Singer Worker Competitor
July 30th, 2017 by Proprietor
Mike Brady had three boys, the eldest, Greg, entertained dreams of being a rock star. The middle boy, Peter, wanted to at least work for a living, but his enthusiasm was more than his skill, and he sometimes was a bit lazy. The youngest, Bobby, wanted to win at something, he was willing to compete, threw his heart and soul into everything to win, and wound up losing the use of his legs. The four men, lived with a housekeeper, named, Alice. and a mysterious dog named, Tiger.
Then the fellow met a lovely lady. The lady had three girls with hair of gold, a beauty, Marcia, a pretty one, Jan, and a cutie, Cindy. When they wed, Carol and Mike formed a blended family called the Brady Bunch.
Throughout the five years, the show followed the misadventures of the children as they pursued various goals, careers, and navigated the problems of being a child. Mikes boys seemed to get along more, but there was always the brotherly competition.
Greg was the athlete, he could sing, was good looking, and anything he put his mind to, he seemed capable of doing. Though he excelled at football, Greg wanted to be a rockstar, and his career almost came true, Johnny Bravo. But, all you could do was listen to the music, and not here his voice. Greg gave up, went to college, and became a OBGYN, married his nurse, and had a child.
Peter, as hard working as he was, seemed to lack any aptitude. When he got a job he could do, he lazed off. He was always in Greg’s shadow, and no one cut him any slack, like they did his kid brother. Peter joined the Air Force, put in his time, and went into some form of stock or equity type firm, where he met a good looking woman, whom became his boss. Peter dumped her, and ended up with an abusive psycho.
Bobby, though never seeming to have the athleticism of his brother Greg, and not really good at singing, had the most heart. Kind to animals, especially his beloved, mysterious dog, Tiger. Turned out he was good at playing billiards. Eventually he went to college, graduated, was going to get a masters, dropped out to become a racer driver, when things looked good, he would finally succeed, and win, BAM! Lost the use of his legs, but married his college sweetheart.
The boys at first allied against the new sisters, and played plenty of practical jokes. Eventually the us against them mentality shifted to more localized sibling rivalry. Peter seemed more allied with Jan, because they both understood what it was like to be a middle child. While Jan dealt with her issues through neurotic episodes, Peter simply wanted to work. Marcia constantly wanted to prove she was as good as Greg, using tears as a weapon, and her looks to lure in Greg’s competition. Cindy and Bobby seemed to have the childish combat, though Bobby truly wanted Cindy to be happy, even pretending to be a secret admirer.
It was all good. Simple, but fun.
The singer became a doctor. The worker continued to work. The competitor, lost something, but gained more, and still competed.
The Brady Boys grew up to be the men their father wanted them to be. There could be a relaunch involving all the old Brady children now. Brady Bunch 2.0 in which the grandchildren are more than likely grown up, in high school and college. Who knows?
Thanks for stopping by.
Beauty Pretty Cutie
July 26th, 2017 by Proprietor
Returning to my Brady posting.
The Brady Bunch featured a blond mother with three blond girls. Marcia, the oldest, and the beautiful one. Jan, the middle girl, and pretty one. Cindy, the youngest and cute one. All the girls had personalities to reflect the position in the sisterhood. Marcia was the confident leader, Jan the neurotic competitor, and Cindy the whiner who wanted to grow up to soon.
When it came to natural good looks, the Brady girls seem to have it all. Blond hair, blue eyes, naturally good facial features, and potential to be beautiful no matter what. All the girls grew up to be spectacularly attractive women.
As the show progressed some of the foibles of the girls were played up. Cindy had little girl problems, and was in constant need of growing up, but was also in too much of a hurry to grow up. Jan was in constant competition with her oldest sister. Never feeling she was pretty enough or good enough. Marcia was the one whom was narcissistic, but caring when it came to her sisters.
Marcia was the first to date boys, but had bad choice in boyfriends. From bug collector to quarterback who only wanted to date her to steal her brother’s playbook. Marcia seemed dependent on verifying her beauty by attracting men. Though Marcia strove for independence, her vanity caused her to throw away a career at Haskell’s Ice Cream Parlor. Marcia was going to be a trophy wife or business woman. Jan and Cindy always seemed to have trouble with boys though.
The Brady girls would start out as antagonists toward their stepbrothers, but eventually grow into being sisters. Though there was a good deal of gender specific sibling rivalry. Marcia always wanted to compete against Greg, joining his scouting group, then dropping out, preferring girly things over manly things. Though Marcia was definitely interested in manly things. Jan and Peter had an alliance of sorts, due to being middle children. Eventually Jan grew up and out of neurotic behavior. Cindy always wanted to be older than her age, with the gorgeous Marcia, and pretty Jan, Cindy just felt like a little girl. Bobby with his big heart would try to make Cindy feel better.
