My Karate Kid bow off the floor

I’ve been blogging on and off for over a decade now. At times, the things I write gets personal as I share some part of my life with the world out there. It feels like I’m venting into outer space. It is like placing a message in a bottle and you have no idea who in this world might read it. Someone you don’t know, perhaps YOU whom I’ve never met, reads some very personal matter in my life that most folks would keep to themselves and not share if they were normal folk.

You wonder sometimes if you will get a response back. Perhaps some message in a bottle floats right up to your own shore with a reply. But for me, I’m writing this right now to express my feelings and make sense of my thoughts.

I mean, how often are you told that it’s not good to put your business in the streets?

And here I am putting it out on the information highway.

Here is my message in a bottle today:

There is a part of me that grieves today, but at the same time, I’m going through a process of accepting change in my life and those of my children. I had to accept this change in order to keep healthy relationships with my family.

Five years ago, I returned to my study of karate after a seven year absence. At that time, my daughter joined me in the renewed venture. She went to the dojo with me night after night for a few years. It was helping her with her health and provided her mother and me with some comfort knowing that she could defend herself. She actually became very talented in her karate skills. At some point, all the demands of studying karate became too much for her as she progressed. She made a decision that she wanted to quit. As her father, feeling confident that she could defend herself under most circumstances, I was able to let her leave without much fuss. Sure, I encouraged her and tried to convince her to stay (mainly for the health reasons to stay fit), but I was unable to convince her. She had a mind of her own and was grown up enough to make her own personal decisions.

Almost four years ago, my younger child, also started karate. He was already very physically fit, but I saw that he needed the discipline and the ability to defend himself. I wanted him to also feel confident as he walked the halls at school if a bully should ever bother him that he would be able to take care of himself. I wanted to work on his character development, focus and discipline. As a father to a son, I wanted to help give him an edge to become a man.

Last night, he came to me with the notion that he wanted to quit karate. He has thought about this on and off for the last year, but last night, it was something he was sure about. My son was at a point that he was nearing a mile-marker where he would test for his brown belt. Over a year ago, I told him that for him to pass that test, it would be solely up to him if he wanted to earn that rank. He would want to have the desire and drive to practice his karate and train hard. It was up to him. Physically, he was there. Skill-wise, he was doing fine with his kata, sparring, self-defense, etc. But mentally (or emotionally), my son was not prepared to continue studying karate. His interests went elsewhere.

Karate involves the balance of mind, body and spirit. His mind pushed him and his body obeyed, but his karate spirit had left the journey. I appreciated the honesty and respect he showed in handling this maturely, but he let me know last night that he wanted to take an extended leave of absence from his karate training to pursue other interests in life that included baseball.

I love baseball. Don’t get me wrong. But I’m sad that my son won’t be going with me to the dojo to train any longer.

I could have forced him. There were times that I did in the past, but I knew last night, I had to let him quit and make up his own mind. I actually made him write an essay last night putting into words what he felt he learned from karate and explain why he was temporarily leaving. He did so and I know it was a difficult thing for him to do. But he did. He signed it and I’m keeping it for posterity.

Like his sister, he had a mind of his own and was grown up enough to make his own personal decisions.

He learned a lot from karate. I didn’t even have to read what he wrote. Still, it helped quantify it and keep it as a record for his future should he go back and re-read it one day. Maybe, hopefully, he will reconsider and relight that fire where he will want to study karate again.

Karate has helped shaped him into the young man he is now, but I know that I cannot force him to continue. It would damage our father-son relationship.

I see firsthand all the time how parents struggle with letting their kids quit from some sort of sport. The kids aren’t having fun, they have short attention spans, they want to play video games, they lose interest, they don’t like getting yelled at by coach, and they get embarrassed if they don’t score. Whatever the million reasons are. It is a part of life.

I had to ask myself if the decision to push him into staying in karate was going to be my decision or his, and then I realized at this point, this is his own journey and not mine. As difficult as this was for me, it was time to let him discover on his own what he wants to do, rather than me making the decision for him and pressuring him into becoming someone or something against his will. I led him to a point that he’s done well and I’m proud of him, but it is his decision.

I have to remember that this was difficult for him, too.

I studied karate from ages 12 to 17. I quit. I then studied karate from ages 26 to 29. I quit a second time. I returned. There is hope.

I was more mentally and spiritually prepared for karate as an adult and it was my body that has been tested to its limits. Karate, over the decades, has become such a huge part of my life that I can no longer separate it from my beliefs and what makes me tick. Karate is one of the major ingredients that make up the essence of my soul in who I am. It is more than punching or kicking. More than self-defense and feeling confident. It is so much more. Those that study budo arts and the philosophy understand.

Karate is much more than sport or a hobby. That was the thing that I’ve tried to instill into my kids. I still don’t know if it sunk in or not. I think perhaps the seeds were planted. We’ll see what happens in the future.

If anything, their time studying karate will have helped them in their own lives in some way and will have allowed them to perhaps understand their abnormal father just a little better.

Looks like I need to brush up on my Triple Lindy because I'm going back to school

This morning as I headed out the door for church, I sensed something and knew to open the mailbox. Sure, the post office delivered on Saturday and I hadn't checked it yesterday, but I knew that as soon as I opened that mailbox this morning, I would find a letter addressed to me from my place of work at Benedictine University at Springfield.

Sure enough as I opened it, there was the letter that I had been waiting for. I had visualized this moment happening and there it played out for me.

I flashbacked to a moment when I received a similar letter from Illinois State University when I was eighteen year's old. Now, at age forty, this comparable letter gave me a sense of déjà vu as it was once again my acceptance into college. This time around, it notified me that I was accepted into Benedictine University at Springfield where I'm now officially enrolled in the accelerated Master of Science in Management and Communications program.

