Tonight, as our holiday gift to you, Nora and I record a new show.Tiger Woods. My new online money-making scheme. Face Like A Foot. Crafting for the holidays. And much more. Enjoy and subscribe!

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Wrapup of Thanksgiving. Dinner with my folks. When to eat. Tangents. Rifftrax Live. Paul F. Tompkins and John Hodgman can have a fight on our show. I can be Mean Gene Okerlund. Enjoy and please subscribe if you like the show.

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For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to work on a graphic novel.

I have worked with other artists and writers on some projects and they never really got off the ground properly. I have had a lot of concepts running around in my brain, but I knew I wasn't ready to tackle the project or else it was so involved, I didn't know if I would ever have the time to do it properly.

Over the summer, I had posted some concept sketches that I worked on for an idea that had been gelling for about 2 years. The concept was born out of ideas of fear of loss and impending poverty. The climate of the nation's financials didn't help anything, so it just sat there waiting for some life to be injected into it.

Fast forward to Atlanta and DragonCon 09. While at dinner with CNET's Tom Merritt, the topic of conversation turned to graphic novels. Tom had always wanted to work on one but couldn't draw. I always wanted to work on one, and while I could write, I needed a writer who could navigate science fiction territory better than I could. Hence, the project Tent Town was born.

It should be made clear that this project is NOT, I repeat NOT an ongoing webcomic. This is basically a way for Tom and I to work on a project together and see where it takes us. If the response is positive, we'll continue. If it's lukewarm, we can always move the project to the back burner. This is strictly for the fun of it. And sometimes, you just have to work on projects like that.

A big thanks to Tom for agreeing to work on this with me. The story is certainly developing and we look forward to showcasing it in the coming weeks.

Labels: art, comics, cool

On this episode of Jawbone Radio, we welcome back minor television celebrity and author of "More Information Than You Require" John Hodgman. Of Note: This is the first episode of Jawbone Radio recorded in front of a live audience of about 150 people. . This was recorded live at the Border's #1 in Ann Arbor, Michigan on 11/11/09 - Corduroy Appreciation Day!

Mr. Hodgman and I chat celebrity status, Twitter, authorized biography movies, Jonathan Coulton and decide who would win in a rapid-fire Battle Royales.

If you are new to the show and enjoy it, please feel free to rate and subscribe to us in iTunes.

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So I was driving home from my networking meeting this morning and my thoughts were a mishmash of both Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and lunch. I usually start thinking about lunch around 9 AM. What to eat, where, if anywhere to go. I had also just come off an evening of watching the Travel Channel's Man Vs. Food which featured an incredible double-dipped roast beef sandwich from Brennan and Carr in Brooklyn, NY. To die for, or so it would seem, as I have never actually eaten one personally. But I digress.

My kids had been watching Man Vs. Food and they saw an episode featuring an eating challenge that involved consuming a 190 lb. hamburger. Apparently, the host Adam Richman could get together a team of 40 people to consume this gargantuan burger (which apparently required 16 hours just to cook the meat. Unbelievable.) Adam got together a collection of people to help him with the challenge including some roller girls, a pro wrestler and, for some odd reason, the band KISS. They all failed to eat the burger.

Which got me to thinking. In order to really conquer a challenge like that, you need to assemble the right people. A team, if you will. So I decided to illustrate this said team, and call them GastroSquad: The 40 Person Tactical Eating Team. I am looking for input from the internets on who would be on this team and what their specific class and skillsets would be. I would be happy to draw the best ideas and make them part of this team. So feel free to comment here or on Twitter and Facebook and help me assemble the GastroSquad!

Labels: art, food

On tonight's show, Nora makes some banking statements. I Made You A Beard. Gargantuan straws. Listener voicemails. Crazyville. More on Hoarders. Short discussion of next week's show. And of course, awesomeness. Enjoy the show? Subscribe and rate us in iTunes!

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My life keeps getting more surreal.

Last night, I was given a very cool opportunity: the chance to do our humble podcast in front of a live audience. In the 250 odd shows we have done this has never happened before. The event was an interview with minor television celebrity and author John Hodgman at the Ann Arbor, Borders location. Originally, the interview was to be a one-on-one conversation recorded in a green room or such place. But when John offered up doing the interview in front of the crowd, I was both stunned, nervous, sick and excited at the opportunity. And so, I was able to record a half an hour with Mr. Hodgman which will be available for download in the next week or so.