Many of the things the girls did was as a group. Which probably did not help when it came to them developing their own identities. Dancing lessons, hula lessons, anything girly, the Brady girls did in triplicate. Jan usually being the one whom could not keep up with Marcia, and Cindy seemed to overcome lack of talent.
All the girls became women, but their paths took different directions.
Cindy’s drive was at first to be as old and good as her sisters, but that changed to becoming her own person. Cindy would grow up and demand independence after she graduated college. Cindy became a radio DJ, and began romancing the owner of the radio station. Cindy was heading toward being an entrepreneur or sales person.
Jan would become a successful architect, and run the family firm. Marrying a college professor, and adopting a little girl from Korea. For some reason, Jan could not conceive, though Marcia had no problems.
Marcia became a stay at home mom. Marrying a salesman she barely knew because Jan was going to get married. No way was her younger sister going to out do her. The bum never seemed to be able to keep a job, lost the house, and Marcia had to move back in with her parents, with husband and two children in tow. Eventually she turned to alcohol.
As stated, I am partial to Jan, but would not deny Marcia’s beauty or Cindy’s cuteness. The young girls who appeared for a half hour every day on a show I watched on syndication, and later on DVD will always have a place in my heart. Either as girls I would want as sisters or girls I would love to date when I was their age.
Thanks for stopping by.
Comic Books
July 23rd, 2017 by Proprietor
Second time without a Brady Bunch related posting. Don’t worry, I still have more blogs related to the show to post. Amazing how deep the show really is and how much content one can pull from the show and comment. To quote Peter David, but, I digress.
It has been a while since I have been excited about comic books. For the most part, I went from being the super fan to the casual fan, and I was collecting three titles, one of which I seriously decided to drop. Because I still have some love for the hobby, I was buying first issues of a series to try. Since I am very skeptical, if the issue did not grab me right away, I moved on. It appears that the alternative presses are picking up and producing better quality titles, and Marvel & DC are now moving toward telling decent stories again, without being socially preachy. Actually more DC and Marvel. Then there is Image, which has gone into the mode DC and Marvel were into, though things have not hit Walking Dead hard.
Walking Dead has been one of my favorite comics, since I picked up Compendium #1, and read it. I was never a zombie comic guy, usually a superhero guy and some fantasy or science fiction. When I read the Walking Dead Compendium, I was engrossed. Go to the bottom of the page and there is Amazon links to order things. All the Walking Dead Compendiums are available. But, I digress.
Besides Walking Dead, I am currently reading ElfQuest: The Final Quest. It seems a bit laborious now, but I will let that go, since Wendy Pini is obviously setting things up for her to leave, and sell off to Darkhorse. From there, what Darkhorse does, is up to them. Wendy Pini, whom I consider one of the best artists to ever put pencil to paper, then ink, and her husband Richard, told one of the finest Elf related stories ever. Since I first bought a collected edition of the first ElfQuest series, I have been a fan. ElfQuest has been one of my favorite comics, for over 3 decades. Sometimes good, with some bad, but that goes with comic collecting and a long running, creator owned series.
My only major publisher series I am reading is by DC, which is Batwoman. DC reintroduced Batwoman with the New52, unfortunately the story went off the rails in my opinion, and I stopped collecting the comic after issue 10. If DC had held the creative team to a standard 6 issue story arc, for trade paperback purposes. I would have collected the comic to the end. Maybe. With the Rebirth launch, I was skeptical, and did not by anything DC, but then the relaunch of Batwoman, intrigued me. So far the comic has held my interest.
Batwoman was introduced back in the 1950s as a romantic interest for Batman to counter the accusations of homosexuality, brought about by the Seduction of the Innocent investigation. Just Google the stuff. In the end, Batwoman was cast off in a very short time, the campy 1960s Batman took over, and, Bat history took a completely different turn. Catwoman was always the romantic foil. Talia Head was eventually Batman’s lover, and mother of his child. In current Bat cannon.
When Batwoman was relaunched, as a possible independent, but related character, though a lesbian, I was happy. I thought an under utilized character was being mainstreamed. The relaunch was solid, except after issue 6, the story diluted, and I lost interest. Now Rebirth has cured all the ills so far. Batwoman is part of the Batman family, and yet independent. The stories are so far solid.
