I saw this just the other day and I had to share it with you all.  Just when you think youknow all there is about Vampires, you discover the extreme differences in their portrayal in today's world! Enjoy!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor. 

 Long time friend of Mr. Rockets, Jay Fantastico of Louder Than Bombs (NSFW) recently finished writing this excellent short story, and has allowed us to share it with all of you.  I  hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

It started as any other day would.  He laid in bed awake staring at the alarm clock on his bedside cabinet.  He saw the red numbers hit the magic combination of 7:13am.  The alarm started to blare the familiar tone.  He tapped the snooze button gently and proceeded to get out of bed and greet the day with a sigh and a shake of his head.  The man started his daily routine.  Cooked the same mediocre breakfast.  Brushed his teeth the same amount of times on each side as he did on the previous day and the day before that.  He drank his coffee that he always makes purposely weaker, that way he doesn’t feel the crash in his mid-day grind.  Everything he did in the morning reeked of routine and that is where he found himself comfortable.  Never knowing what is outside of the rut he has found himself in.  He let out a deep sigh as he looked at the clock at the same time he always does and realizes that it’s that time again.  The time for him to leave his cozy house and exchange his (ever precious) time to a higher power.

He left the house and looked upwards towards the sky and saw the gray clouds above him.  Setting up the scene for the rest of his day.  Walking down past the things of familiarity, the people in their routines.  Living their lives.  Everyday he gets the same thoughts and pushes them out dismissing himself as a “free-thinker”.  The man knows he’s a drone and hates it.

He waits at the bus stop for his chariot to arrive.  He looks at the sign for his bus then looks at his watch.  He hears the bus coming exactly on schedule.  It stops and he gets on.  He flashes his bus pass to the obviously disgruntled transit worker who clearly couldn’t care less if he tried.  The man sits down in his regular spot and stares at the spot on the floor as he always does.  A meek sigh squeaked past his lips as he raised his head to see an unfamiliar face.  The face of a woman who seemed so sublime and content.  She was actually smiling.  This seemed so foreign to him.  A beam of light in his world of gray.  He couldn’t understand it.

This woman had a long black jacket on that was unbuttoned.  Atop the jacket collar was a red scarf with a single loose thread protruding from it.  He thought about reaching for it and taking it but he thought it’d be rude.  Beneath the jacket was a plain shirt that had the text “Rise and Fall” silk-screened on.  This made the man even more curious about this mystery woman.  The rise and fall of what?  His mind raced with ideas of what it could have been.  He ended up thinking about this woman for the entire bus trip.  So much that he ended up missing his stop by two.  The man pulled the cord and stood up embarrassed.  Shaking his head at how foolish he was.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw the woman look at him and her permanent smile grew just a little.  Enough to be noticed.  He arrived at the building and was out of breath.  He stopped to wonder if it was from her or the run from missing his stop.  Shrugging it off as a lapse in judgment, he headed into the most dreaded part of his routine.

He spent the next eight hours enamored by the idea of this woman in the read scarf.  It was only just the idea of her too.  He didn’t know her name.  What she does.  Her favorite colour.  He assumed it was red because of the scarf but he couldn’t be for sure and that is what he loved.  Not knowing what was next.  He almost forgot the feeling of not knowing.  He caught himself sketching a picture of her on a spare pad of Post-It notes.  He quickly crumpled up the paper and tried to get his mind on work but couldn’t.  Everywhere he went he saw this woman in the red scarf.

The workday ended and the man went home.  That night he dreamed of her.  He dreamed that the woman was walking away and he couldn’t catch up no matter how hard he ran.  He saw the thread coming out of the scarf.  He went to grab it and he felt it in his hand but then he started falling and falling with no end in sight just this long red string.  He woke up with his hand clenched.  He opened it up to see nothing.  He felt like today was going to be like every other day at that point.

We walked out to greet the day with a grunt and a shrug.  He dragged his feet step by step down the pavement and was dreading another day at the grind.  While clunking down the street like an automaton with a directive, he looked up to see the woman from the bus coming towards him.  He wanted to stop and talk to her.  Ask her name.  Ask her to coffee.  Ask her for the secrets of the universe.  But the man couldn’t stop.  He kept walking in fear of what would happen if he broke his routine.  She passed by him.  Their gaze met but broke due to the two travelers keeping in their stead.  The man kept walking in disbelief at his actions.  He kept going through the crowd of people, passing by street lamps and garbage cans unable to look back.  The man forced himself to stop and turn around.  It took all of his strength.  He looked for her but she was gone.  Lost in the cacophony of people.  The sea of the faceless.  He let out a sigh and looked down at the sidewalk to lament his mistake.

Suddenly, the man felt weightless and was being lifted into the air.  Uncontrollably he was levitating upwards.  The man panicked and tried to grasp at anything to keep him on the ground.  No such luck.  He started going higher and higher and panicking even more.  He reached a certain altitude and stopped climbing.  He thought this crazy ride was over and he would be returned to the ground where he felt safe.  Not a chance.  He started flying head first into the wild blue yonder and screaming at the top of his lungs thinking that these will be the last minutes of his life.  But that was not the case.  He kept going and going.  He was traveling all around the world seeing sights and hearing the sounds of the world underneath him.  It was like he had a sensory overload.  Never knowing the kinds of things that were happening just around him.  He smiled for the first time in a long time and started actually having fun.  He was having fun!  For once, his day wasn’t a melancholy display of disgust and apathy.  He looked into the distance and saw something coming towards him.  At first, he thought it was a bird but it was too big to be a bird.  Then he saw the red scarf.  It was her!  She was flying towards him at such an alarming rate that he started to get worried and think a crash was imminent.  He braced himself but as they were about to collide, their paths converged and they were heading in the same direction.  Together.

“Hello?” the man said sheepishly.

“Hi.  Nice day to blow away, huh?” She said while having a great big smile on her face.

“I’m not sure what’s going on…”  Looking around confused.

“Just let go and blow away.  That’s the only advice I can really give.”  In a quiet delicate tone

“This is normal for you?”  He gulped down the lump in his throat.

“It’s not for you?  Giving up all control?”  She asked and smiled.  The man looked confused.  But in his own way, he understood.

“Can I join you?”  He said as if he had some clarity for the first time in his life.  She looked him in the eye and saw a new person.  She nodded and grabbed his hand.  They flew away together.  Long into the night, they were still together.

“This is where we must part ways, I’m afraid.” She spoke quietly.  The man wasn’t ready to let go.

“No.  This can’t be it.” He looked her in the eye and a look of despair set in.  She shook her head and then the two were pulled away as if they were similar magnetic poles.  Pulling away gently, their fingers caressed each other for the last time but he was not ready to give up.  He grabbed for her red scarf to only grab the loose thread.  With that last effort, they were gone.  Strangers in the night.

He clasped that thread so tight and it seemed to go on forever.  He grew tired and had to fall asleep but still he clutched that thread as he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, he awoke in his bed thinking it was all a dream.  A dream that he never wanted to wake up from.  There was something in his hand.  A portion of a red thread.  He pondered if it was real.  He shook it off as a vivid dream and nothing more.  He continued the daily grind.  Walking down the street he spotted her.  The woman from his dream.  They passed by each other on the empty street but this time he turned around to see he when she was not even 2 steps behind him.  He sees nothing but a red scarf on the ground and a red thread connecting it to the thread in his pocket.  He let out a little laugh and looked to the sky.  With that, he was gone.  Blown away in the wind.  Like her.

So I was surfing around Amazon just the other day and stumbled upon something I found particularly intriguing.  As I gazed upon the front cover of the book, it struck me (in a very profound way) that this is a book I should like to read sometime in my life.  Maybe it was the top hat.  I am pretty fond of top hats, though any true gentleman wears a bowler!  I mean, really!  This book includes everything from  handshakes and buying flowers to treating snake-bites and straight-razor shaving!    Who doesn't want to shave like their great grandfather?!  This is a guide that should be required reading for any man living in this 21st Century!

