The Roast of HBO

heh!

Clone Wars Recap S4 E09: Plan of Dissent!

Third verse. Different from the first? Uh... no, not really. The third part of the Umbara Quadrilogy Plan of Dissent brazenly retells the same story, beat for beat, as the first two parts. The exponentially frustrated clones are trapped in Space Groundhog Day, but does the episode do it well?

Join me after the jump where I'll desperately attempt to justify how this one still has a kick, even though we know everything that is going to happen before it starts...

War of the Worlds: Goliath

Synopsis by Joe Pearson; "It's an R rated, retro-history, steam punk epic set in [the year] 1914, fourteen years after the first failed Martian invasion. Mankind has rebuilt her cities and military adapting a lot of the abandoned Martian technology. They've created an international defense force, A.R.E.S., based on the lower end of Manhattan and under the command of Theaodore Roosevelt. They've built a formidable force centered around giant, steam powered battle tripods. Think of "Band of Brothers" meets "Star Wars", meets World WO. It will be cool-steam powered battle tripods, doomed Cossack cavalry charges, victorian decco, steam punk Manhattan, 1500 foot long armored battle zeppelins, Teddy Roosevelt, souped up Tri-planes, blood on steaming metal, sex in the cockpit. The usual." This 3D movie has a budget of over $5 million, and is being produced by Tripod Entertainment Sdn Bhd (joint venture between Elemental Ventures Sdn Bhd and Epoch Ink Corp). This story is not directly based on Heavy Metal, but it is a sequel to the classic The War Of The Worlds novel by H.G. Wells. It is uncertain how connected this movie is to Heavy Metal. It was originally intended on being part of a series of Heavy Metal Videos. And there are War Of The Worlds: Goliath short stories in the magazine"

Read more about it here

I'm not to sure if I like the style (it's sort of that dc animated style). The idea and the mechs are cool. I love the beautiful 2d effects animation (the 3d effects not so much) and that voice acting is a bit weak.

What do you peeps think?

It did remind me a bit of this GI Joe intro to the movie that I think is super boss because it is so effin crazy

haha man that is amazing!

Mars is SO COOL!!!

Ever since my very first post, I've been wanting to talk more about science and how badass it truly is. I'm still trying to find a good way to do it more regularly, but this is something I didn't feel could wait. Look at this:



What you're looking at, originally sourced from NASA, and lovingly ripped off directly from Io9 (sorry), is a picture of the SURFACE OF MARS!!!

It's from the camera on the Opportunity rover. This is a thing that is millions of miles away, on the surface of another planet. And no, it did not line up those rocks itself. The real crux of the story is that the rocks are theorized to contain phyllosilicates. I'll forego the giant explanation that I don't even completely understand myself but the point is that if it's true, then it really points to the idea that Mars really did have water...and water that was closer to what we have here on Earth than we formerly thought. This is a big deal. The formation is being referred to as "Homestake" or "The Vein". I would suppose the fact that it's in a straight line would be due to movement of water? Still, I looked at that picture, and I could only think of ONE possible explanation for why it would look like that. So I did a little digging (get it?) and uncovered the REAL image that NASA doesn't want you to see. The exclusive to Fruitless Pursuits REAL reason is after the jump:

Boards and Beers - Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War

Back in the 80s there was a secret war going on. Also, the Cold War was happening which was not quite as cool as Spiderman and Wolverine high fiving on a distant moon in an alternate universe after beating up space Nazis and drinking cold beer, but it was a bit more well known of an event. Spies were everywhere, stealing secrets and hosting cooking shows. It was a pretty big deal.

More review after the jump Comrade

Movember Day 11: Merv Hughes

I grew up under the all-encroaching shadow of a particularly magnificent mo, in the guise of distinguished and rotund Australian Cricketer, Merv Hughes.

Sadly he's far more grey around the edges nowadays, but damn if that wasn't a mo to aspire to. Merv Hughes, I salute you.

(For the Americans - might be worth knowing that Cricket is one of the few/only professional world grade sports where the players can get rather amazingly tubby)

It added to his legend.

Super Mario Bead Animation

Super-awesome-cool animation of a particular moustached plumber using perler beads. I totally want to make some more stop-motion animations now. Someone send me a script!

Thank Gif it's Friday! Moustachioed Candy

That happy drive home from work on the Friday.
The weekend you thought would never come.
It has arrived!

Keyboard solo on the dash board!!!

There's some more love for the wonderful character actor John Candy on this tumblr where this gif came from

Liam Neeson on Life's Too Short Episode One

Life's Too Short debuted yesterday in the UK. It's coming to US HBO in 2012, but if you can't wait (and I couldn't) there are some great clips on YouTube to hold you off.

If you don't know about this show, it's a mockumentary about Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok from Star Wars, Willow, etc). He's an actor who's out of work with everything going wrong in his life. He has a bad marriage, a terrible accountant and a useless assistant, so he turns to friends Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (playing themselves) to help him get work.

The show feels very much like The Office (UK) meets Extras, which is a formula that I absolutely adore. Warwick is very much like David Brent in that he naively says many of the wrong things at exactly the wrong time.. and the celebrity cameos (playing themselves) makes it feel like a natural offshoot of Extras.

Episode one SPOILERS ahead.
-----------------------------------------

The very first celebrity cameo is Liam Neeson. He comes to visit Ricky and Steve to try out some comedy. This may be the funniest thing I have ever seen. If you can catch the clip in context in the show, go for it. But if not, here's the clip.

What it's like having a moustache

It's still the month of Movember here at the Fruitless Pursuits. Here's a video that explains what having a moustache feels like

You can't fake this feel bro

How to steal in Skyrim

Hot dam! I shall use this trick when I steal buy the game

Give Stuff, Get Stuff! It's Just That Easy!

Hey there folks! The holidays are barreling towards us, and the end of the year approaches...shopping season is here! The world being what it is right now, I know we're all a little squeezed for cash right now, but at this time of year, it's especially important to remember that there are those that have even less than you or I do. And some of those people are kids. I know that growing up, my family didn't exactly have a lot, and while my parents wouldn't ever admit it, I'm pretty sure we benefited from the kindness of others more than once at Christmas time. As a result, I always try to pass that kind of joy along. Having said all that, a friend of the site, known on Twitter only as @RobotsPJs would like to give you stuff for donating to charity. We mentioned it on the last Fruitless Pursuitscast, but I've finally gotten a chance to put up the details. I'll let him explain after the break:

Fat is PHAT

Without fail, each and every time I sit down at this God-Forsaken machine, there is a question that is always on my mind whenever I think of the daunting task of putting together the materials needed for me to whip up what is now to be my weekly serving of fruity goodness here at Fruitless Pursuits.

Now...what shall we talk about?

Why is it daunting? Because since it is ONLY a weekly serving, therefore I feel like it needs to be something that is fairly interesting, fairly MEATY actually, and because, well, that's how I roll.

Fruit. Meat. Roll. Hey...that's almost a meal.

And I NEED these things to be filling and satisfying, for reasons I cannot possibly begin to explain. Besides...I would not be me unless I put shitloads of pressure on myself for all the wrong reasons.

Problem is, I have so MANY things to choose from now.

Remember last week when I said I compartmentalized this whole thing when I planned on being a Daily Post Guy? Well, I had around a dozen or more 'themes' that I was going to cover, just like when I started, from that A Closet Full O' Crap thing, to The Game's Afoot, to new ones like It's Prototypical, Blockzilly, or my personal favorite Let's See What Hidden Gems We Can Find Under Jabba's Disgusting Rolls of Fat!

Too wordy?

So now, with this Once-A-Week-Shit...I am left with a Conundrum, wrapped inside an Enigma, jammed inside a Riddle, stuffed inside a Burrito.

Which topic do I choose for over here?

Movember Day Ten: Colonel Sanders!

It's not the biggest moustache, it's not the most famous moustache, but I'll wager that the late Colonel Sanders had the greasiest moustache ever known to man. It was by delicately probing his tongue between the bristles of his ghost-white fuzzy lip-hugger, that the good Colonel first discovered the eleven secret herbs and spices that he would then turn into addictive, delicious chicken. It was because of this infamous mo' that they had to invent the refresher towel. When his wife kissed him, the slippery grease made her slide across the room. Some or all of these facts may be made up. Still! We salute you!:

And check out this retro KFC commercial to see the actual Colonel in action! He got his moustache waggling and became the mealtime saviour of shiftless housewives everywhere! This was back when KFC meant dining in style!...

Actually, the truth is that I'm still reeling from the fact that he wasn't just a made-up fast food mascot, but was a real guy! The world's a funny place. Keep those mo's growin'!

BREAKING NEWS: Skyrim has broken!!

Good Game's twitter account, @goodgametv , has announced that the Australian street date has been broken. IT'S ALIVE! Get to it!!

WedNESday: Abobo's Big Adventure

Forget Skyrim. Forget Modern Warfare.

My most anticipated game release is Abobo's Big Adventure.

More goodness at http://abobosbigadventure.com/

Skyrim animated cartoons by Harry Partridge

A new Skyrim cartoon by Harry Partridge

This was the first cartoon he did after just watching the trailer (a little nsfw)

He tweeted that there will be more to come.

Harry Partridge is a killer animator who's got a whole bunch of funny cartoons on his youtube channel that are definitely worth checking out.

Movember Day Nine: Lando Calrissian

The original Gangsta of the Star Wars universe, Lando is no stranger to moustaches. Paired with a shit eating grin, he'll sell your mamma to Jabba without thinking twice. While you're enamoured by that stache, he'll be shivving you while Nein Nunb steals your ride.

Even the underage ladies want to be him:

Bitter Lake

Sooo this is a film...

"After more than a decade of peace... the proud and noble kingdom of Valanor is suddenly torn apart by a terrible civil war. After 12 years, when the dust settles and resources start to dwindle, the starving people of Valanor cry out for peace, forcing the leaders of Tier, Sinnah, Daneth and Osgard to lay down their arms and meet each other at the negotiation table.

As each province prepares an envoy to find a diplomatic solution at the Kingdom's only neutral ground, an ancient and dark organization plots its return.... Unbeknownst to the leaders of the four warring provinces, this old enemy will stop at nothing to crush any hope of lasting peace.

Can the four envoys put their old hatreds aside and forge a bond of trust? Or will those that crave the blood and terror of war get their way...? Whatever the outcome, the fate of Valanor will be decided at Bitter Lake"

and...

"Bitter Lake is the first live action full motion picture to be made in the Furry Fandom"

(I don't want to google to see what that is)

"Produced by the crew and sponsored by Eurofurence, the film was shot on location in France and the Netherlands in 35mm HD, and premiered in Germany at Eurofurence 17 on August 2011. The DVD, including subtitles in French, German and English was made available after the premiere. 350 copies were sold out within 25 minutes"

My comment is this:

There's some behind the scenes/making of stuff if you follow that video back to the vimeo account. Here's the website http://bitterlakethemovie.com/.

What's Out? Week of the 9th of Movember

It's that time again! Comic shops are getting new things and I will tell you about the possibilities.

Phoenix Wright the live action movie

OHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHH!

Phoenix Wright is the greatest DS game and greatest crime solving game ever made (its gameplay destroys LA go eff yourself Noire) and they've brought on the great Takeshi Miike(13 assassins, Audition and Ichi the killer) to turn it into a film. Honestly you couldn't have picked a more suited director to handle this content

I love this comment from youtube:

America: "You know, the source material is a little weird, we'll have to tone it down for the movie."

Japan: "You know, the source material is a little weird, BUT FUCK IT LET'S DO IT ANYWAY."

true dat yo indeed youtube commentor

Loop de loop

There's this great little monthly competition for any of you animators (pro, student or dabblers) called the Loopdeloop


"LoopdeLoop is an animation challenge. Each month, animators from around the world create looping animations based on a given topic and upload them to www.loopdeloop.org. On the last Tuesday of the month all of the posted loops are compiled and screened to a live audience at Loop in Melbourne, Australia. During the screening a winner is declared, who enters the hall of fame and has their loop featured throughout the following month"


You don't need to be from Melbourne to participate (I'm from Perth). You just submit your loops via the website and (once they are approved) they are added to the site with a 5 star voting system. So when your loop is up you spam and blackmail all your friends to give you a 5 star ratings :P


The topic is just your springboard to get you going and you can be pretty loose and just follow your heart. For example for the theme "mask" I drew manly shirtless guys doing squats at the beach and eating bacon

This is a good explanation as to why it's fun to enter:

"Our goal is to connect people working in independent animation and ease the feelings of isolation that can come with the notoriously long hours involved in the creation of their work. Rather than short films which can quickly balloon into daunting, all encompassing projects, we’ve opted to be a monthly showcase of animated loops. 


The idea behind this is to make creating work for the project more achievable and fun, much less intimidating than having to plan and execute a full animated narrative"

I can vouch for that. I spent 5 years working on my own short film and I've spent a lot of time working on other peoples tv shows and it is easy to lose the love for animation. Doing these loops brings the fun back into animation. It does remind me of the weekends with my friends, a super 8 camera and either lego or plasticine and how we would animate until we either ran out of film or the sun would go down. Good times

I have a few more of my loops after the jump or you can just jump over to the Loopdeloop website and see for yourself the insanity and fun that this competition has created. This months theme that closes on Sunday the 27th of November is "Condoms" which is to link in with the World AIDS day. It will be an interesting month I think haha

Movember Day Eight: Jason Lee as Earl Jehoshaphat Hickey

My Name Is Earl was always a surprise for me. It's rare that a network comedy could be sweet and wholesome, have a positive message, and also very enjoyable. That was the formula for My Name Is Earl, and it proved to be very successful as well.

But now that I think about it... it was all because of the moustache.

Moustaches weren't cool again in 2005 when the show first aired, but this was awesome. It may have even paved the way for the new hipster stache (which I just realized, sounds awfully close to Hitler stache).

So, if the moustache was key to Earl's success, how will the new Greek version compare? Coming this fall to Greek TV is Με λένε Βαγγέλη (Μy name is Vaggelis) starring Vasilis Charalampoupoulos as Vaggelis. 

Click through the jump to see Vaggelis, and let us know who wins the moustache contest: Earl or Vaggelis?

Glorious Bounty: Page 100 and a HUGE Reveal!

Now into our third book, Grug and my comic series, Glorious Bounty, reaches an epic 100 pages with today's weekly instalment. This 100th page also contains a massive reveal.

If you've been following, then we've never known the true identity of long-suffering bounty hunter Furious Bruce, who wears a stitched-on face that is not his own (not to mention other suspicious body parts). In Book Three: The Convoluted Killbots, Bruce has been strapped into a highly volatile head-squeezing robot that taps into his brain and projects his childhood. Now Bruce will finally get a window into his youth and get a sense of who he really is beneath his fleshy facade...

Click the image to embiggen, or read it nice and big on the official site! (And it's never too late to start at the very beginning)...

And now we've reached that cliff-hanger, I sadly have to announce that Bounty will be on hiatus for a few weeks while some house-moving and the like occurs. But we will be back, and the book will most definitely continue, so keep an eye out and we'll let you know!

The Book Was Better Episode 6: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

The Book Was Better is a podcast that examines the "art" of the book of the movie, so what better to look at than the book of the movie of the TV cartoon of the comic? Passing through each stage, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is stripped down to its essence, culminating in the slim volume of Truth and Beauty that is B.B. Hiller's novelisation. Enjoy it with us, won't you?

Young Statues - Full album stream on AOL.com / Spinner.com

This album is so good. But don't take my word for it, you can check for yourself. Young Statues debut album is streaming right now at AOL.com. (http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/spinner#/8)

I'm not just saying that because it's made up by a bunch of my friends. The buzz on this album goes well beyond the South Jersey / Philly area with attention from Pitchfork (it's on their guide to upcoming releases), Alternative Press (a 4 star review comparing it to REM, the Shins and Band of Horses), a frontpage stream at AOL.com, and a upcoming UK tour with Saves the Day.

I hope everyone checks out the album when it launches tomorrow and supports these guys. After 10-15 years of seeing the members play in their respective bands, playing along side of them in separate bands or even the same band... I can say they've truly worked their way up to this point. The dedication really shows. Wonderful songwriting and production doesn't hurt either...

You can purchase the album at Run For Cover records, or stream it at http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/spinner#/8

Here's a quick sample.



http://RunForCoverRecords.com/

Noob and Vet Trailer for Modern Warfare 3: Killing Foreigners Has Never Been This Fun!

If you've ever had to sit through some sappy movie like Schindler's List, or Platoon, then please don't let it manipulate you into thinking that war is hell. War is actually really fun, and nothing fills better than squeezing the trigger and taking out some faceless heathens from a foreign shore. And if you go into a war with your buddies by your side then war can be totally awesome and a real laugh! Explosions, one-liners, and rocking music barely feature in the history books, because if people knew what a swinging party being a soldier is, then we'd be killing each other all the time! This is what war is really like...

Sadly most of us won't ever see active duty, but that doesn't mean we can't put those itchy trigger fingers to good use tomorrow when Modern Warfare 3 hits the shelves. I'm not yet sure if I'll pick it up straight away, but if you do by chance catch me on in-game chat, then be sure to keep your slurs both homophobic and racial, because what better way to keep us all pumped! And if I fall in battle, please give me a teabag, so I know we're cool.

