Lance Foxx's Journal

Foxx Stox: Lance Takes on Wall Street

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:03:18 GMT

I have joined the stock market. I bought my first stocks, ever. I've always wanted to try this out and last week I took that first step. I bought 1 share each of 3 different stocks I thought had the best potential for growth.

ORLY - (YA RLY!) O'Reilly Automotive
CAR - Avis Rent-a-Car
PAG - Penske Automotive Group

Now, only buying one share of each, I know I'm not going to get rich. That's not what I'm doing this for. I consider it a fun experiment to test the waters out with. If I find I have good instinct at trading stocks and I do well, I may invest more money into it. But, for now, I'm just going to watch these stocks for a bit and see how well my picks do.

I'm up $2 already! Woohoo! Heheh...

~Trading through TD Ameritrade.

RIP: Michael Jackson

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:53:10 GMT

It is hard for me to express how I feel tonight.

There's a lot I want to say, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to find the right words to properly express how I feel.

I am both saddened and depressed by the loss of Michael Jackson.

Michael meant a lot to me. I grew up as a child if the 80s and I remember just about everything Michael Jackson did. I remember the Pepsi commercials. I remember eagerly anticipating each and every music video that would debut on MTV. I even remember the night the Thriller music video debuted! I was at a friend's house whose whole family liked Michael Jackson and I really liked him a lot too. Thriller cemented my interest in Michael as an artist, a performer, a dancer, and a singer.

I remember the larger than life persona he had and the moments where he was on top of the world. All the while, he never became greedy, corrupt, or ungrateful. He always remained sweet, thankful for everything, hopeful, and loving towards everyone.

The very first album I ever went to a record store to buy was Bad. Yeah, I remember the controversy of how "white" he looked, but I looked past that and appreciated the the songs and the new music videos all over again. I became a die-hard fan. When I was young, I even wanted to dance like him and I mimicked him all the time. I even remember dancing in front of my mom once, spasming like an idiot trying to pretend to be like Michael Jackson... I could be embarrassed to have that memory, but instead I cherish it now.

I saw Moonwalker, the movie. Yeah, terrible movie, I know, but there were a lot of parts I just loved.

"Leave Me Alone," in which he took a shot at all the negative people in his life, defending himself and proving that he was strong enough to even satire and laugh at himself...

"Speed Demon," probably would have never been able to explain it fully back then, but knowing me now, you gotta understand why I would love this video. Michael, once again, feels the need to escape from the crazy people in his life. He goes on one hell of a flight of fancy, in which he becomes a clay-mation anthro rabbit of himself, actually shapeshifts a lot, and pulls some tricks to get away.

"Smooth Criminal," probably the best part of the movie, in which his style of dance blends perfectly with a fun 1930s gangster theme. It became so iconic the theme itself spawned a video game.

Outside of the video, there was more shapeshifting. Michael actually transforms into a car and a mechanized robot! Given a budget, you actually see some pretty detailed and awesome transformations. Well, okay, the car was done in shadow, but the car looked cool when it pulled out and the robotic transformation was very detailed!

Beyond the movie, you remember his transformations in "Thriller," the morphing part in "Black or White," turning into a black panther in the uneditted ending of that... Michael Jackson seemed to have a thing for transformation. You know how I can definitely relate to that. I'd even go so far as to say those TFs probably did help me get into TF, partially at least, but undeniably.

To me, seeing Michael Jackson transform was Michael trying to express himself in so many ways, just being human wasn't enough any more. He shifted his shape to express things in more than one form. I really admired him for being able to morph his image and his body that way in such a public fashion. He wove that into his identity at times in the same way I do now.

It wasn't just TF, though. In a way, I thought we were kindred spirits. On the level of being an artist, I just... I wanted to talk to him, get to know him, talk about the music videos and everything... he seemed so fascinating and I wanted to get to know him better, understand his creativity and hopefully mutually share some inspiration.

The 1990s got ugly. I felt bad for Michael, but as things went from bad to worst, it was tough to support him when the whole world seemed to turn against him. I never believed in the child molestation allegations, however I had to admit he was getting progressively weirder and weirder. I would often shake my head and ask, "Michael, what are you DOING?!" I would later find out drugs were starting affect him and his judgment, though nothing got to him worse than the child molestation charges. I think that really knocked him to the ground, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. The world loved you and all of a sudden they hated you...

(Let me make it clear, I do not believe Michael Jackson ever molested anyone. All comments throwing that back in my face will be ignored. Regardless of what everyone believes, he want to court, was found not guilty, and we all had a chance to move on.)

