Social Media Good

by on October 6, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Posted In: Posts

The other day on UUDD’s Twitter account I followed Octopus Tree House. I don’t recall precisely why. I believe we were expanding our network and I found them through our friend Brian / The Underfold. Sometimes on Twitter if you follow someone they follow you back and even take a peek at your work. Shortly after we get a message from OctopusHouse:

I reply:

They respond quickly:

My kind of people: Fearless and inventive. I follow the link on their Twitter page which leads to purchasable prints of their art. Their posters are mainly cartoony renditions of villains from Star Wars. The villains have big eyes and big heads, but tiny bodies. I see a picture of little Darth Vader squatting and using a magnifying glass on a mini mouse droid (I think it’s that squeaky droid that Chewie growls at on the Death Star). His lightsaber lays inconsequentially on the ground beside him. They call it “The Front Yard.” CUTE.

I get an idea for one-upmanship.

A little while later I get a message in my Etsy account from Paul and Jess (the lovely people behind Octopus Tree House). The post office made them write on the envelope and they’re worried the prints are damaged and assure me they will certainly replace them if that is the case. They are very apologetic. It’s sweet. I tell them: “We all good.”

Kind messages with the Octopus Tree House logo show up on our comics. Sopes in particular loves comments; it’s his favourite thing about the comic.

Some time passes and they message me again:

I get the print that night at my door. Look at what I find inside:

#touched. The tweets Paul, Jess and I exchanged initially were tiny, but the impact the exchange created was huge. Social media can be a grueling place at times especially if it’s mixed with promoting yourself. You send out your work and your thoughts into the social abyss and sometimes nothing comes back. Remember this story when you get frustrated with social media and doubt its potential (as I have in the past).

I’m going to hang these by my computer next to the framed prints of our first comics and the hand-carved wood art of Bruce Lee. I like surrounding myself with images that inspire me.

Hey Paul and Jess: I just blogged about Octopus Tree House. Deal with THAT.

Love always,

2D / Sean / Up Up Down Down

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Steve Jobs

by on October 6, 2011 at 3:48 am
Posted In: Posts

As I’m sure almost everyone knows by now, Steve Jobs has passed away at age 56. Although we here at Up Up Down Down have created quite the number of Steve Jobs or Apple related comics, all of which may have been somewhat criticizing, we only did so out of love.

I can only respect and admire Steve Jobs for creating technology that I dreamed about. He is of the most rare breed; those who can achieve that which was thought impossible only years before, and drive entire industries to innovate and compete faster than ever.

Let us hope that more will be inspired by his actions to further drive technology into new and undiscovered realms. Let us never forget what innovation is.

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One Week and Seven Posts Later

by on August 2, 2011 at 12:46 am
Posted In: Posts

Considering that my project (where I re-watch and write about the movies that made me love movies) is the exact opposite of what Two Guys One Movie A Day sets out to do (watch and write up a movie they haven’t seen every day) it was very kind of Jim and Puneet to allow me to be a guest writer on their site for a week.

Normally I do my post once a week. I usually watch the movie one night, take notes, then do the majority of the writing on another night. Sometimes I edit in the morning. If I’m really busy one week I’ll watch the movie in slices or do everything in one night.

Jim and Puneet don’t have as many options. I know Jim has a personal goal of watching one movie and doing one write-up every day, but Puneet only missed one day last week. When they were interviewed on the Media Pulp I remember Jim answered a question about how he maintains this kind of dedication. “I don’t know,” he said, “it just becomes a part of your routine, like, ‘oh now it’s time to watch a movie.'”

I get that. I got into a routine of: come home, put on movie, write post. Sometimes I’d have to write until about 1 AM, but I know there are times these guys even later. By Sunday I’d gotten sleepy. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a complex film; there’s all kinds of angles to take in discussing it. I fought writing that post all day.

Jim and Puneet have been doing this for seven months. As busy as I get it’s pretty rare to write seven posts in a week. I have a lot of respect for their dedication. I’m sure few possess it.

I consider myself privileged to have experienced it. Thanks again to Jim and Puneet for that chance. You should go check out their site too. Read some of their reactions to classic films, comment on them, and allow yourself to scan their list of posts and say, “Now there’s a movie people have told me to watch; I just haven’t got around to it.” Make time. It’s well worth it.

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2 Guys 1 Movie – Collaboration

by on July 25, 2011 at 7:19 pm
Posted In: Posts

I try not to merge my other projects with the comic. It feels a bit unseemly. But I’ve seen people looking at my Griff the Invisible post so this might be of interest. Ready? Take your hand. Wipe it down my fucking face. Get ready to see me.

A lot of my non-comic time is spent writing movie reviews or movie-related posts. Currently I am working on an “Auto Film Biography” or AFB for short. I write one post a week about the movies of my childhood. The purpose is to re-create the series of movie experiences that made me love movies. Mostly, however, it seems to be a good exercise in adding personal experience to my writing.

I also spend a lot of time networking with other movie writers. One site I’ve talked about before is 2guys1movie.com. The idea of doing a movie review a day between two guys is genius. I’ve since spent a lot of time talking to Jim and Puneet on Twitter. They are the best kind of people you’ll find on Twitter – you should follow them. One of the rules for their site is they must watch a movie they’ve never seen before. It’s great to read someone’s fresh perspective on classics like Jim’s post on Philidelphia or Puneet’s first experience with Aliens. They’ve even been featured on the Media Pulp podcast (Episode 5).

Secretly when I first read about the site I wished it was something I could take part in. This week they were kind enough to give me that chance.

I will experience what they experience. I will continue my Auto-Film-Biography project that follows movies that impacted me growing up, watching one of them a day for one week. Starting tonight. Then at the end of the week I will come back here and try to convey glimpse of what doing their project must be like.

Even though our posts and aims are completely different they have accepted me as a guest writer. I can’t thank them enough. Check for my posts and theirs (they will still be posting at the same time!) this week on http://www.2guys1movie.com/. Here are the movies I’ll be covering:

It’s going to be a great week.

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Google+ Invite

by on July 9, 2011 at 3:00 am
Posted In: Posts

Google+ is finally allowing the invites to work. That means we can invite you to Google+. And not just the men, but the women and the children too. (Actually there’s an age restriction)

What’s Google+? Think of it as Google’s response to Facebook. Streams, link sharing, connecting with people, and motherfucking SPARKS (you’re gonna have to go see it for yourself.

But, you will need an invite. They seem to be shutting down invites periodically so there might be a delay in our invite sending, but we’ll keep at it. If you send us an email at uudd.webcomic[at]gmail.com we will send you one.

Whether you just want a new toy to play with, or are looking to utilize it for a marketing tool, why wait? Start now. Send us an email, we’ll send you an invite.

“Take that Facebook”

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