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

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!

Artwork for Anna

Some fellow fans have been asking to see the picture I made for Anna Nalick, so here it is!

(click for full size)

"And You Let Me Lay My Burdens Down..."

A few weeks ago, I was happy to find out Anna Nalick was headed back to do another show at the House of Blues in Cleveland on July 31st. As usual with concerts I must go to, I got my tickets right away.

Last week, I decided to start work on a little project I had been pondering for a while. It was an idea inspired by the firefly story Anna shared with the crowd last time I saw her. After a few days work, my piece of cyber art was finished and I was surprisingly pleased with it. I was amazed at how quickly I finished it and how good it turned out.

The unexpected flooding events of the last few days threw a wrench into things, as I wasn't sure what state things would be in on concert day. Mom and I decided a little break from the chaos was necessary and we had to go.

We got a really late start and headed for Kinko's to print out my artwork to give Anna. It was 8:15 when we left for Kinko's and venue doors opened at 7:30. The print job was done and we aimed downtown.

We reached the House of Blues just before 9:30. Even though we were running late, the timing was pretty uncanny, as soon as I got into the lobby, I heard Luis on guitar playing the first notes of Citadel, the first song of the set.

Sadly, I completely missed the opening act, Eliot Morris.

Despite sitting in the very back, I had a surprisingly good view. Anna and the boys sounded great. I'm happy to say my only disappointment from the last show was resolved when they played Forever Love (Digame). She introduced it by telling how it was written after she was in a car accident and had the thought that she wasn't gonna go until someone told her they'd love her forever.

Anna also told stories of marathon viewings of Entourage on the bus, getting the cold shoulder from actor Jared Leto earlier in the day, and an embarrassing mess up while playing on a local news broadcast that morning.

They went on to play the rest of the tracks from Wreck of the Day as she pranced around the stage with her bare feet, including Drink Me and More Than Melody from the recent reissue of her debut album. She also sang the absolutely beautiful song, Home.

Towards the end of the song, Bleed, Anna introduces the band and they all slip in their solos as their names are called. I cracked up during drummer Ronny Crawford's solo as his movements were strikingly similar to everyone's favorite drumming muppet, Animal.

My personal highlight of the show was the Guitar vs Voice showdown between Luis and Anna. Imagine Dueling Banjos, minus the banjos and hillbillies. Luis would play a riff and Anna would sing the notes back at him. It was pretty funny, Luis kept playing ridiculously high notes knowing there was no possible way Anna could hit them.

To my delight Anna announced she'd be signing autographs in the lobby after the show. They ended the night with Satellite and left the stage.

Fantastic show.

While waiting in line to meet Anna again, Mom and I ended up befriending a really cool security guy, Andre. We all chatted for a nice little while until the line started to move.

Before I knew it, I was face to face with Anna yet again. "Hello again!" she said, to my surprise. I can't imagine how she remembers people with the massive amounts of people she must see on a daily basis in her line of work.
We talked for a little bit and I gave her the picture I made. I had a copy of my own I asked her to sign and she asked me to sign her copy. I must say, it felt strange signing something for a pop star as she autographed something for me. A good kind of strange. I also gave her a copy of the photograph of us from the last time she was in town and she signed mine.
Before I left, I asked if I could get a picture with her, but she said it was up to the club and they said no. I'm guessing it was because the line was so long and they wanted to keep things moving. We agreed "maybe next time" and said our see-you-laters.

Mom and I went to a chair a few feet away to sort everything before heading outside. As Mom was going through her purse, I noticed Anna leaning out from behind the table, trying to get my attention. I guess she saw the end of the autograph line was near and told me if I waited a couple minutes, we could get a picture together. Folks, the lady's a total sweetheart.
While waiting, I bought myself a copy of Eliot Morris' CD (which is great!) and he kindly signed for me.
A few minutes later, as promised, she came over and posed for a picture with me.

We chatted briefly, saying our thank-yous and more see-you-laters. Mom commented how beautiful Anna's voice is, to which she quickly and cutely replied "The better to sing for you with, my dears."


While at the autograph table, I also gave Anna the address to this site. So, Anna, if you find your way here, thank you for your kindness, the music, and a wonderful night.

"I Shine A Little More Lately..."

Anna Nalick's debut CD, "Wreck of the Day", has had a steady home in my music rotation for the past year or so. It's one of those rare collections of songs that seems to have only gotten better with repeated listenings. When I heard Anna would be playing at the House of Blues on March 3rd, I knew it was a show I couldn't pass up and quickly bought my tickets.