Sadly, he never was able to shake the allegations. I think his drug use either returned or got worse. I believe his health was fading. I believe he wasn't surrounding himself with the right people. I believe he pushed himself too hard at a later age, trying to perform like he was still 21 when he's in fact 50. I think the botched plastic surgeries were demoralizing and the skin disorder he had that gave him embarrassing blotches definitely didn't help either. He never really got over people believing he just bleached his skin. He hid himself more and more in bandages and with the notorious face mask.

It seemed Michael Jackson just went on a different downward spiral that, it became too easy to make fun of him and yet no one could reach him to pull him back up.

He never got the big come back he deserved. That's what saddened me the most. I see this as a real tragedy. Michael Jackson didn't deserve to die being remembered like this. He deserved better. I didn't speak much on Michael Jackson because he had faded so far from the limelight, however I always remained a die-hard fan and I had hoped for an epic come back that would bring all the fans back.

It just... never happened. His legacy is so tainted and it's so... depressing.

I want to remember Michael Jackson for his soul... not "Early" Michael Jackson, not "Thriller or Billy Jean" Michael Jackson, because that was not the whole of who he was. I want to look at Michael Jackson, his whole life, but the one thing in that that never changed... his soul. He was one of the kindest and most giving celebraties the world will ever know. It is a true shame to see him go.

I don't care what anyone else says. I, for one, will miss him. I am deeply saddened to see him go.

Thank you, Michael... for everything. You inspired me and millions of others. Hopefully, you will continue to do so for many years to come.

The New iRan

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:57:24 GMT

So, I heard that Apple released their much long awaited iRan.

Not everyone seems to be happy with it, though. In fact, I think thousands of people actually took to the streets in protest. They're waiting for some sort of update. I guess they didn't get what they wanted. I may have mis-heard, but I believe people were chatting "Where is my phone?"

Lance Dragon WIP

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:09:29 GMT

Normally I try not to upload sketches, but this drawing means a lot to me. A few of you will understand as I've talked about this with a few of my close dragon friends.

I believe I have a dragon form to my nature and I'm still struggling to get the exact form down. I wanted to share what I did tonight. I don't feel this comes anywhere close to a definitive reference, but I just wanted to try again.

This version has a bit of a more generalized anthro look to it because I thought it might be easier for me try.

The inset picture was done by Holly a while back and I tossed it in there to give a color reference.

Already, you might notice some changes. I didn't draw in ears and I may lose those. I believe I may keep the horns white, but make the spikes flat black. The red eyes may change too. I don't know yet.

I may finish this at a later date. I have another pic I'm trying to finish by the 15th and I go on travel Sunday night, so I may not be back to work on it until Tuesday night.

Cost Upon Cost / Coast to Coast

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:25:24 GMT

Initial estimate to repair my truck: $733.00. Apparently my truck IS dented...

I'll find out today whether or not the other guy's insurance is taking responsibility.

I'll also be out of town and, for the most part, offline for most of the week. I'll try to be on my phone, but work sprung surprise travel on us yesterday. I may not be back home until Friday or Saturday night.

Some good news, I bought a metal detector on Thursday, before any of this stuff happened, and that should arrive today. It's for a bit a treasure hunting, new hobby Burr and I want to take up. Who knows? Maybe we'll come across a gold nugget like this guy did and be able to pay for everything easily.

It Finally Happened...

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:30:12 GMT

My truck got hit in a parking lot today. Thankfully, Burr and I were both in the vehicle when this happened. An elderly man who was hard of hearing (and apparently driving), swung way too wide in order to park and hit my left rear. His car rubbed up against my truck, as I looked over and saw what was happening, before he backed up and tried parking again.

At first the driver denied it, but it was unmistakable. He hit us so hard that Burr and I initially thought it was an earthquake! When we were apparently ready to call police, he changed his tune and admitted to it, but then got pushy about hurrying things up. He demanded to see our insurance (even as we found out afterwards that his was expired...) and he actually took the attitude that we were holding HIM up. I couldn't believe it. I wanted remind him, "YOU hit ME, buddy!" but I didn't say anything just yet. He then said to us "How long is this going to take? I have a meeting to go to." Yeah, and we gotta pay rent before the office closes. Deal. That much I did say...

We took photos and are working with our insurance provider right now. I'm thankful we were there because this man had the attitude of someone who was willing to commit a hit and run. I have no doubt in my mind the senile old man would have simply drove off without as much as leaving contact information.

Admittingly, the damage appears to be very minor, but this is still huge deal for me.

The truck is 10 years old this year. I have been very proud of my truck and I've taken great pride in keeping it in a 'like-new' condition for the entire time that I've owned it. It's never been in a wreck, never been dented, and not even scratched. I've been very cautious and even right up to this parking lot incident, I THOUGHT I parked the truck in the most out of the way spot possible. I took more photos and I can even show you that I parked my truck against the curb to give the person next to me the MAXIMUM parking room available.

