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| http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/To know that they are actually going through with the Watchmen movie, and to learn that it is being directed by Zach Snyder is to me, in many ways, terrifying. But seeing this trailer, I can almost believe that even Alan Moore himself could dare to hope (if only for a moment) that this movie might be (should I even risk saying it??) pretty god damned fucking decent. Oh my god. You guys. Oh my god. | |
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| I really enjoy The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.  Moments like these make me really happy for the television-watching children of today. Oh hey guess what I'm going to Los Angeles this weekend! I'll be staying with Jackie and Sara and we'll be going to ComicCon on Sunday! It will be nice to take a trip away from work. Oh and since I never mentioned it here, I'm working at Chipotle, which isn't entirely embarrassing. I'm proud of the food we serve and the principles the company stands for, and I'm still not sick of the food after eating it five days a week for several months now! Plus there are some neat people I work with. One of my managers is the cousin of a comic artist/game designer of whom I've been a fan for several years, and another is in a metal band whose most recent album cover I'm designing. Chickety check it out, the band's name is Militia so I made "The Spirit of '76" BUT WITH CORPSES AND FLAMES, FUCK YEAR!!  Here's the sketch I showed him today. I've never done a metal album cover before so I don't know if this is on the good or bad side of "ridiculous." Whatever though, I think it's hilarious. I'll have to wait for his feedback to see if he wants me to polish it up or go back to the drawing board and try something else. | |
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| If you haven't watched the nominees for Best Animated Short of the 2008 oscars, you should really check these out.
Madame Tutli-Putli: This one didn't win but I think it has some of the best human character animation I've ever seen in a stop-motion film. I don't think I've ever seen a puppet with more soulful eyes than that of the main character. Plus I think they did a great job of capturing what it's like to be a woman traveling alone.
Peter and the Wolf: Another really awesome stop-motion short and the winner of the award. Really excellent animation in this one as well, especially with the animals. I'd love to show it to all the little kids I know whom I think are cool enough to appreciate it.
Even Pigeons Go to Heaven: Funny French CG short. It seems to be a veiled criticism of the church hidden in a cute little tale. I wish I could see it in higher definition...
My Love: Lovely Russian animation made with paintings on glass. This clip shows the whole short unedited but if you go to the google video page you can find versions of it broken up into 3 parts with English subtitles. My favorite parts are the dream transitions. Sometime I'll have to look up more on the process they used to make this.
I Met the Walrus: Annoyingly I can only seem to find trailers and clips of this one online. It looks like some neat animation; hopefully I'll be able to see the whole thing on tv sometime.
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| Last summer holidays we spent two weeks at a small seaside village in the south of Cornwall. There wasn't much in the way of nightlife, so I spent my evenings either curled up infront of the fire reading a book, or taking a stroll along the moonlit beaches. It was in the second week, during one of these nightly strolls that I first began to suspect something unusual lay simmering below the surface of this seemingly peaceful village community. Something sinister- a dark presence that chilled me to my bones.
My walk started off ordinary enough, I waited for the tide to go out, then examined all the rockpools. I watched the seagulls pecking over some scraps of food- a few dead fish which had washed up on the beach. I started doing some charcoal sketching, doing my best to encapture the serenity of the beach-scene, bathed in the glow of the peaceful moonlight. Focusing on my sketch, I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings, when suddenly something caught my eye and snapped me wide awake. In the corner of my sketch, along the far edge of the beach, I had drawn a small pier. Now this in and of itself is not an unusual sight, however I had walked this way almost every night for over a week and I certainly hadn't noticed it before. Looking up from my sketchpad, I found I was not mistaken- there was the simple structure off in the distance, illuminated by an eerie flickering glow.
