Kitten

Is This Tomorrow???

ITT will return soon.  We are going to be in a new format with color.  It will be a continuing series with a cast of characters.  It will be strange and darly humorous, but less of a free for all like the previous ITT.  It will be simpler and more structured.  Most of the reason for this is my hand injury pain.  Drawing longer than 15 minutes requires 15 minutes of rest.  Driving and drumming aggrivates this condition.  The new strip will require less work on my part as you will understand once you see it.  I appreciate my writing and graphics partner, Kelly Shane, being so understanding with my physical limitations and working around them.  I hope you will enjoy the "New Direction" of Is This Tomorrow. Look for it soon!

Jill Carrol-I'm glad she is home.

In a war with few heroes and full of lies, Jill Carrol was a hero.  She was tough, brave, and most certainly unjustly kidnapped.  I was following her story, and I am very glad she was returned safely as a person who was a friend of the Iraqi people.  He story is truly harrowing.  Begging to be shot and not beheaded, meeting 5 year old islamic militants, assuming she was going to be killed at any moment...  After learning that the governments "heroes" were stories fabricated to cover friendly fire, or just plain ol' BS, I'm glad to hear some good news from the war.

Another Engine for the Local Chopper Shop's T-Shirt

A cartoonier version of the Monster I rejected, but Kinda like.

More drawings of Bikes

The Legendary Vincent Black Shadow

Now available on a shirt at www.zazzle.com/kimwood



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An unfinished Frankenstein Drawing

Abandoned due to hand pain.  I think I got the face wrong, so I bailed.

Finally a drawing of a Bike that I actually ride!

A Ducati Monster.  After all the drawings of cool old-school bikes, I thought I should do one of the bikes I ride.  The Ducati Monster.  An ugly but beautiful Italian creation that has a Harley-like growl and plenty of torque.  These a great bikes for short guys like me.  Also available as a t-shirt at www.zazzle.com/kimwood



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Some work for the local Bike Shop

Another Engine Drawing and
A Vintage style ad design for a t-Shirt

'Bout time "E" made an appearance here.

Maggie in color

Texas Appearance

My Art Featured on the Cobert Report

They will replay last night's episode again Friday at 2:30 and 8:30PM on Comedy Central.  During his "Wag of the Finger" segment, my Jesus Tortilla was featured in the final "wag".  This was about half way through the show.  Well, that was my fake Jesus I created using a mini blow-torch and a frying pan. It was sold on Ebay as a "miracle".

Dog Logo made from Craig's Photo of JellyBean

Characatures for a friend who needed them in a hurry!

Trees at Dusk

Also in Delicatessen

Marie-Laure Dougnac plays the Butcher's daughter, Julie.  Another odd looking actor in this film.  Pretty, but odd.  She has strangely large eyes and thick glasses in the film, but she is still attractive and sympathetic.  That is one of the most striking things about this film, the casting of unique and memorable actors.

Delicatessen is out on DVD now...

Go rent it or better yet... BUY IT!  It  is an amazing film that is brilliance in every frame.  Even the credit sequence is brilliant!  Please also then see The City of Lost Children.  They both feature Dominique Pinon (below)and a cast of other odd-looking actors.  Do yourself a favor and check these out.  Delicatessen was just re-released in Region One (us) and the DVD transfer looks great.

I have a cat too...

We got him during hurricane Francis.  He just showed up during the storm and moved in.  he's quite a character and he comes and goes as he pleases, opening the doors himself and surprising us.  Now, if we could just get him to shut the doors as well.  We didn't know him as a kitten, but I guess it could be something like this.

As he is named Francis, people assume he is a girl.  Francis can be a boy's name... right?

 

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A rather lousy day....

The little blue rat you've seen earlier in February was based on Sasha. She died tonight just three days shy of her 2nd birthday. She was not feeling so well for the past few months and required hand feeling and a lot of attention. Sasha was pretty, very lady-like, gentile, and sweet natured. Her fur color is called "blue" but it is actaully a shiny silvery gray. Most ratties have very complex fur with layered colors. The "guard hairs" are usually darker and combined with the finer outer hairs produce some very beautiful fur. Prettier than any cats or dogs I've seen. Sasha has passed and she will be missed.



