Sneaky Dragon

Hello, hello, Sneakers! Ian is back from France and so what did he and Dave talk about? Er…France?

Yes, this week on the show, Ian and Dave discuss jet lag, French Hallowe’en; French cities that start with “M:; upskirts; MacDonald’s in foreign lands; Simpsons “fans”; everyone needs validation; unclear French greetings; the “L”s of French eating: lengthy and lots; plumbing the French depths; Communist enthusiasm; too much character; obscure inspirations; tricky Chicks; legalistic ladders; those darn Catholics; animal animal cruelty; rest in peace, Vine; and, finally, there’s a ghost in my house.

Thanks for listening.

Hello, Sneakers! Ian is away in France this week and yet he’s on the show. How did they do this??? Sorcery!!!

This week on the show: some quality banter; bee admiration; work buddies; group dynamics; Dave the bully; Avengers as the Archie gang; Ian hates magic (so much); the Supergirl TV show gets the thumbs up; wondering about Wonder Woman; disappointed by Batman; how to ruin Green Lantern; Halle Berry ruins everything; a brief, inaccurate history of Fantagraphics; preemptive rejection; and, finally, Tamagotchi tama-gotcha.

Thanks for listening.

 

Hello, Sneakers! The court ruling has come down and Ian is back on the show again! Hooray!

This week, Ian and Dave discuss Ian’s sad news about his cat; life’s hard truth; Nina’s wonderful Sneaky Dragon drawing; Dave’s minimal effort; our Thanksgiving celebrations; Canadian Thanksgiving for Americans; a C.H.i.P.s controversy; mix tapes as mental illness; travelling to France; Ian’s blatant disregard for human life and dislike of airport security; several analogies for gun control; and, finally, (oh, God) more American politics talk (would you just get the election over with America!).

Thanks for listening.

Ciao, Sneakers! We are sorry to tell you, but Ian received some bad news on Thursday and could not do the show this week so Dave is flying solo for this episode.

Please be gentle to our lonely Sneaker as he tries out one of the sidecast ideas mentioned on the question show: Mix Tape! Dave has taken one of the mix tapes he made for a show listener and has deconstructed the whole process: how he chooses songs; how he likes the songs to flow; and how to make a great mix tape (in Dave’s opinion). Plus lots of music trivia and typically opinionated Dave-isms.

The songs covered on this episode include:

Side One:

Eric Matthews – “Fanfare” from It’s Heavy In Here

The Bubble Puppy – “Hurry Sundown” from A Gathering of Promises

Sparks – “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Two Of Us” from Kimono My House

Preston School of Industry – “Monkey Heart And The Horses’ Leg” from All This Sounds Gas

The Bamboo Shoot – “The Fox Has Gone To Ground” from Rubble 3: Nightmares In Wonderland

Destroyer – “Beggars Might Ride” from Streethawk: A Seduction

The Mohawk Lodge – “Wear ‘Em Out” from Wildfires

Field Music ‘ “In Context” from Tones of Town

No Fun – “Ambivalence (Gets Me)” from Snivel

Sufjan Stevens – “Jacksonville” from Illinois

Belle and Sebastian – “The Stars of Track and Field” from If You’re Feeling Sinister

Side Two

Stereolab – “Percolator” from Emperor Tomato Ketchup

Jefferson Airplane – “Watch Her Ride” from After Bathing At Baxter’s

The Super Friendz – “Karate Man” from Mock Up, Scale Down

Midlake – “Roscoe” from The Trials of Van Occupanther

Emitt Rhodes – “Really Wanted You” from Mirror

The Real Kids – “All Kindsa Girls” from Mojo Presents I Love New York Punk

Elliot Smith – “Baby Britain” from XO

Taylor Hollingsworth – “Keep Coming Back” from Uncut’s Rip This Joint

The Cryan Shames – “The Little Town I Used To Live In” from A Scratch In The Sky

The War on Drugs – “Red Eyes” from Lost In The Dream

Thanks for listening.

Hello, Sneakers! Welcome to Episode 252 of Sneaky Dragon! Does it feel weird?

