My Little CrockPot of News and Thoughts

DVD Toons has a brand spanking new review of the upcoming release of The Triplets Of Belleville to DVD. I missed this one in the theaters (please put down your rocks and don't stone me), but am looking forward to it's release... only five more days... only five more days... only five more days... ... Here's a link to the new short film from Blur Studios called Rockfish. Check it out. It's a beauty. ... Shorties Watching Shorties is a new Flash animated series on Comedy Central. I read mixed reviews about it, but have yet to seen an episode myself... between missing this one and the Triplets, what have I been doing? ... Here's a very cool site called God Bless Americana from Lili and Eddie @ the FWAK Blog. I wish real life was in technicolor. ... Also, while I'm on the subject, yesterday (4.27.04) on the FWAK Blog, Lili posted some images from her and Eddie's old work/abandoned concepts/ silly, animated goodness. Click. Smile. Laugh.

I'm a huge fan of Amid Amidi and Jerry Beck's literary labor of love, CartoonBrew. I pay the site a visit several times a day to get the latest scoop on all things animated. I was quite surprised (and a bit shocked) when I saw Amid's latest entry about a link I posted a while back... I still feel giddy... I think I might throw up. ... Here's a cool site featuring a comic called Clive & Cabbage. It's by a guy named Kazu Kibuishi. He's got a great style as well a good looking collaborative book that is coming out soon called Flight. Read an article about Kazu and the book here. ... Mike sent me this great link today. It's a collection of rare Bill Watterson artwork. Very cool stuff from a very cool artist. Enjoy.

A Monday Delight: "A Flower Child in Shades of Red" ... Such a cool site and trailer... hard to believe it's a student film. ... Here's a cool portfolio site from a fellow named Chris Appelhans. Be sure to check out his comic strip Frank and Frank too. ... There's a book on Jim Flora coming out soon. In the mean time, check out this site.

My, my, my. The Associated Press reported a few days ago that Sony has been rumored to be in talks to buy MGM for $5 billion. I can't think of anything witty to add to this story, so I'll just move on... ... A while back Cartoonbrew reported that ASIFA was starting up a project to create a museum, library and digital archive devoted to the art of animation. To help keep people up to speed with the progress that is being made, ASIFA has a dedicated blog just for the Animation Archive Project. ASIFA has also started a regular blog also. ... Looks as though the AWN forums have been hacked into. They've been down for a few days now. I'm not sure when they'll be back up. Who'd want to hack into an animation forum is beyond me... must be for the practice. ... Keaner.net is a site I enjoy visiting frequently. He always has some good links and a funny daily comic strip. Here's one (a link that is) from today's entry. It's a web comic with a nice style called Hotel Fred. ... Lili and Eddie @ FWAK posted this link the other day.This is just the right blend of beauty and absolute geekdom.

Sunday Brunch: "The Second Visit of the Hospitality Pineapple" ... Back in East Texas we have deer and on the occasional frosty morn, you may catch a glimpse of the majestic bunch. You know they are there, but you just don't see them on a regular basis. Deer down here in central Texas is something of absurdity. We see them everywhere... in the empty lot next to the grocery store, a few yards away from an extremely busy highway, etc. We thought we had seen it all. That was until this weekend. Saturday, Amanda and I hopped in the truck and explored a bit of this land in which we live. While driving through a friendly looking neighborhood, we were suddenly dumb founded by what we saw. In the yard of a pleasant house, as if they were casual dogs or cats, sat fourteen deer. Does, to be exact. The looked up at us, then modestly, as if not to be rude, slipped back into their mid afternoon trances. It was the strangest, most random thing I have seen in quite a while. I'm gonna have to start carrying my camera around with me. ... This afternoon, we took in a screening of the new film HellBoy. I wasn't sure what to expect. I like the director, Del Torro, and I like the comic from where the whole thing came. Kat Evans, a friend and former professor of mine, worked on the film and had been telling me that it was good. As we left the theater, we talked about what we had just seen. We both agreed that we liked it... a lot. It surpassed anything I could have hoped for. Kudos to all those involved... and to the theater concession employee, who sold me the wonderful Starburst.

Leftover Easter Candy: "Plaid Eggs are One of Life's Simple Pleasures" ... I've been introduced to a lot through Eddie Mort and Lili Chin's Blog. One of the newest treasures is the website of a fellow by the name of Jorge Gutierrez. He's a character designer on their show, Mucha Lucha. Check out this link. It's a Lucha art show, currated by Jorge himself. There's some great work there. ... Don introduced me to a great link today. It's all about the history of comics, from the Dark Ages all the way up to the late 1920's. ... Mike, of "Weird things from Mike's Desk" fame, let me listen to a new band today. They're called The Ghost Band and they're pretty good. Their song "By The Books" is audible candy... Mmm...

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter. Mine was very merry. I'm still gorging myself on sugary confections and chocolate concoctions. Num num! The Jared and Amanda World Tour hit the road from a month long stint in Austin; our Destination: Mt. Pleasant. My brother and sister and her boyfriend came in for the weekend as well. It was a lot of fun. We went fishing (Casey, the boyfriend, my brother, and myself), rode horses, watched movies, ate, and other fun things. Later, we payed a visit to Amanda's family, which was a lot of fun as well. It was a great time. For the last month, I've been growing a beard. I really enjoyed the wooly warm it provided and had just gotten past the horrid period of time when it itches, when we arrived to our destination Thursday night. For some reason (which I don't know why) my sisters felt the need to crack "Fiddler on the Roof" jokes all weekend. Needless to say the beard came off soon after. ... Yaaay! The new trailer of Miyazaki's upcoming film Howl's Moving Castle ... Paul McCartney says he'd like to make an animated feature... that idea has potential, in my opinion. ... Looks as though ASIFA-Hollywood is hosting a 2-D Expo. Sometimes I wish I lived on the West Coast. ... I really enjoy the 10 Second Club. Someday I'm going to enter.

An outlandish claim for the day: "Mr. Tilton, grab your hat and put on your Sunday best, for we're going strolling in the Easter Parade!" ... CAUTION: LINK UPDATE! REPEAT, LINK UPDATE! Here's a fun site from Nathan J. It's Called Scary Girl and it's lots of fun! ... Several artists I like have gotten together with a toy company and created versions of their works that you can actually play with. What fun! ... Here are a few model sheets of a cool concept from Eddie @ FWAK. They're so cool... I can't wait to see more. ... If these are the spokes-characters for Mankind, I feel sorry for Mankind. ... These cars are soooo cool! ... Mike (of "Weird Things from Mike's Desk" fame) has a blog. You can read it here and gather a small inkling into the complex galoot that is BigSleep. ... Things are still drying out here in Austin. Monday night we had a flood and got 5 inches of rain. My truck was parked 3 feet from my front door (literally). I got soaked trying to get into it. The inside still smells like wet feet and corn nuts... I haven't eaten corn nuts in years.

graffiti from a K-Mart wall (L to R): "Don't Judge Me by the Shape of My Head. I'm Really a Kindred Spirit" and "Efelants: Variety Pack" ... Illustrator Shag has been commissioned by MGM to redesign The Pink Panther to commemorate the PP's 40 anniversary. You can check his work out here . Shag's work doesn't bother me usually... he has a nice quirky, 60's, Lounge type of style that is all the rage with the young people these days, but his redesign has left me feeling nauseous. My biggest complaint with it is the fact that he has designed PP at times to be on all fours. That's just wrong. ... New from Microsoft! Microsoft Word for the hardcore gangsta' in each of us. ... Ever heard of Catfish Hotel? I can't wait to see it. It looks cool.

The greatest picture of today: "What?" ... Yesterday was a good day. Amanda and I spent the better part of the afternoon out and about Austin. We hit the mall, which was crowded and also went to a few other stores in the vicinity, which were also crowded. That evening, we came back home. I worked on a few projects while Amanda made the most incredible enchiladas I've ever had. They were a dream wrapped in a flour totilla and covered in sour cream sauce. After that we watched Kevin Costner's latest film, Open Range. I'm a huge fan of Robert Duvall and a fan of the western in general, but somehow I missed this one when it was out in theaters. Although it's no Lonesome Dove, which was and still is the greatest book I've ever read as well as a superb film, Open Range was very enjoyable. The cinematography was jaw droppingly beautiful. The locations and sets were outstanding. The story and acting was pretty good too. If you find yourself with a couple of free hours one day and with the hankerin' for a little free grazin' violence, check out this movie. ... Today I'm trying to watch Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas... it's actually on as I write this entry. I'm having a hard time getting into this one... I dunno, maybe it's just me. ... Lili and Eddie, owners of the mighty fine Fwak Blog, have mentioned yours truly. That was nice of them. Needlessly to say, when I read their most recent entry, I was excited. ... I really hate Daylight Savings Time, but then doesn't everyone?

Today's April's Fools jokes (Clockwise L to R): "Burp", "Four Squares and a Psychedelic Ball", "I Don't Care What the Hermit Crabs Say, Little Boys Belong At School!" ... Yesterday at work, the staff of Ignite! retired to the parking lot for a rousing game of "Four Squares" (see today's sketch). The object is simple. Four people stand in four squares (one in each). One person then serves the ball to another, who then, after one bounce, hits the ball to another, etc. I play up high, whereas it's a "low man's" game. Everyone at Ignite is good at this game... Everyone execpt me. Now I know why I went to art school. ... Mike, of "Weird things from Mike's Desk" fame, introduced me to a jolly link today. Watch and try not to wet yourself. Caution: Rough Lyrics ... Check out the new Batman ATV from the upcoming film... at least I think it's an ATV... it's missing the Bars and Stars on the roof and a raccoon tail hanging from the antenna though. ... Bill Gates and Martha Stewart had a love child. This how that love child has been spending it's time.