Perfect Day

Today has actually been a pretty horrible day.  Regardless of that I decided to share a little Lou Reed.  Playstation 4 has a wonderful commercial with gamers singing “Perfect Day” horribly off-key.  Normally something like this would drive me insane, but I find myself singing along with it every time I see it.  Then I started thinking that most the people this ad is aimed at have never actually heard the original song.  So enjoy some Lou Reed, hopefully your day will be better because of it.

I came very close to posting the video for “Sweet Jane” too.  I suppose that can be an update for another day.

F’ing Updates

Halloween is right around the corner.  I’m sure there are tons of people frantically searching for that last minute Halloween costume.  Don’t look here; I’ve been planning my costume for months.  But there are some things going on that will be affecting That F’ing Monkey and I wanted to talk about them before they happen.
 

First off I’ll be spending this Saturday at the Spooky Empires convention.  This horror convention is full of all those wonderful horror actors like Bill Moseley and Doug Bradley.  I’m going because Ricou Browning and Julie Adams from Creature From the Black Lagoon are going to be there.  I’ve talked about my love for that movie numerous times so I’m really excited to see them.  I have no idea why George “the Animal” Steele is going to be there, but I’m excited to see him too!

I am going to be without internet for a large portion of next week.  This was pretty last minute so I haven’t been building a backlog of articles to run while I’m away.  So there may not be any updates the week of Halloween.  I’m going to do what I can but I can’t promise anything at this time. This is only for that week, after that we’ll be back to normal.

Itty Bitty Plush

I’ve been a huge fan of Art and Franco’s for a very, very long time.  I was thrilled when their Tiny Titans book became as popular as it did.  My son may have been named after a certain Wolf Boy; okay he was totally named after Patrick the Wolf Boy.  The Tiny, ‘Lil, and Itty Bitty line is moving across all sorts of comic publishers now and I can’t be happier. 

One of the newer titles is Itty Bitty Hellboy.  This isn’t the first time Hellboy has been showed younger.  Obviously there is the famous “Pamcakes” comic.  Bill Wray also did the Hellboy Junior stories.  Bill is famous from Mad and Ren & Stimpy; his Hellboy Junior stories are set in a similar tone.  The Itty Bitty Hellboy has more of that Tiny Titans feel.  It’s a cute, punny book that makes Hellboy available to an all age’s audience. 

Someone saw the Itty Bitty designs and must have said “those characters are so cute I wish I could hug them.”  Because there is a line of plush Itty Bitty plush coming out.  To start with you can pick up a Hellboy or an Abe.  If these sell well I can’t imagine they wouldn’t add others to the line.  I won't lie, I'd be pretty tempted if they added a Roger to the line.  Both Hellboy and Abe sell for under 20 dollars and should be available for pre-order at your local comic shop or favorite comic website. 

Aw Yeah.

Warren Zevon

Michael May has been killing it by counting Werewolves all October.  Really, make sure you check out his Adventureblog.  In his 31 days he hit on what I consider a pretty big one, Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London.”  It’s a fantastic song and it deserves to be a Halloween anthem but there is so much more to Zevon’s music than just the one song.  I actually wrote about the same topic way back in 2010 and have posted videos a couple of times.

Zevon has a 30 year music career and was awarded two Grammys posthumously for his album The Wind.  For me the music is one thing and don’t get me wrong the music itself is great but it’s his lyrics that really pull me in.  Most of his songs tell stories.  They might be about Werewolves, psychopathic killers, or hockey players.  If you listen close you can see the entire story play out in your head, it becomes more than just music. 

Zevon passed away in 2003 after fighting cancer far longer than his doctors said he would be able to.  He was an amazing artist.  Enjoy “Werewolves of London” this month, but check out more of his work; you won’t be disappointed.    

Talky Tina

Bif Bang Pow! has been doing some pretty neat things with the Twilight Zone license.  Figures, bobbleheads, and that wonderful “To Serve Man” journal.  Then they just had to go and do it, they’ve created a Talky Tina.  This 18 inch doll has eyes that open and close and speaks 5 lines that are straight from the original audio of her episode.  So it should sound perfect when she says, “My name is Talky Tina and I’m going to kill you.” 

 

This was the only episode of Twilight Zone that scared me as a kid.  It’s strange because I saw Trilogy of Terror around the same time and never had a problem with the Zuni but Tina scared the shit out of me.  Tina is going for around 150, insuring that she’ll never end up in my house.  I haven’t watched her episode since I was a kid.  It’s still scary to me that way and I think I like that.  Watching it now would probably destroy that feeling.

