FLASHBACK FRIDAY 13 - SODA POP COUGH DROP DRAWINGS

First off, I just wanted to say thanks so much to all of you who took the time to watch my short film Soda Pop Cough Drop last week. Seriously, quite a few of you commented on it, so you must have at least watched some of it, which is awesome. Thanks so much!

Anyway, I was digging around on my hard drive this morning and found these drawings. I can’t really remember why I drew them, I think I was probably just bored and figured they’d make pretty good cartoon characters. 

In the picture above Space Boy can be seen cannonballing into his dad’s backyard swimming pool. Shark Boy is not pleased as he’s trying to get some laps in before adult swim. I’m not really sure what Soda Pop and Cough Drop are doing, I guess maybe they’re the lifeguards. Also, I’m not sure what’s up with the pink tornado, but I quite like it.

Hmm, it looks like after that annoying cannonball Shark Boy decided to challenge Space Boy to a boxing match. After seven rounds they both look like they’re doing pretty good. Barrington makes an appearance in this one, he’s got his money riding on Space Boy.

★

After Space Boy lost the boxing match he fell on hard times, put on a few pounds, and started caddying for Barrington. Shark Boy quit his job at Applebee’s just so that he could follow them in his golf cart and yell insults about Space Boy’s weight gain. 

★

Soda Pop arrests Shark Boy for driving golf carts while under the influence of one too many Pop Tarts. During the interrogation she gets grumpy when Cough Drop, her superior, offers Shark Boy a blender full of hungry goldfish to help digest the Pop Tarts (apparently this one wasn’t even worth coloring).

★

Anyway, if you’d like to see the live action version of Soda Pop Cough Drop just CLICK HERE. Also, I apologize for posting this edition of Flashback Friday on a Saturday. I’d like to blame my laziness on the impending rapture, but really, if I want to be honest myself, it’s Vicki’s fault. She’s always like “Hey man, let’s go eat some mini-cupcakes”, “Hey man, let’s go pet some baby hedgehogs”, “Hey man, let’s go watch some baby hedgehogs eat some mini-cupcakes”.

STRANGE ADVENTURES IN MARYLAND 01 - “OWLY OWLYINGTON”

So a few weekends ago Vicki and I traveled back to Maryland to celebrate her 30th birthday. Along the way we stopped by to see my folks. As soon as we walked in the door my mom made us a pair of her famous “Pammy Milkshakes”. As we struggled to sip the thick milkshakes through our bendy straws, my mom warned us about a viscous “demon attack owl from hell” that had allegedly been terrorizing small dogs in the community. I stress the word allegedly, as she offered up very little in the way of actual “proof”.

Now, as many of you know, my mom has a small rather pathetic looking dog named Toby. Although Toby is often mistaken for an ugly cat and/or ferret and contributes absolutely nothing to society, my mom nonetheless loves him very much and was absolutely freaked out about the owl. She had gone so far as to build a small green cloak for Toby so that he would blend in with the grass when out for walks.

Anyway, long story short, once I was done my milkshake my mom demanded that my father and I set out to “destroy the owl”. So my dad and I put on some old hockey gear, grabbed our sling shots, and headed out to do some damage. Neither of us thought there was a chance in hell we’d find the owl, and to be honest, we weren’t so sure it even existed. 

As we walked along with our slingshots my dad and I traded stories about Toby’s seemingly endless supply of pathetic-ness. I was deep into a story about the time Toby got his head trapped in one of those plastic hamster balls when my dad yelled “God damn it’s an owl”. I looked up and there he was, looking right at me like I was some kind of hipster doofus.

So yeah, my dad and I raised our slingshots and just as we were about to shoot my dad said “Hold on a second son, this here owl’s a majestic creature of nature, how’s about we let him live”. “What about Toby?” I asked. My dad replied “Toby’s just a rat that barks, Owly Owlington here is a champion of nature”. “Did you just call him Owly Owlington?” I asked. “Yep” he said. “What about Owlbert Einstein?” I asked. “Nope, his name’s Owly Owlington”. 

