The View From Down Here

A Ghostly Update

2012-01-26T16:11:00.000-05:00

The Girl and the Ghost has a history of being delayed. Example- one year ago today, I announced the completion of animation for the project. Is the movie done yet? No. But that will soon change.

Both the sound effects and music are extremely close to being finished, thanks to the fantastic Jake Ruby and Karen Graves. Once they're done, I'll put them together, and The Girl and the Ghost will finally be complete. It's just days away now.

With the movie being so close to done, cool things are already starting to happen. First up? The poster is here.

Also, the official Facebook page is up and running.
http://www.facebook.com/TheGirlAndTheGhost

And finally, the trailer is online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Ci7AXrIVE

Watch. Enjoy. Pass it on.

It's almost here!

Jacob's Semi-Yearly Year's End Review of the Year- 2011

2011-12-31T19:24:00.000-05:00

Here we are at the end of another year. In what seems to be a a pattern, this was a weird year. As per tradition, let's take a look back at the highlights, lowlights, and in-betweenlights.

2011 started with a mix of excitement and exhaustion after the recent completion of Four Tanks and a Healer. I took a brief rest, then shifted back into work mode and finished animating The Girl and the Ghost while Marisa and Larry had some big meetings in LA about Four Tanks.

Following completion of the animation for Ghost, I laid low for a while and let myself decompress a bit.

After a long, rainy spring that lasted into the summer, in late June, I took a trip to Niagara Falls and met Teal Sherer. We spent a few days hanging out, saw Chantal play at Jackson-Triggs and just had a great time.

Sadly, the vacation ended with me getting sick and it took me until the end of July to feel back to normal.

At the end of August, I was ready to donate again, so I went and got my hair chopped.

In September, Mom was out of commission with an infection in her finger and took most of the month to recover. Before the month was over, Mom was back on track and we took an interesting trip to Toronto, which I still need to blog about.

In October, nearly a year after its completion, Four Tanks and a Healer premiered at TheOneRing.net and received very positive reactions.

In November, Bridget, Mom, and I saw Marketa Irglova in an amazing, intimate concert. Still need to blog about that one too.

This strangely rainy December saw the release of a great holiday video Teal came up with. I was happy to have been involved, even if I only lent a small hand.

http://youtu.be/6ZnxWz3NAY4?hd=1

Christmas, though snowless, was nice. I loved watching Matthew experience the magic and fun of it all.

Overall, 2011 was a slow year that flew by. It was also, as most years are, a year filled with change.
One big change is that 4Reelz now consists of just Marisa and me, as Larry left to start his own company, Eddy Spaghetti Productions. I'm sure we'll still team up on plenty of stuff though.

Another notable change is that Matthew has grown from this little guy...

...into this less-little guy.

Entertainment-wise, I'd say it was a decent year. A brief rundown of what entertained me this year...

Movies:
The Muppets
Super 8
Thor
Captain America
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Music:
Marketa Irglova- Anar
Anna Nalick- Broken Doll & Odds & Ends
Billy the Kid & The Southside Boys- Ours
and even though it wasn't actually released this year, Jenny Owen Youngs- Transmitter Failure, which features probably my most listened-to song of the year, Last Person.

http://youtu.be/vLsV1IWB8nY?hd=1

I don't want to risk jinxing anything, but I have to say, the coming year is looking like it could be pretty outstanding.
In the next few weeks, music and sound effects for The Girl and the Ghost will be done and this seemingly endless project will finally be finished.
Things are in motion for my next project, currently titled Waiting for the Sun, to really get moving. Fingers crossed, this one could be a dream project.
And without giving anything away just yet, if all goes well, the coming summer could include a trip out west...
Also coming up in 2012, my 30th birthday the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and who knows what else?

Here's hoping 2012 is full of happiness, health, love, and success for all of us. Happy New Year, everyone!

Four

2011-11-26T17:39:00.001-05:00

Four years ago today, this happened.

Happy Birthday, Butthead!

Something Different

2011-11-04T16:44:00.000-04:00

My friend, Steve, has himself an awesome comic at MegaCynics.com. Not long ago, he asked if I'd like to do a guest strip. I've done a lot of cool artsy stuff in my time, but despite my love for comics, I've somehow never actually attempted one of my own. I liked the idea, so I agreed. I did my thing and the strip went online today! And Teal's in it, too! Check it out here.

http://www.megacynics.com/2011/11/04/vendetta/

You should also go back to the beginning and check out all the great comics Ash has made.

Enjoy!

Part 2

2011-10-21T14:24:00.000-04:00

The action-packed second episode of Four Tanks and a Healer is online at TheOneRing.net!

Check it out here:
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2011/10/21/49241-theonering-net-presents-four-tanks-and-a-healer-episode-2/

Or go right to the YouTube video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDhTB_rrvQk

And if you missed Part 1, watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A47d3fjDNSQ

Enjoy!

On the Eve of Part 2

2011-10-20T17:33:00.000-04:00

So, have you watched Part 1 of Four Tanks and a Healer yet? What did you think?

I'm pumped to say Part 2 goes online tomorrow morning, thanks to TheOneRing.net. You can read all about it here:
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2011/10/20/49224-four-tanks-and-a-healer-episode-2-online-tomorrow/

Want some other fun tidbits?

Marisa was the special guest on TORn Tuesdays a couple days ago to promote Four Tanks. I thought it was great and you can check it out here!

Video chat by Stickam.com

http://www.stickam.com/viewMedia.do?mId=192304917

And then, to completely boggle my mind, in the newest episode of Hobbit in 5, Four Tanks was mentioned alongside The Hobbit and the leaf on the wind himself, Alan Tudyk. I'm feeling major nerd pride.
Take a look!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hySTr6lwbYs

That's all for now. Get ready for Part 2!

Part 1

2011-10-14T15:54:00.000-04:00

Part 1 of Four Tanks and a Healer is online! Check it out! Spread the word!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A47d3fjDNSQ

"Four Tanks" News

2011-10-13T15:50:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow, October 14th, will be a special day for me. Nearly a year after its completion, Four Tanks and a Healer will finally be revealed online. At 11:00 AM EST, Part 1 will go live at TheOneRing.net. Check out the press release here:

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2011/10/12/48986-this-friday-theonering-net-presents-four-tanks-and-a-healer/

I'm definitely excited, but I'm mostly relieved that the project I spent most of last year animating will finally be out there for the whole world to see.

So, please, tomorrow morning, check it out, share your thoughts, and spread the word!

"Now go. And may the Light bless you."

How I Spent My Summer

2011-09-29T09:16:00.000-04:00

Like a sticky, 90+ degree whirlwind, summer has already come and gone. Looking back, I'd have to say it was a pretty odd summer for me. It began with a burst of awesomeness and spun into a blur of inactivity.
So, let's start with the (mostly) high note that kicked off my summer.

For the past couple years, I've been friends with the fantastic Teal Sherer (whom you might recognize from The Guild). Earlier this year, an idea became a discussion, a discussion became plans, and Teal and I agreed to finally meet and hang out for a few days in Niagara Falls.
Everything was arranged quickly and before too long, the end of June had arrived and I was ready. Well, almost.

On the morning of Thursday, June 23rd, I was up at 7 AM. The original plan was to hit the road at 10 AM, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that things weren't going according to plan. Despite everything being booked and ready so far in advance, my dad didn't take our van in to get checked until the day before I was supposed to leave. Our van is a few years old and has a bit of rust on the bottom. As a result, every time this guy fixed something, something else would break. He kept the van overnight on Wednesday and kept working through Thursday. So, I sat in my living room as the hours passed by, tracked Teal's flight all the way across the country (LA to Buffalo), and it started to look like we weren't getting the van back. Dad finally brought the van back at 8 PM. Mom and I debated what to do and decided to leave that night, so we didn't lose half of Friday traveling. We packed up and left at 9:45 PM, picked up my aunt, and arrived in Niagara Falls around 2:30 AM. By the time we got unpacked, settled in, and in bed, it was 4 AM.

I woke up to my phone ringing around noon on Friday, it was Teal checking in to make sure we arrived safely. I quickly got into my chair and a little while later, Teal made her way up to my room. After two years of friendship, we finally got to meet face to face.

We went to a late breakfast at Friday's, then basically just wandered around the area for a while.

We made our way down to the Maid of the Mist, and hopped aboard. Sure, we got a bit waterlogged, definitely moreso than Teal expected, but I couldn't, in all good conscience, let her miss out on the Maid of the Mist experience, could I?

After the boat, we wandered back to the hotel and had dinner at The Keg.

All of us ended the night just hanging out in the room and watching the fireworks over the Falls.
Despite the craziness of Thursday, Friday was great.

Saturday started with another late breakfast, this time at Tony Roma's, and then it was time for the big event. A lot of my Niagara trips are planned around Chantal Kreviazuk concerts, as was the case this time, but this one was raising the bar of awesomeness. Not only was it another show at the excellent Jackson-Triggs Winery, but this time, Chantal was being accompanied by the Niagara Symphony Orchestra. As if that wasn't cool enough, the concert was also being filmed for a DVD/Bluray, etc.
So, Mom, Aunt Karen, Teal, and I packed into the van and headed to the winery early to meet up with some friends before the show. It was fun, as always, to visit with Terence, Deb, Shelly, Chris, Russell, Mitch, Sandy, and a very pregnant Kathy. People came and went, we hung out and chatted for a bit, then made our way down to the amphitheater for the show.

In reviewing the concert, I would end up mostly echoing my own comments about past shows, so I'll just say the show was incredible, Chantal sounded and looked wonderful, the orchestra really enhanced the sound into a whole new experience, the venue was beautiful, the wine was outstanding, and we had perfect seats (Thanks, Del!).

After the show, we said our see-you-laters, snapped some pictures, and headed back to the hotel.

The awesome Karen Graves

The gang

Del!

Unfortunately, this is where the whole thing went downhill for me.

Around 4 AM on Sunday morning, I woke up feeling awful. The best I can guess is the mixture of wine and what I'm assuming was a kidney stone episode hit me at the same time and threw me for a loop, leaving me stuck in the hotel bed for the next couple days. I stayed in bed from Saturday night until we left on Monday morning, slept the whole way home, then got in my own bed for a couple more days.
For the last bit of vacation, my aunt and Teal bonded as they hung out and wandered around Niagara while Mom stayed in the room with me. I consider the "end" of the trip to be Sunday night. They had fireworks again and I could see them from my bed, so everyone gathered and watched. Teal had an early flight back to LA on Monday, so after the fireworks, she hugged me and was off.

After we got back, it took me about a week before I started to feel back to normal. Plus, I was laid up for so long, I got a bit weak and it took me about a month to fully feel like myself again.
So, the trip started and ended badly, but the concert and spending time with Teal were worth it.

That was the start of summer, and honestly, the rest of the summer whooshed by. It was an exceptionally hot summer, so I really didn't go out much. Everyone was busy, so I didn't see many people, though I did spend some good time with Bridget and Sarah. I even got to catch up a bit with Cathy and Nikki, neither of whom I'd seen in ages.
And, of course, I'm always hanging out with my ever-growing and scarily smart nephew, Matthew.

Before I knew it, my birthday was upon me and summer was nearing it's end. I had a pre-birthday visit from Corey, Eric, and Brendan, and then had a blast celebrating at Corks with Bridget the following weekend.

Me & Bridget

The weekend was topped off by a great hang out session with Marisa.

So, here we are. Fall has arrived and it looks like it'll be a busy one. I'm just about to embark on another Canadian adventure, I'm working on a big screenplay, I'm prepping a short film I love, and I'm working on a comic strip.
Yowza.
Let's go, fall!

26

2011-08-02T06:08:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday.
Miss you.
Love you.

A Boring May Update

2011-05-27T04:07:00.000-04:00

I wish I could blog more often.

Correction- I wish good, exciting, blogworthy things occurred more often. Truth is, everything I'm involved with seems to have a long and involved process with not many exciting updates until the very end. So, looking at my blog may give the impression that I'm lazy and not doing anything at all, that's not the case.

For the most part.

Most recently, I've been working on editing The Girl and the Ghost. I'm happy (and relieved) to say it's nearly finished. The next step, which I'm very pumped about, will be adding sound effects and music. After that, it should finally be finished. Then comes the task of figuring out what to do with the finished film...

I've been doing a little bit of plotting and outlining for a new script that I really think has the potential to be unique and special, but it's too soon to get into details on that, so consider yourself teased.

Besides that, I've got a new animated short written and ready to go whenever I am, plus Larry and I are talking about coming up with something new to work on. So, when it comes to what's next, I've got options aplenty.

As for Four Tanks and a Healer, I've got no real news to share as of yet. Hopefully I'll have something exciting to share soon.

Other than that, I've pretty much just been laying low and hanging out with my constantly growing and ridiculously smart nephew. I brag, but it's true.

Movie-wise, I've only gotten to the theater to see Paul and Thor, both of which I loved.

I'm looking forward to all the movies you'd expect me to, like Green Lantern, Captain America, and Super 8, and I'm surprised to say I'm (cautiously) looking forward to the new X-Men and Transformers movies, even though their previous installments left me cold.

So, cartoons, writing, and movies...yep, I'm boring. I will be having a much anticipated adventure next month, so I know I'll at least have some excitement to write about then, if not before.

Until then, stay snazzy.

VIII

2011-05-26T00:12:00.000-04:00

Eight years ago today.
Love you.
Miss you.

From OldSchool to the Future

2011-01-26T04:45:00.001-05:00

It's crazy the way things align themselves sometimes. Today, January 26th, 2011, is the fifth anniversary of the release of my first animated short, Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution.

It just so happens that today, on the anniversary of our first project together, Larry's out in LA with Marisa and Mark Ordesky for some big meetings with some big networks regarding Four Tanks and a Healer. Cross those fingers.

But wait! There's a third cool tidbit about today I'd like to share. As of a couple hours ago, animation for The Girl and the Ghost is finished. There may still be some minor tweaks to be made, but for the most part, it's done. Next up is editing and some audio work, then this baby will finally see the light of day. It's been a long time coming.

We've certainly come a long way since posting our little cartoon on iFilm in 2006. Howsabout we celebrate by taking a stroll down memory lane and revisiting this old boy?

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdbl0s_nintendo-oldschool-revolution_fun

PS- You can also read a couple awesome articles from our wrap party here and here.

Jacob's Semi-Yearly Year's End Review of the Year- 2010

2011-01-01T04:18:00.000-05:00

Well, kiddos...it's been a crazy year. Who's up for a little recap?

Way back in January, after a hiatus that was much longer than intended, I resumed work on The Girl and the Ghost.

As I animated that, Larry and the gang finished and premiered Dolly Oxem's Traveling Video Circus.

I worked right through February and in March, realized that at some point, the music video for Sex Love and Honey had snuck past 100,000 views without me noticing.

