List O' Links Star Wars 40th Anniversary Edition!

Welcome to Memorial Day Weekend! Enjoy it, use it to kick off your summer celebrations, and remember to keep in your thoughts the fallen men and women who died in wars past and present.

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the release of the first Star Wars film. To celebrate, here is a Star Wars-only edition of List O' Links to peruse while you make the Kessel run in 14 parsecs!

Star Wars.com, the official Star Wars Web site, has an entire hub dedicated to several anniversary-related articles. Check them out!

The gang at the Nerd Lunch podcast did several great episodes regarding the entire Star Wars franchise. Do give them a listen!

If you're not familiar with the conceptual artwork of Ralph McQuarrie, you're in for a treat. His Star Wars work is beautiful and has been collected in book form. Read all about it!

Finally, if you love the music of Star Wars--and surely, you do--but always wanted to hear it played metal-style, look no further! Galactic Empire is a great band that performs all your Star Wars favorites in full headbanging fashion. They're playing my hometown of Philly next weekend. See if they're coming to your town!

Have a great holiday weekend! May the Force be with you!

List O' Links for Friday, November 6, 2015

I've noticed something about you. You simply don't have enough Internet links to check out! Let me help you with that this weekend!

First, some Halloween leftovers: the Onion AV Club recently identified their 25 best horror movies released since 2000. The Babadook is rightfully present, but [REC] got robbed!

My beloved Halloween animated special Witch's Night Out is now in production as an off-Broadway stage musical. Yay!

I recently came across a blog called Autumnal, which celebrates everything that is..well, you know. Check it out!

Looking ahead to the holiday season, ABC recently announced their 2015 holiday programming. Set your DVRs accordingly!

As a lifelong Peanuts fan, I'm thrilled that the long-awaited Peanuts Movie is finally released today! I'm also excited to see this recently released book Only What's Necessary: Charles M. Schulz and the Art of Peanuts by Chip Kidd. It's on my to-read list!

That's this week's short list of cool links. If you find a link you think is worthy of being mentioned here, please let me know in the comments.

Have a great weekend!

List O' Links for Friday, July 10, 2015

I haven't done a List O' Links in awhile, so it's high time I did so. Click away!

I love Sesame Street, and I love learning more about the series and seeing things about it I haven't seen before. This takes the cake: Sesame Street characters playing hockey against the Chicago Blackhawks! This soundless home movie reel is dated circa 1970, but I think it may actually be from much later in the decade. Either way, it's fun to watch!

This being the 40th anniversary of one of my all-time favorite movies, Jaws, here is a collection of fantastic Jaws fan art! You can also find a few other pieces at my Tumblr site!

While I type away right now, San Diego Comic Con 2015 is in full swing! It's practically always Comic Con here at the blog, but in honor of SDCC, here is a defense of the existence of the awesome Cartoon Network series Teen Titans GO! The article describes it as a "necessary evil," but I think the show is wonderful. It's my favorite product DC Entertainment is making--with the exception of The Flash TV series.

Summer is most famous for its hot, sunshine-filled days, but there are plenty of people who enjoy the rain. If you're one of them--and I do appreciate a good rainy day here and there--this site is for you: Rainy Mood. For those days you're feeling serene and introspective, this site provides the sounds of a soothing storm. Rain--it's not just for sadness!

Here's a chance to step back in time to October 1978 and see what was on the tube back then according to TV Guide magazine! 

Finally, artist extraordinaire Alex Ross has unveiled a set of work featuring the Beatles as they appeared in the animated movie Yellow Submarine. I loved Ross's work and the Beatles, so to see the two together is a real treat!

Have a great weekend!

Random Images of Awesomeness Part 3

It's been a really long time since I've done a Random Images of Awesomeness post (over two years in fact), and since I've amassed quite a collection of rad images since then, it's high time I displayed some accordingly. Without further comment, here are some pleasing images for the eyes. Artist credits are given when known. Enjoy!

Jaws by Scott Lava

Masters of the Universe by JP Valderrama

Wonder Woman by Kris Anka

For more cool images, follow my Tumblr site here. Thanks!

List O' Links for Friday, February 20th, 2015

If it's Friday, it must be List O' Links time! And boy do I have a fine selection for you this week!

This article presents some amazing outer space artwork from French comics published in the 1970s. Beautiful stuff, and something I want to see more of!

You guys! Star Blazers action figures from Japan!

Speaking of toys from Japan, here are oodles and oodles of Japanese TV commercials for the original Transformers toys. This was long before they came to America; they weren't even called Transformers at the time!

One of my most well-received articles for the blog is the one I wrote on Jaws movie posters, and how iconic the original poster is in pop culture. I've since been sorry to learn that the original painting by artist Roger Kastel used for the first paperback edition of the novel and movie poster has been missing for many years! For shame!