It wasn't enough, apparently. The only way he would have missed me was if I parked up on the landscaping. Seriously, even the parking lines were doubled in the bank parking lot to give cars more room!

I am grateful that the damage is minor and it'll more than likely buff out, but it might need to be repainted.

I'm just... pissed beyond words and upset that no matter how hard I tried to keep my truck from being in an accident, even sitting still, in a far corner of a parking lot, some [censored] that shouldn't be driving at all, still managed to hit me...

I'm going to keep my thoughts to myself about elderly drivers. I've had a very strong opinion about this that may not be very popular, but this just makes me want to scream it from the roof tops even louder. For now, I won't say a thing, but you could probably guess what my opinion is.

Who knows? Maybe my truck kept him from driving into the damn building...

"Ice Cream," by LittleBlueWolf

Mon, 25 May 2009 22:15:49 GMT

Welcome to the Summer of 2009! Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

Here's myself and LittleBlueWolf enjoying a bit of ice cream in the park on a hot summer day. It seems no one told her about my liquid shapeshifting abilities. Poor wolf... I love her expression, though! Heheh...

Thank you LittleBlueWolf!

Melty Fox Character © Lance Foxx
Shocked Wolfy and Artwork © Little Blue Wolf

Commissions by Littlenlost

Fri, 22 May 2009 05:07:26 GMT

I also received two more commissions from another artist. These two come from Littlenlost on DA. I pounced at the chance when I found out she was taking commissions. I had been watching her almost as long as I've been a member of DA! I've always enjoyed her style and I couldn't wait to see how she might draw my character.

Here is the result!

I think she truly captured my essence here, very foxy! Such a great expression, look at that smile! I really like how she drew my fur too, especially at the cheeks. I kinda like the longer neck too. I feel more true to being a fox drawn in this style than the way I normally draw myself.

And, Wow! What can I say about this next one?...

I love how stylish everything was drawn in this! I love my happy and content expression. As I told "Littlenlost" on DA that the effect with the melting makes me think of paint, which is fitting because not only do I liken my liquid form to paint, but I think it works for me being an artist.

It's amazing how she drew this. I can't get over how iconic it looks for my character. If I were to choose a stylized cover for a collection of artwork of my character, this would probably be it!

Thank you, Littlenlost!

Artwork © Littlenlost
Character © Lance Foxx

"Lance's Wasp Paint!" by Spookaboo

Fri, 22 May 2009 03:57:55 GMT

I commissioned Spookaboo to do one of those "Paint TFs" that are pretty popular right now. I've seen a lot done for my friends and I wanted to get one too.

You know me, though, I gotta go for something different...

To show my love for insect TFs, I requested that I be turned into a yellow jacket with the paint.

That's right, a wasp!

I'm not at all afraid of insect forms. I don't really have a fear of spiders or anything IRL. In fact, in terms of shapeshifting, I find insect forms really fascinating because they ARE so drastically different, they're almost alien in comparison! I just think it would be exciting for me to allow myself to conform to the shape of an insect. I'd love to know what it's like.

Of all the bugs out there, I decided that I find the yellow jacket to be the most appealing. I like ants too. Ants and wasps are fairly similar, but the yellow jacket I think is the sexiest looking wasp there is. I love the lean form, the extra arms, the bright yellow and pitch black colors...

Now, let me talk about the paint TF...

Spookaboo did a fantastic job! This is exactly the kind of pic I was hoping for. I was really excited when I saw this. I even printed it out and hung a copy of it on my wall. There's so many cool things, I'd double the length of this description just talking about each detail.

I love how you can tell it's a true TF, how my insect leg is skinnier then the fox leg, showing how my body has truly changed. Check out the new arms helping support and smear the paint on myself. Notice how my body seems a bit elongated to make room for the extra arms. I like how the tip of my tail is actually swelling to form my new abdomen.

Oh, I'm just in love with this pic. I had to share it! <3 <3 <3

Artwork © Spookaboo
Character © Lance Foxx

LA Earthquake Felt in San Diego

Mon, 18 May 2009 07:42:31 GMT

There was a 4.7 earthquake in LA tonight. It occurred at 8:39pm local time. I actually felt there earthquake further south here in San Diego county...

What's odd was that I was feeling strange before the earthquake. At 8:30pm at night, I'm normally wide awake. This is the prime time of my day when I'm up and have the most energy. Tonight, I couldn't explain it. I felt so incredibly fatigued and weighed down, and so drained of energy that I considered laying down for a nap. I debated doing so for a good 15 minutes or so before I eventually gave up. I was in the process of shutting my computer down when the earthquake struck.

