilemma with no immediate solutions at present.

If you hadn't guessed, reviewing the blog's history leads to interesting thoughts. We'll see how that plays out in the end.

Like A Prayer

Recently, our friend Kabuki Katze ran a special on ACEOs. I decided to partake, and my first commission was of two cards depicting the re-imagined versions of the public domain Holyoke Comics heroes the Deacon and Mickey Matthews. Since these just went live, Ash Wednesday seems like the perfect time to feature them here!

If you are joining us late, the Deacon and Mickey are fictional heroes in the Owariverse. They differ from the original versions of the characters primarily in that the Deacon is now a masked wrestler and Mickey is a spunky redheaded girl. They are also popular enough to have starred in a TV series.

There will be more ACEO goodness in our future, but for now, here's a link to Kabuki's dA page with these puzzle cards!

It's Been Such A Long Time

I literally haven't sat down to type up a new entry since I finished the previous "Jazzman" one on February 18th. So this is interesting. I am only about halfway through reviewing this blog's contents (currently in early 2011), though I did finish up work on the Tumblr. Unfortunately, I still have not quite completed this piece I was going to write. Why? Well, it turns out I managed to get sick just as I was taking my break from the blog. Timing, I have it.

Anyway, here is a peek at things to come, courtesy of Kabuki Katze:

Lordwormm's Owariverse Hits (Vol. 1)

As promised, here's a selection of multi-OC fan arts by Lordwormm that includes Owariverse characters! And yes, there's more to come!

Deviant Art All Stars 2!! by Lordwormm

Deviant Art All Stars 2!! by Lordwormm on deviantART

I've been blessed with several pieces of fan art by Lordwormm the last few years, as his (still a work-in-progress) tag here will demonstrate. I didn't feel right about reposting the pictures he did that were "jams" with other people's characters back in the old days. Ah, but now, I'll just embed it and call it a day!

Amazing Girl is part of this vast assemblage of awesome. I am honored that Lordwormm chose to include me, especially since I've been pretty light in doing anything with my characters the last couple of years. He's a talented fellow and a nice guy, and I'm proud that he likes my work so much!

It occurs to me that I should go ahead and embed some of his older multiple character pics with Owariverse peeps. I think I will do just that in the next few days!

Nicky Flamingo's Advent Calendar

Nicky's Sketch Advent Calendar Pt 2 by *nickyflamingo on deviantART

This is pretty epic, but then, so is Nicky Flamingo! She has been working on a three page advent calendar featuring OCs from a number of people who have supported her this year. I am honored to have my own Princess Nikatonia featured on Page 2, and since it was recently completed, I thought I'd post it here for everyone to enjoy! You can find her in the middle, getting all handsy!

Nicky has another page upcoming in this project, so more art-y goodness will be in our future! You should click over to her devinatArt and show it some love!

Three Times As Nice With GabiStar

[C] Beth Gordon (Thank you, Kabuki!) by *GabiStar on deviantART

I don't remember being that good this year, but clearly Kabu thought otherwise. Wait, THREE giftarts from GabiStar?!? Who knew?!?

If you can't get enough of Gabi (and who can blame you?), she also has a Facebook fan page!

Shelly Ericson by GabiStar

[C] Shelly Ericson (Thank you, Kabuki!) by *GabiStar on deviantART

Waitwaitwait, another bust by GabiStar? Yes, I am giddy to report that Kabuki Katze seems intent on spoiling me this holiday season. Tonight, we have Shelly Ericson taking a bow!

And if you haven't taken the hint already, you should be checking out GabiStar's gallery! I know I did!

Hi Jinx!

Woo hoo, it's Jinx again! Only this time, she's by Sean Moore and wearing a cowboy hat! And she'll be the first to tell you, it's not her hat!

This particular project went through a couple of iterations before we arrived at the final product. It's also tastefully but very strongly NSFW, so keep that in mind as you decide whether to admire it in all its glory at OWARI 2.0. Alternately, you can visit it at Sean's dA page, and peep the rest of the fine, fine work in his gallery!