Monster By Mail kicks off the summertime fun with a brand new theme!

As I mentioned on a previous post and on ExtraLife Radio, the new theme for MBM will be everyone's favorite - ZOMBIES!

It's the same principle as before - send me a Zombie name and I'll draw it. Twenty bucks gets you the original art. Thirty adds the video of the creation of your zombie. And for $45, you get the Mondo Monster Package which includes the art, the video a four pack of monster buttons (while supplies last) and a the infamous "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Eat Brains" T-shirt.

It's a great way to celebrate zombism in general and a great way to kick off the Summer of The Undead, as it will come to be known from here on in.

Oh, and don't forget to sign up for the MBM mailing list while you're there. It will give you the heads up on new themes, new promotions, and other special surprises I have in store. Mwuhahahah!

So grab a shovel and let's start busting some zombie skulls open -- er, I mean, get some original zombie art! Go! NOW!

Labels: art, monsters, zombies

Well, Nora and I went to the doctor today for her ultrasound and we were able to confirm that yes, we will be having a baby girl in the fall. I am estatic. Believe it or not, this is the first time that I have ever been to an ultrasound with Nora. With our previous kids, either I was working or we opted not to get one. In any event, she looked beautiful from what I could see, and I am really looking forward to meeting her.

In other news, the baby's due date was changed to be on my birthday. What a great birthday gift, eh? This means that both my daughters will be born right around my birthday. There is something poetic about that, I'm just not talented enough to express it.

Labels: cool, site news

Last night, I made another appearance on ExtraLife Radio and along with discussing what summer movies we want to see, I let people in on the theme for the next round of Monster By Mail: ZOMBIES! That's right, I'll be drawing zombies for the next round, so keep an eye out for that soon hopefully by the end of the week.

Anyway, check out the show and hear my silky voice here. And thanks to Daryl for this really cool zombie photo from a recent Canadian street fair.

Labels: site news, zombies

Dovetailing off GuitarMania, here is another totally cool art project called "The Vader Project".

"Walking through The Vader Project exhibit at Celebration IV is like taking a stroll through a Darth Vader tribute done by the coolest lowbrow and urban artists on the planet. As fans walk through the exhibit they can see the artist’s own unique style featured on each helmet. Whether it’s a Tiki-inspired design from Shag or a girlie 1940’s style pinup from Marc Ecko — it’s apparent each artist took time to pay special tribute to the headwear of the Sith."

I found out about this project from one of my Flickr contacts, Bonniegrrl, who is a Lucas employee. Man, I wish I had her job. Check out the full set of photos here.

And check out more about the Vader Project (including a video) here.

Labels: art, star wars

I got this image over the holiday weekend and I didn't get a chance to post it until now. For the Fictional Monster Movie Theme of Monster By Mail, I drew a rather imaginative cartoon for someone named Colleen called "Attack of the Pirate-Ninja-Monkey-Bots from Outer Space". Well, a cartoonist friend of Colleen's did a take on my monster and it turned out awesome. Click on the left to see it in all it's Pirate-y Ninja Goodness.

Just so you all know, the Crytozoology phase of Monster By Mail will be ending this week and I'll have a new theme up next week along with some new surprises. It should prove to be a very exciting theme -- think braaaains. :)

Labels: art, cool, monsters

20th Century Fox may be in a little hot water for a promotional stunt for their upcoming release of "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer". Apparently, they were going to release 40,000 coins that featured an image of the Surfer on the back. Fox worked with the Franklin Mint to alter the coins, but the US Mint wasn't aware of the promotion:

"They’ve put the Surfer on quarters. Twentieth Century Fox and The Franklin Mint collaborated to alter 40,000 U.S. quarters. The problem with this is that the U.S. Mint was not aware of the plan. They issued a news release on Friday to inform both the studio and the mint that it is against the law to alter these coins. The law prohibits the use of coins as advertising vehicles, and fines are applicable to violators. "

Oops! I doubt these will see the light of day. But count yourself lucky if you find one. See more here.

