2003 RAMBLINGS
January 1st, 2003
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Hey everyone! Another year down and we're still going strong. For those people who didn't come here from the main site's link, Crimsonpug.com has been upgraded! After close to five years now, we've decided to push the site into more modern technology. And while some think it's pretty darn cool while others are still warming up to it, both sides can agree it's different at least. And yet even with all of that going on, we still managed to stay on target with some of our other projects. Go figure.
So we're pleased to present to everyone the newest addition to our "Face/Off" gallery, "THE LORD OF THE RINGS"! We kinda tweaked our rules this time around, but you'll find out more about that on the linked page.
Getting back to Crimsonpug Version 3.0, it's Jake's desire to keep things in here "old school" for the foreseeable future. If it ain't broke, there's no point in fixing it. And although the last couple of updates have been non-Plight related, we assure you that's not going to be case any longer. With our ambitious ungrade behind us now and Jake's involvement on another property finished, he can finally get back to his dream project. So expect an avalanche of new material from both of us very shortly.
And finally, we'd like to wish occasional collaborator Sehera a very happy birthday! She got something she's been wanting for a very long time now and we couldn't be any more happier for her.
Till then, stay strong! - Jake and Tony
January 16th, 2003
This is a "Plight" site right? So how come there hasn't been a true Plight picture in almost three months? Well sure there was that secret Sehera-Jake collab, but that wasn't really Plight.
Well here I am to set things right, for today at least.
We have a new pin-up in MY (Tony) gallery entitled: "Invasion!". Its not too much of a stretch from my more recent art, but still a really cool piece nonetheless.
Later! - Tony
April 23rd, 2003
Well, I certainly took my sweet time getting back here, didn't I?
Actually I'm a little ashamed. After riding on the energy of debuting this site last September, I wound up taking a few detours. Okay, they were more like extended leaves of absences. I was foolish to think I could tackle Plight on a regular basis when I was already drowning in other projects. And while I taught myself to focus on completing one thing after another, none of it really related to anything I could immediately debut on this site. So while I was wearing myself down in front of my desk, this site collected dust (except for a few pics by Tony - much abliged, amigo!).
But the wait is finally over!
Beginning today this site is going to be updated more regularly. We'll have more pin-ups to show, an actual comic serial debuting very shortly, the resurrection of the letters page, and some new guest artists; not to mention next week we'll be kicking off our third annual Summer Blockbuster Gallery! Plus during the coming months this site is also going to be tweeked and revised to make it even better.
But I can't do it alone. That's why I'm calling out to all artists, whether you're talented or not. While the main brunt of this website should be mine to bear (and maybe a little on Tony), I'm always thrilled to see new interpretations of the rag-tag cast presented here. I'd love to see pin-ups or sketches or anything you can offer that we can display on these pages. And if you have a character you created, I'm more than happy to offer you a picture in return. In fact, today's update is exactly that. It's something I drew called "Definately NOT a Team-Up", featuring a young heroine named Rackoon meeting our Erik. So if you think you have the skills, drop me a line. And even if you don't think you are comments, critiques, and questions are always welcomed.
Well, that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned... this site is going to kick into high gear VERY shortly! - Jake
May 2nd, 2003
Hey everyone! After more than six months of behind the scenes work and making sure everything's going to be running smoothly, we're finally ready to kick off the THIRD ANNUAL PLIGHT SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER GALLERY! For all of you who are newcomers, the gallery is a collection of pin-ups loosely based upon this season's blockbuster films and featuring characters from this site. And unlike some of the other projects on this site, the gallery is updated at least once a week - sometimes twice!
And what better to kick things off than with our homage to "X-Men 2: X-Men United". So how do we handle a comic property we're not suppose to illustrate? Well, yeah, I suppose the miniture pic above gave it away, but click on the link to see it in its much larger (and clearer) version.
That's it for today. But stay tuned - this is only one of the things you can expect to see new this summer. I can't wait to show you the rest! Until then, bub! - Jake
May 9th, 2003
After a rough week of having problems on crimsonpug.com, it appears everything is back to normal. So with the worst behind us, we're ready to post our second entry in this year's blockbuster gallery. Our subject today: the new Eddie Murphy film, "Daddy Day Care" where a live-in father decides to open a day care center. Now while I'm not a father and I don't work at a day care center, I could relate when it came to babysitting so this week's entry is based on personal experience. Enjoy! - Jake
May 16th, 2003
I'm not going to jinx this by saying how well this years Summer Blockbuster Gallery is going. Everyone knows that the minute I mention this, we suffer some sort of delay or we cancel a picture. Ain't gonna happen this year. Nope. Not under my watch.
