In Which I Meet (And Draw) Some Friendly Sheep

Went to a local farm not too long ago and met these gentle floofy friends:

Cotton Tales

We had Easter dinner at my aunt and uncle's house.  It was a beautiful day and wouldn't you know, some bunnies came to join the party.  Yet another lesson in not going anywhere without a Sketchbook.





Oh hey, what's this?

Three Weirder Easter Bunny Appearances

Happy Annual Day the Internet is Useless Day!

Back, way back, on Thanksgiving day, we saw our first teaser trailer for "Hop", which is currently in theaters, which makes me wonder if the phrase "from the creators of (popular previous movie)" even means anything anymore, and which stars an Easter Bunny who sh*ts jellybeans.

Perhaps it's the fact that Easter is the most important and significant Christian holiday on the calendar that it took so long for us to get a movie where the Easter Bunny poops onscreen. Leave it to Tim Hill, the guy who introduced coprophagy-based humor to "Alvin and the Chipmunks", to finally cross that line. (Yes, rabbits do eat their own poop in real life, but that's not the point.)

So when I say "Weirder Easter Bunny Appearances", I'm taking scatological humor off the table. You can't get weirder than that, so I'm ignoring it outright. I haven't seen "Hop", but I predict that the poop jokes are the most unusual thing in it; this is the kind of awful children's film where one can confidently predict the plot by learning what songs are on the soundtrack. (As an aside, it is time to retire "Song 2".)

So, weirder pieces of animation that involve the Easter Bunny (besides the really, really obvious one). By a fantastic stroke of luck, many of the specials I wanted to talk about are featured in this old Disney Channel promo:



By an unfantastic stroke of unluck, I wasn't able to find the full specials on Youtube, nor was I able to find any video clips at all. But I think I found enough. First up is "A Family Circus Easter". I'm skipping ahead to the good part and the one thing you may remember from this special: Scatman Crother's awesome Easter Bunny song. You'll have to crank it up since the sound quality is awful:



If you remember back to Halloween, I shared the rarely-seen Will Vinton Halloween special "starring" Wiltshire Pig. The remarkably unpleasant character returned in an Easter special which is only available on DVD, packaged with the famous "Claymation Christmas Celebration". But here's an unusual find: John Ashlee Pratt winning an Emmy for his work on this special!



And then, there's "Easter Fever". Made by our wonderfully strange friends up at Nelvana and released in 1980, it may be the weirdest holiday special I've ever seen. Maybe... too strange. I lasted about halfway through, how about you?



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Art of the Day!

Ah, how I love when this happens.

Geeky Ways to Mark the Year of the Rabbit

Just off the top of my head, since I have to admit I'm still in a bit of an emotional freefall sometimes. (The fact that it is it's downright dangerous to go for a walk outside with all the ice and pedestrian-hiding huge snowbanks isn't helping.)

Contribute to 700 Bunnies!
Yes, please. I need to step up to this one myself as I lost the thread sometime two years ago. There are still plenty of Bunnies left to be drawn. Wouldn't it be awesome if we got through the list together by this time next year?Have a Battery Commercial Film Festival!
Because who doesn't have a soft spot for that lovable pink drum-playing scamp? I am of course referring to... the Duracell Bunny.



Yes, he's faded into obscurity, but Duracell had a pink, drum-playing bunny mascot for a very long time. He has since been retired, thanks to the ad campaign that started with this commercial:

Do a Rabbit-Like Pokemon Only Speed Run
If you have lots of free time. And, err, good luck with it. (Depending on the particular game, you will be relegated to Pikachu, of course, Wigglytuff, Nidoran, Plusle/Minun, Azumarill and Slutbunny Lopunny. This might actually be better than it sounded at first glance.)Three Words: Bugs Bunny Marathon
Need more be said? Although, on that note, I think this is the year I should start seeking out more Weird Loony Tunes Things. (I've had a lot of Weird Disney Things mostly because they are easier to find and, well, there is a metric boatload of it and in quite an astonishing variety too.)
Then again, the lovely Misce-Loony-ous blog has essentially got that niche filled. They did uncover one of my favorite Loony oddities:



WHY do they keep turning the Loony Tunes into superheroes?! There is no reason for them to be superheroes (except that one Chuck Jones "Super Rabbit" short)!

