CageMatch 10/14/06

CageMatch chapionship pin
Originally uploaded by TedHobgood.

This was a good show. Both teams put on great performances and the crowd really enjoyed themselves. Special kudos to Monica for coming to perform even though she was terribly sick, and to Callie Peck The Tech From Heck for stepping in at the last minute to do a bang-up job teching the top of the show, hitting the special cues perfectly.

The video seemed to be rather well-received, which surprised me actually, as I thought it wasn't all that hot. It starts with a re-use of the Hostile Takeover pretape from last week, because Rene's performance amused me so much. (The crowd loved that part, too.) I had some Kraftwerk underscoring the whole recap part, to evoke that "cybernetic organism" feel that Rene started. The music swells up into a live version of "We Are The Champions" as I put myself and my cool button over. The crowd started laughing as soon as the Dolly Parton music started, and when the challenger logo was revealed, everybody popped hard. Very cool.

The pretape explaining the absence of Biff went over quite well too. Callie did a perfect job of cueing it up and adjusting the lights smoothly and on time, so it went off without a hitch. I was afraid people would miss Biff's ringtone, because they were laughing so much at his lame pickup routine, but they did calm down quickly enough to catch the second part of the phone ringing, and loved it.

All in all, a true success. I hope I can pull off my big plans for the next two weeks' videos. I've never done that level of animation, and it's going to be a big roll of the dice if my hands can do what my mind has dreamed up. Stay tuned.

video: Hostile Takeover vs Here Comes Dolly Parton
video: Where Is Biff?
this week's stills

I'm Always Up For A Meme

Super Corey
Originally uploaded by TedHobgood.

Jeff's doing a "I'll draw what you want" meme, and since he's been so kind as to draw something for me, I will join his meme and offer to Photoshop an image for people who request it. What would you like?

(Oh, and I started to link to Jeff's post, but since it mentions the drawing he's doing for me, it would ruin a surprise if the intended recipient were to see it. So those of you who know Jeff, go check out his blog.)

PCQOTD : 10-16-06

Plebian:
"Early to rise, early to bed. And in between I cooked and cleaned and went out of my head."

Erudite:
"We're in the air and everywhere."

This Can't Be Good

Food gone horribly bad. This was not a good idea.

Hot Dog Loaf

PCQOTD : 10-13-06

Plebian:
"Whenever he gets in a fix, he reaches into his bag of tricks."

Erudite:
"Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?"

PCQOTD : 10-12-06

Plebian:
"A mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper."

Easy Erudite:
"The best to you each morning."

Hard Erudite:
"Either he's dead or my watch has stopped."

PCQOTD : 10-11-06

Plebian:
"One, two, three, four, tell the people what she wore."

Erudite:
"Drop on the deck and flop like a fish."

Wacky Duck

wacky_duck_01_06
Originally uploaded by TedHobgood.

I have absolutely no context for this. I don't know what it is. I just stumbled across it and it amused the bejeezus out of me. Enjoy.

PCQOTD : 10-10-06

Plebian:
"Sometimes you feel like a nut."

Erudite:
"So kiss me and smile for me, tell me that youll wait for me, hold me like youll never let me go."

I Gotta Call My Momma

So I go over to my friend Jackson's for dinner last Friday. We had been talking about our favourite white trash food from when we were younguns, and discovered we both had fond memories of Chef Boyardee pizza. So Friday, we done had some. I wish I had taken pictures of it, so that those of you who haven't had the pleasure of this processed, sterilized foodstuff could understand how great it is. You open the box, and inside is a pouch, a tall can, and a short can. The pouch has the crust ingredients; just add water. The tall can has the sauce; pour it on! The short can has powdered parmesan cheese; sprinkle it over the sauce. You're done!

Jackson did a fabulous job preparing the stuff. Looked just like I remember it from when my mom made it for me. (sniff!) By the way, it don't look nuthin' like the picture to the right. Maybe if you added your own fresh cheese, but not unadulterated right out of the box. No, it looked flat and bland and unappetizing and that was PERFECT! It tasted just like my tastebuds remembered it. Fabulous.

Better yet, Jackson had an extra added surprise for me. When I was a wee youth, my favourite variety of Chef Boyardee pizza was "sausage". Well, they don't make "sausage" anymore, jsut cheese and pepperoni. I had groused to Jackson about the loss of the sausage version of Chef Boyardee, and dig this--he made sausage sauce BASED SOLELY ON MY DESCRIPTION. I had told him that the sausage sauce was almost granular, so he blended the hell out of some italian sausage in his food processor, mixed it in the Chef Boyardee sauce, and damn if it didn't taste and feel almost exactly right. Such an amazing friend, that Jackson Hall.

