The Kids Book Is Now Available!

Hey, remember that children's book I blogged about a few weeks ago? Well it is now available for purchase here. Here's what the author of the book has to say about it:

" I present to you a collaboration between myself and the formidable Mr Len Peralta of Jawbone Radio and Monster By Mail. Len is, I am sure you can tell by the thumbnail, quite genius with a pen, and he has vastly improved my meagre story with some of the most whimsical artwork you will ever see. [we have no idea what “whimsical” means -ed.]

The book is about a young bear named Owen whose second cousin, Panda, comes to visit. Panda seems like a mild-mannered boy, but whenever he eats his fruity snack at the end of the day, things go… well, a little bit crazy.""

Check out the whole post here. The download of the book is free, but of course buy a copy as well. if you can!

The Summer of the Undead Returns!

Skull Bunny - Giveways at Monster By Mail!
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

Monster By Mail is back in full swing for the summer as it kicks off the season early with The Return of The Summer of the Undead! That's right! Zombies are back in order for the summer. I'll be drawing zombies for whoever wants one. And several random winners will receive a free plush Skull Bunny courtesy of Spooky Daddy Toys. These adorably spooky plushies were made especially for Monster By Mail. And one can be yours if you order! The Summer of the Undead starts this Thursday.

Suck On That, Wiki!

For those who have been longtime listeners of the podcast and readers of the blog, you may remember the Wikipedia debacle that plagued us a while back. Well, in some strange twist of fate, some Jonathan Coulton fans have started their very own Wikipedia project, named aptly The JoCopedia. As the name implies, all the information is centered about things in the Jonathan Coulton universe. Well, I checked it out and lo and behold, I have my very own page that was created by the users of the JoCopedia! I am very flattered to be included on the site and I feel it's poetic justice that I end up on a wiki - even if those editors of the Capital W-ikipedia don't feel I'm worthy to be invited to their sandbox. Fan created wikis for the win!

Caption This: 4-28-08

Concept Art

Concept Art
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

So I've been really pushing to do some concept art, and lo and behold I get a call last week to create some art for a friend's pitch. I can't say much about the character, but the story is pretty cool and I wanted to create art that was as cool as the story. Woo! Bring on more concept art, baby! I love it!

Jawbone #203: Steak, Cigars and Scotch

Lots of fun stuff this week. Phone calls during the show. A view from the future with Knightwise. Cloverfield review. Flies. Kerm- er I mean, Grikin the Frog sings for us. Plus, clarification from Paul on what is so HOT about Nora. Please listen, enjoy and subscribe using the handy RSS feed. Fresh Jawbone audio pushed to you every week. What is better than that?

RSS feed.


Download now.

The 1000th Monster and his Inspiration

Joey Monster - 1000th!
Originally uploaded by Randysmolly123.

Hey, check it out! The 1000th monster poses with his image. Thanks for the image, Kimberly!

Random Moment

I did this a while ago and it seemed to be popular, so I thought I'd do it again.

1. Pick up the nearest book to you.
2. Turn to page 43.
3. Find the eighth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in the comments section.

Meet Ronald Jenkees

Thanks to Mark for turning me onto this guy. Check out his YouTube Channel. Lotsa good stuff!

Caption This: 4-21-08

Crazy day today. Sorry so late on this. Anyway, hope I can make it up to you with this photo of a monkey. Enjoy the captioning folks!

If That's What You're Into

I blame myself for not getting in on these guys earlier. Dan and Julie Coulter has been telling me about HBO's Flight of the Conchords for months and finally, this past weekend, I started watching Season One. It started a bit slow for me, but by the second episode, I was a fan. The format of the show features two songs sung by the band that are woven into the story. This is one I found funny called "If That's What You're Into." Thanks for the reco, Dan and Julie! Everyone watch this show now! Go!

Interesting Article About Jack Kirby

Great read from writer Mark Steyn. Poor Jack:

"He lived modestly in Irvine, Calif., and sat on "an old, straightback kitchen chair parked in front of the crummiest old drawing table you ever saw" creating characters who sold a zillion comic books, were spun off onto Saturday morning cartoons and prime-time live action shows and eventually blockbuster feature films. He ought to have died the wealthiest guy in Irvine. Instead, his widow had to beseech Marvel Comics for a modest pension sufficient to cover her mortgage, groceries and medical bills."

Read the full article here. Thanks to Nora for the link.

Coming Soon: A Kid's Book!

Children's Book Frame
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

For the past few weeks, I have been working on a pretty cool project illustrating a children's book, something I've wanted to do for a long time. I didn't write the book, it was written by a very talented guy named Michael who has written and illustrated two other books. This project just kind of fell into my lap and I feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work on the book. Of course, I couldn't resist putting some visual references to Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm and some other groups I have done artwork for. Doing that reminded me of the old MAD magazines or a Simpsons episode with all kinds of hidden references, if you wanted to spend the time looking for them. These won't be too hard to find, but it was the spirit of the thing, eh?

In the next week or so, the book will be available for purchase and download and I highly encourage you all to go out and purchase a few copies for yourself and the little tlkes in your life. Thanks!

Jawbone #202: Hot-Tea

New podcast, woot! On tonight's palindromic show, we chat about my ignorance about women and tea, we play feedback from our big singing debut, and we play one of the funniest voicemails we have ever received. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the show and made it worth listening to. Enjoy!

RSS feed.


Download now.

Holy Crap! Lookit The Size of Those Monsters!

This is the coolest thing I've seen all day. Paul in NM has been ordering monsters from me since the start and he's been taking them and enlarging them to hang on his walls. Well, check out the size of these guys! (Click on the pic to see it at super mondo size) Keep in mind the originals are around 4 x 6. So it's really cool to see them hold up well in large mode.

Also, if you've ordered a monster and have it displayed somewhere cool, please feel free to add it to the Flickr Group I created. Thanks all!

Jaw-Dropping

Photoshop can be tricky to work with. But hey, if you're getting paid to retouch images, shouldn't you have a better eye for detail? Maybe this image is from the zombie version of the JC Penny catalog. See the whole pic here. Thanks Dan!

This Commercial is Wakkie Nu Nu

Thanks to James from Nobody's LIstening for this Wakkie Nu Nu commercial.

And On the Menu in Hawaii...

This pic is from listener and fan Michael in SLC. I've never been to Hawaii, but I'd love to go one day. If I do end up there one day, please remind me not to eat this tasty treat off the menu.

Caption This: 4-14-08

Tomorrow is tax day in the US. If you haven't filed yet, I'm sure you feel pretty harried and hectic. Why not dress like this guy? I don't know if it helps, but he looks comfortable. Caption away!

Pause For A Baby Update

Ducky Bib
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

It's hard to believe that our daughter is five and a half months old. Seems like only yesterday that we met her. Anywho, I thought I would give everyone a visual update on Kateri. As you can see, she is getting bigger and bigger everyday. She is eating solid foods and loves wearing her ducky bib. At least that's the word on the street. Commence gushing.....now.

NumberWang

Thanks Paul. That's Numberwang.

Len TV: Rock Band Night

Len TV returns! On this episode, we show you a glimpse of what a typical Rock Band night looks like at the Nobby Annex. Screwed up lyrics, silly hats and failure on expert drums...it's what you expect from a typical Rock Band night.

For all those interested in playing with us over XBOX LIve, the gamertag is jawbonelen. See ya online!

RSS feed.

Download now.

Jawbone #201: Still Alive

We have a previous engagement tomorrow night, so you get your fix of Jawbone a day early! On this show, we discuss working the baby for free food, we play some late congratulatory messages from our listeners and try to make things right with Eric in NYC by singing a live duet. It's like we're playing Rock Band on our show! Woot! Anyway, enjoy the show and sorry for making your ears hurt.

RSS feed.


Download now.

Support a Monster @ Worth 1000

Jawbone friend, Dave Devries of The Monster Engine is in a contest over at Worth1000. The entries are anonymous, but I think I know which one is his. Head on over there and throw him a vote his way. Linky link.

Failing At Rock Band

I love this video. I guess it's because I'm waiting patiently for my chance to play this particular song with these guys on Rock Band. The funny thing is these guys play real music in front of real people for a living. I can only live vicariously through my friends via a video game. But I'm okay with that. At the very least, it saves me money on gas.

More Richard from Savannah

Richard from Savannah
Originally uploaded by halcyonsnow.

This was done by fellow hobo, Halcyonsnow. Want to draw Richard? Join the Flickr group.

Caption This: 4-7-08

Thanks to Monica for this weeks photo!

Kindness Alive and Well At Bob Evans

So, the whole family was up early this morning, so I decided to take everyone out for breakfast at Bob Evans. It was sort of a continuation of Nora's birthday from yesterday. So the whole fam is sitting down getting ready to get our food when the waitress comes up to me and tells me that someone has paid for our entire meal.

Needless to say, I was flabbergasted. Who paid for a full meal for seven people, eight if you count the little applesauce we got for the baby? Turns out, there was an older couple who was sitting behind us who were talking to the baby. Apparently, she was smiling and laughing at them and they were quite taken with her. The couple left before I could say thank you, but I think that was the idea. Anyway, I thought I'd share the story, since it was incredibly refreshing to find that there are still people in this world who do nice things for others for no other reason that they were smiled at. Plus, I know if I didn't write about it here on the blog, I would forget to talk about it on the next show. Thanks Anonymous Couple!

Happy Birthday Nora!

Leave your messages for the birthday girl here.

Crime Fighting In Japan

I almost thought this was an April Fool's joke, but it looks like it's real. They are calling it urban camouflage:

"Deftly, Ms. Tsukioka, a 29-year-old experimental fashion designer, lifted a flap on her skirt to reveal a large sheet of cloth printed in bright red with a soft drink logo partly visible. By holding the sheet open and stepping to the side of the road, she showed how a woman walking alone could elude pursuers — by disguising herself as a vending machine."

Full story here.

Who Need A Literercy?

Thanks Dan!

Jawbone #200: The Two Hundredth Podcast Spectacular

Here it is folks! The 200th episode of Jawbone Radio!! Tonight we feature your voicemails, celebrity voices and music, best of moments and the regular dose of Len and Nora.

SEMI-SERIOUS PART: Thank you all for those who have supported the show over the past three plus years. I can't believe we are still podcasting, but something about it seems almost habitual at this point. It's been a lot of fun and we hope to continue and share the Jawbone magic with each and every one of you every week. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for listening and subscribing.

Now go take on the day!

Many thanks to John Hodgman, Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm, Brian and Tina Ibbott, DJ Hojo, Charles Cadenhead, Art, Lobo, Matt, Richard, Andrew in the UK, Rico, and everyone else who contributed to make this show so full of awesome.

RSS feed.


Download now.

Show 200 tomorrow!

Just so everryone knows, we will be recording show 200 at around 7:30 PM EST tomorrow night. Tune into Ustream if you'd like to watch. You won't be able to hear the recorded bits until the show goes live in the feed, but you can at least watch us do the show live.

Also, I'd like to open the floor for questions from our listeners. If there is anything you'd like to ask us, post your question in the comments and we'll try to answer as many as we can during the show. Thanks again for your support!

Monster 1000!

I just got my 1000th MBM order just a few minutes ago. It comes a few days after the site went live over a year ago. I want to thank everyone who has ordered a monster this past year and yes, I will be continuing with new themes and drawings. Thanks for all your support. If you would have told me a year ago, I would be drawing 1000 monsters and make money selling my art, I wouldn't have believed you. Just goes to show you, you never know what's around the corner.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped out the past year to make this art project a success. More is coming soon!

ON EDIT: Here is the video of the 1000th order! Woot!