I tried playing drums again tonight and couldn't endure more than 5 minutes. My right hand starts to go numb and aches. I can't feel my hand and therefore can't contol the stick. If I could control the stick the pain is too much to keep playing. I might be able to play slow ballads, but I enjoy playing fast songs whether it is punk, swing or country. I spent a long time developing my hand speed by playing along to Ramones records. It's very depressing not being able to play drums after doing it for over 20 years. Maybe in a few years my shoulder and hand will heal enough to be a drummer again.

Other things that suck:

I rented The Rocketeer a film that I remember enjoying when it came out. It was one of the best comic book movies made up until that point and I was a big fan of Dave Steven's comic. Well, the DVD blows. The audio is out of sync, the picture is washed out and not even anamorphic widescreen. This fun, exciting flick deserves better.

Republicans have totally neutered the lobbying reform bill they were "working on". But, you won't hear anything about it. It's like everything in this administration... just say you are doing something, but don't actually do it. Nobody will actually investigate the claims these politician make. They get credit for something they never accomplish. This is known as lip-service and the American people are stupid enough to buy it and the press is impotent enough to ignore it. It makes me sick.

Also, Turbulence 3 sucked, but not enough. Slade Craven.. part Marylon Manson, part Alice Cooper... lands the plane Airplane style and everyone ends up in couples right down to the nerdy FBI agent who turns into a sex kitten in the end.

To add to that, I'm discusted that it cost $45 fill up my gas tank for my work trip to Orlando tomorrow. And no, I don't drive and SUV! And no, work doesn't cover my gas expenses.

So, no good news today.

Bad Movies I Love!

There are some bad movies that I will stumble across on the satellite and get caught up in, and finish the whole thing.  Showgirls is an obvious example of a film so bad you must watch.  Not only was it directed by the same guy who did "RoboCop", but Gina Gershon is in it.  Road House with Patrick Swayze is another stinker that never fails to enetertain.  Mr. Swayze stars along with Keanu Reeves in Point Break, a spiral turd of awfulness that captures my attention throughout.  Only Keanu reeves can convince you his character is stupid enough to jump out of a plane without a 'cute.  Stone Cold is another carp-fest biker film that is saved by Lance Henriksen, who gives another good performance in a bad movie.  This film also features a motorcycle hitting a helicopter and then crashing into a car.  No... I'm serious. 

 Lance Henriksen has been in a lot of movies.  Quite a lot.   Many are bad.  He is usually good despite the work around him and he is mostly cast as a cop or the heavy. He has a number of memeorable charcaters in some mediocre movies: The Quick and the Dead, Hard target, Stone Cold, Near Dark, Johnny Handsome and Aliens.  His intensely lined face makes for some downright terrifying moments in Johnny Handsome.  He is a character actor who ends up in a tons of B-Movies, but unlike some actors, he works a lot.  He has over 100 roles to his credit and where he is often is a rose among thorns.

The reason this topic comes up is I have rented Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal.  I haven't seen a bad rock movie since Rockstar.  A raging shitstorm of a picture that is redeemed by the main character morphing into Eddie Vedder at the end to create "real music".  I laughed so hard I think I broke a rib.  It might even make the top 5 list above.  I will see if it seasons with age. 

The film tonight offers the folowing description: "Slade Craven, rock superstar and reigning king of Death Metal, has planned a concert unlike anything the world has ever seen.  He'll be performing for a cargo load of lucky fans onboard a 747 jumbo jet as it flies from LA to Toronto.  The entire spectacle with be broadcast on the Internet via web music network ZTV.  But, murder and mayhem take over as one sadistic fan hijacks the plane and kills anyone who gets in the way of his ultimate satanic plan!  Starring Rutger Hauer".

 Full review to follow.  And no, I haven't seen Turbulence 1 or 2 so I hope I'm not lost on the intricacies of plot developements that have occured previously.

Man, there is some nasty stuff on the internet!

Google Jeneane and you will find a lot of hatefull, nasty stuff.  Personal attacks just because she was right about the war and was part of the great TV Nation.

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#3 in a Series Beautiful Progressives

The lovely Janeane Garofolo.  Beautiful, smart, digs punk rock, outspoken liberal, atheist,... what more can I say?  Well, look at that smile.  Find a more beautiful smile.  I dare you!  She limits her career options by being brave enough to speak her mind.  She appeared on an episode on Seinfeld as the girl so perfect for Jerry that he had to break up with her.  She was on TV Nation, Michael Moore's great show that that was too critical of corporations to be allowed to live.  She also was a character (which is probably much like she is in life) on The Larry sanders show.  I will watch anything with the lovely Janeane.

