12.25.2008

Christmas cards day 25: The Humbug


Ugk! I do like how the airbrushed, made up Humbug, came out- very beetle like.
Anyway, I worked all day and feel like a big steamy pile-o-you-know-what, so I made this card up on the spot instead of finishing one of the 30 others. I hope people get the spirit of "jest".(which i believe was what humbug once actually meant)
Until next year...

12.24.2008

Christmas cards day 24: Tim the Cat Antlers


This one is for a particular person.
The atrocities of dressing up pets for holidays should be a torturous requirement.
My grandma had a really obese chihuahua we would put antlers on, and it was freakin hilarious. One more Christmas card post left. Many ideas and not much time.

12.23.2008

Christmas cards day 23: Snowman Dancing


My second new card! Yay, for newness!
I have a strange fondness for the "Happy Holidays" font.
I wanted another "artsy-snob", "elegant" one. The Grain/snow doesn't show up so well on this small version, but it will suffice for me to know it looks better in higher resolution.

Christmas cards day 22: One of These-Stockings


New one 5 minutes after midnight. Technically late, but I personally think not, I am still in Monday mode.
Patterned after the "One of these..." cards I have done.

12.21.2008

Christmas cards day 21: It Glows


Okay, I have 1 day to FINISH one of my new cards.
I am seriously having issues. Anyone that knows how I work, work, work, then get frustrated, destroy what I have done because I'm not happy with it, and start over, should know that this year is EXACTLY the same.
Stupid starting over.
A million ideas, and none of them working quite how I would like them to.
Wish me luck people.

12.19.2008

Christmas cards day 19: The Naughty Pillow

If we told children that if they were naughty they would wake up to Santa smothering them with the "Naughty Pillow", we might have some nicer kids nowadays. The concept was this bully kid didn't believe in Santa and started spreading rumors about it to other kids in his class. Well, Santa, he isn't gonna take any shit. Specially from a 5th grader. So Mr. Kringle decided to mete out punishment to those bad kids. Oh, there is much more to this story. I thought about writing it for a novella for next Christmas for all my friends.
Actually... I will start on it soon.
Something about making these cards brings out the strange in me. These last two put me at the top of my ideas game. Why do I think these things up? And after, why can't I stop giggling like a little devil-girl that just convinced some diabetic person to eat an entire box of very evil, ultrasugary cookies? Tee-hee-hee-hee...
I couldn't get the colors right, and ran short on time, but I think I made a pretty good final copy.

12.18.2008

Christmas cards day 18: Frosty's Obituary


I had this image in my head of an older Frosty plagued by his smoking habit. So I wrote the poem, did a little sketch and laughed like a diabolical moron for days.
Tomorrow's card is one that really makes me laugh. Ooooooohhhh, I can't wait.
Actually, I can. I did make it 2 years ago, and it is still just as hilarious.

12.17.2008

Christmas cards days 16 & 17: Wise man & Tree




No internet yesterday. So 2 cards today. Two serious cards, and tomorrow will have a good one.

12.16.2008

Christmas cards delay...

I have no laptop internet and cannot put up today's card, and my phone doesn't have picture sending capabilities. Tomorrow shall have 2 cards if the internet returns.

12.15.2008

Christmas cards day 15: Santa Sucks


I have a couple more serious cards, I will try and break them up with fun ones.

Heroes: Our Father

I'll try and keep this short.

Ando, Parkman, and Daphne go after the last issue of 9th Wonders. I still believe the continuity for Isaac's comics to death time is WAY off on this.

Nathan and Tracy are taking over control of Arthur's plan to imbue militaristic superpowers upon those they deem worthy.

Sylar kills Elle (and neatly left her skull on), then burns the body. He calls Arthur and lets him know he will be on his way after picking up some fun new powers from Elle's cell phone list.

