Steam Pirate

If I Met A Dinosaur...

2012-01-27T15:09:00.000-08:00

The Animal World

2012-01-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

Gotta Go Fast

2012-01-13T09:22:00.000-08:00

The Whole Time?!

2012-01-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

Frankenchristmas

2011-12-22T15:32:00.000-08:00

Gramomaphone

2011-12-18T17:20:00.000-08:00

Marv.

2011-12-10T20:37:00.000-08:00

Speakeasy Dinosaurs

2011-12-07T23:19:00.000-08:00

Ima tumbl dat.

Voila! Vinyl!

2011-12-06T23:23:00.000-08:00

So I just inherited my parents' old turntable and some records. I never quite understood the reason for listening to vinyl in these modren times. I'm much a child of the digital age. I grew up with robots and computers. So why listen to something so antiquated when better alternatives are out there? I have access to 30gb of songs I can stream to my stereo system and can control with an iPad. So why vinyl? I didn't understand the appeal.

And then I listened to Off The Wall on vinyl.

Now I get it. I'm hooked.

The sound is richer, fuller, and more real. The crackling and popping only adds to the ambiance. There's just something about that analogue sound that gets lost in an mp3. I also like the "event" of putting on a record. There's no shuffle mode with records. You don't put on a song you like, you put on an album. And you flip it over halfway. Sometimes the B-Side has a whole different feel than the A-Side, which was an actual choice by the artist. Now, I'm not knocking CD's or mp3's at all. I love being able to carry around my entire music library in my pocket, but vinyl just holds something special we've forgotten in this digital age. A certain je ne sais quoi.

Plus, LP's are just so much cooler than a digital booklet.

Happy Friday, Happy Vader.

2011-11-11T15:26:00.000-08:00

It's Almost Halloween

2011-10-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

An Update!?!?

2011-10-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry blog. I've been ignoring you all year. There's nothing wrong with you! You're a great blog, don't get me wrong. I just feel we have been growing apart. It's not you, it's me. I do think we have something special though, and I want to give this a second shot. I think with a little time (and therapy) we can learn to love each other again. If not, I'll just move to wordpress.

BLOG JOKES! I LOVE 'EM!

Anyway, I recently got back from a two week tour of Europe. Flew into London, chunnel'd to Paris and train'd to Switzerland. It was an amazing trip, and I'm already wanting to plan my next one back. I won't bore all two of you with details (I'll be sure to do that in person) so on to the pics!

Hello Blog!

2011-08-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

Fancy meeting you here!

Hobosaurus

2011-03-01T12:43:00.000-08:00

To Do List

2010-12-03T22:29:00.000-08:00

The Plague Doctor

2010-11-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

So Halloween has come and gone, and along with it all the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles...

One of my costumes this year (yes, I had more than one. That's how I role) was that of a Plague Doctor:

Surprisingly, not very many people know what a Plague Doctor is. During the Black Death and the Great Plague of London doctors would wear a special costume used to help protect them from the disease.

Sometimes refereed to as Beak Doctors, the Plague Doctor costume consisted of an ankle length overcoat, leggings, gloves, boots, a hat, a cane, and the most distinctive piece of the costume, the bird beak mask. The beak held dried flowers, herbs, spices, camphor or a vinegar sponge. Doctors believed the herbs would counter the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected. The doctors also used wooden canes to point out areas needing attention and to examine the patients without touching them.

This sixteenth century poem describes the "beak doctor" costume:

As may be seen on picture here,
In Rome the doctors do appear,
When to their patients they are called,
In places by the plague appalled,
Their hats and cloaks, of fashion new,
Are made of oilcloth, dark of hue,
Their caps with glasses are designed,
Their bills with antidotes all lined,
That foulsome air may do no harm,
Nor cause the doctor man alarm,
The staff in hand must serve to show
Their noble trade where'er they go.

Upon reading this post, I hope you learned a little about the Plague Doctor, and perhaps, a little about yourself?

Anything Can Happen on Halloween

2010-10-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

Have you seen Tim Curry's tambourine?

Halloweentime!

2010-10-10T18:06:00.001-07:00

It's that time of the year. When it's considered okay to go your local pharmacy and pick up cold medicine and a rubber severed foot. When seeing animatronic zombies for sale next to the bananas is considered normal. When carving devils and demons into engorged squashes is not only encouraged, but awarded with prizes. That's right! It's Halloweentime!!

I've always loved Halloween, even when I was a wee lad. If it wasn't for the presents on Christmas, it'd be my favorite holiday. Every year when October rears it's ugly head, every local grocery store, pharmacy, and party supplier goes into Halloween mode. And good god do I love it so. I mean, what other time of year would you see mummified cats for sale???

The answer is no other time of year. The shelves of your local Halloween mart are fully stocked with the most diabolical, nasty, bloody, wonderful things you could ever imagine. Want a severed head? Take your pick!

Sure, seeing all the awesome accessories is, well, awesome, but there was one particular section of the Halloween mart that I LIVED for. The MASK WALL!

I could spend hours starring at that wall, thinking of the possibilities. Marveling at the over-sized Dragon heads that cost $100. Once or twice, after getting a good grade on a test or project, instead of asking for money or a cool toy, I always asked for a mask off of that elusive wall.

It's great to see mask walls still around, but one thing I noticed is that every year, depending on your Halloween mart, there's always a 'theme'. This year, the theme seems to be creepy babies. I think babies are creepy already, so undead zombie babies are even creepier.

Clowns have always been a big theme as well. There's nothing better than a creepy-ass clown. Except maybe a zombie dinosaur.

