Archive for May, 2009

Welcome to Universal!

Monday, May 25th, 2009

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paragraph-spacer3LOS ANGELES (UNIVERSAL CITY) – I read the terrific Conan O’Brien profile piece in The New York Times yesterday by Lynn Hirschberg, subtitled Can Conan O’Brien’s Brand of Humor Work on ‘The Tonight Show’? My answer, like the legions of other Conan fans, is an emphatic “Yes!” The piece is titled Heeeeere’s… Conan!!! Coincidentally, I saw a Google search hit in my statistic logs the other day for nearly that exact term, for my own Heeeeere’s Conan piece. Someone was looking for it – maybe a researcher for the NYT? No matter, it wasn’t such an original thought in the first place. 17 years or so ago people were probably writing Heeeeere’s Jay articles.

psycho-e-2All of this gibberish is just an excuse to show another potential Conan graphic, in this case a bumper frame that could be easily animated. Actually, I have animated it, or at least a version of it (I first made this graphic for E! and their True Hollywood Story Halloween Marathon promo, still frame from the animation at left.) It’s on my 2008 reel and can be viewed at my Movies! I Show Movies! page. You can also view an extended Behind the Music version at my Portfolio page over on FrankXray.com (scroll down to the movies section). In the article, Conan mentioned making use of some of the Universal Studios landmarks as characters in his new show. The iconic horror house from Psycho is on the Universal lot, and is part of the tour. The Bates Motel itself would be just off screen to the lower right in the photo illustration above. I look forward to seeing how Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter, Executive Producer Jeff Ross, Head Writer Mike Sweeney (shameless Google search terms as well as true feelings here) and the rest of the staff play off not only Universal Studios, but of Los Angeles in general. The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien debuts June 1.

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Spotlight On: Oakcrest Market

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

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paragraph-spacer3LOS ANGELES (UNIVERSAL CITY) – The Oakcrest Market is just down the hill from Universal, on Cahuenga Blvd. West, oakcrest-bbq-2nestled against the hills. If you’re on the Universal lot, sometimes it’s good to get out and see the world. Jailbreak! It’s also one of the closest places to get beer ;-) . Proprietors Eugene and Kathy are ebullient and will delight you with all the latest neighborhood gossip. Kathy also prepares Korean BBQ at least once a week. Mmm. Check in with them, introduce yourself, and they’ll treat you like the local you are (or aren’t). The reserved parking, of course, is up to your negotiating skills.

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Credits: At the very top of the post is a collage with my photo of Oakcrest Market, enhanced with a few other elements from various sources along with my Conan parking sign (except of course for the great official cartoon Conan used sometimes on Late Night and on some Late Night clothing). The plate of BBQ picture is from B-Side Blog . The bottom image is a detail from my illustration for an Oakcrest Market post card.

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B.L.O.G. TV Showcase: Farrah’s Story

Monday, May 18th, 2009

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paragraph-spacer3BURBANK – Television sweeps time is upon us once again. It’s the semi-annual event in which television networks put forth their most sensationalized content in order to boost the Nielson numbers in their favor. It’s really a thumb on the scale, but no one really seams to care and it’s all part of the game. The results of the May Book, as it’s known in the TV promo world (there’s also a November Book, and to a lesser extent July and February Books as well), are used to establish advertising rates for the months to come.

may-sweeps-farrah-huluEnd-of-season specials happen in May, as well as “very special” episodes including the infamous “evil twin” device employed in the not-too-distant past. Also, as we witnessed Friday night, personal diaries from celebrities on their death beds are not off limits. Farrah’s Story premiered as a two hour special on NBC Friday night. It documents the cancer journey of Farrah Fawcett, told in a combination of video diary first-person style with interviews of doctors and friends mixed in. Did you miss it? See it on hulu.

man-from-blog-smrefI thought I’d ask my Man from B.L.O.G. (avatar/cybernaut) to open up his Boring Load Of Garbage Television Showcase Cinema and Pie House for a little Farrah’s Story viewing party. Truthfully, the vintage movie house could use a little work. It’s a little rundown, and, if the City of LA sticker is correct, in need of some asbestos abatement. It really is Billy Bob’s Nightmare, but we didn’t mind. Our leftover H1N1 flu masks were put to good use as the whole crew gathered for a night of TV and pie.

Farrah Fawcett holds a very special place in my heart, so it was a little sad to see the show. Man from B.L.O.G. obviously feels the same way in the graphic above. She was Steve Austin’s girl, for crying out loud. There is some controversy regarding Ryan O’Neal taking over the Executive Producer role as Farrah herself has been really too weak to perform those duties. The New York Times and the LA Times both had largely negative reviews for the “Dateline-meets-Behind-the-Music” style show.

may-sweeps-posterWhen I was in junior high, I didn’t have this poster (at right), but I sat next to a guy in home room who did (it was fabulous and he wouldn’t let me forget it). This incident kick-started my hobby of scouring Spencer Gifts’ poster collections for the next Farrah poster. There were many copy cats (Adrienne Barbeau, Suzanne Somers, Lynda Carter) but never really any that reached the pure hormonal excitement levels of this one. It was during this time that I grew to despise black light posters because I had to flip through so many Led Zeppelin, Yes, Grateful Dead and others as I conducted my search for the girls.

