tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55542552008-01-10T11:28:28.543-06:00andyBlogger169125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-75656680596532798572008-01-10T10:38:00.000-06:002008-01-10T11:28:28.569-06:00

2007 Music Year in Review So, I've been a slacker lately in updating my blog. I've been slowly working on my comic, plus I'm trying to get a no-budget movie off the ground. Anyway, here's the music that I listened to in 2007. Most of it actually came out in 2007, but not all. Fields - "Everything Last Winter" (A) This is definitely my favorite album of the year. A folky indie rock band

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-92105754446212450212007-07-23T18:00:00.000-05:002007-11-08T11:11:31.114-06:00

Three Brothers Tycho update. I'm *finally* starting to make some tangible progress on my comic. Of course, it wasn't always a comic. It's been floating around in my head for several years now, constantly evolving and changing shape, both in terms of content and of medium. Once, it was prose, then it was almost a screenplay, then it became prose again, and then it almost became a comic

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-21156241758812585972007-06-29T12:00:00.000-05:002007-06-29T11:40:44.965-05:00

Mixtape No.4 Hey friends, here's a mixtape for you guys to listen to. It's mostly new or fairly recent stuff, with a few classics thrown in there for good measure. So run along to iTunes and enjoy! It will make your summer better. 1. "Jerk It Out" - Caesars 2. "Fearless" - The Bravery 3. "Plan B" - Mute Math 4. "We Used To Be Friends" - The Dandy Warhols 5. "Surf Wax America" - Weezer 6.

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-48241625233053341372007-06-21T12:24:00.000-05:002007-06-21T12:46:53.839-05:00

Weird Dream. So, I was in some sort of zoo, lying on the grass near the water, where they kept a plesiosaur of the Loch Ness variety. Of course, there was still some debate as to whether or not the Loch Ness Monster existed, so they had this area of water where they thought that they kept it if it did exist. Anyway, I saw it. In the meantime, a squirrel attacked my big toe, so I quickly

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-28599378609523794222007-06-19T12:45:00.000-05:002007-06-21T12:48:03.729-05:00

"Repudiating the Boogie Woogie and Marching for the Lord!" Once upon a time, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Colossians, "If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations - 'Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch' (referring to things that all perish as they are used) - according to human precepts and

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-40901921264325389452007-06-12T13:50:00.000-05:002007-06-12T14:05:43.375-05:00

Jacek Yerka, Artist Another one of my favorite artists is a Polish painter by the name of Jacek Yerka. He works in both acrylics and pastels, and creates surrealistic fantasy images that are heavily influenced by the Flemish school of painting. I discovered a book of his work ("Mind Fields") back in college and have been a fan ever since. Visit his website at www.yerkaland.com.

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-40910787133612251242007-06-11T12:00:00.000-05:002007-06-11T11:52:19.986-05:00

Brandon Bird, Artist One of my new favorite artists is a fellow by the name of Brandon Bird, who paints with oil to create rather stunning images incorporating random pop culture figures. I mean, the guy has a painting called "No One Wants to Play Sega with Harrison Ford", for crying out loud. What's not to love? My personal favorite is "The Death of Jennifer Sisko" - it's quite moving.

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-69326018985085982282007-06-06T12:30:00.000-05:002007-06-07T09:40:05.452-05:00

Come As You Are For some reason, the song "Come As You Are" by Nirvana crossed my mind the other day, and I became curious to whether or not there were any covers of the song on iTunes. Well, there were a lot (even after you realize that 15-20% of the search results are covers of a different contemporary christian music song). Of course, there were beaucoups of obligitory awful punk

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-90206038202341272352007-05-16T12:00:00.000-05:002007-05-16T13:10:50.330-05:00

Video Games Turn 40? And they don't look a day over 25. Click here to read the article on 1up.com.

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-44789726982721257022007-04-25T17:00:00.000-05:002007-04-27T10:43:48.180-05:00

Cheers. So I just got back from England, where in London a bird pooped on my jacket. Also, I went to the International Congress on Preaching (www.preaching.com/icop) in Cambridge, which was organized by my employer, so I got to go for free. Of course, I worked the whole time. The congress (or 'conference' for us Yanks) went really well, even though we did get harassed and harangued by a

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-18365824954432694152007-04-24T17:00:00.000-05:002007-04-24T15:22:43.725-05:00

Trailer for 'The Trail of the Screaming Forehead' Now available at www.screamingforehead.com Good times. :)

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-60824849428399523652007-03-20T17:10:00.000-05:002007-03-20T17:13:28.518-05:00

Ever wonder... ...What ever happened to these guys? Yeah, well, me too. But Joss Whedon has returned (albeit to the world of comics instead of television), and the canonical Season 8 has begun, courtesy of Dark Horse Comics. Unfortunately, it sold out a lot quicker than anyone expected. I still don't have a copy yet. Grr, argh. But what about... ...their friends? Well, apparently,

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-17341453909796768772007-03-19T12:01:00.000-05:002007-03-19T16:05:20.066-05:00