This week on the show, Ian has returned from the Edmonton Comic and Entertainment Expo and he has brought back some stories and a game given to us by listener and web cartoonist Caanan Grall. Canaan gave Ian a box containing a deck of cards. On one side of each card was printed Comictionary and on the other, Poptionary. Each side had five numbered topics with a pop-culture or comic bent. Ian wasn’t sure of the game rules so he and Dave made up their own: create random topics by pulling out a card, saying “Poptionary” or “Comictionary”, and then choosing a number. This resulted in them randomly discussing Will Ferrell – progenitor of the new, slightly disappointing ad lib comedy of the Ghostbusters/Anchorman variety; a brief segue into politics as Ian and Dave discuss the debate between Hilary and the Donald; Ian is down on ‘Murica and Dave disses Milton Friedman; Steve Martin – the first of the big concert stand ups and now art collector bore; April O’Neil – first lady of TMNT, the comic that brought about the black and white comics boom of the early 90’s (it wasn’t all bad); Pogo – brilliant, but difficult Walt Kelly newspaper strip that one admires, but finds it hard to love; and, finally, Malificent –  the evil fairy of Sleeping Beauty and the misunderstood, mixed-up kid of Malificent.

Thanks to Caanan Grall for the great show aid!

Thanks for listening.

For Ian:

So weird to write Episode 251.

Anyhoo…Ciao, Sneakers! Welcome to another newer and better Sneaky Dragon than ever before! (I can’t write proper sentences anymore.)

This week Ian and Dave are joined by not only Heather L. Gilbraith, fantastic cartoonist-about-town of Sable and Aster and The Critical Hit Show Comic, but also Eisner Award-winning cartoonist and many times Sneaky Dragon guest Pia Guerra. So apologies for the sound being a little off today as some mic sharing was going on.

Discussed: lots about creativity: everyone’s current creative blocks and creative sparks; comics process; lethal creativec blows: the brutal critique, the rejection letter, fucking art school; creative processes – tricking ourselves to work, paper vs. screen, why character should drive plot; virtual 3-D art – the future? And, finally, some web comics we like: Unicorn Jelly, Eth’s Skin, Hark! A Vagrant, and Panel Syndicate.

As mentioned during the show, Sneaky Dragon has a Patreon account – if you feel like contributing to the show. And gurst of the show, Heather L. Gilbraith has a Patreon account too. You can help her out here.

Want to meet Ian in person? Well, you can fly to Edmonton and attend the Edmonton Comic And Entertainment Expo! Ian will be there Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, Ian will be performing with the 404’s in MMIRPG – An Improv Fantasy Epic at 2:30.

Here is a good overview of Alex Toth’s brutal critique of Steve Rude’s artwork for a Johnny Quest comic. (It does seem a little over-the-top for a critique of a children’s comic IMHO.)

Pia mentioned Wally Wood’s 22 Panels That Always Work. Here is a link to A Moment of Cerebus with Wood’s drawings and some interesting context from Dave Sim.

Heather mentioned Michael Sporn’s Animation Splog so we may as well link to that on this most linkiest of episode posts.

Thanks for listening.

Here is Heather doing some watercolours. (More of this, please, Heather.)

We’re there! Episode 250 and all your questions! So many questions!

In a mere four and a half hours, Ian and Dave answer one hundred and seventy-five questions from thirty two different listeners about favourite movies, books, and writers; planning another sidecast; who would win in a fight between Ian and Dave; the most influential moment in their life; tricky Beatle questions; favourite cartoon dog; the outcome of a Donald Trump win; Batman villains; killing birds; their favourite year of school; child rearing advice; unreleased albums; watching Dark Star; creativity; ethnic foods; working with sociopaths; voice acting; over-rated and underrated Canadians; dream projects; favourite marsupial; liberal politics; the origins of the Sneaky Dragon podcast; and, most importantly, where did our “fantastic” theme music come from. Answers to follow.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to our 3rd Q&A episode: including, but not limited to John Halbrooks, Dylan O’Connell, Reid Jepson, Nina Matsumoto, Layne Vee, Laurel Robertson, Connie Moreno, Heather L. Gilbraith, Ben Diebold, Paul Fransen, Matthew Sanborn Smith, Jeromy, Gavin Pitts, Maire Hook, Jay and Krista, Chris Roberts, Jamie Fong, Jason VanSlyke, Louise Moon, Sarah Walsh, Thomas Callaway, Pierce Johnson, Michael Carlton, Michael Roth, Chris, Robert, Ken Painter, Bob Evans, Jada Jackman, Trevor Lynn, Haden Parkes, and Leo Lopez. Thank you, you’re all great people!