Labels: movies

Happy Memorial Day everyone! On this special episode of Len TV, I document the hard work done by my nephew Trevor on our Guitarmania 2007 guitar entitled "Octopus' Garden". To see the backstory on this guitar and the art project, see this post. Our design was chosen by the committee and the guitar was sponsored by Time Warner Cable. Also, our guitar was one of seven that were brought into the Rock Hall, which we feel is pretty darn good and an indictaion of something. Also, it will be on display pretty prominently here in town, so all is good. Watch the video and enjoy your holiday!

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Labels: vidcast

Ah, the good old days. I remember when Emily (AKA aleprechaun, AKA Code Monkey Dance Girl) had only a handful of views of her Code Monkey Dance and I felt like I had discovered something really cool before anyone else had. Now the girl has been featured on NPR, the NYT and she has over a gazillion views of her dances. She's back again with a new dance that is slightly more focused and, for lack of a better word, professional. As professional you can get while dancing in your bedroom in your pajamas. Anyway, enjoy her new dance - a Bob Fosse-esque take on Poe's "Walk The Walk".

Labels: cool, crazy

Labels: caption

No prize this week, just a fun question.

"Emperor Akbar once ruled over India. He was a wise and intelligent ruler, and he had in his court the Nine Gems, his nine advisors, who were each known for a particular skill. One of these Gems was Birbal, known for his wit and wisdom. The story below is one of the examples of his wit. Do you have it in you to find out the answer?

Once Emperor Akbar ordered a horse to be delivered to Birbal so that he could easily move about the kingdom.

The stable-keeper however, was extremely jealous of Birbal, and decided to deliver a sick and weak horse to him. The horse was delivered to Birbal's stable. The next morning, when Birbal went to proudly leave his house on a horse, he found the horse was dead. Looking at the weak and frail horse, he understood what must have happened. However he could not insult the Emperor or his gift, so he kept silent.

Unfortunately for him, the Emperor observed him entering the palace grounds on foot and, when he entered the court, the Emperor immediately questioned him about the horse.

What was Birbal's diplomatic and accurate reply?"

Congrats to former Clevelander, Jen! She was the only answer and the correct one from last week and she gets a four pack of Monster By Mail buttons. Send me your address Jen and I will get them out ASAP.

Labels: braingames

For those of you who are interested, I have started a Heroes (and possibly villian set) on Flickr. It will become a repository for my interpretations of different comic book heroes. There are only a few in there now, but I'm sure over time I will add more. I was inspired to a small painting of the Hulk last night and that's what prompted me to start it. Check it out.

Labels: art, comics, flickr

For those of you who don't know, Cleveland is the Rock and Roll Capital of the World. Yup, it's true. And one of the benefits of living in the Rock Capital of the World is that you get to participate in some pretty cool public art projects.

A few months ago, my nephew Trevor asked me if I would like to work with him on some designs for GuitarMania , a public art project where artists are invited to create scuplture and art out of these huge oversized guitars. It's been a pretty popular project here in town and it certainly is very prestigious, as each guitar is auctioned off at the end of the summer and also displayed all over town. Many artists from across the country, and even some celebrities, have desigend guitars for the project. I agreed to help Trevor design the guitar and lo and behold, our design, Octopus' Garden, was accepted into the project. Moreover, it got sponsored by Time Warner Cable.

Now, I must confess, my major contribution to the project was my design. Trevor did all the hard work and back-breaking labor of sculpting and painting , lugging this heavy piece to various locations and essentially bringing my artwork to life. He's an incredible artist, a very talented painter and not surpisingly, his guitar is getting a lot of attention. In fact, the sculpture will be displayed rather prominently across from Tower City, a major hub here in town.

Anywho, I was pretty excited about it's big unveiling this weekend. From what I understand, our design is in the upper eschelon of designs for the project. I have to make a trek downtown to see it in person and when I do, photos and video will be forthcoming. But in the meantime, you can see more about our guitar and the other guitars in the project here.

UPDATE: I met the guitar in person and have uploaded the photos to prove it.

