It was considerably chillier than it was supposed to be today, so I had to bundle up a bit more than I wanted to while running errands with Mom.
As I was getting out of the van at WalMart, I heard a voice say "Jacob?" It turned out to be my old friend, Jackie, who I haven't seen in probably about 7 years. We caught up with each other a little in the parking lot. She seems to be doing quite well for herself, working a good job downtown and recently engaged. It was a nice surprise bumping into her.
I'm wondering if a bus full of people I haven't seen in ages recently pulled into town and unloaded, as that's the second random bump-into this week.
After there, Mom and I had a quick bite at Schlotzsky's and headed to the movie theater to behold the anticipated return of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or, as they're now more hiply called, TMNT.
When I first heard the movie was going to be completely CGI, I was honestly a bit miffed.
When I saw the first trailer, I was a bit more optimistic.
When more clips were revealed over the last few weeks, I got excited.
When I saw the movie tonight, I felt a childhood enthusiasm return.
It was just excellent. Though the villain plot was lacking a bit, the theme of family was outstanding, the action scenes were truly impressive, and the CGI was done nicely and surprisingly beautiful at times. The best (spoiler free) scene in the movie is when tensions reach a boiling point and two brothers battle it out, it was executed perfectly.
I really loved the movie and look forward to seeing it again.
Almost as fun as watching the movie, was watching the audience arrive. It seemed funny seeing so many people over twenty showing up for a PG animated film, but it was the original Turtles Generation reuniting after all these years. Even cooler was seeing members of that generation bringing their kids with them.
After the movie, I kicked back and visited with Corey, who's back in town for the weekend. We just chit chatted a bit and talked about his new dog, Wizard. It was nice.
Tomorrow night? Game night.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Music! Merchandise! Mystery! And Me Without a Brown Trenchcoat. And a Fedora.
It's been a little while since I've been excited about upcoming music, probably since the release of Chantal's Ghost Stories back in August, which, incidentally, is finally being released here in the States in May. Moving on to music I don't already have, Andrea Corr's solo debut, Ten Feet High, is coming out in June.
There's a musician out of New Jersey I've been following on MySpace for a while now, her name is Jenny Owen Youngs. She just signed with Nettwerk Records and her debut release, Batten the Hatches, is set for April 10th. I have her EP's and love her sound, I'm really looking forward to picking that album up.
After Corey recommended it, I signed up and created an account for myself on Virb.com. It's basically a new networking site like MySpace, but not. I uploaded the animated shorts and Sex Love and Honey there yesterday and they've actually already featured the latter on their video page. How cool is that? It's a huge kick having people enjoy something you worked on like that. It's a cool site though, very music-centric, check it out.
The weather was nice again today, hovering around 60, though a bit overcast. I did some running around with Mom and did a bit of shopping to satisfy my nerdy tendencies. I got the Justice League Unlimited: Season 2 DVD set, a bunch of geekily magnificent DC Comics figures (including the excellent new Darkseid figure), and, on a less geeky note, Joshua Radin's CD, We Were Here.
As we left Best Buy, I spotted something that struck me as odd. Canada geese aren't foreign to me by any means, but they've always either been on the ground, flying through the air, or floating on the water when I've seen them. Not today. As Mom and I drove past Bakers Square, I saw a lone goose perched up on top of the building, just looking out over everything below him like the king of all geese. I wish I would have thought to snap a picture before we were too far away.
After shopping was done, Mom and I set out on a rescue mission. Dad's been having trouble with his truck these past few days, today he called from the lot when he noticed he was leaking transmission fluid. We picked some up and delivered it to him, before following him home to make sure he made it all the way.
We were all hungry, so the three of us went to Denny's for the first time in months. It was a bit iffy last time, everything just tasted...off, but it was much better this time. As we were getting ready to leave, we bumped into our old neighbor from across the street, Elise. I hadn't seen her in years, so it was cool to chit chat and catch up a little.
While there, I realized I may have watched too much Veronica Mars when I had my own little Mars moment. As we ate, a man came in and seemed quite perturbed when he was seated at the front of the restaurant. He asked for a table in the back room, but was told they couldn't do that, as they only had one server working. His frustration caught my attention.
Wow. Guess I'm an eavesdropper.
