I luurve Marc Bolan so muuuchh. Fun trvia fact (?): Bolan was so tiny he wore size five shoes. Women’s size 5 shoes. UK size. That’s a 7 in America. My size, coincedentally.

This is a song, that I wrote when I was young,
And I call it, the broken hearted blues,
The air on that night, was tempered like a knife,
And the people wore the face masks of a clown,
Don he was long, mis-shapen and forlorn,
And his woman ran away without a smile.

Days of the earth, are unbroken changeless turf,
But the faces of the men are something else.
In the wind, as a boy, was a spacious sexual toy,
But baby, now he’s a toothless baggy man,
When the hills of the sun, make you feel that you are young,

Get good now, and face your face into the wind.
This is a song, that I wrote when I was young,
And I called it the broken hearted blues

Oh my god, he’s done it again.

Earlier this month Power Pop Criminal$ assembled yet another volume of their incredible tribute series, their first in fifteen months. Powerpop artists covering other powerpop artists. A Whitman’s Sampler of ear candy. (The three earlier compilations are available here).

Covers of  legends like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, T Rex, Nilsson, Elvis Costello, Badfinger, The Replacements and many more. Covers by esteeemed genre arttists including Superdrag, Dwight Twilley, Matthew Sweet, The Romantics, Teenage Fanclub and Cheap Trick – to name but a few.

Angelo and crew do incredible work putting these things together. Despite their site name, they are crystal clear that if any out-of-print albums they post become commecially available, they will pull them from the site (and I’ve seen them do it).

December alert: Pay attention to their site for the 2009 PPC Advent Wall of Sound. It works just like an Advent calendar where you open a compartment each day from December 1-24 to find a picture or treat. In this case we’re talking treat – a new powerpop rarity appears daily and only for one day. There are also some twisted holiday comps on the PPC site.

Hope you discover some new artists in the process, and if/when you do, please support them by purchasing their CDs and merch. It’s tough to survive in this business, and every dollar counts.

Marc Bolan on the set of Born To Boogie, 1972

Siang itu di Ruang 7 sebuah bimbel dengan T-Rex sebagai jurus jitunya…

Guru fisika favorit kami-yang sekaligus merangkap sebagai wali kelas 33D3, Pa Har, dengan santai menerangkan fisika modern dan sesekali kita nanya dan diskusi. Beliau jawab dengan sabar dan sekali lagi, tetap santai.

Ternyata fisika modern membuat semuanya serba relatif. Jika kita sekarang duduk diam, apakah benar diam? Terhadap bumi yang kita pijak kita memang diam. Tapi terhadap pusat bumi kita berotasi dan terhadap matahari kita berevolusi. Sama halnya seperti orang menjatuhkan pulpen dalam kereta yang sedang bergerak. Bagi orang di dalam kereta pulpen jatuh vertikal. Tapi bagi orang di luar kereta, lintasan jatuhnya melengkung (kaya setengah parabola) karena saat pulpen menyentuh tanah, keretanya sudah berpindah tempat. Agh sedikit bercanda: “Wah, kalo gitu semua yang kita pelajari itu salah, dong?” Kita berdua langsung ketawa2, ngebayangin gimana pusingnya kemarin ngerjain soal kesetimbangan, dan ga terima kalo SEMUA yang kemarin kita pelajari itu SALAH. Ga mungkin, ga mungkin, semoga engga salah (do’a dalam hati). Ternyata….. Alhamdulillah emang ga salah! Pa Har meluruskan pikiran -sekaligus melegakan hati kami, bahwa semua rumus fisika ga ada yang salah. “Coba aja hitung waktu yang dicapai pulpen dengan lintasan lurus dan lintasan melengkung, pasti sama”. Fiuh, berarti yang kemaren ga sia2 ya Agh^^

Ada juga Teori Relativitas Khusus yang isinya di Postulat 2, dari hasil analisis teori dan perhitungan yang complicated, Om Albert menyatakan bahwa kecepatan cahaya itu mutlak. Analoginya, jika ada mobil melesat dengan kecepatan 300km/jam, kecepatan sedemikian besar itu dirasakan oleh orang yang diam. Sedangkan bagi mobil yang bergerak 299km/jam, mobil pertama serasa bergerak 1km/jam. Nah, beda dengan kecepatan cahaya (3×10⁸ m/s). Jika ada pesawat bergerak 100 m/s dan pesawat yang kecepatannya 2,9×10⁸ m/s, tetap saja kecepatan cahaya bernilai 3×10⁸ m/s bagi kedua pesawat. Subhanallah..

Ada rumus untuk menjumlahkan kecepatan. Kasusnya ada orang diam(O), Kecepatan mobil B terhadap orang (V_BO) = 80 km/jam, kec. mobil A terhadap B(V_AB) = 10 km/jam), maka bisa dipastikan V_AO nya 80+20=100 km/jam. Tapi, itu katanya fisika lama, yang modern rumusnya:  V_AO = (V_AB + V_BO) dibagi 1+(V_AB . V_BO)/C² . Nah lho? Pa Har bikin kaget dengan bilang selama ini kita ngerasa aman2 aja pake rumus kecepatan biasa. Tapi sekali lagi, beliau meluruskan, rumus fisika lama bukan salah, tapi karena kecepatan yang terjadi di sekeliling kita ga mendekati kecepatan cahaya, jadi kalau dimasukin ke rumus sbg V_AB . V_BO hasilnya bakal beda 0,0000000001 (misal) sama cara fisika lama. Rumus di atas bisa dipake buat sesuatu yang bergerak dengan kecepatan mendekati kecepatan cahaya.

Ko bisa ya? Padahal katanya Einstein ga pernah melakukan percobaan, hanya cukup memakai teori dan analisis yang mendalam kemudian ditemukanlah rumus-rumus tersebut.

Oya, ada yang menarik lagi. Kalo kita bisa mencapai kecepatan cahaya (C), kita ga akan terkena waktu atau bisa dibilang awet muda lah. Pa Har mengajak kita berkhayal, andaikan kita ada di dalam pesawat yang bergerak dengan percepatan a=50 m/s², kapan waktu untuk mencapai C?

a=50m/s²

V_t = V₀ + at

3×10⁸ = 0 + at

t = 6×10⁶ s

sekon dikonversikan ke tahun: dibagi 3,14×10⁷ jadi 0,2 tahun atau sekitar 2 bulan.

