Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday, March 06, 2009
25 Things I Hate About Facebook
I laughed...and then I updated my status. Facebook why can't I quit you??!!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Open Season 2 Reel
Tonight, the studio held a screening of Open Season 2 at a local theater and I think it turned out pretty well. A big congrats to the ReelFx crew and to the folks at Sony. The DVD was released last week and opened at #1 in DVD sales with $11 million; not including blue ray. Not too shabby.I have posted my OS2 reel which can be found HERE.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
LOST in the background
When watching LOST I always enjoy noticing what the other castaways are doing. You know..the ones in the background...who are toiling away......digging in the sand, chatting it up, nodding a lot when Jack is explaining stuff or just plain hanging about doing nothing. They don't mingle with the cool kids like Sayid, Kate and Sawyer, rather they keep their distance. They don't head off with "the gang" to find food, explore DHARMA stations or any of the useful survival sorts of things. No they basically loiter about waiting to either A. run from the smoke monster B. run from the Others or anyone else that is shooting at them C. nod their heads when Jack is explaining stuff. They are..the ambient castaways.
Now the ambient castaways don't have to be in the background forever. They can elevate themselves to the next level, which is convenient castaway. This can happen when one of the primary characters actually speaks to one of them, for what seems like, the very first time. "Find Kate...person I have never talked to until now." Or they may voice concerns at a tense moment, to which a primary character must respond.
Take last nights season premiere were we are introduced to Neil. He is pissed about the time shifting and is not gonna take it laying down...in the background, where no one can see or hear him. He is up front yelling at Bernard and trading barbs with Sawyer.
This could mean one of two things. Neil is being elevated to official secondary castaway ala Rose and Bernard or.....he will be dead momentarily. Unfortunately for Neil the ladder was true..as he shifted from convenient castaway to expendable. Neil-cabob anyone?
And this is the risk you take as an ambient castaway trying to make the leap to secondary castaway. It is not an easy move by any means, especially if you happen to be annoying. Like Arzt. Remember him? Mr Science Teacher...I'm sooo smart...careful with that dynamite blah blah blah BOOM...your dead.
Or perhaps Nikki and Paolo.
These two made a good effort, slinking their way from the background to the foreground almost overnight. They even went trekking through the jungle with some of the primary characters which is mostly unheard of for anyone below secondary level. A couple episodes later they are being buried alive by Sawyer and Hurley....ewwww nice try.
Now there are those times when the ambient castaway will find himself in the worst predicament of all. This is when they are elevated to conveniently expendable. A sure sign that this is about to happen, is whenever there is a lot of shooting. We may be led to believe that a primary character will be injured or killed, only to have a expendable castaway conveniently get in the way. This is an ambient castaway's worst nightmare.
Background characters, I enjoy watching you hanging about and I want you to be safe, so please heed my advice. Just stay back there. If you absolutely have to talk to a primary character keep it short, do not make eye contact and do not let them learn your name. When an attack comes be sure you are not running nearby any primary character, in fact hang back when the attack first starts as the primaries are always likely to be leading the way. Remember no one is aiming at you because your a nobody....keep it that way and you just might survive.
Now the ambient castaways don't have to be in the background forever. They can elevate themselves to the next level, which is convenient castaway. This can happen when one of the primary characters actually speaks to one of them, for what seems like, the very first time. "Find Kate...person I have never talked to until now." Or they may voice concerns at a tense moment, to which a primary character must respond.
Take last nights season premiere were we are introduced to Neil. He is pissed about the time shifting and is not gonna take it laying down...in the background, where no one can see or hear him. He is up front yelling at Bernard and trading barbs with Sawyer.
This could mean one of two things. Neil is being elevated to official secondary castaway ala Rose and Bernard or.....he will be dead momentarily. Unfortunately for Neil the ladder was true..as he shifted from convenient castaway to expendable. Neil-cabob anyone?
And this is the risk you take as an ambient castaway trying to make the leap to secondary castaway. It is not an easy move by any means, especially if you happen to be annoying. Like Arzt. Remember him? Mr Science Teacher...I'm sooo smart...careful with that dynamite blah blah blah BOOM...your dead.
Or perhaps Nikki and Paolo.
These two made a good effort, slinking their way from the background to the foreground almost overnight. They even went trekking through the jungle with some of the primary characters which is mostly unheard of for anyone below secondary level. A couple episodes later they are being buried alive by Sawyer and Hurley....ewwww nice try.
Now there are those times when the ambient castaway will find himself in the worst predicament of all. This is when they are elevated to conveniently expendable. A sure sign that this is about to happen, is whenever there is a lot of shooting. We may be led to believe that a primary character will be injured or killed, only to have a expendable castaway conveniently get in the way. This is an ambient castaway's worst nightmare.