I also have a thing for girls with glasses.Š

Never again!!!!

Just because this horrible Howdy-Doody toad creature is out, doesn't mean we should forget.  Never let another piece of walking garbage like this make decisions for our country.  Do not let Delay be forgotten!!!

Lovecraft

I think I prefer the top one.  Mmmm.

 

I just saw two different Lovecarft adaptations: Call of Cthulhu and Dreams in the Witch House.  One was a fairly big-budget, modern version done for Showtime by an experienced directior.  The other was a no-budget black and white silent flm.  What?  Yes, to keep with the period of the Lovecraft stories, the film is set in 1926 and shot in black and white and with a non-sync score.  Both are good, but I really enjoyed Call of Cthulhu.  These guys did a great job with almost no money, but keepng the film black and white and silent.  Let this be a lesson to you aspiring low-budget filmakers, if you have no cash... go black and white.  Maybe even 8mm.  It hides all flaws! The extra features that detail how the special effects were accomplished are well worth your time, and the disc is well worth the $20 for any Lovecraft fan.  Please see http://www.cthulhulives.org/cocmovie/index.html for more information.  These guys deserve our support and money.  Maybe they will make another film as good as this one.

 The Showtime produced series, Masters of Horror features a number of noteable directors, including John Carpenter, and Takashi Mike.  The first one I saw was by Stuart Gordon, who has adapted Lovecraft before in Re-Animator.  This one wasn't bad.  A little blood a little TnA.  And of course the protagonist ends up in an asylum.  The only problem I had was the rat with a human face.  It didn't work for me.  It looked a bit silly, like a character from Narnia.  The should have just made the rat's face a bit human in expression and had it speak.  It's wrth a rent though and is better than most LoveCraft films.

 

Comics have done a far better job of adapting Lovecraft.  Seek out Skull issues 4 and 5 for more details.

If you are mad at Rumsfeld...

Blame this guy.  He tried to resign once.  This 'tard keeps him there.  If you don't like what Rumsfeld has done, you only have Bush to blame.  He's the "Decider".

Glad to see you go! Goodbye!

An Otter

Tried my hand (so to speak) at drawing a bit after my recent shoulder re-injury at the beginning of the month.  My hand aches and I can't feel the brush in my hand after about 20 minutes.  I had to stop once during this drawing.  It was inked with a brush over a very loose pencil sketch. 

 Sorry there haven't been more drawings lately, but my hand is making things diffiult.

 

Another old engine

What an insomniac does at 1:oo AM

Another sign of the end times.

Narnia (the movie) is being advertised as "own it in time for easter".  Good lord!  I actaully enjoyed the movie, but now it is being sold as more religious crapola to cloud rational minds.  Ugh.  I tried to watch it without a religious context, but now all I see is a Jesus/Lion!

O.K. I'm pissed!

Does anyone share my rage at sports delaying 60 Minutes for almost an hour?  I didn't get 60 Minutes until 7:45.  Why?  GOLF!  A "sport" so boring that watching it causes spontaneous narcolepsy.  An activity created so business people can make deals while playing it.  Something guaranteed to prevent adrenaline intake.  To be fair, Football and Basketball also screw this up.

 

I'm going back to my Documentary on Bukowski.  Gotta ice my shoulder so I can build a drum this week.  My kit needs another floor tom.

Messed up my shoulder again

After working a trade show in Orlando, I popped my shoulder.  I don't know exactly what happened, but the soulder made a popping noise and now my hands vary between aching and bnumbness.  This makes is very difficult to play the drums or draw for more than a few minutes.  Below is my first attempt lately.  This is a drawing of an old Cyclone motorcycle engine from the early part of the last century.  T-shirts with a version of this design and many others are available from www.zazzle.com/kimwood  Please see if there is anything you like.  If there is a drawing I've done that you would like on a shirt, just e-mail me and I will post it at zazzle.

