You survived, but you brought another devil’s artifact into the world.

So as I sit here listening to some Chet Baker jazz, I'm trying to formulate a good way to go in depth about all the activities that been going on this week. In a way that's concise.
First a quick recap. Early last week I finished a short film which people seem to be enjoying. According to several online comments and mails, my voice is apparently very soothing. And "sexy" as one male put it, which I find flattering and really creepy at the same time.
I finished two cartoons. Sexy Robots which is a short musical thing. And L.O.S.T., which is a new episode of weebl and bob.


I also mentioned in the last post that I was going to be visiting a local video game studio. This was last Wednesday that I visited. So a quick rundown of what happened.
First things first, I got to go inside a house that doubles as a studio. Everyone there really likes my stuff. And they showed off all the crazy things they are working on that they want me to be a part of.
Then we drove down to Bruce Barry's Wacky World Studio where B.Barry and his team build all sorts of giant awesome props for various productions and studios and parks. I met Bruce, which was very very cool. Bruce also had seen my cartoons and enjoyed them. We all worked on editing a cabinet for something. Then afterward, we went to a lovely restaurant in Westchase called Stone something and had a drink.

Basically it was an amazing day and the stuff that's going to come out of this will be great.

On top of it all, this studio is only slightly farther away then my old job at Blockbuster, which I put in my 2 weeks notice at because I've been wanting to get out of there for a while.

So there you go.

I have gotten a studio job. An important one too! I'm the Game Producer guy. The guy I'm working for is a big head honcho too. He's been a part of a lot of big important video game studios and really knows his stuff.


In summary: hell yeah!

I have to be vague about it for the time being.
Let's just say I've crossed a huge threshold here and have been given a great opportunity.

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In other news, Clampaste finally got fed up with the constant hacking of his minecraft server and installed a fancy new code. This new code keeps hackers away and gives people ranks. It also allows you to build more efficiently.
It also gives administrators the ability to be invisible, teleport users to them, and have several maps running in the same server simultaneously.
Here's a Mount Rushmore the regulars made around the giant zombie heads I often build in maps.
Yes, that is a daftpunk helmet.


And here you can see what I look like in game and how I fashion the heads to look like my zombie skin.




And here is a King Kong I built in the mountain map the other night out of boredom and because I rarely build any large structures. You can go in his mouth and fall into his stomach.


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Also if you are a fan of the first two Shrek movies, you NEED to see Shrek 4. It's everything that the fuckin AWFUL Shrek 3 should have been.

There's a rumor the engineer update for tf2 is tonight. I really, REALLY doubt it.

Once there was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died.

So a bunch of important things happened this week.

1.) finished a cartoon
2.) finished a short film
3.) finished fake trailer for short film
4.) met someone who owns a local video game studio. going there Wednesday.
5.) had massive pc crash. had to reinstall windows. rage ensued.
6.) managed to get out of jury duty
7.) ate some friggin DELICIOUS home-made hand-cooked delicacies of tex-mex cuisine at a local place called CALIFORNIA TACOS TO GO. Which has insane tacos and delicious crap. It's literally a shack on the side of the road next to an Army Surplus store. IF YOU LIVE IN TAMPA YOU MUST EAT AT THIS PLACE IT IS AMAZING.

1450 Skipper Road
Tampa Florida
californiatacostogo.com

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The cartoon I finished this week was Sexy Robots for Weebls-Stuff.
Weebl put it up on his youtube account.



It's gotten pretty popular on Youtube.

Speaking of, apparently youtube lied to me. I'm NOT a youtube partner. They just gave me a partnership for ONE video. Thats it. SO, I cant upload anything longer than 10 minutes. Which means I cant upload the 20 minute extravaganza of a short film that me and my friends made onto youtube unless I break it up into parts. Something I don't feel like doing right now. So for the time being, only the film's trailer is on youtube but the movie is on Vimeo.

Here is the trailer:


Much like the trailer for the real movie, there is no interesting footage at all. Just lots of hype.


And here is the final film in all its low-budget glory.

