Friday, July 31, 2009

Sick day!

I've been sick all weekend which is why the blog hasn't been updated daily.

Nothing else to say really so check this out.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Christmas Delayed until March 2010

(Taken from a post by Kobun Heat at the Neogaf boards)

HEAVEN, The Infinite Cosmos -- Citing concerns about the economic downturn, the holiday of Christmas has been delayed to March 2010, representatives of Heaven said today.

Ordinarily held on December 25, the most holy Birthday of our Lord and Savior Jesus, who is also the Christ, the holiday will now be bumped back to an unspecified spring date before the end of Heaven's fiscal year, which ends on March 31.

"The holiday season has really been getting packed, and we think our product is going to get lost in the shuffle," said Yahweh, God The Almighty Most High in an emailed statement today.

"I mean, seriously, have you seen those night vision glasses for Modern Warfare 2? I already have a gloriously perfect view of all beings across the indescribably vast infinity of time and space, but those things are sick," said God.

Reports that Heaven's next major release, Easter, would be delayed until fall 2010 were unconfirmed as of press time.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

What is Epic Mickey? (Updated)




IGN and other sites have found some video game artwork for an upcoming wii game. Epic Mickey is described as a futuristic apocalyptic steampunk disney adventure. No one is sure if the game is still in production but I sure hope so.

Click to enlarge.











Founds some more pics on the NEOGAF Board.



















Reminds me a lot of the upcoming movie 9.

Judging from the pics (especially the last one) looks like something really bad happened to Disney World. Nuclear bomb? Something escape from the haunted mansion? And the only thing left unchanged were the 1930's characters locked away in the vault.

I'm not sure if the next 2 pics are related to the game but they were done by the same concept artist.




Tuesday, July 28, 2009

One last dance before we go


ABC Family may have cancelled The MiddleMan, but that doesn't mean the story is over.


The cast and crew of the cult (soon to be) classic the MiddleMan gathered at Comic Con for one final script read. The story will be released later this year as a new comic book graphic novel.

And if you've never seen the MiddleMan, do yourself a favor and check out the dvds.

More details here

Monday, July 27, 2009

AAALLLVVVIIINNN!!!



VICIOUS killer chipmunks that escaped from a British park four years ago have never been found - and could now have bred into a horde thousands strong, The Sun can reveal.

The news will confirm experts' worst fears that the disease-ridden rodents, which are plaguing northern France, have already established themselves in numbers here.

About 30 of the deadly critters went on the run from Wellington Country Park on the Hampshire/Berkshire border in 2005.

Eighteen died and eight more were found or shot - but disturbingly FOUR remained free.

At the time Defra - the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said they were wanted "dead or alive", because of the threat they posed to the countryside and native wildlife.

They can also carry Lyme disease, which targets the nervous system and can be fatal to humans, and even rabies.

With chipmunks reproducing at alarming rates there could be hundreds or thousands here now.

In France their numbers have swelled to 100,000 after just 17 were freed from a park in 1980.

The Sun reported last week how Britain has been invaded by deadly chipmunks pouring in to the country from France - and how one attacked a pet cat TWICE its size in Staffordshire.

Chipmunk breeder Sharon Balchin, 50, from Potters Bar, Herts, said: "It's a worry. Chipmunks will have no problem surviving. There is enough food for them."

A Defra spokeswoman said: "If chipmunks become invasive there is a big threat to our wildlife."

Source


Sunday, July 26, 2009

Looney Bay Reviews: Moose Flu/The Great Debate

The blog returns to normal this week with 2 Looney Bay Puppet show reviews:

First up we have "Moose Flu"

Biblical Lesson: Your sins will find you out

Script: Moose Flu has hit Looney Bay and the moose have been quarantined. Red and Fred, the two brothers from North Dakota, love mooses and pay Amoose a visit. Amoose sneezes on Red and soon the virus spreads. Red and Fred end up quarantined.

