Generally Insane Ramblings from Zanzibar19

Zanzibar19 blog moves to... Zanzibar19.com!

2007-03-15T12:48:00.001-07:00

Konichiwa, Snowman Army!

Chris and Ryan, creators/actors/idiots of the online comedy show SNOWMEN HUNTERS, here with a word to our friends and readers of this blog.

We’ve got 24 weekly SNOWMEN HUNTERS episodes from our home-brew media site, Zanzibar19.com, and things are crazy good. From the tiny Zanzibar19.com team, thanks for your views, emails, letters and death threats.

Things are going so good we’re having to revamp some of the ways we get the word out. Shooting, editing and posting these episodes on a weekly basis is HARD. Because of all this good feedback, we’re dedicating a lot more time to responding to friend requests, emails, etc. at our various profiles across the web. The upshot is our time for everything is dropping fast.

What does that mean?

It means we still want to have time to talk to our friends here AND socialize AND get the episodes out AND keep a meaningful blog going about what we’re doing.

Until now, every time we posted a blog, we’d upload it to 20-odd sites across the web. Yeah, we’re kind of dense that way. But in order to spend more time writing the blog and less time managing it, we’re going to simply ask everyone reading this blog to venture to our website at Zanzibar19.com and check out the blog there.

Of course, we’ll still be here interacting with friends here, but the blog will be at Zanzibar19.com. We’ll still be talking about what we’re doing with SNOWMEN HUNTERS, comment on entertainment in general and our niche in particular, and trying to be interesting and non-sucky as we do it. We just won’t have to spend the time uploading it everywhere.

Of course, we’ll still be talking to our friends, making new ones, and chatting with anyone who’d like to talk about podcasting/netcasting/vidcasting.

See you soon, and thanks for watching.

C&R Creators, SNOWMEN HUNTERS
Zanzibar19.com. It’s not TV. It’s good.

Sherman fights like Michael Jackson: SNOWMEN HUNTERS Episode 8 is here!

2006-10-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

So it turns out Sherman Rance and his bloodless snowmen enemies have one thing in common. They both love musical theater. And knife fighting.

In this weeks’ episode, SNOWMEN HUNTERS Episode 08: Michael Jackson F@#*s Boys, we see Sherman’s a Jet, because when you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way.

What does this mean? And what the hell does it have to do with Michael Jackson’s unnatural love for boys? Tune in and find out.

Brought to you by the fine, damaged people at Zanzibar19.com.

Enjoy, C & R

Come on over here and check it out. . . Zanzibar19.com.

It’s come to this: SNOWMEN HUNTERS Episode 07: Ginagut Monologues

2006-10-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

Every week, when we fling a new episode of SNOWMEN HUNTERSout into the world, we almost wonder if we’ll be arrested, or at least deported. But that hasn’t happened, and we live on to offend another day.

This week’s try: Episode 07: Ginagut Monologues. It tells the story of Everett’s graduation from apprentice snowman killer, to assistant snowman killer. And it has him drinking snowman blood.

SNOWMEN HUNTERS Episode 07: Ginagut Monologues. Enjoy. And be sure to watch in the next few weeks, as we close in on a season finale you flat out won’t believe.

Brought to you by the fine, damaged people at Zanzibar19.com.

Enjoy, C & R

Come on over here and check it out. . . Zanzibar19.com.

New today. . . SNOWMEN HUNTERS Episode 06: Mongoloid Madness!

2006-10-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

What have we done? For the burgeoning legions of SNOWMEN HUNTERS fans, Episode 06: Mongoloid Melodies is a short, sweet visit with madman snowmen hunter Sherman Rance.

For others, it may be evidence we need to be arrested for crimes against culture. We'll take that as a badge of honor, because we believe this is some crazy funny stuff.

With that warning, we give you the latest episode of SNOWMEN HUNTERS. . . Episode 06: Mongoloid Melodies!

Brought to you by the fine, damaged people at Zanzibar19.com.

Enjoy, C & R

Come on over here and check it out... Zanzibar19.com.

Announcing SNOWMEN HUNTERS Episode 05: Tits on a Snake.

2006-10-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

What kind of poor bastard man loves a stick the way normal men love a woman? Sexually, we mean, if you were wondering. Sometimes the stick on top. It’s not important. What’s important is what horrible thing in his past brings him to that kind of madness? What pushes a man to follow Sherman Rance in hunting snowmen? In Episode 5 of SNOWMEN HUNTERS we begin to unravel the mystery of Everett Van der Sloot, and find out just what he was, and what he has become.