I kid, of course! I love the Call of Duty series and will surely be picking this up as soon as I can. The only thing stopping me right now is that my heart belongs to Skyrim which is right around the corner. I actually think this is an amusing and effective trailer - in fact the only real criticism I have is that the American is the pudgy, nerdy, annoying Jonah Hill, and the Australian is the rugged, handsome, virile powerhouse Sam Worthington. Talk about gross stereotypes! 

Now I have to drink twelve beers and knock out a kangaroo...

Comics Face: Handsomeface Exclusive!

This one is dedicated to anybody that has had to sit through television they would not normally watch. I bet you saw something a lot like this.

Kickstart the Week: We All Scream for "Ice Cream Cthulhu" Mixed Media Triptych by Echo Chernik

If you like sweet snacks, tentacles and nearly nude fantasy maidens, this might make your head explode. If not, your head may still explode. 

Click here to visit and support the project on Kickstarter!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/155549251/we-all-scream-for-ice-cream-cthulhu-mixed-media-tr

More about the project (including lots of images).. after the jump. Also possibly(?) NSFW. 

Under the Man-croscope: Sectaurs!

The Man-croscope! A highly calibrated scientific device which studies that which we enjoyed as a child, with the cold, cynical eye of an embittered adult! Which nostalgic treasure will the mighty Man-croscope shoot holes through this week!? Why, it's Sectaurs: Warriors of Symbian, the short-lived action toyline (and cartoon!) released by Coleco in  best-year-ever 1985!

In a post Masters of the Universe world a toyline could be made by spinning around blindfolded, pointing at a random object, and combining it with a body-builder. This time the hand of fate fell on a bug, and thus the insectoid Sectaurs made a lame attempt to crawl their way into our garish neon velcro wallets. Did they succeed? I'm here to tell the tale!

Apparently even foreign devils bought them!

 Join me after the jump to read of my own personal fling with the bug-man menace!

Movember Day Seven: Lemmy

Don't look now, but Lemmy's 'stache is currently plotting your demise. Lemmy (singer, bassist and all-round emperor of the band Motörhead) is so damn metal, even his face has umlauts. That's pretty damn metal.

Michael Jackson - Beat It (Chinese Communist Version) Music Video

There's a few more of these 'Chinese Communist version' vids of on Youtube. I think this one is the best though. Feel free to correct me in the comments with a better one.

Thanks to my homie Dean Swanton for posting this on the facebook.

DA-DA-DUM-DA-DUM

Peter Clute has given a better explanation of how the toys in Toy Story are alive...

A pretty good ploy by the Terminators to mass produce a whole bunch of sleeper toy agents to take out John Connor. I'm sure as they are killing him they'd be singing "You've got a friend in me".

Check out some more of Peter Clutes work on his blog (there's a few more photos there).

Here's Stephen Colbert visualizing (with sfx) the artificial intelligence network Skynet initiating a nuclear holocaust of mankind...

Fruitless Pursuitscast - Episode Seven

Hello friends! In this weeks episode of the Fruitless Pursuitscast, Luke Milton, J. Tagmire and Mike Wickliff revisited/recapped/previewed and bullshitted about all the current events in our geeky little world.

This week we discussed:
Movember
Batman Arkham City and boring videogame sequences
Upcoming video game releases
Playmobile Minifigure Series 1
DC issues #3
Atomic Robo and Typeface
Nanowrimo and our own previous failed/successful efforts
Geeks for Tots
and much more!

You can subscribe on iTunes or just use the link below:

Click to stream. Right click to download.

Fruitless Pursuitscast Episode 7

Movember Day Six: Yosemite Sam!

Movember continues and so does our day-by-day cavalcade of fabulous face fur, and today's spotlight is one of the most formidable yet!

I am, of course, talking about grizzled ginger, Yosemite Sam!

Best described as a paranoid schizophrenic wild west cowboy, stranded in a time he does not understand, his menacing moustache is as long as his torso. Which is admittedly a very stunted torso. In fact, looking at this picture I wonder if Yosemite Sam is actually just a hairy baby?

Yosemite Sam takes a lot of shit - he's short, he has red hair, he's wearing chaps, and he gets hassled by a rabbit, but it's worth noticing that regardless of what a cocky cock Bugs Bunny is, he cannot grow a moustache. That's right, folks, you heard it here first. Rabbits can not grow moustaches. So that's a win for Sam, and a win for moustache lovers everywhere.

NOW GET OUTTA' HERE YA DADBURN VARMINTS!