Here he comes...here comes Speed Racer!

My heart is pounding as I type this... I had heard that they are making a live action Speed Racer Movie, and I was hoping that who ever was doing it would NOT screw it up. It turns out the guys making it are the same guys that did the Matrix Trilogy, the Wachowski brothers.

More than anything I hoped that they wouldn't bastardize the car by making it more "modern". Well they did modernize it a bit....
To quote Sam Elliot: "Sweet Mercy!". That is the most awesome use of metal I have ever seen.

Hi, Gene!

My sugar filled world has finally taken its toll on my beautiful bride. After almost 10 years together, she found out this weekend she has a cavity. Her first one, EVER! She is very upset about this, and was almost in tears about the fact when she told her mom about it. Her Mom was not too happy about the whole thing. God forbid, she ever gets a long look in my mouth. I have more porcelain and metal in my mouth than a Chinese History Museum.

Speaking of Zen

I received news today that the Logo from Hell, has officially been chosen. I know many of you have expressed your concern over my well being, and I really appreciated all the kind words, and monetary gifts of consolation you have sent. For those that did not send a gift of any kind... may God have mercy on your souls.

Without further ado, I present the (hopefully) final version of the Logo from Hell:
Wow.... Clean and Simple... whodathunkit. I think I am going to celebrate with a Free Nestle Crunch Bar". (I got my coupons in the mail yesterday!)

Planet Earth

This weekend, I had a chance to watch an AMAZING show on the Discovery Channel. It is called Planet Earth .

Quite possibly the most amazing show I have seen in a long time. The quality and unbelievable footage that they capture and discuss is truly awe inspiring. As I was watching this show, I couldn't believe what they were showing me was part of THIS world. It really gave me a new view and perspective about this rock we live on. And unbelievable facts.... like Krill, a shrimp like creature 1-2 cm in length, make up the largest population of creature by weight on the planet. An estimated 200,000,000 TONS of them.

If you have the Discovery Channel, I HIGHLY recommend catching this show... or head over to NetFlix and put it in your queue. You will not be disappointed.

It got me thinking about everything that happens on this planet, and I remembered something I saw a few years ago, that I enjoyed. and I will share it with you now.

In 1989 both Voyager spacecraft had passed Neptune and Pluto. Carl Sagan wanted one last picture of Earth from "a hundred thousand times" as far away than the famous shots of Earth taken by astronauts from the moon during the Apollo series.

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. --Carl Sagan.

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, (as Jon Stewart would say) "is your moment of Zen."

Art and Math

I love Art, and I also love Math. It is a very odd combo. So, it goes with out saying that I am a very technical artist, and not such a creative, free form type artist.

I remember one of the painting classes I had in college, the "professor" came over to see my work, and immediately asked if I was a graphic designer. He could tell by the way I was painting, that I was a "graphic designer" and not an "graphic artist". That has always stuck with me, that and the image of him doing interpretive dance to the music he would play while we were painting still lifes.

Some of my favorite artist are Mondrian, and Calder. The clean lines, the colors, and delicate balance of the work. If you have ever tried to build a mobile on a larger scale than construction paper, string and paper clips, you know the unbelievable amount of work it takes to build a basic mobile, let alone something that appears to defy the laws of balance and gravity.

I like my technical art... so years ago when I stumbled upon David C. Roy, my jaw fell to the floor. I have examined and studied these pieces and cannot, for the life of me, figure out the "drive" mechanism. I have the book he suggests looking at, and examined some of the pieces in person (after walking 6 blocks out of my way when I was in Chicago, just to see a gallery that had some of his work). And I still can't quite wrap my mind around the "escapement" part of the pieces. Let alone the clutch and drive systems that have to be used on the "show" parts of the works.

So, Mr. Roy, if you ever read this, please share your secrets with me, and know that I am doing everything I can to get enough money to buy one of your masterpieces.

Really?!?

Welcome to the next level of wasting money! Should have used some of the money to fix the rear axle... as it is obviously broken.
I can only hope that the car floats, and that is how he "paddles" the car across water.

WERD!

Commercials

Having worked in the video production field for about 10 years, I can honestly say " I like commercials." Well... wait... let's rephrase that "I like GOOD commercials." Lately the people that do the Geiko (caveman), and the Target ads are really putting out some quality work. I also like the new emerging trend of actually telling us what quirky, cool song you are using. The current favorite in our house happens to be a Burger King spot for "Chicken Fries"

My beautiful bride, and I must have watched it 5 times the first time we saw it... it currently is DVR'd and we watch it every other day or so. Think about that... a commercial so good, people actually keep it and watch it at will... granted, I have yet to go buy any Chicken Fries, but I know about them.

I really love "local" commercials. Commercials that were obviously made for about $100 bucks. These were my favorite clients when I worked at the TV station. With a budget of $100 or so, usually meant I didnt do much graphic work for them (other than a logo or something), but I was always impressed with what Dave, Brett, Charlie, and the Jeffs could come up with. People would put their kids in the commercial, their dogs, some legends tell of mistresses, and such. They always had a great "catch phrase" as well. I remember a pawn shop called "#1 Pawn". Their phrase was " We make everyone else look like #2." AWESOME! The guy that owned the place was a piece of work as well. He would always be holding huge fans of $100 bills, and have guns hanging off of him in the commercials. He would invite people down to see what kind of deal his daughters could make for you. And his daughters could beat down most of the guys that came in the joint. Think Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. Think the Bartender from Shrek 2. So much fun.

Watching TV last night I see a commercial for "Nutrisystems" diet program. In this spot, they actually say the line "If you can eat, you can lose weight." My brain had a stroke right then and there. What kind of retarded ass thinking is that??? You know, I am pretty sure if you CAN'T eat you will lose weight as well. That's like saying "If you can Breathe, you can quit smoking." I realize they are saying "Everyone can do it", but it just sounded dumb.

New Music

I really need to find some new music. I am VERY tired of the radio stations here. My iTunes library desperately need some new blood. Even my Favorite Mix CDs aren't doing it for me any more.

I checked out Pandora.com the other day and and there were some promising leads coming from that. Pandora is a music "finder". You tell it what you like and it plays songs it thinks you would enjoy. You can tell it you don't like a selection and it will adjust its criteria for picking songs. Not too bad, but a bit more hassle than its worth.

I need some new stuff. I want to find a new They Might Be Giants. Back in my early 20's I could listen to TMBG non stop 24/7/365. Mix in some Violent Femmes, and a splash of thrash punk, maybe some Skateboarding anthems, a smattering of witty writing, and fun lyrics and I was a happy guy. Now, I am having problems finding the music I want to listen to. I found some Modest Mouse stuff from Pandora, and I really enjoy it.

So, if anyone reading this has some music that fits this area, let me know. I will try them out and maybe get out of this musical rut I am in.

Whee....
More Logo from Hell stuff today!