Mom and I took off to Toronto for a few days and attended a pair of amazing back-to-back Our Lady Peace concerts. (A blog entry for this trip is still coming. Really.)

A few days after getting back from the trip, we had The Meeting. The 4Reelz crew came together for a meeting which I consider to be the official start of the journey known as Four Tanks and a Healer.

As work on Ghost continued into April, the schedule for Four Tanks and a Healer began to sink in. I knew I couldn't handle them simultaneously, so I reluctantly put The Girl and the Ghost on hold once again and started animation on Four Tanks.

Toward the end of the month, I took in a fantastic concert by The Swell Season.

The summer was comprised of endless long hours of animation. By the time August rolled around, I was in massive need of a break. Mom and I swung up to Niagara Falls for a few days and saw Chantal & Raine play two shows at the Jackson-Triggs winery.

It was a great break and an unforgettable experience.

August also saw the release of my personal favorite movie of the year- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. 112 minutes of pure movie fun.

Before the month was over, Superman paid us a visit.

Christopher Dennis, the Hollywood Boulevard Superman, was in town to film a scene for The Long, Slow Death of a Twenty-Something with Larry. After filming, they stopped by my house. Not many people get surprises like that.

September got off to a bumpy start. A fun night out at the wine bar with Corey, Eric, and Beth ended with heavy rain basically frying my wheelchair's controls.

This left me stranded with a dead chair for my birthday and a couple weeks beyond. It sucked, but I got a lot of animation done.

Once my chair was semi-functional, Mom and I spent a day at the zoo. A weekday in late September is definitely the time to go. Everyone's at school and work and you pretty much have free reign of the place. It's pretty nice.

The work continued through October. When Halloween arrived, Matthew was ready. His love for Toy Story was apparent by his costume choice.

In early November, I allowed myself another little break and headed up to Niagara again with Mom. This was a very laid back trip consisting mostly of eating, drinking, and a Chantal concert. It was a short, but sweet getaway.

Upon returning, I buckled down for the home stretch and finally finished animating Four Tanks and a Healer after seven months.

In the following days, I re-learned how to relax just in time to enjoy Thanksgiving and Matthew's 3rd birthday. Still can't believe the little bugger's already three.

In December, I sat down and just wrote for the first time in months and it felt great. I now have a script for a brand new animated short film.

On the 18th, we all gathered at Pufferbelly in Kent for the wrap party for Four Tanks and a Healer and The Long, Slow Death of a Twenty-Something.

A few days later, it was time for Christmas and all the fun that comes with it.

Now, I'm sitting here in the early hours of 2011, just reflecting to myself on 2010 after spending New Year's Eve with Mom and Matthew. If I had to pick a word for the year, I guess it would be "strange." I spent most of the year with my nose in my laptop, racing toward the animation deadline. The working hours seemed to drag on forever and stressed me out to my wit's end. Oddly, that made the rest of the year fly by. I honestly barely even remember the summer. So, it was a productive year, but a strange one.

The highlight? Watching this butthead...

...grow into this butthead.

So, what's up for 2011? First and foremost, I'm jumping in and FINALLY finishing The Girl and the Ghost.

After that, I'll be tackling the new short, which I really think will be amazing. I'm extremely excited about this one.

And what of Four Tanks? Well, Larry has meetings scheduled with some big TV networks out in LA at the end of January, so we'll see.

Here's hoping 2011 is a great one. Happy New Year, guys!

Three Already?

2010-11-26T20:13:00.000-05:00

Time, as it often tends to do, has flown. I can't believe it, but today marks three years since I became an uncle.

Happy Birthday, Matthew! Love you, butthead.

Completion and Relaxation

2010-11-21T16:32:00.000-05:00

Well, since my last blog entry, I've been busy. Very busy. I suppose the biggest news would be that after 7 months of working like crazy, I've finally finished animation for Four Tanks and a Healer. Completion was reached in the early hours of November 13th. I was exhausted, but so relieved.

The guys are currently editing and scoring it, then it'll be totally done. In the meantime, here's the most recent trailer:

Four Tanks and a Healer- Full Trailer
Uploaded by JacobDrake. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf8621_four-tanks-and-a-healer-full-traile_shortfilms

I hope people will like the finished product once it's released. It was a long road of many many late nights spent sitting by myself in the dark and animating. I won't lie, it was rough. My sanity was frequently saved by watching The Nostalgia Critic and more recently, old clips of The Kids in the Hall on YouTube. I had forgotten how great that show was, I really need to get myself the complete series on DVD soon.

Since finishing my work on Four Tanks, I've spent this last week living a fairly hobbitish lifestyle- eating, drinking, relaxing, and enjoying my sleep more than I have in quite a while. It's nice. It actually took me a couple days to get over feeling guilty for relaxing instead of working, but I'm good now.

So, now that that's done, what's next? Well, after I decompress a bit more, my top priority is to dive in and finally finish The Girl and the Ghost once and for all. After that, I've got a few potentially amazing projects in the works, but we'll discuss those once they're a little closer to fruition.

Now I've got more time to blog and I've got tales going back to March waiting to be written about, so it'll be nice to sit down and tackle those.

For now, I'm just looking forward to enjoying Thanksgiving week, hanging out with friends, and just being.

25

2010-08-02T07:07:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday.
Miss you.
Love you.

Quick Little Update

2010-07-07T19:18:00.001-04:00

I'm still hard at work within the Animation Cave, chipping away at Four Tanks and a Healer, but wanted to peek my head out for a second to let you know that the trailer went online yesterday. Check it out!

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdy258_four-tanks-and-a-healer-trailer_shortfilms

So, what do you think?

VII

2010-05-26T06:08:00.001-04:00

Seven years ago today.

Love you.

Miss you.

Amusing and Creative Entry Title

2010-05-26T06:03:00.000-04:00

My brain may explode soon. I've been going nonstop for so long now, I thought I'd take a minute to update the ol' blog. It's been three months since my last entry. Shame on me.

So, what have I been doing?

Shortly after I last wrote, I snuck away for an awesome Toronto trip which will get its own entry (or entries) on here soon. Really. I mean it.

Upon returning, my aunt and uncle came down from way up north in Canada for a visit. It had been a few years since I last saw them, so it was great to spend some time with them.

A few days later, Larry, Aaron, Marisa, and I had our first 4 Reelz production meeting. Hmm... Come to think of it, I don't think I've mentioned 4 Reelz on here yet. Go to 4Reelz.com and take a look-see.

Anyway, the meeting was at Mirabile's, a little family-owned Italian restaurant. The neighborhood's not the best, but the place itself was nice.

After the production meeting, Vince and Travis joined us for some food and a table read-through of Four Tanks and a Healer.

The food was great and they had me drinking homemade wine before noon, which helped numb the ache of actually having to be up before noon.

The read-through went nicely and we were ready.

They recorded all the dialogue for Four Tanks the next day and I went back to working hard on The Girl and the Ghost. I had hoped to finish it before starting Four Tanks, so I would have one less thing to worry about. I got close, but it didn't quite pan out that way.

In the following weeks, Larry drove up and we recorded the last of his dialogue and I directed Aaron's recording session via Skype.

The animation is about 95% finished, but I got to the point where I had to start Four Tanks. So, right now I'm a little over a month in on that.

Here's a little teaser peek at Four Tanks and a Healer...

I'm working hard and putting in long hours so I can make sure this thing is as good as it can be. It's turning my brain to mush, but it must be done.

I'm a machine.

This weekend, I'll be recording the last of Marisa's stuff for The Girl and the Ghost and I'm going to see The Swell Season. Should be a good weekend.

I'll be blogging again soon and I'll be posting some long overdue Ghost goodies, so stay tuned.

2010: Time to Catch Up

2010-02-25T21:19:00.000-05:00

It's been over two months already?

Oops.

I've never claimed to be a punctual (or good) blogger, but I'll always keep coming back and updating. The main problem for me with blogging is that when nothing's happening, there's nothing to write, but when things are happening, there's no time to sit and collect my thoughts into a semi-decent entry.

I'm pretty busy these days, but I want to get an update out before it gets too out of control.

Let's do this.

Christmas was a great time. Lots of long-running traditions failed to come together, which was a bummer, but Christmas Day made up for that. Kris, Jessi, Hanna, and Matthew came over on Christmas morning and we did presents here. I loved watching Matthew have the whole experience, that was the highlight for me.

Keeping with tradition, the afternoon and evening were spent over Grandma's, just hanging out with the family.

Matthew spent the night on New Year's Eve, so I hung out with him and Mom all night. Ate some cheese and crackers, had a little drinky drink, it was nice.

The highlight of that night was the pudding episode. Matthew was sitting next to me as I putzed around on my laptop. He was eating pudding, so I asked "Is that good?"

He looked at me, gave it some thought, and said "Have some."

He then grabbed his spoon and stretched, trying to get it to my mouth. Half of it smeared across my cheek, the rest across my teeth. He said "uh oh", grabbed his napkin, climbed up, and started wiping my face. I was laughing too hard to make a sound. When he started wiping my teeth, I closed my mouth to avoid getting a mouthful of paper napkin. He then proceeded to grab my beard and pull down, trying to open my mouth.

The kid's a trip.

2009 got off to a rough start and never really seemed to recover. There were highlights and bright spots, but the overall tone of the year wasn't all that great, so I was happy to see '09 go so 2010 could get a shot at not sucking.

So far? I suppose it's been okay. The winter weather's been pretty rough, so I haven't been able to get out much. Honestly, I've pretty much gone stir-crazy at this point.

I've been using my indoor-time to catch up on some of the movies I missed last year. I've recently watched The Hangover, 9, District 9, and Zombieland. All were good, but my favorite movie I've seen recently was easily Moon. Blew me away. See it.

I also saw Avatar in 3D. I can't say I fell in love with it, but I definitely liked it.

I've mostly been spending my time working to finish animating The Girl and the Ghost. It's been a big test, trying to push myself without burning out on the process more than I already am. But I'm moving forward. I wouldn't say I'm in the home stretch just yet, but it is in sight. This movie's almost done.

Want something to watch now? Dolly Oxem's Traveling Video Circus premiered a few weeks ago! Check it out!

DOLLY OXEM'S TRAVELING VIDEO CIRCUS!
Uploaded by Bullcrank. - See more comedy videos.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbvvtu_dolly-oxem-s-traveling-video-circus_fun

Production for Four Tanks and a Healer begins next month. Craziness, I tell ye.

I better get back to work.

The Long, Long Road Home

2009-12-20T23:55:00.001-05:00

Dec 10th & 11th- Days 4 & 5

I woke up at 10 AM, perfect timing to get ready for the ride home. I sat in bed for a while and wrote out a postcard to my friend, Leah, as I tried to shake the post-sleep cobwebs from my brain.

We watched the weather reports and things didn't look great. After some debating, we decided to just get out as soon as possible and try to beat the worst of it.

Like a well oiled machine, we were packed, bundled, ready, and on the road at 11:45 AM.

As we rode the freeway out of Toronto, we hit a little bit of snow, but nothing of any real consequence. The wind gusts were the worst part of it.

Back on Day 1 of this trip, I wrote "As we approached Buffalo, the weather got bad. Real bad."
In hindsight, that was but a flurry.

When we hit Niagara, we were hit with whiteouts. I've driven through some heavy snowfall, but I've never seen anything like this. In a matter of seconds, everything beyond the windows would vanish, swallowed by pure white. It was disorienting and actually pretty scary.

WALL-E tries to see through the snow

We pushed on, crossed the border, and made it to Buffalo...where things got even worse.

The whiteouts were more frequent and the road conditions became far worse. The three lane highway became a two lane parking lot as the already slow moving traffic came to a complete stop.

At times, we would go for well over an hour without moving so much as a single inch.

When we would finally start moving, speeds would rarely reach 15 mph, but never higher than that.

My overpriced iPod adapter didn't even get used, as we wanted to keep listening to local radio to hear what was going on.

Eventually, all daylight was gone and we were still stuck on 90 West in the same awful conditions. In the dark.

Our plan became to make it to the Angola rest stop for a break and then decide if we should keep driving or hang there until sunrise.

Upon arrival it didn't even look like the rest stop was open. The entire parking lot was buried under several inches of snow.
Eventually, we saw people go in, so we at least knew it was open, but there was no possible way for my wheelchair to get through all that snow and get inside. Luckily, the guy who was plowing the parking lot was extremely helpful and cleared a path right up to the door for me. He even cleared a parking space near the door for us and made sure we got inside.
I can't thank him enough.

The drive from Toronto to Angola should have taken us about 2 hours. It took us 8.

Once inside, we made our way to Denny's, got some food, and tried to figure out what to do.

We made a couple calls and checked online, it seemed that if we could make it past Erie, PA, we'd be in the clear. Our decision was made for us by a phone call to the restaurant, informing them that the freeway had just been closed.
We were spending the night.

Our awesome waitress, Elke, was really helpful and nice throughout the night. I set up shop with my laptop to pass the time and keep tabs on the weather situation.

There were about a half dozen other travelers spending the night there. Some had pulled into the parking lot and gotten their car stuck in a snow drift, so they just left it and came inside. Later, a few semis pulled in, also got stuck in drifts, and ended up completely boxing the car in.

It was such an odd scenario and, honestly, kind of creepy.
Sometime during the night, Mom and I went to see how the road looked from the windows in McDonald's. It seemed so bizarre to see people sleeping in every booth inside the place.
I felt like I was in a zombie movie. We were a band of survivors holed up in a secure facility, waiting to hear something from the outside, trying to decide if we should stay put or try to make a break for it.

Mom managed to doze off for a few minutes throughout the night, but I was way too wired to sleep.

Eventually, the sky started to lighten as the sun unsuccessfully tried to peek through the clouds. We ordered small breakfasts before Elke went home and resumed our stay-or-go debate.
Neither of us wanted to spend another night in a rest stop Denny's, but every time the freeway reopened, it closed again within minutes.
We decided to get off of 90 and push for home via Route 20.

We set out again at 9:30 AM.
It was still bad, but at least we had daylight on our side.

For hours, all we saw were vast snow-covered grape fields and tiny towns, each one looking exactly like the last. Winds would come sweeping across the fields, picking up snow from the ground and repeatedly slamming us with whiteouts as we crawled down the long, boring road.

We were moving slowly, but I was just happy to be moving at all. We would occasionally come to a halt, but none like the day before.

WALL-E just wants to go home

I had been up for a full 24 hours. That, combined with the bland scenery, the hum of the engine, and the whoosh of the defrosters, would get the best of me as I found myself randomly falling asleep for seconds at a time.

Mom caught me dozing

We finally crossed into Pennsylvania just shy of 11 AM.

There was a whole convoy of us headed west on 20. It must have been quite a site for the locals, seeing this endless line of big rigs and other assorted freeway refugees slowly filing through their rural towns.