I first heard a noise above me. The ceiling was creaking. The master bedroom is above me and I can sometimes tell when someone is moving upstairs. This sounded different, though, as it sounded more like things were dropping on different parts of the floor above. In that same moment, my eyes darted to the lamp to my left. It was shaking. Nothing going on upstairs should cause my lamp to shake and as I watched the light sway, I started to realize it was an earthquake. I sat up in my chair in the next moment, reacting to the shaking at it grew stronger. I heard the creaking in the ceiling seem to continue, but now throughout the entire house. Lastly, the rolling hit. All this happened in a matter of 3 seconds, boom... boom... boom... the quake ended with the rolling and I had my arms out on my desk feeling it. It was like there was a rug under my chair and it was moving back and forth. I counted about ten seconds and it gradually died down.

That was a good quake! I immediately checked the news, saw LA felt it, and knew right away that the quake must have come from LA. I knew that it was possibly bigger than what I just felt.

The initial report was 5.0, but that was later down graded to a 4.7 earthquake by the USGS.

People started to report light damage. News crews raced to south central LA, heading towards Long Beach. Reports of store fronts with blown out windows were coming in. There were reports of gas leaks and ceiling tiles falling on people in a movie theater. The only report of injuries I saw were someone complaining of back pain and people cutting their feet on glass.

It was a moderate quake. It wasn't a big one. It didn't collapse any buildings or freeways, but this was the very first quake I felt that I KNEW did some structural damage. It's weird knowing that something I felt, something that hit my house, actually did some real damage miles away and hurt people up north.

This quake didn't scare me. I became wide awake and all the fatigue I felt earlier was instantly gone. I jumped from news source to news source, looking for more information and to share what I felt. I thought it was amazing that I was in the next city over from LA and I felt it too. It wasn't as strong, but it was strong enough and lasted long enough to make you sit up and take notice.

USS Dubuque (LPD 8)

Sat, 09 May 2009 03:42:01 GMT

You may have heard in the news that 12 US Navy sailors have the H1N1 "Swine Flu" virus. The ship affected is the USS Dubuque... name sound familiar? That's right!

THAT WAS MY SHIP!

Good thing I'm not in the Navy any more. I spent at least three years of my life on board that ship and was deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001. I got out on an "honorable Discharge" in early 2002.

It's been 7 years, but it's still crazy to know, of all the naval warships, it was my ship that made the news with this. Life must suck for those guys right now...

Mr. Foxx Goes to Washington D.C.

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:45:29 GMT

Burrwolf and I will be on work related travel again for the next few days. The trip starts tonight and we will not be back until late Tuesday night.

I may be offline and out of contact for the most part. The only access I will have to the internet will be through my cellphone and maybe Burr's laptop once we get into a hotel room somewhere.

Please wish us safe travels as flying always makes me nervous.

The Foxx Den

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:09:03 GMT

I want to try to get back in the habit of posting everyday. The trouble is that I only want to post when something interesting happens, I want to be entertaining, or at least when there's something on my mind. Otherwise, you guys might get bored with reading my day to day activities.

So, today I would like to talk about my plans for the weekend and why I'm basically putting myself to work.

As some of you may know, a roommate has moved out of the household and left a room open. Without having another roommate to take their place, I have, instead, decided to take the extra room myself. Burr and Drake agreed, after we talked about it, that I should make the extra room my office.

Burr and I have been sitting back to back at our desks this whole time. While I enjoy being close to my mate, sometimes you can be a little too close, all the time. Literally, we were back to back at our computers, within two feet from each other. The bedroom just wasn't big enough for our bed, a tall dresser, and both computer desks. We've managed, but I was never 100% comfortable.

I like to draw. Drawing, unfortunately, takes a real comfortable environment for an artist where they can relax and not be stressed by anything. Well, that's the case for me, anyways. I don't know about the rest of you guys. I remember some artists drawing in a very hyper and loud con setting. I don't know how you guys could do that, tone all that energy and noise out. I guess I'm too nervous of a person. I need a quiet and calm environment.

Burr likes to game. I won't say that he yells or jumps up and down, but I will say that he's very passionate about his gaming. Even if he's quiet, I can just sense his energy level. It's been very tough for me to draw while knowing Burr's sentry just got taken out on TF2 or feeling the excitement he has when he and a large group are going after a high level boss in a game. Quiet or loud, I can just intuitively feel his energy level and I can often find it hard to focus on something I'm working on, either by myself or in openCanvas.

