Hieronymus Rocks

Spokes for the Wheel of Torment is the name of a music video featuring the music of the enigmatic guitarist Buckethead and the paintings of Hieronymus_Bosch. So it's just as cheerful as you probably imagine. The short's directors, Syd Garon and Eric Henry, animated details of Bosch's "Hell" panel from the triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights. It works.
(Not safe for work, or for the skittish.) Enjoy!



Like the video? Why not relive the wonder with your very own Hieronyous Bosch Action Figure? (I'm partial to this lil' mailman to the damned. He puts the "Fun" in "Funnelhat"!)

Family Portrait

Here's Matt's family portrait. I told him I liked his faces (and I do! Lots of character!) so he made us all two headed freaks.
I'm so proud of that lil' shaver!

Must See TV

From Yahoo UK:

Hotel heiresses Paris and Nicky Hilton are making a cartoon TV show about their lives, in the style of The Simpsons.

The American siblings have spoken to Interscope boss Ted Fields, who will make the series and hope to air it on US television.

OMG.
WTF.
LOL.
ROTFLMAO.
IANAL.
PETA.
OPEC.
USA. USA! U. S. A. !!!!!

That said, these are really nice drawings. The full set are here.

Weirder still, a commenter on The Superficial posted a couple of pages from a Japanese manga (?!?!!) devoted to the Hiltons. (You can see them here and here.) I took the liberty of reproducing some details:


Which one's Kathy? Which one's Paris?.



The first time I came across Paris Hilton was in an issue of Vanity Fair. It was an advertising spread for some fashion house, I forget which, but the thing that struck me about the photo were her enormous man mitts. They seemed to be the focal point of the picture. So I just assumed she was a self aware drag queen, a la Amanda Lepore. I was really disappointed to find out there was nothing ironic going on, and that she was, in fact, just another run-of-the-mill media creation, albeit one without any discernible purpose. What's the matter with kids today? Haven't they ever heard "Eat the Rich"? No wonder this country is going to hell in a handbasket. Get off my lawn!
Anyway, I like how the manga artist captured those giant meathooks. Good job, sir or madam.

I Had Comments??

Big apologies, Red & Cory. All this time I thought I was talking to myself here, and meanwhile Blogger has your comments tucked away in a little unpublished nook. Well. Now I'm certainly self-conscious.

*coff*


Oh look, here's a recipe for cooking squirrel! Don't look down your nose at a boiled squirrel's head, ladies.

Jot the Dot

There was a wonderful post this week over at Cartoon Brew about "Jot the Dot", a cartoon series produced by the Southern Baptist's Radio and Television Commission and which first aired in 1963. The Southern Baptists decided they needed some kids' programming to compete with the Lutheran's "Davey and Goliath", and the surprising result were these gems of modernist design. I've heard "Jot" compared to shorts done at UPA, but I think they have a sensibility all their own.

I first saw "Jot" when I was a kid, probably on channel 38 in Chicago (a religious UHF channel.) I had deeply mixed feelings about them; the design and animation are so engaging that I was always drawn in, but the moral lessons felt stiflingly heavy-handed. (For instance, when Jot's mother in the NoMam short defines 'abdomination' as God's 'dislike', well, I admit to some violent wincing.) Nevertheless, seeing them again after all these years is a treat.
Check out how fluidly the story is told here using a minimum of dialog:


I'd like to thank Nate Pacheco for finding and posting these. It'd be nice to see them collected on DVD in a nice clean print.

...
I just checked the user comments for "Jot" at IMDB. They're pretty hilarious, particularly one that describes Jot as an "unsettling christian cartoon in which all the children were glowing "dot"s that were trapped in a playground of eternal night." Pass the dutchie, muh man!

Matt's Priorities

After we'd finished dinner tonight, I asked Matt if he'd like to make a daily schedule for himself. Here's his weekly agenda, as dictated to me:

I particularly envy his bold choices for Thursday.

Serge Gainsbourg! Serge Gainsbourg!

First things first: open this in a separate window, and just let the music ("Intoxicated Man", btw) cycle while you read.

I don't know much about Serge Gainsbourg. My husband Steve's Swiss friend Corinne would leap out of her seat, fluttering her hands and squealing "Sergegainsbooooooor! Sergegainsbooorg!" whenever she heard one of his songs: so I've always pronounced his name with fluttering jazz-hands and a squeal. But I'm pretty sure I've misunderstood his appeal. I guess I assumed he was sort of a French showbizzy Leonard Cohen, kind of a Jerry Lewis mixed with Lou Reed. I'm guessing I have no freaking idea.

Here are some links;
A ton of video links, including some with Brigid Bardot (check out "Comic Strip" or "Bonnie and Clude".)

This guy wants you to know Serge Gainsbourg died in March of 1991. That's sad, but then, he never got to experience the post 9/11 world. Serge, I want you to know I envy your dead ass. But wait, there's more.