Our convoy

Bort! Bort!

Somewhere near Wesleyville, we hit another dead stop. A long one. About a mile or so ahead of us, a semi tried to get up a hill (a very small hill) and failed. This blocked traffic for over an hour.
We were losing daylight fast and started to discuss whether or not we should just find a hotel and try again the next day. We were tired, stressed, and all we wanted was to be home. So we pushed on.

It was completely dark by the time we reached Girard. That's when my uncles started calling, worried and urging us to get a room somewhere. But we were determined.

We were finally in familiar territory once we reached a snow covered Conneaut. Just an hour from home if 90 was clear. We decided to try it.
And it was clear.

Mom and I spent the final hour of the long drive talking to keep each other awake.

We got home at 7 PM on Friday night. 10 hours since we last had anything to eat or drink (or had access to a bathroom). Roughly 30 hours since we left the hotel on what should have been a 5 to 6 hour drive.

We were home.

We came inside and quickly ordered pizza and started guzzling whatever liquids we could find.

We were home.

It was a long and sometimes scary vacation. Most things that could have gone wrong did. It was chaotic...but I had fun. It was worth it.
I will give it some more thought next time I consider traveling during the winter months, though.

PS- Here's the weather we came home to.

Christmas Consumer Chaos and The Keg. In Canada.

2009-12-20T23:50:00.000-05:00

Dec 9th, 2009- Day 3

I woke up at 10 AM, very groggy and in a haze.

Looking outside, there was none of the predicted snow to be seen, just a dreary, rainy day.

I hadn’t seen my cousin, Mark, in about five years. He lives near Toronto, so we were planning to meet up that day. Mom called him to see what was going on- that was when we found out where all the snow went. He was completely snowed in and unable to get to Toronto.
That was a bummer. Hopefully we’ll be able to get together another time soon.

We decided to head over to the Eaton Centre again and spend some time actually looking around.

To avoid the rain, we headed back down to the PATH, this time successfully passing the elevator roadblock by removing my leg rests.

It is...chaotic in the PATH. The fast-paced hustle and bustle of the people combined with the somewhat confusing layout can get you turned around pretty fast.

Luckily, we found our way to the Eaton Centre relatively quickly. The chaos continued inside, where three floors of Christmas shoppers frantically darted in every direction.

We wandered around for a while and stopped in the food court for some ice cream. As we finished, I heard a voice from behind asking “Are you Jacob?” It turned out to be Angela, a MySpace friend of mine who was also at the concert the night before. We didn’t get much time to talk, but it was still a cool, unexpected meeting.

The top of the giant Christmas tree

The star at the top

Back to shopping mode, I set out to find a replacement iPod adaptor for the drive home. The best looking one I could find was pricier than I had hoped, but Mom and I went halfsies on it, which lessened the sting a bit. (Of course, I later found out it was three times the price I would’ve spent if I had waited and bought it on Amazon. Ugh.)

Before leaving the Eaton Centre, I bought one of Dala’s CDs and saw the DVD of Dr Horrible’s Sing Along Blog for a good price, so I grabbed that too.

We headed back to the hotel for a bit, only to see severe weather warnings plastered all over the news. Apparently, the majority of our road home was set to be hammered by lake effect snow throughout the next few days.
This raised the question of whether we should still leave the next day, as planned, or stay in Toronto and wait it out.
We agreed to play it by ear.

Having only eaten that ice cream at the food court, it was time to get some dinner. We loved The Keg in Niagara Falls, so we went down to the front desk to ask if there happened to be one near the hotel. They gave us directions and we were on our way.

It was only about a ten, maybe fifteen minute long walk, but the constant icy winds made it feel much, much longer. My driving hand was frozen by the time we arrived.

The place was packed. They had a table pretty quickly, but it was a pretty cramped path, everyone would have had to stand up and push their chairs in for me to get my wheelchair through, so we ended up wait waiting 45 minutes. I snagged a spot near the fireplace, so I didn’t mind the wait. Thawing is nice.

Dinner was great, I got the teryaki chicken and three cheese baked potato with Jackson-Triggs chardonnay. Totally worth the long, cold trek to get there.

The walk back seemed much quicker and warmer, most likely thanks to the wine. We even paused to snap a couple pictures of the awesome Christmas window displays at The Bay.

We got back to the room at 10:30 and just decompressed for a while. Flipping around on TV, we managed to catch the day’s installment of ET Canada’s feature on Chantal and Raine’s vow renewal, so that was cool.

I was in bed by 12:30.

"You Make Me Feel Like I've Gone Halfway Around the World..."

2009-12-20T23:46:00.000-05:00

Dec 8th, 2009- Day 2

I woke up to that Toronto Tuesday morning at 10 AM with sore eyes from the dry hotel air.

Getting in gear for the day was slow going. We didn’t actually leave the hotel room until after 2. Mom and I were looking forward to avoiding the chilly weather, so we made our way down to the PATH. Right off the bat, I was met with a handicap accessible elevator...that my wheelchair could not access. My chair was too long to fit inside.

I turned around and up to the cold, windy surface we went.

We hurried over to the Eaton Centre in search of a cheap replacement prepaid cell phone. Mine had finally turned back on, but I didn’t really trust it (plus the roaming rates are outrageous). After checking 3 different cell phone stores, the cheapest phone I could find was $50, as opposed to $15 back at home. No sale.

The Eaton Centre's giant Christmas tree

My store!

Next stop? Massey Hall.

The main point of this whole trip was to see Chantal Kreviazuk at Massey Hall. As a bonus, it was the only show of Chantal’s tour that Raine Maida would be joining her.

We got out of the cold and into the historic building only to be met by another tiny wheelchair elevator, just like the one in the PATH. This time, though, we had the presence of mind to remove my leg rests, which let me fit inside.

Shortly after 3, we were inside for sound check. A few minutes later, Chantal & Raine arrived. Chantal came over and chatted with us for a little while. We mostly exchanged tales of how hectic things have been for both of us.

First up during sound check was Canadian duo Dala. I was aware of them, but had never really listened to them before. I was pleasantly surprised and really loved what I heard. I made a mental note to look into getting any CDs they have available.

Next up, Raine started his sound check.

A few songs in, the cavalry arrived. Chantal’s parents arrived with Raine & Chantal’s kids in tow, as well as Chantal’s cousin and her kids. It was a big ol’ family reunion and Mom and I were smack in the middle of it, watching and laughing as the kids took over the stage while Mommy and Daddy played their songs.

After sound check, we had about three hours until show time, so we headed back to make a quick stop at the hotel and then to find somewhere to eat.

We tried Baton Rouge, a restaurant in the Eaton Centre. Unfortunately, the doors were too narrow for my wheelchair to fit through, plus it was extremely crowded inside. So, we settled for McDonald’s in the food court.

We left the food court around 7:20 to start the walk back to Massey Hall. Just before exiting the Eaton Centre, Kathy & Sandy spotted us, so we caught up a little and walked to the venue with them.

Not long after getting to our seats, Dala took the stage to start the show. They only played a few songs, including a ukelele-centric rendition of Moon River. My personal favorite song of their set was Horses.

Raine took the stage for his set, which consisted mostly of songs from The Hunters Lullaby. He did include one new song, which I don’t know the name of, but it sounded amazing. He also slipped Innocent in, which is always great.

During the intermission between acts, I got to meet Michelle, a friend from the internet and fellow Chantal/Our Lady Peace fan. It was brief, but it was great to meet her.

I look like I'm smashed

After intermission, it was time for Chantal.
She filled the night with an excellent mix of her classic stuff and newer songs from Plain Jane. She even snuck in a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s My Hometown.

At one point, Dala came back out and joined Chantal for God Made Me, which was the first song of Chantal’s I ever heard all those years ago.

There was also the inclusion of a new song, Not One Drop, a song inspired by the tragic passing of a friend’s young daughter, Sylvie.

I think the highlight for me was Chantal’s performance of 5000 Days, which featured some great home videos of their kids projected on a giant screen at the back of the stage.

Randy Cooke rocks the Santa hat. And the drums.

Later in the set, Karen and Kevin each got their turn to take center stage. Kevin sang a rendition of Joni Mitchell’s River. Karen sang Isobel, a song she wrote for her band, The Done Me Wrongs. Both performances were big change-ups from the rest of the night, yet they somehow fit perfectly.

Kevin has crazy cello skills. And wicked posture.

After “wrapping up” with All I Can Do, Chantal left the stage before coming back for a two song encore.

Just after Plain Jane was over, 5 year old Rowan (who earlier appeared on stage to ask his mom when she’d be done) returned to introduce his brother, four year old Lucca. Lucca marched up to the mic and proceeded to adorably sing a verse of Invincible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldP8uraTpFw
(Video courtesy of Angela)

Chantal followed that tough act by playing the song herself, bringing the nearly two and a half hour show to an excellent close.

That show made this crazy trip totally worth it.

We headed back to the elevator and through a couple corridors to the after party. I chatted a bit more with Raine and Chantal as Rowan and Lucca ran around. Before taking off, I got a quick photo with both of them.

We said our see-you-laters and left the party.

Mom and I bundled up and hurried back to hotel as a light snow began to fall. There was a big snow storm predicted to hit Toronto the next day. Luckily, we wouldn’t be hitting the road until Thursday.

W got back to the room at 1 AM and hit the leftovers as we sat and processed everything.

I was in bed and conked out by 3:30.

Toronto Bound

2009-12-20T23:40:00.001-05:00

Dec 7th, 2009- Day 1

Meaning to leave by 10 AM, my alarm clock went off at 7:30. Mom had been packing and getting things ready all night. As a result, she had only been sleeping an hour and a half at that point, so we slept a little later and got up at 9. We were both groggy still, but we were ready.

Despite being later than planned, things were going pretty smoothly, until a staple of our roadtrips went missing: the car adapter for my iPod.
After about fifteen to twenty minutes of searching both the house and the van for it, I decided we should just leave it behind and go.

Granny stopped by to see us off and we headed out to the van. As I went through the front door, I saw my first few snowflakes of the winter. It was a nice little surprise, but also a subtle harbinger of approaching chaos.

At 12:20 PM, we finally hit the road.

A light snow came down for the first leg of our ride. It was nice traveling on a Monday, the freeway was pretty much all ours.

WALL-E on the road

Everything was gray. The sky, the trees, the ground, even the snow looked gray. Ahh, December.

Just before we reached the rest stop in Angola, Mom and I heard a small, high-pitched chime. Halfway to Toronto, my fully charged phone died.
Item number two on the day’s glitch list.

We stopped in Angola to eat and gas up the van. I fiddled with phone, but had no luck.

As we approached Buffalo, the weather got bad. Real bad.
It was rush hour and there was a big burst of lake effect snow coming down. This resulted in us traveling at 10 mph through Downtown Buffalo with about 100 feet of visibility.
Mom’s a nervous driver and an extremely nervous winter driver, so it was an interesting few minutes.

But we made it through.

It was dark out by the time we made it to the Peace Bridge. The next hour and a half on the QEW was nice and uneventful.

Though it was only evening, it felt like we had been driving for days. If only I knew...

We pulled up to the Cambridge Suites at 7 PM and were up in our room minutes later.
As has happened in the past, the room wasn’t as wheelchair-friendly as I needed, so we had to change rooms. The people at the hotel were extremely helpful and we were moved into the new room by 8.

The room

We switched the TV on and caught part of ET Canada’s week-long feature on Chantal & Raine’s wedding vow renewal. Pretty cool and bizarre seeing friends featured on TV like that.

The view

The show was over and bellies were a-rumblin’. The search for food began at 10.
We wandered up and down Yonge St. a bit to see if any restaurants caught our eye and ended up stopping at Mamma’s Pizza. We grabbed our grub and took it back to the hotel just as a light snow began to fall.

Mamma's Pizza

Mom had manicotti and I had gnocchi, it was great. I need to find some gnocchi like that around here.

Completely exhausted, I was in bed at 1 AM. The next day was set to be the big day of the trip, I wanted to be wide awake for it.

Late November Catch Up

2009-11-29T23:26:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged. Why? Because my days have been pretty boring. My change-of-season-sickness turned into a sore throat/cough/ear infection/sinus infection...thing. It ended up hanging around in some form for about two months. Thankfully, it has FINALLY passed as of recently. I am still fighting with my ear as it continues to randomly plug and unplug. Fun, fun, fun.
Oh, and I also got my swine flu shot two weeks ago today, so hopefully I won't have to worry about sprouting a twirly tail and feeling the urge to roll around in the mud.

So, the major frustration of the long sickness (besides being sick), is that my work on The Girl and the Ghost was delayed. Bigtime. I had hoped to have it finished by the end of the year, at least the actual animation phase, but that's pretty unlikely now. It WILL get done though. This one has been far too long of a journey to turn back now.

Some recent highlights have included Halloween and Thanksgiving. Halloween was great because little Matthew made me proud and dressed up as Superman.
Check this awesome little nugget out.

I also carved a Jeff-Goldblum-O-Lantern.

Thanksgiving was nice, I had fun just chilling out with all the family. On top of that, it was also Matthew's second birthday. It was a blast to watch him open his presents and dive into his cake. Can't believe the little bugger's only been around for two years, it kind of feels like he's always been here.

As one of my gifts to him, I made another video to follow The First Four and The Following Fifteen. Here's Eighteen Through Twenty Four.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly7y7vqqSAQ

Thanksgiving weekend was rounded out with lots of hanging with the gang. It was the first I've gotten to hang with Corey, Eric, Brendan, Jeff, Mikey, and Mo all together in ages.
Twas a good time.

There's also a bit of big news I'm excited to share. A couple weeks ago, Larry, Aaron, and the guys headed out to LA for a week of meetings. On November 19th, I got a text from Larry that read

"Lotr producer just took us to breakfast to tell us he's investing in our new toon"

Mark Ordesky, producer of Lord of the Rings, is investing in our next animated project, Four Tanks and a Healer.

You can read Larry's account of the trip here.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/notes/larry-longstreth/onward-to-awesomeness/207207984601

This is so mind-boggling to me that my brain has yet to fully process it. It'll definitely be interesting to see where our projects go in 2010.

But before that? Christmas. I'm really looking forward to it this year. I'm ready for some Christmas spirit.

"Take a bite, man. Don't be shy."

2009-09-22T00:55:00.000-04:00

The Cleveland skyline took the form of a muted grey silhouette set against a grey, cloud-filled afternoon sky. The rain storm had traffic heading into the city at a standstill and Mom and I were stuck in it. It was August 20th, 2009 and we were on our way to see Our Lady Peace at the House of Blues.

It had been four years since I last saw them in concert and I was ready for another dose.