Captain North Carolina

Captain North Carolina inked and coloured
Originally uploaded by TedHobgood.

Here's the story of how this came to be:

Kit FitzSimons blogged about Marvel's "Civil War" and somehow the discussion posited that 50 Captain America clones would be stationed in the 50 states to keep order. Kit had the hilarious idea that they would all be named "Captain -insert state name here-", and I begged people to actually illustrate the various "localized heroes". So I tell my friend Jackson about it, and he surprises me with a pencil sketch. I can't draw for shit, but I tried my hand at inking and colouring Jackson's original art. And here we are.

There are three pix up here, the original pencils, the finished pic, and an amalgam.

Please, if anybody else wants to draw other state superheroes, go for it! And let me know, I wanna see!

PCQOTD : 10-9-06

Plebian:
"Missed it by that much."

Erudite:
"A small penguin who tries but can’t succeed-o."

Man, Ray's gonna be pissed if he's not the one to get this...

Learn Cricket The Vincent Price Way

I've watched cricket before, but never understood what was going on, until Vincent Price showed me the way. This is from a postscript segment of the PBS Mystery show, and the best part is that Vincent demonstrates the rules of cricket using vials of poison and skeleton keys.

Enjoy.

PCQOTD : 10-5-06

Plebian:
"The incredible edible."

Erudite:
"Creatures crawl in search of blood to terrorize y'all's neighbourhood."

PCQOTD : 10-4-06

Plebian:
"I don't know. Third base."

Erudite:
"California is a wonderful place to live, if you're an orange."

Snaggletoothed Freak

I'm famous.

PCQOTD : 10-3-06

Plebian:
"Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas."

Erudite:
"Goddamn, motherfucker got blood all over my best clown suit."

CageMatch Report

This week's CageMatch video was fun to make. It was based around three things: a photo I took of Cranpa Hester laying in a pinwheel formation on the stage (which amused me for some reason); a pretape we did last week of Hostile Takeover (this week's challengers); and a set of drawings Remi Treuer did of his team.

The Cranpa Hester picture suggested a roundness, so I thought it would be fun to have the picture spin, so each member of the team could be seen "right side up". I ended up putting them in a picture of a four leaf clover, since they had reached the "Four Timers Club", an achievement previously only held by the legendary teams of The Pride and Siegel-Prov.

The pretape was hilarious, mainly due to a fabulous impromptu performance by Remi Treuer. If I were still in wrestling, I'd bring him in as a hell manager. He has great presence for that sort of thing. Monica's facials in the background were fabulous as well.

I took the great drawings that Remi did of his team, and "cyborgized" them. I think they turned out quite nicely, and I'm particularly happy with Nick Faber's, and the way the circuitry on the left mirrors the shading on the right.

The video can be seen here, and the Hostile Takeover Screen is here.

Oh, and this week I sprung my new surprise, and started giving out the "CageMatch Champion" buttons I had secretly made, as well as the hilarious "I Lost On CageMatch" buttons for the poor losers. Both are prestigious trophies.

And it was also a week of two milestones, as it was both the 25th CageMatch show, as well as the six month anniversary of our first episode. The moment passed virtually unnoticed.

PCQOTD : 10-2-06

Plebian:
"It's what's for dinner."

Erudite:
"Let me tell you something son, you get that hatred out your heart."

PCQOTD : 9-28-06

Plebian:
"I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay."

Erudite:
"Manuel, you are a waste of space."

PCQOTD : 9-27-06

Plebian:
"M'mm, m'mm, good!"

Erudite:
"We are bringing you an eyewitness account of what's happening on the Wilmuth farm, Grovers Mill, New Jersey."

PT Scarborough Is A Loner

Is this the loneliest, most pitiful-looking picture you've ever seen in your life, or what?

Accordions have the ultimate power to make anyone holding them look like a velvet painting of a sad clown.

Click here for the full pic.

Addendum: While posting this article, I suddenly compelled to make this.

PCQOTD : 9-26-06

Plebian:
"We're just trying to be friendly; come on, won't you sing and play?"

Erudite:
"Am I happy or in misery? Whatever it is, that girl put a spell on me."

PCQOTD : 9-25-06

Plebian:
"Someday the mountain might get 'em, but the law never will."

Erudite 1:
"A shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist."

Erudite 2:
"They'll never stay home and they're always alone even with someone they love."

Each Erudite has its own Connection to the Plebian.

