kartooner (Vox)

Under the Influence of Giants

nobody@vox.com(kartooner) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 14:57:13 -0500

In my opinion, 'Under the Influence of Giants' is one of the best indie albums of 2006, mark my words.

I picked it up a couple days ago while at Target ($9.95/US), I think partly because the cover has a plethora of creepy-looking mannequins on it, or the group itself looks cool decked out in 60's era garb.

Whatever the case, UTIOG is a groovin' album, recommended, praised and smooth sounding. The songs themselves not only sound great, but seem to resonate from an emotional state of mind.

I've played this while doing the dishes (yes, on occassion I do clean them), at work and just to put my mind at peace when things get a bit chaotic.

Pick this up now. You'll thank me later.

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Steve Corwin?

nobody@vox.com(kartooner) — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 10:49:20 -0400

Last night on CNN's Anderson 360, a show I've only watched a couple of times, Anderson mentioned that he would be talking to "Steve Corwin" after the break.

After the break, Anderson addresses his guest as Jeff Corwin (not Steve) and proceeds with the rest of the conversation.

Goes to show that the Crocodile Hunter is still on everyone's mind.

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Moola Invitations

nobody@vox.com(kartooner) — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 18:37:03 -0400

Moola

For anyone who is interested, I have (2) Moola invites up for grabs.

Moola is essentially "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" but with cool Flash games, sponsored by pre-game ads.

You start with 1 cent, play a game (matched with another online opponent) and if you win, you get 2 cents and so on and so forth.

Let me know either by commenting here or emailing me at erik@kartooner.com.

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QotD: Collector's Item

nobody@vox.com(kartooner) — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 00:55:12 -0400

What do you collect?

My Wall of Cinema Memorabilia

Animation art (from various films) and a few autographs. I typically get my autographs straight from the source since I think most of the online autograph sites sell fake merchandise.

As for the art itself, most of my stuff is from Van Eaton Galleries, a reputable seller of animation art in California.

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QotD: Words To Live By

nobody@vox.com(kartooner) — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 11:20:17 -0400

What's your motto?

I originally wrote this on my site, kartooner.com, but it applies here as well:

Life is a complicated and yet beautiful entanglement of thorns and roses. Just when you feel comfortable suddenly a multitude of paths open up before you and then you’re left deciding which is the right one to follow. Which one will lead to success and which one will lead to struggle? There is no doubt that life throws us curveballs and many times it’s when we are least expecting it. The key to understanding life is knowing whether you are in control of your life or if your life is in control of you.

When curveballs are thrown at us, no matter the amount or force, the initial reaction is one of disorder, an abrupt change in our lifestyle. How does one maintain a sense of control or stability, or even cheer and motivation when we feel as if we’re caught in a whirlwind of disillusionment? There is no simple answer or solution but it’s important to remain focused on your goals and aspirations because the light at the end of the tunnel or the carrot dangling from a string is the only thing that will keep you going.

You might never actually reach a comfort zone because it’s difficult to asertain certain situations, but keeping focused on what’s truly important in your life will not only save your sanity but keep you on track. In the scope of things, our lives are driven by the belief in ourselves and the support from our family and friends. A typical obstacle that stands inbetween our goals is our fear of failing. The fear that no matter what we attempt to obtain that we’ll lose grasp of it or never truly receive it. Being confident in yourself will eliminate any fear of failure because those who are confident realize that their failures are also their strengths.

As Bill Cosby once said:

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.

When life throws you curveballs, take our your trusty glove and catch them midair.

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Wii-mas

nobody@vox.com(kartooner) — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 11:17:12 -0400

Wiixmas

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QotD: Nice Save

nobody@vox.com(kartooner) — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 23:01:03 -0400

If you could only save one thing in a house fire (thing, not person), what would it be and why?
Submitted by donnunn.

Terribly difficult to answer since there are really a plethora of things I would attempt to save, but again if it were to be only one thing I'd save a photo of my kids. The reason would be that aside from my wife, who I have several photos of, I cherish my kids more than anything.

It's as simple as that.

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QotD: I Was Born Too Late

nobody@vox.com(kartooner) — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:19:47 -0400

What time period would you have lived in, if you could have lived at any time?

Fred Astaire (doing what he does best)

This is a tough one to answer because there are a handful of time periods I would've loved to experience. However, if I had to choose only one, I'd say somewhere in the range of the 1920s-30s.

My profession of choice would be either a bootlegger in paradise, fancy tap dancer like Fred Estaire or a rich/poor sharecropper.

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Robots in Diguise

nobody@vox.com(kartooner) — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:12:06 -0400

80s Transformer Toys

From ComingSoon.net's "On the Transformers Set":

In 1984, Japanese toy company Takara launched a new line of toys called 'Transformers," which was sold outside of Japan by Hasbro. The toy robots had the ability to convert themselves into cars, animals or aircrafts. The Takara toyline proved to be such a huge phenomenon that there have been Marvel comic books, animated series and a feature-length film based on the popular toys. And now, director Michael Bay is in the midst of shooting a live action Transformers film.

A similiar story to the He-Man cartoon series, produced by the now defunct Filmation Studios, which was created solely to promote/advertise Mattel's toy line.

Here's a bit of trivia: Mattel originally intended it to be a Conan-related toy line but decided against it after carefully reviewing the adult content of the Conan movies.

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QotD: Middle Name

nobody@vox.com(kartooner) — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 14:38:52 -0400

What's your middle name? Is there a story or history behind it?

My middle name is Robert. The story behind it isn't glamorous or fascinating by any means, other than it's the name of my father who doesn't even go by "Robert".

Instead he goes by his nickname, Bud, and truthfully I'm glad that "Bud" isn't my middle name.

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