Direct Youtube link

Okay, it’s impossible for me to write this entry in a way that doesn’t make me sound like a total nerd, but oh well. I’m an overweight cartoonist/blogger, so I guess there wasn’t much chance of someone mistaking me for Steve McQueen anyway.

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Some of the stages of my process for creating a comic, such as writing & penciling, require a great deal of mental focus, and are best done in silence. But other stages, like inking and computer stuff, are pretty mindless. For those parts, I usually listen to music, audio books, and podcasts to pass the time.

Certain videos and tv shows also work. You can often get the gist by just listening to the audio and looking up every once in a while for any visual jokes that pop up. I often listen to The Daily Show in this way, for example.

Hands down the nerdiest thing I listen to while I work are “Let’s Play”s, or “LPs”, which are internet videos of people playing video games. There are a surprising number of people that do these, for all sorts of games. Since I listen rather than watch, I prefer ones where the player provides running commentary as they play, and like games that have a story to them; I gravitate towards the old Sierra adventure games of the 80s and 90s.

My two favorite LPers go by the names of hercrabbiness and LateBlt (a video of the latter heads this entry). They appear to be friends, and often provide guest commentary on each other’s videos, with amusing bickering throughout.

Nostalgia probably plays a role in why I enjoy these, since I played Sierra games as a kid. And as I say, I don’t really “watch” them, just have them on in the background while I work; they may not be worth devoting one’s full attention to…

But for all my backpedaling, I really do enjoy them, as the fact that I devoted a blog entry to them would attest. I’m curious if other people would find these entertaining, or if it’s just me. Leave a comment with your impressions.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for other videos/podcasts/audio that would make for good listening while working, I’m “all ears” (*cough*).

Above is an episode of one of my all-time favorite cartoon series. Offhand, it’s the only CG cartoon I can think of that I really enjoy. It’s like a cross between the slapstick of Looney Tunes and the surrealism of Jim Woodring’s work.

It ran on a Japanese cable channel called the “Kids Network”, but honestly I don’t really think it’s appropriate for kids. Watch a few and you’ll see what I mean.

Youtube link to more

This week I was working on the most complicated drawing I’ve ever done in my life; look out for it on page 93 of Tonoharu: Part Two when it comes out in 2050.

So this week’s entry is another of the “half-assed/eleventh-hour” variety; a youtube clip originally uploaded by someone else. But it’s a good one; like a combination between outsider art and an old Betty Boop cartoon. Enjoy!

The quarter pounder with cheese recently made its debut at McDonald’s in Japan, and the campaign they’re using to promote it baffles me. Purchasing a quarter pounder value meal nets you this little package: 

It contains a scratch off ticket, both sides of which are shown below:
Front: Big Mouth! Quarter Pounder: Japan’s Rose-Colored Plan
Back: Scratch off the panel with all your might! If it says “winner”, you’ll receive a rose-colored t-shirt.

Am I missing something here? Is the quarter pounder eating demographic clamoring for pink clothing?

But that’s nothing compared with the button that was also enclosed:

Whaaa? I don’t get it.