Candy Rapist

This is the kind of insane children's programming PBS had us watching in the 1970s. No wonder I turned out to be such a twisted freak. More evidence is here and here.

Also, Morgan Freeman used to be cool.

This one is my all time fave though.

PCQOTD : 9-22-06

Plebian:
“I searched the world over and thought I’d found True Love. You met another and TTHTP! you were gone.”

Erudite:
"Mom always liked you best."

CageMatch Revelation

Who or what is "B.S."? Stay tuned and find out here.

PCQOTD : 9-21-06

Plebian:
"I'm a little bit rock and roll."

Erudite:
"Next to the Playstation controlla is a full clip, and my pistolla turn a jacker into a coma."

PCQOTD : 9-20-06

Plebian:
"Filmed on location with the men and women of law enforcement. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law."

Erudite:
"It's official, I survived what I been through
Y'all got drama, the saga continues..."

Papertastic

Absolutely incredible paper art by Peter Callesen. I can't even begin to imagine the patience and depth of thought it must take to create these works. I particularly love the pieces he does that are transformations or dualities, like a skeleton contemplating his shadow. Positively astounding.

Link here.

PCQOTD : 9-19-06

Plebian:
"King of the wild frontier."

Erudite:
"Some folks call it Hell, I call it Hades."

PCQOTD : 9-18-06

Plebian:
"For fun it's a wonderful toy."

Erudite:
"Knowhutimean, Vern?"

Under The Weather

Pardon the lack of anything on The Transmutation Effect lately. I've caught a cold or a virus or something, and have been laid up at home. It's back to the halcyon days of watching cartoons, drinking orange juice, and overdosing on generic store-brand Nyquil. The PCQOTD should return on Monday with any luck. In the meantime, I have to get myself together for DSI's 24LIVE comedy marathon this weekend. Won't you come out and see us? It's all for the kids, more specifically for the NC Children's Hospital. You can't beat a good charity function. I have three nicely-spaced shifts as Tech King, and will hopefull be all rested up and ready to go by Friday at 6. Keep your fingers crossed. See ya in the funny papers.

PCQOTD : 9-13-06

Plebian:
"The UnCola"

Erudite:
"I've seen your smile in a thousand dreams, felt your touch and it always seems you love me."

CageMatch 9-9-06

We had another episode of CageMatch last week, as champions Cranpa Hester put up the CageMatch title against the internationally acclaimed duo known as Timbuk2! Timbuk2 unleashed some powerful weapons in their arsenal as they attacked with neighbours in an acapella contest and a schoolteacher taking a naughty shower, but Cranpa Hester countered with their trademark timeshifting improv and a bizarre scene on a twisted farm populated by miniature tractors, oversized genitalia, and a demonic chicken. In the end, the vote was close, but Cranpa Hester prevailed!

The promo video for the show can be viewed here. I liked the animation I did onthe yin yang symbol, but ran out of time to animate the rest of it. If you want to name the music, feel free to leave a comment here. There's three pieces, and I don't expect anyone to get the main one. Go ahead and try and identify the opener and the ending and why they were used in this context.
The team logo for Timbuk2 can be seen here.

Next week, CageMatch will be taking a day off from the competition series, so that DSI can host the 24LIVE marathon to benefit the North Carolina Children's Hospital. (Be sure to come by for that--it's a good cause!)

PCQOTD : 9-12-06

Plebian:
"Good to the last drop."

Erudite:
"Don't hit at all if you can help it; don't hit a man if you can possibly avoid it; but if you do hit him, put him to sleep."

PCQOTD : 9-11-06

Plebian:
"Australian for beer."

Erudite:
"Oh, de doo da day."

PCQOTD : 9-8-06

Plebian:
"The pause that refreshes."

Erudite:
"Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before."

PCQOTD : 9-7-06

Plebian:
"So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? So you think you can love me and leave me to die?"

Erudite:
"Yes, Ive been brokenhearted, blue since the day we parted. Why, why did I ever let you go?"

PCQOTD : 9-6-06

Plebian:
"Tastes great. Less filling."

Erudite:
"Snowman, you got your ears on?"

CageMatch 9-2-06

This week's CageMatch featured Cranpa Hester defending their title against a very interesting quartet of hairless men who went by the name of BALD. I was pretty proud of this week's video. My song choices were appropriate, my audio edits were fairly seamless, and the team graphic for Bald was awesome. Based on comments I received, most people loved the clock bit the best, which is odd, since I didn't put nearly the effort I had originally planned into that segment. I'm a big fan of the menacing "sunrise of Tommy's head" sequence, which took about two hours to do in Photoshop and Flash.

