Level Orange

I was going through some old files on my computer the other day and happened upon these charming little nuggets from the past. In case you missed these back when we recorded them in 2008, here are the full episodes of the  PiQ Podcast (and thanks to Facebook, the summaries of what we discussed), as hosted by Messrs Howard, Starr, Gifford and yours truly. Sure, all we talk about is stuff that happened two years ago but hey, it reminds me of good times.

Download (right-click, Save As…) and enjoy.

Episode 0

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Just to prove we are not sitting around all day eating Fritos and wiping the grease on our tank tops, here is the highly experimental Episode 0 of The PiQ Podcast (thePiQ-cast? Perhaps I’m getting too far ahead of myself). Have a listen — just press that little “Play” button up above this text — and you’ll get to hear myself, Robert, Paul, and Scott discuss the sorts of things we’ve been up to while working on this magazine.

We got print copies of Issue 1 in the other day, and I hear that some subscribers have received it as well. Huzzah! Tremendous! We hope you will get it soon if you haven’t, or later this month when it hits newsstands. We honestly care what you think about this issue, so keep letting us know.

PiQ Episode 1 – The Sausage Fest

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Now that we’ve slogged through our deadline for Issue 2, we’re able to share our much-delayed discussion about Issue 1 with all you fine folks.

If you have Issue 1, feel free to follow along as we talk about some initial reactions to the magazine, and go into a bit of discussion on Appleseed Ex Machina, Avatar, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Honey & Clover, recent legislation in Japan, Tweeny Witches, Battlestar Galactica, Independence Day (!), our Monitor think-piece “Is Anime Dead?” and more.

PiQ Episode 2 – No Games for Old Men

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Did we ever say this podcast would be a regular thing? Whoops. After a hectic month or so, we finally sat down and got to discuss some of what we’ve been up to, including Kevin’s trip to Japan, the infallible legacy of Upton Sinclair and our collective realization that some games are just entirely too damn hard for old fogeys like us (and we’re not even that old).

More importantly, there’s also our discussion of Issue 2 and all the goodness therein, like how much we dig Sam & Max, Lucky Star, Iron Man, Tim and Eric, action movies, old game shows and pig creatures? Also, we have another sweet prize for those of you interested, so be sure to listen for that too.

PiQ Episode 3 – Delicious

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Here we are again to discuss what we’ve been up to (despite being such losers). Kevin tells all about his conniving ferret, Scott and I celebrate the epic nature of GTA IV and Paul tells why you should check out The World Ends With You.

We also discuss a fair bit about Issue 3, which you should be able to find at your local newsstands. Find out what we really thought about our cover story, Speed Racer, and what other movies we’re looking forward to from this summer’s crop of big releases. There’s also some talk about roller derby and its appeal, Working Designs and our MONITOR piece on translation “Found in Translation”.

The following is a real e-mail. Names have been changed to protect the parties involved, but really, it doesn’t make it any less ridiculous. Enjoy.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

RE: Emails

We all receive more than our fair share of emails every day. Some emails are time critical and others are simply informative while some are simply a waste of everyone’s time to have to open and read. In order to streamline our efforts and prioritize which emails need immediate attention (and which are low priority), The Company is implementing the following policy rules regarding emails. Everyone is expected to adhere to this system going forward.

SUBJECT HEADER:

Any email which requires the recipient to approve something should be prefixed with “FOR APPROVAL [subject]”.

All emails that are time-sensitive should be prefixed with “TIME CRITICAL [subject].”

All emails that are news should be prefixed with “NEWS [subject].”

No one should be sending out emails without a subject header. Additionally, no one should send out an email that has an ambiguous or hard to understand subject header… that is simply poor communication and unprofessional.

The Company encourages the use of the exclamation “!” point as well as the down arrow “↓” for everyone using Outlook or Exchange as their email program or other programs that support those features.

MESSAGE BODY:

Every communication to a group or individual should always clearly include the following:

1. Who the email is directed to (place these individuals in the “TO:” field)
   1. These are the people who you (the sender) expect to take an action and/or receive a reply from.
   2. Any recipient of an email whose name is listed in the “TO:” field should know that the sender is expecting a reply.

1. Who the email is being sent to as a courtesy communication (place these individuals in the “CC:” field).
   1. You should not expect
      anyone in the “CC” field to take an action or reply. If you do, then their name needs to go into the “TO:” field.
   2. If you “-cc” anyone, you should EXCEPT that they will read it when they have time, or maybe never.