Paranormal Passivity



So how did this come about. Basically after Paranormal Activity came out, me and my friends went to see it. While we agreed it was enjoyable but not really scary but impressive for a film made for pretty much nothing, there was more than plenty of material for us to make fun of. In fact pretty much all we did for the next few days was come up with amusing ideas of what would have happened if the demon ghost was just an asshole. But like alot of other silly ideas we've had (and there have been many we've come up with) we couldn't really create it namely because we had no camera.
Then I got a camera during a crazy black friday sale. And so, the movie was begun and over the course of 3 months we set out to film the cheapest spectacle of a lame indy horror we possibly could, with the fattest whitest fishing line we could get from Walmart.

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Regardless this has been a productive week and I added some Donkey Kong Country music to my blog's music player.

Stay tuned for my next blog post where I will use a potato peeler to remove all the flesh from my jowls.

Do my robot arms turn you on?

First things first, Billy Monks has completed a new game. Currently it is being hosted at our game site, Rocketslap. It's a very simple but slightly frustrating little puzzle game with very plain visuals. It was made in a very short period of time by Bill and some friends. However, its pretty decent, and I did the art, so hell, why not give it a play since you're here? It's not a flash game, fyi. It's 3d and runs through an EXE. So if EXE's and Batch files freak you out, dont unzip! The rest, please enjoy TOWER ASCENT


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Speaking of, the new starter Pokemon got announced/leaked/whatevered this week.
They are pretty OK, actually.
A fire piglet thing with pointless stripes and dumb tail.
A lizard with a leafy tail that looks aloof.
And an otter that looks like it watched its family burn to death right in front of it.

Its interesting to see the various ups and downs in quality of creature designs as time goes on in this dryly milked franchise.
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Speaking of videogame franchises, I learned of THREE great things today.

Great thing one:

The amazing arcade game HYDRO THUNDER made by the long dead Midway video game company is FINALLY getting a sequel. A sequel that looks BADASS.


Great thing two:

Two of the manliest shooters that ever existed in the arcades are coming to the wii sometime in the near future. Gunblade NY and L.A. Machineguns. These games were like playing Metal Slug in 3d. Nothing but bullet rain, chaos, upgrades, and explosions.



Great thing three:

Valve, one of the most generous game companies ever, is updating, for free, Counter Strike. One of the oldest FPS still around. It is getting a complete code and graphical overhaul. No more bunnyhopping or shooting through walls. God damn, I love Valve.

Sweetness.

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Oh and one more minor note here, Andy's birthday party has been moved to today.

also


I MADE A CARTOON. THATS RIGHT. A NEW ONE. WOWIE!


Yeah. When was the last time you heard me say THAT?

Yes indeed.


I have made a new cartoon to the soothing sounds of "Sexy Robots" by my employer Weebl.


Sexy Robots. Give it a look, why not?

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Here's some news of up-and-coming stuff.

For starters I got myself a real gasmask and some belt pouches for my Stalker thing. Both are quite comfortable.

Secondly, a game I've been doing art for has a non-public beta out. Once its done, you can see it. It's an RPG that oddly deep for being based in flash. It takes place in a rather humorous world of the Mafia vs Ninjas.

Thirdly, the short film me and my friends have slowly been piecing together is done! Paranormal Passivity is completed. And I have gotten my hands on a brand spanking new copy of Sony Vegas (which is an insanely powerful piece of software that makes my head spin with all its possibilities). Editing will begin very soon. And then you'll get to see the cereal-encrusted final product when I get it online. It will also have a hilarious production company logo at the beginning which we'll probably slap in front of all our films to seem more legit.

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Anyway, I'm going to go see if I can figure out how MAME works.

Whats at the top of a sunbeam....how do you think I know?

First things first. Wolffire Games, who made some bizarre yet fun game where you play as creepy rabbit people and kick each other in the face, has started up a crazy charity. By donating anything (literally you can donate a fuckin penny) you can get 5 DRM-free games to download. And WOW! They are actually good games holy SHIT!

Aquaria - kind of an underwater metroidvania type of thing. beautiful art. like a next gen eccho the dolphin if anyone remembers back when sega had good games.

World of Goo - played and beat this on my wii last year. still one of the hardest physics puzzle game i've played. brilliant though. some of the music is in my blog player.

Gish - made by a guy who's was a huge egotistical dick the few times I talked to him on the shithole that is Newgrounds. Can't deny he makes damn good games though.

Lugaru - weird. like...ninja rabbits and wolves with n64 graphics. fun. weird. really weird. but fun.

Penumbra - a horror game where you die easily and have no real way to defend yourself other than hiding and trying to block enemies progress using your wits. Brilliant, SCARY, beautiful look to it. A very "mountains of madness meets myst" feel to the whole thing. Best of the bunch with Aquaria in close 2nd. Worth donating to get alone.

Anyway I donated 10 bucks for the deal, cause that seemed like a fair amount.

Anyway to get a hold of this deal (its only gonna last 2 more days, after that, TOO BAD)you need to go here: Humble Indie Bundle

It is MORE than worth it.

Penumbra is the best spooky thing I've played since Silent Hill 2



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Speaking of indy games, here is a picture of me hiding between the eyebrows of a giant version of my head in Minecraft. Thanks to Korovin for snapping this.


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The last episode of Cowboy Beebop is on. This show is one of the most amazing things to ever come out of animation.

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And speaking of things that aren't indy games or cartoons.

Jacob the Seed and Mr.Scriblam have been thinking of making a comic website. With multiple comics. An old idea I had for a possible comic has started pestering my brain again and in its pester, has willed my hand to draw some of the things from it.

Will this comic be made? Who knows. Probably not, given how busy/lazy/talentless I usually am. But a man can dream!






If I were to make it, I'd probably ink it all in flash.
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To finish this blog post, here are some short films I like:








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J.J.Abrams once again has made some mysterious scifi movie with a vague trailer. I am intrigued and annoyed, much like with his previous Cloverfield event. It's called Super 8. And judging from the tiny bit of info out, the title actually has something to do with the films content this time! And once again, I cant find any picture of whatever neat looking alien creature busts out of the train in the trailer that was in front of Iron Man 2. My own curiosity won't let me be, so once again I'm going to have to ravage the internet until I figure out what it looks like either via leaked photo or concept art.


Anyway.

Post over everyone go home.

Newell and Sons

This blog post is very long.
Probably.


Alot of shit has happened in the last couple of weeks.


For starters I'd like to say that, once again, the internet has sickened me. The Looney Toons are coming back. In hand-drawn form. With new designs that aren't very different from the originals. And people are actually upset. Look at this and this.
First off, I'm really tired of artists slinging around as broad a term as "construction" and using it as an easy out to whine how they hate something without going into detail. I see it all over the place and the term lost its meaning a long time ago. It's like using "hipster" "pretentious" or "Mary Sue"
Secondly how is it people are angrier about a Looney Tunes redesign that actually keeps the characters designs mostly intact and their personalities the same, then they were about the FUCKING TRAVESTIES that were THIS SHIT and THIS SHIT.
You'd think the news that the Looney Toons are coming back to TV and is being made by artists again would make people happy but good god, the amount of butthurt this has generated is amazing. I mean that one picture of Bugs and Daffy alone, while it has a rather icky backround, is already way better than an entire episode of one of those "Daffy tries to kill Speedy Gonzales" later toons that noone liked that had limited animation that made an episode of the Hillbilly Bears look like freakin Destino.

Anyway, rant over. However good the final product is, I'm sure Cartoon Network will waste no time canceling it to make room for "Kool Kids do Kool Thangs: The Show" or some new Thugaboo creature.

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In other news, I've been doing alot of freelance work as of late.

First things first, I've been doing art and backrounds for a series of flash games from these guys: Bardo Entertainment. Who are some of the nicest peeps I've worked for.


Second things second, I've been doing backrounds for a game a friend of mine is making for xbox live arcade. Will it be good? WHO KNOWS.



Third things third, I came to the realization that I never posted a picture of the skateboard that I painted. So here is a photo of it before I added varnish. For those who ever wondered if I paint without the use of a computer, here is your answer.


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Something else interesting that happened the last couple weeks was a huge event that happened on the Minecraft server that I frequent.

Clampaste made a map where half was flat and half was mountains. And I guess someone realized this was perfect for a recreation of Minas Tirith.

And I took pictures of it as the days passed.

