At 8/24/06 06:54 AM, Glaiel_Gamer wrote: It sickens me how the walrus gets so famous

Yeah, it sickens me too. I'm suck a no talent hack.

Hey guys. 5am here, and I can't sleep, so here goes my normal bloated and long winded response to the controversy.

Wade, thanks for the kind words...

First off, I want to point out the obvious: Freedom of Speech. Now, Newgrounds is a privately owned company, so it's not like they have to adhere to any "freedoms" what so ever, although I applaud them for posting my flash.

I myself, own a private company, and one of my websites is ZipperFish.com. I have YAAFM 12 up there, and it's getting a fair amount of views, dare I say more, since it seems YAAFM 12 has now fallen off the radar here on NewGrounds. (More on that in a bit.)

But lets get to the root of it. Is YAAFM 12 racist? I personally don't think so. I made it a point... a well thought out point... to include many other religions in the piece. When Reginald tells the Muslims to "suck his cock", he includes Allah, Moses, Buddha, and King Tut, then makes a disparaging remark about Jesus. What... is no one upset about that? Nope. Nobody. Not a frick'n word. Which is exactly my point.

Sometimes humor can include satire and exaggeration. If you would be, say, telling a joke about a fat person... would it be funnier to tell the joke with a 500 lb man, or a man of 275 lbs? Do I believe ALL Muslims are morons? Hardly. However, sometimes a humorist uses exaggeration to make his or her point.

Someone here, in a previous post, mentioned the African-Americans that decided to stay in New orleans to "ride out" Katrina. It certainly crossed my mind to do a YAAFM on them, make no mistake about that. However, I decided against it. Why? Because strong and prominent African Americans stood up to condemn the violence that was raging in that city after the hurricane. They called for peace.. I waited... I really did... to make this YAAFM. I waited for the Muslim world to stand up and condemn the actions of other Muslims. It didn't happen.

Still... I wondered if I should make this flash. Well, I went ahead and started doing the research. I could not believe what I found. The US State department, and the New York Times... not only NOT condemning the actions of Muslims, but all but SUPPORTING IT!

This isn't about racism... this is about people being MORONS. Was I racist against black people in YAAFM: 50 Cent? Was I racist against republicans in YAAFM: President Bush? Was I racist against America with YAAFM: Michael Moore? If not, what is the difference? One set of people believe in Allah... others believe in a rapper... others believe in the leader of the free world.

If a group of people RIOT, BURN, SHOOT GUNS AND KILL over a cartoon, they are morons. If the one common denominator is their religion... well, I'm gonna use that. I also think many people are missing the IRONY. You see, the Muslims are rioting over a cartoon... then, I make a CARTOON admonishing their behavior. See the funny? No? Oh well.

Back to NewGrounds...

Although I believe the ratings system is flawed, I still believe in the power of the people. If, as Wade mentioned, we all RESPECTED one another, then perhaps my scores wouldn't have 75% above the score of 7, and 25% scores of zero. I mean, come on... who are we fooling here? Some people (we all know who they are), don't vote on merit, but on personal reasons or some imaginary vendetta.

It reminds me of the Olympics... which are on right now. Imagine if judges gave skaters a score of zero... just because they didn't like them. They do their jumps and spins... but still gets zeros. I mean... wouldn't you think just getting on the ice would deserve at least a 3. If you agree with me, you can imagine how upset I used to get when I received zeros. Now I just laugh. Some people will never grow up, and never change. That's just the way NewGrounds is. We all must just deal with it. As I said, it's a flawed system, but it's the best we've got.

YAAFM 12 has different characters, different voices... it's 5 minutes long. It has no commercials or an over abundance of ads. (One link at the end to get the animation on an iPod... no hocking shirts, magazines or dating sites.) I thought it was one of my bests. Yet YAAFM 12 will be nothing but a memory to NewGrounds users in less than a week, it's a memory to most now. Because of it controversial nature, it will never get in the top 50, and it has not made the front page. It's not highlighted anywhere, it received no awards, and it will fade into obscurity. Because almost, if not all, of the other YAAFM's got the front page, and some sort of award, one might even be so bold as to say YAAFM 12 got snubbed.

Ask yourself... does that sound like "preferential treatment" to you?

I'm not sure how you guys perceive me, but I can tell you how I view myself... just like you. As far as NewGrounds goes, I consider myself just another flash artist.

James Farr blows me away, and so does more than half of the top fifty entries. I'm glad people get a chuckle out of my animations, but I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I'm not much of an animator. However, I do believe that some stories, opinions, and editorials can be done, and done well, without a ton of animation. I think there's a place for me here, and I hope one day I can earn enough respect to not get a zero, just for being me.

I don't care about the score on this one. I thought it might make people chuckle, that's all I submitted it for. You guys really need to chill out. Cut down on the ritalin.

And, I know this was posted, but I knew this was coming. That's why i ASKED first.

http://www.newground../topic.php?id=391923

Okay... guess I'll submit it. I hope I don't regret it. lol.

