Completion and Relaxation

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.

Late November Catch Up

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.

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.

Last Minute Pumpkin Run

Halloween has come and gone and now November is here. Thanksgiving is three weeks from today with Christmas and snow and all that is wintry right behind it. The year sure is flying by. I think I say that every year. Yesterday, on the other hand, seemed to go on forever.

I had to be up ridiculously early (9 AM is ridiculously early for me) for a doctor's appointment. Just a check up, all is well.

From there, I did a little shopping with Mom and bought myself the sixth season of Scrubs on DVD. We grabbed a bite to eat and headed out to hunt down some pumpkins.

We learned an important Halloween lesson this year: don't wait until Halloween to buy pumpkins. Something came up every time we were planning to go, so it came down to the last minute. When we got there, the pumpkin patch was just a patch. On the bright side, I guess it made it easier to decide which ones to get.

Look at all of them!

Back home, I tried to come up with a design. I usually start planning days in advance, but I just got too distracted I guess. Animating will have that effect. With the clock ticking down to the arrival of trick-or-treaters, I had to come up with something fairly simple and fast. Friends gave me some great suggestions like the Guy Fawkes mask, Jack Skellington, my own face, characters from The Girl and the Ghost and a lot more. I know I could have lots of fun with those, but I just didn't have enough time. Of course, Eric suggested a series of Battlestar Galactica options. Maybe next year. I ended up deciding on our design of Darkseid from The Greatest Fan Film of All Time.

It actually kind of looks like me as a zombie.

I rounded out the night by watching Pushing Daisies and Ghost Hunters.

The news just said we might get our first snow next week. I'm already under a blanket. I'm prepared.

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!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Everywhere I go, I hear Christmas music. Even as I type this, I'm listening to Dido's "Christmas Day" on the radio. It's nice and calming, it would be a perfect little holiday moment...except for the fact that it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Not to mention that I've been hearing Christmas music in stores since before Halloween.

I'm a guy who likes tradition. Every Thanksgiving morning is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, at the very end of the parade is the grand arrival of Santa. That is when the holiday season starts. The music, the decorations, the lights, that's when they should all begin.

Now, don't go thinking I'm channeling Scrooge here, ask anybody who knows me and they'll tell you the Christmas spirit takes over during the season. What's going on right now, though, is overkill. Everyone's going to be sick of these songs weeks before the holiday arrives, the meaning of them will be sucked dry from the overexposure.

So, I'm going to try to shield myself from the premature holly jolly tunes and enjoy my Thanksgiving for the day it actually is. I love Christmas too much to jump the gun and spoil it. Candy canes aren't quite as special if you eat them every day.

Sunday Afternoon Ramblings

I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week. I can't believe I haven't posted since the 3rd. Truthfully though, not much worth posting about has happened.

I've been on a big DVD kick lately. Target had an excellent deal and I bought Ghostbusters 1 & 2 for a total of $10, I forgot how great those movies are. Animation was the order of the day, as I recently rented Over the Hedge and Curious George from Netflix and bought Cars. All were great, each had its own unique strengths.
Having a love for creepy and paranormal movies, I rented An American Haunting, sadly, it was a major disappointment.
And now I find myself addicted to yet another TV series. I just rented the first couple discs of the recent incarnation of Battlestar Galactica and I'm already hooked. Surprisingly awesome on every level.

In other movie news, Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face passed the 10,000 view mark on iFilm a few days ago! It took a little while, but people are watching and that's all that matters.
On a related note, I'm not too crazy about iFilm's new layout.

And my main source of excitement...only 10 days til I see Chantal Kreviazuk! I really can't wait, it'll be fantastic.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Well, it's been quite a day in Jacobland. I woke up just before noon and watched the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I basically turned it on just in time to see Santa's appearance, which seemed a bit awkward to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Santa fan, Christmas is my favorite time of year, but the big guy didn't look well. He's always been a jolly old soul, but today he was extra jolly, I couldn't tell if he was HO-HO-HO-ing or if he was having a seizure. He was convulsing as though Rudolph rebelled and rammed an antler in an uncomfortable place. Santa, take it easy, you've got a busy few weeks coming up. Drink some tea or something, dude.
Anyway, if you're interested, I'd like to share a bit of my day with you all. My family and I headed over to Grandma's house around 2:00 to help her get everything ready. Everyone else started showing up around 3:00, the holiday fun begins. It was then that I met my new cousin, Faith, for the very first time. I know people say this about all babies, well, most, but she's just the most adorable little thing. She's got the biggest eyes and the cutest wild head of hair. Except for when she first got there, she didn't even cry, and even that was short lived, as if she was just briefly taken aback by all these new faces. It was so cool watching her eyes as they explored the room and studied everyone's faces, all of this information for her to take in. I couldn't help but smile as she looked at me with such a curious gaze, most likely wondering who I was.
Everyone gathered at the tables, 17 people in all digging into the holiday feast. Turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, a bit of applesauce, pudding, pumpkin pie...I'm still full.
I told my aunts, uncles, and cousins of my recent adventures in Toronto and Niagara Falls, they all seemed to enjoy it. My cousin, Jacqui, told of her internship where she'll be spending a semester working at Disney World. It's just so crazy hearing these stories, watching my cousins and realizing how much everyone's growing up.
As the day wound down, group by group the relatives left to go home or visit other family. As Uncle Joe and family left, my Aunt Mary brought little Faith over to me to say bye. As Faith looked at me this time, she gave me the cutest little smile, as though she had studied me enough and approved, she then cooed the cutest coo as I nuzzled her.
Mom and I headed home from Grandma's shortly after midnight, time just disappeared. It was a great day.
So, you may be curious, what am I thankful for? I'm thankful for family and friends, old and new, those who have just arrived and those who have passed on. I'm thankful for all the incredible things I've seen and experienced this past year. I'm thankful for the opportunities that have presented themselves to me that will hopefully grow into even more wonderful experiences over the next year or so.
Until next time, cheers. :)