Background characters, I enjoy watching you hanging about and I want you to be safe, so please heed my advice. Just stay back there. If you absolutely have to talk to a primary character keep it short, do not make eye contact and do not let them learn your name. When an attack comes be sure you are not running nearby any primary character, in fact hang back when the attack first starts as the primaries are always likely to be leading the way. Remember no one is aiming at you because your a nobody....keep it that way and you just might survive.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Meat Flap
This past weekend I put away the last of the Christmas decorations. As much as I love Christmas I was very glad to have the house back to normal. Fortunately, this years deChristmasfication ended without incident...unlike.....last year.
Post-2007 Christmas. It is January '08 and I had just installed some metal shelving racks in the garage to better hold the many tubs o Christmas decor. These racks have L shaped corners which allow for the shelves to be adjusted. As I am bending over to place a tub on the bottom shelf I slipped and fell into the rack, with the top of my left hand slamming into one of the metal L shaped corners.
EEeeeeouch!!! pain shot up my left arm. I pulled my hand back to see that the L corner had sliced the knuckle of my middle finger....pretty darn deep...there was thickness . My knuckle now had a meat flap and I swear I could see bone. Better not look too close or I was sure to pass out in the garage, where I would bleed to death.
Into the house I went, yelling to the wife that I needed a band aid or ten. I stuck my hand in the sink and turned on the water and when the water met meat flap, man or man that hurt. I wrapped my hand in a towel and stuck my hand under my right arm. My wife suggested I go to the doctor, that it would most likely need stitches. Doctor?.... HA!! I have a stable gun if it comes to that and no, I don't need no stinking doctor. I had her call her father instead. He's not a doctor, but he watches them on TV.
While standing there with my hand tucked under my arm, I started to feel dizzy and the tall glass of orange juice didn't help...thanks for nothing vitamin C. My wife's father said I was probably going into shock. Really? Shock? Well ok, let me lay down with my feet elevated. Wonder-pea laid next to me with her feet up. Apparently she was in shock as well. While we laid there in shock, I realized that had the L corner taken the knuckle clean off, I would have most likely died since my body seems unable to handle minor injuries.
After applying pressure to the hand for about 15 min, the bleeding stopped, but I needed to keep my finger completely straight. The slightest bend of either the middle or forefinger was enough to pull the skin around the meat flap and start the bleeding once more. Again I scoffed at the idea of seeking professional medical attention. Instead I took jumbo popsicle sticks and taped em to my middle and forefinger. And oddly enough, it worked quite well at keeping those fingers from bending.
The next morning I took a look at flappie and it seemed to almost be reattached. Small movements of my finger didn't reopen the wound or anything. Amazing! I was like that cheerleader on that show. Until...I rubbed it against a towel...the wrong way.... and the pain and the blood all came rushing back.
I made one last attempt at MacGyvering my injury. This time with the popsicle sticks and a big medical pad (that would be used for a gun shot wound) bandaged on top of ol flappie. Success. My fingers would not bend, nothing would brush up to, rub or otherwise anger flappie...let the healing......begin. Now if only...I could....tie.. my...shoes.....arggh....
Yeah the big ass Sleestack hand I had for the next couple weeks was sort of a pain, but I made do and flappie healed up nicely. And best of all, I didn't have to go to the doctor.
Post-2007 Christmas. It is January '08 and I had just installed some metal shelving racks in the garage to better hold the many tubs o Christmas decor. These racks have L shaped corners which allow for the shelves to be adjusted. As I am bending over to place a tub on the bottom shelf I slipped and fell into the rack, with the top of my left hand slamming into one of the metal L shaped corners.
EEeeeeouch!!! pain shot up my left arm. I pulled my hand back to see that the L corner had sliced the knuckle of my middle finger....pretty darn deep...there was thickness . My knuckle now had a meat flap and I swear I could see bone. Better not look too close or I was sure to pass out in the garage, where I would bleed to death.
Into the house I went, yelling to the wife that I needed a band aid or ten. I stuck my hand in the sink and turned on the water and when the water met meat flap, man or man that hurt. I wrapped my hand in a towel and stuck my hand under my right arm. My wife suggested I go to the doctor, that it would most likely need stitches. Doctor?.... HA!! I have a stable gun if it comes to that and no, I don't need no stinking doctor. I had her call her father instead. He's not a doctor, but he watches them on TV.
While standing there with my hand tucked under my arm, I started to feel dizzy and the tall glass of orange juice didn't help...thanks for nothing vitamin C. My wife's father said I was probably going into shock. Really? Shock? Well ok, let me lay down with my feet elevated. Wonder-pea laid next to me with her feet up. Apparently she was in shock as well. While we laid there in shock, I realized that had the L corner taken the knuckle clean off, I would have most likely died since my body seems unable to handle minor injuries.