So we are proud to debut the picture for this summer's most anticipated sequel: "The Matrix Reloaded". And be sure to stop on over at our sister (or would that be "mother") site: crimsonpug.com to read our review of this new flick starring Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburne. Later! - Tony
May 23rd, 2003
I know what you're going to say. "How come this week's Summer Blockbuster pic is for a movie coming out next week?" "Why aren't they doing a piece based on Jim Carrey's "Bruce Almighty"?" "Does this mean they're going to screw us out of a picture next Friday?".
The fact is, we had planned to homage "Bruce Almighty" but when it came down to an idea, nothing really grabbed our attention. And the ones we did think of which were pretty funny have no business being in such a family-friendly site. I know, but let me be a little delusional. It makes me happy. Well, after much brainstorming and literally putting ourselves in torment, I came to the decision Jim Carrey will be getting a break this summer (that's not to say one of our ideas won't end up becoming an easter egg is here or something...) So this week we look into the future and put the spotlight on Pixar's Finding Nemo. I tried to use a different approach this time, but as you will see, I might as well not bothered.
Rest assured, there will be a new picture next week. As we said before, this time there's not going to be any interuptions. So until then! - Jake
May 30th, 2003
So Jake decides that "Bruce Almighty" is too hard to actually draw. So he moves an already finished picture to last week. Okay, thats fine. So then we suddenly have a gap in the Summer Blockbuster Schedule and who has to fix it? Thats right. ME. With less than one week of notice I am given the responsiblity to come up with a picture for a flick we weren't even going to do. No, not "Wrong Turn" the new horror flick starring Eliza Dusku. THAT would've been an easy one. Instead I have to do a picture for a movie that was based on a videogame that was based on a movie. AND that original film starred Michael Caine. Do you people know what happens to remade Michael Caine films? "Get Carter" anyone?
Anyways, here is our picture for "The Italian Job". We're actually quite proud of this pic, as you'll see by reading the accompanying rambling, and I hear that the movie itself is pretty good as well. Go figure.
Well thats it for now, be back in seven days for the next picture. Till then! - Tony
June 6th, 2003
Hello. This is Tony. I want to take a moment and talk about Jake, who I want to make clear, is NOT threatening to pistol whip me. I repeat, he's NOT going to pistol whip me.
First of all, I was wrong for complaining about doing "The Italian Job". It was a picture I wanted to do for a long time and I kept telling Jake that we should do it even though it was not on our list. It was wrong for me to bitch about it when Jake, who is a wonderful human being and can kick my ass in "Dynasty Warriors 4" with grace, decided to let me do it. I know I didn't have to do it but given how much I kept bringing it up, it was right for Jake to assume that it was something that would bring me much glee.
Also, it was wrong for me to complain about Michael Caine. Michael Caine is a great actor who has done so many exceptional Oscar-worthy performances in epics such as "A Bridge Too Far", "The Man Who Would Be King", and "On Deadly Ground." I pray that if I ever meet Mr. Caine in person, that I can get on my hands and knees and kiss his expensive Mirachi loafers that if it was not for him, there would never have been a sequel to the Possideon Adventure.
Finally, Jake has promised to spare me if I introduce his latest entry to the Summer Blockbuster Gallery: "Hangin' on the Beach". It is based on the new movie "2Fast 2Furious". We hope you enjoy it. I know I do. Thank you for your time.
July 16th, 2003
I guess I don't need to tell you we're back on-line if you're reading this, but just for purity's sake... WE'RE BACK ON-LINE! As I thought our recent inactivity had nothing to do with not paying the bills; Geocities just converted to a new system and didn't bother to inform us we needed to 'upgrade' our webhosting whatchamacallit. So yeah, if we had known better we wouldn't have been down at all! Of course it's going to be a little awkward at first having to jump through a few more hoops just to get into our file manager, but I suppose there's no other choice.
Unfortunately our return comes at a shoddy time. In case you haven't check out Crimsonpug.com lately, Tony and his better half welcomed a healthy 10 pound, 9 ounce baby boy into the world last Tuesday. They've named him Lucas Daniel Larson and I have to admit the kid's pretty handsome. So Tony's had to adjust to living with a newborn again, not to mention a mischievious 6-year old which means he hasn't had much time to sleep, let alone work on any new pictures.