The audio used for the CageMatch is usually picked to be a hidden joke or reference. Maybe next week I'll do a quiz to see if anybody can recognize what I used. This week, I'll just list the songs.

1. The first sound, which occurs during the initial flash of the DSI logo, usually has some obscure reference to the rest of the video. For instance, last week had the sound of a kiss, referencing the fact that NY152 was a romance-based improv style. This week, it's the sound of a squeaky balloon, a vague reference to baldness.
2. The spooky music that comes during the announcement of bad news in CageMatch is my old failsafe, Bela Bartok's Concerto For Orchestra. I'm not a huge classical fan, but I love me some somber Bartok.
3. As we move into the review of Cranpa Hester's victory, the music needed to change to something upbeat to get the taste of Biff out of our mouths, so I chose The Talking Heads' Once In A Lifetime, since Cranpa Hester uses time as one of their elements in the Close Quarters form.
4. As Tommy's evil gaze overshadows the crew from Cranpa, the music switches to Night On Bald Mountain. Heh. That amused me. It's actually a remixed version of the piece that I put together myself, and was pretty proud of. It jumps over the quiet parts of the piece to get to the dramatic parts and keep the energy of the video going. I was particularly pleased with the way it ends, leaping right into the quick string hits as the informational screens pop up. Worked perfectly!

Tune in next week for the CageMatch music identification quiz!

Costumery From The Kingdom, Pip-Pip!

Here's another bit of weirdness I stumbled upon that I felt I had to share with my loyal readership. The subject today is the website for Antiks Costume Hire, a British-based firm that rents out outfits for "fancy dress parties" and other nutty affairs that require one to dress up like a fool. Now, in America, there's tons (as opposed to tonnes) of ads for Halloween costumes, most of which use the same generic photographs of professional models sporting the outfits. What makes Antiks Costume Hire so hilarious to browse through is that a) a lot of the costumes suck, and b) they're modelled (apparently) by the store staff, folks who don't tend to be the most photogenic around. Go through all the costume sections and click on the highlighted names to see photos of the modelled costumes. They're fabulous. Start with the Characters section, maybe. Don't miss the Rocky Horror, the Pirate Wench, Ziggy Stardust, and my favourite, Adam Ant.

PCQOTD : 9-5-06

Plebian:
"I'm a ba-a-a-a-ad boy!"

Erudite 1:
"But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out."

Erudite 2:
"Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to be God!"

(Each Erudite has its own individual Connection to the Plebian.)

Puzzling

My new favourite online game is "Gateway". Highly recommended to anyone who wants to futz around with screen after screen of intriguing puzzles. I love the simplistic design and the muted colours. And the little square robotty guy is cool too.

PCQOTD : 9-1-06

Plebian:
"B-O-L-O-G-N-A."

Erudite:
"Goooood cracker!"

Classic PCQOTD : 8-31-06

Classic Plebian:
"And that's the way it is..."

Erudite 1:
"We ain't goin' nowhere. We cant be stopped now, cause this bad boy for life."

Erudite 2:
"First, you address the ball... hello, ball."

Erudite 3:
"The nurses in the army, they haven't tied the knot. But this one's gonna try it with Donald Penobscott."

All Erudites share the same Connection to the Plebian.

Classic PCQOTD : 8-30-06

Classic Plebian:
"You played it for her, you can play it for me."

Erudite:
"I hate to advocate drugs or liquor, violence, insanity to anyone. But in my case it's worked."

Comix Goldmine Redux

So last week about this time, I posted about the wonderful "22 Panels That Always Work" by Wally Wood. Today I stumbled on a little parody/extension done by Ivan Brunetti that is terribly amusing. If I drew comics, they'd be a blend of Wood's and Brunetti's dicta.

Classic PCQOTD : 8-29-06

Classic Plebian (from 11/30/04):
"You know how to whistle, don't you Steve?"

Erudite:
"Don't you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn't marry a girl just because she's pretty, but my goodness, doesn't it help?"

Pablo's Lesson

I suck as a business person. People keep telling me I should go out and make use of my skills, start my own business and do graphic design or make webpages or videos or be a researcher or what have you. But no, I have the talents to do the work but no talents to either seek out clientele or charge an appropriate fee for my work. I wish I could do the following:

Legend has it that Pablo Picasso was sketching in the park when a bold woman approached him.

“It’s you — Picasso, the great artist! Oh, you must sketch my portrait! I insist.”

So Picasso agreed to sketch her. After studying her for a moment, he used a single pencil stroke to create her portrait. He handed the women his work of art.