After applying pressure to the hand for about 15 min, the bleeding stopped, but I needed to keep my finger completely straight. The slightest bend of either the middle or forefinger was enough to pull the skin around the meat flap and start the bleeding once more. Again I scoffed at the idea of seeking professional medical attention. Instead I took jumbo popsicle sticks and taped em to my middle and forefinger. And oddly enough, it worked quite well at keeping those fingers from bending.
The next morning I took a look at flappie and it seemed to almost be reattached. Small movements of my finger didn't reopen the wound or anything. Amazing! I was like that cheerleader on that show. Until...I rubbed it against a towel...the wrong way.... and the pain and the blood all came rushing back.
I made one last attempt at MacGyvering my injury. This time with the popsicle sticks and a big medical pad (that would be used for a gun shot wound) bandaged on top of ol flappie. Success. My fingers would not bend, nothing would brush up to, rub or otherwise anger flappie...let the healing......begin. Now if only...I could....tie.. my...shoes.....arggh....
Yeah the big ass Sleestack hand I had for the next couple weeks was sort of a pain, but I made do and flappie healed up nicely. And best of all, I didn't have to go to the doctor.
OS2 extended clip
An extended clip from Open Season 2 is available HEREBillboards are popping up as well. Chad Sellers snapped this one out in LA.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Biscuit Sammiches
Last night ReelFx had their Christmas party which was a lot of fun. Food, drink and a lot of Rock Band. A picture booth was going strong for most of the night...here are some pics of that killer new band: Biscuit Sammiches.
Our 2009 world tour starts in January.
Our 2009 world tour starts in January.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Ka-blewie!
My shots from SotFF are now up in the animation area. If you haven't picked up the DVD 2 pack then I can only assume your asking Santa for it, which is fine if you want to wait two months for awesomeness.
Also if you head over to happymeal.com you can select your own ending to a Madagascar2 McDonald's commercial for which ReelFx provided the animation. I did the Great Wall of China ending so be sure to give it a look.
Also if you head over to happymeal.com you can select your own ending to a Madagascar2 McDonald's commercial for which ReelFx provided the animation. I did the Great Wall of China ending so be sure to give it a look.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Secrets of the Furious Five
Today Kung Fu Panda comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray! Two disk packages include the all new feaurette: Secrets of the Furious Five.
ReelFx handled all the CG animation for the feaurette. I was SUPER excited to have worked on it, as Kung Fu Panda is one of my favorite animated films of recent times.
Next week I will post the shots I did...skadooosh!!
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Giant Monsters!
I finally got a chance to do something for drawergeeks. This was inspired by my battle with a ginormous possum that plagued my landscaping.....whom I think is back!! Dun Dun DUUUUN!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
Open Season 2 trailer
Here is the first real trailer for Open Season 2. The DVD comes out January 29, 2009. We wrapped production on it months ago..seems weird we have to wait sooo long for it to come out.
I have one shot in the trailer. Boog saying "..we can't give up on our friend Weenie."
I have one shot in the trailer. Boog saying "..we can't give up on our friend Weenie."
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
California Dreaming Part 3
Our last couple of days in California were spent in San Francisco. Our first night was July 4th and unfortunately our room was on the street side of the hotel..ground level. Yes it was noisy pretty much all bloody night. I declared that I hated San Francisco and tried to teleport myself someplace else...with my mind. It didn't work which was for the best, because I actually really loved San Francisco...even more so after we got our room changed.
Here we see another boat of prisoners being taken to Alcatraz.
At Pier 39 there is a shop called Chocolate Heaven....the name does not lie..there was lots of chocolate and I was in heaven. The kids got a sugar high just looking at the store front.
After some shopping and lunching at Pier 39, it was finally time to pay homage to the greatest hot fudge sundaes in the world, by visiting Ghirardelli Square. It was like visiting the Emerald City...and I wept softly. I counted about three different shop locations at the square all packed with people. My plan was to visit them all..
Wonder-pea and I are enjoyed our Ghirardelli Square experience. Me perhaps a little more. Yes that is a second sundae sitting there. Through some mathematical miscalculation, my Dad ordered one more sundae than was needed. Since Ghirardelli sundaes are protected under California law, I had no choice but to eat it. It was the greatest day of my life.
The vegetation was huge!
Here we are at the top of a waterfall.....
...and my parents at the bottom.
I do have an almost, sorta, fear of heights. Not so much fear of being high, but rather falling to my death from a high spot. Regardless, I was determined to get a kick ass picture of the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped at an overlook. The wind was blowing like crazy as I made my way up the path to the top.
The actual overlook was slopped down towards the bay so that if you got a running start you might actually clear the side of the cliff as you plummeted to your death. Nice. After taking some long deep breaths and focusing on a happy childhood memory, I inched closer and closer to the edge and snapped this......
