Saturday, April 12, 2008
Blast from the Past
Remember when cable was affordable? And pretended to cater to families?
Labels: Cute Overlord, Disney, Modern Life
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When Cuddly White Whales Go Bad
Parker approached me excitedly as I came home to tell me about his trip to the library. He was especially excited about a pop-up book he found that was all about sailing.
In the book, Parker explained, a bunch of sailors were going across the ocean in a sailing ship, when suddenly a giant Beluga came and wrecked their ship! The people were then caught in a whirlpool and diappeared.
Finally piecing it together, I asked him "Was this book called Moby Dick?"
"Yes!" he shouted excitedly!
Photo by Iwana Kellie.
Labels: Cute Overlord, Parker, Spot the Pop Culture Reference
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Powerpuff Z
I don't know - the Powerpuff girls lose some of their charm when they are redone in anime. There's something a tad uncomfortable about taking the characters that originally around seven or eight and re-imagining them as teenage Sailor Moon type characters - especially given that I think they are still supposed to be seven or eight in this version. Mojo Jojo, however, is always awesome.Labels: Cute Overlord, Mojo Jojo, Sheer Awesome
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Thursday, March 06, 2008
Holy Moses
Parker and Kira saw Prince of Egypt for the first time last week. It made quite an impression - Parker has been asking us to define God, which started a rather complex discussion about beliefs and different religions.The next day, when we put dinner on the table, Kira stood up in her chair and shouted "Let My People EAT!"
A few days later, I listened to playing early in the morning. Parker selected one of his Playmobil figures and told Kira that this guy is God.
Kira looked at the figure for a second, and pronounced solemenly "There is no God."
"Nooo, Kira!" Parker interjected. "We're playing olden days. And in the olden days, there was a God."
Labels: Cute Overlord, Hooray for Hollywood, Kira, Let Kids be Kids, Parker
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Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Adventures of Cheetarah, Queen of the Desert
Wigs. For cats.
I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought. Also: These are the most docile cats in the history of evolution.
Labels: Cute Overlord
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Saturday, December 15, 2007
Kira's Accomplishment - Web Worthy?
Overheard today while Kira used the potty all by her lonesome:
"Daddy, look! Pee and poop.com!"
I guess there really csan be a website for everything.
Labels: Cute Overlord, Kira
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Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The Sad Case of Beta Ray Bill
Let's be honest: I love my toys. It's a strange dichotomy - at home, we're paring down our material goods to some manageable number, and perform some secret middle-of-the-night culls of the children's accumulated goods, banishing those than make annoying noises or were made in some Chinese sweat-shop to the consignment bins. At work, however, I have a large book case dedicated to the collected figures of my childhood (and, I must admit, some more recently purchased): G.I. Joes, Transformers, Star Wars figures, Marvel super-heroes, Simpsons figures, and a motley crew from across multiple dimensions vie for shelf space and to be the Master of their particular Universe. It's a spectacle, and one that is hidden partially by a column, so casual passersby do not get the effect until they have entered the office. I have been told on more than one occasion that I have the coolest office on campus - and not always by just a student. The last comment I was given was that I could populate an entire planet with those shelves, and that's probably true - if the planet were about the size of B612. Maybe that's where Secret Wars took place.
Lately I read a book that started changing my opinions on the subject. Toy Wars chronicles the toy industry through the twentieth century, the current state of toy production in China, and the continual need to market ever younger to sell their toys, especially with sexual imagery. A great deal of the book looks at the Bratz phenomena, and is especially disturbing as the creator of the doll chain sees no problem with the over-sexualization of pre-teens, down to toddlers, because the audience demands it. There may be an audience demand from the target market, but responsible adults - parents, community leaders, and yes, toy-makers themselves- are supposed to act as gatekeepers to determine the level of acceptability for an age bracket.
Reading the book hardened my resolve to continue my boycott of China and to work towards curbing the effects of marketing and consumerism.
And yet, three weeks later, I found myself in the lines of a Toys R Us with a massive action figure in my hands, looking eagerly to being able to put him on my shelf at work.
Why?
Because it was Beta Ray Bill.
Beta Ray Bill, one of the few, and first beings other than Thor that was worthy of lifting the hammer Mjolnir. Beta Ray Bill, the goat-faced alien carbon copy clone of Thor. Completely goofy, completely ridiculous, and completely Awesome.
It was then that I realized that my concepts of 'cool' and 'awesome' can trump my loftier ideals when it comes to an impulse buy. But by that moment it was purchased and in a bag, and I was out the door.
Beta Ray Bill has now sat in the back of car ever since, in a bag. I can't bring myself to take him back, and I can't bring myself to take him out of his plastic coffin and add him to the community in my office. He sits, demanding to be let loose on ilk such as Ego the Living Planet, Jack of Hearts, or the Super-Skrull.
It also doesn't help that sitting right next to him in that membrane is one-sixth of MODOK: the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing.
Again, completely awesome and ridiculous all-in-one.
