August - 2008

The following people were bumped in August 2008:

08.03.2008	08.10.2008	08.17.2008	08.24.2008	08.31.2008
iguess_cool Uhpjiors UberSebek	OneWord Hammerlock INVESTIGATOR	Rogueofmv Demonoftonight	BEMaven cigaro_firefly fredsolo	Yield_To_Peds_ neoanimegirl holkimcardie1

The following are the bumps that were aired in August 2008, as recorded/posted by: mahala_la_la

08/03 Viewer Bump #1
[Approximately 10:26pm (ET); After Family Guy #1]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

How about some new episodes
of robot chicken or some new anime shows

ill let you choose but
both would be great. thanks.

[iguess_cool]

Look, we just covered
this in the last bump

We'll spell it out since
you can't keep up


Robot Chicken
August 31st @ 11:30 pm


Seirei no Moribito
August 23rd @ 12:30 am

[adult swim]

08/03 Viewer Bump #2
[Approximately 11:28pm (ET); Before Venture Bros.]
Folder: Bumps [Username: Uhpjiors]
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Only one of you turned in
last week's writing assignment


Everyone Else Is Worse Than You:
A Study Of Perceived Greatness
in the “Venture Brothers” Universe

By: James Touchette

Juxtaposition is a powerful tool for establishing identity. The qualities of a person can be defined in absolute terms but absolutes are meaningless in establishing what a term is until you have contrasting absolutes to explain what the original term isn’t.

In the cartoon series “The Venture Brothers” airing on Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” lineup, the greatness of characters in the show is established purely as a relative measure between any two characters. Real life is populated with great people, many of whom we take for being great without establishing to what degree, suffice it to say that the people inquestion simply have to convey greatness beyond which we see ourselves possessing. In the Venture universe, however, characters good and bad all possess greatness to a certain extent as the underlying theme of character establishment in the show. The good guys are all varying degrees of superheroes and powerful scientist. The bad guys are all varying degrees of super villains.


As a reflection of real life, each of the two main groups contains within them a certain caste system, a hierarchy of just how good a superhero is or just how bad a super villain strives to be. For the good guys, you can look at the Venture Family itself for a terrific example of this social layering. Key players in the Venture family are Rusty Venture, his brother Jonas Venture Jr., and their father, the ever-absent but still important Jonas Venture Sr. Looking at those three characters reveals the entire spectrum of goodness. Jonas Venture Sr. is the perceived high-water mark both his sons strive to honor and emulate while between the two sons, we can find the middle ground, Jonas Jr., and the bottom of the barrel, Rusty. Any one of these three men, by contrast to our own real life social circles, could possess greatness by virtue of resources and opportunities afforded them. Upon closer examination in the context of their cartoon world, however, you see such greatness downplayed by ridiculous family squabbles and internal human drama bringing them down from the high horses their lineage afforded them to the realm of normality.


What causes this devaluation? Simply by removing lower levels of society by which their grandeur is established, we lose justification for giving them greatness. In taking away the juxtaposition of the desired greats relative to the world at large, we no longer have a normality for them to have risen above.The same is true on the bad guy team. In the ranks of super villainy, we can find, of significance, The Monarch and various other shadowy figures comprising competing villains and, more importantly, the political body governing all super villainy (and apparently most super heroism), The Guild. The Guild actually makes establishing greatness among villains easier because it assigns villains to our heroes in supposedly even match-ups. Once we decide the relative greatness of our heroes, we need only look at the villains assigned them to figure out the super villain pecking order.

As Agent Smith bucked the system in “The Matrix” trilogy, The Monarch presents an interesting case for deciding greatness by rebelling against the established guidelines and rules for “arching” his assigned heroes, remaining purely committed to our friends the Ventures. Greatness in behavior that runs outside established guidelines is far more difficult to judge due in no small part to the absence of a golden standard by which to judge. Without the juxtaposition of established extremes of the greatness spectrum, we likely will have to wait until the end of The Monarch to really be able to assess whether or not his actions constitute greatness. In recent episodes, The Guild conceded a certain degree of understanding towards the Monarch in allowing him to arch Jonas Venture Jr. in light of his inability to remain focused on any non-Venture hero to whom he is assigned.

