Well I'm just now really getting around to looking through all the pico day stuff.
This is probably the most productive pico day I've ever been part of and i had a blast. For the sake of capturing this moment i'll link out to any and everything that somehow had something to do with me cause my pico ego is so large right now. Unlike my penis size.

Pico's School: Detention
I threw this together today based on some stuff i had gathering dust. I felt that Pico Day was missing just oddball low brow movies.

Pico Blast
The flagship of my submissions. Me and BoMToons fantasized about a game where you just fight big ass bosses all day. I also wanted to bring back the black police chief from Pico vs. Bear

Press & Punch Collab
This was a piece put together by Almighty Hans, I made a short animated part for it, I had no clue where he was going with it but it turned out damn well...

House of 1000 Cats
An animation by Zombie-Pimp, I donated a short voice part near the end and i was lucky enough to be cameod. Really refreshing movie.

Pico Takes a Shit
This was an animation by my pal ConAir, the hairdryer.
I donated a little graffiti that you can sort of see on the bathroom wall. lol. I liked this movie, its like one of those stupid shorts that made ng famous back in the day.

Pico: The Shitty Power
I didnt do shit in this movie but my cartoon version of me makes a brief cameo so I had to plug it. That and Nogfish is part of the RWD clique

Pico Hand Springs
My cartoon version of me is featured in this short, I'm wearing some sort of mumu and sombrero so I enjoyed it.

Pico's Taste in Men
My cartoon version of me again in a cameo at a bar. He was a homoooo

History of Pico
This movie catalogues most of the pico based pieces I've done in the past both for Pico day and just for the hell of it. I hadnt realized I'd done so many.

oh and the pico day 2008 preloader logo is minez. So in a way ive managed to be part of everyones pico day thingggg

=========================

I'll update this list if i find more references linking back to me in any way. Heres a picture of my next tattooooo once i have money. Thanks VonDark!

Well I just spent the better part of my morning taking care of some shit that I've been putting off as well as working on some pico day shit. I thought it would be helpful for people if I went through some of the newgrounds related events coming up, as well as links to where you get additional info and shit.

Whatever event(s) you notice are convenient to you I'd say go for it, your perspective on the site kind of changes when you are able to put real faces to the screenames or what not. If you have some sort of event that I didnt mention but you think deserves mention just drop me a PM.

Oh one last note, the Pico Day Art Contest wraps up on Pico Day (April 30th aka on Wed). If you've been debating doing something for that or you find yourself too lazy to make a whole animation in the 3 days you have for the pico day animation then hurry up with dat!

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June 7th, 8th New York City, Big Apple Con
About: This is a smaller comic convention, Mindchamber, Eric Black and myself are managing this. We're arranging to have a Newgrounds booth up. This is going to be the first time NG has catered to you east coast folks so dont pass it up. If getting to San Diego is out of your budget and you want to buy newgrounds shit, meet your favorite animators (lmao) and just have a greater bond with the site, this is for you. We'll probably also hang out after the convention if anyone is wonderin... NYC is fairly fun when its warm out and Mindchamber isnt getting us lost.

Cost: $15 / daily pass

I havent gotten a confirmed list of guests but popular personalities such as:
afro-ninja, The-Swain, Krinkels, Leigh, Stamper, DarkShadow8181, nogfish, EyeLovePoozy, Senti, FBIpoluxetc etc

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July 23rd - July 27th , San Diego California, San Diego Comic Con 08

About: This is the mother of comic conventions, if you like large crowds, scores of costumed people, and all the glitz and glamor of hollywood studios this is for you. This actually isnt a Newgrounds event anymore but since the Behemoth has an ambilical cord attached to Tom Fulp its worth a mention. Also this convention attracts the west coast ng crowd as well some international folks.
It is important to note that this convention sold out completely last year, which is insane considering the size of it. Do yourself a favor and order your tickets online well in advance. I think they are cutting out at the door registration altogether actually.

Price: 4-day $75, thurs $25, fri $30, sat $35, sun $20

Unconfirmed guests at this event (some are confirmed but whatever):
Mike, Dan Paladin, Bob, Luis, RubberNinja, Danomano65, AlmightyHans, FrostedMuffins, NathanielMilburn, im too lazy to list more peopleee. I think its important to note that newgrounds isnt going to have its own booth this year. Its all Behemothz.