So, for the sake of his gaming, to where he doesn't always need to wear headphones and for the sake of my art productivity, we have decided to move our desks apart. It's not like we're splitting up, but when at home now, we will be seeing less of each other. That's the emotional downside to this. It was nice to simply turn around and talk to him at any point. It was cool to share videos and look over our shoulders at stuff the other has found. Now, not only have I moved out of the room, I have moved downstairs, so there's a bit of distance, even within the house.

My desk is now downstairs in the empty room. It has become like an office, but my desk is the only comfortable thing in the room...

I've done something else with the "office." I have moved a good chunk of storage in with me. Two to three weeks ago, I moved all of our stuff out of storage to save myself on $143.10 a month. I'm saving a lot by bringing it all back home. Now that there's room again, we can. However, I still remember the wildfire scare back in October and I feel like all our eggs are back in one basket. I'm not 100% comfortable with having all our belongings back in one place again and we still don't have the money to invest in anything like a fire safe yet.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the people in Texas and Oklahoma today after their firestorm last night. It's sad to see that I don't have to explain what we went through here in California recently. They just lived through a firestorm themselves now... thoughts for the people further east who got slammed with tornadoes too...

With my desk, is a mountain of boxes at my back. I intend to go through all these boxes and to eliminate a ton of stuff we may not need any more. I do have a paper shredder and I'm fairly sure the mounds of paperwork are all mine. I can probably get rid of 80% of my boxes and cut through more than half the stuff at my back.

Why move it in with me? Won't it still give me stress when I want to draw? Well, you know the saying "Out of sight, out of mind." This needs to be done. Not just for the sake of creating more room, but for the next time we need to evacuate due to a wild fire or if we need to move, there won't be as much stuff to grab... it'd be nice to know where everything is too. Once I go through all the boxes, the few that I hope will remain, will fit into closests and stuff. I'll be able to treat this as a real room then and it'll become more and more comfortable. Once there's space, I may move in a couple of bookshelves next.

My goal for this weekend is to start going through boxes during the day and to relax, draw at night. Down here in my little fox den, I can truly focus on artwork and have fun without distractions. I'm not even going to move a TV in here. If I want to watch TV (like my favorite show, Breaking Bad, or a Nascar race with Burr, we'll both take a break and go sit out in the livingroom together.) Otherwise, I have my own room again. This is the first time since a place we call "Victoria's Condo" in 2006.

This is good news for your art fans. You guys can finally expect to see me posting new artwork frequently again! I have plenty of inspiration. That has never been a problem. I've even got a stack of artbooks sitting right at hand beside my computer monitor. I just couldn't get into the mood to draw most of the time.

Oh, and I can crank my heater too. Burr doesn't like the heat. He's a wolf from the north that loves the cold and the snow. He's not a fan of melting, so I can turn the room into a sauna now if I want and enjoy a bet of melting after work. >; ]

Just passing all that on. It might be boring mundane stuff to the average reader, but I wanted to post more in my journals, let you know what was going on with me, and give you the good news that you can expect more artwork from the foxx. ^^

Bundled by Cable Company?

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:12:08 GMT

Do you pay a cable bill? If so, I want to take a moment to pass along some information that could save you a lot of money...

A little over two years ago, I was paying over $100 for my cable bill and I thought that was the average price. I think I was actually paying something like $139.00 on average. I went with Cox Communications because they seemed to be the best company in town and they agressively pushed a service they call the 'Cox Bundle.'

Now, you may not have Cox Communications as your cable provider, but chances are your local cable provider is pushing a similar "bundle" deal as well, so please keep reading.

What they offered me is A) Digital High Speed Internet, B) Digital Cable, and C) Yes, even Digital Telephone.

I went ahead and got all this in one packaged deal dubbed the 'Cox Bundle' because they sold the idea that this was the best deal in town. They may be right. Compared to other companies, they may have had the lowest price for their digital service, however...

I took a look at my bill a few years ago, trying to find ways to save money, and I started to question what I was paying for. Why was my bill over $100, anyways? Do I even use everything I'm paying for? Am I getting the most basic service?

1) Digital High Speed Internet - The first thing Burr and I did is we invested for our own cable modem. If you don't have one, the cable company will RENT you one and add that to your monthly bill. That could me a minimum of $20.00 right there. So, we already started saving a little by having our own equipment that we would never need to return. We would not be limited in what time of modem we would get either. We decided the quality and name of the product.

2) Digital Cable - I thought were were getting the most simple, basic cable service. We did not have HBO, Showtime, didn't pay for any movie or PPV channels, etc... We just had your basic run of the mill cable channels... or so we thought. When I called and asked about what cable service I had, exactly, they said I didn't have "Basic" but "Standard" cable channels. WTF, isn't that the same thing? Nope. I was paying more for a small handful of about 20 to 30 extra channels above basic cable and in digital quality service.

