About Me

  • About Me: The product of an unnatural union between a human woman and a strange visitor from the furthest reaches of outer space, I have dedicated my supernatural abilities to the goal of total world domination. A refugee from the digital hell that is MySpace, I have chosen Xanga as the perfect digital pulpit from which to convert young minds to my cause. All praises to me! In truth, my life has been one of frequent discontent and perpetual weirdness, punctuated by ill-fated careers as a writer, cartoonist, game designer, musician, historical re-enactor, professional fighter, and one-time gym owner. With my wife and three children having convinced me to curtail my more dangerous pursuits, I now dedicate myself to my education and the ongoing process of finding my Zen (I am only vaguely aware of what this means, but it certainly sounds all deep and existential, doesn't it?).

More About Me

  • Nicknames: O Divine Lord and Master, Jerkwad
  • Religion: Science and history
  • Heroes: Alexander the Great, Jack Kirby, Theodore Roosevelt, Gen. George Patton, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Randy Couture
  • Interests: Music (as both creator and consumer), reading and collecting books, moviegoing, comics (again, as both creator and consumer), writing, history, science, podcasting, martial arts
  • Expertise: If it's pointless, esoteric, and devoid of fiscal reward, it's probably a skill I've mastered!
  • Occupation: Unusually-Old College Student, Martial Arts Instructor, Professional Malcontent
  • Industry: ...should really be held accountable for the damage it's done both to the planet and the workforce.

Television

  • Favorite Shows: Mythbusters, Chuck, The Venture Bros., Heroes, Lost, Battlestar Galactica (modern and vintage), Doctor Who (modern and vintage)
  • Favorite Channels: I'm not into channels...I watch my TV shows online or on DVD. Does Netflix count as a channel in this context?
  • Favorite Reruns: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Alias
  • Show I wished wasn't cancelled: Arrested Development

Movies

  • Favorite Movies: Plan 9 from Outer Space, the Star Wars saga, George Romero's "Dead" series, Citizen Kane (I'm not just saying that to sound artsy, either...I LOVE this film), The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Fight Club, To Have and Have Not, Fido, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Godfather Part II, The Dark Knight...there are just too many to list!
  • Favorite Actors: Humphrey Bogart, the Marx Brothers, Jackie Chan
  • Favorite Directors: Ed Wood, John Woo (back when he working in Hong Kong), Martin Scorsese, James Whale, the team of William Whitney and John English, John Huston, and a bunch more.
  • Favorite Genre: Who can choose only one?

Books

  • Favorite Authors: HG Wells, Jules Verne, Philip Jose Farmer, David McCullough, Jared Diamond, Jack Kirby
  • Favorite Genres: Science fiction, history, adventure, exploration, travel, biography, comics/graphic novels
  • Favorite Quotes: "Every person acquires the stature of the enemy he wrestles with." --Nikos Kazantzakis
  • Recent Reads: Nightmare of Ecstasy (Rudolph Gray), Rock and Roll: Its History and Stylistic Development (Joe Stuessy and David Lipscomb), Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America (Barbara Ehrenreich), Odd Thomas (Dean Koontz), Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolution (Ronin Ro), The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril (Paul Malmont), Rope Burns: Tales from the Corner (F.X. Toole)

Music

  • Favorite Artists: Far, far too many to list, though I must pay my respects to the Holy Trinity of classic hard rock: Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin
  • Favorite Genre: The entire spectrum of rock...I even host a rock history podcast (the link is on this page somewhere).
  • Guilty Pleasure: European power metal

mysterylad

  • Visit mysterylad's Xanga Site
    • Name: Mike
    • Birthday: 2/12/1972
    • Gender: Male
    • Member Since: 3/20/2008

Chatboard (11)

  • punkofzombie
    RYC: it's a balloon, actually, but you guessed better than the person who said bowling ball.
  • mysterylad
    @silverspunwebs - Thanks! And at least thirty percent of it's true!
  • silverspunwebs
    Has anyone told you lately your bio is fantastic?
  • mysterylad
    @ksatria - Well, it's nice to know I still have the power to corrupt you in some small fashion.
  • ksatria
    I finally caved and have yet another profile-type page. This one is solely your fault.
    • Posted 10/13/2008 10:03 PM
    • by ksatria
  • mysterylad
    @SWATart - Sounds great!
  • mysterylad
    @sick_little_monkey - Well THAT took long enough! Jerk. By the way, now that the studio is up and running again, you know what that means...
  • SWATart
    Indeed it does. Much has happened over the past couple of years but I think I've finally adjusted, lol. Hope I didn't just jinx myself. I now co-own a tattoo shop which is my only full time job. I was able to quit the other job last month so now I'm working on getting back into the comic scene. As s
    • Posted 8/19/2008 2:51 PM
    • by SWATart
  • sick_little_monkey
    I finally got around to listening to all your songs. :o)
  • mysterylad
    @SWATart - Yep, this is my new 'Net home. It seems to be a LOT more civilized, and since it's content-heavy, there's more to do. Good to hear from you, man! It seems like it's been a million years.