..not too shabby.
The very last thing we did in San Fran besides visiting the airport to come home, was to visit Muir Woods. Home to some HUGELY amazing trees.
Lil Pumpkin made friends with a local.
The End.
Good times were had by all! It was a busy trip but still pretty gosh darn fun. I would have loved to visit all my buddies out there in Cali, but perhaps next time. California was great fun and I am sure we'll be back. I must admit that late at night, when its very quiet, I can hear the chocolate of San Francisco calling to us......my precious.....and we must haves it..
Here we see another boat of prisoners being taken to Alcatraz.
At Pier 39 there is a shop called Chocolate Heaven....the name does not lie..there was lots of chocolate and I was in heaven. The kids got a sugar high just looking at the store front.
After some shopping and lunching at Pier 39, it was finally time to pay homage to the greatest hot fudge sundaes in the world, by visiting Ghirardelli Square. It was like visiting the Emerald City...and I wept softly. I counted about three different shop locations at the square all packed with people. My plan was to visit them all..
Wonder-pea and I are enjoyed our Ghirardelli Square experience. Me perhaps a little more. Yes that is a second sundae sitting there. Through some mathematical miscalculation, my Dad ordered one more sundae than was needed. Since Ghirardelli sundaes are protected under California law, I had no choice but to eat it. It was the greatest day of my life.
After prying me away from Ghirardelli Square, we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge to visit Golden Gate Park.
The vegetation was huge!
Here we are at the top of a waterfall.....
...and my parents at the bottom.
I do have an almost, sorta, fear of heights. Not so much fear of being high, but rather falling to my death from a high spot. Regardless, I was determined to get a kick ass picture of the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped at an overlook. The wind was blowing like crazy as I made my way up the path to the top.
The actual overlook was slopped down towards the bay so that if you got a running start you might actually clear the side of the cliff as you plummeted to your death. Nice. After taking some long deep breaths and focusing on a happy childhood memory, I inched closer and closer to the edge and snapped this......
..not too shabby.The very last thing we did in San Fran besides visiting the airport to come home, was to visit Muir Woods. Home to some HUGELY amazing trees.
Lil Pumpkin made friends with a local.
The End.
Good times were had by all! It was a busy trip but still pretty gosh darn fun. I would have loved to visit all my buddies out there in Cali, but perhaps next time. California was great fun and I am sure we'll be back. I must admit that late at night, when its very quiet, I can hear the chocolate of San Francisco calling to us......my precious.....and we must haves it..
Monday, September 22, 2008
California Dreaming Part 2
Our visit to Monterey was more laid back than our Disneyland visit. No big crowds, the weather was cooler and no giant talking animals.
One of the highlights was 17 mile drive, a scenic drive along the coast.
The worst thing about 17 mile drive, if not the entire trip was our stop at Bird Rock. As the name implies, bird rock is populated with a lot of birds(and few sea lions). The smell was perhaps the worst thing I have ever smelled....ever. Take a dumpster full of moldy food, through in 100 lbs of dirty diapers and 50 gallons of yak vomit, and you would have something almost as bad as this. The amazing thing is that there were picnic tables nearby...and people were sitting there eating. I would have taken a picture of this but I was on the ground, convulsing.
Near the end of the drive stands the Lone Cypress; its that tree on the rock. It may not look like much, but this baby has withstood the harshest of storms for nearly 250 years. Pretty amazing.
Another day we took a trip down to Cannery Row which has lots of shops, restaurants and cans
One of the highlights was 17 mile drive, a scenic drive along the coast.
The worst thing about 17 mile drive, if not the entire trip was our stop at Bird Rock. As the name implies, bird rock is populated with a lot of birds(and few sea lions). The smell was perhaps the worst thing I have ever smelled....ever. Take a dumpster full of moldy food, through in 100 lbs of dirty diapers and 50 gallons of yak vomit, and you would have something almost as bad as this. The amazing thing is that there were picnic tables nearby...and people were sitting there eating. I would have taken a picture of this but I was on the ground, convulsing.
Near the end of the drive stands the Lone Cypress; its that tree on the rock. It may not look like much, but this baby has withstood the harshest of storms for nearly 250 years. Pretty amazing.
Another day we took a trip down to Cannery Row which has lots of shops, restaurants and cans
We stopped into the Ghirardelli shop and got sundaes.....mmmm boy I love me some Ghirardelli hot fudge sundaes. This was a prelude to the chocolate greatness awaiting in San Francisco.
Wonder-pea had her eye on a bake good or two...or ten...at a super delicious bakery. Oh sweet Ghirardelli weep not, for it will never replace you...in my heart
Waving good-bye to Monterey, we headed further north for the extremely steep streets of San Francisco.
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