Wiseau Fridays: On Planning Too Much

Click on the player below to hear the quote from the movie:


Well, it's Friday again (already?) and that means it's time for another installment of Wiseau Fridays. I won't go into detail about The Room here, for that you can read my post about it here. Maybe one of these weeks I will give the movie a proper review or synopsis.

In this drawing, and scene of the movie, Johnny (Tommy Wiseau's character) is giving advice to Denny, his neighbor and pseudo-adopted son. I can't recall exactly the relevance, but the advice is sound, "Denny, don't plan too much; it may not come out right!" Truer words were never spoken. Okay, maybe they were, but this is seriously sound advice.

I think sometimes people plan too much, even planning so much that they don't actually, you know, live. so live a little and when you are doing things you enjoy, don't stress about other things. Pay attention! When you're shopping (grocery or present) focus on that. Don't run down a litany of things you really ought to be doing instead. We've come to this stage in our lives where the world doesn't close. Everything is open twenty-four hours a day, we're in constant communication via Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, and cell phones. You get out of work at five? Not really, and especially if you are a salaried worker. Lots of times they'll even get you a cell phone to inconvenience you at all hours of the day with, yes, more work. And that means more stress. Of course where I live, in Woodbury, once nine o'clock rolls around you can't even so much as get a gallon of milk or gas.

Even so, just because some towns may be a little more low key than others, doesn't mean that we don't still have dozens of people pulling us in dozens more directions; sadly, the more people you know the more thin you're spread. Personally, I need more than a thin layer of butter on my toast.

So settle down, don't stress out over every. little. thing. It's going to be okay if you don't I promise. Besides, no matter how much you plan, sometimes, no matter how sure you are, it just doesn't turn out right. And that, my friend, is the truth.


Click the image below to purchase the movie, it'd really good and only seven dollars.

Introducing Wiseau Fridays!

A classic scene from a classic movie

"You're tearing me apart, Lisa" audio from The Room (Click to play)


Every once in a while a movie comes along, different, unorthodox, unappreciated, but a masterpiece; The Room is one such movie. Bear with me here, I understand you're probably wondering to yourself how you've never heard of this movie. Or maybe you've seen it and disagree. Watch it again. Sure, The Room may not be as polished as The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It may lack the convoluted forethought that was Star Wars. But it was filmed with two cameras! Film and digital! 


The Room was released in 2003, with a budget of seven million dollars (from what I've read). It was written, directed, produced, and distributed by Tommy Wiseau; consider that for a moment. Imagine funding, writing, acting, directing, producing, and distributing a movie and you'll understand the many hats of Tommy Wiseau. The man is made of steel. Weird, grotesquely bumpy steel, but steel nonetheless. Tommy is an American, and refers to himself as such but is a worldly man. He has lived in France and many other European countries throughout his life. I think the many places he's lived have all contributed slight variances to the dialect that is Tommy Wiseau. Listening to him speak, you'd never know where he was from. He looks kind of Italian, sounds sort of like Jean-Claude Van Damme, and that is uniquely American.

I'm not going to give a synopsis of The Room, just know that you should see it. But don't watch it alone. The Room is a dish best served to a group. It's kind of an experience to see the movie with a group of people. Having achieved cult status, The Room garners midnight premieres on a regular, recurring basis in Los Angeles and I believe that to be the gold standard ideal way to see it. Think Star Wars or Harry Potter on opening night at midnight, and that's the kind of devoted fan base The Room has garnered. That said, buy the movie, it's really a movie everyone should own. I rented it once and have had a definite longing for it since. After a recent gathering of people to screen The Room (sorry we didn't ask permission, Tommy), we remembered just how much we like the movie and will be getting it.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll scream in empathetic anger, and you might even get a little turned on.

Lisa, Lisa, Lisa; you dirty tramp.

Buy the Room from Amazon (it's the cheapest there) using the link below and a small percentage of the sale will go to me =)

Everything Is Always A Work In Progress

Another round of my Man Cat as art project is in store today. Today's drawings are not done yet, in fact, they've hardly been started. I decided to draw Man Cat inspired by Henry Darger. In case you don't know Henry Darger, he would draw cute, young, girls with penises instead of vaginas. I believe he got crap for that since it's kind of controversial, I guess, but I think it's cute and funny, and something I like to do anyway so once I saw In The Realm of the Unreal I knew I'd have to create a Man Cat drawing inspired by Darger. It's in the very beginning stages. Really, I just jotted an idea down in a couple minutes so I wouldn't forget. I hope to finish it sometime in the future, and make it colorful. And cuter.

Man Cat Inspired by Henry Darger (Click to Enlarge)

As for this drawing, the bottom is going to be Man Cat as chairman Mao, inspired by Andy Warhol's print of the infamous dictator. I think that suits Man Cat well. The top stamp-sized sketch is Man Cat inspired by Shepard Fairey's OBEY print of Andre the Giant.

Man Cat inspired by Warhol and Fairey (Click to Enlarge)

More to come on these drawings when they are finished.

Thanks for reading.

Where The Wild Things Are

Everyone dabbles...

I like children's books. I may not have the affinity for them that a certain other person does, but, to be honest, I've always loved them. I may not read them every day, or think about them all that much, but I like them. I cannot imagine writing (or illustrating) one myself. They are incredibly simple at face value but beyond the simplicity of the words and rhymes directed at children are messages far more profound. I don't know if this is for the parents or if these deeper messages are meant to sink in for the children who are merely given these books for their educational purpose (what kid learns with War And Peace, right?). I suspect that children know what they're reading; perhaps children aren't given enough credit.