Angela sends Peter and the Haitian to kill Arthur with a gun. I hope it's a magically enhanced super gun. Peter thinks it's his responsibility to do the job. He grows a pair, and pulls the trigger while the Haitian struggles to dampen Arthur's powers. Sylar intervenes and uses his newly acquired "Lie detector" power to find out that Arthur is a liar. Yeah, I'm sure the ability was an absolute necessity there.
So Sylar let's the bullet go into Arthur's skull. Won't Arthur revive after the Haitian leaves, unless the bullet is lodged in his "stop button"?(like Claire's stick, and Peter's glass shard)
Sylar lets Peter live because Peter "doesn't have anything he wants anymore."
Why didn't he absorb Arthur's power, then take it away from him, to leave him powerless before death??? Why did he ignore the Haitian as well??? A very handy power...
Then the Haitian leaves to take care of Sylar. I wonder if Arthur will heal, then give Peter some power back for displaying the power to not be a gaylord, and actually pulling the trigger.

Back in time: Claire warns Noah not to let her become the catalyst, because he would completely listen to a strange young woman. Good scene anyway. Now in the future he would remember he face from the past...
...and so should Kaito from meeting Hiro then and assuming he was part of the cooking staff.
Hiro gets some brain damage fixed from his healer mother, and takes the catalyst from her, so he can protect it for like 10 minutes.
Arthur shows up and steals his power and the catalyst, then flings him off the roof onto a pole. Arthur then displays something Hiro could have done but didn't: he teleports Claire without going himself. Does this mean he may also be able to retrieve things in the same matter, or does he still have to physically need to be in contact with an object???
Where is Now Hiro now? If they can't save him back in time, there would be an older Hiro in the present.

Arthur loads the catalyst into the vat of Campbell's super soup and then Mohinder, Tracy, and Nathan test it on a military guy that seems a little too patriotic. Now they have on their hands an over enthused super (crazy) soldier.

I am actually excited to see how the implied fight between the puppetmaster guy and Sylar plays out. Could the puppetmaster hold Sylar? He has shown the ability to hold 3 individuals without strain, so 1 may be easier. Plus, Sylar has no telepathic abilities. How awesome would it be if Sylar asked him if he thinks he could control him(Sylar), and the puppetmaster responds "Yes", and Sylar's lie detector confirms it???
Puppetmaster also has the benefit of the Haitian as a potential back up to keep Sylar powered down.

Done for now.

12.10.2008

Christmas cards day 10: Elegant Rudolph


What I considered to be an "elegant" art snob card.
The image, although simple, just feels right, I don't know why.

12.09.2008

Christmas cards day 9: Cherubs




Today is a 2-for-1. Kind of.
I ended up liking the shorter longer one best, but prefer the taller one's color(blues).
Sorry about the poor quality, I had a hard time finding the print versions.
From 2006.

12.08.2008

Dark Knight tomorrow!

In celebration of the movie Dark Knight coming out tonight midnight/tomorrow, I decided to throw something small up about the movie.

In the first movie the underlying theme as I understood it was masks. It seems to be about who the characters are. Finding their true self. There is also a running theme of the uses of fear.
The path of discovery leads Bruce Wayne on a never ending search for outward meaning. Since that doesn't work, Ducard suggests he turn his search inward.
What does he find???
Mr. Wayne finds his fear is rooted in a childhood accident. Coupling that fear with urges of vengeance, and the need to mete out justice, he turns his fear into a weapon. He pours himself into a dedication to punishing those who are untouched by law. He becomes the Batman, and Bruce is his false persona.
The Scarecrow uses a toxic gas to generate an unnatural fear in people, and the mask as a further agent of manipulation. Using the mind against itself with the assistance of the gas and a dirty old potato sack.
Ra's Al Ghul I feel to be the best use of a mask. Ghul's mask is a completely other person. He uses a decoy. He hides himself under an alias as a shield. The League of Shadows he is leading wants to destroy the "decadence" that Gotham City has become. His use of fear was the plan to infect Gotham with it, and let the city destroy itself.

The Dark Knight appears to be about motivation. Why do things? Why keep trying to fight injustice? Is the corruption too deep?
While there is a reason, that I believe is to show that people will fail to do the right thing when pushed into a choice they don't want to make, Joker doesn't need to stand for anything.
The Joker represents the literal "Wild card". A force that does things just because.
He just kills off his help. Hires obviously unbalanced people. His acts are seemingly random.
How do you fight a villain that isn't affected by efforts to extract them?
Spreading terror throughout the city and letting the people exacerbate the effects, and sits back and enjoys it. He manipulates both the general populous, the government, and the criminal underground. He is playing them all.
Batman himself has to change. His image is dual. He is viewed by Gotham as good guy/bad guy and ends up becoming a scapegoat to salvage another image. He won't let the Joker's deeds be known by the public. A sacrifice for the greater good. True heroics.
Harvey Dent? Do I have to even talk about this? From the power of choice to that of chance.
Purpose to chaos.

I would also like to post thoughts about a 3rd movie. There have been rumors about Catwoman being the villain. This choice would be perfect. A love interest and a villain.
I have also heard that Angelina Jolie wants the role. Disgusting. While it's possible she could be good, I believe it to be terrible. I think someone like Charlize Theron would be better. There is immense possibility for great action and chase scenes with a cat burglar.
For a secondary villain, while being close to the Joker, there is also the Riddler. Not the crazy, semi-retarded Jim Carrey Riddler, but an Equestrian one. The bowler's hat and suit. Smart and reserved, pushing Batman to think through difficult puzzles.
Could Ralph Fiennes be called for? I think so. He almost was in the Riddler character in the Avengers movie with Uma Thurman. He had the suit, hat, and demeanor.

Christmas cards day 8: Rudolph & Santa

Blahhbitty blah, 2005.

12.06.2008

Christmas cards day 6: Season's Greetings


Another card I made that showed up mimicked everywhere the following year.
2005.

Little Big Planet

I picked up Little Big Planet yesterday. It definately lives up to all the hype.

Extreme customization.
Immense replayability.
Great multiplayer family fun.

This game has tons of laugh out loud moments and hours of enjoyment.

Worth.
Every.
Cent.

12.05.2008

Christmas cards day 5: Snow Globe


I couldn't find ones from 2004 so I just am going straight to 2005 cards. I originally wanted to animate this, with the snowman wandering and giant kid noises laughing in the distance. He would be looking around very confused and scared, then the shaking would happen. He would get up all dizzy and wander in a wobbly path, bump into the glass and throw up snow.

12.04.2008

Heroes: Eclipse Part 2

Finally Peter admits to trying to be a hero. The Haitian knew he was lying when he asked him why he came to Haiti, and Peter said he wanted to get him(Haitian) to stop his father(Arthur).

They head to break out Nathan, who is talking to some captives that will be sold into slavery. Their Captor is the Haitian's brother, who has a god-complex because of his power of invulnerability. Even though he knows his brother has the power to negate it, and the eclipse has temporarily stopped them as well.
Anyone with half a brain could guess the eclipse's effect wouldn't last. There was a showdown. Nathan rams Samedi into a vehicle and the Haitian steps up to do job he should have done long ago. He, presumably, stops the invulnerability and proceeds to mind-wipe him. Is this what an exorcism looks like?
The god has fallen.

Anyway Peter, Nathan, and the Haitian head into the jungle. Nathan tells Peter that Pinehearst does have the answers. Giving the 'right' people abilities to police the world by force. Obviously this will work(sarcasm feels so good), and Peter knows it won't work because he has been to the future and has seen the ramifications of Pinehearst's plans. Is Nathan going to become the next evil Petrelli? Next seasons main villain?

Mohinder gets beat up by human race flunky Flint. After Arthur leaves he resorts to physical violence to free himself. This is not the proper use of a microscope.
He heads to Maya's and the eclipse ends resulting in instant reappearance of scales. Nasty. Anyway he returns like a good sucker to Pinehearst. Arthur then makes a comment about how willing some people may be. How terrible we can become.

At the hospital doctors tell Sandra that they will call the police if she doesn't tell them the truth about Claire. (she was either more recently shot, or never sick in her life) That doesn't quite make sense because the regenerative ability would have made super antibodies. So she should have built immunities to all contacted items. Which means the infections/diseases she would have picked up should still be inactive.
So theoretically, only newly introduced foreign bodies/sicknesses should affect her. Oh, well.
Semantics.

Over in the Canfeild house Elle and Sylar finish making out just in time for Noah Bennett to shoot at them. Sylar expresses relief about being able to start over. No powers, no parents, no problem. Until Noah arrives.
I love how she points out that without powers they will probably die. They are about as threatening as a fart against a hurricane. He trails them, catches Sylar and cuts his throat. So much for being somebody Mr. Sylar. But the eclipse only lasts so long.

Matt tries to convince Daphne that, no, she isn't a complete dumbass(not being punished by Arthur, and not being a bad person). She seems to be very self involved. MEMEMEME. Lame.

Back to Claire. Noah returns and Claire is back to selfishland. Why weren't you there for me??? Maybe because he is trying to help the world, instead of an individual. She tells him she died, and he metaphorically craps his pants. Sylar lives!(insert dramatic music here)
Well Sylar and Elle show up and threaten them, and want to take Claire. Note that Mr. Muggles is nowhere to be seen.

On to the best parts of the show-Hiro and Ando.
Hiro uses his company card to pay for back issues of 9th Wonders. I am still pissed about the comics being published. He died before the future was changed. Twice. So how could he have painted the now.
And I LOVE how they referred to the issue that Isaac gave a comic to a random bike messenger.
Well Sam and Frack have to help figure out a way to help Hiro get his memory back. (isn't the memory wipe a physical scarring? Like Adam and Peter healing to regain memory.)
Hiro learns that he became a potential killer, his father died, and about Charlie and Adam. He then runs into the bathroom to hide. He doesn't want to grow up.
Sam the skeptic has to provide sage-like advice to lure Hiro back into the journey of a hero.
Everyone has to grow up. ANYONE can make a difference.
Frack discovers in a comic that Hiro and Claire were there when Kaito bestowed baby Claire into the hands of younger Noah Bennett.

And to the best scene in the episode:
Sylar is cutting Noah's throat.
Hiro teleports in, Sylar is all like, "...the hell?"
Hiro says, "Bad man", and teleports him away.
Elle is like, "???"
Hiro returns and says, "Save the Cheerleader.", and teleports her away.
He returns to port Claire away.
Leaving Noah and Sandra wondering, What the f*ck?

Hiro has immense potential, and his 10 year old self is living more up to it than his current aged self was. Is he back on the road to freaking awesome Hiro from the future? I hope so.

Last scene. Elle and Sylar on an unnamed beach. Sylar's power brought back his understanding. He "understands" that he will never change. Even though he did in the future that isn't going to happen anymore. No more chance of little Noah to redeem Sylar.
He starts cutting Elle's head off to get some knowledge out.
Ticky-tock,
ticky-tock.

Christmas cards day 4: Poopin'


I made this in 2003, and the next year I saw similar ones all over the place. While I'm sure someone thought of it before me, I had not previously seen this type of image(Santa using the chimney as a toilet).

12.01.2008

Christmas cards Day 1: Can You See the Hidden Picture?


I am planning on putting up Christmas cards I made throughout the month. I decided to go all digital this year as printing costs have risen each year. I will try to put one up each day until Christmas day. (Thanks to Nick for suggesting daily posting instead of a bulky massive post for each year's cards.)
Most of the early ones are old cards I made, I hold all the copyrights, but give permission for people to use/email them freely. I just ask that I be given credit for the creation, like leave my blog address or name or something. (The year I made them is on each card, this first one is from 2003)

I also note that very similar cards have come out the next year after mine. Awkward.
I cannot find any cards from 2004, some of the best were from that year, including my personal favorite. Tears.