Deciding to investigate, I made my way in the direction of the shanty dock. As I grew closer, the eerie glow I had seen soon turned out to be the lights of a campfire, built on the beach. By the dancing silhouettes that waved and leapt about, I was sure it wasn't unoccupied either. Moving closer, it became apparent to me that there was some kind of party going on. There must have been at least 20 revelers, possibly closer to 30, and they all seemed to be dressed in some kind of strange antiquated swimwear. Something in the back of my mind bothered me about their outfits, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
Arriving amongst them now, nobody seemed to pay any heed to my presence. I offered a shy wave, but everyone seemed oblivious, almost looking through me. At first brushing it off as strange local customs, I was suddenly overcome with a deep unfathomable sense of dread. That itching notion in the back of my mind at once became clear, and the truth of these uncanny party goers and their antiquated costumes leapt to the forefront of my consciousness. They weren't wearing similar outfits- they were all wearing THE SAME OUTFIT. The same concealing dark grey swimwear, the men each with identical grey towels, and the women each carrying the same parasol (at night?!). Not only that, they all wore the same uncomfortably serene expression on their faces, as if whatever activity they were engaged in had long ago been pre-determined, and they were thoroughly resigned to their fates.
Against my better instincts, my brain began ticking over- searching for clues in this dark mess of paranoia. Anything! A glimmer of logic that would shed a light on this bizarre group of people and their strange celebration. Pondering idly as I was, my attention became drawn to a largish group of the strangers huddled in a circle, staring at something concealed from my view under the shadows of the overhanging wooden dock. Summoning up my courage, I inched slowly closer, moving towards them, peeking for a glimpse of what had caught their attention so. Closer, closer. I was standing right behind them now, yet not a word could I hear them utter, not a sound. Their bodies blocked me from the view. I swallowed the lump in my throat, taking a bold step forward and pushing through the crowd... and then I could see it. A large black rock sat in the sand, ever so slightly inclined- utterly motionless, yet somehow seeming always on the verge of motion. And that's when I realised. It wasn't a rock... It was a rock lobster. | |
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| Today I discovered my first gray hair. Kooky... I guess if there was ever a year to turn gray it would be this past one. | |
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| Shooting at my favorite mall. Damn.
I hope I don't know any of the victims. | |
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| http://kotaku.com/gaming/kokoro-scan/this-clip-is-guranteed-to-freak-you-out-284621.php
This song is so dang catchy and the video is pretty awesome too. It's all an ad for some Japanese Nintendo DS gimmick game that allegedly interprets hidden meaning in your voice (Kokoro Scan=Heart Scan). I am listening to the song constantly. Here are the lyrics:
I want to know your heart
Do you like me? Dislike me?
Kokoroscan can
Kokoroscan
I want to know her heart
Is she excited? Is she not?
Kokoroscan can
Kokoroscan
It reads your heart from your voice
making your heart completely naked
Become closer to the heart
Become closer to the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan...
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I want to know the CEO's heart
Is he in a good mood? Is he not?
Kokoroscan can
Kokoroscan
I want to know the employee's hearts
Are they discouraged? Are they happy?
Kokoroscan can
Kokoroscan
It reads your heart from your voice
making the workplace's heart completely naked
Become closer to the heart
Become closer to the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan...
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I want to know the TV's heart
That celebrity's news conference!!
Kokoroscan can
Kokoroscan
I want to know the Anime's heart
Is that character actually angry?
Kokoroscan can
Kokoroscan
It reads your heart from your voice
making even the unexpected hearts completely naked
Become closer to the heart
Become closer to the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan...
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I want to know everyone's heart
Are their lives fun and happy?
Kokoroscan can
Kokoroscan
I want to know my own heart
In order to have a fun and happy life
Kokoroscan can
Kokoroscan
It reads your heart from your voice
making everything in the world completely naked? (really?)
Become closer to the heart
Become closer to the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan kokoroscans the heart
kokoroscan... | |
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| HOLY SHIT, TEXAS ACTUALLY DID THE RIGHT THING!! MAYBE THERE'S HOPE FOR THIS COUNTRY AFTER ALL!! | |
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| From The Guardian:
Texas is poised to execute a man for a crime he did not commit. While the perpetrator of the murder in San Antonio was executed last year, Kenneth Foster, who was sitting in a car 25 metres away at the time of the shooting, was sentenced to death under the "law of parties".
The controversial Texas law removes the distinction between the principal actor and accomplice in a crime, and makes a person guilty if they "should have anticipated" the crime.
While a federal appeals court declared that Foster's death sentence contained a "fundamental constitutional defect", a legal anomaly means the state appeals court cannot overturn his conviction, there being no new evidence.
