Happyblox

NEVER FORGET!

Never forget, Boston. (you morons)

Some LED art all over boston today.

TUROK - Son Of Stone Site Launches.

When your feeling blue jump into work, right? So be it. The Turok website I have been working on for a while now has finally launched. If you have never heard of Turok don't feel like an animation noob. I barely remember it from back in the day and not assigned this project would have never thought about it again. I am glad I got this project however, not only to pay the bills but to re acquaint myself with this extra bloody American animation. Originally designed in 1954 most of us remember the Valiant Comics version. (Turok history) Well this is the DVD and it is pretty cool. It is also getting some great reviews. Although limited in materials I could use, I had fun playing with the colorful backgrounds and masking things in front of those. Simple animations and ideas throughout make it a nice little mini site. I hope we sell some DVDs. Buy one you cheap bastards! If your looking for your standard cartoon, Turok is certainly not for you, but if you like your animation with a lot of blood and more punches than a rocky movie then check it out.

"Fuck Planet Earth" Is Clip Perfection.

Been talking a lot lately about what makes a video perfect. A lot of different equations are out there and this amazing video has one of em. I see it as; serious film - native audio + dubbed alternative audio (preferably juvenile oriented) = video perfection. Here is a clip by Max Goldberg. If you don't know who he is it is okay, I had no clue but turns out he is a budding stand up comic. Pretty good too. I will keep tabs on his web site for new stuff but there is plenty up there now. He is no Mat Goodman but then again who is? Mitch Hedberg maybe? (r.i.p.) This video of his made me laugh a good out of control laugh for many minutes. It was hard to breath but it was worth it. *WARNING* this video contains real bad language, but if real bad language offends you then what the fuck are you doing reading this blog?

Dear Alien Civilizations.

Dear Alien Civilizations,
Sorry for all the noise, were trying to quiet it down. 
We called ourselves smart when we proved our planet was round.
But we acted like fools despite science and knowledge,
regardless of churches, laboratories and college.
We value life but too much our own. Our problems remain while our goals have grown.

The more we learn the more we don't know.
Our time line is short here so eventually we must go.
We have traveled to planets on the edge of our system.
Pointed dishes in the sky with ears open to listen.
Launched probes to take pictures, satellites to gauge weather,
cellular technology to communicate better.

The data keeps compiling collecting all we've ever known,
as we contemplate the vastness we feel all alone.
So this message goes out beyond where we can see,
in hopes of some answers and good company.

We may be destructive, masters of horrible things but we have understanding hearts, 
us human beings.

Your neighbors,
-the Humans.

Adults Just Don't Understand...

Which may have something to do with your vocals but I can't be certain. This video gem from what appears to be Japan is clip perfection. Many equations equal clip perfection and this is no exception. Angst + Trying too hard + musical ignorance with a small factor of talentlessness = perfection. I love me some Sepultura and I used to even listen to Death from time to time but hardcore speed metal on the street, acapella style is like Hip Hop in a giant stadium, it just doesn't work. Seems Japan spawns a lot of these wierdoes. When everyone conforms you get this beautiful extra desperate quality to the individuals that decide to be rebels with really no thought to it. This kid will laugh at this if he makes it to 30. Hell I am laughing now.

Plans For Virgin Space To Be Violated By Virgin Spacecraft.

Virgin, the company that brought you the first non government funded out of atmosphere people carrying machine, Spaceship One is at it again. This time it's making public it's plans for Spaceship Two, yes I know, terribly creative. There is a giant close up of a human eye on the bottom though, unless that is just re entry burn marks,who knows. Check out the video called "Virgins New Spacecraft Design" on CNN's tech video page. I am all for this type of shit. Look at it this way, it is the everyman in space, IN OUR LIFETIME! Course your everyman would have to be someone with about 200 grand to spend. Maybe not everyman, maybe everyotherman or everyfewmen. At any rate this is probably just a scheme by Virgin to fund construction of a death star but it will be red and have a giant white V on it. Whatever the case may be I will sell my apartment, I don't care, I'm uh gunna get me some SPACE! Oh, and the company's space specific name is "Virgin Galactic", how freakin' cool is that?

Godzilla Who? Cloverfield; Manhattan Just Got Served.