Thankfully, the rain had stopped by the time we arrived and found a parking lot. Upon entering the House of Blues, we were led through the hallways toward the main lobby. I got pumped as I heard the band through the walls, they were playing Naveed during sound check. From the lobby, one of the guys from the crew took us down in front of the stage, where we watched the guys warm up for the show with old favorites and new stuff from their current album, Burn Burn. From just hearing the sound check, I knew it was going to be one hell of a show.

When they wrapped up, Raine made his way over and chatted with us a bit, mostly about animation and movies, before helping get our seating arrangements squared away.

Eventually, we meandered over toward the other side of the room and talked a bit with Jeremy, Duncan, and Steve before snapping a couple pictures with the whole band.

It was a blast, they're all great guys.

From there, Mom and I decided to get some dinner in the House of Blues restaurant before the show. We ended up eating with Gail, who I haven't seen since Raine's concert in Buffalo. It was a nice little reunion.

As we finished eating, we noticed it was almost time for the doors to open, so we headed in and assumed our position by the front of the stage.

A little while after the audience had filed in, Meese opened the show.

I hadn't heard of them before this show was announced, but I thought they sounded pretty good. I liked their set.

When Our Lady Peace took the stage, they didn't waste any time and started the show strong with Monkey Brains.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk0QLTPFg6U

Between the excellent song, the power of the sound, and the crazy light effects, I was already blown away.

It was a really strong and amazing show, the setlist was like a "best of", drawing from all of their past albums and the new one. There was never a lull.

Raine's always had a habit of climbing some part of the venue during their shows and this night would be no exception.
Towards the end of the set, during All You Did Was Save My Life, he made his move.
Unable to reach the balcony from the stage, he ran up the stairs and hopped the rail, walking along the ledge while singing.

When it came time to get back down to the stage, he walked back the way he had come from. Mom aimed the camera at the stairs so she could get a shot of him coming down, but he never appeared. It was then that I noticed everyone looking up. When I joined in and looked up, all I saw were the bottoms of Raine's boots dangling directly above me as he attempted to climb back down.

"This is awesome!" was my initial thought. Then the possibility of Raine dropping onto my face crossed my mind and replaced the first thought with "This is going to hurt."

As he swung in the air, Mom reached over and pushed his feet toward the barricade in front of me. He managed to touch down on the barricade and hop back onto the stage.

It was seriously great.

To make it even better, Mom managed to keep recording through the whole thing. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpL0FC8JJVc

They finished the song and "ended" the set before returning for an encore consisting of In Repair and, of course, Starseed. The second unexpected awesome moment came during Starseed, thanks to an enthusiastic audience member named Trevor. No description would quite do this justice and thankfully, Mom was recording, so take a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGUdxdhjCY0

It was an incredible show. The guys sounded great and the energy, both on stage and from the audience was insane. The whole night was an experience I won't be forgetting.

To cap it off, the security guard we made friends with during the show was kind enough to snag the setlist for me at the end.

In the lobby after the show I spotted Trevor energetically trying to convince security to let him go backstage (no dice), said my see-you-laters with Gail, and even met and snapped a quick shot with Meese.

They seemed like pretty cool guys.

Mom and I left the House of Blues and headed back towards the van. On our way, we ended up bumping into Jeremy in the alleyway. He thanked us for coming out to the show and signed the setlist for me. That was a really cool little moment to end the night.

With that, we hopped into the van and aimed for home, buzzing on the post-concert rush and looking forward to seeing Our Lady Peace when they come back to Cleveland. Hopefully it'll be sooner than later.

A Picture, Some Video, and a Ghost Update

2009-09-09T05:18:00.000-04:00

Haven't been blogging much lately, since I finally jumped back into animating The Girl and the Ghost again. Animation resumed on August 5th and I've been going full force ever since. Until last Thursday, that is.

I sent the MacBook in to get checked out before the warranty ran out. So, I've been on my old iBook ever since. It's been killing me to not be able to animate (or watch YouTube videos, or play games, or do anything entertaining) for the past week. It should be back soon though, then it's back to work.

Animation-wise, I recently passed the 500 hour mark and have just over six minutes of completed footage. I'm usually extremely critical of my own work, but I honestly love how this is looking. It's finally coming together and actually feels like a movie. Can't wait to finish it and get it out there. For now, here's a still shot.

While we're in sneak peek mode, here's the trailer for Dolly Oxem's Traveling Video Circus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpftKra7PUk

The computer downtime, though annoying, was timed well, as this past weekend was my birthday weekend. I was busy hanging with Corey, Eric, Mikey, Brendan, and Jake. Even got to see Aaron for the first time in ages on Sunday.
Much Rock Band was played and much fun was had. Thanks, guys.

I saw Our Lady Peace in concert on August 20th and had an amazing time. There's a detailed blog entry about that on its way as soon as I'm back on a computer better suited to handle pictures and video. For now, though, here's their latest music video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nK4MwL5p_o

Now, I better go get some rest. I'm in the middle of my usual change-of-season sickness.

Bleh.

More soon.

Full Plate. Here, Have a Bite.

2009-08-02T05:49:00.004-04:00

It's getting busy again, kiddies. The projects are a-stackin', so I'm gettin' crackin'.

Currently, I'm finishing up work on an animated intro for Larry and the gang's upcoming comedy sketch show, Dolly Oxem's Traveling Video Circus. From what I've seen, I can tell you it's going to be bizarre, ridiculous, and hilarious. They're sort of going back to a style similar to their classic Eyeball Papercuts days, but applying all the things they've learned about filmmaking in the years since. I can't wait to see the finished product.

As soon as I'm done with the intro (within the next couple of days), I'm finally going back to dust the cobwebs off of The Girl and the Ghost. It's been about two years since I put it on hold to focus on The Greatest Fan Film of All Time.
I haven't resumed animating it yet, but I have spent the last few weeks slowly dipping my toes back into that world. Two years is a long time, creativity-wise. Ideas change, situations change, and the production of The Girl and the Ghost is definitely reflecting that. I've rewritten the climax of the story and the cast has some new blood in it.
Marisa Tomasic, who you'll remember as Cheyenne in The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf, is now on board as the female lead. I spent the past two Fridays with her, recording all the lines for her parts. Yes, I typed "parts", she's pulling double duty on this one and doing an amazing job. Can't thank her enough.

Recording with Marisa

And there's more lined up once that's finished. Remember my big dramatic announcement that I wouldn't be working on Larry's next animated project? Scratch that, I'm on board now. It's still a little ways off and the details are still being figured out, so there's not too much to say about it just yet. But yes, it's called Four Tanks and a Healer, I'm working on it, it will rock, and the Longstreth/Drake magic will continue. Or is it Drake/Longstreth? Drakestreth? Longdrake?
Whatever. It's continuing.

And somewhere in there, there's the new story idea I want to get moving on. I recently put together some concept art for it and I'm completely in love with it. It has me beyond excited, I've even had moments of temptation where all I wanted to do was push everything else aside so I could focus solely on this new idea.
I'll get to it though, hopefully sooner than later. Right now, it's the carrot dangling in front of me.
No, I don't like carrots, make it a soft pretzel. With cheese.

Here's something visual for this entry. I needed a break after animating a few nights ago and thought I'd have some editing fun.
During the editing process for Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution, there was a bit of quality loss in the picture. It bugged me. So, I went back to the original Flash files and re-rendered them in high definition, then edited the footage exactly as Larry did originally. The colors are vibrant, the lines are clear, and the lip-syncing is fixed.
Now, nearly four years after I began animation for it, you can finally see Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution in full quality, flaws and all. HD, baby.

Check it out and tell me what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV1a_1ubJuo

So, that's what I've been up to and will be up to for the next little while. Who knows what other projects might sneak their way in there too?

Right. Gettin' crackin' now.

24

2009-08-02T03:46:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday.
Miss you.
Love you.

June 28th, 2009- Homeward Bound

2009-07-22T09:20:00.000-04:00

Another alarm-free morning. I actually managed to wake up with loads of time to spare before check out. Can you believe it?
Granny and Maude weren't too far behind in waking up this time.

It was a dreary day. The sky was full of clouds and the occasional drizzle would sprinkle down randomly.
At least the rain held off until our driving day.

As the girls got started packing, I sat in bed for a bit, snacking on leftovers, shaking the cobwebs out, and checking out my souvenir from the night before.

Shortly later, I was up in my chair and everyone was packed and ready to head home.
Mom called down for a luggage cart and I took a last look at the view, as I always do.

We waited. And waited. And called again. And waited some more.
It was about 45 minutes until the luggage cart arrived. At least it was cool that our buddy Stu ended up being the one to bring the cart and help us head out.

Before loading up the van, there was one last stop to make. We had to stop at the front desk to have them fix the bill, as they never adjusted it after we were downgraded.
I hate to be negative, but I really wasn't impressed by the Hilton. Maybe I've just been spoiled by how smoothly past trips have gone, but staying at this hotel just seemed to stress me out. I can't really see myself staying there again.

By the time we got everything squared away with the bill and packed up the van, we hit the road around 2:00 PM.

The drive home was pretty routine. We stopped at Duty Free, I grabbed myself a few bottles of Jackson-Triggs (I loves me some Gewürztraminer), and crossed the border back into the States.
The rain had stopped by the time we stopped to eat in Angola.

After Angola came the long stretch of the drive. Granny and Maude dozed off in the back of the van, so for most of the ride, it was just me, Mom, and my iPod.

We reached Ohio and Maude was the first to be dropped off. Then Granny. Mom and I finally arrived home at 8:00 PM, officially bringing the trip to a close.

Even though I was stressed out a lot on this trip, it was still a good one and I did have fun. We took Granny to her second concert, she had her first long island iced tea, we saw the sights, and had lots of laughing fits.
Good company, good food, good music, good drinks. It was a much needed and greatly enjoyed getaway.

As always, until the next one...

June 27th, 2009- "I Can Take a Wrong Turn, You're Right Behind Me"

2009-07-22T06:58:00.000-04:00

Concert day had arrived.

I woke up on that nice Canadian Saturday morning without the aid of the fire alarm, thankfully. I did end up sleeping a little later than I wanted, though. Seems to happen a lot, doesn't it?

Once the rest of the crew was up, we set out to get a little something to eat. We ended up going across the street to The Famous, a diner-type restaurant inside the casino building.

It was okay, nothing outstanding and we had to wait a long for the food and the check.

I was hoping to get to the winery early enough to catch the sound check, so we hurried back to the hotel as soon as we finished eating to compensate for another potentially long wait for valet to bring the van.
I swear, they must have known how ticked we were the day before and sent out a memo or something. We had the van within five minutes.

Things were running smoothly and we were on our way. Until we got on the QEW, that is.
Traffic on the freeway was at a dead stop on a hot and sunny day. We were pretty much baking inside the van.

As we inched forward ever so slowly, we saw that the freeway was closed in both directions ahead of us.

We later found out there had been an accident earlier and that they usually only close down both directions if they have to land a medical helicopter on the freeway.

When we reached the detour, my MapQuest directions became useless, so we asked the officer directing traffic how to get to Niagara-on-the-Lake. He pointed out a van that was headed that way and told us to follow him. So we did.
Before too long, we were back on the QEW and lined up with my directions once again.
And then we got lost on the country roads and had to stop and ask for directions.

When we finally arrived at the Jackson-Triggs winery, the usually 20 minute long drive from Niagara Falls to Niagara-on-the-Lake had taken 2 hours.

Sadly, we missed sound check, but ended up bumping into Sandy and Kathy right as we were getting out of the van. I chatted with them a little bit, then Mom, Granny, Maude, and I headed inside the main building to pick up our tickets. While inside, my friend Nadia spotted me and we talked for a few minutes. I've kept in touch with her since the last time I visited the winery, but it was great to catch up in person.

Tickets in hand, we made our way toward the amphitheater and ran into Terence and Russell on our way. After chatting a little, we headed in.
Our tickets included dinner, so we popped over to the food tent. We found a nice shady spot and ate while having a nice visit with Kathy and Sandy.
I was a bit tense from the ride, so I didn't eat all that much, but what I had (pork, potatoes, fruit) was good. The wine certainly helped ease the tension. I went with the Chardonnay.

With showtime approaching, we headed to our seats. Nadia got off of work and came over to see us again before taking off. She told us about her upcoming wedding and all the fun and craziness that goes along with it. I'm sure it'll all go smoothly and I wish her all the best!

Before the show started, Mom and I went to shut off our cel phones and noticed we had both missed calls from Kris. Mom called him back to make sure everything was okay and found out Matthew ate gravel.
Literally.
He was standing right next to Kris in their driveway and in one quick swoop, bent down, grabbed a stone, and downed it.
He's fine though. He pretty much looked at Kris as if to say "Dude, chill. What's the problem?" when he was searching his mouth for the rock.

Never a dull moment at home, even when we're not there.

Finally, they brought Chantal down the hill on a little golf cart and she took the stage along with Kevin Fox and Karen Graves. She began with another great performance of Leaving on a Jet Plane and the show was rolling.

She looked radiant and, as always, sounded amazing. Last time she played at Jackson-Triggs, we were the first audience to hear Halfway Around the World, she continued the tradition and debuted two new songs from her upcoming album for us- Invincible and 5,000 Days. Both sounded excellent, I was especially fond of 5,000 Days.
And as a bonus, it was also her first time playing These Days, a song she wrote for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants soundtrack, live.

The winery is such a great setting for a concert. The cool, Canadian night air mixed with Chantal's music, the intimate seating arrangement, and the great wine on top of all that. Combined, it just creates a magical vibe.

Chantal was her usual chatty self in between songs. The running discussion of the night was whether the occasional scent of manure wafting in from the surrounding fields came from a cow or a cat.

After a few more songs, there was a short intermission. I'll admit, I took the opportunity to get a refill on my wine.

Once the sun had finished setting, Chantal, Karen, and Kevin returned and continued the show under the stars.

So Cold, Half of Me, and Feels Like Home were some of the songs we got to hear in the second half. Plus, the guy who was calling out to hear Wayne all night got his wish.
After "finishing", Chantal came back for an encore and played All I Can Do to end the night.

It was another amazing show that I wish didn't have to end. Even with the overall hectic vibe the trip seemed to have, while I was at that concert, there was no stress and no worries. I love Twilight in the Vineyard.
In a bit of awesome news, they announced that the show was recorded and will be aired on the radio in the fall to coincide with the release of Chantal's new album.
I can't wait to hear it and relive that night.

As the crowd made their way away from the amphitheater, we followed and headed to the main building, where Chantal would be doing an autograph signing.
Inside, we caught up with Kathy and Sandy again. In their continuing awesomeness, they surprised me again with Chantal's setlist. I swear, I can't thank them enough.

Guardians of the setlist.

The gang.

The whole group of us hung around and talked about the show while Chantal signed autographs a few feet away. Once the line started to dwindle, we headed over.

