Day 274: Michelangelo is a Drug Dealer

This post is not entirely about Michelangelo selling drugs. It's partly about that, but only in a round-about way. Really this post is about a book. An awesome book that you can read the first part of right now for only $2!

So there's this guy, Robert Brockway, who writes from Cracked.com, one of my favorite time-wasting internet sites. I have long counted Mr. Brockway among a handful of my favorite columnists/contributors to the site and I really enjoyed his book Everything is Going to Kill Everybody. In fact I liked it so much (and happened to be reading it at the time that I started this blog) that it inspired my Day 3 post and picture.

Well, guess what? Robert Brockway has written another book... sort of. I mean he wrote this thing, and it's book length, but you can't physically buy it in a store and only the first episode (of three) is out. Did I mention it's only $2? Here's the run-down:

RX: A Tale of Electronegativity is a sort of dystopian-future sci-fi adventure tale. It stars Red, a drug user/pusher/inventor/tester who wakes up in a strange place after testing a new type of drug and wacky hijinks ensue! Generally these hijinks leave him in mortal danger, or at least pants-less. Co-starring are QC and Byron who have their own set of problems and, in my mind at least, are the perfect balancing characters to round out Red's ultimate adventuring party. Well, maybe not Byron, he seems pretty goddamn useless, but you need a third so who am I to argue?

This shit's full of crazy nano-tech mixed with lots and lots of drug use (and some robots). It's pretty awesome and there are a number of ways to enjoy it. Allow me to elaborate.

Visit the official website here to read about the story and buy your digital download of Episode 1:

http://www.rxthebook.com/

After that you have a couple of options for getting the rest once they're released.

1) Just, you know, wait for them to come out and then pay your $2. It shouldn't take too long; Episodes 2 and 3 have already been written.

2) Write a review for Episode 1 and submit it by following the instructions on the site to get your name on a list for a free copy of Episode 2

3) The best option? Kickstart that shit.

There is a Kickstarter campaign going on for two more days in association with this book. This is not to fund the book, but is more like a pre-order program complete with bonus gifts. I suggest doing this because in addition to getting Episodes 2 and 3 you can also help fund a game based on Episode 1! Only catch is the video game only happens if he hits the $7,500 mark. So, you know, give generously and all that.

I hope this has inspired you to check out RX: A Tale of Electronegativity. I was initially intrigued by the unique approach to publishing and the low price point, but I ended up really liking the story so I hope some of you will take a chance on it as well.

As for why I chose Mikey for the picture, my first thought was Donatello because he's the only one smart enough to synthesize these drugs, but he's really more of a tech guy and Red is pretty anti-technology, at least in the form of his own enhancements. After all, it might interfere with the drugs. Out of the other three Turtles I think Michelangelo comes closest to Red's interesting lifestyle. This picture depicts Red at the beginning of the story, waking up in a strange place amidst the ruins of a maintenance bot with his arm display flashing "OVERDOSE." All-in-all not a great way to start a hangover.

Day 270: Teenage Mutant Jurassic Park

I've been re-reading Jurassic Park and The Lost World. I first read those books when I was probably in fourth grade and at the very beginning of my Michael Crichton fan days. My wife recently bought me the Jurassic Park/Lost World Barnes & Noble collected edition with the white embossed cover and silver-edged pages so I decided to revisit what I remembered being a great book.

Not to discourage anyone from reading it, but Jurassic Park did not entertain me in quite the same way the second time around. It was, even in what should have been the most exciting parts, kind of boring; Crichton's writing style leaves something to be desired when there is action involved. On top of that the characters are almost entirely unlikable or, at best, boring. More often than not I was rooting for Ian Malcolm to die to save me from reading another simplistic diatribe on the magical predictive properties of chaos theory. Even Mr. Hammond doesn't seem like the wide-eyed child he is in the movie, but just a greedy salesman. He doesn't even really seem to care that his grand kids are lost in the park with a rampaging T-Rex.

I don't say this very often, but in this case I feel like the movie was much better than the book. The characters are better developed so you invest more in their survival and the creepy charm of Jeff Goldblum balances out the asshole in Ian Malcolm. Plus, Samuel L. Jackson, amiright? Really my only beef with the movie is no Stegosaurus cameos. What the hell, Spielberg? They were/are* amazing and majestic creatures; clearly the best dinosaurs ever. They should have been included in the film.

The Lost World is another story, because I don't really remember much about the movie except that the first time I saw it I thought, "Wow, this isn't really like the book at all." I have to say, I am enjoying The Lost World much more than I did Jurassic Park. Maybe it's because I didn't have the preconceived notions from the film version, or maybe it's just written better.

So, about the drawing. This is a call back to one of the most classic scenes from the movie with Muldoon, Ellie and Ian Malcolm being chased by the T-Rex. I made put Donatello in Ian Malcom's place because they're both smart guys, but then I realized almost everyone in the movie is some sort of scientist and Raph probably has the closest personality to Malcolm. Oh well, next time I do a Jurassic Park drawing I'll remember that.

In related Jurassic Park news everyone needs to go here and donate some money check this out.

Do you remember when I posted about my friend being in Aliens on Ice? Well that theater company is planning a tour to bring their unique version of Jurassic Park to cities across the country. They've got a Kickstarter going to raise the money and they're so very very close they've made it! When I first wrote this post two days ago there was still time to donate and secure a ticket to a showing, but due to circumstances beyond my control I'm only just now posting it. You should still go to the kickstarter page for information on where and when you can see the show.

Old Murder House Theatre's Jurassic Park Parody

*Stegosauruses are very much alive and well in my dreams.

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I mentioned once that I was supposed to post this two days ago. I tried to scan it last night and couldn't do it so I left the picture next to the computer. When I sat down to scan it just now I found this note from my wife. She told me she added the "No joke" part because she didn't want me to think she was being sarcastic. Thanks for the compliments and appreciating my art.