Terus Pa Har bilang “2 bulan menuju keabadian”. Semuanya spontan ketawa, apalagi pas Chris nambahin: “Iya, tapi abadinya pas udah di alam lain”

Dipikir-pikir, bisa juga ya, 2 bulan untuk selamanya kenapa engga? Tapi ga mungkin deng, manusia ga akan kuat gerak dengan kecepatan segitu. Ini intermezzo dari Pa Har aja sih.

Terakhir, selintas aja, Pa Har nanya, : ”Ada ga benda yang kalau dilempar ga akan jatuh menuju pusat bumi?” Semuanya berpikir ga ada, karena emang udah Sunatullah kalau semua benda pasti bakal kena gaya gravitasi bumi. Tapi ternyata ada! Ada, kalau benda itu dilempar dari atas gunung dengan kecepatan orbit. Benda itu ga akan jatuh dan akan terus mengelilingi bumi. Tapi untuk kecepatan orbit belum dibahas mendalam, nanti kalau udah dapet ilmunya aku cantumin di sini deh.

Puncaknya nih, di samping sekian banyaknya rumus-rumus yang mungkin belum kita ketahui semuanya, para ilmuwan sekarang lagi nyari (kalo ga salah namanya) T.E.O singkatan dari Theory of Everything. Mereka ceritanya mau nyari rumus yang mencakup semua rumusa. Jadi rumusnya bisa diturunin dll dsb menghasilkan semua rumus2 yang ada. Subhanallah ya, kita harus mencontoh semangat mereka dalam menemukan hal yang baru. Kita juga harus cinta ilmu pengetahuan,  Rasulullah aa seorang pecinta ilmu, masa umatnya engga?

Yup, kayanya sgini dulu yang bisa aku bagi. Intinya, ternyata ilmu Allah itu sangat luas ya, baru tau kalo Astronomi itu rame! Selintas kepikiran nih mau jadi astronom..  Nantikan kisah2 ilmu pengetahuan lainnya!

Wallahua’lam bishshawab..

-Aplikasi dari postingan sebelumnya nih ceritanya, kalau ada yang salah mohon dikoreksi, ya-

But will this dinosaur place survive?

An underwater themed bar complete with a moving, animatronic octopus overhead

But I was there to eat. One step inside and I felt like a kid– Let me jump on that dino’s neck! It was a correct guess that the owners of T-Rex are also the masterminds behind the Rainforest Cafe. Because of how many families had been lured inside, Dong and I received a small tour of the place as we went to a table near the back. Along the way I could see that the large dining space was divided by themes. The bar was neon blue and had a large octopus hanging above with tentacles that twitched. Near the kitchen were brown boulders and faux fire raging above. There was a jungle… then I saw an ice cavern that glowed.

“Ice! Ice! Ice!” I yelled, grabbed my Chinese man, and pointed. And luck emerged as our hostess seated us there. The ice cavern surrounded our table and even extended above our heads. A soft blue light glowed beneath each ice surface that softly changed colors. However cool that sounds, it got annoying as the hour went by– especially when our food came. I don’t like seeing my food reflect different colors. And being the same creators behind the Rainforest Cafe, naturally, there had to be a show every 20 minutes. In this prehistoric version, no gorillas and elephants sang. Rather, a meteor shower began in the boulder room, the dinosaurs would freak out, and our ice cavern would start rapidly changing colors. Very amusing, but hard to stomach if you sat in our area.

The food? How can a T-Rex restaurant not have something called a “Jurassic Burger?” (Lol) On the other hand, there were enough cutesy dino names in the menu… but nothing cutesy about the price. Come on, this is Downtown Disney after all. Entrees were $12 – 25. I took a fish sandwich that was slightly dry, but the fries were surprisingly juicy and crispy. Dong’s mahi mahi platter with rice tasted much better– moist and seasoned right. I decided to add on a tropical cotton-tini. I wondered how a martini could be made with cotton candy, but then our waitress showed up with a martini glass stuffed with a large cotton candy. Then she shook up my drink, and I watched as the cotton candy magically disolved in my alcohol. Anything with that much sugar had to be yummy– and it was. And I got to keep the shaker!

T-Rex will survive. Any restaurant located near Disney with life-size versions of kids’ toys is bound to do good. Will I return? Not unless I take out my college tuition and use it for food. Then again, it’s not like there’s any food place located within 10 miles of the theme parks with cheaper prices. But I definitely recommend stepping inside, if only to jump on a dino’s neck and watch a meteor shower crash into an ice cave.

A few months ago I wrote a post on 11 songs that had been banned by the Kano State Censorship Board in Kano. This memo prohibiting the sale of the songs, photographed by documentary filmmaker Alex Johnson, was posted at the market where cds are sold.

11 Songs banned by the Kano State Censorship Board. Photo (c) Alex Johnson

The third on the list of songs that were banned was “Girgiza Kai” (“Shake your head”) by Hausa rapper Ziriums, which was not officially released but uploaded to his myspace page. In “Girgiza Kai,” Ziriums, warns those who hear his song,

“Kai karku taka kun san an hana.

Hey, don’t dance, you know they banned it. ….

.. ..

Gwamnan garinmu ran nan. Shi ne ya hana.

The governor of our city here. He banned it…..”

Instead you should just

“Girgiza kai.”

“Shake your head.”

He also satirically uses the proverb “Mai dokar bacci, ya bige da gyangyed’i.” “The one who says sleep is against the law is the one nodding off…” to critique

“Wanda duk ya hana mu sana’a”

“Anyone who keeps us from working….”

(You can listen to the song on Zirium’s Myspace page, and read the lyrics and an English translation here.).. Already having left Kano for Abuja when the song was banned, Ziriums has hooked up with other Abuja-based musicians, Supreme Solar and T-Rex, to continue his controversial rapping on a larger national scale. Intersection Entertainment has recently released S. Solar’s “Government Money”, (featuring T-Rex and Ziriums),  a hilarious take-off on Busta Rhymes’ and Ron Browz’s notorious “hit”: “Arab Money.”