I want to thank my friend Erin who was nice enough to meet up with me, have dinner, help me lug my stuff around and actually hold my video camera for the whole half hour, despite her arms cramping and losing her voice. (It should be noted that the camera holding had nothing to do with her losing her voice, but I'm sure holding it for such a prolonged time only added to her frustration of not being able to vocally complain about it.)

I also want to thank fellow Filipino and incredible photographer Liza who was able to document the night and catch some truly incredible photos of the event. Barring having an out-of-body experience and seeing how the night evolved around me, her photos are the next best thing.

And finally, I want to thank John for the opportunity to do something as awesome as recording live in front of an audience. This type of stuff is reserved for the James Lipton's and Charlie Rose's of the world, so to have a chance to do something as cool as this was certainly very edifying for our show and for me personally.

The show is currently being edited and will be available for download soon. So please keep watching the feed. And if you are new to the show, please feel free to subscribe and listen to our back catalog. We are always open to new fans.

More coming soon...

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Labels: funny, video

Although this may be hard to believe, given the status of my rising fame on the internets (insert sarcasm here), but I have a regular job. Yes, my job is working for myself as a graphic designer/marketer, but I still do have a real job. Along with this comes stuff that you have to/need to do as a matter of sorts. One of those things is networking with people in the community.

About a year and a half ago, I joined a local networking group. For me, this was totally out of my comfort zone. The group was full of people I don't normally associate with. Mortgage brokers. Bankers. Realtors. Jewelers. Window Cleaners. I always envisioned myself networking with movie directors, TV stars, other graphic designers, animators, model makers and creative types that drank lots of coffee, wore berets and black turtlenecks. So to join this relatively "normal" group was a bit of a stretch for me. But the economy being what it is, I figured the worst that could happen is that I never make any contacts. So I set my expectations low and decided if I made the fees back in referrals (which would account for one, maybe two small jobs) it would be worth it.

One of the requirements of the group is to give a short, 10 minute presentation that tells the others in the group what you do and what kind of referrals you are looking for. It's the equivalent of doing a book report in grade school. You tell people about yourself, what it's like being you and what kind of work would help to keep the biz going.

A few weeks ago, it was my turn to do my 10 minute presentation. I always dreaded this because I always waited until the last minute to prepare mine and inevitably, as I am extemporaneously speaking, I lose my train of thought and end up babbling like a moron. I didn't want that to happen this time around, so I decided to do some major preparation. At DragonCon, I had seen MythBuster Adam Savage give his talk on 100 Wishes. I was so inspired by this talk, not only because of its simplicity (the entire talk was written on index cards and was, as far as I could tell, fool and stagefright-proof), but also because it was so captivating to listen to. I decided to do something similar, but instead of relating my wishes, I wanted my networking group to understand what I do for a living. And, in a rare case, the art and design I do for people on the internets, seemed to mesh seamlessly with what I do for my other clients. So I wrote a list of 50 things I have done for work over the past month. And unbelievably, the list was pretty amazing. The presentation went over very well.

This morning at the meeting, I was presented with a certificate of recognition for my 10 minute presentation. The certificate awarded me for having the best presentation IN THE HISTORY of the group. Needless to say, I was flattered and relieved that people actually liked the talk.

I owe a big thanks to my friends Paul and Storm for their help writing the small theme song for my presentation. I know how extremely busy they have been over the past month and for them to take a few moments out to write a small song for me was nothing less than miraculous. I really believe it was the icing on an already sweet and delicious cake.

And another big thanks goes to Adam Savage for his inspiration for my talk. If you get a chance to see his original 100 wishes talk, do so. It's freaking awesome and inspiring.

What follows is the talk in it's entirety with just a few small changes, due to some proprietary client info. Enjoy!

---

WHAT I DO
By Len Peralta

I have been a member of this group for over a year now and whenever I do a one-to-one meeting with another member, one of the first things they ask me is "So what exactly do you do?"

So, to explain to my fellow networking partners what it is I do for a living, I put a list together of work-related things I over the last month or so. This list is totally real. I’m not making any of this up. Hopefully, it will give you some insight into what it is I do all day.

1. There was no networking meeting this morning, so I went to work in my pajamas.

2. Several e-mails requesting FlipFaces, the custom avatars I’ve been drawing for people all over the world, have arrived in my mailbox. Since September, I’ve drawn almost 300. What’s another four?

3. One of my clients needs a banner. I do a quick layout in Photoshop and send it over for approval.

4. Spec out a tablecloth for a client trade show that was just handed to me just the day before. By day end, I have them a quote and a digital proof.

5. I field a call from a client who is having trouble working the website we created for them. A few hours and e-mails later, they are back in business.

