Gallery debut show

Last friday night, January 14th, I had ten of my graphic novel pages exhibited at Gallery Godo in Glendale. The reception went above and beyond my expectations. My family was bursting with pride and joy, and many friends and people from the community attended. The other artists were equally talented in different media. The graphic novel pages were appropriately placed in a row in the hall between the rooms. The narrow hall actually forces the viewer to step closer to observe the intricate detailed work. However, that meant my adoring crowd couldn’t really cluster around the artwork and chat! So many showed up that made others think it was a deaf night or something. Pictures after the jump: Continue reading Gallery debut show

NFL playoffs picks (divisional weekend)

Went 2-2 last weekend, no thanks to the Colts’ coach’s idiotic timeout and the Seahawks proving the us-vs-the-world mentality works even for a 7-9 team.

Ravens @ Steelers
This rubber match should be the best game of this weekend. Those two rivals have decided their games by 3 points in 7 games in the past three years. The steelers’ run defense is absolutely ferocious and should stop RB Ray Rice. That forces QB Flacco to win the game with his arm. Although the Ravens’ D is full of great players, their corners are weak. QB Rothsliberger will exploit them with his targets WR Wallace & Ward. RB Mendenhall has not been dominant in their games, but he’s effective enough to keep the Ravens from making a beeline on Rothsliberger.
Steelers 21-17 Continue reading NFL playoffs picks (divisional weekend)

NFL wildcard weekend

Jets @ Colts
The 2010 AFC title game rematch should be much closer this time. Both teams are much weaker than last year, due to injuries and diminished rosters, but Peyton Manning is still the most feared QB in the league and Coach Rex Ryan still has the biggest mouth this side of Charles Barkley. The jets’ strongest edge is their running game, and they will stomp allover the Colts’ paltry front seven. If they establish the run, QB Sanchez will be free to run play-action fakes all day long. However, the Colts are at home and they seem a different team at Lucas Oil Stadium. If the Colts force Sanchez into 3rd and long situations, his confidence plummets quickly, and the pass rush will eat him alive.

The Jets have a sound defense, but they have trouble historically with Manning, and that goes double for their coach. Both teams will not have trouble scoring on each other, and I think Manning at home will pull this one out.

Colts 27, Jets 23

Saints @ Seahawks
The very fact that a 7-9 team is here and has homefield advantage over a 11-5 team is an insult to all common sense & clearly proves that the playoff seeding rules has to be tweaked. The Saints are forced to deal with a short week and a 2000 mile journey to a hostile stadium in Seattle, but in the end, their talent edge will prove to be too much. The game will turn into a blowout by the 3rd quarter. QB Brees already had his season high this year vs the Seahawks (382 yards, 4 TDs). If the Seahawks add more defensive backs to slow him down, the Saints will unleash RB Bush, much to his former coach Carrol’s chagrin.
Saints 35, Seahawks 13

Ravens @ Chiefs
Baltimore rolls into the playoffs with momentum, and is lucky to draw the inexperienced Chiefs instead of their nemesis, the Colts. Moreover, the Ravens’ RB Rice has resurged in recent weeks, and the Raiders just wrote the book on how to run on the Chiefs last weekend. The Ravens’ technicians along the front seven will slow down the Chiefs’ running game – provided they stay at home versus RB Charles and fill the gaps vs RB Jones. The Chiefs’ stout homefield advantage won’t affect the veteran Ravens much, and Cassel isn’t known for comeback wins. However, the Ravens have had trouble keeping QB Flacco upright recently, & the Chiefs have an excellent coordinator in Crennel. But that won’t matter, because the Chiefs have beaten exactly one good team the entire year.

Ravens 24, Chiefs 16

Packers @ Eagles
This is the most interesting match-up because both are led by Pro Bowl QBs and great playmakers and sturdy defenses. The Packers have a fleet of WRs, TEs and RBs who will see the ball short and deep. The Eagles’ defense is prone to giving up big plays, and they may be easy pickings for a couple scores.

QB Vick must be at 100% health to take full advantage of the overly aggressive Packers defense. His elusiveness will force the Packer pass rush to be extra cautious, but then again, Vick has had problems with the corner blitz in recent weeks. I would expect the Eagles to feed their electrifying RB McCoy, and keep the Packers D on its toes with strikes downfield to WR Jackson and Maclin. DB Charles Woodson must make plays or they’ll be burned.

Since Vick isn’t at full strength, and strangely enough, isn’t as effective at home as he is on the road, and the Eagles’ defense isn’t as strong as the Packers’ D, Packers steal this one. Packers 31-28

NFL week 17 picks

A strong 10-5 record last weekend has me grinning ear to ear and slapping high fives with strangers. Here’s an e-five.  As always, week 17 is probably the toughest weekend to predict for a couple of reasons: teams that already clinch a spot in the playoffs may pull their starters, or not, and teams that are already out may decide to show up and play spoiler, or not.

