Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Although there’s a lot of discussion about Jack Bauer’s methods and use of torture, fans of the show have been given some relief. 24 is scheduled to begin filming it’s eighth season starting in May. Bauer will be back [along with potential love interest Annie Werching].
A policeman pulled over a car, walked up to the driver’s window, and asked the man if he knew why he was pulled over.
“No,” the man replied.
“You failed to stop at the stop sign,” the cop explained.
“But I did slow down!” the guy argued. The cop shook his head. “You are required to stop. That’s why they’re called stop signs.” The man started to get belligerent. “Stop, slow down — what’s the difference?”
The cop pulled out his baton. “I can show you. I’m going to start hitting you with my baton. You tell me if you want me to stop or slow down.”
A duck walks into a bar. And he says to the bartender “Got any grapes?” The bartender says “No, I don’t have any grapes.” The duck walks out, sorely disappointed.
So the next day, he walks back into the bar, asks the same question, gets the same answer.
The day after, he walks back into the bar, and again, asks the bartender, “Do you have any grapes?” The bartender, having still not figured out why this duck seems to think he may have some grapes, says to the duck, “No, and if you come back in here tomorrow and ask me if I have any grapes, I will nail your bill to the bar!”
The duck frowns, turns around, and walks out of the bar. So the next day, the duck walks back into the bar, and asks the bartender “Got any nails?”
The bartender says, “No.”
So the duck says, “Got any grapes?”
[A raised bill to Neatorama.com for the link]
Kyle Baker is a busy man. He’s currently producing, directing, and starring in an animated version of The Bakers for Fox. He just completed the first Special Forces storyline, He’s doing a biography of President Obama and is on tap to create two new comic series this year for Image. He also wants to do a new Bakers book to appear with the Fox release.
Whew! Talk about a workload. Everything Kyle Baker is involved in, is worth a look. It shouldn’t be hard to find something he’s involved in.
I love Evan Bryce’s approach to art. His blog is a daily stop on my internet travels. Now it looks like I’ll have another stop to add. Evan has teamed with Dean Trippe to create a weekly web comic called President Awesome. Dean and Evan say they will…
...have fun with the media coverage and the cultural phenomenon that is Obama!
Well, who doesn’t love a little fun?
Although I try to limit political discussion [this blog is supposed to be about fun stuff], I do love talking art [comics, movie posters, paperback covers, etc.]. President Obama had a series of political posters which made such an impact with their design that the style is being copied everywhere.
I decided that it would be cool to create a “Obamicon” using a vintage photo and favorite saying of my buddy Jim Ivey.
I’m a big fan of Victor Gischler’s Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. Yesterday at his blog Victor announced:
I’m happy to report that producer Brad Wyman — the dude responsible for some pretty cool films — has optioned my novel Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. Mr. Wyman is eager to make the film version as close to the novel as possible, and I’m thrilled as hell.
Me too, Victor, me too.
Bus ads are supposed to be good advertising, so I, uh, got on board. You can create your own bus ad by clicking here.
This is the true story of George Phillips of Meridian, Mississippi, who was going to bed when his wife told him that he’d left the light on in the shed. George opened the door to go turn off the light but saw there were people in the shed in the process of stealing things.
He immediately phoned the police, who asked “Is someone in your house?” and George said. “No” and explained the situation. Then the police explained that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply lock his door and an officer would be there when available.
George said, “Okay,” hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again.
“Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you don’t have to worry about them now because I’ve just shot them all.”
Then he hung up. Within five minutes three squad cars, an Armed Response unit, and an ambulance showed up. Of course, the police caught the burglars red-handed.
One of the policemen said to George: “I thought you said that you’d shot them!”
George said, “I thought you said there was nobody available!”
Joe Bluhm’s drawings are dead-on. Folks say Joe Bluhm has “crazy skills.” “Mad talents” cry others. I’m starting to wonder if maybe both groups are right… and not just about his skills and talents. See, Joe has a new art book coming out called Sketch Infectus. And that’s where things start to head into crazyville.
