Some 2009 Star Wars Sets

Here are some good shots and some not-so-good shots of a few of the Star Wars LEGO sets to be released in 2009! Being the 30th anniversary, there's a couple nods being made to the original trilogy so be ready to become filled with that warm & fuzzy feeling...

...Did you catch those Tauntons!? Damn strait you did. ;)

Now for those of you looking to collect massive amounts of bricks for small amounts of dough. Check out this Article. It's mind blowing!

Homage, Rip-off, or Just my Imagination?

just to mix things up a little i thought that i would pose this question to you all:
homage, rip-off, or just my imagination?

the first here is a painting by the grandfather of fantasy art, frank frazetta, and it dates from 1979. it was for an unnamed japanese sound company. the scan is from the book "testament: the life and art of frank frazetta."



the following is a book cover from the paperback edition of poul anderson's "fire time." the book's original copyright is listed as 1974, the the Baen Enterprise first printing listed as 1984. the cover artist is david mattingly.



i'm not sure who i think came first here. frazetta is a widely emulated artist, but this seems to be an obscure peice of art. i don't know how likely it is that mattingly would have seen it. mattingly on the other hand had his art nationaly published, so there's a very good chance that frazetta would have seen it. frazetta has unconsciously mirrored artists before.

here's mattingly's personal website: http://www.davidmattingly.com/
and here's frazetta's too: http://www.frazettaartgallery.com/ff/index.html

anyway, thoughts?

Candy Hat

I was in the fabric store trying to find inspiration for a hat to wear for my birthday extravaganza. I was looking in the flower section, but only found dull, sad silk flowers.

So I sulked over to the candy section and stumbled upon bright pink PEEPS! I'm now exploring the possibilities of a hat made entirely out of candy and toys. Check out this great candy hat I found at Deviant Art! We'll see what I come up with. BTW, there aren't nearly enough candy hats out there. Unexploited niche for the aspiring haberdasher!

Not sure about that thing she's doing with her tongue...

cop out!

ah, there ain't gonna be a samurai game pick this week.
i just couldn't muster the energy to get one done.

i've been playing chrono trigger instead, and after a scant 32 hours i beat lavos!
and now it's on to 'new game plus,' the three sweetest words in the english language.

if girl tells you that she wants to hear 'those three little words' from you, interestingly she isn't talking about video games. i haven't figured it out yet, but as soon as i do i'll be sure to let you all know.



i don't really wear hot pink pants to work or have acid yellow blonde hair, but there are only so many highlighters around.
give a guy a break.

We've Got Answers!

Thanks to Fehdman we now know where this intriguing gif comes from...

...It's from the fairly recent White Zombie video: I'm Your Boogie Man! Who'd a thunk it!



...I believe the mad scientist is none other than Jim Carrey! Wo'd a thunk it, part 2!

Person Of Note No. 1

89 reasons 'Mel Birnkrant' is the rock salt!

Educate yourself on Mel Here.

Crazy prolific sculptor, inventor of staple toy lines, a celebrated Disney collector, and equipped with a ravishingly robust ego... Any real toy buff should be aware of this guy.

Maybe that was a few more than 89... I'm not sure.

Samurai Game Pick 02: Onimusha: Warlords

If you must make fun for me for not really playing any Silent Hill or Resident Evil then you have a lot in common with my gamer friends from about a decade ago.

I suppose that I could have avoided this scorn if only I’d have taken the time to play them, but I never could muster up the gumption. You might think it’s because I’m a hairy wuss who would reflexively wet himself if startled, but that’s only half the reason that I never bothered with either of those game series. The other half was the fact that they didn’t give you a sword*.

Which is why I jumped at the chance to play Onimusha: Warlords.
Onimusha promised all the fun of your standard zombie game, but with a distinctly feudal Japanese flavor. Of course nothing is perfect, so they insisted on adding in some hokey spiritual mysticism, but I can easily look past that for some demon hack n’ slash.

For most of the game you pilot Samanosuke Akechi, who isn’t the most interesting lead character, but coming from the ‘mute hero RPG’ era I prefer that. When you aren’t Samanosuke you’re playing as his improperly attired female ninja pal Kaede, who doesn’t blend in as well as Samanosuke, partly because she talks more and partly because she’s dressed in a very short pink kimono. However, I’m only making fun of her out of a ninjitsu principal; I’m not so high and mighty as to pretend that there wasn’t a part of me that enjoyed her… character design. Don’t judge me, I was single and lonesome.
The story might as well be something out of Mario Bros, an unholy monster has taken over the castle, kidnapped the princess and it’s up to you to save her, by which you’ll have to slaughter a bunch of baddies. Setting the games apart was the assortment of upgradable weapons so you wouldn’t be forced to throat stomp zombies to redeath, and the lack of body altering mushrooms, in their place you had healing herbs.

