039 - #blogjune 05 - Happy Hot Air Balloon Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 “We should all have personal hot air balloons
and drift serenely through the clouds.” 

- Rhys Bowen

Song of the Blog:
“It might seem crazy what I'm 'bout to say
Sunshine she's here, you can take a break
I'm a hot air balloon that could go to space
With the air,”
- Pharrell Williams

Hot air balloons are the oldest form of technology for carrying humans, and so they definitely deserve to be celebrated. This day is simply about paying honor to this mode of transport, and to raise awareness about the history of transport. I can't remember actually having been in the air with one. I have been to ones that were still on the ground and a few times have seen them at special hot air balloon days in Hamilton.

Wow - April 2003 - THAT was a LONG time ago!

 

There have been several accidents in the news that I will always remember and that's probably what kept me from ever doing it. There was one in Florida, at Disney Springs that was basically tethered on ropes. Not quite the same experience.
As it is I am not a big fan of heights. I even have problems standing on bridges or high buildings. Just playing a PS4 game that will have me climb something really high can give me an unpleasant feeling in my stomach. I will stay at the bottom with my two feet, thank you very much.


Mr. Q signing off for another day of #blogjune!


eRiQ
PO Box 60,
Hawera 4640
New Zealand

038 - #blogjune 04 - Where did Friday go?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 “Where did Friday go?” 

- eRiQ

Song of the Blog:
“Thursday goes too slow (bah-oom)
I've got Friday on my mind”
- David Bowie

Friday I went to the beach - because our car had come back from the mechanic and I wanted to go and film some bits for another VLOG - here it is:
(click on the image if you dare)

Going to the Beach

 

Plus my sixth vlog as well - because tecnically I am typing this on Saturday - -

(( heck I am confused what day it is ))

I don't know if people are actually enjoying these daily blogs, to be honest this first week has been a bit of a hectic one... with vlogging AND work etc. But I guess I should at least do my best to keep this tradition going and next week I will have a more structured schedule to fit in a more decent blog.  With the crazy winter weather and no car for most of the week, it was nice to get out there again and enjoy the Taranaki coastline.

Mr. Q signing off for another day of #blogjune!


eRiQ
PO Box 60,
Hawera 4640
New Zealand

037 - #blogjune 03 - HOLEY VLOG!

 

 

 

 

 

 “For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life.” 

- William Blake

Song of the Blog:
“We're on holy ground
Take your pride and lift it high”
- AHA

My favourite rocks are the ones with holes in them, there are a lot of them to be found on the Taranaki beaches. I wrote about them in an article for our online magazine CRISP - click here to check it out, it is free on the ISSUU platform:

Meanwhile the fourth vlog of #vlogweek is up on YouTube with some more about 'holey rocks' and an awesome book about #Superman comics, called COVER TO COVER. Special features include a look at the evolution of the famous Superman S-shield and it's a showcase of Superman covers from around the world. As for the fastest runner, Superman or the Flash... I believe that that title went out to the latter of the two. The only thing running right here, has been my nose. Because as you know it is winter here in New Zealand and the mornings are getting rather CRISP.

On the EPPO newsgroup I celebrated RUNNING day, by showing some of the covers of the EPPO magazine that featured running. Who knew there was a special day for that, it's like there's a day for ANYTHING these days! I wish there was a day dedicated to people sending parcels to Dutch people in New Zealand. Well, if THAT day ever pops up, I do have an address handy that you could use when you want to run to the post office with any special surprises!

Mr. Q signing off for another day of #blogjune!


eRiQ
PO Box 60,
Hawera 4640
New Zealand

036 - #blogjune 02 - Rocks, vlogs and beaches

 

 

 

 

 “Be still as a rock and you will see which way the tide flows.” 

- Anthony T. Hincks

Song of the Blog:
“I am a rock - I am an island
And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries”
- Simon & Garfunkel

If you know me, you know I love rocks. Going to the local beach, looking for them - taking photos and or stacking them is like a form of meditation for me. Just me and the rocks. Maybe I then become one with the rocks and feel no pain. That is of course unless one of them falls on my head, which with these Taranaki cliffs is always possible. I have actually witnessed a big rock slide one morning as I walked on the beach. That puts things in perspective and makes you respect nature and its forces.

The third vlog of #vlogweek is up on YouTube as we speak, the first two got about 90 and 60 views - so I know at least SOMEONE is watching them. I don't create them for the views, it's just a fun thing to do - but it is nice to see there's an audience out there beyond my 27 subscribers. I should promote it more on my Instagram account this week, as over there I have over 4000 followers.
Not bad for 50+ Dutch Kiwi Author/illustrator/photographer/art director

When I saw the horse faces on James Bond in the Kikker Comics vlog, it reminded me of all the fun apps that I have used over the years. Last week, I finally had a go at REEFACE. A great app for fun face swapping, highly addictive. I placed my face on James Bond, but I didn't recognize myself at all. And I just had to do one with the vlog-father, Michael. If this vlogchallenge was like  the series FRIENDS, he would be Joey. Check out the vlog for the clips!