Two new pieces for a local motor cycle shop

Both of these designs along with a number of other T-Shirt designs I've done are available at www.zazzle.com/Kimwood

 

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Maybe I'd rather switch than fight?

http://www.thefrown.com/frowners/becomerepublican.swf

Fearless

The new Jet Li film is called Fearless. It will be out in the states in August. If you like Jet Li, go see it. He claims this is his last WuShu film. WuShu is a genre of historical martial arts movie thatJ et Li has done a number of. Drunken Master and the Once Upon a Time in China series are perfect examples. A good WuShu film will have a number of action set-pieces tied together with a plot that keeps the story going. Fearless does this very well. Jet Li's portrayal of Huo Yuanjia is very different than his portrayal of another historical figure, Wong Fey Hung. They will look the same on the DVD covers, but Jet Li actually does some acting here. Huo is a darker, more selfish character who has some learning to do. As charming as Jet Li is you probably won't like Huo at the beginning on the film.

Ronnie Yu, who directed this, is back doing what he does best. I will try to forgive him for Freddy VS. Jason. Hong Kong directors never seem to work well within the Hollywood system. Another intersting fact is that Micheol Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, SuperCop) was originally in the film and her entire appearance is gone. They removed a subplot involving her character that trimmed the picture by 40 minutes. I'm all for shorter films, but I"m all for films with Michele Yeoh too. We'll never know if it is better shorter, but I'm guessing it is. I think the only films that are actually better longer are the Long of the Rings Director's Cut DVDs. I agree with John Waters. Films shouldn't be over about an hour and a half long and songs shouldn't be over 2 1/2 minutes long. Sure there are exceptions to this rule, but if the Ramones and Hank Williams (SR) can do it in that amount of time, maybe others should as well. Y'know... films used to be a lot shorter. Check out the running time of the Universal Horror pictures. Some are barely over an hour. Home video makes longer films easier to take, but almost every film I ever see, I think it could use about 20 minutes off the running time. Don't you think most movies could use a bit of tightening up? Movies shouldn't allow you to look at your watch or go to the bathroom. Action isn't required, but good dialogue and plot development to keep things moving along will do. Just no dead spots or boring sub plots-PLEASE! Also, as long as I'm yelling out to no one my cinema desires... Let's have more black and white movies. Remember films in the 60's when people made both back and white AND color movies? They made B&W films either to save money, or because it was an artistic choice. Would ED Wood be as good in color? Hell no!!! Would Good Night and Good Luck work in color??? NO!!!! Now, if I can get a black and white animated flick. Those just aren't made any more. In the 4th Urotsukidoji film, they start with some B&W animation and it looks kick ass. Oh, and I mean good old flat cel animation. No computer stuffs. Actually the cool looking B&W computer animation in Toy Story two was pretty good.

Monday's Goth Girl

Kawajiri Is God!!!!

I make no bones about it, I love Yoshiaki Kawajiri's work.  He is the animator behind the second anime I saw after AKIRA.  Now, it is hard to top AKIRA.  Otomo hasn't done many films, and most are actually short films within other films.  But, thankfully Kawajiri keeps 'em coming.  After having my mind blown by AKIRA, I needed more.  This was back in the day when you got your anime in Japanese with no subtitles.  You didn't know what was going on, but the animation was so cool, you just didn't care.  My second anime after AKIRA was another masterpiece-Wicked City.  Also known as Beast City or Demon City-Yoju Toshi.  This film is wild, bizarre and not for the squeamish.  It ranks right up there with Kawajiri's best work, and from my first viewing, I was hooked.  I  now have all of Kawajiri's work, including his short subjects.  Ninja Scroll is very popular in the states, but much of his other work remains unseen.  In fact, some of his work hasn't made it onto DVD in the US at all. 

 Some might complain about the plot, or the characters... but is films have style to burn.  Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, The Animatrix, and Ninja Scroll are widely available.  Check out Wicked City if you like your aime with bizarre sex and violence.  It is R rated at least, and very memorable for its use of sexual imagery.  Too bad the sequel Beast City-Shinjuku was a PG-ish sequel that couldn't offend anyone.