Another excitement from DC, is the whole Dark Days story line to run through many titles. The Forge, and The Casting have been interesting. The 6 issue miniseries The Metal seems to be really exciting in tying together the continuity issues DC always had with some characters. My guess is the Watchmen sting will be part of it, and the whole Doomsday Clock series will help finally merge the multiverse in a cohesive unit.
My biggest hope is maybe Geoff Johns will do Legion of Superhero series. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page, and order his one story so far from Amazon.
Then there is the “Uber Invasion” series from Avatar. I started picking up the “Uber” series, like I do with most alternative press series in trade paperback format. Collected editions of a six issue story arc in one book, you can get a better feel for the whole story, when you have it to read completely. Modern comic story telling is geared to a six issue arc that is collected into a more salable format. Salable to the general public, because any existing bookstores or chains these days do not carry comics, but do carry trade paperbacks. I love the whole alternative history concept of Uber. It involves World War II, a subject on which I have become highly educated and very interested in, especially the European theater. Kieron Gillen is an incredible writer. It asks the question of “what if” and expands to a very gross, but interesting concept. What if Germany developed super humans? It takes place just days before Hitler killed himself, and Germany ultimately surrendered. Due to the super human development, Germany turned back the tide. Creating a stalemate. But, Hitler or at least the man impersonating Hitler, read the story, was not going to be happy with a stalemate. The United States was capable of attacking Germany, and Germany could not respond if the US developed a super human army. So, Germany attacked the US with it’s superhuman force. Uber ended, and the series shifted into Uber Invasion. I decided to purchase the comic format.
It has been a while since I have been excited about comics, and I am now excited. I will see where things go, and I am cautiously optimistic.
Thanks for stopping by.
Starting On Twitter
July 19th, 2017 by Proprietor
Taking a break from the Brady Bunch posting. Will probably post another Brady post on Sunday with a new Kid Spider Comic.
I started a Twitter account to possibly generate some interest in this site, and because Facebook is becoming somewhat disinteresting. Being a graphic designer by trade, I want my designs and work to look good. Social media seems to not allow for that. Facebook and Twitter give artwork size for the background images, but do not give specifics. That is left up to third party sights. There is usually cropping, and scaling happening, along with header or footer areas, with indents that disrupt the art. The artwork for my current header is below.
Twitter gives the size of 1500 pixels wide by 500 pixels high for the background art. The intent is for people in general to put something nice behind and then use the inset art for logos and branding purposes. The inset is 400 pixels by 400 pixels square with a circular overlay that crops out some of the art. In the main background art, there is opportunity to put logos and other information but it is tricky due to various ways the art is handled.
When I placed my first design, based on the simple 1500×500 it looked terrible. There was a scaling effect, and the header and footer, as well as the inset made the artwork look bad. After taking some screen captures and doing some redesign my main background image, looks like the image below on twitter.
I was not too worried about the Kid Spider or Helper Monkey images, but I did want the Barstool Entertainment logo, Kid Spider Adventures logo, as well as the announcement of when the comic is published regularly to be unobstructed. I found that Twitter not only scales the art somewhat, there is a cropping for the header and footer. Also the inset can obscure any pertinent information. I found the best safe space for the branding information. In the graphic below, I covered over my main Twitter art with a semi opaque box indicating the area.
As you see, the logos and announcement fall within the area. I put another image below giving measurements from top and bottom, as well as left and right in which the safe space floats. The measurements are not 100% accurate, but they will help.
As you can see. The safe space starts 364 pixels to the right, this accounts for the circular inset. The safe space also starts at 62 pixels up from the bottom. This accounts for Twitter’s navigation. The maximum height of the safe space is 369 pixels. This accounts for the twitter header area. The width of 1106 pixels is to insure you are not cropped on the far right. I gave the measurement in from the right of 30 pixels, but it is not necessary if you keep your safe space totaling 1106 pixels. To be more safe a 1100 total pixels is better.
Hope this helps. If you are trying to include some branding into your Twitter header.
Thanks for stopping by.
Jobs Careers Brady
July 16th, 2017 by Proprietor
In the Brady Bunch, as the children grew older, both the boys and girls decided to test the market for work to earn more money for various reasons. Greg being the oldest, started the trend. His first paying job was playing in a friend’s band, The Banana Convention. Typical Greg fashion, somehow, he managed to jeopardize that by smoking. One puff, and that was all it took, thankfully, his parents believed him when the pack of cigarettes turned out to not be his as was the coat they were in.
Mike got Greg a job in the architecture firm as an office boy. Greg was saving for a car. Greg also screwed that up because he stopped to by a magazine, and the drawings he was in charge of delivering to the printer fell out of the tubes and disappeared. That bit was used once again years later, under different circumstances.
