... this was one of the best episodes of The Beanie Boy Show--a beacon of my accomplishment (if I do say so myself).

I really want to tape this video that I wrote earlier today ... but I'm way too congested and I just don't feel like it.

I'm blowing out my nose what is sure to be the equivalent of 87% of my brain matter.

I dunno ... is that gross?

Watch this video:

So it seems like when I end up waiting for a file to encode, I like to write a blog.  I have no reason for telling you that other that for the fact that I'm currently encoding video.  Which I thought was pretty obvious seeing as that I'm blogging.

... I think that makes sense.

At any rate, you might have noticed that I recently posted a slightly different kind of video to youtube:

Okay, so maybe it's less that it's different and more that it's a "logical next step".  In a nutshell, I'd describe it as: a vlog done in the style of Talking Heads, minus all the heads, and relying heavily on a single, special ingredient.  If you hadn't figured it out yet, that special ingredient is insanity.

That's right.  When I first started thinking about doing this video, I wanted to tap into, and recreate a little bit of the insanity that is hidden not so deep in my brain.  Which is why I've titled this infant series "krumbinesBRAIN" (title music forthcoming).

The video that I'm encoding now is raw footage for the next episode.  This will also be a video response, as will the third episode, but I won't be limiting myself to keeping this series within the boundaries of video responses.  The fact simply is that by turning to other videos, I find inspiration for my own stupid scripts.

Another contributing factor has been Middlebrook.  He intentionally/unintentionally (I dunno, dude--fill me in!) restarted "The Jordan Show", and, well, the fucker can edit his vlogs like it's nobody's business.  Seriously--he's fucking good.  Check out the series if you're completely oblivious to what I'm talking about.  So, Middlebrook restarted his personal show and I thought it might be fun to get back into the personal challenge/rivalry we've always had.  The gauntlet, therefore, shall be thrown down in my upcoming third episode of krumbinesBRAIN ... stay tuned, bitches!

A lot of people (okay, ONE person) has been asking for more Zaphod Zombie.  I produced two episodes--ass-kicking episodes at that (as well as SUPER well-received)--and then a whole lot of nothing.

And now I'm getting questions about when there will be more.

... I am so flattered that someone actually cares that much.  It's fucking awesome, I tell ya.

Okay, so here's the story, cut and dry: putting on the Zaphod makeup is a lot of work for a single episode.  And I lack the tools to do the makeup properly to allow costume changes so that I might be able to shoot more than one episode at a time--but even if I did, usually, I can only do one episode before my voice is completely shot.

Does that mean there's not going to be any more of Zaphod Zombie?  Certainly not ... it only means that you need to be patient.

That, and buy a Zaphod Zombie T-Shirt to encourage me to keep producing episodes ;)

Why is it that right when I wind down and try and start distancing myself from producing videos for YT, I then come up with potentially one of the best show ideas I've ever had?

Talk about frustrating.

Okay, so the plan was simply: stop.  Really, is that so hard?  I've been busting my ass trying to expand my viewing audience on YT and all it's gotten me is further along in mediocrity.

It's depressing, is what it is.

This is not to say I don't value the subscribers I currently have--never, in all the criticism and complaining that I do, do I ever intend to belittle those who actually watch my stuff.  They do so with such a great enthusiasm that it even inspires me.

But the fact is this: without overwhelming numbers of subscribers, Horbawrong Studios will never become everything I want it to be.  Maybe my expectations are set far too high, but that's what I struggle with.  Motivation to keep going.

But let's put aside my own gripes with life, the universe, and everything and look, instead, at some of those viewers that I mentioned previously--the viewers who exhibit an awesome amount of enthusiasm for the shows and my work.

I recently held a small contest called "Pimp My Videos".  The winner was to receive a Talking Heads (or Zaphod Zombie) T-Shirt.  There were a total of four (or so) entries, and I loved them all so much that I actually awarded a first and second place.

First place went to samkendrey:

Second place went to camo1000:

The other entry was from my co-conspirator solidgold451 (he's since made a second pimpage video) and the other unofficial entry (which was the one that inspired the whole contest) came from decadent7 ...

Not to be outdone, these following two videos were never actually submitted to the contest, but they exhibit exactly the kind of enthusiasm that I was talking about and certainly made my day when I saw them.  These are courtesy of DeathPigTV:

So, the long and short of it is that even though I burn out (more often than not, it seems) seeing the enthusiasm and videos that my work inspires helps me through the low points of this otherwise thankless endeavor.

Thank you to everyone who has ever contributed to the shows and to the support and promotion of the shows!

Not too impressive, huh?

I've recently undergone a rather uneventful mental meltdown--in addition to suffering an inordinate amount of "extenuating circumstances"--but I think I'm just about at a good enough place to move forward.

I take a look around at this unsettling pathetic attempt at a website and I get sad.  I don't know why these things always are such an unsatisfying "work in progress", but that's the god's honest truth.  You should see what the website looks like behind the scenes--now THAT'S depressing.

At any rate, I've cleaned house a bit.  Streamlined and cut out some of the fat.  I also provided some linkage to the youtube profile as that was desprately missing previously.  Also, while we're on the subject of additions, be sure to check out the link to the flickr page on the sidebar.

Prior to the aforementioned mental meltdown, I had lined up a formidable amount of work for my proverbial creative molars to chew on.  In the coming days and weeks, hopefully, you'll be able to see some of this material.  There will be a much belated followup to the "Pimp My Video" contest; the much maligned story of my meltdown; and perhaps, for shits and giggles, the story of Blunty3000.  Mostly, however, there will be continued discussion on creativity, art, and inspiration.

I look forward to your comments and exchange of ideas ...