lots to come from Philly...

For a long time now I've only used this blog to post stupid videos, video's I'd been working on, or pretty much mindless strings of words that flowed out of boredom or frustration. Recently I've been thinking a lot, and I've had a lot of time to do it. I'm going to attempt, as several fellow bloggers and blog heroes / friends of mine have done before, to use a personal experience as a format to get out what's been brewing inside. In my case a recent trip to Philadelphia.

As anyone who has ever had more than a 3 minute conversation with me well knows, I have a hard time staying on topic. I'm in no way a linear guy; just don't think that way. I'm scattered. I start a sentence, only get out half the word, think of a better way to phrase the thought that my mind has already left in search of the follow up only to begin the sentence over three times before getting it out. And by the time it's finally out I'm busy chasing the rabbit that ran across some other synapses in my mind and I forget the original point that I was getting at. (the fact that I do this is not a recent discovery to me but rather a very well known and sometimes frustrating quirk) But usually somewhere along the rabbit trail, something I think of reminds me of my original thought and I'm back to square one....

All that to say... bear with me because I'm not going to tell this story in order... if indeed I tell it at all. I'm going to try and share, with all who care to read, my observations and the subsequent rabbit trails I find myself on during my time in Philadelphia (which was only a few days). I hope that makes some kind of sense... but true to form here's a better way of saying all that. I'm not going to give you the play by play of my time there because that wouldn't be any fun, but rather I hope to share what I experienced by being there. I'm so looking forward to writing about it all, and taking a little closer look at myself through it. I've avoided writing anything remotely personal on here for roughly a year now. I suppose a little self-disclosure is due.

put on you diapers...

cause this junk is funny.

last one I'll post...

I wasn't going to post it at all actually, but Ginny asked about the next installment... so look out internets... hope you can handle the traffic.



Its still not perfect... but the tracks are a lot more solid and the shots are way more complex. Maybe the folks at the festival will like it and you'll see a real deal version on tv this summer.

check it...again

I added a new shot... the second one (it took forever because of all the camera motion) and color corrected all of it.
Some of the tracks are still off, so if I get some time I may work on those a bit more too.

Thanks for all the comments so far.

little something I've been working on....

more to come in the way of writing later. but here's a work in progress that I'm working on for a few commercials....
its a big pic, click on if you want to see the detail.

absolutely beautiful....

http://www.onesize.nl/project.php?id=33

this is absolutely amazing. Its an experimental piece by one of my new favorite motion design houses. these guys are from the Netherlands too... which makes them double cool

SKYDIVE FACE SUKKA...

this is where I still live...

if I had a digital camera (other than the dandy one on my phone) I'd take a picture of my cheap one bedroom apartment and post it right on here so everyone could see it... but i don't because, as the would be picture of my apartment could show, I'm cheap but I digress.
Today after returning from work, at a reasonable hour for the first time in a while I might add, my land lord walked up to me and asked me if I was planning on renewing my lease. I'd been thinking about it for a while. The question of leaving is one that I tend to keep close. A lot of my friends are moving or have already moved. Others have interviews all over the place, or at least have interviews at different places here in town. But for me this spring doesn't seem to hold much in the way of big change. I moved last year, and shortly after changed jobs. Granted that move was only a few blocks and the change in jobs was fairly similar, but it felt like a lot. It seems like I can't go a single week without someone asking me when I'm going to leave Birmingham. I guess that's a hole I dug for myself. I talk about leaving, I really like the thought of it too, and I think I will someday, but I'm not so sure that day will be this year.
For the first time in 7 or 8 years (since my junior year of high school) I'll be living in the same place for more than 11 months in a row. I couldn't be happier about it. I get tired of it here, my job gets frustrating, I get lonely, I get mad at my church, basically I get bored, but I just don't feel like I've walked far enough down this road to get off of it yet.

I've got some more things to write about but seeing as how this is my first real post in several months, I guess I should ease back into it. So, taking note from my friend Su, I'll stop short and hopefully post again soon.

and people think graffiti writers are stupid...

i tend to disagree.

i don't know how old i am...

in recent conversations, about 3 or 4 of them actually, the topic of my age has arisen. each time when asked the question, "how old are you anyway?" i confidently answer 24... apparently that answer suits me since i've been giving it for the past 16 months. a little while ago while talking about a possible laptop purchase, i say, "if i get it, it better last me till i die." my friend responds in an imitation old man voice, "i've had this laptop since i was 25 years old." "silly girl..." I think to myself, "i'm only 24." then i say, "but i'm only 24" and she laughs, knowing the truth because our birthdays are in fact only a few days apart, and then informs me that i am 25. i realize that on my birthday this reality should have sunk in... but i was busy and for whatever reason it just didn't take. i feel like a different person now... i seem to have lost a year, that scares me.

so to all the people that i've recently had conversations with about feeling like an old 24 year old... there is more truth to that statement than i thought. i should work less.