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August 29th - 31st Seattle, Washington Penny Arcade Expo 08

About: This convention is a bit smaller than Comic Con, and more concerned with video games as opposed to comics which is favored by some. Again, the booth is actually run by the Behemoth but NG folks show up. I've never been to this convention before so i dont have much info on it. I've heard its a refreshing change from the craziness that is San Diego Comic Con.

Price: 3-day pass $40, Fri $25, Sat $30, Sun $30

Unconfirmed guests at this event:
Dan Paladin, Afro-Ninja, BoMToons, Sekkhem, GlaielGamer... theres a few other people going ask around!

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August 28th-August 31 London, England London Meetup 3

About: This isnt a convention at all, I host this thing personally, its an opportunity to get together with peeps in europe and bring the NG vibe over to that part of the world. This is like the third time I've done this (duh) and each year the turnout has been better. It's probably my favorite event of the year. You'll have to check the link above for a better breakdown of the where and whats of the event. Generally, the main event is on saturday (August 30th). We usually hang out on a bunch of other days prior if youre kewl..

Cost: Freeeee

Unconfirmed guests at this event:
Luis, Kirk-Cocaine, Mogly, AlmightyHans, The-Super-Flash-Bros, Krinn, the-exp, britishmoose, kaynslamdyke, Bezman, Xenon, the-swain, TimFrommeyer FBIpolux and morrre..

THE END. now you can hang out with newgrounders if you are on the west coast, east coast and europe coast.

SORRY AUSTRALIA MAYBE NEXT YEAR (for real)

heres a screenshot of my pico day entry!

Well I'm back in my humble abode, I hung out at the office for the weekend. It's always refreshing and envigorating(?) to crawl into the mothership (aka NG office). Everyone was hard at work on Castle Crashers, which looked pretty dope.

On Saturday I went with Mindchamber to the NY Comic Con. We met up with a few newgrounders there, one of which was Eric Black, he was one of the old heads in the early roots of the NG portal, yall were mere sperm back then so you probably never heard of him! And if you have then kudos to you. Anyway, he was a great personality and all around fun to be around. The main purpose of our trip to the comic con was to scope out the scene and get a feel for the environment. Evaluate how it differed or compared to the San Diego Comic Con, the overall goal was to see if we could set up a NG booth in the east coast. Our findings were promising and in fact we are entertaining the possibility of debuting a booth at the June Apple Con (also in NYC).

More info on that later, but if we do get a booth it would mark a great step in the effort to expose NG to everyone out there. San Diego was a bit too big of a venue for a 'small' site like NG... its hard to compete when you have Paramount and Kevin Bacon in the booth next door....

We as Newgrounders love to think that we are a major player on the internet (and we are) but we still have a ways to go, and we really need to do a better job of pushing the site and its wares and talent out in the real world. Networking opportunities such as conventions are a perfect fit.

Last but not least, I got a chance to get my hands on those elusive tankmen figurines. They look great and the packaging is so well done for it that i almost dont even want to open it. Specially humorous is the illustration on the side, such as the 'enemy detecting hyper hard-on'

Hopefully JohnnyUtah doesnt kill me for sharing this pic.

**PS check out Kano's artwork, I had the pleasure of running into his work at the comic con, he has a really sweet vector meets street art style. He recently released a book called citizen kano. Its great. I'll probably base my next ng profile skin on him.

.
/* */
This little animation got me pumped for the craziness that is Pico Day...

I love rediculous fightinggg.

For anyone who hasnt caught on yet, once a month I interview fellow Flash artists/programmers in the scene. It's a fairly informal little Q&A session. I've been doing it for like a year now. I have just recently started posting 'em here as well. Enjoi!

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Greetings, its the start of the month and that can only mean the launch of a fresh new interview. This month we feature Sean Montela, he goes by the alias AloneInTheDark on Newgrounds. As to not steal too much of his thunder, let me get the interview underway and let him fill you in on his details.

Luis: Hi Sean, how about you tell us who you are, how long have you been in the scene and how did you stumble upon Flash?