As my family and I made our way to downtown Cleveland, my excitement grew and before I knew it, we were there. We were led into the Cambridge Room, just off the main lobby of the House of Blues. Running a bit behind schedule, we arrived later than I would have liked, half the audience was already packed in and I couldn't even see the stage from my height. With a bit of help from a very kind House of Blues employee, I maneuvered my wheelchair to a much better position, next to the stage.

At roughly 8:15, the opening act, whose name I missed (sounded like Pixie Ray), took the stage. The two attractive sisters played a short, but enjoyable acoustic set. Their sound was slightly rough around the edges, but they're definitely talented. Sadly, most of the audience didn't seem to notice as they talked through most of the set.

In between acts, I stared at the drum set on stage, decorated with Anna's name, and knew it'd be starting soon.

Around 9:30, the band hopped on stage and introduced Anna. Wasting no time, they kicked into "Citadel" and started the show. They all sounded fantastic and definitely seemed to be having fun. I sat with the foot-rest of my chair touching one of the big speakers. Nerdy as it may sound, I loved feeling the music flow through me as I listened.

Anna interacted quite a bit with the crowd, something I absolutely love at a concert. For example, after asking a kid why he wasn't smiling, she announced a little more sugar in his diet would fix him up. She then went on to explain that the shoes she was wearing were too big for her feet, and not having another pair handy, she improvised by stuffing sugar packets from backstage into each shoe to fill in the extra space. She proceeded to remove one stiletto, pulled out a packet of sugar, and tossed it out to the kid.
I love quirkiness.

They went on to play more favorites from "Wreck of the Day" including the title track, "Paper Bag", "In My Head", and also a cover of Blondie's "Hanging On The Telephone".

Anna shared a story about a previous visit to Cleveland last summer. She found herself walking through a cemetery downtown and saw a small, glowing light moving through the air. After seeing a second one, she nervously decided to introduce herself to the "spirits" and talk to them a bit. A few minutes later, one flew directly at her and...landed on her skirt. The spirit was a firefly, a bug not native to Anna's home state of California.
She also shared a story about a concert last year during which she accidentally stood on her own skirt and ended up mooning the audience and receiving thunderous applause.

The applause wasn't too shabby from the Cleveland audience either, delaying the start of at least one song with continuous clapping. More applause came when she switched up the last line of "Catalyst" to "These L.A. lights, they don't shine quite as bright as back in Cleveland." What can I say? Crowds love a good citywide shout out.
Anna belted out her big hits, "Breathe (2 A.M.)" and "In the Rough" among others before wrapping up the show and dumping the remaining sugar packets from her shoes.
But that's not all, she also announced she'd be signing CDs in the lobby after the show. Good thing I came prepared, eh?

After the room cleared some, we attempted to make our way to the lobby, but found it too packed to even get through the door. A few minutes passed as we waited in the Cambridge Room when my brother, Kris, said "There she is." I turned around, but before I could make it over to her, she was already through the other door into the lobby. I headed back and took my place in line.

A surprisingly quick 45 minutes later, I was up at the table, face to face with Anna Nalick herself.

Now let me say something, hopefully it won't sound too cheesy or overly guy-ish, but not only is this woman an excellent performer with one hell of a voice and an amazing songwriter, she's the stunning kind of beautiful (incredible eyes and a killer smile) that would most likely make me too shy to even approach her in a normal daily life setting. Actually, that's sort of what happened. Maybe I was a tad starstruck (or starstricken?), but all the words I meant to say decided to put up the "Gone fishin'" sign when their time came. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't sitting there saying "a-durrrrrr", but you know what I mean.

She was kind enough to sign my CD and a poster and she even posed for a picture with me. Mom asked if Anna could get a little closer for the picture. Being cornered in by the tables, she did her best. She stood up slowly and joked that she was being careful not to reenact her skirt incident. Leaning across the table with her hand on my shoulder, we both smiled as the camera did its thing.

She thanked me for coming and I assured her I'd see her next time she passed through Cleveland, and that was that.

It was a great show, even better than expected. It was one of those concerts where the whole show was a highlight. Great music and pure lighthearted fun.
My only (slight) gripe of the night was that the only song from her CD Anna didn't sing during the show was the one I was most looking forward to hearing, "Forever Love (Digame)". Maybe next time.
All I know for sure is that I didn't leave from the House of Blues disappointed tonight.

Another One of Those Days

All before noon today I missed a private concert, lost a contest, and I'm out $100. It's only 2:00 now and I'm wondering what the rest of the day can throw at me. Wish me luck.

-Jacob