This bending of a will supposedly far greater to the demands of one villain where other villains have chosen to conform to that greater will serves to provide sufficient juxtaposition between the Monarch and other villains to grant the Monarch some level of greatness while at the same time breaking down the concept of what constitutes a normal spectrum of behavior in villainy thereby taking away from the perceived greatness of that “greater” will. This greater will, The Guild, supposedly runs villainy with an iron fist yet the Monarch has already exerted his will in a way that caused the Guild to bend. This merits closer examination of the nature of the Monarch’s role in the Venture universe.


Before we look at the Monarch more closely, the role of juxtaposition in establishing greatness should first be explained a bit better. The usefulness of juxtaposition, the comparing of two items of opposite or differing value in a set quality or aspect, allows us to establish an identity for the focus of the comparison. In the animated series “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” the driving conflict of the story is an identity crisis of the main character Shinji Ikari. This crisis of identity and self-worth comes to a head in the final episode when he must comprehend what it means to be an individual when faced with the prospect of total unity of all souls. One scene in particular illustrates the effectiveness of juxtaposition in establishing identity particularly well. Shinji is shown floating through empty space, a world of nothing. As Shinji decides nothingness is rather boring and meaningless, he finds ground to walk upon. In finding ground, he begins to separate himself from the nothingness at the cost of most of the nothingness now being off limits to his non-flying self. Substitute the Monarch for Shinji Ikari and greatness for the nothingness. Below the Monarch’s “ground” is everything less great than him. Above the Monarch’s ground is everything more great than him. In the world of nothingness, we still cannot decide if the Monarch is great or not until we start putting characters into the nothingness. As Jonas Venture Jr. could be argued to be greater than Rusty Venture, the Guild’s assigning Jonas Jr. to the Monarch as an arch nemesis would place Jonas Jr. on the ground with the Monarch and Rusty somewhere below the ground level. As pecking orders on both sides of the good guy/bad guy line shuffle, relative altitudes of greatness also change. This difference in altitudes is the juxtaposition necessary to have an altitude at all. This comparison says very little about the greatness of any character besides the Monarch until you place that character on ground level to see where other heroes and villains land relative to that new focus.


A middle-aged man in a butterfly costume with a severely masculine girlfriend, an army of incompetent and out of shape but boundlessly and enthusiastically loyal henchman, and a flying cocoon hardly embodies the greatness today’s youth demand from their super villains. By picking and choosing what criteria we use to evaluate and compare heroes and villains, the greatness scale can be warped to subjectively favor one character or another, yet as long as a constant criteria is used, as warped as the scale may be, the resulting juxtaposition is no less valid and effective. As long as the same scale is used across the board, juxtaposition will remain the primary and most effective method available for establishing identity and, by way of establishing identity, finding greatness.[/font]

D+

We know you were drunk, James.

The rest of you fail.

[adult swim]

08/03 Viewer Bump #3
[Approximately 11:59pm (ET); Before Metalocalypse]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

I recently lost
the remote to my VCR,

and so I'm forced to watch my tv
with the VCR's display enabled.

This means I get the time,
channel and the name of the show.

I wanted to share what my VCR thinks
is the real name of Metalocalypse.

[UberSebek]

[Stay tuned for DeathclockMeatl.]

08/10 Viewer Bump #1
[Approximately 11:12pm (ET); During Family Guy #2]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

The only reason
i joined the [as] board

was to say this one word:

GI-GAN-TOR!!!

[OneWord]

Awesome.

Now leave while you still can.

[adult swim]

08/10 Viewer Bump #2
[Approximately 11:25pm (ET); After Family Guy #2]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

Not to sound like a broken record,
but classic swim was an amazing experience.

It was an awesome trip down memory lane
and something I really needed right about now.

I too would love it if you
could make retro night happen again.

[Hammerlock]

Done

Old School
Friday Nights
starting August 22nd

[standby for schedule]

08/10 Viewer Bump #3
[Approximately 12:33am (ET); Before Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

I'm going into high school,

got any advice?

[INVESTIGATOR]

Yeah

It's called go to sleep
Little Dreamer

Lawman says
you can't watch this

[adult swim]

08/17 Viewer Bump #1
[Approximately 10:58 pm (ET); Before Family Guy #2]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

I'd like to personally
and deeply thank you

for including the music of the following
artists in your many bumps over the years:

Amon Tobin
Aphex Twin
Boards of Canada <- now playing
Bonobo
[Chris] Clark
Dweezil Zappa
El-P
Grizzly Bear
J-Cilla
Jackson and His Computer Band
Jamie Lidell
Jaylib
Kid Koala
LFO
Luke Vibert
Madvillain
Nightmares on Wax
Plaid
Profuse 73
Schooly D
Squarepusher

[rogueofmv]

You forgot:

Chris Devoe
Coldcut
Collective Efforts
Cujo
DangerDOOM
David Banner
Dethklok
Diplo
Diverse
Fat Jon
Flying Lotus
Herbaliser
J Rocc
Loopdigga
Minamina Goodsong
Oh No
Peanut Butter Wolf
Percee P
Psyche Origami
TTC
Wildchild
Yesterday's New Quintet

[adult swim]

08/17 Viewer Bump #2
[Approximately 11:58 pm (ET); Before Metalocalypse]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

It was my moms birthday

she hates metalocalypse
but likes the music

so my friend melissa and I
decided to make her a cake
with her "favorite" character

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

P.S. its banana flavor

[Demonoftonight]

[adult swim]

08/24 Viewer Bump #1
[Approximately 10:26pm (ET); After Family Guy #1]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

In the ATHF movie,
what music track is playing

when the Insanoflex goes
stomping through New Jersey?

I'd like to use as a ringtone
for my ex-girlfriend.

[BEMaven]

I Like Your Booty
[But I'm Not Gay]



She's engaged - don't
even think about it.

[adult swim]

08/24 Viewer Bump #2
[Approximately 11:42pm (ET); During Venture Bros.]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

That guy who made the Master Shake
and Early shoes was totally awesome!!

So I decided to make shoes
of my favorite show on your line-up,
The Venture Bros.

Yeah they are sweet.

[cigaro_firefly]

Viewers 2
Enterprises 0

[adult swim]

08/24 Viewer Bump #3
[Approximately 12:00am (ET); Before Metalocalypse]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

Look at this.

[fredsolo]

[Mouse clicks out of the picture and drags it to the computer trash can]

[adult swim]

08/31 Viewer Bump #1
[Approximately 10:26pm (ET); After Family Guy #1]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

Has Adult Swim gotten in
the Guiness Book of World Records?

I'm sure [you'd]
be eligible for something.

[Yield_To_Peds_]

YES NEW RECORD!

Lamest Question Ever

You.

[adult swim]

08/31 Viewer Bump #2
[Approximately 12:00am (ET); Before Metalocalypse #1]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

I was wondering if you could put up
some of my Dethklok fanart on the air?

[neoanimegirl]

Why would you
do that to us?

Apologize to everyone
and their eyes

[adult swim]

08/31 Viewer Bump #3
[Approximately 12:15am (ET); Before Metalocalypse #2]
Folder: Bumps
Posted by: mahala_la_la

Dear Adult Swim,

I did a favor for a
friend over on Live Journal

and she, Madamewindmill,
made me this Nathan Explosion doll.

[holkimcardie1]

Nice doll

But your story is
really **bleep**ing weird

[adult swim]