BARBARIC BUCKET LIST

BEHIND THE SCENES AT REAPER.  In the late great series the character of Ben (brilliantly played by Rick Gonzalez) was stricken with a decidely premature concern over an early death (I suppose helping your friend return escapees from hell every week could do that to a guy.) One episode found Ben obsessing on the many things he still hadn't done in life and above is an early list of what those things might be.  What the pupil-less barabarian sketch has to do with the list I don't know.  Or why Ben's missing nut is mentioned. 

"AIR OUT, STOMACH IN!!"

Yes, I know -- this blog usually features artwork and anecdotes about comics and movies and TV and such but it's also about funny stuff. 

 

Years ago my friend Lisa Roy sent me a photo-a-day calendar that I suspect was published in Germany, where she was living at the time.  Unlike most calenders that have twelve pictures, this one had 365 to be exact -- black and white photos that were laugh-out-loud funny or bizarre or absurd.  And I saved a lot of them.  The above shot of (Italian?  Czech?) soldiers diligently following orders  to blow up balloons fits any or all of the save-worthy criteria.

 

Turns out Lisa and Nancy Jones (another longtime friend) have checked out this site and even left comments... a section of the blog that, I apologize, I never check because... well, no one hardly ever leaves comments.

 

 

 

SHADOW ASSASSIN

Working on FRINGE I pitched the notion of a shadow going around killing people.  As opposed to the X-FILES episode with Tony Shaloub where, if people stepped into his shadow they sorta got sucked in, this was about a detached, sentient shadow that lumbered around knocking people off.  I wrote the finished episode with Joel Wyman and it turned out great, but - as with every show -- along the way various ideas were tossed out and then... tossed out.  One idea being the Shadow killer being delivered by a Renfield-like assistant via a seemingly empty overnight suitcase left open...

KICKING BUTTS AND TAKING FAME

On the TV show WEIRD SCIENCE big brother Chett (Lee Tergesen (HOMICIDE, and the upcoming RED WIDOW) was inspired to set aside his bullying ways and become a masked crime fighter.  The writers came up with various monikers, one of which was BUTT KICKER -- years before the comic or movie KICK ASS ever saw print or screen. Dunno what we finally agreed on but these were  some insignias I did for Butt Kicker. 

 

Personally, I prefer the anthropomorphized letters... more along the lines of Superman's 'S'.