Mari's Blog

The New and Improved Mari-Orange Studio

This latest page was brought to you by my new partner in crime, Murcot. As I'm sure you are all well aware, this lapse in page-making has been primarily due to the slow death of my old laptop (affectionately named Lemon). Well, thanks to the support of readers like you, I have been able to add a new citrus to Mari-Orange studio: Murcot. As for an explanation of the name "Murcot" it is derived from "murcott" which is a type of hybridized honey tangerine. For mighty Murcot is anything but a lemon. With plenty of RAM, new non-melted motherboard, a kick-ass processor and a high definition monitor, Murcot has made illustrating pages a dream come true.

...The pop-up CD/DVD burner feature was also key in selecting the R2 Toast, in orange of course, as my case of choice.

As you can see I have also acquired a new desk (found on a street corner), lamp (near a dumster) and, oh right, a home office area to put them in (aka, a vacant corner of my new apartment). Well, all in all, this has been a great help towards the production of pages. So thank you to all of you for donating funds towards getting me back on track, and another big thanks to Nikhil, Chris, Ryan and Jack for helping my stupid artist brain work through the tangle of getting things set up.

On to more illustrations!

Training anyone?

Hi to my all-too-patient viewers. In the likely event that some of you are unaware of what is going on, I have been having some computer problems over the past months. Basically, I have been without internet or a functioning OS since two months ago (long story). While this means that I have been taking some time off from finishing pages, I've had a lot of time for sketching up-coming scenes, which will expedite my process without a doubt. Another bit of good news is that the end of all of this is now in sight. I just have to wait for my internet to be turned on and all should be well with my world.

In the meantime though, I've been doing my best to help with preparations for the JKA/AF annual training camp which will once again take place in New Orleans, this time at UNO. The JKA/AF is inviting all interested karate-ka of any organization to come and participate. The guest instructor this year is Kenro Kurasako, who is both a JKA headquaters' instructor as well as a standing director and vice general manager of the JKA's technical division. Clinics will feature beginner and advanced kata kihon and kumite. To download a registration packet, for the camp please see the JKA/AF's website:
http://www.jkaaf.org/member/

the Saints

It was a funny thing to be alone in my parents' house last night running back and fourth between the TV room and office in attempts to both watch the most historic football game in my hometown's history... and bring you the next page of Shizentai minus my poor recently deceased laptop. I'm not typically a football fan, but it's hard not to like a group of people who can succeed despite being told by everyone that they could not.

Additionally, as I have recently begun working as an entomologist in the Audubon Insectarium, I have been privy to some of the long-understudied effects of professional football on biology nerds. case in point, the Indianapolis Zoo:

Indianapolis Zoo Animals with Superbowl XLIV predictions

well... as entertaining as that was, at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans, my bosses had this to say in response:

A saintly rap, brought to you by GWE (Geeky White Entomologists)

Well, when all is said and done, I thought it was a great game. I'd say both teams played like champions despite the fierce rivalries between their fans (biologist and non-biologist alike).

As my city basks in the glow of its team's first Superbowl and first Superbowl victory, I am beginning to see a sobering near-future crisis involving my car parked in the French Quarter for work, and the millions of the Who Dat nation who will be descending on very same corner for the Saints' parade tomorrow afternoon.

I get the feeling that I won't make evening karate class.

Shout-out to Crescent City Comics

Before my freshmen year of high school I had never opened a comic book or manga in my life. In fact, it wasn't until I lost my key and got locked out of my parents' house one day that I, upon wandering down Elysian Fields, discovered our neighborhood comic book store, Crescent City Comics. Though now the lot is a semi-level slab of concrete, back then it was a second-story brick suite that sat nestled above Young's dry-cleaning. Having been one of those kids that got a $3 allowance per week, I was thrilled by the existence of a place where I could actually buy my own books, and rent my own videos without having to consult a panel of siblings and parents. What's more so, the guys who ran the place were, and are to this day, some of the coolest people I have ever met. Always glad to have a random conversation, they never complained about my constant hanging around their store, or my frequent request of "May I use your phone to call my mom?" There was even one occasion when I showed up having been drenched from head to toe in a sudden downpour, and the owner lent me his coat to wear home, saying "Don't worry about it. You can return it with your next video." Needless to say, I became a regular, and a comic book reader. Sadly in Katrina, as was true for most things in my neighborhood, everything came to a halt.

After work today I decided to take a detour down S. Claiborne and Napoleon to a certain newly-opened storefront on Freret. There I was quite pleased to see an incredible stock of every variety of comics, manga, t-shirts, and even an old friend whose beard has a bit more gray in it than I remember. It turns out that post-Katrina Crescent City Comics has begun running local art nights and even their own periodical: Antigravity. It also surprised me to find out that some of their personal stories had been featured in Josh Neufeld's graphic work: AD: New Orleans After the Deluge.

If it weren't for Crescent City Comics, I'm not sure that I would have ever taken up comic making as a craft. For this reason, I would like to send out a big "THANK YOU!" for just being your awesome selves. I would also like to invite all who ever visit New Orleans to pay a visit to those who run a comic store the way it should be run.

>Clears throat<

In conclusion, rock on Chicken-on-a-Tuesday, Ponytail man, Weezer-hat guy, and Al... whose nickname I have sadly NO recollection of.