George Carlin: No Bullshit, he's dead. Phnark.

One of my comedy patron saints died (not passed away, you jerks) on Sunday. Heart failure. If there's any justice, they'll take the body, put it on top of a pile of explosives and blow it the fuck up...or shoot it out of a cannon onto the White House lawn. Here's a cartoon with George doin' v.o., courtesy of Drawn! I'm gonna go punch a wall now. Enjoy.

TAIS Showcase Monster Edition 2008

It's almost time! The TAIS Animation Showcase will be held on Friday of next week, featuring the MONSTERJAM! We'll be giving away prizes, there's a special jury awarding a lil' sumpin' to the best films in the showcase and the 'jam, and a sweet reception afterwards. All that for 5 bucks...cheep! Double-special night for me, cuz my film 'First Time Out' will be screening as well as the jam film I've help organize...nice! So come on out, and show your support for independant animation!

MyToons goes HD

The guys from MyToons have slapped a major upgrade onto the site, with toons in glorious High-Def now, thanks to an updated player and site layout. From the Animation Snack newsletter:

"MyToons has been redesigned and is now the first global animation community to offer you the ability to upload and view your animation in High Definition – the top of the line, all digital format for broadcasting, streaming and viewing video. Consider this the new age “black and white to color” transition – and it’s all at your fingertips. Find out more about HD here.

MyToons is here to make your life fun and easy – check out our other new features!

Channels: Watch up to 19 different animation channels, add animation tags, and share with your friends – all without leaving the homepage!

Filter Feature: Play the animations, artwork, and games you’re craving with our new filtering feature – just organize by “Time,” “Sorting,” “Category,” and “Style.”

Rating System: Rate animation, artwork, and games on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. Gold Star or No Star? Let ‘em know what you think!

Start Page: Get a fresh start with our new, one-stop control board! Manage, edit, and personalize your stuff – all from the “My Start Page” button on the homepage!"


Noice. Go and check out all the hi-def goodness.

Cold Hard Flash: Top 10 Flash Cartoons

Aaron Simpson and a cadre of his animation homies have got together and came up with a list of what they consider the best o' the best of flash animated films on them there interwebnets, and they're all available to view on the Cold Hard Flash site. Along with the shorts themselves, Aaron's serving up in-depth interviews with the creators. Go, watch, learn, enjoy. And big kudos to MyToons for continuing to support independent animation on the web!

MONSTERJAMmers: Rafa Toro

Now that the MONSTERJAM submission deadline has come and gone, I'll be spending my time in June profiling some of the filmmakers who sent us animated monster goodness. Meet our first monster-mator, Rafa Toro. Hailing from Spain, he's a graphic artist, animator and character designer with a serious monster fetish...here is but a sample of what Rafa is dishing up. John Martz profiled Rafa's creepy-groovy takes on Batman's villains in 2006. Ya gotta see what Rafa sent us, it's 10 seconds of pure awesome. More monster-mator's in the coming days!

TAIS nooze and Beguiling special!

Long time no speaky, blog-buddies. Been down with the sickness, but don't worry, I'm up on all the going's on at TAIS. Board members met on Friday to select films for the up-coming Animation Showcase. I wasn't present, not wanting to give the other board members a lil' token of my infection, but I'm sure the line-up is gonna be stellar...Madi don't pick no junk. Speakin' of whom, I'll be meeting up with Madi to look at all the MONSTERJAM entries on Monday...apparently, there's a lot of 'em. Like six minutes worth! Damn, this is gonna be good. Board members will be meeting again later in the month to pick out winners for our Monster Factory stuffies and graphic novels. I'll let you know about some of the filmmakers in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, things be hoppin' over at the Beguiling as well! Legendary underground comic artist Spain Rodriguez will be in town, promoting his new book as part of the Toronto art festival 'Luminato'. And Chris has snagged some tickets! If you wants one, needs one, do go and head over to the Beguiling's web site for all them details; only, don't dawdle, 'cuz they will go fast. Later!