Brought to you by the fine, damaged people at Zanzibar19.com.

Enjoy, C & R

Come on over here and check it out... Zanzibar19.com.

The SNOWMEN HUNTERS are with you Leo Laporte!

2006-10-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

We here at Zanzibar19 and creators of the SNOWMEN HUNTERS are longtime lovers/followers of Leo Laporte, the tech guru of TechTV (R.I.P.) and were in large part inspired to do the internet show thing based on Laporte's podcast evangilizing. Or is it Podcast?

This week, Laporte, over at his site TWiT.tv put for the idea of calling what we all do in online entertainment netcasting rather than podcasting. As proud members of the TWIT army from the start, the SNOWMEN HUNTERS are with you here, Leo.

Having waited for the coming internet broadcasting revolution since work in network sitcoms dried up (thanks for nothing, FEAR FACTOR! THE SIMPLE LIFE... you're dead to us!) we're very excited about the grassroots broadcasting possibilities.

But with our new online comedy series SNOWMEN HUNTERS, we've become frustrated there isn't a good word for online TV-style entertainment.

Podcast... that has an audio-only meaning these days. And people think you need an iPod to see or hear it.

Vlog... No thanks, and I think you burped something onto your shirt.

Vidcast... too A/V club nerdy. By that we mean lunch-time-in-the-library nerdy. Coming from a guy who spent his lunches in the library (Jusus-bouncing-baby-Christ I was nerdy) those are days I'd like to forget. Sorry vidcast.

Internet Protocol Television, aka IPTV... a name only a Linux evangalist could love.

Feedcast... What the frack is that? (email your notations of how nerdy a curse word like frack is to CSmith@Zanzibar19.com).

Mobcast... Because there aren't enough GODFATHER references in popular culture.

TAWCast or DCast... Stop. Just stop.

TeleCast... now we are literally going in cirlces.

Leocast... insert your complaint about shameless Laporte bottom-kissing here.

Netcast is short, simple, clear to the regular person and it's short, sweet and non-techie. i.e. It's a normal word.

So we're with you, and everyone who disagrees with you (in this case) is wrong. There, we said it.

From the Snowman Army to the TWiT army, we're with you.

-C

Announcing Episode 04: Fart Tank Fiasco... Yes, that’s the real name.

2006-09-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

You would think shooting snowmen is the craziest thing a man could do. You would think a man marrying and making sweet, gentle love to a stick would really, really be as far as a man could go.

But in this week’s SNOWMEN HUNTERS, you’ll see just how far Sherman and Everett will go to get what they need to be he best damn snowmen killers in the world.

Brought to you by the fine, damaged people at Zanzibar19.com. We should be sorry, but we’re not.

C & R

SNOWMEN HUNTERS Episode 3... Everett loves his stick TOO much.

2006-09-19T23:10:00.000-07:00

Boy, this... What we do in this episode will live to embarrass our relatives. This on ends on such a crazy, random, ridiculous level we’ll be living it down for years. But man, it’s funny.

So what won’t we do for our audience? NOTHING! But explaining this new episode of SNOWMEN HUNTERS this coming Thanksgiving is going to be tough. But we’ll take it for you!

Anyway, with that warning, we unveil SNOWMEN HUNTERS, Episode 3: Boy Meets Stick.

So who’s more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him? That’s the question we tackle, in our first Everett centered episode. You’ve been asking for it, so you get the background on Sherman’s moron partner. We see the effects of a horrible secret from Everett’s past, and how they lead him to follow a man who shoots snowmen for a living. The end of this one is something you won’t want to miss.

Enjoy.

Zanzibar19.com
It’s not TV. It’s good.

Remaking STAR WARS? It’s simply a matter of time.

2006-09-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Lately we’ve been buzzing with the fun of having our own mini-studio, punching out these SNOWMEN HUNTERS every week.

Yay, good for us. Whatever.

But as usually happens when you get a bit of success, your mind starts wandering towards the next head to mount on your wall. While we haven’t found that yet (other than more, crazier SNOWMEN HUNTERS episodes) we came across a hell of a headtrip.

It started as we thought about last week’s posting, about the SNL cast that is playing somehow, somewhere in the afterlife.

The SNL posting got us thinking about somehow bringing actors/directors from any era together for fantasy projects. We then remembered George Lucas talked a few years back about just this: At some point, the CGI engines which brought us the true, interesting fantasy acting of Gollum and King Kong (not just the misfires of Jar Jar) could eventually be used to resurrect Alec Guiness, River Phoenix, Natalie Wood, whoever. Grab an actor’s catalogue, every performance, picture, interview, voice-recording, plug it into a new script and POW: Now 1960s era William Shatner is the villain in the rebooted JAMES BOND series.