One thing I always loved were the motion detecting props. Usually it's a witch on a string, or maybe a doormat that screams. Over the years, these 'high end' props have gotten more and more elaborate. Sometimes they can be goofy, but I have to say, I haven't seen any this cool in a long time:

First of all, check out Meckaneck on the right there. I have always wondered what that Heroic Warrior would look like if he became an Overlord of Evil. And now I know. And sweet candy-coated Jesus is he creepy. Now, check out the little dude in the bucket. If you look closely, you can see he's holding a joystick in each hand! He's controlling himself in that bucket of mutagen ooze. I imagine he's sitting on top of a small robot with legs that look like ED 209. Did I mention he was in a bucket?

So if you haven't guessed by now, I love Halloween. I love the decorations, I love the costumes, and I love the idea behind it. Seeing disembodied heads, flying zombie skeleton pirates, and walls of masks make me all giggly inside. It reminds me of a simpler time, when goblins and devils were real and should be feared. Except for that one night a year where they were to be celebrated.

Also, look at this guy.

Aquarium!

2010-09-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

I went to the aqurarium and took pictures wheile I was at the aquarerium. Look at my aquarem pcitures I took while I was there.

A fish

Some birds

My favorite tank

This guy sang the Batman song for us

The zookeeper said these were Lorikeets. She had a hat.

The Hatbox Ghost Head Turn

2010-08-18T23:04:00.000-07:00

There are quite a few images on the Hatbox Ghost from the front, but have you ever wondered what he looked like from the side? The back? Well, now's your chance!

This is a turnaround using the bust I made of the Hatbox Ghost. The bust uses the exact same "Ezra" head as ol' Hatty originally did, painted to match what few pictures we have of Mr. Box. Enjoy!

Comic-Con 2010

2010-07-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

Well, another Comic-Con has come and gone, but I will always remember the sights.... the sounds.... the.... smells. My goal this year was to take as many pictures as I could, it seems every year I never take enough! I even helped to organize a Comic-Con Photo Scavenger Hunt which was super fun! The goal was to take as many pictures from the list as possible. The person with the most points wins!

Here are some highlights of my Comic-Con photos. You can view all my pictures in my Comic-Con 2010 Set on flickr

Detective Comics #27 (first appearance of Batman)

Whiplash

Smaug

Christopher Johnson from District 9

Shawshank Redemption Bible

VINCENT from The Black Hole

Aquaman Flail

The Haunted Mansion Hatbox Ghost Bust

2010-06-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

I'm obsessed with Disneyland's Haunted Mansion, and one of my favorite characters in the ride is the Hatbox Ghost. Well, technically he hasn't been in the ride since the first week it opened... so here is some quick back story:

Disney created a character to put in the Haunted Mansion called The Hatbox Ghost. The gimmick was that his head would disappear and reappear in the hatbox he was holding. Here's a picture of the real ghost as seen in 1969:

Long story short, the effect didn't work. He was only in the attraction for the first few weeks in 1969, and then we was taken out, never to be seen again...

Since then, the rumor of a 'missing' ghost has grown, and finally some actual pictures emerged of Hatty as seen in the ride. There was a number of merchandising items that featured him, and he has grown in popularity ever since. There are even rumors of him returning to the ride in the near future.

Well, Disney is always one to save money, so they used the Hatbox Ghost head sculpt in other places throughout the ride. You can see his head in some of the pictures in the hallway, and most famously, one of the hitchhiking ghosts uses the same sculpt. I was actually able to acquire a cast of one of these heads, and painted him up as the infamous Hatbox Ghost!

I still need to give him his collar, and find a better hat. But what do you all think?

If you want to read more about him, check out my website!

www.thehatboxghost.com

L O S T

2010-05-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

There is no now here.

Ewok Karaoke

2010-04-27T15:11:00.001-07:00

Ewok Karaoke from Rob Tyler

Striped Tiger

2010-04-21T17:58:00.000-07:00

I rigged a tuna sandwich to my tiger trap yesterday, and caught this little fellow. Tigers will do anything for a tuna fish sandwich. I guess they're kind of stupid that way.

Haunted Mansion Crypt Candelabra

2010-04-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

"When candle lights flicker where the air is deathly still..."

Designed by Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily for the Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary. Limited edition of 500.

How To Train Your Dragon!

2010-03-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

Just saw "How To Train Your Dragon" last night in 3D. It was amazing!! Go see it!! Here are two of the main characters from the film, Toothless the Dragon and Hiccup and Viking!

Captain EO Tribute!!

2010-02-28T23:32:00.000-08:00

It's official! Captain EO has returned to Disneyland!

And with it's return comes a ton of sweet merchandise!

They even have the original prelude playing before the show starts!

So what's my verdict? Two thumbs way up!!

It's only for a limited time, so be sure to head to Disneyland ASAP to see the King of Pop as Captain EO one last time!

Can't make it to the park? You can always visit

www.captaineo.net

to see the latest news, and, of course, watch the original show!

New Year Thriller

2010-01-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

How about a little Thriller to ring in the new year?

Michael Jackson, as seen in the "Thriller" music video. By Hot Toys.

Aladdin's Genie!!

2009-12-02T21:51:00.000-08:00

I present the Genie from Disney's Aladdin! Made by Medicom Toys in Japan, this is the best likeness of the Genie around!

A Hobo Haiku

2009-11-16T20:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr. Hobo,
You padded the hoof to the
bindle of my heart.

The Last Known Photograph of John Hammond

2009-11-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

This is the last known photograph of wealthy business magnate and philanthropist, John Hammond. Taken moments before his death on a remote island off the coast of Costa Rica.

Minnie The Moocher

2009-10-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

My favorite scene in the Betty Boop short "Minnie The Moocher"

Cab Calloway is a ghost walrus! A GHOST. WALRUS. Think about it.

