Remember when I made the animation, The DogSh!t Boys, for SirJeffofShort/NorEastaProductions? He was a great guy to work with, and now he's working on a cool new game called Radventure:

In fact, you can play the demo right now on Steam. I personally played it on my Steam Deck, and it ran beautifully on that handheld device.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3318680/Radventure_Demo/

If you like the demo, consider spreading the word about it and keeping an eye out for its crowdfunding campaign in the future, so we can hopefully turn it into a full game. Yes, I just said "we," if enough people show interest and support the development of the full game in the future, SirJeffofShort could hire me and others again to contribute unique art assets for the game! Jeff (SirJeffofShort, not me or the "Ugh" Jeff--kinda a common name, Jeff is...) is perhaps the nicest producer I've worked with yet, and he makes sure to pay me on time and accordingly to my efforts, so even though I'm not directly involved with this project (yet), I would fully appreciate you all giving the Radventure demo a try and support it any way you can if you enjoy the demo!

I really hate being a downer here, even when my anxiety is fully justified, and luckily I just remembered I have a fun, experimental low-poly cartoon that I scheduled to release this weekend on the Movie Portal! I'm quite proud of the unusual look I was able to achieve, even with baked-in lighting (as opposed to the full dynamic lighting we've become accustomed to), not only reducing the carbon footprint of this particular animation and allowing me to chip away at the project even when my laptop was not plugged in at full power, but encouraging me to do a bit more with the cartoon-y character movements, since I couldn't rely on motion blur or other expensive effects in order to hide my weaknesses in 3D animation! See you Saturday for:

I was SERIOUSLY hoping to type a blog saying that my cautious optimism was proven correct, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz would win just for being so darn likeable, and I would never infect my blog posts here with my political anxieties again and just keep it fun and light from now on!

...Well, it pains me to say this (especially to those of you from less-fortunate countries or East European countries who will undoubtedly be most affected by our foreign policy and climate change-related decisions), but the absolute worst-case scenario is almost certainly going to happen at this point: Donald Trump will be gifted a second Presidency (and through the popular vote this time, too, can't blame the Electoral College this time, and my sympathy for the less-fortunate in my country was sorely misplaced if they rejected my apparent "white guilt" in favor of voting for Donald Trump). His fellow Republicans will likely also sweep the House and Senate, so it's not even like he will have to moderate his positions in any way just to get laws passed, and the most immediate and likely way he'll affect my life personally is adding punishing foreign tariffs that will drastically raise the price of electronics like my next 3D rendering laptop or game consoles--if you think the PS5 Pro is over-priced NOW...

I am not like the crazed people that attacked the Capitol on January 6th--I will accept that an overwhelming majority of Americans simply are less afraid of Donald Trump than me and work to deal with the cards I've been dealt. Kamala Harris ran the absolute most perfect campaign I've ever seen, possibly even better than Barack Obama's back in 2008, and is objectively doing better than Joe Biden ever would have done if he had decided to stay in the race, but it seems like even women and Latinos and other so-called minorities actually wanted Donald Trump and the more 1950's-esque way of life he represents, who am I to judge? While Donald Trump will almost certainly make these problems worse, in retrospect we liberals have been underestimating how disappointed the vast majority of the country felt about our still-high gas and grocery prices; the undeniably preachy, patronizing and, dare I say, "woke" writing that has pervaded Hollywood movies, shows, and triple-A video games due to our entertainment industry being located almost solely in Southern California; and how frustrated young men in particular felt about a social culture that seemed to make it harder than ever to even date, let alone get married and start a family like our parents. Again, especially after literally going through a Donald Trump Presidency the first time (and that was when he at least had advisors moderating his worst impulses), I have zero faith he will even keep our economy on the mend, let alone avoid bringing back inflation and the truly high-prices of 2022, but no use crying over spilled milk, I have to deal with it.

As unfair as it sounds, besides essentially having to limit myself to cheap older games like @miamidesantos has long had to deal with in Brazil, and possibly deal with censorship I've never had to put up with before as someone who will continue to disagree with my government as long as I can, my life PROBABLY won't change that much--it's my sister I have to worry about for a while, and who is already trying to get us to leave this country the same way our grandparents on our Mom's side left Cuba when Fidel Castro took over, since Project 2025 clearly has it out against unmarried young women in particular. I will also continue my original plan of cooling it with the political talk that no one on Newgrounds wants to hear after this (although I'm probably no longer joining BlueSky or other social media sites where I'll likely have to hear about Trump's shenanigans for another 4+ years, just to make my art reach a more "mainstream" audience I'm frankly disappointed with). At least the election is basically over, and I learned from this to just tune out the news and polls that clearly doesn't know what it's talking about for the sake of my sanity, even on future election years (if we still have elections).

I'm extremely sorry things had to turn out this way, and I am especially sorry in advance that the US, a country that has the second-highest carbon emissions behind China (and the highest emissions per capita) has chosen once again to actively get in the way of the world's attempts at saving the planet yet again, possibly for good this time, and our actions from here on out will certainly affect your country, too, to some capacity. I don't know what else to say...

