Next time you go to Disneyland...
1. Try a Secret Souvenir Santa gift exchange. Everyone in your group is randomly assigned someone to buy a souvenir for. It's much more fun than shopping for yourself! Here's a note I left in the sketchbook I bought for my Secret Santee, artist extraordinaire Katy Wu.

The pen is mightier than the sword. Unless the sword is a pen!

2. Look for weenies! Weenie is the term Walt Disney used for a visual magnet, or a striking landmark, that compels a guest to take a certain path. Game designers use weenies all the time in vidyuh games to nudge players toward the next leg of their adventure.

Splash Mountain is one big weenie.

3. Get out of line, and enjoy the scenery. It's so tempting to spend the entire day running from ride to ride, trying to cram everything in. Take it from someone who's been there before: relax, look around, and notice all those awesome details that imagineers have pain-stakingly planned for your enjoyment. And while you're looking, take a picture, it'll last longer!

Yvie and I represent the First People. And "how!"

4. (Added Nov 9th, thanks to a suggestion from Adrienne) Look for hidden Mickeys! Mickey's iconic tri-circular silhouette is all over the park, in the unlikeliest places. For some helpful hints on where to find them, consult this handy field guide. Thanks for the reminder, Adrienne, and happy hunting!

Erik gets the feeling Mickey's been shadowing him.

If you have any tips on making the most of the Magic Kingdom, please let me know. I'm all mouse ears!



11 days...

CHADES CHALLENGE XXXVIII:
BITTER CEREAL

I hope you're all enjoying your stashes of Halloween candy. I know Count Chocula is, as you can see in Part VII of the Bitter Moments with Count Chocula series. I call this one Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands.

Part VI: Sour Grapes

Part V: The Pumpkin King

Part IV: Brought to You by the Letters F and U

Part III: Darth Hater

Part II: The Twilight Chick

Part I: Oh SNAP!

Let me know if you have a take on bitter cereal, and I'll post your design below. Or you could always join us in the next challenge, to be posted Friday, November 19:

CHADES CHALLENGE XXXIX: SYNTACTIC GIANTS

If you're like me, and have no idea what syntactic means, the definition is here.

Zane "Follow Your Nose!" Yarbrough

14 days...

What the Devil?

My version of Beelzeboss from our Tenacious D Halloween act. The gag was that I was coming for the soul of Lee Unkrich (how else do you think Toy Story 3 grossed over $1 billion) but Tenacious D challenges me to a rock-off. Needless to say, their Pixarified version of "Lee" melts my brain and saves Mr. Unkrich's mortal soul...for now.

16 days...

World Series Riots in SF Wake C'thulhu

If there's one thing C'thulhu hates more than vuvuzelas, it's car horns at 2am.

17 days...

Bitter Moments with Count Chocula
Part VI: Sour Grapes



0 days...Happy Halloween!

Bitter Moments with Count Chocula
Part V: The Pumpkin King

Yesterday was the big costume contest at work, and some friends and I did a Tenacious D skit, featuring Sasquatch and Satan (with yours ghouly as the Lord of Darkness). We may not have been crowned "Pumpkin King," but the judges did create an award just for us: the first-ever "Skit that Went On Too Long" award. I guess we rocked a little too hard, for a little too long. The D would have been proud.

With one day left till Halloween, I'd say it's time to start helping my girlfriend with her costume. Can you guess what it is?

I'll give you a hint: whatever party we go to, folks are guaranteed to end up stoned.

1 day...

Bitter Moments with Count Chocula
Part IV: Brought to You by the Letters F and U

The family-friendly vampire industry is very small. So naturally, relations get a little tense from time to time.

In other news, skies above Pixar were particularly Halloweeny today. The spirits are stirring...

3 days...

Bitter Moments with Count Chocula
Part III: Darth Hater

The spook season is in full-swing now and my Improv group isn't the kind of crowd to pass up a good scare. So we're putting on a Lovecraftian fright-fest for our coworkers. I made this poster for the show, based on an old Tales from the Crypt comic.

We're printing several versions, each with a different tagline:

"Side-splitting fun."
"Bring your own fear."
"No ghouls allowed."
"Keep telling yourself it's just a show."
"We put the error in terror."
and, my personal favorite, "Tales not from the script."

4 days...

Bitter Moments with Count Chocula
Part II: The Twilight Chick

Looks like Kristen Stewart is Team Frankenberry.

In other news, I have another tale from London. I went to the UK last month, just weeks before I knew my pal Emma would be passing through. So I did what any friend would do: I left her a note. In a book. In a giftshop. In Tate Modern Art Museum. I gave Emma a cryptic clue, and to her credit, she found the note! Long-distance fellowship and short-term time capsules FTW.

"I was in the Tate to find this, but couldn't remember any of the clue Austin wrote... So I had a big dopey grin on my face when I accidentally found this in the art of A. I. book I was looking at."

-Emma Coats

For the record, the note told her to stop wasting her time at a modern art museum and go see some Shakespeare.

5 days...

CHADES CHALLENGE XXXVIII:
BITTER CEREAL

I usually procrastinate on the Chades (Character Design) Challenge, but this time the idea is kind of season-specific, so I'm posting a week early. I came up with a few Count Chocula ideas, so I'll be posting one-a-day till Halloween!

Part I: Oh Snap!

While we're on the subject, I should issue a warning: there is a new breed of jack-o-lantern on the loose. A cannibalistic race who preys upon weaker gourdes. This is the most terrifying vegetable since Attack of the Killer Tomatoes or Silence of the Yams! Beware....bewaaaarrrreeee....

6 days...