Harness The Power!

2009-09-22T23:41:00.000-07:00

Harness the power of dinosaurs!!

The Hatbox Ghost

2009-08-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

Dateline: Disneyland 1969. The Haunted Mansion opens it's doors for the first time on August 9th, six years after construction of the facade had been completed in 1963. The Haunted Mansions boasts 999 happy haunts, but were there 1,000 haunts when it first opened?

If you were lucky enough to ride the Haunted Mansion in 1969, you may have seen a ghost whose stay in the mansion was brief: the infamous Hatbox Ghost. Ol' Hatty would have lived in the attic, and stood opposite of the Bride. The effect was that his head would disappear and then re-appear inside of the hatbox he was holding:

As opening day to the Haunted Mansion approached, a number of merchandising materials started to appear. One of which was a story record, with sounds from the mansion and a story of kids going through the mansion.

In the record, the kids encounter the hatbox ghost, whom the narrator describes... "He was a cloaked figure with an evil, grinning face. A hatbox hung from his hand. With each beat of his bride's heart, his head disappeared from his body and appeared in the hatbox."

Upon closer inspection, a famous visage appears on the cover:

He also even had his own page in the included 11 page booklet:

There was also a souvenir kids record that contained a picture of Mr. Box:

So as a kid in the 60's, looking forward to the opening day of the new Haunted Mansion attraction, you would have been familiar with the character of the Hatbox Ghost. Imagineer Marc Davis even drew this mock up of the character:

A number of press photos with Yale Gracey were taken as opening day approached:

Pictures courtesy of doombuggies.com

Here's what the Hatbox Ghost looked like inside the attraction:

Picture courtesy of doombuggies.com

So what happened? Where did this haunted resident go? One rumor circulated that he as so scary, Disney received so many complaints they had to remove him from the attraction. While this makes for a great story, sadly, that was not the case. The real truth was that the disappearing/reappearing head effect just didn't work well enough, and because of this, the Hatbox Ghost was taken out of the mansion for good. But what was his fate?

On a recent article on Jim Hill Media, Imagineer Marc Davis claims the Hatbox Ghost was re-purposed as one of the eagles in the attraction America Sings:

However, I do not believe this is the case. The Hatbox Ghost was not a complex animatronic, and an item that recently went up for sale on eBay proved this theory.

Early in 2009, a Haunted Mansion Reference Manual went up for sale on the auction site eBay. This manual was used by cast members to maintain and repair the effects in the mansion.

The following are the schematic pages for the Hatbox Ghost (click to enlarge):

As you can see, there really wasn't a whole lot to him. The main effect was just a matter of lighting, and the only real moving part was his trembling hand on his cane. I highly doubt he was stripped down and used as the eagle in American Sings, since he was mainly just some metal tubing in the first place.

Since the Hatbox Ghost's now infamous exodus from the Haunted Mansion attraction in Disneyland, his mystery and legend has grown over the years. He became an instant favorite character of doombugs (Haunted Mansion fans, named after the "doombuggy" ride vehicles) everywhere. In the last few years, Disney has noticed the buzz concerning our mansion's favorite ex-resident.

Offical Hatbox Ghost merchandise has been available for the first time since the records in the 60's. A "Big-Fig" was released in 2005, designed by Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily:

He has also been on a number of tombstones:

As well as several pins:

But perhaps the most exciting bit of merchandise was the recently revealed one of a kind full size Hatbox Ghost to be auctioned off at Disney's D23 Event. Designed by Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily:

There are currently rumors circulating that the Hatbox Ghost might make a return to the Haunted Mansion for the 40th Anniversary Event, taking place on 9-9-09. It would make sense, since his merchandising has definitely hit critical mass. The public definitely want to see the return of this famous dearly departed ghost.

Will we see him returned back to his corner of the attic? Only time will tell.

Skull Jeep

2009-08-06T23:56:00.000-07:00

Continuing on the theme of apocaLEGO, I'm please to introduce the Skull Jeep! Horses will be a highly valued commodity after the zombie apocalypse: No gas required!

The Skull Jeep

Death Bus!

2009-07-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

The newest addition to my apocaLEGO vehicles. The Death Bus! Next stop... HELL! Exact change only please.

The Death Bus

ApocaLego!

2009-07-05T23:45:00.000-07:00

I have a new favorite hobby: Taking regular Lego sets and apocalypsizing them! Ie, what if the set existed in a post-apocalyptic Lego world infested by zombies?? Check out some of my creations:

The Lego Apocalypse

Mr. Spike

High Hide

Camper Chaos

More to come soon!!!

Captain EO is gone...

2009-06-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

So I'm sure you've heard the news about Michael Jackson's passing... very sad. He was my favorite musician growing up by far. I would listen to the Thriller album over and over on my walkman, and one of my first music purchases was the HIStory cassette. And of course, there was Captain EO, my favorite attraction at Disneyland. So in tribute to Michael Jackson, I present:

www.captaineo.net

Disney/Pixar's Up

2009-06-14T01:26:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to seeing Disney/Pixar's Up today! Incredible movie, Pixar never disappoints! However, there was something about Paradise Falls that looked familiar...

Up

The Lost World (1925)

The first image is from some concept art from Up. The second image is a still taken from the 1925 Lost World movie. At least we know Pixar has good taste!

Old Man Baby

2009-06-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

Correction. This is the coolest thing ever.

Whenever I'm sad, I just imagine if babies were born with mustaches...

Ollllllllllld maaaaaaaaaaan baaaaaaaaaaaby!

Re-Design?!?!?

2009-05-23T22:27:00.001-07:00

So as you may have noticed, my blog has been re-deigned to better match the color scheme of my website. While the steam-punk-pirate look was cool, it was ultimately in my best interest to keep the crocco.net branding consistent throughout it's multiple properties.

