I wish to complain about this crow that I found not half a week ago on my front lawn.

If you’ve been following with me on my Twitter account, you might have noticed a recent issue I had with a dead crow. Over the course of a few days I noticed it had been moved, so I figured it was “going zombie“. I reported it to the county to collect and test for the West Nile virus, but they never got around to it. Then after a few days out in the sun it got a bit funky, so I had to cautiously dispose of it myself.

Note: As you may have noticed this is my second post about crows, as they’re a never ending source or entertainment for me.

Note 2: It wasn’t resting, nor was it pining for the fjords.

Ever since I heard about the upcoming Mega Man 9 (Japanese) game and saw the box art by Gerald de Jesus, I was excited. Like many of you, I’ve played Mega Man ever since it was first published by Capcom way back in 1987. The classic Mega Man styled stages, weapons and weaknesses make a super gaming combination that I can play for hours at a time. I never seem to be able to complete the game, but it sure is a lot of fun trying. I’ll definitely be getting this game when it comes out next month.

I think my favorite Robot Master is Metalman from Mega Man 2. The music on that stage and the sound of those sawblades gets me pumped! Do you have a favorite?

Technophobia is the fear of technology. If you hear the words “text messaging” and the first thought you have is the electric telegraph, then you might not appreciate this comic by Roz Chast. If the fear of new technology hasn’t gotten to you yet, just give it some time. Eventually you’ll get settled in your ways and then it will get you. It’s best summed up by a favorite quote of mine from the Simpsons:

Abe Simpson- “I used to be ‘with it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’, and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary.”

It’ll happen to you.

Known as T.R.O.N. Deadly Discs and Adventures of T.R.O.N. it came as a two-pack of games based on Disney’s futuristic movie TRON. Made by Mattel Electronics, for your Atari 2600, these games were games of futility. The movie was really popular in the 1980’s, so game makers wanted to take advantage of it, but these games were tricky to play and weren’t all that fun. The really neat thing about it was that it came with the neardtastically cool MNetwork Tron Joystick! The translucent blue plastic was just like its arcade counterpart and it’s still highly sought after by collectors because it is something which inspires awe.

This awesome MCP is taking over another computer. Only this time, it’s your Atari 2600! Only you can stop him!

The opening for I Am 8-Bit show last night was pretty fun and really popular. I’ve lots of pictures on Flickr for you to enjoy! (I’ve not labeled them all, so if you see someone or a piece of artwork that I missed, speak up!)

I got there good and early so there was still a few free parking spots on the street. I’ve never been to the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery before and it’s quite spacious and packed with floor to ceiling with great 8-bit artwork! The artwork was super, the music was groovin’ and the people were swarming. So many happy people in one place sharing their love for 8-bit artwork. Thanks to Jon Gibson, the fabulous artists and everyone who helped put on the show!

Update: I see we’re getting lots of visitors from 4CR, Channel Frederator and more! Thanks for visiting and be sure to keep up with OldManMusings!

Gabe Swarr’s artwork for this year’s I Am 8-Bit looks cool!

Tonight’s the Opening Night Extravaganza: 8 p.m. to Midnight

Performances by: Computer Jay and DJ R-Rated

World of Wonder Storefront Gallery
6650 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, CA
(corner of Cherokee)

Runs until Sunday, September 7

Be there or be pixelated. See you at the show.

Hulk #5 - Red Hulk vs. Thor in an explosively illustrated issue that will leave you wanting more. I won’t spoil it for you, but will leave you with three words: Thor and punching bag. Plus, the Green Hulk and A-Bomb are up to something. What is it?

This new series of Hulk comics are so popular, all of them (including #5) have gone to a second printing. I’ve been collecting these since the start and have been lucky (or sucker) enough to get both versions of the (regular and variant) issues to add to my collection. (To keep my comic book collection in check, I only by first prints.) I can’t wait for the next Hulk smashing issue!

While I was at my local comic book store I also picked up Uncanny X-Men #500 (one Greg Land cover and an Alex Ross one - heck if I could find the Turner one) and Michael Turner’s Fathom #1, because the cover “popped” out at me and it looks like a good story. (I don’t fall for the pretty girl on the cover trick, just give me good artwork and a good story. The eye candy is a bonus.)