As for me, since I last checked in here the soap opera of my life has been chugging along. Because their revenue isn't up, my employers have cut my hours from 40 hours a week to a measly 12! And because I haven't been able to pay my rent, I've been forced to move out of my apartment on the 26th and take up residence in Plymouth (which is about a half-hour away from Bloomington.) Now I'm not so depressed about moving - fact is it's about time I got out of this s*!(hole. No, the only thing I'm going to miss is being a stone's throw away from the Larson and relatively close to Sehera. But it's not like I'm not going to visit them or anything. It's just going to be a little more difficult not having a car, that's all. So I've been busy packing things up and applying to jobs in the Plymouth area.
However, we are doing our best to bring both of the websites back up to date. Hopefully by this time next week we will be - at least that's our intention.
Thanks for checking in and I'll talk to you soon! - Jake
August 15th, 2003
We're back on track! Well, sort of.
After a couple of long difficult weeks, we've finally got an update for the Summer Blockbuster Gallery, with not one or two, but THREE brand new pictures! And one of them is done by none other than guest artist ALEX TAM!! So be sure to surf on over and check out our new entries for "Bad Boys 2", "Freddy Vs. Jason", and "Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life".
We are still a couple of pictures behind schedule, but we promise that the 2003 Gallery will not be complete until we post our Terminator 3 picture. As for next week.... We still aren't sure. But even with all the delays and missing pictures, this years gallery is our largest yet! And, if I'm not tooting our horn, it also has the highest quality pictures yet. Personally I can't wait until next years! Although I am dreading the day Jake comes up to me and suggests we do a Winter Gallery as well...... - Tony
August 29th, 2003
Well, things are starting to wind down for the summer, but before it does, we've got a few more pictures to catch up with. First off, the long-awaited piece based on last July's "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines". It was another collaborative effort by Tony and I. Overall it's a good piece but somewhere along the way, the tone just sort of changed. Give it a look and see what I mean.
Also we've been starting to remodel this site a little. Don't worry - it's not going to be anything too major when everything is said and done; just easier to navigate and allow us more room to add stuff. Because last year's "Face-Off" experiment didn't really work, we've decided to put our individual entries into the "Pin-ups" and "Tony's Pics" categories respectfully. And to add a little to the change, I've included a brand new pin-up into the 'Other Characters' section of my page with a finished sketch of Kim Possible.
That's all for today. But be sure to come back on Monday when we unveil the last Blockbuster Gallery pic this year. Until then, stay cool! - Jake
November 9th, 2003
Well, if ain't my fly ass posse!
A lot has happened since we last chatted; both on and off-line. By now you all know Crimsonpug.com has closed its doors. Even today it's tough getting over the fact it's done, but the need to review things we didn't have a hand in creating wasn't appealing to us anymore. Some say it was long over-due, but at least we gave it all we could. And hey, things can change; Crimsonpug could return someday in the future. But for now, it's kind of nice to have a break.
Fortunately that means all of our creative energy can be focused on this site, which I assure you will continue to run for a very, very, VERY long time (and then some). You're going to be seeing a lot of more frequent updates as well as getting back to our renovation project that was temporarily put on hold. For those wondering what's going to be happening to "Axiom", expect the pulp hero's adventure to continue here very shortly. We'll also be posting new pieces soon, debuting a few new guest artists, and finish up the overdue final pieces of last summer's Summer Blockbuster Gallery.
But before all that, we're going to be unveiling something of a different sort. Starting today and continuing for the next 12 months, we'll be posting a brand-new comic we like to call: "SOFA KINGDOM". Written, inked, and colored by Tony with pencils and letters by myself, "Sofa Kingdom" features a mixture of our characters involved in a bizarre adventure that will have them travelling the globe. Along the way they'll come across faces both new and old and encounter things you'd never expect two drug-free minds could come up with. So click on the link and enjoy the first three pages of this wild ride.
Before I take off, I just want to point out I recently changed my e-mail address. It's a long story but I got fed up with those [enter your cuss word here] at AOL and so I dropped them. But this isn't going to affect me operating this site. I mean I am updating as I write this so it's gotta be a good thing to do (and as Wilford Brimley adds: "and a fun way to do it!") Anyhow, I can now be reached at plightsite@hotmail.com which you can type out or just click on the link above. Either way I can check my mail wherever I go.
Man, I really missed you crazies! See ya next week! - Jake
December 23rd, 2003
"DE-PANTS OF THE SUGAR PLUMP FAIRIES"
Wishing You and All a Very Joyous Holiday Season!
- Everyone here at Plightsite.com
(Psss... we'll return very VERY shortly with some new stuff!)