Plus, robots are rad.

Coolest. Thing. Ever.

2009-05-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

Words cannot describe how cool this is. You just need to see it for yourself.

Terminator Salvation!

2009-04-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

Check out this cool Terminator Salvation widget I made!

Be sure to check out the international website! Terminator Salvation

Enjoy!

More Captain EO

2009-04-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

Here's some more merchandise from Captain EO! Here are 2 pvc figures from a 4 figure set. On the left is Idee & Odee and on the right is the infamous Hooter. Circa 1986.

Now my quest is to find Major Domo and Fuzzball!

I've Been Dugg!

2009-04-14T15:55:00.000-07:00

On Monday, one of my wallpapers on my website got "dugg", ie, made it to the front page on the popular news site digg.com ! As of typing this, it has just passed the 1500 diggs mark!

Check it out on digg!!

Pretty cool!

¡lıʌǝ

2009-04-08T00:15:00.000-07:00

It seems there is a macabre trend in alcohol.... or should I say.... spirits? Muahahha....

Captain EO

2009-03-30T22:20:00.000-07:00

So there's no secret I'm a huge Captain EO fan. Sadly though, Captain EO merchandise is few and far between. There's a few buttons, shirts, a comic, and small PVC figures... but the best by far are the plush toys! They made a Hooter, Fuzzball, and Idee and Odee. They're actually pretty cool! I still need to find an Idee/Odee plush, but in the meantime, check out my Hooter and Fuzzball plushes!

And if you're wondering what Captain EO is, first of all, FOR SHAME. And second, behold the spectacle that is Captain EO!

Keep in mind this was meant to be in 3D, so feel free to react when necessary.

Enjoy!

Kenner Action Toy Guide!

2009-02-02T22:34:00.001-08:00

So, who remembers those cool little booklets you used to get packed in the box of your favorite toy? Back in the 80's and early 90's, it was fairly common to find a little book about the other toy lines made by the same company as the toy you just bought packed in the box. Some made mini-comics with ads on the back, such as He-Man and Dino-Riders, others had little fold out booklets to see what other toys you could get in that same line, such as Thundercats or even the Rock Lords. However, none did it better than Kenner with their Action Toy Guide

As a kid in the 80's (remember, no internet!) these were gold. I used to sit and drool over all the different figures I would want. I would even circle the ones I wanted most, or even used a color code to show the order in which I wanted the toys, to "Want Most" to "Want Least, but still Want".

They made variations of the Action Toy Guide for quite a number of years that I can remember, but none were as good as the early stuff. I have a few saved, and hopefully I can dig them out and scan them in for your viewing pleasure. I grew up on this stuff!

Man, I wish I still had my Ecto-2. I played with it until it was destroyed!

Siiiiilver Haaaawks!! A pretty obvious Thundercats rip-off, but pretty cool nonetheless!

If you want to see the complete 1988 Kenner Action Toy Guide, check it out on my flickr page by clicking here!

Enjoy!

Ultimate Wall-E

2009-01-18T16:03:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. So a few months back, I got an Ultimate Wall-E by Thinkaway Toys. He's super cool! Lots of interaction with many programmable movements. I also recently bought a new digital camera (Sony DSC-T500) and the cool feature is that it can record video in 720p and stereo sound! Very awesome! So what to record as my first test? How about good ol' Wall-E! Check it out!

If you want to see the video in true HD, click here!

So much fun!

Disneyland 1959 8mm Movies

2008-12-29T23:06:00.000-08:00

So while I was home for the holidays, my parents got some of their old 8mm movies transferred to dvd. They had some really neat Disneyland movies circa 1959, and I just had to share them! This was the first year the Matterhorn, Monorail, and Submarine Voyage was open. Keep an eye out for the Rainbow Caverns, Keel Boat, Captain Hook's Ship, and some other great rides that have long since gone.

Dinosaur Choco Eggs!

2008-12-18T00:20:00.000-08:00

Oh man, these are my new favorite things ever! They are Dinosaur Choco Eggs by a company called Futura. I found them in a little Japanese Market. They are chocolate eggs, and when you crack them open, you get a toy dinosaur inside!! They're anywhere from 1-2 inches tall, and the quality is incredible. Plus the chocolate is pretty tasty too ;-)

Coolest Thing Ever!!

2008-12-02T23:45:00.000-08:00

To anyone with an extra $2,000 lying around, here is what I want for Christmas:

Twitter!!?

2008-11-10T23:35:00.001-08:00

So I swore up and down that I would never sign up for Twitter. Mostly because of this comic. But, I finally succumbed to the peer pressure last week and signed up. I must admit, it is rather fun, and a great way to keep in contact with friends and co-workers. It's really great for sharing links and I view it as essentially an instant messenger crossed with status updates ala Facebook. So in short, it's not so bad, but it is highly addicting. You can see my latest update by visiting my Twitter homepage. Good times!!

No Ticket.

2008-10-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

So today I finally was able to put together the scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade that I've been wanting to make since I first saw the movie.

Indy and Henry in the German motorcycle!

Lego Ferrari F-40

2008-10-20T19:54:00.001-07:00

Here is a custom Lego Ferrari F-40 I made a few weeks back. I had a very limited number of parts, but I think it turned out fairly well! Click through to see more pictures!

Mickey's Follies

2008-10-16T00:14:00.000-07:00

In honor of All Hallow's Eve, I present perhaps the scariest and oddest bit of animation of Mickey Mouse, which is found in the short "Mickey's Follies" (1929)

You can thank me for the nightmares later.

Who So Serious?

2008-10-13T23:41:00.001-07:00

Why So (Yahoo) Serious?