Game(s) of the week
Bears @ Packers
Although the Bears already won the division, they still can clinch a bye with a win. Packers must win in order to get a wild card spot. They still can get in if both the Giants & Bucs lose, but that’s out of their hands. Both teams seem to be peaking at the right time: the Packers offense under QB Rodgers has become a machine and both teams’ defense has grown stronger. QB Culter got over the early season inconsistency and seems reliable. Surprise, surprise! But I’m picking the desperate team. Packers by 3 Continue reading NFL week 17 picks

NFL week 16 picks

I finished 9-6 in week 15. Totaling at 100 to 65. A marginally better weekend than the previous, but hey, I broke .500 at least. The closer the playoffs get here, the more meaningful each game gets, and the better the play gets. Can’t ask for anything more – except a magical remote that fast forwards all those leftover games even the hardcore fans wisely skip.

Game of the week
Saints @ Falcons
Too bad the Saints lost last week, or otherwise this game would be much more meaningful. The Falcons have nothing to play for in this game, other than bragging rights of sweeping the Saints after beating them earlier this year. The Saints will bring it, but Matt Ryan doesn’t lose at home. Falcons by 3 Continue reading NFL week 16 picks

Warrior goddess sketch

I tried a new pose because the original wasn’t working. The context is a powerful warrior goddess as envisioned by mortals.

Edited to add:
I was looking at my blog’s stats and saw that someone found it with the search string “warrior goddess.”

So I googled that up to see where my blog ranked and found a blog by Medusa coils complaining about the warrior goddess fetish as if war gods were fitted in a skirt.

So I posted the following comment there:

Sorry for posting this so late, but I believe there’s a general misconception about “warrior goddess” as if there was only one type of a war god to emulate.

In the mythology of Ancient Greece the cleverest immortal was the goddess Metis. Zeus was worried about her outsmarting them all so he married her, only to swallow her whole and absorb her wisdom in the process.

But Metis was already pregnant with Athena at the time, and she was born from his head. Like her parents she was as crafty as Metis and had the warlike nature of Zeus.

However, this mix meant she was the goddess of strategic warfare according to the Greeks, and her favorite mortal was the clever Odysseus.

Ares is the classical war god in its direct and brutal aspect. The Greeks hated Ares and worshipped Athena instead, because she fought with intellect and subtlety.It is not the violence or brutality or the waste of lives/resources, but the rationality and pragmatism that demands us to win wars without bloodshed.

Ares is always depicted as easily misled. The wisdom of Athena turns the violence and aggression of classic male type A against them and use brutality as the cause of their downfall. Athena was always a step ahead by making her moves indirect.

Thus the goddess of war was equal parts philosophy & war, wisdom and battle.

“Consciousness… the dagger in the flesh.” An essay on Cioran

Cioran, by Awet Moges

After 7 years, I was burned out by philosophy, yet I continued to haunt the philosophy section in search for anything radical and profound. Amidst the expected titles commonly found at any bookstore, sat A Short History of Decay. I pulled it off the shelf in the faint hopes of killing time until the cigar shop opened in 20 minutes. After a couple of hours disappeared savoring the salacious prose, I begrudgingly closed the book and hurried to the checkout counter, cackling in glee in the wonderful fortune of uncovering a new thinker that spoke blasphemous music to my eyes.

Continue reading “Consciousness… the dagger in the flesh.” An essay on Cioran

NFL week 15 picks

With 3 weeks left, it’s all about the playoffs: clinching a spot or fighting for a favorable seed. 23 teams are still alive! The Pats are the only one so far officially in. about 4 games qualify for the “Game of the week” honors, so it should be a great weekend! Hopefully I’ll improve on last week’s crappy 8-6 result.

Games of the week
1. Jaguars @ Colts
This game will determine the difference between a division title and a shot at a wild card. The Colts seem to be back after last week’s win over the Titans, but then again, it was the hapless, rudderless, imploding, Moss-infected Titans so we shouldn’t read too much into it. Manning is getting back some of his weapons in RB Addai and WR Collie and the Colts have extra time to prepare. As for the Jags, they’re on a roll, and after last week’s win over the Raiders, you have to tip your hat to hard-charging RB Jones-Drew. Jags always play the Colts tight (check recent history, it’s always 3 points or less). However, it’s next to impossible to count out Manning when he smells the playoffs and they’re back at home. Colts by 3

2. Eagles @ Giants
This game will decide the NFC East. Philly has a psychological edge after beating them a couple of weeks ago. But they lost rookie LB Graham, and thus their pass rush is weaker. The book on the Giants is to pressure QB Eli into difficult throws on the move. Luckily the Eagles still have all their weapons on offense, and their chief speed threats (WR Jackson, RB McCoy, Vick) can take it to the house anytime. QB Manning has one of the most potent running games in the league to fall back on. Yet he’s been making dumb throws lately. Moreover, i feel Vick is on a mission this year. Eagles by 1 Continue reading NFL week 15 picks