I got stuck in an elevator!

You know, one of my recurring nightmares is getting stuck in an elevator. Not sure why, because I've never actually had the experience. Maybe I've just seen it on TV a lot. But yesterday, while in New York, I did in fact get stuck in an elevator. However, there were a couple variables in the situation that allowed me to keep my composure. For one, it was a glass elevator, so at least we could see outside of it (I don't know what's comforting about that, really). Secondly, it wasn't that long. But in true New York chivalry, not only did we ring the bell and not receive help, but people who wanted to get on just stared at us. And when it didn't open...well, they figured it wasn't they're problem so they took the stairs. Eventually we got fed up and my dad and I literally pried the doors open. But in a whirlwind of irony, guess where I was when this happened? The Nintendo World store.
I gotta say, the store was pretty cool, but it was actually a little disappointing. I guess because there was only like...one or two things there that I didn't already have as far as like...shirts, figurines and plushies go. I was also hoping there'd be like...some kind of mini statue or...something that I could take a picture with, but no such thing. They did have some awesome stuff on display, like some of Nintendo's old cards from their pre-video game days, an old Famicom, the Gameboy that was...melted in the Gulf War and still works, and a bunch of stuff signed by Shigeru Miyamoto himself, including a really cool drawing (presumably for Nintendogs when that launched) of Mario half asleep in a doghouse. I would kill for an original drawing of Mario from Mr. Miyamoto. You have no idea.
But despite my unhealthy obsession for Nintendo and Mario, the highlight of my trip was of course the Meth Minute screening at NYU. A lot of people recognized me, surprisingly. I thought only Dan would, if anybody. But I was one of the first ones to show up (I was more than half an hour early, haha), so Dan greeted me immediately, along with other Frederator regulars such as Jeaux Janovsky, Avi Tuchman, and many others. So I sat with them in the second row during the show, and it was great to not only see the MM39 cartoons on a big screen, but also get a lot of inside information from Fred Seibert, Dan Meth, and Carrie Miller (who unfortunately was losing her voice). There were also two Nite Fite episodes shown, but as per request, we're not allowed to say anything regarding the actual content of the episodes because of the sponsorship. But man, they were awesome. I mean, the whole room was just in uproarious laughter throughout both of them. Afterwards, I talked to several other people who had worked on the show for a bit, including Fred and Dan. It was awesome to meet them in person, and they both said something along the lines about me going to visit them in the studio some time.
I could go on and on about the event, but I already seem to have written a novella here, so I'll let it go. Time to get back to my own works.
And by the way, if anybody has been trying to access the site for...whatever reason, ToonZone's upgrading their servers. You're not missing anything in my area. Trust me.

Meth Minute in New York tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'm traveling up to New York again for the Meth Minute 39 Retrospect screening. It's the first public cartoon-related event that I've ever gone to, and I was invited, so I'm pretty psyched. I'm sure I'll return with some photos and other souvenir-like things.
As far as my own cartoon endeavors go, I've got some episodes lined up, ready to be voiced and animated. The only concern I have is that they're all pretty short (I would venture a guess that most are between the 2- to 4-minute mark) and the plots are kind of...mediocre, as in not character-driven and events that could happen in any series, but at this point, even a short toon is better than nothing.

Weasel wardrobe

I've been thinking too much (and too hard) lately. At one point yesterday, I had thought of maybe changing Weas' hoodie to just a hat with ears on it, to look less Mario-like. It was bugging me, so I ended up drawing this late last night to see what it might look like. A change like this may not be made at this point...but I am considering it. No matter what though, people are always going to see the obvious parallels to Mario in Geoweasel, so it doesn't really make much of a difference. I mean...everyone thinks Nar is supposed to be one of the Mario brothers anyway. Not that I can't see why.

Ah, gimmicks

Go here to visit the official Geoweasel Myspace and add them!

Ah, another cheap gimmick to distract people from the fact that I haven't made a cartoon in forever. Paul and I talked a while back about making myspaces for each of the four Weasels...but that would be annoying and hard to maintain. And for some reason this weekend, I felt like making one for the cartoon itself. And I sure...did.
Jim's got a new outfit. I can't decide if that should be an actual tie, or a shirt with a tie drawn on it. Or maybe a newspaper tie...that could work. And apparently, Nar has a left-handed keytar. Maybe one for each hand? I dunno.

It pays to play

So, the music commission I have been talking about for some time now finally shows its face, and it is actually one of the staples in this week's Meth Minute 39 cartoon! Dan contacted me a while back when the idea was first brought up after hearing some samples of my 8-bit songs. Since he had several different ideas in the beginning of how the episode was going to pan out, he and I went back and forth via phone and email just throwing ideas out there. Ben Ross did a great job with the 8-bit animation to go along with the music and it came out looking pretty sweet. I kinda wish those were actual games; some of them look pretty fun, heheh. So watch the episode here, and be sure to watch next week for Meth Minute animations from myself and other animators over at Channel Frederator!

What is it with keytars?

Unfortunately, I didn't complete my contest entry for The Meth Minute 39 in full, so after talking to Dan, I kinda fiddled around with it and cut it off earlier than it was supposed to be. You can check it out in next week's episode. Alternatively, here's a version with unfinished animation, but the full audio track.

Vital signs

So I've been sick for over a week now with...some kind of virus. Apparently the flu, so said my doctor, but I thought flu season was done with. Either way, I haven't been feeling up to pretty much anything, so of course, all of my stuff is being pushed back and piled up. I still have to finish the music commission, which is important, and I also really want to enter the Meth Minute 39 contest. The deadline for that is May 1, and I have do get the music done before anything else. I've been feeling pretty crappy and unmotivated...but I'm gonna have to push it this week.