“It’s perfect!” she gushed. “You managed to capture my essence with one stroke, in one moment. Thank you! How much do I owe you?”

“Five thousand dollars,” the artist replied.

“B-b-but, what?” the woman sputtered. “How could you want so much money for this picture? It only took you a second to draw it!”

To which Picasso responded, “Madame, it took me my entire life.”

Classic PCQOTD : 8-28-06

My boss, the Town Manager, is retiring this week. He's the one who helped inspire the PCQOTD, and from the beginning has been the strongest supporter of the daily activity. In honour of his retirement, this week I'm pulling the best of the first month of PCQOTD and calling them CLASSIC PCQOTD. (The Erudites are fresh and delicious, though.)

Classic Plebian (from 12/1/04):
"Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear."

Erudite:
"But it’s time you started living, it’s time you let someone else do some giving"

Building The Blog Cabin

Blogger has added a bunch of improvements to their blogging service, and I'm trying a few of 'em out. One of the ones I'm most excited about is the concept of "Labels", something that LiveJournal has had for years, and the one thing I yearned for in Blogger. Basically, each post can be assigned a category or categories, and then you can easily search for past posts of your subject of interest. A list of categories will be in the column to the left. Also new to that column is a list of my friends' blogs. If you're not listed, well, I might not be reading your blog. Give me a good reason to do so. Blogger has also made the index of past posts a lot more accessible, which is cool. There may be other plusses in the days and weeks to come, so stay tuned.

Oh, and I always put a 200-pixel-width picture with my posts (except the PCQOTDs), so this post needed something more interesting than the Blogger logo. Therefore, I give to you something I stumbled upon while wandering through Wikipedia, "The Jersey Breakfast". Well worth viewing. Unless you're thinking about eating soon.

PCQOTD : 8-25-06

Plebian:
"The dogs kids love to bite."

Erudite:
"Tony Stark makes you feel he's a cool exec with a heart of steel."

A Is For Aquaman

This is very cool. This guy Apelad drew a Superhero Alphabet in an hour. Very creative, very clever.

I love his Monster Alphabet, too. Actually, a lot of his art is pretty damn intriguing.

PCQOTD : 8-24-06

Plebian:
"Call me Ishmael."

Erudite:
"He had emeralds and rubies just dripping off of him and a ring on every finger of his hand."

PCQOTD : 8-23-06

Plebian:
"Duck season! Rabbit season!"

Erudite:
"HE found a kangaroo that followed HIM home and now IT is HIS."

PCQOTD : 8-22-06

Plebian:
"Say kids, what time is it?"

Erudite:
"Good morning, Captain! Won't you come on out and play?"

Comix Goldmine

Sweet daddy siki, this is a goldmine. I had seen "Wally Wood's 22 Panels" before, but always as a copy of a copy of a copy of a fax of a satellite photo of the original. Somebody atually found the original, bought it, and made a series of scans freely distributable on the web. Plus, there's a great story behind it. Get it all here.

I wish I could draw; I buy lots of books on the subject, but never get around to bettering myself when it comes time to put pencil to paper. I tell ya, though...this Wally Wood thing is damn inspirational, and even better now that it's available in pristine condition. Well worth a look if you're an artist or just a comics fan.

Tribute To Siegel-Prov

This week for CageMatch, I put together a little video tribute to Dan and Dave Siegel for all the great effort and dedication they put into CageMatch. Without their participation, these first few months of CM wouldn't have been nearly as fun. They were willing to go along with my wacky storyline ideas, shoot hilarious videos, and always be there for whatever I needed. On top of that, they performed some of the most entertaining comedy I've seen in DSI.

The video is here, and a bigger version of the tribute photo in this entry can be seen here.

For this week's admittedly slipshod CageMatch promo video, click here.

PCQOTD : 8-21-06

Plebian:
"Is this the party to whom I am speaking?"

Erudite:
"I was born a poor black child."

WHAMMO!

So my friend Shane Helms, who I worked with in OMEGA, popularized a devastating wrestling move that he dubbed "The Vertebreaker." Great move, great name, always loved it. He also had a really cheesy theme song when he was in WCW that repeated "Vertebreaker" over and over again (I really want an mp3 of that one; the only clip I have has godawful Tony Schiavone's voice tripping through it.)

Anyway, I'm wandering on YouTube, and come across this video of a move called "The VerteDriver"....very nice.

PCQOTD : 8-18-06

Plebian:
"They’ll have to make the best of things; it’s an uphill climb."

