ABP editorial

Enemy (Picket) Lines

I happened upon this job posting on a major animation networking site and thought "what planet does this guy live on and how can I get there?" To ask the very people you've just screwed out of a job to come and labor for your cause without pay seemed so out of touch with reality that I just had to write him an email.

I guess this must be what it's like for soldiers to see the enemy as human for the first time. And for me to make a sappy military analogy, it must have been pretty fuckin' moving.

Talk of the Town

There's a lot of buzz in L.A. regarding the WGA strike and it seems to be trendy to say "we support the writers". On paper, I agree that the writers should receive residuals from new media. But seriously, WGA...how many lives do you have to ruin along the way?

Going Widescreen--the Big Picture

My personal aesthetic tastes aside, there is one particular genre in which widescreen is just plain impractical: Television Animation. Well, more specifically any television animation which is still created through the antiquated process of traditional animation.

Attack of the Emo

"I feel alone, and in need of a hot dog,"
speaks Steve Emond's self loathing super hero Emo Boy is the voice of a confused and moody generation in "Emo Boy, Volume 1: Nobody Cares About Anything Anyway, So Why Don't We All Just Die?"

The Loser

So tonight I watched the premiere episodes of "The Winner," a new show which the good people at 20th Century Fox call "a twisted but oddly inspirational tale that will, most decidedly, give hope to late-blooming slackers everywhere" (fox.com). What they fail to mention is that, like their self-fellating review, this show SUCKS!

Back from the grave with another book review

Agnes Quill: an Anthology of Mystery. Sounded about as exciting as "Mavis Beacon Typing Tutor", the program my 5th grade computer teacher forced upon me so that I would become a slave of the home row. No use, fool! I shall hunt and peck until my dying day, and relish every naughty minute of it!
Anyway...

Cartoon Rivalry: Playful Jabs or Purposeful Stabs?

Pop culture provides endless opportunities for comedy at the expense of those who can certainly afford it. But what happens when our favorite animated shows become the very pop they're riffing and turn on their cartoon comrades to get a laugh? I've recently observed a number of examples --most occurring within the same master funding studio-- and wonder whether we as viewers should regard these acts as friendly inside industry homages or authentic spite and resentment disguised behind googly eyes.

TIMBEEEEEEER!

If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound? Likewise, if a crazy old man dances naked in his cabin when no one is there to see, is the jiggle of elderly testicles still hilarious yet mortifying? Lilli Carre and Top Shelf Productions take us on a backpacking excursion to find out in “Tales of Woodsman Pete with Full Particulars”.

Of Freelance and Foot Rubs

Some of you may remember one of my first blogs, entitled "Cold Calls: Real Phone Conversations from My Job Hunt". For those who aren't familiar with it, the article was a short collection of actual phone conversations I had while desperately looking for a job in L.A, during which I am snubbed, blatantly lied to, and otherwise treated like an imbecilic dinosaur for merely inquiring about work in traditional animation. Very frustrating at the time, but now that I'm employed (at a studio much better than any of those assholes I called...so there!) they're pretty humorous and make for nice little anecdotes. It was while recounting some of these stories that I remembered another pretty awesome funny-later-but not-at-the-time tale. It's not terribly career or art related, though I guess it does say something about the film industry. That and I think you twisted geeks perusing blogs at 3 a.m. will just plain find it entertaining.

duh nuhnuhnuhnuhnuhnuhnuh BATMAN!

After a long retreat into my west Los Angeles cave, I have finally compiled enough data to deliver to you, the cyber-going public, a comprehensive overview of the Batman the Animated Series DVD sets, released in four convenient and easy to swallow volumes.