And big thanks and a big virtual hug to Sarah Walsh for her wonderful statue of Sneaky Dragon sneaking behind a wall. I mean look at this:

Awesome, right? So thank you, Sarah! (She also provided some helpful hints on picking up the sculpture so our stupid hands don’t wreck it.)

Hey, Sneakers! We bet when you started listening to this show around Episode 246, you never thought we’d get this far, but it’s Episode 249!

This week: Dave is presumptuous; Ian looks like a weirdo; cats that are dogs; wasp trees; girls with headphones; how do people date nowadays; Dave’s biggest regret for Ian; Ian doesn’t believe in playboys; meeting Hollywood; Dave’s “one” regret – missing out on a “she-devil hell ride” (with a soundtrack); Ian’s disappointing topic – the fiftieth anniversary of Star Trek; Dave is shocked that they “Lucas-ed” Star Trek; the terrible secret of Strt Trek; bring back the half-hour drama; helpful cats; and, finally, the shocker.

Last call for questions for next week’s Listener’s Questions Episode. Please have your questions in by Wednesday, September 14th (not 15th as Dave said during the show.) As per usual, we’ll have goody bags for all participants and a grand prize that we’ll raffle off to one lucky questioneer. Every question equals one chance so the more questions you ask – the more chances you have to win! Contact us via Twitter, Facebook, or our email at [email protected] or write to us via the comments section here on the website.

Thanks for listening.

Hola, Sneaquaros! And welcome to another episode of the show with the unhealthy glamour complex! This week: Ian and Dave hear the sounds of silence; show how much they care; visit Dave’s imaginary world; quote contradictory adages; figure out what sports teach us; receive a participation ribbon; confess the value of validation and admit it’s pretty worthless; eat a deep-fried pickle dog; marvel at the number of Canadian awards; go to the PNE and find too many haunted houses, discover the future sucks, ride the best roller coaster, find some scary rides, and see some disappointing robots; they also bemoan disappointing endings and reveal the nonsense of time travel. (drops mic)

It’s getting pretty close now to our 250th episode so don’t forget to think up some questions for our upcoming Listener’s Questions Episode. As per usual, we’ll have goody bags for all participants and a grand prize that we’ll raffle off to one lucky questioneer. Every question equals one chance so the more questions you ask – the more chances you have to win! Contact us via Twitter, Facebook, or our email at [email protected] or write to us via the comments section here on the website.

Remember: all particpants get a goody bag including this little number, The Bumper Book of We’re So Jar – a collection of Ian and Dave’s jam comics!

Thanks for listening.

 

Hola, Sneakers! This week on the show, Ian and Dave commit Suicide Squad to the garbage dump of movie failures, but before they get to that they also take a peek at the naked Donald Trump statues; beat men’s penis problems; spend some time on porn sites; and – –

Okay, that came out all wrong.

Let’s just say that David reveals the terrible truth about The Police and then he and Ian tell you everything you wanted to know about Suicide Squad, but were afraid to ask – including: how to ignore the source material; how to mess up an action movie; how to use boring and inconsistent characters; how to not have a plot; how to not use a consistent tone; how to not understand superheroes, and so many more exciting criticisms that you’ll just have to listen to the show to hear them all. (It’s better than seeing the movie!)

And please don’t forget to think up some questions for our upcoming Listener’s Questions Episode. As per usual, we’ll have goody bags for all participants and a grand prize that we’ll raffle off to one lucky questioneer. Every question equals one chance so the more questions you ask – the more chances you have to win! Contact us via Twitter, Facebook, or our email at [email protected] or write to us via the comments section here on the website.

Thanks for listening.

Don’t be fooled by this: