Today is Memorial Day here in the United States, and lots of people have the day off.

What do these people do on Memorial Day?

Some people have barbecues with friends and family, and lay out at the pool with a cold drink.

Others go to the beach. Or watch a sporting event. Or watch a movie.

Today is Memorial Day, and lots of people have the day off.

I don't. I have to work.

Grrr...

JR

I was watching TV, like I, perhaps, do too often, when I got to wondering...

What are my favorite TV shows?

Most of them turned out to be animated shows.

Which got me to wondering anew...

What are my favorite animated TV shows of all time?

Since I need something to write about for this blog, here's my top ten list of my favorite cartoon shows.

10. King of the Hill: this show grows on you like moss.
9. Futurama: cause the Simpsons stopped being consistently funny awhile ago.
8. Robot Chicken: stupid monkey, heh heh.
7. Powerpuff Girls: don't judge me.
6. Samurai Jack: seriously should have been on TV longer.
5. The Boondocks: that's right, fool.
4. Family Guy: does the family understand Stewie when he talks?
3. American Dad: I wonder if Seth McFarlane is the younger, more-talented brother of Todd McFarlane?
2. South Park: Oh my god, they haven't killed Kenny in years!

And my favorite cartoon...

1. Batman: The Animated Series: because Batman kicks major butt.

JR

PS. As a runner-up, I like those esurance commercials of the hot secret-agent girl with purple hair.

So today I just finished up my baseball storyline, and by storyline I mean the random collection of baseball related gags that I could think of; no real story was told; that's what you get when you come to this site; keeping it real.

Just as an aside, while I do enjoy baseball and find it relaxing (I root for the Dodgers these days, but that's only for as long as they don't sell off chunks of the team again), my sport of choice is NBA basketball.

And this is the best time of the year. It's the playoffs, baby!

My team is the Los Angeles Lakers, and before the playoffs started they were the favorites to win the title. However, they've run into a bit of a snag... that being the Houston Rockets.

Game seven is Sunday. If the Lakers don't win on Sunday, there may never be another Young Cannibals strip again because I'll go off the deep end.

So if you enjoy reading Young Cannibals, then root for the Lakers on Sunday.

:)
JR

So I saw the new Star Trek movie... several weeks ago.

I work for a movie theatre, and it's generally an unsatisfying job. However, the day after I got back from my Vegas trip, my boss told me that I had to go to the NATO meeting. NATO is where the movie studios show previews of their upcoming movies to movie theatre exhibitors. It's usually six hours or so of sitting around and watching trailers (most of which I've already seen).

This time, however, they also showed "Star Trek."

Let me just say this... the movie kicked ass! They should have called the movie "Kick Ass"; it's that damn good!

And one of the best things about the movie... Zoe Saldana. She plays Nyota Uhura, Communications officer (who knew Uhura's first name was Nyota). Zoe is hot. :)

All things considered, however, I'm not going to become a Trekkie or dress up as a Klingon at the next comic convention. I've got enough going against me.

JR

I just came back from Vegas.

I had lots of fun.

I saw shows, celebrities, interesting sites and interesting people. I went to a bar made of ice, and looked at a giant wooden cowboy.

I didn't take any pictures.

I mean, I had my camera the whole time but I didn't once think of capturing the moment. Isn't that the point of having a stinking camera?

Anyway, I went to Vegas and I had lots of fun.

You'll have to take my word for that.

JR

So as some of you know, I have been working at movie theatres for most of this decade. Generally speaking, working for a movie theatre doesn't pay very well, there is a lot of stress but it is sometimes fun.

For the past seven years (with the exception of the two miserable months that I worked at Warner Bros), I have labored for this company as a head projectionist/booth technician. In the last several years, this company has come to dominate the LA movie theatre market and their theatres are frequently the highest grossing cinemas in the country.

Unfortunately, I found myself no longer seeing eye-to-eye with some of their policies and finally, in November, just before Thanksgiving, I quit this company.

I took an offer to be the head projectionist for the first west-coast theatre of the Muvico chain. I started work in November, and the complex finally opened in late February. It swallowed up a lot of my spare time, and I have lost the entire cushion of ready-made comic strips that I had prepared before I re-launched YC in January. However, I am quite happy with how this all came out and I even got to wear a hard-hat for several months.

Here are several pictures from when I came on board to when we finally finished.




That's me!!!
We finally opened! There was much rejoicing. Yay.

Anyway, see you at the movies.

JR

PS Don't anyone come bothering me for movie passes. You ain't getting in.

Amidst all the Oscar hoopla and debates of Kobe vs. LeBron for MVP, last week the world lost an influential individual. The individual in question was a cat.

He was President Bill Clinton's cat, Socks.

I guess he wasn't that important of a world figure, but at the time, I thought it was so cool to have a cat as the First Pet instead of the usual dog.

Upon hearing that news, I thought about this political webcomic that ran last year. The comic was called Socks and Barney, and it was by a superb creator named Steve Conley. It stopped running after the presidential election came to a end, but I was happy to discover that the strip has started running again.

Everybody should go read that comic, but this particular strip (http://www.socksandbarney.com/2009/02/20/so-long-socks/) was in memory of a great cat.

So long, Socks.

JR

So I viewed the Academy Awards telecast last night, but I won't bore you with my opinions (except I thought Hugh Jackman was terrific as the host).

I saw the show over at my friend's Oscar party, and we all watched everything from the pre-show stuff to the closing credits. However, I left early and skipped the Barbara Walters interview show. We all ate and drank wine like a bunch of bohemian art critics.

And like a lot of people, we had a contest to see who could pick the most winners.

In my old age, I've learned to tone down my competitive edge. I pick and choose my battles, and will only go all out for something that's really important to me.

But for some reason, I really want to win these stupid games. My only problem is that I don't really pay attention to movie industry stuff. I could care less, in fact. Other than "Slumdog Millionaire," I didn't really know who was nominated for anything this year. I ended up being tied for last place in the game.

Next year though... next year will be a different story. I will not come in last again. I will pay close attention to all the early award winners that might influence the Oscars, and I will listen to all the internet rumors. I'll even watch some of the movies that get nominated next year.

Yea verily... I will post on this very website all my picks, and you will all gasp in amazement at the level of accuracy of my predictions.

Or maybe I'll just stay home and watch cartoons.

JR