6. Had a conversation with a Burgeoning Internet Rockstar. He needs something cool to sell at shows. He says Stickers! I say Scratch and Sniff stickers! He thinks I’m a genius.

7. Laid out a literature sheet for a client I was just introduced to the night before. By day’s end, they have a finished product.

8. Tweaked someone’s existing logo. Created a new logo.

9. Drove around Westlake, North Olmsted, Fairview Park and Lakewood and considered visiting each shop that looks like it had their logo done by the owner’s High School nephew and re-doing it for them free of charge. As a designer, seeing no design or thought put into a logo gets under my skin. Must learn to control that.

10. I wrote and edited the copy for a small project I’m working on. Hard to believe this is how I started my career in advertising.

11. Helped a client send out her own e-mail marketing campaign. She found it “empowering”.

12. Worked on pencil sketches for a new book project. The stories are dark, but funny. I’m drawing princesses throwing up, a fountain of teeth pouring form a kids mouth, sewer rats and tombstones.

13. Finished the box art for a playing card game I designed. It’s a fun game about medical malpractice.

14. Met with a client about a new website design. I’m excited because this is unlike anything else I’m working on at the time. It’s for a church and it presents an interesting challenge. Be creative but reverent. I’m thrilled by the possibility.

15. Met with a client who needs literature for a guy in Kansas who helps people write their memoirs. We talk about having him on as a guest of my podcast.

16. Daydreamed ways to make software for theatres sexy and interesting.

17. Worked on the sitemap for the church website. It’s a vital step, like the blueprint for a house. I do this for every website I work on.

18. Helped a start-up fitness instructor continue building her brand.

19. Traded e-mails with a writer in San Francisco who I’m trying to collaborate with on a possible webcomic or graphic novel idea I have. I have no expectations for this project and am purely doing it for the fun of it. Sometimes you just have to do projects like that.

20. Had a conversation with another Burgeoning Internet rock star. This time a duo. They need art for a series of shows in San Francisco and LA. Can you draw robots, they ask. Robots in the style of subversive cartoonist R. Crumb? Pfft, Give me a challenge.

21. Sat down (finally!) and sketched out four new FlipFaces. Inked. Scanned. Into Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop and e-mailed back to the respective customers. Elapsed time: One hour.

22. Considered pulling together a cover album of songs for some internet friends of mine.

23. Realized that I have no experience putting together a cover album. Called a podcasting friend in Colorado who is putting together his own cover album. He agrees to shepard me through the process. I chat with him while I walk the dog.

24. See proofs of the stickers that I created for my Rockstar client. They were supposed to smell like banana. They smell like vanilla. I send him the bad news and await his reply.

25. Copies of my books arrive. I instantly started selling them online.

26. Designed the promotional flyers, invitation and reply card for an upcoming fundraiser.

27. Met with a guy whose company designs unique stuffed animals. He has designed a series of bunnies that he calls “Slasher Bunnies” based on iconic horror movie characters. He shows me the prototype at my dining room table. I hand him a bag of gummi brains and test tubes. We start to sell them the next week.

28. My Rockstar client gets back to me about the stickers. “So, they don’t smell like banana, huh?” he says. I tell him maybe we can say they smell like cake. He considers it.

29. For a brief moment, I think it would be fun to someday be in a piefight.

30. Rockstar client calls me back and says maybe we can tell people the stickers smell like “Delicious!” I think we’re close to solving this problem.

31. Drew a Voideux as one of my Monsters By Mail. For those who don’t know a voideux is one of a race of beings made of dimensional darkness with powerful glowing eyes that stare into your soul. Piece of cake.

32. Speaking of cake, I wonder how the scratch and sniff stickers are selling in Chicago. That’s where my Rockstar client is playing this weekend.

33. An email arrives from a gentleman who has seen my art and wants me to design his tattoo sleeve. He wants classic movie monsters coming to life in a graveyard. Sounds like fun. And painful.

34. Drew a creature named The ArachNerd for Monster By Mail. Part nerd. Part Spider. Sometimes I love having the internet as a client.

35. Rockstar client calls me to tell me he has a new job for me. It involves drawing him coming out of a portal and meeting a monkey beefeater and a zombie leprechaun. I think he’s joking. He’s not.

36. Answered an angry e-mail from a guy who wants me to draw 13 separate characters and was annoyed with quote he got from me. I told him this stuff takes time. Then I get into the whole argument of what value is creativity? He doesn’t get it. I don’t plan on hearing back from him again.

37. Zombie leprechaun and Monkey beefeater are sketched and approved. Art is sent to a printer in the UK.

38. Drew a friends cat and tortoise as battling Japanese monsters. Drew their other cat as a small Japanese boy from a Godzilla movie. Once again, gotta love the internet.

39. Laurie LeMay calls me and tells me I need to be bumped up in the speaker rotation. I instantly start panicking.

40. Consider calling my Rockstar friends to write a song for my presentation. This is what they gave me.

41. Wrote this list for my 10 minute presentation instead.

42. Got dressed up to give my presentation. Instead of wearing pajamas. For a change.

----

And that, my friends, is what I do for a living.

Labels: cool, site news

This week, we deal with strep and flu and hope we don't get anything worse than what we already have. My Indiana Jones hat. They Might Be Giants wrapup. Breaking the Seal. Halloween and help from the Twitterverse. Thanks for listening!

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Ever since we started our podcast, Nora has had her own theme song. It was created by our friend D. Verada for the show and eventually became the theme song of our podcast.

Well,not to be outdone, my friends Paul and Storm were nice enough to create a short theme song for me personally. I've always wanted a personal theme song and now I have one that I can not only use when I enter a room, but gives a nice overview of what I do for a living. You can hear my theme song here.

Thanks Paul and Storm! And if you are a musician and want to take a stab at a theme song for me, bring it on!

Labels: music, paul and storm, podcast

On this episode of Jawbone Radio, I fly solo again, sans Nora and turn to Twitter for help. I field some questions from the net, talk about the major faux pas of starting my own fan page and I chat up all of my upcoming projects.

Also, I can't reiterate this enough: signed copies of "There's A Zombie In My Treehouse" are available from me directly. Just go to Monster By Mail and click the book link on the sidebar.

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A quick post here to talk about Wootstock happening Oct 19, 20 and 21st in SF and LA. My friends Paul and Storm are putting on the event with the help of Wil Wheaton, Mythbusters Adam Savage and a bunch of other cool guests. My involvement? Not much, really. Except I was able to design this totally awesome gig poster and T-Shirt for the event in the style of one of my favorite artists, R. Crumb. If you're anywhere near the area, definitely do make it to the second SF show or the LA show. Thanks to the aformentioned celebs for allowing me to share a bit in their coolness

Labels: art, cool, geeks, music, paul and storm

Tonight on episode 252 of Jawbone Radio, we talk about my diet of gummis, lavender smells like old, hoarding and an audience participation moment that you can chime in at by calling 206.666.4514.

Thanks for listening, hope you enjoy and if you like it please subscribe!

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Gah! More mindless self-promotion! If you haven't been following me on Twitter or on Facebook, then you probably would have no idea that I just launched a new art site called FlipFace. Here's the deal: custom avatars by me for $10. This isn't create your own avatar, or send your picture in and get the photo turned into a vector file. This is a real cartoon done by me for you. So far, thanks to the help of some online friends, the response has been very favorable for FlipFace. And I'm very happy with the reactions. So get with all the cool kids and order your own Flipface today!

In other art news, Monster By Mail's Summer of the Super-villain is slowly coming to a close. Thanks to all those who ordered one from me. It was certainly a lot of fun and I just might do it again. Monster by Mail will be going through an overhaul in the coming weeks and there will be a special promotion I'm working on that should be a lot of fun! So stay tuned for it.

Thanks for all your support of my art sites. My family and I truly appreciate all you've done. :)

Labels: art, site news

I was checking back on the archives of this blog and was shocked to see that I never wrote up a proper post for "There's A Zombie In My Treehouse" the book I did with Ken Plume of QuickStop Entertainment and John "Widge" Robinson of Needcoffee. I blame the fact that the book was released in the midst of our move/house sale/vacation/housewarming party/school phase of the year. So blogging had to take a back seat. I know I had twittered about the book, so in my mind, I had blogged about it - micro-blogged at least. But sometimes things need more than 140 characters of chat. This is one of them.

The book is a labour of love that started in the summer of 08. I received a call from Ken, who received my name via Paul of Paul and Storm. He and John were looking for an illustrator on their book project and had had little success engaging an artist. Me, being the no one artist I am, heard the words "zombie, kids book" and "illustrate" and I jumped right on the chance. I didn't know exactly what I was signing up for, but I knew it sounded cool enough to give it a shot.

Make no mistake, it was tough work. Hours of illustration, character sketches, conversations, revisions, layout changes, more layout changes and even more revisions and layout changes. But in the end, I feel the book is exactly the way I envisioned it would be. Wonderful black and white pencil art with a hint of odd and creepy permeating the story, penned wonderfully by Ken and John. As the Brits (and Ken) would say, bloody brilliant.

