Jack Mangans Deadpan #169: Relax

Original title intended to be “Except I’m Not”, but then I recalled the apostrophe strangeness in the episode names, and went with “Relax” instead.
Fascinating Show Notes.

Jack Mangans Deadpan #169: Relax

Is Jack Mangan really a muppet?

Maybe Jack is the lost beatle?

Maybe he’s a muppet beetle? That likes madlibs?

promo – The Weird Show (http://www.theweirdshow.com/)

Questors of Effpiem – recorded live at the Deadpan mmmmmeetup

Justa J0e with the contents of his Memorial Day Golf Post Beach

Cj Reviews Sex and the City 2

Justa J0e with thoughts from the beach

Cj with a dumbass memory

Jack – Destroyer of hard drives.

Jack thanks the Deadpan for being a friend

Greasy Comments
Vanamonde (first of the week)
Cj
Lejon
Vanamonde
Johnny Null
ditto
The Energizer Bunny
Nomad Scry
LoPan

Justa J0e with the last thoughts from the beach

Payment still due on Hockey Playoffs. Wait a minute… Wonder Wolf still owes from the Olympics. All yous louses, pay up!

Good Luck Jack!

60 Lines part two and three coming up.

Send in content: 206-350-Tomi (8664) or e-mail: sphericaljackmatgmaildotcom

Closing music … “Exeunt”

684 thoughts on “Jack Mangans Deadpan #169: Relax

  1. Cj – I had a 80g Zune a while back and really enjoyed the device. And really disliked the software. It was pretty, laggy, and closed up like crazy.

    Which is my dumbass way of saying “Congrats” and “I’m jealous.” =)

  2. Well the new second generation of Zunes look great, but for me two things put me off:

    They aren’t phones.

    Lack of games.

  3. You -really- like the iPhone, don’t you?

    I’d like it if it had a keyboard and multitasking. iPhone 4 is tempting because it has multitasking, but … it still lacks a keyboard.

  4. While I’m sure everyone here cares deeply, I just learned from the morning news that some brave man has decided to take one for the team and take Megan Fox “off the market”.

    It also reported Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart have finally gotten married. I only point this one out to note that niether of them looked particularly good on the video.

  5. JN: Don’t be so fast to drop Spain. They still have to play Honduras and Chile in this round. Having been an exchange student in Spain in the late 80s, I’m required to watch them in the World Cup even though I don’t really care about soccer. It’s like the Super Bowl here. It may be the only football game I watch all year, but I watch it so I have something to talk about with the rest of the people I know.

  6. I have no idea why I started to have a slight glimmer of interest in the World Cup. I consider it a brain anomaly due to bad programming. That being said, I had a clusterfuck of a time trying to watch the US/UK match. My being unable to watch the one game that sparked my interest has really hampered my trying to care.

    Usedhair: Ah, thanks. I didn’t bother to look up how the games are structured.

  7. I finished the SGU season yesterday. I liked it, I think, but what continues to bug me about the show is that none of the main characters are ever REALLY in grave danger. I will say, though, that Kiva could be my Lucian Alliance Commander any day.

  8. You finished it? But the SGU season finale isnt til this Fri, is it???? Or am I wrong?

    But yeah, it definitely got better the last few episodes. Still a minus B grade for it overall tho. And youre right about the characters never really being in peril, but thats kinda the mantra for all Stargate shows.

  9. So hubby and I picked up Big Bang Theory season one and started watching (yeah, yeah, so we’re late to the party, so what?)

    Has anybody else hit pause and read the rants at the end of the credits? Does anybody else think they’re very strange?

  10. I only watched the first 6 episodes of SGU and then I fell behind cuz I got busy. Then stupid Hulu dropped all the episodes I missed so now I can’t get caught up.

  11. The rants at the end are awesome but alot wont make sense unless you read the rants at the end of 2 1/2 men, They kinda go hand in hand. I stopped reading the rants when my eyes started to pop out of my skull.

  12. Ah the fair Rhona Mitra…Essbee you should look for photos of her dressed up as Lara Croft (she was the model for Eidos at computer shows for a while).

    Oh yes….

  13. Bundt cakes make me uncomfortable because of their likeness to swollen sphincters. Or maybe that’s a sign I’ve seen too much porn.

  14. There’s an housing association over called Gentoo.

    I used to think it was just a co-incidence that it shared it’s name with a Linux distro. However I’ve just passed an office of the company, and there are large pictures of Penguins in the windows….hmmmm!

  15. Gentoo was the only distro I didn’t install. Not that I didn’t try, mind you. When X failed to compile (file 76 out of 82), I threw my hands up in disgust.

  16. CR: Tank Girl – The Royal Escape I3

    classic dialogue:

    Jackie: Yay! I’m starting to get a hang of this! It’s a lot like hairdressing-except now I’m using my fists instead of scissors . . . And rather than snipping at hairs, I’m punching these arseholes in the face!

    Barney: An interesting analogy. Listen, Jackie, we’ve got to make it back to the tank, they’re not gonna be able to hold out much longer . . .

  17. I think that song and “Shiney Happy People” are two songs REM have vowed never to perform again. And I support that initative.

