A Picture, Some Video, and a Ghost Update

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.

A Busy Thanksgiving Week

The snow has definitely been trying its hardest to make its presence known and didn't have too much luck, aside from a dusting that stuck to the tops of vehicles. Thanksgiving was the first day I'd say it really snowed, which it did all day. The roads were left a bit slick, but it was nice to watch the snow fall. It's all melted already, but I'm sure there will be plenty more before I know it.

Thanksgiving week was nice and full of goings on. Everyone was back in town, so the challenge arose to see as many people as I could before they headed back to their respective jobs and schools.

Corey drove in on Tuesday night, so we kicked back and caught up a bit before Wednesday night's game night extravaganza, when Eric, Jeff, Brendan, and Mikey joined us. Craziness ensued, fun was had, and the villagers rejoiced.

We went to Grandma's on Thanksgiving, which was nice, despite my exhaustion. I didn't get to sleep until 9:00 that morning as I was frantically editing video. A little family dance video I made as a joke a couple years ago has almost started to become its own little tradition, the family expects to see a new one at the holidays. I managed to pull it off this time and everyone seemed to like it, so I suppose it was well worth just getting a four hour nap.

Corey, Eric, and Aaron swung by later for a couple games of TimeSplitters. Always a good time.

Black Friday rolled around and I stayed inside, safely away from the rabid bargain hunters. They're a dangerous lot. I already finished most of my shopping online in the days before, so I was set.
Mikey and Jake came over in the evening and we chilled for a bit. After Jake had to go, Nikki joined us and we watched MirrorMask. I liked the movie the first time I saw it, but I see more and more layers every time I watch it, I love it.

Saturday was a night many months in the making. Nerd Night.
When it was first announced there would be a Battlestar Galactica TV movie in between seasons three and four, Eric and I agreed we had to make an event of it. Last night, Eric, Brendan, and I plopped down in front of the TV, turned on the surround sound, shut off the lights, and geeked out to Battlestar Galactica: Razor. It was intense and I loved it.
We rounded out Nerd Night with a dash of Soul Calibur II and a pinch of TimeSplitters.

Unfortunately, my busy week delayed the animation process. Again. I'm still moving forward though. I admit, I'm getting pretty antsy to work on some new project and ideas I've got bopping around in my brain, but Fan Film and Ghost are top priority.

Raine Maida's recently completed solo album, The Hunter's Lullaby, was released a couple weeks ago. Released along with it was a great music video that chronicles Raine's day of busking in the streets of Toronto with the goal of raising $30,000 for War Child Canada to build a school in Congo. I'll close today's blog entry with the video for Yellow Brick Road.

Holiday Recap

I hope anyone reading this had themselves a nice holiday. Mine was enjoyable, I'd say it started for me on the Wednesday before Christmas with the Bullcrank Christmas party.

It was about an hour's drive and we got lost along the way, but we eventually found the place. Due to some miscalculations regarding the door to the house and my wheelchair, the party was moved out to the garage, which was surprisingly enjoyable. It was really nice just hanging out with the whole crew, chit chatting and watching Aaron's new short film.
A lot of the gang has been a bit down lately, so Larry secretly cut together a video to rally the troops and showed it at the party. I gave him a hand with some animation for it. It's funny, I wasn't even present for most of the stuff in the video and it still makes me sentimental. You can check it out here.

Corey drove in from Pittsburgh on Thursday, so we chilled out several times throughout the weekend. We had ourselves a big Christmas-time game night on that Friday, the last one with the whole gang for a while as Brendan moved down to Florida this weekend for an internship at Disney World. He'll be down there until August. Not a bad gig, eh?

On Saturday night, Eric and Aaron visited along with Corey for a bit before they headed out for a night of barhopping. Aaron was the hero of the night, letting us have his old TV to replace the tiny one we've had standing in for our broken one.
Sharon visited on Christmas Eve and then Corey swung by for a little Madden football and a couple episodes of Trailer Park Boys.

Christmas morning was nice, everyone seemed to be happy with their gifts, I know I was. You can't go wrong with CDs (Gnarls Barkley, Regina Spektor, KT Tunstall, and Our Lady Peace), DVDs (Justice League Unlimited: Season 1, The Chronicles of Narnia: Extended Edition Gift Set, and Short Circuit- also, Corey got me Over the Hedge and The DaVinci Code), Superman stuff, and iPod accessories.

After unwrapping, we ate and Kris & I played The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, courtesy of Brendan and Mikey. A little bit later, we were off to Granny's.

It was a good time hanging out with everyone there and just relaxing. I'd have to say the highlight of the night was Jeff messing with Aunt Karen. He broke out some classic word play and wrote down "I am sofa king wee Todd did" and had her read it out loud. It was hilarious listening to her read it over and over until it finally sunk in. The moment of realization was priceless.

This Christmas was nice, but it felt slightly...off. Everything we did was 100% Christmas, but for some reason it didn't really feel like Christmas. I can't quite put my finger on it. Even so, I did have fun and I hope you all did too.

What A Weekend

I've had the strangest, most chaotic, and most unexpected events happen over the last few days.

Wednesday was really nice, I got to hang out with Corey, Bridget, and Eric. We caught up with each other, had a few drinks, and I dominated at the pop culture edition of Trivial Pursuit.

Thanksgiving was cool. Went to Granny's and visited with everyone. The day was a blur.

Friday rolled around and it was time for game night. Corey, Brendan, Eric, and Aaron all gathered and the games began. As we played, though, I started to feel a bit...off. After everyone left, I went to bed and ended up staying there until Sunday night.

Out of nowhere, I had the worst cough I've had in years. I coughed for about 48 hours nonstop.

I went to the doctor today and he gave me an antibiotic, I'm feeling much better, but still far from 100%.

I was really scared this was going to compromise the trip to St Catharines, but, thankfully, it appears I'm in the clear. As a matter of fact, we're leaving in the morning, so I better get some sleep.
I'll write when I get back Thursday!

Birthday Pinot

As something of a follow-up to Thursday's surprise extravaganza, tonight the gang and I headed to the wine bar.
Corey and I were the first to arrive. We actually got there way ahead of everyone else, which was a good thing. I ordered myself a glass of Pinot Grigio (I've wanted to taste Pinot since I watched Sideways, I'm a dork) and we just chatted. For about an hour we sat in a side room with couches and a fireplace and caught up with each other as Corey told me about life in New York City.
Eventually, we moved into the main room so everyone could find us. Shortly after we sat at a table in the front window, Maria arrived with her friend, Jessie. I now owe Jessie a CD and she wants to bling out my wheelchair. One glass of wine in me and I nearly have a rhinestone covered chair, imagine if I had a second glass.
A few minutes later, Bridget and her boyfriend, Keith, showed up and joined us. More food and drinks were ordered (I got baked brie, mmm) and Aaron got there and completed the night's group.
It was a simple, yet highly enjoyable night of hanging out with friends old and new. Gotta love it.
After everyone went their own ways for the night, Corey and Aaron came back to my place for a little mischief involving Corey's BB gun and our back yard, not to mention my sword. We played video games into the wee hours, bringing in my actual birthday. It seems bizarre that I've had two parties before my birthday officially arrived. Around 3:30 AM, we were video gamed out and they went home. Corey flies back to NYC in the morning. I'm still in a bit of shock he got to surprise me like this. Simply awesome.
Now I must get to sleep so I'm rested for my birthday and the family cookout Mom has planned.
Until next entry...Stay classy, cyberspace.

Jacob's 2004 Adventure: Epilogue

Two days after we returned was September 4th, my 22nd birthday. I celebrated by going out to eat with Mom, then I had a few friends over. Drinks, a DVD, nothing spectacular, but it was nice.
It was a bit odd going from being backstage with my favorite band and constant action to having such a quiet, low-key birthday party.

In the weeks following our return, I told my story to anyone and everyone who would listen. As I’d tell it, I’d show a slideshow of pictures and even had music to go with them. It was a whole presentation and I still haven’t tired of showing it. Every time someone wants to see it I get to relive the whole experience again.

I sent an e-mail to my new friend at Warner Canada to thank him, tell how the night went, and thank him some more. While I was typing, curiosity got the best of me and I asked him if he was the one responsible for getting me backstage. In his reply he told me, and I quote...

“I am only the messenger my friend. It was me that delivered the message and the strength of your letter that made it all work. The Corrs were quite taken by your dictation. The band had me scout out the disabled sections of the ACC. I let them know where they were as I had to leave for my sales convention. They said that Jarrod, their security guy, would look for you.”

There I was sitting in my bed, just waking up while checking e-mail on my laptop, and I was completely taken aback. Something that I had written moved The Corrs enough to want to meet me. I reread it a few times before I called my parents into my room to tell them. Even in writing this, I can’t begin to tell how much that means to me.

A couple weeks after the whole thing was over, I got a package in the mail. Imagine the ego trip I went on from seeing it was sent from Warner Canada. My friend sent me an autographed 8"x10" picture of The Corrs he found laying around at work! Plus it's an older one, so it has Caroline's autograph on it too!
The next day, I got another package from Warner Canada. This time it was two signed CDs! One was their debut CD with all four of their signatures and the other was Borrowed Heaven signed by Andrea, Sharon, and Jim and personalized for me!
I can't begin to tell my friend how grateful I am to him.

Thinking back on the whole experience I can see how different it was from my everyday life and how incredible it made me feel. The traveling, the music, the buzz, even telling my tale after it was over. Everything about it made me feel alive. I don’t recall ever feeling that great before. That was a once in a lifetime kind of trip that I'll remember and be thankful for always.