Tank Treads and the lost art of being a Man

Now,
I got the project swinging by digging into those old files and seeing just how fucked up they were and exactly where I fucked up and am now trying to rectify the situation.

In all actuality- I really like some of what I was doing but can see where I lost interest with so many things not going as imagined from the "giddyup". I would point them all out to you but that would involve pictures and quite a long essay.

In short- I am going to have to lighten up on my "tweens" but at the same time give them life. Meaning: If an appendage seems to bend a little funky- or wrong (unrealistic) it's okay as long as it's a: cartoony (exaggerated) and b: not up long.

If I focus on my close up stuff and pull a Anime/Hanna Barbara technique of animating what needs to be animated and making the still stuff look REALLY good- then I'll be alright.

Add that theory to the simple assed storyboards I cranked on the airplane and I MIGHT just get an animation done...MIGHT.

That would be one thing- I still have the Timothy Greene game/book in the works- did a really nice picture for a Timothy sprite. It's lookin' good.


In other news...

I watched like 5 episodes of "Six Feet Under" last night (god, I love HBO) thanks to on demand- I only got the last two episodes to go. If you ain't seen it- you need to. It's pretty down to earth on a lot of things even though back in the day I had a work peep tell me he didn't want to watch it because he thought it was "more of that anti-family, liberal bullshit- where everyone has a problem and everyone is gay."

Yeah, I know...Whatever!

Watching it lead me to, once again, think about what it is to be a Man and what that means.

First off, it's beginning to strike me odd how people can dictate how a person is supposed to act and feel simply from which set of genitalia they were born with- but a great deal of the generalizations are true.

For example: that wicked, crazy-ass sex drive that we carry around.
For whatever reason- it seems that it's power has been seriously underestimated by society.

I mean, I'm not trying to justify anyone's infidelity or any other kind of sick ass act done in thename of lust BUT if you lock a buncha dudes in a cell eventually, at least one of them will try to fuck the others. Think about that- disturbing, isn't it. Looking that beast in the eye- but it is there. That base demon swirling around only held in check by a man's upbringing, moral background, religion, civility- or whatever you want to call the rusty chains that hold us together in social order.

I know, I know...women get horny too- but we are not talking about getting horny. I'm talking about the male sex drive. This is totally different from getting horny- a great comedian once described it as "the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing it". If you think it's the same thing then you don't know what I'm talkin' about.

All in all though this has little to do with being a MAN. Controlling yourself- and being decent is being human. Being a MAN is a much taller order.

When I say "MAN" I mean those guys that sacraficed without fear, that protected unto death their loved ones and were completely humble while doing so BUT I also mean those dudes who worked themselves into an early grave and rarely heard a thank you on the way down.
Those, who were in totally loveless relationships for the sole fact that they were good men who could provide.
Those, who gave and gave but were never recognised for doing so until they were in the ground.

No one has it easy. No matter what genitalia you're weilding when you pop into the world- but after watching a little SFU- I was kinda thinkin'- What has happened to the art of being a MAN.

Dudes that opened doors, gave up seats, championed honor so much they would live and die for it. Why did people lose love for seeing that kind of person?

Some jack-ass *cough*BenShapiro*cough,cough* might say it's due to feminism- but that's not it. Feminism is about the liberation of women- by my definition so far- a woman could be a MAN too! But I'm just speaking about the males 'cause I can relate to what goes on in a males mind better (being one myself and all).

No- we just don't give a motherfucka credit when they come with that decent, upstanding- "I'm going to treat you as I want to be treated"- respect initiative because now, you are just "weak" thinkin' like that, son.

Also, men are taught very early on to seperate themselves from their feelings. A great example of this happened one time when I was on the beach.
There was a little boy of about 4, his older brother of about 9 and an even older sister of about 14.
The 9 yr. old was teasing the hell out of the 4 yr. old and pretty much making his existance hell. Razzing him and slapping him playfully in the head. The younger boy cried until his older sister came over and ran the 9 yr. old off.
THEN she turned to the 4 yr. old and told him to stop crying and being such a baby. AND HE DID IT.

No doubt, this kid will grow up to be able to deal with all kinds of hasslin' with no prob. Of course when he can't articulate his feelings when he's 21 everyone will just toss it up to being a man.

The role of the father in the home has been marginalized as well but on that front I think society is starting to realize how important a father figure is-

In the end- I felt for some of the shit that the guys went through in SFU- some of it brought on themselves- some of it just for being men. I felt like they touched on a lot of reality in that show-
If you haven't checked it, maybe you should.






...oh yeah, they do women pretty well too.