News!

My birthday happened. So glad all of you sent presents, cards, and comments on Feb. 27!

That was sarcasm.
I can't believe my parents picked up the subtle hints that I wanted a cookie-cake (after all, I only scribbled it into their day-planners, burnt the words 'I WANNA COOKIE-CAKE' into the side of the house, and hired the Goodyear blimp to fly over bearing the banner 'LUCAS WANTS A FRIGGIN COOKIE-CAKE YOU MORONS')
And here's my new business-card!

Grimm Happenings is my new project. A book-project. Because Legendary recently was drenched in gas, set on fire, and dropped from the Empire State Building (to be scattered along America's coast the next day) by the hideous goblins that are "mid-write editing".
Grimm Happenings is about a British boy (Eli) who just moved to America and is finding he has strange powers. Some of his classmates and teachers (Mr. Batton and the ever-so-hot Angela) seem to know something they aren't telling, and some classmates (like Trevor) seem to unknowingly be part of that something. That's all I'll reveal for now.
Also, I (and by that I mean my dad) am renovating my den. From (dog-pee-covered) carpet (that refuses to be washed) to beautiful tile. Woo!
B.t.w. I noticed no entries were submitted for my art contest. My friend Will is an artist and (yes, I know, he's a judge, but I told him he could submit one if he didn't vote on it) he didn't even submit. (Maybe I should have told him louder. Note to self: Buy megaphone.) I'm giving a redemptive period of until May 15. Then I'll vote (if anyone submits art). Click on the art contest label to see the rules.
I won't be doing very many posts til "HERA: The Goddess and her glory" comes out. Awesome, right?
Expect a Myth-Talk (super-long) about Dionysos (I call him D) soon.
Comment!

What I'd like to see

For 2011, a lot of good movies seem to be coming out. These are the 5 I'd like to see the most:
1. Gnomeo and Juliet
It looks funny, and I love Shakespeare, so this could be great.
Synopsis: Gnomeo and Juliet is a computer-animated family film based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet featuring two garden gnomes in forbidden love. The couple looks to find lasting happiness and avoid tragedy as they are caught in the middle of a feud between blue and red-hatted garden gnomes.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_L_5vrHoWQ
2. The Tempest
I (again) love Shakespeare, especially The Tempest, and the trailer is... interesting (the end of it is beautifully done).
The Tempest is a 2010 American comedy-drama film based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare, in which Prospera, the duchess of Milan, is usurped by her brother Antonio and is cast off on a raft to die with her four-year-old daughter Miranda. They survive, finding themselves stranded on an island where the beast Caliban is the sole inhabitant. Prospera enslaves Caliban and claims the island. After 12 years, Alonso, the king of Naples, sails back to his kingdom from the marriage of his daughter to the prince of Tunisia, accompanied by his son Ferdinand and Antonio. Prospera, apprehending her chance for revenge, causes a tempest, wrecking the ship and stranding those on board on her island.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDyGl2uIQ-Q
3. Beastly
It's based on Beauty and the Beast (the book is much better than the Disney movie) and, while I wish they'd just made the guy hairy instead of all covered in tattoos with veins popping out, I'd like to see how close they get to the book (both the book Beastly and the book Beauty and the Beast)
Beastly is an upcoming fantasy romance film based on Alex Flinn's 2007 novel of the same name about Kyle Kingson, a handsome man with an evil streak, who disrespects a classmate, who is a witch in disguise, during an environmental event. The witch then casts a spell on Kyle and physically transforms him into a monster until he can find true love.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Neo6W1f7hyY
4. Tangled
I know it's already out. I'd like to see it because of all the good reviews I've heard of it (and because it's a fairy tale, duh).
Tangled is a 2010 animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios in which the magically long-haired Rapunzel has spent her entire life in a tower, but now that a runaway thief has stumbled upon her, she is about to discover the world for the first time, and who she really is.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzCDHIE6vTU&feature=channel
5. The Brother's Grimm: Snow White
Snow White with Julia Roberts as the Queen. I gotta see this.
Relativity Media is working on "The Brothers Grimm: Snow White", directed by Tarsem Singh, it is set for release on June 29, 2012. Julia Roberts is attached and will be the Evil Queen.
No trailer yet.

In answer to your question, yes, I do only like movies having to do with my intended profession (folklorist/mythologist). How'd you know?

New pics! yeah!

Just finished selected sketches based on scenes from "All Action Classics' Dracula" and "The Big Book of Grimm". Check it out!

The Boy Riding The "Bed Of Doom"

--The Story Of The Boy Who Set Forth To Learn What Fear Was

Death

--Godfather Death

Three Elves and a Baby

--The Elfin Trilogy: The Changeling

Rapunzel lowering her hair

--Rapunzel

Red-Cap and the Wolf

--Red-Cap

Snowdrop in her Glass Casket (notice the lump of apple stuck in her throat)

--Snowdrop

These are all Copyright 2010 Lucas Brandon/Ben Caldwell/Vincent Deporter.

(only half-credit given to the last two names; I might've based my sketches on their's but I still changed them into Grimm scenes)

These sketches are for a book-in-production I'm doing (don't ask dates! Still not to publisher!) about select stories from the Brothers Grimm. Now I know what you're thinking: Fairy tales? Princesses? What?

I'd like you to know that the appearance of the Brothers Grimm over the years has been trajically altered! If you want prissy, pony-filled, rainbow fairy tales, go to Charles Perrault. Not the Brothers Grimm. No offense, but just to give you a snippet of what these world-traveling, horror-making brothers did, try reading their story "The Juniper Tree". And if you're really daring, try reading it from the book "Grimm's grimmest", where there are detailed pictures included! This will give you nightmares! And compared to some of the other stories, "The Juniper Tree" is a prissy, rainbow-filled tea-party! If you're thinking half-wit, poisoned Snow-White, think again. More like vengeful Snowdrop. In the Grimm-tale Snowdrop, the Snow-White character gets revenge on the evil stepmother... by forcing her to dance in fire-hot metal shoes until she died! Prissy Cinderella? More like Ash-Maid, a kick-butt chick whose magical birds vengefully peck out her stepsisters' eyes! Heck, "Red Riding Hood" and Granny even get revenge by boiling a wolf alive!

Stay tuned for sneak-peek pages.