Here it is as a larva. Small, barely recognizable, full of farts. To the right is a walkway I built out of tree stumps.


Here it is with stairs and battlements. Starting to shape up.


At this point, word got out all over the various chans and such that the creative minds of the server were building one of the most amazing things ever made in Minecraft. So people started flocking in droves. Mostly to grief it because people are terrible malcontent scum online. But a few creative ones began to help building all the smaller structures within, and soon the structure blossomed. Trees, were planted as well. ALWAYS I WANNA BE WITH YOU.


Before long, a battle took place. Complete with little orcs and nazgul and oliphants and such. The city itself was INCREDIBLY complex and someone even went through the trouble of building Osgiliath.


And I went through the trouble of building Sauron's eye. Which was later destroyed because, the game is exploitable and insecure. (we've been hacked like 5 times this week.).


Pictures alone however don't show just how complex this city and structure was. So, using the power of Camstudio (free but shitty recording software), I made this youtube video of me and PizzaDoctor running through the city.


Speaking of youtube and camstudio shenanigans, I made a clip of animation I still liked from an old awful cartoon I made.

As you can see, I still havent figured out how to record sound with the program because apparently my fancy RealTek headphones and speakers dont comply with Camstudios crappy software.

Anyway before I go, here is a new screen from Polypeptide. Yes I'm still working on it, too.


Also the Kick-Ass movie was way better than the comic and you should go see it.


GOOD DAY.
I'm going to go play some Left 4 Dead city17 now.

return the slab....or suffer my curse.

Not much to talk about today.
But that might just be a BIG FAT LIE.



I saw a movie the other day. That movie?
The new Clash of the Titans. I'd heard Zack Snyder was directing this (lies) which is why I went to see it with Mike. (also we were bored as fuck).



Not a bad film. Not great. Not even good really. But not bad. Definitely in that grey middle-ground with Spiderman 1, Troy, and "The Batman" show.

I suppose a positive note is that it doesnt stray too far from the original story, takes a few design cues from the first film (and makes them alot darker, but faker simultaneously) and the scene with the Kraken (which looks a bit like a Locust from Gears of War) is breathtaking. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes prove that no matter how scary/weird you make them look, they continue to be two of the finest actors we have.

On the other hand, the tragedy of the main character doesn't really seem to fuel his motives, due mostly to poor writing. He just seems to get angry and vengeful for no reason. And way way after he SHOULD have been angry and vengeful. Most of the supporting cast is there to collect paychecks. And then Perseus calls Medusa a bitch. Now, up until this point in the film, the language used is english but with old world undertones and phrasing and british accents. And then suddenly "LETS KILL THAT BITCH" kinda erupts out of nowhere. Also for such an epic film it had a very uninspired orchestral soundtrack. I dont think it had a theme. Just humming violins for 2 hours.

I think one of the most brilliant little bits was that the creature that drives the ferry across the river Styx is a gnarled skeletal thing that is also the mast of the ferry. That's some cool shit.

Either way, I'd say see it.

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It's not anywhere near as good as How to Train your Dragon which is in theatres right now. If you haven't seen it, you should, or at least listen to the soundtrack which is GLORIOUS.

Speaking of, I scribbled very quickly the nightfury Toothless and a gronkle tonight.
I think the gronkles were my favorite dragons in the film. They were like little tanks. Like turtles, except agile and frightening. I'd totally own a gronkle, if they existed.


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Whedon of Firefly and Dollhouse is directing the Avengers movie. Why isn't Jon Favreu directing it? I mean Whedon is a cool guy and all, but WHY? WHY?

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Someone in my last post (Systech I think) asked me why I was making a protective suit. It's because I think I might do something I normally never do or touch or go near. Costumes at nerd conventions. Luckily mine will be a cool STALKER and not a fruity Sora/Yugioh/Cloud/whateveranime.
Speaking of, I'm thinking of drawing a fleshpound and a bloodsucker pounding fists like old buddies. But the question is, will I draw such a thing? will I? (probably not.)

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My good friend Mr.Scriblam bought some of my shoes. And was kind enough to photograph them. According to him, they are good shoes made of fine material and the print on them isnt shoddy or messy or blurry. Which is great news! Especially for 60 bucks shoes from the internet!