As I continued to think about it, I made the connection between this book and our founder Mr. Rockets.  Everything I hear about this book - every sentence of every paragraph of every chapter - leads me to believe that Mr. Rockets is a man who lives the life suggested by this book.  Or rather, Mr. Rockets must have inspired this book because he IS this book!  If you are a man who seeks to follow in his footsteps (or perhaps a woman who just wants to learn what makes a gentleman), then I highly suggest you read this one.

It reminds me so much of those commercials going around of some sort of alcohol (I'm not going to bother researching into which brand, it's not the point) where men either fail or prove themselves worthy of the League of Uncompromising Gentlemen.

Speaking of the good Mr. Rockets, I've been wondering where he is right now.  Probably off defending the labour rights of coffee makers in galactic court - or something equally imperative to humanity's survival.  I'm sure he'll stop by one of these days and make a quick appearance. 

Read 'Em and Weap,

-Dan

Some of you may have noticed the recent and sudden flux in the creation and overall presence of paper, build-it-yourself toys in popular culture.  I know I have.  Not oragami per se.  The kinds I'm talking about are intelligently designed templates put on paper, where the user's only concern is to cut along the outer lines, bend along the instructed creases, fold along the dotted lines and glue when necessary.  Finally, after a relatively short amount of time and (sometimes) a frustrating amount of trial and error, you now have a fun, designer toy sitting on your desk.  Awesome.

I think Paper Toys have gained so much popularity for one simple, simple reason: they are cheap (if not free), they are excellently designed (for the most part) and, above all else, they make "do-it-yourself" entirely fun and ultimately rewarding.  And that's not all the good points, either.  When you've grown tired of your paper friend/object simply throw it away.  No guilt, no desire to toss it into yet another yard sale junk toy box.  What I personally enjoy about the concept is that they're available to everybody.  By downloading a Paper Toy design sheet, you can have a cool, designer toy without having to worry about being online at just the right time with enough money to purchase those limited run vinyls!  (I mean, let's be serious, those are really cool too and totally worth it, but this is an acceptable option in these trying economic times!)

Think about any cartoon character or video game character you've ever known and Google (Bing, Wiki, whatever) search it with "Paper Toy" tacked on.  There's a fairly good chance that somebody has designed a paper toy for it.  My personal favorites are characters designed fresh and not, in fact, based on previous creations.  But if that's not for you, there's a multitude - a veritable cornicopia - of options out there waiting for you to discover, download, cut and glue together!  From Ninja Turtles to Mario to President Obama riding the White House Robot, trust me: there's something for everyone.

A little while ago I built my robot buddy, "Rommy".  It was as I carefully cut and bent the pieces that I came to really appreciate the thought and serious calculation that must have been gathered to make even this palm-sized toy a reality.  I mean sure, some artist lent their talents to make it look cool, but to actually make it work?!  The perfect measurements, fitting just perfectly together to create a seemless paper construction that anybody can put together.  That's art.

So, naturally, in the name of our benifactor Mr. Rockets and for the good of the business and for all we stand for here at the Mr. Rockets Headquarters, I have begun work on... <drum roll><Booming Ultra-Masculine Voice><Fireworks>OPERATION INSPECTOR</drum roll></Booming Ultra-Masculine Voice></Fireworks>

My god is it hard.

You get some paper toys that fit easily on one page, they take all of four cuts and essentially turn out to be a cool looking cube.  Boys and girls... that is pre-school level design work (or quite possibly genius level).  Let me tell you, complexity ecan escalate to nearly college level proportions when it comes to designing a paper toy!  I mean, who knew that adding a removable flowing trenchcoat could cause so much grief?!  I mean, sure I could make it easier by losing the coat and ditching the idea of having the figure suspended above a paper platform, with the illusion that he is running at full tilt... but where, I ask you, is the fun - no, the adventure - in that?