1. The message body
   1. Declare the type of email on the first line of the message body

i. “FYI” (meaning: For Your Information and no reply is necessary)

ii. “Action Items” (meaning: a reply is necessary)

iii. “Dear [person]” (meaning: addressed to the name or names of the persons who you are communicating with and you expect a response from unless otherwise noted by the “FYI” or “Action Items” markers)

1. 1. Clearly state the purpose of the email.
   2. Maintain direct, to-the-point communication (Keep it simple.)
   3. At all times, AVOID USING PRONOUNS (he, she, you, me, they, etc.) in your communications and requests. Instead, use the person or persons names (or project’s name or company name) when communicating.
   4. Indicate action items

i. If sending to more than one person, indicate which people are to take which specific actions.

ii. Include a deadline turnaround time for all action items

REPLIES:

Please think carefully when using the “REPLY ALL” feature. It is a gross waste of everyone’s time when someone sends and email and then another 2 or 3+ people say “THANK YOU!” to the entire group.

Replies should only include all the “-cc’d” recipients only if it is really necessary.

GENERAL COMMON SENSE: Emails should not replace face-to-face meetings and picking up the phone. The purpose of email is for communicating to individuals who are NOT in the office or who are otherwise unavailable to speak with. Email is for communicating to large groups when those individuals are NOT available for meetings because someone in the group is either traveling, out sick or has immediate scheduling conflicts. Email should not be used for ‘chatting’ within the workplace…. Especially when we are all in the same building now. There is no excuse not to pick up the phone.

Any individual who continues to abuse the email system and waste others’ time will be placed on corrective action. Remember: Face to face meetings and picking up the phone. It’s that simple.

If there are any questions regarding this system, please contact me directly.

Your attention to this important productivity issue is sincerely appreciated, both by me and your fellow co-workers.

Kind regards,

Owner of The Company

So here’s the deal. About a few weeks ago at work, before we hit the last deadline, something occurred to me. Something I had actually anticipated happening for a while.

I wasn’t enjoying being at work anymore. All of a sudden, I could see right through everyone, past the jokes, past the gossip, past the petty bickering. I didn’t notice it before, but it had all become a sort of white noise over time, and now here I was stepping back from the TV set. Then I discovered why.

Not only had I become part of it all, trying to make myself a driving force of the department, but I actually made it a daily thing to rattle people’s cages at some point or another. All in good humor, of course, but not everyone saw it that way. That’s when I realized I was becoming a pest. Not a nagging pest, but a constant, driving pest. I was getting in people’s faces at inopportune times, stirring up conversations that no one cared about and just generally making a bunch of noise that no one wanted to hear. After our recent move to a new, crappier office, I had become such a vocal source of complaints and worry around the office that when I started hearing others bounce it back to me, I finally had to shut it up.

And so there was silence.

(more…)

So we’re renewing our insurance at work, and while I need to add my baby girl and get dental for my son, I just dread anything having to do with insurance. It’s just not a subject that goes down easy with me. I suspect that’s the case with most people out there as well.

The fact that insurance policies and programs are still confusing for the average customer says a lot about how much insurance companies are willing to separate you from your cash. I mean, the concept of insurance–that’s been around for ages. Insurance companies pride themselves on their long history of serving customers and providing coverage above all else, but why is it that the process hasn’t gotten any easier?

(more…)

After a week away to witness and celebrate and recover from the birth of our daughter, today was my first day back at work. Something just felt different about coming back to an empty office. So quiet. When I was last there, it was business as usual, that old train moving at a decent clip. This morning, though…something was different. Everything was in slow motion. This was the first time in a long time that I’d made it to the office so early. Seven in the morning, to be exact, and not a person in sight. It gave me some time to think about things as I worked.

There’s nothing like having a child to give you a new perspective on things. It happened with my son, and it’s happening again. There’s nothing old hat about it. In many ways, the experience of our daughter’s birth was exactly the same as our son’s down to the minute, only offset by about twelve hours. There was the same anxiety, the same worrying, the same excitement, the same joy. Everything that might make is seem like we’d done this before. But there was something different, a new factor that wasn’t around last time–our son.

(more…)

I woke up this morning with my stomach in knots. Not because of something I’d eaten, but because of a dream I had. One of those dreams that just envelopes you with a sense of impending doom.

In this dream, I was out of work again. Not only me, but the entire office. We were shut down. In the same way that happened last time. Not necessarily the whole company, just our division. There were mentions of being integrated into other departments as an alternative, but that did little to comfort anyone. Just the idea that we’d all be suddenly left to our own devices was overwhelming to me.

At my last job, I joined the team and was there until the end. After seeing so many people come and go, it gets to you. I miss the people that I used to work with every day. Even though the occassional phone call or e-mail is a comfort, it’ll never be like it was. You have to pick up the pieces and move on. I think I’ve done a good job of that so far. I’m just not looking to do it again.

(more…)

For many in the illustration industry, it’s probably no surprise than many artist these days are working in a completely digital environment. By that, I mean that all sketching, illustrating and finishing is done on a computer. I’ve been doing that for about the last six years or so, but only recently had a steady run at it. Having done some small illustrations for the magazine just about every month, I’ve been able to get a somewhat organized process going, and it’s worked okay for the most part. The only part that gives me trouble is the concept phase. I still have to work with a pencil and paper to get things going. Yesterday, while I was sketching out some ideas, I had a thought.

Yes, it’s true, you can get by just fine without ever coming into contact with a computer in today’s world.I’ve got a relative that has been illustrating, painting, designing for years, but now she’s out of work. I’d imagine the big hitch is that she doesn’t work with computers. I’ve done enough illustrating over the years to know that working with computers is hardly necessary, and can actually become a hindrance if you let it. But is it essential that artists use them?

These days, absolutely. Even if not a single stroke is laid down using a computer, there’s so much more to conducting everyday business that requires it. That’s where my relative is stuck out. During a discussion the other day, it took me a little while to realize that we’re working in two different worlds. She’s a bit older than me, so my initial reasoning behind the lack of computer skills was the age/generation factor. Then again, my dad uses a computer all the time. I’ve worked with all sorts of people of all ages, from their 20s to their 50s, who are very proficient, so that couldn’t be it.

(more…)

As I looked out my back window and watched the fireworks in the sky above on New Year’s Eve, I was reminded of how much I enjoyed 2004. In regards to myself and my family, I made some great progress last year. Our son had his first birthday, we bought a brand new house, bought a new car, finally finished paying for another one and now we’re expecting a baby girl. Two-thousand and four was a great year for me and mine, hands down.

But there’s more to be done.

Find balance

The key is to constantly monitor and correct yourself in the smallest of ways, but with a steady goal in mind and with respect to others who are trying to do the same.Finding a balance between your work, your family and your goals is pretty much a matter of deciding how much to give and take from each. The way I see it, it’s like driving a car, it takes only the slightest effort and a constant sensitivity to make it work smoothly.

First of all, no one else can drive for you–it’s your life. There are decisions to be made and risks that have to be taken that are entirely up to you. The first step to anything is assessing the consequences because how good of a judge you are makes all the difference in regards to what sort of condition you end up in. Make the wrong turn and you could get lost, move too fast and you could get hurt.

Second of all, you have to follow a responsible path, or other people could also be affected or even hurt. That sounds dramatic, and it is, because whether it’s your family, your co-workers or yourself, someone stands to be disappointed. This is where you infringe on others and in most cases, cross some sort of boundary in a really bad way.

I know, I know…so far this is all basic, but I had to cover it.

(more…)

That pretty much sums up my situation nowadays. According to two doctors now, the likelihood that I had a genuine, for-real heart attack is minimal. There are no real signs or indication of any past trauma to my heart…which is good news. Maybe over the last five years, I’ve recovered enough to appear completely healthy, or maybe nothing ever happened in the first place.

Now comes the part where I have to ask just what did happen? Sure, the odds of me having a heart attack at the age of twenty-two are almost unheard of, but I know what I felt, and ’twas no indigestion. Of course, this is also the part where I don’t get any sort of definite answer. Time has impaired judgement and any sort of measure. All these new doctors can go on is the present. There’s medical records and data, but like anything else, that’s all open to interpretation. At the time, I was able to discuss my situation with the doctor and I was being monitored constantly. The only thing that remains from that five-year-old equation is me, and frankly, time has impaired my judgement and recollection as well. Maybe with a different set of doctors, in a different hospital, under different circumstances, I might not have been diagnosed with such a serious ailment, but we’ll never know.

Perhaps it’s my fault for misjudging my own condition and acting too hastily, but I had to seek help. The pain was just overwhelming, and unlike anything I had ever felt before. I had no explanation for it. My only solution was to find someone who might. My experience with heart attacks was nil, so that was my first thought, and perhaps the doctor at the time picked up on that. Maybe that carried through to his diagnosis and treatment. I just don’t know.

(more…)

Not that it makes much difference to anyone, but I’ve begun to notice a shift in my attitude. From “gung-ho, let’s get ‘em” to something more akin to “aww c’mon, this’ll never work”.

I’ve made little progress in the job-hunt department. Although I did receive a call recently for an interview, which lifted my spirits rather nicely. However, I’ve yet to see how that panned out. More importantly, I think I realized what I might have been doing wrong (or not doing at all, to be more precise).

Meanwhile, I’ve managed to keep myself busy with a small project and some remaining work at the old office, where I now feel like I shouldn’t be anymore. I’m almost just going out of habit, to have a place to go.

This unemployment thing is for the birds. I gotta find some work.

(more…)