Attention wannabe (or misunderstood) superheroes! Suit up and pull out the video camera!
SCI FI Channel is partnering with legendary comic book creator Stan Lee’s (Spider-Man, Hulk, The Fantastic Four, X-Men) to cast a six-episode, one-hour reality series that will challenge a lucky few to create their very own superhero.
According to the press release:
Potential heroes from all walks of life are encouraged to submit their audition tapes by mail or attend a one-time, in-person open casting call in Los Angeles on April 4 attended by Stan Lee! All you’ll need is an original idea, a killer costume and some real superhero mojo. The winner of this six-week competition will walk away with their superhero identity immortalized in a new comic book created by Stan Lee himself!
Auditioning superheros should be prepared to prove their mettle – revealing the true nature of their superhuman abilities and invoking the noble credos by which they live. From these thousands of hopefuls, Stan Lee will choose 11 lucky finalists to move into a secret lair and compete for the opportunity to become a real-life Superhero!
“While no one is expected to leap tall buildings in a single bound, our aspiring heroes will be tested on their courage, integrity, self-sacrifice, compassion and resourcefulness – the stuff of all true superheroes,” stated Lee.
I don’t get the Sci-Fi channel, but I’d love to see how they do this. On one hand, it sounds like a call out to Nerdville — visions of overweight guys testing the physical limits of spandex immediately come to mind — but based on the traits they’re looking for in the winner, it could be quite an interesting concept. I love the idea of honoring the everyday heroes that walk among us. I’m just a little leery that it might turn into a cornucopia of mullet wearing thirty-two-year-old dweebs who still live at home and think this could be their big break.
Still, considering that everybody has at least on hidden talent, it brings up an interesting question: What’s your super power?
Technorati Tags: superheroes, sci-fi channel, Stan Lee, reality shows
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In this podcast, brought to you from Madison, Wisconsin, we ponder the question, "Is slacking off a good thing?" Also, we talk about senior citizens playing video games, an ice cream spaghetti maker, and brain shrinkage…
Listen now by clicking on the podcast icon below.
To subscribe to the RSS feed of our podcast and automatically receive all new shows, paste this url [http://feeds.feedburner.com/EscapeAdulthood] into a podcast aggregator like iPodder. Or, if you have iTunes, you can click on this little icon to be subscribed automatically:
Show Notes:
• Nintendo Game a Hit with Seniors in Japan
• Stress Could Cause Brain Shrinkage
• Men are Less Capable of Handling Stress Than Women
• Be Smarter at Work; Slack Off
• Read Jason’s blog on Muddy Water
• Quiz: How Stressed Are You?
• Thanks to Jason and Tina for writing a review on the iTunes Music store.
• E-mail us with your favorite way to relax and be entered to win next month’s "super-cool" random prize.
• Club K&J Subscriber? Read Stinky’s blog.
• Check out the Madison Magazine article on Jason.
• Everyone should have a ice cream spaghetti maker!
Vote For Us: We’d really really appreciate it if you took a few moments to vote for us over at Podcast Alley. Thanks!
Show Music: The Same by Terrace | Children by Ethan Elkind
Show Length: 42 minutes, 4 seconds
Feedback: We’d love to hear your thoughts! Add a comment below or e-mail us.
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Today I got word that the newest issue of Madison Magazine hit the newsstands. In it is an Up and Comers article that features yours truly. It’s a pretty neat article discussing my crusade against Adultitis. But I think it’s weird to be called an "Up and Comer." Considering I’ve been at this for almost six years, I’m not sure what qualified me.
Now that I think about it, there’s a lot of pressure on me all of a sudden. I remember collecting baseball cards as a kid. I remember pulling out cards of young players, brandished with logos like "Rated Rookie," "Future Star," or "Up and Comer." I’d be careful to keep all of those cards in special care; you’d never know which ones would turn out to be valuable collectibles. It was always interesting to wait five years and see which ones were on their way to the Hall of Fame and which ones were now working as used car salesmen in Poughkipsie.
It’s always kind of nice to fly under the radar. People don’t expect much and it’s easy to surprise them with a good performance. But now I sort of feel like an NBA lottery pick, or a finalist on American Idol. In five or ten years, will the editors of Madison Magazine look back on their Up and Comer selection for April 2006 and say, "Yep, we called it. We knew this guy would be huge." or "Who’s this bum? What were we thinking?"
We shall see what the future holds. For now, I’ll just keep working hard and take this article as a sign that we’re headed in the right direction. And try to keep visions of Todd Van Poppel’s Rated Rookie card out of my head.
Technorati Tags: baseball cards, Madison Magazine, rookie card, Adultitis, American Idol, Todd Van Poppel
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Tonight I am quite proud of my little brother for finishing as runner-up in the highly prestigious Mustaches For Kids competition. Long-time readers may remember me blogging about this event last year. I was supposed to be a judge, but got sick. I was invited to judge this year as well, but had to decline because I was related to one of the entries. My brother Doug, who moved to Madison with his wife late last summer, has been cultivating his mustache for four weeks now. He ended up going as a sleazy van conversion salesman, and put on quite a performance. His improv and acting experience came in handy and was so convincing that I could barely resist the urge to bolt out of there and take a shower. (He really kicked butt in the Mustache Posedown.)
You can have your black tie affairs. They may raise more money, but they’re not nearly as fun or heartfelt as this event was tonight. Nearly $4,000 was raised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and I saw firsthand how a little childlike spirit can go a long way to attack Adultitis and make a real difference, too.
Way to go, Doug.
Technorati Tags: Mustache, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Adultitis, charity, Mustaches for Kids
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The calendar informed us a few days ago that it is now spring. There really aren’t any buds on the tree branches yet and even though the weather hasn’t reflected “spring” lately, today we got a taste. It was one of those days that reminds me quickly why I love living in Madison, WI. Even though the last few months have been filled with cold winds and snowflakes, days like today make it all worthwhile. Jason and I got a chance to go on a walk around the city. We picked up some sandwiches for lunch and sat down by the still partially frozen Lake Mendota. Ok, so it was a little colder by the lake than we had hoped (40’s), but the sun helped. I don’t know what I enjoy more, the walk or the nap afterwards with the window open and warm blankets to offset the cool air…I love spring.
Kim and I are kicking around the idea of taking a week off and do absolutely NOTHING. To be honest, I’d love to be locked in a lakeside cabin up north somewhere, but we don’t have the funds to do anything fancy like that. If it happens, it’ll probably be a low-tech, in-house sort of thing. No phones, no TV, maybe even no e-mail. Right now, the idea is as frightening as it is tempting — a whole week off? The company will surely implode, won’t it?
The reality is that in order to really work smarter, we need a little time to detox. Somehow our society got the idea that "busy" is good and admirable; a sign that we’re successful. As I mention in my book, even our vacations are busy. Gotta do and see everything you possibly can. Those vacations can be fun, but our bodies (and souls) need some quiet time away, too. It’s like we’re jars of muddy water. When we’re busy and in constant motion, things can get pretty cloudy. But if we take the time to sit for a bit, the dirt settles, and life gets clearer. You can shake the jar as forcefully as you want (work harder), but until you actually STOP, you won’t be able to see clearly, allowing yourself to work smarter.
In an article on thestar.com, Ruth Liew makes some really good points. She accurately points out the aversion of adults to silence:
Many people are stressed out in their daily lives. They are unable to gain composure. Anxiety rises when they try to be tranquil. They get worried when there is silence. They need to be in a room that is filled with sounds from all directions. They chatter away without thinking much about what they are saying.
Most adults get anxious when it gets too quiet. Joggers wear headphones and listen to music as they exercise in the mornings. Some restaurants have television sets mounted in every corner. We carry our mobile phones wherever we go.
The whole article is a gem worth reading, but here are a few more highlights from Ruth:
Young children like a quiet hideaway place. Sometimes this place is in a discarded box or a space under the stairs or a wardrobe. Some children crawl under the bed or the dining table and imagine they are in another, faraway place.
When children are given free time, they tend to achieve more because they are not stressed by demands. I remember watching a precocious three-year-old who seemed a little “lost” in her nursery school. While the other children were in their respective classrooms, she would lie down on a large cushion and perform her own soliloquies.
She would say, “I don’t know why I don’t have any friends. I like them but they don’t like me. What shall I do?” After uttering those words, she got up and went to meet her peers in the next room. She had worked it all out by herself. Children discover their inner selves when they retreat from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
The article really focuses on children, and how important it is for parents to allow their kids opportunities for some quiet. But I think the lesson the lesson is applicable to all of us.
When life gets muddy and out of control, the secret to a clarity is to find a secret hideaway place, slow down, and shut up.
Technorati Tags: stress, stressed out, retreat, vacation
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"I’d rather eat my own fingers than beets."
–My wife, when asked if she’d rather survive on beets, radishes, or liver if she was stranded on Mt. Everest.
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Today while in Minneapolis Jason and I had the privilege of meeting a fine young man named Michael. He, too, is a cartoonist and he’s also an aspiring actor. Talking with Michael brought a smile to my heart. He reminded me that we can accomplish so much with big dreams, big smiles, and big faith. Thanks, Michael!
