Nostalgia is a funny thing.As I get older, one of the more trivial disappointments I have to endure is the realization that the cartoons, comic books, and movies I loved as a kid may not be as perfect as I remember.Perhaps the saddest part is, like Plato’s cave, once I’ve seen how awful they, I can never see them as I once did.
The very Platonistic(yes I probably did make that word up)property of nostalgia is the very reason that I hesitate to watch many of my childhood favorites.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Real Ghostbusters (which I own on DVD) and many other 80’s-90’s faves have been ruined by this property.
So now that I have waxed on about the terrible burden of nostalgia, I am proud to announce that Exo Squad is on Hulu, and it still kicks ass.
Exo Squad was a series that aired between 1993 and 1994 on Fox. It is set in a futuristic world in which humanity has expanded and colonized the newly terra-formed planets of Venus and Mars. After the terra-forming humans genetically engineered a race of workers called Neo-Sapiens who, after years of enslavement, rebelled sparking a decades long war that ended with an uneasy (mostly segregated) coexistence. The series follows the adventures of Able Squad, a platoon of exo-skeleton wearing soldiers who are an integral part of the newly sparked war between humans and neo-sapiens.
The show is surprisingly mature, well animated, and full of compelling narrative.It openly discusses death, prejudice, and the implications of war and it is full of awesome action. There is a ton of depth in this series that I didn't even pick up on as a kid!
In recent years, video game companies have gotten into the habit of releasing multiple editions of the same game. The game remains the same but the packaging is always different and there is usually some sort of promotion attached to entice the slobbering masses to buy the more expensive edition. Now usually, promotions feature exclusive game information or content, or an action figure or replica of a character or game item.
Personally, I never have understood the logic in springing extra money for a stupid knick-knack or vestigial level, but some people eat that shit up.
Now that I have imparted that little tidbit of knowledge upon you, I need to discuss a recent promotion that almost made my head explode....
Call Of Duty Modern Warfare II's Prestige Edition comes with NIGHT VISION GOGGLES! Not replica goggles! Actual night vision goggles. Below I have included a Venn Diagram explaining this promotion in more detail, and a picture of the Prestige Edition
I am not really sure what upsets me more the ridiculousness of this, or the fact that I honestly, for the first time in my life, was enticed by one of these sort of promotions. Now let me be clear I don't give a shit about Call of Duty. If I had to come up with any sort of opinion of that game or series it would be negative. BUT NIGHT VISION?
BATMAN HAS NIGHT VISION!
I could finally become Union Township's ever-vigilant Sentinel of Justice poised to fight... jay walkers?
UGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
The urge is great! But the ridiculous excess is equally great!
Here's a quick 5 video list, in no particular order, of the songs/bands/genres I'm crushin' on latelty.
p.s. These songs are by no means cutting edge....
Dead Man'sBones - In The Room Where You Sleep Ryan Gosseling and some other cat, along with a creepy kids chorus, make cool music.
Womanizer Cover This is something Bryan hipped me to... that's all I can say. Oh and it features the Violin, Cello and Cimbalom
Yoyo Ma - Bach Cello Suite No. 1 This song was featured in the West Wing episode Noel, and it is pretty much the prettiest thing ever.
Fun - All The Pretty Girls Fun is Nate Ruess (ex. The Format), Andrew Dost (ex. Anathallo) and Jack Antonoff (Steel Train).
Morrissey - I Have Forgiven Jesus
-End Transmission
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Rich designed the cover logo and layout for me and I wanted to share it with all of you, you should also probably check out all his amazing design work over here.
I suppose its best to preface this video by speaking to the merits of Garfunkel and Oates a bit. They are a comedy band in the same vein as Flight of the Conchords. You may recognize Kate Micucci from Scrubs, she plays Ted's girlfriend Guch. Idk where Riki Lindhome is from, heaven I suppose...
Anyway, Rich an I are kinda crushing on them so we decided to convey this love via means they would understand. We have no professional training folks. This video is all raw natural talent!
Sometimes I wonder what its like to be Rush Limbaugh, so angry, cynical, and ignorant.
That aside I am also fascinated by him. He is a zen master of Hate and Cynicism. He can take one topic and Judo it into some sorta hateful critique of another. Case in point, Rush compares H1N1 hysteria to that of AIDS in Africa. He explains that Africans pretend to have AIDS and inflate the numbers of cases reported so they can get more aid money.
Yes Rush, just like Michael J. Fox exaggerates his Parkinson's symptoms.
The Gentleman from Arizona was attacking some Green Initiatives calling them "Pork Barrel." Proof that "Pork Barrel" is in the eye of the beholder. Where as Senator McCain feels a 50 Million Dollar border fence is imperative to our national security, I feel that spending that amount of money on a fence that has been proven ineffective is wasteful and irresponsible, but that is an argument for another day.
In any event, I decided to respond to my friend John McCain's posts.
@SenJohnMcCain I guess Green Buildings are a low priority to you. Investing in green construction makes sense fiscally and environmentallyin reply to SenJohnMcCain
@SenJohnMcCainYou are willing to spend twice the amount of money to appease the right instead of work towards a better future? Bravo. in reply to SenJohnMcCain
I told rich about my battle of wits with McCain, and he decided to join our debate.
I found this to be touching and very powerful. So much that I felt the need to post it here.
"A disarming video of an 86-year-old WWII veteran from a public meeting on Maine's marriage equality bill on April 22, 2009."
"The woman at my polling place asked me do I believe in equality for gay and lesbian people. I was pretty surprised to be asked a question like that. It made no sense to me. Finally I asked her: what do you think I fought for in Omaha Beach?"
My bosses bought everyone in the office a webcam for video conferencing and the eventual return of our YouTube Offerings. They tasked me with playing around with it and finding out all of its features. Having just watched Robert Downey Jr. in the movie Chaplin, I decided to make my own silent movie. Below is the result...
is the Toyman, a villain of Superman's who modified his once innocent toy designs into deadly weapons. I mention this because the following video has me convinced that a Winslow Schott wannabe is working at iRobot....
Seriously, isn't that the same technology as Vac Man? I'm pretty sure it is. Whats next plastic explosives Gak? Cold Water Revealing Camouflage?
Nice move Vac Man way to ruin your hideout, next time why don't stretch OUTSIDE!
Nien Nunb is my favorite Star Wars character! Go ahead, judge me! He's the most interesting Non-Wookie co-pilot to ever sit shotgun in the Millennium Falcon!!!
My colorist's name is Ross Hughes, and this is his progress so far...
My good friend Frank Barbarie is doing the letters for me, check out his stuff here. Frank is lettering before the colors are finished, to give me an idea of how it will look, and then is going to adjust them once the colors are finished... Here's a B&W look at the letters.
So my blog laid fallow (if you don't know what that means look it up its a agriculture term) again. I am sorry to my one fan Luis Lopez who has threatened me basically every time he sees me...
Why have I been gone? Well, that's what I plan on telling you in this post.
First order of business, I've been working on a pitch for a comic series tentatively titled "Kid Occult," which follows a fugitive sidekick, The Kid, as he fights to exonerate his mentor, Professor Occult. The best way to describe it is equal parts Batman and Robin, and Don Quixote. I am working on the pitch with an AMAZING artist named Leonel Castellani, he is supremely talented and a really cool guy. I used the forums on the website Digital Webbing, as recommended by Frank Barbarie and C.B. Cebulski, two awesome guys who have given me a ton of tips and advice along the way. Below is a sketch by Leo of the series' main character The Kid! (named after the Charlie Chaplin film of the same name).
I was amazed by how many talented artists responded to my posts on Digital Webbing, one post introduced me to a load of amazing talents. I really recommend the site to anyone working on a pitch or looking for talented: pencilers, inkers, etc. Like I said, I received responses from so many great artists, so I thought I'd share a sketch by another one of my posts respondents. Below is a sketch by another extremely talented artist, Daniel Picciotto, who didn't quite fit this series, but I hope to work with on another pitch. The other thing I have been workign on is a webcomic titled Idle Minds, which is posted right below this blog. I have a few strips in the bag, but I am struggling with the website details.... So anyone out there, if you can help me out I will love you eternally! In anyevent, Idle Minds follows a 20-something guy who rediscovers his childhood imaginary friend. So yeah... hopefully soon I'll have a site to post the strips on and blog on...
hopefully... Otherwise I have been working, chilling with friends, and being sick (if I was a horse I'd have been shot LONG ago!)
-End Transmission
P.S. heres a musica video that I love, despite the song kinda sucking...
So I still have ALOT of things to work out for my web comic (i.e. website, domain, archive, etc.),but here's first comic strip I finished. Let me know what you think.
One of my favorite things in comics is when the Joker doesn't laugh.
i.e. The Joker in Infinite Crisis.
Those moments tend to be the funniest.
So for my Lunch Time Sketch, I drew the Joker, seconds after something didn't go his way... or maybe after a henchmen farted, who knows.
...I've proved my point. I've demonstrated there's no difference between me and everyone else! All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day. You had a bad day once, am I right? I know I am. I can tell. You had a bad day and everything changed. Why else would you dress up as a flying rat? You had a bad day, and it drove you as crazy as everybody else... Only you won't admit it! You have to keep pretending that life makes sense, that there's some point to all this struggling! God, you make me want to puke. I mean, what is it with you? What made you what you are? Girlfriend killed by the mob, maybe? Brother carved up by some mugger? Something like that, I bet....
For reasons beyond comprehension, Joe Jackson and his wife have gained temporary custody of Michael Jackson's children. Now to say nothing of the fact that I wouldn't trust Joe Jackson with a Tamagotchi or a Furby, I have to protest this custody decision because it will destroy any chances of fostering peace between us and: Iran, North Korea, and the Middle East.
How do you ask? I'll direct your attention to DC comics' Fourth World, where enemies, Darkseid of Apokalips and Highfather of New Genesis, traded their sons in an attempt to foster peace between their warring worlds. Up until the custody decision, I was preparing to humbly propose that we trade: Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket to Kim Jong Il, Osama Bin Laden, and that guy from Iran whose name I will definitely spell wrong, for three kids of theirs.
Now I know what you are thinking, "But Jimmy, the Princes and Princess of Pop are destined to become musical gods that our enemies will surely exploit and use against us."
Yes. Yes they will. These children are destined to become the musical messiah, or harmonic hellions depending on their upbringing. But this is only step one of my plan....
Peace was never our real goal, it is annihilation. Now as the children are paraded around, and groomed to be the leaders of our enemy nations. We will train a covert team of assassins that I like to call, The Axis of Vengeance. Taking the three children we traded for, we will slowly brainwash and program them from the moment they are given to us, molding them into the most dangerous and deadly assassins this world has ever seen.
They will have to be deaf. This is a precaution, to protect them from the music that the Jackson 3 can and will create. If they hear the insidious and inspired melodies that these Pop Pariahs produce, we are all finished. These silent killers can only know the sound of justice as the blades of their laser swords sear through the flesh of our enemies. They will be silent shadows who kill as god does, swiftly and without bias.... only with bias because they work for us, and not so swiftly always because sometimes dudes need to be tortured.
I know what you are thinking, why not just give Joe Jackson the kids? Why not, NOT trade these kids, and prevent ever having to train such deadly-deaf-death-dealers. Won't we save more people that way.
The answer is: No. The best way to crush someone, is by giving them their hearts desires, and then taking them away. They don't want nuclear armaments, or the destruction of Israel, they want the next King of Pop! These nations starve for pop royalty!
If we give this to them, then crush them with their own hubris, I guarantee that no one will ever dare fuck with the U.S. of A. EVER AGAIN!
-It Doesn't Matter If You're Wrong Or Right....
This will be the blog that get me on the NSA watch list...I promise this is all a joke.
Clearly they best option is to make these into controllers... I KNOW RIGHT? How sick would that be? This is a million dollar idea THQ I think you should strike while the iron is hot...
Also, I think this specific blog is proof of my unique vision. Any and all who read this should tell their friends!
Maybe I can get a job as the idea guy at a toy company like Tom hanks in Big
-For years whenever people would quote Voltaire, I would think they were talking about Zoltar from Big...
, I can never see them as I once did.
Posts
