Friday Six: Pinball, Lasers, TMNT, Owls, and More
[dc]T[/dc]oday on the Friday Six: pinball, mini-comics, LASERS, owl handling, TMNT comics, and more.
And seven is RIGHT OUT
[ ] I’m a fan of pinball, and I downloaded a couple of video pinball games this week: Zen Pinball 2 and Pinball Arcade. I’m sure there are pinball purists who cannot abide video pinball, but whatever. I’m a fan—especially of Zen Pinball’s Boba Fett table. Comic pal and self-proclaimed ‘pinhead’ Ryan Claytor recommended I check out Pinball Arcade. It is a neat project—FarSight Studios painstakingly recreated actual pinball games I played over the years.
[ ] Speaking of Ryan, I attended a comic book signing on Wednesday for his latest batch of Comics and Visual Narrative students. Clem’s Comics & Games in downtown Lansing (where I spent Free Comic Book Day) held the signing, and I picked up most of the mini-comics. I look forward to reading them soon.
[ ] ThinkGeek Thing of the Week: Khet 2.0 Laser Game
Pew pew pew! Lasers simulated–DUH. Image via ThinkGeek.
Bounce lasers around a board with mirrors—kinda like the ending of Legend, except it is lasers instead of sunlight and…forget it. No one will get that reference.
This game looks like a bunch of fun—and it has LASERS. I’m a fan of anything with lasers—unless it is a Predator targeting thing on my forehead (there, that’s probably a less obscure reference).
[ ] Here’s a photo of me handling the education Eurasian Eagle-Owl at Lansing’s Potter Park Zoo.
That’s Bubo Bubo, to you pal.
I’m in the middle of training to be a handler—which is awesomely referred to as ‘raptor training.’ I’m already a volunteer education docent for the zoo, but handling the raptors (owls, hawks, eagles, etc.) requires extra training. I have my final test next week, so wish me luck. If I pass, I’ll be able to handle the owl for education outreaches and encounters (sharing all kinds of Raptor Facts™).
Eurasian Eagle-Owls are some of the largest owls in the world, although the one on my arm, at 4.5 pounds, is on the small side for a male (they usually max out around 6 pounds, give or take). Most females average around 8 to 9 pounds.
[ ] Webcomic Alliance had a helpful article about using Google AdSense and AdWords to increase readership. Summary: using your AdSense earnings to pay for your AdWords campaigns. The article has a good breakdown of this idea, so give it a read.
[ ] I picked up volume one of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection from the library last week. This is my first time reading the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comics, which spawned the well-known toys, cartoons, films,–and LEGO.
The original comics by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird are very much worth reading—entertaining and fun. But, they are darker too (and similar in tone to the first film).
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All great stuff as usual. I wanted to comment on the TMNT comics as I read them when they published originally. They were some of my favorite comic books. Right up there with Marvel’s Star Wars and Green Arrow. The stories in the comics were better than most of whats been done since. You should take a look at (if you have not already) Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Carrot_and_His_Amazing_Zoo_Crew!) I thought it was great fun taking normal super heroes and making them zoo animals. Didn’t last long though, a year I think..
Yeah, the old TMNT stuff is great–and actually filling in a few blank spots for me regarding some of the toys I had as a kid. It is interesting to see how it started as a much more serious (as serious as it could be) comic, with more blood and violence. A far cry from the goofy cartoon I watched 20 years (give or take) ago.