That word "Digital" makes it sound like anything less is crap. Well, I told them that I wanted to downgrade my cable selection to "BASIC" and LOSE the digital quality. That was an option. That was their BASIC service. The person on the other end tried to warn me that I'd lose quality of picture, but I told them I'd take my chances.

Sure enough, I don't see a difference in the picture quality. There's no static or snow on the screen. The channels are clear enough and I'm not missing the channels that got dropped because of the downgrade. Boom. Even more money saved there.

3) Digital Telephone Sevice - Digital telephone?! Really? I had to stop and think about that. How much better could a landline be? This isn't 1947. Technology has improved since then. Unless the other person is walking around with a cordless phone, landlines have always been fairly clear sounding to me. How much more clearer can a phone with "digital" technology be? I thought about that and then I realized something else...

...Wait a minute, everyone in the house has cellphones anyways. No one uses the phone!

I realized the only reason I really wanted a phone at the house was for reverse 9-1-1 calls (which are now available on cellphones) and for voicemail, but that could easily go to voicemail on a cellphone as well. I had no reason for keeping a home phone. I completely dropped the phone service.

So I went from "Digital" everything, all packaged together neatly in their bundle 'deal,' to simply internet and "Basic" cable.

My monthly bill dropped to $60.00.

Let me repeat that. I now pay $60.00 a month!

..don't get all bundled and bound up by your cable provider. Don't let them sell you a deal THEY want to sell you. Look at your needs and downgrade to just that. You'll saves TONS of money in the long run. I easily shaved $50.00 a month on my decision, possible as much as $75.00 to $80.00 a month. If you're having trouble with money, take a look at your bills. Chances are you CAN do something about them!

Lance Foxx Breaks the News...

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 07:23:45 GMT

Tonight, I'm really excited because I did something that I've always wanted to do. I provided breaking news of a major news story before anyone else!

Not only did I break the story within minutes, I actually broke the story by HOURS! No other news agency was even aware of what was going on when I happened upon it through radio traffic. I stayed home, continued monitoring the police radio traffic, and quickly worked my magic of pulling up information quickly online. As I did this, I reported this news to a very popular news chatroom provided by FOXNews.com out of Chicago. Several regulars and collective "news junkies" like myself were on hand to ride of the LIVE event as things continued to unfold.

Sadly, the news story could not be a more positive one, like a dramatic rescue that ends happily. The news event I stumbled upon... was a shooting rampage at a nearby campground. This was big. This was no small news story that stays within town. This was instantly a story of national appeal.

At least one person died and four others were injured. They believe one of the injured may have been the shooter. They're not sure yet...

I don't mean to be happy and celebrate under such a tragedy, however you have to understand, as a journalist, this is HUGE for me! I broke the news! I didn't hear it on the news first and then raced to tell others. They heard it from ME first and it took them two hours to get caught up to speed. I couldn't believe I was so ahead of the game on my first story. I kept checking, "Where's the news?! I can't believe no one's carrying this yet!"

Journalism has been a little known interest of mine and I've always wanted to go out and cover news stories. A part of me wishes I could be a "stringer," take photos, and capture video for the news. I love it. I'm really passionate about it and it's really exciting for me to be part of the "breaking news" process.

So, if you happen across a news story later today of a campground shooting in Temecula, Ca., I wasn't there but I had my ears on for this story, and I was reporting a play by play of events until the news officially showed up about two hours later.

May your thoughts and prayers be with the families that were effecting by this shooting, but please understand how I could feel excited about this. This was a very exciting night for me. I just hope the next news story will not be such a tragic one. I would love to do this again and break a more inspiring, uplifting story. I would love to balance things out.

Ziggy Stardust Suing David Bowie

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:21:41 GMT

This is my April's Fool joke for 2009. It's an e-mail I gave TMZ.com...

"In a private e-mail interview with the 1970's rock legend, Ziggy Stardust, it has been related to me that he intends to file suit against the English musician and record producer, David Bowie, in a California court on Wednesday.

I have attempted to reach David Bowie for a comment but have, so far, been unsuccessful.

Specifying copyright and trademark violations, Ziggy Stardust seeks to be awarded a larger sum of royalties, claiming Mr. Bowie has taken advantage of their "uncanny likeness" in both music and film for far too long.

I thought something like this may have been public knowledge already, but I haven't seen this news posted anywhere else."

I don't expect them to publish this. I did it only as a joke. Anyone who remembers Ziggy Stardust from the 70s will clearly remember that Ziggy IS David Bowie and that this is just a ridiculous notion. I hope to give them a chuckle and anyone else that remembers this phase of David Bowie's career.

