This Blog Is Retroactive

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

If only we who were and are in the field of Arch Viz were given the time, resources and freedoms to create something like the masterpiece above…

Obviously this short video, The Third & The Seventh, is a work of great passion and dedication, which is really what enables Alex to create such beautiful 3D visualization.  I am awed and humbled.  You can watch the video here, but I’d advise going to Alex’s Vimeo page and opening it in full screen for the best possible experience.  I really didn’t think that Architecture could be so moving until I saw it presented in this way.  Bravo Alex!

I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Adult Swim these days.  I think some of the shows on Adult Swim are still hilarious and delightfully bizarre (e.g., Family Guy, Squidbillies, Robot Chicken, ATHF). However, these days I feel like the majorityof the shows  on Adult Swim are completely inane, psychotic, unfunny weirdness, suffering from a  severe deficiency of production value (e.g., Tim and Eric, Morel Orel, Xavier: Renegade Angel, Lucy the Daughter of the Devil).  This being the case, it’s easy for shows truly worth watching to get lost in the fracas of Adult Swim’s current A.D.D. inspired line-up.

If you’re a casual fan of Adult Swim programming, like me, then you’ve probably caught bits and pieces, perhaps even entire episodes, of Venture Bros on occasion.  Maybe you thought, “hmm, that was weird…kind of funny…but I have no idea what’s going on.”  Don’t let a lukewarm first impression deter you from giving Venture Bros a second chance because, in my opinion, it’s by far the best thing on Adult Swim right now.  Hell, it’s one of the best damn shows on TV, period.

Simply put, Venture Bros is one huge amalgamated parody of all the mystery, action/adventure and sci-fi cartoons we used to know and love.  Think Johnny Quest meets Scooby Doo meets G.I. Joe with a smattering of Fantastic 4, Voltron and Fear and Loathing in Lost Vegas thrown in for good measure.  I know Fear and Loathing was not a cartoon, but it did have drawings.  Does that sound insane?  It is.

You might think absurd adult humor paired with engaging and intriguing story lines set among a rich, multi-layered world of ridiculous super heroes and villains would be reason enough to start showing up at Comic-Con dressed up as Dr. Venture or The Monarch, and you’d be right.  What really takes this show above and beyond that is their exceptional art direction and formidable arsenal of voice talent.

The passion and creative brilliance of the shows creators, Jackson Public and Doc Hammer, is demonstrated in all that you see whilst watching Venture Bros.  You see it in the logos, the costumes, the backgrounds, the music, the opening credits, the DVD covers and all the promotional materials associated with the show.  Just look at the artwork above.  I would hang this in my house if I could find a print big enough!  What other show would bother?

These two mad geniuses are also the voices behind the majority of the shows best characters, along with massively talented and funny voice actors Patrick Warburton, James Urbaniak and Dana Snyder.  There are so many funny characters and great voices, but I think James Urbaniak’s Dr. Venture is my favorite.  Anyway, I’ve prattled on enough about the show.  Stop wasting your time here and go rent or buy all three seasons on DVD, or else.

UPDATE 08/19/09 Here’s a little preview of those things to come: