Comic for Monday, May 14th, 2007

Posted: 7:18 am, Monday, May 14th

Man, I think before another CGI animated film gets greenlit, the producer putting it forth should have to write a hundred-page dissertation about what specific, unique need his film would be filling. And if the dissertation is unsatisfactory, the producer should be shot and killed. Anyway, here's the trailer that 2.0 and I were subjected (as were probably many of you) before Spider-Man 3.

I actually missed a major "ocean" picture as "motion" when I first saw the preview (and just to let you know how much I suffer for my art, I watched this effing trailer like eight times drawing this strip)(was, for a second, thinking about trying to somehow build the strip around the YouTube clip), and just thought they were making a ridiculous, grandiose claim for no clear reason. (More explanations: I couldn't screen-cap the high-res trailer for some reason, so the second and fourth panels are actually from the Surf's Up website and not the trailer.)

Man, the Sox had absolutely no right winning that game yesterday. And it was so freaking awesome that they did.

All the mothers in the house have a good one yesterday? Should've thrown it out there on Friday, but since I wrote Friday's entry on Thursday, I wasn't really thinking of it yet. Very slightly on subject, but not really, here are two videos I happened across on Saturday evening. They're more appropriate for Grandparents' Day or something, but since I have no idea when that is, and because I'm thinking of them now, here they are. The first is a sweet old man playing the piano, that was featured in the Wall Street Journal the other day. The comments people left him on his YouTube page are so sweet.

And then, for the grandmothers, there's this one.

That one's a whole production - they've done like fifteen or sixteen shows. I love it. Bubbe is hilarious. Anyway, there those two are.

Longtime readers may remember this completely incomprehensible dissertation lecture I put an invite up to last year - it was something about ... God, what was it? The effect of water vibrations on the ocean floor, maybe? Whatever it was, I didn't even understand the title. But it was taking place at Stanford, and it sounded super-intelligent. I don't even remember if it was being given by this girl that I battled to a stand-still in a pickle-eating contest or her husband (the pickle-eating contest, by the way, was a contest in which we were eating cucumbers pickled in dill and vinegar, so there's no misunderstanding there). But it was one of them, and now I come to you with something else from one of these people (the husband)(whose wife can eat a lot of pickles)(probably even more now that she's pregnant). Alright, this dude has founded (or help found - can you tell I'm really clear on all the details?) the Climate Conservancy, which looks to be kind of Consumer Reports with an eye on your carbon footprint. Since I'm mangling the mission statement, I'll kick it over to the husband:

Some colleagues at Stanford and I have recently started a nonprofit venture, called The Climate Conservancy, whose mission is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by implementing a voluntary, market-based mechanism that will promote the consumption of products with low greenhouse gas intensity ( i.e. a lower impact on the climate).  Rather than waiting for government to act, we plan to arm consumers with the information they need to make decisions that can cumulatively curb global climate change.

In large measure, our success depends upon gaining visibility and credibility as an arbiter of the marketplace.  It would be hugely helpful to us, then, if you would sign up to be a member of the organization (don't worry, it's completely free) and to circulate this email and/or news of our group as widely as possible.  The pertinent link to our website is:  http://www.climateconservancy.org/enews.php

Thanks in advance for your support.  I look forward to sending news of our progress as it's made.

Best,
The Husband of the Girl Who Can Eat a Lot of Pickles
CEO, The Climate Conservancy

This stuff is right up 2.0's wheelhouse - and mine - so I'm pretty psyched about this. They're just getting things up off the ground, but there's a sign-up sheet for the newsletters. Hopefully their first product assessment doesn't turn up that Method or Seventh Generation is actually made from the tear ducts of humpback whales or something. Word to E for passing this one along.

By the way, the only Simpsons t-shirt I ever owned was a bootleg from Earth Day 1990. Remember the one that was the basic Bart t-shirt? He was reaching out of a circle and it had a label under him (I can't remember what it said), and he had a word bubble that said 'Don't Have a Cow, Man?' Mine was 'Bart Simpson - Concerned Dude,' and his word bubble said, 'Save the Earth, Man!' I was, like, the least cool kid *ever*.

bullfrog

e -- Monday, May 14 2007, 07:35 am

Thanks, Bullfrog!

Hard core MST3K shots on five bucks today. Impressive.

5 days...

The episode with The Day the Earth Froze/Sampo changed my life, man.

"Yah, let us be gay, for he is a dickweed."

Brilliant.

What I don't understand about "Surf Up" from the previews are those penguin's tattoos. It's kind of like getting one of those baby blue tuxedos with that kind of shirt with more ruffles than you'd find on dancing girls at Mardi Gras in Rio de Janeiro? Why wear something like that?

I just have one question: how do you measure your carbon footprint? I have enough problems trying to figure out what shoe size I am when I have to get new shoes, because my feet have this really wonky shape. It's not web-like, but I can't walk straight ahead like most folks either. Maybe it's more like ballerina feet.

By the way, I really like the way this Climate Conservancy is wanting to change the climate. I don't you're going to get much done from the government, regardless whether it's controlled by conservatives, liberals, republicans, democrats or by aliens.

Couldn't you have at least made the man sitting next to you a robot?

My favorite MST3K line:

On screen as an old man is walking in late to a meeting, "Sorry for being so long."

Tom Servo: "Bragger."

I'm pretty sure the Mountain Dew stain is still there on my dorm room ceiling after hearing that.

(and if this is a double post, I apologize, I got the website cannot be displayed message the last time I tried to post.)

Ah, MST3K. Used to watch it on public access back at MSU (yes, I'm that freakin' old). 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" is a Christmas ritual in the Zero household, especially 'Patrick Swayze Christmas.'

Zero

My old busted laptop, which was the only thing keeping this site alive during the Great Dell Ignore of '07, shuts down to Crow and Tom Servo singing, "He tried to kill me with a forklift - whoohooo!" Good freaking times.

Random blog link from Deadspin about cricket in NYC high schools.

http://thepologrounds.blogspot.com/2007/05/nyc-high-schools-replace-baseball-with.html

Honest to God, I was walking through Prospect Park a few weeks back and there were some dudes playing cricket. I was blown away. A random cricket game in the park. Wild.

There's a pitching or bowling or whatever you call it area right in the middle of the field we use for our home rugby games. They're sometimes there playing before our games and I can't make a lick of sense out of what they're doing.

When I was at the Denver Publishing Institute almost seven years ago, one of my classmates in the program was this Indian dude named Sid. We took him to see the Rockies and Padres play one day, on the Rockpile in center, for $2. It was a sloppy game between two really crappy teams, in the middle of a heatwave, in centerfield with no shade available. Sid turns to be and breathlessly intones, "This is so much more exciting than cricket! I cannot believe it!"

If you want a great introduction to both Bollywood and cricket, I highly recommend a movie called LAGAAN -- a sort of Victorian "Bad News Bears" about a plucky group of ragtag Indians who band together to defeat an evil British colonial team. The musical numbers are amazing -- really beautiful both musically and visually -- and even the cricket is exciting!

Just got CS3. Of course, IT hasn't given my office computer the necessary upgrades to install it. So I'm really just preparing myself for work when I install it on my home computer. Really.

Whoooo, Rochester, title town, whooooooooo!!1!

http://deadspin.com/sports/hockey%2C-hold-the-ice/send-in-the-clowns-260106.php