Thoughts: Jonathan and Ben took over the roles of Red and Fred. They did a pretty good job. Red and Fred are very hit and miss. Some weeks the kids love them and sometimes they don't. The kids seemed a bit bored with them.

Ad Libs/Blunders: Red and Fred's sneezing fit was pretty darn funny.

Overall: Kinda blah but its a Red and Fred script so what do you expect.


"The Great Debate"

Biblical Lesson: The Tower of Babel

Script: Its debate day in Looney Bay so everyone is having debates. Dr. Hootenanny has just developed Jibber Jabber juice. A struggle breaks out between the doctor and his pet owl and the juice is knocked into the city's water. Now everyone is talking jibberish except for Java. Turns out that pigs are immune to jibber jabber juice so a cure is found.

Thoughts: Everyone was pretty wore out from VBS so we did a light script. I can't tell if the kids are getting tired of Dr. Hootenanny and the hoot owl. I'll probably give them a break.

Ad Libs/Blunders: Kids were pretty rowdy. Probably do to VBS.

Overall: Fun script.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Going Postal

The accountant has gone postal
leave now before he gives out junk mail.
He's handing out past due bills
and ads for a mattress sale.

The police were soon called
and told him to stop trying to send
that's when the police dog got hungry
and bit his rear end.

The accountant no longer sends mail
after his dignity was stolen
by a hungry police dog
who left him with a semi colon.

Friday, July 24, 2009

The day the tv's died

The tvs died, one by one.
It was suicide the detective wrote.
The cause, reality tv of course.
The tvs could take no more.

The people were frightened.
What would they do?
Be creative, go for a walk
or even meet the neighbors and have a talk.

How about a book someone suggested.
That sounded like fun but there's a problem.
No one can find the remote
or how to turn one on.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Screwy

My drill went screwy,
it lept off the work bench.
I'm not a tool
I'm a bird it proclaimed
and flew out the window
never to be seen again.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Cat and mouse

The cat has a shotgun,
he's shooting up the house.
I called 911,
but they just laughed.

That feline has lost it,
its just a mouse for pete's sake.
Let it go little kitty,
its just not worth it.

Slowly he lowered the gun
and started to cry.
It was then that the mouse acted
and dropped a bowling ball on my cat.

How dare he!
The cat was just doing his job.
Here you go cat,
try an uzi instead.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Drugs are bad

My hedgehog got hopped up on speed,
where he got it who knows?
He raided my mom's jewelry drawer,
left the necklaces but took all the rings.

I tried to catch him,
but he was just too quick.
The furball lost control
and started to choke on a ring.

I tried to help him
but it was no use.
My little hedgehog was blue
and stopped dead in his tracks.

Monday, July 20, 2009

That Plumber was a druggie

That plumber was a druggie
sitting around with his brother eating shrooms all day.
They would babble on and on about monsterous turtles
and ghosts that were bashful.

He even claimed he had a girl once
but said a dragon was holding her captive downtown.
I asked him to show me but he could not.
Said she must be somewhere else.

Those brothers are long gone now,
how I miss their stories.
They both left this mortal plane together
when they died trying to fit in a pipe.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

The Hotel

I tore down my dog's house.
It was an eyesore
and in the way, it had to go.

I developed the land
and turned it into a hotel.
What a profit.

The dog was quite upset,
as you might imagine,
so he stole my car.

Down the boardwalk he sped,
I tried to catch him
but all I had to ride in was a wheelbarrow.

I tripped.
I fell.
I was cornered.

The little dog gunned the engine.
I dove for cover
and lost my hat.

My top hat was squished
I quit
and gave him the keys to the hotel.

Now I'm homeless
and have to wear a thimble for a hat.
I wish instead that I had bought a cat.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Art Gallery

The posters for the VBS Wii Room are finally done!



Here's Matthew showing us how big the posters really are.