One of my favorite parts about traveling with Jason to gigs is being able to meet different people. People have amazing stories, if you take the time to ask and get to know them.
I met a really neat woman in Atlanta a few weeks ago at one of Jason’s gigs. Since our visit we have emailed back and forth a few times and she shared with me a great story. Here it is…
“I put some play into my day yesterday when my 17-year-old son and I had an impromptu game of mud ball. We found an old, very muddy ( wet, Georgia clay-covered) playground ball, and made up the rules as we went along. I could run up to him and try to hit him with the ball, but he could not chase after me and had to count to “5″ before he threw it at me! Good thing we have a big backyard, but I’m sure the neighbors wondered what we were screaming (and laughing) about!!! The game ended with us both fairly splattered with clay, and then I finished him off by throwing a big pitcher of cold water on him as he came thru the back door! HA! So he gleefully hugged me, making sure
I was as wet and dirty as he was! What a mess we made, but what fun we had! I’m still wiping off the splatters on the house (inside and out) but smiling about the
memory we made!”
This Adultitis-free woman is a mother of seven. I’m so inspired that she took the time exercise her childlike spirit. What a memory! Memories like this are worth more than gold.
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Every month, one Club K&J subscriber is drawn as the winner in the Supremely Wonderful & Exciting Loot Lottery. This month’s lucky recipient is Bobbie Fons! She wins a framed print of her choice! Congrats, Bobbie!
Join Club K&J for your chance to win this month’s prize Loot Lottery!
Related Posts:Writing for Kim & Jason is one of the most challenging things I do. I’ve got to come up with a joke for every day of the year, rain or shine, sickness or in health. One of the hard parts is just being "on" all the time. When it’s time to write, whether I’m in an airport, an airplane, a coffee shop, or just sitting at my kitchen table, the on demand directive of "write something funny!" can be a tad overwhelming at times. Most of the time I think that this is the week I finally run out of ideas. (How did Charles Schulz do it?) I have more self-confidence in the drawing part of the job than the writing part of the job. The writing is just so important. Everything depends on it. No one ever said, "That is one HILARIOUS comic strip, but the bad art kept me from laughing."
I always feel I should be spending more time on writing, but when it’s forced into two-hour windows in a crowded terminal, just getting it done can be cause for a hip hip hooray. A few years ago, I think the strip took a big jump forward when I decided to come up with twice as many jokes per week, and select the seven best from the batch. Lots more work, but a higher percentage of strips still make me chuckle when I look back at them.
So the writing is what haunts me. I’ve been in kind of a parched spell lately (much more dry and desperate than a regular ‘ol dry spell.) Then yesterday, sitting at the kitchen table, I was in The Zone. Like Larry Bird draining threes from different zip codes, my mind opened up and out came jokes that would make a mute laugh. Of course that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but that’s how you describe being in The Zone (i.e. the baseball seemed like a beach ball in slow motion.) As I wrote gag after gag, I said to myself, "Self, that one’s really good. Nice job." I was excited to be a cartoonist again.
The strips in question will be published the week before Easter — the kids get busy coloring Easter eggs — so we’ll see how enthusiastic I am about them then. And I’m not-so-secretly hoping that The Zone will show up again next week, and the week after that, and the…
The reason The Zone is The Zone is because it’s fleeting. You can’t control it. But I like to think of it as a a reward for working hard day after day after day; a sign that you’re doing what you’re meant to be doing.
When was the last time you were in the zone?
Technorati Tags: Larry Bird, writing, comic strips, humor, purpose, the zone
P.S. Yes, that painting of Bird was done by moi.
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Did you ever go to summer camp? I had my only summer camp experience when I was in high school. Other opportunities presented themselves before that, but I was too shy and frankly, chicken, to give them a try. But in high school I went to a week long art camp held at Northern Illinois University, which turned out to be my alma mater. The worst part about it was that it was held during the NBA Finals in which the Chicago Bulls were aiming for their third championship. While they clinched, I was in a hallway making drawings with chalk. But the best part were the friends I met, the things I learned (I remember taking a cartooning class that was pretty fun), and the confidence I gained by stretching myself beyond my comfort zone.
Perhaps you, like I, thought that summer camps were reserved only for kids. Not so.
GrownUpCamps.com is a directory of all sorts of (and I quote): Fantasy camps, recreational adventures, sports programs, learning vacations & more for the adult traveler!
You can stay at a dude ranch in Wyoming, enroll in an adult Space Camp in Alabama, or see if you can make the grade at a winery cooking school in Canada. Who said kids get to have all the summer camp fun? Now is a good time to start making some summer plans. One of the best ways to stay childlike is to meet new friends, learn new things, and stretch beyond your comfort zone. Something summer camps are pretty good at.
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