The guest list really is a who’s who of Internet fame and/or ignominy. Amplifier’s own Joel Bush will be there to hopefully document the event. We gave him a great video camera so honestly, he’s without excuse!

ROFL Con (In their own words)

Mix up a bunch of super famous internet memes, some brainy academics, a big audience, dump them in Cambridge, MA and you’ve got ROFLCon.

The conference is slated for April 25th and 26th of 2008.

It’s a group dissection of internet culture. What makes it work, why it works, how it works. We’ll talk about where internet culture has been and where we think it’s going.

Then, there’ll be parties. A music show, with memes performing their work live. And then a big blowout party at the end, with everyone dancing and rocking out.

Needless to say, this might be the most important gathering since the fall of the tower of Babel.

You can say many things about the gang at Rooster Teeth. They own their medium. They’re funny. They’re continuously experimenting with new forms and permutations (Grifball!) And many more.

But they’re also just overkillers in the best way. They invest their DVDs not only with the classic Red vs Blue content, but with so much of the unrelenting absurdity that is their signature. So when they release the DVD BOXED SET of ALL 5 Seasons of RVB on 5 DVDs at $69, you’re already getting an enormous value. (The DVDs individually retail for $20) And each of those DVDs were packed with all the outtakes, missing scenes, bonus foo and so on.

But with this new boxed set they’ve now created 2 MORE hours of behind the scenes material, “making of” documentaries and all sorts of other stuff. So six DVDs for seventy bucks, it’s like $50 off. Plus you get the awesome black/blue and red all over double-box to carry them in.

We hope to have a more extensive writeup soon.  (we still have to watch through all this stuff!)

Previously in Undependent…

• We profiled Tiki Bar TV’s Lala Pinup Calendar and praised it for:
  • Its direct function as a wall calendar
  • Its value as a shibboleth for Tiki Bar TV fans…
  • Its deepening of the Tiki Bar TV brand thanks in part to its perfectly executed Vargas-style retro aesthetic

So now we’re introducing to Undependent readers Tiki Bar TV’s new “Drinkbot Decanter.”

Again, Tiki Bar has produced a genuinely original product here. Like the Lala Calendar and the Charooba Mug before it, Drinkbot Decanter scores a direct hit for true fans. But we at Undependent, presuming as we do to be experts, also have to praise Tiki Bar TV particularly their manufacturer Tiki Farm for a tiny detail which serves as the crowning achievement of this product. As this will factor into future merchandise profiles, we’ll call it the “You’ve Got to be Kidding Me” factor.

Drinkbot Decanter’s capstone is the tiny, detailed lampshade included with the order. If you haven’t done so already, watch the classic Drinkbot episode for this perfect bit of prop comedy. Being confident comedians, they don’t stop everything to ensure viewers see the lampshade on Drinkbot’s head. It’s just another example of theinspired lunacy that is the signature of Tiki Bar TV.

So, if you were making an expensive, completely custom mug, would you go to the trouble and add more cost to it for this small joke? Of course you wouldn’t. That’s why we’re not writing about you, we’re writing about someone who really gets how tangible the little intangibles ARE. Cheers and mahalo to Tiki Bar and Tiki Farm for really going the extra mile for a joke.

Now that you think about it, you agree, right? Buy a Drinkbot Decanter to say so!

Angry Alien Productions: 30-Second Bunnies Theatre and other cartoons.
Happy New Year, Everyone! The new 2008 Bunny Titles are in!
For 2008, we present thus far:

Goodfellas
Jurassic Park
Sixteen Candles
SuperBad
GrindHouse
30 Days of Night

Meanwhile, the bunnies are finishing Pirates of the Bunibbean 3, which will premiere on the Starz online player.

Also, we missed this interview with Jennifer and Texas Public Radio the first time around.  Get up in this.

Tiki Bar TV’s Lala Fastwaster now has a pinup calendar. Artfully rendered by Vancouver visual effects artist and increasingly-popular pinup illustrator Kevin Genzel (thethirdsequence.com) this calendar achieves a lot more than meets the eye. For thousands of Internet Geeks, saying “Lala Pinup Calendar?!” will doubtless be more than enough to capture credit card numbers. But this hits a trifecta, well, ok, maybe a quadfecta.

• “Lala Pinup?!” - Understood
• Direct Function – By actually providing real utility, it increases the impulse purchase likelihood because “Hey, I need a calendar anyway…”
• Shibboleth – Tiki Bar TV now offers another product that lets fans identify themselves as “in the Tiki Bar TV Fan Club”
• Brand Deepening – The genuinely authentic rendering of these illustrations itself reinforces the cool retro vibe which spans other Tiki Bar TV elements.

All these elements together just deepen and expand the Tiki Bar TV brand. We’ve already mentioned their truly awesome original Charooba Mug here. Charooba is the Tiki Bar TV mascot made into an actual Tiki Mug. (A coffee table book that ITSELF becomes a coffee table!) This wicked, green glazed creature is a must own for any serious fan of the show and anyone who calls themselves a Tiki Collector. Buy them both and be done with it.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

You will find the rest here.

Btw, it is not heavy metal.

• Rooster Teeth at the 2007 European Machinima Festival
• Ask a Ninja Question 57 “Ninjazines.”
• Though I love what I do, I can also Dare to Dream with Wondermark.

Your store links: Rooster Teeth; Ask a Ninja; Wondermark.

About This Video: This is episode 5 of “The Meth Minute 39″, an original series of short cartoons by animator Dan Meth.

What happens when the hipster brunch scene meets the 8-bit Nintendo rage of boxing icon Mike Tyson? This, apparently. This cartoon includes adult language, so we recommend you watch it twice on your iPhone while sipping a mimosa.

For more Meth Minute 39, visit http://www.methminute.com