One of the few things Much has done right this year...

...is Video on Trial.
http://www.muchmusic.com/tv/videoontrial/
They took a VH1-style concept, and rocked it. The fact that a couple of the regular guests (Debra Digiovanni and a cutie who's name I can't remember) are pretty cute to me is icing on the cake.

What I bought on Boxing Day...

Y'all know me. I dig Christmas, but it's Boxing Day that I really look forward to. Many thanks to the folks that made it possible to enjoy it this year.

• Stones Throw 101 DVD + CD
• Dead Flowers soundtrack
• Kanye's College Dropout (yeah, I know...I shoulda had it a while back. It was on my friend Krista's iTunes at school, so I'd listen to it that way since we were networked n' shit.)
• Print's Regional Annual (finally! Those motherfuckers fucked up my subscription.)
• Dave Brubeck Quartet's Time Out (I've wanted this for ages.)
• Battle Vixens 6
• Illustration '05 Issue 2 (C.F. Payne is the subject, and there's a cool Leslie Carbaga interview near the end)
• The Speedball® Textbook
• The Mini Zen Gardening Kit from Running Press
• The latest Acme Novelty Library thing. So good.

I done good.

What I got for Christmas...

• A Jobmate hammer
• 150 pc "Household assortment" (for hanging up things)
• a gift certificate to Comics America
• 11.5" metal whisk
• oven mitts
• a scarf
• extra deodorant! (Ultra Clear Degree for Men™)
• much candy, including Reese Trees, Lindt chocolates and Hanukkah gelt
• Mulled cranberry drink mix and hot chocolate from Second Cup (Canada's Starbucks)
• a Bic XGames pen
• Botticelli Bites (Choclate and Peanut Butter flavor)
• Ez Baker Cookie Pan
• Mane n' Tail Hoofmaker® moisturizer
• 2 tea towels
• 2 hand towels
• 1 Betty Crocker® Saucepan
• 1 Betty Crocker® Skillet (it's red!!)
• a travel mug
• Mini Flyers from Running Press
• Nextcare bandages
• a pair of potholders
• salt & pepper shakers
• steak spice!
• crushed chilies!
• Company's Coming!: The Rookie Cook by Jean Paré
• 1 HMV gift certificate
• Pyrex® oval roaster
• Best Ever Three & Four Ingredient Cookbook by Jenny White & Joanna Farrow
• Harmonica Book & Kit
• 2 McNally Robinson gift certificates
• a set of 5 tea towels
• 2 LARGE bath towels

I hope the McMahon family got a bag of dicks for Christmas.

As pointed out by several internet wrestling pundits, Vince McMahon has been cuttin' promos on the fans by himself and via several wrestlers and different times during the year, and tonight he basically told everyone to kiss his ass; he's gonna do what he wants whenever he wants to do it. That same promo put his entire fucking family above the business and set him up for a feud with Shawn Michaels. I liked that shit better when it was him vs. Austin. That was what...99?
This might sound nutty, but I'm hoping for a swift end to the WWE in 2006. Okay, maybe that's drastic, but what's going down right now is just ridiculous. I know we can't go back to the days of territories, but I'm thinking that anything is better than this. Anything.

Winnah!!!

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Illustration Friday: Imagine

The Sinful Mind of Lord Pillsbury, 2005 • graphite, stolen photo and Photoshop®

I wasn't gonna do one this week, but after seeing what my long-time pal Jeope did, I got inspired.
So there you go. I think this is kinda self-explanatory. :D
The nut n' bolt thing is a nod to the work of Coop, plus I like to be somewhat obvious in my motives sometimes.
The stocking'd beauty? I wish I knew her name. She just pops up randomly on TGPs (Thumbnail Gallery Posts) every once in a while. No affiliation to any adult site, no clue to who she is. But she sure is purdy.
Oh yeah...here's the reference for this thing: Connery and some dude.

Illustration Friday: Surprise

The New Brewster's Millions, 2005 • graphite and Photoshop®

The title, of course, is a nod to the late Richard Pryor.
The idea, though, came from reading a lot of Bob Fingerman's work. That guy is a freakin' genius. Reading his work is like a New York travelogue, f'real. Totally gritty. I may have achieved 1/25th of said grit here. Hey, did I give this dude enough of a "holy s**t" face? I'm not sure.

Here's a link to the larger version, which you could use as a desktop if you wanna.

R.I.P Richard Pryor

Anyone that knows how sick Richard was knew this day was coming, but it's sad all the same. Ask a cross-section of today's standup comics, male or female, who influenced them to hit the stage, and I'll bet you that at least 90% will have Pryor on their individual lists.

Hey, props where props is due...Lenny Bruce kicked in the door on using "blue" language on stage, but Rich was a foul-mouthed poet.

As a Radio Broadcasting student doing my work experience at 97.5 FM here in Winnipeg, I had the (sort of) privlage of cleaning out their stacked record library. I was lucky enough to get to keep a few albums, one of which was Pryor's Wanted. Two slabs of non-stop, gut-busting laughs. So fuckin' good. The good folks at Rhino put out a box set with all of his Warner Bros. records, which I recommend you cop.