  18. impressive –
    Storm just blew through here and because I am geek enough to have a weather station I can tell you that I had a 21mph wind gust and 1 inch of rain in just 15 MINUTES!

  19. Today’s movie: The Sick House

    The write up: A dull horror yarn about an archaeologist who unknowingly unleashes the evil sprit of a doctor while excavating a fcondemned 17th century plague hospital.

    You know it’s got to be good when even the DVR calls it “a dull horror yarn…”

  20. If you guys could smell the smell of my house, you’d be jealous. For dinner: carnitas (on fresh tortillas w/ avocados), Mexican rice ala EssBee, y calabacitas.

  21. So, got to listen to this week’s show while I walked about the neighborhood. Hopefully now, those of you who couldn’t be with us in person understand why you need to clear your calendars now to make sure you can be with us next time.

  22. or white?
    I feel witty and white?
    pretty and witty and fine?

    I’ll have to look it up..

    I’m definitely whiter than I am fine… or wise…

  23. Duh.. it’s BRIGHT!

    I feel pretty,
    Oh, so pretty,
    I feel pretty and witty and bright!
    And I pity
    Any girl who isn’t me tonight.

    I feel charming,
    Oh, so charming
    It’s alarming how charming I feel!
    And so pretty
    That I hardly can believe I’m real.

  24. I’m totally calling with another dumbass memory on my way home tonight.

    I get lonely on my drive home at midnight… so I enjoy talking to all of you then.

    Hope you are ok with that. :tongue:

  25. Jack: Thanks! :happy:

    Ed: You said it. Deadpan MMMMMeetups are fun times.

    Cj: I love hearing segments at any time. In fact, if that becomes a regular segment, perhaps we could it “The Midnight Ride of Cj.” :biggrin:

  26. As much as I love you, Amy, I don’t think I’d ever title anything… ever…

    “The Midnight Ride of Cj.”

    Nope.

    Not going to happen.

  27. I -think- today is the day we either find out what the baby of doom is going to be, or it is the day we make the appointment to find out what the baby of doom is going to be.

    I’m hoping for a .

    That was supposed to be funny.

  28. I threw a baby shower for a friend of mine last weekend. Her and her husband don’t want to know the sex of the baby before hand. One a side note, she’s due in two weeks.

  29. I think I’m suppose to take my grandmother shopping this weekend. hmmm. I guess I better call her later today and confirm.

  30. My schedule for today (not necessarily in order to be done):

    2 loads of laundry
    Clean bathroom
    Bake Chocolate chip cookies
    Start Pulled chicken Fajita’s in the slow cooker
    Grocery shopping

    … yup, that’ll drag me out. Guess it’ll be simple games tonight :cheerful:

  31. Another random thought. Post office still hasn’t found my parcel. I don’t care about the items so much, they can be replaced, but I want the $30 I paid to expedite the parcel so it would show up on time. :tongue:

  32. I once overnighted a license plate from TN to NY.

    It arrived three weeks later.

    By that point I’d already received a refund for my shipping costs. And the funny thing is that’s just about the only time I’ve had an issue with something I’ve sent not arriving in a timely manner.

    The other time was because someone stole the package out of the recipient’s mailbox.

  33. Bowen-San: Enjoy your mowing! Other than it being a fairly large time-sink, I really enjoy mowing.

    I think my electric mower is t3h r0xxorz!

    Also, I sometimes have the phrase “muffin farming” pop into my head. I grin.

  34. oh now this is funny. apparently I can’t link to cake farts dot com (not work safe)
    my comment was how exploding pudding and bunt cake porn reminded me of above url

  35. Lejon: Those cords are expensive! Haven’t run over mine yet. Next time I buy one, hopefully I’ll have enough $$$ to buy a rechargeable.

    Blue Beetle: I think it could be cool. Keep it dark, a touch of anime (Matrix/Iron Mokey-ish). And MINIMIZE the CG! Of course, they won’t, and it’ll be the next Speed Racer.

  36. You’re lucky you get real comments in your comments field, Jack.

    All I get on MegaPodzilla.com are ads for shoes and boots.

    I delete them, so they aren’t there anymore.

  37. And, while we’re at it, I’m getting ready to get a good buzz….though not nearly as good as the night of that live recording 🙂

  38. I have posted my entire comic and card collection for sale on Craig’s List. If you’re interested in anything, email me for a list. I’ve got a metric crapload of comics and cards 🙂

    This economy sucks. Just saying LOL

  39. Congratulations on getting engaged Jack.

    I hope I read that tweet correctly…

    Oh and all deadpanites with iPhones/iPod Touches you owe it to yourself to grab Tilt to Live while it’s free…

  40. Hey — who dared to call my comments “real”? You should be ASHAMED!

    Well, good thing I stopped in. I wasn’t going to be online all week. Jack, this is monumental news! Congratulations to you! I’m trying to backtrack to your tweet.

  41. Hmm, well, apparently there are no secrets on the internet 🙂 I’ve seen a few things this morning that suggest that congratulations are indeed in order.

    So, CONGRATULATIONS, JACK!

