Chades Challenge IX: Unhappy Totems
Leo Matsuda and I went for the same gag. Poor Leo's had his idea doubled two challenges in a row. More cool ideas on Moro Rogers, Steve MacLeod. and Josh Billings' blogs. To mix things up, how about we add an element to the challenge? Nobody likes seeing an angry god, so next friday, why don't we post resolutions to our Totems' dilemmas? If you want, you can make a new reason for your character's unhappiness, and have him solve that situation. Should make for some interesting gags, and some very regretful dogs.

Was Charlene Sinclair a prehistoric Juno?

A recent edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claims that dinosaurs probably experienced a high rate of teen pregnancy.
UC Berkeley (go Bears!) paleontologists Sarah Werning and Andrew H. Lee found medullary bone, a calcium-rich deposit of bone tissue that acts as an internal resource for eggshells and only develops prior to ovulation, in the fossils of three adolescent specimens: an Allosaurus, a Tyrannosaurus, and a Tenontosaurus. These animals died before full maturity, but showed clear signs of pregnancy. Werner and Lee say teen-pregnancy was most likely a survival mechanism. Many dinosaur species had a high adult-mortality rate, so early reproduction was the best way to ensure the future of the species.
Paleontologists also say this growth pattern resembles mammals more than it does reptiles. Resembles Triassic trailer trash to me.

James Gurney's Art by Committee
If you like our bi-weekly Chades Challenge, you'll really dig James Gurney's weekly Art by Committee game. James finds a caption from an obscure published work and everyone takes a shot illustrating it. This is my favorite entry from this week, done by a girl named Sarah.

Obsessing over TRIFLES
Last January, Pixar University presented a stage production of Susan Glaspell's turn-of-the-century drama, Trifles. This year we're creating a short-film adaptation, set more in the Depression era. It's a Pixar University production, so don't expect to see it in theatres or anything, it's just for education. Trifles is a compelling story, and adapting our performances from stage to screen is a cool challenge. This time I made sure to cut my hair. Apparently there weren't any hippie sheriffs in the 1930s.


Pam Walker is directing, with Mark Andrews DPing and Pete Sohn as cinematographer.

Crushers of elves, stealers of maidens, agents of evil.

Author Robert Schimmel amuses late-night yuck-meister Conan O'Brien with anecdotes about surviving cancer and being mistaken for Howie Mandel.

Elsewhere in the solar system, Neptunian warlord Dreg Mulaar intently observes transmissions of Cleveland Democratic debates from Earth. Still disappointed about Romney.

CHADES CHALLENGE IX: UNHAPPY TOTEM
Post your woebegon gods a week from today....or suffer their melancholy wrath.

For those of you interested in religion and science, you may want to check out Duelity, a film that tells the Biblical account of creation through a scientific voice, and evolution through a deistic syntax.

My take on James Gurney's 'sketchblog' challenge to illustrate the caption: "Starships or no, Khalians weren't high tech by human standards."

"Impressive...most impressive."



Jambe Davdar has assembled a plethora of behind-the-scenes Star Wars material, including interviews with cast and crew, as well as deleted scenes and outtakes, and has constructed awesome documentaries over Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (why A New Hope gets no love, I have no clue). Here are the first installations of each documentary, I'm sure you all know how to navigate YouTube to find the rest.

Building Empire

Returning to Jedi

Addendum 2.27.08
Found the commentary for A New Hope.