I have no idea who made it.

So I totally stole this whole idea. Someone (probably a radio station) made an MP3 of a fake commercial for BlondStar (a parody of OnStar), and I took the MP3 and made it into a flash commercial. There is little to no animation to it, since I made it look like the actual OnStar commercials.

Thing is, I don't want to get flamed for it, and I don't know if it's against the rules, since I stole the MP3.

Comments? Suggestions?

You can view the animation on my website here.

At 11/7/05 08:07 PM, Glaiel_Gamer wrote: Can you answer me a short question? Do you personally think your submission was deserving? Just wondering.

I'd be happy to answer that question. Do I think I DESERVE to win? The short answer is no. Tom & Wade and NewGrounds are being INCREDIBLEY generous, and I can only hope and work hard to achieve what they have accomplished. If I do succeed, I would hope to follow in their lead in generousity.

(Although my prizes are not worth nearly as much, I do give them out on ZipperFish during the weekly Internet Radio Show on Fridays.)

HOWEVER... Boobs, Butt or Shoulder is a fun game that has it's moments. I think it is an enjoyable time waster in the "You Don't Know Jack" tradition. Not all games need to have animation in order for it to be interactive and fun. When it came to voting, I think the voters thought "Oh yeah... that game was fun" and boom, I got a vote. Simple as that.

Of course there IS the argument that BBS 2 is a SEQUEL, and therefore not innovative. This is true. However, I did not win anything for the first game, so if it pleases you, think of this current award as a win for both games combined.

And for the record... ZipperFish IS NOT a corporation, it's just lil old me. (Shhh... don't tell anyone!)

Thanks again to NewGrounds and the voters.

Thanks to NewGrounds and the voters for the award. It was unexpected.

And thanks to everyone that bitched about it! I just wouldn't feel right without people hating on me! LOL!

If you liked BBS 2, you're gonna LOVE my new game... DUDEOLOGY! Coming very soon!

At 8/5/05 02:28 AM, frostedmuffins wrote: There are tons of 14 year olds (and around that age) making some of the best games here on NG. Inglor already said, RaidenX was made by a 14 year old, Glaiel Gamer has come out with tons of great games, including Magnetism, and he's 15, I don't consider myself that good, but I've had a few games on here and I'm 14. There is always one group that someone has to blame all their problems on, in this case, it was us younger kids.

____________

To clear this up... (and I'm just now realizing this)... my statement about 14yr olds WAS NOT a statement about 14yr old artists. It was a statement about those that vote, but don't do anything themselves. It's easy to criticise people when you don't have the courage or skill to do it yourself.

_____________________

Thank you! Yes! Someone that understands me! Thanks Chupalo.

Please take the time to listen to my response. It was wrong of me to lump all 14yr olds into one category. I apologized in my MP3 response.

Besides... (and this is not an excuse) but it's a radio show. When I get all uppity and loud people like it. It's more of me being a character. If I really hated all of you, I wouldn't take the time to voice a response or reply here, I'd just tell you to fuck off. So... it is your perrogitive to take my apology or not. But it's regretfull that I made such a broad statement. (but I still hate anyone that gives me a zero... a 2... that's okay.)

Since I don't want anyone to confuse what I write, I made an audio response. Please take the time to listen. Thanks.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Yeah, I do both. So?

W.A.A.D.D. is non-profit. Just trying to help out the community of the world. I'll be posting a cartoon soon to give everyone a better idea of what this is all about.

Hello.

My name is Jim Choma, and I am President of a new website called W.A.A.D.D., Web Artists Against Drunk Driving. We are a non-profit online organization, located at http://www.waadd.org

We have just started out, and we need your help. You see, in an effort to educate the public, and young drivers, about the dangers of drinking and driving, we are holding bi-monthly contests. The contest is a flash animation contest.

Here's where you come in. We would like you to contribute to WAADD, become a part of it, and submit a flash animation!

This month's contest is really fun! The task is to animate a print ad that MADD put out called "Skinny dipping in February". WAADD wants to make our message fun, exciting and appealing, not boring and drab!

Here's the best part... the winner this month gets an iPod Mini! Also, the first 5 entries get a free WAADD T-Shirt!

With over 17,000 DUI deaths last year, I'm sure that you often wished you could help in some way. Now there's a website just for that! Thank you so much for your support!

-Jim Choma
President
W.A.A.D.D.

My personal thanks to DuMa_RyoHahn for helping promote the show. Also big 'ups' to those that listened and called in. I'm taking a couple months off, I've been doing the show for about 16 weeks now, and need a break.

When it comes back for season 2, I'm going to promote it more, and also try to book animators from here and other places to interview on the show, as well as musicians, models, etc.

Thanka again, and I hope to hear all of you in season 2!

Well, I should probably put my money where my mouth is, and make a flash cartoon of this, eh?

Unfortunately, I'm not really up to speed on the ins and outs of polotics and people here. Hell, I had to write Tom to find out what the fuck this "king of the portal" thing was all about.