  42. Wow, Jack, congrats! You deserve some serious happiness, m’dear.

    Denver Pride is this weekend. We, however, are going to my folks’ to celebrate father’s day and my mom’s bday. Since I won’t be there flying my freak flag, let me just state for the DP record, I am a queer lady. We are everywhere. Focus on your own damn family. Dykes on bikes. They love their gay sons. Drag queens are beautiful. I deserve to get married and divorced and seek the same benefits of all that as my straight brothers and sisters do. Oh yeah, and I HAVE done that.

  43. Saw the message on Facebook, but coming from Evo I can’t say I took it for face value. LOL Congratz Jack, if anyone deserves happiness it is you.

  44. I’m at my favorite local coffeehouse listening to a live electric guitarist play instrumental covers, so all the CP: posts I make tonight will be the songs he’s playing.

    CP: Layla – (as made famous by) Eric Clapton

  45. Did you hear that?

    It was the sound of single girls’ hearts shattering all around the world as they discover that one of the most amazing guys in this universe is officially taken off the market.

    Rhettro said: Congratz Jack, if anyone deserves happiness it is you.

    ^^^ Agreed.

  46. ditto: I will check out the link, thanks.

    I’m making food for a get-together today. Part of our submission is:
    http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/grilled-zucchini-rolls-with-herbs-and-cheese-recipe/index.html
    We highly recommend it.

    Vanamonde: I’ll love it. The first time I listened to Linux Outlaws, Dan did a Texan’s accent, saying, “That’s a nice watch you’ve got there,” or something similar. I loved it. Hilarious and near spot-on.

  47. Not here again, but have a quick (or not so quick) question (which I won’t be able to check the answer on until tomorrow 🙂 )

    Hubby is AP (associate principal) of his school. For next year (Sept 2010) he decided he wanted to teach an elective as well because he felt he was starting to get out of touch with the “people in the trenches” (my words not his). He will be teaching a multi media course which, among other things will have the kids do an audio podcast with the occasional video cast thrown in.

    What he’s looking for is a good podcast server system where the kids can do pretty much all of it, but don’t have to write any of the code. When I was with World Fantasy, I used Libsyn which was pretty good, but we haven’t checked it it will allow for video as well.

    He wants to combine it with regular blog posts as well so he needs something that can do it all.

    Have not done any research at all yet, except for this post (he does have all summer after all) but I thought I’d put some feelers out and see what comes up.

    Thanks!

  48. I wish I could stay home and watch TV.

    The possibility of a new job schedule is soooo on my mind….

    Mostly I’ve been reading, but I’ve been vegging out in front of the TV more often lately since I’m eschewing going out and socializing.

  49. I almost forgot. I’m in the Flattr beta. I apparently have invites I can give out, so if anyone is interested in playing around with it, let me know. I don’t know how many I have, so this could be a FCFS deal.

    My impression so far is that it feels foreign. And I mean both strange and that I can’t read most of the thingies.

  50. Dear Cj at Work “Mostly I’ve been reading” What have you been reading?

    Actually, Dear Deadpan, what’s been in your hands, as far as reading material lately?

    I just finished Flood by Stephen Baxter and started Boneshaker by Cherie Priest yesterday.

  51. Bunny, I’m reading:

    – Tank Girl comics (just got the full 4 episode run of Skid Marks)
    – Duma Key — Stephen King
    – Swan Peak — James Lee Burke (via audiobook – I love this series, though not genre)

    I also just made the mistake of reading some of the comments under the local news’ report about Denver Pride yesterday. Man, people can be awful.

  52. Hubby’s currently reading The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Both the book he’s reading and Boneshaker are Hugo nominees. We’ll probably move on to another nominee each once we are done our respective books.

  53. I once blundered into San Francisco’s Pride parade completely by accident. I was in town on business and had the morning off so I was wandering around downtown.
    I came across some police barricades and a block or two away I could see large crowds of people. Being the young scofflaw that I was, I skirted around the barricade and made my way over to the crowd.
    LOL – Now THAT was a real WTF moment!

    Ended up having a good (or maybe “surreal” would be more appropriate) time. Lot’s of laughs and a really happy crowd. Not at all family friendly … but then again, not everything in life should be.

  54. Most Pridefests are pretty PG-rated (unless you are of the opinion that someone under the age of 17 shouldn’t gaze upon a gay person), but San Francisco’s isn’t!

  55. TEB: Maybe they moved it so there wouldn’t be logistical problems with Stampede?

    Hope everyone had a good weekend.

    Currently reading about 6 books, including Zinn’s “A People’s History of The United States”.

  56. I still laugh when I think about it.
    It was most very much UNtamed.

    All in good fun though and it was funny because when I figured out what was going on, I suddenly had this fear that I was going to be “found out” as the guy who didn’t belong there. (reverse fear of being outed?)
    Didn’t take too long though before I realized that “everyone belongs” is what they were about.
    Well, that and leather.
    and comically large strap-ons.
    and costumes … oooooh the costumes.

    Over all though, it was a very friendly, happy, party atmosphere.

