Author: Tim

An animator, video producer, Lego artist, and author—I am moderately skilled at a lot of different things.

I’m starting to think this Watchmen ad is real

Going off what’s being said about the youtube video *UNAIRED* OZYMANDIAS TOY AD!!! 1985, I’m starting to think this toy commercial is a very clever piece of viral marketing… or at least that’s what the folks at Double Viking seem to think.

Maybe the forum posters at rpg.net are right and it’s really a test shoot of the actual ad that got leaked?

I’m not sure what it is, but what I do know is the good people at WatchmenComicMovie.com put it in their top five Veidt product commercials.

They also remind you that voting is still under way for the top five ads — so get watching! Personally, my favorite is that mysterious toy commerical.

Oh, and here’s a link just in case you missed it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jeslfkbmcE

Categories
Blog

TR: Lawrence Kasdan to Write Robotech Movie

After the last week or so you’d think I’m just using timtoon.com as a mirror of Topless Robot or something, but no. I’m just so excited to share the site’s breaking news, Lawrence Kasdan to Write Robotech Movie. And TR is dead-on about what makes Robotech such nerd catnip. It’s not the transforming jets or the giant alien invaders — it’s the love story.

Frankly, Macross is the greatest love story ever told (Lolita is #2). Specifically: Lisa Hayes, the captain of the most powerful spaceship in the Universe, is so infatuated with pilot Rick Hunter she washes his underwear, while Rick chases after 15-year-old Chinese tease and pop star Lynn Minmei, who pines after her cousin Lynn Kyle, who angril throws empty gin bottles at Minmei. Oh, and Kyle is the spitting image of Lisa’s dead fiancé.

The pinnacle of this is episode 28, Reconstruction Blues. You ache for Lisa diligently cleaning up Rick’s apartment on her day off while he’s out getting stood up by Minmei. How can one man be so stupid? Dude, she does your frikkin’ laundry.

*epic facepalm*

Shambolic

I learned another new word today:

Shambolic – adj. Chiefly British Slang
Disorderly or chaotic

As in a chaotic shambles. Gets right to the point, and is such fun to say. Thanks, Gordon Ramsay!

ToplessRobot picks up on Ozymandias toy ad

My Watchmen ad got a nice mention over at über-nerd site Topless Robot today in Ozymandias Action Figure with Real Bastard Power. If not for the video, check out the comments by some eagle-eyed readers.

Besides oozing self-conscious parody (it’s too low budget and chintzy to be an actual commercial), the whole thing has an early-nineties vibe. And looking past the VHS wear-and-tear effects, it’s obvious it was filmed on low-end DV, probably as a cheap way of adding to the aged look. This reeks of a studio-made viral.

I’m not at all bothered that I got sussed out in about five comments; I’m just happy to be mistaken for studio-made viral marketing!

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Blog

Protecting humanity from itself!

Just a reminder I still have this Watchmen video up on YouTube, and its merit is based solely on something boneheaded like the number of views, so keep watching!

Honestly, if I wanted more views, I should have put a girl in short-shorts wiggling her ass.

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Blog

It’s true, I’ve talked this way all my life

The Kids in the Hall feel my ohh-so-sincere pain.

I’m so lonely…

Dracula sleeps in a coffin

How can I be afraid of a monster who is too tired to chase me if he doesn’t get at least eight hours of sleep a day?

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Blog

When a robot says 0 she really means 1

No matter how many times I see it, I always get something new out of watching Blade Runner. I’d seen the Theatrical Release only a few weeks ago and just caught a midnight showing of The Final Cut. I thought it would be a bit much, but that wasn’t the case at all. Here are a few new things I noticed after the latest viewing:

The constant downpour in Los Angeles and the proliferation of bicycles and chintzy electric cars always presented a flawed future, but it is more relevant now to fears of climate change. Together with artificial animals replacing those brought to extinction, it shows humanity trying too little too late to correct the damage it’s done. I’m both amazed and saddened that this is still a significant theme over 25 years later.

Continue reading “When a robot says 0 she really means 1”
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Shorts Video

*UNAIRED* 1985 Watchmen toy ad

This is a commercial for the Adrian Veidt action figure that was never aired, due to cancellation of the toy line. Found this on an old VHS. Did they ever make any of these??

Here’s my entry for the YouTube Watchmen ad contest. The best ones will get put somewhere in the background of the upcoming Watchmen movie, which is pretty exciting. Hope you like it — the winners are determined by the most number of views / highest rating, so watch early, and watch often!

Categories
Work

I don’t care, I like PHP

I’m a PHP developer, and I am going to out myself as a naïve n00b by saying I’ve never had a problem with writing applications for it. Yes, I may even enjoy programming in PHP. This is why I’m linking to an article Jeff at Coding Horror wrote on why PHP Sucks, But It Doesn’t Matter.

The TIOBE community index I linked above? It’s written in PHP. Wikipedia, which is likely to be on the first page of anything you search for these days? Written in PHP. Digg, the social bookmarking service so wildly popular that a front page link can crush the beefiest of webservers? Written in PHP. WordPress, arguably the most popular blogging solution available at the moment? Written in PHP. YouTube, the most widely known video sharing site on the internet? Written in PHP. Facebook, the current billion-dollar zombie-poking social networking darling of venture capitalists everywhere? Written in PHP.

Notice a pattern here?

Architecture astronauts may have a problem with the language, but the fact is PHP is getting the job done. Now Javascript on the other hand — scattered documentation, poor debugging support, the OO-over designing pitfalls. I don’t see how anyone can get anything done with it. Some people can, but not me.

I, um, blame the tools.