Saw Cloverfield tonight and all that kept running through my mind, other than "holy shit, holy shit, holy shit" was "man, this is SO the Godzilla movie that Godzilla wanted to be". Which is weird because in my mind I am usually terribly more eloquent but that is the honest self dialog that was repeated to myself.... by me, er... never mind. (:58)
Now I love Godzilla.... I mean I LOOOOVE Godzilla but let's be honest, he is not exactly the timeless icon that say Superman is. Yes there have been lots of versions of Superman but they were all super and they were all men kind of sticking to a general theme. Godzilla was originally an anti war mockumentary before there were mockumentaries. Much less "stomp on buildings" and much more character development of the non scaley nature. But that is really irrelevant to my point and just a way for me to throw out some Godzilla geekatude. As a whole I don't think we see Godzilla for much more than what he occupied most of his post Gorgira (first Godzilla) screen time with which is walking all over very inhabited places and squishing people and swatting at planes and that is perfectly fine with me. Some of my best childhood moments were ogling 'ol Z man from the man on the street camera angle ripping perfectly good models to shreds. I mean buildings. Toho and Hollywood have been trying to catch up to that image the world has painted for Godzilla ever since. There were some good efforts too, like Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla 2000 but none of them delivered that monster movie feel that first generation and first few Godzilla movies gave you as a kid. Don't even get me started on the American version of "Godzilla", that wasn't even Godzilla, that was some lizard some kid drew on the computer that some other dude who happened to know some dude who makes movies liked. That was as much Godzilla as my friend that I don't haves pet dog Godzilla that does not really exist. You know what did give me that feeling though? You guessed it you smart little bugger, Cloverfield did. Was it perfect? Hardly. Was it the best monster movie ever made? No. Was is terrible and worthless next to the hype? Also no. It was in fact, great and great in scale too. The CGI was not CGI-ish. The sound was noticeably well thought out and mixed. Even the casting was pretty good, something not overwhelmingly noticed in monster movies because it's usually absent. There is the monster and then there is everyone else. Never felt that way in this flick. I won't ruin anything for the 2 people who read this site that weren't with me watching the movie so I will leave you with my thumbs up and my hopes far from dashed. I went in thinking "man, I hope this is the Godzilla that Godzilla screwed up" and I left happy. It was beyond that. It was it's own monster movie with the concentration on everything but the monster. Brilliant.

Taking Better Care Of Adam Sandler.

When I was at collage Adam Sandler came to do his stand up routine. This was before any of his movies, way before Happy Madison Productions. He was simply that funny guy who just started on Saturday Night Live. Some, like my friends and I remembered him from the short lived Mtv game show Remote Control. Watch an entire episode here because you know you want to. What game show since has snack time, where snacks are literally thrown at contestants? Colin Quinn was also on that show. If you like that sorta thing. So Adam came to the University of Hartford and did his act and it was drop dead funny. The part that sticks out the most in my memory is the very beginning of the show when Adam came out on to the stage he put his gum on the edge of a plastic glass he had on stage and said "save it for later". Then a chick jumps out from the audience and takes the gum! Bet she has it displayed in her house today. "Adam Sandler's gum". She must be very proud. Amazingly enough, and the only act I can remember doing so, he stayed for a couple of hours after the show was over to sign autographs and meet everyone. Later on he was stalked by this girl I knew at the local bars but she got turned down. Of course I was one of the people who stayed after and got an autograph. Until recently these were hanging in back of one of my fish tanks, thus the watermarks. I am going to take better care of these forgotten gems now though and am getting them sealed and framed. Why not. There is only one other person I met before he was super famous and that was O.J. Simpson. Thankfully I brought home no mementos from that meeting.

I also ran across this clip on Youtube and figured, it's Sandler so why not.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Doesn't Know Me Very Well.

Look what I got in the mail!!! After donating to the L&LS they sent me stickers with my address on them staring Ziggy! Just because I do not want people to die does not mean I want Ziggy representing me on all my mail. Do they assume that Ziggy is benign enough (no pun intended) to not offend anyone? Well they offended me! They offended me by assuming that I would want AN ENTIRE SHEET of Ziggy address stickers. Shame on them. Let me ask them this: How much has Ziggy done for recruiting donations? My guess is zero be it a cutesy, lame ass zero.  I can come up with 3 characters better suited for outdated address mailing stickers right off the bat right now. How about Andre the Giant? Or the Fonz? Or any one of the muppets? ZIGGY? I think I will donate to the whales next year.

Rock Stars In Pastels.

I have always found the medium of pastels to be sort of second nature for me. Not because I am a great artist but because I am familiar with the different ways it is applied, it's specific consistencies and I relate to the mind frame of using whatever tools you can to create what you want but at the same time relying mostly on your fingers. Maybe it is because I am juvenile at heart, if I could make my living finger painting I would. Maybe it's simply something on the opposite end of the spectrum from sitting in front of a computer and creating artwork you can never really touch. It's the "real" artist in me yelling out "HEY! Get dirty you spaz! Get close to your art, after all it is an extension of you!" The "real" artist in me scares me when he speaks. I have also liked creating things that are recognizable. I dig abstract stuff so when you can create something that is instantaneously recognized it's fun so why not rock stars? Everyone likes rock stars except maybe religious nuts, but then again who do they like?

I started with Jerry there and worked on him for about 6 months on and off. Then my friend Julie wanted a piece for her new apartment in the Village so I made the Hendrix, a little larger than I usually like to work. I wanted desperately to add more details, possibly another 3 or 4 layers of pastels but I came to a halt and liked the unfinished look. It meshed with his motion and his persona. Random thought, my girlfriend has had Electric Lady Land in her car stereo for about 9 months now. Anyway the Alanis one was simply because I think she is beautiful and amazing. Can't say I am the biggest fan but she is quite amazing. Seriously.