Gave my main portfolio website a much-needed upgrade. I narrowed the focus of the site (now it's specialized in 3D modeling specifically), used Wix's portfolio-making tools, updated to my most recent Animation-industry-specific resume, and overall simplified navigation, since at the end of the day, it's just an image gallery and nothing more.

Take a visit for yourself and give me some feedback on both the PC and mobile user experience of my new-and-improved site:

https://jeffreythrash.wixsite.com/jeffrey-thrash-anim

I've noticed a ton of announcements on my NG feed where people I follow or befriend here are announcing they're moving over to BlueSky. Now I'm well aware of Elon Musk's latest effort to scare away every last sane(-ish) user of the bloated corpse of Twitter, but personally I left Twitter long before Musk considered buying it (2021), and BlueSky often seems to be described as that version of Twitter, so admittedly I'm going to need some extra convincing to ever try a Twitter-like again.

Does it support video uploads up to two minutes long, like Twitter did? I want to do more animation and short cartoons after practicing making so many still images the past couple of years. How is the phone app? Admittedly, since I do a lot of 3D art on my phone during my breaks at work nowadays (technology can be amazing, sometimes!), it would be nice to have a more mobile-friendly website to post WIPs and quick projects to than Newgrounds.

Are the blocking features really that good? Maybe I was a bit lazy to fully explore Twitter's now-defunct blocking features, or too open-minded to the opinions of strangers/bots back then, but the main reason I left Twitter (and Facebook around the same time) was because checking such websites even on occasion and especially their oftentimes-political "Trending" tabs became too much for me. Seeing the excellent art from people that insisted on exclusively posting in a walled garden like Twitter was not worth being constantly reminded of EVERY stupid Internet "culture war" happening all around the world at any given moment. Either way, I think I should hold off on signing up for any social media website until the conclusion of the most recent US Election--the last day for in-person voting is November 5th, but in the supposedly-likely situation this election proves close, I might have to wait until mid-November until the dust settles, we know the final results, and the campaigning season is FINALLY over). The last thing my nervous wreck brain needs right now is MORE opinions thrown at my face.

Perhaps most importantly, is BlueSky REALLY filling a need I can't already get from posting on Newgrounds (my main hub), YouTube, (a more "mainstream" place to repost my Movie Portal submissions) and BlenderArtists (a forum that gets me more Blender 3D-specific help)?

"It was BIG...SCARY...AND PINK!!"

"So is Patrick's bellybutton, but I ain't scared of that neither!"

Working on an SDF model of Robbie the Rabbit from Silent Hill 3 right now. I make so many unsettling cartoon rabbits, whether it's Imabunny or Big Bunz, that it was only natural at some point I take a stab at Robbie--figuratively-speaking.

I made this little cartoon in back in 2020, back when I HOPED that year would be the most anxious I would feel about an upcoming US Election. I mean, that year had COVID lockdowns, police brutality followed by Black Lives Matter protests, the rise of extremist groups like QAnon and Proud Boys, killer hornets or whatever, Final Fantasy VII Remake NOT being a faithful remake of the original...it couldn't possibly get worse than that, right...? Heh-heh...WRONG!!

I also improved at Blender 3D animation rather drastically since this video, but that goes without saying.

But yeah, if you live in the US, are over the age of 18, and have already registered to vote, remember that early voting is going on right now and to make your voice heard sooner rather than later (the last day for in-person voting is November 5th). Doubly-so if you live in a so-called "Swing State" like Mr. Fulp--stupid Electoral College, making the fate of the nation and the entire world (regarding climate change) depend on the opinions of only 5 or 6 of the 50 states.

Also, PLEASE try your best to avoid political discussion, most if not all Americans have made up their minds on how to vote in this Election since, I dunno, January of this year, and as the video above demonstrates, I get IMMENSELY stressed out by US politics as a whole, especially what it has turned into ever since, where being an absolute dickbag to more than half of the US population turned out to be a successful, winning strategy (again, stupid Electoral College overriding the Popular Vote). All I ask is that I can finally go back to the days where I can more easily ignore the pointless "culture wars"--they won't go away entirely, of course, but there's a huge difference between a "nobody" sad sack on YouTube complaining they made Angela less attractive in the Silent Hill 2 remake (that remake actually turned out pretty good, btw) and the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES causing mass shootings over his opinions on the latest overly-sanitized Hollywood and/or Disney Remake. I have already sent in my ballot, and so has the rest of my family, so it's a waste of energy to somehow change my mind after the fact, anyway.

On the lighter side, I drew a pup in my sketchbook today. Unlike the rest of the nation, my sketchbook understands me and calms me down...

I think I got carried away in the process...