Speaking of Scriblam, he made this delightful short film that teaches youngsters an important message about friendship and family!


Now dont you feel better?

WELL DONT YOU!?!?!?

SPEAK UP, SONNY!!!!!

I am gettin' eaten? I am skeleton eating?

Hey I got another freelance job! Yay! But that's not what's important because YOU dont CARE. Plus I cant talk much about it anyway!

So here's news I CAN elaborate on:



Ever since I finished up the last episode of Goo's Got Talent, I've had not much to do in terms of art. But ever since I started making those things more than a 2 months ago, I've been itching to paint.

At first I felt like painting a path through a green mossy forest. Then I felt like painting an abandoned building. Then a monster breaking out of a test tube. But eventually I ended up painting this instead.


A Charger from Left 4 Dead 2. Maybe the best painting I've done as of yet. Unsure.
Either way, for the quality my stuff usually is at, this is pretty good!



For those who care about technical bullshit, I made this in the still-very-new Artrage3 which is a wonderful piece of software and a true evolution in software. Much as I love love LOVED artrage2 (which I've made nearly everything in for the last couple of years now), it had a few tiny nit-picky drawbacks that I wished occasionally would be remedied.

Well. THEY GOT FUCKIN REMEDIED. It is now the most perfect art software for people who use tablets. If it were a puppy I would feed it biscuits.

Anyway.
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I sold two of the same poster today. The poster I did for SonyATV Music Publishing. That's kind of odd. For several reasons:

a.) people almost never buy posters
b.) when I do sell posters its certainly never two of the same poster in the same day. what the chicken pot pie is going on?

This leads me to believe the poster has been linked somewhere popular that I cannot identify! Much like the fiasco a month ago when a youtube video I made suddenly got like 50 comments in one day and a million views. Why? Noone knows.


Either way, speaking of posters and design and all that hibbeldy jibbeldy, I made a new design today and fiddled around with it.


A stereo boombox that is also a skull and crossbones. Probably not very original as I'm sure if I googled "stereo skull" it'd bring up about 50,000 other similar and probably better entries. However, when has the fact that something is hackneyed and cliche ever stopped me from continuing to beat its dead horselike body?

Exactly.

For starters here is the design as just linework, for those who enjoy something a bit more reserved. Bleep bloop here it is.

Here it is in glorious technicolor.

And finally here is it as a poster with alot more detail than the previous two. Now with 60% more FlashCS3 filters!

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A few things I feel I should add to this post before I sign off.


Number one. Those new black and white animated cel-shaded ads for Jack Daniels on TV are absolutely fantastic. They almost make me want to drink Jack Daniels. But I like rum.


Number two. The song Pantyhose Pornshop is a hilarious tune. And if it werent so vulgar I'd use it for my next demo reel, besmirching it eternally.

Number three. I am constructing a suit. A protective suit. And one of the first things I purchased was a gas mask. Theres quite alot of various designs and styles of gas masks out there. I decided to go with the 80's styke Hungarian one mainly due to its simplicity and that it uses straps for head security as opposed to being a large rubber thing that engulfs the whole head.


The other components I have not decided on yet. But I tell ya what, this Soviet chemical suit looks bad as all ass.

It's a bit too brightly colored though. I need something with a dull grey or mottled camouflage pattern.

Frankenstein Earphone Radio Parroting Puppet Gangster Slave: Do not DARE to repeat any part of this truthful message!

It's done.


The final episode of the Goo's Got Talent series is live and out on Youtube. I had to sling this one together in about two days but it was worth it. Now I am free once again.


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Speaking of Youtube, I bring possible great news, maybe.



Youtube emailed me once again saying they wanted to make me a Youtube partner underneath two of my videos. The first being Video Footage from Mars which trolled alot of morons (somehow) but Youtube wont approve it because I cant prove that the photos within it are public domain.

The other video they wanted to make a Partner video (which I DO have the rights to) is......gasp.....Spooky Scary Skeletons! I guess because it finally eeked past 20,000 views after a mere 3 years on the internet! Wowie wowie wow!