Erudite:
"I said LUNCH, not LAUNCH!!!"

The Greatest

So I'm not a huge sports fan. I grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, home of UNC, and I can't stand basketball. Never was athletic growing up, never liked recess, never played sports of any kind. I always have liked drama though, and can appreciate the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat when it's handed to me in nice summary form. Thus, I like this amazing video of the greatest sports moments of all time.

One sport I do like, however, is boxing. And there should be no doubt who the greatest is in the sweet science. Check out the answer here.

Of course, nothing beats pro wrestling, and the best in wrestling is also an obvious choice. Also an amazingly touching moment here.

PCQOTD : 8-17-06

Plebian:
"Down goes Frazier!"

Erudite:
"All around in my home town,they're tryin to track me down."

PCQOTD : 8-16-06

Plebian:
"Go right to the source and ask the horse. He’ll give you the answer that you’ll endorse."

Erudites (both share the same Connection to the Plebian):
"We'll hitchhike, bus or yellow cab it!"
"It was always burning since the world's been turning."

Okay, those were hard. Here's an easier one:

SemiErudite:
"It's the peanut butter picky people pick."

PCQOTD : 8-15-06

Plebian:
"A man is born, he’s a man of means. Then along come two, they got nothing but heir jeans."

Erudite:
"I hate to disappoint you but my rubber lips are immune to your charms."

Open Letter To Siegel-Prov

I realize I've already posted about this basic subject once already, but I just sent an email to Dan and Dave explaining why I loved their post-game interview so much, and why it worked so well with what I'm trying to do with CageMatch. On the DSI CageMatch forum, I generally try to keep kayfabe, but I decided I'd like to include a copy of the email here, to share my background thoughts about what I like about the show, as well as a general shoutout to the Siegels.

I'm guessing you guys have already seen the post-game interview up on YouTube. It turned out better than I could've hoped. You guys just nailed the perfect blend of wrestling-style melodrama and subtle well-timed humour that makes that sort of interview golden. From the initial body language of upset ex-champions, to Dan's cocky "we're coming back in September" assumption, to the classic Dave Siegel hunched-shoulder response, it was just fabulous. I particularly liked Dan's little one-word responses ("Yeah?", "What?") and the classic line that says so much, "Dave, you didn't clear this with me." The wordless pause before pushing Dave off-screen was perfect and added a great bit of drama to that moment. Dave's incredulous "I'm moving to New York City", delivered as if he thought Dan knew all along was fabulous, and the "two weeks is enough notice" bit was perfect, both an accurate statement in the context of the argument, and hilarious on its own stance. And of course, "Ai! My tucchus!" is genius. And all capped off with the arrogant "I bring the funny, Dave brings the fat" line. Thanks, guys: you really have a feel for what I love out of CageMatch.

Anyway, it may sound like I'm overanalyzing the whole thing, but I just wanted to try and express how much I enjoyed such a small moment out of both of your lives. I appreciate you. I also appreciate the dedication you've shown to come out each and every week to do the show; you really made CageMatch great with your showmanship, comedic ability, and willingness to play along with the weird rasslin' framework that I love so much. Thank you.

I really would love it if both of you could come to the show next week. I'd like to thank you guys on stage and acknowledge your title reign.

Thanks,

Ted

PCQOTD : 8-14-06

Plebian:
"I bet your mama was a tent show queen, and all her boyfriends were sweet sixteen."

Erudite:
"I'm a tease, I'm a goddess on my knees."

Back To The Cage

It's nice to get feedback from people. My friend Jackson told me he hasn't seen my CageMatch videos in a while, because I haven't been linking them here on The Transmutation Effect. So here we go.

This Saturday was a fabulous show, which had Siegel-Prov end their long and celebrated reign as champions, when they fell to Community Bike after a twelve to eleven score. Both teams put on incredible shows, and they made for a great CageMatch. I've been really privileged to have Siegel-Prov out there each week to make CageMatch entertaining, and I'd like to thank Dan and Dave for being so dedicated.

Okay, so on to the videos. The promo video for Siegel-Prov vs Community Bike can be found here. At the beginning of the show, a mysterious figure interrupted the satellite feed to taunt Scott Sullivan, and that footage is here. There was an intriguing post-match interview done with the Siegels after their loss, and that video is here.

In general, all the CageMatch videos can be found on DSI's YouTube page here. I'll try to start posting the video links here each week.

PCQOTD : 8-11-06

Plebian:
"You said you were high class, but that was just a lie."

Erudite:
"When I wanna work for your love, daddy. When I wanna try for your love, daddy."