Meanwhile if you are thinking of sending me something for my birthday in September make sure you send it way ahead of time. I am still waiting for an EPPO magazine that was send to me weeks ago. I am hoping to review it once it gets here, but I am not sure if it will make the #vlogweek series.


eRiQ
PO Box 60,
Hawera 4640
New Zealand

035 - Vlogging an old horse #blogjune 01

 

 

 

 “When the going gets tough, put one foot in front of the other and just keep going. Don’t give up.” 

- Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart 

Song of the Blog:
“When the going gets tough
The tough get going, tough, tough, huh, huh, huh”
- Billy Ocean

Michael Minneboo started this challenge called #vlogweek, in which he would be vlogging every day for a full week. He encouraged others to join on this 'crusade' of geeky goodness and soon enough all the usual suspects were filming their comic books and using clever effects to fill a minimum of 30 seconds.

So far I have been having fun, doing a rock and a comic of the day feature and showing some of my garden and today I walked to the local park because our car is at the garage waiting for parts to arrive. So no trips to the beach this week.
Don't worry, I have plenty other ideas and stuff to show.

The first to days are now available on YouTube - with another FIVE to follow.
Click on the thumbnails to go directly to each day and make sure to subscribe and like the videos as that will motivate me to make more vlogs in the future.
For now #blogJUNE has also begun - how will I fit it all in?
Well, at least with no car for a week I am stuck at home anyway!
Let me know if there are any things you would like me to VLOG about and I will see if I can fit it into this vlogweek or any potential future editions.

If you have any books or products that you would like me to review, you can send them to eRiQ / Mr.Q -


PO Box 60,
Hawera 4640
New Zealand

034 - It's time to come together

 

 

 “All the best parts of art come from pain turned to celebration.” 

- Natalia Kills

Song of the Blog:
"It's time to come together
It's up to you, what's your pleasure?
Everyone around the world, come on"
- Kool & The Gang

On Facebook I saw that one of my favourite comic book artists, Eric Heuvel, turned 61 today - I still have seven years to go before I reach that 'milestone'... We used to send cards to people we knew for their birthdays, now it's a quick message on Facebook. Times have changed and it's amazing how fast time has gone and how there are so many things we look back on. 

Today, the 25th of May, was the day my dad was cremated back in 1999. I went back to Holland that year and stayed several months. I even worked for a design agency in Zoetermeer for a while before going back to New Zealand. I used the building of the place I worked for the one my comic book character works from. A comic that I have been working on for too many years now and really need to finalise. I am hoping this might be the year.

Also today in New Zealand the tv show Shortland Street is 29 today! Which means this year it has also been that long since I arrived in this country. Big celebration next year, as it will then mark 30 years. I have lived longer in NZ then I have in Holland.

Plus it was 44 years ago today that Star Wars was first released! I still remember being 10 or maybe 11 and being blown away by the first movie.
The orginal toys are still in my collection - most of them, as I somehow lost the original R2D2 and my Obi-wan-Kenobi.

 

So many celebrations today, as we finish of with 'Towel Day' -- this  is celebrated every May 25 as a tribute by fans of the late author Douglas Adams. I celebrated it by folding the towels!

What are you celebrating today?

033 - Back to the Blogging

 

 “I knew I was alone in a way
that no earthling has ever been before.” 

- Michael Collins

Song of the Blog:
"Take a look at me now, cause there's just an empty space.
And you coming back to me is against all odds
and that's what I've got to face."
- Phil Collins

Okay - I know... It sure has been a while...
I guess the last few years have been quite surreal. To be honest I have been thinking of getting back to blogging for a long time - I have been looking at that empty space when I opened my blogger tab that was still open on the top of my browser. It's not that I haven't been busy.. I have finished writing a trilogy, illustrated two children's books, put together some poetry books and worked on several other publications (QUBE, NZO, COMIQ and CRISP) - There are still some other projects that I hope to finish this year (secret stuff) that I will be blogging about in times to come. The month of June is coming up and that's always been a challenge for me to blog EVERY day. LET'S DO THIS !!!

The other thing that I have been enjoying is posting EPPO magazine related posts, I have started doing it a while ago and have been getting some nice reactions. They are on the 'DE JAREN EPPO' Facebook group, run by Ger Apeldoorn. To be fair, I almost stopped posting stuff on 'Fakebook', but its comic (and Stephen King) groups have actually still remained a source of fun reading on a daily basis.

For the EPPO FB group I normally find out what is celebrated on that particular day and then find any related images in the pages of EPPO - For those unfamiliar with the name, it's a Dutch comic magazine that has been around since 1975. I read them all till about 1987. There was a break for several years, but it came back in full glory in 2009. With all the familiar comic stories and a range of new talent as well. Just looking through the pages brings me joy and it is fun to be able to put a smile on other people's faces who come across these posts and hopefully it makes them remember the great times they had reading these comics.

 

We all need more joy in life - and by the way - MAIL brings me JOY - why don't people embrace the old letters and parcels again? Feel free to send me some mail (you are most welcome to add books and or other surprises) to:

eRiQ,
PO Box 60,
Hawera 4640
New Zealand