Star Trek Beams Down to Mayberry

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Is Captain Kirk about to get a shave from Floyd the barber in Mayberry?

As unlikely as it sounds, that is actually the building used for Floyd’s Barber Shop in the hit series The Andy Griffith Show!  And, no, William Shatner didn’t make a guest appearance as Captain Kirk on The Andy Griffith Show.  But the buildings of Mayberry did!  You see, they were used in two episodes [“Miri”“The City on the Edge of Forever” and ] of the original Star Trek series.  You can see several screen shots of the buildings used in both series by going here. [Via Neatorama]

Beatty: World’s Most Dangerous Sketch Artist / Bellathon

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Since you’re reading this post, there’s a good chance that you know my buddy, John Beatty.  That’s not really John in the photo above.  John’s actually a little more intimidating.  Ah, but I kid.  I kid because I care.  The truth is I do care.  John is my oldest and closest friend [outside of my wife who is actually a little older and much closer], but I think you get the idea. Anyway…

John’s cat, Peepers got sick not too long ago.  The medical bills were unexpected and fairly expensive.  The good news is Peepers got better.  The bad news is that John and Bella [John’s wife for those keeping score] had to dip into money that they’d been saving for Bella to take a trip back to the Philippines to see her family.  They did it without second thoughts and figured that they’d both work a little longer/harder to make up the money spent.  And that’s exactly what they’ve been doing.

From time to time, I join John when he’s sketching for fans on U-Stream.  John always likes when I show up to “co-host” because it allows him to spend more time looking at what he’s drawing since I moderate the typed in questions and can interact with the fans.  There’s always a lot of laughter, convention stories, trivia, movie, tv and pop culture talk.  And it’s always interesting to see who pops in to join the fun — other artists, friends, and strangers… not to mention [but I’m going to] John’s regulars aka The Corduroy Mafia.

So I suggested to John that we do a “Bellathon”. “What?” was John’s response and probably yours too.  I explained.  We’d do a U-Stream sketch session to help raise money for Bella’s trip to see her family.  At first John was hesitant.  Some fans had already purchased sketches [and even donated some bucks] when they first heard about Peepers being sick.  I countered that the Bellathon would simply be another U-Stream session with me, but the proceeds would go towards Bella’s trip.  Fans would still get great deals on art and they’d know the money was going to a specific cause.  I felt it was a win-win for all involved.  John thought about it and agreed.

So here’s the broad strokes – John and I will be U-Streaming our BELLATHON this Saturday.  John will be offering a variety of sketches.  All the details can be found at John’s site.  I hope you can attend, even if you don’t plan to get a sketch.  It’s going to be a blast… and for a great cause!

The Dead Are Coming Back!

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Hot off the Press Internet: A little over an hour ago, The Hollywood Reporter posted that AMC had renewed The Walking Dead for another full 13 episode season.  Here’s why…

The drama series, toplined by Andrew Lincoln, has broken ratings records, with the show reaching more viewers in the 18-49 demo than any other cable TV show. The Walking Dead’s series premiere on Halloween drew 5.3 million total viewers and Sunday’s “gutsy” episode took in 4.7 million — that’s an incredibly high retention of a record rating and surely made this pickup an easy decision for AMC.

Top Zombie Movies of All Time!

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Recently, in response to the overwhelmingly positive response to AMC’s The Walking Dead, Boston.com posted their choices for the Top 25 Zombie Movies of All Time.  Using just their selections, here is my top ten:

  1. Night of the Living Dead (1968): This is the movie that redefined zombies, kick-started a genre and made George Romero a living legend.
  2. Dawn of the Dead (2004): Just as Night of the Living Dead changed the way we look at zombies and launched the career of George Romero, this movie did the same for both zombies and Zack Snyder.
  3. 28 days later (2002]: Although the argument can be made that the creatures in 28 days later aren’t zombies, they made the list and I agree with the selection.
  4. Zombieland (2009) Perfectly walked the line between horror and humor.
  5. Dawn of the Dead (1978) I walked out on the first viewing because it was just too gory for my girlfriend.  Romero had definitely kicked it up a notch.
  6. Day of the Dead (1985) Romero has said that this is his personal favorite of his zombie movies.  Who are we to argue?
  7. Night of the Living Dead (1990, remake)  I haven’t seen this in a while, but the memory was that I liked it a lot.  Perhaps because it stayed true to the original with just a coupe of twists.  I’ll have to check it out again and see if it holds up.
  8. Land of the Dead (2006) Life goes on and things aren’t bad until…
  9. Planet Terror (2007) I’ve only seen this one once, and it had a lot of stuff I liked, but the cheese factor was a bit much to allow me to place it higher on the list.
  10. Shaun of the Dead (2004) More comedy than zombie, but it still made the list!

Dark Shadows Filming Set to Start…

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Way back in July of 2007, it was announced that Johnny Depp was going to team with Tim Burton for a big screen adaptation of the cult tv classic Dark Shadows.  Although over the last 3 1/2 years there’s been some movement, it was pretty much just talk.

That may have changed today, since Slashfilm has posted that filming will begin in April 2011.   An April start date sounds good to me… especially since they didn’t specify it would be on the 1st.

Brock Lesnar, a Bully?

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Jonathon Snowden over at The Bloody Elbow wrote a piece called Brock the Bully.  Here are a couple of quotes from the piece followed by my thoughts…

They say you see the true heart of a champion only after they’ve been knocked down… Brock Lesnar has been tested in the Octagon – and found wanting…

…You’d expect a true champion and a title contender to be clamoring to get back in the cage with his conqueror.

…Simply put, Brock is a bully… Brock isn’t looking to rematch Carwin or get a return bout with Velasquez. Instead, Lesnar reportedly has set his sights on Roy Nelson…

…This isn’t the confident move of a fighter on his way back up the ladder. This is the path of the bully…

You can read Snowden’s entire piece here and if you’re an MMA fan, you should.  Early in Brock’s career I called him a bully.  I figured that the fighter who would beat Brock would have to be able to stand and trade punches with him while avoiding Brock’s takedowns.  Carwin could do it and almost won.  Velasquez did it and took the title.  Once a fighter had the ability to stand and trade blows with Brock he was out of his element.  My guess is that very few people have ever done that to him and consequently Brock doesn’t know how to deal with it.  Brock could always rely on his size and strength to muscle those who dared face him.

I also felt that Brock was a bully because of his behavior after losing to Frank Mir, after beating Heath Herring, and again after beating Frank Mir.  When Brock lost he made excuses.  When Brock won he acted like an idiot.  Perhaps I was confusing Brock’s lack of class with being a bully.

Think about it, up to this point Brock has fought everyone put in front of him.  He didn’t duck Mir, or Carwin or Velasquez.  Right now it would be extremely for Brock to step away from MMA.  He was the champ.  He beat some of the best heavyweights in the world.  Brock could make a TON of money by going back to the WWE.  Or he could simply retire.

The fact that Brock wants to stay in the UFC and fight again says something about his character.  Would it be more impressive if Brock wanted a rematch against Carwin or Velasquez?  Maybe… but maybe not.  Carwin is rehabbing a back surgery.  He probably won’t fight for six months or more.  Brock seems anxious to get back into the octagon.  Ok, so if Brock said he wanted Velasquez, do you really think he’s ready for THAT fight?  Right.  Me neither.  And guess what?  Brock probably doesn’t think so either.  So who’s left?  A lot of guys including Big Country Roy Nelson.

So, I have no problem with Brock wanting that fight.  The great thing is, neither does Roy Nelson.

The Truth about Undertaker/Lesnar Confrontation?

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As Brock Lesnar was walking back to his locker room after his loss to Cain Velasquez, he was confronted by the WWE wrestler known as the Undertaker.  According to this report…

  • WWE wanted Brock to win the fight.
  • Brock/Undertaker were supposed to have a confrontation at the post-fight press conference.
  • Brock didn’t attend the press conference because he felt he would be stealing Cain’s moment.
  • Undertaker was waiting at the press conference, and when he got word Brock wasn’t coming, he left.

I wonder how Dana White will react if this turns out to be true.

Chris Stevens Gets Carter

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I’ve been a huge fan of Chris Stevens’ art since I first discovered him on Deviant Art. When I first met Chris, he was pretty much an unknown artist just starting to make waves. He wasn’t even a guest at the show. Suddenly Chris burst on the scene and it seemed everyone loved his style. And why wouldn’t they? The following year, Chris was a featured guest and a line of fans that would make any artist proud!

When I found out that Chris was putting together his first sketchbook, I knew I was going to want one. The fact that Chris included free headshots with advance purchases was a beautiful bonus. I’m hoping that Chris will have a new edition sketch book next year, and will offer the same deal again! Until then, we have Chris DA Art Gallery to hold us over!

Trick or Treating with the Stars

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When I was a kid and went trick or treating with friends, we would always compare notes with other kids about the best houses to hit [Hershey Bars, M&M’s] and the ones to avoid [apples, popcorn].  Did you ever wonder what it’s like to go trick or treating at celebrities’ houses?

Oprah: “You get a king-size candy bar.  And You get a king-size candy bar.  EVERYONE gets a king-size candy bar!”