Cocktail Hour, a webcomic by Scraps

So this Saturday, October 18th, is the official 24 Hour Comics Day and I’m one of many webcomickers out there participating. The goal is 24 pages in 24 hours with absolutely no work done ahead of time. That’s the tough part, of course, because I’m just dying to at least get an outline or page-map going, if not the bones of a script. But I’m also a Rules Girl and so will be good and not think too much about the actual content for another couple of days.

Now, remember, I’d decided that this could be a great way to get 2 months of updates for Random Acts… done in one(ish) fell swoop, so it’s a story of my own. I’ve got a couple of working titles in mind (Wedding Bell Hell or, slightly more topical, Rings on Her Finger(s)) but I’m hoping something even better clicks in the process. It’s going to span a bit more than a decade of my person history and I’m not opposed to there being some very narrative bits, but I am going to try to keep things balanced. We’ll see how it turns out, right?

And speaking of seeing, you can actually do just that! If you’re interested in keeping up with my progress over those 24 hours, there are a number of ways to do that:

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scrapsoflife
I’ll probably be micro-blogging frequently (at least hourly) so if you twitter you can follow me either on my page there, the twitter box on the Random Acts… homepage or get my updates sent to your phone. Whatever works

The Blog here at Random Acts…
If you already subscribe to the RSS feed for the comic then you’ll automatically get the periodic updates I post in the blog in your aggregator of choice. If not, simply check in when you think about it, if you think about it.

Fly on the Wall http://www.ustream.tv/channel/random-acts
And if you REALLY want to watch my progress in a very literal sense, I will be broadcasting live from the drawing board over at ustream. I think I’ve pretty much figured it out and made sure the camera and mic all check out and work as intended (the lag amuses me, it’s like the delay in Scream, only not as long or deadly… poor Kenny), so come check it out.

I’ll be starting at Midnight, Eastern on October 18th and running (hopefully) all 24 hours with very few breaks. In order to facilitate this, I’ll be going to bed as soon as I get home from work on Friday, waking up at 11pm to get rid of the groggies and get something to eat and then starting on my outline as soon as midnight hits. My plan of attack is

• Outline, hit the highlights of the story (30 min)
• Quick page-flow, not really thumbnails, just dividing the 24 pages into the Outline, there may be a dummy involved (1 hour)
• Scripting, in Celtx, as complete as possible; if nothing else I need to work out the narrative before starting the visual assembly line (3 hours?)
• Layout and letter all 24 pages in pencil (2 hours)
• Pencil in all the foreground people and props, roughing in backgrounds for placement (8 hours)
• Ink letters, panel borders and foreground elements (4 hours)
• Detail main figures, add backgrounds (5.5 hours)

Granted, I have no idea how realistic those time estimates are (obviously I can’t work at my usual 4-6 hours per strip rate) but I’m hoping that if I do it like this I can get the important bits down in the alloted time. Honestly, it’s the scripting and penciling that I may have underestimated and that’s why the detail inking that I do (the extra interior lines that provide a bit of shading and depth and sets the scene with backgrounds) is the last step and the one that, for the purpose of the challenge, can get shortened if necessary. Of course, before it goes live with page 1 on November 5th, I’ll have done the detailed inking to make it “right” the way I want it but I think I’ll make a reference copy at work to show how much really got done in the 24 hours.

Heaven help me if I get sleepy, though. Especially since, as many of you may know, I can’t have caffeine!

So it’s 5:40am and I just finished scripting. If you notice my proposed timeline below, I’m about an hour behind where I thought I’d be. Oh well, at least I haven’t given in to sleep or given up.  It was tougher than I thought, this forced production, very different from how NaNoWriMo and Script Frenzy have gone in the past. But that part, probably the 2nd hardest part (the first being the pencilling yet to come) is now complete and I can get on to the visual bits. I’m looking forward to something other than typing for a bit.

Well, I certainly thought I would have had another progress report by now, namely one that said “letters complete, moving on to pencils” but that’s still a couple hours away. I just finished lettering page 15 of 24 so at least I’m on the downhill slide of that task, but I can’t believe it’s taking me this long. Still, there’s almost 12 hours left and I’ll be happy to finish the day with a complete set of pencils. If I get any inking done at all, I’ll consider it gravy, icing, hell the whole cake! lol

Once Spectrum woke up it was easier to stay awake, felt more like daylight, but at 10 I needed a serious break and took a shower, changed clothes, etc. Feel somewhat normal, think it’s mostly adrenaline I’m running on. That and baklava. In fact, when Todd returns I’ll be having gyro or something else deliciously Greek for lunch courtesy of the Greek Food Festival that I’m missing right now. Oh well, my commitment to comics comes first?

It’s a few minutes early but I’m pronouncing my effort done for today. At some point not tonight I’ll do an overall wrap-up impression, but for now I’ll say that I scripted, laid out and lettered 24 pages. I pencilled 6.5. I’m okay with that. If (and that’s a big if) I ever try this again, I’ll do something less time-consuming, but at least I’m this much farther ahead on the rest of the year’s strips. Good night!

So, last week I raved about Trader Vic’s and their famous Mai Tai cocktail.

This is not that kind of post.

