Sexual Chocolate!

I was just about to step in the shower to get ready for my trip up to LA. I'm driving up today to show the latest build of the game to Sony. And right as I'm about to turn on the water, I realize I'm out of shampoo...damn!

Ah well, one of the nice things about having kids:



Looks like I'll be smelling like a Hershey Bar for the pitch! That's gotta work in my favor, right?!? :)

Happy Memorial Day + E3 + Coffee + Neo Gaf Cocksucker/Jaffe Baiter :)

Did I miss my calling?!?!

HELLS NO!

But check it: So this past weekend I took the girls to Disneyland. Yes- again! The thing some folks don't understand is that:

a- we only live about 45 min away
b- we have season passes
c- when you have kids, and you LOVE having kids (like I do) then you tend to LOVE to do stuff with them. And right now, the three of us are really digging the Dland. So I figure, why not go as often as we can!?! I know to many folks going to Disneyland is a massive vacation sort of thing that you save for and look forward to all year, etc. I can respect that. I was the same way about Walt Disney World or Los Angeles when I was a kid living in Alabama. But when you live less than an hour from the park, going to Disneyland is kind of like going to the mall. Granted, it's a totally kick ass mall!
d- I fucking LOVE theme parks and my favorite of all time are the Disney parks!*

So yeah, there ya go. Wanted to explain cause these days whenever I mention going to Disneyland, I get comments like: 'WHAT?!?!? AGAIN!?!? WEREN'T YOU JUST THERE?!!?'

So yeah, there ya are.

But ANYWAY- so we've been going alot and this time we decided to do some of the stuff we are usually too busy to do cause we're hitting all of the E ticket rides in the park. Between all of the rides, shows, and interactive things you can do, Disneyland and California Adventure are pretty huge. You could easily use up 3 days before you did and saw everything. So this time, instead of the big, traditional rides like Space Mountain or Dumbo, we saw the Aladdin show (again, I got little kids...Dumbo is mega E ticket when your kids are 3 and 5). This time, instead of the Jungle Cruise we went to the BUG'S LIFE area (it was pretty lame, I gotta say). And this time, instead of Nemo's Submarine Voyage we spent some time in the Animation center at Disney's California Adventure.

This place is pretty darn cool, I gotta say. A whole building dedicated to the animation process that made Disney great! There are 4 interactive areas inside that you can visit and learn about how a cartoon is made. Each station covers something a little different. One of those areas lets you learn how to draw famous Disney characters directly from an actual working Disney animator! My oldest loves to draw and loves Disney, so I figured we'd check it out.

It was really, really neat! Here, take a look:




It's pretty cool: you sit in your seat with provided drawing board, pencil, and paper and follow along as the pro on stage tells you exactly how to get yourself a pretty accurate rendering of an honest to goodness Disney character. Peep my genius, bitches!



Yep- Jack Skellington! For me, this is damn good! Anyone who has seen my stick figures knows I can't draw worth a lick. But I think this actually looks like Jack Skellington! For a terrible artist, I thought this turned out pretty darn good! NOTE: Bow tie done by my 3 year old...:)

AND the set makes me want to redo my home office so it looks just like the pic. It looks so warm and cozy and creatively inviting and inspiring, you know? I went thru a phase about 2 years ago where I went thru my office and de-cluttered it of most of the toys/action figures/geeky props I'd accrued thru the years. And I'm glad I did cause it was starting to look crowded and junky, like a geeky garage sale. These days, I only keep the mementos/toys that truly inspire and move me and inspire my work. But I look at this space from Disneyland and they've somehow managed to fill it with cool toys and props AND still make it look homey and inviting. I'm like: damn, I could work in that kind of space!

Tell you what, when Eat Sleep Play hits it big and we redecorate our offices out in Utah, I'm gonna be doing the same thing here in San Diego :)...

Ok, gotta get my kid to school then get to work- take it easy ya'll!

David

ps. I linked to ETICKET cause I imagine there are many folks out there to whom this is an unknown term. I got to use an Eticket ONCE when I first went to Disney World as a little kid and then- poof!- they were gone forever. Thank God! The new system is much better. Amazing the rides used to actually take tickets.

* speaking of theme parks, I read the other day about Universal Studio's King Kong upgrade and overall backlot tour reinvention and it sounds fucking great! I'll be there day one!

