THE ART OF STORYBOARDING

Here's (above) a pairing of two Simpsons clips from two different episodes. I'm putting them up because they cut together so well. See what you think.

It starts with the interior of Homer's garage. He drives his car in and hits one of the shelf supports.

He gets out of the car unaware that a heavy power tool is sliding down toward him.

BONK! It hits him on the head!

After a beat (above) he continues walking, looking like a zombie.

Inside the house he walks matter of factly into the bedroom...

...gets into bed...

...and immediately falls asleep.

A moment later his alarm rings. He turns it off thinking it's morning.

He gets out of bed to go to work, and begins to walk O.S.

Now we're in the living room, on the second clip. Without warning a door opens and Homer comes in, causing skateboarding Bart to smash into the door.

Homer takes out an invitation to a barbecue, and hands it to his daughter. Squashed Bart is behind the door. 

I could go on, but there's no more space. Do you see why I like this transition? He's still effected by the hit on the head. When we see him leave the bedroom we expect to see him making breakfast in preparation for going to work. We think that's the gag, that he didn't get any sleep. Instead we see him in a happy but still ditsy state announcing to his daughter a cock-eyed invitation to a barbecue. It's so unexpected. 

I love board gags that lead the audience to expect one gag, then hits them with another.  

Neat, huh?

[BTW: Some of my offline friends disagreed with me and said they couldn't see anything of value in the post above. Haw! De gustibus non disputibus (There's no disputing taste)!] 

MORE HALLOWEEN 2013

Yes, MORE HALLOWEEN!

I've only been to two Halloween stores so far, and if what they have is typical I'd say we can expect fewer high end items this year, but a lot more inexpensive decorations. I do miss the pricey thick masks, though. 

  

Strangely, there's lots of tutus on the shelf this year...so many that I'll probably remember this as the year of the tutu. 

Geez, I miss comic books like this one, above. The best stories were genuinely imaginative.

This is a scene from an early Tom and Jerry cartoon. I keep forgetting that they were human characters before they were a cat and a mouse.

Man, I'd love to have a faux lab with glassware like this (above). It looks like every perfume bottle, Slurpie container, and flexible straw for miles around was pressed into service.

Yikes! 'Another evil Punch puppet!

I like this Reddi-Wip ad. It promises to "bring your desert creations to life" during the Halloween season.

Let us take a moment to give thanks to the nameless genius who thought of selling sexy outfits to girls at Halloween time.

THE BEST HALLOWEEN COSTUMES OF 2013

IT'S HALLOWEEN TIME!!!!!! I had to take down my previous post because it didn't seem to capture the spirit of the holiday. Let's try again...this time with true Halloween feeling!

Wow! What do you think of this hanging skull? I think it's first rate and if I can find one I'll happily add it to my permanent collection.

I feel it in my bones...the big selling kid costumes this year will have to do with Batman!

Before I saw this picture (above) it never occurred to me that home appliances need Halloween costumes too. When you think about it, of course they do!

Yikes!

Above, a three-headed dog, guarding the entrance to the Netherworld. This gets my nomination for best pet costume of 2013.

Nice, very nice...a mask depicting a simple-minded homicidal henchman (above) who kills at his boss's command.  He's paid for his work with candy and a pat on the head.

No doubt about it...the best Halloween masks (above) are the ones you make yourself!

THE FUTURE OF PETS

It doesn't require extraordinary predictive power to figure this one out. The future of pets is the miniaturization of already existing species. Taking your elephant for a walk may be as common as taking your dog for a walk now.

Maybe tiny elephants will be kept in miniature herds.

This (above) is a picture of a present-day tiger cub. In the near future this could be a picture of a fully-grown mini-tiger, one that's kept as a house pet.

Lots of large animals will be bred as miniatures.

Even Great Whites will be obtainable as little aquarium pets.

Of course some creatures (above) will get a size boost.

Small insect-type robots with cameras might be the first responders to 911-type calls to the police.

I do believe that science might revive the T-Rex. Recently tiny bits of soft dinosaur tissue were discovered. It's not impossible that the DNA of these beasts might be recovered. If it is then I imagine that some people will want to keep tiny versions for pets.

AN INTENSE ROMANTIC SCENE

Talk about a page-turner...it's hard to imagine anyone reading this putting it down and making a sandwich. I wish I could remember where I got it. It's all dialogue so maybe it was a screenplay. Anyway, the author had the knack, no doubt about it. See what you think.

.........................................

Willie: You're laughing at me again! You're always laughing at me. But you won't feel so funny with this knife in you.

Cecily: Sit down Willie, and don't threaten me. You don't frighten me at all. But you might scare the servants and give them more to gossip about.

Willie: My God! she has no higher thought than that! Even now, when death stares her in the face! Why aren't you saying your prayers, you fool?

Cecily: Put down that knife! Put it down, I say! I could save myself by raising my voice, but you know I'd rather die than bring the servants in on a scene like this!

Willie: A scene! Why woman, I'm going to kill you. Don't you understand anything? You've only got a minute to live. Say your prayers! Damn you! Say your prayers!




Cecily: Calm down, Willie; calm down, I beg you. You must control yourself. Please! -- as a favor to me.

Willie: You dare to ask me for favors? Go ask for them from the man you've given favors to! The man? The men!

Cecily: You dirty little weasel!


(Willie stabs her deep in the heart, and she screams involuntarily)
Servant: Beg pardon, ma'am, but did you call?

Cecily: No...er, yes, I -- I am ill -- a little -- suddenly. Telephone for Doctor --Doctor --the nearest doctor. You'd better run.

Servant: But ma'am, you are bleeding!

Cecily: I spilled some wine on my dress. The doctor! Why are you still here?


(The servant runs out)


Willie: What have I done? What have I done?




Cecily: You've killed me, that's all. It was such a funny thing for you to do, so old fashioned.

Willie: You are too beautiful to die! I won't let you die!

Cecily: It's growing very dark, Willie -- very dark! and I'm drifting, I wonder where? Can you hear my voice way off there? Better throw me a kiss, and wish me bon voyage.

BRITISH AND FRENCH CARICATURES, CIRCA 1820

The British won the Napoleonic wars and then proceeded to swamp France with tourists. It was a bitter pill for the French who couldn't believe they were beaten by a race of people with buck teeth and no chins. Since I possess those attributes myself, I'll observe that buck teeth do indeed bestow on the bearer remarkable powers of intellect and tenacity, and so...of course they did well in that war.

BTW, this print (above) is derived from an oil paining by Dore.

Daumier was equally amazed by the buck-toothed British tourists (above) he saw.

How did British caricaturists treat the French? Surprisingly lenient once the war was over. Maybe that's because the British favorite target for humor has always been other British.

Available for ridicule were the high-collar dandies...tons of them. Somehow the war years spawned a gazillion of them (above), who attempted to be as visible as possible.  This was not lost on caricaturist William Heath.

The dandies chased out the old tri-corned people. They were so...yesterday.

They even chased out the beefy, earthy old Samuel Johnson types (above).  The new man was supposed to be lean and elegant.

Frock coats with tight waists were in. Even fat men wore them.

The British love class-based humor. Here (above) the pushy, social-climbing masses display their inability to do a simple thing like wait in line to visit an art museum.

HOUSE ON THE ROCK

A search for "House on the Rock" produced some pretty exotic pictures, like the one above. Even so, I'll bet none of them have interiors half as good as the ultimate House on the Rock, the one near Madison Wisconsin (below).

This was a private residence built by Wisconsin industrialist, Alex Jordan. Jordan fancied himself an amateur architect and one day he showed up at Frank Lloyd Wright's door with some drawings he made. He expected Wright to praise him to the skies, instead Wright said, "I wouldn't hire you to design a cheese crate. You're not capable."

Fuming, Jordan decided to get back at Wright by buying a peak overlooking Wright's property and building an outrageous house of his own design on it. That building is what would later be called, "The House on the Rock."

Jordan had so much fun building it that he couldn't stop. What began as an instrument of revenge morphed into an obsession. The house got bigger and bigger, and sprawled out over a wider and wider area. Who knows how big it would have gotten if Wright hadn't bought the adjacent property to stop it?

What was it like? Let's start with the Gate House (above). Parts of it look Victorian....

...and other parts look like Pueblo Indians lived there.

Some of it is a cheesy knock-off of Wright.

I guess Jordan believed that Wright's forms looked better when covered with shag carpet and velour. I can only imagine what Wright thought of this.

In a separate structure Jordan built houses within houses. This charming little street is actually inside a larger house.

Some say the indoor carousel Jordan designed is the world's biggest.

He even built carousels (above) for his doll collection.

Maybe the dolls were just an excuse to build doll houses, a whole town of them.

That T-Rex is actually supposed to be a whale. You can see a boat in it.

The place has cars, of course. Here's (above) a Rolls-Royce.

In a building as big as an airplane hanger he housed his collection of musical instruments. Some are real, some are fakes.

Yikes!

Thanks to the architecture fan who told me about this. Now I can't wait to see it.