When it was my turn, I got to have a nice little visit with Chantal. I found out her album, Plain Jane is coming out in September, so that'll be a nice little birthday-month bonus for me. Before saying our see-you-next-times, she signed the setlist for me and of course, we took a picture together.

Then, I spent some time talking to Del from Jackson-Triggs. He found my blog entry about Chantal's last show at the winery and was looking forward to (and waiting patiently for) this new entry. I know it's long and kind of rambly, but I hope it was worth the wait.
He's working at setting up some more great concerts there, so I'm sure I'll be seeing him again before too long.

It was approaching midnight and getting chilly, so we said bye to gang, piled into the van, and headed back to Niagara Falls. The return trip was much smoother than the ride out. We only missed one turn.

Upon getting back to the hotel, I was ready to parttake in our last-night-at-the-Falls tradition of going to Fridays. Granny didn't feel like going out and asked if we minded if she stayed behind and relaxed in the room. Of course it was no problem, though we missed having her there.

So Maude, Mom, and I made the late night trek to Fridays by ourselves. I split a meal with Mom and also got the fried macaroni and, of course, an ultimate long island iced tea. I guess I had a bit of a party night that night. It was a blast.

We wandered back to hotel somewhere between 3 and 4 AM and found, to our surprise, Granny still awake and watching TV. Apparently, she watched Braveheart and Independence Day while we were out.
That's my Grandma, folks.

Exhausted after a fantastic night, we all crawled off to bed for the pre-drive-home sleep. And man, I was really conked out.

June 26th, 2009- The Chaos Continues

2009-07-21T02:45:00.000-04:00

Vacation- a time to relax and sleep in as late as your heart desires. And then you're woken by the fire alarm going off.
It was 10 AM. Mom and Maude shot out of bed, confused, looking around, trying to focus and figure out what was going on. I laid still, eyes still closed, listening. Meanwhile, Granny was in the bathroom panicking, thinking she had done something to set an alarm off.
Eventually, they came on over the PA system and gave the all clear.
How's that for a start to the day?

I dozed for a few more minutes before getting up and snacking on some leftovers with Mom while waiting for Maude & Granny to wake up for the day.

Around noon, we decided to take the initiative and help them wake up.

Finally, once everyone was up and ready, we headed out.

On the way to the elevator, we bumped into a lady from the housekeeping staff. While talking with her, we learned that the fire alarm goes off almost every day because of the continuing construction on the new wing.
Lovely.

The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cool, and sunny skies full of puffy clouds.

For our first stop of the day, we scooted across the street and up to the top of the Skylon Tower.

It was exactly as we left it last time, but still an impressive and gorgeous view, perfect for picture taking.

Beware Goat Island! Canada's only island fully inhabited by bloodthirsty Goat People.

We descended down to street level and pounded the pavement up to Tony Romas for a (really) late breakfast. I had been craving some really good chicken fingers for a while and these totally hit the spot.

Maude vs. Cheesecake

We also went and found my brick from last time.

I love it there- the food, the music they play, it all just does it for me. I wish we still had a Tony Romas around here.

Next up, we were aiming for the Pen Centre, so we headed back to hotel to get the van.
The sign said to allow up to fifteen minutes for valet to bring your vehicle. No biggie. So we waited.

And waited.

A half hour went by before the van showed up.
I've always been one to keep my cool when I'm frustrated, but this was pushing it. The little things were piling up and I wasn't digging this hotel.

So, we loaded into the van and hurried off toward St Catharines.

We wandered around the Pen Centre for a couple hours. It's so much bigger and nicer than the malls around here, I actually love just roaming around inside. It's even interesting to people-watch, it's so noticeable how much more peaceful, laid back, and just generally happy Canadians are compared to most folks in these parts.
I bought myself a copy of Let the Right One In on DVD and we headed back towards Niagara Falls.

We dropped off our purchases in our room, then made our way back down to the first floor to get some dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill. I'm a macaroni junkie, so I was ready to chow down. So, we got to our table, looked at our menus for a few minutes, and then I asked a question I didn't think I'd have to ask- "Does anyone see macaroni on the menu?" We asked our waiter and it was confirmed. Romano's Macaroni Grill does not serve macaroni.
I repeat.
NO. MACARONI.

Macaroni disappointment aside, dinner was good. I particularly enjoyed the ultimate leaning bellini I had.

The restaurant itself basically seemed like a slightly more upscale (pricier) version of Olive Garden, though I think I prefer Olive Garden.

From there, we headed across the street to the casino for a little while. I'm not much of a gambler, so as usual, I gave myself a nice low limit and stuck to the slots. In the end, I didn't win anything, but had a good time playing.

It was getting late, so once Granny and Maude finished on the slots, we mozied on back to the room. The next day was the concert, so I definitely wanted to be well rested. Stuffed, tired, and hoping for no more fire alarms, I drifted off to sleep.

June 25th, 2009- The Other Side of the Storm

2009-07-20T06:27:00.000-04:00

As usual, I had planned to leave early in the day, around 9 or 10 AM. Also as usual, we got off to a late start, leaving the house around noon.

Our first stop was a couple streets over to pick up Granny. We grabbed Granny, then Maude called just as we set out to pick her up. She called, saying that the news was reporting Farrah Fawcett died. It's weird, celebrities seem to die when I go on vacation. Anna Nicole Smith, Steve Irwin, etc. Kinda creepy.
So, by the time we drove out, picked up Maude, and really on the road, it was somewhere around 2 PM. Definitely later than I had hoped.

The ride started out pretty smooth, despite the hot (especially hot for this summer) temperatures.
As we drove through Pennsylvania, approaching the New York border, the skies in front of us grew dark.

A few minutes later, we were driving through a downpour, accented by heavy winds and some wicked looking lightning. Thankfully, most of it had stopped by the time we reached the rest stop in Angola, save for the occasional stray drizzle. We popped in, grabbed a quick bite at Denny's, and got back on the road.

A windblown Granny tells us it's all good!

We finally crossed the Peace Bridge into Canada, rode into Niagara Falls, and arrived at Hilton around 7 PM. As we pulled in and waited to unload the van, Baytosh called to tell us that Michael Jackson had died.
See what I mean?
That one was a bit of a shocker.

We unloaded and headed in. I was pumped. The Hilton had been renovating for a while and the room I booked was part of the brand new wing, which opened less than a month earlier.
Only three of the six elevators were up and running at the time, so there was a bit of a wait, but I figured it's just one little inconvenience.
The bellman that helped us to our room, Stu, was really cool. He kind of looked like Simon Pegg. All was going well, the room looked great. Excellent view of the Falls, fireplace, flat-screen TV's...then we found a sizeable problem. To summarize, the bathroom door wasn't exactly handicap-friendly and I'm fairly sure I wouldn't have been able to hold it all weekend.
Stu went from room to room, checking to see if any of the bathroom doors were different, but no luck. He hung around with us for quite a while, calling down to the front desk, searching for any kind of solution for us.

Finally we ended up downgrading and moving over to a room in the older wing. We got into that room around 8 PM.

As they unpacked, and helped the confused lady who thought our room was hers, I flicked on the TV and saw that The Dark Knight was on and it was right at the pencil scene. That was an enjoyable little moment of relaxation.

It was starting to get dark out and I wanted to do something, so we left the room and aimed for the Falls. We decided to cut through casino, so we took the walkway that went over the street that connected our hotel to the casino.

The walkway.

So, we walk cross over the street...and find stairs on the other side. Besides turning around and going back, the only way into the casino was through the parking garage, so through the parking garage we went.

Through the casino, down the hill, and we were down by the Falls. We made our way up the sidewalk and through the mist and looked at the Falls, illuminated in the night.

Once at the top of the Falls, it was getting a bit chilly, so we shuffled into the Table Rock building to warm up a little. While inside, I consulted the all-knowing mystic, Zoltar! And before you ask, no, I didn't wish I was big.

It was getting late, so we headed back up the hill and had dinner at the Keg inside the Embassy Suites. As always, it was delicious.

Totally stuffed, we made our way back up the street to our hotel to get some shut-eye and prepare for a full day.

Snippage

2009-07-06T20:36:00.000-04:00

I've been back from my trip for a week and haven't gotten caught up enough to blog about it yet. I'll do that soon, but for now, here's a short entry.

Back on the 23rd, I went and donated my hair again. It was getting really long and I was ready, so Erin at Imagine Salon & Spa went to work on my mane.

As usual, it felt really good to donate it, plus I had a brand new do when I hit the road.

So, does it look alright?

The Following Fifteen

2009-06-22T21:47:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, the family all gathered over Grandma's house for Father's Day/Grandma's birthday. It's been about a year and a half since I put together a family video (and they've made a point of frequently reminding me), so I surprised them with a new one.

This one's a followup to The First Four, highlighting Matthew's fifteen months since that video. I give you... The Following Fifteen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgv0av9xVaA

June Updates

2009-06-09T18:00:00.000-04:00

Just thought it was high time I posted updates on some things, so here goes.

It's been pretty slow going on new projects lately. The main reason is basically that I've just been stressed out with life these days and pretty much stuck in a bad mood since I got sick a couple months back. I honestly just haven't been in a frame of mind where I'd be able to work on these without feeling like I'm just going through the motions. I don't want that to happen and I'm working on powering through it. Things ARE moving forward. It may be slow, but it's happening.

I've been doing some fun stuff lately, but nothing has been able to snap me out of this funk I'm in. I'm hoping something comes along soon and does the trick.

I'm looking forward to the Canada trip at the end of the month. The Chantal concert at the winery might be just what I need.
Grandma and Maude are tagging along with Mom and I for this one. It'll be the first time the four of us have gone on a trip together since the Corrs adventure of 2004. If that trip is any indication, this one ought to be a blast.
The hotel room is booked, our passport cards (what a rip) have arrived, I'm ready to go. Everything's ready.
Now we wait.
Sixteen days to go.

I've been hanging with Bridget a bit lately, which has been fun. Things got hectic and we didn't get to see each other for a long time, so it's been cool to be able to catch up, vent, and swap music with her again.

I saw Terminator Salvation after much waiting and anticipating. It was alright. I'll admit, I had pretty high expectations, and while it didn't quite live up to those expectations, I didn't dislike it.
Up, on the other hand, I thought was amazing. Heartbreaking, funny, just a beautiful movie. I thought the 3D was fantastic was incredible too. Just an all around great experience at the movies. I'd love to go see it again.
Currently at the top of my "to see" list is The Hangover.

On the Fan Film front, word is that Stan Lee traveling, but the DVD is on his desk waiting for him. This waiting to hear something is torture.

There's really not much else to update on at the moment. I'm feeling pretty boring story-wise. Hopefully some summer adventures will change that.
Now go outside and get some sun, you. There's only three months until The Beatles: Rock Band comes out, so I better get outside before that addiction hits.

At the Zoo with the Crew

2009-06-09T02:38:00.001-04:00

Larry made some plans a while back for the gang to go to the zoo. This past Saturday, those plans came to fruition.

I was running late when I woke up and, honestly, not feeling my best, but decided to push myself and go anyway. I was happy to hear the other zoo-goers were running late, yet I somehow managed to run even later.

Mom and I eventually arrived and met up with Larry. We walked and chatted with him as he led us to Clint, Larry's girlfriend, Shannon, and her kids. After they had a quick bite to eat, we headed out into the zoo.

It was so strange, I went to this zoo all the time as I grew up, but this was my first visit in at least 10 years. There were so many new attractions and areas, I found no sense of where I was as we wandered around.

It was perfect zoo weather- mid 70s, not too cloudy, not too sunny, though I still managed to get a sunburn.

A zoo trip is pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just jump to some pictures and interject sporadically. Don't forget to click to see them bigger.

Love the colors on these guys.

They have a new area where you can ride a camel. None of us took part.

A freaky looking lemur.

Check out the tail on this dude.

Loved the outdoor gorilla area.

They had a whole dinosaur exhibit going on. The animatronics were okay, but they earned major cool points for blasting John Williams' Jurassic Park theme at the entrance.

They tore down the old bridge that used to cross over the zoo, I think this is the new one going up.

Larry, Shannon, and the kids walked faster than the rest of us, so Mom and I hung with Clint most of the day. Here's us chilling at the bench by Monkey Island.

My camera's memory card filled up at this point, so that's it for pictures.

We ended up rushing to the RainForest with just 15 minutes left before it closed. It was a hurried walkthrough, but we got to see some cool birds, orangutans, a big python, and Clint got to see the crocodile before we were told to leave.

It was a fun day and a cool trip down memory lane full of old memories and new experiences. It sucked that we didn't get to see the elephants, as they're currently building a new enclosure for them, but hey, it'll be another reason to go back. And I would love to go back soon with Matthew.
And a fresh memory card.

VI

2009-05-26T03:57:00.000-04:00

Six years today.

Miss you.

Love you.

Proof That My Nephew Rocks

2009-05-17T23:48:00.000-04:00

Mikey, Mo, and Jeff were over to play some Rock Band last night. Matthew, now 17 months old, decided to join in and show he's ready to join the band. Thankfully, Mom grabbed the camera.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsXlOpwyJ7c

Blogging As I Watch Sesame Street with My Nephew

2009-05-13T18:08:00.000-04:00

Well, I've finished my antibiotics and I'm finally feeling mostly better. Still need to shake some of the cobwebs out, I think. But, I'm happy to say I am finally feeling good enough to get things rolling again.

There was a little trouble with getting The Greatest Fan Film of All Time to Stan Lee's people via the internet, so I put a DVD together last night and mailed it today. It's on its way!

I've been in writing mode this week and have the groundwork laid out for what could turn into new animated short. It's still early, but I'm really excited about this idea. I'll update more as it evolves.

I was feeling artsy recently and figured I'd try to illustrate one of my Mucinex/dehydration hallucinations from my hospital stay. I chose one where my hospital room wall appeared to be a hellish cavern with an old lady holding a cat standing in the middle of it.
(We've all seen that one before, haven't we?)

click to see bigger

Mom and I went and saw the new Star Trek movie yesterday. I've never been a Star Trek fan, but I thought it was pretty good. A decent start to my summer movie-going season. Personally, I can't wait for Terminator Salvation.

Not much else going on at the moment... I'm boring.

Big Things

2009-04-23T20:06:00.000-04:00

So, I'm still working on bouncing back from the pneumonia thing (and now, a cold on top of that), but I'm getting there and things are happening. I've been writing and Larry's been writing and there are new projects in the works. But they're still cooking, so stay tuned for more info on those.

On Monday, the folks over at Fan Cinema Today posted a review of The Greatest Fan Film of All Time.
My personal favorite part?

"Despite all the yuks, however, there are moments when the movie shifts moods. The flick starts out with baby Superman’s departure from Krypton, which is depicted with a melancholy that Richard Donner never managed to achieve. Later, too, when the bad guys have all but won, the tone is genuinely grim—not an easy thing to achieve in a fan film."

A scene from our fan film just got compared (and favorably) to a scene from Richard Donner's classic Superman film? A scene featuring Marlon Brando?
I can't wrap my head around that one. Wow. Just awesome.

Check out the whole review here:
http://fancinematoday.com/2009/04/20/the-greatest-fan-film-of-all-time-is-it/

If that's not enough, I got this text message from Larry on Tuesday.

"Stan Lee's people asked for fan film to show him"

I heard from Larry again today and I guess that'll actually be happening tonight.
It's insane. I seriously can't think about it too much, or I may go nuts.

I mean...Stan...Lee. Watching Fan Film.

Stan. Lee.

Another Journey North

2009-04-23T18:18:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I know my trip recap is a little late, but here it is.

All packed up and ready to roll, Mom and I left around 1 PM on Tuesday the 7th, despite winter giving us its (hopefully) last hurrah.

There's no way to sugarcoat it, the weather sucked. Especially for driving. It was the worst while we were still in Ohio. At one point, the snow was coming down so hard, we could only see maybe a quarter of a mile ahead of us. Observe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PtlJemyWSM

It improved to just some flurries in Pennsylvania and a few scattered flakes in New York, but the wind never let up. As I've written in the past, Mom's a bit of a nervous driver, so I'm sure it was a long drive for her, but she did great. A couple hours in, we made our traditional mid-journey pause at the rest stop in Angola. I swear, they play no music in that Denny's unless it's at least 30+ years old. Honeycomb, anyone?
We sat, we ate, we hit the road and crossed the border into Canada. Thankfully, we were out of the snow, though the cold and wind stuck with us.
We got to the hotel some time after five and settled in a little bit. Mom sorted our stuff in the room and I checked out the view. It was really weird to look out at the Falls and see almost nobody walking around. Even weirder (but way more impressive) was seeing the massive ice bridge spanning the river at the bottom of the Falls. Take a gander, won't you?

After a little bit, we headed off to St Catharines to wander the Pen Centre.

We didn't stay too long, as we wanted to be sure to have time to get back and have dinner at The Keg. The highlight for me was HMV, where they were having a sweet sale on DVDs. I picked up Sunshine and [REC].
We shopped around a little more, then back to the Falls and to The Keg inside the Embassy Suites. An awesome chicken dish and a glass of wine later and we headed back to the Marriott to crash before the big concert day.

I woke up to some bizarre Canadian children's TV shows. If I had caught the name of this one particularly odd show, I'd find and post a clip in a heartbeat. If my memory serves me, this one lady was supposed to be a doll or something and was dressed in a blue (or maybe purple) full body suit. The only part of her that remained exposed was her face and it was painted to match the rest of the costume. It was freaky, man.

Once we were up, we headed across the street to Tony Roma's for some lunchtime breakfast. It was a little less chilly, but the wind seemed to have picked up.
Tony Roma's was kind of a strange experience. When we got there, we were literally the only people there (excluding employees), yet the service was extremely slow. Seriously, after ordering our drinks (tea and hot chocolate), it was about 20 minutes before we actually got them. Don't get me wrong, I love it there, but that baffled me.
After finishing eating, we scribbled our names on one of the brick pillars (can you find them?) and aimed back toward the hotel.

You'd think crossing the street would be an uneventful thing. Not in this case. The second I got into the street, a gust of wind smacked me and I ended up with my sweatshirt and blanket blown up over my face. Mom quickly fixed it, but between the wind and how hard we were laughing, we had tears streaming down our faces by the time we made it across the street.
Finally, we made it back to room, got ourselves ready, and left for Brock University.

We were invited to get there early for the soundcheck, so we did. Upon entering the theatre, we were greeted by Karen Graves, so we sat and chatted with her for a bit. Not much later, Kevin Fox came in and joined us for a few minutes before the pair of them started soundcheck, as Chantal was still on her way and hadn't arrived yet.

When she got there, we talked for a couple quick minutes and then she hopped behind the piano for another quick soundcheck. To my surprise, she turned to me and asked "What do you want to hear?"
I thought, smiled, and said "Something new."
Chantal, Karen, and Kevin debated for a few seconds and Chantal said "Let's play something that's not in tonight's set."
I was in musical geekout mode as she played a new song called Say the Word from her upcoming CD. It sounded fantastic, I really can't wait to get my hands on a copy of that CD.
They played around with the sound a little more and headed backstage to get ready, so we headed up to our seats.

Kevin opened the show with songs from both of his CDs, Come Alive and Songs For Cello & Voice, including covers of River and Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). His set was great and it was nice to see him at the front of the stage. You should check him out at kevinfox.ca

At intermission, I met up with my friends from Chantal's message board, Elements. It was great visiting with Kathy, Sandy, and Terrence again, the first time since the Jackson-Triggs show. I loved finally getting to meet Angela, after years of corresponding online. As intermission ended, we agreed we'd meet up again after the show.

Chantal made her way onto the stage and kicked off her set with Leaving On A Jet Plane. This was the last night of a seven show tour and everyone sounded excellent. They even played a couple more new songs- Today and Half of Me. Have I mentioned I can't wait for this CD?
Chantal was extra chatty that night, thanks to a visit from "The Claritin Man." She was on a roll and had everyone cracking up all night.
Toward the end of the show, Chantal thanked a fan of hers, whose family sent Chantal a letter, explaining how her music helped this girl through some rough times. Then she thanked her best friend and followed that with thanks to "Jacob and his mom." She talked about how we come up from Ohio to see her. "They're always traveling that road..." she said, and then tried to remember which road it was. People in the audience started calling out freeway names before she finally said "Jacob, what's the road?"

From the back of the theatre, I yelled out "90."

"90. Thank you, sir" she replied.

For her last song, she explained that during the other shows on the tour, two of her sons, Rowan and Lucca, would come on stage and sing What A Wonderful World together. They weren't there that night, so Chantal sang it on her own to end the night.
Just for fun, here's a clip of Rowan and Lucca doing their thing at a previous show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqHxKfBuzuE

I met back up with my Elements friends as the theatre emptied and Kathy once again surprised me with a setlist, this time, it was Chantal's. Thanks a million!
We eventually made our way out to the lobby and hung out for a few minutes and snapping a couple group pictures. Kevin and Karen even got in on the photo fun.

Eventually, we said our goodnights and our hope-to-see-you-in-Junes (Chantal's playing at the Jackson-Triggs winery again) and Mom and I headed backstage. Sadly, we just missed her, she had to get back to her kids in Toronto. Ahh well, next time. So, we said goodbye to Kevin and Karen and headed back to the hotel.

Before crashing, we scooted over to the Fridays in the Embassy Suites for our traditional last-night-at-the-Falls drinks and snacks. Such an excellent way to end a trip.

Thursday morning, we were up fairly early, which was nice , as some of the pressure to rush to get out on time was relieved. We ate some cold leftovers, packed our things, enjoyed the view one last time, and set out for home.

Thursday was actually a pretty smooth and uneventful day. It was a sunny day and much warmer, though it was still kind of windy.
We made a quick stop at Duty Free for some wine and a couple little gifts. The border was crowded, but the wait wasn't too long. It was the first time they've wanted to look inside the van, but even that was fast and we were on our way before very long.
It was a nice ride with wide open roads...except in PA. There was a traffic jam (with no apparent reason) that had us at a standstill for about 20 minutes. That sucked, but it was all easy going after that.

It was a great trip, I was definitely in need of a little getaway after this seemingly neverending winter. It was weird not being able to wander around and see the sights of Niagara Falls again, but hey, there's always June.

New Month, New Entry, Pneu Monia

2009-04-06T20:30:00.000-04:00

That's just how it goes. I make a promise to update more, then get knocked out of the game when I least expect it.

As far as I can tell, I caught a cold when I was out at the midnight showing of Watchmen. It lingered for a few days, but got worse on that following Tuesday. By Thursday, I was stuck in bed and coughing so much, I could barely eat or drink.
I tried everything from Vicks VapoRub to a generic version of Mucinex. Neither worked, but the latter was a really bad idea. Apparently, one of the ingredients in the medicine can cause nightmares and hallucinations. And it did.

I'm not one who normally has nightmares and these were intense (murders, losing limbs, being ripped apart), so I was pretty freaked out. Then, it would continue into my waking hours. A pile of socks in my room looked like a demon form to me, so much so that I had to ask Mom to move them. It was...interesting.

So, on that Saturday, Mom put her foot down and took me to my doctor, who declared I had pneumonia and promptly sent me to the hospital. During the ride to the hospital, I had the back of my wheelchair reclined so I was laying down and just trying to breathe steadily. I'll be honest, it was a scary ride.
I was more at ease once we arrived and I got a bed and got an IV and oxygen. Everyone there was great, but my two-night stay felt like a week. Between struggling with the uncomfortable beds, nurse check-ins, and continuing to see weird things (thanks to being dehydrated), I didn't get much sleep at all during my stay.

Since I was finally able to eat and drink, they let me go home on Monday to continue my recovery. I've been working on bouncing back ever since. Physically, I'm feeling pretty much back to normal, but I'm still all out of whack. My normally nocturnal schedule has shifted to me waking up between 9 and 11 AM and exhausted by midnight. I miss my nighttime ways.
I'm also lacking my usual attention span, lately an hour long TV show is pushing it. I miss movies.

I'm getting there though. Slowly, but surely.

In a complete change of pace, Mom and I are taking off on a little road trip tomorrow. Chantal's playing at Brock University in St Catharines again, so we're gonna spend a couple nights in Niagara Falls and catch the concert. I can't wait. It'd be nicer if we weren't in the middle of an April snowstorm though.

I'll try to post a trip recap and pictures when I get back on Thursday. Maybe Friday.

Oh, and Watchmen was just okay in my opinion. Ah well.

Running to Catch Up

2009-03-04T19:01:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!!

...Yeah, a little late, I know. So, where have I been? Right here, pretty much. To be honest, I've just felt completely burnt out since finishing The Greatest Fan Film of All Time. I really haven't wanted anything to do with anything and I've been keeping a low profile, both online and off, in hopes of recharging myself a bit. Hasn't quite worked yet, but I'm slowly getting there.

Over the course of my journey to recharge, the holidays came and went and were nice. Santa brought me a digital video camera I'm hoping to put to good use.
In January (and beyond), Mother Nature unleashed her fury and gave us near-record-setting amounts of snow and left me stranded inside the house for a long, long time. On the bright side, it gave me a chance to make a dent in my monstrosity of a Netflix queue. Unfortunately, most of the movies I watched were disappointing. But I discovered how much I love the Bourne movies.

I broke my long streak of not going to the movies by going to see Coraline in 3D a couple weeks ago. The movie itself was great and the RealD 3D was amazing. Stylin' glasses too.

Tomorrow night I'm heading to the midnight showing of Watchmen. Can't wait.

Matthew has been a constant source of entertainment and exhaustion. He's 15 months old, huge, and smart.

On the movie-making front, Larry and the guys are working on both a new film and a new animated project. After a lot of hard thought, I made the difficult decision not to head up this animated project. I need to take a little time for myself and wrap up some of my own projects that have been sitting on the back burner. The Girl and the Ghost is still unfinished and I want to finally get it done and out there, even if only for myself.
I'm sure they'll do just great without me on this one.
It's been insane and great working with the guys these last few years and I'm sure we'll be teaming up again on something spectacular before too long.

You might notice the site's looking a bit different. I'm in the process of giving it an impromptu update, so hang in there and we'll be snazzified soon.

Before I wrap this entry up, I just wanted to take a minute to mention my niece. A few months ago, we found out Kris & Jessi were expecting another baby, a little girl. We found out a couple weeks ago that Jessi lost the baby. It's been hard on all of us. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to write this in memory of the niece I never got to meet.

I know I keep saying it, but I really will try to post more often. I swear.

Weekend Recap and Beyond

2008-12-17T05:24:00.001-05:00

Well, Saturday night came and went, it's high time I update the ol' blogaroo.

The Greatest Fan Film of All Time was finally completed the day before the premiere. We cut it close, but we made it. The premiere, thankfully, went really well. True to fashion, the speedbumps continued right up until showtime. Apparently Larry and the gang were having tech troubles with the projector, but managed to straighten everything out with fifteen minutes to spare.

I arrived at the Kent Stage around 7:30, bought my tickets from Derby, and made my way into the theater. It was a great setup and I was surprised how many people were already in there. And they kept coming. We planned to start the show at 8, but waited a half hour, as there were still people lined up outside.
It was great, a bunch of family came, including cousins Bob & Fran, who made the drive in from Pennsylvania. The biggest surprise was seeing Lindsy, who I haven't seen in about a year and a half. That was awesome.
I was really glad to see Aaron even made it in from the Carolinas.
The theater can seat 600, we had an audience of about 400 to 500. Not too shabby.

Before the lights went out, Larry showed our own version of the pre-movie trivia slideshow. Next up was a series of new skits the guys made. They were sprinkled throughout the night, popping up before, after, and between the movies. You can see them here (not suitable for youngins):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2WAK9xyRM

Next up was the debut of The Wimp Whose Woman Was A Werewolf:

THE WIMP WHOSE WOMAN WAS A WEREWOLF

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=48264163

Finally, it was time for the unveiling of The Greatest Fan Film of All Time (it was even my first time seeing the finished film):

The Greatest Fan Film of All Time
Uploaded by Bullcrank

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7pw7l_the-greatest-fan-film-of-all-time_shortfilms

It was great seeing the films with a crowd and hearing everyone laugh and react at all the right places. Just wild.

After the theater cleared out, I hung in the lobby with the remaining cast and crew for a while and just chatted. Of course, we took the obligatory group shot.

It was a crazy night and went by in such a blur. It still hasn't processed that after all those hours of work, Fan Film is finally done.

It went live on Dailymotion as the premiere was going on and has already been viewed over 11,000 times. Many thanks to Aimee Carlson yet again.

Speaking of Aimee, she gave us another shoutout on Lunchbox over at ifc.com:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1454928837/bctid4691270001

It's been a crazy year, culminating in a crazy weekend.

Next up? I'm taking a break. A nice, relaxing break full of movies, Rock Band, and World of Warcraft. Then I'll push forward and finish The Girl and the Ghost and see what happens after that.

Mmm... downtime...

It's Time

2008-12-13T17:43:00.000-05:00

On my way to the premiere, hope this all goes well.

Be sure to head to DailyMotion.com around 9 PM tonight to see The Greatest Fan Film of All Time.

Here goes...

For Those Who Can't Attend

2008-12-11T16:06:00.000-05:00

As of Tuesday, animation for The Greatest Fan Film of All Time is finished. I finished the main footage at 10 AM on Monday morning, Larry came to pick it up for editing that night. He showed up with Clint and Vince around 9 PM. We expected speedbumps, but not in the amount we experienced that night while copying the footage. By the time we got everything squared away, the guys ended up heading home after 7 AM Tuesday morning. It was a long, frustrating night.
Now, we find ourselves in a mad rush to get the film finished on time. No pressure. We'll get there, though. One way or another.

Have you gotten your tickets yet? If not, grab 'em up!
http://kentstage.org/december.html#werewolf

For those who can't attend, you'll still be able to see Fan Film on Saturday night. Here's a new trailer to tide you over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Nz516HYEY

Almost There...

2008-12-06T19:21:00.000-05:00

The premiere is exactly one week from tonight. In dramatic fashion, we're cutting things a little close, but we're doing it. Larry finished up The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf a few days ago and I'll wrap up animation on The Greatest Fan Film of All Time tomorrow night/Monday morning.

I hit the 1,300 hour mark last night and have somehow managed to animate over 40 minutes of footage so far. I completely lost track of how many different characters I've put in there. This thing is epic. You'll see in just a week. Which reminds me, tickets for the premiere are now on sale at this link:

http://kentstage.org/december.html#werewolf

Get 'em while they're hot!

We want to fill this place up, so let's get some butts in these seats. Spread the word, bring some friends, tell them to bring friends (but not that guy, you know the one). If it sells out, I will personally hug everyone in attendance, and let's be honest, who wouldn't want a hug from a shaggy, wheelchair-bound animator?

So, yes, you go get your tickets and I'll go work on finishing this movie once and for all.

It's clobberin' time!

Tootsie Pop on PopTub!

2008-11-18T20:05:00.000-05:00

While I'm animating giant robots, check this out. PopTub Daily featured Tootsie Blow Pop on their show today! It's Sansoneriffic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afRxSX2D-ps

Crunch Time

2008-11-13T22:11:00.000-05:00

The premiere is one month from today. I'm working as hard and fast as I can to make sure I've got a completed movie to show. Maybe people wouldn't notice if I switched to stick figures...
I'm well over 1,100 hours in with many more to go. My brain hurts. I'm hoping for a burst of speed and stamina on my part. Wish me luck.

Pumpkin Fun

2008-10-31T10:09:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween from me and my Christopher Walken jack-o-lantern.

The Time is Near

2008-09-26T19:10:00.000-04:00

I know, it's been nearly a month and I've yet to post anything about the trip yet. I promise I have a good reason, really I do. We have a premiere date for The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf and The Greatest Fan Film of All Time. On December 13th, the films will finally hit...the silver screen. Yes, we have a real theater booked for the premiere. Fan Film and Wolf will show at 8:00 PM at the Kent Stage in Kent, Ohio. We have an awesome night of entertainment lined up, so be sure to get there early.
Contact me at jacobdrakemail@yahoo.com for ticket information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjfOlmxh-gk

For you out of towners, fret not. At some point on the same night, The Greatest Fan Film of All Time will go live exclusively at Dailymotion.com

Want some good reading? Of course you do. Felix Vasquez of Cinema-Crazed.com has once again witten an excellent article about our films, in which he interviews Larry and Aaron. Check it out here:
http://www.cinema-crazed.com/0-g/bullcrank-interview.htm

Right. Back to work so we have a movie to show. I'll post vacation stuff soon.

One of Those Weekends

2008-09-01T01:12:00.000-04:00

It's been one of those weekends where things just don't go smoothly. And they don't just not go smoothly, they tend to go badly or plain old weirdly.

Earlier in the week, I happily popped online and booked a hotel room for this Monday in Niagara Falls. All was well, I was excited.

As the week progressed, we were taking care of all those little pre-trip things that need to be handled, like making sure the van is all ready to go. We've had the van for eight years now and I've been noticing for a little while that the wheelchair lift sags a bit when I'm on it, so we thought it wise to take it in and have it looked at.

Dad took it in on Friday. He sat and waited for a couple hours before they came out and told him everything looked good. Making sure, Dad asked if they had checked the hinge pins, which hold the lift level and steady. They went and took a look, stating that they should be good for another one to ten years. Having seen how it sags, Dad wasn't convinced, so they offered to remove a pin so he could get a better look.

Upon removal, the pin broke, rendering the lift useless.

Of course, they had none of those pins in stock, but they could order them and have them shipped on Tuesday. Installation would be $700. Dad raised a bit of a fuss and they came down to $400, at which point he got in the van and left.
(Further research revealed the pins to cost only $30 a piece.)

Having worked in a steel mill for thirty years, Dad resolved to fix it himself.

So, I've been nervous about whether or not that'd be fixed or if the trip would be canceled. To add to it, Friday was the last day I could have canceled the reservation without having to pay any fees.

Later that day, we ended up stumping the phone repairman. We just upgraded our phone, internet and TV services with a package deal a few weeks back. Earlier this week, our phone service stopped working right. While still able to make calls, we haven't been able to receive any. They were finally able to get someone here, but after much troubleshooting, he concluded he had never seen an issue like this before. He said the source of the problem wasn't on our end though, and it should hopefully be fixed by Tuesday.
Seeing a pattern here?

Things got relaxed as the evening came and brought game night with it. Corey and Eric came into town for some early birthday fun and Mikey joined us. That's when the surprise came. Everyone secretly chipped in and got me an XBox 360 for my birthday. I'm still surprised and it's Sunday now. Thanks again, guys!
For the rest of the night, we played Rock Band. And we ruled.

Eventually, game night came to an end. Mikey was the last to leave, taking off a little after 1:30 AM. A few minutes later, Mom and I heard the whooshing sound of a car speeding down our street. From the sound of it, he was easily doing 60 or over. Then came the series of thuds.
Mom immediately dialed 911 and ran outside.
At some point during the swerving of the vehicle, one of the tires blew out. Out of control, the car jumped the curb, roared across three lawn, and crashed into the side of an empty house, maybe 7 or 8 houses down from our own. A few minutes later, a police officer handcuffed the driver as he was loaded into the ambulance and taken away.
Word is that there were no skid marks, so the guy didn't even attempt to hit the brakes.

Definitely one of those weekends.

Now, to end on a lighter note, Dad and his buddy Jimmy were able to fix the lift earlier today. Trip's on.

Tootsie Blow Pop- Now Jumbo-Sized!

2008-08-28T07:46:00.000-04:00

I got an email from Brian Lee, a cadet at West Point yesterday. Apparently they're looking to expand their number of wheelchair bound recruits to create a new special strike force called "Hell on Wheels" and they want me to lead them. I leave tomorrow.

Okay, not really, but that'd be kind of cool. Mount a cannon on my chair and I'm good to go.

For real though, Army has a football game against Temple this Friday night. Temple's mascot is the owl, so Army is going to play Tootsie Blow Pop on their Jumbotron.
I can't believe I just typed that. I love it.

Fan Film is still rolling along as fast as I can push it, which, sadly, never feels fast enough. One way or another, it will premier in November (more on that soon).

In other news, I'm leaving Monday morning for my birthday trip to Niagara Falls and I'm really looking forward to the break.

A Lunchbox Full of Bullcrank

2008-08-12T08:18:00.000-04:00

Aimee Carlson just featured us on her web show, Lunchbox, over at ifc.com
I may be a bit biased here, but I think it's a pretty cool piece. Check it out here:

http://www.ifc.com/video/Web-Series/Lunchbox/1715738416

A million more thanks to Aimee!

Updatery

2008-08-09T21:38:00.001-04:00

I know I'm ridiculously overdue for an update, so let's fix that, shall we?

I'm still working my butt off on The Greatest Fan Film of All Time. I still love how it's looking, though it's still taking forever. I tallied it up a couple weeks ago and found I have well over twenty minutes of it animated. I'd expect that would make the finish line feel closer, but so far no dice. I'm currently working on the major action scene of the film. Once that's finished, I think I'll start to feel good.

I'm still frequenting the movie theater when I need a break. As I anticipated, I'm a big fan of Wall-E. Cool story, amazing visuals, very touching, Pixar didn't let me down.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army was a blast and a great followup to the first.

Hancock was just okay for me. It was fun and had it's cool moments, but I wasn't blown away. I liked it though.

The Dark Knight, as I'm sure most of you know, is a beast. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed seeing a movie as much as I enjoyed that midnight screening. Eric, Jeff, Mikey, Mo and I were there in the sold out theater for the first showing. Everyone there was pumped and we even had a Robin and a Nightwing in attendance. Turns out I actually knew Nightwing.
The movie itself was great. Intense, dark, and managed to surprise me several times. I'm looking forward to a few more viewings.

DailyMotion has been awesome and very supportive of our films. After they gave Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution a couple months back (giving it an additional 89,000+ views so far), they ended up showing it at a screening at their offices last week. It's pretty wild to think that the project I animated nearly three years ago was just shown on a rooftop in New York City. Craziness. A million thanks to Aimee.

Even crazier, I got an email requesting I submit Sex Love and Honey to the Anim'est International Animation Film Festival in Bucharest, Romania. I still can't process that people on the other side of the world have seen my work and are even requesting it.
Now as part of the submission, I need to create a press kit for myself. That ought to be bizarre.

Who wants more baby Matthew pictures?

Also, some long overdue pictures of my autographed prize from Stan Lee, which turned out to be a poster for The Incredible Hulk.

I'll have to find a prime spot on my wall for this beauty.

23

2008-08-02T07:54:00.000-04:00

Happy 23rd.
Miss you. Love you.

Simply Marvelous

2008-06-14T18:46:00.001-04:00

Still animating, still making progress. After doing that action scene, I've realized that, though relatively much simpler, animating dialogue-heavy scenes is painfully tedious and pretty boring. Just gotta get them done and get to the meat.
Our internet is finally up and running again, though I'm thinking I may continue to lay low with my online activities a bit longer to keep focused on Fan Film.

Mom and I went and saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls on Thursday night. I was surprised that there was nobody else in that theater when the movie's still so new, but it's always nice to have a whole theater to yourself.
As I mentioned before, I'm not the hugest Indy fan. I only saw the movies a couple times when I was younger, so I guess the nostalgia factor most people have with the movies isn't quite there for me. I recently rewatched the original trilogy and though I enjoyed them, they didn't fully do the trick for me. I get and appreciate that they're a big nod to the old serials, but the cheese level kept getting pretty high at times (especially in Temple of Doom) and that always tends to bug me. I think without Harrison Ford's performance, I probably wouldn't have liked them much at all, but that's just me.
That said, I really enjoyed Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. Sure, there were things I didn't like (the nuke scene, all the CGI animals, the killer ants, and everything between the Tarzan bit and the waterfalls), but I did end up really liking it. I won't give any details incase anyone reading hasn't seen it yet, but it was fun.
It amazed me how it was such a big gathering of sci-fi/fantasy movie stars. I mean, not only do you have Ford, who is both Indy and Han Solo, you've got people representing Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Transformers, Beowulf, Hellboy, and possibly my personal favorite brief appearance, though not sci-fi or fantasy, was the Janitor from Scrubs himself, Neil Flynn. That cracked me up.

Yesterday we went and saw The Incredible Hulk. I was nervous, I didn't like any of the trailers for the movie, I thought they were terrible. To my surprise, I loved the movie. I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it. I thought the effects were great, but I'm worried how they'll look on DVD. CGI almost always looks better on film, but then looks really fake on DVD, in my opinion at least.
I even had a nerdy moment during the final fight when I realized I was sitting there slackjawed.
I'm surprised I'm saying this, but The Incredible Hulk is right up there with Iron Man. The movies share the feeling of a deeper world by acknowledging the existence of other superheroes and even appearing in each other's movies. It opens thing up SO much. Before this, the closest thing I can recall is a mention of Metropolis in one of the Batman movies and a mention of Gotham in Superman Returns. The result is that instead of just having Marvel movies, we now have a series of movies taking place in the Marvel Universe. I can't wait for The Avengers.
It's time for DC to step it up. I loved Superman Returns and Batman Begins and The Dark Knight looks amazing, but it's time to open up the Universe.

I got a surprising and awesome note on MySpace the other day. It turns out I was the 20,000th friend added to Stan Lee's MySpace page and will be receiving a personalized autographed prize signed by Stan Lee himself. How insanely cool is that? Expect pictures when it arrives.

Tech Troubles, Movie Musings, and the Wee One

2008-06-06T15:43:00.000-04:00

I hate those moments when I realize how much I rely on the internet. Our service has been wonky for the past three weeks. My high speed is slower than dial-up (when it even works) and only reaches close-to-normal speeds when someone's using the phone. We've called AT&T for help several times, obviously without any success as of yet. I'm pretty much fed up with them.
It's surprisingly frustrating to not be able to check your email or peruse YouTube whenever I feel like it. It does have its advantages though, as I've been getting loads of work done.

I've used the internet downtime to really hit the animation hard and finished the scene from The Greatest Fan Film of All Time that I've been dreading since the start. It was my first all out action/chase scene and I really questioned my capability to pull it off. Amazingly, I finished the minute-and-a-half long sequence and I love it. Progress is nice.
Speaking of progress, we had a recording session for Fan Film on Saturday night. Larry, Derby, Clint, and Ian came up and we got most of the remaining dialogue recorded. Jeff even pitched in and voiced the Atom. Everything went well, we had fun and got a lot done.

When I'm not making movies, I have been going to see a few. Iron Man was excellent and really impressed me. It seemed like they really went the extra mile to make it more than the average superhero movie.
I also saw The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which I loved. I remember I wasn't sure what I thought after I first saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It was so soon after The Lord of the Rings, it seemed to me like they were trying to make a kid-friendly version to ride the wave. I liked it, but that was it. Then, every time I watched it, my appreciation for it increased, I saw new sides to it and kept getting more from it, I grew to love it. Prince Caspian was a great follow-up that really felt like it moved the story and the characters forward. For such an action packed movie, it surprised me how the whole thing seemed to have a sad undertone to it.
I still want to check out Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. I can't say I'm a huge Indy fan and I've heard very mixed reviews from friends, but I'd still like to give it a go.
It's looking to be a good summer for movies, my biggies are definitely The Dark Knight and Wall-E. I admit, I already caved and got myself a Wall-E figure, which is too cool for words, so here's a picture.

I'm curious about Hancock and hesitant about The Incredible Hulk. I'm in the minority in that I liked the 2003 Hulk movie and while the whole cast and so much about the movie tells me it should be great, the previews have left me cold.

I've gotten to hang with Cathy a bit lately, which has been really fun. She's getting married this weekend and moving to Seattle shortly thereafter. I'm so happy for her, though it'll be sad to see her go. I'm sure she and Ben will love it out there.

Matthew, me, and Hanna

Baby Matthew turned 6 months old last week. That went by really fast and yet it feels like he's always been here. The kids a bruiser and a ham, but an adorable one. His interests include drooling, eating, blowing raspberries, trying to eat things that aren't meant to be eaten, pulling his uncle's hair, hitting tables and various other surfaces, and did I mention he's a cowboy?