New Game Reviews + Slurpee Love!

sorry so choppy- Mac is crazy slow today...

FUCK Snakes on a Plane!!!

This is the real damn deal!!!


And not just cause when I was a kid I used to have a semi-secret crush on Debbie Gibson! I mean, giant sharks, giant octos, AND Debbie mufuckin Gibson!?! Get the fuck outta here! SWEET!!!

Thanks Susan F. for the heads up! :)

Friday Ramble (balloons+ Pixar+ Critics+ Excitbots)

Happy Friday ya'll!!! Have a great weekend!

THIS I fucking love...

Simply love...it is comedy bliss.

Everything Old...

When my brother and I were kids, my dad would always take us places on Saturday afternoons, after cartoons (naturally)...

What great times, what great memories. Riding around in his beat up, faded blue pick up truck, stopping off at Jack's for french fries and Mountain Dew, going to the quick mart for 25 cent comics pulled fresh off the spinner rack ('Hey Kids, Comics!'), grabbing a pocket full of green and original flavored Super Bubble from Crestline Pharmacy (where they also sold those giant sized comic books like SUPERMAN vs. SPIDERMAN!). Ahhh, good times. And I'd like to think I am creating the same kinds of opportunities for my kids to form their own sorts of warm memories. I guess we'll know eventually :)

But anyway, a buddy of mine on Facebook brought these to my attention:



...and it got me thinking back to those great Saturday's with dad.

So what's the big deal, you may ask. They're just glasses with Star Trek on them.

Ah but they are MORE than that, my friend! MUCH more! See, these are the new Star Trek movie licensed glasses from Burger King!

Yep, you read that right. GLASSES! From Burger King! Real life, old school, motherfucking movie licensed glasses from the God Damned Burger King!!!

When we were kids, every big movie had glasses. All the Star Wars flicks, some of the Indy movies did. I think there were glasses for Disney's Black Hole and E.T. as well. And usually you'd get these at McDonalds or- more often than not- Burger King. Every now and then, some B-/C+ level fast food joint- like Hardees- would try to get in on the action, but it was clear they didn't have the money for the good licenses so you'd end up with glasses that had pictures of Kenny Rogers from Six Pack, or James Gardner from TANK.

Well anyway: here are some glasses that I remember fondly:




I have super fond memories of that Boba Fett/Darth Vader glass. I think we had like 3 of them. Over the years, they were either lost or- more likely- broken in accidental drops onto our hard kitchen floor.

As of late- as in, the last 20+ years- the glasses thing has given to shitty plastic cups where the ink comes off after 4-5 runs thru the washing machine. These little, stupid cups may have helped the fast food places avoid lawsuits but they've never felt substantial and they have not- I don't think- pushed their way into the consciousness of the last few generations of children.

But check it out! Now the glasses are back! And it makes me feel like a kid again!

Hell, I didn't even like the new Trek film all that much, but I think I'll hunt down a Burger King tomorrow just to get me a Mr. Spock glass! You know, for old time's sake!

How cool!

Ok, going to bed- later ya'll!

David

ps. Yes, Nikki- I still have very, very fond memories of The Tickle Lady, Six Flags, seeing Smokey and the Bandit and Jaws with you and Stephen, thinking May was calling the Mnt. Brook Police, doing jumps in the dirt in Stephen's THING car/truck hybrid, and many, many other great memories. Mom says I never blog about you...well I just did! :) And I will in the future! I love you!

Should we legalize Pot? + STAR TREK (mild spoilers)

NOTE: Someone just told me that alcohol is found in nature as well...so scratch that statement :)

Star Trek stuff kicks in around 7 min, so if you've not seen it and want to avoid spoilers, you've been warned :)




UPDATED POST: Here's a quick follow up to some of the comments:

To All Who Come To This Happy Place...WELCOME!

...err, unless you're Jewish, or African-American, or from India, or a woman with a desire to do anything but clean up after and serve at the foot of a man. But as long as you're not any of those things, then yeah, welcome everyone! Welcome!

'To all who come to this happy place...Welcome!'

Famous words known to all Disney freaks- like myself- spoken by Disney himself in July of 1955 on the day Disneyland opened for the first time.