You can view “Government Money” here:

Both the original “Arab Money,”  and remake of the Busta Rhymes’ tune contain wildly offensive portrayals of Arabs and Islam. (The remix featuring Lil Wayne, P. Diddy and even self-proclaimed Muslim Akon, is even worse, and uses actual verses from the Qur’an as the chorus.) The Wikipedia article written about the remix of the song notes that the chorus is “Bismillāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm. Al ḥamdu lillāhi rabbi l-’ālamīn”;  ”In the name of Allah (The God), most Gracious most Merciful. All Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.” This chorus is intoned behind the American rappers making dramatic poses , flipping bling, and rhyming about their wealth. The Wikipedia article continues to point out that Busta Rhymes uses the Islamic greeting “As-Salamu Alaykum Warahmatullah Wa Barakatu.” “May Peace and blessings of Allah(The God)be upon you” (A Greeting), to rhyme with “While I stack another billion and give it to the block fool.” Similarly Diddy says ““Al hamdu lillah” ( “All Praises to Allah”) to rhyme with: “With my billions pilin’”

Watch the original “Arab Money” here:

And the remix here:

Obviously, the song is sacrilegious and insulting to most Muslims (though if you read through the comments on youtube or various lyrics websites there are occasional self-proclaimed “Arabs” who take pride in it). I could focus my whole blog post on this issue; however, since this has already been done multiple times (here, here, here, here, here, and here) and since I’m more interested in how S. Solar, T-Rex, and Ziriums rewrite the song in the Nigerian context, I’d like to look more at what seems to be Busta Rhyme’s conscious intention, which seems to be a celebration of bling—exemplified in what, with blinding cultural chauvinism, he calls “Arab money.” He and his fellow musicians are not affected by the recession, he implies, they just move on to the “Arab money,” which “Arabs” know how to respect:

Prince Alwali, Bin Talal, Al Saul
They respect the value of my worth in Maui, Malaysia
Iran and Iraq, Saudi Arabia!

Indeed, in an MTV article, Busta defends himself by describing the way the song was recorded:

[Ron] picked up the phone, and I was like, ‘What are you saying on this joint?[…]

When Browz explained to Busta that he was, in fact, saying “Arab,” Busta was elated.

“I was like, ‘This is genius,’ ” he said. “Just the timing of this. The fact that the recession was crazy. Fortune 500 companies left and right are needing bailouts. I was like, ‘You ain’t hearing none of that going on with none of the people in the Arab community or Arab culture. None of that.’ I was like, ‘You know something? This is a great record to inspire people to incorporate wealth in their vocabulary [my emphasis], because rich has become the new broke.’ ‘Arab Money’ — it felt right. Let’s take something from a culture that has exemplified the rich qualities of spirituality and economic and financial stability for thousands of years. They’ve instilled that in their kids for thousands of years.”

Both versions entwine exoticized presentations of supposedly “Arab” moneyed lifestyles with the standard  hiphop hymn to wealth, materialism, money, and women—clichés exemplified in 50 Cent’s “I Get Money,” among many others.

These clichés have been adopted (with more or less irony) in Nigerian pop music. (Examples  feature Nollywood-like Lagos settings with plush leather couches, sleek clubs, wine glasses, expensive cars, and scantily clad (often light-skinned) women. See Faze’s Need Somebody,  P-Square’s “Do Me, I Do You,” Dbanj’s “Booty Call,” or Style Plus’s “Call my Name.”) These popular songs exemplify the “Nigerian dream” of  making it big and partaking in the glamourous party-world  of Ikoyi, Victoria Island, or Maitama.

The Nigerian music/music videos I find most compelling play with a more self conscious reference to wealth as it is related to corruption and give ironic nods to the particularly Nigerian innovations in 419, from the celebration of the yahoo yahoo boys in Olu Maintain’s Yahoozee, which features row upon row of big hummers to the more self-consciously satirical “I Go Chop your Dollar”  by comedian Nkem Owoh (who in a twist of fate was recently kidnapped by entrepreneurial criminals in  what has become the hottest new way to “chop money” Apparently, Owoh was released when his family forked over N1.4 billion.)

Watch Yahoozee here:

Watch, “I go Chop your Dollar” here:

With “Government Money,” Intersection musicians Supreme Solar, T-Rex, and Ziriums follow in this satirical tradition: Rewriting Busta Rhyme’s hymn to moola, these Abuja-based musicians echo the “celebration” of money, but with an ironic edge—rapping not of the wealthy lifestyle attainable to them as musicians but to those Abuja Big Boys who are eating “Government money.”

In the tradition of “Yahoozee” and other videos where flashy cars become symbols of power, sexual prowess, and wealth, Supreme Solar raps about his “new Range Rover” leaning against the glossy side of the jeep. The camera zooms out to focus on the license plate, which says FG Kudi, (for Federal Government Money). The use of “Abuja” here is a metonym for government, politics, and all the “promise”of money that Abuja offers those who come to Nigeria’s airbrushed capitol where the poor (or even the simply “middle class”) are swept out to the crowded outskirts of the city. To participate in the lifestyle, then as T-Rex says

What’s the access here?

We aint makin bucks in excess

Having stocks and investments

But to me it doesn’t’ make sense

To make the excessive “Abuja-style” money, one must go a bit further than stocks and investments, “Duping NGO’s for Virgin dough” and other shady transactions.

What most creates tension between “Government Money” and the original “Arab Money,” taking the tune beyond the “Yahoozee” genre (pushing it more in the direction of Eedris Abdulkareem’s funny but incisively critical “Mr. Lecturer”),  is the inclusion of Ziriums, a Northern Muslim, with his Hausa chorus “Mu ci kudin Abuja, Mu ci kudin gwamnati” (Let’s eat/spend Abuja Money, let’s eat/spend government money”) and his fierce spoken commentary at the end of the song. Interestingly (even uncomfortably), Ziriums’ chorus in Hausa is used where in the “Arab Money” remix the Qur’anic verses are used, layering on popular Nigerian conflations of Arab/Muslim culture with the Hausa-speaking north, both imagined and real. By the second day the video had been posted, there was already a comment by user “injustice2mankind” saying, “That fool Ziriums is killing me with his attire…note the arab neck scarf on his agbada….so funny.”

Ziriums featured in "Government Money" by Supreme Solar

Where in the American version, there is a blasphemous use of the Qur’an to rhyme with verses about the love of mammon, in this version, Ziriums’ chorus takes the “Arabic” sound and turns it to a satirical first person boast about “devouring government money.” Here, he subversively links Busta Rhymes et al, and their blasphemous use of Islamic creed to support debauchery, with those “Big Men” who use religion (whether Christianity or Islam) as a cover to justify their scramble for the “national cake.” That is, the very elite who tend to self-righteously decry the “immorality” and “cultural imperialism” of hiphop as a genre are the very ones whose personal habits tend have the most in common with the gold-plated lifestyles of those American artists.   Dressed in a Big Man’s babban riga, Ziriums and the other two artists take on the personas of government contractors and professional fraudsters, blurring the boundary between the two.

