Category: Cool

Andy Loomis’ Twenty Kids

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Andrew Loomis was a successful graphic artist that authored several excellent “how to” books on illustration in a variety of media. The page above is from “Fun With A Pencil,” a book my grandfather had that I memorized when I was a young tad.

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First published in 1939, this book has all the basics of graphic design covered, with an emphasis on cartooning and caricature of the human form. Proportion, balance, lighting, perspective are all covered with graphic examples.

I had forgotten about the book until Loomis’ name popped up at Neatorama and memory bells went off in my brain… couldn’t be the same Loomis, but it was.

Now his books, including his first one “Fun With A Pencil,” may be downloaded for free via link found at Process Junkie. The download is a .rar zip file with every page in .pdf format. I had to chase down another shareware program to open it. Believe me, the trouble is worth it.

Before You Open Up a Can of This…

… you better have a good reason and know what you’re doing.

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If you stupidly decide to mess with a Veteran, understand that Veterans each have at least one can within arm’s reach at all times, and they all know how to use it. Comes with experience.

For everyone else, you can create your own can labels here. Give a can of Whoop-Ass to someone who’s earned it.

The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month

Armistice Day, 1918, now referred to as Veterans’ Day. How many of you know what it means? Bonus points if you know why the USA officially joined the fight after years of Wilsonian isolationism. (Hint: Starts with the letter Z.)

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Note that Germany did not surrender; the Armistice was an agreement to stop fighting, not an admission of defeat. Note also that the Armistice created sanctions that were not enforced. Note that in less than twenty years, national socialists controlled Germany. By 1939 they had rebuilt their armies and weaponry and invaded Poland. Note that there were many “dialogues” and appeasements. Note the beginning of WWII.

Has a familiar ring to it… I’m just sayin’.

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As for Veterans’ Day, there is an excellent publication, Military, that should be read by all. It’s not a glossy rewrite of history, but a monthly newsprint pulp, with first-person accounts from WWII, the Cold War, Korea, Viet Nam, Afganistan and Iraq. It contains snippets of world events, past and present, not normally found in the newspapers, let alone TV, Radio, or the internest news services.

Military provides current non-classified information that the popular main-stream media typically overlooks and ignores. Well worth the admission price of $21.00 a year.

www.milmag.com takes you to the subscription page. I have no monetary connections or interests with this publication, aside from being a fan and subscriber.

The publication is proudly conservative and I recommend it highly. Regardless of your political affiliation, it is not insulting to those of differing opinions. Go for it. —Bunk

[Photo from here.]

Saturday Matinee: One Domino Trashes a Town, and unrelated stuff

According to Arbroath, this was Guiness’ most expensive television advertisement to date, costing 10m pounds (about $2.1 million US bucks). Filmed in a village in Argentina, the whole town came out to watch. If our crack webminers can find a link to a “making of” video, we’ll update this post, but it’s more likely we’ll just tip a stout and be done with it.

Totally unrelated to the video above, our crack webminers turned up a video from 1970, from the Flip Wilson Show. This broadcast changed my life… or at least a good part of it.

The band appeared at Woodstock. Yes, that Woodstock, 1969. These guys played alongside Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Crosby Stills & Nash, Mountain, Arlo Guthrie, Country Joe & the Finch, Richie Havens, Carlos Santana, Joni Mitchell, Melanie, Joan B. Depressed, Bobby Bieber and the SlimJims, Brittney Spears, etc.

Bunk was too young to attend Woodstock, but Bunk was allowed to watch TV. This is what Bunky witnessed at his grandparents house and loved it. ShaNaNa was IT.

This was Bunk’s introduction to DooWop. ShaNaNa sent me on a mission to hear the original versions by the Marcels, the Paragons, Dion, Gene Chandler, the Isley Brothers, the Zodiacs, the Del-Vikings, the Chips, the Chords, the Channels, Harvey & the Moonglows, Shep and the Limelights, the Ronnettes, the Shirelles, Leon Redbone, Led Zeppelin, Dread Zeppelin, Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Police, the Ramones, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, the Stray Cats, Frank Zappa, the Aquabats, the Skatalites, Moms Mabley and the Beat Farmers (featuring the late Country Dick Montana)… and not necessarily in that order. Oh, and I forgot the Solid Voidz featuring Big Don P.

Fill in the band(s) I might have missed in the comments section.

TGIF: The .gif Friday Post 11: It’s a wobbly world

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I miss days like this.

LOL FERRET: Episode 1

[Bosley photos courtesy of Bo Weez.]

UPDATE: For anyone considering having a ferret, please do your homework. They have specific needs unrelated to dogs and cats. Here’s a start: www.everythingferret.com/ferret_proofing.htm.

[Update 3 June 2011 – Cleaned up the .jpg images and mushed them into one .png. Lift it if you like, just give credit back. –Bunk]

Is This a Great Country or What? (Part II)

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Forget orange juice and Cap’n Crunch for breakfast. From now on it’s eggs and Diet Coke for me. (I hear that sales are down in Iran.)

[Photo via Chiquiworld.]

Cat Relativity

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This kitten, Cornelius, was named after rapper M.C. Escher. It’s a well known fact that cats see in 10 dimensions simultaneously; this one is obviously focused on dimension 3.5, where the force of gravity is 90 degrees from the vertical.

(Oh yeah, it’s cute now. Just wait until that silent-running Prius comes around the corner and kitty becomes eco-art.)

[Photo from Zombie Panda.]

Saturday Matinee: 3 Shouts, then Bluto Eats It

The original “Shout” by the Isley Brothers of Blue Ash, Ohio, limp-sinking in 1959:

Then white people in the recording industry decided to like it. Joey Dee & the Starlighters had a minor hit with it in 1962. Here’s the Shangri-las’ version, from 1963(?). No wonder it didn’t make the charts:

Then it was resurrected by Otis Day & the Knights, from National Lampoon’s “Animal House” in 1978.

As a bonus, here’s your favorite “Animal House” scene:

Thanks for watching. See you back here tomorrow.

TGIF: the .gif Friday Post 10 – Tuna/Corn Hybrid

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I found this funny and somewhat disturbing at the same time. Hadda post it.