A funny poster I made staring "Young Einstein" star Yahoo Serious, based off the Batman Dark Knight Why So Serious Joker posters.

Pics Of My Collection!

2008-09-07T01:01:00.000-07:00

So today, I finally got around to take some pictures of my action figure collection. I uploaded about a dozen or so to flickr, so check them out!!

Here's a taste:

Medicom Jack Skelington

Hot Toys Batman, Predator, and the Joker

Some random figures:

Enjoy!

The Mask

2008-08-31T01:49:00.000-07:00

So today I headed over to my local Fry's Electronics, because I heard they were having a sale on some Blu Ray movies. I hate going to Fry's. The parking is always a mess, and the actual store is a dump. But hey, I couldn't pass up Mrs. Doubtfire on Blu Ray for $14.99.

But his post isn't about Mrs. Doubtfire, it's about The Mask. Not the movie with Cher and the weird looking kid... but the one with Jim Carrey. Fry's was actually playing it on one of their demo TV's. Why? I don't know! Anyway, the bug was planted, so I had to pick it up on DVD. I used to love this movie when I was a kid, and I even had a cassette of the soundtrack! I haven't seen it since the days of VHS, and I wanted, nay, needed to see it again. Mostly out of curiosity I suppose. Was it still good? How does the 14 year old CGI look?

So? How was it you ask? Surprisingly good. It holds up really well still, and CG still looked decent. A heck of a lot better than those monkeys in Jumanji at least. I was also surprised on some of the adult jokes I never caught. In one scene, the Mask is making balloon animals, and when he reaches into his jacket to pull out a balloon, he pulls out a used condom. I kid you not.

I highly recommend watching it again, especially if you used to like it back in the day. And heck, for $7.99 on DVD, you can't go wrong. I'll leave you with this:

4 Cogs out of 5

The New Crocco.net

2008-08-03T20:03:00.001-07:00

Today I launched the new and improved version of crocco.net! My site desperately needed an update, and I have finally finished! Some of the cool things to note:

New Portfolio section showcasing some of my favorite work I've done at Sony
All new video section
Revamped game section
Social Networking and Flickr links on the side bar
Blog section brings in my blogger rss feed automatically
Keep your eyes peeled for the costume changes on the Robot!

Go check it out!!!

I hope you enjoy the new look, and please, let me know what you think!

My New Car!!!

2008-07-16T23:00:00.001-07:00

I've been wanting to buy a new car for a very long while. Sure, my truck is great, but it's strictly utilitarian. It comes in handy, but it's not what you would consider "fun." So a few years back, I started slowing saving my money in hopes to get something more..... sporty.

A year or two pass, and I finally decide on getting a new Mustang Convertible. Fast forward another year or so, and I finally have enough for a healthy down payment! Over the 4th of July weekend, Ford was having some insane incentives. The time was right!

It's a 2008 Ford Mustang GT California Special convertible! 300hp, 18" wheels, two tones interior, Shaker 500 audio system, and a slew of other sweet options.

I'm stoked, to say the least!

Crocco.net Re-Design!

2008-06-20T11:57:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! So, I've decided to re-design my crocco.net page yet again. It's been quite a while since I've updated it, so I think it's time for a new look. I'm trying to incorporate the use of both Flash and html seamlessly, in order to get the best of both worlds. I also have a cool feature where the home page reads the feed from this very blog and shows the latest 2 entries automatically. Right now, only the home page and resume page are working. Let me know what you think!!

Check out my crocco.net re-design here!

Take care!

Star Tours

2008-06-02T12:28:00.001-07:00

I recently found a video of Star Tours (the Disneyland ride in Tomorrowland), taken directly from the source on the ol' intertubes. It had timecodes, and the sound was not too great, so I went ahead and made it true widescreen, added the doors opening and closing, and synced it to a new, better soundtrack. Check it out!

Mighty Muggs He-Man

2008-05-20T23:46:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. I've just discovered this really cool new line of collectibles called Mighty Muggs! They're super stylized vinyls from a number of iconic movies, such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and even the Marvel Comics universe! Since they all use the same body, they'd lend themselves really well for customizing. I thought it'd be cool to design a He-Man and a Skeletor in the Mighty Muggs style. Here's what I've come up with so far. I've just been messing around in Flash working strictly with lines, so everything is vector. Perhaps when I get some free time, I can actually make these for real! Let me know what you think!

Italy!

2008-05-03T12:56:00.001-07:00

I just got back from a 2 week tour from Italy! It was amazing! I'll try to do a more in-depth post later, but until then, check out my pictures!

My Pictures of Italy on Flickr

Enjoy!

Photography

2008-03-26T00:04:00.001-07:00

Flower

I'm really digging my new camera. Here's a cool shot I took over the weekend. I think it turned out pretty well :)

Haiku

2008-03-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator

New Camera = New Pictures

2008-03-18T23:52:00.001-07:00

Panorama of my Room

I just got myself a new camera! It's a Canon PowerShot G9, and it's crazy neat. I was fooling around taking pictures and started playing with it's panorama mode. You can take a picture, then it'll use that previous picture as a guide while you take the next picture to help you line them up. I then used the Photomerge option in Photoshop and it automatically merged all my pictures together. Pretty rad, eh!?

Here's some more pictures:

Mad Eye Moody

Benny the Cab

New Design!

2008-03-16T21:39:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! So I decided to create a new design for my blog. I was never really satisfied with the old design. I was trying to go for an old-timey-steam-punky look with it, and it just didn't turn out right.

So now, I decided to go with a more art-deco style rather than steam-punk. What do you all think? I'm pretty satisfied, and I had a great time coming up with the logo! I hope you like it as much as I do.