(on a side note i think i remember writing something a few months ago on here about thinking like a normal 25 year old or something, so i suppose there are times when i realize my own age, but sadly those times are counteracted by months of obliviousness)

another update...

over the past week I've become aware, once again, of how fortunate I am to have the friends that I do. life's been a bit of a bummer for me lately. when Im in a funk like that, its a sho-nuff funk, and I tend to stay there feeling sorry for myself for a while. but the past week in particular my friends have been a great help in the unfunking process, and Im really thankful for that. one of the most exciting parts about it for me though is that in addition to my tried and true group of buddies, some of the unfunkers haven't been the usual suspects. one guy in particular, a 60-year-old co-worker, has been a great surprise. also old friends have entered again and I remember why I love them. it seems that just when I have decided that Ive been forgotten, Im shown that Im remembered. thats comforting.

on a side note for anyone who hasn't seen me in the last month... Im rockin a beard now.

till next month...

whats been happnin...

lotsa work is whats been happnin. thats why I haven't written in forever. i used to write in my down time at work, subsequently when there's no down time there's no writing. but... due to the fact that my office has now moved, and the internet service that we had at our old office, which is completely paid for by my boss, would not transfer from our old location to the new one, but would however transfer to my apartment, I can blog from the comfort of my own home, and all for free... at least free to me. other than work being crazy, the rest of my life feels crazy too. i think for the most part i bring it on myself. i sometimes wonder if i'll ever have the thought processes of a normal 25 year old human. i tend to stress myself out about everything, be over analytical, and not too much fun to be around... well i am those things at least in situations/contexts that i feel are serious or where a lot is at stake or that are just really important to me. that kind of sucks because then the things that are the most important or the closest to me cause me the most distress and i have the hardest time enjoying the things / people that i want to enjoy the most. as far as i can remember i've always been that way. recently though, i'm starting to see this as a fault, and wondering how to deal with it. maybe dr. phill has a website that i can check, again from the comfort of my own home, and without the judgmental glances of coworkers.

here's a video david showed me...

Stop Motion Battle

montly blog update...

I love Christmas. Always have, and even though my experience of it is changing because Im gettin old, I expect I'll always love it. I was at SouthTown last night setting up video equipment so the kids could watch a movie, eat popcorn, and drink hot chocolate. At least that was the plan. What actually happened was we set up the equipment the kids complained about the hot chocolate, asked for water instead, spilled all of the above on the floor, threw popcorn in the puddles, and fought with each other. Thats about what I expected so it really wasn't too big of a deal. There were a few kids though that watched the movie (the Santa Clause 2). There weren't any more chairs so Brandie and I sat in the floor... soon enough every single kid followed, all squeezing as close to her and me as they could. Then the kids started fighting and calling each other "you ol' nasty" and other various holiday names. The party in the floor soon came to an end, and that combined with the number of kids who had either become disinterested or sent home, left plenty of chairs for the rest of us good boys and girls. So we finished the movie. There was one scene that struck me... and I know that sounds ridiculous due to the fact that its Tim Allen as Santa Clause but still... there was some kind of party where all these grumpy adults were, and Santa (not looking like santa but still having special Christmas powers) was seeking to spread some Holiday cheer. Santa pulled out a sack of presents and started calling names. The adults were pretty hesitant but after a couple of them opened their gifts, which were vintage toys that they loved growing up, the crowd grew merry and the party turned into a big ol' love fest with all the adults playing "toss across" and "rock 'em sock 'em robots." The thing that hit me was this... its wasn't getting stuff that made the people happy, it was being known and understood. Maybe it was nostalgia, who knows? But I know when I get some dull old shirt or something like that for Christmas I don't feel warm and tingly. But when someone gives me something that captures a little piece of who I am... that gets me. The reason it gets me is because that gift is something tangible saying, "I know you well enough to know you'll understand." I think thats pretty swell.
Anywho there's my december update hope it'll tide you over to next year.

some high-points from my holiday...

