tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3897081130794073232024-03-19T07:12:26.994-04:00Joseph Scarbrough's ScarblogA trip through the mind of Joseph Scarbrough.Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.comBlogger169125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-3897399504879772432023-10-02T11:00:00.003-04:002023-10-02T11:00:00.156-04:00Vampire Girl Merchandise and More Now Available<p> Now that the spooky season is upon us, this seems as good a time as ever to promote and exploit The Joseph Scarbrough Universe's resident spook with a new collection of VAMPIRE GIRL merchandise on our new Redbubble store!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUIn2aFSz_SlLSMKvCB2beOzSrZYgWSdnz-rwjnZNMg6ETW3Xm1B3AwJsksz4e82-6JUXRFhz0nXLd7UtvsjoocvkdputBCQ4cW_UQ_VEnTY4yUaileBeXNwnZrqFukazDXVAVIfsciD3z0Efr0BlEzpcz2llk2oGBMJMXfoWowOUUov0oVC6u-G2kd4k-/s2250/vampiregirlmerchandise.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1968" data-original-width="2250" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUIn2aFSz_SlLSMKvCB2beOzSrZYgWSdnz-rwjnZNMg6ETW3Xm1B3AwJsksz4e82-6JUXRFhz0nXLd7UtvsjoocvkdputBCQ4cW_UQ_VEnTY4yUaileBeXNwnZrqFukazDXVAVIfsciD3z0Efr0BlEzpcz2llk2oGBMJMXfoWowOUUov0oVC6u-G2kd4k-/w400-h350/vampiregirlmerchandise.png" width="400" /></a></div><p>https://www.redbubble.com/people/jscarbrough/shop?artistUserName=JScarbrough&collections=3727996&iaCode=all-departments&sortOrder=relevant</p><p>At the moment, we have t-shirts, wall posters, notebooks, pins, and even coffee mugs available for purchase, but Redbubble has a number of other products and items to choose from, so if there may be other pieces of VAMPIRE GIRL merchandise you might like to see or may be interested in, you can make a special request!</p><p>Of course, there's also still plenty of Steve D'Monster merchandise available as well, get yours today!</p><p>http://jscarbrough.redbubble.com</p><p>In addition to this new collection of Redbubble VAMPIRE GIRL merchandise, I have also come to a rather tough and difficult decision to part with the artwork from the original VAMPIRE GIRL Production Bible - this includes all of the original penciled and inked pages that made up the 17 strips from 2011 and 2012, as well as all of the individual panels that were drawn for the additional 35 strips of the second season from 2022 and 2023; other official VAMPIRE GIRL artwork is also being offered for sale as well.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6uN4fVJzwJ3uYgR3ELZi-EENDiA-IPbFCyMpV84p8AqTVgW8QiVsMJQPBwVUr3-sY2L4eUYcB4pT3osTegfeklBUTz9iK-Qp5yDx3rCjh3Y0npzeLLbfyq9A0yKPMchn4bzOMxGfCSw3m2ZfdmUzaixl9mWNTYlkDVecIyNynOWIlZp1Ak-h2Dt61Ylux/s3648/GEDC0136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6uN4fVJzwJ3uYgR3ELZi-EENDiA-IPbFCyMpV84p8AqTVgW8QiVsMJQPBwVUr3-sY2L4eUYcB4pT3osTegfeklBUTz9iK-Qp5yDx3rCjh3Y0npzeLLbfyq9A0yKPMchn4bzOMxGfCSw3m2ZfdmUzaixl9mWNTYlkDVecIyNynOWIlZp1Ak-h2Dt61Ylux/w320-h240/GEDC0136.JPG" width="320" /></a> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Md-TVBu2MP5RPsMeStgWzULgQuryhg6Xp1SAK3dBzHJEdHC-h4BIuUTkBQCU-ZUBeDOwf2xfk0_9wgiwaOp-W3JlbXVPXslCRB_KT4CAuTCQshncuyKIclglkr3K2CCnDzZ18t9Honi-v6UUuo7dfBgvDZqXdwm2pVSMjAKq0ZtuDS579r7QMH4I13bZ/s3648/GEDC0137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Md-TVBu2MP5RPsMeStgWzULgQuryhg6Xp1SAK3dBzHJEdHC-h4BIuUTkBQCU-ZUBeDOwf2xfk0_9wgiwaOp-W3JlbXVPXslCRB_KT4CAuTCQshncuyKIclglkr3K2CCnDzZ18t9Honi-v6UUuo7dfBgvDZqXdwm2pVSMjAKq0ZtuDS579r7QMH4I13bZ/w320-h240/GEDC0137.JPG" width="320" /></a> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55Xa1ZS-qI0wrY0JLVViHHbPFMckYt9NVRySoznqxxtYMPnuXBlTLe0AEqnZ5rqdqwl1dpYLu3UlabTBaeV2xyoP1ScxaGeZVJV9Ip-qXW27QbeyBVsMtVspHC6_WoLjJ_8_x5bytGnRNzodcI6wkhkablvgSnzfgvXUN1Et_DCBsOmFF39jsC_HF0YRp/s3648/GEDC0138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj55Xa1ZS-qI0wrY0JLVViHHbPFMckYt9NVRySoznqxxtYMPnuXBlTLe0AEqnZ5rqdqwl1dpYLu3UlabTBaeV2xyoP1ScxaGeZVJV9Ip-qXW27QbeyBVsMtVspHC6_WoLjJ_8_x5bytGnRNzodcI6wkhkablvgSnzfgvXUN1Et_DCBsOmFF39jsC_HF0YRp/w320-h240/GEDC0138.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEuaA82yR2a2JG_kWLLKNSw7Wu4sait-31Z-0InxLLmUGk2F6P_qlB3Lir8gF7JckZtj5R7-_6Y3PgalJk4WKVbEvoQU-n6UMApytMhKMIiBD_ic64nlP5DLaoQcBixO9iY6ddOGh6pn-LHE3g2c8tOCw0W63YcTuiL98vcFjV-MAKk4LiuA-1zA6rWXr/s3648/GEDC0139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEuaA82yR2a2JG_kWLLKNSw7Wu4sait-31Z-0InxLLmUGk2F6P_qlB3Lir8gF7JckZtj5R7-_6Y3PgalJk4WKVbEvoQU-n6UMApytMhKMIiBD_ic64nlP5DLaoQcBixO9iY6ddOGh6pn-LHE3g2c8tOCw0W63YcTuiL98vcFjV-MAKk4LiuA-1zA6rWXr/s320/GEDC0139.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKT6SmeKtyfBC1106Nx12c3VZxMbPqQhMEThAqltcpk_X5KPNKBBfi7ngkoDto1QXbNy2l8Rx-ph70iqdFd1jLi4hfxSXrGIjBbxYlaHb7tU-2fFd4mAsz-bIZ0c50-Gxqed2ACyHGfuNzWUgGp_-V76nksMe6nXctdApTMfTqjR9ioRb8QWe-gPtEUSCC/s3648/GEDC0140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKT6SmeKtyfBC1106Nx12c3VZxMbPqQhMEThAqltcpk_X5KPNKBBfi7ngkoDto1QXbNy2l8Rx-ph70iqdFd1jLi4hfxSXrGIjBbxYlaHb7tU-2fFd4mAsz-bIZ0c50-Gxqed2ACyHGfuNzWUgGp_-V76nksMe6nXctdApTMfTqjR9ioRb8QWe-gPtEUSCC/s320/GEDC0140.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p>These are being offered directly from me, and you have a few different options to choose from; if you are interested in owning a piece of official original VAMPIRE GIRL artwork, you can reach out and contact me.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL07d3ZV-4gcP7ufBP8wG84MByveV3NvUsHl4xG86Qw0B9t2MpkYLhZIz0Q3LKoJYU2dorgfsOBbFkKEIVkFZUzBT6XIILXdGgbppCJl3ur6Y4z5yOgAqZhOgkTplsAkPcm1teB0aJUvE1tN-vv5SOIfUukGVnA4K_UIEqIpByL64CIqDcgEZE8vvb2HDp/s3648/priceguide.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2736" data-original-width="3648" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL07d3ZV-4gcP7ufBP8wG84MByveV3NvUsHl4xG86Qw0B9t2MpkYLhZIz0Q3LKoJYU2dorgfsOBbFkKEIVkFZUzBT6XIILXdGgbppCJl3ur6Y4z5yOgAqZhOgkTplsAkPcm1teB0aJUvE1tN-vv5SOIfUukGVnA4K_UIEqIpByL64CIqDcgEZE8vvb2HDp/w400-h300/priceguide.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-86442437105128410342023-09-04T19:19:00.004-04:002023-09-04T19:22:10.240-04:00New Redbubble Shop!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmUy-xgRdbiB-Aytbj30LZW7SdwpXYs6xyI4mw9WfqYCxQ-3eU0Zni-Ogt9s4aHUfhV7UUfsaKg4CNpbbiAFBPSH6M2SWzO8p4lUXxt-CX_FhZKs7uhHuGM5S5-ifJtL_u3zI5MKny-v097Z5Zyz4ptevVP49RiHbzX7wO3gdJ6TzWUOzydxagZnIPgMx/s1000/stevetshirts.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="832" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmUy-xgRdbiB-Aytbj30LZW7SdwpXYs6xyI4mw9WfqYCxQ-3eU0Zni-Ogt9s4aHUfhV7UUfsaKg4CNpbbiAFBPSH6M2SWzO8p4lUXxt-CX_FhZKs7uhHuGM5S5-ifJtL_u3zI5MKny-v097Z5Zyz4ptevVP49RiHbzX7wO3gdJ6TzWUOzydxagZnIPgMx/w533-h640/stevetshirts.jpg" width="533" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steve D'Monster shirts now available!</td></tr></tbody></table><br />That's right folks, you can now get your own official Scarbrough merchandise from our new Redbubble shop! For the time being, there is a line of Steve D'Monster apparel and products available, from t-shirts to tank tops, from throw pillows to tin buttons, you can now own a piece of official Steve gear, with more to come soon!<p></p><p>Drop by sometime and buy sometime!</p><p><a href="http://jscarbrough.redbubble.com" target="_blank">jscarbrough.redbubble.com</a><br /></p>Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-39998348549692591122023-05-28T12:12:00.002-04:002023-05-28T12:12:22.063-04:00Levana in Analysis<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWS5drLkmR_DqyJoRHMk2hTr0NBY0kV7tURjO7IVapsTZ1s-Ynzd6flU2mP1uaXZk0qYT-YbXzN9JEjXSbfkGkpJpkUo4yDLrdHO8hyZzeGOv7_MjEWaOIOGf5yium3G4FpTIjnxVl-D7Wnt7tEUructevjrTyq9QP9AufFa88lzKKtrE2oEzjafVYg/s437/levana.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="364" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWS5drLkmR_DqyJoRHMk2hTr0NBY0kV7tURjO7IVapsTZ1s-Ynzd6flU2mP1uaXZk0qYT-YbXzN9JEjXSbfkGkpJpkUo4yDLrdHO8hyZzeGOv7_MjEWaOIOGf5yium3G4FpTIjnxVl-D7Wnt7tEUructevjrTyq9QP9AufFa88lzKKtrE2oEzjafVYg/s320/levana.png" width="267" /></a></div><br />Have you ever taken the time to read up on literal character studies? To see how a fictional character is dissected and given a psychological examination just to see what's beneath their surface and makes them tick? They can often be quite a fascinating look into deeper depths of the character that we may otherwise not give much thought to within the context or even subtext of the character that the character is featured in . . . and as it turns out, Levana has just been put through the wringer of such analysis.<p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Drunk Duck/The Duck Webcomics contributor, Tantz_Aerine, has a semi-regular feature in which she takes a character from a comic hosted on their site, and puts that character through an analysis that consists of four basic examinations: one based on the character's overall design, one that evaluates whether or not the character has any sort of mental and/or emotional issues, how dimensional the character is, and how the character's environment has any sort of effect on their overall personality. Imagine my delight when I saw on Drunk Duck's homepage that Levana had been featured in the spotlight of such an analysis! Tantz has done a thorough job in dissecting and analysizing Levana's character, and from many different angles, ranging from behavioral to psychological, and from comedic to dramatic perspectives . . . and I was very much impressed with her studies of Levana character, and what she had to write about in terms of Levana as a character, and the journey that she has gone through over the course of the VAMPIRE GIRL comic (most during its inaugural run from 2011 to 2012) - she very much managed to figure Levana out to a tee, and it offered me so much joy and satisfaction to see a work of mine written about like this. Of course, as always, I also have to give credit where credit is due, because Levana's journey would not have been what it is had it not been for contributions and input from Marie Kerns throughout the creative process; Tantz mentions throughout her analysis that VAMPIRE GIRL as a whole balances both comedic and dramatic tones throughout, and while the comedic tone was mostly me, it was definitely Marie who added the dash of drama to the story and Levana's overall journey, and I can't thank her enough because of that.</span></p><p>You can read Tantz's analysis and studies of Levana, her character, and even what sort of afflictions she could be diagnosed with because of her unique set of problems for yourself:<br />https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2023/may/26/character-analysis-levana-from-vampire-girl/</p><div class="x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"></div>Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-83335174182282507942023-03-06T12:00:00.017-05:002023-03-07T21:04:30.850-05:00Becoming a COVID Statistic<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mD1Tu4whvxGYVigdThykv8gBROlO-m0ISgf5mJQisITuznv_JmfqW7V0uELxuN_o0hTnnMWIHQBLGFLH6U55XGcBgi1o1HT6rie_9q0vINi18aqMuYRhvucvSQd8-_kuqht02vyF6eUX1xgoc2jExtcpGcuOxucHCo70e4xgUb54fB1d_CcWKEJVUg/s1420/332944917_3381904302061733_163216233325332155_n.jpg" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6mD1Tu4whvxGYVigdThykv8gBROlO-m0ISgf5mJQisITuznv_JmfqW7V0uELxuN_o0hTnnMWIHQBLGFLH6U55XGcBgi1o1HT6rie_9q0vINi18aqMuYRhvucvSQd8-_kuqht02vyF6eUX1xgoc2jExtcpGcuOxucHCo70e4xgUb54fB1d_CcWKEJVUg/s320/332944917_3381904302061733_163216233325332155_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>That's right, I ended up becoming a statistic . . . despite having been both vaccinated and boosted, I ended up testing positive for COVID, which means I'm among the number of people across the globe who have ended up with what the disease experts have been calling "Breakthrough Cases." How is that even possible? Well, one thing to keep in mind is that even Dr. Anthony Fauci had said before that vaccinations and boosters do not guarantee that anybody will be completely, 100% immune from COVID-19 or COVID-related illnesses, rather that the vaccines and boosters can greatly reduce the severity of the symptoms associated with COVID should you test positive. Even so, I am glad that that was the case, because even though I ended up coming down with a mild case of COVID, the symptoms I did have were definitely enough to really do a number on me. <div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVmszxHYF22FWp-Vr54jeR7IQuge6CpVjszeCiVi-HwOFpGY174tNyEJUPUDx2sGEOVA_U5NLBX5cuubYCtjavlEmt_gL7cgTRHtc84ZsNqGEZBBk8QSezAg4dqk0HPYQ_ksPPZYNpL4Asar2Qnt9VPrn1reY4nvMT_e34A9ku9lmLSE7YcKhHjcdcw/s720/hitsdd_photo_gal__photo_735986044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVmszxHYF22FWp-Vr54jeR7IQuge6CpVjszeCiVi-HwOFpGY174tNyEJUPUDx2sGEOVA_U5NLBX5cuubYCtjavlEmt_gL7cgTRHtc84ZsNqGEZBBk8QSezAg4dqk0HPYQ_ksPPZYNpL4Asar2Qnt9VPrn1reY4nvMT_e34A9ku9lmLSE7YcKhHjcdcw/s320/hitsdd_photo_gal__photo_735986044.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>So, despite being vaccinated and boosted, how did I even manage to come down with COVID in the first place? Well, as it turns out, I ended up getting COVID from Toto and Journey. Okay, that's not to say that either of these two bands are the ones who gave me COVID, but I did start feeling sick after attending a concert of theirs back in February. It started out with little concern at first: I had a dry cough . . . that's not too unusual for me, especially around this time of year with changes in seasons and weather . . . but as my coughing became far more persistent and even a little violent, and I began to experience a drop in my strength and energy, a trip to the doctor's office and two tests later revealed that my flu test came back negative, but my COVID test came back positive. Immediately, medication was prescribed that I had to start, one medicine specifically to fight COVID itself, and another to try to settle my cough.