I'll try to update here more often, and maybe this new design will help to be my catalyst!

And remember, don't forget to pick up the new Boston Balcony Clappers cd, in stores now!!

Zombie Goasts Leave This Place!

2008-02-17T15:56:00.000-08:00

This is my new favorite video! It's an actual fan-fic written by 9 year old.

1958 Disneyland Map

2007-12-16T20:19:00.001-08:00

My newest purchase: A 1958 Disneyland "B" map. This is the 2nd Disneyland map poster made, which you can tell because of the inclusion of the Matterhorn, Monorail, and Submarines. Also, in the "A" map, the water in the Jungle Cruise is green. I was pretty excited about this purchase, because the map was never folded, as the vast majority of these maps were (even the one in the picture), it was rolled. I got a pretty good deal on it, and since there were no creases, I couldn't pass it up.

Some things to note on this map:

Edison Square and Liberty Street: Two off-shoots of Main Street that never came to be.
New Orleans Square: The size and scope of it seen here pales in comparison of the final product.
Wax Museum: This later went on to become Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted House: Which was later renamed "Haunted Mansion." Not the location, next to the Jungle Cruise.
Holidayland: The tent located outside the berm. A short lived idea that was never very popular.

All in all, the map is very cool. It is a very neat history lesson, especially since you can see some projects that WED had planned that nver came to fruition.

For more info on vintage Disneyland maps, check out this awesome website: Disneyland Maps

Haunted Mansion

2007-11-01T23:41:00.000-07:00

Retrotastic

2007-09-09T22:36:00.001-07:00

Crocco.net 2.0 *beta

2007-08-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

So I've been meaning to re-do my website crocco.net for awhile now. The current version of my site is pretty plain and just uses html/css. And since Flash is my forte, I figured it's about time to update. It's been hard to get motivated, since I use Flash all day at work and the last thing I want to do is come home and open Flash, so it's been taking quite a bit longer than I would like. However, I finally have a preview of what the new design is. Well, more of an idea that a preview. I haven't designed what I want the interface to be, but I did get the back-end idea down. The idea is that my little robot character will be the guide to my site. You open my page, he peeks around the corner, notices you there, and runs off. He then rummages off screen and comes back with some note cards. He flips through them and when he finds the right one, he pulls it out, holds it up, and it's my website. Right now, I justed used a screen shot of my current site, but it was more of an exercise to see if my idea was feasible. The robot was made in 3D Studio Max, cel shaded, and exported as vector. I like how it has turned out so far. Let me know what you think, check it out!

Crocco.net 2.0 *beta

Crocco (crater)

2007-08-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia:

"Crocco is a lunar crater that is located on the far side of the Moon from the Earth. It is located to the northeast of the huge Planck walled plain, and northwest of the equally huge Poincaré walled plain. Just to the north, within one crater diameter, is the Koch crater.

This is a nearly circular crater formation whose eastern rim has been partly overlain by the satellite crater 'Crocco G'. The rim has received some erosion, but it retains a well-defined edge. A small craterlet lies across the north-northeast rim. Just to the west-southwest of Crocco, nearly attached to the rim, is the satellite crater 'Crocco R'.

The northwestern half of the interior floor is level and almost featureless; displaying the appearance of having been resurfaced by lava. The opposite half of the floor displays some irregularities, including the rim of a small crater that has been almost completely submerged by the lava flow. This crater has a gap in the north rim, and forms a bay on the interior floor of Crocco. A ridge runs from the western rim of this small crater to the southwest inner wall of Crocco."

Crocco (crater)

Comic-Con 2007

2007-08-06T00:53:00.001-07:00

IMG_1913

Comic-Con was last weekend, and it was crazy! I'll post more of it later, but for now, check out my pics on my flickr page:
http://flickr.com/photos/steampirate/

I Can Fly Twice As High

2007-08-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

My favorite opening to Reading Rainbow growing up. Why does Ben Franklin have 3 boats on a string???

Scary

2007-06-25T10:44:00.001-07:00

This is by far the most frightening image I have ever seen.

Dramatic Look

2007-06-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

I can watch this all day.

Surf's Up Directors Speak

2007-06-11T19:40:00.000-07:00

Over at Animated Views, there's a cool interview with the directors of Surf's Up, Chris Buck and Ash Brannon. The best part of the interview is where they talk about how the other penguin movies affected their movie, namely March of the Penguins and Happy Feet. Here's an excerpt:

When we started Surf’s Up, we had no idea about the other movies. I know people find that hard to believe. But even though the animation industry is a small thing, we don’t always know what everyone is doing.

Of course, March of the Penguins is live-action and a documentary. Happy Feet – you know, I don’t even know the genesis of that. But it may have started as live-action – sort of a Babe-like thing that George Miller was doing. Of course, George Miller runs in different circles in the animation world. So we didn’t really know about Happy Feet until probably we were a couple of years into our production.

We had already built models, and our story was already set, at least the basics of it. It wasn’t like we could just say, ‘Oh, we’ve got to change the animals, because someone else is doing something with penguins!’ It was a matter of, ‘Well, we’ll just run our course, and hopefully there’ll all very different movies.’ A good thing is that people like penguins!

