Home improvement.

Comics blogging is delayed just a little while longer. Instead, on today's busy busy Bully schedule: help John finish painting the living room. Also: working hard to avoid the sort of scrub-intensive bath I had to have last night. Water-soluable, my pink butt.



Before you recoil in shock and horror: that pinky bubblegum tone is the primer. Pink is purty, but I don't wanna living room that looks like the inside of a Pepto-Bismoll tummy. Now I'm the sort of bull who is very careful with his money and I feel that primer may well be just a cheap excuse for the hardware industry to sell you twice as much paint as you need, but if you're gonna do a job, you might as well do it right. Still, my idea of cleaning a paint brush is throwing it out and buying another one, so maybe I shouldn't be the judge on what the proper painting procedure is.

No, the real final color will be a rich, buttery burgundy (actually the paint chip calls it chianti, not to be confused with the other colors in Behr's line of paints including zinfandel, rosé, champagne, Guinness, and rich amber ale). I have tasted it and it doesn't seem a bit like wine. I was hoping the paint would be like Willy Wonka's lickable wallpaper and I would be able to have a pleasant lick at the wall while enjoying my spaghetti-and-meatball dinner, but I guess I will just have to stick to chewing on the paint chips falling down from the ceiling in the hall as an after-dinner snack. (Editor's note: Mister Bull's comment about eating paint chips is purely for comedic purposes. Do not eat paint chips. Not even bright, candy-colored ones that look as if they would melt in your mouth. Yum.)

Until we return to the subject of comics, let's shake up the Big Bully Bag of Miscellany and see what comes out:

iToons, Too. Oh yes. A few months back I highly recommended a handful of video podcasts for cartoon buffs. Let's update that, 'coz in this fast-moving world of cartoon podcasts, the players can change quickly. (Again, I link to the iTunes versions of these podcasts; you don't need to have an iPod to view the cartoons, but these links will work only if you have iTunes installed.) Two of the podcasts I recommmended earlier, Brickfilms and Vintage ToonCast, are close to being defunct. It's especially exasperating with Vintage ToonCast, which has been hawking its own "for sale" status over the past several weeks and even interrupted a cartoon in an earlier podcast to play a political message.

Going stronger than ever, however, is the probable reason Vintage ToonCast can't compete: ReFrederator, which brings vintage cartoons every weekday in themed weeks. Right now we're in the middle of "Popeye Week," which is a great way to celebrate and honor America's top massive-forearmed sailor man in these troubled times. Earlier this week I wrote an extensive post about the recall of spinach and how the plot was masterminded by Bluto in order to steal Olive Oyl away from a vegetable-deprived and physically-weakened Popeye. Then I found out at least one person had died from eating E. coli-infected spinach, and I vetoed my own silly comedy. So the real deal of actual Popeye cartoons is a more fitting salute. I also enjoy the fact that ReFrederator brings you an eclectic mix of famous cartoons but also ones that are seldom- if ever-seen. I'm especially fond of bovine cartoon star Molly Moo Cow, and a recent podcast featured one of my favorite cartoons of all time, the books come to life at night masterpiece "Have You Got Any Castles". Other recent stars include Little Lulu, Mickey Mouse, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Superman, The Little King, Betty Boop, and plenty of non-series cartoon stars. There's a treasure trove of cartoons (over 100) to view at ReFrederator, in easy-to-download podcast format.

I also recommend checkin' out ReFrederator's big brother, Channel Frederator, which gives you a small handful of animated independent films every week. Frederator's a smorgasborg: not everything every week is to my taste, but there's a lot of gems to be found between the Adult Swim-style bumpers and frequent self-congratulation and "viewer mail" which are easily fast-forwarded through. I 'specially recommend Episode 36 which features the hilarious "The Dan Danger Show!" and my favorite music video (aside from those guys on the treadmills), the ska-influenced "Wizard Needs Food Badly," by Fire Iron Frenzy, which is sort of a cross between Darwyn Cooke and Fatal Instinct. With a giant robot! And if you're a Thor fan (and who isn't), you should, nay, must check out "If I Had a Hammer" in Episode 46. Stan 'n' Jack fans be forewarned: this isn't golden-tressed, Shakespeare-rappin' Thor but the red-bearded, demandy Thor of Snorri Sturluson and legend ahoy. Looking for a new hammer in a hardware superstore. Also, if you're sensitive or impressionable, watch with care, because this cartoon is a wee bit gory when Thor (not quite accidentally) kills a superstore security guard and customers. A Thor that kills people? Inconceivable! The Marvel Universe Thor would never kill somebody! Never! You'll never see that happen!

Before we close up the Big Bully Bag of Miscellany and toss it back in the Crowded Cow Closet, let's take a look at one more use of the Fantastic Four font (previous examinations here and here):—from the comics-fanboy-friendly "Pie Man" episode of The Simpsons:


MILHOUSE: This isn't Fantastic Four, it's Fantastic Floor! We can't put in new floors. We rent!
And yes, that "screen shot" was actually achieved by photographing the TV screen. Here at Comics Oughta Be Fun, we spare no expense. Except actually buying screen capture software.