  57. I posted 2 things last night with my iPod touch but I don’t think they went through. Something went wrong somewhere.

    Anyhoo.. I’m not reading anything very literary – I’m mostly reading for casual entertainment and to help me relax so I can sleep at night. Right now I’m reading COMPLETE fluff in “the guy not taken” by Jennifer Weiner.

  58. I am currently reading the prequel for the Wheel of Time & The Gathering Storm, as well as a collection of Sherlock Holmes, Bitter Seeds, The Graveyard Book, the Annotated Elminster, and Hero with a Thousand Faces.

    After that, I have to read Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality and something else that I can’t recall off hand (aka The Pile.)

  59. … I suppose I shouldn’t say “reading” as it implies a higher level of activity than I am currently engaging in. I’m reading a few pages here and there in the active pile, though most of it in either the Holmes or Bitter Seeds. I’ve been “reading” The Gathering Storm since just after it came out and I’ve been “reading” the Annotated Elminster for a few years now.

  60. Most recent completed book: Bloodsucking Fiends – Christopher Moore
    Currently Reading: The Rookie – Scott Sigler
    ON DECK: Physics of the Impossible – Dr. Michio Kaku
    Next in queue: Changes – Jim Butcher (position pending book loan from a friend)

  61. Oh, and Congratulations again, Jack.

    I was ALMOST present for the proposal… If only I hadn’t ducked inside to get the best Bread Pudding I’ve ever had, I would have caught more than Oden’s reaction…

  62. So – – I forgot to mention it onpod this week – – JRMurdock and I recorded a Floydapalooza discussion of Pink Floyd The Wall. It was a pretty good conversation, but I don’t want it to be exclusive. While I’m thinking mini-palooza for this one, I’ll still welcome voicemails, mp3s, general thoughts on Pink Floyd The Wall, for when the actual episode releases (date TBA).

    And on that topic, we might should maybe possibly start talking movies for our next Full-on Palooza. . . ?

  63. Well, during the party, Where the Boys Aren’t was brought up. While that movie does need a deep fleshing out, I doubt it’s appropriate for a *palooza.

  64. Greetings, Pan.

    Currently reading (via Audible) – Faith of the Fallen (Book 6 of the Sword of Truth). Apparently it is Terry Goodkind’s version of “Atlas Shrugged”…and it shows.

    Before that, I listened to “Nutureshock”. It was a most interesting and though provoking book. I recommend anyone raising or teaching kids check this one out.

  65. I was thinking of posting something, though. So I guess I will.

    It appears that an uncle of mine is dying. Doctors are giving him about three months. I think we all know how much weight that carries with me, but he has been ill for quite awhile now, so it may actually be accurate.

    So my folks are going to visit he and his wife in Vermont.

    Now, my family has been very white-bread, very standoffish, and very cold (Perhaps partially why I’m such the social powerhouse that I am today.). Add to this the fact that my mother and her two siblings have not really talked to each other much. One I believe she’s cut all ties with.

    Add to THAT the fact that this uncle is a dick. No one in the family likes him. He treats people like shit, and then tries to buy back their friendship/allegiance. I’m pretty sure his son doesn’t talk to them anymore.

    Finally, I don’t think I’ve seen him since I graduated High School.

    When he dies, I don’t think anyone will care. My mother may be sad for a little while, but I don’t think it will really touch her. His wife, my aunt, will probably be better off. Actually, she’s never been the picture of health, and she may wind up a victim of the six-month-spouse-death thing.

    I’m lucky that I’ve had to deal with very few deaths so far. But the ones that I have dealt with were legitimate losses. They were good, loving people, and really helped and inspired those around them. I wept. But this one, who knows? It’s curious to see what will transpire. An outsider may think I should be sad, but my life and emotions will not change one iota. My mother may grieve, but who knows? It’s odd.

  66. Null, I think serious illness and tragedy are always a shame, unless they afflict truly evil Hitler-types, but they don’t excuse a lifetime of shitty behavior. I think it’s possible to be respectful of a person’s life and death, even if their character doesn’t deserve much respect.

    I just hope that he and those who were closer to his circle are able to come to terms with his offenses and his bad nature before he goes.

  67. Currently reading: Achilles’ Choice by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes at home, Key Out of Time by Andre Norton when out and about on the iPhone.

  68. EssBee dearest,

    I would call Goodkind’s work a cross between Robert Jordan and Stephen King….though Goodkind is far more twisted than King. It is an interesting world with compelling characters. His characters do like to talk, though. There is lots of exposition as characters debate and discuss various courses of action, theories of magic, causes of trouble, etc. I have read some complaints that Goodkind ripped off much of Jordan’s work in his stories. There are some superficial similarities in many elements, I can see, but I think Goodkind tells a very different story.

    The one thing I will caution – Terry Goodkind’s writing borders on misogynism. While male characters certainly take some good beatings through the story, the violence that male characters inflict on female characters tends towards extreme cruelty. The Comedian’s treatment of women in The Watchmen comes to mind. It’s not something I’d have my wife read because I know that, regardless of literary merit, she is sensitive to depictions of violence against women and children.

    Now, there are certainly strong and well written female characters, including Kahlan, the main female protaganist. But many of the women who are “evil” in this world are so to a great deal because of the treatment they have received and the twisting that it has done to them.