For ages I tried to find information on a kids show that aired on PBS briefly in the 80s that was a blatant rip-off of Nickelodeon's You Can't Do That On Television, but couldn't find anything--until now! Read all you ever wanted to know about the YCDTOT clone Don't Look Now!

Finally, to end on a positive note, enjoy these lovely superhero-themed inspirational messages courtesy of Imgur.

Have a great weekend!

List O' Links for Friday, January 30, 2015

Football! Super Bowl! Halftime show! Deflation! Commercials! It's Super Bowl Weekend!

Eh, I don't watch football.

But I do follow the Internet, and here are some fun things I found whilst doing so!

My former employer, TV GUIDE magazine, has an awesome part of their Web site dedicated to all of the amazing covers they've published in their 50+ years of existence. Get lost in them here!

With all the buzz surrounding the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot, it's a good time to check out this rad Pinewood Derby car made to look like the Ecto-1 car from the first movie. Fantastic!

Des Taylor is a great artist, and no where is this fact more evident than in this series of renderings of Supergirl. Beautiful work!

If he were a real person and not a fictional character, The Rockford Files's Jim Rockford would disapprove of this blog, and Facebook, and Twitter, and all of social media. See him go on a rant about the dangers of data mining back in the mid-70s!

Finally, this is as much a work of art as anything. A cake made to look like an Atart 2600! Brilliant!

Have a great weekend! Don't drink and drive! Don't eat too many buffalo wings! Go [insert favored football team here]!

Thanksgiving Images

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! I'm just popping in for a quick minute before I join my family for the big day. Here are cool "appetizers" to whet your whistle for turkey with all the trimmings. Enjoy these Thanksgiving pics!

From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

But wait, what's this?

Ho Ho Ho! Let the 2014 Holiday Season officially begin!

Halloween Images and Gifs

One of the joys of surfing the Web during Halloween season is coming across some awesome artwork, images, and animated gif files. I've amassed a nice collection over the years, and I add to it all the time. Here is just a small sample of what I have!

Many of these can be found at my (relatively) new Tumblr site, Me and You Too.  Give it a try. Thanks!

List O Links for Friday, September 12th, 2014

Hello everyone! Sorry for the radio silence this week, but being Back to School time as you know, I've been busy with both my kids starting their first full week (they started last Wednesday), plus my wife, a teacher, starting her first full week as well. And on top of all that, my kids returned to dance school this week as well. And Tuesday was my wife's birthday. I was busy, folks.

But enough about me, let's get to some links I've discovered lately!

Darwyne Cook is an awesome comic book artist. If you're not familiar with his work, check out these variant covers he's created for some upcoming DC Comics issues. Beautiful!

This week being the 13th anniversary of 9/11, here is a fine article on AOL on the subject.

This August and September marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles first US tour. Here is some footage and audio of the boys from the tour's stop in my hometown, Philadelphia.

Astronomically, it's still summer for another 10 days or so, but in the minds of most people, it's already autumn. For many, it's their favorite time of year, and it's hard to argue against that. For you autumn lovers out there, I highly recommend the Tumblr site Cold Hands, Warm Hearts, featuring beautiful autumn photos of foliage, food, holidays, and other seasonal delights. Check it out!

Finally, is Raiders of the Lost Ark the most perfect film ever made? The Retroist reports, you decide!

Have a great weekend!

List O' Links for Friday, September 5th, 2014

For the first time in a long time, I'm posting a List O' Links to round out the week. I hope you find these links as entertaining as I do!

Sticking with the Back to School theme this week, the retro 70s site Plaid Stallions showcases a sampling of back to school attire from the polyester decade. As bad as 70s fashion often looks, I kind of wish people still dressed like this!

If you're a fan of animation like I am, you've no doubt heard of the legendary Don Bluth, the former Disney animator who broke out on his own. Learn more about his story here thanks to the Onion AV Club.

Now that it's September, General Mills is once again offering its Monster Cereals for the adoring public. This year, Frankenberry, Chocula, and Booberry get redesigns from top DC Comics artists Jim Lee, Terry and Rachel Dobson, and Dave Johnson. Take a look!

One of my favorite video games growing up in the 80s was the Activision classic Kaboom! Thanks to modern technology, I can play it again online (even though I have two Atari 2600s at home). You can play too!

Finally, this link is almost a good year old, but still worth checking out: amazing Jaws-themed alternative art. As is the shark movie Jaws. Not artwork about human jaws. Because unless you're a dentist, that would be boring. And even if you are a dentist, that might be boring.

Have a great weekend!

Go Back to School---The Peanuts Way!

I love the comic strip Peanuts. You know it, I know it, your grandma knows it, and if you don't know it, you know it now. You also know I'm doing a Back to School theme this week, so without further comment, here are several fun Back to School-related Peanuts images I've amassed over time. 

No one knows the stress and anxiety school can generate for kids better than Good Ol' Charlie Brown and the gang, so who better to share our grief with? Enjoy!