Well, anyone that wants to help me write a bashing sketch, e-mail me. lol

And also, anyone that wants to parody anything that I've done is welcome. It would be a compliment.

Hey guys. First time posting to the forums.

I thought I'd drop in and defend myself against some things people have been saying about me. I guess I might have inadvertently looked like a "whore" by posting my radio show highlights. Let me put some rumors to rest.

1. God damn it. Could you try to sell more t-shirts?
It's true, I do hock t-shirts in my flash, but as anyone who has sold things from Cafe-Press, I ain't exactly getting rich off it. I made 100 bucks in about 3 months. Like anything else, it is an advertising tool.

2. Yeah. Advertising. God Damn cocksucker! I knew it! WHORE!
Well, It's true. I do advertise my site, ZipperFish.com. For the last 8 months I have been building ZipperFish.com, in hopes of one day being able to charge for it. I did charge for it for 2 days in December using CCBill, but they dumped me because I make fun of celebrities, and they have a no celebrity policy. So, with the EXCEPTION of those 2 days, ZipperFish has always been 100% free. I have put my entire life savings into this project.

3. So, It's true. You are going to make money off of ZipperFish.
True. So very true. I have non-nude models on the site right now, all guest models from other sites. I am in the process of signing my own model. I pay for a subscription to Maxim & Stuff, I don't see how my site is any different. HOWEVER, I do have a free section, and all the stuff I post here, is also there. My flash animations are a way to drive people to check out ZipperFish.com. If you don't want to pay for my site ($3.25 a moth, BTW), then I respect that, and you are welcome to enjoy everything in the free section. However, the pay portion does have sexually related content, that needs to be secure for those that are over 18, so I am going back to subscription soon.

4. Why not keep it free?
I would love to have the revenue model of NewGrounds. I don't know the history of this company, but I would guess that NewGrounds did not become this big overnight. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of man/woman power most likely went into building this portal, with hundreds more man hours every day and week to maintain. This takes time, energy, effort, and MONEY. Unfortunately, the hey-day of tech is over, and no one wants to give me money for ZipperFish. It is my dream and my vision, and I have sacrificed for it. I'm not looking to make millions, only to be compensated for my time.

5. Isn't the radio show another way to whore yourself?
Well, you could look at it that way. However, the majority of my listeners would never pay for ZipperFish. The radio show is free to all, and I do it in my free time, sacrificing my Fridays. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE doing it. I think it's a blast. But I did not put it up here on Newgrounds to advertise it in the hopes of making $$$. On the contrary, I thought it would be cool to hear from Newgrounds fans of my work, and those of you who are not fans as well. If you had listened, you would have heard me promote this site, the Xombie series, and frank discussions on the voting system. I'm sure I drove more people to this site, and the awesome Xombie series, than driving people to ZipperFish.

6. Your shit sucks, It ain't funny.
I respect that. Everyone has different opinions. What I don't respect is a zero. I put time and effort into my work... a two would be nice. lol

7. What's with the Tiffany Teen advertisement?
I'm really into marketing. I find it fascinating. The Tiffany Teen ad was a test really. I know the guy that runs the site, and I thought I'd do him a favor. The internet is growing and evolving, and I want to grow and evolve with it. I thought an uncensored animation would be a good place to make some strides in the new way of marketing on the internet. When I was a kid, me and my friends would sneak into movies like Porky's or Animal House for one reason. To see boobie. If you are going to TiffanyTeen.com, it's for the same reason. I thought it would be cool to tell the truth. Hey, I jerk off to Tiffany, so should you. I thought it was funny, and a cool way to advertise, instead of the same old banner.

8. You are still a whore.
Well, if you want to call me a whore, you have every right to do that. I live in the USA, where capitalism rules. I need to make money to buy food & pay bills just like everyone else. I'm trying to do that by doing something I love doing. I love making ZipperFish. I love the chicks, and the movies, and the people, and the animation. If you make money by doing something you like doing, I'd say you are sucessful. You may want to call that being a whore.

9. ZipperFish is just another big company destroying Newgrounds.
Well, that could not be further from the truth. I currently run ZipperFish out of my apt. I do all the drawings, all the animation, all the programming, all the voices, and all the writing. I am the only person running ZipperFish. I like to put out quick, provocative pieces that represent our world of pop culture. I'm different from the guy that spends 4 months on Xombie, or the guys that make games. But I'm a lot like everyone else here. I do my best, enjoy the comments and criticisms, and try my best to make good stuff.

In conclusion, I apologize for offending anyone by posting the Radio Show highlights. It's on every Friday, and I encourage you to grab a beer, listen in, and call me if you love my or hate me. I assure you it is not a show about "whoring" myself out, but more of just a fun way to spend your Friday night, laughing about how big of a moron I really am.

I hope this clears some things up. Part of me wants to just lay low on this whole deal, but I think everyone deserves to hear my side, even if you still think I'm a whore.

I have enjoyed NewGrounds for many years, and I am grateful and proud to be a part of it.