AloneInTheDark: I'm a 23 year old architecture student from Amsterdam. I've been working with flash since i was 17. Back in those days i used it to make simple websites. But after i discovered Newgrounds in 2003 I got inspired by the stuff i saw here and started using the program to create animations.

Luis: Do you have any siblings and are they into arty things at all? Do you have any family members in the creative industry? I always find it intruiging to find how peoples upbringings and environment may have played an influence on their creative tendencies... I mean to ask this in every interview but i forget to :P

AloneInTheDark:
My family is actually the most uncreative bunch of people imaginable. Nobody here really draws/paints or pees on canvases, but one of my best friends who i've been hanging with since i was 7 is a very talented artist. Back in the days he drew extremely realistic drawings with spot on shading for a kid. I learned a lot from him and we motivated each other to draw. I still have a Wolverine comic that we made together back then.

Luis: Aaactually speaking of environments, I was in Toronto a few months ago and I found it kind of refreshing how Flash had much more of a prescence and demand than it does where I live, like there was all these posted handbills of companies seeking flash creative work. Being that you live in Amsterdam (and the fact that I've never been there) what is the scene like over there?

AloneInTheDark: Well there is a good demand for people who are able with the program. There are a lot of web/graphic design companies that you can work for. The other day i had a job interview at an architecture agency and they even had a seperate team of photoshop/flash experts who made presentations and such for the firm. Also, there is this dutch guy who uses flash and is very respected in the avant garde art scene. His name is Hoogerbrugge, probably best known for his 'Hotel' series. On Submarine there is a nice overview of other notable dutch flash talent.

Luis: Ahh actually I've run into Hoogerbrugge's work by StumblingUpon it. I had no idea he was dutch. Anywho, I know you're not as active Flash wise as some of my past guests, however one of the things that I find intruiging about your work is that your work tends to explore subject matter that is unusual in the scene. Things like 'Autumn Tree' and even 'Alive' come to mind, where Flash becomes your personal soapbox to stand on and you are less concerned about appealing to a particular niche. What inspires you to tackle projects like those? I think alot of the reasons why artists dont stray to the unusual is because they fear that all their work will be in vain because people wont 'get it'... does that ever cross your mind?

AloneInTheDark: It's all a matter of where your priorities are. There are lot of animators who get their satisfaction out of the animating itself. For them, the idea and personal vision in making their shorts is less important, so they make things that are fun to animate and that are appreciated by a large crowd. There is nothing wrong with having this type of view on animation, as long as it is what you believe in. However, an artist should never let the public decide what stuff he is going to make. If for example an animator only makes animations based on video games, because that is what people want, then i think that's a pretty lame thing to do.

Luis: While I'm on the subject of 'Autumn Tree', what attracted you to work on such a contraversial subject matter? What sort of response did your audience have when you finally finished it? Was it a response that you anticipated or were you suprised/disappointed by what people thought about it?

AloneInTheDark: What interested me about the Columbine tragedy was the human aspect of the entire happening. So much has been said about it and what happened was terrible, but in the end it remains a story of 2 teenagers slipping away. Eric and Dylan weren't monsters or born evil. They were average kids living average lives in a boring town. I wanted to put emphasis on this aspect in the animation. I think these type of stories need to be told to let people form an opinion themselves about what happened. That is why i was very careful not to turn it into a melodrama and let the viewer sympathise with the killers or victims. It turned out rather bland and almost documentary like. I like that.
The response was actually more positive than i thought it would have been. I thought that a lot of people wouldn't get it and would think i was paying a tribute to Eric and Dylan but fortunately that wasn't the case. Many reviews were written and people all have their own views on the situation. That's all i could ask for really.

Luis: Fair enough. Ok, so earlier I touched on the subject of artists not wanting to stray too far from the norm. One of the hot subjects these days are artists feeling like their limelight is being eaten up by vast video game parodies and pop references. That the artistry behind animation is becoming ruined by artists who set out to spoil viewers with gimmicky forgetable flash movies. What is your take on the matter?
Do you think the outcry for change is valid? You've been around for many years now, do you see the scene changing?

AloneInTheDark: I don't think there is anything we can change. With the popularity of flash increasing, it is inevitable that the content of animation and games gets adjusted more to a mass audience. Especially since a lot of money can be made nowadays in the flash business. I do find it a pity, but that's the way it is. It's something that has happened during the development of cinema, music, gaming industry and television too.
However that doesn't mean that there is no room anymore for good original content. People will always enjoy to see an animation that's different from the norm, when it is made well. It's just harder to create such an animation when the obvious road to money and popularity is through simple parodies or used concepts.
The flash program itself is also becoming more and more professional. With the direct implementation of 3d techniques in the upcoming flash version the bar for animating and design will be raised dramatically. Online flash gaming also has a lot of potential and the business will only get bigger and bigger. I see the future very bright for the program.

Luis: I'm very wary of 3d.... but lets lighten the mood a bit... what interests do you have outside of flash?

AloneInTheDark: I love modern art and anything creative! I also like travelling and going out with friends. And like any other guy i'm also pretty interested in women and beer.

Luis: Speaking of outside interests, ok so I know your ultimate goal career-wise lies in architecture. I find that sort of unusual considering you have alot of potential in your flash work. What attracts you to the world of architecture anyway?

AloneInTheDark: What i love about architecture is the design process itself. It is actually very similar as to when i start making an animation. When I start an architectural project i analyse the context, start sketching and come up with a concept as to what the building should be. As i get further in the design process i focus from a broad perspective to the small details. I love using many different techniques, like making traditional drawings, scaled models, 3d renders and digital CAD drawings. When the building is designed and other people can see the qualities in it, that's something very satisfactioning.
The structured manner of thinking in architecture is something that i find really useful in the process of making an animation too.

Luis: To each his own brotha! So back to the Flash world. You finally wrapped up the first episode of Jinas near the end of last year, that's a rather gargantuan project you set out to create. Can you give us a brief run down of the series and where you are going with it, maybe what sort of things inspired you to persue it?

AloneInTheDark: The story itself is rather simple. It's basically a love story in many ways. Love for a special someone, love for friends and love for yourself. However cliche this may sound, I try to create characters that are very honest and real. They all have different sides to themselves and the situations they get confronted with during the series are never black or white. I want it to be humorous, but also confronting and thought provoking. A lot of my personal experiences have been a foundation for the series. Some of the personalities in the series are kind of the same as the ones of people close to me. It's a story i HAVE to tell.

Luis: Heres an easy question, we're a quarter of the way through 2008, what sort of things do you have in store for us this year?

AloneInTheDark: At the moment i'm working on a smaller side project. After each Jinas episode, i want to take the time to create some smaller stuff that has been in my head for ages. Right now it's an animation called 'Shaped Of Clay'. It's a rather dark animation about manipulation and perception. I hope to finish it this summer or something. After that, i want to make one more animation with Andres Ciambotti (co-author of Autumn Tree) before i start with episode 2 of Jinas.

Luis: Okay, last question.. if you were to disappear from the flash scene forever tommorrow what would you want your legacy to be?

AloneInTheDark: Well a fan club of blonde young women would be cool to have.

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Past Archived Interviews:

- 03/2008 | Tom Fulp
- 02/2008 | Luis
- 01/2008 | Dr NeroCF
- 12/2007 | Buzzwerd
- 11/2007 | Rtil
- 10/2007 | AlmightyHans
- 09/2007 | Marc M
- 08/2007 | The-Swain
- 07/2007 | TimFrommeyer
- 06/2007 | NegativeOne
- 05/2007 | SickDeathFiend
- 04/2007 | Psychogoldfish
- 03/2007 | Mindchamber

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If you or someone you know would be cool to be interviewed. Drop me a PM

I get restless when i dont make a new post.

In other news:

- Check out the NG Audio Podcast... it features a review of Pass my Flash 2

- Check out a plug for Castle Crashing the Beard on Fox News Podcast (skip to about halfway) Thanks Tom!

- Castle Crashing the Beard also is blogged about on Joystiq's X-Box 360 fanboy blog

- Added another prizeset to the Pico Redesign Art Contest

- Will be trolling the isles of Comic Con NYC on April 19th. This is a different Comic Con than the one in San Diego which i'll also be at in July.

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That is all......

You can get yourself the ultimate NG prizepack and support alot of great artists on the site!

