About Mariner...

What matter of things can be gathered by learning these facts? Nothing of any substantial value, for sure. Mariner is a person whom doesn't fit easily into a category. He just is. His likes and dislikes vary so greatly that sometimes he himself doesn't know what to make of it. He is fascinated by old cars and new computers, loud music and quiet places, antisocial people and social parties. Mariner tries to express himself freely, but often finds that he is to shy to do so... or more often, that nobody else gives a damn. He has nearly been driven to madness, and some say he was dropped off a long time ago.

For starters, Mariner has a long running pursuit of 'the perfect comic.' Let us begin by defining that idea. The perfect, first and foremost, would have to be of Anthropomorphic Animal design, (more commonly referred to as 'Furry') similar to that of Disney, Warner Brothers, and Don Bluth, and of excellent quality. Most artists who are any good often pursue a career with those companies, and therefore limit their 'experimenting' to just within certain limitations. Those who are not very good are often spotted doing parodies or joke-a-day comic strips. Artists who pursue this motif often find them selves limited to the borders set up long ago by the aforementioned creators (though Don Bluth attempted to flee those limits). The second requirement, then, would be to break away from the limitations of having to be comedic or oriented for children. A handful of artists have been so lucky. Eric Schwartz's "Sabrina" was my first sampling of an attempt to break free. Albert Temple's "Gene Catlow" and Dave Kelly's "Living in Greytown" took it a few steps further. David Hopkins' "Jack" has been nearly right on the mark. What comes next? A fully emotional story with well developed characters, well constructed story, and an environment that suits the story well. Another nod goes to "Jack", as it is beginning to show a lot of promise in those areas. Lastly, the perfect comic can never end. This is pretty much impossible, as all things eventually have an end. In short, Mariner's pursuit has yielded very few results, but more comics are created every day. Even the most timid are beginning to post, and soon every possibility will become exhausted. And when this happens, the perfect comic may exist.

What does he do?

After a long pursuit in a career in Auto mechanics, Mariner decided it was better left to be a hobby. Grabbing the first available job, he supports his meagerly funded life by polishing the intricate parts to be inserted into jet powered aircraft. To say the least, it is boring. He spends this boring 'down time' wisely, however, and comes up with new and elaborate ideas for his webcomic. "Carried by the Wind" is Mariner's personal attempt at his vision of 'the perfect comic'. It fails immediately because it has violated the first and fourth rules... Mariner's pursuit of art has led him to create some interesting things, but nothing very well sculpted. A lot of practice is still needed to supply his audience with the mold in his mind. The fourth rule has been broken in that he already has an ending plotted out. Dare he say what it is? Nay! You must read to learn for yourself.

When not occupying his time with 'requirements', if his comic could be considered so, Mariner pursues his love of comics both online and off. The online ones can be located on the Links page. Larger pursuits on the offline scale have included Dave Sim's legendary "Cerebus", Steven Gallacci's "Albedo", and "The Hollow Earth" by Mark Shaw. Aside from comics, Mariner indulges in a multitude of activities. These things include, but are not limited to, amateur astronomy, hiking, camping, caving, driving*, movies, travel, and just plain hangin' out. Let us not forget to mention our rabid group games of poker. Nobody would ever have guessed that nickel ante poker could have pots over forty six bucks. We're crazy. *(Driving: Not just what you do from point A to point B, but rather the indulgence of the experience of taking hairpin turns at excessive rates of speed, dodging orange barrels like a slolom, and using the technique of 'drafting' on the interstate.)

What does Mariner like?

Mariner likes old cars, for one. This does not always mean "Souped-up Camaros" and "Restored '57 Chevys," it means just that, old cars. If it was made before 1979, most likely, Mariner likes it. He would one day like a Dodge Challenger, but would actually prefer it's Plymouth cousin, the Satellite, because it is available with four doors... and let's also not forget the B-52's reference. Which brings us to music. Mariner loves music, not all music, though. His tastes change constantly, and there isn't much rhyme or reason to what he likes. If Mariner had to choose a singular band that stood above the rest, it currently would be They Might Be Giants because their mix of talent and broad range of instruments and sounds. John Linnell has a voice that makes it's mark, and John Flansburgh's guitar talent is the stuff of legends, even if it overlooked by most modern critics. Another band to make the top of the list is Ayreon. The clever manipulation of instruments are styled very much like the great Pink Floyd, but with a more modern spin. Ayreon also turns every album into a rock opera of sorts, ranging on topics of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Not to mix the good with the bad, but, if there was a single person that Mariner feels could have been left out of the musical spectrum and never been missed, he couldn't pick. There are far, far, far too many folk that should be exterminated. These people should all be loaded onto the same airplane and be forced to crash into the headquarters of a certain record company. Or perhaps they should all give a giant benefit concert, then the whole place should be nuked. That would take out their annoying fans as well. Some of these people are Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Celene Dion, Sisqo, Puff Daddy, Snoop Dogg, the Hanson brothers, Britney Spears, and Bette Midler. Other people who should be on this plane include the Olsen Twins, that kid from Malcolm in the Middle, and all of the writer's guild for leaving us to die alone with "survivor" clones.

When he's not cruising down the highway at 100 miles an hour listening to his Pioneer sound system cranked up, Mariner likes to watch movies. The only type of movie Mariner doesn't care for is a children's movie, and that is entirely because most of them are so shallow and their characters irritating. Like many people of his time, he is both an audiophile and a videophile. His limited budget doesn't help in the quality control department, but he makes do with what he has. The crystalline quality of DVDs keeps him occupied for hours on end, and his homemade sound system keeps the neighbors awake at night.

What is Nuclear Development Productions?

A totally reasonable question. This tale is a bit lengthy, but I swear, it has a point. In my early days of elementary school, I began sketching regularly... cars, houses, pretty much any inanimate object of any real importance in my life. In an effort to increase my ability and escape the boring world around me, I visited the library often. Our meager selection was barely enough to fulfill my need, and it was the only library in town. Being a rural town, and my young age, I had no way of escaping this situation. On one of my trips, I accidentally picked up a fiction book instead of my usual non-fiction guides for inventing and sketching. It happened to be a fairly unknown little title simply called "Building." To this day, I know not who wrote it, or even if "building" was even the real title. It began as a tale about two mice living in a cage inside a pet store that planned to escape before they became snake food. Anyway, that book's only real relevance to me was that it began my interest in 'furry' fiction, which later spread to more types of fiction. The most important book of that early time of discovery was a title called "Lizard Music," by Daniel Manus Pinkwater. He quickly became my favorite author because the characters in his books were ones I could relate to, and they were bizarre enough to hold my short attention span. I began writing my own variation of Pinkwater's "Lizard Music" some years later. It had a few similarities, but where his book focused on the adventures of the humans, mine focused more on the lizards. My stories were known as the tales of the Gallas Lizards. My focus treated the lizards more as alien inhabitants rather than evolved natural creatures, and became pretty whacked out. Perhaps I'll go back and re-work them someday.

Now that I was becoming a little more focused on the idea of creating things... writing, drawing, etc.. I realized that someday I may need some kind of label to put all of these creations under. Like water running over a waterfall, those three words flowed into my mind. Nuclear Development Productions. I later realized the real significance of Nuclear Development as an idea, but really didn't care.. it was a cool sounding name. I was an 11 year-old kid with a media production company. My first few sketches of the logo beared an unremarkable resemblance to that of Notre Dame, and it wasn't until years later I had the final piece you see on each of these webpages. The "P" wasn't really incorporated until recently. Everything I created from that point on had the little logo on top, with those words beneath it. Sometimes, depending on the subject at hand, I would even include the word "presents:" as though a credit in a movie opening.

The first public debut of Nuclear Development Productions came in 1993, with the launch of my short-lived Renegade BBS; Teleworld. It's roster had less than two dozen people, with a file system of over 50 Megs, 48 of which were Star Trek related. Not too shabby for being run on a 386, {multitasked} through Windows 3.1. Soon the introduction of the Internet made BBSs pretty obsolete in a hurry. Teleworld went off-line, and not too many people were upset, as it wasn't very popular. During it's peak, it did give me chance to play around in a new medium, known as ANSI ACiD art. Those few Teleworld months taught me that there was a world of exposure available to me, if I could just know how to present it. I later created my first webpage, based on the Box-office bomb, Waterworld, which is the movie my present handle is from, not from those lousy Washington jocks, and certainly not because I like sailing... hell, I'm landlocked over here. There was a small NDP credit at the bottom, but nothing spectacular... It did give me a chance to try my hand at HTML. I quickly learned that I'm not a programmer. But over the years, I've refined my abilities just a little, and now even experiment with JavaScript and Flash. That Waterworld site didn't get too many hits... But I blamed that on it being a Waterworld Fan page, not my creative skillz. I'm still having problems with that, as seen by my counter on the index page, but traffic has increased since the introduction of the infamous Team Lead Pipe.

That brings us to today. Two years ago, I created this little page.I started out simple, just an index page with a crappy background, a page of some pictures, and this page, which has been re-mastered done about seven times with minor visual changes, and three major overhauls. Version 4.0 is heavy in the works right now. Nuclear Development Productions stepped in the first quarter of 2000, and is here to stay. NDP was the motivation to publicly displaying my artistic adventures, including the work I do for my friends. My former band, Incoming Traffic, was listed under the NDP credit, but only on the webpage. I have a vision of people having NDP bumper stickers and T-shirts, people with links on their pages to mine. It probably won't happen, but it doesn't really hurt to try. Nuclear Development Productions is official... It is real... and it belongs to me. If you have anything to contribute, or want to make some crazy observations, go ahead and do so. But, for NDP to succeed, I need your support. You can start by asking for Commissions or buying T-shirts, or asking me to make a webpage for you. That is all I have to say about that.

Who are Mariner's friends?

Mariner has a several people he considers friends, many of them as strange as himself. Years ago, they would all group together and participate in similar activities, sometimes lasting well past dawn and even into the next day. One could even bring up an amusing anecdote involving a walk one Memorial day, involving a convenience store, a total lack of money, shoes, and a hamster named Harvey; or times spent running from car alarms set off by a hockey stick, or even a friendly game of Cart shooting*. Mariner is aware that he is sortof an outcast, and has friends that may have once been considered so as well... they bond together to form friendships stronger than any other class, if for no other reason, because it is their strength. An outcast with friends to back him up isn't really an outcast any longer.. they are part of a newer, stronger group that overcomes obstacles where more popular people may have fumbled. This idea keeps Mariner happy, and makes him forget all of the negatives from his life to enjoy the strong relationships formed with the friends he has made, and will treasure them forever.

Of his friends, a few are a little more digitally inclined than others, and have webpages as well. Lookie here:

Mariner does have a bit of trouble gaining new friends, since for the most part, he keeps to himself. People are often astonished by his ability to be so quiet around people he doesn't know and so loud around people he does know. Speaking of loud, Mariner likes to throw parties. Not as often as before, but he still does. They often end up in total chaos and a large mess to clean up afterwards, but even the worst of his parties involve most people having lots of fun. His homemade stereo system cranks out Mariner's customized mp3 playlists like there's no tomorrow, though you may have to beat upon the control dials to keep the left channel up and running. He gained his ability to party while away at school, and has yet to get it out of his system. Therefore, his recommendation to all of you, the readers, is to party on, live long, and do anything for the sake of enjoyment, because every minute spent unhappily is another minute wasted forever, and if we only have so many minutes to use, why not try to enjoy them all? Farewell...

-Mariner

This page is dedicated to my first and only love...
The Nova  (January 1972-March 1998)

Once, long ago, there was a beast that Mariner relentlessly tried to tame. This beast was wild, rough, powerful, and most of all, Blue. It was the Nova. It roared like a thousand jet planes, it screamed like rusty chainsaw, and it guzzled gasoline by the barrel. All powerful, All steel, All blue. It carried it's passengers faster than any vehicle it's age should travel, and it did it so effortlessly, it nearly seemed as though the Nova enjoyed it's task. To know the Nova was like knowing Mariner... you were never really sure what to expect, but you knew you could have fun doing it. Unlike so many of it's aged brethren, it had plenty of space for passengers, and not two but four easy access portals. The sheer might was more than enough for the six passengers the Nova could handle, and double bench seats allowed for sleeping during weekend getaways. The volume of the vehicle's engine was never able to be outdone by the fine audio system which played everything from classical to the latest alternative rock. Brought home from a junk yard depot, Mariner invested many hundreds of dollars into a mechanical restoration of this fine work of art. His goal at first was a total restoration, but quickly faded when the need for daily transportation took over. He should have known his former car, a 1984 Ford Tempo, would not last forever.. or for that matter even a few months. Some quick body work and a spray paint job for rust prevention allowed the vehicle to be driven regularly. It's frightening appearance quickly became a feature that was adored by it's passengers. The Nova's appearance became an excuse to comfortably lay on the flatter body panels for comfort, and stand on them for Hood Surfing. Some cars are a gem in the rough... the Nova was the rough, and it was treasured like a gem. Though loved by many, it's time has passed. Watching it being driven away for the last time was a heartbreaking moment in Mariner's history, and will never be forgotten. The Nova and Mariner shared a symbiotic bond, for it was everything he could hope for in an automobile, and may never be obtained again... We shall miss you, our slayer of shopping carts, basher of snow banks, friend to us all.