Go check out the entire interview at Animated-Views.com

Behind the Scenes of Surf's Up

2007-06-10T19:44:00.000-07:00

Over at AWN.com they have a cool new behind-the-scenes look at Surf's Up, the cool new movie by Sony Pictures Animation! It has some sweet production artwork, so go check it out! Here's a brief excerpt from the article:

"It's important to understand that, as with most animated films, nothing you see in Surf's Up actually exists. Everything, from vast landscapes to the most minute detail, had to be conceived, designed, and created from scratch: characters, locations, sets, props, weather, lighting and, of course, the waves. It was the job of the visual development department to "design" the film. At any given time, we had a crew of about 10 highly talented artists, working for the better part of three years. Of course, we also worked in tandem with the other production departments (story, look development, vfx, modeling, animation, texturing, matte painting and lighting) to keep up with the huge amount of designs necessary to feed the production pipeline. Once everything was designed, it was up to the Imageworks team lead by digital supervisor Rob Bredow to figure out how to bring it all to life. When embarking on the design for an animated film, one of the first questions we ask ourselves is: What is the "look of the film"? There are a lot of options: cartoony, realistic, stylized, primitive, retro, graphic, cutesy, high tech, wacky, dimensional, flat, etc."

Sony Pictures Animation and AWN Present SURF'S UP

Shaun the Sheep

2007-06-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

First introduced by Aardman Studios in the film "A Close Shave," Shaun the Sheep now stars in his own series of short cartoons!! Absolutely brilliant!

You Are a Pirate

2007-06-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

Yar har, fiddle dee dee.

Where the Magic Happens

2007-06-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of where the magic happens: My desk.

A: Disneyland Fronteirland Pluto
B: Disneyland 50th Mouse Ears
C: Disneyland Pins
D: Captain Jack Sparrow
E: Band Concert Mickey Mouse
F: Back to the Future slot car
G: Indiana Jones hat
H: Pirate coaster
I: Dinosaur's Attack! trading cards
J: Captain EO pin
K: Back to the Future 2 mousepad
L: Lego Bionicle
M: iPod
N: Xbox 360 controller (yup, it works on my pc)
O: He-Man Stratos, got him at a yard sale for $4!

Book Review: Bambi Sketchbook

2007-05-31T00:19:00.000-07:00

This review covers Walt Disney's Bambi: The Sketchbook series. This is the first of the "Sketchbook Series" of books put out by Disney and Hyperion, and was first published in 1997. It is on the relatively short side, clocking in on a whopping 88 pages.

The book itself is done in a sketchbook format (who would have guessed?) covering various sketches of Bambi, Thumper, Friend Owl, and all the characters. It is done in a neat sepia tone, to give it an aged look. The sketches in this book are incredible, many of which are from the private collections of two of the "9 Old Men," Frank Thomas, and Ollie Johnston and have never been seen by the general public before. Other notable contributors found on the pages are Marc Davis, Milt Kahl, Eric Larson and one of the real highlights of this book, Tyrus Wong. Sadly not as recognized as the rest of the contributors, Tyrus Wong was responsible for honing the colors and look of the forest of Bambi, and his paintings here are reproduced at 1:1 scale in full color, each measuring about 5 inches across. Tyrus Wong was born in 1910 in Guangzhou, China. He worked at Disney from 1938-1941, and, after leaving due to the animators strike, later worked at Warner Brothers until 1968.

Overall, this book is a great start to the Sketchbook Series. While not very long in terms of page number, the quality of the reproduction of the sketches and paintings more than makes up for it. The art behind Bambi is some of the best done for an animated film, and sadly, I feel Bambi has gone overlooked as one of the best animated classics of the Golden Age. Bambi: The Sketchbook Series is an excellent book, and great for lovers of Bambi, animation, or art in general. Sadly, it is now out of print, but can be purchased through Half.com, Amazon, or eBay for around $30, which is what it retailed for. There also is a "special edition" of this book, signed by Frank 'n Ollie and coming in a large slipcase. Expect to pay over $100 for this version.

4 Cogs out of 5

Captain EeyOre

2007-05-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

According to Jim Hill Media, this was made by Disneyland employees, supposedly they did a movie each year.

Updating...

2007-05-30T02:22:00.000-07:00

I'm currently going through all my old MySpace blogs and putting them here, to have them all in one spot. So if you see posts pop up from 2005 or 2006, don't worry :)

Hello And Welcome

2007-05-30T01:17:00.000-07:00

Hello there. This is my first post, just seeing if this thing works!

Hoist the Colors

2007-05-28T02:39:00.000-07:00

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the Colors high.
Heave ho,
thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.

The king and his men
stole the queen from her bed
and bound her in her Bones.
The seas be ours
and by the powers
where we will we'll roam.

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the Colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never say we die.

Some men have died
and some are alive
and others sail on the sea
– with the keys to the cage...
and the Devil to pay
we lay to Fiddler's Green!

The bell has been raised
from it's watery grave...
Do you hear it's sepulchral tone?
We are a call to all,
pay head the squall
and turn your sail toward home!

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the Colors high...
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never say we die.

Han Solo

2007-04-18T02:39:00.000-07:00

Click the image to take the test!

Blogs + update

2007-04-13T02:38:00.000-07:00

So I just spent the last hour or so reading through my old blogs. It's crazy I've been on myspace a little over 2 years now. You can really see my ups and downs, since I'll usually write when I'm really sad or really happy. It's almost like reading something somebody else wrote. I started blogging right before I graduated and probably wrote every month or so. Blogging is a weird thing, at least for me. I like to talk about whats going on, but I don't want to be too specific because you never know who reads these things. It's like keeping a personal journal that you know someone else would read.

Updates in the life of the Nick. Umm, things are going pretty great. I still love my apartment, it definitely feels like home. And I hate to say it, it feels even more like home than "home" back in Sacramento. My parents are preparing to sell the house I grew up in over the next few months, so for quite sometime now, my room as been dismantled. All it really has in it is my bed. They also changed a lot of stuff in the other rooms, so it's not really the house I remember anymore. I'm not even comfortable in my own bed, and when I visited during Easter, I actually was looking forward to coming back, and I felt kinda guilty for that. Mentally I guess I have moved on.