Shortly into the game Samanosuke is beaten nearly to death by a giant red crab-man monster with a club and an underbite. He is then chided by some Oni spirits who tell him he needs a mystical leg-up if he’s going to stand a chance at this task of his, so they give him a gauntlet with the ability to absorb souls. Every time you kill an enemy some little balls of energy will float around and you’ll have to press a button to slurp them up, some balls are good for health or magic, others are used in the leveling system. In addition to his fancy bracelet you eventually get better weapons too, a curved thunder sword, fire broad sword and double bladed wind thing.



With every step the game took it moved further and further from being what I had really looked forward too. The increasing mysticism was not my thing, as the weapons were upgraded they became increasingly large and spiked, the dependence on magical weapons made the game less frightening, who would be afraid of a room full of demonic foot soldiers if you had an eight foot flaming claymore? And worst for me was the dwindling Japanese esthetic; in its place the game became more and more Giger-esque.

Still, despite my belly aching I merrily played it to the end. The combat was engaging enough, the bosses colorful enough, and the game interesting enough to push you along. One of the weirder things that was in there was this strange little cabbage half-man thing. I couldn’t find any screen shots of him, nor did my research turn up his name (but he is rumored to be a former priest driven mad by demons named Saimyou), as I recall he was in the ceiling of the Keep, and if you got close enough he would drop down. He was just a naked head and a torso wrapped in strips of paper suspended from a rope. Weird!

I liked Onimusha, I just wish that it had stayed the course a bit more. My favorite sword was always just the run of the mill katana that you started out with, my favorite areas of the game were the Japanese looking ones populated by the coolie hat wearing zombie foot soldiers, why did we have to grow apart Onimusha?



* Yes, I know that you can get a katana in Silent Hill. But you have to beat the game twice before they give it to you. And yes, in Silent Hill 2 you can get Pyramid Head’s Great Knife, and in Silent Hill 3 you can get a sword, in Resident Evil you start out with a knife, blah blah blah. Listen here, the battle with oncoming hordes of ravenous zombies is not a knife fight, it’s a sword fight, so come prepared. No excuses.

And if you have to play for more than ten minutes before you get a sword then you weren’t meant to survive. From any point in my day I’m never more than ten minutes from a sword and a health kit, I have them stashed all over town… just in case…
That’s what separates the men from the boys.

Cinima's Exiles

Some Like It Hot

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari


The Bride of Frankenstein


M - The Murderers Among Us


While in Florida last week, I happened to see Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood (just released in Jan 2009) on the local PBS station and wanted to share - it was pretty fantastic.

The film gives a history of the Jewish filmmakers of the "golden age" of German cinema who were forced out under Hitler's rule, migrated to Hollywood, and developed film noir, among other accomplishments. It provides interviews and excerpts of their films, home movies, and personal letters. Featured screenwriters, directors, composers include: Billy Wilder, Franz Waxman, Fred Zinnemann, Fritz Lang, Hedy Lamarr, etc. Film clips include: Bride of Frankenstein, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, M - The Murderers Among Us, Casablanca, etc.

It does a nice job telling the global sociopolitical story via their personal stories and of illuminating the backdrop that informed their films. As a Billy Wilder fan and pop culture history documentary junkie, I loved it. I can't get enough of vintage artists' back stories. Unfortunately, the film isn't airing in Cincinnati anytime soon, according to the PBS site.

Here's the link to the summary, in case you're interested:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/cinemasexiles/2008/12/02/about-the-film/

Click 'Em To Enlarge 'Em.

New York Comic Con 2009

Hello Adventurers! The New York Comic Con is February 6th-8th and Regalia & I are intending to venture up and make the frigid scene. A s a bit of a heads up to all the readers and participants of KidCharm, I thought it a good idea to inform everyone of what we're looking to accomplish and perhaps a few of you might like to join in on what is sure to be a marvelous experience.


We'll be 'flying' up on the 5th and returning the evening of the 8th. Not sure on the airport details yet, but I'll keep you posted.


The hotel of interest at the moment is the The Solito Soho Hotel... which may shift swiftly to the Chelsea Hotel, should Regalia work out a swank deal. The Javits Convention center will be a cab ride from either spot, but we'll be in the company of many great evening spots. ...additionally, We are interested in rooming with couples to lower the cost.


In the evenings and afternoons I plan to make my way around to local art toy shops, and hangout with a few of the local artists. Swearbear anyone? There are hopefully going to be a few gallery shows that open up in support of the NYCC, but I've yet to hear of any.

No thoughts on costumes yet. Maybe something lite... but nothing like my last outfit at the San Diego Comic Con. Dollar Store Kaiju was almost suicide!

So go be a model citizen and check out the NYCC website and get excited! If you find yourself becoming interested in a 'this just might work out' sort of way, say something. We might be able to arrange one hell of a fun trip.

It's That Time Of Year Again...

Nude, Boob, Running Rabbit

So what do you do when people ask you for a logo design, and offer no money in return?... Directed to me via a friend, the requester (Heather Auman) was looking for a logo with a tough, beer drinking rabbit for a local 'Hash' group in her hometown. For those not yet in the know, A 'Hash' group is basically a crew of kids whom get together, drink lots of beer, and then go running in fields and around outlet malls... or at least that's what I've gathered. You can read up more on 'Hashers' here.

So Anyhow, my response was probably not the best but I certainly got a laugh out of it. ;) With the combination of a presumptuous email and me not knowing Heather at all, she was pretty much doomed to a non serious entry being sent to her work email, from the start. So here's the first rabbit I sent her...

It wasn't long after I hit the SEND button that I received an email back from a now flabbergasted Heather! Politely she waved the well-equipped bunny along and asked that I make a 'Less-Male' rabbit and try to keep it a little more PG-13. ...With careful consideration I retooled a new bunny and hit Send once again...

What got me with her following response is that she was actually willing to consider this one! Even with all the drippy rank I threw in, she was still somewhat cool with it! To be honest, that won me over into the mindset of 'trying' to be serious. After stating her thoughts on how it could work out, I had to stress that my bunnies had been jokes and nothing more than me exercising some healthy immaturity. I wanted to send her a serious bunny!

Here's the final rabbit I drew up for Heather and her Hashers:

I like him and Heather did too. Enough that he even made his way onto some cool color change mugs that I'll be posting later. Fingers are crossed for a cool T-Shirt!

Cheers to Heather Auman! <- I got my mugs in the mail yesterday and they look great!

Legoland is not for lollygagging

We just returned from vacation near Disney World in Florida. Downtown Disney, which is a free admission part of the park, always draws us to Legoland. The store is always packed with people and various languages from all over the globe can always be heard. As I waited for my sidekick to fill up his container from the wall-o-Lego pieces I found that no corner was safe for lallygagging. Legos are serious business, and Legoland patrons are on a serious mission. Some actually foam at the mouth. I found that I could stand in one place for no more than 30 seconds before a child, adult, or Legoland employee was reaching past me to pick up whichever product I was standing near.

Do you see the boy in the photo below? He actually bit Quincy's hand off just after this picture was snapped.



I do have one brilliant suggestion for Lego. They should give out a sample to every person who walks in the door like the neighboring Ghirardelli Chocolate store!

"It is happening... again." ~The Giant

Welcome Back Everyone And Happy New Year!

Samurai game pick 01: Kengo, Master of Bushido

Hey there gang. I was thinking about doing something a little different.
I was thinking about highlighting some of the various samurai games that have caught my attention.
So, let’s get into it.


I want to try and take you back to the heady days of the initial release for the Playstation 2.

Call me an ancient dusty curmudgeon if you must, but I can’t say that I see too great a graphical upgrade from the PS2 to the PS3. Nor do I notice one from the XBOX to the XBOX360. I’m sure there is a difference, and there’s no need to quote any specs at me, I believe you. I’m just saying, way back circa fall 2000, when a system upgraded, buddy, you knew it.
The difference between the graphics of a PS1 and a PS2 was night and day. The time span between generation five and generation six was at least an eon. Suddenly you pitied the friends that you had who weren’t able to afford one of the supercomputers yet.
When the loading screen came up for the first time I nearly wet myself, yessir, the future was now!
Of course now the loading screen is just a grim reminder that my Playstation is on the fritz, but that’s not what I want to talk about right now.

What I want to talk about right now is Kengo: Master of Bushido.