Warriors Autographs

Yesterday I spent some time talking about one of my favorite movies, The Warriors.  I also showed off my collection of Warriors figures.  That battle scene is happening safely on the bottom shelf in a Detolf cabinet for everyone to see.  Some of the other Warriors items in my collection are waiting for me to figure out a place for them.  The item I’m showing off today is one of those things. 

 

 

A few years ago the FX convention in Orlando had a mini-Warriors reunion.  I wasn’t planning on getting four autographs that day; I was there for Deborah Van Valkenburgh and David Harris.  When I arrived at the convention I discovered how hard that would be.  All four actors were sitting at two tables pushed together.  It wasn’t exactly a busy table either; I had plenty of time to talk with everyone.  So my photo and two autographs turned into a photo and four autographs.  In hindsight I’m very happy it happened that way.  All of the actors were extremely kind to me and I got to spend quite a bit of time talking to them. 

I haven’t framed the photo yet.  While I have Mercy, Cochise, Snow, and Vermin’s autographs I’m still hoping that I’ll run into Michael Beck (Swan) and Tom McKitterick (Cowboy) at a convention somewhere.  Sadly Marcelino Sanchez (Rembrandt) passed away in 1986.  James Remar isn’t even in this picture, but he’s done so many other things I figured I’d never end up being able to get his autograph anyway. 

The Warriors versus the Furies

I was lucky enough to see one of my favorite movies on the big screen at the end of August.   I was alive during 1979 but considering I was three I don’t think I had many chances to get to the theater and check out movies about gang violence.  I know I fell in love with by watching it on HBO as a kid.  Over the years I’ve picked up a few different pieces of Warriors related memorabilia that I wanted to share.

 

First up are the Mezco Warriors figures.  Mezco released two different lines of figures.  The first set were 10 inch figures that looked a little cartoonish.  Each figure came in a dirty and clean variant.  The figures available were Cleon, Swan, Cochise, Ajax, Luther, and the Baseball Furies.  There were multiple versions of the Furies, mostly just changing their facepaint.  I regret not picking up the Cochise at the time, but I didn’t mind skipping Cleon and Luther.  What I really wanted was a Snow and Cowboy to finish out the Furies battle scene.

Instead of continuing the line Mezco followed that up with a line of 9 inch figures.  They looked far more realistic, had better articulation, and actual cloth clothing.  There were two Furies, Cyrus, Sully (The Orphans leader), Swan, and Ajax.  These are really nice looking figures.  When they were released I was too angry to purchase them.  I had already bought 5 Baseball furies and 2 Warriors, I wanted them to finish out the first line instead of launching a new one. 

Pop! Goonies

Funko is at it again.  They are turning everything and everyone into squat vinyl figures with shark eyes.  And, you  know, the thing about a shark…he’s got lifeless eyes.  Black eyes.  Like a doll’s eyes.  When he comes at ya, doesn’t seem to be living…until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white…  Sorry about that, I’m moderately sure that if you buy a Funko Pop! figure that it doesn’t have the ability to bite you or roll its eyes back. 
 

Anyway Funko’s newest line is celebrating the 80’s classic Goonies.  The star of the line is most likely going to be Sloth.  Somehow the Pop! line works even better when the character isn’t supposed to be cute, so the misshapen Sloth is adorable.  I have no doubt he will sell better than all of the other Goonies figures. 

 

I’m more excited about Data but that’s because the actor who played Data also played Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  I’ve mentioned it before on That F’ing Monkey, but Short Round makes me ridiculously happy.  This makes me want to buy one so I can convert a Data to Short Round.

Elite Fixtures

So there is an online store called EliteFixtures.com that sells things like lighting, chandeliers, lamps, and fixtures.  This site has its own blog where they talk about things pertaining to lighting.  Decorating tips and things like that.  All of that sounds very normal, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw their blog update that replaced characters on famous comic book covers with lamps.  You read that right, famous comic book covers with lamps.
 

I’m only previewing one of the ten images here; you’ll have to go to Elite Fixtures site (click here) to see the rest.  The covers selected range from some of the most famous ones in comic history to a couple of very recent ones.  Again, I don’t know who thought of this but it is just the right kind of strange that is going to have me smiling all day.

Monster Cereal Returns

Halloween is one of those holidays that has really grown over the years.  Certainly it has become more commercialized, but I think in the past 20 years it has also become a lot more acceptable for adults to enjoy it.  I really enjoy Halloween, so I see that as a good thing.  To cash in on those people trying to get more into the Halloween spirit General Mills seasonally produces Franken Berry, Count Chocula, and Boo Berry cereals.  This makes me very, very happy. 