 

Kawari has nearly finished work on a Highlander anime.  Yes, that Highlander.  The (in my opinion) lame fantasy crap series that nerds dig.  They already are complaining about the anime being all wrong.  Screw 'em.  It is Kawajiri and he rules.  Check out the trailer and see for yourself.  It's way cooler than the lame-o movies.

http://www.imagi.com.hk/movie/web/highc.htm

There has been kind of a trend lately for anime sequels/prequels to live action films.  Van Helsing, Chronicles of Riddick, and The Matrix all have had animated projects.  The last two are worth seeing and feature animation by Peter (Aeon Flux) Chung.

People shouldn't fear their goverments Governments should fear their people.

Wow.  What a concept, and it is in a major motion picture from a major studio.  V for Vendetta is a good-looking, and well-made piece of film that feels a bit light despite its subject matter.  It is much like a superhero version of 1984.  And, it will piss Republicans off...."Big Time".  I'm guessing O'Riley will call them traitors and say, "I'm not calling for a boycott of this film, but I won't be seeing it."  In fact most people trashing this film won't see it or read the graphic novel. There will be a Republican talking points memo and everyone on Fox news will use the exact same language to decry the ideas in this film and call it "irresponsible".

 The film could be interpreted by people of differing political views in varying ways, but hopefully it is simple enough and obvious enough to make even the dumbest viewer think about the world we are living in.  Are things as you'd like them, or do you fear your government?  Do you feel like your personal freedoms are in jeapardy?  Do you think your government is honest with you about their intentions?

I'm not suggesting you do this, but the next Viva Bush! sticker I see, I might paint a circle V right over it.

Corsetta

#2 in a series of Beautiful Progressives

Arianna Huffington.  God bless her!  See Huffingtonpost.com



Drawn with chalk pencils and then inked over with a pen.

Does this need a caption?

Production art from Ronin Apocalypse-The Sequel to Samurai Apocalypse

The film starts at night as we see two lanterns illuminating a dark and eerie woods.  The two men are unemployed samurai (ronin), and are a bit nervous and a bit scared out here alone in the dark.  They are are walking a foot path and bump into something heavy hanging from he trees.  One of the ronin holds his lamp up slowly and we realize he bumped into a woman's corpse, hanging upside down and twisted up like a pretzel.  The samurai fall down in terror as they hold up their lanterns to see 5 women hanging from the trees like bizarre ornaments.  Their bodies are upside down and twisted in strange ways and pretzeled so that they look like Cirque De  Sole corpses hung on trees.  The men cry out, "what is this?"  A creaky,withered voice answers, " Students."

 

The men hold their laterns  higher to see and old, short man balanced on a single branch, reclining.  He barely notices the intruders and doesn't look at them as he talks. 

"Students?  They are dead! You killed them?

"I have killed no one.  They came to me for certain knoweledge and couldn't handle what was imparted on them.  Some don't have the will to handle what I can teach them."  The old man replies.

"knoweldege?"  The ronin holds his lantern closer to one of the women's corpses.  He sees her eyes are gone and only two smoldering holes remian.  "You are a demon!"

"A demon to some, a teacher to others. I have knoweledge that others wish to share.  I have information that can help you men."

He explains how they are raggedly dressed and he can hear their stomachs growling.  He tells them that if they travelled by day, they actually might fight work,  and wants to know what they are hiding from and offers them a way to fill their stomachs and make some money.  He tells them to go back to the village they jast passed through and look for work on the next day.  They explain that there is no work there and the old man says to eat at an outdoor restaurant and be seen.  There will be work.

 The ronin leave and are very unsure about what they have seen  but with few other options the decide to give it a shot. We cut back to the old man concentrating very hard.  We see him from behind and slowly pan around to see he is hard at work performing magic using hand seals.

We track into a village where it is very quiet and few lights are on.  Slowly we hear shuffling and notice zombies, only one are two at first and then upwards of twenty.  They make their way through the town to a sparesly guarded building where the guards at first don't understand what is happenening, and then see this as an attack on the gold storehouse.  The two guards pull their swords but are quickly overcome by the zombies. The zombies take a few containers of gold and walk out of the town without awaking anyone in the town.  One of the injured guards sees the retreating zombies walk away to the river and walk right underwater.  As he paases out, he notices the undead walking out on the other side of the river.