“Cin kudi” (literally “eating money”), the Hausa phrase that parallels the pidgin phrase “chopping money,” reflects both the everyday language of Nigerians when they speak of corruption and the concept in popular culture that corrupt leaders are both metaphorically and literally consuming the wealth of the nation: taking “a chunk of the national cake,” “duping NGOs,” taking their “contracts’ tax”. These conquests make T-Rex “hungrier than ever,” invoking images seen in political cartoons of monstrous fat bellied leaders who as in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s novel Devil on the Cross are in a competition to see who is the greatest thief and robber. If T-Rex’s stomach is burning and hungry,” and “grumbling funny” in hunger for more assets, at the end Ziriums goes into a fierce tirade:  “Yunwa, Talauci, […] Don haka, dole mu ci kudin gwamnati, kudin Abuja, dole mu kwashe .” “Hunger, poverty.[…] This is why we must consume government money, Abuja money, we must spend it.” On one hand, he echoes Nkem Owoh’s narrative in “I Go Chop your Dollar,”

“I done suffer no be small. Upon say I get sense Poverty no good at all, no Na im make I join this business 419 no be thief, it’s just a game .”

On the other hand, Ziriums points out that Abuja money and government money, in fact, belongs to everyone in the country—If there is hunger and poverty, then ordinary people must also have access to the nation’s wealth.

Nigerian hiphop is often criticized for merely mindlessly copying American rap. I have no doubt that some may point to the Intersection’s ripping of the production and “sound” of Busta Rhymes “Arab Money” as an illustration of such “unoriginality.” However, the transfer, at least in this case, profoundly changes the song: adding to, subverting, and commenting on the original. “Government Money” ends up being not just a critique of corruption among Nigeria’s wealthy elite, but also a parody/critique of the mindlessly obscene celebration of bling in “Arab Money”—and of the exoticizing colonization of other parts of the world in the Busta Rhymes tune and so often found in American hiphop. (See for example: Ludacris’s “Pimpin All Over the World,” countless beach scenes in the Caribbean, or Nigerian rapper Eedris Abdulkareem’s beef with 50 Cent over a seat on an airplane, about whom he said “You cannot treat me as a second and or third class citizen in my own country, I will not take it from anybody.”)  When to a background of the chanted Qur’an, P. Diddy [wearing two cross chains] raps “Fuck the recession. I’m still investin, I’m about to buy Dubai, and swim in the shark section,”  P. Diddy seems far more akin to the arrogant Swiss-bank account holding government swindlers of Nigeria than these young, upcoming but still moneyless Nigerian musicians.Thus, “Government Money” blends the ferocious critiques of oppressive society found in politically conscious rap with a parody of the glossy sexed-up materialistic hits most popular on MTV.

There are a few things to work on, here. The video is busy with graphics and, while featuring other artists who are not actually participating in the music is in keeping with the original “Arab Money” mix, here it is just confusing.  If the song becomes popular enough, it would be great to have a re-mix video. But it is fresh, funny, and this talent is real. The “Unassailable” S. Solar, the “Extraordinary” T-Rex, and the “Revolutionary” Ziriums, as the video titles them, are musicians to keep an eye on.

And to watch again without having to scroll back up:

Here are the lyrics. Thank you to Korex of Intersection who provided me with the complete corrected lyrics of the verses in English and to Ziriums who corrected my Hausa transcription of the chorus before I posted. (Correction to English made 25 November 2009–and with access to the full lyrics some of the analysis may change… stay tuned… lol)

Lyrics:

The Goose, da goose, is loose in the building.

T-Rex,

Ziriums,

Haha

S. Solar

Chorus (Ziriums):

Naira zamu kashe, mun fito

(We are out to splurge on Naira)

Mu mun fito, mu kashe ‘yan kud’i,

(We’re out to splurge a little money.)

Muci kudin Abuja, muci kudin gwamnati

(Let’s spend Abuja money, let’s spend government money)

Repeat once

Supreme Solar

Verse 1: I appear anywhere with the new range rover
Check the Tints so intense, FG plate number
Can’t stop, coming like a rain, lots of digits in my company name hey, money ain’t a thing
So much money that the bank can’t hold
Too many properties that we can’t disclose
What’s your bank’s name, i’ll call the CEO
When my NGO’ll holler back and make the black case close!

Chorus: Ziriums

T-Rex

Verse 2: More than a slice, I’ll take a chunk of the national cake
Get the ration and break.
Before you know that the transaction is fake
i’ll be in another state
Hooking up another bait, Duping NGO’s for Virgin dough
Cop a lotta paper
Breaking contacts and contracts
It’s a strong task. If there’s a window of opportunity

[Crack]
I’ll make the walls crack, give the guns back
And I’m hungrier than ever, get the cheddar, tell rihanna to get that ugly ass umbrella.
I’m loving the weather, and its Government Money.
I’ve gotta vendetta, I’m gonna be robbin them, sonny.
There’s no time for fumbling,
I’m burning and hungry, feel the mic on my belly
You hear it rumbling funny?

Chorus: Ziriums

T-Rex

Verse 3:What’s the access here?
We aint makin bucks in excess
Having stocks and investments
But to me it doesn’t make sense.

S. Solar:
Yeah, like Solar, calls it out of the PH [Port-Harcourt]
3 series Beemer, cruising back to the ‘A’ [Abuja]
Bankin on them papers that we packed in the case
Cause that’s how we get the papers that we stashed with the Feds

T-Rex:
I see them crackin the safe with skills can wait
Musta chills and chase still…
lock up the bills than Gates
S. Solar:
Go through a couple of milli? no we be down with a Billi
Like a billy a billion… nigga for real, no really we get it

T-Rex:
Too bad we get the credit unrated, then set it(….)
All you you relics are heading for debit
And that is your verdict
S. Solar
Bam
Baby pick up the bags and clothes, lets make a final break before the black case close.

Chorus: (Ziriums):

Naira zamu kashe, mun fito

(We are out to splurge on Naira)

Mu mun fito, mu kashe ‘yan kud’i,

(We’re out to splurge a little money.)