All you need to do is come up with a redesign of:

- Pico, Darnell, Nene
- P-bot, A-bot, M-bot
- Tankmen
- Dad n' me

You can redesign one or all of them. Theres a big ass long list of goods you can win.
Read all about it HERE

Well the REAL Castle Crashers might not be done but me, BoM Toons and Coaly thought it would be fun to keep the boss motivated so we made a little mini-game featuring him and the castle crashers characters, we called it Castle Crashing 'The Beard'. It was actually a ton of work... way more than any sane person would want to put into a minigame like that. But it was fun and it sort of brings back the real spirit of Newgrounds, that being the minigames that take the piss out of things.

Also unlike Tom we can gladly say we finished Castle Crashers and have the freshly shaved faces to show it. Well i cant grow facial hair yet but thats not important.

We tried to mix a newgroundsy spin on the franchise as to not totally rip the console version off so youll see newgrounds themed weapons, and loaves of bread falling from Tom's beard as inspired by Psychogoldfish's rumors. It was pretty fun to make. Took us about two weeks and I'm happy with the result.

Also its mindchamber's birthday... or atleast thats what Jonas told me, so send him mail and comment on his userpage while hes in jail! He's going to be outta there soon!

STOP READING THIS AND GO WASTE 5 MINS OF YOUR LIFE

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*PS theres going to be a Pico Day Art contest that i'll be hosting popping up later this week over at the Art Forum. Keep an eye out for that! I figured not everyone has the time to do a 3-4 min animation for it but still wants to be part of the Pico Day craze atleast in some small fashion. I'll also have my usual array of unusual prizes... ie. i aint giving you all thousands of dollars sorry.

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**PPS I'm on the frontpage in the animation and games section. I'm so overrated!

Those who know me well (maybe even those who dont) know I'm close to being obsessed over typography.. I'm not quite sure who to blame for that but I just love type. At any rate, I was doing my usual internet wanderings and I ran accross an interesting article in the Boston Globe regarding the typography in presidential candidates campaigns. Its a good read, i dont agree with all the points the authors make but its still amazing the everpresent power of type.

Speaking of which, its somewhat of a lost art to see really good typography and titling in flash animations/game menus these days. Dont know if everyones just too pressed for time or our font pools are way malnourished.. whatever the case its a shot in the foot to spend so much time on your stuff only to use a really mediocre menu or type treatment!

Anyone know of things on the portal that have had particularly beautiful typography?

Here are some of my favorites that i could think of:

Russian Mafia on Mars - The menu is very subtle which is kind of refreshing.. the sharp angles of how the type is placed make slight references to russian constructivist posters of the 1930's. The typography is crisp and clean just like Kol's artwork.

Sounds of Thunder - I liked how the credits are handled in an interesting way.. it provides visual interest to an otherwise non-animated scene. The russian type in the title is also tastefully done.

Se7en opening sequence - This isnt a flash movie obviously but i just thought I'd mention it because not always is clean typography appropriate.. sometimes very rough and organic type sets the mood better.. such is the case here. I like that double exposure technique and how the scenes are haphazard and 'sewn' together very akwardly.

If anyone can refer me to more that would be greaaaat.

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Heres that article on typography and the presential candidates

(I'm not an Obama fan but I do love the typography of his campaign)

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40 Free fonts that actually have good proportions (Except 'Delicious' i hate that one)

I had a chance to put the beloved Tom 'the beard' Fulp on my monthly hot seat where I basically just interview people in the ng community who are gracious enough to want to be interviewed..
anywho I've been doing this for more than a year now so if you want to take a look at past artists/ng celebutons, and read tom's interview with pretty pictures and all dat. Go Read it here Otherwise read below!

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Luis says:
It's March, the bees are chirping and the birds are buzzing (is that right?) and all is well... actually no its still cold as shit outside! But one thing is certain, its time for another AOTM interview!
Today's guest is none other than Tom Fulp, I know I talk about his site like every time I make any sort of post on this site but if you dont know who he is, he's the creator of Newgrounds.
So without furth ado, on with the questions!
This is the typical opener question, I've obviously stolen your thunder but indulge us anyway.... who are you? how'd you get introduced to Flash? what were your pre-flash days like?