Anyway, he held off on ordering as he was waiting for someone. "Ooh, this guy's having an affair!" I joked to myself. Sure enough, a woman showed up a few minutes later. They seemed familiar with each other, but there was still a sort of awkwardness between them.
Is Denny's an acceptable dating destination for a pair of middle-aged folks? It seems like more of an under-the-radar meeting place, especially with the persistence to be in the back room. Now that I think about it, they did both seem a bit overdressed for Denny's.
Yeah, it's mostly speculation and none of my business whatsoever, but that little rendez-vous intrigued me.
Ahh. To be a Private Eye.
There's a musician out of New Jersey I've been following on MySpace for a while now, her name is Jenny Owen Youngs. She just signed with Nettwerk Records and her debut release, Batten the Hatches, is set for April 10th. I have her EP's and love her sound, I'm really looking forward to picking that album up.
After Corey recommended it, I signed up and created an account for myself on Virb.com. It's basically a new networking site like MySpace, but not. I uploaded the animated shorts and Sex Love and Honey there yesterday and they've actually already featured the latter on their video page. How cool is that? It's a huge kick having people enjoy something you worked on like that. It's a cool site though, very music-centric, check it out.
The weather was nice again today, hovering around 60, though a bit overcast. I did some running around with Mom and did a bit of shopping to satisfy my nerdy tendencies. I got the Justice League Unlimited: Season 2 DVD set, a bunch of geekily magnificent DC Comics figures (including the excellent new Darkseid figure), and, on a less geeky note, Joshua Radin's CD, We Were Here.
As we left Best Buy, I spotted something that struck me as odd. Canada geese aren't foreign to me by any means, but they've always either been on the ground, flying through the air, or floating on the water when I've seen them. Not today. As Mom and I drove past Bakers Square, I saw a lone goose perched up on top of the building, just looking out over everything below him like the king of all geese. I wish I would have thought to snap a picture before we were too far away.
After shopping was done, Mom and I set out on a rescue mission. Dad's been having trouble with his truck these past few days, today he called from the lot when he noticed he was leaking transmission fluid. We picked some up and delivered it to him, before following him home to make sure he made it all the way.
We were all hungry, so the three of us went to Denny's for the first time in months. It was a bit iffy last time, everything just tasted...off, but it was much better this time. As we were getting ready to leave, we bumped into our old neighbor from across the street, Elise. I hadn't seen her in years, so it was cool to chit chat and catch up a little.
While there, I realized I may have watched too much Veronica Mars when I had my own little Mars moment. As we ate, a man came in and seemed quite perturbed when he was seated at the front of the restaurant. He asked for a table in the back room, but was told they couldn't do that, as they only had one server working. His frustration caught my attention.
Wow. Guess I'm an eavesdropper.
Anyway, he held off on ordering as he was waiting for someone. "Ooh, this guy's having an affair!" I joked to myself. Sure enough, a woman showed up a few minutes later. They seemed familiar with each other, but there was still a sort of awkwardness between them.
Is Denny's an acceptable dating destination for a pair of middle-aged folks? It seems like more of an under-the-radar meeting place, especially with the persistence to be in the back room. Now that I think about it, they did both seem a bit overdressed for Denny's.
Yeah, it's mostly speculation and none of my business whatsoever, but that little rendez-vous intrigued me.
Ahh. To be a Private Eye.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Tonight, We Dine in Terabithia! Cowabunga!
Things have been pretty quiet 'round here. Not boring, just quiet.
Seeing 300 with Jeff was postponed that day, so Mom and I went and saw Bridge to Terabithia that night instead. I've never read the book, so I wasn't exactly what to expect. It was really cheesy and very Disney for the first hour or so, then it took a turn and got heavy really quickly. Surprisingly heavy for a movie that's being marketed for a very young audience.
In the end, the cheese at the beginning actually seemed to help the later drama make more of an impact. The more I thought about it afterward, the more I liked it.
I ended up finally seeing 300 with Jeff that Monday. I definitely enjoyed it. Sure, it's not the greatest movie ever made, but I had a lot of fun watching it. It's a visual explosion and excellent for those times when you just want to watch a good action movie.