But if they do publish this... wow, that'd be hilarious!

"Colours," by The Prodigy

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 06:54:12 GMT

I love The Prodigy's new album, "Invaders Must Die!"

I got the idea for this picture based on a song called "Colours" off the new album. It's no coincidence that I tried to make the pic very colorful with the laser lights and rave setting. I also love techno and rave music.

However, the real reason for the pic is one simple lyric where someone sings... "I can see the freak in your eyes."

That inspired me. This image comes to mind every time I hear that. I imagine someone, like myself, who is seemingly normal and mundane until you look into their eyes and you see something very usual and even freaky about them...

I wanted to draw myself that way, but I didn't know what to do with my eyes at first. I considered making the pupils slit, but... that's actually NORMAL for a fox. It's ironic that I don't make my eyes that way. I always draw them round.

Then, I realized, instead of the pupil coming to two points, how about three? I gave it a try and loved the freaky, but subtle way it looked, so... there you go!

If you've always liked The Prodigy, be sure to check out their latest album. I think you'll agree that they're getting back to what made them really successful in the mid to late 90s. My favorite track is "Omen."

(Background image was borrowed from M-Fox's stock image account: http://fantasystock.deviantart.com )

lol sci-whut?

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 06:07:45 GMT

Home

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:45:21 GMT

Home safe and sound, all went well, must sleep now...

...figures there was an earthquake while I was gone. >.>

Out of the Office

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:59:54 GMT

Burr and I will be out of town and possibly away from the net for a few days. We are taking a business trip from the West Coast to the East Coast. I'm sorry to say that we will not have time to meet with anyone. I just want everyone to know that we'll be gone until possibly Wednesday night.

As for the picture to the left... Hey, does anyone remember a really old 1980's game that you played at school, on the computer, called either "Osprey" or "The Food Chain?" It was supposed to be one of those educational games like "The Oregon Trail." In this game, which I was pretty sure was called "Osprey," you played a fish that ate other fish and tried to get bigger. You'd avoid bigger fish than yourself and occasionally dodged an osprey that would try to nab you from the water. It's not "Feeding Frenzy." That's a modern day re-creation of the game I'm thinking of.

I tried searching for it online, but each time I Googled "Osprey," I came up with pictures of the real life bird or this military plane. Cool looking helicopter/plane though.

Does anyone else remember that game? What was the name of it? I'm trying to find a free download of it online so I can play it again.

Breaking Bad

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:15:33 GMT

I have a new favorite show. Breaking Bad, (Drama/Comedy) a new original series airing on AMC. If you haven't heard of this show, you may want to check it out.

How do I summarize this?...

It's about a chemistry teacher, Walter White, who finds out he has terminal cancer and has two years to live. In order to provide for his family, he secretly decides to 'break bad' and cook meth to make a lot of money, really fast. He teams up with a former student of his, Jesse Pinkman, and the two of them become a very entertaining odd couple. The show doesn't glorify drugs, however. In fact, what you see is a drama in which the main character finds out the consequences of making a very bad decision and how it affects the people around him in his life. As things get really dangerous and intense, the show takes you on a roller coaster ride. Your typical chemistry teacher goes up against some insane drug kingpins and fights to keep his new life secret from his family. Oh, did I mention his brother-in-law and good friend Hank is DEA? Yeah, things get interesting as you might imagine! Balance the show off with just the right amount of comedy and, I'll tell you what, I became instantly hooked! It truly is an amazing and well written show that constantly has me wanting to see more.

I haven't had a favorite TV show since The X Files, which ended it's run in 2003. I don't think any show will ever replace that as my all time favorite, but I haven't had anything I've been hooked on since then. This is finally a show I'm dying to see each week. It's probably no coincidence that a former writer of The X Files, Vince Gillian, is the creator. In only the first 7 episodes (which makes up a very short Season 1) the show won two Emmys! Simply incredible, but if you watch the show, it's plain to see why. The writing and acting is phenomenal. I can't praise the show enough.

Walter White, the lead role, is played by actor Bryan Cranston. You might recognize him. He played the father in Malcolm in the Middle. I recently had a chance to ask Bryan Cranston a question about the show...

Lance Foxx: "Similar to what The X Files has done with it's two major motion pictures, do you believe Breaking Bad has the potential to make it as a feature film? Would you support that or do you believe it should stay a television drama?"