Kengo was released hot on the heels of our shiny new Playstations, just months after in fact. And every game was a fevered excuse to sit in front of that black tower and drool. My brother even got FantaVision. I can’t say we played it much, but that should give you some idea of how hungry we were for games.

And I was very desperate for Kengo. My first samurai game on my Playstation 2!
Hailed as the ‘spiritual successor’ to Bushido Blade 2 (which I’ll cover later), and why not with 50% of the development force coming from Bushido Blade?

I’ll tell you why not.

Because Kengo is awful. And I don’t mean ‘as viewed through the prism of time’ kind of awful. It was awful right from the get go. There are a few different modes to choose from a story one, a tournament one, and a versus one. Not that it seems to make much difference, but there was some saving grace in the versus mode. The part that struck me right away about it was how slow the character moved. There was a terrible groaning pause between pressing the buttons and seeing some sort of action on the screen. It became this absurd ballet of trying to mash attack before your buddy could, and that was the only part that made versus more enjoyable than the rest of the game. If you were toe to toe with a flesh and blood opponent then they were going to be suffering from all the same frailties as you were. God help you if you were trying to muddle though the story mode.

They begin you with the slowest, weakest samurai possible, and now you have to try and build him from the sandals up. In the training mode you do several mini-games that enhance the potential levels of something. Which is a neat sort of idea that ended up being intensely annoying. If, say, you were trying to gain strength you would go and pound on this wooden target. Not unlike a dancing game you would have to press a button as quickly as you could after if flashed on the screen. After a few minutes your potential strength would be something like 55, but your actual strength wouldn’t have been affected, it would still be something pathetic like 23. Your actual strength could only go up from fighting matches, see? Which is backwards. Your fights if anything should have increased potential stats and working out should have build up real stats. No one works out at the gym for fifteen years and doesn’t gain a scrap of muscle, only to pile it on after they get into a fight in the parking lot.

The matches were against other schools in the area and you fought with wooden swords. You would wander in off the street and challenge the master to a duel. But he’d just send a series of identical student at you, one after the other. After a few of those you would get to fight a unique student, and then the master himself. Which is often when you would die, since your health barely replenished during the fracas. Still, every now and again you’d get to take down the old man and walk off happy with the school’s sword as a trophy. And every once in a great while the students of the school you’d just jacked up would come after you for revenge. You’d be walking home down darkened feudal streets and suddenly you be set on by some toughs with real swords! Now, in a game you might think that would be fun, but it wasn’t. actually, it was quite a lot like I think it would be in real life. Terrifying. You would just have squeaked past the master of a school and now his students were gonna beat you in the street and leave you for dead after they pry their sword from your trembling blood covered hands.
If there had been a button to give up and toss the sword to the side and run like mad I would have used it all the time.

And isn’t that part of the problem? I know that I’d run from a real sword fight, if I’m playing a game I should look forward to the fights shouldn’t I?
If you beat up enough schools then you get your own school which does nothing other than give you a different place to sit, and purely at random you’d be invited to a royal tournament. At this royal tournament you would have to fight with real swords against guys for the emperor’s amusement. I never did win the tournament, I understand that if you did win then people would wander in off the street and challenge you in your school. But after the first few expected fights in the tournament they would throw some really weird shit at you. Like some giant man child armed with a club. How are you supposed to fight that?

One thing that I really did like about Kengo was the fact that your opponents could bleed out. If you cut an opponent bad enough early in the fight you could just sit back and play defense until he collapsed, oh man, it was cold as ice. But they pretty well got rid of the one-hit-kills from Bushido Blade. Now, I know there were some moves that were monster-life-drainers, and other moves that were just shallow-flesh-wounds. Still, I really missed those one-hit-kills.



Kengo also featured some of the most irritating animal noises I’ve ever heard in a game.
There must be some screeching warbler bird that’s indigenous to the area, because there’s one outside every single dojo screaming it’s head off the whole time. I understand the point, I do. A stark soundtrack to heighten the tension, perhaps a Zen balance between savagery and beauty, I get it. But they obviously really wanted you to notice the birds.



And did i mention the sweet samurai ass?
Oh yeah, Kengo was that kind of game.

Chelsea Hotel

These fantastical figures hang from the ceiling in the Hotel Chelsea lobby:

Above (on the swing): The Pink Lady by Renate Goebel

Above: paper maché portrait figures by Eugie Gershoy

See Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog