Thus revealed, the creature buried its nose in the tire-tilled soil...
February 4, 2010
Name those... yeah... Part 2!

And here are the answers to last time's challenge!

The sprites in that old graphic came from...

TMNT: TF -- Leonardo's Stage
TMNT: TF -- Wingnut's Stage

The SNES version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters!

And the background was from...

TMNT: MM -- Ivory Smugglers, Mission 3

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Manhattan Missions!!!

Moving along, there's the matter of that ass... (more...)

-posted by Wes | 4:17 am | Comments (2)
January 31, 2010
Name those... yeah... Part 1!
Category: Miscellany … SC Updates … TV, Film, & DVDs

SO! I was going through some old graphics folders looking for a photo to include in my latest Scary-Crayon article -- which contains some stuff personal enough that I almost cut it from the piece and posted it here, so readers of my blog who don't typically enjoy SC might still want to check it out -- and I came across a couple of images I thought it might be fun to post. And heck, I thought, we might as well make a game out of it! So see if you can identify the stuff in these pics via the comments (if you like), and I'll post again in a day or so to let you know how you did.

"What happened to the love in lovemaking?"

Back in college, I wrote articles and created some graphics for a student magazine for a couple of semesters -- and this is the graphic I made using some sprites and a background for one particular feature. See if you can guess which two respective games the sprites and background came from! I'll give you a hint -- both games share the same protagonists, and I reviewed one of them on SC (the list of relevant articles is here).

Hmmm...

And since today's update also saw me rooting around in my DVD screen capture directory, I figured I'd post this image and challenge you to Name That Ass! That is, I challenge you to guess whose ass that is. And the legs, since they obviously belong to the same person. And I know what you're thinking, Mickey -- that's not the right answer. 😉 In fact, this screencap came from a children's movie made in the 1990s. It currently has an IMDb user rating below 4.0. (If you really wanna play, this search tool may prove useful. It's pretty useful anyway, actually. I just found out about it!)

Okey-doke, post your guesses in the comments -- among whatever else you'd like to write -- and I'll reveal the answers in a few days or so. (And I still haven't forgotten about your questions, Mickey!) Ja!

-posted by Wes | 3:58 am | Comments (8)
January 19, 2010
Prepare for spookiness!
Category: Art … Toys

Glow-In-the-Dark Mod Podge!!!
IT WORKS! IT REALLY WORKS!!!

I CAN NOW MAKE STUFF GLOW IN THE DARK!!! It's so exciting -- I don't know which figure to use it on first. A Dalek? A Terminator? Dollar store rats and insects? I'll probably opt for one of the latter -- not as amazing, I know, but these things make good test subjects and it's not like I was using them for anything. But note well: THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!!!

-posted by Wes | 5:32 am | Comments (8)
January 9, 2010
Comments on the latest "Dollhouse" episode

I tend to post to #db while watching shows, especially if folks there have already seen the episodes or will see them soon. I try to avoid comments that are too spoilery, so what I have to say is generally pretty shallow and unspecific, but hopefully my reaction to the final development will be apparent from the comments below! Here's what I wrote about last night's "Dollhouse":

<Wes> I can totally see Glau's booty through her skirt

<Wes> aaaand all is forgotten with the return of AA

<Wes> Journeybro!

<Wes> nooooez

<Wes> I'd wish I had more time with that loveliness too
<Wes> time for blue hair dye jobs

<Wes> wait what the fuck

<Wes> FOUR KNOCKS
<Wes> THE END OF THE DOCTOR

<Wes> ...
<Wes> what
<Wes> fuck this show

The usual suspects are already raving about how awesome the episode was, but I thought it was bloody stupid. Yeah, there were a couple of revelations -- one in particular -- that were "shocking" and unexpected, but it was in that comic-esque "ONO my new wife is actually my dead twin sister's baby from the future" way. Apparently the next episode or so will attempt to convince us that this twist was really in the works all along, but there really was no reason to suspect it -- unless one was simply expecting the least likely result to obtain for no apparent reason. I hate shit like that.

It's in these instances that the writing disparities between inferior shows like "Dollhouse" and "Heroes" (and "Smallville") and superior shows like "Dexter" are most apparent. The former shows drop these WTF moments on you without any warning, almost such that it seems like even the writers didn't decide to go that route until fairly recently in the story. With "Dexter," there are certainly WTF moments -- but they've not only clearly been carefully plotted beforehand, but also set up to the extent that the viewer has probably interpreted at least some of the clues correctly.

A good show gradually lays down the puzzle pieces in order to build towards the greater picture, though it might drop two or six pieces on you in rapid succession at key moments. Shows like "Dollhouse" meander along and then throw technicolor posters in your face while screaming, "BLAMMO!! YOU WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT, WERE YOU?!?!?"

And no, I wasn't expecting that -- but it's still bloody stupid.

-posted by Wes | 6:59 am | Comments (4)
January 6, 2010
Dreams in the new year
Category: Dreams

I have kicked off 2010 with some fairly unusual dreams! Or perhaps it just seems that way because it's been a while since I actually remembered my dreams on a regular basis -- for all I know I have dreams like this every night. I've been able to remember my dreams for the past three or four nights, though, and they've been long and sprawling affairs that continued when I went back to sleep after waking up for whatever reason.

Last night's dream began with me attending a comedy show with a bunch of my chat/convention pals. The show was hosted by Adam Carolla -- which is weird in and of itself because I never think about this dude. What made it even weirder was that the show had frequent intermissions, during which segments of some detective show starring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles played on the auditorium screen. The Turtles were trying to get to the mystery of some corporation that, among other questionable features, had a talking, wall-walking, man-eating komodo dragon as one of its executives. It ate one of the recent hires during one segment. (more...)

-posted by Wes | 8:19 pm | Comments (0)