I'm going to officially be a student again.

I do feel the weight of this all and have mixed feelings on this day. I do feel joy, excitement and a sense of accomplishment (for just getting myself to this point of acceptance), but I also feel a bit of trepidation and anxiety. I am proud that I am going to be a Benedictine student and future alum. I have already vested a part of my soul into this place as a member of the faculty and part of the staff. I do take pride in my work and want to see the Springfield campus grow and succeed. That is part of my own personal mission. I had re-dedicated myself during the changes that began in October 2009 and embraced the new opportunities presented to me by Benedictine University. I will now experience Benedictine in a different light as a student where I hope the experience will allow me to come out of the other end much stronger than I am today. I hope to be a positive person of influence for the institution and those people who I come in contact with at the University and in other areas of my life.

I know there are going to be days ahead when I'm going to feel that I've bitten off more than I can chew. There is already a small voice in the back of my head wondering why in the heck am I'm adding something more to my plate when I'm already pulled at in all directions by work, karate, family, comics and my interests. I also think about past regrets. For years, I've felt that I should have already gone to grad school and already earned my master's degree, but I accept the decisions that I've made in my life where I've done the things that I've had to do. If that makes any sense to anyone reading this. It makes clear sense to me knowing what I've endured.

Yet having these feelings, my martial arts instincts kick in and cancels the negativity. As I get in touch more and more with my budō spirit, the more noticeable I watch myself appear numb to it all. It just seems a matter of fact. Deal with it and don't overthink it. That is the karate mindset.

I found a moment of quietness recently where I thought about things going on in my life and how I got to this point. The direction my life has taken. How my skills have strengthened. How I've acquired an array of personal experience. I'm all over the map it seems. Especially starting out of a fine arts background where I found myself drifting over into the marketing and communications field. Yet, somehow, while this point where Management and Organizational Behavior may seem miles away from any profession in art and/or where some others may think I should be somewhere different � I know I'm in the place in my life where I need to be at this moment in time. This will round out some areas I need to focus in on myself.

And now perhaps I may finally earn that elusive master's degree in 13 months that I've put off for nearly two decades.

I'm recording my thoughts today. I want to remember the excitement and anxiety, yet there is a calmness that I'm feeling also that cancels both out. It is what it is. I'm moving through a moment and I'm neither overwhelmed nor taking this lightly. But I do feel a sense of pressure now to once again succeed. I want to do so with an empty cup that will allow itself to be filled.

Yoshukai (�秀会) kanji translates "training hall of continuous improvement" in Japanese. Though I'm "officially" a student again, I've always been a student. I'm always moving up the mountain just a little further. This is another formality that is testing me.

This 13-month program is a weekend format. Just about every third weekend, I will spend in the classroom. I will be reading, studying and writing several papers. Interacting with others. I'll buckle down. I'll still be able to work my day job and will juggle the rest. I'll do it. Some things may need to go to the backburner for a year, but it'll be worth it as I walk through that door and earn my degree while hopefully coming out the other end of this experience with new tools and a refined perspective to help myself be able to help others in a position of leadership.

Change management is a field that I've found myself drawn to lately. My mindset has been molded by a mantra that in life we're presented with three choices when it comes to making a difficult crossroads type decision: to keep it status quo, to change, or to quit. In life, being able to adapt and manage that change is something I feel that I'm mentally equipped to do in my troubleshooter mindset. We'll see where this journey takes me further down the road.

And in the back of my mind, I also know that right after I finish this 13-month program, I may be testing for my nidan (second degree black belt) rank in karate. I need to stay on target.

Over the next fifteen months, I need to focus on one word to get me through this challenge. I need to persevere. (忍耐)

I realize now after writing this, this isn't really a blog entry written specifically for YOU, though you may end up taking something from it. As I write this, it is a letter that I'm writing to myself and you're getting to glimpse what I'm contemplating at this moment of time.

Hopefully, in December 2012 I will remember to re-read this again and tell myself mission accomplished. Someone will hopefully remind me.

 

COMICS: Scott McCullar’s 10 Favorite Comic Book Covers

ORIGINALLY POSTED August 24, 2007

One of my favorite features in COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE magazine each month is when the editor allows a renowned comic book creator to pick their "Top 10 Favorite Comic Book Covers."

Since I don’t think they’ll be knocking on my door anytime soon to ask me to offer mine for the magazine, I instead thought it would be fun to go ahead and post them on my blog.

Sure, there are countless other more famous covers to choose from that are iconic in a sense that they might make it onto U.S. postage stamps. But when I sat down to think of the first top ten that made it onto my list, I realized that these images have been burned into my psyche…

(Not in any necessary order - all the books are in my collection)


GREEN ARROW - GREEN LANTERN #1 (October 1983) © DC Comics
Cover: Neal Adams

This was part of the a seven issue mini-series that reprinted the original “Hard Traveling Heroes” storyline from Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams’ classic Green Arrow/Green Lantern series from the early 1970’s. I had just read GREEN ARROW: LONGBOW HUNTERS and was hooked on the new monthly GA series by Mike Grell. I found this mini-series in the back issues bin to catch up on this classic storyline that I kept hearing people talk about that came out about the time I was born. Neal Adams has always been one of my favorite artists that I grew up on in the 1970’s as a kid.


ACTION COMICS WEEKLY #608 (July 1988) © DC Comics
Cover: Brian Bolland

Black Canary, sassy and sexy as ever in her fishnet stockings, burns her gawd-awful Olivia Newton-John “Lets Get Physical” bad 1980’s costume that had the headband. She was back in all her bountiful beauty. By Brian Bolland. Another favorite artist… especially when it comes for him drawing the ladies.