The following morning, the village is awake and talk is of the robbery and how to solve the problem.  They plan on going after the attckers and are trying to put together a "posse" to do this.  A couple of ronin arrive in the town looking ragged and tired and settle in to eat at an outdoor cafe.  At the restaurant they order only rice and no sake.  Clearly they want to eat, but can't afford it.  Being seen at the restaurant the ronin are offered work by the head of the viallge (who arrives after being told of their arrival).  They are told their isn't much money to give them, but they will house them and feed them well.  The two ronin agree and move into the home and village elder and plan to protect the village and go after the theives. 

That night the two ronin are outside relaxing and having a smoke when a voice appears out of the darkness.  It is the old man who is returning for his "pay.  The ronin are told that in exchange for their good fortune, they need to finish the deal. He says he needs a young, determined "student".  He suggests that their is one right under their noses.  He leaves as mysteriously as he arrived.

The following day, the ronin meet the elder's grandaughter, and one of the ronin,Toshiro is clearly smitten by Miko. Throughout the day we see Miko traing in martial arts of various types and is an obvious archer of great skill.  As the day turns to night we see Toshiro and Miko spending more time together and flirting some.  That night as Toshiro lays in his room, he is again surprised by the appearance of the old man in his room.  He is told again, that he wants a student, and his patience is at an end.  He is told to leave and that Miko is not to be his next "student".  The old man says that he provided them food, housing, and money and they have done nothing to repay him.  He offers a warning to Toshiro again, and explains that he knew the nature of the deal when they first met. Toshiro grabs his sword snd waves his sword at the old man to find him gone.

 

Early the next morning, the villagers are surprised by a spring shower.  But as the ronin and villagers soon find out, the rain is hot to the touch and seems to sear the earth and anything outside.

 

 

More to come soon.....

 

 

The Sequel-Ronin Apocalypse is coming soon.  A treatment is in the works and will be posted soon.

#1 in a series of Beautiful Progressives

Maureen Dowd.  Clever and charming.  Give her book "Bushworld" a shot.

Seeking funding for Samurai Apocalypse

Alternate titles: Undead Apocalypse-Zombie Apocalypse-Zombies VS Samurai-Curse of the Living Dead-Samurai Undead

 Different names for foreign markets

Hand Seals

Don't try this at home.  This might be a spell for all I know!

More Samurai Apocalypse

The story would also feature the tsuba on the poster below.  A tsuba is the traditional hand guard on a samurai sword.  The drawing below is based on the tsuba I put on my own personal sword.

 It also features japanese hand seals that represent the 12 animals of the Zodiac. This is japanese magic used by the old man.  I will add some examples later.

Film Treatment

The basic idea would be to combine the Zombie and Samurai (chambara) genres.  This could either be a live action or animated film.  Even better would be an animated prequel and a live action feature. Don't steal this film treatment.  It is copyrighted now that it has been posted here and the date is here for everyone to see.

I am seeking financial backing or a production company looking to make a cult-film that will have a long shelf-life.  By combining these two genres, fans of both will want to see this film and buy the associated merchandising.  Much of the design work can be done in house by WoodyCompton.com.

 

The majority of the fun will be in the zombie attack scene in the 2nd act.  Most of the plot is written to allow for many creative ways to dispatch zombies with traditional Japanese weapons.  The film should be a hard R rating or unrated to allow for very gory scenes of zombie-related mayhem.  This film will have an all-Asian cast and characters will be named for famous Japanese actors.

 

The film starts with avery delapidated han (village) that looks like it has fallen into severe disrepair.  You see villagers going about their daily tasks, but they look thin, unhealthy, and depressed.  As we enter the village the shot pans to a traditional Japanese dwelling where a meeting of the leaders of the village are discussing their plight.

 

A drought has left most of the crops dead and the village in a desperate situation.  After paying taxes, the villagers have no money left to feed themselves or replant the village.  The elders and leaders are discussing a solution to the drought and the idea of bringing in a "wizard" to try to bring rain.  Even though they can't really afford to pay such a wizard, they have no choice but to try.  They decide to put out the word that they need a rainmaker.

A wizened old tiny man sits in a tree sleeping balanced on a single branch. This is the traditional old wise-man character of many Japanese films on which they based Yoda: short, very wrinkled, and difficult to deal with.  He is a smart-ass and a bit of a pervert.  He overhears two villagers discussing the plan to find a rain-maker and decides to head towards the village.  He drops down 20 or so feet and lands gracefully and effortlessly showing us there is more to him than we initially suspect.