Now look: I'm a Disney nut and the obsession has been (happily!) getting 'worse' since I've had kids (we go to the park every month or so), since I've been devouring the behind the scenes books I get at the theme parks, and since I've discovered a number of like minded Disney nuts in real life and on the internet.

And in my growing fandom, I've been searching for info about Walt Disney. What made the man tick? What did his family think about him? How did he respond to his success?

There are lots of books out there, but frankly the biographies are too damn long for me to read (900+ pages for the one that folks say is the best). So I did what most lazy folks do: I went to Youtube and tried to find a movie version of what I wanted so I could digest it fast and over a lunch break. :)

And in my search, I came across this documentary:



If you've watched it (and there are 5 other parts beyond what I've embedded above), you can tell: The story of Walt Disney as the kindly, creative 'Uncle Walt' ain't true. And what is true ain't pretty.

And some of the most incriminating stuff comes right from Walt's mouth. A lot of the other bad stuff comes from folks who worked with Walt and were relaying things he was reported to have said to them.

And so IF this doc is to be believed, I'm really turned off to the man who was Walt Disney at this point.

And what I wonder is: is it fair that this information should affect the way people feel about the current Diseny brand? Or even the classic Disney stuff that Walt had a direct hand in creating? Or was Disney just a man of his time and it's unfair to hold him to today's standards of what it means to be a likable, kind person?

These days, it's impossible for me to associate the new Disney with the real Disney and for that I am grateful. The new Disney seems very much about diversity and teamwork and imagination and hope for the whole world, all races and types. The old Disney? If the doc is real, not so much. If the doc is real, I imagine Walt is rolling over in his cryo chamber over the casting of an African-American Disney Princess in The Princess and the Frog.

Also, if the documentary and all the research I've done on the parks and the older Disney flicks show anything, it's that the vast majority of stuff we all love about Disney (Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Dumbo, etc...hell even Mickey Mouse!) was created or lead or turned into the great magic we love by many other folks along with and/or instead of 'Uncle Walt'. And so with that knowledge, it keeps me from turning my back on the whole thing.

But I ain't gonna lie: if that documentary is true, the individual Walt Disney seems like someone whom I would not care to meet and whose work I would not care to support with my cash.

Granted, documentaries have a point of view and perhaps this one is not all true. But it's hard to argue with actual footage of Disney turning colleagues over to the government during the McCarthy witch hunts (and it's even worse if his views on Jews, African-Americans, women,etc. pan out). But I did read somewhere that towards the end of his life Disney tried to change or actually did change his assholian ways (altho I've seen no evidence of that). So who knows.

Either way, it's pretty shitty stuff to discover (again, assuming even a touch of it is true). And it makes me:

a- wonder which of today's celebrated people that we hold up as being the epitome of a specific virtue or a set of admired virtues is really full of shit? For example: are Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg REALLY nice guys?!?
b- perhaps it's naive to assume that people- and especially creative people who see the world a bit different than most- would and should be holier that the rest of us and less susceptible to the negative human traits that the rest of us must deal with. But in that case, these celebs should not present a totally fake image of who they are and fool the public. I think that is the worst part about my whole Disney discovery...a sense of disappointment and betrayal.

Later ya'll

David

Ah who the hell am I kidding? :)

It's 3:15- can't sleep.

A few things:

-Just woke from a dream where I was looking after my dying father. Now my dad- thank God- is very much alive and healthy, thanks for asking :)...but in the dream he was in bed in some hospital and dying. Now before that, in the same dream, I was working at one of the junkyards he used to own and run when I was a kid. But in the dream I was a grown up and I was doing a really good job running his yard and dad seemed real pleased with me and my work. And then- just like that- we're in the hospital and he's dying but only he's not an old man anymore, but he's a little, little boy...like around 3 or 4. And he's so sad and so little and so cute. And he sits up in bed and I tell him it's ok and that I'm there for him. And I ask him if he wants to stay or if he wants to move on. And I hope so much that he'll say he wants to stay but I know the answer he is going to give: he shakes his head yes when I ask him if he wants to go be with "gaga" (the name we had/have for his mother who has been dead for a long time). And so- sad as I am- I pick my father up- who is this little boy- and I hold him as I slowly spin him around the room in a warm, tight embrace and tell him everything will be fine and that I love him and that I have him and that it's all ok.