SGT. ROCK #372 (January 1983) © DC Comics
Cover: Joe Kubert

This cover caught my eye when I was 12 years old and I was hooked on Sgt. Rock and Easy Company. What a terrifying and haunting cover that made you want to look inside. By Joe Kubert. He is the man. One of my top favorite artists.


SUPERMAN’S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE #29 (November 1961) © DC Comics
Cover: Curt Swan

I love Curt Swan. He is THE artist who defined the look of Superman for over 30 years. But it was this cover with my favorite hero – Green Arrow – making his move on Lois Lane that makes me laugh all the time. Top that with the recent romance of Oliver Queen and Lois Lane some five decades later in the SMALLVILLE television series, I thought this was a hoot. Makes me grin everytime that he is the man with the mojo. Step aside Super Friends. Also, I highly recommend finding the book, CURT SWAN – A LIFE IN COMICS by Eddy Zeno to read on the life of Curt Swan. Again, another favorite artist.


G.I. JOE #23 (May 1984 ) © Marvel Comics / Hasbro Toys
Cover: Michael Golden

Gotcha! This cover was just cool as a kid. The Hunt for Cobra Commander and the G.I. Joe team caught the bad guy. Clutch and Roadblock.. two of the toughest cusses on the G.I. Joe team. Just my favorite G.I. Joe cover by Michael Golden.


LONE WOLF & CUB #4 (1987) Published by First Publishing
Cover: Frank Miller

Most folks know Frank Miller from DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, SIN CITY, or more recently 300 with the movie adaptation. He has a bunch of covers that are much more famous. But for me… seeing this picture of Itto Ogami taking on the three ninja mercenaries out of the bloodiest film I had ever seen in my life called SWORD OF VENGEANCE just peeked my interest. Frank Miller turned me on to LONE WOLF & CUB. This was the Japanese manga series from the early 1970’s by another one of my favorite creative teams – Goseki Kojima and Kazue Koike. The suspense of the bloodshed about to happen is just a moment of way as arteries are about to whistle in the wind from being cut by Ogami’s katana.


STAR TREK ANNUAL #2 (1991) © DC Comics / Paramount
Cover: Jerome Moore

“I need my pain.” Captain James T. Kirk. Captain of the Starship Enterprise. My longtime hero. Here he is illustrated photo-realistically by Jerome Moore in a montage that shows him at various stages of his life. I always loved this cover and I’ve always loved everything that Jerome Moore has ever drawn.


WORLD OF KRYPTON #3 (September 1979) © DC Comics
Cover: Ross Andru and Dick Giordano

The colors on this book and the iconic feel of who and where the Man of Steel came from was summed up perfectly for this cover. This is my favorite Superman cover from the thousands that are out there now.


BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #11 (September 1990) © DC Comics
Cover: Paul Gulacy
It was difficult to pick a single Batman cover. Not that I was hunting for one. But I remember reading this comic book during my freshman year of college – not too long after the 1989 Batman movie with Michael Keaton had come out. This just captured the “bat demon from hell” look of Batman for me that made the Dark Knight a scary creature of the night that put fear in the hearts of criminals. This is my favorite “Dracula” like pose of Batman with his cape raised like a bat as he is underground in his Batcave with either infrared lights glowing or perhaps some lava glow. Okay, maybe not lava glow… but this was one HOT cover.


SHOOTING STAR COMICS ANTHOLOGY #6 (February 2005) Published by Shooting Star Comics, LLC
Cover: Mike Grell and Scott McCullar

Okay… this one is hard to be objective on. This is an excellent cover penciled and inked by my favorite artist, Mike Grell. You know, there are countless more memorable covers that Mike Grell has done… especially for Green Arrow, Warlord, and Jon Sable. But this one is a favorite because he did this cover for me. Pictured is my character, the Yellow Jacket: Man of Mystery and a few other characters that appeared in this story SHOOTING STAR COMICS ANTHOLOGY. This ended up being the last issue of the anthology series though we had more planned. Grell is a master artist. And for me… I had the extreme pleasure and honor of coloring it. Yep, a Mike Grell and Scott McCullar collaboration. A dream come true.



That’s it. There is my “top 10”. I hoped you got a kick out of my personal picks.

Best,
Scott

Elvis Presley: (The Secret Bass) Guitarman?

Elvis Presley is the King of Rock’n Roll.

I really don’t need to say much more than that. He doesn’t need an introduction.

For as far back as my memory allows me to go, his music has been a part of my life. I must have been about four year’s old when I was dancing on the shag rug to “Hound Dog” as the vinyl record spun on Daddy’s high fidelity turntable.

Now, I’ve got to forewarn you, I’m going to take the scenic route as I discuss my theory that Elvis Presley secretly held a passion for bass guitars and saw himself as a bit of a bassman. He knew how to get down on it and could really play bass guitar.

Did you know that Elvis actually played the bass guitar on the track “You’re So Square (Baby, I Don’t Care)”?

There was no question that the man had rhythm and that even his gyrating fingertip could swoon a crowd of women into a tizzy as it moved back and forth. Watch any film clip of Elvis live on stage (especially post 1967) and you can see his head, hands, body and his whole soul move along with the rhythm that the basslines dropped. Sometimes, when on stage and gyrating in his karate moves, he would even play a bit of “air (bass) guitar” on occasions with his two fingers as if he was “walking the basslines”.

But let’s take the scenic route and build up to discussing his bass playing and passion for Fender basses for later in this blog o’mine as I digress a bit.

One of my earliest memories as a kid was getting my shots for school at the doctor’s office in August 1977. Over the radio, the newscaster announced that Elvis Presley had died. It was like a family member had passed away. I was with my mother in the reception room and it was the first time in my life that I can remember ever seeing my Mama cry. It will be a moment that I will never forget.