Labels: art, cool

I got this link a few days ago from Michael, who was surprised to see a story on Digg out of Lakewood, Ohio. Apparently, a landlord has been forced to live in his apartment building with no heat, stove or water. The story has been all over the news here in Cleveland. But the interesting thing is that I just found out tonight that this guy used to be Neil's landlord. (Neil, occassional Jawbone guest and blogger of Fishbrick, of course). He says the guy was a pretty nice guy, but never did anything in his apartment building. Anyway, talk about a brush with fame!

Labels: news

This has been all over the place and several people have sent me the link, but it's too good not to show.

"Jamison Stone, 11 years old, shot the wild boar that weighed in at a “staggering 1,051 pounds and measured 9-feet-4 from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail"

At first, I thought it looked fake, but the offical website tells a different story. Check it.

Labels: weird

"It was 30 years ago today
Luke Skywalker blew the Death Star away..."

Man am I really that old? Anyway, today Star Wars turns 30 and to commemorate, I picked up a sheet of Star Wars stamps and a book of postcards from the post office.

How are you celebrating this milestone day?

Labels: star wars

I was a big fan of this comic back in my college heydays. So this comes as great news:

Coming in May of 2007, Ash will work with Tank Girl co-creator/writer Alan Martin on an all-new, four-part Tank Girl adventure, Tank Girl: The Gifting. While Ash will be handling the character for the first time, Scotland-based Alan Martin is returning to the character he originated with artist Jamie Hewlett (also of Gorillaz fame). The Gifting will feature a series of non-linear stories (as you'd expect in a proper Tank Girl adventure) with such titles as "The Dogsh*t in Barney's Handbag," "Kill Jumbo," and "The Innocent Die First."

Great news for those lovers of Tank Girl. Read the whole story.

Labels: comics

Len TV returns with a brand new episode!

I decided to take a break from monsters and cryptids for a bit and go see the real fake dinosaurs at our local zoo. With my trusty companion in tow, we get a one-on-one meeting with some of the coolest pieces of mechanized rubber that Cleveland has ever seen. Enjoy!

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Labels: vidcast

I picked up this tonight and it made me want to draw Batman. What the hey. I love black and white art and who else would look better in B and W than the Bat?

I also grabbed a bunch of dollar comics, once again, just for the art.

Labels: art, comics

Here's my take:

24 -sucked. Hard.
Heroes - Interesting. But still sucked.
American Idol - should have been only 5 minutes long.
Lost - Really, really really awesome.

Your thoughts?

Labels: TV

Last night, Loren Coleman (of the site Cryptomundo) and I traded e-mails back and forth about Monster By Mail. In order to get featured, he threw down the gauntlet for me to draw a "zoo" of a bunch of cryptid creatures, including Nessie, Bigfoot, The Yeti, and the lesser known Dover Demon and Mothman.

Within a few hours, and much to his delight, he had the image in his inbox. You can read more at his site.

Here's a pretty cool excerpt:

"Called “Speedy” at his former mainstream illustrator job, the guy is rapid in his response. Last night, within an hour in email time, Len sent me his black and white graphic art version of my one line request. What he produced, actually, was superb, in my view, as he made “my art” more nonfictional than cryptofictional, as compared to his other pieces. It is almost as if he read my mind, combining my serious but open-minded take on cryptids with his graphic art vision of how he does his illustrations."

On another note, I think I was channeling a little bit of Jim Lee with this piece. I've been reading Batman Hush and it's taking me forever because I am poring over the incredible art. The ink style was definitely Lee-influenced.

Labels: art, art. monsters, comics, cool

Labels: funny, videos

I'm a sucker for drum solos. So of course, I had to post this. Thanks to Nephew Mark for this cool find.

Labels: cool, music

Personally I think this is a fake. No way did Pac Man have all those teeth. Check it. And thanks Michael!

Labels: funny, videogames

This is seriously one of the weirdest, twisted, yet cool items I've seen in a while. Check it out! ViaELR.

Labels: cool

From Philip via CartoonBrew:

"We may never see a Bill Watterson-approved animated version of Calvin and Hobbes but the following student film from Italy is a nice unofficial attempt. The animation was done by Donato Di Carlo at the CFP Milano film school."

Check it out.

Labels: cartoons, cool

Images of the Joker from the next Batman film have leaked and in my opinion, the jury is out on this...but the image does make for a nice Caption This image. Have fun!

