I don’t remember how I stumbled on Rob Sheridan’s drawings, but I love ‘em. He did this one ages ago, but he just blogged about it, and it made me laugh all over again.
It’s called "Cereal Mascot Reunion", and it’s terrific. My only complaint is that it doesn’t have the Quisp alien. I love Quisp.
Anyway, poke around his blog and see what’s there. His sketches are really, really funny. Some are pretty creepy, too.
If you went to BadAstronomy.com and found yourself here, never fear: the BA Blog has moved to its new home at Discover Blogs. The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking and all that) is still online, too.
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
Contact me: The Bad Astronomer "at" gmail "dot" com
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"Reading this book is like getting punched in the face by Carl Sagan. Frightening, but oddly exhilarating."
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June 1st, 2008 at 9:57 am
If you love Quisp, then you might enjoy a DVD called “Cap’n Crunch and Friends”. It’s a collection of the commercials that Jay Ward did for Quaker for Cap’n Crunch, Quisp and Quisp’s arch-rival, Quake. They date from the mid-60’s, so you might not remember them, but I do. Very clever.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:11 am
Since he’s not in the picture, apparently Boo-Berry died.
Oh, wait…
June 1st, 2008 at 10:16 am
A couple of the prints aren’t safe for work, at least one linked from the current blog post.
They’re well done, though.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:38 am
Cool website, but when you mentioned Cereal Killer, I though you meant this…
http://laist.com/2007/10/17/kreepsville_ind.php
June 1st, 2008 at 10:42 am
Thanks for the link! That is some great artwork. He should do the artwork for your new book.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:53 am
Ummm Quisp!
I was so mad when they discontinued Quisp and kept Quake! I loved Quisp.
One more reason I dislike whatever is popular.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:59 am
I bet PZ will love the Cthulhu Crunch from that site, BoC.
And to think, these are everyday people making this art. Who know what twisted creations exist behind their doors?
Least all we all know Phil’s creation, unless there’s a secret project aside from this site he’s got.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:52 am
Does this really mean the universe is young?
http://www.xanga.com/soccerdadforlife/658063995/item.html
June 1st, 2008 at 11:56 am
I love the Quisp alien too! My husband didn’t know who he was. I showed him and he said “Well I guess that’s why it isn’t there, only you and Phil Plait are dorky enough to know who he is,” ha!
June 1st, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Not only do I remember Quisp (which is the nickname I use for Qwest), but I wonder where ‘Sugar (?) Bear’ is …..
J/P=?
June 1st, 2008 at 12:10 pm
1. Space dust exists which makes the universe seem larger than it should. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080515-galactic-dust.html
2. Nuclear reactors are may be under the mantle. http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080515/full/news.2008.822.html
Do any of these links suggest that the earth is younger than 4.7 billion years old? Sorry about the first comment, I forget that a xanga account is required to view that url.
June 1st, 2008 at 1:33 pm
And let us not forget the “Cooooooooookie Crisp!” dog… Which has been REPLACED on newer boxes by some wolf I don’t remember ever being there before. I guess he finally got locked up.
June 1st, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I got quite a giggle that the good captain (Crunch) is the only one who seems vaguely alive, busily reading a copy of Penthouse—since “his” cereal was one of my favourites for much of my early childhood. I guess the seafaring life is good for you.
Of the rest, the only one I could recognise was the tiger (Tony), albeit it seems like I should recognise the rabbit(? hare?). The other two are complete mysteries to me. (So is, for that matter, this Quisp character that’s being mentioned.)
Thge deck of cards, dartboard, and Kiss (a real vinal album on the floor) are all pretty funny too. I wasn’t able to make out the picture(?) on the wall next to the dartboead. And it’s too bad they were all drinking usaian bud, better known as polluted water, instead of beer.
June 1st, 2008 at 1:55 pm
When I followed the link, it tried to load a trojan into my computer.
June 1st, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I was trying to imagine which icon would fess up to owning the Kiss album, and which Aladdin Sane. Also note the oldschool Atari controllers.
Why does Boo Berry always get disparaged when General Mill’s Monster Cereals are in da house? Some falling out the three had? Or is it because Boo Berry was a latecomer? Screw Fruit Brute. When he wasn’t a fruit he was a brute.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:06 pm
blf:
The rabbit is for the cereal Trix, the one on the left is Frankenberry, and in the middle of the couch is Count Chocula. All are from sugar cereals made by General Mills (IIRC). I’d dig up some of the commercials, but youtube seems to be having problems at the moment.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:09 pm
blf, the Farrah Fawcett poster was a cultural phenomena in the US in the mid-70s, selling a million copies or some such.
BaldApe’s a one percenter!
June 1st, 2008 at 2:21 pm
@ sci88:
The linked article said nothing about the universe being smaller than it previously had appeared, nor did it have anything to say about the age of the universe. IANAA, but as far as I know magnitude isn’t really the preferred way to measure the distance of these objects from us. A quick search tells me that we still have to in some cases, so perhaps there are some objects that are closer than we had previously thought, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that the universe is any smaller. Either way, the universe could be way smaller than we’ve measured while still supporting a 4.7 BYO Earth.
For #2, how would possible fission reactions in the mantle make the observed age of the Earth younger?
June 1st, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Bing! Ah, Trix, yeah I vaguely recall that now—pure sugar and totally disgusting. Perhaps I should have recognised the chocolate count since, as I recall, “his” cereal was my sister’s favourite. Despite (or perhaps because of) being a chocoholic, I couldn’t stand the stuff (I have an amazingly strong recollection of retching the one (and only?) time I tried it).
June 1st, 2008 at 3:11 pm
If you like this, you might be interested in the webcomic Breakfast of the Gods. And yes, Quisp does make an appearance.
June 1st, 2008 at 7:21 pm
I meant to ask if those articles somehow cast doubt on the established age of the universe (13.7 billion years +- not much). Thanks for your response pcarini. I hope more people give me some feed back on my question.
1. Space dust exists which makes the universe seem larger than it should. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080515-galactic-dust.html
2. Nuclear reactors are may be under the mantle. http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080515/full/news.2008.822.html
June 1st, 2008 at 7:39 pm
@sci88
I don’t understand your saying “Space dust exists which makes the universe seem larger than it should,” and then linking to an article that says nothing of the sort.
The dust makes the universe appear dimmer than it should, but this in no way effects the distance or age of these objects, and I’m not sure how someone would get that impression. Radio emissions aren’t affected by dust.
June 1st, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Don’t worry Drama, it’s not I who is getting that impression. I copy/pasted the comments above the links off a young earth creationist’s blog.
June 1st, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Apparently Quisp wasn’t available in Canada but I would like to have seen the Sugar Bear in there. Guess there wasn’t enough room on the couch or he died of cancer or diabetes or heart disease from eating too much breakfast candy…. er.. I mean cereal.
June 1st, 2008 at 9:54 pm
sci88, off topic much?
June 1st, 2008 at 9:56 pm
(sci88) Don’t worry Drama, it’s not I who is getting that impression. I copy/pasted the comments above the links off a young earth creationist’s blog.
Anytime a YEC references actual science, you can be sure they’re misinterpreting it. They’re generally unwilling to do the most basic research, or even find sources that support their claims. The only people they’re fooling are other YECs.
Link 1 there is a non-starter for their argument because there are far more sophisticated ways to determine distance than just magnitude.. if that were the sole measurement then the sun would be “further away” during an eclipse.
Their interpretation of Link 2 is likely some ham-handed attempt to cast doubt on the efficacy of radiometric dating. The wikipedia articles on those subjects contain enough factual information that you can catch most of the YECs’ mistakes, or outright lies, just by reading them. Sometimes, though, they’ll try to jargon-bomb you into thinking they know what they’re talking about, at which point you may want to check the articles on pandasthumb.org or talkorigins.org.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:09 pm
According to Gumby, Sonny, the Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs cuckoo bird, was retarded (his word, not mine), and is probably not present because he’s been institutionalized. His exploitation by Big Cereal was one of the most shameful episodes in television advertising history.
Does anyone remember the 3 Cocoa Puffs kids who preceded the Cuckoo as the spokespeople for that cereal? When I was about 5, General Mills ran a contest to name them. I won 3rd prize, a Lionel train. Woot!
June 1st, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Remember in an early Futurama episode where Frye was complaining about how different things were in the future? “Caffeinated bacon? Baconated Grapefruit? ADMIRAL Crunch?!” Leela replies: “Maybe you’d rather try some Archduke Chocula…”
Cracks me up every time!
Anyone remember a 1970’s sugar ceral called Moonstones? It involved a trio of aliens mining the moon for delicious moonstones, and now you can eat them (the ’stones,’ not the aliens) in your cereal bowl! The cereal pieces were shaped like stars and crescent moons, and the aliens were a male captain overseeing another male and a female. I don’t recall if they had a robot or other mascot. One morning, I ate three or four bowls in rapid succession and promptly threw up. Ah, memories…
June 1st, 2008 at 11:25 pm
I hate the picture. It just makes me feel old.
Well, I had a visceral response so I guess it’s good art.
As for best cereal growing up, Apple Jacks owned all.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 am
Ick.. fast forward about ten years and you have Crispy Critters. The commercials came out about the same time that Ted Bundy went to the electric chair, and my twisted little kid mind permanently linked the two. To this day I can’t remember one without the other.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:37 am
I remember that episode, CR.
Cracked me up too!
June 2nd, 2008 at 5:58 am
I liked the old Cookie Crisp characters, and the cerial was a lot better then too. Also, Trix was better before the switch to fruit shapes, when it was still just little puff balls.
I remember two movie-linked cereals being really good – C3P0’s (the one that was out with Jedi, not the kind made years later) and the Batman cereal (first movie). They were pretty much the same, some kind of sweetened corn puffs.
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:36 am
If you liked that picture, check out the web comic called “Breakfast of the Gods”. The artist is on his 3rd issue – pretty good stuff.
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/poyorick/
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:43 am
How could I forget some other ‘mascots’:
Snap, Crackle and Pop
Toucan Sam
J/P=?
June 2nd, 2008 at 8:51 am
Nice! I love Rob Sheridan’s work– “Follow Me” is my favorite background of all time; I use it on my desktop and my work laptop. It gets commented it on all the time. Thanks for pointing him out again!
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:20 am
Okay, am I the only one in the world who actually ate a bowl of Kaboom! cereal? I think it was on the market for about 1 month. Something like 80% refined sugar. Of course you had to pour about three spoonfuls of sugar on it before it was edible…
December 22nd, 2008 at 7:04 pm
I like the picture! if you’re old admits! joke =P