Down the Rabbit Hole

This Pacman Poster gave us a lot of problems. It started out as a donkey kong poster but was messed up so we converted it into a Pacman Poster. It took Lots of white out and black paint but we finally finished it.


Jumpman

You can't do video game artwork without Mario. I was going to also do a Raccoon Mario Poster also but I thought it would be Mario overkill.


The Hero Returns

The Legend of Zelda is probably the greatest game series of all time. We had some issues with Link's colors. Markers are not the easiest medium to work with.


Laughter Isn't Always the Best Medicine

I decided to do a poster of the dog from duck hunt that everyone loves to hate. A fun poster of a character that Nintendo really needs to bring back.


The call to adventure

Earthbound is my favorite game ever. So what if the kids have no idea what this quirky RPG is. I'm making the posters so I'm doing an Earthbound poster. Phones play a big role in the game, hence the poster name.


Primal Rage

This was the first poster I started working on and I think it's one of the better ones.


Girl Power

I wanted to do a weird poster combining characters from different games, so I came up with the idea for the Girl Power poster. My wife is confused why Samus is on the poster. Nobody tell her, okay.


Invaders Spaced

This poster was a lot of fun. I thought a traditional shot of space invaders would be boring, so I came up with the idea of doing an Andy Warhol styled poster.


Frogger Nation

And finally we have Frogger Nation. This was the last poster I thought up. I wanted to do a classic game and Frogger just barely beat out Excitebike.

I want to thank my mom and wife for all their help coloring posters. You guys rock.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Abe poo poos the new penny



The penny's were recenty updated to celebrate the Lincoln Bicentennial. There are 4 new designs in all for the reverse side of the penny. But just what the heck were they thinking with design number two?


Look at him. After a hard day of work Abe is taking a dump. Or at least that's what the symbolism is.

He squatting while reading.

He's sitting on a "log".

His pants appear to be unsnapped in the back.

The end of the log has a crack in it.

Its the tails side of the coin.

Its the Number two design.

All Euphemisms for bottoms or going to the bathroom. For shame.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Updates and stuff

I'm trying to keep my commitment to updating the blog everyday but I am uberbusy this week and next so don't expect anything major. Overtime and VBS is a deadly combo.

I'll probably make next week a really bad poetry week and run some of the poems I had leftover from last time.

The final 3 VBS posters will be Zelda, Girl Power, and Frogger Nation. I'm rapidly running out of time so I'm hoping I can get them done in time.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Why Aren't you watching Leverage Season 2

I told you way back in December to watch Leverage, but did you listen, Noooo!

Well here's your second chance. The season premiere is tonight at 9 pm on TNT. If you love Ocean's 11 or Sneakers, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Star Wars 1942




Sillof and Glorbes made some pretty sweet custom figures of Star Wars set in 1942.



I really wish these were real figures.

There are more at the link below, check them out.

Source: http://www.toymania.com/customcorner/cc19/sw2.shtml

Monday, July 13, 2009

VBS draws near

Next week is Vacation Bible School, so this week is prep week.


I've once again been assigned to the chaotic Wii room of doom. We usually just decorate by printing out video game art off the internet but this year I wanted to do something different.

My plan is to do my own artwork, recreating classic video game scenes.



I'm hoping to do 9 posters, so far I've got 5 started. I have until Monday to get them done.

Let me know if anyone has any suggestions on what games should appear on the last 4 posters. I'll post the finished artwork next week.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Looney Bay Review: We don't have time for rainbows, this is serious

Another week, another children's church puppet script.


Biblical Lesson: Noah's Ark and God's rainbow promise.

Script: Due to a plumbing clog a flood is imminent in Looney Bay. Joey misunderstands and pulls a chicken little. He runs though the town telling everyone that the whole world is going to be flooded. Petey the dog doesn't want to help because he is too busy staring at rainbows. Never mind, that he is colorblind.

Joey then seeks Dr. Hootenanny's help. The doctor has a toy boat. He says he has a shrink ray that they can use to shrink the town and load everyone on the boat. Joey runs off and uses the shrink ray on his older brother Geo. The pipes burst and the flood starts. Joey finds out that the flood wasn't a big deal and miniaturized Geo gets attacked by ants.

Thoughts: Crazy script. Kids really seemed to enjoy it. Dr. Hootenanny and his pet owl are becoming really popular with the kids.

Ad libs/Blunders: Jonathan kept saying stuff that the kids couldn't hear and making Ben laugh. Ben couldn't stop laughing and couldn't say his lines. So of course Petey (me) started going off script. I asked the peanut gallery to quiet down because Joey starts laughing and he has a weak bladder and the last thing we need is another flood.

Dr. Hootenanny's owl is supposed to only say a two word reply "Oh really" to everything the doctor says. Then the Doctor gets annoyed and tells the owl to clam up. That's the whole running joke. Jonathan went way off script and started having the owl talk in complete sentences and everything went totally nuts. The doctor then publicly chastised him in front of the kids which only made him do it more. It was unscripted chaos... but still fun.

Overall: Good Day

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Totoro is the Angel of Death! Wait.. wha?


My Neighbor Totoro is a beloved children's film or is it...

There's some crazy theory I found online that Totoro is death... I don't buy it but Studio Ghibli movies usually deal with the spirit world so you never know...

1.It is saying that Totoro is in fact messenger of Death, and whoever sees him will soon die. The hospital that the sister's mother was in was based on a real hospital for terminally-ill patients.

2. Later in the story the villagers find a slipper in a pond, which is in fact May's, at this point she has already drowned in the pond. Satsuki lied that the slipper wasn't Mei's out of denial. Ever since this scene, the sisters appeared to have no shadow.

3. Satsuki pleaded the Totoro and the cat-bus to take her to where Mei is, while on the cat-bus, says "Nobody can see us...", this scene is Satsuki leading herself to the land of the dead (by taking the cat-bus).

4. At the hospital, the mother says "I think I feel May and Satsuki smiling there in that tree..." Why don't the sisters go and see their mom if they are already there? Why do they just leave the corn there instead? It is said that the sisters were dead at that point, and the Japanese pronunciation of "corn" is similar to "kill child".

5. The final scenes seem to be a happy epilogue, but they in fact happened "before" the major events in the movie.

6. The movie was set in a place in Japan where there was a case of murdering of two sisters which happened in the 60s. This event took place on May 1st, while the sister's names are Satsuki (May in Japanese) and Mei (May in English). In the real life case, the younger sister was missing first and the older sister was seen to be looking for her frantically. Next day, the younger sister's body was found in the forest (stabbed to death). The older sister was in such a state of shock and kept rambling ambiguous words about seeing a "cat monster", "great big racoon monster" etc to the police. The sisters were in fact from a single-parent family (mother died of illness).

Ever since these rumors started to circulate, people have been calling Ghibli for verification "is Totoro Death" "Why don't the sisters have shadows later in the movie", and Ghibli made announcment on their blog site about the shadow issue saying that there was no shadow because the animators decided there was no shadow needed in those scenes (maybe bc of light source etc).

Here is Ghibli's blog site with the responses: http://www.ghibli.jp/15diary/003717.html


Sounds fishy to me, especially the story about the murders. So little details.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Cave Writings: If Only

If Michael Jackson's memorial had ended with him jumping out of the casket and performing "Thriller," would that have been the best moment in television history? I think so.


Thursday, July 9, 2009

possible TMNT Smash Up fighters

TMNT Smash Up for the wii will be here in September. Today we take a look at some possible candidates for playable characters:

Fugitoid - Chances: HIGH

Fugitoid is a fugitive robot on the run from the Triceratons and others. He's appeared in the original comics, the 2003 cartoon, and had a few toys made. IGN has hinted that he's in the game so don't be suprised if he makes an appearance.