I would learn years later, that Mama had met Elvis when she was younger. The story goes something like this… around 1956 or so when my Mama was about eight year’s old, my grandmother took her, along with her sister(s?) and cousin(s?), to see where this local Elvis boy lived in Memphis. This was before he bought Graceland in 1957 and had just made the transition from Sun Records to RCA Victor for his recording contract.

Take this all with a grain of salt (I do believe it is all true), but oral family tradition has it that during the infamous Elvis meeting with my Mama and the girls, they were standing on the sidewalk in front of his house to see if they could sneak a peek of him. They could see Elvis’s mother, Gladys, hanging clothes on the laundry line. Elvis then rode up on his motorcycle wearing his black leather jacket and cap. He had a girl on the back of the cycle with him. Mama says it was Natalie Wood, and would you believe, doing a little Internet research, Elvis did indeed date Natalie Wood in 1956.

Well, the story goes that Elvis pulled over on his bike to say hello to his young fans. He chitchatted with the girls, and then get this… he cuts up a bit with them and then he ruffled my Mama’s hair. She had “Shirley Temple” style curls as a child and Elvis goofed off with her for a moment. He stroked my mother’s hair and played with her curls for a moment. According to Mama, Elvis then invited my grandmother to come back the next day to play cards with his mother but my Granny declined.

“That’s okay. We don’t want to bother.”

Shoot. We could have become Memphis Mafia.

I tell you that story to set up the next story. Yes, indeed, I’m an Elvis fan. By birthright as you can see.

I’ve amassed quite the Elvis record collection myself and I believe I have over 50 different albums that he put out. I even own quite a few Elvis movies on DVD. I love KING CREOLE, CHANGE OF HABIT, ROUSTABOUT, KID GALAHAD, HEARTBREAK HOTEL and so many more. I make no apologies. I’m an Elvis fan.

So, last year, as part of her own birthright, I took a little vacation down to Memphis in May of 2010 to visit my Mama and Daddy. For this trip, I just took my daughter, Rachel, along with me to visit her grandparents. During the trip, we decided to take Rachel on her first pilgrimage to Graceland. It was just me, Rachel and Granny (my Mama) who went as my Dad wasn’t feeling well and stayed home.

There is a lot to see at Graceland. I recall them saying that only about a third of their memorabilia is on display while the rest is archived in storage. In some of the halls, you can see many of his Martin and Gibson six-string guitars on display amongst other props, jumpsuits, big buckled belts and movie posters.

As many Elvisologists will tell you, there has often been debate about how well Elvis actually played guitar. He may have appeared to be a “Guitarman", but his Sun Records guitarist Scotty Moore eluded that Elvis was not really an accomplished musician, though he had an “uncanny and amazing sense of timing and rhythm.”

In the early performance career of Elvis and as seen in both his movies and album covers, he was often holding one of his acoustic six-strings. During an interview that I recently caught on the Elvis XM Radio (XM 18) with host George Klein, I heard photographer Robert Dye mention on air that he remembers how aggressively Elvis strummed the guitars that he broke two strings of a guitar he had borrowed from a musician at performance in Memphis’s Overton Park.

A similar account was written about in Paul Hemphill’s book, The Nashville Sound: Bright Lights and Country Music in which country singer Bob Luman recalls that during a show in Kilgore, Texas, Elvis “…hit his guitar a lick, and he broke two strings. Hell, I’d been playing for ten years, and I hadn’t broken a total of two strings. So there he was, these two strings dangling, and he hadn’t done anything except break guitar strings yet, and these high school girls were screaming and fainting and running up to the stage, and then he started to move his hips real slow like he had a thing for his guitar.”

This kind of jives together that Elvis used the guitar as more of a prop in his performance and to give his hands something to do in his jitteriness. I’m sure the heavier EADG gauge strings of a bass would have suited him better!

Sure, he knew the guitar chords and could strum and keep rhythm. It has been suggested on Scotty Moore’s website in an article by James V. Roy that “…perhaps the lack of a microphone on his [Elvis’s] guitar most of the time contributed to the development of his aggressive style in an attempt to be heard.”

[Sidenote: I highly recommend visiting www.scottymoore.net.epguitars.html for more on the scope of Elvis’s guitar playing and a look at some of his guitars.]

Amidst the guitars and memorabilia on the main Graceland museum, there is a very snazzy 1972 Fender Jazz Bass on display that we saw on the tour. It is a beautiful sunburst with tortoise shell pick guard. It has two pickups and a three knob arrangement. It stuck out amongst the many guitars, because, well, I’m a bassman myself, and I love looking at bass guitars.

With a man who had three televisions in his living room in the early 1970’s and was known for giving passerby individuals the keys to free Cadillacs all the time, it didn’t seem all that out of the ordinary that Elvis may have ventured out and bought a bass to fiddle around with and experiment. I remember seeing this particular bass many years ago in one of my visits to Graceland.

It is a very swank bass and definitely has that early 70’s feel and look. If I recall correctly, bassist Geddy Lee plays one.



But while on our pilgrimage with my daughter and mother, something else caught my eye this time in one of the museums across the street from Graceland. There was another bass guitar. It was a Fender Precision 1951 bass guitar originally owned by Bill Black that was pretty much a spitting image of my own bass guitar. It had a chrome pickup and bridge cover like mine.

My primary bass guitar is a “Sting Signature Series” reissue of a 1953 Fender P-Bass that I bought customized with those same style added chrome pickup and bridge cover. Before customization, my bass guitar is a replica of the one used by one of my favorite artists – Sting (lead singer and bassist of The Police).