It started out as a simple practice drawing of Donald Duck's head. Then I was like "What if Donald Duck was a snake? What if he was a snake coming out of a wicker pot? What if he was summoned by a snake charmer? What if I was the snake charmer? Now I want to draw 'The One Piece is Real' meme yet again. But wait, how much more ridiculous could I make Chopper look if I DIDN'T follow the reference image exactly this time? What if Luffy misinterpreted 'is real' as a clue that the One Piece is actually in Israel? What if I drew the rest of the OG Straw Hat crew without reference as well, how stupid would they all look? Now I want to draw Nami as ugly as possible, further adding to the conspiracy theory that American artists always draw attractive female characters in Japanese anime to be uglier and fatter. I still have this big, gaping plot of blank space between snake-Donald and the One Piece bastardization comic, might as well fill it with a fat man wearing an (extremely) little coat like I usually do in such situations. Finally, he has 7 legs supporting his girth just because I feel like it, do I need a justification for EVERY character design decision I make??"

As you can see, my "stream of conciousness" drawings are more like a babbling brook of a slow-motion train wreck crashing into a dumpster fire filled with clown cars full of Republicans during the current hurricane season.

3 episodes in, I'm becoming increasingly impressed with how the writers on this show manage tone shifts so well--usually just silly and comedic in the first half of the episode, while pulling off a shift towards a more emotional and grounded when things get darker in the second half of the episode, somewhat reminding me of Pixar's best early movies. Sorry if this isn't the sort of "in-depth" review you were hoping for, but it seems like immediately after turning 30 I've come to realize that life is too short for me to complain about entertainment that I don't like, and especially that I shouldn't nit-pick entertainment i DO like unless I am at least paid for nit-picking something that overall did its job amusing me and the flaws are easy to overlook. I found it good in my opinion, I was entertained, end of story.

I'm kind of glad the series is also available on Netflix now, in addition to YouTube. Perhaps the only real reason I have been putting off watching this latest episode, even trying to convince myself the show is not as good as I thought it was, is because YouTube itself has become an absolute pain to even browse (even with an ad-blocker, I think it's become glaringly obvious Google is going to great lengths to slowly-but-surely make my ad-free experience of the site as much of a living Hell as the ad-riddled version of YouTube) and it is quite clear YouTube's increasingly-unhinged addiction to ad revenue isn't benefitting my favorite creators in any way, despite their best attempts at guilt-tripping me into paying for YouTube Premium in hopes that those insane subscription fees somehow trickle down to my favorite creators. Nothing like watching my favorite animators being forced to tone down their humor because YouTube's algorithm automatically assumes animation (and increasingly literally every other type of content) should be more ad-friendly and made for children--then as a reward their P.C. content is bombarded by mobile game ads where simulating domestic violence "for fun" and 20-minute political smear campaigns deliberately designed to be as triggering as possible (did I mention YouTube is particularly awful on US Election years?)

YouTube becoming as ad-riddled as the average piracy or porn site is even harmful to casual viewers--the FBI actually recommends average Internet users install an ad-blocker and VPN because many of these ads nowadays can install malware on your computer or phone simply by being displayed on the website--you don't even have to actually click on the ad anymore for the trouble to happen! Yet YouTube is literally showing messages saying that using ad-blocker is stealing from them (oh, and your favorite creators, I guess), knowingly defying the recommendations of wealthy democratic institutions across America and Europe (especially more regulation-heavy Europe) and putting their own loyal users' hardware in danger by convincing them that stuff that makes their YouTube experience more pleasurable AND more secure is somehow the worst thing in the world. Sadly, this isn't just a "YouTube" problem specifically, and I am SO happy that Newgrounds is "small" enough to survive solely on a few monthly supporters like myself, eliminating ads entirely outside of the ad for the website itself you get when logged off.

But yeah, I recognize the team behind The Amazing Digital Circus has mentioned on multiple occasions they are a "YouTube-first" production and still see YouTube as the lesser of evils compared to streaming services and cable TV run by greedy, creativity-killing Hollywood studios like Disney and Warner Bros, but it's nice to be able to watch their stuff on alternative services when YouTube itself is starting to drive me insane, just in case. I wish more indie productions would be like Zeurel's Monkey Wrench and at the very least upload on Newgrounds in addition to YouTube, it goes a long way in slowly weakening YouTube's monopoly on Internet video streaming services to at least have other places to watch your stuff besides YouTube.

I am turning 30 today. I would say today is my "Birthday," but unfortunately SOMEONE (Cough hack cough cough @TheMiamiDeSantos hack cough wheeze oh there goes a lung) finds the concept of birthdays somewhat problematic, so I'll just say I'm the special 30th anniversary edition of myself that costs $700 and no longer comes with a disc drive or stand.

I think this classic Simpsons clip explains the situation here perfectly:

Technically, I'm pretty sure Homer's canonical age in The Simpsons is 34, so I'm still a baby! I'm still with it! Gen Z and Gen Alpha totally aren't getting sick of me constantly quoting classic SpongeBob and Simpsons while bragging my generation of TV cartoons was a million times better than what they get today! Heh heh heh...(sobs)