Kristin asked me at IHOP a few weeks back why I needed to get stuff like this. Since Awesome is not really a valid or defensible argument, I'll take this moment to elaborate on the other items like Beta Ray Bill that have been tempting my scruples:
I want Little Cthulhu because I know if I'm about to be eaten by an eldritch evil from beyond the stars, I'd rather say 'Awwwwwwww' than 'AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!'. Also, one can't help but love the terrified weeble-wobbles it come with that fit perfectly in their hands. And this also seems like a little bit of Lovecraft that Kristin could begrudgingly accept.
This is single-handedly the essence of the joy of comic books distilled into three inches of PVC plastic. This is Kurt Wagner at his finest - not angsty like in the X-Men movie, but the swashbuckling, acrobatic, joyful Kurt that has always been a treat to read. I can't help but smile when I see this.
If there is any rock star that deserves to have an action figure, it is Freddy Mercury. If not only for his flamboyant style, he provided the theme music for both The Highlander and Flash Gordon, and is thereby a de facto member of the super-hero community. Plus, his tour outfit appears to be the inspiration for The Ray's costume, which I always thought was pretty sharp.
Speaking of Flash, Alex Toth was designed these amazingly detailed Flash and Ming figures based off on the 1980s movie. I consider this film to be one of the best science fiction space operas of all time, and given that I dressed as Vultan for last Halloween, it's understandable if I have a fondness for these figures. Plus the manufacturers promise more if the the sales for these are high enough. There could a Klytus, Kala, Dale, Zarkov, and Vultan in the future, and that's a collection I'd be willing to risk the Galaxy of Pleasure for.
From the practical side, I'd say that the Herculoids were the first example of a family working together to solve problems in adverse conditions, and an example of the symbiosis man can have with living creatures and the land. From an emotional side, I can't see how anyone can resist a rock ape, an armored armadillo that shoots explosive balls of energy from his thorn, a laser-firing dragon, not one, but two two protoplasmic balls of goo that can mimic anything Reed Richards could do with his body, and three humans who would give Lord Greystroke a run for his money. And least any sane person.
It's Blue Falcon and Dynomutt! The strange pairing of a serious superhero character and a goofy sidekick that was a cross between Scooby-Doo and Inspector Gadget always held my interest as a child, and I admire Toynami's ability to capture the pairs differing art style in these figures perfectly. 
If I had enough money that I burned a stack of two for kindling, I'd probably get most of the Soul of Chogokin series, which transforms the 2.99 Shogun Warrior figures of my youth into incredibly detailed and ultra-expensive models only available in Japan. And despite my love for Grandizer and his saucer ship, the great Space Dragon whose head becomes the torso for the robot Gaiking has to be first choice. The tiny head with enormous horns does the trick - it's like the Devil from Legend were suddenly to become a giant sixty-foot tall robot. 
Logical rationale can't express reasons for the Panda Z. It's just Awesome.
Labels: Cute Overlord, My Heroes Have Always Worn Spandex, Sheer Awesome, Toys
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Sunday, September 23, 2007
Moving Imagination
Parker, Kira, and I spent two days at Disney this weekend, primarily to see the Imagination Movers, a children's quartet from the Disney Channel.
They had fun at the concert, but their attention was really piqued immediately afterwards, when the group came into the audience to sign autographs. Parker had to tell each of the band members how he had a guitar at home and a set of drums. After had spoken to the lead singer, Mover Rich, I asked Kira if she wanted to go and get her picture with him, as he was still kneeling right in front of us. Kira was clinging to my leg shyly, when all of a sudden, BOOM, she was off like a rocket, and nearly bowled him over with the force of her hug. Rich's face lit up with a terrific smile, and he said that she had absolutely just made his day.
Later that night we watched the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom from the steamboat. It was a lovely trip.
Some other gems from the kids:
- While going through Ocala, Kira proclaimed her absolute need for candy. Parker responded solemnly "Kira, candy's gonna rot your soul", a line from Mika's song Lollipop.
- Upon entering the hotel room, Parker saw a coffeemaker and exclaims "Look, a coffee cooker!"
- At the rest stop, Parker cautioned the group of college students getting in the car next to us that the love bugs will get in their car if they don;t keep the doors closed. The driver looked at him and said "But, If we get all of the love bugs out of our car, where will the love come from?". Parker was stumped by this question for some time.
Labels: Cute Overlord, Disney, Kira, Parker
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Friday, July 20, 2007
Take-G Toys Are GO!!
Unfortunately (and obviously), these things are hard to come by and are priced pretty expensively - however, take G does have a few mass produced wooden products that might just be even cuter.
Speaking of cute, have you seen "My Little Cthulhu"? He makes unspeakable, eldritch terror downright adorable - and, being plastic to boot, he's ever more eeeevil.
Labels: Cute Overlord, Let Kids be Kids, Sheer Awesome, Shogun Warriors
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Saturday, July 07, 2007
Zazzle Dazzle
Jane just used one of my scribbles as the basis of a shirt in her Zazzle store. She calls it the Sheepbird. I'm not sure what it is......except awfully cuddly. Awwwww.You might have noticed that I'm doing more art here on the blog. I'm going to expand my artistic horizons by trying to do as much related art for the posts as possible, to get more comfortable with being extemporaneous and not as corporate-oriented as I have been in doing work for the university or clients.
Labels: Art, Cute Overlord, Sheepbird
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