UPDATE: The internets controversy rages on. Is it fake? Or some viral studio trickery? You decide.

Labels: caption

This one, I feel, is pretty tough. The first correct answer gets a four pack of signed, Monster By Mail buttons.

Find a short hidden message in the list of words below.

carrot fiasco nephew spring rabbit
sonata tailor bureau legacy corona
travel bikini object happen soften
picnic option waited effigy adverb
report accuse animal shriek esteem
oyster

Congratulations to Xadrian, who got the answer right first! He gets a four pack of Monster By Mail buttons. The answer:

The first man couldn't have filed away the bars, because if it actually was a diamond palace as he said, quartz wouldn't even leave a scratch.
The second man was closest of all, but still lying. Fingernails are very close to, but not as hard as, copper, so he couldn't get out, no matter how desperate he was.
The third man had lied most of all. First of all there is no such thing as natural black topaz (it was probably obsidian). Also he made the same mistake as all the others, for a steel file is not as hard as topaz, and would not do anything to the topaz.

Labels: braingames

This is probably one of the coolest applications of one of my monsters. Paul ordered the monster "Slick Death" from Round 1. He took it to work, printed it out at 1200 dpi, 22 x 40 and now it hangs on his door! It's Insane! It's Big! It's Monstrous!

If you have any other cool shots of the monsters in the wild, please keep sending em along and I'll keep posting them.

Labels: art, monsters

Things are hopping at old MBM. I think this round is a little tougher because of the subject matter, but that's ok by me. I'm trying to spend a little more time with each drawing, which is turning out nicely. For those who aren't checking the site daily, here is one of my recent faves, The Cigar Smoking Desert Yeti.

Labels: art, monsters

There's a great (long) post by Coulton today at his site about how he conquered the interents with his songwriting prowess. It's a great read and cool to see how the stars aligned for him to become the internet superstar he is today. Required reading, indeed.

Labels: jonathan coulton

Leave your messages for Mr. Dan Coulter (the programming genius behind e-hobo, Monster By Mail, E-Zombie and more) right here.

Labels: cool

Neil is back with us for a show about irrational fears, pets, and of course, Kringles. Fun show -- now with more Richard!

RUNNING TIME: 48:47

MUSIC: Burn Back | Make the Logo Bigger

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Labels: podcast

The monsters are showing up (as planned) through the mail. And people are sending me photographic evidence of such. Not only that, but some monsters are getting a graphical makeover, as proven by Matt and his Can Can Dancer movie poster commemorating the Monster Movie round. Great job, Matt! (click to see the larger version.)














Over on the other side of the globe, Rose has blown up her monster to decorate her office area.










Ukelele playing aliens can get caught by Ukelele traps. Here is the photographic evidence.

How can I forget this little ditty called "She Cthulus of the SS".

And finally, ImpalerElGato poses with his monster.

Keep em coming! I love seeing them!

Labels: art, monsters

So last week, Scott Johnson from ELR was having a little contest where he asked his readers to write the dialog for his Monday comic. I was messing around and left my own punchline involving "lobsters" and "whores". Well, imagine my surprise when I log on today to see my punchline was actually used for the comic! Funny stuff. Goes to show you that for comic gold, you can't beat crustaceans and loose women.

Labels: comics, funny

That's right. I'm doing it for a third time...Monster By Mail is now open and accepting orders. The theme this time around is "Crypto-zoology". You provide me a name of a strange creature or legendary monster and I'll draw it for you. (Hint: Pets would make great fodder for crytpo animals.) Art is $20. Video is $30. Plus, every order gets a four pack of limited edition monster buttons created specifically for this round. Let's hop aboard and let's take a trip to the Cryptozoo!

Labels: art, monsters

This week's first correct answer gets a four pack of Monster By Mail buttons!

Four men met in a bar, and they soon found that all four of them had been to the Amazon Jungle. After a few more beers, they also realized that they had all been captured at least once, by fierce natives who ruled amazing fortresses. They soon got around to talking about their experiences, and their escapes. The first man said, "Well, I was once caught by natives who ruled a diamond palace. They caught me and took me to their king. He decreed that I was to die in one month. They threw me into a cell. Thank God that they didn't take my equipment. I had stolen a quartz file from one of the natives. I filed away the bars (it had curtains so they couldn't see) and escaped mere hours before I was to die."