    So, as I would rate Acacia as a darker, more serious world that Jordan’s Wheel of Time, so the world of The Sword of Truth is far darker and more serious still.

  69. Jack – I’ll take any flattr-y I can get. =)

    I don’t know if Flattr will stay the way it is now or if this is actually a real beta. Either way, the idea is that I pick a dollar amount that I can afford to spend supporting my favorite (INSERT THINGS) each month. Then I go around willy-nilly clicking on the flattr button every time I see something that I want to financially support. At the end of the month, my money will be automatically divvied out to the people I chose according to how often I flattr’ed them.

    For instance, if I put in $5 and then I only click your flattr button and on JRMurdock’s, then at the end of the month, you’ll get 2.50 and JR will get 2.50. If I go apeshit and start clicking flattr’s all over the place, you may end up only get 0.02 at the end of the month, but I’m still only out the $5 I knew I could afford in the first place.

    Now that all sounds nifty-keen to me.

    But the problem is, in my opinion, there is a pretty hefty barrier to entry. The artists and the users both have to be members of flattr. Part of the sign up process is setting up how much your recurring investment will be. And the system is currently setup to use Euros, not Dollars. Which is vastly American of me, but… still.

    I’d love to see this or something like it adopted by the Balticon/Farpoint Media podcasting community. I’m just not convinced, yet, that this is the right solution and trying to push out the wrong solution might damn the whole idea.

  70. EssBee – I really enjoyed the first Sword of Truth when I read it as a teen. I thought the series rapidly went down hill from there, to the point where I’d recommend leaving it all along after the first book.

    That said, I’m waiting to find used copies of two of the middle books before re-starting the whole sheboingo. I have some demented theory that the ending could make up for the middle.

  71. Thanks, Ed. I may check it out. I’ve just caught up with my beloved Dave Robicheaux (non-genre) novels, so need something new. How is the reader on the audiobooks? I’ve picked up the Goodkind novels in the bookstore a few times, but they are so . . . large that I just put them down again.

  72. ditto: Thanks.

    Vanamonde: A question was raised on a recent episode of SGU: Is a “flat” just an apartment, or can it be someone’s house as well?

  73. Jack: re: the link: I totally agree. We, as a species, let alone a country, have willingly dunked our heads into the sand. We then have crossed our fingers, hoping the Government will lead us into the Promised Land. Of course, the sand is toxic, the Government is just a business, comprised of people no smarter than the general populace, everyone has their own Promised Land, though none actually exist, and we can’t be lead.

    Thus ends these rampant run-on sentences.

  74. Nomad Scry: re: the link: The lemon-juice story is simply a case of a dumbass going off of a very bizarre bit of confirmation-bias. Religions and New Agers have made a fortune off of it.

    The rest is pretty interesting, and it showcases very well the fact that you can’t trust your brain. Its job is to make up stories to fit your perceived reality.

    And let’s remember:
    “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. “

  75. My eyeballs are not working so I can catch up. Good morning. Gonna inhale my coffee, take a shower, and scuttle the kids off to swim lessons.

    good morning

    I think I said that already but can’t see through the murky eyeballs yet!

  76. The kids have swum.

    My eyes are relieved of murky-ness, however I’m having a crisis of extreme proportion right now.

    See – I had a party yesterday and I served coffee…

    I’m out of the creamer I like.

    No seriously.

    I used half and half.

    in my coffee.

    Falling. Apart. Need. Good. Creamer. Stat.

    Sometimes the little things are SOOOO important!

  77. I really enjoyed the “being too stupid to know you’re stupid” article. I think there is an interesting corollary. I’ve had many employers that fall in this category. That is to say that they were ignorant of their own incompetence. However, being ignorant, they had no reason not to strike out on their own and start their business. And being ignorance of their limitations gave them a solid sense of confidence. And quite unfortunately, we tend to judge how competent someone is by how confident they seem. In essence we promote the ignorant.

  78. CCH POUNDER!!

    Cj, what is good coffee creamer? I am a big half & half fan, but for gut-related reasons, have recently switched to Mocha Mix.

  79. That article was a most interesting read. One fascinating aspect that the article didn’t mention (yet, I’ll eagerly await the remaining parts), is that we are often keenly aware of these mental blind spots in people we are close two, but of course can’t see them in ourselves.

  80. RE: Audio versions of Sword of Truth

    I read the first book before I got into Audible, so I can’t comment on that one. The second one has terrible reviews on Audible specifically for the narrator, so I read that one in dead tree format as well. The first one I listened to was book three and that went pretty well.

    Book Four was well read, except the narrator mispronounced one of the major character names through the whole book. It was frustrating.

    Book Five brought back the narrator from Book Three and that went well. Book Six is being done by another narrator and it sounds pretty good so far.

  81. I have learned today that everything from Starbucks tastes better with “an extra shot”

    :joyoushappycaffeinatedsmiley:

  82. I’m totally not joking when I say that I’ve pulled a muscle in my face.

    Someone here at the office said, “It’s because you smile too much.”

    Seriously.. am I that bad?