Joe’s Sketch Infectus is an 80 page hardcover art book filled with nearly 400 of Joe’s drawings. He’s selling this sweet package for just $19.95. That comes to less than 20 cents a sketch. Insane, right? Well, it gets better my friends.
Joe also went out and gathered quotes, tips and advice from some of the top artists working today. People like Tom Richmond, Steven Silver, Phillip Burke and others. Did Joe raise the price? Nope.
Then to show you how out there Joe is with this offer, let’s quote the man himself:
Anyone who pre-orders by February 5th (happens to be a good friend’s birthday!) will get an original sketch. And by sketch, I don’t mean I’ll draw a little 5 second scribble… I mean I’ll actually be cutting out the sketches from these and other sketchbooks and giving them to you! You might get something IN the book and you might get something else! Your sketch might have a doodle on the back. Who knows!
Now that deal is insane and crazy. And if you don’t jump on it, you’d have to be too.
If Rev. Dave Johnson aka “The Potentate” draws it, I’m there. So today we have a link to Rev. Dave’s trailer for “Flatulene.” What is “Flatulene” you ask? Well, here’s how “The Potentate” describes it:
Farting for fun and profit… About 3 days of work to put this together for Titmouse Studios second annual 5 second animation day… As I worked on it, her story started to write itself… My inspiration was Russ Myers ‘Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill’… I might even try to pitch this to Adult Swim.
So if a smokin’ hot chick with irritable-bowel syndrome, fast cars and a partner who’s a flesh-eating zombie sounds like something you’d like to check out, then click here. VROOM! VROOM!
A first grade girl handed in the drawing below for a homework assignment.
After it was graded and the child brought it home, she returned to school the next day with the following note:
Dear Ms. Barnes,
I want to be very clear on my child’s illustration. It is NOT of me on a dance pole on a stage in a strip joint. I work at Home Depot and had commented to my daughter how much money we made in the recent snowstorm. This photo is of me selling a shovel.
Mrs. Fife
I’ve talked about what a great artist and writer Kyle Baker is many times. On many occasions I’ve encouraged you to visit Kyle’s site. Tonight, I’m going to once again suggest that you stop by. If you do, check out Kyle’s graphic novel, I Die at Midnight,
Kyle posted up the entire book which can be read for free, and told me:
I thought this might be a cool experiment, since I had the PDF anyway. If people respond well, I’ve got about 20 books to follow it up with. It might be nice to turn my site into a public library. We’ll see if people download it. The fascinating thing about the web is the access to statistics. I’m often surprised at which posts get the most hits. We’ll see if this is popular.
How cool is that? Most folks would post up a preview and then try to get you to buy the book. Kyle not only posts it up in its entirety, but talks about doing the same with his other books.
Kyle Baker is a great artist and writer — he’s a generous one as well.
When I was in college I played a lot of cards. A whole lot. We had friendly games at least once a week and sometimes [quite often] more than that. There are many stories that can be told and have been told about those games. Some of those tales have reached legendary status among those of us that were there… and our friends subjected to our “war stories.”
But I had no idea that Jim Ivey aka the “Inside Straight Man” was so well known!
The Overview: Hancock [Will Smith] is a super hero with a bad attitude. Of course you’d probably be a bit grumpy if you didn’t have any friends or relatives, didn’t know anything about your past, didn’t know how you got your powers and felt unappreciated for your good deeds. All of that changes when Hancock meets Ray [Jason Bateman] and his wife, Mary [Charlize Theron]. To say more would be to say too much.
The Good: Will Smith, isn’t he always? Jason Bateman. The story had some interesting plot twists — some which you can see coming and others that surprise.
The Bad: The advertising for “Hancock” — I had no desire to see this when it was at theaters, but heard some good things later from those who’d seen it on dvd. There is much more to this movie than the trailers would have you believe!
The Ugly: What happens to the two guys in prison who push Hancock just a bit too far. Yeech!
The Summary: “Hancock” isn’t a great film, but it’s much better than I thought it would be and there‘s a lot worse ways to spend an hour and a half.