And that’s the story of Owly Owlington.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that my sister’s boyfriend, John, was also along for the adventure to destroy Owly Owlington. He lagged behind a bit as I think he saw the whole ordeal as a bit, shall we say, unnecessary and pointless. However, he did have a few good alternate name suggestions for Owly Owlington, including Owl Bundy and Owlan Rickman.

Here’s a wide shot of Owly Owlington and his tree…

GREAT MOMENTS IN PHOTOSHOP EXCELLENCE 03 - “BLINKING JAPANESE PHONE BOOTH”

Question: Do I regret wasting twenty-seven consecutive hours creating this animated GIF in photoshop?

Answer: No way, it’s sooooooooo awesome.

Question: Do I regret missing Vicki’s 30th birthday bowling party to create this GIF?

Answer: No comment.

Question: Does my black eye hurt?

Answer: Maybe.

Question: Seriously, was making this GIF worth it?

Answer: Not really. I actually start to get sick if I stare at it for too long. Ughh… make it stop!

Anyway, my main man Nick just wrote a really cool story about the photo behind this GIF for a new website called SAINT LUCY. If you like photography, creative writing, and/or Baltimore definitely check it out!

Oh, and my main man Nick also just started a Tumblr of original artwork inspired by the hit 90’s television show Beverly Hills 90210. It’s called West Beverly High Art Club, definitely check it out as the artwork is quite impressive. Also, I believe that they are accepting submissions, so you may wanna think about digging up that charcoal drawing you did of Luke Perry’s misty eyes in 1995.

SAD STUFF IN JAPAN 01 - “THE PENGUIN WALK OF SHAME”

After three hours the penguin finally blinked and lost the staring contest with Vicki’s dad. In the photo above you can see one of the trainers leading him to the piranha tank, into which he will have to place his flipper for 30 seconds (as a result of loosing the staring contest). 

Not to worry though, just as the penguin began to dip his flipper into piranha infested waters Vicki screamed “Don’t do it penguin! This is insane!!! Dad, go hug the damn penguin and let’s go find Tanner some chicken teriyaki”. So Vicki’s dad and the penguin reluctantly hugged it out and off we went to once again NOT find chicken teriyaki in the country that I thought had invented it.

PLACES OF JAPAN 15 - “A TREE, A SKY, AND AN OCEAN”

So a tree, a sky, and an ocean walk into a bar and the tree says “Damn Ocean, how’d you get so wet?”. The ocean replies “I’m made out of water you idiot, it’s pretty obvious”. As the tree attempts to think of a witty comeback, the sky says “Hey guys, how the hell did we all fit in this bar? I mean, I’m the sky, how the hell is this bar bigger than me?”. The ocean says “Good point Sky. Come to think of it, I don’t even have hands, much less a throat, how the hell am I gonna drink a beer?”. The sky says “I know, right! I don’t have hands or a throat either. What were we thinking coming to a bar. We sure botched this one fellas”. The tree lifts up his roots and says “If you’ll excuse me gentleman, I’ll be at the bar”. As the tree proceeds to soak up a Miller High Life, the sky and the ocean dejectedly play darts in the back of the bar.

BUNKO THE BRAVE

During the day Kyoko works as a roller-maid for a Japanese business man named Steve. At night she kicks off her roller skates, rips off her maid gown, and becomes “Bunko the Brave”. Bunko is a beautiful warrior princess who fights adult illiteracy, childhood obesity, and crime. Her headquarters, the Bunko Bunker, is an actual cave much likes Batman’s minus the Batmobile and Alfred. Whereas Batman primarily used his cave for monitoring crime and designing whiz-bang gizmos, Bunko likes to use her cave a a place to practice her “sultry looks”. On the rare occasions that she is not pouting into the mirror Bunko can be found drawing dirty images on her etch-a-sketch and ordering cold pizza on her BunkPhone.

Note: The names Kyoko and Bunko are traditional Japanese baby girl names. The meaning of Kyoko is “mirror”, and the meaning of Bunko is “literary child”. The name Steve is not a traditional Japanese boy name. If it were I’d imaging it’s meaning would be “child who brings shame upon family”.

See the whole show here.