And then I wake up.

And now I feel sort of sad, like I'd like to call dad right now. But it's 5 am in Alabama and I don't want to wake anyone. I'd like to go hug my kids too, but its 3am here and I don't want to wake them either.

Man, having small children of my own- who are the age of my dad in the dream- I realize that the bonds between parent and child (in both directions) are so much stronger than just physical. Dreams like this make me wonder if there is something to the idea that we are all old spirits who have known each other many lives over and we just keep going round and round with the same spirits as our companions. So in one life a spirit is your dad,in the next that same spirit is your kid, sometimes your next door neighbor. Is that what is going on with this life? Or something else entirely? Well, whatever it is, it reminds me of how wonderful and precious family is.

Either that or I've just been watching too much IN TREATMENT on HBO....which- truth be told- IS the case :) Amazing, amazing show!


- Yes, I am still blogging. I was pretty bummed by the leak from our game yesterday. Not so much the information that got out (there really was nothing in there that gave away what we were making or breached any sort of trust I have with the team or with Sony). I was just annoyed that someone would actually go thru the trouble of not only defogging the images (that I clearly was sharing with the net community and clearly didn't want defogged) but then that they would go so far as to post the info on the net. I know I'm a naive idiot for being surprised but sometimes the behavior of folks on the net can really just wear you down. But then you remember that most folks who come here and post about games and pop culture all over the net are just nice, passionate people. I have no desire to stop blogging- something I love to do- just because from time to time there are going to be people who do shit that really gets under my skin.

- On that same front, I'd been thinking alot about this idea that I would rather be known, loved,hated, ignored, forgotten,etc. all solely based on the work I contribute to, and not for my blog. Now I know my blog is not some massive thing...it's not like I get a million readers a month or anything. BUT it has brought me more attention than any of the games I've been involved with and sometimes I'm like: well what's the point of that? Better to not have a blog and if anyone thinks twice about me besides my loved ones, it will be because the work we do makes folks happy. And I do feel that way...strongly.

I've seen other folks I admire (in games, in comic books) stop blogging and there's something that feels kind of dignified about that action. Like those folks are saying: the work will speak for me, not some blog.

And again, I really appreciate that stance. It's a stance I often think about taking ( clearly)...

BUT I also know that it's 2009 and blogs and the internet are amazing tools for connecting with folks who DO like and support the stuff you and your team creates. I mean, how nice it is to be able to connect directly with the folks you have a hand in entertaining. How nice it is to hear that you and the team have made something that has really touched someone's life in a positive way. And how nice to share a look into our world with people who are clearly interested in such things. It is an amazing gift and opportunity and while there is a strong part of me that feels that the work should just speak for itself, a stronger part of me tells me that blogging is something I don't want to give up doing.

So I won't and I'm not.

And at the same time, me and the team are going to bust our butts to bring ya'll some of the best games you've ever played and allow the work to speak so loudly for itself that this whole worry will be a moot issue.

But so long story short: I don't want to stop blogging; so I'm not going to.

I do want to go to bed tho. I've put my LA trip on hold as I have to work this weekend :( And I'm getting tired so I'll just see you all next week!

Later!

David

CLOSING TIME

Hey all- need a big break from blogging. Who knows- as always- I may come back to it but right now feels like a great time to stop.

To all of you regular readers who have gone with me on this journey over the years...we're just getting started! Soon our website for EAT SLEEP PLAY will be up and blazing and you'll be able to find me there on company blogs and the EAT SLEEP PLAY forums.

Until then- have a great start of the summer movie season and I'll chat with you all soon!


Much thanks and much gratitude for all your support over the years!

later ya'll!

David

LEGO TWISTED METAL!

Check it out- custom LEGO TM vehicles!!!


Here's DARKSIDE!


And MINION!

Now where's Sweet Tooth, dammit! The clown demands his Lego treatment!!!

More can be found here!

David

Rambling on California Adventure + Wolverine Apathy

Rambly v-blog today:



Oh, and here's the odd BROTHERS AND SISTERS promo/photo opp at Disneyland...I know there is a wine and food festival going on at CA ADVENTURE so it kind of fits a bit more but hell, even a food festival at Disneyland feels out of place.