Digital Dream Machine » Holidays

Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2010!

chad — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:56:31 +0000

Some St. Patrick’s Day themed tunes and videos to help you celebrate the day when everybody is Irish! Éire go Brách!

Darby O’Gill and the Little People, Walt Disney’s classic film, has been posted by somebody in 9 parts on YouTube. Starring the original James Bond himself, a very young Sean Connery, I remember watching this film many times marveling at the scenery and special effects created by the late Peter Ellenshaw. I’ll start you off with Part 1 but you can continue on to the other parts at the end of each video:

MUSIC

“Danny Boy” – The Muppets

“Jump Around” – House of Pain:

Intro to “The Celts”, a BBC-TV documentary Series – Enya:

“The Irish Rover” – The Pogues with The Dubliners:

“Bein’ Green” – Kermit the Frog:

“Where The Streets Have No Name” – U2:

“Dreams” – The Cranberries

MOVIE TRAILERS

P.S. I Love You:

Waking Ned Devine:

Leprechaun:

Leprechaun 2:

Leprechaun 3:

Leprechaun 4: In Space:

Leprechaun In The Hood:

COMMERCIALS

The first Lucky Charms cereal (1966):

Irish Spring TV (1979):

Lucky Charms Cereal (1980):

Lucky Charms cereal (1993) – I think I still have this box which featured a glow-in-the-dark Lucky on the back:

Guinness “Evolution (2006):

Lucky Charms cereal (2009):

Guinness “World” (2009):

Discover Ireland – Tourism Ireland Promo:

Happy Halloween 2007!

chad — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:15:07 +0000

Whether you’re enjoying the treats, scaring the kids, dressing up for the fun of it, or watching some great Halloween themed movies, I hope you have a great All Hallow’s Eve.

And if it’s your birthday too…well have double the fun!

This year’s jack-o’lantern turned into Jack Skellington from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Happy Haunting from April and I!

Happy New Year 2007!

chad — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 21:01:07 +0000

My wife April and I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season in 2006 and that 2007 presents you with plenty of new opportunities, ideas, friends, family, and fun.

We spent our time decorating the house here in Edmonton (April decorated our place in Iowa before she traveled up here), visiting friends and family, watching movies at home and the theater, playing board and video games, shopping for and wrapping gifts, cooking and eating plenty of good holiday meals, and having a generally pleasant time.

We wrapped up 2006 by attending a get-together at our friends place in Edmonton. It has become a yearly tradition and this year, as always, there was plenty of great food and festivities. Between Taboo, Jenga, Jeopardy, and the Bookers’ Nintendo Wii (pronounced ‘wee’) and Nintendo DS, nobody was sitting around bored.

After spending more time with the the Wii, I am even more convinced it will help attract non-gamers into the world of video games and pry those “couch potatoes” up off the sofa. It’s revolutionary control system (Revolution was the unit’s development codename) requires the player to perform movements just like the real action. Well, in truth, you can still sit down and use wrist motions to do all of the action, but it’s more fun, and more exercise if you’re standing up and playing the game with the Wii Remote. Wii Sports, which ships with the system, includes baseball, bowling, boxing, tennis, and golf. Of all the games, we found bowling to be one of the most fun (your movements are comparable to holding a real bowling ball and sending it down the lane), and boxing to be a fascinating way of using the Remote and ‘nunchuck’ accessory. April’s Tae Bo skills certainly came in handy during that Wii game! And no, there weren’t any Remote straps breaking or controllers flying into the big screen TV, lamps, or artwork.

Look for photos to be posted in the Flickr album soon.

A big thanks to all the great people who have kept in touch, who have been checking out the blogs and projects I work on, and for providing feedback. Stay tuned for more blog postings this year and follow what is sure to be an eventful, and hopefully positive, year ahead.

Cheers!
Chad

Halloween Haul 2006

chad — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 06:02:00 +0000

One of the best things about Halloween is working your way through the candy and treats throughout the year. In addition to this year’s haul, be sure to check out my 2005 blog post for a bunch of tasty Halloween leftovers from last year!

AUDIO GOODIES:

An audio interview with Hellboy and The Amazing Screw-On Head creator, Mike Mignola, can be found over at Word Balloon. Mike discusses the upcoming Hellboy Animated films, working with Tad Stones, more Abe Sapien and BPRD adventures, and the big red character’s beginnings. *Contains potentially offensive language near the end. (via Hellboy Animated.)

The Nocturnals © Dan Brereton.

What’s Halloween without Dan Brereton’s The Nocturnals? The Gunwitch, Doc Horror, Halloween Girl, Polychrome. Great names. Great characters. Great stories. Great art. Check out another great Word Balloon audio interview…this time with the creator of the fascinating Halloween-style characters himself.

Note to movie and TV producers: Where’s the Nocturnals movie or animated series we’re all waiting for? These easily-translatable characters, if handled properly, could potentially be a box office tentpole film or series!

Tunes for Ghostbusting: Ghostbusters Project:Remix. Use the free Switch application to convert the WMA files to MP3 or other format. Flip4Mac (also free) is also required for conversion.

VIDEO LOOT:

The Skeleton Dance © Disney.

Tune in to Disney’s classic Silly Symphony animated short, The Skeleton Dance (1929), on YouTube.

Lonesome Ghosts © Disney.

One of my all-time favorite Disney animated shorts, Lonesome Ghosts featuring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, can also be found over on YouTube.

“Bustin’ makes me feel good!” – Ghostbusters by Ray Parker, Jr.

SWEET GRAPHICS:

Art © Bruce Timm.

Arglebargle has a blog post on Bruce Timm’s monster art as well as influential poster artist Reynold Brown. Some really fun images! (via The Ward-O-Matic.)

Art © Merrill Rainey.

Merrill Rainey has posted some fun icons, desktop wallpaper, and PDF coloring book at this link. (via Drawn.)

Scarloff. Art © Matt Putnam-Pouliot.

Matt Putnam-Pouliot has posted some fun wallpaper at this link. (via Drawn.) Be sure to check out his fantastic art gallery filled with fun ghouls and beasties!

Art © Mars, Incorporated.

Guess the titles of 50 Dark Movies hidden in imagery in this Hieronymus Bosch-like painting at the M&M’S Dark Chocolate website.

Art © Vera Brosgol.

“Everyone Loves Mummies” is a fun wallpaper for your desktop by Vera Brosgol. (via Boing Boing.)

TASTY TREATS:

Photo © theprojectmaker.

Hosting a Halloween gathering? Check out this fun set of instructions for creepy but consumable foods for supper! (via Boing Boing.)

Photo © Bakerama.

Mmm-mummy cupcakes.

GHOULISH CRAFTS:

Photo © Spooky Blue.

Carve your own decorative tombstones. Create fear with the wicked scarecrow!

Art © www.origami-club.com.

Use the leftover candy bags to make your own Halloween origami! (via Monsterama and Paper Forest.)

FREAKY LINKS:

The League of Robots and Monsters
BlueSky Studios Challenges – Halloween!
BlueSky Studios Challenges – Classic Movie Monsters
Smooky Ghost Story. (via Cold, Hard Flash.)
Flickr photos: Jack O’ Lanterns, Halloween, Pumpkin, Pumpkins, Ghosts, Monsters, Monster, Spooky, Costume
Monstrous.com – “The largest site about monsters.”

Photo: Copenhagen, Denmark. © Warren Leonhardt.

Warren Leonhardt’s ”abra macabre!” Flickr photoset. Be sure to view his fun blog with other spooky postings!

Happy Halloween Boils & Ghouls!!

Holidays with Jedi

chad — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 20:21:00 +0000

My wife and I spent Christmas being entertained by Ewan McGregor. Sort of.

Photo © Chad Kerychuk.

Within days we watched:

Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith,

The Island,

Robots, and

on Christmas Day, we watched a few episodes of Long Way Round; a fascinating reality series about McGregor’s adventure with his friend, Charley Boorman, as they travel around the world from London to New York on motorcycles.

The McGregor film fest wasn’t planned but we noticed the pattern later. 2005. Year of the McGregor.

Nifty new Yoda Christmas stocking that is, hmmm. Wife to thank I have.