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The graphic at the beginning of this post is based on one created by me for Last Call with Carson Daly. It was for a bit called The Thirty Second Movie Review.

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Billy Bob’s Nightmare

Friday, May 15th, 2009

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paragraph-spacer3LOS ANGELES – Billy Bob Thornton was in the news recently for displaying some odd behavior during a Canadian radio chat show. After some adverse media attention, he went on Jimmy Kimmel Live to explain.

A few years ago, Billy Bob was famous for wearing a vial of blood around his neck, along with then-wife Angelina Jolie. The talented actor, writer, and musician’s peculiarities didn’t stop there. From Wikipedia:

Various idiosyncratic behaviors have been well-documented in interviews with the actor; among these is a phobia of antique furniture — a disorder shared by the Dwight Yoakam character in the Thornton-penned Sling Blade, and by Thornton’s own character in the 2001 film Bandits. Additionally, he has stated that he has a fear of certain types of flatware, a trait assumed by his character, Hank Grotowski, in 2001’s Monster’s Ball, in which Grotowski insists on a plastic spoon for his daily bowl of chocolate ice cream. In a 2004 interview with The Independent, Thornton explained: “It’s just that I won’t use real silver. You know, like the big, old, heavy-ass forks and knives, I can’t do that. It’s the same thing as the antique furniture. I just don’t like old stuff. I’m creeped out by it, and I have no explanation why…I don’t have a phobia about American antiques, it’s mostly French — you know, like the big, old, gold-carved chairs with the velvet cushions. The Louis XIV type. That’s what creeps me out. I can spot the imitation antiques a mile off. They have a different vibe. Not as much dust.” In addition to his aversion to silver cutlery, velvet, and “creepy, castle-y stuff,” Thornton confesses that “pieces from 1700 and 1800 France and England really freak me out, especially harpsichords.”

Credits: Billy Bob picture from reelmovienews.com. Chairs from s.artquid.com, dresser from ifixantiques.com, harpsichord from maserkit.com.

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What’s in a Name?

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

whats-in-a-name

paragraph-spacer3LOS ANGELES – People are absolutely giddy about bicycles these days. Slow Bike Movements, Fast Bike Factions, and everyone in between seem to have something to say as they board the celebration bandwagon of self-propelled two-wheelers. Some are so giddy as they rush to put their thoughts to paper or screen that they make the classic bike newbie mistake. They call us something other than cyclist or bike rider. And I’m not even talking about the pejorative name-calling expletives uttered by car drivers when they’re delayed two seconds while trying to overtake me. I thought I’d heard it all, but in the LA Times recently, I saw the word cycler used instead of cyclist in this article about The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan’s ride across the U.S.A.:

Keoghan has been an avid cycler for years, averaging about 12 hours a week on a bike…

whats-in-a-name-ulAs a result of this and other similar misuses, I prepared the above chart in order to clear up things a bit. In the upper left we see poor George Hincapie, who rides his heart out every year for the spring classics. He is an example of a cyclist. Like “looking up the word cyclist in the dictionary and seeing his picture there” kind of cyclist. Cliché, yes, but true. Bike rider also works in this case. Also, Rivet Rider, Angry Pedaler, and Cycling Head of State to paraphrase Phil Liggett. Yes, cycling can be dirty, and not just in the way George appears in the photo.

whats-in-a-name-urThe upper right is a photo depiction of typical bikers. It’s a still from the movie Hellriders. Some might call a cyclist a biker. This is not the highest ranking misuse of the word (I will get to that shortly), and I suppose it might fit a mountain biker or a slow biker more appropriately than, say, a road cyclist. Yet when I think of a biker, I think of a motorcyclist. Biker bars, biker chicks, etc. would be more appropriate to Jay Leno than our two-wheeled hero George Hincapie. So all in all, the jury is sort of split on this one.

whats-in-a-name-lrContinuing clockwise around the chart, we next come to a Recycler. This lad, Jack Kirby, collected enough beer cans to make his own dreamcar. Before he was a recycler, he was first a…

whats-in-a-name-ll…cycler! Yes, he had to cycle that beer through his or his friends’ systems in order to collect enough cans to make the Mustang sculpture. I thought about using a shot of beer cans on an assembly line here, but I wanted to post a picture of a hot chick drinking beer, so I could draw some more hits from the Google. I figure TV producers search for hot chicks drinking beer as much as the next person, right? Notice that the hot chick, Irina Voronina, is not riding a bicycle, across the country or otherwise. Cyclists are not cyclers. As a matter of fact, I even made up the definition for cycler. That’s right! I just worked backwards from recycler to form an imaginary root word. I have no idea what a cycler is, except the single most inappropriate word for cyclist. My panties are really in a twist on this one and I’m not sure exactly why. It just hurts my ears to hear it. All I can say for sure is that The LA Times needs a cyclist ombudsman, editor, whatever.

This is just version 1 of a work-in-progress. Let me hear what you have to say about the subject. I’ll include the good suggestions in version 2.

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May I Present: “Who The Hell Do I Think I Am?”

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

about-fxr-array

paragraph-spacer3LOS ANGELES – I’ve updated my ABOUT page, which I am calling my “Who The Hell Do I Think I Am?” page. The title does have a certain charm, doesn’t it? The link is accessible via the Pages category on the sidebar. Or you can click here. It explains the reason I do this blog in greater detail than ever before. I’m talking thorn in your side, painful detail. It is a leading contender for the Boring Load Of Garbage page of the year.

I’ve also added a page called Gallery of B.L.O.G. Art. I think the name says it all. It is also permanently accessible via the Pages category on the sidebar. I will update it every couple of weeks or so, the most recent items at the top. You can see thumbnails of my graphics along with a brief synopsis of the post. If you want to read more, the links are there, too. Very handy.

And now that we’re all about sidebars in this conversation, you’ll notice a new, clickable banner with the slightly plaintive “HIRE ME today!” tagline. Click on it to see my other graphic works.

[MAY 13 UPDATE: I also added a Movies! I Show Movies! page to my Pages category. I will feature animations and other videos of interest here. It has my latest graphic show reel. The player is not setup entirely correctly, but it does play. Let me know if you have any significant problems.]

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The Usual Suspects

Monday, May 11th, 2009

usual-suspects

paragraph-spacer3LOS ANGELES – I received a thoughtful email last week from a reader in Washington, DC. The reader pointed out to me how much my Man from B.L.O.G. man-from-unclecharacter resembles Professor Berlitz, of Berlitz Language Instruction (1965) fame. Actually, sharp-eyed readers will notice that I obviously borrowed him from the Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV show logo of the 60s. I thought I’d come completely clean and show a lineup here of a few other potential look-a-likes.

usual-suspects-woodyOn the far left we have the Woody Allen cartoon character that appeared briefly in Annie Hall. He is much shorter than Mr. B.L.O.G., but is only slightly more neurotic.

On the other side of my avatar/cybernaut is in fact Professor Berlitz, gesticulating wildly. “You are trés tall, Monsieur B.L.O.G.” usual-suspects-berlitzHe employs the same technique that most Americans use when communicating with foreigners: he slows his speech (and increases its volume), pronounces each consonant as hard as possible, and of course gesticulates. We find it works fine here on the island of America, so we’ll probably continue to use it. The Berlitz method. The character is no doubt based on Berlitz founder, Maximilian Delphinius Berlitz (1852 – 1921), who was born in Germany, orphaned at an early age, moved to France and ultimately the United States.

usual-suspects-peanutThe Mr. Peanut (Planter’s) character’s appearance is suggested here by a line at the Professor Berlitz reference page. They propose that the Berlitz man may have had a side career as Mr. Peanut. I don’t see the obvious likeness to Monsieur B.L.O.G., but since he resembles Prof. Berlitz, and Prof. Berlitz resembles Mr. Peanut, others might. You be the judge.

usual-suspects-shermanLastly, I present Sherman from the Sherman and Peabody cartoons. They appeared in a regular segment called Peabody’s Improbable History in the early ’60s cartoon series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Sherman was the boy to Mr. Peabody (the genius dog). This is the origin of the WABAC (pronounced “wayback”) machine. The WABAC, or contemporarily Wayback Machine, is a common device used to conjure up nostalgia even today. So in addition to resembling a young Mr. B.L.O.G. (you should see the class photos side by side), Sherman’s (and Mr. Peabody’s) WABAC is the technological ancestor to the advanced Google/Raytheon time travel plugins which my man is so fond of using. I’ll have another lineup in the future should the need arise.

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“The Twitter stole our logo.”

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

the-twitter-stole-our-logo

paragraph-spacer3JACKSON HOLE, WY – A 133-year-old dry goods company here, Little O, Stick on Ground, Big O, are claiming through their lawyers that internet phenomenon, Twitter, has “absconded with our trademark. The Twitter stole our logo.” Lawyers and their clients were present today at a press conference held here to announce a “look into the possibility of a likelihood for a chance of maybe bringing some sort of legal action”.

twittertwitter-fieldThe possible action points not to the stick figure bird silhouette on a branch or the blue tweety bird button icon, but to the default user avatar icon (at right) which Twitter provides for either newbies, those too lazy to upload their own photo, or folks who are just plain camera shy (click on the graphic at left to see just what I mean).