Try to tell us you didn’t just get a geekgasm.

Then it hit us: It’s only a matter of time before this process was used to remake the STAR WARS saga. Just try to tell us Lucas, the man who rewrote history (by CGIing Jabba the Hutt and having Greedo shoot first) wouldn’t jump at this. Or at least order his minions jump on this after he passed on.

Then it hit us again: The fine points of this technology will take a few years to develop, so when would this happen? Lucas is fond of reissuing tweaked versions on anniversaries (1997’s SPECIAL EDITIONS), so a better question is when could this happen? Wednesday, May 26, 2027, or the 50th Anniversary of STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE.

Dust off your countdown clocks. So stake-out your place in line now. It’s coming. Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

Of course that got us and our pals thinking about what/how we’d do it. Here’s what we’ve come up with. Totally useless, we know, but really interesting to contemplate.

STAR WARS 2027

Writer/Director: Peter Jackson (we’re sure they’ll eventually have director-bots too). We thought about what he said in remaking KING KONG: That he’d use the original as a ‘real historical document’ i.e. the core which would act as a skeleton around which he’d update/change/enhance, all while being faithful to the ‘reality’ of the original work.

Sean Penn (FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN era) as Anakin Skywalker
Rachel Weisz (ABOUT A BOY) as Padme Amidala
Vincent Price as The Emperor
Andy Serkis (Gollum in LORD OF THE RINGS) as Yoda
Sean Connery as Obi Wan Kenobi
Orlando Bloom (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN)as Luke Skywalker
Vivien Leigh (GONE WITH THE WIND) as Princess Leia
Burt Lancaster (FROM HERE TO ETERNITY) as Han Solo
Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca
Denzel Washington as Lando Calrissian
Christopher Walken as Count Dukoo
Lawrence Fishburne as Mace Windu
James Earl Jones as Darth Vader
Peter O'Toole (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA) as Qui Gon Jinn
Errol Flynn (THE SEA HAWK) as Jango/Boba Fett/Clone Troopers

Hashing around this idea with our friend Scott Sleeper, he came up with an interesting list:

James Dean (REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE) as Anakin Skywalker
Sophie Marceau (THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH) as Padme Amidala
Boris Karloff (or maybe Robert England) as The Emperor
Frank Oz as Yoda
Russell Crowe as Obi Wan Kenobi
Hugh Jackman as Luke Skywalker
Katharine Hepburn as Princess Leia
Charlton Heston (PLANET OF THE APES) or Bruce Campbell (EVIL DEAD 2) (LOL!!) as Han Solo
Kevin Peter Hall (the Predator in PREDATOR) as Chewbacca
Lawrence Fishburne as Lando Calrissian
David Carradine (KUNG FU, KILL BILL) as Count Dukoo
Keith David (PITCH BLACK) as Mace Windu
James Earl Jones as Darth Vader
Jet Lee as Qui Gon Jinn

Yes, we’re geeks.

SNOWMEN HUNTERS Episode 2: I See Faces in My Steak!

2006-09-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

You’d think if a man hunted snowmen, you’d know the craziest thing you’re ever going to know about him. But when it comes to Sherman Rance and his mumbling idiot friend Everett, shooting snowmen is the sanest thing they do.

Check out the new episode of SNOWMEN HUNTERS, and feel free to click over to our YouTube profile (or double click the player below) to give us the rating you feel is fair. Based on the feedback and emails we’ve received since last week’s premiere, we suspect we’re close to breaking into the top ranks of YouTube comedy. But we’ll need your help, and your 5 star votes, to get there. We’re probably a mere episode or two away... (famous last words...)

But who are we really doing this for, anyway? That’s right. It’s you. Only you.

Here endith the ass-kissing, and here startith the show. . .

Thanks for watching,

C & R

Zanzibar19.com

It’s not TV. It’s good.

SNL’s Studio 8H in the sky

2006-09-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

So I don't know if this means anything but. . . well, actually I am sure. It means nothing, but I thought it was interesting.

In the mad dash to get things ready for the launch of SNOWMEN HUNTERS and Zanzibar19.com, we've been fleshing out bios and PR info for our various profiles and sites. In a way, trying to put down everything you like/are interested in/all that's influenced you in these bios might qualify as a kind of therapy. I'm not sure I want people to know all that's revealed about our inner lives as seen by the favorites movies/TV entries of ours, but oh well. The stuff we left off so as not to look like letches would make your toes curl.