On a lighter note, I got Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360. It's super fun, but if I play too long I'll get into a weird zone and my fingers will move without me thinking about it. I'm pretty sure the game hypnotizes me. It tells me to burn things. So all in all, fun game :)

Letssss seee, what else.... I dunno if I mentioned it but my computer's hard drive crashed a few weeks ago, so I had to get a new one. Suckage. I also got Vista though, and it is pretty rad in a far out way. It's essentially a prettied up version on XP, but hey, that ain't a bad thing.

My parents finally got an iMac, their first Apple computer. It really makes me want to get a MacBook or a MacBook Pro. The Pro's are so neat, but just so dang expensive. I think when the next update on them comes out I'm going to bite the bullet and get it :)

I'm itchin' to have another party soon. Let me know if you guys have any suggestions. Perhaps a theme party? I've been wanting to have a 80's party for quite a while now. You know, dress in neon colors, headbands, big hair, watch the Goonies, karaoke to Vanilla Ice, you get the picture. Thoughts? Anyone even reading this thing?

Oh, and to all you people out there in the videoscope, you better have started reading Marley & Me by now. Remember, I'm like a chamillion. Yeah. And I came to the fork in the road. And I took the bridge and ended up on the right side. Elizabeth went left and I went right. I said "follow me Elizabeth" because I'm going straight to the top. The stars. One shining star in the night. That shines brighter than all the rest. And the beat goes on. No more questions.

Marley and Me

2007-04-10T02:37:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading Marley and Me last night. My god. It is an excellent book, and may very well be one of the best books I have ever read. I think it is one of those books where either you love it or hate it, no in between. If you have ever owned a dog, especially a larger dog, it is a must read. I have read many a book in my time, but none has effected me like this book did. I mean, usually when you finish a book, you may think about it for a bit and then move on to the next thing. I can't stop thinking about this book. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the dog I grew up with was a big Golden Retriever (Marley is a lab) so I can really really relate. Do yourself a favor and please please read it. Heck, you can even borrow my copy, you need to read this book. Please.

This blog entry is dedicated to my dog Gruffy. He was the best. The absolute tops.

What a lovely day...

2007-03-31T02:37:00.000-07:00

CAUTION!

2007-03-29T02:36:00.000-07:00

Things are awesome

2007-03-26T02:36:00.000-07:00

This is gonna be a long blog, so sit back, relax, and enjoy.

For the last 2 weeks I've been in an insanely good mood, but I couldn't figure out why. I think I finally figured it out.

The last 3 months have been pretty shitty.

I was pretty depressed, but didn't really realize it.

Since Christmas, all I have been doing is moving. I didn't really have a place I could call my own. I don't even consider Sacramento my home anymore. My room isn't really my room anymore. All that's in it is a bed. All the posters and toys have been long put away. Pretty depressing.

So as soon as I got back from Christmas, I had to start packing to move. I really did grow to hate that little studio apartment I was in. I could hear the person to my left cough all night, I knew when the person to my right had a fight with their boyfriend (much to my joy) and I knew that I wasn't allowed to listen to music at 3pm on a Sunday because it annoyed the person below me. Oh, and I figured out that weird rustling above me was squirrels on my roof, not rats. Pretty depressing.

Flash forward a few weeks. Everything is packed. I'm feeling pretty shitty, but I'm looking forward to moving into my friend's place. I see my room, it's pretty damn small, but whatever. I can manage. So I start moving my stuff over little by little, things are looking okay. And well, if you're reading this, you know the rest. Pretty depressing.

Another few weeks go by, I'm finally in my new new place. It seems pretty cool. Takes a while to finally get settled in, but I finally do. I hang all my pictures up, decorate it all how I want it, but still, I'm in a funk.

Then I decided to hold a party March 17. It was a pretty good turnout. I think everyone had a blast, I know I sure did. That little party got me out of my funk.

Now's the part of the blog where I'll get a bit sappy. Avert your eyes if you must.

It's been hard living down here in LA. I mean, I know I like it better than Sacramento, it's new and exciting. But I have no family or anything out here, and being an only child makes it harder too. So all I really have out here are my friends. Now, I'm the type of guy who doesn't have hundreds of hundreds of friends. Sure, I know a lot of people, but I don't really consider them "friends"
per se, more like acquaintances. And then coming down to a school hundreds of miles away where I knew absolutely nobody was hard. Long story short, the group of friends I made in school mean the world to me, and after graduating, I guess I've just felt like I was floating. Didn't really have a place to go, kept on moving, changing jobs, etc... Nowhere to call home.

Ready for it? I warned you. There's still time to turn back.

I think that's what changed on March 17. Finally, I think it hit me. This is my home now. My friends are my family. I have no idea why it took me so long to realize it. I know that they'll always have my back, and I hope they know that I'll always have theirs. Just having everyone over at my new place, all having fun, no cares in the world, that's what it's all about.

So yeah, things are awesome. Things are fuckin' awesome god damn it. And I'm fuckin' home.

Books are awesome

2007-03-24T02:35:00.000-07:00

I just started reading this awesome book. Check it out:

Wizards are awesome

2007-03-23T02:34:00.000-07:00

This post has nothing to do with wizards (though they are pretty fuckin' awesome). I've just been in a really good mood for the last few days. Here's a picture I photoshopped a long while back:

And remember, no matter what happens, somebody will find a way to take it too seriously.

Some place to call home.

2007-02-28T02:34:00.000-08:00

Finally I have found some place to call home. I do believe a party will be in order. Details to come.

Guess What! I'm moving again!

2007-02-05T02:33:00.000-08:00

Guess what! I'm moving again! I gotta find a new place in 30days, so if you know of any or need a room-mate, let me know. Get a hold of me if you want the scoop.