 

He approaches the villagers with the promise of being able to cause rain.  They discuss the payment with him but he is cranky and difficult to negotiate with.  They offer money but he prefers to take a young girl as his wife.  They harshly rebuff this offer as it is the leader's daughter (Zyang Ziyi); they eventually settle on gold.  They don't believe he can really make rain, so they want proof.  He says he will return the next evening to collect his money after they have their proof. 

 

That night there is a brief misty rain that evaporates quickly but convinces the villagers that the old man is serious.  They decide to pay him, but can not afford to do so.  They scrape together everything from everyone in the village with the promise the money will only be gone for a few days.  No other explanation is offered.

When the old man returns the following night, they give him his gold and he quickly leaves.  later that evening the villagers are discussing the fact that they might have been had.  There was no rain that night, and the misty rain might have been just luck.  The old man was gone and they didn't have anything to show for it.  They convince themselves to find the old man and get their gold back any way they can.

 

We see the old man sitting in the dark in a clearing with only a small fire.  He is reciting an incantation and using Japanese magic symbols with hand gestures.  He is obviously very focused and concentrating on the task at hand.  Suddenly, a fabric bag covers the man.  We see three villagers.  One is holding the bag as the old man struggles and curses them.  The samurai villagers stab their sheathed swords into the bag trying to get him to talk and reveal where the gold is hidden.  They give up and tie him to a tree branch while he thrashes in the bag and curses them.  They find the gold right out in the open and still in the box he received it in.  They take the gold and just leave the old man tied to the tree.

We see the three samurai return to the village with the gold, and they talk about other possible solutions to the drought problem.  We pull back as the talk fades away.

 

Cut to the old man freeing himself from the bag and falling onto a root head first.  He is black and blue and angry.  He speaks to himself promising rain for the village and laughs wickedly.

Cut to the village and their reactions as it slowly starts to sprinkle and builds to a full, heavy rain.  The villagers cheer and celebrate, going to bed with hopes for a brighter future.  Their double-cross of the old man is forgotten amongst the high hopes.  The following morning, the rain has stopped and the earth appears cracked.  As the villagers awake they see recently departed relatives and friends ambling around town (Romero style--no running).  Due to the recent drought, there have been many deaths.  The villagers approach the zombies and many are eaten and killed.  As the police and samurai are made aware of the zombie threat a series of samurai/zombie battles begin.  At first the samurai approach the undead as normal humans and attack with a single stroke.  They quickly find that that does not kill the undead.  Many fights occur with limbs flying and many zombies cut in half, but still coming forward. 

Eventually the samurai realize that they have to behead or split the head to stop the zombies.  Many beheadings ensue.  A number of villagers are lost to the zombies and they have begun to attack the samurai.  They find this very disturbing and seem to be overwhelmed with the growing attack.  They defend the village elders and protect the leader's daughter bravely.  As things look their worst...

The old man appears on one of the houses.  He offers to stop the zombie horde for his gold back AND the head villager's daughter.  They refuse, but as the zombies close in, the leader gives in a selflessly says yes.

 

The old man repeats the magic incantation and the zombies crawl back into the earth in a disturbing and unusual manner.

 

After the scene calms, the villagers curse the old man and tell the leader not to give up his daughter.  But they all fear the old man and let them leave as his daughter cries and emotions run high.

Cut to:  Another village but this time they are discussing the drought issue around a campfire outside. As they talk they don't notice a couple walk up.  They are a slender woman and a short man only seen in silhouette.  As the group stops talking they notice the couple.  As they get closer to the fire you can see the old man and the villager's daughter who looks either VERY unhealthy or like the walking dead.  The old man removes his large straw hat and says, "Did someone say, "rain?" 

Š

Woman Admiring a Drawing of the Sea.

Just sitting down to watch "Ultimate Avengers" on DVD.  Not a bad cartoon version of the Avengers comic book.  The animation is not too bad, although the character designs have that sort of lame saturday morning look.  But, for anyone who ever read the Avengers comics, it is pretty enjoyable.  Be forewarned... Kick Fury is now black, and Captain America has blonde hair.  Also a few of the costumes are "modernized".  Good points:  It has Nazis and the Hulk fighting the Avengers. 

I've had it with this guy. I can't think of any other solution!

Cigarette courtesy of The Tabacco Lobby