On podcast episode 251, I chat about meeting former Python and film director, Terry Gilliam. The biggest compliment I have ever received was about the art in the book. Terry Gilliam, a man I respect for his artistic vision and a person who has been so influential in the kind of art that I do, said he loved the art. He loved it. If that's not a testimonial you can abide by, then this book is not for you. If it is, then I highly recommend you check out the book for yourself and add it to your collection. And I'm not saying this only because I drew the pictures for it. I'm saying it because the book is full of the kind of awesomeness that I hope to continue offering throughout the rest of my career and life.

In the coming weeks, I will have actual physical copies of the book for sale that you can purchase from me personally. I will even sign it, if you are into that sort of thing. You can also pick up the book online here. And if you come to Cleveland or if you and I are one day at the same place at the same time, I can sign it then. Or pose for a picture with you and the book. Whatever tickles your fancy.

Needless to say, I highly recommend the book. And if you don't pick it up, then you're not a real fan of our show then, are you?

How's that for guilt-tripping?

UPDATE!
Signed copies of the book (by both authors Ken Plume and John Robinson and myself) are now available to be purchased directly from me. Just click below! Shipping and handling is included in the price.

Labels: art, site news

A very self-indulgent episode as mentioned at the top of the show. My surreal experience at Dragon Con. Now it can be told. Excitement! Dinners! And my surreal meeting Terry Gilliam. Thanks for listening and if you enjoy the show, please subscribe!

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I got back from DragonCon a few hours ago and it was seriously one of the best times I have ever had. Thanks to Ken Plume and John Robinson for having me out. I really enjoyed myself. There are way too many people to thank and I am running on very little sleep. I have so much to say, so I'll save it for a podcast. But in the meantime, please enjoy this photo of me meeting Mr. Terry Gilliam.

More to come...

Labels: site news

It's our 250th show! Huzzah! HUzzah! You'll hear many messages from our listeners, including Redboy, Bonnie, Justin, Russ and of course, Brad. Thanks for joining us. Please enjoy and thanks for supporting the show.

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If you were lucky enough to witness the Rifftrax Live event last night at a movie theatre near you, you know how damn good of a time it was. That was the first time I had been able to sit through Plan 9 and actually enjoy it. Not only that, but the guys pointed out some things that I never noticed about the film before, like rambling editing in major chunks of the film. (I was usually asleep by mid-film due to it's pure ineptitude.)

Anyway, if you attended, you also got access to a digital goodie bag that included the new short "Flying Stewardesses", a digital autograph from the boys, the Plan 9 Rifftrax song and - the coolest part - my Plan 9 avatar set done specifically for the event!

So far, reaction has been pretty favorable. I am planning on drawing two more female characters and making them available for the ladies. So keep en eye out for them. But I hope everyone had a good time last night. Go and use my avatars!

ON EDIT: The new female avatars are available here and here.

Also, I hope to have an announcement regarding my new art site that I have been talking about on Twitter. Stay tuned for that!

Labels: cool

Nora and I will be recording our 250th show very soon and we'd love to have you be a part of it. Send a recording to jawboneradio AT gmail DOT com or just call our voice mail line @ 206 666 4514 and help us celebrate this momentous milestone. Thanks for keeping us going and we hope to hear from you!

Labels: site news

On tonight's show, we talk about our housewarming party, The What's Next Quartet, Zombies in Treehouses, DragonCon and Nora shares an interesting story about a woman duped by a man in an adult diaper. It's as good as it sounds and it's all free! Subscribe at iTunes and leave us a comment if you like what you hear.

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LENTV returns after a long break with some wonderful barbershop quartet music!

For those who have been following our podcast for some time, you may recall the "phantom" barbershop quartet that I used to hear at our old house and that I nearly called the police on during a feverish state. Well, as it turns out they are great folk known as the What's Next Quartet and they helped us warm our home by performing a live set in our backyard during our housewarming party. It seemed only fitting that they sang Lord Jellicoe's "Zombie Jamboree to about 130 guests. Check em out and feel free to friend them (and hire them!) via Facebook.

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We're back from vacation with some good stories (hopefully). Plus, we have the right show uploaded this time, so we should be good to go! Pre-vacation mice attacks. Heart-exploding four person bikes. And of course, my T-shirts get embarrassed on basic cable. Enjoy the show and if you really like it, subscribe! And if you REALLY like it, leave us a nice comment at iTunes. Thanks in advance!

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I don't know if more words need to be applied to this horrendous photo, but you are all certainly welcome to try.

Labels: caption