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

032 - A post card from the other side of the world

 “The world before us is a postcard,
and I imagine the story we are writing on it.” 

- Mary E. Pearson, The Miles Between

Song of the Blog:
"Two of us sending postcards
Writing letters... On my wall
You and me burning matches
Lifting latches"
- The Beatles

The other day was chatting with someone about postcards. Do people still send them? Or is everything electronic these days? These days to people even still send letters or cards... I used to get a lot of postcards and had been collecting them over the years. Once I moved to New Zealand, I got rid of a lot of my collections. Like my large sticker collection. Where most kids would plaster their doors and books etc with stickers, mine never even left their plastic base. I donated that box during the big purge of 1992 and sometimes I wonder if that person still kept them after all those years.
As I was going through some old archive boxes, I did come across a nice folder that had some of my Hein De Kort collection inside, including several post cards.

Hein is a Dutch cartoonist and was the winner of the 1992 Stripschapprijs. When I look through most of my old Dutch clippings and collections, it becomes quite clear 1992 is the year I left Holland. This folder full of goodies was book-ended by some the "Hein de Kort stickers" from the time that he won the award.

Now, why do I still keep these things. you might wonder. They are inside a folder, inside a box, inside a cupboard, inside the garage. Why do people keep things... It's part of a (incomplete) collection... great memories of a time many years ago. They probably won't mean much to anyone after I leave this planet. Most of my collection will probably end up in a great big container, destined for the landfill of perpetual rubbish. 

Hein de Kort was one of my favourite cartoonists in Holland, you would find his work in so many publications. It seemed there was no stopping him. From small gags to full page colour comic strip stories. His often messy style adds to the charm of his work, including his very personal lettering. Even his use of language, is so typical Dutch and probably - like most of his imagery highly offensive, especially in these sensitive times. But my generation in Holland grew up with his humour inside family and kid's magazines.

Back in 1986 I was 19 and reading the book " En wie is nou het vrouwtje"; over 75 pages filled with comics and stories with homo-sexuality as its theme. Hein created the cover and supplied about five pages. A self described book of self-mockery and romance. I believe I for it for a few dollars in the 80's, I have seen it online for sale for around $25 now. I am not sure where the imagery in this book stands these days as we live in conflicting times where on one hand people can be who they want to be, but on the other hand if a nipple gets shown on social media you could get banned for life. Isn't all about acceptance in life? Of everyone... no matter what your sexuality, religion, race and or sex is.

 

In the end, we all should just start to collect more joy,  ...oh, and send more postcards. Send YOUR postcards (and or books and other surprises) to:

eRiQ, PO Box 60, Hawera 4640
New Zealand

031 - Thinking outside the QUBE

Okay, so 2020 has been quite a ride - and we still have some weeks left (SIX to be exact). I have been meaning to blog more, but life seemed like one big BLUR -
> EAT -  SLEEP - DRINK  - REPEAT <




There are always cool things to write about though, like how I am working hard on the third novel of my SHOCK-trilogy and there are plenty of other interesting projects I have been working on that I will talk about in later blogs.

My new author Instagram has been growing steadily - with over 1900 followers this morning. I have met some interesting people through IG chat from all over the world and it is great to share a passion for reading and books.



With our publishing company eQuBe, I have also managed to create another QUBE magazine and a new project: COMIQ. The latter is to be a pop-culture related project - a bit like an extension of this blog, but placed in a digital magazine.



That gives you a bit of an update as to some of the projects I have been working on. I am hoping to start blogging more regularly again. With summer not far away here in New Zealand, I usually wake up very early and will do my best to use that time writing a blog about something. Or maybe even a vlog or two?

030 #blogjune 2020 - Yo Rick and a ballad of eRiCKs

030 #blogjune 2020

““I came into the world very young, in an age that was very old.””
- Erik Satie

Song of the Blog:
“Would you know my name
if I saw you in heaven?
Would you feel the same
if I saw you in heaven?”
- Eric Clapton

Today is the last day of #blogjune - I started the blogs with an Eric, so I thought I might as well end it with an Eric - and an eRiQ as well.  What's in a name...

This morning I watched another LIVE VLOG from Michael Minneboo. In this episode of the Minneboo show, his guest was Eric Heuvel. He's a well known Dutch comic book artist with a great body of work, including January Jones (and her companion Rik). There are many influences of Herge's Tintin in the adventures of this "Indiana Jones"-like female pilot. I always love these little Easter eggs. During the vlog, I asked who could play the part of her in a potential movie - and the obvious choice would indeed be the actress actually named January Jones (no connection). Eric, at the time of starting the comic with Martin Lodewijk, asked 'Why January' and not April or June. June Jones, that could have worked.