I've been doing some work on The Girl and the Ghost, mainly establishing the visual style it'll have, seeing what works and what doesn't. So far, I think it's looking rather sweet.
Speaking of looking sweet, Bullcrank.com has been revamped with a shiny new design. Go take a look and don't forget to breathe in that new website smell.
St Patrick's Day was pretty low key, but nice. I had a potato and some Guinness, then Mikey came over to play some video games and I introduced him to Firefly. Much to my surprise, the video leprechauns over at iFilm featured Sex Love and Honey yet again on St Patty's Day. Featured twice in ten days? Excellent!
We got an early taste of summer last Tuesday when it hit 75 degrees. I took advantage of it by driving around and running errands with Mom and Granny. It felt so nice being able to drive with the windows down. Of course, it snowed over the weekend.
It's supposed to warm up again into the 60's towards the end of the week. I'm really looking forward to it. That and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Can't wait.
Seeing 300 with Jeff was postponed that day, so Mom and I went and saw Bridge to Terabithia that night instead. I've never read the book, so I wasn't exactly what to expect. It was really cheesy and very Disney for the first hour or so, then it took a turn and got heavy really quickly. Surprisingly heavy for a movie that's being marketed for a very young audience.
In the end, the cheese at the beginning actually seemed to help the later drama make more of an impact. The more I thought about it afterward, the more I liked it.
I ended up finally seeing 300 with Jeff that Monday. I definitely enjoyed it. Sure, it's not the greatest movie ever made, but I had a lot of fun watching it. It's a visual explosion and excellent for those times when you just want to watch a good action movie.
I've been doing some work on The Girl and the Ghost, mainly establishing the visual style it'll have, seeing what works and what doesn't. So far, I think it's looking rather sweet.
Speaking of looking sweet, Bullcrank.com has been revamped with a shiny new design. Go take a look and don't forget to breathe in that new website smell.
St Patrick's Day was pretty low key, but nice. I had a potato and some Guinness, then Mikey came over to play some video games and I introduced him to Firefly. Much to my surprise, the video leprechauns over at iFilm featured Sex Love and Honey yet again on St Patty's Day. Featured twice in ten days? Excellent!
We got an early taste of summer last Tuesday when it hit 75 degrees. I took advantage of it by driving around and running errands with Mom and Granny. It felt so nice being able to drive with the windows down. Of course, it snowed over the weekend.
It's supposed to warm up again into the 60's towards the end of the week. I'm really looking forward to it. That and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Can't wait.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Odds and Ends- Ghosts, Batman, and Ric Flair
Seems I've suddenly got a surge of creative energy as of late. I've now got two new animated projects on my plate. Currently, I'm tweaking one I'm writing on my own, tentatively titled The Girl and the Ghost. It's just a weird little ghost story I came up with that actually loosely ties in with an older script of mine.
The other project lined up is...brace yourself...an unofficial sequel to Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face. It's gonna be crazy, nerdy, and a sight to behold. We've got some wild stuff lined up for it, just wait and see.
I recently did a tiny bit of animation for a skit Aaron was working on. Well, that skit's now finished and online, so check out WOO! and prepare yourselves for this random ode to wrestling legend Ric Flair.
http://www.ifilm.com/video/2827436
And now I'll be quoting a bit of insanely cool news from Larry's blog:
How's that for awesome?
You might notice (but probably not) that I've played with the site's layout a little bit. Only the sidebar really. Now links to my various projects are more easily available just under my little bio box to the right. Below that, you'll find my recent ramblings, then links to my stuff and friends' websites, and finally, the blog archives. I think it's a bit more user friendly, let me know if you think otherwise.
It's looking like spring is finally in the air. The sun's out, it's warm(er), and the snow is melting rapidly. I even heard birds on a couple mornings this week. I did some running around to stores with Mom yesterday and barely even had to bundle up, it was nice. I may head out with Jeff tonight to see 300.
It's nice knowing summer's not that far off.
The other project lined up is...brace yourself...an unofficial sequel to Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face. It's gonna be crazy, nerdy, and a sight to behold. We've got some wild stuff lined up for it, just wait and see.
I recently did a tiny bit of animation for a skit Aaron was working on. Well, that skit's now finished and online, so check out WOO! and prepare yourselves for this random ode to wrestling legend Ric Flair.
http://www.ifilm.com/video/2827436
And now I'll be quoting a bit of insanely cool news from Larry's blog:
I was on page 12 last night when I told Jake (our animator) that I hadn't checked my bullcrank.com email in weeks and that I was about to. I opened it and flipped out. There was an e-mail from Mark Ordesky, the Vice President of New Line Cinema and executive producer of Lord of the Rings. If you remember or have read the other blogs, you know that Aaron and I met him in LA and that he's been a fan of our stuff ever since.
He had seen "Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face" and "The Losers Have a Junkyard" upon returning from the UK where he was working on Nicole Kidman's "Golden Compass" trilogy. He loved both, as well as "Nintendo: Oldschool Revolution" and "Blow Pop" and he asked me to send every short film I do to his office from now on on DVD. Also, he reminded me that he's waiting to read the script to our feature film. Here I am with the damn second draft open in front of me and I'm so amazingly happy with it and I get an e-mail from Ordesky reminding me that he wants a copy right away. I flipped out. I didn't even read the other emails until a few minutes later.
While reading the other emails I spotted one from a college student in Texas. He asked permission to show "Nintendo: Oldschool Revolution" locally and on Time Warner Cable. I said of course he could as long as he credited Jake, myself, and Bullcrank.com
How's that for awesome?
You might notice (but probably not) that I've played with the site's layout a little bit. Only the sidebar really. Now links to my various projects are more easily available just under my little bio box to the right. Below that, you'll find my recent ramblings, then links to my stuff and friends' websites, and finally, the blog archives. I think it's a bit more user friendly, let me know if you think otherwise.
It's looking like spring is finally in the air. The sun's out, it's warm(er), and the snow is melting rapidly. I even heard birds on a couple mornings this week. I did some running around to stores with Mom yesterday and barely even had to bundle up, it was nice. I may head out with Jeff tonight to see 300.
It's nice knowing summer's not that far off.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
(Yet) Even More Cool News!
I'm a dork and missed that iFilm emailed me before they featured the video to let me know when it would be on the main page. They also let me know that the video is featured on their music video page and their animation page!
How cool is that??
Plus it's now up to 506 views!
How cool is that??
Plus it's now up to 506 views!
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Even More Cool News!
As of a few minutes ago Sex Love and Honey is featured on iFilm's main page! Go check it out!
When I checked it around 3 PM, it had 81 views (after a week), and since being featured, it now has 171 views (as of right now, 6:32 PM). I love it. Many thanks to the guys at iFilm!
When I checked it around 3 PM, it had 81 views (after a week), and since being featured, it now has 171 views (as of right now, 6:32 PM). I love it. Many thanks to the guys at iFilm!
A snapshot for posterity
(click to enlarge)
(click to enlarge)
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
HUGE News!
I'm extremely excited and proud to announce that Harvey Daggit and the Devil's Olives has made it into the internet voting stage for the new show from Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett called On the Lot.
At this point, people watch and vote on all the films and they'll eventually be narrowed down to 16 filmmakers who will make it onto the show. Each week, they'll make a short, be voted on, and narrowed down until there's a winner. That winner gets a $1,000,000 developmental deal with DreamWorks.
This is big. HUGE.
This is where you come in.
Please, help this film make it through to the next stage. Helping is ridiculously fast and easy. All you have to do is follow this link:
http://films.thelot.com/films/18290
Watch the film, register, and vote for it. Spread the word, tell your friends. Get some votes rolling in! It's up to you guys now!
At this point, people watch and vote on all the films and they'll eventually be narrowed down to 16 filmmakers who will make it onto the show. Each week, they'll make a short, be voted on, and narrowed down until there's a winner. That winner gets a $1,000,000 developmental deal with DreamWorks.
This is big. HUGE.
This is where you come in.
Please, help this film make it through to the next stage. Helping is ridiculously fast and easy. All you have to do is follow this link:
http://films.thelot.com/films/18290
Watch the film, register, and vote for it. Spread the word, tell your friends. Get some votes rolling in! It's up to you guys now!
Friday, March 02, 2007
A Call to Digg
Okay, another small update. As of yesterday, the absolute best looking version of Sex Love and Honey is at iFilm.com. Right here, as a matter of fact:
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