Archibald Fruehauf, whose great uncle and great-great uncle (Little Oscar and Big Oscar Fruehauf, respectively) founded the dry goods company, says their logo has been in use almost since the very beginning. “They had some trouble with the original bell logo (which had double clappers shaped like Os) and name (Double-O Bell System); Alexander Graham Bell had issues with both. My great-great aunt, Takala, came up with the new name and a simplified, literal logo which was based on a game the two Oscars played, similar to ‘kick the can’, but with a stick. Little O, Stick on Ground, Big O. Or if you prefer, o_O. Both Oscars were quite rotund, you see, hence the letters ‘O’.”

Although no one can yet pinpoint a single source of funding for the almost-accused internet phenom known as Twitter, there appears to be no shortage of it. “We are well-funded and building a company to last” (from the jobs page on their site). Also:

“We provide the best equipment money can buy and offer free breakfast, snacks, and often lunch. Good burritos, great coffee, and Whole Foods are just blocks away. Sometimes we’ll walk to the park around the corner when we need to talk about something juicy or just get some fresh air (or a better burrito).”

Or when we have to kill you and dump your body. Seriously, though, the accoutrements rival the heady late ’90s, early ’00s of what would come to be known as the face of the internet bubble. Missing are the air hockey and foosball tables, afternoon massages, and the occasional lunch. Actually, their spiel has even this cynic almost sold. Not a bad gig. One could do a lot worse. I could see myself working at the Twitterplex. The point is, they’re “well-funded” and hope “to last”. Not for long, if these lawyers have anything to say about it.

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The “possibility-of-a-likelihood-for-a-chance-of-maybe” bringing legal action is looking more and more like a class-action… “event”. Joining Little O, Stick on Ground, Big O at the presser (but even more on the fence, legally, if that’s possible) were recumbent bicycle storage company Hangin’ With The ‘Bents, lesbian porno film Little Whore and Big Whore Go At It! 4 (the director’s cut, not the b.s. version put out by the studio), and semi-annual eyeglass sale The Crazy Optometrist’s Upside Down Price Event. After the announcement, there was a group lunch buffet at the Grand Tetons strip club which I won’t soon forget.

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Sinkhole de Mayo

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

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paragraph-spacer3DAISETTA, TEXAS – Well, first things first. No, your newly installed digital television converter box is not interfering with the color balance on your computer monitor. Yes, that is a French flag on le frite grande, or large fry. And it is sticking in a large puddle of mayonnaise, which has been unceremoniously poured from a large 5500-gallon drum provided by some French sympathizers keen on raining on the Mexican national holiday parade honoring their defeat of them. Try saying that fast while your mouth is loaded with fries, vinegar, ketchup, and mayonnaise. We here at B.L.O.G. are not ones to play favorites with the nationalities. I just needed a moment to chew, hence the answers to your imaginary questions, which allowed me to chew while I imagined you asking them. Okay… all done. Moving on.

Cinco de Mayo, of course, celebrates the “Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín“. I got that little tidbit from Wikipedia, and you know they’re never wrong. What I didn’t know is that a sinkhole in this small, sleepy little town had first appeared on or near an anniversary of that very same date! Some town residents (population 1,034) began calling it the “Sinkhole de Mayo”, both delighting punsters and seizing a tourism marketing opportunity. The New York Times even did a story about it.

“A huge and ravenous sinkhole that threatened to swallow this little East Texas oil town gobbled more crumbling earth Thursday but spared, at least for now, homes, the high school and the main road …”

Run for your lives! I think I see eyes appearing above the mouth. It’s … ALIVE! The town Emergency Management head, speaking about the town’s oil history, said, “I’m used to things blowing up, not falling in.”

Which brings us back to today’s little prank. Some local Francophiles appear to have taken advantage of the large hole [ARTIST'S RENDERING ABOVE IS NOT TO SCALE. ACTUAL HOLE IS MUCH LARGER. DO NOT APPROACH EDGE OF HOLE. – Ed.] and have filled it with mayo (I can see there’s still a ‘tongue’ of mayo left in the vat), cooked up what must be the world’s largest French fry, perhaps in the world’s largest deep fryer (maybe located in another sinkhole?), inserted that fry into nature’s party dip tray (not a euphemism for something dirty), then climbed that fry, and finally planted a flag. French, of course.

Maybe the thing to do is: have a party! Turn lemons into lemonade! Gather around the sinkhole, hold hands, and sing Fah Hoo Forres. Perhaps the French Grinch will grow a heart and join in. Happy Cinco de Mayo everybody!

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