  83. Oh good……Oh simply wonderful. You know anything Kesha related gets my blood pumping to my groinal area. And mixed with Star Trek! Boy forget Viagra!!!!

    *passes out*

  84. Wow. And here I was concerned that Pixar might flub Toy Story 3:
    “It’s a shockingly grim sequence, but this is what Pixar films do best: find a place of deep emotion and explore it without blunting it, overexplaining it, or passing it off with a laugh. Toy Story 3 never gets darker than this moment, but time and again, it similarly finds real, resonant emotion in the antics of a bunch of children’s toys having adventures when nobody’s looking.”
    http://www.avclub.com/articles/toy-story-3,42237/

    I haven’t seen it yet, but this makes me want to see it more.

  85. Looks like this egg beater will come in use.
    *hooks up to 500hp motor*

    wwwwhhhhhhhhhhhiIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

  86. Omelette
    Omelette, Oooooooh
    Omelette,

    Don’t ya know you got to
    eat the Omelette

    *The all seeing eye of Peter Gabriel spits in my general direction*

  87. PIXAR makes films while other “studios” are cranking out product.
    In the past, they have spent as much as 2 years just working on the scripts … and personally I think that’s at the heart of their long string of hits.

    CNBC has been running a great little documentary on PIXAR.
    One of the best parts is that former head of Disney (Isner) wanted to swallow up PIXAR after Toy Story, Nemo, and a Bugs life. He was a corporate wank who viewed animation as an “asset” not an art form. He wanted to buy PIXAR, take the characters away from them and start cranking out “straight to video” product.
    However, PIXAR majority stock holder Steve Jobs told Isner “No thanks. Oh, and we won’t be renewing our EXISTING deal with you.
    Disney shareholders then threw Isner out and got a new CEO who went back to Jobs and worked out a deal where-in Disney got to retain distribution rights for PIXAR films but not ONLY would Disney keep their noses OUT of PIXAR’s creative business … they were now going to let PIXAR have creative control of Disney’s Animation Division!

    Talk about full circle.
    Even cooler is the fact that the original PIXAR founders had entered into the first degreed, Animation program ever offered at the California University whose name I can’t remember. Those classes were taught by some of the original 9 animators who were there at the start of Disney Animation and had been finally sacked because 70’s corporate Disney thought that Animation was on the way out.

    It’s just a fascinating story of the right brilliant minds just happening to be meeting together at just the right points in history.

  88. I know, Joe. It’s amazing isn’t it.

    I’ve been following Pixar since the first Luxo shorts were released. I’ve never been disappointed in anything they’ve done. In fact, the worst Pixar movie–“Cars” imo–is still better than what a lot of studios aspire to.

    I was very concerned about “Toy Story 3”. This is the only series Pixar has done. No other movie of theirs has sequels. While they Pixar said that they wouldn’t do it unless it was done right, pretty much every studio has screwed up their series by #3. I’m very relieved that Pixar got it right.

  89. I can’t remember the last good animated movie that Disney has done. Maybe “Mulan” which is quite good.

    Yes, animation is a hobby of mine. I watch a lot of it.

  90. That was the same Eisner who bought an NHL franchise and insisted on naming it “The Anaheim Mighty Ducks”, against the pleadings and advice of fans, media, NHL officials, and even Disney execs, just to use the team as an advertisement for Disney’s grade-z hockey comedy franchise.

    We shake our heads, but it’s sociopath CEOs like that who run the world.

  91. lmao Jack. Anyone that has worked in the service industry will have run across some similar stuff. Dicks and idiots are everywhere.

    I worked at a flea market back when I was a teen. Admission was a quarter. There was more than one person that gave me a $50 thinking I would waive the admission. They were pissed that I had change. They were even more pissed when I gave them a lot of $1 bills.

  92. Well I suspect I will always have a fondness for the Big 3 that brought Disney back from the brink.

    The Little Mermaid
    Beauty and the Beast
    Aladdin

  93. According to the PIXAR documentary, Disney’s animated films took a downward spiral because of corporate (yes, Isner again) misunderstanding. The Corp Clowns put all the emphasis on the marketing tie-ins. The films were just vehicles for action figures and theme park attractions. When this led to less then stellar box office sales they responded by cutting budgets … which meant firing production staff and shortening production time. It also meant less time actually writing a good movie to begin with.
    This led to more box office losers.
    In a page out of that article on how stupid people don’t have the ability to see that they are behaving stupidly … the corporate clowns looked at how their films that were made with their newly revamped and streamlined production process were not as successful as the ones made with the “old” creative process … and they decided that this meant the animated film was a dead media.

    PIXAR has fashioned itself around creative process that was developed during Disney’s animation heyday and thrown in a willingness to embrace new technology and they have hit the jackpot. Now that PIXAR will be running Disney’s shop it will be interesting to see if Disney can crank out another hit.
    The part of me that loved to go see Disney films when I was a kid sure hopes so.

  94. Yep!

    A quick check of wikipedia –
    “In 2006, after becoming Chief Creative Officer at Disney, John Lasseter along with other directors from Pixar and Disney viewed a couple of early cuts of the film and gave Chris Sanders notes on how to improve the story. According to Lasseter, Chris Sanders was replaced because Sanders resisted the changes that Lasseter and the other directors had suggested.”

  95. There is an episode of “Gilligan’s Island” where the professor tells a native girl Gilligan’s name and then says “Hohople” like that is what Giligan’s name would be translated as in their native language. Then the girl laughs like, “hohople” means something funny. Others have intrepreted this scene as the Professor giving the island girl Gilligan’s last name. The word “Hoepoo” reminded me of this for some odd reason.

  96. So, I took the kids to see Toy Story 3 this morning.

    We opted not to see it in 3D due to the movie times and prices.

    It didn’t need to be 3D for it to be…

    OMGotch. So. Friggin. Good.

    And this isn’t the me that is generally pleased by most things… This movie is really touching and heartfelt and I kinda like that it doesn’t have some great big fat message being shoved down our throats. (not that there’s anything wrong with that)

  97. My not-so-favorite moment in the movie would have to be when Sarah jumped out of her seat and yelled, “Mommy! Why are you crying????”

    cough

  98. Kind of a weird synnergy thing going on today. Per the Pixar/Disney discussion I started to think about animation in general. It struck me that I’ve seen every Pixar film except Wall-E, I own Wall-E on DVD, but haven’t watched it in a sitting yet even though the kids have watched it several times. From what I’ve seen, the Wall-E robot resembles the coin operated robot in Wallace and Gromet. Maybe I’ll watch it tonight. I checked my Twitter feed and noticed that Wil Wheaton posted a link about the Tron propaganda poster that CJ linked, which in turn made me think of “Chuck” and his Tron poster. Do you think that Chuck realizes that Awesome’s dad is actually Tron? Anyway the second artical at Wil Wheaton’s website talks about him wanting to create a T-Shirt and chosing the Jinx t-shirt company to produce it because that is the company Felicia Day used for creating “The Guild” t-shirts. He goes on to mention that most of the Jinx t-shirts were to loud for his taste, except for the RPG skeleton one, like the one I was wearing when I met Felicia Day. The circle is complete.

  99. Cool info, Rhettro.

    And I think you’ll really enjoy Wall-E. I think it’s an excellent movie. The first 20 minutes of the movie has no dialog and yet you’ll really care about Wall-E by that point.

  100. “Cars” and “Bug’s Life” are probably my least favorite Pixar movies, still good though. “Up” was one of my favorites.

  101. I own all of the above listed Pixar movies except for TS3.

    I also love them all. A Bugs Life is Super Awesome for me because it has Denis Leary especially.

  102. Re-purposing Disney:

    The Emperor’s New Booze
    Slobberin’ Hood
    Cointreau: the Flying Pachyderm (BTW: Dumbo probably doesn’t need to be re-purposed… There’s plenty of Elephant drunkenness in that film)
    The Many Drunken Adventures of Winnie, All True
    Jolt

  103. You’re on a roll, Lejon! In compliance with your theme:

    The Appletini Gang
    Something Blitzed This Way Staggers
    Mulan Lite

    BTWFYIFTW: Netflix has a Pixar’s Short Film: Vol. 1 DVD, released in 2007.

  104. I also am in the camp of “Pretty much everything Pixar touches in Gold” camp. Though, I would have to call Ratatouille their nadir, IMHO. Neither the story, nor the rats did much for me.

    Just don’t ask me to pick a favorite. That would be unpossible.

  105. We tried to go see Toy Story 3 this past weekend, but the line was around the corner to buy tickets. We will be going this weekend when my daughter comes back from camp.

  106. Excellent: “Wall-E”, “Up”
    Good: “Cars”, though more for the cuteness and eye-candy rather than the story.

    I still haven’t made it through “A Bug’s Life”.

  107. I haven’t seen”Up” and I found Wall-E a cute movie to start, but way too heavy handed with its intended message as a whole.

    Hmmmm, I’ve heard Cars several times (daughter watching it while I drove) but haven’t seen it. I’ll have to watch that one too.

  108. I can’t remember the last good animated movie that Disney has done. Maybe
    Apologies for massing my responses, but the animation topic is close to my heart and I was just now able to sit down and catch up.

    —“Mulan” which is quite good.
    —Yes, animation is a hobby of mine. I watch a lot of it.

    Animation is a huge hobby of mine. As disappointed as I am with the current schlock coming out of Disney, they did have some fantastic movies along the way. I was nearly always happy with their big productions, but then equally disappointed at the straight-to-DVD follow ups (e.g. Aladdin, followed by Return of Jafar, or Lilo & Stitch followed by… well… anything after that with stitch).

    —Dreamworks is the only western animation studio that comes close to —competing with Pixar when it comes to feature films, and they only barely —do that.

    I give Dreamworks more credit that barely coming close to Pixar. Pixar is more consistant, but some of the Dreamworks stuff (e.g. Shrek, Madagascar, Monsters vs. Aliens and How to Train Your Dragon) are just as good as the Pixar Movies. I just wish all of Dreamworks stuff was that good, or that Dreamworks would put the effort into short films that Pixar has perfected.