Photos: New Years Eve 2005

chad — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 23:30:00 +0000

Norma and Karen philosophize about 2006.

Bubbly. And a Pepsi.

Me and Rick mug it up for the camera. We’re almost twins!

Mike and April ready for the year-end hot wing feast!

Ed gives birth during another round of “Twister.” Just kidding buddy!

Norma, acts as a “human beat box” while Mike “B-Boy” Chow busts out some “dope” moves!

The fantastic hosts, John and Cathy Booker!

Happy New Year from Chad and April Kerychuk!

The Final Post of 2005

chad — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 02:30:00 +0000

On the last day of 2005, I hope you all look back on the previous year with good memories. It’s been fun blogging, meeting new people, and reading other’s thoughts as well. Hopefully I can continue bringing you enjoyable links and stories in 2006. Thanks for all the support!

As the final post for 2005, I present some unique New Year’s-themed illustrations to enjoy…

More great vintage Soviet Space-themed New Year’s cards can be found at this link.

Be sure to check out the other galleries too. Link via BoingBoing.

Instant Message Santa Claus

chad — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 00:17:00 +0000

If you have iChat or AIM, try adding ‘SantaClaus’ into your buddies list. You can chat with him, play games, and tell him what you’d like for Christmas! I keep him around all year long to add some festive cheer during my Internet wanderings.

Rankin/Bass Santa and Rudolph Puppets Found

chad — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 00:37:00 +0000

Thanks to Cartoon Brew for bringing animation fans this news: the original puppets of Santa Claus and Rudolph (from the treasured Rankin/Bass holiday special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) have been found.

Long thought lost, the puppets were found among the holiday decor of a former Rankin/Bass employee. The puppets have been purchased by TimeandSpaceToys.com and will be restored for public display.

Check out the TimeandSpaceToys.com article for more information.

Also, be sure to read last year’s lengthy but informative post on the animated holiday classic.

♫ Halloween Apples! ♫

chad — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 23:32:00 +0000

I love Halloween. Always have. Cool costumes, dark decorations, mysterious movies, and creepy activities make this one of the most fun times of year! So, in keeping with the Halloween ‘spirit,’ here’s some spook-tacular treatsll!

HALLOWEEN IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY…

In addition to the Star Wars paper masks I blogged about last Halloween, StarWarsKids.com has posted a new set of masks for you to print, cut out, and wear. This year’s masks feature characters from ‘Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith‘ including Kit Fisto, Yoda, Aayla Secura, Tion Medon, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, R2-D2, General Greivous, C-3PO, 3 clone troopers, Padme Amidala, The Emperor, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the Boga.

The site also features a tutorial for home-made Star Wars treat bags at this link.

For Jack O’Lantern patterns, Star Wars Kids also features fun intergalactic designs ranging from a simple Rebel Insignia to a complex Tusken Raider. Paste them on your pumpkins and start carving your galactic affiliation!

SPOOKY SONGS SURFACE AND VILE VIDEOS EVOLVE!!!

Michael Fleming has been posting an insane amount of links to obscure but fantastic Halloween-themed MP3 music files on his blog. Unfortunately, the process is slightly complex but it’s definitely worth it to hear some great music! Especially noteworthy are Bing Crosby’s ‘The Headless Horseman,’ Vaughn Monroe’s ‘(Ghost) Riders in the Sky,’ Ronnie Dawson’s ‘Rockin’ Bones,’ ‘Watusi Zombie‘ by Jan Davis, and ‘King Kong‘ by Tarantula Ghoul and the Cryptkickers.

A few more obscure songs that fit the Halloween mood can be found at this link on WFMU’s Beware of the Blog. ‘Parade of the Damned‘ features the cool ‘Bo Meets the Monster‘ by Bo Diddley and Messer Chups’ ‘Intro Monstro Crescendo‘ among other hip tunes.

Image courtesy of The Scooby Doo Case Files.

Halloween without everybody’s favorite canine sleuth and his gang, Mysteries, Inc.? No way! ‘Scooby Doo, Where Are You!‘ is still considered one of the finest animated series. From spooky storylines to eerie locations with evocative background art, the show still outshines some of today’s top cartoons.