</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzVioHomWqsTpmGErQn29BxLXu4u5_F9L-4b6qCo2gBBkVSlah050kQmQTTUYptPJ2hcB5VURyyQ3IyWgajseYk2MMbx7cAimJk9gxuwbumRcFhKTUL1Nbs_uRBs9eS0D2vFXRF2iRDrygk1iZT12UBVqwuw0GI8JmkZllYTia5qW8JQA87RLEzUZuQ/s1568/332686451_8795930880477380_2579811488682511786_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1568" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzVioHomWqsTpmGErQn29BxLXu4u5_F9L-4b6qCo2gBBkVSlah050kQmQTTUYptPJ2hcB5VURyyQ3IyWgajseYk2MMbx7cAimJk9gxuwbumRcFhKTUL1Nbs_uRBs9eS0D2vFXRF2iRDrygk1iZT12UBVqwuw0GI8JmkZllYTia5qW8JQA87RLEzUZuQ/s320/332686451_8795930880477380_2579811488682511786_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The fatigue was bad enough, but the worst symptom that I dealt with was "COVID Throat"; it was the most horrendous sore throat I had ever endured in my entire life - everytime I tried to swallow anything, it was a new adventure in pain, and of course, I needed to try to stay hydrated, but even drinking water was highly excruciating. It also didn't help that it turned out that I was also diagnosed with a case of acute bronchitis on top of COVID, as that only contributed to my increasingly incessant and violent cough . . . which eventually also turned excessively bloody as well. So yeah, despite the need to try to stay hydrated and take my medication, COVID Throat made it nearly impossible to stay on top of either of these things.</div><div><br /></div><div>All things considered though, it really could have been a lot worse: had I not been vaccinated or boosted, I could very well have ended up in ICU, hooked up to respirators, and fighting for my life, which thankfully, I was able to avoid all of that, so in the grand scheme of things, a lack of energy, a painful sore throat, and coughing up blood were small potatoes in comparison. . . . But, this is also a wakeup call that, despite what normalcy we may still be trying to return to, COVID is still alive and well, and doesn't appear to be going anywhere any time soon.</div><div><br /></div>Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-18390285324336321232022-10-12T11:00:00.001-04:002022-10-12T11:00:00.166-04:00VAMPIRE GIRL: The Second Season Begins October 19<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDHg5YNFj5pizKcoxj0AHYfwlyW6Q6eVgUk42MCeyotiq5hVUlOqshYITw_2a4VYxyxi7IMawLQIVlTR80epdemt7GmIYWE3Ys60ioixWwPkghkVriyiZNO_7qA_r_tqHnT720V07NJqfW_OKJfw6vMngvDYuZstla8SN6JehyzZzw9erqIsDzmGxUg/s2667/Vampire%20Girl%20Second%20Season%20Poster%20v2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2667" data-original-width="2000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDHg5YNFj5pizKcoxj0AHYfwlyW6Q6eVgUk42MCeyotiq5hVUlOqshYITw_2a4VYxyxi7IMawLQIVlTR80epdemt7GmIYWE3Ys60ioixWwPkghkVriyiZNO_7qA_r_tqHnT720V07NJqfW_OKJfw6vMngvDYuZstla8SN6JehyzZzw9erqIsDzmGxUg/w480-h640/Vampire%20Girl%20Second%20Season%20Poster%20v2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Some of you may be able to remember back <a href="http://josephscarbrough.blogspot.com/2021/12/vampire-girl-10th-anniversary.html">when I had written about the 10th anniversary of my webcomic miniseries VAMPIRE GIRL</a> that although I had wrapped up Levana's story and arc in those initial seventeen strips, that I did have an idea for a continuation of a second season of sorts, but I had never bothered following through with it for a couple of different reasons, one of which was because it didn't seem necessary to follow up on <i>after</i> happily ever after . . . that, and because when VAMPIRE GIRL was in its original run on Smack Jeeves in 2011 and 2012, nobody read it - and that in and of itself was due to a couple of different reasons, but now is not the time to discuss this.<p></p><div>Now is the time for the announcement that since January 2021, I have finally been working on the second season of VAMPIRE GIRL, which will begin next week, October 19, and run weekly on The Duck Webcomics . . . unfortunately, it was going to be hosted by the premiere site for webcomics, ComicFury, but that fell apart, and I lost that deal (so please disregard the references to ComicFury in the cover art).</div><div><br /></div><div>Why finally work on this project now after all these years later? Well, for one thing, the idea continued to rattle around in the back of my mind all these years, and never necessarily left me . . . plus, for whatever reason, there seems to have been something of a renewed interest in Levana and VAMPIRE GIRL in the last couple of years or so, even I'm not sure why. Taking this into consideration, now seemed like a good time to revisit the idea of the second season, and just do it! It's been a long and somewhat tiring process (as opposed to the first season, which was clearly a rush job), but I have a little bit of confidence that the second season will actually do relatively well - especially since the reruns of the first season having been on The Duck (and briefly on ComicFury before I got banned) have gotten much more attention and retention than the original run of the comic ever did on Smack Jeeves!</div><div><br /></div><div>In closing, if you are interested in seeing more of Levana and some of her friends, like Laura, Dr. Charmin, and the Wizard, or are curious to see if being mortal lives up to her expectations, or even what sort of consequences becoming mortal may have on her life, then be sure to read VAMPIRE GIRL: The Second Season, every Wednesday on The Duck!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Vampire_Girl">www.theduckwebcomics.com/Vampire_Girl</a></div>Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-37511188113349141222022-08-30T12:00:00.001-04:002022-10-11T19:47:49.985-04:00Summer of Scarbrough: My Creative Process<p> This week on SUMMER OF SCARBROUGH, I discuss the various different ways that my creative process has inspired the projects and productions I have made over the years, ranging from some of my better ideas being mined from my dreams, to occasional whims providing bursts of artistic inspiration.</p><p><br /><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ghBljIaNj4M" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-28438646533755074652022-08-23T12:00:00.002-04:002022-10-11T19:48:04.876-04:00Summer of Scarbrough: Vampire Girl<p> This week's episode of SUMMER OF SCARBROUGH looks back on what was perhaps the strangest Scarbrough creation, the short-lived webcomic miniseries, VAMPIRE GIRL.</p><p><br /></p><center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mdBvrEKY8z8" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center><center><br /></center><center>Also a special shout-out to my amazingly talented artist pal, Dave Hulteen, Jr. for the beautiful job he did on coloring my pencil sketch of Levana for the YouTube thumbnail!</center><p></p>Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-1009358554217010382022-08-16T12:00:00.003-04:002022-10-12T00:20:49.520-04:00Summer of Scarbrough: Steve D'Monster Part 2<p> This week's episode of SUMMER OF SCARBROUGH continues the discussion of Steve D'Monster, this time as we take a look back at the evolution of his time on YouTube, from the early days of the late 2000s with his simplistic and minuscule little videos, to today with bigger, more carefully-planned productions.</p><p><br /></p><center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7K-f1VBZV98" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center><p></p>Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-85920836266097474882022-08-09T12:00:00.002-04:002022-10-11T19:48:35.593-04:00Summer of Scarbrough: Steve D'Monster Part 1<p> This week's episode of the SUMMER OF SCARBROUGH discuss the origins of Steve D'Monster, and how a poorly-made and originally nameless monster puppet who was void of personality ended up evolving into an actual character over the course of appearing on local public television for a week in the August of 2004.</p><p>Oh, and by the way, today also happens to be Steve D'Monster's birthday - talk about incredible timing, huh?</p><p><br /><center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sgTsVC4DQuM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></center></p>Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-48400188044146047762022-08-02T12:00:00.001-04:002022-10-11T19:26:42.759-04:00Summer of Scarbrough: Moron League<p> Today kicks off the beginning of the Summer of Scarbrough, where I will discuss what went into the making of some of my significant creations and productions over the past 15 years, and this week's Summer of Scarbrough episode kicks off with the one that started it all back in December of 2007: MORON LEAGUE!</p><p><br />
<center><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Syhdv9Xz830" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>
</p>Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-22539629627180469152022-04-03T12:42:00.005-04:002022-10-11T19:28:27.532-04:0015 Years of Scarbrough<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXgcBepOWGTyH2LN4XW1SdPRjIvx3TzMSIUrhV2i4KQHnN0ikIyWLjjNkHNQbSNRfinMJxkgMWZ0KGhYFOs4DSIHkVr0jwjqxrcOqiZulFaiKtrM461Wl_Zf-t2blcLqsixgVj2qad8dry2G4U6gZEeHAhE-3lYaLaFQOmZ5_Ojn0MH8mOGoDM8G0Wg/s1338/celebrating.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1338" data-original-width="1082" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXgcBepOWGTyH2LN4XW1SdPRjIvx3TzMSIUrhV2i4KQHnN0ikIyWLjjNkHNQbSNRfinMJxkgMWZ0KGhYFOs4DSIHkVr0jwjqxrcOqiZulFaiKtrM461Wl_Zf-t2blcLqsixgVj2qad8dry2G4U6gZEeHAhE-3lYaLaFQOmZ5_Ojn0MH8mOGoDM8G0Wg/w518-h640/celebrating.jpg" width="518" /></a></div><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-size: 14px;">2022 marks 15 years of Scarbrough! Hopefully, if all goes well, we'll be seeing new content dropping in the months to come, including videos, cartoons, and a featured called THE SUMMER OF SCARBROUGH, which will be a (semi) weekly vlog looking back on the past 15 years. Oh yeah, and maybe,<i> maybe</i>, we'll also be seeing some merchandise . . . that's right, merchandise! Probably won't be anything to get <i>too</i> excited about, though.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-size: 14px;">Hope you'll be celebrating along with us this year!!</span></p>Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-74040456659716206812021-12-08T11:00:00.162-05:002021-12-08T11:00:00.158-05:00VAMPIRE GIRL: The 10th Anniversary<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7IfIApNUySJOQGiOfmXOhb2sh2RVgSpK0Zq7jH-yermsR653waCYHWORI0iv_uB7mDFDzTL1FfUrThTW-GaVa15ijGMnXGLzRSmaV64I5qVhWCVUUBgkzIPfUYbHbxTmy3opRtxUNqpmZ/s1600/vampiregirl10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1600" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7IfIApNUySJOQGiOfmXOhb2sh2RVgSpK0Zq7jH-yermsR653waCYHWORI0iv_uB7mDFDzTL1FfUrThTW-GaVa15ijGMnXGLzRSmaV64I5qVhWCVUUBgkzIPfUYbHbxTmy3opRtxUNqpmZ/s400/vampiregirl10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Here it is, ten years after the fact. VAMPIRE GIRL was certainly one of my more peculiar and often overlooked (more on that later) creations, and the story of how it came to be is also a rather peculiar one . . . it all started with a song from one of rock-and-roll's quirkiest and most eccentric artists, that eventually lead to a web comic mini-series that really had hardly anything to do with the actual song itself, other than bearing the same name.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Inspiration</b></u></span><br />
It was October 2011, and Comcast's (now xfinity) Sounds of the Season Music Choice channel featured a playlist of Halloween music - just right for the occasion. In all honesty, I had never really heard much Halloween music before, and while there were a few songs featured in the playlist I had certainly heard before under other circumstances ("Witch Doctor" by David Seville, "Purple People Eater" by Sheb Wooley, "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr., "Headless Horseman" by Bing Crosby, "Tain't No Sin," "Devil Went Down to Georgia," just to name a few), there were a lot of songs that were completely new to my ears, and have since become just as much of a tradition to listen to every October as, well, Christmas music every December.<br />
<br />
You ever get a song so stuck in your head, that it's almost impossible to get it out? That's what happened to me during this particular time (and it wasn't just Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" or "Here Comes the Bride (of Frankenstein)" by Elvira and The B-52s): a really catchy, toe-tapping, almost rockabilly-esque song by Modern Lovers' Jonathan Richman.<br />
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fNTqLSSeC9w" width="560"></iframe></center>
<br />
Needless to say, this song wasn't just stuck in my head - it was practically etched and seared into my brain like no other song had been before . . . I had to do something about it!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Development</b></u></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcrKbVv6yWXPGJv1OHpdRlcPU0c8fmsRJYjOyfsxBgjf3BNU_o0jFkkUX9Oa5r5nIhYLI4bbTyIwqh0wfpc4DumVlm1pD4glCOmDKRqT3h9-VhGgZSwEBRSSMmvMRg9_I_Uo_tOkfdcMq/s1600/EHpzjC6X0AEtv7a.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="1032" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcrKbVv6yWXPGJv1OHpdRlcPU0c8fmsRJYjOyfsxBgjf3BNU_o0jFkkUX9Oa5r5nIhYLI4bbTyIwqh0wfpc4DumVlm1pD4glCOmDKRqT3h9-VhGgZSwEBRSSMmvMRg9_I_Uo_tOkfdcMq/s200/EHpzjC6X0AEtv7a.jpg" width="154" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Levana's evolution<br />during development,<br />from something of a<br />chibi-esque little girl to<br />an older twenty-<br />something-esque young<br />woman.<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The strange thing is VAMPIRE GIRL didn't originate as a web comic; given how catchy and fun the song is, my thinking was it needed to be set to some kind of production number . . . in fact, I'll even go as far as to say it seemed like it would have made for a great number on THE MUPPET SHOW, that's how much I felt like the song was so fun. With that in mind, I envisioned such a production number with Steve D'Monster and Bethany Crystal, with Bethany in the part of the titular Vampire Girl, and Steve as the de-facto admirer of said Vampire Girl. However, at the time, I had other projects with Steve in the works (including planning <a href="http://josephscarbrough.blogspot.com/2014/08/top-5-failed-and-unrealized-projects.html">a multi-part Christmas Eve special that never got made</a>), so I considered that option off the table.<br />
<br />
Still, I really needed to find some kind of a creative outlet for my own cathartic purposes from having this song stuck in my head so badly, and eventually, I began doodling vampire girls. After a few doodles and sketches, I eventually settled on a design that I liked particularly well, and decided that this design needed to be turned into an actual character . . . first thing's first, she needed a name, but I couldn't think of one. Ordinarily, I like to give my characters names that either fit their appearance or personality, or names that you don't hear very often (especially for fictional characters). A few different suggestions were pitched to me, including one from an artist friend of mine, Kimmi Guerrero, that just felt right: Levana. In Hebrew, "Levana" means "moon." In Latin, "Levana" means "to lift," or "raise up." In Roman mythology, "Levana" is a fertility goddess who protects newborns. In this case, "Levana" just seemed like a perfect name for a vampire! Now, I just needed to actually do something with her.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxj1ksgxhRj3AUw3BpjNK3yZbjLRJDozPF2W_UZp7mQszBLx_8jtK51pAvt58wFAXAUtoGkmnyEFoAFM_TaGLKrKGkUTHF70plKEYRPJrib3RenBbCfSiZ8nL1uRR9Vf8XI-GcKWEFUve/s1600/cartoonretirement.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="746" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxj1ksgxhRj3AUw3BpjNK3yZbjLRJDozPF2W_UZp7mQszBLx_8jtK51pAvt58wFAXAUtoGkmnyEFoAFM_TaGLKrKGkUTHF70plKEYRPJrib3RenBbCfSiZ8nL1uRR9Vf8XI-GcKWEFUve/s200/cartoonretirement.jpg" width="165" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I came out of "Cartoon<br />
Retirement" to tell Levana's<br />
story.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Given that Levana was a cartoon character, doing a comic strip about her seemed like the most logical thing to do. Once upon a time, I dabbled in cartoons, comics, and even a little bit of animation, as it was always something I enjoyed doing, and seemed like something I would like to do as a career . . . but I had been doing such almost non-stop from 1999 into 2007 . . . quite frankly, I was getting very tired of it, and ended up suffering from burn-out . . . I didn't want to do it anymore, because puppetry had taken over as my one true passion, and that was what I wanted to focus more of my energy on. But for Levana, I was willing to come out of my "Cartoon Retirement" and do a comic about her: even if it was a short subject, like a mini-series or something that wouldn't run for too long . . . all I needed to do was figure out a story for her. Even though such characters always appeal to me, I was especially interested in developing somewhat subversive characters at the time, such as Ella the Elf, who was conceived shortly after Levana was (unlike traditional Christmas elves who are cheerful, jolly, and sugary sweet, Ella is snarky, cynical, and cold . . . no pun intended), so the idea came to me that Levana was a vampire . . . who didn't want to be a vampire. The life of a vampire had so many limitations, as so many things ordinary people take for granted can kill her: she can only travel by night to avoid sunlight, her diet is extremely limited to avoid things like garlic, and even she is disgusted by her thirst for blood. This is what lead to the comic's tagline: "She lives a life of irony."<div>
<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJYxgu1UsaVRz_UegbQJePNqKyyyYcwv9lA2goQEIZrySR7ytiGvEhboylGwcvcmAB6Sx4IOrBT_APAndbyFl1etqNkr8yJYu_OcOijKoLNtb4EOxb0eUoBiaPaqWqKzqmbUa2fUbl-H6/s743/vampirehunters.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="743" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJYxgu1UsaVRz_UegbQJePNqKyyyYcwv9lA2goQEIZrySR7ytiGvEhboylGwcvcmAB6Sx4IOrBT_APAndbyFl1etqNkr8yJYu_OcOijKoLNtb4EOxb0eUoBiaPaqWqKzqmbUa2fUbl-H6/s743/vampirehunters.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just your friendly, neighborhood<br />vampire hunters.<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>That became the main plot line of the story: Levana's journey to finding a way to make her a mortal girl. But, there still needed to be more to it than that; like every story, there needed to be conflict. This is where the comic's antagonists came in: upon learning about her mere existence, a pair of modern-day vampire hunters (named simply Vampire Hunter and Goofy Idiot Sidekick) attempt to hunt her down and destroy her.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_rwCUfOPgYrNdIEh9X5IN0Zo8C_uU_DSLfkUL02ajcKyB5KPip7v1mXExTCzHhMDYmovRSjJC9rQf5XpFql9eP8eAj1ucQUNvDBPK4SAL3ZxoGtBurZ5pC_Osw6E46ikMjszx2ex1zPc/s352/hospitalfriends.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="352" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_rwCUfOPgYrNdIEh9X5IN0Zo8C_uU_DSLfkUL02ajcKyB5KPip7v1mXExTCzHhMDYmovRSjJC9rQf5XpFql9eP8eAj1ucQUNvDBPK4SAL3ZxoGtBurZ5pC_Osw6E46ikMjszx2ex1zPc/s200/hospitalfriends.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get high with a little help<br />
from your friends.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>There were still other details that needed to be filled in as well, and (dark) fantasy was a genre I had never really worked with before - but another artist friend of mine, Marie Kerns, was totally into that world; so after consulting with her, and bouncing around other ideas, all of the other little voids were filled in, such as Levana having befriended a hospital employee (CNA Laura) who would sneak her some human blood whenever she has urges from withdrawals or relapses, and figuring out how, exactly, she would eventually get to become mortal (with the aid of a cranky old wizard, and a very handsome doctor), the whole story was set into place.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
For nearly an entire month, I worked almost non-stop (things slowed down because of Thanksgiving, obviously) putting the comic together, until it was finally completed and ready to be published.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Inaugural Run</b></u></span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FO6cnTnVHOIAXNP039XC8bWO-O-tERj3eJ90KTkfXNA3m6WiJAu7ob5JAFsg3JkK5ngAVrU4KycNfuDjxuw6snTWJEkhpdVIyY7HZWgF_oR0WyO6dTToU7v4jugyysM9PyMyXKMlPXOM/s720/Vampire+Girl+Cover+Art.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="540" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5FO6cnTnVHOIAXNP039XC8bWO-O-tERj3eJ90KTkfXNA3m6WiJAu7ob5JAFsg3JkK5ngAVrU4KycNfuDjxuw6snTWJEkhpdVIyY7HZWgF_oR0WyO6dTToU7v4jugyysM9PyMyXKMlPXOM/w150-h200/Vampire+Girl+Cover+Art.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original Smack Jeeves<br />cover art</td></tr></tbody></table>On Thursday, December 8, 2011, VAMPIRE GIRL debuted. Originally hosted on Smack Jeeves, the comic ran weekly until March 29, 2012 for a total of seventeen strips (I had originally planned it for about thirteen, but the story ended up running a little longer than I thought it would) . . . and nobody read it.<br />
<br />
There were certainly a number of factors at play as to why the comic went virtually unnoticed during its initial run: I think the biggest problem was it was a couple of months too late . . . granted, the comic wasn't necessarily Halloween-themed, but vampires are traditionally associated with Halloween, so the timing was way off.<br />
<br />
Another factor was probably due to the fact that the whole mainstream vampire craze - while still very popular at the time - was kind of fizzling out and losing quite a bit of steam just the same . . . so again, with that in mind, VAMPIRE GIRL kind of felt like it missed the bandwagon and ended up tailing way far behind.<br />
<br />
But as it turned out, one major factor was VAMPIRE GIRL, evidently, did not fall into the zeitgeist. During its initial run each week, I would take a peak at whatever the most popular web comics were that were generating a lot of traffic, and I came to notice that there were three particular categories of comics that seemed to dominate Smack Jeeves (and I presume other hosts at the time): Westernized Manga, stolen video game sprites, and LGBT. Not a lot of room for originality it seems, but then again, so is the internet (YouTube has been having similar problems ever since Google bought it out).<br />
<br />
As a stunt one week, I took a particularly suggestive verse from Jonathan Richman's song and used it to advertise the comic in an attempt to lure in visitors and readers: "Is she in Heaven? Is she in Hell? Is she a sex industry professional?" Obviously, it didn't work . . . but, in a way, it was a fun little tribute to Jim Henson trying to get THE MUPPET SHOW sold under the title SEX AND VIOLENCE. Still, VAMPIRE GIRL ran for seventeen weeks, and aside from a few friends following it (out of politeness, I'm sure), nary a soul gave it a glance.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy_Z7R-vJgXWy2pBLlYcSbgrYawdRjBGL7Kyv6c-p2dGQYLwvK8xpge7Vq82wQHW2VpcUVE1ldQP4iJfgVw5w' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Scrapped Second Season</b></u></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQzoFFp8cfIlLcdqxIuXbrqQtRqg_m1O0KSIFwqtvqYVNEvyV9Af2ztQ9wDNqAsa0TTUM7b9sPWVXdfNyA5fVheWxzMxYhohkjs0PHcIU_mto-7JEeGq8wPxNZ5kcLR4fQgIY23Y3FIyj/s1600/vampress.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQzoFFp8cfIlLcdqxIuXbrqQtRqg_m1O0KSIFwqtvqYVNEvyV9Af2ztQ9wDNqAsa0TTUM7b9sPWVXdfNyA5fVheWxzMxYhohkjs0PHcIU_mto-7JEeGq8wPxNZ5kcLR4fQgIY23Y3FIyj/s200/vampress.jpg" width="152" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Vampress" Concept Art</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Even though Levana's character and story arc were completely wrapped up in those seventeen strips, I played with the idea of a continuation of her story into something of a second season . . . something that not only would have shown how much she was embracing her new life as a mortal, but also showing what kind of consequences she may have faced for forsaking her vampish lifestyle. The idea I had was that Levana was now working at the same hospital as Laura and Dr. Charmin, where she was something of an orderly, mainly taking care of children (I guess they put in a good word for her and used her babysitting experience to help her get the job), little knowing that somewhere out there, an evil vampire empress (a "vampress" if you will), had discovered that one of her own has basically thrown away her birthright, and must be punished severely for it. Clearly, this would have been a lot darker and more along the lines of an actual horror-comedy than the initial comic was.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwroBAt9aSfpo9nH2gwDsjon5qifH1ga0nd3UthYqCd9VfneT8ANLeLebMTQE-WQ-8SIlIMYM2RQY4mmaTAEuLoUcsiZICFtdtplkmg9-b2zt_EBu3Od8pJXFx3-kBG_J8ma_iy5urU0u/s1600/season2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="800" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqwroBAt9aSfpo9nH2gwDsjon5qifH1ga0nd3UthYqCd9VfneT8ANLeLebMTQE-WQ-8SIlIMYM2RQY4mmaTAEuLoUcsiZICFtdtplkmg9-b2zt_EBu3Od8pJXFx3-kBG_J8ma_iy5urU0u/s200/season2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Incomplete rough draft of a <br />
Season 2 strip, showing Levana's <br />
new position as a hospital <br />
orderly, reading to a sick kid.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I got as far doing some design work for such a second season, and even started making plans on how this continuation of the story could play out, but ultimately, I decided against it, for two main reasons: 1) As I said previously, Levana's arc was already wrapped up in those initial seventeen strips, and although it's a trend that Disney's been real hot about in the past couple of decades, I wasn't sure if we really needed to explore what happens <i>after</i> "happily ever after." 2) Again, nobody even read the comic during its original run, and the archive saw very, very little activity in the years afterward, so why continue another season of strips of a comic that nobody was even reading to begin with? In the end, I just left it as it was, and never pressed forward with any continuation of the story - I will admit, I sometimes still feel curious about how, exactly, such a continuation could possibly play out.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Other Random Thoughts</b></u></span><br />
I never really had intentions of wanting to see VAMPIRE GIRL adapted into animation, however, every now and then, what few people have looked at it (mostly friends) have asked me who would I consider providing the voices of the characters . . . I do think about that from time to time, and I do believe I have in mind what my ideal voice cast would be:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Nika Futterman as Levana</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Kat Cressida as Laura</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Michael Dorn as Vampire Hunter</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Rob Paulsen as Goofy Idiot Sidekick</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
John Byner as The Wizard</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Tom Kane as Dr. Charmin</div><div style="text-align: center;">(Although Tom Kane has since endured a stroke and unable to do voice work anymore) <br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1odduc0cso8SKKN8TyoTlz2f9DkvMmkRuWMfKTSz1yvXVaUKFFV6WLkSUpgs_KSM8HZCSmndegkFvmnZ2PJbw-tfMliTSP7ilnB-L4SDVeEX0KwIGfgkWqg0agkgd2oSBPx6rtuoNEDL/s2048/519a65ef9db6887c.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ1odduc0cso8SKKN8TyoTlz2f9DkvMmkRuWMfKTSz1yvXVaUKFFV6WLkSUpgs_KSM8HZCSmndegkFvmnZ2PJbw-tfMliTSP7ilnB-L4SDVeEX0KwIGfgkWqg0agkgd2oSBPx6rtuoNEDL/w200-h200/519a65ef9db6887c.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>That being said, I have had thoughts about it being adapted into a live action short - maybe even with Steve D'Monster serving as the storyteller . . . although I have absolutely no idea who would be ideal to play each of the characters, the app Artbreeder has actually given me a pretty interesting idea of what a live action Levana could possibly look like, which blows me away.<br />
<br />
Last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic was really peaking during its first wave, particularly in the U.S. where it was treated more like a political opinion than an actual threat to people's health and safety, I ended up utilizing the cast of characters in a couple of P.S.A. comics as it were, and although I had no intentions of actually rebooting the comic as a whole, I did have a few other brief little set-ups, gags, and jokes pop into my mind at the time as well, which resulted in these few little random strips I did, samples of which you can see here:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqtPA6EkecU5T1yd4-AU_gCmH_s91soURpP9QgFkPmewD20vUEZDLLQkDzk5u3VcDXeSy7tTEQXiiV_xmX_SJUTNDZgEK9KIsmKAr-sM3qWG2UXIRKg-8utou2ROUiGI7izO0dXL7Goz5/s1600/covidcomic1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="1600" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqtPA6EkecU5T1yd4-AU_gCmH_s91soURpP9QgFkPmewD20vUEZDLLQkDzk5u3VcDXeSy7tTEQXiiV_xmX_SJUTNDZgEK9KIsmKAr-sM3qWG2UXIRKg-8utou2ROUiGI7izO0dXL7Goz5/s400/covidcomic1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">COVID Comic A</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwtRYgwQS5qlCPpfD_ynuP0eL0apfXJ62XM2jdDFaLYni9qvM7fjSRegHjp1rvSk8nR-VU7m88Nk0yZExIV4vNjF61CqFGhlH0fPzbPeW3SYme1W8ccjk-jhh1QWs6WCBDAh2TWMsNn4m/s1600/covidcomic2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="632" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwtRYgwQS5qlCPpfD_ynuP0eL0apfXJ62XM2jdDFaLYni9qvM7fjSRegHjp1rvSk8nR-VU7m88Nk0yZExIV4vNjF61CqFGhlH0fPzbPeW3SYme1W8ccjk-jhh1QWs6WCBDAh2TWMsNn4m/s640/covidcomic2.jpg" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">COVID Comic B</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxIMfQOVaWxgQttA7L_R4HTS_Qp5pjdxVfVv2w90AMjbZ26A8msv1NSJhy2BItpUIFsL4_9137kuKliixRoA28XC_MTQlszBkmtR9cZOygcT6_eVoDaOQo5G113vXDwZiXfhBBOijWg3c/s1600/vampiregirllucy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="1600" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDxIMfQOVaWxgQttA7L_R4HTS_Qp5pjdxVfVv2w90AMjbZ26A8msv1NSJhy2BItpUIFsL4_9137kuKliixRoA28XC_MTQlszBkmtR9cZOygcT6_eVoDaOQo5G113vXDwZiXfhBBOijWg3c/s400/vampiregirllucy.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Crossover That Nobody Asked For<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmbcdFl0sQrfO9E6eoMITy_AXDOHR81tQs661dQnIioeZwyiPg30rzsRW26eHnV-8Xnncz05LMd4r-5fEjC25NzouWXuKirLr9ggZ8F6BmJNd7zKR0DF0tTwDV4nusX7tZeke8sCG_wcc/s1600/vampiregirlpositivenegative.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="744" data-original-width="800" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmbcdFl0sQrfO9E6eoMITy_AXDOHR81tQs661dQnIioeZwyiPg30rzsRW26eHnV-8Xnncz05LMd4r-5fEjC25NzouWXuKirLr9ggZ8F6BmJNd7zKR0DF0tTwDV4nusX7tZeke8sCG_wcc/s400/vampiregirlpositivenegative.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Positive Negative</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsABeKYrxGfQVGIQFT8gpw-gkcvHZI4tFNZhxANBO8OKbdm_AsPN9gHLlpVsMEbyFC0NRw8ZY3QICfNvXjPxb5AQ68SLhhu4f-x90GMZdprfLQGc-928MbS2gtCYlLo-uZWx9fCLXm0y04/s1600/vampiregirlvitamind.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsABeKYrxGfQVGIQFT8gpw-gkcvHZI4tFNZhxANBO8OKbdm_AsPN9gHLlpVsMEbyFC0NRw8ZY3QICfNvXjPxb5AQ68SLhhu4f-x90GMZdprfLQGc-928MbS2gtCYlLo-uZWx9fCLXm0y04/s400/vampiregirlvitamind.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's All About the Vitamins</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxzviy3CGmv1JxYPJQGDn3634scmUyYsB3h5PG9WaRSqZGAJv4LtU3u8ZnprdFrFVkRYNWKykfGT1zRviUUNaN2_PX-AUxFLn9-xxbryhtelY93CYNL7tMMc2qCxGLjwuonDkPZJ39eyG/s1600/vampiregirlpolice.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1600" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxzviy3CGmv1JxYPJQGDn3634scmUyYsB3h5PG9WaRSqZGAJv4LtU3u8ZnprdFrFVkRYNWKykfGT1zRviUUNaN2_PX-AUxFLn9-xxbryhtelY93CYNL7tMMc2qCxGLjwuonDkPZJ39eyG/s400/vampiregirlpolice.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hang in There, Baby</td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>
<br />
So, there you have it: the story behind VAMPIRE GIRL on this day of its 10th anniversary. I would welcome you to browse the archive of the comic, but you can't do that anymore: As of late 2019,
Smack Jeeves has been bought out by another company, and basically, their
entire server has been completely overhauled and redesigned, which has
effectively killed the web comics that were being hosted on their
server, including VAMPIRE GIRL, so I decided to just completely delete
the comic altogether, so it's no longer online or available for viewing.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdMJbEknLV9p7kplAAfGzwNbSygWX59-3HYp1oP5q8dvnC8roCA52UYQmM2XsREVy4l8cR1bRpMweMQcUvBfZrjlnMc0HZ_fBB8Hs0qx_rYPOcc57-zz0eCPeZ8E28XxnS_ZhTim_3Zrd/s2892/vgbehindthescenes.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="2892" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbdMJbEknLV9p7kplAAfGzwNbSygWX59-3HYp1oP5q8dvnC8roCA52UYQmM2XsREVy4l8cR1bRpMweMQcUvBfZrjlnMc0HZ_fBB8Hs0qx_rYPOcc57-zz0eCPeZ8E28XxnS_ZhTim_3Zrd/w400-h150/vgbehindthescenes.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behind-the-scenes<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p></div>Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-68433066898747479212021-08-22T15:05:00.006-04:002021-08-22T23:13:01.774-04:00A Complete Creative Breakdown: Why I've Canceled MORON LEAGUE 4<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoJx8l6dnzjiB2957zuKmB4jIwFBLOLbJ_1GSai2Bn1JJR0CUkrTJzpB61H3oWZtZ6dselftJTtUtzcxjk27l7KKmVWiBmhnP4VIBz5MQM8xhM19ZhE_DB3amJQYjJvUHfGTd25PFhGEZb/s2048/E8Ed8o6XMAQPz0y.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoJx8l6dnzjiB2957zuKmB4jIwFBLOLbJ_1GSai2Bn1JJR0CUkrTJzpB61H3oWZtZ6dselftJTtUtzcxjk27l7KKmVWiBmhnP4VIBz5MQM8xhM19ZhE_DB3amJQYjJvUHfGTd25PFhGEZb/s320/E8Ed8o6XMAQPz0y.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I really do hate this, because this seems to happen far more often than it really should, and I get so frustrated when I have to frequently inform people that a project that I've been working on and they've been looking forward to will not see the light of day after all - but what's especially bothersome is that this wasn't just any project I was working on, this was a <i>huge</i> project that's already been over <i>three years</i> in the making, and one that I was hoping would achieve more beyond its expectations . . . I'm speaking of, of course, MORON LEAGUE 4: the biggest, most elaborate, and most spectacular entry in the series to date.<p></p><p></p><p>What was supposed to be so spectacular about MORON LEAGUE 4? Well, if you've seen the previous MORON LEAGUE entries, you'll note how incredibly shoddy and cheesy they were . . . now, don't get me wrong, of course MORON LEAGUE 4 was still going to be incredibly cheesy - after all, this isn't exactly cinematic gold or anything (not to mention the inspirational material that MORON LEAGUE pays homage to), but part of the reason why the previous entries were cheesy and shoddy was because of such limited tools I had to work with at the time. The first two were shot in a linear manner on videotape with hardly much editing involved in post-production at all, since it's not entirely easy to edit videotape footage on a computer with only a less-than-basic program like Windows Movie Maker to work with; MORON LEAGUE 3 was shot digitally, albeit with a basic consumer digital camera that had a function for shooting video in standard definition. Since then, I have been able to obtain much better tools to work with, namely an HD camera for filming, and Adobe Premiere for editing, so technically speaking, MORON LEAGUE 4 was certainly going to be a step up from previous entries; I had every intention of making MORON LEAGUE 4 as visually interesting as possible.</p><p>The unfortunate thing is MORON LEAGUE 4 was a troubled production from the start, and for a multitude of different reasons. . . .</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE93jC3GYm-0wj-V5WS9KupyNMlIOoFduwRW5bMtmXGlDjmWSbxktupCOYejz5KeEsW4t1SZSlmHg9bqEpmaXLe_CKzW0jyDlvwHMgb5JP1e-0xxrxNUMNT-uwC55HAmNU7yS57L2qiySZ/s1824/44383285_2255098541387612_3108421424440672256_n.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1368" data-original-width="1824" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE93jC3GYm-0wj-V5WS9KupyNMlIOoFduwRW5bMtmXGlDjmWSbxktupCOYejz5KeEsW4t1SZSlmHg9bqEpmaXLe_CKzW0jyDlvwHMgb5JP1e-0xxrxNUMNT-uwC55HAmNU7yS57L2qiySZ/s320/44383285_2255098541387612_3108421424440672256_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Archive photo of partial set for the "new" Moron<br />Headquarters inside an old, abandoned<br />convenience store.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>For starters, unlike previous entries which only had some incredibly simplistic sets (or, in the case of the original, no sets whatsoever), MORON LEAGUE 4 had some rather elaborate and intricate sets . . . and therein laid one of the problems. The sets had to be constructed in such a way that they could be dismantled into pieces to allow for changes in camera positions and set-ups as dictated by the script - that wasn't the problem so much as it was that these sets were small scale, which made it incredible difficult to adequately and efficiently puppeteer the figures and characters within the confines of these tiny little sets - not to mention the smallness of the sets were also incredibly challenging to frame in ways to make them look good on camera - this is where the cheesy factor was coming into play, regardless of how well the sets looked to the human eye, somehow the HD camera only emphasized how cheesy they looked. This is also another reason why canceling MORON LEAGUE 4 is hurting so much . . . believe it or not, I ended up spending a <i>lot</i> of money out of pocket on constructing these sets: over $200! Yes, between materials needed to actually construct the sets, as well as procuring necessary items and props for set decorating, it all ended up running over $200, making this, without a doubt, my most expensive production to date . . . so, to cancel it feels essentially like I just threw that money out the window. It also didn't help that because of how poorly the economy had been doing for the past several years, I would keep running out of money at various points during pre-production, so that accounts for one of the reasons why the entire process of the production was being prolonged, delayed, and interrupted.<p></p><p>Delays and interruptions also brings us to another reason why this seemed to be a doomed production from the start: because this particular entry had a number of characters appearing within, this one was going to require the addition of other voice actors to play the characters . . . and certain voice actors I'd bring on would eventually drop out of the project altogether, putting me in the difficult position of having to find replacements; at least some would have the courtesy of providing me with notice as to why they would be bowing out the project, but others not so much. This was, perhaps, one of the biggest headaches of this production - it's not that I couldn't do all of the voices myself like I had previously, it's just that after a while, all of my voices start sounding the same, so I really wanted to avoid it again this time around . . . I would still be voicing each of the Nerdlucks, but the other characters would be voiced by other actors.<br /></p><p>There were also other complications that arose making this such a troubling production, including what has been, perhaps, the most perplexing problem, and that was location scouting for exterior filming. Again, with this being an HD production, and this being the biggest MORON LEAGUE entry yet, I really wanted this to be such a visual improvement over previous entries, and since the script called for certain scenes to take place outdoors, I would go location scouting to try to find a most adequate spot where such filming could take place . . . unfortunately, this is where Google Maps would fail me. I would use Google Maps to scout out certain locations that looked as though they would provide the perfect backdrop for the exterior shooting, and then I would physically visit these locations to figure out where I could set the stage, so-to-speak, how I could position it within the location to look good on camera, and even figure out what would be the best time to film based on the position of the sun in the sky for adequate lighting. Alas, because Google Maps would not have recent updates for these locations in their Street View, I would be unaware that the locations I would scout would turn out to have been fenced off, have new structures added, or be inundated with Private Property and No Trespassing signs since Google Maps had last photographed these locations until I physically visited the locations myself. You're probably thinking if I had already spent so much time, effort, and <i>money</i> constructing miniature interior sets for the production, why couldn't I just construct such an exterior set that would suit my needs for filming? Well, I could have . . . but again, with this being an HD production and a step above previous MORON LEAGUE entries, I wanted to bring a certain amount of cinematic scope to the production.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2zxzNszZbQ_4kTIh40MvwuiAEMpC6sjNNyVDui17mWg6khDsWFG-_ikU3ZvoX2kPW3ryUVaRizbJWJJtTGJiOM_kL2ToOkm_YlKkIIMrX1PYF8H1GvzWMD_r-snF8ib6ThiFCSuND4Y8/s1024/203405551_3021846021379523_7179875629162076100_n.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ2zxzNszZbQ_4kTIh40MvwuiAEMpC6sjNNyVDui17mWg6khDsWFG-_ikU3ZvoX2kPW3ryUVaRizbJWJJtTGJiOM_kL2ToOkm_YlKkIIMrX1PYF8H1GvzWMD_r-snF8ib6ThiFCSuND4Y8/s320/203405551_3021846021379523_7179875629162076100_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Promotional poster noting <br />MORON LEAGUE 4's release date <br />as being July 23, 2021 - a week <br />after the release of SPACE JAM 2: <br />A NEW LEGACY<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>MORON LEAGUE 4 was, perhaps, going to be my first production that was almost like an actual movie . . . and in hindsight, I think I may have bitten off more than I could chew with it. I first began the project in 2017 when it was announced that the SPACE JAM sequel, which was previously rumored to only be an elaborate hoax (which MORON LEAGUE 3 was taking a jab at), was indeed real and happening, and when it was announced that it would be released in 2021, that's when I had planned of having MORON LEAGUE 4 completed and ready to release - preferably at least within a week of the release of SPACE JAM 2: A NEW LEGACY, because I just knew that the timing of the release would help generate a much-needed boost in traffic to my YouTube channel (and I can see, based on my current channel analytics that previous MORON LEAGUE entries have seen spikes in clicks and views). That's a period of time spanning over three years, so surely I would have been able to actually complete the project within that amount of time with a lot of breathing room, wouldn't I? Well, you'd think. I first wrote the script sometime in 2017, and the fragmented production first began in the fall of 2018 . . . during that time, MORON LEAGUE 4 gradually dropped down my priority list, mostly due to the above-mentioned complications (running out of money, losing voice actors, location scouting difficulties, the challenges in camera set-ups, etc.), but also partly due to the fact that given the expansive window of time, other projects would crop up that would divert my attention away from the production of MORON LEAGUE 4 . . . and, if I'm being perfectly honestly, whenever these new projects would crop up, my interest in MORON LEAGUE 4 would drop considerably. <p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCMw9xSi3Dy9RJYvttvd-v8e7oXfxNLWlAsTX12dPRIx2nulrYVNwJoPJ0pOE1ynlEC8IDZn_b0mmdJPgzZTekWLRZazWl0Q8TUATCHipNzJro7OrjwpCALwAZfqbWyFV0J35uybi2T6m/s1000/i-want-to-work-new-project-on-that-oh-proj-59070552.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkCMw9xSi3Dy9RJYvttvd-v8e7oXfxNLWlAsTX12dPRIx2nulrYVNwJoPJ0pOE1ynlEC8IDZn_b0mmdJPgzZTekWLRZazWl0Q8TUATCHipNzJro7OrjwpCALwAZfqbWyFV0J35uybi2T6m/s320/i-want-to-work-new-project-on-that-oh-proj-59070552.png" width="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meme imitating art<br />imitating life<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>What can I say? I have commitment issues with my own work: I find I can't work on the same project for too long because I eventually lose interest altogether in the project because of the extended length of time it ends up taking to try to complete the project . . . so much work with very little results over a long period of time - this is exactly why, after I dabbled in animation for a couple of years, I realized it was a medium that was not for me (which is why I also maintain the highest respect for animators who have the willpower and patience to stick with it out their very passion for it). All of this and more is what lead to my final decision to cancel the production altogether: I ended up finally suffering from a complete creative breakdown . . . after working on this one single project for over three years, producing minimal results each time, and just how frustrating, complicated, and difficult the actual filming process was, I just finally broke down - I just couldn't go on with it any longer. I actually trashed the specific set I was still filming in at the time of my breakdown (which, admittedly, wasn't a total loss, because the script called for this particular set to be trashed anyway with Blanko flying the Moron Airship directly into it). As I said, in hindsight, I believe I ended up biting off way more than I could chew . . . this was probably going to be an entire half-hour production produced from a 30-page script with well over 140 different shots and cuts . . . I know that doesn't seem like much from a major production perspective, but for just one person, it was overwhelming, and I just didn't have the drive, stamina, or energy to go on any further - especially after I had already missed my July 23, 2021 deadline anyway.<br /><p></p><p>Now, that's not to say that I'm just throwing out all that I have already accomplished with MORON LEAGUE 4 altogether (especially not the sets that I spent so much time, energy, and <i>money</i> on constructing); everything is being meticulously archived for safekeeping, from the sets that were constructed, to the actual camera footage that's been shot (nearly half of the script had been filmed), and even a blooper reel that was being compiled. Does this mean there may be a glimmer of hope that maybe, one day, I may change my mind and try to resume completing the project one day in the future? Sure, there's hope, but I would not hold my breath . . . still, that doesn't necessarily mean my mind may not be changed. After all, once upon a time, I was enthusiastic about the project, and wanted to see it towards its completion - even in spite of my breakdown, I felt compelled to pick myself up, dust myself off, and get back up on the horse and try to push through and still finish this thing before the year is over . . . unfortunately, that enthusiasm fizzled out over the period of time it was taking to produce this, thanks largely in part to all of the complications and stumbling blocks that arose. What can I say? I certainly suffer for my art.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0bSsJIook7Zr0sFzebUDvDf48UJ72ezjZE6niaUkEeJb4JW0csbclyey5uHGaBM8d250rDi50kxvCrjcQWJUHAh7yIABwH2q3PZ-UvBAwvDSG9kH92w2en4-w3-syfc_YqhSwKpJv3rL/s1440/224803473_3048587195372072_199643204485917602_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq0bSsJIook7Zr0sFzebUDvDf48UJ72ezjZE6niaUkEeJb4JW0csbclyey5uHGaBM8d250rDi50kxvCrjcQWJUHAh7yIABwH2q3PZ-UvBAwvDSG9kH92w2en4-w3-syfc_YqhSwKpJv3rL/s320/224803473_3048587195372072_199643204485917602_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spoiler alert: Bupkus got a promotion in<br />MORON LEAGUE 4<br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-34189099939433712692020-06-09T12:03:00.001-04:002020-06-09T12:03:31.377-04:00YouTube Puppets Have Cabin FeverDuring this corona-virus pandemic, it's important to do your part in stopping the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible, including staying at home and sheltering in place . . . of course, that's not to say that doing such isn't without its cons and downsides as well - namely, when cabin fever starts setting in, as our YouTube puppet pals have become all too familiar with in a brand-new sing-along!<br />
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In addition to Steve, you can always check out his other puppet pals on their respective YouTube channels as well!<br />
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A Company of Fools (by Tai Jackson):<br />
https://www.youtube.com/UCmO_sNCJ_cXVeBYEoJOeDMg<br />
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The Vaudeville Puppets (by Peter A. Cancilla):<br />
https://www.youtube.com/Vaudevillepictures<br />
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Muley the Mule (by Kevin L. Williams):<br />
https://www.youtube.com/kevinmuleJoseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-7071065586932287492020-06-07T11:00:00.000-04:002020-07-02T13:31:09.070-04:00The Crossover That Nobody Asked ForThe last thing a girl who doesn't want to be a vampire needs is to spend time with a girl who does want to be a vampire.<br />
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<br />Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-54543915555643657762020-05-31T11:00:00.000-04:002020-07-02T13:30:39.178-04:00Another Covid ComicWhen people's lives are a stake, you can deal with the minor annoyance and inconvenience of having to wear a mask in public.<br />
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Just to set the record straight, I am not rebooting the comic, it's just occurred to me that this particular cast of characters are quite well-suited to offer up social commentary on our current Corona-virus pandemic.<br />
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Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-54574152749785996962020-05-24T11:00:00.000-04:002020-07-02T13:29:26.640-04:00COVID ComicWhether this current virus situation does or doesn't have any affect on
you or your loved ones . . . just show a little kindness, a little
caring, and a little compassion for everyone.<br />
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Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-8498780102813854062019-11-24T12:22:00.002-05:002019-11-24T12:24:10.430-05:00My Unfinished Thoughts on the Possible Death of YouTube<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMA11myTXzA21hTox7-X2NUiXXNCHLLxjuKWVd1TYwBdaBs1Y16gg32b_sPuVOagCicnfNBATYXDeuP2W_XEW287X1kfEfVaE2VvRmNSdfPpdthlbYqYIR4g_cswZzRmFJO0kMGHgprrV/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMA11myTXzA21hTox7-X2NUiXXNCHLLxjuKWVd1TYwBdaBs1Y16gg32b_sPuVOagCicnfNBATYXDeuP2W_XEW287X1kfEfVaE2VvRmNSdfPpdthlbYqYIR4g_cswZzRmFJO0kMGHgprrV/s320/maxresdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This is one of those Unfinished Thoughts entries that actually lives up to its name, because these thoughts of mine really are unfinished . . . I am completely unsure of what I should do in regards to the big news concerning YouTube that I'm sure most of you have probably already heard about by now.<br />
<br />
The brief rundown of all of this is as follows: YouTube has been found to be in violation of COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act), and as such, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has not only fined them $170,000,000 for their infraction, they're ordering sweeping changes made to the entire site, and said changes are going to have a tremendous effect on everybody who uses the site - especially the creators and producers: namely, each and every single video on YouTube must now be labeled as "made for kids" or "not made for kids."<br />
<br />
That doesn't sound like it would be too big of a deal, except that it is: for one thing, if you label your videos as "made for kids," then you, as a YouTuber, will lose a number of basic features and functions that help you build your channel and connect with your audience, such as comments, your subscribers receiving notifications about new videos, your videos being shared and showing up in recommended columns, the ability to add your videos to play lists, and for many YouTubers - monetization. It seems like the simple thing to do would be to just label your videos "not made for kids" to avoid losing such features, right? Not exactly: YouTube will also be implementing an internal, computerized system that will detect if your videos is, indeed, "made for kids" (as in utilizing any kind of kid-friendly audio/visual footage, or basically any content the system perceives to be kid-friendly), and if they detect your videos are made for kids, but not labeled as such, you will face a fine of over $42,000<i> per video</i> for "abusing the system."<br />
<br />
Naturally, a lot of the big-time YouTubers are panicking over this, because if their content is deemed kid-friendly, then they are going to lose a lot of revenue, as one of the conditions of these new changes is they can no longer customize the ads on their content. This part, obviously, means nothing to me since I've never monetized my YouTube content (I can't anyway - you have to have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers, and your content having a minimum of 4,000 hours of watch time in the previous twelve months, neither of which I ever have) . . . but, my channel will still be affected by this in less than savory ways, and it has me concerned about what the best route to take possible is.<br />
<br />
One of the main reasons why this is so concerning is that I've never made any of my content specifically to appeal to kids, nor specifically to not appeal to kids; my content is made for any and every body who wants to take a look and enjoy . . . under these changes though, I'm going to have to decide whether or not my content is "made for kids" or "not made for kids." Taking everything into consideration, there are a number of options that I could go with, but the problem is every option has its share of drawbacks as well . . . basically, the idea is seeing which option has the least unappealing drawbacks. Here's what I am looking at and considering as far as these options are concerned:<br />
<br />
<h3>
<u><b>If I Choose To Stay On YouTube</b></u></h3>
<u>Option 1</u><br />
<ul>
<li>Since I never make content specifically for kids, I can mark my channel, or even my individual videos are "not made for kids," this way, I don't lose any of the above-mentioned basic functions a small channel needs to try to survive.</li>
<li>Drawback: My content obviously looks as if it would appeal to kids, with most of it being puppetry (and the stigma that puppets are for kids); many videos include kid-friendly songs; and MORON LEAGUE would be directly affected, as they feature toys from kids movies and other properties (which specifically falls under "made for kids" according to the new system) . . . this could result in me being fined, and I certainly don't have that kind of money.</li>
</ul>
<u>Option 2</u><br />
<ul>
<li>As noted, it's obvious that my content looks like it would appeal to kids, so I could play it safe, go ahead and label my channel and content as "made for kids," so that way, there's far less risk of being fined for possible mislabeling.</li>
<li>Drawback: Again, in doing so, I'd basically lose a number of basic YouTube functions that would actually bring in any kind of traffic to my channel and videos.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
<u>If I Choose To Go An Alternate Route</u></h3>
<u>Option 1</u><br />
<ul>
<li>There <i>are</i> alternatives to YouTube out there, many of which are reputable and reliable, such as Dailymotion, Veoh, Vimeo, and others; some are even start-up websites that try to emulate classic YouTube, such as ZippCast, UploadSociety, and others. I could very easily migrate my content to any of these outlets, and start building up an audience again from there.</li>
<li>Drawback 1: The reputable sources like Dailymotion, Veoh, and Vimeo have their share of limitations that YouTube has long done away with, such as time limits, and file size limits - both of which would affect certain videos of mine.</li>
<li>Drawback 2: I actually have tried other sources like ZippCast and UploadSociety before, but unfortunately, because it's clear they're trying to emulate classic YouTube, they're often shut down repeatedly by Google's spies. Not only that, but because they try to emulate classic YouTube, the video playback on many of them only go up to 480p.</li>
</ul>
<u>Option 2</u><br />
<ul>
<li>I could go the route James Rolfe did with Cinemassacre, or Doug Walker with ThatGuyWithTheGlasses, and launch my own website to showcase my content, though I still would need a source to host my videos on so they can be embedded on the site.</li>
<li>Drawback: Having to register a domain, and not only paying for that, but also paying for web space, bandwidth.</li>
</ul>
<br />
It seems to me the easiest and most logical option for me to take is to just label my content as "kid friendly," lose all of those basic features, and just let my channel die . . . YouTube has already been doing all it can to kill my and other small channels across the platform since about 2013, why continue to prolong the slow, agonizing death any further?<br />
<br />
Supposedly, a number of YouTubers (many with their own lawyers) have been converging on D.C., and speaking to the FTC about how this will be affecting us, and supposedly, the FTC <i>is</i> listening and considering looking into other ways of handling the situation that would be far less severely harmful to YouTubers . . . maybe we'll see something happen in the final hour before all of this goes into affect, but I'm not going to hold my breath about it. <br />
<ul>
</ul>
Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-54043117090987463742019-11-04T12:00:00.000-05:002019-11-10T22:49:44.182-05:00YouTube Puppets Celebrating Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It isn't just simply amazing that 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the most iconic children's educational series in television history, but the fact that Sesame Street themselves encouraged fans across the world to join in on the celebration made it all the more special.<br />
<br />
It's no secret that SESAME STREET has had a huge influence on me, mainly because of Jim Henson's Muppets, but clearly, other puppeteers out there have been inspired and influenced by Sesame and the Muppets for decades, thanks to Henson practically reinventing the art of puppetry as we know it. Ever since I and so many others started using YouTube as a platform to share our own work in puppetry with virtual audiences, some of us have expressed interest in doing collaboration videos that would combine our various different acts and characters into a single, fun project . . . unfortunately that wasn't a logistical possibility for many of us - particularly way back in the earlier years of our YouTube channels, when the tools many of us had were not that great (I certainly wasn't capable of chromakey or any similar visual effects).<br />
<br />
But, as the years have passed, and a lot of us have, indeed, gotten better tools, better equipment, and have developed better sensibilities, the possibility of us collaborating on such a project had a higher likelihood - and with this being SESAME STREET's 50th anniversary, what better project to collaborate on than having our various characters get together for a sing-along of one the street's most treasured songs?<br />
<br />
What you see here is not just Steve D'Monster, but other notable YouTube puppets such as Peter A. Cancilla's Allegra Longfellow and Professor Monster Johnson, Clyde Monster from Tai Jackson's A COMPANY OF FOOLS, Kevin L. Williams's Muley the Mule, Tim Kelly's Zook & Max, Marcelo R. Bottaro's new character Raspberry, and Matt (a.k.a. SchfiftyThree)'s pal Mike, singing along to the Joe Raposo classic, "Sing."<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CCSESi-vE3M" width="560"></iframe></center>
<br />
Don't forget to take the time to check out everybody's YouTube channels for yourselves; we could all use some subscribers!<br />
<br />
Marcelo R. Bottaro (Marcelo Bottaro Cartoons):<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/MarceloRBottaro">http://www.youtube.com/MarceloRBottaro</a><br />
<br />
Peter A. Cancilla (Vaudeville Pictures):<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/Vaudevillepictures">http://www.youtube.com/Vaudevillepictures</a><br />
<br />
Tai Jackson (A Company of Fools):<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/UCmO_sNCJ_cXVeBYEoJOeDMg">http://www.youtube.com/UCmO_sNCJ_cXVeBYEoJOeDMg</a><br />
<br />
Tim Kelly:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/timkelly">http://www.youtube.com/timkelly</a><br />
<br />
Matt AKA SchfiftyThree:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/MattAKASchfiftyThree">http://www.youtube.com/MattAKASchfiftyThree</a><br />
<br />
Kevin L. Williams:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/kevinmule">http://www.youtube.com/kevinmule</a><br />
<br />
Happy 50th anniversary, SESAME STREET! Thank you for your decades of service and education to generations of children, the young-at-heart, and of course us puppeteers!Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-8580407802911219422019-09-14T15:33:00.000-04:002019-11-04T19:08:19.590-05:00My Unfinished Thoughts on No Nourishment in Entertainment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyd-LBpGZXKjR8r4AMYB01wKp-RHec0izzbsq4A4co3Yjut6rcUTNGfC9YDEOq7vwL4YACGmwRM23mivlLsjnLbcx1LNORg_VZz9XIOJZdfpRSZTKPDWlrOzh16MpL1lLCfgr-9CE2l8hf/s1600/martin-scorsese-9476727-1-402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyd-LBpGZXKjR8r4AMYB01wKp-RHec0izzbsq4A4co3Yjut6rcUTNGfC9YDEOq7vwL4YACGmwRM23mivlLsjnLbcx1LNORg_VZz9XIOJZdfpRSZTKPDWlrOzh16MpL1lLCfgr-9CE2l8hf/s320/martin-scorsese-9476727-1-402.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Almost everything in this day and age of being hurry-hurry-hurry, rush-rush-rush, faster-faster-faster, there's something crucial that's getting lost in that hustle and bustle of having everything in an instant. In listening to an interview that he did with SIDE BY SIDE, renowned filmmaker Martin Scorsese brings up a very interesting point that I believe really hits the nail on the head:<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"The danger, especially in our culture, is that cheaper, faster is consumed, bang, goes away. There's no nourishment."</i><br />
<br />
I may be a so-called "Millennial," but even I remember a time growing up in which when a new movie would be released, it would stay in the theaters for several weeks - sometimes a couple of months, or even longer - if it was a movie you really enjoyed, you could see it more than once . . . and, of course, there's also the communal aspect of seeing a movie with other people, it brings you together in an experience of enjoyment and entertainment. Afterwards, it could be a year or even longer before that movie would be released on home video, but it would always be worth the wait. Fast-forward to today, where a movie may last only a week or so in a theater (maybe up to a month if it's particularly a box-office smash), then released on DVD a couple of months later, then that's it. That's all, folks!<br />
<br />
Aside from the fact that almost everything produced in the world of mainstream entertainment today is rotten content anyway (remember, this is just an opinion piece), after listening to Scorsese's point, I really believe he's got a grasp of why it's so hard to really get into any new movie, or even TV show or episodic series in this day and age: it comes and goes so quickly, it leaves behind something of a void where you find yourself still wanting more . . . and no, I don't mean wanting more in terms of an endless string of sequels and franchising (that's another problem we can discuss another day). I would dare say this is one of the major problems with streaming services like Netflix or Hulu, releasing all of the new episodes of a new series at once: it's like pigging out at an all-you-can-eat buffet, without even really savoring what you're consuming.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgID2RbkEZ7Juyl0W9ne_tQypbhFhNtJKqbMhm-8_QKNvUSy0UUCMDg6V2RYguZORYitV3V1erz7-fZng2VaGOMGgozvX_FtyOa6P5sgbfqzuiuenrOaZFsRLFzi-wAt3UzAvaM-Z336pam/s1600/George_Lucas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="963" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgID2RbkEZ7Juyl0W9ne_tQypbhFhNtJKqbMhm-8_QKNvUSy0UUCMDg6V2RYguZORYitV3V1erz7-fZng2VaGOMGgozvX_FtyOa6P5sgbfqzuiuenrOaZFsRLFzi-wAt3UzAvaM-Z336pam/s320/George_Lucas.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
Other filmmakers, on the other hand, disagree with Scorsese's sentiment, and even feel that the age of having everything in an instant is actually a great advantage. George Lucas, one of the biggest and most influential filmmakers of all time, responsible for the STAR WARS franchise, among other ground-breaking films since the 1970s, also shared his thoughts with SIDE BY SIDE in regards the age of film-making we live in now:<br />
<br />
<i>"We have gone from a presentation in a presentation venue, where it's presented to you, and/or it's hyped in your home at a particular place, at a particular time [ . . . ] It's kind of a presentation way of looking at things. We're not in that world anymore. Now we're in the world of you can have anything you want whenever you want, and it's like a supermarket [ . . . ] How do you get the shelf space? Because there's another thousand movies every week that look exactly like your movie, how do you stand out from all those other things?"</i><br />
<br />
All of this taken into consideration could also be something that's applied to the current state of YouTube. Yes, yes, I know, I know -- I keep ranting about YouTube like a broken record, but hear me out on this one, because this is one aspect of YouTube that I haven't necessarily discussed in greater detail on Scarblog before. . . . Much like what's become of mainstream entertainment, YouTube is no longer the place for the little guys who want to create and produce their own, original, quality content for the world to see as it was when it started out; YouTube is no longer in the world of small-time filmmakers and content creators like James Rolfe or Terence Krey - YouTube is in the world of trends and the zeitgeist. Whenever you look on YouTube, almost all of the videos you see being promoted and postured on the homepage are vlogs or some sort: gaming, make-up tutorials, drive-thru escapades, equipment reviews, and the like. On top of that, the so-called "experts" of YouTube seem to think they have it all figured out: the best way to thrive on YouTube is the make as many videos as you can, and not only in a short amount of time, but the shorter the actual videos are, the better . . . and, to a certain extent, this is sadly true. As Lucas pointed out, it's a lot like supermarket shelf space: YouTube has become a sea vlogs that you can hardly tell apart at a glance, and in order to get noticed, you have to crank out as many short videos as you can to keep up with the Joneses. This is where Scorsese's point also comes into play: because of this, there's really no nourishment . . . <i>and</i> because of this, certain YouTubers like myself have been hurt by this shift in mindset.<br />
<br />
Getting back to the point I made about the so-called YouTube "experts," there really is some truth to what they say - to the point that YouTube, in recent years, has further hindered the growth of smaller channels in many internal ways: for instance, if they perceive a channel isn't "active" (as in they don't upload at least one new video a week), they perceive said channel to be "dead," and will do one or both of two things: 1. Automatically disable/de-activate the subscribers' notifications, or 2. Automatically un-subscribe them altogether. This makes it hard for smaller channels that actually take the time to create quality content to maintain an audience, because again, it doesn't fall in line with this world of needing supermarket shelf space, and to churn out as much content as you can to get and keep that shelf space in a sea of other similar content creators. This puts people like me at a disadvantage; being an artist who maintains an artistic channel, people don't take into consideration the old saying: "you can't rush art." And you can't. Although it may not seem like it, even some of my shortest videos (four minutes or less) can take a surprisingly long time to put together: sometimes even weeks . . . and as such, it's nearly impossible to create and upload this kind of content on such a regular basis . . . so what ends up happening? We don't get the shelf space, we fall by the wayside, and we get swept up. Try explaining this to the so-called "experts" who keep telling you, "you need to make more videos more frequently." As Will Smith once put it in regards to parents, back in his Fresh Prince days: they just don't understand.<br />
<br />
It fascinates me to see how sometimes the world of mainstream entertainment can also apply to something like YouTube, and how you can see the parallels between the two. That being said, however, while I can see the angle that Lucas is coming from from a business aspect (and even Scorsese agrees with that sentiment), I feel inclined to side more with Scorsese in terms of the art of film-making suffering from a lack of nourishment, which the consumer world doesn't even seem to miss anymore in this day and age of having what you want, when you want it, then it goes away.Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-9054444849979398502019-09-06T18:00:00.000-04:002019-09-06T18:00:03.988-04:00Steve Drug PSAAh, yes . . . drug P.S.A.s. With their heavy-handed messages, as well as their vivid, memory-etching images, sometimes it makes you wonder if the people behind those P.S.A.s weren't ingesting a little something as well. Well, as Steve is about to demonstrate . . . that could very well be the case:<br />
<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hBRLZKImCUs" width="560"></iframe></center>
Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-58367952966379818932019-08-12T11:50:00.000-04:002019-08-12T11:50:16.076-04:00Steve's Second Live Stream Much BetterSteve's 15th anniversary live stream went really, really well - so well, in fact, that it ended up lasting nearly<i> two hours</i>! I honestly wasn't prepared or expecting it to go on so long - by the time it was over and I removed Steve, my entire arm was red and sore! I'm sure part of the reason for the better turn out this time around was more advance notice than the previous live stream this past December, which only had a week's notice.<br />
<br />
That's not to say, however, that things didn't go completely smooth: once again, there were issues with the Facebook feed randomly cutting off halfway through for no reason . . . but this was a benefit of having it simulcast on YouTube at the same time, as people were able to hop over there to continue the stream.<br />
<br />
Those who participated in the live stream requested that it remain available for playback and rewatching afterwards, so here is the entire, uninterrupted YouTube feed of Steve's 15th anniversary live stream. And be advised: some of the comments and discussions brought up almost got a tad naughty (a lot of which goes right over Steve's head):<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Je3t0n7lY6A" width="560"></iframe></center>
Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-65802764813576712262019-08-09T12:00:00.000-04:002019-08-10T01:49:32.813-04:00Steve D'Monster's 15th Anniversary<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWD6edvhzK-aiz4eFiH5icYEX5crKsqM25lxn1UGwYvmRfcIrUdXywGmv90Ef_13iZI8EinLlfmv3G55LiwapujU5SK5wsoxY13mjkjS0fqGoffQPK_GLA6AwDUjqkaLQV1b7XIv6DMYY/s1600/GEDC0134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWD6edvhzK-aiz4eFiH5icYEX5crKsqM25lxn1UGwYvmRfcIrUdXywGmv90Ef_13iZI8EinLlfmv3G55LiwapujU5SK5wsoxY13mjkjS0fqGoffQPK_GLA6AwDUjqkaLQV1b7XIv6DMYY/s320/GEDC0134.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just take a look at who's 15!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Today's the day. It was on this day, fifteen years ago, when I was but a fifteen-year-old lad myself, that I put my first puppet creation out there for all to see. This poorly put together mess of purple fur with lop-sided yellow horns, out-of-focus eyes, and the badly sewn-together features was Steve D'Monster, making his debut on East Tennessee PBS as part of their Friends of Sesame Street pledge drive, encouraging children watching to have their parents call in their pledges of support to keep the wholesome, entertaining, and educational PBS Kids shows on the station.<br />
<br />
And now, here it is, fifteen years later, and that furry purple thing certain looks a lot better than he did then, actually possesses a personality, and has been appearing in all sorts of humorous little videos on YouTube for the better part of nearly thirteen years. Steve D'Monster has been enjoying a week-long celebration of his fifteenth anniversary with some special retrospective episodes detailing the evolution of his appearance, as well as the overall history of his existence:<br />
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2TPvzAtrQHM" width="560"></iframe></center>
<br />
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8JIVCI2ejPI" width="560"></iframe></center>
<br />
But curiously of all is what we actually decided to do for his big fifteenth anniversary video . . . parody another popular YouTube channel, Chills!<br />
<center>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3js-FJ3E9Yw" width="560"></iframe></center>
<br />
It's not quite over yet! Steve wants to celebrate his anniversary with you guys! A reminder that his special live stream will be simulcast on YouTube and Facebook at the same time! Tonight, 11pm EDT!<br />
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<br />Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-46577249725355858312019-06-17T16:45:00.002-04:002019-06-17T16:46:29.577-04:00Steve to Have His Second Live Stream Aug 9In spite of the minor technical difficult that was experienced the last time we attempted a live stream with Steve (the matter of Facebook chat comments not working in real time), we're attempt a second live stream with Steve again this August, since it will be his fifteenth anniversary live stream!<br />
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Here's Steve's big announcement:<br />
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Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389708113079407323.post-68428106146220664282019-05-30T11:30:00.000-04:002019-06-02T21:20:55.912-04:00MORON LEAGUE, SEQUEL!: The 10th Anniversary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsPgv6AUl7pPpcL246sbTWvYbDhusz007FkDWDjmoqNBWfpybPbKHnpGfp-gPCevV_qe8zY6CU-FPerE1xNGjxJ5-wOF_gOTJHaEwRu4m0BM_Z-2vRTfkXOVIxCr29c3nMo0SG_QT5vHFY/s1600/moronleaguesequel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsPgv6AUl7pPpcL246sbTWvYbDhusz007FkDWDjmoqNBWfpybPbKHnpGfp-gPCevV_qe8zY6CU-FPerE1xNGjxJ5-wOF_gOTJHaEwRu4m0BM_Z-2vRTfkXOVIxCr29c3nMo0SG_QT5vHFY/s320/moronleaguesequel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
When I finished and uploaded <a href="https://josephscarbrough.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-return-of-moron-league-later.html">my very first YouTube video</a> in December of 2007, I honestly expected it to garner a lot of hate, given how incredibly shoddy it was, not to mention it was basically a parody of (and a tribute to) a rather popular show from my generation's childhood . . . I didn't think that it would not only end up garnering over 20,000 views (which was a big deal, way back when), but that it actually became popular, and that people actually wanted more. It seems only fair to give the people what they want, doesn't it? After a couple of months of putting it together, May 30, 2009 saw the release of the anticipated MORON LEAGUE, SEQUEL!<br />
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The sequel was undoubtedly less shoddy than its predecessor, but like its predecessor, it clearly has not aged well. At all. Then again, you have to keep in mind, this was during a time where the tools that I had to work with were even more limited. Although I was just finally beginning to get a grip on Movie Maker by this time (which I have, thankfully, moved on to Adobe Premiere Pro since then), there was still the matter of actually shooting this thing, and happily, this ended up being my very last videotaped production: like the first entry, shooting on videotape meant having to shoot the whole thing in-sequence/in-order, in a linear method, before the entire footage could be digitized for the Internet.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not so easy to munk yourself.</td></tr>
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Unlike the first entry, however, I did not also perform this live as I was shooting, because I really couldn't. Luckily, by this time, I had downloaded and installed Audacity for sound recording and mixing, so rather than do the voices while shooting, I could record and mix the entire soundtrack for the production separately and sync it up with the video footage in post[-production] (which ended up being something I had to do with almost every production of mine up after this, up until I got Adobe Premiere). The biggest challenge was having to do a squeaky voice for the sequel's guest star, Brittany Miller of The Chipettes. The technique of doing squeaky chipmunk voices pioneered by Bagdasarian Productions, the company that owns the Alvin and The Chipmunks franchise, seems simple enough: record your dialogue at half-speed, then speed it up afterward, creating the familiar squeaky sound that The Chipmunks and Chipettes are known for. Turns out, it's actually not quite that simple, nor as easy as it seems . . . granted, they had decades to perfect this craft to make the characters' voices, inflections, mannerisms, and tones sound natural and believable . . . when I attempted it for this short, it resulted in an unintentionally stilted, disjointed, and robotic sound, much like The Chipmunks infamously had in their earliest years from the late 50s and even into the early 80s.<br />
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This was probably my first production where I really had to approach the project from more of an actual film making perspective. Unlike the previous entry, or even most of my Steve D'Monster videos up until this point, more work went into the shooting besides just simply framing shots - this was a(n ever-so-slightly) bigger production featuring a larger cast of characters of varying sizes, which meant more attention was paid to things such as composition: the use of foreground and background space, angles, and focus, among other things. While the composition, as well as the overall cinematography wasn't really that spectacular (the fact that several shots and sequences evidently lacked a tripod to keep the camera steady), it's something that I've put more effort and attention into ever since . . . I like to think that I've improved quite a bit since then; especially since I've gotten an HD camera.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just some of the "incredible" sets that were put together</td></tr>
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The main thing I wanted to avoid this time was having this entry be another straight-forward parody of the source material that inspired it, ACTION LEAGUE, NOW! - instead, this entry featured<i> actual</i> settings and scenery . . . albeit very, <i>very </i>cheaply done. So much so, in fact, that a majority of the Downtown Scarburg street that opens the entry was simply a Fisher-Price SESAME STREET play set, with only one other additional building constructed specifically for the street - out of cardboard, no less. Another major set in this entry was a cave that three Yoshi's were keeping Brittany in: all of this was just crumbled up brown paper set up for cave walls, and rocks scattered around the shooting area. Brilliant, huh? This is another reason why this hasn't aged well at all, but I really wanted to put the characters into an actual world they would fit into (in more ways than one) and not just repeat doing another ACTION LEAGUE, NOW! parody; this is a tradition I'm continuing even into the current production of MORON LEAGUE 4 (which, I promise you, will have <i>much</i> better-looking, detailed, intricate settings than the previous two entries).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry, Yoshis. Our princess is in another cave.</td></tr>
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As far as the overall story goes . . . I think this was even more random, non-sensical, and off-the-cuff than the original! Perhaps not entirely off-the-cuff. I don't quite remember after all of these years, but I'm fairly certain when I did the original entry, that I practically just made it up as I went along . . . this time, however, I at least had inspiration, if you can call it that. I had been watching Let's Plays of different Super Mario games on YouTube, which also lead to watching Let's Plays of Yoshi games, such as YOSHI'S ISLAND and YOSHI'S STORY . . . somehow or other, this apparently inspired the plot of having my BD&A Yoshi beanies (just Green, Red, and Yellow, because I never was able to find Blue) "save" who they believe to be a princess for Mario; but, as the Nerdlucks point out, Brittany is no princess (though Brittany says she totally should be).<br />
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And, of course, MORON LEAGUE, SEQUEL! carried on the tradition of being shot in the animation/puppetry hybrid style developed for ACTION LEAGUE, NOW!, Chuckimation, so it was really ramped up in this one; so much so, that crashing the Moron Airship became a running gag.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where did these guys learn to drive, anyway?</td></tr>
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Unfortunately, this entry did not get a proper ending scene. In 2009, YouTube still had a rather strict 10-minute time limit on almost all video uploads, and this entry - completed as is - almost clocked in at exactly ten minutes. An ending scene was planned, but ultimately never coordinated and shot, in which the Nerdlucks get into Brittany's concert for free for saving her, but as she's performing, they can't stop talking shop about how successful their mission was, disrupting the concert for others, and getting thrown out of the venue as a result. More than likely, I would have used an actual Chipettes song for the concert (probably "Diamond Dolls" since it's a personal favorite of mine), which would probably result in the entire video receiving a copyright claim from Bagdasarian Productions for the use of the song, thus removing it from YouTube - so, it's probably best that the ending was never included either way.<br />
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There you have it; the story behind MORON LEAGUE, SEQUEL!, on this day of its tenth anniversary. Of course, you can see it for yourself anytime on YouTube, but you might want to take a moment to watch it today:
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Joseph Scarbroughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06851086150240380366noreply@blogger.com0