allaboutduncan

Lumberjack Beard Head Cap

// February 26th, 2009 // No Comments » // DVD Menus

Yes, I would wear this. How hilarious looking is that? The added mustache can be detached–but why would you want to do that?

Available at Beardhead.com

Halfway to 70

// February 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // DVD Menus

Yep, today is my birthday and unlike many other “monumental” birthdays (16, 21, 30), this one seemed to bother me as I kept creeping ever closer to it. Now that 35 (halfway to 70 – as I’ve been telling Jill) is upon me, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.

It’s actually caused me to reflect a little on things. I consider myself lucky for the life I have. I have a great wife, two great sons and a great family (and extended family). I have a great job and I enjoy going to work everyday.

Thanks to Carter (and soon Riley), I get to play baseball, Ben 10, superheroes, board games and watch cartoons whenever time permits. Unfortunately, with 2 kids and everything else that life entails, that’s not as often as I want, but I enjoy and cherish those moments. I try not to let the opportunity pass when it presents itself.

As I look back on the past 35 years, I see a lot of successes and a lot of mistakes as well. However, my favorite thing to do is to look at where I am now. I look at the wall of photos, cards, coloring books pages, and toys on my desk in front of my and it brings a smile to face. What makes that smile even bigger is thinking what my desk, those photos and this wall will look like in a another 5, 10, and 15 years.

If there is one piece of advice I can give, it is this: embrace change. As you get older, your life will definitely change and so will everything around you. Don’t waste time trying to do the same old thing everyday. Look at what’s happening around you and participate. Jump in. Be an active part of that family that you share your life with.

Manbabies with Jorge Garcia

// February 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // DVD Menus

Hurley is easily my favorite character on LOST (which is my favorite show), so when I discovered he had a blog, I immediately subscribed.

DispatchesFromTheIsland is less about LOST than it is Jorge’s life on the island of Hawaii. Even if you’re not a fan of the show, you should check it out. His writing is personal, engaging and entertaining – all things that make you want to keep reading.

I’ll also blame him for showing me Manbabies.com (see image below). Hilarious and disturbing a sat the same time.

So, thanks for freaking me out Jorge.

The Origins of 20 Muppets

// February 12th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // DVD Menus

CNN and Mental Floss have a great article about the origins of 20 Muppet characters, detailing where they first appeared and who or what inspired them. I’ve been a fan of the Muppets for as long as I can remember, but there were a lot of things on the list I didn’t know.

Here’s an example:

Gonzo: What exactly is Gonzo? Nobody knows. Even Jim Henson had no particular species in mind. Over the course of "The Muppet Show," "Muppet Babies" and various Muppet movies, Gonzo has been referred to as a "Whatever", a "Weirdo" and an alien. Whatever he is, he first appeared on the scene in 1970′s The Great Santa Claus Switch. His name was Snarl the Cigar Box Frackle. In 1974, he showed up on a TV special for Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. He became Gonzo the Great by the first season of The Muppet Show and developed his thing for Camilla the Chicken almost accidentally: During one episode where chickens were auditioning for the show, puppeteer Dave Goelz ad-libbed, "Don’t call us, we’ll call you… nice legs, though!" It was decided then and there that Gonzo would have a bizarre romantic interest in chickens.

Check out the entire list for the Surprising Stories Behind 20 Muppets

Pauls Valley, Oklahoma – Action Figure Museum

// February 11th, 2009 // No Comments » // DVD Menus

This somewhat unassuming storefront hides a treasure trove of action figure goodness within its walls. The Action Figure Museum in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma has an insanely large collection of toys (over 10,000) from the past few decades.

Check out the Wired.com article for more details and photos.

Definitely looks like a cool place to visit.

Guitar Hero: Metallica – Slayer’s War Ensemble

// February 3rd, 2009 // No Comments » // DVD Menus

Seriously, there are people who can actually play this on Guitar Hero? That’s crazy.

Check out the dual drum pedals. Rumored to be a pre-order exclusive with Game Stop (or Game Crazy), I’m sure they’ll be available separately as well.

Look for Guitar Hero: Metallica in March for PS3 and XBox 360 and May for Wii.

Batman 1966 DVD Menu

// March 20th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // DVD Menus

This is a menu I created for a DVD set of the 1966 Adam West Batman TV show created by a Canadian friend of mine. I created 29 different menus for the set (one for each disc).

The Thing – Hanna-Barbera Cartoon

// March 20th, 2008 // 2 Comments » // DVD Menus

This cartoon is pretty bad, I’ll admit it. However, I remember loving it as a kid because it had the Thing from the Fantastic Four.

In this series, the Thing is Benjamin “Benjy” Grimm and he’s a high school student. No mention of the FF is made and he can control his transformation into the Thing by using his Thing Ring. By touching the two halves of the ring together (one on each hand) he can transform into the Thing. He’s constantly using his Thing powers to rescue his friends from everyday dangers. Rarely does he face off against any super-villain, but there is the occasional bad guy.

This was a hard series to track down. I finally found great copies through a friend. They were new recordings from Boomerang. I took the set and created a nice menu using some artwork from a Marvel Comics hardback book that details the history of their television projects. It originally aired in a 1-hour block with a Flintstones show and was called Fred and Barney Meet the Thing, although the two cartoons never crossed over.

The first segment, a very loose adaptation of Marvel Comics’ character The Thing, consisted of stories following the Thing as a teenager named Benjy Grimm who transforms into the rock-skinned superhero by touching together magic rings and reciting the words “Thing ring, do your thing!”

The stories centered mostly around Benjy at Centerville High School with his friends Betty, her rich boyfriend Ronald, Kelly (Betty’s kid-sister) and teacher Miss Twilly. Kelly was the only person who knew about Benjy’s secret.

Twenty six 11-minute episodes of The Thing were produced; 2 shorts aired per show.

from Wikipedia

Nightman

// March 12th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // DVD Menus

I don’t claim that this is a good show, in fact, I know it’s not. What it is though, is good, cheesy, superhero fun.

Based on the Malibu Comics (later purchased by Marvel) series of the same name, Nightman is really saxophonist Johnny Domino. After being struck by lightning, he finds he is telepathically tuned to the frequency of evil (what!?). This gives him an edge in tracking down bad guys. With the help of high-tech suit that gives him the power of flight and a laser eye, Domino begins fighting crime as Nightman.

Produced by Glen A. Larson (look for his character Manimal in Season 2), who also createdAutoman and Knight Rider. If you’ve seen either of those shows, then you know what to expect.

Nationally syndicated Chicago WGN channel aired these a few years ago and I managed to get all but two episodes. After quite a bit of searching, I tracked down nice quality versions of the two missing episodes and was able to finish the set. Now I can watch the badness whenever I want thanks to my Nightman DVD set.

DC Heroes – Filmation 1967

// January 23rd, 2008 // No Comments » // DVD Menus

In 1966, Filmation successfully launched The New Adventures of Superman cartoon. It’s success led to a number of spin-off shorts and series. Between 1967 and 1969, Filmation produced a series of 18 shorts featuring The Atom, The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Justice League, and the Teen Titans.

Growing up, I remember seeing these on the Bozo show and years later when they began running on Cartoon Network’s Boomerang in between shows I began recording them. A few episodes were recorded off of S-VHS tapes from a friend and cleaned up and enhanced. All in all, it’s a great looking set. Here’s hoping that Warner will release this series on DVD with extras similar to the New Adventures of Superman and the Adventures of Aquaman sets.