One thing we did realize, going through all our comedic heroes, is that if there is a heaven, it's got a hell of a SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE cast. Here's the line up so far: John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Andy Kaufman and Charlie Rocket (okay, so it's not totally great) with special appearances by Jim Henson's Muppets (check your SNL reruns if you're confused by this). What's more, the potential guest stars are Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, with musical guests: Half the Beatles.

I'm only being half ironic when I say I wish I were dead.

C

World Premiere of SNOWMEN HUNTERS!

2006-09-06T16:28:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s that time. The premiere of SNOWMEN HUNTERS , Episode 1! But unlike another, more famous Episode 1, we're trying to be absurdly funny.

How successful are we? You be the judge.

And remember to check back at Zanzibar19.com every Wednesday for new episodes.

C & R

Second SNOWMEN HUNTER teaser preview

2006-09-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

Hey Friends, Romans, Snowmen Hunters,

Its getting close to that time... the September 6 premiere of SNOWMEN HUNTERS! With the minutes ticking down, we thought wed throw out another of our Confetti previews.

So sit back and see what Sherman has in his freezer.

And be sure to tune in online only September 6 to see the first episode of SNOWMEN HUNTERS at Zanzibar19.com.

First SNOWMEN HUNTERS Season 1 teaser...

2006-09-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

Hey all. We're posting this as a little taste of the insanity to come from SNOWMEN HUNTERS, which premieres tomorrow at Zanzibar19.com

SNOWMEN HUNTERS, now on iTunes!

2006-08-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

Greetings Snowman Army, and Zanzibar19 fans nearly everywhere...

A quick, sweet note from those of us slaving over the first season of SNOWMEN HUNTERS. You can now subscribe to us in iTunes. Right now the teaser trailer is there, but come September 6, you'll be able to get new episodes of SNOWMEN HUNTERS every Wednesday.

To subscribe, simply click over to Zanzibar19.com, and click on the iTunes subscribe button.

That is all for now... Watch This Space.

C & R

Four shows you MUST watch. . .

2006-08-15T21:12:00.000-07:00

So we’ve been watching video-over-the-web grow for awhile now, and we couldn’t be more excited about the next year or so. The promise of web video is finally paying off. As you may have read by now, we’re betting our futures (well, part of them…) that quality, independently made TV-style entertainment will live and breath on the web. Sexy, isn’t it… ‘independently made, TV-style entertainment?’ That kind of phrasing makes you want to rip your clothes off, huh? Thank God we make better shows than write late-night blog postings...

September 6 we’re premiering our first show, SNOWMEN HUNTERS, at Zanzibar19.com. So we’re stoked.

But enough about us (for now). We’re here tonight to praise four fellow travelers. While watching the YouTube wave lift all boats, we’ve come to like four shows and feel the need to throw praise their say. Three you probably know, but the fourth is maybe the best of them all, and not nearly as famous as it deserves. . .

First, ASK A NINJA . These guys can do more with a wall and a ninja suit than most comedians can do with $60 million and a gang of ex-SNL writers. How is it some guy is making money doing NATIONAL LAMPOON’S DORM DAZE 2, and the Ninja is still shooting in his apartment? Well, that’s the kind of injustice the web-video revolution will fix.

Second, SOUP OF THE DAY . . . This one premiered in May with three-episodes-a-week, (obviously, a show made by robot crews and edit-droids) and finished their season in July. It was a hell of a stunt to watch. The premise is simple: A guy is dating three sexy, accomplished women and must choose between them. Yes, yes, it’s the kind of problem we all are familiar with, but what they do with it, and the fun improv stuff they pull off, shows a good web-based show will give you things network and even cable won’t. They’ve broken up the show and are now having daily 3 minute episodes.

Third, CHAD VADER. Even while we’re both geeks with toxic levels of nerd-based paint swimming in our blood, we make it a practice to steer clear of STAR WARS send-ups. We only need one Kevin Smith, thanks. But when we finally saw this one, damn it, it was funny. It also proved something we truly believe: Even a bad sounding idea can be great if you do it right. Vader as a day manager of a grocery store? Where’s Carrot Top when you need to shoot him? But it was really, really good. And despite their recent undeserved cancellation at Channel 101, we hear they’re making more episodes now. . .

Which brings us to the funniest, weirdest, wildest series we’ve seen in this new medium. If there were justice in this world or the next, these guys would be as big as ASK A NINJA . Not only is this the funniest thing we’ve seen this year, it’s fearless. These guys know how to go farther than anyone, and why if you do that right, you’re funnier than anyone.