My Very First Hate Mail. Yay! a very special blog by andy scates So recently, I was asked to review an album for the March issue of CCM magazine - Anberlin's new album, 'Cities'. Sure, why not? (after all, hey, I get a free copy of the album). So I listened to it, did my evaluation, and wrote the review. It had a few good songs, and a couple of really good songs, but overall, the album was

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-32161644306905789612007-01-29T12:30:00.000-06:002007-01-30T16:23:37.858-06:00

"My favorite Bible story is the one where Noah's Ark gets attacked by Pirates!" I enjoy watching poorly-made movies, and whenever a Bible epic movie is universally derided by both christians and nonchristians, well, I have to watch it. Enter Noah's Ark, the 1999 NBC miniseries starring Jon Voight as Noah. Voight, the actor who I will always remember as the guy in Anaconda that gets eaten by

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-41343242693770231962006-12-19T17:26:00.000-06:002006-12-19T18:02:23.595-06:00

Ultimate Special Remastered Colorized Extended Edition for Families with Children and Pets Random thoughts not quite worked out in my head: It probably started in the 1980s, and there were movies like Blade Runner or Aliens that suddenly were realized in altered form as "Director's Cuts" or whatever, either to "present the director's original vision", make money, or some of both. Then came

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-31839359958461538062006-12-18T15:30:00.000-06:002006-12-18T15:46:59.368-06:00

"Thus Saith the Lord!" First of all, I refuse to make any jokes around the phrase "I want these $*&%#! snakes out of my $*&%#! garden!!!" Why would I do that in the first place, you ask? Well, because Samuel L. Jackson has been hired to play God. (I mean, who else would they get, right?) Inspired by... The Bible Experience is a rather ambitious project to create a fully-dramatized audio

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-1161792497229825022006-10-25T09:00:00.000-05:002006-11-14T10:33:39.430-06:00

Say yes to beautiful without paying the price. While writhing in pain, nausea, and dizziness from a stomach bug last Monday, I discovered a few things in my bathroom. For example, the slogan on Suave shampoo is "say yes to beautiful without paying the price" - I'm still trying to figure out the ontological ramifications of that one. I also discovered that kleenex is an adequate yet

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-1160667736512225542006-10-12T12:10:00.000-05:002006-11-14T10:33:39.267-06:00

Welcome to the Future, Again. Some of the latest technology currently in development: The PHaSR. The Personnel Halting and Stimulating Response weapson was developed for providing a non-lethal method in crowd control and immobilizing attackers by shooting low-powered laser beams that induces a temporary blinding effect on targets. Sadly, it has neither 'disintegrate' nor 'frag' settings. (

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-1158336945943929672006-09-15T18:00:00.000-05:002006-11-14T10:33:38.932-06:00

2007 Movie Preview Transformers. Directed by Michael Bay and produced by Spielberg. They even got the guy who did the voice of Optimus Prime in the cartoon to reprise his role. But honestly, this movie doesn't even have to have a plot — it could simply be two hours of robots transforming and things blowing up, and every man of my generation would pay money to see it. Click here to view

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-1156435049674259412006-08-24T12:30:00.000-05:002006-11-14T10:33:38.633-06:00

"I'm sorry, we no longer have a planet called 'Pluto'..." This week, the International Astronomical Union has stripped Pluto of it status as a planet, by redefining planet as "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-1152824449071580782006-07-13T17:35:00.000-05:002006-11-14T10:33:38.482-06:00

Weird Dreams. The other night I was in this building that was kinda like a church, except it was used by some Illuminati-like cult or something, and everything was dark mahogany and red carpet. I was distressed to learn that most of the adults of my hometown were members, and there were a bunch of little kids drawing symbols of the Crimson King on napkins. The end of the hallway (that ran

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-1151443481692758422006-06-27T17:35:00.000-05:002006-11-14T10:33:38.319-06:00

More than meets the eye... :)

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-1150927709383605772006-06-21T18:01:00.000-05:002006-12-20T10:23:35.146-06:00

The best news I've heard all month. "Trail of the Screaming Forehead" Oh man, I can't wait for this one. It's from the director of "Lost Skeleton of Cadavra" and features the same cast: "Terror strikes Longhead Bay when Creeping Alien Foreheads begin attaching themselves to local townspeople and seizing their very souls - launching a vast invasion from Space! "By remarkable coincidence,

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-1149193907565278112006-06-01T17:40:00.000-05:002006-11-14T10:33:37.740-06:00

I want to believe (that they'll actually film it) From WENN via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News (link): David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson have both signed on to star in the second X-Files feature film. The movie will pick up four years after the 2002 finale that left agents Mulder and Scully on the run from the FBI. Executive producer Frank Spotnitz claims the script is nearly finished, saying,

andytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5554255.post-1149200353347828962006-06-01T17:35:00.000-05:002006-11-14T10:33:37.980-06:00

To Boldly Go Where No Horse Has Gone Before... From AP (link): Shatner believes he can contribute to Middle East peace by helping Israeli and Palestinian kids with disabilities through horseback riding. Wow, I don't even know where to start. But hey, I guess he did bring peace between the Federation and the Klingons, and as Spock would say, "Only Nixon could go to China."

andy