Muci kudin Abuja, muci kudin gwamnati

(Let’s spend Abuja money, let’s spend government money)

Repeat once

Ziriums speaks over the chorus: Ziriums, T-Rex, Solar, Korex….Dole mu (….) kudin Abuja, wallahi tallahi, yunwa, talauci,yaudara (?) mutane, Don haka, dole mu ci kudin gwamnati, kudin Abuja, dole mu kwashe…Mu saye gidaje musu, Mu saye motoci, Mu aure mata yan gwamnati. Kawai abin da zamu yi. Habba… Intersection… Ba wani kudin waye waye…Ni kwarai,  (….) Kudin gwamnatu, masu gidan rana ehheh

(I haven’t finished transcribing/translating Zirium’s monologue at the end, so if anyone hears the rest of it, I’d appreciate the help. Thanks!)

Det var duktiga Danne på House of Pain som gjorde de fina Tyrannosaurus Rex-skallarna. Tog ungefär fyra och en halv timme. I’m in luuuuv!

Presenting my second interview of the week with Mr. Jim Lawson.  His style has become synonymous with the Ninja Turtles for the nearly 25 years he’s worked at Mirage.  Lawson has drawn more Ninja Turtles comics than anyone else in the business, and he was quite gracious to let me interview him.

Interviewing Jim Lawson has been a grand opportunity for me, and I’m very thankful to share his insights and knowledge about the Turtles.  In the interview, we discuss the recent purchase of TMNT by Nickelodeon, his future plans (with dinosaurs!), Paleo, most likely the last TMNT comic to come out (at least for a long time) Tales #70, and R.E.M.!

This whole experience has been fun connecting with the Mirage crew, and I hope that further opportunities will come to them as they face the future.

Recently, on your blog, you addressed the issue of the TMNT purchase from Nickelodeon, and briefly mentioned some of your possible future plans.  Have you further thought about your options since then?

Not really. It’s been kind of overwhelming emotionally since the announcement of the sale—I think only now that the dust is beginning to settle and I can start thinking about the future. As I sit here right now, I can’t honestly say just what it is that I want to do.

Do the possibilities still remain to finish up the Paleo TPB and even release more Paleo comics?

Yeah, definitely. Paleo was published under the Zeromayo partnership between Peter (Laird) and myself.  Whether Pete still wants a relationship and involvement in that, that’s unclear to me. However, I don’t see that there would be anything preventing me from finishing the TPB myself.

You also mentioned that the thought of doing a children’s book has been in your head for awhile, do you have any ideas that you might want to share about what this would involve?  Dinosaur themes or something similar to your work from on the Turtles Comics?

The children’s book idea is something that’s always appealed to me- and now that I’m playing around with colors, even more so now. Nothing concrete, storywise- but you’re correct, dinosaurs are absolutely a direction that I would like to go.

How did Peter Laird break the news about the deal to the writers and artists, or how did you find out about the deal?

I think that it was October 13—Gary (Richardson) called us all into a staff meeting here at Mirage. Everyone was there including Pete. It was then that we were told that a deal to sell the Turtles was nearly complete.  Some details of the sale were talked about and Pete discussed his situation and reasons for my he felt he had to make this decision.  Contracts were given us to review and sign. It was pretty emotional.

You explained your personal account of what it was like for you to walk around the Mirage office after hearing about the deal (as a zombie), were everyone else’s reactions similar to yours?

I think so. Everyone seemed sorta paralyzed by the news. But conversely, I think that we all knew in the back of our minds that this day was coming.

I’m happy for Pete—it’s been tough watching him struggle for the past few years with regards to his loss of enthusiasm for the comics. I hope this unburdens him and he can rediscover the creative person that he once was.

I’ve always enjoyed how stylistically and minimalist your artwork has been especially in depicting action, how did you develop this style that has almost become synonymous with the TMNT?

Lots and lots of drawing. I’m asked occasionally why my style changed so dramatically over the run of the TMNTs. I can’t say that it was my intention to draw the way I do now-it just naturally happened.  I really like that it’s such an evolving thing- it’s very exciting for me as an artist.

I’ve noticed that the pacing and beats in all of the miniseries that you have both written and drawn have had a lot of downtime, scenic, mood-setting moments (most recently in the Donatello miniseries) which is quite impactful stylistically.  What’s some of the inspiration behind these moments?

That’s an interesting question. In response to that, all I can say is that I try for a sense of realism in my stories. I very much want to try to convey a character’s mood or emotion- I want to really get in their head and to know what an individual’s thoughts are.  It’s during my own quiet times when I’m introspective and reflecting so I think that that’s what I try to bring into my writing.

I’m sure you’ve answered it a ton before, and that’s why I was hesitant to ask earlier, but who’s your favorite character and why?  How do you go about drawing the separate characters when they look nearly identical?

I don’t know if I have a favorite character. Leo I find really interesting. I guess as the unofficial leader of the Turtles it’s my belief that he is subject to more responsibilites and influences than the other guys. There’s just got to be more of a depth there. From an artistic standpoint, all the Turtles are nearly identical, appearance-wise.  I think for me personally, the differences become more of a facial expression or body positioning– Leo stands straight, Mikey looser, Raph when he’s addressing someone, more aggressive- in their face. Don very often standing separate. That type stuff.

What is your creative process like?  Do the writers leave you plenty of room for your own interpretation?

It changes from writer to writer, but for the most part, yeah- in my experience the writers that I’ve dealt with have allowed me a lot of freedom. Perhaps it’s because Mirage was what I consider a small-time publisher- everyone pretty much knew each other so I think there was this sense of familiarity and trust.

As for my creative process, there’s no trick to it really. I’ll usually have some germ of an idea and write it out more or less in outline form. Often, certain scenes that I want to highlight I’ll try to dialogue at that early stage. Occasionally, I’ll even have ideas about how I want to end the story and I’ll have to backward engineer events leading up to that. 

Do you have any special pencils or pens that you like to work with, and what is your view on digital pen tablets?

Yeah, every artist has their favorites. The pencil that I like right now is something called a Black Warrior. My favorite paper is Strathmore Bristol. With pens, I’ve been using some Japanese brush pens for the past few years- my favorite is the Zebra FD-301. More recently, I’ve taken to using the Pentel Pocket Brush—it features a waterproof ink that is required for use with watercolors.

I have no view on digital pen tablets, as I’ve never used one.

For the younger generation of Comic readers today, you were a participant at the Creator’s Bill of Rights drafting, could you explain your influence in the couple day event?

In all honesty, I don’t think that I had much of an impact on the Creator’s Bill of Rights.  Peter and Kevin were the influential ones- myself and the other Mirage artists were more secondary characters, in my opinion.

How was it like working with Tristan Jones for the first time on Tales #64 (out now)?

Awesome. Tristan’s a hell of a nice guy, as well as being a very talented writer. His enthusiasm for the Turtles is infectious. I’m gonna miss him a lot.

Can you hint at anything that might catch our eye in the second two pieces to the Donatello miniseries?

Not really. In the Don mini, my intent was to give a view of the character that might be a little different than what most people might think. The darker side of Donatello, if you will.

Currently, you’re working on quite possibly the last comic of the TMNT at least for a decent amount of time with Tales #70.  You stated that the story is set in Return to New York and that you’re replicating the process and feel of those comics back in the 80s.  Are there any other exciting things that this issue may contain?

The story will feature Raph, almost exclusively. Eric and I have in mind a fight scene that will be unlike anything that I’ve ever done, so I’m looking forward to how I’m going to choreograph that in the pencils. The book will also be done on the old school Duoshade paper so that should give it a classic RTNY feel, I hope.

With issue #70 focusing primarily on Raph, does this mean the story takes place right before the Turtles fight the Mutant Shredders?  Or does it focus on when he runs off when they’re in the foot base and Leonardo has to save him (one of my favorite frames of all comics)?

As to when Tales 70 takes place, it’s in that 3 or 4 day time period after Leo and Raph have that fight at the barn in Northampton. The story does take place in the NY sewers. I guess as sort of a prequel to issue 19.

Over the last 20 years you have drawn plenty of frames in comics, are there any that stand out to you as a favorite?  Or any issue that you had a lot of fun on?

A standout most certainly has to be the Leonardo mini-series, Blind Sight. Much of that book was done in white silhouette, and that gave it definitely a different look. As well, it was a real challenge to my drawing and design sense, as far as actually creating the art. Unquestionably the most memorable book that I’ve done.

How did you develop the style behind the silhouettes in Blind Sight?  I’ve often noticed that you’ve used the style (before and since then) for a single frame or two, is this a technique you like to use to establish a certain mood?

Simply yeah- the white silhouette was just that, kind of a drawing gimmick. It had a kind of visual power that you couldn’t help but notice, though. That’s I suppose, what attracted to it and made me want to take it to the next level.

You often post commissions on your blog, will you continue to do commissions and how would someone go about getting one?  What is the average cost?

I’ll continue to do commissions until I leave Mirage, most likely. When that day is though, I’m not entirely sure. That said, folks who want a commission need only to contact me at my email: jmlawsn@aol.com. Prices vary with the number of figures and complexity of the drawing. As far as a range, commissions are generally from $50.00 to $250.00. Most are in the $100-$150 neighborhood.

Despite having your job as a TMNT writer and artist for the last 20 years, are you excited for the break to try something new?

Absolutely, and I think that’s why I’m uncertain about the whole comics thing—part of me is really hungering for a new adventure, something totally different. It’s hard to imagine a future without drawing as being my bread and butter, but that certainly is a strong possibility.

Just for some general questions that you may have fun at:

What’s your favorite music/band/musician?

No question, REM is my favorite band.

If you hands down love R.E.M., then what’s your favorite song(s)?

Some of my favorite REM tunes are:
Walk Unafraid
E-Bow the Letter
7 Chinese Brothers
I’ll Take the Rain
Nightswimming

What type of Motorcycle do you ride?

Right now, I have 4 motorcycles—they are:
2005 Yamaha FJR 1300
2007 Moto Guzzi Griso
2009 BMW F800 GS
1979 Honda Ratwing

What are you currently reading?

I very recently finished “Endless Horizons” by Dan Walsh. Walsh is a sometimes columnist for several motorcycle magazines and this is his travelogue about a journey that he took to South America.

What is/are your favorite film(s)?

Films that feature some kind of adventure, I guess. But within that, everything from Hildago to The Road Warrior to Up to Kun Fu Hustle to Army of Darkness.

What is the comic that continues to inspire you?

Usagi Yojimbo amazes me. How Stan (Sakai) can continue to generate stories that are of a consistently high quality after all these issues- it’s stunning. I just bought the little hardcover/color comic that he just published, Yokai. It’s absolutely beautiful.

Once again, thanks to Jim Lawson for the interview, and I hope everything works out well for him and all of the Mirage crew.  I know that I’ll be their to support them in whatever their endeavors are because through the Ninja Turtles they’ve impacted my life astoundingly, and I hope they can continue work like that in their own lives and work.

There has been some unusual sightings of dinosaurs in the bay area yesterday. It was a usual day in Berkeley, until the T-rex came hunting for food.

The T-rex sure scared these Cal students. :)

Well some plump person sent honddog  some

thing and said dont say who u are .  On the wire

they ask me if i sent em a message  yesterday.

I dont know whats going on.  May be cause on

Sports 610 in Houston at 645 they were saying

old folks like liver and onions . Well that taste

good to me.  I dont know well i guess KILT used

to play rock and roll music long time ago. And

the stink think  Dallas Oilers Houston used to

have play like games broad cast .   U know there

is no radio station called kilt no where its just 

made up . KLIF is the only radio station that

exist its in Dallas . By the way what is Dallas ?

– Todays blog is dedicated to Harriet and Tor, who just told me dogs are attracted to protein, much like how Flies are attracted to shit. My response? I pissed myself. Literally. -

Yo world. What be up with ya’ll dawgs??!
Thats right, i’m street now. Well, i’m not so, nevermind.

Its has been a while, right? Since we last talked i have had a birthday. A good birthday, a bad age. I dont wanna grow up, much more anyway.

Also, my computer blew up.

Well, i say blew up. I think a more accurate description on the incident would be it slowly stopped working, and then wouldnt work at all. There was no flames, no big bangs or scary explosions, as i see i may have led you to belive with the last statement. It was a really sad occasion see, i have had my computer for-EVER! It had my life on it and when it died it dragged all my work, music and shizzle with it. Depressing days indeed. Also, i can see how the word ’shizzle’ in the last sentence could be interpreted as porn, so just know, it does not mean porn.

ANYWAY, my Nanna bought me a new laptop to replace it. And, oh my it is beautiful.

For my birthday i had friends round and we got drunk, i went out with other friends and we got drunk. Nothing much out of the ordinary but i had a bloody good time. Especially with my lovely Tor. We hit up Chinatown as well, best idea ever, and best £8 wasted on a slice of sugar ever. Yes, slice.

We also saw Lady Gaga in a club.
This Lady Gaga…

… Yep. Thats what she was wearing.
Look at her face, so confused.
“Whaaaat? I look like Kermit just jizzed frog spawn all over me??”

Dont get me wrong, i love her, i think she is brilliant… and obviously hot. The new video for Bad Romance is amazing, apart from the one shot where she looks like Winehouse but apart from that she is hot like, 99% of the video.

Tor says it wasnt her in the club, and i can kind of see where she is coming from, i mean why would someone of high class like The Gaga be mixing with such crap as Michaela McQueen from Hollyoaks, who was also there. But she was. Also saw Lily Loveless on a train a couple of days later. She though, was just stalking me, im sure.

(Tor would like me to let you know she loves Michaela McQueen. Not like that! In a “friend” way. Soooo.. in a gay way then?!! ha.)

I am gonna wrap this up because i havent really got anything to entertain you with as all i have been doing is getting stoned and illegally downloading horror films and watching boys play for HOURS on, is it Call of Duty?  I had a go but five seconds in Adam was screaming to me go faster, Matt was laughing that i was gonna get raped and the first person that shot me, killed me. Discovered thats not for me.

I have certainly not been going to uni or doing coursework. I am sorry if i have a life to live. An excuse i have used since school, jolly old south chadd, and still continue to use today. It works so all is good. However i have to go to uni tomorrow, at bloody 9am, as i have a practical lecture. Shit. I also have to see my dissertation tutor as i have a meeting with a dinosaur expert at the museum in Cardiff next week. Double shit. What if i forget the dinosaur names? What if i resort to making dinosaur noises to try and impress him?? What am i gonna wear? Is it gonna be weird if i wear a t-shirt with a Triceratops on, because i have one and i will!! Worst still, i have a 2 foot movable T-rex  model that i am using to illustrate a point and so will be carrying through the streets of Cardiff on the day. It would look less wierd if i rode the bastard.

Nicholas Nassim Taleb makes it easy on us. At the beginning of his book The Black Swan he goes ahead and tells us exactly what its all about:

To summarize: in this (personal) essay, I stick my neck out and make a claim, against many o four habits af thought, that our world is dominated by the extreme, the unknown, and the very improbable (improbable according to our current knowledge)–and all the while we spend our time engaged in small talk, foocusing on the known, and the repeated. This implies the need to use the extreme event as a strating point and not treat it as an exception to be pushed under th erug. I also make the bolder (and more annoying) claim that in spite of our progress and the growth in knowledge, or perhaps because of such progress and growth, the future will be increasingly less predictable, while both human nature and social “sciences” seem to conspire to hide the idea from us.

Taleb’s book was published in 2007. So what? Well I’ll tell you what. His basic contention, that we live in a fundamentally unpredictable world (at least as it concerns the socially constructed parts of it, which means pretty much all of it), does not exclude economics, or the markets. In fact, he goes to great lengths to show that all the hedging, and risk management, and portfolio building that goes on in finance–from your neighborhood stock broker up to the high-flyers on Wall Street–is pretty much bullsh*t and setting everyone up for a big surprise one day.

Well, that day came w/ this whole mortgage-backed-economic debacle we are in now, and this book (published in 2007) basically predicted it.

But the author, who spent most of his working life as a trader on Wall Street, certainly wouldn’t take credit for the prediction. But he probably would take credit for being prepared. That’s kind of the crux of the book.

The Black Swan is rife w/ concepts which form a fairly coherent philisophical view that just may change the way you live.

At the heart are two worlds. On the one hand, we have Mediocristan, a predictable place described by common notions of probability and statistics. Unusual things happen, but they don’t affect average conditions. The natural sciences tend to study these phenomena and build physical laws  out of them. On the  other hand we have Extremistan, where the “black swan” lives. The black swan is an improbable event with outsizes impact. Its onset really shakes things up, even to the extent that it alter the world. The result is that, in Extremistan, the way things are now are no good indicator for the way things might be, since one never knows when a black swan might swoop down and change it all.

For better or worse, humans don’t really live their lives in Mediocristan (though some features of our day-to-day share some of its features); we live in Extremistan. As Taleb puts it:

Note that before the advent of modern technology, wars used to belong to Mediocristan. It is hard to kill many poeople if you need to slaughter them one at a time. Today, with tools of mass destruction, all it takes is a button, a nutcase, or a small error to wipe out the planet.

The problem with living in Extremistan is that Donald Rumsfeld was right.

There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.

But as Taleb shows, we tend to forget about the unknown unknowns, or pretend they don’t exist. We mis-use mathematics and and theories and history to give our selves the false sense of knowing what’s going on in our social world (examples include the effects of natural disasters on our built environment, the fate of financial markets, social trends, deaths from terrorism, the evolution of technologies), when we really don’t, and probably can’t. When black swans arrive we are caught unawares , often with disastrous consequences.

There are two reasons to read the book. One: for the rush of discovering in detail how the way everyone thinks about the world is a little bit wrong. Two: for some tips for how to deal w/ a life dominated by lurking uncertainty. One example is to avoid specialization. Another is “barbell strategy,” or being hyperconservative and hyperaggressive, instead of mildly agressive or conservative. There are more, but you can read.

Okay, there’s one more reason to read this book. Unlike nearly every other non-fiction book I’ve ever read, the author mixes in the facts at hand with autobiography, fictional vignettes, philosophical speculations, and humors asides — all with a entertaining self-righteous irreverence–that almost puts the book in the same company as wild post-modern novels.

It’s not boring. And its a little scary.

But don’t worry, afterward you can retreat into the fantasy of Mediocristan, with the very not-mediocre  “Ride a White Swan” as your soundtrack, courtesy of the even less mediocre Marc Bolan & T-Rex:

20th Century Boy, dos T-Rex

Para o anúncio da Jameson, Connie Bloom numa versão… Beyond the obvious.

Halten und Montieren erleichtert die kräftige Universal-Montagezange „T-Rex“ mit Druckknopf-gesicherter Verstellung aus dem Hause Technolit® GmbH in Großenlüder. Das leuchtend rote Werkzeug aus gesenkgeschmiedetem Chrom-Vanadium kann einhändig bedient werden. Die Verriegelung stellt sich beim Zusammenschieben automatisch auf die richtige Maulweite ein. Spezialgehärtete Zähne und kräftige Backen fassen Rohre, Muffen, Flansche und Sechskantschrauben sicher. Lange Handgriffe mit Fingermulden gewährleisten gute Handhabung und maximale Kraftübertragung. Info-Telefon: (06648) 69-641, Website: www.technolit.de

Zusatzinfo:

Die ca. 40 cm lange Rohr- und Montagezange vereint viele Vorteile. Die Materialqualität spricht für sich: Gesenkgeschmiedeter, ölgehärteter Chrom-Vanadium-Werzeugstahl sichert eine lange Lebensdauer. Die schräg stehenden Greifzähne in den kräftigen Backen sind spezialgehärtet und verhindern das Abrutschen der Zange. So werden Verletzungsgefahren und die Beschädigung anderer Bauteile auf ein Minimum begrenzt.

Besonderer Vorteil der Zange ist der einhändig bedienbare Verstellmechanismus. Beim Zusammenschieben rastet die Zange automatisch am richtigen Punkt ein. Eine gut abgestufte Rasterzahnung stellt immer die richtige Maulweite bereit. Lösen lässt sich die Zange durch Betätigung des Druckknopfes, der die Maulweitenverstellung entriegelt.

Das S-Maul bietet im Vergleich zu geraden Auflageflächen den Vorteil, dass runde und mehreckige Bauteile nicht nur an zwei, sondern an drei Auflagepunkten sicher gehalten werden. Die langen Handgriffe in bewährter Form ermöglichen eine optimale Kraftübertragung. Fingermulden am unteren Handgriff reduzieren die Gefahr, abzurutschen und sich dabei zu verletzen.

Die „T-Rex“-Zange lässt sich dadurch für nahezu alle Montage und Greifarbeiten hervorragend einsetzen und ist ein unverzichtbarer Helfer im Bereich der Haustechnik (z. B. Heizungsbau, Sanitärinstallation), in der Landwirtschaft und überall dort, wo vor Ort gearbeitet werden muss.

Last week, I received my first t-shirt from SHRED Clothing. I had been a fan of the intricate artwork of the past designs, but I didn’t come across a piece that I actually wanted to wear until SHRED released its “T-Rex” shirt. This shirt designed by Alex Norman is influenced by Jurassic Park and shows a ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex chasing a jeep. I have too many black tees as it is, but I don’t think that I would have wanted this design to be printed on any other color. The black backdrop gives the design an extra sense of depth and makes it seem like you’re seeing the chase first-hand. Images simply don’t do this t-shirt justice!

The artwork on this tee is absolutely incredible, and the colors are perfect. Everything from the T. rex down to the splatters in the background is insanely detailed. Halftones are only sparingly used in this piece, and they add a nice effect throughout the design without being too much. The halftones help instead of hurt the design. Another thing that I love about this design is that there is no big logo to be seen anywhere in the print area. Unlike SHRED’s other tees, it’s great to see a well-designed piece without the blatant branding.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a highly detailed piece and you can see all of the time and hard work that was put into creating something this complex. I especially love how the there is a rock flying out of the jeep’s windshield and how the T. rex’s tongue has an intricate texture, making it appear just as powerful as the rest of its body. The splatters originating from the back tires and the tilted position of the jeep are highly effective in conveying the difficulties of escaping, and the facial expressions of the driver are exactly how they should be for someone who’s getting chased by a huge carnivorous dinosaur!

This tee comes with a tagless label, so you don’t have to worry about the irritation that comes with shirt tags. I didn’t notice it at first, but it says “200% badass” right underneath the “100% cotton.” I think that this is extremely unique, and I wholeheartedly agree with the short statement! “T-Rex” is printed on a black American Apparel shirt, and you can expect a slim-fitting tee when you order from SHRED.

All of these pictures were taken after wash, and you can see that the image is still crisp and clear. The colors did not fade, based on what I noticed before and after washing, and I can assure you that the print job is top-notch. The colors look well-aligned and I do not notice anything “off” with the print. Although the print area is quite large, the print is exceptionally soft. You can kind of feel the ink if you rub your hand over the design, but you definitely won’t feel like you’re wearing a rectangular sheet of ink on your torso.

I highly recommend SHRED tees, especially “T-Rex.” The shirt is incredibly comfortable, and the design will surely get you noticed! You can pick up “T-Rex” at the SHRED store for $19.99, and use the code “LTT” to take 10% off!

Not so long back (read present), there was a boy (read RA) in BITS Pilani who relished telling others that he would be getting some really bad marks(read zero or zuc) when actually he would score really well(read average plus 15-20). Such was the pleasure accompanying this that soon it developed into a habit. So from then onwards whenever a test got over, he could be seen with a sullen face and saying that he got ****ed or ****ed in that exam. But when the marks used to come out, everyone would be surprised and he would just go ROFLMAO over the situation pronouncing it as sheer luck. On being questioned about the remarks he had made previously, he would just look at the person’s face and burst into a laugh riot making the other person feel like a complete jackass. This happened in SCEO, CET and to top it all in Optimization(where the expectation was a hell-sure zuc). Soon everyone lost faith in him.

One fine morning, T-REX (read H.K. Mohanta) actually came and the boy was shocked. He cried out loud, “ WTF! It’s a real T-REX for God’s sake. This can’t be happening to me. HELP! HELP!”. But as destiny would have it, this time the calls went unheard. The people(read we) could no longer trust him. So the little boy who cried T-REX had to flee away home. It is said that even till today, he is said to be roaming the corridors of FD-1 asking for a make-up for that test!

HA!!! the boy who cried T-REX! in your face!!!

PS: the tag T-Rex was proposed by Gulhati after pondering for a long time over the previous tag – ‘Mammoth’ proposed by YO. The tags are copyrighted. And the story too. Moreover, the ‘boy’ is one of my bestest buds. So any out-of-the-boundary remarks against him shall not be tolerated. The picture is not the real ‘boy’. The real one is way more cute.

Even Dinosaur Comics is getting into physics!

T-Rex discusses Newton's Third Law

I can’t squeeze the full comic onto this site as it is too large, so head over to Dinosaur Comics to read T-Rex’s latest ramblings.

I only discovered Dinosaur Comics about 6 months back (Doh!) but I absolutely adore it. If you like slightly surreal web comics (featuring tiny women), this is the site for you!

It’s a joke.  Get it?  It’s funny that I said “weekly update” ’cause no one’s said jack shit on this dusty old fucker for up of two months?  You see what I did there?

Ah, whatever.  For a few weeks now I’ve been meaning to write an update explaining how I’m too busy to update the Stank Nugget, but, ya know… I haven’t had time.

Let me try to keep you entertained and tell you where my mind’s at with a few pictures I’ve stolen from around the internet.

Put your money where your mouth is.

This is how we do.

Opossums!

Seen it happen.

You have an absolutely breath-taking heinie.

That’s all I got.  Expect more in the future.  Or maybe it would smarter to not.