Bryan Cranston: "I would welcome that if the story is appropriate. A story should dictate the medium, not the other way around. In other words, if a story is big enough, or needs to be told over 1.5 to 2 hours and it encompasses a larger frame, then it's probably appropriate to be a film. If a story is better told in chapter form, well that's more a television series. So this story is best told in series format, where you follow a man's life over the course of two years. I don't know that Breaking Bad would work as a film - and I say that, but someone could propose a storyline that's big and has a beginning, a middle and end that really makes a lot of sense. And if that's the case I'm all for that."

"Wolfintheend" - Possible Furry Writer, Missing...

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:58:20 GMT

On February 13, 2009, Amber Dubois, a 14 year old of Escondido, California, went missing on her way to school. She was known to love animals and in particular wolves. She even had the online Yahoo name of "wolfintheend." Photos of her show her wearing a wolf pendant. She liked to write stories. I've tried looking for any info of her online, but can not find anything but press releases and an empty account registered in her name at Quizilla.

I believe she may have been a furry writer.

If anyone thinks they recognize the name, please check your chat logs and online writing communities.

Fatboy Slim is F***ing in Rehab...

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:27:00 GMT

DJ Fatboy Slim, aka Norman Cook, has checked himself into Rehab for alcohol treatment. The popular techno artist once quipped that the only difference between himself and his DJ persona was a bad Hawaiian shirt and a bottle of Vodka. The 45 year old is now seeking treatment for alcohol abuse at an undisclosed location.

Many know Fatboy Slim by his famous "Weapon of Choice," music video featuring Christopher Walken. He's won multiple MTV awards for his music, music videos, and choreography. Those who of you who like The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Paul Oakenfold, and Ferry Corsten, might also have Fatboy Slim in your collection. He has released 5 studio albums, 4 lives albums, and has done a ton of remixes. I've always been a fan...

I wish I knew you better, Furp...

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 04:04:43 GMT

I met Furp in 1998. We were stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center togather. We attended different schools, but we had hung out together a few times because we knew we were furs. I was just starting to get online more and Furp was the second person from the fandom I ever met in person.

There was another friend of mine who I met first, that introduced me to Furp. Because that relationship went sour, I think I associated Furp too much with that friend and now I regret that I didn't try to know Furp more. We weren't close friends, though the opportunity was there...

Life gave me a second opportunity when he ended up stationed in San Diego with me. Again, we were on the same base, but at different commands. We did get together, at times, but it was more of a friendly, 'how are ya?' in passing.

I'm not sure our interest lined up a whole lot. I can't even remember if we RPed online...

From what I do remember, he was always in a playful, happy mood in person. His smile was definitely one of the most memorable ones. When he did get serious, you knew he was no goofball, either. He was very intelligent too. I was always impressed by just how much he did know. I only knew a little bit about his interest in being an EMT. I didn't know that it became such a serious interest, that he helped out at cons, and that he would later on go to Iraq.

*sighs* You know, I've been lucky in life that no one close to me has died. This is the first time for me... I feel sad and regretful. I can't really show it. There's no tears willing up or anything. I just feel... bad. I have a very hard time expressing any kind of sadness, but I feel regretful the most, a bow my head in shame kind of regret...

I have this belief that Furp may be able to look down upon us and maybe he can get a better view of our lives now. Hopefully he can forgive me for not being a better friend.

He will be missed, even by people he may not have known did care for him...

This is a group photo of military furs, taken at a con. You can see me on the bottom left, second from the left. Burr is on the far bottom right. Furp is the guy in the bright red shirt. The photo looks like how I feel right now...

At It Again

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:16:18 GMT

This is a sequel to the collaboration Holly and I did back in 2005, a very graphic and extremely gory pic called "Not If I Kill You First..."

...I still haven't fully recovered from that chainsaw to the head.

2009 and we're "AT IT AGAIN!" It's another Battle Royale scene, a fight to the death, and it looks like there's no clear winner to this pic either.

It seems more like vengeance for last time. In the first pic, I disemboweled her. So, this time, Holly took a sword to my back and punched through. Also last time, she took a chainsaw to my head. So, this time I aimed for hers, trying to hit my mark with a pair of sais. I missed, got her throat instead, but close enough, heheh...

This artwork started about a week ago. We got together in OC for the original linework, then we traded the pic back and forth, coloring on our own time. I'm really happy with the expression I drew form myself, again, and the legs aren't half bad either. I only wish I could have drawn the hands better. I did color myself, but Holly colored everything else, including the gore again. She even helped touch up my coloring as it contrasted too much. My coloring was kinda flat and she also found a really good jean texture.

So, as always, give Holly some love too, if you love this pic and you're watching her on DA. Be sure to comment and fav both pics if you like them. Feedback is appreciated.

It feels good to be battling again, Banzai!

Characters and Artwork © Holly Hindle & Lance Foxx