Alice then got Greg a job with Sam as a delivery boy, because Greg wanted a surfboard. Greg did not screw that job up by leaving a pile of meat by the side of the road, but Bobby almost got them killed by locking them in the meat locker. Bobby managed to escape and call his parents to free Greg. Prompting Sam to make improvements to his shop and replace the meat locker door.
Peter was next into the working world. Wanting money to by a radio or something, he began working for Martinelli’s Bike Shop. Unfortunately Peter had ambition, no skills. Peter was fired, and lied to his parents, claiming he was promoted. The family celebrated with cake. Then the truth came out, and Peter learned a valuable lesson.
Though it would be some time before another job opportunity, it did not slow the Brady Bunch in attempts to make money. The kids turned to one career that might be lucrative, singing. Greg as a leader wrote songs, and played guitar. Peter’s voice changed, and could jeopardize that, but Greg made the best of it. The Brady’s would sing and dance on various television talent shows to win money or not. Then Greg’s dreams of being a rockstar almost came to fruition, Johnny Bravo. He fit the suit, but Greg had integrity. So that was that.
Eventually jobs became important in the Brady story line, Peter needed money to by a stereo, he rode all over town trying to find a job, but no luck. I guess Driscoll’s Toy Store was either out of business due to poor construction or did not employ heroes who reminded them of their poor construction. Peter could at least save little girls from being crushed by shelves improperly secured to walls. That would make a wonderful episode, lawsuits and osha reports. Peter Brady, Osha investigator.
Then Marcia found a job slinging ice cream at Haskell’s Ice Cream Parlor. Taking pity on her younger brother, Marcia got Peter a job. Peter lost ambition, and decided to eat his weight in ice cream. Marcia fired him. Then came Jan. Hardworking, and capable. She got revenge on her sister, and became the assistant manager after Mr. Haskel decided relaxing was not for him. Marcia was upset at first, but realized it was better to not work and let boys pay for everything. Why none of the Brady’s ever got a job at a cake shop was puzzling. Cake seemed to be part of the Brady lifestyle. Maybe Haskell’s sold ice cream cakes?
The final bout of Brady Money earning happened when Bobby decided to sell hair tonic. Cousin Oliver was going to help, and take a cut. What percentage of nothing is the best? Bobby eventually whined Greg into buying a bottle. Turned Johnny Bravo into Bozo the Clown. In the meantime, Cindy decided to breed rabbits. Buying two boy rabbits by mistake, well, the effort might count. It was not until Bobby dumped his hair tonic onto the rabbits that both younger Brady’s got their money back.
Seven years later, a sequel movie was going to be produced, The Brady Bride’s turned into a short lived television sequel. Jan had graduated college, was an architect in Boston, and marrying a college professor. Marcia was doing something, but did not want to be outdone by her sister, so she married a sales man she barely knew. Marcia did not meet too many rich men, trophy wife would be a better career move. By then, Bobby and Cindy were still in college, Peter was in the Air Force, and Greg was a doctor. The show was cancelled.
Seven years after the cancelled sequel, the Brady Christmas movie reignited a possible new sequel. In the movie, Marcia was a stay at home mom with two children. Jan was working on getting pregnant. Greg had a child. Peter was out of the Air Force and working at a stock firm or something, and his girlfriend was his boss. Bobby had dropped out of grad school to race cars, and Cindy had graduated college. The math on Cindy did not really add up well. She was twelve when the Brady Bunch was cancelled. Nineteen when the Brady Brides was cancelled. Now she would be twenty six and finally graduating college. You can fudge a little in television.
Then the sequel, the Bradys came out of the movie. Bobby was prepared to be the best race car driver ever. Then an accident left him paralyzed. Jan, still an architect, and still working on getting pregnant, eventually adopting. Marcia, her dead beat husband, and children moved into the Brady house with Mike and Carol. Marcia never did seem to get a job, just before the sequel was cancelled, she did try to start a business. Mike moved from being architect to being in charge of the firm, and then giving it over to Jan to run. Mike became a city councilman, advocate for the handicapped, and in the movie parodies, president. Cindy was a budding morning DJ dating her older boss. Peter dumped his girlfriend boss, catted about, then became involved with Mike’s political opponent’s daughter. Peter just sold bonds or something. Carol was now selling Real Estate.
What about Alice? She worked so many years as a house keeper. Then once all the children left, she had married Sam the Butcher. Turns out Sam was a two timing cad, but Alice took him back. Apparently she got used to not working.
Thanks for stopping by.