PCQOTD : 8-10-06

Plebian:
"Taste the rainbow."

Erudite:
"You mark that frame an 8, and you're entering a world of pain."

A New Frontier

So last night, after about four hours of work (well, three hours of work and one hour of fucking around), Mike Bamford and Jason Curtis and I managed to construct and erect the new movie screen for the DSI Comedy Theater. It's fucking amazing. It's just...well, HUGE. Really professional looking. And the image from the digital projector is HUGE and crisp and stunning. PT Scarborough Is A Movie is going to look even better. Jason's Film Festival is going to be stunning. And if Mike can figure out how to wire up the video mixers and whatnot, I'll be able to show my CageMatch videos on the screen NINE FEET HIGH! Too sweet.

PCQOTD : 8-9-06

Plebian:
"Tonight, what heights we'll hit. On with the show, this is it."

Erudite:
"LS/MFT" and "Strawberry, raspberry, cherry, orange, lemon, and lime."
(Both quotes refer to the same source.)

PCQOTD : 8-8-06

Plebian:
"Gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off a piece of that"

Erudite:
"I'm a princess. "P" to the "R" to the "N" to the "cess". I'm a princess."

PCQOTD : 8-7-06

Plebian:
"There’s a holdup in the Bronx, Brooklyn’s broken out in fights."

Erudite:
"I don't want to live my life again."

PCQOTD : 8-4-06

Plebian:
"I buried Paul."

Erudite:
"I never let my friends down, I've never made a boob. I'm a glossy magazine, an advert in the tube."

PCQOTD : 8-3-06

Plebian:
"And on a star-spangled night, my love, you can rest your head on my shoulder."

Erudite:
"Stupid, yes. Also dumb. But it is something I've gotta do."

PCQOTD : 8-2-06

Plebian:
"Throw me the idol, I'll throw you the whip."

Erudite:
"Would you like to tie me up with some of your ties, Ty?"

DCM 2006

DCM 2006
Originally uploaded by TedHobgood.

New York. Whatever.

The Trip
The Shows

PCQOTD : 7-26-06

Plebian:
"Badder than old King Kong, meaner than a junkyard dog."

Both Erudites share the same Connection to the Plebian.
Erudite 1:
"We stand today on the edge of a new frontier."
Erudite 2:
"Man has climbed Mount Everest, gone to the bottom of the ocean. He's fired rockets at the Moon, split the atom, achieved miracles in every field of human endeavor... except crime!"

Okay, I'm going to New York for a week, so there won't be any PCQOTDs until next Wednesday. Today's Connection is, therefore, a tricky one. A very tricky one. Like, impossible. Like, "QI" impossible. Good luck. I'll check back with you in a week.

PCQOTD : 7-25-06

Plebian:
"They're magically delicious!"

Erudite:
"I can eat fifty eggs."

WARNING: This Connection is a bad one. Heh.

Cognition and Recognition

Frequently, for me anyway, in the blog world, and many other creative worlds, in an appositive way, one frequently becomes a bit frustrated, or perhaps just apprehensive, or perhaps just disappointed, when one feels like one is just throwing stuff out there into the world only to have it swallowed silently into the void. I know when I was a electronic music composition major, I would sit in the basement of the Conservatory for two months, crafting my odd little musical collages, then emerge to play the tape before a small audience in the concert hall to a smattering of applause before slinking back to my den of intrigue to muddle together another piece of wickedness. There was that public performance, though. It was nice to hear the reaction to the little sonic interlude I had produced.

In a similar fashion, I'm now producing these promotional videos for the CageMatch show I produce at the DSI Comedy Theater. They were originally designed to be released on Powerbomb and YouTube on the Wednesday before the show, in order to promote the show and get the word out to potential audiences. I finally decided that the viewership from Wednesday-Friday was pretty much only the people who were going to be coming to the shows in the first place, or company members who just wanted to see the videos. I ended up waiting to premiere the videos on Saturday night, partially because the Wednesday viewings weren't doing any good, and partially because I liked to hear the first reaction to the videos, akin to the public performance rewards I got from my electronic music concert performances. I just like hearing everybody laugh when they see the video at the halftime of ComedySportz, and love looking back and seeing the wide faces and anticipation from everybody in the back. It's my reward, and it's what I enjoy.