I guess that's always one of the questions to ask when you create a comic book character; “What name should I pick” - Finding a name can be an interesting task. Do you name it after someone you know (a relative, friend or some historical  figure) or name it after a thing to to with the character?  If your character has red hair, you can call her 'Red' or 'Ginger'. It helps picking a name that will be memorable, often comic book characters will have names that are alliterations (in which two or more words in close connection begin with the same letter), like Peter Parker or Lois Lane. James Garfield Davis, who is the grandfather of Jim Davis the creator of the Garfield comic strip, was named after President James A. Garfield.  In turn Jim Davis named the character Garfield after his grandfather. Garfield’s owner,  Jonathan Q. Arbuckle, got his name from an old coffee commercial that creator Jim Davis liked.  Talking about cats - Eric said in the vlog that he doesn't really like drawing animals. That made me think of a cat in one of the January Jones stories, that gets a skull on its head, which reminded me of an old Leonardo comic from the EPPO - in which a similar cat also gets into the same trouble. Poor Yorick.

As for my own name; eRiQ - well, I have written a little ballad about it.

----------- The Ballad of Mr.Q -----------------

On a day in September '67, a handsome boy was born,
finding a name - for this dutch child - had his parents torn
For a girl, his mum wanted - the name to be Astrid
for a boy, Gijs - a name the dad didn’t like one bit.

So, Erik it became -- that 21st day of September
From the Old Norse name 'Eiríkr', or so I remember ...
using “ei” (ever) and “ríkr” (ruler) together,
ruling forever, like birds of a feather.

In 1987 - twenty years later - our hero joined the Dutch army
but so many soldiers in his group were Eriks - oh BARMY-
To end confusion, nicknames was the trick.
Like his high school pseudonym, he quickly became Rick.

As the soldier called Rick he met his first wife to be
stuck was the name Rick now for long as you see.
His mum finally got used to it, his dad sometimes still moaned
but even his dad’s name was just one that was loaned,
as HE was born Dirk, but went through life as Dick.
So yep - the name Rick was still to stick.

After 1992, after playing with his drawing pen
he thought, signing my name - with a Q I now can..
Thus RiQ was born - a bright light in the dark
the “i” often turned into an exclamation mark.

In 1999 his father sadly passed
It showed that nothing was meant to last
His marriage ended in that same fateful year
he needed a change - the solutions was near...

As tribute he thought... to his original name
the “e” added back - thus “eRiQ” it became -
a homage to his departed daddy Q
to honor him - that was the clue.

So - thus - through life our Dutch dude goes
by the funny name - that to some causes woes

Please accept his choice and honor his quirky ways
so - his dad remains with him - forever ruling his days.

029 #blogjune 2020 - The cameras they are a' changing!

029 #blogjune 2020

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs.
When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”
- Ansel Adams

Song of the Blog:
“There's a camera rolling on her back
On her back - And I sense a rhythm humming in a frenzy
All the way down her spine”
- Duran Duran

The 29th of June is CAMERA DAY. I have been taking photos since I was a little boy, my first camera was an old AFGAMATIC that used to be my mum's. Since then I quickly found myself some bigger, better cameras - had my own little darkroom in a cupboard for a while - and in 1999 I made the jump to digital.

Even in the last 20+ years the digital camera has changed massively. I still shoot with my CANON SX60, but find that I more than often just use my actual mobile phone for snapshots and or things I keep for reference. When looking at the camera in comics, there are plenty examples to find from "the invention of the camera" by Leonardo in the EPPO to Donald Duck, Tintin and The Joker. But one photographer stands out among them and that's of course Peter Parker (Spider-man).

I have used my camera a lot as reference material for comics and illustrations. A lot of comic book creators use photos to work from, some even add photos IN the story - others have whole comic strips with just photos and speech bubbles. I was reading some old John Byrne 'Fantastic Four' comics and Googled some of the 1936 locations and quickly found some of the photographs that were 'copied' for his comic. With digital photography and Google images, research for comics or illustrations has become so much easier. The times they are a' changing!

028 #blogjune 2020 - Glaze, Praise, I heart the days

028 #blogjune 2020

“We’re always looking, but we never really see.”
- Milton Glaser

Song of the Blog:
“Father of air and Father of trees
Who dwells in our hearts and our memories
Father of minutes, Father of days
Father of whom we most solemnly praise”
- Bob Dylan

Today, 28th of June is my father's birthday - he passed away in May 1999. Both May and June are always months of reflection for me. It's one of the reasons I started doing #blogjune...  a sentimental journey to the past. For me the remaining bound volumes of EPPO (76-77), that made it to New Zealand years later, symbolise the bond with my father. He put all the EPPO (and Tintin) magazines in hardcover volumes for me. I wished I had more of them - not sure where they have ended up after all those years. But I am most happy to have at least three of them.

This week I also found out that MILTON GLASER passed away. Many people might never have heard of him - but he was a great graphic designer that besides some iconic logos, created some historic graphic artwork - like the image of Bob Dylan. Most people will be familiar with the famous I HEART NEW YORK logo - well, that was one of his creations. He was also responsible for one of the DC comics logos. One that many comic book fans would have somewhere in their collection.

A graphic designer doesn't often get credit for most of their work, unless you have read books about design or the history of a publication you wouldn't be aware of the origin of some of the icon masthead designs of magazines or even some book covers or posters. For instance,... It wasn't till I read the AMAZING book about the years of EPPO by Ger Apeldoorn (DE JAREN EPPO), that I realised the titles for the stories in the old EPPO magazines were created by Fred Julsing ( I HEART his work! ).