Commercial Interests

This is a commercial some buddies and I worked on for the Comptroller of Maryland Office. How'd we do it? With pure Awesome. Patent pending.

You can see it in widescreen here:

Coffee Takes Down Alzheimer's (Well, Sort of)

Further proof of the awesome-ness that is java:

A study by Finnish and Swedish researchers reveals that middle-aged people who drink between three and five cups of coffee a day lowered their risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer's disease by 60 percent in their later years.

You can read the article here: http://www.thelocal.se/16944/20090115/

Let's see tea do that.

Frank Zappa Knew it All Along

Amid Amidi from CartoonBrew has an interesting post on Frank Zappa's criticisms of the music industry and its parallels with the current woes in the animation world.

In an interview Frank explains how he feels that music was better when it was run by "cigar-chomping old guys" who might not necessarily get the stuff they're listening to but are willing to throw it at the wall and see if it sticks. Today's "hip, young execs," he continues, are actually more conservative and unwilling to put out music they themselves don't like. This in turn means that only safe, similar-looking animation makes it through the pipeline.

So my thing is--are the mainstream animated projects being put out today really that less interesting than what came out before? No one disputes classics like the "Looney Tunes" shorts, Disney's "Fantasia" or HB's "Huckleberry Hound." But current offerings such as "Chowder," "The Mighty B," "Wall-E" and (I'm pleasantly surprised to say) "Kung Fu Panda" hold their own pretty well.

I think there are just so many different shows/films/games/sites on the market today that it becomes that much harder to stand out from the pack. Executives (whether they be "cigar-chompers" or of the "hipster" variety) will have a tough time finding things that a majority of the audience will like. Of course, this doesn't mean we shouldn't take them to task for putting out obvious drivel. And there is obvious drivel out there, rest assured. I just don't feel that there is enough to justify saying fresh animation is no longer getting greenlit.

Regardless of what I think, Amid draws some great conclusions. You can view his post here: http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/frank-zappa-explains-why-cartoons-today-suck.html

And regardless of what anybody thinks, who doesn't love Frank Zappa?

Israel Blows Up School, Cements Douchebag Status

What better medium than that of the cartoonist's to criticize a government acting foolishly?

No one disputes a nation's right to defend itself, but the reckless attacks on the Gaza strip by the Israeli military render them no better than the terrorists they purport to be fighting. Their attempt to justify killing scores of Palistinian civilians (particularly children) to get at one or two militants would be laughable if it weren't so tragic.

Way to suck, Israel.