Max (Click to see larger)

I drew this first picture the other day. For some reason I decided to draw Max from Where The Wild Things Are. I don't know why. Maybe because Max is troublesome, or a rebel, or because of a certain cat, but it is likely because my brain meanders constantly and at that precise moment it thought Where The Wild Things Are.

I don't have a deep connection with this book. I like it (also, the movie is good). I don't recall reading it all the time or anything. I do remember it though. I like that it's not your typical children's book; it's darker than many are. But the story is relateable, is it not?

Monster #1 (Click to view larger)

Next, I decided to draw the rest of the characters. I figured, while I am at it, I may as well do the rest of the characters. Truth be told, I haven't started one of the characters yet (the girl with the long, straight hair). But I started with who I can only assume is the leader of the monsters Max finds. I like the way he looks. My drawing actually turned out fairly well. I have since drawn a new one with colored pencils, which looks pretty decent but I don't have a photo of it yet.

Goat Monster? (Click to view larger)

As I made my way through the cast, I next arrived at this goat like fellow. He seems angry, but I don't know why. Maybe he wants to be in charge sometimes, maybe he is tired of having to take orders from the other monsters. Maybe he reflects Max's struggles with his mother, which subsequently get resolved in the end. I don't know, but he is angry and he really shouldn't be. Sure, he's kind of alone. He only has three other monsters on the island to keep him company; perhaps he needs more. Some people do, after all, need more companionship than that. Maybe he needs to be surrounded by creatures to be comfortable. Then again, maybe three is the perfect number and once Max showed up, his entire foundation crumbled; not to mention Max immediately becomes their king, so maybe the monster has a lack of trust there.

Bird Monster (Click to view larger)

Next in line is the bird. I was looking forward to the bird, to be honest, but it proved to be somewhat of a pain. I found it difficult to find a good source image so I could see what the bird actually looks like. All in all, I am fairly happy. He is not perfect, but then again who or what is? The fur and stuff isn't bad. Oh well, I'm pleased.

King of the Wild Things (Click to enlarge)

For some reason I ended up painting Max. It's loosely based on the drawing from the first card. This is an 8x10 canvas board. Krissy likes it a lot, but she likes everything. I like it. As a whole, I'm happy with the painting but there are definitely parts I feel could be improved if I knew how to paint, but I'm kind of a perfectionist, so if I knew how to paint I can only imagine how I'd tear it apart. I didn't add the bush's shadows until the end, and I feel like it brought the painting up a level. It's kind of neat how small things can have such an impact sometimes.

The Vitruvian Man Cat

Leonardo da Vinci—Meet Man Cat

The Vitruvian Man Cat
Photo by:Dennis

I drew this awhile ago, at the end of August. For some reason I never took a picture of it, so I never uploaded it. I finally got around to taking said photo the other day, so I thought I'd post it here.

I'd have to assume that anyone reading this would recognize the source of this image, but in the event that you don't I based this drawing on Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. My version by no means is perfectly proportioned as da Vinci's is, but I'm pretty pleased with it. I spent some time trying to get limbs lined up and various body parts more or less proportional. If I am unhappy with anything in this drawing it is most definitely the hands; I feel like they look weird. In a way, they are kind of cat-like, which, I suppose, is a good thing in this case (except that cats don't exactly have opposable thumbs). The feet are slightly wonky, too, but all-in-all they are not all that bad.

I admire da Vinci; he was most definitely a Renaissance Man. Da Vinci is a world-renowned artist, inventor, scientist, mathematician, engineer, writer, and so much more. Basically, anything da Vinci dabbled in, he mastered, and da Vinci dabbled in everything. He was also a notorious procrastinator and experimented in everything. I can respect that. I'm sure that his experimentation is largely a result of his being a driving force of the Renaissance. It's pretty amazing that for a period of time the world was so productive with ideas. It would be nice if we could one day return to that era of thinkery; alas, I feel that it will never happen. Not that there aren't great people doing great things, but the world is, unfortunately, a different place now. Who can spend time just thinking now? Thinking doesn't pay the mortgage. I've got to imagine that holds true even when you get a degree in it (except, obviously, a Doctorate of Philosophy, which is to say an advanced degree unrelated to philosophy).  I think the world should take a twenty year break encouraging people to think and do things that they might otherwise do if they didn't all have to worry about bills. Think of the mass enjoyment people would have following something they actually enjoy doing, studying what interests them. Think of the innovation companies could conduct. Of course this would never work, because money makes the world go round—now more than ever.

The Dance

The Dance
Photo by:Dennis

This is my second foray into Man Cat As Art. This drawing is based upon Danse by Henri Matisse.

I chose this as my second attempt because, honestly, it seemed simple enough. However, I think that with more complicated drawings there's a bit more room for error, so this was actually harder to replicate than I thought. Also, my drawing is much smaller than Matisse's painting, since his is a mural the size of a wall on (I believe) three panels. He also painted one for The Barnes Foundation. I highly recommend The Art of the Steal, a documentary about The Barnes Foundation and how his enemies usurped his (40!) billion dollar art collection.

Man Cat As Art: The Post Man Cat

The Post Man Cat
Photo by:Dennis

This is the first entry into the Man Cat as art project I began awhile back; as you can see it is dated August 26, 2010. I decided it would be fun to merge Man Cat with real art- that is art that has already been deemed art by people who claim to be able to tell actual art from smut. This project is sort of my way of navigating the ancient world that is art by picking and choosing paintings, sculptures, and drawings that I appreciate. In other cases, I may simply decide to Man Catify a piece of art for its (potentially non-existent) comedic appeal. Regardless, this is my foray into Man Cat as art, a way to meander my way across a sheet of paper, hopefully, ending at something approaching...art.

This drawing is titled The Post Man Cat based upon Vincent van Gogh's painting The Postman.