(not necessarily in order of fantastic-ness)

1. learning a little about Flame...

2. watching "Walk the Line" with my dad... favorite lines by far...

"Mr. Cash your fans are Christians. They don't want to hear a record of you live from a prison, trying to cheer up murderers and convicts."

"Well, they must not be Christians."

3. realizing why I have a good relationship with Pop. We'd both much rather talk than watch TV... even if all we talk about is SEC football.

4. drinking beer with gene.

5. beating super mario brothers 1 (NES) in less than 8 minutes. yes, it can be done. the guys in the video below did it in less than 6. i've still got some work to do.

i'm learnin...

or at least i'm trying. i've got about 3 to 4 feet of manuals to read. i stopped counting pages, chapters, and volumes and started thinking in terms of the trusty ole english measurement system... and that stack doesn't include the numerous PDFs, help files, online tutorials, and user forums. it's pretty daunting, but it's fun. i met a guy that knows this stuff in and out. talking with him, seeing the stuff that he'd done, and hearing about what his friends were doing, has got me pretty motivated to learn this junk. he came in to help troubleshoot our new-top-of-the-line-ultra-swank system this week. i also found out that he is a programmer and is responsible for writing the code for some of the stuff that we will be using soon.
anyway in addition to learning all this software (smoke, flame, maya) now i'm seeing that if i want to really be on top of things i'm going to need to learn 2 more operating systems, and even a little bit of programming. so as i'm learning software, i'm having to wade my way through all the ins and outs of networking and filestructures of linux (not to mention making a linux box talk to the mac's and windows machines in the place) i really haven't had to deal with it much, my boss has though, and from seeing what he's gone through it don't look easy.
anyway all in all i'm having fun and am excited about being here. i actually got a call from my old art professor yesterday asking me to consider going to grad school at Penn State. honestly the prospect doesn't sound as appealing as what i'm doing now. i'm going to talk to him a little more about it though. i also don't think that i would cut the mustard in grad school. anyway here is some more cool stuff for anyone who would like to check out.

Shilo Design... these guys rule (check out the Huff show open)
Autodesk... makers of all things that are myserious to me.



this is a screenshot from flame...look interesting to anyone?

he doesn't look a thing like jesus...

i love those moments where art and truth cross paths. i especially like it when i see that intersection in pop media. about a month ago i was watching snl and saw the killers playing some songs off their new album, Sam's Town. i've never been much of a killers fan, always thought they were a little too poppy to have any weight. but i watched anyway (after all what else would i be doing on a saturday night??) "he doesn't look a think like jesus, but he talks like a gentlemen just like you imagined when you were young." the lines haunted me for about a week. it was so clever and yet so true. the song is called "When You Were Young." a friend of mine brought over the album last night. i've probably listened to that song 10 times since then.

"you sit there in your heartache, waiting for some beautiful boy to save you from your old ways... he doesn't look a thing like jesus..."

i'm seeing just how often i want to be rescued from my present situation by some idealized person, or even by idealized situations. thats why i'm constantly disappointed in people and experience discontentment with my job... i'm looking to them to make my life better, to satisfy me in some way. but those things never will (its not their intended function... at least i don't think it is) and its wrong for me to expect that they could. i surely don't want anyone to put those expectations on me.

anyway, check out the killers' new stuff. that one song is really one of the only ones off the album i like, but you guys are probably cooler than me and have better taste in music so take that advice for what its worth.

Beware of the Bear...

So Ive got this idea for a movie...

A reanimated Zombie coach Bear Bryant is hired to coach in the inner city so can he whip some troubled youth into a great football team... but the catch is he has to eat some of the kids to stay alive. The PTA will vote to keep the Bear on as a coach sacrificing the band and smart kids as long as the boys win a state championship. During the state championship game at Legion Field (where the Bear became the winningest coach in college football history) the Bear storms the field at half time eating various members of the opposing team's marching band. An angry parent then shoots the Bear in the head (thats the only way to kill zombies) and then angry long time Alabama football fans kill the parent who killed the bear. Eventually after much bloodshed the referees restore order and the game continues. Zombie Bear's boys go on to win the state championship and dedicate the season to their fallen mentor... all while standing in the crimson stain of the Bear's (and many band members) blood. I think its got some potential.

movie blog updated...

check it out if you'd like...

one of the things i miss the most...