Again, my bass set up looked just like the Bill Black Fender bass that I saw in the display case. Then, something caught my eye. It was the placard next to the bass that read:

Fender Electric Bass ca. 1957

This Fender Precision Bass Guitar (owned by Bill Black) was played by Elvis during the final version of the song “You’re So Square” in his 1957 film “JAILHOUSE ROCK”. – On loan from the private collection of Judy and Larry Moss, Memphis, TN.

Also, next to the photo, was a black and white picture of Elvis holding the bass that stood right before me. It is an amazing photo. It was doubly amazing to know that Elvis was holding a bass guitar that looked just like mine. It brought me a bit closer to the King at that moment!

I had never known that Elvis played bass guitar on an actual recording. Especially one that had perhaps the most memorable bassline of any Elvis song. It made me a bit curious.

I did a little bit of homework because I was curious about why Elvis played bass on the song and not Bill Black. What I found online was this recollection from deejay and close personal friend of Elvis, George Klein.

Klein said, “On 'Baby I Don't Care' , the Fender electric bass had just come out at that time and Bill Black was using the upright bass. In live concerts, you really couldn't hear the upright, they couldn't ‘mike it up’ well cause the sound systems in those days weren't very good. So it was really just for effect. When the Fender bass came out, it was electrified. And Elvis loved it because it'd be great in concert. It gave him a bass sound behind him. So when it first came out, Bill Black had to learn how to play it and he was having a little trouble. On the 'Jailhouse Rock' session when they got to 'Baby I Don't Care' and the intro that's on there, Bill couldn't get it down like Elvis wanted it. So Elvis played it. He recorded it and then he sang over it. I think he played guitar on 'One Night' too, I'm not sure, perhaps Scotty played that ...”

Wow.

Listen to the song and you will hear that it has a solid bassline.



Do you know how one thing can trigger another thing? How one memory can reopen another that you had stored in the attic of your mind?

Well, I’m also a big Beatles fan. I recalled an interview with Paul McCartney during their official documentary, THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY, where the lads from Liverpool were reminiscing about their first (and only) meeting with Elvis Presley at his Bel-Air Los Angeles home in August 1965.

McCartney said, “That was the greatest. Elvis was into the bass, So there I was, "Well, let me show you a thing or two, El..." Suddenly he was a mate. It was a great conversation piece for me. I could actually talk about the bass, and we sat around and just enjoyed ourselves. He was great. Talkative. Friendly and a little bit shy. But that was his image. We expected that, we hoped for that.”



A moment of digression… Sir Paul, a legendary bassman himself, also ended up buying Bill Black’s stand up bass years later.



_{(Photo by Charles Nicholas © The Commercial Appeal)}

But getting back on track, I then started looking around in books and found another famous photo from 1965 published in The Commercial Appeal of Elvis playing a 1962 Olympic White Fender Precision Bass Guitar on his loooooooong stretch white couch in the front living room. I’ve got a hunch that this was the same bass that McCartney and Elvis played around on during their infamous get together that same year. If I’m correct, I believe that this is also the same bass guitar on the guitar stand behind in his movie, SPINOUT from 1966. He would also be pictured with a different Fender Sunburst P-Bass in the 1965 film GIRL HAPPY and the 1967 film EASY COME, EASY GO.



_{(Screen capture © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)}

All very swank. All very deep.

So with that, I’m lead to believe that Elvis deep down was a bass enthusiast who loved to play those various Fender basses. But he knew. He knew that his primary instrument would always be his voice. He had to take care of business in flash with that first and foremost.

Often imitated but uniquely his.

To quote a line from one of his songs, “I thought my pickin’ would set ‘em on fire, but nobody wanted to hire a guitarman.”



_{(Screen capture © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)}

But, I’ll secretly know (and maybe you too will now) that Elvis was really a (secret bass) guitarman in his heart. I just can’t help believing.

Scott

My Recap of Wizard World Chicago 2008

Well, I’ve had a few days to decompress from my annual trip to Chicago, Illinois for the big Wizard World comic book convention. Nowadays, it is just as much a pop culture convention with movies, television, wrestling, and gaming as it is comic books.

If I’m doing my math correctly, this is the 10th year in a row that I’ve attended. What a long and strange trip it has been. Those first three or four years that I attended were always pinnacle points of the year that I always looked forward to. The Shooting Star Comics days when we had a booth were later filled with good, bad and sometimes ugly moments. I miss them and then again, I don’t.

It has been almost two years since Shooting Star comics as a company was together for our last hurrah in Chicago. Though at the time, our future was uncertain and we were hoping to turn it around, but by Christmas 2006, those that remained (and who were actually talking) decided that it was time to close shop.

Last year, I spent most of my time (like this year) working on my health. The closure of Shooting Star knocked the wind out of my sails a bit and I did not want to attend the convention in 2007. I wanted to take a break – but I came up after hearing that my pal, John Morgan Neal, was coming up to Chicago (which happens to virtually be my backyard as it is only a three hour drive from my home). So I went as a civilian without a table or booth to promote anything because I wanted to see John.

This year too, I admit that I wasn’t exactly sure if I wanted to go. To be quite honest, I didn’t want to go this year where I felt even more like a poser. Sure, I’ve worked on some comic projects this year. I finished production for one of Chuck Dixon’s book that was sold this summer. I wrote an adaptation for a 64-page graphic novel that is coming out next year. I was working on artwork for a comic that I had hoped to have finished by now, but wasn’t able to. But, I had nothing to promote or sell this year either. It is all in production.

Still, my pal Erik Burnham got two tables in artist alley for me to share with him, Michael Hutchison and Chuck Dixon. I appreciated it very much. I was thinking about skipping this year, but it had been two years since I had seen him, Chuck Dixon and my pal Sean Taylor. So, like last year, I made the trip to see my friends.