Tom Fulp says:
I'm Tom Fulp and I started tinkering with Flash back in 1998. My inspiration came from some designer's site, I wish I could remember the name... The site didn't actually DO anything, it was just a really fancy plug for the creator, and a hint at amazing things to come, although I don't think they ever did. I wanted to take my html/javascript point and click celebrity killing games to the next level, and Flash allowed me to have point and click games with animation and audio. It was a dream come true! I had spent my early teenage years animating with Deluxe Paint IV on an Amiga and programming dial-up BBS games in Pascal. I had always been looking for something that merged animation and programming. I wanted to draw a character and attach some code to move him around the screen, without it being an ordeal like traditional game development. I essentially spent my childhood wishing for Flash, so when it came along, it was exactly what I wanted. I've always had confidence in the future of Flash because I know it's all I'll ever need to get my ideas out. I can imagine being 60 years old and still farting around with Flash.

Luis says:
I'm sure many of us feel that way. While we're on the subject of humble beginnings, what did your parents think about all this Newgrounds craziness when you were still doing it out of your basement? We're they like like the classic mildly supportive kind (yeah thats a really great idea tom, but lets find a real job just incase k?) or were they like full out behind your efforts? how has that changed (or not) throughout the 10+ years you've been at this?

Tom Fulp says:
I started NG in 1995 as a hobby towards the end of high school. My parents got a kick out of Club a Seal because they know how traumatized I was as a kid when I saw a seal get clubbed on TV (I love animals, especially cats). Even as NG began to find success, I was still very cautious and stuck with my day job. By the time I quit, it was pretty clear that exciting things were on the horizon, so my parents never really had to worry about me. They know that I work hard at whatever I do, and I'll always be able to find work. They are still very supportive to this day, although I don't think my mom has seen a lot of the stuff on the site. :)

Luis says:
Well what sort of job would you have persued if you hadnt done the whole Newgrounds thing anyway?

Tom Fulp says:
During college I started with a web development job at SmithKline Beecham and later consulted for them during the Glaxo SmithKline merger. From there I took up a consulting job with Quest, where I was doing a lot of html and javascript, but also some ASP database work - the sort of stuff that Ross and Liljim do now with PHP / MySQL, only on a much dumber level. In my spare time I was always working on Flash games and NG. If you completely removed games from the equation, I might have gone the Ross and Liljim route, which is funny, because now I wish I COULD work more directly on the backbone of NG.

Luis says:
Well you can't have your cake and eat it too I suppose. Anyway being that this is an ARTIST of the month feature I should sprinkle in an art based question or I'll lose the 2 people who visit my site. You're mostly known for your programming / AS personality but you used to art your own stuff back then as well... one of the most beloved products of those years being Pico... how did Pico and friends come about to begin with? Are those kids actually based on real life counterparts?

Tom Fulp says:
Not really.. I just wanted to make something really offensive. :) I started with Darnell and Nene, but I wanted Pico to be the coup de grâce. I had been tinkering with a concept where Pico could fly around by crapping, but it just wasn't working out (THANK GOD)... It needed to be something MORE. Then Columbine happened, and I got my inspiration.
Darnell and Nene aren't based on anyone, but Pico is sort of modeled after myself. He's that kid who basically just gets along with people at school but is never popular. He doesn't look or act like a punk or a goth, but he's still his own individual, despite "fitting in" to the public image. It's part of what draws me to stuff like American Psycho and that show Dexter, the concept of "pretending to be a normal person", which I think a lot of people feel. I'm in no way saying I'm a sociopath killer; that's more like a metaphor for people who just don't quite "fit" the idea of what they think a normal social person is supposed to be. I now realize that I AM a very normal person, probably more well-adjusted and normal than most... But that's not how I felt growing up, and that sorta sums up Pico.

Luis says:
Actually Pico and friends is one of the few things thats survived from back in the 'old days' of the site where the mood of the site was about about being the internet's guilty pleasure than the hub of flash activity... now that its been a good chunk of time since NG has adoped the 'everything by everyone' motto and you can play armchair quarterback, do you feel it was for the better? I admit, I was one of the ones that was hardcore against it, i felt it was taking away the site's edge.

Tom Fulp says:
I still have those days where I miss the old slogan, but overall I like the more inclusive vibe of "Everything by Everyone." The site was evolving, it was changing. I was always disappointed in myself because the site wasn't living up to its potential, and I came to realize that pigeonholing NG as a cesspool of hate and bitterness was really holding back all the amazing stuff that NG REALLY was. The thing I love about NG is how everything sort of co-exists, like a big melting pot.
I also didn't like how some folks would use NG's vibe against it, basically looking down on us as a bunch of kids playing in the dirt and not something "real." I want NG to be like a big bright angel with its wings spread, shining holy light and magic and rainbow farts on everyone and making their lives wonderful. But not housewives, they can go to hell.

Luis says:
I'm sure April Fulp will be pleased as punch with that last statement. It's okay though, I'll edit that out if she ever visits here. Ok on to a different and a rather unusual scenario. Do you have a Newgrounds will? Like what would happen if one day you were just done with the site for whatever reason, maybe you have kids or you died or something? What's the chain in command or who do you think could take the NG tank keys and keep the motor going or whatever.... or would NG just get sucked into a black hole of mass hysteria... well it probably would anyway but AMUSE ME.

Tom Fulp says:
I don't have an NG will, so if I died right now it would go to April and be in good hands. I would hope the team would stick around and make it their goal to see NG through to the end. Or April could just sell it to Google and fire everyone. I don't care because I'd be dead.
No but really, I do care because I have a big goal that NG will be around in 100 years... I see NG as the "librarian" of the Flash scene. We've documented so much! When you look back at the late 90s, there is Flash that just fell off the face of the earth, because it wasn't on NG. I'm not saying that every Flash HAS to be on NG, but it's pretty neat that we've maintained an accurate archive going back to the start, with dates and authors and public feedback. I think the archive will be really impressive in another 100 years, when people can just soak it all in and go WOW. It's a whole new type of human history.

Luis says:
I've never thought of it like that actually... In some respect, I kinda wish I never had. I just had a mental of image of a 90yr old Krinkels sitting in a tub reminiscing about his violent animating days.
Let me lighten the mood a bit after that last depressing question, do you have any unusual skills or hidden talents that most people probably wouldnt know of? Like can you apply your mascara with your toes or something of that nature?

Tom Fulp says:
I can do a thing with my arms that looks like ET... I'll have to show you at Comic-Con or something. I can also grab a quarter off my elbow with the same hand, but anyone can do that if they learn "the trick."

Luis says:
I'll be sure to try and capture that on tape. Anyway I'm on a roll, lets continue the light and cheery questions. Ok so its June, Castle Crashers, a console game that you've been working on is done and outta here, you just shaved your beard... What now? whats your plans post Castle Crashers or have you not even gotten to thinking about that yet to avoid losing focus?

Tom Fulp says:
I really want to just sit on a couch and play video games and forget all responsibilities for a week. But after that I am gonna finish Pixel Puncher. From there, I have to decide between Pico 2 and two other ideas that wouldn't be as daunting. And I need to write up a ton of design documents for Newgrounds features and get focused on what it will take to accomplish each one in a reasonable amount of time. There are some ideas brewing that I consider as big as the original Flash Portal was, but we'll see how that goes.

Luis says:
What do you like to do in your downtime anyway, assuming you have some once in a blue moon?

Tom Fulp says:
I like eating at nice restaurants and trying different beers. It kills two birds with one stone because I have to eat anyway.
My life is a balance of different interests and moods, carried out in a way that advances the goals of NG (or the Behemoth, which itself is ultimately meant to advance the goals of NG). If I'm in the mood to program, I program games. If I'm in the mood to write, I write docs about features and ideas. If I need a break, I handle administrative BS and answer stupid interviews people send me. If I want to sing, I sing about you, Luis!

Luis says:
You are such a card Tom, a card!
So I was in the airport a few weeks ago and the security guard frisking me (lol) asked me about my Newgrounds shirt, 'he was like hey i know that place' and I asked him what his favorite movie was and he said Charlie the Unicorn, the problem was that he actually saw it on YouTube and had no clue that the better version and original home of the movie was indeed Newgrounds.. (he thought NG was some production company that uploaded that animation to YouTube).
The point I'm trying to make is... that's actually becoming rather common and rather annoying to many NG artists, like the ease of syndication that sites like YouTube offer. What's your view on sites like YouTube? Do you ever worry about sites like those eating away at NG's bread and butter? Do you have any plans of offering an easier way for people to syndicate content via widgets or some sort of way of quenching that hunger people have nowadays to be syndicators?

Tom Fulp says:
YouTube already HAS been eating our bread and butter. NG's traffic stopped its astronomical climb to the stars the day everyone started watching videos instead of Flash movies. But we've maintained, we've held our ground for the past few years and we've been sharpening our edge, to become something YouTube could never dream of.
And yes, we ARE tinkering with widgets and syndication. We actually had widgets back in 2000, but there weren't any Myspace and Facebook losers out there to use them. We had a widget that played the movie of the day, and a widget that showed the daily top submissions. They weren't even called widgets back then, they were just some crap we made that you could embed on your site.
Our big hurdle now has been the little things that don't work when you embed Flash in a universal player, the way YouTube does with video. Things like the actionscript camera, which breaks the rules of how it's SUPPOSED to work when played inside a container movie. YouTube can afford to give away bandwidth because every player is an ad for YouTube, and even then, they were burning millions in venture capital until they got that sweet sweet Google money. If we can't have the same for Flash (a player, not Google money), we need something to cover the bandwidth expense; something such as in-Flash ads, which we've been tinkering with for a while now. The original "widget" back in 2000 had an embedded ad, but it didn't matter because no one embedded it. Everything comes around eventually, though.

Luis says:
AAAACTUALLY while I'm on the subject of annoyed artists... I'm annoyed that you guys dont have any sort of high score table or some sort of NG native api that could be leveraged for peoples games... is that in the works at all? Or do I have to use ArmyBot or whatever the fuck that score table api is called...

Tom Fulp says:
All the NG API stuff is actually being developed by PsychoGoldfish and will come to support all that good stuff. On that note, we DID have a universal high score system back around the same time we were making "widgets", only people hacked the hell out of it and we stopped supporting it. You can still find remnants of the score submission screen in some of my old games, although a lot of those vanished with the redesign launch. I really do sound like a bitter old man, don't I? All the ideas that failed the first time will hopefully succeed the second time, because apparently their time has come. Then I can stop being sad.

Luis says:
Remember that party you once had at the Trocadero? Wouldnt it be so cool to have an NG based mini awards show at some sort of venue like that for the NG trophies youre always talking about? We could could have like Swain or Egoraptor host it and provide comic relief a la Jon Stewart... But yeah whats the status on those set of awards anyway?

Tom Fulp says:
I would love to have an awards show but I want absolutely nothing to do with planning it. I'm just not that sort of showman... I can make a decent front page post but I don't feel any urge to get up on a stage and work a crowd. I would go up and do some formalities as a figurehead and whatnot, but the whole event would need to be driven by someone who is really passionate about putting on a show. Not just the hosting, but the whole setup process.
As for the trophies, I am really tempted to just make a post right now and announce some winners, but I know that won't make them exciting. I need to post a list of nominees and get everyone worked up and crazy for a few weeks, before the anticipation finally ends and the winners are announced to much fan-fair and whining. I have a list of nominees, but I'm being really indecisive about it. I'm not sure how to break apart categories. I need to just do it and then fix it next year. Some day we'll have our awards show, everything happens organically, aka slowly.

Luis says:
Ok laaast question. Lets make it something forward thinking and optimistic yet realistic. Where do you see Newgrounds and yourself even.... say 5 years from now?

Tom Fulp says:
I will still be here in the office and NG will still be hosted in downtown Philly. On-line, however, NG will be a utopia of creative energy and opportunities. People will create like never before. They'll be making money if they're interested. Some might even be able to make a living. A lot of it depends on how much the people embrace NG, but for that to happen, we need to earn it. That's been my big thing lately, if we EARN IT, then it will happen. If we don't earn it, then we didn't deserve it. OKAY BAYE!

Luis says:
This is probably the most positive note that any of my interviews have ever had. You've reached a new low Mr. Fulp.

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If you think you'd make a good intervieweee or you think i should definately interview ____ ... drop me a PM or just comment belowzzzz!

Heres a picture of the back of Tom's head.. alot of people want to know what he looks like from behind.