It's crazy to watch how fast he grows, you can see changes from day to day. He's already got a few teeth, he's very vocal, and he'll be crawling within days (right now he just rolls over and spins in circles on his belly). I discovered a few weeks ago that the Dixie Chicks song Lullaby has a powerful enchantment on him and will make him fall asleep nine times out of ten, it's hilarious.

I'm definitely keeping busy, but it's hot and I'm antsy. I want to go to Niagara Falls.

V

2008-05-26T13:40:00.001-04:00

Five years today. It's hard to believe.

Miss you.

Love you.

"Cause This Is What You've Waited For..."

2008-05-16T06:15:00.002-04:00

The weeks of anticipation and waiting came to a head on Sunday night as Mom and I headed downtown. It surprised me when I realized I hadn't been downtown since seeing Superman Returns at the Omnimax back in September.
I wish I had the camera handy while we drove. The sun punched through the cloudy sky and created a perfect shimmering reflection on Lake Erie just before we got into the city.

We were sitting in traffic behind the Allen Theatre , waiting to pull into the parking garage, when my filmmaker-sense started to tingle. I caught sight of a boom mic in the distance, then I saw the camera, in front of the equipment were the stars of the night, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I still don't know what they were filming behind the theatre, but the little glimpse was cool.

Mom was nervous as we approached the 7-foot height limit sign at the entrance of the garage in our behemoth of a van. The woman in the booth assured us we'd be fine and told us to head up to the 5th floor. So we did. Noisily. The van was just low enough to clear the ceiling, but our non-retractable radio antenna wasn't. It scraped on almost every lowered area of the ceiling on our way up to the roof. It was a bit stressful, but the tension was cut when I caught Mom ducking to clear the ceiling. While in the van.

We found our way from the garage to the theatre and met up with Eric and Bridget in a stroke of perfect timing. The usher lady (Usheress?) led us on a twisted path toward our seats. Halfway there, I started having a bit of trouble driving my chair on the somewhat steep incline and actually got stuck against some chairs. Meanwhile, the usheress didn't notice and kept walking all the way down to our seats.
As I battled gravity, the slant, and the chairs, who bumps into us? Adrienne. I couldn't believe it, I haven't actually seen her in about three years. She chatted with Bridget and Eric as I tried to free myself, but once I finally succeeded, the usheress returned and we followed. I really wish I could've talked with her and caught up a little bit.

Now at our seats, we looked around at the impressive interior of the Allen Theatre for a few brief minutes before a burly Irishman walked onto the stage. It was the opening act, Damien Dempsey. I had heard his name before, but that was all I knew of him before Sunday night. Despite his suffering from hay fever, he really impressed me. He had a great sound that occasionally consisted of a unique blend of Irish music with a dash of Bob Marley. It was his last night accompanying Glen & Marketa on the tour, so the band snuck out and surprised him by joining him on his final song.

After a brief intermission, Glen Hansard took the stage by himself at 9:15. He stood at the very front of the stage with his eternal sidekick, the holey guitar. Minus microphone and guitar unplugged, he gestured for the audience to quiet down. Seconds later, the theatre was complete silence and Glen played Say It To Me Now. No matter how hard I try, it would be impossible to put that performance into words. The closest I could come up with, and I know it probably sounds a bit over-the-top, would be to say it was a transcendental experience, he removed us from our daily worlds and brought us into theirs with that song and would keep us there for the rest of the night. The song was met with an uproar of applause.

Marketa Irglova joined Glen and took center stage, singing All the Way Down and sounding amazing.
They were then joined by the rest of the band, who I realized were Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Rob Bochnik, and Joe Doyle of The Frames. This made what would have already been an incredible concert even better.

They went on to play a fantastic mix of songs from Once (Lies, Falling Slowly, If You Want Me), some Frames songs (True, What Happens When the Heart Just Stops), and even a handful of new songs. Marketa sang one I particularly liked, called I Have Loved You Wrong.
She blew me away when she sang Lullaby from The Wicker Man (the original of course, as she referred to the remake as "kind of shit").
Glen went crazy on guitar for his awesome rendition of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks.
Colm even got his moment in the spotlight, performing a beautiful solo piece on the violin.

As usual, a highlight of the night was Glen's talking between songs and introducing them. He's a hilarious storyteller, he even got so into it at one point that he reenacted the classic near/far bit from Sesame Street, repeatedly running from the front to the back of the stage.
He briefly reminisced about how crazy these last couple years have been with the huge success and Oscar win of Once. His thoughts reflected my own when he expressed amazement at how the venues they're playing have changed from the venues they played before the film, giving the example of going from the Beachland Ballroom last time they were in Cleveland to the Allen Theatre this time.

After more thunderous applause, they all returned for a nice long encore which included Star Star, Fitzcarraldo, and a traditional Irish song, The Auld Triangle, for which Damien Dempsey returned to the stage. That rounded out the night of great music. I can't speak for anyone else, but I was left in awe after the show and still feel it when I think about it.

Bridget and Eric made their way to us, battling against the current of audience members leaving the theatre. We all talked about how much we loved the show before heading out to the merch booth in the lobby, where I grabbed Damien Dempsey, Rob Bochnik, and Colm Mac Con Iomaire's CDs along with a Swell Season tee-shirt.

We said our goodnights and parted ways, making our way back to the van, then scraping and ducking all the way down to the street.

That was a night I'd love to revisit, and thanks to technology I'll be able to once PlayedLastNight.com puts the show up.

Pure greatness.

Another Left Foot

2008-04-13T23:18:00.001-04:00

How could I forget? WrestleZone.com mentioned and The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf and The Greatest Fan Film of All Time in a recent article.
Take a look!

Left Foot, Right Foot

2008-04-13T21:59:00.000-04:00

Still working on Fan Film. I still love how it's looking, though I must admit I'm getting a bit restless. I always seem to get an influx of ideas for other projects while I'm working on one and they have to wait until I finish and can focus my attention on them. I suppose I can try to use that as motivation to help make it to the finish line.

It is nice while in the midst of new-project-frustration to see that an old project is still going strong. Aimee from Dailymotion.com contacted us asking if we'd be interested in creating a Bullcrank channel. So we did. On the first day (last Sunday), they featured Nintendo: OldSchool Revolution on their front page. One week later and it's been viewed (at the time of this writing) 50,993 views.
It's crazy to see my first project still getting numbers like that after two years.

Bridget came by for a visit on Monday. I haven't seen her since September, so it was nice to hang out and catch up. We swapped some music and she told me about her new job at The Toledo Blade, where she recently got to interview Ben Folds. Not too shabby, eh? Nicely done, ma'am.

Fan Film is calling, I better answer.

In the meantime, check out this video Larry made showcasing seven years of Bullcrank filmmaking. There's even a glimpse at The Girl and the Ghost in there (no, I haven't forgotten about that one).

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X_ercEWYTik

New Bullcrank Short

2008-04-04T03:19:00.000-04:00

I didn't have anything to do with this one, but man, do I love it.

In 2008, a film was rediscovered from long ago. The film, titled "Bad Dudes With Attitudes", had begun production in 1983 and had been promptly shut down when film studios realized it was the greatest film ever created. Its lighting was brilliant, its acting top notch, its special fx immortal, and its story unparalleled. Studios knew its success would never be duplicated and that any films that came after would forever be poorly received simply because they were nothing compared to "Bad Dudes With Attitudes". This is the only finished and existing footage. Enjoy its awesomeness.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/43331b35a5

"Funny" votes are appreciated!

"Take a Ride Down That Yellow Brick Road..."

2008-04-04T02:19:00.000-04:00

We took a last-minute one-day roadtrip last Friday. Raine Maida had been on tour to promote his CD, The Hunters Lullaby, for a couple weeks, but all of the shows except for two (Buffalo and Detroit) were too far away for us to make. As it neared, we decided to battle the winter doldrums and head for the Buffalo show.

Mom, Maude, and I hit the road a little bit after 1 PM. The ride was smooth until Maude started to vie for control of my iPod, a struggle which was waged all the way to Buffalo. Many excellent songs were tragically skipped as a result.

Not wanting to sit all the way in the back of our enormous van, we had a little setup with a lawn chair so Maude could sit near the front with us. It worked out fairly well, until we hit the parking lot of the rest stop in Angola, where a left turn sent her flying.

Artist's rendition

We peeled her off the floor and made our way inside to Denny's for a mid-drive bite. I loves me my mashed potatoes.

Once again, MapQuest dropped the ball at the end of our journey, leaving us circling a block, looking for the venue. Maude took a second spill as we circled. We ended up asking in a nearby police station how to find the Town Ballroom. It was two buildings down the street. In plain view from the police station parking lot.

After parking, traversing a shady alley, waiting outside the front of the building, backtracking down the same shady alley, and conquering a 5 inch step up through a doorway, we were greeted by Raine and led in to watch the the familiar faces of Chantal, Kevin, and Randy during soundcheck.

It's a music fan's paradise to sit and watch a soundcheck, I'm in awe every time. As amazing as it is to hear an artist play live, there's just something magical about watching them play without an audience. Those little random moments.
In between songs, Chantal would start playing different tunes. A few notes of Hallelujah, a Sting song I'm not familiar with, and despite it just being spur of the moment, it was beautiful. I felt so lucky as I took it all in, knowing I was seeing something not many get to see.

We chatted with Raine a little after they finished and even got to briefly meet their adorable son, Lucca.

After a few minutes, one of the opening acts took the stage for soundcheck. He didn't look or sound familiar, but it didn't take Mom, Maude, and I long to agree we liked what we were hearing. His name was David Ford and he impressed me. His voice is great and his use of a looping machine filled the room and made you forget he was performing alone on stage.

Here's a clip someone posted on YouTube from a performance in 2006.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6XZpQPJWzQ8

We sat by ourselves until doors opened and we positioned ourselves by the stage for the show.

"Good evening..."
My photogenic aunt

David Ford did his thing and sounded great. He was followed by spoken word artist Jared Paul. Aside from a few times on TV and the net, I've never been exposed to spoken word performance, but it was definitely interesting and thought provoking. I'm not sure yet if it's my cup of tea, but I am glad to have experienced it.

Raine and company took the stage shortly after 9. Aside from some audio trouble with a guitar early on, it was a flawless show. They played through all the songs from The Hunter's Lullaby, including Sex Love and Honey (a personal favorite). He also covered Neil Young's Ohio and did an excellent acoustic version of Innocent, which the audience helped out with.

Chantal had her moment in the spotlight as she performed a haunting cover of Where Is My Mind? by The Pixies.
I had such a great time and can't thank Raine & Chantal enough.

After the crowd cleared out, we headed for the doors we came in through. Before we made it outside, we ended up hanging out and talking to drummer Randy Cooke and some of the crew for a while. It still cracks me up that we've been around backstage enough that the crew recognizes us and vice versa.

On our way to the van, I recognized my friend from the internet and fellow fan, Gail as she chatted with Randy and Kevin Fox. I stopped to say hello, but it was just a quick chat, due to the cold night air of Buffalo in March. It was really nice to finally meet her though.

Randy, Kevin, and me (Thanks, Gail!)
Me & Gail

We were on our way home a little after 11 PM. Wrong turns are getting to be something of a tradition on roadtrips with Mom and me, but this is the first time it's happened on a toll road and we literally had to pay for our mistake.
We made our second stop at the Angola rest stop to eat before the rest of our late night drive home. We were back on the road around 1. The ride was smooth and peaceful. Maude slept for most of it and my iPod was free to shine.

The long, but fun day was rounded out when we arrived home a little while after 3 AM. It was a crazy day, but a much needed break, I had a blast.

Until the next one.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aYvQji8KoUI

"...I Can't Believe How Much I Love the Rain"

2008-03-25T22:31:00.001-04:00

Easter weekend was a fun, but exhausting one. Thursday through Saturday were dominated by Rock Band, especially Friday, when we went from 9 PM until 3 AM and played 58 songs in a row to reach legendary status. My voice, surprisingly felt completely fine afterwards. We had our biggest band lineup yet, rotating between Corey, Eric, Brendan, Mikey, Jeff, Jake, and myself throughout the course of the night. While we played, the skies opened up and the guys had to dig their cars out from under several inches of snow by the time we finished.

After our Saturday night session, I was up until about 9 AM, putting another family video together for everyone for Easter. The video turned out nicely, but having gotten only 4 hours of sleep, I was pretty much shot for the rest of the day. It was nice visiting at Granny's though.

When we got home, I had an email from Larry with a link to a recent article about Bullcrank and our movies. Check it out here:

http://www.fallsnewspress.com/news/article/3503402

So, the crazy weekend is over and I return to cartoonland once again. People seem to be responding positively to the trailer, which is a nice bit of fuel during the long nights of animating.

For now, I'll leave you with another family video I cut together earlier this week. This one features baby Matthew and I'm calling it The First Four.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qo3g8tKnFk

Something For Your Easter Basket

2008-03-23T15:52:00.000-04:00

Larry threw together a brand spankin' new preview for The Greatest Fan Film of All Time. It's a nice mix of old footage, new footage, and pure Bullcrankocity. Feast your peepers on this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GODs5dQ8AbQ

Happy Easter!

A Note From Beneath the Snow

2008-03-09T21:32:00.001-04:00

The outside world has been swallowed and now looks like this.

Would someone kindly send the rescue dogs?

Back to Earth

2008-03-08T04:45:00.002-05:00

As of Wednesday, my work in space is done. I finished that scene just a couple hours before Larry and Derby stopped by for a visit, so I got to show them the footage while it was still fresh out of the oven.
I'm extremely proud and happy with how these shots came out and I guess I'm not the only one. Larry's loving it and says the rest of the Bullcrank guys and gals are impressed.
We ended up talking about the rest of the movie and the big shots still ahead of me throughout most of the visit. It helped pump me up a bit and got the creative juices flowing, we even came up with a few amazing ideas I'll be including.

Aside from a few extra pick up shots, filming of The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf wrapped this weekend. It's looking to be excellent and a real step up for Bullcrank. You don't have to just take my word for it though, being the crazily driven madman that he is, Larry has already put together a trailer. Check it out here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zYGzUJBmoUU

And you can take a look at the creation of the werewolf here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PLo8btWkj40

I've been ridiculously amused at how dark, depressing, and continuously hilarious Garfield comic strips are when you remove Garfield from them and it's all thanks to Garfield Minus Garfield. I'll never look at John Arbuckle the same way again.

Our tickets to see Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova arrived a couple of days ago and the seats look great. This is going to be a fantastic show.

On to the next scene I go. We're expected to have between one and two feet of snow on the ground by tonight, so the weather's right for animating.

Stay warm.