Along with those guys, I also saw other friends such as Ethan Colchamiro, Scott Hileman, Phil Hester, Jennifer Ford, Gordon Purcell, Drew Geraci, Richard Kohlrus and some of the other usual suspects. It was also great to reconnect with Lance Stahlberg and hear that he is doing well with his new position at Haven Distributors (formerly Cold Cuts) and to also see an old friend, Matt Hansel, who replaced me on the O’NEIL OBSERVER that Denny O’Neil and Bob Brodsky produced. It was fantastic to see that Ape Entertainment is succeeding with Brent Erwin and crew. I picked up Christopher Mills’ FEMME NOIR while I was there. It was great to meet new folks like Bobby Nash and Mike Oeming.

I did miss a few folks who weren’t able to make it. John Neal and Todd Fox of course instantly come to mind. I also missed Chris Franklin – but I usually talk to him about once a month or so.

But I also miss my pal, Gregg W. Noon. It has been nearly two years since I’ve heard from him. I almost expected him to walk in. I keep thinking we’re going to have a Han Solo and Lando Calrissian moment like in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK when we see each other again where I’m not sure if he’s going to want to punch me or hug me. I hope it is the latter. I miss the big guy and our conversations. I still don’t know if the sting of the end of Shooting Star Comics has quit hurting or not. I don’t know if I will ever see or hear from him again. That’s the hardest part.

It still stings for me a bit, but it is getting better. The end of Shooting Star and the aftermath. But it all happened for a reason. I’m proud of the guys who have gone on to do some other work in comics. Especially Sean Taylor who has had a stellar year.

Well, I gotta admit that I felt a bit awkward going to Chicago over the weekend and seeing a lot of the old faces and many many new faces. I went to the Hyatt Regency Hotel and bar on Friday night. They’ve remodeled it to look like something out of “Logan’s Run.” I could easily stereo-type the crowd, but I won’t. It was just that line from Sesame Street where it is sung “…which one doesn’t belong with the other” came to mind.

I was talking to my pal, Sean Taylor, and told him that night in the bar that I’ve never felt more out of place than that point that night. He said he felt right at home with the crowd. I don’t know how to translate that for my own self.

I’ve come to realize that for at least these next two years, I’m not going to be able to work in any time consuming capacity as a comic book writer or artist. It’ll just be little things here and there that I can squeeze in to my spare time. I hope that I’ll finally finish these new THRILL SEEKER pages to have a new book or two out for next year. I’ll take on some writing gigs if they come my way, but freelancing isn’t something I’m actively pursuing because I have a “day job”, karate training and family obligations. I see possibilities (that I cannot discuss yet) where I think I’ll be able to more actively pursue freelancing in a few years and to get back more into comics. At this point, it’ll probably be independent comics.

I’m digressing, but the big two – DC Comics and Marvel Comics are not the same places they were just four years ago. Nuff said for now.

As for the convention experience itself… well, I think this year ran smoother than last year as it was put on by Wizard. I hear rumors that this was the last Wizard World Chicago comic convention. We’ll see. I enjoyed the Dixonverse dinner, hanging out with Chuck, Erik, Sean and crew. I enjoyed doing sketches for those few hours that I had a chance to participate.

But I’m pledging now… I’m not going to the convention again unless I’ve got new books to promote or sell. So, I’d better finally finish these various THRILL SEEKER projects this year where I’ve revamped things and have new tales of Yellow Jacket, the Emerald Mantis and a few new characters. Also, Sean has a few projects for me to draw, I have a few other independents to write. Maybe I can justify going next year where I won’t feel like a poser. LOL.

As for “fanboy moments”, I had one for myself. I got to meet Chase Masterson and my pal, Sean Taylor, took our picture together. She is a torch song kind of singer and actress – probably best known as playing Leeta the Dabo Girl on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine back in the 1990’s. That’s when I fell in love with her.

She seemed pleasantly surprised when I told her that I had listened to some of her jazz songs. Some of them Irving Berlin or Gershwin covers.

So, here is my incriminating photo with her courtesy of Mr. Taylor. What happened in Chicago was supposed to stay in Chicago, so I beat him to it so he wouldn’t blackmail me for artwork or something.

I’ve always had a weakness for sultry singers that are usually redheads who sometimes like to have a little fun by going blonde. I get myself in trouble with those kind of girls…

Nuff said on that too. ;)

Scott

Back from California

 

It's been a while since I've blogged. And for good reason.

Well, from June 6 – June 16, I was on a Clark W. Griswold-styled family vacation out in California. Roxie and I took the kids out west for a getaway.

We flew out to San Diego and rented a van. We hit the beach on our first day there and then we spent some time at Sea World, the San Diego Zoo Preserve and Legoland.

From there, we drove north and went to Universal Studios and Hollywood for a day. We also spent a few days at Disneyland. I lost my hat on a water ride at one point.

From there, we drove up to the Sequoia Mountains and checked out the Redwood forest. While I was there, I accidentally ended up about 8 feet from a rattlesnake in the wild. Interesting. But I survived to tell the tale. I was looking out for bears instead.

We drove through Fresno. I used to live there from 1973- 1979 and attended kindergarten through second grade there. I saw my old home and my old grade school.

Finally, we made it up to San Francisco and avoided the fires south of Monterrey. It was much colder there, but we did go to Alcatraz and went on a tour of all of the San Francisco sites. After ten days, we finally caught a plane and headed home.

Since then, I've playing catch up at work. Lots of catch up work.

We missed seeing the world's biggest ball of twine, but we saw plenty of other things. California is pretty crazy. Nuff said and we survived.