The big monster cereal news this year is that not only did the monster trinity get released but so did the long discontinued Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy.  I suppose we should get a little history out of the way so we can talk about what these two are now.  Count Chocula and Franken Berry were first released in 1972.  Obviously Chocula is a chocolate cereal.  Franken Berry is a strawberry flavored cereal.  Boo Berry was released in 1973.  It is supposed to taste like blue berries.  Instead it tastes like magic and anyone who claims a different monster cereal tastes better is a heretic of the highest order. 

Fruit Brute was released in 1974 and was a fruit cereal with lime marshmallows.  So instead of focusing on one flavor Fruit Brute was more like a Fruit Loops.  I honestly don’t remember the cereal much because it was discontinued in 1984.  Three years later Fruity Yummy Mummy was released.  Like Fruit Brute it was a fruit cereal but it has vanilla marshmallows.  It didn’t last very long and was discontinued in 1993.  Now Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy are back.  So did General Mills package the same cereal in different boxes and solicit them as different products?
 

The new Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy aren’t the old cereals you may or may not remember.  Instead each is given its own flavor.  Yummy Mummy is an orange cereal with marshmallows and Fruit Brute is a cherry cereal with marshmallows.  I was able to get a box of Yummy Mummy and once you add milk it tastes a little bit like eating a orange creamsicle.   I saw a box of Fruit Brute but wasn’t able to grab it at the time.  Hopefully it will still be there when I return for it. 

One last note, you’ll notice that Target somehow got an exclusive packaging that differs from what the other grocery stores are receiving.  So if you’re looking for retro box art you can find it at Target.

Hurray for the Riff Raff

And now my latest music obsession.  Hurray for the Riff Raff.

Hurray for the Riff Raff is one of those bands that needs to be heard.  Liveset apparently thought so too so they loaded this 30+ minute session up to YouTube. 

The video is from last year and I believe the band is currently working on a new album.  Everyone have a great weekend, we’ll be back next week with more strangeness.

Bigger, Blacker Box

Cards Against Humanity players it is finally on sale!  The Bigger, Blacker Box has been teased by Cards Against Humanity since this past convention season.  They even released a video to tell you exactly what this new product is.

 

So you get a large case that should fit all of the current Cards Against Humanity expansions, you get 20 new cards, 50 more blank cards, and possibly something else.  If you need the Bigger, Black Box in your life you can order it Here. 



Get Well Soon George

The NHL kicked off its season last night with three great games.  Winnipeg took down Edmonton 5 to 4, Chicago defeated Washington 6 to 4, and Toronto beat Montreal 4 to 3.  There was a very scary moment last night involving one of my all time favorite players.  During a fight with Colton Orr George Parros lost his balance and slammed his face into the ice.   Colton Orr immediately called for medical assistance, which is what you want to see in this kind of situation.  Medical staff rushed to the ice and after a tense 10 minutes George was taken off of the ice.
 

George was alert and conscious before leaving that arena but has been diagnosed with a concussion.  We here at That F’ing Monkey wish George a quick recovery.  Hockey is more fun when the Violent Gentleman is on the ice. 

Stick of Truth

It’s been a very long time since we’ve mentioned South Park: The Stick of Truth.  That was because there just wasn’t anything to talk about.  When THQ went under no one was really sure what was going to happen.  There was a release when it was announced that Ubisoft had picked up the game, but we were still left wondering what would happen.  This weekend I checked my old pre-orders status, I had paid the majority of this game off last October. 

Now we know that the game will be released on December 10^th.  Pre-orders will be getting “The Ultimate Fellowship Pack”.  There are four costumes in the pack with each costume granting a different perk.  The Necromancer deals extra fire damage, the Ranger Elf deals extra weapon damage, the Rogue Assassin earns more gold, and the Holy Defender has bonus defenses.  Gamestop still lists the Good Time with Weapons pack and the Mysterion Superhero Pack on their website.  So it appears that pre-ordering there will get you a the Fellowship outfits, Bulrog and Mysterion summons, Cartman’s Kick-Ass Sais, a Samurai outfit, and a superhero outfit.  It’s possible other stores will have their own bonuses, but I haven’t seen anything yet.

There is also a Grand Wizard edition of the game coming out.  It will cost you an extra 20 dollars and comes with a 6 inch vinyl figure of Cartman dressed in his Grand Wizard costumer.  It also comes with a map that is described as being “Cartman’s hand drawn map of the South Park Kingdom.”  The set also comes with the Fellowship Pack.  I’m not sure the Kid Robot produced Cartman figure is enough for me to drop another 20 dollars on the game, but that might be because I’m still mad I never got the SDCC exclusive Mysterion figure.