The October Challenge and The Return of the Fantastic Fest Fundraiser

It's been kind of a lean month here at stately Krell Laboratories. The summer movie season has slowed to a crawl. My main source of new movies, my local art house, has devoted their screens to a very small number of movies this last month and a half and I've written about all of them. I've soured so much on the multiplex experience that I'm being pickier about it than I've been maybe ever. So my blogging has dwindled a bit this month. Things are going to pick up next month.

First off, The October Challenge is just around the corner. I'll be wrangling the various participants from around the web again this year in addition to attempting the challenge myself. If you'd like to participate, leave me a comment with your blog's address so I can add you to my list of participants. Here's this year's banner:

Please feel free to use these however you like, or use one of the previous year's banners, which you can find here.

Second, I'm attempting once again to go to Fantastic Fest in Austin this year, and to this end, I'm holding another fundraiser. The terms of the fundraiser are pretty much the same as last year. For anyone who supports this fundraiser with a $15 donation, I will send that person a sketch card of anything they want. It can be a movie star, a comic book character, a D&D character, whatever their heart's desire. Sketch cards will be on 3x5 pieces of bristol board, in ink, along the lines of this drawing of Johnny Cash (which is still available from my Etsy store by the way, waiting for some lucky buyer):

Or this redneck cannibal patriarch:

You can, of course, still donate below the $15 threshold, and I will still love you all eternally.

Speaking of Etsy. I still have Ms. 45 prints available there, as well as a handful of other art pieces. Buying from my store will also get me to Fantastic Fest.

What will I do at Fantastic Fest? Why, blog, of course. I'll write about everything I see there. So if that's something you'd like to read, please consider supporting me.

Here's the donation button. Make sure you tell me what you want in your sketch when you donate.

Thanks to everyone who supported my failed fundraiser last year, and thanks in advance to everyone who will support me this year. Special thanks go to my friend, Melissa, who is making the trip possible in the first place. You're the best.

Send Krell Laboratories to Fantastic Fest!

A friend of mine has invited me to Fantastic Fest in Austin Texas next month, and I'd love to go and blog the festival. Unfortunately, I'm as much a victim of the current economy as anyone and I don't currently have the money for it. I have a place to stay lined up for the festival, but airfare, food, and (most importantly) tickets are all costs I'm short. So I'm staging a fundraiser. That's where you come in. I'm soliciting donations. In return, I'm planning to blog about the entire festival, so you'll be supporting new content. But if that's not enough of an incentive, there's more. For anyone who supports this fundraiser with a $15 donation, I will send that person a sketch card of anything they want. It can be a movie star, a comic book character, a D&D character, whatever their heart's desire. Sketch cards will be on 3x5 pieces of bristol board, in ink, along the lines of this drawing I did of Claudia Cardinale:

Or this one I did of Vincent Price (though the finished card would, of course, be in ink):

I may have to put a cap on these based on how many I end up having to do. I don't want to make anyone wait a long time to get their sketch.

But wait, there's more! Donate $25, and I'll send you a DVD-R of either Orson Welles's rarely seen film, Chimes at Midnight or Ladislaw Starewicz's equally rare animated feature, The Story of the Fox, your choice. Just be aware that these won't be pristine prints by any means, but they'll at least be watchable. There will be 8 of these available. Donate $50, and I'll send you DVD-Rs of both films. There will be 8 of these available, too.

Smaller donations are, of course, welcome, too, and I'll make a point of thanking each and every person who donates on the blog. I figure I'll close out the fundraiser one way or another two weeks from now, on September 3rd.

How to donate: just press this button. Make sure you send me a note with your donation.

And in the immortal words of Bartles and James: "Thank you for your support."