Their show helped convince us the truly wild frontiers of comedy were here on the web, which is why we’re going to make people laugh by shot gunning snowmen in the face. The title says it all: PUPPET RAPIST. These guys are gods.

I say again… PUPPET RAPIST. Go watch it. Then write them an email and thank them from us.

We thought the time had come to say some of this. See you with more news soon. . .

C & R

Zanzibar19.com announces SNOWMEN HUNTERS premiere date!

2006-08-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

Attention Snowman Army, SNOWMEN HUNTERS fans, and twisted children of most ages…

Zanzibar19.com is crazed with happiness to announce the premiere date of our new comedy series, SNOWMEN HUNTERS, is set for Wednesday, September 6.

Starting then, at Zanzibar19.comcom and across the internet, you’ll be able to see the weekly adventures of idiot idealist Sherman Rance and his more idiotic friend Everett Van Der Sloot as they try to make the world a better place by destroying every snowman in sight. How is that you ask? Tune in and see.

Some of you may have first seen SNOWMEN HUNTERS as one of the semi-finalists in the FX Network’s show us your pilot contest in June. It was ranked in the top 20 out of over 3000 entries. (That’s the top 0.67-Percent to you and me Russ). While we didn’t make it to that air, we’re pretty sure it was because we were too raw in our comedy, and too insane in our premise, to be seen on even cable TV!

Check us out at Zanzibar19.com, or see our Myspace page Myspace.com/Zanzibar19

Greetings from Zanzibar19.com

2006-08-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

So this is how it all begins.

This is Christopher Allan Smith and Ryan Neisz saying hello from our new entertainment mission, Zanzibar19. We're the creators of SNOWMEN HUNTERS, and you 're looking at the first entry in our new blog about all things Zanzibar19. Which, honestly, right now that pretty much means all things SNOWMEN HUNTERS.

Now, you might ask, ''Who are you, and why should we care, taint face?''

Well, first off, what 's with the attitude? Really. Taint face? Is that necessary? Funny, yes, but you 're talking to us like we made you watch JOEY or something.

Second, we 're a couple of talented and kind of cocky hustlers who have nearly cracked into the Hollywood entertainment fortress a few times over the years. Well, we 're tired of waiting. With the arrival of iPods, cheaper professional digital filmmaking tools, and the deluge of podcast and video sites, Old Hollywood 's strangle hold on big audiences is finally broken.

The jig is up. We 're storming the doddering network 's castle and gonna burn it down from the inside. Well maybe. Old Hollywood may see the light and surrender. We 'll let them surrender, I guess.

So with this attitude and a few well chosen tools, namely our beloved Panasonic DVX-100A, our background in entertainment production and lifelong love of every kind of ridiculous comedy, we 're going to be rolling out every crooked idea in our heads for your entertainment. Our first entry? The aforementioned SNOWMEN HUNTERS.

It 's the touching story of Sherman Rance, a shotgun toting madman, and his drooling fool of a sidekick, Everett van der Sloot. It 's Sherman 's manic belief true evil in the world is embodied in snowmen, and we won 't be safe until they 're exterminated. What 's made him so crazy? Why does he have a child molester 's flattop? What horrid secret has turned Everett into a retard? (Save your emails kids. Retard. We said it. Retard, retard, retard). And what is it about snowmen they think is so threatening?

Find out when SNOWMEN HUNTERS debuts on a Wednesday in the next few weeks. We 're a little gray on the exact Wednesday. How gray? Charcoal. (A hooray for you in this blog if you can name that reference). Actually, we 're going to have new SNOWMEN HUNTERS every Wednesday, but we need to make sure everything is in place, so we 'll be coming at you soon with a premiere date. Expect it in August or early September at the latest.

So okay, is this blog going to be just a bunch of shilling for SNOWMEN HUNTERS?

Yes. Um... no. No. Definitely not. Well, probably. I 'm sorry, what answer are you looking for?

Okay, it won 't. In the coming days, we 'll be using this blog as an outlet for our ideas/rants/observations/reviews of everything entertainment, both on and off the web. If we see something we like, we 'll let you know. Here 's our first offering now: Watch every episode of Ask a Ninja and Puppet Rapist you can. They 're on the web. Email us if you need the links.

If we see something we don 't like, we 'll let you know too. If it 's bashing Rob Schneider, it 's probably me, Chris, writing. If it 's bashing, I don 't know, Mother Theresa, puppies, or defenseless penguins or something, it 's probably Ryan talking. Hmmm. Ryan might not like the fact I revealed that. Anyway...

So hello, and thanks for your attention. Watch this space for more insanity soon.