PItty Pat’s Porch, in Atlanta, Georgia, is more gimmick than gourmet, and not necessarily in a good way. For those who don’t get the reference, Pittypat was the Aunt of Charles Hamilton, Scarlett’s first husband from “Gone With the Wind”, and in whose home she stayed during the War before running home to Tara as Atlanta burned. Anyway, the place is memorabilia central and I have to give them credit for the overwhelming theming: the tables are set with pewter goblets and chargers, the chairs have cane seats, there’s china everywhere and the menus are actually wooden-handled church fans. Not bad.

Unfortunately, the food was mostly underwhelming. We started with drinks. I ordered Pittypat’s Pitch which was eh on taste and whose garnish was a sloppy orange slice and maraschino cherry, the pith of the former souring the drink a bit. Todd had Melanie’s Lemonade which was actually pretty good. The drinks are pricey but you get to take the glass home, so keep that in mind. The Pitch came in a small mason-jar with handle but the Julep glass from the Lemonade is very curvy.

The Sideboard is their version of the Salad bar featuring a mix of greens with various dressing and then half a dozen or more prepared salads. There was a very tasty macaroni salad with sausage (and maybe barbecue sauce? hard to tell) along with an awesome cucumber/green pea salad and some watermelon rind pickles. Honestly, the sideboard was the best thing about the dinner and you can order it only. If I went here again, that’s what I’d do.

For appetizers we had the Hot Crab Dip (Todd) which was pretty good and the Pecan Crusted Catfish Fingers (Jenn) which was recommended as one of the best things on the menu. See, he set it up too much because not only were the fingers kinda scrawny, they were over-fried. The plus side was that you could really taste that it was honest-to-goodness catfish but the crust was too dark (sign of frying too long) and almost a singed taste. They were also dry so thank heavens for the remoulade… but a sauce should compliment–not save–a dish.

Dinner was the Fried Chicken for Todd which he reported to be a bit dry but at least the mashed potatoes were tasty. My Beef Tenderloin on a Spit was smothered in some goopy mushroom sauce and topped with julienned red and green bell peppers that tasted like they hadn’t completely thawed in the skillet. The rice was strictly “Uncle Ben”-style. And then there were the sides served family style: greens and black-eyed peas. Now, normally I’d be all over that except they were both a little bland for my liking, and not just in the needing a smidgen more salt way. It was just off. The cornbread was on the dry, unsweetened side (not my preference, but I know that some people prefer it that way), a very hard biscuit and a chocolate chip mini-muffin. Yeah, I know… not really sure about that one either. We skipped dessert.

For the quality of the food, I think the overall experience was over-priced and over-hyped, but if you like GWtW stuff and prepared salads, go and have a look, have a bite, and then head up the street to the Mexican restaurant that smelled oh so good on our walk back to the hotel

Now, since I wasn’t truly fond of my own drink, how about we close with a class Southern cocktail:

The Mint Julep

7 sprigs of mint
1/2 oz. simple syrup
3 oz. bourbon

Crush 6 mint sprigs into the bottom of a chilled double Old Fashioned glass. Pour in the simple syrup and bourbon. Fill with crushed ice. Garnish with the remaining mint sprig and serve with two short straws. Sometimes a splash of club soda is added.

–from Hemingway & Bailey’s Bartending Guide to Great American Writers

Ghoulishly delicious!

At last year’s Pumpkin Party I went with a decidedly more spooky, classic Halloween theme that I usually opt for (the norm being general Fallishness). Along with some spookier food choices, I served this very yummy, if slightly gross, punch. It’s alcohol free, as well, so all y’all non-alky readers can enjoy without impediment:

Vampire Punch with Floating Clots
originally from Today’s Parent

1 Quart Red Grape Juice
2 Cups Orange Juice
2 Cups Pineapple Juice
1 Bottle Gingerale
1 Box frozen Strawberries, semi-defrosted

Chill all ingredients ahead of time to prevent diluting the punch with melting ice later on. Mix together the fruit juices and then, just before serving, add in the Gingerale and the strawberries. This works best in a big punch bowl, of course, so that guests get the real impact of the floating strawberry “clots.”

That’s the punch, nice and simple.

But down here in the South we have this glorious tradition of party punches served up with sherbet in the center–not only does it help to keep the punch cold but it adds sweetness and creaminess. In fact, if you sub the red grape juice for white and ditch the OJ, you’ve got the base of the punch served at almost every wedding I went to as a child. And since sherbet comes in so very many colors, it can match just about any wedding theme!

Back to the party: since I had a close-cousin to party punch anyway and I just couldn’t ignore my raising and had to add sherbet. Now, I could have just hacked up a pint into the punch bowl but that’s not very elegant, now is it? Instead, I found one of those plastic brain molds (though a heart would work wonderfully for this punch as well, either in sherbet or red jello) and filled it with raspberry sherbet a couple of days before the party. To make it easy to remove I lined the mold with plastic wrap which ended up adding some additional texture to the sherbet when unmolded and set adrift in the punchbowl.

Talk about a brain freeze!

Finally, for those wanting a bit more kick to their punch, you could add a few healthy shots of Chambord or Cointreau to the punch bowl and substitute champagne (not Brut! too biting, even for this recipe!) for all or part of the Gingerale for an adult Vampire tipple. Don’t substitute wine for grape-juice, though, unless it’s a very sweet red from Concord grapes or the tannins will likely overpower the rest of the ingredients.

Happy Halloween, folks. Have a safe and fun one!