Pop Art

April 25th, 2012 by Ben

A couple drawings I made a while back for my most special lady gf, Allie.  Thought I’d post ’em.  If you look real closely, you might recognize some characters from television shows.  I like television.

Sometimes love should be... terrifying

Bebop Hearts Rocksteady

Does this count slash fic?

You can download all sorts of sizes of Buster and Bebop and Rocksteady on my Flickr.

GENERICON!!!

February 8th, 2011 by Ben

The time for Genericon is upon us!

For Tax Reasons Goes To Genericon

If you’re lucky enough to be in Troy, New York come by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for Genericon! Matt Burnett and myself (aka For Tax Reasons) will be hosting two panels:

Friday @ 6:15pm- For Tax Reasons: LIVE AND IN YOUR FACE (DCC 318)

We’ll be screening cartoons, sharing anectodes, answering questions and finally addressing the rumors that Matt and I are, in fact, time traveling robots. Included as a special bonus: a showing of a never before released Ronin Dojo cartoon!

Saturday @ 12pm- It’s Animation, Stupid! (CII 3051)

Matt and I will share our thoughts on independently producing cartoons, navigating the creative process and showcasing work through film festivals and the web. Bring your animation queries! We shall provide the answers. . . or trail off incoherently before changing the subject to early 90s cartoon shows we enjoyed. Exo-Squad!

Here’s the schedule for more info

We’ll also have a table somewhere. We’ll be selling some tee’s and goofing around. So stop on by.

Ten Years of TMLE

January 13th, 2011 by Ben

This past weekend I hauled my butt back to DC for the Max Levine Ensemble’s 10 Year Anniversary Show.  It was, without a doubt, one of the best shows I’ve been too.

I started playing in a band right around the time TMLE started up; the Konami Code for anyone interested (we were once mentioned in Game Pro at the height of our “success”).  We dabbled in the same DC/MD/VA punk-ska-anything scene, and knew each other from hanging out at the Corner Kick- this indoor soccer place where our friends from DC Ska / Rude In DC would put on these awesome shows with local bands.  At any rate, fairly early on my journeys as a teenage songwriter it became evident that TMLE were operating on a much different level than I was.  Their first songs right off the bat were so insightful and nuanced, yet still fun and catchy at the same time.   Whenever I heard a new song from them, I would say something like “Oh yeah, I’ve thought about that too” or “So you don’t have to slam a slogan over someone’s head to make a statement”.  Plus, on top of all the punk rock, they had a sense of humor.  So seeing them live was always a rad time.

I’m rambling.  Point being, I was impressed with them when they started and I’m still impressed with them today, and super glad they’ve been going 10 years strong.  It was so fun to see everyone come together for the show, see all the old faces and friends, and feel all the super posi vibes.  And of course, it was great to hear them play Pizza Guy again.