The ever entertaining and always informative Toy Bender.com is holding a contest where you could win your very own San Diego Comic-Con exclusive G.I. Joe Cobra Commander Figure! To make this contest interesting, Paul says we’ve got to take an artistic approach by writing an essay, story or a haiku, like my above picture. You can also win by drawing your favorite G.I. Joe character. Entries must be received by August 24, 2008. Your submission is judged on effort, so try hard, have fun and good luck!

It’s almost time for another Crazy 4 Cult art show at Gallery 1988 in LA. And here again is some amazing Scott Campbell artwork. This is an awesome poster which will first be available for only $20 at Crazy 4 Cult 2’s opening reception August 22nd from 7-11 PM, then available by phone or email order starting the next day! There’s so many characters on here. I like Alien taking on Tron, RoboCop vs. Terminator and E.T. biking riding with Pee-Wee! Be sure to check out the entire poster or go for the gold and buy your own.

The I am 8-bit art show starts Thursday, August 14 at 8 p.m. and runs until midnight at the World of Wonder Storefont Gallery, 6650 Hollywood Boulevard, at the corner of Cherokee. Go to the show for some classic gaming art, free drinks and free posters as well as music by DJ R-Rated and Computer Jay. This show will be a blast just like last year! Shown above is just some of Scott Campbell’s great artwork.

( More photos here.)

In this game you begin life as a little bubble. Use your arrow keys to collect more bubbles while avoiding the falling mines. There’s a catch though - the more bubbles you pick up, the bigger you become, making it harder to avoid the mines. Be sure to grab those fun power-ups like bullet time, minesweeper and noir. My best score so far is 1405. Keep an eye out on the psychedelic power-up, it gets a bit trippy.

Back in my day, when I went through the ranks of Boy Scouts I earned quite a few merit badges along the way. As kids we’d toil for our badges even if the merits themselves didn’t keep up with the times. We always wondered why there were so many outdated badges you could earn like Beekeeping, Bookbinding and Signaling. Sure they were useful to know when you were arriving on the Mayflower, but times change. That’s why I’m glad I found the Boy Scout Store Spoof Merit Badges. If these were real badges, I’m sure I would have earned these over the years.

A hi-res version photo and three new promo photos (Goku, Chi-Chi and Mai) have surfaced online for James Wong’s Dragonball. As neat as this all sounds I’m going to stick to the anime and manga versions of Dragonball. Live action movies based off of cartoons don’t usually do all that great. I’ve got a bad feeling this will be another Garfield. What other good cartoons were made into bad live action movies?

Perhaps you’ve been to the movies lately and you’ve seen one of these jolly (ho, ho, ho) green guys. They’re in theaters all across the U.S. entertaining movie patrons. When Marvel announced sale of these movie theater statues on eBay I thought it was a little silly. I mean unless you’ve got room for a 8 foot tall and 6 foot wide Hulk in your residence. I’ve got the room, but he’ll have to pull double duty as a coat rack.

It’s time once again for a contest at OldManMusings! Enter to win a swag bag from the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con! I’ve got tons of swag, including t-shirts (Watchmen and others), cards, stickers, comics, posters, buttons, bobble heads and more - enough to make three (3) bags to give away and one lucky winner will also win an official Star Wars Clone Wars mask, a Comic-Con exclusive! Good luck party people!

Contest rules:
1. Enter by using the contact form with your real name and mailing address.
2. One entry per person, multiple entries will disqualify you.
3. Deadline to enter is Friday August 8th, 2008 @ 8 PM Pacific.
4. Free shipping within the continental USA. Shipping elsewhere is paid by winner.
5. The winners will be chosen randomly and will receive one (1) bag of swag.
6. Winners will be notified by email and must respond within 72 hours of notification.

Thanks for keeping up with OldManMusings!

Update 08/08/08 @ 8:08 PM: The winners have been drawn and notified. You should receive your swag in the mail in the upcoming weeks. Thanks to everyone who participated!