Sadly, despite covering it in ads as per the agreement, I dont have the ability to add specialty banners to my films pages or my main youtube home page. Which I guess proves that while I may be popular enough to have ads on my cartoon, I'm not quite popular enough to be allowed to customize my page. Slighty saddening.

On another note, I'm not even sure if it's making any money per click. Although I doubt it will, either way. Everything I make has a popularity half-life of about a month.

I suppose I will know if when I check my Google Analytics thingamajig at some point and see I've made more money than usual. Fun fact: the ads I've had on this blog since like 2005 have made a total of 1.26

Impressive!

Either way the time has come to wait patiently to see if Youtube allows me the freedom it allows its other partners. But considering the whole site just had a metamorphosis with a HIDEOUS new page format, I will doubt it!

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Being finished with these Creme Egg things means I am once again free to devote what little free time I have from my loathsome job at the video store to polypeptide and occasional bouts of gaming.

Which I'm fine with. I really am hating my job more and more as each day passes. We're so close to bankruptcy, and in its desperation, is making everyone work even harder in a futile effort to save the corporation. It's hilarious in how pathetic it is, yet stressful. An unpleasant combination.

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Speaking of gaming, here is the FLAGPOLE OF MODERATION that me and the other operators of a minecraft server made.
It has a flag of each major OP on the server. I am the green skull.
Was a fun project.



Thats about it really. Before I go, I implore you all to listen to this.



ps.

How to Train your Dragon was fucking excellent and you should go and see it.


good day.

Purple in the morning, blue in the afternoon, orange in the evening. And green at night.

First things first, apparently someone bought a pair of shoes from my zazzle store. Whoever did, please let me know what sort of condition they are in, if they are comfortable, how "quality" is on the material they are made of, etc.
I'm always curious to know how good / bad the stuff zazzle products are. If I don't know then I won't know what products to avoid. It's why I dont make dark shirts anymore because the prints peel off after a while, ruining the shirt and design.

Anyway!


Hey guess who got into the Sony Music Publishing art collection!

Hell yeah! I don't even care that they misspelled my handle as 'zekey space lizard'

Some may recall that I posted a half-done version of these images a while ago.
Well here they are completed.

this is the shirt version.


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In other news, the finale of the Goo Got Talent cadbury creme egg things has been put up finally.
This one was a bitch to put together due to having alot more going on then the previous episodes.


Once people vote on a winner, we can make the last bit announcing the winner and killing off the giant demon potato that appears at the end of this.

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A friend of mine showed me a mod yesterday for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. that I was not aware of. STALKER 09 COMPLETE which completely redoes all the games graphics. So a game that was already very pretty is now even PRETTIER. It's shocking. It also fixes some of the glitches in the AI (like enemies running right into anomalies and getting blown up due to their own stupidity). It also makes it so bandits dont see me coming from 4 miles away and snipe me with their pistols from ridiculous distances, in the pitch black darkness.

It's odd. I knew about all the mods for the sequels to STALKER like L.U.R.K. and such, but I didn't know about this one for the original game.


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In the bit of freetime I've had in Minecraft, I have been enjoying screwing around in caves.
I made myself a lovely new secret base.


YOU HAVE ANGERED THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR
INCOMING PUNCHES, FROM THE PUNCH DIMENSION


BATTLE LINCOLN NOW ONLINE
BEHOLD, EYE BEAMS


you don't want to be in the way when my laser goes off

He who controls the past conquers the future. He who conquers the future, controls the past.

The first image of this post is for Mike. I am sure he will enjoy it for inhumane reasons, the likes of which you need not understand and I am not obligated to explain.



I have no idea where that image is from. But god help me, I enjoy it.

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I finished the finale of Goo's Got Talent tonight. All thats left is a small a good time from now when everyone votes for the winner.

I think it has the most animation I've ever crammed into a thing for cadbury.


not seen in the above image: an umbrella stabbing the squid, sailors on the sub stabbing the squid, the ocean

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My brothers girlfriend had been wanting me to make her a shirt design for a while so that he could send her a shirt with one of my designs on it.

Here is what I drew.


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The cadbury things have eaten all my freetime for the most part.
In the tiny bit of time I've had between them and my "real life" job (where we now close at 10pm and carry vodka. yay.)I've been fiddling about in minecraft. A game in desperate need of a hierarchy to prevent people from destroying everything in sight.
Despite those problems, I've managed to make some nice things lately which I'm personally proud of, even though theres far better things made in the game.

