I want to thank Josh Madison again for doing this originally. I'm really diggin' it. Photoshop is absolutely amazing and I learn something new almost every time I open the program.
This is another of the Desktop Pictures for you and yours. Spread the love, tell your friends if you like it. Also, I'm am way up for suggestions and relish the challenge that would bring.
The following one is the one that's rockin' my desktop right now.
And the same rules apply: Click on the image and a new window will open showing the image in a large format. On a Mac, hold down the "control" key and click on the large image. From the menu, select "Save Image to Downloads" or something similar. Make it your desktop. Viola!
I know I'm overdue for a Smurf post, so I thought I'd get the next Smurf card up at an appropriate time.
I understand the title says Vikings and the card has a baseball Smurf in it. So what? Peyo mocks your baseball. He's truly a football guy at heart. Just ask Hefty, arguably the Smurf closest to Peyo's heart. Hefty is Peyo's ideal. Football is the ideal game. No other game in the world requires so many pieces to move in synchronized aggressiveness like football. It's like really fast paced chess that spends a lot of time in the gym. And shooting up steroids.
Speaking of which, congrats to the Vikes on making the playoffs. So what if it was an extraordinarily ugly season overall, they made it in and that's all that matters. I believe this team is less then the sum of their parts. They have some of the most amazing players in the game today: Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor, Jared Allen, all the Williamses, Antoine Winfield, Darren Sharper, Matt Birk, Steve Hutchinson, and on and on. A lot of teams can say that they aren't as good as their potential, but this is a team that has some of the best players in specific categories. Leading rusher, a pass rusher, two of the best offensive linemen, the best defensive line, the most underrated corner in the NFL (finally made the Pro-Bowl) and on and on... You can twist statistics in sports to say something interesting about every player in the game, like Bernard Berrian has the highest yards-per-catch statistic in the league, but that means little when he's producing as little as he is. And that can be said about almost all the players on the team. Adrian Peterson is the best rusher in the league and put up the yards to prove it, maybe the best ever (to early to tell for sure) but our record doesn't show it. Our defense is the best against the run and gets better against the pass every game, but again, our record doesn't show it. This was very close to being another season where the Vikes imploded at the end. It was also almost another "Back into the Play-Offs" end of year.
But they won against the Giants.
I have good feelings about this team. I like their chances. I really do. The roster is full of huge talent. They are starting to peak right now. If the spirit of the team can remain high, then the Vikes will be unstoppable.
What does this have to do with the card you ask? Plenty. The Vikings are an excellent example of life. When the team has confidence, is playing with spirit, and enjoying the game, they truly are one of the best teams in the league. Peyo understands this. Peyo is saying you are more than the sum of your parts when you have the right attitude. The undeniable genius of Peyo has blessed us once more with his wisdom. Peyo is also saying baseball is overrated and is no longer America's past time. It's Japan's pass time now.
I've been messing with "the Photoshop" again and I came up with a brighter, happier desktop picture for your holiday enjoyment. I like me some abstract, so that's the feel of this one and the last one. If this becomes popular, I will vary the style of pics created to appease my audience. So if you are one of those audience members, feel free to post in the comments section with suggestions, or anything else you want to talk about... like why your mom drinks more during Christmas time.
The instructions from my last post still apply: Click on the image and a new window will open showing the image in a large format. On a Mac, hold down the "control" key and click on the large image. From the menu, select "Save Image to Downloads" or something similar. Make it your desktop. Viola!
So after some experimentation (with photoshop you pervs) I came up with an image that I really dig. In the holiday spirit, I thought I would give it to y'all for Christmas, or Hanukkah (or Hanukah, or Chanukah...), or Kwanza, or the Winter Solstice, or whatever.
I'm using it as my computer's desktop right now as I type this.
Let me know what you think (and thanks to Josh for the idea). Not really a festive image, but I dig it. Click on the image and a new window will open showing the image in a large format. On a Mac, hold down the "control" key and click on the large image. From the menu, select "Save Image to Downloads" or something similar. Make it your desktop. Viola!
This movie is going to be huge. And for good reason. It is about the coolest comic book character ever created. Sure, some people may think that he's overrated or it's not cool to like him because of how popular he is (which is the only reason anybody would say they don't like Radiohead). Well, those people are dumb. That character:
WOLVERINE
Hugh Jackman has been on the bottom of my list as an actor for a while now. Not because he's a bad actor... He's quite good actually. It's because he stole my role. I even have the sideburns. I would be willing to have real spring-loaded blades installed into my arms just so they wouldn't have to waste money on CGI trickery. 3 X-Men movies were made without me in them. I will not forgive anyone for that. I should shave my 'burns out of protest. But I won't.
Anyway, I just saw the trailer for the new movie that features Wolverine. I have to say that I have never hated Hugh Jackman more, but the movie looks AWESOME. Here's the trailer:
I didn't have much as a kid. And by much, I really many anything. My first toy that I remember was a piece of duct tape with some hair on it. Later in life I had a box of second hand legos mixed in with a couple nice new packs. The older I got, the better my parents' jobs paid and therefore, the better the toys we got as well. Eventually, I had a few Transformers (the best toys ever!) and eventually i received a couple of GI Joes. But never did I have possessions to the same degree that my friends did. They got everything they ever wanted, which is why I never invited my friends over. Very little to do.