The second man said, "I was also captured, but they took me to a simple copper structure. I did not have any such luxury of a month to escape, instead, a single day. Luckily they did not count on my desperation, and I was able to claw my way out of there using only my fingernails and pure adrenalin."

The third man said, "I was taken to the most amazing fortress of all. It was made out of black topaz. I was also the smartest of all of you," he bragged, "for I had brought with me a steel file. I was out in a jiff, and I was able to steal some of the topaz as well," he said as he showed everyone a piece of topaz hanging from a string around his neck.

The fourth man had been looking amused at the first and second men's stories, but as the third man finished he threw up his head and laughed. The other three men were looking slightly peeved, and asked him what he found so funny. He declared that they were all liars, and he could prove it.

How could he prove it, and when did each of the three men lie?

Last week, Spiff got the answer right. When cockroaches die naturally, they roll over on their back. Yet, the cockroach was laying right side up as Bobby saw "the shiny back of the creature". Jacob must have killed the cockroach, then flipped it over to cover himself, not knowing the bit of science that Bobby knew. Congrats, Spiff!

Thanks to Knightwise for this incredible image.

Labels: caption

So I saw Spider Man 3 today and I gotta say, I was pretty impressed by the character of Gwen Stacey (even though she was played by that weird chick from Lady In The Water). So I'll throw this out there, mostly for the guys -- the age old question -- who do you prefer? Mary Jane or Gwen? And why?

Labels: comics

I can't hope to be as talented as Jonathan Coulton. But what I can hope for is a wonderful unnamed mention of me and my work in the New York Times Magazine today. The article talks about Coulton's success on the internets and his devoted fan interaction and mentions me and my contribution to the Coulton madness:

"Other followers have volunteered hours of their time to help further his career: a professional graphic artist in Cleveland has drawn an illustration for each of the weekly songs, free."

Woot! I made it into the NY Times and I didn't kill anyone. To read the whole incredible article, check it out here.

Labels: cool, jonathan coulton

I know this is old, but I just saw it today and I found it rather amusing. Check it out.

Labels: funny, video

It's another daytime recording! We welcome a special guest to the studio, talk superhero movies, proper podcast guest ettiquette and much more. Enjoy!

RUNNING TIME: 27:32

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Labels: podcast

Wow...I think MS is going to blow Apple out of the water with this design. Who woulda thunk it?

Labels: funny, video

I'm sure this was done on purpose. But if it wasn't, it could the coolest accidental geek headline ever. See it.

Labels: cool, star wars

I've been getting a lot of responses from people who are receiving their monsters in the mail and I thought it would be a good idea to show off some of them.

The photo to the left comes from Annie, who told me today that after watching some of the videos, her nine year old son went to grab his own crayons and markers to make up his own monster. I think that's one of the coolest residual parts os this project -- that I am inspiring people, and lots of kids, to draw, be creative and come up with their own creations. I love getting e-mails like that. They never fail to make my day.

Next up is Justin, who asked for a WOW related monster and he got one!










Here is Monkeyman from the first round. Good to see he made it safely as well.


And finally, I got this tonight from a big supporter of MBM, who ordered a Monster Pugdog for his sister's birthday. Did I mention these make great gifts? Hmmm...anyway, enjoy!



Keep the Monsters In The Wild coming folks. I love seeing them!

Labels: art, monsters

Well, I am in the last 50 or so images left for the second round of Monster By Mail. So, I posted a new image at MBM, teasing the next round. Anyone care to take a guess as to what the next theme will be?

Labels: art, monsters

And thank the heavens! Eurovision would not be complete without this flamboyant entry from the UK. Thanks to Dan for the heads up and seems to know way too much about this competition.

Labels: funny

I gotta tell you, I've been drawing a lot of zombies lately. But for some reason, I've been looking forward to drawing these zombies. I had a mental picture of what I wanted the finished drawing to look like and damn, if it didn't come out almost exactly as I envisioned it. I'll file this one again in the "wish I didn't have to give these away" category.

Labels: art, monsters, video

They probably aren't a Jawbone listener, but it seems like someone had the same idea I had regarding that loser at VTU. Link. There are a ton more on the sidebar too.

Like this one.

Labels: video, viral

"Bobby Bigelow was an average sixth grader. That is, except for the fact that he had the mind of Sherlock Holmes himself. One day, while walking around the block, he noticed two of the students at school arguing over something.

The two boys were Jeremy and Jacob. Jeremy was accusing Jacob of killing his pet cockroach! As Bobby looked at the shiny back of the creature, Jacob explained his story.

"Jeremy let me take care of his cockroach for the day," began Jacob, "I kept it with me the whole day. About half an hour ago, I noticed that the cockroach had not moved for a long time. When I found that it didn't move when I tapped the cage, I called Jeremy. I left the cockroach exactly as it was, and here we are. Jeremy accusing me of killing his cockroach."

After a few moments, Bobby concluded that Jacob had indeed killed the cockroach.

Why was he so sure?"

Dan got the answer last week. The answer was a candle.

Labels: braingames

Maybe this is what he does to sober up.

Labels: caption

So, a few years ago, before Tivo, my family and I were watching AFV (or Amercia's Funniest Home Video). This one episode featured one of the funnieist videos i have ever seen. There were so many layers of funny to it, I just had to see it again. But to this day, I haven't seen it since, in a repeat or even on YouTube.

The video It took place in a backyard. There was a guy with a mullet standing next to his girlfriend. Now, that alone is comic gold enough, but like I said, layers of funny. He is tossing a football around and his trusty dog is standing next to him. He tosses the football to his buddy. The cameraman follows the ball a few times. On one throw back, the ball hits the girlfriend in the nose. This startles the dog who then runs frantically away from mullet boy and girlfriend. There is a leash wrapped around mullet boys leg and when the dog runs, he pulls the rug out from under mullet boy and he slips and falls on his back to the ground.

Now, I know what you're thinking. What was so funny about that? Some mullet guy slips and falls and that's it? Well, the kicker is that when the camera pans over to the dog, we see that the reason mullet boy fell was because the leash was wrapped around his fake leg. The dog is running around dragging mullet boy's fake leg and mullet boy is hopping after him.

When I saw this for the first time, I almost couldn't catch my breath, I was laughing so hard. And I have not been able to find the video since.

So here is the task: If you can find me this video online somewhere on YouTube or Google, I will draw you your own personal Monster By Mail Or if you prefer, another little drawing if you're not into monsters.

So there ya go. Good luck and happy hunting!

Labels: funny, video

Good stuff. Thanks to the Whiz Kid for the link.

Labels: funny, video

In the last post, I made reference to the fact that I thought The Hoff sounded like Chewbacca as he ate that burger, shirtless and on the floor. Well, our friend DJ Hojo confirms that fact by giving us this. You decide.

Labels: funny

By now, I'm sure everyone has seen this video that is making it's way through the tubes of David Hasselhoff drunk and shirtless, eating a sandwich off the floor and being reprimanded by his daughter. But what I want to know is, does anyone else think he sounds like Chewbacca in this video?

UPDATE: Here is the link to the full version.

Labels: videos, viral

Kari Byron, the hot female redheaded portion of one of my favorite shows, Mythbusters, has a spread coming out in FHM's next issue. Maybe it's just me, but she doesn't end up looking like herself in the photos. In fact, in most of the photos, and in the behind the scenes video available on the site, she looks really uncomfortable and awkward - which might be par for the course for a geeky science girl. Perhaps the spread will get some guys out there going, but my takeaway is that I end up feeling kind of bad for her. Am I wrong? What do you guys think?

Labels: cool

I don't know how many of you are watching "Heroes", but I have a question perhaps you can help me figure out.

WARNING FOR SPOILERS, for those who care about that kind of stuff...

Since Peter Petrelli can absorb powers of people around him, he can heal himself right? So why, on the last episode, did he have a huge scar across his face? Why did everything heal on him except for that?

Discuss.

Labels: TV