Here's my attempt of recreating the "Biting Pear" image, which took on a life of its own as a running gag online known as "Lolwut"


Later on I managed to recreate an Overlord from starcraft. It actually came out pretty damn accurately.
It remains the best thing I've made still.


You can see it better in this shot from below.



Usually when I enter a server the first thing I make is a giant zombie head that looks like the character I play as in the game. Its usually my secret base thing of sorts.
These days I often put it as high as I can with various hooks and barbs dangling out from underneath.
Here it is alongside another giant head of my friend on the server named Clampaste. His skin also looks like that. A big white :| face.


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Speaking of gaming, Valve finally started adding new items to tf2 based on the 3d models people were uploading to the contribution site. Most are hats, some new items as well. All the new items are clever. One is a useless sledgehammer. It looks rad as hell, however.

One of the new things added was a surgical mask for the medic class.
And lucky bastard me, I got one.
Fits me fine since I usually play Battle Medic anyway. Battle Medic is when, if no allies are around, you hurt people. And you dont tie yourself to 1 ally the whole match, like useless medics tend to do in the game.
Anyway, behold its coolness.


At least I have free time again.
I can paint this skateboard, work on polypeptide, and play Killing Floor and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. again. Good times.

Now to crash.


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EDIT

http://www.formspring.me/NathanMalone

I made a formspring a while ago and forgot to mention it. Its basically a thing where anyone can anonymously ask me a question. So, if you are both bored and sad, feel free to ask me a question. I will answer all the good ones.

You could say we're of two minds on the subject.

I've had a bit of downtime in the last few days and have mostly spent it gaming and hanging out with my friends. Highlight on the gaming. Company of Heroes, TF2, Machinarium, Minecraft, Bad Company 2.
I have determined Bad Company 2's campaign is far superior to its online multiplayer for the sole reason that in the campaign, everyone isn't armed with sniper rifles and camping on the outskirts of the map.
The game is also incredibly pretty. Like Crysis-level of detail. And it runs smoothly as imaginable on my rig.



Minecraft had been suggested to me multiple times and it IS very fun. Its basically split into 2 parts. The first part is a simple but difficult RPG where you play a character living on a piece of land. During the day you mine for minerals and supplies. And then at night, board up your house to keep all the zombies/skeletons/spiders away.
It's all done with adorable 16-bit 3d cube graphics. There is also a surprisingly robust lighting system. I found as I tunneled out from under my house (I dont dare fight the enemies in my fragile condition)that I quickly lost light from the torches in my house and had to bring them down with me. Eventually one is able to craft more torches from wood and flint, allowing your network of tunnels to be lit as you go along.

Its rather like Oregon Trail and Lost in Blue mixed with legos.
It also has a creative multiplayer mode. Which is basically people running around building things and destroying things all in the same server.

Due to the blocky nature of the game and its graphics, people are often remaking old video game characters with the blocks. Creating giant 3d sprites.


My pathetic attempt at recreating a Waddle Dee from the Kirby game franchise.


Today I tried a bit of "sculpture" using the floating blocks.
Here is a bob-omb I tried to make.


Later on, a Waddle Doo, also from Kirby. (notice a theme).


In a different server me and another chap edited a generic smiley face into something a bit more amusing and appropriate.


In the confines of the game you play a small character made of cubes as well. When you purchase the game, you can edit the teeny tiny png file that makes up the character's texture.
This is mine.

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I need to start thinking about making myself a new demo reel soon.


Also YAY avatar didn't win Best Picture! And yay the animators who worked on it got the oscar for best effects/art direction! Yay a slap in the face to James Cameron who belittled the artists working on the film each time it was compared to animation!
And Yay UP for winning best animated film. And yay Secret of Kells for getting nominated. Maybe it will finally come to DVD here.








stealth edit:



the semifinal is next.

I just ate kiwi! This isn't part of the song!

I saw Alice in Wonderland tonight.



No, not that one.



No, not that one either.




Nope. Not even that one. (which remains my favorite version).


No the one I saw tonight was the new one.