On to the subject at hand. Blogging is another creative endeavour, and it's enjoyable to put up a little something each day to express myself, challenge others, or share a little tidbit from the web. Unfortunately, it frequently reminds me of my days in radio, when you would work to produce a really good program and send it out over the airwaves to an invisible and inaccessible audience. You produce the material for the enjoyment of it, but eventually you wonder if anybody's listening...you crave the response from the audience...you want to be recognized in some fashion for what you do. Enter Nick Faber, fellow DSI-er, improv catcher, and gunslingin' cowpoke. He's come up with what I think is a brilliant and thoughtful idea. He's committed himself to producing what he calls The Friday Friend Roundup. (Yes, he admits it's a lame name.) Each week, he seeks to highlight something from his friends' blogs, with perhaps a little accompanying comment. I think it's a very nice way to show his friends that he pays attention to them and enjoys what they do. I thought it was such a good idea, I've devoted an entire post to it. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll make this week's Friday Friend Roundup. (Or maybe next week's, since we'll all be in New York on Friday.) Thanks, Nick!

(Oh, and my videos can be found here, and this week's video with Children of the Atom is here. Enjoy. Tell me how much you love them.)

((Oh, and I apologize for that first sentence. It got out of hand, and then it amused me so much, I kept on going comma-crazy.))

PCQOTD : 7-24-06

Plebian:
"The human drama of athletic competition."

Erudites: (all share the same Connection to the Plebian)
"I'll give her all the love I have to give as long as we both shall live."
"The only hand on your pecker is going to be your own!"
"He's Gene! Gene! The Dancin' Machine!"

PCQOTD : 7-21-06

I need sleep.

Plebian:
"Betcha can't eat just one!"

Erudite:
"It's worth the trip."

Giant Pickle

Giant pickle
Originally uploaded by deeahblita.

Oh, the things one finds when cruising through OKCupid and reading people's profiles. Occasionally, you end up doing a Google search and wind up at Flickr looking at deliciously naughty pictures.

Aspiration

I just love the style of this icon art haus. Very clean, crisp, and... well... iconic. I wish I could do art like this. They remind me of one of my favourite publishers, The Diagram Group, who publish really great "summary" books of things like weaponry and sports, and draw really nice iconic pictures to explain the material.

IconWerk.de

PCQOTD : 7-20-06

Plebian:
"Neat. Sweet. Petite."

Erudites (All Erudites and Plebian share one Connection):
1. "Queens consume nectars and ambrosia, not hot dogs."
2. "Your Honor, according to witnesses, Miss Congeniality led the attack with a kick to the groin."
3. "When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way! from you first cigarette your last dyin' days."

PCQOTD : 7-19-06

Plebian:
"Here's looking at you. kid."

Erudite:
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood."

PCQOTD : 7-18-06

Plebian:
"Celebrate the moments of your life."

Erudite 1:
"If the teacher pops a test I know I'm a mess."

Erudite 2 (all share one Connection to the Plebian:
"Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way."
"People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook."
"Damn you, vile woman, you've impeded my work since the day I escaped your wretched womb."

PCQOTD : 7-17-06

Plebian:
"There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture."

Erudite:
"And now my friend, the first rule of Italian driving. What's behind me is not important."

What's In A Name?

Oh, this is far too amazing. Check out the name of this cake, straight from the Pillsbury Baking site. I wonder if there's some sort of creamy icing available for afters?

Stuffed Meat

I love stuff like this.

PCQOTD : 7-14-06

I've been out sick for the past two days, which is why there haven't been any Quotes.

Plebian:
"You gobble them down and the plate comes back."

Erudite:
"Choosy mothers..."

PCQOTD : 7-11-06

Plebian:
"Makes hamburgers taste like steakburgers."

Erudite:
"I'm happy as a Frenchman who's invented a pair of self-removing trousers."

PCQOTD : 7-10-06

Plebian:
"My sister looks cute in her braces and boots."

Erudite:
"Forever let us hold our banner high."

PCQOTD : 7-7-06

Plebian:
"The place with the helpful hardware man."

Erudite:
"The Regal Beagle"
(Not so much a quote as a place, but hey, whaddya want for free?)

Superman Kills A Smoker

This public service video amuses me. Superman's voice is so very bad, and I love the "ultra perspective" style of the animation.

I just hope Supes isn't giving those kids cancer with his x-ray vision.

PCQOTD : 7-6-06

Plebian:
"We want you, we want you, we want you as a new recruit."

Erudite:
"Can you speak in rhinoceros?"

PCQOTD : 7-5-06

Plebian:
"That’s the name, and away go troubles down the drain."

Erudite:
No Erudite today, jsut this lovely picture:

PCQOTD : 7-3-06

Plebian:
"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."

Erudite:
"Don't shove me Harv. I'm tired of being shoved."