After the failure this month of Foster's most recent appeal, the 30-year-old African-American's final hope of avoiding execution on August 30 rests with an appeal for clemency to the Texas parole board and the Texan governor, Rick Perry.
"He's on death row because they screwed up," said his attorney, Keith Hampson. "There has been a series of mistakes that has had a cascading effect. Now I'm asking the court to step in on their own motion to correct their mistake. Otherwise this guy gets executed."Read the whole story here: http://savekenneth.blogspot.com/ and when you're done, write the Texas Governor and the Parole Board here: http://www.freekenneth.com/index.htmIf this guy is killed it will be a failure of justice and a national embarrassment. | |
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| KARL ROVE HAS RESIGNED!! KARL ROVE HAS RESIGNED!! This is the best American political news I've heard since the 2006 elections! Analysts are treating it like the official death of the NeoCon dream. May they give it a memorial grave so people can dance on it. Apparently he plans to kick off his retirement with some dove hunting. He will be hunting the universal symbol of peace. How poetic is that? Maybe later he'll destroy a rainbow or something, the bastard. Here's hoping he pulls a Chuck Schultz as soon as possible. On an unrelated subject, check this shit out:  Am I being silly or is this image kind of hilariously ridiculous? Is the man in white supposed to represent the politician, offering to buy the gay man in pink a drink as he asks him how he feels about the environment and caresses the small of his back? And how witty of them to use the word "courting." When you hear the word "courting" do you think of "considering one's political ideals" or "presenting with flowers and serenading from beneath one's balcony"? And why's the setting have to look so dark and seedy? It reminds me of Time's infamous OJ mugshot. Speaking of the Simpsons, I was relieved to discover that the movie was not horrible. In fact there were lots of great laughs and several genuine "awww" moments. Also, I witnessed something that I initially found horrifying but later decided was wonderful and brilliant. I will discuss it in the comments if anyone cares to talk about such things. | |
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|  AHAHAHAHAHAHA | |
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| Welp I'm back from San Diego and I had an excellent time. Seeing all those great artists and writers was very inspiring and being out of state again reminded me how much I need to leave Nebraska. I loved getting to hang out with so many of you friends of mine--I'm so proud to have such cool, talented, interesting buddies. My only regret is that I couldn't stay longer. Next time I'll have to give myself more time for sight-seeing and hanging out. The most exciting, foam-inducing thing I saw at the con was the panel on BRAND NEW EPISODES OF FUTURAMA THIS WINTER ON COMEDY CENTRAL!! The panel featured Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Ken Keeler, Billy West, John DiMaggio, Katey Segal, and Maurice LaMarche (and maybe one or two other people whose names escape me?) They read this comic they handed out, talked a little about the show, answered some questions, and showed a clip from the new show (I didn't get to see the clip because the line took too long to enter the room. ): ) But the COOLEST thing I saw at the con was this model right here, cosplaying the girl from Grindhouse:  How awesome is that? The dorkiest thing I saw was probably the group of guys looking at the anime porn dvds. Not because they were looking at anime porn dvds, but because they had the air of people who had abandoned human interaction in favor of animated 15 year olds--unwashed, smelly, horribly dressed, reminded me of Davecat from this movie: | |
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| Pointlesswasteoftime.com offers several creative solutions to the social awkwardness of being seen reading Harry Potter in public if you are an adult (and particularly a man) in the form of alternate book covers that you can print out yourself! One of my favorites:  More here: http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/pottercovers.html | |
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| FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU  Comfort through humor from the somethingawful forums: "How about this as a plot hole? If giants are as big as Rowling makes them, then how the hell are half-giants created? We're either talking a witch being raped by a giant penis the size of her/ covered in a bukake swimming pool, or a wizard ejaculating into a giantess vagina longer and wider than he is and onto a oocyte the size of his big toe..." THE PEOPLE WANT ANSWERS, ROWLING | |
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| I am OFFICIALLY going to the SAN DIEGO COMIC CON! And I hear a lot of my friends are, too! MEANING YOU PEOPLE! Please reply if you are planning to go so we can meet up and share stories and split taxi fares! OH BOY!!!!!  what is this i don't want this | |
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