The new Tim Burton one.

Now this movie is basically a sequel to the original story. But at the same time doesn't really follow any events from "Through the Looking Glass" but makes reference to alot of things from that.


PROS
- beautiful cinematography.
- another retread of a more "goth" Alice world, but unique enough to have alot of fantastic ideas.
- uses the Jabberwocky poem as a large basis for the plot.
- Bandersnatch has the funniest run ever.
- CGI, as usual with Burton films, isn't completely photo-realistic which makes it look 10 times better than anything that usually ends up in action/fantasy movies these days that aren't Lord of the Rings.
- march hare done RIGHT.
- Jabberwock looks exactly like the original illustration but in GLORIOUSLY WELL DONE computer animation.
- Depp manages to be endearing and not creepy as the Mad Hatter
- good cast overall, really. Wouldn't change a thing about the voices or cast.
- Dormouse was adorable as hell. JubJub Bird was scary as hell.
- brilliant re-designs of all the classic characters
- lots of eye-gouging
- Danny Elfman

Cons
- The first scene in Wonderland has literally every character in the movie crammed into a 10-minute scene where they explain a whole bunch of useless plot points that aren't important at ALL to the story and ended up wearing on my patience. I cant imagine how people UNfamiliar with the material must have felt.

- So many characters meant few lines per character. The Jabberwock has fucking CHRISTOPHER LEE's awesome voice. He says 1 line. Alan Rickman plays the caterpillar and says like 2 things. A new character, a bloodhound named Baird or Bayard or something, has more lines then most of the cast. Why?

- No Mock Turtle.
- No Walrus
- No Carpenter
- No mome raths
- Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum...just...I dont even know.
- Depp sounds too much like a mixture of Willy Wonka with a SweenyTodd meanstreak sometimes. And his accent kept changing as well. For no reason.



A decent enjoyable film. Definitely captures the "gibberish-filled train of thought" the original story tended to sound like sometimes.

B - / C +

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The chap I mentioned a post or so ago who is a fan of my work sent me a picture of himself wearing one of my shirts. He's also wearing a bowl on his head. It keeps the mind-control beams from NASA from taking over his mind.


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For those who enjoy good music, HEY guess what.
The Gorillaz new album, Plastic Beach has been put online to listen to, FOR FREE. On the website for NPR (national public radio).

It is great. And much like their other albums, a very varied blend of electronica, rap, hip hop, and stuff I cant even think of a genre for.

The idents for the new album are all great. The ones featuring the characters are all done in that lovely 2d animated Hewlett style we've all come to know and love.


But simultaneously the new official music video has the characters in 3d CGI. But wait, its REALLY FUCKIN GOOD 3d CGI.

And I cant embed it. So you can see it here. It has Bruce Willis in it. And subtle references to two other songs on the album.

The story for the album is interesting as well. Noodle dead. Murdoc creates evil robot Noodle. 2D being terrorized by a whale. Russel pissed off as fuck and mutating into a giant.

And this is stuff just from the promo art and idents. God only knows what insane shit they have in store once more music videos start coming out.

The one bad thing I can say about this album really is that Damon does not perform as much as on the others. Alot more guest performers. Which I'm fine with, but I associate the Gorillaz with Damon's lovely voice. I miss it a little. He's in like 5 or 6 of the songs.

Still. Damn good album. Go listen to it go go go.
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THERES A WHALE
THERES A WHALE
THERES A WHALEFISH HE CRIED
AND THE WHALE WAS IN FULL VIEW

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Valve finally saw fit to mention the Engineer in their website. Wowie. It took months but I guess they realized the engineer has become an almost entirely useless class in the last 8 months or so.

In fact here's a handy guide I whipped up about the current engineer playstyle and what it's been forced into:

It was my favorite class once.
Now I usually have to be a scout/medic/demoman to do anything useful.

At least in that blog post they acknowledge that it takes no time for anyone to blow up his crap and that he's useless without his machinery which takes way too long to set up.
Simple things would fix him. Shorter build times. More health. A pistol like the spy has.
Oh well.

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Anyway thats enough crap for today. I have Bad Company 2 installed and I'm going to go have some fun with my friend Billy Monks.

Good day.