 

JAWS appears courtesy of Universal Studios, California.

Interview with me in the SJ-R (from May 22, 2008)

This article appeared in my local newspaper last week where I was interviewed by the State Journal-Register.

Each week, the newspaper spotlights someone in the community who works in entertainment and/or the arts.

I stayed out of the spotlight for years, but they caught up with me.

You might have to click on the image to make it enlarge in your browser in order to read.

 

 

Courtesy of the State Journal-Register (Springfield, Illinois)

Battling Asthma (Inhaler Free?)

I’ve waited to post this blog for a while now because I wanted to see if it was a fluke, but I realized today that I’ve just hit my two month mark on something extraordinary that I thought I would finally write about.

I haven’t had to use my various inhalers for my asthma in two entire months.

TWO MONTHS!

I used to use my preventative inhaler twice a day and my emergency inhaler (for actual asthma attacks as they were happening), sometimes, three times a day, because of my asthma and shortness of breath. I was going through one emergency inhaler per month. Sometimes two albuterol inhalers. I pretty much had to use that emergency inhaler ALWAYS at least once a day. I had it in my pocket at all times. Sometimes I even panicked and had to stop everything if I forgot to take it with me. I would go back home because I was so dependent on it and frightened to be without it.

But I haven’t had to use any inhaler for the past two months. For me, that is remarkable because I have been dependent on inhalers for my entire life since about the first grade.

Now, I’m not saying I no longer have asthma or I’m cured. I have had two minor asthma attacks in these past two months… once from incense burning mixed with a woman’s perfume that walked past me. The other time was from someone burning leaves outside in my neighborhood as I was getting into my wife’s car. Those scents triggered asthma attacks but I was able to “breathe” through it and stop them on my own without using an inhaler. I relaxed, got in the right mindset, and concentrated with breathing techniques that I learned in karate which relaxed the constriction in my lungs so that I wouldn’t have to use my inhaler.

Everything returned to normal with my breathing and I made it through those two minor attacks. I probably should have used an inhaler on the second attack from the burning leaves, but I managed. I put my training to the test.

I’ve even been able to start cutting grass again – and this time, without a mask.

I do take asthma very seriously. It is a medical condition that some call a disability. It has hindered me my entire life. My wife’s uncle died of an asthma attack. My entire family, in-laws, outlaws and all of the above, are concerned about me.

But I’ve quit carrying my inhaler in my pocket. Maybe not the wisest thing, but I’m not going to be psychologically dependent on it any longer that I just have to reach in my pocket for the quick fix. It isn’t my crutch that I constantly carry with me. Honestly, after the first month of not having an asthma attack, I just plain started to forget about carrying it. Amazing.

I do have those emergency inhalers in key spots at home, at work, at the dojo, in my car, etc. so that they are always just a few extra reaches away, but I’m striving to only use them if I feel it is imperative to my life and if I possibly am unable to get my breathing under control. It is a choice that I’ve made for myself.

I feel for the first time in my life that I have taken the upper-hand and control over my asthma. There perhaps is also some mind over matter where I’m psychologically taking it on also. I mainly credit it to two things in my life… karate, and perhaps even some recent chiropractic care that I’ve received. More on the latter later, but first with karate…

With Yoshukai Karate, I’ve been working out several times a week for a year-and-a-half in which breathing is imperative to the art and techniques. Since earning my brown belt in March, I’ve been practicing a new kata called Niseishi. This kata has a very strong emphasis on breathing techniques that I’ve been particularly working on for the last 2 months.

2 months – Coincidence?

The kata uses both calm and explosive techniques that take 24 steps to make. Some have likened this kata to the ebb and flow of the ocean. This kata feels so right for me. The breathing is such an important aspect of the Niseishi kata that I practice in my Yoshukai Karate training.

It is my understanding, that Dr. Tsuyoshi Chitose, a Chito-Ryu Karate sensei who taught Yoshukai instructors Sensei Yamamoto and Sensei Foster, originally learned the kata from Okinawan Karate Master Aragaki Sensho*. Chitose O’Sensei also made minor modifications to the breathing techniques in the kata for health reasons based on his medical background.

And all these years later, I’m benefiting from it.

(* A point of digression, but I’ve been reading a couple of books on Okinawan masters and was just reading about Aragaki Sensho by coincidence before I realized he had originated the kata based upon some of the Chinese dragon styles of kempo.)

Dr. Chitose noted in his book, Kempo Karate-do – Universal Art of Self-Defense, the following about the benefits of deep breathing during training: The thorax widens and the diaphragm gets pushed down, the volume of the thoracic cavity increases and because the pressure within the cavity changes, air naturally flows in the lungs, which increases lung capacity and allows oxygen into the blood, which increases energy, another benefit of Karate-do training.

He also noted in his studies that the average lung capacity of someone that does not do exercise is 3350 cubic centimeters. A swimmer’s lung capacity is 4900 cubic centimeters. A karate practitioner’s average lung capacity is between 6000 - 7000 cubic centimeters.

What I notice is that I believe I’ve been only breathing with 33% to 45% air capacity in my lungs for most of my life in everyday life and normal breathing. It always felt like I was breathing with only the top third of my lungs. I took a breathing test in November 2006 with a pulmonologist when I my regular doctor sent me to this specialist for my asthma and sleep apnea. Shortly after that initial breathing test, I returned to karate in January 2007 after being away for more than a decade.

I took the same follow up breathing test in November 2007. My pulmonologist did a double-take right in front of me when he looked at the comparative results. He said that I had doubled my lung capacity in one year with my breathing and even he couldn’t believe it. Again, credited to the deep breathing of karate, weight loss and exercise.