Baxter Stockman - Chances: HIGH

Shredder's head scientist and inventor of the mousers is one of the oldest TMNT characters. Over the years he's taken many forms from brain in a jar to mutant fly. He's appeared in the Mirage comics, the 1987 toon, the 2003 toon, and has had several toys. I'd be suprised if he doesn't make the cut. Just don't expect his fly form from the 1987 toon.

Karai - Chances: HIGH

Shredder's adopted daughter wore the Shredder armor after Shredder's demise. She's appeared in the 2003 toon, the TMNT movie, has an action figure and the mirage comics. She'll probably make the cut.

Hun - Chances: GOOD

Hun is the leader of the Purple Dragons. He's appeared in the 2003 toon and has an action figure. Not the most popular character but I could see him making an appearance.

Triceraton - Chances: GOOD

If there's a Fugitoid, then you need a Triceraton to chase after him. The Triceratons have appeared in the mirage comics, the 1987 toon, the 2003 toon, the fast forward toon, and have had several action figures. They're probably in.

Leatherhead - Chances: GOOD

Leatherhead is a mutant aligator scientist created by the Utroms by accident. He's been both a villain and an ally to the turtles. He's appeared in the mirage comics, the archie comics, the 1987 toon, the 2003 toon, and had several action figures. Yeah he's probably in the game.

Rat King - Chances: GOOD

The mysterious Rat King lives in the sewers and has an army of rats. He's appeared in the mirage comics, the archie comics, the 1987 toon, the 2003 toon, and had several action figures. He's a good candidate for the game.

Agent Bishop - Chances: GOOD

Agent Bishop is a mysterious government official who has been around for several hundred years and has a special interest in the turtles. He has appeared in the 2003 toon and the Fast Forward Series. The game seems to be based on the 2003 designs so I wouldn't be suprised if Agent Bishop makes an appearance.

Usagi Yojimbo - Chances: OKAY

Usagi Yojimbo is a rabbit samurai from another world. Usagi has appeared in the original comic series, the 1987 toon as well as the 2003 toon. He's had a few action figures as well. The problem is he's owned by Stan Sakai. Its possible that he'll be playable but there are legal hurdles to jump through.

Mondo Gecko - Chances: SLIM

Mondo Gecko is a skateboarding, rock music singing, Gecko. He's appeared in the 1987 toon, the TMNT archie's comic, the Mutanimals Archie comic and has had a few action figures. Next to Leatherhead he's probably the most popular Mutanimal. Like his fellow mutanimals, Mondo has been out of the spotlight for a long time.

The other Mutanimals - Chances: SLIM

The rest of the Mutanimal crew is Wingnut, Screwloose, Dreadmon, Jagwar, and Ray Fillet. Dreadmon and Jagwar were only seen in the archie comics but the others have had cartoon and toy line appearances. We haven't seen these characters in a long time but they are due to get a new comic miniseries so who knows.

Bebop and Rocksteady - Chances: SLIM

Shredder's 2 lovable flunkies have appeared in most of the 1987 cartoon episodes, have had several action figures, appeared in the Archie Comics, and have appeared in several video games. So why are their chances slim? Peter Laird, co-creator of the turtles, has stated on his blog that he is tired of the characters and that they were over-exposed on the 1987 toon. Peter is directly involved with the game so chances are slim. The duo is set to appear in a special cartoon movie this fall so you never know...

Slash - Chances: SLIM

The popular evil turtle from dimension X hasn't been seen in some time. He appeared in the Archie comics and the 1987 toon. He's had an action figure. The fan's love him but he's been MIA for a looooong time. Not a good sign.

Zach the 5th Turtle Chances - none

Zach was a kid who wanted to be a ninja turtle and that's about it. Just go away Zach.

Well there's my list of guesses. We might get two more characters or 20... who knows. If we get most of these guys, I'll be a happy camper.