THE SIMPSONS NEWS

Went down to the studio last Thursday to pick up a few things and the place was dead. My director (who was still there trying to finish the show) said it felt like a library in there. It was dark and quite. Very weird. There are a few people, besides my director still working there. In fact there is one more show that barely got started last Monday. That lucky crew of about eight people, still have work, as well as the retake crew.

MOVIES

OH MY GOSH! I saw the Ironman movie this weekend it totally ROCKED! I was blown away by how much fun I had watching that movie. That’s how superhero movies should be made! It was dramatic where it needed to be, and funny where it needed to be, without being cheesy or making fun of itself, but most importantly, it was REALLY COOL where it needed to be. I loved it. It’s now one of the top three superhero movies on my list of great superhero movies, which originally only had two, Batman Begins and Spider-man 2 (all other superhero movies are merely okay or just downright stink). I want to see it again but I guess I’m just going to have to wait for the DVD. I was definitely geeking out watching that movie. This was one of the few times that the movie was as cool as the trailer made it out to be.

For the last month or so I’ve been reading some of the new New Avengers and Mighty Avengers trade paper backs. They’re really cool and I recommend them. I’ll put the ones I’ve read at the bottom of this paragraph. Ironman is in those comics and I started becoming familiar with the character. I really like him. I’ve found I don’t like the older versions of him. I like him more now. I like how crazy high tech he is. In the older comics he just seem like he’s a guy in skin tight looking armor and it doesn’t come across as if he’s wearing any hardware, which I find kinda dull. I much rather see him look a little more like a machine. In the comics, I also like that fact that he’s a bit of hacker and he’s constantly online and accessing info as he fights. I guess he’s a tech head’s superhero fantasy.

By the way, make sure you stick around until the end of the closing credits for a special surprise. Also, keep your eyes out for Tony Stark (Ironman) in The Incredible Hulk movie because he’s going to make a cameo.

That reminds me, they showed the new trailers for The Incredible Hulk and Batman the Dark Knight during the Ironman movie. The more I see about the Hulk movie, the more excited I get. As far at the Batman movie is concerned, I’m still not sure if I’ll like it or not. Gotta wait and see.

For more information on the next Ironman Movie and and other Marvel superhero movies coming out, I recommend this link that my friend e-mailed me a few days ago:

Marvel Movies Assemble!

COMIC BOOKS

After the movie, I went to the comic book store near my house. I can’t be spending any money (made an exception for Ironman) but I didn’t have to. It was FREE COMIC BOOK DAY here in the U.S.. Stores all over give out special free comics on that day to promote comics. All the comic book companies are in on it so, it’s really cool to just go to a store and get free comics.

The store I went to, made a big event out of it and had guys dressed as storm troopers walking around as well as a guy dressed up like Darth Vader. They were giving out free Starwars miniatures. I kinda missed out on them because I didn’t see them. In fact, I didn’t see a few free things and I lost my chance at getting some really cool little miniatures.

Anyway, what I did pick up was pretty cool, but by far, the highlight was getting a free Ironman HeroClix figure. The HeroClix game has always looked interesting to me and I’ve always wanted to buy some just to see what they are like but I haven’t wanted to spend the money. Well, I got a figure for free that day and it was just icing on the cake because it was when I was still high from watching the movie. I was sooooo happy. I want to play HeroClix now, so I could play with Ironman.

BOARD GAMES

Since I’m out of job and I’m worring a little about money again, my thoughts have started to go back to board games to take my mind off things. Ironically, this is the worst time to be thinking about them since I can’t buy any new ones, but since I have quite a few, I can just play with the games I’ve got.

Still, I like to at least read about games I don’t have. The games that I’ve been looking into recently have been mostly miniatures games. Like: Warmachine, World of WarCraft Miniatures Game, HeroClix, and Mechwarrior: Dark Age. They all look very interesting to me. I don’t have any miniatures games, except maybe Dreamblade, but that one plays very different than the games I’ve mentioned above. I may or may not get into playing any of these games. We’ll see. They tend to be expensive to get into. Especially Warmachine, since that game requires you to glue together and paint your miniatures. They sure look cool though.

I’m also looking into getting (when I can afford it) the A Game of Thrones card game and the A Game of Thrones board game. Apparently the card game, which is now a collectible card game, will no longer be collectible which means that, if you want to play the game, you just need to buy one box and you’ll get ALL the cards in the entire game. This sounds great to me. This has never been done before, as far I know but Fantasy Flight Games is going to do it. The Game of Thrones games are based on the Song of Ice and Fire series of books by George R. R. Martin (or as my friend Damon calls him: George R. R. R. R. R. R. Martin). I’m a big fan of the series and the games seem to live up to the quality of the books. I’ll write about why these books are great some other time.

In any case, I just thought I’d write about some of the games that look interesting to me.

COPYRIGHT PROTECTIONS

Got another e-mail about the Orphan Works bill and what we could do about it. Here it is:

FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP

 

Take Action: Don’t Let Congress Orphan Our Work

 

We’ve set up an online site for visual artists to e-mail their Senators and Representatives with one click.

 

This site is open to professional artists, photographers and any member of the image-making public.

We’ve provided sample letters from individuals representing different sectors of the visual arts.

 

If you’re opposed to the Orphan Works act, this site is yours to use.

For international artists and our colleagues overseas, we’ve provided a special link, with a sample letter and instructions as to whom to write.

2 minutes is all it takes to write Congress and protect your copyright:

 

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

 

Please forward this message to every artist you know.

 

If you received our mail as a forwarded message, and wish to be added to our mailing list, email us at: illustratorspartnership@cnymail.com

Place “Add Name” in the subject line, and provide your name and the email address you want used in the message area.

Highly recommend you do this.

If you like what you read, please consider signing up to my rss feed.

Comments are appreciated as well.

I also have a store. Click Here and check it out.

If you would like to have a text ad on my site, click on the red BUY LINKS button under the Archives list.

And while you’re at it, please Digg me too.