By the way, though you may not have been formally introduced to him yet, my toy will be based around a character you've already been exposed to in one of our previous blog posts (see "Mr. Rockets Presents")  Let me assure you, this particular chimp is going to be something special!

I stand by a simple belief that a job should be done to the best of one's abilities.  With this as my credo I return to my desk with ruler, protractor, calculator and graph paper at the ready.  I will not rest until this paper primate - this constructed character built by my own paper-cut fingers - rises suspended in his glory above his paper base in eternal stride.  But that's really what we're all about some days...

Mr. Rockets: Building EPIC Toys, One Paper Cut at a Time!

Stay Tuned

-Dan

The process an artist takes to develop an idea into reality can take many forms. When working on apparel design, even more care must be taken as there are many considerations that must be made. While we intend to go into more detail on the screen printing and manufacturing process at a later time, we recently spent some time speaking with one of the Mr. Rockets premier artists Chris Soprano on the design 'Undestructable.'

Creating our hero's first adventure was like reliving my childhood. I got a chance to reminisce about when my imagination made anything possible. A bucket and a towel became impenetrable armor enabling me to defeat the most insurmountable odds. Such is the situation we find our hero in. This glimpse into a new and fantastical world is limited only by how soon Mom will need the bucket back to mop the kitchen.

When we first approached Chris with the idea for 'Undestructable,' it came in the form of abstract images, feelings, and concepts that we wanted to portray on a t-shirt. At the time, Mr. Rockets was nothing more than a big idea. Our discussions with Chris laid the groundwork which we then built off of to springboard the whole Mr. Rockets concept into fruition. After some back and forth, we settled on the overall direction of the design and Chris got to work.

The expression on his face went through many variations. He's impressed with what he's done, but not surprised. Early hijinks also involved failed bike stunts. This humble beginning lead to the great battle you see before you.

We spent an incredible amount of time working on the boy's face! It was crucial for us to achieve the exact look that we wanted. A slight variation on an eyebrow, pupil, or crease in the mouth could portray a whole different set of emotions.

Being the first design for the new company, a lot of work went into getting everything just right. While the first iteration of the design involved a boy and his bike, we ended up going for something a little more fantastical. We worked through a few different concepts for the background and eventually agreed on the Cycletrons - Steampunk dandy robots with a bad attitude. That being said, many of the concepts were so strong, don't be surprised if you see them popping up in future designs!

There are over fifty robots which appear in the final image. Keeping track of to whom an arm or a leg belonged to proved to be quite a challenge. In order to keep from going cross-eyed I decided to color code the characters. This allowed me to match the style of each individual robot's parts to the rest of their body as they wove in and out of the pile. For additional consistency the wheels of the bicycles were drawn in a vector format. This kept the spokes of the rims aligned properly while twisting them to depict the damage inflicted.

Chris' methods allowed for an incredible amount of flexibility in design. While he developed most of the image using traditional mediums, he merged the individual pieces on a digital canvas and took care to keep everything organized and separated. This became particularly handy when we needed to change the dimensions of the image. Within a day, Chris was able to get back to us with the taller, thinner image completed and ready to print!

I had as much fun creating this scene as our hero did wrecking it. Designing the Cycletrons was an exercise in the unlikely. I am a big fan of the Steam-Punk aesthetic and wanted to cross that methodology over to a more pop culture sensibility. It became an unlikely symbiosis which reveals my quirky sense of humor. Tommy and Dan were kind enough to oblige my eccentricities and our epic's first act comes to a dramatic conclusion; be it determination or pre-adolescent naiveté, Mr. Rockets is "Undestructable".

You'll be able to purchase 'Undestructable' along with some of Chris Soprano's other designs for Mr. Rockets at our online store in just a few months. Keep watching to get more details as they come!