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Feederwatch Thursday! Other People's Art of the Day!

Yeah... Have this instead:



It is a short promo piece for "Inception" and while it's just a little "PLEEEEASE vote for us, Academy!"-y (JUST a little), I hadn't seen the interviews or behind-the-scenes footage before. It's very cool, especially since it shows you that Christopher Nolan really was determined to use practical effects whenever possible, without giving away too much. The short contains the mildest of spoilers.



This was also too amazing not to share. And while I don't have all the training and experience Rob Pratt has had, it makes me wonder why I haven't sat down and made my own one-minute short. Best thing is, he GETS Superman.

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Aw heck, Feederwatch Thursday!

Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 -- Yeah... you will see sketches of her later.
Blue Jay 1
Black-capped Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 1
Northern Cardinal 2
House Sparrow 11

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Sketch of the Day!

Bunnies! Bunnies bunnies bunnies bunnies... foreshadowing?

Super Bowl Commercial Live-Blog Extravaganza!

This probably isn't going to work, but I said that about the Macy's Parade earlier this (excruciatingly long, it turns out) season, didn't I? Just in case, I will give you plenty to keep you busy.

A Stranger In The Alps, who may just have the greatest online handle I have seen so far this year, recently posted a series of photographs from his trip to the Kenosha Dinosaur Discovery Museum. There is a wealth of reference to be found here, from this museum I hadn't ever heard of and is now a place I desperately want to visit some day.

I-Mockery paid a visit to the famous Cabazon Dinosaurs (as seen in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" and also possibly "The Wizard"!) And it turns out that they are actually stranger in person.



Also, it is the Year or the Rabbit! I am posting Symmetrical Sal here (instead of the more obvious Wild Carl) because he is, get this, my most popular upload ever at Flickr. Seriously, he has had 6,261 views. This is despite the fact that I probably spent the least time on this one drawing out of everything I've posted online. What the heck is going on here?

Anyway, I will have more rabbity things going on this week later.

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5:37 PM - Yeah Celtics! Yah yah yah!!! Also, there is a football game later tonight. (Naughty language in that link)

5:45 - I like how the ads for "Drive Angry" are (a) emphasizing that the thing was "filmed in 3D" because they have to do that now I guess, and (b) neglecting to explain what "Drive Angry" is actually about ("The Punisher" meets "Spawn". Really.)
Meanwhile, FOX has a weird definition of "fun".

5:58 - Today I learned that the Declaration of Independence exists so that we could ultimately drink beer, play football, and anticipate summer blockbuster movies. Yup.

6:36 - (Took a break for dinner.) The Superbowl isn't as important as the Berlin Wall falling, WTF? It is a football game.
Also, looks like I missed the "Kung Fu Panda 2" trailer. <: span="">

6:46 - Glad that "Far Side"-ripping-off Doritos commercial went in the less obvious direction. Also, WTF Audi?

6:51 - WTF Doritos cheese-obsessed guy
And Pepsi has given us this year's Women Are Vengeful Evil B*tches Ad.

6:55 - By the way, I know absolutely nothing about football or how it works. I just got to the part about Tyrannosaurs in Greg Paul's book.
I did enjoy the Bud Light product placement satire and the Chevy "Lassie" parody.
Apparently, there is another "Fast and the Furious" movie coming out "in summer". Actual release date: sometime in April. The trailer actually said, "summer begins this April". I predict that there will still be snow on the sidewalk by then (although I certainly hope there isn't).

7:03 - Once again, WTF Doritos
(They are sponsoring the game, so we're going to get to see a lot of these. Yay.)

7:06 - I guess Quetzelcoatl just wanted that KIA the most.

7:19 - Not sure if this one was just local, but I think we'll be hearing a lot of waargarbling over that Sealy's/Sleepies ad.

7:26 - I like how that last trailer was basically, "They allowed a third 'Bay-Formers' movie to be made; just to forwarn you."

7:28 - I got a Motorolla not-iPad it makes me diffrent an spechul!

7:33 - OK, here we go. LOVED the "World of Warcraft"-ish Coke ad (the look on the dragon = yay!) "Thor" looks pretty awesome. And the much-hyped mini-Vader VW ad was actually really cute.

7:41 - I wasn't the only one who got chills from the "Super 8" commercial am I? Love how it started like "E.T." and ended like "Cloverfield."

7:50 - No. No, no, no, no, no, NO NO NO GODDAMMITSOMUCH WE DO NOT NEED A CAR THAT WILL TELL YOU WHAT IS GOING ON IN FACEBOOK F*** YOU WHOEVER THOUGHT OF THAT WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU GAAAAHHH!
Also, "America! F*** yah!!!"

8:02 - Adorable Android mascot + Grafted-on human thumbs = There isn't enough in the world.

8:12 - You know what? Fergie came up with that "I'm so 2008 / you're so 2,000-LATE!" And she still loves it so much, she isn't going to change it. Good for her I guess.

8:13 - Oh hi, random Slash.

8:16 - If anyone's sick of the Peas, I have for you an alternative in the form of what is STILL the best song Fergie has ever been involved in:



8:21 - God, Chatter!Will.I.Am is terrifying.

8:45 - OK, thus far we've got to see:
* - A dude licking Doritos cheese off his coworkers fingers and pants.
* - A dude reanimating a disintegrated grandpa using Doritos.
* - A cute little CGI robot with realistic human thumbs messily sewn on.
* - An ostensibly cute CGI Will.I.Am with eerily realistic gooey human eyes.
And now,
* - A baby flying through the air and splattering it's face on a glass wall. (We are assured it is a doll, but still...)
What the hell, creepy factor of this year's ads?

8:55 - That last one took forever to write. So... new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. Yeah.
Also, momentarily saving money through groupon is more important than the plight of whales or the people of Tibet.

9:02 - In an earlier and very disappointing stop-motion commercial, Eminem assured us that he doesn't do commercials. OK. He has been in two commercials so far. Just pointing it out.

9:20 - Actual football playing. Meh.

9:23 - D'aww the classic (or not) TV characters watching football montage.

9:33 - I... don't know about "Rango". Nothing has really sold me on it yet.
On the other hand, that Cars.com commercial was wikkid cute.
Obligatory Animals That Think They're People Ad, this time from Bud Light.

9:36 - Eh, I could be sold easily on "Rio".
(Awkward pause.)
It has birds in it, you shut up. >:(

9:40 - And more actual football.

9:46 - Oh, just stop it, GoDaddy. Just stop it. S**t's getting old.
The Bridgestone beaver was cute.
The VW Beetle was freakin' adorable!

9:48 - Ba-hahaha, the "House" Mean Joe Green tribute.

9:57 - Teachers = Bad. Ass.

10:02 - OUR VERY FIRST "TERRA NOVA" COMMERCIAL HOLY CRAP!
And... it looks like "Lost" with "Jurassic Park" dinosaurs. *sigh*
I am still willing to wear a frilly tutu/the most ridiculous thing I find in Garment District/something equally embarrassing and inconvenient if we see a single feather.

10:07 - Oh, the Packers won. Yay, I guess.
Look, the Pats screwed it up again; I wasn't too emotionally invested.

10:11 - The more I see of "Mars Needs Moms", the more... repulsive it's characters become.
And we get to watch the Nightmare Fuel-errific Android with thumbs ad again.

10:34 - "Battle L.A." is DIFFERENT from "Skyline." IT JUST IS!!!
And with that, it looks like we're back to normal ads. Almost time for "Glee"! New post on Tuesday, see you then!

EDIT: Most of the trailers are viewable over at good ol' /Film.
And the rest of the commercials can be seen here.

Happy Easter.

I spent most of yesterday out in the garden. This was the first time I worked extensively on it this season. I mulched, moved some boundaries around, cleaned, discovered that I have a healthy population of earthworms out there, and I even spread some seeds around just to see what they do. I'm still wonderfully exhausted and my hands are hurting bad now.
The one thing I did not do was take any before-and-after pictures. Wah.