There was one set of toys that I did get a lot of. I'm not really sure why. Maybe because they were cheaper than the other toys (I don't actually know because I had no concept of money back then...). Over the years I built up a nice collection of He-Man action figures. And I never missed an episode.
So, without further ado, this right here is one of the most beloved memories of my childhood:
I have no idea what I saw in this show. This is worse than watching Webster.
So I think Billy Zane is a talented mofo. It's no secret. And he is attractive for a dude. Look at his eyes and tell me you don't melt inside. C'mon, do it.
But I came across something last week that crushed me. And I know that I've seen this before, but I have to believe that I blocked it out. Too traumatic.
Billy Zane sold his soul to the Devil, Ben Stiller. Have I ever mentioned to you that I think Ben Stiller is the Devil? I haven't? Well the clues are all there. He has the simian like features that another incarnation of the night, President George W. Bush, has. I think this "axis of monkey like people," if you will, is slowly being removed from power by those with a higher purpose. Thank dog. I can't take another cookie cutter Stiller flick. Or another term of W for that matter. But that's not what this post is about and will be saved for a later time.
This post is about Billy Zane selling his soul to the Stiller. I can't believe that I didn't remember this, but Billy Zane was in Zoolander. Arguably the biggest turd ever to come from Stiller out of a large pile of manure. And definitely the low point for one Owen Wilson, the glimmering jewel of Hollywood. I grant you that Stiller has some decent flicks, like W has a couple of decent accomplishments, but the bad greatly outweighs the good. Billy Zane is now tarnished so badly in my eyes that maybe nothing will make him gleam for me ever again. Not even a sequel to Titanic. What a great movie that would make, huh? The boat already sank in the first one, what do you think it would do the next time? Hmmmm? No one would see the ending coming this time.
I do not know how I feel about this. I know that everyone has to pay their dues, especially in Hollywood, but I thought Billy Zane had done that already. Maybe he was doing a favor for someone. Trying to make a script as bad as Zoolander into something with promise. Even the Mighty Billy Zane doesn't have that kind of talent. I would argue that no one does. Unless they had a lightsaber. That would be pretty cool.
Billy Z, if you are out there and can read this, please, please, post in the comments why you did this to yourself. I swear that it seems like you are trying your hardest to stay out of the high gleam of the spotlight that you obviously so richly deserve. Quit sabotaging your own career to make yourself feel like a tortured artist. You are too old for that now. Only 20-somethings can pull that off now-a-days. And they look douchy when they do it. Imagine how that makes you look.
Well, If you haven't watched the extended Listerine Pocket Pack Sock Puppet director's cut yet, feel free to click here.
If you have, watch it again cuz I want the number of viewings to skyrocket. Viral, baby!
Anyway, the following ad is one that is meant for television and is therefor much shorter than the extended Listerine Pocket Pack Sock Puppet director's cut. It's only 30 seconds long.
And keep in mind, that this is pretty awesome. Quan said so. So there's that.
Just wait until you see the others. Lots of 'em. Lots.
Serendipitously, this next card comes at a very opportune moment. No other Smurf card has resonated with me at the exact right time like this one has. I just finished up what is arguably the hardest three months I have ever had to endure (not including deaths in the family of course). The main reason: TV class with Quan Hoang. I put more effort into TV class than I have in anything else except my marriage, and I assure you my wife would contest that point. On top of that, I had one of the most demanding teachers in Casey Brewer for a class called "Image, Parity, and Long Copy." Not an easy class, to say the least. There was another class that was very time consuming, because I didn't know what the hell I was doing. That was "Computer: Layout and Design" with Ted Dahmen and my god what a difficult tri this has been. I was averaging 4 hours of sleep a night. I was literally working all the way up until 15 minutes before my critique. So tired.
Which brings us full circle to the Smurf Card:
I think with this card Peyo is giving me a reprieve from working so hard all the time. I'm kind of an all or nothing guy, so when I work, I WORK. When I don't, well duh. In the spirit of that reprieve, I am not going to think to hard about this card. I want to extend the soul of this card to all my faithful readers: Enjoy your downtime. Don't take life too seriously.
there are still 17 more cards to go, so stay tuned, check back often, subscribe to the blog, and tell all your friends!
We were assigned Listerine Breath strips in my TV class a few weeks ago. Rather than showing any benefits of the product, my teammates and I thought it would be funny to... well, why don't you watch for yourself:
Sure, they are entertaining. Sure, they are funny. And I bet some would even say they're clever. I would argue that this is one of a handful of the best Listerine ads ever created. No I wouldn't. Or would I?
All I know is that they were both a pain in the ass and an amazing amount of fun to make.
I want to do an experiment and I need your help. If you like them, please tell everyone you have ever met about them. If you don't like them, tell everyone else. I want to see how high the numbers go on this commercial. If the number of views goes high enough, I may be able to refer to this ad as "viral." I don't exactly know what that means, but I hear it's a good thing.
Unlike the other stuff I've heard about that's viral. ...Not so good.
And for the record: Glenn Chipman: Art Director, Actor, Voice talent, Director, Friend to Penguins. Travis Kragh: Art Director, Actor, Voice talent (I dare you.), Bringer of Pizza, and Sock molester. Matthew Gilman: Copy Writer, Voice Talent, Ticking time bomb, Mad-Ad-libber, Bearded Wonder.