Six months later and I’m breathing better than I believe I ever have in my entire life. I truly believe that the deep breathing exercises in association with working out in karate, a bit of zanshin meditation I do with breathing now, and especially deep breathing exercises with kata has allowed me to open up air passages and tubes that have been closed. I’m breathing deeper and deeper into my lungs and opening my diaphragm. There is a lot of visualization that I do while breathing that I believe helps when I breathe air in and tighten my core to expel the air for conditioning of my body so I can take a physical hit in karate by an opponent. I also breathe out all of the stale air at the bottom of my lungs and then breathe back in deeper.

I first heard Sensei Dugan state over a year or so ago that karate will eliminate asthma. I constantly had shortness of breath when I sparred or performed kata. No disrespect intended, but I doubted him. Not me. I’ve had asthma my entire life where I dealt daily with usually at least one attack. Doctors used to say when I was a child that I would outgrow it. It only got worse.

Karate gave me the tools to improve my health. Sensei Dugan was right. Karate has allowed me to take control of my breathing and mindset in ways I did not foresee when I got back into it after all these years. I feel more positive than I have since I was probably about 16.

But, there is something else that I have to acknowledge that I believe might also possibly be helping me. I’ve been seeing a chiropractor named Dr. Tana Frisina since December. The time frame where I began was about a month after my follow up trip to the pulmonologist where we saw I had doubled my lung capacity.

For these past six months, I’ve receiving chiropractic care at the insistence of my wife. I had a back injury that has bugged me for 20 years, arthritis in my hands, and some injuries from sparring.

The basic principle of chiropractic care is that spinal adjustments can improve many health problems that are related to the nerves, skeleton and muscles. Problems such as spinal conditions can be helped, and it can also assist to improve a person’s general state of health and wellness.

Spinal joints that are not working properly can irritate the nervous system. Chiropractors use manual treatments, referred to as spinal adjustments, to realign the joints of the spine. Once the mechanical structure of the spine is working properly, the body is able to maintain its own health and wellbeing.

In my particular case, I injured some of my vertebrae during my teen years from a diving board accident where x-rays have shown that vertebrae misalignment and pressure were pinching nerve endings in my spinal column that are associated with respiratory function. Those subluxations that caused my spine to pinch certain nerves made me more prone to asthma attacks according to Dr. Frisina.

She has been working on a series of adjustments to relieve the pressure while I’ve been more actively involved with yoga-like stretching and warm ups in karate.

Now, I know that there is great debate about the benefits of chiropractic care. Some think chiropractics are quacks. I still have my skepticisms but I’ve felt that it truly has made my quality of life better. More and more as I deal with the Eastern side of medicine and theory, I’m learning more about joint control and pressure points in both karate and chiropractics. I tend to believe there is something there with the holistic aspects that many in traditional thought kind of poo poo the ideas.

Balance and alignment are integral to karate. It is integral to chiropractics. It is integral to living and health. I’m working on getting aligned.

I'm embarrassed to say that I spent nearly 20 years letting my body go. I’ve spent almost 2 years now on the path to recovery. I cannot undo all the damage that I’ve done that quickly, but I’m seeing with patience, strength and persistence, I’m continuously improving. I still have a long way to go. I’m still unhealthy in many aspects, but I’m healthier than I have been in a decade. I feel like I'm at a turning a point of change in my life and with my health.

Each day, I’m feeling a little bit better than the day before.

I just have to remember to breathe first.

Bring On the Night – I saw The Police in Concert One Final Time

 

For one last time in my life, I saw The Police in concert last Saturday night on May 10, 2008 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. It was about a mile from the convention center where I annually attend the Wizard World Chicago comic book conventions in Rosemont.

I drove up to Chicago with my good friend and fellow Police fan, Kathy Wheeler. Together, we’ve seen Sting in concert about four times. As I’ve mentioned in my blog before, my wife Roxie isn’t a fan of Sting or The Police. She isn’t a fan of most musicians that I enjoy and so she is okay with me going out to concerts with Kathy, or my old high school pal, Ron Rice. She’s happy these two will keep an eye on me and see that I don’t get in to too much trouble.

Kathy summed it up exactly on her blog that it has been a whirlwind year that started with a rumor that The Police would reunite. Which lead to the long world-wide tour. Together, we saw The Police last July in St. Louis. That was the first time I had a chance to see my favorite band together.

Last Saturday’s show was a great performance and they were more in synch with each other even than last year. They are currently on the last leg of their reunion tour and will end it forever in a few weeks from now in New York City where they say that it’ll be their final performance forever together.

I had a fun time with Kathy. We got to meet up with other Police fans at a dinner before the concert at Shoeless Joe’s Sports Bar & Grill. Elvis Costello and the Attractions opened up for The Police. It felt very much like a double-bill. He is another musician who I enjoy listening to. Sting came out on stage to do a duet with Elvis on the song, “Allison.”

We sat what was basically the fifth row off to Sting’s side of the stage. Kathy’s camera took some limited video and so she got some great shots that she has placed on her website and on YouTube. I’m posting a few here on my blog courtesy of Kathy where you can see our vantage point. (Also, check out Kathy’s side at http://www.stingfield.com/ for more pictures and video).

Like Kathy, I think my favorite songs of the night were the opening of “Bring On the Night” and “Demolition Man”. I also enjoyed the rousing versions of “Voices Inside My Head/When the World is Running Down ,” “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic,” “So Lonely,” and the closing “Next To You”.

Heck, I enjoyed the WHOLE show and stood the entire time and grooved with the music. It’ll be a night I’ll never forget.

Like Kathy, I also feel appreciative that our favorite band came together after 20 plus years to reunite to give us fans (and themselves) some closure. We can now all accept that it is the end.