    —And let’s not forget Don Bluth:

    The Secret of NIMH = one of the best movies ever made. Other than that, Don Bluth has done nothing to impress me and everything in the word to piss me off (e.g. An American Tale, Land before Time).

    —Netflix has a Pixar’s Short Film: Vol. 1 DVD, released in 2007

    We got this from Netflix about a month ago. It was fantastic!

    Under the umbrella of great film animators, let us not forget Ralph Bakshi who gave us such wonders as Fritz the Cat and Wizards. I even liked his rotoscoped version of Lord of the Rings.

    Finally, lets not forget about non-motion-picture animation. I am, of course, partial to a lot of the older stuff (Warner Brothers, Hannah Barbera (before they went to the Yogi’s Ark type garbage), J. Ward (Rocky & Bullwinkle), Max Fleischer (Popeye and Betty Boop), Walter Lantz (Woody Woodpecker), Underdog, Rankin & Bass). But there has been a lot of fantastic animation coming out after the lul that was the 1980s. John kricfalusi (Ren & Stimpy), Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Lab, Samurai Jack), Loren Bouchard (Home Movies, Dr. Katz), Matt Groening (The Simpsons, Futurama), Seth McFarlane (Family Guy), Trey Parker and Matt Stone (South Park), and the slew of fantastic series coming from the fine people at Adult Swim. My all-time favorite show that is currently in production is The Venture Brothers. I absolutely CAN’T get enough of this show.

    But I digress. To make a long story short (too late), hoopy-doopy for great animation, sloppy cheap crappy animation… well I won’t even say things like this on the :pan: boards.

  109. I know the new show is probably going up soon so I might repost this tomorrow morning.

    Please keep your good vibes coming – I interview for my new (possibly) job tomorrow morning!

  110. Oh I also own the Pixar Shorts volume 1. It’s what’s playing in the DVD player in my car right now.

    The kids call it the “All the Movies” movie.

  111. Disney… pifff

    I enjoyed Fantasia, but I don’t know that I liked it. Very cool, but too disjointed. Then again, I’m still fighting against my dislike of short stories in general.

    Lady and the Tramp was blah. I had already read the Jungle Book when I saw their version and hated it for being insipid. I liked Little Mermaid and Beauty & The Beast a lot. I still enjoy re-watching B&B sometimes.

    I did not like Aladin, I thought Pocahontas was beautiful but it never grabbed me. I’d read the Hunchback of Notre Dame and wondered how Disney thought they could make a children’s movie out of it. I found out that they thought it was a children’s movie because they added sidekicks. I get angry about Hunchback. They shouldn’t have made it.

    I still haven’t seen Mulan. I still intend to. If I remember.

    Tarzan was okay. The tree sliding sequence was pretty. I hate the art style in Emperor’s New Groove and haven’t been able to get past it. Ugly ugly ugly. I liked Atlantis, but it wasn’t as good as I think it should be. So I enjoy it, but am disappointed at the same time.

    I love Lilo & Stitch. I’m more than a little tempted to suggest using Lilo as a child name. I even enjoyed the vaporous fumes of the TV series… solely as a second hand thing.

    Home on the Range was terrible. Skip it. Like, skip it into a lake.

    Meet the Robinsons was extremely disappointing. I’m not really sure if it was bad or if I just had really crazy high expectations for some reason. I had much lower expectations for Bolt and so I enjoyed it more, but… compare it to the -other- 2008 animated movie, Wall-e, and Bolt goes from fun to sad.

    Also! I’ve seen more Disney animated movies than I had realized.

  112. What I hate about Disney: The use of villains as two dimensional stereo types (the bad guy is the person with the foreign accent and the scar). What I like about Disney: You know, I really can’t define it. The older stuff just sort of grabbed me when I was younger. I have almost the opposite taste in Disney films to NS. I thought Fantasia was OK, but mostly boring (aside from the Sorcerer’s Apprentice segment). I liked Aladdin, Alice In Wonderland, Lady and the Tramp, Song of the South, etc. (all of the older stuff), The Lion King, The Emperor’s New Groove, and Lilo & Stitch. Movies that were “meh” at best were The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas (Avatar?), Hunchback, Hercules, Mulan, Atlantis. Movies that just didn’t do it for me were Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, Treasure Planet, Brother Bear and Home on the Range. I haven’t yet seen the Princess and the Frog, but I haven’t heard ANYTHING good about it yet, so I’m not sure when I’ll get around to it.

  113. I feel very fortunate that I saw Disney Films like “Lady and the Tramp”, “Dumbo”, “!01 Dalmations”, “Junglebook” … as a little kid. Thus, as long as I don’t go back and re-visit them they will always be great in my mind.

    This is one thing that sets PIXAR apart. They make films you can take kids to … yet are still quite enjoyable for most adults.

    I don’t think Dreamworks even hits that mark.
    Shreik was enjoyable for adults but I think the humor and content made it inappropriate for the under 10 set (imo).
    Madigascar was just a mess as far as who it was targeted for. It’s animation style seemed clearly aimed at the under 10 set while the humor/jokes/innuendo seemed clearly aimed at the mid-teen date crowd. I found it mildly amusing but was glad I was seeing a dvd copy that someone else had paid for.

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