The Scooby Doo Case Files website has posted links to the hip ‘Scooby Doo themes,’ including unreleased symphonic score tracks from the show. A real treasure, Ted Nichol’s compositions are not to be missed! Delve into the site to discover episode summaries, imcompetent sheriffs, avatars for the Internet, and an index of monsters with roll-over images revealing their true identities! Be sure not to miss a section I savored, Wallpapers, which features a ton of outstanding animation background designs from the show!

Images courtesy of Ben Kane.

Some readers will probably remember ‘The Hilarious House of Frightenstein,‘ a 1970′s Canadian TV variety show featuring some of our favorite monsters. Wth the legendary Vincent Price and Billy Van, the show had some truly enjoyable moments featuring Count Frightenstein, Igor, Grizelda, the Librarian, Wolfman, the Oracle, and others. I remember being particularly fascinated by the set design, cinematography, effects, and music. ‘March of the Martians,’ the memorable theme from the show, (created with the famous Moog Synthesizer) can be found among the other goodies on the Frightenstein Downloads page. Be sure to snoop around the incredible tribute website for show info, music, video clips, and even a ‘Return to Transylvania‘ documentary!

Of course, no Halloween should go without a visit from Jack Skellington or a giant robot!

EERIE IMAGES AND TERRIFYING TEXT!!

Keith Milford’s blog, Old Haunts, collects “Halloween photos of long past,” marketing material, greeting and trading card art, and even music and audio stories from old vinyl LPs. The bonus audio downloads ‘Alfred Hitchcock presents Ghost Stories for Young People,’ ‘Casper the Friendly Ghost Haunted House Tales,’ ‘Sounds of Terror!‘ and others let your ears enjoy a Halloween chill! I have no doubt that you’ll recognize some of the costumes and relive childhood ‘trick or treat’ memories.

Check out Jay Stephen’s blog, Monsterama for some amazing illustrations and creative monster lore. Described as a place to see ‘cute creeps from popular culture,’ the new blog is already loaded with great images by Jay. Along with artwork, you’ll discover brief histories of characters like Casper the Friendly Ghost, Gossamer, Fangface, and others.

Jay, a Canadian with a great sense of design, is the creator of ‘Jetcat,’ ‘The Land of Nod,’ and ‘Tutenstein,’ all of which I highly recommend. He’s also a regular contributor to Drawn!, a blog that provides insight and links about illustrators around the globe. Some of the links in this post were found at the blog.

Project Gutenberg has online text versions of ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow‘ by Washington Irving. Available in both HTML and Plain Text formats, this is the original tale that has spawned numerous film versions. No Halloween celebration is complete without a reading or viewing of this great story! Download ‘Dracula‘ by Bram Stoker or ‘Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley as well!

RavensBlight features a fun collection of Haunted Paper Toys including The Mechanical Bat, Coffin Gift Boxes, the Splatterbot, and more; all courtesy of artist Ray O’Bannon. With paper (preferably heavy cardstock), scissors, an X-Acto knife, glue, and tape, you’ll be able put together these morbid masterpieces. To download and print the files, you’ll need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

retroCRUSH, “the world’s greatest Halloween website,” is a must-see for any pop culture and Halloween fan. The vast archive of images, audio, and text will devour hours of your time. Check out “the world’s greatest Halloween costumes” with photos of many vinyl and plastic costumes from yesterday and today. I know I’ve certainly worn a few! Marvel at the Top 100 Monsters of All Time! Note: Not all portions of the website are safe for younger children or work viewing.

Open your goody bag to find the MonsterParty font by Michael Gaines (use the caps lock key with it) or the many other horror fonts that await your experiments!

How about some great icon sets such as Vintage Halloween, Creeps, Boo Buddies, Macabre, Snappy Hour Halloween, and Cute Dead Icons. You may also enjoy Haunted Hard Drives, Ravenswood Revisted, World of Aqua – After Dark, and Jack Skellington.

Oh yeah…if you can’t find a real pumpkin to carve…how about a digital one? Thanks Tad!

Well, that’s a bowl full of treats from me! How do you like them apples?!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Amazon.com links: