Stephen Colbert is Great

Well, I didn't think it was possible, but I think the Colbert Report on Comedy Central has matched, if not exceeded, the standard of the Daily Show. This performance by Stephen Colbert at the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner takes it to another level, though. I can't imagine the balls it takes to ridicule the President of the United States right to his face. Even if it is supposed to be in jest, the issues and the stinging humor Colbert presents have to be uncomfortable for many, especially the War Monkey himself.

Colbert, who spoke in the guise of his talk show character, who ostensibly supports the president strongly, urged the Bush to ignore his low approval ratings, saying they were based on reality, “and reality has a well-known liberal bias.”

The Mayan Calendar - 2012 A.D.

Whether it is just a fantastic man-made notion, or if there really is some kind of singularity or transcendence of the human experience on this date of December 12, 2012, it has huge resonance with the collective consciousness of people on this planet. It is the date calculated from Mayan Long Count calendar in which the 5,125 year age we are currently living in (one-fifth of a 26,000 year Great Cycle) will come to an end as the winter solstice sun passes through the galactic plane of the Milky Way.

I think ancient people were more aware of subtle levels of existence and the cosmic cycles of the universe than we are, and we are beginning to gain that wisdom and insight again as the world we know approaches a transition from ignorance to awakening and rebirth as beings and as a world.

The question is - what kinds of hell will we have to endure in the meantime?

The Mayan Prophecy of 2012

(On the other hand,
it could be much simpler than all that...)

Click to enlarge
this interesting breakdown of a Aztec Calendar

Da Vinci's Challenge - Met Museum Bestseller

Does this mean that I can say my work is being highlighted in the Metropolitan Museum of Art?...
(I think it does!)

It's cool to have my game Da Vinci's Challenge being sold in the Museum Store of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but I also saw that it is being labeled a "Met Bestseller" on their website.

They are also using the photo of it for their "Games & Puzzles" category:


The time I visited the Met Museum to see their exhibit of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks & drawings was one of the pinnacles of my life as an artist and someone who has studied Leonardo all my life.

Da Vinci's Challenge Articles - Update 4/22/06

I added some new
Da Vinci's Challenge articles to the collection here:

The Monkey Buddha: Da Vinci's Challenge Articles

Rolling Stone: Worst President in History?

Yes, Rolling Stone asks the question that is so obvious to anyone who doesn't have their head either buried in a Bible, a pile of money from oil profits, or their own ass:

Is the demented, corrupt, ignorant, and deceiving
demon-spawn of Barbara Bush...

The Worst President in History?

I knew these days were coming, when the malevolence these scumbags have created is coming around full circle. The only thing that could possibly derail the karma train that's headed full-steam toward the Neocon Headquarters on Pennsylvania Ave. is some desperate act of manufactured or artificially escalated crisis.

The fact that so many people have been fooled by this jackass, his "religion," and his special brand of moron-speak is so depressing. Would you give the codes to the world's largest nuclear arsenal to the former town drunk who stopped doing cocaine and claims he found Jesus, but still mangles sentences and acts like an a-hole? That's exactly what enough of this country's brilliant citizens did in 2004 to allow another election to be stolen from under our noses though the magic of e-voting. If the Republicans don't lose control of the Senate in the fall, we are just so screwed. Oh, too late.

So, to answer the question, let me refer you to a T-shirt graphic I created in October of 2004:

Origins of Easter

The History Channel has an informative and interesting section explaining the origins and history of Easter.

History Channel: The History of Easter

"8th-century English scholar St. Bede, believe it probably comes from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of Spring and fertility, to whom was dedicated a month corresponding to April.

Her festival was celebrated on the day of the Vernal Equinox; traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored Easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring."

Below: Representations of Eostre & Jesus, dieties symbolizing the revival of Spring.

Barnes & Noble: "Da Vinci" Fever!

Although my game, Da Vinci's Challenge, has been selling well at Barnes & Noble they have decided to hype all things 'Da Vinci' this month, in light of the approaching Da Vinci Code movie. On their website they have a link to different Da Vinci items... under "Games & Gifts" they have all 3 of the Da Vinci's Challenge games featured!


I found out they were going to include my board & card games as part of their promotion at Toy Fair in February. My sister & her husband saw the "Da Vinci" display at the B&N store near us, so I went to check it out. Here are some pics I took there...

Toy Fair 2006 - Briarpatch Video

I found a video clip of the Briarpatch booth at the 2006 Toy Fair in NY, with Doug Lory playing Leonardo da Vinci. He is introducing the newest "Da Vinci's Challenge" game - Da Vinci's Mancala. There are also shots of the original Da Vinci's Challenge and the card game version, too. (It's after the Nerdy Wordy presentation...)

Watch "Da Vinci's Mancala" Video

Howard Stern Film Festival

Damn, it's been awhile since I've posted anything!

I have been working the last couple weeks with my brother Justin on our entry for the Howard Stern Film Festival.

It is called "H.A.H.A. - Haters Against Howard Alliance" and we play members of a militant right-wing organization who are out to censor EVERYTHING and, most of all, get Howard Stern off the air. Justin plays "Wes Looves," the President of H.A.H.A. I play a U.S. Senator from an isolated midwestern state named "Sam Brownsack."

Both of my brothers and I are all huge fans of Howard's show, so once Justin & I came up this idea we were determined to finish & enter it. It took up every spare minute of our time for the past few weeks, but we got it done! I did all the graphics and design, and Justin did the film editing. (If anothing else, I got to learn Final Cut Pro!) I think it turned out good, but who knows...

I even started a H.A.H.A blog where people can leave their anti-Howard Stern sentiments!
haha-usa.blogspot.com

Anyway, I'll post some images so you can get a taste of our entry...